003 魔法大师

旁白 neutral

" Zing!" Zann exclaimed." You oversized swamp rat! I'll get you for that."

"Zing！" 赞恩喊道。"你这只超大的沼泽老鼠！我会找你算账的。"

旁白 neutral

Picking up a rock, he tossed it at the dragon

他捡起一块石头，朝龙扔去。

旁白 neutral

Zing ducked the rock, chattering in annoyance

Zing 躲开了石头，恼怒地吱吱叫着。

旁白 neutral

Zann grinned." What do you expect?" he said." You just tried to roast me!"

赞恩咧嘴一笑。"你指望什么呢？"他说。"你刚才还想烤我呢！"

旁白 neutral

The dragon hopped down from the roof, not bothering to unfurl its leathery wings

龙从屋顶跳了下来，懒得展开它那皮革般的翅膀。

旁白 neutral

It landed beside Zann with a thump. He bent to scratch its pointy little head

它砰的一声落在赞恩身边。他弯下腰挠了挠它那尖尖的小脑袋。

旁白 neutral

" Did you eat yet?" he asked." Let's go inside

"你吃了吗？"他问道。"我们进去吧。"

旁白 neutral

I'll conjure up some food for you as soon as I tell Boz about the warning."

我一告诉博兹那个警告，就给你变出些食物来。"

旁白 neutral

The dragon chirped agreeably. Many people kept dragons as pets, but fire whistlers like Zing weren't very popular

龙愉快地啾啾叫。许多人养龙当宠物，但像 Zing 这样的喷火啸龙并不太受欢迎。

旁白 neutral

The breed was too active, too independent, and a little too unpredictable

这个品种太活跃、太独立，还有点太捉摸不定。

旁白 neutral

Besides, most people didn't like dealing with a pet that could set you on fire

再说，大多数人不喜欢跟一只能把人点着的宠物打交道。

旁白 neutral

But Zing was perfect for Zann. They spent hours together

但Zing对赞恩来说正合适。他们常一起待上好几个小时。

旁白 neutral

Their favorite game was to lie in wait and attack each other

他们最喜欢的游戏就是埋伏起来，互相攻击。

旁白 neutral

Zann reached for his schoolbag, which he'd dropped during Zing's surprise attack

赞恩伸手去够他的书包，那是Zing突袭时他扔下的。

旁白 neutral

" You'd better sleep with one eye open," he told the dragon jokingly

“你最好睡觉时睁着一只眼，”他开玩笑地对龙说。

旁白 neutral

Dragons couldn't talk, but the smarter ones could understand some human speech

龙不会说话，但聪明一些的能听懂部分人语。

旁白 neutral

" Because when you least expect it, I'm going to grab you and feed you to the water blobs."

“因为在你最意想不到的时候，我会抓住你，把你喂给水泡怪。”

旁白 neutral

Zing hissed playfully, sending out a spurt of flame that Zann dodged easily

Zing顽皮地嘶叫一声，喷出一股火焰，赞恩轻松躲开了。

旁白 neutral

He laughed, glancing around for another rock

他笑着，四处张望，想再找一块石头。

旁白 neutral

Before he could find one, the door flew open

他还没来得及找到，门猛地被推开了。

旁白 neutral

" Get in here," Boz ordered, the tip of his long, pointy nose quivering as it always did when he was worked up about something

“快进来，”博兹命令道，他那又长又尖的鼻尖不住地抽动，每当他为某事激动时都会这样。

旁白 neutral

Zann's grandfather was clutching the tattered diary in which he recorded everything important that happened to him." I need to talk to you."

