153 午后计划

旁白 neutral

Zann heard the horror in his father's voice and realized

the book must be very important.

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He leaped toward it, hoping to grab it before Zing charred it

他跳向书，希望在辛把它烧焦之前抓住它。

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But Perda was closer — and faster too

但珀达距离更近——而且速度也更快。

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She yanked the book away a split second before Zing's fiery

breath set the wooden surface of the table aflame.

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" Bad boy, Zing," Asta scolded, snapping her fingers

and magically dousing the fire.

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" Thanks, Perda. That's the only known copy of that book

“谢谢，珀达。那是那本书唯一已知的副本。

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It would have been tricky to restore it, even using magic."

即使使用魔法，要修复它也会很棘手。”

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Zann was relieved that the book was safe

赞松了一口气，因为书安全了。

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The last time Zing had burned something important

Zann had been grounded for a whole week.

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And even though Magicians could do a lot of things with magic

they couldn't do everything.

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That book looked really old, which meant it was possible that nobody

still living had read the entire thing.

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If that was the case, even the most powerful Restore spell

couldn't bring it back if it was destroyed.

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" We should probably get out of here," Zann said, snapping

his fingers to create a dragon harness.

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He grabbed Zing, who struggled and spit flames at him

他抓住辛，辛挣扎着向他喷火。

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But Zann ignored the burns and strapped on the harness

但赞不顾烧伤，把缰绳给辛系上。

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When it was secure, he quickly healed his burns with magic

固定好后，他迅速用魔法治愈了烧伤。

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" Okay, let's go," Darb said, and Gliss nodded

“好了，走吧。”达布说，格莉丝点了点头。

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But Perda seemed to be totally focused on the book she was holding

但珀达似乎全神贯注在她手中的书上。

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" Hey, what is this?" she asked, peering down at the open page

"It looks like a poem or something."

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" We think it's a riddle," Zann's mother replied

“我们认为那是个谜语。”赞的母亲回答。

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" Those words used to be carved into the trunk of the Wormwood tree

“那些话曾经刻在苦艾树的树干上。

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Bark grew over the words long ago

树皮很久以前就长出来盖住了那些字。

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But before that happened, a historian copied it into that book

about the history of Wormwood."

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" That's cool," Zann said." What does the riddle say?"

“真酷，”赞说，“谜语说的是什么？”

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" I'll read it out loud," Perda said. She cleared her throat and then began:

“我来大声念出来，”珀达说。她清了清嗓子，然后开始念道：

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" Bygone days lost to time's haze

“往昔岁月迷失在时间的迷雾中

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Yet visible to careful gaze

然而在细心的注视下可见

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Rooted in the depths of time

植根于时间的深处

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Touch and see — no need to climb."

触摸即见——无需攀爬。”

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" What in the worlds does that mean?" Gliss asked, furrowing

her brow in confusion.

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" We're not sure yet," Nax said

“我们还不确定，”纳克斯说。

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" Zann's mother just found that book buried in an old trunk

in the basement of the university library."

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Asta nodded." I was beginning our research into the Wormwood tree."

阿斯塔点点头。“我刚开始我们对苦艾树的研究。”

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That was enough of an explanation for Zann

这个解释对赞来说足够了。

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He wanted to have fun with the last few hours of his friends' visit

他想趁朋友们来访的最后几小时好好玩一玩。

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He didn't want to hear about another of his parents' work projects

他不想再听父母的工作项目了。

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" So where do you want to go?" he asked his friends

“那你们想去哪儿？”他问朋友们。

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" Maybe we should check out the new other-worlds exhibit at the zoo."

“也许我们该去动物园看看新的异世界展览。”

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" Hold on." Perda was still peering at the book

“等等。”珀达还在盯着书看。

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" May I take a blink image of the riddle? It would be fun

to try to puzzle it out."

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" Sure, go ahead," Nax said with a smile." Let us know

if you have any ideas!"

