《神奇树屋》 第二十册 Dingoes at Dinnertime 08 The Rainbow Serpent

　　The mother kangaroo bounded out of the trees.

She landed ten feet away from Jack¹, Annie, Teddy,and Joey.

They all were still for a moment, as if they all wereholding their breath.

Then Joey tried to jump out of Jack's backpack.

"Hold on," said Jack.

He put his pack on the ground.

The little kangaroo leaped out.

He leaped again.. .then again.. .and dived headfirstinto his mother's pouch²!

Joey turned himself over inside the pouch. Then hepeeked out at Jack and Annie.

"Yay!" said Jack and Annie together. They laughedand clapped with relief.

"He looks happy to be home," said Annie.

"His mother looks happy, too," said Jack.

The mother kangaroo was gazing down at her joey.

She patted his head with her small paws.

Then she looked at Jack and Annie with soft eyes.

"She's saying thank you to us," Annie said.

"You're welcome," Jack said.

"It was no problem," Annie told the kangaroo. "Youhave a great joey."The kangaroo gave a little nod. Then she bent³ overand used a front paw to pick up a small piece of barkfrom the wet grass.

The kangaroo held the piece of bark out to Jack andAnnie.

Jack took it from her.

"Oh, man," he whispered. "It's our gift from akangaroo."The kangaroo then sprang into the air. She boundedgracefully away through the charred⁴ forest.

"Thanks!" called Jack.

"Bye!" called Annie. "Good luck!"Arf! Arf! Teddy barked.

The rain stopped as Jack studied the piece of bark.

There was a tiny painting on it. It was just like thesnake painting in the cave.

"I wonder what the snake means," said Jack.

Jack opened the wet cover of the Australia book. Hecarefully turned the damp pages. He found a pictureof the snake painting.

"Listen," said Jack. He read:

The first people of Australia are called "Aborigines"(say ab-uh-RIJ-uh-neez).

They have lived there for 40,000 years. Their mythstake place in a time they call "Dreamtime."Dreamtime, there is a Rainbow Serpent, who sendslife-giving rain.

Aborigine artists paint the Rainbow Serpent oncave wails⁵ or on pieces of bark. In special ceremonies,they some-times honor the Rainbow Serpent bypainting their handprints on the magic snake.

"See?" said Annie. "That explains everything!""Explains what?" said Jack.

"We put our hands on the painting of the RainbowSerpent," she said. "It was like a special ceremony. Sothe Rainbow Serpent sent the rain to put out thewildfire."Arf! Teddy barked.

Jack frowned.

"But it's not a real creature," he said. "It's inDreamtime. Not real time." Annie smiled.

"Then how do you explain that?" she said. Shepointed at the sky.

The rain clouds were gone. The sun had come backout.

A rainbow curved across the blue Australian sky.

"Oh, man," whispered Jack. Though the air waswarm again, he shivered.

"Teddy led us to the painting," said Annie. "Weshould thank"How did he know about the Rainbow Serpent inthe cave?" Jack asked.

"I told you," said Annie. "He has a touch of magic."They looked down at the little dog. Teddy tilted⁷ hishead and seemed to smile.

"Hey, we have all four gifts now!" said Annie.

"Oh, yeah!" said Jack.

"Let's go home and see if Teddy's spell is broken!"said Annie.

Arf! Arf!

Jack put the bark painting and the Australia book inhis pack. Then they all headed through the wet,steamy forest in the direction of the tree house.

"I hope the tree house didn't get burned!" he said.

They went past the clearing, past the gum trees andbushes.

The tree house was waiting for them.

"It's still here!" said Annie.

She grabbed the rope ladder and startedJack put Teddy in his pack and followed.

Inside the tree house, Teddy wiggled out of thepack. He pawed the Pennsylvania book.

Arf! Arf!

"Okay, okay," said Jack. He pointed⁶ at a picture ofthe Frog Creek⁸ woods. "I wish we could go there!""Over the rainbow!" said Annie.

And the wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁹ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

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 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 wails   

痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The child burst into loud wails. 那个孩子突然大哭起来。
• Through this glaciated silence the white wails of the apartment fixed arbitrary planes. 在这冰封似的沉寂中，公寓的白色墙壁构成了一个个任意的平面。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

6 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。

7 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。