登陆注册
5390700000002

第2章 THE FIRST CHAPTER

PUDDLEBY

ONCE upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were little children--there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle--John Dolittle, M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot.

He lived in a little town called, Puddleby- on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the street in his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the Doctor!--He's a clever man." And the dogs and the children would all run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads.

The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but his garden was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and weeping-willows hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but the Doctor looked after the garden himself.

He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the gold-fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar.

He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame horse-twenty-five years of age--and chickens, and pigeons, and two lambs, and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab-Dab the duck, Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too-Too.

His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made the house untidy.

And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to see the Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa and never came to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the way to Oxenthorpe, another town ten miles off, to see a different doctor.

Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said, "John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you keep all these animals in the house? It's a fine doctor would have his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! That's the fourth personage these animals have driven away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they wouldn't come near your house again--no matter how sick they are. We are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best people will have you for a doctor."

"But I like the animals better than the `best people'," said the Doctor.

"You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room.

So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no one left--except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't mind any kind of animals. But the Cat's-meat Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick once a year--at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine.

Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on-- even in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money- box, no one knows what would have happened.

And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler.

Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer.

And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would say to one another, "There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time when he was the best known doctor in the West Country--Look at him now--He hasn't any money and his stockings are full of holes!"

But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed him through the town --the same as they had done when he was rich.

同类推荐
  • 上清华晨三奔玉诀

    上清华晨三奔玉诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说苾刍五法经

    佛说苾刍五法经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 刘宗周集选录

    刘宗周集选录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太极祭炼内法

    太极祭炼内法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 乙丙之际箸议第九

    乙丙之际箸议第九

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 万域天尊

    万域天尊

    【傻猫新书《我真得无所不能》已经强势连载,修炼大命运术我真得无所不能!】千年之前,死于挚爱之手。而命运不收,千年之后,一块黑石搅动风云,一个少年屹立诸天,誓要以血染诸天。...........从这一天开始。我将是你们永生永世的噩梦。
  • 极品女黑客:只能是你

    极品女黑客:只能是你

    他的母亲意外丧生,母亲的双胞胎妹妹秘密代替母亲的位置生活在家里,导致他从小就患有异性接触障碍。她是黑客女王,是他的心理医师,她拥有许多匪夷所思的生存技能,但却从没尝过亲人的温暖。他们抓住了彼此的命运,他爱的人只能是她,她爱的人也只能是他。我的心飘泊太久,无人能靠近,此生爱的人,只能是你。
  • 沉雪

    沉雪

    “文革”期间,来自天津的女知青孙小婴插队北大荒,柔弱的身体、敏感的心灵,不断遭受恶劣环境的磨砺、伤害。另一位女知青舒迪,高大健硕、积极乐观,充满生命活力,她们的情谊照亮了孙小婴黯淡的青春岁月。然而,个人命运被历史洪流裹挟,少女之间纯净如雪的感情,能否经受自然与社会的双重考验?
  • 心理罪(全集)

    心理罪(全集)

    60万读者口碑推荐,中国心理犯罪小说人雷米,正能量出击给罪犯画像、罪与罚的仪式、黑暗心灵的救赎、人与城的和解,套装五册,带你开启一段酣畅淋漓的《心理罪》之旅。包含《暗河》《画像》《教化场》《城市之光》《第七个读者》。
  • 供养前妻

    供养前妻

    林若是一名职业女性周刊的记者,在一次暗中采访中,被四大财阀集团之首的简昊误以为是妓女身份,激情狂野之夜后,她带着一身的伤默默消失在了迷乱的空荡房间…同年同月同日。她和他再次意外相遇在一场生日聚会,她才惊讶的发现他竟然是她最好朋友的哥哥?!!!再见,他鄙视她,嘲讽她。再遇,她痛恨他,讨厌他。为何他却一次又一次的不肯放过她?一次又一次的引诱她?一次又一次的伤害她?云雨几番,她有了孩子,不得已奉子成婚。新婚不到一年,他竟然在外面有了小三?还是过去的旧情人!她火了,吼道,“前妻就前妻!我要离婚!!!”简昊一本正色说,“没关系,离婚以后,我还养你…”
  • 唐臣(下卷)

    唐臣(下卷)

    这是一段日薄西山的帝国记叙,凄苦飘零的唐王,分崩离析的社稷。乱世,造就了一位平民皇帝——行伍揭竿起,孤身护龙驭。百战平三川,王道服人心。他忠于唐室,却最终称帝,目不识丁,却求贤崇礼。麾下名将云集,身连英才笼聚,他缔造了前蜀霸业。是史上罕见的为北方政权所尊崇的南方大帝。
  • 美国电影艺术史

    美国电影艺术史

    《美国电影艺术史》是一部全面阐述美国电影艺术发展脉络的著作,其显著特色在于将权威的美国电影理念与生动的好莱坞电影创作结合在一起,将清晰的美国电影历史与鲜明的电影艺术家个性结合在一起。将主流的商业电影表现与多元的美国社会文化及哲学美学背景结合在一起,打通专业性与大众性之间的壁垒,形成一种深入浅出、雅俗共赏的写作风格,让读者在轻松阅读之中汲取美国电影的文化素养。
  • 变形人·凶心人

    变形人·凶心人

    《变形人》:建筑工地上工人一次不经意的打桩,上海市区最重大的考古发现之一——志丹苑就此诞生。围绕着志丹苑遗迹区,一宗又一宗的神秘事件接连发生:一种生活在沙里的热带鱼常常在沙里钻来钻去;一群无法杀死的蟑螂前后两段身体分开仍能自由爬行;一只似乎真有九条命的黑猫被卡车轧扁都不死、从楼上摔下来都未亡……一场关于海底人的秘密似乎已经云破天开。《凶心人》:有关人士在神农架新华乡南部猫儿观村一山洞里,发现了一百多年前留下的层层叠叠的尸骨。据考查,这些尸骨已存在一百多年了。从现存的骨胳辨认,有男有女,有老有少,共约300多具。洞中的水潭边上,有不少儿童的骸骨。数百人为何同居一洞?是什么原因导致他们命丧黄泉……
  • 伯明翰学派的受众理论研究

    伯明翰学派的受众理论研究

    本书选取受众研究的视角,从受众对媒介信息的接受角度出发,将伯明翰学派各个时期的受众理论归结为被动性解读、倾向性解读、多样性解读和抵抗性解读四种模式,探讨了不同时期受众理论的特征。体现了传播学研究的最新成果。
  • 上清众真教戒德行经

    上清众真教戒德行经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。