5 The Guardians of Droon

CHAPTER Five The Guardians of Droon In the center of the room were two seven-foot-tall lizards with large heads. They stood upright, swishing their heavy tails across the tiled floor. Their short upper arms ended in six-inch-long clawed fingers. Their teeth were even longer. But the strangest part was that they were dressed in shiny green robes. "Let's… um… sneak back out," Eric said. "Before they see us…" Julie added. But Keeah walked slowly up to the creatures.

第五章德鲁恩的守护者房间中央有两条七英尺高、脑袋很大的蜥蜴。 它们笔直地站着，沉重的尾巴在铺着瓷砖的地板上沙沙作响。 它们短小的上臂末端是6英寸长的爪状手指。 它们的牙齿甚至更长。 但最奇怪的是，他们穿着闪亮的绿色长袍。 “我们……嗯……溜出去吧。”埃里克说。 “在他们看见我们之前……”朱莉补充说。 但是基娅慢慢地走到这些动物面前。

"Ah!" said one of the dinosaurs. "Princess Keeah and her friends from the Upper World!" "Welcome to the city of Ro," the other said. Eric blinked. "Are you… dinosaurs?" "Theropods, actually," one said. "I'm Bodo." "And I'm Vasa," said the other. "We're the Guardians!"

“啊！”其中一只恐龙说。 “姬亚公主和她上层世界的朋友们！”“欢迎来到罗城。”另一个说。 Eric眨了眨眼睛。“你们是……恐龙吗？”“实际上是兽脚亚目恐龙，”其中一个说。 “我博多。”“我是瓦萨。”另一个说。 “我们是守护者！”

Bodo pulled a pair of spectacles from his robe and slipped them on. He stepped over to Neal. "You must be Neal, the boy with the problem." Neal blinked. "How did you know my name?" The creature smiled. "I was reading in the Tower this morning. I knew you were coming." "Then you know that Sparr is here, too?" Keeah said. "And his Ninns are everywhere." Vasa hissed between his teeth. "Sparr has come for the diamonds. He wants to harness their power for his own evil ends." "Then we must hurry," Bodo said. Vasa put a claw to his chin and walked around Neal. "Hmm. Yes, I see. We must find out exactly what happened the instant you became a bug. You must read what Quill has written about it in the Tower of Memory." "Who is Quill?" Eric asked. "Our magic feather," Vasa said. "All of Droon's history—all that has ever happened—Quill writes in the ancient language. He writes everything on the stones of the Tower." "And sometimes," Bodo said with a chuckle, "Quill writes so fast, he gets ahead of himself." Keeah frowned. "What do you mean?" It was Vasa's turn to laugh. "He means that Quill writes what hasn't happened yet!"

波多从长袍里抽出一副眼镜，戴上。 他走向尼尔。“你一定是尼尔，那个有问题的男孩。” Neal眨了眨眼睛。“你怎么知道我的名字？”那个生物笑了。 “今天早上我在塔里看书。 我知道你要来。”“那么你知道斯帕尔也在这儿了？”Keeah说。 “他的Ninns到处都是。” 瓦萨牙缝里发出嘶嘶声。 “斯帕尔是来拿钻石的。 他想利用他们的力量来达到自己的邪恶目的。” “那我们得快点了。”波多说。 瓦萨用一只爪子捂住下巴，绕着尼尔走了一圈。 “嗯。是的，我明白了。我们必须弄清楚你变成虫子的那一刻到底发生了什么。 你一定要看看奎尔在记忆之塔里写的。” “奎尔是谁？”埃里克问。 “我们的魔法羽毛。”瓦萨说。 “德鲁恩的所有历史——发生过的所有事情——奎尔都用古老的语言书写。 他把一切都写在塔的石头上。” “有时候，”波多咯咯地笑着说，“奎尔写得太快了，他写得太快了。” Keeah皱起了眉头。“你是什么意思？”轮到瓦萨笑了。 “他的意思是奎尔写下了还没有发生的事情！”

"You mean… the future?" Eric asked. "Oh, yes," Bodo replied. "But what we need now is from the past." He scribbled on a small square of paper and handed it to Neal. On the paper was a strange drawing. "What's this?" Neal asked. "Your name, in the ancient language," Bodo replied. "And here are the rest of your names." The children took the papers from Bodo. He also gave them small writing tools that looked like pencils. Vasa stepped over to Keeah. "But you, Princess, you are here for something else?" She nodded. "My father and I were coming to see what you could tell us about where my mother is. We know she is alive… somewhere."

“你是说……未来？”埃里克问。 “哦，是的，”波多回答。“但我们现在需要的是过去。” 他在一张小正方形的纸上草草写了几句，然后递给了尼尔。 纸上有一幅奇怪的画。 “这是什么?”Neal问道。 “你的名字，用古语来说。”波多回答。 “这是你们其余人的名字。” 孩子们从波多手里接过报纸。 他还给了他们看起来像铅笔的小书写工具。 瓦萨走到基娅面前。 “可是您，公主，您是为别的事来的吗？”她点了点头。 “我爸爸和我是来看看你能不能告诉我们我妈妈在哪儿。 我们知道她还活着……在某个地方。”

Vasa nodded slowly. "Queen Relna was—is—a great ruler, as is your father, King Zello." Keeah breathed deeply and continued. "She fought Lord Sparr at the forbidden city of Plud. She was never seen again." "Princess, you must look for this symbol." "Your mother's name. Relna. Also this one." "Who is that?" Julie asked. "Lord Sparr," Eric said, though he wasn't sure why. "Am I right?" Bodo and Vasa shared a look at each other, then nodded. "Indeed, you are correct, Eric." Clang! Boom! Blam! Bodo raised his claw. "Sparr has entered the palace! Go to the Tower quickly. Take these symbols. Read the characters next to them and bring back what you have found out. All your questions will be answered." "But what about you?" Keeah asked. "Sparr will not harm us today," Vasa said.

瓦萨慢慢地点了点头。“蕾尔娜王后是一位伟大的统治者，就像你的父亲泽洛国王一样。” 姬亚深深地吸了一口气，接着说。 “她在普卢德禁城与斯帕尔大人作战。 再也没有人见过她。” “公主，你必须找到这个符号。” “你母亲的名字。Relna。 还有这个。”“那是谁？”朱莉问。 “斯帕大人。”埃里克说，但他不知道为什么。 “我说得对吗？”博多和瓦萨互相看了一眼，然后点了点头。 “的确，你说得对，埃里克。” 铿锵声!繁荣!简直是噩梦!波多举起爪子。 “斯帕尔进宫了！”快去伦敦塔。 以这些符号为例。阅读它们旁边的文字，把你发现的东西带回来。 你所有的问题都会得到回答。” “那你呢？”Keeah问道。 “斯帕尔今天不会伤害我们，”瓦萨说。