CHAPTER XII LITTLE RABBIT BOO-HOO

 

 

CHAPTER XII

 

LITTLE RABBIT BOO-HOO

 

 

 

Next morning Grandpa Grumbles² heard a tap on his door.

 

"Too early to get up," he grumbled³. "Don't wake me up, don't wake me up!"

 

Little Bear heard a tap on his door, and he cried:

 

"See the sunshine!"

 

He dressed and hurried down­stairs.

 

Little Bear never liked to be late to breakfast.

 

Breakfast was on the table, and Red Riding Hood⁴ said:

 

"We will sit down and have break­fast, Little Bear."

 

Pretty soon a great grumbling⁵ was heard and Grandpa Grumbles came down-stairs, one step at a time.

 

He was talking to himself.

 

"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" he said. "have to get breakfast for my visitors!"

 

When he came into the dining-room he was so surprised to see breakfast on the table that he forgot to grumble¹.

 

He sat down and drank his coffee without saying a word. Suddenly a crash was heard, then another, and another.

 

"I am being robbed!" cried Grandpa Grumbles.

 

"Wow! wow! I am afraid!" cried Lit­tle Bear.

 

Red Riding Hood started for the cellar⁶. "Get a candle," she called.

 

Grandpa Grumbles said: "I haven't any candle."

 

Little Bear said: "I am afraid to carry a lamp!"

 

While they stood there talking, Bushy Tail came bounding up the cel­lar stairs. He had a bottle of cider under each arm.

 

"I broke some," he said. "It is too dark in your cellar!"

 

Grandpa Grumbles got a switch and ran after Bushy Tail, but Bushy Tail jumped on a sofa and shouted: "Great news! great news!"

 

Of course they all stopped to listen.

 

Little Bear said: "Tell us the news! tell us the news!"

 

Bushy Tail said: "Susan Cotton-Tail has lost her glasses."

 

Then Grandpa began to grumble, and Little Bear rolled over on the floor, and laughed until he cried.

 

"Have you any cookies for me to­day?" asked Bushy Tail.

 

Red Riding Hood said: "why do you want cookies?"

 

She had hardly gotten the words out of her mouth before Bushy Tail had started into the pantry and helped himself.

 

Then, whisk! he was out through the window, and away as fast as his long legs could carry him.

 

Just at that minute Little Bear heard a sound, and he said: "Hush⁷! listen! what is it?"

 

They heard a wee voice say: "I am here. I am lost, boo-hoo!"

 

Grandpa Grumbles went to the door, and there sat the funniest little rabbit you have ever seen.

 

"Too many visitors. Don't come in," said Grandpa Grumbles.

 

The little rabbit said: "Boo-hoo, please let me in."

 

Grandpa Grumbles looked over his spectacles⁸ and said: "What is your name?"

 

The cry-baby rabbit said: "Boo­-hoo."

 

"That seems rather a bad question to ask around, here," said Grandpa Grumbles. "Red Riding Hood, are you sure you have a name?"

 

Red Riding Hood said:

 

"I know this little rabbit. She is a good little rabbit, but she cries so much they call her Boo-hoo."

 

"Too many visitors, too many vis­itors," said Grandpa Grumbles again.

 

Little Bear went up to the rabbit and said: "Don't cry any more. I haven't any name, either."

 

Then the little rabbit dried her eyes on a pocket handkerchief and Grandpa Grum­bles shouted:

 

"Give them all some cookies can't you hear me? give them all some cookies!"

 

"Hush!" cried Red Riding Hood. "Bushy Tail stole them all!"

 

Then they all shouted: "Oh, ho! Bushy Tail stole all the cookies! Oh! ho! Bushy Tail is a sly⁹ old fellow!"

 

"Off to bed, every one of you!" shouted Grandpa Grumbles, "and look under your pillows, be sure to look under your pillows."

 

Then they all scampered¹⁰ off to bed quickly, you may be sure, and each looked under his pillow.

 

Now what do you suppose was under each pillow?

 

Red Riding Hood found a cookie frosted with red sugar.

 

Little Bear found a cookie frosted with blue sugar.

 

The rabbit found a cookie frosted with white sugar, and they all cried: "Hurrah¹¹ for Grandpa Grumbles! three cheers for Grandpa Grumbles!"

 

"Too many visitors," he answered with a chuckle¹². "Too many visitors. Go to bed, every one of you."

 

Then they all went to bed and had pleasant dreams.

 

 

Red Riding Hood dreamed that her basket was full of frosted cookies. Little Bear dreamed that he had a very fine blue cookie as big as a fan. The little rabbit dreamed that she saw cookies growing in the farmer's field.

 

Grandpa Grumbles lay awake a long time.

 

"I will surprise them all, to-mor­row," he said. "I have many surprises in my house."

1 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

2 grumbles   

抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
• I'm sick of your unending grumbles. 我对你的不断埋怨感到厌烦。

3 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

4 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。

5 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

6 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。

7 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

8 spectacles   

n.眼镜

参考例句：

• a pair of spectacles 一副眼镜
• People wear spectacles so that they can see better. 人们戴眼镜是为了看得更清楚。

9 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

10 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

12 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。