1 Journey to Mongolia

Chapter 1 JOURNEY TO MONGOLIA It was almost noon. A gentle summer wind blew the leaves on the trees. Jack parked his bike in the backyard. He'd just ridden home from the library. "Did you find the books you wanted?" Annie called from the kitchen window. "Yep, I found two about giant tortoises," said Jack. He wanted to learn more about the tortoise he'd recently saved from a volcanic eruption. "Soon you'll be a real turtle expert," said Annie. "That'll take a while," said Jack. He came through the back door into the kitchen. He pulled off his backpack. "What have you been doing?" "Waiting for Mom," said Annie. "She said she'd be back in about thirty minutes. Then we can all bike to the lake."

第一章蒙古之旅已经快到中午了。 一阵温和的夏日风吹起了树上的树叶。 杰克把自行车停在后院里。 他刚从图书馆骑车回家。 “你找到你要的书了吗？”安妮从厨房的窗口喊道。 “是的，我找到了两本关于巨龟的书，”杰克说。 他想更多地了解他最近从火山爆发中救出来的乌龟。 “很快你就会成为一个真正的海龟专家，”安妮说。 “那得花点时间，”杰克说。 他从后门进了厨房。 他卸下背包。 “你在干什么？”“在等妈妈，”安妮说。 “她说她大约三十分钟后回来。 然后我们可以一起骑车去湖边。”

"Great," said Jack. "She left a sandwich for you," said Annie, pointing to the table. "Yum," said Jack. He picked up his peanut butter sandwich and took a big bite. A high whistling sound came from the backyard. "What's that?" said Annie. She turned back to the window. "Oh, wow!" "What is it?" Jack said, his mouth full. "You're not going to believe it!" said Annie. Still holding his sandwich, Jack joined Annie at the window. "There…," Annie whispered. A huge dark-brown bird was perched on a tree stump in their backyard. The bird was almost three feet tall! It had gold feathers on its head and neck. "Oh, man," whispered Jack. "It's a golden eagle," said Annie. "The largest hunting bird in North America!" The eagle watched them with piercing eyes.

“太好了，”杰克说。“她给你留了一个三明治，”安妮指着桌子说。 “好极了，”杰克说。他拿起花生酱三明治，咬了一大口。 从后院传来一阵刺耳的哨声。 “那是什么？”安妮说。 她转身回到窗前。 “哦,哇!”“什么事？”杰克说，嘴里塞满了东西。 “你不会相信的！”安妮说。 杰克仍然拿着他的三明治，来到了窗前的安妮身边。 “那里……”安妮低声说。 一只深褐色的大鸟栖息在他们后院的树桩上。 这只鸟几乎有三英尺高！它的头和脖子上长着金色的羽毛。 “哦，天哪，”杰克低声说。 “这是一只金鹰，”安妮说。 “北美最大的猎鸟！”鹰用锐利的目光注视着他们。

"Why is he here?" asked Jack. "Guess," said Annie with a smile. Jack put down his sandwich. "The tree house!" he said. "Come on, let's go." Jack and Annie slipped out the back door. The golden eagle lifted off the stump. It glided away on the wind. "Grab your bike!" said Jack. He and Annie both jumped onto their bikes. They rode down their driveway and pedaled up the street. Jack and Annie parked at the edge of the Frog Creek woods. They took off running between the windblown trees.

“他为什么在这里？”杰克问。 “猜猜看，”安妮笑着说。 杰克放下他的三明治。 “树屋！”他说。 “来吧，我们走。”杰克和安妮从后门溜了出去。 金鹰从树桩上飞了起来。 它随风飘走了。 “带上你的自行车！”杰克说。 他和安妮都跳上了自行车。 他们从车道上骑下来，然后骑着自行车沿街而上。 杰克和安妮把车停在青蛙溪树林的边上。 他们在被风吹动的树林间跑了起来。

Soon they came to the tallest oak. The eagle was circling above it. The magic tree house was back. "Thanks!" Annie called to the bird. The eagle glided away. Jack started up the rope ladder. Annie followed. They climbed into the tree house. The midday sunlight shone on a piece of paper lying on the wooden floor.

很快，他们来到了最高的橡树前。 鹰在它的上空盘旋。 神奇的树屋回来了。 “谢谢!”安妮对那只鸟叫道。 鹰飞走了。杰克开始爬绳梯。 安妮。他们爬进了树屋。 正午的阳光照在木地板上的一张纸上。

Annie picked up the paper. "From Morgan," she said, out of breath. She read: Journey to Mongolia. Be Eco-Volunteers. See golden eagles, marmots, And herds of red deer. The wind on the plain Spins wheels along. Call out to the night, "Spin air into song!" Use your own words. Just do your best. Sing of wild things. Let the wind do the rest. "I'm not sure I understand this," said Jack. "I have lots of questions." "Yeah, really," said Annie. "Like, where's Mongolia?" "On the other side of the world," said Jack. "It's a country between China and Russia. I picture lots of rugged, open land."

安妮拿起报纸。 “来自摩根，”她上气不接下气地说。 她读到：蒙古之旅。 Eco-Volunteers。看看金雕，土拨鼠，还有成群的马鹿。 平原上的风旋转着车轮。 向黑夜呼唤：“把空气化作歌声！”用你自己的话。 尽你所能。歌颂狂野的事物。 剩下的就让风来做吧。“我不太明白，”杰克说。 “我有很多问题。” “是啊，真的，”安妮说。 “比如，蒙古在哪里？”“在世界的另一边，”杰克说。 “这是一个介于中国和俄罗斯之间的国家。 我想象着许多崎岖开阔的土地。”