17 The Great Feast 盛大的宴会

17 The Great Feast
Back in the tunnel they paused so that Mr Fox could brick up the hole in the wall. He was hummingto himself as he put the bricks back in place. ‘I can still taste that glorious cider,’ he said. ‘What animpudent fellow Rat is.’
‘He has bad manners,’ Badger¹ said. ‘All rats have bad manners. I’ve never met a polite rat yet.’
‘And he drinks too much,’ said Mr Fox, putting the last brick in place. ‘There we are. Now, hometo the feast!’
They grabbed their jars of cider and off they went. Mr Fox was in front, the Smallest Fox camenext and Badger last. Along the tunnel they flew . . . past the turning that led to Bunce’s MightyStorehouse . . . past Boggis’s Chicken House Number One and then up the long home stretch towardsthe place where they knew Mrs Fox would be waiting.
‘Keep it up, my darlings!’ shouted Mr Fox. ‘We’ll soon be there! Think what’s waiting for us atthe other end! And just think what we’re bringing home with us in these jars! That ought to cheer uppoor Mrs Fox.’ Mr Fox sang a little song as he ran:
‘Home again swiftly I glide²,
Back to my beautiful bride.
She’ll not feel so rotten
As soon as she’s gotten
Some cider inside her inside.’
Then Badger joined in:
‘Oh poor Mrs Badger, he cried,
So hungry she very near died.
But she’ll not feel so hollow
If only she’ll swallow
Some cider inside her inside.’
They were still singing as they rounded the final corner and burst in upon the most wonderful andamazing sight any of them had ever seen. The feast was just beginning. A large dining-room hadbeen hollowed out of the earth, and in the middle of it, seated around a huge table, were no less thantwenty-nine animals. They were:
Mrs Fox and three Small Foxes.
Mrs Badger and three Small Badgers³.
Mole⁴ and Mrs Mole and four Small Moles⁵.
Rabbit and Mrs Rabbit and five Small Rabbits.
Weasel and Mrs Weasel and six Small Weasels.
The table was covered with chickens and ducks and geese and hams and bacon, and everyone wastucking into the lovely food.
‘My darling!’ cried Mrs Fox, jumping up and hugging Mr Fox. ‘We couldn’t wait! Please forgiveus!’ Then she hugged the Smallest Fox of all, and Mrs Badger hugged Badger, and everyone huggedeveryone else. Amid shouts of joy, the great jars of cider were placed upon the table, and Mr Fox andBadger and the Smallest Fox sat down with the others.
You must remember no one had eaten a thing for several days. They were ravenous⁶. So for a whilethere was no conversation at all. There was only the sound of crunching⁷ and chewing as the animalsattacked the succulent food.
At last, Badger stood up. He raised his glass of cider and called out, ‘A toast! I want you all tostand and drink a toast to our dear friend who has saved our lives this day – Mr Fox!’
‘To Mr Fox!’ they all shouted, standing⁸ up and raising their glasses. ‘To Mr Fox! Long may helive!’
Then Mrs Fox got shyly to her feet and said, ‘I don’t want to make a speech. I just want to say onething, and it is this: MY HUSBAND IS A FANTASTIC FOX.’ Everyone clapped and cheered. ThenMr Fox himself stood up.
‘This delicious meal . . .’ he began, then he stopped. In the silence that followed, he let fly atremendous belch⁹. There was laughter and more clapping. ‘This delicious meal, my friends,’ he wenton, ‘is by courtesy of Messrs Boggis, Bunce and Bean.’ (More cheering and laughter.) ‘And I hopeyou have enjoyed it as much as I have.’ He let fly another colossal¹⁰ belch.
‘Better out than in,’ said Badger.
‘Thank you,’ said Mr Fox, grinning hugely. ‘But now, my friends, let us be serious. Let us think oftomorrow and the next day and the days after that. If we go out, we will be killed. Right?’
‘Right!’ they shouted.
‘We’ll be shot before we’ve gone a yard,’ said Badger.
‘Ex-actly,’ said Mr Fox. ‘But who wants to go out, anyway; let me ask you that? We are alldiggers, every one of us. We hate the outside. The outside is full of enemies. We only go out becausewe have to, to get food for our families. But now, my friends, we have an entirely¹¹ new set-up. Wehave a safe tunnel leading to three of the finest stores in the world!’
‘We do indeed!’ said Badger. ‘I’ve seen ’em!’
‘And you know what this means?’ said Mr Fox. ‘It means that none of us need ever go out into theopen again!’
There was a buzz of excitement around the table.
‘I therefore invite you all,’ Mr Fox went on, ‘to stay here with me for ever.’
‘For ever!’ they cried. ‘My goodness! How marvellous!’ And Rabbit said to Mrs Rabbit, ‘Mydear, just think! We’re never going to be shot at again in our lives!’
‘We will make,’ said Mr Fox, ‘a little underground village, with streets and houses on each side –separate houses for Badgers and Moles and Rabbits and Weasels and Foxes. And every day I will goshopping for you all. And every day we will eat like kings.’
The cheering that followed this speech went on for many minutes.

