《神奇树屋》 第三十七册 Dragon of the Red Dawn 05 An Excellent Student?

　　Jack¹ froze.

Basho stepped forward. When the two samurai sawhim, they bowed. "Good afternoon, Master," one said.

"Good afternoon," said Basho. "These are mystudents, Koto and Baku. I am afraid they left theirpassports at home today.""They are your students?" said the samurai with thescar.

"Yes, excellent students," said Basho. "They havemuch natural talent."60"Ah." The two samurai looked at Jack and Anniewith interest. "Will you share your talent with us?"one asked, smiling.

What talent?

Jack wondered frantically².

Some samurai-warrior talent?

Basho saw Jack's confusion. "Perhaps you wouldeach recite one of your poems," he said.

"One of our poems?" squeaked³ Jack.

Whatkind of samurai talent is that? he wondered.

Do samurai warriors⁴ have to know poems?

"Sure," said Annie. "Here's a poem." She took a deepbreath and then recited:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,Like a diamond in the sky.

The samurai with the scar nodded. "Very good,Koto," he said. "The little star twinkles like adiamond."The other samurai closed his eyes as if he61were seeing the star. "Yes, yes, very good!" he said.

"A sparkling diamond high above the world!

Excellent."Both samurai then turned to Jack. "And you, Baku?"one said.

62Jack stared at them. He couldn't rememberanypoem-not even a nursery rhyme!

"Uh ... a poem? Right," said Jack. "Um. Let's see....

Okay." He took a deep breath and said:

I love Japan.

Oh, man.

I really love Japan.

The land of JapanIs cool.

63Jack bit his lip. He knew his poem was bad. Heglanced at Annie. She looked as if she were trying notto laugh.

The dark-eyed samurai turned to Basho. "Anexcellent student?" he said.

Basho nodded. "Well, yes.... Baku has a-a specialtalent. He needs work, but the talent is there."The samurai frowned. "You say he left his passportat home, Master Basho? Where is his home?"Just then the drumbeat started again. The samuraiturned to look. A new sumo match was beginning.

The two samurai moved closer to the ring to get abetter⁵ look.

Basho turned to Jack and Annie. "We should leavenow," he said calmly. "I will take you to my home,where you will be safe."Jack, Annie, and Basho quickly left the sumo crowdand blended in with shoppers walking down a busystreet. Peddlers carried long poles64over their shoulders with baskets swinging on theends. They shouted about their wares⁶: "Shoes andsocks!" "Cakes and pastries⁷!" "Rope and twine⁸!"One woman had a large box strapped⁹ to her back.

"Books! Books!" she shouted.

"No thank you," said Jack. He loved books, but hekept going. He was afraid the samurai might show upagain at any moment.

A boy carried birdcages and shouted, "Birds! Birds!"Suddenly Jack felt a hand on his shoulder. Henearly had a heart attack! But it was just Basho. "Ilivethatway," said Basho, pointing. "Over the bridge."Jack and Annie walked with Basho over a small,narrow bridge that crossed a canal.

Basho led them past a temple, then past smallbamboo houses with chickens in their yards. Littlechildren were spinning tops on the dusty ground. Onecalled out, "Hello, Master Basho!" Basho smiled andwaved.

65Then Jack and Annie walked with Basho along thedirt path bordering the river. Tall pine trees lined theriverbank. A dry wind blew leaves and pine needlesinto the shallows. Jack started to breathe more easily.

He felt safer now.

The trail grew more narrow. The sun slippedbehind the tops of the trees. Jack was eager to get toBasho's castle. He looked for a steep roof and highstone walls like the castles of the samurai.

Through the deepening shadows of twilight¹⁰, Basholed them to a clearing not far from the river.

At the center of the clearing was a pond overgrownwith weeds. On the far side of the pond, moss-covered stones led to the door of a tiny hut. The hutwas made of bamboo and had a roof of woodshingles. Next to the small hut was a large plant withdroopy green leaves.

"Welcome to my castle," said Basho.

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 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

3 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

4 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

5 abetter   

n.教唆者，怂恿者

参考例句：

• Make them SMAART goals andand you'll have abetter chance of attaining them. 制定SMAART目标，那么你实现这些目标的机会将更大。 来自互联网
• Betty beat abit of butter to make abetter butter. 贝蒂敲打一小块奶油要做一块更好的奶油面。 来自互联网

6 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

7 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

8 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。

9 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。