STORY XVIII THE FAIRY PRINCE DOES A MAGIC TRICK

 One day, after they had been out roller skating, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble suddenly remembered that it was time they went back to the woods to meet the fairy prince, who was to tell them why he didn't turn that fisher-boy into a lion or an elephant. So they took off their skates and hurried to the place, and by and by, after awhile, not so very long, they got there. Then they stopped and looked around.

 

"Hu!" exclaimed Jimmie. "He isn't here. I thought he was fooling us."

 

"Hush¹!" begged Alice. "He may be only hiding to test us, to see if we really believe in him. He may appear any moment in a big balloon or on the back of a great bird."

 

"Somebody's coming now," said Lulu, suddenly, for she heard a rustling² in the bushes. They all turned around, and whom do you think they saw coming right out of the woods? Why, Uncle Wiggily Longears! The old gentleman rabbit was limping along, making his nose go up and down and sideways at the same time, the way you have seen all the bunnies do, you know.

 

"Ha! Ha!" he exclaimed. "What have we here? Why, I do declare! If it isn't Jimmie Wibblewobble and his sisters! What are you doing here, little ones?"

 

"We came here to meet the fairy prince," replied Jimmie. "He was going to tell us about why he didn't change a boy into an elephant. But he isn't here."

 

"Who—the fairy prince, the boy or the elephant?" asked Uncle Wiggily, gently rubbing a horse chestnut³ on his left hind⁴ leg, that had the worst rheumatism⁵ in it.

 

"Neither one," said Alice, "but the fairy prince is sure to come."

 

"Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff, also snuff and red pepper!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Fairy prince indeed! There's no such thing!"

 

"Oh, yes, there is!" said Alice. "Pray do not speak so loudly. He might hear you."

 

"Thank you, my dear, for trusting in me!" exclaimed a voice suddenly, and honestly, you may not believe me, but if there wasn't that mud turtle! Yes, sir, as true as I'm telling you, he appeared right from behind a bush!

 

"Thank you, my dear, for believing me," said the fairy prince to Alice again. "As for this—ahem!—this person!" and the mud turtle looked very severely⁶ at Uncle Wiggily, very severely indeed, "as for this person, I will soon show him! Oh, my, yes! and a tortoiseshell comb in addition," he said; and then the turtle stuck out its long neck, straight at the old rabbit, until Uncle Wiggily thought it was a snake.

 

"Fairy prince, we salute⁷ thee!" exclaimed Alice, making a low bow.

 

"Good, very good," remarked the mud turtle. "I believe I promised you I would tell you why I did not change the boy, who caught me, into something strange, say an elephant or a lion."

 

"Yes," replied Jimmie, "you did promise us. Go ahead, please."

 

"That's not the way to talk to a fairy prince," objected Alice. "You should speak more politely."

 

"Never mind him, he doesn't know any better," went on the mud turtle. "I will now give you my reasons. In the first place I did not want to scare that boy after the way you frightened him. He had been punished enough, I thought. Besides, if I had turned him into a lion or an elephant he would have run through the woods, scaring every one he met, and that would not have been right. And the reason I didn't change him into a bug⁸ or a mosquito was because he might fly away, and then, when the magic spell had passed off, and he was changed back into a boy again, the transformation⁹ might have happened in the air, and he would fall right down on somebody's head, and that would never do, never, never, not in a year and a half. So I concluded not to do anything to him."

 

"I don't believe you could have changed him into anything at all," said Uncle Wiggily, quite boldly. "I don't even believe you are a fairy prince."

 

"There it goes again!" cried the mud turtle, and he wept big tears that made a little puddle¹⁰ of water. "Very few persons do believe in me. But I assure you I am a fairy prince," he added, "and, what's more, all I would have had to say to that boy was 'Oskaluluhinniumhaddy,' and he would have been turned into anything I liked. But I see you still do not believe me—that is, all but Alice. So I will just do a magic trick for you. Return here in an hour, and in this very spot you shall find a round stone. Take a rock and break open the stone and you will see what happens."

 

So the Wibblewobble children and Uncle Wiggily went away, wondering what was going to happen. They came back in an hour, and, sure enough, right where the mud turtle had been standing¹¹ was a large, round stone.

 

"Wonderful!" cried Alice.

 

"Let's see what's inside," suggested Jimmie.

 

So he and Uncle Wiggily took up a rock, and hit that stone once, and they hit it twice, and they hit it three times, and, at the third blow, if that stone didn't break open, and out stepped the mud turtle fairy prince! He was right inside that stone! Now, wasn't that a magic trick? I think so, anyhow.

 

"Oh, tell us how you did it!" begged Lulu.

 

"It was very simple, very simple," said the turtle, as he flicked¹² a bit of mud off his nose. "You see, I just rolled myself up in some soft clay, and then made it round like a stone. Then I stayed in the sun until it was baked as hard as a rock, and then I rolled along here to wait for you. Very simple, indeed. But, now, do you believe I am a fairy prince?" And they all declared they did, even Uncle Wiggily, and Alice said three times: "We salute thee, fairy prince." Oh, it was as good as a play!

 

Well, now, let's see about to-morrow night. How about a story of the rat who took the eggs? Do you think you would like that? Very well, then, you shall hear it, providing my golden slipper¹³ doesn't fall off.

1 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

2 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

3 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

4 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

5 rheumatism   

n.风湿病

参考例句：

• The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

6 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

7 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

8 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

9 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

10 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

13 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。