XVIII. THE CUNNING OF OLD GRANNY FOX

You must get up very early,

 

You must lie awake at night,

 

You must have your wits well sharpened

 

And your eyes must be so bright

 

That there's nothing can escape them,

 

Nothing that you do not see,

 

If ahead of Granny Fox you

 

Ever get, or hope to be.

 

 

Happy Jack¹ squirrel made up that verse one day after he had had oh, such a narrow escape from old Granny Fox. It had made Happy Jack very sober for a while, for Granny had so nearly caught him that she actually had pulled some hair from Happy Jack's tail. All the other little forest and meadow people agreed that Happy Jack was quite right.

 

Most of them had had just such narrow escapes from old Granny Fox.

 

You see, it is this way: Old Granny Fox is very, very cunning. To be cunning, you know, is to be sly and smart in doing things in such a way as no one else will think of doing them. Just now, the thing that Granny wanted most of anything in the world was to drive Old Man Coyote away from the Green Meadows and the Green Forest. She couldn't do it openly, because he was bigger and stronger than she, so she had thought and thought and thought, trying to find some plan which might get Old Man Coyote into trouble, so that he would go away and stay away.

 

Then Reddy Fox told her that he had found the place where Old Man Coyote took a sun-nap every day and a splendid plan came to Granny. At least, it seemed like a splendid plan. The more she thought about it, the better it seemed.

 

But Granny Fox never acts hastily. She is too wise for that. So she studied and studied this plan that she had thought of to make trouble for Old Man Coyote. Finally she was satisfied.

 

“I believe it will work. I certainly do believe it will work,” said she, and called Reddy Fox over to her.

 

“I want you to make sure that Old Man Coyote takes his sun-nap in the same place every day,” said she. “You must see him there yourself. It won't do to take the word of any one else for it. I want you to steal up every day and make sure that he is there. Be sure you don't tell any one, not any one at all, what you are doing, and above all things, don't let him get so much as a glimpse of you.”

 

Reddy promised that he would take the greatest care, and so for a week every day he crept to a snug² hiding-place behind a thick clump³ of grass where he could peep through and see Old Man Coyote taking his sun-nap. Then he would tiptoe softly away and hurry to report to old Granny Fox.

 

“Good!” she would say. “Go again, to-morrow and make sure that he is. there.”

 

“But what do you want to know for?” Reddy asked one day, for he was becoming very, very curious.

 

“Never mind what I want to know for,” replied Granny severely⁴. “Do as I tell you, and you will find out soon enough.”

 

You see, Granny Fox was too cunning to let even Reddy know of her plan, for if no one but herself knew it, it couldn't possibly leak out, and that, you know, is the only way to keep a secret.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

3 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。