XVII A PUZZLE SOLVED

 "Good morning, Grandfather Mole¹!" Jolly Robin² called.

 

"What!" cried Grandfather Mole. "Have I made the mistake again of coming up on top of Farmer Green's garden?"

 

"You certainly have," Jolly told him.

 

"I must be getting old," said Grandfather Mole. "I'm growing more careless every day. I didn't mean to dig my way above ground." And then, thrusting his long nose right into the dirt, he began to burrow³ out of sight.

 

"Stop! Please stop!" Jolly Robin besought⁴ him. "I want to ask you a question about digging."

 

Grandfather Mole pulled his nose out of the ground.

 

"What's your question?" he inquired.

 

"It's about Grunty Pig," Jolly Robin began.

 

"I thought you said it was about digging," Grandfather Mole grumbled⁵. And he started to burrow once more.

 

"So it is!" Jolly exclaimed. "I want to know how long it will take Grunty Pig to dig up the apple tree where I live."

 

Again Grandfather Mole paused.

 

"It all depends," he muttered. "It all depends on how much of his time he spends at digging."

 

"He works every day," said Jolly Robin. "A good, long while every day!"

 

Grandfather Mole appeared to be thinking deeply.

 

 

"He boasts—" Jolly Robin explained—"he boasts that he will have the tree uprooted⁶ before fall."

 

"Nonsense!" Grandfather Mole snorted. "If Grunty Pig says that, he doesn't know much about apple trees. He may be a fair digger; but he must be stupid."

 

"That's what I've always thought!" Jolly Robin exclaimed.

 

"He can't go very deep into things, or he'd never have made such a boast," Grandfather Mole declared. "When Grunty Pig digs, does he dig right down out of sight?"

 

"Oh, no! Never!" said Jolly Robin.

 

"Ah! He merely scratches the surface!" Grandfather Mole remarked with a wise nod of his head. "Well, it's no wonder that he made such a mistake."

 

"Mistake!" Jolly Robin echoed. "Do you mean that Grunty Pig won't have our apple tree down by fall?"

 

"I do," Grandfather Mole answered. "The roots of a big, old apple tree spread out a good rod in every direction. And it would take a hundred Grunty Pigs a whole summer to dig them free."

 

A broad smile spread over Jolly Robin's face.

 

"Then—" he ventured—"then wouldn't it take Grunty Pig a hundred summers to dig up our tree, if he worked alone?"

 

"No doubt!" Grandfather replied. "Or, to be on the safe side, I'll say he could uproot⁷ your tree in ninety-nine summers."

 

"Hurrah⁸!" Jolly Robin shouted. "Hurrah—and thank you, Grandfather Mole!" And leaving the old gentleman to dig himself out of sight, Jolly Robin hurried home to his wife.

 

Mrs. Robin was glad to see him. She knew, as soon as she caught a glimpse of his face, that he had good news for her. And she needed cheering, poor soul! For Grunty Pig was beneath the tree again, digging away in a most businesslike fashion.

 

"Let him dig!" Jolly Robin whispered to his wife. "Grandfather Mole says it will take him ninety-nine summers to topple our tree over. And you know that Grandfather Mole is the greatest burrower⁹ in Pleasant Valley."

 

Mrs. Robin felt better at once. Looking down at Grunty Pig, she said to her husband, "How stupid this son of Mrs. Pig's is! He has turned up at least a dozen angleworms while you've been gone. And he has let every one of them get away from him!"

 

1 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。

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

4 besought   

v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词)

参考例句：

• The prisoner besought the judge for mercy/to be merciful. 囚犯恳求法官宽恕[乞求宽大]。 来自辞典例句
• They besought him to speak the truth. 他们恳求他说实话. 来自辞典例句

5 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

6 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 uproot   

v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开

参考例句：

• The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土，移居澳大利亚。
• The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。

8 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

9 burrower   

借钱人； 借用人，剽窃者

参考例句：

• The borrower defaulted, and the bank instituted a foreclosure suit. 借贷人违约，银行就制定了一个取消赎回权的诉讼。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Book and borrower numbers are encoded on to bar-coded labels. 图书和借书者的编号编到了条形码标记上。