《神奇树屋》 第四十二册 A Good Night for Ghosts 11 Swing that Music

　　As the streetcar rumbled¹ down Canal Street, Jacklooked over his shoulder. Dipper was right. AfricanAmericans were sitting in the back, while only whitepeople were in the front. Jack² hadn't even noticed iton their first streetcar ride.

Jack's heart felt heavy. Why would anyone notwant to sit next to someone just because they are adifferent color?he wondered. How could anyone everbe mean to Dipper? Dipper, who is gentle andfriendly and kind? Dipper, who hears musiceverywhere?

116Jack listened to the click-clack of the streetcarrolling down the tracks. The sound had a good beat.

Jack tapped his hand against his knee, until thestreetcar came to a stop.

"Let's go," said Annie.

Jack and Annie stood up. Canal Street was brightwith lights. People were still selling things on thesidewalk.

"What time is it, please?" Jack asked the conductor.

"Five minutes after nine, boy," said the conductor.

"Y'all better head for home.""We are!" said Annie.

Jack and Annie hopped³ off the streetcar and startedto run. They ran to the bottom of Canal Street andcrossed to the palm trees in the grove⁴ near theMississippi River. In the dark, they found the ropeladder and scrambled⁵ up it into the tree house.

Jack grabbed the Pennsylvania book that wouldtake them home.

***117"Wait!" said Annie, looking out the window.

"Look!"A brightly lit Mississippi showboat was rolling upthe river. A largo⁶ paddle wheel behind the boat waschurning the water.

118Music was coming from on board.

Annie grabbed Jack's arm. "Listen! The 'Heebie-Jeebies'!" she said.

Jack listened. He could hear the trio singing: LittleMack, Happy, and Big Nose Sidney. But the bestsound of all was the bright sound of a horn sailingthrough the New Orleans night.

"It's Dipper!" said Annie. "It's got to be!""He caught the boat!" said Jack. "Just in time!"Jack and Annie listened to the joyful⁷ swingingsound of Dipper's music until the riverboat rolled outof sight.

Jack heaved a happy sigh. Then he pointed⁸ at theirPennsylvania book. "I wish we could go home," hesaid.

The wind began to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁹ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

119***Jack and Annie were wearing their own clothesagain. Rain tapped gently against the roof of the treehouse. A cool breeze blew through the window.

"We have to get home before Mom and Dad wakeup," said Annie.

"Right," said Jack. He pulled A History of NewOrleans Musicout of his backpack and left it on thefloor.

Annie put the trumpet¹⁰ beside it. Then they headeddown the rope ladder. They pulled up their rainhoods. As they tramped in their boots through thewet autumn woods, they were both quiet.

Finally Annie said, "I feel good.""I feel good, too," said Jack. "We accomplished¹¹ ourmission.""But I feel other things, too," said Annie. "I feel madthat Dipper couldn't sit on the streetcar with us.""Me too," said Jack. "And it wasn't just in New120Orleans. A long time ago, they had laws like that inlots of places.""Unbelievable," said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack.

"And I feel scared when I think of those spiders intheir webs," said Annie.

"Oh, they didn't bother anybody," said Jack. "But Istill feel scared when I think of ghosts.""Actually, they didn't bother anybody, either," saidAnnie.

"True," said Jack. "And neither did that bat."Annie laughed. "That's true, too," she said. "I feelsad when I think we'll never see Dipper again.""We can listen to his music," said Jack.

"Yeah ... and I guess the music all around us willalways make us think of him," said Annie. "Like rightnow Dipper would hear the music of the rain.""Tappity-tap-tap,"said Jack.

"And the music of our feet scrunching¹² over thedead leaves--" said Annie.

121"Scrunchity-scrunch-scrunch,"said Jack. "Patti-patpat!"sang Annie. "Skid-dat-de-dat!" sangJack. "Skiddat-de-doh!"sang Annie. ""Go, Mama! Go!" shouted Jack. And the two ofthem ran out of the Frog Creek¹³ woods and up theirstreet, heading for home.

1 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

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 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

4 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

5 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 largo   

n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地

参考例句：

• The tempo marking in most cases is andante,adagio,or largo.大多数第一乐章的速度标记是行板、柔板或广板。
• The second movement is a largo.第二乐章是广板乐章。

7 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

8 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。

9 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。

10 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

11 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

12 scrunching   

v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的现在分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压

参考例句：

• Her mother was sitting bolt upright, scrunching her white cotton gloves into a ball. 她母亲坐得笔直，把她的白手套揉成了球状。 来自柯林斯例句

13 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。