2 Animal Language

CHAPTER 2 Animal Language One day, the butcher stopped by for a visit. He noticed that the doctor's coat had several

第2章动物的语言一天，屠夫来拜访。 他注意到医生的外套上有几个

patches. The butcher knew that he was doctor's only patient. He knew Doctor Dolittle and his sister must be very poor with so little income. The butcher looked around the kitchen and noticed all the animals. They all looked happy and healthy. Suddenly the butcher had an idea. "I know!" he exclaimed. "Why don't you stop being a people doctor and start being an animal doctor?" Polynesia the parrot was sitting on the window-sill singing a song to herself. When she heard the butcher say this, she stopped to listen. "It makes perfect sense," the butcher continued. "You know everything about animals. I'm sure you know a lot more than most animal doctors. I've noticed that you get along with animals better than people. I don't mean that you don't get along with people, of course. It's just that you seem more relaxed with animals. And they're very relaxed around you. Look at your kitchen! It's filled with happy animals!"

补丁。屠夫知道他是医生唯一的病人。 他知道杜立德医生和他妹妹收入这么少，一定很穷。 屠夫环顾了一下厨房，注意到了所有的动物。 他们看起来都很快乐和健康。 突然，屠夫有了一个主意。 “我知道了！”“你为什么不停止做人类医生，开始做动物医生呢？”波利尼西亚的鹦鹉正坐在窗台上唱着歌。 当她听到屠夫这么说时，她停下来听。 “这完全说得通，”屠夫继续说。 “你知道关于动物的一切。 我相信你知道的比大多数动物医生都多。 我注意到你和动物比和人相处得好。 当然，我并不是说你不善于与人相处。 只是你和动物在一起看起来更放松。 他们在你身边很放松。 看看你的厨房！里面都是快乐的动物！”

It was true. Jip the dog and Gub-Gub the pig were curled up together in a corner. Dab-Dab the duck sat on the counter cleaning her feathers. The hedgehog was beneath the table taking a nap. The mice were playing in a box by the door. Polynesia the parrot, as you know, sat on the windowsill listening to every word. "Well, I don't know," Doctor Dolittle said. "I hadn't thought of that before. Seems like such a strange idea." "Strange?" the butcher exclaimed. "Why, it makes perfect sense! There are so many farmers around here with cows and sheep who could use your help. Plus, there are all the cats and dogs in town. Animals get sick just as often as people. Trust me," he said. "You should be an animal doctor!" After the butcher left, Polynesia flew from her perch and sat beside Doctor Dolittle. "That man has a lot of sense," she said. "You should be an animal doctor. Those people were silly to stop

这是真的。狗吉普和猪格格一起蜷缩在一个角落里。 鸭子坐在柜台上擦她的羽毛。 刺猬在桌子下面打盹。 老鼠在门边的盒子里玩耍。 波利尼西亚的鹦鹉，你知道，坐在窗台上听每一个字。 “嗯，我不知道，”杜立特医生说。 “我以前没有想过这个问题。 这似乎是一个奇怪的想法。” “奇怪？”屠夫惊叫道。 “啊，这很有道理！”这附近有很多养牛养羊的农民需要你的帮助。 再说了，镇上的猫和狗都来了。 动物和人一样经常生病。 相信我，”他说。“你应该成为一名动物医生！”屠夫走后，波利尼西亚从栖木上飞下来，坐在杜立德医生旁边。 “那个人很有见识，”她说。 “你应该成为一名动物医生。 那些人停下来是愚蠢的

coming here. You are the best doctor in the world. The animals need you." "Oh, there are plenty of animal doctors around," Doctor Dolittle said. He shook his head and gave a little chuckle. He got up from the table and started to clear the dishes. "Yes, there are plenty," said Polynesia. "But you would be the best. I'm certain that there would be no other animal doctor who could compete with you." Polynesia flew back to the windowsill where Doctor Dolittle was now fixing some flowerpots. "I'm going to tell you something very important, so I want you to listen carefully," she said. Doctor Dolittle put the flowerpot down and turned to look at the parrot. "Did you know that animals can talk?" she asked. "I know that parrots can talk, of course," he said with a smile. "Yes, we parrots can talk in two languages—

