Animals -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy literature; Human-animal communication -- Juvenile fiction; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction
But the Doctor calmly finished his bow. Then turning round he folded
his arms, fixed the on-rushing bull with his eye and frowned a terrible
frown.
Presently a curious thing happened: the bull’s speed got slower and
slower. It almost looked as though he were afraid of that frown. Soon
he stopped altogether. The Doctor shook his finger at him. He began to
tremble. At last, tucking his tail between his legs, the bull turned
round and ran away.
The crowd gasped. The Doctor ran after him. Round and round the ring
they went, both of them puffing and blowing like grampuses. Excited
whispers began to break out among the people. This was something new
in bullfighting, to have the bull running away from the man, instead
of the man away from the bull. At last in the tenth lap, with a final
burst of speed, Juan Hagapoco, the English matador, caught the poor
bull by the tail.
Then leading the now timid creature into the middle of the ring, the
Doctor made him do all manner of tricks: standing on the hind legs,
standing on the front legs, dancing, hopping, rolling over. He finished
up by making the bull kneel down; then he got on to his back and did
handsprings and other acrobatics on the beast’s horns.
Pepito and his assistant had their noses sadly out of joint. The crowd
had forgotten them entirely. They were standing together by the fence
not far from where I sat, muttering to one another and slowly growing
green with jealousy.
Finally the Doctor turned towards Don Enrique’s seat and bowing said in
a loud voice, “This bull is no good any more. He’s terrified and out of
breath. Take him away, please.”
“Does the caballero wish for a fresh bull?” asked Don Enrique.
“No,” said the Doctor, “I want five fresh bulls. And I would like them
all in the ring at once, please.”
At this a cry of horror burst from the people. They had been used to
seeing matadors escaping from one bull at a time. But _five_!—That must
mean certain death.
Pepito sprang forward and called to Don Enrique not to allow it, saying
it was against all the rules of bullfighting. (“Ha!” Polynesia
chuckled into my ear. “It’s like the Doctor’s navigation: he breaks all
the rules; but he gets there. If they’ll only let him, he’ll give them
the best show for their money they ever saw.”) A great argument began.
Half the people seemed to be on Pepito’s side and half on the Doctor’s
side. At last the Doctor turned to Pepito and made another very grand
bow which burst the last button off his waistcoat.
[Illustration: “Did acrobatics on the beast’s horns”]
“Well, of course if the caballero is afraid—” he began with a bland
smile.
“Afraid!” screamed Pepito. “I am afraid of nothing on earth. I am the
greatest matador in Spain. With this right hand I have killed nine
hundred and fifty-seven bulls.”
“All right then,” said the Doctor, “let us see if you can kill five
more. Let the bulls in!” he shouted. “Pepito de Malaga is not afraid.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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