Chapter 5 LUCIAN ARRIVES

　　Chapter 5 LUCIAN ARRIVES
　　THE children soon felt that the Viking Star was their home — a floating home, containing everythingthey wanted except the open countryside. They got to know every nook and cranny on the ship, theyexplored the engine-room under the eye of Mac, the chief engineer, and they were even allowed upon the bridge by the first officer, a very great honour.
　　Mrs. Mannering made friends on the ship with two or three people she liked. There were only a fewchildren on board besides Jack¹ and the others, and they were much younger and so spoilt that nobodywanted to have much to do with them.
　　"I'd rather wish there were more children of your own age," Mrs. Mannering said to her four. "Itmight be more fun for you."
　　"Well — we don't want anyone else, thanks," said Philip. "We're all right on our own. It's bad enoughhaving those other spoilt kids around — always wanting to mess about with Micky, and trying to getKiki to talk to them."
　　"She's too sensible," said Jack. "Kiki just looks at them and says 'Shut up!' whenever she sees them.""How rude of her!" said Mrs. Mannering. "I do hope you stop her when she talks like that to the otherchildren."
　　"Well," actually I don't," said Jack. "She only says what I jolly well would like to say myself. Spoiltlittle brats²! I'm going to push that nasty little yellow-haired girl into the swimming-pool one of thesedays — coming whining³ round me asking me if she can hold Kiki. Hold Kiki! What does she thinkKiki is — one of her frightful⁴ dolls?"
　　"You mustn't push the child into the pool," said Mrs. Mannering, horrified⁵. "I do agree she wantsslapping — but she's only a little girl, Jack.""She's a human mosquito," said Jack. "I just wish I had a fly-swatter when she comes near.""Well, all the kids are getting off at the next stop," said Philip, fondling Micky, who, as usual, was onhis shoulder. The boys looked a curious pair, one with a parrot on his shoulder, the other with amonkey. The passengers smiled whenever they saw them.
　　"I'm glad to hear those tiresome⁶ children will soon be gone," said Dinah, who was not very fond ofyoungsters. "But I expect some equally obnoxious⁷ ones will embark⁸ in their place."She was wrong as it happened. Only one boy embarked⁹, no girls at all. All the spoilt youngsters left,stumbling down the gangway at Naples, screaming and complaining to the last, certainly a mostunpleasant collection of small children. Jack and the others watched them go with pleasure, and Kikiscreeched after them. "Good-bye, good riddance, good-bye, good riddance!""Jack! She's never said that before," said Mrs. Mannering reproachfully. "You must just have taughther!"
　　"Kiki only reads my thoughts, Aunt Allie," laughed Jack. "I say — look here — here comes Rabbit-Mouth!"
　　The children giggled¹¹ as they watched a tall, gangling¹² boy come up the gangway. His mouth certainlywas exactly like a rabbit's. The front teeth stuck out, and his chin sloped backwards¹³. He was about asold as Jack and Philip. He wore large, round glasses that magnified his eyes and made them lookrather staring. He had a very amiable¹⁴ grin on his face as he came up the gangway.
　　He seemed very excited, and was talking in a mixture of English and some foreign language to arather languid-looking lady behind him, and a short, burly man who wore dark sun-glasses thatcompletely hid his eyes.
　　"Uncle, Aunt, we're off at last! Oh, I say, what a magnificent ship! I'm sure I shan't be seasick¹⁵ in her."Then he went off into what sounded like a string of gibberish, but was really a foreign language. Kikicocked her head when she hard this string of what sounded to her like complete nonsense.
　　As the boy passed she spoke¹⁶ to him in a conversational¹⁷ tone, pouring out the same kind of gibberishthat she had heard. The boy looked at her in amazement¹⁸.
　　"Oh, I say! A talking parrot. Oh, I say!""Oh, I say!" repeated Kiki immediately. "Oh, I say! Oh, I SAY!""Shut up, Kiki. Don't be rude," said Jack.
　　Micky leaned forward on Philip's shoulder and sent out a stream of excited chattering¹⁹ to Kiki. Therabbit-mouthed boy stared in delight.
　　"Oh, I say! A talking monkey too! What's he saying?""He says he thinks he's seen you somewhere before, but he can't remember where, and he wants toknow if Kiki the parrot remembers," said Philip solemnly. Lucy-Ann gave a delighted giggle¹⁰. Theboy stared open-mouthed, then he laughed, showing all his rabbit-teeth.
　　"Oh, you're pulling my leg, aren't you! But I say — what fun — a parrot that talks, and a tamemonkey! Aren't you lucky!"
　　"Get on, Lucian, get on," said the burly man behind him, and gave the boy a push. Lucian wentforward at a run, turning round to give the four children an apologetic grin for leaving them soabruptly. The man said something in an annoyed voice to the woman with him, but as he said it in aforeign language the children didn't understand a word. They guessed at once, however, that Lucianwas not very popular with his uncle!
　　"Well — if Rabbit-Mouth is the only boy to come on board here, I suppose he'll pin himself on to usall day long," said Philip. "What a weed!""Oh, I say!" said Kiki. Jack groaned²⁰.
