Ch9-The Truth

CHAPTER NINE The Truth The stallion stopped and neighed at the prince. Alexander stood with his legs apart and his arms crossed. He was not smiling. "Hi there!" Annie said. Alexander didn't answer. He glared at Jack and Annie. "I shall have you punished for stealing

第九章真相那匹骏马停下来，对着王子嘶鸣。 亚历山大叉开双腿，交叉双臂站着。 他没有笑。“大家好!”安妮说。 亚历山大没有回答。他怒视着杰克和安妮。 “我要惩罚你偷窃

him," he said. "I have been looking for him everywhere." "We didn't steal him. We just took him out for a ride," said Jack. "Why did he let you two ride him?" Alexander asked. "Of all people?" Jack started to make a comment about Alexander's attitude, but then he made a different decision—he decided to be kind. "Maybe he let us ride him because he knew that you are a friend of ours," he said. The prince looked confused by Jack's answer. "Really?" he asked. Jack nodded. "Well, I suppose that could be possible," Alexander said. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "So where did he take you?" he asked. The anger had left his voice. Now it was filled with curiosity. "We just rode through town and down the main road and around the swamps and fields," said Annie. "I wish you'd been with us!" She swung her leg over the horse's back and slid to the ground.

他，”他说。“我一直在到处找他。” “我们没有偷他。我们只是带它出去兜风，”杰克说。 “他为什么让你们俩骑他？”亚历山大问。 “在所有人中？”杰克开始评论亚历山大的态度，但后来他做了一个不同的决定——他决定做个好人。 “也许他让我们骑他是因为他知道你是我们的朋友，”他说。 王子被杰克的回答弄糊涂了。 “真的吗？”他问。杰克点了点头。 “嗯，我想这是有可能的，”亚历山大说。 他清了清喉咙，深吸了一口气。 “他把你带到哪里去了？” 他的声音里已经没有了愤怒。 现在它充满了好奇心。 “我们只是骑着马穿过城镇，沿着主干道，绕过沼泽和田野，”安妮说。 “我真希望你和我们在一起！”她把腿搭在马背上滑到了地上。

Jack did the same. The stallion neighed and brushed his head against Annie, then Jack. Annie giggled. "That tickles," she said. "How did you tame him?" Alexander asked. "We listened to him," said Jack. "Listened to him?" the prince asked. "What do you mean?" "It was sort of like… we forgot about ourselves and paid total attention to him instead," said Jack. Alexander watched as Annie and Jack stroked the stallion's mane. "My father vows he will not waste his gold on this horse," he said. "But I… I see something very special in him. I believe he is extraordinary." "He is," said Jack. "He's incredibly loyal." "And he has a great heart," said Annie. "I know. I can tell," said Alexander. "Maybe you could tell your father that you will pay for him yourself," suggested Annie. "Do you get an allowance?" "I do not know what that means," said Alexander. "But no matter. I doubt that my father would agree to anything I propose. He has no

杰克也这样做了。那匹公马嘶鸣着，用头蹭着安妮，然后是杰克。 安妮咯咯笑了。“好痒，”她说。 “你是怎么驯服他的？”亚历山大问。 “我们听了他的话，”杰克说。 “听他的话？”王子问。 “你是什么意思？”“这有点像……我们忘记了自己，把全部注意力都放在了他身上，”杰克说。 亚历山大看着安妮和杰克抚摸着种马的鬃毛。 “我父亲发誓他不会在这匹马身上浪费他的金子，”他说。 “但我……我在他身上看到了非常特别的东西。 我相信他是非凡的。” “是的，”杰克说。“他非常忠诚。” “他有一颗伟大的心，”安妮说。 “我知道。我看得出来。”亚历山大说。 “也许你可以告诉你父亲，你会自己付他的钱，”安妮建议道。 “你有零花钱吗？”“我不知道这是什么意思。”亚历山大说。 “不过没关系。我怀疑我父亲不会同意我的任何提议。 他没有

respect for my opinions—or my accomplishments." "Your father is wrong not to give you respect," said Jack, and he meant it. "One day all the history books will call you Alexander the Great." "Are you mocking me?" Alexander said, scowling. "No! It's true, I promise," said Jack. "Believe us," said Annie. "We know." "But listen," said Jack. "Being great doesn't mean you go around bragging about yourself all the time." "Don't tell everyone that you are a living Greek god," said Annie, "or that you're going to be master of the universe." "Or that you are the best athlete in the known world," said Jack. "Just accept that no matter what you can do, you're still a regular human being, a person like everyone else." "Are you insulting me?" said Alexander. "No!" said Jack with a smile. "Stop that! We're all regular human beings. Why don't you just let yourself be a real person for a change and laugh at

尊重我的意见或我的成就。” “你父亲不尊重你是不对的。”杰克说，他是认真的。 “总有一天，所有的历史书都会称你为亚历山大大帝。” “你在嘲笑我吗？”亚历山大皱着眉头说。 “不!这是真的，我保证。”杰克说。 “相信我们，”安妮说。“我们知道。” “听着，”杰克说。“做一个伟大的人并不意味着你要一直到处吹嘘自己。” “不要告诉每个人你是一个活着的希腊神，”安妮说，“或者你将成为宇宙的主宰。” “或者说你是世界上最好的运动员，”杰克说。 “不管你能做什么，你都是一个普通人，一个和其他人一样的人。” “你在侮辱我吗？”亚历山大说。 “不！”杰克笑着说。 “停!我们都是普通人。 你为什么不让自己做一个真正的人，让别人嘲笑你呢

yourself? Be okay with making mistakes and looking like a fool." "Jack's right," said Annie. "Know that sometimes you're great and sometimes you're terrible. You're strong and you're weak." The prince frowned. "A fool? Terrible? Weak?" he said. "The truth is this: nobody's perfect. Even you," said Jack. "So just accept it." "You speak nonsense," said Alexander. "It's called humility," said Jack. "Humility?" the prince said slowly. "Jack!" said Annie. "Look!" She held her hand close to Jack's face. The Ring of Truth was glowing as if it were made of fire. Jack smiled again. "Yes. Humility," he said to the prince. That was the secret of greatness that Merlin wanted them to discover on this mission. "But you cannot expect me to show humility to the world," said Alexander, shaking his head. "No mighty king would ever do that." "Well, no matter what you have to do to be a mighty king, you can at least have humility inside

自己吗?接受犯错误和看起来像个傻瓜。” “杰克说得对，”安妮说。 “要知道，有时你很棒，有时你很糟糕。 你坚强，你软弱。” 王子皱起眉头。“一个傻瓜吗? 可怕的?弱？”他说。“事实是：没有人是完美的。 “即使是你。”杰克说。“所以接受吧。” “你胡说八道。”亚历山大说。 “这叫谦逊，”杰克说。 “谦卑？”王子慢慢地说。 “杰克！”安妮说。“看!”她把手贴近杰克的脸。 真理之戒像火做的一样发光。 杰克又笑了。“是的。谦卑。”他对公爵说。 这就是梅林希望他们在这次任务中发现的伟大的秘密。 “但你不能指望我对世界表现出谦卑，”亚历山大摇着头说。 “没有哪个强大的国王会这么做。” “好吧，无论你要做什么才能成为一个强大的国王，你至少可以内心谦卑

yourself," said Annie. "And if you do, I promise this horse will trust you." "There he is!" a gruff voice said. Jack, Annie, and Alexander turned to see two grooms coming out of the barn. One of the grooms held a whip. "You were looking for this horse?" Prince Alexander asked sternly. He stepped between the stallion and the grooms. "The king wants to see him in the ring again, with the others," said the first groom. He moved around Alexander toward the stallion. As the man's shadow fell over Buddy, the stallion snorted loudly and shied away. Alexander jumped in front of the groom. "Get away from him!" he ordered the man. "Leave him alone!" The groom stepped back. "Leave us!" roared Alexander. The two grooms turned and disappeared back into the barn. Buddy neighed. "Shh, my friend, shh," Alexander said softly, stepping toward the stallion. "You mustn't be

你自己吧，”安妮说。“如果你这样做了，我保证这匹马会信任你。” “他在那儿！”一个粗哑的声音说。 杰克、安妮和亚历山大转过身来，看见两个马夫从谷仓里走出来。 一个马夫拿着鞭子。 “你在找这匹马？”亚历山大公爵严厉地问道。 他站在牡马和马夫之间。 “国王想再看他和其他人一起上场，”第一个新郎说。 他绕过亚历山大朝那匹种马走去。 当那人的影子落在巴迪身上时，那匹种马大声地哼了一声，躲开了。 亚历山大跳到新郎的前面。 “放开他！”他命令那人。 “放开他！”新郎往后退了一步。 “离开我们！”亚历山大吼道。 两个马夫转身消失在谷仓里。 好友马嘶声。“嘘，我的朋友，嘘，”亚历山大轻轻地说，朝那匹种马走去。 “你不可以