Chapter 7

Chapter 7 We took the train from the outer wall into the city itself. There we were met by a woman who somehow knew who we were. "Hello, my name is Joo Dee," she said. "I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Katara, and Toph. Shall we get started?" This was great. She'd know where the Earth King was. This was going to be easier than I imagined. "Yes," I said. "We have information about the Fire Nation that we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately." "Great! Let's begin our tour, then I'll show you to your new home." I was confused. Maybe she hadn't heard what I said, so I tried again. "We need to talk to the king about the war. It's important." "You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." What was this lady's problem? It's like she was totally ignoring me—not to mention ignoring reality. She didn't realize how wrong she was. If we don't stop the Fire Nation, NOBODY will be safe anywhere.

我们从外墙乘火车进入城中。 在那里，我们遇到了一个不知怎么知道我们是谁的女人。 “你好，我叫朱迪，”她说。 “我有幸带神通参观永固城。 你们一定是索卡，卡塔拉和拓芙吧。 我们可以开始了吗？”这太棒了。 她会知道土强王在哪里。 这比我想象的要简单。 “是的，”我说。“我们有关于烈火国的消息，需要马上交给土强王。” “太好了!让我们开始我们的旅行，然后我会带你去你的新家。” 我很困惑。也许她没听见我说的话，所以我又试了一次。 “我们需要和国王谈谈战争的事。 是很重要的。”“你现在在永固城。 这里每个人都很安全。”这位女士怎么了？ 就好像她完全无视我——更不用说无视现实了。 她没有意识到自己错得有多离谱。 如果我们不阻止烈火国，任何人都不会安全。

But Joo Dee simply led us to a carriage and started our tour of the city. I tried to tell her again and again how important it was for us to see the king, but she ignored me each time. "Maybe she's deaf?" I wondered out loud. "She hears you," Toph said. "She's just not listening." "Why won't she talk about the war?" Katara asked. "Whatever her deal is, I don't like this place," Aang said. "We just need to find Appa and get out of here." We passed the king's palace and saw some scary- looking guards. Joo Dee said that they were agents of the Dai Li, who guard the city's traditions. "Can we see the king now?" Aang blurted out. Joo Dee just laughed. "Oh, no. One doesn't just pop in on the king." Now this was getting frustrating. Then the carriage stopped in front of a really nice house. "Here we are! Your new home!" Joo Dee said cheerfully, just as a messenger arrived with a scroll. She took it and read it quickly. Then she announced, "Good news! Your request to see the king is being

但朱迪只是带我们上了一辆马车，开始了我们的城市之旅。 我一遍又一遍地告诉她见国王对我们来说有多重要，但她每次都不理我。 “也许她聋了？”我大声地问。 “她听见了，”拓芙说。 “她就是不听。” “她为什么不谈战争呢？”Katara问道。 “不管她是怎么回事，我都不喜欢这个地方，”安昂说。 “我们只需要找到阿柏，然后离开这里。” 我们经过国王的宫殿，看到一些样子可怕的卫兵。 朱迪说，他们是守护这座城市传统的戴笠的特工。 “我们现在可以见国王了吗？”安昂脱口而出。 朱迪只是笑了。“哦,不。 一个人不能突然出现在国王面前。” 现在这变得令人沮丧了。 然后，马车在一所漂亮的房子前停了下来。 “我们到了！”你的新家！”朱迪高兴地说，就在这时，一个带着书卷的信使来了。 她接过信，很快地读了起来。 然后她宣布：“好消息！你要见国王的请求正在

processed and you should get to see him in about a month." "A month!" We were going to have to stay in that weird place for a whole month? That wasn't going to leave us much time to prepare our attack on the Fire Nation. "If we're going to be here for a whole month, we should spend our time looking for Appa," Aang said. We searched all over the city. Not only had no one seen Appa, but everyone seemed scared to talk to us. Even our next-door neighbor was terrified. "You can't mention the war here," he said. "And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li!" I couldn't believe how crazy it was. Clearly we were not going to get help from anyone. Not from Joo Dee, not from our neighbors, and apparently not from the Dai Li. We were going to have to do it on our own. Which meant we needed a plan to get in to see the Earth King. He's the only one who could straighten everything out. Later Katara saw something in the newspaper that gave her an idea. "The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear. We can sneak in with the crowd." So that night, Katara and Toph dressed up as fancy ladies and went in first. Aang and I snuck in as

