The Duke of Wellington (at Waterloo)Groundsel scrambled1 up the steep slope of the shaft2 and rejoined Woundwortin the pit at the top.
"There's nothing left to dig, sir," he said. "The bottom will fall in if anyone goesdown there now.""Can you make out what's below?" asked Woundwort. "Is it a run or a burrowwe shall be into?""I'm fairly sure it's a burrow3, sir," answered Groundsel. "In fact, it feels to meas though there's an unusually big space underneath4.""How many rabbits are in it, do you think?""I couldn't hear any at all. But they may be keeping quiet and waiting to attackus when we break in.""They haven't done much attacking up to now," said Woundwort. "A poor lot,I'd say -- skulking5 underground, and some of them running away in the night. Idon't fancy we'll have much trouble.""Unless, sir--" said Groundsel.
Woundwort looked at him and waited.
"Unless the -- the animal attacks us, sir," said Groundsel. "Whatever it is. It'snot like Ragwort to imagine anything. He's very stolid6. I'm only trying to thinkahead," he added, as Woundwort still said nothing.
"Well," said Woundwort at last, "if there is an animal, it'll find out that I'm ananimal, too." He came out on the bank, where Campion and Vervain were waitingwith a number of the other rabbits.
"We've done all the hard work now," he said. "We'll be able to take our doeshome as soon as we've finished down below. The way we'll go about it is this. I'mgoing to break the bottom of the hole in and go straight down into the burrowunderneath. I want only three others to follow, otherwise there'll be completeconfusion and we shall all be fighting each other. Vervain, you come behind meand bring two more. If there's any trouble we'll deal with it. Groundsel, youfollow. But you're to stay in the shaft, understand? Don't jump down until I tellyou. When we know where we are and what we're doing, you can bring a fewmore in."There was not a rabbit in the Owsla but had confidence in Woundwort. As theyheard him preparing to go first into the depths of the enemy warren as calmly asthough he were looking for dandelions, his officers' spirits rose. It seemed tothem quite likely that the place would be given up without any fighting at all.
When the General had led the final assault at Nutley Copse he had killed threerabbits underground and no more had dared to oppose him, although there hadbeen some hard tussles8 in the outer runs the day before.
"Very well," said Woundwort. "Now, I don't want anyone straying away.
Campion, you see to that. As soon as we get one of the blocked runs opened frominside, you can fill the place up. Keep them together here till I let you know andthen send them in fast.""Best of luck, sir," said Campion.
Woundwort jumped into the pit, flattened9 his ears and went down the shaft.
He had already decided10 that he was not going to stop to listen. There was nopoint, since he meant to break in at once whether there was anything to be heardor not. It was more important that he should not seem to hesitate or causeVervain to do so; and that the enemy, if they were there, should have the shortestpossible time in which to hear him coming. Below, there would be either a run ora burrow. Either he would have to fight immediately or else there would first be achance to look round and sense where he was. It did not matter. What matteredwas finding rabbits and killing11 them.
He came to the bottom of the shaft. As Groundsel had said, it was plainly thin-- brittle12 as ice on a puddle13 -- chalk, pebbles14 and light soil. Woundwort scored itacross with his foreclaws. Slightly damp, it held a moment and then fell inward,crumbling. As it fell, Woundwort followed it.
He fell about the length of his own body -- far enough to tell him that he was ina burrow. As he landed he kicked out with his hind7 legs and then dashed forward,partly to be out of Vervain's way as he followed and partly to reach the wall andface about before he could be attacked from behind. He found himself against apile of soft earth -- evidently the end of a blocked run leading out of the burrow --and turned. A moment later Vervain was beside him. The third rabbit, whoever hewas, seemed to be in difficulties. They could both hear him scrabbling in thefallen soil.
"Over here," said Woundwort sharply.
The rabbit, a powerful, heavy veteran by the name of Thunder, joined them,stumbling.
"What's the matter?" asked Woundwort.
"Nothing, sir," answered Thunder, "only there's a dead rabbit on the floor andit startled me for a moment.""A dead rabbit?" said Woundwort. "Are you sure he's dead? Where is he?""Over there, sir, by the shaft."Woundwort crossed the burrow quickly. On the far side of the rubble15 that hadfallen in from the shaft was lying the inert16 body of a buck17. He sniffed18 at it andthen pressed it with his nose.
"He's not been dead long," he said. "He's nearly cold but not stiff. What do youmake of it, Vervain? Rabbits don't die underground.
"It's a very small buck, sir," answered Vervain. "Didn't fancy the idea offighting us, perhaps, and the others killed him when he said so.""No, that won't do. There's not a scratch on him. Well, leave him, anyway.
