Chapter 15

chapter fifteen "The crossing is just through here," Globlet announces cheerfully. Right. Just through the shadow-drenched, spooky-asa- late-night-walk-to-the-bathroom canyon. Yay, I think as I swallow and urge Seabiscuit forward...

第十五章“十字路口就在这里，”环球glolet高兴地宣布。 正确的。穿过阴影笼罩的，令人毛骨悚然的，深夜步行去洗手间的峡谷。 耶，我一边想一边咽着口水，催促着“海饼干”前进……

The canyon walls stretch up, staggeringly tall, allowing almost no light in. The darkness seems to swallow us. If not for the otherworldly sounds and smells, this place could have been yanked straight from one of Dirk's favorite Westerns. And, not for the first time, I think about Dirk. And June. And Rover. I miss them. But, weirdly, I'm sorta happy they're not here. Beside me, Quint's doing long division under his breath as he works to repair his conjurer's cannon. And there's something that feels right about it being just the two of us, in this dimension, on this journey. But that doesn't stop me from worrying about our pals. A lot. "Quint," I say. "Dirk and June... you think they're... y'know?"

峡谷壁向上伸展，高得惊人，几乎没有光线进入。 黑暗似乎要吞噬我们。 如果不是因为那超凡脱俗的声音和气味，这个地方很可能是直接从德克最喜欢的一部西部片里搬来的。 而且，这不是我第一次想到德克了。 和6月。和探测器。我想念他们。 但奇怪的是，我有点高兴他们不在这里。 在我旁边，昆特一边修理他的魔法大炮，一边低声做着长除法。 只有我们两个人，在这个空间，在这段旅程中，这种感觉是对的。 但这并不能阻止我担心我们的朋友。 很多。“昆特，”我说。“德克和琼…… 你认为他们……你知道吗?”

making out what? No," I meant," I say with a sigh, "do you think they're safe?" "Oh, without a doubt," Quint says, smiling. And it seems like he should be more worried than he is, given that we're a full dimension away and all, but, I dunno... I want to believe him. "HELLO! DUH!" Globlet says. "Obviously they're OK. They know how to take care of themselves way better than you do. June makes you guys look like a pair of butt cheeks." "Like, each of us is a pair of butt cheeks?" I ask. "Or we're each one cheek on the same butt?"

辨认什么？不，“我的意思是，”我叹了口气说，“你认为它们安全吗？”“哦，毫无疑问，”昆特笑着说。 似乎他应该比现在更担心，因为我们在一个完整的维度之外，但是，我不知道…… 我想相信他。“你好!咄!”Globlet说。 “显然他们没事。他们比你更懂得如何照顾自己。 琼让你们看起来像一对屁股。” “比如，我们每个人都是一对屁股？”我问。 “或者我们是一个屁股上的一个脸？”

Two cheeks. Same, but you're the right cheek. Lefties are known to be smarter. That's when I spot the first flickering light, high above us. Squinting, I can just make out small structures affixed to the wall. Another flicker of light gives me another glimpse: they're dwellings, cobbled together from scavenged junk. "Let's pick up the pace, huh, Seabiscuit?" I say. As we travel deeper into the canyon, my guts start to feel like they're floating, unattached, inside my belly— flipping and rolling as Seabiscuit carries us over the rough ground.

两个脸颊。一样，不过你是右脸。 左撇子被认为更聪明。 就在那时，我看到了第一束闪烁的光，就在我们头顶的高处。 眯着眼睛，我只能辨认出贴在墙上的一些小结构。 另一个闪烁的光让我又看了一眼：它们是用捡来的垃圾拼凑起来的住所。 “让我们加快速度，好吗，海饼干？”我说。 随着我们向峡谷深处行进，我的内脏开始觉得它们在我的肚子里漂浮着，不受束缚——随着“海洋饼干”带着我们在崎岖的地面上翻腾翻滚。

Then Seabiscuit's steps become softer, as though she's gliding, moving across the ground like a puck on an air-hockey table. Glancing down, I notice one of my shoelaces is loose—and the end is drifting upward, waving about like a tiny flag. This place is strange, strange, strange... I'm thinking, when Globlet suddenly points. "We made it!" Globlet says. "The Weird River Crossing!" Far ahead, the semidarkness gives way to a stunning array of light, rising up and stretching out. Colors I've never seen. Like one of those majestic renderings of space you see in science-class books. This, I realize, is the point where the canyon ends, all land stops, and the river crossing begins. I'm about to give Seabiscuit a final nudge, when a thin, tinny voice calls out— "THE CROSSING BELONGS TO US!" Two small creatures spring up, clambering onto a small mound at the end of the canyon. Squinting, I see that they resemble little gremlins. One is green and shiny; the other is purple and basketball-shaped.

然后，“海饼干”的脚步变得柔和起来，就像在滑翔一样，在地面上移动，就像一个冰球桌上的冰球。 往下看了一眼，我注意到我的一条鞋带松了，鞋带的末端飘了起来，像一面小旗子一样挥舞着。 这地方好奇怪，好奇怪，好奇怪…… 我在想，当环球球突然指向。 “我们成功了！”Globlet说。 “奇怪的渡河！”远处，半暗的光线被一排令人惊叹的光线所取代，这些光线升起并伸展开来。 我从未见过的颜色。就像你在科学课本上看到的雄伟的太空图一样。 我意识到，这里就是峡谷的尽头，陆地的尽头，过河的起点。 我正要最后推一下“海洋饼干”，这时一个细细的声音喊道：“渡口是我们的！”两个小生物跳了起来，爬上峡谷尽头的一个小丘。 我眯起眼睛，看到它们像小妖精。 一个是绿色的，闪闪发光；另一个是紫色的，篮球形状的。

We allow no one to pass. Quint shoots me a glance, rubbing his chin. "I believe we may be facing a classic troll-bridge scenario." "But with really small trolls," I add. "We're not trolls! We're gorblins! I am Flustrod," the first creature says. "And this is Pillksort." Quint stands, poking his head through our taxi's open sunroof. He gives the pair a big, too-friendly wave. "Greetings, Pillksort and Flustrod," Quint calls in a voice that is equally too friendly, considering how troll- bridge encounters always seem to play out in stories. "Would I be accurate in assuming you will now present us with a riddle? And if we answer correctly, we may pass to the crossing beyond?"

我们不允许任何人通过。昆特揉着下巴，瞥了我一眼。 “我相信我们可能会面临一个经典的巨魔桥场景。” “但是用的是非常小的喷子，”我补充道。 “我们不是巨魔！”我们gorblins !我是弗鲁斯特罗德，”第一个生物说。 “这就是Pillksort。”昆特站在那里，从出租车敞开的天窗探出头来。 他对这对夫妇非常友好地挥了挥手。 “你们好，Pillksort和Flustrod，”昆特用一种同样过于友好的声音喊道，考虑到巨魔桥的遭遇似乎总是在故事中上演。 “我猜你现在要给我们出一个谜语，对吗？” 如果我们答对了，我们就可以到那边的渡口去？”