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首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle杜立特医生航海记6部分 » THE FOURTH CHAPTER THE WIFF-WAFF
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THE FOURTH CHAPTER THE WIFF-WAFF
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 WHEN at last I could look around me I found that the hall was indeed simply full of animals. It seemed to me that almost every kind of creature from the countryside must be there: a pigeon, a white rat, an owl1, a badger2, a jackdaw—there was even a small pig, just in from the rainy garden, carefully wiping his feet on the mat while the light from the candle glistened3 on his wet pink back.
 
The Doctor took the candlestick from the duck and turned to me.
 
“Look here,” he said: “you must get those wet clothes off—by the way, what is your name?”
 
“Tommy Stubbins,” I said.
 
“Oh, are you the son of Jacob Stubbins, the shoemaker?”
 
“Yes,” I said.
 
“Excellent bootmaker, your father,” said the Doctor. “You see these?” and he held up his right foot to show me the enormous boots he was wearing. “Your father made me those boots four years ago, and I’ve been wearing them ever since—perfectly4 wonderful boots—Well now, look here, Stubbins. You’ve got to change those wet things—and quick. Wait a moment till I get some more candles lit, and then we’ll go upstairs and find some dry clothes. You’ll have to wear an old suit of mine till we can get yours dry again by the kitchen-fire.”
 
So presently when more candles had been lighted round different parts of the house, we went upstairs; and when we had come into a bedroom the Doctor opened a big wardrobe and took out two suits of old clothes. These we put on. Then we carried our wet ones down to the kitchen and started a fire in the big chimney. The coat of the Doctor’s which I was wearing was so large for me that I kept treading on my own coat-tails while I was helping5 to fetch the wood up from the cellar. But very soon we had a huge big fire blazing up the chimney and we hung our wet clothes around on chairs.
 
“Now let’s cook some supper,” said the Doctor.—“You’ll stay and have supper with me, Stubbins, of course?”
 
Already I was beginning to be very fond of this funny little man who called me “Stubbins,” instead of “Tommy” or “little lad” (I did so hate to be called “little lad”!) This man seemed to begin right away treating me as though I were a grown-up friend of his. And when he asked me to stop and have supper with him I felt terribly proud and happy. But I suddenly remembered that I had not told my mother that I would be out late. So very sadly I answered,
 
“Thank you very much. I would like to stay, but I am afraid that my mother will begin to worry and wonder where I am if I don’t get back.”
 
“Oh, but my dear Stubbins,” said the Doctor, throwing another log of wood on the fire, “your clothes aren’t dry yet. You’ll have to wait for them, won’t you? By the time they are ready to put on we will have supper cooked and eaten—Did you see where I put my bag?”
 
“I think it is still in the hall,” I said. “I’ll go and see.”
 
I found the bag near the front door. It was made of black leather and looked very, very old. One of its latches6 was broken and it was tied up round the middle with a piece of string.
 
“Thank you,” said the Doctor when I brought it to him.
 
“Was that bag all the luggage you had for your voyage?” I asked.
 
“Yes,” said the Doctor, as he undid7 the piece of string. “I don’t believe in a lot of baggage. It’s such a nuisance. Life’s too short to fuss with it. And it isn’t really necessary, you know—Where did I put those sausages?”
 
The Doctor was feeling about inside the bag. First he brought out a loaf of new bread. Next came a glass jar with a curious metal top to it. He held this up to the light very carefully before he set it down upon the table; and I could see that there was some strange little water-creature swimming about inside. At last the Doctor brought out a pound of sausages.
 
“Now,” he said, “all we want is a frying-pan.”
 
We went into the scullery and there we found some pots and pans hanging against the wall. The Doctor took down the frying-pan. It was quite rusty8 on the inside.
 
“Dear me, just look at that!” said he. “That’s the worst of being away so long. The animals are very good and keep the house wonderfully clean as far as they can. Dab-Dab is a perfect marvel9 as a housekeeper10. But some things of course they can’t manage. Never mind, we’ll soon clean it up. You’ll find some silver-sand down there, under the sink, Stubbins. Just hand it up to me, will you?”
 
In a few moments we had the pan all shiny and bright and the sausages were put over the kitchen-fire and a beautiful frying smell went all through the house.
 
While the Doctor was busy at the cooking I went and took another look at the funny little creature swimming about in the glass jar.
 
“What is this animal?” I asked.
 
“Oh that,” said the Doctor, turning round—“that’s a Wiff-Waff. Its full name is hippocampus pippitopitus. But the natives just call it a Wiff-Waff—on account of the way it waves its tail, swimming, I imagine. That’s what I went on this last voyage for, to get that. You see I’m very busy just now trying to learn the language of the shellfish. They have languages, of that I feel sure. I can talk a little shark language and porpoise11 dialect myself. But what I particularly want to learn now is shellfish.”
 
“Why?” I asked.
 
“Well, you see, some of the shellfish are the oldest kind of animals in the world that we know of. We find their shells in the rocks—turned to stone—thousands of years old. So I feel quite sure that if I could only get to talk their language, I should be able to learn a whole lot about what the world was like ages and ages and ages ago. You see?”
 
“But couldn’t some of the other animals tell you as well?”
 
“I don’t think so,” said the Doctor, prodding12 the sausages with a fork. “To be sure, the monkeys I knew in Africa some time ago were very helpful in telling me about bygone days; but they only went back a thousand years or so. No, I am certain that the oldest history in the world is to be had from the shellfish—and from them only. You see most of the other animals that were alive in those very ancient times have now become extinct.”
 
