Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Never before had the famous Jonah Wizard felt so lost at sea. He could usually charm his way out of any situation. But his patented hip-hop charisma didn't work on Shaolin monks. Dan scanned the temple for the nearest exit. They were badly outnumbered by trained martial arts masters. Escape would be their sole option if this got ugly. The head monk went on. "You have many admirers among our order, Jonah Wizard. We find similarities between our ritual chants and your— I believe the term is 'hip-hop groove'? We consider you to be, as you might say, 'all that.'" Jonah laughed with pure relief. "Thanks, yo. Nice to be kickin' it in— you know— wherever we are." "I am Li Wu Chen, Chief Abbot of the Shaolin

第十一章著名的大法师约拿从来没有在海上感到如此茫然。 他通常能凭借自己的魅力摆脱任何困境。 但他独有的嘻哈魅力对少林僧人不起作用。 丹扫视寺庙，寻找最近的出口。 他们在人数上远不及训练有素的武术大师。 如果事态恶化，逃跑是他们唯一的选择。 和尚接着说。“巫师约拿，你在我们的会社里有许多崇拜者。 我们发现我们的仪式颂歌和你们的相似之处——我想术语是“嘻哈节奏”？ 我们认为你是，正如你所说，“所有这些。”’”约拿如释重负地笑了。 “谢谢,哟。不管我们在哪里，都很高兴能把它踢进去。” “我是少林寺方丈李武臣

Order," the man introduced himself. "Please honor us by coming this way." The procession of monks led them farther into the temple. Jonah walked beside the abbot, with Broderick and Dan bringing up the rear. They passed through room after room of Chinese art treasures that rivaled the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City. Farther on, the library hall featured countless shelves of ancient manuscripts. At last, they stepped through an elaborately carved archway. Dan felt the temperature drop, and he understood that they were no longer in the building on the mountainside but inside the mountain itself. There were no tourists here, no souvenir stands, no signs in a dozen languages. This was the heart of the Shaolin Temple, a secret place reserved for only a handful of chosen visitors. Dan peered into a huge chamber where several monks— obviously the top fighters— were engaged in a spectacular battle. The movements were so fast, yet so perfectly fluid and natural, that at first glance, the lightning combat seemed almost like dance. But this was no ballet. The punches

肃静，”那人自我介绍。 “请赏光从这边来。” 僧侣队伍把他们领进了寺庙。 约拿走在修道院院长旁边，布罗德里克和丹走在后面。 他们参观了一间又一间的中国艺术珍品，这些珍品可以与紫禁城的故宫博物院相媲美。 再往前走，图书馆大厅里摆满了无数书架的古代手稿。 最后，他们穿过了一座雕刻精美的拱门。 丹感到温度下降了，他明白他们不再是在山腰的房子里，而是在山里面。 这里没有游客，没有纪念品摊，没有十几种语言的标志。 这里是少林寺的中心，是一个秘密的地方，只对少数被选中的游客开放。 丹凝视着一个巨大的房间，里面有几个和尚——显然是顶级的战士——正在进行一场壮观的战斗。 动作如此之快，但又如此完美流畅和自然，乍一看，闪电般的战斗几乎像是舞蹈。 但这不是芭蕾。的拳

and kicks cut the air like bullets, leaving whispers of sound. Bodies soared, as if gravity did not exist. Watching it, Dan realized that all the martial arts he had seen in the fields of Shaolin had been child's play by comparison. It took him several seconds to find his voice. Still, it was in a hushed whisper that he said, "This is the coolest kung fu I've ever seen in my life!" Li Wu Chen smiled tolerantly. "We prefer to call it wushu here. The word kung fu can mean any skill mastered through long practice. Wushu refers specifically to martial arts. Would the young man care for a lesson?" Dan's heart very nearly blasted through his rib cage and leaped out of his chest. "Me? With these guys? You're kidding!" "There is no kidding in the Shaolin order," the abbot deadpanned. "But if you wish, we will show you a few of the fine points." "Oh, I wish!" Dan exclaimed fervently. "I wish!" The bus ride to the Great Wall was scheduled for seventy minutes, but that obviously didn't include

踢腿像子弹一样划破空气，留下声音的低语。 身体飙升，仿佛重力不存在。 看着它，丹意识到，相比之下，他在少林的田野里看到的所有武术都是孩子的游戏。 他花了几秒钟才找到自己的声音。 尽管如此，他还是低声说：“这是我这辈子见过的最酷的功夫！”李武辰宽容地笑了。 “我们这里更喜欢叫它武术。 功夫这个词可以指任何通过长期练习而掌握的技能。 武术特指武术。 这个年轻人愿意上一堂课吗？”丹的心脏几乎要炸穿胸腔，跳出胸腔。 “我?和这些家伙？你在开玩笑吧!”“少林寺没有开玩笑，”方丈面无表情地说。 “但如果你愿意，我们可以给你看一些好的地方。” “哦，我倒希望如此！”丹激动地叫道。 “我希望!”去长城的巴士行程原定为70分钟，但这显然不包括时间

