THE TALE OF SQUIRREL NUTKIN

 This is a Tale about a tail—a tail that belonged to a little red squirrel, and his name was Nutkin.

 

He had a brother called Twinkleberry, and a great many cousins: they lived in a wood at the edge of a lake.

 

In the middle of the lake there is an island covered with trees and nut bushes; and amongst those trees stands a hollow oak-tree, which is the house of an owl¹ who is called Old Brown.

 

One autumn when the nuts were ripe, and the leaves on the hazel bushes were golden and green— Nutkin and Twinkleberry and all the other little squirrels came out of the wood, and down to the edge of the lake.

 

They made little rafts out of twigs², and they paddled away over the water to Owl Island to gather nuts.

 

Each squirrel had a little sack and a large oar³, and spread out his tail for a sail.

 

They also took with them an offering of three fat mice as a present for Old Brown, and put them down upon his door-step.

 

Then Twinkleberry and the other little squirrels each made a low bow, and said politely—

 

"Old Mr. Brown, will you favour us with permission to gather nuts upon your island?"

 

But Nutkin was excessively impertinent in his manners. He bobbed up and down like a little red CHERRY, singing—

 

     "Riddle⁴ me, riddle me, rot-tot-tote!

     A little wee man, in a red red coat!

     A staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat;

     If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a groat."

Now this riddle is as old as the hills; Mr. Brown paid no attention whatever to Nutkin.

 

He shut his eyes obstinately⁵ and went to sleep.

 

The squirrels filled their little sacks with nuts, and sailed away home in the evening.

 

But next morning they all came back again to Owl Island; and Twinkleberry and the others brought a fine fat mole⁶, and laid it on the stone in front of Old Brown's doorway⁷, and said—

 

"Mr. Brown, will you favour us with your gracious permission to gather some more nuts?"

 

But Nutkin, who had no respect, began to dance up and down, tickling⁸ old Mr. Brown with a NETTLE⁹ and singing—

 

          "Old Mr. B! Riddle-me-ree!

          Hitty Pitty within the wall,

          Hitty Pitty without the wall;

          If you touch Hitty Pitty,

          Hitty Pitty will bite you!"

Mr. Brown woke up suddenly and carried the mole into his house.

 

He shut the door in Nutkin's face. Presently a little thread of blue SMOKE from a wood fire came up from the top of the tree, and Nutkin peeped through the key-hole and sang—

 

          "A house full, a hole full!

          And you cannot gather a bowl-full!"

The squirrels searched for nuts all over the island and filled their little sacks.

 

But Nutkin gathered oak-apples— yellow and scarlet—and sat upon a beech-stump playing marbles, and watching the door of old Mr. Brown.

 

On the third day the squirrels got up very early and went fishing; they caught seven fat minnows as a present for Old Brown.

 

They paddled over the lake and landed under a crooked¹⁰ chestnut¹¹ tree on Owl Island.

 

Twinkleberry and six other little squirrels each carried a fat minnow; but Nutkin, who had no nice manners, brought no present at all. He ran in front, singing—

 

     "The man in the wilderness¹² said to me,

     `How may strawberries grow in the sea?'

     I answered him as I thought good—

     `As many red herrings as grow in the wood."'

But old Mr. Brown took no interest in riddles—not even when the answer was provided for him.

 

On the fourth day the squirrels brought a present of six fat beetles¹³, which were as good as plums in PLUM-PUDDING for Old Brown. Each beetle¹⁴ was wrapped up carefully in a dockleaf, fastened with a pine-needle- pin.

 

But Nutkin sang as rudely as ever—

 

     "Old Mr. B! riddle-me-ree!

     Flour of England, fruit of Spain,

     Met together in a shower of rain;

     Put in a bag tied round with a string,

     If you'll tell me this riddle,

     I'll give you a ring!"

Which was ridiculous of Nutkin, because he had not got any ring to give to Old Brown.

 

The other squirrels hunted up and down the nut bushes; but Nutkin gathered robin's pin-cushions off a briar bush, and stuck them full of pine-needle-pins.

 

On the fifth day the squirrels brought a present of wild honey; it was so sweet and sticky that they licked their fingers as they put it down upon the stone. They had stolen it out of a bumble BEES' nest on the tippity top of the hill.

 

But Nutkin skipped up and down, singing—

 

     "Hum-a-bum! buzz! buzz! Hum-a-bum buzz!

          As I went over Tipple-tine

          I met a flock of bonny swine;

     Some yellow-nacked, some yellow backed!

          They were the very bonniest swine

          That e'er went over the Tipple-tine."

Old Mr. Brown turned up his eyes in disgust at the impertinence of Nutkin.

 

But he ate up the honey!

 

The squirrels filled their little sacks with nuts.

 

But Nutkin sat upon a big flat rock, and played ninepins with a crab¹⁵ apple and green fir-cones.

 

On the sixth day, which was Saturday, the squirrels came again for the last time; they brought a new-laid EGG in a little rush basket as a last parting present for Old Brown.

 

But Nutkin ran in front laughing, and shouting—

 

     "Humpty Dumpty lies in the beck,

     With a white counterpane round his neck,

     Forty doctors and forty wrights,

     Cannot put Humpty Dumpty to rights!"

Now old Mr. Brown took an interest in eggs; he opened one eye and shut it again. But still he did not speak.

 

Nutkin became more and more impertinent—

 

     "Old Mr. B! Old Mr. B!

     Hickamore, Hackamore, on the King's

          kitchen door;

     All the King's horses, and all the King's men,

     Couldn't drive Hickamore, Hackamore,

     Off the King's kitchen door!"

Nutkin danced up and down like a SUNBEAM; but still Old Brown said nothing at all.

 

Nutkin began again—

 

     "Authur O'Bower¹⁶ has broken his band,

     He comes roaring up the land!

     The King of Scots with all his power,

     Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower!"

Nutkin made a whirring noise to sound like the WIND, and he took a running jump right onto the head of Old Brown! . . .

 

Then all at once there was a flutterment and a scufflement and a loud "Squeak¹⁷!"

 

The other squirrels scuttered away into the bushes.

 

When they came back very cautiously, peeping round the tree— there was Old Brown sitting on his door-step, quite still, with his eyes closed, as if nothing had happened.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

BUT NUTKIN WAS IN HIS WAISTCOAT POCKET!

This looks like the end of the story; but it isn't.

 

Old Brown carried Nutkin into his house, and held him up by the tail, intending to skin him; but Nutkin pulled so very hard that his tail broke in two, and he dashed up the staircase, and escaped out of the attic¹⁸ window.

 

And to this day, if you meet Nutkin up a tree and ask him a riddle, he will throw sticks at you, and stamp his feet and scold, and shout—

 

"Cuck-cuck-cuck-cur-r-r-cuck-k!"

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 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

3 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

4 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

5 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

6 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

7 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

8 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

9 nettle   

n.荨麻；v.烦忧，激恼

参考例句：

• We need a government that will grasp the nettle.我们需要一个敢于大刀阔斧地处理问题的政府。
• She mightn't be inhaled as a rose,but she might be grasped as a nettle.她不是一朵香气扑鼻的玫瑰花，但至少是可以握在手里的荨麻。

10 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

11 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

12 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

13 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

15 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

16 bower   

n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽

参考例句：

• They sat under the leafy bower at the end of the garden and watched the sun set.他们坐在花园尽头由叶子搭成的凉棚下观看落日。
• Mrs. Quilp was pining in her bower.奎尔普太太正在她的闺房里度着愁苦的岁月。

17 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

18 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？