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I.—CORONATION DAY
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 THE king's body-guard waited in the outer court of the palace, but the palace was only a dull, red cottage, and the court a low porch that surrounded three sides of it. As for the body-guard, they were not dressed as such great people are wont1 to be. One of them wore a calico dress, canvas shoes, and an untrimmed hat of soft red felt. The other, for there were but two of them, was resplendent in gray knickerbockers, and a blue flannel2 shirt, with white anchors worked in the corners of the sailor-shaped collar. As for the king, but a short time before' he had been only a rollicking little fellow astride of a cherry tree bough3, and a blue-eyed little Nan had stood holding out her apron4 to catch the cherries he threw down, and gazing up at him with a face full of wonder at his daring. But the old and brittle5 bough had suddenly given way under his weight, and Reginald Fairfax tumbled in a sad little heap to the ground.
 
Quick as a flash Nan sat down by his side, with her feet straight out before her, and drew the brown head into her lap, while the tears fell fast on the face that seemed so still and lifeless. Her brother Harry6 ran for the young doctor up at the hotel, as fast as his stout7 little legs could carry him.
 
All this had happened only last week, and now Reginald lay on a hospital cot in his own little room in the cottage, and Harry and Nan were waiting on the porch till the doctor should come out and they could be admitted.
 
They were both very quiet, for they had not seen Regie since the accident, and were awed8 at the thought of being soon ushered10 into his presence. Harry kept making round holes in the gravel11 path with the heel of his boot; Nan sat staring in abstracted fashion at a little wreath of oak leaves which she was balancing on one extended hand.
 
Presently the doctor came out. “You can go up now,” he said, “Regie expects you.” Then he caught up his tennis racquet, which he had left on the porch, and hurried away, for the doctor was taking his vacation. If he had not been quite a young doctor, perhaps he would rather have forgotten for those two short weeks that there was such a thing as a patient in the world. But as matters stood he did not seem to mind in the least, that now and then he must stop whatever he was doing, and run over to see “how the little Fairfax boy was coming on,” and, young as he was, he had set Regie's leg as neatly12 and dexterously13 as any older and more experienced surgeon could have set it.
 
The children crept quietly up the stairway which landed them at Reginald's door. Nan paused midway in the room and looked toward Regie with a puzzled frown, for the little fellow stretched out on the cot did not seem exactly like the Regie she had known, tumbling around out of doors.
 
Harry scarcely stirred a foot beyond the door-sill, and screwed his funny round mouth into a funnier pucker14, a queer little habit to which he always resorted in moments of embarrassment15.
 
“I'm very sorry for you, Regie,” said Nan, drawing a trifle nearer.
 
“It is too bad,” replied Regie. “It couldn't be helped though;” a remark which he had volunteered several times, as if anxious that no one should think that carelessness had aught to do with the accident.
 
“We've thought of a splendid game,” said Harry, feeling that he ought to say something.
 
“I guess the only game I'll play for a good while will be still pond, no moving,” said Regie, with a poor little ghost of a smile.
 
“Oh! no, indeed,” cried Nan, eagerly, “you're to be the principal one in this game. You're to be a little king, and we are to be your body-guard.”
 
“What's a body-guard?” asked Regie, in a tone as though he doubted the merits of everything with which he could not claim previous acquaintance.
 
“Oh! it's a——, but we are not going to tell many people,” answered Harry, glancing significantly toward a room opening-out of Regie's, where some one, a stranger to him, sat knitting.
 
“She's only my nurse,” Regie explained; “you mustn't mind her, for she'll have to be round a great deal, and you don't catch me having a body-guard unless I know just what it is.”
 
“It won't hurt you,” laughed Nan, with her hands behind her back, and still standing16 in the centre of the room. Harry had made so bold as to take a seat on the edge of a high-backed rocker, so very much on the edge, in fact, that it threatened to land him on the floor any moment.
 
“Why don't you sit down, Nan?” Reginald asked at last.
 
“I can't sit down, Regie, because of the crown,” and Nan looked beseechingly17 toward Harry, as if acting18 under orders.
 
“Yes, you may show it now,” was Harry's patronising answer; whereupon Nan exultingly19 held up the little oak wreath before Regie's wondering gaze.
 
