9 Mr Fox Has a Plan 狐狸先生有一个计划

9 Mr Fox Has a Plan
For three days and three nights this waiting-game went on.
‘How long can a fox go without food or water?’ Boggis asked on the third day.
‘Not much longer now,’ Bean told him. ‘He’ll make a run for it soon. He’ll have to.’
Bean was right. Down in the tunnel the foxes were slowly but surely starving to death.
‘If only we could have just a tiny sip¹ of water,’ said one of the Small Foxes. ‘Oh, Dad, can’t youdo something?’
‘Couldn’t we make a dash for it, Dad? We’d have a little bit of a chance, wouldn’t we?’
‘No chance at all,’ snapped² Mrs Fox. ‘I refuse to let you go up there and face those guns. I’dsooner you stay down here and die in peace.’
Mr Fox had not spoken for a long time. He had been sitting quite still, his eyes closed, not evenhearing what the others were saying. Mrs Fox knew that he was trying desperately³ to think of a wayout. And now, as she looked at him, she saw him stir⁴ himself and get slowly to his feet. He lookedback at his wife. There was a little spark⁵ of excitement dancing in his eyes.
‘What is it, darling?’ said Mrs Fox quickly.
‘I’ve just had a bit of an idea,’ Mr Fox said carefully.
‘What?’ they cried. ‘Oh, Dad, what is it?’
‘Come on!’ said Mrs Fox. ‘Tell us quickly!’
‘Well . . .’ said Mr Fox, then he stopped and sighed and sadly shook his head. He sat down again.
‘It’s no good,’ he said. ‘It won’t work after all.’
‘Why not, Dad?’
‘Because it means more digging and we aren’t any of us strong enough for that after three daysand nights without food.’
‘Yes we are, Dad!’ cried the Small Foxes, jumping up and running to their father. ‘We can do it!
You see if we can’t! So can you!’
Mr Fox looked at the four Small Foxes and he smiled. What fine children I have, he thought. Theyare starving to death and they haven’t had a drink for three days, but they are still undefeated. I mustnot let them down.
‘I . . . I suppose we could give it a try,’ he said.
‘Let’s go, Dad! Tell us what you want us to do!’
Slowly, Mrs Fox got to her feet. She was suffering more than any of them from the lack of foodand water. She was very weak. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said, ‘but I don’t think I am going to be muchhelp.’
‘You stay right where you are, my darling,’ said Mr Fox. ‘We can handle this by ourselves.’


9　狐狸先生有一个计划
这种监守的游戏持续了三天三夜。
“狐狸不吃饭不喝水，能活多长时间？”博吉斯在第三天的时候问道。
“现在用不了多长时间了，”比恩对他说，“他很快就会饿得跑出来的。他一定会出来的。”
比恩说得对。下面地道里的狐狸们确实快要慢慢地饿死了。
“要是咱们能喝上一小口水就好了。”一个小狐狸说道，“噢，爸爸，你不能做点什么吗？”
“爸爸，咱们不能猛地一下冲出去吗？那样咱们还有一点儿机会，不是吗？”
“根本没有机会，”狐狸先生厉声说道，“我是不会让你们到上边去面对那些枪的。我宁可让你们待在下面平静地死去。”
狐狸先生已经好长时间不说话了。他两眼紧闭，蹲在那里一动不动，甚至没听见别的狐狸在说些什么。狐狸太太知道，他正在竭尽全力、绞尽脑汁地思索着出去的办法。现在，当她看他的时候，她发现他动了一下身子，缓缓地站了起来。他向后看了看自己的妻子，眼睛里跳动着一点兴奋的火花。
“怎么了，亲爱的？”狐狸太太立即问道。
“我刚刚想到了一点儿主意。”狐狸先生谨慎地说。
“什么？”他们喊道，“噢，爸爸，什么主意？”
“快说！”狐狸太太说，“快告诉我们！”
“嗯……”狐狸先生说道，然后便停下来叹了口气，伤心地摇了摇头。他又蹲了下来。“那办法不好，”他说，“那终归还是不行。”
“为什么不行，爸爸？”
“因为那就是说咱们还要继续挖洞，而咱们已经三天三夜没吃东西了，谁也没有足够的力气干下去了。”
“我们能行，爸爸！”小狐狸们叫着跳起来，跑到他们父亲的跟前，“我们能干！我们能不能行，你就瞧着吧！你也能行的！”
狐狸先生看了看四个小狐狸，脸上露出了微笑。他暗想，我的孩子们多好啊！他们快要饿死了，三天来他们一口水都没喝，但他们仍然没有垮下来。我一定不能让他们泄气。“我……我想咱们也许可以试一试。”他说道。
“快说吧，爸爸！说说你想让我们干什么？”
狐狸太太缓缓地站了起来。由于没吃东西没喝水，她比他们中的任何一个都更难受。她的身体非常虚弱。“我太抱歉了，”她说，“但是我想我还能帮得上一点忙。”
“你就待在那儿吧，亲爱的，”狐狸先生说，“我们自己能干得了。”

1 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

2 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》

3 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

4 stir   

n.感动(激动，愤怒或震动)，搅拌，骚乱；vt.激起，惹起，搅和；vi.挪动，活动，离开，搅拌，激动

参考例句：

• Give the soup a stir.把汤搅拌一下。
• Don't stir up trouble between them.不要在他们之间惹麻烦。

5 spark   

n.火花，朝气，情人，俗丽的年轻人；vi.闪烁，冒火花，热情回应；vt.激发，引起，追求

参考例句：

• A single spark can start a prairie fire.星星之火，可以燎原。
• What made the electric wire spark?电线冒火花是什么原因？