《神奇树屋》 第三十二册 Winter of the Ice Wizard 02 Land-Behind-the-Clouds

　　Jack¹ felt the sharp bite of an icy wind. He lookedout the window with the others. "Oh, man," hewhispered.

The tree house was not in a tree--for there were notrees anywhere to be seen. Instead, it was sitting highon top of a steep snowdrift. Other drifts rose and fellacross a vast snowy plain. Beyond the plain were hillsand mountains.

"The books were right," said Teddy, his teethchattering. "'Tis bleak² here indeed."24"No, 'tis lovely," said Kathleen. "'Tis the land wherethe northern seal people live." "Cool," said Annie.

Jack dug his hands into his pockets. He agreed withTeddy. The land did seem bleak-- and freezing! "Iwonder where Merlin's Staff of Strength is," he said,shivering.

"Let us begin our search!" said Kathleen. "Themessage tells us we must travel toward the settingsun."Kathleen climbed out of the tree house window.

She gathered her cloak around her and sat down ontop of the snowdrift. Then she pushed off and sliddown the steep slope.

"Oh, wow. Wait for me!" called Annie. She climbedout the window and followed Kathleen. Whooping,she slid to the bottom of the snowdrift. "Come on,you guys! It's fun!" she shouted.

Jack and Teddy looked at each other. "Shall we?"said Teddy. Jack nodded. He pulled his25scarf tighter around his neck and followed Teddyout of the window.

Jack and Teddy sat down side by side. They pushedoff and slid down the icy snowdrift. Jack couldn't helpwhooping, too. It was fun.

At the bottom of the drift, Jack and Teddyscrambled to their feet. Jack brushed the snow off hisclothes. He could see his breath in the frigid³ air.

"It's j-just a little chilly," said Annie, huggingherself.

Only Kathleen seemed not to mind the cold. Shewas smiling as she lay on the ground, gazing up atthe sky. Her seal nature probably keeps her warm,Jack thought with envy.

Teddy peered across the snowy plain. "I believe notone living creature is here but us," he said.

"Not true at all," said Kathleen. She pointedupward. "I see snow geese and whistling swans."26"I can almost see them, too," said Annie.

Kathleen stood up. She shielded her eyes and gazedacross the plain. The cold sun was low in the sky. Itcast long blue shadows beneath the snowdrifts. Shepointed into the distance. "And see? A white hare isleaping home before dark," she said.

Jack looked where Kathleen pointed⁴, but he couldn'tsee anything moving at all.

"I see a snowy owl⁵, too," said Kathleen, "and--oh,no!""What?" said Annie.

"Wolves," Kathleen said with a shudder⁶. "They justdisappeared behind a snowdrift. My people greatlyfear the wolves.""You need not be afraid. I shall protect you," saidTeddy. He took Kathleen's hand. "Come! Let us makehaste toward the sun!"Together, Teddy and Kathleen headed across thesnow-covered plain. Their woolen⁷ cloaks wavedbehind them. Annie and Jack dug their27hands in their pockets and quickly followed themtoward the setting sun.

As Teddy, Kathleen, Jack, and Annie trudged⁸ acrossthe frozen plain, the sun sank closer and closer to thehorizon. Its last rays poured purple-pink light over thesnow.

The wind blew against Jack's face. He looked downand kept walking. The cold felt like needles on hisskin. Each icy breath was painful. He hoped theyfound Merlin's Staff of Strength soon. He couldn'timagine anyone surviving for long in this lonely,freezing land.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted when he heardAnnie calling. He looked up. The sun had completelyslipped behind the horizon. In the cold twilight⁹, thesnow had faded from purple-pink to a dark shade ofblue.

"Jack! Come look!" Annie called. She, Teddy, andKathleen were standing¹⁰ on the slope of a hugesnowdrift.

Jack hurried to join them.

28"Look!" said Annie.

"Oh, man," Jack said softly.

On the other side of the snowdrift was aglimmering palace made from huge blocks of ice.

Beneath the rising moon, its gleaming spirespierced the blue dusk.

"I wonder who lives there...," said Jack.

"Let us go and find out!" said Teddy.

Teddy led the way down the slope to the ice palace.

Long icicles hung like spears in front of the entrance.

"It seems no one has visited this place in quite awhile," said Kathleen.

"Indeed," said Teddy. He broke off several icicles,and they clattered¹¹ to the ground. "Onward¹²?" he said.

The others nodded.

Kicking aside the chunks¹³ of ice, Teddy led them allinto the ice palace.

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 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

3 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

4 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。

5 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

6 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

7 woolen   

adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的

参考例句：

• She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
• There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。

8 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

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 clattered   

发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He dropped the knife and it clattered on the stone floor. 他一失手，刀子当啷一声掉到石头地面上。
• His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground. 他的手一软，刀子当啷一声掉到地上。

12 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。

13 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？