XIII TRUTH WILL OUT

 Later in the day the Muley Cow had a chat with a song sparrow—a musical person who had a nest cunningly hidden in the center of a bush near the pasture fence.

 

"What a pleasant family those cowbirds are!" the Muley Cow happened to remark. "They're so kind!"

 

The song sparrow gave her a queer look.

 

"Kind!" he echoed.

 

The Muley Cow saw at once that he did not agree with her.

 

"Yes!" she insisted. "They were very nice to me this morning. They caught all the flies that were bothering me."

 

 

The song sparrow gave a slight sniff¹. "They were only having their breakfast. You may be sure that they didn't catch the flies to oblige you."

 

"I wish," said the Muley Cow, "you wouldn't speak rudely of my friends, because they are very pleasant."

 

"Why, they're outcasts!" the song sparrow cried. "No decent bird will have anything to do with them. They lay their eggs in our nests and we have to bring up their lubberly children for them. If I were you I'd drive them away next time and let the flies bite. What's your tail for, anyhow, except to switch the flies off?"

 

"Really, I don't know," said the Muley Cow.

 

She felt somewhat foolish.

 

And soon afterward² the song sparrow told his wife that there was always somethingto learn, no matter if one were as old as the Muley Cow.

 

The Muley Cow couldn't quite believe what Mr. Song Sparrow had told her about the cowbirds. But if it was true, she didn't want anything more to do with them. And if it wasn't true, she intended to be specially³ agreeable to them.

 

In order to find out what was what, the Muley Cow made up her mind to ask the cowbirds a question the very next time she met them.

 

It wasn't long before they gathered around her again.

 

"We've come to rid you of flies once more," they announced as they began to jostle one another while they snapped at the insects hovering⁴ about the Muley Cow. And one fat cowbird remarked with a smirk⁵ that it was too bad they hadn't brought the children along to help.

 

The others grinned; for the cowbird youngsters were all being cared for by other birds who had big enough families of their own without looking after outsiders. But they didn't know that the Muley Cow had heard any stories about that.

 

"Do bring your children along with you the next time you come to the pasture," the Muley Cow urged them. "I'm very fond of little ones."

 

The cowbirds tittered. They seemed to think there was a great joke somewhere.

 

"Our children are too small to leave home just yet," the fat person told the Muley Cow.

 

"The smaller they are the more I like them," the Muley Cow declared. "Won't you show me where your nests are? I'd love to see the little darlings cuddled in their beds."

 

The cowbirds stopped catching⁶ flies and looked uneasily at one another. The fat one, however, was somewhat bolder than the rest. He fluttered up and alighted right on the back of the Muley Cow.

 

"We don't take anybody to see our children until they leave the nests," he told the Muley Cow.

 

She knew, then, that the song sparrow had told her the truth.

 

"And I don't let cowbirds sit on my back—not after they're grown up!" she snapped. As she spoke⁷, the Muley Cow fetched the pert gentleman a smart smack⁸ with her tail.

 

The blow caught him unawares and knocked him squawking upon the ground. At once his companions began to scold the Muley Cow. And so did he—as soon as he got his breath back. "You're a rough old thing!" he squalled.

 

"You're rascals—all of you!" cried the[Pg 64] Muley Cow. "You can't fool me any longer. I know all about you. I wonder who named you cowbirds, for it's a deadly insult to me and all my family."

1 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

2 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

3 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

4 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。

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 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。