《神奇树屋》 第二十九册 Christmas in Camelot 08 The Otherworld

　　The Otherworld was completely different from the dark, coldworld Jack¹ and Annie had just left behind.

They were standing² at the edge of a pale green meadow. Themeadow was bathed in warm, rosy³ sunlight. Three horses--oneblack, one brown, one gray--were grazing nearby. On a hillsidebeyond the meadow, red and purple flowers sparkled like brightbuttons.

"It's so nice here," said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack. "Maybe we won't need this anymore." Hepulled the hood⁴ of the cloak off their heads. He was relieved tosee Annie's face--and to see himself!

"What was the first rhyme again?" asked Annie.

Jack took out his notebook. He found the first rhyme and readaloud:

"Beyond the iron gate The Keepers of the Cauldron wait."He looked around warily⁵. "I wonder where the Keepers of theCauldron are?" he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Annie. "We just sneaked⁶ pastthem. Remember? WHOOOSH?""I don't know," said Jack. "The rhyme says 'beyond the irongate.' Those guards were standing in front of the gate. Theyweren't beyond it.""Shh," said Annie. "Listen.. .

From over the hill came the faint sounds of sweet, joyfulmusic.

"Maybe the Keepers of the Cauldron are playing that music,"said Annie.

"Maybe . . . ," said Jack. He listened for a moment and smiled.

The music made him feel light and happy.

"Let's go meet the Keepers!" said Annie.

"Not so fast," said Jack. "Shouldn't we be invisible again? Justin case?""I guess so," said Annie, sighing.

Jack pulled the hood of the cloak over their heads. Together,they started walking invisibly across the soft meadow. Theypassed the three horses and climbed the flower-covered hill. Atthe top, they looked down.

"Oh, man," said Jack.

The hill sloped gently down into a misty⁷ green glade⁸. In themiddle of the glade, a band of musicians played flutes⁹ and pipes,drums and violins. Around the band, hundreds of dancersdanced in a huge circle.

"The Keepers of the Cauldron!" said Annie.

The dancers and musicians were smiling and laughing. Theywore blue coats and green coats, white gowns and yellowgowns. They wore sparkling red slippers¹⁰ and hats with coloredfeathers.

The dancers looked like people--except they all had glitteringgold skin and wings that shimmered¹¹ in the mist like spun¹² silver.

"They're beautiful!" said Annie.

"Yeah, they are," said Jack.

"I don't think we need to be invisible with them," said Annie.

"I think you're right," said Jack.

He and Annie threw off the red cloak. They left it in the dewygrass and ran down the hill-side to the winged dancers. Thedancers paid no attention to them. They just kept going aroundand around in their joyous¹³ circle.

"I feel like dancing with them!" said Annie.

"Me too!" said Jack. It was strange--he was usually shy aboutdancing. But he wanted to join this dance more than anything.

Jack pulled off his backpack. As he set it down, he saw threeswords lying in the grass.

But he didn't stop to wonder about them. The music wascalling.

The winged dancers broke their circle and welcomed Jack andAnnie into their dance. Annie held Jack's right hand as hegrasped the slender golden hand of the dancer on his left.

The dancer smiled down at him. Like the oth-ers, she was astall as a grownup. But she didn't have any lines or wrinkles onher face. All the dancers looked very young--yet they seemedancient at the same time.

As Jack danced around in the circle, his heart leaped. Hisspirits soared. His glasses fell off, but he didn't care. He keptdancing. As he danced, everything in his mind became a blur¹⁴. Heforgot about Morgan and Camelot. He forgot about the quest forthe Water of Memory and Imagination. He forgot all his fearsand worries.

"Jack, look!" Annie cried.

Jack looked at her. "Hi!" he shouted, laughing.

"No! Don't look at me!" she called. "Look there! Look acrossthe circle!""I can't see!" he said.

"Three knights¹⁵!" Annie shouted. "Three knights dancing!""Great!" Jack shouted.

"No, Jack! They look awful! They look sick!" Annie yelled. Shepulled away from the circle and tumbled back into the grass.

"Jack!" she called. "Stop dancing!"But Jack didn't want to stop. He wanted to dance to the wildmusic forever. Forever.., and ever.., and ever.

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 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

4 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

5 warily   

adv.留心地

参考例句：

• He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周，假装是在照顾嘉莉。
• They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。

6 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

7 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

8 glade   

n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地

参考例句：

• In the midst of a glade were several huts.林中的空地中间有几间小木屋。
• The family had their lunch in the glade.全家在林中的空地上吃了午饭。

9 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

10 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

11 shimmered   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea shimmered in the sunlight. 阳光下海水闪烁着微光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A heat haze shimmered above the fields. 田野上方微微闪烁着一层热气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

14 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

15 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。