兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第五冊 Night of the Ninjas 09
The mouse vanished into the tall grass on the other side of the stream.
Jack and Annie stared at the tree branch.
“We have to try to cross it，” said Annie. “We’re supposed to follow nature.”
“Forget it，” said Jack. “It’s too little. It’ll crack in a second.”
“Maybe if we pretend we’re mice， we can do it，” said Annie.
“Oh brother，” said Jack. “Not again.”
“If you could be a rock， you can be a mouse，” said Annie. “Just be teeny and light and fast.”
Jack took a deep breath.
“We have to，” said Annie.
“Okay，” Jack said.
“Say ‘squeak，’” said Annie.
“You’re nuts!” said Jack.
“Just do it，” said Annie. “It’ll help you feel more like a mouse.”
Jack groaned. “Okay，” he said. “Squeak.”
“Squeak，” said Annie.
“Squeak， squeak， squeak，” they said together.
“Let’s go! Hurry!” said Annie.
Jack stepped onto the branch.
I’m teeny. I’m light. I’m fast， he thought. Then he darted across the branch.
Jack moved so quickly， he didn’t think about anything—except getting to the other side.
He forgot the wild， freezing water. He forgot the smallness of the branch.
Suddenly Jack was on the other side. Suddenly Annie was right beside him.
They laughed and fell together into the grass.
“See! See! The branch didn’t break!” said Annie.
“I guess it was big enough，” said Jack. “I guess we just had to think the right way.”
“The Peanut way，” said Annie.
“Yeah，” said Jack， smiling. He felt great.
He was still wet from his fall into the stream. But he didn’t mind anymore.
Jack pushed his glasses into place and stood up. “Okay， now we just have to find the tree house，” he said.
“No， we don’t，” said Annie. She pointed up.
The tree house was outlined against the moonlit sky. High in a tree. Surrounded by white flowers.
In the distance came the sound of voices. Then Jack saw flames.
“The samurai are coming back，” said Jack. “We have to go.”
“Where’s Peanut?” said Annie. “We can’t leave Peanut.”
“We have to，” said Jack.
The voices of the samurai were getting closer. So were their torches.
“Come on，” Jack said. He grabbed Annie’s hand. He pulled her toward the rope ladder.
“Oh Jack—” she said sadly.
“Go! Go!”
Annie started up the rope ladder.
Jack followed. He felt sad， too. He liked that little mouse now. He liked it a lot.
They climbed up and up.
Just before they got to the top， Jack heard it.
Squeak.
“Oh wow!” cried Annie. “Peanut’s inside!”
Annie pulled herself into the tree house. Jack followed.
He gasped.
Someone else was in the tree house， too.
A dark figure was sitting in the corner.
“You have done well，” the figure said.
It was the ninja master.
“You have followed the way of the ninja，” he said.
“Oh man，” breathed Jack.
Squeak.
The master was holding Peanut.
“Take good care of your little helper，” he said， handing the mouse to Annie.
Annie kissed the mouse’s tiny head.
“And take this—” said the master. He held his hand out to Jack.
He gave Jack a small， round stone.
“This moonstone will help you find your missing friend，” the master said.
Jack stared at the stone. Was this one of the four things?
“You must go home now，” said the master. He picked up the Pennsylvania book and handed it to Annie.
“Where did you find it?” asked Jack.
“Here，” said the master. “You did not see it before. Because your heart knew you had a mission to complete first.”
“What about you?” said Annie. “Can you come with us?”
“Yes，” said Jack. “We need help finding Morgan.”
The master smiled. “No， my friends. I must stay here. There will be more help along the way.
But you must find the way on your own.”
Annie opened the book. She found the picture of Frog Creek.
She pointed to it. “I wish we could go there，” she said.
The wind started to blow.
The white flowers started to shake. Clouds covered the moon.
“Remember，” the master said， “keep a kind heart.”
Then he swung silently down the rope ladder. He disappeared into the dark night.
“Wait!” Jack called. There was so much he wanted to ask the master.
About nature. About ninjas. About their mission.
But the tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster!
Jack gripped the stone in his hand. he squeezed his eyes shut.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
9.鼠步
小老鼠消失在了河對面的高草叢里。
杰克和安妮凝望著樹枝。
“我們必須‘試著’過去。”安妮說，“我們得跟著自然!”
