24 Morning comes!

　　24
　　Morning comes!
　　Philip called to Jack¹. ‘Jack – see if you can get some meat – plenty of it – and bring it to me.’
　　‘I’ll get some,’ said Toni, and raced off. He came back with a basket containing great slabs² ofhorse meat. Philip took it. He opened the cage door and threw in the meat, talking cheerfully to thehungry bears.
　　Now they were ready for their meal. They were no longer sulky, scared or angry. They werejust three very hungry bears, and they fell on the meat and gulped³ it down.
　　‘Let them have as much as they will eat,’ said Philip. ‘Then they will go to sleep. While they areasleep, someone must mend their cage bars. Keep that light in front now – none of them willventure out of the broken bars while that light is there.’
　　Everyone gathered round Philip. ‘He’s a friend of Jack,’ they said to one another. ‘He fetchedhim here because he is good with bears. He must have come from another circus. Look – the Bosswants him.’
　　The Boss had watched everything from his caravan⁴ window. He was most impressed andextremely thankful. Pedro told Philip that the Boss had sent for him, and he and Jack and Philipwent up the steps of the Boss’s big caravan.
　　The Boss poured out praise and thanks in a mixture of several languages. Pedro interpreted witha grin. ‘He says, what can he do for you? He says you’ve saved the bears from being shot. Hesays, ask anything you like and you can have it, if he can give it to you!’
　　Jack answered quickly. ‘There’s only one thing we want. Now that there is this upset in Borken,can we all stay with the circus? Philip will be glad to look after the bears, as long as Fank is ill –but he has girls with him, our sisters – can they stay too? We don’t like to let them go off bythemselves, in case civil war starts up in Tauri-Hessia.’
　　Pedro interpreted. The Boss quite thought that these ‘sisters’ were circus performers too. Henodded his head. ‘Yes – you may let them stay. If they have tricks or shows of their own, theymay get a chance here. But we must strike camp tomorrow – it will be dangerous to stay here inBorken any longer. The Count Paritolen owns this land, and as it is probably he who hassomething to do with the King’s disappearance⁵, it would be best for us to leave before troublestarts.’
　　‘What does he say?’ asked Jack, anxiously. Pedro translated all this into English, and the twoboys were much relieved. Good! They could all stay with the circus, and would leave almostimmediately with the circus folk! They would soon be out of the danger zone – and then perhapsthey could get a message to Bill.
　　The boys went down the steps of the van with Pedro. They made their way to Pedro’s own littlevan, feeling that they simply must have a good long talk. It was about two o’clock in the morningnow, but none of the three boys felt tired – they were far too strung up with the happenings of thenight.
　　The circus folk as they passed clapped Philip on the back. He smiled and nodded, and then atlast all three were in the little van with the two girls and Kiki.
　　‘Shut the door,’ said Kiki at once. ‘Wipe your feet. Fetch the King!’
　　‘I wish we could, Kiki,’ said Jack, with a laugh, as the parrot flew on to his shoulder. ‘But don’tyou start talking about the King. Oh – Lucy-Ann – you nearly had me over! What a hug! Itreminds me of the bears!’
　　‘I can’t help it!’ said Lucy-Ann, and gave Philip a hug too. ‘I was so anxious about you andPhilip, with those bears. It all seems like a horrid⁶ dream. I was longing⁷ for you to come back to us.
　　Gussy’s gone too. Is he really going to be a girl?’
　　‘He is,’ said Jack, sitting down on the mattress⁸. ‘Now, we’ve got to talk and make plans. First ofall, because of Philip’s grand performance with the bears, the Boss has said that we can all staywith the circus. We couldn’t have a better hiding place!’
　　‘That’s true,’ said Dinah. ‘But suppose the Count makes a search for us – and his men are senthere to look, among other places. Gussy might not be recognized if he’s dressed up as a girl – butwhat about me and Lucy-Ann and Philip? We’re all dressed in the English way – we’d soon benoticed.’
