X AT THE CARROT PATCH

 During his first summer Nimble never reached Farmer Green's carrot patch once. His mother had planned to take him there. But on account of an unexpected party she had postponed¹ their visit. And somehow the right night for a trip after carrots never seemed to come again.

 

Now, Nimble had never forgotten what his mother had told him about carrots. And he was going after some—so he promised himself—just as soon as he was big enough.

 

When Nimble's second summer rolled around he was big enough and old enough to prowl through the woods and fields much as he pleased. He was a Spike² Horn. And he felt fit to go to the carrot patch without waiting for anybody to show him the way.

 

So one night he stole down the hillside pasture, across the meadow, and jumped the fence into Farmer Green's garden.

 

He saw at once that somebody was there ahead of him. It was Jimmy Rabbit. He was very busy with one of Farmer Green's cabbages.

 

"I've come down to try the carrots," said Nimble.

 

Jimmy Rabbit made no reply, except to nod his head slightly. He was eating so fast that he really couldn't speak just then.

 

"Are these carrots?" Nimble inquired, as he looked about at the big cabbages, which crossed the garden in long rows.

 

Jimmy Rabbit shook his head.

 

"They seem to be good," said Nimble, "whatever they are. I'll taste of one."

 

And he did. In fact he tasted of three or four of them, eating their centers out neatly³.

 

Meanwhile Jimmy Rabbit was becoming uneasy. And at last he spoke⁴.

 

"I thought," he said, "you told me you had come down here to try the carrots."

 

"So I did," Nimble answered. "But I don't know where the carrots are."

 

"Why didn't you say so before?" Jimmy Rabbit asked him. And without waiting for a reply he cried, "Follow me! I'll show you." And he hopped⁵ off briskly, with Nimble after him.

 

Soon Jimmy Rabbit came to a halt.

 

"Here it is!" he said. "Here's the carrot patch. Help yourself!" And then he hopped away again, back to his supper of cabbages.

 

Nimble Deer began to eat the carrot tops. And he was greatly disappointed.

 

"They're not half as good as those great round balls," he muttered. And he turned away from the carrots, to go back and join Jimmy Rabbit. But he hadn't gone far when he met Jimmy bounding along in a great hurry.

 

"Old dog Spot!" Jimmy Rabbit gasped⁶ as he whisked past Nimble. "He's out to-night and he's coming this way."

 

In one leap Nimble sprang completely around and followed Jimmy Rabbit across the meadow, up through the pasture and over the stone wall into the woods. There they lost each other.

 

The next morning Nimble met his mother along the ridge⁷ that ran down toward Cedar⁸ Swamp.

 

"I went down to the carrot patch last night," he told her. "And I must say I don't see why you're so fond of carrots. They're not half as good as some big green balls that I found in the garden. I call the carrot leaves tough. But the big green balls have very tender leaves."

 

His mother gave him a queer look.

 

"Do you mean to tell me," she asked him, "that you ate only the leaves of the carrots?"

 

"Why, yes!" said Nimble. "I saw nothing else to eat. There was no fruit on them."

 

"Ho!" cried his mother. "You have to dig with your toes to reach the carrots themselves. They're down in the ground. And to my mind there's nothing any juicier and sweeter and tenderer than nice young carrots, eaten by the light of the moon."

 

Nimble felt very foolish. And then he tossed his head and said lightly, "Oh, well! It wouldn't have made any difference if I had dug the carrots out of the dirt. They wouldn't have tasted right anyhow. For there was no moon last night!"

该作者的其它作品
《The Tale of Timothy Turtle》
《The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat》
《The Tale of Solomon Owl》

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

4 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。

5 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

6 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

8 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。