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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 THIRD CHAPTER OUR TROUBLES BEGIN
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THE THIRD CHAPTER OUR TROUBLES BEGIN
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 JUST before supper-time Bumpo appeared from downstairs and went to the Doctor at the wheel.
 
“A stowaway1 in the hold, Sir,” said he in a very business-like seafaring voice. “I just discovered him, behind the flour-bags.”
 
“Dear me!” said the Doctor. “What a nuisance! Stubbins, go down with Bumpo and bring the man up. I can’t leave the wheel just now.”
 
So Bumpo and I went down into the hold; and there, behind the flour-bags, plastered in flour from head to foot, we found a man. After we had swept most of the flour off him with a broom, we discovered that it was Matthew Mugg. We hauled him upstairs sneezing and took him before the Doctor.
 
“Why Matthew!” said John Dolittle. “What on earth are you doing here?”
 
“The temptation was too much for me, Doctor,” said the cat’s-meat-man. “You know I’ve often asked you to take me on voyages with you and you never would. Well, this time, knowing that you needed an extra man, I thought if I stayed hid till the ship was well at sea you would find I came in handy like and keep me. But I had to lie so doubled up, for hours, behind them flour-bags, that my rheumatism2 came on something awful. I just had to change my position; and of course just as I stretched out my legs along comes this here African cook of yours and sees my feet sticking out—Don’t this ship roll something awful! How long has this storm been going on? I reckon this damp sea air wouldn’t be very good for my rheumatics.”
 
“No, Matthew it really isn’t. You ought not to have come. You are not in any way suited to this kind of a life. I’m sure you wouldn’t enjoy a long voyage a bit. We’ll stop in at Penzance and put you ashore3. Bumpo, please go downstairs to my bunk4; and listen: in the pocket of my dressing-gown you’ll find some maps. Bring me the small one—with blue pencil-marks at the top. I know Penzance is over here on our left somewhere. But I must find out what light-houses there are before I change the ship’s course and sail inshore.”
 
“Very good, Sir,” said Bumpo, turning round smartly and making for the stairway.
 
“Now Matthew,” said the Doctor, “you can take the coach from Penzance to Bristol. And from there it is not very far to Puddleby, as you know. Don’t forget to take the usual provisions to the house every Thursday, and be particularly careful to remember the extra supply of herrings for the baby minks5.”
 
While we were waiting for the maps Chee-Chee and I set about lighting6 the lamps: a green one on the right side of the ship, a red one on the left and a white one on the mast.
 
At last we heard some one trundling on the stairs again and the Doctor said,
 
“Ah, here’s Bumpo with the maps at last!”
 
But to our great astonishment7 it was not Bumpo alone that appeared but three people.
 
“Good Lord deliver us! Who are these?” cried John Dolittle.
 
“Two more stowaways8, Sir,” said Bumpo stepping forward briskly. “I found them in your cabin hiding under the bunk. One woman and one man, Sir. Here are the maps.”
 
“This is too much,” said the Doctor feebly. “Who are they? I can’t see their faces in this dim light. Strike a match, Bumpo.”
 
You could never guess who it was. It was Luke and his wife. Mrs. Luke appeared to be very miserable9 and seasick10.
 
They explained to the Doctor that after they had settled down to live together in the little shack11 out on the fens12, so many people came to visit them (having heard about the great trial) that life became impossible; and they had decided13 to escape from Puddleby in this manner—for they had no money to leave any other way—and try to find some new place to live where they and their story wouldn’t be so well known. But as soon as the ship had begun to roll Mrs. Luke had got most dreadfully unwell.
 
Poor Luke apologized many times for being such a nuisance and said that the whole thing had been his wife’s idea.
 
The Doctor, after he had sent below for his medicine-bag and had given Mrs. Luke some sal volatile14 and smelling-salts, said he thought the best thing to do would be for him to lend them some money and put them ashore at Penzance with Matthew. He also wrote a letter for Luke to take with him to a friend the Doctor had in the town of Penzance who, it was hoped, would be able to find Luke work to do there.
 
As the Doctor opened his purse and took out some gold coins I heard Polynesia, who was sitting on my shoulder watching the whole affair, mutter beneath her breath,
 
“There he goes—lending his last blessed penny—three pounds ten—all the money we had for the whole trip! Now we haven’t the price of a postage-stamp aboard if we should lose an anchor or have to buy a pint15 of tar—Well, let’s pray we don’t run out of food—Why doesn’t he give them the ship and walk home?”
 
