Ch7-Jack the Giant

Jack the Giant Jack felt as if someone was gripping his head— and pulling him up, and up, and up! He looked down and watched his arms and hands stretch out. His legs grew longer, his feet bigger. Jack rocked back and forth, then stood still. He had stopped stretching and growing. His shoes, clothes, and backpack had all grown bigger to fit his new body. "Jack!" Annie's voice sounded distant. Peering through the dust, Jack looked around for Annie. "Jack! Down here!" Jack looked down. Annie was standing next to him. She only came up to his knees! "I dropped the bottle and it broke!" she said. "I didn't get to drink the potion!" "Oh, no!" Jack boomed. Even his voice was bigger. "I'm so sorry."

巨人杰克杰克觉得好像有人抓住他的头——把他往上拉，往上拉，往上拉！他低下头，看着自己伸出的胳膊和手。 他的腿越来越长，脚越来越大。 杰克前后摇晃着，然后站住了。 他已经停止伸展和生长。 他的鞋子、衣服和背包都变得更大，以适应他的新身体。 “杰克!”安妮的声音听起来很遥远。 杰克透过灰尘四处寻找安妮。 “杰克!在这里!”杰克低下头。 安妮站在他旁边。 她只到他膝盖那么高！“我把瓶子掉在地上摔破了！”她说。 “我没能喝下魔药！”“哦,不!”杰克蓬勃发展。 甚至他的声音也更大了。 “我很抱歉。”

"You're huge!" said Annie. "How does it feel? Is it fun?" "Not yet," said Jack. The earth trembled again with another aftershock. Annie lost her balance and fell. Jack leaned over and picked her up with both hands. He placed her on one of his giant shoulders. "Whoa," said Annie. "This is cool! Now I'm taller than you! I can be your lookout."

“你真大！”安妮说。 “感觉怎么样？”好玩吗？”“还没有，”杰克说。 大地又一次因余震而颤抖起来。 安妮失去平衡跌倒了。 杰克俯下身，用双手把她抱了起来。 他把她放在他巨大的肩膀上。 “哇，”安妮说。“太酷了！”现在我比你高了！我可以给你放哨。”

From their new height, Jack and Annie could see over the rubble to the vast devastation. Trees down in the valley had been uprooted. The river was wild and raging. The mountaintops were shrouded in dark clouds. "It's starting to rain again," said Annie. "That's the least of our problems," said Jack. "I just hope the earthquake didn't destroy the panda center." "I know! Let's hurry! We only have an hour!" said Annie. Annie held on to Jack's head, and Jack held on to Annie's legs. He lifted one giant foot and stepped over the boulder that had crushed their bikes. Picking his way through the rubble, he headed back to the panda center. He stepped over fallen debris, power lines, and deep cracks in the road. His enormous sneakers crushed twigs and brush. Jack stepped over huge mounds of mud as if they were anthills. He kicked away boulders as if they were soccer balls. He tossed aside fallen trees as if they were broken branches. He leapt over a

从新的高度，杰克和安妮可以越过瓦砾看到巨大的破坏。 山谷里的树被连根拔起。 河水汹涌澎湃。 山顶被乌云笼罩着。 “又开始下雨了，”安妮说。 “这不是我们的问题，”杰克说。 “我只希望地震没有摧毁熊猫中心。” “我知道!让我们快点!我们只有一个小时！”安妮说。 安妮抱着杰克的头，杰克抱着安妮的腿。 他抬起一只巨大的脚，跨过压碎了他们自行车的巨石。 他在碎石堆中艰难地走回熊猫中心。 他跨过倒下的瓦砾、电线和道路上深深的裂缝。 他那双巨大的运动鞋踩碎了树枝和灌木。 杰克跨过巨大的土堆，好像它们是蚁丘。 他把巨石像踢足球一样踢开。 他把倒下的树扔到一边，好像它们是折断的树枝。 他跳过了一个

river of water coursing down from the mountain as if it were a rain puddle. "This is incredible!" said Jack. "Watch out!" said Annie. A boulder was rolling down the wet road toward them. Jack spread his legs wide, and the boulder went between them and kept rolling downhill. Jack and Annie laughed. "Now are you having fun?" she said. Jack nodded. "Maybe a little bit." Suddenly a tree crashed across the road. Jack stumbled over it. He fell to the ground just as a wall of mud came cascading down the mountain slope. The black ooze was filled with rock fragments and plants. Annie! thought Jack. He lifted his head out of the mud before it smothered him. He reached around and felt Annie's kicking feet. He pulled her out of the thick, wet goo. "You okay?" Jack shouted. "Yes!" sputtered Annie. "But we're sliding over the cliff!" Annie was right. With the force of a tidal wave, the mudslide was pushing them across the

