Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 It was close to dawn when Marcus finally fell asleep. And right away, he tumbled into a dream. He was on a quest with Hercules to kill the monstrous Hydra, an enormous serpent with nine heads. Just one puff of her poisonous breath could kill. Marcus waded silently through the dark and misty swamp, pushing aside sharp stalks of grass. And then, just ahead, there she was: the hideous serpent. Marcus stopped, frozen, as the beast rose up from the swamp. One by one, her nine horrific heads emerged from the mist, staring at him with

第九章黎明时分，马库斯终于睡着了。 很快，他就进入了一个梦境。 他和赫拉克勒斯一起去追杀九头巨蛇——九头蛇。 只要吸一口她的毒气就能致命。 马库斯默默地涉水穿过黑暗而雾蒙蒙的沼泽，推开尖锐的草茎。 然后，就在前面，她出现了:那条可怕的蛇。 马库斯站住了，僵住了，野兽从沼泽里爬了出来。 她的九个可怕的脑袋一个接一个地从雾中冒出来，用一种

glowing yellow eyes, leering with dripping, glistening fangs. And then — Huff. A burning, rotten stench rushed into Marcus's lungs. The poisonous Hydra breath! Marcus gagged and coughed. His throat burned. His chest felt as if it would explode! "Marcus! Marcus!" a voice called.

发光的黄眼睛，滴着亮晶晶的尖牙。 然后——噗。一股燃烧的、腐烂的恶臭冲进了马库斯的肺部。 毒九头蛇的呼吸!马库斯又呛又咳嗽。 他的喉咙发烫。他觉得胸口好像要爆炸了!“马库斯!马库斯!”一个声音喊道。

Hercules? "Marcus!" Marcus's eyes popped open, and the nightmare fell away. Tata was kneeling next to him, calling his name, shaking him awake. It was all a dream! Relief poured over him as he realized he wasn't in a swamp with the Hydra. He was on the mountain Vesuvius, with Tata. But wait… something was terribly wrong. The air was still poisonous! The Hydra was still puffing gusts of her burning breath into Marcus's lungs. But there was no Hydra. That burning, poisonous smell was here. "Marcus," Tata choked. "Get up! The air has gone bad!" Tata helped pull Marcus to his feet and they staggered together toward Peg. Marcus's head pounded. Tears poured from his stinging eyes. His lungs were on fire and he gasped for breath. He felt dizzy. They couldn't last much longer in this air!

赫拉克勒斯?“马库斯!”马库斯的眼睛突然睁开，噩梦消失了。 塔塔跪在他身边，喊着他的名字，把他摇醒。 这一切都是一场梦!当他意识到自己并没有和九头蛇在沼泽里时，他如释重负。 他和塔塔在维苏威火山。 但是等一下……事情出了很大的问题。 空气还是有毒的!九头蛇还在向马库斯的肺里吹着她灼热的气息。 但是九头蛇并不存在。那燃烧的、有毒的气味就在这里。 “马库斯，”塔塔哽咽着说。“起床!空气变坏了!”塔塔帮着把马库斯拉了起来，他们一起摇摇晃晃地走向佩格。 马库斯的头砰砰直响。泪水从他刺痛的眼睛里涌出。 他的肺着火了，他喘着气。 他感到头晕。他们在空中撑不了多久了!

Peg was rearing in panic, white foam spewing from her mouth. Tata fumbled with her rope, finally untying it. They all stumbled out of the grove of trees, where the air was miraculously clear. Tata and Marcus collapsed to the ground, gulping the fresh air into their lungs. "Tata," Marcus rasped. "What was that?" "Sulfur gas," Tata replied, his voice ragged from coughing. "There's no doubt. I smelled it once before, when Linus and I were visiting a gold mine in Africa. We were deep underground. Sulfur gas can be deadly. It can kill in minutes. We barely made it to the surface in time." Tata looked back into the grove of trees. "It's highly unusual to find sulfur gas above the ground," he said. He stood and climbed onto a boulder that jutted out from the grassy slope, looking all around. Marcus saw a hint of worry in his father's eyes. But mainly what he saw was curiosity, a hunger to learn and understand. It was the same look Tata used to get in Linus Selius's library when he was chasing down a new theory. Suddenly, Tata was

