《神奇树屋》 第二十六册 Good Morning, Gorillas 04 Nightmare

　　Jack¹ knelt beside Annie. She was gasping² forbreath.

The gorilla³ bounded down the tree and over toAnnie. She bit her lower lip as if she were worried.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked Annie.

"Yes--" Annie panted, 'just--got the breath--knockedout of me-"'Wiggle your arms and your legs," said Jack.

Annie wiggled her arms and her legs. "Good,nothing's broken," said Jack.

Just then, he felt a drop of water hit his arm. Themist had turned to rain.

"Uh-oh," said Jack. He threw his notebook into hispack.

"I better get our umbrella and flashlight," he said. "Ileft them near that tree that looked like a chair.""I'll come, too," said Annie. She started to sit up.

"No, no, catch your breath," said Jack. "It's not far.

I'll be right back."He took off his jacket and draped it over her.

"This'll help you stay dry," he said. He pulled on hispack and stood up.

The gorilla screeched⁴.

"Stay with Annie!" said Jack.

Then he dashed back through the cloud forest. Helooked for the fat tree with the wide limbs paddedwith moss⁵.

As he peered through the growing darkness, Jacksaw many fat trees. He saw many limbs padded withmoss.

Soon he could hardly see trees at all. He realizedthat both a storm and night had come to the forest.

Forget the umbrella and flashlight, he thought. Itwas more important to get back to Annie before itwas too dark. They could wait together for daylight.

As Jack started back to Annie, he could hardly see.

He didn't know which way to go.

"Annie! Bu-bu!" he shouted. He felt silly shouting,"Bu-bu." But he didn't know what else to call thesmall gorilla.

Jack put out his hands. He moved slowly throughthe dark, rainy forest. He kept calling for Annie andBu-bu. He listened for them. But he couldn't hearanything above the loud patter of the rain.

"Ahh!" he shouted. He had run into some-thing thatfelt like a ball of spider webs!

As he jumped back, he slipped and fell in the mud.

He crawled over to a tree and huddled⁶ between twoof its giant roots.

I'll just wait here until morning, he thought. ThenI'll find Annie. Or she'll find me.

As rain dripped all around him, Jack wondered ifleopards came out at night. He quickly pushed thethought away. He tried to think about morning andfinding Annie and going home.

He was really ready to go home.

Why did Morgan even send us to the cloud forest?

he wondered. He tried to remember the secret rhyme.

"To find a special magic . . . ," he whispered. Hecouldn't remember the rest. He felt tired andmiserable. He took his backpack off and rested hishead on it. He closed his eyes.

"To find a special magic . . . ," he mumbled⁷.

But he couldn't find the magic. He couldn't evenfind the words that finished the rhyme. Worst of all,he couldn't find Annie.

Their fun adventure in the cloud forest had turnedinto a nightmare.

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 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

3 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

4 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

6 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

7 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。