Chapter Sixteen WILD MEN BOTTLED UP

 

 

“I done got ’em bottled up! I done got ’em bottled up!” shouted Gogo, the little colored Teenie Weenie, as he ran panting up to the General’s tent.

“What’s bottled up? What’s all the excitement about?” asked the General, popping his head through the opening of his tent.

“Why I-I-I done ketched one of the wild men and turned him ovah to the guard and I done got three mo’ corked² up in a bottle.”

“Great Guns! This is exciting. Tell me about it,” cried the General.

“Well, you see it’s dis way,” said Gogo, sitting down on a pebble³ and mopping his head with his tiny handkerchief. “I done took a walk out beyond the picket⁴ lines yonder. I knew I had no business wanderin’ out dere, but I jus’ kept on and pretty soon I run across a big bottle a-layin’ on its side.

“I was kind of ’spicious about dat bottle, fo’ I done see through de glass where some dry grass had done been fixed⁵ up fo’ a bed, mighty⁶ like some one been sleepin’ dere.

 

“‘Gogo,’ I says to myself, ‘some one been sleepin’ heah in dis bottle and it ain’t none of de Teenie Weenies, fo’ none of dem has been out heah dis far.’ Den⁷ I made up my mind that it mus’ be some of dem scalawag wild men and I reckon dey mus’ stayed in dis bottle when dey was on guard duty watchin’ our army.

“‘But why did dey-all stay in dis heah bottle?’ I says to myself. ‘It’s not cold nights.’ But jus’ den a big mosquito cam’ a-buzzin’ and a-buzzin’ round and den I knew dat the wild men been a-stayin’ in dat bottle fo’ to keep de mosquitoes from bitin’ ’em.

“I says to myself, ‘Some of dese wild men will be comin’ ’round heah pretty soon and maybe I can done cotch ’em and extinguish myself.’”

“Distinguish yourself,” corrected the General.

“Yes, sah,” continued the little colored fellow. “Well, I done crawl under a leaf and waited. I done wait fo’ a long time, but pretty soon I done see fo’ of de wild men come sneakin’ along and pretty soon dey done make right fo’ de bottle. Three of ’em done crawl in de bottle and one of ’em done squat⁸ down outside by de openin’ of de bottle kinda like he was guardin’.

“‘By de great corn pone,’ I says, ‘if a couple of de Teenie Weenies was heah we could done cotch dese scalawags.’

“Pretty soon I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t you ketch ’em yourself?’ So I done sneaked⁹ out up behind de wild man what was guardin’ de mouth of de bottle and done cracked him on de head with de butt¹⁰ of my gun. I didn’t hit very hard—just hard enough to stun¹¹ him a little—and den I grabbed a cork¹ dat was layin’ near by and stuffed it into de bottle and braced¹² it with a stick of wood so the scalawags couldn’t get out. I then picked up de wild man I had knocked down and brought him into camp and dat’s all.”

“A very brave deed, sergeant,” said the General. “And I will immediately send out a squad¹³ of men to bring your prisoners into camp.”

The Old Soldier was ordered to take a squad of men and go after the prisoners, while the Doctor was sent to dress the bump on the head of the wild man that Gogo had knocked down. After a great deal of work the soldiers managed to pull the three wild men out of the bottle and when they were brought into camp they were securely tied to a strong blade of grass.

1 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

2 corked   

adj.带木塞气味的，塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

4 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 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。

7 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。

8 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

9 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

10 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

11 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

12 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。