　　"Now we shall have Kiki saying that day and night. It's a good thing Micky can't talk properly —we'd never get a word in edgeways!"
　　The ship sailed off again into waters bluer than ever. It was pleasant to go to the bow of the ship andfeel the breeze. Both Kiki and Micky liked this too.
　　Just as Jack and Philip had feared, the rabbit-mouthed boy tagged himself on to them whenever hecould. The children always knew when he was coming because Kiki invariably gave them warning.
　　"Oh, I say!" she would squawk and the four would sigh. Lucian again! He would come up grinningamiably, and settle himself beside them.
　　He told them all about himself immediately. He had no father or mother. His father had been English,but his mother was Greek, so he had plenty of Greek relations. He went to school in England, butspent most of his holidays with his relations. He was fourteen, nearly fifteen, he didn't like games, heloved history, and he wished his name wasn't Lucian.
　　"Why?" asked Dinah.
　　"Well — because the boys at my school change it to Lucy-Ann," explained Lucian. "I mean — fancyhaving a name that's as girlish as that.""It's my name," said Lucy-Ann. "I like it.""Well — it's very nice for you," said Lucian. "But awful for me. Especially when they shorten it andcall me Lucy."
　　"Juicy Lucy!" said Kiki at once in delight. "Juicy Lucy! Oh, I say!"Everybody roared, even Lucian. Kiki cackled too.
　　"Juicy Lucy, goosey-Lucy, oh, I say!" caroled Kiki.
　　"Oh, I say really — that bird of yours is a regular comic, isn't she?" said Lucian in admiration²¹. "Gosh,I wish I could borrow her to take back to school. I say, do you take her to school with you?""I used to," said Jack regretfully. "But she kept telling our form-master to wipe his feet and shut thedoor, and when she yelled out 'Don't sniff²², use your hanky' to the Head, well, that was about the end.""Do you remember how you put her in a cupboard once, to hide her in class — and she went off likefireworks, fizzling and popping and exploding?" said Philip, with a grin. "It was just after GuyFawkes Day — she remembered the noises."Lucian listened in the greatest admiration, his rabbit-mouth open as if he listened with that as well aswith his ears.
　　"Oh, I say! What happened?"
　　"Well — we exploded too!" said Philip. "And after that, the master did — in a different way, ofcourse. We had to put Kiki out to live with someone in the village. We go to see her every day, ofcourse, and have her on half-holidays and week-ends.""And she always goes to every school match and cheers like anything — doesn't she, Jack?" saidLucy-Ann.
　　"She's a wonder," said Lucian. "Let me have her for a minute.""Look out — she won't go to strangers," warned Jack. But Lucian was already trying to get hold ofthe wonderful parrot. He soon let her go. She gave him a vicious nip with her curved beak²³, and heyelled. To Lucy-Ann's amazement she saw tears in his eyes!
　　He turned and went off without a word, sucking his bleeding thumb. The others looked at oneanother.
　　"He was crying," said Lucy-Ann, in sheer amazement that a boy of fourteen should do such a thing.
　　"He's a nit-wit," said Jack, trying to calm down Kiki, who had put up her crest²⁴ tremendously, and wasdancing angrily from one foot to another.
　　"Nit-wit," said Kiki, pouncing²⁵ on the word at once. "Nit-wit, wit-nit, tit-bit, bit-nit, oh, I say!""You're a bad bird, nipping people like that," scolded Jack. "That was a nasty nip.""Nip-wit," announced Kiki.
　　"Yes, that's about what you are — a nip-wit!" said Jack, with a chuckle²⁶. "Now don't you start, Micky!
　　We've had enough rudery from Kiki."
　　Micky had started off on one of his long strings²⁷ of excited gibberish. It was comical to see howseriously and solemnly Kiki listened to this, with her head on one side.
　　She answered the little monkey solemnly when he had finished his excited announcement, whateverit was.
　　"Rikky-likky-acky, icky, pop-pop-pop!" she said. The children roared. "She thinks she's talking hislanguage. Good old Kiki! You can't get the better of her," said Philip. "I'm glad she's more friendlywith Micky now. He's such a dear."
　　"He's getting awfully²⁸ mischievous²⁹ though," said Dinah, who now thought of the monkey much morekindly. "He went into a dozen cabins yesterday, and collected all the soaps out of the basins and putthem in one of the armchairs in the lounge.""Gracious!" said Jack. "He'll be getting into trouble soon.""You mean we shall," said Philip. "I wish we could teach Kiki to keep an eye on Micky for us — butshe encourages him. I'm sure it was Kiki who told the monkey to climb up the pole to the man in thecrow's-nest there and give him an awful fright.""Micky's a dear," said Lucy-Ann, and she tickled³⁰ him under his furry³¹ chin. He looked at her withwise, sad eyes. Lucy-Ann knew he was very happy now, but she was always worried because helooked at her sorrowfully. She only half believed Philip when he told her that all monkeys lookedsad.
　　"There's the gong for lunch," said Lucy-Ann thankfully. "I feel as if it's about an hour late today, I'mso hungry. Come on, everybody!"

