Chapter 8 CHARLIE THE CHIMP IS A HELP!

Chapter 8 CHARLIE THE CHIMP¹ IS A HELP!
Tinker came to the big cage first. He peered inside. Charlie the Chimp was there all right, sitting atthe back of his cage, his brown eyes looking at the children with curiosity. He got up and went overto where Tinker was peering in, and pressed his nose against the strong wire, almost against Tinker's.
Then he blew hard, and Tinker backed away, surprised and cross.
'He blew at me!' he said to the others, who were laughing at Tinker's disgust. The chimp made afunny noise that Mischief² the monkey immediately tried to imitate. The chimpanzee stared atMischief, then he grew very excited. He rattled³ his cage, jumped up and down, and made some veryqueer noises indeed.
A boy came running up at once. It was the boy who had knocked Tinker down. 'Hey - what are youdoing to the chimp?' he called. 'Oh - aren't you the boy who shouted at my Grandad - the one Iknocked down?'
'Yes. And don't you dare try that on again, or you'll be sorry!' said Tinker, in a fierce voice.
'Shut up, Tinker,' said Julian. He turned to the boy. 'Your name's Jeremy, isn't it?' he said. 'Well,we've just been talking to your Grandad over there, and he said we could get the chimpanzee to helpus with our camping gear. It's all right for him to come out of his cage, isn't it?'
'Oh yes - I take him out two or three times a day,' said Jeremy. 'He gets bored in his cage. He'd loveto help put up your tents - he's always helping⁴ us circus folk with things like that. He's as strong as alion.'
'Is he - er - is he safe?' asked Dick, eyeing the big animal doubtfully.
'Safe? What do you mean - safe?' asked Jeremy, surprised. 'He's as safe as I am! Charlie, come onout! Go on, you can undo⁵ your cage perfectly⁶ well, you know you can!'
The chimpanzee made a funny little chuckling⁷ noise, put his hand through the wire, reached the bolt,pulled it, took his hand back - and pushed open the cage door.
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'See? Easy, isn't it?' said Jeremy, grinning. 'Charlie boy, come along. Your help's wanted!'
Charlie lumbered⁸ out of his cage, and went with the children to where they had left their tents andground-sheets and the rest. He walked with his fists on the ground in a most inelegant manner,making a funny little groaning⁹ noise all the time. Mischief was rather afraid of him, and kept well tothe back - but the chimpanzee suddenly turned round, caught hold of Mischief, and sat him up on hisshoulder! Mischief held on, not knowing whether to be scared or jubilant!
'I wish I had my camera here,' said Anne to George. 'Just look at them - Mischief is as pleased as canbe!'
They arrived at the pile of camping gear. 'Carry this, Charlie, and follow us,' ordered Jeremy.
The chimp grabbed at this, that and the other, and, with his great arms full, followed the children towhere they thought they could camp, with the great hedge to shelter them from the wind.
'drop those things, Charlie,' said Jeremy, 'and go back for the rest. Buck¹⁰ up. Don't stand there staring!
You've got work to do!'
But Charlie still crouched¹¹ there, staring straight at Mischief. 'Oh! He wants Mischief the monkey togo with him!' cried George. 'Go on, Mischief, have a ride again!'
Mischief leapt up on to the chimpanzee's shoulders. Charlie put up a great paw to steady him andthen lumbered off to fetch the rest of the things. One of the ground-sheets came undone¹², and slitheredover his head like a tent, so that he couldn't see where he was going. In a rage he leapt on it andbegan to jump up and down, up and down, growling¹³ most terrifyingly. The children felt rather scared.
'Charlie, don't be an ass¹⁴!' said Jeremy, and pulled it away from him, rolling it up swiftly. Thechimpanzee could manage it then, and his good temper immediately came back again.
Everything was soon piled up in one place, and Julian and Dick began to put up the tents. Charliewatched them with the greatest interest, and helped most intelligently when he saw that he could.
'He's a good sort, isn't he?' said Jeremy, proud that his friend the chimpanzee could show off like this.
'Did you see him put that tent-pole in exactly the right place? And you ought to see him fetch thepails of water for the horses each day. He carries a full pail in each hand!'
'He ought to get wages,' said Tinker.
'He does!' said Jeremy. 'He gets eight bananas a day and as many oranges as he likes. And he LOVESsweets!'
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'Oh! I think I've got some!' said Tinker and delved¹⁵ into one of his pockets. He brought up a peculiarmixture of things, among which was a screwed-up sweet bag. Inside was a mess of half-melted boiledsweets.
'You can't give him those!' said Anne. 'They're old and sticky and messy!'
But Charlie thought differently. He took the paper bag straight out of Tinker's hand, sniffed¹⁶ it -and then put the whole thing into his mouth at once!
'He'll choke!' said Julian.
'Not Charlie!' said Jeremy. 'Let him be. He'll go straight back to his cage, get in, shoot the bolt and sitthere sucking sweets till they're gone. He'll be as happy as can be.'
'Well - he certainly deserved a reward,' said George. 'He did all the heavy work! Come on, let's finishputting everything straight. I say - won't it be fun sleeping out in tents tonight! We'd better havesupper first.'
'You can come and join us, if you like,' said Jeremy. 'We don't have posh food like you, of course- but it's good food, all the same. Old Grandma cooks it in her pot. She's two hundred years old.'
The children laughed in disbelief. 'Two hundred! Nobody lives as long as that!' said George.
'Well, that's what she tells everyone,' said Jeremy. 'And she looks it, too! But her eyes are as sharp asneedles still! Shall I tell her you'll be here to supper?'
'Well - would there be enough for so many extra?' said Julian. 'We meant to bring our own meal.
