7 Written in Stone

CHAPTER Seven Written in Stone The Tower of Memory was a huge spiral of stones coiling up from the ground. Eric and Keeah entered a vast inner courtyard, looked up, and saw it. "It's huge," Eric whispered. Row upon row of rough gray blocks circled higher and higher into the starlit sky. "Do you have the papers with our name symbols?" Keeah said, spotting a narrow opening in the tower. "Yes." Eric clutched Neal's square of paper, along with his own and Julie's. "Let's do it."

记忆之塔是一个巨大的螺旋形的石头从地面盘旋而上。 埃里克和基娅走进一个巨大的内院，抬头一看，看到了它。 “太大了，”埃里克小声说。 一排又一排粗糙的灰色石块在布满星光的天空中盘旋得越来越高。 “你有印有我们名字符号的文件吗？”姬娅说，发现塔上有一个狭窄的开口。 “是的。”埃里克紧紧抓住尼尔的那张纸，还有他自己和朱莉的。 “我们开始吧。”

They slipped through the opening. The inside of the tower was empty and very quiet. The only noise was a faint scratching sound from above. Eric squinted up. There, on the very top row of stones, barely visible in the mist and moonlight, was the magic feather, Quill. It scratched word after word into the stones, writing quickly, then stopping, then writing faster than ever.

他们从洞口溜了过去。 塔里空无一人，非常安静。 唯一的声音是从上面传来的微弱的刮擦声。 埃里克眯起眼睛。就在那排石头的最上面，在雾气和月光下几乎看不见的地方，是那根神奇的羽毛——羽毛笔。 它一个字一个字地刻在石头上，写得很快，然后停了下来，写得比以前更快了。

Whenever it filled one stone with the strange words and symbols, another stone mysteriously appeared next to it. Quill filled that one and went on to another. And another. "This is so weird," Eric said softly. "The Tower is building itself. It keeps getting taller." "Quill writes what happens to everyone," Keeah said. "Everything that has ever happened in Droon is right here." "And some things that haven't happened yet." Eric turned a complete circle as he followed the rows of silvery gray stones, looking for the strange symbols the Guardians had given them. Keeah breathed out suddenly. "What?" Eric said, turning to her. "My mother's symbol!" she said, running to the wall nearest her. "And Sparr's! I see them. That must be it! What happened to her at Plud!" She began scratching down the strange words with the pencil Bodo had given her. Then Eric saw his own name among the carvings. "Oh, wow!" Next to it were Julie's and Neal's names. He scanned the lower rows to see if the names appeared before then. No, they didn't. But their names were written many times after that. He looked up as far as he could. Their names were still there, curving into the upper rows.

每当它用奇怪的文字和符号填满一块石头时，另一块石头就神秘地出现在它旁边。 奎尔填满了那个，接着又填了另一个。 和另一个。“这太奇怪了，”埃里克轻声说。 “伦敦塔正在自我建造。 它越来越高。”“奎尔写下了发生在每个人身上的事。” “在德鲁恩发生过的一切都在这里。” “还有一些事情还没有发生。” 埃里克沿着一排排银灰色的石头转了整整一圈，寻找守护者给它们的奇怪符号。 姬娅突然喘了口气。 “什么?”埃里克转向她说。 “我母亲的象征！”她边说边跑到离她最近的墙上。 “和Sparr !我看到他们了。一定是这样！她在普拉德发生了什么事！”她开始用波多给她的铅笔写下这些奇怪的字。 然后埃里克在雕刻中看到了自己的名字。 “哦,哇!”旁边是朱莉和尼尔的名字。 他扫了一遍下面的几行，看看名字是否出现在那之前。 不，他们没有。但在那之后，他们的名字被写了很多次。 他尽量往上看。 他们的名字还在那里，弯弯曲曲地排列在上面几排。

