4 At the Bridge

CHAPTER Four At The Brige "Umph!" Eric rolled over and over until he stopped under the bridge. He looked up. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Neal! Julie! I thought I'd lost you—mmmf!" Neal put his hand over Eric's mouth. "Shhh!" Julie pointed to the top of the bridge. "Those ugly red guys are up there." Eric nodded. Neal pulled his hand away. Eric started speaking as quickly and as softly as he could. He told Neal and Julie what had happened to him.

第四章在桥上“嗯！”埃里克滚了一圈又一圈，直到停在桥下。 他抬起头来。他简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 “尼尔!朱莉!我还以为我把你弄丢了呢！”尼尔用手捂住埃里克的嘴。 “嘘!”朱莉指着桥顶。 “那些丑陋的红色家伙在上面。” Eric点点头。尼尔把手抽了回来。 埃里克开始尽可能快、尽可能轻地说话。 他把发生在他身上的事告诉了尼尔和朱莉。

"We're in someplace called Droon," he whispered. "I met a princess named Keeah. She gave me a message for her father, King Zello." Neal glanced at the paper in Eric's hand, then gave him a strange look. "Uh-huh. Sure." "The red guys are called Ninns," Eric continued. "We have to see what they're up to. Give me a boost!" Neal grumbled but put out his hands so Eric could hoist himself up. A moment later, Julie was next to Eric. Together they peeked over the top of the bridge. "Uh-oh," Julie whispered. On the bridge were at least a dozen Ninns. Up close, their red faces were puffy and fat. Their slitty eyes were set close together. Their chins were pointed. So were their ears. On each hand were six clawed fingers. "Lord Sparr will be angry!" one Ninn snarled. "The girl's too quick!" snapped another. "And my groggle's too slow." He nodded at his lizard. Ooga! Ooga! A sound like a horn blasted through the forest. Then the ground rumbled. "Is that a car?" Neal whispered from below. "Uh… sort of," Julie answered. But it wasn't like any car they had ever seen. It was long and yellow and had a bubble on top.

“我们在一个叫德鲁恩的地方。”他小声说。 “我遇到了一位名叫Keeah的公主。 她给我带了个口信给她父亲泽洛国王。” 尼尔瞥了一眼埃里克手里的纸，然后奇怪地看了他一眼。 “嗯。当然。”“红色的家伙被称为Ninns，”埃里克继续说。 “我们必须看看他们在做什么。 帮我一把！”尼尔抱怨着，但还是伸出双手，好让埃里克爬起来。 过了一会儿，朱莉来到埃里克身边。 他们一起从桥顶往外偷看。 “哦哦，”朱莉低声说。桥上至少有十几个尼人。 近看，他们的红脸又肿又胖。 他们那双裂开的眼睛紧紧地贴在一起。 他们的下巴是尖的。他们的耳朵也是如此。 每只手上都有六个爪状的手指。 “斯帕大人会生气的！”一个宁吼道。 “这女孩太快了！”另一个人厉声说。 “而且我的groggle太慢了。” 他朝蜥蜴点了点头。Ooga !Ooga !一阵号角般的声音响彻森林。 接着，大地隆隆作响。“那是一辆汽车吗？”尼尔在下面低声说。 “嗯……有点吧，”朱莉回答。 但它和他们见过的任何一辆车都不一样。 它又长又黄，上面有一个泡泡。

It bounced down the road on eight fat tires. When it screeched to a stop in front of the Ninns, a tall man stepped out. He was different from the others, Eric thought. He wasn't a Ninn. His skin wasn't red, or pale like Keeah's. He was human… pretty much. Well, except for two purple fins sticking up behind his ears. "Where is the girl?" he snarled. His long black coat dragged heavily across the ground.

