英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十二册 Polar Bears Past Bedtime 03 Mush!

　　"Did you come with the wolves?" asked Annie.

The seal hunter looked puzzled.

"Did Morgan send you to us?" said Jack¹.

"I had a dream," the man said. "You were in it. Youneeded help."Annie smiled.

"Morgan sends dreams sometimes," she said. "Wecame in Morgan's tree house. It flies through time."Oh, brother, thought Jack. Who will believe that?

The seal hunter smiled as if he was not surprised atall.

"We do need help," said Jack. "W-w-we're fr-frfreezing."The seal hunter nodded. Then he left the window.

He returned a moment later with two small parkaslike his own. They were made of heavy dark skinswith fur-trimmed hoods².

He passed one to Jack and one to Annie.

"Thanks!" said Jack and Annie. They put the parkason.

"Hooray!" said Annie. "It's warm!""Yeah," said Jack. "They're made of seal skin.""Poor seals," said Annie.

"Don't think about it," said Jack. He pulled his hoodup. His head and upper body were very snug³ now.

Only his legs, hands, and feet were still freezing.

"Oh, thanks!" said Annie.

Jack looked up. The seal hunter was giving Annie apair of fur pants. Then he handed a pair to jack.

"Thanks," said Jack. He quickly pulled the pants onover his pajamas⁴.

Next the seal hunter gave each of them a pair of furboots and mittens⁵.

Jack took off his sneakers and pulled on the boots.

He wiggled his frozen fingers into the warm mittens.

"I have a quick question," Jack said to the sealhunter. "Do you know the answer to this riddle⁶?"He opened his notebook and read:

I cover what's real and hide what's true. Butsometimes I bring out the courage in you. What am I?

The seal hunter shook his head.

"Come," he said to Jack and Annie. Then hedisappeared from the window.

"What about those wolves out there?" Jack called.

But the seal hunter didn't answer.

Jack grabbed the Arctic book and looked for apicture of the seal hunter.

When Jack found the picture, he smiled. The sealhunter was standing⁷ beside a dog-sled.

Jack read:

In cold weather, the seal hunter travels by dogsled.

Siberian Huskies often howl like wolves. A lead dogcontrols the others. The sled's runners are sometimesmade of frozen fish rolled up in sealskin.

"Hey, Annie, they're not wolves," said Jack.

"They're--"He looked up. Annie was gone.

Jack threw the book and notebook into his pack.

But he was so fat in his furry⁹ clothes that thebackpack wouldn't fit. Jack loosened the shoulderstraps and tried to put the back-pack on again. It fit.

Jack looked at the small window. That would be atight fit, too. He went out head-first and barelysqueezed through.

Jack fell onto the snowy ground. The snow was stilldrifting down. The air was misty¹⁰ white.

Jack heard barking and howling. He movedcarefully toward the noise.

At first, he couldn't see the dogsled. But when hegot closer, he counted nine Siberian Huskies. Theyhad thick fur big heads, and pointy ears.

The lead dog barked at him.

Jack stopped.

"He's telling you to climb on!" said Annie.

She was standing on the back of the sled. The sealhunter stood next to her in the snow.

Jack jumped onto the sled next to Annie.

The seal hunter cracked a long whip. "Mush!" heshouted.

The huskies dashed off in a whirl of snow.

Above them flew the snowy owl⁸.

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 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

3 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

4 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

5 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

6 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。

7 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。

8 owl   

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。

9 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

10 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。