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儿童英语读物 The Secret of the Mask CHAPTER 9 Powwow

时间:2017-11-28 05:40来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The children pedaled hard up the steep hill that overlooked Pleasant Valley Park. Suddenly, they came to a screeching2 halt. They barely recognized their favorite park in the large valley below. Gone were the baseball and soccer fields, the playgrounds and basketball courts. In their place, as far as the eye could see, was a city of white tepees. Excited, the children coasted down the hill to the park to join the fun. As they locked their bikes onto the bike stand, Benny carefully removed the mask from Jessie’s bike basket.

It was hard to know where to look first. Children of all ages played a noisy game of tag, running in and out of tepees and all around the park. Long craft tables covered the toddler playground. At each one, people sewed moccasins or wove bright beads4 into bracelets5 and headbands. Small children glued feathers and beads onto leather strips that they tied around their arms and waists.

A group of people sat on the ground around a very old woman, watching as she carved beautiful designs into a black clay pot. And, oh, the delicious smells in the air! Even though their bellies6 were full of ice cream, the children knew they must sample some powwow foods before they left.

“This way,” said Henry, walking along a row of open tents with banners reading: Food, Crafts, Storytelling.

A young woman at the information tent directed people this way and that. Violet studied the bead3 design on her dress so she could copy it. Sewing the beads would take many hours but, as Grandfather said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” When it was their turn to speak to the woman, the children asked where they could find Officer Tom Morgan.

“Let’s see,” the woman checked a list of names. “Ah, yes, Tom’s helping7 build the bonfire on the west end of the park.” She pointed8 them toward an area set far away from the tents. The children headed over.

As they neared, they saw people piling logs, branches, and twigs9 in the shape of a square. The square was already as tall as Benny, and it looked as if it would be much taller before all the branches were used up.

They found Officer Morgan working with a group of teenagers. “Welcome,” he said. “I’d like to show that mask of yours to one of the tribes here.” He turned to the teenagers. “Keep building,” he told them. “I’ll be back to help in a little while.”

He led the Aldens toward the largest tepee in the park. “You are about to meet some very important tribe members,” he said. “They have come from all over the United States for this powwow. I told them about the masks you found.”

Inside the tent, a group of people sat in a circle. Some wore jeans and tee shirts, and others were dressed in clothing decorated with beads and feathers. Officer Morgan introduced the children. He turned to Benny. “Would you show them your mask?”

Benny took the mask out of its box and walked into the center of the circle. A man leaned forward as Benny lifted up the two-horned mask.

“Ahhhh,” he said, taking it from him, passing it around the circle. Each held it and ran his hands along the old wood, admiring the talent of the artist who made it. When it had gone all the way around the circle, the last man spoke10.

“This is a Hopi cow kachina mask. This spirit prays for rain and food for the Hopi people,” he said. “The Hopi have not arrived yet—if you will leave the mask, we will show it to them.”

“No!” yelled Benny, grabbing the mask and clutching it to him. “I found it! It’s mine!”

The man’s voice was gentle. “That is true. You did find it. And you could take it home. But this mask is very old. It may have been stolen from the Hopi tribe.” Benny clutched it tighter. The man looked at him with kind eyes. “It is a great honor—a great, great honor—to return a stolen thing to its true home.”

Benny hugged his mask. He knew how sad he felt when the mask had been stolen from their garage. He also knew how happy he felt today when they found the missing Crispy Crackers11 can. He looked at the chiefs who sat quietly, watching him and waiting. No one yelled at him or grabbed the mask or told him what to do. They were waiting for him to decide. It made Benny feel very grown-up.

“All right,” he said, handing the mask to the man next to him.

“We would like to invite you to come back to the powwow on Saturday. By then we will know about the mask,” the man said to the children.

On their way out of the park, the Aldens saw a group of people gathered around a table labeled “Fry bread.”

“That’s what Katrina ate in the Prairie Girls book,” said Violet. “We should try it.”

The children joined the line, watching a woman pull a small piece of dough12 off a big piece. She quickly rolled it into a ball, rolled it in flour, then patted it flat. Then she poked13 a hole in the middle. “The hole lets the oil get into the middle so the fry bread cooks evenly,” explained Violet.

