章节正文
because Africa was their proper home, the land
where they were born.
And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he
looked over the side across the water. And then
he remembered that they had no one with them
to guide them back to Puddleby.
The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and
lonesome in the moonlight; and he began to
wonder if they would lose their way when they
passed out of sight of land.
But even while he was wondering, they heard
a strange whispering noise, high in the air,
coming through the night. And the animals all
stopped saying Good-by and listened.
The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed
to be coming nearer to them--a sound like the
Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a
poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down
upon a roof.
And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail
quite straight, said,
"Birds!--millions of them--flying fast--that's it!"
And then they all looked up. And there,
streaming across the face of the moon, like a
huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands
and thousands of little birds. Soon the
whole sky seemed full of them, and still more
kept coming--more and more. There were so
many that for a little they covered the whole
moon so it could not shine, and the sea grew
dark and black--like when a storm-cloud passes
over the sun.
And presently all these birds came down close,
skimming over the water and the land; and the
night-sky was left clear above, and the moon
shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry
nor a song they made--no sound but this great
rustling of feathers which grew greater now
than ever. When they began to settle on the
sands, along the ropes of the ship--anywhere
and everywhere except the trees--the Doctor
could see that they had blue wings and white
breasts and very short, feathered legs. As soon
as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly,
there was no noise left anywhere--all was quiet;
all was still.
And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle
spoke:
"I had no idea that we had been in Africa
so long. It will be nearly Summer when we
get home. For these are the swallows going
back. Swallows, I thank you for waiting for
us. It is very thoughtful of you. Now we need
not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the
sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!"
When the ship moved out upon the water,
those who stayed behind, Chee-Chee, Polynesia
and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never
in their lives had they known any one they liked
so well as Doctor John Dolittle of Puddleby-on-
the-Marsh.
And after they had called Good-by to him
again and again and again, they still stood there
upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till
the ship was out of sight.
THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER
RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS
SAILING homeward, the Doctor's ship had to pass the coast
of Barbary. This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert.
It is a wild, lonely place--all sand and stones. And it was
here that the Barbary pirates lived.
These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait
for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores.
And often, if they saw a boat passing, they would
come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it.
When they caught a boat like this at sea, they
would steal everything on it; and after they had
taken the people off they would sink the ship
and sail back to Barbary singing songs and feeling
proud of the mischief they had done. Then
they used to make the people they had caught
write home to their friends for money. And if
the friends sent no money, the pirates often
threw the people into the sea.
Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-
Dab were walking up and down on the ship
for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the
boat along, and everybody was happy. Presently
Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a
long way behind them on the edge of the sea.
It was a red sail.
"I don't like the look of that sail," said Dab-
Dab. "I have a feeling it isn't a friendly ship.
I am afraid there is more trouble coming to us."
Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the
sun, began to growl and talk in his sleep.
"I smell roast beef cooking," he mumbled--
"underdone roast beef--with brown gravy over it."
"Good gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What's
the matter with the dog? Is he SMELLING in his
sleep--as well as talking?"
"I suppose he is," said Dab-Dab. "All dogs
can smell in their sleep."
"But what is he smelling?" asked the Doctor.
"There is no roast beef cooking on our ship."
"No," said Dab-Dab. "The roast beef must
be on that other ship over there."
"But that's ten miles away," said the Doctor.
"He couldn't smell that far surely!"
"Oh, yes, he could," said Dab-Dab. "You ask him."
Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl
again and his lip curled up angrily, showing
his clean, white teeth.
"I smell bad men," he growled--"the worst
men I ever smelt. I smell trouble. I smell a
fight--six bad scoundrels fighting against one
brave man. I want to help him. Woof--oo--WOOF!"
Then he barked, loud, and woke himself up with
a surprised look on his face.
"See!" cried Dab-Dab. "That boat is nearer now.
You can count its three big sails--all red.
Whoever it is, they are coming after us....
I wonder who they are."
"They are bad sailors," said Jip; "and their
ship is very swift. They are surely the pirates
of Barbary."
"Well, we must put up more sails on our
boat," said the Doctor, "so we can go faster and
get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and
fetch me all the sails you see."
The dog hurrieddownstairs and dragged up
every sail he could find.
But even when all these were put up on the
masts to catch the wind, the boat did not go
nearly as fast as the pirates'--which kept coming
on behind, closer and closer.
"This is a poor ship the Prince gave us," said
Gub-Gub, the pig--"the slowest he could find,
I should think. Might as well try to win a race
in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them
in this old barge. Look how near they are now!
--You can see the mustaches on the faces of the
men--six of them. What are we going to do?"
Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and
tell the swallows that pirates were coming after
them in a swift ship, and what should he do
about it.
