章节正文
"Because there is no other smell in the West
wind but snuff," said Jip. "If the man were
cooking or eating food of any kind, I would
be bound to smell it too. But he hasn't even
fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff
--in large pinches. We are getting nearer to
him all the time, because the smell grows
stronger every minute. But make the ship go
as fast as you can, for I am certain that the
man is starving."
"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent
Dab-Dab to ask the swallows to pull the ship,
the same as they had done when the pirates were
chasing them.
So the stout little birds came down and once
more harnessed themselves to the ship.
And now the boat went bounding through the
waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that
the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives
to get out of the way and not be run over.
And all the animals got tremendously excited;
and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to
watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or
islands where the starving man might be.
But hour after hour went by and still the ship
went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and
no land anywhere came in sight.
And now the animals gave up chattering and
sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The
little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face
there was a worried look.
At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun
was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who
was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly
startled them all by crying out at the top of his
voice,
"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front
of us--look--way out there where the sky and
the water meet. See the sun shine on it--like
gold! Is the smell coming from there?"
And Jip called back,
"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.
--At last, at last!"
And when they got nearer they could see that
the rock was very large--as large as a big field.
No trees grew on it, no grass--nothing. The
great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back
of a tortoise.
Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round
the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be
seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes
and looked as hard as they could; and John
Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.
But not one living thing could they spy--
not even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of
sea-weed.
They all stood still and listened, straining
their ears for any sound. But the only noise
they heard was the gentle lapping of the little
waves against the sides of their ship.
Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!
--HULLOA!" till their voices were hoarse.
But only the echo came back from the rock.
And the little boy burst into tears and said,
"I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any
more! What shall I tell them when I get home!"
But Jip called to the Doctor,
"He must be there--he must--HE MUST!
The smell goes on no further. He must be
there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock
and let me jump out on it."
So the Doctor brought the ship as close as
he could and let down the anchor. Then he
and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.
Jip at once put his nose down close to the
ground and began to run all over the place. Up
and down he went, back and forth--zig-zagging,
twisting, doubling and turning. And
everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him,
close at his heels--till he was terribly out of
breath.
At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down.
And when the Doctor came running up to him,
he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in
the middle of the rock.
"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip
quietly. "No wonder those silly eagles couldn't
see him!--It takes a dog to find a man."
So the Doctor got down into the hole, which
seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running
a long way under the ground. Then he struck
a match and started to make his way along the
dark passage with Jip following behind.
The Doctor's match soon went out; and he
had to strike another and another and another.
At last the passage came to an end; and the
Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room
with walls of rock.
And there, in the middle of the room, his
head resting on his arms, lay a man with very
red hair--fast asleep!
Jip went up and sniffed at something lying
on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped
and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-
box. And it was full of Black Rappee!
THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER
THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN
GENTLY then--very gently, the Doctor woke the man up.
But just at that moment the match went out again.
And the man thought it was Ben Ali coming back,
and he began to punch the Doctor in the dark.
But when John Dolittle told him who it was,
and that he had his little nephew safe on his
ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said
he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He
had not hurt him much though--because it was
too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the
Doctor a pinch of snuff.
And the man told how the Barbary Dragon
had put him on to this rock and left him there,
when he wouldn't promise to become a pirate;
and how he used to sleep down in this hole
because there was no house on the rock to keep
him warm.
And then he said,
"For four days I have had nothing to eat or
drink. I have lived on snuff."
"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?"
So they struck some more matches and made
their way out through the passage into the daylight;
and the Doctor hurried the man down to
the boat to get some soup.
When the animals and the little boy saw the
Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with
a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell
and dance about the boat. And the swallows
up above started whistling at the top of their
voices--thousands and millions of them--to
show that they too were glad that the boy's brave
uncle had been found. The noise they made
was so great that sailors far out at sea thought
that a terrible storm was coming. "Hark to
that gale howling in the East!" they said.
And Jip was awfully proud of himself--
though he tried hard not to look conceited.
When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I
had no idea you were so clever!" he just tossed
his head and answered,
"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a
dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good
for a game like that."
Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman
where his home was. And when he had
told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide
the ship there first.
And when they had come to the land which
the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-
town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the
man pointed out the house where he lived.
And while they were letting down the anchor,
the little boy's mother (who was also the man's
sister) came running down to the shore to meet
them, laughing and crying at the same time.
She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days,
watching the sea and waiting for them to
return.
And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that
he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And
she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and
hid inside the ship.
"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said.
"I don't hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub-
Gub--if she MUST kiss something."
The fisherman and his sister didn't want the
Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They
begged him to spend a few days with them. So
John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at
their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and
half of Monday.
And all the little boys of the fishing-village
went down to the beach and pointed at the great
ship anchored there, and said to one another in
whispers,
"Look! That was a pirate-ship--Ben Ali's
--the most terrible pirate that ever sailed the
Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high
hat, who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE
took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon
--and made him into a farmer. Who'd have
thought it of him--him so gentle--like and all!
... Look at the great red sails! Ain't she the
wicked-looking ship--and fast?--My!"
All those two days and a half that the Doctor
stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept
asking him out to teas and luncheons and dinners
and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes
of flowers and candies; and the village-band
played tunes under his window every night.
At last the Doctor said,
"Good people, I must go home now. You
have really been most kind. I shall always
wind but snuff," said Jip. "If the man were
cooking or eating food of any kind, I would
be bound to smell it too. But he hasn't even
fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff
--in large pinches. We are getting nearer to
him all the time, because the smell grows
stronger every minute. But make the ship go
as fast as you can, for I am certain that the
man is starving."
"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent
Dab-Dab to ask the swallows to pull the ship,
the same as they had done when the pirates were
chasing them.
So the stout little birds came down and once
more harnessed themselves to the ship.
