Chapter 7

Chapter 7 It sure is hot in here. That was all Princess Pulverizer could think as she slipped into her very first suit of armor. The sun warmed the copper and steel, keeping all the heat inside. She'd only worn the suit a few minutes and already she was drenched in sweat. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like once she put the helmet on. It wasn't easy to walk in, either. Wearing a full suit of armor wasn't anything like Princess Pulverizer had imagined. But the princess didn't dare complain. She was being careful not to anger Elle. The evil witch had been furious enough with her after the strawberry disaster. She'd even threatened to turn her into a newt! If Princess Pulverizer

这里真热。 这就是粉碎机公主在穿上她的第一套盔甲时所能想到的。 太阳加热了铜和钢，把所有的热量都留在了内部。 她穿那套衣服才几分钟，就已经汗流浃背了。 她无法想象戴上头盔后会是什么感觉。 进去也不容易。 穿上全套盔甲完全不像粉碎机公主想象的那样。 但是公主不敢抱怨。 她很小心，不惹艾丽生气。 草莓灾难之后，邪恶的女巫已经对她大发雷霆了。 她甚至威胁要把她变成蝾螈！公主粉碎机

messed this up, there was no telling what Elle might do. So instead, Princess Pulverizer sighed through her discomfort, glancing at the field where that day's jousting competitions were going to take place and quietly asked, "Are you sure this is what armor is supposed to feel like? I can hardly move." Elle rolled her eyes. "Why do I work with amateurs?" she shouted angrily to no one in particular. "This is jousting armor, you fool. It's much heavier than normal armor. I'd have had it made even heavier, but the armorer said the horse might collapse under the weight." Thank goodness for that armorer.

搞砸了，谁知道艾丽会做什么。 于是，粉碎公主叹了口气，看着当天的比武比赛场地，轻声问道：“你确定这就是盔甲应有的感觉吗？” 我几乎动不了。”艾丽翻了个白眼。 “我为什么要和业余的人一起工作？”她生气地对着任何人喊道。 “这是比武盔甲，你这个傻瓜。 它比普通的盔甲要重得多。 我本想让人把它弄得更重一些，但军械师说太重了马可能会垮掉的。” 谢天谢地，我们有个军械师。

"Now, I have something special for you!" Elle sounded very excited. "A shield! With my personal crest." The witch handed Princess Pulverizer a large round shield, with a skeleton head carved in its center. "That's your crest?" Princess Pulverizer asked. "I designed it myself," Elle replied, smoothing the skirt of her blue-and-whitestriped gown. "Isn't it lovely?" Lovely wasn't exactly the word Princess Pulverizer was thinking of. Still, she answered, "Yes. It's great. Thank you." Elle beamed. "I knew you would like it. Now come on. We have to head over to the center of the field so you can pick your lance. And you better choose well. Because there's no way I... I mean you... are going to lose this joust. Do you understand?" Princess Pulverizer nodded nervously.

“现在，我有特别的东西要给你！”艾丽听起来很兴奋。 “一个盾牌!上面有我的徽章。” 女巫递给粉碎机公主一个巨大的圆形盾牌，中间雕刻着骷髅头。 “那是你的徽章？”粉碎机公主问。 “这是我自己设计的，”艾丽一边回答，一边抚平她那件蓝白条纹礼服的裙摆。 “这不是很可爱吗？”粉碎机公主想的可不是“可爱”这个词。 不过，她还是回答说：“是的。 太棒了。谢谢你。”Elle传送。 “我知道你会喜欢的。 来吧。我们得去场地中央，这样你才能选好你的长矛。 你最好选对。 因为我不可能… 我是说你…会输掉这场比武。 你明白吗？”粉碎机公主紧张地点点头。

As she followed Elle through the wooden gate and over to the center of the list field where the joust was to take place, the princess felt her heart pounding with excitement. She'd sat in the boxes with her father many times during jousting contests. But this was so much better. Soon she would hear the cheers of the crowd as she rode toward her opponent and broke her lance against his shield. Or even better, knocked him from his horse. "You're riding in this joust?" Dribble's voice knocked the daydream from Princess Pulverizer's mind. She looked up and saw Dribble and Lucas standing beside a woman who looked just like Elle. Beside them was a tall man in shiny armor. He had a huge white-and-blue plume shooting out from his helmet. "I wish you the best of luck," Anna told Princess Pulverizer sweetly. She smoothed the skirt of her white-and-blue-striped gown. "It will be a fine match. My knight, Sir Stately, is

当她跟着艾丽穿过木门来到比武场地的中央时，公主感到自己的心兴奋得怦怦直跳。 在比武比赛中，她曾多次和父亲一起坐在包厢里。 但这真是太棒了。 很快她就会听到人群的欢呼声，她骑向对手，在他的盾牌上折断了她的长矛。 或者更棒的是，把他从马上撞下来。 “你要参加这次比武？”运球的声音打破了普莱丽公主的白日梦。 她抬头一看，只见运球和卢卡斯站在一个长得很像艾丽的女人旁边。 站在他们旁边的是一个身穿闪亮盔甲的高个子男人。 他的头盔里冒出一根巨大的蓝白相间的羽毛。 “我祝你好运，”安娜温柔地对普瓦瑞尔公主说。 她把白蓝条纹长袍的下摆熨平。 “这将是一场精彩的比赛。我的骑士，庄严爵士

a skilled rider." She patted the knight on the back. "I hope he's a skilled loser, too," Elle told her sister. "Because that's what is going to happen to him." Now Princess Pulverizer understood why Elle had been so anxious for her to win this match. There was no way she wanted to lose to her sister—again.

一个熟练的骑手。”她拍了拍骑士的背。 “我希望他也是一个老练的失败者，”艾丽告诉她的妹妹。 “因为这就是他将要发生的事。” 现在，普莱丽公主明白了为什么艾丽那么渴望她赢得这场比赛。 她绝对不想再输给她的姐姐。

The marshal walked over to Princess Pulverizer and Sir Stately. He held out a selection of lances. "Choose your weapons," he said. Princess Pulverizer immediately grabbed for the largest lance. But it was difficult to control because her hands were so small—she was just a kid after all. So she returned it, and grabbed a much smaller lance instead. "Don't choose that one," Lucas warned her. "You'll have to ride too close to Sir Stately to break it on his shield. It's dangerous." Princess Pulverizer gave him a haughty stare. "Have you ever been in a joust?" "No," he admitted. "I was always too scared to get up on a horse." Princess Pulverizer laughed in his face. "Then what do you know?" "You sure have gotten mean," Lucas said, his eyes filling with tears. Princess Pulverizer felt a slight twinge of guilt. Lucas had been her friend. And he'd

元帅走向普瓦瑞尔公主和斯塔里爵士。 他拿出了一些标枪。 “选择你的武器，”他说。 粉碎机公主立刻抓起最大的矛。 但是很难控制，因为她的手太小了——毕竟她还是个孩子。 于是她把枪放了回去，抓起了一支小得多的长矛。 “别选那个，”卢卡斯警告她。 “你得骑得离瓦莱迪爵士太近，才能在他的盾牌上折断它。 是很危险的。”普莱尔公主傲慢地瞪了他一眼。 “你参加过比武吗？”“不，”他承认。 “我总是太害怕了，不敢骑上马。” 普莱泽公主当着他的面大笑起来。 “那你知道什么？”“你真是太刻薄了，”卢卡斯说，眼里充满了泪水。 粉碎机公主感到一阵轻微的内疚。 卢卡斯是她的朋友。 和他