STORY XVII UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SAWDUST

“You’re off again, I see,” spoke¹ Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat² lady housekeeper³, one day, to Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, for whom she kept house.

 

“Yes, I thought I would go out for a little ride,” answered Mr. Longears, as he blew some heated air into the toy circus balloons of his airship. “It is a lovely day, and perhaps I may meet with an adventure; who knows?”

 

“True enough, who knows?” agreed Nurse Jane. “Well, I hope if you do have an adventure it will be a pleasant one.”

 

An adventure, you know, children, is something that happens to you, like falling down stairs. That’s an unpleasant adventure. Finding a penny rolling up hill is a pleasant adventure. That’s the difference, you see.

 

So Uncle Wiggily started off in his airship, which was made from one of Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy’s old clothes baskets, some toy circus[Pg 109] balloons, a Japanese umbrella and an electric fan.

 

The old gentleman rabbit had not ridden so very far, sailing above the tree tops, as he was, before, all of a sudden, he heard a sad little voice crying:

 

“Oh, dear! Oh, isn’t that too bad? Oh, my poor Cora Ann Multiplicationtable!”

 

“Ha! Some one in trouble!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, looking down. “I must see if I cannot help them.”

 

Then he saw Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, sitting on a stump⁴, and looking at something in her paws.

 

“It must be her doll,” thought Uncle Wiggily “For the doll’s name is Cora Ann Multiplicationtable. I’ll go down and see what is the trouble.”

 

Down he went, and he found poor Susie crying sadly.

 

“What has happened?” asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly⁵.

 

“Oh, all the sawdust stuffing has run out of my doll,” said the little rabbit girl. “I was carrying her out to get the air, for she has been ill, and all of a sudden, one of her legs caught in a thorn bush, ripping a hole in the cloth. Out ran the sawdust before I could stop it. Look!”[Pg 110] And Poor Susie held up Cora Ann Multiplicationtable. The doll was as limp and slimpsy as a sheet of blotting⁶ paper after it has fallen into the ink well.

 

“Oh, that is too bad,” said Uncle Wiggily, “but perhaps I can help you. I’ll try.”

 

“Can you make her well again?” asked Susie, hopefully.

 

“Why, yes, I think so,” answered the rabbit gentleman. “I will get some more sawdust, and stuff her with it.”

 

“Oh, joy!” cried Susie, clapping her paws. “Then I will be happy again, for I love my doll Cora Ann Multiplicationtable very much. I hope you can cure her.”

 

“Well, I’ll go get the sawdust and try,” said Uncle Wiggily.

 

Into his airship he jumped, and up above the tree tops he went, to sail about, looking for sawdust. He peered all around, Uncle Wiggily did, but he saw no sawdust. Sawdust, you know, is little, fine grains of wood, made when the carpenter saws a board in two pieces to mend the fence.

 

“Well, I guess I can’t find any sawdust up here,” said the rabbit gentleman, “after a while I’ll have to go down to the earth again.”

 

Down he went, and, though he looked all over,[Pg 111] he could find no sawdust. He thought perhaps he might meet a wagon-load of it, going to the butcher shop, for butchers put sawdust on their store floors instead of carpet. But no wagon-loads of sawdust were to be seen.

 

“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. “No sawdust down here, and none up in the air. I wonder where I can find any for Susie’s doll? I know, I’ll take a little trip down to the seashore in my airship. If I can’t find any sawdust there, perhaps I can bring back some seashore sand with which to stuff Susie’s doll. Yes, that’s what I’ll do.”

 

Up above the tree tops the rabbit gentleman went again in his airship, and soon he was at the seashore.

 

Up and down the beach he hopped⁷, looking for sawdust, but he could see none. If there had ever been any the wind must have blown it away long ago.

 

“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “This is too bad! I guess I’ll have to take back the sand after all.”

 

“Why, what is the trouble, if I may ask?” inquired a voice out in the salty sea waves, and Uncle Wiggily looked and saw the queerest fish he had ever beheld⁸. It had a very long nose, and sticking out on either side of this nose were sharp[Pg 112] teeth. But Uncle Wiggily was not frightened.

 

“What is the trouble?” the fish asked again.

 

“Why, I want some sawdust for Susie’s doll, Cora Ann Multiplicationtable,” answered the rabbit gentleman, “but I can find none.”

 

“Ha! Say no more!” cried the queer fish very politely. “Sawdust! I will give you all the sawdust you want. Just wait a minute.”

 

“Ha! How can you give me sawdust, if I may be so bold as to ask?” cried Uncle Wiggily.

 

“Why, I am a sawfish,” was the reply. “I can saw sawdust.” Then the fish gave a flop⁹ of his tail and out on the beach he jumped. He soon found a big log that had been washed up by the waves, and then, with his long nose covered with teeth, which were just like those of a saw, the fish sawed back and forth¹⁰ on the log with his nose, and made a lot of sawdust for Uncle Wiggily.

 

The rabbit gentleman caught the sawdust in his tall silk hat, and then thanking the sawfish, who jumped back into the ocean to wash his face, Uncle Wiggily hurried off in his airship to take the sawdust to Susie for her doll.

 

“Oh, how kind you are!” cried the little rabbit girl.

 

 

“Pray do not mention it,” politely said Uncle Wiggily, as he helped stuff the sawdust into [Pg 113]Cora Ann Multiplicationtable. Soon she was as plump and fat as ever. So you see a sawfish is of some use in this world, after all.

 

And on the page after this, if the little dog’s collar doesn’t go to the laundry and get all wet in the bluing water, I’ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the dusty carpet.

1 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。

2 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

3 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

4 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 blotting   

吸墨水纸

参考例句：

• Water will permeate blotting paper. 水能渗透吸水纸。
• One dab with blotting-paper and the ink was dry. 用吸墨纸轻轻按了一下，墨水就乾了。

7 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。

8 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

9 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

10 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。