012 城里的消息

旁白 neutral

" I hope Zing stays and waits at the Hollow," Zann said

“我希望兹英留在洼地等着，”赞恩说。

旁白 neutral

" I know he wanted to come along. But I'm afraid he'd attract too much attention."

“我知道他想跟来。但恐怕他会太引人注目。”

旁白 neutral

Zann and his friends were walking to town. Dawn was breaking over the swamp

赞恩和朋友们朝镇上走去。沼泽上空破晓了。

旁白 neutral

The aurora birds were singing, and lights were coming on in the outlying homes the kids were passing

极光鸟在鸣唱，孩子们路过的郊外房屋亮起了灯。

旁白 neutral

Darb shrugged." I did my best to convince him to stay."

达布耸耸肩：“我已尽力说服他留下了。”

旁白 neutral

That wasn't very comforting. The dragon could be unpredictable, plus Zann knew that Zing, like all magical creatures, hated being anywhere near the Hollow

这并不太令人安心。龙可能反复无常，而且赞恩知道兹英和所有魔法生物一样，讨厌待在洼地附近。

旁白 neutral

Still, there wasn't much he could do about it

不过，他也无能为力。

旁白 neutral

They were soon in the more populated part of town." Be careful," Zann warned

他们很快到了镇上人口较密集的区域。“小心，”赞恩警告道。

旁白 neutral

" We don't know what's been going on around here since we went into hiding yesterday."

“我们不知道昨天躲起来后，这里发生了什么。”

旁白 neutral

Gliss rubbed her stomach." Was it only yesterday?

格丽丝揉着肚子：“才只过了一天吗？”

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I feel as if I haven't eaten in days!"

我感觉好像几天没吃东西了！”

旁白 neutral

" Me too. But we can eat later," Zann said

“我也是。不过我们可以晚点吃，”赞恩说。

旁白 neutral

" First we need to get to my house and look for that diary

“我们得先到我家去找那本日记。

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And quickly, because Morb could have spies anywhere."

而且要快，因为莫布可能到处都有眼线。”

旁白 neutral

Just then a door slammed nearby. A dragon scurried into the street and let out a yip and a puff of steam

就在这时，附近一扇门砰地关上了。一条龙窜到街上，叫了一声并喷出一股蒸汽。

旁白 neutral

It was a vapor bounder, a popular breed due to its small size and friendly disposition

那是一只蒸汽跳龙，因为个头小、性情温顺，是很受欢迎的品种。

旁白 neutral

" Hazi, stop!" a voice called. A kid rushed out of the house and scooped up the lively dragon

“哈兹，站住！”一个声音喊道。一个孩子从屋里冲出来，一把抱起了那条活泼的龙。

旁白 neutral

" It's Jev!" Gliss exclaimed. Before Zann could stop her, she rushed forward, calling his name." Jev!"

“是杰夫！”格丽丝喊道。赞恩还没来得及拦住她，她就冲上前，喊着他的名字。“杰夫！”

旁白 neutral

Their classmate turned, looking surprised." Gliss!" he exclaimed

他们的同学转过身，一脸惊讶。“格丽丝！”他喊道。

旁白 neutral

" You're okay! Everyone heard your parents are... you know... gone

“你没事！大家都听说你的父母……你知道的……失踪了。

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We assumed whoever took them took you too."

我们以为抓走你父母的人也抓走了你。

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" He almost did," Gliss said." Zann and Darb and Perda saved me."

“差点就得手了，”格丽斯说，“是赞恩、达布和珀达救了我。”

旁白 neutral

" Oh." Jev glanced at the others as they caught up

“哦。”杰夫瞥了一眼赶过来的其他人。

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" Yeah, we thought Zann got nabbed too

“是啊，我们还以为赞恩也被抓了。

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Especially after what happened to his house."

