儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第八册 Midnight on the Moon 04

4 Moon Rabbits

“Oh，wow!”said Annie. She took a step forward.

But Jack stood frozen. He wanted to get a good look at everything first.

He stared at the ground. He was standing in a layer of gray dust as fine as powder.

Footprints were everywhere. Jack wondered who had made them.

He reached into his pack for the moon book. To his surprise，it was as light as a feather!

He found a picture of footprints on the moon. He read：

The moon has no rain or wind to blow the dust around. So footprints will never wear away naturally，not even in a billion years.

“Oh，man，” Jack said.

The moon was the stillest place he had ever，ever been. It was as still as a picture. And its stillness would never，ever end.

Jack stared at the ink-black sky. A lovely blue-and-white ball glowed far away.

Earth.

For the first time，it really hit Jack. They were in outer space.

“Look!” Annie cried，laughing.

She bounded past Jack—almost flying through the air. She landed on her feet. Then she jumped again.

“I’m a moon rabbit，” she called.

Jack laughed. How does she do that? he wondered. He turned a page and read：

A person weighs less on the moon because of the moon’s low gravity and lack of air. If you weigh 60 pounds on Earth，you would only weigh 10 pounds on the moon.

“Don’t just stand there reading!” said Annie，grabbing the book from Jack’s gloved hand. She tossed it into space.

It flew far away.

Jack started after it.

He bounded up and down. Boing!Boing!Boing!Now he felt as light as a feather.

“Look!” he called to Annie. “I’m a moon rabbit，too. ”

Where Jack’s boots hit the ground，moon-dust gracefully sprayed into space.

The book had landed at the edge of a shallow crater.

When Jack reached it，he tried to stop. But his feet slipped.

He fell right over and lay on his side. He tried to stand. But he was off-balance.

He tried again. But the dust was just too deep. And his spacesuit was too clumsy.

“You okay?” asked Annie.

“I can’t get up，” said Jack.

“You shouldn’t have been goofing off，” said Annie wisely.

“You goofed off first，” said Jack. “Now，help me up，please. ”

Annie started toward him.

“Don’t fall，too，” warned Jack.

“I won’t. ” Annie moved very slowly. She half floated，half walked.

“Give me your hand，” she said.

Annie grabbed Jack’s hand. She pressed her boot against his and pulled him up.

“Thanks，” he said.

“No problem，”she said.“It was easy.You were really light. ”

“Thank goodness，”said Jack. “It’s impos-sible to get up alone. ”

He picked up the moon book. It was covered with dust. He brushed it off.

“Oh，wow!Look!”said Annie. She stood at the edge of the crater.

“What is it?” said Jack.

“A moon buggy!” said Annie.

The buggy was parked in the crater. It had four huge wheels.

“Let’s go for a ride，” said Annie.

“We can’t，” said Jack. “We just have two hours of air in our tanks. Remember?”

“I bet we’ll find the M thing faster if we take the moon buggy!” Annie bounded into the crater.

“But we can’t drive!” said Jack.

“I bet I can drive this，” said Annie. “It looks easy. Come on!”

She jumped into the driver’s seat.

“But you don’t have a license!” said Jack.

“Who cares?”said Annie. “There aren’t any roads on the moon，or stoplights，or policemen either. ”

She was right，Jack thought.

“Well，go slow，” he said. And he climbed in beside her.

Annie pushed a button labeled ON.

The moon buggy lurched backward.

“Yikes!” said Annie.

“Step on the brake!” said Jack.

Annie pressed a pedal on the floor. The buggy stopped with a jerk.

“Whew，” she said.

“It must be in reverse，” said Jack. “Let me study this—”

But before he could study anything，Annie pushed another button.

The buggy tilted back. Its front wheels started to rise into the air.

“Let me out of here!” said Jack.

Annie pushed more buttons.

The buggy’s front wheels landed back on the ground. And the buggy leaped forward.

“Slower!” said Jack.

“I can’t，” said Annie. “I don’t know how!”

Annie steered the buggy over the tracks on the ground. The wide wheels kept it from sinking into the deep dust.

“Careful!” said Jack.

The buggy zoomed out of the crater.

Gray clouds of dust rose behind them as they took off across the moon.

4月宫玉兔

“哦，哇!”安妮说着又往前迈了一步。

但杰克却一动不动。他想先好好看看周围所有的一切。

他盯着地面看，发现自己正站在一层像粉末一样细的灰土上。

到处都是脚印，杰克不禁想，这都是谁的脚印呢。

他把手伸进背包去拿那本关于月球的书。令他吃惊的是，那本书居然轻如鸿毛。

他找到了一幅画着月球上的脚印的图片。他读道：

月球上没有雨没有风，不会将灰尘吹起。因此月球上的足印是不会自然消失的，哪怕是经过数十亿年也不会。

“哦，天啊!”杰克说。

月球是他去过的最宁静的地方了，宁静得简直就像是一幅画，而且这种宁静将直到永远，永无止境。

杰克凝视着漆黑的天空，远方的一个可爱的白蓝色的星球正闪耀着光芒。

那是地球。

杰克的心头第一次被触动了，他们真的是在外太空啊。

“看!”安妮一面喊，一面笑道。

她弹跳着经过杰克身边——几乎是在空中飞。她双脚着陆，然后又弹了起来。

“我是一只月宫玉兔。”她大叫着。

杰克笑了起来。她为什么能这样呢?杰克琢磨着。他翻了一页，读了起来：

在月球上，人会变轻。因为月球上重力小，又缺少空气。如果你在地球上的重量是60磅，那么在月球上大约只有10磅重。

“别光站在那儿看书了!”安妮说着一把把书从杰克戴着手套的手里抢了过来，

把它扔向空中。

书飞得远远的。

杰克跟在后面追着。

他上下弹跳着：砰，砰，砰。现在他觉得自己也像羽毛一样轻呢。

“看，我也是一只月宫玉兔呢。”他冲安妮喊道。

当杰克的靴子撞击到地面时，月球表面的灰尘优雅地溅了起来。

那本书落在了一个浅浅的环形山边上。

杰克想停住脚步伸手去拿那本书，可是脚下突然一滑。

他摔倒了，侧身摔在了地上。他试图站起来，却失去了平衡。

杰克再次试图站起来，但灰尘太深了，而且他那身宇航服太笨拙了。

“你没事吧?”安妮问。

“我起不来了。”杰克说。

“你不该乱来的。”安妮得意地说。

“是你先捣乱的。”杰克说，“赶紧帮我起来。”

安妮向他走了过去。

“别摔倒了。”杰克提醒她。

“我不会的。”安妮缓慢地走着。她简直是一半飘一半走。

“把手给我。”安妮说。

安妮抓住了杰克的手，用自己的靴子顶住杰克的靴子，把他拽了起来。

“谢谢!”杰克说。

“不用谢。”安妮回答说，“小意思，你可真够轻的。”

“谢天谢地。”杰克说，“要想自己站起来还真难呢。”

他拾起那本关于月球的书，书上满是灰尘，他赶紧拍了拍。

“哦，哇!你看!”安妮站在环形山口吃惊地说。

“什么啊?”杰克说。

“一辆月球车。”安妮说。

那辆月球车就停在环形山里，有着四个巨大的轮子。

“咱们开车去逛逛吧。”安妮说。

“不行。”杰克说，“我们的氧气只够两个小时，你忘了?”

“我敢打赌如果我们乘着月球车的话，一定能更快地找到那个关于M的东西。”安妮一下子跳进了环形山。

“但是我们不会开啊!”杰克说。

“我敢打赌我会开。”安妮说，“看起来很容易呢，来吧。”

安妮跳着坐到了驾驶员的位子上。“你可没有驾照哦。”杰克说。

“谁会管啊?”安妮说，“月球上又没有道路，也没有红灯，更没有警察。”

她是对的，杰克想。

“好吧，慢慢来啊。”杰克说着便爬进了月球车，坐在了安妮旁边。

安妮按动了一个标有“启动”的按钮。

月球车立刻向后开动了。

“啊呀!”安妮说。

“踩刹车!”杰克喊道。

安妮踩住了一个踏板，月球车顿时猛地停了下来。

“呜。”安妮舒了一口气。

“那一定是倒挡。”杰克说，“让我研究一下——”

但是他还没来得及研究，安妮就又按动了另一个按钮。

月球车开始向后倾斜，前轮抬了起来。

“我要下车!”杰克说。

安妮又按了别的按钮。

月球车的前轮开始降了下来，落在了地面，并且月球车开始前进了。

“慢一点!”杰克说。

“我没法慢。”安妮说，“我也不知道怎么慢下来。”

安妮驾着车沿着地面上的车痕前进着。车子宽大的轮子使得它不至于陷入厚厚的灰土之中。

“小心点!”杰克说。

月球车开出了环形山坑。

小车在月球表面行进着，一路扬起了一片尘土。