“Wow,what is this place?”said Jack.
“Maybe it’s an art gallery,”said Annie.
“I don’t think so,”said Jack.“It’s too hard to get to.”
He read about the cave paintings:
These Ice Age beasts were painted 25 000 years ago.Cro-Magnons painted pictures of animals they hunted.They may have believed the paintings would give them power over the animals.
“Wow,look at this,”said Annie.
She pointed at a painting farther down the wall.
It showed a figure with human arms and legs,reindeer antlers,and an owl face.It seemed to be holding a flute.
Jack looked at the book again.He found a picture of the figure and read:
Cave men may have been led by a sorcerer,or“Master of the Animals”.He may have worn reindeer antlers so he could run like a reindeer—and an owlmask so he could see like an owl.
“What is it?”said Annie.
“The Master of the Animals,”said Jack.“He’s a sorcerer.”
“Oh wow,”breathed Annie.“That’s it.”
“That’s what?”
“That’s who we have to find.”
“Why?”
“Maybe he’s a friend of Morgan’s,”said Annie.
Jack nodded slowly.“Maybe,”he said.
“Let’s go find him,”said Annie.
They went back through the tunnel into the first cave.
“We better put our lamps back,”said Jack.
He and Annie blew out their lamps.
They placed them back by the fire.
Jack’s backpack was on the floor next to the skins.He put the Ice Age book into it.
“How’s Peanut?”said Annie.
Jack looked into his pack.“She’s not here,”he said.
“Oh no!”cried Annie.“She must have crawled out when we were looking at the paintings.”
“Peanut!”Jack called.
“Peanut!”called Annie.
Annie walked slowly around the cave,looking into the shadows.
Jack peered around the fire and under each of the furry skins.
“Jack!Come here!”said Annie.
She was standing near the entrance to the cave.
The snow had stopped falling.
In the snow were tiny tracks.
5雪地足跡
“哇,這是什么地方呀?”杰克說(shuō)。
“這可能是一座藝術(shù)館。”安妮說(shuō)。
“我可不這么想。”杰克說(shuō),“進(jìn)來(lái)一趟也太麻煩啦。”
他讀起書里關(guān)于洞穴壁畫的文字:
這些冰河時(shí)代的野獸畫于25 000年以前。克羅馬農(nóng)人畫上他們狩獵的動(dòng)物。他們可能相信這些畫能帶給他們比動(dòng)物更大的力量。
“哇噻,看看這個(gè)。”安妮說(shuō)。
她指著更遠(yuǎn)處石壁上的一幅畫。
這幅畫上的形象有人的手和腳,長(zhǎng)著馴鹿的角,一張貓頭鷹的臉,雙手握著一支笛子。
杰克又翻了翻書,找到畫有這個(gè)形象的畫,并讀道:
洞穴人可能由一位巫師,或稱做“動(dòng)物之主”的人來(lái)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。他可能會(huì)戴上馴鹿角,為了能跑得像馴鹿一樣快——戴上貓頭鷹面具,為了能看得像貓頭鷹一樣清楚一樣遠(yuǎn)。
“這是什么呢?”安妮問(wèn)。
“動(dòng)物之主。”杰克說(shuō),“他是一位巫師。”
“啊,哇噻。”安妮吸了一口氣,“那就對(duì)了。”
“什么對(duì)了?”
“那就是我們必須找的人。”
“為什么?”
“他可能是摩根的一個(gè)朋友。”安妮說(shuō)。
杰克慢慢地點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。“很可能。”他說(shuō)。
“讓我們?nèi)フ宜伞?rdquo;安妮說(shuō)。
他們從通道鉆出來(lái),回到原來(lái)的洞穴。
“我們最好把燈放回原處。”杰克說(shuō)。
他和安妮吹熄了燈。
他們把燈放回到火堆旁。
杰克的背包在獸皮堆旁邊的地上。他把冰河時(shí)代那本書放進(jìn)背包里。
“花生怎樣了?”安妮問(wèn)。
杰克看了看背包里面。“它不在這兒。”他說(shuō)。
“噢,不!”安妮大叫著,“我們看畫的時(shí)候,它肯定爬出來(lái)了。”
“花生!”杰克喊著。
“花生!”安妮喊著。
安妮圍著洞穴慢慢地邊走邊在陰暗角落里找著。
杰克盯著火堆周圍找著,在每一張毛皮底下找著。
“杰克!快上這兒來(lái)!”安妮說(shuō)。
她站在洞穴入口處的附近。
雪已經(jīng)停了。
雪地里有一串小小的腳印。