CHAPTER V

What did Bunny Cotton-Tail do then, do you suppose? He felt so sorry about Susan that he cried nearly all day, and he was so afraid of Farmer Jones now, that he did not dare¹ to come out of the flower pot! The flower pot had rolled over on one side, so he was quite hidden.

 

Now it happened that Marie had a nice flower-bed in front of the house, and a friend had given her a new plant to set out. So she began to look for a flower pot to cover it. Of course, you can guess what happened. Marie found Bunny[30] Cotton-Tail, the flower pot and all! “Oh, papa, here is another bunny! They must be twins,” she cried.

 

Farmer Jones came up, and when he saw how scared poor little Bunny looked, he laughed. He said if they put the two rabbits together, they could soon tell whether they knew each other or not. So Marie carried Bunny into the house.

 

Susan Cotton-Tail had fallen asleep in the doll’s bed, so Marie slipped² Bunny in beside her, and he pretended³ to go to sleep, too. Farmer Jones said this proved that they knew each other; for if they had been strange rabbits, they would have fought.

 

Night came on, and the big clock[31] in the hall struck twelve, and Susan woke up. She was so delighted to find Bunny beside her, that she almost screamed for joy, but Bunny put one little soft paw⁴ over her mouth, for he was afraid she would waken⁵ some one, and he was already planning how they could get away from Farmer Jones’s house.

 

He told Susan that he had heard the cook say she would leave the pantry window open to keep her preserves⁶ cool, so, if they could only find the pantry, they might escape.

 

Susan listened so eagerly that her ears flopped⁷ on the side of the doll’s bed as though she were keeping time to a tune⁸.

 

[32]Bunny stole out of bed, and began to search for the pantry. He told Susan to wait until he came back for her.

 

The moon was not shining, and it was very dark. Bunny felt his way along carefully, till he came to the sitting-room⁹. Here he saw a big black box, beside a window, and it looked to him as though the window were open. Up he jumped on the box, to make sure, and crash! he fell on something that played a tune! The quicker he ran up and down, the louder the tune was, and the louder the tune was, the more scared Bunny was, and the more he ran up and down.

 

Farmer Jones waked up and could[33] not think what all the noise meant. He jumped out of bed and ran down stairs two steps at a time, with a candle in his hand. He found Bunny dancing about on the piano keys, and he laughed till he cried.

 

Then he called the whole family down stairs to see the strange sight. Everybody laughed and petted Bunny, and the more they laughed, the more scared he was, until he saw Susan peeping¹⁰ around a curtain at him.

 

Then he gave one bound¹¹ for the open window. Susan followed him, quick as a flash, and whisk! the two frightened little rabbits were racing¹² away down the road[34] before one of the family could say, “Jack Robinson.”

 

What Farmer Jones and the family thought about it I cannot say, but I can tell you that Susan and Bunny were very careful never to go into his garden again.

1 dare   

n.敢，挑战；aux.敢；vi.敢；vt.敢于，勇于面对

参考例句：

• He didn't dare to look at her in the face.他不敢正眼看她。
• How dare you?Take your hand off me at once.放肆！马上把你的手挪开。

2 slipped   

adj.打滑，打滑的v.滑( slip的过去式和过去分词 )；滑脱；下降；（健康状况等）变差

参考例句：

• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。
• The climber slipped and dropped to his death. 攀登者一失足掉下去摔死了。

3 pretended   

adj.假装的；徒有外表的；传说的；号称的v.假装( pretend的过去式和过去分词 )；伪装；（尤指儿童）（在游戏中）装扮；自诩

参考例句：

• He pretended that resigning was part of his long-term career strategy. 他假装辞职是他长远事业规划的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He politely pretended not to have heard this remark. 他有礼貌地假装没有听到这句话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 paw   

n.手掌，手爪；v.以蹄扒地，笨拙地使用，费力地前进

参考例句：

• He served as a cat's paw.他充当爪牙。
• Don't paw at everything you see.别见什么摸什么。

5 waken   

vi.醒来；vt.弄醒

参考例句：

• We must waken the people to the dangers facing our country.我们必须使人们认识到我们国家面临的危险。
• What time are you going to waken him?你准备什么时间叫醒他？

6 preserves   

v.保存( preserve的第三人称单数 )；保护；保持；防护

参考例句：

• The resort still preserves a feeling of exclusivity. 这个度假胜地仍然保持着极少部分人专享的情调。
• recipes for jams and preserves 果酱和蜜饯的制作方法

7 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

10 peeping   

窥视( peep的现在分词 )； 偷看； 隐现； 慢慢露出

参考例句：

• We caught her peeping through the keyhole. 她从锁孔偷看时，被我们撞着了。
• Look ! the child is peeping at us through the window. 瞧！那孩子在窗子里偷看我们呢。

11 bound   

adj.一定的，必然的；受约束的，有义务的

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• If he signs that paper,he will be bound hand and foot.如果他签署那份文件，他就会受到束缚。

12 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。