Voyages of Dr. Doolittle(都利特尔的航行)

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THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

THE VOYAGES OF

DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

HUGH LOFTING

To Colin and Elizabeth

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

PROLOGUE

ALL that I have written so far about Doctor Dolittle I heard long after

it happened from those who had known him-- indeed a great deal of it took

place before I was born. But I now come to set down that part of the great

man's life which I myself saw and took part in.

Many years ago the Doctor gave me permission to do this. But we

were both of us so busy then voyaging around the world, having

adventures and filling note-books full of natural history that I never

seemed to get time to sit down and write of our doings.

Now of course, when I am quite an old man, my memory isn't so good

any more. But whenever I am in doubt and have to hesitate and think, I

always ask Polynesia, the parrot.

That wonderful bird (she is now nearly two hundred and fifty years old)

sits on the top of my desk, usually humming sailor songs to herself, while

I write this book. And, as every one who ever met her knows, Polynesia's

memory is the most marvelous memory in the world. If there is any

happening I am not quite sure of, she is always able to put me right, to tell

me exactly how it took place, who was there and everything about it. In

fact sometimes I almost think I ought to say that this book was written by

Polynesia instead of me.

Very well then, I will begin. And first of all I must tell you something

about myself and how I came to meet the Doctor.

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

PART I

THE FIRST CHAPTER

THE COBBLER'S SON

MY name was Tommy Stubbins, son of Jacob Stubbins, the cobbler of

Puddleby-on-the-Marsh; and I was nine and a half years old. At that time

Puddleby was only quite a small town. A river ran through the middle of it;

and over this river there was a very old stone bridge, called Kingsbridge,

which led you from the market-place on one side to the churchyard on the

other.

Sailing-ships came up this river from the sea and anchored near the

bridge. I used to go down and watch the sailors unloading the ships upon

the river-wall. The sailors sang strange songs as they pulled upon the ropes;

and I learned these songs by heart. And I would sit on the river-wall with

my feet dangling over the water and sing with the men, pretending to

myself that I too was a sailor.

For I longed always to sail away with those brave ships when they

turned their backs on Puddleby Church and went creeping down the river

again, across the wide lonely marshes to the sea. I longed to go with them

out into the world to seek my fortune in foreign lands--Africa, India,

China and Peru! When they got round the bend in the river and the water

was hidden from view, you could still see their huge brown sails towering

over the roofs of the town, moving onward slowly--like some gentle giants

that walked among the houses without noise. What strange things would

they have seen, I wondered, when next they came back to anchor at

Kingsbridge! And, dreaming of the lands I had never seen, I'd sit on there,

watching till they were out of sight.

Three great friends I had in Puddleby in those days. One was Joe, the

mussel-man, who lived in a tiny hut by the edge of the water under the

bridge. This old man was simply marvelous at making things. I never saw

a man so clever with his hands. He used to mend my toy ships for me

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

which I sailed upon the river; he built windmills out of packing-cases and

barrel-staves; and he could make the most wonderful kites from old

umbrellas.

Joe would sometimes take me in his mussel-boat, and when the tide

was running out we would paddle down the river as far as the edge of the

sea to get mussels and lobsters to sell. And out there on the cold lonely

marshes we would see wild geese flying, and curlews and redshanks and

many other kinds of seabirds that live among the samfire and the long

grass of the great salt fen. And as we crept up the river in the evening,

when the tide had turned, we would see the lights on Kingsbridge twinkle

in the dusk, reminding us of tea-time and warm fires.

Another friend I had was Matthew Mugg, the cat's-meat-man. He was

a funny old person with a bad squint. He looked rather awful but he was

really quite nice to talk to. He knew everybody in Puddleby; and he knew

all the dogs and all the cats. In those times being a cat's-meat-man was a

regular business. And you could see one nearly any day going through the

streets with a wooden tray full of pieces of meat stuck on skewers crying,

"Meat! M-E-A-T!" People paid him to give this meat to their cats and

dogs instead of feeding them on dog-biscuits or the scraps from the table.

