儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第六册 Afternoon on the Amazon 10

10 Halfway There

Squeak.

Jack opened his eyes. Peanut was on the tree house windowsill.

“We’re home，” said Annie.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

Annie held the fruit up to the afternoon light.

“What exactly is this?” she asked.

“Maybe it’s in the book，” Jack answered.

He pulled out the rain forest book. He flipped through the pages. He came to a picture of the red fruit.

“Here it is!” he said. He read out loud：

“The mango has a sweet taste likethat of a peach.”

“Mango? Hmmm，” said Annie. She brought the fruit close to her lips.

“Hey!” said Jack， grabbing the mango from her. “We have to put it with the moonstone.”

Jack placed the mango on the M carved into the floor. Next to the clear moonstone.

“Moonstone...mango，” whispered Annie. It sounded like a spell.

“We’re halfway there，”said Jack.“Two more to go.”

“Then we can free you， Morgan!” Annie call-ed， as if Morgan were nearby.

“How do you know she can hear you?” said Jack.

“I just feel it，” Annie said.

“Oh， brother，” said Jack. He needed more proof than that.

Squeak. Peanut was looking at Jack and Annie.

“We have to leave you now，” Jack said to the mouse.

Squeak.

“Can’t we take her with us?” said Annie.

“No，” said Jack. “Mom won’t let us keep a mouse in the house. She doesn’t like mice， remember?”

“How could anyone not like a mouse?” said Annie.

Jack smiled. “How could anyone not like a spider?” he said.

“That’s different.”Annie patted Peanut’s head. “Bye，” she said. “Wait for us here. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

Jack patted the mouse， too. “Bye， Peanut. Thanks for your help，”

he said.

Squeak.

Jack put the rain forest book on top of the book about ninjas.

Then he pulled on his backpack. And he and Annie left the tree house.

They climbed down the rope ladder. They stepped onto the ground.

They started walking through the Frog Creek woods.

Leaf shadows danced in the light.

A bird called out.

These woods are very different from the rain forest， Jack thought.

“There’re no jaguars or army ants here，” he said. “No little monkeys.”

“You know，that monkey was never being mean，” said Annie. “He was just trying to give us the mango.”

“I know. Actually， nothing was being mean，” said Jack.“The army ants were just marching. That’s what army ants do.”

“The piranhas were just being piranhas，” said Annie.

“The snake was just being a snake，” said Jack.

“The crocodile was just being a crocodile，” said Annie.

“The jaguar was just taking care of her baby，” said Jack.

Annie shuddered. “I still don’t love bugs，” she said.

“You don’t have to love them，” said Jack. “Just leave them alone.

And they won’t bother you.”

In fact，that’s true about the whole rain forest， Jack thought. Every-one should just leave it all alone.

“Who cares if the bugs don’t have names?” he said softly. “They know who they are.”

Jack and Annie stepped out of the Frog Creek woods.

They started walking up their street. It was lit with a golden light.

“Race you!” said Annie.

They took off running.

They ran across their yard.

They raced up their steps.

“Safe!” they shouted together， tagging their front door.

10任务完成一半了

吱吱。吱吱。

杰克睁开他的眼睛，花生正站在树屋的窗檐上。

“我们到家了。”安妮说。

杰克舒了口气，安妮把果子举起来，放在午后的阳光下。

“这到底是什么呢?”她问道。

“可能书里面有说明。”杰克说。

他抽出热带雨林的书，翻找着，找到了那个红色果子的图片，“在这儿!”他说。

他大声读道：芒果吃起来很甜，像桃子一样。

“芒果?呣……”安妮说，她把芒果放到了嘴边。

“嘿!”杰克把芒果抢过来说，“我们得把它和月亮石放在一起。”

杰克把芒果放在刻在地板上的字母M上，放在那个发光的月亮石旁边。

“月亮石……芒果。”安妮小声念道，听起来就像一个咒语。

“我们已经完成了一半了!”杰克说，“还有两样东西。”

“然后我们就可以给你自由了，摩根!”安妮说道，好像摩根就在旁边一样。

“你怎么知道她能听见?”杰克说。

“我就是感觉得到。”安妮说。

“噢!真是的!”杰克说，他想听更有说服力的说法。

吱吱。吱吱。

花生正看着杰克和安妮。

“我们现在要把你留在这里了。”杰克对小老鼠说。

吱吱。吱吱。

“我们不能把她带回家吗?”安妮说。

“不行。”杰克说，“妈妈不会让我们把老鼠放在家里的。她可不喜欢老鼠，你不记得了吗?”

“怎么会有人不喜欢老鼠呢?”安妮说。

杰克笑起来了，“怎么会有人不喜欢蜘蛛呢?”

“那可不一样。”安妮拍拍花生的脑袋，“再见。”她说，“在这儿等着我们，我们明天还会回来的。”

杰克也拍了拍花生，“再见花生，谢谢你的帮助。”

吱吱。吱吱。

杰克把热带雨林的书放在日本忍者那本书的上面，然后背上背包跟着安妮一起离开了树屋。

他们爬下绳梯到达了地面，他们穿越蛙溪树林，树叶的影子在阳光下跳动。

一只鸟儿在唱歌。

这个树林和热带雨林可真不一样啊，杰克想。

“这里没有美洲豹，没有军蚁团。”他说，“也没有小猴子。”

“其实那个猴子一直都很好，开始我们误以为它很坏呢。”安妮说，“它只是想给我们芒果而已。”

“我知道。事实上，没有什么东西是很坏的。”杰克说，“军蚁它们只不过在行进，这就是军蚁的生活方式。”

“食人鱼只不过是在做食人鱼该做的。”安妮说。

“蛇不过是在做蛇该做的。”杰克说。

“鳄鱼也不过是在做鳄鱼该做的。”安妮说。

“还有美洲豹只不过是在照顾它的小宝贝。”杰克说。

安妮颤抖了一下说：“我还是不喜欢臭虫。”

“你不用去喜欢它们。”杰克说，“只要不去惹它们，它们不会来打扰你的。”

事实上，这对所有热带雨林中的生物都一样，杰克想。每个人都不该去打扰它们。

“那些虫子有没有名字谁在意呢?”杰克轻声说，“它们自己知道自己是谁就可以了。”

杰克和安妮迈出了蛙溪树林，他们开始在街道上行走，一盏金色的灯把街道点亮了。

“看我能不能追上你!”安妮说。

说着杰克和安妮都跑了起来，他们跑过了后院，一直跑到了家门口的台阶上。

“安全咯!”他们一起欢叫起来，敲起了门。