波普先生因?yàn)閹?kù)克船長(zhǎng)遭遇了一堆麻煩事，先是冰箱服務(wù)部的修理工，然后是警察，接下來(lái)又是飼養(yǎng)執(zhí)照的問(wèn)題……

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(zhí)照；許可證

2） outraged adj. 氣憤的

即便如此，他還是發(fā)現(xiàn)，想要問(wèn)清楚是否該為這只奇特的寵物領(lǐng)張執(zhí)照，可不是那么簡(jiǎn)單的事。每當(dāng)他想說(shuō)明自己打電話的意圖時(shí)，對(duì)方就會(huì)叫他等一會(huì)兒。許久之后，電話那頭又出現(xiàn)一個(gè)新的聲音問(wèn)他想做什么。就這樣折騰了好一陣子，最后總算又有另一個(gè)新的聲音好像對(duì)他的事有那么點(diǎn)興趣。聽(tīng)到對(duì)方如此友善，波普先生又開(kāi)始高興地訴說(shuō)庫(kù)克船長(zhǎng)的事。

“他是陸軍上尉、警察署長(zhǎng)，還是海軍上校？”

“都不是，”波普先生回道，“他是只企鵝。”

“能不能麻煩您再說(shuō)一遍？”那個(gè)聲音說(shuō)道。

波普先生又將話重復(fù)了一遍，而那個(gè)聲音卻建議他最好把單詞拼出來(lái)。

“q-i 企，e 鵝。”波普先生說(shuō)道，“企鵝。”

“哦？”那頭似乎會(huì)意了，“您是說(shuō)庫(kù)克船長(zhǎng)的名字是齊河嗎？”

“不是齊河，是企鵝。它是一只鳥(niǎo)。”波普先生解釋道。

“您的意思是說(shuō)，”電話里的聲音向他耳中傳來(lái)，“庫(kù)克船長(zhǎng)想領(lǐng)一張獵鳥(niǎo)執(zhí)照吧？很抱歉，獵鳥(niǎo)季要到十一月才開(kāi)始。請(qǐng)您再講清楚一點(diǎn)，您說(shuō)您是——托普先生吧？”

“我姓波普，不姓托普！”波普先生吼起來(lái)了。

“好的，波特先生。現(xiàn)在聽(tīng)得很清楚了?！?/p>

“你給我聽(tīng)著！”波普先生氣壞了，他大喊道，“如果你們這些市政府的人連企鵝是什么都不知道的話，我想大概也不會(huì)有什么企鵝執(zhí)照的相關(guān)規(guī)定。我決定不幫庫(kù)克船長(zhǎng)領(lǐng)取執(zhí)照了?！?/p>

“等一等，帕普維爾先生，我們的湖泊、河流、池塘、溪流管理局的特德波特先生剛剛進(jìn)來(lái)了，我讓他親自跟您談?wù)?，或許他知道有關(guān)庫(kù)克齊河的事。”

不一會(huì)兒，另一個(gè)新的聲音對(duì)波普先生說(shuō)起話來(lái)了?！霸绨?，這里是汽車許可局。你申請(qǐng)的這輛車跟去年是同一輛嗎？如果是的話，請(qǐng)問(wèn)您的許可證號(hào)碼是多少？”

波普先生的電話又被轉(zhuǎn)到郡辦公大樓去了。

他終于決定把電話掛斷。