《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 13 Your Horses Are Waiting

　　"I don't believe what just happened," said Jack¹.

"What part don't you believe?" said Annie, holding the silvercup.

Jack laughed and shook his head.

"I don't believe any of it," he said.

Annie laughed, too. "That was cool, huh?"Jack pushed his glasses into place and stared at her.

"Seriously, what just happened in there?" he asked.

"I imagined us fighting the Keepers with flaming swords," saidAnnie. "What did you imagine?"Jack shrugged². "I--I just imagined the Keepers going back intheir holes," he said.

"Good," said Annie. "We both got what we imagined.""Yeah," said Jack, smiling. "But what you imagined made amuch better story."A shriek³ of fury came from inside the cave.

"Yikes!" said Annie.

"Let's get out of here!" said Jack.

He scrambled⁴ to his feet, and together they climbed backdown over the big rocks to the thicket⁵. Annie moved verycarefully to keep from spilling the water in the cup.

When they came to the thicket, Jack pulled out Sir Percival'scompass. "If we came west to get here, we have to go east to getback," he said. "East is that way....

As they started into the wild growth, Jack went first so hecould clear the way for Annie.

Without talking, they pushed steadily⁶ through the trees andbushes, moving farther and farther from the Keepers' cave.

Finally, they heard music in the distance. They walked closerand closer toward the sound, until they stepped back into thegreen glade⁷.

The winged dancers were still there, dancing in their magiccircle. Jack's heart raced. He wanted to join them again. But heknew that if he did, he would never escape their dance.

"Look!" said Annie. "The knights⁹ are awake!"Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Percival were standing¹⁰ justbeyond the circle of dancers. They were buckling¹¹ on theirswords.

"Hi!" called Annie. "Guess what! We got it!"The knights walked shakily toward Jack and Annie. They stilllooked thin and tired, but color had returned to their cheeks.

"We have the Water of Memory and Imagination," said Annie.

She held up the silver cup. The knights smiled.

"Now we just have to get it back to Camelot," said Jack.

"We would like to help you," said Sir Lancelot. "But it seemswe have lost our three horses.

"No, you haven't!" said Annie. "Your horses are waiting foryou!""They're on the other side of the hill," said Jack.

Jack and Annie led the knights over the hill. On their way,Jack picked up the red velvet¹² cloak. When they came to themeadow, they saw the three horses.

The horses neighed and cantered over to the knights. As SirLancelot stroked the mane of the black horse, he turned to Jackand Annie.

"You can both ride back to Camelot with me, he said.

"Thanks!" they said.

Jack fastened the red cloak around his neck.

Sir Lancelot helped them onto the back of his horse, thenclimbed on himself.

Annie sat behind Lancelot. She held on to the knight⁸ with herright hand. She held the silver cup in her left hand.

"Can you carry the water without spilling it?" Jack asked her,worried.

"I'll try," she said.

Sir Galahad mounted the brown horse, and Sir Percivalclimbed on the gray horse. Then the three knights startedthrough the pale green meadow.

"Careful, careful," Jack whispered to Annie.

"I got it, I got it," she said.

When they came to the iron gate, the knights drew theirswords.

"Open the gate! In the name of King Arthur of Camelot!" SirLancelot called. Though he still sounded hoarse¹³, the knight'sdeep voice carried an amazing strength.

The iron gate slowly swung open. Sir Lancelot urged his horseonward.

The guards watched silently as the knights passed by themand started across the bridge.

The three horses trod in single file over the wooden planks¹⁴.

Again, Jack was amazed by the difference between this worldand the Other-world. Here it was dark and freezing and foggy.

The red cloak flapped in the bitter wind.

As the horses stepped off the bridge, they each neighedloudly.

"Oh, wow!" whispered Annie.

Standing high on a rock, in a swirl¹⁵ of fog, was the white stag.

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 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

4 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 glade   

n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地

参考例句：

• In the midst of a glade were several huts.林中的空地中间有几间小木屋。
• The family had their lunch in the glade.全家在林中的空地上吃了午饭。

8 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

9 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 buckling   

扣住

参考例句：

• A door slammed in the house and a man came out buckling his belt. 房子里的一扇门砰地关上，一个男子边扣腰带边走了出来。
• The periodic buckling leaves the fibre in a waved conformation. 周期性的弯折在纤维中造成波形构成。

12 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

13 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

14 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

15 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。