13 Noises in the night

　　13 Noises in the night
　　Jack¹ went down the stone stairways of the tower, whistling softly. Kiki whistled with him. If itwas a tune² she knew, she would whistle it all through with Jack.
　　They came into the old courtyard. There was no sign of the eagles. They were probably roostingnow. But, at Jack’s coming, there was a general scurrying³ all around the yard.
　　‘Rabbits!’ said Jack, in delight. ‘Golly, what hundreds of them! I suppose they all come out thistime of the evening. I’ll curl myself up in that sandy corner and watch them for a bit. Now, don’tyou frighten them, Kiki.’
　　He went over to the soft sand, taking with him the thick rugs and a packet of chocolate biscuits.
　　He curled himself up, and lay there, watching the rabbits creeping out of their holes again.
　　It was a lovely sight to see. There were big ones and little ones, dark ones and light ones andplayful ones. Some nibbled⁴ patches of wiry grass here and there. Others leapt about madly.
　　Jack lay there contentedly⁵ and nibbled his biscuits, enjoying the chocolate on them. He watchedthe rabbits in delight. Kiki watched them too, murmuring a few remarks into Jack’s ear now andagain.
　　‘I bet the eagles catch a good few of those rabbits,’ thought Jack, suddenly feeling sleepy. Hefinished his last biscuit, and pulled the rugs more closely around him. He felt a little chilly⁶ now.
　　The sand didn’t feel quite so soft as it had done before, either. Jack hoped he wasn’t going to beuncomfortable. Perhaps it would have been better to have chosen a patch of heather.
　　‘Well, I’m too sleepy to change my bed now,’ he thought. ‘Much too sleepy. Kiki, move up abit. Your claws are digging into my neck. You’d better get off me and perch⁷ somewhere else.’
　　But before Kiki could move, Jack was asleep. Kiki stayed where she was. The rabbits grewbolder and played nearer to the sleeping boy. A half-moon came out of the evening clouds andlighted up the dreaming courtyard.
　　What woke Jack he never knew. But something woke him with a jump. He opened his eyes andlay there, looking up into the night sky, full of surprise. For a moment or two he had no idea wherehe was.
　　Usually when he woke he saw the ceiling of his room – now there were stars and clouds. Thenhe suddenly remembered. Of course – he was in the courtyard of the old castle. He sat up and Kikiawoke too, giving an annoyed little squawk.
　　‘I wonder what woke me?’ thought Jack, looking round the shadowy yard. The moon came outagain and he saw a few rabbits here and there. Behind rose the great dark bulk of the castle.
　　Jack felt absolutely certain that something had awakened⁸ him. Some noise perhaps? Or had arabbit run over him? He listened intently, but he could hear nothing save the hoot⁹ of an owl¹⁰ on thehillside: ‘Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!’ Then he heard the high squeak¹¹ of a bat, catchingbeetles in the night air.
　　He glanced up at the tower from which he had waved his white shirt – and he suddenly stiffenedin surprise. Surely that was a light he saw flash there?
　　He stared intently, waiting for it to come again. It had seemed rather like the sudden flash of atorch. But it didn’t come again.
　　Jack sat and thought hard. Was it a flash? Had someone walked along the battlemented wall tothe tower, and was it their footsteps that awakened him? Was there someone in the castle after all?
　　It seemed rather weird¹². Jack wondered what to do. He didn’t really feel inclined to get up andfind out what the flash was – if it had been a flash. He was beginning to doubt that it was now. Ifonly it would come again, he would know.
　　He decided¹³ that it was cowardly to stay in his bed just because he felt a bit scared. He had betterget up and make his way to the tower to see if anyone was there. That would be the brave thing todo.
　　‘I don’t feel at all brave,’ thought Jack, ‘but I suppose a person is really bravest when he doessomething although he is frightened. So here goes!’
　　Warning Kiki to be quite quiet, he made his way very carefully across the yard to the entranceof the castle, keeping in the blackest shadows. The feel of Kiki’s feet on his shoulder wassomehow very comforting.
　　He went into the vast hall and listened. There was not a sound to be heard. He switched on historch, cautiously covering it with his handkerchief. The hall was empty. Jack went up the widestone stairway, and found his way to the wall that led to the tower. He walked quietly along it,keeping close to one edge, and soon came to the tower.
　　‘Shall I go up or not?’ wondered the boy. ‘I don’t want to in the least. If there’s anyone therethey can’t be up to any good. Did I imagine that flash?’
　　He screwed up his courage and stole up the tower stairway. There was no one in the towerroom. He crept up the stairway that led to the very top, and put his head carefully out. The moon’slight was enough to show him that there was nobody there either.
　　‘Well – I just must have imagined it,’ thought the boy. ‘How silly of me! I’ll go back to bedagain.’
　　Down he went once more, Kiki still on his shoulder. As he came into the wide hall, he suddenlystopped still. He had heard a sound. What could it be?
　　It sounded like a muffled¹⁴ clanking – and then surely that was the splash of water?
　　‘Is it somebody in the kitchen – somebody getting a drink of water again?’ wondered Jack,feeling a prickle of panic go down his back. ‘Golly, I don’t like this. I wish the others were here.’
　　He stood quite still, wondering what to do. Then, overcome by fear, he fled out of the hall andinto the moonlight yard, keeping in the shadows. He was trembling. Kiki bent¹⁵ to his ear,murmuring something supposed to be comforting. She knew he was frightened.
　　In a minute or two he was ashamed of himself. ‘Why am I running away?’ he thought. ‘Thiswon’t do. Just to show myself that I’m no coward I’ll walk into that kitchen and see who’s there!
