英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十六册 Hour of the Olympics 10 They're All Here

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　　Jack¹ opened his eyes.

It was so dark he couldn't see anything.

He felt his clothes. He was wearing his T-shirt andjeans again. The leather bag had turned back into hisbackpack.

"Hello," said Morgan le Fay. Her voice came fromthe corner of the tree house.

"Hi!" said Annie.

"Did you have a good journey?" asked Morgan.

"I did," said Jack, "but girls can't do any-thing fun inancient Greece.""I did one fun thing," Annie said wistfully. "I rodein a chariot pulled by a flying horse.""That must have been wonderful," said Morgan.

"You were very lucky to be bringing me the story ofPegasus.""Who?" said Jack.

"Pegasus," said Morgan. "He's the great whitewinged horse in Greek mythology².""Oh, yeah," said Jack. "I think I've heard of him."He felt in his backpack and found the scroll³. Hegave it to Morgan. He could still barely see her in thedark.

"It was written by Anonymous⁴," said Annie.

"I know," said Morgan. "Many talented womenused that name in the past. Her story will be a greataddition to my Camelot library.""Plato helped us find it," said Jack.

"Ah, my good friend Plato," said Morgan. "He wasone of the greatest thinkers who ever lived.""And Pegasus was the greatest horse," said Annie.

She sighed. "I just wish I could see him again.""You can," Morgan said softly. "He's here rightnow.""Pegasus?" cried Annie. "Oh, boy!"Annie turned on the flashlight and used it to findher way down the rope ladder.

Jack grabbed his backpack and followed her.

When they were both standing⁵ on the ground,Annie shined her flashlight at the dark trees.

"Pegasus?" she said. "Where are you? Pegasus?""Turn off your flashlight, Annie," said Morgan. Shewas looking down from the tree house window.

Annie switched off the light.

"In the night, you can see all the story charactersthat saved you on your last four missions," saidMorgan. "They are all here- Hercules and the silkweaver, Sarph, the serpent monster and Pegasus."Jack pushed his glasses into place and studied thedark woods.

"Where are they, Morgan?" cried Annie. "Where'sPegasus?""Look hard," said Morgan.

"I can't see him!" said Annie.

"Yes, you can," said Morgan. "The old stories arealways with us. We are never alone."Has Morgan gone crazy? wondered Jack.

"Look up," said Morgan. "Your friends are in thenight sky. They are stars.""Stars?" whispered Jack.

He stared at the shimmering⁷ field of tiny starsoverhead.

"Hercules is a constellation," said Morgan. "TheRomans imagined him kneeling in the sky, holding aclub over his head."Morgan waved her finger at the sky. For a momentJack saw a living, breathing Her-cules outlined bystars.

"And there's the silk weaver⁶, with her belovedcowherd," said Morgan. "The ancient Chinesebelieved that they were two stars on either side of theMilky Way." Morgan waved her hand again. Thelovely silk weaver was outlined in the heavens.

"And long ago, the Irish believed the Milky⁸ Wayitself was the serpent monster Sarph," said Morgan.

Morgan waved her hand. A giant serpent glitteredthrough the sky.

"And the ancient Greeks named one of theirconstellations Pegasus," said Morgan.

She waved her hand again and the white horse'shead, wings, and galloping⁹ legs glowed in the sky.

"I see him!" said Annie. Then she Whispered, "I loveyou, Pegasus."Jack thought he saw the stars move as if Pegasuswas rearing back in the sky.

After a breathless moment of silence, Morganlowered her arm. The night sky became a field of tinyglittering stars again.

"You have done amazing work as MasterLibrarians," said Morgan. "I would trust you with anyimportant mission.""Does that mean we're going on more trips?" askedJack.

"Indeed it does," said Morgan. "Many more." Jacksmiled with relief.

"When is our next mission?" asked Annie.

"As soon as I need your help, I will send for you,"said Morgan. "Go home now and rest.""Good-bye," said Annie. "Good-bye," said Jack.

"Farewell," said Morgan. There was a sudden rushingof wind, then a blur¹⁰ of blinding light. And Morgan leFay and the magic tree house vanished.

The night was still. "Home?" asked Annie. "Sure,"said Jack.

As they walked between the trees, the Frog Creekwoods were pitch-black.

Jack couldn't see a thing.

But he didn't ask Annie to turn on the flashlight.

For once, he wasn't worried about finding his wayhome.

He felt as if someone-or something-was leadingthem through the woods.

Morgan's words came back to him: The old storiesare always 'with us. We are never alone.

Jack looked up at the stars again. They werebeginning to fade in the growing light of dawn.

But he thought he could hear the beating of giantwings, somewhere high above.

MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACKThe Olympics~ The Olympics of ancient Greece were held forover a thousand years, from 776 B.C. to A.D. 394.

~ Every four years, the games were held in severalcities, including the town of Olympia, for five days inAugust. (The modern Olympics were named afterOlympia.)~ For two months, all fighting and wars ceased sopeople could travel safely to and from the Olympics.

~ The first modern Olympics were held in Athens,Greece, in 1896.

~ Greek athletes believed that having a physicallyfit body was a way to honor their chief god, Zeus.

Olympia's statue of Zeus was one of the sevenwonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately, it nolonger exists.

Greek Language~ The word anonymous comes from a Greek wordthat means "nameless."~ The English language has many words that wereoriginally Greek, especially words having to do withsports, such as gymnasium, marathon, and athlete;words having to do with science, such as psychologyand astrono-my; and words related to the arts, such asdrama, theater, and scenery.

~ The word museum is also of Greek origin. Over2,000 years ago, the Greeks built a tem-ple to the ninegoddesses known as the Muses¹¹. They called thetemple the Museum.

~ Some Greek letters are similar to ours. The GreekA is called alpha. The B is called beta. That's wherewe get our word alphabet.

DemocracyAbout 2,500 years ago, the Greeks adopted a systemof government called a democracy. Under the Greekdemocracy, all citizens had a say in the government.

At that time, how-ever, women and slaves were notconsidered Citizens.

PlatoPlato the philosopher lived in ancient Greece in thefourth century B.C. Plato found-ed a school called theAcademy. In both his teachings and his writings,Plato explored the best way for a government to beset¹² up. His ideas are still talked about today.

ZeusZeus was god of the skies and ruler of all the Greekgods and goddesses. Zeus and his family were calledOlympians because theyrlived on top of a mountain called Mount Olym-pus.

The major Greek gods and goddesses were lateradopted by the Romans. Zeus was called Jupiter bythe Romans.

PegasusIn Greek mythology, a great winged horse sprangfrom the neck of a snake-haired mon-ster known asMedusa. The horse was named Pegasus, which maycome from a Greek word that means "spring." Pegasuswas tamed by a young man named Bellerophon.

Star MythsIn ancient times, mythic characters from differentworld cultures were sometimes iden-tified as patternsof stars in the night sky. Once a hero or heroine tooka place in the heavens, he or she became famousforever.