Company Prospectus2 of the South Sea BubbleWith the exception of Buckthorn and the addition of Bluebell3, the rabbits whoset off from the southern end of the beech4 hanger5 early the next morning werethose who had left Sandleford with Hazel five weeks before. Hazel had saidnothing more to persuade them, feeling that it would be better simply to leavethings to set in his favor. He knew that they were afraid, for he was afraid himself.
Indeed, he guessed that they, like himself, could not be free from the thought ofEfrafa and its grim Owsla. But working against this fear was their longing6 andneed to find more does and the knowledge that there were plenty of does inEfrafa. Then there was their sense of mischief7. All rabbits love to trespass8 andsteal and when it comes to the point very few will admit that they are afraid to doso; unless (like Buckthorn or Strawberry on this occasion) they know that theyare not fit and that their bodies may let them down in the pinch. Again, inspeaking about his secret plan, Hazel had aroused their curiosity. He had hopedthat, with Fiver behind him, he could lure9 them with hints and promises: and hehad been right. The rabbits trusted him and Fiver, who had gotten them out ofSandleford before it was too late, crossed the Enborne and the common, takenBigwig out of the wire, founded the warren on the downs, made an ally of Kehaarand produced two does against all odds10. There was no telling what they would donext. But they were evidently up to something; and since Bigwig and Blackberryseemed to be confidently in on it, no one was ready to say that he would ratherstay out; especially since Hazel had made it clear that anyone who wished couldremain at home and welcome -- implying that if he was so poor-spirited as tochoose to miss the exploit, they could do without him. Holly12, in whom loyalty13 wassecond nature, had said no more to queer the pitch. He accompanied them as faras the end of the wood with all the cheerfulness he could muster14; only beggingHazel, out of hearing of the rest, not to underrate the danger. "Send news byKehaar when he reaches you," he said, "and come back soon."Nevertheless, as Silver guided them southward along higher ground to thewest of the farm, almost all, now that they were actually committed to theadventure, felt dread15 and apprehension16. They had heard enough about Efrafa todaunt the stoutest17 heart. But before reaching it -- or wherever they were going --they had to expect two days on the open down. Foxes, stoats, weasels -- any ofthese might be encountered, and the only recourse would be flight above ground.
Their progress was straggling and broken, slower than that which Holly had madewith his picked band of three. Rabbits strayed, took alarm, stopped to rest. After atime Hazel divided them into groups, led by Silver, Bigwig and himself. Yet stillthey moved slowly, like climbers on a rock face, first some and then others takingtheir turn to cross the same piece of ground.
But at least the cover was good. June was moving toward July and highsummer. Hedgerows and verges18 were at their rankest and thickest. The rabbitssheltered in dim green sun-flecked caves of grass, flowering marjoram and cowparsley; peered round spotted19 hairy-stemmed clumps21 of viper's bugloss,blooming red and blue above their heads; pushed between towering stalks ofyellow mullein. Sometimes they scuttled22 along open turf, colored like a tapestrymeadow with self-heal, centaury and tormentil. Because of their anxiety about eliland because they were nose to ground and unable to see far ahead, the wayseemed long.
Had their journey been made in years gone by, they would have found thedowns far more open, without standing23 crops, grazed close by sheep; and theycould hardly have hoped to go far unobserved by enemies. But the sheep werelong gone and the tractors had plowed24 great expanses for wheat and barley25. Thesmell of the green, standing corn was round them all day. The mice werenumerous and so were the kestrels. The kestrels were disturbing, but Hazel hadbeen right when he guessed that a healthy, full-grown rabbit was too large aquarry for them. At all events, no one was attacked from above.
Some time before ni-Frith, in the heat of the day, Silver paused in a little patchof thorn. There was no breeze and the air was full of the sweet, chrysanthemum-like smell of the flowering compositae of dry uplands -- corn chamomile, yarrowand tansy. As Hazel and Fiver came up and squatted26 beside him, he looked outacross the open ground ahead.
"There, Hazel-rah," he said, "that's the wood that Holly didn't like."Two or three hundred yards away and directly across their line, a belt of treesran straight across the down, stretching in each direction as far as they could see.
