9 Hurrah for Puffin Island!

　　9
　　Hurrah for Puffin Island!
　　Bill seemed so astonished that the children stared at him. Surely it wasn’t so surprising to see anaeroplane, even near these desolate¹ bird-islands?
　　Bill took Jack²’s glasses and looked through them, but it was too late to make out anything.
　　‘I wonder if it was a seaplane or an ordinary plane,’ he said, half to himself. ‘How strange.’
　　‘Why is it strange?’ asked Dinah. ‘Aeroplanes go everywhere now.’
　　Bill said no more. He handed back the glasses to Jack. ‘I think we’d better have a meal, andthen put up our tents,’ he said. ‘What about putting them by that little stream we saw on our wayhere? About a quarter of a mile from the shore. It wouldn’t be too far to carry everything if we allgive a hand.’
　　The tents were set up. The ground-sheets were put down and the rugs tumbled over them. Then,sitting on a slight slope, looking out to the blue sea, the five of them had a glorious meal. ‘I alwaysthink,’ began Lucy-Ann, munching³ a couple of biscuits with butter and cream cheese betweenthem. ‘I always think . . .’
　　‘You needn’t go on,’ said Jack. ‘We know what you’re going to say and we quite agree withyou.’
　　‘You don’t know what I’m going to say,’ said Lucy-Ann indignantly.
　　‘We do,’ said Philip. ‘You say it every holiday when we have a meal out of doors.’
　　‘You’re going to say, “I always think food tastes much nicer when it’s eaten out of doors,”’ saidDinah. ‘Aren’t you?’
　　‘Well, I was,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Do I really always say it? Anyway, it’s quite true. I do think . . .’
　　‘Yes, we know,’ said Jack. ‘You’re an awful repeater, Lucy-Ann. You tell us the same thingsover and over again. Never mind. We think the same, even if we don’t keep on saying it. Kiki,take your fat beak⁴ out of the cream cheese!’
　　‘Kiki’s awful,’ said Dinah. ‘She really is. She’s pinched three biscuits already. I don’t think yougive her enough sunflower seeds, Jack.’
　　‘Golly, I like that!’ said Jack. ‘She won’t even look at sunflower seeds when there’s a spreadlike this. Anyway, Philip, your rats can always eat them. I found Squeaker in my pocket a littlewhile ago, nibbling⁵ one of them as fast as he could.’
　　‘I hope it won’t make him ill,’ said Philip in alarm. ‘I say, look! – here comes a gull⁶ – tame asanything. It wants a biscuit too, I should think.’
　　It did. It had watched Kiki pecking at a biscuit and enjoying it, and it didn’t see why it shouldn’thave a share. Kiki saw the gull out of the corner of her eye and sidled away. The gull made apounce, got the biscuit and rose into the air, making a loud laughing noise. ‘Ee-oo, ee-oo, ee-oo!’
　　Kiki flew up angrily, calling out all kinds of things to the gull. They were meant to be very rude,but unfortunately the gull didn’t understand. Kiki could not catch the strong-winged bird and flewdisconsolately back to the children.
　　‘You can’t complain, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘You shouldn’t have pinched that biscuit out of the tin –and the gull shouldn’t have pinched it from you. It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.’
　　‘What a pity, what a pity!’ said Kiki, and sidled near the biscuit-tin again.
　　‘That bird is a real clown,’ said Bill, shaking the crumbs⁷ off his jersey⁸. ‘Now, who’s comingback to the boat with me to hear the news on the radio? Also I must send out a few messages –especially one for your mother, Philip, who will be sure to want to know if we’ve got here safely.’
　　They all wanted to stretch their legs, so they walked back over the soft cushions of the sea-pinks, whose bold little pink heads nodded everywhere in the wind.
　　They watched Bill as he put up his little radio mast and fiddled⁹ about with the set. It was atransmitter as well as a receiver.
　　‘I suppose if you send messages home every night, we shan’t need to post letters off to AuntAllie,’ said Lucy-Ann.
　　Everyone roared. ‘And where would you post a letter, pray?’ asked Jack. ‘I haven’t seen apillar-box anywhere about. Lucy-Ann, you’re an idiot.’
　　‘Yes, I am!’ said Lucy-Ann, going red. ‘Of course we can’t post anything here! How useful thatyou can send messages, Bill! Then if any of us wanted help, you could get it.’
　　‘Quite so,’ said Bill. ‘But I hope if you wanted help I could whizz you off in the motor-boat.
　　Anyway I wouldn’t have consented to bring you all away into the wilds like this, if I hadn’t atransmitter with me, so that I could send messages every night. I send them to headquarters, andthey telephone them to your aunt. So she’ll follow our travels and adventures each night.’
　　They watched for a while, and then listened to part of a programme. Then Lucy-Ann yawnedand Kiki imitated her. ‘Blow! You make me feel sleepy,’ said Dinah, rubbing her eyes. ‘Look, it’sgetting dark!’
　　So back they went to their tents, and were soon cuddled into their rugs. The birds calledincessantly from the cliffs and the sea. ‘I believe they keep awake all night,’ thought Dinah. Butthey didn’t. They slept too when the darkness came at last.
　　The next day was very warm and close. ‘Looks to me like a storm blowing up sooner or later,’
　　said Bill, screwing up his eyes and looking into the bright sky. ‘I almost think we’d better try andfind our headquarters today, so that we have some shelter if a storm does blow up. This sort ofholiday needs fine weather if it’s going to be successful – a storm wouldn’t be at all pleasant, withonly tents to sleep in – we’d be blown to bits.’
　　‘I just want to take a few photographs of these cliffs and the birds on them,’ said Jack. ‘I’ll dothat whilst you’re getting down the tents, if you don’t mind my not helping¹⁰ you.’
　　So off he went with Kiki towards the steep cliffs. Bill called after him that he was not to try anyclimbing down the cliffs, and he shouted back that he wouldn’t.
