Chapter 6

Chapter Six IN WHICH the Stones Speak Jared and Simon ran, half dragging Mallory, through a series of hallways and narrow, dim rooms. Once, they passed through an overhang high above a central cavity where the Korting oversaw dwarves laboring to stack weapons onto carts. The barking, at first far off, became closer and more frenzied. They continued on, through chamber after chamber, ducking behind stalagmites when they heard dwarves nearby, and then creeping on.

第六章石头说话贾里德和西蒙半拖着马洛里跑过一连串的走廊和狭窄昏暗的房间。 有一次，他们穿过一个中央洞穴上方的悬挑，在那里，科廷人可以看到矮人正在费力地把武器堆放在车上。 那叫声起初很遥远，后来越来越近，越来越疯狂。 他们继续往前走，穿过一间又一间房间，听到附近有矮人的声音，就躲到石笋后面，然后爬着往前走。

Jared stopped in a cavern with pools where white, sightless fish darted. Tiny rocks were balanced atop the points of all the stalagmites, and the sound of water droplets echoed through the space, along with a strange tapping rhythm. "Where are we?" "I'm not sure," Simon said. "I would have remembered those fish, but I don't. I don't think we came this way when they brought us in." "Where are we?" Mallory moaned, swaying slightly as she stood.

杰瑞德在一个洞穴里停了下来，洞穴里有几个水塘，白色的、看不见的鱼游来游去。 微小的岩石在石笋的顶端平衡着，水滴的声音伴随着一种奇怪的敲击节奏在空间中回荡。 “我们在哪儿？”“我不确定，”西蒙说。 “我会记得那些鱼的，但我不记得了。 我不认为他们带我们进来的时候我们是走这条路的。” “我们在哪儿？”马洛里呻吟着，站在那里微微摇晃着身子。

"We can't go back," Jared said nervously. "We have to keep going." A small, pale figure jumped out from the shadows. It had huge, luminous eyes that shone in the gloom. On its forehead, two long whiskers quivered. "Wha—what's that?" Simon whispered. The creature tapped on the wall with one long, multijointed finger, then pressed a large ear against the stone. Jared noticed that the creature's nails were cracked and broken. "Thestones. Thestonesspeak. Theyspeaktome." It had a small, whispery voice, and Jared strained to pick out individual words. The creature tapped again. The sound was like some demented Morse code. "Hey," Jared said. "Um, do you know the way out of here?" "Shhhhh." It closed its eyes and nodded its head in time with something Jared couldn't hear. Then it leaped into Jared's arms, wrapping a strong hand around his neck. Jared stumbled backward.

“我们不能回去。”贾里德紧张地说。 “我们必须继续前进。”一个苍白的小身影从阴影中跳出来。 它有一双明亮的大眼睛，在黑暗中闪闪发光。 在它的额头上，两根长长的胡须在颤动。 “Wha-what ?”西蒙低声说。 这个生物用一个长而多节的手指敲了敲墙壁，然后把一只大耳朵贴在石头上。 贾里德注意到这只生物的指甲已经破裂。 “料。Thestonesspeak。 Theyspeaktome。”它的声音很小，很轻，杰瑞德努力地挑出每个字。 那生物又敲了一下。 那声音就像一些疯狂的莫尔斯电码。 “嘿，”贾里德说。“你知道出去的路吗？”“嘘。” 它闭上眼睛，及时点了点头，贾里德听不见。 然后它跳到杰瑞德的怀里，用一只强壮的手搂住他的脖子。 杰瑞德踉跄着后退。

"Yes! Yes! Thestonessaytocrawlthroughthere." It pointed into the darkness, past the pools of white fish. "Um, great. Thanks." Jared tried to peel the creature off. Finally it unlatched, scrambled to the wall, and began tapping again. "What is that?" Simon whispered to Jared. "A really weird dwarf?" "A nodder or a banger, I think," Jared whispered back. "They live in mines and warn miners of collapses and stuff." Simon made a face. "Are they all insane? It's worse than that phooka." "Foryou, JaredGrace." The creature pressed a smooth, cold stone into Jared's hand. "Thestonewantstotravelwithyou." "Uh, thanks," Jared said. "We have to go now." He moved toward the dark place that the nodderbanger- thing had indicated. As Jared got closer, he thought he could make out a crevice.

“是啊!是的!Thestonessaytocrawlthroughthere。” 它指向黑暗，越过白鱼的池塘。 “嗯,很好。谢谢。”杰瑞德想把它剥下来。 最后，它打开门闩，爬到墙上，又开始敲打起来。 “那是什么？”西蒙小声对贾里德说。 “一个非常奇怪的侏儒？”“我想应该是点头或啪啪啪吧。”杰瑞德小声回答。 “他们住在矿井里，警告矿工们塌方之类的。” 西蒙做了个鬼脸。“他们都疯了吗？” 这比那张照片还糟糕。” “给,JaredGrace。”那怪物把一块光滑冰冷的石头塞到杰瑞德手里。 “Thestonewantstotravelwithyou。” “嗯，谢谢。”贾里德说。“我们现在得走了。” 他朝那个点头怪所指的那个黑暗的地方走去。 当贾里德走近时，他觉得自己能辨认出一条裂缝。

"Thestonesspeak."

“Thestonesspeak。”

"Wait. How did you know Jared's name?" Mallory asked, moving slowly behind her brothers. Jared turned back, suddenly confused. "Yeah, how did you know my name?" he demanded. The creature rapped on the cave wall again, an uneven series of taps. "Thestonestellme. Thestonesknowall." "Riiiight." Jared continued on. The creature had actually pointed them toward a small opening in the wall of the cave. They had overlooked it before. The hole was low to the ground and very dark. Jared got on his hands and knees and started to crawl. The cave floor was moist, and sometimes he thought he could hear a slither or a rustle just ahead of him. His brother and sister shuffled along behind. Once or twice he heard one of them gasp, but he didn't slow his pace. He could still hear the barking of the dogs echoing through the caverns. They emerged in the hall of the ironwood tree. "I think it's that way," Jared said, pointing to one of the hallways.

”等。你怎么知道贾里德的名字？”马洛里问，慢慢地跟在哥哥们后面。 杰瑞德转过身来，突然感到困惑。 “是啊，你怎么知道我的名字？” 那怪物又在岩壁上敲了一下，断断续续地敲了几下。 “Thestonestellme。Thestonesknowall。” “Riiiight。”贾里德继续说。 那个怪物实际上是指给他们看洞穴壁上的一个小洞口。 他们以前忽视了这一点。 这个洞离地面很低，很黑。 杰瑞德趴在地上开始爬。 洞穴里的地面很潮湿，有时他觉得自己能听到前方有滑行声或沙沙声。 他的弟弟和妹妹拖着脚步跟在后面。 有一两次，他听到其中一个喘了口气，但他没有放慢脚步。 他仍然能听到狗的叫声在洞穴中回荡。 他们出现在铁树的大厅里。 “我想是那条路。”贾里德指着一条走廊说。