“Well,” replied Mr. Rabbit, “we can either cut it off here, or we can carry it on for weeks and weeks.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Mrs. Meadows; “or, if you want to, you can tell the rest of the story yourself. No doubt you can tell it a great deal better than I can.”
“Now you’ll have to excuse me,” remarked Mr. Rabbit. “I thought maybe you were getting tired, and wanted to rest. Go on with the tale. I’m getting old and trembly in the limbs, but I can stand it if the rest can.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Meadows, turning to Buster John and Sweetest Susan, “the children were very much worried over the loss of the coal-black sheep and the snow-white goat, and they made up their minds to try and get them back. The boy said he would go and ask Uncle Rain’s advice, and the girl said she would visit Brother Drouth once more. So they started on their journey, one going east and the other going south.
“They met with no adventure by the way, and, having traveled the road once, they were not long in coming to the end of their journey. The boy found Uncle Rain at home, and told him all about the loss of his beautiful black sheep. Uncle Rain grunted1 at the news, and looked very solemn.
“‘That’s about the way I thought it would be,’ said he. ‘It takes a mighty2 strong-minded person to stand prosperity. But you needn’t be afraid. Your sheep is not lost. The men who have stolen him can stand great prosperity no better than your father can. They will wrangle3 among themselves, and they will never take the sheep away from the tavern4. But they shall be punished. Come with me.’
“Uncle Rain went out into his barnyard, and the boy followed him. He went to a stall where a black cow was tied. ‘This,’ said he, ‘is the butting5 cow. You are to take her with you. She will allow no one to come near her but you, and when you give her the word she will run over and knock down whoever and whatever is in sight. She knows the black sheep, too, for they have long been in the barn together. When she begins to low, the black sheep will bleat6, and in that way you may know when you have found it. More than that, the cow will give you the most beautiful golden butter that ever was seen.’
“Uncle Rain untied7 the cow, placed the end of the rope in the boy’s hand, and bade him good-by. The boy went back the way he came, the cow following closely and seeming to be eager to go with him.
“The girl, who had taken the road to Brother Drouth’s house, arrived there safely and told her trouble. Brother Drouth said he was very sorry about it, but as it was not a thing to weep over, he didn’t propose to shed any tears.
“‘What’s done,’ he said, ‘can’t be undone8; but I’ll see that it’s not done over again.’ He went to a corner of the room, picked up a walking-stick, and gave it to the little girl. ‘We have here,’ he said, ‘a walking-stick. It is called the hitting stick. Whenever you are in danger, or whenever you want to punish your enemies, you have only to say: “Hit, stick! Stick, hit!” and neither one man nor a hundred can stand up against it. It is not too heavy for you to carry, but if your hands grow tired of carrying it, just say, “Jump, stick!” and the stick will jump along before you or by your side, just as you please.’
“Then Brother Drouth bade the girl good-by; and she went on her way, sometimes carrying the hitting stick, and sometimes making it jump along the road before her.
“Now, then, while all this was going on, the greedy merchants found themselves in a fix. When they first got hold of the coal-black sheep and the snow-white goat, they thought that they had had a good deal of trouble for nothing. But merchants, especially the merchants of those days, when there was not as much trade as there is now, had very sharp eyes, and it was not long before they found the springs under the horns of the sheep and the goat. Having found the treasure, they remembered that the man had spent more money in two days than the horns of the animals would hold, and this led them to discover that the horns were always full of treasure.
“For a little while they were very happy, and congratulated one another many times over. But in the midst of their enjoyment9 the thought came to them that there must be a division of this treasure. The moment the subject was broached10, the wrangle began. There were more than a dozen of the merchants, and the question was how to divide the treasure so that each might have an equal share. Though they took millions from the horns of the black sheep and the white goat, yet whoever had the animals would still have the most.
“It was a mighty serious question. They argued, they reasoned, they disputed, and they wrangled11, and once or twice they came near having a pitched battle. But finally, after many days, it was decided12 that one party of merchants should have the black sheep and that another party should have the white goat. This didn’t satisfy all of them, but it was the best that could be done; and so they departed, the party with the white goat going south, and the party with the black sheep going east.
“Now, a very curious thing happened. If either party had kept on traveling, it would have met the boy or the girl; one with the butting cow, and the other with the hitting stick. But both parties were dissatisfied; and they had gone but a little way before they stopped, and after some talk determined13 to go back. The merchants with the white goat determined to follow on after the merchants that had the black sheep, and secure the animal by fair means or foul14. The merchants with the black sheep determined to follow the merchants with the white goat, and buy the animal or seize him. So each party turned back.
“The merchants with the white goat reached the tavern first. They had hardly refreshed themselves, when the tavern-keeper came running in, to tell them that the other merchants were coming.
“‘Then take our white goat and hide it in your stable,’ they said.
“The landlord did as he was bid; and then meeting the merchants with the black sheep, he told them that their companions of the morning had also returned.
“‘Then take our black sheep and hide it in your stable,’ they said. This the landlord quickly did, and returned to the tavern in time to hear the merchants greet each other.
“‘What are you doing here?’ asked the black sheep merchants.
“‘We have lost our white goat,’ they replied, ‘and have come here to hunt it. Why have you returned?’
“‘We have come on the same errand,’ said the others. ‘We have lost our black sheep, and have returned to find it.’
