Ch9-Camouflage

CHAPTER NINE Camouflage Jack and Annie stepped lightly through dead leaves and pushed aside feathery weeds that towered above them. They carefully climbed over twigs, pebbles, and tangled roots. They skirted around a deserted anthill as high as Jack's knees. When they got to the edge of the cobra's clearing, Jack stopped. He held up his hand and

第九章伪装杰克和安妮轻轻地穿过枯叶，推开高高在上的羽状杂草。 他们小心翼翼地爬过树枝、鹅卵石和纠结的树根。 他们绕过一个高及杰克膝盖的荒芜蚁丘。 当他们走到眼镜蛇空地的边缘时，杰克停了下来。 他举起手来

Annie nodded. They peered between tall blades of grass. The emerald rose glittered in the sunlight. It looked as big as a softball. The cobra was still coiled around her nest. But now she looked as big as a monster in a fairy tale. "Whoa!" Jack breathed. "What do you think we should do?" Annie whispered. "Should I just run as fast as I can, grab it, and run back?" "No, no!" said Jack. He was shocked by how big the cobra looked. "I think she's asleep," said Annie. "We can't really tell," said Jack. "Her eyes are hard to see because of her camouflage." "So how—" started Annie. "That's it!" said Jack. "Camouflage!" "What about it?" said Annie. "That's how we'll get the emerald!" said Jack. "We'll use our own camouflage." "You mean like leaves?" said Annie. "Yeah, leaves would be good," said Jack. They looked around. "There." He pointed to a vine with

安妮点点头。他们在高高的草叶间窥视。 翠绿的玫瑰在阳光下闪闪发光。 它看起来像垒球那么大。 眼镜蛇仍然盘绕在她的窝里。 但现在她看起来像童话里的怪物一样大。 “哇!”杰克呼吸。“你觉得我们该怎么办？”安妮小声说。 “我是不是应该尽可能快地跑，抓住它，然后跑回去？”“不，不！”杰克说。 眼镜蛇的巨大使他感到震惊。 “我想她睡着了，”安妮说。 “我们真的不知道，”杰克说。 “因为她的伪装，她的眼睛很难看清。” “那又怎么样——”安妮说。 “就是这样！”杰克说。“伪装!”“怎么了？”安妮说。 “这样我们就能得到翡翠了！”杰克说。 “我们要用自己的伪装。” “你是说像树叶一样吗？”安妮说。 “是的，树叶就可以了。”杰克说。 他们环顾四周。“在那里。” 他指着一根藤蔓

large light green leaves. He and Annie gripped one of the leaves and pulled until it tore off the vine. Annie held it up in front of her like a shield. "How's this?" she said. "Great," said Jack. "Now one for me." He and Annie gripped another leaf and pulled until they ripped it from the vine, too. "Poke holes in them, so we can see," said Annie. "Good idea," said Jack. They poked holes in their leaves and then held them up, covering their faces. Jack moved his leaf around until he could see the emerald through the eyeholes. "Go slowly and stick with me," Jack said. "Two steps, then stop. Two steps, then stop." "Got it," said Annie. Holding their leaves in front of them, Jack and Annie carefully stepped into the clearing. They took two steps toward the emerald, then stopped… two steps, then stopped. The cobra didn't move. Jack desperately hoped she was asleep. He and Annie took two more steps, then stopped. The emerald glittered in the

大的浅绿色叶子。他和安妮抓住一片叶子，使劲拉，直到它从藤蔓上扯下来。 安妮把它像盾牌一样举在面前。 “这个怎么样？”她说。“太好了，”杰克说。 “现在给我来一杯。”他和安妮抓住另一片叶子，把它也从藤蔓上扯下来。 “在上面戳几个洞，这样我们就能看见了，”安妮说。 “好主意，”杰克说。他们在树叶上戳洞，然后举起来遮住脸。 杰克移动着他的叶子，直到他能透过眼孔看到翡翠。 “慢慢走，跟着我，”杰克说。 “两步，然后停下。两步，然后停下。” “明白了，”安妮说。杰克和安妮把树叶挡在前面，小心翼翼地走进空地。 他们朝翡翠走了两步，然后停了下来……两步，然后停了下来。 眼镜蛇没有动。杰克绝望地希望她睡着了。 他和安妮又走了两步，然后停了下来。 翡翠在天空中闪闪发光

hot sunlight. They took two more steps. Then Annie gasped. The cobra was lifting her body above her nest! Her head was broad and flat. She swayed back and forth and looked around with staring eyes. Jack and Annie froze. Then slowly the cobra lowered her head. Jack let out his breath. Their camouflage had worked! He motioned to Annie, and they both took another two steps, then stopped. Jack was only a step away from the jewel now. Holding up his leaf camouflage with one hand, he leaned over and scooped up the emerald. It felt as heavy as a big rock. Holding the leaf with one hand, Jack used his other hand to shove the emerald into his bag. With Annie behind him, he stepped backward—two steps, then stopped. Jack kept his eye on the cobra coiled around her nest. He and Annie kept backing up. Suddenly a sound came from behind them—a strange hissing, growling sound. A chill went through Jack. He turned around. A monster-size cobra towered over them. "The dad!" yelled Annie.

炎热的阳光。他们又走了两步。 然后安妮倒吸了一口气。眼镜蛇正把她的身体举到她的巢穴上方！她的头又宽又平。 她前后摇晃着身子，瞪着眼睛四处张望。 杰克和安妮僵住了。然后眼镜蛇慢慢地低下了头。 杰克松了一口气。他们的伪装奏效了！他向安妮示意，两人又走了两步，然后停了下来。 杰克现在离珠宝只有一步之遥了。 他用一只手举起他的叶子伪装，俯身把翡翠捞了起来。 它感觉像一块大石头一样重。 杰克一只手握住树叶，另一只手把翡翠塞进包里。 安妮在他身后，他后退了两步，然后停了下来。 杰克一直盯着盘绕在她巢穴周围的眼镜蛇。 他和安妮不停地后退。 突然，一个声音从他们身后传来——一种奇怪的嘶嘶声和咆哮声。 杰克感到一阵寒意。 他转过身来。一条怪物大小的眼镜蛇高耸在他们上方。 “爸爸！”安妮喊道。

The male cobra had the same coloring as the female. His hood was spread out as he raised himself high above the grass. He swayed from side to side, staring down at Jack and Annie with cold, unblinking eyes. He opened his giant mouth, showing two deadly fangs. "AHHH!" said Jack and Annie. They dropped their leaves and crouched down, hiding themselves in the grass. "Go—go!" sputtered Jack. They took off, scrambling through the undergrowth of the forest.

这条雄性眼镜蛇和雌性眼镜蛇的颜色一样。 当他把身子高高伸出草地时，他的兜帽展开了。 他左右摇晃着，用冷漠的眼睛盯着杰克和安妮。 他张开他的大嘴，露出两颗致命的毒牙。 “啊！”杰克和安妮说。 他们放下树叶，蹲下来，躲在草丛里。 “加油！”杰克气急冲天地说。 他们起飞了，在森林的矮树丛中爬来爬去。

Jack led the way as they both half crawled, half ran over the dirt and through the grass. Jack lost his slippers and ripped his coat. Like a mouse, he clambered over sticks and twigs, nuts, seeds, bark, feathers, mosses, and mushrooms. All kinds of ants and beetles scuttled out of the way. The air was filled with screeching insect sounds. Jack had no idea where he was running, but he knew he couldn't stop. He was sure the cobra was slithering after them, thrashing through the undergrowth. Maybe both king cobras were searching for them now, he thought, and all the forest was screaming about it. Jack stumbled over a stick. He scrambled up from the dirt and looked around wildly. Where was Annie? He didn't see her! Had she gone off in another direction? Where were the cobras? Had they chased after Annie instead of him? Jack panicked. "Annie!" he shouted. The ground trembled. Jack heard thumping, thrashing, and bells. He crouched down in the grass and covered his head. He heard Annie shout, "Jack! Where are you, Jack?" She sounded as if she was up in a tree! What was going on?

杰克在前面领路，他们一半爬，一半跑，穿过泥土和草地。 杰克的拖鞋丢了，外套也破了。 像老鼠一样，他爬过树枝、坚果、种子、树皮、羽毛、苔藓和蘑菇。 各种各样的蚂蚁和甲虫都逃开了。 空气中充满了昆虫的尖叫声。 杰克不知道他在往哪里跑，但他知道他不能停下来。 他确信眼镜蛇正在他们后面滑来滑去，穿过灌木丛。 也许现在两只眼镜王蛇都在找他们，他想，整个森林都在为此尖叫。 杰克被一根棍子绊倒了。 他从泥土里爬起来，疯狂地环顾四周。 安妮在哪里？他没看见她！她是不是跑到别的方向去了？ 眼镜蛇在哪里？他们追的是安妮而不是他吗？ 杰克惊慌失措。“安妮！”他喊道。 大地颤抖起来。杰克听到了砰砰声、捶打声和铃声。 他蹲在草地上，捂着头。 他听到安妮喊道：“杰克！你在哪儿，杰克？”她的声音听起来好像是在树上！发生了什么事？