兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第七冊 Afternoon on the Amazon 02

2 Bones

Jack，Annie，and Peanut looked outside.

Snow was falling from a gray sky.

The tree house was in the tallest tree in a grove of tall，bare trees.

The grove was on a wide，white plain.Beyond the plain were high，rocky cliffs.

“I’m c-cold，”said Annie.Her teeth chattered.She wrapped her towel tightly around her.

Sq-squeak.Peanut sounded cold，too.

“Poor mouse，”said Annie.“I’ll put you into Jack’s pack.You’ll be warmer there.”

Annie slipped Peanut into the pocked of the backpack.

“We have to go home，”said Jack.“We need warmer clothes.”

“We can’t go home，”said Annie.“We can’t find the Pennsylvania book.Not until our mission is complete.Remember?That’s the way the magic works.”

“Oh...right，”said Jack.He looked around.There was no sign of the Pennsylvania book that always took them home.

Annie peered out the window again.“Where are we，anyway?”she asked.

“I’ll find out，”said Jack.He picked up the open book and read the title on the cover.“Life in the Ice Age.”

“Ice Age?”said Annie.“No wonder we’re cold.”

“We better find the third M thing soon，”said Jack.“Before we freeze to death.”

“Look，”whispered Annie，“people.”She pointed out the window.

Jack saw them，too:four figures on a cliff.Two big figures and two little ones—all holding long spears.

“Who are they?”said Annie.

“I’ll look in the book，”said Jack.

He found a picture of some people.He read the caption to Annie:

Early modern humans were called Cro- Magnons.During the late Ice Age in Europe，they sometimes lived in caves beneath cliffs.

“Why are they carrying spears?”said Annie.

Jack turned the page.He found another picture of the Cro-Magnons.He read aloud:

The Cro-Magnon family often hunted together.They covered deep pits with branches.Then they drove reindeer and mammoths into the traps.

“Oh，trapping the animals—that’s sad，”said Annie.

“No，it’s not，”said Jack.“They couldn’t live without hunting.They didn’t have supermarkets，you know.”

They watched the family disappear over the other side of the cliff.

“Come on，I’m freezing，”said Jack.“Let’s hurry and find the M thing while the Cro-Magnons are hunting.”

“But I want to meet them，”said Annie.

“Forget it，”said Jack.“They don’　t have books that tell them about us.They’ll think we’re some enemy and hurl their spears.”

“Yikes，”said Annie.

Jack put his book away.

Squeak.Peanut peeked out of the backpack.

“Stay in there，”said Annie.

Jack pulled on his pack and started down the rope ladder.

Annie followed.

On the icy ground，they huddled together.

The wind was biting.Jack put his towel over his head.Snow blew against his glasses.

“Hey，Jack，”said Annie.“Look at me.”

Annie had put on her swimming goggles.“Now I can see，”she said.

“Good thinking，”said Jack.“Now cover your head with your towel.Most of your body heat is lost through your head.”

Annie wrapped her towel around her head.

“We should find a cave or someplace warmer，”said Jack.

“I bet there are caves in those cliffs，”said Annie.

She and Jack started across the white plain.The snow wasn’t deep yet.

But the wind was blowing hard.

“I told you!”Annie pointed to an opening in the rocks—a cave.

They ran to it.

“Careful，”said Jack.They stepped carefully into the shadowy cave.　It was only slightly warmer inside.But at least the wind wasn’t blowing.

In the gray light，they stamped the snow off their sneakers.

Annie took off her goggles.

“It smells in here，”said Jack.

“Yeah，like a wet dog，”said Annie.

“Let me see what I can find out，”said Jack.

He pulled out the Ice Age book.

“I’ll look around，”said Annie.“Maybe the M thing is here.Then we can go home and get warm.”

Jack stood by the entrance so he could read the book.

“This cave is filled with sticks，”Annie said.

“What?”said Jack.He didn’t look up from the book.

“No，wait.I think they’re bones，”said Annie.

“Bones?”echoed Jack.

“Yeah.Lots of them back here.All over the floor.”

Jack turned the pages of his book.He found a picture of a cave filled with bones.

“I hear something，”said Annie.

Jack read the writing below the picture of the cave.It said:

The great cave bears of the Ice Age

were over eight feet tall.These bears

were larger and fiercer than today’s

grizzlies.Their caves were filled with

the bones of their ancestors.

“Annie!”whispered Jack.“Get back here now!”

They were in the cave of a great cave bear!

