V WHITE RABBIT’S CHEESE SCRUPLE

White Rabbit had so many scruples² that sometimes he could not sleep. He awoke one night and came over to Gray Mouse’s bed and pulled at the covers.

 

“Gray Mouse,” he whispered, “I have a scruple¹, and it keeps me awake. I am afraid that it would not be right for you to go to the Man’s house to-night just because there has been a party, and there are so many good things lying around within reach.”

 

“Who said anything about cake?” yawned Gray Mouse, and he rolled over as if he were going to sleep again.

 

“Gray Mouse,” called White Rabbit, “I thought that I ought to ask you. Do you think it would be wrong if I went along with you and just took a look into the cellar to see if that careless cook had forgotten to put away the carrots?”

 

“Certainly not,” answered Gray Mouse, scrambling³ out of bed. “Even if you should make a mistake and eat some carrots, it would be all right, because it would teach that cook to be careful. I heard the man’s wife tell her only the other day that she was the most careless cook they had had for a week. If I should find some cake, it would be well for me to eat as much of it as I can, so as to keep the man’s children from making themselves ill.”

 

So Gray Mouse and White Rabbit hurried out from under the barn floor and went to the cellar of the man’s house, laughing and jumping.

 

“What a pretty, little house,” said Gray Mouse, for in the centre of the cellar floor was a little wire box with a funny door.

 

Gray Mouse and White Rabbit walked all around it.

 

“Why,” said Gray Mouse, “it has cheese inside of it. Put in your paw, White Rabbit, and pull out that fine supper for me.”

 

“No, thank you,” answered White Rabbit, “I have such a scruple. That is toasted cheese inside of the little house, and toasted cheese is what men call Welsh Rabbit. I will let you know, Gray Mouse, that I am no cannibal. The door is open. Why don’t you go in and get the cheese yourself?”

 

“You are not very obliging, White Rabbit,” replied Gray Mouse, “but since you are so mean I think that I will get it myself.”

 

So Gray Mouse walked into the wire house and tried to carry away the cheese which was fastened on a little rod. There was a click and the door of the wire house closed behind Gray Mouse with a snap. Gray Mouse was in a trap which the man had set for him.

 

“Help me out, White Rabbit,” shrieked⁴ Gray Mouse. “Your jaws⁵ are larger than mine. Bite a hole in the side of this house so I can come out!”

 

White Rabbit had chewed carrots and turnips⁶ and soft things all his life, and it only set his teeth on edge when he tried to cut a way for Gray Mouse out of the little wire house.

 

“Scat B-r-r-r,” came a noise, and old Green Eyes, the cat, sprang from out behind a tub. White Rabbit jumped out of reach.

 

“Ugh!” meowed Green Eyes to Gray Mouse, “I’ve got a thief and I’m going to eat him.”

 

Green Eyes tried as hard as he could to get his paws through the cage. One of his claws caught Gray Mouse in the side and made the blood come. Green Eyes became very angry when he saw that he could not reach Gray Mouse. He struck the trap with his claws. He picked it up and gave it a good shaking. He lifted it over his head and threw it down on the floor as hard as he could. The trap rolled over and over and at last rested bottom side up. That made the door, which had been closed all this time, fall back. When Gray Mouse saw that the door was open all he had to do was to jump right out of the trap. He scuttled⁷ out of that cellar as fast as he could and up at the top of the steps he met White Rabbit.

 

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“It was very warm down there,” said White Rabbit, as he saw Gray Mouse, “and you know that my fur is so thick that I did not feel like staying down there any longer. It was very bright of you to get out of that trap.”

 

Then White Rabbit and Gray Mouse went away to the barn laughing and chuckling⁸ to themselves. They went back to the house the next night.

 

“Now, then,” said White Rabbit, “you go into the trap, Gray Mouse, and I will pretend that I am the cat.”

 

Gray Mouse went into the trap and helped himself to the cheese, and when the door snapped he only laughed. Then White Rabbit turned the cage over and the door fell back and Gray Mouse crawled out again.

 

“That is very fine,” said White Rabbit. “If it had not been for my cheese scruple it would never have happened. If I had put my paw in there I could not have reached the cheese, and besides that, you would not have had nearly so much fun.”

 

Gray Mouse and White Rabbit went every night and got all the cheese in that trap and in all the traps around the house. Gray Mouse took home so much cheese that he did not know what to do with it, and White Rabbit feasted on carrots. They paid no attention to Green Eyes at all. Whenever the cat came after Gray Mouse, that saucy⁹ animal would get himself caught in a trap and laugh at the cat. Gray Mouse and White Rabbit grew bigger and stronger every day, and they could run so fast that the cat could never catch them.

1 scruple   

n./v.顾忌，迟疑

参考例句：

• It'seemed to her now that she could marry him without the remnant of a scruple.她觉得现在她可以跟他成婚而不需要有任何顾忌。
• He makes no scruple to tell a lie.他说起谎来无所顾忌。

2 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

3 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

5 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

6 turnips   

芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表

参考例句：

• Well, I like turnips, tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflowers, onions and carrots. 噢，我喜欢大萝卜、西红柿、茄子、菜花、洋葱和胡萝卜。 来自魔法英语-口语突破（高中）
• This is turnip soup, made from real turnips. 这是大头菜汤，用真正的大头菜做的。

7 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

9 saucy   

adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的

参考例句：

• He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。
• It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲，真是无礼。