兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》第十三冊 Vacation Under the Volcano 2 The End Is Near
Jack opened his eyes. He pushed his glasses intoplace.
Morgan was gone. And so were Jack's jeans, T-shirt, sneakers, and backpack.
Instead, he had on a white tunic with a belt, sandalsthat laced up, and a leather bag,He looked at Annie. She was dressed the same way.
Morgan had made them look just like kids in anancient Roman town.
"I guess this is what Morgan meant," said Jack,"when she said she'd help us blend in.""I feel like Cinderella," said Annie. "I like theseclothes.""Yeah," said Jack, although he felt a little as if hewas wearing a dress.
Annie looked out the window.
"It's pretty here," she said.
Jack looked with her. They had landed in a grove oftrees. On one side of the grove rose a gent1e lookAngmountain. On the other, a town sparkled in thesunlight.
"I wonder where we are," said Jack. He opened thebook about Roman times. He read aloud:
Almost 2,000 years ago, on August 24, A.D. 79, theseaside town of Pompeii (pom-PAy) was a typicalRoman town. Many Romans went there on theirvacation. They built large houses called villas andplanted groves of olive trees along the slopes of amountain calied Mount Vesuvius (vuh-SOO-vee-us).
Annie kept looking out the window as Jack pulledout his notebook and pencil. He wrote:
Vacation in PompeiiAugust 24, AD 79Houses called villasJack looked out the window again.
"It does look like a nice place to go on vacation," hesaid.
"We must have landed in one of the olive groves,"said Annie.
"Yeah, and that town must be Pompeii," said Jack.
He looked in the opposite direction. "And thatmountain must be Mount Vesuvius."Annie shivered. "That name sounds scary," she said.
"Really?" said Jack. "Not to me." He looked down athis notes.
"Hey! Did you feel that?" said Annie.
"What?" Jack looked up.
"The ground shook. I heard it rumble, too," saidAnnie.
Jack frowned. "I think you were just dreamingagain," he said.
"No, I wasn't," said Annie. "Something feels wrongabout this place. I really think we should go homenow.
"Are you nuts?" said Jack. "We have to find thatlost story for Morgan. Besides, I've always wanted tosee a Roman town."He threw his notebook and the Roman book intohis leather bag. Then he went down the rope ladder.
"Come on!" he called when he stepped onto theground.
Annie just stared down at him.
"Don't be chicken," he said. He pushed his glassesinto place. "Come on. It'll be fun."Annie still didn't move.
What wrong with her? Jack wondered. Usually I'mthe worried one.
"Come on," he pleaded. "We can't let Morgandown."Annie let out a big sigh. "Okay, but we'd better findthat story fast," she said. Finally she climbed downthe rope ladder.
The sun was bright and hot as they took offbetween the olive trees.
With Mount Vesuvius at their backs, they headedfor the town of Pompeii.
"That's weird," said Annie. "I don't hear any birds."She was right. The grove was strangely silent.
"Don't worry about it," said Jack. "Maybe they're allat the beach. Come on--let's go over that bridge."He led the way to a small wooden bridge thatcrossed a narrow stream. But when they got to thestream, they found it had dried up.
"That's really weird," said Annie.
"Don't worry," said Jack. "It just means there hasn'tbeen much rain."They crossed the bridge and stepped onto a busystreet. It was paved with stone.
People were buying things in the open shops thatlined the street. Some looked rushed and busy. Othersmoved slowly. Kids walked with their parents.
Groups of teenagers talked and laughed.
They don't seem very different from peo-pleshopping in Frog Creek, Jack thought.
Except for the clothes, of course.
"How will we ever find the ancient lost library?"said Annie, glancing around.
"I don't know," said Jack. "Just be on the lookout."They walked past shops that had huge jars in them.
When Jack looked closely, he saw that they werefilled with grain, dried fruit, and olives. Meat hungfrom the ceilings of some of the stores.
They passed a noisy tavern where people wereeating and drinking. A young man played a stringedinstrument.
"See, there's nothing to worry about," said Jack.
"This place isn't all that different from our time.""It's not that," said Annie with a worried look.
"See, there's a barbershop and a shoe shop," saidJack, pointing.
A boy was getting his hair cut by the barber. A girlwas trying on a new pair of sandals with her mother.
"It is kind of like home," Annie agreed.
They kept walking, until they passed a bakery filledwith freshly baked flat breads.
"That bread is like pizza," said Annie, smiling.
"Yeah," said Jack.
The good smells from the bakery made him feeleven more at home. Jack looked at Annie. She wasstill smiling as theywalked on.
Soon they came to a large square filled with people,carts and horses, and more shop-ping stalls.
"Honey cakes! Stuffed dates! Peacock eggs!" sellerscalled.
Farmers were selling grapes, garlic, and onions.
Fishermen were selling all kinds of fish. A few peoplestood on boxes, giving speeches to small crowds.
"Hey, I bet this is the forum!" said Jack. He reachedin his bag for his book. He flipped through it until hefound a picture of the square. He read:
The center of a Roman town was called a forum.
The forum was the main place where people met tosell goods and discuss politics.
"I was right!" said Jack. He pulled out his notebook.
He wrote:
forum= center of town"Jack," whispered Annie. "Jack!" She tugged on histunic. "Look."Jack glanced up. Annie nodded toward an oldwoman who was staring straight at them.
She wore a black cloak. Her gray hair was tangledand wild. She seemed to be missing her teeth.
The woman pointed a bony finger at Jack andAnnie.
"The end is near!" she said in a raspy voice. "Gohome, strangers!""Yikes," said Annie.
"We'd better get away from her," said Jack, "beforepeople wonder who we are."He put away his notebook. Then he and Anniehurried away. The old woman cackled behind them.
