104 晚宴

旁白 neutral

The dinner table at Zann's house was crowded that night

那天晚上，赞恩家的餐桌旁挤满了人。

旁白 neutral

Boz and Teplo were there, along with Teplo's assistant, Fala. Teplo's sniffer goose was there too

博兹和特普洛在场，还有特普洛的助手法拉。特普洛的嗅探鹅也在。

旁白 neutral

The foul-tempered bird lurked under the table, honking at Zing and biting Zann's feet

那只脾气暴躁的鸟潜伏在桌子底下，冲着辛嘎嘎叫，还咬赞恩的脚。

旁白 neutral

Boz had also invited his friend Saffa and her husband, Staz

博兹还邀请了他的朋友萨法和她的丈夫斯达兹。

旁白 neutral

Like Boz and Teplo, Saffa was a very skilled Magic Master

和博兹、特普洛一样，萨法也是一位技艺高超的魔法大师。

旁白 neutral

" I can't remember the last time I was at a table with so many Reds," Staz commented with a chuckle

“我都不记得上次和这么多红魔法师同桌是什么时候了，”斯达兹轻笑着评论道。

旁白 neutral

" I hope Laddno and his anti-Red followers don't find out."

“希望拉德诺和他那些反红魔法师的追随者别发现。”

旁白 neutral

Teplo looked up from his food." Is Laddno part of the anti-Red crowd now too?

特普洛从食物上抬起头来。“拉德诺现在也加入反红魔法师那群人了吗？

旁白 neutral

I thought he was only involved with Void rights."

我还以为他只关心虚空权益呢。”

旁白 neutral

" Maybe so." Boz stirred his puffnut soup, his long nose quivering

“也许吧。”博兹搅着他的泡泡果汤，长鼻子微微颤动着。

旁白 neutral

" But he's getting people awfully riled up

"但他把人们搅得极度不安。

旁白 neutral

The mood here in First City feels tense, especially with all those powerful relics at the lab sending out extra magic energy."

首城这儿的气氛感觉很紧张，尤其是实验室里那些强大的遗物还在不断释放出额外的魔法能量。"

旁白 neutral

" The king and queen are quite concerned about all the unrest," Fala said

"国王和王后对所有这些动荡都相当担忧，" 法拉说。

旁白 neutral

Nax nodded." Venna keeps muttering about the anger Laddno is churning up between Voids and non-Voids."

纳克斯点点头。"维娜一直在念叨拉德诺在虚空族和非虚空族之间挑起的怒火。"

旁白 neutral

He looked around the table." There's also a certain amount of anger between Reds and non-Reds."

他环顾了一下餐桌。"而且红魔法师和非红魔法师之间也存在一些积怨。"

旁白 neutral

Zann was surprised by the worry in his father's voice

赞恩惊讶于父亲声音里的忧虑。

旁白 neutral

Sure, he knew there had been some anti-Red sentiment in First City lately. But that was nothing new

当然，他知道首城最近有些反红魔法师的情绪。但这也不是什么新鲜事了。

旁白 neutral

Even back in Swamp Bottom, a few people seemed to resent the fact that Reds had stronger magic than everyone else. He thought about Jev and grimaced

即使以前在沼泽底，也有少数人似乎怨恨红魔法师比别人拥有更强大的魔法。他想到了杰夫，不禁皱起了眉头。

旁白 neutral

" Is your soup all right, Zann?" Asta asked

"你的汤还好喝吗，赞恩？" 阿斯塔问道。

旁白 neutral

" Sure." Zann pushed Jev out of his mind. That was one good thing about moving to First City

"当然。" 赞恩将杰夫抛诸脑后。搬到首城来的好处之一就是这个。

旁白 neutral

He would probably never have to see that jerk again!