When the swallows heard this, they all came
down on to the Doctor's ship; and they told him
to unravel some pieces of long rope and make
them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he
could. Then the ends of these strings were tied
on to the front of the ship; and the swallows
took hold of the strings with their feet and flew
off, pulling the boat along.
And although swallows are not very strong
when only one or two are by themselves, it is
different when there are a great lot of them
together. And there, tied to the Doctor's ship,
were a thousand strings; and two thousand
swallows were pulling on each string--all terribly
swift fliers.
And in a moment the Doctor found himself
traveling so fast he had to hold his hat on with
both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself
were flying through waves that frothed and
boiled with speed.
And all the animals on the ship began to
laugh and dance about in the rushing air, for
when they looked back at the pirates' ship, they
could see that it was growing smaller now,
instead of bigger. The red sails were being left
far, far behind.
THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER
THE RATS' WARNING
DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after
two or three hours the swallows began to get tired in the
wings and short of breath. Then they sent a message
down to the Doctor to say that they would have
to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the
boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in
a deep bay till they had got breath enough to go on.
And presently the Doctor saw the island they
had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high,
green mountain in the middle of it.
When the ship had sailed safely into the bay
where it could not be seen from the open sea,
the Doctor said he would get off on to the island
to look for water--because there was none left
to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals
to get out too and romp on the grass to
stretch their legs.
Now as they were getting off, the Doctor
noticed that a whole lot of rats were coming up
from downstairs and leaving the ship as well.
Jip started to run after them, because chasing
rats had always been his favorite game. But
the Doctor told him to stop.
And one big black rat, who seemed to want
to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward
timidly along the rail, watching the dog
where they were born.
And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he
looked over the side across the water. And then
he remembered that they had no one with them
to guide them back to Puddleby.
The wide, wide sea looked terribly big and
lonesome in the moonlight; and he began to
wonder if they would lose their way when they
passed out of sight of land.
But even while he was wondering, they heard
a strange whispering noise, high in the air,
coming through the night. And the animals all
stopped saying Good-by and listened.
The noise grew louder and bigger. It seemed
to be coming nearer to them--a sound like the
Autumn wind blowing through the leaves of a
poplar-tree, or a great, great rain beating down
upon a roof.
And Jip, with his nose pointing and his tail
quite straight, said,
"Birds!--millions of them--flying fast--that's it!"
And then they all looked up. And there,
streaming across the face of the moon, like a
huge swarm of tiny ants, they could see thousands
and thousands of little birds. Soon the
whole sky seemed full of them, and still more
kept coming--more and more. There were so
many that for a little they covered the whole
moon so it could not shine, and the sea grew
dark and black--like when a storm-cloud passes
over the sun.
And presently all these birds came down close,
skimming over the water and the land; and the
night-sky was left clear above, and the moon
shone as before. Still never a call nor a cry
nor a song they made--no sound but this great
rustling of feathers which grew greater now
than ever. When they began to settle on the
sands, along the ropes of the ship--anywhere
and everywhere except the trees--the Doctor
could see that they had blue wings and white
breasts and very short, feathered legs. As soon
as they had all found a place to sit, suddenly,
there was no noise left anywhere--all was quiet;
all was still.
And in the silent moonlight John Dolittle
spoke:
"I had no idea that we had been in Africa
so long. It will be nearly Summer when we
get home. For these are the swallows going
back. Swallows, I thank you for waiting for
us. It is very thoughtful of you. Now we need
not be afraid that we will lose our way upon the
sea.... Pull up the anchor and set the sail!"
When the ship moved out upon the water,
those who stayed behind, Chee-Chee, Polynesia
and the crocodile, grew terribly sad. For never
in their lives had they known any one they liked
so well as Doctor John Dolittle of Puddleby-on-
the-Marsh.
And after they had called Good-by to him
again and again and again, they still stood there
upon the rocks, crying bitterly and waving till
the ship was out of sight.
THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER
RED SAILS AND BLUE WINGS
SAILING homeward, the Doctor's ship had to pass the coast
of Barbary. This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert.
It is a wild, lonely place--all sand and stones. And it was
here that the Barbary pirates lived.
These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait
for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores.
And often, if they saw a boat passing, they would
come out in their fast sailing-ships and chase it.
When they caught a boat like this at sea, they
would steal everything on it; and after they had
taken the people off they would sink the ship
and sail back to Barbary singing songs and feeling
proud of the mischief they had done. Then
they used to make the people they had caught
write home to their friends for money. And if
the friends sent no money, the pirates often
threw the people into the sea.
Now one sunshiny day the Doctor and Dab-
Dab were walking up and down on the ship
for exercise; a nice fresh wind was blowing the
boat along, and everybody was happy. Presently
Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a
long way behind them on the edge of the sea.
It was a red sail.
"I don't like the look of that sail," said Dab-
Dab. "I have a feeling it isn't a friendly ship.
