章节正文
"Your wishes shall be attended to," said King Krewl,
but his eyes flashed from between their slits in a wicked
way that made Trot hope the food wouldn't be poisoned. At
the King's command several of his attendants hastened
away to give the proper orders to the castle servants and
no sooner were they gone than a skinny old man entered
the courtyard and bowed before the King.
This disagreeable person was dressed in rich velvets,
with many furbelows and laces. He was covered with golden
chains, finelywrought rings and jeweled ornaments. He
walked with mincing steps and glared at all the courtiers
as if he considered himself far superior to any or all of
them.
"Well, well, your Majesty; what news -- what news?" he
demanded, in a shrill, cracked voice.
The King gave him a surly look.
"No news, Lord Googly-Goo, except that strangers have
arrived," he said.
Googly-Goo cast a contemptuous glance at Cap'n Bill and
a disdainful one at Trot and Button-Bright. Then he said:
"Strangers do not interest me, your Majesty. But the
Princess Gloria is very interesting -- very interesting,
indeed! What does she say, Sire? Will she marry me?"
"Ask her," retorted the King.
"I have, many times; and every time she has refused."
"Well?" said the King harshly.
"Well," said Googly-Goo in a jaunty tone, "a bird
that can sing, and won't sing, must be made to sing."
"Huh!" sneered the King. "That's easy, with a bird; but
a girl is harder to manage."
"Still," persisted Googly-Goo, "we must overcome
difficulties. The chief trouble is that Gloria fancies
she loves that miserable gardener's boy, Pon. Suppose we
throw Pon into the Great Gulf, your Majesty?"
"It would do you no good," returned the King. "She
would still love him."
"Too bad, too bad!" sighed Googly-Goo. "I have laid
aside more than a bushel of precious gems --each worth a
king's ransom -- to present to your Majesty on the day I
wed Gloria."
The King's eyes sparkled, for he loved wealth above
everything; but the next moment he frowned deeply again.
"It won't help us to kill Pon," he muttered. "What we
must do is kill Gloria's love for Pon."
"That is better, if you can find a way to do it,"
agreed Googly-Goo. "Everything would come right if you
could kill Gloria's love for that gardener's boy. Really,
Sire, now that I come to think of it, there must be fully
a bushel and a half of those jewels!"
Just then a messenger entered the court to say that the
banquet was prepared for the strangers. So Cap'n Bill,
Trot and Button-Bright entered the castle and were taken
to a room where a fine feast was spread upon the table.
"I don't like that Lord Googly-Goo," remarked Trot as
she was busily eating.
"Nor I," said Cap'n Bill. "But from the talk we heard I
guess the gardener's boy won't get the Princess."
"Perhaps not," returned the girl; "but I hope old
Googly doesn't get her, either."
"The King means to sell her for all those jewels,"
observed Button-Bright, his mouth half full of cake and
jam.
"Poor Princess!" sighed Trot. "I'm sorry for her,
although I've never seen her. But if she says no to
Googly-Goo, and means it, what can they do?"
"Don't let us worry about a strange Princess," advised
Cap'n Bill. "I've a notion we're not too safe, ourselves,
with this cruel King."
The two children felt the same way and all three were
rather solemn during the remainder of the meal.
When they had eaten, the servants escorted them to
their rooms. Cap'n Bill's room was way to one end of the
castle, very high up, and Trot's room was at the opposite
end, rather low down. As for Button-Bright, they placed
him in the middle, so that all were as far apart as they
could possibly be. They didn't like this arrangement very
well, but all the rooms were handsomely furnished and
being guests of the King they dared not complain.
After the strangers had left the courtyard the King and
Googly-Goo had a long talk together, and the King said:
"I cannot force Gloria to marry you just now, because
those strangers may interfere. I suspect that the wooden-
legged man possesses great magical powers, or he would
never have been able to carry himself and those children
across the deadly desert."
