儿童英语读物 The Sword of the Silver Knight CHAPTER 10 Noble Knights of the Round Table
时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:103 The Sword of the Silver Kn
“I don’t get it,” said Benny. “Why is Jonathan’s picture in the paper?”
“He got the leading role in that movie, Noble Knights 2 of the Round Table,” said Violet.
“So that’s why he has an agent,” said Jessie. “That must be the movie contract Steven Chase was talking about.”
“Now we know what Jonathan meant when he said his plan was working and he was going to be rich,” said Henry. “He wasn’t talking about stealing the sword at all. He was talking about getting the part in the movie and becoming a star!”
“I knew he hadn’t stolen the sword!” Benny cried.
“I bet that’s why Jonathan was working here—to get practice playing a knight 1 so they’d hire him for the movie,” said Jessie.
“He knew everything about knights,” said Benny. “I asked him if he’d learned it all to work here and he said no, that he’d learned it for something else. Now I know what!” Benny thought for a moment. “He mentioned this movie, too. He said, ‘Here I come, Noble Knights of the Round Table.’ But I didn’t know what he was talking about.”
Just then another car pulled into the lot. “Look, there’s Hannah!” cried Jessie. Leaving the newspaper on Hannah’s desk, she picked up the sword, still wrapped in the cape 3, and ran toward Hannah’s car. The others followed.
“You’re here bright and early,” Hannah said, getting out of her car.
“We found it! We found it!” cried Benny.
“Found what?” Hannah asked. Then slowly, a look of hope spread across her face. “You found the sword?”
“Yes, look!” Jessie handed her the bundle.
Hannah placed the bundle down on the hood 4 of her car and began to unwrap the cape. When she saw the sword, her eyes filled with tears. “You found it. You really did.”
Hannah hugged each of the Aldens. “Where was it?” she asked.
“It was in the haystack,” said Henry. “Out behind the stable.”
Hannah frowned. “Whatever was it doing there?”
The children shrugged 5.
“Someone must have taken it and hidden it there,” said Henry. “We don’t know yet who or why.”
“Well I’m just glad to get it back,” Hannah said happily as they walked toward her office. When they’d reached the office, Hannah went to the safe beside her desk. “I’m going to put this sword in the safe right away.” When she had shut and locked the door she turned around and looked down at her desk, where the morning newspaper lay. “What’s this?” Her eyes widened when she saw the picture of Jonathan. “He’s going to Hollywood?”
“His agent stopped by earlier and left that,” Henry explained.
“That’s great news,” Hannah said. Then she sighed. “Great news for him. But I’ll have to find someone new to wear the armor of the Silver Knight!” Hannah headed for the door. “I’m going to see if Jonathan’s arrived yet so I can congratulate him.”
When Hannah left, Jessie turned to the others. “We found the sword, but we still don’t know who stole it.”
“I don’t get it,” said Benny. “I know it wasn’t Jonathan, but we did see him that night with this bundle.”
“No,” said Violet slowly. “We saw the Silver Knight.”
“That’s what I said—” said Benny.
“No,” Violet said again. “What Hannah just said made me realize there’s a difference. She said she’ll have to find ‘someone to wear his armor.’ That night, we saw someone in the armor of the Silver Knight—but that doesn’t mean it was Jonathan.”
“You’re right,” said Henry.
“It could have been Richard Worthington or Annie or anyone!” Benny said. “How will we ever know who it was?”
The Aldens were silent for a moment, stumped 6.
“Let’s go back to the haystack,” said Jessie. “Maybe there’s a clue there we missed.”
The Aldens walked quickly back behind the stable to the haystack. They looked all around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“I wish I knew what we were looking for,” said Benny.
“So do I,” Jessie said.
Just then, Henry spotted 7 something shining in the haystack, near the spot where they’d uncovered the sword. “Wait a minute …” he muttered, hurrying over. He pushed some hay out of the way and then stood back. “Look at this.”
There, partially 8 buried in the haystack was a suit of armor—just like the Silver Knight’s. Jessie helped Henry pull the armor out.
“After they used this disguise, whoever stole the sword hid the armor here, too,” Henry said.
Jessie was holding the armor upright beside her. “But look how small it is,” she said. “It’s barely as tall as me!”
“Who would fit in this armor?” said Henry.
Suddenly Violet realized there was only one person it could be. “It must have been Annie.”
“You’re right,” said Jessie. “She’s the only one small enough.”
“I can’t believe it,” Violet said sadly. “How could she do something so terrible?”
“It’s a valuable sword, and she said she needed money for college,” Jessie recalled. “And the bank refused to give her a loan. That doesn’t excuse what she did, but at least it explains it.”
“And the sword is still here,” Henry pointed 9 out. “She hasn’t sold it or anything. So maybe she realized what she did was wrong and changed her mind.”
