8 Kiki talks too much

　　8 Kiki talks too much
　　They all crowded into the dimly lighted shed. They gazed joyfully¹ at the piles of things on theshelves.
　　‘Biscuits! Tongue! Pineapple! Sardines²! Milk! Gosh, there’s everything here!’ cried Jack³.
　　‘What shall we start on?’
　　‘Wait a bit. Don’t let’s disarrange the shelf so much that the men will know someone has beenhere,’ said Philip. ‘Better take tins from the back, not the front. And we won’t eat the fruit andother stuff here – we’ll take it away with us.’
　　‘I think,’ said Jack slowly – ‘I really do think it would be a good idea to take away as much ofthis as we can carry, in case we are stuck in this valley for some time. We may as well face thefact that we are completely lost, and cut off from the world we know, and may not be rescued forages⁴.’
　　The others looked solemn, and Lucy-Ann looked scared as well.
　　‘You’re right, Freckles,’ said Philip. ‘We’ll help ourselves, to as much as we can carry. Look,here’s a pile of old sacks. What about filling a couple of them with the tins and carrying them offbetween us? We could take dozens of the tins then.’
　　‘Good idea,’ said Jack. ‘Here’s a sack for you and Dinah to fill, and here’s one for me andLucy-Ann.’
　　Philip stood on one of the chairs and reached his hand behind the front row of tins on the shelf.
　　He threw down tin after tin, and the others put them into the two sacks. What a store there was inthat hut!
　　Soon the sacks were full and almost too heavy to carry. It was nice to think of all that foodwaiting to be eaten. Jack found a tin-opener too, and put it in his pocket.
　　‘Before we go, let’s have a look and see if we can find any papers or documents that will tell ussomething about these mysterious airmen,’ said Philip. But although they hunted in every corner,and even under the pile of sacks, they could find nothing.
　　‘I wonder what they did with that crate⁵ they had in the plane,’ said Jack. ‘We haven’t found thatanywhere. I’d like to have a squint⁶ at that too.’
　　The crate was not in the shed. So the children wandered out and had another good look round.
　　And, in a copse of young trees and bushes, with a tarpaulin⁷ over them, they found about six of thewooden crates⁸.
　　‘Funny,’ said Jack, pulling away the tarpaulin. ‘Look – lots of them – all empty! What are theygoing to put into them?’
　　‘Goodness knows!’ said Philip. ‘Who would bring empty crates to this deserted⁹ valley, hopingto find something to fill them? Only madmen!’
　　‘Oh – you don’t really think those men are mad, do you?’ said Lucy-Ann in alarm. ‘What shallwe do if they are?’
　　‘Keep out of their way, that’s all,’ said Philip. ‘Come on. Did we shut that door? Yes, we did.
　　Now, heave-ho, Dinah, catch hold of your end of the sack and we’ll go back to our shed.’
　　Stumbling under the weight of the clanking sacks, the four children made their way slowly backto the shed they had hidden their things in. Jack dumped his sack, and then ran to climb the tree hehad climbed before, in order to sweep the countryside with his field glasses, and see if the menwere by any chance returning yet. But there was no sign of them.
　　‘All clear at the moment,’ said Jack, going back to the others. ‘Now for a meal – the finestwe’ve ever had because we’ve never been so hungry before.’
　　They chose a tin of biscuits and opened it. They took out about forty biscuits, feeling perfectlycertain that they could manage at least ten each. They opened a tin of tongue, which Jack carvedvery neatly¹⁰ with his penknife. Then they opened a tin of pineapple chunks¹² and a tin of milk.
　　‘What a meal!’ said Jack, sitting down contentedly¹³ on the sun-warmed ground. ‘Well – heregoes!’
　　Never did food taste so completely delicious. ‘Mmm- mm- mmm,’ murmured Lucy- Ann,meaning, ‘This is simply gorgeous.’ Kiki imitated her at once.
　　‘Mmm-mm-mm! Mmm-mm-mm!’
　　No word was spoken except when Dinah saw Kiki delving¹⁴ too deeply into the tin of pineapple.
　　‘Jack! Do stop Kiki! She’ll eat it all!’
　　Kiki retired¹⁵ to a branch of the tree above, a large chunk¹¹ of pineapple in her claw. ‘Mmm-mm-mm!’ she kept saying. ‘Mmm-mm-mm!’
　　Dinah went to the spring and rinsed¹⁶ out the empty tin of milk. Then she filled it with clear coldwater and came back. She emptied the cold water into the pineapple juice left at the bottom of thetin and shook it up. Then she offered everyone a pineapple drink to end the meal.
　　‘Gosh! I do feel better now,’ said Jack, and he undid¹⁷ his belt to let it out two or three holes.
　　‘Thank goodness you lost your temper and kicked that door, Philip. We were so sure that it waslocked, and the key taken.’
　　‘Silly of us,’ said Philip, lying down and shutting his eyes. ‘What are we going to do with theempty tins?’
　　‘You’re obviously going to do nothing,’ said Dinah. ‘I’ll push them down a rabbit hole. Therabbits can lick them out.’
　　She picked up a tin and gave a scream. She dropped it, and Lizzie the lizard¹⁸ ran out in a hurry.
　　She had been sniffing¹⁹ in delight at the crumbs²⁰ of tongue left there. The tiny creature ran to Philip,and disappeared down his neck.
　　‘Don’t tickle²¹, Lizzie,’ murmured Philip sleepily.
　　‘I’d better keep a watch out in case the men come back,’ said Jack, and he climbed his treeagain. Lucy-Ann and Dinah stuffed the empty tins down a large rabbit hole.
