123 斯凯利亚人的故事

旁白 neutral

" What do you mean?" Perda asked Maff." How can it be your fault?"

“你这话是什么意思？”佩达问马夫，“这怎么会是你的错？”

旁白 neutral

" Yeah, we're the ones who rescued Morb from that houseboat," Zann added

“就是，把莫布从那个船屋里解救出来的人可是我们。”赞补充道。

旁白 neutral

" But I was the one who created the houseboat," Maff told them

“但那个船屋是我创造出来的。”马夫告诉他们。

旁白 neutral

" What?" Gliss exclaimed." How?"

“什么？”格丽丝叫道，“怎么可能？”

旁白 neutral

Maff sighed." I didn't want Wyssa to kill my brother," he said

马夫叹了口气。“我不想让威莎杀了我哥哥，”他说。

旁白 neutral

" I know what Morb did. I know he deserved his fate. But he's my brother." His eyes had a faraway look

“我知道莫布做了什么。我知道他罪有应得。但他毕竟是我的哥哥。”他的眼神变得恍惚起来。

旁白 neutral

" Maybe if my brothers and sisters and I had been a little nicer to him, things would have been different

“也许当初如果我和兄弟姐妹们对他好一点，事情就不会是这样了。

旁白 neutral

We should have included him more often, even though he was a Void..."

我们本该多带他一起玩的，虽然他是个‘虚空’……”

旁白 neutral

Zann glanced at his friends." Okay," he said." But how did you stop Wyssa from doing what she planned to do?"

赞瞥了他的朋友们一眼。“好吧，”他说，“可你是怎么阻止威莎实行她的计划的呢？”

旁白 neutral

Maff blinked." Oh. That was easier than I expected. When she left Magica with Morb, I tracked her through the vortex."

马夫眨了眨眼。“哦，那倒比我想的要容易。当她带着莫布离开马吉卡的时候，我循着漩涡追踪了她。”

旁白 neutral

" You did?" Perda said." How?"

“你追踪了她？”佩达说，“怎么做到的？”

旁白 neutral

Maff shrugged." I've made a lifelong study of off-world magic," he said." I used a difficult spell."

马夫耸耸肩。“我一生都在研究异界魔法，”他说，“我用了一个很复杂的咒语。”

旁白 neutral

Zann nodded. He guessed that Maff was a very powerful Red

赞点了点头。他猜想马夫是一个非常强大的红魔法师。

旁白 neutral

Otherwise he wouldn't be hanging around at the palace with Venna and the other important people in First City

不然他也不会和薇娜，还有第一城那些大人物们一起待在王宫里了。

旁白 neutral

" I expected the spell to lead me to Fardark," Maff went on." That's a terrible world where — "

"我原以为咒语会把我带去法达克。"马夫继续说，"那是个可怕的世界，那里——"

旁白 neutral

" We know," Zann broke in." We've been there."

"我们知道。"赞插话道，"我们去过那里。"

旁白 neutral

Perda shuddered." Yes. Wyssa had threatened to feed Morb to a scatter beast."

佩达打了个哆嗦。"是的。威莎曾威胁要把莫布喂给散射兽。"

旁白 neutral

" I thought that was her plan too," Maff said." But instead I ended up on Skellia."

"我也以为那是她的计划。"马夫说，"但我却来到了斯凯利亚星。"

旁白 neutral

" So Ello — I mean Morb — was telling us the truth?" Gliss asked

"这么说艾洛——我是说莫布——跟我们说的是实话？"格丽丝问道。

旁白 neutral

" Wyssa brought Morb along when she rescued the Skellian people?"

"威莎在拯救斯凯利亚人民的时候，把莫布也带上了？"

旁白 neutral

" Not exactly," Maff said." Apparently she left him immobilized in an unpopulated world while she transported the Skellians to their new home

"不完全是。"马夫说，"很明显，她在把斯凯利亚人送到新家园时，把他困在了一个无人的世界里。"

旁白 neutral

Then she retrieved Morb and brought him to Skellia."

