John Dolittle

“ Listen, Your Majesty, would you mind lending me a canoe and some paddlers? I want to go over to visit No-Man's-Land."
To the Doctor's astonishment the King choked on his lollipop and nearly fell over his chair backwards. Then he ran inside the palace and shut the door.
"How extraordinary!" said John Dolittle, entirely bewildered. "What ails the man?"
"Oh, it's some humbug or other," growled Jip. "They're a superstitious lot, these natives. Let's go down to the harbor, Doctor, and try to hire a canoe to take us." ”

“ But I found Doctor John Dolittle, the famous naturalist, standing on top of a chair, dancing about on one leg like a schoolboy.
"It means he's free!" he cried, "Luke is free!"
"Then he'll be able to come on the voyage with us, won't he?"
But I could not hear his answer; for the whole court-room seemed to be jumping up on chairs like the Doctor. The crowd had suddenly gone crazy. All the people were laughing and calling and waving to Luke to show him how glad they were that he was free. The noise was deafening. ”

“ Then the man left the post office and the Doctor watched him go.
"That was a queer-looking customer, wasn't he?" he said to Dab-Dab.
"He was, indeed," said the duck. "I'm not surprised his wife is sick, if she has a husband with a face like that."
"I wonder who he is," said John Dolittle. "It isn't often we have white men coming in here. I don't much like the looks of him." ”

“ CHEE-CHEE stood outside the Doctor’s door, keeping everybody away till he woke up. Then John Dolittle told the monkeys that he must now go back to Puddleby.
They were very surprised at this; for they had thought that he was going to stay with them forever. And that night all the monkeys got together in the jungle to talk it over.
And the Chief Chimpanzee rose up and said,
“Why is it the good man is going away? Is he not happy here with us?” ”

“ When Long Arrow turned to the newcomers and told them in their own language that it was the white man who had found and freed their relatives, they gathered round John Dolittle, all talking at once and beating their breasts.
Long Arrow said they were apologizing and trying to tell the Doctor how sorry they were that they had seemed unfriendly to him at the beach. They had never seen a white man before and had really been afraid of him—especially when they saw him conversing with the porpoises. ”

“ And that’s John Dolittle.”
[9]
“Who is John Dolittle?” I asked. “Is he a vet?”
“No,” said the mussel-man. “He’s no vet. Doctor Dolittle is a nacheralist.”
“What’s a nacheralist?”
“A nacheralist,” said Joe, putting away his glasses and starting to fill his pipe, “is a man who knows all about animals and butterflies and plants and rocks an’ all. John Dolittle is a very great nacheralist. I’m surprised you never heard of him—and you daft over animals. He knows a whole lot about shellfish—that I know from my own knowledge. He’s a quiet man and don’t talk much ”

“ He must be saved at any cost. There isn't one man like that born in a thousand years! Let's go after him, quick!' Then word was passed around the island that John Dolittle, the great doctor, was drowning out in the straits. ”

“ It seemed strange that they, simple people though they were, accepted my preposterous story of a journey to the Moon with no vestige of doubt or disbelief. I feared there were no other humans in the world—outside of Matthew Mugg, who would so receive my statement. They asked me when I expected the Doctor’s return. I told them what Polynesia had said of the second smoke signal by which John Dolittle planned to notify me of his departure from the Moon. ”

“ Imagine our astonishment when we found that the great Long Arrow, so learned in the natural sciences, did not know what the word cooked meant!
Polynesia who was sitting on the bench between John Dolittle and myself pulled the Doctor by the sleeve.
"I'll tell you what's wrong, Doctor," she whispered as he leant down to listen to her: "these people have no fires! They don't know how to make a fire. Look outside: It's almost dark, and there isn't a light showing in the whole village. This is a fireless people." ”

