Part 1 (2/2)
He dropped down on his stoan to worrew very low, and the ground was full of lu into him with every s like thistles, which had to be pushed out of the ithout allowing their leaves to rustle He progressed by inches, pushi+ng with his toes, pulling with his finger tips, wriggling with the rest of his body At last he could see light breaking through the foliage in front of hi before his face He hesitated, then pushed theht his heart would stop
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2: _In Which David Meets the Phoenix, and There Is a Change in Plans_
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There stood an enormous bird
David had been to the zoo, and at home he had a book of birds with colored pictures He knew the e birds of the world: the ostrich, the condor, the albatross, eagles, cranes, storks But _this_ bird--! Its shape was like that of an eagle, but stouter Its neck had the length and elegant curve of a swan's neck Its head was again like an eagle's, with a hooked bird-of-prey beak, but the expression in its brown eyes was s were blunt at the tips, the tail was short and broad The legs, feathered halfway down, ended in taloned feet An iridescent sheen sparkled on its pluolden neck and back, the breast of silver, the sapphire wings and tail Its size alone would have been enough to take David's breath away He could have stood beneath the arch of that neck with roo was that the bird had an open book on the ground and was apparently trying to learn part of it by heart
”_Vivo, vives, vive_,” the bird read, very slowly and distinctly, staring hard at the book ”_Vivih, you blockhead! Now, then, without looking” It cleared its throat, looked away from the book, and repeated in a rapid mutter: ”_Vivo vives vive vi_--ah--_vivi_--oh, dear, what _is_ the matter with me?” Here the temptation to peek overcame it for an instant, and its head wavered But it said, ”No, no!” in a firan once more
”_Vivo, vives, vive_--quite correct so far Ah--_vi_--ah--Oh, dear, these verbs! Where was I? Oh, yes _Vivo_--”
David's head reeled as he watched this a performance There was no need to pinch hi: he was perfectly wide awake Everything else around hi in a norht streamed down as before Yet there was the bird, un its book and speaking to itself David's ain: ”What on _earth_? What on _earth_?” But of course there was no answer to that question And heout at the bird andinto the thicket straight for him
He had a horror of bees, ever since he had once bumped into a hive by , his whole body broke into a sweat All thought of the bird was immediately driven from his head He could tell fro black-and-yellow fuzzy bees, the ones with the nasty dispositions
Perhaps--the thought paralyzed hi and blundering through the leaves Suddenly it was upon him, so close that he could feel the tiny breeze stirred up by its wings All self-control vanished He beat at it wildly with his hands, burst out of the thicket like an explosion, and smashed full tilt into the bird before he could stop hi squawk the bird shot into the air, flipped over, and ca hilare Completely terrified, David turned and bolted for the thicket He h when a vine trapped his feet He pitched forward, shi+elding his face with his ar his shi+rt
He was stuck This was the end He closed his eyes and waited, too nu happened Slowly he turned his head around The bird, although it still glared ly, seemed undecided whether to attack or flee
”What,here?” it said at last, in a severe voice
”I--I--I was taking a walk,” David said faintly ”I'”
”You should not have come up here at _all_,” the bird snapped
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