10 A Lesson in Friendship

CHAPTER 10

第十章

A Lesson in Friendship "Father, I keep having these dreams that seem so real," Lucas began as he sat down to breakfast. His mother had left early for Primlox, the island of the fairies, so he and his father were alone at the table. "About what?" asked his father. "The Mermaid Kingdom," he said. "I met a mermaid princess named Avalon, and we became friends." The king raised an eyebrow. Lucas helped himself to a sweet roll from a platter on the table. "I dreamed about her again last night," he went on. "And then poof! I woke up and she was gone. It really stinks!"

友谊的一课“爸爸，我总是做这些梦，它们看起来是那么真实，”卢卡斯一边坐下来吃早饭，一边说。 他的母亲很早就动身去了仙女岛普里姆洛克斯，所以只有他和父亲在餐桌旁。 “关于什么？”他父亲问。 “美人鱼王国，”他说。 “我遇到了一位名叫阿瓦隆的美人鱼公主，我们成为了朋友。” 国王扬起眉毛。 卢卡斯从桌上的盘子里拿了一个甜面包卷。 “我昨晚又梦见她了，”他接着说。 “然后噗！”我醒来她就不见了。 真的很臭！”

His father pierced a sausage with his fork and looked over at the frustrated prince. "Well, now you know why we have a pact with the mermaids," said his father.

他的父亲用叉子刺穿一根香肠，看着沮丧的王子。 “好了，现在你知道我们为什么要和美人鱼订立契约了吧。”父亲说。

"What do you mean by that?" Lucas questioned. "You see, whenever a human and a mermaid become friends, it always ends in disappointment," his father said. "Being friends with a mermaid is always too hard." Lucas dropped his sweet roll. "But that's the silliest reason for a pact I've ever heard!" he said in disbelief. His father looked at him in surprise.

“你这话是什么意思？”卢卡斯质疑。 “你看，只要人类和美人鱼成为朋友，总是以失望告终，”他的父亲说。 “和美人鱼做朋友太难了。” 卢卡斯扔掉了他的甜面包卷。 “可这是我听过的订立契约的最愚蠢的理由！”他不敢相信地说。 他的父亲惊讶地看着他。

"All my friendships have been hard at first," Lucas went on, "but they were all worth fighting for." "Go on," urged his father, wiping his mouth with his napkin. He leaned back in his chair. "Look at my friendship with Clara," said Lucas. "At first you said we couldn't be friends, but I got you to change your mind, and now she's like a member of our family."

“我所有的友谊一开始都很艰难，”卢卡斯继续说道，“但它们都值得我为之奋斗。” “说下去。”父亲催促着，用餐巾擦了擦嘴。 他向后靠在椅子上。 “看看我和克拉拉的友谊，”卢卡斯说。 “一开始你说我们不能做朋友，但我让你改变了主意，现在她就像我们的家人一样。”

"True," said the king thoughtfully. "And then there's Ruskin," Lucas went on. "He burned everything up and made a mess of the castle."

“没错，”国王若有所思地说。 “还有罗斯金，”卢卡斯接着说。 “他把所有东西都烧了，把城堡搞得一团糟。”