OLD BARNEY OWL

 Well, I’m mighty¹ glad the little rabbit lost only the fur tip to his tail. That was bad enough, but he forgot all about it the next morning when the Squirrel Brothers invited him over the ’phone to meet them at the Shady Forest Pond. He spent no time at all getting out his skates, but his mother took two minutes and a half tying a woolen² muffler around his neck. She knew, like all wise mothers, that it’s lots more fun to skate when one is nice and warm.

 

When he reached the pond the Squirrel Brothers were already there, skating merrily over the ice.

 

Busy Beaver³ in his winter home below could hear them whirring along, cutting fancy figures in the ice, and calling merrily to one another.

 

After a while, when the little rabbit and the squirrel brothers had grown tired of skating, they ran over to make a call on Old Barney Owl⁴, who lived in the Big Chestnut⁵ Tree on a small island, right in the middle of the pond.

 

Although it was now pretty late in the afternoon, the old gentleman owl was still asleep, and when he opened the door, his eyes winked⁶ and blinked, and at first he didn’t know them at all. In fact, he shut the door right in their faces. I suppose he thought they had knocked just to wake him up. Perhaps they had, for when the door closed with a bang they all began to laugh.

 

 

By and by Featherhead knocked again, and when Old Barney Owl opened it a second time, the naughty little squirrel said:

 

“Here is a nice fresh egg!”

 

Goodness me! When the old owl, whose eyes were still very blinky, found out it wasn’t an egg, but a snowball, he dropped it on the little squirrel’s head, and slammed the door again.

 

Now, if Featherhead had only gone back to his skating, all would have been well. But he didn’t. No, indeed. Instead, he knocked again, and when the old owl opened the door, that naughty squirrel dropped a snowball down his collar. Goodness gracious me! What a scuffle there was all at once, and, just like that! the old owl pulled the little squirrel into his house and closed the door.

 

Oh, what a scowl⁷ had Mr. Owl,

And Featherhead felt nearly dead.

He was so scared at what he’d done

He couldn’t move his feet to run.

 

And, goodness gracious! so would I

Have felt as if I’d surely die,

If some big giant from his tree

Had through his doorway⁸ pulled poor me.

 

From head to toe I’d surely quake,

And feel my frightened heart would break.

But now let’s turn the page to see

If ever Featherhead gets free.

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 woolen   

adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的

参考例句：

• She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
• There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。

3 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

4 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。

5 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

6 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

8 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。