章节正文
"Oh, Cap'n Bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimed
Trot rapturously. "How lucky we were to discover this
beautiful country!"
"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit,
Trot," replied the old sailor-man, looking around him,
"but we don't know, as yet, what its people are like."
"No one could live in such a country without being
happy and good -- I'm sure of that," she said earnestly.
"Don't you think so, Button-Bright?"
"I'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy.
"It tires me to think, and I never seem to gain anything
by it. When we see the people who live here we will know
what they are like, and no 'mount of thinking will make
them any different."
"That's true enough," said the Ork. "But now I want to
make a proposal. While you are getting acquainted with
this new country, which looks as if it contains
everything to make one happy, I would like to fly along -
- all by myself -- and see if I can find my home on the
other side of the great desert. If I do, I will stay
there, of course. But if I fail to find Orkland I will
return to you in a week, to see if I can do anything more
to assist you."
They were sorry to lose their queer companion, but
could offer no objection to the plan; so the Ork bade
them good-bye and rising swiftly in the air, he flew over
the country and was soon lost to view in the distance.
The three birds which had carried our friends now
begged permission to return by the way they had come, to
their own homes, saying they were anxious to show their
families how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill and Trot
and Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for their
assistance and soon the birds began their long flight
toward the Land of Mo. Being now left to themselves in
this strange land, the three comrades selected a pretty
pathway and began walking along it. They believed this
path would lead them to a splendid castle which they
espied in the distance, the turrets of which towered far
above the tops of the trees which surrounded it. It did
not seem very far away, so they sauntered on slowly,
admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the
pathway and listening to the singing of the birds and the
soft chirping of the grasshoppers.
Presently the path wound over a little hill. In a
valley that lay beyond the hill was a tiny cottage
surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. On the shady
porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a
pleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children,
to whom she was telling stories. The children quickly
discovered the strangers and ran toward them with
exclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and her
friends became the center of a curious group, all
chattering excitedly. Cap'n Bill's wooden leg seemed to
arouse the wonder of the children, as they could not
understand why he had not two meat legs. This attention
seemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of
the children kindly and then, raising his hat to the
woman, he inquired:
"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?"
She stared hard at all three of the strangers as she
replied briefly: "Jinxland."
"Oh!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. "And
where is Jinxland, please?"
"In the Quadling Country," said she.
"What!" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. "Do you mean
to say this is the Quadling Country of the Land of Oz?"
"To be sure I do," the woman answered. "Every bit of
land that is surrounded by the great desert is the Land
of Oz, as you ought to know as well as I do; but I'm
sorry to say that Jinxland is separated from the rest of
the Quadling Country by that row of high mountains you
see yonder, which have such steep sides that no one can
cross them. So we live here all by ourselves, and are
ruled by our own King, instead of by Ozma of Oz."
"I've been to the Land of Oz before," said Button-
Bright, "but I've never been here."
"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?" asked Trot.
"No," said Button-Bright.
"It is on the Map of Oz, though," asserted the woman,
"and it's a fine country, I assure you. If only," she
added, and then paused to look around her with a
frightened expression. "If only --" here she stopped
again, as if not daring to go on with her speech.
"If only what, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill.
The woman sent the children into the house. Then she
came closer to the strangers and whispered: "If only we
had a different King, we would be very happy and
contented."
"What's the matter with your King?" asked Trot,
curiously. But the woman seemed frightened to have said
so much. She retreated to her porch, merely saying:
"The King punishes severely any treason on the part of
his subjects."
"What's treason?" asked Button-Bright.
"In this case," replied Cap'n Bill, "treason seems to
consist of knockin' the King; but I guess we know his
disposition now as well as if the lady had said more."
"I wonder," said Trot, going up to the woman, "if you
could spare us something to eat. We haven't had anything
but popcorn and lemonade for a long time."
"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you some
food," the woman answered, and entering her cottage she
soon returned with a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakes
and cheese. One of the children drew a bucket of clear,
cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate
heartily and enjoyed the good things immensely.
When Button-Bright could eat no more he filled the
pockets of his jacket with cakes and cheese, and not even
the children objected to this. Indeed they all seemed
pleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n Bill decided
that no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, the
people would prove friendly and hospitable.
"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving
his hand toward the towers that rose above the trees.
"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl." she said.
"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?"
"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers
and war captains," she replied.
"Is he hunting now?" Trot inquired.
