兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第九冊 Dolphins at Daybreak 01

1 Master Librarians

Jack stared out the kitchen window.

The sun was not up yet.But the sky was growing lighter.

Jack had been awake for a long time.He had been thinking about the dream he’d had—the dream about Morgan le Fay.

The tree house is back， Morgan had said. I’m waiting.

Jack wished that dreams were real. He missed Morgan’s magic tree house.

“Jack!” His little sister Annie appeared in the doorway. “We have to go to the woods now!” she said.

“Why?” Jack asked.

“I had a dream about Morgan!” exclaimed Annie. “She said the tree house is back and she’s waiting for us!”

“That was my dream，”said Jack.

“Oh， wow，” said Annie. “She told you， too? So it must be important.”

“But dreams aren’t real，” said Jack.

“Some dreams aren’t. But this one is，” said Annie. “I can just feel it.” She opened the back door. “I’ll see you later!”

“Wait—wait. I’m coming!” said Jack.

He raced up the stairs. Having the same dream must mean something， he thought.

He grabbed his backpack and threw his notebook and pencil into it.

Then he ran downstairs.

“We’ll be back soon， Mom!” Jack called into the living room.

“Where you going so early?” his dad called.

“Just for a quick walk!” said Jack.

“It rained last night，” called his mom. “Don’t get your shoes wet.”

“We won’t!”

Jack slipped out the door. Annie was waiting for him.

“Let’s go!” she said.

The sky was pale gray.The air felt freshly washed.

Jack and Annie ran up their quiet street to the Frog Creek woods.

They headed between the trees.Soon they came to the tallest oak in the woods. There was a wooden house high in the treetop.

“It is back!” whispered Jack.

Someone looked out the window of the tree house—a lovely old woman with long white hair. Morgan le Fay.

“Come up，” called the magical librarian.

Jack and Annie climbed up the rope ladder and into the tree house.

In the dawn light， they stared at Morgan le Fay. She looked beautiful in a red velvet robe.

Jack pushed his glasses into place.He couldn’t stop smiling.

“We both had dreams about you!” said Annie.

“I know，” said Morgan.

“You do?”

“Yes， I sent them to you，” said Morgan， “because I need your help.”

“What kind of help?” said Jack.

“Merlin the Magician has been up to his tricks again，” said Morgan.

“So I haven’t had any time to collect books for Camelot’s library.”

“Can we collet them for you?” asked Annie.

“Yes， but in order to gather books through time you must be Master Librarians，” said Morgan.

“Oh， well，” Annie said sadly.

“But you can become Master Librarians，” said Morgan， “if you pass the test.”

“Really?” said Annie.

“What kind of test?” Jack asked.

“You must show that you know how to do research，” said Morgan， “and show that you can find answers to hard questions.”

“How?” said Annie.

“By solving four riddles，” said Morgan. She reached into the folds

of her robe and pulled out a rolled-up paper.

“The first riddle is written on this ancient scroll，” she said. “This book will help you find the answer.”

She held out a book. On the cover were the words Ocean Guide.

“This is where you have to go，” said Morgan.

“The ocean! Oh， boy!” said Annie. She pointed at the cover. “I wish we—”

“Stop!” Jack grabbed Annie’s hand. “How will we know if we’ve found the right answer to the riddle?” he asked Morgan.

“You will know，” Morgan said mysteriously. “I promise you will know.”

Jack let go of Annie’s hand. She pointed again at the cover and finished her wish: “I wish we could go there.”

The wind started to blow.

“Are you coming with us， Morgan?” Jack said.

Before Morgan could answer， the tree house started to spin.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

The tree house spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

Jack opened his eyes.

Morgan le Fay was gone.

Only the ancient scroll and the ocean book were left in her place.

1萬能圖書管理員

杰克從廚房的窗子看出去，太陽還沒出來，但天已經開始亮起來了。

杰克已經醒著呆了好一會兒。他在想剛才做的夢——有關摩根·拉菲的夢。在夢里摩根說：“樹屋回來了，我在等你。”

杰克真希望夢是真的，他想念摩根的神奇樹屋。

“杰克，”他的小妹妹安妮來到門口對他說，“我們現(xiàn)在得馬上去樹林!”

