《神奇树屋》 第三十册 Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve 01 All Hallows Eve

　　Maybe I should be a vampire¹ instead of a princess,"said Annie.

She and Jack² were sitting on their front porch. Acool breeze rustled³ the trees. Autumn leaves twirledto the ground.

"But you already have your princess costume, " saidJack. "Besides, you were a vampire last Halloween.""I know, but I want to wear my big teeth again,"said Annie.

"So wear your big teeth and be a vampire110princess," said Jack. He stood up. "I'm going to goput on my ghoul makeup⁴ now."KRAW!

"Oh, man!" said Jack.

A giant black bird swooped⁵ down to the ground.

The bird strutted⁶ through the fallen leaves. Itsfeathers glistened⁷ in the golden afternoon light.

"Wow, is that a crow?" asked Annie.

"It's too big for a crow," said Jack. "I think it mightbe a raven⁸.""A raven?" said Annie. "Cool."The raven lifted its sleek⁹ head and stared atthem withbrighteyes. Jack held his breath. The bird hopped¹⁰ forward.

It flapped its greatblack wings and lifted into the air. Then he glidedinto the autumn sky and headed toward the FrogCreek woods.

Annie jumped up. "It's a sign! Morgan's back!" shesaid.

"I think you're right!" said Jack. "Let's go!"11Jack and Annie hurried across their front yard,crunching through the leaves. They ran up their streetand into the Frog Creek¹¹ woods.

When they came to the tallest oak, they saw therope ladder swaying in the wind. The magic treehouse was waiting for them.

"Just as we thought," Annie said, smiling. Jackfollowed her up the ladder. When they climbed insidethe tree house, they saw no sign of Morgan le Fay,the enchantress from the kingdom of Camelot.

"That's weird¹², " said Jack, looking around. The windblew hard again, shaking the tree branches. A hugeyellow leaf fluttered through the open window andcame to rest at Jack's feet.

"Oh, man," he said. "Look at this." "What?" saidAnnie.

Jack picked up the leaf. There was writing on it.

The letters were curvy and old-fashioned. "Wow,"whispered Annie. "What does it say?" Jack held theleaf up to the tree house12window. In the fading light, he read aloud:

"M!"said Annie. "Morgan never signs her messages withM.

.

. .""Right . . . " said Jack. "But . .

"Merlindoes!" they said together.

"Like when he sent us the invitation to spendChristmas in Camelot, " said Annie. She pointed¹³ tothe Royal Invitation that still lay in the corner of thetree house.

"Now he's inviting¹⁴ us on Halloween!" said13Jack. "Halloween was called 'All Hallows Eve' along time ago.""I know," said Annie. "We have to go!""Of course, " said Jack. There was no way theycould turn down an invitation from the mastermagician of all time. "But how do we get there?""I'll bet our invitation will take us, " said Annie,"like when we went to King Arthur's castle onChristmas Eve.""Good idea," said Jack. He pointed to the fancywriting onthe leaf. "I wish we could go""To where this leaf invitation came from!" saidAnnie.

"Right!" said Jack.

The wind began to blow.

The tree house started to spin. It spun¹⁵ faster andfaster.

Then everything was still. Absolutely still.

1 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

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 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

6 strutted   

趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

7 glistened   

v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

9 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

10 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

11 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。

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 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。

14 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

15 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。