然后她才找回了莫布，并把他带到了斯凯利亚星。"

旁白 neutral

" Why?" Zann asked." Did she want to feed him to a gulper?"

"为什么？"赞问道，"她想把他喂给吞噬兽吗？"

旁白 neutral

Maff smiled faintly." I doubt a gulper would be interested. Morb had no magic left."

马夫微微笑了笑。"我觉得吞噬兽不会感兴趣。莫布身上一点魔力都没有了。"

旁白 neutral

" Right," Darb said." Gulpers eat magic. Morb was back to being a Void."

"对。"达布说，"吞噬兽吃魔力。莫布又变回'虚无者'了。"

旁白 neutral

Maff nodded." Wyssa had decided that a scatter beast would provide too quick and merciful an end to Morb," he said

马夫点点头。"威莎认为散射兽会让莫布死得太快、太仁慈了。"他说。

旁白 neutral

" So she decided to strand him on Skellia. She'd discovered that Morb is terrified of deep water and can't swim."

"所以她决定把他困在斯凯利亚星。她发现莫布很怕深水，而且不会游泳。"

旁白 neutral

" Oh!" Now Zann understood Wyssa's plan." So she left him there with no magic, which means no way to reach a wormhole or navigate the vortex."

"哦！"赞现在明白了威莎的计划。"所以她把他留在那里，没有魔力，意味着他没办法到达虫洞，也没法在漩涡中航行。"

旁白 neutral

" Exactly," Maff confirmed." There was only a small island left, and the waters were still rising

"完全正确。"马夫确认道，"那里只剩下一座小岛，而水位还在不断上涨。"

旁白 neutral

She knew that eventually he would drown, but that he'd have plenty of time to ponder his own demise in the meantime."

她知道他最终会淹死，但与此同时，他也将有足够的时间去琢磨自己是怎么完蛋的。"

旁白 neutral

" Wow, that's horrible," Gliss said. She glanced at the others." Even for Morb."

"哇，太可怕了。"格丽丝说着，瞥了其他人一眼。"就算是对莫布来说也太可怕了。"

旁白 neutral

" Yeah." Zann shuddered." So then you found him there?" he asked Maff

"是啊。"赞打了个哆嗦。"所以，你就在那里找到了他？"他问马夫。

旁白 neutral

" That's right," Maff said." He begged me to take him away from Skellia

"没错。"马夫说，"他求我把他从斯凯利亚星带走。"

旁白 neutral

I wouldn't do that — he still had to pay for his crimes

我没答应——他必须得为自己犯下的罪行付出代价。

旁白 neutral

But I couldn't help taking pity on him. I didn't want him to die."

但我还是忍不住可怜他。我不想让他死。”

旁白 neutral

" So you created that houseboat," Zann said

“所以你就造了那艘船屋，”赞说。

旁白 neutral

" Yes. I also provided him with a pair of infused gloves

“是的。我还给了他一双注魔手套。

旁白 neutral

They contained just enough self-refreshing magic to allow Morb to create food and other basic necessities."

手套里刚好含有能自我更新的魔法，足够让莫布制造食物和其他基本必需品。”

旁白 neutral

" Self-refreshing magic?" Perda sounded curious." What do you mean?"

“自我更新的魔法？”佩达听起来很好奇。“什么意思？”

旁白 neutral

" It's a very simple type of off-world magic," Maff explained." It's rather weak though

“那是一种非常简单的异界魔法，”马夫解释道，“不过相当微弱。

旁白 neutral

That's why I chose it, given Morb's, er, talents for manipulating magic."

考虑到莫布在操控魔法方面的‘天赋’，这正是我选择它的原因。”

旁白 neutral

" Wow," Gliss said." Now a bunch of stuff makes a lot more sense."

“哇，”格丽丝说，“这下好多事情都说得通了。”

旁白 neutral

" But not all of it," Zann added." Morb only had a weak pair of infused gloves

“但还不是全部，”赞补充道。“莫布只有一双微弱的注魔手套。

旁白 neutral

So how was he able to do Masking spells and send me weird messages from another world?"

