儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第八册 Midnight on the Moon 01

Prologue

One summer day in Frog Creek，Pennsylvania，a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods.

Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister， Annie，climbed into the tree house.

The tree house was filled with books and it was magic. It could go any place that was in a book. All Jack and Annie had to do was to point to a picture and wish to go there.

They visited dinosaurs， knights，an Egyptian queen， pirates， ninjas， and the Amazon rain forest.

Along the way， they discovered that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay. Morgan was a magical librarian from the time of King Arthur.

She traveled through time and space，gathering books for her library.

One day，Jack and Annie found a note that said Morgan was under a spell. Jack and Annie set out in the magic tree house to find four special things that would free her.

With the help of a mouse named Peanut，Jack and Annie found the first thing in old Japan， the second in the Amazon rain forest， and the third in the Ice Age.

Now Jack，Annie，and Peanut are ready to find the last thing...in Midnight on the Moon.

1　　By Moonlight

“Jack!”whispered a voice.

Jack opened his eyes. He saw a figure in the moonlight.

“Wake up. Get dressed. ”It was his sister，Annie.

Jack turned on his lamp. He rubbed his eyes.

Annie was standing beside his bed. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt.

“Let’s go to the tree house,”she said.

“What time is it?” asked Jack. He put on his glasses.

“Don’t look at your clock，” said Annie.

Jack looked at his clock. “Oh，man，” he said. “It’s midnight. It’s too dark. ”

“No，it isn’t. The moon makes it bright enough to see，” said Annie.

“Wait till morning，” said Jack.

“No—now，” said Annie. “We have to find the fourth M thing. I have a feeling that the full moon might help us.”

“That’s nuts，” said Jack. “I want to sleep. ”

“You can sleep when we come back home，”said Annie. “No time will have passed. ”

Jack sighed. “Oh，brother，” he said.

But he got out of bed.

“Yay!”whispered Annie. “Meet you at the back door. ” She tiptoed out of Jack’s room.

Jack yawned. He pulled on his jeans and sneakers and a sweatshirt. He put his notebook and pencil into his backpack. Then he crept down the stairs.

Annie opened the back door. Quietly，they stepped outside.

“Wait—”said Jack. “We need a flashlight. ”

“No，we don’t. I told you—the moon will light our way，” said Annie. And she took off.

Jack sighed，then followed her.

Annie was right，thought Jack. The moon was so bright that he could see his shadow. Everything seemed washed with silver.

Soon they left their street. Annie led the way into the Frog Creek woods. It was much darker under the shadows of the trees.

Jack looked up，searching for the tree house.

“There!” said Annie.

The magic tree house was shining in the moonlight.

Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started climbing up.

“Careful—go slowly，” said Jack.

He followed her up the ladder and into the tree house.

Moonlight streamed through the window.

It shone on the letter M that shimmered on the wooden floor.

It shone on the three M things that rested on the M：a moonstone from the time of the ninjas，a mango from the Amazon rain forest，and a mam

moth bone from the Ice Age.

“We need just one more M thing，” said Annie，“to free Morgan from her spell. ”

Squeak.

“Peanut!”said Annie.

In the dim light，Jack saw a tiny mouse. She sat on an open book.

“You didn’t expect to see us this late，did you?” said Annie.

She picked up Peanut. And Jack picked up the open book.

“So where are we going this time?” Annie asked him.

Jack held the book up to the moonlight.

“Uh-oh，”he said. “I knew we should have brought a flashlight. I can’t read a thing. ”

He could make out diagrams and shadowy pictures. But he couldn’t read a word.

“Look at the cover，”said Annie.

The letters were bigger on the cover. Jack squinted at them.

“It’s called Hello，Moon，”he said.

Annie gasped. “We’re going to the moon?”

“Of course not，” said Jack. “It’s impossible to go to the moon without tons of equipment. ”

“Why?”

“There’s no air. We couldn’t breathe. Not only that，we’d boil to death if it was day and freeze to death if it was night. ”

“Yikes，” said Annie. “So where do you think we are going?”

“Maybe a place where people train to be astronauts，” said Jack.

“That sounds neat，” said Annie.

“Yeah，”said Jack. He’d always wanted to meet astronauts and space scientists.

“So say the wish，” said Annie.

Jack opened the book again. He pointed to a picture of a dome-shaped structure.

“I wish we could go there，” he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster and faster.

Then everything was silent.

Absolutely silent. As quiet and still as silence could be.

