Chapter 2 ON THE VIKING STAR

　　Chapter 2 ON THE VIKING STAR
　　IT certainly was fun getting everything ready — buying flimsy clothes and enormous hats, masses offilms for the cameras, guide-books and maps. It was to be quite a long cruise, and the ship was to goto Portugal, Madeira, French Morocco, Spain, Italy, and the Aegean Islands. What a wonderful trip!
　　At last everything was ready. The trunks were packed and strapped¹. The tickets had arrived.
　　Passports were ready, and everyone had screamed in dismay to see how hideous² they looked in theirpassport photographs.
　　Kiki screamed too, just for company. She loved screeching³ and screaming, but she wasn't encouragedin this, so it was a fine chance to scream when everyone was doing the same.
　　"Shut up, Kiki," said Jack⁴, pushing her off his shoulder. "Fancy screaming right in my ear like that!
　　It's enough to make me stone deaf. Aunt Allie, will Kiki want a passport?""Of course not," said Mrs. Mannering. "I'm not even sure she will be allowed to go with us."Jack stared at her in the greatest dismay. "But — I can't go if Kiki doesn't. I couldn't leave her behind.
　　She'd be miserable⁵."
　　"Well, I'll write and ask if you can take her," said Mrs. Mannering. "But if the answer is no, you arenot to make a fuss, Jack. I've gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this trip, and I can't have youupsetting it just because of Kiki. I can't imagine that she will be allowed to go — I'm sure passengerswould object to a noisy bird like that."
　　"She can be awfully⁶ quiet if she wants to," said poor Jack. Kiki chose that moment to have a fit ofhiccups. She hiccupped very well, and it always annoyed Mrs. Mannering.
　　"Stop that, Kiki," she ordered. Kiki stopped and looked reproachfully at Mrs. Mannering. She beganto cough, a small but hollow cough copied from the gardener.
　　Mrs. Mannering tried not to laugh. "The bird is so idiotic," she said. "Quite crazy. Now, where did Iput that list of things that I've got to do before we go?""One, two, three, GO!" shouted Kiki, and Jack just stopped her making a noise like a pistol shot. Mrs.
　　Mannering went out of the room, and Jack spoke⁷ solemnly to Kiki.
　　"Kiki, I may have to go without you, old bird. I can't upset all the arrangements at the last minutebecause of you. But I'll do what I can, so cheer up.""God save the King," said Kiki, feeling that it must be a solemn moment by the look on Jack's face.
　　"Poor Polly, naughty Polly!"
　　The last few days went by slowly. Lucy-Ann complained about it. "Why is it that time always goesso slowly when you're wanting something to happen quickly? Its sickening. Thursday will nevercome!"
　　Jack was not so excited as the others, because a letter had come saying that parrots could not be takenon board. All four children were very sorry about it, and Jack looked really worried. But he did notgrumble about it, or worry Mrs. Mannering. She was sorry for him and offered to arrange with awoman in the village to look after Kiki for him.
　　"She used to have a parrot of her own," she said. "I expect she'd enjoy having Kiki.""No thanks, Aunt Allie. I'll arrange something," said Jack. "Don't let's talk about it!"So Mrs. Mannering said no more, and even when Kiki sat on the tea-table and picked all the currantsout of the cake before anyone noticed, she didn't say a word.
　　On Wednesday all five went off in Mrs. Mannering's car to Southampton, followed by another withthe baggage. They were in a great state of excitement. Everyone was in charge of something to carry,and Lucy-Ann kept looking at her package anxiously to make sure she still had it.
　　They were to stay at a hotel for the night and embark⁸ on the ship at half-past eight in the morning, tocatch the tide. They would be away at eleven o'clock, steaming steadily⁹ towards France — whatexcitement!
　　They all had a very good dinner at the hotel, and then Mrs. Mannering suggested going to the cinema.
　　She felt sure that not one of the children would go to sleep if she sent them to bed at the usual time.
　　"Do you mind if I go and hunt up a school friend of mine, Aunt Allie?" said Jack. "He lives inSouthampton, and I'd like to spring a surprise on him and go and call.""All right," said Mrs. Mannering. "But you're not to be late back. Do you want to go and see him too,Philip?"
　　"Who's this chappy, Jack?" asked Philip, but Jack was half-way out of the room. A mumble¹⁰ camethrough the door.
　　"What's he say?" said Philip.
　　"Sounded like 'Porky' to me," said Dinah.
　　"Porky? Who does he mean, I wonder," said Philip. "Somebody mad on birds, I expect. I'll come tothe cinema. I'd like to see the picture — it's got wild animals in it."They went off to the cinema without seeing Jack again. He was home when they came back, readingone of the guide-books Mrs. Mannering had bought.
　　"Hallo! See Porky?" said Philip. He got a frown from Jack, and was puzzled. What was Jack up to?
　　He changed the subject quickly, and began to talk about the picture they had seen.
　　"Now, to bed," said Mrs. Mannering. "Stop talking, Philip. Off you all go — and remember, up atseven o'clock sharp in the morning."
　　Everyone was awake long before seven. The girls talked together, and Philip and Jack chattered¹¹ awaytoo. Philip asked Jack about the night before.
　　"Why did you shut me up when I asked you if you'd seen Porky?" he said. "And anyway — who isPorky?"
　　"He's that fellow called Hogsney," said Jack. "We called him Porky. He left ages ago. He was alwayswanting to borrow Kiki, don't you remember?""Oh, yes, Porky, of course," said Philip. "I'd almost forgotten him. Jack, what's up? You look sort ofsecretive!"
　　"Don't ask me any questions because I don't want to answer them," said Jack.
　　"You're being jolly mysterious," said Philip. "I believe it's something to do with Kiki. You keptputting us all off when we asked you what you'd done with her. We thought you were feeling upsetabout it, so we didn't press you."
