8 Cave of Bugs

CHAPTER Eight Cave of Bugs Ssss! Ssss! The kids huddled in the shadows as two large brownshelled bugs clambered out from the back of the cave. "Your family, Neal," Julie whispered. The bugs hissed and groaned. Their feelers twitched in the air. Then the kids saw why. In the thin light streaming from the cave's opening, they saw a giant pit. A giant pit full of eggs. Julie sighed. "Been there, done that."

第八章虫洞瑞士!孩子们蜷缩在阴影里，两只棕色外壳的大虫子从洞穴后面爬了出来。 “你的家人，尼尔，”朱莉低声说。 虫子发出嘶嘶声和呻吟声。 他们的触角在空中抽动。 然后孩子们明白了原因。透过洞口透出的微弱光线，他们看到了一个巨大的坑。 一个装满蛋的大坑。朱莉叹了口气。 “我也经历过。”

Sssss! The bugs hissed again more loudly than before. Their tongues flicked at the eggs. "Listen, people," Neal whispered. "The bugs don't see us yet. Maybe we should just fight the Ninns, one on one." "Ten on one, you mean," Max chittered. "Holy cow," said Eric. "There it is!" He pointed to the pit full of round pink eggs. One egg was smaller than the rest. It was shiny. It glowed bright red. And it was shooting off sparks. "The Red Eye of Dawn!" Keeah whispered. "My gosh! We found it!" The bugs circled the pit, hissing and flicking. Julie bit her lip. "Can't they tell the glowing red one with all the sparks is not an egg?" "They're bugs," Neal snorted. "They aren't that smart. Believe me, I know." The red jewel sparkled again. "Now I'm sorry I threw the glove away," Eric said. "How are we even going to touch that thing? It'll burn us for sure." Keeah shook her head slowly. "Maybe there's a way. Galen said it was Sparr's anger that makes the Eye dangerous."

Sssss !虫子又发出比以前更大的嘶嘶声。 它们的舌头轻弹着蛋。 “大家听着，”尼尔低声说。 “虫子还没看到我们。 也许我们应该和nins打一场，一对一的。” “十对一，你是说。”麦克斯叽叽喳喳地说。 “天哪，”埃里克说。“在那儿！”他指着那个装满粉红色圆蛋的坑。 有一个蛋比其他的都小。 它很闪亮。它发出鲜红的光。 火花四溅。 “黎明的红眼！”Keeah低声说。 “我的天哪!我们找到了！”虫子在坑里盘旋，嘶嘶作响。 朱莉咬着嘴唇。“难道他们看不出那个冒着火花的红彤彤的不是蛋吗？”“它们是虫子，”尼尔哼了一声。 “他们没那么聪明。相信我，我知道。” 那颗红色的宝石又闪闪发光了。 “现在我很抱歉我把手套扔掉了，”埃里克说。 “我们怎么能碰那东西呢？” 它肯定会烧到我们的。”姬娅慢慢摇了摇头。 “也许有办法。盖伦说正是斯帕的愤怒让圣眼变得危险。”

Neal's three eyes stared at the Eye. "And that means…?" "I know," said Julie. "It's like, if you're angry, the Eye is angry." Eric nodded. "And maybe if you're the opposite of angry, the Eye won't shoot those deadly red beams everywhere." "What's the opposite of angry?" Neal asked. "Being happy? Like laughing and stuff?" Sssss! The bugs hissed and flicked again. "That's the problem," Keeah whispered. "I don't feel happy. I just feel scared." Julie turned to Neal. "Do bugs get scared?" "Don't look at me," he replied. "I've been blasted once already. Besides, you definitely do not want to smell fried insect." "No, it's my job," said Keeah. "I'm a wizard, sort of, halfway, at least." "But how will you get past them?" Max said, nodding toward the bugs. Julie held up her finger. "Wait, I have a plan." "What plan?" Eric asked. "The one where Neal pretends to be their baby bug. You know, to distract them." Neal backed up as far as he could. "I don't think so! I may be a dumb insect, but I'm not that dumb!"

