Chapter 3

Chapter 3 As we flew over the Earth Kingdom I glanced down and saw that we were right above a thick, swampy forest. Suddenly a huge tornado came out of nowhere! "Faster! We've got to go faster!" I called, but it was no use. We were going down! The tornado tossed us around and around and we finally splashed down into the swamp. Katara and Aang landed next to me, but there were no signs of Appa or Momo. They could be anywhere in the thick tangle of vines, roots, and branches. Fortunately, I had the right tool for dealing with unruly forests—a machete. "Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang said as I started hacking away. "Aang, these are just plants," I said, not bothering to stop. That night we made camp and quickly dozed off. But before I could fall into deep sleep, something woke me up. It was a vine! It had a tight hold of my ankle and was pulling me deeper into the jungle. I had to slice my way free and run, but wouldn't you know it, the vines started chasing me!

当我们飞过土强国上空时，我往下看了一眼，发现我们正处在一片茂密的沼泽森林上空。 突然，不知从哪里刮来了一股巨大的龙卷风！“快!我们得开快点！”我打过电话，但没有用。 我们在下沉！龙卷风把我们甩来甩去，最后我们溅落到沼泽地里。 卡塔拉和安昂降落在我旁边，但没有阿柏和陌陌的迹象。 它们可能在茂密的藤蔓、树根和树枝的任何地方。 幸运的是，我有了对付不守规矩的森林的合适工具——砍刀。 “也许我们应该对沼泽友善一点。”我开始砍树时，安昂说。 “安昂，这些只是植物。”我说，根本不想停下来。 那天晚上我们扎营，很快就睡着了。 但在我进入深度睡眠之前，有什么东西把我吵醒了。 那是一棵藤蔓！它紧紧地抓住我的脚踝，把我往丛林深处拉。 我不得不割开一条路逃跑，但你不知道吗，藤蔓开始追我了！

The swamp was alive. "I'm sorry, swamp, I'm sorry, but please don't drag me into the murky water," I said. Then it let go of me. "Stupid swamp," I muttered. I had to find the others to tell them what happened, but I stumbled and plopped down into the muck. Then I heard someone calling my name. "Hello? Is there anyone there?" I called back. I looked up toward the voice and couldn't believe my eyes. A ghostly image floated above the swamp. It was Yue, princess of the Northern Water Tribe. A girl I really cared about. And who I couldn't save at the North Pole. No, it couldn't be her. That's impossible. Yue was gone—forever. This was just a trick of the light, or swamp gas. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath—and Yue was still there. "You didn't protect me," she said, and disappeared. I felt even more sad and alone. I miss you, Yue. I'm sorry I let you down. I continued wandering through the stupid swamp for what seemed like forever. Then I heard a noise. Something was coming toward me. I tightened my grip on the machete, and—OOF! Whatever it was just crashed into me. "Aang! Katara! What are you doing? I've been

沼泽是活的。“对不起，沼泽，对不起，请不要把我拖进浑浊的水里。”我说。 然后它放开了我。“愚蠢的沼泽。”我喃喃地说。 我必须找到其他人，告诉他们发生了什么事，但我绊了一下，扑通一声跌进了淤泥里。 然后我听到有人叫我的名字。 “喂?那里有人吗？”我回了电话。 我抬头望向那个声音，简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 一个鬼影在沼泽上空飘浮。 这是越，北方水族的公主。 一个我很在乎的女孩。 我在北极没能救他。 不，不可能是她。这是不可能的。 岳走了——永远走了。这只是光的把戏，或者说是沼气。 我揉了揉眼睛，深吸了一口气——岳还在那儿。 “你没有保护我，”她说完就消失了。 我感到更加悲伤和孤独。 我想你，岳。对不起，我让你失望了。 我继续在那片愚蠢的沼泽里徘徊，似乎永远都不会停止。 然后我听到一个声音。有什么东西朝我走来。 我握紧了大砍刀，然后！不管那是什么东西撞到我身上了。 “Aang !Katara !你在干什么？ 我一直

looking all over for you!" I exclaimed, excited to see them. "I was chasing some girl," Aang said. "I thought I saw Mom," Katara added. "Look we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us," I told them. "That's why we all saw things." "All our visions led us here," Aang said, a little too knowingly. "Okay, so where is 'here'?" "It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling to us." Okay, this was some of that creepy, magical Avatar stuff that I have a hard time buying. If I can't see something, eat something, or battle something, I don't believe in it. Suddenly a huge swamp monster rose up from the water and attacked us! After a long battle, with me slashing and Aang and Katara bending, we discovered that it was just a Waterbender bending the water in the vines. "See? Completely reasonable," I said to Aang. "Not a monster. Just a guy defending his home." "This whole swamp is actually just one tree, spread out over miles," the Waterbender explained. "The

