Текст книги "The Story of Dr Dolittle / История доктора Дулиттла. 5 класс"

Автор книги: И. Загородняя

Соавторы: Хью Джон Лофтинг
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The Eighth Chapter
The Leader of The Lions

John Dolittle now became very busy. He found a lot of sick monkeys – gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, gray monkeys, red ones – all kinds. And many died. The first thing he did was to separate the sick monkeys from the well ones. Then he asked Chee-Chee and his cousin to build him a little house of grass. The next thing: he told all the monkeys who were still well to come and be vaccinated.[11]11
  сделать прививки


[Закрыть] Then he asked to build another house – a big one, with a lot of beds in it; and he put all the sick monkeys in this house. But there were not enough well monkeys to look after the sick ones. So he asked the other animals, like the lions and the leopards and the antelopes, to come and help.

But the Leader of the Lions was a very proud creature. And when he came to the Doctor’s big house full of beds he looked angry.

“Do you dare to ask me, Sir?” he said and glared at the Doctor. “Do you dare to ask me – ME, THE KING OF BEASTS, to look after a lot of dirty monkeys?”

Although the lion looked very terrible, the Doctor was not afraid of him.

“They’re not dirty,” he said quietly. “They’ve all had a bath this morning. Now listen, and I’ll tell you something: the day may come[12]12
  возможно, придёт день


[Закрыть] when the lions get sick. And if you don’t help the other animals now, the lions will be all alone when THEY are in trouble. That often happens to proud people.”

“The lions are never IN trouble – they only MAKE trouble,” said the Leader, turning up his nose. And he walked away into the jungle.

Then the leopards became proud too and said they didn’t want to help. And then of course the antelopes said so. And now the poor Doctor was really worried because he didn’t know how to help poor sick monkeys.

But when the Leader of the Lions came back to his den, he saw his wife, the Queen Lioness, who said, “One of the cubs doesn’t want to eat. I don’t know WHAT to do with him. He hasn’t taken a thing since last night.” And she began to cry because she was a good mother, even though she was a lioness. So the Leader went into his den and looked at his children – two very little cubs, lying on the floor. And one of them seemed quite poor. Then the lion told his wife, quite proudly, about his talk with the Doctor. And she got so angry that she nearly drove him out of the den.

“You are foolish!” she screamed. “All the animals from here to the Indian Ocean are talking about this wonderful man, and how he can cure any kind of sickness, and how kind he is! And now, NOW – when we have a sick baby on our hands, you offended him! Go back to that white man at once,” she yelled, “and tell him you’re sorry. And take all the other stupid leopards and antelopes with you. Then do everything that the Doctor tells you. Work hard! And perhaps he will be kind enough to come and see the cub later. HURRY, I tell you! You’re not a good father!” And she went into the den next door, where another mother-lion lived, and told her all about it.

So the Leader of the Lions went back to the Doctor and said, “I was near your house and decided to look in. Have you got any help yet?”

“No,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t. And I’m really worried.”

“It’s very hard to get help these days,” said the lion. “Animals don’t want to work any more…Well, I see you’re in difficulties[13]13
  у тебя трудности


[Закрыть] so I am ready to help you but only if I don’t have to[14]14
  только, если мне не придётся


[Закрыть] wash the creatures. And I have told all the other animals to come and help. The leopards will be here soon…. Oh, and by the way,[15]15
  кстати


[Закрыть] we’ve got a sick cub at home. I don’t think that the problem is serious. But my wife is anxious. So will you take a look at him?”

Then the Doctor was very happy because all the lions and the leopards and the antelopes and the giraffes and the zebras – all the animals came to help him in his work. And now very soon the monkeys began to get better. And two weeks later all the monkeys got well. Then the Doctor’s work was done; and he was so tired that he went to bed and slept for three days.

The Ninth Chapter
The Monkeys’ Council

Chee-Chee stood outside the Doctor’s door and didn’t let anyone in until he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go back to Puddleby. They were very surprised at this; they wanted the Doctor to stay with them forever.[16]16
  они хотели, чтобы Доктор остался с ними навсегда


[Закрыть] And that night all the monkeys got together in the jungle to talk about it.

And the Chief Chimpanzee stood up and said, “Why is the good man going away? Is he not happy here with us?” But nobody could answer him.

Then the Grand Gorilla got up and said, “I think we all should go to him and ask him to stay. Perhaps if we make him a new house and a bigger bed, and promise him a lot of monkey-servants to work for him – perhaps then he will not wish to go.”

