XI THE UNRULY MULEY

 After leaving the Muley Cow, who was wearing her new poke¹ down by the lane, Aunt Polly Woodchuck and Billy Woodchuck's mother met old Mr. Crow again.

 

"Did you see her?" he asked them hoarsely².

 

"Yes!" they answered.

 

Mr. Crow gave them a sly leer. "What do you think of it?" he inquired.

 

They said that the poke was the strangest collar they had ever set eyes on.

 

"Ha! ha!" the old black rascal³ laughed. "I see that you don't know what it's for.... It's to keep the Muley Cow from jumping the fence into the back pasture. Farmer Green put it around her neck this morning."

 

"Did you ever?" said Billy Woodchuck's mother.

 

"Well, I never!" said Aunt Polly.

 

"We expected to see a poke bonnet," they both told Mr. Crow.

 

That made him laugh again hoarsely.

 

"She wants to see you. The Muley Cow wants to talk with you," Aunt Polly Woodchuck informed him.

 

"Is she feeling pleasant?" he asked.

 

"No, I shouldn't say she was," Aunt Polly replied.

 

"Then I'll fly over and call on her a little later," he decided⁴. "But first I must finish my breakfast." Thereupon he rose into the air and sailed away toward the cornfield, leaving two very puzzled Woodchuck ladies behind him.

 

 

If there was anything that Mr. Crow enjoyed more than another, it was teasing some person that was angry. So he kept his word. As soon as he had finished his breakfast he came back to the pasture and sought out the Muley Cow.

 

"Good morning!" he said very politely.

 

"Ah, ha!" she cried. "You've been gossiping about me. You've been telling everybody about this poke."

 

"It's most becoming," Mr. Crow said with a grin. "I supposed you'd like to have the neighbors know you were wearing something new."

 

"Well, I don't!" she retorted. "It's bad enough to have a poke put on my neck, at my age, without having the news spread all through Pleasant Valley."

 

"You can thank yourself for the fix you're in," Mr. Crow told her bluntly. "At your age you should have known better than to jump fences."

 

"How would you like it if you had to stay in this pasture day after day?" the Muley Cow asked him.

 

Mr. Crow hemmed⁵ and hawed.

 

"How would you like it if you couldn't go into the cornfield?" she went on.

 

Mr. Crow choked slightly but made no reply.

 

"How would you like it if I went up and down Pleasant Valley telling everybody that you were a—"

 

But Mr. Crow didn't care to hear any more. He knew that the Muley Cow was going to say something about his stealing corn.

 

"It's getting late," he interrupted, though the sun hadn't been up an hour. "I must be poking⁶ along." And then he flapped himself away.

 

That was just like Mr. Crow. When ever he found himself getting the worst of an argument he wouldn't talk any longer.

 

"Poking along, indeed!" the Muley Cow snorted as she watched him sailing toward the woods. "He can't fool me. He said that just to be disagreeable. He was poking fun at me!"

1 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

2 hoarsely   

adv.嘶哑地

参考例句：

• "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
• Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

3 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

4 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。

5 hemmed   

缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围

参考例句：

• He hemmed and hawed but wouldn't say anything definite. 他总是哼儿哈儿的，就是不说句痛快话。
• The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides. 士兵们被四面包围了。

6 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。