05 Books? Books?

Chapter 5 Books Books Jack and Annie ran up to the front entrance of the villa. Jack pushed the door open. Go in, hurry! said Annie. They slipped into the main hall. Hello! Annie called. There was no answer. The place seemed empty. The main hall had a large opening in the ceiling. Below it was a small stone pool filled with water. Jack looked at it carefully.

第五章 书呀书 杰克和安妮跑到了别墅的正门处。 杰克一把推开了门。 “快进去，快点！”安妮说。 他俩悄悄溜进了大厅。 有人吗？ 安妮大声喊道。 没有人回应。 这地方看起来空荡荡的。 大厅的天花板上有个大大的开口。 开口下方有个小小的石头水池，里面装满了水。 杰克仔细地打量着它。

Oh, I bet rain comes through the hole," said Jack. Then it lands in that pool so they can use it for their water. He started to take out his notebook to make a note. There's no time, Jack," said Annie. We have to look in all the rooms for books. Okay, okay, calm down," said Jack. He put away his notebook and followed Annie. Books, books, she said, peering into a room off the hall. She moved to the next room. Books, books. Then she moved on to the next. Jack trailed behind her. Even though she had already checked the rooms, he took a quick peek in each of them. He wanted to see what a house in Roman times looked like. He'd write notes later.

“哦，我猜雨水就是从这个洞漏进来的。”杰克说。 雨水落到那个池子里，这样他们就能用这些水了。 他掏出笔记本打算记下这件事。 “没时间啦，杰克。”安妮说。 我们得把所有房间都搜一遍找书。 “好啦好啦，别着急。”杰克说。 他把笔记本收起来，跟在安妮身后。 “书呀书，快出来。”她边念叨边往大厅旁的一个房间里瞅。 她走到下一个房间门口。 书呀书。 接着她又走向下一个房间。 杰克慢悠悠地跟在她后面。 虽然安妮已经检查过这些房间了，杰克还是每个都快速瞟了一眼。 他想看看古罗马时期的房子长什么样。 他可以之后再记笔记。

The first two rooms had wooden beds. The walls had pictures painted on them. The floors were covered with tiny pieces of colored stone. The third room had a low table with silver dishes on it. Three sloping couches were placed around the table. The couches were covered with pillows. This must be the dining room, said Jack. People from Roman times lay down on couches while they ate. Did you know that? He looked around for Annie. Where was she? Jack, come here! Annie called. Jack followed her voice. She was in a garden off the dining room. It had a stone patio, palm trees, and grape vines. In the middle was a pond with a mermaid fountain. Goldfish swam in the water.

头两个房间里摆着木床，墙上画着图画。 地板上铺着一块块小小的彩色石头。 第三个房间里有张矮桌子，上面放着银制的盘子。 桌子周围摆着三张斜靠沙发，沙发上铺满了靠垫。 “这肯定是餐厅，”杰克说，“古罗马人吃饭的时候都是躺在沙发上的，你知道吗？” 他四下找安妮，她去哪儿了？ “杰克，快过来！”安妮喊道。 杰克顺着声音找过去，安妮就在餐厅旁边的花园里，花园里有石砌露台、棕榈树还有葡萄藤。 花园中央有个池塘，里面有座美人鱼喷泉，金鱼在水里游来游去。

Look, there's another room," said Annie. She moved to the door of a room off the garden. She opened the door and peeked inside. Jack looked with her. Along the walls of the room were long shelves with rolls of paper on them.

“你看，那儿还有一个房间呢。”安妮说。 她走到花园旁那个房间的门口。 她推开门，往里面瞅了瞅。 杰克也凑过去跟她一起看。 房间的墙边立着一排排长架子，上面放着好多卷纸。

Rats, said Annie, no books. She closed the door. No books in this whole villa. Let's get out of here. Just a minute, said Jack. I have an idea. He pulled out his book on Roman times. He found a section called writing. He read, Romans used pens made of small reeds. Their ink came partly from the black ink of octopuses. They wrote their books on scrolls of papyrus paper. Aha, said Jack. That's a library of scrolls. I bet our ancient lost story isn't there.

“真倒霉，”安妮说，“没有书。” 她关上了门。 整栋别墅里都没有书。 我们离开这儿吧。 “等一下。”杰克说。 我有个主意。 他掏出了那本讲古罗马的书。 他翻到了名为“书写”的章节。 他读道：“罗马人用细小的芦苇做笔。” 他们用的墨水有一部分来自章鱼的黑墨汁。 他们把书的内容写在纸莎草做的卷轴上。 “啊哈！”杰克说。 那就是放卷轴的图书室呀。 我敢说我们要找的那本失传的古代故事书不在那儿。