IV A TIGHT SQUEEZE

 Timothy Turtle's remark was most surprising. It almost took Fatty Coon's breath away. And for a moment or two he even forgot the pain in his paw.

 

"Do you mean to say," he asked, "that you like turtles' eggs!"

 

"Do I?" said Timothy. "There's no better treat, in my opinion, than a tender young egg, especially if it's well mixed with sand. And, of course, twenty-seven of them are twenty-seven times as good."

 

"I'm sorry——" Fatty told him—"I'm sorry that I ever touched the old—I mean the young—lady's eggs. And now thatp. 17 you've almost bitten my paw in two, please—good Mr. Turtle—let me go!"

 

But good Mr. Turtle had no notion of freeing his prisoner.

 

"Not yet!" he snapped. "I'm going to bite you twenty-seven times as long, and twenty-seven times as hard—if I can."

 

"But it was only a mistake!" Fatty Coon moaned. "I never knew you wanted those eggs yourself."

 

"Take care——" said Timothy Turtle sternly—"take care that you never make such a mistake again."

 

"Don't do that!" Fatty Coon suddenly cried.

 

"Don't do what?" was Mr. Turtle's testy¹ reply.

 

"Don't pull on my leg!" Fatty Coon pleaded. "You'll have me in the water in another moment, and I'll get wet, and my mother won't like it a bit."p. 18

 

But Timothy Turtle paid no heed² to Fatty Coon's objections.

 

"Certainly I'll pull you into the creek³," he declared. "I'm going to take you out where the water's deep, and drag you down, down, down to the very bottom. We'll have lots of fun burying ourselves in the mud. And I venture to say that you'll like it so well down there that you'll never want to come up again."

 

If Fatty Coon was frightened before, now he was terrified almost out of his wits. And he began to claw frantically⁴ at Timothy Turtle's head.

 

Luckily he had three free paws. And of these he made good use. In the shallows near the bank he struggled with all his might and main. And soon the water was churned into a muddy pool.

 

 

Fatty never knew exactly how he succeeded in breaking loose from Mr. Turtle. p. 19Anyhow, he found himself free at last; and he lost no time in scrambling⁵ up the bank to safety.

 

Afterward⁶ Timothy Turtle always complained that Fatty Coon didn't "fight fair."

 

"He gouges," Timothy would explain. "He'd just as soon stick one of his claws into your eye as not. And I claim that's something no real gentleman will do."

 

Now, Fatty did not leave Black Creek at once, after his adventure with Timothy Turtle. He paused for a time, to squat⁷ on the bank and nurse his injured paw.

 

While he lingered there he happened to glance up. And whom should he see, sitting motionless in a tree near-by, but that old rascal⁸, Mr. Crow!

 

"Oh! Naughty, naughty!" Mr. Crow cawed in a mocking voice. "You've been fighting."p. 20

 

"It's all your fault," Fatty growled⁹. "If you'd minded your own affairs Timothy Turtle would never have known anything about those eggs."

 

"Bless your heart!" old Mr. Crow cried. "Timothy Turtle would have seized you just the same, if you'd never touched his wife's eggs. You don't know him as well as I do."

 

"Perhaps not!" Fatty Coon replied. "And what's more, I don't want to. I never want to see Timothy Turtle again."

 

Old Mr. Crow laughed merrily at that speech. But Fatty Coon only turned his back on him.

 

He was in no mood for laughter.

1 testy   

adj.易怒的；暴躁的

参考例句：

• Ben's getting a little testy in his old age.上了年纪后本变得有点性急了。
• A doctor was called in to see a rather testy aristocrat.一个性格相当暴躁的贵族召来了一位医生为他检查。

2 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

5 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

7 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

8 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

9 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》