5 A Message from Africa

CHAPTER 5 A Message from Africa That winter was indeed a cold one. One night in December, all the animals were gathered

第五章来自非洲的消息那年冬天的确很冷。 十二月的一个晚上，所有的动物都聚集在一起

around the fire. Doctor Dolittle read to them. He translated stories into animal language so they could enjoy them, too. Suddenly Too-Too flew down from the rafters. "Shh!" the owl said. "What's that noise outside?" They all listened. Too-Too was right: There was a strange noise coming from outside. It was the sound of something running. Then the door flew open and Chee-Chee ran inside. He was out of breath. "Doctor!" he cried. "I've just had a message from my cousin in Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys there. They have all heard of you. They are begging you to come and help." "Who brought this news?" the doctor asked. He was amazed that a message could arrive from so far away. "A swallow," Chee-Chee said. "She is still outside near the garden gate."

围着火。杜立德医生给他们读故事。 他把故事翻译成动物的语言，这样它们也能欣赏。 突然，太太从椽子上飞了下来。 “嘘！”猫头鹰说。“外面那是什么声音？”他们都听着。 Too-Too是对的：外面传来一种奇怪的声音。 那是什么东西奔跑的声音。 然后门突然开了，奇奇跑了进去。 他上气不接下气。“医生！” “我刚从非洲的表兄那里得到消息。 那里的猴子有一种可怕的疾病。 他们都听说过你。 他们求你来帮忙。” “谁带来的这个消息？”医生问。 他惊讶于消息能从这么远的地方传来。 “一只燕子，”奇奇说。 “她还在外面花园大门附近。”

"Well, bring her in," Doctor Dolittle exclaimed. "It is far too cold outdoors for a little bird, especially a bird from Africa. She can warm herself by the fire." So the swallow came inside. She was cold and nervous at first. She quickly warmed up by the fire, though. She told them all about the monkey sickness in Africa. It was very serious. They needed Doctor Dolittle right away. "Of course, of course," the doctor said. "I will leave as soon as possible. I'm worried that we won't have enough money for the tickets, though. Chee-Chee! Would you please hand me the money box?" The monkey climbed up and took the box from the top shelf of the bookcase. There was nothing in it—not a single penny! "Nothing!" the doctor exclaimed. "I was certain we had at least a little left." "Don't you remember that you had to buy Jip a new collar?" Too-Too asked.

“好吧，把她带进来。”杜立德医生叫道。 “对于小鸟来说，室外太冷了，尤其是非洲的小鸟。 她可以在火旁取暖。” 于是燕子就进来了。 一开始她又冷又紧张。 不过，她很快就在炉火旁暖和了起来。 她把非洲的猴病都告诉了他们。 情况非常严重。他们马上需要杜立德医生。 “当然，当然，”医生说。 “我将尽快离开。 不过，我担心我们没有足够的钱买票。 Chee-Chee !你能把存钱箱递给我吗？”猴子爬上去，从书架最上面的架子上拿了盒子。 里面什么也没有——一个子儿也没有！“没什么！”医生叫道。 “我确信我们至少还剩下一点。” “你不记得你给吉普买了个新项圈吗？”英俊了问。

"Oh, right," Doctor Dolittle replied. "I forgot about that. Well, I suppose I'll have to go down to the seaside and ask to borrow a boat. Hopefully, one of the fishermen will be kind enough to lend us one." So the next morning, Doctor Dolittle made his way down to the seaside. He found a fisherman who agreed to lend him a boat to take to Africa. The fisherman knew that Dolittle would not be able to pay him. "That's all right, Doctor," he said. "You helped my boy a long time ago. And I know how you take care of all those animals. I am glad I can finally help you." Doctor Dolittle promised to bring the boat back as soon as possible. He then hurried back to his home to tell the animals the good news. All the animals were very happy! The crocodile, Chee-Chee, and Polynesia were excited to go to Africa. After all, it was where they were born. They had not been back in many

“哦，对了，”杜立特医生回答。 “我忘了。嗯，我想我得到海边去借一艘船。 希望哪位渔民能好心借给我们一把。” 于是，第二天早上，杜立德医生来到海边。 他找到了一个渔夫，他同意借给他一艘船，让他开到非洲去。 渔夫知道杜立德是付不起钱的。 “没关系，医生，”他说。 “你很久以前帮助过我的孩子。 我也知道你是怎么照顾那些动物的。 我很高兴终于能帮到你。” 杜立德医生答应尽快把船开回来。 然后他急忙赶回家告诉动物们这个好消息。 所有的动物都很高兴！鳄鱼奇奇和波利尼西亚都很兴奋要去非洲。 毕竟，那是他们出生的地方。 他们已经很久没有回来了

years. "I shall only be able to take you three," Doctor Dolittle said. "And Jip, Dab-Dab, and Gub-Gub, of course. Everyone else will have to stay here. Africa would not be a good place for many of them anyway." Thankfully, Polynesia had been on many sea voyages. She told the doctor everything he would need for the trip. "We will need to bring special food with us," she said. "There is bread called hardtack. It lasts for a long time. We will also need to bring many cans of beans and vegetables. There is always a worry that food will spoil on long trips." "Yes, yes, of course," the doctor said. He wrote down everything Polynesia told him in his little notebook. "I assume the boat will come with its own anchor." "Yes, it will have its own anchor," Polynesia said. "But we should make sure we have a lot of rope. Rope is very handy on long sea voyages."

年。“我只能带你们三个人去。”杜立特医生说。 “当然还有吉普、哒哒、哒哒。 其他人都得留在这里。 反正对他们中的许多人来说，非洲也不是一个好地方。” 值得庆幸的是，波利尼西亚经历过多次海上航行。 她把旅行所需的一切都告诉了医生。 “我们需要带一些特别的食物，”她说。 “有一种面包叫硬面包。 它持续了很长时间。我们还需要带许多罐头豆子和蔬菜。 人们总是担心在长途旅行中食物会变质。” “是的，是的，当然，”医生说。 他把波利尼西亚告诉他的每件事都写在他的小笔记本上。 “我想船会自己来的。” “是的，它会有自己的锚，”波利尼西亚说。 “但我们应该确保我们有很多绳子。 在长途海上航行时，绳子是很方便的。”

There was still the problem of money. How would they buy everything they needed for their trip if the money box was empty? You can only imagine Doctor Dolittle's surprise when the butcher arrived at his door with all the supplies! "I knew that you would need these things for your trip," the butcher said. "Please don't worry about paying me back right now. The grocer and I talked it over. You are doing important work. We'll deal with the bill when you return from Africa." Doctor Dolittle shook his friend's hand. "My word!" he exclaimed. "You are very good to us. How will I ever thank you?" "There is no need," the butcher replied. "I am glad to help." The animals and Doctor Dolittle worked quickly to pack all their things. They turned the water off so the pipes would not freeze while they were away. They put shutters over the

钱的问题仍然存在。 如果储蓄罐是空的，他们怎么能买到旅行所需的一切呢？ 你可以想象，当屠夫带着所有的供应品来到他家门口时，杜立德医生有多惊讶！“我就知道你在旅途中会需要这些东西，”肉贩说。 “请不要担心现在还我钱。 我和杂货商商量了一下。 你在做重要的工作。 等你从非洲回来，我们再来处理账单。” 杜立特医生握了握他朋友的手。 “我的天！”“你对我们真好。 我该怎么感谢你呢？”“没有必要，”屠夫回答。 “我很乐意帮忙。”动物们和杜立德医生迅速收拾好了所有的东西。 他们把水关掉，以免他们不在时水管结冰。 他们把百叶窗盖在上面