《神奇树屋》 第二十七册 Thanksgiving on Thursday 08 The Feast

　　Jack¹ buried his face in his hands.

"I don't believe it," he said. "I just burned up thePilgrims' turkey!"15"Stay calm," said Annie. "I'll get Priscilla.

No, don't tell Priscilla," moaned Jack.

"We have to tell Priscilla" said Annie. She hurriedout of the house.

Jack lifted his head and stared at the burned turkey.

"Oh, man," he whispered unhappily. The pilgrimshad worked so hard to get their food. They had hadsuch a terrible winter especially Priscilla. And now hehad ruined their first Thanksgiving!

The door opened. Annie pulled Priscilla over to thehearth.

"See!" said Annie. "The the fire! It burned up!""I did it," Jack confessed.

Priscilla just stared at the burned turkey in the wet,messy hearth². Then she looked at Jack. He lookedaway from her.

"Ah, Jack," Priscilla said softly. "Thou looks sad."He nodded.

"I ruined everything," he mumbled³.

"No, thou did not," said Priscilla She reached outher hand. "Come."Priscilla led Jack and Annie out into the brightautumn light.

"Look," she said.

Jack saw Pilgrim women and kids walking to thetables. They all carried wooden platters piled withfood.

"In the other houses, there was cooking also," saidPriscilla.

Jack saw roasted ducks, turkeys, and deer meat. Hesaw baked fish, lobsters⁴, eels⁶, clams⁷, and oysters⁸.

He saw pumpkins⁹, beans and corn, dried plums,berries and roasted nuts, steamy pots of soups andpuddings, and loaves of baked breads.

"We had a very good harvest this fall," saidPriscilla. "We stored many vegetables. We salted ourfish and cured our meat. And today, our Wampanoagneighbors brought back five deer from the forest forour feast." Jack was relieved to see all the food.

Priscilla knelt down and looked him in the"See, thou did not ruin anything, Jack," she said.

"Thou and Annie have helped me a lot this day. Youhave both made me laugh. And you have both actedwith kind hearts."Jack was amazed. He thought he'd been no help atall.

"Come," said Priscilla. "Let us join the others. Artthou hungry?"Jack nodded. Seeing all the platters of food hadmade him really hungry.

16He and Annie followed Priscilla.

In the golden glow of autumn light, Jack and Anniejoined the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag at the longtables.

Priscilla gave Jack and Annie wooden plates. Shegave them big white cloth napkins. Then she servedthem plenty of food.

Before they started to eat, Governor Bradford stoodup to speak.

"Those of us who came here on the Mayflower didnot know how to live in this land," he said. "ButSquanto came to help us. And today, we give thanksfor him, and for the peace we share with his people,and for all our great blessings¹⁰."Governor Bradford looked at Jack and Annie.

"Welcome to our feast," he said. "At this moment,three worlds--your world, our world, and the world,of the Wampanoag are not three. They are one. 'Tisthe magic of community.""Indeed!" said Annie. She clapped her hands andlooked at Jack. "We did it," she whispered.

Did what? thought Jack.

Governor Bradford then put his napkin over hisshoulder.

"Now!" he said. "Let us feast till our bellies¹¹ arefilled!"As everyone started to eat, Annie leaned close toJack.

"We found the special magic," she whispered. "Themagic of community. Remember the rhyme?" Sherepeated Morgan's words:

"To find a special magic, When work and toil¹² aredone, Gather all together, Turn three worlds intoone.""Oh, man," said Jack. He'd forgotten all about it.

"We can go home now," said Annie.

"No way," said Jack. "We have to eat first."Jack and Annie used their fingers to pick up theirfood. And they ate and ate and ate. Jack triedeverything on his plate--except a little bit of eel⁵ andtwo clams. Everything he did eat, he liked--even theturnips.

Food really tastes good, he thought as he chewed,when you eat it outside, on a beautiful day, with lotsof nice people.

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 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

3 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。

4 lobsters   

龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉

参考例句：

• I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
• She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。

5 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

6 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

7 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

8 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

9 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

10 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

12 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。