Chapter Eight The Foolish Owl and the Wise Donkey

 On they went, and half an hour's steady walking brought them to a house somewhat better than the two they had already passed. It stood close to the roadside and over the door was a sign that read: "Miss Foolish Owl¹ and Mr. Wise Donkey: Public Advisers²."

 

When Ojo read this sign aloud Scraps³ said laughingly: "Well, here is a place to get all the advice we want, maybe more than we need. Let's go in."

 

The boy knocked at the door.

 

"Come in!" called a deep bass⁴ voice.

 

So they opened the door and entered the house, where a little light-brown donkey, dressed in a blue apron⁵ and a blue cap, was engaged in dusting the furniture with a blue cloth. On a shelf over the window sat a great blue owl with a blue sunbonnet on her head, blinking her big round eyes at the visitors.

 

"Good morning," said the donkey, in his deep voice, which seemed bigger than he was. "Did you come to us for advice?"

 

"Why, we came, anyhow," replied Scraps, "and now we are here we may as well have some advice. It's free, isn't it?"

 

"Certainly," said the donkey. "Advice doesn't cost anything—unless you follow it. Permit me to say, by the way, that you are the queerest lot of travelers that ever came to my shop. Judging you merely by appearances, I think you'd better talk to the Foolish Owl yonder."

 

They turned to look at the bird, which fluttered its wings and stared back at them with its big eyes.

 

"Hoot-ti-toot-ti-toot!" cried the owl.

 

"Fiddle-cum-foo,

Howdy-do?

Riddle-cum, tiddle-cum,

Too-ra-la-loo!"

 

"That beats your poetry, Scraps," said Ojo.

 

"It's just nonsense!" declared the Glass Cat.

 

"But it's good advice for the foolish," said the donkey, admiringly. "Listen to my partner, and you can't go wrong."

 

Said the owl in a grumbling⁶ voice:

 

"Patchwork⁷ Girl has come to life;

No one's sweetheart, no one's wife;

Lacking sense and loving fun,

She'll be snubbed by everyone."

 

"Quite a compliment! Quite a compliment, I declare," exclaimed the donkey, turning to look at Scraps. "You are certainly a wonder, my dear, and I fancy you'd make a splendid pincushion. If you belonged to me, I'd wear smoked glasses when I looked at you."

 

"Why?" asked the Patchwork Girl.

 

"Because you are so gay and gaudy⁸."

 

"It is my beauty that dazzles you," she asserted. "You Munchkin people all strut⁹ around in your stupid blue color, while I—"

 

"You are wrong in calling me a Munchkin," interrupted the donkey, "for I was born in the Land of Mo and came to visit the Land of Oz on the day it was shut off from all the rest of the world. So here I am obliged to stay, and I confess it is a very pleasant country to live in."

 

"Hoot-ti-toot!" cried the owl;

 

"Ojo's searching for a charm,

'Cause Unc Nunkie's come to harm.

Charms are scarce; they're hard to get;

Ojo's got a job, you bet!"

 

"Is the owl so very foolish?" asked the boy.

 

"Extremely so," replied the donkey. "Notice what vulgar expressions she uses. But I admire the owl for the reason that she is positively¹⁰ foolish. Owls¹¹ are supposed to be so very wise, generally, that a foolish one is unusual, and you perhaps know that anything or anyone unusual is sure to be interesting to the wise."

 

The owl flapped its wings again, muttering these words:

 

"It's hard to be a glassy cat—

No cat can be more hard than that;

She's so transparent¹², every act

Is clear to us, and that's a fact."

 

"Have you noticed my pink brains?" inquired Bungle¹³, proudly. "You can see 'em work."

 

"Not in the daytime," said the donkey. "She can't see very well by day, poor thing. But her advice is excellent. I advise you all to follow it."

 

"The owl hasn't given us any advice, as yet," the boy declared.

 

"No? Then what do you call all those sweet poems?"

 

"Just foolishness," replied Ojo. "Scraps does the same thing."

 

"Foolishness! Of course! To be sure! The Foolish Owl must be foolish or she wouldn't be the Foolish Owl. You are very complimentary¹⁴ to my partner, indeed," asserted the donkey, rubbing his front hoofs¹⁵ together as if highly pleased.

 

"The sign says that you are wise," remarked Scraps to the donkey. "I wish you would prove it."

 

"With great pleasure," returned the beast. "Put me to the test, my dear Patches, and I'll prove my wisdom in the wink¹⁶ of an eye."

 

"What is the best way to get to the Emerald City?" asked Ojo.

 

"Walk," said the donkey.

 

"I know; but what road shall I take?" was the boy's next question.

 

"The road of yellow bricks, of course. It leads directly to the Emerald City."

 

"And how shall we find the road of yellow bricks?"

 

"By keeping along the path you have been following. You'll come to the yellow bricks pretty soon, and you'll know them when you see them because they're the only yellow things in the blue country."

 

"Thank you," said the boy. "At last you have told me something."

 

"Is that the extent of your wisdom?" asked Scraps.

 

"No," replied the donkey; "I know many other things, but they wouldn't interest you. So I'll give you a last word of advice: move on, for the sooner you do that the sooner you'll get to the Emerald City of Oz."

 

"Hoot-ti-toot-ti-toot-ti-too!" screeched¹⁷ the owl;

 

"Off you go! fast or slow,

Where you're going you don't know.

Patches, Bungle, Munchkin lad,

Facing fortunes good and bad,

Meeting dangers grave and sad,

Sometimes worried, sometimes glad—

Where you're going you don't know,

Nor do I, but off you go!"

 

"Sounds like a hint, to me," said the Patchwork Girl.

 

"Then let's take it and go," replied Ojo.

 

They said good-bye to the Wise Donkey and the Foolish Owl and at once resumed their journey.

1 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。

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

6 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

7 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

8 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

9 strut   

v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆

参考例句：

• The circulation economy development needs the green science and technology innovation as the strut.循环经济的发展需要绿色科技创新生态化作为支撑。
• Now we'll strut arm and arm.这会儿咱们可以手挽着手儿，高视阔步地走了。

10 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

11 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

12 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

13 bungle   

v.搞糟；n.拙劣的工作

参考例句：

• If you bungle a job,you must do it again!要是你把这件事搞糟了，你得重做！
• That last stupid bungle of his is the end.他那最后一次愚蠢的错误使我再也无法容忍了。

14 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

15 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句

16 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

17 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》