2 Sands of Time

CHAPTER Two Sands Of Time A wide sea of sand stretched away as far as the eye could see. Sand hills—dunes—rolled and dipped all the way to the horizon. "Wow!" Neal said. "This is my first desert." The moonbeams made the dunes glitter with golden light. "This is awesome," Julie said. "Droon is beautiful at night." Eric breathed in the cool air. "Let's climb over that dune," he said, pointing to one of the high, curving hills of sand. "For a look." They stepped down from the bottom step.

一大片沙海一直延伸到一望无际的地方。 沙丘起伏起伏，一直延伸到地平线。 “哇!”Neal说。“这是我第一次去沙漠。” 月光把沙丘照得金光闪闪。 “这太棒了，”朱莉说。 “德鲁恩在晚上很漂亮。” 埃里克呼吸着凉爽的空气。 “我们爬过那座沙丘吧，”他指着一座又高又弯的沙丘说。 “看一看。”他们从最下面的台阶走下来。

The sand was warm. They climbed to the top of the dune and peered over. Not far away was a striped tent. Shaggy, six-legged beasts stood outside. The kids remembered them from their first time in Droon. The beasts were called pilkas. "Somebody's camping," Neal whispered. Eric noticed a strange purple flag flying over the tent. "Careful," he said. "You never know what you might find." "We don't have much choice," said Julie, pointing behind them. "The stairs are fading." The three friends watched as the rainbow-colored steps vanished in the sky. "I hope we find them again later," Neal said. "Wherever they are." Slowly, they approached the tent. A large flap hung down over an opening. "Let's peek in," Julie whispered. Suddenly, a voice spoke from inside the tent. "Come in!" Julie held her breath and pulled up the flap. The three friends looked inside. Their friend Princess Keeah was sitting on a rug spread out over the sand. She was dressed in a light blue tunic. In her long blonde hair she wore a golden crown. Next to her sat the old wizard, Galen Longbeard, and his assistant, Max.

沙子是温暖的。他们爬到沙丘的顶端，向上面张望。 不远处是一个条纹帐篷。 外面站着毛茸茸的六条腿的野兽。 孩子们记得他们第一次来德鲁恩的时候。 这些野兽被称为pilkas。 “有人在露营，”尼尔低声说。 埃里克注意到帐篷上方飘扬着一面奇怪的紫色旗帜。 “小心，”他说。“你永远不知道你会发现什么。” “我们没有太多选择，”朱莉指着他们身后说。 “楼梯在褪色。”三个朋友看着彩虹色的台阶消失在天空中。 “我希望我们以后能再找到他们，”尼尔说。 “不管他们在哪里。”他们慢慢地走近帐篷。 一个大挡板垂在开口上方。 “我们往里看吧。”朱莉小声说。 突然，一个声音从帐篷里传来。 “进来!”朱莉屏住呼吸，拉上了盖子。 三个朋友往里看。 他们的朋友姬娅公主正坐在铺在沙滩上的地毯上。 她穿着一件浅蓝色的束腰外衣。 她长长的金发上戴着一顶金冠。 她旁边坐着老巫师长胡子盖伦和他的助手麦克斯。

Lining the inside of the tent were piles of extra-plump purple-colored pillows. "Welcome back!" Keeah said, laughing when she saw the kids.

帐篷里面是一堆堆肥大的紫色枕头。 “欢迎回来!”姬娅看到孩子们笑着说。

"We've all been waiting for you!" Max chirped happily. Max was a spider troll. He had eight legs and could spin sticky webs and climb up walls. But his face was pudgy like a troll's, and his bright orange hair sprouted straight up. Eric smiled as he and his friends entered the tent. "How did you know we were coming?" "I can see the future!" Keeah said. Julie gasped. "You can?" "Keeah," said Galen sternly, "you must respect your real magic powers. You should not invent others you don't have… yet." The princess made a face. "I'm sorry." She turned to the three friends. "Actually, I can't see the future. I just dreamed about all of you, and I guessed you were on your way." Eric shot looks at Julie and Neal. "We had dreams, too. But we didn't understand them." "In Droon, wizards—and sorcerers—can use dreams as messengers," Galen said. "Sometimes they foretell what will happen. We may understand more at dawn, when we begin—" Neal tugged a purple pillow over to the rug. "Hey!" the pillow snarled. "You pinched me! I was having the nicest nap, too!" Neal jumped up. "Whoa… sorry!" He looked around. "Wait, did that pillow just talk to me?"

