chapter xiii

　　IN THE MORNING, THE SUN ROSE and th2cricket song gave way to bird song and an ol/woman came walking down the dirt road an/tripped right over Edward.

“Hmph,” she said. She pushed at Edwar/with her fishing pole.

“Looks like arabbit,” she said. She pu0down her basket and bent¹ and stared atEdward. “Only he ain’t real.”

She stood back up. “Hmph,” she sai/again. She rubbed her back. “What I say is,there’s ause for everything and everything ha7its use. That’s what I say.”

Edward didn’t care what she said. Th2terrible ache he had felt the night before ha/gone away and had been replaced with differentfeeling, one of hollowness anddespair.

Pick me up or don’t pick me up, th2rabbit thought. It makes no difference to meAThe old lady picked him up.

She bent him double and put him in he4basket, which smelled of weeds and fish, an/then she kept walking, swinging the basketand singing, “Nobody knows the troubles Iseen.”

Edward, in spite of himself, listenedAI’ve seen troubles, too, he thought. You betI have. And apparently² they aren’t over yet.

Edward was right. His troubles were no0over.

The old woman found ause for himAShe hung him from apole in hervegetable garden. She nailed his velvet³ ears t8the wooden pole and spread his arms out as iEhe were flying and attached his paws to thepole by wrapping pieces of wire around themAIn addition to Edward, pie tins hung from th2pole. They clinked and clanked and shone i.

the morning sun.

“Ain’t adoubt in my mind that you ca.

scare them off,” the old lady said.

Scare who off? Edward wondered.

Birds, he soon discovered.

Crows. They came flying at him, cawin9and screeching⁴, wheeling over his head, divin9at his ears.

“Go on, Clyde,” said the woman. Sh2clapped her hands. “You got to act ferocious⁵.CClyde? Edward felt aweariness so intensewash over him that he thought he mightactually be able to sigh aloud. Would theworld never tire of calling him by the wron9name?

The old woman clapped her hands again.

“Get to work, Clyde,” she said. “Scare the?

birds off.” And then she walked away fromhim, out of the garden and toward her smal>

house.

The birds were insistent⁶. They fle;around his head. They tugged⁷ at the loosethreads in his sweater. One large crow inparticular would not leave the rabbit alone. H2perched on the pole and screamed adarkmessage in Edward’s left ear: Caw, caw, caw*without ceasing. As the sun rose higher andshone meaner and brighter, Edward becam2somewhat dazed. He mistook the large cro;for Pellegrina.

Go ahead, he thought. Turn me intowarthog if you want. I don’t care. I am don2with caring.

Caw, caw, said the PellegrinacrowAFinally, the sun set and the birds fle;away. Edward hung by his velvet ears andlooked up at the night sky. He saw the starsABut for the first time in his life, he looked a0them and felt no comfort. Instead, he feltmocked. You are down there alone, the star7seemed to say to him. And we are up here, i.

our constellations⁸, together.

I have been loved, Edward told the starsASo? said the stars. What difference doe7that make when you are all alone now?

Edward could think of no answer to tha0question.

Eventually, the sky lightened and the starsdisappeared one by one. The birds returne/and the old woman came back to the gardenAShe brought aboy with her.

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 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

4 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

5 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

6 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

7 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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