章节正文
the Patchwork Girl reclined and looked at her
attentively.
"Are you going to make that dreadful thing
live?" she asked.
The Magician nodded.
"It is intended to be my wife's servant maid,"
he said. "When she is alive she will do all our
work and mind the house. But you are not to
order her around, Bungle, as you do us. You
must treat the Patchwork Girl respectfully."
"I won't. I couldn't respect such a bundle
of scraps under any circumstances."
"If you don't, there will be more scraps than
you will like," cried Margolotte, angrily.
"Why didn't you make her pretty to look at?"
asked the cat. "You made me pretty--very pretty,
indeed--and I love to watch my pink brains roll
around when they're working, and to see my
precious red heart beat." She went to a long
mirror, as she said this, and stood before it,
looking at herself with an air of much pride.
"But that poor patched thing will hate herself,
when she's once alive," continued the cat. "If
I were you I'd use her for a mop, and make
another servant that is prettier."
"You have a perverted taste," snapped
Margolotte, much annoyed at this frank criticism.
"I think the Patchwork Girl is beautiful,
considering what she's made of. Even the rainbow
hasn't as many colors, and you must admit that the
rainbow is a pretty thing."
The Glass Cat yawned and stretched herself
upon the floor.
"Have your own way," she said. "I'm sorry
for the Patchwork Girl, that's all."
Ojo and Unc Nunkie slept that night in the
Magician's house, and the boy was glad to stay
because he was anxious to see the Patchwork
Girl brought to life. The Glass Cat was also a
wonderful creature to little Ojo, who had never
seen or known anything of magic before, although
he had lived in the Fairyland of Oz ever since he
was born. Back there in the woods nothing unusual
ever happened. Unc Nunkie, who might have been
King of the Munchkins, had not his people united
with all the other countries of Oz in
acknowledging Ozma as their Sole ruler, had
retired into this forgotten forest nook with his
baby nephew and they had lived all alone there.
Only that the neglected garden had failed to grow
food for them, they would always have lived in the
solitary Blue Forest; but now they had started out
to mingle with other people, and the first place
they came to proved so interesting that Ojo could
scarcely sleep a wink all night.
Margolotte was an excellent cook and gave
them a fine breakfast. While they were all engaged
in eating, the good woman said:
"This is the last meal I shall have to cook
for some time, for right after breakfast Dr. Pipt
has promised to bring my new servant to life.
I shall let her wash the breakfast dishes and
sweep and dust the house. What a relief it
will be!"
"It will, indeed, relieve you of much drudgery,"
said the Magician. "By the way, Margolotte, I
thought I saw you getting some brains from the
cupboard, while I was busy with my kettles. What
qualities have you given your new servant?"
"Only those that an humble servant requires,"
she answered. "I do not wish her to feel above
her station, as the Glass Cat does. That would
make her discontented and unhappy, for of
course she must always be a servant."
Ojo was somewhat disturbed as he listened to
this, and the boy began to fear he had done wrong
in adding all those different qualities of brains
to the lot Margolotte had prepared for the
servant. But it was too late now for regret, since
all the brains were securely sewn up inside the
Patchwork Girl's head. He might have confessed
what he had done and thus allowed Margolotte and
her husband to change the brains; but he was
afraid of incurring their anger. He believed that
Unc had seen him add to the brains, and Unc had
not said a word against it; but then, Unc never
did say anything unless it was absolutely
necessary.
As soon as breakfast was over they all went
into the Magician's big workshop, where the
Glass Cat was lying before the mirror and the
Patchwork Girl lay limp and lifeless upon the
bench.
"Now, then," said Dr. Pipt, in a brisk tone,
"we shall perform one of the greatest feats of
magic possible to man, even in this marvelous
Land of Oz. In no other country could it be
done at all. I think we ought to have a little
music while the Patchwork Girl comes to life.
It is pleasant to reflect that the first sounds her
golden ears will hear will be delicious music.
As he spoke he went to a phonograph, which
screwed fast to a small table, and wound up
the spring of the instrument and adjusted the
big gold horn.
"The music my servant will usually hear,"
remarked Margolotte, "will be my orders to do
her work. But I see no harm in allowing her to
listen to this unseen band while she wakens to
her first realization of life. My orders will beat
the band, afterward."
The phonograph was now playing a stirring
march tune and the Magician unlocked his
cabinet and took out the gold bottle containing
the Powder of Life.
