CHAPTER XII HOW LONG EARS HEARD BAD NEWS

 The minute the whippoorwill said that Silvertip the Fox was coming right back into the very woods Tommy Peele and his cousin Sandy and the dogs had just driven him out of, they knew he did it for just one reason: he was bound to catch Nibble¹. So that was no place for a sensible bunny. It was really pretty scary.

 

But you know Nibble. He can’t stay frightened, because he’s so terribly curious. Before ever he hunted himself a safe place to sleep he had to sneak² into the Brushpile and listen to the Bad Little Owls⁴. They were just creeping out from beneath it, where they had hidden away from Chaik Jay and his family.

 

“Are you all right?” asked Mr. Owl³. “I feel better since I slept, but those jays gave us a terrible mauling.”

 

“My poor wings!” mourned his wife. “I am ashamed to be seen in them.”

 

“What’s a lot worse, we’ll have hardly a thing to fly with, until our fall feathers come in,” he complained. “My wings aren’t very bad, but I’ll never be able to steer⁵ until my tail grows.”

 

“I’m going to watch Chaik’s nest,” scolded the Lady Owl, “and let Mrs. Hooter drag his wife out by the claws as soon as ever she gets back here. Her owlets are out already, so it won’t be long. And I’ll smash every one of Chaik’s eggs with my very own beak—see if I don’t!” Mrs. Owl was still nearly crying over her ruffled⁶ feathers.

 

“No, you won’t!” snapped her husband. The husband, you know, is always the timid one of an owl family. “We’d have Tommy Peele shooting us next! What do you think made Chaik take after us, eh? He was helping⁷ Tommy. That boy wouldn’t have a chance of finding that clever fox if half the Woodsfolk weren’t helping him. It’s a bad thing to have any man so friendly with them.” Of course it was, for a bad bird like the owl or a bad beast like Silvertip.

 

“It certainly is,” she agreed. “Tommy would be hunting them all just as hard as we do if it weren’t for that rabbit. It’s all his fault. We’ve got to get rid of him. Let’s tell Silvertip about the flat stone where he thumps⁹ for Doctor Muskrat¹⁰.”

 

“Let’s find his hole,” said her husband. “Every mouse in the Woods and Fields knows about it; they went there this spring for woodchuck fur to make a charm against us owls. I’ll show them if it can keep me from catching¹¹ one. Then we’ll offer to let him go if he tells us.”

 

“Yes,” she agreed, “and then we can eat him afterward¹², so he won’t run and warn that rabbit.”

 

“Thank you so much for all this information,” said Nibble to himself. “If Silvertip stays in the woods tonight I can sleep very comfortably in the haystack.”

 

Nibble slept in the haystack that night, but he didn’t sleep any too well, because the news of Foul¹³ Fang’s death had travelled ’way up to the barn and the mice were celebrating. Besides, he had to sleep with one ear up, listening for Watch.

 

He heard the old dog padding past early in the morning, before even the birds were awake, and thumped¹⁴ to call him. In another minute Watch and Trailer the hound, who was with him, were sniffing¹⁵ at the door of Ouphe the Rat’s old tunnel under the hay. “What’s on your mind?” the big dog whined¹⁶ softly. “Trailer won’t chase you.”

 

“I know he won’t,” Nibble chuckled¹⁷. “I’m not going to run for him. I’m going to stay snuggled up in here until I hear him busy after Silvertip.”

 

“There,” said Watch proudly, “Trailer, I told you Nibble would find him.”

 

“But I don’t see how we lost him,” Trailer insisted. “He simply disappeared in the middle of a hot trail. I never lifted my nose from it.”

 

“The whippoorwill said he took to water and then climbed up into the woodduck’s nest in the top of that fallen tree,” said Nibble. “But why didn’t the gun catch him? That’s what I want to know.”

 

“The gun’s a stupid thing,” Trailer explained. “It bangs twice and then it has to be fed again before it will do anything more.” (He knew it was no use to tell Nibble about putting fresh shells into a double-barrelled shotgun, because even Watch, who was a very wise dog, didn’t understand.) “My man Sandy was so excited over shooting the snake that he forgot to feed it. He didn’t hear me bark until Silvertip and I were out of sight in the brush. And Silvertip was gone before he found me again. That gun has to use his eyes to see with and his legs to run with, and no man’s fast enough to chase a fox. That’s why Watch and I think we can get him just as easily if we go out alone.”

 

“Yes, and I don’t like taking Tommy Peele to meet strange snakes in strange woods,” said Watch. “It worries me so I can’t keep my mind on what I’m doing.”

 

“Of course,” Nibble agreed. “Well, last night I overheard the little screech¹⁸ owls in the Brushpile—my paddy-paws are good for more than to scrub my ears with, I can tell you. They’re so quiet even the owls didn’t hear them, and they said they were going to tell Silvertip to watch the flat stone where I thump⁸ for Doctor Muskrat, or my hole. He’ll be one place or the other. And please tell Doctor Muskrat I’ll go around to the far side of the pool to meet him.”

 

“All right,” promised Watch. And off went the dogs with their tails wagging. “I tell you what,” growled¹⁹ Trailer, “that rabbit is a great help to hunt with.”

 

1 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

2 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

5 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

6 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 thump   

v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声

参考例句：

• The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。
• The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。

9 thumps   

n.猪肺病；砰的重击声( thump的名词复数 )v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Normally the heart movements can be felt as distinct systolic and diastolic thumps. 正常时，能够感觉到心脏的运动是性质截然不同的收缩和舒张的撞击。 来自辞典例句
• These thumps are replaced by thrills when valvular insufficiencies or stenoses or congenital defects are present. 这些撞击在瓣膜闭锁不全或狭窄，或者有先天性缺损时被震颤所代替。 来自辞典例句

10 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

13 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

14 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

15 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》

16 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

17 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

18 screech   

n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。
• The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。

19 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》