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The Mole [1] had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail [2] of whitewash [3] ; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary [4] arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating [5] even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said ‘Bother! ’ and ‘Oh blow! ’ and also ‘Hang spring-cleaning! ’ and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously [6] , and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged [7] , and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering [8] to himself, ‘Up we go! Up we go! ’ till at last, pop! his snout [9] came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.
‘This is fine! ’ he said to himself. ‘This is better than whitewashing! ’ The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed [10] his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage [11] he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living, and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.
‘Hold up! ’ said an elderly rabbit at the gap. ‘Sixpence for the privilege of passing by the private road! ’ He was bowled over in an instant by the impatient and contemptuous [12] Mole, who trotted [13] along the side of the hedge [14] chaffing the other rabbits as they peeped hurriedly from their holes to see what the row was about. ‘Onion-sauce! Onion-sauce! ’ he remarked jeeringly [15] , and was gone before they could think of a thoroughly satisfactory reply. Then they all started grumbling at each other.‘How stupid you are!Why didn’t you tell him—'‘Well, why didn’t you say—'‘You might have reminded him—’and so on,in the usual way, but, of course, it was then much too late, as is always the case.
It all seemed too good to be true.
Hither and thither
through the meadows he rambled busily, along the hedge-rows, across the
copses
[16]
, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting — everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering ‘Whitewash! ’ he somehow could only feel how
jolly
[17]
it was to be the only
idle
[18]
dog among all these busy citizens. After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.
He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered [19] aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before — this sleek [20] , sinuous [21] , full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling [22] , gripping things with a gurgle [23] and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver — glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl [24] , chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched [25] , entranced [26] , fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spellbound [27] by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling [28] procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable [29] sea.
As he sat on the grass and looked across the river, a dark hole in the bank opposite, just above the water's edge, caught his eye, and dreamily he fell to considering what a nice snug [30] dwelling-place it would make for an animal with few wants and fond of a bijou riverside residence, above flood-level and remote from noise and dust. As he gazed, something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it, vanished, then twinkled once more like a tiny star. But it could hardly be a star in such an unlikely situation; and it was too glittering and small for a glow-worm. Then, as he looked, it winked at him, and so declared itself to be an eye; and a small face began gradually to grow up round it, like a frame round a picture.
A little brown face, with whiskers.
A grave round face, with the same twinkle in its eye that had first attracted his notice.
Small neat ears and thick silky hair.
It was the Water Rat!
Then the two animals stood and regarded each other cautiously.
‘Hullo, Mole! ’ said the Water Rat.
‘Hullo, Rat! ’ said the Mole.
‘Would you like to come over? ’ enquired the Rat presently.
‘Oh,it’s all very well to talk , 'said the Mole,rather pettishly [31] ,he being new to a river and riverside life and; its ways.
The Rat said nothing, but stooped [32] and unfastened a rope and hauled on it;then lightly stepped into a little boat which the Mole had not observed. It was painted blue outside and white within, and was just the size for two animals; and the Mole's whole heart went out to it at once, even though he did not yet fully understand its uses.
The Rat sculled [33] smartly across and made fast. Then he held up his fore-paw as the Mole stepped gingerly [34] down. ‘Lean on that! ’ he said. ‘Now then, step lively! ’ and the Mole to his surprise and rapture found himself actually seated in the stern of a real boat.
‘This has been a wonderful day! ’ said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. ‘Do you know, I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life.'
‘What? ’ cried the Rat, open-mouthed. ‘Never been in a — you never — well, I — what have you been doing, then? ’
‘Is it sonice as all that? ’ asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars [35] , the rowlocks [36] , and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.
‘Nice?It’s the only thing, 'said the Water Rat solemnly,as he leant forward for his stroke. ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing —half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.Simply messing, ’ he went on dreamily: ‘messing — about — in — boats; messing — ’
‘Look ahead, Rat! ’ cried the Mole suddenly.
It was too late. The boat struck the bank full flit. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.
