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有声名著之杨柳风 3

时间:2009-11-26 05:15:29

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(单词翻译)

Chapter Three The Wild Forest

For a long time now, the Mole1 had wanted to meet the Badger2.

The Badger lived in the Wild Forest. Badger seemed to be a very important animal. However, not many animals got the chance to talk to him.

But whenever Mole asked the Rat about the Badger, Rat would always say, “Oh, you’ll meet Badger when he wants to be met. He’s the best of animals.”

“But couldn’t we ask him to come to dinner?” asked Mole.

“He wouldn’t come. Like I said, he doesn’t like company. He’s very shy. He doesn’t like to spend much time with others.” replied the Rat.

“Well, couldn’t we go to visit him?” asked the Mole.

“Oh, no. He really wouldn’t like that. I’ve never tried to visit him and his home, even though we’re friends. Besides, Badger lives in the middle of the Wild Forest. We can’t go there.” said the Rat.

“Why not?” asked Mole. “You said that the Wild forest wasn’t so bad a place?”

“Yes, I know, I know…” said the Rat. “But we won’t go there just yet. Don’t worry. The Badger won’t at home at this time of year anyhow. You’ll meet him someday.”

So Mole waited patiently. But he never saw the Badger.

In the meantime3, summer was ending. The days were getting shorter and colder. When winter time came, Mole and Rat stayed indoors4 most of the time.

The Rat slept a lot. When the Rat was awake, he often wrote poetry or songs. Many of his friends came to visit and they all sat around the fire, discussing their summer adventures. So Mole was kept busy with all these nice things.

However, one day, when Rat was sleeping in his chair, Mole decided5 to go out and explore the Wild Forest by himself. Perhaps he could even find the Badger.

It was cold and very grey outside. All the leaves were gone from the trees and the branches looked like black bones.

Soon Mole was entering the Wild Forest. The Wild Forest was dark and quiet in the winter. At first, there was nothing in the forest to frighten him. Mole walked around, looking at the large trees and the mushrooms growing out of the ground.

However, soon he walked deeper into the forest. It began to grow darker and he began to see and hear strange things.

First, Mole thought he saw small ugly little faces looking at him. The faces appeared from tiny holes. But when he would turn around to see more clearly, the faces would disappear.

Mole told himself not to imagine things and walked on. But then the whistling6 began.

At first it was very soft and he heard the sound from behind him. But then he heard whistling in front of him, too. Then he heard the sounds all around him as if many animals were making the sounds.

What was happening? Who was whistling? What were they going to do to him, whoever7 they were?

Mole was getting more and more frightened. But there were worse things about to happen.

Mole began to hear the sounds of small feet running behind him. But when he would turn to look, there was never anyone there.

Did awful ghosts live in the forest? Mole wished deeply8 that he’d never come.

Suddenly, a rabbit ran out of the trees toward9 him. His eyes were large with fear.

“Get out of here! You stupid animal! Get out now!” it said to Mole.

Then the rabbit disappeared down its hole.

Mole was extremely10 frightened. Soon the sounds of small feet grew louder until it seemed that all the animals in the forest were running.

Were they hunting, or being hunted by some terrible animal?

Mole didn’t wait to find out. He began to run. He did not know where he was going. He ran very fast for a long time. Finally he became too tired and had to stopping running.

“I’ve got to hide.” Mole thought.

He found a large hole in an old tree and hid inside it. He covered himself with leaves and sat very still. He hoped no one would see him. He sat there for a long time and listened to all the strange and terrible noises.

“So this is what Rat was talking about.” Mole thought. “How dark and frightening the Wild Forest is! I wish I had never come here!”

Meanwhile, back at the house, the Rat had just woken up from another nap11. He was about to start writing some more poetry when he realized that Mole wasn’t in his room.

“Mole, where are you?” he called out several times. There was no answer.

The Rat saw that Mole’s coat and hat were gone and so were his boots. The Rat left the house and examined the ground. He was looking for the marks of his friend’s feet in the ground. He saw that the marks led straight in the direction of the Wild Forest.

