Robert Browning, De GustibusThe sun rose while they were still lying in the thorn. Already several of therabbits were asleep, crouched1 uneasily between the thick stems, aware of thechance of danger but too tired to do more than trust to luck. Hazel, looking atthem, felt almost as insecure as he had on the riverbank. A hedgerow in openfields was no place to remain all day. But where could they go? He needed toknow more about their surroundings. He moved along the hedge, feeling thebreeze from the south and looking for some spot where he could sit and scent2 itwithout too much risk. The smells that came down from the higher ground mighttell him something.
He came to a wide gap which had been trodden into mud by cattle. He couldsee them grazing in the next field, further up the slope. He went cautiously outinto the field, squatted3 down against a clump4 of thistles and began to smell thewind. Now that he was clear of the hawthorn5 scent of the hedge and the reek6 ofcattle dung, he became fully7 aware of what had already been drifting into hisnostrils while he was lying among the thorn. There was only one smell on thewind and it was new to him: a strong, fresh, sweet fragrance8 that filled the air. Itwas healthy enough. There was no harm in it. But what was it and why was it sostrong? How could it exclude every other smell, in open country on a south wind?
The source must be close by. Hazel wondered whether to send one of the rabbitsto find out. Dandelion would be over the top and back almost as fast as a hare.
Then his sense of adventure and mischief9 prompted him. He would go himselfand bring back some news before they even knew that he had gone. That wouldgive Bigwig something to bite on.
He ran easily up the meadow toward the cows. As he came they raised theirheads and gazed at him, all together, for a moment, before returning to theirfeeding. A great black bird was flapping and hopping10 a little way behind the herd11.
It looked rather like a large rook, but, unlike a rook, it was alone. He watched itsgreenish, powerful beak12 stabbing the ground, but could not make out what it wasdoing. It so happened that Hazel had never seen a crow. It did not occur to himthat it was following the track of a mole13, in the hope of killing14 it with a blow of itsbeak and then pulling it out of its shallow run. If he had realized this, he mightnot have classed it light-heartedly as a "Not-hawk" -- that is, anything from awren to a pheasant -- and continued on his way up the slope.
The strange fragrance was stronger now, coming over the top of the rise in awave of scent that struck him powerfully -- as the scent of orange blossom in theMediterranean strikes a traveler who smells it for the first time. Fascinated, heran to the crest15. Nearby was another hedgerow and beyond, moving gently in thebreeze, stood a field of broad beans in full flower.
Hazel squatted on his haunches and stared at the orderly forest of small,glaucous trees with their columns of black-and-white bloom. He had never seenanything like this. Wheat and barley16 he knew, and once he had been in a field ofturnips. But this was entirely17 different from any of those and seemed, somehow,attractive, wholesome18, propitious19. True, rabbits could not eat these plants: hecould smell that. But they could lie safely among them for as long as they liked,and they could move through them easily and unseen. Hazel determined20 then andthere to bring the rabbits up to the beanfield to shelter and rest until the evening.
He ran back and found the others where he had left them. Bigwig and Silver wereawake, but all the rest were still napping uneasily.
"Not asleep, Silver?" he said.
"It's too dangerous, Hazel," replied Silver. "I'd like to sleep as much as anyone,but if we all sleep and something comes, who's going to spot it?""I know. I've found a place where we can sleep safely for as long as we like.""A burrow21?""No, not a burrow. A great field of scented22 plants that will cover us, sight andsmell, until we're rested. Come out here and smell it, if you like."Both rabbits did so. "You say you've seen these plants?" said Bigwig, turninghis ears to catch the distant rustling23 of the beans.""Yes, they're only just over the top. Come on, let's get the others moving beforea man comes with a hrududu* or they'll scatter24 all over the place."Silver roused the others and began to coax25 them into the field. They stumbledout drowsily26, responding with reluctance27 to his repeated assurance that it was"only a little way."They became widely separated as they straggled up the slope. Silver and Bigwigled the way, with Hazel and Buckthorn a short distance behind. The rest idledalong, hopping a few yards and then pausing to nibble28 or to pass droppings on thewarm, sunny grass. Silver was almost at the crest when suddenly, from halfwayup, there came a high screaming -- the sound a rabbit makes, not to call for helpor to frighten an enemy, but simply out of terror. Fiver and Pipkin, limpingbehind the others, and conspicuously29 undersized and tired, were being attackedby the crow. It had flown low along the ground. Then, pouncing30, it had aimed ablow of its great bill at Fiver, who just managed to dodge31 in time. Now it wasleaping and hopping among the grass tussocks, striking at the two rabbits withterrible darts32 of its head. Crows aim at the eyes and Pipkin, sensing this, hadburied his head in a clump of rank grass and was trying to burrow further in. Itwas he who was screaming.
