CHAPTER III "A-KIT-CHEW"

 Ding, dong, ding, dong,

Loudly rings the bell,

Old Grizzly¹ Bear is in the woods, --

And he has much to tell.

 

"A-kit-chew!" cried Old Grizzly Bear.

 

"A-kit-chew!" cried all the little Bears.

 

"A-kit-chew!" cried all the animals in the wood.

 

Now, what do you suppose was the matter?

 

They had all been out in the rain, and had taken cold. My! how those animals did sneeze!

 

Old Grizzly went out into the woods and rang a great bell.

 

He rang the bell because he wanted to call all the animals together. Pretty soon the animals came along, sniffing² and sneezing, and wiping their eyes.

 

Old Grizzly said: "When we look for the rainbow end, we all catch cold, so we must stop looking at once."

 

"He wants the gold himself," said Bushy Tail. "He wants the gold him­self."

 

Old Grizzly said: "If there had been a pot of gold at the rainbow end it would have been found long ago, and why should we get wet looking for it?"

 

"We will put it to vote," shouted Bushy Tail. "Put it to a vote!" So they all voted, and all the ani­mals except Bushy Tail agreed that they would rather stay at home when it rained.

 

Little Bear did not say anything, and Bushy Tail whispered³ to him: "We will keep on looking for the pot of gold, Little Bear!"

 

Little Bear felt very sad. He went home with Curly⁴ Bear, and he said: "If I don't find a name pretty soon, I shall grow up and still be called Little Bear."

 

Curly Bear kissed him on both cheeks and said: "I will love you just the same."

 

The old owl⁵ called after them: "Lit­tle Bear, you can find plenty of names, but you cannot be sure which is your name."

 

Little Bear cried, "Boo-hoo!"

 

Just then Susan Cotton-Tail came along.

 

Susan Cotton-Tail was an old grandmother rabbit, and all the ani­mals loved her.

 

"You must not cry so much," she said.

 

"Why not?" asked Little Bear.

 

Susan Cotton-Tail said: "I have a great-grandchild who cried so much they named her 'Little Boo-hoo'!

 

"She would cry about everything. Nothing seemed to please her. When it rained she would cry because she couldn't go out and play.

 

"When it was fine weather she would cry because nobody came to play with her. She could not be pleased.

 

"You should take things as they are and be happy, my Little Bear."

 

Little Bear laughed then and said: "May I go home with you, Susan?"

 

Susan said: "Yes, if you will carry my market basket."

 

Little Bear took the basket and they went merrily down the road.

 

At last they came to Susan Cotton­-Tail's home.

 

They saw a light in the window, and Susan said:

 

"Bunny Cotton-Tail is sitting up late to read. Do you like to read, Lit­tle Bear?"

 

Little Bear said "Yes," and they went inside.

 

Bunny Cotton-Tail was sitting up in bed, reading.

 

"Whom have we here?" he asked. Little Bear made a bow.

 

"What is your name?" asked Bunny Cotton-Tail. "We are glad you came." Susan Cotton-Tail frowned⁶ at Bunny and filled Little Bear's mouth with candy so he could not cry.

 

Then Susan whispered something to Bunny and he shook his head.

 

"I like candy," said Little Bear, "and so does Bushy Tail."

 

"Bushy Tail likes cookies, too," said Susan. "He takes them without asking."

 

"I have not seen Bushy Tail for a long time," said Bunny.

 

Susan laughed. She said: "Perhaps he will call to-morrow!"

 

Bunny Cotton-Tail said: "My fur and whiskers! where is my little red box?"

 

Susan looked, but she could not find the little red box.

 

Bunny looked all over the house, and Little Bear was as good as he could be; he never once said: "What is in the little red box?"

 

"Ha! ha!" cried Bunny at last, "here it is!"

 

He opened the box and took out three chocolate candies. The candies looked like cigars.

 

"Have a smoke, Susan, have a smoke, Little Bear," he cried.

 

They all took the candy cigars and ate them.

 

Little Bear was so happy he laughed until he cried.

 

"I am glad I am here," said Little Bear. "I like this home. I like candy and I like both of you. I shall come to visit you often."

 

1 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

2 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 curly   

adj.卷曲的，卷缩的

参考例句：

• The little boy has curly hair.这小男孩长着一头卷发。
• She is tall and dark with curly hair.她高高的个子，黑皮肤，卷头发。

5 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。

6 frowned   

皱眉( frown的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She frowned in puzzlement. 她迷惑地蹙着眉。
• The mother frowned when her son failed in his exam. 儿子考试不及格时，母亲皱着眉。