"I don't like him; he looks dangerous," answered
Googly-Goo. "But perhaps you are mistaken about his being
a wizard. Why don't you test his powers?"
"How?" asked the King.
"Send for the Wicked Witch. She will tell you in a
moment whether that wooden-legged person is a common man
or a magician."
"Ha! that's a good idea," cried the King. "Why didn't I
think of the Wicked Witch before? But the woman demands
rich rewards for her services."
"Never mind; I will pay her," promised the wealthy
Googly-Goo.
So a servant was dispatched to summon the Wicked Witch,
who lived but a few leagues from King Krewl's castle.
While they awaited her, the withered old courtier
proposed that they pay a visit to Princess Gloria and see
if she was not now in a more complaisant mood. So the two
started away together and searched the castle over
without finding Gloria.
At last Googly-Goo suggested she might be in the rear
garden, which was a large park filled with bushes and
trees and surrounded by a high wall. And what was their
anger, when they turned a corner of the path, to find in
a quiet nook the beautiful Princess, and kneeling before
her, Pon, the gardener's boy! With a roar of rage the
King dashed forward; but Pon had scaled the wall by means
of a ladder, which still stood in its place, and when he
saw the King coming he ran up the ladder and made good
his escape. But this left Gloria confronted by her angry
guardian, the King, and by old Googly-Goo, who was
trembling with a fury he could not express in words.
Seizing the Princess by her arm the King dragged her
back to the castle. Pushing her into a room on the lower
floor he locked the door upon the unhappy girl. And at
that moment the arrival of the Wicked Witch was
announced.
Hearing this, the King smiled, as a tiger smiles,
showing his teeth. And Googly-Goo smiled, as a serpent
smiles, for he had no teeth except a couple of fangs. And
having frightened each other with these smiles the two
dreadful men went away to the Royal Council Chamber to
meet the Wicked Witch.
Chapter Twelve
The Wooden-Legged Grass-Hopper
Now it so happened that Trot, from the window of her
room, had witnessed the meeting of the lovers in the
garden and had seen the King come and drag Gloria away.
The little girl's heart went out in sympathy for the poor
Princess, who seemed to her to be one of the sweetest and
loveliest young ladies she had ever seen, so she crept
along the passages and from a hidden niche saw Gloria
locked in her room.
The key was still in the lock, so when the King had
gone away, followed by Googly-Goo, Trot stole up to the
door, turned the key and entered. The Princess lay prone
upon a couch, sobbing bitterly. Trot went up to her and
smoothed her hair and tried to comfort her.
"Don't cry," she said. "I've unlocked the door, so you
can go away any time you want to."
"It isn't that," sobbed the Princess. "I am unhappy
because they will not let me love Pon, the gardener's
boy!"
"Well, never mind; Pon isn't any great shakes, anyhow,
seems to me," said Trot soothingly. "There are lots of
other people you can love."
Gloria rolled over on the couch and looked at the
little girl reproachfully.
"Pon has won my heart, and I can't help loving him,"
she explained. Then with sudden indignation she added:
"But I'll never love Googly-Goo -- never, as long as I
live!"
"I should say not!" replied Trot. "Pon may not be much
good, but old Googly is very, very bad. Hunt around, and
I'm sure you'll find someone worth your love. You're very
pretty, you know, and almost anyone ought to love you."
"You don't understand, my dear," said Gloria, as she
wiped the tears from her eyes with a dainty lace
handkerchief bordered with pearls. "When you are older
you will realize that a young lady cannot decide whom she
will love, or choose the most worthy. Her heart alone
decides for her, and whomsoever her heart selects, she
must love, whether he amounts to much or not."
Trot was a little puzzled by this speech, which seemed
to her unreasonable; but she made no reply and presently
Gloria's grief softened and she began to question the
little girl about herself and her adventures. Trot told
her how they had happened to come to Jinxland, and all
about Cap'n Bill and the Ork and Pessim and the Bumpy
Man.