And now the boat went bounding through the
waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that
the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives
to get out of the way and not be run over.
And all the animals got tremendously excited;
and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to
watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or
islands where the starving man might be.
But hour after hour went by and still the ship
went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and
no land anywhere came in sight.
And now the animals gave up chattering and
sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The
little boy again grew sad. And on Jip's face
there was a worried look.
At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun
was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who
was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly
startled them all by crying out at the top of his
voice,
"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front
of us--look--way out there where the sky and
the water meet. See the sun shine on it--like
gold! Is the smell coming from there?"
And Jip called back,
"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.
--At last, at last!"
And when they got nearer they could see that
the rock was very large--as large as a big field.
No trees grew on it, no grass--nothing. The
great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back
of a tortoise.
Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round
the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be
seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes
and looked as hard as they could; and John
Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.
But not one living thing could they spy--
not even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of
sea-weed.
They all stood still and listened, straining
their ears for any sound. But the only noise
they heard was the gentle lapping of the little
waves against the sides of their ship.
Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!
--HULLOA!" till their voices were hoarse.
But only the echo came back from the rock.
And the little boy burst into tears and said,
"I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any
more! What shall I tell them when I get home!"
But Jip called to the Doctor,
"He must be there--he must--HE MUST!
The smell goes on no further. He must be
there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock
and let me jump out on it."
So the Doctor brought the ship as close as
he could and let down the anchor. Then he
and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.
Jip at once put his nose down close to the
ground and began to run all over the place. Up
and down he went, back and forth--zig-zagging,
twisting, doubling and turning. And
everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him,
close at his heels--till he was terribly out of
breath.
At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down.
And when the Doctor came running up to him,
he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in
the middle of the rock.
"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip
quietly. "No wonder those silly eagles couldn't
see him!--It takes a dog to find a man."
So the Doctor got down into the hole, which
seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running
a long way under the ground. Then he struck
a match and started to make his way along the
dark passage with Jip following behind.
The Doctor's match soon went out; and he
had to strike another and another and another.
At last the passage came to an end; and the
Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room
with walls of rock.
And there, in the middle of the room, his
head resting on his arms, lay a man with very
red hair--fast asleep!
Jip went up and sniffed at something lying
on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped
and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-
box. And it was full of Black Rappee!
THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER
THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN
GENTLY then--very gently, the Doctor woke the man up.
But just at that moment the match went out again.
And the man thought it was Ben Ali coming back,
and he began to punch the Doctor in the dark.
But when John Dolittle told him who it was,
and that he had his little nephew safe on his
ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said
he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He
had not hurt him much though--because it was
too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the
Doctor a pinch of snuff.
And the man told how the Barbary Dragon
had put him on to this rock and left him there,
when he wouldn't promise to become a pirate;
and how he used to sleep down in this hole
because there was no house on the rock to keep
him warm.
And then he said,
"For four days I have had nothing to eat or
drink. I have lived on snuff."
"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?"
So they struck some more matches and made
their way out through the passage into the daylight;
and the Doctor hurried the man down to
the boat to get some soup.
When the animals and the little boy saw the
Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with
a red-headed man, they began to cheer and yell
and dance about the boat. And the swallows
up above started whistling at the top of their
voices--thousands and millions of them--to
show that they too were glad that the boy's brave
uncle had been found. The noise they made
was so great that sailors far out at sea thought
that a terrible storm was coming. "Hark to
that gale howling in the East!" they said.
And Jip was awfully proud of himself--
though he tried hard not to look conceited.
When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I
had no idea you were so clever!" he just tossed
his head and answered,
"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a
dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good
for a game like that."
Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman
where his home was. And when he had
told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide
the ship there first.
And when they had come to the land which
the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-
town at the foot of a rocky mountain; and the
man pointed out the house where he lived.
And while they were letting down the anchor,
the little boy's mother (who was also the man's
sister) came running down to the shore to meet
them, laughing and crying at the same time.
She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days,
watching the sea and waiting for them to
return.
And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that
he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And
she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and
hid inside the ship.
"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said.
"I don't hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub-
Gub--if she MUST kiss something."
The fisherman and his sister didn't want the
Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They
begged him to spend a few days with them. So
John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at
their house a whole Saturday and Sunday and
half of Monday.
And all the little boys of the fishing-village
went down to the beach and pointed at the great
ship anchored there, and said to one another in
whispers,
"Look! That was a pirate-ship--Ben Ali's
--the most terrible pirate that ever sailed the
Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high
hat, who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE
took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon
--and made him into a farmer. Who'd have
thought it of him--him so gentle--like and all!
... Look at the great red sails! Ain't she the
wicked-looking ship--and fast?--My!"
All those two days and a half that the Doctor
stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept
asking him out to teas and luncheons and dinners
and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes
of flowers and candies; and the village-band
played tunes under his window every night.
At last the Doctor said,
"Good people, I must go home now. You
have really been most kind. I shall always
- anywhere [´eniweə]
ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词) - anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)
- anchor [´æŋkə] n.锚 v.抛锚 (初中英语单词)
- terribly [´terəbli] ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- tunnel [´tʌnl] n.隧道 v.挖隧道 (初中英语单词)
- enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
- gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
- nephew [´nevju:, ´nɛfju] n.侄子；外甥 (初中英语单词)
- properly [´prɔpəli] ad.适当地；严格地 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- fisherman [´fiʃəmən] n.渔民，渔夫，打鱼人 (初中英语单词)
- nowhere [´nəuweə] n.无处；不知道 (高中英语单词)
- telescope [´teliskəup] n.望远镜 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)
- pirate [´paiərət] n.海盗 v.做海盗；掠夺 (高中英语单词)
- tremendously [tri´mendəsli] ad.可怕地；极大地 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