　　Soon everything was packed away again on the motor-boat, which was just being floated by therising tide, and they waited patiently for Jack. He soon appeared, his glasses and his camera slunground his neck, and his face beaming.
　　‘Got some beauties,’ he said. ‘Kiki was awfully¹¹ useful to me. I got her to parade up and down,so that all the birds stayed still in amazement¹², watching her – and then, click! I got thembeautifully. I ought to have some fine pictures.’
　　‘Good!’ said Bill, smiling at the enthusiastic boy. ‘You’ll have to have a book of birdphotographs published. “Masterpieces, by Jack Trent, price thirty shillings.”’
　　‘I’d like that,’ said Jack, his face shining. ‘Not the thirty shillings I mean – but having a bookabout birds with my name on it.’
　　‘Come on in,’ said Philip impatiently, for Jack was still outside the boat. ‘We want to be off. It’sso warm I’m longing¹³ to get out to sea again, and feel the breeze on my face as the boat swingsalong.’
　　They soon felt it and were glad of it. It certainly was very hot for May. The boat went swiftlythrough the water, bobbing a little as it rode over the waves. Lucy-Ann let her fingers run throughthe water again – lovely and cool!
　　‘What I should like is a bathe,’ said Philip, little drops of perspiration¹⁴ appearing round his nose.
　　‘Can we bathe from the boat, Bill?’
　　‘Wait till we get to another island,’ said Bill. ‘I don’t particularly want to stop out at sea, with astorm in the offing. It’s so jolly hot I feel there must be thunder about. I’m anxious to run forshelter before it comes. Now – here are more islands bobbing up out of the sea. Let’s see if we canspot a puffin island. That’s what you want, isn’t it?’
　　Lucy-Ann, still dangling¹⁵ her hand in the water, suddenly felt something gently touching¹⁶ it. Insurprise she looked down, withdrawing her hand at once, afraid of a jellyfish.
　　To her astonishment¹⁷ she saw that it was a piece of orange peel, bobbing away on the waves. Shecalled to Bill.
　　‘Bill, look – there’s a bit of orange peel. Now whoever in the world eats oranges in these wildlittle islands? Do you suppose there are any other bird-lovers somewhere about?’
　　Everyone looked at the tiny bit of orange peel bobbing rapidly away. It did seem very much outof place there. Bill stared at it hard. He was puzzled. The fishermen, if there were any on theislands they were coming to, would not be at all likely to have oranges. And naturalists¹⁸ surelywould not bother to load themselves up with them.
　　Then how did that bit of peel come to be there? No ships went anywhere near where they were.
　　It was a wild and lonely part of the sea, where sudden storms blew up, and great gales¹⁹ madeenormous waves.
　　‘Beats me!’ said Bill at last. ‘I shall expect to see a pineapple or something next! Now look! –here is an island – fairly flattish – probably has puffins on it all right. Shall we make for it?’
　　‘No – cruise round a bit,’ begged Jack. ‘Let’s have a look at a few of the islands here. There isquite a colony of them round about.’
　　They cruised round, looking at first this island and then that. They came to one that had steepcliffs at the east side, then ran down into a kind of valley, then up again into cliffs.
　　Jack put his glasses to his eyes and yelled out excitedly. ‘Puffins! Plenty of them! Can you seethem, Philip? I bet the island is full of their burrows²⁰. Let’s land here, Bill. There’ll be masses ofbirds on the cliffs, and hundreds of puffins inland. It’s quite a big island. We could probably findgood shelter here and water too. The cliffs would protect us from both the east and west. What ho,for Puffin Island!’
　　‘Right,’ said Bill. He looked all round and about, and guided the boat towards the island. Therewere many other islands not far off, but as far as he could see they were inhabited only by birds.
　　The sea chopped about between the islands, making little rippling²¹ waves.
　　Round Puffin Island went the boat, and Philip gave a shout. ‘Here’s a fine place to put the boatin, Bill – see, where that channel of water goes into a cleft²² of the cliff! It’ll be deep there, and wecan just tie the boat up to a rock. We’ll put out the fenders, so that she doesn’t bump against therock sides.’
　　The boat nosed into the channel. As Philip said, the water was deep there – it was a natural littleharbour. There was a ledge²³ of rock on which they could land. Could anything be better? Hurrahfor Puffin Island!

1 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

2 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。

3 munching   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果，但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 gull   

n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈

参考例句：

• The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
• You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。

7 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？

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 awfully   

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。

12 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

13 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。

14 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

15 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

16 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

17 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

18 naturalists   

n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者

参考例句：

• Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
• This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句

19 gales   

龙猫

参考例句：

• I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
• This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。

20 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

21 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

22 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

23 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。