尤其是在他家出事后。”

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Jev's tone made it very clear that he wasn't particularly concerned about the loss of Zann's house

杰夫的语气明确表明他对赞恩家的遭遇并不特别在意。

旁白 neutral

" If you'll excuse us, we've got something important to do," said Zann

“失陪了，我们有要紧事要做，”赞恩说。

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Jev ignored him." I can't believe you guys are still around," he said, talking mostly to Gliss and Perda

杰夫没理他。“真不敢相信你们还在这里，”他说道，主要是对格丽斯和珀达说的。

旁白 neutral

" Most of the Reds in town are gone

“镇上的红人大多已经不在了。

旁白 neutral

The only ones left are the mayor and a couple of others who are hiding out with her at the town hall."

就剩镇长和几个跟她一起躲在镇公所的人了。”

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" So Morb hasn't broken the mayor's Shield spell?" Gliss asked

“那么莫布还没打破镇长的护盾咒吗？”格丽丝问。

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" Who's Morb?" Jev said

“莫布是谁？”杰夫说。

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" He's the guy who's been taking all the Reds," Perda explained

“他就是那个一直在抓所有红人的人，”珀达解释道。

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" Wait," Zann put in." We don't have time to — "

“等等，”赞恩插话道。“我们没有时间——”

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It was too late. The girls told Jev everything they'd found out

已经太迟了。女孩们把她们查清的一切都告诉了杰夫。

旁白 neutral

Zann felt anxious as he listened. He didn't like the idea of telling his enemy all their secrets

听着听着，赞恩感到不安。他不喜欢把全部秘密都告诉敌人这个主意。

旁白 neutral

" Wait," Jev said." Are you telling me this Morb guy is a Void?"

“等等，”杰夫说。“你是说这个叫莫布的家伙是个虚空？”

旁白 neutral

He glanced at Darb and smirked." No way. Everyone knows Voids are useless at magic and most other things too."

他瞥了达布一眼，讥笑道。“不可能。谁都知道虚空在魔法上很没用，其他大多数事情也不行。”

旁白 neutral

Darb didn't respond. Zann clenched his fists to stop himself from giving Jev another set of donkey ears

达布没有回应。赞恩攥紧拳头，克制住再给杰夫变一对驴耳朵的冲动。

旁白 neutral

" We need to keep moving," he told his friends

“我们得继续赶路了，”他对朋友们说。

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" You'd better be careful," Jev said." A bunch of tiny, weird-looking dragons have been flying around town stinging people."

“你们最好小心点，”杰夫说，“有一群模样古怪的小龙在镇上飞来飞去蜇人。”

旁白 neutral

" Stinging dragons?" Darb spoke for the first time since they'd bumped into Jev." What do they look like?"

“蜇人的龙？”自从撞见杰夫后，达布第一次开口，“它们长什么样？”

旁白 neutral

" Don't ask me; I didn't see them," Jev said

“别问我，我没亲眼看见。”杰夫说。

旁白 neutral

" But I heard they swarmed the school last night and grabbed some papers or something from the office."

“但我听说它们昨晚蜂拥到学校，从办公室抓走了一些文件什么的。”

旁白 neutral

Darb looked at Zann." Those could be the same tiny dragons we saw in the swamp yesterday."

达布看向赞恩。“可能就是我们昨天在沼泽里看到的那种小龙。”

旁白 neutral

Zann shrugged." Maybe," he said." But listen, we really need to get moving."

赞恩耸耸肩。“也许吧，”他说，“不过听着，我们真的得走了。”

旁白 neutral

" Zann's right," Perda said. She turned to Jev

“赞恩说得对，”珀尔达说。她转向杰夫。

旁白 neutral

" Will you do me a favor and tell my family that I'm okay?"

“能帮我个忙，告诉我家人我一切安好吗？”

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" Mine too," Darb put in quietly." Please?"

“也帮我捎个信吧，”达布轻声接话，“拜托了。”

旁白 neutral

" Why should I?" said Jev

“凭什么要我去？”杰夫说。

旁白 neutral

" Please, Jev," said Gliss." My parents would be going crazy with worry if it were me."

