CHAPTER VII THE CROSS DUCK

 The next day my mouth and tongue were quite well once more, but it was more than a week before I got brave enough to hunt frogs again. In fact, I have never cared for frog-hunting very much since, and I only did it after that just to show Freya that I wasn’t afraid to. But I couldn’t get her to go with me. She’s rather a coward, Freya is. Just look at the time I scared the duck! The way she acted then made me quite ashamed of her!

 

That was months before I made the mistake about the toad¹ and I was younger and sillier. I told you that there were ducks on our place. Well, they lived in a house next door to where the chickens were, and in the day time they all waddled³ out as soon as William opened the gate for them and went down to the pond. They are stupid things, ducks. They don’t do anything all day long but waddle² around and wag their tails and eat and swim and say “quack⁴!” I don’t know what “quack” means and I don’t believe they do, for they always say it just the same way and no matter what happens. If they see William with their dinner they say “quack” and if they see a chicken-hawk sailing about they say “quack” and if I so much as look at them—from a distance—they say “quack” just the same. I don’t believe “quack” means a thing. They just want you to think it does.

 

Well, one day I was trotting⁵ around by myself looking for something to do when I caught sight of a duck sitting in the grass on the side of the brook⁶ quite a ways beyond the pond. She didn’t see me because she had her head hidden under her wing in the silly way ducks have. It had been a very dull day so far and I wanted some fun. So I thought it would be a good joke to creep up on Mrs. Duck and give her a good scare and see if she would say anything more than just “Quack!”

 

Well, I did. I crept up very, very softly and when I was about two feet away I said “Bow-wow!” as loudly as I could. Mrs. Duck gave a start, pulled her head out and said “Quack!” much louder than I had said “Bow-wow!” And then, before I knew what she was up to, she spread her wings very wide and jumped right at me!

 

It—well, it sort of surprised me, because I didn’t know ducks did that. Besides, with her wings all spread open like that and her mouth very wide open, too, she looked almost as big as ten ducks! So—so I sort of backed away, not because I was afraid of her but just because I was so surprised. Besides, I’d had my fun and was ready to go away, anyhow. But she didn’t seem to understand that it was all just a joke and she came right at me, saying “Quack! Quack! Quack!” quite crossly. So I kept on backing away, and the faster I backed the faster she came for me and the louder she “quacked!”

 

I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I got between Mrs. Duck and the brook. I didn’t know it, of course, or I should have backed another way. Another thing I didn’t know—and I wished I had known it—was that she had a nest full of eggs there and was hatching out some little ducks. If I had known that I would not have gone near her. But I didn’t know it until afterwards. So I kept on backing and she kept on “quacking” and making dabs⁷ at me with her yellow bill and flapping her wings and all of a sudden I backed right over the side of the bank into the brook!

 

There was not much water in the brook and I sat right down in a lot of soft, sticky mud. Of course I tried to get out, but the more I tried the faster I stuck in that nasty mud. And all the time that horrid⁸, quarrelsome duck stood on the bank and said “Quack!” and scolded me. I was afraid she might come in after me, and that is why I tried so very hard to get out. But she didn’t. She just stood there and said a lot of mean things to me while the mud got stickier and stickier. And then I howled. Any one would have howled. I didn’t howl because I was afraid. I howled because I couldn’t get my feet out of the mud. No dog likes to be stuck in horrid black mud. Pretty soon Freya came and looked over the edge of the bank at me. But she didn’t come very near where Mrs. Duck stood.

 

“Why,” she said, “what are you doing down there, Fritz? William will be very angry with you for getting so dirty. You’d better come right out and take a bath in the pond before you go home.”

 

“I can’t get out!” I howled. “I’m stuck in this mud. Help me!”

 

But Freya looked at the duck, who was still “quacking” at a great rate, and shook her head.

 

“I—I’m afraid of her,” said Freya.

 

“Afraid of a duck!” I said. “Well, I’d be ashamed to own it!” But I kept a watch on the duck because I was afraid she might understand what I said. She didn’t though. “Bark at her and scare her away,” I told Freya. “She—she won’t hurt you. Ducks are great cowards.”

 

But Freya shook her head again. “I—I don’t like her looks,” she said. “Couldn’t you—couldn’t you pull yourself out if you tried very hard?”

 

“No, I couldn’t,” I snapped. “If I could I wouldn’t be here now. If you can’t help me out of here you’d better run home and tell Mother. You’re an awful scare-baby!”

 

So Freya walked two or three steps toward the duck and said “Bow-wow!” just as if she was frightened to death, which she was, and the duck paid no attention to her at all. Then Freya went a little nearer and barked again. That time Mrs. Duck heard her and turned around and made straight for her. Freya gave one awful yelp⁹, tucked her tail between her legs and flew. And the duck went after her, flapping her wings and “quacking!” And somehow just then I managed to get a front paw on a stone at the side of the brook and dragged myself out. And when I got to the top of the bank Freya was half-way across the meadow, still yelping¹⁰, and Mrs. Duck was waddling¹¹ back again.

