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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Stolen Sword CHAPTER 1 A Ghost Story

时间:2017-09-13 05:53来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Six-year-old Benny Alden stood outside his house in Greenfield, watching the moon rise. An owl1 hooted2. Oak and maple3 trees rustled4 in the wind, and a few raindrops sprinkled Benny on the nose.

Benny shivered. In the moonlight, his front yard looked so spooky, he was almost sure he could see a ghost. And Benny definitely believed in ghosts.

It was early November, just a few days after Halloween. The leaves on the trees were yellow and brown, and many of the branches were almost bare. In the mornings, frost lay on the ground. The perfect season for ghosts, Benny thought.

“Benny, dinner’s ready!” called a familiar voice. It was Benny’s ten-year-old sister, Violet.

“Coming!” Benny called back. He took one more look at the moon before he raced inside.

“I’m starving,” Benny announced to his family, who were already beginning to seat themselves at the long dining room table.

“You’re always hungry, Benny,” Henry reminded him with a smile. Henry was Benny’s fourteen-year-old brother, and he could never resist teasing Benny a little.

Tonight Mrs. McGregor, the Aldens’ housekeeper5, had made one of Benny’s favorite meals: spaghetti and meatballs, and her special homemade brownies for dessert.

Benny quickly slid into his seat next to his sister Jessie.

“How many meatballs, Benny?” asked Jessie as she put spaghetti on Benny’s plate.

“Oh, maybe four,” Benny answered.

“We can always count on you to have a good appetite, Benny,” Grandfather remarked.

“I’ll say,” Henry agreed.

Jessie laughed but gave Benny all the meatballs he wanted. At age twelve, Jessie was the oldest girl in her family, and she often acted like a mother to her orphaned6 brothers and sister.

After their parents died Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny had lived in an abandoned boxcar in the woods because they thought they had nowhere else to go. They did not know that their grandfather was looking everywhere for them. When he finally found his missing grandchildren, he was overjoyed. And he lost no time inviting7 them to live with him — an offer the Aldens were happy to accept. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny were especially pleased that Grandfather let them bring the old boxcar to his house, too. It was now in Grandfather’s backyard, and the children often used it as a playhouse on rainy days.

Outside, the wind shook the trees, and a branch banged against the house.

Violet shuddered8. “It’s awfully9 windy tonight. Is there a storm coming?”

As if in answer, the lights in the house flickered10 but did not go out.

“The papers did say there would be a storm,” Grandfather told his family as he stirred his tea.

“The kind with lots of thunder and lightning?” Benny asked hopefully.

“Nothing that dramatic, I’m afraid,” Grandfather said.

“That’s good.” Violet sounded relieved. She looked around the dining room. The chandelier cast a soft glow on the walls and over the red-and-white-checked tablecloth11. The smell of homemade tomato sauce mingled12 with that of the brownies baking in the oven.

As Mrs. McGregor cleared away the dinner plates, Grandfather leaned back in his chair. “I have some news,” he told his grandchildren.

“What?” asked Benny, holding his cup in midair.

“Well...” Grandfather began slowly. “My friend Seymour Curtis called today. He’d like us to come visit him on his farm sometime this month.”

“Is he the one who’s always sending us fruit from his orchard13?” asked Henry.

“He’s the one,” Grandfather answered, nodding.

“In fact,” Mrs. McGregor added, “we just received a crate14 of apples from him this afternoon. I’ll probably make apple pies with some of them tomorrow.”

“Mmm,” said Violet and Benny, almost in unison15.

“Are there animals on this farm?” Benny wanted to know. “Or do they just grow fruit up there?”

“Oh, there are animals, Benny,” his grandfather assured him. “The main business is the orchard, of course, but Seymour also keeps a few horses, cows, and a goat.”

Benny beamed.

“And you know what else is on the farm?” Grandfather asked, looking at Benny.

“What?” Henry asked, just as eager to know.

“Well,” Grandfather continued, “the orchard is supposedly haunted. At least that’s what the townspeople think!”

Benny’s eyes widened. “You mean there’s a ghost?”

“Sort of,” Grandfather said. “Everyone thinks the ghost of one of Seymour’s ancestors haunts the farm — an ancestor who mysteriously vanished in the apple orchard one day and was never seen again.”

“Oh, that’s creepy!” Jessie exclaimed. “How long ago did this happen?”

“Oh, in the 1850s,” answered Grandfather as the lights flickered overhead and the wind whipped the rain against the window-panes. “In fact, he disappeared on a windy, rainy day like this. It was on the day after Halloween, I believe.”

“And no one knows what happened to him?” Jessie couldn’t believe it.

Grandfather shook his head. “No, no one ever found out.”

“Who was this ancestor?” Henry wanted to know. “And why did he just disappear like that? Was he running away from something? Or was it some kind of Halloween joke?”

