《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 11 The Crystal Cave

　　"The secret door!" whispered Jack¹.

"Yes!" said Annie.

Jack dropped the compass into his pack. Then he and Anniescrambled through the bushes and climbed up the rocks to thedoor.

Annie took Sir Lancelot's glass key from around her neck. Sheslipped the key into the keyhole. She turned the key slowly.

Clink.

"Yippee," Annie said softly. She pushed open the door.

Beyond the door was a huge, glittering cave. The floor, walls,and ceiling were made of clear crystal.

Jack and Annie stepped inside. The cave was filled withdancing streams of purple light.

"It's so bright!" whispered Jack. "Where's all the purple lightcoming from?""There," said Annie. She pointed² to a crack on the far side ofthe cave. "Let's look."They crossed the cave and peered through the crack into aroom. Along the brilliant crystal walls of the room were fourdoorways.

In the far corner of the room was a fire. The fire blazed withleaping purple flames. Over the flames hung a gleaming goldencauldron.

"There it is," whispered Jack.

"Wow," whispered Annie.

"The cauldron with the Water of Memory and Imagination,"whispered Jack.

"I know," whispered Annie. "Let's go!"They squeezed through the crack, then walked toward thegleaming cauldron. Jack reached into his pack and pulled out SirGalahad's silver cup.

"The cauldron's too high," said Annie. "We can't get to thewater.""Here, take this," said Jack, handing her the cup. "Climb on myback."He bent⁴ over, and Annie climbed on piggy-back. Jack stood upshakily. "Hurry!" he said. ''You're heavy.

"I can't reach it," said Annie. "Move closer." Jack staggeredforward a few steps. Stretch-ing as far as she could, Anniereached again. She skimmed water from the top of the bubblingcauldron, filling the silver cup.

"Got it!" she whispered. "Now set me down. Slowly!"Annie held the cup with both hands. Jack slowly bent hisknees and Annie climbed carefully off his back. They staredsilently for a moment at the Water of Memory and Imaginationin the cup. It was clear and shimmering⁵.

"Now we can save Morgan," said Annie.

Just then Jack smelled something strange-- it was like thesmell of rotten seaweed. He heard weird⁶ gurgling sounds behindthem.

He and Annie turned around.

A giant, slimy, mud-colored creature crawled out through oneof the doorways³. The creature was long and scaly⁷ like acrocodile but much,MUCH bigger. It had wings that looked as if they'd been spunfrom a thousand spider webs. It had glowing red eyes and long,curled claws.

The creature opened its huge jaws⁸. Strands⁹ of drool drippedfrom its sharp, pointed teeth. The creature hissed¹⁰ and hot blueflame shot from its mouth.

Another monster crawled through a different doorway,quickly followed by a third, and then a fourth.

"Yikes!" said Annie.

"The real Keepers of the Cauldron ... whispered Jack.

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 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。

3 doorways   

n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群，从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
• He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 scaly   

adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的

参考例句：

• Reptiles possess a scaly,dry skin.爬行类具有覆盖着鳞片的干燥皮肤。
• The iron pipe is scaly with rust.铁管子因为生锈一片片剥落了。

8 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

9 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。