儿童故事集：Jack and the Pirate School Part 4

 Just in case you can’t quite remember what happened so far, Jack¹ was a boy of seven who went off to sailing school one summer. But there was a bit of a mix-up…and Jack found himself at pirate school instead. But the lunch they made was so disgusting, Jack was sick. And Captain Blackheart decided² to put him up for ransom³.

 

Now, I’ll begin….

 

“For ransom…” cried Jack.

 

“Aye, lad,” said Captain Blackheart. “I reckon your parents will pay a pretty penny to get you back. Better that than see you walk the plank⁴…”

 

“Walk the plank…” cried Jack.

 

“Well, of course,” said Ben the cabin boy. “Anyone doesn’t pay the ransom, we make them walk the plank. But don’t worry. The sharks will eat you in no time.”

 

Jack felt even queasier after that.

 

“Black Spot,” cried Captain Blackheart. “Bring me that parrot.”

 

Jack watched while the ugly looking pirate called Black Spot walked across that deck. On his shoulder, there was the very same parrot who he had seen at the railway station.

 

“Walk the plank, walk the plank,” squawked the parrot.

 

“Shaddup, you stupid bird,” growled⁵ Black Spot.

 

From his overcoat, Captain Blackheart pulled out a piece of parchment, and a bottle of ink. He grabbed hold of the parrot, plucked out a feather, and dipped it into the ink.

 

“Ouch, that hurt,” screeched⁶ the parrot.

 

“One more squawk out of you, bird, and you’ll be going in the stew,” snarled⁷ Captain Blackheart.

 

“Big meanie…”

 

“What was that?”

 

“I said, which stew,” squawked the parrot.

 

“Shaddup,” yelled Captain Blackheart.

 

Then he looked at Ben, handed him the feather and told him to start writing. Because Ben, it turned out, was the only person on the ship who could read and write, even though he was only the cabin boy.

 

Captain Blackheart scratched his chin with his hook, and tried to think.

 

“To Jack’s parents,” he began.

 

And then he looked at Ben. “Are you writing this down?”

 

“Yes, sir,” said Ben.

 

“Very well,” said Captain Blackheart. “To Jack’s Parents. Allow me the honour of introducing myself. My name is Captain Blackheart, the meanest, cruellest, black-hearted ruffian of the seven seas and the five oceans, and I am honoured, sir, to make your acquaintance. Into my possession has fallen a boy called Jack, whom I believe is your son — although you must be ashamed of the lilly-livered little land-lubber, and I could hardly blame you for dis-owning the cowardly wretch⁸ completely.”

 

“On first acquiring the said boy, my plan was to enrol⁹ Jack in my pirate school. I’d have taught him all the skills he needed for a life of mayhem, skull¹⁰-duggery and piracy¹¹ on the high seas. And yet, on the first day here, he has been sick. He doesn’t like the food, and he doesn’t care much for the waves either. In short, I am forced to conclude that he is nothing but a lilly-livered land-lubber.

 

“Therefore, I have no use for him. I will return him to you for a ransom of one million pounds, paid in gold bullion¹², or treasure. If we have not received the money in seven days, then Jack will be forced to walk the plank. And you will never see him again.

 

Yours in dastardly anticipation¹³,

 

Captain Blackheart.

 

Ps If you happen to have a spare treasure map, please send that as well.”

 

The Captain rested for a moment. “Have you got that, lad,” he said, looking towards Ben.

 

“Indeed, I have Captain,” said Ben.

 

“But, but…” started Jack.

 

“Be quiet,” growled Captain Blackheart.

 

“Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet,” squawked the parrot.

 

“Silence,” roared Captain Blackheart.

 

He folded up the letter, pressed a seal of a skull and cross-bones into it, and handed it across to the parrot.

 

“Now, deliver that to Jack’s parents, you useless bird,” he said.

 

And the parrot flapped his wings, and flew away.

 

Oh no, though Jack, as Ben led him down to galley¹⁴.

 

What’s Dad going to say when he gets that?

 

I’m in trouble now.

 

The wind was blowing hard, and the ship was rocking from side to side.

 

Jack lay down in the hammock in the cabin.

 

He suddenly remembered what Dad had said to him about not being captured by pirates while he was away at pirate school.

 

And Jack had said not to worry. He’d just fight them off with his cutlass.

 

Oh no, thought Jack.

 

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

 

Now they are going to make me walk the plank.

 

And the sharks will eat me.

 

Now, it took the parrot quite a long time to fly all the way to Jack’s house.

 

That’s partly because a storm was bowing across the ocean.

 

And partly because he wasn’t a very fast parrot.

