VI TICKLING A NOSE

 Old Mr. Crow did not want to stay near the brook¹ to talk with Peter Mink². Calling to Jolly Robin³ to follow him, he flapped his way to the edge of the woods and sat in a tree overlooking the pasture.

 

“Here comes Tommy Fox!” Mr. Crow exclaimed. “We ought to have some fun with him. So when it’s time for you to laugh for me, don’t forget to laugh loudly.”

 

“I’ll remember,” Jolly promised him. And just by way of practice he chirruped so merrily that Tommy Fox pricked⁴ up his ears and came bounding up to the tree where Jolly and Mr. Crow were sitting.

 

“Good morning!” Mr. Crow cried to Tommy. “Is that a hen’s feather that’s stuck behind your ear?” he asked very solemnly.

 

“No!” said Tommy Fox. “It’s a crow’s; and I certainly had a fine breakfast.”

 

Now, Jolly Robin wasn’t quite sure whether he ought to laugh or not. And then Tommy winked⁶ at him. So Jolly thought there must be a joke somewhere and he began to chirrup as loudly as he could.

 

“For pity’s sake, keep still!” old Mr. Crow snapped.

 

“But you wanted me to laugh louder,” Jolly reminded him.

 

“Yes,” said Mr. Crow—“when there’s anything to laugh at.”

 

“But didn’t Tommy Fox make a joke?” Jolly Robin asked.28

 

“A very poor one!” old Mr. Crow replied. “A very poor joke, indeed!... I see,” he added, “I see you’ve not had much experience laughing for people. And here’s where you make a mistake. You laugh at other people’s jokes, which is all wrong. After this you must laugh at my jokes—do you understand?”

 

Jolly Robin said he understood. And Mr. Crow remarked that he was glad there would be no more trouble.

 

“And now,” the old fellow said, “now we’ll go over to the swamp, where Uncle Sammy Coon lives. We ought to have some fun with him.”

 

So over to the swamp they flew, where they found Uncle Sammy Coon sunning himself in the top of a tall hemlock⁷.

 

“How-dy-do!” said Mr. Crow.

 

But Uncle Sammy Coon did not answer.

 

“We’re in luck!” Mr. Crow said with 29a chuckle⁸. “I declare, I believe the old beggar’s asleep. Just watch me play a practical joke on him!”

 

So Mr. Crow lighted on a branch near Uncle Sammy Coon and began tickling⁹ his nose.

 

Pretty soon Uncle Sammy Coon sneezed. And when that happened, Mr. Crow jumped back quickly. But Uncle Sammy didn’t awake—at least, he didn’t open his eyes. So Mr. Crow tickled¹⁰ his nose again.

 

Now, old Mr. Crow was so amused that he glanced at Jolly Robin, to see if he was watching. And in that instant when Mr. Crow looked away, Uncle Sammy Coon leaped at him. He caught Mr. Crow by the tail, too.

 

The old gentleman set up a great din⁵. He squawked, “Help! help!” at the top of his voice and flapped his broad wings.

 

The struggle was over in a moment. By a great effort Mr. Crow broke away, leaving one of his tail-feathers with Uncle Sammy Coon, and flew into another tree near-by.

 

Then Jolly Robin laughed as if he would never stop. He thought that it must be the proper time to laugh, because Mr. Crow had said he was going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy.

 

Mr. Crow, however, seemed to think differently about the matter.

 

“Do keep quiet!” he cried. “There’s nothing to laugh at, so far as I can see.”

 

“But you said you were going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy Coon, didn’t you?” Jolly inquired.

 

“Yes!” Mr. Crow replied. “But it’s no joke to lose a tail-feather. And I wouldn’t think of laughing at what just happened.... Besides,” he continued, “your laughter is altogether wrong. What you must try to do is to laugh very sadly. In fact,” he added, “I wouldn’t mind if you shed a few tears, because I feel quite upset over this unfortunate accident.”

 

Well, Jolly Robin saw at once that it was impossible for him to please Mr. Crow.

 

“My laughter,” he said, “is always merry. I couldn’t laugh sadly, no matter how hard I might try. And as for shedding tears, I couldn’t weep for you even if you lost all your tail-feathers, Mr. Crow.”

 

“Then you may leave at once!” Mr. Crow cried, just as if Farmer Green’s pasture belonged to him.

 

“Yes!” Jolly Robin answered. “I may—and then again, I may not!”

 

And since he stayed right there and laughed, old Mr. Crow himself flew away. 32It was a long while, too, before he could bear to hear people laugh. For he thought they must be laughing at him, because he had lost a tail-feather.

 

And perhaps that was what amused Jolly Robin, though I never thought of that before.

1 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

2 mink   

n.貂，貂皮

参考例句：

• She was wearing a blue dress and a mink coat.她穿着一身蓝色的套装和一件貂皮大衣。
• He started a mink ranch and made a fortune in five years. 他开了个水貂养殖场，五年之内就赚了不少钱。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 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。

5 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

6 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 hemlock   

n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉

参考例句：

• He was condemned to drink a cup of hemlock.判处他喝一杯毒汁。
• Here is a beech by the side of a hemlock,with three pines at hand.这儿有株山毛榉和一株铁杉长在一起，旁边还有三株松树。

8 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

9 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。

10 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。