儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 08 Yum

　　The warrior¹ stared back at Jack² and Annie.

"We were helping³ one of your honey guides," saidAnnie.

The warrior was as still as a statue.'

"We didn't mean to steal anything," Jack said. "Infact, it's all yours. We've had enough.""Lots of good honey still there," Annie said, smiling.

The warrior narrowed his eyes.

Is he angry? Jack wondered.

"I'm sorry we were trespassing," said Jack. "Wecome in peace. In fact, we bring gifts." He picked uphis backpack and held it out to the warrior.

The warrior still didn't move.

"This?" Jack held up his book. Nothing.

"Uh--" Jack reached into his pack. He pulled out thebig jar of peanut butter.

"Peanut butter!" He pulled out the loaf of bread.

"Bread! Hey. Hey! How about a peanut butter andhoney sandwich?""Yum!" Annie said, watching the warrior.

The warrior stared at the food.

"We'll show you," said Jack.

As Jack unwrapped the bread, his hands shook.

Annie opened the jar.

"We don't have anything to spread it with," shesaid.

"Use your fingers," said Jack.

"Excuse me," Annie said to the warrior. "I have touse my fingers. But they're pretty clean. An elephantjust--""Just do it, Annie!" said Jack.

"Okay, okay."She spread the peanut butter onto a slice of breadwith her fingers. At the same time, Jack spread thehoney from the beehive on another slice.

Jack and Annie put their pieces of bread together.

"Ta-da!" said Annie, handing the sandwich to thewarrior.

The warrior took the sandwich, but he didn't eat it.

He just looked at it.

"Let's make sandwiches for us, too," Jack said. "Sohe doesn't have to eat alone."They quickly made two more sandwiches.

"See, like this," said Annie. She bit into hersandwich. "Mmm. . .yum."Jack took a bite, too. "Mmm..." he said. It was reallygood.

Finally, the warrior bit into his sandwich. Hechewed slowly.

"This is called a picnic," said Annie.

They ate their sandwiches in silence.

When they finished, Jack screwed the lid back onthe peanut butter jar.

"Not bad, huh?" he said.

The warrior smiled. He had a kind, dignified⁵ smile.

Jack and Annie smiled back at him.

Then the warrior turned gracefully⁶ and vanishedinto the trees.

"Oh, man," said Jack. Part of him wanted to followthe silent warrior through the shadowy forest.

"Ready?" Annie asked softly. Jack nodded.

Annie started to go.

"Wait," said Jack. He put away the peanut butterand bread. "We're going back to the tree house, right?

We're not going to do any-thing silly, like rescueanything or chase birds. Right?""Those things aren't silly," said Annie. "Don't forgetthat the bird gave us the answer to the riddle⁷.""Oh. Right," said Jack.

He looked at the little honey guide. She was on theground, pecking at the honey-comb.

"Thanks," Jack said to the bird.

"Have a good feast," said Annie.

Jack put on his pack. Then he and Annie started outof the forest.

When they passed the pond, they saw the elephantstill splashing in the water. He lifted his trunk. Heseemed to be waving at them.

"See ya!" Annie shouted, waving back.

They rounded the bend in the river, then startedthrough the tall grass.

As they walked back toward the tree house, theysaw the wildebeests in the distance. There were stillsome crossing the river.

They saw a family of zebras grazing together.

They saw lone⁴ giraffes walking from tree to tree,eating the leaves.

And they saw a bunch of lions sleeping in the shadeof a tree--the same tree that the tree house was in.

"Whoops," said Annie.

Jack's heart gave a jump.

"So there they are," he said.

1 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

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 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

6 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

7 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。