典范英语6-9

典范英语6-9 The masked cleaning ladies meet the pirates Queen Norah was showing Princess Jane the Royal Treasures. ‘Jane’ snapped Queen Norah. ‘You aren’t listening!’ ‘I’m’ yawned Princess Jane. ‘Then,’ said Queen Norah, ‘what is this?’ She pointed at a model of a horse. ‘It’s er…’ began the Princess. ‘You’re as bad as King Harry. He doesn’t care about the Royal Treasures either. This is the Golden Horse of Tong. It belonged to your Great, Great, Great Grandfather. H…’ King Harry came in. ‘The postman’s just been,’ he said. ‘This is for you.’ Queen Norah opened the letter. ‘Bad news,’ sighed Queen Norah. ‘My sister’s crown is missing.’ ‘Stolen?’ asked King Harry. ‘I expect she’s just it down somewhere. You know what she’s like. I shall have to go and help her find it.’ ‘What day is it?’ said Queen Norah. ‘Monday?’ said King Harry. ‘Correct. The cleaning ladies will be coming. The front of the castle needs a jolly good scrub, I want you to stay here and make sure those cleaners do a good job.’ ‘Yes, dear,’ said King Ha rry. ‘I shall lock up the Royal Treasures. I don’t want our Royal Treasures being lost or stolen.’King harry waved goodbye to Queen Norah. ‘Now,’ said King Harry to Captain Smith and Captain Jones. ‘It's time for up to change into the Masked Cleaning Ladies of Om.’ The King and his two captains took over the housework when the last cleaner left. They kept it a secret from Queen Norah by dressing up as cleaning ladies and wearing masks. The Queen would have been furious if she ever found out. 第1页共1 页 A few moments later the three men came back, dressed as cleaning ladies. ‘The Queen won’t be back for ages,’ said Princess Jane. ‘You don’t need to wear the masks today.’ 2 ‘Ahoy there!’ came a cry from outside the castle. ‘We are a gang of very dangerous pirates, hiding behind a rock..’ Princess Jane peeped over the castle wall. ‘Where’s your ship?’ she asked. ‘We’re saving up for one. Now give us your treasure.’ ‘No!’ shouted King Harry. ‘Then we will make you walk the plank,’ yelled the voice. ‘Have you got a plank?’ called the King . ‘No. We’ll throw you to the sharks, then,’ shouted the voice. ‘There aren’t any sharks round here,’ called Princess Jane. ‘Look,’ shouted the voice. ‘Just hand over your treasure.’ ‘We can’t give them the Royal Treasure,’ said King Harry. ‘Because the Queen has locked the room and she has the key.’ ‘We will have to fight them,’ said Princess Jane. ‘Fight?’ said King Harry. ‘You mean us?’ gasped Captain Smith and Captain Jones. Princess Jane took out her telescope and looked at the rock. ‘I can only see three pirates. They don’t look fierce, but they are dirty.’ ‘Dirty! Said King Harry. ‘The Masked Cleaning Ladies know about dirt. We shall need hot water, soap, polish and duster.s’ ‘You can’t start cleaning now,’ said Princess Jane. ‘Ah,’ said the King. ‘This is a very special cleaning job. Captain Smith, go and polish the big shield in the main hall. Captain Jones, you must the floor. I shall run a nice, hot, soapy bath.’‘What shall I do? Asked Princess Jane. ‘You keep them talking,’ said t he King. A bit later King Harry yelled, ‘OK, you dirty pirates, came and get us!’ The three pirates rushed out from behind the rock. They ran across the drawbridge. The doors opened. The pirates stopped. There in front of them was a cleaning lady. She was armed only with a duster. ‘This is going to be easy,’ said the first pirate. The pirates raced forward. The cleaning lady was really Captain Smith and he pulled his duster to one side. Beneath it was the royal shield. It was so shiny that the pirates were dazzled. They hid their eyes. They did not see the floor that Captain Jones had polished. ‘Help!’ yelled the pirates as they skidded on the slippery floor. They slid down the hall, straight into the bathroom. The three pirates landed in a lovely hot, soapy bath. Before they had time to say, ‘Ahoy there,’ they were being scrubbed and soaped. ‘OW!’ ‘Hold still!’ The pirates wiped the soap out of their eyes. They saw King Harry, Captain Smith and Captain Jones dressed as cleaning ladies and holding up mirrors. ‘Oh no,’ said the first pirate. ‘We’re clean.’ King Harry was holding a camera. ‘Please don’t take our picture,’ said the pirates. ‘It’s would be terrible if other pirates found out. Please we’d do anything.’ ‘You have wasted a lot of our time,’ said King Harry. ‘Now, put these aprons on. You can help with the cleaning.’ ‘Cleaning?’ said the pirates. ‘Yes,’ said King Harry, ‘Or I’ll take your picture.’ Soon, the King and his captains and the three pirates were all scrubbing away at the castle wall. 3 A trumpet sounded. ‘Oh no,’ said King Harry. ‘That means that Queen Norah is back.’ ‘She’ll find out that we are the cleaning ladies,’ said Captain Smith. ‘She’ll be furious.’ said Captain Jones. ‘What shall we do?’ wailed Captain Smith. ‘There’s only one thing we can do,’ said King Harry. ‘The three pirates must pretend to be the cleaners.’ ‘Good idea,’ said Princess Jane. ‘You go and get changed and I’ll watch the pirates.’ The drawbridge was lowered. King Harry ran to meet Queen Norah. ‘Did you find your sister’s crown?’ he asked. ‘It was under the sofa,’ said the Queen. She looked up and saw three pirates scrubbing at the front wall of the castle. ‘Those cleaners haven’t got their masks on.’ ‘Er, uh, er,’ gasped King Harry. ‘I am glad. They have such honest f aces, said the Queen, ‘Come down at once, your cleaners.’ The three pirates stood before the Queen. ‘What day is it?’ said the Queen. ‘Monday? Said the pirates. ‘Pay day,’ laughed the Queen, ‘Oh dear,’ said King Harry. ‘Oh yes,’ said the pirates. The Queen opened her purse. The pirates held out their hands. ‘But-’ began Captain Jones. ‘Your majesty…’ said Captain Smith. ‘What a fess,’ said Queen Norah. ‘Anyone would think that you had done the cleaning. Now cleaners, come with me. I was showing Jane the Roy al Treasures this morning. They need a good polish.’ Queen Norah walke d off with the three pirates. King Harry whispered to the two captains, ‘I don’t trust those pirates. Follow me.’ Quee n Norah unlocked the door. ‘This is the room where we keep all the Royal Treasures,’ she said proudly. ‘Are they worth a lot of money? ‘ asked the first pirate. ‘This is the Golden House of Tong. It is worth thousands,’ she said. ‘Thousands, eh?’ said the second pirate. ‘When I come back,’ said Queen Norah, ‘I want to see those treasures shining.’ ‘Right lads,’ said the first pirate. ‘Let’s grab the stuff.’ The pirates stuffed the treasures into their aprons. They ran towards the main door. King Harry, Princess Jane and the two captains came out from behind the curtain. ‘Not so fast!’ said King Harry. The pirates stood still. ‘Give those Royal Treasures back at once!’ Sadly, the pirates took the treasures out of their aprons. ‘Now,’ said King Harry to Jane. ‘Take those treasures back before the Queen finds out that they are missing,’ ‘I will,’ said Jane. She dashed off carrying the treasures. ‘Let's face it,’ said King Harry. ‘You are no good as pirates.’ One of the pirates began to sniff. ‘Why don’t you do something honest?’ said Captain Smith. ‘You made a very good job of cleaning the castle,’ said King Harry. ‘You should become cleaners.’ ‘That reminds me,’ said Captain Jones.’ You still have the cleaning money. Hand it over.’ The first pirate gave him back the money. ‘The pirates can have half,’ said King Harry, ‘because they did half the work.’ ‘Thanks very much,’ said the first pirate. ‘Cor,’ said the second pirate. ‘This is like doing a real job.’ ‘I was going to keep this,’ said the third pirate. ‘But you’ve been so kind.’ He handed King Harry the Golden Horse of Tong.