　　It’s a tramp, I expect, who knows the way in. He’ll be far more frightened to see me than I shall beto see him!’
　　Boldly, but very quickly, the boy went back into the dark, brooding castle. Through the hall hewent, and made his way softly to the kitchen entrance. He slipped inside the doorway¹⁶, and thenwent behind the door, where he waited, listening and watching to see if any light was shown.
　　But there was dead silence. There was no clank of the pump. There was no splash of water. Jackwaited for two or three minutes, with Kiki, perfectly¹⁷ silent.
　　He could not even hear anyone breathing. The kitchen must be empty.
　　‘I’ll switch on my torch very quickly, flash it round the kitchen, and see if there’s anyonestanding quietly there,’ he thought. ‘I can easily run out of the door if there is.’
　　So he took his torch from his pocket, and suddenly pressed down the switch. He flashed it to thesink, where the pump stood. There was no one there. He flashed it all round the kitchen. It wasquite empty. There was no sign of anyone at all.
　　Jack heaved a sigh of relief. He went across to the sink and examined the floor beside it. Therewas again a puddle¹⁸ there – but was it a freshly made one from the sink splashes – or was it thesame one they themselves had made when they used the pump?
　　Jack couldn’t tell. He looked closely at the pump, but that told him nothing, of course.
　　‘It’s a puzzle,’ Jack said to Kiki, in a whisper. ‘I suppose the clank and the splashing were allmy silly imagination. I was frightened, and people always imagine things then. I imagined thatflash in the tower, and I imagined the clanking noise and the splashing. Kiki, I’m as timid as Lucy-Ann – I really am.’
　　Still feeling a bit puzzled, but rather ashamed of all his fears and alarms, Jack went back to hisbed in the courtyard.
　　It seemed uncomfortably hard now. Also he was a bit cold. He pulled the rugs round him andtried to get comfortable. He shut his eyes and told himself to go to sleep. The moon seemed tohave gone now, and everything was pitch-black. Whatever he heard or saw, Jack was determinedhe was not going to leave his bed again that night. Let people flash lights all they liked, and pumpwater all night long if they wanted to! He wouldn’t bother about it!
　　He was wide awake. He simply couldn’t go to sleep. He didn’t feel frightened any more. Heonly felt annoyed because sleep wouldn’t come to him. He began to think about his eagles, andplanned some fine camera work for the next day.
　　He could feel Kiki perched on his shoulderbone. He knew she had her head under her wing, andwas sleeping. He wished she was awake and would talk to him. He wished the other children werewith him. Then he could tell them what he had imagined he saw and heard.
　　At last he fell asleep, just as the dawn was making the eastern sky silvery. He didn’t see it turngold and pink, nor did he see the first soaring flight of the two eagles. He slept soundly, and so didKiki. But she awoke at the first yelping¹⁹ scream of one of the eagles, and answered it with one ofher marvellous imitations.
　　That woke Jack with a jump, and he sat up. Kiki flew off his shoulder, waited till he called her,and flew back again. Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned.
　　‘I’m hungry,’ he said to Kiki. ‘Are you?’
　　‘Fusty, musty, dusty,’ said Kiki, remembering the three words she had so much liked the daybefore. ‘Fusty, mus . . .’
　　‘Yes, I heard you the first time,’ said Jack. ‘I say, Kiki, do you remember how we got up in themiddle of the night and went to the tower and to the kitchen?’
　　Kiki apparently²⁰ did. She scratched her beak²¹ with one of her feet and looked at Jack. ‘What apity, what a pity!’ she remarked.
　　‘Yes – I think it was a pity we disturbed ourselves so much,’ said Jack. ‘I was an idiot, Kiki.
　　Now that it’s broad daylight, and I’m wide awake, I begin to think I must have dreamt or imaginedall that happened in the night – not that anything much did happen, anyway.’
　　Kiki listened with her head on one side. Jack unwrapped himself from the rug. ‘I tell you what,Kiki – we won’t either of us mention that flash in the tower, or the mysterious clanking orsplashing we thought we heard, see? The others would only laugh at us – and Lucy-Ann andTassie might be frightened. I’m sure it was all my imagination.’
　　Kiki appeared to agree with every word. She helped Jack to get biscuits out of a packet, andfruit out of a bag, and watched him take the top off a bottle of ginger²² beer.
　　‘I wonder what time the others will be up,’ said Jack, beginning his breakfast. ‘We’ll try andtake a few pictures before they come, shall we, Kiki?’

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

3 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

4 nibbled   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• She nibbled daintily at her cake. 她优雅地一点一点地吃着自己的蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several companies have nibbled at our offer. 若干公司表示对我们的出价有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

6 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

7 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

8 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

10 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

11 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

17 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

18 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

19 yelping   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping. 在桌子中间有一只小狗坐在那儿，抖着它的爪子，汪汪地叫。 来自辞典例句
• He saved men from drowning and you shake at a cur's yelping. 他搭救了快要溺死的人们，你呢，听到一条野狗叫唤也瑟瑟发抖。 来自互联网

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

21 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

22 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。