ONCE upon a time there was a balloonist with whomthings went badly;the balloon burst,and the man camedown and was dashed to pieces.He had sent his boy downwith the parachute minutes before:that was lucky forthe boy.He was unhurt,and went about with great abili-ties for becoming a balloonist,but he had no balloon,andno means of getting one.

Live he must,and so he laid himself out to acquirethe art of legerdemain,and to be able to talk with hisstomach,which is called being a ventriloquist.

He was young and good－looking,and when he got amoustache,and was dressed in good clothes,he mighthave been taken for a nobleman's son.The ladies thoughthim beautiful:one young lady was so enchanted¹ with hisbeauty and his cleverness,that she accompanied him tostrange towns and countries;there he called himself Profes-sor;less it could not be.

His constant thought was to get a balloon and fly inthe air with his little wife,but as yet they had not themeans.

"They will come,"said he.

"If only they would,"said she.

"We are young people!and now I am a Professor.Even crumbs² are bread!"

She helped him faithfully,sat by the door and soldtickets for the performance,and that was a cold entertain－ment in winter.She helped him also in one trick.He puthis wife in a table-drawer,a big table-drawer;she creptinto the back drawer,and so was not to be seen from thefront;it was like an optical illusion.

But one evening,when he pulled the drawer out,shehad gone;she was not in the front drawer,nor in the backdrawer,nor in the whole house—not to be seen,not to beheard.It was her clever trick.She never came back.Shewas tired of it,and he became tired of it,lost his goodhumour,could not talk or play tricks any more,and sonobody came;the profits became poor,his clothes be－came poor;he owned at last only a huge flea³,an inheri－tance from his wife,and therefore he thought so much ofit.So he trained it,taught it to do clever tricks,taught itto present arms,and fire a cannon⁴.

The Professor was proud of the flea,and it wasproud of itself;it had learnt something and had humanblood in it,and had been in the biggest towns,had beenseen by princes and princesses,and had won their highadmiration.It appeared printed in the newspapers and onplacards.It knew that it was famous,and could maintaina Professor,yes,even a whole family.

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1 enchanted
adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。 He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

2 crumbs
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式
参考例句：
She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。 Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

3 flea
n.跳蚤
参考例句：
I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。 Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

4 cannon
n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮
参考例句：
The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。 The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

5 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。

6 Christian
adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒
参考例句：
They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。 His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 steamship
n.汽船，轮船
参考例句：
The return may be made on the same steamship.可乘同一艘汽船当天回来。 It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving the port.雾很大，汽艇差点把一只正在离港的小船撞沉。

8 savages
未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )
参考例句：
There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。 That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

9 savage
adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人
参考例句：
The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。 He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

10 reigned
vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）
参考例句：
Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 delightful
adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的
参考例句：
We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。 Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

12 delicacy
n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴
参考例句：
We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。 He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

13 prodigy
n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆
参考例句：
She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。 He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

14 puff
n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气
参考例句：
He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。 They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

15 lighter
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。 The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

16 ascend
vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上
参考例句：
We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。 We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

17 bulged
凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物）
参考例句：
His pockets bulged with apples and candy. 他的口袋鼓鼓地装满了苹果和糖。 The oranges bulged his pocket. 桔子使得他的衣袋胀得鼓鼓的。

18 steer
vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶
参考例句：
If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。 It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

19 honourable
adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的
参考例句：
I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。 I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。