3 Mr Wonka and the Indian Prince

3 Mr Wonka and the Indian Prince
‘Prince Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mr Willy Wonka,’ said Grandpa Joe, ‘and asked him
to come all the way out to India and build him a colossal¹ palace entirely² out of
chocolate.’
‘Did Mr Wonka do it, Grandpa?’
‘He did, indeed. And what a palace it was! It had one hundred rooms, and everything
was made of either dark or light chocolate! The bricks were chocolate, and the cement
holding them together was chocolate, and the windows were chocolate, and all the walls
and ceilings were made of chocolate, so were the carpets and the pictures and the
furniture and the beds; and when you turned on the taps in the bathroom, hot chocolate
came pouring out.
‘When it was all finished, Mr Wonka said to Prince Pondicherry, “I warn you, though,
it won’t last very long, so you’d better start eating it right away.”
‘ “Nonsense!” shouted the Prince. “I’m not going to eat my palace! I’m not even going
to nibble³ the staircase⁴ or lick⁵ the walls! I’m going to live in it!”
‘But Mr Wonka was right, of course, because soon after this, there came a very hot
day with a boiling sun, and the whole palace began to melt, and then it sank slowly to
the ground, and the crazy prince, who was dozing⁶ in the living room at the time, woke
up to find himself swimming around in a huge brown sticky lake of chocolate.’
Little Charlie sat very still on the edge of the bed, staring at his grandfather. Charlie’s
face was bright, and his eyes were stretched so wide you could see the whites all around.
‘Is all this really true?’ he asked. ‘Or are you pulling my leg?’
‘It’s true!’ cried all four of the old people at once. ‘Of course it’s true! Ask anyone you
like!’
‘And I’ll tell you something else that’s true,’ said Grandpa Joe, and now he leaned
closer to Charlie, and lowered his voice to a soft, secret whisper. ‘Nobody… ever…
comes… out!’
‘Out of where?’ asked Charlie.
‘And… nobody… ever… goes… in!’
‘In where?’ cried Charlie.
‘Wonka’s factory, of course!’
‘Grandpa, what do you mean?’
‘I mean workers, Charlie.’
‘Workers?’
‘All factories,’ said Grandpa Joe, ‘have workers streaming in and out of the gates in
the mornings and evenings – except Wonka’s! Have you ever seen a single person going
into that place – or coming out?’
Little Charlie looked slowly around at each of the four old faces, one after the other,
and they all looked back at him. They were friendly smiling faces, but they were also
quite serious. There was no sign of joking or leg-pulling on any of them.
‘Well? Have you?’ asked Grandpa Joe.
‘I… I really don’t know, Grandpa,’ Charlie stammered⁷. ‘Whenever I walk past the
factory, the gates seem to be closed.’
‘Exactly!’ said Grandpa Joe.
‘But there must be people working there…’
‘Not people, Charlie. Not ordinary people, anyway.’
‘Then who?’ cried Charlie.
‘Ah-ha… That’s it, you see… That’s another of Mr Willy Wonka’s clevernesses.’
‘Charlie, dear,’ Mrs Bucket called out from where she was standing⁸ by the door, ‘it’s
time for bed. That’s enough for tonight.’
‘But, Mother, I must hear…’
‘Tomorrow, my darling…’
‘That’s right,’ said Grandpa Joe, ‘I’ll tell you the rest of it tomorrow evening.’

1 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

2 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。

3 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

4 staircase   

n.楼梯，楼梯间

参考例句：

• Footsteps on the staircase interrupted his train of thought.楼梯上传来脚步声，打断了他的思路。
• I crossed the staircase landing,and entered the room she indicated.我经过一个楼梯平台，走进她说的那个房间。

5 lick   

vt.舔（吃），打败，轻拍，吞卷；n.舔，少许

参考例句：

• I think we could lick the best teams there.我想我们能打败那儿最好的队。
• The house would look better with a lick of paint.这房子稍加颜色就好看了。

6 dozing   

v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。

7 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。