　　"Well, don't press me now," said Jack. "I don't want to say anything at the moment.""All right," said Philip, giving it up. "I know you're up to something, though. Come on — let's get up.
　　It's not seven yet, but we can't lie in bed on a morning as fine as this."They were all on the boat at just after half-past eight. Mrs. Mannering found their cabins. There werethree in a row — a single one for her, and two double ones for the others.
　　Lucy-Ann was delighted with them. "Why, they are just like proper little rooms," she said. "Jack, isyour cabin like ours? Look, we've even got hot and cold water taps.""We've got an electric fan going in our cabin," said Philip, appearing at the door. "It's wizard —lovely and cool. You've got one too."
　　"The water is only just below our porthole," said Dinah, looking out. "If the sea got at all rough, itwould slop into the hole!"
　　"It would be well and truly screwed up before that happened!" said Philip. "I'm glad we're at thewater-line — it will be cooler in this warm weather. I say, isn't this super! I'm longing¹² to sail off."They all went to see Mrs. Mannering's cabin, which was the same as theirs, but smaller. Then theywent to explore the ship. She was quite big, but not tremendous, and was white from top to bottom —white funnels¹³, white rails, white sides.
　　Her name was on each of the white lifeboats, swung at the sides of the deck — Viking Star. Lucy-Ann read it a dozen times over.
　　"We shall have lifeboat drill tomorrow, I expect," said Mrs. Mannering, joining them on theirexploration.
　　"There are big sort of life-belt jackets in our cabin cupboards," said Lucy-Ann. "I suppose you tiethem round you."
　　"You slip them over your head, so that half the jacket is at your front and half behind — and then youtie it firmly round you with the ropes on it," said Mrs. Mannering. "You'll have to put it on tomorrowfor lifeboat drill."
　　It all sounded very exciting. They went round the ship, thrilled with everything. There was the sportsdeck, where someone was already playing quoits with thick rings of rope, and two others wereplaying deck-tennis. "Fancy being able to play games like this on board ship!" said Dinah.
　　"There's a cinema down below," said Mrs. Mannering, "and a writing-room, and library and lounge,and an enormous dining-room!"
　　"And gosh, look — here's a swimming-pool on the ship itself!" cried Jack, in amazement¹⁴, as theycame to a beautiful pool at one end of the ship, shimmering¹⁵ blue with water.
　　The ship's siren suddenly hooted¹⁷ twice, very loudly Lucy-Ann almost fell into the swimming-poolwith fright Mrs. Mannering laughed.
　　"Oh, Lucy-Ann — did it make you jump? It made me jump too.""What a terrific noise!" said Lucy-Ann. "My goodness, it's a good thing Kiki isn't here. If she beganto hoot¹⁶ like that siren she'd be impossible.""Shut up, idiot," said Dinah, in a low voice. "Don't remind Jack we're going off without her."Lucy-Ann glanced round for Jack, but he wasn't there. "Where's he gone?" she asked Dinah. Butnobody had seen him go.
　　"He's somewhere about," said Philip. "I say, we must be sailing soon. Look — they're taking up thegangways. We'll soon be off!"
　　"Let's stand at this side and wave to all the people," said Lucy-Ann. She leaned over the rail andwatched the people crowded together on the dockside below. They were shouting and waving.
　　Suddenly Lucy-Ann gave a squeal¹⁸.
　　"Look! Look! There's somebody with a parrot just like Kiki! Honestly, it is. Where's Jack? I must tellhim. Blow, he's nowhere to be seen!"
　　The engines of the ship had now started up, and the children felt a vibration¹⁹ under their feet. Lucy-Ann strained her eyes to look at the parrot that was so very like Kiki.
　　"It is Kiki!" she cried. "Kiki! Kiki! Good-bye! I'm sure it's you!"The parrot was chained to a young man's wrist. Whether it was making a noise or not the childrencouldn't tell because of the hullaballoo going on. It certainly was remarkably²⁰ like Kiki.
　　"We're off! We've moved away from the quay²¹!" cried Philip. "Hurrah²², we're off!" He waved madly toevery one. Lucy-Ann waved too, and watched the parrot. It was getting smaller as the ship movedaway towards the open water. Its owner seemed to be having trouble with it. I was flapping its wings,and pecking at him.
　　Then it suddenly rose into the air — the chain parted — and the parrot sailed right over the stretch ofwater be tween quay and ship, screeching madly.
　　"It is Kiki, it is, it is!" yelled Lucy-Ann. "Jack, where are you! JACK!"

1 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

3 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

4 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。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 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。

7 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。

8 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

9 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

10 mumble   

n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝

参考例句：

• Her grandmother mumbled in her sleep.她祖母含混不清地说着梦话。
• He could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.他能听到纳瓦罗在小声咕哝。

11 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

12 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。

13 funnels   

漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱

参考例句：

• Conventional equipment such as mixing funnels, pumps, solids eductors and the like can be employed. 常用的设备，例如混合漏斗、泵、固体引射器等，都可使用。
• A jet of smoke sprang out of the funnels. 喷射的烟雾从烟囱里冒了出来。

14 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。

15 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

16 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

17 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。

18 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

19 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

20 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

21 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

22 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。