1 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。

2 brats   

n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I've been waiting to get my hands on you brats. 我等着干你们这些小毛头已经很久了。 来自电影对白
• The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats. 那个可爱的家庭一下子变成了一窝臭小子。 来自互联网

3 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

4 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

5 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

6 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

7 obnoxious   

adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的

参考例句：

• These fires produce really obnoxious fumes and smoke.这些火炉冒出来的烟气确实很难闻。
• He is the most obnoxious man I know.他是我认识的最可憎的人。

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 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

10 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

11 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 gangling   

adj.瘦长得难看的

参考例句：

• He is a gangling youth.他是一个瘦长难看的年轻人。
• His gangling,awkward gait has earned him the name Spiderman.他又瘦又高，动作笨拙难看，因此有了“蜘蛛人”的外号。

13 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

14 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

15 seasick   

adj.晕船的

参考例句：

• When I get seasick,I throw up my food.我一晕船就呕吐。
• He got seasick during the voyage.在航行中他晕船。

16 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。

17 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

18 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。

19 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

20 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》

21 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

22 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

23 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。

24 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

25 pouncing   

v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• Detective Sun grinned and, pouncing on the gourd, smashed it against the wall. 孙侦探笑了，一把将瓦罐接过来，往墙上一碰。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• We saw the tiger pouncing on the goat. 我们看见老虎向那只山羊扑过去。 来自互联网

26 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

27 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

28 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。

29 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

30 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

31 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。