兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第七冊 Afternoon on the Amazon 01

Prologue

One summer day in Frog Creek，Pennsylvania，a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods.

Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister，Annie，climbed into the tree house.They found it was filled with books.

Jack and Annie soon discovered that the tree house was magic.It could take them to the places in the books.All they had to do was to point to a picture and wish to go there.

Jack and Annie visited dinosaurs，knights，an Egyptian queen，pirates，ninjas，and the Amazon rain forest.

Along the way，they discovered that the tree house belonged to Morganle Fay.Morgan was a magical librarian.She traveled through time and space，gathering books for King Arthur’s library.

On their fifth adventure，in Night of the Ninjas，Jack and Annie found a little mouse in the tree house.Annie named their new friend “Peanut”.

Jack and Annie also found a note from Morgan.The note told them that she was under a spell.To free her，Jack and Annie must find four special things.

They found the first thing in old Japan，and the second in the Amazonrain forest.

Now Jack and Annie and Peanut are about to set out in search of the third thing...in Sunset of the Sabertooth.

1　　The“M”Things

“Let’s go to the tree house，”said Annie.

She and Jack were passing the Frog Creek woods on their way home from their swinmming class at the Y.

“No.I want to go home and change out of my bathing suit，”said Jack.

“Oh，that’ll take too long，”said Annie.“Don’t you want to save Morgan as soon as possible?”

“Of course，”said Jack.

“Then come on!Before the sun sets!”said Annie.

She darted into the woods.

Jack sighed.He gave up on the idea of chang-ing out of his bathing suit.

He pushed his glasses into place.He followed Annie into the Frog Creek woods.

The warm air smelled fresh and green.

He moved through patches of sunlight and shadow.Soon he came to a small clearing.

He looked up.There it was.The magic tree house in the tallest tree in the woods.

“Hurry!”called Annie.She was climbing the rope ladder up to the tree house.

Jack grabbed the ladder.he started up after her.

Finally they reached the tree house.

Squeak.A mouse sat on the window sill.

“Hi，Peanut!”cried Annie.

Jack patted the tiny head.

“Sorry we didn’t come sooner，”Annie said.“But we had to go to our swimming lesson.”

Squeak.

“What happened while we were gone?”asked Annie，looking around the tree house.

Jack stared at the large M carved into the wooden floor.

On the M were a moonstone and a mango，the special things they’d found on their last two journeys.

“Hey，guess what?”said Jack.“Moonstone and mango start with the letter M.Just like Morgan.”

“You’re right，”said Annie.

“I bet all four things start with an M，”said Jack.

“Right，”said Annie.“I wonder where we’ll find the next one.”

She and Jack stared at the stacks of books in the tree house.Books on the Amazon rain forest，ninjas，pirates，mummies，knights，and dinosaurs.

All of them were closed.Only one book lay open in the corner.

“We’re just about to find out，”said Jack.

They walked over to the open book.

They looked at the page the book was opened to.It showed a picture of rocks and snow.

“Wow，”said Annie，running her finger over the picture.“I love snow.I wish we could go there right now.”

“Wait，”said Jack.“We’re not prepared.”Then he had another thought.“And we’re wearing our bathing suits!Stop!”

“Oops，”said Annie.

Too late.The wind started to blow.

The leaves started to shake.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster!

Then everything was silent.

It was as silent as the falling snow.

