Ch2-Nowhere

CHAPTER TWO Nowhere Jack felt hot. He opened his eyes. Burning sunlight was flooding into the tree house. He and Annie were wearing long robes tied with cords. They wore white head cloths and pointy slip-on shoes. Jack's backpack had turned into a leather shoulder bag.

第二章杰克哪儿也不觉得热。 他睁开眼睛。灼热的阳光照进了树屋。 他和安妮穿着用绳子系着的长袍。 他们穿着白色的头巾和尖头便鞋。 杰克的双肩包变成了皮质单肩包。

"We look like characters in that book Aunt Mary gave us," said Annie, "Tales from the Arabian Nights." "Yeah, like Aladdin and Ali Baba," said Jack. Shading their eyes from the bright sunlight, Jack and Annie squinted out the window. They had landed in the spiky crown

“我们看起来就像玛丽阿姨给我们的那本书里的人物，”安妮说，“《一千零一夜故事集》。” “是啊，就像阿拉丁和阿里巴巴。”杰克说。 杰克和安妮用手遮住刺眼的阳光，斜视着窗外。 他们降落在尖尖的皇冠上

of a palm tree. It was the tallest tree in a clump of palm trees. Thorny shrubs and sparse green grass grew under the trees. A small spring bubbled up from the ground. Surrounding the clump of trees were miles and miles of scorching sand. "This doesn't look like a golden age to me," said Annie. "Yeah, and where's Baghdad?" asked Jack. He picked up their research book and opened it to the first page. He read aloud: From 762 AD to 1258 AD, the Arab world had a golden age. During that time, a ruler known as a

一棵棕榈树。它是一丛棕榈树中最高的树。 树下长着带刺的灌木和稀疏的绿草。 一股小泉水从地下冒出来。 那丛树的周围是绵延数英里的灼热的沙子。 “对我来说，这看起来不像是一个黄金时代，”安妮说。 “是啊，巴格达在哪里？”杰克问。 他拿起他们的研究书，翻到第一页。 他大声朗读：从公元762年到1258年，阿拉伯世界经历了一个黄金时代。 在那个时候，一个统治者被称为

caliph (say KAY-liff) governed an empire that stretched for thousands of miles. The capital of the Arab empire was the city of Baghdad, an important center for learning and trade. Jack looked up. "So the caliph is a ruler," he said, "and he probably lived in Baghdad." "Yeah, but how do we get there?" asked Annie. "Patience," said Jack. "Remember on our last mission, we learned that we have to do

哈里发（比如凯利夫）统治着一个绵延数千英里的帝国。 阿拉伯帝国的首都是巴格达，一个重要的学习和贸易中心。 杰克抬起头来。“所以哈里发是一个统治者，”他说，“他可能住在巴格达。” “是的，但是我们怎么去那儿呢？”安妮问。 “耐心点，”杰克说。“记得我们上次执行任务时，我们学会了我们必须做的事情

things in order, one thing at a time." He read the first part of Merlin's instructions. Ride a ship of the desert on a cold starry night. Ride through the dust and hot morning light. "I wonder what a 'ship of the desert' is," said Jack, looking up. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find it eventually," Annie said slowly, as if she were trying to sound patient. "We could just sit here and keep an eye out for a big boat. Or…" "Or what?" said Jack.

一切都井然有序，一次做一件事。” 他读了梅林指示的第一部分。 在寒冷的星夜乘坐沙漠之船。 穿过尘土和炙热的晨光。 “我想知道‘沙漠之船’是什么意思，”杰克抬起头说。 “好吧，不管它是什么，我相信我们最终会找到它的，”安妮慢慢地说，好像她试图听起来很有耐心。 “我们可以就坐在这里，留意着有没有大船。 “不然呢？”杰克说。

"Maybe we could use one of Teddy and Kathleen's magic rhymes." "Not yet," said Jack. "Merlin said to use our magic wisely. We just got here. We used two rhymes on our last mission. And we only have eight left to divide between three—" "Okay, okay—" Annie broke in. "We can only use a rhyme when there's absolutely nothing else to do, right?" "Right," said Jack. "So…," said Annie. "What do you think we should do?" "We could start walking," said Jack. "Walk where?" said Annie. "Which way is Baghdad?"

“也许我们可以用泰迪和凯瑟琳的魔法押韵。” “还没有，”杰克说。“梅林说要明智地使用魔法。 我们才刚到。上次任务中我们用了两个押韵词。 我们只剩下八个可以分给三个——”“好吧，好吧——”安妮插嘴说。 “我们只有在绝对没有其他事情可做的时候才能使用押韵，对吧？”“好的，”杰克说。 “那么……”安妮说。“你觉得我们该怎么办？”“我们可以开始走路了。”杰克说。 “去哪儿散步？”安妮说。“巴格达怎么走？”