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CHAPTER VII A MYSTERIOUS LETTER
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 We are now come to an unusual event in the history of the Doctor's post office, to the one which was, perhaps, the greatest of all the curious things that came about through the institution of the Swallow Mail.
 
On arriving back at the houseboat from his short and very busy holiday the Doctor was greeted joyfully1 by the pushmi-pullyu, Too-Too, Cheapside and Speedy the Skimmer. King Koko also came out to greet his friend when he saw the arrival of the Doctor's canoe through a pair of opera glasses (price ten shillings and sixpence) which he had recently got from London by parcel post. And the prominent Fantippans, who had missed their afternoon tea and social gossip terribly during the Postmaster's absence, got into their canoes and followed the King out to the Foreign Mails Office.
 
So for three hours after his arrival—in fact, until it was dark—the Doctor did not get a chance to do a thing besides shake hands and answer questions about how he had enjoyed his holiday, where he had been and what he had done. The welcome he received on his return and the sight of the comfortable houseboat, gay with flowering window boxes, made the Doctor, as he afterward2 said to Dab-Dab, feel as though he were really coming home.
 
"Yes," said the housekeeper3, "but don't forget that you have another home, a real one, in Puddleby."
 
"That's true," said the Doctor. "I suppose I must be getting on to England soon. But the Fantippans were honestly pleased to see us, weren't they? And, after all, Africa is a nice country, now, isn't it?"
 
"Yes," said Dab-Dab, "a nice enough country for short holidays—and long drinks."
 
After supper had been served and eaten and the Doctor had been made to tell the story of the pearl fisheries all over again for the benefit of his own family circle, he at last turned to the enormous pile of letters which were waiting for him. They came, as usual, from all parts of the world, from every conceivable kind of animal and bird. For hours he waded4 patiently through them, answering them as they came. Speedy acted as his secretary and took down in bird and animal scribble5 the answers that the Doctor reeled off by the dozen. Often John Dolittle dictated6 so fast that the poor Skimmer had to get Too-Too (who had a wonderful memory) to come and help listen, so nothing should be missed through not writing it down quick enough.
 
Toward the end of the pile the Doctor came across a very peculiar7 thick envelope, all over mud. For a long time none of them could make out a single word of the letter inside, nor even who it was from. The Doctor got all his notebooks out of the safe, compared and peered and pored over the writing for hours. Mud had been used for ink. The signs were made so clumsily they might almost be anything.
 
But at last, after a tremendous lot of work, copying out afresh, guessing and discussing, the meaning of the extraordinary letter was pieced together, and this is what it said:
 
"Dear Doctor Dolittle: I have heard of your post office and am writing this as best I can—the first letter I ever wrote. I hear you have a weather bureau in connection with your post office and that a one-eyed albatross is your chief weather prophet. I am writing to tell you that I am the oldest weather prophet in the world. I prophesied8 the Flood, and it came true to the day and the hour I said it would. I am a very slow walker or I would come and see you and perhaps you could do something for my gout, which in the last few hundred years has bothered me a good deal. But if you will come to see me I will teach you a lot about weather. And I will tell you the story of the Flood, which I saw with my own eyes from the deck of Noah's Ark.
 
"Yours very truly,     
"Mudface."
 
P. S.—I am a turtle."
 
At last, on reading the muddy message through, the Doctor's excitement and enthusiasm knew no bounds. He began at once to make arrangements to leave the following day for a visit to the turtle.
 
But, alas9! when he turned again to the letter to see where the turtle lived, he could find nothing to give a clue to his whereabouts! The mysterious writer who had seen the Flood, Noah and the Ark had forgotten to give his address!
 
"Look here, Speedy," said John Dolittle, "we must try and trace this. Let us leave no stone unturned to find where this valuable document came from. First, we will question everyone in the post office to find out who it was delivered it."
 
Well, everyone in turn, the pushmi-pullyu, Cheapside, Too-Too, Quip-the-Carrier, all the swallows, any stray birds who were living in the neighborhood, even a pair of rats who had taken up their residence in the houseboat, were cross-examined by the Doctor or Speedy.
 
But no one had seen the letter arrive; no one could tell what day or hour it had come; no one could guess how it got into the pile of the Doctor's mails; no one knew anything about it. It was one of those little post office mysteries that are always cropping up even in the best-run mail systems.
 
The Doctor was positively10 heartbroken. Often in his natural history meditations11 he had wondered about all sorts of different matters connected with the Ark; and he had decided12 that Noah, after his memorable13 voyage was over, must have been a great naturalist14. Now had come most unexpectedly a chance to hear the great story from an eye-witness—from someone who had actually known and sailed with Noah—and just because of a silly little slip like leaving out an address the great chance was to be lost!
 
