《神奇树屋》 第三十一册 Summer of the SeaSerpent 09 The Sword of Light

　　A nnie pointed¹ to the sword handle. Jack² nodded.

But he was running out of air. He swam back up tothe surface. Annie followed him.

Their heads bobbed above the water, and theygasped. "Did you see it?" cried Annie. "The handle ofthe sword?""Yes! The blade must be buried in the sand!" saidJack,"We have to pull it out!" said Annie. "And we haveto hurry!""Right!" said Jack.

83He and Annie took giant gulps³ of air. Then theyswam back down to the bottom of the cove⁴. Jack gotto the sword first. He grabbed the handle and pulled.

The sword didn't budge⁵. He pulled again. The swordstill didn't move.

Annie grabbed one side of the handle. She and Jackpulled together. Jack felt the sword move a tiny bit.

His lungs felt like they were about to burst.

Gripping his side of the handle with both hands,Jack pulled with all his might. Suddenly the flashingblade slipped out of the sand!

Jack and Annie carried the sword up through thewater as fast as they could. They burst into the air,clinging to the Sword of Light and gasping⁶ for air.

"We got it!" Jack called to Kathleen and Teddy.

The seals circled around them, splashing andbarking joyfully⁷.

Barrh! Barrh!

84"Lead us to the rocks!" Annie shouted.

Jack and Annie each held on to the sword's handlewith one hand. Paddling with their free hands, theydragged the sword after the seals.

As they swam, the fog began to lift, and the skyturned from gray to blue. By the time they reachedthe rocky island, light from the late-afternoon sunwas again glinting off the strange green shoreline.

"Hold the sword while I get out!" Jack shouted toAnnie.

Jack climbed onto the rocky island. He took thesword from Annie, then carefully pulled it up ontothe rocks and laid it on its side.

Annie climbed out of the water. Nearby, Teddy andKathleen poked⁸ up their seal heads. They were allsilent as they stared in wonder at the sword.

"Wow," breathed Annie.

Jack nodded. The mighty⁹ sword reflected theburning light of the setting sun. Its blade glowed as ifit, too, were on fire.

"Now what do we do?" Jack said.

"We have to get the sword to Merlin fast" saidAnnie. "The sun's about to go down."87"Right," said Jack. "Before nightfall. Right."Suddenly Teddy and Kathleen barked a warning.

Jack and Annie looked up.

The water had begun to ripple¹⁰. The ripples¹¹ startedat the edge of the cove and swelled¹² toward the center.

Waves crashed against the small rocky island,sending up great showers of spray.

"What's going on?" said Jack.

"Maybe a bad storm's coming!" said Annie.

Barrh! Barrh! Kathleen and Teddy tried to haulthemselves onto the rock, but the waves pushed themaway.

"We've got to help them!" said Annie. She and Jacktried to help the seals out of the rough water. Theirhands slipped over the sleek¹³ seal skin, and they nearlytoppled into the water themselves.

The waves kept rolling and splashing. Barrh! Barrh!

The two seals were swept away from the rockyisland.

"Look!" cried Annie. "The land is moving!"Jack looked at the strange green shorelinesurrounding the cove. It wasmoving! It shifted fromside to side, then slithered forward!

A great roaring noise rocked the cove. A monstroushead rose above the surface of the water.

The green hills were not hills at all. They were thecoils of a giant sea serpent's body!

1 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。

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 gulps   

n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He often gulps down a sob. 他经常忍气吞声地生活。 来自辞典例句
• JERRY: Why don't you make a point with your own doctor? (George gulps) What's wrong? 杰瑞：你为啥不对你自个儿的医生表明立场？有啥问题吗？ 来自互联网

4 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。

5 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

6 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

7 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。

8 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

11 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

12 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

13 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。