CHAPTER V.THE TRIAL.

 For a moment nobody spoke¹. The Wallypug sat back in a huddled² heap in his chair, looking up into Madame’s face with a scared expression. A. Fish unconcernedly began to eat some steaming porridge from a plate in front of him—and I sat still and waited events.

 

A band of musicians in the gallery at the end of the hall were playing somewhat discordantly³, till Madame turned around and called out in an angry voice:

 

“Just stop that noise, will you? I can’t hear myself speak.”

 

For a moment nobody spoke. The Wallypug sat back in a huddled heap in his chair, looking up into Madame’s face with a scared expression. A. Fish unconcernedly began to eat some steaming porridge from a plate in front of him—and I sat still and waited events.

 

A band of musicians in the gallery at the end of the hall were playing somewhat discordantly, till Madame turned around and called out in an angry voice:

 

“Just stop that noise, will you? I can’t hear myself speak.”

 

We were conducted to a kind of dock on one side of the bench, and on the other side appeared what afterwards transpired⁴ to be the witness box. The body of the hall was crowded with animals, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of us.

 

“Silence in court,” screamed out a gaily-dressed ostrich⁵, and the trial began.

 

“We’ll take the man creature first,” said the Sister-in-Law, regarding me contemptuously. “Now then, speak up! What have you got to say for yourself?”

 

“There appears to be—” I began.

 

“Silence in court,” shouted the ostrich, who was evidently an official.

 

“Surely I may be allowed to explain,” I protested.

 

 

“Silence in court,” shouted the bird again.

 

I gave it up and remained silent. “Call the first witness,” remarked the Sister-in-Law impatiently, and the Turtle, whom I had seen cleaning the steps in the morning, walked briskly up into the witness-box.

 

“Well, Turtle, what do you know about this man?” was the first question.

 

“So please your Importance, I was cleaning my steps very early this morning, when the prisoner opened the door in a stealthy manner and crept out very quietly. ‘Ho!’ thinks I, ‘this ’ere man’s up to no good,’ and so I keeps him in conversation a little while, but his language—oh!—and what with one thing and another and noticing that he hadn’t a hat, I told him he had better move on. I saw him walk over to the rose garden and afterwards join the Wallypug and Mr. Fish. I think that’s all, except—ahem—that I missed a small piece of soap.”

 

 

“Soap?” said the Doctor-in-Law, elevating his eyebrows⁶. “This is important—er—er—what kind of soap?”

 

“Yellow,” said the Turtle. “Fourpence a pound.”

 

“Hum!” said the Doctor-in-Law, “very mysterious, but not at all surprising from what I know of this person—call the next witness.”

 

The next witness was the Cockatoo, who scrambled⁷ into the box in a great fluster⁸.

 

“He’s a story-teller, and a pickpocket⁹, and a backbiter, and a fibber, and a bottle-washer,” she screamed excitedly, “and a heartless deceiver, and an organ-grinder, so there!” And she danced out of the witness-box again excitedly, muttering, “Down with him, down with him, the wretch,” all the way back to her seat.

 

“Ah, that will about settle him, I fancy,” remarked the Doctor-in-Law, putting down some figures on his slate¹⁰ and counting them up.

 

 

“What are you doing?” demanded the Sister-in-Law.

 

“Summing up,” was the reply. “The judges always sum up in England, you know; that’s thirty-two pounds he owes. Shall I collect it?”

 

“Wait a minute till I pass the sentence,” said the Sister-in-Law.

 

“Prisoner at the bar,” she continued, “you have since your arrival here been given every latitude¹¹.”

 

“And longitude,” interrupted the Doctor-in-Law.

 

“And have taken advantage of the fact to disobey the laws of the land in every possible way. You have heard the evidence against you, and I may say more clear proof could not have been given. It appears that you are a thoroughly¹² worthless character, and it is with great pleasure I order you to be imprisoned¹³ in the deepest dungeon¹⁴ beneath the castle moat, and fined thirty-two pounds and costs.”

 

Then pointing to me tragically¹⁵, she called out, “Officers! take away that Bauble¹⁶!” And I was immediately seized by two of the crocodiles, preparatory to being taken below.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

3 discordantly   

adv.不一致地，不和谐地

参考例句：

• The walls of the rooms were discordantly papered. 房间的墙是拼凑的纸糊的，颜色很不协调。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The piece ended discordantly. 这部作品结尾很不和谐。 来自互联网

4 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

5 ostrich   

n.鸵鸟

参考例句：

• Ostrich is the fastest animal on two legs.驼鸟是双腿跑得最快的动物。
• The ostrich indeed inhabits continents.鸵鸟确实是生活在大陆上的。

6 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

7 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fluster   

adj.慌乱，狼狈，混乱，激动

参考例句：

• She was put in a fluster by the unexpected guests.不速之客的到来弄得她很慌张。
• She was all in a fluster at the thought of meeting the boss.一想到要见老板，她就感到紧张。

9 pickpocket   

n.扒手；v.扒窃

参考例句：

• The pickpocket pinched her purse and ran away.扒手偷了她的皮夹子跑了。
• He had his purse stolen by a pickpocket.他的钱包被掏了。

10 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

11 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

12 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

13 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

14 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。

15 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

16 bauble   

n.美观而无价值的饰物

参考例句：

• That little bauble is not to be compared with this enormous jewel.那个小摆设不能与这个大宝石相比较。
• A bauble is a showy ornament of little value.廉价珠宝是华而不实的装饰品。