17　盛大的宴会
他们回到地道里之后，稍微停了一下，以便狐狸先生把墙上的那个洞用砖堵上。他一边把砖放回原处，一边自言自语地哼哼着。“我还会尝到那些美味的苹果酒的，”他说，“那只老鼠是个多么卑鄙的家伙啊！”
“他太没有礼貌了，”獾说道，“所有的老鼠都没有礼貌。我还从没遇上过一只懂礼貌的老鼠呢。”
“而且他喝得也太多了，”狐狸先生说着，把最后一块砖放好。“好了，现在，回家赴宴！”
他们拿起苹果酒罐子上了路。狐狸先生走在最前面，最小的狐狸排第二，獾走在最后。
他们沿着地道飞快地前行……经过通向邦斯的大仓库的转弯处……又经过了博吉斯的1号鸡房，然后又走过了长长的一段路。他们知道，狐狸太太正在这段路通向的那个地方等着他们呢。
“跟上，亲爱的！”狐狸先生大声说，“我们很快就要到了！想想在另一头等着我们的是什么吧！再想想我们带回家去的这些罐子里装的是什么吧！这下可该让可怜的狐狸夫人高兴了。”狐狸先生一边跑一边唱起了小曲儿：
我又一次飞快地溜回家，
回到我美丽的新娘身旁。
当她一喝下这些苹果酒呀，
她便会精神振奋身心舒畅。
獾也跟着唱了起来：
噢，可怜的獾夫人哪，
她饥肠辘辘气息奄奄。
只要喝下这些苹果酒呀，
她将会肚儿饱满精神添。
他们边唱着歌边拐过了最后一个弯，突然之间，一个最最美妙而且令人吃惊的场景展现在他们眼前。宴会刚刚开始。这是一个从地底下挖成的很大的餐厅，餐厅正中央摆着一个大餐桌，围着餐桌坐着的至少有29个动物，他们是：
狐狸太太和三只狐狸。
獾太太和三只小獾。
鼹鼠、鼹鼠太太和四只小鼹鼠。
兔子、兔子太太和五只小兔子。
鼬鼠、鼬鼠太太和六只小鼬鼠。
桌子上摆满了鸡、鸭、鹅、火腿和熏肉。大家正在狼吞虎咽地吃着这些美味的食物。“我亲爱的！”狐狸太太一边喊着，一边跳起来拥抱狐狸先生，“我们等不及了，请原谅！”然后她又拥抱了那只最小的狐狸，獾太太拥抱了獾，大家又互相拥抱了一番。盛着苹果酒的大罐子在一片欢快的喊声中被放到了桌子上，狐狸先生、獾和最小的狐狸和大家一起坐了下来。
你一定记得，在座的每一位都是好几天没吃任何东西了。他们都饿坏了，所以这会儿他们一句话都没说。在动物们向鲜美的食物发起攻击的时候，只听见嘎吱嘎吱和呱唧呱唧的咀嚼声。
最后，獾站了起来。他举起酒杯大声说：“干杯！我想让你们都站起来，为我们这位亲爱的朋友——狐狸先生，干上一杯！因为今天是他救了我们的性命。”
“为狐狸先生干杯！”他们都站起来，举起酒杯大声喊道，“为狐狸先生干杯！祝他长寿！”
随后，狐狸太太羞涩地站了起来，说：“我不想在这儿演讲，我只是想说一句话，那就是：我丈夫是一个了不起的狐狸。”大家都鼓掌欢呼起来。接着，狐狸先生站了起来。
“这美味的食物……”他开口说道，然后又停了下来。在随后的沉默中，他打了一个很大的嗝。大家都拍着手大笑起来。“这美味的食物，我的朋友们，”他接着说，“是博吉斯、邦斯和比恩三位先生款待我们的。”欢呼声和笑声更高了。“我希望你们会像我一样喜欢它。”他又打了一个长长的嗝。
“有气还是吐出来的好。”獾说道。
“谢谢你，”狐狸先生咧着大嘴笑着说道，“不过，我的朋友们，咱们现在得严肃一点儿。
咱们还是想一想明天、后天以及以后的事儿吧。如果我们出去的话，我们将会被杀死，对吗？”
“对！”他们大声说道。
“我们跑不了一码远就会被枪打死的。”獾说。
“一点不错，”狐狸先生说，“可是我来问问你们，又有谁想要出去呢？我们大家每一个都是挖掘高手，我们痛恨外面。外面到处都是敌人。我们之所以要出去是因为迫不得已，是因为要为我们的家人找吃的东西。可是现在，朋友们，我们有了一套全新的设施。我们有了一条通往三个仓库的安全通道，那可是世界上最精美的仓库啊！”
“确实如此！”獾说道，“我都看到了！”
“你们知道这意味着什么吗？”狐狸先生说道，“这意味着咱们谁也用不着再到外面露天的地方去了！”
桌子四周响起了一阵兴奋的嗡嗡声。
狐狸先生接着说道：“这样我邀请你们大家都留在这里，永远和我在一起。”
“永远在一起！”他们大叫道，“我的天哪！简直太棒了！”于是兔子对兔子太太说：“我亲爱的，你想想，咱们这一辈子再也不会挨枪子儿了。”
狐狸先生说：“我们要建造一座地下的小村庄，里面有街道，街道两旁是房屋，獾、鼹鼠、兔子、鼬鼠和狐狸每家都有自己的房子。我每天都要为你们大家去采购。咱们每天都要像国王一样吃饭。”
这番讲话之后的欢呼声持续了好长时间。

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 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

3 badgers   

n.獾( badger的名词复数 )；獾皮；（大写）獾州人（美国威斯康星州人的别称）；毛鼻袋熊

参考例句：

• Badgers had undermined the foundations of the church. 獾在这座教堂的地基处打了洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• And rams ' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood. 5染红的公羊皮，海狗皮，皂荚木。 来自互联网

4 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

5 moles   

防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• Two moles of epoxy react with one mole of A-1100. 两个克分子环氧与一个克分子A－1100反应。

6 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

7 crunching   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 belch   

v.打嗝，喷出

参考例句：

• Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。
• Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工厂的烟囱冒出滚滚浓烟。

10 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。