THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER THE ROCK

 U

P they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from the South.

 

Jip smelt¹ the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, shaking his head.

 

“I smell no snuff as yet,” he said. “We must wait till the wind changes to the East.”

 

But even when the East wind came, at three o’clock that afternoon, the dog could not catch the smell of snuff.

 

The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, saying that no one seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip said to the Doctor was,

 

“Tell him that when the wind changes to[160] the West, I’ll find his uncle even though he be in China—so long as he is still taking Black Rappee snuff.”

 

Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a Friday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet.

 

Jip waking up the doctor

“‘Doctor!’ he cried. ‘I’ve got it!’”

As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked² his nose in the air. Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the Doctor up.

 

“Doctor!” he cried. “I’ve got it! Doctor![161] Doctor! Wake up! Listen! I’ve got it! The wind’s from the West and it smells of nothing but snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!”

 

So the Doctor tumbled out of bed and went to the rudder to steer³ the ship.

 

“Now I’ll go up to the front,” said Jip; “and you watch my nose—whichever way I point it, you turn the ship the same way. The man cannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind’s all lovely and wet. Now watch me!”

 

So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing⁴ the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the animals and the little boy stood round with their eyes wide open, watching the dog in wonder.

 

About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and fetched the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him,

 

“The boy’s uncle is starving. We must make the ship go as fast as we can.”

 

[162]

 

“How do you know he is starving?” asked the Doctor.

 

“Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff,” said Jip. “If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be bound to smell it too. But he hasn’t even fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all the time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the ship go as fast as you can, for I am certain that the man is starving.”

 

“All right,” said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were chasing them.

 

So the stout⁵ little birds came down and once more harnessed themselves to the ship.

 

And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to jump for their lives to get out of the way and not be run over.

 

And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to[163] watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or islands where the starving man might be.

 

But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight.

 

And now the animals gave up chattering⁶ and sat around silent, anxious and miserable⁷. The little boy again grew sad. And on Jip’s face there was a worried look.

 

At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the owl⁸, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly startled them all by crying out at the top of his voice,

 

“Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out there where the sky and the water meet. See the sun shine on it—like gold! Is the smell coming from there?”

 

And Jip called back,

 

“Yes. That’s it. That is where the man is.—At last, at last!”

 

And when they got nearer they could see that the rock was very large—as large as a big field. No trees grew on it, no grass—nothing. The[164] great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise.

 

Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But nowhere on it could a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.

 

But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull⁹, nor a star-fish, nor a shred¹⁰ of sea-weed.

 

They all stood still and listened, straining their ears for any sound. But the only noise they heard was the gentle lapping of the little waves against the sides of their ship.

 

Then they all started calling, “Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!” till their voices were hoarse¹¹. But only the echo came back from the rock.

 

And the little boy burst into tears and said,

 

“I am afraid I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell them when I get home!”

 

But Jip called to the Doctor,

 

“He must be there—he must—he must! The smell goes on no further. He must be there, I[165] tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me jump out on it.”

 

So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the anchor. Then he and Jip got out of the ship on to the rock.

 

Jip at once put his nose down close to the ground and began to run all over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him, close at his heels—till he was terribly out of breath.

 

At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor came running up to him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in the middle of the rock.

 

“The boy’s uncle is down there,” said Jip quietly. “No wonder those silly eagles couldn’t see him!—It takes a dog to find a man.”

 

So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck a match and started to make his way along the dark passage with Jip following behind.

 

[166]

 

The Doctor’s match soon went out; and he had to strike another and another and another.

 

At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor found himself in a kind of tiny room with walls of rock.

 

And there, in the middle of the room, his head resting on his arms, lay a man with very red hair—fast asleep!

 

Jip went up and sniffed¹² at something lying on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an enormous snuff-box. And it was full of Black Rappee!

1 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

2 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 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。

9 gull   

n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈

参考例句：

• The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
• You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。

10 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

11 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

12 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》