CHAPTER XIX TROUBLES AT THE ROYAL PALACE

 About the time these events were happening the Widow Pickle¹ was preparing to make ready the King's breakfast. As she came from her house and approached the palace, her eyes rested upon the prostrate² body of the King.

 

"This," said the Widow Pickle, "is the strangest looking object I ever saw in all my life. I wonder what it is."

 

At this time there came around the corner of the palace the Private Secretary of the King. "Good morning, Widow Pickle," said the Private Secretary. 104"Have you seen his Royal Highness anywhere this morning? It is nearly his breakfast hour, and no one knows where he is."

 

"I don't know either," said the Widow Pickle; "but I do know that it is scandalously late for any decent King to be lying abed. But tell me, what is this thing lying here, do you suppose?"

 

As she spoke³, she gave the King a poke⁴ with her foot, which immediately made him resolve to have her beheaded. The King recognized his Private Secretary and made frantic⁵ efforts to speak to him, all the time gesticulating in the wildest manner; but all he could do was to squeak⁶ as before; and the worst of it was that, as he became excited, he began again to bound up and down in the most violent manner.

 

"Mercy on us!" said the Widow Pickle. "I didn't know it was alive! What do you suppose it is?"

 

The Private Secretary took a second look and turned deathly pale.

 

"Madam," said he in a whisper, "it is none less than his Royal Highness, though what has come to him I can not say. But that it is the King I can swear by these two fingers on his hands and by the pink strawberry mark upon his shoulder."

 

105"Your Majesty⁷!" cried the faithful Private Secretary, "calm yourself, I beseech⁸ you. Pray be seated."

 

The King continued to bound up and down.

 

"Your Majesty," said the Private Secretary, "how came you in this unfortunate condition? I am very much distressed⁹, indeed, your Majesty. But will you not be seated?"

 

The King violently shook his head and resumed his agitation¹⁰, until at length the Private Secretary grasped him by one arm and so at last brought him to a stop and placed him upon the Royal Throne.

 

"Why, your Majesty," said the Private Secretary, "you are light as a feather! Pray, tell me, how has this happened?"

 

The King could only squeak as before, but now he made a violent motion toward his feet. The Private Secretary understood him, as any good Private Secretary should be able to understand even the inmost thoughts of his King.

 

"Quite right, your Majesty," said he. "I shall send at once for the Court Physician."

 

So presently the Court Physician came up on a run, and, seeing what was the trouble, took his keen lancet and bled the King in his royal left foot. At once there was a sharp, hissing¹¹ sound, and the dimensions 106of the King began to subside¹². In a few moments he had shrunk to such a size that he could be recognized by all. But now he was in such a rage that he could not make himself understood, but merely spluttered. Then he was for beheading the Widow Pickle at once for kicking him while he was helpless. Then he changed his mind, and ordered everybody banished¹³ from the Island except himself. This notion also passed, and he at length became more calm.

 

"Your Majesty, it was all those Waffles," cried the Court Physician, who was jealous of the Widow Pickle.

 

"Not in the least," declared the Widow Pickle. "That was never said of my Waffles before, as I am an honest woman."

 

The King was a just Monarch¹⁴, after all, and presently admitted it was not the Waffles, but what he had taken to be the syrup¹⁵, which he was now ready to agree was perhaps a foreign substance of a dangerous nature. He explained the appearance of the tree from which he had taken the liquid, and the Court Physician in post-haste set off to the forest. He returned at length quite out of breath, and assured the King that he had examined the tree and found that it was not a syrup tree or Arbor¹⁶ saccharinus, but a rubber tree, Arbor elasticus horribiliensis, whose juice was capable of the most singular consequences when taken into the human system.

 

107"That explains all," said the King, who was now leaning weakly back upon the throne, very weary and pale; "all but one thing." As he spoke, he slowly and tremblingly turned his head and looked upon the ground to see if he could discover his shadow.

 

"Look! Look!" cried the King, pointing before him.

 

The Court Physician and the Private Secretary both looked but could see nothing.

 

"There is nothing there, your Majesty," said the Court Physician.

 

"Nothing there!" exclaimed the King. "Of course there is nothing there—why, my soul and body! can't you see my royal shadow is gone?"

 

They looked again, and, to their great surprise, saw it was quite as the King had said. They looked all around, back of the throne, in front of it, and under it, and behind the door, but, seek as they might, could find no trace of the royal shadow.

 

"This," said the King, "is very terrible. I have been attached to that shadow for so long that I am sure I do not know what I shall do without it. Why, I feel so lonesome! Tell me what I shall do, tell me at once! Why do I employ an expensive Court Physician and a Private Secretary, if they are not able to tell me what to do in a case like this?"

 

108"If your Majesty will pardon me," said the Court Physician, "I would suggest that this is rather the work of the Court Detective."

 

"Nonsense!" said the King. "Jiji, do you go at once to the Court Tailor and Royal Robe Maker¹⁷ and have him take my measure for a new shadow. And now bring me my Waffles immediately, my good woman, for I am very much exhausted¹⁸ by all these trying circumstances."

 

 

 

1 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

2 prostrate   

v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的

参考例句：

• She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
• The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。

3 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。

4 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

5 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

6 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

7 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！

8 beseech   

v.祈求，恳求

参考例句：

• I beseech you to do this before it is too late.我恳求你做做这件事吧，趁现在还来得及。
• I beseech your favor.我恳求您帮忙。

9 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

10 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

11 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

12 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

13 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

15 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。

16 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

17 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

18 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。