儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第七册 Afternoon on the Amazon 07

7 The Sorcerer’s Gift

The sorcerer didn’t speak.He stared through the eyeholes of the owl mask.

“Help us，please，”said Annie.

The sorcerer threw a rope into the pit.Jack grabbed it.

“He wants to pull us up，”said Annie.

Jack looked up.The sorcerer was gone.

“Where did he go?”Jack said.

“Tug on the rope，”said Annie.

Jack tugged.The rope tightened.It began rising.

“I’ll go first!”said Annie cheerfully.

“Annie，this isn’t a game，”warned Jack.

“Don’t worry，I’ll be careful.”

Jack gave her the rope.“Okay.But hold on tight，”he said.

Annie held the rope with both hands.She pushed her feet against the side of the pit.She rose into the air with the rope.

She kept pressing against the side of the pit—until she reached the top.

Jack saw the sorcerer reappear and help Annie up.Then they moved out of sight.

Jack was puzzled.The sorcerer had used both hands to help Annie.So who held the other end of the rope?

“Wow!”came Annie’s voice.

What’s going on?Jack wondered.

The sorcerer came back and threw the rope down again.

Jack grabbed it.And the rope started to rise.

Jack held on tight.He started up.His hands burned.His arms felt as if they were being pulled out of their sockets.

But he kept his hold on the rope and his feet against the side of the pit.

At the top the sorcerer pulled Jack onto the snowy ground.

“Thanks，”said Jack，standing.

The sorcerer was tall.He wore a long fur robe.Jack could see only his eyes through the owl mask.

“Hey!”Annie called.

Jack turned.

Annie was sitting on a woolly mammoth.

Squeak.Peanut was sitting on the mammoth’s head.

The mammoth looked like a giant elephant with shaggy reddish hair and long，curved tusks.

The other end of the rope was around the mammoth’s huge neck.

“Lulu pulled us up，”said Annie.

“Lulu?”said Jack.

“Don’t you think she looks like a Lulu?”said Annie.

“Oh brother，”said Jack.He walked up to the mammoth.

“Hey，mammoth starts with M，”said Annie.“Maybe Lulu’s the special thing!”

“I don’t think so，”said Jack.

The great creature knelt down，just like a circus elephant.

“Whoa!”said Annie.She clutched the mammoth’s ears to keep from falling off.

The sorcerer helped Jack climb onto the mammoth.

“Thanks，”said Jack.

Then the sorcerer reached into a pouch.He pulled out a smooth white bone and handed it to Jack.

The bone was hollow.It had four holes along one side.And two on the other.

“Oh man，I think it’s his flute，”said Jack.“The book said they make flutes from mammoth bones.”

Jack tried to give the flute back to the sorcerer.

“Nice，”he said politely.

But the sorcerer held up his hand.

“He wants you to keep the mammoth bone，”said Annie.

“Mammoth bone，”whispered Jack.“Hey，maybe this is the third thing.”

Jack looked at the sorcerer.“Do you know Morgan?”he asked.

The sorcerer did not answer. But his eyes sparkled with kindness.

He turned away from Jack and untied the mammoth’s rope.Then he whispered in the ear of the giant woolly creatrure.

When the mammoth stood up，Jack gripped Annie’s coat to keep from falling off.He felt miles above the ground.

He nestled behind Annie，in the dip between the mammoth’s head and huge curved back.

The mammoth took slow，plodding steps across the snow，then picked up speed.

“Where are we going?”said Jack as they bumped up and down.

“To the tree house!”said Annie.

“How does he know where it is?”said Jack.

“She just knows，”said Annie.

Jack looked back.

The sorcerer was standing in the snow，watching them.

But at that moment the clouds parted，and the sun came out.

Jack was blinded by sunlight on the snow.

He squinted to see—but the sorcerer had vanished.

