Chapter 9 Aunt's Zoo

Aunt's Zoo Aunt Bettina hadn’t woken up yet, so I took this time to write down my encounters yesterday. These encounters should really be written by Sal Galli [① Sal Galli: Famous Italian adventure novelist in the nineteenth century. ] to describe. Yesterday morning, when the family members were still awake, I escaped from the house and walked to the train station as planned. I had already thought out the means of carrying out the plan, namely, the means of running to Aunt Bettina's.Since I didn't have money to buy a train ticket, and I didn't know which way to go to my aunt's house, I decided to go to the station to find the train I took to go to my aunt's house last time.I can walk in the direction of the train and follow the railway to Elizabeth Village where my aunt lives, so that I won't get lost.I remember that it takes more than three hours by train, and if I walk, I guess I can get there before dark.

When I arrived at the train station, I bought a platform ticket and entered the station.Not long after the train came, in order not to be seen by acquaintances, I walked towards the rear of the train, so as to cross the track and go to the other side of the carriage. When I got to the last car, I found that this car was used for carrying livestock.There is a small sentry box above the carriage, which is reserved for the brakes, but there is no one inside. "What if I climbed to the small sentry box?" I thought suddenly. At this moment, I found that no one was paying attention to me, so I quickly climbed up the small iron ladder and got into the sentry box.I sat inside, holding the iron gate with my legs, and holding the gate plate with both hands.

After a while, the train started, and the sound of the whistle made my head swell.From the sentry box, I saw a locomotive full of coal, dragging a long line of carriages; at the same time, I also found that the window panes behind the sentry box were all broken, and only some glass shards remained on the corners of the windows. Great!The little window was exactly as high as my head, and I could see the train running across the fields shrouded in morning mist.I was so happy that, to somehow celebrate my good fortune, I took a marzipan from my pocket and chewed it in my mouth. But the good times didn't last long, the sky became dark, and after a while, it rained heavily and the wind blew.In the surrounding mountains, thunder rang one after another...

I have never been afraid of thunder, but this time I was.Because the scene in front of me is completely different from the beginning. I thought that there were many passengers on this train, but I was alone, and no one knew that I was on the train.Neither relatives nor strangers know that I am facing a huge storm and the severity of the situation. I remembered that what my father said was very reasonable. He had said that the service and equipment on the trains were indescribably poor, and now I was in the sentry box to confirm his statement - as I said before.The window panes of the sentry box were all broken, and the wind and rain blew in through the windows, making the half of my face facing the wind cold, and at the same time, I felt the other half of my face was burning.This situation is as if half of the face is immersed in hot wine, while the other half is immersed in ice water.I couldn't help thinking again of the ball the night before, which had brought me to this point!

The worst case scenario is when the train goes into the tunnel!The tunnel was filled with steam and smoke from the locomotive.They all got into my little sentry box, making it hard for me to breathe.I felt like I was taking a steam bath.However, when the train exited the tunnel, the steam bath immediately turned into a cold shower. In one of the longest tunnels, I was almost suffocated.Smoke and steam entangled my whole body; the soot that got into the small sentry box seemed to be baking my eyes, and I felt that my eyes were going to be blinded.Although I tried my best to endure, I already felt that my limbs were weak.

Just then, my mental strength overcame my despair.I think of many of the most famous heroes, such as Robinson Robinson, who have passed through this dark test of despair.I'm dying at last (so I think), but I want to say one last word before I die -- the last words of a boy who has the misfortune of being smothered to death on a train.Using a piece of extinguished brimstone I found under a sentry box chair, I wrote in my diary: "Die for freedom!" I couldn't finish the sentence because I suddenly felt something choking in my throat, and then I didn't know anything. I must have passed out.I believe I would have fallen from the sentry box and been crushed to pieces by the train if I hadn't clamped my legs around the iron gate to stop me.

When I awoke, icy raindrops were hitting my face.I felt the cold go straight to my bones, and my teeth were chattering up and down. Fortunately, the train stopped at this time.I heard someone announce the name of the station I was going to, so I walked down the small iron ladder.As my legs were trembling, I stumbled and fell down. Two porters and a railway man came.After they found me, they looked at me curiously and asked me why I climbed up to the small sentry box. I replied that I was just going up, but they took me to the station master's room.The station master asked me to stand in front of the mirror, "Hey, did you just go up? So, when did your face look like you were digging a chimney?"

