Chapter 33

chapter thirty-three I now have a general understanding of what it might feel like to be inside an exploding dishwasher: wet, messy, a tiny bit fun, but a great relief when it's over. Dirk and June help me out of the armor. I'm soaking wet, dripping with maybe-probably-toxic weed killer. "Hope you don't turn into some sort of Swamp Thing monster," June says. "Would you still be my friend?" "Your Swamp Thing friend? Ehh, probably not." "That's messed up!" I say with a laugh. And then I realize—I can't be saying things with a laugh! Not yet.

现在，我大致了解了置身于爆炸的洗碗机里的感觉：潮湿、凌乱、有一点点乐趣，但当一切结束时，我如释重负。 德克和琼帮我脱下盔甲。 我全身湿透，浑身都是可能有毒的除草剂。 “希望你不要变成某种沼泽怪物，”琼说。 “你还会是我的朋友吗？”“你的沼泽怪朋友？” 嗯，可能不会。”“那太糟了！”我笑着说。 然后我意识到——我不能笑着说话！还没有。

We need to deal with Thrall. "He's gone!" Quint exclaims. Where Thrull was lying a moment earlier, I now see only wet leaves and cracked cement. And the bestiary. The bestiary lies alone. Bardle hobbles toward us, the other monsters close behind. Some have been hurt by the now-dead tree's monstrous limbs. But many have smiles on their faces. "So... where did Thrull go?" June asks. "He just, like, magic-trick vanished." "The beasts that serve .e...c. are not defeated easily," Bardle says. I grit my teeth. "So he got away..." Bardle nods. "For now. But he will never return to our pizza parlor. I promise you that. And it would take him a very long time to plant and feed another

我们得对付萨尔。 “他走了!”昆特惊呼道。 刚才瑟鲁躺着的地方，我现在看到的只有潮湿的树叶和破裂的水泥。 还有兽书。《兽经》是孤独的。 巴德尔一瘸一拐地向我们走来，其他怪物紧跟在后面。 有些人被这棵已经死去的树的巨肢所伤。 但许多人脸上都挂着笑容。 “所以……瑟鲁去哪儿了？”6月问道。 “他的魔术就这样消失了。” “为……服务的野兽……” 不会轻易被打败，”巴德尔说。 我咬紧牙关。“所以他逃走了……” Bardle点点头。“现在。但他永远不会再来我们的披萨店了。 我向你保证。他得花很长时间来种植和喂养另一个

tree portal. I suspect you will never hear The Shrieking again." Very slowly, Quint bends down and picks up the book. I half expect a bolt of lightning to strike him down. But nothing crazy happens—he just holds it gently in his hands, then taps on the cover. "Bardle," Quint says. "Please, tell us every-thing you know about .e...c. the Ancient. About his servants." Dirk suddenly comes sliding down the pole. "'Cause we need to stop that .e...c. for good." Bardle shakes his head. "I will tell you all that I know. But stopping .e...c. forever? He will be a threat to this world always. His servants are relentless." "We are, too," I say. "At night I can never—" "Relentless, Jack," Quint says. "Not restless." Before I can think of a quippy comeback, the ground at our feet begins to tremble. The Wormungulous bellows, then dives beneath the surface of Joe's parking lot, plunging the tree's roots into the ground. The earth splits and the Wormungulous disappears entirely.

树门户。我想你再也听不到尖叫了。” 昆特慢慢弯下腰，拿起了书。 我有点指望一道闪电能把他打倒。 但是没有什么疯狂的事情发生——他只是把它轻轻地握在手里，然后轻敲了一下封面。 “巴德尔，”昆特说。“请告诉我们你所知道的关于…… 古代的。关于他的仆人。” 德克突然从杆子上滑下来。 “因为我们需要阻止……” 为好。”巴德尔摇了摇头。 “我将把我知道的一切都告诉你。 但是停下来……到永远吗? 他将永远是这个世界的威胁。 他的仆人是无情的。” “我们也是，”我说。“晚上我永远不能——”“无情，杰克，”昆特说。 “不是不安。”我还没来得及想出一句俏皮话来反驳，我们脚下的大地就开始颤抖了。 蠕虫咆哮着，然后潜入乔停车场的地下，把树根扎进了地下。 地球分裂了，虫族完全消失了。

Um, Dude, we're mugus We sort of still need you To get our home back like home. "So... he's gone," June says, shooting me a look. "Just like that. And now our tree house is stuck next to the pizza place?" "Are you glaring at me?" I ask. "Yes, I'm glaring," June says. "Why are you glaring?" "Because it's kinda all your fault! You're the hero, Jack! And when things go wrong, the hero's the one responsible." "Correction," I say, holding up a finger. "We're all the heroes, June. Quint led an army of monsters, you swung from vines like Tarzan, and Dirk hulked

老兄，我们是穆格斯我们还是需要你找回我们的家。 “所以……他走了，”琼说着，看了我一眼。 “就这样。现在我们的树屋被卡在披萨店旁边了？”“你在瞪着我吗？”我问。 “是的，我很刺眼，”琼说。 “你为什么瞪着眼睛？”“因为这都是你的错！”你是英雄，杰克！当事情出错时，英雄是负责任的人。” “纠正一下，”我举起一根手指说。 “我们都是英雄，琼。 昆特带领着一群怪物，你像泰山一样在藤蔓上摇摆，德克浩克

out. All I had to do was fall through a tree. Any dumb idiot could do that." And the dumbest idiot of all did do that. It's true. Jack, you are a tremendous idiot. Okay, let's just all relax. Best idiot. I know.

出去了。我只要从树上掉下来就行了。 任何一个傻瓜都能做到。” 而最蠢的傻瓜确实这么做了。 这是真的。杰克，你真是个大白痴。 好了，大家都放轻松。 最好的白痴。我知道。

Well, I guess we live next to Joe's pizza now. Quint is practically shaking with happiness. "Friends, that means we can hook up a zip line right into the restaurant!" "Yes!" I say. "The zip line can run over a big pile of garlic knots so we just—poof—drop and land, like a ball pit. We will be... ULTIMATE REGULARS!" I grin at that thought. My friends rush inside to celebrate. I hang back for a moment, just standing. Thinking. Happy to have saved everyone. Even more happy that we did it as a team.

我想我们现在住在乔披萨店隔壁了。 昆特高兴得发抖。 “朋友们，那就意味着我们可以在餐厅里挂一条滑索！”“是的!”我说。 “滑索可以滑过一大堆大蒜结，所以我们就像一个球坑一样掉下来。 我们会……最终的常客!”想到这里，我咧嘴一笑。 我的朋友们冲进去庆祝。 我后退了一会儿，只是站着。 思考。很高兴救了大家。 更高兴的是我们是一个团队。