到处找你！”看到他们，我兴奋地叫道。 “我在追一个女孩，”安昂说。 “我想我看到妈妈了，”卡塔拉补充说。 “看，我们都又害怕又饿，我们的大脑在捉弄我们，”我告诉他们。 “这就是为什么我们都能看到东西。” “我们所有的幻象都指引我们来到这里。”安昂说，有点心知肚明。 “好吧，那么‘这里’在哪里？”“这是沼泽的中心。 它一直在呼唤我们。”好吧，这是我很难买到的那种诡异神奇的神通。 如果我看不见什么东西，吃不到什么东西，或者打不赢什么东西，我就不相信它。 突然，一个巨大的沼泽怪物从水里冒了出来，袭击了我们！经过一场漫长的战斗，我挥剑，安昂和卡塔拉御术，我们发现那只是一个御水师在藤蔓中御水。 “看到了吗?完全有道理。”我对安昂说。 “不是怪物。只是一个保卫自己家园的人。” “整个沼泽其实就是一棵树，绵延数英里。”御水师解释道。 “

tree is one big living organism. Just like the entire world." Oh, great. More magical, mystical Avatar stuff. But when Aang touched the huge tree, he had a vision of Appa and Momo. He saw where they were. We wasted no time in rescuing them from some local Waterbenders and finally got out of the swamp. If I never see another one again it'll be too soon! We arrived in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling. A guy on the street handed us a flyer for Master Yu's Earthbending Academy, and it had a coupon good for one free Earthbending lesson. "Maybe this could be the Earthbending teacher you're looking for," Katara said to Aang. But the guy at the academy turned out to be a sleazebag. All he was interested in was getting Aang's money. Then we heard about an Earthbending tournament, called Earth Rumble Six, where the best Earthbenders in the world would be competing. It was kind of a win-win thing. Aang would get to see the best Earthbenders, hoping that one of them might be able to teach him, and I would get to be in the crowd for the sporting event of the year. After a few preliminary matches, the champion

树是一种巨大的生物。 就像整个世界一样。” 哦,很好。更神奇，更神秘的阿凡达之类的。 但当安昂触摸到这棵大树时，他看到了阿柏和莫莫的幻象。 他看到了他们在哪里。我们争分夺秒地从当地的御水师手中救出了他们，最终走出了沼泽。 如果我再也见不到另一个，那就太快了！我们来到了土强国的高陵镇。 一个人在街上递给我们一张余师傅御土学堂的传单，上面有一张免费的御土课优惠券。 “也许这就是你要找的御土术老师。”卡塔拉对安昂说。 但在警校的那个人原来是个卑鄙小人。 他只想要安昂的钱。 然后我们听说了一场御土术锦标赛，叫做“大地之声第六”，世界上最好的御土术师将在那里比赛。 这是一件双赢的事情。 安昂可以看到最好的御土师，希望他们中的一个能教他，而我可以在人群中观看年度体育赛事。 经过几场预赛，冠军

came out—and it was a young girl who was blind! She called herself the Blind Bandit. How in the world did she become the champ? "She can't really be blind," Katara said. "It's just part of her character, right?" "I think she is," Aang said. "I think she's going down!" I said. But no, she fought hard, Earthbending like crazy and beating a guy called the Boulder, who was three times her size. It was amazing! After that defeat, the guy who ran the tournament, Xin Fu, made an announcement. "I'm offering this sack of gold to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!" There was silence. "What? No one dares to face her?" he taunted the crowd. All of a sudden Aang jumped into the ring. "I will!" he shouted. "Go, Aang! Avenge the Boulder!" If anyone could beat the Blind Bandit, it would be Aang. He was going to wipe her out! But then Aang said the weirdest thing to the Blind Bandit. "I don't want to fight you. I want to talk to you," he said. Okay, Aang, you have lost your mind. No talking! We're here to win! Well, the Blind Bandit didn't want

出来了，原来是一个瞎眼的小女孩！她称自己为盲匪。 她到底是怎么成为冠军的？ “她不可能真的瞎了，”卡塔拉说。 “这只是她性格的一部分，对吧？”“我想是的。”安昂说。 “我想她要沉下去了！”我说。 但不，她很努力，疯狂地御土，打败了一个叫巨石的家伙，他是她的三倍大。 太神奇了！那次失利后，锦标赛的负责人傅新发表了声明。 “谁能打败盲匪，我就把这袋金子给谁！”一阵沉默。 “什么?没人敢面对她？”他嘲笑人群。 突然，安昂跳进了拳台。 “我会的！”他喊道。“去,Aang !为巨石报仇！”如果有人能打败盲匪，那一定是安昂。 他要把她干掉！然后安昂对盲匪说了最奇怪的话。 “我不想和你打架。 我想和你谈谈，”他说。 好吧，安昂，你疯了。 不说话!我们是来赢的！好吧，盲匪不想