They had come to the line of the Portway -- only intermittently27 a road -- whichruns from north of Andover, through St. Mary Bourne with its bells and streamsand watercress beds, through Bradley Wood, on across the downs and so toTadley and at last to Silchester -- the Romans' Calleva Atrebatum. Where itcrosses the downs, the line is marked by Caesar's Belt, a strip of woodland asstraight as the road, narrow indeed but more than three miles long. In this hotnoonday the trees of the Belt were looped and netted with darkest shadow. Thesun lay outside, the shadows inside the trees. All was still, save for thegrasshoppers and the falling finch28 song of the yellowhammer on the thorn. Hazellooked steadily29 for a long time, listening with raised ears and wrinkling his nosein the unmoving air.
"I can't see anything wrong with it," he said at last. "Can you, Fiver?""No," replied Fiver. "Holly thought it was a strange kind of wood and so it is,but there don't seem to be any men there. All the same, someone ought to go andmake sure, I suppose. Shall I?"The third group had come up while Hazel had been gazing at the Belt, and nowall the rabbits were either nibbling30 quietly or resting, with ears laid flat, in thelight green sun-and-shade of the thorn thicket"Is Bigwig there?" asked Hazel.
Throughout the morning Bigwig had seemed unlike himself -- silent andpreoccupied, with little attention for what was going on around him. If hiscourage had not been beyond question, it might have been thought that he wasfeeling nervous. During one long halt Bluebell had overheard him talking withHazel, Fiver and Blackberry, and later had told Pipkin that it sounded for all theworld as though Bigwig were being reassured31. "Fighting, yes, anywhere," he hadheard him say, "but I still reckon that this game is more in someone else's linethan mine." "No," replied Hazel, "you're the only one that can do it: andremember, this isn't sport, if the farm raid was. Everything depends on it." Then,realizing that Bluebell could hear him, he added, "Anyway, keep on thinkingabout it and try to get used to the idea. We must get on now." Bigwig had gonemoodily down the hedgerow to collect his group.
Now he came out of a nearby clump20 of mugwort and flowering thistle andjoined Hazel under the thorn.
"What do you want?" he asked abruptly32.
"King of Cats" (Pfeffa-rah), answered Hazel, "would you like to go and have alook in those trees? And if you find any cats or men or anything like that, justchase them off, would you, and then come and tell us it's all right?"When Bigwig had slipped away, Hazel said to Silver, "Have you any idea howfar the Wide Patrols go out? Are we inside their range yet?""I don't know, but I'd guess that we are," said Silver. "As I understand it, therange is up to the patrol. Under a pushing sort of captain, a patrol may go out along way, I believe.""I see," said Hazel. "Well, I don't want to meet a patrol if it can possibly behelped, and if we do, not one of them must get back to Efrafa. That's one reasonwhy I brought so many of us. But by way of avoiding them, I'm going to try tomake use of this wood. Perhaps they don't fancy it any more than Holly did.""But surely it doesn't run the way we want to go?" said Silver.
"We're not going to Efrafa, though," said Hazel. "We're going to findsomewhere to hide, as near to it as we can safely get. Any ideas?""Only that it's terribly dangerous, Hazel-rah," said Silver. "You can't get nearEfrafa safely and I don't know how you can begin to look for somewhere to hide.
And then the patrol -- if there is one -- they'll be cunning brutes33. They might verywell spot us and not show themselves at all -- simply go and report.""Well, here comes Bigwig back again," said Hazel. "Is it all right, Bigwig? Good-- let's get them into the wood and go down the length of it a little way. Then wemust slip out on the other side and make sure that Kehaar finds us. He's comingto look for us this afternoon and at all costs we mustn't miss him."Less than half a mile to the west, they came upon a spinney adjoining thesouthern edge of Caesar's Belt. To the west again was a shallow, dry downlandcombe, perhaps four hundred yards across and overgrown with weeds and rough,yellowing summer tussocks. There, well before sunset, Kehaar, flying westwarddown the Belt, spotted the rabbits lying up, all among the nettles34 and goose grass.
