"It looked in through my cabin-window,"[Pg 21] said he, "and scared me nearly into a fit." We had just been talking about a monkey who appeared to a man in an omnibus, and haunted him till he cut his own throat. The apparition6, amid howls of incredulity, was said to have been the result of excessive tea-drinking. The Captain's apparition promised to be better.
"It was a menagerie—a whole turnout, lock, stock, and barrel, from the big bear to the little hippopotamus7; and you can guess the size of it from the fact that they paid us a thousand pounds in freight only. We got them all accommodated somewhere forward among the deck passengers, and they whooped8 up terribly all along the ship for two or three days. Among other things, such as panthers and leopards9, there were sixteen giraffes, and we moored10 'em fore11 and aft as securely as might be; but you can't get a purchase on a giraffe somehow. He slopes back too much from the bows to the stern. We were running up the Red Sea, I think, and the menagerie fairly quiet. One night I went to my cabin not feeling well. About midnight I was waked by[Pg 22] something breathing on my face. I was quite calm and collected, for I had got it into my head that it was one of the panthers, or at least the bear; and I reached back to the rack behind me for a revolver. Then the head began to slide against my cabin—all across it—and I said to myself: 'It's the big python.' But I looked into its eyes—they were beautiful eyes—and saw it was one of the giraffes. Tell you, though, a giraffe has the eyes of a sorrowful nun12, and this creature was just brimming over with liquid tenderness. The seven-foot neck rather spoilt the effect, but I'll always recollect13 those eyes."
"Say, did you kiss the critter?" demanded the orchid-hunter en route to Siam.
"No; I remembered that it was darn valuable, and I didn't want to lose freight on it. I was afraid it would break its neck drawing its head out of my window—I had a big deck cabin, of course—so I shoved it out softly like a hen, and the head slid out, with those Mary Magdalene eyes following me to the last. Then I heard the quartermaster calling on heaven[Pg 23] and earth for his lost giraffe, and then the row began all up and down the decks. The giraffe had sense enough to duck its head to avoid the awnings—we were awned from bow to stern—but it clattered15 about like a sick cow, the quartermaster jumping after it, and it swinging its long neck like a flail16. 'Catch it, and hold it!' said the quartermaster. 'Catch a typhoon,' said I. 'She's going overboard.' The spotted17 fool had heaved one foot over the stern railings and was trying to get the other to follow. It was so happy at getting its head into the open I thought it would have crowed—I don't know whether giraffes crow, but it heaved up its neck for all the world like a crowing cock. 'Come back to your stable,' yelled the quartermaster, grabbing hold of the brute's tail.
"I was nearly helpless with laughing, though I knew if the concern went over it would be no laughing matter for me. Well, by good luck she came round—the quartermaster was a strong man at a rope's end. First of all she slewed18 her neck round, and I could[Pg 24] see those tender, loving eyes under the stars sort of saying: 'Cruel man! What are you doing to my tail?' Then the foot came on board, and she bumped herself up under the awning14, looking ready to cry with disappointment. The funniest thing was she didn't make any noise—a pig would ha' roused the ship in no time—only every time she dropped her foot on the deck it was like firing a revolver, the hoofs19 clicked so. We headed her towards the bows, back to her moorings—just like a policeman showing a short-sighted old woman over a crossing. The quartermaster sweated and panted and swore, but she never said anything—only whacked20 her old head despairingly against the awning and the funnel21 case. Her feet woke up the whole ship, and by the time we had her fairly moored fore and aft the population in their night-gear were giving us advice. Then we took up a yard or two in all the moorings and turned in. No other animal got loose that voyage, though the old lady looked at me most reproachfully every time I came that way, and 'You've blasted my young[Pg 25] and tender innocence22' was the expression of her eyes. It was all the quartermaster's fault for hauling her tail. I wonder she didn't kick him open. Well, of course, that isn't much of a yarn23, but I remember once, in the city of Venice, we had a Malayan tapir loose on the deck, and we had to lasso him. It was this way":
"Guzl thyar hai," said the steward24, and I fled down the companion and missed the tale of the tapir.
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收听单词发音
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1
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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2
stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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3
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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4
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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5
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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7
hippopotamus
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| n.河马 | |
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8
whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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9
leopards
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| n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移 | |
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10
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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11
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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12
nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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13
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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14
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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15
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
flail
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| v.用连枷打；击打；n.连枷（脱粒用的工具） | |
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17
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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18
slewed
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| adj.喝醉的v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去式 )( slew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
whacked
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| a.精疲力尽的 | |
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21
funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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22
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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23
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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24
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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