《神奇树屋》 第三十八册 Monday with a Mad Genius 04 Battle scene

　　Jack¹ and Annie hurried to keep up with Leonardo.

"So where are we going?" Annie asked.

"To the palace of the great council," said Leonardo.

"I was hired to paint a fresco² in the council hall. Ihave been working on it for months.""What's a fresco?" asked Jack.

"It is a work of art painted onto a wall," saidLeonardo. "One must spread plaster on the wall andthen paint very quickly before it dries."51"Sounds like fun," said Annie.

"Not for me," said Leonardo. "I believe great artrequires much thought. I like to paint slowly, and Ichange things as I go along. So for this fresco, I haveinvented a special oil paint that dries very slowly.""Does it work?" said Jack.

"Too well," said Leonardo. "Now I have a newproblem: Neither the plaster nor my oil paints havedried at all.""Oh, no," said Annie.

"But today all will be well!" Leonardo saidcheerfully. "I have a plan to speed up the dryingprocess. This morning I will fix everything!"Leonardo led Jack and Annie into a square with alarge building. "There it is," he said. "The palace of thegreat council."The palace looked like a fortress³. It had rough-looking stone walls and a tower that rose high intothe air.

"The palace is a very important place," said52Leonardo. "It is where the governing council ofFlorence meets. Come along." He opened one of thegrand doors and guided Jack and Annie into acourtyard with a fountain. "This way to the councilhall," he said, "and the latest work of Leonardo daVinci."Leonardo bounded up some steps and down acorridor. Jack and Annie hurried after him until hepassed another grand doorway⁴ and stopped.

Leonardo put down his basket and raised his hands.

"My fresco," he said.

"Oh, man," breathed Jack.

53[picture]

54They were in an enormous room with tall, archedwindows and vast white walls. Several young menstood on a wooden platform on the far side of theroom. On the wall above them was a giant painting ofa battle scene. It showed a tangle⁵ of men onhorseback, fighting over a flag.

The men in the painting seemed to be in a fury asthey slashed⁶ at each other with their swords. Theirfaces were twisted, their mouths snarling⁷. Even theirhorses looked wild and angry.

"The city has paid me to paint a scene from a battleonce fought to defend Florence," said Leonardo. "Theywanted me to paint a scene of glory. But I believe waris a beastly madness. I hope my painting shows that.""Oh, it does," said Annie.

Jack nodded. It was the scariest painting he'd everseen.

"Zorro!" called Leonardo.

One of the young men on the platform climbed55down a ladder and jumped to the floor. He was asturdy-looking teenager with a red face and wavyblack hair.

"Are things any better this morning?" askedLeonardo.

"No, the paint is still very damp to the touch," saidZorro.

"Then let us proceed with our plan," said Leonardo.

"Did the pots arrive from the blacksmith?""Yes, over there," said Zorro. He pointed⁸ at twolarge iron pots beneath the platform.

"And you brought the wood?" said Leonardo.

"Yes," said Zorro. He pointed to a pile of woodstacked against a wall.

Leonardo set down his basket and headed over tothe platform.

"What's the plan, Leonardo?" asked Annie as sheand Jack followed him.

"My apprentices⁹ and I will fill the pots with woodand lift them onto the platform," said56Leonardo. "Then we will light fires in them. Theheat of the fires will quickly dry the fresco.""How can we help?" asked Jack.

"Bring us some kindling¹⁰," said Leonardo.

"No problem!" said Jack. He put down his bag, andhe and Annie hurried to the wood stack.

"Kindling?" she said.

"Small pieces of wood," said Jack. "They catch firefirst and help get the big pieces started." Jack andAnnie picked sticks and twigs¹¹ from the wood stack.

They carried the kindling back to Leonardo, and hedumped it into the iron pots. Zorro brought over somelogs. Then he and Leonardo hooked the handles of thepots to a system of ropes and pulleys.

"Pull!" Leonardo shouted.

The apprentices on the platform pulled on the ropes.

The heavy pots swung into the air.

"Steady! Steady!" Leonardo shouted.

The apprentices slowly hauled up the pots. Thenthey pulled them onto the platform and placed themin front of the fresco.

57"Light the fires!" shouted Leonardo.

Zorro lit a candle from a torch burning at theentrance of the hall. He carried the candle up theladder and used its fire to light the kindling. Soon thewood in the pots began to blaze.

"Bring more wood!" Leonardo shouted. "Bring morewood!"Jack and Annie hurried back to the woodpile. Theygathered bigger pieces of wood and rushed back tothe ladder. Apprentices lifted the wood up to theplatform and added it to the fires in the pots.

Soon flames were shooting high into the air,warming the fresco. Standing¹² with Leonardo belowthe platform, Jack and Annie stared up at the battlescene. The room grew hotter and hotter.

With the fires blazing above and smoke curlingthrough the air, Jack felt like he was in the middle ofthe battle himself. He could hear the clanging swords,neighing horses, and shouting men. He could feel the"beastly madness" of war that Leonardo had talkedabout.

58Suddenly Jack heard real shrieks-Leonardo'sapprentices were all yelling.

"It isdripping, Master!" one cried.

"The paint is running!" shouted another.

Jack looked back at the fresco. The helmets of thewarriors were melting down over their furious faces.

"AHHH!" cried Leonardo with a look of horror. "Killthe fires! Kill the fires!"

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 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

3 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

4 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

5 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

6 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

8 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。

9 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

10 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

11 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。