I looked in the mirror and didn't even dare to catch my breath. I couldn't recognize myself. This ill-fated trip has left me covered in soot.In the mirror, my face was completely black, like a real Ethiopian, and my clothes were dirty. I was forced to admit how I got up there. "Ah!" said the station master, "you're going to Bettina Stoppani? Well, let her pay." The station master said to the railway workers: "Write a fine notice and fine three third-class tickets, because he violated the regulations and sat on the small guard box reserved for railway personnel."

What?I just wanted to call the stationmaster an excellent thief.The railway should be considerate of me. The condition of the sentry box I took was extremely poor, and even the convertible car was not used for transporting livestock.And they actually wanted to fine me three fares! But, feeling very ill at the time, I just said, "Since traveling on sentry boxes is so expensive, you should at least have glass in the windows!" I've never seen anything like it!Hearing what I said, the station master immediately called a porter and asked him to check the small sentry box I was riding in.When they knew that there was no glass on the window, they added a fine of 80 cents to me as compensation for breaking the glass.

Once again, I realized that Dad was justified in scolding people on the railway.I was afraid that they would add the cost of the train being delayed or the locomotive malfunctioning to my head, so I didn't say anything. In this way, the railway workers took me to Elizabeth Village.I can't even describe how surprised Aunt Bettina was when she saw me standing before her like a dirty beggar!Worse still, she paid a fine of sixteen lire and twenty cents, not counting the tip to the employee. "My God! What's the matter?" she exclaimed when she recognized my voice. "Aunt Bettina, you know, I'm always telling you the truth," I said to her.

