167 薄饼与阴谋

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Zann woke up the next morning to the sound of a bird

singing outside the window.

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For a second he thought he was back in Swamp Bottom

有那么一瞬间，他以为自己回到了沼泽地。

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The bird's song sounded a lot like one he'd heard most mornings there

这鸟儿的歌声，听起来很像他在那里大多数早晨听到的那种。

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But when he opened his eyes, he sighed." I'm still in Terrica," he thought

但他睁开眼时，叹了口气。“我还在泰瑞卡，”他想。

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He sat up and looked out the window, but the bird was

hidden in a lush tree outside.

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" I guess birds are similar in every world," he said with a yawn

“我猜每个世界的鸟都差不多，”他打着哈欠说。

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The room was empty. Zann dressed quickly and then

headed out to the main room.

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He found Perda and Mellis eating breakfast at the table

他发现佩尔达和梅丽丝正在桌旁吃早餐。

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" Here's something you might like," Perda was saying

“这儿有你可能会喜欢的东西，”佩尔达正说着。

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She snapped her fingers, and a platter of puckerberry pancakes appeared

她打了个响指，一盘酸莓煎饼就出现了。

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Mellis took a bite." Wow!" she said

梅丽丝咬了一口。“哇！”她说。

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" These taste a lot better than porridge."

“这些比粥好吃多了。”

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Zann joined the girls at the table

赞恩在桌旁和女孩们坐在一起。

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" After breakfast, we'll give you a few more magic lessons," he said

“早餐后，我们会再给你上几堂魔法课，”他说。

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" Then Perda and I can head to the wormhole."

“然后佩尔达和我就可以去虫洞了。”

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Mellis took another bite of the pancakes

梅丽丝又咬了一口煎饼。

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" My friend Anso from the village loves sweet things," she said

“我村里的朋友安索很喜欢甜食，”她说。

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" Will you teach him to make some of these foods before you leave?"

“你们走之前，能教他做这些食物吗？”

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" Sure," Perda said." We'll zap to the village after we finish eating

“当然，”佩尔达说。“我们吃完就飞去村子。

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We'll teach you and your friends everything you want to know."

我们会教你和你的朋友们所有你们想知道的。”

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" No, you won't." Vilkor strode into the room just in time to hear her

“不，你不能去。”维尔科大步走进房间，正好听见她的话。

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Zira was right behind him." We don't want you to tell anyone about magic."

齐拉紧跟在他身后。“我们不希望你向任何人提起魔法的事情。”

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" What?" Zann traded a confused look with Perda and Mellis

“什么？”赞恩和佩尔达、梅丽丝面面相觑。

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" It's not like magic is a secret. Everybody can see that things are changing."

“魔法又不是秘密。大家都看得到周围的变化。”

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" They see only that plants are growing and there's more water around," Zira said

“他们只看到植物在生长，水源变多了，”齐拉说。

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" They don't know why. And it's better that way."

“他们不知道原因。而且这样更好。”

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" What do you mean?" Zann asked

“你这话是什么意思？”赞恩问道。

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Vilkor's eyes gleamed." Who knows what would happen if

everyone could use magic?" he said.

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" It's better for everyone if Zira and I are in charge

“由齐拉和我来负责掌管，对大家都好。

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We can provide magical services for anyone who needs them."

我们可以为任何有需要的人提供魔法服务。”

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" Right," Zira said." It's safer if only Vilkor and I and perhaps

a few additional people—"

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" What?" Vilkor glanced at her." We didn't talk about including anyone else."

“什么？”维尔科瞥了她一眼，“我们可没商量过要包括其他人。”

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Zira patted his arm." Not yet. First, we need to determine how far

this magic energy has spread from the well.

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If it has reached beyond our village, we'll need local deputies

in other villages to help control—er, I mean, manage things."

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" That's not fair," Perda said with a frown." Magic should be for everyone

“这不公平，”佩尔达皱着眉头说，“魔法应该属于每个人。

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Besides, people will figure it out on their own soon enough."

再说，大家自己很快也会弄明白的。”

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Zira narrowed her eyes at Zann and Perda

齐拉眯起眼睛盯着赞恩和佩尔达。

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" Weren't you visitors talking about going back to your own world?"

“你们这些访客不是一直说要回自己的世界吗？”

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Vilkor laughed." Stop humoring them with this silly talk of other worlds."

维尔科笑了起来。“别再拿什么别的世界的傻话逗他们了。”

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" Well, wherever they came from, I think they should return there soon," Zira said

“唉，不管他们是从哪儿来的，我觉得都应该尽快回去。”齐拉说。

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" Or what?" Perda demanded

“不然呢？”佩尔达质问道。

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Vilkor frowned." How dare you speak so insolently, girl!"

