Chapter 4

Chapter Four IN WHICH Jared and Mallory Find Many Things, but Not What They're Looking For Stepping into the woods, Jared felt a slight chill. The air was different, full of the smell of green things and fresh dirt, but the light was murky. He and Mallory stepped through tangles of jewelweed and past thin trees heaped with vines. Somewhere above them a bird started calling, making a harsh sound like an alarm. Beneath their footsteps, the ground was slick with moss. Twigs snapped as

第四章贾里德和马洛里找到了很多东西，但不是他们想要的。走进树林，贾里德感到一阵寒意。 空气变了样，充满了绿色和新鲜泥土的气味，但光线很暗。 他和马洛里穿过缠结的珠宝草，经过爬满藤蔓的瘦弱树木。 在他们头顶的某个地方，一只鸟开始鸣叫，发出刺耳的警报声。 他们脚下的地面长满了光滑的青苔。 树枝折断

they passed and Jared heard the distant sound of water. There was a streak of brown, and a small owl settled on a low branch. Its head cocked toward them as it bit into the small, limp mouse in its claw. Mallory pushed through a knot of bushes, and Jared followed. Tiny burrs caught on his clothes and in his hair. They sidled around the crumbling trunk of a fallen tree swarming with black ants. There was something different about his vision with the stone in place. Everything was brighter and more clear. But there was something else, too. Things moved in the grass, in the trees, things he couldn't quite see but was aware of for the first time. Faces made of bark and rock and moss that he only saw for an instant. It was as though the whole of the forest was alive. "There." Mallory fingered a broken branch and pointed to where clumps of ferns had been trampled. "That's the way they went." They followed the trail of smashed weeds and snapped branches until they came to a stream. By

他们经过，杰瑞德听到远处有水声。 有一道褐色的条纹，一只小猫头鹰停在一根低矮的树枝上。 它朝他们歪着头，用爪子咬着那只软软的小老鼠。 马洛里穿过一丛灌木，杰瑞德紧随其后。 他的衣服上和头发上都有细小的毛刺。 他们侧身绕过一棵满是黑蚂蚁的倒下的树干。 石头就位后，他的视觉有些不同。 一切都更明亮、更清晰了。 但还有别的东西。 有东西在草地上、树上动，有些东西他看不太清楚，但第一次意识到了。 由树皮、岩石和苔藓组成的脸，他只看到了一瞬间。 仿佛整个森林都活了起来。 “在那里。”马洛里用手指着一根折断的树枝，指着被践踏过的蕨类植物丛。 “他们就是这么走的。” 他们顺着杂草和折断的树枝走到一条小溪边。 通过

then the woods had grown more shadowed, and the twilight sounds had increased. A cloud of gnats settled on them for a moment, then blew out toward the water. "What do we do now?" Mallory asked. "Can you see anything?" Jared squinted through the eyepiece and shook his head. "Let's just follow the stream. The trail has to pick up again." They walked on through the forest. "Mallory," Jared whispered, pointing at a huge oak tree. Tiny green and brown creatures were perched on a branch. Their wings resembled leaves, but their faces seemed almost human. Instead of hair, grass and flower buds grew from their tiny heads. "What are you looking at?" Mallory raised her rapier and took two steps backward. Jared shook his head slightly. "Sprites... I think." "Why do you have that stupid expression on your face?"

接着，树林里的阴影更浓了，暮色的声音也更响了。 一团蚊蚋在他们身上停了一会儿，然后被吹向水面。 “我们现在怎么办？”马洛里问道。 “你能看见什么吗？”杰瑞德眯着眼睛透过目镜，摇了摇头。 “我们顺着小溪走吧。 这条路又得走起来了。” 他们继续穿过森林。 “马洛里。”贾里德指着一棵大橡树低声说。 绿色和棕色的小生物栖息在树枝上。 它们的翅膀像树叶，但它们的脸却几乎像人。 它们小小的头上长出的不是头发，而是草和花蕾。 “你在看什么？”马洛里举起长剑，向后退了两步。 杰瑞德轻轻地摇了摇头。 “精灵…我认为。”“你为什么脸上带着那种愚蠢的表情？”

"They're just..." He couldn't quite explain. He extended his hand, palm up, and stared in amazement as one of the creatures alighted on his finger. Soft feet tickled his skin as the tiny faerie blinked up at him with black eyes. "Jared," Mallory said impatiently. At the sound of her voice, the sprite jumped into the air. Jared watched as it spiraled upward into the leaves above. The patches of sunlight filtering through the trees became tinged with orange. Up ahead, the stream widened where it ran under the remains of a stone bridge.

“他们只是……”他无法解释清楚。 他伸出手，掌心朝上，惊讶地看着其中一个生物落在他的手指上。 当小仙女用黑色的眼睛眨着眼睛看着他时，柔软的脚挠着他的皮肤。 “贾里德。”马洛里不耐烦地说。 听到她的声音，精灵跳到了空中。 杰瑞德看着它盘旋着升到上面的树叶里。 从树木间透进来的一片片阳光染上了橘黄色。 在前面，从一座石桥的遗迹下流过的小溪变宽了。

Jared could feel his skin prickle as they got closer to the rubble, but there was no sign of goblins. The stream was very wide, almost twenty feet across, and there was a darkness in the middle that seemed to speak of deep water.

当他们靠近废墟时，贾里德感到皮肤刺痛，但没有半兽人的迹象。 这条河很宽，大约有二十英尺宽，河中央一片黑暗，似乎说明河水很深。

One alighted on his finger.

一只落在他的手指上。