Kitabı oku: «The Story of Doctor Dolittle / История Доктора Дулиттла. Уровень 1», sayfa 4
“You know, Sir, sadly everyone thinks”, said the horse before he left, “everyone thinks he can doctor animals—just because the animals don’t complain. Actually, it takes a much cleverer man to be a really good animal-doctor than it does to be a good people’s doctor. My farmer’s boy thinks he knows all about horses. If only you saw him! His face is so fat that he looks as though he has no eyes. And he has as much brain as a potato-bug. He tried to put a mustard-plaster on me last week.”
“Where did he put it?” asked the Doctor.
“Oh, he didn’t put it anywhere on me,” said the horse. “He only tried to. I kicked him into the duck-pond.”
“Well, well!” said the Doctor.
“I’m usually pretty quiet,” said the horse, “and very patient with people. It was bad enough to have that vet giving me the wrong medicine. But when that red-faced idiot tried to put that mustard-plaster on me, I just couldn’t bear it anymore.”
“Did you hurt the boy much?” asked the Doctor.
“Oh, no,” said the horse. “I kicked him in the right place. The vet’s looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?”
“I’ll have them for you next week,” said the Doctor. “Come in again Tuesday—Good morning!”
Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green glasses. Now the horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as ever.
And soon it becamea common sight4 to see farm-animals who wore glasses in the country round Puddleby. And a blind horse was a thing unknown.
Soon, all the other animals started to come to see him. When they found out he could talk their language, they told him where the pain was and how they felt. And of course it was easy for him to cure them. Now whenever any creatures got sick—even the little things like field-mice and bats—came at once to his house on the edge of the town. His big garden was nearly always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him.
There were so many that came that he had to have special doors made for the different kinds. He wrote “HORSES” over the front door, “COWS” over the side door, and “SHEEP” on the kitchen door. Even the mice had a tiny tunnel made for them into the cellar. There they waited patiently in rows for the Doctor to come round to them.
And so, in a few years, every living thing for miles and miles got to know about John Dolittle. And the birds who flew to other countries in the winter told the animals there of the wonderful doctor who could understand their talk. In this way he became famous among the animals all over the world. And he was happy and liked his life very much.
One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book, Polynesia sat in the window. She was looking out at the leaves blowing about in the garden. Then she laughed aloud.
