“But I think it had a very good moral,” remarked Mrs. Meadows.
“What was it?” inquired Mr. Rabbit with great solemnity.
“Why, if the little girl had been too stingy to give the old beggar a piece of her cake, she would never have come to be Princess,” replied Mrs. Meadows.
“Did she give the beggar a piece of cake?” asked Mr. Rabbit.
“Why, certainly she did,” Mr. Thimblefinger answered.
“Well,” remarked Mr. Rabbit, setting himself back in his chair, “I must have been fast asleep when she did it. But the place for a moral, as I’ve been told, is right at the end of a story, and not at the beginning.”
“Can’t you tell us a story with a moral?” suggested Mrs. Meadows.
“I can,” replied Mr. Rabbit. “I can for a fact, and the piece of cake you mentioned puts me in mind of it.”
Mr. Rabbit closed his eyes and rubbed his nose, and then began:—
“Once upon a time, when Brother Fox and myself were living on pretty good terms with each other, we received an invitation to attend a barbecue that Brother Wolf was going to give on the following Saturday. The next day we received an invitation to a barbecue that Brother Bear was going to give on the same Saturday.
“I made up my mind at once to go to Brother Bear’s barbecue, because I knew he would have fresh roasting ears, and if there’s anything I like better than another, it is fresh roasting ears. I asked Brother Fox whether he was going to Brother Bear’s barbecue or to Brother Wolf’s, but he shook his head. He said he hadn’t made up his mind. I just asked him out of idle curiosity, for I didn’t care whether he went or whether he stayed.
“I went about my work as usual. Cold weather was coming on, and I wanted to get my crops in before the big freeze came. But I noticed that Brother Fox was mighty2 restless in his mind. He didn’t do a stroke of work. He’d sit down and then he’d get up; he’d stand still and look up in the tops of the trees, and then he’d walk back and forth3 with his hands behind him and look down at the ground.
“I says to him, says I, ‘I hope you are not sick, Brother Fox.’
“Says he, ‘Oh, no, Brother Rabbit; I never felt better in my life.’
“I says to him, says I, ‘I hope money matters are not troubling you.’
“Says he, ‘Oh, no, Brother Rabbit, money was never easier with me than it is this season.’
“I says to him, says I, ‘I hope I’ll have the pleasure of your company to the barbecue to-morrow.’
“Says he, ‘I can’t tell, Brother Rabbit; I can’t tell. I haven’t made up my mind. I may go to the one, or I may go to the other; but which it will be, I can’t tell you to save my life.’
“As the next day was Saturday, I was up bright and early. I dug my goobers and spread ’em out to dry in the sun, and then, ten o’clock, as near as I could judge, I started out to the barbecue. Brother Wolf lived near the river, and Brother Bear lived right on the river, a mile or two below Brother Wolf’s. The big road, that passed near where Brother Fox and I lived, led in the direction of the river for about three miles, and then it forked, one prong going to Brother Wolf’s house, and the other prong going to Brother Bear’s house.
“Well, when I came to the forks of the road, who should I see there but old Brother Fox. I stopped before he saw me, and watched him. He went a little way down one road, and licked his chops; then he came back and went a little way down the other road, and licked his chops.
“Not choosing to be late, I showed myself and passed the time of day with Brother Fox. I said, says I, that if he was going to Brother Bear’s barbecue, I’d be glad to have his company. But he said, says he, that he wouldn’t keep me waiting. He had just come down to the forks of the road to see if that would help him to make up his mind. I told him I was mighty sorry to miss his company and his conversation, and then I tipped my hat and took my cane4 from under my arm and went down the road that led to Brother Bear’s house.”
Here Mr. Rabbit paused, straightened himself up a little, and looked at the children. Then he continued:—
“I reckon you all never stood on the top of a hill three quarters of a mile from the smoking pits and got a whiff or two of the barbecue?”
“I is! I is!” exclaimed Drusilla. “Don’t talk! Hit make me dribble5 at de mouf. I wish I had some right now.”
“Well,” said Mr. Rabbit, “I got a whiff of it and I was truly glad I had come—truly glad. It was a fine barbecue, too. There was lamb, and kid, and shote, all cooked to a turn and well seasoned, and then there was the hash made out of the giblets. I’ll not tell you any more about the dinner, except that I’d like to have one like it every Saturday in the year. If I happened to be too sick to eat it, I could sit up and look at it. Anyhow, we all had enough and to spare.
“After we had finished with the barbecue and were sitting in Brother Bear’s front porch smoking our pipes and talking politics, I happened to mention to Brother Bear something about Brother Wolf’s barbecue. I said, says I, that I thought I’d go by Brother Wolf’s house as I went on home, though it was a right smart step out of the way, just to see how the land lay.
“Says Brother Bear, says he: ‘If you’ll wait till my company take their leave, I don’t mind trotting6 over to Brother Wolf’s with you. The walk will help to settle my dinner.’
“So, about two hours by sun, we started out and went to Brother Wolf’s house. Brother Bear knew a short cut through the big canebrake, and it didn’t take us more than half an hour to get there. Brother Wolf was just telling his company good-by; and when they had all gone he would have us go in and taste his mutton stew7, and then he declared he’d think right hard of us if we didn’t drink a mug or two of his persimmon beer.
“I said, says I, ‘Brother Wolf, have you seen Brother Fox to-day?’
“Brother Wolf said, says he, ‘I declare, I haven’t seen hair nor hide of Brother Fox. I don’t see why he didn’t come. He’s always keen to go where there’s fresh meat a-frying.’
“I said, says I, ‘The reason I asked was because I left Brother Fox at the forks of the road trying to make up his mind whether he’d eat at your house or at Brother Bear’s.’
“‘Well, I’m mighty sorry,’ says Brother Wolf, says he; ‘Brother Fox never missed a finer chance to pick a bone than he’s had to-day. Please tell him so for me.’
“I said I would, and then I told Brother Wolf and Brother Bear good-by and set out for home. Brother Wolf’s persimmon beer had a little age on it, and it made me light-headed and nimble-footed. I went in a gallop8, as you may say, and came to the forks of the road before the sun went down.
“You may not believe it, but when I got there Brother Fox was there going through the same motions that made me laugh in the morning—running down one road and licking his chops, and then running down the other and licking his chops.
“Says I, ‘I hope you had a good dinner at Brother Wolf’s to-day, Brother Fox.’
“Says he, ‘I’ve had no dinner.’
“Says I, ‘That’s mighty funny. Brother Bear had a famous barbecue, and I thought Brother Wolf was going to have one, too.’
“Says Brother Fox, ‘Is dinner over? Is it too late to go?’
“Says I, ‘Why, Brother Fox, the sun’s nearly down. By the time you get to Brother Bear’s house, he’ll be gone to bed; and by the time you go across the swamp to Brother Wolf’s house, the chickens will be crowing for day.’
“‘Well, well, well!’ says Brother Fox, ‘I’ve been all day trying to make up my mind which road I’d take, and now it’s too late.’
“And that was the fact,” continued Mr. Rabbit. “The poor creature had been all day trying to make up his mind which road he’d take. Now, then, what is the moral?”
Sweetest Susan looked at Mrs. Meadows, but Mrs. Meadows merely smiled. Buster John rattled9 the marbles in his pocket.
“I know,” said Drusilla.
“What?” inquired Mr. Rabbit.
“Go down one road an’ git one dinner, den1 cut ’cross an’ git some mo’ dinner, an’ den go back home down de yuther road.”
Mr. Rabbit shook his head.
“Tar-Baby, you are wrong,” he said.
“If you want anything, go and get it,” suggested Buster John.
Mr. Rabbit shook his head and looked at Sweetest Susan, whereupon she said:—
“If you can’t make up your mind, you’ll have to go hungry.”
Mr. Rabbit shook his head.
“Eat a good breakfast,” said Mrs. Meadows, “and you won’t be worried about your dinner.”
“All wrong!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, with a chuckle10. “The moral is this: He who wants too much is more than likely to get nothing.”
“Well,” remarked Mrs. Meadows dubiously11, “if you have to work out a moral as if it was a sum in arithmetic, I’ll thank you not to trouble me with any more morals.”
“The motion is seconded and carried,” exclaimed Mr. Thimblefinger.
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1
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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2
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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3
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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4
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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5
dribble
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| v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水 | |
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6
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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7
stew
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| n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑 | |
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8
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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9
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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10
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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11
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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