5 Chapter 5

5 The Glitter Dragons flew around the cavern, trying to find an exit. Surely there was a way out. One side of the cavern was darker and had fewer

闪闪发光的龙在洞穴里飞来飞去，试图找到一个出口。 当然是有出路的。 洞穴的一边比较暗，洞穴的数量也比较少

gemstones. Naomi flew over there. Perhaps there was an exit hidden in the gloom? She squinted up at the roof. Long, thick tree roots dangled down. Were they growing out of a tunnel? She was pretty sure they were! "Willa, Azmina!" Naomi called, her voice echoing around the vast space. "I might have found a way out." Willa and Azmina flew over. "Could we use those roots to climb back up?" "Let's try it," Azmina said. "We've got to get out of here somehow." Together, the friends flew up to the dangling tree roots. As they got closer, they saw the roots were all different colors—violet, emerald, orange, and blue. Naomi reached up to grab hold of an orange one. But to her surprise, it grabbed hold of her! This was no ordinary tree root. It wrapped around Naomi's paw tightly. Her heart thumping, Naomi tugged at the tree root with her other paw.

宝石。娜奥米飞过去了。 也许黑暗中隐藏着一个出口? 她眯起眼睛看屋顶。 又长又粗的树根垂下来。 它们是从隧道里长出来的吗? 她非常肯定他们是!“威拉,Azmina !”娜奥米喊道，她的声音在广阔的空间里回荡。 “我可能已经找到出路了。” 威拉和阿兹米娜飞了过来。 “我们能用这些树根爬上去吗?”“我们试试吧，”阿兹米娜说。 “我们必须想办法离开这里。” 朋友们一起飞到悬垂的树根上。 当他们走近时，他们看到树根都是不同的颜色——紫色、翠绿色、橙色和蓝色。 娜奥米伸手去抓一个橙色的。 但令她吃惊的是，它抓住了她!这可不是普通的树根。 它紧紧地缠在娜奥米的爪子上。 娜奥米的心怦怦直跳，她用另一只爪子拽着树根。

No matter what she did, the root would not let go. Now that her eyes had gotten used to the gloom, she could see more clearly. "Don't grab them!" she called urgently to her friends. "They aren't tree roots! They're snakes!" "Too late!" Azmina wailed. Naomi turned to see that both Azmina and Willa had been caught by the snakes. Even worse, the snakes were pulling the Dragon Girls up through the gap! Naomi could feel the fear building inside her. She did not like the idea of being taken anywhere by a snake! Then the Tree Queen's second clue jumped into her mind. Look for the ones who are feared but should be revered. Naomi was pretty sure that revere meant "admire." Was it possible the queen had meant that they should admire these snakes? As the snake pulled her up through the gap, Naomi's mind whirred, thinking over the second part of the riddle: They don't have a leg to stand on. That was definitely true of snakes!

无论她做什么，树根都不肯松手。 现在她的眼睛已经习惯了黑暗，她能看得更清楚了。 “别抓他们!”她急切地对朋友们喊道。 “它们不是树根!”他们是蛇!”“太迟了!”Azmina恸哭。 娜奥米转过身来，发现阿兹米娜和薇拉都被蛇咬住了。 更糟糕的是，蛇把龙女从缺口拉上来了!娜奥米能感觉到内心的恐惧。 她不喜欢被蛇带到任何地方!接着，树后的第二条线索突然出现在她的脑海里。 寻找那些令人畏惧但又值得尊敬的人。 内奥米很确定revere的意思是"钦佩" 王后的意思是他们应该欣赏这些蛇吗? 当蛇把她从缝隙中拉上来时，娜奥米的脑子嗡嗡作响，思考着谜语的第二部分:他们没有一条腿可以站立。 这对蛇来说绝对是真的!

