見見老鼠凱薩琳和大象馬克。凱薩琳非常勇敢又喜歡冒險,但馬克的個性十分害羞,對許多事情都感到害怕。不過,朋友都喜歡黏在一塊兒,所以凱薩琳走到哪兒,馬克就會跟到哪兒。有時候,他們也會碰上非常棘手的情況...
The magic book 魔法書
Kathleen was drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen when Mark ran in clutching a dusty old leather-bound book. “Look what I’ve found. It’s a fairy tale book!” he shouted. Kathleen put down her coffee and stood up. “Wow! That looks mysterious. And look at that,” she said, pointing to a message on the front of the book which read, “Open this book at your peril!”
“I wonder what happens if we open it?” she said, turning the page. A blue flash and a cloud of smoke filled the room and suddenly Mark and Kathleen were transported to a medieval castle. Knights in armor rode around on horseback, while jesters performed tricks for the king. Before they had a chance to figure out what was going on, the sound of a hundred horses running towards them filled the air. Mark looked left and right, but there was nowhere to run. They were about to be crushed, when he noticed that Kathleen was still holding the book. “Hurry up and turn the page or we’ll die!” he yelled. Just as the first hoof was about to land on them, Kathleen turned the page and the same blue flash and cloud of smoke erupted from the book.
When the smoke vanished, they realized they had been transported to a magical land. A unicorn wandered across a meadow, while a troll slept under a bridge. Pegasus the flying horse flew freely in the sky. “This is amazing. It seems a lot safer than the last place,” said Kathleen. But she had spoken too soon, because the troll had picked up an axe and was coming towards them. “Here we go again,” she said turning the page one more time…
(JOHN PHILLIPS, STAFF WRITER)
凱薩琳正在廚房喝咖啡時,馬克抱著一本滿是灰塵、有著破舊皮革封面的書跑了進來。他大喊:「看看我找到什麼了。是一本童話故事書!」凱薩琳放下咖啡站了起來。「哇!那看起來好神秘喔。而且你看那邊。」她邊說邊指著封面上寫的一行字:『翻開此書,後果自負!』
她邊翻頁邊說:「不知道翻開它會發生什麼事?」忽然,整個房間籠罩在一道藍色閃光和一團煙霧之中,馬克和凱薩琳被送到一個中世紀的城堡裡。穿戴盔甲的騎士騎著馬漫步,弄臣則表演把戲娛樂國王。他們還來不及搞清楚究竟是怎麼一回事,就聽到上百匹馬朝他們奔馳而來的聲響。馬克左右張望,發現根本無處可逃。就在他們快要被踩輾時,馬克注意到凱薩琳還抱著那本書。於是他大喊:「快點翻頁,否則我們就完了。」眼看第一匹馬的馬蹄就要踩過他們時,凱薩琳翻開書頁,書中又射出同樣的藍色閃光和煙團。
當煙霧消散,他們發現他們已經來到一個魔法國度。一隻獨角獸在草地上漫步,還有一個小矮人在橋下呼呼大睡,飛馬帕格薩斯在空中翱翔。凱薩琳說:「這真神奇,這裡感覺起來比剛剛那裡安全多了。」但她話說得太早,因為小矮人已經拿著一把斧頭朝他們走來。「又來了。」凱薩琳一面說,一面又翻開書頁… (翻譯:袁星塵)
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