POOR JIMMY MINK

 As soon as Little Rabbit had told the old gentleman frog to watch out for the Miller’s Boy, he hopped¹ along by the Bubbling Brook², as it wound in and out among the trees of the Shady Forest or went splashing over rocks and fallen logs. All of a sudden he met Jimmy Mink³. But, oh dear me! What was the matter with Jimmy Mink? He was hobbling on three legs. What could be the matter?

 

“Helloa, there, Jimmy Mink,” shouted the little rabbit.

 

“What makes you walk on three legs,

When you can walk on four?

I didn’t know that you had been

A soldier in the war.”

 

“I haven’t,” replied Jimmy Mink. “I got caught in a trap,” and he lifted up his right foreleg.

 

“Why, your foot’s gone!” gasped⁴ the little rabbit. “Isn’t that dreadful?”

 

“Yes, it’s pretty bad,” answered Jimmy Mink. “But the only way I could free myself was to bite off my foot.”

 

“Oh! oh! oh!” cried the little rabbit, sorrowfully. “Tell me how it happened.” So Jimmy Mink explained how one day when he had crept out of his little house under the bank of the Bubbling Brook, he had seen a nice fat trout⁵ on an old log. “There was a queer looking iron thing there, too,” he said, “but I didn’t think anything about that. But, oh dear me! When I picked up the trout, something snapped and my leg was caught fast. Oh, how it pinched! I pulled and pulled. But I couldn’t get away. Then I tried to bite the iron thing that held my foot, but I couldn’t break it. So at last I gnawed⁶ off my foot.”

 

“Whew!” whistled the little bunny through his teeth. “I never could do that. My, but you’re a brave fellow.”

 

“There’s the iron thing over there,” said Jimmy Mink, pointing to a trap that lay on an old log close to the bank. The little rabbit hopped over and looked at it. And, sure enough, pinched in between the jaws⁷ of the cruel trap was Jimmy Mink’s little black foot.

 

“But I’ve learned my lesson,” said Jimmy Mink. “Next time if I want trout, I’ll catch him in the water, not on top of a log,” and he jumped into the pool and swam away. Then the little rabbit hopped along the Shady Forest Trail, but he couldn’t forget poor little Jimmy Mink.

 

Well, after a while, all of a sudden, he heard a great chickering and chirring overhead. Around and around the trunk of the tree went two bodies, one a yellowish brown, about as large as a cat, and the other gray, with a long bushy tail.

 

Up to the top they went as fast as lightning, around and around, corkscrew fashion, and then down they came to the ground and before his yellowish brown enemy could catch him, Twinkle Tail dashed into a crack between two stones.

 

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

3 mink   

n.貂，貂皮

参考例句：

• She was wearing a blue dress and a mink coat.她穿着一身蓝色的套装和一件貂皮大衣。
• He started a mink ranch and made a fortune in five years. 他开了个水貂养殖场，五年之内就赚了不少钱。

4 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

6 gnawed   

咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• His attitude towards her gnawed away at her confidence. 他对她的态度一直在削弱她的自尊心。
• The root of this dead tree has been gnawed away by ants. 这棵死树根被蚂蚁唼了。

7 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。