"Good boy, tell me what's going on..." "I ran away from home." "Escaped from home? Why, you left your father, mother and your sister..." But when she was talking about her sister, she stopped suddenly, as if something was wrong.Perhaps she was reminded of her sister's reluctance to let her go to the ball. "Of course God hates these girls! . . . Come home, my dear boy. I'll give you a bath, and you look like a coal-seller. Tell me after you've bathed." go through……" My aunt has an old curly-haired dog at home, and he is very affectionate to her. There is a pot of gentian grass on the window sill, and my aunt is also full of affection for it.I took a look at them, and they were the same as the last time I was here, nothing changed. After I finished my bath, Aunt Bettina found that I had a slight fever and took me to bed.Although I wanted to tell her more at the time, the most important thing is to get something to eat first. My aunt murmured and scolded me, but finally she said, let me lie down and everything will be all right with her.I was so thankful for her kindness that I wanted her to try my marzipan.The pancake was in her trouser pocket, and I asked her to take it out so I could eat some too. When Aunt Bettina stuck her hands in my trouser pockets, it was hard to get them out! She said: "This trouser pocket is full of paste!" What's going on?It turned out that the fragrant almond biscuits in my trouser pocket were all wet by the rain in the small sentry box, and turned into a trouser pocket of paste. My aunt was with me, always with me.Due to fatigue, I fell asleep quickly... When I wake up, the first thing I think of is you, my diary.You have always been with me and are my faithful friend.You have been with me through many unpleasant moments and adventures with me... * * * My aunt was very upset this morning by a good-natured joke I made.Actually, my motive for joking was to make her happy. As I have already said, my aunt was very fond of the pot of gentian.She put it on the window sill and loosened the soil and watered it every morning.I'll suffice to give just one example of how nice she is to it: she even chats with it.She said to it, "Ah, my dear, now I'll get you some water to drink! Great, my dear, you've grown taller!" It was her habit.People say that all old people have certain quirks. This morning, I got up earlier than her.When I walked out of the door, I saw the gentian on the window sill of my aunt, so I had an idea, which was to try to make it grow faster, which would make my aunt happy, because she loved this pot of gentian very much. I gently and gently lifted the flowerpot down, hollowed out the soil inside, and then fastened a thin, straight but strong wooden strip to the main stem of the gentian, and let the small wooden strip One end goes through the small hole under the flowerpot.This kind of small hole is available in any flowerpot, and it is used for water seepage when watering. Then I refilled the pot with soil, and planted the gentian so that my aunt could not see that it had been tampered with.I put the pot back to its original place on the windowsill.The window sills are nailed with wooden planks, and small wooden strips can move up and down in the gaps in the planks.I squatted outside the window sill, holding the other end of the small wooden stick in my hand, and waited for my aunt to get up. In less than five minutes Aunt Bettina opened the window and began chatting with the gentian. "Oh, my dear, how are you? Oh, poor thing," said the aunt, looking at it for a moment, "you've got a broken leaf . . . the cat probably did it, the beast . . . " I hid under the window sill and couldn't move, and I couldn't laugh a little. "Wait a while, wait a while," the aunt continued, "I'll get a pair of scissors, and I'll trim it to see if you still have any dry spots. I'll lift up your leaves...it's bad for your health." Harmful, you know? My dear little . . . " When she went to get the scissors, I poked the little stick up a bit. "Come, my darling! Here I am, darling! . . . " Aunt Bettina returned to the window sill. Suddenly, my aunt's voice changed and she cried out. "Do you know what I'm going to tell you? You've grown taller!..." I wanted to laugh, but held back.At this time, my aunt was trimming the gentian with scissors and chatting with it at the same time. "Yes, you have grown taller...you tell me, what made you grow taller? Is it clear and fresh water? I watered you every morning...Now, my dear, I will water you some more water so you can grow faster..." She went to fetch water.At this time, I poked the little wooden stick up a few more times, so that my aunt could see that it had become a small tree. At this moment, I heard her cry out, and heard something fall to the ground. "Oh, my gentian..." My aunt was surprised and frightened when she saw her precious gentian grow like this in a short while, and the water glass in her hand fell to the ground and broke. Then I heard her say: "It's a miracle! My Fertinado, the Fertinado I adore! Is your soul attached to this gentian you gave me? Are you also happy for my birthday?" I couldn't understand her words, but I felt that her voice was trembling when she spoke.In order to surprise her even more, I kept stabbing the small wooden stick upwards; and my aunt kept exclaiming "ah! ah! ah!" when she saw the gentian growing taller.At this time, the small wooden strip suddenly encountered some obstacle, maybe I used too much force, and the flower pot was knocked down.The pot fell to the ground and broke into pieces. I raised my head and saw my aunt's face was frightening. "Ah! It's you!" With a trembling voice, she immediately left the window sill and ran out the door holding the stick. Naturally, I ran into the field, and then climbed onto a fig tree. I ate a lot of figs, and my stomach was so distended that I was about to explode. When I returned to my aunt's house, I saw another pot of gentian on the windowsill.I think that after my aunt replanted this gentian plant, her anger probably disappeared.Going into the living room, I saw her talking to the postman.As soon as she saw me, she handed me two telegrams, and said to me in a solemn tone, "Both telegrams are from your father. One arrived last night, but the post office was closed, so it was not delivered." Come. The other came this morning. Your father is in such a hurry that he doesn't know where you've gone. I've wired him back to fetch you by the next train." When the postman left, I tried to appease my aunt by talking to her in a weeping tone.I speak in this tone, usually to great effect.Doing so can make my aunt