《神奇树屋》 第三十六册 Blizzard of the Blue Moon 02 Who Are They?

　　Snow blew into the tree house.

Jack¹ and Annie wore wool coats, hats, and mittens². Jack'scanvas backpack had turned into a leather briefcase³ with bucklesand a shoulder strap⁴. Jack and Annie looked out the window.

Below the tree house was a wide, snowcovered field thatended in a wall of evergreen⁵ trees. Beyond the trees was a cityskyline.

"This is definitely New York," said Annie. "See the EmpireState Building? Remember our visit to the top?" She pointed⁶ to afaraway building23that rose above the others. "This must be Central Park. Iremember that big field.""Yeah, I do, too," said Jack. "But we've landed in New York in1938. It was different back then." He opened their research bookand read from the introduction:

The city of New York is the largest city in the WesternHemisphere. It covers an area of 322 square miles.

Jack closed the book. "Whoa. Even in 1938, New York was ahuge city," he said. "This is going to be like looking for a needlein a haystack."24"I'll read our mission poem again," said Annie. She read thefirst verse aloud:

The verylast unicornIs now hidden wellBy those who have put himUnder a spell.

"Okay, so this unicorn⁷ was put under a spell," said Jack, "andhe must be hidden somewhere in New York, or Merlin wouldn'thave sent us here.""Right," said Annie. She read the next verse:

Fourcenturies, four decadesFrom that afternoon,At the end of November,Before theblue moon,"What's a blue moon?" asked Annie, looking up. "I've heardthat expression before.""It's when you have two full moons in the same month," saidJack. "It doesn't happen very often.""Oh," said Annie. She read on:

25He willwake once moreAnd be freeto go homeIf you callout his name:

Divine Flower of Rome.

"Wait, does that mean the unicorn's name is Divine Flower ofRome?" asked Jack.

"I guess," said Annie. She read on:

You must coax⁸ him to standOnce hisname is spoken.

His chain will breakAnd the spell too, be broken.

Then a young girl must love himAnd show him the way,Lest he be trapped foreverOn public display.

If he loses this chanceTo rise and depart,All magic will fadeFrom his horn and his heart.

"SoI'mthe young girl!" said Annie. "And I26have to help him get home, or his magic will fade awayforever!""Right," said Jack. "Okay. Let's review: There's a unicorn onpublic display somewhere in New York City. He's under a spell.

The spell runs out in late November before a blue moon. Buthe'll only wake up when someone calls his name, which isDivine Flower of Rome.

Then a young girl-you-must love him and show him the way home.""Great," said Annie. "Let's get started.""Get started?

How?"said Jack.

"Maybe we should talk to some New Yorkers," said Annie.

"We can ask them if they know anything about a unicorn inNew York City." She looked out the window. "There're somepeople in the park right now."Jack looked out. Through the falling snow, he saw girlscrossing the field carrying skates. He saw two people standingon top of a small hill. One wore a cape⁹, and the other a longraincoat.

"If we start asking people about unicorns¹⁰, they'll think we'recrazy," said Jack.

27"Who cares?" said Annie. "Maybesomeonewill at least knowsomethingthat can help us. Let's go down." She started down the ladder.

Jack quickly packed up their books. He buckled¹¹ his bag andfollowed her. When they stepped onto the ground, Jack andAnnie looked around. The skaters were gone. The two people onthe hill were gone, too.

"Where'd everybody go?" said Jack.

"I don't know. But we'll find someone else. Come on," saidAnnie.

Jack and Annie started across the wide field. The snow wasfalling fast and furiously. The wind blew harder.

"Look, a frozen pond," said Annie, pointing. "That must bewhere the skaters were coming from."Wet snow stuck to Jack's glasses. He wiped them off so hecould see. No one was skating on the pond now. Whirlwinds ofpowdery snow swirled¹² over the ice.

"Keep going," said Jack.

28They kept trudging¹³ through the snow.

