Chapter 5

Chapter Five IN WHICH There Are Many Riddles and Few Answers To Jared's surprise, their mother agreed to let them go for a short walk. She blamed their constant squabbling on being cooped up inside but, with a single stern look at Jared, made all three promise to be back before dark. Mallory grabbed her fencing sword, Jared got his backpack and a new notebook, and Simon brought a butterfly net from the library. "What is that for?" Mallory asked as they crossed Dulac Drive, following the map.

让贾里德吃惊的是，他们的母亲同意让他们出去散一会儿步。 她把他们不停的争吵归咎于被关在里面，但严厉地看了贾里德一眼，让他们三个保证天黑前回来。 马洛里拿起她的剑，贾里德拿起他的背包和一本新笔记本，西蒙从图书馆拿了一个蝴蝶网。 “那是干什么用的？”当他们沿着地图穿过杜拉克大道时，马洛里问道。

"To catch things," Simon said, without looking at her directly. "What kind of things? Don't you have enough animals?" Simon shrugged. "You bring home one new creature and I'm feeding it to Byron." "Hey," Jared said, interrupting them. "Which direction?" Simon studied the map, then pointed. Simon, Mallory, and Jared made their way up the steep hillside. Trees were sparse, their trunks growing on a slant between patches of grass and moss-covered boulders. For a long while they just climbed, not really talking. Jared thought that this might be a nice place to bring his sketchbook sometime—but then he remembered that he'd given up on drawing. Near the top of the hill the land leveled out and the trees grew thicker. Simon turned around suddenly and started leading them back down the hill.

“去抓东西。”西蒙说，没有直视她。 “什么样的事情？”你的动物还不够多吗？”西蒙耸耸肩。 “你带一个新生物回家，我把它喂给拜伦。” “嘿，”贾里德打断他们说。 “哪个方向?”西蒙仔细看了看地图，然后指了指。 西蒙、马洛里和贾里德爬上了陡峭的山坡。 树木稀疏，树干斜长在草地和长满青苔的巨石之间。 很长一段时间，他们只是在爬，没有真正说话。 贾里德想，这可能是他带速写本的好地方——但他突然想起，他已经放弃了画画。 靠近山顶的地方土地变得平坦，树木也长得更茂盛了。 西蒙突然转过身来，开始带领他们下山。

"Where are we going?" Jared asked. Simon waved the map at him. "This is the way," he said. Mallory nodded as though she didn't think it was unusual that they were retracing their steps. "Are you sure?" Jared asked. "I don't think so." "I'm sure," Simon said. Right then a summer breeze blew across the hill, and Jared thought he heard a chorus of laughter from beneath their feet. He stumbled and almost fell. "Did you hear that?" "What?" Simon asked, looking around nervously. Jared shrugged. He was sure he had heard something, but now there was only silence.

“我们要去哪儿？”杰瑞德问。 西蒙向他挥动地图。 “就是这样，”他说。 马洛里点了点头，好像她并不认为他们原路返回有什么不寻常。 “你确定吗？”杰瑞德问。 “我不这么认为。”“我确定，”西蒙说。 就在这时，一阵夏日的微风吹过山头，杰瑞德仿佛听见脚下传来一阵哄堂大笑。 他绊了一下，差点摔倒。 “你听到了吗？”“什么?”西蒙问，紧张地环顾四周。 杰瑞德耸耸肩。他确信自己听到了什么声音，但现在只有沉默。

A little bit down the path Simon changed direction again. He started walking back up and to the right. Mallory followed amiably. "Where are we heading now?" Jared asked. They were going up again, toward the top of the first hill, which was good—but they had been traveling at such an angle that Jared didn't think they could be anywhere close to the meeting spot on the map.

走了一小段路，西蒙又改变了方向。 他开始往回走，然后向右走。 马洛里和蔼可亲地跟在后面。“我们现在要去哪里？”杰瑞德问。 他们又往上走了，朝第一座山的山顶走去，这很好——但他们走的角度太大了，贾里德觉得他们不可能接近地图上的会合地点。

"I know what I'm doing," said Simon. Mallory followed without question, which bothered Jared almost as much as the zigzag pattern Simon was taking. He wished he had the Guide. He tried to go through the pages in his mind, looking for some explanation. He recalled something about people losing their way, even really close to home.... Jared began to poke the grass he stepped on with his shoe. One tall weed scuttled to the side. "Stray sod!" He thought of the entry in the Guide. Suddenly it made sense that only he had noticed they were going in the wrong direction. "Simon! Mallory! Turn your shirts inside out like mine!"

“我知道我在做什么，”西蒙说。 马洛里毫无疑问地跟在后面，这几乎和西蒙走的z字形路线一样让贾里德烦恼。 他真希望自己有《指南》。 他试着在脑子里翻看那几页纸，寻找一些解释。 他回忆起人们迷路的事情，即使离家很近.... 杰瑞德开始用鞋戳他踩过的草。 一株高大的杂草窜到了一边。 “流浪sod !”他想起了《指南》上的条目。 突然间，他明白了为什么只有他才注意到他们走错了方向。 “西蒙!马洛里!像我一样把你的衬衫翻过来！”

"No," Simon said. "I know the way. Why do you always have to boss me around?" "It's a faerie trick!" Jared yelled. "Forget it. You follow me for a change!" "Just do it, Simon!" "No! Didn't you hear me? No!" Jared tackled his brother, causing both of them to land on the grass. Jared tried to rip off his brother's sweater, but Simon was hugging his arms to his sides.

“不，”西蒙说。“我认得路。 你为什么总是对我颐指气使？”“这是精灵的把戏！”杰瑞德喊道。 “算了吧。你跟我来一次吧！”“照做吧，西蒙！”“不!你没听见吗？ 不!”贾里德抓住了他的兄弟，导致他们两人都落在草地上。 贾里德想扯掉他哥哥的毛衣，但西蒙正抱着他的胳膊。