‘—about in boats—or with boats, ’the Rat went on composedly [37] ,picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. ‘In or out of ’em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not. Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together and have a long day of it? '
The Mole waggled [38] his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions.‘ What a day I’m having! 'he said.‘Let us start at once! ’
‘Hold hard a minute, then! ’ said the Rat. He looped [39] the painter through a ring in his landing-stage, climbed up into his hole above, and after a short interval reappeared staggering under a fat, wicker luncheon [40] -basket.
‘Shove that under your feet, ’ he observed to the Mole, as he passed it down into the boat. Then he untied the painter and took the sculls again.
‘What’s inside it? ' asked the Mole, wriggling [41] with curiosity.
‘There’s cold chicken inside it, ' replied the Rat briefly; ‘coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfrenchrollscresssandwidgespottedmeatgingerbe-erlemonadesodawater — ’
‘Oh stop, stop, ’ cried the Mole in ecstasies [42] : ‘This is too much! ’
‘Do you really think so? ’ enquired the Rat seriously. ‘It’s only what I always take on these little excursions [43] ; and the other animals are always telling me that I'm a mean beast and cut it very fine! '
The Mole never heard a word he was saying. Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon, intoxicated [44] with the sparkle, the ripple [45] , the scents and the sounds and the sunlight, he trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams. The Water Rat, like the good little fellow he was, sculled steadily on and forbore to disturb him.
‘I like your clothes awfully, old chap, ’ he remarked after some half an hour or so had passed. ‘I’m going to get a black velvet [46] smoking-suit myself some day, as soon as I can aff ord it.'
‘I beg your pardon, ’ said the Mole, pulling himself together with an eff ort. ‘You must think me very rude; but all this is so new to me. So — this — is — a — River! ’
‘ The River, ’corrected the Rat.
‘And you really live by the river? What a jolly life! ’
‘By it and with it and on it and in it, ’ said the Rat. ‘It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It's my world, and I don't want any other. What it hasn't got is not worth having, and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing. Lord! the times we've had together! Whether in winter or summer, spring or autumn, it's always got its fun and its excitements. When the floods are on in February, and my cellars and basement are
brimming with
drink that's no good to me, and the brown water runs by my best bedroom window; or again when it all drops away and shows patches of mud that smells like plum-cake, and the rushes and weed
clog
[47]
the channels, and I can potter about dry-shod over most of the bed of it and find fresh food to eat, and things careless people have dropped out of boats! '
‘But isn’t it a bit dull at times? ' the Mole ventured to ask. ‘Just you and the river, and no one else to pass a word with? ’
‘No one else to — well, I mustn’t be hard on you, ' said the Rat with forbearance [48] . ‘You’re new to it, and of course you don't know. The bank is so crowded nowadays that many people are moving away altogether. Oh no, it isn't what it used to be, at all. Otters [49] , kingfishers [50] , dabchicks [51] , moorhens [52] , all of them about all day long and always wanting you to do something—as if a fellow had no business of his own to attend to! '
‘What lies over there ? ’asked the Mole,waving a paw towards a background of woodland that darkly flamed the watermeadows on one side of the river.
‘That? Oh, that’s just the Wild Wood, ' said the Rat shortly. ‘We don’t go there very much, we river-bankers.'
‘Aren’t they—aren't they very nice people in there? 'said the Mole a trifle nervously.
‘W-e-ll, ’ replied the Rat, ‘let me see. The squirrels are all right. And the rabbits — some of ’em, but rabbits are a mixed lot. And then there's Badger, of course. He lives right in the heart of it; wouldn't live anywhere else, either, if you paid him to do it. Dear old Badger! Nobody interferes with him. They'd better not, ' he added significantly.
‘Why,who should interfere with him? ’asked the Mole.
‘Well, of course — there — are others, ’ explained the Rat in a hesitating sort of way. ‘ Weasels [53] — and stoats [54] — and foxes — and so on. They’re all right in a way — I'm very good friends with them — pass the time of day when we meet, and all that — but they break out sometimes, there's no denying it, and then — well, you can't really trust them, and that's the fact.'
The Mole knew well that it is quite against animal-etiquette to dwell on possible trouble ahead, or even to allude [55] to it; so he dropped the subject.