“求你了，杰夫，”格丽丝说，“换作是我，我父母肯定会担心得发疯的。”

旁白 neutral

Her lower lip trembled." If they were still around, I mean."

她的下唇颤抖着。“我是说，如果他们还在的话。”

旁白 neutral

" Okay, okay," Jev said quickly." I was just kidding. I'll tell them."

“好吧，好吧，”杰夫连忙说，“我刚开玩笑的。我会告诉他们的。”

旁白 neutral

Just then the dragon in his arms wriggled loose." Hey! Get back here, Hazi!"

就在这时，他怀里的小龙扭动着挣脱了。“嘿！回来，哈齐！”

旁白 neutral

He rubbed his hands together, conjuring up a dragon harness. Then he chased after his pet

他搓了搓手，变出一条龙缰绳，然后追他的宠物去了。

旁白 neutral

Zann grimaced. It felt strange to know that he couldn't even conjure up something as simple as that harness right now

赞恩面露难色。知道自己现在连变条缰绳这么简单的东西都做不到，感觉真奇怪。

旁白 neutral

He wasn't used to living without magic. How did Darb do it?

他还不习惯没有魔法的生活。达布是怎么做到的？

旁白 neutral

" Let's go," he told his friends." We've wasted enough time already."

“我们走吧，”他对朋友们说，“我们已经浪费够多时间了。”

旁白 neutral

Soon they were several blocks away." We should have asked Jev to conjure some breakfast for us," Perda said

很快他们就走过了好几个街区。“我们刚才应该让杰夫给我们变点早餐的。”珀尔达说。

旁白 neutral

" Oh!" Gliss stopped short." Why didn't I think of that? Maybe we should go back."

“哦！”格丽丝猛然停下脚步。“我怎么没想到？也许我们该回去。”

旁白 neutral

Zann stopped too." We don't have time." Just then his stomach grumbled and he thought of something

赞恩也停下了脚步。“我们没时间了。”就在这时，他的肚子咕咕叫了起来，他想到了什么。

旁白 neutral

" Why are we assuming that Perda can't use magic? She's not a Red

“我们为什么想当然地认为珀尔达不能用魔法？她又不是红人。

旁白 neutral

I'm sure it's safe for her to conjure some breakfast for us."

我敢肯定，她给我们变点早餐是安全的。”

旁白 neutral

" Do you really think that's a good idea?" Darb seemed dubious

“你真觉得这是个好主意？”达布似乎有些疑虑。

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" That makes total sense, Zann!" said Gliss." Morb's only after Reds, right?

“这完全说得通，赞恩！”格丽丝说，“莫布只抓红人，对吧？

旁白 neutral

Perda can probably do all the magic she wants, and Morb won't care at all."

珀尔达大概想用多少魔法都可以，莫布根本不会在意的。”

旁白 neutral

Perda licked her lips." How do puckerberry pancakes sound?"

珀尔达舔了舔嘴唇。“酸莓煎饼听起来怎么样？”

旁白 neutral

" Great," Zann said." But hurry."

“太好了，”赞恩说，“不过得快点儿。”

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Perda rubbed her hands together, and then held them facing upward

珀尔达搓了搓手，然后掌心朝上地伸着。

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A second later a steaming platter of food appeared." Yum!" Gliss exclaimed

一秒钟后，一大盘热气腾腾的食物出现了。“真香！”格丽丝欢呼道。

旁白 neutral

Just then a large, hulking figure appeared, casting a dark shadow over everyone. Then another figure appeared. And another

就在这时，一个庞大笨重的身影出现了，在每个人身上投下黑影。接着又一个身影出现了，又一个。

旁白 neutral

Perda screamed and dropped the plate of food, which shattered at her feet." Trolls!" she cried

珀尔达尖叫一声，手里的盘子掉在地上摔碎了。“是巨魔！”她喊道。