“算了吧。”杰克說，“樹枝太小，不一會兒就會斷的。”
“或許我們就當(dāng)我們是老鼠，我們就能過去了。”安妮說。
“我的老天。”杰克說，“你又來了。”
“如果你可以變成一個巖石，你也可以變成一只老鼠。”安妮說，“只要變得小小的，輕輕的，然后跑得快快的。”
杰克深呼吸了一下。
“我們必須這么做。”安妮說。
“好吧。”杰克說。
“說‘吱吱’。”安妮說。
“你瘋了!”杰克說。
“說吧。”安妮說，“這樣可以幫助你更覺得自己像一只老鼠。”
杰克呻吟了一聲，“好吧。”他說，“吱吱。”
“吱吱。”安妮說。
“吱吱，吱吱，吱吱。”他們一起說。
“我們走吧!趕快!”安妮說。
杰克踏上了樹枝。
我很小，我很輕，我很快，他想。接著他開始飛快地越過樹枝。
杰克移動得很快，他根本沒想任何其他的事情——除了想著要到達對岸。
他忘記了奔流的、冰冷的溪水，也忘記了樹枝有多小。
一下子杰克就到達了對岸，馬上，安妮也站在他身旁了。
他們笑著一起倒在了草地上。
“你看!你看!樹枝沒有斷!”安妮說。
“我覺得它已經(jīng)足夠大了。”杰克說，“只要我們用正確的角度去看待它。”
“從花生的角度。”安妮說。
“沒錯!”杰克笑著說，他感覺棒極了。
因為剛才掉進水里，他現(xiàn)在全身仍然還是濕的，不過他一點也不介意了。
杰克把他的眼鏡推了推然后站了起來，“好了，我們現(xiàn)在必須去找樹屋了。”他說。
“不，我們不用了。”安妮指著上面說。
樹屋的輪廓在月光照耀的天空下顯現(xiàn)出輪廓來，它在一棵高高的樹上，周圍開滿了白色的花朵。
遠處傳來一些嘈雜的人聲，杰克看見一些火把。
“武士又回來了。”杰克說，“我們必須走了。”
“花生在哪兒呢?”安妮說，“我們不能把花生落下。”
“我們不得不這樣。”杰克說。
那些日本武士的聲音越來越近了，他們的火把也越來越近了。
“快來。”杰克說。他抓住了安妮的手，把她推上了繩梯。
“別這樣杰克——”她傷心地說。
“走啊!快走!”
安妮開始順著繩梯向上爬。
杰克跟在后面，他也覺得很難過，他現(xiàn)在喜歡上了那只小老鼠，很喜歡。
他們越爬越高，就在他們要爬到頂上的時候，杰克聽到一聲叫聲。
吱吱。吱吱。
“哇哈哈!”安妮喊道，“花生在里面!”
安妮爬進了樹屋，杰克也跟著進去了。
他倒吸一口氣。
樹屋里還有另外一個人。
一個黑色的身影正坐在角落里。
“你們做得不錯。”那個人說。
是忍者頭頭!
“你們確實照忍者的方式去做了。”他說。
“我的老天啊。”杰克深吸一口氣。
吱吱。吱吱。
那個頭目正抓著花生呢。
“好好照顧你們的小幫手吧。”他邊說邊把花生遞給了安妮。
安妮親了親那老鼠的小腦袋。
“并且把這個拿去——”頭目說，他朝杰克伸出他的手。
他給了杰克一個小小的圓形石頭。
“這個月亮石可以幫助你們找到你們失蹤的朋友。”忍者頭頭說。
杰克凝視著那個石頭，這就是那四樣?xùn)|西中的一樣?
“你們現(xiàn)在必須回家了。”頭頭說，他撿起那本賓夕法尼亞的書然后遞給了安妮。
“你在哪兒找到它的?”杰克問道。
“這兒。”他說，“你們之前之所以沒有看見它，是因為你們的內(nèi)心知道你們還有一個任務(wù)沒有完成。”
“那你呢?”安妮說，“你能和我們一起走嗎?”
“是啊。”杰克說，“我們需要一些幫助才能找到摩根。”
忍者頭頭笑了笑，“不行，我的朋友。我必須留在這里，你們在旅程中還會得到很多幫助，但是你們必須找到屬于你們自己的解決辦法。”
安妮打開了書，她找到蛙溪鎮(zhèn)的那張圖片。
她指著它說，“我希望我們能去那兒。”
風(fēng)刮了起來。
那些白色的花朵開始顫動，云掩蓋住了月亮。
“記住。”頭頭說，“保持一顆善良的心。”
然后他就悄無聲息地從繩梯上蕩了下去，消失在黑夜里。
“等等!”杰克叫道，他還有好多問題想問忍者頭頭，關(guān)于大自然，關(guān)于忍者，關(guān)于他們的行動。
可是樹屋開始打轉(zhuǎn)。
轉(zhuǎn)得越來越快。
杰克緊緊地把月亮石攥在手里，閉上了眼睛。
然后一切都平靜了。
絕對的平靜。
