CHAPTER IX Miss Snooper

 Moses Mouse, who lived in the farmhouse¹, had warned Master Meadow Mouse. He had warned him to look out for Miss Snooper's nose.

Master Meadow Mouse did not pay any great attention to his new friend's advice. He was building himself a new home in Farmer Green's woodpile. And he went about his work as if there wasn't a cat within a hundred miles.

 

Then, one day, he caught a glimpse of Miss Snooper. He peeped out from a chink in the woodpile and saw her sitting on a stick of wood. She was so near him that Master Meadow Mouse could have leaped upon her back in one spring.

 

But he didn't do that. He gazed at her with round eyes, for Miss Snooper looked very fierce, especially when she opened her mouth and showed her sharp teeth as she yawned. Master Meadow Mouse saw that she was a quite different creature from the awkward kitten whom he had bitten on the nose earlier in the summer.

 

"Goodness!" thought Master Meadow Mouse, staring at Miss Snooper with great awe². "Goodness! Her whiskers are longer than mine!"

 

And then he drew back very softly and crept to his nest in the woodpile.

 

That night Moses Mouse came to make another call. And he brought his wife with him, so that she might see the stranger with the short tail who was going to live in Farmer Green's woodpile.

 

"I saw Miss Snooper to-day," Master Meadow Mouse told them.

 

"Did you bite her nose?" Mrs. Mouse asked him eagerly; for her husband had told her all about the newcomer.

 

"No!" said Master Meadow Mouse. "No! I was too busy, building my new home, to stop and bite her."

 

"Isn't he brave!" whispered Mrs. Moses Mouse to her husband.

 

From where they sat, on the top of the woodpile, Master Meadow Mouse and his callers caught sight of a dark shape that moved stealthily towards them through the shadows.

 

"It's Miss Snooper herself!" Mrs. Mouse cried. And quick as a wink³ she dived down among the sticks of wood, with her husband following close behind her.

 

"Probably Master Meadow Mouse will bite Miss Snooper's nose this time," she said to Moses, when she had reached a safe retreat.

 

"He isn't biting it now," Moses Mouse replied, "because he's crowding right behind me."

 

"Miss Snooper has come," Mrs. Mouse said to Master Meadow Mouse. "Maybe you didn't understand that it was she."

 

"Let her come!" Master Meadow Mouse squeaked⁴.

 

"Isn't he brave!" Mrs. Moses Mouse murmured.

 

"I'll bite her nose if she sticks it into this crevice," Master Mouse declared.

 

"Isn't he brave!" she breathed into her husband's ear.

 

"I'm not so sure of that," said Moses Mouse in an undertone. "He talks a good deal about nose-biting. I should like to see him do it. I knew Miss Snooper was skulking⁵ around the yard to-night. That's why I came to call on this chap. I wanted to see whether he'd fight or run."

 

Meanwhile Miss Snooper climbed all over the woodpile. She could hear faint squeaks⁶ somewhere. And she was almost frantic⁷ because she couldn't squirm under the wood and find whoever was talking.

 

It was almost morning before Moses Mouse and his wife dared to steal back to the farmhouse. When they left the woodpile Master Meadow Mouse left it too. He had decided⁸, during the night, that he wouldn't live in the farmyard.

 

"I've become very tired of this old Cat," he told his companions—Mr. and Mrs. Moses Mouse. "I shouldn't care to stay where I had to see her often."

1 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。

2 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

3 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

4 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

5 skulking   

v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• There were half a dozen foxes skulking in the undergrowth. 在林下灌丛中潜伏着五六只狐狸。 来自辞典例句

6 squeaks   

n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The upper-middle-classes communicate with each other in inaudible squeaks, like bats. 那些上中层社会的人交谈起来象是蚊子在哼哼，你根本听不见。 来自辞典例句
• She always squeaks out her ideas when she is excited. 她一激动总是尖声说出自己的想法。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。