He sailed down and alighted near Hazel and Fiver.
"How's Holly?" asked Hazel.
"'E sad," said Kehaar. "'E say you no come back." Then he added, "Mees Clover,she ready for mudder.""That's good," said Hazel. "Is anyone doing anything about it?""Ya, ya, ees all to fight.""Oh, well, I suppose it'll sort itself out.""Vat35 you do now, Meester 'Azel?""This is where you start helping36, Kehaar. We need a place to hide, as near thebig warren as we can safely get -- somewhere where those other rabbits won't findus. If you know the country well enough, perhaps you can suggest something.""Meester 'Azel, 'ow close you vant?""Well, no further away than Nuthanger Farm is from the Honeycomb. In fact,that's really about the limit.""Ees only von t'ing, Meester 'Azel. You go udder side river, den11 dey not findyou.""Over the river? You mean we swim across?""Na, na, rabbit no sveem dis river. Ees peeg, ees deep, go queek. But ees pridge,den udder side plenty place for hide. Ees close to varren, like you say.""And you think that's the best we can do?""Ees plenty trees und ees river. Udder rabbits no find you.""What do you think?" said Hazel to Fiver.
"It sounds better than I'd hoped for," said Fiver. "I hate to say it, but I think weought to go straight there as fast as we can, even if it makes everyone exhausted37.
We're in danger all the time we're on the down, but once we get off it we can rest.""Well, I suppose we'd better go on by night, if they'll do it -- we've done itbefore -- but they must feed and rest first. Start fu Inlé? There'll be a moon.""Oh, how I've come to loathe38 those words 'start' and 'fu Inlé,'" said Blackberry.
However, the evening feed was peaceful and cool and after a time everyone feltrefreshed. As the sun was sinking, Hazel brought them all together, under closecover, to chew pellets and rest. Although he did his best to appear confident andcheerful, he could feel that they were on edge, and after parrying one or twoquestions about the plan, he began to wonder how he could distract theirthoughts and get them to relax until they were ready to set off again. Heremembered the time, on the first night of his leadership, when they had beenforced to rest in the wood above the Enborne. At least it was good to see that noone was exhausted now: they were as tough a bunch of hlessil as ever raided agarden. Not a blade of grass to choose between them, thought Hazel: Pipkin andFiver looked as fresh as Silver and Bigwig. Still, a little entertainment would be allto the good and raise their spirits. He was just going to speak up when Acornsaved him the trouble.
"Will you tell us a story, Dandelion?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes!" said several others. "Come on! Make it a stunner while you're at it!""All right," said Dandelion. "How about 'El-ahrairah and the Fox in theWater'?""Let's have 'The Hole in the Sky,'" said Hawkbit.
"No, not that," said Bigwig suddenly. He had spoken very little all the eveningand everyone looked round. "If you're going to tell a story, there's only one Iwant," he went on. "'El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé.'""Perhaps not that one," said Hazel.
Bigwig rounded on him, snarling39. "If there's going to be a story, don't you thinkI've got as good a right as anyone to choose it?" he asked.
Hazel did not reply and after a pause, during which no one else spoke,Dandelion, with a rather subdued40 manner, began.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prospectus
|
|
| n.计划书；说明书；慕股书 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
bluebell
|
|
| n.风铃草 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
beech
|
|
| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
hanger
|
|
| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
trespass
|
|
| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
lure
|
|
| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
den
|
|
| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
holly
|
|
| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
muster
|
|
| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
stoutest
|
|
| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
verges
|
|
| 边，边缘，界线( verge的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
clump
|
|
| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
clumps
|
|
| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
scuttled
|
|
| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
plowed
|
|
| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
barley
|
|
| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
squatted
|
|
| 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。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
intermittently
|
|
| adv.间歇地；断断续续 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
finch
|
|
| n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀，金丝雀等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
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： |
|
|
|
|
31
reassured
|
|
| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
brutes
|
|
| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
nettles
|
|
| n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
vat
|
|
| n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
loathe
|
|
| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
snarling
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |