《神奇树屋》 第十八册 Buffalo Before Breakfast 08 Sacred Circle

　　The sun was going down as the three ponies¹ galloped² forhome. The deep blue sky was streaked³ with golden red light.

Back at the Lakota camp, the circle of tepees glowed in thesetting sun. People were gathered around a large fire.

Black Hawk⁴ led Jack⁵ and Annie to the camp. They got offtheir ponies and went over to the fire.

Grandmother rose to greet them.

"You have been gone a long time," she said.

Black Hawk looked her bravely in the eye.

"Grandmother, I tried to hunt the buffalo⁶ alone," he said. "Onecharged at me, but Jack saved my life. Then Annie and WhiteBuffalo Woman stopped all the other buffalo from a stampede.""Let this be a lesson to you," Grandmother said sternly. "Your'pride led you to show off. Showing off made you behavefoolishly. Your foolishness frightened a buffalo. He frightenedothers. One thing always leads to another. Everything isrelated.""I am sorry," said Black Hawk. He hung his head. "I havelearned."Jack felt sorry for Black Hawk.

"I make mistakes sometimes, too," he said softly.

"Me too," said Annie.

Grandmother looked at Jack and Annie.

"Buffalo Girl and Rides-Like-Wind showed great couragetoday," she said.

Jack smiled. He loved his new Lakota name: Rides-Like-Wind.

"We welcome you to our family," said Grandmother.

The evening shadows spread over the camp. Someone beganbeating a drum. it sounded like a heartbeat"Come, sit with us in our circle," said Grandmother.

They sat with her near the warm fire. A cool breeze blewsparks into the gray twilight⁷.

An old man held a long pipe up to the sky. He pointed⁸ it tothe east, the south, the west, and the north.

Then he passed the pipe to the next man in circle. The manput the pipe to his lips and blew smoke into the golden firelight.

Then he passed it on.

"The smoke from the sacred pipe joins all to the Great Spirit,"Grandmother said to Jack and Annie.

"The Great Spirit?" asked Annie.

"The Great Spirit is the source of all things in the sacred circleof life," said Grand-mother. "It is the source of all spirits.""What spirits?" asked Jack.

"There are many," said Grandmother. "Wind spirits, treespirits, bird spirits. Some-times they can be seen. Sometimesnot.""What about the White Buffalo Woman?" said Jack. "Who isshe?""She is a messenger of the Great Spirit," said Grandmother.

"He sent her when the people were starving.

She brought the sacred pipe so that our prayers could rise tothe Great Spirit. He answers by sending us the buffalo.""Why do you think White Buffalo Woman came to me?"asked Annie.

"Sometimes courage can summon help from the beyond,"Grandmother said.

She pulled a brown-and-white feather from a small buckskinbag.

She put the feather on the ground in front of Jack and Annie.

"This is a gift for you," she said. "An eagle's feather for yourcourage."Arf! Atf! Teddy wagged his tail.

Jack and Annie smiled at each other. The eagle's feather wastheir "gift from the prairie blue."Their mission was complete.

The chanting and drumbeats grew louder and louder. Thenthey stopped.

The old man held the pipe up to the sky.

"All things are related," he said.

The pipe-smoking ceremony was over.

The sky was dark and filled with stars.

One by one, people rose from the circle and went to theirtepees.

Jack put the eagle's feather in his bag and yawned.

"We better go home now," he said.

"You must rest first," said Grandmother. "You can leave in thedawn.""Good plan," said Annie. She was yawning, too.

They went with Grandmother and Black Hawk to their tepee.

Grandmother pointed to two buffalo robes that lay to one sideof the still-burning fire. Jack and Annie stretched out on them.

Teddy snuggled between them.

Grandmother and Black Hawk lay on robes across from them.

Jack watched as the bluish white smoke rose from the fire. Itwent up through the tepee hole and into the endless starry⁹ sky.

Jack listened to the wind blowing through the grass: Shh-shh--shh.

It's the voice of the Great Plains, he thought. Then he driftedoff to sleep.

1 ponies   

矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑

参考例句：

• They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
• She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

2 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

3 streaked   

adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• The children streaked off as fast as they could. 孩子们拔脚飞跑 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His face was pale and streaked with dirt. 他脸色苍白，脸上有一道道的污痕。 来自辞典例句

4 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

5 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。

6 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

7 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

8 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。

9 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。