The Rat stood and looked very serious. After a moment, he went back inside and grabbed12 a few small weapons in case he needed them. Then he put on his coat and hat and began walking very quickly towards the Wild Forest.

It was almost dark by the time Rat reached the beginning of the Wild Forest. He walked bravely into the dark forest.

He called out, “Mole, Mole, where are you? It’s me, old Rat.”

Rat was very worried, but his voice was cheerful13. He called for Mole many times, but Mole didn’t answer.

Rat had been hunting inside the forest for more than an hour. Finally he heard a soft cry.

“Rat, is that really you?”

The Rat looked down into the hole in the large tree and saw Mole sitting there. He was tired and shaking.

“Oh, Rat!” he cried. “I’ve been so afraid. You can’t imagine.”

“Now, now, it’s over now.” said Rat. “You really shouldn’t have come in here, silly Mole. I tried to keep you from coming here. The Wild Forest can really be a frightening and dangerous place for small animals like us. We river animals only come in here in groups for safety. In order to travel safely in the Wild Forest, there are a hundred things you have to know about. We know them, but you don’t, just yet. You must know secret and magical14 words and weapons and things like that. If you are just a small animal, you’ve got to know how to protect yourself in here, otherwise you’ll be in trouble. Of course, Badger and Otter15 are safe here.”

“What about Toad16? I’m sure he wouldn’t be afraid to come in here?” said the Mole.

Rat laughed. “Oh, no. Toad wouldn’t come in here if you paid him money.” he said. “Well, come on, my friend. It’s dark and we’ve got to get back home.”

“Dear Rat, I’m extremely tired and that’s the truth.” said Mole. “I’m sorry, but I have to rest for a little while if I’m going to have the strength to return home.”

“Oh, all right.” said the Rat who is a very kind animal. “Go ahead and rest. It’s already dark anyway.”

So the Mole went to sleep for a little while. The Rat calmly waited next to him, his paw17 holding a gun for protection18.

When Mole woke up, he felt much better. He saw Rat standing19 outside their hiding place and saying “Well, well, we have a problem.”

Mole went outside and stood next to his friend. He saw that it was snowing. The ground and the trees were covered in beautiful white snow. He didn’t recognize the forest at all.

“Well, Mole. This is a problem. I don’t know where we are anymore. The snow makes everything look so different.” said Rat. “But we’ll have to do our best to find our way home anyway. Let’s go.”

So Mole and Rat began to walk. They tried to remember the way they had come. Unfortunately, they only became more lost.

After about two hours of walking, the two animals had to stop and rest. They were cold, wet and hungry. And they did not know where they were. The snow was so deep that the animals could hardly move through it. There seemed to be no way out of the terrible Wild Forest.

“We can’t rest here for too long.” said the Rat. “We’ll have to make another try. If we sit here too long, we will become too cold. Let’s go and see if there is a cave or some other kind of shelter20 nearby.”

Mole and Rat were exploring the area when Mole’s leg suddenly hit something hard and very sharp. He fell down.

“My leg!” he cried. “I hit it on something.”

“Poor Mole,” said the Rat kindly21. “This hasn’t been a very good day for you, has it? Let me see if I can help. You’ve cut your leg. I’ll tie it up with a cloth.”

“I must have hit it on a branch or a rock.” said Mole, as Rat was fixing his leg. He was very much in pain.

The Rat thought for a moment.

“No. It looks like you hit your leg on something hard like metal.”

He suddenly seemed very excited. He began searching the ground for something.

“Well, it’s not important what I hit my leg on. What’re you doing, Rat?” said Mole.

The Rat was busy digging23 through the snow. After he had done this for about ten minutes, the Mole who was very cold and in pain cried, “Oh, do come on, Rat. We’ve got to keep moving.”

Suddenly the Rat gave a happy shout.

“I’ve found it!” he said and danced around.

