004 沼泽

旁白 neutral

Zann landed in a puddle of swampy water." Drat," he muttered

赞恩落进了一滩沼泽水里。“该死。”他咕哝道。

旁白 neutral

His Conveyance teacher was always scolding him for this sort of thing

他的传送课老师总为这种事训他。

旁白 neutral

Being a Red, Zann could zap himself far — and fast

因为是红系，赞恩能把自己传送到很远——而且很快。

旁白 neutral

But his focus still needed some work

可他的专注力还得多练练。

旁白 neutral

That didn't matter now though. He was out of the house. It was time to find Darb

但现在这不要紧了。他出了家门。该去找达布了。

旁白 neutral

Pursing his lips, he whistled, trying to imitate the call of a lesser swamp swift

他抿起嘴唇吹了一声口哨，试着模仿小沼泽雨燕的叫声。

旁白 neutral

" Not bad," a voice said from the grassy hillock behind him

“不赖嘛。”身后长满草的小丘上传来一个声音。

旁白 neutral

" I always knew you had talents other than magic."

“我一直都知道你除了魔法还有别的本事。”

旁白 neutral

Zann spun around and grinned." Hey, Darb," he said, stepping out of the water

赞恩转过身咧嘴笑了。“嘿，达布。”他说着从水里走了出来。

旁白 neutral

" Sorry I'm late. Boz didn't want me to go out."

“抱歉我来晚了。博兹不想让我出门。”

旁白 neutral

" Because of the warning about Reds disappearing?" Darb asked thoughtfully." I've been hearing about that."

“是因为关于红发人消失的警告吗？”达布若有所思地问，“我一直在听说这件事。”

旁白 neutral

Darb was a Void, one of a small group of people in Magica born without any magical abilities

达布是个无魔者，是马吉卡为数不多生来就没有任何魔法能力的人。

旁白 neutral

That was the reason he and Zann had met in the first place

这就是他和赞恩最初相识的原因。

旁白 neutral

On Zann's first day at the Swamp Bottom School, he'd encountered Jev and his friends teasing Darb. Zann had told them to stop

赞恩在沼泽底部学校的第一天，就碰到杰夫和他的朋友在嘲笑达布。赞恩让他们住手。

旁白 neutral

" Who's going to make me?" Jev had sneered

“谁能逼我？”杰夫嗤笑道。

旁白 neutral

" That red hair of yours doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do."

“你那头红发，不代表你能对我指手画脚。”

旁白 neutral

Then he'd turned and shoved Darb into the wall — hard

然后他转身，狠狠把达布推到墙上。

旁白 neutral

Looking back, Zann knew he probably should have called a teacher

回想起来，赞恩知道自己或许该去叫老师。

旁白 neutral

Instead he'd acted on impulse, rubbing his fingers together until sparks began to jump from his hand

但他凭着一时冲动，搓动手指，直到火花从手里迸射出来。

旁白 neutral

Jev didn't even know what had happened until his friends started snickering and pointing at him

杰夫根本没意识到发生了什么，直到朋友们开始窃笑，指着他看。

旁白 neutral

Zann had given him a pair of oversized donkey ears

赞恩曾给他变出了一对超大的驴耳朵。

旁白 neutral

It took Jev several tries to undo the spell

杰夫试了好几次才解开这个咒语。

旁白 neutral

Ever since then Jev had been Zann's enemy, and Darb had been Zann's friend

从那时起，杰夫就成了赞恩的敌人，而达布成了赞恩的朋友。

旁白 neutral

Darb didn't attend school anymore. Voids were only required to study the basics of theory and history

达布不再去上学了。虚空者只需要学习理论和历史的基础知识。

旁白 neutral

Once classes started doing practical magic lessons, Voids usually dropped out and studied on their own

一旦课程开始进行实用魔法教学，虚空者通常就会退学，然后自学。

旁白 neutral

Most ended up finding careers as companions, greeters, animal caretakers, and mediators, or other jobs that required no magic

他们大多数最终找到了旅伴、迎宾员、动物看护员、调解员这类不需要魔法的工作。

旁白 neutral

Most people in Magica would never purposely discriminate against a Void

魔力卡的大部分人从不会故意歧视虚空者。

旁白 neutral

But Zann had noticed that people said things in front of Darb that they wouldn't say in front of others

但赞恩注意到，人们会在达布面前说一些在别人面前不会说的话。

旁白 neutral

It was as if they thought Voids were deaf and dumb as well as lacking magic

就好像他们觉得虚空者既没有魔法，又聋又哑一样。

旁白 neutral

That didn't seem fair to Zann. But it did allow Darb to hear a lot of interesting gossip

赞恩觉得这不公平。但这确实让达布听到了许多有趣的闲话。

旁白 neutral

" What have you heard about the warning?" Zann asked his friend now

“你听说了关于那个警告的什么？”赞恩问他的朋友。

旁白 neutral

" Not much," Darb said." Everyone's talking about the message from the palace though

“不多，”达布说。“不过人人都正在谈论来自宫殿的那条消息。

旁白 neutral

The mayor is so nervous that she put a Shield spell over the entire town hall."

市长紧张得给整座市政厅都施加了护盾咒。”

旁白 neutral

" Boz is trying to find out more

“波兹正在设法了解更多。

旁白 neutral

In the meantime he wants me to stay inside." Zann rolled his eyes

与此同时，他让我待在屋里。”赞恩翻了个白眼。

旁白 neutral

" You can't blame him for being worried after what happened to your parents."

“在你父母出了那种事后，你不能怪他担心。”

旁白 neutral

" I guess." Zann jumped onto a larger hillock." So what have you been doing?"

“或许吧。”赞恩跳上一处更大的土丘。“那你之前在做什么？”

旁白 neutral

" Studying insects."

