MT英语（ID:mtkouyu) 专辑：【英文原版童话故事】 文本整理：Doris Magic Tree House Ghost Town at Sundown-10.2 Rattlesnake Flats The air was hot and dry. 空气又干又热。 Jack and Annie peeked outside. 杰克和安妮偷偷地向外张望着。 The tree house had landed in a lone tree on a prairie.The sun was low in the sky. 树屋停在了一片大草原上惟一的一棵树上。太阳低低地挂在空中。 Right in front of them was the town from the cover of the book. In real life it looked empty and spooky. 他们眼前正是那本书封面所画的小镇。在现实之中, 这个小镇看起来空荡荡的, 显得非常诡异。 To one side of the town was a patch of ground with several tombstones. 小镇的一边是一片只有几块墓碑的墓地。 “That’s creepy, ” said Annie. “好吓人啊。”安妮说。 “Yeah, ” said Jack. He took a deep breath. “What’s our riddle say?” “是啊。”杰克回应道。他深深地吸了口气。“咱们的谜语里写了些什么?” Annie held up the ancient scroll. She unrolled it. Then she and Jack read together: 安妮举起古卷轴, 展开了它, 并和杰克一起读道： Out of the blue, my lonely voice calls out to you. 从蓝色之中, 我孤寂的声音向你呼唤。 Who am I? Am I? 我是谁?是谁? Jack pushed his glasses into place and read the riddle again to himself. 杰克推了推眼镜, 又重新默读了一遍谜语。 “There must be a mistake, ” he said. “‘Am I?’is written twice.” “一定是写错了。”他说, “‘是谁’写了两遍。” “Well, I don’t hear any voices now, ” Annie said as she looked out the window. “我什么也没听到啊。”安妮一面说一面向窗外看去。 There were no human sounds at all—only the buzzing of flies and the whistling of the dry wind. 一点人声也没有——只有苍蝇的嗡嗡声和四周干燥大风发出的哨音。 “Let’s look at the book, ” Jack said. “咱们看看那本书吧。”杰克说。 He opened the book. The pages were yellow with age. He found a picture of the town and read the words beneath it out loud： 他打开书。书的纸张已经因为日久年深而泛黄。杰克找到了一幅小镇的图画, 开始大声读图画下面的文字： In the 1870s, Rattlesnake Flats was a rest stop for the stagecoach that carried passengers from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Fort Worth, Texas.When the creek dried up, everyone left. By 1880, it was a “ghost town.” 在19世纪70年代, 响尾蛇浅滩是由新墨西哥的桑塔非到得克萨斯的沃思堡的马车必经的一个驿站。随着小溪的干涸, 所有的人都离开了。到1880年, 这里已经成了一个“幽灵镇”。 “Wow, a ghost town, ” said Annie, her eyes wide. “哇, 幽灵镇!”安妮叫道, 眼睛睁得大大的。 “Let’s take a quick look around, ” said Jack. “So we can leave before dark.” “咱们赶紧四处看看。”杰克说, “快点解开谜题就可以在天黑之前回去了。” “Right, ” said Annie. “Let’s hurry.” She started down the rope ladder. “好的。”安妮说, “赶快。”她说着就开始沿着绳梯往下爬。 Jack put the old book into his pack. Then he followed Annie down the ladder. 杰克把那本古老的书放回背包, 然后也跟着安妮爬下了梯子。 They stood by the tree and looked about. Tumbleweeds blew across the dry ground. 他们站在树下, 四周看看。风滚草被风吹得在干燥的土地上四处飘荡。 Suddenly something jumped past them. 突然, 什么东西从他们面前跳了过去。 “Yikes!” they both said. “哎呀!”杰克和安妮同时喊道。 But it was just a rabbit—a lone, long-legged rabbit hopping past them. 那只是一只兔子——一只长腿的兔子从他们面前跳了过去。 “Hey, he’s just like that rabbit we saw at home, ” said Jack. “嘿, 它和我们在家里看见的那只兔子好像是一样的哦。”杰克说。 “Yeah, that rabbit must have been a sign of things to come, ” said Annie. “是啊, 这兔子一定意味着有什么东西要出现了。”安妮回答。 The rabbit hopped across the prairie and out of sight. 兔子蹦跳着越过大草原, 很快就不见了踪影。 “I’d better take notes, ” said Jack. “我看我最好还是做点儿笔记。”杰克说。 He reached into his backpack and took out his notebook and pencil. He wrote：rabbits with long legs 他把手伸进背包, 拿出了笔记本和铅笔, 写道：长腿的兔子 “What’s that sound?” said Annie. “那是什么声音?”安妮问。 “What sound?” asked Jack. “什么声音?”杰克问她。 “That rattling sound!” said Annie. “一种喀哒喀哒的声音。”安妮回答说。 Jack looked up. “What?” he said. 杰克抬起头, 说：“什么啊?” “There!” Annie pointed to a rattlesnake. It was about a hundred feet away. It was coiled up and rattling. “在那儿!”