儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第三册 Mummies in the Morning 02

2哦，天啊，木乃伊!

杰克和安妮向窗外望去。

树屋停在了一棵棕榈树上。这棵树旁边还有很多其他的棕榈树，这一片绿洲的四周被沙漠环绕着。

“喵!”又是一声猫叫。

杰克和安妮一起往下看去。黑猫正坐在树下，用它的黄眼睛瞪着杰克和安妮。

“嗨!”安妮喊道。

“嘘!”杰克说，“别人会听到的。”

“在沙漠中间会有人吗?”安妮反问。

黑猫站了起来开始在树周围走起来。

“回来!”安妮喊道。她从窗口探出身去，想看看那猫正往哪里去。

“哦，哇!”她说，“快看啊，杰克。”

杰克也探出身去往下看。

只见那只猫已经从棕榈树这里跑开了，正向沙漠中一个巨大的金字塔跑去。

有一列队伍也正向那个金字塔走去，这个金字塔和那本埃及书里所画的一模一样。

“这场景就是书里面画的嘛!”杰克说。

“这些人在干什么?”安妮问。

杰克看了看那本埃及书，在那幅图画下面读到了这样的字句：

当皇室人员死去时，人们会举行一场大型的葬礼游行。家庭成员、仆人和哀悼者都会跟在棺材后面。这种棺材叫做石棺，由四头牛所拉的滑橇装载。

“这是一场埃及式的葬礼。”杰克说，“这个箱子叫做石……石……石……，哦，我忘了。”

他又向窗外望去。

牛，滑橇，埃及人，黑猫。这所有一切都正以一种缓慢的、梦幻般的方式前行着。

“我得把这些记下来。”杰克说。

他从背包里拿出了笔记本。杰克是有记笔记的习惯的。

“等等。”杰克说着在本子上写下了：

棺材被称作石棺。

“我们最好快一点。”安妮说，“如果想看她开始顺着绳梯往下爬。

杰克将目光从他的笔记本上挪开。

“木乃伊?”他说。

“也许那个金色的箱子里有木乃伊呢。”安妮喊道，“别忘了，我们可是在古埃及呢。”

杰克非常喜欢木乃伊。他放下了手中的铅笔。

“再见，杰克!”安妮喊着。

“等等!”杰克回应着。

“木乃伊!”安妮喊道。

“哦，天啊。”杰克轻声说，“木乃伊!”安妮太清楚杰克的心思了。

杰克将自己的笔记本和那本埃及书胡乱地塞进了背包便开始顺着绳梯往下爬。

他一到地面，就和安妮一起在沙地上飞跑起来。

但是他们跑着跑着，一件奇怪的事情发生了。

他们离那一队人越近，就越是难以看清那些人。

突然，一切都消失了，那个奇怪的队伍不见了，彻底消失了。

不过那座巨大的石头金字塔还在，高高地耸立在杰克和安妮面前。

杰克一面喘着气，一面向四周望了望。

到底发生了什么事?那些人、牛、金色的箱子，还有那只黑猫都到哪里去了?

“他们不见了。”安妮说。

“他们去哪里了呢?”杰克说。

“也许他们只是些幽灵。”安妮说。

“别傻呢。这个世界上根本没有幽灵。”杰克说，“一定是海市蜃楼。”

“什么?”

“海市蜃楼。这种现象在沙漠里经常出现。”杰克说，“看起来某个东西仿佛就在那里。但其实不过是太阳光在热气中的折射。”

“可是太阳光怎么会看起来像人、木乃伊棺材和一群牛呢?”安妮问。

杰克皱了皱眉头。

“是幽灵。”安妮说。

“不可能!”杰克说。

“你看!”安妮说着用手指着金字塔，在塔的底座旁又是那只毛色光滑的黑猫。

它独自站在那里，瞪着杰克和安妮。

“它可不是海市蜃楼。”安妮说。

黑猫动了，它沿着金字塔的底座走着，一下子绕过了一个角落。

“它要去哪儿?”杰克问。

“咱们去看看。”安妮说。

他们冲向那个角落，一绕过去，刚好看到黑猫消失在金字塔上的一个洞里。

2 Oh， Man. Mummies!

Jack and Annie looked out the window.

The tree house was perched on the top of a palm tree.The tree stood with other palm trees. A patch of green surrounded by a sandy desert.

“Meow!”

Jack and Annie looked down.

The black cat was sitting at the base of the tree. His yellow eyes were staring up at Jack and Annie.

“Hi!” Annie shouted.

“Shhh，” said Jack. “Someone might hear you.”

“In the middle of the desert?” said Annie.

The black cat stood and began walking around the tree.

“Come back!” Annie called. She leaned out the window to see where the cat was going.

“Oh， wow!” she said. “Look， Jack.”

Jack leaned forward and looked down.

The cat was running away from the palm trees. Toward a giant pyramid in the desert.

A parade was going toward the pyramid. The same parade as in the Egypt book.

“It’s the picture from the book!” said Jack.

“What are those people doing?” asked Annie.

Jack looked down at the Egypt book. He read the words under the picture：

When a royal person died， a grandfuneral procession took place.Family， servants， and mourners followed the coffin. The coffin was called a sarcophagus. It was pulled on a sled by four oxen.

“It’s an Egyptian funeral，” said Jack. “The box is called a sar...sar...sar...oh， forget it.”

He looked out the window again.

Oxen， sled， Egyptians， black cat. All were moving in a slow， dreamy way.

“I’d better make some notes about this，” said Jack.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook. Jack always kept notes.

“Wait，” said Jack. And he wrote：

Coffin　called　sarcophagus

“We’d better hurry，” said Annie， “if we want to see the mummy.”

She started down the rope ladder.

Jack looked up from his notebook.

“Mummy?” he said.

“There’s probably a mummy in that gold box，” Annie called up. “We’re in ancient Egypt.Remember?”

Jack loved mummies. He put down his pencil.

“Good-bye， Jack!” called Annie.

“Wait!” Jack called.

“Mummies!” Annie shouted.

“Oh， man，” said Jack weakly. “Mummies!” She sure knew how to get to him.

Jack shoved his notebook and the Egypt book into his pack. Then he started down the ladder.

When he got to the ground， he and Annie took off across the sand.

But as they ran a strange thing happened.

The closer they got to the parade， the harder it was to see it.

Then suddenly it was gone. The strange parade had disappeared. Vanished.

But the great stone pyramid was still there.Towering above them.

Panting， Jack looked around.

What had happened?Where were the people?The oxen?The gold box?The cat?

“They’re gone，” said Annie.

“Where did they go?” said Jack.

“Maybe they were ghosts，” said Annie.

“Don’t be silly.There’s no such thing as ghosts，” said Jack. “It must have been a mirage.”

“A what?”

“Mirage. It happens in the desert all the time，” said Jack. “It looks like something’sthere.But it just turns out to be the sunlight reflecting through heat.”

“How could sunlight look like people，a mummy box， and a bunch of cows?” said Annie.

Jack frowned.

“Ghosts，” she said.

“No way，” said Jack.

“Look!” Annie pointed at the pyramid. Near the base was the sleek black cat.

He was standing alone. He was staring at Jack and Annie.

“He’s no mirage，” said Annie.

The cat started to slink away. He walked along the base of the pyramid and slid around a corner.

“Where’s he going?” said Jack.

“Let’s find out，” said Annie.

They dashed around the corner—just in time to see the cat disappear through a hole in the pyramid.