While they were thus conversing together, getting more
and more friendly as they became better acquainted, in
the Council Chamber the King and Googly-Goo were talking
with the Wicked Witch.
This evil creature was old and ugly. She had lost one
eye and wore a black patch over it, so the people of
Jinxland had named her "Blinkie." Of course witches are
forbidden to exist in the Land of Oz, but Jinxland was so
far removed from the center of Ozma's dominions, and so
absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the
bottomless gulf, that the laws of Oz were not obeyed very
well in that country. So there were several witches in
Jinxland who were the terror of the people, but King
Krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise their
evil sorcery.
Blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and
therefore the most hated and feared. The King used her
witchcraft at times to assist him in carrying out his
cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to pay
Blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels
before she would undertake an enchantment. This made him
hate the old woman almost as much as his subjects did,
but to-day Lord Googly-Goo had agreed to pay the witch's
price, so the King greeted her with gracious favor.
"Can you destroy the love of Princess Gloria for the
gardener's boy?" inquired his Majesty.
The Wicked Witch thought about it before she replied:
but his eyes flashed from between their slits in a wicked
way that made Trot hope the food wouldn't be poisoned. At
the King's command several of his attendants hastened
away to give the proper orders to the castle servants and
no sooner were they gone than a skinny old man entered
the courtyard and bowed before the King.
This disagreeable person was dressed in rich velvets,
with many furbelows and laces. He was covered with golden
chains, finelywrought rings and jeweled ornaments. He
walked with mincing steps and glared at all the courtiers
as if he considered himself far superior to any or all of
them.
"Well, well, your Majesty; what news -- what news?" he
demanded, in a shrill, cracked voice.
The King gave him a surly look.
"No news, Lord Googly-Goo, except that strangers have
arrived," he said.
Googly-Goo cast a contemptuous glance at Cap'n Bill and
a disdainful one at Trot and Button-Bright. Then he said:
"Strangers do not interest me, your Majesty. But the
Princess Gloria is very interesting -- very interesting,
indeed! What does she say, Sire? Will she marry me?"
"Ask her," retorted the King.
"I have, many times; and every time she has refused."
"Well?" said the King harshly.
"Well," said Googly-Goo in a jaunty tone, "a bird
that can sing, and won't sing, must be made to sing."
"Huh!" sneered the King. "That's easy, with a bird; but
a girl is harder to manage."
"Still," persisted Googly-Goo, "we must overcome
difficulties. The chief trouble is that Gloria fancies
she loves that miserable gardener's boy, Pon. Suppose we
throw Pon into the Great Gulf, your Majesty?"
"It would do you no good," returned the King. "She
would still love him."
"Too bad, too bad!" sighed Googly-Goo. "I have laid
aside more than a bushel of precious gems --each worth a
king's ransom -- to present to your Majesty on the day I
wed Gloria."
The King's eyes sparkled, for he loved wealth above
everything; but the next moment he frowned deeply again.
"It won't help us to kill Pon," he muttered. "What we
must do is kill Gloria's love for Pon."
"That is better, if you can find a way to do it,"
agreed Googly-Goo. "Everything would come right if you
could kill Gloria's love for that gardener's boy. Really,
Sire, now that I come to think of it, there must be fully
a bushel and a half of those jewels!"
Just then a messenger entered the court to say that the
banquet was prepared for the strangers. So Cap'n Bill,
Trot and Button-Bright entered the castle and were taken
to a room where a fine feast was spread upon the table.
"I don't like that Lord Googly-Goo," remarked Trot as
she was busily eating.
"Nor I," said Cap'n Bill. "But from the talk we heard I
guess the gardener's boy won't get the Princess."
"Perhaps not," returned the girl; "but I hope old
Googly doesn't get her, either."
"The King means to sell her for all those jewels,"
observed Button-Bright, his mouth half full of cake and
jam.
"Poor Princess!" sighed Trot. "I'm sorry for her,
although I've never seen her. But if she says no to
Googly-Goo, and means it, what can they do?"