‘And beyond the Wild Wood again? ’ he asked: ‘Where it’s all blue and dim, and one sees what may be hills or perhaps they mayn't, and something like the smoke of towns, or is it only cloud-drift? '
‘Beyond the Wild Wood comes the Wide World, ’ said the Rat. ‘And that’s something that doesn't matter, either to you or me. I've never been there, and I'm never going, nor you either, if you've got any sense at all. Don't ever refer to it again, please. Now then! Here's our backwater at last, where we're going to lunch.'
Leaving the main stream, they now passed into what seemed at first sight like a little land-locked lake. Green turf [56] sloped down to either edge, brown snaky [57] tree-roots gleamed below the surface of the quiet water, while ahead of them the silvery shoulder and foamy tumble of a weir [58] , arm-in-arm with a restless dripping mill-wheel, that held up in its turn a grey-gabled mill-house, filled the air with a soothing murmur of sound, dull and smothery, yet with little clear voices speaking up cheerfully out of it at intervals. It was so very beautiful that the Mole could only hold up both fore-paws and gasp, ‘Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! ’
The Rat brought the boat alongside the bank, made her fast, helped the still awkward Mole safely ashore, and swung out the luncheon-basket. The Mole begged as a favour to be allowed to unpack it all by himself; and the Rat was very pleased to indulge him, and to sprawl at full length on the grass and rest, while his excited friend shook out the tablecloth and spread it, took out all the mysterious packets one by one and arranged their contents in due order, still gasping [59] , ‘Oh my! Oh my! ’ at each fresh revelation [60] . When all was ready, the Rat said, ‘Now, pitch in, old fellow! ’ and the Mole was indeed very glad to obey, for he had started his spring-cleaning at a very early hour that morning,as people will do,and had not paused for bite or sup;and he had been through a very great deal since that distant time which now seemed so many days ago.
‘What are you looking at? ’ said the Rat presently, when the edge of their hunger was somewhat dulled, and the Mole's eyes were able to wander off the tablecloth a little.
‘I am looking, ’ said the Mole, ‘at a streak of bubbles that I see travelling along the surface of the water. That is a thing that strikes me as funny.’
‘Bubbles? Oho! ’ said the Rat, and chirruped [61] cheerily in an inviting sort of way.
A broad glistening muzzle [62] showed itself above the edge of the bank, and the Otter hauled himself out and shook the water from his coat.
‘Greedy beggars! ’ he observed, making for the provender [63] . ‘Why didn’t you invite me, Ratty? '
‘This was an impromptu [64] aff air, ’ explained the Rat. ‘By the way — my friend, Mr Mole.’
‘Proud, I’m sure, ' said the Otter, and the two animals were friends forthwith.
‘Such a rumpus [65] everywhere! ’ continued the Otter. ‘All the world seems out on the river today. I come up this back-water to try and get a moment’s peace and then stumble upon you fellows! At least — I beg pardon — I don't exactly mean that, you know.'
There was a rustle behind them, proceeding from a hedge wherein last year's leaves still clung thick, and a stripy head, with high shoulders behind it, peered forth on them.
‘Come on, old Badger! ’ shouted the Rat.
The Badger trotted forward a pace or two; then grunted [66] , ‘H’m! Company, ' and turned his back and disappeared from view.
‘That’s just the sort of fellow he is! 'observed the disappointed Rat.‘Simply hates Society!Now we shan’t see any more of him today.Well,tell us who's out on the river? '
‘Toad’s out, for one, ' replied the Otter. ‘In his brand-new wager-boat; new togs, new everything! ’
The two animals looked at each other and laughed.
‘Once, it was nothing but sailing, ’ said the Rat. ‘Then he tired of that and took to punting. Nothing would please him but to punt [67] all day and every day, and a nice mess he made of it. Last year it was houseboating, and we all had to go and stay with him in his houseboat, and pretend we liked it. He was going to spend the rest of his life in a houseboat. It’s all the same, whatever he takes up;he gets tired of it, and starts on something fresh.'
‘Such a good fellow, too, ’ remarked the Otter reflectively. ‘But no stability—especially in a boat! ’
From where they sat they could get a glimpse of the main stream across the island that separated them; and just then a wager-boat flashed into view, the rower — a short, stout [68] figure — splashing badly and rolling a good deal, but working his hardest. The Rat stood up and hailed [69] him, but Toad — for it was he — shook his head and settled sternly to his work.