佩格惊恐地站起来，嘴里喷出白色的泡沫。 塔塔摸索着绳子，终于解开了。 他们都跌跌撞撞地走出树林，那里的空气出奇地清新。 塔塔和马库斯瘫倒在地，大口吸着新鲜空气。 “塔塔，”马库斯粗声说。“那是什么?”“硫磺气。”塔塔回答，他的声音因咳嗽而变得粗糙。 “毫无疑问。我以前闻过一次，当时我和莱纳斯在非洲参观一座金矿。 我们在地下深处。硫磺气体是致命的。 它能在几分钟内杀死人。我们几乎没能及时到达水面。” 塔塔回头看了看树林。 “在地面上发现含硫气体是极不寻常的，”他说。 他站起来，爬上了从草坡上伸出来的一块巨石，环顾四周。 马库斯从他父亲的眼中看到一丝担忧。 但他看到的主要是好奇心，对学习和理解的渴望。 塔塔在莱纳斯·塞利乌斯(Linus Selius)的图书馆里研究新理论时，人们也会这样看他。 突然间，塔塔

not a slave on the run. He was a scientist, searching for answers. And the truth was that after spending a lifetime working with Linus, Tata probably knew more about science and nature than most people in the empire. In recent years, Linus would ask Tata to join him when important guests came, eager for his friends to hear Tata's ideas. Tata hopped down from the boulder. He held out his hand to Marcus, pulling him to his feet. "Let's keep heading up the mountain," he said, handing Marcus Peg's reins. "We'll discover more as we get closer to the top." Tata set out, climbing the rocky path. Marcus took a deep breath, and gave Peg's reins a tug. But the mare didn't budge. She looked at Marcus with her wise brown eyes. Her expression was so thoughtful. Marcus would not have been shocked if she had opened her mouth and started to speak to him. "What is it?" Marcus said. The mare looked up the mountain.

而不是一个逃亡的奴隶。他是个科学家，在寻找答案。 事实是，在与莱纳斯共事了一辈子之后，塔塔可能比帝国中的大多数人更了解科学和自然。 近年来，每当有重要客人来访时，莱纳斯都会邀请塔塔和他一起，他渴望让他的朋友们听听塔塔的想法。 塔塔从巨石上跳了下来。 他向马库斯伸出手，把他拉起来。 “我们继续上山吧，”他说着，把缰绳递给了马库斯·佩格。 “当我们接近顶峰时，我们会发现更多。” 塔塔出发了，沿着布满岩石的小路往上爬。 马库斯深吸了一口气，拉了拉佩格的缰绳。 但是母马纹丝不动。 她用她那双睿智的棕色眼睛看着马库斯。 她的表情是那么若有所思。 如果她张开嘴开始和他说话，马库斯也不会感到震惊。 “什么事?”马库斯说。 母马抬头望着山。

She stamped her foot. "You don't want to go up there, do you?" Snort. "Me neither," Marcus said. Tata's voice shouted out. "Marcus!" Marcus and Peg eyed each other. "We can't let Tata head up there by himself," Marcus said. Peg made a noise that sounded like a sigh, and she stepped forward. Together they followed Tata toward the top of Vesuvius.

她跺着脚。“你不想上去，是吗?”Snort。 “我也是，”马库斯说。 塔塔的声音喊道。“马库斯!”马库斯和佩格面面相觑。 “我们不能让塔塔一个人上去，”马库斯说。 佩格发出一声像是叹息的声音，她走上前去。 他们一起跟着塔塔向维苏威火山山顶走去。