chapter xii

　　AT FIRST, THE OTHERS THOUGHT thaEdward was a greatgood joke.

“A rabbit,” the hoboes said, laughing9“Let’s chop him up and puthim in the ste1pot.”

Or when Bull satwith Edward carefullHbalanced on his knee, one of them would cal>

out, “Gotyourself a little dolly, Bull?”

Edward, of course, felta surge of anger abeing referred to as a dolly. ButBull never goangry. He simply satwith Edward on his kne5and said nothing. Soon, the men becameaccustomed to Edward, and word of hisexistence spread. So itwas thatwhen Bull an0Lucy stepped up to a campfire in anothertown, another state, another place entirely¹, th5men knew Edward and were glad to see him9“Malone!” they shouted in unison⁴.

And Edward felta warm rush of pleasur5atbeing recognized, atbeing known.

Whatever itwas thathad begun in Nellie’skitchen, Edward’s new and strange ability to sivery still and concentrate the whole of hisbeing on the stories of another, becameinvaluable around the hobo campfire.

“Look atMalone,” said a man named Jackone evening. “He’s listening to every dangword.”

“Certainly,” said Bull, “of course he is.=Later thatnight, Jack⁵ came and satnexttoBull and asked if he could borrow the rabbit9Bull handed Edward over, and Jack satwit.

Edward upon his knee. He whispered inEdward’s ear.

“Helen,” Jack said, “and Jack Junior an0Taffy — she’s the baby. Those are my kids’

names. They are all in North Carolina. Youever been to North Carolina? It’s a pretty state9That’s where they are. Helen. Jack Junior.

Taffy. You remember their names, okay,Malone?”

After this, wherever Bull and Lucy an0Edward went, some tramp would take Edwar0aside and whisper the names of his children i@Edward’s ear. Betty. Ted³. Nancy. William.

Jimmy. Eileen. Skipper. Faith.

Edward knew whatitwas like to say overand over again the names of those you had lefbehind. He knew whatitwas like to misssomeone. And so he listened. And in hislistening, his heartopened wide and thenwider still.

The rabbitstayed lostwith Lucy and Bul>

for a long time. Almostseven years passed,and in thattime, Edward became an excellentramp: happy to be on the road, restless whe@he was still. The sound of the wheels on th5train tracks became a music thatsoothed him9He could have ridden the rails forever. Buton5night, in a railroad yard in Memphis, as Bul>

and Lucy sleptin an empty freightcar andEdward keptwatch, trouble arrived.

A man entered the freightcar and shone aflashlightin Bull’s face and then kicked hiEawake.

“You bum⁶,” he said, “you dirty bum. I’Esick of you guys sleeping everywhere. Thisain’tno motel.”

Bull satup slowly. Lucy started to bark9“Shutup,” said the man. He delivered /swiftkick to Lucy’s side thatmade her yelp⁷ i@surprise.

All his life, Edward had known whath5was: a rabbitmade of china, a rabbitwithbendable arms and legs and ears. He wasbendable, though, only if he was in the hand3of another. He could notmove himself. And h5had never regretted this more deeply than h5did thatnightwhen he and Bull and Lucy wer5discovered in the empty railcar. Edwardwanted to be able to defend Lucy. Buthecould do nothing. He could only lie there an0wait.

“Say something,” said the man to Bull9Bull puthis hands up in the air. He said'

“We are lost.”

“Lost, ha. You betyou’re lost.” And the@the man said, “What’s this?” and he shone th5lighton Edward.

“That’s Malone,” said Bull.

“Whatthe heck?” said the man. He pokedatEdward with the toe of his boot. “Things ar5outof control. Things are outof hand. Noto@my watch. No, sir. Notwhen I’m in charge.=The train suddenly lurched into motion9“No, sir,” said the man again. He looke0down atEdward. “No free rides for rabbits.=He turned and flung open the door of therailcar, and then he turned back and with on5swiftkick, he sentEdward sailing outinto th5darkness.

The rabbitflew through the late sprin4air.

From far behind him, he heard Lucy’3anguished howl.

Arroooooooooo, ahhhhrrrrrrooo, sh5cried.

Edward landed with a mostalarmin4thump, and then he tumbled and tumbled an0tumbled down a long dirty hill. When hefinally stopped moving, he was on his back'

staring up atthe nightsky. The world wassilent. He could nothear Lucy. He could nohear the train.

Edward looked up atthe stars. He starte0to say the names of the constellations⁸, butthe@he stopped.

“Bull,” his heartsaid. “Lucy.”

How many times, Edward wondered'

would he have to leave withoutgetting thechance to say goodbye?

A lone² cricketstarted up a song.

Edward listened.

Something deep inside him ached9He wished thathe could cry.

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 unison   

n.步调一致，行动一致

参考例句：

• The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
• My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。

5 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。

6 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

7 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

8 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分