"How dare you!" he cried; "how dare you enter my forest?"
Marvel jerked his bridle from the man's grasp and said in return:
"Who are you?"
"Me! Who am I? Why, I am the great and powerful Kwytoffle! So beware! Beware my sorcery!"
They all looked at the man curiously5. He was short and very fat, and had a face like a puff-ball, with little red eyes and scarcely any nose at all. He wore a black gown with scarlet6 grasshoppers8 and june-bugs embroidered10 upon the cloth; and his hat was high and peaked, with an imitation grasshopper7 of extraordinary size perched upon its point. In his right hand he carried a small black wand, and around his neck hung a silver whistle on a silver cord.
Seeing that the strangers were gazing on him so earnestly, Kwytoffle thought they were frightened; so he said again, in a big voice:
"Beware yourself!" retorted the prince. "For if you do not treat us more respectfully, I shall have you flogged."
"What! Flog me!" shouted Kwytoffle, furiously. "For this I will turn every one of you into grasshoppers--unless you at once give me all the wealth you possess!"
"Poor man!" exclaimed Nerle; "I can see you are longing13 for that flogging. Will you have it now?" and he raised his riding-whip above his head.
Kwytoffle stumbled backward a few paces and blew shrilly14 upon his silver whistle. Instantly a number of soldiers came running from the building, others following quickly after them until fully12 a hundred rough-looking warriors15, armed with swords and axes, had formed in battle array, facing the little party of Prince Marvel.
"Arrest these strangers!" commanded Kwytoffle, in a voice like a roar. "Capture them and bind16 them securely, and then I will change them all into grasshoppers!"
"All right," answered the captain of the soldiers; and then he turned to his men and shouted: "Forward--double-quick--march!"
They came on with drawn17 swords; at first running, and then gradually dropping into a walk, as they beheld18 Nerle, Wul-Takim, King Terribus and Marvel standing19 quietly waiting to receive them, weapons in hand and ready for battle. A few paces off the soldiers hesitated and stopped altogether, and Kwytoffle yelled at the captain:
"Why don't you go on? Why don't you capture them? Why don't you fight them?"
"Why, they have drawn their swords!" responded the captain, reproachfully.
"Who cares?" roared the sorcerer.
"We care," said the captain, giving a shudder20, as he looked upon the strangers. "Their swords are sharp, and some of us would get hurt."
At this threat the soldiers dropped their swords and axes, and all fell upon their knees, trembling visibly and imploring23 their cruel master not to change them into june-bugs.
"Bah!" cried Nerle, scornfully; "why don't you fight? If we kill you, then you will escape being June-bugs."
"The fact is," said the captain, woefully, "we simply can't fight. For our swords are only tin, and our axes are made of wood, with silver-paper pasted over them."
"But why is that?" asked Wul-Takim, while all the party showed their surprise.
"Why, until now we have never had any need to fight," said the captain, "for every one has quickly surrendered to us or run away the moment we came near. But you people do not appear to be properly frightened, and now, alas24! since you have drawn upon us the great sorcerer's anger, we shall all be transformed into June-bugs."
"Yes!" roared Kwytoffle, hopping25 up and down with anger, "you shall all be June-bugs, and these strangers I will transform into grasshoppers!"
"Very well," said Prince Marvel, quietly; "you can do it now."
"I will! I will!" cried the sorcerer.
"Then why don't you begin?" inquired the prince.
"Why don't I begin? Why, I haven't got the enchantments27 with me, that's why. Do you suppose we great magicians carry around enchantments in our pockets?" returned the other, in a milder tone.
"Where do you keep your enchantments?" asked the prince.
"They're in my dwelling," snapped Kwytoffle, taking off his hat and fanning his fat face with the brim.
"Then go and get them," said Marvel.
"Nonsense! If I went to get the enchantments you would all run away!" retorted the sorcerer.
"Not so!" protested Nerle, who was beginning to be amused. "My greatest longing in life is to become a grasshopper."
"Oh, yes! PLEASE let us be grasshoppers!" exclaimed the High Ki maids in the same breath.
"We want to hop9! We want to hop! Please--PLEASE let us hop!" implored28 the bald-headed Ki, winking29 their left eyes at Wul-Takim.
"By all means let us become grasshoppers," said King Terribus, smiling; and Wul-Takim added:
"I'm sure your soldiers would enjoy being June-bugs, for then they wouldn't have to work. Isn't that so, boys?"
The bewildered soldiers looked at one another in perplexity, and the still more bewildered sorcerer gazed on the speakers with staring eyes and wide-open mouth.
"I insist," said Prince Marvel, "upon your turning us into grasshoppers and your soldiers into June-bugs, as you promised. If you do not, then I will flog you--as I promised."
"Very well," returned the sorcerer, with a desperate look upon his face; "I'll go and find the enchantment26."
"And we'll go with you," remarked the prince, pleasantly.
So the entire party accompanied Kwytoffle into the house, where they entered a large room that was in a state of much disorder30.
"Let me see," said the sorcerer, rubbing his ears, as if trying to think; "I wonder if I put them in this cupboard. You see," he explained, "no one has ever before dared me to transform him into a June-bug or grasshopper, so I have almost forgotten where I keep my book of enchantments. No, it's not in the cupboard," he continued, looking there; "but it surely must be in this chest."
It was not in the chest, either, and so the sorcerer continued to look in all sorts of queer places for his book of enchantments, without finding it. Whenever he paused in his search Prince Marvel would say, sternly:
"Go on! Find the book! Hunt it up. We are all anxious to become grasshoppers." And then Kwytoffle would set to work again, although big drops of perspiration31 were now streaming down his face.
Finally he pulled an old book from underneath32 the pillow of his bed, and crying, "Here it is!" carried it to the window.
He turned a few leaves of the book and then said:
"How unfortunate! The compound I require to change you into grasshoppers must be mixed on the first day of September; and as this is now the eighth day of September I must wait nearly a year before I can work the enchantment."
"How about the June-bugs?" asked Nerle.
"Oh! Ah! The June-bug mixture can only be made at the dark o' the moon," said the sorcerer, pretending to read, "and that is three weeks from now."
"Let me read it," said Prince Marvel, suddenly snatching the book from Kwytoffle's hands. Then he turned to the title-page and read:
"'Lives of Famous Thieves and Impostors.' Why, this is not a book of enchantments."
"That is what I suspected," said Terribus.
"No one but a sorcerer can read the enchantments in this book," declared Kwytoffle; but he hung his head with a sheepish look, for he knew his deception33 had been well understood.
"Is your own history written in this volume?" inquired Marvel.
"No," answered the sorcerer.
"Then it ought to be," said the prince, "for you are no sorcerer at all, but merely a thief and an impostor!"
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1
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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2
hoofs
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| 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 ) | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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6
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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16
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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17
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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18
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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26
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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enchantments
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| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
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28
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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30
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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31
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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32
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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33
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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