Chapter 8

Chapter Eight The more I think about the King Wretch and the dream-vision-thingy, the more I'm supremely freaked. What was the King Wretch trying to show me? What is it about me that got the King Wretch's attention? Why not give June or Dirk or Quint a dream-vision-thingy? I don't get it! What did I do?! Is it because I am the one intended to be the king in this vision of the future? If that is the reason, well, I don't know how to feel about that! I don't think I'm particularly kingly or royal, and I don't think I want to be, either! Kings have duties! And I can't even say the word "duties" because it makes me think of "doodies"! I play a game of Ping-Pong with Rover, hoping it'll let me think clearly. That doesn't work, though, because I end up getting way too into the game...

第八章我越想那个可怜虫国王和梦境之类的事，我就越感到极度恐惧。 可怜虫国王想给我看什么？ 我到底是怎么引起了混蛋王的注意？ 为什么不给琼、德克或昆特一个梦幻般的东西呢？ 我不明白！我做了什么？！是因为我在未来的幻象中注定要成为国王吗？ 如果这就是原因，我不知道该怎么想！我不认为我是特别的国王或皇室，我也不想成为！国王是有责任的！我甚至不能说“职责”这个词因为它会让我想到“大便”我和罗孚打乒乓球，希望它能让我思考得更清楚。 但这并不管用，因为我最终会沉浸在游戏中……

Quint and Dirk come strolling over, and Quint makes an announcement. "I have drawn up a plan for how we will get into Big Al's Junk Palace so we can retrieve the long-range signal-boosting antenna—" "And my Helidrone!" I add. "Yes, yes," Quint says. "And your Helidrone. However, my plan requires a couch. And not just any couch—a fold-out couch." I know exactly where to get one of those: Bardle sleeps on a fold-out couch. Soon...

昆特和德克走了过来，昆特宣布了一件事。 “我已经拟定了一个进入大人工垃圾宫的计划，这样我们就可以取回远程信号增强天线——”“还有我的直升机！”我添加。 “是的，是的，”昆特说。“还有你的直升机。 然而，我的计划需要一个沙发。 而且不是普通的沙发，而是折叠式沙发。” 我知道在哪里可以买到：巴德尔睡在折叠式沙发上。 很快……

Bartow you home Need to borrow your couch, bro. Bardle comes shuffling out of the kitchen. The kitchen is now Bardle's workshop. See, in his old world/dimension, Bardle was a conjurer. I think that means "magician," but I've never seen him do any crazy magic—he opened a cage with a wave of his hand once, but that's not exactly Dumbledore-level stuff. Dirk's already grabbing the couch when Bardle says, "Wait one moment. Jack, is that a large bruise on Rover's side?"

巴托，你回家了，我想借你的沙发，兄弟。 巴德尔拖着脚走出厨房。 厨房现在是巴德尔的工作室。 在他的旧世界里，巴德尔是个魔术师。 我想那是“魔术师”的意思，但我从来没见过他施过什么疯狂的魔法——有一次他一挥手就打开了一个笼子，但那不是邓布利多级别的魔法。 德克已经在抓沙发了，这时巴德尔说：“等一下。 杰克，罗孚那边是不是有一大块淤青？”

I kneel down beside Rover and run my hand over his side. "Yeah," I say. "It's from a battle we got in with an oversized Winged Wretch." JACK, IF YOU'RE GOING TO CONTINUE RIDING THIS MONSTER ON YOUR ADVENTURES, HE SHOULD BE BETTER PROTECTED. "Like, whatcha thinkin'?" I ask. Bardle ponders that for a moment. "Let me handle the Rover issue, because I sense that you, Jack, are already quite full of thought and concern."

我跪在罗孚身边，用手抚摸他的身体。 “是的，”我说。“这是我们和一只超大的带翅膀的可怜虫战斗时留下的。” 杰克，如果你要继续骑着这个怪物冒险，他应该得到更好的保护。 “你在想什么？”我问。 巴德尔想了一会儿。 “让我来处理罗孚号的问题，因为我感觉到，杰克，你已经心事重重了。”

Boy, is he ever right: King Wretches, dreamvision-thingies, radios, humans, everything. I would maybe tell Bardle how I feel, but not with Dirk around. So I say, "No, no—no concern here. But if you think Rover could use some protection, I won't argue." Bardle says, "Then I will allow you to borrow my couch on one condition: Dirk, you help me with a Rover-protection project. I don't like the idea of any friendly monster suffering unnecessary pain. Retrieve me some scrap metal, please." The idea of a "Rover-protection project" sounds pretty kick-butt. Are they gonna, like, upgrade my monster-dog? Like a video game? Rover, LEVEL 2. I'm into that! With that, Dirk and I each lift the couch— and that's when my spinal cord just about snaps like a Twix bar. "Jack!" Dirk barks. "Lift with your legs!" I groan, reposition myself, and—

天哪，他说得真对：可怜虫王，幻想术，收音机，人类，什么都有。 我也许会告诉巴德尔我的感受，但不会有德克在。 所以我说，“不，不，不用担心。 但如果你认为罗孚需要一些保护，我就不争辩了。” 巴德尔说：“那么我允许你借用我的沙发，但有一个条件：德克，你帮我完成一个保护火星车的项目。” 我不喜欢让友好的怪物遭受不必要的痛苦。 请给我拿些废金属来。” “火星车保护计划”的想法听起来很有分量。 他们会升级我的怪物狗吗？ 比如电子游戏？火星车，第二层。 我很喜欢！说完这句话，德克和我各自举起了沙发——就在这时，我的脊髓几乎像一条特维克斯巧克力棒一样折断了。 “杰克!”德克吠叫。“用你的腿抬起来！”我呻吟了一声，调整了一下姿势，然后——

Dirk mutters something, and soon he's just carrying the couch outside, single-handedly, over one shoulder. And that's when I spot it. On the corkboard on the wall—amid flyers for babysitters, lawn-mowing services, and guitar lessons—is something I've never seen before. It's a pamphlet for a place called Fun Land. I pluck it off the board. As I start reading, a smile begins to build and I'm bouncing from foot to foot

德克咕哝了几句，很快他就把沙发扛到了外面，单手扛在肩上。 就在那时我发现了它。 在墙上的软木板上，在保姆、除草服务和吉他课的传单中间，有一些我以前从未见过的东西。 这是一本小册子，介绍一个叫游乐场的地方。 我把它从板子上拔下来。当我开始阅读的时候，我的脸上开始浮现出笑容，我的脚跳来跳去