12 Ch12-Fire with Fire

CHAPTER TWELVE Fire With Fire The four real Keepers of the Cauldron crawled closer to Jack and Annie, hissing and snorting blue fire. "What do we do now?" whispered Annie. "I don't know," said Jack. "We're trapped." "I have an idea," whispered Annie. "Let's drink the water."

第十二章火与火相生，四个真正的坩埚守护者慢慢靠近杰克和安妮，嘶嘶作响，喷着蓝色的火焰。 “我们现在怎么办?”安妮小声说。 “我不知道，”杰克说。 “我们被困。”“我有个主意，”安妮小声说。 “我们喝点水吧。”

"What?" said Jack. "It's the Water of Memory and Imagination, right?" said Annie. "So maybe if we drink it, we can imagine a way to escape!" "That's crazy," said Jack. The Keepers crawled closer, snorting more blue flame and filling the air with their rotten stench. "Okay, okay, let's try it," said Jack. Annie took a sip from the silver cup, then handed it to Jack. His hands trembled as he held the cup to his lips and took a sip. The water tasted sweet, bitter, and spicy, all at the same time. Jack gave the cup back to Annie. "Now imagine we're saved!" she said.

“什么?”杰克说。“是回忆与想象之水，对吧?”安妮说。 “所以也许如果我们喝了它，我们可以想象一种逃脱的方法!”“这太疯狂了，”杰克说。 守卫们爬得更近了，喷着更多的蓝色火焰，空气中充满了腐烂的恶臭。 “好吧，好吧，我们试试。”杰克说。 安妮从银杯里喝了一口，然后递给杰克。 他把杯子举到嘴边，抿了一口，双手颤抖着。 这水同时尝起来有甜、有苦、有辣。 杰克把杯子还给了安妮。 “现在想象我们得救了!”她说。

Jack closed his eyes. He tried to imagine being saved. He pictured the four Keepers crawling back through their doorways. "Okay. Ready to fight?" said Annie. Jack opened his eyes. "What? Fight?" Annie set the silver cup on the floor. "Now!" she said. Suddenly, Jack felt like he'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. His fears slipped away. He was filled with strength and fury. Without thinking, he lunged with Annie toward the wood fire under the cauldron. They each grabbed two long, straight branches from the edge of the fire. They raised them high in the air. The

杰克闭上了眼睛。他试着想象自己被拯救了。 他想象着四个守卫从门口爬回来。 “好吧。准备好战斗了吗?”安妮说。 杰克睁开眼睛。“什么? 战斗?”安妮把银杯放在地板上。 “现在!”她说。突然，杰克觉得自己像被闪电击中了一样。 他的恐惧消失了。他充满了力量和愤怒。 他想也没想，就和安妮一起朝大锅下面的柴火冲去。 他们每人从火堆边上抓了两根又长又直的树枝。 他们把它们高高举起。 的

branches blazed with purple fire like flaming swords. "AAAHHH!" Jack and Annie shouted.

树枝上闪烁着紫色的火焰，就像燃烧着的剑。 “AAAHHH !”杰克和安妮喊道。

The four Keepers hissed louder than before. Great balls of blue fire exploded from their mouths and nostrils! Jack and Annie slashed the air with their fiery weapons, jabbing at the Keepers. They fought fire with fire, blue flame with purple flame. "Back! Back!" they shouted. With each jab and shout, Jack felt stronger and braver. Waving their burning branches, he and Annie drove the Keepers toward the walls. The Keepers' blue flames grew weaker and weaker, as if they were running out of fuel. Finally, one by one, each Keeper slunk back into the doorway from which it had come.

四个守门员的嘶嘶声比刚才更响了。 巨大的蓝色火球从他们的嘴巴和鼻孔里喷出!杰克和安妮用他们的烈性武器猛砍空中，刺向守卫者。 他们以毒攻毒，蓝焰紫焰。 “回来!回来!”他们喊道。 杰克每挨一拳，每喊一声，都觉得自己更强壮、更勇敢了。 他和安妮挥舞着燃烧的树枝，把守门人赶向墙边。 “守护者”的蓝色火焰越来越弱，好像燃料用光了。 最后，每个守卫都一个接一个地溜回了自己出来的门口。

When all the Keepers had disappeared, Jack and Annie placed a burning branch in front of each of the four doorways to keep the monsters from coming back out. Then they brushed off their hands. "Let's go," Annie said coolly. Jack nodded. Annie carefully picked up the silver cup of water from the cauldron. Then she and Jack squeezed through the narrow crack and strode through the bright crystal cave. They stepped out into the daylight. The glass key was still in the keyhole.

当所有的守卫都消失后，杰克和安妮在四个门口各放了一根燃烧的树枝，以防怪物再出来。 然后他们把手刷掉。 “我们走吧，”安妮冷冷地说。 杰克点了点头。安妮小心翼翼地从坩埚里拿起盛着水的银杯。 然后她和杰克挤过狭窄的裂缝，大步穿过明亮的水晶洞。 他们走到外面的日光下。 玻璃钥匙还在锁孔里。