Presently with the help of the map the course of the boat was changed and, to Mrs. Luke’s great relief, we made for Penzance and dry land.
 
I was tremendously interested to see how a ship could be steered16 into a port at night with nothing but light-houses and a compass to guide you. It seemed to me that the Doctor missed all the rocks and sand-bars very cleverly.
 
We got into that funny little Cornish harbor about eleven o’clock that night. The Doctor took his stowaways on shore in our small row-boat which we kept on the deck of the Curlew and found them rooms at the hotel there. When he got back he told us that Mrs. Luke had gone straight to bed and was feeling much better.
 
It was now after midnight; so we decided to stay in the harbor and wait till morning before setting out again.
 
I was glad to get to bed, although I felt that staying up so tremendously late was great fun. As I climbed into the bunk over the Doctor’s and pulled the blankets snugly17 round me, I found I could look out of the port-hole at my elbow, and, without raising my head from the pillow, could see the lights of Penzance swinging gently up and down with the motion of the ship at anchor. It was like being rocked to sleep with a little show going on to amuse you. I was just deciding that I liked the life of the sea very much when I fell fast asleep.
 

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1 stowaway 5tQwv     
n.(藏于轮船,飞机中的)偷乘者
参考例句:
  • The stowaway masqueraded as a crew member.偷渡者假扮成乘务员。
  • The crew discovered the stowaway about two days into their voyage.船员在开船约两天后发现了那名偷乘者。
2 rheumatism hDnyl     
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。
3 ashore tNQyT     
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸
参考例句:
  • The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前,孩子们就上岸了。
  • He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
4 bunk zWyzS     
n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位;废话
参考例句:
  • He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
  • Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。
5 minks f9730ded2a679b4c54bcdc64b15a2252     
n.水貂( mink的名词复数 );水貂皮
参考例句:
  • Fuck like minks, forget the rug rats, and live happily ever after. 我们象水貂一样作爱,忘掉小水貂吧,然后一起幸福生活。 来自互联网
  • They fuck like minks, raise rug rats, and live happily ever after. 他们象水貂一样做爱,再养一堆小水貂,然后一起幸福的生活。 来自互联网
6 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
7 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
8 stowaways edf021271a35be387f27b6c0e52dbe0d     
n.偷乘船[飞机]者( stowaway的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Smuggling guns, ammunition and drugs or assisting stowaways. 七私运枪械、弹药、品或协助偷渡人口者。 来自互联网
  • Officious immigration and customs officers scrutinised documents and searched cabins for stowaways or illicit goods. 一本正经的边境和海关官员仔细检查文件,在车厢里搜索偷渡者和走私货物。 来自互联网
9 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
10 seasick seasick     
adj.晕船的
参考例句:
  • When I get seasick,I throw up my food.我一晕船就呕吐。
  • He got seasick during the voyage.在航行中他晕船。
11 shack aE3zq     
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚
参考例句:
  • He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前,他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
  • The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。
12 fens 8c73bc5ee207e1f20857f7b0bfc584ef     
n.(尤指英格兰东部的)沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Most of the landscape in the Fens is as flat as a pancake. 菲恩斯的大部分地形都是极平坦的。 来自互联网
  • He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 它伏在莲叶之下,卧在芦苇隐密处和水洼子里。 来自互联网
13 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
14 volatile tLQzQ     
adj.反复无常的,挥发性的,稍纵即逝的,脾气火爆的;n.挥发性物质
参考例句:
  • With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定,投资冒着很大的风险。
  • His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱,喜怒无常。
15 pint 1NNxL     
n.品脱
参考例句:
  • I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
  • In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前,花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。
16 steered dee52ce2903883456c9b7a7f258660e5     
v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 );操纵;控制;引导
参考例句:
  • He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
  • The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 snugly e237690036f4089a212c2ecd0943d36e     
adv.紧贴地;贴身地;暖和舒适地;安适地
参考例句:
  • Jamie was snugly wrapped in a white woolen scarf. 杰米围着一条白色羊毛围巾舒适而暖和。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The farmyard was snugly sheltered with buildings on three sides. 这个农家院三面都有楼房,遮得很严实。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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