“What have you found, Rat?” asked Mole.

“Come and see!” cried Rat.

Mole looked at a soil shovel24 which is a metal tool used to dig22 snow or dirt lying on the ground.

“Rat, I don’t understand why you are so excited. So you’ve found somebody’s shovel? They were very careless to leave it lying on the ground.” said Mole loudly.

“But don’t you understand what this means25?” cried the Rat.

“No, I don’t.” said the Mole.

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” cried the Rat. “Here, stop arguing with me and dig in the snow.”

After they had been digging in the snow for a little while, the Rat said, “Here it is!”

He was pointing to a little rug26 on the ground. It was used to wipe your feet on before entering a house.

“Now, you understand. Right, Mole?”

“Rarely, Rat. We have to stop this digging in the snow. It’s cold and we’ve got to go home.” said the Mole, rather angrily.

“Do you mean to say that this door rug doesn’t tell you anything?” the Rat almost shouted.

“No. Of course it doesn’t tell me anything. Door rugs27 don’t talk.” said the Mole.

The Rat was really angrily now.

“Now, listen here. You, you ridiculous28 animal, stop talking like that immediately and get to work! Dig and hunt around on the sides of the hills. If you want to have a chance of sleeping in a warm dry bed tonight, you’ve got to do what I say!”

The Mole obeyed him, even though he thought that Rat had gone a little crazy.

After about ten minutes of hard work, the Rat’s shovel hit something that sounded like wood.

“Mole, come here and help me!” cried Rat.

They moved the snow away from the object. In front of them was a green door with the shining golden29 sign.

The sign said Mr. Badger.

Mole was so amazed30 that he fell over into the snow.

“Rat!” he cried. “You’re amazing! Really amazing! And I didn’t understand it. I was so foolish. I see it all now. You were trying to make me use my brain and think, but I didn’t want to do it. First you saw the shovel on the ground. You thought to yourself ‘a shovel in the snow, this must mean someone lives near here. Now who could it be? It’s someone who lives under the ground, of course.’ When you found the door rug, you said ‘now if there is a door rug, there must be a door nearby’. And here it is! You should become a detective, Rat. If I only had your brain!”

But since you don’t, I suppose you’re going to sit in the snow all night and talk?” asked the Rat, rather unkindly31. “Get up right now and go and pull hard on that rope! That’s the doorbell. I’ll knock on the door. Badger lives deep inside the earth, so we have to be loud if we want him to hear us.”

