《神奇树屋》 第三十册 Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve 02 The Heart of the Oak

　　Jack¹ opened his eyes. A chilly² wind blew into thetree house. Oak leaves swirled³ outside the window.

"Look, we have our costumes, " said Annie. "I'm nota princess or a vampire⁴."Jack looked at their clothes. He was wearing aknee-length tunic⁵ and tights. Annie was wearing along dress with an apron⁶.

"Camelot costumes," Jack said softly.

They looked out the window together. They werehigh in a huge oak tree in a thick forest.

615The afternoon sun was low in the autumn sky. "Sowhat do we do now?" said Jack.

"The invitation says we're supposed to meet Merlinin the heart of the oak, " said Annie. "Yeah, but whatdoes that mean?" said Jack, scowling⁷. "The heart of anoak?""Let's go down and try to figure it out," said Annie.

She carefully placed their invitation in a corner ofthe tree house. Then she and Jackclimbed down the rope ladder. They stepped ontothe leafy ground. In the fading daylight, they begancircling the base of the giant oak.

They walked all the way around, until they came tothe rope ladder again.

"We're back where we started, " said Jack. "Wenever found the heart.""Wait a minute, " said Annie. "What's that?" Shepointed to a long, thin crack in the bark of the treetrunk. A sliver⁸ of light seemed to be coming from thecrack.

716Jack touched the bark around the light. Hepushed. The crack got bigger.

"It's a secret door!" said Jack. He pushed harder.

Creak.

A tall, narrow door swung intothe tree. Light streamed from inside.

"We found it, whispered Annie, "the heart of theoak."Jack nodded.

"Let's go in," said Annie. They slipped through thenarrow doorway⁹ into the bright hollow of the tree trunk.

17Jack couldn't believe his eyes. The round room waslit with hundreds of candles. Shadowsdanced on the curved brown walls.

This isn't possible!

thought Jack. The heart of the oak seemed muchbigger than the tree itself!

"Welcome, said a deep, whispery voice. Theyturned around and saw an old man sitting in a carvedwooden chair. He had a long white beard and wore ared cloak.

"Hi, Merlin,91said Annie.

"Hello, Annie. Hello, Jack. It is good to see youagain," the magician said. "I am grateful for the helpyou gave us on Christmas Eve in Camelot. NowMorgan and I believe you might be able to help usagain.""We'd love to!" said Annie.

"The whole future of our kingdom depends uponyour success, 1 said Merlin.

"Are you sure you wantus?" Jack asked. "I mean, we Ire just kids."18"You have passed many tests for Morgan," saidMerlin. "Are you not Master Librarians andMagicians of Everyday Magic?"Jack nodded. "Yes, we are," he said.

"Good. You will need all your skills on thismission," said Merlin. "You will also need a helperand guide from our world, the world of magic andlegend.""Are you coming with us?" asked Annie. "No," themagician said. "Your guide shall be one muchyounger than 1. He is in my library now. Yesterdayhe brought me some books I had requested fromMorgan's library."Merlin rose from his chair. "Come," he said, leadingthem to a door in the curved wall. He opened it andstepped into another room. Jack and Annie followedhim.

The musty room was filled with scrolls¹⁰ and ancient-looking books. Sitting on the floor was a boy abouteleven or twelve years old. He was reading by thelight of a lantern.

19"Your helper and guide," Merlin said to Jack andAnnie.

The boy looked up. He had a friendly, freckled¹¹ faceand dark, twinkly eyes. He broke into a big grin.

"Arf, arf!" he said. "Teddy!" cried Annie.

Jack couldn't believe it! Their helper was the youngsorcerer who was training as Morgan's apprentice¹²!

Merlin, for once, looked surprised. "You alreadyknow each other?" he asked.

"Yes, we met a while ago when I accidentallychanged myself into a dog!" said Teddy.

"Morgan wanted to teach Teddy a lesson,"explained Annie. "So she sent him with us on fourtree-house journeys before she changed him back intoa boy. He saved us on the Titanic¹³. And he saved usfrom a buffalo¹⁴ stampede!""And from a tiger in India," said Jack, "and a forestfire in Australia."20"Wondrous journeys, indeed," said Merlin. "I amglad you are already friends. Your friendship mayhelp you on thismission.""What is our mission?" asked Annie.

"We are now in one of the outlying realms ofCamelot, " said Merlin. "Beyond these woods lies thecastle of a duke."Merlin leaned forward, as if he were about to tellthem something really scary. "It will be yourmission," he said, "to bring order to the duke's castle."Merlin sat back in his chair. His gaze was calm, buta fierce light shone in his eyes.

Bring order to a castle?

thought Jack.

Is thatall?

"Who messed it up, sir?" asked Annie.

"You will find out soon enough," said Merlin. "Weaccept our assignment gladly," said Teddy. "Themission will be done without fail!"Merlin fixed¹⁵ his gaze on Teddy. "Perhaps," he said.

"But a warning, my boy: you are hasty and21careless with your magic rhymes. On this mission,you must choose all your words wisely." "Indeed Iwill, " said Teddy.

Merlin turned to Jack and Annie. "And a warningto you, too," he said. "You are about to enter a tunnelof fear. Proceed onward¹⁶ with courage, and you willcome out into the light."Tunnel of fear? Jack thought.

Merlin picked up the lantern and handed it toTeddy. "The duke's castle lies to the east. Go quickly,"he said. "Order must be restored as soon as possible."Teddy nodded at Merlin. Then he turned to Jackand Annie. "To the duke's castle!" he said, and he ledthem out of the heart of the oak.

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 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

3 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

4 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。

5 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

6 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

7 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

8 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

9 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

10 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

11 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

12 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

13 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

14 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。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

16 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。