3 The Oasis at Noon

CHAPTER Three The Oasis At Noon Moments later, the sun began to rise over the distant dunes. "It's time!" Keeah said. They all climbed to the rim of a tall, curving sand dune. Galen pointed to the sandy plains where the sun was rising. "The door to Kano lies in the East," the wizard said. "According to a legend, it can be seen where it is not." Eric nodded slowly. "Okay. Got it. Great. Um… could you say that again?" "It's a riddle," Max said, scurrying back and forth in the sand. "No one knows exactly where Sparr's palace is."

过了一会儿，太阳开始从远处的沙丘上升起。 “这是时间!”Keeah说。他们都爬上了一个又高又弯的沙丘的边缘。 盖伦指着太阳正在升起的沙地平原。 “通往卡诺的门在东方。”巫师说。 “根据传说，它可以在它不在的地方看到。” 埃里克慢慢地点了点头。“好吧。 明白了。好了。嗯……你能再说一遍吗？”“这是个谜。”马克斯一边说，一边在沙地上跑来跑去。 “没人知道斯帕尔的宫殿到底在哪里。”

Julie began biting her lip again. "Then how are we going to find the door to Kano?" But Galen was already walking back down the dune. "By finding the answer to the riddle!" "First things first," Khan said. "Our journey of many miles begins with a single sniff!" He sniffed the air, then pointed. "East is that way!" Within moments, Khan and his Lumpies packed up the tent and supplies. "Into the East!" Max chirped. Hrrr! Galen's shaggy pilka, Leep, whinnied in excitement as the kids piled onto her back. "We're off!" cried Julie. They rode for hours over the hot dunes. Mile after mile, they saw nothing but burning white sand. "I think we're lost," Neal said, wiping his forehead. "I mean, I guess we're in the East, but I don't see any doors. All I see are two things. Sand, and more sand." Eric pointed into the distance. "What's that?" It looked like a shadow against the faraway dunes, a grove of trees waving in the breeze. "Is it a mirage?" Julie said. "You know, the imaginary things you see in the desert that aren't really there?" "Imaginary," Eric sighed. "Right now I'm imagining the town pool filled with cool water."

朱莉又开始咬嘴唇。 “那我们怎么才能找到通往卡诺的门呢？”但盖伦已经沿着沙丘往回走了。 “通过找到谜语的答案！”“重要的事情先做，”汗说。 “我们的千里之行始于一次嗅闻！”他嗅了嗅空气，然后指了指。 “往东走！”不一会儿，汗和他的仆从们就收拾好帐篷和补给品。 “到东方去！”马克斯鸣叫。 Hrrr !盖伦那只毛茸茸的皮卡，利普，当孩子们挤到她背上时，兴奋地呜呜叫着。 “我们走！”朱莉叫道。他们在炎热的沙丘上骑了好几个小时。 一英里又一英里，他们只看到燃烧的白色沙子。 “我想我们迷路了，”尼尔擦着额头说。 “我的意思是，我猜我们是在东部，但我没有看到任何门。 我只看到两件事。沙子，更多的沙子。” 埃里克指着远处。 “那是什么?”它看起来像远处沙丘的影子，在微风中摇曳的树林。 “这是海市蜃楼吗？”朱莉说。 “你知道，你在沙漠里看到的想象中的东西，其实并不存在？”“想象。”埃里克叹了口气。 “现在我想象着镇上的游泳池里充满了凉水。”

"You want water, you got it," Neal said. "I'm gonna be a puddle in about three minutes." "No, you won't," Keeah said. "That's an oasis! We can rest there and get some real water!" They rode quickly and soon reached a group of tall palm trees sprouting up from the dunes. In the center was a pool of cool, blue water. Eric and his friends slid down from Leep and moved into the shade of the waving palm trees. "This isn't the pool in my dream," Julie said. "There's nothing yucky about this." "Good!" Neal exclaimed. "Because I'm way past thirsty." He and Julie and Keeah went to the near side of the pool and began to drink. The Lumpies led the pilkas over. They all bent their heads to the water. "Drink up," Khan said. "It may be many miles before we find water again." Eric scrambled to an open spot on the side of the pool. He breathed in the sweet air under the trees, then bent down, cupping his hands together. The shimmering water looked so refreshing. He stooped to take a big sip. He froze solid at what he saw. "What is it?" Keeah said, looking up.