Then Chee-Chee got up and said to the other monkeys, “My friends, I am afraid it is useless to ask the Doctor to stay. He owes money in Puddleby; and he says that he must go back and pay it.” And the monkeys asked him, “What is MONEY?” Then Chee-Chee told them that in the Land of the White Men you could get nothing without money; you could DO nothing without money and it was almost impossible to LIVE without money. And some of them asked, “But can you not even eat and drink without money?” And the Chief Chimpanzee turned to the Oldest Orangutan and said, “Cousin, surely these Men are strange creatures! Who would like to live in such a land?!”

Then Chee-Chee said, “When we wanted to come to you, we had no boat to cross the sea and no money to buy food to eat on our journey. So a man lent us some biscuits; and we promised to pay him when we came back. And we borrowed a boat from a sailor; but it was broken on the rocks when we reached Africa. Now the Doctor says he must go back and get the sailor another boat – because the man was poor and his ship was all that he had.” And the monkeys were all silent for a while.

At last the Biggest Baboon got up and said, “We should give this good man a fine present because we are grateful for all that he has done for us.” And a little, tiny red monkey shouted, “I think that too!”

And then they all cried out, “Yes, yes. Let us give him the best present that a White Man ever had!” Now they began to ask one another what to give him. And one said, “Fifty bags of coconuts!” And another – “A hundred bunches of bananas! – At least he will not have to buy his fruit in the Land Where You Pay to Eat!”

But Chee-Chee told them that all these things are too heavy to carry so far. “If you want to please him,” he said, “give him an animal. Give him some rare animal.” So then they asked Chee-Chee what rare animal they could give the Doctor. And a monkey asked, “Has a White Man ever seen a pushmi-pullyu?” Then Chee-Chee said, “No. No White Man has ever seen a pushmi-pullyu. Let us give him that.”

The Tenth Chapter
The Rarest Animal of All

Pushmi-Pullyus are now extinct. That means that there aren’t any more. But long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive, there were some of them in the deepest jungles of Africa. They had no tail, but a head at each end, and sharp horns on each head. They were very shy and very hard to catch.[17]17
  их было очень трудно поймать


[Закрыть] Only one half of a pushmi-pullyu slept at a time. The other head was always awake – and watching. This was why[18]18
  Вот почему


[Закрыть] it was hard to catch it and people never saw it in a Zoo. Well, the monkeys started hunting for this animal through the forest. Then they went along the bank of the river and saw a place where the grass was high and thick; and they guessed that a pushmi-pullyu was in there. The pushmi-pullyu heard them coming; and he tried to escape. But he couldn’t do it. So he sat down and waited to see what they wanted.

They asked him to go with Doctor Dolittle. But he shook both his heads and said, “I don’t want to go!” Then they explained to him that the Doctor was a very kind man but didn’t have any money. They said, “People will pay to see an animal with two heads and the Doctor will get rich and will pay for the boat which he needed to borrow to come to Africa.” But he answered, “No. You know how shy I am – I hate it when somebody stares at me.” And he almost began to cry. Then for three days they tried to persuade him. And at the end of the third day he agreed to come with them and look at the Doctor.

So the monkeys traveled back with the pushmi-pullyu. And when they came to the Doctor’s little house of grass, they knocked on the door. The duck said, “Come in!” And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal inside and showed him to the Doctor.

“What in the world is it?”[19]19
  Что же это такое?


[Закрыть] asked John Dolittle.

“This, Doctor,” said Chee-Chee, “is the pushmi-pullyu – the rarest animal of the African jungles, the only two-headed beast in the world! Take him home with you and you will be rich. People will pay any money to see him.”

“But I don’t want any money,” said the Doctor.

“Yes, you do,” said Dab-Dab, the duck. “How are you going to get the sailor the new boat if we haven’t the money to buy it? And besides, what are we going to live on? Chee-Chee’s absolutely right: take the funny-looking thing with us!”

“Well, perhaps you are right,” said the Doctor. “He will be a nice new kind of pet. But do you really want to go abroad?”

“Yes, I’ll go,” said the pushmi-pullyu who saw at once, from the Doctor’s face, that he was a good man. “But you must promise me that if I do not like it in the Land of the White Men, you will send me back.”

“Of course, of course,” said the Doctor.

“I notice,” said the duck, “that you only talk with one of your mouths. Can’t the other head talk as well?”

“Oh, yes,” said the pushmi-pullyu. “But I keep the other mouth for eating – mostly. So I can talk while I am eating and be polite.”

When the packing was finished, the monkeys gave a grand party for the Doctor, and all the animals of the jungle came. And they had pineapples and mangoes and honey and all sorts of good things to eat and drink. After the meal, the Doctor got up and said,

“My friends, I wish to tell you that I am very sad because I don’t want to leave your beautiful country. But I must go. I hope you will all live happily ever after.”

When the Doctor stopped speaking and sat down, all the monkeys clapped their hands a long time and said to one another, “He is the Greatest of Men!”

