6 The Race 竞赛

6 The Race
Now there began a desperate race, the machines against the foxes. In the beginning, the hill lookedlike this:
After about an hour, as the machines bit away more and more soil from the hilltop, it looked likethis:
Sometimes the foxes would gain a little ground and the clanking noises would grow fainter andMr Fox would say, ‘We’re going to make it! I’m sure we are!’ But then a few moments later, themachines would come back at them and the crunch¹ of the mighty² shovels³ would get louder andlouder. Once the foxes actually saw the sharp metal edge of one of the shovels as it scraped up theearth just behind them.
‘Keep going, my darlings!’ panted Mr Fox. ‘Don’t give up!’
‘Keep going!’ the fat Boggis shouted to Bunce and Bean. ‘We’ll get him any moment now!’
‘Have you caught sight of him yet?’ Bean called back.
‘Not yet,’ shouted Boggis. ‘But I think you’re close!’
‘I’ll pick him up with my bucket!’ shouted Bunce. ‘I’ll chop him to pieces!’
But by lunchtime the machines were still at it. And so were the poor foxes. The hill now lookedlike this:
The farmers didn’t stop for lunch; they were too keen to finish the job.
‘Hey there, Mr Fox!’ yelled Bunce, leaning out of his tractor. ‘We’re coming to get you now!’
‘You’ve had your last chicken!’ yelled Boggis. ‘You’ll never come prowling around my farmagain!’
A sort of madness had taken hold of the three men. The tall skinny Bean and dwarfish⁴ pot-belliedBunce were driving their machines like maniacs⁵, racing⁶ the motors and making the shovels dig at aterrific speed. The fat Boggis was hopping⁷ about like a dervish and shouting, ‘Faster! Faster!’
By five o’clock in the afternoon this is what had happened to the hill:
The hole the machines had dug was like the crater⁸ of a volcano. It was such an extraordinary sightthat crowds of people came rushing out from the surrounding villages to have a look. They stood onthe edge of the crater and stared down at Boggis and Bunce and Bean.
‘Hey there, Boggis! What’s going on?’
‘We’re after a fox!’
‘You must be mad!’
The people jeered⁹ and laughed. But this only made the three farmers more furious and moreobstinate and more determined¹⁰ than ever not to give up until they had caught the fox.


6　竞赛
现在机器和狐狸之间展开了一场殊死比赛。起初，那座小山看上去是这样子的：
一个小时之后，挖掘机从山头上挖去了越来越多的土，小山看上去成了这个样子：
每当狐狸们取得一点进展，轰轰隆隆的响声渐渐减弱时，狐狸先生就会说：“我们就要成功了！我敢肯定！”但是随后不久，那机器就又会来到他们跟前，巨大的机械铲发出的嘎吱嘎吱的声响越来越高。有一次，当其中一个机械铲就在他们身后挖土时，他们真真切切地看到了它那锋利的金属铲刃。
“别停下，”狐狸先生气喘吁吁地说，“不要灰心！”
“别停下！”胖子博吉斯冲邦斯和比恩喊道，“现在我们随时都会逮住他！”
“你看见过他吗？”比恩回头喊道。
“还没有。”博吉斯大声说道，“但是我想你已经离他很近了！”
“我要用我的铲斗把他铲起来！”邦斯喊道，“我要把他剁成碎片！”
但是直到吃午饭的时候，挖掘机仍然还在挖着。可怜的狐狸们也在拼命地干着。现在小山被挖去了一大半，成了这个样子：
饲养场主们也没停下来吃午饭，他们干得上了瘾，不忍罢手。
“喂，狐狸先生！”邦斯从挖掘机上探出身子喊道，“我们这就要抓住你了！”
“你再也没法偷鸡吃了！”博吉斯嚷道，“你再也别想到我的饲养场去打主意了！”
三个人都陷入了一种精神失常的状态。瘦子比恩和大腹便便的小矮个邦斯像疯子似的开着挖掘机，加足马力，以极快的速度用机器铲挖着。胖子博吉斯像个苦行僧一样跳来跳去，嘴里不停地喊着：“加油！加油！”
到下午5点，那座小山成了这个样子（在原来那座小山的位置上出现了一个大坑）：
挖掘机挖出的那个坑就像一个火山口。这可是一大奇观，周围村庄里的人成群结队地赶来观看。他们站在大坑边上，盯着下边的博吉斯、邦斯和比恩。
“喂，博吉斯！你们在干什么？”
“我们在逮狐狸！”
“你们一定是疯了！”
人们嘲讽着，大笑着，但是这反倒使三个饲养场主比以前更加狂怒，更加倔强，更加坚定。不抓住狐狸，他们决不罢休。

1 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

4 dwarfish   

a.像侏儒的，矮小的

参考例句：

• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。
• Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things and heavenly. 不要再满足于属世的成就，要努力奔向属天的事物。

5 maniacs   

n.疯子（maniac的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Hollywood films misrepresented us as drunks, maniacs and murderers. 好莱坞电影把我们歪曲成酒鬼、疯子和杀人凶手。 来自辞典例句
• They're not irrational, potentially homicidal maniacs, to start! 他们不是非理性的，或者有杀人倾向的什么人！ 来自电影对白

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

8 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

9 jeered   

v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police were jeered at by the waiting crowd. 警察受到在等待的人群的嘲弄。
• The crowd jeered when the boxer was knocked down. 当那个拳击手被打倒时，人们开始嘲笑他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。