The savage2 gentleman—a thin, wiry person with wicked looking eyes from whose slit11 ear lobes12, nose and lower lip there hung a choice collection of carved sea shells and brass13 rings, went into executive session with himself and proclaimed a Reign14 of Terror as the best means of establishing a dictatorship over the fellow members of his tribe, and the entire park as well. He started proceedings by invading his straw-thatched domicile and seriously damaging, with a well-directed blow, the facial contour of the companion of his joys. That lady, a most formidable party who had been taken unawares, retaliated15 in kind with such verve and energy that the self-constituted dictator left his domestic hearth16 with great suddenness and started on the rampage through the village street.
He seemed to have no carefully calculated plan of campaign and no particular objective. A general demolishment of all existing institutions, a comprehensive destruction of private property in general and a leveling of class distinctions appeared to be his vague aim. He leaped through a frame on which one of the natives was weaving a blanket, completely ruining the work of months; he overturned a shelf full of crude earthenware17 jugs18 which the potter of the establishment had contrived19; and he playfully kissed the stout20 and principal wife of Mumbo Tom, the chief of the village. When that venerable worthy21 attempted to remonstrate22 in an outburst of outraged23 dignity, he tweaked the old fellow’s nose three times in rapid succession.
Passing out through the main gateway24 of the village into the esplanade he continued his ruthless assaults on organized society. Uttering weird25 and entirely26 unintelligible27 invocations to the spirits of his savage ancestors in a high-pitched voice, he vaulted28 on to the back of a patient-looking camel which was being groomed29 by a red-fezzed Egyptian from Greenville, Mississippi, preparatory to being ridden by visitors to the park at twenty-five cents per head. He dug his bare heels into the beast’s sides and emitted a wild whoop30. The camel turned her head, surveyed him rather bewilderingly and started down the roadway on a brisk canter for about a hundred feet. Then she gave a little snort and heaved her humps convulsively. The social rebel from the South Seas shot through the air and landed in the direct center of a booth presided over by a gentleman from Nippon and devoted31 to what is known as the “Japanese ball game.” The results here were disastrous32. When he picked himself from the clutter33 of broken china and glass with which he was almost entirely covered his head was bloody34, but unbowed. He shook himself like some shaggy dog just emerging from a dip in the ocean, bounded over the counter and made for Antonio Amado’s wild animal show, pursued by a howling mob of attendants and special policemen who had gathered from the four corners of the park.
He burst through the entrance to the enclosure and ran along a passageway into the private office of Signor Amado himself. That ferocious35 looking worthy was, at the moment, delivering a philippic to his principal assistant, a pungent36 diatribe37 directed against the press, press agents, stupid park managements and the inherent injustice38 of mankind in general. At the sight of the wild-eyed and blood-stained visitor from an alien clime in the doorway39, he passed in the middle of a sentence. His jaw40 dropped and his face turned ghastly white. He ducked behind a desk and mumbled41 a fervid42 appeal to the patron saint of his native village in Lombardy. The visitor looked around for something to destroy. His gaze encountered a half empty bottle of Chianti on a table and he sprang for it with the fierce avidity of a lion leaping at his prey43 from ambush44. The contents of the bottle were gurgling down his throat to the accompaniment of half-choked chuckles45 of delight when the pursuing mob closed in a few seconds later and quelled46 the revolution. McClintock rushed in as the special policemen were putting a pair of handcuffs on the would be Trotsky. Signor Amado, arising from behind the desk, confronted him.
“Whatafor you leta theese fella in here, eh?” he cried belligerently47, his old pose of aggressiveness automatically asserting itself at the sight of the pinions48 which held the savage intruder safely bound.
McClintock laughed at the sheer absurdity49 of this remark.
“We didn’t let him in any place, Tony,” he replied. “He just happened to drop in here and several places along the line before we could catch up with him.”
“Whata make him so bada man, er?” inquired the animal trainer.
“Booze, Tony, plain old-fashioned booze. They tell me he picked up a bottle on the beach some one must have dropped off an excursion boat. These fellows can’t stand intoxicants of any kind. It makes ’em wild. I see he’s been cutting into your Chianti.”
He gave orders for the temporary bestowal50 of the now thoroughly51 chastened and mollified revolutionary, and was following the latter’s captors out of the office when Signor Amado plucked him by the sleeve.
“Say, meester,” inquired the latter. “You geta my face in de papers tomor’, eh?”
The manager shook his head.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible—that is tomorrow,” he replied. “I told you this morning we’d do the very best we could to work up another story about you next week when this monkey yarn52 was sort of died down. Then we’ll see what we can do about landing your picture right. Don’t worry. Leave it all to me.”
Signor Amado assumed a defiant53 attitude.
“I giva you—what you call, eh?—a warning. You have my face in alla de papers tomor’ or, by dam, I feexa de park gooda.”
McClintock had heard threats like that before. He shrugged54 his shoulders and walked out. Signor Amado’s shifting glance fell upon the overturned Chianti bottle on the table and remained there for a few seconds. A malicious55 gleam slowly crept into his beady eyes and he smiled.
It is hardly necessary to chronicle the fact that the classic features of Signor Antonia Amado did not decorate the pages of any of the metropolitan56 newspapers on the following day. McClintock hadn’t bothered to tell Jimmy anything about the animal trainer’s threat. He refused to take it seriously himself and he saw no reason for worrying the press agent with any mention of it, particularly as that gentleman was busily engaged in working out the details of a fresh story which was to center around the fake kidnapping of two babies from the Infant Incubator.
When Signor Amado himself had carefully scanned the papers, and had convinced himself once more of the existence of a secret conspiracy57 to keep his name out of print he was strangely silent for one prone58 to burst into vociferous59 vocalization on the slightest provocation60. He even chuckled61 a little when he put the last paper down and his beady eyes glinted nastily again. He strolled out into the room where his animals paced restlessly back and forth62 in the cramped63 limits of their stuffy64 cages and he spoke65 to several of them on his parade of inspection66.
“Dey teenka day make beega foola of your boss, Lena,” he remarked to a great lioness who pushed her nose against the bars of her cage at his approach, “but, by dam, he makea dem feel ver’ foolish eh, Lena? He puta de whole parka on de bum67. What you say, Lena, eh?”
He playfully poked68 at the splendid creature’s flank and she responded with a long drawn69 out roar of really terrifying volume. Signor Amado felt moved to sinister70 laughter.
“Dat’s right, olda girl,” he continued. “I puta de whole park on de bum?”
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1
irritations
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| n.激怒( irritation的名词复数 )；恼怒；生气；令人恼火的事 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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imbibing
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| v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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gulps
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| n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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lobes
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| n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 )；（器官的）叶；肺叶；脑叶 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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15
retaliated
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| v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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earthenware
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| n.土器，陶器 | |
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jugs
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| （有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 ) | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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groomed
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| v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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30
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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clutter
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| n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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diatribe
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| n.抨击，抨击性演说 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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40
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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41
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
fervid
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| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
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43
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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44
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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45
chuckles
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 ) | |
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46
quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
belligerently
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48
pinions
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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49
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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50
bestowal
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| 赠与，给与； 贮存 | |
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51
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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52
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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53
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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54
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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55
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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56
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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57
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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58
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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59
vociferous
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| adj.喧哗的，大叫大嚷的 | |
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60
provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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61
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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64
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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65
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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66
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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67
bum
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| n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨 | |
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68
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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69
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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70
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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