安妮指着大约100英尺(1英尺=0.3048米)开外的一条响尾蛇。它蜷曲着身体, 发出喀哒喀哒的声音。 Jack took one look at the snake and ran. Annie ran, too. They ran past the graveyard and right into the ghost town. 杰克看了一眼那条蛇, 拔腿就跑。安妮也跟着跑了起来。他们跑过了墓地, 一直跑进了幽灵镇。 “I guess that’s why this town is called Rattlesnake Flats, ” said Annie when they stopped. “我猜是因为这个, 这个小镇才被称为响尾蛇浅滩的。”当他们停下来时安妮这样说。 Jack looked around. The town was hardly big enough to call a town. There was one unpaved street and a few old buildings. 杰克向四周看看。小镇很小, 几乎不能算是一个镇。只有一条没有铺好的马路和几座老房子。 It was quiet, too quiet. 四周非常安静, 简直是太安静了。 “Look, a store, ” said Annie. “看, 那有一家小店。”安妮说。 She pointed to a building. The faded sign said GENERAL STORE. “Let’s look inside. Maybe the answer to the riddle is in there.” 她指着一座房子, 那里挂着一个褪了色的招牌, 上面写着“通用商店”。“咱们进去看看吧。也许里面有谜语的答案呢。” Jack and Annie stepped onto the porch. The wooden boards creaked loudly. The door had fallen off its hinges. They peeked inside. 杰克和安妮走到房子的门廊。脚下的木板吱吱作响。房门已经快要从合页上掉下来了。他们偷偷地往里看去。 The air was thick with dust. Spider webs hung from the ceiling. 只见空气混浊、满是灰尘。蜘蛛网从屋顶一直挂下来。 “Maybe we shouldn’t go in, ” said Jack. “也许我们还是不进去的好。”杰克说。 “But what if the answer’s here?” said Annie.“Let’s just take a quick look.” “但是如果答案就在里面怎么办?”安妮说, “咱们就很快地看一圈吧。” Jack took a deep breath. “Okay.” 杰克深吸一口气说：“好吧。” He and Annie tiptoed into the store. 杰克和安妮踮着脚尖蹑手蹑脚地走进了房子。 “Look, ” said Annie. She picked up a pair of rusty spurs. “你看。”安妮说。她捡起了一对已经生锈的马刺。 “Careful, ” said Jack. He poked at other stuff in the store—an old feed sack, a rusted tin cup, a faded calendar dated 1878. “小心。”杰克说。他拨了拨店里的其他一些东西——一个喂牲口用的旧麻袋, 一个锈迹斑斑的锡杯子和一本早已褪色的1878年的日历。 “Oh, wow, ” said Annie. She held up two cowboy hats. She put one on and handed the other one to Jack. “For you.” “哦, 哇。”安妮叫着。她手里举着两顶牛仔帽。自己戴上了一顶, 把另一顶给了杰克, “给你的。” “It’s too dusty, ” said Jack. “那么多灰。”杰克说。 “Just blow on it, ” said Annie. “吹吹就好了。”安妮答道。 Jack blew on his hat. A cloud of dust rose up. Jack sneezed. 杰克吹了吹帽子上的灰, 立刻一团尘雾扬起。杰克不禁打了个喷嚏。 “Just try it on!” said Annie. “戴上试试看!”安妮嚷着。 Jack put the hat on. It nearly covered his eyes. 杰克戴上了帽子, 帽子几乎盖住了他的眼睛。 “Boots!” said Annie. She pointed to a row of cowboy boots on a shelf. “There are even some small ones, like our sizes. Here’s a pair for you.” She handed the boots to Jack. “靴子!”安妮说着指着一个架子上的一排牛仔靴。“还有小的呢, 好像正是我们的码, 这双给你。”她说着递给了杰克一双靴子。 “They’re not ours, ” he said. “这又不是我们的。”杰克说。 “I know, but just try them on, ” said Annie. “我知道, 就试试嘛。”安妮回答。 Jack turned his boots upside down and shook them as hard as he could. 杰克把靴子倒过来, 拼命地晃着。 “What are you doing?” Annie asked, pulling on another pair of boots. “你干什么呢?”安妮问, 一面使劲往自己脚上穿着一对靴子。 “Checking for scorpions, ” Jack said. “看看有没有蝎子。”杰克回答说。 “Ja-ack.” Annie laughed. “Try them on!” “杰——克!”安妮大笑起来。“穿上吧。” Jack sighed. He pulled off his sneakers. He pushed his feet into the boots. He pushed and pushed. The boots were really stiff. Finally he got his feet inside. Then he tried to walk. 杰克叹了口气, 脱下了脚上的球鞋。他把脚塞进靴子, 使劲地塞啊塞啊。靴子很紧。好不容易把脚塞了进去, 杰克试着走了走。 “Owww!” he said. “Forget it.” He started to pull off the boots. “嗷!”他叫了起来。“算了吧。”他开始脱靴子。 “What’s that?” Annie said. 突然安妮叫道：“听, 是什么声音?” Jack froze. 杰克愣住了。 “Piano music, ” said Annie. “Maybe it’s the voice in the riddle! Come on!” “是钢琴声。”安妮说, “也许这就是谜语里所说的声音!快来!” Jack threw his sneakers into his backpack and hobbled after Annie. 杰克赶紧把自己的球鞋扔进背包, 一瘸一拐地跟在安妮后面。