“我们都在等你呢！”马克斯高兴地叫着。 麦克斯是个蜘蛛巨魔。他有八条腿，能结黏糊糊的网，还能爬墙。 但他的脸像巨怪一样胖乎乎的，亮橙色的头发笔直地长了起来。 埃里克微笑着和他的朋友们走进帐篷。 “你怎么知道我们要来？”“我能看到未来！”Keeah说。 朱莉气喘吁吁地说。“可以吗?”“基厄，”盖伦严厉地说，“你必须尊重你真正的魔力。 你不应该发明你还没有的东西……” 公主做了个鬼脸。“我很抱歉。” 她转向那三个朋友。 “事实上，我看不到未来。 我刚才梦见你们大家了，我猜你们已经在路上了。” 埃里克看了看朱莉和尼尔。 “我们也有梦想。但我们不理解他们。” “在德鲁恩，巫师——还有男巫——可以把梦当作信使，”盖伦说。 “有时他们会预言将要发生的事情。 等到天亮，我们开始——”尼尔把一个紫色枕头拖到地毯上。 “嘿！”枕头咆哮道。 “你捏我！”我也睡得很好！”尼尔跳了起来。 “哇……对不起!”他环顾四周。 “等等，那个枕头刚才跟我说话了吗？”

Max chirped in laughter. "That's a Lumpy!" Neal made a face. "Lumpy or not, in the Upper World, pillows don't talk!" Keeah smiled. "Max means it's not a pillow you sat on. It's a Lumpy. A purple Lumpy!" It was then that the kids noticed small round faces on the chubby pillows. Their cheeks bulged, and their noses were like purple tennis balls. One of the creatures stood up, stretched, and yawned. It had short, fat arms and squat legs. "I am Khan," he said. "King of the purple Lumpies of Lumpland. Just over the last dune on your left. We Lumpies are the best desert trackers in Droon. We sniff out trouble." He paused to sniff the air. "Danger is everywhere!" "Uh… pleased to meet you!" Eric said. Galen rose, wrapping his long blue robe around him. "Now, come outside. We must talk about tomorrow." The air outside the tent was cool and sweet. "It sure is peaceful here," Julie said. "It wasn't yesterday," Keeah told them. "That's the reason we're here." "What happened?" Eric asked. "Lord Sparr," Khan said, shaking his purple fist in the air. "He nearly destroyed one of our villages with his red jewel. Luckily, the terrible flame burned his hand, and he fled."

马克斯哈哈大笑。“那是一只大拇哥！”尼尔做了个鬼脸。 “不管有没有肿块，在上界，枕头是不会说话的！”Keeah笑了。 “麦克斯的意思是你坐的不是枕头。 它是一个肿块。一个紫色的疙瘩！”就在那时，孩子们注意到胖乎乎的枕头上有一个个小圆脸。 他们的脸颊鼓了起来，鼻子像紫色的网球。 其中一个站了起来，伸了个懒腰，打了个哈欠。 它的胳膊又短又胖，腿又深。 “我是可汗，”他说。"兰普兰紫疙瘩之王。 就在你左边最后一个沙丘那边。 我们Lumpies是德鲁恩最好的沙漠追踪者。 我们能嗅出麻烦。”他停下来嗅了嗅空气。 “危险无处不在！”“嗯……很高兴见到你！”Eric说。 盖伦站起身来，用蓝色长袍裹住自己。 “现在，到外面来吧。我们必须谈谈明天的事。” 帐篷外的空气凉爽而甜美。 “这里确实很宁静，”朱莉说。 “这不是昨天，”基娅告诉他们。 “这就是我们在这里的原因。” “发生什么事了?”埃里克问。 “斯帕尔大人。”可汗边说边在空中挥舞紫色的拳头。 “他用他的红色宝石差点毁了我们的一个村庄。 幸运的是，可怕的火焰烧伤了他的手，他逃走了。”