兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第二冊 Knight At Dawn 03 Across the Bridge

3跨過吊橋

安妮站在樹下面，朝著霧蒙蒙的遠處看去。

“依我看，騎士這是要往那座吊橋去。”安妮說，“吊橋通向那座城堡。”

“等一等，我看看書。”杰克說，“把手電筒給我!”

他從她手中接過手電筒，從背包里抽出那本城堡書。他翻到插著皮書簽的那一頁。

他讀著騎士畫下面的文字：

這是一個騎士趕往城堡參加宴會。騎士們身著全副盔甲，長途跋涉，歷經(jīng)艱險。

盔甲十分笨重。僅頭盔就可達40磅。

哇噻。杰克五歲時才重40磅　[注]。這就是說，騎士騎馬時就好像頭上還坐著一個五歲的孩子。

杰克拿出自己的筆記本。他要做筆記，就像上次到恐龍時代游歷那樣做。

他寫道：

笨重的頭

還有什么呢?

他翻動城堡書的書頁。他發(fā)現(xiàn)一幅畫，這幅畫展現(xiàn)了整個城堡和周圍的建筑物。

“那個騎士正通過吊橋。”安妮說，“他通過了城堡的大門……他已經(jīng)進去了。”

杰克仔細研究畫中的吊橋。

他讀道：

吊橋跨越護城河。護城河灌滿了水，以幫助城堡防御敵人。有些人相信護城河里養(yǎng)有鱷魚。

杰克在筆記本里寫道：

護城河里有鱷魚?

“看!”安妮透過霧氣看見了什么。“一架風車!就在那邊!”

“嗯，這兒也有一架風車。”杰克說，指著書中的畫。

“看看真風車，杰克。”安妮說，“不是書中的風車。”

一聲尖銳刺耳的叫聲劃破長空。

“天啊。”安妮說，“這聲音好像是從那邊小屋里傳來的!”她的手指向霧中。

“這兒有一間小屋。”杰克邊說邊觀察著書中的畫。他翻了一頁讀道：鷹屋在城堡的內(nèi)苑。鷹經(jīng)過訓練，用來捕獲其他鳥兒和小動物。

杰克在筆記本上寫道：

鷹屋里的鷹

“我們必須進入城堡的內(nèi)苑。”杰克說。

“聽!”安妮低聲說，“你聽見了嗎?鼓聲!號角聲!它們從城堡里傳來。我們?nèi)タ础?rdquo;

“等一下。”杰克說。他又翻了幾頁書。

“我要真真切切地看看城堡里正在做些什么事，杰克，不是書中的敘述。”安妮說。

“但是看看這個!”杰克說。

他指著一幅舉行盛大宴會的畫面。一些男子正站在大門的旁邊，打著鼓吹著號角。

他讀道：

迎賓曲奏了起來，隨即各色各樣的菜肴端了上來。宴會在大廳里舉行。

“你就看你的書吧，我要到真正的宴會上去。”安妮說。

“等一下。”杰克說。他研究著畫上的場景：畫面上一些與他年齡差不多大的男孩兒們端上一盤盤食品。全豬、餡餅、全身羽毛的孔雀。孔雀?

杰克寫道：

他們吃孔雀?

他捧著書給安妮看。“看，我想他們吃——”

她上哪兒了?不見了。又一次不見了。

杰克透過濃霧，費力地看著。

他聽見了真正的鼓聲，真正的號角聲。他看見了真切切的鷹屋，真切切的風車，真切切的護城河。

他看見安妮跨過了真正的吊橋。然后她進了城堡的大門，消失了。

3 Across the Bridge

Annie was under the tree， looking across the foggy ground.

“The knight’　s riding toward that bridge， I think，” said Annie.

“The bridge goes to the castle.”

“Wait. I’ll look it up，” said Jack. “Give me the flashlight!”

He took the flashlight from her and pulled the castle book out of his pack. He opened it to the page with the leather bookmark.

He read the words under the picture of the knight：

This is a knight arriving for a castle feast. Knights wore armor when they traveled long and dangerous distances. The armor was very heavy.

A helmet alone could weigh up to forty pounds.

Wow. Jack had weighted forty pounds when he was five years old. So it’

d be like riding a horse with a five-year-old on your head.

Jakc pulled out his notebook. He wanted to take notes， as he’d done on their dinosaur trip.

He wrote：

heavy head

What else?

He turned the pages of the castle book.He found a picture that showed the whole castle and the buildings around it.

“The knight’s crossing the bridge，” said Annie. “He’s going through the gate.... He’s gone.”

Jack studied the bridge in the picture.

He read：

A drawbridge crossed the moat. The moat was filled with water， to help protect the castle from enemies.

Some people believe crocodiles were kept in the moat.

Jack wrote in his notebook：

crocodiles in moat?

“Look!” said Annie， peering through the mist. “A windmill! Right over there!”

“Yeah， there’　s a windmill in here， too，” said Jack， pointing at the picture.

“Look at the real one， Jack，” said Annie. “Not the one in the book.”

A piercing shriek split the air.

“Yikes，” said Annie. “It sounded like it came from that little house over there!” She pointed through the fog.

“There’　s a little house here，” said Jack， studying the picture.

He turned the page and read：

The hawk house was in the inner ward of the castle. Hawks were trained to hunt other birds and small animals.

Jack wrote in his notebook：

hawks in hawk house

“We must be in the inner ward，” said Jack.

“Listen!” whispered Annie. “You hear that? Drums! Horns! They’re coming from the castle. Let’s go see.”

“Wait，” said Jakc. He turned more pages of the book.

“I want to see what’s really going on， Jack. Not what’s in the book，” said Annie.

“But look at this!” said Jack.

He pointed to a picture of a big party. Men were standing by the door， playing drums and horns.

He read：

Fanfares were played to announce different dishes in a feast. Feasts were held in the Great Hall.

“You can look at the book. I’m going to the real feast，” said Annie.

“Wait，” said Jack， studying the picture. It showed boys his age carrying trays of food. Whole pigs. Pies. Peacocks with all their feathers. Peacocks?

Jack wrote：

they eat peacocks?

He held up the book to show Annie. “Look， I think they eat—”

Where was she? Gone. Again.

Jack looked through the fog.

He heard the real drums and the real horns. He saw the real hawk house， the real windmill， the real moat.

He saw Annie dashing across the real drawbridge. Then she vanished through the gate lead