14 Badger Has Doubts 獾的疑问

14 Badger¹ Has Doubts
‘Just one more visit!’ cried Mr Fox.
‘And I’ll bet I know where that’ll be,’ said the only Small Fox now left. He was the Smallest Foxof them all.
‘Where?’ asked Badger.
‘Well,’ said the Smallest Fox. ‘We’ve been to Boggis and we’ve been to Bunce but we haven’tbeen to Bean. It must be Bean.’
‘You are right,’ said Mr Fox. ‘But what you don’t know is which part of Bean’s place we areabout to visit.’
‘Which?’ they said both together.
‘Ah-ha,’ said Mr Fox. ‘Just you wait and see.’ They were digging as they talked. The tunnel wasgoing forward fast.
Suddenly Badger said, ‘Doesn’t this worry you just a tiny bit, Foxy?’
‘Worry me?’ said Mr Fox. ‘What?’
‘All this . . . this stealing.’
Mr Fox stopped digging and stared at Badger as though he had gone completely dotty. ‘My dearold furry² frump,’ he said, ‘do you know anyone in the whole world who wouldn’t swipe a fewchickens if his children were starving to death?’
There was a short silence while Badger thought deeply about this.
‘You are far too respectable,’ said Mr Fox.
‘There’s nothing wrong with being respectable,’ Badger said.
‘Look,’ said Mr Fox, ‘Boggis and Bunce and Bean are out to kill us. You realize that, I hope?’
‘I do, Foxy, I do indeed,’ said the gentle Badger.
‘But we’re not going to stoop to their level. We don’t want to kill them.’
‘I should hope not, indeed,’ said Badger.
‘We wouldn’t dream of it,’ said Mr Fox. ‘We shall simply take a little food here and there to keepus and our families alive. Right?’
‘I suppose we’ll have to,’ said Badger.
‘If they want to be horrible, let them,’ said Mr Fox. ‘We down here are decent³ peace-lovingpeople.’
Badger laid his head on one side and smiled at Mr Fox. ‘Foxy,’ he said, ‘I love you.’
‘Thank you,’ said Mr Fox. ‘And now let’s get on with the digging.’
Five minutes later, Badger’s front paws hit against something flat and hard. ‘What on earth isthis?’ he said. ‘It looks like a solid stone wall.’ He and Mr Fox scraped away the soil. It was a wall.
But it was built of bricks, not stones. The wall was right in front of them, blocking their way.
‘Now who in the world would build a wall under the ground?’ asked Badger.
‘Very simple,’ said Mr Fox. ‘It’s the wall of an underground room. And if I am not mistaken, it isexactly what I’m looking for.’

14　獾的疑问
“再去个地方看看！”狐狸先生大声说。“我敢打赌那个地方是哪里。”惟一一个留下来的小狐狸说道。他是所有的小狐狸当中最小的一个。
“是哪里？”獾问道。
“嗯，”最小的狐狸说，“我们已经去过博吉斯那儿了，也去过邦斯那儿了，但是我们还没去过比恩那儿。那地方一定是比恩那里。”
“你说对了，”狐狸先生说，“可是你不知道我们将要拜访的是比恩那里的哪一部分。”
“哪一部分？”他们两个一起问道。
“啊哈，”狐狸先生说，“你们就等着瞧吧。”他们边谈边挖，地道很快地向前延伸着。
獾突然说道：“狐兄，你一点儿也不为此感到担心吗？”
“担心？”狐狸先生说道，“为什么担心？”
“所有这……这些偷窃行为。”
狐狸先生停下来不挖了，两眼凝视着獾，好像他完全傻了似的。他说：“我亲爱的长毛的老古董，你知道全世界有谁在他的孩子快要饿死的时候，也不偷几只鸡？”
獾在深思的时候，出现了短暂的沉默。
“你简直太令人尊敬了。”狐狸先生说道。
“令人尊敬并没有什么错啊。”獾说道。
“瞧，”狐狸先生说，“博吉斯、邦斯和比恩正在外边要杀死我们。我相信，你明白这一点。”
“我明白，狐兄，我确实明白。”性情温和的獾说道。
“可是我们并不是要坏到像他们那样的程度。我们并不是想要把他们杀死。”
“我的确不希望那样。”獾说道。
“我们做梦也没有想到过那样，”狐狸先生说，“我们只是从这儿那儿拿点儿食物，以便让我们和我们全家活下去。对吗？”
“我想我们是迫不得已。”獾说道。
“如果他们想那样残忍，那就随他们的便吧。”狐狸先生说，“我们在这下边可是宽容的和平爱好者。”
獾把头歪向一侧，冲狐狸先生微笑着说：“狐兄，我喜欢你。”
“谢谢，”狐狸先生说，“那咱们现在继续挖吧。”
五分钟之后，獾的前爪碰到了某个平平的硬东西。“这到底是什么？”他说，“看上去像是坚硬的石头墙。”他和狐狸先生把土扒到一边去。那是一堵墙，但是是用砖砌的，而不是用石头砌的。这堵墙就在他们的正前方，挡住了他们的去路。
“究竟是谁会在地底下建一道墙呢？”獾问道。
“很简单，”狐狸先生说，“这是一道地下室的墙。要是我没有搞错的话，它就是我要找的东西。”

1 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

2 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

3 decent   

adj.象样的，不错的，体面的，正派的，恰当的

参考例句：

• We want to raise our children to be decent men and women.我们盼望把孩子们培养成优秀人才。
• There isn't even a decent table in this room.这屋里连张像样的桌子也没有。