feel that I am a repentant child. "Dear aunt, please forgive me for what I did..." But she replied angrily, "Aren't you ashamed!" I then said to her in a crying tone: "However, I didn't know that this gentian of yours is the embodiment of Fertinado's soul..." This sentence changed my aunt's attitude towards me.Turning as red as a farmer's turkey, she stammered to me, "Stop it, stop it . . . You promise I won't tell anyone what I said this morning." "Yes, I assure you." "Then, from now on, neither of us will mention the past, and I still want to persuade your father to forgive you..." Dad must take the three o'clock bus, which is the only one in the afternoon.When I think of him, I have a certain sense of fear... * * * Here I am, shut up in the dining room, listening to Aunt Bettina's shrill curses coming from the door.She was mad at me with a farmer's wife.The aunt kept cursing: "Beast! It will not end well!" Why?It is because I have done trouble with the peasant's children.But all the boys in the world do it, what's the fuss about?I feel so unlucky that none of my relatives understand that boys have their right to play, and as a result, I have to stay in the house and listen to them calling me a beast, not ending well, etc.However, I would like Aunt Bettina to go and see the zoo I'm running, which contains a lot of ferocious animals, and I think I've made a success of it. Here's how I got the idea for a zoo: Once, my father took me to the Numa Hawa Zoo.Since then, I have always thought of that place, because during the feeding time, the roar of the lions and tigers, and the sight of so many beasts walking around in cages, hissing and tickling, left a deep impression on me. Made a deep impression, hard to forget. Since then, I have been very fond of nature and history.I have a picture book of Figui at home, it's full of pictures of animals, and I look at it a lot.Those drawings are very interesting, and I copied them again and again. Yesterday, on my way back to my aunt's house, I saw two workers painting on a nearby farm.They painted the shutters green and the gates to the stables red.So after I smashed the gentian pots this morning, the idea of ​​a zoo came to mind.I first thought of the painter's paint cans I saw yesterday, and thought the paint inside was very useful for my zoo. So I consulted with Angchiolino, a farmer's boy near my aunt's.He was a kid about my age, who just hadn't seen much of the world.So, when I told him something, he always opened his mouth in surprise.Anggiolino listened to me very well. "Would you like to see the Numa Hawa Zoo on the farm? You'll see it soon!" I said to him. "I'd like to see it too!" exclaimed his little sister Jabia. "I want to see it too!" said Beatrino.He is a two-and-a-half-year-old child who often crawls on the ground on his hands and knees. There are only three children left in this farmer's family. Their father, mother and elder brother have all gone to work in the field. "Okay! . . . " I said, "but the paint cans must be brought." "Now is a good time," Anggiolino said. "The painters are home for lunch." I went to the farm with him and there was no one there.Next to the house was a ladder, and under the ladder were two cans full of paint, one red and one green, and a paintbrush as thick as my fist. Angchiolino took a jar, I took a jar, and a brush.When we returned to his courtyard, Beatrino and Gibbia were waiting anxiously for our return. I said, "Start with the lion." For that, I brought Bianchino from my aunt's house, the old poodle who was so dear to my aunt.I put a rope around his neck, tied him to the shaft of a carriage in the yard, and began to paint his body red. In order for these children to have an accurate impression of the animal I introduced, I said to them: "The real color of a lion is orange. But we don't have paint of this color, so we painted it red." Yes. In fact, the two colors are not much different." Soon Bianchino completely changed his appearance and became completely unknown.I took it out to the sun and thought about what the next animal would do. A sheep was grazing not far from us. I brought it and tied it to the dog.I said, "I'm going to turn it into a tiger." I pulled out some red and green paint and toned them up.In order to make it look like a Bengal tiger, like I saw in the slave horse zoo, I painted stripes on the sheep's back, but its face was not as scary as a real tiger.At this time, I heard a pig cry.I asked Anggiolino: "There are pigs here?" "Yes, but only a little pig. Look, Ganino, it's in the pigsty." I dragged it out of the pigsty.This little pig is very fat, the skin is red, and it is very beautiful. I said to myself, "What can this pig become?" Then Anggiolino said, "Can it become an elephant?" I laughed. "You want to see an elephant?" I asked him. "But, you know, the elephant is huge, as big as this house. Also, what will you use for its long trunk?" These words made all three children laugh.Finally, Anggiolino asked me: "Gannino, what is that long thing you're talking about?" "It has a very long trunk, like the shaft of a cart. Elephants use this trunk to carry things, and they can lift heavy things. When children are rude to him, he sprays water from his trunk to drive them away." child." How pitiful is ignorance!The farmer's children didn't believe what I said, and they were all giggling. "What can this pig change into?" I thought and thought, and finally came up with an idea.I said loudly, "You want to know what I'm going to do? I'm going to turn this pig into a crocodile!" There was a piece of cloth used to cover the horses on the cart, and I wrapped one end of the cloth around the pig's belly, and then wound it back round and round, dragging the rest behind the pig.Then, I rolled the rest of the cloth tightly like a sausage, making it like a crocodile's tail.Then I used green paint to paint both the pig and the wrappings green, and it turned out to be a bit like a crocodile. After I had tied this beast to the shaft of the carriage, I thought of another animal.I lead a donkey out of the barn.This donkey has gray fur and I want to turn it into a zebra.I painted many stripes of red and green on its body, legs, and beak, and quickly transformed a gray donkey into a strange zebra.I also tied it to other animals. To make the scene lively, there is still a monkey missing.It happened that Bietlino was as noisy as a monkey, and I thought of him.I twisted a small strip of cloth into a tail and tied it to the belt of his pants inside his skirt. In order to make the scene seem natural, I thought it would be good to put the monkey on the tree.So, with