‘He’ll be out of the boat in a minute if he rolls like that, ' said the Rat, sitting down again.
‘Of course he will, ’ chuckled the Otter. ‘Did I ever tell you that good story about Toad and the lock-keeper? It happened this way. Toad . . . ’
An errant [70] Mayfly [71] swerved [72] unsteadily athwart [73] the current in the intoxicated fashion aff ected by young bloods of Mayflies seeing life. A swirl of water and a ‘cloop! ’ and the Mayfly was visible no more.
Neither was the Otter.
The Mole looked down. The voice was still in his ears, but the turf whereon he had sprawled was clearly vacant. Not an Otter to be seen, as far as the distant horizon.
But again there was a streak of bubbles on the surface of the river.
The Rat hummed [74] a tune, and the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one's friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever.
‘Well, well, ’ said the Rat. ‘I suppose we ought to be moving. I wonder which of us had better pack the luncheon basket? ’ He did not speak as if he was frightfully eager for the treat.
‘Oh, please let me, ’ said the Mole. So, of course, the Rat let him.
Packing the basket was not quite such pleasant work as unpacking the basket. It never is. But the Mole was bent on enjoying everything, and although just when he had got the basket packed and strapped up tightly he saw a plate staring up at him from the grass, and when the job had been done again the Rat pointed out a fork which anybody ought to have seen, and last of all, behold! the mustard-pot, which he had been sitting on without knowing it — still, somehow, the thing got finished at last, without much loss of temper.
The afternoon sun was getting low as the Rat sculled gently homewards in a dreamy mood, murmuring poetry-things over to himself, and not paying much attention to Mole. But the Mole was very full of lunch, and self-satisfaction, and pride, and already quite at home in a boat (so he thought) and was getting a bit restless besides: and presently he said, ‘Ratty! Please, I want to row, now! ’
The Rat shook his head with a smile. ‘Not yet, my young friend, ’ he said — ‘wait till you’ve had a few lessons. It's not so easy as it looks.'
The Mole was quiet for a minute or two. But he began to feel more and more jealous of Rat, sculling so strongly and so easily along, and his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well. He jumped up and seized the sculls, so suddenly that the Rat, who was gazing out over the water and saying more poetry-things to himself, was taken by surprise and fell backwards off his seat with his legs in the air for the second time, while the triumphant Mole took his place and grabbed the sculls with entire confidence.
‘Stop it,you silly ass! ’cried the Rat,from the bottom of the boat.‘You can’t do it! You'll have us over! '
The Mole flung his sculls back with a flourish, and made a great dig at the water. He missed the surface altogether, his legs flew up above his head, and he found himself lying on the top of the prostrate [75] Rat. Greatly alarmed, he made a grab at the side of the boat, and the next moment — Sploosh!
Over went the boat, and he found himself struggling in the river.
Oh my,how cold the water was,and oh,how very wet it felt.How it sang in his ears as he went down, down, down! How bright and welcome the sun looked as he rose to the surface coughing and spluttering [76] ! How black was his despair when he felt himself sinking again! Then a firm paw gripped him by the back of his neck.It was the Rat,and he was evidently laughing—the Mole could feel him laughing, right down his arm and through his paw, and so into his — the Mole's — neck.
The Rat got hold of a scull and shoved it under the Mole's arm, then he did the same by the other side of him and, swimming behind, propelled the helpless animal to shore, hauled him out, and set him down on the bank, a squashy [77] , pulpy [78] lump [79] of misery.
When the Rat had rubbed him down a bit, and wrung some of the wet out of him, he said, ‘Now, then, old fellow! Trot up and down the towing-path as hard as you can, till you’re warm and dry again, while I dive for the luncheon basket.'
So the dismal Mole, wet without and ashamed within, trotted about till he was fairly dry, while the Rat plunged into the water again, recovered the boat, righted her and made her fast, fetched his floating property to shore by degrees, and finally dived successfully for the luncheon-basket and struggled to land with it.
