兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第三冊 Mummies in the Morning 06

6墻上的文字

杰克和安妮都仔細看著墻壁。

石頭墻壁上刻著一連串細小的圖形。

“這里有四個圖形。”杰克對幽靈王后說。

“杰克，把它們描述一下。請你一個一個地來。”王后說。

杰克仔細研究著第一幅圖形。

“第一幅是這樣的。”他說著用手指在空中劃了個鋸齒形。

“像階梯一樣嗎?”幽靈王后問。

“是的，階梯，正是像階梯一樣。”杰克說。

王后點了點頭。

這個還容易。

杰克又繼續(xù)研究第二幅圖形。

“第二幅的底部有一個長條形的盒子。”他邊說邊在空中比劃著。

幽靈王后的臉上露出很困惑的神情。

“上面有三樣東西。像這樣。”安妮說著在空中劃出幾道曲折線條。

幽靈王后看起來還是很迷惑。

“像一頂帽子。”杰克說。

“帽子?”幽靈王后問道。

“不，更像一條船。”安妮說。

“船?”幽靈王后說，她似乎突然興奮起來了。“船?”

杰克又看了一眼墻壁。

“是的，是挺像船的。”他說。

幽靈王后看起來非常開心的樣子微笑著。

“是的，那是當然。”她說。

杰克和安妮又開始研究下一幅圖形。

“第三個圖形像是裝花的東西。”安妮說。

“或者是一個裝水的東西。”杰克說。

“像個罐子?”幽靈王后問。

“正是。”杰克說。

“是的，是像個罐子。”安妮也說。

杰克和安妮接著研究最后一個圖形。

“最后一個圖形像一個垂下來的柱子。”安妮說。

“像一個彎著的棍子。”杰克說，“但是一邊比另一邊短。”

幽靈王后的臉上又露出了困惑的表情。

“等等。”杰克說，“我來把它畫在我的筆記本上，畫得大大的，讓你也能看見。”

杰克放下權杖，拿出了鉛筆開始畫那最后一個象形文字。

“是一塊折起來的布。”幽靈王后說。

“嗯，不像。”杰克說著又研究了一會兒自己畫的圖形。

“可它在象形文字里就是代表折起來的一塊布。”幽靈王后說。

“哦，好吧。”杰克說。

他又看了看那第四個象形文字，卻還是看不出那是一塊折起來的布。倒是有些像一塊掛在浴室桿子上的毛巾。

“這樣就都有了。”安妮說，一面一個一個地指著那四幅圖形。“階梯，船，罐子，折起的布。”

杰克把這四個詞記在了筆記本上。

“那這些圖形是什么意思呢?”他問幽靈王后。

“來。”她說著伸出手，“到我的墓室里來吧。”

說完她立刻飄遠了。

6 The Writing on the Wall

Jack and Annie squinted at the pyramid wall.

A series of tiny pictures were carved into the stone.

“There are four pictures here，” Jack told the ghost-queen.

“Describe them to me， Jack. One at a time， please，” she said.

Jack studied the first picture.

“Okay，” he said. “The first one is like this.” He made a zigzag in the air with his finger.

“Like stairs?” asked the ghost-queen.

“Yes， stairs!” said Jack. “Just like stairs.”

She nodded.

Easy enough.

Jack studied the second picture.

“The second one has a long box on the bottom，” he said. He drew it in the air.

The ghost-queen looked puzzled.

“With three things on top. Like this，” said Annie. She drew squiggly lines in the air.

The ghost-queen still seemed puzzled.

“Like a hat，” said Jack.

“Hat?” said the ghost-queen.

“No. More like a boat，” said Annie.

“Boat?” said the ghost-queen. She got excited. “Boat?”

Jack took another look at the wall.

“Yes. It could be a boat，” he said.

The ghost-queen looked very happy. She smiled.

“Yes. Of course，” she said.

Jack and Annie studied the next picture.

“The third one is like a thing that holds flowers，” said Annie.

“Or a thing that holds water，” said Jack.

“Like a jug?” asked the ghost-queen.

“Exactly，” said Jack.

“Yes. A jug，” said Annie.

Jack and Annie studied the last picture.

“And the last one looks like a pole that droops，” said Annie.

“Like a curved stick，” said Jack. “But one side is shorter than the other.”

The ghost-queen looked puzzled.

“Wait，” said Jack. “I’ll draw it in my notebook. Big!So you can see it.”

Jack put down the scepter and got out his pencil. He drew the hieroglyph.

“A folded cloth，” said the ghost-queen.

“Well， not really，” said Jack. He studied his drawing.

“But that is the hieroglyph for a folded cloth，” said the ghost-queen.

“Well， okay，” said Jack.

He looked at the fourth hieroglyph again. He still couldn’t see the folded cloth. Unless it was like a towel hanging over a bathroom rod.

“So that’s all of them，” said Annie. She pointed at each picture. “Stairs. Boat. Jug. Folded cloth.”

Jack wrote the words in his notebook.

stairs= Jug=

boat= Cloth=

“So what does the message mean?” he asked the ghost-queen.

“Come，” she said.She held out her hand.“Come to my burial chambers.”

And she floated away.