CHAPTER XVI THE KING AND THE WICKED FAIRY

 On the morning following this event, the King of Gee-Whiz woke in great good humor. "I declare, I never felt better in my life," said he to his Private Secretary, "and I believe it is all due to those excellent Waffles which the lady has made for me. I must have some more, and that at once. Pray, tell her to get ready my breakfast, and to have not less than two dozen Waffles at the least."

 

"Very good, your Majesty¹," said the Private Secretary, smiling, and very glad that he had been able to find something so much to the King's liking².

 

86"And where are the Royal Hereditary³ Twins, this morning?" asked the King. "They are, I suppose, perfectly⁴ happy?"

 

"Perfectly," replied the Private Secretary, "as indeed they ought to be. I presume they are wandering somewhere about in the forest, as is their custom. I need hardly say that they have already nearly exhausted⁵ their three wishes."

 

"Well," said the King, "we need not fear they will wish anything dangerous. But do you know, my dear Jiji, I have been feeling rather nervous myself this morning."

 

"Why, your Majesty, what can be the trouble?"

 

"I can not call it exactly any trouble, for it is a mere⁶ uneasiness. The truth is, I felt as though there were some one behind my bed all the morning. Now, that can not possibly be the case."

 

"No, your Majesty," said the Private Secretary, "because I always sleep across the door-mat myself, and it would be impossible for any one to reach your Majesty's bedside without my knowing it. Permit me to suggest that perhaps the royal Waffles—"

 

"No, no," exclaimed the King decidedly. "It is not in the least the Waffles. It is nothing—only a dream, perhaps. Yet I wonder if any of the Fairies can have 87got out of the valley. If I thought so, I would have Jankow court-martialed, and perhaps beheaded. He is getting a trifle too old for a good Dragon, anyhow."

 

"Impossible," said the kind-hearted Private Secretary. "I saw Jankow but yesterday, and he is as wide-awake as ever."

 

"As for myself," replied the King, "I have not slept so well for a hundred years, although I can not tell whether it is the Waffles or the syrup⁷."

 

"It was a fortunate thing, your Majesty, that you found the syrup so easily," said the Private Secretary.

 

"Quite right," replied the King. "And since it is not yet quite breakfast time, I think I shall just wander out into the woods and carry my ax, in case I should find a syrup tree. Although I am King, I believe in every man doing a little work for himself, you know."

 

So saying, the King stepped out into the edge of the great forest which surrounded the palace, humming a tune⁸ to himself, for he felt very contented⁹ that morning. He was not aware that at his side, hopping¹⁰ along as he walked, was the little Black Wicked Fairy which had been summoned by Zuzu's thoughtless message of the evening before. This Wicked Fairy, when Zuzu had stooped over to find his Cricket, had merely slipped back under a leaf and hidden himself, where he had stood 88laughing to himself at the confusion of Lulu and Zuzu. It seems to be a peculiarity¹¹ of Wicked Fairies never to oblige any one if they can help doing so; and that this is true may be seen from the acts of this Wicked Fairy in regard to the Telephone.

 

No sooner had Zuzu and Lulu left the forest on the night before than the Wicked Fairy followed them to their own house near the palace. He spied upon all the surroundings, and soon discovered the sleeping apartments of the King. He hopped¹² over the form of the Private Secretary after the latter had gone to sleep, and so hid himself behind the royal bedstead, as the King had dimly felt was the case.

 

Now, it was not in the power of the Wicked Fairy actually to harm the King or any other person, but only to encourage persons to do things which would get them into trouble. Thus it was he who had suggested to the King to take his ax and go out into the woods to find a syrup tree. This was really the worst thing in the world the King could have done, as was very soon to be shown; for it was far from the Fairy's intentions that the King should cut into a real syrup tree.

 

As the King went on, with his gold ax over his shoulder, he was thinking of a great many things which he ought to do, or wanted to do, or did not want to do. By this 89time, the sun was shining brightly, so that the shadow of the King appeared distinctly upon the ground. Now, you must know that the shadow of a king is very much better and bigger than the shadow of a common person. A king will not cause a shadow in the dark, or at least very few kings will; but in a brilliant place, even if there be intervening objects, the shadow of a king is very clear and distinct. The King of Gee-Whiz was very proud of his shadow, for, being a trifle vain, he thought himself a very handsome man, and that, indeed, he once had been; which is the same thing, for a King.

 

Now, as he looked down at the ground, he saw his shadow moving along at his side, keeping step with him regularly and looking, as it seemed to him, very large and handsome. He stood for a time at an open space in the forest, with his ax resting on a stump¹³, looking with pride on his shadow, which he thought was quite the most superior shadow he had ever seen. When he made a motion, the shadow made the same. He raised his hand to his head in royal salute¹⁴, and the shadow did quite the same. "Even a shadow has reverence¹⁵ for the King," said he, and he felt very glad that he had been born a King, as the position carried with it many advantages of a very obvious nature.

 

90"I don't see what I could do without my shadow," said the King of Gee-Whiz. "It and my faithful Private Secretary are my best friends and companions, and without them I should be very lonesome; for not even a King, I presume, could eat Waffles all the time. I am sure I should miss my shadow above all things."

 

As the King of Gee-Whiz said this, he looked about him uneasily, with something of the same feeling he had experienced when he thought some one was behind his bed. There was good reason for this, for in both cases the Wicked Fairy was directly at his elbow, although the King could not see him.

 

"Well, well," said the King, "I will just draw me a jug¹⁶ of syrup, and I am sure the exercise will do me good. Even a King must have physical culture, or fall quite behind the times. Let me see. Ah, here is a tree which looks precisely¹⁷ like a syrup tree."

 

So saying, he laid about him with his ax and cleared a little space so that he could get at the trunk of the tree. It was then that the Wicked Fairy whispered in his ear, although the King did not know it: "Cut into that tree, the one with the big green leaves!"

 

The King of Gee-Whiz, not knowing that a Fairy was there, thought it was his own voice he had heard. "Eh?" said he. "Ah, to be sure, this certainly is the tree. 91So now for a little exercise, and some syrup for my breakfast." So saying he swung his gold ax and cut deep into the trunk of the tree the Fairy had shown him.

1 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

2 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

3 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

4 perfectly   

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 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

10 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

11 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

12 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

13 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

14 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

15 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

16 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

17 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。