21 The strange caves

　　21 The strange caves
　　Jack¹ went down the hole first. He lowered himself right in, and only had to drop about a foot to theground below.
　　‘Lucy-Ann, you come next,’ he said, and helped her down. Then came the others, excited andeager. Had they really found the treasure cave?
　　‘It simply must be the hiding place for the treasure!’ said Jack. ‘There isn’t another hole or caveanywhere. Now, let me flash my torch round a bit.’
　　At the back of the hole, as Dinah had thought, there was a passage – quite a wide one, and fairlyhigh. A very tall man could have walked down it with ease.
　　‘Come on!’ said Jack, his voice shaking with excitement. ‘We’re getting warm!’
　　They followed him down the passage, Kiki sitting on his shoulder. Lucy-Ann held on to hissleeve, half fearful of what they might find.
　　The passage was wide and high all the way along, but wound about a little. It went downwards²,and kept more or less in the same direction, for all its windings³ – that is, towards the heart of themountain.
　　Suddenly the passage came to an abrupt⁴ end. Jack paused, and gasped⁵. In front of him was amost extraordinary sight.
　　His torch shone brightly on to an unending mass of brilliant columns, hanging from the highroof of a cave. Whatever could they be?
　　Lucy-Ann clutched his arm and gasped too. She stared at the shining white things. She saw thatother white columns were growing up from the floor of the cave too. Some had met the hangingones, and had joined, so that it seemed as if the cave roof was being supported by pillars.
　　‘Jack! What is it? Is it the treasure?’ whispered Lucy-Ann.
　　‘It’s icicles, isn’t it?’ said Dinah in an awed⁶ tone. ‘I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in mylife! Look at them hanging down – so still and white and lovely!’
　　‘No – they’re not icicles,’ said Jack. ‘They are stalactites – at least, the hanging ones are.
　　They’re not made of ice, either – but of limestone⁸, I think. My word – what a sight!’
　　The children stood quite still and gazed their fill at the silent, beautiful cave. Its roof was as highas a cathedral, and the graceful⁹ stalactites hung down from it in dozens, gleaming in the light ofJack’s torch.
　　‘The ones growing up from the floor are stalagmites, I think,’ said Jack. ‘Aren’t they, Philip?
　　Do you know anything about them? I’ve never in my life seen anything like this before!’
　　‘Yes – they’re stalagmites,’ said Philip. ‘I remember seeing pictures of them. Stalactites andstalagmites. Gosh, what a sight!’
　　Kiki tried to say the two words and couldn’t. Even she seemed to be awed by the amazing andunexpected discovery.
　　‘Oh, look!’ said Lucy-Ann suddenly, and pointed¹⁰ to what looked like an old, old shawl carvedin ivory. ‘Look – this has grown here too – it’s just like a shawl – even to the pattern in it! Andlook at that sort of gate over there – all carved too! Surely somebody made them – surely theydidn’t just grow!’
　　‘Well – they formed,’ said Jack, trying to explain. ‘You know – just as the crystals in asnowflake form. They don’t grow because they’re not alive – they form.’
　　Lucy- Ann couldn’t quite understand. Secretly she thought that all the marvellous hangingpillars had grown, and then got frozen in their beauty.
　　I thought this must be the treasure!’ she said, half laughing.
　　‘I’m not surprised,’ said Jack. ‘It’s too beautiful for words. Fancy finding a cave like this! It’slike an enormous underground cathedral – it just wants an organ to begin playing a grand andmagnificent hymn¹¹.’
　　‘There’s a kind of path down the middle,’ said Dinah. ‘I don’t know if it’s just a natural path,Jack, or whether it has been made by man. Do you see what I mean?’
　　‘Yes,’ said Jack, flashing his torch along it. ‘Bit of both, I think. Well – shall we go on? There’sno treasure here.’
　　They went along the middle of the great silent hall, surrounded on all sides by the hangingicicle-like pillars. Lucy-Ann pointed out many that had joined with columns growing from theground.
　　‘The drops of water from the stalactites must have dripped to the ground, and made stalagmitesform there, growing up to meet the column above,’ said Philip. ‘They must have taken ages andages to form – hundreds of years. I say – no wonder this cave feels awfully¹² old to us. I feel as ifthere is no Time here at all – no years, or days of the week or hours – just nothing.’
　　Lucy-Ann didn’t like that very much. It gave her a strange feeling of being only a dream, andnot real. She took hold of Jack’s arm and was glad to feel its nice, solid warmth.
　　They walked slowly to the end of the enormous cave. A great archway stood there, and that toowas set with stalactites, which, however, did not hang far down. The children could walk underthem with ease.
　　‘This archway is quite like a tunnel,’ said Philip. His voice sounded big and hollow there andmade them all jump. Kiki gave a mournful cough, which was magnified to a hollow, giant coughthat startled everyone very much.
　　They came to another cave. The roof of this was not so high as the one before, and only small,icicle-like stalactites hung from it.
　　‘Do those stalactites shine in the dark?’ asked Dinah suddenly. ‘I thought I saw somethingglowing in the corner over there.’
　　Jack switched off his torch – and immediately the children gasped. For up in the roof and overthe walls there glowed thousands of tiny stars. They were green and blue, and shone and flickeredin a most enchanting¹⁴ manner.
　　‘Gracious! What are they?’ whispered Dinah, amazed. ‘Are they alive?’
　　The boys didn’t know. They watched the shimmering¹⁵ flickering¹⁶ stars, that seemed to go in andout like elfin lights. ‘Might be a kind of glowworm,’ said Jack. ‘Aren’t they lovely?’
　　He put on his torch again and the roof shone brightly in the yellow-white light. The starsdisappeared.