Then, when the party was over, the Doctor and his pets went back to the seashore.

The Eleventh Chapter
The Black Prince

The doctor and his pets went through the jungle and talked, and Polynesia said, “We must tread softly and talk low because we are going through the land of the Jolliginki. If the King hears us, he will send his soldiers to catch us again; I am sure he is still very angry.”

One day, when they were in a very thick part of the forest, Chee-Chee went ahead of them to look for coconuts. And while he was away, the Doctor and the rest of the animals got lost in the deep woods. They could not find their way to the seashore. Chee-Chee, when he could not see them anywhere, was really upset. He climbed high trees and looked out from the top branches to see the Doctor’s high hat; he waved and shouted; he called to all the animals by name. But it was no use.

Indeed they lost their way very badly. The jungle was so thick with bushes and vines that sometimes they could hardly move at all, and then the Doctor used his pocket-knife and cut the way along. They scratched themselves on thorns, and twice they nearly lost the medicine-bag in the forest. At last, after many days, they walked right into the King’s back-garden by mistake. The King’s men caught them at once. But Polynesia flew into a tree in the garden and hid herself.

The King’s men brought The Doctor and the animals to the King. “Ha, ha!” cried the King. “So you are here again! This time you will not escape. Take them all back to prison and put double locks on the door. This White Man will scrub my kitchen-floor for the rest of his life!” So the Doctor and his pets were back in prison. They were all very unhappy.

Then Polynesia saw Chee-Chee who still looked for the Doctor. When Chee-Chee saw her, he came into her tree and asked her about the Doctor and his friends. “The Doctor and all the animals are in prison again,” whispered Polynesia. “We lost our way in the jungle and came into the palace-garden by mistake… Sh! – Look! There’s Prince Bumpo in the garden! He must not see us. – Don’t move!”

And there was Prince Bumpo, the King’s son. He opened the garden-gate. He carried a book of fairy-tales under his arm. He reached a stone seat right under the tree where the parrot and the monkey were. Then he lay down on the seat and began reading the fairy-stories to himself. Chee-Chee and Polynesia watched him, and they were very quiet and still. After a while the King’s son laid the book down and sighed.

“I want to be a WHITE prince so much!” said he, with a dreamy look in his eyes.

Then the parrot, talking in a small, high voice like a little girl, said aloud, “Bumpo, someone can turn you into a white prince.”

The King’s son started up off the seat[20]20
  подскочил с места


[Закрыть] and looked all around.

“What is this I hear?” he cried. “How strange!”

“Worthy Prince,” said Polynesia, “I am Tripsitinka, the Queen of the Fairies. I am hiding in a rose-bud.”

“Oh tell me, Fairy-Queen,” cried Bumpo, “who can make me white?”

“In your father’s prison,” said the parrot, “there lies a famous wizard, John Dolittle. Many things he knows of medicine and magic. Go to him, brave Bumpo, secretly, after the sunset; and he will make you the whitest prince! I must now go back to Fairyland. Farewell![21]21
  Прощай!


[Закрыть]”

“Farewell!” cried the Prince. “A thousand thanks, good Tripsitinka!” And he sat down on the seat again with a smile upon his face and started waiting for the sunset.

The Twelfth Chapter
Medicine and Magic

Very, very quietly Polynesia then slipped out at the back of the tree and flew to the prison to talk to the Doctor.

“Listen,” said the parrot to the Doctor, “Prince Bumpo is coming here tonight to see you. And you have to find some way to turn him white. But make him promise you first that he will open the prison-door and find a ship for you so that you could cross the sea.”

“This is all very well,” said the Doctor. “But it isn’t so easy to turn a black man white.

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Polynesia impatiently. “But you MUST turn this man white. Think of a way – think hard. You’ve got a lot of medicines in the bag. He’ll do anything for you if you change his color. It is your only chance to get out of prison.”

“Well, I think it MIGHT be possible,[22]22
  это, может быть, и возможно


[Закрыть]” said the Doctor. “Let me see —,” and he took his medicine-bag…

That night Prince Bumpo came secretly to the Doctor in prison and said to him, “White Man, I am an unhappy prince. Years ago I went in search of The Sleeping Beauty.[23]23
  Спящая Красавица


[Закрыть] I read about her in a book. And I traveled through the world many days and at last I found her and kissed the lady very gently to awaken her – as the book said I should. It is true indeed that she awoke. But when she saw my face she cried out, ‘Oh, he’s black!’ And she ran away and didn’t marry me – but went to sleep again somewhere else. So I came back to my father’s kingdom. Now I know that you are a wonderful magician. So please help me. If you turn me white, so that I may go back to The Sleeping Beauty, I will give you half my kingdom and anything you ask.”

