《神奇树屋》 第三十八册 Monday with a Mad Genius 10 Questions

　　It was twilight¹ when Annie and Jack² stepped backout into the street.

"Where's the tree with the tree house?" askedAnnie.

"Somewhere over the bridge beyond the big dome³,"said Jack.

They kept their eyes on the dome as they threadedtheir way through the streets of Florence. When theycame to the cathedral, the square was quiet. Thecathedral's great doors were open. Jack and Anniecould see candles burning inside.

114Jack and Annie kept walking and soon came to themarket. The hundreds of tents and stalls⁴ were allclosed for the night. The square was empty.

Jack and Annie returned the way they had comethat morning. Walking down the same narrow lanes,they saw that all the shops were closed now, too.

They crossed the covered bridge and walked alongthe flowing river, past quiet houses where smokecurled from chimneys into the darkening sky.

Finally Jack and Annie came to the hedge that hidthe tree with the tree house. In the gray light of dusk,they climbed up the rope ladder.

"Before we go home, I want to look something up,"said Jack. He pulled their research book out of his bagand looked in the index forMona Lisa. He found it and turned to the right page.

"Look! It's Lisa!" said Annie.

Jack and Annie stared at a picture of Leonardo'spainting. It looked exactly the same,115except now there was a smile on Lisa's face, thesame smile they'd just seen in real life. Jack readaloud:

Leonardo da Vinci's painting of Mona Lisa isperhaps the most famous painting in the world. It isbelieved to be a portrait of Lisa del Gioconda. (TheItalian wordmonameans "my lady.") Leonardo da Vinci never sold theportrait of Lisa. He took it with him everywhere hetraveled until he died.

116Jack closed the book. "He kept his promise," he said.

"I knew he would," said Annie. She sighed. "Goodbye,Leonardo," she whispered. Then she picked uptheir note from Morgan and pointed⁵ at the wordsFrog Creek⁶. "I wish we could go there," she said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁷ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

****Sunlight flooded through the tree house window.

No time had passed in Frog Creek. The school bellwas still ringing, announcing that class would start inten minutes. Jack and Annie were wearing theirschool clothes. Jack's cloth bag had changed back intohis backpack.

"We have to hurry," said Annie.

"I know," said Jack. He looked inside his pack.

117He was happy to see the Wand of Dianthus. As hepulled out their research book, a piece of paper fellout. It was the sketch⁸ of Leonardo's angel.

"Oh, I forgot all about this," said Jack. He andAnnie looked at the sketch.

"It shows he was really a good drawer," said Annie.

"Yep," said Jack. "And it will remind us aboutLeonardo's secret of happiness.""He was curious about everything," said Annie.

"Angels, noses, birds.""Feathers, flowers, wolves, and spiders," added Jack.

"Shadows, light," said Annie.

"Bells, clouds, the moon," said Jack.

"And every time he was unhappy about something,his curiosity seemed to make him happy again," saidAnnie.

Jack took the angel drawing from Annie andcarefully put it back into his pack. "Come on," he118said. "We don't want to be late for school." Jackstarted down the rope ladder, and Annie followed.

Jack and Annie walked together through the sun-bright woods. "I wonder where my new class will be,"said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack, "and I wonder where my deskwill be. Close to the window? Or the door?""And will Randy and Jenny be in my class againthis year?" said Annie.

"Will Joe be in mine?" said Jack.

"Whatever happened to Raymond Johnson?" askedAnnie. "Is he coming back this year?""I hope so," said Jack. "And who's the newlibrarian? And the new music teacher?""Yeah, and what kind of noses do they have?" saidAnnie.

Jack laughed. All the questions about school didn'tmake him nervous anymore. Now he was eager tofind out the answers. He quickened his steps. "Andhow long will it take us to get there, if we walkreally, really fast?" he said.

119"What if we run?" said Annie.

Jack and Annie started running, as the wind blewthrough the trees and the leaves fluttered⁹ through theair and the birds sang from the branches in theMonday-morning woods.

1 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。

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 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

4 stalls   

n.戏院正厅前排座位，前座观众；摊( stall的名词复数 )；熄火；厩；（房间内的）小隔间

参考例句：

• market stalls selling cheap bric-a-brac 集市上出售廉价小摆设的货摊
• the front row of the stalls 正厅第一排

5 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。

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

8 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

9 fluttered   

v.飘动( flutter的过去式和过去分词 )；（心）快速跳动；振翼，拍翅膀

参考例句：

• Flags fluttered in the breeze. 旗帜在微风中飘扬。
• Imes concluded from her fluttered look that she had spent the money. 艾姆斯从她慌张的眼神推断出她花光了钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》