“你想要水，我给你，”尼尔说。 “再过三分钟我就要变成水坑了。” “不，你不会的，”基娅说。 “那是一片绿洲！”我们可以在那里休息，喝点真正的水！”他们骑得很快，很快就到了一群从沙丘上长出来的高大棕榈树。 中间是一池清凉的碧水。 埃里克和他的朋友们从睡梦中滑了下来，来到摇曳的棕榈树的树荫下。 “这不是我梦中的游泳池，”朱莉说。 “这没什么恶心的。” “好!”Neal喊道。“因为我已经不渴了。” 他、朱莉和基娅走到池边，开始喝水。 小疙瘩领着pilkas走了过去。 他们都把头垂到水里。 “喝完，”汗说。“我们可能要走很多英里才能再次找到水。” 埃里克爬到泳池边的一块空地上。 他在树下呼吸着甜美的空气，然后弯下腰，双手合在一起。 波光粼粼的水看起来很清新。 他弯下腰喝了一大口。 他被眼前的景象吓呆了。 “什么事？”姬娅抬起头说。

Eric stared into the pool. "My reflection—" Neal laughed. "Yeah, you look pretty grimy!" "We all do," Julie added. "No, that's not it," Eric mumbled. In the surface of the pool he saw his face. Behind his head were the tops of the palm trees that he knew were waving in the wind behind him. And behind the palm trees… was an enormous gate! A gate made of black iron, towering up behind the palms. Eric whirled around and looked up. There was no gate behind the palm trees. He turned back to the pool. The gate was there, in the reflection, standing as huge and as plain as day! "An invisible gate!" he gasped. "Like the riddle says—it can be seen where it is not!" "What?" Neal said, slurping from his hands. "We're here!" Eric cried. "I see it in the pool. The door to Kano. But it's not in the pool. It's there!" He pointed up behind him, beyond the palm trees. "The entrance to Kano is right there!" Galen rushed over. Max scurried across the sand. Keeah, Neal, and Julie ran to Eric. They all stared at the open air behind the palms, then at the pool.

埃里克凝视着泳池。 “我的倒影——”尼尔笑着说。 “是啊，你看起来很脏！”“我们都是，”朱莉补充道。 “不，不是这个，”埃里克咕哝着。 他在水面上看到了自己的脸。 他的头后面是棕榈树的树梢，他知道它们在他身后随风摇摆。 棕榈树后面……是一扇巨大的大门！一扇黑铁制的大门高耸在棕榈树后面。 埃里克转过身，抬起头来。 棕榈树后面没有门。 他转身回到池塘。 那扇门就在那里，在倒影中，像白天一样巨大而清晰！“一扇看不见的门！” “就像谜语说的——它不在的地方也能看见！”“什么?”尼尔边说边用手吸着水。 “我们在这里!”埃里克喊道。“我看到它在游泳池里。 通往卡诺的门。但它不在泳池里。 它的存在!”他指了指身后的棕榈树。 “卡诺的入口就在那里！”盖伦冲了过来。 马克斯匆匆穿过沙滩。 基娅、尼尔和朱莉跑向埃里克。 他们都盯着棕榈树后面的露天，然后又盯着池塘。

"It's there, all right," Keeah said. "But it's still invisible. How do we get in?" "I have an idea." Neal stooped to the pool and filled his hands with water. He hurried through the palm trees to where the gates would be. He tossed the water across the air. Sssss! The water struck something in midair and spilled down it. Suddenly, there it was! A patch of black iron! Julie tried it next. Sssss! More of the black gate appeared. Everyone joined in, even the Lumpies. They cupped their hands. They used buckets. They even filled their boots with water. Splish! Splosh! Splursh! Soon, the entire gate dripped into shape before them. It stood huge and glistening behind the tall palm trees of the oasis. Galen stood back in awe. "Behold! We have discovered the way to Sparr's secret realm! This is the door to Kano!"

“它在那儿，没错。”基娅说。 “但它仍然是看不见的。 我们怎么进去？”“我有个主意。” 尼尔弯下腰到水池边，双手盛满了水。 他匆匆穿过棕榈树来到大门所在的地方。 他把水抛向空中。 Sssss !水在半空中碰到了什么东西，洒了下来。 突然，它出现了！一块黑铁！朱莉接着试了试。 Sssss !更多的黑门出现了。 所有人都加入进来，连Lumpies也不例外。 他们双手成杯状。他们用水桶。 他们甚至把靴子装满了水。 随着声响!金钱!Splursh !很快，整个大门在他们面前呈现出轮廓。 它矗立在绿洲里高大的棕榈树后面，闪闪发光。 盖伦敬畏地往后站着。“看哪!我们找到了通往斯帕尔秘密王国的路！这是通往卡诺的大门！”