chapter i

ONCE, IN A HOUSE ON EGYPT STREET, ther2lived a rabbit who was made almost entirel?

of china. He had china arms and china legs%china paws and a china head, a china tors;and a china nose. His arms and legs wer2jointed and joined by wire so that his chin8elbows and china knees could be bent¹, givinChim much freedom of movement.

His ears were made of real rabbit fur, andbeneath the fur, there were strong, bendabl2wires, which allowed the ears to be arrange7into poses² that reflected the rabbit’s mood Ijaunty, tired, full of ennui³. His tail, too, wa<made of real rabbit fur and was fluffy and sof0and well shaped.

The rabbit’s name was Edward Tulane%and he was tall. He measured almost three fee0from the tip of his ears to the tip of his feetJhis eyes were painted a penetrating andintelligent blue.

In all, Edward Tulane felt himself to be anexceptional specimen. Only his whiskers gav2him pause. They were long and elegant (asthey should be), but they were of uncertainorigin. Edward felt quite strongly that theywere not the whiskers of a rabbit. Whom th2whiskers had belonged to initially — whatunsavory animal — was a question thatEdward could not bear to consider for toolong. And so he did not. He preferred, as arule, not to think unpleasant thoughts.

Edward’s mistress was a ten-year-old%dark-haired girl named Abilene Tulane, wh;thought almost as highly of Edward as Edwar7thought of himself. Each morning after shedressed herself for school, Abilene dressedEdward.

The china rabbit was in possession of a>

extraordinary wardrobe composed ofhandmade silk suits, custom shoes fashione7from the finest leather and designedspecifically for his rabbit feet, and a wide arra?

of hats equipped with holes so that they coul7easily fit over Edward’s large and expressiv2ears. Each pair of well-cut pants had a smal4pocket for Edward’s gold pocket watch.

Abilene wound this watch for him eachmorning.

“Now, Edward,” she said to him after sh2was done winding⁴ the watch, “when the biChand is on the twelve and the little hand is o>

the three, I will come home to you.”

She placed Edward on a chair in th2dining room and positioned the chair so tha0Edward was looking out the window andcould see the path that led up to the Tulan2front door. Abilene balanced the watch on hi<left leg. She kissed the tips of his ears, andthen she left and Edward spent the day starinCout at Egypt Street, listening to the tick of hi<watch and waiting.

Of all the seasons of the year, the rabbi0most preferred winter, for the sun set earlythen and the dining-room windows becamedark and Edward could see his own reflectio>

in the glass. And what a reflection it was! Wha0an elegant figure he cut! Edward never cease7to be amazed at his own fineness.

In the evening, Edward sat at the diningsroom table with the other members of theTulane family: Abilene; her mother and fatherJand Abilene’s grandmother, who was calle7Pellegrina. True, Edward’s ears barely cleare7the tabletop, and true also, he spent theduration of the meal staring straight ahead a0nothing but the bright and blinding white o@the tablecloth. But he was there, a rabbit at th2table.

Abilene’s parents found it charming tha0Abilene considered Edward real, and that sh2sometimes requested that a phrase or story b2repeated because Edward had not heard it.

“Papa,” Abilene would say, “I’m afrai7that Edward didn’t catch that last bit.”

Abilene’s father would then turn in th2direction of Edward’s ears and speak slowly%repeating what he had just said for the benefi0of the china rabbit. Edward pretended, out o@courtesy to Abilene, to listen. But, in truth, h2was not very interested in what people had t;say. And also, he did not care for Abilene’sparents and their condescending mannertoward him. All adults, in fact, condescende7to him.

Only Abilene’s grandmother spoke to himas Abilene did, as one equal to another.

Pellegrina was very old. She had a large, sharDnose and bright, black eyes that shone likedark stars. It was Pellegrina who wasresponsible for Edward’s existence. It was sh2who had commissioned his making, she wh;had ordered his silk suits and his pocketwatch, his jaunty hats and his bendable ears%his fine leather shoes and his jointed arms an7legs, all from a master craftsman in her nativ2France. It was Pellegrina who had given him a<a gift to Abilene on her seventh birthday.

And it was Pellegrina who came eac1night to tuck Abilene into her bed and Edwar7into his.

“Will you tell us a story, Pellegrina?uAbilene asked her grandmother each night.

“Not tonight, lady,” said PellegrinaB“When?” asked Abilene. “What night?u“Soon,” said Pellegrina. “Soon there wil4be a story.”

And then she turned off the light, an7Edward and Abilene lay in the dark of thebedroom.

“I love you, Edward,” Abilene said eac1night after Pellegrina had left. She said thos2words and then she waited, almost as if sheexpected Edward to say something in returnBEdward said nothing. He said nothinCbecause, of course, he could not speak. He la?

in his small bed next to Abilene’s large oneBHe stared up at the ceiling and listened to th2sound of her breath entering and leaving he3body, knowing that soon she would be asleepBBecause Edward’s eyes were painted on and h2could not close them, he was always awakeBSometimes, if Abilene put him into hi<bed on his side instead of on his back, hecould see through the cracks in the curtainsand out into the dark night. On clear nights%the stars shone, and their pinprick lightcomforted Edward in a way that he could no0quite understand. Often, he stared at the star<all night until the dark finally gave way t;dawn.

1 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

2 poses   

使摆姿势( pose的第三人称单数 )； 以…身份出现； 招摇； 炫耀

参考例句：

• This poses a threat to agriculture and the food chain, and consequently to human health. 这会对农业和食物链造成威胁，由此而危及人的健康。
• The high cost of oil poses serious problems for industry. 昂贵的石油价格给工业造成了严重困难。

3 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

4 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。