赞恩的祖父紧攥着那本破旧的日记本，里头记录着他经历过的每一件要事。“我得跟你谈谈。”

旁白 neutral

Zann guessed that Boz had already heard about the message." I'm coming," he said

赞恩猜博兹已经听说了那个消息。“我来了，”他说。

旁白 neutral

Like the outside, the inside of their house rarely changed

和外面一样，他们屋里的陈设几乎一成不变。

旁白 neutral

Half the furniture was boring and utilitarian, transported there by Boz from his old home in First City

一半家具是博兹从第一城的老家搬来的，既乏味又只讲实用。

旁白 neutral

The rest was cool stuff that Zann's parents had conjured, mostly based on interesting things they had seen in their travels:

其余的都是很酷的物件，由赞恩的父母凭空变出，大多是他们旅行途中见识过的奇物：

旁白 neutral

a statue of a frightening beast from the slopes of Mount Mystery, replicas of the low-slung chairs used by nomadic settlers way out on the Far Frontier

神秘山山坡上骇人野兽的雕像，远在遥远边区那边游牧移民使用的矮脚椅子的仿制品，

旁白 neutral

and an exotic-looking lamp from some other, faraway world. That lamp was Zann's favorite

以及一盏来自某个遥远异世界、充满异域风情的灯。那盏灯是赞恩的最爱。

旁白 neutral

He paused beside it, resting a hand on its lumpy surface and glancing at the framed blink images of his family hanging on the walls

他在灯旁停下，单手抚摩着它那凹凸不平的表面，同时扫了一眼墙上挂着的家人们会眨眼的带框照片。

旁白 neutral

Could his parents be trapped in some mysterious other world even now?

他的父母会不会此时此刻正被困在某个神秘的异世界里呢？

旁白 neutral

Could they still be alive despite what most people thought?

尽管大多数人都认为他们不在了，他们有可能还活着吗？

旁白 neutral

Zing scampered over to grab a scorched chew toy. Boz stared at Zann

Zing 蹦跳着跑过去叼起一个烧焦的磨牙玩具。博兹凝视着赞恩。

旁白 neutral

His large brown eyes were troubled." I'm glad you're home," he said, setting his diary on the table

他那双棕色的大眼睛里满是忧虑。“很高兴你回家了，”他说着，把日记放在桌子上。

旁白 neutral

" I thought about going down to your school to get you

“我本想去你学校接你的。

旁白 neutral

Have you heard about the warning from the palace?"

你听说王宫发出的警告了吗？”

旁白 neutral

Zann nodded." An echo crow came to school. The message sounded pretty weird

赞恩点点头。“一只回声乌鸦飞到了学校。消息听起来非常奇怪。

旁白 neutral

Why would Reds suddenly start disappearing?"

红魔法师为什么会突然开始失踪？”

旁白 neutral

" I don't know." Boz rubbed his nose to stop it from quivering

“我不知道。”博兹揉了揉鼻子，不让自己发抖。

旁白 neutral

" I've sent messages to a few friends to see if any of them know anything

“我给几个朋友发了消息，看看他们有没有人知道些什么。

旁白 neutral

But they haven't responded. That worries me, especially since they're all Reds."

但他们都没有回复。这让我很担心，尤其因为他们都是红魔法师。”

旁白 neutral

He tapped one finger against another, and several message moths appeared

他用一根手指轻敲另一根，几只信蛾便出现了。

旁白 neutral

Boz focused his gaze on one, muttering a message under his breath

博兹将目光聚焦在一只信蛾上，低声念叨着消息。

旁白 neutral

As he spoke, tiny words etched themselves onto the moth's powdery wings. Zann couldn't help being impressed

他说话间，微小的文字便自行蚀刻在信蛾布满粉末的翅膀上。赞恩不禁感到佩服。

旁白 neutral

Most people had to inscribe message moths by hand

大多数人只能手工在信蛾上铭刻信息。

旁白 neutral

Only a few people had the focus to do it by eye

只有极少数人能如此专注，凭意念做到这一点。

旁白 neutral

Sometimes it was easy to forget that his grandfather had been one of the most powerful Magic Masters in the kingdom

有时很容易忘记，他的祖父曾是王国里最强大的魔法大师之一。

旁白 neutral

Zann wondered if he himself would ever develop that kind of control over his own powers

赞恩不知道自己是否有一天也能对自己的力量有如此掌控力。

旁白 neutral

He realized Boz had finished inscribing the message moths and was talking again

他意识到博兹已经给信蛾铭刻完毕，又在说话了。

旁白 neutral

He'd just said something about wanting Zann to stay at home

他刚才说了些想要赞恩待在家里的什么话。

旁白 neutral

" What?" Zann blurted out." But I told Darb I'd meet him at the swamp after dinner!"

