“HELP! HELP!”

 Little Jack¹ Rabbit threw himself against the door as soon as it closed on Featherhead. But Old Barney Owl² had fastened the latch³ and it wouldn’t open. My! What a dreadful scuffling was going on inside.

 

“Open the door! Open the door!” shouted the little rabbit, pounding on the wooden panels with his strong hind⁴ feet. But Old Barney Owl paid no attention. Maybe he had all he could do to hold Featherhead.

 

By and by it grew very quiet and Twinkle Tail peeped in through the keyhole, but he couldn’t see anything.

 

“Oh, dear me!” cried Little Jack Rabbit. “Perhaps Old Barney Owl has eaten Featherhead!” Poor Twinkle Tail’s heart almost stopped beating. Maybe it would have if he had known that the old owl had dragged his little brother squirrel upstairs by the tail.

 

“Snowballs and eggs! Snowballs and eggs!” muttered Old Barney, shaking Featherhead until his teeth rattled⁵. “You little rascal⁶! You thought I couldn’t tell a snowball from an egg, eh?” and he gave the little squirrel another shake.

 

“Now I’m going to skin you and eat you for supper!”

 

Oh, dear me! How Featherhead trembled when he heard that.

 

Just then there came a tremendous crash downstairs, and as the old owl looked over the railing, Twinkle Tail and Little Jack Rabbit broke in the door.

 

“Help! Help!” shouted Featherhead.

 

“Rats and mice! Rats and mice!” cried Old Barney Owl, still keeping a tight hold on the little squirrel’s tail.

 

He knew there was going to be trouble, but he wasn’t going to let his supper get away from him without a fight, let me tell you. No, siree. Old Barney Owl was too hungry for that. But he changed his mind pretty quickly. Yes, siree. When Little Jack Rabbit let fly his hind feet, thumpty-thump, thumpty-thump! knocking the old owl head over heels, he changed his mind. He let go of Featherhead, and before he could change it again there was nobody in the house except himself.

 

Gracious me! How the Squirrel Brothers scurried⁷ home. And the little rabbit lost no time, either. He went to bed early and in the middle of the night, when Old Barney Owl went “Hooty, toot!” he shivered and pulled the bedclothes up over his head.

 

“Toot, toot, hoot⁸!”

Old Barney plays his flute⁹.

It sounds so shivery in the dark,

The firefly’s tiny gleaming spark,

Goes out because the firefly

Is frightened by the old owl’s cry.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 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。

3 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

4 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

5 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

6 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。

7 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

9 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。