We've got to get on, and a rabbit this size isn't going to make any difference, deador alive."He began to move along the wall, sniffing19 as he went. He passed the mouths oftwo blocked runs, came to an opening between thick tree roots and stopped. Theplace was evidently very big -- bigger than the Council burrow at Efrafa. Sincethey were not being attacked, he could turn the space to his own advantage bygetting some more rabbits in at once. He went back quickly to the foot of theshaft. By standing20 on his hind legs he could just rest his forepaws on the raggedlip of the hole.
"Groundsel?" he said.
"Yes, sir?" answered Groundsel from above.
"Come on," said Woundwort, "and bring four others with you. Jump to thisside" -- he moved slightly -- "there's a dead rabbit on the floor -- one of theirs."He was still expecting to be attacked at any moment, but the place remainedsilent. He continued to listen, sniffing the close air, while the five rabbits droppedone by one into the burrow. Then he took Groundsel over to the two blocked runsalong the eastern wall.
"Get these open as quick as you can," he said, "and send two rabbits to find outwhat's behind the tree roots beyond. If they're attacked you're to go and join in atonce.""You know, there's something strange about the wall at the other end, sir," saidVervain, as Groundsel began setting his rabbits to work. "Most of it's hard earththat's never been dug. But in one or two places there are piles of much softerstuff. I'd say that runs leading through the wall have been filled up very recently-- probably since yesterday evening."Woundwort and Vervain went carefully along the south wall of theHoneycomb, scratching and listening.
"I believe you're right," said Woundwort. "Have you heard any movement fromthe other side?""Yes, sir, just about here," said Vervain.
"We'll get this pile of soft earth down," said Woundwort. "Put two rabbits on it.
If I'm right and Thlayli's on the other side, they'll run into trouble before long.
That's what we want -- to force him to attack them."As Thunder and Thistle began to dig, Woundwort crouched21 silently behindthem, waiting.
-<*>-Even before he heard the roof of the Honeycomb fall in, Bigwig knew that itcould be only a matter of time before the Efrafans found the soft places in thesouth wall and set to work to break through one of them. That would not takelong. Then he would have to fight -- probably with Woundwort himself; and ifWoundwort closed with him and used his weight, he would have little chance.
Somehow he must manage to hurt him at the outset, before he expected it. Buthow?
He put the problem to Holly22.
"The trouble is this warren wasn't dug to be defended," said Holly. "That waswhat the Slack Run was for, back at home, so the Threarah once told me. It wasmade so that if we ever had to, we could get down beneath an enemy and come upwhere he wasn't expecting us.""That's it!" cried Bigwig. "That's the idea! Look, I'm going to dig myself into thefloor of the run just behind this blocked opening. Then you cover me with earth.
It won't be noticed -- there's so much digging and mess in the place already. Iknow it's a risk, but it'll be better than just trying to stand up in front of a rabbitlike Woundwort.""But suppose they break through the wall somewhere else?" said Holly.
"You must try to make them do it here," replied Bigwig. "When you hear themon the other side, make a noise -- do a bit of scratching or something -- just abovewhere I am. Anything to get them interested. Come on, help me to dig. And,Silver, get everyone back out of the Honeycomb now and close this wallcompletely.""Bigwig," said Pipkin, "I can't wake Fiver. He's still lying out there in themiddle of the floor. What's to be done?""I'm afraid there's nothing we can do now," replied Bigwig. "It's a great pity,but we'll have to leave him.""Oh, Bigwig," cried Pipkin, "let me stay out there with him! You'll never missme, and I can go on trying--""Hlao-roo," said Holly as kindly23 as he could, "if we lose no one but Fiver beforethis business is ended, then the Lord Frith himself will be fighting for us. No, I'msorry, old chap, not another word. We need you, we need everyone. Silver, seethat he goes back with the others."When Woundwort dropped through the roof of the Honeycomb, Bigwig wasalready lying under a thin covering of soil on the other side of the south wall, notfar from Clover's burrow.
-<*>-Thunder sank his teeth into a piece of broken root and pulled it out. There wasan instant fall of earth and a gap opened where he had been digging. The soil nolonger reached to the roof. It was only a broad pile of soft earth, half filling therun. Woundwort, still waiting silently, could smell and hear a considerablenumber of rabbits on the far side. He hoped that now they might come into theopen burrow and try to attack him. But they made no move.
When it came to fighting, Woundwort was not given to careful calculation.
Men, and larger animals such as wolves, usually have an idea of their ownnumbers and those of the enemy and this affects their readiness to fight and howthey go about it. Woundwort had never had any need to think like this. What hehad learned from all his experience of fighting was that nearly always there arethose who want to fight and those who do not but feel they cannot avoid it. Morethan once he had fought alone and imposed his will on crowds of other rabbits.
