《神奇树屋》 第二十五册 Stage Fright On A Summer Night 07 In The Forest, in the Night

　　Jack 1 stood onstage in the bright sunlight. He feltthree thousand pairs of eyes staring at him.



"How now, spirit!" Puck said in a loud voice.



"Whither wander you?"Jack looked down at his scroll 2. He pushed hisglasses into place. He opened his mouth. No soundcame out.



One of the groundlings hissed 3.



"How now, spirit!" Puck shouted even louder thistime. "Whither wander you?"Jack closed his eyes. He felt the summer night. Hetook a deep breath. He cleared his throat. He lookedat his speech.



Then he began to read:



Over hill, over dale,Through bush, through briarOver park over pale,Through flood through fire,I do wander everywhere,Swifter than the moon's sphere;And I serve the Fairy Queen....



As Jack read, the audience grew quiet. Jack forgothe was Jack. He was in the forest, in the night, talkingto Puck.



When he finished, not a single groundling hissed orthrew things.



Jack took a deep breath as Puck started his lines.



Jack knew he had one more speech. His heartpounded. But it was more from excitement now thanfear.



When it was time to start his second speech, he wasready. This time, he spoke 4 very clearly and withfeeling. He tried to be as natural as possible. When hefinished his speech, the audience clapped and clapped.



Jack hardly remembered leaving the stage. Will waswaiting for him.



"Hurrah 5!" said Will, slapping Jack on the back. "Youwere brilliant!"Jack blushed 6 as he gave Will his scroll back. Hecouldn't believe he'd just performed, acted, in front ofall those people! And he'd actually had fun--just likeAnnie had said.



Jack waited in the shadows for Annie to do herpart. He watched her go onstage with the fairy queenand the other fairies.



When the queen asked the fairies to sing her tosleep, Annie stepped forward. Reading from herscroll, she sang out clearly--and with lots of feeling:



You spotted 7 snakes, with double tongue, Thornyhedgehogs, be not seen;Annie waved her hand as if shooing away thesnakes and hedgehogs.



Newts and blind worms, do no wrongCome not near our Fairy ....



Annie shook her finger at the newts and blindworms. The audience howled with laughter.



Annie kept singing. She made funny movementsand silly faces to go with her words. She even addeda little dance to the song.



By the time she finished, the audience clapped andcheered and stamped their feet.



"Wonderful, job, Andy!" Will said when Annie leftthe stage.



"You were brilliant!" Jack told her.



"Thanks!" said Annie. She gave her scroll back toWill. "Do I go on again?""Not until the end, when we all bow," said Will.



Just then Jack heard the audience laughing again.



He really wanted to see the play. So he found ashadowy spot at the back of the theater and watchedfrom there.



Jack couldn't understand everything people said,but he could understand the story. It was aboutpeople in love. But none were able to marry thepeople they loved.



The funniest part was about the fairy king and fairyqueen. The king was mad at the queen. So he putmagic juice on her eyelids 8 to make her fall in lovewith the first person she saw.



Puck worked for the king. He wanted to make theking's trick even funnier. So he put the head of adonkey on a funny man. When the queen woke up,she saw the donkey-man. The magic made her fallmadly in love with him!



The fairy king finally broke the spell. Puck turnedthe donkey-man back into a human while he slept.



When the man woke up, he looked about in wonder.



"I have had a most rare vision," he said. "I had adream....



Jack whispered the words to himself. "I have had a'most rare vision. I have had a dream."Beside him, a group of actors gathered for the lastscene of the play.



"My lion mask is missing!" one of them wailed 9. "Icannot be a lion without my mask!""Hush 10, of course you can," said Will. "Just roar! Androar again!"Will pushed the actor onstage. He wiped his brow.



Then he caught sight of Jack.



"Get Andy!" he said. "It's almost time for our bow."Annie? Where is Annie? Jack wondered. He hadn'tseen her in a while. He peeked 11 into the costume room.



She wasn't there.



Jack's heart started to pound. He had a scarythought....



"Oh, no," he whispered.



Jack ran down the stairs. He opened the door. Hewas happy to see Annie running out from some treesbehind the theater.



"It's time to bow!" he said, grabbing 12 her hand.



"Where have you been? What did you do?""I'll show you later!" said Annie.



Jack and Annie charged upstairs together.



They found Will and some of the actors waiting.



Puck was finishing his last speech onstage:



So good night unto you allGive me your hands if we be friends"Andy! Jack!" said Will. He grabbed 13 Annie and Jack.



Puck ended his speech. The audience gave a bighand. They clapped and whistled and shouted.



Jack and Annie ran onstage with Will and the otheractors. While the crowd cheered, they all bowedonce.. . twice ... and once again.