I enjoyed going round with old Matthew and seeing the cats and dogs

come running to the garden-gates whenever they heard his call.

Sometimes he let me give the meat to the animals myself; and I thought

this was great fun. He knew a lot about dogs and he would tell me the

names of the different kinds as we went through the town. He had several

dogs of his own; one, a whippet, was a very fast runner, and Matthew used

to win prizes with her at the Saturday coursing races; another, a terrier,

was a fine ratter. The cat's-meat-man used to make a business of rat-

catching for the millers and farmers as well as his other trade of selling

cat's-meat.

My third great friend was Luke the Hermit. But of him I will tell you

more later on.

I did not go to school; because my father was not rich enough to send

me. But I was extremely fond of animals. So I used to spend my time

collecting birds' eggs and butterflies, fishing in the river, rambling through

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

the countryside after blackberries and mushrooms and helping the mussel-

man mend his nets.

Yes, it was a very pleasant life I lived in those days long ago-- though

of course I did not think so then. I was nine and a half years old; and, like

all boys, I wanted to grow up--not knowing how well off I was with no

cares and nothing to worry me. Always I longed for the time when I

should be allowed to leave my father's house, to take passage in one of

those brave ships, to sail down the river through the misty marshes to the

sea-- out into the world to seek my fortune.

THE SECOND CHAPTER

I HEAR OF THE GREAT NATURALIST

ONE early morning in the Springtime, when I was wandering among

the hills at the back of the town, I happened to come upon a hawk with a

squirrel in its claws. It was standing on a rock and the squirrel was

fighting very hard for its life. The hawk was so frightened when I came

upon it suddenly like this, that it dropped the poor creature and flew away.

I picked the squirrel up and found that two of its legs were badly hurt. So I

carried it in my arms back to the town.

When I came to the bridge I went into the musselman's hut and asked

him if he could do anything for it. Joe put on his spectacles and examined

it carefully. Then he shook his head.

"Yon crittur's got a broken leg," he said--"and another badly cut an' all.

I can mend you your boats, Tom, but I haven't the tools nor the learning to

make a broken squirrel seaworthy. This is a job for a surgeon--and for a

right smart one an' all. There be only one man I know who could save yon

crittur's life. And that's John Dolittle."

"Who is John Dolittle?" I asked. "Is he a vet?"

"No," said the mussel-man. "He's no vet. Doctor Dolittle is a

nacheralist."

"What's a nacheralist?"

"A nacheralist," said Joe, putting away his glasses and starting to fill

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

his pipe, "is a man who knows all about animals and butterflies and plants

and rocks an' all. John Dolittle is a very great nacheralist. I'm surprised

you never heard of him--and you daft over animals. He knows a whole lot

about shellfish--that I know from my own knowledge. He's a quiet man

and don't talk much; but there's folks who do say he's the greatest

nacheralist in the world."

"Where does he live?" I asked.

"Over on the Oxenthorpe Road, t'other side the town. Don't know just

which house it is, but 'most anyone 'cross there could tell you, I reckon.

Go and see him. He's a great man."

So I thanked the mussel-man, took up my squirrel again and started oft

towards the Oxenthorpe Road.

The first thing I heard as I came into the marketplace was some one

calling "Meat! M-E-A-T!"

"There's Matthew Mugg," I said to myself. "He'll know where this

Doctor lives. Matthew knows everyone."

So I hurried across the market-place and caught him up.

"Matthew," I said, "do you know Doctor Dolittle?"

"Do I know John Dolittle!" said he. "Well, I should think I do! I know

him as well as I know my own wife--better, I sometimes think. He's a

great man--a very great man."

"Can you show me where he lives?" I asked. "I want to take this

squirrel to him. It has a broken leg."

"Certainly," said the cat's-meat-man. "I'll be going right by his house

directly. Come along and I'll show you."

So off we went together.

"Oh, I've known John Dolittle for years and years," said Matthew as

we made our way out of the market-place. "But I'm pretty sure he ain't

home just now. He's away on a voyage. But he's liable to be back any day.

I'll show you his house and then you'll know where to find him."

All the way down the Oxenthorpe Road Matthew hardly stopped

talking about his great friend, Doctor John Dolittle--"M. D." He talked so

much that he forgot all about calling out "Meat!" until we both suddenly

noticed that we had a whole procession of dogs following us patiently.

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

"Where did the Doctor go to on this voyage?" I asked as Matthew

handed round the meat to them.

"I couldn't tell you," he answered. "Nobody never knows where he

goes, nor when he's going, nor when he's coming back. He lives all alone

except for his pets. He's made some great voyages and some wonderful

discoveries. Last time he came back he told me he'd found a tribe of Red

Indians in the Pacific Ocean--lived on two islands, they did. The husbands

lived on one island and the wives lived on the other. Sensible people, some

of them savages. They only met once a year, when the husbands came

over to visit the wives for a great feast-- Christmas-time, most likely. Yes,

he's a wonderful man is the Doctor. And as for animals, well, there ain't no

one knows as much about 'em as what he does."

"How did he get to know so much about animals?" I asked.

The cat's-meat-man stopped and leant down to whisper in my car.

"HE TALKS THEIR LANGUAGE," he said in a hoarse, mysterious

voice.

"The animals' language?" I cried.

"Why certainly," said Matthew. "All animals have some kind of a

language. Some sorts talk more than others; some only speak in sign-

language, like deaf-and-dumb. But the Doctor, he understands them all--

birds as well as animals. We keep it a secret though, him and me, because

folks only laugh at you when you speak of it. Why, he can even write

animal-language. He reads aloud to his pets. He's wrote history-books in

monkey-talk, poetry in canary language and comic songs for magpies to

sing. It's a fact. He's now busy learning the language of the shellfish. But

he says it's hard work--and he has caught some terrible colds, holding his

head under water so much. He's a great man."

"He certainly must be," I said. "I do wish he were home so I could

meet him."

"Well, there's his house, look," said the cat's, meat-man--"that little one

at the bend in the road there--the one high up-- like it was sitting on the

wall above the street."

We were now come beyond the edge of the town. And the house that

Matthew pointed out was quite a small one standing by itself. There

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

seemed to be a big garden around it; and this garden was much higher than

the road, so you had to go up a flight of steps in the wall before you

reached the front gate at the top. I could see that there were many fine fruit

trees in the garden, for their branches hung down over the wall in places.

But the wall was so high I could not see anything else.

When we reached the house Matthew went up the steps to the front

gate and I followed him. I thought he was going to go into the garden; but

the gate was locked. A dog came running down from the house; and he

took several pieces of meat which the cat's-meat-man pushed through the

bars of the gate, and some paper bags full of corn and bran, I noticed that

this dog did not stop to eat the meat, as any ordinary dog would have done,

but he took all the things back to the house and disappeared. He had a

curious wide collar round his neck which looked as though it were made

of brass or something. Then we came away.

"The Doctor isn't back yet," said Matthew, "or the gate wouldn't be

locked."

"What were all those things in paper-bags you gave the dog?" I asked.

"Oh, those were provisions," said Matthew--"things for the animals to

eat. The Doctor's house is simply full of pets. I give the things to the dog,

while the Doctor's away, and the dog gives them to the other animals."

"And what was that curious collar he was wearing round his neck?"

"That's a solid gold dog-collar," said Matthew. "It was given to him

when he was with the Doctor on one of his voyages long ago. He saved a

man's life."

"How long has the Doctor had him?" I asked.

"Oh, a long time. Jip's getting pretty old now. That's why the Doctor

doesn't take him on his voyages any more. He leaves him behind to take

care of the house. Every Monday and Thursday I bring the food to the gate

here and give it him through the bars. He never lets any one come inside

the garden while the Doctor's away--not even me, though he knows me

well. But you'll always be able to tell if the Doctor's back or not-- because

if he is, the gate will surely be open."

So I went off home to my father's house and put my squirrel to bed in

an old wooden box full of straw. And there I nursed him myself and took

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

care of him as best I could till the time should come when the Doctor

would return. And every day I went to the little house with the big garden

on the edge of the town and tried the gate to see if it were locked.

Sometimes the dog, Jip, would come down to the gate to meet me. But

though he always wagged his tail and seemed glad to see me, he never let

me come inside the garden.

THE THIRD CHAPTER

THE DOCTOR'S HOME

ONE Monday afternoon towards the end of April my father asked me

to take some shoes which he had mended to a house on the other side of

the town. They were for a Colonel Bellowes who was very particular.

I found the house and rang the bell at the front door. The Colonel

opened it, stuck out a very red face and said, "Go round to the tradesmen's

entrance--go to the back door." Then he slammed the door shut.

I felt inclined to throw the shoes into the middle of his flower-bed. But

I thought my father might be angry, so I didn't. I went round to the back

door, and there the Colonel's wife met me and took the shoes from me.

She looked a timid little woman and had her hands all over flour as though

she were making bread. She seemed to be terribly afraid of her husband

whom I could still hear stumping round the house somewhere, grunting

indignantly because I had come to the front door. Then she asked me in a

whisper if I would have a bun and a glass of milk. And I said, "Yes,

please." After I had eaten the bun and milk, I thanked the Colonel's wife

and came away. Then I thought that before I went home I would go and

see if the Doctor had come back yet. I had been to his house once already

that morning. But I thought I'd just like to go and take another look. My

squirrel wasn't getting any better and I was beginning to be worried about

him.

So I turned into the Oxenthorpe Road and started off towards the

Doctor's house. On the way I noticed that the sky was clouding over and

that it looked as though it might rain.

THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOOLITTLE

I reached the gate and found it still locked. I felt very discouraged. I

had been coming here every day for a week now. The dog, Jip, came to the

gate and wagged his tail as usual, and then sat down and watched me

closely to see that I didn't get in.

I began to fear that my squirrel would die before the Doctor came back.

I turned away sadly, went down the steps on to the road and turned

towards home again.

I wondered if it were supper-time yet. Of course I had no watch of my

own, but I noticed a gentleman coming towards me down the road; and

when he got nearer I saw it was the Colonel out for a walk. He was all

wrapped up in smart overcoats and mufflers and bright-colored gloves. It

was not a very cold day but he had so many clothes on he looked like a

pillow inside a roll of blankets. I asked him if he would please tell me the

time.

He stopped, grunted and glared down at me--his red face growing

redder still; and when he spoke it sounded like the cork coming out of a

gingerbeer-bottle.

"Do you imagine for one moment," he spluttered, "that I am going to

get myself all unbuttoned just to tell a little boy like you THE TIME!" And

he went stumping down the street, grunting harder than ever.

I stood still a moment looking after him and wondering how old I

would have to be, to have him go to the trouble of getting his watch out.

And then, all of a sudden, the rain came down in torrents.

I have never seen it rain so hard. It got dark, almost like night. The

wind began to blow; the thunder rolled; the lightning flashed, and in a

moment the gutters of the road were flowing like a river. There was no

place handy to take shelter, so I put my head down against the driving

wind and started to run towards home.

I hadn't gone very far when my head bumped into something soft and I

sat down suddenly on the pavement. I looked up to see whom I had run

into. And there in front of me, sitting on the wet pavement like myself,

was a little round man with a very kind face. He wore a shabby high hat

and in his hand he had a small black bag.

"I'm very sorry," I said. "I had my head down and I didn't see you

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THEVOYAGESOFDOCTORDOOLITTLE1THEVOYAGESOFDOCTORDOOLITTLEHUGHLOFTINGToColinandElizabethTHEVOYAGESOFDOCTORDOOLITTLE2PROLOGUEALLthatIhavewrittensofaraboutDoctorDolittleIheardlongafterithappenedfromthosewhohadknownhim--indeedagreatdealofittookplacebeforeIwasborn.ButInowcometosetdownthatpartofthegreatman'...

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Voyages of Dr. Doolittle(都利特尔的航行)

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