XX SOMETHING SEEMS WRONG

 When Jimmy Rabbit went to see Betsy Butterfly the next morning he found her quite willing to let him take her picture away with him.

 

"But I must say—" Betsy remarked—"I must say that I don't understand why anybody should want to borrow this old portrait. Everyone tells me I have changed a great deal since you made it."

 

"That's true," Jimmy Rabbit agreed. "But the person to whom I'm going to show it won't know the difference."

 

"I don't believe he knows me, then," she remarked.

 

"No! And probably he never will," said Jimmy Rabbit. "But don't you worry about that! From what I hear of him, he's a good deal of a bore."

 

"Don't bother to bring back that picture!" she called to Jimmy Rabbit as he hopped¹ away.

 

"I'm afraid Betsy Butterfly is growing vain," he murmured to himself. "To be sure, she has changed. But I shall always like this portrait of her, because I painted it myself."

 

Later, when he was in Farmer Green's garden, he wrapped the picture carefully in a rhubarb leaf and hid it beneath a pile of brush. And he didn't come back for it until after dark, just as the moon peeped above the rim² of the hills.

 

At the duck pond Jimmy Rabbit found Freddie Firefly waiting for him, hopping³ up and down and flashing his light through the misty⁴ gloom.

 

"Did you get it?" Freddie demanded.

 

"It's safe in my pocket," Jimmy assured him.

 

"Let me have it!" said Freddie. "Dusty Moth⁵ is waiting for me at the fence-corner, near the orchard⁶. And I want to give him a good look at Betsy Butterfly's picture before the moon gets too high, for he can't see well if there's too much light."

 

Jimmy Rabbit drew the picture carefully from his pocket. And Freddie Firefly took it and slung⁷ it across his back. He fairly staggered under the weight.

 

"Aren't you going to look at Betsy's picture yourself?" Jimmy Rabbit asked him. "It's a good bit of work, if I do say so."

 

"Oh! I don't care about seeing it. It's nothing to me, you know," said Freddie carelessly. "But I hope Dusty Moth will be satisfied with it."

 

"Well, I won't go with you, to see if he is," Jimmy Rabbit told him. "I usually have a light lunch at this hour. So I'll meet you here at the duck pond after I come back from the cabbage patch."

 

They parted then. And shortly afterward⁸ Freddie Firefly dropped down beside Dusty Moth, who made no attempt to conceal⁹ his pleasure.

 

"At last!" he cried. "At last I am to behold¹⁰ the beautiful Betsy Butterfly's picture!... I do hope it's a good likeness¹¹!" he added as he began, with trembling hands, to unwrap the rhubarb covering from the portrait.

 

"It certainly is," Freddie Firefly assured him. "It was made by a friend of mine, who once painted a famous picture of old Mr. Crow."

 

While Freddie danced along the top of the fence, Dusty Moth carried the picture into the shade of an apple tree, out of the moonlight, so that he might see it more clearly.

 

A few moments later Freddie Firefly was both surprised and alarmed to hear a cry of anguish¹² from the direction of the apple tree.

 

"What's the matter?" he called. "There's nothing wrong, I hope?"

 

But Dusty Moth made no reply.

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 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。

4 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

5 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

6 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。

7 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

10 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

11 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

12 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。