122 新盟友

旁白 neutral

" What?" Perda cried. She stared at the mysterious man." Morb is your brother?"

“什么？”佩达叫道。她盯着那个神秘男子。“莫布是你哥哥？”

旁白 neutral

" That's why you look familiar," Zann said." You look kind of like him."

“难怪你看上去有点眼熟，”赞恩说。“你长得有点像他。”

旁白 neutral

" What were you saying about my brother?" the man demanded

“你刚才说我哥哥什么？”那人质问道。

旁白 neutral

Zann's heart pounded. What if Morb's brother was just as evil as Morb?

赞恩的心怦怦直跳。要是莫布的哥哥也和莫布一样邪恶怎么办？

旁白 neutral

What if Morb had sent him to capture the kids?

要是莫布派他来抓他们这些孩子呢？

旁白 neutral

" None of your business," Zann blurted out

“不关你的事，”赞恩脱口而出。

旁白 neutral

He grabbed Darb with one hand and Gliss with the other, hoping that Perda saw what he was doing." Zap!"

他一只手抓住达布，另一只手抓住格丽丝，希望佩达看到了他的举动。“移动！”

旁白 neutral

Splash! They landed in a courtyard fountain just inside one of the palace entrances

哗啦！他们掉进了王宫一个入口内的庭院喷泉里。

旁白 neutral

Several guards hurried toward them." Where did you kids zap from?" the biggest guard demanded

几名守卫急忙朝他们走来。“你们这些孩子是从哪儿传送过来的？”最高大的守卫质问道。

旁白 neutral

" The use of magic within palace walls is forbidden without permission!"

“没有许可，在王宫墙内严禁使用魔法！”

旁白 neutral

Zann stepped out of the fountain." Since when?"

赞恩从喷泉里走出来。“从什么时候开始的？”

旁白 neutral

" Since yesterday." The guard narrowed his eyes." Who are you anyway? You look familiar."

“从昨天开始。”守卫眯起眼睛。“你们到底是谁？你看上去有点眼熟。”

旁白 neutral

" Nobody," Zann said quickly." We were just trying to leave."

“无名小卒，”赞恩飞快地说。“我们正打算离开呢。”

旁白 neutral

The guard snapped his fingers, and the Directory appeared

守卫打了个响指，名录便出现了。

旁白 neutral

A second later he was reading Zann's page." Oh, I see," the guard said

片刻后，他读到了赞恩的那一页。“哦，我明白了。”守卫说。

旁白 neutral

" Your parents and grandfather are in the dungeon. Maybe we should take you there as well."

“你的父母和爷爷在地牢里。或许我们也该把你们关进去。”

旁白 neutral

Zann gulped. He tried to figure out how they could escape

赞恩咽了口唾沫，拼命想着怎么才能逃脱。

旁白 neutral

At that moment Morb's brother zapped into view nearby

就在这时，莫布的兄弟突然出现在近旁。

旁白 neutral

" It's all right," he told the guard in a stern voice

“没事了。”他用严厉的语气对守卫说。

旁白 neutral

" These rascals slipped away from me, but it won't happen again."

“这几个小捣蛋鬼从我这儿溜走了，不过不会再发生这种事了。”

旁白 neutral

" They're with you, Maff?" The guard sounded surprised

“他们是跟你一伙的，马夫？”守卫听起来很惊讶。

旁白 neutral

" Yes. Laddno wishes to speak with them." Maff rubbed his hands together

“没错。拉德诺想跟他们谈谈。”马夫搓着双手。

旁白 neutral

Magical shackles appeared around the kids ' arms." Thanks for catching them for me."

孩子们的手臂上出现了魔法镣铐。“多谢你们帮我逮住他们。”

旁白 neutral

" Hey!" Perda cried

“嘿！”佩尔达喊道。

旁白 neutral

" But..." The guard sounded slightly suspicious

“可是……”守卫的语气里透着一丝怀疑。

旁白 neutral

" That will be all, sir." Maff turned away." Come, all four of you. It's this way."

