IV BOBBY COON ENTERS THE WRONG HOUSE

 AFTER Unc' Billy Possum had arranged with Skimmer the Swallow, who was going South, to take a message to his family in "Ol' Virginny," telling them to come and join him in the Green Forest, he at once began to make preparations to receive them. Unc' Billy isn't any too fond of work. He had a lot rather that some one else should do the work for him, and he is smart enough to fix it so that usually some one else does.

 

But getting ready to receive his family was different. No one else could arrange things to suit him. This was Unc' Billy's own job, and he tended right to it every minute of the day. First of all he had to clean house. He had been keeping bachelor's hall so long in the big hollow¹ tree that things were not very tidy. So Unc' Billy cleaned house, and while he worked he whistled and sang. Peter Rabbit, passing that way, overheard² Unc' Billy singing:

 

"Mah ol' woman is away down Souf—

 

Come along! Come along!

 

Ain't nothin' sharper than the tongue in her mouf—

 

Come along! Come along!

 

She once was pretty, but she ain't no mo',

 

But she cooks mah meals an' she sweeps mah flo';

 

She darns mah stockings an' she mends mah coat,

 

An' she knows jes' how mah chillun fer to tote—

 

Come along! Come along!

 

"Mah pickaninnies am a-headin' dis way—

 

Come along! Come along!

 

Daddy am a-watchin' fo' 'em day by day—

 

Come along! Come along!

 

Mah ol' haid aches when Ah thinks ob de noise

 

De's boun' to be wid dem gals³ an' boys,

 

But Ah doan care if it busts⁴ in two

 

If de good Lord⁵ brings dem chillun troo—

 

Come along! Come along!"

 

Every little while Unc' Billy Possum would sit down to rest, for he wasn't used to so much real work. But finally he got his house clean and made as comfortable as possible, and about that time be began to think how good an egg would taste. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted that egg.

 

"It's no use talking, Ah just naturally has to have that egg," said Unc' Billy to himself, and off he started for Farmer Brown's.

 

Now Unc' Billy was hardly out of sight when along came Bobby Coon. Bobby Coon was absent-minded⁶, or else he was so sleepy that he didn't know what he was doing, for Bobby Coon had been out all night. Anyway, when he reached Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree, he began to climb up it just as if it were his own. He looked in at Unc' Billy's door. There was the most comfortable bed that he had seen for a long time. He looked this way and he looked that way. Nobody was in sight. Then he looked in at Unc' Billy's door once more. That bed certainly did look soft and comfortable. Bobby Coon chuckled⁷ to himself.

 

"I believe I'll just see if that bed is as comfortable as it looks," said he.

 

And two minutes later Bobby Coon was curled⁸ up fast asleep in Unc' Billy Possum's bed.

1 hollow   

adj.空的，中空的，空心的；空洞的，无价值的

参考例句：

• The boys scraped out a hollow place for planting trees.那些孩子挖了个坑准备栽树。
• Bamboo is a sort of hollow plant.竹子是一种中空的植物。

2 overheard   

adj. 串音的, 偶而听到的 动词overhear的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• We talked quietly so as not to be overheard. 我们低声交谈，以免别人听到。
• I told Lucy the news under my breath, but Joyce overheard me. 我低声地把这个消息告诉露西，可还是被乔伊斯听到了。

3 gals   

abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. 这时，吉姆手里提着一个锡皮桶，嘴中唱着“布法罗的女娃们”蹦蹦跳跳地从大门口跑出来。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• An' dey thinks dey wants mousy lil gals wid bird's tastes an' no sense at all. 他们想要的是耗子般的小姑娘，胃口小得像雀子，一点儿见识也没有。 来自飘（部分）

4 busts   

半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕

参考例句：

• Dey bags swells up and busts. 那奶袋快胀破了。
• Marble busts all looked like a cemetery. 大理石的半身象，简直就象是坟山。

5 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

6 absent-minded   

adj.心不在焉的

参考例句：

• You are really absent-minded.你真是心不在焉！
• He had an absent-minded manner.他表现出心不在焉的样子。

7 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

8 curled   

adj.卷曲的，卷发状的，卷缩的v.（使）弯曲( curl的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）卷曲；盘旋；缠绕

参考例句：

• She lay curled up in a foetal position . 她像胎儿一样蜷曲地躺着。
• The snake was curled up in the long grass. 在深草中，这条蛇盘着身子。 来自《简明英汉词典》