 

But mainly because he kept stopping for little snacks along the way.

 

Still, finally he got there.

 

And when the parrot arrived, he could see Jack’s six sisters. And they had just organised a tea party for their dolls in the garden.

 

The parrot dropped down to the ground, with the letter in its beak¹⁵.

 

And all the sisters flapped around, shouting and shrieking¹⁶.

 

“I’m looking for Jack’s Dad,” said the parrot.

 

And, whilst he was at it, he gabbed¹⁷ a bit of the doll’s cake and ate it all up.

 

One of the little girls rushed inside shouting. “Dad, dad, there’s a parrot here to see you.”

 

But Jack’s Dad thought it was just a joke.

 

Eventually he came outside, and saw a slightly podgy looking parrot polishing off its third helping¹⁸ of cake.

 

And there was a letter at its side.

 

He picked up the letter and started to read.

 

He frowned.

 

And scratched his head.

 

And then he started to laugh.

 

“It says Jack’s been captured by pirates, and is being held to ransom,” he said.

 

“Oh, that’s just Jack with his silly pirate games,” said one of the sisters.

 

“Remember he said he’d fight them off with his plastic cutlass,” said another.

 

“You are quite right,” Jack’s Dad decided.

 

And he sat down to write a reply.

 

“Dear Captain Blackheart,” he began. “I too am honoured to make your acquaintance, dear sir. My son Jack, far from being a lily-livered land lubber is the bravest boy who ever sailed the seven seas. He assured me personally, before he left, that if he was captured by pirates he would fight the rascals¹⁹ off with his cutlass.

 

No force on earth can keep him prisoner, and certainly not the cowardly Captain Blackheart.

 

Your faithful servant,

 

Jack’s Dad.

 

P.S. Your parrot has eaten all my cake.”

 

And when he was finished, he handed the letter across to the parrot. “Now take that back to the Captain, fatso bird,” he said. “And don’t delay.”

 

The parrot flapped its wings, but was finding it quite hard to fly, on account of all the cake he had just eaten.

 

He flew across the land, and then over the sea.

 

Until finally he landed on Captain Blackheart’s pirate ship.

 

“Ah-ha,” cried the Captain. “So you’ve returned, my pretty bird. Let’s us see how soon that stupid boy’s father plans to pay us our treasure.”

 

Jack was already hard at work scrubbing the floor of the ship.

 

He watched as Captain Blackheart handed the letter to Ben — because he was the only person who could read.

 

And Ben started to read….

 

“Dear Captain Blackheart,” he began. “I too am honoured to make your acquaintance, dear sir. My son Jack, far from being a lily-livered land lubber is the bravest boy who ever sailed the seven seas. He assured me personally, before he left, that if he was captured by pirates he would fight the rascals off with his cutlass.”

 

Oh no, thought Jack.

 

I was only joking.

 

And he could see captain Blackheart growing redder and redder and redder…as if he was about to explode.

 

“No force on earth can keep him prisoner, and certainly not the cowardly Captain Blackheart,” continued Ben. “Your faithful servant, Jack’s Dad.”

 

There was a silence on board the ship.

 

All the pirates were standing²⁰ still, looking at the deck.

 

And all you could hear was the rustling²¹ of the wind in the sails.

 

Whilst Captain Blackheart turned red, then green…then purple.

 

“PREPARE THE PLANK!” he roared suddenly.

 

And he looked at Jack. “Your father has gravely insulted this ship, sir,” he snarled. “And one week from today, you will walk the plank.”

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

5 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

9 enrol   

v.（使）注册入学，（使）入学，（使）入会

参考例句：

• I like your institute but I do not want to enrol.我喜欢你们学院但我不想报名去你院。
• They decided to enrol him as a member of the society.他们决定吸收他成为会社的成员。

10 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

11 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

12 bullion   

n.金条，银条

参考例句：

• In the London bullion market yesterday,the price of gold was steady.昨天伦敦金银市场黄金价格稳定。
• Police have launched a man-hunt for the bullion robbers.警方已大举搜捕抢劫金条的罪犯。

13 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

14 galley   

n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇；

参考例句：

• The stewardess will get you some water from the galley.空姐会从厨房给你拿些水来。
• Visitors can also go through the large galley where crew members got their meals.游客还可以穿过船员们用餐的厨房。

15 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

16 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 gabbed   

v.空谈，唠叨，瞎扯( gab的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old crone gabbed all day. 这老太婆整天喋喋不休。 来自辞典例句
• Most of the guys we gabbed with said they love that movie. 大多数跟我们谈过的男人，都说喜欢这个电影。 来自互联网

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

21 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声