The children walked slowly back toward Hannah’s office, carrying the armor. Jessie held the head, Henry the feet.
When they reached Hannah’s office, they found a crowd gathered there. Annie, Jonathan, Hannah, and Mr. Worthington all stood around Hannah’s desk. Everyone was admiring the picture of Jonathan in the newspaper.
“Did you hear the wonderful news?” Jonathan asked, proudly waving the paper.
But before they could answer, the Aldens saw the smile fade from Annie’s face. She grew pale. “You found it,” she said. They knew at once that they were right about Annie having stolen the sword.
“Oh, yes, I nearly forgot with all the excitement,” said Hannah, spotting the children. “The Aldens found the sword.”
“That’s wonderful news,” said Richard Worthington. “I’m so relieved.”
“And we found something else,” said Henry as he and Jessie carefully put the armor down. “This was buried in the haystack with the sword.”
Hannah looked confused. “That armor?” She came closer to look. “This is one of our smaller suits of armor. I don’t understand.”
“I can explain,” Annie said quietly. “I’ve been having trouble paying my bills for college. I was desperate for some way to make money quickly. When I heard you talking about how valuable the sword was …” Her voice trailed off.
“You stole it?” Hannah asked, her voice full of disbelief.
Annie nodded. “I saw Jonathan leave the sword in Richard’s tent that night. No one was around—Richard was still signing autographs. I didn’t want anyone to see me, so I ran to the costume tent and put on a suit of armor.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Then I took the sword, bundled it in one of Richard’s capes 10, and hid it in the haystack. I didn’t want anyone to see me in the armor, so I hid that there, too.”
“We did see a person going toward the stable that night, but we thought it was the Silver Knight,” said Benny.
“But why hide the sword?” asked Henry.
“I had just grabbed the sword without thinking what I would do with it. I figured I’d hide it and come back for it later,” Annie explained. “Then I knew almost immediately I shouldn’t have taken the sword. It wasn’t right. But I was afraid to tell anyone what I’d done. I didn’t know what to do. I have been trying to figure out a way to return the sword without anyone seeing me.”
Everyone was silent. At last Mr. Worthington seemed to step into his role as king. “What you’ve done was very wrong, young lady.”
“I know,” Annie said, beginning to cry. “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
“Stealing a valuable sword like this, one that has been handed down from generation to generation …” Mr. Worthington shook his head.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” said Annie. “I’ll guess you’ll be calling the police now.”
“Thanks to these good children, the sword was returned safely,” Mr. Worthington said. He then looked at Annie. “And it seems as though you’ve learned your lesson.” He paused, turning to Hannah. “No permanent harm has been done, wouldn’t you agree, Madame Greene?”
“You’re right. No permanent harm has been done,” Hannah agreed. “The sword is safe. I don’t see any reason to call the police. I know you, Annie. You could never have gone through with selling the sword. You would have returned it to me if the Aldens hadn’t. I am willing to forget the whole incident.”
“Thank you,” said Annie, wiping a tear. “I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.”
“What are you going to do with the sword?” Jessie asked. “We looked it up in a book, The Knights of Old England. You know the book, Mr. Worthington. The book said a sword like this one belonged to the Worthington family.”
“That is what I have long believed,” said Mr. Worthington. “My family may be descended 11 from those same Worthingtons.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about this sword, ever since it disappeared,” said Hannah. “When I found it in my parents’ attic 12, I never realized it was so valuable. I’ve decided 13 the proper place for it is in a museum, where lots of people can come and look at it. I’ve contacted a local museum that handles historic objects. I think I will donate it to them.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” said Mr. Worthington.
Annie nodded tearfully.
“How did you think to look in the haystack?” Hannah asked.
“Violet said that finding the sword was like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Jessie.
“And when I started thinking about hay, I realized that big haystack would be a good place to hide something,” said Henry.
“How clever of you kids,” said Jonathan, who had been quietly listening to everything that was going on.
Everyone seemed to remember that they had originally been gathered to celebrate Jonathan’s movie role.
“Congratulations on getting the lead role in that movie,” said Henry.
“You’re going to be great!” Jessie said.
Jonathan bowed deeply as a knight should do. “Thank you, young lads and ladies. It’s like a dream come true.”
Hannah smiled and shook her head. “I am very happy for you, but I’ll miss you. And now I’ve got to find someone to replace you. Where will I find another knight to take your place?”
While they were talking, Benny had been studying the small suit of armor on the chair. Now he picked up the helmet and put it on his head.
“I know where you can find another knight!” he called out. “Right here!”
- He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
- A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。
- stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
- He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。
- I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
- She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
- She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
- The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
- Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
- She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活,然后很艰难地走出房间。
- He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌,半天说不出话来。
- The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
- Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
- The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
- The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
- He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
- She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
- It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷,他们都穿上了披风。
- The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。
- A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
- The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。