I am afraid there is more trouble coming to us."
Jip, who was lying near taking a nap in the
sun, began to growl and talk in his sleep.
"I smell roast beef cooking," he mumbled--
"underdone roast beef--with brown gravy over it."
"Good gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What's
the matter with the dog? Is he SMELLING in his
sleep--as well as talking?"
"I suppose he is," said Dab-Dab. "All dogs
can smell in their sleep."
"But what is he smelling?" asked the Doctor.
"There is no roast beef cooking on our ship."
"No," said Dab-Dab. "The roast beef must
be on that other ship over there."
"But that's ten miles away," said the Doctor.
"He couldn't smell that far surely!"
"Oh, yes, he could," said Dab-Dab. "You ask him."
Then Jip, still fast asleep, began to growl
again and his lip curled up angrily, showing
his clean, white teeth.
"I smell bad men," he growled--"the worst
men I ever smelt. I smell trouble. I smell a
fight--six bad scoundrels fighting against one
brave man. I want to help him. Woof--oo--WOOF!"
Then he barked, loud, and woke himself up with
a surprised look on his face.
"See!" cried Dab-Dab. "That boat is nearer now.
You can count its three big sails--all red.
Whoever it is, they are coming after us....
I wonder who they are."
"They are bad sailors," said Jip; "and their
ship is very swift. They are surely the pirates
of Barbary."
"Well, we must put up more sails on our
boat," said the Doctor, "so we can go faster and
get away from them. Run downstairs, Jip, and
fetch me all the sails you see."
The dog hurrieddownstairs and dragged up
every sail he could find.
But even when all these were put up on the
masts to catch the wind, the boat did not go
nearly as fast as the pirates'--which kept coming
on behind, closer and closer.
"This is a poor ship the Prince gave us," said
Gub-Gub, the pig--"the slowest he could find,
I should think. Might as well try to win a race
in a soup-tureen as hope to get away from them
in this old barge. Look how near they are now!
--You can see the mustaches on the faces of the
men--six of them. What are we going to do?"
Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and
tell the swallows that pirates were coming after
them in a swift ship, and what should he do
about it.
When the swallows heard this, they all came
down on to the Doctor's ship; and they told him
to unravel some pieces of long rope and make
them into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he
could. Then the ends of these strings were tied
on to the front of the ship; and the swallows
took hold of the strings with their feet and flew
off, pulling the boat along.
And although swallows are not very strong
when only one or two are by themselves, it is
different when there are a great lot of them
together. And there, tied to the Doctor's ship,
were a thousand strings; and two thousand
swallows were pulling on each string--all terribly
swift fliers.
And in a moment the Doctor found himself
traveling so fast he had to hold his hat on with
both hands; for he felt as though the ship itself
were flying through waves that frothed and
boiled with speed.
And all the animals on the ship began to
laugh and dance about in the rushing air, for
when they looked back at the pirates' ship, they
could see that it was growing smaller now,
instead of bigger. The red sails were being left
far, far behind.
THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER
THE RATS' WARNING
DRAGGING a ship through the sea is hard work. And after
two or three hours the swallows began to get tired in the
wings and short of breath. Then they sent a message
down to the Doctor to say that they would have
to take a rest soon; and that they would pull the
boat over to an island not far off, and hide it in
a deep bay till they had got breath enough to go on.
And presently the Doctor saw the island they
had spoken of. It had a very beautiful, high,
green mountain in the middle of it.
When the ship had sailed safely into the bay
where it could not be seen from the open sea,
the Doctor said he would get off on to the island
to look for water--because there was none left
to drink on his ship. And he told all the animals
to get out too and romp on the grass to
stretch their legs.
Now as they were getting off, the Doctor
noticed that a whole lot of rats were coming up
from downstairs and leaving the ship as well.
Jip started to run after them, because chasing
rats had always been his favorite game. But
the Doctor told him to stop.
And one big black rat, who seemed to want
to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward
timidly along the rail, watching the dog
- terribly [´terəbli]
ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词) - moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- feathered [´feðəd] a.有羽毛的；羽状的 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- anchor [´æŋkə] n.锚 v.抛锚 (初中英语单词)
- bitterly [´bitəli] ad.悲痛地；憎恨地 (初中英语单词)
- lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)
- mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)
- downstairs [,daun´steəz] ad.在楼下 a.楼下的 (初中英语单词)
- prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- thoughtful [´θɔ:tfəl] a.深思的；体贴的 (高中英语单词)
- homeward [´həumwəd] ad.&a.回家(的) (高中英语单词)
- angrily [´æŋgrili] ad.生气地；愤怒地 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- seashore [´si:ʃɔ:] n.海岸；海滨 (英语四级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- crocodile [´krɔkədail] n.鳄鱼；假慈悲的人 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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