“It wasn’t much of a joke if no one ever saw him again,” Violet remarked.

Grandfather leaned back in his chair. “Well, it’s a long story,” he began. “It all started in the middle of the last century when the farmhouse16 was first built.”

Benny sat up straighter. He did not want to miss a word.

“The man who built the farm was an ancestor named Gideon Curtis, and he was rather eccentric.”

“Ec-what?” asked Benny.

“Eccentric,” Grandfather repeated. “He did some unusual things. For instance, he collected suits of armor and old swords, which he kept in a secret passageway he built in his farmhouse.”

“Wow,” said Benny. He was so interested in his grandfather’s story, he was not even eating the brownie in front of him.

“This collection was very valuable,” Grandfather continued. “So valuable that other people in Gideon’s family wanted a share of it. One day, a relative from Virginia, a man named Joshua Curtis, came to visit Gideon. Joshua insisted that Gideon give him some swords from his collection, swords Joshua said belonged to his side of the family.”

“Did they?” Jessie wondered aloud.

Grandfather shook his head. “Gideon didn’t think so. He told Joshua he had no rightful claim to the swords. Joshua became very angry. He threatened Gideon and his family. Then he stormed out of the house, without any of his things, not even his coat. He walked into the orchard, and no one ever saw him again. It was as if he vanished.”

“But people went out looking for him, didn’t they?” Henry asked. He had barely touched his brownie, either.

“Oh, yes,” Grandfather said as he poured cream into his tea. “Gideon and several men formed a search party. They looked for hours and hours. But no one ever found a trace of the man.”

“Didn’t he leave footprints?” Benny wanted to know.

“I’m sure he did,” said Grandfather. “But none that ever led to his whereabouts. The townspeople believe that Joshua’s ghost still haunts the orchard. And whenever Seymour has a poor harvest or other trouble on the farm, people blame the ghost. They say it’s Joshua’s revenge.”

Benny’s eyes grew very round. “You know, ghosts don’t leave footprints,” he informed his family. “Maybe that’s why no one could find any sign of Joshua in the orchard.”

“At that point he wasn’t a ghost yet, Benny!” Jessie said, laughing.

“Did the ghost — I mean did Joshua — have a family in Virginia?” Violet asked.

“No, he never married and never had any children,” Grandfather answered.

“How was Joshua related to Gideon?” Henry wondered as he poured more tea into his mug.

“They were cousins.”

“How strange that Joshua just disappeared like that,” Violet said. “I wonder what could have happened to him.”

“It is an odd story,” Grandfather agreed.

“Has anyone seen this ghost?” Henry wanted to know. “I mean, what makes people think the farm is haunted?”

Grandfather swallowed before he answered. “Some of the farmhands have heard strange noises in the orchard — leaves rustling17 even when there’s no wind, the sound of twigs18 breaking in the underbrush, noises like that. Of course, it could just be some animal that people are hearing,” Grandfather said.

Everyone nodded, except Benny. “I bet it’s really a ghost,” he insisted.

“We’ll see,” Grandfather said, chuckling19.

“So when are we visiting?” Jessie wanted to know.

“We’ll leave the day after tomorrow,” Grandfather answered.

“Mmm,” said Benny, taking a bite of his brownie.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 owl 7KFxk     
n.猫头鹰,枭
参考例句:
  • Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
  • I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚,经常半夜后才睡觉。
2 hooted 8df924a716d9d67e78a021e69df38ba5     
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
  • The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。
3 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。
4 rustled f68661cf4ba60e94dc1960741a892551     
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
6 orphaned ac11e48c532f244a7f6abad4cdedea5a     
[计][修]孤立
参考例句:
  • Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
  • He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。
7 inviting CqIzNp     
adj.诱人的,引人注目的
参考例句:
  • An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
  • The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人,使人感到亲切温馨。
8 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
10 flickered 93ec527d68268e88777d6ca26683cc82     
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
  • These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。
11 tablecloth lqSwh     
n.桌布,台布
参考例句:
  • He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思,轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
  • She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。
12 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
13 orchard UJzxu     
n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场
参考例句:
  • My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
  • Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。
14 crate 6o1zH     
vt.(up)把…装入箱中;n.板条箱,装货箱
参考例句:
  • We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
  • The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。
15 unison gKCzB     
n.步调一致,行动一致
参考例句:
  • The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
  • My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。
16 farmhouse kt1zIk     
n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房)
参考例句:
  • We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
  • We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。
17 rustling c6f5c8086fbaf68296f60e8adb292798     
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的
参考例句:
  • the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
  • the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
18 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。
19 chuckling e8dcb29f754603afc12d2f97771139ab     
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时,我能听见他的轻声发笑。
  • He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
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