美国国家公共电台 NPR Before His Name Was Known At All, Seuss Put Creatures On The Wall

Before His Name Was Known At All, Seuss Put Creatures On The Wall

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0002:57repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

Now a moment away from politics and into the world of Dr. Seuss. Long before he became a bestselling children's book author, Theodore Geisel created a series of sculptures he called his unorthodox taxidermy. He used real horns, beaks² and antlers to fashion whimsical creatures like the ones that would later populate his books.

A traveling show of replicas³ has landed at a gallery in Long Island, Jeff Lunden decided⁴ to check it out and report back in verse.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE⁵: When Dr. Seuss was 3 or 2, his family lived by the zoo. And as he lay in bed at night, the sounds filled him with pure delight.

JEFF SCHUFFMAN: At night, he can hear the tigers roar and the elephants bellow⁶ and so forth⁷, and he was always drawing animals.

LUNDEN: Jeff Schuffman reps the Seuss estate and says the doctor's dad was great.

SCHUFFMAN: His father was in charge of the zoo, and when Seuss moved to New York City, his father started sending him various beaks and horns and antlers of animals that had met their natural demise⁸ for him to create something with. And then he decided to turn them into the collection of unorthodox taxidermy as what he thought they'd be reincarnated⁹ as.

LUNDEN: And, oh, the creatures on the wall are not like ones you've seen at all.

SCHUFFMAN: On the Sea-Going Dilemma¹⁰ Fish, we have the horns or antlers from a caribou¹¹. From the Goo-Goo-Eyed Tasmanian Wolghast, we have rams¹²' horn - and then the Semi-normal - you can imagine what he looks like - Green-lidded - in terms of his eyelids¹³ - Fawn¹⁴ so that you have deer antlers and just hysterical¹⁵, joyous¹⁶ look on this Semi-normal Green-lidded Fawn's face.

LUNDEN: But Schuffman's favorite of the group has eyes that shine and ears that droop¹⁷.

SCHUFFMAN: We have Anthony Drexel Goldfarb with his inquisitive¹⁸ look and forlorn smile. Actually, the original was constructed with rabbit ears. And then he would take, you know, papier-mache and clay and mount it on these wood mounts to create this incredible, very unique and actually limited collection. He only made 17 sculptures that we're aware of.

LUNDEN: Still, since the ones the doctor made are delicate and somewhat frayed¹⁹, the animals that go on tour are copies, as we said before. For kids who see this silly show, they do not care or do not know, like Alexandra Thompson, who adores a fish that's red not blue with razor teeth and pointy snout. She loves it. She could almost shout.

ALEXANDRA THOMPSON: The Sludge Tarpon.

LUNDEN: And what is it about the Sludge Tarpon that you really like?

ALEXANDRA: It looked weird²⁰ (laughter) - its nose. It kind of reminds me of a swordfish.

LUNDEN: And if you think there's nothing worse than missing seeing these in person and you're fond of things bizarre, go org.npr. And when you get there, you will see some photos and some history. Prepare to be amused and stunned²¹ and smile. I did, and I'm Jeff Lunden.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

3 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 bellow   

v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道

参考例句：

• The music is so loud that we have to bellow at each other to be heard.音乐的声音实在太大，我们只有彼此大声喊叫才能把话听清。
• After a while,the bull began to bellow in pain.过了一会儿公牛开始痛苦地吼叫。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

9 reincarnated   

v.赋予新形体，使转世化身( reincarnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They believe humans are reincarnated in animal form. 他们相信人死后转生为动物。
• She was reincarnated as a snake. 她化身为一条蛇。 来自辞典例句

10 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

11 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

12 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

13 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 fawn   

n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承

参考例句：

• A fawn behind the tree looked at us curiously.树后面一只小鹿好奇地看着我们。
• He said you fawn on the manager in order to get a promotion.他说你为了获得提拔，拍经理的马屁。

15 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

16 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

17 droop   

v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡

参考例句：

• The heavy snow made the branches droop.大雪使树枝垂下来。
• Don't let your spirits droop.不要萎靡不振。

18 inquisitive   

adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的

参考例句：

• Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
• A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。

19 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

21 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。