“為什么?”杰克問。

“我做了個關于摩根的夢!”安妮激動地說，“夢里摩根對我說樹屋回來了，而且她在那兒等我們!”

“我也做了個這樣的夢。”杰克說。

“真的嗎?”安妮問，“她也告訴你了?那么說她一定有什么要緊事。”

“但是夢不是真的，”杰克說。

“有些夢不是真的，但這個是。我感覺它一定是真的，”安妮說。她打開后門，說：“我們一會兒見!”

“等等，我來了!”杰克說。他一邊跑上樓梯一邊想，做一樣的夢一定有其道理。

他抓起背包把他的筆記本和鉛筆塞了進去，然后跑下樓梯。

“我們一會兒就回來，媽媽!”杰克朝客廳喊道。

“這么早你們要上哪兒去啊?”爸爸問。

“就去散會兒步!”杰克回答道。

“昨天晚上下了雨，”媽媽大聲說，“別把鞋弄濕了。”

“不會的!”杰克答道。

杰克溜出門，安妮已經在那兒等他了。

“我們走吧!”她說。

天空是灰白色的，空氣仿佛剛洗過似的。杰克和安妮穿過寂靜的街道，朝蛙溪樹林跑去。

他們在樹木間穿行，很快來到樹林中那棵最高的橡樹跟前，高高的樹頂上果然有個木屋。

“樹屋真的回來了!”杰克小聲說。

這時，有人從樹屋的窗子里往外張望。是一位可愛的，留著白色長發(fā)的老婦人——摩根·拉菲。

“上來呀!”這位有魔法的圖書管理員喊道。

杰克和安妮攀著繩梯爬進樹屋。

在晨曦中他們注視著摩根·拉菲，只見她穿一件紅色的天鵝絨長袍，顯得十分漂亮。

杰克將眼鏡扶正，情不自禁地笑了。

“我們都夢見你了!”安妮說。

“我知道。”摩根回答。

“你知道?”

“是啊，是我托夢給你們的。”摩根說，“因為我需要你們的幫助。”

“怎樣的幫助?”杰克問。

“巫師梅林又開始施展巫術了。”摩根說，“所以我沒時間為卡米洛特王國的圖書館收集書籍了。”

“我們能幫你收集嗎?”安妮問。

“可以。但是為了能在不同時空中穿梭去收集圖書，你們必須成為萬能圖書管理員。”摩根說。

“唉，那就不好辦了。”安妮難過地說。

“你們是可以成為萬能圖書管理員的，只要你們能通過考試。”摩根說。

“真的嗎?”安妮問。

“是什么樣的考試呢?”杰克也問道。

“你們必須展示你們的探究能力，知道怎樣去找到解決難題的答案。”

“我們要怎樣做呢?”安妮問。

“只需找到四個謎底就可以了。”摩根說。她將手伸進袍子的褶里，拿出一個紙卷。

“第一個謎語寫在這個古紙卷里。”摩根說，“這本書將幫你們找到謎底。”

她取出一本書，書的封面上寫著“海洋向導”幾個字。

“這就是你們要去的地方。”摩根說。

“海洋!噢，天哪!”安妮指著書的封面說，“我希望我們……”

“停一下!”杰克抓住安妮的手說。“我們怎么知道是不是找到了正確的謎底呢?”他問摩根。

“你們會知道的。”摩根神秘地說，“我保證你們到時候就知道了。”

杰克松開安妮的手，于是她又可以指著封面說完她的希望了：“我希望我們能去那里。”

風吹了起來。

“你會和我們一起去嗎，摩根?”杰克問。

摩根還來不及回答，樹屋就開始打轉。

杰克將眼睛閉緊。

樹屋轉得越來越快。

然后一切都平靜了。

絕對的平靜。

杰克睜開雙眼，發(fā)現(xiàn)摩根已經不見了，只留下那個古紙卷和那本關于海洋的書。