河水从山上流下来，好像是一个雨水坑。 “难以置信！”杰克说。 “小心！”安妮说。一块巨石沿着潮湿的道路向他们滚来。 杰克张开双腿，巨石从他们中间滚下山坡。 杰克和安妮笑了。“你现在玩得开心吗？”她说。 杰克点了点头。“可能有一点吧。” 突然，一棵树横倒在马路上。 杰克被它绊倒了。他倒在地上，就在这时，一堵泥墙从山坡上倾泻而下。 黑色的淤泥中充满了岩石碎片和植物。 安妮!杰克想。他把头从泥里抬了出来，免得被泥闷死。 他伸手摸了摸安妮的脚。 他把她从又厚又湿的粘稠物中拉了出来。 “你没事吧?”杰克喊道。“是的！”安妮急促地说。 “但我们正在从悬崖上滑下去！”安妮是对的。 随着潮汐的力量，泥石流将他们推过

highway toward the cliff! Jack clutched Annie under one of his huge arms. Then he struggled through the grimy ooze until they were clear of the mudslide. Covered with mud from his hair to his shoes, Jack felt heavy and uncomfortable. He even had mud in his mouth. He put Annie down and sat on the road. "At least we're—we're safe," Annie said. Jack coughed, gagging on mud. "You look like a giant swamp monster," Annie said. Jack couldn't talk. As the rain fell harder, he threw back his head and let rainwater wash his face and fill his mouth. He choked and spit and coughed until his throat was clear. With help from the pelting rain, he washed the mud off his bare arms and his shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Finally he looked at Annie. "How long do you think I've been a giant now?" he asked hoarsely. "I don't know," she said. "It seems like a long time." "We'd better get moving. We only have an hour," he said.

高速公路走向悬崖！杰克用一只粗壮的胳膊抱住安妮。 然后他挣扎着穿过肮脏的淤泥，直到他们离开了泥石流。 从头发到鞋子都沾满了泥，杰克感到沉重而不舒服。 他嘴里甚至还含着泥。 他把安妮放下，坐在路上。 “至少我们——我们是安全的，”安妮说。 杰克咳嗽起来，被泥呛了。 “你看起来像一个巨大的沼泽怪物，”安妮说。 杰克说不出话来。雨越下越大，他把头往后一仰，让雨水冲洗他的脸，灌满他的嘴。 他哽咽、吐痰、咳嗽，直到喉咙清了。 在倾盆大雨的帮助下，他洗去了裸露手臂、衬衫、牛仔裤和运动鞋上的泥。 最后他看着安妮。 “你觉得我当巨人多久了？”他嘶哑地问。 “我不知道，”她说。“似乎很长一段时间。” “我们最好赶快行动。我们只有一个小时，”他说。

"What'll we do if you're still a giant when we get to the center?" asked Annie. "I'll hide outside," said Jack, "until I'm small again." He figured the last thing the staff needed now was to see a twenty-five-foot-tall kid. Slowly they both stood up, soaking wet, but cleaner. Jack lifted Annie back onto his shoulder. He began striding uphill again, sloshing through mud puddles and stepping over crushed rocks. Jack walked through the falling rain, never stopping. But by the time they reached the panda center, he was so tired he could barely take another step. With Annie on his shoulder, Jack stood on the bank of the river and they stared across at the damage wrought by the earthquake. The parking lot was filled with mud. The center's sign had been knocked down. Portions of the bridge had collapsed into the river, and fallen brush and debris were piled up on the other side of the entrance gate. The slopes that surrounded the center were now gray and bare. Landslides had stripped them of foliage.

“如果我们到中心的时候你还是个巨人，我们该怎么办？”安妮问。 “我会躲在外面，”杰克说，“直到我变小。” 他想教职工们现在最不愿意看到的就是一个25英尺高的孩子。 他们俩慢慢地站了起来，浑身湿透了，但干净多了。 杰克把安妮抱回自己的肩膀上。 他又开始大步向山上走去，在泥坑里淌水，踩过碎石。 杰克在雨中不停地走着。 但当他们到达熊猫中心时，他太累了，几乎走不动一步。 杰克站在河岸上，肩上搭着安妮，他们凝视着对岸地震造成的破坏。 停车场里全是泥。 中心的招牌被推倒了。 桥的一部分已经坍塌到河里，掉落的灌木和碎片堆积在入口大门的另一边。 中心周围的山坡现在是灰色的，光秃秃的。 山体滑坡剥光了它们的叶子。