“什么？”赞恩脱口而出。“可是我跟达布说好了晚饭后在沼泽见面的！”

旁白 neutral

" Sorry, Zann. We need to be careful until I find out what we're dealing with."

“抱歉，赞恩。在我弄清楚我们要面对什么之前，得小心些。”

旁白 neutral

Boz waved a hand to send the moths fluttering out the window." I can't risk you wandering off."

博兹一挥手，让信蛾拍打着翅膀飞出窗外。“我不能冒险让你到处乱跑。”

旁白 neutral

" What's the difference? It's not like anything ever happens way out here in Swamp Bottom

“那又有什么分别？这偏僻的沼泽底部根本不会发生什么事。

旁白 neutral

I still don't know why you decided to move to this place after Mom and Dad disappeared

我还是不明白，为什么爸爸妈妈失踪后，你决定搬到这个地方来。

旁白 neutral

We'll never find out what happened to them while we're stuck out here in this boring old backwater."

我们困在这个无聊的老旧穷乡僻壤里，永远也查不出他们到底遭遇了什么。”

旁白 neutral

" I'll make dinner in an hour " was all Boz said

“我一小时后做晚饭。”博兹只说了这一句。

旁白 neutral

" You'd better get started on your homework."

“你最好开始做你的功课了。”

旁白 neutral

" Typical," thought Zann. Boz never wanted to talk about what had happened to Zann's parents

“老样子，”赞恩心想。博兹从来不愿意谈论赞恩父母的事。

旁白 neutral

Zann didn't get it. Didn't Boz want to find them if they were still out there somewhere?

赞恩不明白。如果他们还在外面的某个地方，难道博兹不想找到他们吗？

旁白 neutral

" Come here, Zing," he called." Dinnertime."

“过来，Zing，”他喊道。“吃饭了。”

旁白 neutral

He rubbed his fingers together and pointed at the dragon's food dish

他搓了搓手指，指向龙的食盆。

旁白 neutral

A big helping of green, slimy dragon mush appeared

一大份绿色的、黏糊糊的龙食糊出现了。

旁白 neutral

Zing flapped his wings in thanks. Then he shot out a flicker of flame and instantly cooked the mush

Zing 拍打着翅膀表示感谢。然后它喷出一丝火焰，瞬间就把食糊烤熟了。

旁白 neutral

It smelled disgusting, but the dragon slurped it up eagerly

闻起来糟透了，但龙却津津有味地大口吃着。

旁白 neutral

Zann turned around and realized Boz was watching him

赞恩转过身，发现博兹正在看着他。

旁白 neutral

" I'm not trying to ruin your fun, Zann," Boz said." I just want to protect you."

“我不是要扫你的兴，赞恩，”博兹说。“我只是想保护你。”

旁白 neutral

" I know." Zann felt guilty for his earlier thoughts." It's okay."

“我知道。”赞恩为自己之前的想法感到愧疚。“没关系。”

旁白 neutral

But after dinner Zann felt much too restless to sit in his room and study

但晚饭后，赞恩感到焦躁不安，根本没法坐在房间里学习。

旁白 neutral

He checked to make sure Boz wasn't nearby

他查看了一下以确保博兹不在附近。

旁白 neutral

Then he rubbed his hands together and zapped himself out of the house

然后他搓了搓手，施咒把自己传送出了屋子。