《神奇树屋》 第三十五册 Night of the New Magicians 01 Four New Magicians

       Jack¹ sat on the porch, reading in the summertwilight. Crickets chirped² in the Frog Creek³ woods.

The bell of an ice cream truck jingled⁴ down the street.

Annie stepped out the front door. "Let's go," shesaid.

"Where?" said Jack.

"Mom gave us money for ice cream," said Annie.

"Cool," said Jack. He pulled on his backpack. Thenhe followed Annie down the porch steps.

14As they headed up the sidewalk, the smell of dampleaves and moss⁵ wafted⁶ from the woods.

Annie stopped walking. "Listen," she said.

Jack listened. "What?" he said. "I don't hearanything.""That's thepoint,"said Annie. "A minute ago, the crickets wereblaring away. Now everything's super quiet."Jack listened again. Annie was right. All the FrogCreek woods seemed to be holding its breath.

"Do you think ... ?" said Jack.

"Maybe," said Annie, grinning. "Let's go check!"Jack and Annie hurried across the street and intothe dimly lit woods. They walked quickly betweenthe leafy trees, until they came to the tallest oak. Arope ladder dangled⁷ from the treetop. The magic treehouse sat high in the branches, catching⁸ the last lightof day.

Jack smiled. "I guess ice cream will have to wait,"he said.

15"Yep," said Annie. She grabbed the ladder andclimbed up. Jack climbed up after her.

Inside the tree house, dusky light filtered throughthe window. Lying on the wooden floor was a foldedpiece of paper and a slim book with a red cover.

Annie grabbed the paper. Jack picked up the book.

"This must be a research book from Morgan," he said.

The book's title was written in gold letters:

[Picture: Book with Eiffel Tower on cover. titlereads: "Guide Book: Paris World's Fair - 1889-]

16"Paris World's Fair?" said Jack. "That sounds likefun!" said Annie.

"Yeah, but I wonder why we're going there," saidJack.

"This should tell us," said Annie. She unfolded thepaper. "It's Merlin's handwriting." She read aloud:

To Jack and Annie of Frog Creek.

I have discoveredthat an evil sorcerer is plotting to steal the secretsof four new magicians at the Paris World's Fair.

Your missionis to find the magicians, warn them, and learn theirsecrets for me. The four new magicians are:

The Magician of Soundhis voice can be heardfor a thousand miles.

The Magician of Light-his fires glow,but they do not burn.

17The Magician of the Invisible-he battles deadly enemiesno one can see.

The Magicianof Iron-he bends the metals of earthand triumphs over the wind.

Good luckM.

"Our mission sounds more like a fairy tale than reallife," said Jack. "An evil sorcerer. Magicians of theInvisible, Light, Sound, and Iron. They sound likethey belong in a magical place like Camelot, not a realplace like Paris, France.""But we're going to a World's Fair," said Annie.

"That sounds kind of magical, doesn't it?""Maybe," said Jack. "But why do such powerfulmagicians need our help in the first place? Why can'tthey defeat the evil sorcerer with their own powers?"18"Maybe the sorcerer's power is stronger thantheirs," said Annie.

"So maybe we can help them with Teddy andKathleen's rhymes," said Jack.

Annie gasped⁹. "Oh, no! We need. the rhyme book!

We have to go back home and get it!" "Don't worry, Ihave it," said Jack. "Ever since we got back fromBaghdad, I've been taking it with me everywhere Igo-just in case Merlin sends for us.""Whew," said Annie. "Let's take a look."Jack reached into his backpack. He pulled out thesmall book written by their two young sorcererfriends from Camelot:

10 MAGIC RHYMES FOR ANNIE AND JACKFROM TEDDY AND KATHLEENJack turned to the table of contents. "Okay, we'veused five rhymes on our last two missions," he said.

"So we have five left for the next two. We haven'tusedSpin into the Air,orMake Something Disappear,orPull a Cloud from the19Sky,orFind a Treasure You Must Never Lose,orTurn into Ducks.""Quack¹⁰! Quack!" Jack looked up.

"Just kidding," said Annie.

"You'd better not make jokes about these rhymes,"Jack said. "You might end up saying the wrong one atthe wrong time and really get us in trouble." Heclosed the rhyme book. "Ready to go?""Ready," said Annie.

Jack took a deep breath and picked up the guidebook to the 1889 Paris World's Fair. He pointed¹¹ to thetitle. "I wish we could go there," he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun¹² 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 chirped   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 )

参考例句：

• So chirped fiber gratings have broad reflection bandwidth. 所以chirped光纤光栅具有宽的反射带宽，在反射带宽内具有渐变的群时延等其它类型的光纤光栅所不具备的特点。
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。

3 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。

4 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

5 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

6 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

9 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

11 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。

12 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。