Beijing traffic. At the seventy-minute mark of their trip, Amy and Nellie were still gridlocked on the freeway, and they were having a hard time restraining Saladin. The Egyptian Mau was expressing more than average interest in the plump hen in the arms of a peasant farmer in the next row. "I feel sorry for that chicken," Nellie commented. "Her options are lousy— the tender mercies of Saladin, or the stew pot of that family. Either way, the end of her day is going to be a bummer." Amy was deep in the pages of Puyi: The Last Son of Heaven, a thick paperback she had picked up at the bus station bookshop. But her mind was never far from her brother. "Is anybody wearing a Jonah Wizard T-shirt?" she asked, scanning the aisle. "If we find a real fan, maybe we can follow him to Jonah— and Dan." "I don't think this is the fan bus," Nellie observed glumly. "More like the poultry bus." In fact, Nellie had been checking for T-shirts— and hats, belt buckles, Pez dispensers, and

北京的交通。走到70分钟的时候，艾米和内莉还堵在高速公路上，她们很难控制住萨拉丁。 埃及人对隔壁一排农民怀里的肥母鸡表现出了超乎常人的兴趣。 “我为那只鸡感到难过，”内莉评论道。 “她的选择很糟糕——要么是萨拉丁的仁慈，要么是那个家族的炖锅。 不管怎样，她这一天的结局都将是令人失望的。” 艾米正沉浸在《溥仪：最后的天子》的书页里，那是一本厚厚的平装书，是她在汽车站的书店里捡到的。 但是她的心从来没有离开过她的哥哥。 “有人穿着乔纳·奇才的t恤吗？”她扫了一眼过道，问道。 “如果我们找到一个真正的粉丝，也许我们可以跟着他找到乔纳和丹。” “我不认为这是粉丝巴士，”内莉闷闷不乐地说。 “更像是家禽巴士。” 事实上，内莉一直在检查t恤、帽子、皮带扣、Pez糖果盒，还有

authentic Wizard Enterprises Bling. ever since the Beijing terminal. She had even been sidling up to random teenagers in hip-hop clothing, hoping to pick up snippets of Jonah's music on their iPods. No luck. How could they have lost Dan? If Amy was frantic about finding her brother, Nellie was doubly so. She was outwardly calm— no point in making Amy even more distraught. But these were her kids— in her care— and one of them was missing! Well, not missing, technically. Dan was with Jonah, which was better than him vanishing completely or landing in the clutches of Isabel Kabra. Jonah wasn't the worst of those Cahill vipers, but that was like saying it was preferable to be attacked by a tiger shark than a great white. Especially since Jonah was up to something. Why else would he lie to them about Dan? Nellie's instructions were clear: "Finding Dan is important," the voice on the other end of the crackly line had told her. "But nothing takes precedence over the clue hunt."

真正的精灵企业Bling。 从北京终点站开始。 她甚至偷偷溜到穿着嘻哈服装的青少年身边，希望能在他们的ipod里听到乔纳的音乐片段。 没有运气。他们怎么会失去丹呢？ 如果说艾米急着要找到她的哥哥，那内莉就更急了。 她表面上很平静——没有必要让艾米更加心烦意乱。 但这些都是她的孩子——在她的照顾下——其中一个不见了！严格来说，不算失踪。 丹和约拿在一起，这比他完全消失或落入伊莎贝尔·卡布拉的魔掌要好。 乔纳并不是卡希尔毒蛇中最坏的，但这就像是说被虎鲨攻击比被大白鲨攻击要好。 尤其是乔纳在搞什么阴谋。 不然他为什么要对他们隐瞒丹的事？ 内莉的指示很明确：“找到丹很重要，”那支破碎的电话另一端的声音告诉她。 “但没有什么比寻找线索更重要。”

"You're talking about an eleven-year-old kid!" Nellie had shouted into the pay phone. "Who happens to be Grace Cahill's grandson," the voice had added. "He has shown himself to be quite a resourceful young man. We have every reason to believe he can take care of himself." Big talk from someone sitting in a paneled office thousands of miles away. Suddenly, the pressure of keeping her real mission a secret seemed nearly as exhausting as the Clue hunt. Nellie slumped in her seat, hugging Saladin to her chest. The guilt gave her no respite. These poor kids had been deceived practically from birth— first by their parents, who had hid their Cahill identity, then by Grace, who had withheld the truth about the fire. Next, the Clue hunt— practically a double-crossers' convention. Who knew what lies Jonah was telling Dan right now? And on top of it all, there's me— someone they trust. Someone who's supposed to protect them… If it ever came down to a choice between the

“你说的是一个11岁的孩子！”内莉对着公用电话喊道。 “他恰好是格蕾丝·卡希尔的孙子。”那个声音补充道。 “他已经证明自己是一个足智多谋的年轻人。 我们完全有理由相信他能照顾好自己。” 千里之外坐在镶板办公室里的人夸夸其谈。 突然间，保守她真正任务的秘密的压力似乎几乎和寻找线索一样令人筋疲力尽。 内莉瘫倒在座位上，把萨拉丁搂在胸前。 内疚没有使她得到喘息的机会。 这些可怜的孩子实际上从出生起就被欺骗了——首先是被他们的父母欺骗，他们隐瞒了卡希尔的身份，然后是被格蕾丝欺骗，她隐瞒了火灾的真相。 接下来，寻找线索——实际上是一个出卖人的惯例。 谁知道约拿现在对丹撒了什么谎？ 最重要的是，我是他们信任的人。 一个本该保护他们的人如果要在