7巫师的礼物

巫师一声不吭。他从猫头鹰面具的眼窝里盯着他们。

“请救我们上去吧。”安妮说。

巫师把一根绳子扔进坑里，杰克抓住了它。

“他要拉我们出去。”安妮说。

杰克向上看了看。巫师不见了。

“他去哪儿了呢?”杰克说。

“拽住绳子。”安妮说。

杰克拽住绳子。绳子绷紧了，并且开始上升。

“我先出去!”安妮兴高采烈地说。

“安妮，这不是做游戏。”杰克提醒她。

“别担心，我会小心的。”

杰克把绳递给她。“好吧，但要抓紧绳子。”他说。

安妮双手抓住绳子。她把双脚蹬在坑壁上。她沿着绳子升到半空中。

她继续蹬着坑壁——直到爬上土坑顶。

杰克看见巫师又出现了，帮助安妮上去。接着他们从视线中消失了。

杰克迷惑不解了。巫师是用双手帮助安妮的。那么是谁拉住绳子的另一头呢?

“哇噻!”安妮的声音传来了。

发生什么事了?杰克心中没有底。

巫师又回来了，把绳子又扔了下来。

杰克一把抓住，然后绳子开始上升了。

杰克紧紧地抓住绳子。他开始上升。他的双手火辣辣的。他的双臂就像是要被拉脱了臼。

但是他坚持着抓紧绳子，双脚蹬在坑壁上。

在顶部，巫师把杰克拉到大雪覆盖的地面上。

“谢谢。”杰克站起来说。

巫师个子高高的。他穿着长长的皮袍。杰克只能看见猫头鹰面具里的眼睛。

“嗨!”安妮叫了起来。

杰克转过身来。

安妮正坐在一只长毛猛犸的背上。

吱吱。花生正坐在猛犸的头上。

猛犸看上去像一只庞大的大象，长着粗浓蓬松的微红色的毛和又长又弯的獠牙。

绳子的另一端套在猛犸粗粗的大脖子上。

“露露把我们拉上来的。”安妮说。

“露露?”杰克说。

“你不认为它长得像歌手露露吗?”安妮说。

“啊，好伙计。”杰克说。他向猛犸走去。

“嗨，猛犸的首字母是M。”安妮说，“也许这个露露就是我们要找的特殊的东西!”

“我不这样认为。”杰克说。

这只庞然大物跪了下来，就像马戏团的大象那样。

“吁!”安妮说。她抓着猛犸的耳朵，不让自己掉下来。

巫师帮助杰克爬到猛犸背上。

“谢谢。”杰克说。

接着，巫师把手伸进一个口袋里，掏出一块光滑的白白的骨头，递给了杰克。

骨头是中空的，一边有四个眼，另一边有两个眼。

“嘿，我认为这是他的笛子。”杰克说，“书上说他们用猛犸的骨头制做笛子。”

杰克想把笛子还给巫师。

“真漂亮。”杰克客气地说。

但是巫师举起了一只手。

“他要你收下猛犸骨头。”安妮说。

“猛犸骨头。”杰克咕哝说，“嗨，这也许就

是那第三样特殊的东西。”

杰克看着巫师。“你认识摩根吗?”他问。

巫师没有回答，但是他的双眼闪烁着慈爱的光芒。

他转过身去，解开了猛犸颈上的绳子。然

后他在多毛的庞然大物耳边耳语了几句。

当猛犸站起来时，杰克紧紧抓住安妮的外套，自己才没有掉下来。他感到高

出地面好几英里呢。

他舒适地坐在安妮后面，坐在猛犸的脑袋和它宽宽的弯弯的背部之间的凹处。

猛犸迈着缓慢而有力的步伐越过雪地，然后加快了速度。

“我们这是去哪儿?” 杰克说，他们正在猛犸背上颠簸着。

“去树屋!”安妮说。

“它怎么知道树屋在哪儿呢?”杰克说。

“它就是知道。”安妮说。

杰克回过头。

巫师还站在雪地中，注视着他们。

但是就在这时，云开了，太阳出来了。

杰克被雪地上反射的阳光刺得睁不开眼睛。

他眯着眼瞧——但是巫师已经消失了。