儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 07 Hi, there

　　The forest was cooler than the sunny plains.

It was filled with shadows and bird calls.

"Where are you?" Jack¹ shouted.

"Here!" said Annie.

He found her in a thick glade².

Bright rays steamed between the trees. Greenleaves and vines swayed in the dappled light.

The little gray bird sat in a tree, twittering at them.

"Yuck, what's that?" said Annie. She pointed³ at around brown thing hanging from a low branch. Beesbuzzed around it.

"If that's her nest, it's a pretty weird⁴ nest," saidAnnie.

"That's not a nest," said Jack. "It's a bee-hive. Don'tyou see the bees?""Yikes," said Annie. She stepped back from the tree.

But the little bird darted⁵ at the beehive and peckedat it.

"What's she doing?" said Annie.

The bird kept pecking at the hive.

"I don't know. Maybe she's as nuts as you," saidJack.

"Look her up in the book," said Annie.

"See if it says she's nuts.""Are you kidding?" said Jack. "That nutty bird isn'tgoing to be in this book.""Just look."Jack opened his Africa book. He kept turning thepages. Just as he thought--there was no gray bird inthe book.

"Forget it," he said.

"Keep looking," said Annie.

Jack turned one more page. And there it was: a littlegray bird, a beehive, and a tall, painted warrior⁶ with aspear.

"I don't believe this," said Jack. Then he read aloud:

This bird is called a honey guide. It's both a friendand a helper to the Masai (muh-si) people, an Africantribe known for their fierce fighting skills andbravery.

"Hi, honey guide," Annie called to the bird. "I knewyou were important."Jack kept reading:

The honey guide leads a Masai tribesperson to abeehive. The bird waits for him or her to scatter⁷ thebees and take the honey. Then the bird feasts on thehoneycomb.

"That's cool," said Jack. "They work together, likethe zebras and wildebeests and gazelles.""Yeah," said Annie. "And she wants us to be herhelpers. We have to scatter the bees and leave her thehoneycomb.""How do we do that?" said Jack. He looked back atthe book. It didn't say how.

"Well, maybe we could wave those weeds at them,"said Annie. She pointed to some bright green plantsthat looked like giant fans.

Jack put his book and backpack down. He andAnnie pulled up the weeds. They waved them nearthe tree, and the bees scattered⁸.

Next, Jack grabbed the tree branch and jiggled it.

The hive fell to the ground and broke open.

Annie stooped and stuck her finger into the goldenhoneycomb.

"Yummy," she said when she tasted the honey. "Tryit."Jack stuck his finger in the honeycomb, too. Helicked off the golden honey. It was the sweetesthoney he had ever tasted.

"now the honey guide can get to her honey comb,"said Annie.

"Yeah, but she'd better hurry. Before the bees comeback," said Jack.

"It's weird," said Annie. "Honey's so sweet andgood. But to get it, you have to go past a lot ofdangerous bees.""Oh, man," whispered Jack. "That's it.""That's what?" asked Annie.

Jack said Morgan's riddle⁹:

I'm the color of gold and as sweet as can be. Butbeware of the danger that's all around me. What amI?

"I get it," Annie whisper "Honey... "Honey," said Jack, nodding and smiling, "That's it.

We've answered Morgan's riddle. Let's go home."He stood up to leave. He gasped¹⁰.

Standing¹¹ in the shadows was a tall man with aspear and a curved sword hanging from his belt. Hisface was painted in fierce, bright colors.

Jack knew at once what he was.

A Masai warrior.

"Hi, there," Annie said in a small voice.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 glade   

n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地

参考例句：

• In the midst of a glade were several huts.林中的空地中间有几间小木屋。
• The family had their lunch in the glade.全家在林中的空地上吃了午饭。

3 pointed   

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。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

7 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

10 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。