《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 02 This is Camelot?

　　Jack¹ shivered². He could see his breath in the dim³ light.

Annie was staring out the window. "This is Camelot?" shesaid.

Jack looked out with her. The tree house had landed in agrove of tall, bare trees. A huge, dark castle loomed⁴ against thegray sky. No light shone from its windows. No banners⁵ wavedfrom its turrets⁶. Wind whistled through its tall towers, soundingsad and lonely.

"It looks deserted," said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack. "I hope we came to the right place."Jack pulled his notebook and pencil out of his pack. Hewanted to write a description of the dark castle.

"Hey, I see someone" said Annie.

Jack looked out the window again.

A woman was crossing the castle draw-bridge. She wore along cloak⁷ and carried a lantern. Her white hair blew in thewind.

"Morgan!" said Annie and Jack together. They laughed withrelief.

Morgan hurried over the frost-covered ground toward⁸ thegrove of trees. "Annie? Jack? Is that you?" she called.

"Of course! Who'd you think?" shouted Annie. She starteddown from the tree house.

Jack threw his notebook into his backpack. He followed Anniedown the rope ladder. When they reached the icy ground, theyran to Morgan and both threw their arms around her.

"I was looking out a window in the castle and saw a brightflash in the orchard," said Morgan. "What are you doing here?""You didn't send the tree house for us?" asked Jack.

"With a Royal Invitation to spend Christmas in Camelot?"asked Annie.

"No!" said Morgan. She sounded alarmed.

"But the invitation was signed with an M," said Jack.

"I don't understand . .. ," said Morgan. "We are not celebratingChristmas in Camelot this year.""You aren't?" said Jack.

"Why not?" said Annie.

A look of sadness crossed Morgan's face. "Do you rememberwhen you visited my library and gave King Arthur the hope andcourage to challenge his enemy?" she asked.

''Sure, said Jack.

"Well, Arthur's enemy was a man named Mordred," saidMorgan. "After you left, Arthur defeated him, but not beforeMordred's Dark Wizard cast a spell over the whole kingdom.

The spell robbed Camelot of all its joy.""What? All its joy?" whispered Annie.

"Yes," said Morgan. "For months, Camelot has been withoutmusic, without celebration, and without laughter.""Oh, no," said Annie.

"What can we do to help?" said Jack.

Morgan smiled sadly. "This time, I don't think you can doanything," she said. "But perhaps it will lift Arthur's spirits to seeyou both again. Come, let us go inside the castle."Morgan held up her lantern and started toward thedrawbridge.

Jack and Annie hurried after her. As they walked through theouter courtyard, the frozen⁹ grass cracked under their sneakers.

They followed Morgan over the bridge and through a tallgate. There were no signs of life in the castle's inner¹⁰ courtyard.

"Where is everyone?" Annie whispered to Jack.

"I don't know," he whispered back. Jack really wished theyhad a book about Camelot. It might help them understand whatwas going on.

Morgan led them to a huge archway with two wooden doors.

She stopped and looked at them.

"I am afraid no book would help you tonight, Jack," she said.

Jack was startled¹¹ that Morgan had read his thoughts.

"Why not?" asked Annie.

"On all your other journeys, you visited real places and timesin history," said Morgan. "Camelot is different.""How?" said Jack.

"The story of Camelot is a legend," said Morgan. "A legend isa story that begins in truth. But then imagination takes over.

Different people in different times tell the story. They use theirimaginations to add new parts. That is how a legend is keptalive.""Tonight we'll add our part," said Annie.

"Yes," said Morgan. "And please, I beg you"--in the lanternlight, she looked very serious--"do not let the story of Camelotend forever. Keep our kingdom alive.""Of course we will!" said Annie.

"Good," said Morgan. "Come, then. Let us go into the greathall and see the king."Morgan lifted an iron latch¹² and pushed open the heavy doors.

Jack and Annie followed her into the dark castle.

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 shivered   

（因寒冷，害怕等）颤抖，哆嗦( shiver的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We shivered in the damp of the forest. 我们因树林里的湿气而打寒颤。
• She shivered involuntarily as he approached her. 他离她越来越近，她不由自主地颤抖起来。

3 dim   

adj.昏暗的；朦胧的；v.(使)暗淡，(使)模糊

参考例句：

• The light is too dim for me to read easily.光线太暗，我很难阅读。
• I was so tired that my eyesight grew dim.我太累了，眼睛有点发花。

4 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 banners   

横幅( banner的名词复数 )； 旗，旗帜； 虹采

参考例句：

• They were carrying placards and banners demanding that he resign. 人们手持标语牌和横幅，要求他下台。
• The city's main streets were decked with multi-coloured banners. 市区的主要街道装饰着各种颜色的彩旗。

6 turrets   

（六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车

参考例句：

• The Northampton's three turrets thundered out white smoke and pale fire. “诺思安普敦号”三座炮塔轰隆隆地冒出白烟和淡淡的火光。
• If I can get to the gun turrets, I'll have a chance. 如果我能走到炮塔那里，我就会赢得脱险的机会。

7 cloak   

n.斗蓬，披风，掩饰，幌子；vt.掩盖，掩饰

参考例句：

• The snow covered up the fields with a white cloak.积雪给田野盖上了一件白色的外衣。
• She threw a heavy woollen cloak over her shoulders.她把一件厚重的羊毛斗篷披在肩上。

8 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

9 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

10 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。

11 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。