1 Ch1-Summer Solstice

Summer of the Sea Serpent

海蛇之夏

CHAPTER ONE Summer Solstice Jack was sitting on the porch reading the newspaper. It was a warm summer day, but the porch was shady and cool. Annie poked her head out of the screen door. "Hey, Mom says she'll drive us to the lake this afternoon," she said.

第一章夏至杰克坐在门廊上看报纸。 这是一个温暖的夏日，但门廊阴凉凉爽。 安妮从纱门探出头来。 “嘿，妈妈说她今天下午会开车送我们去湖边，”她说。

Jack didn't raise his eyes from the weather page. "Did you know today is the summer solstice?" he said. "What's that?" asked Annie. "It's the official first day of summer," said Jack. "There's more daylight today than on any other day of the year." "Cool," said Annie. "Starting tomorrow, the days will get shorter and shorter," said Jack. A loud screech came from overhead. "Look," said Annie, "a seagull!" Jack looked up. A large white gull was circling in the bright noon sky. "What's he doing here?"

杰克目不转睛地看着天气预报。 “你知道今天是夏至吗?”他说。 “那是什么?”安妮问。 “这是正式的夏天的第一天，”杰克说。 “今天的日照比一年中任何一天都多。” “酷，”安妮说。“从明天开始，白天会越来越短，”杰克说。 头顶上传来一声尖叫。 “看，”安妮说，“一只海鸥!”杰克抬起头来。 一只白色的大海鸥在正午明亮的天空中盘旋。 “他在这儿干什么?”

asked Jack. "The ocean's two hours away." The gull swooped down and screeched again. "Maybe he's a messenger from Morgan or Merlin," said Annie. "Maybe one of them sent him to tell us the tree house is finally back." Jack's heart began to pound. He put down the newspaper. "You think so?" he asked. Jack and Annie hadn't seen the magic tree house since their Merlin Mission to a haunted castle last Halloween. Jack had begun to worry that the tree house might never come back. "Look, he's flying toward the woods," said Annie. Jack jumped up. "Okay," he said. "Let's go."

杰克问。“离大海有两个小时的路程。” 海鸥俯冲下来，又尖叫了一声。 “也许他是摩根或梅林派来的信使，”安妮说。 “也许他们中的一个派他来告诉我们树屋终于回来了。” 杰克的心开始怦怦直跳。 他放下报纸。 “你这么认为?”他问。自从去年万圣节去闹鬼的城堡执行梅林任务后，杰克和安妮就再也没有见过魔法树屋。 杰克开始担心树屋可能再也不会回来了。 “看，他朝树林飞去了，”安妮说。 杰克跳了起来。“好吧，”他说。 “我们走吧。”

"We'll be back soon, Mom!" Annie called. Then she and Jack dashed across their yard. They ran down their street and into the Frog Creek woods. The shady woods were dappled with sunlight. The air smelled fresh and clean. Jack and Annie hurried past the leafy trees, until they came to the tallest oak. High in the oak branches, the magic tree house was waiting for them. "Wow," Jack and Annie said together. The tree house looked exactly the same as when they'd last seen it. Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jack followed. When they climbed inside the tree house, no one was there.

“我们很快就回来，妈妈!”安妮叫。 然后她和杰克冲过院子。 他们沿着街道跑进了青蛙溪森林。 阴凉的树林被阳光照得斑驳。 空气闻起来清新干净。 杰克和安妮匆匆走过茂密的树木，来到最高的橡树前。 高高的橡树枝上，有魔力的树屋在等着他们。 “哇，”杰克和安妮一起说。 树屋看起来和他们上次见到它时一模一样。 安妮抓住绳梯，跳了起来。 杰克跟着。当他们爬进树屋时，没有人在那里。

"Look, our Royal Invitation is still here," said Annie. She picked up the card that had taken them to Camelot on Christmas Eve. "And our leaf from Merlin is still here," said Jack. He picked up the yellow autumn leaf that had sent them on their Halloween mission. "This is new," said Annie. She picked up a pale blue seashell. The shell was shaped like a small fan. There was writing on it. "Hey, this looks like Merlin's handwriting!" said Annie. "We must be going on another mission for Merlin!" She read aloud the message from the magician:

“看，我们的皇家请柬还在这里，”安妮说。 她拿起那张在平安夜带他们去卡梅洛特的卡片。 “我们从梅林那里得到的叶子还在这里。”杰克说。 他捡起了那片送他们去执行万圣节任务的黄色秋叶。 “这是新的，”安妮说。 她捡起一个淡蓝色的贝壳。 贝壳的形状像一个小扇子。 上面写着字。“嘿，这看起来像梅林的笔迹!”安妮说。 “我们必须为梅林执行另一项任务!”她大声朗读魔术师的留言: