So I took possession of a suite6 of rooms in the west wing of the palace, near his Majesty’s private apartments, and we spent a very pleasant evening together in my sitting-room7, playing draughts8 till bedtime, when his Majesty left me to myself, promising9 that he would show me around the palace grounds the first thing in the morning.
After he had gone, there being a bright wood fire burning in my bedroom, I drew a high-backed easy-chair up to the old-fashioned fireplace, and made myself comfortable for a little while before retiring for the night.
My bedroom was a large, old-fashioned apartment, with a low ceiling and curiously10 carved oak wainscoting, and I watched the firelight flickering11, and casting all sorts of odd shadows in the dark corners, till I must have fallen asleep, for I remember awaking with a start, at hearing a crash in the corridor outside my bedroom door. A muttered exclamation12, and a Pelican13, carrying a bedroom candlestick marched in, and carefully fastened the door behind him.
“Great clumsy things—I can’t think who can have left them there,” he grumbled14, sitting down and rubbing one foot against the other, as though in pain. And I suddenly came to the conclusion that he must have stumbled over my boots, which I had stood just outside the door, in order that they might be cleaned for the morning.
The Pelican had not noticed me in my high-backed chair, and, being rather curious to see what he was up to, I kept perfectly15 still.
Going over to a clothes press, which stood in one corner of the room, the bird drew forth16 a long white night-gown and a nightcap; these he proceeded solemnly to array himself in, and then, getting up on a chair, he turned back the bedclothes with his enormous beak17, and was just about to hop18 into bed, when I thought that it was time for me to interfere19.
“Here! I say, what are you up to?” I called out in a stern voice.
“Oh—h-h! Ah—h-h! There’s a man in my room!” screamed the Pelican, evidently greatly alarmed. “Murder! Fire! Police! Thieves!”
“Hold your tongue!” I commanded. “What do you mean by making all that noise at this time of night, and what are you doing in my room?”
“Look here!” I remarked, going up to the Pelican, and shaking him till his beak rattled21 again. “Don’t you talk to me like that, my good bird, for I won’t put up with it.” You see I was getting tired of being treated so contemptuously by all of these creatures, and was determined to put a stop to it, somehow.
“But it is my room. Let me go, I say!” screamed the bird, struggling to get free, and dabbing22 at me viciously with his great beak.
“It is not your room,” I maintained; “and what is more, you are not going to stay here,” and I pushed the creature towards the door.
“We’ll soon see all about that,” shouted the Pelican, wrenching23 himself from my grasp, and rushing at me with his beak wide open, and his wings outstretched.
He was an enormous bird, and I had a great struggle with him. We went banging about the room, knocking over the furniture and making a terrible racket. At last, however, I managed to get him near the door, and giving a terrific shove I pushed him outside, and, pulling the door to, quickly turned the key.
I could hear Mr. Pelican slipping and stumbling about on the highly polished floor of the corridor outside, and muttering indignantly. Presently he came to the door, and banging with his beak, he cried, “Look here! this is beyond a joke—let me in, I say—where do you suppose I am going to sleep?”
“Anywhere you like except here,” I replied, feeling that I had got the best of it. “Go and perch24 or roost, or whatever you call it, on the banisters, or sleep on the mat if you like—I don’t care what you do!”
“Impertinent wretch25!” yelled the bird. “You only wait till the morning. I’ll pay you out;” and I could hear him muttering and mumbling26 in an angry way as he waddled27 down the corridor to seek some other resting-place. “What ridiculous nonsense it is,” I thought, as I tumbled into bed shortly after this little episode; “these creatures giving themselves such airs. No wonder the Wallypug is such a meek28 little person if he has been subjected to this sort of treatment all his life.” And pondering over the best method of altering the extraordinary state of affairs, I dropped off to sleep.
I do not know how long it may have been after this, but a terrific din5, this time in the courtyard below my window, caused me once more to jump from my bed in alarm. I could hear a most unearthly yelling going on, a babel of voices, and occasionally a resounding29 crash as though something hollow had been violently struck.
Pushing open the latticed windows I saw in the moonlight a little man dressed in a complete suit of armor with an enormous shield, like a dishcover, arranged over his head, playing the guitar, and endeavoring to sing to its accompaniment. He was continually interrupted, however, by a shower of missiles thrown from all of the windows overlooking the courtyard, out of which angry heads of animals and other occupants of the palace were thrust; he was surrounded by a miscellaneous collection of articles which had evidently been thrown at him, and some of them, had it not been for his suit of armor and the erection over his head, would have caused him considerable injury.
He did not seem to mind them in the least, though, and continued singing amid a perfect storm of boots, brushes, and bottles, as though he was quite accustomed to such treatment: and it was only when an irate30 figure, which somehow reminded me of his Majesty’s Sister-in-Law, clad in white garments and flourishing a pair of tongs31, appeared in the courtyard, that he took to his heels and fled, pursued by the white-robed apparition32, till both disappeared beneath an archway at the farther end of the courtyard. Most of the windows were thereupon closed, and the disturbed occupants of the palace returned to their rest. I was just about to close my lattice too, when I caught sight of a familiar figure at the adjoining window. It was my old friend A. Fish, Esq.
“Yes, here I am,” I replied. “How are you? How is your cold?”
“Oh, id’s quide cured, thags; dote you dotice how butch better I speak?”
“I’m very glad to hear it, I’m sure,” I replied, waiving34 the question and trying to keep solemn. “What’s all this row about?”
“Oh! thad’s the troubadour, up to his old gabes agaid; he’s ad awful dusadce. I’ll tell you aboud hib in the bordig—good dight.” And A. Fish, Esq., disappeared from view.
点击收听单词发音
1 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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2 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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3 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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4 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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5 din | |
n.喧闹声,嘈杂声 | |
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6 suite | |
n.一套(家具);套房;随从人员 | |
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7 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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8 draughts | |
n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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9 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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10 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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11 flickering | |
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的 | |
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12 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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13 pelican | |
n.鹈鹕,伽蓝鸟 | |
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14 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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15 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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16 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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17 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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18 hop | |
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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19 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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20 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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21 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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22 dabbing | |
石面凿毛,灰泥抛毛 | |
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23 wrenching | |
n.修截苗根,苗木铲根(铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土)v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的现在分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
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24 perch | |
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于 | |
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25 wretch | |
n.可怜的人,不幸的人;卑鄙的人 | |
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26 mumbling | |
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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27 waddled | |
v.(像鸭子一样)摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 meek | |
adj.温顺的,逆来顺受的 | |
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29 resounding | |
adj. 响亮的 | |
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30 irate | |
adj.发怒的,生气 | |
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31 tongs | |
n.钳;夹子 | |
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32 apparition | |
n.幽灵,神奇的现象 | |
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33 cub | |
n.幼兽,年轻无经验的人 | |
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34 waiving | |
v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 );搁置;推迟;放弃(权利、要求等) | |
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