VIII Watching The Chickens

 Solomon Owl¹ and Fatty Coon couldn't help laughing at what Tommy Fox said to them, as they sat in their tree near the farmhouse², looking down at him in the moonlight.

 

“I'm here to watch Farmer Green's chickens for him—” said he—“to see that no rat—or anybody else—runs away with a pullet.”

 

 

“Farmer Green has someone else watching for him to-night,” said Solomon Owl, when he had stopped laughing. “There's that strange man! You can see how he keeps his glaring eyes fixed³ on the chicken house. And unless I'm mistaken, he's on the lookout⁴ for you.”

 

“No such thing!” Tommy Fox snapped. And he looked up at Solomon as if he wished that he could climb the tree.

 

“Here comes somebody else!” Fatty Coon exclaimed suddenly. His keen eyes had caught sight of Jimmy Rabbit, hopping⁵ along on his way to the vegetable garden, to see if he couldn't find a stray cabbage or a turnip⁶.

 

Solomon Owl called to him. Whereupon, Jimmy Rabbit promptly⁷ sat up and looked at the odd trio. If it hadn't been for Tommy Fox he would have drawn⁸ nearer.

 

“Do you know that stranger?” Solomon Owl asked him, pointing out the horrible head to Jimmy.

 

“I haven't the pleasure,” said Jimmy Rabbit, after he had taken a good look.

 

“Well,” said Solomon, “won't you kindly⁹ speak to him; and ask him to go away?”

 

“Certainly!” answered Jimmy Rabbit, who always tried to be obliging.

 

“I hope the stranger won't eat him,” remarked Tommy Fox, “because I hope to do that some day, myself.”

 

It was queer—but Jimmy Rabbit was the only one of the four that wasn't afraid of those glaring features. He hopped¹⁰ straight up to the big round head, which was just a bit higher than one of the fence posts, against which the stranger seemed to be leaning. And after a moment or two Jimmy Rabbit called to Solomon and Fatty and Tommy Fox:

 

“He won't go away! He's going to stay right where he is!”

 

“Come here a minute!” said Tommy.

 

Jimmy Rabbit shook his head.

 

 

“You come over here!” he answered. And he did not stir from the side of the stranger. He knew very well that Tommy Fox was afraid of the man with the head with the glaring eyes.

 

As for Tommy Fox, he did not even reply—that is, to Jimmy Rabbit. But he spoke¹¹ his mind freely enough to his two friends in the tree.

 

“It seems to me one of you ought to do something,” said he. “We'll eat no pullets to-night if we can't get rid of this meddlesome¹² stranger.”

 

Fatty Coon quite agreed with him.

 

“The one who was here first is the one to act!” Fatty declared. “That's you!” he told Solomon Owl.

 

So Solomon Owl felt most uncomfortable.

 

 

“I don't know what I can do,” he said. “I spoke to the stranger—asked him who he was. And he wouldn't answer me.”

 

“Can't you frighten him away?” Tommy Fox inquired. “Fly right over his head and give him a blow with your wing as you pass!”

 

Solomon Owl coughed. He was embarrassed, to say the least.

 

“He's afraid!” Fatty Coon cried. And both he and Tommy Fox kept repeating, over and over again, “He's afraid! He's afraid! He's afraid!”

 

It was really more than Solomon Owl could stand.

 

“I'm not!” he retorted angrily. “Watch me and you'll see!” And without another word he darted¹³ out of the tree and swooped¹⁴ down upon the stranger, just brushing the top of his head. Solomon Owl knew at once that he had knocked something off the top of that dreadful head—something that fell to the ground and made Jimmy Rabbit jump nervously¹⁵.

 

Then Solomon returned to his perch¹⁶ in the tree.

 

“He hasn't moved,” he said. “But I knocked off his hat.”

 

“You took off the top of his head!” cried Fatty Coon in great excitement. “Look! The inside of his head is afire.”

 

And peering down from the tree-top, Solomon Owl saw that Fatty Coon had told the truth.

1 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。

2 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

5 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

6 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

7 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。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

10 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。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 meddlesome   

adj.爱管闲事的

参考例句：

• By this means the meddlesome woman cast in a bone between the wife and the husband.这爱管闲事的女人就用这种手段挑起他们夫妻这间的不和。
• Get rid of that meddlesome fool!让那个爱管闲事的家伙走开！

13 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

15 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

16 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。