CHAPTER XIII

 Not particularly attracted by the poultry¹

 

I have been studying The Young Poultry Keeper’s Friend of late.  If there is anything I dislike and deplore², it is the possession of knowledge which I cannot put to practical use.  Having discovered an interesting disease called Scaly⁴ Leg in the July number, I took the magazine out into the poultry-yard and identified the malady⁵ on three hens and a cock.  Phœbe joined me in the diagnosis⁶ and we treated the victims with a carbolic lotion⁷ and scrubbed them with vaseline.

 

Leaned languidly against the netting

 

As Phœbe and I grow wise in medical lore³ the case of Cannibal Ann assumes a different aspect.  As the bibulous⁸ man quaffs⁹ more and more flagons of beer and wine when his daily food is ham, salt fish, and cabbage, so does the hen avenge¹⁰ her wrongs of diet and woes¹¹ of environment.  Cannibal Ann, herself, has, so far as we know, been raised in a Christian¹² manner and enjoyed all the advantages of modern methods; but her maternal¹³ parent may have lived in some heathen poultry-yard which was asphalted or bricked or flagged, so that she was debarred from scratching in Mother Earth and was forced to eat her own shells in self-defence.

 

* * * * *

 

The Square Baby is not particularly attracted by the poultry as a whole, save when it is boiled with bacon or roasted with bread-sauce; but he is much interested in the “invaleeds.”  Whenever Phœbe and I start for the hospital with the tobacco-pills, the tin of paraffin, and the bottle of oil, he is very much in evidence.  Perhaps he has a natural leaning toward the medical profession; at any rate, when pain and anguish¹⁴ wring¹⁵ the brow, he is in close attendance upon the ministering angels.

 

Staggered and reeled

 

Now it is necessary for the physician to have practice as well as theory, so the Square Baby, being left to himself this afternoon, proceeded to perfect himself in some of the healing arts used by country practitioners¹⁶.

 

Caught her son red-handed

 

When discovered, he was seated in front of the wire-covered “run” attached to a coop occupied by the youngest goslings.  A couple of bottles and a box stood by his side, and I should think he had administered a cup of sweet oil, a pint¹⁷ of paraffin, and a quarter of a pound of tobacco during his clinic.  He had used the remedies impartially¹⁸, sometimes giving the paraffin internally and rubbing the patient’s head with tobacco or oil, sometimes the reverse.

 

Several goslings leaned languidly against the netting, or supported themselves by the edge of the water-dish, while others staggered and reeled about with eyes half closed.

 

He was treated summarily and smartly

 

It was Mrs. Heaven who caught her son red-handed, so to speak.  She was dressed in her best, and just driving off to Woodmucket to spend a day or two with her married daughter, and soothe¹⁹ her nerves with the uproar²⁰ incident to a town of six hundred inhabitants.  She delayed her journey a half-hour—long enough, in fact, to change her black silk waist for a loose sacque which would give her arms full and comfortable play.  The joy and astonishment²¹ that greeted the Square Baby on his advent²², five years ago, was forgotten for the first time in his brief life, and he was treated precisely²³ as any ordinary wrongdoer would have been treated under the same circumstances, summarily and smartly; the “wepping,” as Phœbe would say, being Mrs. Heaven’s hand.

 

All but one of the goslings lived, like thousands of others who recover in spite of the doctors, but the Square Baby’s interest in the healing art is now perceptibly lessened²⁴.

1 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

2 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

3 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

4 scaly   

adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的

参考例句：

• Reptiles possess a scaly,dry skin.爬行类具有覆盖着鳞片的干燥皮肤。
• The iron pipe is scaly with rust.铁管子因为生锈一片片剥落了。

5 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

6 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

7 lotion   

n.洗剂

参考例句：

• The lotion should be applied sparingly to the skin.这种洗液应均匀地涂在皮肤上。
• She lubricates her hands with a lotion.她用一种洗剂来滑润她的手。

8 bibulous   

adj.高度吸收的，酗酒的

参考例句：

• He is a bibulous fellow.他是个爱喝酒的家伙。
• But it can control the bibulous of handsheet in the demanding range through accession suitable waterproof. 但通过添加适量的防水剂可以使纸板的吸水值在要求的范围内。

9 quaffs   

v.痛饮( quaff的第三人称单数 )；畅饮；大口大口将…喝干；一饮而尽

参考例句：

10 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

11 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

14 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

15 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

16 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

17 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

18 impartially   

adv.公平地，无私地

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义，不偏不倚。

19 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

20 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

21 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

22 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

23 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

24 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。