2 Troubled Trolls

CHAPTER 2

第二章

Troubled Trolls The next morning Lucas returned to the balcony with Ruskin. He noticed that the great cloud was still there. He wondered again about floating castles. Then he shook his head. He was about to go back inside, when he heard a few knights talking down below. He stood still and listened. "The trolls are in an uproar," he heard one of the knights declare. "What seems to be the trouble?" asked another. Lucas leaned against the railing.

第二天早上，卢卡斯和罗斯金回到阳台上。 他注意到那片大云还在那儿。 他又想到了漂浮的城堡。 然后他摇了摇头。他刚要回去，就听到下面几个骑士在说话。 他站着不动，听着。 “巨魔们闹得不可开交。”他听见一个骑士说。 “怎么了？”另一个人问。 卢卡斯靠在栏杆上。

"Their prized enderberry crop has been nearly wiped out," said the first knight. The second knight gasped. "By what?" "Nobody knows," the first knight replied. "We should investigate." Lucas cupped his hand over his mouth. Oh no! he thought. I have to tell Clara about this!

“他们珍贵的覆盆子作物几乎被消灭了。”第一个骑士说。 第二个骑士倒吸了一口气。“什么?”“没人知道。”第一个骑士回答。 “我们应该调查一下。”卢卡斯用手捂住嘴。 噢,不!他想。我得告诉克拉拉这件事！

The prince and Ruskin hurried over to Clara's house and told her what they had heard. Clara put down the broom in her hand. "What are we waiting for?" she asked.

王子和罗斯金匆匆赶到克拉拉家，告诉她他们所听到的一切。 克拉拉放下手中的扫帚。 “我们还在等什么？”她问。

They ran down the hill and over the long stone bridge to Burth. All of the enderberry bushes grew in the meadows just over the bridge. Lucas, Clara, and Ruskin slipped into the enderberry grove and began to inspect the bushes for clues. All they found were clusters of empty stems. Bush after bush had been picked clean of berries. "Someone or something sure was hungry," said Lucas.

他们跑下山，越过长长的石桥来到伯斯。 所有的覆盆子丛都生长在桥那边的草地上。 卢卡斯、克拉拉和拉斯金溜进了小树林里，开始检查灌木丛，寻找线索。 他们发现的只是一串串的空茎。 一丛又一丛的灌木被摘光了浆果。 “肯定有什么人或什么东西饿了，”卢卡斯说。

Clara shifted some branches and peeked deeper into the bush. "There isn't a single berry in here!" she exclaimed. Then they heard a rustle in the bushes. Ruskin squawked. "Get away from my bushes!" boomed a gruff voice behind them.

克拉拉拨动了一些树枝，向灌木丛深处窥视。 “这里一个浆果也没有！”她惊叫道。 然后他们听到灌木丛中有沙沙声。 Ruskin大发牢骚。“离我的灌木丛远点！”一个粗声粗气的声音在他们身后吼道。