兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第七冊 Afternoon on the Amazon 07

7 The Sorcerer’s Gift

The sorcerer didn’t speak.He stared through the eyeholes of the owl mask.

“Help us，please，”said Annie.

The sorcerer threw a rope into the pit.Jack grabbed it.

“He wants to pull us up，”said Annie.

Jack looked up.The sorcerer was gone.

“Where did he go?”Jack said.

“Tug on the rope，”said Annie.

Jack tugged.The rope tightened.It began rising.

“I’ll go first!”said Annie cheerfully.

“Annie，this isn’t a game，”warned Jack.

“Don’t worry，I’ll be careful.”

Jack gave her the rope.“Okay.But hold on tight，”he said.

Annie held the rope with both hands.She pushed her feet against the side of the pit.She rose into the air with the rope.

She kept pressing against the side of the pit—until she reached the top.

Jack saw the sorcerer reappear and help Annie up.Then they moved out of sight.

Jack was puzzled.The sorcerer had used both hands to help Annie.So who held the other end of the rope?

“Wow!”came Annie’s voice.

What’s going on?Jack wondered.

The sorcerer came back and threw the rope down again.

Jack grabbed it.And the rope started to rise.

Jack held on tight.He started up.His hands burned.His arms felt as if they were being pulled out of their sockets.

But he kept his hold on the rope and his feet against the side of the pit.

At the top the sorcerer pulled Jack onto the snowy ground.

“Thanks，”said Jack，standing.

The sorcerer was tall.He wore a long fur robe.Jack could see only his eyes through the owl mask.

“Hey!”Annie called.

Jack turned.

Annie was sitting on a woolly mammoth.

Squeak.Peanut was sitting on the mammoth’s head.

The mammoth looked like a giant elephant with shaggy reddish hair and long，curved tusks.

The other end of the rope was around the mammoth’s huge neck.

“Lulu pulled us up，”said Annie.

“Lulu?”said Jack.

“Don’t you think she looks like a Lulu?”said Annie.

“Oh brother，”said Jack.He walked up to the mammoth.

“Hey，mammoth starts with M，”said Annie.“Maybe Lulu’s the special thing!”

“I don’t think so，”said Jack.

The great creature knelt down，just like a circus elephant.

“Whoa!”said Annie.She clutched the mammoth’s ears to keep from falling off.

The sorcerer helped Jack climb onto the mammoth.

“Thanks，”said Jack.

Then the sorcerer reached into a pouch.He pulled out a smooth white bone and handed it to Jack.

The bone was hollow.It had four holes along one side.And two on the other.

“Oh man，I think it’s his flute，”said Jack.“The book said they make flutes from mammoth bones.”

Jack tried to give the flute back to the sorcerer.

“Nice，”he said politely.

But the sorcerer held up his hand.

“He wants you to keep the mammoth bone，”said Annie.

“Mammoth bone，”whispered Jack.“Hey，maybe this is the third thing.”

Jack looked at the sorcerer.“Do you know Morgan?”he asked.

The sorcerer did not answer. But his eyes sparkled with kindness.

He turned away from Jack and untied the mammoth’s rope.Then he whispered in the ear of the giant woolly creatrure.

When the mammoth stood up，Jack gripped Annie’s coat to keep from falling off.He felt miles above the ground.

He nestled behind Annie，in the dip between the mammoth’s head and huge curved back.

The mammoth took slow，plodding steps across the snow，then picked up speed.

“Where are we going?”said Jack as they bumped up and down.

“To the tree house!”said Annie.

“How does he know where it is?”said Jack.

“She just knows，”said Annie.

Jack looked back.

The sorcerer was standing in the snow，watching them.

But at that moment the clouds parted，and the sun came out.

Jack was blinded by sunlight on the snow.

He squinted to see—but the sorcerer had vanished.

