Chapter Five THE QUEEN OF THE WILD MEN

 Although the wild men who had captured the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were good to them, the two Teenie Weenies nevertheless were much alarmed as to what might happen, for the wild men kept their captives’ hands securely tied, and they watched them closely at all times.

When the wild men brought the two Teenie Weenies to the island where the savages¹ lived, the captives were the center of much interest.

The Sabo men and women came swarming² down to the water’s edge from all directions. They shouted and jabbered³ in a language the Lady of Fashion and the Poet had never before heard. Some came gliding⁴ out of the tall grass, while others peered from behind bushes and pebbles⁵, quite as though they were a little afraid of the two helpless Teenie Weenies.

 

The women were curious little people. They were dressed in short dresses which came down to their knees and the cloth was woven out of thistledown and was wonderfully soft. The women dressed their hair in a strange manner. The Lady of Fashion could hardly keep from laughing at them, for it was coiled up to a point high in the air, shaped much like an ice cream cone⁶. Most of the men were dressed in frogskin trousers, while the children wore bits of cloth about their waists.

The men and women gathered around and carefully examined the clothes of the two Teenie Weenies, especially the Poet’s glasses, which were considered very wonderful by the wild little people.

After a time the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were led along a path toward the center of the island, followed by a great crowd of Saboes. Presently one of the wild men who was walking ahead suddenly dropped to his knees and kissed the ground. Looking up, the two Teenie Weenies saw a very big turtle with a very short, fat woman sitting on its back. A man who walked beside the turtle with a hook in his hand, gave the turtle a sharp blow on the nose and the big fellow pulled his head into his shell and stopped.

“Well!” exclaimed the Lady of Fashion. “I wonder who this fine lady can be.”

“Why, why, this must be a sort of queen,” answered the Poet. “Maybe she is the queen of the wild men.”

The Poet had guessed correctly. The fat lady on the turtle was no other than Her Royal Highness, Queen Mooie, ruler of the wild men.

1 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

2 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

3 jabbered   

v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 )；急促兴奋地说话

参考例句：

• She jabbered away, trying to distract his attention. 她喋喋不休，想分散他的注意力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The politician jabbered away about matters of which he has no knowledge. 那个政客不知所云地侈谈自己一无所知的事情。 来自辞典例句

4 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

5 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

6 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。