All the way into the future? Would he and his friends do many things in Droon? Eric wished he could read the top row, to find out what the future might bring. He, too, started scribbling down the strange words for the Guardians to decipher. Keeah uttered something softly. Eric turned to see her slip quietly out of the Tower. He was about to call out to her, then stopped. The hair on the back of his neck stiffened. He knew someone else was in the Tower with him. Slowly, Eric turned his head. There, standing in the exact center of the room, was a tall, dark figure. A man. Eric gasped to himself. The man was Lord Sparr. Sparr stood motionless, reading the walls of the Tower and mumbling the words to himself. As he did, tears welled in his eyes, glinting in the moonlight from the Tower's top opening. One tear trickled down Sparr's cheek. He flicked it away instantly. The teardrop hit the stone floor, hissing on the cold stones. Ssss! "Oh, whoa!" Eric breathed. Suddenly Quill began scratching on the stones more speedily than before. Eric remembered what the Guardians had said.

一直到未来？ 他和他的朋友们会在德鲁恩做很多事情吗？ 埃里克希望他能读到最上面一排，看看未来会发生什么。 他也开始潦草地写下这些奇怪的单词，让守护者们来破译。 姬娅轻声说了些什么。 埃里克转过身来，看见她悄悄地溜出了塔楼。 他正要喊她，却停住了。 他脖子后面的毛都僵了。 他知道还有人和他一起在塔里。 埃里克慢慢地转过头。 就在那里，站在房间正中央的是一个高大、黝黑的身影。 一个男人。埃里克喘着气对自己说。 这个人就是斯帕尔勋爵。斯帕一动不动地站着，一边念念有词，一边喃喃自语。 当他这样做的时候，泪水涌上了他的眼睛，在月光下从塔顶的开口里闪闪发光。 一滴眼泪顺着斯帕尔的脸颊流下来。 他立刻把它弹开了。 泪珠落在石头地板上，在冰冷的石头上发出嘶嘶声。 瑞士!“哦,哇!”埃里克呼吸。 突然，羽毛笔开始比刚才更快地在石头上刮来刮去。 埃里克想起了守护者说过的话。

Sometimes Quill writes so fast, he writes what hasn't happened yet. Sparr raised his eyes toward a single spot on the upper walls. As Eric watched, the sorcerer lifted off the ground and flew up to the top of the Tower. Quill kept scratching faster and faster. He filled one stone after another. Eric knew. Quill was writing the future. An instant later, Sparr was back. Eric could not move, could not breathe. It seemed like hours that Sparr just stood there. Then, a strange sound came from the sorcerer. A sound like all his breath leaving him. And out of that breath came a single word. "Ice." Sparr began to laugh softly. Eric felt as if he would explode. He needed to sneeze. Then cough. He felt as if he couldn't hide a second longer. And yet he had to be quiet. Or Sparr would see him and hurt him. Splat! Just then, a white shaft of moonlight suddenly fell into the Tower from the opening above. Eric pressed himself back against the stones, but the shaft of light moved across the floor to him.

有时候奎尔写得太快了，他会写还没发生的事。 斯帕尔抬起眼睛望着上面墙上的一个地方。 在埃里克的注视下，巫师离开了地面，飞到了塔顶。 羽毛笔抓得越来越快。 他一块一块地填满石头。 埃里克知道。羽毛笔写的是未来。 不一会儿，斯帕尔回来了。 埃里克动弹不得，无法呼吸。 斯帕尔在那里站了好几个小时。 然后，一个奇怪的声音从巫师那里传来。 好像他的呼吸都快没了。 从那口气里发出了一个字。 “冰”。斯帕尔轻声笑了起来。 埃里克觉得自己要爆炸了。 他需要打喷嚏。然后咳嗽。 他觉得自己一秒钟也躲不起来了。 然而他必须保持安静。 否则斯帕尔会看到他，伤害他。 长条木板!就在这时，一缕白色的月光突然从上面的洞口射入塔楼。 埃里克把自己压在石头上，但那束光穿过地板朝他移动。