He held down a great warren with the help of a handful of devoted24 officers. It didnot occur to him now -- and if it had, he would not have thought it mattered --that most of his rabbits were still outside; that those who were with him werefewer than those on the other side of the wall and that until Groundsel had gotthe runs open they could not get out even if they wanted to. This sort of thingdoes not count among fighting rabbits. Ferocity and aggression25 are everything.
What Woundwort knew was that those beyond the wall were afraid of him andthat on this account he had the advantage.
"Groundsel," he said, "as soon as you've got those runs open, tell Campion tosend everyone down here. The rest of you, follow me. We'll have this businessfinished by the time the others get in to join us."Woundwort waited only for Groundsel to bring back the two rabbits who hadbeen sent to search among the tree roots at the north end of the burrow. Then,with Vervain behind him, he climbed the pile of fallen earth and thrust his wayinto the narrow run. In the dark he could hear and smell the rustling26 andcrowding of rabbits -- both bucks27 and does -- ahead of him. There were two bucksdirectly in his path, but they fell back as he plowed28 through the loose soil. Heplunged forward and felt the ground suddenly turn beneath him. The nextmoment a rabbit started up from the earth at his feet and sank his teeth in the pitof his near foreleg, just where it joined the body.
Woundwort had won almost every fight of his life by using his weight. Otherrabbits could not stop him and once they went down they seldom got up. He triedto push now, but his back legs could get no purchase in the pile of loose, yieldingsoil behind him. He reared up and, as he did so, realized that the enemy beneathhim was crouching29 in a scooped-out trench30 the size of his own body. He struckout and felt his claws score deeply along the back and haunch. Then the otherrabbit, still keeping his grip under Woundwort's shoulder, thrust upward with hishind legs braced31 against the floor of the trench. Woundwort, with both forefeetoff the ground, was thrown over on his back on the earth pile. He lashed32 out, butthe enemy had already loosed his hold and was beyond his reach.
Woundwort stood up. He could feel the blood running down the inside of hisnear foreleg. The muscle was wounded. He could not put his full weight on it. Buthis own claws, too, were bloody33 and this blood was not his.
"Are you all right, sir?" asked Vervain, behind him.
"Of course I'm all right, you fool," said Woundwort. "Follow me close."The other rabbit spoke34 from in front of him.
"You told me once to start by impressing you, General. I hope I have.""I told you once that I would kill you myself," replied Woundwort, "There is nowhite bird here, Thlayli." He advanced for the second time.
Bigwig's taunt35 had been deliberate. He hoped that Woundwort would fly athim and so give him a chance to bite him again. But as he waited, pressed to theground, he realized that Woundwort was too clever to be drawn36. Always quick tosize up any new situation, he was coming forward slowly, keeping close to theground himself. He meant to use his claws. Afraid, listening to Woundwort'sapproach, Bigwig could hear the uneven37 movement of his forepaws, almostwithin striking distance. Instinctively38 he drew back and as he did so the thoughtcame with the sound: "The near forepaw's dragging. He can't use it properly."Leaving his right flank exposed, he struck out on his near side.
His claws found Woundwort's leg, ripping sideways; but before he could drawback, Woundwort's whole weight came down on him and the next moment histeeth had met in his right ear. Bigwig squealed39, pressed down and thrashing fromside to side. Woundwort, feeling his enemy's fear and helplessness, loosed hishold of the ear and rose above him, ready to bite and tear him across the back ofthe neck. For an instant he stood above the helpless Bigwig, his shoulders fillingthe run. Then his injured foreleg gave way and he lurched sideways against thewall. Bigwig cuffed40 him twice across the face and felt the third blow pass throughhis whiskers as he sprang back. The sound of his heavy breathing came plainlyfrom the top of the earth pile. Bigwig, the blood oozing41 from his back and ear,stood his ground and waited. Suddenly he realized that he could see the darkshape of General Woundwort faintly outlined where he crouched above him. Thefirst traces of daylight were glimmering42 through the broken roof of theHoneycomb behind.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
shaft
|
|
| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
burrow
|
|
| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
skulking
|
|
| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
stolid
|
|
| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
hind
|
|
| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
tussles
|
|
| n.扭打，争斗( tussle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
flattened
|
|
| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
brittle
|
|
| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
puddle
|
|
| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
pebbles
|
|
| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
rubble
|
|
| n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
inert
|
|
| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
buck
|
|
| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
sniffed
|
|
| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；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： |
|
|
|
|
19
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： |
|
|
|
|
20
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
holly
|
|
| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
aggression
|
|
| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
rustling
|
|
| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
bucks
|
|
| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
plowed
|
|
| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
crouching
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
trench
|
|
| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
braced
|
|
| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
lashed
|
|
| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
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： |
|
|
|
|
35
taunt
|
|
| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
uneven
|
|
| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
squealed
|
|
| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
cuffed
|
|
| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
oozing
|
|
| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
glimmering
|
|
| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |