儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第三册 Mummies in the Morning 06

6墙上的文字

杰克和安妮都仔细看着墙壁。

石头墙壁上刻着一连串细小的图形。

“这里有四个图形。”杰克对幽灵王后说。

“杰克，把它们描述一下。请你一个一个地来。”王后说。

杰克仔细研究着第一幅图形。

“第一幅是这样的。”他说着用手指在空中划了个锯齿形。

“像阶梯一样吗?”幽灵王后问。

“是的，阶梯，正是像阶梯一样。”杰克说。

王后点了点头。

这个还容易。

杰克又继续研究第二幅图形。

“第二幅的底部有一个长条形的盒子。”他边说边在空中比划着。

幽灵王后的脸上露出很困惑的神情。

“上面有三样东西。像这样。”安妮说着在空中划出几道曲折线条。

幽灵王后看起来还是很迷惑。

“像一顶帽子。”杰克说。

“帽子?”幽灵王后问道。

“不，更像一条船。”安妮说。

“船?”幽灵王后说，她似乎突然兴奋起来了。“船?”

杰克又看了一眼墙壁。

“是的，是挺像船的。”他说。

幽灵王后看起来非常开心的样子微笑着。

“是的，那是当然。”她说。

杰克和安妮又开始研究下一幅图形。

“第三个图形像是装花的东西。”安妮说。

“或者是一个装水的东西。”杰克说。

“像个罐子?”幽灵王后问。

“正是。”杰克说。

“是的，是像个罐子。”安妮也说。

杰克和安妮接着研究最后一个图形。

“最后一个图形像一个垂下来的柱子。”安妮说。

“像一个弯着的棍子。”杰克说，“但是一边比另一边短。”

幽灵王后的脸上又露出了困惑的表情。

“等等。”杰克说，“我来把它画在我的笔记本上，画得大大的，让你也能看见。”

杰克放下权杖，拿出了铅笔开始画那最后一个象形文字。

“是一块折起来的布。”幽灵王后说。

“嗯，不像。”杰克说着又研究了一会儿自己画的图形。

“可它在象形文字里就是代表折起来的一块布。”幽灵王后说。

“哦，好吧。”杰克说。

他又看了看那第四个象形文字，却还是看不出那是一块折起来的布。倒是有些像一块挂在浴室杆子上的毛巾。

“这样就都有了。”安妮说，一面一个一个地指着那四幅图形。“阶梯，船，罐子，折起的布。”

杰克把这四个词记在了笔记本上。

“那这些图形是什么意思呢?”他问幽灵王后。

“来。”她说着伸出手，“到我的墓室里来吧。”

说完她立刻飘远了。

6 The Writing on the Wall

Jack and Annie squinted at the pyramid wall.

A series of tiny pictures were carved into the stone.

“There are four pictures here，” Jack told the ghost-queen.

“Describe them to me， Jack. One at a time， please，” she said.

Jack studied the first picture.

“Okay，” he said. “The first one is like this.” He made a zigzag in the air with his finger.

“Like stairs?” asked the ghost-queen.

“Yes， stairs!” said Jack. “Just like stairs.”

She nodded.

Easy enough.

Jack studied the second picture.

“The second one has a long box on the bottom，” he said. He drew it in the air.

The ghost-queen looked puzzled.

“With three things on top. Like this，” said Annie. She drew squiggly lines in the air.

The ghost-queen still seemed puzzled.

“Like a hat，” said Jack.

“Hat?” said the ghost-queen.

“No. More like a boat，” said Annie.

“Boat?” said the ghost-queen. She got excited. “Boat?”

Jack took another look at the wall.

“Yes. It could be a boat，” he said.

The ghost-queen looked very happy. She smiled.

“Yes. Of course，” she said.

Jack and Annie studied the next picture.

“The third one is like a thing that holds flowers，” said Annie.

“Or a thing that holds water，” said Jack.

“Like a jug?” asked the ghost-queen.

“Exactly，” said Jack.

“Yes. A jug，” said Annie.

Jack and Annie studied the last picture.

“And the last one looks like a pole that droops，” said Annie.

“Like a curved stick，” said Jack. “But one side is shorter than the other.”

The ghost-queen looked puzzled.

“Wait，” said Jack. “I’ll draw it in my notebook. Big!So you can see it.”

Jack put down the scepter and got out his pencil. He drew the hieroglyph.

“A folded cloth，” said the ghost-queen.

“Well， not really，” said Jack. He studied his drawing.

“But that is the hieroglyph for a folded cloth，” said the ghost-queen.

“Well， okay，” said Jack.

He looked at the fourth hieroglyph again. He still couldn’t see the folded cloth. Unless it was like a towel hanging over a bathroom rod.

“So that’s all of them，” said Annie. She pointed at each picture. “Stairs. Boat. Jug. Folded cloth.”

Jack wrote the words in his notebook.

stairs= Jug=

boat= Cloth=

“So what does the message mean?” he asked the ghost-queen.

“Come，” she said.She held out her hand.“Come to my burial chambers.”

And she floated away.