CHAPTER V

 NIBBLE¹ HAS HIS DOUBTS ABOUT DOGS

“That was a lovely story.” Nibble chuckled², clear out to the tip of his tufty bunny tail. He chuckled so hard he forgot he was locked up in an uncomfortable cage, without a decent corner to snuggle in. “But you haven’t told me yet how the First Dog made friends with his Man. Go on. Please do.”

 

“N-no.” Watch answered thoughtfully, scratching his shoulder. “I’d rather not. I’m afraid you mightn’t understand.”

 

“Yes, I would,” teased Nibble. “Of course I would. In the very First-Off Beginning the dog made friends with the Baby and the Woman because he made them laugh. Did he make the Man laugh, too?”

 

“Why—yes. I expect he did,”

 

Watch answered. “You see, the Man wasn’t friendly when he came home. But the Woman and the Baby made him behave nicely. They always do. That is, they wouldn’t let him hit the dog with his stone hammer, or jab him with his spear. But he wouldn’t look at him. And the dog wanted that Man to trust him—wanted it most of all.

 

“So he began following the Man when he went out to hunt. But the Man threw stones at him as soon as they got where the Woman couldn’t see him do it, and told him to keep out of the way. The dog just crept off and hid.

 

“He saw the Man creep up on a band of wild cows that were grazing and sleeping in the sun. But just when he was almost close enough to kill one they all began to snort and run. And they ran right past where the dog was hiding from the Man.

 

“Of course he knew what that Man wanted. So he just bounded out and pinned a cow by the throat and sent her head over heels. And that did make the Man laugh. My, but he was happy! So then he trusted the dog, too, and they were the best of friends for ever and ever.” And Watch smiled as though he were right proud of the memory.

 

But Nibble was horrified³. “Oh!” he gasped⁴. “The poor cow! That was an awful thing to do. After the dogs pretended to be sorry that they had done it when they were starving. No wonder Mother Nature wouldn’t trust them.”

 

“There,” said Watch. “I knew you wouldn’t understand. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for his Man.”

 

“The Wild Things warned me,” said Nibble. “Both of them are bad, Dog and Man.”

 

“Look here, Bunny,” Watch explained patiently. “They don’t either of them do that now. They take care of the cows—because now the cows belong to Man and have his smell about them. Just the way I won’t touch you because you’re my Man’s rabbit and have the smell of my Man. I don’t like to kill things—except Ouphe the Rat, and that’s because he doesn’t belong to my Man and my Man told me to. Mother Nature wouldn’t trust the dog, so he won’t obey her. Man did trust him, so he just everlastingly⁵ does obey his Man.”

 

“I’d believe that better if the cows told it to me,” said Nibble defiantly⁶.

 

“All right! I’ll bring them up and let you talk to them as soon as they are milked and let out of the barn.” Watch was perfectly⁷ good-natured about it. “I’m going my rounds now, but you just tell me if Ouphe troubles you again.” And off he trotted⁸, waving his plumy tail.

 

Nibble was terribly shocked. So any dog would do anything his Man told him to do, no matter what Mother Nature thought about it! Now just what did the cows think of that? Nibble wanted dreadfully to know, because he hadn’t the least chance in the world of asking Mother Nature or any of the wise Wild Things. How he did want good old Doctor Muskrat⁹!

 

It was getting lighter¹⁰ and lighter, less and less scary every minute. Everything would be much more cheerful when the Sun peeked¹¹ out over his shoulder from down South where he was busy with the other half of the Earth. Suddenly a voice shouted from somewhere right behind him,

 

“All Evil Spirits hark and hear

The warning call of Chanticleer.

Er-er-er-er-errh.”

It was just the Rooster calling himself by a high-toned name—the way he always does. But Nibble had never seen one. He was so s’prised he jumped and snubbed his nose against the cage. So he huddled¹² up in the middle of it again.

 

Then all the voices of the farm-yard began calling, “Good morning! Good morning!” and he thought of course they were calling to the Sun. But pretty soon the pigs began their scary grunts¹³ and then one squealed¹⁴, “Good morning. We want our breakfast.” Right off all the rest of them took it up. The horses whinnied and the cows mooed, and the sheep bleated¹⁵, and the ducks and chickens and guinea-fowls and turkeys all shouted, “we want our breakfasts!”

 

Suddenly a new voice cheeped, right beside him, “I want my breakfast, too!” It was Chirp¹⁶ Sparrow!

 

“Oh, dear, I do wish they’d stop!” said Nibble. “Whoever are they calling? It isn’t the Sun!”

 

“’Course not. It’s their Man and Tommy Peele. I can hear them coming.”

 

Then Nibble remembered something. “Why, Chirp,” he said, in surprise, “Ouphe the Rat said he had eaten you! And he tried to eat me, too!”

 

“Ouphe is a liar,” said Chirp decidedly. “I hope he hears me say it. I wish that dog could catch him.”

 

“He never will,” Nibble answered sadly. “Silvertip could, but not that dog. He shouts every time and lets Ouphe know he’s coming. And when he does watch at one of Ouphe’s holes he keeps beating the haystack with his tail. That’s a tattle-tail for sure. Worse than the Mouse’s.”

 

“I’ll tell you what.” Chirp cocked his head on one side and looked thoughtful. “We’ll all have to put in and help the dog catch Ouphe. If we don’t, there’ll be a young dog on this farm and he’s sure to be a foolish one.”

 

“But how can I help while I’m in this cage?”

 

“You’ll be out before long!” said Chirp cheerfully. And so he was, though even Chirp didn’t know how it was going to happen.

 

And just then Tommy Peele came running up with some toothsome carrots and a whole armful of clover hay—for Nibble’s breakfast, though he hadn’t asked for it.

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 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

3 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

4 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》

5 everlastingly   

永久地，持久地

参考例句：

• Why didn't he hold the Yankees instead of everlastingly retreating? 他为什么不将北军挡住，反而节节败退呢？
• "I'm tired of everlastingly being unnatural and never doing anything I want to do. "我再也忍受不了这样无休止地的勉强自己，永远不能赁自己高兴做事。

6 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 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。

9 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。

10 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

12 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

13 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。

14 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》

15 bleated   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• The lost lamb bleated. 迷路的小羊咩咩的叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She bleated her disapproval of her son's marriage to Amy. 她用颤抖的声音表示不赞成儿子与艾米的婚事。 来自辞典例句

16 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。