THE THIRD CHAPTER MORE MONEY TROUBLES

 A

ND soon now the Doctor began to make money again; and his sister, Sarah, bought a new dress and was happy.

 

Some of the animals who came to see him were so sick that they had to stay at the Doctor’s house for a week. And when they were getting better they used to sit in chairs on the lawn.

 

Pig and goose in lawn chairs with the doctor

“They used to sit in chairs on the lawn”

And often even after they got well, they did not want to go away—they liked the Doctor[20] and his house so much. And he never had the heart to refuse them when they asked if they could stay with him. So in this way he went on getting more and more pets.

 

Once when he was sitting on his garden wall, smoking a pipe in the evening, an Italian organ-grinder came round with a monkey on a string. The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar was too tight and that he was dirty and unhappy. So he took the monkey away from the Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him to go. The organ-grinder got awfully¹ angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the Doctor told him that if he didn’t go away he would punch him on the nose. John Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn’t very tall. So the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house called him “Chee-Chee”—which is a common word in monkey-language, meaning “ginger.”

 

And another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad toothache[21] escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile saw what a nice house it was—with all the different places for the different kinds of animals—he too wanted to live with the Doctor. He asked couldn’t he sleep in the fish-pond at the bottom of the garden, if he promised not to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to take him back he got so wild and savage² that he frightened them away. But to every one in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten.

 

But now the old ladies grew afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers wouldn’t believe that he would not eat the lambs and sick calves³ they brought to be cured. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go back to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to be allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out.

 

So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and said,

 

[22]

 

“John, you must send that creature away. Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid to send their animals to you—just as we were beginning to be well off again. Now we shall be ruined entirely⁴. This is the last straw. I will no longer be housekeeper⁵ for you if you don’t send away that alligator⁶.”

 

“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor—“it’s a crocodile.”

 

“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. “It’s a nasty⁷ thing to find under the bed. I won’t have it in the house.”

 

“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, “that he will not bite any one. He doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money to send him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and on the whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so fussy⁹.”

 

“I tell you I will not have him around,” said Sarah. “He eats the linoleum¹⁰. If you don’t send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get married!”

 

“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married.[23] It can’t be helped.” And he took down his hat and went out into the garden.

 

So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was left all alone with his animal family.

 

Doctor's sister dn doctor with alligator looking on

“‘All right,’ said the Doctor, ‘go and get married’”

And very soon he was poorer than he had ever been before. With all these mouths to fill, and the house to look after, and no one to do the mending, and no money coming in to pay the butcher’s bill, things began to look very difficult. But the Doctor didn’t worry at all.

 

[24]

 

“Money is a nuisance,” he used to say. “We’d all be much better off if it had never been invented. What does money matter, so long as we are happy?”

 

Doctor assleep in chair, cow behind him, cat on stairs

“One evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair”

But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire[25] they began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl¹¹, Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only money enough left to last another week—if they each had one meal a day and no more.

 

Then the parrot said, “I think we all ought to do the housework ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is for our sakes that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor.”

 

So it was agreed that the monkey, Chee-Chee, was to do the cooking and mending; the dog was to sweep the floors; the duck was to dust and make the beds; the owl, Too-Too, was to keep the accounts, and the pig was to do the gardening. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper and laundress, because she was the oldest.

 

Of course at first they all found their new jobs very hard to do—all except Chee-Chee, who had hands, and could do things like a man. But they soon got used to it; and they used to think it great fun to watch Jip, the dog, sweeping¹² his tail over the floor with a rag tied onto it for[26] a broom. After a little they got to do the work so well that the Doctor said that he had never had his house kept so tidy or so clean before.

 

In this way things went along all right for a while; but without money they found it very hard.

 

Then the animals made a vegetable and flower stall¹³ outside the garden-gate and sold radishes¹⁴ and roses to the people that passed by along the road.

 

But still they didn’t seem to make enough money to pay all the bills—and still the Doctor wouldn’t worry. When the parrot came to him and told him that the fishmonger wouldn’t give them any more fish, he said,

 

“Never mind. So long as the hens lay eggs and the cow gives milk we can have omelettes and junket. And there are plenty of vegetables left in the garden. The Winter is still a long way off. Don’t fuss⁸. That was the trouble with Sarah—she would fuss. I wonder how Sarah’s getting on—an excellent woman—in some ways—Well, well!”

 

But the snow came earlier than usual that[27] year; and although the old lame¹⁵ horse hauled¹⁶ in plenty of wood from the forest outside the town, so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in the garden were gone, and the rest were covered with snow; and many of the animals were really hungry.

1 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

2 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

3 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

6 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

7 nasty   

adj.令人讨厌的，困难的，恶劣的，下流的

参考例句：

• She got a nasty knock on the head when she fell.她跌倒时头部受到严重碰撞。
• When this material burns，it flings off a nasty smell.这种物质燃烧时发出一股难闻的气味。

8 fuss   

n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作

参考例句：

• My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。
• Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。

9 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

10 linoleum   

n.油布，油毯

参考例句：

• They mislaid the linoleum.他们把油毡放错了地方。
• Who will lay the linoleum?谁将铺设地板油毡？

11 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

12 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

13 stall   

n.摊位，铺子，售货亭

参考例句：

• She sells fruits at a market stall.她在市场的货摊上卖水果。
• He has a stall that sells designer ripoffs.他开了个铺子卖仿冒设计师品牌衣服。

14 radishes   

n.（做色拉用的）小萝卜( radish的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a bunch of radishes 一捆萝卜
• These radishes of mine taste as good as pears. 我这萝卜赛梨。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

16 hauled   

拖，拉( haul的过去式和过去分词 )； 运送； 传讯； 强迫（某人）去某处

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• He's been hauled before the court on a charge of dangerous driving. 他因被控危险驾车而被传讯上法庭。