“喵！”

“那是什么？”

杰克向树屋的窗外望去。

一只黑猫坐在树屋窗外的一根树枝上，两眼盯着杰克和安妮。

......

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

1

喵！/ Meow!

“树屋还在这儿！”杰克说。“看起来里面没人！”安妮说。杰克和他七岁的妹妹抬头望着一棵很高的橡树。树的顶部有一间树屋。晌午的太阳照着树林，差不多是吃午饭的时候了。“嘘！”杰克说，“那是什么响声？”“什么响声？”杰克一边四处张望一边说：“我听到一个声音，好像有人在咳嗽。”“我什么也没听到，”安妮说，“来，咱们上去吧。”

'It’s still here, ' said Jack. 'It looks empty, ' said Annie. Jack and his seven-year-old sister gazed up at a very tall oak tree. At the top of the tree was a tree house. Late-morning sunlight lit the woods. It was almost time for lunch. 'Shhh! ' said Jack. 'What was that noise? ' 'What noise? ' 'I heard a noise, ' Jack said. He looked around. 'It sounded like someone coughing. ' 'I didn’t hear anything, ' said Annie. 'Come on. Let’s go up. '

她抓住绳梯开始往上爬。杰克踮着脚走到一片灌木丛旁，拨开一根小枝条。“喂？”他喊道，“有人吗？”没有回答。“来吧！”安妮在树屋里招呼他，“树屋看起来跟昨天一个样。”可是杰克还是感到附近有人。会不会是把书放在树屋里的那个人呢？“杰克！”杰克从灌木丛顶部望过去。那个神秘的人是不是正在注视他？

She grabbed onto the rope ladder and started climbing. Jack tiptoed over to a clump of bushes. He pushed aside a small branch. 'Hello? ' he said. 'Anybody there? ' There was no answer. 'Come on! ' Annie called down. 'The tree house looks the same as it did yesterday. ' Jack still felt that someone was nearby. Could it be the person who’d put all the books in the tree house? 'Ja-ack! ' Jack gazed over the top of the bushes. Was the mysterious person watching him now?

那个名字以M开头的人？也许M想把金质勋章要回去一一那枚杰克在他和安妮去恐龙时代历险中发现的勋章？也许M想要回那枚皮质书签？那枚从城堡书中掉出来的书签？勋章上有一个M，书签上也有一个M，可是M代表什么呢？“明天我会把两件东西都带回来。”杰克大声说。

The person whose name began with M? Maybe M wanted the gold medallion back. The one Jack had found on their dinosaur adventure. Maybe M wanted the leather bookmark back. The one from the castle book. There was an M on the medallion. And an M on the bookmark. But what did M stand for? 'Tomorrow I’ll bring everything back, ' Jack said loudly.

一阵微风吹过丛林，树叶沙沙地响。“上来吧！”安妮还在招呼他。杰克来到那棵大橡树前。他抓住绳梯往上攀登。到了梯子顶端，他从木地板的洞口爬了进去，扔下背包，扶了扶眼镜。“嗯，今天看哪本书呢？”安妮问。她正看着散落一地的书。她拾起了那本关于城堡的书。“嘿，这书已经干透了。”她说。“让我瞧瞧。”杰克从她手中拿过书，不由得大吃一惊。昨天护城河水把书浸透了，可是今天书本看起来却完好无损。就是这本城堡书把杰克和安妮带回到骑士时代。杰克在心里默默感谢那位神秘的骑士，是他救了他们。

A breeze swept through the woods. The leaves rattled. 'Come on! ' called Annie. Jack went back to the big oak tree. He grabbed onto the rope ladder and climbed up. At the top he crawled through a hole in the wooden floor. He tossed down his backpack and pushed his glasses into place. 'Hmmm. Which book is it going to be today? ' said Annie. She was looking at the books scattered around the tree house. Annie picked up the book about castles. 'Hey, this isn’t wet anymore, ' she said. 'Let me see. ' Jack took the book from her. He was amazed. It looked fine. Yesterday it had gotten soaked in a castle moat. The castle book had taken Jack and Annie back to the time of knights. Jack silently thanked the mysterious knight who had rescued them.

