THE TALE OF THE FLOPSY BUNNIES

 It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce¹ is "soporific."

 

I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces²; but then I am not a rabbit.

 

They certainly had a very soporific effect upon the Flopsy Bunnies!

 

When Benjamin Bunny grew up, he married his Cousin Flopsy. They had a large family, and they were very improvident³ and cheerful.

 

I do not remember the separate names of their children; they were generally called the "Flopsy Bunnies."

 

As there was not always quite enough to eat,—Benjamin used to borrow cabbages from Flopsy's brother, Peter Rabbit, who kept a nursery garden.

 

Sometimes Peter Rabbit had no cabbages to spare.

 

When this happened, the Flopsy

Bunnies went across the field to a

rubbish heap, in the ditch outside

Mr. McGregor's garden.

Mr. McGregor's rubbish heap was a mixture. There were jam pots and paper bags, and mountains of chopped grass from the mowing⁴ machine (which always tasted oily), and some rotten vegetable marrows⁵ and an old boot or two. One day—oh joy!—there were a quantity of overgrown lettuces, which had "shot" into flower.

 

The Flopsy Bunnies simply stuffed themselves with lettuces. By degrees, one after another, they were overcome with slumber⁶, and lay down in the mown grass.

 

Benjamin was not so much overcome as his children. Before going to sleep he was sufficiently⁷ wide awake to put a paper bag over his head to keep off the flies.

 

The little Flopsy Bunnies slept delightfully⁸ in the warm sun. From the lawn beyond the garden came the distant clacketty sound of the mowing machine. The blue- bottles buzzed about the wall, and a little old mouse picked over the rubbish among the jam pots.

 

(I can tell you her name, she was called Thomasina Tittle- mouse, a woodmouse with a long tail.)

 

She rustled⁹ across the paper bag, and awakened¹⁰ Benjamin Bunny.

 

The mouse apologized profusely¹¹, and said that she knew Peter Rabbit.

 

While she and Benjamin were talking, close under the wall, they heard a heavy tread above their heads; and suddenly Mr. McGregor emptied out a sackful of lawn mowings right upon the top of the sleeping Flopsy Bunnies! Benjamin shrank down under his paper bag. The mouse hid in a jam pot.

 

The little rabbits smiled sweetly in their sleep under the shower of grass; they did not awake because the lettuces had been so soporific.

 

They dreamt that their mother Flopsy was tucking them up in a hay bed.

 

Mr. McGregor looked down after emptying his sack. He saw some funny little brown tips of ears sticking up through the lawn mowings. He stared at them for some time.

 

Presently a fly settled on one of them and it moved.

 

Mr. McGregor climbed down on to the rubbish heap—

 

"One, two, three, four! five! six leetle rabbits!" said he as he dropped them into his sack. The Flopsy Bunnies dreamt that their mother was turning them over in bed. They stirred a little in their sleep, but still they did not wake up.

 

Mr. McGregor tied up the sack and left it on the wall.

 

He went to put away the mowing machine.

 

While he was gone, Mrs. Flopsy Bunny (who had remained at home) came across the field.

 

She looked suspiciously at the sack and wondered where everybody was?

 

Then the mouse came out of her jam pot, and Benjamin took the paper bag off his head, and they told the doleful tale.

 

Benjamin and Flopsy were in despair, they could not undo¹² the string.

 

But Mrs. Tittlemouse was a resourceful person. She nibbled¹³ a hole in the bottom corner of the sack.

 

The little rabbits were pulled out and pinched to wake them.

 

Their parents stuffed the empty sack with three rotten vegetable marrows, an old blackingbrush and two decayed turnips¹⁴.

 

Then they all hid under a bush and watched for Mr. McGregor.

 

Mr. McGregor came back and picked up the sack, and carried it off.

 

He carried it hanging down, as if it were rather heavy.

 

The Flopsy Bunnies followed at a safe distance.

 

They watched him go into his house.

 

And then they crept up to the window to listen.

 

Mr. McGregor threw down the sack on the stone floor in a way that would have been extremely painful to the Flopsy Bunnies, if they had happened to have been inside it.

 

They could hear him drag his chair on the flags, and chuckle—

 

"One, two, three, four, five, six leetle rabbits!" said Mr. McGregor.

 

"Eh? What's that? What have they been spoiling now?" enquired¹⁵ Mrs. McGregor.

 

"One, two, three, four, five, six leetle fat rabbits!" repeated Mr. McGregor, counting on his fingers —"one, two, three—"

 

"Don't you be silly: what do you mean, you silly old man?"

 

"In the sack! one, two, three, four, five, six!" replied Mr. McGregor.

 

(The youngest Flopsy Bunny got upon the windowsill.)

 

Mrs. McGregor took hold of the sack and felt it. She said she could feel six, but they must be OLD rabbits, because they were so hard and all different shapes.

 

"Not fit to eat; but the skins will do fine to line my old cloak."

 

"Line your old cloak?" shouted Mr. McGregor—"I shall sell them and buy myself baccy!"

 

"Rabbit tobacco! I shall skin them and cut off their heads."

 

Mrs. McGregor untied¹⁶ the sack and put her hand inside.

 

When she felt the vegetables she became very very angry. She said that Mr. McGregor had "done it a purpose."

 

And Mr. McGregor was very angry too. One of the rotten marrows came flying through the kitchen window, and hit the youngest Flopsy Bunny.

 

It was rather hurt.

 

Then Benjamin and Flopsy thought that it was time to go home.

 

So Mr. McGregor did not get his tobacco, and Mrs. McGregor did not get her rabbit skins.

 

But next Christmas Thomasina Tittlemouse got a present of enough rabbit wool to make herself a cloak and a hood¹⁷, and a handsome muff and a pair of warm mittens¹⁸.

1 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

2 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

3 improvident   

adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的

参考例句：

• Her improvident speech at the meeting has set a stone rolling.她在会上的发言缺乏远见，已产生严重后果。
• He must bear the consequences of his improvident action.他必须对自己挥霍浪费所造成的后果负责。

4 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 marrows   

n.骨髓（marrow的复数形式）

参考例句：

6 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 profusely   

ad.abundantly

参考例句：

• We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
• He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。

12 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

13 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 turnips   

芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表

参考例句：

• Well, I like turnips, tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflowers, onions and carrots. 噢，我喜欢大萝卜、西红柿、茄子、菜花、洋葱和胡萝卜。 来自魔法英语-口语突破（高中）
• This is turnip soup, made from real turnips. 这是大头菜汤，用真正的大头菜做的。

15 enquired   

打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问

参考例句：

• He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
• Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。

16 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

17 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

18 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。