《神奇树屋》 第三十册 Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve 06 Merlin's Diamond

　　Jack¹ and Teddy were speechless. They kept staringat Annie as she got down on her knees and talked tothe invisible dog.

"Hi, you," she said in a soft voice. "Are youhungry?"The bone dropped toward the floor. It flipped² over,then rocked from side to side.

"See," Annie said to Jack and Teddy. "Now he'srolling on his back with his bone in his mouth. Poorthing.""Poor thing?" said Jack.

50"We have to help him," said Annie. She stood up.

"We have to help them, too-the girl and her brothers."She hurried across the room. Jack and Teddyfollowed. Annie stopped at the small spinning wheel.

"We can't see you," said Annie, "but we're notafraid of you. We want to help you. Can you hearme?"The spinning wheel stopped spinning.

"She can hear us!" Annie said to Jack andTeddy. Annie turned back to the ghost girl. "Whathappened to you and your brothers and your dog andeveryone else in the castle? How did you all becomeinvisible?"Jack felt a wave of cold air whoosh³ past him. "Ithink she's moving," said Annie.

"Aye," said Teddy, "to the looking glass. See?"An invisible finger had begun to write something inthe thick dust of the mirror. Four words slowlyappeared:

51"I can't believe it!" said Teddy. "This must be thesecret castle that guards the Diamond of Destiny⁴!""What's that?" said Jack.

"A magic diamond that belongs to Merlin," saidTeddy. "It was set in the handle of the very swordKing Arthur pulled from the stone many years ago."52"Oh I know that story," said Annie. "That's howArthur became king!""Yes!" said Teddy. "And someday the Diamond ofDestiny will give the same strength and power to thenext rightful ruler of Camelot.""That's what Merlin must have meant when he saidthe future of Camelot depends on us," said Annie.

"Indeed, " said Teddy.

"Wait, wait, " said Jack. "I'm confused. What doesthe Diamond of Destiny have to do with invisiblekids and dogs?""After Arthur became king, Merlin gave thediamond to a noble family of Camelot," said Teddy.

"The name of the family was kept secret. As long asthe family kept the diamond safe, they would havegood fortune. But should they fail to protect it, theywould fade from life.""Oh! So the family let the diamond get stolen," saidAnnie. "And now they've all turned into ghosts!"53"Precisely," said Teddy.

"I wonder where the diamond was kept," said Jack.

"Good question," said Teddy. "Certainly somespecial hiding place, perhaps in one of the towers.""Guys, look!" said Annie. She pointed⁵ to the wallnear the mirror.

A long, heavy tapestry⁶ had been pulled aside toreveal a small door in the stone wall. The door wasslowly swinging open.

"The ghost girl!" said Annie. "She's showing us thediamond's secret hiding place!"The three of them hurried to the stone wall andlooked inside a tiny cabinet. The walls of the cabinetwere made of gold and ivory⁷. But the cabinet wasempty.

Annie looked around. "Ghost girl?" she said. "Whostole the Diamond of Destiny from its hiding place?"Letters began to appear on the mirror again.

In the thick dust, the invisible finger wrote:

"Oh no!" whispered Teddy. "Please, no." Jack felt afresh wave of fear. "Oh-no-please no-what?" he said.

"Wait, " said Teddy, pointing at the mirror. Thefinger wrote one more word in the dust:

"Just as I feared, " said Teddy in a hushed voice.

"The Raven⁸ King!"

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 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

3 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

4 destiny   

n.命运，定数，天命

参考例句：

• Nobody knows his own destiny.没有人知道自己的命运。
• It was her destiny to become famous.她命里注定出名。

5 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。

6 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

7 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

8 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。