《神奇树屋》 第二十五册 Stage Fright On A Summer Night 01 Special Manic

　　Jack¹ and Annie sat on their porch. Lightning bugsblinked in the warm summer twilight².

"Wow, a shooting star!" said Annie, pointing at thesky.

Jack looked up, just in time to see a streak³ of lightflash through the sky. The light hovered⁴ above theFrog Creek⁵ woods. Then it disappeared into thetreetops.

Jack caught his breath. He turned to Annie.

"That was no shooting star," he said. "Right," shesaid.

They jumped up. Jack grabbed his back-pack frominside the front hall.

"Dad, Mom! Can we go out?" he called. "We'll beback soon!""Ten minutes, no more!" their mom said.

"Okay!" said Jack. He closed the door. "Let's go!

Hurry!"He and Annie ran across their yard. They ran downtheir street. They ran into the woods. They ran untilthey came to the tallest oak. They looked up.

"Yep," said Annie.

Jack just smiled. He was too happy for words.

"That's our shooting star," said Annie "The magictree house."She grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jackfollowed.

When they house, they both with long whitecorner.

"Hello, Jack and Annie," said Morgan le Fay.

"Morgan!" Jack and Annie cried.

They threw their arms around her.

"Why are you here?" said Annie. "What do youwant us to do for you?""You have already done many good things for me,"said Morgan, "and for King Arthur and Camelot. NowI want you to do something good for yourselves. Youare going to learn magic.""Oh, wow," said Annie. "Are we going to climbedinside the tree gasped⁶. A beautiful woman hair stoodin the shadowy become magicians? Will you teach uscharms and spells?"Morgan laughed. "There is magic that does notneed charms or spells," she said. "You'll find a specialmagic on each of your next adventures.""How?" asked Jack.

"A secret rhyme will guide you on each journey,"Morgan said. "Here this is the first." She held up a slipof paper.

Annie took the paper from Morgan and read therhyme aloud:

To find a special magic,You must step into the lightAnd without wand, spell, or charm,Turn daytime into night.

"Then daytime into night?" said Jack. "How can wedo that?"Morgan smiled.

"That's what you have to find out," she said.

Jack had lots of questions. But before he could askany of them, a flash lit up the tree house. He closedhis eyes against the light. When he opened them,Morgan le Fay was gone. On the floor where she hadstood was a book.

"Morgan didn't tell us enough," said Jack.

"But she left this research book," said Annie. Shepicked up the book. "And it'll tell us the first place togo." She held the book up to the gray light at thewindow.

The cover showed a busy river with boats and abridge⁷. The title wasMerry Olde England"What's o-l-d-e mean?" asked Annie.

'I think that's the old way of spelling old," said Jack.

"You say it the same.""So we're going to merry olde England to findmagic?" said Annie. "That sounds fun. Ready?""I guess," said Jack. He still wished they'd gottenmore information from Morgan. But he pointed⁸ at thecover of their research book.

"I wish we could go there," he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

The wind blew harder and harder.

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 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。

3 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

4 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

5 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

6 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》

7 abridge   

v.删减，删节，节略，缩短

参考例句：

• They are going to abridge that dictionary.他们将要精简那本字典。
• He decided to abridge his stay here after he received a letter from home.他接到家信后决定缩短在这里的逗留时间。

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。