英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十四册 Day of the Dragon King 7 The Burning of the Books

　　The Dragon King watched the bonfire as it blazedup toward the sky. Around the fire the air was thickand wavy¹. Bamboo books were stacked beside thefire, waiting to be burned.

"Hurry!" said the scholar.

They jumped down from the cart and joined thecrowd by the bonfire.

The Dragon King shouted to the soldiers. Theybegan throwing the books into the fire. The bamboocrackled as it burned.

"Stop!" cried Annie.

Jack² grabbed her. "Quiet!" he said.

Annie pulled away. "Stop!" she shouted again. Buther voice was lost in the noise of the roaring fire.

"There's your story!" said the scholar. Re pointed³ toa bamboo book that had fallen off a waiting stack.

"I'll get it!" said Annie. She dashed over to the book.

"Annie!" cried Jack. But she had already snatchedup the bundle of bamboo strips and was chargingback to them.

"Got it! Quick, put it in your sack!" she said.

Jack put the bundle of bamboo strips in his sack.

Then he looked around fearfully. He gasped⁴.

The Dragon King was glaring at them! Then heheaded their way.

"Seize them!" the Dragon King shouted.

"Run through the burial grounds!" the scholar saidto Jack and Annie. "The soldiers will be afraid tofollow. They fear the spirits of the ancestors!""Thanks!" said Jack. "Thanks for everything!""Good luck!" cried Annie.

Then she and Jack took off. Soldiers shouted afterthem. An arrow whizzed by.

But Jack and Annie kept running. They ran downthe path to the burial grounds. They jumped over thelow brick wall and ran between the huge mounds⁵ ofearth.

Suddenly arrows filled the air around them. Thearchers were shooting from the tower!

"Look!" cried Jack.

There was a doorway⁶ in one of the mounds. Jackand Annie ducked inside.

They were in a long hall lit with oil lamps. "It's soquiet," said Annie. She walked down the Passageway.

"Hey, there are some steps here.""Don't go any farther!" said Jack.

"Why not?" said Annie.

"We don't know what's down there," saidJack. "This is a burial tomb, remember? It's creepy.""Let's just take a quick look," said Annie. "Maybeit's the way out of here."Jack took a deep breath.

"You might be right," he said. "Okay, but go slow."He didn't want to stumble upon a dead body.

Annie started down the steep steps. Jack followed.

The lamps lit their way as they kept going down anddown. Finally, they reached the bottom.

Jack blinked. Even though oil lamps glowedeverywhere, it was hard to see at first.

When Jack's eyes got used to the strange light, hisheart nearly stopped.

"Oh, man," he breathed.

They were in a room filled with soldiers-thousands of them.

1 wavy   

adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• She drew a wavy line under the word.她在这个词的下面画了一条波纹线。
• His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow.他的波浪式头发太长了，正好垂在他的眉毛下。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。