1 A Secret Mission

The Lost Stone

失落的石头

CHAPTER 1

第一章

A Secret Mission Prince Lucas raced up the spiral stone staircase in the castle to his bedroom. He kneeled on the floor and then pulled a pile of clothes out from under his bed. There was a pair of worn trousers, a shabby shirt, a felt hat, scruffy leather boots, and a wool cloak. Lucas had gotten the clothes for a handful of coins from a boy in the village. Now the prince stood before a mirror and tried on the hat. This outfit will make me look like a normal eight-year-old boy, he thought. Nobody will ever know that I'm the prince of Wrenly.

卢卡斯王子飞快地爬上城堡里的螺旋形石楼梯，回到自己的卧室。 他跪在地板上，然后从床底下拿出一堆衣服。 一条破旧的裤子，一件破旧的衬衫，一顶毡帽，一双破旧的皮靴和一件羊毛斗篷。 卢卡斯花了一把硬币从村里的一个男孩那里买到了这些衣服。 现在王子站在一面镜子前试戴那顶帽子。 这件衣服会让我看起来像个正常的八岁男孩，他想。 没人会知道我是兰利的王子。

And that was the problem. Lucas had grown bored of being a prince. Most kids would think, He must be CRAZY! Lucas had everything a boy or girl could wish for: a cozy goose-feather bed, toys fit for a prince, the best cooks in the land to make his meals, and a view of the sea from the top of his turret. Lucas even had his very own horse, named Ivan. But there was one thing the prince did not have.... Friends. Lucas wanted a friend more than anything in the world. He'd had a friend once—a pretty, green-eyed girl named Clara Gills. Clara's mother, Anna, made dresses for Lucas's mother, Queen Tasha. Anna always

这就是问题所在。卢卡斯已经厌倦了做王子。 大多数孩子会想，他一定是疯了！卢卡斯拥有一个男孩或女孩想要的一切：舒适的鹅毛床，适合王子的玩具，全国最好的厨师为他做饭，从他的炮塔顶上可以看到大海。 卢卡斯甚至有他自己的马，名叫伊万。 但是有一样东西王子没有.... 朋友。卢卡斯最想要的是一个朋友。 他曾经有过一个朋友——一个漂亮的绿眼睛女孩，名叫克拉拉·吉尔斯。 克拉拉的母亲安娜为卢卡斯的母亲塔莎女王做衣服。 安娜总是

brought Clara when she came to the castle. Clara and Lucas had played hide-and-seek and twirled on the swings in the royal playroom. But not anymore. Lucas's father, King Caleb, had forbidden it. He had said a proper prince does not play with village children. Lucas had cried until his nose got stuffy. So day after day Lucas watched the village children walk to and from school. Sometimes they stopped at the bakery for breadsticks. In the afternoons Lucas watched the children climb trees and play tag in the meadows. How he longed to laugh and play along with them!

她带着克拉拉来到城堡。 克拉拉和卢卡斯在皇家游戏室里玩捉迷藏，在秋千上打转。 但现在不是了。卢卡斯的父亲迦勒国王禁止他这么做。 他说过，一个真正的王子是不会和村里的孩子们一起玩的。 卢卡斯一直哭到鼻子不通。 就这样，卢卡斯日复一日地看着村里的孩子们上下学。 有时他们在面包店停下来买面包条。 下午，卢卡斯看着孩子们爬树，在草地上玩捉人游戏。 他多么渴望和他们一起欢笑和玩耍啊！