"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about the
King's actions the safer we are."
It was evident the woman did not like to talk about
King Krewl and so, having finished their meal, they said
good-bye and continued along the pathway.
"Don't you think we'd better keep away from that
King's castle, Cap'n?" asked Trot.
"Well," said he, "King Krewl would find out, sooner or
later, that we are in his country, so we may as well face
the music now. Perhaps he isn't quite so bad as that
woman thinks he is. Kings aren't always popular with
their people, you know, even if they do the best they
know how."
"Ozma is pop'lar," said Button-Bright.
"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I've
heard," remarked Trot musingly, as she walked beside the
boy. "And, after all, we are really in the Land of Oz,
where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybody else. I never
heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,
Button-Bright?"
"Not when she knows about it," he replied. "But those
birds landed us in just the wrong place, seems to me.
They might have carried us right on, over that row of
mountains, to the Em'rald City."
"True enough," said Cap'n Bill; "but they didn't, an'
so we must make the best of Jinxland. Let's try not to be
afraid."
"Oh, I'm not very scared," said Button-Bright, pausing
to look at a pink rabbit that popped its head out of a
hole in the field near by.
"Nor am I," added Trot. "Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad to
be anywhere at all in the wonderful fairyland of Oz that
I think I'm the luckiest girl in all the world. Dorothy
lives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so does the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the Shaggy
Man -- and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so much
about -- not to mention Ozma, who must be the sweetest
and loveliest girl in all the world!"
"Take your time, Trot," advised Button-Bright. "You
don't have to say it all in one breath, you know. And you
haven't mentioned half of the curious people in the
Em'rald City."
"That 'ere Em'rald City," said Cap'n Bill impressively,
"happens to be on the other side o' those mountains, that
we're told no one is able to cross. I don't want to
discourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most as much
separated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when we
lived in Californy."
There was so much truth in this statement that they all
walked on in silence for some time. Finally they reached
the grove of stately trees that bordered the grounds of
the King's castle. They had gone halfway through it when
the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,
reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.
Chapter Ten
Pon, the Gardener's Boy
It was Button-Bright who first discovered, lying on his
face beneath a broad spreading tree near the pathway, a
young man whose body shook with the force of his sobs. He
was dressed in a long brown smock and had sandals on his
feet, betokening one in humble life. His head was bare
and showed a shock of brown, curly hair. Button-Bright
looked down on the young man and said:
"Who cares, anyhow?"
"I do!" cried the young man, interrupting his sobs to
roll over, face upward, that he might see who had spoken.
"I care, for my heart is broken!"
"Can't you get another one?" asked the little boy.
"I don't want another!" wailed the young man.
By this time Trot and Cap'n Bill arrived at the spot
and the girl leaned over and said in a sympathetic voice:
"Tell us your troubles and perhaps we may help you."
The youth sat up, then, and bowed politely. Afterward
he got upon his feet, but still kept wringing his hands
as he tried to choke down his sobs. Trot thought he was
very brave to control such awful agony so well.
"My name is Pon," he began. "I'm the gardener's boy."
"Then the gardener of the King is your father, I
suppose," said Trot.
"Not my father, but my master," was the reply
"I do the work and the gardener gives the orders. And
it was not my fault, in the least, that the Princess
Trot rapturously. "How lucky we were to discover this
beautiful country!"
"The country seems rather high class, I'll admit,
Trot," replied the old sailor-man, looking around him,
"but we don't know, as yet, what its people are like."
"No one could live in such a country without being
happy and good -- I'm sure of that," she said earnestly.
"Don't you think so, Button-Bright?"
"I'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy.
"It tires me to think, and I never seem to gain anything
by it. When we see the people who live here we will know
what they are like, and no 'mount of thinking will make
them any different."
"That's true enough," said the Ork. "But now I want to
make a proposal. While you are getting acquainted with
this new country, which looks as if it contains
everything to make one happy, I would like to fly along -
- all by myself -- and see if I can find my home on the
other side of the great desert. If I do, I will stay
there, of course. But if I fail to find Orkland I will
return to you in a week, to see if I can do anything more
to assist you."
They were sorry to lose their queer companion, but
could offer no objection to the plan; so the Ork bade
them good-bye and rising swiftly in the air, he flew over
the country and was soon lost to view in the distance.