They all bent over the bench on which the
Patchwork Girl reclined. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte
stood behind, near the windows, Ojo at one side
and the Magician in front, where he would have
freedom to sprinkle the powder. The Glass Cat came
near, too, curious to watch the important scene.
"All ready?" asked Dr. Pipt.
"All is ready," answered his wife.
So the Magician leaned over and shook from
the bottle some grains of the wonderful Powder,
and they fell directly on the Patchwork Girl's
head and arms.
Chapter Five
A Terrible Accident
"It will take a few minutes for this powder to
do its work," remarked the Magician, sprinkling
the body up and down with much care.
But suddenly the Patchwork Girl threw up one
arm, which knocked the bottle of powder from the
crooked man's hand and sent it flying across the
room. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte were so startled
that they both leaped backward and bumped
together, and Unc's head joggled the shelf above
them and upset the bottle containing the Liquid of
Petrifaction.
The Magician uttered such a wild cry that Ojo
jumped away and the Patchwork Girl sprang after
him and clasped her stuffed arms around him in
terror. The Glass Cat snarled and hid under the
table, and so it was that when the powerful Liquid
of Petrifaction was spilled it fell only upon the
wife of the Magician and the uncle of Ojo. With
these two the charm worked promptly. They stood
motionless and stiff as marble statues, in exactly
the positions they were in when the Liquid struck
them.
Ojo pushed the Patchwork Girl away and
ran to Unc Nunkie, filled with a terrible fear
for the only friend and protector he had ever
known. When he grasped Unc's hand it was
cold and hard. Even the long gray beard was
solid marble. The Crooked Magician was
dancing around the room in a frenzy of despair,
calling upon his wife to forgive him, to speak
to him, to come to life again!
The Patchwork Girl, quickly recovering from her
fright, now came nearer and looked from one to
another of the people with deep interest. Then she
looked at herself and laughed. Noticing the
mirror, she stood before it and examined her
extraordinary features with amazement--her button
eyes, pearl bead teeth and puffy nose. Then,
addressing her reflection in the glass, she exclaimed:
"Whee, but there's a gaudy dame!
Makes a paint-box blush with shame.
Razzle-dazzle, fizzle-fazzle!
Howdy-do, Miss What's-your-name?"
She bowed, and the reflection bowed. Then
she laughed again, long and merrily, and the
Glass Cat crept out from under the table and said:
"I don't blame you for laughing at yourself.
Aren't you horrid?"
"Horrid?" she replied. "Why, I'm thoroughly
delightful. I'm an Original, if you please, and
therefore incomparable. Of all the comic, absurd,
rare and amusing creatures the world contains, I
must be the supreme freak. Who but poor Margolotte
could have managed to invent such an unreasonable
being as I? But I'm glad--I'm awfully glad!--that
I'm just what I am, and nothing else."
"Be quiet, will you?" cried the frantic
Magician; "be quiet and let me think! If I don't
think I shall go mad."
"Think ahead," said the Patchwork Girl, seating
herself in a chair. "Think all you want to. I
don't mind."
"Gee! but I'm fired playing that tune," called
the phonograph, speaking through its horn in
a brazen, scratchy voice. "If you don't mind,
Pipt, old boy, I'll cut it out and take a rest."
The Magician looked gloomily at the music-
machine.
"What dreadful luck!" he wailed, despondently.
"The Powder of Life must have fallen on the
phonograph."
He went up to it and found that the gold bottle
attentively.
"Are you going to make that dreadful thing
live?" she asked.
The Magician nodded.
"It is intended to be my wife's servant maid,"
he said. "When she is alive she will do all our
work and mind the house. But you are not to
order her around, Bungle, as you do us. You
must treat the Patchwork Girl respectfully."
"I won't. I couldn't respect such a bundle
of scraps under any circumstances."
"If you don't, there will be more scraps than
you will like," cried Margolotte, angrily.
"Why didn't you make her pretty to look at?"
asked the cat. "You made me pretty--very pretty,
indeed--and I love to watch my pink brains roll
around when they're working, and to see my
precious red heart beat." She went to a long
mirror, as she said this, and stood before it,
looking at herself with an air of much pride.
"But that poor patched thing will hate herself,
when she's once alive," continued the cat. "If
I were you I'd use her for a mop, and make
another servant that is prettier."
"You have a perverted taste," snapped
Margolotte, much annoyed at this frank criticism.
"I think the Patchwork Girl is beautiful,
considering what she's made of. Even the rainbow
hasn't as many colors, and you must admit that the
rainbow is a pretty thing."
The Glass Cat yawned and stretched herself
upon the floor.
