1. The Magic Staircase

CHAPTER One The Magic Stairase Bing-bing-bing! It was early Saturday morning. Eric Hinkle bounced up from his bed and shut off the alarm. He stared into the dim light, trying to recall his dream. Then he remembered it. "Oh, no," he groaned. "Another night without dreaming of Droon!" Dreaming was important. After Eric and his friends visited Droon, Princess Keeah told them that their dreams would tell them when to return. But it had been two weeks since anyone had dreamed of Droon.

第一章魔法楼梯呯——呯——呯！那是星期六的清晨。 埃里克·辛克尔从床上跳起来，关掉了闹钟。 他凝视着昏暗的灯光，试图回忆起自己的梦。 然后他想起来了。“哦，不，”他呻吟道。 “又一个没有梦见德鲁恩的夜晚！”做梦很重要。 在埃里克和他的朋友们拜访了德鲁恩之后，基娅公主告诉他们，他们的梦会告诉他们什么时候回来。 但是已经有两个星期没有人梦见过德鲁恩了。

That meant something was wrong. Very wrong. "The magic has to keep working," Eric said to himself. "It just has to!" He dressed quickly and snuck down to the kitchen. He tiptoed to the back door and unlocked it. His best friend, Neal Kroger, slid in quietly. "What's to eat?" Neal asked. Eric stared at him. "Never mind food," he said. "What did you dream about last night?" Neal took a deep breath. "The usual. Pizza." Eric moaned. "Pizza? No wonder you're hungry." "In my dream I was sitting in the middle of a humongous pizza," Neal said. "And I had to eat my way out to the crust. What about you?" Eric sighed. "I was hitting a metal garbage can with a broomstick. Bing, bang, bong all night." "Did it wake your parents?" Neal asked. Eric gave him a look. "No. Then I woke up and realized it was just my alarm going off." Neal shook his head as they tramped down the stairs to the basement. "Doesn't sound like we'll be going to Droon today," he said. "I can't believe this," Eric groaned.

这意味着出了问题。 非常错误的。“魔法必须继续发挥作用，”埃里克自言自语道。 “这是必须的！”他迅速穿好衣服，偷偷溜到厨房。 他蹑手蹑脚地走到后门，打开了门锁。 他最好的朋友尼尔·克罗格悄悄溜了进来。 “吃什么？”Neal问道。 埃里克盯着他。“别管吃的了，”他说。 “你昨晚梦见什么了？”尼尔深吸了一口气。 “通常的。披萨。”埃里克呻吟。 “披萨?难怪你饿了。” “在梦里，我坐在一个巨大的披萨中间，”尼尔说。 “我不得不一路吃到面包皮。 你呢？”Eric叹了口气。 “我当时正在用扫帚把砸一个金属垃圾桶。 整晚砰砰砰。” “吵醒你父母了吗？”Neal问道。 埃里克看了他一眼。“没有。 然后我醒来，意识到只是我的闹钟响了。” 尼尔摇了摇头，他们迈着沉重的脚步走下楼梯，来到地下室。 “听起来我们今天不会去德鲁恩了。”他说。 “我真不敢相信，”埃里克呻吟道。

He remembered the first time he, Neal, and Julie discovered the magic entrance to Droon. They were cleaning up Eric's messy basement when they found a small closet hidden under the stairs. They went inside, flicked off the light, and—whoosh!—the floor turned into a rainbow-colored staircase. Of course they went down the stairs. Soon, they met Princess Keeah and the wizard Galen. They helped them fight a wicked and very powerful sorcerer named Lord Sparr. They had gone on lots of adventures since then. Until now. "What about the soccer ball?" Neal asked. Princess Keeah had put a spell on their soccer ball. It would float in the air and become a globe of Droon when she needed them most. Eric shook his head. "It's busted. Look." He picked up the ball from its place on the workbench. He dropped the ball to the floor. Boing! It bounced back. "This ball is only good for playing soccer." Neal twisted his face into a frown. "Keeah said we'd return to Droon as long as the magic keeps working. I guess we're not going back." "Oh, man!" Eric whined. "Julie will be sad."

他记得他、尼尔和朱莉第一次发现通往德鲁恩的魔法入口时的情景。 他们在清理埃里克凌乱的地下室时，发现楼梯下面藏着一个小壁橱。 他们走进去，关了灯，“嗖”的一声！地板变成了彩虹色的楼梯。 他们当然下了楼。 很快，他们遇到了姬娅公主和巫师盖伦。 他们帮助他们打败了一个邪恶而强大的巫师，名叫斯帕尔勋爵。 从那以后，他们经历了许多冒险。 直到现在。“那足球呢？”Neal问道。 姬亚公主在他们的足球上施了咒。 它会漂浮在空中，在她最需要它们的时候变成一个德鲁恩地球仪。 埃里克摇了摇头。“这是破产。 看。”他把球从工作台上捡起来。 他把球掉到地板上。 啵嘤!它反弹回来了。“这个球只适合踢足球。” 尼尔皱起眉头。 “姬娅说，只要魔法继续起作用，我们就回到德鲁恩。 我想我们不会再回去了。” “哦,男人!”Eric嘟哝道。“朱莉会伤心的。”

