《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 09 The Lost Knights

　　Annie chased Jack¹ around the circle. "Stop, Jack!" she cried.

"Stop!" She grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him out of thedance.

"Let go, Annie!" he said. "Leave me alone!" But Anniewouldn't let go. Finally, she pulled so hard that Jack broke handswith the dancers and tumbled backward into the grass.

The winged dancers didn't seem to notice. They closed theircircle and kept going around and around.

"Why did you do that?" said Jack, sitting up. "I was havingfun!""Look at the knights³!" said Annie. "See them?"Jack still couldn't see. The world was spinning before his eyes.

He ached to get back into the dance.

"Here, I found your glasses!" said Annie. "Put them on!"Jack put on his glasses. He peered at the circle of dancers. Hecaught sight of armor glinting in the sunlight. He saw threeknights dancing in a row. Two of them looked very young. Thethird looked much older.

As they came closer, Jack saw their faces. All the joy of themusic drained out of him. The knights looked tired and sick.

Their hair and beards were long and scraggly. Their faces werebony and pale. Their eyes stared wildly and their lips werefrozen in ghostly smiles.

"What's Wrong with them?" asked Jack.

"They can't stop dancing!" said Annie. "They're dancingthemselves to death!""They must be the lost knights from Camelot," said Jack.

"We have to save them!" said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack. He tried to clear his mind and think. "Whatabout this? We get back in the dance--and we take placesbetween the dancers and the knights.""Yes! Then we can pull the knights out of the circle!" saidAnnie.

"Wait " said Jack. "What if I can't stop dancing again?""Just don't let yourself get caught by the music," said Annie.

"You have to think about something else. Think about why we'rehere. Think about Morgan.""Okay," said Jack. "I'll try."Jack and Annie crouched⁴ in the grass. They watched andwaited as the knights danced closer.., and closer.. . and closer....

"Now!" shouted AnnieJack and Annie rushed forward. They broke into the circle oneither' side of the knights. As Jack started dancing, his feetseemed to fly to the beat of the drum. He felt a wave of greatjoy. His worries left him.

"Now, Jack!" cried Annie "Pull away!"But Jack didn't want to pull away. The music rang in his ears.

Nothing mattered except the dancing.

"Jack! Pull away NOW!" Annie shouted again.

Jack shook his head, trying to shake off Annie s voice.

"Morgan! Morgan!" Annie yelled.

The word Morgan made Jack stumble bit in the dance.

"Morgan! Morgan!" Annie shouted.

Jack stumbled again. Then he used all his might to stophimself from dancing. He let go of the hand of the dancer On hisright and threw himself out of the dance--pulling the knight² onhis left with him. Annie and the other two knights tumbled backwith them onto the grass.

Just as before, the dancers didn't seem to notice. They closedtheir circle and kept going round and round in their joyous,timeless dance.

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 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

3 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

4 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。