兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第四冊 Pirates Past Noon 06

6鯨魚的眼睛

劃艇劇烈地左右搖晃著。浪很大，濺起咸咸的海水，刺痛了杰克的眼睛。他有些暈船。

“抓牢了!”骷髏船長大聲說。他指了指大海，說：“不然我們就成了這些畜牲的盤中餐了。”

只見深色的魚鰭劃過海面，原來是鯊魚!其中一只從劃艇旁邊疾行而過，杰克若是伸出手都可以摸到它!他不禁打了個哆嗦。

但是不多久，劃艇就來到了大船跟前。

艙里的空氣潮濕、酸臭。一束慘淡的白光從一扇小圓窗里射進來。

“噢，天哪!我們得想辦法回到小島。”杰克說。

“那我們就可以爬進樹屋回家了。”安妮說。

“沒錯。”但杰克忽然感到?jīng)]了力氣，他們怎樣才能從這困境中逃出去呢?

“咱們最好研究一下那本書。”他說。于是把手伸進背包里，拿出了那本關(guān)于海盜的書。

他快速翻動書頁，找尋對他們有用的信息。

“看。”他說。

他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一張海盜埋財寶箱的圖片，“這也許有用。”他說。

他們一起讀著圖片下面的文字：

基德船長是個著名的海盜，據(jù)說他把一只裝滿金子和珠寶的箱子埋在了一座荒島上。

“基德船長!”杰克說。

“那么這就是骷髏船長所說的‘孩子的寶藏’啰!”安妮說。

“對。”杰克回答。

安妮從圓窗子里看出去，說：“基德船長的金銀財寶一定埋在島上的某個地方。”

杰克拿出他的筆記本和鉛筆，寫道：

基德船長的財寶在島上。

“杰克!”安妮說。

“別吵!等一下，我在思考。”杰克說。

“你猜我看見什么了?”安妮說。

“什么?”杰克眼睛盯著書問。

“一頭鯨魚。”

“好極了。”杰克說。他抬起頭來，“一頭鯨魚?你剛才是說一頭鯨魚嗎?”

“鯨魚。大鯨魚。有足球場那么大呢!”

杰克跳起來與她一起看向窗外。

“在哪兒呀?”杰克問。他目所能及的就是小島、洶涌的波濤和鯊魚的鰭。

“在那兒!”安妮說。

“哪兒呀?在哪兒?”

“那兒呀!小島的形狀不就像一頭巨大的鯨魚嗎?”

“噢，天哪!”杰克小聲說。他現(xiàn)在終于看見了。

“看見鯨魚背了嗎?”安妮問。

“對。”島上的斜坡看上去就像鯨魚的背。

“看到它噴出的水柱了嗎?”安妮問。

“嗯。”樹屋所在的棕櫚樹看起來就像鯨魚噴出的水柱。

“看見它的眼睛了?”安妮問。

“對。”一塊黑色的大石頭看上去就是鯨魚的眼睛。

“金子藏在鯨魚的眼睛下面。”杰克小聲說，“天哪!”

6 The Whale’s Eye

The rowboat tossed from side to side. The waves were huge. Salty spray stung Jack’s eyes. He felt seasick.

“Hold’er steady!”shouted Cap’n Bones.

He pointed at the sea. “Or we’ll be meat for those evil brutes!”

Dark fins cut through the water. Sharks.One zoomed right by the boat.Jack could have reached out and touched it.

He shuddered.

Soon the rowboat pulled alongside the ship.

The air was filled with wild fiddle music and bagpipes playing.And Jack heard jeers， shouts， and ugly laughter.

“Hoist’em aboard!” Cap’n Bones shouted to his men.

Annie and Jack were hauled onto the deck.

The ship creaked and moaned. It rolled from side to side. Ropes flapped and snapped in the wild wind.

Everywhere they looked， Jack and Annie saw pirates.

Some were dancing.Some were drinking.Many were fighting. With swords.

Or with their fists.

“Lock ’em in my cabin!” Cap’n Bones ordered.

A couple of pirates grabbed Jack and Annie.And threw them in the ship’s cabin.Then locked the door.

The air inside the cabin was damp and sour-smelling. A shaft of gray light came through a small round window.

“Oh man，” said Jack. “We’ve got to figure out how to get back to the island.”

“So we can get into the tree house and go home，” said Annie.

“Right.” Jack suddenly felt tired. How would they ever get out of this mess?

“We better examine the book，” he said.

He reached into his pack and pulled out the pirate book.

He flipped through the pages.

He looked for information to help them.

“Look，” he said.

He found a picture of pirates burying a treasure chest. “This might help.”

Together they read the words under the picture.

Captain Kidd was a famous pirate.It is said that he buried a treasure chest on a deserted island.The chest was filled with gold and jewels.

“Captain Kidd!” said Jack.

“So that’s the kid that Bones keeps talking about，” said Annie.

“Right，” said Jack.

Annie looked out the round window.

“And Captain Kidd’s treasure is buried somewhere on the island，” she said.

Jack took out his notebook and pencil.He wrote：

Captain Kidd’　s treasure on island

“Ja-ck，” Annie said.

“Shhh， wait a minute，” he said. “I’m thinking.”

“Guess what I see?” said Annie.

“What?” Jack asked. He looked back at the book.

“A whale.”

“Neat，” he said.Then he looked up.“A whale?Did you say ... a whale?”

“A whale. A huge whale. As big as a football field.”

Jack jumped up and looked out the window with her.

“Where?” Jack asked. All he could see was the island. And stormy waves. And shark fins.

“There!” said Annie.

“Where?Where?”

“There!The island is shaped like a giant whale!”

“Oh man，” whispered Jack. Now he could see it.

“See the whale’s back?” said Annie.

“Yep.” The slope of the island looked like the back of a whale.

“See his spout?” said Annie.

“Yep.” The palm tree that held the tree house looked like the spout of the whale.

“See his eye?” said Annie.

“Yep.” A big black rock looked like the eye of the whale.

“The gold doth lie beneath the whale’s eye，” whispered Jack. “Wow.”