“Now, the tavern-keeper was not a very smart man, but he had no lack of shrewdness and cunning. He had heard the merchants wrangling15 and quarreling over the black sheep and the white goat, and now he saw them coming back pretending to be hunting for both the animals, though neither one was lost. He had sense enough to see that there must be something very valuable about the black sheep and the white goat; and so, while the merchants were taking their refreshments16, each party eyeing the other with suspicion, the tavern-keeper slipped out into his stable, and carried the black sheep and the white goat to an outhouse out of sight and hearing of the guests.
“As for the merchants, they were in a pickle17. Neither party wanted to go away and leave the other at the tavern; so they waited and waited,—the black sheep party waiting for the white goat party to go, and the white goat party waiting for the black sheep party to go.
“‘When do you leave?’ says one.
“‘As soon as we find our sheep. When do you leave?’ says the other.
“‘Quite as soon.’
“There was not much satisfaction in this for either side. Finally, one of the merchants called the tavern-keeper aside, and asked him where he had put the black sheep.
“‘In my stable, your honor,’ replied the man.
“Then another merchant called the tavern-keeper aside, and asked him where he had put the white goat.
“‘In my stable, your honor,’ he replied.
“Now as each of these merchants went out to see that his precious animal was safe, it was perfectly18 natural that they should see each other slipping about in the yard, and that they should meet face to face in the stable. Both made the excuse that they thought they might find their lost animals at that point, and both were terribly worked up when they saw that the stable was empty. Each went back and told his companions, and pretty soon there was the biggest uproar19 in that house that the tavern-keeper had ever heard.
“Both parties went running to the stable, falling over each other on the way; but the black sheep and the white goat were gone. Then the merchants went running back into the tavern, and all began yelling at the tavern-keeper. Instead of making any answer, that cunning chap put his fingers in his ears, and politely asked the merchants if they wanted to jar the roof off of the house. They danced around him, yelling and shaking their fists at him, but he kept his fingers in his ears.
“Finally, they caught hold of the man, and began to pull and haul him around at a great rate. In this way they compelled him to take his fingers out of his ears; but he could hear little better, for the whole crowd was dancing around and squalling like a lot of crazy people at a picnic. All the tavern-keeper could hear was:—
“‘Where’s our’—‘You’ve got our’—‘Sheep!’ ‘Goat!’
“There was more noise than sense to this rippit. There was so much noise that it roused the whole neighborhood, and the people of the village came running in to see what the trouble was. Among them was the mayor; and he succeeded in quieting the rumpus, not because he was mayor, but because he had a louder voice than any of them.
“‘Because this man has robbed us,’ they cried, pointing to the tavern-keeper.
“‘Of what has he robbed you?’ asked the mayor.
“‘Of a black sheep and a white goat,’ they replied.
“‘Your honor,’ said the tavern-keeper, when the mayor had turned to him, ‘you have known me all my life, and have never heard that I was a thief. I want to ask these men a few questions.’ By this time the two parties of merchants had ranged themselves on different sides of the room. The tavern-keeper turned to the black sheep party. ‘Didn’t the men over there come into this house and tell you that they had lost their white goat?’
“‘They certainly did,’ was the reply.
“Then he turned to the white goat party. ‘Didn’t the men over there tell you that they had lost their black sheep and had come back to hunt it?’
“‘They certainly did,’ came the answer.
“Both parties tried to explain that they had placed their animals in charge of the tavern-keeper, but while they were hemming21 and hawing a queer thing happened. The boy had come up with his butting cow; and seeing the merchants still in the tavern, he led her to the door, and told her to do her whole duty, and nothing but her duty.
“While the merchants were trying to explain, the cow rushed into the room with a bellow22, her tail curled over her back, and went at the men with head down and horn points up. Tables and chairs were nothing to the butting cow. She ran over them and through them; and in a little while the room was cleared of the merchants, and some of them were hurt so badly that they could scarcely crawl away.
“The mayor had jumped through a window, and the village people had scattered23 in all directions. By this time the tavern-keeper, who had remained unhurt, was laughing to himself at the fix the merchants found themselves in, for the butting cow was still pursuing them. But he laughed too soon. The little girl came to the door with her hitting stick.
“‘Hit, stick! Stick, hit!’ she cried; and in an instant the stick was mauling the tavern-keeper over the head and shoulders and all about the body.
“‘Help! help!’ shouted the tavern-keeper. ‘Somebody run here! Help! I’ll tell you where they are! I’ll show you where they are!’
“‘Stop, stick!’ said the girl. ‘Now show me where my snow-white goat is.’
“‘Yes!’ exclaimed the boy. ‘Show me where my coal-black sheep is!’
“‘Come,’ said the tavern-keeper; and he went as fast as he could to the outhouse where he had hid the animals. They were in there, safe and sound, and the children made haste to carry them home.
“So the farmer was once more rich and prosperous. He shunned24 the tavern and kept at work, and in this way prosperity brought happiness and content to all the family. And by giving freely to the poor they made others happy too.”
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1
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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2
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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3
wrangle
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| vi.争吵 | |
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4
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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5
butting
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| 用头撞人（犯规动作） | |
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6
bleat
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| v.咩咩叫，(讲)废话，哭诉；n.咩咩叫，废话，哭诉 | |
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7
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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9
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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10
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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11
wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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14
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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15
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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16
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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17
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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18
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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19
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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20
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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21
hemming
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| 卷边 | |
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22
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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23
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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24
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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