办完手续后，你大概一个月后就能见到他了。” “一个月!”我们要在那个奇怪的地方待整整一个月？ 这样我们就没有多少时间准备进攻烈火国了。 “如果我们要在这里待上整整一个月，我们应该花时间寻找阿柏。”安昂说。 我们搜遍了整个城市。 不仅没有人看到阿柏，而且每个人似乎都害怕和我们说话。 就连我们隔壁的邻居也吓坏了。 “你不能在这里提到战争，”他说。 “不管你做什么，离戴笠远点！”我简直不敢相信这有多疯狂。 很明显，我们不会得到任何人的帮助。 不是来自朱迪，不是来自我们的邻居，显然也不是来自戴笠。 我们必须自己做这件事。 也就是说我们得想个办法进去见土强王。 他是唯一一个能解决问题的人。 后来，卡塔拉在报纸上看到了一些东西，这给了她一个主意。 “国王今晚要在王宫里为他的宠物熊举行宴会。 我们可以溜进人群。” 所以那天晚上，卡塔拉和拓芙打扮成漂亮的女士，第一个进去。 安昂和我偷偷溜进来

busboys. Then trouble came walking up to us. It was Joo Dee. "What are you doing here?" she wanted to know. "You have to leave immediately or we'll all be in terrible trouble." I'd had it with her. "Not until we see the king!" "You don't understand. You must go!" But I wasn't about to leave. No one was going to tell us what to do. While Aang provided a distraction, I went to search for the king. A short while later he entered the ballroom. Then, as Aang rushed over to greet him, I was grabbed by two Dai Li guards and taken to a room along with Katara and Toph. A few minutes later Aang showed up with this guy Long Feng, the head of the Dai Li. Ah, finally, someone who could give me some answers. "Why won't you let us talk to the king? We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!" "The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities," Long Feng said. "But this could be the most important thing he's ever heard!" Aang explained. "What's most important to the king is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the

司机。然后麻烦向我们走来。 是朱迪。“你在这里做什么？”她想知道。 “你必须马上离开，否则我们都有大麻烦了。” 我受够她了。“除非我们见到国王！”“你不明白。 你必须去！”但我不打算离开。 没人会告诉我们该怎么做。 安昂分散了我的注意力，我去找国王。 过了一会儿，他走进舞厅。 然后，当安昂冲过去迎接他时，我被戴笠的两个卫兵抓住，和卡塔拉和拓芙一起被带到一个房间里。 几分钟后，安昂带着这个叫龙峰的人出现了，他是戴笠的首领。 终于有人能给我答案了。 “你为什么不让我们和国王谈谈呢？” 我们有可以打败烈火国的情报！”“土强王没有时间卷入政治纷争和军事活动的日常细节，”龙峰说。 “但这可能是他听过的最重要的事情！”Aang解释道。 “对国王来说，最重要的是维护永固城的文化遗产。 我的工作是监督城市的其他资源，包括

military." So Long Feng was the guy who's really in power. This explained a lot. "So the king is just a figurehead," Katara said. "He's your puppet!" Toph added. If this was the guy who's in charge, then maybe we'd come to the right place after all. "We've found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion—" "Enough!" He angrily cut me off. "I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within our walls." It was all beginning to make sense. This guy had a sweet deal with all the power, and he was keeping the truth from the people of the city—not to mention from the king. This was corruption, plain and simple, and it was as bad as the Fire Nation itself. "You can't keep the truth from all these people!" Katara shouted. "I'll tell them," Aang said. "I'll make sure everyone knows." "Until now you've been treated as honored guests," Long Feng said sternly. "But from now on

军事。”所以龙峰才是真正掌权的人。 这解释了很多。卡塔拉说：“所以国王只是一个傀儡。 “他是你的傀儡！”Toph补充道。 如果这就是负责人，那么也许我们来对地方了。 “我们已经发现了一次日食，它会让烈火国失去防御能力。 你可以领导一场入侵——”“够了！”他生气地打断了我的话。 “我不想听你的荒唐计划。 永固城有严格的规定，在城内不得提及战争。” 一切开始变得有意义了。 这家伙和所有的权力都做了一笔甜蜜的交易，他瞒着城里的人，更不用说瞒着国王了。 这就是腐败，再简单不过了，它和烈火国本身一样糟糕。 “你不能对这些人隐瞒真相！”Katara喊道。 “我会告诉他们的。”安昂说。 “我会确保每个人都知道的。” 龙凤严厉地说：“到现在为止，你们都是贵宾。” “但是从现在开始