“Have you learned any shellfish language yet?” I asked.
 
“No. I’ve only just begun. I wanted this particular kind of a pipe-fish because he is half a shellfish and half an ordinary fish. I went all the way to the Eastern Mediterranean13 after him. But I’m very much afraid he isn’t going to be a great deal of help to me. To tell you the truth, I’m rather disappointed in his appearance. He doesn’t look very intelligent, does he?”
 
“No, he doesn’t,” I agreed.
 
“Ah,” said the Doctor. “The sausages are done to a turn. Come along—hold your plate near and let me give you some.”
 
Then we sat down at the kitchen-table and started a hearty14 meal.
 
It was a wonderful kitchen, that. I had many meals there afterwards and I found it a better place to eat in than the grandest dining-room in the world. It was so cozy15 and home-like and warm. It was so handy for the food too. You took it right off the fire, hot, and put it on the table and ate it. And you could watch your toast toasting at the fender and see it didn’t burn while you drank your soup. And if you had forgotten to put the salt on the table, you didn’t have to get up and go into another room to fetch it; you just reached round and took the big wooden box off the dresser behind you. Then the fireplace—the biggest fireplace you ever saw—was like a room in itself. You could get right inside it even when the logs were burning and sit on the wide seats either side and roast chestnuts16 after the meal was over—or listen to the kettle singing, or tell stories, or look at picture-books by the light of the fire. It was a marvelous kitchen. It was like the Doctor, comfortable, sensible, friendly and solid.
 
While we were gobbling away, the door suddenly opened and in marched the duck, Dab-Dab, and the dog, Jip, dragging sheets and pillow-cases behind them over the clean tiled floor. The Doctor, seeing how surprised I was, explained:
 
“They’re just going to air the bedding for me in front of the fire. Dab-Dab is a perfect treasure of a housekeeper; she never forgets anything. I had a sister once who used to keep house for me (poor, dear Sarah! I wonder how she’s getting on—I haven’t seen her in many years). But she wasn’t nearly as good as Dab-Dab. Have another sausage?”
 
The Doctor turned and said a few words to the dog and duck in some strange talk and signs. They seemed to understand him perfectly.
 
“Can you talk in squirrel language?” I asked.
 
“Oh yes. That’s quite an easy language,” said the Doctor. “You could learn that yourself without a great deal of trouble. But why do you ask?”
 
“Because I have a sick squirrel at home,” I said. “I took it away from a hawk17. But two of its legs are badly hurt and I wanted very much to have you see it, if you would. Shall I bring it to-morrow?”
 
“Well, if its leg is badly broken I think I had better see it to-night. It may be too late to do much; but I’ll come home with you and take a look at it.”
 
So presently we felt the clothes by the fire and mine were found to be quite dry. I took them upstairs to the bedroom and changed, and when I came down the Doctor was all ready waiting for me with his little black bag full of medicines and bandages.
 
“Come along,” he said. “The rain has stopped now.”
 
Outside it had grown bright again and the evening sky was all red with the setting sun; and thrushes were singing in the garden as we opened the gate to go down on to the road.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 owl 7KFxk     
n.猫头鹰,枭
参考例句:
  • Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
  • I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚,经常半夜后才睡觉。
2 badger PuNz6     
v.一再烦扰,一再要求,纠缠
参考例句:
  • Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
  • If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他,我相信他会同意。
3 glistened 17ff939f38e2a303f5df0353cf21b300     
v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
5 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
6 latches 72e582024c502f75cdd8b1b4d69a127f     
n.(门窗的)门闩( latch的名词复数 );碰锁v.理解( latch的第三人称单数 );纠缠;用碰锁锁上(门等);附着(在某物上)
参考例句:
  • The virus latches onto the red blood cells. 这种病毒附着在红细胞上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The opposite end latches onto the pathogen. 相对的一端锁在病原体上。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
7 Undid 596b2322b213e046510e91f0af6a64ad     
v. 解开, 复原
参考例句:
  • The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
  • He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。
8 rusty hYlxq     
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的
参考例句:
  • The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
  • I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用,我的法语又荒疏了。
9 marvel b2xyG     
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事
参考例句:
  • The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
  • The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。
10 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
11 porpoise Sidy6     
n.鼠海豚
参考例句:
  • What is the difference between a dolphin and porpoise?海豚和和鼠海豚有什么区别?
  • Mexico strives to save endangered porpoise.墨西哥努力拯救濒危的鼠海豚。
12 prodding 9b15bc515206c1e6f0559445c7a4a109     
v.刺,戳( prod的现在分词 );刺激;促使;(用手指或尖物)戳
参考例句:
  • He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
  • The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
13 Mediterranean ezuzT     
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
  • Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。
14 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
15 cozy ozdx0     
adj.亲如手足的,密切的,暖和舒服的
参考例句:
  • I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯,因为他们是舒适的。
  • We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
16 chestnuts 113df5be30e3a4f5c5526c2a218b352f     
n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 );栗色;栗树;栗色马
参考例句:
  • A man in the street was selling bags of hot chestnuts. 街上有个男人在卖一包包热栗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Talk of chestnuts loosened the tongue of this inarticulate young man. 因为栗子,正苦无话可说的年青人,得到同情他的人了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
17 hawk NeKxY     
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员
参考例句:
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
  • The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。


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