　　Kiki looked down the hole at the tins in surprise, then walked solemnly down and began to tugat one of the tins.
　　‘No, Kiki, don’t!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Jack, take Kiki with you up the tree.’
　　Jack whistled. Kiki flew to him at once and perched on his shoulder as he climbed his tree,moving from side to side when a bough²³ threatened to knock her off.
　　‘We’d better bring out all our cases and things, ready to hide them somewhere better than in thecowshed,’ said Dinah. ‘If those men do look round here when they come back, they’ll see them inthe cowstall, as sure as anything!’
　　So the two girls lugged²⁴ everything out, Dinah grumbling²⁵ because Philip lay apparently²⁶ asleepand would not stir himself to help them. Jack came down the tree.
　　‘No sign of them yet,’ he said. ‘Now the thing is – where can we hide these things really well?’
　　‘Down the well,’ suggested Kiki, hearing the word ‘well.’
　　‘Shut up, Kiki,’ said Jack. He looked all round but could think of nowhere. Then an idea struckhim.
　　‘I’ll tell you where would be a jolly good place,’ he said.
　　‘Where?’ asked the girls.
　　‘Well – see that big tree there? – the one with thick spreading branches – we could get up thereand pull up our things quite easily, and hide them in the leafy branches. No one would think oflooking up there, either for us or our belongings²⁷.’
　　The girls gazed at the thickly leafed tree. It was a horse-chestnut tree, dark and full of glossyleaves. Just the place.
　　‘But how can we get the suitcases up?’ asked Dinah. ‘They’re not terribly big – but they’requite heavy.’
　　Jack undid a rope from round his waist. He nearly always had one there. ‘Here you are!’ hesaid. ‘I can climb up the tree and let down this rope. You can slip it through the handle of one ofthe suitcases and knot it. Then I’ll give a jolly good heave – and up it’ll come!’
　　‘Let’s wake Philip, then,’ said Dinah, who didn’t see why her brother shouldn’t join in thelabour of heaving things up a tree. She went over and shook him. He awoke with a jump.
　　‘Come and help us, you lazy thing,’ said Dinah. ‘Jack’s found a marvellous hiding place for usall.’
　　Philip joined the others and agreed that it was indeed a fine place. He said he would go up withJack and pull up the cases.
　　Kiki was most interested in all the proceedings²⁹. When Jack hung the rope down the tree, sheflew to it and gave it such a tug²² with her beak³⁰ that it was pulled from Jack’s hand and fell to theground.
　　‘Kiki! What did you do that for, you bad bird?’ called Jack. ‘Now I’ve got to climb all the waydown and up again! Idiot!’
　　Kiki went off into one of her neverending cackles of laughter. She waited her chance and onceagain pulled the rope from poor Jack’s hand.
　　Jack called her sternly. She came, cracking her beak, not quite liking³¹ Jack’s stern voice. Hetapped her very sharply on the beak.
　　‘Bad Kiki! Naughty Kiki! Go away! I don’t want you. No, GO AWAY !’
　　Kiki flew off, squawking dismally³². Jack was not very often cross with her, but she knew he wasthis time. She retired inside the dark cowshed, and sat high up on a blackened beam, swayingherself to and fro.
　　‘Poor Kiki! Poor, poor Kiki!’ she groaned³³. ‘Pop goes Kiki!’
　　Jack and Philip soon hauled everything up and stowed it safely away in the forks of the bigspreading branches. Then Jack shinned up a bit higher and put his glasses to his eyes. What he sawmade him call urgently to the girls.
　　‘The men are coming! Quick, get up! Have you left anything behind? Have a look and see!’
　　The girls took a quick look round. They could see nothing. Lucy-Ann climbed the tree quickly,with Dinah just behind her. They settled themselves on broad branches and peered down. Theycould see nothing at all, for the leaves were far too thick. Well, if they couldn’t see down, certainlynobody could see up. So that was all right.
　　Soon they could hear voices. The men were coming near. The children sat as quiet as mice inthe tree. Lucy-Ann felt a terrible longing²⁸ to cough and she put her hand over her mouth.
　　Down below, the men were making a good search of the old cowshed. They found nothing, ofcourse, for everything had been removed by the children. Then they wandered out again andlooked at the flattened³⁴ grass. It puzzled them very much.
　　‘I’ll just have one more look in that shed,’ said the man called Juan. He disappeared into theshed once more. Kiki, who was still up on the blackened beam, sulking, was annoyed to see himagain.
　　‘Wipe your feet,’ she said severely³⁵. ‘And how many times have I told you to shut the door?’
　　The man jumped violently and peered all round. Kiki was huddled³⁶ in a corner up in the roof andhe could not see her. He looked in all the other corners of the room, hardly believing his ears. Hecalled to his companion.
　　‘Look here,’ he said, ‘somebody just now told me to wipe my feet and shut the door.’
　　‘You’re mad,’ said the other man. ‘You can’t be feeling well.’
　　‘Pussy down the well,’ announced Kiki. ‘Well, well, well! Use your handkerchief.’
　　The men clutched one another. Kiki’s voice was so unexpected in that dark shed.
　　‘Let’s be quiet and listen,’ said Juan. Kiki heard the words ‘be quiet.’
　　‘Shhhhhhhhhshhhhhhh!’ she said at the top of her voice. That was too much for the men. Theyfled out into the open air.

