THE EIGHTH CHAPTER THE LEADER OF THE LIONS

 J

OHN DOLITTLE now became dreadfully, awfully¹ busy. He found hundreds and thousands of monkeys sick—gorillas, orang-outangs, chimpanzees, dog-faced baboons², marmosettes, gray monkeys, red ones—all kinds. And many had died.

 

The first thing he did was to separate the sick ones from the well ones. Then he got Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house of grass. The next thing: he made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated³.

 

And for three days and three nights the monkeys kept coming from the jungles and the valleys and the hills to the little house of grass, where the Doctor sat all day and all night, vaccinating⁴ and vaccinating.

 

[68]

 

hundreds of monkeys lined up at door of hut

“He made all the monkeys who were still well come and be vaccinated”

[69]

 

Then he had another house made—a big one, with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick ones in this house.

 

But so many were sick, there were not enough well ones to do the nursing. So he sent messages to the other animals, like the lions and the leopards⁵ and the antelopes⁶, to come and help with the nursing.

 

But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he came to the Doctor’s big house full of beds he seemed angry and scornful.

 

“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said, glaring⁷ at the Doctor. “Do you dare to ask me—ME, the King of Beasts, to wait on a lot of dirty monkeys? Why, I wouldn’t even eat them between meals!”

 

Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him.

 

“I didn’t ask you to eat them,” he said quietly. “And besides, they’re not dirty. They’ve all had a bath this morning. Your coat looks as though it needed brushing—badly. Now listen, and I’ll tell you something: the day may[70] come when the lions get sick. And if you don’t help the other animals now, the lions may find themselves left all alone when they are in trouble. That often happens to proud people.”

 

Doctor and lion talking

“‘ME, the King of Beasts, to wait on a lot of dirty monkeys?’”

“The lions are never in trouble—they only make trouble,” said the Leader, turning up his nose. And he stalked⁸ away into the jungle, feeling he had been rather smart and clever.

 

Then the leopards got proud too and said they wouldn’t help. And then of course the[71] antelopes—although they were too shy and timid⁹ to be rude to the Doctor like the lion—they pawed the ground, and smiled foolishly, and said they had never been nurses before.

 

And now the poor Doctor was worried frantic¹⁰, wondering where he could get help enough to take care of all these thousands of monkeys in bed.

 

But the Leader of the Lions, when he got back to his den¹¹, saw his wife, the Queen Lioness, come running out to meet him with her hair untidy.

 

“One of the cubs¹² won’t eat,” she said. “I don’t know what to do with him. He hasn’t taken a thing since last night.”

 

And she began to cry and shake with nervousness—for she was a good mother, even though she was a lioness.

 

So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children—two very cunning¹⁴ little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite poorly.

 

Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, just what he had said to the Doctor. And she got[72] so angry she nearly drove him out of the den.

 

“You never did have a grain of sense!” she screamed. “All the animals from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is—the only man in the whole world who can talk the language of the animals! And now, now—when we have a sick baby on our hands, you must go and offend him! You great booby! Nobody but a fool is ever rude to a good doctor. You—,” and she started pulling her husband’s hair.

 

“Go back to that white man at once,” she yelled¹⁵, “and tell him you’re sorry. And take all the other empty-headed lions with you—and those stupid leopards and antelopes. Then do everything the Doctor tells you. Work like niggers! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see the cub¹³ later. Now be off!—Hurry, I tell you! You’re not fit to be a father!”

 

And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, and told her all about it.

 

[73]

 

So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, “I happened to be passing this way and thought I’d look in. Got any help yet?”

 

“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And I’m dreadfully worried.”

 

“Help’s pretty hard to get these days,” said the lion. “Animals don’t seem to want to work any more. You can’t blame them—in a way.... Well, seeing you’re in difficulties, I don’t mind doing what I can—just to oblige you—so long as I don’t have to wash the creatures. And I have told all the other hunting animals to come and do their share. The leopards should be here any minute now.... Oh, and by the way, we’ve got a sick cub at home. I don’t think there’s much the matter with him myself. But the wife is anxious. If you are around that way this evening, you might take a look at him, will you?”

 

Then the Doctor was very happy; for all the lions and the leopards and the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras—all the animals of the forests and the mountains and the plains—came[74] to help him in his work. There were so many of them that he had to send some away, and only kept the cleverest.

 

And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. At the end of a week the big house full of beds were half empty. And at the end of the second week the last monkey had got well.

 

Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was so tired he went to bed and slept for three days without even turning over.

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 baboons   

n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Baboons could break branches and leaders. 狒狒会折断侧枝和顶梢。 来自辞典例句
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

3 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

4 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

5 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

6 antelopes   

羚羊( antelope的名词复数 )； 羚羊皮革

参考例句：

• One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
• Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。

7 glaring   

a.耀眼的，极度光亮的；显眼的，显著的

参考例句：

• At the examination he made several glaring blunders,and that did for him. 他在考试中出了几个大错，这下就完了。
• The report contained some glaring errors. 报告中有些大错误。

8 stalked   

有高茎的

参考例句：

• She refused to accept that she was wrong and stalked furiously out of the room. 她拒绝承认她错了，气愤地大步走出房间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The surely insolence of the waiters drove him into a rage,and he flung his serviette to the floor and stalked out of the restaurant. 侍者们粗暴无礼的行为使得他怒不可遏，他将餐巾扔到地上，昂然走出餐厅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 timid   

adj.胆怯的，害羞的

参考例句：

• The rabbit is timid and suspicious.兔子胆小而多疑。
• He was timid about investing money.他不敢投资。

10 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

11 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

12 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

14 cunning   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；n.狡猾，奸诈

参考例句：

• A spy used cunning means to find out secrets.间谍使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• The fox is known for its cleverness and cunning.狐狸的机敏和狡猾是人所共知的。

15 yelled   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
• The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》