7巫師的禮物

巫師一聲不吭。他從貓頭鷹面具的眼窩里盯著他們。

“請救我們上去吧。”安妮說。

巫師把一根繩子扔進坑里，杰克抓住了它。

“他要拉我們出去。”安妮說。

杰克向上看了看。巫師不見了。

“他去哪兒了呢?”杰克說。

“拽住繩子。”安妮說。

杰克拽住繩子。繩子繃緊了，并且開始上升。

“我先出去!”安妮興高采烈地說。

“安妮，這不是做游戲。”杰克提醒她。

“別擔心，我會小心的。”

杰克把繩遞給她。“好吧，但要抓緊繩子。”他說。

安妮雙手抓住繩子。她把雙腳蹬在坑壁上。她沿著繩子升到半空中。

她繼續(xù)蹬著坑壁——直到爬上土坑頂。

杰克看見巫師又出現(xiàn)了，幫助安妮上去。接著他們從視線中消失了。

杰克迷惑不解了。巫師是用雙手幫助安妮的。那么是誰拉住繩子的另一頭呢?

“哇噻!”安妮的聲音傳來了。

發(fā)生什么事了?杰克心中沒有底。

巫師又回來了，把繩子又扔了下來。

杰克一把抓住，然后繩子開始上升了。

杰克緊緊地抓住繩子。他開始上升。他的雙手火辣辣的。他的雙臂就像是要被拉脫了臼。

但是他堅持著抓緊繩子，雙腳蹬在坑壁上。

在頂部，巫師把杰克拉到大雪覆蓋的地面上。

“謝謝。”杰克站起來說。

巫師個子高高的。他穿著長長的皮袍。杰克只能看見貓頭鷹面具里的眼睛。

“嗨!”安妮叫了起來。

杰克轉(zhuǎn)過身來。

安妮正坐在一只長毛猛犸的背上。

吱吱?；ㄉ诿歪锏念^上。

猛犸看上去像一只龐大的大象，長著粗濃蓬松的微紅色的毛和又長又彎的獠牙。

繩子的另一端套在猛犸粗粗的大脖子上。

“露露把我們拉上來的。”安妮說。

“露露?”杰克說。

“你不認為它長得像歌手露露嗎?”安妮說。

“啊，好伙計。”杰克說。他向猛犸走去。

“嗨，猛犸的首字母是M。”安妮說，“也許這個露露就是我們要找的特殊的東西!”

“我不這樣認為。”杰克說。

這只龐然大物跪了下來，就像馬戲團的大象那樣。

“吁!”安妮說。她抓著猛犸的耳朵，不讓自己掉下來。

巫師幫助杰克爬到猛犸背上。

“謝謝。”杰克說。

接著，巫師把手伸進一個口袋里，掏出一塊光滑的白白的骨頭，遞給了杰克。

骨頭是中空的，一邊有四個眼，另一邊有兩個眼。

“嘿，我認為這是他的笛子。”杰克說，“書上說他們用猛犸的骨頭制做笛子。”

杰克想把笛子還給巫師。

“真漂亮。”杰克客氣地說。

但是巫師舉起了一只手。

“他要你收下猛犸骨頭。”安妮說。

“猛犸骨頭。”杰克咕噥說，“嗨，這也許就

是那第三樣特殊的東西。”

杰克看著巫師。“你認識摩根嗎?”他問。

巫師沒有回答，但是他的雙眼閃爍著慈愛的光芒。

他轉(zhuǎn)過身去，解開了猛犸頸上的繩子。然

后他在多毛的龐然大物耳邊耳語了幾句。

當猛犸站起來時，杰克緊緊抓住安妮的外套，自己才沒有掉下來。他感到高

出地面好幾英里呢。

他舒適地坐在安妮后面，坐在猛犸的腦袋和它寬寬的彎彎的背部之間的凹處。

猛犸邁著緩慢而有力的步伐越過雪地，然后加快了速度。

“我們這是去哪兒?” 杰克說，他們正在猛犸背上顛簸著。

“去樹屋!”安妮說。

“它怎么知道樹屋在哪兒呢?”杰克說。

“它就是知道。”安妮說。

杰克回過頭。

巫師還站在雪地中，注視著他們。

但是就在這時，云開了，太陽出來了。

杰克被雪地上反射的陽光刺得睜不開眼睛。

他瞇著眼瞧——但是巫師已經(jīng)消失了。