1 Rain, Rain, Go Away!

The Witch's Curse

女巫的诅咒

CHAPTER 1

第一章

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Heavy rain pelted the windows in Prince Lucas's turret bedroom. It had rained for six days, and Lucas had grown bored. He had read every book he owned. He had played at least a hundred games of checkers and backgammon. He had draped blankets over the tables in the playroom and called it Fort Wrenly. He even taught Ruskin, his pet scarlet dragon, a few new tricks.

雨，雨，走开！大雨打在卢卡斯王子塔楼卧室的窗户上。 一连下了六天雨，卢卡斯感到厌烦了。 他把自己所有的书都读了。 他至少下过一百盘跳棋和西洋双陆棋。 他在游戏室的桌子上铺上了毯子，把它叫做雷利堡。 他甚至教他的宠物红龙罗斯金一些新把戏。

Is this rain ever going to stop? Lucas wondered. He looked out the window and sighed. Ruskin sighed too. If Lucas was bored, Ruskin was bored. The storm had been fun at first. Lucas and his best friend, Clara, had made a mud slide on the hill behind the castle. They'd slid down the hill until the grass had worn off. They'd swooshed down the muddy slide again and again, tearing holes in their trousers and bloomers.

这雨会停吗？ 卢卡斯很好奇。他望着窗外，叹了口气。 罗斯金也叹了口气。如果卢卡斯觉得无聊，罗斯金也会觉得无聊。 暴风雨一开始很好玩。 卢卡斯和他最好的朋友克拉拉在城堡后面的山上滑了一场泥。 他们滑下山坡，直到草都磨光了。 他们在泥泞的滑梯上一次又一次地滑行，把裤子和灯笼裤撕了个洞。

"Wash up!" Clara's mother, Anna Gills, had cried as she tossed two bars of soap out the back door. "No tracking mud into the castle!" Lucas and Clara had each picked up a bar and squeezed it. The soap shot out of their fists and landed in a puddle. They'd squealed with laughter. Then they'd rubbed the soap on their hair and clothes and rinsed off in the rain.

“洗手!”克拉拉的母亲安娜·吉尔斯哭着把两块肥皂扔出了后门。 “不准带泥进城堡！”卢卡斯和克拉拉各自拿起一根巧克力棒，捏了捏。 肥皂从他们的拳头里喷出来，落在一个水坑里。 他们尖声大笑起来。 然后他们把肥皂擦在头发和衣服上，在雨中冲洗干净。

But day after day the rain kept coming. Water rushed down the main road like a river. Some of the villagers' homes had flooded. Others had leaky roofs. Clara hadn't come over to play in days.

但雨日复一日地下着。 水像河水一样顺着大路奔流而下。 一些村民的房屋被洪水淹没。 其他房屋的屋顶漏水。克拉拉好几天没过来玩了。