他大概再也不用见到那个讨厌鬼了！

旁白 neutral

His mother returned her attention to the conversation. But Zann stopped listening

母亲把注意力转回到谈话中。但赞恩已无心再听。

旁白 neutral

He had more important things on his mind than politics

他心里有比政治更重要的事。

旁白 neutral

He hoped Gliss' parents would change their minds about the dragons

他希望格丽丝的父母能改变对龙的态度。

旁白 neutral

After all, Zann, Perda, Darb, and Gliss had ridden dragons to First City before

毕竟，赞恩、佩达、达布和格丽丝以前就骑过龙去首城。

旁白 neutral

And Darb was friendly with a local dragon breeder

而且达布和当地的一位养龙人很熟。

旁白 neutral

Zann was sure the breeder would let the kids borrow a couple of dragons again

赞恩很肯定，那位养龙人会再借给孩子们几条龙。

旁白 neutral

" Oh!" Saffa said suddenly." There's news." She snapped her fingers, and a large floating image appeared above the table

“哦！”萨法突然说道，“有新消息。”她打了个响指，一幅巨大的悬浮影像便出现在餐桌上空。

旁白 neutral

It showed a crowd of people shaking their fists and yelling

影像里是一群挥着拳头、大声叫喊的人。

旁白 neutral

Many of them held signs about Void rights

他们中的许多人举着关于虚空族权利的标语。

旁白 neutral

" Oh dear," Saffa said." This image is from the future

“哎呀，”萨法说，“这个画面来自未来。

旁白 neutral

It shows a protest that will take place soon."

它显示的是一场不久后将要发生的抗议。”

旁白 neutral

Boz read the words appeared on the image

博兹读出了画面上显现的文字。

旁白 neutral

" Laddno says it will be the biggest protest yet."

“拉德诺说这将是迄今为止最大的一场抗议。”

旁白 neutral

Zann was reading too." Ugh! It's going to be on my birthday!

赞恩也在看。“唉！那天正好是我生日！

旁白 neutral

I hope Gliss' parents don't hear about it."

我希望格林斯的父母别听说这事。”

旁白 neutral

" Who's that, boy?" Teplo peered at him

“那是谁，孩子？”特普洛眯着眼看他。

旁白 neutral

" Gliss... You mean your Red friend? Isn't she in favor of Void rights?"

“格林斯……你是说你那个红魔法师朋友？她不是支持虚空族的权利吗？”

旁白 neutral

" Yes," Zann said." And her parents are too, I think

“是的，”赞恩说，“而且她父母，我觉得也是。

旁白 neutral

At least they seem to like Darb just fine. But they're kind of overprotective."

至少他们看起来挺喜欢达布的。不过他们有点保护过度了。”

旁白 neutral

" I see," his father chimed in." You're afraid all the unrest will make them worry about letting Gliss come to the big city."

“我明白了，”他父亲插话说，“你是担心这些动荡会让他们不敢让格林斯来大城市。”

旁白 neutral

" Right." Zann yanked his foot away as Teplo's goose bit it again

“对。”特普洛的鹅又啄了赞恩的脚，他猛地把脚抽开。

旁白 neutral

" And if they won't let her come, the others might not be allowed to come either."

“而且如果他们不让她来，其他人可能也不会被允许来了。”

旁白 neutral

Fala looked sympathetic." That's tough, Zann. I know you four are awfully close."

法拉同情地看着他。“那可真难受，赞恩。我知道你们四个特别要好。”

旁白 neutral

Suddenly Zann had an idea." Hey, if my friends can't come here for my party, why don't we go to them?"

赞恩突然有了个主意。“嘿，要是朋友们不能来这儿参加我的聚会，我们为什么不去找他们呢？”

旁白 neutral

He quickly grew excited." We could celebrate my birthday in Swamp Bottom!"

他迅速兴奋起来。“我们可以在沼泽底庆祝我的生日！”

旁白 neutral

His parents traded a look with Boz and the others

他父母和博兹还有其他人交换了一下眼神。

旁白 neutral

" I don't think that will work right now, Zann," Asta said." I'm sorry."

“我觉得现在这行不通，赞恩，”阿斯塔说，“抱歉。”

旁白 neutral

" Why not?" Zann said." It would be so much easier for us to just zap out there."

