164 重回水井

旁白 neutral

Perda stared at Zira, thinking about what Mellis had just said

about not trusting her.

旁白 neutral

" Er, nothing," she said

“呃，没什么，”她说。

旁白 neutral

But Vilkor rushed over to Zira, clutching the purple fruit." Look!" he cried

但维尔科冲到齐拉面前，紧握着紫色果实。“快看！”他喊道。

旁白 neutral

" Everything is growing! And it's all because of my new well!"

“所有东西都在生长！这全是因为我的新井！”

旁白 neutral

Zann leaned closer to Perda." So much for keeping everything

a secret," he whispered.

旁白 neutral

" I guess Vilkor is too excited to stay quiet."

“我看维尔科是太兴奋了，根本忍不住不说。”

旁白 neutral

Perda nodded, though she was only half listening to Zann

佩尔达点了点头，但她只是心不在焉地听着赞恩说话。

旁白 neutral

She was still watching Zira

她仍在注视着齐拉。

旁白 neutral

The woman listened to Vilkor's babbled explanation and then looked around

那女人听完了维尔科含糊不清的解释，然后环顾四周。

旁白 neutral

Perda saw something in her gaze change

佩尔达察觉到她的眼神有了某种变化。

旁白 neutral

" There's something about her eyes," Perda thought

“她的眼神有点不对劲，”佩尔达心想。

旁白 neutral

" They look suspicious, like she's plotting something."

“它们看起来鬼鬼祟祟的，好像在密谋什么。”

旁白 neutral

" I see," Zira said, her voice suddenly less confused and more amiable

“我明白了。”齐拉说，她的声音突然不那么困惑了，反而显得更亲切。

旁白 neutral

" Congratulations on your good fortune, dear friend." She patted Vilkor's arm

“祝贺你好运，亲爱的朋友。”她拍了拍维尔科的手臂。

旁白 neutral

" Perhaps if you show me this magical well, I can help you protect

it from the greed of others."

旁白 neutral

" Thanks, Zira." Vilkor grinned at her." You've always been a true friend to me

“谢谢你，齐拉。”维尔科对她咧嘴一笑。“你一直是我真正的朋友。

旁白 neutral

That's no surprise, as the two of us are clearly the smartest people

in the village. Here—have a new hat."

旁白 neutral

He rubbed his hands together. A moment later another fancy hat appeared

他搓了搓手。片刻后，另一顶漂亮的帽子出现了。

旁白 neutral

Zira stared at it and then glanced at Vilkor's hands

齐拉盯着帽子，然后扫了一眼维尔科的手。

旁白 neutral

Perda could see what the woman was thinking

佩尔达能看出这女人在想什么。

旁白 neutral

She was noting exactly what Vilkor had done to make the hat appear

她在仔细观察维尔科到底做了什么，让帽子凭空出现。

旁白 neutral

" Thank you, Vilkor," Zira said." Now, shall we visit your well?"

“谢谢你，维尔科，”齐拉说。“那，我们去参观一下你的井吧？”

旁白 neutral

Zann leaned closer to Perda again." Let's go with them," he whispered eagerly

扎恩又凑到佩尔达身边。“我们跟他们一起去吧，”他急切地小声说。

旁白 neutral

" Now that there's all this magic energy around, I bet we can

open the wormhole and go home."

旁白 neutral

" I suppose you're right." Perda couldn't shake the idea

that Zira might be planning trouble.

旁白 neutral

" Mellis said she didn't trust Zira though. What if she tries something sneaky?"

“不过梅利斯说过，她不信任齐拉。万一她想搞什么小动作呢？”

旁白 neutral

Zann shrugged." Like what? Now that magic is spreading

in this world, nobody can control it."

旁白 neutral

" I guess that's true," Perda said." Maybe we should give Mellis

a few more magic lessons before we leave though."

旁白 neutral

" Sure," Zann said." But let's make it quick

“当然，”扎恩说。“但我们得抓紧时间。”

旁白 neutral

We've already been missing for more than a day, and I'm sure

our families and friends are worried."

旁白 neutral

Perda nodded. She wondered how long it had taken Darb and Gliss to rush back

to the lab and tell everyone about the weird new wormhole in Wormwood.

旁白 neutral

Would Nax and Asta try to come through it to rescue her and Zann?

纳克斯和阿斯塔会不会试图穿过它来救她和扎恩呢？

旁白 neutral

She pushed aside those thoughts as she realized Vilkor was pointing at them

当她意识到维尔科正指向他们时，她把这些念头推到一边。

旁白 neutral

He was telling Zira how they'd arrived suddenly

at the farmhouse, seemingly out of thin air.

旁白 neutral

" You did that with magic, right?" Vilkor said

“你们是用魔法做到的，对吧？”维尔科说。

旁白 neutral

" Perhaps that magic would save us from needing to walk

all the way to the well?"

旁白 neutral

" Sure," Zann said." We can zap there immediately."

