3 Stolen!

Chapter Three STOLEN! Bek's home was larger than the ones along the riverbank. Its flat roof had a canopy, making a shady area to sit. Gustavo knew that the family would sleep up there on hot nights. "It seems to be built of bricks," Kiki whispered, sounding surprised. "And the windows are tiny!"

第三章被偷了！贝克的家比河边的房子都大。 它平坦的屋顶上有一个树冠，形成了一个阴凉的地方。 古斯塔沃知道他们一家在炎热的夜晚会睡在那里。 “它好像是砖砌的，”琪琪低声说，听起来很惊讶。 “而且窗户很小！”

"They're not like our bricks," Gustavo whispered back. "They're made of mud and straw. And the windows are small and high up, to keep out the heat and dust." Bek led them up to the house. Three men hurried past, carrying armfuls of white linen. "They work for my grandfather," Bek explained. "He's a mummifier." Gustavo felt a thrill of excitement. He knew the ancient Egyptians mummified the dead to preserve their bodies, because they believed they would need them in the afterlife.

“他们不像我们的砖，”古斯塔沃小声回答。 “它们是用泥土和稻草做的。 窗户又小又高，这样就能挡住热气和灰尘。” 贝克把他们带到房子前。 三个男人匆匆走过，抱着一把把白色亚麻布。 “他们为我祖父工作，”贝克解释说。 “他是个干尸。”古斯塔沃感到一阵激动。 他知道古埃及人把死者制成木乃伊来保存他们的身体，因为他们相信他们在死后会需要他们。

"My grandfather was in charge of mummifying Pharaoh Khufu's body," said Bek. "See the biggest pyramid? Khufu's mummy is buried in there." Kiki nudged Gustavo. "The people from the museum spoke about Khufu," she whispered. "Maybe we're about to find out how to complete our mission!" They followed Bek up a ramp, through the front door, and into a large room. There were shelves piled with scrolls. Blocks of ink stood on a table beside a stack of brushes. "These are our writing materials," Bek explained, as they all put down their bags.

贝克说：“我的祖父负责把胡夫法老的尸体做成木乃伊。” “看到最大的金字塔了吗？”胡夫的木乃伊就埋在里面。” 琪琪推了推古斯塔沃。“博物馆的人谈到胡夫，”她低声说。 “也许我们马上就能知道如何完成我们的任务了！”他们跟着贝克走上斜坡，穿过前门，进入一个大房间。 书架上堆满了卷轴。 桌子上有一堆毛笔，旁边放着几块墨水。 “这些是我们的写作材料，”贝克解释道，这时他们都放下了书包。

Kiki picked up some round objects. "What are these?" She sniffed them. "Mmm, they smell like cinnamon." "They're incense pellets," said Bek. "I like to burn them while I practice writing. The scent helps me concentrate. Here, take a couple." "Thanks!" Kiki tucked two incense pellets into her belt. "I'll use these when I'm building things." Just then Gustavo's eye was caught by a sheet of papyrus on another table. On it were drawings of a frog and a bird. "Those are hieroglyphs, aren't they, Bek?" he said. "Egyptian writing?" Bek was stacking scrolls in a basket woven from rushes. He glanced around.

Kiki捡起一些圆形的东西。 “这些是什么？”她闻了闻。 “嗯，它们闻起来像肉桂。” “它们是香丸，”贝克说。 “我喜欢在练习写作的时候烧掉它们。 这种气味有助于我集中注意力。 来，拿两片吧。”“谢谢!”琪琪把两颗香弹塞进腰带。 “我在做东西的时候会用到这些。” 就在这时，古斯塔沃的目光被另一张桌子上的一张莎草纸吸引住了。 上面画着一只青蛙和一只鸟。 “这些是象形文字，对吧，贝克？”他说。 “埃及写作?”贝克正在用灯芯草编成的篮子里叠卷轴。 他环顾四周。

"That's right. They look like pictures, but most of them stand for a sound. Don't you have hieroglyphs in Discoveria?" "Where?" said Kiki. Gustavo nudged her. "Oh, right, Discoveria," she said. "No, we write with joined-up letters." "So do I, in school," said Bek. "That's called hieratic writing, and it's quicker than

“这是正确的。它们看起来像图画，但大多数代表一种声音。 你们发现岛没有象形文字吗？”“在哪儿？”琪琪说。 古斯塔沃推了推她。“哦，对了，发现号。”她说。 “不，我们用连体字母写。” “我在学校也是，”贝克说。 “这就是所谓的等级写作，它比

writing in hieroglyphs." He sighed. "But I really want to train to be a scribe, and write perfect hieroglyphs." He pulled a sheet of papyrus from a box under the table. "I'm learning, though. Look." The papyrus was completely covered with Bek's attempts at hieroglyphs. Most were smudged, but Gustavo could make out birds, snakes, feathers, and a lot of legs. "I want to write as well as this," Bek said, taking a scroll from the back of a shelf. He unrolled it and Gustavo and Kiki leaned in to look. The scroll was covered in very neat, black and red hieroglyphs. There was a drawing of a pyramid at the top, then rows of hieroglyphs beneath. Gustavo recognized a leg, a hippo, and what looked like a pair of doorways. "What does it say?" asked Kiki.

用象形文字书写。”他叹了口气。 “但我真的很想成为一名抄写员，写出完美的象形文字。” 他从桌子底下的盒子里抽出一张纸莎草纸。 “不过，我正在学习。看。” 这张纸莎草纸上满是贝克试图画的象形文字。 大多数都被弄脏了，但古斯塔沃能辨认出鸟、蛇、羽毛和许多腿。 “我想写得和这个一样好，”贝克说着，从书架后面拿了一卷书卷。 他把它打开，古斯塔沃和琪琪凑上去看。 卷轴上写满了整齐的黑色和红色象形文字。 上面画着一个金字塔，下面是一排排的象形文字。 古斯塔沃认出了一条腿，一头河马，还有看起来像一对门道的东西。 “它说什么？”琪琪问。