11. Hard Going

Then Sir Beaumains... rode all that ever he might ride through marshes¹ andfields and great dales, that many times... he plunged² over the head in deep mires,for he knew not the way, but took the gainest way in that woodness.... And at thelast him happened to come to a fair green way.
Malory, Le Morte d'ArthurWhen Hazel and Fiver reached the floor of the hollow they found Blackberrywailing for them, crouching³ on the peat and nibbling⁴ at a few brown stalks ofsedge grass.
"Hello," said Hazel. "What's happened? Where are the others?""Over there," answered Blackberry. "There's been a fearful row. Bigwig toldHawkbit and Speedwell that he'd scratch them to pieces if they didn't obey him.
And when Hawkbit said he wanted to know who was Chief Rabbit, Bigwig bithim. It seems a nasty business. Who is Chief Rabbit, anyway -- you or Bigwig?""I don't know," answered Hazel, "but Bigwig's certainly the strongest. Therewas no need to go biting Hawkbit: he couldn't have gone back if he'd tried. Heand his friends would have seen that if they'd been allowed to talk for a bit. NowBigwig's put their backs up, and they'll think they've got to go on because hemakes them. I want them to go on because they can see it's the only thing to do.
There are too few of us for giving orders and biting people. Frith in a fog! Isn'tthere enough trouble and danger already?"They went over to the far end of the pit. Bigwig and Silver were talking withBuckthorn under an overhanging broom. Nearby, Pipkin and Dandelion werepretending to feed on a patch of scrub. Some way away, Acorn⁵ was making a greatbusiness of licking Hawkbit's throat, while Speedwell watched.
"Keep still if you can, poor old chap," said Acorn, who obviously wanted to beoverheard. "Just let me clean the blood out. Steady, now!" Hawkbit winced⁶ in anexaggerated manner and backed away. As Hazel came up, all the rabbits turnedand stared at him expectantly.
"Look," said Hazel, "I know there's been some trouble, but the best thing willbe to try to forget it. This is a bad place, but we'll soon get out of it.""Do you really think we will?" asked Dandelion.
"If you'll follow me now," replied Hazel desperately⁷, "I'll have you out of it bysunrise.""If I don't," he thought, "they'll very likely tear me to bits, and much good mayit do them."For the second time he made his way out of the pit, and the others followed.
The weary, frightening journey began again, broken only by alarms. Once a whiteowl swept silently overhead, so low that Hazel saw its dark, searching eyeslooking into his own. But either it was not hunting or he was too big to tackle, forit disappeared over the heather; and although he waited motionless for sometime, it did not return. Once Dandelion struck the smell of a stoat and they alljoined him, whispering and sniffing⁸ over the ground. But the scent⁹ was old andafter a time they went on again. In this low undergrowth their disorganizedprogress and uneven¹⁰, differing rhythms of movement delayed them still morethan in the wood. There were continual stampings of alarm, pausing, freezing tothe spot at the sound of movement real or imagined. It was so dark that Hazelseldom knew for certain whether he was leading or whether Bigwig or Silvermight not be ahead. Once, hearing an unaccountable noise in front of him, whichceased on the instant, he kept still for a long time; and when at last he movedcautiously forward, found Silver crouching behind a tussock of cocksfoot for fearof the sound of his own approach. All was confusion, ignorance, clambering andexhaustion. Throughout the bad dream of the night's journey, Pipkin seemed tobe always close beside him. Though each of the others vanished and reappearedlike fragments floating round a pool, Pipkin never left him; and his need forencouragement became at last Hazel's only support against his own weariness.
"Not far now, Hlao-roo, not far now," he kept muttering, until he realized thatwhat he said had become meaningless, a mere¹¹ refrain. He was not speaking toPipkin or even to himself. He was talking in his sleep, or something very near it.
At last he saw the first of the dawn, like light faintly perceived round a cornerat the far end of an unknown burrow¹²; and in the same moment a yellowhammersang. Hazel's feelings were like those which might pass through the mind of adefeated general. Where were his followers¹³ exactly? He hoped, not far away. Butwere they? All of them? Where had he led them? What was he going to do now?
What if an enemy appeared at this moment? He had answers to none of thesequestions and no spirit left to force himself to think about them. Behind him,Pipkin shivered in the damp, and he turned and nuzzled him -- much as thegeneral, with nothing left to do, might fall to considering the welfare of hisservant, simply because the servant happened to be there.
The light grew stronger and soon he could see that a little way ahead there wasan open track of bare gravel¹⁴. He limped out of the heather, sat on the stones andshook the wet from his fur. He could see Fiver's hills plainly now, greenish-grayand seeming close in the rain-laden air. He could even pick out the dots of furzebushes and stunted¹⁵ yew¹⁶ trees on the steep slopes. As he gazed at them, he heardan excited voice further down the track.
"He's done it! Didn't I tell you he'd do it?"Hazel turned his head and saw Blackberry on the path. He was bedraggled andexhausted, but it was he who was speaking. Out of the heather behind him cameAcorn, Speedwell and Buckthorn. All four rabbits were now staring straight athim. He wondered why. Then, as they approached, he realized that they werelooking not at him, but past him at something further off. He turned round. Thegravel track led downhill into a narrow belt of silver birch and rowan. Beyond wasa thin hedge; and beyond that, a green field between two copses. They hadreached the other side of the common.
"Oh, Hazel," said Blackberry, coming up to him round a puddle¹⁷ in the gravel. "Iwas so tired and confused, I actually began to wonder whether you knew whereyou were going. I could hear you in the heather, saying 'Not far now' and it wasannoying me. I thought you were making it up. I should have known better.
Frithrah, you're what I call a Chief Rabbit!""Well done, Hazel!" said Buckthorn. "Well done!"Hazel did not know what to reply. He looked at them in silence and it wasAcorn who spoke¹⁸ next.
"Come on!" he said. "Who's going to be first into that field? I can still run." Hewas off, slowly enough, down the slope, but when Hazel stamped for him to stophe did so at once.
"Where are the others?" said Hazel. "Dandelion? Bigwig?"At that moment Dandelion appeared out of the heather and sat on the path,looking at the field. He was followed first by Hawkbit and then by Fiver. Hazelwas watching Fiver as he took in the sight of the field, when Buckthorn drew hisattention back to the foot of the slope.
"Look, Hazel," he said, "Silver and Bigwig are down there. They're waiting forus."Silver's light-gray fur showed up plainly against a low spray of gorse, but Hazelcould not see Bigwig until he sat up and ran toward them.
"Splendid, Hazel," he said. "Everybody's here. Let's get them into that field."A few moments later they were under the silver birches and as the sun rose,striking flashes of red and green from the drops on ferns and twigs¹⁹, theyscrambled through the hedge, across a shallow ditch and into the thick grass ofthe meadow.

1 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

4 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

6 winced   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
• He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。

7 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

8 sniffing   

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

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

10 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

11 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

12 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

15 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

16 yew   

n.紫杉属树木

参考例句：

• The leaves of yew trees are poisonous to cattle.紫杉树叶会令牛中毒。
• All parts of the yew tree are poisonous,including the berries.紫杉的各个部分都有毒，包括浆果。

17 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

18 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。

19 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。