 

I didn’t stay there long, I can tell you. Not that I was afraid of that stupid old duck, but I wanted to get the mud off me before it dried on. So I hurried back to the pond. But when I got there it was full of other ducks and they looked at me so queerly that I thought I’d better not go into the pond after all. So I sneaked¹² back to the stable, thinking I’d get behind the flower-pots before any one could see me. But just as I came to the door who should come out but William!

 

“Well!” he said, just like that; “Well!” I made a dash for the corner where the flower-pots were and got there, but he hauled me right out by my neck and held me at arm’s length and looked at me. “I never see a dirtier pup,” he said. “Where have you been?” Of course I didn’t tell him and he said: “Well, wherever you’ve been I know where you’re going. You’re going into the tub!”

 

What followed was awful. William filled the tub in the stable half-full of cold water and put me in it. I thought at first I would drown, but he held me up with one hand and lathered¹³ me all over with harness soap with the other. And then he took a horrid, stiff brush and scrubbed me until it hurt. The soap[58] got in my eyes and smarted and it got into my mouth and tasted badly, and all the time William scolded.

 

I had to cry a little. You’d have cried too. I’ve heard you cry when Nurse got soap in your eyes, and you needn’t pretend you haven’t. Besides, it was all very unfair. I didn’t want to fall in the mud and get dirty. It was all that duck’s fault. But William just blamed it all on me without trying to find out how it really happened, and I had to suffer. Once I caught sight of Freya peeking¹⁴ around the corner of the door and I said to myself: “Just you wait till I get out of here, if I ever do, and see what will happen to you, Miss!”

 

But when, after a long, long time, William thought he could not get any more dirt off me and so put me out on the floor, and when I had shaken myself half a dozen times, felt so good that I forgot all about the way Freya had behaved and ran circles and barked until I was almost dry. Then I found a nice warm spot against the side of the stable and went to sleep.

 

But even if I did forgive Freya that time you can see that she behaved very badly and is not at all brave. Still, I suppose that being a girl dog has a lot to do with it. You mustn’t expect a girl-dog to be as brave as a boy-dog.

 

That was my first real bath. I’ve had many since then and I’ve grown to put up with them just as one must put up with castor-oil and pills. But I’m sure I shall never get fond of them. I don’t mind wading¹⁵ in the pond or even swimming a little, but baths are quite different. Besides, I am not a water-dog, like a spaniel or a retriever, and folks ought to think of that. They don’t, though. About once a month I have to go through with it, and the mere¹⁶ sight of a cake of soap quite takes my appetite away for hours. I once heard the Mistress tell the man who comes for the laundry that she wanted something “dry-cleaned.” I wonder why dogs can’t be dry-cleaned too!

1 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

2 waddle   

vi.摇摆地走；n.摇摆的走路(样子)

参考例句：

• I am pregnant.I waddle awkwardly and my big stomach pressed against the weight of the world. 我怀孕了，我滑稽可笑地瞒珊而行，大肚子上压着全世界的重量。
• We waddle and hop and have lots of fun.我们走起路来摇摇摆摆，还一跳一跳的。我们的生活很有趣。

3 waddled   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

5 trotting   

小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
• Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳，小马开始慢跑起来。

6 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。

7 dabs   

少许( dab的名词复数 )； 是…能手； 做某事很在行； 在某方面技术熟练

参考例句：

• Each of us had two dabs of butter. 我们每人吃了两小块黄油。
• He made a few dabs at the fence with the paint but didn't really paint it. 他用颜料轻刷栅栏，但一点也没刷上。

8 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

9 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

10 yelping   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping. 在桌子中间有一只小狗坐在那儿，抖着它的爪子，汪汪地叫。 来自辞典例句
• He saved men from drowning and you shake at a cur's yelping. 他搭救了快要溺死的人们，你呢，听到一条野狗叫唤也瑟瑟发抖。 来自互联网

11 waddling   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rhinoceros Give me a break, were been waddling every day. 犀牛甲：饶了我吧，我们晃了一整天了都。 来自互联网
• A short plump woman came waddling along the pavement. 有个矮胖女子一摇一摆地沿人行道走来。 来自互联网

12 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

13 lathered   

v.（指肥皂）形成泡沫( lather的过去式和过去分词 )；用皂沫覆盖；狠狠地打

参考例句：

• I lathered my face and started to shave. 我往脸上涂了皂沫，然后开始刮胡子。
• He's all lathered up about something. 他为某事而兴奋得不得了。 来自辞典例句

14 peeking   

v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• I couldn't resist peeking in the drawer. 我不由得偷看了一下抽屉里面。
• They caught him peeking in through the keyhole. 他们发现他从钥匙孔里向里窥视。 来自辞典例句

15 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

16 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。