　　‘Oh, do put your torch out!’ begged Lucy-Ann. ‘I want to watch those stars a bit longer. I neversaw anything so fascinating in my life! They shine like phosphorescence – all blue and green andgreen and blue; look how they flicker¹³ off and on. Oh, I wish I could take a hundred back with meand put them on my bedroom ceiling at home!’
　　The others laughed, but they too thought that the shining, flickering stars were most entrancingto watch. Jack did not put on his torch again until each had gazed his fill.
　　‘That’s two simply wonderful caves,’ said Lucy-Ann with a sigh. ‘What will the next one be? Ireally do feel as if we’d discovered Aladdin’s Cave, or something like that!’
　　A long passage, leading downwards, led out of the cave of stars, as Lucy-Ann named it.
　　‘We found a cave of echoes, a cave of stalactites and a cave of stars,’ she said. ‘I like this part ofour adventure. Now I’d like to find a cave of treasure.’
　　The tunnel they were in was wide and high like the first passage they had entered. Jack’s torchsuddenly shone brightly on something on the floor. He stopped.
　　‘Look at that!’ he said. ‘What is it?’
　　Dinah bent¹⁷ to pick it up. ‘It’s a brooch,’ she said. A brooch without its pin. The pin’s gone. Itmust have broken and the brooch fell off whoever was wearing it. Isn’t it perfectly¹⁸ lovely?’
　　It certainly was. It was a large gold brooch, about three inches wide, set with brilliant redstones, as red as blood.
　　‘Are they rubies¹⁹?’ said Dinah in awe⁷. ‘Look how they glow! Oh, Jack, do you think this is a bitof the treasure?’
　　‘Probably,’ said Jack, and at once excitement caught hold of the children again, and their heartsbegan to beat fast. A ruby²⁰ brooch, set in carved gold! What would the other treasure be?
　　Wonderful visions arose in the children’s minds and they stumbled on their way eagerly their eyessearching the ground for any other gleaming jewel.
　　‘If we could find a cave of jewels,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Oooooh – all gleaming like stars and suns!
　　That’s what I would love.’
　　‘We might find something like that,’ said Dinah. ‘If we do, I shall deck myself from head tofoot with them and pretend I’m a princess.’
　　The passage went on and on, still leading downwards, but, when Jack looked at his compass, hesaw that he was no longer going into the heart of the mountain, but in the opposite direction. Hehoped they wouldn’t suddenly come out into the daylight without finding the cave of treasure.
　　Suddenly they came to steps that led downwards. They were carved out of the solid rock, steep,wide steps that curved as the passage curved.
　　‘Almost a spiral stairway,’ said Jack. ‘Where are we coming to now?’
　　There were about twenty of the steps. Then came an enormous door, made of some kind of stoutwood, set with iron studs. The children stood and stared at it.
　　A door! What was behind it? Was it locked and bolted? Who had put it there, and why? Was itto shut in the treasure cave and guard it?
　　There was no handle to turn. There was not even a lock to be seen. There were great bolts, butthese were not shot into place.
　　‘How can you open a door without a handle?’ said Jack in despair. He pushed at the door, but itremained quite firm.
　　‘Kick it, like we did the door of the hut,’ said Philip, and Jack kicked it hard. But the door didnot open.
　　They stared at it in despair. To come so far and then to be stopped by a door! It was too bad.
　　Jack shone his torch all over the door, from top to bottom.
　　Lucy-Ann’s sharp eyes noticed something. ‘See that iron stud?’ she said, pointing. ‘It’s muchbrighter than the others. I wonder why.’
　　Jack shone his torch on it, and saw that it was slightly bigger than the others – and also, asLucy-Ann said, it was brighter, as if it had had some handling.
　　He pressed it. Nothing happened. He banged on it with a stone. No result at all.
　　‘Let me try,’ said Philip, and pushed Jack aside. ‘Shine your torch on it closely. That’s right.’
　　Philip took hold of the iron stud and shook it. It seemed to give a little. He shook it again.
　　Nothing happened. Then he thought of twisting it.
　　It twisted round very easily indeed. There was a loud click – and the door swung slowly open.
　　Jack switched off his torch, afraid that anyone in the cave might see them – though if anyone hadbeen there surely they would have heard the bangs and kicks at the door.
　　The door now stood wide open. A dim light shone beyond, showing another cave. Lucy-Annclutched Jacks²¹ arm in fright.
　　‘It’s full of people,’ she whispered. ‘Look!’

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 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

3 windings   

（道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手）

参考例句：

• The time harmonics can be considered as voltages of higher frequencies applied to the windings. 时间谐波可以看作是施加在绕组上的较高频率的电压。
• All the vales in their manifold windings shaded by the most delightful forests. 所有的幽谷，都笼罩在繁茂的垂枝下。

4 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

8 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

9 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• 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。

11 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

12 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

13 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

14 enchanting   

a.讨人喜欢的

参考例句：

• His smile, at once enchanting and melancholy, is just his father's. 他那种既迷人又有些忧郁的微笑，活脱儿象他父亲。
• Its interior was an enchanting place that both lured and frightened me. 它的里头是个吸引人的地方，我又向往又害怕。

15 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

16 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

17 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。

18 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。

19 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

20 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

21 jacks   

n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃

参考例句：

• Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句