Magic Tree House Dingoes at Dinnertime 20.08 The Rainbow Serpent The mother kangaroo bounded out of the trees. 袋鼠妈妈从树林里蹦了出来。 She landed ten feet away from Jack, Annie, Teddy,and Joey. 她落在离杰克、安妮、泰迪和乔伊十英尺远的地方。 They all were still for a moment, as if they all were holding their breath. 有那么一会儿，他们都一动不动，好像都屏住了呼吸。 Then Joey tried to jump out of Jack's backpack. 然后乔伊试图跳出杰克的背包。 "Hold on," said Jack. “等一下。”杰克说。 He put his pack on the ground. 他把背包放在地上。 The little kangaroo leaped out. 小袋鼠跳了出来。 He leaped again.. .then again.. .and dived head first into his mother's pouch! 他又跳了……然后又……头朝下一头扎进了他妈妈的育儿袋里! Joey turned himself over inside the pouch. Then he peeked out at Jack and Annie. 乔伊在袋子里翻了个身。然后他偷偷地看了看杰克和安妮。 "Yay!" said Jack and Annie together. They laughed and clapped with relief. “耶!”杰克和安妮同时说。他们松了一口气，又笑又鼓掌。 "He looks happy to be home," said Annie. “他回家看起来很高兴。”安妮说。 "His mother looks happy, too," said Jack. “他妈妈看起来也很高兴，”杰克说。 The mother kangaroo was gazing down at her joey. 袋鼠妈妈正低头看着她的小袋鼠。 She patted his head with her small paws. 她用她的小爪子拍拍他的头。 Then she looked at Jack and Annie with soft eyes. 然后她用温柔的眼睛看着杰克和安妮。 "She's saying thank you to us," Annie said. “她在向我们说谢谢，”安妮说。 "You're welcome," Jack said. “不客气，”杰克说。 "It was no problem," Annie told the kangaroo. "You have a great joey."The kangaroo gave a little nod. Then she bent over and used a front paw to pick up a small piece of bark from the wet grass. “没问题，”安妮告诉袋鼠。“你有个很棒的乔伊。”袋鼠点点头。然后，她弯下腰，用一只前爪从湿草上捡起一小块树皮。 The kangaroo held the piece of bark out to Jack and Annie. 袋鼠把那块树皮递给杰克和安妮。 Jack took it from her. 杰克从她手里拿走了。 "Oh, man," he whispered. "It's our gift from a kangaroo."The kangaroo then sprang into the air. She bounded gracefully away through the charred forest. 杰克低声说:“哦，天哪。”“这是一只袋鼠送给我们的礼物。”然后袋鼠跳上了天空。她优雅地跳着穿过烧焦的森林。它从她的。 "Thanks!" called Jack. “谢谢!”杰克。 "Bye!" called Annie. "Good luck!"Arf! Arf! Teddy barked. “再见!”安妮。“祝你好运!”汪!汪!泰迪吠叫。 The rain stopped as Jack studied the piece of bark. 杰克端详着那块树皮，雨停了。 There was a tiny painting on it. It was just like the snake painting in the cave. 上面有一幅很小的画。就像山洞里画的蛇一样。 "I wonder what the snake means," said Jack. “我想知道蛇是什么意思。”杰克说。 Jack opened the wet cover of the Australia book. He carefully turned the damp pages. He found a picture of the snake painting. 杰克打开那本关于澳大利亚的书的湿封面。他小心翼翼地翻着潮湿的书页。他发现了一张蛇画的图片。 "Listen," said Jack. He read: “听着,”杰克说。他读: The first people of Australia are called "Aborigines". 澳大利亚的第一批人被称为“土著居民”。 They have lived there for 40,000 years. Their myths take place in a time they call "Dreamtime." In Dreamtime, there is a Rainbow Serpent, who sends life-giving rain. 他们在那里生活了四万年。他们的神话发生在一个他们称之为“梦想时间”的时间。“梦想时间，有一条彩虹蛇，它送来生命之雨。 