Chapter 1

TONY DITERLIZZI & HOLLY BLACK THE WRATH OF MULCARATH

托尼·迪特利齐和霍莉·布莱克饰演马尔卡拉斯的愤怒

Chapter One IN WHICH the World Is Turned Upside Down The pale light of the newly risen sun made the dew shimmer on the nearby grass as Jared, Mallory, and Simon trudged along the early morning roads. They were tired, but the need to get home kept them going. Mallory shivered in her thin white dress, clutching her sword so hard that her knuckles went white. Beside her, Simon shuffled along, kicking stray bits of asphalt. Jared was quiet too. Each time his eyes closed,

当贾里德、马洛里和西蒙沿着清晨的道路跋涉时，刚刚升起的太阳的苍白光芒使附近草地上的露珠闪闪发光。 他们很累，但回家的需要让他们继续前进。 马洛里穿着那件薄薄的白裙子，浑身发抖，她紧紧地抓着剑，连指关节都发白了。 西蒙在她身边拖着脚步，踢着零散的柏油路。 杰瑞德也很安静。每次他闭上眼睛，

even for a moment, all he saw were goblins—hundreds of goblins, with Mulgarath at their head. Jared tried to distract himself by planning what he would say to his mother when they finally got home. She was going to be furious with them for being gone all night and even madder at Jared because of that thing with the knife. But he could explain everything now. He imagined telling her about the shape-shifting ogre, the rescue of Mallory from the dwarves, and the way they had tricked the elves. His mother would look at the sword and she would have to believe them. And then she would forgive Jared for everything. A sharp sound, like a tea kettle whistling at full volume, snapped him back to the present. They were at the gate of the Spiderwick estate. To Jared's horror, trash, papers, feathers, and broken furniture littered the lawn. "What is all that?" Mallory gasped. A screech drew Jared's eyes upward, where Simon's griffin was chasing a small creature around the roof and knocking pieces of slate loose. Stray feathers drifted over the roof tiles.

有那么一瞬间，他看到的全是半兽人——以马尔加拉斯为首的几百个半兽人。 贾里德试图分散自己的注意力，他计划着回家后对母亲说些什么。 她会因为他们一整晚都不在而对他们大发雷霆，甚至会因为那把刀而对贾里德更加生气。 但他现在可以解释一切了。 他想象着告诉她关于变形食人魔的故事，从矮人们手中救出马洛里的故事，以及他们如何欺骗精灵的故事。 他的母亲看着那把剑，就不得不相信他们。 然后她就会原谅杰瑞德的一切。 一声尖锐的声音，就像茶壶开着最大的音量在呼啸，把他猛地拉回了现实。 他们站在斯派德威克庄园的门口。 令贾里德惊恐的是，垃圾、纸张、羽毛和破损的家具散落在草坪上。 “那是什么？”马洛里喘着粗气。 一声尖叫吸引了贾里德的目光，只见西蒙的狮鹫正在屋顶上追逐一个小生物，把一块块石板敲得稀里哗啦。 散落的羽毛飘在瓦片上。

"Byron!" Simon called, but the griffin either didn't hear or chose to ignore him. Simon turned to Jared in exasperation. "He shouldn't be up there. His wing is still hurt." "What's he after?" Mallory asked, squinting. "A goblin, I think," said Jared slowly. The memory of teeth and claws red with blood awakened a horrible dread within him. "Mom!" Mallory gasped, and began to run toward the house. Jared and Simon raced after her. Up close they could see that the windows of the old estate were smashed and the front door hung by a single hinge. They darted inside, through the mudroom, stepping over scattered keys and torn coats. In the kitchen, water poured from the faucet, filling a sink piled with broken plates and spilling onto the floor, where food from the overturned freezer was defrosting in wet piles. The wallboard had been punched open in places, and plaster dust, mingling with spilled flour and cereal, covered the stove. The dining room table was still upright, but several

“拜伦!”西蒙呼唤，但狮鹫要么没有听到，要么选择无视他。 西蒙恼怒地转向贾里德。 “他不应该在那里。 他的翅膀还在受伤。”“他在找什么？”马洛里眯着眼睛问。 “我想是妖精。”贾里德慢慢地说。 一想起被血染红的牙齿和爪子，他心里就产生了一种可怕的恐惧。 “妈妈!”马洛里倒吸了一口冷气，开始朝房子跑去。 贾里德和西蒙追着她跑。 凑近了看，他们可以看到旧庄园的窗户都被打碎了，前门只有一个铰链挂着。 他们冲了进去，穿过储藏室，踩着散落的钥匙和破衣服。 在厨房里，水从水龙头里流出，装满了堆满碎盘子的水槽，洒在地板上，从翻倒的冰箱里取出的食物湿堆在地上解冻。 墙板上有几个地方被打开了，灰泥和洒出来的面粉和麦片混在一起，盖满了炉子。 餐厅的桌子仍然是直立的，但有几张

of the chairs were knocked over, their caning ripped. One of their great-uncle's paintings was slashed and the frame was cracked, although it still hung on the wall. The living room was worse: The television was shattered and their game console had been shoved through it. The sofas were ripped open, and stuffing was scattered across the floorboards like drifts of snow. And there, sitting on the remains of a brocade footstool, was Thimbletack.

有一把椅子被撞翻了，手杖被扯断了。 他们的舅公的一幅画被砍断了，画框也裂了，但它仍然挂在墙上。 客厅里的情况更糟：电视机被打碎了，他们的游戏机被塞了进去。 沙发被撕开了，填充物像雪一样散落在地板上。 在那儿，西姆布兰蒂克坐在一只织锦脚凳的残余物上。

"All my fault, all my fault."

都是我的错，都是我的错。”