儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第九册 Dolphins at Daybreak 09
The sun shone on the ocean. It sparkled like a diamond.
Jack felt safe now.His dolphin was taking good care of him.
The dolphins slowed down as they neared the reef.
Jack lowered his feet.He felt the bumpy coral. He let go of the dolphin’s fin and stood up in the water.
Annie stood， too.
Then she threw her arms around her dolphin and gave her a big hug.
“Thank you， Sukie!” she cried. And she kissed the dolphin’s nose.
Sukie tossed her head and clicked at Annie.
“Kiss Sam now!” Annie said to Jack.
“You’re nuts，” said Jack.
But Sam nuzzled Jack’s head. Then he put his flippers around Jack’s neck.
Jack couldn’t resist.He threw his arms around the dolphin and gave him a quick kiss.
Sam nodded and made clicking sounds like laughter. Then he turned to Sukie.
The two dolphins chattered to each other for a moment. They nodded at Jack and Annie and swam gracefully away.
“Bye， Sukie!Bye， Sam!” Annie shouted.
“Thanks!” Jack shouted.
The dolphins leapt high into the air. Then they dove back into the water with a SPLASH!
Jack and Annie laughed.“I wish we could swim like that，” said Jack.
Jack and Annie watched the dolphins until they disappeared.
“I miss them already，” Annie said softly.
“Me too，” said Jack.
He sat down in the shallow water.
“I’m really tired，” he said.
Annie sat beside him.
“Me too，” she said.
The warm water lapped around their shorts and T-shirts.
Jack pulled off his pack. He took out his glasses and put them on. They were blurry with water.
“Guess what，” said Annie.
“What?” said Jack.
“I saw the shark when we were swimming，” Annie said. “But I didn’t tell you. I wanted you to stay calm.”
Jack stared at her. “I saw it， too. I just swam faster so you would swim faster.”
“And I swam faster so you would swim faster，” said Annie.
“I guess we swam double-fast then，” Jack said. He shook his head with wonder.
“What now?” said Annie.
“We go home，” said Jack.
“But we haven’t solved Morgan’s riddle yet，” said Annie.
Jack sighed.
He pulled his notebook out of his pack. It was soaked.
He pulled out the ocean book. It was soaked， too.
“We’ve failed，” he said. “My research is all wet. We’ll never be Master Librarians now.”
Jack put everything away. “Let’s go，” he said sadly.
He stood up. Then he started across the pink reef toward the tree house. Annie followed him.
“Ouch!” Annie said.
“What’s wrong?” Jack looked back.
“I stepped on something.” Annie bent down to rub her foot.
“What?” said Jack. “A shell?”
“Yeah， this...” She picked up a large gray shell. “Boy， is it rough. Rough and gray as a rock—”
“And plain as plain can be!” whispered Jack.They had found the answer.
The shell looked like a clamshell—only bigger and with more ridges.
“How could this ugly shell be the answer to the riddle?” said Annie.
“What about the part that says， ‘There’s great beauty in me’?”
“Wait—research，” said Jack. He opened the soaked ocean book.
The pages were stuck together.But he was able to turn a few.
He found a picture of the gray shell. He read:
Divers search for oysters in deepwater. But sometimes oysters wash up on reefs or beaches. Inside some oysters you can find a pearl. The pearl’s natural beauty makes it a treasure.
“It must have a pearl inside it!” said Jack.
Annie peered into the crack between the two halves of the shell. “I can’t see anything，” she said. “How does a pearl get in there， anyway?”
Jack read aloud from the wet page:
Sometimes a grain fo sand will getbetween the oyster’s shell and its skin. This irritates the oyster. So it makes a pearly material to surround the grain of sand. In this way， over a few years， a pearl is formed.
“I can’t tell if there’s a pearl in there or not，” said Annie.
“Maybe we should bang it against a rock，” said Jack.
“Now that would really irritate the oyster，” said Annie.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we should just leave it alone，” said Annie.
She gently put the oyster back in the water.
“But how will we know if oyster is the right answer to the riddle?”
said Jack.
“Morgan said we’ll know，”said Annie. “Come on.”
Jack pushed his glasses into place.Then he and Annie picked up their shoes and socks.
They climbed through the window of the tree house.
Morgan’s scroll was lying on the floor.
It was open.
“Look!” said Annie.
She and Jack stared at the scroll.The riddle had faded away.
In its place was one shimmering silver word:
OYSTER
“Morgan’s magic，” whispered Annie.
Jack let out a huge sigh. “We got it right，” he said.
“And here’s the Pennsylvania book，” said Annie. “Let’s go home.”
She opened the book. She pointed to a picture of the Frog Creek woods.
“I wish we could go there!” she said.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
The wind blew harder and harder.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
9哎哟!
太阳照耀着海面，发出钻石一样璀璨的光芒。
杰克现在放心了，他的海豚会很好地照顾他的。
快到礁石的时候海豚放慢了速度。
杰克放下双脚，感到脚下是崎岖不平的珊瑚。他放开海豚的鳍，站到水里。
安妮也站到了水里，然后她张开双臂，搂住她那只海豚，给了她一个大大的拥抱。
“谢谢你，苏琪!”她大声说，并吻了吻苏琪的鼻子。
苏琪摇摆着脑袋，并冲着安妮发出欢快的哒哒声。
“你也吻一下山姆吧!”安妮对杰克说。
“你别傻了。”杰克说。
但山姆蹭了蹭杰克的脑袋，然后用鳍搂住杰克的脖子。
杰克无法抗拒，于是也用胳膊抱住海豚，飞快地吻了它一下。
山姆点了点头，哒哒地叫着，仿佛在笑，然后转向苏琪。
两只海豚在一起嘀咕了一阵，然后朝杰克和安妮点了点头，优雅地游开了。
“再见，苏琪!再见，山姆!”安妮大声喊道。
“谢谢了!”杰克也喊道。
海豚向空中高高跃起，然后一个猛子扎向水里，水花四溅!
杰克和安妮大笑，杰克说：“我们也能那样游就好了。”他们注视着海豚，直到它们从视线中消失。
“我现在就开始想念它们了。”安妮轻声说。
“我也是。”杰克说。
他一屁股坐在浅水里，说：“我真累死了!”
安妮在他身边坐下，说：“我也是。”
温暖的海水拍打着他们的短裤和T恤衫。
杰克把背包从身上取下来，从里面拿出眼镜戴上，发现眼镜上因为有水而模糊不清了。
“你猜怎么着?”安妮说。
“怎么啦?”杰克说。
“我们在水里游的时候我看见鲨鱼了。”安妮说，“但我没告诉你，我不想让你惊慌。”
杰克看着她说：“我也看见了，然后我就赶快游，这样你也会游得快点。”
“是我游得快你才跟着游快的。”安妮说。
“那好吧，咱俩都游得很快。”杰克说，然后摇了摇头，感到有点不可思议。
“现在干什么?”安妮问。
“我们回家。”杰克说。
“但我们还没找到摩根的谜底呢!”安妮说。
杰克叹了口气。
他从背包里抽出笔记本，只见本子全浸湿了。他又拿出海洋书，发现书也是湿的。
“我们完了。”他说，“我的研究成果全泡汤了，我们成不了万能图书管理员了!”
杰克把东西一放，难过地说：“我们走吧。”
他站起身，开始越过粉红色礁石，朝树屋走去，安妮跟在他后面。
“哎哟!”安妮叫道。
“出什么事了?”杰克回头问。
“我踩到什么东西了。”安妮弯腰揉着她的脚。
“是什么?”杰克问，“贝壳吗?”
“对，这……”安妮捡起一个灰色的大贝壳，说，“对呀，这东西不是很粗糙吗?像岩石一样灰暗而粗糙!”
“而且朴素得不能再朴素!”杰克小声说。他们找到谜底了。
这个贝壳看起来像只蛤蜊，只是比蛤蜊大一点，而且壳上有更多隆起的纹路。
“这只丑陋的贝壳怎么会是谜底呢?”安妮说，“那谜面上‘可深藏在我体内却有惊人之美’在哪儿呢?”
“别急，要研究一下嘛。”杰克说。他打开那本浸湿的海洋书。书页都粘到一起了，但他还是可以翻动几页。
他找到有着灰色贝壳图片的那页读道：
潜水员在深海找寻牡蛎，但牡蛎有时会被冲到礁石或海滩上。有的牡蛎里藏着一颗珍珠，珍珠的天然美丽使它成为一件珍宝。
“这个贝壳里一定藏有一颗珍珠!”杰克说。
安妮从两片贝壳中的缝隙往里看着，说：“我什么也看不见。珍珠怎么会跑到这里面去呢?”
杰克照着打湿的书页大声读道：
有时，一粒沙子会跑到牡蛎壳和它的皮肤之间，这会让牡蛎十分难受，于是它会产生一种珍珠一样的物质把沙粒包裹起来。若干年后，一颗珍珠就这样形成了。
“我不知道里面有没有珍珠。”安妮说。
“也许我们应该把它往石头上砸。”杰克说。
“那样做会使牡蛎真的难受的!”安妮说。
“也是。”
“也许我们应该让它自个儿呆着。”安妮说。
她小心地将牡蛎放回海水里。
“那我们怎么知道牡蛎就是正确的谜底呢?”杰克问。
“摩根说我们会知道的。”安妮说，“走吧。”
杰克推了推眼镜，然后和安妮一起捡起他们的鞋袜。
他们爬进树屋的窗子。只见摩根的纸卷摊开在地上。
“看哪!”安妮说。
她和杰克惊愕地发现，纸卷上的谜语不见了!取而代之的是闪烁着银光的两个字：
牡蛎
“摩根的魔法。”安妮小声说。
杰克长舒了一口气，说：“我们猜对了!”
“这是宾夕法尼亚书。”安妮说，“我们回家吧。”
她打开书，指着蛙溪树林说：“我希望我们能去那儿!”
风吹了起来。
树屋开始打转。
风越刮越大。
然后一切都平静了。
绝对的平静。