"Have your own way," she said. "I'm sorry
for the Patchwork Girl, that's all."
Ojo and Unc Nunkie slept that night in the
Magician's house, and the boy was glad to stay
because he was anxious to see the Patchwork
Girl brought to life. The Glass Cat was also a
wonderful creature to little Ojo, who had never
seen or known anything of magic before, although
he had lived in the Fairyland of Oz ever since he
was born. Back there in the woods nothing unusual
ever happened. Unc Nunkie, who might have been
King of the Munchkins, had not his people united
with all the other countries of Oz in
acknowledging Ozma as their Sole ruler, had
retired into this forgotten forest nook with his
baby nephew and they had lived all alone there.
Only that the neglected garden had failed to grow
food for them, they would always have lived in the
solitary Blue Forest; but now they had started out
to mingle with other people, and the first place
they came to proved so interesting that Ojo could
scarcely sleep a wink all night.
Margolotte was an excellent cook and gave
them a fine breakfast. While they were all engaged
in eating, the good woman said:
"This is the last meal I shall have to cook
for some time, for right after breakfast Dr. Pipt
has promised to bring my new servant to life.
I shall let her wash the breakfast dishes and
sweep and dust the house. What a relief it
will be!"
"It will, indeed, relieve you of much drudgery,"
said the Magician. "By the way, Margolotte, I
thought I saw you getting some brains from the
cupboard, while I was busy with my kettles. What
qualities have you given your new servant?"
"Only those that an humble servant requires,"
she answered. "I do not wish her to feel above
her station, as the Glass Cat does. That would
make her discontented and unhappy, for of
course she must always be a servant."
Ojo was somewhat disturbed as he listened to
this, and the boy began to fear he had done wrong
in adding all those different qualities of brains
to the lot Margolotte had prepared for the
servant. But it was too late now for regret, since
all the brains were securely sewn up inside the
Patchwork Girl's head. He might have confessed
what he had done and thus allowed Margolotte and
her husband to change the brains; but he was
afraid of incurring their anger. He believed that
Unc had seen him add to the brains, and Unc had
not said a word against it; but then, Unc never
did say anything unless it was absolutely
necessary.
As soon as breakfast was over they all went
into the Magician's big workshop, where the
Glass Cat was lying before the mirror and the
Patchwork Girl lay limp and lifeless upon the
bench.
"Now, then," said Dr. Pipt, in a brisk tone,
"we shall perform one of the greatest feats of
magic possible to man, even in this marvelous
Land of Oz. In no other country could it be
done at all. I think we ought to have a little
music while the Patchwork Girl comes to life.
It is pleasant to reflect that the first sounds her
golden ears will hear will be delicious music.
As he spoke he went to a phonograph, which
screwed fast to a small table, and wound up
the spring of the instrument and adjusted the
big gold horn.
"The music my servant will usually hear,"
remarked Margolotte, "will be my orders to do
her work. But I see no harm in allowing her to
listen to this unseen band while she wakens to
her first realization of life. My orders will beat
the band, afterward."
The phonograph was now playing a stirring
march tune and the Magician unlocked his
cabinet and took out the gold bottle containing
the Powder of Life.
They all bent over the bench on which the
Patchwork Girl reclined. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte
stood behind, near the windows, Ojo at one side
and the Magician in front, where he would have
freedom to sprinkle the powder. The Glass Cat came
near, too, curious to watch the important scene.
"All ready?" asked Dr. Pipt.
"All is ready," answered his wife.
So the Magician leaned over and shook from
the bottle some grains of the wonderful Powder,
and they fell directly on the Patchwork Girl's
head and arms.
Chapter Five
A Terrible Accident
"It will take a few minutes for this powder to
do its work," remarked the Magician, sprinkling
the body up and down with much care.
But suddenly the Patchwork Girl threw up one
arm, which knocked the bottle of powder from the
crooked man's hand and sent it flying across the
room. Unc Nunkie and Margolotte were so startled
that they both leaped backward and bumped
together, and Unc's head joggled the shelf above
them and upset the bottle containing the Liquid of
Petrifaction.
The Magician uttered such a wild cry that Ojo
jumped away and the Patchwork Girl sprang after
him and clasped her stuffed arms around him in
terror. The Glass Cat snarled and hid under the
table, and so it was that when the powerful Liquid
of Petrifaction was spilled it fell only upon the
wife of the Magician and the uncle of Ojo. With
these two the charm worked promptly. They stood
motionless and stiff as marble statues, in exactly
the positions they were in when the Liquid struck
them.
