CHAPTER VII

Now, what do you suppose Mother Bunny was going to do? She was going to find Mr. Owl¹, who is the wisest creature in the woods. And why was she going to find Mr. Owl? Because she wanted to ask him how to stop Bunny Cotton-Tail from running away.

 

Mr. Owl was at home, as usual, sitting on a branch of an old pine-tree. When Mother Cotton-Tail told her story, he blinked² his round eyes and turned his head all the way around to hide a smile. He had heard of Bunny Cotton-Tail before.

 

Mr. Owl did not talk very much;[42] wise people never do. So he answered Mother Cotton-Tail with two words: “Mr. Fox.”

 

Mother Cotton-Tail did not see what that meant, but Mr. Owl had no more to say, so she started slowly homeward.

 

On the way home she passed Mr. Fox’s den³. There she saw an old overcoat of his out on the line. Then, whisk! jump! as quick as a wink⁴ she had that overcoat down from the line, and was off, carrying it over her shoulder.

 

When she was safely away from Mr. Fox’s den, she crept⁵ into the coat, though it was much too big, and doubled her ears up neatly⁶ inside his cap.

 

[43]She looked ahead of her, and what did she see, coming down the road, but a little rabbit—a naughty, run-away little rabbit? She knew at once that it was her own Bunny.

 

Mother Cotton-Tail stood very still in the shadow of a tree, and when Bunny came by, she whisked out, and took him in her arms and started straight for Mr. Fox’s den.

 

Bunny Cotton-Tail was so scared that he did not say a word, but he thought he felt his hair turning gray, and that was a pity for one so young!

 

When they got near the den, Mother Cotton-Tail stopped. Everything was very still.

 

“Now, Bunny,” she said, “you shall[44] go in there, and we will eat you up, unless you promise never to run away any more.”

 

Did Bunny promise? Well, indeed he did, in a hurry! And Mother Cotton-Tail told him that all the foxes knew about it and would catch him if he ever ran away again.

 

Then she gave him a big hug, which scared him nearly to death. Think of his being scared when his own mother hugged him! But you see, he thought she was Mr. Fox. Then she let Bunny go, and he ran straight home.

 

Mother Cotton-Tail put Mr. Fox’s coat back on the line and went home, too, very happy.

 

[45]Bunny Cotton-Tail never ran away from home any more. So Mr. Owl knew what he was talking about, after all.

 

Bunny and Susan were always the best of friends, but whether his sore paw⁷ ever got well or not, I cannot tell you, for I forgot to ask him.

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 blinked   

眨眼睛( blink的过去式 )； 闪亮，闪烁

参考例句：

• He blinked in the bright sunlight. 他在强烈的阳光下直眨眼睛。
• The boy blinked up at me in some surprise. 那男孩有些吃惊地眨着眼看我。

3 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

4 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

5 crept   

v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的过去式和过去分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I crept up the stairs, trying not to wake my parents. 为了尽量不吵醒父母，我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• He had crept up on his unsuspecting victim from behind. 他从背后悄悄逼近了那毫无戒备的受害者。

6 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。

7 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。