“Prince Bumpo,” said the Doctor and looked thoughtfully at the bottles in his medicine-bag, “I could make your hair a nice blonde color – will you be happy then?”

“No,” said Bumpo. “Nothing else will satisfy me. I must be a white prince.”

“You know it is very hard to change the color of a prince,” said the Doctor – “one of the hardest things that a magician can do. You only want your face white, don’t you?”

“Yes, that is all,” said Bumpo. “Because I will wear shining armor, like the other white princes, and ride on a horse.”

“Must your face be white all over?” asked the Doctor.

“Yes, all over,” said Bumpo, “and I would like my eyes blue too, but I think that will be very hard to do.”

“Yes, it will,” said the Doctor quickly. “Well, I will do what I can for you. You must be very patient. Maybe I will try two or three times. Now come over here by the light – Oh, but before I do anything, you must first go to the beach and get a ship ready, with food in it, to take me across the sea. Do not speak a word about this to any one. And when I make your face white, you must let me and all my animals out of prison. Promise!”

So the Prince promised and went away to get a ship ready at the seashore. When he came back and said that it was ready, the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to bring a basin. Then he mixed a lot of medicines in the basin and told Bumpo to dip his face in it. The Prince leaned down and put his face in the basin. He held it there a long time. At last the Prince lifted his face up out of the basin. It was difficult for him to breathe. And all the animals cried out in surprise because the Prince’s face was as white as snow, and his eyes were gray, not mud-colored! When John Dolittle gave him a little looking-glass, he began dancing around the prison. But the Doctor asked him not to make so much noise about it; and then he told him to open the prison-door. So the Prince unlocked the door. And the Doctor with all his animals ran as fast as they could down to the seashore.

When they came to the beach they saw Polynesia and Chee-Chee – they were on the rocks near the ship.

“I feel sorry about Bumpo,” said the Doctor. “I am afraid that medicine which I used will never last. I think he will be black again when he wakes up in the morning. But he MIGHT stay white – that was a new mixture. Poor Bumpo! I think I will send him some candy when I get to Puddleby. And who knows? – he may stay white after all.”

Then the pushmi-pullyu, the white mouse, Gub-Gub, Dab-Dab, Jip and the owl, Too-Too, went onto the ship with the Doctor. But Chee-Chee, Polynesia and the crocodile stayed behind, because Africa was their home, the land where they were born. And when the Doctor stood upon the boat, he remembered that they had no one with them to guide them back to Puddleby. But then they heard a strange noise, high in the air. The noise became louder and bigger. And Jip said, “Birds! – millions of them!” And then they all looked up. And there they could see thousands and thousands of little birds. And soon all these birds came down. The Doctor could see that they had blue wings and white breasts. And then John Dolittle said, “These are the swallows. They are going back because it will be summer when we get home. Swallows, I thank you! Now we will not lose our way. Pull up the anchor and set the sail!”

The Thirteenth Chapter
Red Sails and Blue Wings

The Doctor’s ship had to pass the coast of Barbary. This coast is the seashore of the Great Desert. It is a wild, lonely place – all sand and stones. And the Barbary pirates lived there. And if they saw a boat, they came out in their fast ships and chased it. When they caught a boat like this at sea, they stole everything on it, took the people off, sank the boat and sailed back to Barbary. Then they made the people from the boat write home to their friends for money. And if the friends didn’t send any money, the pirates often threw the people into the sea.

Now one sunny day the Doctor and Dab-Dab were on the ship, walking up and down for exercise; there was a nice fresh wind, and everybody was happy. Soon Dab-Dab saw the sail of another ship a long way behind them. It was a red sail. “I don’t like that sail. I have a feeling it isn’t a friendly ship,” said Dab-Dab. Jip, who was near, began to growl. “I smell bad men,” he growled – “I smell trouble. I smell a fight – six bad men are fighting against one brave man. I want to help him. Woof – oo – WOOF!” Then he barked loudly.

“See!” cried Dab-Dab. “That boat is nearer now. You can count its three big sails – all red. They are coming after us…. Who are they?”

“They are bad sailors,” said Jip; “and their ship is very swift. They are the pirates of Barbary.”

Then the Doctor asked Dab-Dab to fly up and tell the swallows that pirates were after them in a swift ship. When the swallows heard this, they all came down onto the Doctor’s ship. They told him to separate a long thick rope into a lot of thin strings as quickly as he could. Then the Doctor and the animals tied the ends of these strings to the front of the ship; and the swallows took the strings with their feet and flew off, pulling the boat along. Altogether there were two thousand swallows. And then the Doctor’s ship traveled really fast. And all the animals on the ship began to laugh and dance, because the pirates’ ship was now far, far behind.