《神奇树屋》 第十八册 Buffalo Before Breakfast 06 Stampede!

　　"Wow," Whispered Jack¹ and Annie together.

Black Hawk² looked silently at the grazing buffalo³.

"Hand me the research book," said Jack.

Annie lifted Teddy out of the bag. Then she slid the book outand gave it to Jack.

He found a picture of a buffalo herd⁴. He read to himself.

The true name of the buffalo is "bison." At the beginning ofthe l800s, there were 40 million bison on the Great Plains. Onehundred years later, there were less than 300. Almost all hadbeen killed by white hunters and soldiers.

Jack looked back at the vast herd. As far as he could see, therewas nothing but buffalo.

Now Jack knew for certain they'd come to the time before thewhite settlers and soldiers had arrived, before the end of thegreat buffalo herds⁵.

"I have been on many hunts," Black Hawk said, his eyes stillon the buffalo.

"Were you scared?" said Jack. Black Hawk shook his head.

"You're really brave," said Annie.

Black Hawk smiled proudly.

"I will show you how a brave hunter moves," he said.

He slid off his pony⁶.

"Wait, your grandmother said not to hunt," said Annie. "Plus,you don't have your wolf suit.""I am not afraid," said Black Hawk.

"I don't think you should go down there," said Jack. "There'sno grownups around." But Black Hawk wasn't listening.

He began creeping on all fours toward the buffalo.

"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen," saidAnnie.

Jack had the same feeling, he looked back at the book.

A bison can weigh two thousand pounds and stand six feethigh. If one becomes alarmed by a hunter, he might startrunning and set off a terrifying Stampede.

Jack looked back at Black Hawk. He was creeping closer andcloser to the herd.

Jack's heart pounded. He wanted to shout, Come back! But hedidn't want to scare any of the huge, fierce-looking animalsKeeping his eyes on Black Hawk, Jack handed the plains bookto Annie. She slid it back into the bag beside Teddy.

Black Hawk stopped just as he was passing the nearestbuffalo. His eyes squeezed shut. His nose wrinkled up. Hismouth opened.

"What's he doing?" asked Jack.

"Ah-ah-CHOO!" Black Hawk sneezed.

"Uh-oh," said Annie.

The huge buffalo jerked its head up. It made a low, moaningsound. Then it pointed⁷ its horns and charged!

"Watch out!" cried Jack.

Black Hawk threw himself out of the way of the chargingbuffalo.

A ripple⁸ went through the herd as other shaggy animalslooked up.

Suddenly, Teddy jumped out of 's arms. He landed in the tallgrass and ran toward the buffalo.

"Teddy!" shouted Annie.

The dog tore down the hill. He bounded along the edge of theherd, barking furiously.

"Teddy, come back!" cried Annie. She slid off her pony andran after Teddy. Jack tried to see Black Hawk.

The boy was still dodging⁹ the running buffalo. He lookedtired.

Jack took a deep breath.

"Go to Black Hawk!" he said, nudging Sunlight with his knees.

The golden pony charged down the slope. He ran between thebuffalo.

"Black Hawk!" Jack shouted.

Black Hawk started running toward Sunlight. The buffaloswerved behind him.

Sunlight slowed as Black Hawk got near. The boy threwhimself over the golden pony's back. He held on to Jack asSunlight veered¹⁰ away from the buffalo and ran back up theslope.

"Where's Annie?" Jack cried as they reached the top.

"There!" said Black Hawk, pointing.

Annie was surrounded by buffalo--calm buffalo. She waspatting them and talking to them. The buffalo near her hadstopped running, too.

The ones beyond those started to calm down.. .then others..

.until all the buffalo had stopped running.

They began grazing again as if nothing had happened.

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 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

3 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

6 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

7 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。

8 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

9 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

10 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》