But completely harmless? Some snakes were very dangerous. Unless that wasn't what the Tree Queen had said. Maybe she'd said completely armless? Naomi couldn't help chuckling at that. She was now pretty sure that the second clue had just found them! The snake gave one last tug on her front paw and then suddenly let go. Naomi went flying and landed with a bump on a smooth surface. She sat up and looked around. She was inside another cavern, but this one was smaller, and its walls were smooth and pearly white. It's like being inside a giant egg, thought Naomi. She had the feeling she was being watched. And no wonder: In the room were several brightly colored snakes! They slithered over one another and around one another, their scales gleaming as their flexible bodies made moving patterns. "Good afternoon," said Naomi, thinking fast. "Thanks for the lift." The snakes hissed in surprise. "No worriessss!"

但完全无害?有些蛇非常危险。 除非这不是树后说的。 也许她说的是完全没有胳膊? 娜奥米忍不住笑了起来。 她现在很肯定第二条线索找到了他们!蛇最后拉了一下她的前爪，然后突然松开了。 娜奥米飞了起来，在一个光滑的表面上撞了一下。 她坐起来，环顾四周。 她在另一个洞穴里，但这个洞穴更小，墙壁光滑，洁白如珍珠。 就像在一个巨大的鸡蛋里，娜奥米想。 她有一种被监视的感觉。 难怪:房间里有几条颜色鲜艳的蛇!它们一个滑过一个，绕着另一个，它们柔韧的身体摆出移动的图案，鳞片闪闪发光。 “下午好，”内奥米说，思考得很快。 “谢谢你载我。”蛇惊讶地发出嘶嘶声。 “没有worriessss !”

Naomi paused. She wasn't really sure what to say to a bunch of snakes. "We have a lot in common. You guys are covered in lovely shiny scales, just like we Dragon Girls are. And snakes are cool! What other animal can smell with its tongue and listen with its bones?" Naomi was really glad that she had paid attention on her recent school trip to the zoo. The snakes began to slither over to her. "Oh, thisss glittery dragon issss sssssooo charming!" they hissed in a delighted way. "Mosssst visitorssss are sssscared of ussss." "Not me!" said Naomi firmly, although she actually was a tiny bit scared. Still, the snakes did seem quite friendly. Just then, another snake appeared at the entrance, and Willa came tumbling into the space, quickly followed by Azmina. Naomi's friends gasped when they saw the snakes. "It's fine!" Naomi reassured them. "I'm pretty sure the snakes are our second clue. And I think

拿俄米停了下来。她不知道该对一群蛇说什么。 “我们有很多共同点。你们浑身都是可爱闪亮的鳞片，就像我们龙女一样。 而且蛇很酷!还有什么动物能用舌头闻，用骨头听?”内奥米真的很高兴她最近在学校的动物园之旅中注意到了这一点。 蛇开始向她爬过来。 “哦，这条闪闪发光的龙——————————————————太迷人了!”他们高兴地发出嘶嘶声。 “苔藓游客害怕苔藓。” “不是我!”娜奥米坚定地说，尽管她实际上有点害怕。 不过，蛇看起来确实很友好。 就在这时，另一条蛇出现在入口处，威拉跌跌撞撞地走了进来，阿兹米娜紧随其后。 娜奥米的朋友们看到蛇时倒吸了一口气。 “很好!”拿俄米安慰他们。 “我很确定蛇是我们的第二条线索。 我认为

they will help us, if we ask nicely." "Of coursssse we will help you, charming rainbow dragon!" hissed the snakes. "What issss the problem? Do you need ussss to bite ssssomeone for you?" Willa gave a little yelp of alarm. "Oh no, nothing like that," Naomi said hastily. "We are trying to beat the Shadow Sprites."

如果我们友好地请求，他们会帮助我们的。” “我们当然会帮助你，迷人的彩虹龙!”蛇嘶嘶地说。 “问题出在哪里?”你需要嘶声替你咬人吗?”威拉惊恐地叫了一声。 “哦，不，不是那样的，”内奥米急忙说。 “我们正在努力打败暗影精灵。”