《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 16 Welcome Home

　　"wake up, Jack¹," said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes.

He was lying in the dark on the wooden floor of the treehouse. Through the window, he saw the cloudy sky above theFrog Creek² woods.

"Time to go home," said Annie.

"Oh, I must have fallen asleep," said Jack. "I had the mostincredible dream. I dreamed that we went to Camelot. It wasChristmas, and Merlin--""That wasn't a dream," said Annie. "It was real. You fell asleepat the Round Table during the party. King Arthur carried you tothe tree house. And I made the wish for us to come home.

Jack sat up.

"Seriously?" he whispered. "Seriously," she said.

"Ja-ack! An-nie!" their mom called in the distance.

"Coming!" Annie shouted out the tree house window. Sheturned to Jack. "Let's go!""I mean--seriously? It really happened?" Jack asked Annieagain.

"Yes! Really!" she said. She held up the Royal Invitation. "See?

Proof.""Oh... yeah," he whispered.

"This time, the letter M stood for Merlin, not Morgan," saidAnnie.

Jack smiled.

"Thanks, Merlin," he said softly.

Jack picked up his backpack. Then he and Annie started downthe rope ladder and headed home. As they walked through thedeep December twilight³, snowflakes started to fall.

By the time they left the woods and headed down their street,snow was swirling⁴ every-where. Ahead they could see theirhouse glowing with lamplight. Their mom was waiting on theirfront porch.

"Hi, Mom!" said Annie.

"Hi, Mom!" said Jack.

"Hi, kids. Did you have a good day?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jack.

"Pretty good," said Annie.

"I'm glad," said their mom. "Welcome home." She held thedoor open, and Jack and Annie slipped inside.

Their house felt extra warm and cozy⁵. Good smells came fromthe kitchen. Jack and Annie took off their snow-covered jackets,then headed up the stairs.

In the hallway, Annie turned to Jack. "Merry Christmas," shesaid simply.

"Merry Christmas," he said.

Annie slipped into her room, and Jack into his.

Jack closed his door and sat on his bed. He took his notebookout of his pack and opened it. His spirits sank. Except for thethree rhymes, he'd taken no notes on their journey--not one.

Exhausted⁶, Jack lay back on his bed. He squeezed his eyesshut. He tried to remember the details of their adventures inCamelot and the Otherworld.

He could feel the terrible chill in the great hall when Morganwas frozen. He could hear the joyful⁷ music as the wingeddancers danced around in their circle. He could taste the sweet,bitter, spicy⁸ taste of the Water of Memory and Imagination.

Jack sat up. All at once, he felt very awake. He turned to aclean page in his notebook. He grabbed his pencil and wrote:

It all started when we saw the white dove in the twilight.....

Using his memory and his imagination, Jack kept writing,doing his part to keep the legend of King Arthur, the Knights⁹ ofthe Round Table, Merlin, and Morgan le Fay alive.

As the snow swirled¹⁰ outside his window, Jack wrote andwrote and wrote. He didn't stop writing until he had writtendown the whole story--his story of their Christmas in Camelot.

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 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

3 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

4 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

5 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

8 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

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 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。