英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十四册 Day of the Dragon King 3 The Silk Weaver

　　Jack¹ and Annie kept walking across the pasturetoward the road. Annie stopped when they neared thefarmhouse.

"We have to find the silk weaver² and give her themessage," she said.

"Let's do that on our way back," said Jack. "I'mworried about finding the Imperial Library.""What if we don't have time?" said Annie. "Wepromised. And he was so nice."Jack sighed.

"Okay," he said. "But let's find her fast. Andremember to keep your head down so no one willnotice us."Jack and Annie bowed their heads as they headedtoward the house.

As they got closer, Jack peeked³ out from under hishat. An ox pulled a cart filled with hay. Men hoed theground. Women pushed wheelbarrows piled highwith grain.

"There!" said Annie. She pointed⁴ to an open porchwhere a young woman was weaving cloth on a loom⁵.

"That must be her!"Annie ran to the silk weaver. Jack looked around tosee if anyone was watching. Luckily, all the farmworkers seemed too busy to notice anything. Stilllooking around carefully, Jack walked toward theporch.

Annie was already talking to the silk weaver.

"What did he say?" the young woman asked. Hervoice was soft but strong. Her dark eyes glowed withhappiness.

"He said you should meet him in the field attwilight," said Annie. "He's so handsome!""Yes, he is. The silk weaver gave Annie a shy smile.

Then she reached down to a basket near her loom andpicked up a ball of yellow thread.

"It was very brave of you to bring the message," shesaid. "Please accept this silk thread as my thank-you."She handed Annie the ball of silk.

"It's beautiful," said Annie. "Feel."She handed it to Jack. The thread was smooth andsoft.

"How do you make silk?" said Jack. "It is made fromthe Cocoons⁶ of silk-worms," said the weaver.

"Really? Worms? That's neat," said Jack. "Let mewrite that down."He reached into his sack.

"Please don't!" said the silk weaver. "The making ofsilk is China's most valuable secret. Anyone whosteals the secret will be arrested The Dragon Kingwill have him put to death.

"Oops," said Jack.

He dropped the ball of silk into his sack.

"I think you must leave quickly," whispered the silkweaver. "You have been seen."Jack looked over his shoulder. A man was pointingat them.

"Let's go," he said.

"Bye!" said Annie. "Good luck on your date!""Thank you," the silk weaver said.

"Come on," said Jack.

They hurried away from the silk weaver.

"Stop!" someone shouted.

"Run!" said Annie.

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 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

6 cocoons   

n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天，“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