“ There's nothing about houses and towns he doesn't know. I'll send for him right away."
"I'm afraid," said Speedy, "that a post-bird—unless he was a city bird himself—would have a hard job finding a sparrow in London. It's an awful big city, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's so," said John Dolittle.
"Listen, Doctor," said Jip. "You were wondering just now what to write the Cats'-Meat-Man about. Let Speedy write the letter to Cheapside in bird scribble and you inclose it in a letter to the Cats'-Meat-Man. Then when the sparrow comes to Puddleby for his summer visit the Cats'-Meat-Man can give it to him." ”

“ I guess they are wanted by the government for a good many bad deeds. I never saw a tougher-looking crowd of men in all my life. See, I've got the rope around your hands free now; you can do the rest better yourself. Does your head hurt much?"
"It's a bit dizzy still," said the Doctor, working at the rope about his ankles. "But I'll be all right in a little."
Presently when he had undone the cord that tied his feet, John Dolittle stood up and gazed over the ocean. And there, on the sky line, he could just see the sails of Wilkins' schooner disappearing eastward. ”

“ John Dolittle's friends are convincing because their creator never forces them to desert their own characteristics. Polynesia, for instance, is natural from first to last. She really does care about the Doctor but she cares as a bird would care, having always some place to which she is going when her business with her friends is over. ”

“ I had thought that all that kings had to do was to sit on a throne and have people bow down before them several times a day. I now saw that a king can be the hardest-working man in the world—if he attends properly to his business.
From the moment that he got up, early in the morning, till the time he went to bed, late at night—seven days in the week—John Dolittle was busy, busy, busy. ”

“ Who would think to see John Dolittle, M.D., heminent physician of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, bein' pulled through a mud swamp in darkest Africa by a couple of 'undred yards of fat worm! You've no idea how funny you look!"
"Oh, close your silly face!" growled Jip, black mud from head to foot, scrambling back into the canoe. "It's easy for you—you can fly through the mess." ”

“ I have a house and garden."
"Yes, Doctor," Dab-Dab put in, "but you wouldn't be bound to buy a second one with the money you would get for the pearls. It would come in real handy for something else, you know."
"The baby spoonbills want them," said John Dolittle. "Why should I take them away from them?"
"Balls of pink putty would suit them just as well," snorted Dab-Dab.
"Putty is poisonous," said the Doctor. "They appreciate the beauty of the pearls. Let them have them. But," he added to the mother spoonbill, "if you know where any more are to be found I should be glad to know." ”

“ He would crawl along the floor of the ocean and the Doctor could see all the sights. Perfectly simple. Oh, John Dolittle will come all right, if we can only get him to take that holiday—and if the snail will consent to give us the ride.”
“Golly, I hope he does!” sighed Jip. “I’m sick of these beastly tropics—they make you feel so lazy and good-for-nothing. And there are no rats or anything here—not that a fellow would have the energy to chase ’em even if there were. My, wouldn’t I be glad to see old Puddleby and the garden again! And won’t Dab-Dab be glad to have us back!” ”

“ For now not only the leaders came but thousands and millions of every species. John Dolittle got tremendously excited and jumping into his canoe he started to paddle out nearer to the work. But Speedy grew impatient that the top of the stone-pile was not yet showing above the water; and he gave the order to double up the line—and then double again, as still more birds came to help from different parts of the world. And soon, with a thousand stones falling every fraction of a second, the lake got so rough that the Doctor had to put back for the turtle's hummock lest his canoe capsize. ”

“ This took a long time, because all those thousands of monkeys wanted to shake John Dolittle by the hand.
Afterwards, when the Doctor and his pets were going on alone, Polynesia said,
“We must tread softly and talk low as we go through the land of the Jolliginki. If the King should hear us, he will send his soldiers to catch us again; for I am sure he is still very angry over the trick I played on him.”
“What I am wondering,” said the Doctor, “is where we are going to get another boat to go home in.... ”

“ What does it matter if they come and look at us in our sleep? I’m not greatly interested, Polynesia. Let us take breakfast. A few extra tracks don’t make much difference.”
We sat down and started the meal.
But John Dolittle’s prophecy that the Animal Kingdom would not delay much longer in getting in touch with us was surprisingly and suddenly fulfilled. I had a piece of yam smeared with honey half-way to my mouth when I became conscious of an enormous shadow soaring over me. I looked up and there was the giant moth who had brought us from Puddleby! ”