"Don't let us worry about a strange Princess," advised
Cap'n Bill. "I've a notion we're not too safe, ourselves,
with this cruel King."
The two children felt the same way and all three were
rather solemn during the remainder of the meal.
When they had eaten, the servants escorted them to
their rooms. Cap'n Bill's room was way to one end of the
castle, very high up, and Trot's room was at the opposite
end, rather low down. As for Button-Bright, they placed
him in the middle, so that all were as far apart as they
could possibly be. They didn't like this arrangement very
well, but all the rooms were handsomely furnished and
being guests of the King they dared not complain.
After the strangers had left the courtyard the King and
Googly-Goo had a long talk together, and the King said:
"I cannot force Gloria to marry you just now, because
those strangers may interfere. I suspect that the wooden-
legged man possesses great magical powers, or he would
never have been able to carry himself and those children
across the deadly desert."
"I don't like him; he looks dangerous," answered
Googly-Goo. "But perhaps you are mistaken about his being
a wizard. Why don't you test his powers?"
"How?" asked the King.
"Send for the Wicked Witch. She will tell you in a
moment whether that wooden-legged person is a common man
or a magician."
"Ha! that's a good idea," cried the King. "Why didn't I
think of the Wicked Witch before? But the woman demands
rich rewards for her services."
"Never mind; I will pay her," promised the wealthy
Googly-Goo.
So a servant was dispatched to summon the Wicked Witch,
who lived but a few leagues from King Krewl's castle.
While they awaited her, the withered old courtier
proposed that they pay a visit to Princess Gloria and see
if she was not now in a more complaisant mood. So the two
started away together and searched the castle over
without finding Gloria.
At last Googly-Goo suggested she might be in the rear
garden, which was a large park filled with bushes and
trees and surrounded by a high wall. And what was their
anger, when they turned a corner of the path, to find in
a quiet nook the beautiful Princess, and kneeling before
her, Pon, the gardener's boy! With a roar of rage the
King dashed forward; but Pon had scaled the wall by means
of a ladder, which still stood in its place, and when he
saw the King coming he ran up the ladder and made good
his escape. But this left Gloria confronted by her angry
guardian, the King, and by old Googly-Goo, who was
trembling with a fury he could not express in words.
Seizing the Princess by her arm the King dragged her
back to the castle. Pushing her into a room on the lower
floor he locked the door upon the unhappy girl. And at
that moment the arrival of the Wicked Witch was
announced.
Hearing this, the King smiled, as a tiger smiles,
showing his teeth. And Googly-Goo smiled, as a serpent
smiles, for he had no teeth except a couple of fangs. And
having frightened each other with these smiles the two
dreadful men went away to the Royal Council Chamber to
meet the Wicked Witch.
Chapter Twelve
The Wooden-Legged Grass-Hopper
Now it so happened that Trot, from the window of her
room, had witnessed the meeting of the lovers in the
garden and had seen the King come and drag Gloria away.
The little girl's heart went out in sympathy for the poor
Princess, who seemed to her to be one of the sweetest and
loveliest young ladies she had ever seen, so she crept
along the passages and from a hidden niche saw Gloria
locked in her room.
The key was still in the lock, so when the King had
gone away, followed by Googly-Goo, Trot stole up to the
door, turned the key and entered. The Princess lay prone
upon a couch, sobbing bitterly. Trot went up to her and
smoothed her hair and tried to comfort her.
"Don't cry," she said. "I've unlocked the door, so you
can go away any time you want to."
"It isn't that," sobbed the Princess. "I am unhappy
because they will not let me love Pon, the gardener's
boy!"
"Well, never mind; Pon isn't any great shakes, anyhow,
seems to me," said Trot soothingly. "There are lots of
other people you can love."
Gloria rolled over on the couch and looked at the
little girl reproachfully.
"Pon has won my heart, and I can't help loving him,"
she explained. Then with sudden indignation she added:
"But I'll never love Googly-Goo -- never, as long as I
live!"
