CHAPTER XVII. PETER MEETS MISS FUZZYTAIL

  That this is true there's no denying—

 There's nothing in the world like trying.

                                       Peter Rabbit.

Peter Rabbit was feeling better. Certainly he was looking better. You see, just as soon as Old Mother Nature saw that Peter was trying to look as well as he could, and was keeping himself as neat and tidy as he knew how, she was ready to help, as she always is. She did her best with the rents in his coat, made by the claws of Hooty the Owl¹ and the teeth of Old Jed Thumper², and so it wasn't long before Peter's coat looked nearly as good as new. Then, too, Peter was getting enough to eat these days. Days and days had passed since he had seen Old Jed Thumper, and this had given him time to eat and sleep.

 

Peter wondered what had become of Old Jed Thumper. “Perhaps something has happened to him,” thought Peter. “I—I almost hope something has.” Then, being ashamed of such a wish, he added, “Something not very dreadful³, but which will keep him from hunting me for a while and trying to drive me out of the Old Pasture⁴.”

 

Now all this time Peter had been trying to find little Miss Fuzzytail. He was already in love with her, although all he had seen of her were her two soft, gentle eyes, shyly peeping⁵ at him from behind a big fern. He had wandered here and sauntered there, looking for her, but although he found her footprints very often, she always managed to keep out of his sight, You see, she knew the Old Pasture so much better than he did, and all the little paths in it, that she had very little trouble in keeping out of his way. Then, too, she was very busy, for it was she who was keeping her cross father, Old Jed Thumper, away from Peter, because she was so sorry for Peter. But Peter didn't know this. If he had, I am afraid that he would have been more in love than ever.

 

The harder she was to find, the more Peter wanted to find her. He spent a great deal of time each day brushing his coat and making himself look as fine as he could, and while he was doing it, he kept wishing over and over again that something would happen so that he could show little Miss Fuzzytail what a smart, brave fellow he really was.

 

But one day followed another, and Peter seemed no nearer than ever to meeting little Miss Fuzzytail. He was thinking of this one morning and was really growing very down-hearted, as he sat under a friendly bramble-bush, when suddenly there was a sharp little scream of fright from behind a little juniper-tree.

 

Somehow Peter knew whose voice that was, although he never had heard it before. He sprang around the little juniper-tree, and what he saw filled him with such rage⁶ that he didn't once stop to think of himself. There was little Miss Fuzzytail in the clutches⁷ of Black Pussy⁸, Farmer Brown's cat, who often stole away from home to hunt in the Old Pasture. Like a flash Peter sprang over Black Pussy, and as he did so he kicked with all his might. The cat hadn't seen him coming, and the kick knocked her right into the prickly juniper-tree. Of course she lost her grip⁹ on little Miss Fuzzytail, who hadn't been hurt so much as frightened.

 

By the time the cat got out of the juniper-tree, Peter and Miss Fuzzytail were sitting side by side safe in the middle of a bull-briar patch¹⁰.

 

“Oh? how brave you are!” sobbed¹¹ little Miss Fuzzytail.

 

And this is the way that Peter Rabbit at last got his heart's desire.

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 thumper   

n.击键声检测器；轰鸣器

参考例句：

3 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

4 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。

5 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。

6 rage   

vi.(烈火)熊熊燃烧；发怒；怒斥；季风

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• Haines got into a rage.海恩斯勃然大怒。

7 clutches   

抓住，紧紧抓住( clutch的第三人称单数 )； （因害怕或痛苦）突然抓住

参考例句：

• He fell into the clutches of the criminal gang. 他落到了犯罪集团的魔爪中。
• He clutches at every opportunity to practise English conversation. 他抓住一切机会练习英语会话。

8 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

9 grip   

v.握紧，紧握；吸引；引起；n.紧握，控制

参考例句：

• He keeps a firm grip on his children.他对孩子们管得很严。
• The brake doesn't grip properly.煞车不灵。

10 patch   

n.补丁；斑；一小块地；vt.补，修补

参考例句：

• This patch looks a bit unprofessional.这块补丁有点像出自外行之手。
• We managed to patch our quarrel.我们设法平息争吵。

11 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。