《神奇树屋》 第四十一册 Moonlight on the Magic Flute 05 Bad Manners

　　A servant rang a bell. Other servants begancarrying in large silver bowls, platters, and trays.

"It is time for dinner now," said Nan. "We must go,Wolfie. We have to find Papa." She helped her littlebrother put his wig¹ back on.

"But I want to stay with Jack² and Annie," whinedWolfie. "I want to play with them in the garden.""Not now," said Nan. She grabbed Wolfie's hand. "Itwas nice to talk to you," she said to Jack and Annie.

"And I hope we can see you perform again someday,Jack."48Jack forced a smile. "Uh ... yeah, thanks. Hey, let usknow what your dad--I mean, your papa-- says aboutthe brilliant artists living in the palace," he said.

"Maybe you can meet us later by those double doors?""Yes, after dinner, we will meet you," said Nan.

"And then we will play in the garden!" said Wolfie.

"No, you and I will have other things to do, Wolfie,remember?" said Nan. "Come along now." She pulledher little brother away.

"But I want to play with Jack the Clown!" Wolfiewailed.

Jack and Annie watched Wolfie and Nan disappearinto the crowd.

"I am nota clown," Jack said darkly.

"Don't worry about him," said Annie. "He reallyadmires you.""Lucky me," said Jack.

The bell sounded again. People started movingtoward the dinner tables.

49"Where should we sit?" said Annie.

"Anywhere," said Jack, "as long as we're out of theway." He still wanted to hide from the imperialchildren. "What about that table at the end of theroom? Near the door?""Sure."Jack led the way to the table at the far end of theroom. "Let's grab seats while we can," he said toAnnie.

As grown-ups hovered⁴ near the table talking andlaughing, Jack and Annie sat down in two chairs.

Steaming platters of food lined the middle of thetable: beef stew⁵, mashed⁶ potatoes, sausages,dumplings, cabbage, spiced apples, and gingerbread.

Jack's mouth watered. He hadn't realized howhungry he was. "Okay, here's our plan," he said toAnnie. "We'll eat first. Then Nan will tell us where allthe artists live, and we'll get to work.""Excuse me, young man and young lady," someonesaid in a snippy tone.

50Jack and Annie turned around in their chairs. Anelderly couple stood glaring at them.

"The empress herself designed the seating plan," theman said. "And I can assure you these are not yourseats.""Furthermore," said the woman, "no one sits untilHer Imperial Majesty⁷ is seated."Jack and Annie jumped up from their chairs.

"Oops!" said Annie.

"Sorry!" said Jack.

"Our mistake," said Annie. "Excuse us."Jack and Annie walked away from the table. "Thatwas bad manners," Annie said to Jack.

"Who, us or them?" said Jack.

"Us," Annie said. "I wonder where ourseats are.""I have a feeling we're not a part of the empress'sseating plan," said Jack. His face felt hot again. Hiswig itched⁸ like crazy.

Suddenly a hush⁹ fell over the room. The harp¹⁰ andviolin music stopped. Everyone stopped talking.

51Her Imperial Majesty had entered through the maindoors. The imperial children followed her. HerMajesty led them to the table in the middle of theroom. Everyone else stood silently, waiting for theimperial family to sit down.

"We have to get out of here now"Jack whispered toAnnie. "Soon we'll be the only ones left standing¹¹.""Like musical chairs," said Annie.

"Right," said Jack. "Forget dinner. Let's go look forwhere the artists are staying. We can't wait for Nanto ask her dad."As all the guests sat down, Jack and Annie hurriedtoward the door.

"Jack the Clown!" came a high voice.

Jack looked over his shoulder. Wolfie was wavingfrom one of the tables.

Annie waved back.

"Don't wave! Keep going," said Jack. He grabbedAnnie's hand and pulled her out of the party room.

They hurried into yet another elegant52room with red velvet¹² furniture and gold-trimmedwalls.

"Keep going," said Jack. He led the way intoanother fancy room.

"Jack and Annie, wait!" came a cry.

"I hear Wolfie!" said Annie.

"Darn!" Jack quickly closed the door behind them.

"Keep moving!" he said.

"We can't," said Annie. "That's mean. We shouldwait for him.""But he'll slow down our mission!" said Jack. "Whenare we going to get started?""Calm down," said Annie. "We'll just tell him wecan't hang out with him now because we havesomething important that we have to do."Jack heaved a sigh. "Okay.""Jack! Annie!"Jack opened the door.

Wolfie ran right into him. "There you are!" the littleboy said, smiling. "I was looking for you!""No kidding," said Jack.

53"Yes!" Wolfie said. "Are you leaving?""Not yet, we have to do something important," saidJack. "And you can't come with us."Wolfie's smile vanished.

"Sorry," said Jack.

"But I want you to come to the garden with me,"said Wolfie.

"Not now," said Jack. "Wolfie, listen to me. Listencarefully. Annie and I have to do something really,really important. And we have to do it all byourselves."Wolfie's bottom lip started to quiver. Oh, no,thought Jack. He's going to cry.

A tear ran down the little boy's cheek.

"Aww, Wolfie, don't cry," Annie said gently.

"Wolfie! Wolfie!" someone called. Nan burst intothe room. "Wolfie, what are you doing? Papa is veryupset!""I want to play with Jack and Annie," said Wolfie.

Another big tear ran down his cheek.

"Please, Wolfie," Nan begged. "You know you54have a big responsibility tonight. You have to--""No!" wailed³ Wolfie, stamping his foot. "No, no, no! Inever get to play!""Wolfie, stop!" said Nan. "Please do not be thisway. Not now, of all times! You will kill Papa!"55"Wolfie! Wolfie!" came a deep voice.

"He's in here, Papa!" Nan called. "Come, Wolfie."She took Wolfie's hand, but he pulled away from her.

"No! I want to play!" shouted Wolfie. And hecharged out of the room.

"Wolfie?" A portly man in a wig burst throughanother door. "Where is he? Where is my son?""Oh, Papa!" said Nan. "Wolfie ran away!"56"Ran away?" The man threw his hands in the air.

"We must find him!" he cried.

"Papa, calm down!" said Nan.

"We will fail utterly¹³ without him!" cried her papa.

And he rushed out of the room.

"Papa! Papa!" yelled Nan. And she hurried after herfather.

1 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

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 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

4 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

5 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

6 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

8 itched   

v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Seeing the children playing ping-pong, he itched to have a go. 他看到孩子们打乒乓，不觉技痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He could hardly sIt'still and itched to have a go. 他再也坐不住了，心里跃跃欲试。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

10 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

11 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。

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 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。