引　　子

夏季的某一天，在賓夕法尼亞州一個叫蛙溪鎮(zhèn)的地方，一個神秘的樹屋出現(xiàn)在了樹林中。

八歲的杰克和他七歲的妹妹安妮爬進了那個樹屋，發(fā)現(xiàn)屋子里面堆滿了書。

他們不久就發(fā)現(xiàn)那個樹屋是有魔法的。只要他們指著書中的一幅圖并許愿，樹屋就會帶他們?nèi)ツ莾骸?/p>

杰克和安妮已經(jīng)去過了恐龍的時代、騎士的時代、埃及王后的時代、海盜的時代、日本忍者的時代，還深入了亞馬孫雨林。

沿途中他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這個樹屋屬于一個叫摩根·拉菲的人。摩根是一個會魔法的圖書管理員。她可以在時間與空間中任意地穿梭，為亞瑟王的圖書館收集各種書籍。

在他們的第五次冒險中，在《忍者的秘密》的故事里，杰克和安妮在樹屋里發(fā)現(xiàn)一只小老鼠。安妮給他們的新朋友取名“花生”。

杰克和安妮還發(fā)現(xiàn)摩根留下的一張紙條。紙條上說，摩根被施了一個魔咒。要想解救她，杰克和安妮必須找到四樣特殊的東西。

他們在古老的日本找到了第一樣東西，在亞馬孫雨林找到了第二樣。

現(xiàn)在，杰克、安妮和花生正準備出發(fā)去找第三樣東西……就在《冰原上的劍齒虎》的故事中。

1　帶“M”的東西

“我們?nèi)湮莅伞?rdquo;安妮說。

她和杰克上完游泳課走在回家的路上，這時正經(jīng)過蛙溪樹林。

“不。我想回家，把游泳衣給脫掉。”杰克說。

“啊，那樣要耽誤好久呢。”安妮說，“你難道不想盡快地救出摩根嗎?”

“當然想啦。”杰克說。

“那就走吧!趕在太陽落山之前!”安妮說。

她沖進了樹林。

杰克嘆了口氣，只好放棄了換掉游泳衣的念頭。

他推了推眼鏡，跟上安妮進了蛙溪樹林。

暖洋洋的空氣聞起來新鮮、清爽。

他穿過交錯斑駁的樹影，不一會兒就來到一塊小空地上。

他抬頭一看。它在那兒。神奇樹屋還在樹林中最高的樹上。

“快!”安妮大叫著。她已經(jīng)登上繩梯往樹屋上爬了。

杰克也抓住繩梯，跟在她后面開始往上爬。

最后他們爬上了樹屋。

吱吱。一只老鼠坐在窗臺上。

“你好，花生!”安妮大叫著。

杰克輕輕地拍了拍它的小腦袋。

“對不起，我們來晚了。”安妮說，“因為我們得去上游泳課呀。”

吱吱。

“我們不在的時候發(fā)生了些什么事?”安妮一邊問，一邊環(huán)顧了一下樹屋。

杰克盯著刻在木地板上的一個大M。

在這個大M上躺著一塊月亮石和一個芒果，這兩樣特殊的東西是他們在之前的兩次旅行中找到的。

“嘿，你猜怎么樣?”杰克說，“‘月亮石’和‘芒果’的首字母都是M。同樣，‘摩根’這個詞開頭也是M。”

“你說得對。”安妮說。

“我敢打賭，四樣特殊東西的首字母都是M。”杰克說。

“沒錯。”安妮說，“我在想，下一個特殊的東西我們要上哪兒去找。”

她和杰克盯著樹屋里一堆堆的書，有關于亞馬孫雨林的書、日本忍者的書、海盜的書、木乃伊的書、騎士的書，還有恐龍的書。

所有這些書都是合上的。只有角落里的一本書是打開的。

“我們馬上就可以知道了。”杰克說。

他們奔向那本打開的書，看到書中翻開的那頁。那頁的畫面上是巖石和冰雪的世界。

“哇噻。”安妮邊說邊用手指在那幅畫上劃著，“我喜歡雪，我希望我們馬上就去那里。”

“等一等。”杰克說，“我們還沒做準備呢。”突然他又想到了什么，“而且我們還穿著游泳衣呢!別!”

“啊呀。”安妮說。

太遲了。風吹了起來。

樹葉開始顫抖。

樹屋開始打轉(zhuǎn)。

轉(zhuǎn)得越來越快。

然后一切都平靜了。

平靜得像無聲的落雪。