引　　子

宾夕法尼亚蛙溪镇夏日的一天，在树林里出现了一间神秘的树屋。

八岁的杰克和他七岁的妹妹安妮，爬上了树屋。他们发现里面装满了书。

杰克和安妮不久就发现了树屋是有魔法的。它能把他们带到书里的地方。只要他们指着书中的一幅图并许愿，树屋就会带他们去那儿。

杰克和安妮已经去过了恐龙的时代、骑士的时代、埃及王后的时代、海盗的时代、日本忍者的时代，还深入了亚马孙雨林。

沿途中他们发现，这个树屋属于一个叫摩根·拉菲的人。摩根是亚瑟王时代里的一个会魔法的图书管理员。她可以在时间与空间中任意地穿梭，为她的图书馆收集图书。

一天，杰克和安妮发现了一张纸条，说摩根中了魔咒。于是他们立刻坐着神奇树屋出发，去寻找能够解救摩根的四样特殊的东西。

在一只名叫“花生”的老鼠的帮助下，杰克和安妮在古代的日本找到了第一样东西，在亚马孙的雨林里找到了第二样，又在冰河时代发现了第三样东西。

现在，杰克、安妮和花生又准备去寻找那最后的一样东西了……就在《月球之旅》的故事中。

1 月光下

“杰克!”一个声音轻声说。

杰克睁开眼睛，看到了月光下的一个身影。

“快醒醒，穿上衣服。”原来是他的妹妹安妮。

杰克打开灯，揉了揉眼睛。

安妮正穿着牛仔裤、汗衫站在他的床前。

“咱们去树屋吧。”她说。

“几点了?”杰克问，并且戴上了眼镜。

“别看钟。”安妮说。

杰克看了看钟。“天啊，”他说，“才半夜，太黑了吧。”

“不黑，月光足够亮了，能看清。”安妮说。

“等到早晨再说吧。”杰克说。

“不行，就要现在。”安妮说，“我们必须找到第四个带有M的东西。我有种感觉，今晚的满月说不定能帮上我们呢。”

“别傻了。”杰克说，“我还想睡呢。”

“我们回来后你还可以睡嘛。”安妮说，“我们离开的时候时间是停顿的。”

杰克叹了口气，“天啊。”

不过他还是从床上爬了起来。

“耶!”安妮小声叫道，“我在后门等你。”说着她踮着脚尖走出了杰克的房间。

杰克打了个哈欠，穿上了牛仔裤、汗衫和球鞋。他把铅笔和笔记本放进背包，蹑手蹑脚地下了楼梯。

安妮打开后门，他们轻轻地走了出去。

“等等——”杰克说，“我们得拿个手电筒。”

“不用，我跟你说过了——月亮会为我们照亮的。”安妮说着便出发了。

杰克只好叹了叹气，跟在安妮后面。

安妮是对的，杰克心想。月光是那么的明亮，他连自己的影子都能看见呢。一切似乎都镀上了一层银色。

很快，他们就离开了街道，由安妮带路进入了蛙溪树林。树阴下，可黑多了。

杰克抬头望着，想找到那个树屋。

“在那儿!”安妮叫道。

那个神奇的树屋在月光下熠熠闪光。

安妮抓住绳梯开始向上爬。

“小心，慢点爬!”杰克说。

他跟在安妮的后面沿着绳梯爬进了树屋。

月光从窗户透了进来，洒在木地板上，照亮了地上的字母M。

同时，月光也照亮了字母M上放着的三样以英文M开头的东西：从忍者时代的日本带回的月亮石(moonstone)，来自亚马孙雨林的一个芒果(mango)，和从冰河时代带回来的猛犸的骨头(mammoth bone)。

“只要再找到一个M开头的东西就行了。”安妮说，“那样我们就可以把摩根从魔咒中解救出来了。”

吱吱。

“花生!”安妮叫道。

在昏暗的月光下，杰克看到了一只小老鼠正坐在一本打开的书上。

“没想到这么晚会见到我们吧。”安妮说。

她拎起小老鼠花生，而杰克拿起了那本打开的书。

“这次我们该去哪里了?”安妮问。

杰克拿着书，对着月光看着。

“哦。”他说，“我就说我们该带个手电筒吧。我简直什么都看不清。”

他只能依稀辨别出一个表格和一幅朦朦胧胧的图画，但却一个字也看不清。

“看看封面。”安妮说。

封面上的字要大得多。杰克眯着眼看着。

“这本书叫做《你好，月球》。”他说。

安妮倒吸了一口气。“难道我们要去月球吗?”

“当然不会。”杰克说，“没有成堆的设备根本就不可能去月球。”

“为什么?”

“那里没有空气，我们根本无法呼吸。不仅如此，白天我们会被高温烤死，而晚上又会被冻死。”

“啊呀!”安妮嚷道，“那么你觉得我们会去哪里呢?”

“也许去一个训练宇航员的地方。”杰克说。

“听上去挺棒的!”安妮说。

“是啊。”杰克说。他可是一直想见见宇航员和宇航科学家呢。

“那么许愿吧。”安妮说。

杰克再次打开书，指着一幅画有一个拱形建筑的图片说：“我希望我们能去那里。”

风吹了起来。

树屋开始打转。

转得越来越快，越来越快!

然后，一切都平静了。

绝对的平静!

四周一点声音也没有，任何细微的声音都没有。