《神奇树屋》 第三十册 Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve 11 Or Else!

　　Jack¹ and Annie were too stunned² to speak. Staringat the bizarre creature, Jack remembered the story ofthe Raven³ King-how the king had wanted to be abird, how he had stolen a spell from the Wizard ofWinter, how the spell had worked only halfway⁴ andleft him half bird and half human.

The Raven King jumped from the window to thefloor. One by one, his raven bodyguards⁶ swooshedinto the room afterhim. At least twenty ravens⁷ came through thewindow. Soon78Jack and Annie were surrounded by dark wings,harp beaks⁹, and bright eyes.

Once his guards were in place, the Raven Kingtwisted his head from side to side, looking from Jackto Annie. "Where are the two ravens who stole mydiamond?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"What diamond?" asked Annie.

79"What ... what ravens?" asked Jack, his voicetrembling. He wished desperately¹⁰ that he still had theDiamond of Destiny to give him strength andcourage.

"The ravens that came to this castle after raidingmy treasure room," said the Raven King. "Where arethey hiding?"Jack tried to imagine that hewasstill holding the diamond. "We don't know anythingabout them," he said in a low, steady voice.

Pretending to hold the diamond actually made himfeel brave.

"You don't know anything about them?" said theRaven King.

"No, 11 said Jack. "You must have the wrongcastle.""Ah, the wrong castle," said the Raven King. "Yes, ,said Jack.

"Perhaps you're right," said the Raven King. "Butare you certain you haven't seen them? They lookvery much like this little one here."80"JAH, AWK-NEE!" the raven croaked¹¹. "Teddy!"cried Annie.

"His name is Teddy?" said the Raven King. "Howcharming. I've caught a Teddy. I think he'll make awonderful pet, don't you?"Jack was horrified¹² to see Teddy trapped in theRaven King's cage. "It's not charming," he said. "It'scruel. You better let him go, or else!""Yeah, let him go," said Annie. "Or else.""Or else?" said the Raven King. "Or else what?"With backward jerks of his head, he laughed a raspylaugh.

As the king laughed, Jack glanced at the floor underthe window. He saw the hazel twig¹³.

He moved toward it.

The Raven King caught sight of him. His laughstopped abruptly¹⁴. "CREE! CAW!" he croaked to one ofhis bodyguards.

Jack dashed for the twig. But before he could grabit, the king's bodyguard⁵ had swooped¹⁵ across the floorand picked up the twig in his beak⁸. As81the raven carried it to the top of the window, Jacknoticed that one of his tail feathers was bent¹⁶.

"Jack, look, it's Rok!" said Annie. She called up tothe bird. "Rok! Rok!"From his perch¹⁷ above the window, the raven lookeddown at Annie.

"Rok, it's me, Annie, " she said. "I helped you whenthe people in the village threw stones at you.

Remember?""What nonsense, " croaked the Raven King. "Bringme the stick, bird."Rok didn't move. Gripping the hazel twig in hisbeak, he stared down at Annie.

"Give the twig to Jack, Rok," she said. "So he canturn Teddy back into a boy.""So that ugly little stick is a magic wand, is it?" saidthe Raven King. "Bring it to me, bird. Now!" "Don't doit, Rok," said Annie. "Don't let him boss you aroundanymore."The raven stared at Annie for a moment82with his dark brown eyes. He looked at the RavenKing. He looked back at Annie. Then he swoopeddown to Jack and dropped the hazel twig at his feet.

Jack grabbed it.

"Traitor¹⁸!" the Raven King shrieked¹⁹ at Rok.

"You'll pay for this!" He lunged toward the raven.

Rok tried to escape, but the king grabbed him by thethroat.

Jack had to save Rok! He pointed²¹ the twig at theRaven King's back and shouted:

"0 hazeltwig from hazel tree! Make him what he wanted tobe!"A deafening²² wind roared through the room. Ablinding light flashed. Then all was clear.

The Raven King had vanished. His cape²⁰ lay on thefloor. Rok hopped²³ away, unharmed.

From under the feathered cape came a hoarse²⁴ cry.

Awk.

Annie lifted the cape and uncovered a tiny raven.

"Ohh!" she said softly.

83The bird stretched out his scrawny neck.

Awk,he croaked again.

"Hello yourself," Annie said, smiling. She strokedthe downy feathers on the creature's head. Then shelooked up at Jack. "How did you come up with thatrhyme?""It just came to me," said Jack.

"I knew I had to save Rok. But I didn't want to hurtthe Raven King. I think I actually felt sorry for him.""So you helped him finally get what he wanted, "said Annie. "You turned him into a baby raven.""Yeah," Jack said. "Now he can live his whole life asa bird."Rok flew up to the window ledge²⁵. He lookedaround at the other ravens. It was clear he hadbecome their new leader.

"GRO! GRO!" Rok croaked.

He stepped aside. The raven troops began to leavethe nursery, one by one.

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 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。

3 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。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

6 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

7 ravens   

n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wheresoever the carcase is,there will the ravens be gathered together. 哪里有死尸，哪里就有乌鸦麇集。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A couple of ravens croaked above our boat. 两只乌鸦在我们小船的上空嘎嘎叫着。 来自辞典例句

8 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

9 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

10 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

11 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

13 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

14 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

15 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。

16 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。

17 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

18 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

19 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

20 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

21 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。

22 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

23 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

24 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

25 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。