7 Chapter 7

7 Was it Willa's imagination, or was the river even grayer now than before? It felt colder, too. The chill seeped into Willa, filling her with doubt.

是威拉的想象，还是河水比以前更灰暗了? 感觉也更冷了。寒意渗透进威拉的身体，使她充满了怀疑。

"I don't think I can do this," she whispered to herself. As she spoke, she felt something beside her, radiating warmth and light. "Of course you can!" "Delphina!" Willa cried. "You're here!" "As if I'd let you do this alone," chattered the silver dolphin in her funny squeaky voice. "There are all kinds of weird creatures in this river. Whistling prawns, blinking strobe fish. Oh, and don't get too close to the scissor fish. They are very snippy."

“我想我做不到，”她低声对自己说。 说着，她感到身边有什么东西在放射着温暖和光明。 “你当然可以!”“Delphina !”威拉哭了。 “你在这里!”“好像我会让你一个人做这件事似的，”银海豚用她那有趣的尖声喋喋不休地说。 “这条河里有各种各样奇怪的生物。 呼啸的对虾，闪烁的频闪鱼。 对了，别离剪刀鱼太近。 他们非常暴躁。”

Willa wrapped a wing around the dolphin and squeezed. "I'm so glad you're here," she said. The quest suddenly felt a whole lot less scary. Together, Willa and Delphina dove down, down, down into the water. It must have been the deepest river in the world! The deeper they went, the darker the water became. But Delphina's silvery skin glowed, creating a warm cocoon of light.

薇拉用一只翅膀裹住海豚，紧紧抱住。 “我很高兴你来了，”她说。 这个任务突然变得不那么可怕了。 威拉和黛尔菲娜一起往下潜，往下潜，往下潜。 它一定是世界上最深的河!他们走得越深，水就越黑。 但是黛尔菲娜的银色皮肤发光了，形成了一个温暖的光茧。

All the same, Willa could only see a tail's length in any direction. Things kept brushing against her. But that was the least of Willa's problems. The real issue was that she had no idea what she was looking for! "Did the Tree Queen give you any hints at all?" asked Delphina. "She just said it came from somewhere deep, and that it was invisible," replied Willa. "But everything down here is invisible." Even worse, Willa wasn't sure the ingredient was in the river at all. It might be in a deep hole somewhere. Willa felt her worries swell. Collecting something, when she had no idea what it was or where it was, felt … impossible. They were so deep now that Willa could see the long, leafy weeds growing on the bottom of the river, rippling back and forth. "Watch out!" called Delphina suddenly. But it was too late. Willa crashed into a large fish swimming toward them. "Oh, I'm sorry—"

尽管如此，威拉在任何方向上都只能看到尾巴的长度。 事情不断地向她袭来。 但这是威拉最不关心的问题。 真正的问题是她根本不知道自己在找什么!“树后给过你什么暗示吗?”德尔菲娜问。 “她只是说它来自某个很深的地方，而且是看不见的。”威拉回答。 “但是这里的一切都是看不见的。” 更糟糕的是，威拉根本不确定原料是否在河里。 它可能在某个深洞里。 威拉感到她的忧虑越来越大。 收集一样东西，她不知道是什么，也不知道在哪里，她觉得……不可能。 现在他们已经陷得很深了，威拉可以看到河底长着长长的、多叶的杂草，河水在来回荡漾。 “小心!”德尔菲娜突然喊道。 但为时已晚。威拉撞上了一条向他们游来的大鱼。 “哦，对不起——”

she said, but the fish snapped its sharp silver teeth at her and swished off. "A scissor fish!" said Delphina, swimming over. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," said Willa, but as she spoke, she felt something tumble out of her bag. The magic apple! "There's a huge hole in your bag," groaned Delphina. "That scissor fish must have cut it as it went by." There wasn't a moment to lose. If the magic apple fell into the river weeds, it would be very difficult to find in the dark. Willa pressed her wings against her side and swooped after the apple. Just as it was about to disappear into the weeds, she scooped it up with her wing. Yes! "Good work, Willa!" cheered Delphina. "Now, let's get away from here. It's creepy." Willa was about to agree when something brushed against her paw. Just a strand of river weed, Willa told herself, swimming back to

她说，但那条鱼朝她咬了一口锋利的银牙，嗖地一声走开了。 “剪刀鱼!”德尔菲娜说着游了过去。 “你还好吗?”“我很好，”威拉说，但就在她说话的时候，她感到有什么东西从包里掉了出来。 神奇的苹果!“你的包上有个大洞，”德尔菲娜呻吟道。 “一定是那条剪刀鱼经过的时候把它剪断了。” 一刻也不能耽搁了。 如果魔法苹果掉进河里的杂草中，在黑暗中很难找到。 威拉用翅膀抵住身体，扑向苹果。 就在它要消失在杂草中时，她用翅膀把它捞了起来。 是的!“干得好，威拉!”德尔菲娜欢呼道。 “现在，我们离开这里吧。 这是令人毛骨悚然。”威拉正要同意，这时有什么东西蹭到了她的爪子。 只是一束河草，薇拉告诉自己，游回了那里

Delphina. But then another weed pressed against her. Looking down, Willa saw a dark tendril reach up and wind itself around her leg. Hang on, weeds didn't do that! Her heart pounded. So many mistakes. The Tree Queen will be disappointed in you, whispered the Shadow Sprites.

Delphina。但另一根大麻压在她身上。 向下一看，威拉看到一根黑色的卷须伸出来缠绕在她的腿上。 等等，杂草不会那样做!她的心怦怦直跳。 这么多错误。“树后会对你失望的。”暗影精灵低声说。