1 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 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 forages   

n.牛马饲料( forage的名词复数 )；寻找粮草

参考例句：

• A long-term trial had been carried out on tropical forages. 选用热带主要牧草草种进行长期定位试验。 来自互联网
• A young fur seal forages amid bull kelp near Gansbaai, South Africa. 一只年轻的海豹在南非干斯拜附近的巨藻丛中觅食。 来自互联网

5 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

6 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

7 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

8 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

9 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

10 neatly   

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。

11 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

12 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

13 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

14 delving   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He has been delving into the American literature of 20th century. 他一直在潜心研究美国20世纪文学。 来自互联网
• In some ways studying Beckett is like delving into Shakespeare's words. 在某些方面，研究Beckett的戯好像是深入研究莎士比亚的语句。 来自互联网

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 rinsed   

v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉

参考例句：

• She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

18 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

19 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

21 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

22 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

23 bough   

n.大树枝，主枝

参考例句：

• I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
• Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。

24 lugged   

vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She lugged the heavy case up the stairs. 她把那只沉甸甸的箱子拖上了楼梯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They used to yell that at football when you lugged the ball. 踢足球的时候，逢着你抢到球，人们总是对你这样嚷嚷。 来自辞典例句

25 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

26 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

27 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

28 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

29 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

30 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

31 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。

32 dismally   

adv.阴暗地，沉闷地

参考例句：

• Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分
• He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

33 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

35 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

36 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。