《神奇树屋》 第四十一册 Moonlight on the Magic Flute 09 Me and the Clown

　　"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart," said Annie.

"Yeah," Jack¹ sighed. "And right now he's just a littlekid.""So I guess we did our mission," said Annie.

"Remember what Wolfie said to Nan? He said wemade him love music again. So I guess we put himback on the path to giving his gifts to the world.""Yep, and now we can leave," said Jack. "Whew."He was ready to get out of his fancy clothes and wigand go home and have a good dinner.

"Let's go say good-bye to Wolfie," said Annie.

90As Jack and Annie started toward Wolfie, HerImperial Majesty³ was laughing at something he hadsaid. "You are truly a young magician, my littleWolfgang Mozart!" she said.

"No, not me," said Wolfie. "Jack and Annie are thetrue magicians!""Who?" said Her Imperial Majesty.

"Over there," said Wolfie, pointing across the room.

"Jack! Annie!" he called.

All eyes turned to Jack and Annie.

"Look! It's Jack of Frog Creek⁴!" said one of theimperial children.

Jack froze, horrified⁵.

"Jack is a clown," said Wolfie. "And he plays magicmusic on his flute⁶. And Annie sings beautiful magicsongs. I just heard them.""Really?" said Her Imperial Majesty. She raised hereyebrows. "Well, Jack and Annie. Perhaps you willperform for all of us here as well?"Everyone was silent, waiting for an answer fromJack and Annie.

91"Um, well, you see ...," Jack began.

"Sure," said Annie with a big smile. "We'd love toperform for you."Oh, no!thought Jack.

"Yes! Sing for us! Play for us!" said Wolfie, clappinghis hands. He ran to Jack and Annie and pulled themtoward the front of the room.

Annie leaned close to Jack. "You play; I'll sing," shewhispered.

"But the flute won't make magic anymore," Jacksaid out of the corner of his mouth.

"Do the best you can," whispered Annie. She smiledat the crowd.

Jack could hardly breathe. This is worse than facingthe leopard⁷ and bear!he thought.

"Me, then you," Annie said to him.

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out thesilver flute. Annie started singing:

We came in a coach,In a wig² and a gown.

92We came to Vienna,Me and the down.

Annie turned to Jack. As everyone watched him, heheld the instrument in a playing position. Hedesperately hoped a little magic still lingered in theflute. He blew air over the mouthpiece.

No sound came out. All anyone could hear wasJack's huffing and puffing⁸.

Wolfie giggled⁹. "See! Jack's a clown!" he said.

Everyone laughed.

Okay,thought Jack, if they want a clown, I'll be aclown. Jack put on a goofy face. He looked into theend of the flute, as if searching for its missing sound.

He jerked back his head, as if something had shot outof the flute and hit him in the eye.

Everyone laughed harder.

Jack liked hearing their laughter this time. He madea big show of wiping his eye. Then he gave Annie asilly grin.

Annie shook her head and sang:

9293My brother's a fool,He's always around.

Why is it alwaysMe and the down?

Jack pretended to bonk her on the head with hisflute. He tried playing again, but again no soundcame out. He turned the flute upside down and shookit, as if he were trying to shake out some music.

Annie rolled her eyes, to show she thought Jackwas hopeless. Then she nodded at him, motioning forhim to walk with her. As they moved away from thefront of the room, Annie sang the last verse of hersong:

It's time to go,It's time to leave town.

Good-bye from me, andGood-bye from the clown.

Crossing the room, Jack put the flute to his lips94again. As he followed Annie to the door, he lookedat the crowd and winked¹⁰. Then he started to make uphis own flute sounds. "Tweetle-tweetle-tweetle!" hesang. "Toot-toot-ah-roo!"The audience laughed. When Jack saw Nanlaughing hard, it spurred him on, and he did a littledance step. "Peep-peep-peep-ah-lee!" he sang,pretending to play the flute. "Peek-peek-a-boo!"95
96At the door, Jack and Annie stopped. Jack held theflute to his side and bowed. Annie curtsied at thesame time. The audience laughed and clapped.

Together Jack and Annie waved to the crowd.

"Bye, Wolfie!" shouted Annie. She blew kisses tohim. "Keep making music!""Have a great life, Wolfie!" shouted Jack.

"Bye, Jack! Bye, Annie!" yelled Wolfie. "I promise Iwill never forget you!"Jack bowed very low, and Annie curtsied again.

"Rise," said Her Imperial Majesty, laughing.

Jack and Annie straightened up, waved one lasttime, and slipped out the door.

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 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。

3 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！

4 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。

5 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

6 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

7 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

8 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》