“这就够了，先生。”马夫转身走开，“来吧，你们四个。这边走。”

旁白 neutral

Zann didn't trust Morb's brother, but he didn't want to end up in the dungeon either

赞恩不信任莫布的兄弟，但他也不想最后被关进地牢。

旁白 neutral

So he followed Maff out of the courtyard, pulling his friends along

于是他拉着朋友们，跟着马夫走出了院子。

旁白 neutral

" Are you sure this is a good idea?" Perda whispered." What if he's working with his brother?"

“你确定这是个好主意吗？”佩达小声说，“万一他和他兄弟是一伙的呢？”

旁白 neutral

Zann wondered the same thing." Are you really taking us to see Laddno?" he asked Maff

赞恩也在想同样的问题。“你真的要带我们去见拉多诺吗？”他问马夫。

旁白 neutral

Maff glanced at him." Of course not. I hold no loyalty to that bully

马夫瞥了他一眼。“当然不是。我对那个恶霸毫无忠诚可言。

旁白 neutral

He's as crooked as the Wormwood tree itself."

他简直和苦艾树本身一样扭曲。”

旁白 neutral

" What do you mean?" Gliss said." He's running for King of Magica."

“你什么意思？”格利斯说，“他正在竞选马吉卡之王呢。”

旁白 neutral

" Yes, and we can only hope that Venna crushes him in the election," Maff said grimly

“是啊，我们只能希望维娜在选举中把他彻底击败。”马夫阴沉地说。

旁白 neutral

" Who knows what Laddno has in mind for Magica if he's elected

“谁知道拉多诺要是当选了，会对马吉卡打什么主意。

旁白 neutral

His entire business empire is based on shady deals and black market goods, mostly from other worlds."

他的整个商业帝国都建立在见不得光的交易和黑市商品上，大多来自其他世界。”

旁白 neutral

" Really?" Perda's eyes widened." How do you know that?"

“真的吗？”佩达瞪大了眼睛，“你怎么知道的？”

旁白 neutral

" I have my ways," Maff said." I found out Laddno provided several of the items my brother used in his evil contraptions."

“我自有办法，”马夫说，“我发现拉多诺提供了几样我兄弟用在他邪恶装置里的东西。”

旁白 neutral

" I thought Wyssa brought Morb all that stuff from other worlds," Zann said

“我还以为那些东西都是薇莎从其他世界带给莫布的呢。”赞恩说。

旁白 neutral

" She brought most of it," Maff said." But there were a few things that even she wasn't willing to help Morb with."

“大部分是她带来的，”马夫说，“但有少数几样东西，连她也不愿意帮莫布去弄。”

旁白 neutral

" Wow." Zann was stunned. He hadn't paid much attention to Laddno, or worried much about the election either

“哇。”赞恩很震惊。他之前没怎么关注过拉多诺，对选举的事也没太放在心上。

旁白 neutral

But now it sounded as if Laddno was really bad news!

但现在听起来，拉多诺似乎真的是个麻烦人物！

旁白 neutral

Then again, how could he be sure that Maff was telling the truth? After all, he was Morb's brother

可话又说回来，他怎么确定马夫说的是实话呢？毕竟，他是莫布的兄弟。

旁白 neutral

" If you're not taking us to Laddno, where are you taking us?" Darb asked

“如果不是带我们去见拉多诺，那你要带我们去哪里？”达布问道。

旁白 neutral

" Wherever the guards won't find you," Maff replied

“去守卫找不到你们的地方。”马夫回答。

旁白 neutral

" If they dump you in the dungeon, you won't be able to tell me why you were talking about my brother just now."

“要是他们把你们扔进地牢，你们就没法告诉我，刚才为什么要谈论我兄弟了。”

旁白 neutral

Zann traded a look with his friends. Perda was frowning

赞恩和朋友们交换了一下眼色。佩达正皱着眉头。

旁白 neutral

" We're not going to tell you anything while you're holding us prisoner," she said

“你把我们当囚犯一样关着，我们是不会告诉你任何事的。”她说。

旁白 neutral

" What?" Maff blinked and then glanced at the magical shackles still holding the kids together

“什么？”马夫眨了眨眼，然后看了一眼仍把孩子们锁在一起的魔法镣铐。

旁白 neutral

" Oh, the Shackle spell. Sorry, I only conjured that to trick those guards

“哦，你说镣铐咒啊。抱歉，我施那个咒语只是为了骗过那些守卫。

旁白 neutral

If I release you, will you promise not to zap away again?"

