CHAPTER I SONGS OF THE HUNT

 You’d have thought every wing and paw in the Woods and Fields (except the Bad Little Owls, 

 

of course) would have been glad to know that Silvertip the Fox was caught. ’Specially 

 

Nibble¹ Rabbit, who started the hunt, and wise old Doctor Muskrat², who planned it, and Tommy 

 

Peele’s good dog, Watch, and Trailer the Hound, who were still barking on his trail way 

 

out in the middle of the Deep Woods. For Silvertip was just as clever as he was wicked; the 

 

very last thing he’d done was to fool those two dogs again.

 

I s’pose old Grandpop Snapping Turtle, who did the catching³ was—glad, I mean. But Doctor 

 

Muskrat just looked very, very sober, and Nibble felt the shivers run from the puff⁴ on his 

 

tufty tail to the tips of his tickly whiskers whenever he thought about it. They didn’t 

 

have a word to say while they waited for the two hunters to come back to the meeting-place 

 

by the flat stone at the edge of the Pond.

 

But they thought of course the dogs would bark the good news so loud that Tommy could hear 

 

it way down the road at the schoolhouse. Instead, Trailer just gasped⁵, “How awful!” in a 

 

very awed⁶ voice. And Watch looked as if somebody’d rubbed him the wrong way.

 

“Awful!” repeated Trailer. “Poor Silvertip! Think of his being caught by a stupid old 

 

mud-grubber like that!” He drooped⁷ his tail and ears.

 

“Why, that’s just the way I felt about it!” Nibble exclaimed. “But I never dreamed you 

 

would. I thought you hated him.”

 

“Hate him!” said both dogs at once. “Why, he was the smartest Beast we ever chased. We 

 

hadn’t any reason to hate him.”

 

That certainly made Nibble open his eyes pretty wide. “Then why did you try to kill him?” 

 

he demanded. “Was it because you’re hungry?” He was glad to know that the Pickery Things 

 

were close behind him when he asked that.

 

Trailer laughed. “I’m always hungry.” But his tail went up when he said it, so Nibble 

 

didn’t run. “But that isn’t why I hunt. You have to know a beast to hate him. I’ve 

 

killed plenty of beasts I never saw before I found their trail. Lots that I don’t eat, 

 

either.”

 

“I couldn’t do that!” Nibble gasped and Doctor Muskrat nodded.

 

“Of course not,” said Trailer, quite proudly, too. “But that’s what I was made for. My 

 

mother taught me to use my nose before my eyes were open and to sing the trailing song as 

 

soon as I could talk above a whimper.”

 

“Sing it,” begged the woodsfolk. “Please.”

 

Trailer raised his head and bayed with an open throat:

 

“drop your nose on the odorous trail,

For the warmest footprint soon grows stale.

    Tow-row-row!

Leap the fences, plough through the mire⁸,

At a steady gallop⁹ that’s slow to tire,

Follow the game of the hounds’ desire.

Raise your eyes—There he flies!

Hail!

Mark the flick¹⁰ of his fleeting¹¹ tail!

    Tow-row-row!”

“You see,” he explained, “one dog doesn’t do all the singing. He sings one line and 

 

someone else answers with the next one, round and round again.”

 

The sound sent a queer, scary thrill through Nibble Rabbit. But now he wasn’t really 

 

afraid of the smiling hound any more than he was of Watch.

 

Watch sat with his ears pricked¹² and his nostrils¹³ twitching¹⁴ while he listened to the Hound’

 

s Hunting Song. “Eh, but that’s grand!” he barked. “It puts the tickle¹⁵ into your feet 

 

to be up and running.”

 

Nibble Rabbit squirmed closer to the Pickery Things. He wasn’t afraid of the dogs, but he 

 

felt very queer. “It starts my feet tickling¹⁶, too,” he sniffed¹⁷. “And my fur’s all 

 

fluffed out like a moulting bird.”

 

Trailer laughed. “That’s partly what we sing it for,” he explained. “It rouses up you 

 

Game Beasts and gets you running, and when your coat stands up on end your scent¹⁸ is easier 

 

to follow.”

 

“You don’t say?” Nibble’s eyes were sparkling. “Then that’s why the Quail¹⁹ say ‘Hold 

 

your scent!’ when they mean ‘sleek down your feathers.’”

 

“Exactly,” nodded Trailer. “And they’re so clever that it takes a special dog, who 

 

makes a business of birds, to find them. He has a special song, too, but I never learned 

 

it. I only follow furry²⁰ things.”

 

“That was splendid!” put in Doctor Muskrat, who had been listening thoughtfully to the 

 

talk. He wasn’t at all sorry because the dogs had politely left him a clear path to the 

 

water. He could have dived in a flash if he had wanted to. “You’ve made the frogs very 

 

jealous, Mr. Trailer.” Sure enough, the frogs were tuning²¹ up all over the pond. “There’s 

 

something very queer about this,” he went on. “Your song doesn’t do anything to me—

 

because I’ve never been chased that way. But there was one dog, a noisy little one, who 

 

used to drive me nearly out of my wits when I was younger.”

 

“That might have been Spice the Terrier, who was here when I was a pup,” said Watch. “I 

 

know his song well enough. He was always shouting it at something.

 

“A cat hunt!

A rat hunt!

A bird, beast, or bat hunt!

Fur or feather, hide or skin,

Shake him out and claw him in.

Grip your teeth beneath his chin

And there’s the end of that hunt.”

Watch had fairly snapped out Spice’s song.

 

“That’s it!” squealed²² the Doctor. “That’s the very song—and look at my fur! It will 

 

take a dip in cold water to smooth it again.” He was as fluffy²³ as Tad Coon’s tail. “Now, 

 

Watch, what’s your song?”

 

“Oh, I’m no regular kind of a dog, so I really haven’t any,” said Watch, looking a bit 

 

regretful. “I just do—whatever I’m told the best I can and”—here his ears pricked and 

 

his tail began to wag—“I look after Tommy Peele.”

 

“But why must you always do things?” said Nibble.

 

“Why, everyone has to have a job of some kind,” said Trailer. “Or else he’s a worthless 

 

old scrump not worth feeding. And, if it’s really your own special job, you enjoy doing 

 

it. I love to hunt, but I wouldn’t care much about driving cows.”

 

“Sure you would if you learned how,” said Watch. “I really do.”

 

“There, you see?” laughed Trailer. And Nibble nodded.

 

“Speaking of driving cows,” smiled Trailer, “who do you think drove up to Tommy Peele’s 

 

this morning?” He said it to tease Watch. He and Watch had gone out before daybreak to 

 

hunt Silvertip and now it was way past milking time.

 

But Watch wasn’t teased a bit.

 

“The cows slept in the barn,” he grinned. “Nobody had to drive them—so there! The only 

 

job I have waiting for me right now is to clean up my breakfast plate before Chirp²⁴ Sparrow 

 

gets his scratchy little feet into it.”

 

Trailer forgot all about how tired he was. “Fine,” said he. “I’m ready to help you.” 

 

And off they trotted²⁵ with their tails waving.

1 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

2 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

5 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》

6 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

8 mire   

n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境

参考例句：

• I don't want my son's good name dragged through the mire.我不想使我儿子的名誉扫地。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

9 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

10 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

11 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

12 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

13 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

14 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

16 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

17 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

19 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

20 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

21 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 squealed   

v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

24 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

25 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。