Aborigine artists paint the Rainbow Serpent on cave wails or on pieces of bark. In special ceremonies,they some-times honor the Rainbow Serpent by painting their hand prints on the magic snake. 原住民艺术家将彩虹蛇画在洞穴的哭声或树皮上。在特殊的仪式上，他们有时会在彩虹蛇上画上手印来纪念彩虹蛇。 "See?" said Annie. "That explains everything!" “看到了什么?”安妮说。“这解释了一切!” "Explains what?" said Jack. “解释什么?”杰克说。 "We put our hands on the painting of the Rainbow Serpent," she said. "It was like a special ceremony. So the Rainbow Serpent sent the rain to put out the wildfire." “我们亲手画出了彩虹蛇，”她说。“这就像一个特别的仪式。于是彩虹蛇派了雨来扑灭野火。 Arf! Teddy barked. 汪!泰迪吠叫。 Jack frowned. 杰克皱起了眉头。 "But it's not a real creature," he said. "It's in Dreamtime. Not real time." Annie smiled. “但它不是真正的动物，”他说。“这是在梦想时间。不是真实的时间。”安妮笑了。 "Then how do you explain that?" she said. She pointed at the sky. “那你怎么解释呢?”她说。她指着天空。 The rain clouds were gone. The sun had come back out. 雨云消失了。太阳又出来了。 A rainbow curved across the blue Australian sky. 一道彩虹横跨澳大利亚蓝色的天空。 "Oh, man," whispered Jack. Though the air was warm again, he shivered. “哦，伙计。”杰克低声说。虽然空气又暖和了，他还是打了个寒颤。 "Teddy led us to the painting," said Annie. "We should thank"How did he know about the Rainbow Serpent in the cave?" Jack asked. “泰迪带我们去看那幅画。”安妮说。我们应该感谢“他是怎么知道洞穴里有彩虹蛇的?”杰克问。 "I told you," said Annie. "He has a touch of magic."They looked down at the little dog. Teddy tilted his head and seemed to smile. “我告诉过你，”安妮说。“他有魔力。”他们低头看着小狗。泰迪歪着头，好像在微笑。 "Hey, we have all four gifts now!" said Annie. “嘿，我们现在有四份礼物了!”安妮说。 "Oh, yeah!" said Jack. “噢，是的!”杰克说。 "Let's go home and see if Teddy's spell is broken!"said Annie. “哦,是的!”“我们回家看看泰迪的咒语是不是破了!”安妮说。杰克说。 Arf! Arf! 汪！汪！ Jack put the bark painting and the Australia book in his pack. Then they all headed through the wet, steamy forest in the direction of the tree house. 杰克把树皮画和澳大利亚书放进他的背包里。然后他们一起穿过潮湿潮湿的森林，朝树屋的方向走去。 "I hope the tree house didn't get burned!" he said. “我希望树屋没有被烧毁!”他说。 They went past the clearing, past the gum trees and bushes. 他们穿过那片空地，穿过桉树和灌木丛。 The tree house was waiting for them. 树屋正等着他们。 "It's still here!" said Annie. “它还在这儿!”安妮说。 She grabbed the rope ladder and started. 她抓住绳梯，开始了行动。 Jack put Teddy in his pack and followed. 杰克把泰迪放进他的背包里，跟了上去。 Inside the tree house, Teddy wiggled out of the pack. He pawed the Pennsylvania book. 在树屋里，泰迪摇摇摆摆地从背包里钻了出来。他抓起那本宾夕法尼亚的书。 Arf! Arf! 汪！汪！ "Okay, okay," said Jack. He pointed at a picture of the Frog Creek woods. "I wish we could go there!" “好吧，好吧。”杰克说。他指着弗拉格-克里克森林的照片。“我希望我们能去那儿!” "Over the rainbow!" said Annie. “彩虹之上!”安妮说。 And the wind started to blow. 风开始刮起来了。 The tree house started to spin. 树屋开始旋转。 It spun faster and faster. 它转得越来越快。 Then everything was still. 然后一切都静止了。 Absolutely still. 绝对静止。