“小心！”安妮警告道。她拿起一本恐龙书在杰克面前一挥。“把它收好。” 杰克说。前天恐龙书已经把他们带到过恐龙时代。杰克又在心里默默地感谢那只无齿翼龙，是它把他们俩从霸王龙那里解救出来的。安妮把恐龙书放回原处，和其他的书放在一起。她叹了口气。

'Watch out! ' warned Annie. She waved a dinosaur book in Jack’s face. 'Put that away, ' said Jack. The day before yesterday the dinosaur book had taken them to the time of dinosaurs. Jack silently thanked the Pteranodon who had saved him from a Tyrannosaurus rex. Annie put the dinosaur book back with the other books. Then she gasped.

“哇！”她小声说，“瞧这个。”她拿起一本关于古代埃及的书。杰克深吸了一口气。他把书从安妮手中拿过来，发现书中还夹着一枚丝质书签。杰克翻到有书签的那一页，看到一幅金字塔的画儿。朝拜者排成一条长队正朝金字塔走去。四头高大而且有角的母牛拉着一副滑板，一个长方形金盒子放在滑板上，好多埃及人步行其后。在队伍的末尾是一只皮毛整洁而光滑的黑猫。

'Wow, ' she whispered. 'Look at this. ' She held up a book about ancient Egypt. Jack caught his breath. He took the book from her. A green silk bookmark stuck out of it. Jack turned to the page with the bookmark. There was a picture of a pyramid. Going toward the pyramid was a long parade. Four huge cows with horns were pulling a sled. On the sled was a long gold box. Many Egyptians were walking behind the sled. At the end of the parade was a sleek black cat.

“咱们去那儿吧，”安妮小声说，“就现在。”“等等！”杰克说。他想把书多研究一会儿。“金字塔，杰克，”安妮叫起来，“你不是最喜欢金字塔吗？”那倒是真的。在杰克最喜爱的事物清单上，金字塔是处在很靠前的位置的一一排在骑士之后，但在恐龙之前，远在恐龙之前。因为他不用担心会被金字塔吃掉。

'let’s go there, ' whispered Annie. 'Now. ' 'Wait, ' said Jack. He wanted to study the book a bit more. 'Pyramids, Jack, ' said Annie. 'You love pyramids. ' It was true. Pyramids were high on his list of favorite things. After knights. But before dinosaurs. Way before dinosaurs. He didn’t have to worry about being eaten by a pyramid.

“好吧，”他说，“可是咱们得拿着那本宾夕法尼亚的书，咱们回来的时候用得上。”安妮找到了那本有他们家乡的图画的书——宾夕法尼亚的蛙溪湾。杰克指着埃及书中金字塔的画，清了清嗓子说：“我希望我们能到这个地方。”“喵！”“那是什么？”杰克向树屋的窗外望去。一只黑猫坐在树屋窗外的一根树枝上，两眼盯着杰克和安妮。那是杰克所见过的最奇怪的猫。它的皮毛乌黑而且非常整洁光滑，有一双明亮的黄眼睛，还系着一根宽宽的金项圈。

'Okay, ' he said. 'But hold the Pennsylvania book. In case we want to come right back here. ' Annie found the book with the picture of their hometown in it. Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. Then Jack pointed to the pyramid picture in the Egypt book. He cleared his throat and said, 'I wish we could go to this place. ' 'Meow! ' 'What was that? ' Jack looked out the tree house window. A black cat was perched on a branch. Right outside the window. The cat was staring at Jack and Annie. It was the strangest cat Jack had ever seen. He was very sleek and dark. With bright yellow eyes. And a wide gold collar.

“那是埃及书上的猫。”安妮轻声地说。就在此时，风开始吹了起来，树叶开始摇晃。“我们走啰！”安妮喊道。风刮得更响了，树叶摇晃得更厉害了。树屋开始旋转，杰克闭上了眼睛。树屋越转越快！越转越快！突然间一切都静止了。完全静止。没有声音，没有动静。杰克睁开眼睛。火辣辣的阳光刺得他几乎看不见东西。“喵！”

'It’s the cat in the Egypt book, ' whispered Annie. Just then the wind started to blow. The leaves began to shake. 'Here we go! ' cried Annie. The wind whistled louder. The leaves shook harder. Jack closed his eyes as the tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster! And faster! Suddenly everything was still. Absolutely still. Not a sound. Not a whisper. Jack opened his eyes. Hot bright sunlight nearly blinded him. 'Me-ow! '

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