它用八个大轮胎在路上颠簸着行驶。 当它在尼恩家门前尖声停住时，一个高个子男人走了出来。 他和其他人不一样，埃里克想。 他不是奶妈。他的皮肤既不红，也不像基娅那样苍白。 他是人类，差不多。 除了两只紫色的鳍翘在耳朵后面。 “那女孩在哪儿？”他咆哮道。 他的黑色长外套在地上沉重地拖着。

The Ninns trembled. One looked up. "The others helped her escape, Lord Sparr," he said. Lord Sparr's eyes flashed in anger. And the fins behind his ears suddenly grew darker. "Did you see that?" Julie whispered. "He's some kind of wizard," Eric whispered back. "Princess Keeah said he was pure evil." "How many others?" Sparr demanded. Another Ninn held up his claw. He lowered three of his six fingers. "Three, my lord." "Scour the forest! Burn it down if you must, but find the girl! Find her friends, too!" Lord Sparr turned and stormed back to his yellow car. Ooga! Ooga! the horn blasted. The engine roared. The car tore away loudly down the road, leaving a cloud of thick blue smoke behind it. Fwap! Fwap! The sound of flapping groggle wings filled the forest. A moment later, Eric and his friends were alone at the bridge. "Lord Sparr is definitely bad news," Julie said. "And those ear fins are very weird." "This whole place is weird, if you ask me," Neal said. "How do we get out of here?" Eric frowned. "Keeah said to find somebody named Galen who lives in a tower. If we do, she promised to help

小矮人颤抖起来。其中一个抬起头来。 “斯帕大人，其他人帮她逃走了。” 斯帕伯爵的眼睛里闪烁着愤怒的光芒。 他耳后的鳍突然变黑了。 “你看到了吗？”朱莉低声说。 “他是个巫师。”埃里克小声回答。 “姬亚公主说他是纯粹的恶魔。” “还有多少人？”Sparr问道。 另一个宁伸出爪子。 他放下了六个手指中的三个。 “三个，大人。”“搜遍森林！”把它烧了，但一定要找到那个女孩！把她的朋友也找出来！”斯帕尔伯爵转过身，气冲冲地回到他的黄色轿车里。 Ooga !Ooga !喇叭响了。 发动机轰鸣着。汽车在路上呼啸而去，留下一团浓浓的蓝烟。 Fwap !Fwap !森林里充满了鸟翅膀扑打的声音。 过了一会儿，埃里克和他的朋友们单独在桥上。 “斯帕尔勋爵绝对是个坏消息，”朱莉说。 “那些耳鳍很奇怪。” “要我说，这整个地方都很奇怪，”尼尔说。 “我们怎么离开这里？”Eric皱起了眉头。 “姬亚说去找一个住在高塔里的叫盖伦的人。 如果我们找到了，她答应会帮忙的

us get home. And Galen is also supposed to send this message to her father." Eric unfolded the wrinkled paper Keeah had given him. In thin blue ink, it read, Eric scratched his head. "Well, this doesn't make any sense." Julie laughed. "No kidding! I mean, flying lizards, bubble cars, a guy with fins on his head?" "And all under your stairs," Neal added. Eric didn't answer. He looked into the forest where he had last seen Keeah. He hoped she was safe. But something told him she wasn't. "I think she's in danger," he said quietly. "So are we," Julie added. "Let's find this Galen guy," Neal said. "The sooner we do, the sooner we get home. There's a path this way. Come on." Neal started running along the path. He rushed into a clearing. And he bumped his nose on something that wasn't there.

我们回家。盖伦也应该把这个信息传达给她的父亲。” 埃里克打开基娅给他的那张皱巴巴的纸。 上面用薄薄的蓝墨水写着，埃里克挠了挠头。 “嗯，这没有任何意义。” 朱莉笑了。“不开玩笑!我是说，会飞的蜥蜴，泡泡车，头上长着鳍的家伙？”“而且都在你的楼梯下面，”尼尔补充道。 埃里克没有回答。他朝他最后一次见到基娅的森林里望去。 他希望她平安无事。但某种感觉告诉他，她不是。 “我想她有危险，”他平静地说。 “我们也是，”朱莉补充说。“我们去找这个叫盖伦的家伙，”尼尔说。 “我们越早这么做，就能越早回家。 这边有条小路。来吧。” 尼尔开始沿着小路跑。 他冲进一块空地。 他的鼻子碰到了不存在的东西。