英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十五册 Viking Ships at Sunrise 01 Before Dawn

　　Jack¹ opened his eyes.

A thin gray light came through his window. Hisclock read 5 A.M. All was quiet.

Today we're going to ancient Ireland, he thought,back more than a thousand years.

Morgan le Fay had told him that it was a verydangerous time, with Vikings raiding the coasts.

"You awake?" came a whisper.

Annie stood in his doorway². She was dressed andready to go.

"Yeah, meet you outside," said Jack as he climbedout of bed.

He pulled on his jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. Heput his secret library card into his backpack with hisnotebook and pencil. Then he hurried downstairs.

Annie was waiting for him in their yard.

The air was damp and misty³.

"Ready?" she asked.

Jack took a deep breath.

"I guess," he said. He was a little worried about theVikings.

They walked silently over the dewy grass. Thenthey ran up their street and into the Frog Creekwoods.

Mist clung to the trees as they walked through thedark woods.

"It's hard to see," said Jack.

"Where's the tree house?" asked Annie.

"I have no idea," said Jack.

Just then something fell in front of them.

"Watch out!" shouted Jack. He covered his head.

"The ladder!" cried Annie. Jack opened his eyes.

The rope ladder from the magic tree house dangledin front of them.

Jack looked up. The tree house was hidden in themist.

"Come on, let's go," said Annie.

She grabbed the ladder and started up. Jackfollowed.

They climbed through the wet air and into the treehouse.

"Hello," said Morgan. "I'm glad to see you."She was sitting in the corner. At her feet were thescroll they'd brought back from Roman times and thebamboo book from ancient China.

"I'm so glad to see you," said Jack.

"Me too," said Annie.

"It's good that you both came early," said Morgan.

She reached into the folds of her robe and pulledout a piece of paper.

"Here's the ancient story you must find today," shesaid.

Morgan handed the paper to Jack. On it were thewords:

Serpens MagnaThe mysterious writing reminded Jack of thewriting from their trip to the Roman town of Pompeii.

"That looks like Latin," he said.

"Very good," said Morgan. "It is Latin.""But I thought they spoke⁴ Latin in ancient Rome,"said Annie. "Aren't we going to Ireland?""You are," said Morgan. "But during the Dark Agesin Europe, educated people wrote in Latin.""The Dark Ages?" said Jack.

"Yes," said Morgan. "The time after the fall of theRoman Empire.""Why is it called dark ?" said Jack.

"It was a difficult time," said Morgan. "People hadto work very hard just to feed and clothe themselves.

There was not a lot of time for playing, learning, ormaking art and music."Morgan pulled a book from her robe.

"Your research," she said, handing it to Annie. Thetitle read: Ireland Long Ago.

"Remember," said Morgan. "Your research book willguide you. But in your darkest hour--""Only the ancient story can save us," Jack andAnnie said together.

"And remember this," said Morgan. "It must be yourdarkest hour, when there is no hope left. If you askfor help too soon, it will not come.""And we have to find the story first," said Annie.

"That is true," said Morgan. "Do you have yoursecret library cards?"Jack and Annie nodded.

"Show them to the wisest person you meet," saidMorgan.

"Don't worry," said Annie. "I think we're readynow."Annie pointed⁵ at the cover of the Ireland book.

"I wish we could go there," she said. She gaveMorgan a little wave. "See you soon.""Good luck!" said Morgan.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁶ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

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 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

3 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。

4 spoke   

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。

5 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。

6 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。