“Oh! is that the crown?” and Regie betrayed a shade of disappointment in his tone, having a conviction that such articles ought to be made of gold, or at least of silver.
 
“Oh! Regie, don't you like it? It took me a whole day to make it,” Nan exclaimed, with a perceptible quiver in her voice.
 
“Oh yes, it's very nice, very nice indeed! only—well! it'll wither20, you know.”
 
“I can make another then,” she said, complacently21, as though that objection were easily met. “May I put it on your head?”
 
“Certainly;” and Regie bent22 his head forward from the pillow.
 
“Nan stood in great awe9 of the apparatus23 of weights attached to the cot to keep Regie's limb from shortening while the broken bone was knitting.
 
“Are you sure it won't do your leg any harm?” she asked, nervously24, holding the crown, poised25 in both hands, above his head, for she could only boast eight years, and was rather a timid little body. Regie laughed outright26 at this, and Harry shouted, “Of course not, goosie!” with true brotherly disgust.
 
Thus encouraged she dropped the crown on to Regie's head.
 
“You look lovely in it,” she said, bringing the hand-glass from the bureau; “you can lean your head back, it won't hurt the crown.”
 
“It hurts me though,” said Regie, settling back against the pillow, and holding the little mirror at arm's length that he might see the general effect; “it pricks27.”
 
“I do not think a king ought to mind such a thing as a prick,” Nan remarked, seriously, for she possessed28 a lively imagination, and, for the time being, Regie was a real little king.
 
“Perhaps not,” said Regie, recalling something about “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” (which proverb had once been set for a copy in his writing book at school), and thinking how very true it was. “But you have not told me anything about the body-guard,” he added.
 
“As I understand it,” said Harry, who liked to use a big word when he could, “the body-guard sort of takes care of the king, and does whatever he tells 'em to do.”
 
“Then you and Nan are to do whatever I tell you,” with an accent on the “whatever.”
 
“Yes,” said Nan, with hearty29 seriousness. Harry merely nodded his head, as if not quite willing to commit himself by an audible “yes.” He looked as though he foresaw some unpleasant possibilities in Regie's “whatever.”
 
“If you think of anything you'd like to have,” Nan farther explained, “why, Harry or I will run and get it—and things like that you know.”
 
“My! but that'll be fun for me,” said Regie.
 
“Of course it will,” Nan replied; “that's why we thought of it, because there's a great many kinds of fun you'll have to do without while you must lie so still. Will it be for very long, Regie?” she asked, wistfully.
 
“Pretty long, I guess,” answered Regie, with an honest little sigh.
 
“It was Nan that made it up,” said Harry, whose thoughts had a trick of following their own bent independent of other people's; “I don't know as I'm going to like it.”
 
“Like what?” queried30 Regie, with a puzzled frown.
 
“Why, the being ordered about.''
 
“Oh, I'll be easy on the body-guard,” laughed Regie.
 
“I'm ashamed of you, Harry Murray, to talk like that right before poor Regie!” and Nan's face showed how real was her mortification31.
 
“I don't believe kings wear their crowns to bed!” exclaimed Regie, having borne the pricking32 of the stiff little leaves as long as he could. “This king won't, at any rate. Hang it on that nail, Nan, where I can reach it, and put it on whenever you seem to forget that I am the king, and you must mind me,” with a sly look toward Harry. Harry's threatened downfall became a reality just at that moment, and the unbalanced-rocking-chair landed him suddenly on the floor.
 
“I think we had better go now,” he said, picking himself up, with a furtive33 look in the direction of the nurse, knowing that such a mishap34 was rather inexcusable in a sick room.
 
“I should think we had,” observed Nan, with a good measure of reproach in tone and accent; and after a good-bye to Regie, and a friendly word or two from the nurse who had come in with Regie's luncheon35, the children took their departure.
 
 
Down the path, across the boulevard and over to the beach they trudged36, side by side, but without saying a word to each other. Nan was preserving a dignified37 silence, which means that she wished Harry to understand by her manner that she did not at all approve of his behaviour during their visit. But Harry was so completely absorbed in his own thoughts as to be quite unmindful of the implied rebuke38. When they reached the beach he lingered to watch the fishermen bring their boat in over the surf, leaving Nan to walk the rest of the way home alone.
 
