CHAPTER 28 THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

 For freedom who is there will say

 

There’s any price too much to pay?

 

                Little Joe Otter¹.

 

Have you ever been terribly frightened? Have you ever been so frightened that you couldn’t even think? That is the way it was with the foolish young Otter when he realized that he was caught in a trap. He was so filled with terror² that he didn’t even think about the pain in his foot. There is nothing quite so awful as the helpless³ feeling that comes when one is caught in a trap. Had that young Otter been seized by an enemy twice his size he would have fought bravely to the last breath. But one cannot fight a steel trap.

 

After awhile the young Otter was so tired out with struggling that he had to be quiet to get his breath and to rest. He trembled all over. Every time he heard the least little sound he was sure it was the trapper coming to kill him. How he did wish he had heeded⁴ the warnings of his father and mother!

 

For a long, long, long time he was held a prisoner by that dreadful⁵ trap. From time to time he tried to cut the chain that held the trap, but of course he tried in vain. His teeth, sharp as they were, didn’t even scratch the steel of that chain. He wondered if his father and mother would miss him and look for him. He wondered if they would ever find out what had happened to him.

 

“If I could only get away from this thing, I never, never would disobey again,” he sobbed⁶. “No, Sir, I never, never would disobey again. I do wish father and mother would come. Perhaps if they came they could get me free from this dreadful thing.”

 

It is said that if you wish long enough and hard enough for a thing you may get your wish. Certainly the foolish young Otter wished long and hard. And at last he did get his wish. His father, Little Joe Otter, suddenly appeared. He was looking for that young Otter. He had worried when that young Otter did not return and had started out to look for him.

 

Little Joe didn’t scold that young Otter. Instead, he did the best he could to comfort him. The first thing he did was to look to see how the young Otter was held by that dreadful trap. He saw right away that he was held only by one toe.

 

“You are lucky, very lucky,” declared Little Joe Otter.

 

The young Otter thought he was very unlucky. He said so. He couldn’t see that there was anything lucky about it. Then Little Joe explained.

 

“That trap,” said he, “has got you only by one toe. It might have you by the whole foot. If it had you by the whole foot, and that is the way the trapper meant that it should catch you, there would be very little hope for you. As it is, if you pull hard enough, you may lose your toe, but that will be all.”

 

“But I don’t want to lose my toe!” wailed⁷ the young Otter.

 

“All right,” replied Little Joe. “If you had rather lose your life than your toe, there is nothing I can do about it. You can get free if you really want to, but the price of freedom will be that toe.”

1 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

2 terror   

n.恐怖；可怖的人(事)

参考例句：

• We were in mortal terror of being found out. 我们非常害怕被发现。
• That guy is a proper terror. 那家伙真是讨厌。

3 helpless   

adj.无助的，无依无靠的；不能自力的

参考例句：

• The other team was helpless and we had a real field day.对方队很弱，我们轻易取胜。
• They felt helpless to do anything about it.他们对这事感到无能为力。

4 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

6 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

7 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句