时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:103 The Sword of the Silver Kn


英语课

The Aldens brought the new swords to Hannah as soon as they got back to the park.



“These are great,” Hannah said as Jessie handed her the money that was left. “You’ve saved the show.”



“Any more news about the real sword?” asked Henry.



“No,” said Hannah grimly. She checked her watch. “The show starts soon. I’d better get you all started.”



Hannah had found them all costumes to wear so they would look as if they were from the Middle Ages.



“Boys your age would be training to be knights 2,” Hannah said to Benny and Henry, handing them light cotton pants with tunics 3 over them. “In the Middle Ages, you would really have worn tights, not pants, under your tunics.”



Both boys made faces.



“Tights! Those are for girls!” Benny cried.



“I had a feeling you might be more comfortable in pants,” Hannah said.



“Thank you,” Henry told her.



“Whew!” said Benny.



Hannah gave Jessie and Violet long dresses to wear. The girls changed into their dresses excitedly. They took turns braiding each others’ hair, and in no time they looked just like ladies-in-waiting for a princess.



“Another night you can be a musician and a jester,” Hannah said, holding up some colorful checkered 4 tights and tunics. “But for now you look just right.”



Hannah sent Henry off toward the stable to help dress the horses in the elaborate gear they wore for the show. Violet and Jessie went to Annie’s tent to help her dress. Benny walked off toward the knights’ tent to help Jonathan. He was carrying one of the swords they’d bought.



When he entered the tent, Benny was surprised to find Jonathan whistling happily. Everyone else at the fairgrounds seemed to be feeling bad because of the stolen sword.



“Hello!” Jonathan said brightly when he saw Benny.



“I brought you this sword to replace the one that was stolen,” Benny said.



“Thanks,” Jonathan said, taking the sword. He looked at it briefly 5. “Nothing like the other one, but it will do for the show.”



“Can you believe the other sword was stolen?” Benny asked.



“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” said Jonathan. But he still didn’t really seem bothered. “Let’s get going, my young page.” He pointed 6 to a pile of clothing and armor he needed to put on before the show.



“What is a ‘page’ anyway?” Benny asked.



Jonathan was changing from his regular clothes into gray padded long underwear. As he dressed he told Benny all about the Middle Ages. “You know what a knight 1 is, right? Someone who protected the king and the noblemen. If you wanted to be a knight, first you became a page in a wealthy lord’s manor 7. Boys about your age would start off as pages, living with a noble family.”



“At my age?” Benny asked. He couldn’t imagine being sent away from his own family when he was still so young. He thought for a moment. “What would I do as a page?”



“You’d serve meals and help the lord get dressed each morning,” Jonathan said.



Benny made a face. “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”



“You’d also learn how to ride on a wooden horse and fight with a wooden sword,” Jonathan went on.



“Now that’s better,” Benny said, grinning.



“Then, when you got to be about Henry’s age, you’d become a squire,” said Jonathan. “Squires were like assistants— they followed their masters into battle and looked after the horses and armor.”



“Henry would like that,” Benny said.



“And once you were about twenty-one, you’d be made a knight,” said Jonathan.



“How do they make you a knight?” Benny wanted to know.



“There’s a special dubbing 8 ceremony,” Jonathan said. “Kneel down. I’ll show you.”



Benny knelt in front of Jonathan.



“Now bow your head.”



Benny did as Jonathan told him.



“Now the lord would lightly tap your shoulder with a sword.” Jonathan picked up the new sword Benny had brought him and touched it to Benny’s shoulders.



“Rise, Sir Benny. You are now a knight!” Jonathan and Benny both laughed. Then Jonathan looked at his watch. “I’d better hurry up—the show starts in half an hour.”



“It won’t take you that long to get dressed,” said Benny.



“Not with your help,” Jonathan agreed. “But you know it used to take knights as long as an hour to put on all their armor.”



“You sure know all about knights,” said Benny.



“I did a lot of reading on the subject,” Jonathan said.



“Just for this show?” Benny asked.



“No, actually it was because—” Jonathan began. Then he stopped himself. “We’ve been talking too much. Come on, help me get ready, or I’ll be late.”



Benny wondered what Jonathan had started to say. But there was no time to ask. There was too much to do to get Jonathan ready for the show.



First Benny helped Jonathan strap 9 on his leg armor over his long underwear. Next came the breastplate and backplate.



“This is heavy,” Benny said.



“And this isn’t even real armor,” said Jonathan. “Back in the Middle Ages a suit of armor could weigh as much as forty or fifty pounds! I’m glad my costume doesn’t weigh that much. It’s actually pretty flexible. Even back in the old days it was. It had to be so that the knights could move around in battle.”



“Why did they wear the armor, anyway?” Benny asked.



“To protect themselves from their enemy’s weapons,” Jonathan explained as Benny helped him put on the pieces covering his shoulders and arms.



Next, Benny helped Jonathan strap on his silvery cape 10, which fluttered behind him as he walked. Jonathan smiled in the mirror as he combed his hair. “Noble knights of the Round Table, here I come,” he said to himself. Last, Benny helped Jonathan put on his long metal gloves and helmet.



“Hand me my sword,” Jonathan said just before leaving the tent.



Benny handed him the new sword.



“See you after the show!” Jonathan called out cheerfully.



Benny couldn’t believe Jonathan was in such a good mood. Wasn’t he at all worried about the stolen sword? After all he’d been the last one seen with it. But for some reason, Jonathan seemed to be happier than ever. Benny couldn’t help wondering why.



That night, again the show went well. The two swords the children had bought worked fine, although they lacked the sparkle of the missing sword.



When the show ended, the children changed out of their costumes and left them in Hannah’s office. Grandfather came to pick up the children since it was dark out. They piled wearily into the car.



Jessie told their grandfather about the missing sword.



“How terrible,” Mr. Alden said. “Hannah must be very upset about the sword.”



“Yes, she is,” said Violet.



“We promised to help her,” Jessie recalled. “Tomorrow we’ll have to get to the park a little bit earlier so we can look around. Maybe we can find the sword, or at least get an idea of who might have taken it.”



“Good plan,” Henry said. “We’ll go over there first thing.”



1 knight
n.骑士,武士;爵士
  • 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。
2 knights
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马
  • 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。
3 tunics
n.(动植物的)膜皮( tunic的名词复数 );束腰宽松外衣;一套制服的短上衣;(天主教主教等穿的)短祭袍
  • After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后,蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
  • The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网
4 checkered
adj.有方格图案的
  • The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
  • He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。
5 briefly
adv.简单地,简短地
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
6 pointed
adj.尖的,直截了当的
  • 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。
7 manor
n.庄园,领地
  • The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
  • I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主,而是这儿的女主人。
8 dubbing
n.配音v.给…起绰号( dub的现在分词 );把…称为;配音;复制
  • There are mainly two forms of film translation: dubbing and subtitling. 电影翻译通常主要表现为两种形式:配音和字幕翻译。 来自互联网
  • Its auspices, dubbing the program has won national awards in China. 其主持配音的节目多次获得中国全国奖项。 来自互联网
9 strap
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
10 cape
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
  • 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。
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acid proteases
aerial cable line
air handling equipment
ambient-temperature compensation
assenter
autoinhibiting
automatic chute
beat sb hollow
boron p-tolyl difluoride
buttterworthing
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cast urea-formaldehyde plastic
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celadon with brown mottles
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conical net
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determination of patentability
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directrix of conic
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