8 Race Against Time

CHAPTER Eight Race Against Time Julie and Eric hitched up reins and saddles on three shaggy pilkas while Neal wrestled open the large city gate. "Let's find the king!" Eric said firmly, snapping the reins of his pilka. "Giddyap!" Neal shouted, jumping on his own. At once, the pilkas took off. They raced past the city gates and out over the crunchy ground. The storm wrapped around them swiftly. Soon, the palace was out of sight. "King Zello!" Eric cried.

第八章争分夺秒朱莉和埃里克把缰绳和马鞍套在三匹毛茸茸的皮卡上，尼尔奋力打开城门。 “我们去找国王吧！”埃里克坚定地说，猛地拉住皮卡的缰绳。 “跑!”尼尔大叫着，自己跳了起来。 皮尔卡立刻起飞了。 他们跑过城门，跑过松脆的地面。 暴风雨迅速地包围了他们。 很快，宫殿就看不见了。 “国王Zello !”埃里克喊道。

His voice was lost in the howling wind. "The storm is getting worse!" said Julie. "And it's nearly nighttime!" Neal shouted. "Perfect time for this kind of nightmare!" Still, the six-legged pilkas galloped on. They stormed through an icy forest. Icicles fell like daggers from frozen branches. Tall trees cracked in half, their black limbs heavy with silver ice. "This place really is cursed," said Julie. Neal cupped his hands together. "King Zello!" he yelled. "Oh, man, he'll never hear us. He could be miles away. He‐could even be—" "Don't say it!" Eric cried, standing in his saddle. He called out even louder. "Zello! Zello!" The wind roared like Sparr's deep laughter. Eric's arms and legs ached. He felt cold. He felt like going to sleep. Frost began to form on all their cheeks. It was getting darker. And colder. "No!" Eric cried, snapping the reins again. "We have to do this! We have to make it right! Keep yelling, everybody! Keep yelling!" "King Zello!" they shouted at the top of their lungs. "King Zello!" Then, they heard it. A faraway sound. A familiar noise above the wild snowstorm.

他的声音消失在呼啸的风中。 “暴风雨越来越厉害了！”朱莉说。 “快到晚上了！”Neal喊道。 “做这种噩梦的最佳时机！”尽管如此，六条腿的驯鹿仍在奔跑。 他们冲过一片冰封的森林。 冰柱像匕首一样从冰冻的树枝上落下。 高大的树木裂成两半，黑色的树枝上结满了沉重的银冰。 “这地方真是被诅咒了，”朱莉说。 尼尔双手合十。 “泽洛国王！”“哦，天哪，他永远不会听到我们的。 他可能在几英里之外。他——甚至可能是——”“别说了！”埃里克站在马鞍上叫道。 他叫得更大声了。 “Zello !Zello !”风呼啸着，就像斯帕尔深沉的笑声。 埃里克的胳膊和腿都疼。 他感到冷。他想睡觉。 他们的脸颊上开始结霜。 天越来越黑了。和冷。 “不!”埃里克叫道，又扯了扯缰绳。 “我们必须这么做！”我们必须纠正错误！大家继续喊！保持大喊大叫!”“泽洛国王！”他们声嘶力竭地喊道。 “国王Zello !”然后，他们听到了。 一个遥远的声音。一阵熟悉的声音响彻风雪。

Hrrr! "Hey! I'd recognize that sound anywhere!" Julie shouted. "It's Leep!" "Yes!" Eric cried. "And where Leep is, there's—King Zello! Zello!" A dark shape galloped suddenly toward them. It was Leep. And on the sled behind him, King Zello. The king pulled up sharply on the reins. "Galen is frozen!" Eric cried, jumping from his pilka. "And Sparr and Keeah are fighting! There are lots of Ninns, too. A whole army of Ninns!" "I have an army, too," the king said. He waved his hand behind him. "Whoa!" Eric exclaimed. Behind the king, riding on their own sleds, were dozens of men and women. But mostly there were children. Lots and lots of children.

Hrrr !“嘿!我在任何地方都能听出这个声音！”朱莉喊道。 “这是之!”“是的!”埃里克喊道。 “睡不着的地方，就是泽洛国王！”Zello !”一个黑影突然向他们疾驰而来。 是利普。在他后面的雪橇上，是泽洛国王。 国王猛地拉紧缰绳。 “盖伦冻僵了！”埃里克叫道，从他的皮卡上跳了下来。 “斯帕和基厄在打架！”也有很多Ninns。 一整支宁人大军！”“我也有一支军队，”国王说。 他在身后挥挥手。 “哇!”埃里克喊道。在国王的身后，有几十个男人和女人骑着他们自己的雪橇。 但大多数都是孩子。 很多很多的孩子。

"Wow, an army of Droon kids!" Neal said.

“哇，一群德鲁恩的孩子！”Neal说。

"But how will we fight the big Ninns?" one young girl asked. Julie jumped down from her saddle. "Hey, I just thought of something. With this curse, we almost forgot the best thing about snow." Neal frowned. "What's that?" Julie dug her hands into a high drift and grinned. "The good old Upper World… snowball!" The children of Droon crowded around them. "We'll help, too," one of them said. "We want to keep our city free." "And maybe we can use these!" one boy said. From his coat he pulled a Y-shaped stick. "A slingshot?" said Ned. "Cool! But you have to remember rule number one. When you're fighting Ninns, you pack your snowballs hard!" The children of Droon dug into the snow eagerly. Soon‐everyone had made dozens of snowballs. They filled their pockets with them. "To the palace!" the king called out. At once his sled thundered across the snow. "Yahoo!" Eric said as he snapped the reins of his pilka. "Sparr and his Ninns will never know what hit them!"

一个小女孩问：“但是我们要怎么对付大ninn呢？” 朱莉从马鞍上跳了下来。 “嘿，我刚想到一件事。 有了这个诅咒，我们几乎忘记了雪的好处。” Neal皱起了眉头。“那是什么?”朱莉把手伸进一个高高的斜坡里，咧嘴笑了。 “美好的上界……雪球！”德鲁恩的孩子们围着他们。 “我们也会帮忙的，”其中一个说。 “我们想让我们的城市保持自由。” “也许我们可以用这些！”一个男孩说。 他从大衣里抽出一根y形的棍子。 “弹弓？”尼德-兰问。“酷!但你得记住第一条规则。 当你和Ninns战斗时，你要把你的雪球装得很紧！”德鲁恩的孩子们急切地挖雪。 很快，每个人都堆了几十个雪球。 他们把钱装满了口袋。 “到王宫去！”国王喊道。 他的雪橇立刻轰隆隆地滑过雪地。 “雅虎!”埃里克一边说，一边扯起皮卡的缰绳。 “斯帕尔和他的小鬼们永远不会知道是什么击中了他们！”