VII CHATTERER WORKS HARD

 

When Chatterer had left the Green Forest because of his terrible fear of Shadow the Weasel, he had been fat. At least, he had been fat for him. All through the pleasant fall, while he had been gathering¹ his supply of nuts and seeds to store away for the winter, he had eaten all he could hold and had filled his red coat out until it actually felt too tight. But now that same red coat hung so loose on Chatterer that it looked too big for him. Yes, Sir, Chatterer had grown so thin that his coat actually looked too big for him. And he was growing thinner every day.

 

You see, most of the food had been collected and stored away long ago, and Chatterer had to run about a great deal and hunt very hard to find enough to eat day by day, while as for filling a new store-house,—that seemed impossible! Still Chatterer kept trying, and day by day he managed to add a little to the supply of seeds. But it was pretty poor fare at best. There were no plump² nuts or tasty pine-seeds, such as filled his store-houses in the Green Forest, because no nut or pine-trees grew near the Old Orchard³, and Chatterer didn't dare go back to the Green Forest for fear that Shadow the Weasel would find him and track him to his new home. So he patiently did his best to find food close at hand. But it was discouraging, terribly discouraging, to work from sun-up to sun-down, running here, running there, running everywhere, until he was so tired he was ready to drop, and knowing all the time that the snow might come any day and bury what little food there was. Oh, those were hard days for Chatterer the Red Squirrel⁴, very hard days indeed.

 

One morning he started very early and made a long journey by way of the old stone wall and the rail fences down to Farmer Brown's cornfield. Of course Farmer Brown had long ago taken away the corn, but in doing it, a great many grains had been scattered⁵ about on the ground, half buried where they had been trodden⁶ on, hidden under leaves and among weeds and under the piles of stalks⁷ from which the ears had been stripped. For the first time for days Chatterer felt something like cheer in his heart, as he scurried⁸ about hunting for and finding the plump yellow grains. First he ate all he could hold, for he saw that then there would be plenty to take home. Then he stuffed his cheeks full, scrambled⁹ up on the rail fence, and started for his new home in the Old Orchard.

 

"It is a terrible long way to have to carry all my supplies," thought he, as he sat up on the top of a post to rest. "I don't see how I ever can do it. Well, I certainly can't, if I sit here all day!" With that he jumped down to the rail below him. He was half way across when he noticed a crack in it. It looked to him as if that rail were hollow part way. A great idea came to him. His eyes grew bright with excitement. He ran the length of the rail and back again, looking for an opening. There was none. Then very slowly and carefully he worked his way back, stretching his head over so that he could look underneath¹⁰. Almost over to the next post he found what he had so hoped to find. What was it? Why, a knot-hole. Yes, Sir, a knot-hole that opened right into the hollow in the rail. It wasn't quite big enough for Chatterer to squeeze through, but that didn't trouble him. He emptied the corn from his cheeks and then he went to work with those sharp teeth of his and in a little while, a very little while, that knot-hole was plenty big enough for Chatterer to slip through.

 

His eyes snapped¹¹ with pleasure as he explored the hollow rail. "I'll make this my store-house!" he cried. "I'll fill it full of corn, and then when I am hungry in the winter, I can run down here and fill up. It will be a lot better than trying to carry the corn up to the Old Orchard." And with that, Chatterer began the work of filling the hollow rail with corn.

 

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 plump   

adj.丰满的，丰富的，直接的；vi.下降，支持，变丰满；vt.突然放下，支持，使丰满；n.突然膨胀，坠落；adv.骤降，直线下降，不加限制的

参考例句：

• The baby is plump and very cute.那个婴儿白白胖胖的，十分可爱。
• The grains are quite plump.谷粒儿很饱。

3 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

4 squirrel   

n.松鼠，松鼠的毛皮；vt.贮藏以备用

参考例句：

• The squirrel makes a store of nuts for the winter.松鼠贮藏坚果以备过冬。
• A squirrel hoards nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬贮藏坚果。

5 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

6 trodden   

v.踩，踏( tread的过去分词 )；踩成；踏出；步行于

参考例句：

• The people have been trodden down for too long. 人民受践踏的时间太久了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cattle had trodden a path to the pond. 牛群踏出了一条通往池塘的小径。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 stalks   

n.主茎，花梗，叶柄( stalk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• flowers on long stalks 长茎上的花
• Don't nip any stalks off the plant. 别掐断植物茎！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

11 snapped   

v.猛地咬住( snap的过去式和过去分词 )；（使某物）发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开，关闭]；厉声地说；拍照

参考例句：

• The wind had snapped the tree in two. 风把树喀嚓一声刮断了。
• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。 来自《简明英汉词典》