Chapter 20

chapter twenty

二十章

I jam a sweaty sock in Alfred's mouth so no one gets bit, and we run, run, run. We don't stop running until we get back to Big Mama. It's nearly dawn when Dirk gets us home to the tree house. We stumble out of the truck and collapse in the grass: pained, tired, terrified. I'm relieved to be home. But I'm NOT relieved knowing that our time on Earth—the time of Earth —is going to be very, very, very short if we don't act quickly. And by act, I of course mean act like awesome, fist-flinging, sword-swinging heroes. I climb up into the tree house. Inside, I slip the key into the snack lockbox. The rattling sound echoes in the morning quiet. I open it and stare down at the bestiary. What have I done? Frantic, I flip open the bestiary and begin tearing at the pages, trying to pry the Essence loose, trying to rip it to shreds. But it doesn't work—instead, I feel something like electricity shoot through me and I leap back. Quint comes rushing in behind me, reminding me there's no time for feeling sorry, no time for regrets,

我把一只臭袜子塞进阿尔弗雷德嘴里，这样就没人被咬了，然后我们就跑啊跑啊跑。 我们要一直跑，直到回到大妈身边。 当德克带我们回到树屋时，已经快天亮了。 我们跌跌撞撞地走出卡车，瘫倒在草地上：痛苦、疲惫、恐惧。 回家我就放心了。但是，如果我们不迅速采取行动，我们在地球上的时间——地球的时间——将会非常、非常、非常短，我并没有松一口气。 我说的表演，当然是指表演得像个厉害的，挥舞着拳头，挥舞着剑的英雄。 我爬上树屋。 进去后，我把钥匙插进零食锁盒。 咔哒咔哒的声音在清晨的宁静中回响。 我打开它，盯着那本动物书。 我做了什么？我疯狂地打开这本书，开始撕书页，试图把《精华》撬开，试图把它撕成碎片。 但这不起作用，相反，我感到一种电流穿过我的身体，我跳了回去。 昆特从我身后冲了进来，提醒我没有时间感到抱歉，没有时间后悔，

no time for anything but action—and maybe, hopefully, a chocolate chip mini-muffin or two. We have to destroy the beastiery so Thrall can't use it to open the door and bring Razak into this world. What if it's like a Lord of the Rings thing like the book can't be destroyed? "Lord of the Rings, Jack? That isn't real," June says as she comes through the door. "That's a fantasy novel!" "Um. Did you not just see the giant talking tree and the monster servant?!" I exclaim. "It couldn't have been any more Lord of the Rings-y if there

没有时间做任何事情，除了行动——也许，希望，一两个巧克力片迷你松饼。 我们必须摧毁兽兽室这样萨尔就不能用它打开门把拉扎克带到这个世界。 如果这就像《指环王》里的那种书是不会被摧毁的呢？ “《指环王》，杰克？”这不是真的，”琼边说边走进门来。 “那是一本奇幻小说！”“嗯。 你刚才没看见那棵会说话的大树和那个怪物仆人吗？”我惊叫。 “如果有的话，就不可能更像《指环王》了

were CGI orcs running around and white-bearded Magneto wizards!" June nods. "Yup. Yup. Fair point." Dirk comes in behind June. He rips the bestiary from my hand. "I will punch the book into nothing!" he roars. After, like, the nineteenth punch, Dirk collapses. His knuckles are bright red. "That didn't work."

到处乱跑的CGI兽人和白胡子的万磁王巫师！”6月点了点头。 “是的。是的。公平点。”德克排在琼之后。 他从我手中夺走了兽书。 “我要把书打得粉碎！”他吼道。 打了大概十九拳之后，德克就倒下了。 他的指关节是鲜红的。 “那没有用。”

I leap up onto the poker table. I grip the Louisville Slicer and bring it crashing down. It slams into the book—but I take the brunt of the blow. The tip of the blade splinters and I'm thrown backward, off the table. June looks to Quint. "I think we need more firepower." "On it," Quint replies.

我跳到牌桌上。 我抓住路易斯维尔切片机，把它弄倒。 它猛撞到书里，但我首当其冲。 刀刃的尖端裂成碎片，我被向后甩出了桌子。 琼转向昆特。“我认为我们需要更多的火力。” “这就去，”昆特回答。