“木乃伊？”他问。

“在那金盒子里躺着的没准儿是具木乃伊呢，”

安妮大声说，

“我们现在是在古埃及，你忘了？”

......

磨

耳

朵

作者：玛丽·波·奥斯本

主译：蓝葆春 蓝纯

神奇树屋木乃伊之谜

2

啊，嗬，木乃伊！/

Oh, Man. Mummies!

杰克和安妮望向窗外。树屋架在一棵棕榈树的顶端。这棵树与其他棕榈树伫立在一起，构成一小块绿地，周围全是黄棕色的沙漠。“喵！”杰克和安妮向下看去。黑猫正坐在树下，一双黄色眼睛正盯着杰克和安妮。“嘿！”安妮喊道。“嘘！”杰克制止了她，“别人会听见的。”“在这片沙漠中间？”安妮问。

Jack and Annie looked out the window. The tree house was perched on the top of a palm tree. The tree stood with other palm trees. A patch of green surrounded by a sandy desert. 'Meow! ' Jack and Annie looked down. The black cat was sitting at the base of the tree. His yellow eyes were staring up at Jack and Annie. 'Hi! ' Annie shouted. 'Shhh, ' said Jack. 'Someone might hear you. ' 'In the middle of the desert? ' said Annie.

黑猫站起来，绕着树转悠。“回来！”安妮高喊。她探身窗外，想看清楚猫往哪里走。“噢，哇！”安妮吃惊地说，“快看，杰克。”杰克也探身向下看。那猫跑出了棕榈树林，跑向沙漠中巨大的金字塔。一群朝拜者正列队走向金字塔。他们的队列跟埃及书中画的一模一样。

The black cat stood and began walking around the tree. 'Come back! ' Annie called. She leaned out the window to see where the cat was going. 'Oh, wow! ' she said. 'Look, Jack. ' Jack leaned forward and looked down. The cat was running away from the palm trees. Toward a giant pyramid in the desert. A parade was going toward the pyramid. The same parade as in the Egypt book.

“这就是书上画的！”杰克说。“那些人在干什么？”安妮问。杰克翻开那本埃及书，念着图画下面的文字：王室成员去世，就要举行隆重的葬礼。家庭成员、仆人和亲友等送葬者都跟在棺材的后面。棺材被称为石棺，放在滑板上由四头牛来拉。“这是埃及的葬礼，”杰克说，“那盒子叫什么来着……噢，我忘了。”

'It’s the picture from the book! ' said Jack. 'What are those people doing? ' asked Annie. Jack looked down at the Egypt book. He read the words under the picture: When a royal person died, a grandfuneral procession took place. Family, servants, and mourners followed the coffin. The coffin was called a sarcophagus. It was pulled on a sled by four oxen. 'It’s an Egyptian funeral, ' said Jack. 'The box is called a sar...sar...sar...oh, forget it. '

他又向窗外望去。牛、滑板、埃及人、黑猫，这一切都在以一种梦幻般的方式缓缓前行。“我得把这情景记下来。”杰克说。他把手伸进背包，掏出笔记本。杰克总喜欢记笔记。“等一等！”杰克一边说，一边写：被称为石棺的棺材。“我们得快点了，”安妮说，“如果我们想去看木乃伊的话。”她开始下绳梯。

He looked out the window again. Oxen, sled, Egyptians, black cat. All were moving in a slow, dreamy way. 'I’d better make some notes about this, ' said Jack. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook. Jack always kept notes. 'Wait, ' said Jack. And he wrote: Coffin called sarcophagus. 'We’d better hurry, ' said Annie, 'if we want to see the mummy. ' She started down the rope ladder.

杰克抬起头。“木乃伊？”他问。“在那金盒子里躺着的没准儿是具木乃伊呢！”安妮大声说，“我们现在是在古埃及，你忘了？”杰克喜欢看木乃伊。他放下铅笔。“再见，杰克！”安妮喊道。“等等我！”杰克高声应着。“好多木乃伊呀！”只听安妮大声叫喊。“啊，嗬！”杰克自言自语，“哼，好多木乃伊！”安妮总是知道怎样吸引杰克。

Jack looked up from his notebook. 'Mummy? ' he said. 'There’s probably a mummy in that gold box, ' Annie called up. 'We’re in ancient Egypt. Remember? ' Jack loved mummies. He put down his pencil. 'Good-bye, Jack! ' called Annie. 'Wait! ' Jack called. 'Mummies! ' Annie shouted. 'Oh, man, ' said Jack weakly. 'Mummies! ' She sure knew how to get to him.

杰克把笔记本和埃及书一起塞进背包，开始下绳梯。一到地面，兄妹俩就开始穿越沙漠。可是他们跑着跑着，一个奇怪的现象发生了。他们越接近那葬礼的行列，就越是看不清楚。然后这行列突然不见了，消失得无影无踪。可那座雄伟的石头金字塔依然高高地耸立在他们面前。

Jack shoved his notebook and the Egypt book into his pack. Then he started down the ladder. When he got to the ground, he and Annie took off across the sand. But as they ran a strange thing happened. The closer they got to the parade, the harder it was to see it. Then suddenly it was gone. The strange parade had disappeared. Vanished. But the great stone pyramid was still there. Towering above them.

杰克气喘吁吁地向四周观望。出什么事儿了？那些人到哪里去了？牛呢？金匣子呢？猫呢？“他们都走了。”安妮说。“他们走到什么地方去了？”“也许他们都是鬼！”安妮说。“别傻了。世界上根本没有鬼，”杰克说，“一定是海市蜃楼。”

Panting, Jack looked around. What had happened? Where were the people? The oxen? The gold box? The cat? 'They’re gone, ' said Annie. 'Where did they go? ' said Jack. 'Maybe they were ghosts, ' said Annie. 'Don’t be silly. There’s no such thing as ghosts, ' said Jack. 'It must have been a mirage. '

“什么？”“海市蜃楼，在沙漠里经常出现这种现象的，”杰克说，“看起来好像有什么东西，可是事实上那只是太阳光通过热气反射的结果。”“太阳光怎么可能看起来像人，或者像一个木乃伊盒子，或者像挤在一起的几头牛呢？”安妮问。杰克皱着眉头不知如何解释。

'A what? ' 'Mirage. It happens in the desert all the time, ' said Jack. 'It looks like something’s there. But it just turns out to be the sunlight reflecting through heat. ' 'How could sunlight look like people, a mummy box, and a bunch of cows? ' said Annie. Jack frowned.

“他们就是鬼！”安妮说。“不可能！”杰克反驳。“快看！”安妮指着金字塔。那只皮毛光滑整洁的黑猫就在塔基旁边。它独自站着，两眼直望着杰克和安妮。“它不是海市蜃楼！”安妮说。猫悄悄地走开了。它沿着金字塔基走，到了一个角落附近拐弯不见了。“它去哪儿了？”杰克问。“咱们过去看看！”安妮说。他们跑到那个角落——恰好看见猫钻进金字塔的一个洞里，消失了。

'Ghosts, ' she said. 'No way, ' said Jack. 'Look! ' Annie pointed at the pyramid. Near the base was the sleek black cat. He was standing alone. He was staring at Jack and Annie. 'He’s no mirage, ' said Annie. The cat started to slink away. He walked along the base of the pyramid and slid around a corner. 'Where’s he going? ' said Jack. 'Let’s find out, ' said Annie. They dashed around the corner-just in time to see the cat disappear through a hole in the pyramid.

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