indulged in bull-baiting, rat-hunting, and other ferocious



sports. The two lions were kept in a cage under this place;

their roaring might be heard over the whole city, the



inhabitants of which, I am sorry to say, thronged in numbers to

see a poor young lady gobbled up by two wild beasts.



The King took his place in the royal box, having the officers

of his Court around and the Count Hogginarmo by his side, upon



whom His Majesty was observed to look very fiercely; the fact

is, royal spies had told the monarch of Hogginarmo's behaviour,



his proposals to Rosalba, and his offer to fight for the crown.

Black as thunder looked King Padella at this proud noble, as



they sat in the front seats of the theatre waiting to see the

tragedy whereof poor Rosalba was to be the heroine.



At length that Princess was brought out in her nightgown, with

all her beautiful hair falling down her back, and looking so



pretty that even the beef-eaters and keepers of the wild

animals wept plentifully at seeing her. And she walked with



her poor little feet (only luckily the arena was covered with

sawdust), and went and leaned up against a great stone in the



centre of the amphitheatre, round which the Court and the

people were seated in boxes, with bars before them, for fear of



the great, fierce, red-maned, black-throated, long-tailed,

roaring, bellowing, rushing lions. And now the gates were



opened, and with a wurrawarrurawarar two great lean, hungry,

roaring lions rushed out of their den, where they had been kept



for three weeks on nothing but a little toast-and-water, and

dashed straight up to the stone where poor Rosalba was waiting.



Commend her to your patron saints, all you kind people, for she

is in a dreadful state!



There was a hum and a buzz all through the circus, and the

fierce King Padella even felt a little compassion. But Count



Hogginarmo, seated by His Majesty, roared out 'Hurray! Now for

it! Soo-soo-soo!' that nobleman being uncommonly angry still



at Rosalba's refusal of him.

But O strange event! O remarkable circumstance! O



extraordinarycoincidence, which I am sure none of you could BY

ANY POSSIBILITY have divined! When the lions came to Rosalba,



instead of devouring her with their great teeth, it was with

kisses they gobbled her up! They licked her pretty feet, they



nuzzled their noses in her lap, they moo'd, they seemed to say,

'Dear, dear sister don't you recollect your brothers in the



forest?' And she put her pretty white arms round their tawny

necks, and kissed them.



King Padella was immensely astonished. The Count Hogginarmo

was extremely disgusted. 'Pooh!' the Count cried. 'Gammon!'



exclaimed his Lordship.' These lions are tame beasts come from

Wombwell's or Astley's. It is a shame to put people off in



this way. I believe they are little boys dressed up in

door-mats. They are no lions at all.'



'Ha!' said the King, 'you dare to say "gammon" to your

Sovereign, do you? These lions are no lions at all, aren't



they? Ho! my beef-eaters! Ho! my bodyguard! Take this Count

Hogginarmo and fling him into the circus! Give him a sword and



buckler, let him keep his armour on, and his weather-eye out,

and fight these lions.'



The haughty Hogginarmo laid down his opera-glass, and looked

scowling round at the King and his attendants. 'Touch me not,



dogs!' he said, 'or by St. Nicholas the Elder, I will gore you!

Your Majesty thinks Hogginarmo is afraid? No, not of a hundred



thousand lions! Follow me down into the circus, King Padella,

and match thyself against one of yon brutes. Thou darest not.



Let them both come on, then!' And opening a grating of the

box, he jumped lightly down into the circus.



WURRA WURRA WURRA WUR-AW-AW-AW!!!

In about two minutes



The Count Hogginarmo was

GOBBLED UP



by

those lions,



bones, boots, and all,

and



There was an

End of him.

• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)


• helmet [´helmit] n.钢盔 (初中英语单词)


• frontier [´frʌntiə] n.国境；边疆；边界 (初中英语单词)


• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)


• cheese [tʃi:z] n.干酪，乳酪 (初中英语单词)


• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)


• wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)


• emotion [i´məuʃən] n.感情；情绪；激动 (初中英语单词)


• preparation [,prepə´reiʃən] n.准备；预习(时间) (初中英语单词)


• magnificent [mæg´nifisənt] a.壮丽的；豪华的 (初中英语单词)


• daylight [´deilait] n.日光；黎明 (初中英语单词)


• convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)


• extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)


• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)


• sovereign [´sɔvrin] a.至高无上的 n.君主 (初中英语单词)


• advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)


• captive [´kæptiv] n.俘虏；捕获物 (初中英语单词)


• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)


• invitation [,invi´teiʃən] n.邀请；请帖；吸引 (初中英语单词)


• polite [pə´lait] a.有礼貌的；温和的 (初中英语单词)


• monarch [´mɔnək] n.君主；(大)王 (初中英语单词)


• fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)


• lately [´leitli] ad.近来，不久前 (初中英语单词)


• fiercely [´fiəsli] ad.凶猛地，残忍地 (初中英语单词)


• thunder [´θʌndə] n.雷 vi.打雷 vt.吼出 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)


• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)


• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)


• possibility [,pɔsə´biliti] n.可能(性)；希望；前途 (初中英语单词)


• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)


• armour [´ɑ:mə] (=armor) n.甲胄，盔甲 (初中英语单词)


• opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)


• lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)


• perfection [pə´fekʃən] n.完美；极致；熟练 (高中英语单词)


• admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)


• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中英语单词)


• shelves [ʃelvz] shelf的复数 (高中英语单词)


• highness [´hainis] n.高，高贵，高尚 (高中英语单词)


• tavern [´tævən] n.小酒馆；客栈 (高中英语单词)


• veteran [´vetərən] n.老兵 a.老练的 (高中英语单词)


• methinks [mi´θiŋks] vi.据我看来 (高中英语单词)


• sergeant [´sɑ:dʒənt] n.警官；军士 (高中英语单词)


• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)


• invariably [in´veəriəbli] ad.不变地；永恒地 (高中英语单词)


• majestic [mə´dʒestik] a.雄伟的；崇高的 (高中英语单词)


• determination [di,tə:mi´neiʃən] n.决心；决定 (高中英语单词)


• gigantic [dʒai´gæntik] a.巨大的 (高中英语单词)


• disdain [dis´dein] vt.&n.藐视，轻视 (高中英语单词)


• hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• patron [´peitrən] n.庇护人，保护人；赞助人 (高中英语单词)


• circus [´sə:kəs] n.马戏(团)；圆形广场 (高中英语单词)


• refusal [ri´fju:zəl] n.拒绝；优先取舍权 (高中英语单词)


• haughty [´hɔ:ti] a.傲慢的，高傲的 (高中英语单词)


• sheath [ʃi:θ] n.鞘，壳，套 (英语四级单词)


• respectfully [ris´pektfuli] ad.恭敬地 (英语四级单词)


• livery [´livəri] a.有肝病征象的 (英语四级单词)


• upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)


• balcony [´bælkəni] n.阳台；(戏院的)楼厅 (英语四级单词)


• tremendously [tri´mendəsli] ad.可怕地；极大地 (英语四级单词)


• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)


• compassion [kəm´pæʃən] n.同情；怜悯 (英语四级单词)


• nobleman [´nəublmən] n.贵族 (英语四级单词)


• coincidence [kəu´insidəns] n.巧合；符合；一致 (英语四级单词)


• recollect [rekə´lekt] v.重新集合；恢复 (英语四级单词)


• immensely [i´mensli] ad.极大地，无限地 (英语四级单词)


• grating [´greitiŋ] n.格栅 a.刺耳的 (英语四级单词)


• redress [ri´dres] vt.&n.纠正；调整 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• ostrich [´ɔstritʃ] n.鸵鸟 (英语六级单词)


• indescribable [,indis´kraibəbəl] a.难以形容的 (英语六级单词)


• rightful [´raitfəl] a.正义的；合法的 (英语六级单词)


• ferocious [fə´rəuʃəs] a.凶猛的；残忍的 (英语六级单词)