《神奇树屋》 第二十七册 Thanksgiving on Thursday 09 Good Day

　　Slowly the feast came to an end. The guests wipedtheir plates with their last bits of bread. Then theywiped their hands and faces with their napkins.

Jack¹ and Annie stood up.

"We have to go home," Annie said to Priscilla.

"Ah, thou must go back to thine own communitynow," said Priscilla.

Annie nodded. Then she kissed Priscilla on thecheek.

17"Thanks for everything," Annie said.

Jack wanted to kiss Priscilla, too, but he was tooshy.

"Thanks, Priscilla," he said.

"I thank thee, Jack," she said. Then she leaned overand kissed his cheek.

Jack felt his face grow red.

"Excuse me, sir," Annie said to Governor Bradford.

"But we must leave now.""Oh, but we have not yet taught thee how to growcorn!" said the little girl Mary.

Squanto stood up.

"Come," he said. "I will walk Jack and Annie backto the forest. I will teach them.""Oh, thou does not have to do that," Jack saidquickly. He feared that once they were alone, Squantowould figure out they'd never met before.

But Squanto only smiled and waited for them tofollow.

"Bye, everyone!" said Annie, waving.

Jack waved, too. All the Pilgrims and Wampanoagwaved back at them. The skinny dog barked.

Squanto led Jack and Annie away from the villagetoward the autumn woods. As they passed thecornfield, the dried stalks swayed in the breeze. Theymade shushing sounds.

Squanto stopped walking. He pointed² to the field.

"You must plant corn in the spring," he said. "Putthe seed in the ground when the oak-tree bud is assmall as a mouse's ear.""Oh, wait, please," said Jack. He slipped hisnotebook and pencil out of his bag. It was the firsttime he'd had a chance to take no all day. He wrote:

How to plant cornOak tree bud = mouse earThen he looked up at Squanto and nodded. "Digholes and put two rotting fish in each hole," saidSquanto.

"Rotting fish?" said Annie, making a face.

"Yes, rotting fish is good food for the soil," saidSquanto. "On top of the fish, place four corn seeds.

Then cover them with dirt."Jack quickly wrote:

2 rotting fish, 4 corn seeds, cover with dirt.

18"Got it," he said, looking up.

"I give you these corn seeds to take home," saidSquanto. He held up a small pouch³.

"Thanks," said Annie, taking the pouch.

"Thanks a lot," said Jack. "Well, good--bye." Jackwas eager to get going--before Squanto could askthem questions about the past.

"Wait, I have a question," said Annie. "Squanto,why did you say you remembered us?"Squanto's dark eyes twinkled. "I did not say Iremembered you," he said. "I only said I remember ""What did you remember?" asked Annie.

"I remembered what it was like to be from adifferent world," said Squanto. "Long ago, I lived withmy people on this shore. But one day, men came inships. They took me to Europe as a slave. In that newland, I was a stranger. I felt different and afraid. I sawthe same fear in your eyes today. So I tried to helpyou."Annie smiled "We thank thee," she said.

"And now you must always be kind to those whofeel different and afraid," said Squanto. "Rememberwhat you felt today.""Indeed," said Jack.

Before closing his notebook, he added one lastthing:

Be kind to those who feel different and afraid.

Squanto bowed.

"Good day, Jack and Annie," he said.

"Good day!" they said.

Squanto turned and headed back to the village. Thesun was setting. All of Plymouth was lit with a fierylight.

"It really was a good day," said Annie.

"Yeah, it was," said Jack.

Annie sighed. "Ready to go home?" she asked.

"Indeed," Jack said.

They started running through the woods.

Their feet crunched⁴ through the red and yellowleaves. They scrambled⁵ up the rope ladder into thetree house.

From the distance came the sounds of the Pilgrimssinging a hymn⁶ and the Wampanoag beating theirdrums. Annie picked up the Pennsylvania book. Shepointed at a picture of the Frog Creek⁷ woods.

"I wish we could go home!" she said.

"Good-bye, Priscilla!" Jack called.

19"Good-bye, Squanto!" said Annie. "Good-bye,everyone!"The wind started to blow.

The wind blew harder.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁸ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

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 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。

3 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

4 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

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 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

7 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。

8 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。