"Hey, look! Remember that?" said Annie.

"What?" said Jack. He wiped the snow off his glasses again.

He saw a merry-go-round. "Oh, yeah." On their trip to New Yorkwith their aunt Mallory, they'd taken a ride on it. But now theriderless painted horses looked sad and lonely.

29"I feel like we're the last living creatures in Central Park," saidJack.

"Which way do we go now?" asked Annie. "Which way didwe come from?"It was hard to see anything in the white haze¹⁴ of the fallingsnow. The buildings bordering the park and the skyscrapers¹⁵ inthe distance had disappeared.

30"Let's see what our book says," said Jack. He unbuckled hisleather briefcase and pulled out their research book. He found apicture of Central Park and read:

Central Park is a vast natural area in the middle of New YorkCity. The park has thirty-two miles of winding¹⁶ footpaths¹⁷ andcovers 840 acres of land. It has rock formations, woods, andmany bodies of water. It also has"Okay, okay, got it," said Annie. "It'sa bigpark. Is there a map that shows where we are?"Jack tried to read from the index, but the wind and snowmade it impossible. He stuffed the book back into his briefcase.

"Forget it," he said. "Let's just try to get out of the park."Jack and Annie turned away from the lonely merry-go-roundand walked across the snow. A gust¹⁸ of wind blew Jack's cap off.

As he turned around to grab it, he saw a couple walking a shortdistance behind them.

31The two people looked like teenagers. They were walkingwith their heads bowed against the wind. The girl wore a darkcape with a hood¹⁹. The boy wore a hat and a tan raincoat with abelt.

"Hey, look-" Jack said to Annie. But at that moment, the windshook the trees, and big clumps²⁰ of snow fell from the branches.

Jack and Annie ducked and covered their heads. When the winddied down, Jack looked around for the couple.

"They're gone now," he said.

"Who'sgone?" said Annie. "Who did you see?""Two teenagers, I think," said Jack. "A boy and a girl. We sawthem earlier from the tree house. I think they might be followingus.""Wait a second," said Annie. "Two teenagers? A boy and agirl? Following us? Who does that remind you of?"A big smile crossed Jack's face. "Teddy and Kathleen?" he said.

"Think about it," said Annie. "On our last three missions, itseemed like Teddy and32Kathleen were always nearby, wearing disguises, ready tohelp us when we needed it.""Right," said Jack. "We could sure use their help now." Heturned around. "Hello!" he shouted.

"Hello!" Annie yelled.

But the wind answered them with a howl. More clumps ofsnow blew down on Jack and Annie.

"Let's get going," said Annie. "They'll find us sooner or later. They always do."

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 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

3 briefcase   

n.手提箱，公事皮包

参考例句：

• He packed a briefcase with what might be required.他把所有可能需要的东西都装进公文包。
• He requested the old man to look after the briefcase.他请求那位老人照看这个公事包。

4 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

5 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

6 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。

7 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

8 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 unicorns   

n.（传说中身体似马的）独角兽( unicorn的名词复数 )；一角鲸；独角兽标记

参考例句：

• Unicorns are legendary beasts. 独角兽是传说里的野兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Assemble50 Elder Druids, 30 Silver Unicorns and10 Green Dragons do defend it. 募集50个德鲁伊长老，30只银色独角兽和10条绿龙用于防御。 来自互联网

11 buckled   

a. 有带扣的

参考例句：

• She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
• The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。

12 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

13 trudging   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was a stream of refugees trudging up the valley towards the border. 一队难民步履艰难地爬上山谷向着边境走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two mules well laden with packs were trudging along. 两头骡子驮着沉重的背包，吃力地往前走。 来自辞典例句

14 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

15 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

16 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

17 footpaths   

人行小径，人行道( footpath的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are a lot of winding footpaths in the col. 山坳里尽是些曲曲弯弯的羊肠小道。
• There are many footpaths that wind through the village. 有许多小径穿过村子。

18 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

19 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。

20 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》