Mole obeyed his friend. After about ten minutes of knocking and ringing the doorbell, they heard someone coming towards the door.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mole 26Nzn     
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 badger PuNz6     
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。
3 meantime gChxx     
n.其时,其间;adv.同时,当时
参考例句:
  • I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作,这期间他出去买东西。
  • In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时,我们加紧进行空运。
4 indoors q7Mxv     
adv.(在)室内,(在)户内
参考例句:
  • Because of the coldness of the weather we stayed indoors.我们因天气寒冷呆在家里。
  • It is very cold outside,you'd better come indoors across the board.外面很冷,你们所有人最好都进屋。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 whistling 8398f61f1e724dfacd37b9176d0550b7     
n.吹笛,吹口哨,啸声v.吹口哨( whistle的现在分词 );鸣笛;呼啸着前进;空指望
参考例句:
  • The bomb exploded, sending shrapnel whistling through the trees. 炸弹爆炸了,弹片呼啸着穿过树林。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He came home for dinner whistling cheerfully. 他欢快地吹着口哨回家吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 whoever 9gQwK     
pron.无论谁,不管谁;任何人
参考例句:
  • I'll find the person who did this,whoever he is.我要找出干这件事的人,不管他是谁。
  • Whoever does best will get the prize.谁做得最出色谁就得奖。
8 deeply Ru7zyZ     
adv.深刻地,在深处,深沉地
参考例句:
  • I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
  • We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们,我们感到很荣幸。
9 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
10 extremely 2tJzAz     
adv.极其,非常,极度
参考例句:
  • The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了,我非看不可。
  • The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。
11 nap o6bzX     
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。
12 grabbed grabbed     
v.抢先,抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指匆忙地)取;攫取;(尤指自私、贪婪地)捞取
参考例句:
  • He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
  • She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。
13 cheerful SU0yQ     
adj.快活的,高兴的,兴高采烈
参考例句:
  • Yellow is a cheerful colour.黄色是令人高兴的颜色。
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
14 magical t8dzL     
adj.魔术的,有魔力的,不可思议的
参考例句:
  • I used to believe my mother had magical powers.我以前一直相信我母亲有奇妙的魔力。
  • The effect of the medicine on the sick man was magical.药对病人的效力是不可思议的。
15 otter 7vgyH     
n.水獭
参考例句:
  • The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说,竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
  • She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。
16 toad oJezr     
n.蟾蜍,癞蛤蟆
参考例句:
  • Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
  • Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。
17 paw fSBzp     
n.手掌,手爪;v.以蹄扒地,笨拙地使用,费力地前进
参考例句:
  • He served as a cat's paw.他充当爪牙。
  • Don't paw at everything you see.别见什么摸什么。
18 protection FR6xD     
n.保护,防卫,保护制度
参考例句:
  • The protection of the country is the duty of everyone.保卫国家是每个人的责任。
  • The young in our society need care and protection.我们社会的年轻人需要关怀和照顾。
19 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
20 shelter kEdzl     
n.掩蔽,掩蔽处,避身处;庇护所,避难所,庇护;vt.庇护,保护,隐匿;vi.躲避
参考例句:
  • We took shelter from the rain in a cave.我们在一个山洞里避雨。
  • Trees are a shelter from the sun.树木可以遮挡阳光。
21 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
22 dig CvCxX     
v.挖(洞,沟等);掘
参考例句:
  • It is difficult to dig the ground when it is frozen.地面冻住了就不易挖掘。
  • In those days we often went to dig for wild vegetables.那时候我们常常出去挖野菜。
23 digging digging     
n.挖掘v.挖,掘( dig的现在分词 );(如用铲、锨或推土机等)挖掘;挖得;寻找
参考例句:
  • They were digging up worms to use for bait. 他们正在挖蚯蚓作鱼饵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The best implement for digging a garden is a spade. 在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 shovel cELzg     
n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出
参考例句:
  • He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
  • He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。
25 means 9oXzBX     
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
参考例句:
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
26 rug nSfzY     
n.毯子,地毯,旅行毯
参考例句:
  • The rug can double up.这条地毯能卷起来。
  • It will be more beautiful if you work some blue into the rug.如果你再织些蓝色的图案,这毯子会更好看。
27 rugs ded0bc56b73ad7b9fbdb21cd72bd64da     
n.小块地毯( rug的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
  • Try to avoid colours that jar when choosing curtains and rugs. 选择窗帘和地毯时,尽量避免颜色不调和。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 ridiculous RCTzv     
adj.荒谬的,可笑的;荒唐的
参考例句:
  • It is simply ridiculous to attempt such a thing.试图干这种事,简直可笑。
  • It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.这是我有生以来听到的最为荒唐可笑的事。
29 golden 9fcxo     
adj.金的,含金的,可贵的,金色的,贵重的,繁盛的
参考例句:
  • My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老师是一个金黄色头发的英国人。
  • It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.这是一个暖和的夜晚,是恋人们的黄金时光。
30 amazed 9zYzBk     
adj.吃惊的,惊奇的v.使大为吃惊,使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
  • I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。
31 unkindly bf8d2cad19c4af84074cedca74e64982     
adv.不亲切地,不近人情地
参考例句:
  • She ran to him for a kiss, but he pushed her away unkindly. 她跑去吻他,但他不客气地把她推开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She ran to him for a kiss, but he thrust her aside unkindly. 她奔过去吻他,但他冷酷地把她推开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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