THE ALPHABET ANIMAL CIRCUS

 Jamie has been studying his alphabet all the morning, but somehow the letters got twisted and wouldn't follow each other in their regular order. By and by mother said: "Let us wait awhile; perhaps the letters will come more easily to my little boy if he takes a rest now."

 

So Jamie ran out to play and soon forgot all about the alphabet. But that night, after he had fallen asleep, he had a most wonderful time. All the alphabet letters came trooping into his little bed and said to him, "Jamie, come with us to the Circus!" And pretty soon he found himself in a big white tent. All of a sudden the Letters ran together, and, jumping on top of one another, formed themselves into a lion.

 

Jamie clapped his hands and laughed outright¹. At this, all the letters tumbled² down, and, calling to him to follow, jumped into the ring and made a giant rooster.

 

 

"Hurrah³!" cried Jamie, "you're the most wonderful alphabet I ever saw!"

 

 

"Glad you think so!" cried the Letters, and then they all tumbled apart and raced across the tanbark floor. He followed as fast as his legs would take him, when, all of a sudden, a funny little squeak⁴ made him turn his head. Some of the alphabet letters had formed themselves into a queer⁵ little pig, who cried, "This little pig went to market," but when Jamie ran up to play with him all the letters jumped apart and scampered⁶ away. "Come, we'll show you the man who owns the circus!" After much scrambling⁷ and climbing on their part, the circus owner appeared, wearing a high silk hat.

 

Jamie had hardly time to bow politely, when all the letters tumbled apart and there stood a great, big elephant. But, goodness me! In another minute the elephant fell apart and again the Letters shouted, "Follow us, Jamie!" and away they raced, and before he could stop he bumped⁹ into a tall giraffe.

 

"Oh, what fun!" cried Jamie. "I wonder what will happen next?"

 

"Hello, my little man!" cried a voice close at hand. Jamie looked around and there stood the Alphabet Clown smiling at him.

 

"How do you do, Sir!" answered Jamie.

 

 

"Here are the pictures of my two brothers," said the Alphabet Clown, showing Jamie two photographs; "there weren't enough letters to go around, so when I'm acting¹⁰, I just show their pictures, and when they are acting, they show mine." No sooner had he finished speaking than the Alphabet Letters tumbled apart, and the clown disappeared.

 

A big rhinoceros¹¹ next came into view as the Alphabet Letters kept up their merry pranks¹². By this time, Jamie was hardly surprised at anything, his friends, the Alphabet Letters, were doing so many funny things.

 

"Tickets!" cried a voice at his side. A little Alphabet Man sitting on an Alphabet Chair looked at Jamie as if expecting him to hand over his ticket at once. Just as he was about to explain how the Letters had brought him to the circus, the little man fell apart, and all the Letters laughed and said, "Never mind your ticket, Jamie—follow us!"

 

"Bow-wow!" said the little Alphabet Dog as Jamie ran up to pat him. "Don't turn into letters just yet," he begged, giving the little dog a hug, but with a merry laugh the Letters jumped apart and Jamie saw a pretty horse, who lifted his right fore⁸ leg to shake hands with him. But the Alphabet Horse lasted no longer than the other animals, and the next instant a funny man, with a big E for his eye and nose and a capital C for his mouth and chin, and a big D for his cap, stood before him. A big V made the front of his coat and vest, and a capital I his back, while a large W and X made a pair of funny legs.

 

"I wonder who he is?" thought Jamie.

 

"I'm the Lion Tamer," answered the man, as if reading the little boy's thoughts.

 

"Are you?" said Jamie. "I saw your lion the first thing—just as I came into the tent. Aren't you afraid you'll lose him?"

 

 

 

"I'm more afraid he'll lose me," replied the Lion Tamer. He was quite right, for at that instant the Alphabet Letters fell apart and a pretty girl stood in his place.

 

"I'm the Circus Queen, little Jamie," she said with a smile, and then she gave him an alphabet kiss, which looked just like the letter O, I guess. And then the Letters tumbled apart and the Circus Queen disappeared.

 

But they were not idle, these wonderful Alphabet Letters. They ran ahead for a little way and then, all of a sudden, arranged themselves into a beautiful white cow, which looked to Jamie very much like the one in Mr. Jones' big pasture¹³.

 

"Where's Mother?" cried a loud voice, and Jamie saw a small elephant looking anxiously about. A big J made a most beautiful trunk, while a capital M served for two sturdy¹⁴ legs. An S made a nice tail, and the other letters finished his body very satisfactorily.

 

"You'd better hurry," advised Jamie, "or the first thing you know the Letters will get tired of making you an elephant, and turn into some other sort of animal."

 

 

And Jamie was right, for the next instant there was no little elephant, but instead, a quiet looking camel, with two big humps.

 

In a few minutes, the camel, too, disappeared, and the wonderful Alphabet Letters ran over to the other side of the tent, and the next thing Jamie saw was a funny little man whose make-up consisted of only a few big letters, but who nevertheless seemed a very important person. He stood just outside of a door over which was printed in big red letters,

 

"Come to the 'Alphabet Moving Pictures,'" he called out. "Come and see 'Alphabet Movies'!" Upon a big white screen the letters of the alphabet arranged themselves into a wonderful picture of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Jamie clapped his hands. Then the next picture came along, as his friends, the Alphabet Letters, jumped down and without any confusion¹⁵ re-arranged themselves. The next picture was very wonderful—George Washington planting the British Flag at Fort¹⁶ Duquesne. Jamie made up his mind to ask Mother when he got home all about it. In a jiffy, the Letters again fell apart, and a picture, which little Jamie could understand much better, was shown. "Hurray! Mother Goose!" shouted Jamie, kicking up his feet so high that down fell the big white circus tent, and he awoke to find himself in his own little bed, with his feet up underneath¹⁷ the sheet, holding it up just like the tent where the Alphabet Letters had done all the funny things.

 

Jamie rubbed his eyes, just as Mother came in. "Well, I guess I'll know my alphabet to-day," he said. After breakfast he told Mother where he had been, and when she asked him to say his alphabet, he recited it without a miss.

 

"Wasn't it lucky I went to the circus with the "'Alphabet Letters'?" he asked, and Mother said it certainly was.

1 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

2 tumbled   

v.倒塌( tumble的过去式和过去分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• He slipped and tumbled down the stairs. 他脚一滑滚下了楼梯。
• A hundred and fifty empty bottles tumbled onto the floor. 150个空瓶子滚落到地板上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

4 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

5 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

6 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

9 bumped   

凸起的，凸状的

参考例句：

• In the dark I bumped into a chair. 我在黑暗中撞上了一把椅子。
• I bumped against an old friend in town today. 我今天在城里偶然碰见了一个老朋友。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

12 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

13 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

14 sturdy   

adj.强壮的，结实的，坚固的，坚定(强)的

参考例句：

• We need several sturdy men to push this car.我们需要几个强壮的人来推车。
• Children need sturdy shoes.孩子们需要结实的鞋子。

15 confusion   

n.困惑，迷乱，混淆，混乱，骚乱

参考例句：

• His answers to my questions have only added to my confusion.他对我的问题的回答只是使我更加困惑不解。
• His unexpected arrival threw us into total confusion.他的突然来访使我们完全不知所措。

16 fort   

n.要塞，堡垒，碉堡

参考例句：

• The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
• No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证，任何人不得进入要塞。

17 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。