XIV Hanging By The Heels

 It was several nights before Solomon Owl¹ and Benjamin Bat chanced to meet again in the forest.

 

“Hullo!” said Solomon.

 

“Hullo!” said Benjamin Bat. “I'm glad to see you, because I want to thank you for letting me spend the day in your house, so I wouldn't have to stay out in the storm.”

 

“You must be a light sleeper,” Solomon observed. (He did not tell Benjamin that he was welcome!)

 

“What makes you think that?” Benjamin Bat inquired.

 

 

“Why—you left my house before noon,” Solomon told him.

 

“Oh, no!” said Benjamin. “I slept soundly until sunset. When I came away the crickets were chirping². And I was surprised that you hadn't waked up yourself.”

 

“You were gone before midday,” Solomon Owl insisted. And they had something very like a dispute, while Solomon Owl sat in one tree and Benjamin Bat hung head downward from another. “I ought to know,” said Solomon. “I was awake about noon; and I looked everywhere for you.”

 

“What for?” asked Benjamin.

 

Naturally, Solomon didn't like to tell him that he had intended to eat him. So he looked wise—and said nothing.

 

“You didn't look on the ceiling, did you?” Benjamin Bat inquired.

 

 

“No, indeed!” Solomon Owl exclaimed.

 

“Well, that's where I was, hanging by my feet,” Benjamin Bat informed him.

 

Solomon Owl certainly was surprised to hear that.

 

“The idea!” he cried. “You're a queer one! I never once thought of looking on the ceiling for a luncheon³!” He was so astonished that he spoke⁴ before he thought how oddly his remark would sound to another.

 

When he heard what Solomon Owl said, Benjamin Bat knew at once that Solomon had meant to eat him. And he was so frightened that he dropped from the limb to which he was clinging and flew off as fast as he could go. For once in his life he flew in a straight line, with no zigzags⁵ at all, he was in such a hurry to get away from Solomon Owl, who—for all he knew—might still be very hungry.

 

 

But Solomon Owl had caught so many mice that night that he didn't feel like chasing anybody. So he sat motionless in the tree, merely turning his head to watch Benjamin sailing away through the dusky woods. He noticed that Benjamin didn't dodge⁶ at all—except when there was a tree in his way. And he wondered what the reason was.

 

“Perhaps he's not so crazy as I supposed,” said Solomon Owl to himself. And ever afterward⁷, when he happened to awake and feel hungry, Solomon Owl used to look up at the ceiling above him and wish that Benjamin Bat was there.

 

But Benjamin Bat never cared to have anything more to do with Solomon Owl.

 

He said he had a good reason for avoiding him.

 

 

And ever afterward he passed for a very brave person among his friends. They often pointed⁸ him out to strangers, saying, “There's Benjamin Bat! He doesn't know what fear is. Why, once he even spent a whole day asleep in Solomon Owl's house! And if you don't think that was a bold thing to do, then I guess you don't know Solomon Owl.”

 

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 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

3 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

4 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。

5 zigzags   

n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
• History moves in zigzags and by roundabout ways. 历史的发展是曲折的，迂回的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

7 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。

8 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。