CHAPTER 30 THE OTTERS MOVE ON

 Who doth the law of safety heed¹

 

Will not be influenced by greed.

 

              Little Joe Otter².

 

The young Otter, who had left a toe behind in a trap, was so happy to be free again that he hardly gave the loss of that toe a thought. The cold water was good for the sore foot, and as the young Otter was healthy, his foot healed rapidly. In fact, in two or three days his foot was practically well. But the young Otter didn’t forget his dreadful experience. He never would forget it. He had learned a lesson that he would remember as long as he lived. All his life he would be suspicious of traps and on the watch for them. Never again would that young Otter be caught in a trap.

 

Of course, the trapper found that toe in his trap. Such a disappointed trapper as he was! “There won’t be a chance of catching³ that Otter again,” said he. “I must have been careless in setting that trap. It should have caught him by the whole foot and not just by a toe. Probably those other Otters⁴ know all about it now.”

 

When he discovered the new slippery slide he knew that his traps at the old slippery slide had been found. He set another trap at the foot of the new slide, but he didn’t have much hope of catching any one in it. He understood perfectly⁵ that Little Joe Otter and Mrs. Joe were wise in the ways of trappers. “I guess,” muttered the trapper, “that my best chance of getting one of those Otters will be to hide for a chance to shoot one of them. To-morrow I’ll spend the day over here with my gun.”

 

So he spent all the next day hidden near the slippery slide, watching with his terrible gun. But he didn’t have a chance to use it. He didn’t get so much as a glimpse of a sleek⁶, brown head. And the reason was that Little Joe Otter and his family were far away down the brook⁷. They had started early the night before. They were on their way down to the Big River.

 

Little Joe and Mrs. Joe had talked the matter all over. “It isn’t safe to stay here any longer,” declared Little Joe. “I don’t like to leave the good fishing, for we may not find another place where it is so easy to get plenty of fish. But that terrible two-legged creature will give us no peace. There is a trap now at the foot of our new slippery slide.”

 

“You are quite right, my dear,” replied Mrs. Otter. “I am worried to death for fear, in spite of all their watchfulness⁸, one of the children will get caught in a terrible trap and be killed. I think the sooner we move along the better. Safety is the most important thing.”

 

So once more Little Joe and his family went traveling. There was a crust on the snow now, and they had a lot of fun sliding. Moreover, they didn’t leave a trail as when they had left the Laughing Brook in the soft snow. They followed the big brook on its way towards the Big River. Now and then they came to open places where the water was swift and hadn’t frozen. There they stopped to fish. Sometimes they swam for quite a distance under the ice.

1 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

7 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

8 watchfulness   

警惕，留心； 警觉（性）

参考例句：

• The escort and the universal watchfulness had completely isolated him. 护送和普遍一致的监视曾经使他完全孤立。
• A due watchfulness on the movements of the enemy was maintained. 他们对敌人的行动还是相当警惕的。