Should we bring that and share everything with you? We've more than enough. Our cook Jenny saidshe would have it all ready for us to bring down tonight - a meat-pie - cold sausages - and apples andbananas.'
'Sh! Don't say bananas in front of Charlie,' said Jeremy. 'He'll worry you for them all the time.
All right - you bring your food and we'll share with you round our camp-fire. I'll tell old Grandma.
We're having a sing-song tonight, and Fred the Fiddler's playing his fiddle¹⁷. Ah, that fiddle! Its tunesget into your feet and away you go!'
This all sounded very exciting. Julian thought they ought to go back home before anyone began to beworried about their complete disappearance¹⁸, and pack up the food for supper that night.
'We'll be back as soon as we can,' said he. 'And thanks awfully¹⁹ for all your help. Come on, Mischief.
Say good-bye to Charlie for the moment, and don't look so gloomy. We're coming back here tonight!'
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They all went back over the fence, feeling a little tired now, but full of their plans for the evening. 'It'salmost like belonging to the circus, going back to sit round a camp-fire and eat supper from that oldblack stewpot on the fire,' said Tinker. 'I bet the supper will taste delicious. I say - I hope Dad won'tmind us popping off to the circus camp.'
'I don't expect he'll even notice that we've gone,' said George. 'My father never notices things likethat. Sometimes he doesn't even notice when people are there, in front of his nose!'
'Well, that must be useful at times if they're people he doesn't like,' said Tinker. 'Now - let's see whatJenny's got that we can take back with us.'
Jenny listened wide-eyed to all they had to say. 'Well, well, well!' she said. 'Camping out with thecircus-folk! Whatever next? I'd like to know what your parents would think of that, Master Julian!'
'We'll ask them, next time we see them,' said Julian, with a grin. 'What do you have for our supper?
We're taking it down to our camp.'
'I thought maybe you'd do that,' said Jenny. 'It's all cold. A meat pie - cold sausages - a cucumber andlettuce hearts and tomatoes, rolls - and apples and bananas. Will that be enough?'
'Gosh, yes,' said Tinker, thrilled. 'What about something to drink?'
'You can take lemonade or orangeade with you, whichever you please,' said Jenny. 'But listen now -don't go bursting into your father's workroom. He's worked hard all day, and he's tired.'
'And cross, I expect,' said Tinker. 'People are always cross when they're tired. Except you, dear, dearJenny.'
'Ha! You want something else out of my cupboard, calling me your dear, dear Jenny,' she said with atwinkle.
'Could we have some sugar-lumps?' asked Tinker. 'Oh, Jenny, there are the loveliest horses you eversaw down in the circus field. I want to give them a sugar lump each.'
'And yourself a few as well!' said Jenny. 'All right. I'll pack up everything for you, and give you a fewenamel plates and mugs and knives. What about Timmy? Doesn't he want a meal too?'
'Wuff!' said Timmy, glad that someone had remembered him. Jenny patted his big head. 'It's all readyin the larder²⁰ for you,' she said. 'George, you go and get it. He must be hungry.'
George fetched a plate of meat and biscuits from the larder and Timmy fell on it with happy littlebarks. Yes - he was very, VERY hungry!
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At last all the food was ready-packed to take down the garden to the field. What a lot there seemed!
Well, they would certainly have plenty to spare for their circus friends. They said good night toJenny, and set off down the garden again. They thought they had better not disturb Professor Hayling.
'He might be cross and forbid us to go and feed with the circus-folk,' said Tinker. 'Mischief, come offthat basket, and don't pretend you weren't fishing in it for a banana. And please put on your besttable-manners tonight, or Charlie the Chimp will be ashamed of you!'
It was fun going back down the garden and over the fence into the field again. The sun was sinkingfast and soon the shadows would fall. How lovely to sit round a fire and eat supper with the kindlycircus-folk - and perhaps to sing old songs with them - and hear Fred the Fiddler fiddle his old, oldtunes! What fun to creep into a tent, and sleep with the cries of owls²¹ around, and stars shining in atthe tent opening!
There they go, over the fence, handing the food one to another. Take your paw out of that basket,Mischief! That's right, Timmy, nibble²² his ear if he's as mischievous²³ as his name! You're all going tohave some fun tonight!

1 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

2 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

3 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

4 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。

5 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

8 lumbered   

砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• A rhinoceros lumbered towards them. 一头犀牛笨重地向他们走来。
• A heavy truck lumbered by. 一辆重型卡车隆隆驶过。

9 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

10 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

11 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

12 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

13 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

14 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

15 delved   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She delved in her handbag for a pen. 她在手提包里翻找钢笔。
• He delved into the family archives looking for the facts. 他深入查考这个家族的家谱以寻找事实根据。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

18 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。

19 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。

20 larder   

n.食物贮藏室，食品橱

参考例句：

• Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。
• They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

21 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

22 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

23 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。