The three birds which had carried our friends now
begged permission to return by the way they had come, to
their own homes, saying they were anxious to show their
families how big they had become. So Cap'n Bill and Trot
and Button-Bright all thanked them gratefully for their
assistance and soon the birds began their long flight
toward the Land of Mo. Being now left to themselves in
this strange land, the three comrades selected a pretty
pathway and began walking along it. They believed this
path would lead them to a splendid castle which they
espied in the distance, the turrets of which towered far
above the tops of the trees which surrounded it. It did
not seem very far away, so they sauntered on slowly,
admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the
pathway and listening to the singing of the birds and the
soft chirping of the grasshoppers.
Presently the path wound over a little hill. In a
valley that lay beyond the hill was a tiny cottage
surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. On the shady
porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a
pleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children,
to whom she was telling stories. The children quickly
discovered the strangers and ran toward them with
exclamations of astonishment, so that Trot and her
friends became the center of a curious group, all
chattering excitedly. Cap'n Bill's wooden leg seemed to
arouse the wonder of the children, as they could not
understand why he had not two meat legs. This attention
seemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of
the children kindly and then, raising his hat to the
woman, he inquired:
"Can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?"
She stared hard at all three of the strangers as she
replied briefly: "Jinxland."
"Oh!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill, with a puzzled look. "And
where is Jinxland, please?"
"In the Quadling Country," said she.
"What!" cried Trot, in sudden excitement. "Do you mean
to say this is the Quadling Country of the Land of Oz?"
"To be sure I do," the woman answered. "Every bit of
land that is surrounded by the great desert is the Land
of Oz, as you ought to know as well as I do; but I'm
sorry to say that Jinxland is separated from the rest of
the Quadling Country by that row of high mountains you
see yonder, which have such steep sides that no one can
cross them. So we live here all by ourselves, and are
ruled by our own King, instead of by Ozma of Oz."
"I've been to the Land of Oz before," said Button-
Bright, "but I've never been here."
"Did you ever hear of Jinxland before?" asked Trot.
"No," said Button-Bright.
"It is on the Map of Oz, though," asserted the woman,
"and it's a fine country, I assure you. If only," she
added, and then paused to look around her with a
frightened expression. "If only --" here she stopped
again, as if not daring to go on with her speech.
"If only what, ma'am?" asked Cap'n Bill.
The woman sent the children into the house. Then she
came closer to the strangers and whispered: "If only we
had a different King, we would be very happy and
contented."
"What's the matter with your King?" asked Trot,
curiously. But the woman seemed frightened to have said
so much. She retreated to her porch, merely saying:
"The King punishes severely any treason on the part of
his subjects."
"What's treason?" asked Button-Bright.
"In this case," replied Cap'n Bill, "treason seems to
consist of knockin' the King; but I guess we know his
disposition now as well as if the lady had said more."
"I wonder," said Trot, going up to the woman, "if you
could spare us something to eat. We haven't had anything
but popcorn and lemonade for a long time."
"Bless your heart! Of course I can spare you some
food," the woman answered, and entering her cottage she
soon returned with a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakes
and cheese. One of the children drew a bucket of clear,
cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate
heartily and enjoyed the good things immensely.
When Button-Bright could eat no more he filled the
pockets of his jacket with cakes and cheese, and not even
the children objected to this. Indeed they all seemed
pleased to see the strangers eat, so Cap'n Bill decided
that no matter what the King of Jinxland was like, the
people would prove friendly and hospitable.
"Whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving
his hand toward the towers that rose above the trees.
"It belongs to his Majesty, King Krewl." she said.
"Oh, indeed; and does he live there?"
"When he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers
and war captains," she replied.
"Is he hunting now?" Trot inquired.
"I do not know, my dear. The less we know about the
King's actions the safer we are."
It was evident the woman did not like to talk about
King Krewl and so, having finished their meal, they said
good-bye and continued along the pathway.
"Don't you think we'd better keep away from that
King's castle, Cap'n?" asked Trot.
"Well," said he, "King Krewl would find out, sooner or
later, that we are in his country, so we may as well face
the music now. Perhaps he isn't quite so bad as that
woman thinks he is. Kings aren't always popular with
their people, you know, even if they do the best they
know how."
"Ozma is pop'lar," said Button-Bright.
"Ozma is diff'rent from any other Ruler, from all I've
heard," remarked Trot musingly, as she walked beside the
boy. "And, after all, we are really in the Land of Oz,
where Ozma rules ev'ry King and ev'rybody else. I never
heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you,
Button-Bright?"