All attempts to trace the writer having failed, the Doctor, after two days, gave it up and went back to his regular work. This kept him so busy for the next week that he finally forgot all about the turtle and his mysterious letter.
 
But one night, when he was working late to catch up with the business which had multiplied during his absence, he heard a gentle tapping on the houseboat window. He left his desk and went and opened it. Instantly in popped the head of an enormous snake, with a letter in its mouth—a thick, muddy letter.
 
"Great heavens!" cried the Doctor. "What a start you gave me! Come in, come in, and make yourself at home."
 
Slowly and smoothly15 the snake slid in over the window sill and down on to the floor of the houseboat. Yards and yards and more yards long he came, coiling himself up neatly16 at John Dolittle's feet like a mooring17 rope on a ship's deck.
 
"Pardon me, but is there much more of you outside still?" asked the Doctor.
 
"Yes," said the snake, "only half of me is in yet."
 
"Then I'll open the door," said the Doctor, "so you can coil part of yourself in the passage. This room is a bit small."
 
When at last the great serpent was all in, his thick coils entirely18 covered the floor of the Doctor's office and a good part of him overflowed19 into the passage outside.
 
"Now," said the Doctor, closing the window, "what can I do for you?"
 
"I've brought you this letter," said the snake. "It's from the turtle. He is wondering why he got no answer to his first."
 
"But he gave me no address," said John Dolittle, taking the muddy envelope from the serpent. "I've been trying my hardest ever since to find out where he lived."
 
"Oh, was that it?" said the snake. "Well, old Mudface isn't much of a letter-writer. I suppose he didn't know he had to give his address."
 
"I'm awfully20 glad to hear from him again," said the Doctor. "I had given up all hope of ever seeing him. You can show me how to get to him?"
 
"Why, certainly," said the big serpent. "I live in the same lake as he does, Lake Junganyika."
 
"You're a water snake, then, I take it," said the Doctor.
 
"Yes."
 
"You look rather worn out from your journey. Is there anything I can get you?"
 
"I'd like a saucer of milk," said the snake.
 
"I only have wild goats' milk," said John Dolittle. "But it's quite fresh."
 
And he went out into the kitchen and woke up the housekeeper.
 
"What do you think, Dab-Dab," he said breathless with excitement, "I've got a second letter from the turtle and the messenger is going to take us to see him!"
 
When Dab-Dab entered the postmaster's office with the milk she found John Dolittle reading the letter. Looking at the floor, she gave a squawk of disgust.
 
"It's a good thing for you Sarah isn't here," she cried. "Just look at the state of your office—it's full of snake!"

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
2 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
3 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。
4 waded e8d8bc55cdc9612ad0bc65820a4ceac6     
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
  • He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。
5 scribble FDxyY     
v.潦草地书写,乱写,滥写;n.潦草的写法,潦草写成的东西,杂文
参考例句:
  • She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字,但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
  • I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。
6 dictated aa4dc65f69c81352fa034c36d66908ec     
v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 );口授;支配;摆布
参考例句:
  • He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
  • No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
8 prophesied 27251c478db94482eeb550fc2b08e011     
v.预告,预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She prophesied that she would win a gold medal. 她预言自己将赢得金牌。
  • She prophesied the tragic outcome. 她预言有悲惨的结果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
10 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
11 meditations f4b300324e129a004479aa8f4c41e44a     
默想( meditation的名词复数 ); 默念; 沉思; 冥想
参考例句:
  • Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
  • I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉,打断你思考问题了。
12 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。
13 memorable K2XyQ     
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的
参考例句:
  • This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
  • The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。
14 naturalist QFKxZ     
n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)
参考例句:
  • He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业,同时是个博物学爱好者。
  • The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。
15 smoothly iiUzLG     
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
16 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
17 mooring 39b0ff389b80305f56aa2a4b7d7b4fb3     
n.停泊处;系泊用具,系船具;下锚v.停泊,系泊(船只)(moor的现在分词)
参考例句:
  • However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
  • Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚,她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮,一会为这个想法难受,一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
18 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
19 overflowed 4cc5ae8d4154672c8a8539b5a1f1842f     
溢出的
参考例句:
  • Plates overflowed with party food. 聚会上的食物碟满盘盈。
  • A great throng packed out the theater and overflowed into the corridors. 一大群人坐满剧院并且还有人涌到了走廊上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。


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