"Or mad," Neal said. "We'd better tell her." "Tell me what?" Julie said as she ran down the stairs. "Your mom said it was okay to come down, Eric. Am I too early?" "More like too late," Eric said, shooting a look at Neal. "You didn't happen to have a dream about Droon last night, did you?" Julie shook her head. "No…" "That's it," Neal said. "Good-bye, Droon." Julie grinned. "I mean, no, it wasn't just any dream…." She headed straight for the door under the stairs. "What?" Eric turned to her. "You mean—" Julie laughed. "Last night I had the ultimate dream about Droon! I was floating high over the countryside. Then I saw a bunch of crowns—gold crowns—just sitting on a hilltop in the middle of no-where!" "Cool!" Neal exclaimed. "But," Julie continued, "the coolest part was that I had a crown, too. I was Princess Julie! It was so awesome. We are definitely going back. Now!" "Yes—yes—yes!" Eric yelled. "Let's do it!" Julie quickly pulled open the small door. She waved her hand in. "Enter." They all piled in. Neal closed the door. Julie flicked off the light.

“或者是疯了，”尼尔说。“我们最好告诉她。” “告诉我什么？”朱莉边跑下楼梯边说。 “你妈妈说可以下来的，埃里克。 我来得太早了吗？”“更像是太迟了，”埃里克说，看了尼尔一眼。 “你昨晚不会碰巧做了一个关于德鲁恩的梦吧？”朱莉摇了摇头。 “不……”“就是这样，”尼尔说。 “再见,Droon。”朱莉咧嘴一笑。 “我的意思是，不，这不只是一个梦....” 她径直朝楼梯下的门走去。 “什么?”埃里克转向她。 “你是说——”朱莉笑了。 “昨晚我做了一个关于德鲁恩的终极梦！”我漂浮在乡村上空。 然后我看到一束皇冠——金色的皇冠——就放在一个荒无人烟的山顶上！”“酷!”Neal喊道。 “但是，”朱莉接着说，“最酷的部分是我也有一顶王冠。 我是朱莉公主！太棒了。 我们一定要回去。 现在!”“Yes-yes-yes !”埃里克喊道。 “我们开始吧！”朱莉迅速拉开了小门。 她挥着手进来。“输入”。 他们都挤了进去。尼尔关上了门。 朱莉关上了灯。

Click! It was dark for an instant. Then—Whoosh! The floor vanished beneath them. In its place was the top step of the magical rainbow-colored staircase. The staircase to Droon. Eric jumped. "It's so good to be going back!" "What can I say?" Julie said. "I'm special." "You better believe it!" Neal said. "We'd actually have to finish cleaning Eric's basement if it wasn't for you!" The three friends climbed down the rainbow steps. Cool air wafted up from below. It smelled sweet. The sky was pink and purple with streaks of bright orange. The sun was just about to rise. "It's nearly dawn here," said Neal. "Hey, look at those trees." The stairs ended in a misty grove of low, blossoming trees overlooking a clear green lake. The pink morning mist clung to the branches. The kids jumped off the staircase just as the steps faded from sight. Eric knew the stairs would reappear when it was time to leave. "I am so glad to be here," he said. Julie looked around. "This is weird. Nine trees in a perfect circle. Trees don't normally grow in a circle. I think someone planted them this way." "Maybe there are people nearby," Eric added.

点击!天一下子就黑了。 Then-Whoosh !他们脚下的地板消失了。 取而代之的是那道神奇的彩虹色楼梯的顶端。 通往德鲁恩的楼梯。Eric吓了一跳。 “能回去真是太好了！”“我能说什么呢？”朱莉说。 “我是特别的。”“你最好相信！”Neal说。 “如果不是你，我们得把埃里克的地下室打扫完！”三个朋友爬下彩虹台阶。 冷空气从下面飘上来。 闻起来很甜。天空是粉红色和紫色的，带有亮橙色的条纹。 太阳正要升起来。 “这里快天亮了，”尼尔说。 “嘿，看那些树。” 楼梯的尽头是一片雾蒙蒙的小树林，树林里低矮的树木开花，俯瞰着一个清澈的绿色湖泊。 粉红色的晨雾粘在树枝上。 台阶刚看不见，孩子们就从楼梯上跳了下来。 埃里克知道，当他离开的时候，楼梯会再次出现。 “我很高兴来到这里，”他说。 朱莉环顾四周。“这很奇怪。 九棵树组成一个完美的圆圈。 树通常不是圆形生长的。 我想是有人把它们放在这里的。” “也许附近有人，”埃里克补充说。