Kitabı oku: «The Story of Doctor Dolittle / История Доктора Дулиттла. Уровень 1», sayfa 6

And another time, the circus came to Puddleby. The crocodile who had a bad toothache escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language and took him into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile saw what a nice house it was he too wanted to live with the Doctor. When the circus-men came to take him back he got so wild and angry that he frightened them away. But to everyone in the house he was always as gentle as a kitten.

But now the old ladies were afraid to send their small dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the crocodile. And the farmers were afraid to send their sick lambs because of the crocodile. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go back to his circus. But he cried so much, and begged so hard to be allowed to stay, that the Doctor hadn’t the heart to turn him out.

So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and said,

“John, you must send that creature away. Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid to send their animals to you. Just when we started to do so well, everything started to fall apart.This is the last straw⁶. I will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don’t send away that alligator.”

“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor, “it’s a crocodile.”

“I don’t care what you call it,” said his sister. “It’s a nasty thing to find under the bed. I won’t have it in the house.”

“But he promised me he will not bite anyone,” the Doctor answered. “He doesn’t like the circus. And I have no money to send him back to Africa where he comes from. He minds his own business and on the whole is very well behaved. Don’t be so fussy.”

“I tell you I will not have him around,” said Sarah. “He eats the carpet. If you don’t send him away this minute I’ll—I’ll go and get married!”

“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married. It can’t be helped.” And he took down his hat and went out into the garden.

So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off. Now the Doctor was left all alone with his animal family.

Things became to look very difficult. The Doctor had no money to feed all these mouths and there was no one to look after the house. But the Doctor didn’t worry at all.

“Money is anuisance⁷,” he used to say. “I wish they were never invented at all. What does money matter, so long as we are happy?”

But soon the animals themselves began to get worried. And one evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they began talking it over among themselves in whispers. And the owl, Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only money enough left to last another week—if they each had one meal a day and no more.

Then the parrot said, “I think we all need to do the housework ourselves. At least we can do that much. After all, it is because of us that the old man finds himself so lonely and so poor.”