Rabbit the hunter

 　　Rabbit the hunterOne day Rabbit took his bow and arrow and went hunting. He left the house where he lived with his grandmother and hopped¹ through the forest, happyto be out and about. Suddenly he saw huge footprintsin the track.

　　"Wow! Check out the size of this!" Rabbit said,twitching his nose. He hopped into the middle of the left footprint, then took six long hops² to reach the right one.

　　"This dude is some giant" he said out loud, talkingto himself because no one else was there. The forestwas silent. He couldn't even hear a wing flap, or abear breathing.

　　"I bet that giant's hunted everything!" said Rabbitangrily. And sure enough, when he checked, therewasn't anything left to hunt.

　　Rabbit went home to his grandmother and told her he hadn't huntedanything for dinner because the giant had been to the forest first. She patted him on the head. "Don't worry dear. I've picked some berries. We can have them for dinner.""I don't want stupid berries. I want to eat something I've hunted!"Rabbit grumbled³ to himself. He didn't say it out loud because he didn'twant to hurt his grandmother's feelings.

　　The next day Rabbit got up earlier, hoping to hunt before the giantcame. No luck. Everything had gone already. "It's not fair!" criedRabbit, stamping his feet.

　　Each day Rabbit got up earlier and earlier, and each day the same thinghappened. The giant got there first.

　　Rabbit became angrier and angrier. "I will set a trap for the giant. And when I catch him, I'll shoot him with my bow and arrow." He strung anet across the track to catch anyone who walked down it. Then he wenthome to his grandmother, thinking "this will be the last night I have toeat berries for dinner. Tomorrow I'll be able to go hunting."The next morning Rabbit got up extra early and went to check on his net. "Oh no!" He wailed⁴.

　　"The giant has walked right throng⁵ it and made a bighole!" He went home and told his grandmother.

　　"Don't worry dear, have a berry" she said.

　　"I don't want any more berries" cried Rabbit "Iwant to eat something I have hunted." Then he looked at his grandmother and thought for amoment. "You know some magic. Will you make mea special net?" he pleaded.

　　"Alright. If it will make you happy." She told Rabbit to go away because the magic was secret. When he came back she gave him a net as thin as a spider's web, but stronger than any net ever made.

　　Rabbit tied it across the track inthe forest. The next morning, he got　　up extra early and rushed out into the forest. He hopped round a bend in the track and skidded⁶ to a halt. There was a blinding light comingfrom his magic net. It was so bright, he couldn't look at it for more thana second. "Oh No!" he wailed. "I've captured the SUN".

　　"Let me out of here," roared Sun in a deep load voice that shook the forest. Rabbit fell backwards⁷ onto the track, then hopped home as fastas he could to tell his grandmother.

　　"You must let Sun out of the net," said his Grandmother "Look howdark it is everywhere." "I'm scared" said Rabbit.

　　"I know" answered his grandmother, "but if you don't let Sun out of the net it will always be dark. Here's a magic knife. Go and cut the net." Rabbit hopped back into the forest.

　　"Let me out of here" roared Sun, thrashing aroundin the net with his big feet. Rabbit slowly movedforward, his little legs shaking with fright. The closerhe got, the hotter it became. Closer and hotter,closer and hotter.

　　Little legs shaking and sweatgushing from him, Rabbit shielded his eyes and reached up to cut the net with the magic knifeSun struggled free then jumped upwards⁸. One of his big feet kicked Rabbit on the shoulders, almost knocking him over. The sky filled with light again and all the animals cried out in happiness.

　　Rabbit looked at his sore shoulders. They were scorched⁹ brown with the heat from Sun's foot - and they are still brown to this day.

　　The End

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

3 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。

4 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

5 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

6 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

9 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。