《神奇树屋》 第三十册 Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve 07 One, Two, Three!

　　So that's why Merlin sent for those books!" saidTeddy.

"What books? Who's the Raven¹ King?" said Jack².

"Now it all makes sense, " said Teddy. "Who's theRaven King?" said Jack.

"But I wonder how he found the Diamond ofDestiny," said Teddy.

"Teddy, who's the Raven King?" Jack nearlyshouted.

"He's a terrifying creature who comes from56the Otherworld, " said Teddy. "I read all about himin one of the books I brought Merlin from Morgan'slibrary. As a boy, the Raven King longed to be a birdso he could fly. He stole a spell from the Wizard ofWinter, but he didn't have the magic to make it workproperly. So the spell only worked halfway³. It madehim half bird and half human.""Oh, man, " said Jack.

"Now he commands a huge army of ravens⁴ whotreat him as their king," said Teddy.

"Why would he steal the Diamond of Destiny?"asked Annie.

"I don't know," said Teddy, "but we must get itback! For the sake of Camelot's future!""And for these ghost kids, too," said Annie, "and theghost dog!"She looked around the room. "Don't worry!" shecalled. "We'll help all of you! We'll get the Diamondof Destiny back!""We will?" asked Jack. "How? We don't know57where this crazy raven man lives or anything.""Look! More writing," whispered Teddy. "She heardyou."Three more words slowly appeared in the mirrordust:

n esf on0 n f A A"nr., OPJack felt cold air whoosh⁵ by him again. The curtaincovering the window moved aside. A patch ofmoonlight shone on the floor.

Jack, Annie, and Teddy walked to the window andlooked out. In the distance, a craggy mountain roseinto the moonlit sky.

"Ah!" whispered Teddy. "Sotheredwells the Raven King! I had thought his nest wasin the Otherworld.""It might as well be," said Jack. "We'll never be ableto get to the top of that mountain." "Aye," said Teddy,"no mere⁶ mortal can climb that steep rock."58"How will we get the diamond back?" cried Annie.

"I said nomeremortal, " said Teddy. "I am more than a mortal,remember? I'm a sorcerer." "Yeah, but your rhymesnever work," said Annie.

"True, but I have more than just rhymes," saidTeddy. He pulled a twig⁷ out of his pocket. "See?""What's that?" said Jack.

"'Tis an enchanted⁸ hazel twig," said Teddy. "Itsmagic is strong enough to change me into anything Iwant.""Oh, wow," said Annie.

"Did Morgan give you that?" asked Jack. "No, " saidTeddy. "Morgan and Merlin do not even know I haveit. A forest sprite, a cousin of my mother's, gave it tome, in case I was ever in urgent need.""So what do you want to change into?" askedAnnie.

59"Why, a raven, of course!" Teddy said.

Teddy's crazy,thought Jack.

But Annie didn't seem to think so. "What a coolidea, " she said.

They're both crazy,thought Jack.

... Tis cool indeed, " said Teddy. He held up thetwig.

"Wait a minute!" said Jack. "Do you have a plan? Imean, what're you going to do once you change intoa raven?""I shall fly up to the mountain nest," said Teddy.

"Find the diamond. Bring it back. Mission done.""And what dowedo?" asked Annie.

"Wait here for me. I'll be back as soon as Ican, " said Teddy- He climbed up onto the windowledge. His moon shadow stretched across the floor.

"Good luck!" said Annie.

"Thank you!" said Teddy. He raised his hazel twig.

60"Stop!" said Jack. "Can we discuss your 'plan' a littlemore?"But Teddy was already sweeping⁹ his hazel twigthrough the air. He waved it from the top of his headto the tips of his toes.

"Teddy, stop!" said Jack.

But Teddy started his rhyme: "0 hazel twi9fromhazel tree! Make mea raven-""Quick," he said, "a word that rhymes withtree?""Wait!" said Jack.

"Doesn't rhyme with tree," said Teddy. "Three!" saidAnnie.

"Brilliant!" said Teddy. He started again:

"0 hazel twi9from hazel tree!

Make mea raven one,two, three!"He waved the twig wildly.

"Careful!" said Jack. He ducked and covered hishead.

Suddenly he heard a roar. He felt a blast of61heat. Then he heard a strange screech¹⁰.

Jack looked up. Teddy's hazel twig had fallen to thefloor. Jack saw Teddy's shadow on the floor, too. Butit was no longer the shadow of a boy.

chill went through Jack.

large raven was perched on the windowsill.

Moonlight shone on its sleek¹¹ blue-black wings, itsshaggy throat feathers, its thick neck and big beak¹².

A second raven stood beneath the window. Itlooked like the first, only smaller.

Where'sAnnie? Jack wondered wildly. He tried calling hername. But a terrible croak¹³ came from the back of histhroat: "AWK-NEE!"Jack felt as if he were caught in a terriblenightmare. With jerky turns of his head, he peereddown at his own body.

His arms had turned into jet-black wings. His legswere spindly twigs¹⁴ that ended in four long, skinnytoes with curved claws.

62Teddy had accidentally changed them all intoravens! One two three!

1 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

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 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 ravens   

n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wheresoever the carcase is,there will the ravens be gathered together. 哪里有死尸，哪里就有乌鸦麇集。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A couple of ravens croaked above our boat. 两只乌鸦在我们小船的上空嘎嘎叫着。 来自辞典例句

5 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

8 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

9 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

10 screech   

n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。
• The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。

11 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

12 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

13 croak   

vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚

参考例句：

• Everyone seemed rather out of sorts and inclined to croak.每个人似乎都有点不对劲，想发发牢骚。
• Frogs began to croak with the rainfall.蛙随着雨落开始哇哇叫。

14 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。