When all was ready for a start once more, the Mole, limp and dejected, took his seat in the stern of the boat; and as they set off , he said in a low voice, broken with emotion, ‘Ratty, my generous friend! I am very sorry indeed for my foolish and ungrateful conduct. My heart quite fails me when I think how I might have lost that beautiful luncheon-basket. Indeed, I have been a complete ass, and I know it. Will you overlook it this once and forgive me, and let things go on as before? ’
‘That’s all right, bless you! ' responded the Rat cheerily. ‘What’s a little wet to a Water Rat? I'm more in the water than out of it most days. Don't you think any more about it; and, look here! I really think you had better come and stop with me for a little time. It's very plain and rough, you know — not like Toad's house at all — but you haven't seen that yet; still, I can make you comfortable. And I'll teach you to row, and to swim, and you'll soon be as handy on the water as any of us.'
The Mole was so touched by his kind manner of speaking that he could find no voice to answer him; and he had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw. But the Rat kindly looked in another direction, and presently the Mole's spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering [80] to each other about his bedraggled [81] appearance.
When they got home, the Rat made a bright fire in the parlour, and planted the Mole in an armchair in front of it, having fetched down a dressing-gown and slippers for him, and told him river stories till supper-time. Very thrilling stories they were, too, to an earth-dwelling animal like Mole. Stories about weirs, and sudden floods, and leaping pike, and steamers that flung hard bottles — at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them;and about herons, and how particular they were whom they spoke to; and about adventures down drains, and night-fishings with Otter, or excursions far afield [82] with Badger. Supper was a most cheerful meal; but very shortly afterwards a terribly sleepy Mole had to be escorted [83] upstairs by his considerate host, to the best bedroom, where he soon laid his head on his pillow in great peace and contentment, knowing that his new-found friend the River was lapping the sill of his window.
This day was only the first of many similar ones for the emancipated [84] Mole, each of them longer and fuller of interest as the ripening summer moved onward. He learnt to swim and to row, and entered into the joy of running water; and with his ear to the reed [85] -stems he caught, at intervals, something of what the wind went whispering so constantly among them.
[1] mole [məuəl] n． 鼹鼠
[2] pail [peil] n． 桶，提桶（尤指提水用的洋铁桶）
[3] whitewash [ˈhwaitwɔʃ] n. 白涂料，刷白用的粉浆（或石灰水）
[4] weary [ˈwiəri] a． 疲倦的，困乏的
