兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》第十九冊 Tigers at Twilight 03 Life or Death

"Tigers?" said Annie. "Cool." Jack read more:

7A wild tiger eats almost 5,000 pounds of fresh rawmeat a year.

"Oh, not so cool," said Annie. Jack went on:

Tigers usually leave elephants alone. And likemany smaller cats, tigers often avoid wild dogs.

"What?" said Annie. She stopped and looked back atthe tree.

"See what I mean?" said .Jack. "Tigers live here.

And one of them just came this way."Teddy growled.

"Wild dogs, not a shrimp like you," Jack said toTeddy. "A tiger would eat you in a minute."Teddy growled again.

Just then, Kah and Ko began hooting. Koo-koo-koo!

The peacocks cried Kok! Kok!

The small deer made short barking sounds andstamped their hooves.

"What's going on?" said Annie.

"We better put Teddy in my pack," said Jack, "tokeep him safe."Jack slipped the dog into his pack. Teddy's headpoked out the top.

"All set?" Jack asked the little dog. Teddy growledagain.

This time, a deep, fierce growl answered back. Itseemed to surround them. Jack's hair stood on end.

"Yikes!" said Annie. "A tiger!" said Jack.

Arf! Arf! Teddy barked.

Kah and Ko screeched at Jack and Annie from theirtree.

"They want us to join them!" said Annie. "Comeon!" She grabbed a branch and climbed up.

Jack's hands were shaking as he put his backpackon. He grabbed a branch and pushed off the ground.

He pulled himself into the tree.

Another growl shook the forest. "Oh, man," saidJack.

Koo-koo-koo! The langurs climbed higher up thetree.

Jack and Annie followed them, climbing frombranch to branch.

The sky above was no longer glowing. The brightorange had faded to a twilight gray.

Jack looked down. He couldn't see the ground at all.

He listened for another scary roar. Only the cries offrightened forest creatures filled the air.

"Maybe the tiger's gone," said Annie.

Jack glanced at Kah and Ko. The langurs cuddledtogether. Their dark faces looked worried.

"And maybe not," said Jack.

"How can we get through the forest with-outrunning into him?" said Annie.

"That's a problem," said Jack. "And it's getting dark.

Soon we won't be able to see anything."Kah and Ko hooted again. They pointed down thetree trunk.

Arf! Arf! Teddy barked from Jack's pack.

"Do they see the tiger?" Jack asked, his heartthumping again. He couldn't see any-thing but leavesand branches.

Then, far below, he saw the tree trunk move!

"A snake!" said Annie.

The snake was slithering around the trunk. It hadblack-and-tan markings. The snake's body was asthick as the tree trunk!

"A python," breathed Jack.

The python kept curling up the tree trunk. "Is itpoisonous?" asked Annie.

Jack pulled out their book. By the last light of day,he found a picture of a python. He read aloud:

The python is not a poisonous snake.

"Whew," said Annie"Not so fast," said Jack. He read more:

To kill its prey, the python squeezes it to death,then swallows it whole. A python can swallow ananimal the size of a full-grown deer.

"Oh, yuck!" said Annie.

"This is more than just yuck, Annie," said Jack.

"This is life or death."Kah and Ko chattered at Jack and Annie.

"Not now," said Jack. "We have to think." Thelangurs grabbed thick vines. They leaned back. Thenthey jumped out of the tree!

The langurs swung through the air like trapezeartists. They swung over bushes and tall grass andlanded in another tree.

They screeched at Jack and Annie and waved theirarms.

"I know what they're saying," said Annie. "Theywant us to copy them!"