the help of Angchiolino, I lowered Vietellino to a branch of a tree in the yard, and tied him with a rope so that he would not fall. In this way, my zoo was built.I began to explain: "Gentlemen, look here: this four-legged zebra is a zebra. It is a strange beast, like a horse but not a horse. It kicks like a donkey when it eats." , but not a donkey. It lives in the savannahs of Africa, and it eats parsley, a huge plant that grows there. It always runs here and there to avoid the dreaded horsefly. Horse The fly is an insect the size of a bat in the tropics..." "And what about the one next to it?" asked Anggiolino. "Sure!" I replied, "but you shouldn't. It is forbidden for the audience to interrupt when a ferocious animal is introduced, because it is dangerous. The animal next to the zebra is the Bengal tiger, which lives in Asia and In Africa and elsewhere, it hurts people, it eats monkeys..." As I spoke here, Beatrino wept in the tree.I saw that the rope used to tie him had loosened, and he was hanging there, really like a real monkey. I jumped at the opportunity right away to draw the audience's attention to this new animal in my zoo. "Hear that, gentlemen and ladies. Monkeys bark when they hear a tiger. It makes sense, because they are often the victims of this ferocious animal. The animal you see on the tree is ours. Commonly referred to as monkeys, they live in primeval forests and always stay on trees. This weird and clever animal has a bad habit of imitating the actions of animals. Because of this, zoologists named them Monkey①.【①Monkey: The word monkey means to imitate in Italian, and it is derived from the verb imitate.】Monkey! Greetings to these gentlemen!  …” However, Vietellino did not know how to greet the audience, and he continued to cry. I said to him, "It's better if you wipe your nose... Now let's look at this noble and majestic animal like a lion. It's justifiable to call it the king of the forest, because of its appearance and its extraordinary strength." , so that all animals are afraid of it. It can eat a cow in one bite. When it is hungry, it does not know how to respect humans. But it is not as fierce as other animals, which treats hurting people as a trifle; on the contrary, it is It is a very kind animal, and this is also mentioned in the book: Once, on the road in Florence, a lion met a lost child. It carefully grabbed the child by the collar, and slowly Looking for the mother of the child on the road..." There is much more to be said about the lion, but since Beatrino was crying and fussing in the tree and seemed about to fall, I start with the crocodile. "Gentlemen, behold this formidable amphibian, which lives in the water as well as moves on the shore. It dwells on the banks of the Nile, where it chases the wild beasts around it, and can make them like little mint pieces. It disappears into its huge mouth... It is called a crocodile, and its body is covered with scales, which are as hard as the fresh coconut shells we see in cafes. These scales are used to prevent infestation in the vicinity of ferocious animals..." After I finished speaking, I slapped the pig on the crotch, and the pig screamed desperately, and the audience couldn't breathe with laughter. "Gentlemen and ladies: it is very difficult to catch a crocodile. The scales on its body are so hard that even a sword would be dulled by it, and a gun is useless against it, because the bullets fly away when it hits it. But the brave hunters thought of a very clever way to catch it. They tied a rope to the middle of a short wooden stick that was sharpened at both ends, and with this weapon they caught..." In order to impress these poor ignorant children on how to catch a crocodile, I found a short wooden stick, sharpened both ends with a pencilknife, and fastened a string to the center of the stick.After finishing the weapon for catching the crocodile, I approached the pig, tried to make it open its mouth, and then bravely stuffed the wooden stick into its mouth, and then I continued to explain: "That's it. When the crocodile yawns, (I add, the crocodile yawns a lot, because it can only wander around the banks of the Nile, so it is very tired of the surrounding environment. There, some animals are So annoying.) The hunter threw two sharpened sticks into the amphibian's huge mouth. What happened next? Both ends of the stick pierced the crocodile's jaws just as the crocodile closed its mouth , as you can see, gentlemen..." In fact, when the pig closed its mouth, its mouth was pierced by a wooden stick, and it howled in pain. Speaking of this, I turned around and saw Angchiolino's father and mother running from the field panting. "Ah! My pig..." cried his father. Anggiolino's mother stretched out her hand to catch Beatrino who was hanging on the tree, and burst into tears: "Ah! My poor little ancestor!  …" No way, farmers are ignorant because they exaggerate everything. They got angry and wanted to strangle the children instead of trying to enlighten them, as I did, to get them out of their ignorance, and to tell them things they hadn't seen. But I understand that it is difficult to reason with them.In order to escape the scolding quickly, I loosened the rope that tied the donkey, got on the donkey, gave it a slap, and ran along the way I came.The old poodle followed the donkey and barked desperately. After running for a while, I finally got home.My aunt ran out of the door and saw me riding on the donkey, she cried out in surprise: "Oh! What are you doing? . . . " Suddenly, she saw Bionkino covered in red paint, and took a step back in fright, as if seeing a real lion.But she understood at once, and beating her breast, shaking her whole body like a leaf, she sighed and said: "Oh, my Biangino, dear Biangino, my poor, my beloved, how have you changed?" It's like this! Hmph! It must have been done by this rascal..." As soon as I saw her furious, I jumped off the donkey and ran into the house quickly. "Just wait for your father to come and pick you up!" Aunt Bettina said, locking the door outside. After a while, I heard Vietellino's mother also come to my aunt's house, and she told her what I had just done, exaggerating everything.She said that the pig's snout was bloodied, that Pietrino was made very miserable, and so on, which meant that I was fully responsible for the consequences of these things.She kept nagging: "Just imagine, mistress, how terrible it would be if my Beatrino should fall from a tree! . . . " Let me say it again, the ignorant are to be forgiven, they are innocent.Dad will be here in a few minutes, and I hope he will be fair. ... October 17