[5] penetrate [ˈpenitreit] v． 穿过，穿透
[6] imperiously [imˈpiəriəs] ad． 迫切地，紧急地
[7] scrooge [ˈskru:dʒ] v． 推，挤
[8] mutter [ˈmʌtə] v． 低声说，含糊不清地说，咕哝
[9] snout [snaut] n． 口鼻部
[10] caress [kəˈres] v． 爱抚，轻抚，拥抱
[11] cellarage [ˈseləridʒ] n． 地窖
[12] contemptuous [kənˈtemptjuəs] a． 轻视的，藐视的，鄙视的
[13] trot [trɔt] v． 小跑着走，小步跑，慢跑
[14] hedge [hedʒ] n. （矮树）树篱，（树枝等的）篱笆
[15] jeeringly[ˈdʒiriŋli] ad． 嘲弄地
[16] copse [kɔps] n． 矮树灌木丛，小树林
[17] jolly [ˈdʒɔli] a． 兴高采烈的，愉快的
[18] idle [ˈaidl] a． 空闲的，不忙的，闲散的
[19] meander [miˈændə] v． 漫步，闲逛
[20] sleek [sli:k] a. （喂养得）膘肥体壮的
[21] sinuous [ˈsinjuəs] a． 弯曲的，蜿蜒的
[22] chuckle [ˈtʃʌkl] v． 低声笑，暗自发笑，咯咯地笑
[23] gurgle [ˈgə:gl] v． 汩汩地流，作汩汩声，潺潺而流
[24] swirl [swə:l] v． 打旋，旋动，涡动
[25] bewitched [biˈwitʃt] a． 被迷住的，入迷的，着迷的
[26] entranced [inˈtra:nst] a． 着迷的，狂喜的
[27] spellbound [ˈspelbaund] a． 入迷的，着迷的
[28] babble [ˈbæbl] v． 喋喋不休，含糊不清地说，作潺潺声
[29] insatiable [inˈseiʃjəbl] a. 无法满足的，贪得无厌的
[30] snug [snʌg] a． 温暖的，舒适的，安逸的
[31] pettishly[ˈpetiʃli] ad． 任性地，易怒地，怒气冲冲地
[32] stoop [stu:p] v． 弯腰，俯身
[33] scull [skʌl] v． 用橹（或桨）划（船）
[34] gingerly [dʒindʒəli] ad. 小心谨慎地，战战兢兢地
[35] oar [ɔ:] n． 桨，橹，桨手
[36] rowlock [ˈrɔlək] n. （船）桨架，桨叉
[37] composedly [kəmˈpəuzdli] ad． 镇定地，沉着地，自若地
[38] waggle [ˈwægl] v． 摇摆，摇动
[39] loop [lu:p] v. （把绳索等）打成环状，使成圈
[40] luncheon [ˈlʌntʃən] n． 午餐，便餐
[41] wriggle [ˈrigl] v． 蠕动，扭动
[42] ecstasy [ˈekstəsi] n． 狂喜的状况
[43] excursion [ikˈskə:ʃən] n. 远足，短途旅游
[44] intoxicate [inˈtɔksikeit] v. 使陶醉，使沉醉，使狂喜
[45] ripple [ˈripl] n． 微波，细浪，涟漪
[46] velvet [ˈvelvit] a． 丝绒的，天鹅绒的
[47] clog [klɔg] v． 阻塞，堵塞（管子、道路等）
[48] forbearance [fɔ:bɛərəns] n． 自制，忍耐，宽容
[49] otter [ˈɔtə] n． 水獭
[50] kingfisher [ˈkiŋˌfiʃə] n. 翠鸟，鱼狗
[51] dabchick [ˈdæbtʃik] n． 小䴙䴘
[52] moorhen [ˈmuəhen] n． 黑水鸡，雌红松鸡
[53] weasel [ˈwi:zəl] n． 鼬鼠，黄鼠狼
[54] stoat [stəut] n． 白鼬
[55] allude [əˈlju:d] v． 暗指，转弯抹角地说到，略为提及
[56] turf [tə:f] n． 草皮，草根泥，草地
[57] snaky [ˈsneiki] a． 蛇状的，弯弯曲曲的
[58] weir [wiə] n． 堰，低坝
[59] gasp [ga:sp] v． 喘息，透不过气，倒抽气
[60] revelation [ˌrevəˈleiʃən] n． 新发现
[61] chirrup [ˈtʃirəp] v． 吱喳地叫
[62] muzzle [ˈmʌzl] n （ ． 狗、马等的）鼻口部，吻突
[63] provender [ˈprɔvində] n. 食物，食料
[64] impromptu [imˈprɔmptju:] a． 即席的，临时的，无准备的
[65] rumpus [ˈrʌmpəs] a． 喧闹，骚扰
[66] grunt [grʌnt] v. （猪）发低沉的咕噜声，像猪一样发咕噜声
[67] punt [pʌnt] v． 用篙撑（方头平底船）
[68] stout [staut] a． 结实的，矮胖的
[69] hail [heil] v． 致敬，招呼，向……欢呼
[70] errant [ˈerənt] a. （为探险而）漫游的，漂泊的
[71] mayfly [ˈmeiflai] n． 蜉蝣
[72] swerve [swə:v] v． 突然转向一边，突然转变，偏向
[73] athwart[əˈθwɔ:t] ad． 横跨着，横越过，斜穿过
[74] hum [hʌm] v． 哼唱
[75] prostrate [ˈprɔstreit] a． 平卧的，卧倒在地的
[76] splutter [ˈsplʌtə] v. （因慌张、激动等）语无伦次，结结巴巴
[77] squashy [ˈskwɔʃi] a． 又湿又软的
[78] pulpy [ˈpʌlpi] a． 泥状的，纸浆状的
[79] lump [lʌmp] n． 块，团
[80] snigger [ˈsnigə] v． 窃笑，偷偷的笑
[81] bedraggle [biˈdrægld] a. 全身泥污的，满身湿透的
[82] afield[əˈfi:ld] ad． 去野外，在远处
[83] escort [ˈeskɔ:t] v． 护卫，护送，陪同
[84] emancipate [iˈmænsipeit] v． 解放，释放
[85] reed [ri:d] n． 芦苇