"Not when she knows about it," he replied. "But those
birds landed us in just the wrong place, seems to me.
They might have carried us right on, over that row of
mountains, to the Em'rald City."
"True enough," said Cap'n Bill; "but they didn't, an'
so we must make the best of Jinxland. Let's try not to be
afraid."
"Oh, I'm not very scared," said Button-Bright, pausing
to look at a pink rabbit that popped its head out of a
hole in the field near by.
"Nor am I," added Trot. "Really, Cap'n, I'm so glad to
be anywhere at all in the wonderful fairyland of Oz that
I think I'm the luckiest girl in all the world. Dorothy
lives in the Em'rald City, you know, and so does the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok and the Shaggy
Man -- and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so much
about -- not to mention Ozma, who must be the sweetest
and loveliest girl in all the world!"
"Take your time, Trot," advised Button-Bright. "You
don't have to say it all in one breath, you know. And you
haven't mentioned half of the curious people in the
Em'rald City."
"That 'ere Em'rald City," said Cap'n Bill impressively,
"happens to be on the other side o' those mountains, that
we're told no one is able to cross. I don't want to
discourage of you, Trot, but we're a'most as much
separated from your Ozma an' Dorothy as we were when we
lived in Californy."
There was so much truth in this statement that they all
walked on in silence for some time. Finally they reached
the grove of stately trees that bordered the grounds of
the King's castle. They had gone halfway through it when
the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress,
reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly.
Chapter Ten
Pon, the Gardener's Boy
It was Button-Bright who first discovered, lying on his
face beneath a broad spreading tree near the pathway, a
young man whose body shook with the force of his sobs. He
was dressed in a long brown smock and had sandals on his
feet, betokening one in humble life. His head was bare
and showed a shock of brown, curly hair. Button-Bright
looked down on the young man and said:
"Who cares, anyhow?"
"I do!" cried the young man, interrupting his sobs to
roll over, face upward, that he might see who had spoken.
"I care, for my heart is broken!"
"Can't you get another one?" asked the little boy.
"I don't want another!" wailed the young man.
By this time Trot and Cap'n Bill arrived at the spot
and the girl leaned over and said in a sympathetic voice:
"Tell us your troubles and perhaps we may help you."
The youth sat up, then, and bowed politely. Afterward
he got upon his feet, but still kept wringing his hands
as he tried to choke down his sobs. Trot thought he was
very brave to control such awful agony so well.
"My name is Pon," he began. "I'm the gardener's boy."
"Then the gardener of the King is your father, I
suppose," said Trot.
"Not my father, but my master," was the reply
"I do the work and the gardener gives the orders. And
it was not my fault, in the least, that the Princess
- assist [ə´sist]
v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词) - companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- objection [əb´dʒekʃən] n.反对；异议；缺点 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- gratefully [´greitfuli] ad.感激地 (初中英语单词)
- cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词)
- astonishment [ə´stɔniʃmənt] n.吃惊；惊异 (初中英语单词)
- excitedly [ik´saitidli] ad.兴奋地，激动地 (初中英语单词)
- wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
- briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)
- excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)
- cheese [tʃi:z] n.干酪，乳酪 (初中英语单词)
- jacket [´dʒækit] n.茄克衫；外套 (初中英语单词)
- majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
- rabbit [´ræbit] n.兔子，野兔 (初中英语单词)
- anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
- upward [´ʌpwəd] a.&ad.向上(的)；以上 (初中英语单词)
- sympathetic [,simpə´θetik] a.同情的，有同情心的 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- severely [si´viəli] ad.剧烈地；严格地 (高中英语单词)
- treason [´tri:zən] n.叛逆；不忠 (高中英语单词)
- bucket [´bʌkit] n.水桶 (高中英语单词)
- stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
- politely [pə´laitli] ad.温和地；文雅地 (高中英语单词)
- gardener [´gɑ:dnə] n.园艺家；园林工人 (高中英语单词)
- amidst [ə´midst] prep.=amid (英语四级单词)
- daring [´deəriŋ] a.&n.勇敢(的) (英语四级单词)
- lemonade [,lemə´neid] n.柠檬水 (英语四级单词)
- fairyland [´fɛərilænd] n.仙境，奇境 (英语四级单词)
- pathway [´pɑ:θwei] n.小路 (英语四级单词)
- hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)
- woodman [´wudmən] n.伐木工 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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