维尔科皱起眉头。“姑娘，你怎敢如此傲慢无礼！”

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Zira didn't say a word to Perda, but Zann saw her gray

eyes grow narrow. A second later Perda gasped.

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" Let's get out of here," Perda said

“我们离开这儿吧。”佩尔达说。

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She grabbed Zann and Mellis and dragged them toward the door

她一把抓住赞恩和梅丽丝，拽着他们朝门口走去。

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Once they were outside, Zann turned to face her

"What was that all about?" he asked.

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" I thought you were going to tell Zira off

“我还以为你要训斥齐拉呢。

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Instead you ran away! That's not like you."

结果你却跑了！这可不像你。”

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" I know." Perda slumped onto a bench

“我知道。”佩尔达一屁股坐到一张长椅上。

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" But I was too startled to stay. Zira sent me a mental message!"

“但我实在太吃惊了，没法待下去。齐拉用心灵感应给我传了一句话！”

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Zann was startled now too." But that's really advanced magic!

赞恩现在也吃了一惊。"可那是非常高级的魔法啊！

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We haven't even studied it in school yet."

我们还根本没在学校里学过呢。"

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" I know. I don't know how she did it, but she did." Perda bit her lip

"我知道。我不知道她是怎么做到的，但她确实做到了。"佩尔达咬着嘴唇。

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" She said that if we tell anyone the truth, she'll send

a pack of hungry gorzogs after Mellis!"

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" What?" Mellis cried, looking horrified

"什么？"梅丽丝哭喊道，脸上满是惊恐。

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" Don't worry. We won't let her do that." Perda glanced

at Zann, looking troubled.

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" Normally, mental messages can only be done at very close range

"通常，心灵传信只能在很近的距离内完成。

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I wasn't standing that close to Zira, and I wasn't looking directly at her either

我站得离齐拉没那么近，而且我也没直视她。

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So how was she able to send that message into my mind?"

那她是怎么把那条信息传到我脑子里的呢？"

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Zann thought about that

赞恩思考着这个问题。

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His grandfather, Boz, could send mental messages from

a distance to his Magic Master friends.

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But most ordinary Magicians didn't bother with the difficult spell at all

但大多数普通魔法师根本不会费心去学这种高难度的咒语。

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It was much easier to use message moths or other methods to communicate

用信蛾或其他方法交流要简单得多。

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" Zira is catching on to magic so fast that it's scary," he said

“齐拉掌握魔法的速度快得吓人，”他说道。

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" Do you think she'd really try to hurt Mellis?"

“你觉得她真的会试图伤害梅丽丝吗？”

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" I don't know." Perda stood and grabbed Mellis by the hand

“我不知道。”佩尔达站起身，抓住了梅丽丝的手。

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" But don't worry, Mellis. Zann and I won't leave Terrica

until we're sure you're safe."

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" Th-thanks." Mellis still looked nervous

“谢……谢谢。”梅丽丝看起来仍然很紧张。

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" And we'll figure out a way to make sure those two are going

to share magic with everyone too," Perda said.

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" Do we really need to get involved in that?" Zann asked

“我们真的有必要插手那件事吗？”赞恩问道。

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" Like you said, people will figure it out on their own."

“就像你说的，人们自己会弄明白的。”

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Mellis nodded." You're right. And your families must be

terribly worried about you.

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You should go home. Zira will have no reason to hurt me

if I go along with their plan."

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" But their plan isn't right!" Perda exclaimed

“但他们的计划是不对的！”佩尔达大声说道。

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" I know." Mellis shrugged." But I doubt it will last long

“我知道。”梅丽丝耸耸肩。“但我怀疑这计划持续不了多久。”

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My uncle can be shallow and greedy — and cowardly — but he's not evil

我舅舅可能肤浅、贪婪——还懦弱——但他并不邪恶。

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Besides, he's terrible at keeping a secret." She chuckled

再说了，他根本藏不住秘密。”她轻声笑了起来。

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" He'll probably accidentally tell people about magic before long

“他很可能过不了多久就会不小心把魔法的事说出去。”

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What's the harm in letting him and Zira play magic rulers until then?"

在那之前，让他们两个充当魔法统治者又有什么坏处呢？”

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Zann thought Mellis had a good point. But Perda shook her head

赞恩觉得梅丽丝说得很有道理。但佩尔达摇了摇头。

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" You may be right about your uncle, but I don't trust Zira one bit," she said

“关于你舅舅，你可能说得对，但我一点也不信任齐拉，”她说道。

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" We're staying."

“我们要留下来。”