“ At last they found one very old boatman who loved chatting so much that, although he got terribly scared when John Dolittle mentioned No-Man's-Land, he finally told the Doctor the reason for all this extraordinary behavior.
"That island," said he—"we don't even mention its name unless we have to—is the land of Evil Magic. It is called (the old man whispered it so low the Doctor could scarcely hear him) No-Man's-Land, because no man lives there. No man ever even goes there." ”

“ In a short while the man grew strong enough to stand on his feet. Then, with the Doctor's help, he walked as far as the kitchen, where John Dolittle and Dab-Dab made him comfortable in an armchair, lit the stove and cooked his breakfast for him. ”

“ By the end of the third day Chee-Chee, Polynesia and I were all astonished to find that John Dolittle was actually able to carry on conversation with these flowers. And this with the aid of very little apparatus. He had now discovered that the Vanity Lilies spoke among themselves largely by the movement of their blossoms. They used different means of communication with species of plants and trees other than their own—and also (we heard later) in talking with birds and insects; but among themselves the swaying of the flower-heads was the common method of speech. ”

“ The Fidgit: “No, I won’t stop. All I want just at present is fresh sea-water.”
The Doctor: “I cannot thank you enough for all the information you have given me. You have been very helpful and patient.”
The Fidgit: “Pray do not mention it. It has been a real pleasure to be of assistance to the great John Dolittle. You are, as of course you know, already quite famous among the better class of fishes. Goodbye!—and good luck to you, to your ship and to all your plans!”
The Doctor carried the listening-tank to a port-hole, opened it and emptied the tank into the sea. ”

“ What mails have we got going out to-morrow?"
"I'm not sure," said Speedy. "I'll go and look at the notice board. I think it's the Golden Jays.... Yes," he said, coming back in a moment, "that's right, the Golden Jays to-morrow, Tuesday, the 15th, weather permitting."
"Where are they bound for, Speedy?" asked the Doctor. "My notebook's in the safe."
"From Dahomey to Venezuela," said Speedy, raising his right foot to smother a yawn.
"Good," said John Dolittle. "Then they can take these Panama letters for me. ”

“ I questioned the sea-birds around the shores to find out if he had left the island in a canoe. But they could tell me nothing.”
“Do you think that some accident has happened to him?” asked the Doctor in a fearful voice.
“I’m afraid it must have,” said Miranda shaking her head.
“Well,” said John Dolittle slowly, “if I could never meet Long Arrow face to face it would be the greatest disappointment in my whole life. Not only that, but it would be a great loss to the knowledge of the human race. ”

“ John Dolittle told the old Chief to keep the matter a secret and only to intrust the carrying to reliable men.
And soon money began to pour into the country from the pearl fishing business which the Doctor had established and the people were prosperous and had all the food they wanted.
By the end of that week the Doctor had, indeed, made good his promise. The country of Chief Nyam-Nyam became famous all along the coast of West Africa as a wealthy state.
But wherever money is made in large quantities and business is good, there strangers will always come, seeking their fortune. ”

“ The black men were at once freed from their chains and brought on to the man-o'-war. Then the slave ship was taken in tow by the Violet. And that was the end of Mr. Bones's slave trading.
Then there was much rejoicing and hand-shaking and congratulation on board the warship. And a grand dinner was prepared for the slaves on the main deck. But John Dolittle, Zuzana and her husband were invited to the officers' mess, where their health was drunk in port wine and speeches were made by the Captain and the Doctor. ”

“ The Doctor walked down to the clean sandy shore of the lake and tried the water. Chee-Chee and I did the same. It was pure and clear and quenching to the thirst. The lake must have been at least five miles wide in the center.
“I would like,” said John Dolittle, “to explore this by boat. Do you suppose, Chee-Chee, that we could find the makings of a canoe or a raft anywhere?”
“I should think so,” said the monkey. “Wait a minute and I will take a look around and see.” ”