Knight At Dawn 2.7 A Secret Passage

公众号：MT英语（ID:mtkouyu)
专辑：【英文原版童话故事】
文本整理：Doris

Annie and Jack raced back up the winding stairs and down the long hallway.

安妮和杰克跑上蜿蜒的楼梯，跑下长长的走廊。

They hadn’t gone far when they heard shouting behind them.
他们没跑多远，就听见后面的大喊大叫声。

Dogs barked in the distance.
远处的狗汪汪汪地叫了起来。

“They’re coming!” Annie cried.
“他们追来了!”安妮喊道。

“In here!” said Jack. He shoved open a door off the hallway and pulled Annie into a dark room. Jack pushed the door shut.
“在这里!”杰克说。他猛地推开走廊的一扇门，把安妮拉进一个黑暗的房间里杰克把门关上。

Then Annie shined her flashlight around the room. There were rows of sacks and wooden barrels.
接着安妮用手电筒把房间照了一遍。房间里堆着一排排麻袋，摆着一排排的木桶。

“I’d better look in the book,” said Jack. “Give it to me!”
“我最好先看看书。”杰克说，“把手电筒递给我!”

Annie gave him the flashlight and his backpack. He pulled out the book and started tearing through it.
安妮把手电筒和背包都交给他。他拿出书，开始匆匆地翻书。

“Shhh!” said Annie. “Someone’s coming.”
“嘘!”安妮说，“有人来啦。”

Jack and Annie jumped behind the door as it creaked open.
杰克和安妮刚跳到门后面，门就吱呀吱呀地开了。

Jack held his breath. A light from a torch danced wildly over the sacks and barrels.
杰克屏住气。火炬的光亮在麻袋和桶上晃来晃去。

The light disappeared. The door slammed shut.
亮光消失了。门砰地关上了。

“Oh,man,” whispered Jack. “We have to hurry. They might come back.”
“天哪。”杰克咕哝着，“我们得抓紧点，他们可能再回来。”

His hands were trembling as he flipped through the pages of the castle book.
当他翻动那本城堡书时，他双手一直在发抖。

“Here’s a map of the castle,” he said. “Look, this must be the room we’re in. It’s a storeroom.” Jack studied the room in the book. “These are sacks of flour and barrels of wine.”
“这儿有一幅城堡的地图。”他说，“看，这肯定是我们现在呆的房间，这是贮藏室。”杰克研究着书中的那个房间。“有一袋袋面粉和一桶桶酒。”

“Who cares? We have to go!” said Annie. “Before they come back!”
“管它呢!我们得离开!”安妮说，“在他们回来之前!”

“No. Look,” said Jack. He pointed at the map. “Here’s a trapdoor.”
“不，看。”杰克说。他指着那幅地图。“这儿有一扇暗门。”

He read aloud：
他大声读道：

This door leads from the storeroom through a secret passage to a precipice over the moat.
这扇门从贮藏室经过一条秘密通道，可达护城河上的一堵绝壁。

“What’s a precipice?” said Annie.
“绝壁是什么?”安妮说。

“I don’t know. We’ll find out,” said Jack. “But first we have to find the door.”
“我不知道，我们会弄明白的。”杰克说，“但是我们首先得找到这扇暗门。”

Jack looked at the picture carefully. Then he shined the flashlight around the room.
杰克仔仔细细地看了又看这幅图。接着他用手电筒把房间四周照了又照。

The floor of the room was made up of stones. The trapdoor in the picture was five stones away from the door to the hall.
房间的地板是用石头铺成的。图上的暗门离通向走廊的大门五块石头远。

Jack shined the light on the floor and counted the stones. “One，two，three，four，five.”
杰克用灯光照着地板，数着石头。“一、二、三、四、五。”

He stamped on the fifth stone. It was loose!
他在第五块石头上跺了跺脚。石头是松动的!

