II. PETER RABBIT'S RUN FOR LIFE

 IT was very, very early in the morning when Old Mother West Wind came down from the Purple Hills with her big bag and out of it emptied her children, the Merry Little Breezes, to play on the Green Meadows. Peter Rabbit, watching her from the doorstep of Jimmy Skunk¹'s house, felt his courage grow. All the night long he and Jimmy Skunk had sat on the doorstep listening to a strange voice, a terrible voice Peter had thought. But with the first light of the coming day the voice had been heard no more, and now, as Peter watched Old Mother West Wind just as he had done so often before, he began to wonder if that dreadful voice hadn't been a bad dream.

 

So he bade Jimmy Skunk good-by, and started for his home in the dear Old Briar-patch. He wanted to run just as fast as he knew how, but he didn't. No, Sir, he didn't. That is, not while he was in sight of Jimmy Skunk. You see, he knew that Jimmy would laugh at him. He wasn't brave enough to be laughed at.

 

 

The bravest boy is not the one

 

Who does some mighty² deed;

 

Who risks his very life perchance

 

To serve another's need.

 

The bravest boy is he who dares

 

To face the scornful laugh

 

For doing what he knows is right,

 

Though others mock and chaff³.

 

 

But as soon as Peter was sure that Jimmy Skunk could no longer see him, he began to hurry, and the nearer he got to the Old Briar-patch, the faster he hurried. He would run a little way as fast as he could, lipperty-lipperty-lip, and then stop and look and listen nervously⁴. Then he would do it all over again. It was one of these times when he was listening that Peter thought he heard a soft footstep behind him. It sounded very much like the footstep of Reddy Fox. Peter crouched⁵ down very low and sat perfectly⁶ still, holding his breath and straining his ears. There it was again, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, very soft and coming nearer. Peter waited no longer. He sprang forward with a great leap and started for the dear Old Briar-patch as fast as he could go, which, you know, is very fast indeed. As he ran, he saw behind him a fierce, grinning face. It was very much like the face of Reddy Fox, only larger and fiercer and gray instead of red.

 

Never in all his life had Peter run as he did now, for he knew that he was running for his life. It seemed as if those long legs of his hardly touched the ground. He didn't dare try any of the tricks with which he had so often fooled Reddy Fox, for he didn't know anything about this terrible stranger. He might not be fooled by tricks as Reddy Fox was.

 

Peter began to breathe hard. It seemed to him that he could feel the hot breath of the fierce stranger. And right down inside, Peter somehow felt sure that this was the owner of the strange voice which had so frightened him in the night. Snap! That was a pair of cruel jaws⁷ right at his very heels. It gave Peter new strength, and he made longer jumps than before. The dear Old Briar-patch, the safe Old Briar-patch, was just ahead. With three mighty jumps, Peter reached the opening of one of his own private little paths and dived in under a bramble bush. And even as he did so, he heard the clash of sharp teeth and felt some hair pulled from his tail. And then, outside the Old Briar-patch, broke forth⁸ that same terrible voice Peter had heard in the night.

 

Peter didn't stop to look at the stranger, but hurried to the very middle of the Old Briar-patch and there he stretched out at full length and panted and panted for breath.

 

 

 

1 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 chaff   

v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳

参考例句：

• I didn't mind their chaff.我不在乎他们的玩笑。
• Old birds are not caught with chaff.谷糠难诱老雀。

4 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

5 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。