"I should say not!" replied Trot. "Pon may not be much
good, but old Googly is very, very bad. Hunt around, and
I'm sure you'll find someone worth your love. You're very
pretty, you know, and almost anyone ought to love you."
"You don't understand, my dear," said Gloria, as she
wiped the tears from her eyes with a dainty lace
handkerchief bordered with pearls. "When you are older
you will realize that a young lady cannot decide whom she
will love, or choose the most worthy. Her heart alone
decides for her, and whomsoever her heart selects, she
must love, whether he amounts to much or not."
Trot was a little puzzled by this speech, which seemed
to her unreasonable; but she made no reply and presently
Gloria's grief softened and she began to question the
little girl about herself and her adventures. Trot told
her how they had happened to come to Jinxland, and all
about Cap'n Bill and the Ork and Pessim and the Bumpy
Man.
While they were thus conversing together, getting more
and more friendly as they became better acquainted, in
the Council Chamber the King and Googly-Goo were talking
with the Wicked Witch.
This evil creature was old and ugly. She had lost one
eye and wore a black patch over it, so the people of
Jinxland had named her "Blinkie." Of course witches are
forbidden to exist in the Land of Oz, but Jinxland was so
far removed from the center of Ozma's dominions, and so
absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the
bottomless gulf, that the laws of Oz were not obeyed very
well in that country. So there were several witches in
Jinxland who were the terror of the people, but King
Krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise their
evil sorcery.
Blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and
therefore the most hated and feared. The King used her
witchcraft at times to assist him in carrying out his
cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to pay
Blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels
before she would undertake an enchantment. This made him
hate the old woman almost as much as his subjects did,
but to-day Lord Googly-Goo had agreed to pay the witch's
price, so the King greeted her with gracious favor.
"Can you destroy the love of Princess Gloria for the
gardener's boy?" inquired his Majesty.
The Wicked Witch thought about it before she replied:
- wrought [rɔ:t]
work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词) - majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)
- miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)
- arrangement [ə´reindʒmənt] n.整理；排列；筹备 (初中英语单词)
- interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)
- suspect [´sʌspekt, sə´spekt] v.怀疑；觉得 n.嫌疑犯 (初中英语单词)
- deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
- wicked [´wikid] a.邪恶的；不道德的 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
- arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)
- sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)
- hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- bitterly [´bitəli] ad.悲痛地；憎恨地 (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
- assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
- revenge [ri´vendʒ] vt.报复 n.报仇；报复 (初中英语单词)
- undertake [,ʌndə´teik] vt.从事；承担；担保 (初中英语单词)
- gracious [´greiʃəs] a.和蔼可亲的；任慈的 (初中英语单词)
- courtyard [´kɔ:tjɑ:d] n.院子，庭院 (高中英语单词)
- disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)
- finely [´fainli] ad.美好地；精细地 (高中英语单词)
- shrill [ʃril] a.(声音)尖锐的 (高中英语单词)
- ransom [´rænsəm] n.赎金；勒索 vt.赎 (高中英语单词)
- remainder [ri´meində] n.剩余物；残余部分 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- ladder [´lædə] n.梯子；阶梯 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
- indignation [,indig´neiʃən] n.愤慨；气愤 (高中英语单词)
- dainty [´deinti] a.秀丽的 n.美味 (高中英语单词)
- busily [´bizili] ad.忙碌地 (英语四级单词)
- wizard [´wizəd] n.术士；男巫 (英语四级单词)
- unreasonable [ʌn´ri:zənəbl] a.不合理的；荒唐的 (英语四级单词)
- enchantment [in´tʃɑ:ntmənt] n.迷惑；妖术；魅力 (英语四级单词)
- cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)
- contemptuous [kən´temptjuəs] a.蔑视的；傲慢的 (英语六级单词)
- magical [´mædʒikəl] a.有魔术的，神奇的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
