XII THE COWBIRDS

 Some of the Muley Cow's friends were very sorry for her, when Farmer Green put the poke¹ around her neck to keep her from jumping the pasture fence. It was a heavy, clumsy thing to carry about all day. Sometimes, if she was not careful, the Muley Cow knocked her knees against it.

 

Of course, there were others in the herd², like the little red cow and the big white one, that made disagreeable remarks. When they said unkind things to her the Muley Cow pretended that the poke didn't trouble her.

 

 

"Don't you know," she said to them one day, "that it's an honor to wear a poke? It shows that I'm the most valuable animal in the herd. Farmer Green doesn't intend to lose me, if he can help it."

 

"Nonsense!" the little red cow cried. "Farmer Green makes you wear the poke because he doesn't want you to teach the young cattle bad habits. If he hadn't stopped you from jumping you'd soon have had all the youngsters at it."

 

It was now the Muley Cow's turn to cry, "Nonsense!" But somehow she couldn't quite say the word. She had a queer, guilty feeling. And she walked away looking quite glum³. She didn't want to talk with anybody.

 

After her there followed a small flock of cowbirds.

 

"We aren't intruding⁴, I hope," one plump cowbird remarked with a smirk⁵ as he settled himself near the Muley Cow's forelegs, when she stopped to graze.

 

"You can always count on us as being good friends of yours," a dull gray dame⁶ told the Muley Cow.

 

"When you're feeling sad you can depend on us to cheer you up," a glossy⁷, greenish black gentleman chimed in with a chuckle⁸.

 

The Muley Cow couldn't help thinking how pleasant it was to be among such kind companions.

 

"If you'll take care not to step on us we'll catch these flies that are biting you," another offered.

 

"Thank you!" said the Muley Cow. "You're very good to do that for an old lady like me."

 

The cowbirds all laughed harshly at that. Though the Muley Cow didn't see any joke, she smiled in spite of herself. At least, the cowbirds had said nothing about her poke. And that was certainly worth a smile.

 

In the past the Muley Cow had known plenty of cowbirds. But she had paid little heed⁹ to them, unless it was to tell them to fly away, for they were always hovering¹⁰ around a body's feet.

 

It wasn't long before the flock had caught every one of the flies that had been following the Muley Cow. And when the last one had been gobbled up—after a slight dispute as to who should have it—the cowbirds left the Muley Cow abruptly¹¹. And they seemed to have lost all their politeness before they went.

 

"They're shy—that's all," the Muley Cow thought. "They hurried away before I could thank them."

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 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

3 glum   

adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。
• She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

4 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

6 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

7 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

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 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

10 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

11 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。