8 The Foxes Begin to Starve
Part 1
That evening
three tents（帳篷）
were put up
in the crater（大坑；巨大的坑洞）
on the hill –
one for Boggis,
one for Bunce
and one for Bean.

The tents surrounded（圍繞著）
Mr Fox’s hole.

And the three farmers
sat outside their tents
eating their supper（晚餐）.

Boggis had
three boiled chickens（水煮雞）
smothered in dumplings（被大量麵糰／麵疙瘩蓋滿）,
Bunce had
six doughnuts（甜甜圈）
filled with（裡面裝滿）
disgusting（噁心的）
goose-liver paste（鵝肝醬）,
and Bean had
two gallons（加侖）
of cider（蘋果酒）.

All three of them
kept their guns beside them（把槍放在身邊）.

Boggis picked up
a steaming（冒著熱氣的） chicken
and held it close to（把它拿近）
the fox’s hole.

‘Can you smell this,
Mr Fox?’
he shouted.

‘Lovely tender（嫩的） chicken!

Why don’t you come up
and get it?’

The rich scent（香味；氣味） of chicken
wafted down（飄了下去）
the tunnel（地道；隧道）
to where the foxes
were crouching（蹲著）.

‘Oh, Dad,’
said one of the Small Foxes,
‘couldn’t we just sneak up（偷偷靠近）
and snatch（一把搶走） it
out of his hand?’

‘Don’t you dare!（不准你這麼做！）’
said Mrs Fox.

‘That’s just what they want you to do.（那正是他們想要你做的事。）’

‘But we’re so hungry!’
they cried.

‘How long will it be
till we get something to eat?’

Their mother
didn’t answer them.

Nor did their father.

There was no answer to give.（根本沒有答案可以回答。）

As darkness fell（隨著天色變暗／夜幕降臨時）,
Bunce and Bean
switched on（打開；開啟）
the powerful headlamps（強力車頭燈）
of the two tractors
and shone them on to the hole（把燈光照向洞口）.

‘Now,’
said Bean,
‘we’ll take it in turn（輪流）
to keep watch（看守；守望）.

One watches
while two sleep,
and so on
all through the night（整個晚上）.’

Boggis said,
‘What if the fox
digs a hole
right through the hill（一直挖穿整座山）
and comes out
on the other side（另一邊）?

You didn’t think of that one, did you?（你沒想到這一點吧？）’

‘Of course I did,’
said Bean,
pretending（假裝） he had.

The  End

---

 

The  Foxes  Begin  to  Starve
Part  1
That  evening
three  tents（帳篷）
were  put  up
in  the  crater（大坑；巨大的坑洞）
on  the  hill  –
one  for  Boggis,
one  for  Bunce
and  one  for  Bean.

The  tents  surrounded（圍繞著）
Mr  Fox’s  hole.

And  the  three  farmers
sat  outside  their  tents
eating  their  supper（晚餐）.

Boggis  had
three  boiled  chickens（水煮雞）
smothered  in  dumplings（被大量麵糰／麵疙瘩蓋滿）,
Bunce  had
six  doughnuts（甜甜圈）
filled  with（裡面裝滿）
disgusting（噁心的）
goose-liver  paste（鵝肝醬）,
and  Bean  had
two  gallons（加侖）
of  cider（蘋果酒）.

All  three  of  them
kept  their  guns  beside  them（把槍放在身邊）.

Boggis  picked  up
a  steaming（冒著熱氣的）  chicken
and  held  it  close  to（把它拿近）
the  fox’s  hole.

‘Can  you  smell  this,
Mr  Fox?’
he  shouted.

‘Lovely  tender（嫩的）  chicken!

Why  don’t  you  come  up
and  get  it?’

The  rich  scent（香味；氣味）  of  chicken
wafted  down（飄了下去）
the  tunnel（地道；隧道）
to  where  the  foxes
were  crouching（蹲著）.

‘Oh,  Dad,’
said  one  of  the  Small  Foxes,
‘couldn’t  we  just  sneak  up（偷偷靠近）
and  snatch（一把搶走）  it
out  of  his  hand?’

‘Don’t  you  dare!（不准你這麼做！）’
said  Mrs  Fox.

‘That’s  just  what  they  want  you  to  do.（那正是他們想要你做的事。）’

‘But  we’re  so  hungry!’
they  cried.

‘How  long  will  it  be
till  we  get  something  to  eat?’

Their  mother
didn’t  answer  them.

Nor  did  their  father.

There  was  no  answer  to  give.（根本沒有答案可以回答。）

As  darkness  fell（隨著天色變暗／夜幕降臨時）,
Bunce  and  Bean
switched  on（打開；開啟）
the  powerful  headlamps（強力車頭燈）
of  the  two  tractors
and  shone  them  on  to  the  hole（把燈光照向洞口）.

‘Now,’
said  Bean,
‘we’ll  take  it  in  turn（輪流）
to  keep  watch（看守；守望）.

One  watches
while  two  sleep,
and  so  on
all  through  the  night（整個晚上）.’

Boggis  said,
‘What  if  the  fox
digs  a  hole
right  through  the  hill（一直挖穿整座山）
and  comes  out
on  the  other  side（另一邊）?

You  didn’t  think  of  that  one,  did  you?（你沒想到這一點吧？）’

‘Of  course  I  did,’
said  Bean,
pretending（假裝）  he  had.