《神奇树屋》 第三十一册 Summer of the SeaSerpent 04 Web Walk

　　J ack grabbed Annie's hand. "Whatever you do,don't look up," he said,Annie looked up.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed. She started to leap offthe ledge¹ into the churning waters. But then anotherwave crashed wildly against the walls.

Jack² held Annie back. "Don't jump!" he shouted.

"You'll drown!"Above the sound of the rushing waters, a loudwhisper echoed around the cave: Stay!

42Stay! Stay!The Spider Queen was staring down atthem with her eight red eyes.

As Jack and Annie stared back in horror, the giantspider shot a web strand³ as thick as a rope straighttoward them. Jack and Annie ducked. The strandstuck to the wall.

"What's she doing?" cried Annie.

"I don't know!" said Jack.

He and Annie looked back up at the Spider Queen.

She'd crawled a few feet closer to the crack in thewall. She stared down at them for a moment with herglowing eyes, then shot out another thick rope strand.

"Watch out!" shouted Jack.

He and Annie ducked.

Thwack! The second web rope stuck to the ledgejust a few feet away from the first.

"Oh, no! Look!" shrieked⁵ Annie. She pointed⁶ up atthe cave ceiling.

The monster spider was zigzagging⁷ between43the two strands⁴ of her web. She was headingstraight toward them.

Jack and Annie screamed and pressed themselvesagainst the wall. "We have to leave!" cried Annie. Butbefore they could make a move, another wavecrashed into the cave! The water swirled⁸ withferocious force around the chamber⁹.

"We can't leave!" cried Jack.

"We can't stay!" cried Annie.

Wait! Wait! Wait!whispered the Spider Queen.

The giant spider kept zigzagging between the twolines, spinning more web, coming closer and closerand closer to Jack and Annie.

They watched in horror, unable to speak or move.

But just when she came close enough to touch them,the Spider Queen turned and scurried¹⁰ back up to theceiling, leaving a giant web ladder behind her.

44The Spider Queen stared down at Jack and Anniewith her eight red eyes. Climb! Climb! Climb! shewhispered from her spot on the ceiling,"I think she wants to help us!" said Jack.

"No! She wants to trap us!" said Annie.

The spider whispered again: Climb! Climb! Climb!

Something about her voice made Jack feel certainthe Spider Queen wanted to help. "She doesn't wantto hurt us!" he said. "She wants to help us escape!

Besides, we don't have any choice!"The water was rising higher and higher over theirledge. It was swirling¹¹ above their ankles now.

"We have to climb her web!" said Jack. "I'll go first!"He reached up and grabbed one of the spider ropes.

It felt damp and sticky. He pulled himself onto thebottom strands of the web ladder.

45"Grab on!" he shouted to Annie above the roar ofthe water. "We have to get to that crack in theceiling!"Annie grabbed one of the web ropes. "Eww!" shesaid. "It's gross!""Just climb!" said Jack.

Holding tightly to the sticky strands, Jack andAnnie began making their way up the Spider Queen'sweb ladder. The web swayed and stretched, but itwas sturdy enough to hold their weight. Its stickinesskept them from slipping and falling.

Crawling and climbing, they moved higher andhigher above the crashing waters. As they drew nearthe crack in the ceiling, Jack kept his eyes on theSpider Queen. She was watching them carefully.

Finally Jack reached the ceiling crack. He swung toone side of the web ladder, putting himself betweenAnnie and the giant spider.

"You go first," he said.

47"Okay," said Annie. She grabbed the rocky edge ofthe opening and stuck her head out of the crack.

"There's nowhere to go but into the water!" she called,"How far down is it?" said Jack.

"Pretty far!" said Annie. "But I think we can makeit!""Wait--"said Jack.

But Annie was already squeezing herself throughthe crack.

"Annie, be careful!" said Jack.

Splash!

"Oh, man," said Jack. He gripped the edge of48the crack. Then he glanced back at the SpiderQueen.

Her glowing red eyes peered out at him from theshadows. Go! Go! Go! she whispered.

Jack smiled at her. "Thanks!" he said.

Go!the Spider Queen whispered again.

Jack pulled himself out of the darkness onto anarrow rocky ledge. The bright sun sparkled on theblue water of the small cove¹² below.

"Come on!" Annie shouted. She was bobbing up anddown on the gentle waves.

Jack took off his glasses. He pinched his nose andclosed his eyes. Then he jumped off the ledge.

1 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。

2 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。

3 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

4 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》

5 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

6 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。

7 zigzagging   

v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 )；盘陀

参考例句：

• She walked along, zigzagging with her head back. 她回头看着，弯弯扭扭地向前走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We followed the path zigzagging up the steep slope. 我们沿着小径曲曲折折地爬上陡坡。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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

12 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。