064 做交易

旁白 neutral

" You found a wormhole?" Zann exclaimed." In Swamp Bottom?"

“你找到了一个虫洞？”赞恩惊呼道，“在沼泽底部？”

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" Uh-huh." Perda looked pleased with herself

“嗯哼。”珀达看起来对自己很满意。

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" See, I've been practicing some spells since we got home

“你看，自从我们回家后，我一直在练习一些咒语。

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Mostly Seeking spells and a few others." She shrugged

主要是探测咒，还有其他几个。”她耸了耸肩。

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" I've been thinking I might want to be an explorer someday, so I want to be ready."

“我一直在想，也许有一天我想当个探险家，所以我想做好准备。”

旁白 neutral

Zann was surprised. Since when did Perda want to be an explorer?

赞恩很惊讶。珀达什么时候想当探险家了？

旁白 neutral

But he didn't have time to think about that right now

但他此刻没时间想这个。

旁白 neutral

" So what happened?" he asked." How did you find the wormhole?"

“那么发生了什么？”他问，“你是怎么发现那个虫洞的？”

旁白 neutral

" I was using the Seeking spell to find the strongest sources of magic in Swamp Bottom," Perda said

“我用了探测咒，想找到沼泽底部最强的魔法源，”珀达说。

旁白 neutral

" Mostly the spell pointed me to the spots I expected — City Hall, your house, the spellstone quarry, places like that

“咒语多半把我引向了我预料中的地方——市政厅、你家、魔法石采石场，像那样的地点。

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But there was one source I couldn't identify

但有一个来源我无法识别。

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I went and checked it out, and that's when I found the wormhole."

我过去查看了一下，就在那时我发现了虫洞。”

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" Wow!" Zann was impressed. Seeking spells were advanced magic — he didn't have any idea how to perform one himself

“哇！”赞恩很佩服。探测咒是高级魔法——他自己根本不知道该怎么施展。

旁白 neutral

" And you're sure it's a wormhole?" he added

“你确定那是虫洞吗？”他补充问道。

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" Of course I'm sure! It's small and kind of unstable-looking

“我当然确定！它很小，看上去有点不稳定。

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It's probably brand-new, which is why nobody else has noticed it yet."

它大概是新出现的，所以还没有别人注意到它。”

旁白 neutral

Zann's head spun. This changed everything!

赞恩的头晕乎乎的。这改变了一切！

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" You have to show me," he said

“你得带我去看看，”他说。

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" I will." Perda smiled." But only if you'll let me come with you."

“我会的。”珀达笑了。“但前提是你要让我跟你一起去。”

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" Come with me? You mean, through the wormhole?"

“跟我一起去？你是说，穿过虫洞？”

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" Yes." Perda's eyes shone with excitement

“是的。”珀达的眼睛闪烁着兴奋的光芒。

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" I want to see what the vortex is like

“我想看看漩涡是什么样子的。

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I want to help you search all those other worlds."

我想帮你探索那些其他的世界。”

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Zann shook his head." I can't let you come. It's too dangerous!"

赞恩摇了摇头。“我不能让你来。这太危险了！”

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Perda folded her arms." I don't care if it's dangerous

珀达抱起胳膊。“我才不管危不危险。

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That's my deal. Take it or leave it."

这是我的条件。爱来不来吧。”

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Zann bit his lip. For a second he was tempted to agree to her deal

赞恩咬着嘴唇。有那么一瞬间，他想答应她的条件。

旁白 neutral

Perda was smart and brave and good at magic

珀达聪明、勇敢，魔法又强。

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It could be helpful to have her along

带上她说不定能帮上忙。

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Then Zann remembered all the adventures they'd been through together lately

可紧接着，赞恩想起了他们近来一起经历的所有冒险。

旁白 neutral

No, he couldn't put Perda in that kind of danger again

不，他不能再让珀达陷入那种危险了。

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This was his quest, and he should be the only one to take the risks

这是他的任务，风险应该由他一个人承担。

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Still, he couldn't pass up this chance to find a wormhole close to home

不过，他也不能放过这个在离家这么近的地方发现虫洞的机会。

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" It's a deal," he said, trying to sound sincere." You can come along."

“一言为定，”他尽量让语气听起来真诚，“你可以一起来。”

旁白 neutral

" Cool!" Perda grinned

“太棒了！”珀达咧嘴一笑。

旁白 neutral

Zann forced a smile, though he already felt guilty. He hated lying to Perda

赞恩勉强笑了笑，尽管他已经感到心虚。他讨厌对珀达撒谎。

旁白 neutral

And he knew she was going to be furious when she figured out that he'd tricked her

而且他知道，等她发现被他骗了，一定会大发雷霆。

旁白 neutral

But what other choice did he have?

可他还有什么别的办法呢？

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He just had to hope that she would forgive him someday

他只能指望有朝一日她会原谅自己。

旁白 neutral

" Let's go check out the wormhole," he said

“我们去看看那个虫洞吧，”他说。

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" Right now?" She sounded surprised." Shouldn't we gather some supplies first?

“现在就去？”她听起来很惊讶。“我们不是应该先收集一些补给吗？”

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Professor Huli says some other worlds don't have the same kind of magic we do

胡利教授说有些异世界没有我们这样的魔法。

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So we can't count on just creating anything we need, like food or extra clothes."

所以我们不能指望凭空变出需要的东西，比如食物或备用衣物。”

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" Oh, we aren't going right now." Zann thought fast

“哦，我们不是现在就去。”赞恩飞快地想着对策。

旁白 neutral

" We should go tomorrow after school. That will give us plenty of time to gather supplies."