　　‘Yes. I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Jack. ‘I’m too English, as well. Pedro – I’ve got somemoney saved up that I made out of Kiki’s performances – could you buy some Hessian clothes forus early today?’
　　‘Ma will fix you all up,’ said Pedro. ‘She’s a wonder with her needle! She’ll get some clothfrom old Lucia, the woman who’s in charge of the circus clothes. And we’ll borrow some greasepaint from Toni and give you all tanned Tauri-Hessian faces! But don’t go speaking English!’
　　‘No, we won’t. We’ll talk a wonderful gibberish of our own!’ said Philip, with a laugh. ‘We’llcome from Jabberwocky, and talk the Jabberwock language! It goes like this –Goonalillypondicherrytapularkawoonatee!’
　　Everyone laughed. ‘Good!’ said Pedro. ‘I’ll tell any searchers that you are Jabberwockians, andthen you can talk like that if they ask you anything. By the way, where is Jabberwocky?’
　　Kiki suddenly launched with delight into the Jabberwockian language. They all listened to herand roared. ‘You’re a very fine specimen⁹ of a Jabberwockian parrot!’ said Jack, stroking her. ‘Goto the top of the class!’
　　Dinah gave an enormous yawn, at once copied by Kiki. It made everyone begin to feel terriblysleepy. ‘Come on – we’ll be striking camp fairly early,’ said Pedro, getting up. ‘Sleep in peace,girls. We three boys will be just under the van, on a couple of rugs. As for Gussy, I expect he’ssnoring in Ma’s extra bunk¹⁰, looking like a beautiful little girl!’
　　Gussy was not asleep, however. He lay in the small bunk, listening to Ma’s deep breathing andsudden snorts. He was very angry and very humiliated¹¹. Ma had seen to him properly! She hadtried his hair this way and that, and had finally decided¹² that he looked more like a girl with a smallbow at each side rather than with one big one on top.
　　She had also looked out some clothes – a longish skirt, rather large, very highly coloured, anddecidedly ragged¹³ – and a small red blouse with a green scarf tied skittishly¹⁴ round the waist. Gussycould have cried with shame.
　　It wasn’t the slightest bit of good arguing with Ma. In fact, when Gussy refused to stand stillwhile his bows were being tied, Ma had given him a hefty slap on a very tender place, which hadgiven Gussy such a tremendous shock that he couldn’t even yell.
　　‘You know I’m a Prince, don’t you?’ he said, fiercely, under his breath.
　　‘Pah!’ said Ma. ‘You’re just a boy. I’ve no time for Princes.’ And she hadn’t.
　　Now Gussy was trying to go to sleep, his hair still tied with bows, and a peculiar¹⁵ sort of garmenton him that looked half like a night gown and half like a long coat. He went over the excitingescape in his mind, and shuddered¹⁶. No – he wouldn’t think about that awful rope and the trapezeswing. He wondered about his uncle and shuddered again. Was he killed? Poor Gussy’s thoughtswere not pleasant ones at all.
　　The morning came all too soon for the five tired children. Philip went across at once to thebears’ cage to see how they were. The bars had been mended and strengthened. The bears, lookingextremely well fed, were half asleep – but as soon as they saw Philip they padded to the bars andgrunted amiably¹⁷. One bear tried to reach him with his paw.
　　‘Good – they’re quite all right,’ said Philip, and gave them a little talk to which they listenedentranced, as if they understood every word!
　　Fank was better – but still could not stand up. Philip went to see him, and the little man took hishand and poured out a stream of completely unintelligible¹⁸ words. Philip knew what he was saying,though! Here was a grateful man if ever there was one! Fank loved his bears as if they were hisbrothers, and he had been almost mad with anxiety the night before, when he heard they hadescaped.
　　‘I’ll take them on till you’re well,’ said Philip, and Fank understood, and shook Philip’s handfervently.
　　The next thing was clothes. The camp was to set off in three hours, so Ma had got to hurry if shewas going to get the four of them clothes that would disguise the fact that they were English.
