Chapter Eleven THE POET LEARNS SABO

 While the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were being held prisoner by the Saboes, the Poet very carefully listened to the wild men’s strange language and in a short time he was able to speak a few of their words.

“Jinks, but it is hot in this shanty¹!” he said to the Lady of Fashion one morning as he wiped his forehead with his Teenie Weenie handkerchief and looked out through the tiny hole that served as a window in the house in which they were held prisoners.

“If the Queen would just let us go out and take a little exercise once in a while it would help a lot,” suggested the Lady of Fashion fanning herself with a dry leaf. “Why don’t you ask the Queen? Maybe she will let us take a walk now and then.”

“I’ll do it,” answered the Poet, and looking out through the door he called to one of the wild men who stood near guarding the house.

“Gip bah wah hoo,” said the Poet, which means in Sabo, “We need exercise.” “Tell the Queen we want to get out of this shanty and take a walk once in a while,” he continued in the wild men’s language.

 

The Wild Men attack the Teenie Weenies, as their raft nears the island.—Chapter Thirteen.

The wild man grunted² a couple of times and hurried off through the long grass towards the Queen’s house, while the two Teenie Weenies sat down near the tiny door to await³ his return.

Presently⁴ the wild man came back and told the Poet that the Queen said that the Teenie Weenies could take a walk whenever they liked.

“Well, we’ll take a walk right this minute,” announced the Poet, and he quickly helped the Lady of Fashion down the tiny ladder.

The Teenie Weenies strolled⁵ along through the streets of the village while the two guards walked a few feet behind them. A great many children followed the Teenie Weenies about but, although the Lady of Fashion tried to make friends with them, they were very timid⁶ and stood off at a safe distance.

At one place two wild women were preparing dinner and the Teenie Weenies were much interested in what they saw. One woman was baking rice cakes on a flat stone under which a fire was burning, while a young girl was grinding⁷ wild rice into flour by pounding the rice with a small rock in a hollowed-out stone. Near the house was a hollowed-out log⁸ with leaves spread over the top to keep out the dust, and one of the guards told the Poet that the log was filled with salt water in which the frog hams were pickled before they were smoked.

 

The two Teenie Weenies spent a very pleasant afternoon looking about the village and it was quite late before they returned to their prison.

“Oh, dear me,” said the Lady of Fashion as she threw herself down on one of the soft grass mats, “I wonder what is going to happen to us. Do you think the General will come with the army and rescue us?”

“Of course he will,” answered the Poet. “All we have to do is to be patient and he’ll be here pretty soon.”

“But what if he doesn’t know that we have been captured⁹ by these wild men?” asked the Lady of Fashion anxiously.

“He will know all right,” said the Poet. “The Teenie Weenies could see the footprints of the wild men in the sand where we were captured. That is enough to tell them what has happened to us.”

“Oh, dear, if they would only come!” And the poor little lady began to sob¹⁰.

“Here! Here!” said the Poet anxiously, for he always felt mighty¹¹ uncomfortable whenever the Lady of Fashion cried. “You must not cry. That won’t do a bit of good—just makes you feel bad and me worse.”

“I-I-I c-c-can’t help it,” sobbed¹² the little lady. “I want clean clothes, my hair needs washing, I want some of the Cook’s good apple butter, I want my toothbrush and I-I-I want to go home.”

The Poet tried his best to comfort her and presently she cried herself to sleep.

1 shanty   

n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子

参考例句：

• His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
• I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。

2 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

3 await   

vt.等候，期待；(事情等)降临于

参考例句：

• We await your command.我们等待你的口令。
• We await your decision.我们期待你作出决定。

4 presently   

adv.不久，一会儿；现在，目前

参考例句：

• I'll go to see your uncle presently.我一会儿就去看望你叔叔。
• He is presently living in New York.他目前住在纽约。

5 strolled   

散步（stroll的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• They strolled through the park, with arms entwined. 他们挽着胳膊漫步穿过公园。
• They strolled down to the waterside. 他们漫步向水边走去。

6 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。

7 grinding   

adj.磨的，磨擦的，碾的v.磨碎，嚼碎( grind的现在分词 )；旋转开动；压迫，折磨

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This old mill has been grinding away for over 50 years. 50多年来，这间老磨坊一直在磨粮食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

9 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

10 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

11 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。