if they are truly wise they will profit from them.

     —Old Granny Fox.

There is a saying among the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows¹ which runs something like this:

 

   “You must your eyes wide open keep

   To catch Old Granny Fox asleep.”

 

Of course this means that Old Granny Fox is so smart, so clever, so keenly² on the watch at all times, that he must be very smart indeed who fools her or gets ahead of her. Reddy Fox is smart, very smart. But Reddy isn't nearly as smart as Old Granny Fox. You see, he hasn't lived nearly as long, so of course there is much knowledge of many things stored away in Granny's head of which Reddy knows little.

 

But once in a while even the smartest people are caught napping⁴. Yes, Sir, that does happen. They will be careless sometimes. It was just so with Old Granny Fox. With all her smartness and cleverness and wisdom she grew careless, and all the smartness and cleverness and wisdom in the world is useless if the possessor becomes careless.

 

You see, Old Granny Fox had become so used to thinking that she was smarter than any one else, unless it was Old Man Coyote, that she actually believed that no one was smart enough ever to surprise her. Yes, Sir, she actually believed that. Now, you know when a person reaches the point of thinking that no one else in all the Great World is quite so smart, that person is like Peter Rabbit when he made ready one winter day to jump out on the smooth ice of the Smiling Pool,—getting ready for a fall. It was this way with Old Granny Fox.

 

Because she had lived near Farmer Brown's so long and had been hunted so often by Farmer Brown's boy and by Bowser the Hound⁵, she had got the idea in her head that no matter what she did they would not be able to catch her. So at last she grew careless. Yes, Sir, she grew careless. And that is something no Fox or anybody else can afford to do.

 

Now on the edge of the Green Forest was a warm, sunny knoll6

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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 keenly
adv.敏锐地；敏感地；锐利地；强烈地
参考例句：
Ade is the man keenly awake to the change. 艾德是一个对变化异常敏感的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》 As we got on with the job,I found myself keenly interested. 在我们进行这项工作时，我产生了浓厚的兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 nap
n.(白天)打瞌睡，打盹
参考例句：
The nap of the coat has been worn off.外衣上的绒毛已经磨掉了。 Don't bother me while I am taking my nap.我小睡的时候不要打扰我。

4 napping
n.起绒，拉绒，拉毛；磨绒；搓呢；刷布
参考例句：
He caught me napping. 他发现了我打盹。 来自《简明英汉词典》 In it the Indians pass away hot noon hours, napping or chatting. 印第安人躺在上面，打发掉了正午几个小时的酷热。时而小憩时而闲聊。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

5 hound
n.猎狗，卑鄙的人；vt.用猎狗追，追逐
参考例句：
The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。 The police have promised to hound down those responsible for the explosion.警方已保证要追查此次爆炸事件有责任的人员。

6 knoll
n.小山，小丘
参考例句：
Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.对于希尔弗来说，爬上那小山丘真不是件容易事。 He crawled up a small knoll and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。

7 overlooked
v.忽视( overlook的过去式和过去分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会
参考例句：
He seems to have overlooked one important fact. 他好像忽略了一个重要的事实。 This is a minor point, but it must not be overlooked. 此事虽小，然亦不可忽视。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 chased
vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 grin
n./vi.露齿而笑，咧嘴一笑
参考例句：
I know she is joking because she has a big grin on her face.我知道她是在开玩笑。因为她满脸笑容。 She came out of his office with a big grin on her face.她笑容满面地走出他的办公室。

10 curled
adj.卷曲的，卷发状的，卷缩的v.（使）弯曲( curl的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）卷曲；盘旋；缠绕
参考例句：
She lay curled up in a foetal position . 她像胎儿一样蜷曲地躺着。 The snake was curled up in the long grass. 在深草中，这条蛇盘着身子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 instantly
adv.立即，立刻
参考例句：
She was used to having her orders instantly obeyed.她习惯了让人即刻服从她的命令。 Though he slept soundly,he awoke instantly.他虽然睡得很香，但是马上就醒了。

12 boughs
大树枝( bough的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。 A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

13 yelp
vi.狗吠
参考例句：
The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。 The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。

14 impatiently
adv.不耐烦地
参考例句：
Impatiently he cut short what I was telling him. 他不耐烦地打断了我的话。 The children wait impatiently for the vacation.孩子们焦急地等待着假期的来临。

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