Ojo pushed the Patchwork Girl away and
ran to Unc Nunkie, filled with a terrible fear
for the only friend and protector he had ever
known. When he grasped Unc's hand it was
cold and hard. Even the long gray beard was
solid marble. The Crooked Magician was
dancing around the room in a frenzy of despair,
calling upon his wife to forgive him, to speak
to him, to come to life again!
The Patchwork Girl, quickly recovering from her
fright, now came nearer and looked from one to
another of the people with deep interest. Then she
looked at herself and laughed. Noticing the
mirror, she stood before it and examined her
extraordinary features with amazement--her button
eyes, pearl bead teeth and puffy nose. Then,
addressing her reflection in the glass, she exclaimed:
"Whee, but there's a gaudy dame!
Makes a paint-box blush with shame.
Razzle-dazzle, fizzle-fazzle!
Howdy-do, Miss What's-your-name?"
She bowed, and the reflection bowed. Then
she laughed again, long and merrily, and the
Glass Cat crept out from under the table and said:
"I don't blame you for laughing at yourself.
Aren't you horrid?"
"Horrid?" she replied. "Why, I'm thoroughly
delightful. I'm an Original, if you please, and
therefore incomparable. Of all the comic, absurd,
rare and amusing creatures the world contains, I
must be the supreme freak. Who but poor Margolotte
could have managed to invent such an unreasonable
being as I? But I'm glad--I'm awfully glad!--that
I'm just what I am, and nothing else."
"Be quiet, will you?" cried the frantic
Magician; "be quiet and let me think! If I don't
think I shall go mad."
"Think ahead," said the Patchwork Girl, seating
herself in a chair. "Think all you want to. I
don't mind."
"Gee! but I'm fired playing that tune," called
the phonograph, speaking through its horn in
a brazen, scratchy voice. "If you don't mind,
Pipt, old boy, I'll cut it out and take a rest."
The Magician looked gloomily at the music-
machine.
"What dreadful luck!" he wailed, despondently.
"The Powder of Life must have fallen on the
phonograph."
He went up to it and found that the gold bottle
- dreadful [´dredful]
a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词) - working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- nephew [´nevju:, ´nɛfju] n.侄子；外甥 (初中英语单词)
- mingle [´miŋgəl] v.(使)混合；交往 (初中英语单词)
- relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
- relieve [ri´li:v] v.救济，援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
- humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
- unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
- reflect [ri´flekt] v.反射；反响；表达 (初中英语单词)
- delicious [di´liʃəs] a.美味的，可口的 (初中英语单词)
- instrument [´instrumənt] n.仪器；手段；乐器 (初中英语单词)
- realization [,riəlai´zeiʃən] n.实现；认识 (初中英语单词)
- sprinkle [´spriŋkəl] v.撒，洒 n.细雨；微量 (初中英语单词)
- backward [´bækwəd] ad.向后 a.向后的 (初中英语单词)
- liquid [´likwid] n.液体 a.流动的 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)
- marble [´mɑ:bəl] n.大理石 a.大理石的 (初中英语单词)
- forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- reflection [ri´flekʃən] n.反射；映象；想法 (初中英语单词)
- supreme [su:´pri:m, sju:-] a.最高的，无上的 (初中英语单词)
- invent [in´vent] vt.发明；捏造 (初中英语单词)
- magician [mə´dʒiʃən] n.魔法师；妖道；术士 (高中英语单词)
- unseen [,ʌn´si:n] a.未看见的 (高中英语单词)
- crooked [´krukid] a.弯曲的；畸形的 (高中英语单词)
- merrily [´merili] ad.欢乐地；愉快地 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)
- fairyland [´fɛərilænd] n.仙境，奇境 (英语四级单词)
- workshop [´wə:kʃɔp] n.车间；工场；创作室 (英语四级单词)
- lifeless [´laifləs] a.无生命的，无生气的 (英语四级单词)
- phonograph [´fəunəgrɑ:f] n.留声机 (英语四级单词)
- protector [prə´tektə] n.保护者；防御者 (英语四级单词)
- frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
- brazen [´breizən] a.黄铜制的；无耻的 (英语四级单词)
- discontented [,diskən´tentid] a.不平的；不满的 (英语六级单词)
- securely [si´kjuəli] ad.安全地；无疑地 (英语六级单词)
- incomparable [in´kɔmpərəbəl] a.无可比拟的 (英语六级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
- gloomily [´glu:mili] adv.忧郁的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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