Mr. Popper’s Penguins（Ⅱ）波普先生的企鵝（二）

Richard and Florence Atwater

波普先生喜歡南極，更喜歡南極的企鵝，覺得它們可真是世界上最有趣的動物了，他時常感嘆“如果能弄只企鵝來當寵物不知該有多好”，為此他寫了封信給在南極的探險家杜雷克上將，你能猜到杜雷克上將回信提到的“驚喜”是什么嗎？

Mr. Popper put down his book of Antarctic Adventures and moved 1）hastily to the radio.

“What of it ！” he repeated， pushing the switch. “Why， this is the night the Drake Antarctic Expedition is going to start broadcasting.”

“That’s nothing，” said Mrs. Popper. “Just a lot of men at the bottom of the world saying ‘Hello， Mamma. Hello， Papa.’”

“Shh！” commanded Mr. Popper， laying his ear close to the radio.

There was a 2）buzz， and then suddenly， from the South Pole， a 3）faintvoice 4）floated out into the Popper’s living room.

“This is Admiral Drake speaking. Hello， Mamma. Hello， Papa. Hello， Mr.Popper.”

“Gracious goodness，” exclaimed Mrs. Popper. “Did he say ‘Papa’ or‘Popper’？”

“Hello， Mr. Popper， up there in Stillwater. Thanks for your nice letter?about the pictures of our last expedition. Watch for an answer. But not byletter， Mr. Popper. Watch for a surprise. Signing off. Signing off.”

“You wrote to Admiral Drake？”

“Yes， I did，” Mr. Popper admitted. “I wrote and told him how funny Ithought the penguins were.”

“Well， I never，” said Mrs. Popper， very much impressed.

Mr. Popper picked up his little globe and found the Antarctic. “And tothink he spoke to me all the way from there. And he even mentioned myname. Mamma， what do you suppose he means by a surprise？”

1） hastily adv. 匆忙地

2） buzz n. 嗡嗡聲；蜂鳴聲

3） faint adj. 微弱的；微小的

4） float v. （使）漂浮；（使）浮動

波普先生放下《南極奇遇記》一書，火速沖到收音機旁。

“怎么樣！”他重復道，按下收音機的開關，“告訴你，今天晚上杜雷克的《南極奇遇記》節目馬上要開始了！”

“有什么大不了的，”波普太太說道，“不就是那么些人在地球的底端說‘嗨，媽媽！嗨，爸爸！’”

“噓！”波普先生喝令著，把耳朵貼近收音機。

一陣嗡嗡聲傳來，突然，一個來自南極的微弱的聲音傳進了波普家的客廳。

“杜雷克上將空中與您相會。嗨，媽媽！嗨，爸爸！嗨，波普先生！”

“老天哪！”波普太太尖叫著，“他說的是‘爸爸’還是‘波普’？”

“嗨，靜水鎮的波普先生！謝謝您來信對我們上次歷險所拍攝的照片提出諸多見解。請您等候回音，但我們不是回信噢，請您守候一份驚喜吧。廣播結束，廣播結束。”

“你寫信給杜雷克上將了？！”

“是啊，我寫了。”波普承認道，“我寫信跟他說我覺得那些企鵝十分有趣。”

“呃，我可不會干出這種事。”波普太太說。波普先生的舉動可真讓她一輩子也理解不了。

波普先生又拿起他的小地球儀找到南極：“他居然大老遠從南極跟我喊話，而且還提到我的名字。孩子他媽，你說他口中所說的‘驚喜’到底是什么？”