兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》第十九冊(cè) Tigers at Twilight 04 Swing Time
Annie grabbed a vine.
Jack looked back at the python. The giant snakewas still winding its way up the tree. It had almostreached their branch.
Jack took a deep breath. Then he grabbed a vine,too.
"Lean back, like Kah and Ko did," said Annie.
Jack and Annie leaned back.
"One, two, three--go!" said Annie.
They swung out of the tree.
Jack felt his stomach drop. Air rushed by. Leavesand branches slapped at him.
Suddenly, the forest shook with a great roar.
Like a flame, a tiger leaped up from the bushes!
His yellow eyes blazed. His teeth shone likedaggers. His claws barely missed Jack and Annie!
"AAAHHH!" they yelled.
The tiger crashed back down into the bushes.
Jack and Annie swung into the langurs' tree.
Jack threw one leg around the trunk. He let go ofhis vine and held on tightly to a branch.
"Oh, man!" he said. He was in shock.
The langurs patted him, as if to make sure he wasokay.
"Wow, that was fun," said Annie, sitting on a bigbranch.
"Fun? Are you nuts?" said Jack.
"The swinging was fun," said Annie. "The tiger wasscary."Just then, the tree began to shake. Branchessnapped below.
"Oh, no!" said Jack.
"Can tigers climb trees?" asked Annie.
"Probably," said Jack. He hugged the trunk andsqueezed his eyes shut.
From below came loud sounds of chewing,smacking, and crunching.
Teddy growled.
Jack groaned.
"Now the tiger's eating the tree," he said. Annieburst into laughter.
Kah and Ko whooped as if they were laughing, too.
10Arf! Arf! barked Teddy.
"What?" said Jack, opening his eyes.
"Look!" Annie pointed at the twilight. A thick graytube was waving in the air.
"Another snake?" said Jack, horrified.
"No! An elephant trunk!" said Annie.
The trunk wiggled near Jack and Annie, as if itwere sniffing them. Then it picked leaves from thetree and disappeared.
"Let's go see!" said Annie.
With Teddy still in his backpack, Jack followedAnnie down to a lower branch.
They peered out at the twilight forest.
In the gray gloom, they saw a herd of elephants.
One stood beneath their tree, eating leaves. Othersmunched grass.
"Hey, I've got a really cool idea," said Annie.
