XIII HUNTING

 XIII

HUNTINGTo please old dog Spot Johnnie Green had only to ask him this question, "Want to go hunting, Spot?"

 

When he heard that, Spot would leave anything he happened to be doing, or give up anything he had intended to do. Perhaps he had expected to dig up and gnaw¹ a choice bone that he had buried somewhere. It might be that he had been planning to chase the cat, or tease Turkey Proudfoot in order to hear him gobble. There wasn't one of those pleasures that Spot wouldn't gladly forgo² for the sake of going hunting with Johnnie Green.

 

When Johnnie Green's father first gave him a shotgun Spot went almost frantic³ with delight. And they lost no time in starting for the woods. Johnnie Green trudged⁴ up the lane with the gun on his shoulder, while Spot ran on ahead of him, returning now and then as if to urge Johnnie to hurry.

 

They hadn't been long in the woods when Spot suddenly stood still and pointed⁵ ahead of him with his nose.

 

Try as he would, Johnnie couldn't see what Spot was pointing at. So he took a few steps forward until he came abreast⁶ of the old dog. Then all at once there was a rumbling⁷ whir that sounded to Johnnie Green almost as loud as thunder. A brownish streak⁸ flashed from the ground just ahead of him.

 

He knew that it was a grouse⁹ rising. And he fired.

 

Johnnie Green missed the bird. It had given him such a start that he was still shaking long afterward¹⁰. He was disappointed, but not less downcast than old Spot.

 

"Never mind, old boy!" Johnnie said. "We'll have better luck next time!"

 

But they didn't. Twice more that same thing happened. And after the third miss old Sport turned tail and ran away.

 

"I don't see what's the matter with that boy," he muttered. "I've pointed three birds for him. And he has let every one of them get away.... There's no fun in that kind of shooting."

 

After that Johnnie couldn't get Spot to go into the woods with him. Whenever Johnnie appeared in the yard with his gun, Spot promptly¹¹ vanished.

 

So Johnnie spent a good deal of time shooting at old tin cans which he set on a fence post or a stone wall. And it wasn't long before he found he could hit them at every shot.

 

At last he came home from the woods one day with a grouse. When he showed it to Spot the old dog actually began teasing him to go hunting.

 

The next day they set out together for the woods. And Johnnie knocked down the very first grouse that Spot found for him.

 

Spot brought the bird to Johnnie and laid it proudly at his feet.

 

"Did Johnnie Green ever give you any of the birds that you find for him?" Miss Kitty Cat inquired when Spot was boasting a bit about the sport he and Johnnie had in the woods. "No!" she said, answering her own question. "You're silly to hunt for him. I prefer to do my hunting alone. Then nobody can take the game away from me."

 

Old dog Spot walked away from her, to the barn.

 

"Miss Kitty Cat doesn't know what real hunting is," he told the old horse Ebenezer. "She creeps up on small birds after dark, when they are asleep."

 

"And you creep up on big birds in the daytime," said old Ebenezer, "so Johnnie Green can shoot them."

 

Being a sporting dog, Spot couldn't see anything queer in that remark.

 

"Certainly!" he said.

 

1 gnaw   

v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨

参考例句：

• Dogs like to gnaw on a bone.狗爱啃骨头。
• A rat can gnaw a hole through wood.老鼠能啃穿木头。

2 forgo   

v.放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够，他不得不放弃做准备工作。
• She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵，她愿意放弃生日宴请。

3 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

4 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

7 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

8 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

9 grouse   

n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦

参考例句：

• They're shooting grouse up on the moors.他们在荒野射猎松鸡。
• If you don't agree with me,please forget my grouse.如果你的看法不同，请不必介意我的牢骚之言。

10 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

11 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。