CHAPTER XI. PETER RABBIT HAS A SUDDEN CHANGE OF MIND

  Whatever you decide to do

 Make up your mind to see it through.

                                Peter Rabbit.

Peter Rabbit stared at the two soft, gentle eyes peeping² at him from behind the big fern just back of the sunning-bank in the far corner of the Old Pasture³. He had so fully⁴ expected to see the angry face of the big, gray, old Rabbit who had made life so miserable⁵ for him that for a minute he couldn't believe that he really saw what he did see. And so he just stared and stared. It was very rude. Of course it was. It was very rude indeed. It is always rude to stare at any one. So it was no wonder that after a minute the two soft, gentle eyes disappeared behind one of the great green leaves of the fern. Peter gave a great sigh. Then he remembered how rude he had been to stare so.

 

“I—I beg your pardon,” said Peter in his politest manner, which is very polite indeed, for Peter can be very polite when he wants to be. “I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to frighten you. Please forgive me.”

 

With the greatest eagerness Peter waited for a reply. You know it was because he had been so lonesome that he had left his home in the dear Old Briar-patch on the Green Meadows⁶. And since he had been in the Old Pasture he had been almost as lonesome, for he had had no one to talk to. So now he waited eagerly for a reply. You see, he felt sure that the owner of such soft, gentle eyes must have a soft, gentle voice and a soft, gentle heart, and there was nothing in the world that Peter needed just then so much as sympathy. But though he waited and waited, there wasn't a sound from the big fern.

 

“Perhaps you don't know who I am. I'm Peter Rabbit, and I've come up here from the Green Meadows, and I'd like very much to be your friend,” continued Peter after a while. Still there was no sound. Peter peeped⁷ from the corner of one eye at the place where he had seen the two soft, gentle eyes, but there was nothing to be seen but the gently waving leaf of the big fern. Peter didn't know just what to do. He wanted to hop⁸ over to the big fern and peep¹ behind it, but he didn't dare to. He was afraid that whoever was hiding there would run away.

 

“I'm very lonesome; won't you speak to me?” said Peter, in his gentlest voice, and he sighed a deep, doleful sort of sigh. Still there was no reply. Peter had just about made up his mind that he would go over to the big fern when he saw those two soft, gentle eyes peeping from under a different leaf. It seemed to Peter that never in all his life had he seen such beautiful eyes. They looked so shy and bashful that Peter held his breath for fear that he would frighten them away.

 

After a time the eyes disappeared. Then Peter saw a little movement among the ferns, and he knew that whoever was there was stealing away. He wanted to follow, but something down inside him warned him that It was best to sit still. So Peter sat just where he was and kept perfectly⁹ still for the longest time.

 

But the eyes didn't appear again, and at last he felt sure that whoever they belonged to had really gone away. Then he sighed another great sigh, for suddenly he felt more lonesome than ever. He hopped¹⁰ over to the big fern and looked behind it. There in the soft earth was a footprint, the footprint of a Rabbit, and it was SMALLER than his own. It seemed to Peter that it was the most wonderful little footprint he ever had seen.

 

“I believe,” said Peter right out loud, “that I'll change my mind. I won't go back to the dear Old Briar-patch just yet, after all.”

 

1 peep   

n.瞥见，偷看，初现；v.窥视，慢慢露出，吱吱叫

参考例句：

• I took a peep through the keyhole.我从钥匙孔偷看了一眼。
• Let me have just one peep at the letter.让我瞥一眼这封信。

2 peeping   

窥视( peep的现在分词 )； 偷看； 隐现； 慢慢露出

参考例句：

• We caught her peeping through the keyhole. 她从锁孔偷看时，被我们撞着了。
• Look ! the child is peeping at us through the window. 瞧！那孩子在窗子里偷看我们呢。

3 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 meadows   

草地，牧场， （河边的）低洼地( meadow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The trail wends its way through leafy woodland and sunny meadows. 这条小径穿过葱郁的林区和洒满阳光的草地。
• They have railed the meadows off from the new railway cutting. 他们已用栏杆把草地和新铁道的路堑隔离开来。

7 peeped   

窥视( peep的过去式和过去分词 )； 偷看； 隐现； 慢慢露出

参考例句：

• The moon finally peeped out from behind the clouds. 月亮终于从云层后面露了出来。
• At the examination he peeped at his neighbour's paper. 他考试时偷看了他邻座的卷子。

8 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。