英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十四册 Day of the Dragon King 10 The Ancient Legend

　　Jack¹ opened his eyes. He was wearing his ownclothes and his sneakers. The cloth sack² had turnedback into his backpack.

"Welcome home, Master Librarians," said Morgan.

She stood in the tree house, smiling at them.

"Hi!" said Annie.

"We brought you the ancient legend," said Jack.

"Wonderful!" said Morgan. Jack reached into hispack. He took out the China book. Then he pulled outthe bamboo book. He handed them to Morgan.

"What's the legend about?" said Annie. "It's calledThe Silk Weaver³ and the Cowherd," said Morgan. "It'sa very famous Chinese tale.""Guess what, Morgan?" said Annie. "We actuallymet them! We helped them get together!""Oh, did you?" said Morgan.

"Yes!" said Jack. "The silk weaver's ball of silk savedus!""What does the legend say about them?" askedAnnie.

"It says that long ago they were heavenly beingswho lived in the sky," said Morgan.

"When they came to earth, they fell in love.""That's when we met them!" said Annie.

"Yes, I imagine so," said Morgan. "The book youbrought back tells about their happiness on earth. ButI'm afraid a later legend tells us that when theyreturned to the sky, the king and queen of the skiesseparated them by a heavenly river called the MilkyWay.""Oh, no," said Annie.

"They get back together once a year," said Morgan.

"On that night, birds make a bridge in the sky overthe Milky⁴ Way."Jack and Annie gazed⁵ up at the bright summer sky.

"Go home now," said Morgan. "Come back twoweeks from today. Next you're going to find a book inthe country of Ireland, over a thousand years ago.""That sounds like fun," said Annie.

Morgan frowned⁶.

"I'm afraid it was a very dangerous time," she said.

"For Viking raiders often attacked the seacoasts.""Vikings?" said Jack. He'd had enough danger tolast a long time.

"Don't worry about it now," said Morgan. "Just gohome and rest."Jack nodded.

"I'll try," he said, pulling on his backpack. "Bye,"said Annie. "See you in two weeks.""Thank you for your help," said Morgan.

"Anytime," said Annie.

They headed down the rope ladder. From theground, they waved to Morgan.

Then they started for home.

As they got to the edge of the woods, Anniestopped.

"Listen to the crickets," she said.

Jack listened. The cricket⁷ chirps⁸ sounded louderthan usual.

"Their ancestors lived in the time of the DragonKing," said Annie.

"Oh, brother," said Jack.

"Right now the grownups are telling the littlecrickets a legend," said Annie.

"Yeah, sure," said Jack.

"A legend passed down from their ancestors," saidAnnie.

Jack smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but thecricket noise did sound like story-telling. He couldalmost hear them saying, Dragon King, Dragon King,Dragon King.

"Jack! Annie!" came a voice.

It was their mother calling them. The spell wasbroken. The cricket stories were just plain old cricketsounds again.

"Coming!" Jack shouted.

Jack and Annie ran down their street and acrosstheir yard.

"Did you have a good time in China?" their momasked.

"It was pretty scary," said Annie.

"We got lost in a tomb," said Jack. "But we weresaved by an ancient book."Their mom smiled and shook her head.

"My, books are wonderful, aren't they?" she said.

"Yep!" said Jack and Annie.

And they followed her inside.

1 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。

2 sack   

n.袋子，劫掠；vt.解雇，劫掠，把...装入袋子

参考例句：

• They made him pay for his offence by giving him the sack.他们解雇了他，从而使他因自己的过错而受到了惩罚。
• If you're late again tomorrow,you'll get the sack!如果你明天再迟到，那就卷铺盖走吧！

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

5 gazed   

v.凝视，注视( gaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration. 他一往情深地注视着她。
• She gazed at him in amazement. 她惊异地注视着他。

6 frowned   

皱眉( frown的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She frowned in puzzlement. 她迷惑地蹙着眉。
• The mother frowned when her son failed in his exam. 儿子考试不及格时，母亲皱着眉。

7 cricket   

n.蟋蟀，板球运动；adj.公平的

参考例句：

• The England cricket team scored quite a useful total.英格兰板球队得分总数令人满意。
• We could hear the shrill of the midsummer cricket.我们可以听到仲夏时节蟋蟀的尖叫声。
• Your behaviour isn't cricket.你的行为不光彩。

8 chirps   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的第三人称单数 )； 啾； 啾啾

参考例句：

• The linnet chirps her vernal song. 红雀吱喳鸣叫着她春天的歌。
• She heard nothing but the chirps and whirrs of insects. 除了虫的鸣叫声外，她什么也没听见。