“研究昆虫。”

旁白 neutral

" Insects, huh?" Zann said." Why not study something more exciting? Dragons, maybe?"

“昆虫啊？”赞恩说。“为什么不研究些更刺激的？龙，怎么样？”

旁白 neutral

" Speaking of dragons, where's Zing?" Darb asked

“说起龙，Zing 在哪儿？”达布问。

旁白 neutral

" He was outside when I left. I couldn't get him without Boz seeing me."

“我走的时候它在外面。我没法在不被波兹看到的情况下把它带出来。”

旁白 neutral

Darb looked disappointed. Everyone assumed he'd end up being an animal caretaker someday

达布看上去很失望。大家都觉得他将来肯定会成为一名动物饲养员。

旁白 neutral

He loved animals of all kinds, and they loved him

他喜欢各种动物，而它们也喜欢他。

旁白 neutral

Zing broke into a happy whistling song whenever he saw him

津只要一见到他，就会欢快地吹起口哨歌来。

旁白 neutral

Darb stepped toward a slow-moving stream." Look, panic bugs."

达布走向一条缓缓流淌的小溪。“看，恐慌虫。”

旁白 neutral

He leaned closer for a better look." Can you get a picture of them for me?"

他凑近些想看得更清楚。“你能帮我给它们拍张照吗？”

旁白 neutral

" Sure." Zann rubbed his hands together and stared at the shiny red bugs

“当然。”赞恩搓了搓手，盯着那些亮红色的虫子。

旁白 neutral

Blink!

眨眼间！

旁白 neutral

A piece of paper appeared and fluttered to the swampy ground

一张纸凭空出现，飘落到沼泽地上。

旁白 neutral

Zann picked it up. The image of the panic bugs was there in full color

赞恩把它捡起来。上面是恐慌虫的彩色图像。

旁白 neutral

" Thanks." Darb took the blink image, folded it, and put it into his pocket

“多谢。”达布接过闪拍图像，折好放进口袋。

旁白 neutral

Then he gently scooped up the bugs and put them in his other pocket, being careful not to startle them into releasing their stink

然后他轻轻捧起那些虫子，放进另一只口袋，小心翼翼，免得惊到它们释放臭气。

旁白 neutral

" Want to help me look for leeches?" he asked." I've seen them around here before."

“想帮我找水蛭吗？”他问，“我之前在这附近见过。”

旁白 neutral

" Leeches?" Zann echoed." Why?"

“水蛭？”赞恩重复道，“为什么？”

旁白 neutral

" I've been reading about them. It's fascinating how they can suck the magic out of people."

“我最近在读关于它们的书。它们能吸走人的魔力，这太神奇了。”

旁白 neutral

" Yeah." Zann grinned." Back in First City, my friends and I used to stick them on each other as a joke

“是啊。”赞恩咧嘴一笑，“在第一城的时候，我和朋友们经常把它们互相粘在身上当玩笑。

旁白 neutral

It would take about a million of them to drain enough magic to make a difference, but it was still funny."

大概要一百万只才能吸走足够产生影响的魔力，但照样很好玩。”

旁白 neutral

Darb peered into the water's murky depths." Leeches are very shy," he said

达布凝视着浑浊的水底。“水蛭很胆小的，”他说。

旁白 neutral

" They live at the bottom of streams like this

“它们生活在这种溪流的底部。

旁白 neutral

We'll have to be quiet and feel around in the water."

我们得安静下来，在水里摸索。”

旁白 neutral

" Why go to all that trouble?" Zann rubbed his fingers together

“何必这么费事？”赞恩搓了搓手指。

旁白 neutral

" I'll displace the water. Then you can grab as many leeches as you want."

“我来把水移开。这样你想抓多少水蛭都行。”

旁白 neutral

" Zann, wait!" Darb began." That won't — "

“赞恩，等等！”达布开口说，“那样不会——”

旁白 neutral

Shloop!

唰噗！

旁白 neutral

The water in the nearest section of the stream levitated, hanging as droplets in the air

最近那一段溪流的水凌空浮起，变成水滴悬在空中。

旁白 neutral

Several fish and other creatures were left lying on the bottom of the streambed, looking confused

几条鱼和其他生物留在溪底，一副不知所措的样子。

旁白 neutral

" Leeches!" Zann cried, pointing. Almost before he spotted them, the slimy little creatures had burrowed into the soft sand." Oh. They're gone."

“水蛭！”赞恩指着喊道。他刚发现它们，那些滑溜溜的小东西就钻进了松软的沙里。“哦。它们跑了。”

旁白 neutral

" I tried to tell you that," Darb said with a sigh

“我刚才就想告诉你，”达布叹了口气说。

旁白 neutral

" They dive away from air unless they're latched on to someone."

“除非它们正吸在谁身上，否则一遇到空气就会钻走。”

旁白 neutral

" Sorry," Zann said." Hey, did you hear that?"

“抱歉，”赞恩说，“嘿，你听见了吗？”

旁白 neutral

" Hear what?"

“听见什么？”

旁白 neutral

Zann tilted his head, listening." That buzzing noise," he said

赞恩侧着头听了听。“那个嗡嗡声，”他说。

旁白 neutral

" Sounds like an irritated spy fly, or maybe — "

“听起来像一只被激怒的间谍蝇，或者——”

旁白 neutral

A loud, angry buzzing drowned out his words

一阵响亮、愤怒的嗡嗡声淹没了他的话。

旁白 neutral

Suddenly a whole swarm of tiny, glittering dragons came zipping out of a hole in the bank and started stinging him!

突然，一大群亮闪闪的小龙从岸上的一个洞里飞窜出来，开始蛰他！