《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 15 Christmas Magic

　　Jack¹ and Annie watched in horror as the water from the cupsplashed over the stone floor. It trickled² into the cracks betweenthe stones and disappeared.

Jack scrambled³ to the cup. He picked it up. It was completelyempty.

"Oh, no," Jack moaned. He sat back and put his head in hishands. Camelot will never wake up now, he thought. The legendwill end forever.

"Jack!" said Annie. "Look!"Jack raised his head. He pushed his glasses into place. Agolden cloud was rising from the cracks between all the stonesof the floor.

The cloud spread quickly throughout the great hall, filling theroom with wonderful smells--the scent⁴ of cedar⁵ smoke and evergreen,of roses and almonds.

The cloud rose up and up, then wafted⁶ out through the upperwindows of the hall. Suddenly, a white dove flew through one ofthe windows. It soared across the dark room like a bright light,then swooped⁷ back out into the night.

Soft, gentle laughter came from the end of the hall. Thelaughter grew louder. Jack saw King Arthur and QueenGuinevere looking at one another--they were laughing! TheKnights of the Round Table were laughing, too!

Best of all, Jack saw Morgan le Fay smiling at him and Annie!

"Jack! Annie! Come here!" she called. She held out her arms.

"Morgan!" cried Annie. She ran to Morgan and threw herarms around the enchantress. Jack stood up. Still holding theempty cup, he ran to Morgan and hugged her, too.

"We did what the Christmas Knight⁸ told us to do!" said Annie.

"We brought back the Water of Memory and Imagination!""But I dropped the cup," said Jack, "and spilled all the water!""But the water made a gold cloud," said Annie. "And everyonecame back to life!"Morgan laughed with amazement¹⁰.

"You have just returned from the Otherworld?" she asked.

"Yes!" said Annie.

"A white stag brought us back!" said Jack. He turned to KingArthur.

"Your Majesty," he said, "we have good news. Your knightsare safe. Sir Lancelot said to tell you they'll be home before thefirst night of the New Year."The king looked bewildered. "You found them--?""Yes, and they're all fine," said Annie.

"Here--" said Jack. He handed the silver cup to the king.

"Please give this back to Sir Galahad.""And this to Sir Lancelot," said Annie. She took the glass keyfrom around her neck and gave it to King Arthur.

"Oh, and this to Sir Percival," said Jack. He pulled the woodencompass box from his pack and gave it to the king.

At first, King Arthur was too stunned¹¹ to speak. Then heclapped his hands and laughed joyfully¹².

"Thank you!" he said to Jack and Annie.

The Knights⁹ of the Round Table all cheered.

"Ring the bells!" King Arthur shouted. "Call the people ofCamelot to the castle!""They have already gathered outside the doors, YourMajesty," said a page.

"Bring them in!" said King Arthur. "We must rejoice together!"Queen Guinevere smiled at Jack and Annie. Her eyes sparklednow. "Once again, you have helped save Camelot," she said.

"Thank you very much.""You're welcome," said Jack and Annie together.

Then Jack heard the sounds of children talking and laughing.

He turned to see a crowd of people streaming through the archeddoorway of the great hall. They carried candles, a giant fir tree,and boughs¹⁴ of holly¹⁵ and pine. Musicians followed them withstringed instruments.

As everyone started to decorate the hall, the musicians beganplaying and singing a beautiful Christmas carol.

"Jack!" said Annie. "Look!"The white stag was standing¹⁶ in the arched doorway¹³.

Jack turned excitedly to Morgan. "See that white stag?" hesaid. "He took us to the Otherworld! See him?"Morgan smiled.

"Yes, I do see him," she said. "And now I see everything."Jack looked back at the doorway. The stag was gone. In hisplace stood an old man with a long white beard. He held a staffand wore a flowing red cloak--the same cloak Jack and Anniehad worn on their quest.

"Who's that?" Jack asked.

"That is Merlin the magician," said Morgan. "It was Merlinwho invited you here. I see that now.""Merlin?" said Jack. "He sent us the Royal Invitation?""Yes," said Morgan. "Then he put the rest of us under a spell.

And he carried you to the Otherworld.""No," said Annie, "the Christmas Knight put you under aspell.""And the white stag carried us to the Otherworld," said Jack.

Morgan smiled.

"Merlin was both the Christmas Knight and the white stag,"she said. "Remember, he's a magician, not a mortal. He canchange his shape whenever he wishes.""Oh, wow," whispered Annie.

"Why did Merlin do these things?" asked Jack.

"Merlin was angry when King Arthur banished¹⁷ magic fromCamelot," said Morgan. "I see now he finally took matters intohis own hands.""How?" said Jack.

"He knew King Arthur would send no more knights to theOtherworld for the Water of Memory and Imagination," saidMorgan. "So I assume he brought you to Camelot hoping thatyou would offer to go instead.""Why did he want us to go?" asked Annie.

"Merlin has often heard my tales of your adventures in thetree house," said Morgan. "He knows you both have a greatdesire to fight for the good. And he knows you use the gift ofimagination very well. Those are two special qualities needed tosucceed in any quest."Jack and Annie looked back at Merlin. From far across theroom, the white-bearded magician smiled at them. He raised hisstaff. Then he slipped out the door.

Jack looked around the great hall. All the candles and torcheswere lit now. A fire blazed in the hearth¹⁸. The musicians wereplaying. Everyone was singing. The room glowed with warmfirelight and rosy¹⁹ faces.

At last, Christmas in Camelot was just as Jack had imagined itwould be. The spell of the Dark Wizard had been broken. Thegreat hall was filled with beauty and love and joy and light.

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 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

5 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

6 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

8 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。

9 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。

10 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

11 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

12 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

13 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

14 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

15 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。