CHAPTER XXIV: Whitefoot The Wood Mouse Is Unhappy

    Unhappiness without a cause you never, never find;

   It may be in the stomach, or it may be in the mind.

     —Whitefoot.

Whitefoot the Wood Mouse should have been happy, but he wasn't. Winter had gone and sweet Mistress¹ Spring had brought joy to all the Green Forest. Every one was happy, Whitefoot no less so than his neighbors at first. Up from the Sunny South came the feathered friends and at once began planning new homes. Twitterings and songs filled the air. Joy was everywhere. Food became plentiful², and Whitefoot became sleek³ and fat. That is, he became as fat as a lively Wood Mouse ever does become. None of his enemies had discovered his new home, and he had little to worry about.

 

But by and by Whitefoot began to feel less joyous⁴. Day by day he grew more and more unhappy. He no longer took pleasure in his fine home. He began to wander about for no particular reason. He wandered much farther⁵ from home than he had ever been in the habit of doing. At times he would sit and listen, but what he was listening for he didn't know. “There is something the matter with me, and I don't know what it is,” said Whitefoot to himself forlornly. “It can't be anything I have eaten. I have nothing to worry about. Yet there is something wrong with me. I'm losing my appetite⁶. Nothing tastes good any more. I want something, but I don't know what it is I want.”

 

He tried to tell his troubles to his nearest neighbor, Timmy the Flying Squirrel⁷, but Timmy was too busy to listen. When Peter Rabbit happened along, Whitefoot tried to tell him. But Peter himself was too happy and too eager to learn all the news in the Green Forest to listen. No one had any interest in Whitefoot's troubles. Every one was too busy with his own affairs.

 

So day by day Whitefoot the Wood Mouse grew more and more unhappy, and when the dusk⁸ of early evening came creeping⁹ through the Green Forest, he sat about and moped instead of running about and playing as he had been in the habit of doing. The beautiful song of Melody¹⁰ the Wood Thrush somehow filled him with sadness instead of with the joy he had always felt before. The very happiness of those about him seemed to make him more unhappy.

 

Once he almost decided¹¹ to go hunt for another home, but somehow he couldn't get interested even in this. He did start out, but he had not gone far before he had forgotten all about what he had started for. Always he had loved to run about and climb and jump for the pure pleasure of it, but now he no longer did these things. He was unhappy, was Whitefoot. Yes, sir, he was unhappy; and for no cause at all so far as he could see.

 

1 mistress   

n.（文学用语）使男子为之倾倒的女人，女主人

参考例句：

• Does his wife know he has a mistress?他的妻子知道他有一个情妇吗？
• Is your mistress at home?你家女主人在家吗？

2 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

3 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

4 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

5 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

6 appetite   

n.食欲，胃口；欲望，性欲；爱好，趣味

参考例句：

• The baby has a good appetite.这个婴儿食欲很好。
• She feels pretty well,but she hasn't much of an appetite.她精神还不错，不过胃口不太好。

7 squirrel   

n.松鼠，松鼠的毛皮；vt.贮藏以备用

参考例句：

• The squirrel makes a store of nuts for the winter.松鼠贮藏坚果以备过冬。
• A squirrel hoards nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬贮藏坚果。

8 dusk   

n.薄暮，黄昏，幽暗

参考例句：

• The park closes at dusk.公园在黄昏时关闭。
• At dusk bats appear in vast numbers.蝙蝠于傍晚时分大批出现。

9 creeping   

n.& adj.爬行（的）v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的现在分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door. 我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is hard to prevent concrete from creeping. 很难防止水泥变形。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。