“为什么不行？”赞恩说，“我们直接传送过去要容易多了。”

旁白 neutral

" No, your mother is right," Boz said

“不，你妈妈说得对，”博兹说。

旁白 neutral

" It's not a good time for any of us to leave First City."

“我们谁都不适合在这个时候离开首城。”

旁白 neutral

" But don't worry," Nax added." We'll figure out something to get your friends here."

“不过别担心，”纳克斯补充道，“我们会想办法把你的朋友们接过来的。”

旁白 neutral

Zann wanted to ask his father how he planned to make that happen

赞恩想问问父亲他打算怎么做到。

旁白 neutral

But Nax was already turning to tell Saffa and Staz about something Venna had said the day before

但纳克斯已经转身去跟萨法和斯达兹说维娜前一天提到的什么事了。

旁白 neutral

Zann clenched his fists under the table, ignoring the goose as it yanked on his pant leg

赞恩在桌子底下攥紧了拳头，不去理会那只拉扯他裤腿的鹅。

旁白 neutral

It wasn't fair! All his parents thought about was their work

这不公平！他父母满脑子想的都是他们的工作。

旁白 neutral

They were almost as bad as Venna herself, and everyone knew her whole life revolved around her role on the Red Council

他们简直和维娜本人一样过分，谁都知道维娜整个人生都围着她在红魔法师议会的职务转。

旁白 neutral

Zann couldn't sit there anymore. He nudged the goose away with his foot and stood up

赞恩再也坐不住了。他用脚轻轻推开那只鹅，站了起来。

旁白 neutral

" May I be excused?" he said." I want to take Zing out for a walk before it gets dark."

“我可以先离开吗？”他说，“我想在天黑前带辛出去遛遛。”

旁白 neutral

" Good idea, Zann," his father said, barely looking at him

“好主意，赞恩，”他父亲头也没抬地说。

旁白 neutral

Soon Zann was wandering along the quiet street near his house

很快，赞恩就在家附近僻静的街道上溜达起来。

旁白 neutral

Zing had played for a long time at the park earlier, so he wasn't as hyper as usual

辛之前在公园玩了很久，所以不像平时那样亢奋。

旁白 neutral

But when a heat hornet buzzed by, Zing shot out a burst of flame and flew after the bug

但一只热毒蜂嗡嗡飞过时，辛立刻喷出一团火焰，追着虫子飞了过去。

旁白 neutral

" Wait up, Zing," Zann called." I don't want to — hey, what's that?"

“等等，辛，”赞恩喊道。“我不想——嘿，那是什么？”

旁白 neutral

A bright image had appeared in midair when Zing flew past, but now it was gone

辛飞过去的时候，半空中闪过一个明亮的影像，但现在不见了。

旁白 neutral

Zann stepped closer, assuming the image would appear again. Nothing happened

赞恩上前几步，以为影像会再次出现。却什么也没发生。

旁白 neutral

Zann moved around the sidewalk, but still the image wouldn't reappear

赞恩在人行道上四处走动，但影像还是没再出现。

旁白 neutral

Zann conjured a dragon treat." Zing, come back here!" he called

赞恩变出一个龙零食。“辛，快回来！”他喊道。

旁白 neutral

When Zing came near, the image appeared again

辛一靠近，那个影像就又出现了。

旁白 neutral

But when Zann stepped closer to it, it disappeared

可赞恩一走近，它又消失了。

旁白 neutral

" Weird," Zann murmured." Why does it disappear when I'm nearby?"

“真怪，”赞恩喃喃道。“为什么我一靠近它就消失呢？”

旁白 neutral

" Because you're a Red, that's why," a voice said from behind Zann

“因为你是红魔法师，这就是原因。”一个声音从赞恩身后传来。

旁白 neutral

Surprised, Zann spun around. He was even more surprised when he recognized the figure stepping out of the shadows

赞恩吃惊地转过身。当他认出那个从阴影里走出来的人时，更是大吃一惊。

旁白 neutral

" Jev!" Zann blurted out

“杰夫！”赞恩脱口而出。