兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第二冊 Knight At Dawn 06

6嗒——噠!

在火炬照耀下，杰克見三個彪形大漢站在他面前。

一個長著一雙斜眼睛，擎著火炬;一個很紅的臉膛，抓住杰克;一個長著長長的大胡子，伸手抓住了安妮。

安妮又是踢又是叫。

“停住!”大胡子說。

“你們是什么人?”紅臉膛問。

“間諜?外國人?埃及人?羅馬人?波斯人?”斜眼睛說。

“不，你們這些笨蛋!”安妮說。

“啊，這下可好。”杰克咕噥著。

“逮捕他們!”紅臉膛說。

“關(guān)進地牢!”斜眼睛說。

衛(wèi)兵們押著杰克和安妮走出軍械庫。杰克發(fā)瘋似地回頭看了看。他的背包在哪兒呢?

“走!”衛(wèi)兵說著，推了他一下。

杰克只好邁步。

他們向下走去，走過一道長長的黑黑的走廊。斜眼睛，安妮，大胡子，杰克，最后是紅臉膛。

又從一道窄窄的彎來拐去的樓梯走下去。

杰克聽見安妮對著衛(wèi)兵們大喊大叫。“笨蛋!卑鄙家伙!我們什么也沒有干!”

衛(wèi)兵們笑了起來。他們根本沒把她當回事。

在樓梯的盡頭有一扇用橫木閂住的大鐵門。

斜眼睛抽掉門上的橫木，猛地一推門，門吱呀吱呀地開了。

杰克和安妮被推進又冷又濕的房間里。

燃燒的火炬照亮了地牢。污穢不堪的墻上掛著鐵鏈。水從天花板上滴下來，石頭地上形成一個個小水坑。這是杰克所見到的最令人毛骨悚然的地方。

“我們在這兒看守他們，等到宴會結(jié)束，然后把他們交給公爵。”斜眼睛說，“他知道怎樣招呼這些小賊。”

“明天會有絞刑。”長胡子說。

“除非耗子先把他們吃掉了。”紅臉膛說。

他們一齊大笑起來。

杰克看到安妮拿著他的背包。她正在悄悄地拉開背包的拉鏈。

“來，讓我們用鐵鏈拴住他們兩個。”斜眼睛說。

衛(wèi)兵們開始走近他們。安妮猛地從背包里抽出手電筒。

“嗒——噠!”她大喊。

衛(wèi)兵們呆住了。他們盯著她手中亮晃晃的手電筒。

安妮撳亮手電筒。衛(wèi)兵們嚇得透不過氣來。他們跳回墻邊靠著。

斜眼睛把火炬扔掉了?；鹁娴暨M地上一個骯臟的水坑里，劈劈啪啪爆響了幾聲，熄滅了。

“我的魔棒!”安妮邊說邊揮舞著手電筒。“快蹲下。否則，我要消滅你們!”

杰克的嘴巴張得大大的。

安妮發(fā)瘋似地把電燈光指向這個，又指向那個。每個人都嚎叫著，蒙住自己的臉。

“跪下!你們?nèi)康娜?跪下!”安妮大叫著。

一個接著一個，衛(wèi)兵們都跪在地板上。

杰克幾乎不相信是真的。

“快，”安妮對他說，“我們走。”

杰克看看開著的門，又看看跪在地板上的哆哆嗦嗦的衛(wèi)兵們。

“快!”安妮說。

一個箭步，杰克跟著她離開了那令人恐怖的地牢。

6 Ta-da!

In the torchlight，Jack saw three huge men standing over him.

One with very squinty-eyes held the torch. One with a very red face held Jack. And one with a very long mustache held on to Annie.

Annie was kicking and yelling.

“Stop!” said the one with the very long mustache.

“Who art thou?” said the one with the very red face.

“Spies? Foreigners? Egyptians? Romans? Persians?” said the squinty-eyed one.

“No， you dummies!” said Annie.

“Oh， brother，” Jack muttered.

“Arrest them!” said Red-face.

“The dungeon!” said Squinty-eyes.

The guards marched Jack and Annie out of the armory. Jack looked back frantically. Where was his backpack?

“Go!” said a guard， giving him a push.

Jack went.

Down they marched， down the long， dark hallway. Squinty， Annie， Mustache， Jack， and Red.

Down a narrow， winding staircase.

Jack heard Annie shouting at the guards.“Dummies! Meanies! We didn't do anything!”

The guards laughed.They didn’t take her seriously at all.

At the bottom of the stairs was a big iron door with a bar across it.

Squinty pushed the bar off the door. Then he shoved at the door. It creaked open.

Jack and Annie were pushed into a cold， clammy room.

The fiery torch lit the dungeon. There were chains hanging from the filthy walls. Water dripped from the ceiling， making puddles on the stone floor. It was the creepiest place Jack had ever seen.

“We’ll keep them here till the feast is done. Then turn them over to the Duke，” said Squinty. “He knows how to take care of thieves.”

“There will be a hanging tomorrow，” said Mustache.

“If the rats don’t get them first，” said Red.

They all laughed.

Jack saw that Annie had his backpack. She was quietly unzipping it.

“Come on， let’s chain the two of’em，” said Squinty.

The guards started toward them.Annie whipped her flashlight out of the pack.

“Ta-da!” she yelled.

The guards froze. They stared at the shiny flashlight in her hand.

Annie switched the light on.　The guards gasped in fear.They jumped back against the wall.

Squinty dropped the torch. It fell into a dirty puddle on the floor，sputtered， and went out.

“My magic wand!” Annie said， waving the flashlight. “Get down. Or I’ll wipe you out!”Jack’s mouth dropped open.

Annie fiercely pointed her light at one， then the other. Each howled and covered his face.

“Down! All of you! Get down!” shouted Annie.

One by one， the guards lay down on the wet floor.

Jack couldn’t believe it.

“Come on，” Annie said to him. “Let’s go.”

Jack looked at the open doorway. He looked at the guards quaking on the ground.

“Hurry!” said Annie.

In one quick leap， Jack followed her out of the terrible dungeon.