兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第八冊 Midnight on the Moon 10

10 Earth Life

The midnight woods woke up.

A breeze rustled the leaves.

An owl hooted.

The sounds were soft，but very alive.

Jack opened his eyes. He pushed his glasses into place.

He smiled. Morgan was still with them. He could see her in the moonlight. Her long white hair was shining.

“Morgan，can you and the tree house stay here?” said Annie. “In Frog Creek?”

“No，I must leave again，I’m afraid，”said Morgan. “I’ve been gone from Camelot for a long time. ”

She handed Jack his pack. She brushed his cheek. Her hand felt soft and cool.

“A bit of moondust still on you，”she said. “Thank you，Jack，for your great love of know-ledge. ”

“You’re welcome，” said Jack.

Morgan tugged on one of Annie’s braids. “And thank you，Annie，for your belief in the impossible. ”

“You’re welcome，” said Annie.

“Go home now，” said Morgan.

Jack smiled. Home was Earth—that bright，colorful world where everything was alive and always changing.

“Bye，Morgan，” said Annie. She started out of the tree house.

Jack looked back at Morgan.

“Will you come back soon?” he said.

“Anything can happen，” said Morgan. “The universe is filled with wonders. Isn’t it，Jack?”

He smiled and nodded.

“Go now，” Morgan said softly.

Jack followed Annie down the rope ladder. He stepped onto the ground.

The wind started to blow.

The tree started to shake.

A loud roar filled Jack’s ears. He squeezed his eyes shut. He covered his ears.

Then everything was silent and still.

Jack opened his eyes. The ladder was gone. He looked through the leaves and branches of the giant oak tree. Where the tree house had been was only moonlight now.

“Bye，Morgan，” he whispered sadly.

“Bye，Peanut，” said Annie.

Jack and Annie stared at the top of the tree for a long moment.

“Ready?” said Annie.

Jack nodded.

They started for home.

The midnight air felt cool and moist. It was fill-ed with the soft sounds of earth life.

Jack and Annie left the Frog Creek woods. They started down their street.

Annie glanced up at the sky. “The moon looks really far away，doesn’t it?”

It did，thought Jack. It was.

“I wonder how the moon man can be up there all alone，” said Annie.

“What do you mean?” said Jack.

“I mean，who helps him put on his spacesuit?”said Annie. “Who helps him get up when he falls down?”

“And who is he ?” added Jack.

“Who do you think he was?” said Annie.

“He must be a scientist or an astronaut from Earth，” said Jack.

“No. I think he’s an alien，”said Annie，“from another galaxy. ”

Jack scoffed. “What makes you say that?”

“I just feel it，” said Annie.

“Wrong，” said Jack. “There’s no proof that aliens exist. ”

“Maybe not now，” said Annie. “But don’t forget—we were in the future. ”

“Oh，brother，” said Jack.

They crossed their yard and climbed their back steps. Annie tiptoed inside the house. Jack followed her.

Before he shut the door，he glanced up at the moon.

Was Annie right?he wondered. Could the moon man have come from another galaxy?

Morgan’s words came back to him：The universe is filled with wonders.

Isn’t it，Jack?

“Goodnight，moon man，”Jack whispered. Then he closed the door.

10地球生命

午夜的樹林醒來了。

一陣微風(fēng)掠過樹梢。

一只貓頭鷹發(fā)出陣陣啼叫。

這些聲音溫柔而生動。

杰克睜開了眼睛，他推了推眼鏡。

杰克笑了，因為摩根仍然和他們在一起。他能在月光中看到摩根，看到她的白色長發(fā)閃著銀光。

“摩根，你和你的樹屋能留在這兒嗎?”安妮問，“就留在蛙溪鎮(zhèn)?”

“恐怕不行啊，我必須離開了。”摩根說，“我已經(jīng)離開卡米洛特很久了。”

摩根把杰克的背包遞給了杰克，用手摸了摸杰克的臉。她的手冰涼而柔軟。

“你臉上還有月球上的塵土呢。”她說，“謝謝你，杰克，謝謝你對知識的熱愛。”

“不用謝。”杰克回答說。

摩根又扯了扯安妮的辮子，說：“也謝謝你，安妮。謝謝你總是愿意相信看似不可能的事。”

“不用謝。”安妮回答。

“現(xiàn)在回家去吧。”摩根說。

杰克笑了。他們的家就是地球——一個明亮而五彩繽紛的世界，這里的一切都是那么生動，一切都在不斷變化著。

“再見了，摩根。”安妮說著便爬出了樹屋。

杰克回頭看看摩根。

“你很快會回來嗎?”他問。

“一切都有可能發(fā)生呢。”摩根說，“宇宙中充滿了奇跡，不是嗎。杰克?”

杰克笑著點了點頭。

“去吧。”摩根溫柔地說。

杰克跟在安妮后面爬下了繩梯，踏上了地面。

風(fēng)吹了起來。

樹開始搖晃。

一陣巨大的呼嘯聲傳來。杰克緊緊地閉上了眼睛，還用手捂住了耳朵。

然后，一切都平靜了。

杰克睜開眼睛。繩梯不見了。他透過那棵巨大的橡樹的枝葉向上望去。原先樹屋所在的地方只剩下一抹月光了。

“再見，摩根。”杰克憂傷地輕聲呼喚著。

“再見，花生。”安妮也喊道。

杰克和安妮又盯著樹尖看了好長時間。

“好了嗎?”安妮問。

杰克點了點頭。

他們朝家的方向走去。

午夜的空氣涼爽而潮濕，到處都能聽到地球生命所發(fā)出的輕柔的聲音。

杰克和安妮走出蛙溪樹林，踏上了街道。

安妮抬頭看了看天，說：“月亮看上去真遠，是吧?”

杰克想，是啊。的確很遠。

“我在想月球人怎么能一個人呆在那里。”安妮說。

“什么意思?”杰克問。

“我是說，誰來幫他穿宇航服呢?”安妮說。“他要是摔倒了，誰扶他起來呢?”

“還有，他到底是誰?”杰克說。

“你猜他是誰?”安妮問。

“他一定是一位來自地球的科學(xué)家或是宇航員。”杰克說。

“不，我覺得他是個外星人。”安妮說，“來自另一個星系的外星人。”

杰克不禁要笑她了。“你怎么會這么想?”

“我的感覺。”安妮說。

“你錯了。”杰克說，“沒有證據(jù)能證明外星人是存在的。”

“也許現(xiàn)在沒有證據(jù)。”安妮說，“但別忘了，我們剛才可是在未來。”

“哦，天啊。”杰克說。

他們穿過院子，走上后院的樓梯。安妮踮著腳尖走進屋里，杰克則跟在后面。

在關(guān)上房門之前，杰克抬起頭又看了看月亮。

安妮是對的嗎?他琢磨著。那個月球人會是來自其他星系的嗎?

摩根的話又在他耳邊響起：宇宙中充滿了奇跡，不是嗎。杰克?

“晚安，月球人。”杰克小聲說著，然后關(guān)上了房門。