兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第三冊 Mummies in the Morning 05

5幽靈王后

“一個幽靈。”安妮小聲說。

但是杰克卻只顧瞪著她看，心里滿是恐懼。

幽靈開始說話了。她的聲音空洞而帶有回音。

“我是哈特比。”她說，“尼羅河王后。你們是來幫我的嗎?”

“是的。”安妮說。

杰克還是說不出話來。

“這一千年來，”幽靈王后說，“我一直在等人來幫助我。”

杰克的心跳得如此厲害，他覺得自己幾乎就要暈過去了。

“一定要讓人找到我的死亡書。”她說，“有了它我才能度到我的來世。”

“你為什么需要死亡書呢?”安妮問，她似乎一點也不害怕。

“它能告訴我?guī)臀視承械叵率澜绲哪е洹?rdquo;幽靈王后說。

“地下世界?”安妮問。

“在我度往來世之前，我必須在地下世界去經(jīng)歷那里的各種可怕事情。”

“什么樣的可怕事情?”安妮問。

“毒蛇。”幽靈王后說，“還有火的湖泊、 怪獸和魔鬼。”

“哦。”安妮不由得靠近了杰克。

“我哥哥把死亡書藏起來了。這樣盜墓賊就拿不到了。”幽靈王后說，“但他把秘密信息刻在了墻上，告訴我怎么去找到它。”

她說著指了指墻。

杰克仍然處于震驚的狀態(tài)之中動彈不得。

“在哪里?”安妮問，“是這里嗎?”她瞇起眼睛看著墻。“這些小圖畫是什么意思?”

幽靈王后傷感地笑了。“唉，我哥哥忘了我有個奇怪的毛病。我總是看不清離我的眼睛很近的東西。這一千年來我都無法閱讀他留給我的信息。”

“哦，這并不是什么奇怪的問題。”安妮說，“杰克也什么都看不清。所以他才戴眼鏡的。”

幽靈王后驚奇地看著杰克。

“杰克，把你的眼鏡借給她。”安妮說。

杰克從鼻梁上摘下眼鏡，遞給了幽靈王后。

王后后退了兩步，說：“恐怕我沒法戴你的眼鏡，杰克。我是空氣做成的。”

“哦，我忘了。”安妮說。

“不過你們也許可以幫我描述墻上的這些象形文字。”幽靈王后說。

“象什么?”安妮問。

“象形文字!”杰克說，他終于有勇氣說話了。“那是古埃及的書寫方式，就像是用圖畫來表示文字。”

幽靈王后沖著杰克微笑著說：“謝謝你，杰克。”

杰克也對她微笑著。他又戴上眼鏡，上前貼近墻壁仔細地看了好久。

“哦，天啊。”他小聲說。

5 The Ghost-Queen

“A ghost，” Annie whispered.

But Jack could only stare in horror.

The ghost began to speak. She spoke in a hollow， echoing voice.

“I am Hutepi，” she siad. “Queen of the Nile. Is it true that you have come to help me?”

“Yes，” said Annie.

Jack still couldn’t speak.

“For a thousand years，” said the ghost-queen， “I have waited for help.”

Jack’s heart was pounding so hard he thought he might faint.

“Someone must find my Book of the Dead，” she said. “I need it to go on to the Next Life.”

“Why do you need the Book of the Dead?” asked Annie. She didn’t sound scared at all.

“It will tell me the magic spells I need to get through the Underworld，” said the ghost-queen.

“The Underworld?” said Annie.

“Before I journey on to the Next Life， I must pass through the horrors of the Underworld.”

“What kinds of horrors?” Annie asked.

“Poisonous snakes，” said the ghost-queen.“Lakes of fire. Monsters. Demons.”

“Oh.” Annie stepped closer to Jack.

“My brother hid the Book of the Dead.So tomb robbers would not steal it，” said the ghost-queen. “Then he carved this secret message on the wall， telling me how to find it.”

She pointed to the wall.

Jack was still in shock. he couldn’t move.

“Where?” asked Annie. “Here?” She squinted at the wall. “What do these tiny pictures mean?”

The ghost-queen smiled sadly. “Alas， my brother forgot my strange problem.I cannot see clearly that which is close to my eyes. I have not been able to read his message for a thousand years.”

“Oh， that’s not a strange problem，” said Annie. “Jack can’t see anything either. That’s why he wears glasses.”

The ghost-queen stared in wonder at Jack.

“Jack， lend her your glasses，” said Annie.

Jack took his glasses off his nose.He held them out to the ghost-queen.

She backed away from him. “I fear I cannot wear your glasses， Jack，” she said. “I am made of air.”

“Oh. I forgot，” said Annie.

“But perhaps you will describe the hieroglyphs on these walls，” said the ghost-queen.

“Hi-row-who?” said Annie.

“Hieroglyphs!” said Jack， finally finding his voice. “It’s the ancient Egyptian way of writing. like writing with pictures.”

The ghost-queen smiled at him. “Thank you， Jack，” she said.

Jack smiled back at her. He put his glasses on.Then he stepped toward the wall and took a good long look.

“Oh， man，” he whispered.