如果我放了你们，你们能保证不再用魔法一下子消失吗？”

旁白 neutral

" We won't promise you anything!" Gliss cried

“我们什么也不保证！”格丽丝喊道。

旁白 neutral

Maff grinned and snapped his fingers

马夫咧嘴一笑，打了个响指。

旁白 neutral

Zann braced himself for some horrible new spell to hit them. Instead the shackles disappeared

赞恩全身紧绷，等着什么可怕的新咒语打到身上。但相反，镣铐消失了。

旁白 neutral

Perda rubbed her arm where the shackles had been." I thought you'd only release us if we talked."

佩达揉了揉胳膊上原来戴镣铐的地方。“我以为只有我们开口说出来，你才会放我们。”

旁白 neutral

" I'm not my brother," Maff said

“我不是我兄弟。”马夫说。

旁白 neutral

" I hope you'll tell me what I want to know. If not, I'll still help you escape."

“我希望你们能告诉我我想知道的事。如果不愿意，我依然会帮你们逃走。”

旁白 neutral

" Really?" Perda shot Zann an uncertain glance

“真的？”佩达朝赞恩投去不确定的一瞥。

旁白 neutral

Zann wasn't sure what to say. He was surprised that Maff had released them before getting what he wanted

赞恩不知道该说什么。马夫还没得到他想要的就放了他们，这让他很惊讶。

旁白 neutral

That wasn't a very Morb-like thing to do. Maybe Maff wasn't much like his brother after all

这不太像是莫布会做的事。也许马夫毕竟还是不像他兄弟。

旁白 neutral

" Come in here." Maff stepped into a nearby room." We should stay out of sight."

“进这里来。”马夫走进旁边的一个房间。“我们得躲起来，别让人看见。”

旁白 neutral

Zann hesitated. Then he shrugged and followed Maff into the room

赞恩犹豫了一下。然后耸耸肩，跟着马夫走进了房间。

旁白 neutral

" We might as well trust him," he told his friends." Maybe he can help us free my parents and the others."

“我们不如就信任他吧，”他对朋友们说，“也许他能帮我们救出我父母和其他人。”

旁白 neutral

" Okay." Perda still sounded uncertain." So should we tell him about, you know, Morb?"

“好吧。”佩达的语气听起来还是有些不确定。“那我们该告诉他关于，你知道的，莫布的事吗？”

旁白 neutral

" Please do," Maff urged." Then I'll tell you what I know."

“请讲吧，”马夫催促道，“然后我把我知道的告诉你们。”

旁白 neutral

" Okay." Zann took a deep breath

“好。”赞恩深吸了一口气。

旁白 neutral

" It started several days ago. I thought I was receiving a Red Share..."

“事情发生在几天前。我以为是收到了红能分享……”

旁白 neutral

He went on to tell Maff the whole story, with his friends chiming in now and then

他接着把整件事的来龙去脉告诉了马夫，朋友们也时不时插话补充。

旁白 neutral

Maff looked more and more alarmed. When he heard that Morb seemed to have magic power again, his eyes widened

马夫的神情越来越惊恐。当听到莫布似乎又有了魔力时，他眼睛都睁大了。

旁白 neutral

And when the kids described how Morb had grabbed the guidelink and disappeared into the vortex, Maff went pale

当孩子们描述莫布如何抢走指引环并消失在漩涡中时，马夫的脸色变得苍白。

旁白 neutral

" This is terrible!" Maff exclaimed

“这太糟了！”马夫惊呼道。

旁白 neutral

" We didn't mean to release Morb," Gliss said

“我们不是故意要放出莫布的，”格丽丝说。

旁白 neutral

" He tricked us," Perda added

“他骗了我们，”佩达补充道。

旁白 neutral

" I know." Maff nodded wearily." You kids shouldn't blame yourselves. This is all my fault!"

“我知道。”马夫疲倦地点点头。“你们这些孩子不该自责。这都是我的错！”