Hazel covered the distance down the slope in a few seconds. He had no ideawhat he was going to do, and if the crow had ignored him he would probably havebeen at a loss. But by dashing up he distracted its attention and it turned on him.
He swerved33 past it, stopped and, looking back, saw Bigwig come racing34 in fromthe opposite side. The crow turned again, struck at Bigwig and missed. Hazelheard its beak hit a pebble35 in the grass with a sound like a snail36 shell when athrush beats it on a stone. As Silver followed Bigwig, it recovered itself and facedhim squarely. Silver stopped short in fear and the crow seemed to dance beforehim, its great black wings flapping in a horrible commotion37. It was just about tostab when Bigwig ran straight into it from behind and knocked it sideways, sothat it staggered across the turf with a harsh, raucous38 cawing of rage.
"Keep at it!" cried Bigwig. "Come in behind it! They're cowards! They onlyattack helpless rabbits."But already the crow was making off, flying low with slow, heavy wing beats.
They watched it clear the further hedge and disappear into the wood beyond theriver. In the silence there was a gentle, tearing sound as a grazing cow movednearer.
Bigwig strolled over to Pipkin, muttering a ribald Owsla lampoon39.
"Hoi, hoi u embleer Hrair,M'saion ulé hraka vair."*"Come on, Hlao-roo," he said. "You can get your head out now. Having quite aday, aren't we?"He turned away and Pipkin tried to follow him. Hazel remembered that Fiverhad said he thought he was injured. Now, as he watched him limping andstaggering up the slope, it occurred to him that he might actually be wounded insome way. He kept trying to put his near-side front paw to the ground and thendrawing it up again, hopping on three legs.
"I'll have a look at him as soon as they're settled under cover," he thought.
"Poor little chap, he won't be able to get much further like that."At the top of the slope Buckthorn was already leading the way into thebeanfield. Hazel reached the hedge, crossed a narrow turf verge40 on the other sideand found himself looking straight down a long, shadowy aisle41 between two rowsof beans. The earth was soft and crumbling42, with a scattering43 of the weeds thatare found in cultivated fields -- fumitory, charlock, pimpernel and mayweed, allgrowing in the green gloom under the bean leaves. As the plants moved in thebreeze, the sunlight dappled and speckled back and forth44 over the brown soil, thewhite pebbles45 and weeds. Yet in this ubiquitous restlessness there was nothingalarming, for the whole forest took part in it and the only sound was the soft,steady movement of the leaves. Far along the bean row Hazel glimpsedBuckthorn's back and followed him into the depths of the field.
Soon after, all the rabbits had come together in a kind of hollow. Far around,on all sides, stood the orderly rows of beans, securing them against hostileapproach, roofing them over and covering their scent. They could hardly havebeen safer underground. Even a little food could be had at a pinch, for here andthere were a few pale twists of grass and here and there a dandelion.
"We can sleep here all day," said Hazel. "But I suppose one of us ought to stayawake; and if I take the first turn it'll give me a chance to have a look at your paw,Hlao-roo. I think you've got something in it."Pipkin, who was lying on his left side, breathing quickly and heavily, rolledover and stretched out his front paw, underside turned upward. Hazel peeredclosely into the thick, coarse hair (a rabbit's foot has no pads) and after a fewmoments saw what he had expected -- the oval shank of a snapped-off thornsticking out through the skin. There was a little blood and the flesh was torn.
"You've got a big thorn in there, Hlao," he said. "No wonder you couldn't run.
We'll have to get it out."Getting the thorn out was not easy, for the foot had become so tender thatPipkin winced46 and pulled away even from Hazel's tongue. But after a good deal ofpatient effort Hazel succeeded in working out enough of the stump47 to get a gripwith his teeth. The thorn came out smoothly48 and the wound bled. The spine49 wasso long and thick that Hawkbit, who happened to be close by, woke Speedwell tohave a look at it.
"Frith above, Pipkin!" said Speedwell, sniffing50 at the thorn where it lay on apebble. "You'd better collect a few more like that: then you can make a noticeboard and frighten Fiver. You might have poked51 the lendri's eye out for us, ifyou'd only known.""Lick the place, Hlao," said Hazel. "Lick it until it feels better and then go tosleep."*Tractor -- or any motor.
*Hoi, hoi, the stinking52 Thousand, We meet them even when we stop to passour droppings."
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1
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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reek
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| v.发出臭气；n.恶臭 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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15
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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16
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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22
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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23
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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24
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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nibble
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| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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pouncing
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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31
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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32
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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snail
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| n.蜗牛 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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39
lampoon
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| n.讽刺文章；v.讽刺 | |
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40
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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41
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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42
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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43
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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44
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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45
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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46
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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49
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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50
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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51
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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52
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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