“当然，”扎恩说。“我们可以立刻传送到那儿。”

旁白 neutral

Perda could tell he was about to explain how to do it

佩尔达看得出，他正打算解释怎么做。

旁白 neutral

" Join hands," she said before he could say anything else

“手拉上手，”她在他再说别的之前说道。

旁白 neutral

" Zann and I will transport everyone to the well."

“扎恩和我会把大家传送到井边去。”

旁白 neutral

Zira looked curious, and Vilkor looked a little nervous

齐拉看上去很好奇，维尔科则看起来有点紧张。

旁白 neutral

But they did as Perda said. Soon all five of them were holding

hands in a line, with Zann and Perda at either end.

旁白 neutral

Zann held onto Zing's tail with his free hand

扎恩用他空着的那只手抓住了兹的尾巴。

旁白 neutral

" Ready?" Perda said. She rubbed her free hand against her side." Zap!"

“准备好了吗？”佩尔达说。她用空着的那只手蹭了蹭自己的身侧。“嗖！”

旁白 neutral

When they landed, the adults immediately started babbling

about the Zap. But Perda barely heard them.

旁白 neutral

The place looked so different! There were more shrubs and trees now

这地方看起来真不一样了！现在有了更多的灌木丛和树木。

旁白 neutral

And the original tree wasn't a scraggly sapling anymore

而且那棵最初的树也不再是瘦弱的小树苗了。

旁白 neutral

It had grown into a strong, medium-size tree, large enough to shade the well

它已经长成了一棵健壮的中等大小的树，树荫足以遮蔽那口井。

旁白 neutral

The well itself was now filled with sparkling, rainbow-colored water

那口井里现在盛满了闪闪发光的彩虹色的水。

旁白 neutral

" Is that water?" Vilkor asked." It looks strange!"

“那是水吗？”维尔科问，“看起来好奇怪！”

旁白 neutral

Perda saw that he was still clutching the pottery cup he'd created earlier

佩尔达看到他仍然紧握着他之前变出来的那个陶杯。

旁白 neutral

" Scoop some out," she said. She was a little curious about the colorful water

“舀一点出来，”她说。她对这彩色的井水有点好奇。

旁白 neutral

" You should be able to tell if it's regular water by the taste."

“尝一尝，应该就能知道是不是普通的水了。”

旁白 neutral

" I'm not tasting that!" Vilkor looked alarmed." What if it's

poisoned or enchanted with evil spells?"

旁白 neutral

Zira stepped forward." I'll taste it."

齐拉走上前来。“我来尝。”

旁白 neutral

She snatched the pottery cup from Vilkor's hand and then

dipped it into the overflowing well.

旁白 neutral

She lifted the cup toward her lips

她把杯子举到唇边。

旁白 neutral

Before she was able to take a sip, the cup cracked down the side

可还没来得及喝一口，杯壁就裂开了一道缝。

旁白 neutral

" Oh, dear," Vilkor said as the water dribbled onto the ground

“哎呀，”维尔科看着水滴滴答答淌到地上，说道。

旁白 neutral

Zira frowned." Perhaps you were right after all, Vilkor."

She tossed the cup away.

旁白 neutral

" There's something very wrong with this water

Perhaps dangerously so."

旁白 neutral

Perda stared at the cracked cup on the ground

佩尔达盯着地上那只有裂缝的杯子。

旁白 neutral

For some reason it looked vaguely familiar, but she

didn't spend much time thinking about that.

旁白 neutral

She was focused on Zira

她正全神贯注地盯着齐拉。

旁白 neutral

" Am I imagining things," she thought, or had the woman

squeezed the cup with her hand to make it crack?

旁白 neutral

" What good is a well if you can't drink the water?" Vilkor complained

“不能喝的水，这井还有什么用？”维尔科抱怨道。

旁白 neutral

He glared at Mellis as if he blamed her for the whole situation

他瞪着梅利斯，好像这事儿都怪她似的。

旁白 neutral

Zann rolled his eyes." He still doesn't get it," he whispered to Perda

扎恩翻了个白眼。“他还没明白，”他小声对佩尔达说。

旁白 neutral

Before Perda could answer, Zira spoke again." Never mind that

my friend," she said to Vilkor.

旁白 neutral

" We'll get to the bottom of it. In the meantime we should post guards

immediately to keep everyone else away until we figure out what's—"

旁白 neutral

She was interrupted by a wild howl that sent chills down Perda's spine

一声狂野的嚎叫打断了她，听得佩尔达脊背发凉。

旁白 neutral

A moment later a creature Perda had never seen before

stepped into view from behind a shrub.

旁白 neutral

It was the size of a small human, covered in rough brown fur

它有小孩那么大，浑身长着粗糙的棕色毛发。

旁白 neutral

Sharp, crooked teeth stuck out of a wide mouth that was dripping with slime

一张大嘴淌着黏液，参差不齐的尖牙龇在外面。

旁白 neutral

The creature walked on four legs, though its crooked hind legs were much shorter

than its forelegs, which barely touched the ground as it lurched along.

旁白 neutral

Mellis gasped in terror." Oh, no!" she cried." A gorzog!"

梅利斯吓得倒吸一口凉气。“哦，不！”她叫道，“是戈佐格！”