来这里。你是世界上最好的医生。 动物们需要你。”“哦，周围有很多动物医生，”杜立特医生说。 他摇了摇头，轻轻地笑了笑。 他从桌边站起来，开始洗盘子。 “是的，有很多，”波利尼西亚说。 “但你会是最好的。 我敢肯定，没有别的动物医生能和你相比。” 波利尼西亚飞回窗台上，这时杜立德医生正在那儿修理一些花盆。 “我要告诉你一件非常重要的事情，所以我希望你仔细听，”她说。 杜立德医生放下花盆，转过身来看着鹦鹉。 “你知道动物会说话吗？”她问。 “我知道鹦鹉当然会说话，”他笑着说。 “是的，我们鹦鹉会说两种语言

human language and bird language," Polynesia said proudly. "If I say, 'Polly wants a cracker,' you understand me. Now, listen to this: Ka-ka oee, fee-fee?" "My word!" cried the doctor. "What on earth does that mean?" "That means, 'Is the tea ready?' in bird language," she said. She nodded a few times and bounced on the windowsill. It was exciting to share this information with the doctor. She wondered why she had not thought of it before. "You don't say!" he exclaimed. "That is so interesting! I've never heard you speak that way before." "Well, why would I?" Polynesia asked. "You never would have understood me. There really isn't much point talking like that in front of people. That's why we usually keep it all to ourselves." "Tell me more," said the doctor. He was excited by this news. "No, wait!" He pulled his

人类语言和鸟类语言，”波利尼西亚自豪地说。 “如果我说，‘波莉想要一块饼干’，你能理解我的意思。 现在，听听这个：Ka-ka - oee， fee-fee?”“天哪！”医生叫道。 “这到底是什么意思？”“这意味着，‘茶准备好了吗？“用鸟的语言，”她说。 她点了几下头，在窗台上跳来跳去。 和医生分享这个信息是令人兴奋的。 她奇怪自己为什么以前没有想到这一点。 “不是吧！”他叫道。 “太有趣了！”我从来没听你这么说过。” “嗯，我为什么要这么做呢？”波利尼西亚问道。 “你永远也不会理解我。 在众人面前那样说话真的没有多大意义。 这就是为什么我们通常都不告诉别人的原因。” “再给我讲讲，”医生说。 他听到这个消息很兴奋。 “不,等等!”他拉了拉他的

notebook and pencil from his pocket. "Now, don't go too fast and I'll write it all down." He sat back down at the table. "Let's start at the beginning. Tell me the birds' alphabet." And so their lessons began. That was how Doctor Dolittle learned the animals have their own language and can talk to one another. All that afternoon, he sat in the kitchen with Polynesia learning the words in the bird language. He carefully wrote down each one in his notebook. He spelled them out the way they sounded so he would remember later. A few hours later, Jip the dog woke up. He walked over to Polynesia and the doctor. "See?" Polynesia said. "He's talking to you." "I didn't hear anything," Doctor Dolittle said. "I only noticed him scratching his ear." "Animals don't always speak with sounds," she replied. "We talk with our ears, our feet, our tails—we use every part of our bodies to talk. Sometimes we don't want to make a noise. Do

从口袋里掏出笔记本和铅笔。 “现在，不要讲得太快，我把这些都写下来。” 他又在桌旁坐了下来。 “让我们从头说起。 告诉我鸟儿的字母表。” 于是，他们的课程开始了。 杜立德医生就是这样了解到动物们有自己的语言，可以互相交谈的。 整个下午，他和波利尼西亚一起坐在厨房里学习鸟语。 他仔细地把每一个都写在笔记本上。 他把它们念出来，以便以后记住。 几个小时后，小狗吉普醒了。 他走到波利尼西亚和医生那里。 “看到了吗?”波利尼西亚说。“他在跟你说话。” “我什么也没听到，”杜立德医生说。 “我只注意到他搔耳朵。” “动物并不总是用声音说话，”她回答说。 “我们用耳朵、脚、尾巴说话——我们使用身体的每一部分来说话。 有时候我们不想制造噪音。 做