Regie felt tired after his talk with the children, and having eaten the luncheon, soon dropped off into a sound little nap, to dream of kings and queens and all sorts of royal things, suggested, no doubt, by the oak-leaf crown on which his brown eyes were resting the last moment before the long lashes39 closed over them. In these brown eyes and long lashes lay the charm of Regie's face, and he had reason to be very grateful to them. Perhaps you wonder how this could be? Well, the very next chapter will tell you.
 
 

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1 wont peXzFP     
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯
参考例句:
  • He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
  • It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。
2 flannel S7dyQ     
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服
参考例句:
  • She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
  • She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子,看上去楚楚动人。
3 bough 4ReyO     
n.大树枝,主枝
参考例句:
  • I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
  • Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。
4 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
5 brittle IWizN     
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的
参考例句:
  • The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
  • She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。
6 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
7     
参考例句:
8 awed a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8     
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
10 ushered d337b3442ea0cc4312a5950ae8911282     
v.引,领,陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
  • A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
12 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
13 dexterously 5c204a62264a953add0b63ea7a6481d1     
adv.巧妙地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙,有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句
14 pucker 6tJya     
v.撅起,使起皱;n.(衣服上的)皱纹,褶子
参考例句:
  • She puckered her lips into a rosebud and kissed him on the nose.她双唇努起犹如一朵玫瑰花蕾,在他的鼻子上吻了一下。
  • Toby's face puckered.托比的脸皱了起来。
15 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
16 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
17 beseechingly c092e88c28d2bb0ccde559d682617827     
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。
18 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
19 exultingly d8336e88f697a028c18f72beef5fc083     
兴高采烈地,得意地
参考例句:
  • It was exultingly easy. 这容易得让人雀跃。
  • I gave him a cup of tea while the rest exultingly drinking aquavit. 当别人继续兴高采烈地喝着白兰地的时候,我随手为那位朋友端去了一杯热茶。
20 wither dMVz1     
vt.使凋谢,使衰退,(用眼神气势等)使畏缩;vi.枯萎,衰退,消亡
参考例句:
  • She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
  • In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天,树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。
21 complacently complacently     
adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地
参考例句:
  • He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
  • "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装,"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
22 bent QQ8yD     
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。
23 apparatus ivTzx     
n.装置,器械;器具,设备
参考例句:
  • The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
  • They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。
24 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
25 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
26 outright Qj7yY     
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的
参考例句:
  • If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事,你应该直率地对我说。
  • You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。
27 pricks 20f8a636f609ce805ce271cee734ba10     
刺痛( prick的名词复数 ); 刺孔; 刺痕; 植物的刺
参考例句:
  • My skin pricks sometimes. 我的皮肤有时感到刺痛。
  • You must obey the rule. It is useless for you to kick against the pricks. 你必须遵守规定,对抗对你是无益的。
28 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
29 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
30 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
31 mortification mwIyN     
n.耻辱,屈辱
参考例句:
  • To my mortification, my manuscript was rejected. 使我感到失面子的是:我的稿件被退了回来。
  • The chairman tried to disguise his mortification. 主席试图掩饰自己的窘迫。
32 pricking b0668ae926d80960b702acc7a89c84d6     
刺,刺痕,刺痛感
参考例句:
  • She felt a pricking on her scalp. 她感到头皮上被扎了一下。
  • Intercostal neuralgia causes paroxysmal burning pain or pricking pain. 肋间神经痛呈阵发性的灼痛或刺痛。
33 furtive kz9yJ     
adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的
参考例句:
  • The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam.老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
  • His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion.他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。
34 mishap AjSyg     
n.不幸的事,不幸;灾祸
参考例句:
  • I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了,你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
  • We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。
35 luncheon V8az4     
n.午宴,午餐,便宴
参考例句:
  • We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
  • I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。
36 trudged e830eb9ac9fd5a70bf67387e070a9616     
vt.& vi.跋涉,吃力地走(trudge的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
  • He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
38 rebuke 5Akz0     
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise
参考例句:
  • He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
  • Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。
39 lashes e2e13f8d3a7c0021226bb2f94d6a15ec     
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥
参考例句:
  • Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时,母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面,以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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