2一地骨頭

杰克、安妮和花生一同向外望去。

雪花從灰蒙蒙的天空飄下。

在一片光禿禿的樹林里，樹屋掛在了最高的一棵樹上。

這片林子在一片廣闊的白皚皚的平原上。平原的盡頭是高聳的巖石峭壁。

“我冷……冷。”安妮說。她的牙齒格格作響。她用浴巾把自己緊緊地裹了起來。

吱……吱吱?；ㄉ坪跻埠芾?。

“可憐的小老鼠。”安妮說，“我把你放進杰克的背包里，在那里你會暖和一點的。”

安妮把花生塞進杰克的背包里。

“我們得回家去。”杰克說，“我們需要暖和些的衣服。”

“我們回不了家。”安妮說，“你忘了?不完成使命的話，我們是找不到那本賓夕法尼亞的書的。魔法就是這樣進行的。”

“啊……沒錯。”杰克說。他看了看周圍，沒看見那本賓夕法尼亞的書，那本每次總是在最后把他們送回家去的書。

安妮又瞅著窗外。“我們究竟在什么地方呢?”她問道。

“我會弄明白的。”杰克說。他拾起那本打開的書，讀著封面上的書名：《冰河時代的生命》。

“冰河時代?”安妮說，“難怪我們這么冷。”

“我們頂好盡快找到第三樣帶M的東西。”杰克說，“趕在我們凍成冰棍之前。”

“看!”安妮低聲說，“有人。”她指著窗戶外面。

杰克也看見了：四個人影在懸崖上。兩個大塊頭，兩個小個子——手里都握著長矛。

“他們是誰?”安妮說。

“我在書里找找看。”杰克說。

他找到一幅圖，上面畫著一些人。他把圖上的文字讀給安妮：

早期新人被稱作克羅馬農(nóng)人。在冰河時代晚期的歐洲，他們有時住在懸崖下面的洞穴里。

“他們?yōu)槭裁词殖珠L矛呢?”安妮說。

杰克翻了一頁，看到另一幅畫有克羅馬農(nóng)人的畫。他高聲讀道：

克羅馬農(nóng)人經(jīng)常以家庭為單位狩獵。他們用樹枝覆蓋著深深的坑。然后他們再把馴鹿和猛犸趕進陷阱里。

“啊，圍捕動物——這夠悲哀的。”安妮說。

“不，不能這么說。”杰克說，“他們不狩獵就無法活下去呀。你要知道，他們可沒有超市。”

他們注視著這家人消失在懸崖的另一邊。

“來吧，我快凍僵了。”杰克說，“克羅馬農(nóng)人忙著狩獵的時候，讓我們也抓緊去找?guī)的東西吧。”

“不過我想去見見他們。”安妮說。

“算了吧。”杰克說，“他們可不像我們，他們手里可沒有什么書能告訴他們我們是誰。他們會把我們當成敵人，向我們投長矛呢。”

“噢，是的。”安妮說。

杰克把書收了起來。

吱吱?；ㄉ鷱谋嘲锾匠瞿X袋。

“待在里面。”安妮說。

杰克背起背包，順著繩梯開始往下爬。

安妮緊跟其后。

在冰天雪地里，他們蜷縮在一起。

寒風刺骨。杰克用浴巾裹住頭。雪片敲擊著眼鏡。

“喂，杰克。”安妮說，“瞧瞧我。”

安妮戴上了游泳護目鏡。“現(xiàn)在我可以看東西了。”她說。

“好主意。”杰克說，“現(xiàn)在用你的浴巾包住自己的頭。身體熱量多半是從頭上散失的。”

安妮用浴巾包住自己的頭。

“我們應該找個洞穴或找個暖和些的地方。”杰克說。

“我敢打賭懸崖那里有洞穴。”安妮說。

她和杰克動身穿越白雪皚皚的平原。雪還不怎么深，但是風刮得很猛。

“我說對了吧!”安妮指著巖石間的一個孔——一個洞穴。

他們向它奔去。

“小心點。”杰克說。他們小心翼翼地爬進昏暗的洞穴。

里面暖和不了多少，不過至少吹不到風了。

在昏暗的光線下，他們跺掉粘在球鞋上的雪。

安妮摘下她的護目鏡。

“這兒有股氣味。”杰克說。

“對，像是濕漉漉的小狗的氣味。”安妮說。

“讓我看看能不能發(fā)現(xiàn)什么。”杰克說。

他拿出冰河時代那本書。

“我去看看周圍。”安妮說，“那個帶M的東西也許就在這兒。如果是這樣，我們就可以回家暖暖和和的了。”

杰克站在洞穴的入口處，這樣他就可以借著光線看書了。

“這個洞穴堆滿了棍棍棒棒。”安妮說。

“你說什么?”杰克說，可他的頭仍埋在書里。

“不，等等，我想它們是骨頭。”安妮說。

“骨頭?”杰克應聲答道。

“對。這后面有好多的骨頭，滿地都是。”

杰克翻著書頁，找到一幅畫，上面畫著堆滿骨頭的洞穴。

“我聽到了什么聲音。”安妮說。

杰克讀著洞穴畫下的文字：

冰河時代的大洞穴熊身高超過八英尺 。這些熊比今天的大灰熊大得多，兇猛得多。它們的洞穴里堆滿了它們祖先的骨頭。

“安妮!”杰克低聲叫著，“快回到這兒來!”

他們正待在大洞穴熊的窩兒里呢!