XXII. A JOYOUS DAY FOR THE BOB WHITES

Thrice blessed be the girl or boy

 

Who fills another's heart with joy.

 

 

ONE day just by chance Bob White flew up in a tree where he could look down in Fanner Brown's henyard, and there he discovered the lost little Bob and talked with him. Then Bob White flew back to the Green Meadows¹ where little Mrs. Bob was anxiously waiting for him, and his heart was light. Mrs. Bob was watching for him and flew to meet him.

 

“It's all right!” cried Bob. “I found him over in Fanner Brown's henyard.” Of course “him” meant the young Bob White who had been given up as killed. “What?” exclaimed Mrs. Bob.

 

“What is a henyard, and what is he doing there?”

 

“A henyard is a place where Farmer Brown keeps a lot of big foolish birds,” explained Bob, “and little Bob is a prisoner there.”

 

“How dreadful²!” cried Mrs. Bob. “If he's a prisoner, how can you say it's all right?”

 

“Because it is,” replied Bob. “He's perfectly³ safe there, and he wouldn't be if he were here with us. You see, he can't fly. One of his wings was broken by the shot from that terrible gun. Farmer Brown's boy found him and has been very kind to him. He fixed⁴ that wing so that I believe it is going to get quite as well as ever. You know quite as well as I do how much chance little Bob would have had over here with a broken wing. Reddy Fox or Redtail the Hawk⁵ or some one else would have been sure to get him sooner or later. But up there they can't, because he is in a wire pen. He can't get out, but neither can they get in, and so he is safe. He and Farmer Brown's boy are great friends. With my own eyes I saw him feed from the hand of Farmer Brown's boy. Do you know, I believe that boy is really and truly our friend and can be trusted.”

 

“That is what Peter Rabbit is always saying, but after all we've suffered from them, I can't quite make up my mind that any of those great two-legged creatures are to be trusted,” said little Mrs. Bob. “I've got to see for myself.”

 

“You shall,” declared Bob. “Tomorrow morning you shall go up there and I'll stay here to look after the rest of the youngsters⁶. I am afraid if we left them alone some of them would be careless or foolish enough to go where the hunters with terrible guns would find them.”

 

So the next morning Mrs. Bob went up to visit young Bob, and she saw all that Bob had seen the day before. She returned with a great load off her mind. She knew that Bob was right, and that Fanner Brown's boy had proved himself a true friend from whom there was nothing to fear. The next day Bob and Mrs. Bob took the whole family up there, for Fanner Brown's boy had scattered⁷ food for them just outside the henyard where the biddies could not get it, and Bob was smart enough to know that no hunter would dare look for them so close to Farmer Brown's house. Morning after morning they went up there to get their breakfast, and they didn't even fly when Farmer Brown's boy and Farmer Brown himself came out to watch them eat.

 

Then one morning a wonderful thing happened. Farmer Brown's boy took young Bob out of his pen in the hen-yard. Young Bob looked quite himself by this time, for the strips of cloth which had bound his broken wing in place had been taken off, and his wing was as good as ever. Fanner Brown's boy took him outside the henyard and gently put him down on the ground.

 

“There you are! Now go and join your family and in the future keep out of the way of hunters,” said he, and laughed to see young Bob scamper⁸ over to join his brothers and sisters.

 

Such a fuss⁹ as they made over him! Suddenly Bob White flew up to the top of a post, threw back his head and whistled with all his might, “Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!” You see, he just had to tell all the Great World of the joy in his heart, although this was not the time of year in which he usually whistles.

 

And this is how it happened that Bob White and his whole family came regularly to Farmer Brown's for their breakfasts, and no hunter ever had another chance to carry fright and suffering and sorrow into their midst¹⁰.

 

So this is all about Bob White and his family because Ol' Mistah Buzzard has come all the way up from Ol' Virginny for me to tell you about him and his adventures. I've promised to do it in the very next book.

1 meadows   

草地，牧场， （河边的）低洼地( meadow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The trail wends its way through leafy woodland and sunny meadows. 这条小径穿过葱郁的林区和洒满阳光的草地。
• They have railed the meadows off from the new railway cutting. 他们已用栏杆把草地和新铁道的路堑隔离开来。

2 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

6 youngsters   

n.孩子( youngster的名词复数 )；少年；青年；年轻人

参考例句：

• We followed the youngsters at a more sedate pace. 我们跟在年轻人后面，步子稍慢一点。
• The camp is for youngsters aged 8 to 14. 这次夏令营是为8至14岁的少年儿童安排的。

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

9 fuss   

n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作

参考例句：

• My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。
• Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。

10 midst   

n.中部，中间，当中

参考例句：

• The hut is in the midst of the forest.小屋在森林深处。
• There is a thief in our midst.我们当中有小偷。