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Perda held the book up to her face

珀达把书举到面前。

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" Blink," she murmured as she blinked her eyes

“眨眨，”她一边眨眼，一边喃喃自语。

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A second later a sheet of paper appeared

一秒钟后，一张纸凭空出现。

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She grabbed it, folded it, and put it in her pocket

她一把抓住，折好，放进了口袋里。

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Then the kids said good-bye and headed outside

然后，孩子们道别，朝外面走去。

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The rainstorm that had left puddles in the street earlier had

cleared away, and it was a warm, beautiful day.

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" So are we going to the zoo?" Darb asked eagerly

“那我们要去动物园吗？”达布急切地问。

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" We could," Gliss said." But we should probably go to the palace first

“可以去，”格丽丝说。“但或许我们该先去宫殿。

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Venna invited us to visit the next time we came to First City, remember?"

维娜邀请过我们，下次来第一城时去拜访她，还记得吗？”

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Venna had been elected queen of Magica a few months earlier

维娜在几个月前被推选为魔法国的女王。

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Zann and his friends had helped her stop a plot to take over the government

赞和他的朋友们曾帮助她阻止了一次企图接管王国的阴谋。

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Because of that, they were welcome at the palace anytime

正因为如此，他们任何时候都欢迎来王宫。

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Just then a large spotted rat raced past

就在这时，一只带斑点的大老鼠窜了过去。

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Zing whistled and dashed after it

辛一声呼啸，紧跟着冲了过去。

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Zann was taken by surprise and ended up being dragged by the little dragon

赞猝不及防，结果被那只小拽龙拖着跑。

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Zann's friends laughed and chased both of them

赞的朋友们大笑着，追着他们两个跑。

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" Zing, leave that poor rat alone!" Darb cried

“辛，放过那只可怜的老鼠！”达布喊道。

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Zann finally managed to yank his pet to a stop

赞终于设法把他的宠物给拽住了。

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" Now do you see why you weren't allowed to come

with us today?" he said with a grin.

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" Who knows how many new creatures you would have

decided to chase in Mistafar!"

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" Zing could use some exercise," Darb said." Maybe we

should take him to the park."

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Zann nodded. Wandering through one of the city's lovely parks

with his friends sounded like a nice way to spend the afternoon.

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Gliss and Darb would probably hold hands and walk off by themselves

格丽丝和达布很可能会牵着手，自己溜达开了。

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That would leave Zann with Perda, which sounded even nicer

那样就剩下赞和珀达独处，那听起来就更美好了。

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But when he looked at Perda, she was shaking her head

但他看向珀达时，她却在摇头。

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" I have a better idea," she said." Let's go to Wormwood."

“我有个更好的主意，”她说，“我们去苦艾树那儿。”

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" Wormwood?" Gliss wrinkled her nose in distaste." Ugh, why?"

“苦艾树？”格丽丝嫌弃地皱了皱鼻子，“呃，为什么呀？”

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" I want to take a look at the tree." Perda pulled the blink

image out of her pocket.

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" Maybe we can figure out what this riddle means. Wouldn't that be cool?"

“也许我们能弄明白这则谜语的含义。那样不是很酷吗？”

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Zann traded a dubious look with Darb

赞和达布交换了一个猜疑的眼神。

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Staring at the Wormwood tree didn't sound like a very good way

to spend the last few hours of his friends' visit.

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" Well, Perda is the birthday girl," Darb said slowly

“好吧，珀达是今天的小寿星，”达布慢吞吞地说。

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Gliss sighed." That's true. She should get to choose what we do."

格丽丝叹了口气：“那倒是。她应该有权选择我们做什么。”

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She glanced at Perda." Are you sure you really want to go to Wormwood?"

她瞥了一眼珀达。“你确定真的想去苦艾树那儿？”

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" Absolutely." Perda smiled." Thanks, you guys. I'll see you there! Zap."

“当然。”珀达笑着说，“谢谢你们。我们那儿见！瞬移。”

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With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared. Zann shrugged

她打了个响指，就消失了。赞耸了耸肩。

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" Okay, let's go," he said to the others

“好吧，我们走。”他对其他人说。

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" Maybe she'll get bored soon and we can spend the rest

of the day at the zoo or the park."

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He made sure he was holding on tightly to Zing's leash

Then he snapped his fingers and zapped away.