He put the flashlight on the floor. He worked his fingers under the thin sheet of stone and tried to lift it.
他把手电筒放在地板上。他使劲儿地用手指抠在薄石板的下边，想把石头搬起来。

“Help,” Jack said.
“快来帮忙。”杰克说。

Annie came over and helped him lift the stone square out of its place.
安妮跑过来，帮他抬起了这块四四方方的石头。

Underneath was a small wooden door.
下面是一扇小小的木门。

Jack and Annie tugged on the rope handle of the door. The door fell open with a thunk.
杰克和安妮猛拉门的绳把手，门轰然翻落在地，打开了。

Jack picked up the flashlight and shined it on the hole.
杰克拾起手电筒，往洞里照了照。

“There’ s a little ladder,” hs said. “Let’s go!”
“有一张小梯子。”他说，“我们走吧。”

He clipped on the flashlight and felt his way down the small ladder. Annie followed.
他别好手电筒，摸索着顺着小梯子往下爬。安妮紧跟其后。

When they both reached the bottom of the ladder, Jack shined the light around them.
当他们下到小梯子底部时，杰克用手电筒照了照他们的四周。

There was a tunnel!
有一条通道!

He crouched down and began moving through the damp, creepy tunnel. The flashlight barely lit the stone walls.
他们弯下腰，开始沿着潮湿的、令人不寒而栗的通道移动。这时，手电筒只照得亮石墙了。

He shook the light. Were the batteries running down?
他摇了摇手电筒。电池快用光了?

“I think our light’s dying!” he said to Annie.
“我想我们的手电筒快没电了!”他对安妮说。

“Hurry!” she called from behind.
“快快快!”她在后面喊道。

Jack went faster. His back hurt from crouching.
杰克走得更快了。他的背因弯腰而疼起来。

The light got dimmer and dimmer.
电筒光越来越暗，越来越弱。

He was desperate to get out of the castle before the batteries died completely.
在电池完全用光之前，他得拼命地跑出城堡才行。

Soon he reached another small wooden door. The door at the end of the tunnel!
不久，他们到达另一扇小木门。门在通道的尽头。

Jack * the door and pushed it open.
杰克拔掉门闩，推开了它。

He poked his head outside.
他把头伸向外面。

He couldn’t see anything in the misty darkness.
外面雾蒙蒙的，漆黑一团，他什么也看不清。

The air felt good. Cool and fresh. He took a deep breath.
空气感觉不错。凉爽、清新。他深深地吸了一口气。

“Where are we?” whispered Annie behind him. “What do you see?”
“我们在什么地方?”安妮在他后面低声说，“你看见了什么?”

“Nothing. But I think we’ve come to the outside of the castle,” said Jack. “I’ll find out.”
“什么也看不见。但是我想我们到了城堡的外面。”杰克说，“我会弄明白的。”

Jack put the flashlight in his pack. He put the pack on his back. He stuck his hand out the door. He couldn’t feel the ground. Just air.
杰克把手电筒放进背包里，把背包背在背上。他把手伸出门外。他摸不着地面。
只有空气。

“I’m going to have to go feet first,” he said.
“我打算先用脚试试。”他说。

Jack turned around in the small tunnel. He lay down on his stomach. He stuck one leg out the door. Then the other.
杰克在小通道里翻过身，趴在地上。他把一只脚伸出门外，接着又伸出另一只脚。

Jack inched down, bit by bit. Until he was hanging out the door, clinging to the ledge. “This must be the precipice!” he called to Annie. “Pull me up!”
杰克一点一点地往下溜，一点一点地。直到他悬在门外，紧紧地抓住边沿。“这肯定是那堵绝壁。”他对安妮大叫着，“把我拉上去!”

Annie reached for Jack’s hands. “I can’t hold you!” she said.
安妮摸到杰克的双手。“我拉不动你!”她说。

Jack felt his fingers slipping. Then down he fell.
杰克感到他的手指滑脱了。接着他掉了下去。

Down through the darkness.
他掉进黑暗中。

SPLASH!
扑通!