“Everyone stand back,” said the woman. All the children took a giant step back as she dropped the dough into a large pan. Hot oil spattered like a Fourth-of-July sparkler. As the dough bubbled merrily in the hot oil, she added many more breads to the pan.

When they were done she scooped14 them onto paper towels to drain. Some people ordered their fry bread plain, and some asked for regular sugar.

“I’m having powdered sugar,” said Benny. When it was their turn, Henry, Jessie, and Violet all ordered the powdered sugar, too. The children sat under a large maple15 tree to enjoy their treats.

Officer Morgan found them there. “Thanks for leaving your mask, Benny,” he said as he walked towards them.

“You’re welcome,” said Benny, who by now had a powdered-sugar moustache.

“We need to talk to Grandma Belle16,” Henry said. “If the people here think that this mask may belong to the Hopi tribe, then maybe there are other things that Grandma Belle has that need to be returned to these people.”

“Do you think that Grandma Belle’s father stole the masks from the Hopi tribe?” Benny asked.

“I don’t know,” said Henry. “But that’s what we need to find out.”

As the children pedaled through town, they passed the drugstore. Down the block, Henry spotted17 the orange pickup18 truck they had seen in their alley1 parked in front of the diner.

“Something’s wrong with that truck,” said Henry.

“It’s orange,” said Violet, who much preferred softer colors.

Jessie wrinkled her nose. “It’s all bumped and dented19 and has more rust20 than a sunken ship.”

“No,” said Henry, studying the truck. “I know what’s wrong. Those are the same bikes and swing set in the back as before. Mr. Robbins would have sold them all by now, and collected all sorts of new things.”

“You mean he’s not a junker like Mr. Robbins?” asked Violet. “He’s just pretending to be a junker?”

Henry nodded. “That way, people aren’t suspicious when they see him driving up and down the alleys21.”

“Alleys like ours,” said Benny, his face growing red with excitement. “He could have stolen my mask from our garage!”

“And maybe,” said Jessie, “he stole things, like the candleholder, from Grandma Belle’s garage. Maybe he’s the one who took it to the antique store.”

Henry jumped on his bike. “Quick! We have to get over to Grandma Belle’s to let her know what’s going on before anything else disappears.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 alley Cx2zK     
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路
参考例句:
  • We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
  • The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。
2 screeching 8bf34b298a2d512e9b6787a29dc6c5f0     
v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 );发出粗而刺耳的声音;高叫
参考例句:
  • Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
  • the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景
3 bead hdbyl     
n.念珠;(pl.)珠子项链;水珠
参考例句:
  • She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
  • She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。
4 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
5 bracelets 58df124ddcdc646ef29c1c5054d8043d     
n.手镯,臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 bellies 573b19215ed083b0e01ff1a54e4199b2     
n.肚子( belly的名词复数 );腹部;(物体的)圆形或凸起部份;腹部…形的
参考例句:
  • They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
  • starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童
7 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
8 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
9 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 crackers nvvz5e     
adj.精神错乱的,癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 );薄脆饼干;(认为)十分愉快的事;迷人的姑娘
参考例句:
  • That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
  • We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 dough hkbzg     
n.生面团;钱,现款
参考例句:
  • She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
  • The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。
13 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 scooped a4cb36a9a46ab2830b09e95772d85c96     
v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 );(敏捷地)抱起;抢先获得;用铲[勺]等挖(洞等)
参考例句:
  • They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块,在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 maple BBpxj     
n.槭树,枫树,槭木
参考例句:
  • Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
16 belle MQly5     
n.靓女
参考例句:
  • She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
  • She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。
17 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
18 pickup ANkxA     
n.拾起,获得
参考例句:
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
19 dented dented     
v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 );损害;伤害;挫伤(信心、名誉等)
参考例句:
  • The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
  • I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 rust XYIxu     
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退
参考例句:
  • She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
  • The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。
21 alleys ed7f32602655381e85de6beb51238b46     
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径
参考例句:
  • I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
  • The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷,来到城边。
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