那他怎么能施展隐匿咒，还能从另一个世界给我发那些奇怪的信息？”

旁白 neutral

" Good question," Perda said." Masking spells take a lot of magic energy. At least that's what the books say

“问得好，”佩达说。“隐匿咒需要消耗大量魔法能量。至少书上是这么说的。

旁白 neutral

And who knows what kind of spell he used to communicate with Zann."

谁知道他用的是什么咒语跟赞沟通的。”

旁白 neutral

" I have no idea." Maff shrugged." I thought I'd considered every possibility, but clearly my brother is even cleverer than I realized

“我也不知道。”马夫耸耸肩。“我本以为考虑到了所有可能性，但显然我兄弟比我想象的还要聪明。

旁白 neutral

He must have harnessed some sort of native Skellian magic source to increase the gloves' power."

他一定是利用了某种斯凯利亚本地的魔法源来增强手套的力量。”

旁白 neutral

" Maybe he caught a gulper or something," Perda suggested

“也许他抓了一只阔嘴兽什么的，”佩达猜测道。

旁白 neutral

Darb winced." I hope not," he said." Or if he did, I hope he treated it better than he did those blue leeches he brought here."

达布皱起了眉头。“希望不是，”他说。“就算抓了，也希望他对待它比对待带到这里来的那些蓝色水蛭好一些。”

旁白 neutral

Zann was a little surprised that Darb was so concerned about the gulpers, which were kind of scary

赞有点惊讶达布这么关心那些有点吓人的阔嘴兽。

旁白 neutral

But Darb did love all animals, from panic bugs to the biggest, nastiest dragons

但达布确实热爱所有动物，从恐慌虫到最大最凶的龙。

旁白 neutral

" This is looking bad," Gliss declared in a shaky voice." We have to tell someone that Morb is on the loose!"

“情况看起来不妙，”格丽丝用颤抖的声音宣布。“我们必须告诉别人莫布逃出来了！”

旁白 neutral

" Who can we tell?" Perda said." First City is in chaos. Nobody even knows where the king and queen have gone!"

“我们能告诉谁呢？”佩达说。“第一城一片混乱。甚至没人知道国王和王后去了哪里！”

旁白 neutral

" Yeah, and my parents and Boz wouldn't even listen to us," Zann said

“是啊，而且我父母和波兹根本不愿听我们解释，”赞说。

旁白 neutral

" That is, before they got tossed in the dungeon."

“那还是在他们被扔进地牢之前。”

旁白 neutral

He looked at Maff." Do you think you could get us in to see them?"

他看向马夫。“你觉得你能带我们去见他们吗？”

旁白 neutral

" Are you sure that's a good idea?" Gliss said." What if the guards throw us in a cell too?"

“你确定这是个好主意吗？”格丽丝说。“万一守卫把我们也扔进牢房怎么办？”

旁白 neutral

" It might be worth the risk," Maff said." Boz and Teplo might have a good idea for stopping Morb."

“也许值得冒这个险，”马夫说。“波兹和特普洛或许有阻止莫布的好主意。”

旁白 neutral

" You mean you don't know how to stop him?" Perda said

“你是说你不知道怎么阻止他？”佩达说。

旁白 neutral

Maff shook his head and looked grim

马夫摇了摇头，神情严峻。

旁白 neutral

" I'm sorry, I don't. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes if someone else has a plan."

“抱歉，我不知道。但如果别人有计划，我愿意不惜一切代价。”

旁白 neutral

Zann stared at Maff in alarm. If Morb's own brother didn't know how to stop him, what chance did they have?

赞惊恐地盯着马夫。如果连莫布自己的兄弟都不知道如何阻止他，他们还有什么机会？

旁白 neutral

But he tried not to lose hope." Okay, let's go to the dungeon," he said

但他尽量不失去希望。“好吧，我们去地牢，”他说。