“我们明天放学后再去。这样就有充足的时间准备补给了。”

旁白 neutral

" Tomorrow?" Perda frowned." Why not later today?"

“明天？”珀达皱起眉。“为什么不是今天晚些时候？”

旁白 neutral

" Um, well, it might take some time to find the supplies we need. We don't want to rush."

“呃，这个嘛，可能需要花点时间才能找齐我们需要的东西。我们可不想太仓促。”

旁白 neutral

Perda didn't say anything for a second. Zann held his breath

珀达一时没有说话。赞恩屏住了呼吸。

旁白 neutral

He needed her to think they were really going tomorrow

他得让她以为他们明天真的要出发。

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That would give him plenty of time to sneak back to the wormhole later today

这样他就有足够的时间今天晚些时候偷偷溜回虫洞那里了。

旁白 neutral

" Okay, I guess that makes sense," she said at last." We'll go tomorrow."

“好吧，我想这说得通，”她最后说道，“我们明天去。”

旁白 neutral

" Great. Now where is it?"

“太好了。那它在哪儿？”

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" It's this way." Perda zapped them both out of the swamp

“这边走。”珀达一记魔法传送，把他们俩带出了沼泽。

旁白 neutral

They landed on the street a few blocks from Zann's house

他们落在了离赞恩家几个街区的一条街上。

旁白 neutral

From there they walked to a wooded area at the edge of town

从那里，他们走到了小镇边上的一片林地。

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In the middle of a small clearing was a ripple of magic energy

在一小片空地的中央，有一阵魔法能量的波动。

旁白 neutral

When Zann and Perda stepped closer, it opened into a wormhole!

当赞恩和珀达走近时，它打开成了一个虫洞！

旁白 neutral

" Wow," Zann said, staring at it

“哇，”赞恩盯着它说。

旁白 neutral

It was small, just as Perda had said — much smaller than the ones in First City

它很小，正如珀达所说——比第一城的那些要小得多。

旁白 neutral

The edges sparked and swirled wildly, and the opening changed size and shape every few seconds

它的边缘跳跃不定，疯狂地盘旋着，洞口的大小和形状每隔几秒钟就变幻一次。

旁白 neutral

Zann jumped back as the wormhole let out a small burst of magic energy, sucking in some fallen leaves

虫洞突然释放出一小股魔法能量，吸进了一些落叶，赞恩吓得往后一跳。

旁白 neutral

Perda took a step closer." Are you sure you don't want to go today?"

珀达走近了一步。“你确定今天不想去吗？”

旁白 neutral

" I'm sure," Zann said quickly." Let's each pack a bag to take with us, and then hide the bags in the swamp

“我确定，”赞恩飞快地说。“我们各自收拾一个要带的背包，然后把包藏在沼泽里。

旁白 neutral

We can meet there after school tomorrow."

明天放学后我们在那儿碰头。”

旁白 neutral

" Zann! Come here, please!" Boz called

“赞恩！请过来一下！”波兹喊道。

旁白 neutral

Zann was in his room stuffing things into a backpack

赞恩正在自己房间里往背包里塞东西。

旁白 neutral

He shoved it under his bed and hurried out of the room

他把包塞到床底下，匆匆跑出了房间。

旁白 neutral

Boz was standing near the front door

波兹正站在前门附近。

旁白 neutral

" What is it?" Zann tried to sound normal even though he was nervous

“什么事？”赞恩尽管心里紧张，还是努力让声音听起来正常。

旁白 neutral

Could Boz have figured out what was going on?

波兹会不会已经察觉到了什么？

旁白 neutral

But Boz looked distracted, as usual lately

但波兹看起来心不在焉，就像最近常有的样子。

旁白 neutral

" I have a meeting with the mayor," he said." But I'll be home for dinner."

“我和市长有个会要开，”他说。“但我会回家吃晚饭。”

旁白 neutral

" Okay," Zann said." I'll see you then."

“好的，”赞恩说。“那到时候见。”

旁白 neutral

" Good." Boz smiled at him." We've both been so busy since returning from the capital that I feel I've hardly seen you

“好。”波兹对他笑了笑。“从首都回来后，我们俩都太忙了，我感觉几乎没怎么见到你。

旁白 neutral

Perhaps we can finally have that talk this evening."

也许今晚我们终于可以好好谈谈了。”

旁白 neutral

Boz zapped out of sight, and Zann slumped with relief

波兹瞬间消失了，赞恩松了一口气，瘫软下来。

旁白 neutral

This could be his chance to go back to that wormhole

这可能是他回到那个虫洞的机会。

旁白 neutral

He just had one thing to do first

他只是有件事得先做。

旁白 neutral

" Come on, boy." Zann whistled for Zing." Let's go see Darb."

“来吧，小家伙。”赞恩吹口哨叫上Zing。“我们去见达布。”

旁白 neutral

Zing stared at him and let out a puff of smoke

Zing盯着他，吐出了一小团烟。

旁白 neutral

But the dragon stayed where he was

但这只龙待在原地没动。

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" What's wrong with you?" Zann said impatiently, grabbing Zing." Let's go!"

“你怎么了？”赞恩不耐烦地说着，一把抓住Zing。“我们走！”

旁白 neutral

Zann snapped his fingers and zapped out of the house

赞恩打了个响指，瞬间从屋子里消失了。

旁白 neutral

Once Zing was safe with Darb, there would be nothing standing in Zann's way

只要Zing安全地和达布待在一起，赞恩就没什么阻碍了。