尼尔的三只眼睛盯着圣眼。 “那就是说……？”“我知道，”朱莉说。 “就好像，如果你生气，天眼也会生气。” Eric点点头。“也许如果你不生气，‘魔眼’就不会把那些致命的红色光束射得到处都是。” “愤怒的反义词是什么？”Neal问道。 “幸福?比如大笑之类的？”Sssss !虫子发出嘶嘶声，又弹了起来。 “这就是问题所在。”基娅低声说。 “我不开心。我只是觉得害怕。” 朱莉转向尼尔。“虫子会害怕吗？”“不要看我，”他回答说。 “我已经被炮轰过一次了。 此外，你肯定不想闻到炸昆虫的味道。” “不，这是我的工作，”基娅说。 “我算是个巫师，至少算上一半吧。” “可是你怎样才能通过他们呢？”马克斯说着，朝那些虫子点了点头。 朱莉举起手指。“等等，我有个计划。” “什么计划?”埃里克问。"尼尔假装是他们家的小虫子。 你知道，分散他们的注意力。” 尼尔尽量往后退。 “我不这么认为！”我可能是一只不会说话的昆虫，但我没有那么笨！”

"But, Neal," whispered Julie, "they'll be so excited to see you, Keeah can grab the jewel. It'll be perfect." "Perfectly nuts!" Neal grumbled. "They'll lick me with those creepy tongues! No way!" "We need the Eye to help free Galen," Keeah said. "Only Galen can make you yourself again." Neal was quiet. His feelers twitched and quivered. He cleared his throat with a tiny cough. "Myself again? Really?" "Plus, it'll be funny," said Eric. "Keeah will laugh so we won't blow up." Neal sighed. "I guess so. But next time, someone else can be the bug!" He fluttered his feelers once, took a squeaky breath, then scuttled out of the shadows. "Mama! Papa!" he cried. "I'm home!" The big bugs swung around, opened their feelers wide, and lunged for Neal. Yeeeee! Keeah laughed as she scurried to the eggs.

“但是，尼尔，”朱莉小声说，“他们见到你会很兴奋的，基娅可以拿起珠宝。 这将是完美的。”“完美的坚果!”Neal咕哝道。 “他们会用那些令人毛骨悚然的舌头舔我的！”没门!”“我们需要圣眼来解救盖伦，”基娅说。 “只有盖伦能让你变回你自己。” 尼尔很安静。他的触角抽搐着，颤抖着。 他用轻微的咳嗽清了清嗓子。 “我一遍吗?真的吗?”“另外，它会很有趣，”埃里克说。 “Keeah会笑，这样我们就不会爆炸了。” Neal叹了口气。“我想是的。但是下一次，其他人可以成为虫子！”他抖动了一下触角，尖声吸了口气，然后冲出阴影。 “妈妈!爸爸！”“我回来了!”那些大虫子转过身来，张开触角，向尼尔扑去。 Yeeeee !基娅笑着跑向鸡蛋。

The bugs completely surrounded Neal, squealing with delight. "Hurry!" Neal yelled. "They're licking!" Keeah laughed harder. Her hands closed firmly around the glowing red jewel. "She's got it!" Max chirped. "And it's not shooting red bolts!" "Neal," Eric cried. "Get out of there!" In a flash, the five friends dashed out of the cave. The bugs hissed and squealed, but the kids shot around the ledge and up the side of the mountain before they could catch up. Higher and higher they went, until there wasn't any more mountain to climb. They crawled over the last rise. A sharp wind passed over them. They found themselves standing under a dark, open sky. They were on the edge of a white cliff overlooking the vast sea of Droon. Galen was there, wrapped in chains. A hundred Ninns were there, guarding him. And Lord Sparr was there, too. "Give me the jewel… or die!" he snarled. "Uh… is there a third choice?" Neal asked. At once—whoom!—a wall of raging flames shot up around the kids.

虫子们把尼尔团团围住，高兴地尖叫着。 “快点!”Neal喊道。“他们舔!”姬娅笑得更厉害了。 她的双手紧紧地握住那颗发光的红色宝石。 “她拿到了！”马克斯鸣叫。 “而且它没有发射红色的螺栓！”“尼尔，”埃里克叫道。 “快出来！”一瞬间，五个朋友冲出了山洞。 虫子发出嘶嘶声和尖叫声，但孩子们在他们赶上之前就绕过了岩架，爬上了山的一边。 他们越爬越高，直到再也没有山可爬了。 他们爬过了最后一个山坡。 一阵狂风从他们头上吹过。 他们发现自己站在一片黑暗开阔的天空下。 他们站在一座白色悬崖的边缘，俯瞰着浩瀚的德鲁恩海。 盖伦在那里，被锁链捆着。 有一百个尼恩守卫着他。 斯帕尔勋爵也在那儿。 “把宝石给我……否则就去死！” “嗯……还有第三种选择吗？”Neal问道。 在once-whoom !熊熊的火焰在孩子们周围蹿起。