《楠塔基特岛的夜行鸟》.docVIP

《楠塔基特岛的夜行鸟》 　　琼·艾肯（Joan Aiken，1924～2004），英国当代著名女作家，曾获刘易斯·卡罗尔奖、英国《卫报》小说奖、大英帝国勋章。她一生创作了一百多部作品，她的儿童与青少年作品包括小说、童话故事、诗歌、戏剧、图画书等，许多作品都深受读者喜爱。她最著名的儿童小说是“狼群编年史传奇”（Wolves Chronicles）系列，该系列小说共12本，想象奇特，充满神秘色彩，《楠塔基特岛的夜行鸟》（Nightbirds on Nantucket）就是其中之一。小说讲述了黛朵（Dido）和彭妮（Pen）这两个小女孩的一系列冒险经历。 　　下文选自这部小说的第八章，略有删节。彭妮的父亲卡斯科特船长（Captain Casket）病了，黛朵到镇上请了船长的老朋友梅修医生（Doctor Mayhew）来农场给他看病，他们到农场后发现…… 　　精彩片段 　　Captain Casket was wild and feverish， rolled about in his bed， and kept throwing imaginary harpoons1） at unseen whales. 　　He needs a dose of poppy syrup2）， Doctor Mayhew said. Thatll give him some rest. 　　He administered a draught3）. Immediately Captain Casket fell back and began snoring loudly. 　　Thatll fix him for a good few hours， Doctor Mayhew said with satisfaction. Powerful strong it is， the way I mix it. Here， he said to Pen， Ill leave ye4） the bottle， but dont give him any more unless Im delayed getting back to ye and he seems worse. 　　Aunt Tribulation came into the room. 　　Well， Tribulation， the doctor said， Id not have known ye， but I suppose were all getting a bit long in the tooth5）. Remember when I pushed you in the creek and you were so mad at me？ 　　Yes， I do， said Aunt Tribulation frostily6）. And its not a thing to boast about. It was not the act of a gentleman！ 　　Doctor Mayhew laughed very heartily at this and took his leave. As soon as the door closed behind him， Aunt Tribulation turned fiercely on Dido. 　　What do you mean， miss， by going to the Hidden Forest and begging lobsters7） from the English scientists？ Who gave you leave to do such a thing？ 　　Oh， dear， thought Dido. She met the eyes of Pen， who looked anguished. 　　Yes， I got the whole story out of Penitence， rasped8） Aunt Tribulation. And I wont have such behavior！ You are not to pester9） those men， who are very busy botanists10） studying the plant life of the island， and have no time to waste on prying， spying children， who ought to be at home anyway， tending11） to their tasks. For that， you shal