《神奇树屋》 第三十二册 Winter of the Ice Wizard 08 Return of the Eye

　　Jack¹ and Annie walked through the front hall of thepalace, past the ice columns, and into the wizard'sthrone room. The walls and floor glittered with thebrilliant, cold light of dawn. "Uh-oh," said Jack.

The wizard was waiting for them--and the twowhite wolves were sleeping on either side of histhrone. Jack was confused. Why are they here? hewondered. Do they belong to the wizard?

The wolves lifted their heads and sniffed² the air.

Their ears pricked³ up. When they caught92sight of Jack and Annie, they sprang to their feet.

They stared at them with piercing yellow eyes.

The Ice Wizard was staring intently at Jack andAnnie, too. "Well?" he said. "Did you bring back myeye?""Yes," said Jack.

Annie took the hailstone out of her pocket and heldit up to the wizard. Jack watched the wolvesnervously as the hailstone passed from Annie's smallhand into the wizard's large, rough hand.

The wizard stared down at the chunk⁴ of ice. Thenhe looked at Jack and Annie. "Indeed, you are heroes,"he said breathlessly.

"Not really," Jack murmured.

The wizard looked again at his eye inside thehailstone. Then, with a quick movement, he slammedthe ice chunk against the arm of his throne.

Jack and Annie gasped⁵ and stepped back. Thewizard slammed the hailstone against his throneagain. This time, the ice cracked.

The wizard gently pried⁶ his eye out of the93heart of the hailstone. He lifted the frozen eyeballinto the air and studied it in the light. Then, with aneager cry, he ripped off his eye patch.

Jack and Annie watched in amazement⁷ as thewizard fitted the eye into its dark, empty socket⁸. Jackheld his breath. He was horrified⁹, yet fascinated. Hecouldn't imagine someone just shoving an eye backinto his head.

The wizard slowly lowered his hand. He seemed tobe holding his breath. He had two eyes. But the newone didn't move. It looked as if it was still frozen.

Jack grew worried. If the eye didn't work, thewizard might not help them. "We--we brought youyour eye," he said. "So can you tell us where Merlinand Morgan are now?"The wizard jerked his head to look at Jack. Hecovered one eye with his hand. Then he covered theother. In a frenzy¹⁰, he went back and forth¹¹, coveringand uncovering each eye.

Finally the wizard dropped his hand and94roared, "NO!" The wizard's howl shook the icecolumns. "You have tricked me!""No we haven't," said Annie.

"This eye is useless!" cried the wizard. "It has nolife! No sight!""But that's the eye you gave to the Norns,"95said Annie. "You promised if we brought it back,you'd give us Merlin and Morgan."The two white wolves threw back their heads andhowled.

"NO!" cried the wizard. "You tricked me! Youtricked me!""Let's get out of here," whispered Jack. He pulledAnnie toward the ice columns.

"STOP!" shouted the wizard. "YOU CANNOTESCAPE ME!" He grabbed Merlin's Staff of Strength.

The wolves growled¹² and yelped¹³. The wizard pointedthe staff at Jack and Annie. He started to say a spell-"RO-EEE--"[ILLUSTRATION: Jack and Annie looking at theWizard as he sits in a thrown.]

96"WAIT!" someone yelled. Teddy burst into thethrone room. "Wait! Wait!"The wizard held his staff in the air. He staredwildly at Teddy. His face was twisted with rage.

"We have something for you!" Teddy shouted at thewizard. "Kathleen!" he called.

Kathleen stepped out from behind the ice columns.

With her was a young woman with long braids. Thewoman wore a flowing dress. Around her shoulderswas a white feathered cloak. Her eyes rested on thewizard, and a radiant smile spread over her face. Shebegan walking slowly toward the throne.

The wizard lowered Merlin's Staff of Strength. Hestared back at the young woman. All the colordrained from his face. For a long moment, he was asstill as a statue. Then an ice-blue tear leaked out ofhis frozen eye and ran down his white cheek.

Jack and Annie stood with Kathleen and97Teddy. They all watched the young woman and theIce Wizard gaze silently at each other.

"Is she his sister, the swan maiden¹⁴?" whisperedAnnie.

"Yes," whispered Kathleen.

The swan maiden spoke¹⁵ to the Ice Wizard in astrange language--"Val-ee-ven-o-wan."The wizard did not answer. Tears flowed gentlynow from both his eyes.

"Val-ee-ven-o-wan," the swan maiden said again.

98"What's she saying?" Jack asked.

"She is saying, I have come back to forgive you,"said Kathleen.

The wizard stood up. He walked down the stepsfrom his throne. He gently touched the swan maiden'sface, as if to make sure she was real. Then heanswered her softly in the strange language. "Fel-owan.""How did you find her?" Jack asked Teddy.

"A seal took us under the ice to the Isle¹⁶ of theSwans," said Teddy.

"When we found her, I told her how much thewizard has missed her," said Kathleen. "I also told herabout the two of you and how you always help eachother. I told her she should return to her brother andbe his friend again."The wizard and his sister kept speaking softly toeach other in their strange language. Warm sunlightshimmered through the palace windows.

Annie stepped forward. "Um--excuse me," she said.

99The wizard looked at her. "My sister has returnedhome/' he said with wonder. "I can see with both eyesnow. I can see perfectly¹⁷.""I'm glad," said Annie. "But now you must giveMerlin and Morgan back to us."The wizard looked at his sister. She nodded. Thewizard held out Merlin's Staff of Strength. "Use this tobring them back," he said. "Hold it tightly and call outfor them." He gave the staff to Annie.

Annie could barely lift it by herself. "Hold it withme, Jack," she said.

Jack stepped forward and grabbed the magic staff.

The smooth, golden wood felt warm and vibrant¹⁸ inhis hands.

As they gripped the staff together, Annie threwback her head and called out: "Merlin and Morgan,come back!"A long burst of blue light shot out of the end of thestaff--and flashed toward the two white wolves.

Suddenly wolf eyes changed into human eyes! Wolfnoses changed into human noses! Wolf mouthschanged into human mouths! Wolf ears into humanears! Wolf paws into human hands and feet! Wolf furinto long red cloaks!

The two white wolves were gone, and a man and awoman stood in their places.

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 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

4 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 pried   

v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的过去式和过去分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴，把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

7 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

8 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

9 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。

10 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 yelped   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot. 马踩了他的脚痛得他喊叫起来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A hound yelped briefly as a whip cracked. 鞭子一响，猎狗发出一阵嗥叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

17 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

18 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。