Mr.Popper’s Penguins (Ⅴ ) 波普先生的企鹅（五）

波普先生因为库克船长遭遇了一堆麻烦事，先是冰箱服务部的修理工，然后是警察，接下来又是饲养执照的问题……

Even so， he found it was not so easy to learn whether or not he must geta 1）license for his strange pet. Every time he would explain what he wanted，he would be told to wait a minute， and much later a new voice would askhim what he wanted. This went on for considerable time. At last a new voiceseemed to take a little interest in the case. Pleased with this friendly voice，Mr. Popper began again to tell about Captain Cook.

“Is he an army captain， a police captain， or a navy captain？”

“He is not，” said Mr. Popper， “Hes a penguin.”

“Will you repeat that， please？” said the voice.

Mr. Popper repeated it. The voice suggested that perhaps he had betterspell it.

“P-e-n-g-u-i-n，” said Mr. Popper， “Penguin.”

“Oh！” said the voice. “You mean that Captain Cooks first name isBenjamin？”

“Not Benjamin. Penguin. Its a bird，” said Mr. Popper.

“Do you mean，” said the phone in his ear， “that Captain Cook wishes alicense to shoot birds？ I am sorry. The bird-hunting season does not openuntil November. And please try to speak a little more distinctly， Mr. — Topper，did you say your name is？”

“My name is Popper， not Topper，” shouted Mr. Popper.

“Yes， Mr. Potter. Now I can hear you quite clearly.”

“Then listen，” roared Mr. Popper， now completely 2）outraged.“If you folks at the City Hall dont even know what penguins are， Iguess you havent any rule saying they have to be licensed. I willdo without a license for Captain Cook.”

“Just a minute， Mr. Popwell. Our own Mr. Tread-bottom of theBureau of Navigation of Lakes， Rivers， Ponds， and Streams， hasjust come in. I will let you speak to him personally. Perhaps heknows this Benjamin Cook of yours.”

In a moment a new voice was speaking to Mr. Popper. “Goodmorning. This is the Automobile License Bureau. Did you have thissame car last year， and if so， what was the license number？”

Mr. Popper had been switchedover to the County Building.

He decided to hang up.

1） license n. 執照；许可证

2） outraged adj. 气愤的

即便如此，他还是发现，想要问清楚是否该为这只奇特的宠物领张执照，可不是那么简单的事。每当他想说明自己打电话的意图时，对方就会叫他等一会儿。许久之后，电话那头又出现一个新的声音问他想做什么。就这样折腾了好一阵子，最后总算又有另一个新的声音好像对他的事有那么点兴趣。听到对方如此友善，波普先生又开始高兴地诉说库克船长的事。

“他是陆军上尉、警察署长，还是海军上校？”

“都不是，”波普先生回道，“他是只企鹅。”

“能不能麻烦您再说一遍？”那个声音说道。

波普先生又将话重复了一遍，而那个声音却建议他最好把单词拼出来。

“q-i 企，e 鹅。”波普先生说道，“企鹅。”

“哦？”那头似乎会意了，“您是说库克船长的名字是齐河吗？”

“不是齐河，是企鹅。它是一只鸟。”波普先生解释道。

“您的意思是说，”电话里的声音向他耳中传来，“库克船长想领一张猎鸟执照吧？很抱歉，猎鸟季要到十一月才开始。请您再讲清楚一点，您说您是——托普先生吧？”

“我姓波普，不姓托普！”波普先生吼起来了。

“好的，波特先生。现在听得很清楚了。”

“你给我听着！”波普先生气坏了，他大喊道，“如果你们这些市政府的人连企鹅是什么都不知道的话，我想大概也不会有什么企鹅执照的相关规定。我决定不帮库克船长领取执照了。”

“等一等，帕普维尔先生，我们的湖泊、河流、池塘、溪流管理局的特德波特先生刚刚进来了，我让他亲自跟您谈谈，或许他知道有关库克齐河的事。”

不一会儿，另一个新的声音对波普先生说起话来了。“早安，这里是汽车许可局。你申请的这辆车跟去年是同一辆吗？如果是的话，请问您的许可证号码是多少？”

波普先生的电话又被转到郡办公大楼去了。

他终于决定把电话挂断。