　　She went to Lucia, an old bent¹⁹ woman who kept the clothes of the circus folk in order – not theordinary ones they wore every day, but their fine ones, worn in the ring – their glittering capes²⁰ andskirts, their silken shirts and magnificent cloaks. These were valuable, and old Lucia’s needle wasalways busy. So was her iron. Nobody could press fine clothes as well or as carefully as Lucia.
　　By the time the circus folk were ready to strike camp, nobody would have recognized Dinah,Lucy-Ann, Philip and Jack! Toni had lent them grease paint and each of them was tanned andlooked like a Tauri-Hessian – face, neck, legs, and hands! The girls wore the Tauri-Hessian dress– long skirts and shawls, and bright ribbons in their hair.
　　The boys looked just like normally brought up boys of the country, and seemed to have grownolder all of a sudden. Lucy-Ann stared at Jack in surprise, hardly recognizing this brown youth,whose teeth gleamed suddenly white in his tanned face.
　　Ma was pleased with her efforts, but most of all she was delighted with Gussy. Nobody, nobodycould possibly think that Gussy was anything but a girl. He looked really pretty! All five of them,Pedro too, roared with laughter when poor Gussy came down Mas caravan steps, looking very redin the face, very angry, and very ashamed.
　　‘Dis is my little grandchild, Anna-Maria!’ said Ma, with a broad smile. ‘Be kind to her, plizz!’
　　Gussy looked as if he was about to burst into tears. ‘Yes, go on, cry!’ said Philip, teasing him.
　　‘That’ll show people you aren’t Anna-Maria!’
　　Dinah gave him a punch. ‘Some girls do cry!’ she said. ‘Oh dear – doesn’t Gussy – I meanAnna-Maria – look priceless?’
　　‘Smashing!’ said Jack. ‘Honestly, he’s as pretty as a picture. Thank goodness for his long hair –that’s what helps him look like a girl more than anything!’
　　‘I cut it short soon, soon, soon,’ said poor Gussy, furiously. ‘Snip-snip – like that!’
　　‘You can’t. You told us that Princes of this country have to wear it long, like you do,’ saidDinah.
　　‘I will not be a Prince then,’ said Gussy. He looked suddenly very forlorn, and gazed at Lucy-Ann beseechingly²¹, feeling that she had the kindest heart of the lot.
　　‘Do not tizz me,’ he begged. ‘I hate zis. I am full of shamefulness²².’
　　‘All right, Gussy, er – Anna-Maria,’ said Jack. ‘We won’t tizz you. Cheer up – you’ll be aPrince again before long, I’m sure.’
　　‘If my uncle is alive, I will be,’ said Gussy, soberly. ‘If he is dead – I must be King!’
　　‘God save the King,’ said Kiki, devoutly²³, and raised her crest²⁴ impressively. ‘Fetch the doctorand save the King!’

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 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

3 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

5 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

6 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

7 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。

8 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

9 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

10 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

11 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

14 skittishly   

参考例句：

• The horse pranced around skittishly. 那匹马在周围欢快地腾跃。 来自互联网

15 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

16 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 unintelligible   

adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的

参考例句：

• If a computer is given unintelligible data, it returns unintelligible results.如果计算机得到的是难以理解的数据，它给出的也将是难以理解的结果。
• The terms were unintelligible to ordinary folk.这些术语一般人是不懂的。

19 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

20 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

21 beseechingly   

adv. 恳求地

参考例句：

• She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来，几乎是恳求似地问丈夫：“我们现在就走吧？”
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来，乞求地盯着斯内普。

22 shamefulness   

参考例句：

• Their ignorance might just result from their shamefulness or from their impudence. 他们的忘记也许正由于他们感到惭愧，也许更由于他们不觉惭愧。

23 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

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。