Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Nothing Better Than the Smell of Old Books. One Long Sniff and—A-a-achoo! Ding! The Ironsword central elevator rumbled to a stop, and its doors slid open. Lights above them flickered to reveal an empty basement hallway that smelled like soap. No one was around, and there were no sounds except for the hum of the air conditioning.

第六章没有什么比旧书的味道更好了。 一声长呼！丁!铁剑中央电梯轰隆一声停了下来，门滑开了。 他们头顶的灯光闪烁着，露出空荡荡的地下室走廊，散发着肥皂味。 周围没有人，除了空调的嗡嗡声，什么声音也没有。

The hall was bigger than Morgan expected: it stretched to the left and right, then split suddenly in two directions. "How big is this basement?" he asked. "The map by the front office says there are rooms and hallways under the entire school!" Harper explained. They wouldn't need to explore very far, though. Right in front of them was a door labeled LIBRARY. Morgan opened it.

大厅比摩根想象的要大：它向左向右伸展，然后突然向两个方向分裂。 “这个地下室有多大？”他问。 “前厅旁的地图上说，整个学校下面都有房间和走廊！”哈珀解释道。 不过，他们不需要探索得很远。 他们的正前方是一扇标有“图书馆”的门。 摩根打开了门。

Inside was almost total darkness. He could see a dim light somewhere in the distance, but nothing turned on automatically when they walked in. Morgan knew the bright afternoon was only one floor above their heads, but in here it felt like midnight. "Ouch!" Theo yelped. Thump, thump, thump…thump. Books falling. "I ran into a

里面几乎一片漆黑。 他可以看到远处某处有一盏昏暗的灯，但当他们走进来时，没有任何东西自动打开。 摩根知道明媚的午后就在他们头顶上的一层楼，但在这里感觉就像午夜。 “哎哟!”西奥叫喊起来。咚咚，咚咚，咚咚…… 书下降。“我遇到了一个

bookshelf." "I should probably wait out here," Po said. "Unless you want me to run over your feet." "We need to find a switch." Morgan ran his hands along the inside wall. He'd never wished so much for a torch in real life before. "I'll check the other way," Jodi said. "Oof!" Theo said. Thump, thump, thump. "I'm going to…stand perfectly still…from now on." "I found the front desk!" Harper called. "I think there's a switch back here." Click. Light finally flooded the library—the front half, at least. The back was still dark save for that mysterious dim light at the far end.

书架上。”“我应该在外面等着，”阿宝说。 “除非你想让我从你脚上碾过去。” “我们需要找到一个开关。” 摩根用手摸着里面的墙。 在现实生活中，他从未如此渴望过一个火炬。 “我从另一个方向看，”乔迪说。 “呕!”西奥说。咚咚，咚咚，咚咚。 “我要……站着不动……从现在开始。” “我找到前台了！”哈珀。 “我觉得这里有个开关。” 点击。灯光终于照亮了图书馆——至少是前半部分。 除了尽头那神秘的微光外，后面还是一片漆黑。

"The list says we need to process returns," Morgan said. "So I guess we need to shelve loose books in the right spot?" "I think these books are all returns." Harper pointed to the large desk she was now standing behind. The tiny basket labeled RETURNS was overflowing with books stacked high and spread out across the entire desk. "We're going to need a plan."

摩根表示：“这份清单显示，我们需要处理退货。” “所以我想我们需要把散书放在合适的地方？”“我认为这些书都是回报。” 哈珀指着她现在站在后面的那张大桌子。 标着“退货”的小篮子里堆满了摞得高高的书，铺满了整张桌子。 “我们需要一个计划。”

There were at least a hundred books, not organized at all. Morgan didn't even know how libraries like this were usually organized, and this one looked unusual. None of the books had those clear library covers and barcodes—there wasn't a computer or scanning system on the desk anyway. "They're all nonfiction books," Theo observed, "so they're probably organized by subject." "I dunno," Po called from behind a shelf. He didn't notice Ash talking. "The shelves are all labeled with numbers. This one says 965 to 969. And 970 to 974 is next to it." Jodi called from the next shelf over. "That keeps going to 995 to 999, but then it changes to 000 to 004." "There's nothing like that on the book covers," Harper said. "Do the books have anything in common?" "I'm seeing Flowers of the Western United States right next to Algebra 1, so…," Po

至少有一百本书，根本没有整理好。 摩根甚至不知道这样的图书馆通常是如何组织的，而这个图书馆看起来很不寻常。 这些书都没有清晰的书皮和条形码——反正桌子上也没有电脑或扫描系统。 “它们都是非虚构类书籍，”西奥说，“所以它们可能是按主题组织的。” “我不知道，”阿宝从架子后面喊道。 他没有注意到阿什在说话。 “货架上都标着数字。 这个是965到969。970到974在它旁边。” 乔迪在隔壁架子上叫道。 “这个数字一直到995到999，然后又变成了000到004。” “书的封面上没有这样的东西，”哈珀说。 “这两本书有什么共同点吗？”“我在《代数1》旁边看《美国西部之花》，所以……”阿宝