Chapter 16

chapter sixteen We follow the guard down a makeshift hallway of arcade games. Finally, we're face-to-face with a slimy hulk of a monster. In front of him is a strange sort of table, which vaguely resembles a pile of Jell-O. There are shelves all over his lair, filled with all sorts of bizarre odds and ends. "Neat collection," Quint says. This guy is definitely Ry.k. He has an aura of danger and power and violence about him. Partly because he's huge and horrible looking—partly because of what he's doing to the softball-sized rodent furball in his hands.

第十六章我们跟着警卫走到一个临时搭建的街机游戏走廊。 终于，我们和一个黏糊糊的怪物面对面了。 在他面前是一张奇怪的桌子，有点像一堆果冻。 他的窝里到处都是架子，摆满了各种稀奇古怪的零碎东西。 昆特说：“很好的收藏。” 这家伙绝对是ryk。 他身上有一种危险、权力和暴力的气息。 部分原因是他体型庞大，长相可怕，部分原因是他对手中垒球大小的啮齿动物毛球所做的事情。

HOW DARE YOU DISTURB ME? DURING BRUNCH The guard whispers something in Ry.k's ear. He turns toward us with menacing eyes. "You have brought me something?" "Y-yes, Your, um... Most Shady One," June says. She plops Skaelka's tail spike down. Ry.k examines it. "It's for your, um, collection thing," June says. "We just need to speak with you...."

你竟敢打扰我？早午餐时，警卫在ryk耳边悄悄说了些什么。 他用威胁的目光转向我们。 “你给我带来了什么东西？”“对——是的，你的…… 最阴暗的一个，”琼说。 她把斯卡卡的尾巴钉掉了下去。 ryk检查了一下。“这是为你的，嗯，收藏准备的，”琼说。 “我们只是想和你谈谈....”

He thinks it over for a second. Then he places the spike on a shelf behind him. "You have until I finish my meal." Nobody speaks. All of us are too overwhelmed, then— PLINK! Ry.k plucks a hair, then slurps it down. It's like watching a baby eat spaghetti. "Not many hairs left," Ry.k says. "I'd hurry, if I were you." "We're trying to find Thrull's Tower," June says quickly. Ry.k casually plucks and swallows another hair. "And why do you want this information?" "None of your beeswax," I answer. "IT IS MY BEESWAX!" he roars. His voice booms so loudly that we all flinch. "Any beeswax in this Outpost is Ry.k's beeswax! Look around you. Do you see beeswax? If you do, it is beeswax that belongs to me. Now answer—for what reason do you seek such information?" "Because Thrull's using the Tower to bring .e...c. to this dimension," June says. I see her

他想了一会儿。 然后他把钉子放在他身后的架子上。 “你得等我吃完饭再说。” 没有人说话。我们都被压得喘不过气来，然后——砰！ryk扯了一根头发，然后吸了下去。 就像看着婴儿吃意大利面一样。 “剩下的头发不多了，”ryk说。 “如果我是你，我会快一点。” “我们正在努力寻找Thrull’s Tower，”June迅速说道。 ryk随意地拔下又一根头发吞了下去。 “你为什么想要这个信息？”“不关你的事，”我回答。 “这是我的蜂蜡！”他吼道。 他的声音如此响亮，我们都退缩了。 “这个前哨站的蜂蜡都是ryk的！”看看你的周围。 你看到蜂蜡了吗？如果你知道，那就是我的蜂蜡。 现在请回答，你为什么要打听这个消息呢？”“因为瑟鲁在利用塔楼带来……” 到这个维度，”琼说。 我看见她了

wipe sweat from her palms onto her jeans. ".e...c. is gonna destroy everything." "So if you could just tell us where it is, it'd be great," I chime in. "If you have an address—or even a general neighborhood. Cross streets? Closest 7-Eleven. Then we'll be on our way—" PLINK! PLINK! Two more hairs are plucked and slurped down. After a moment, Ry.k says, "Your way... You will neither be on your way... nor will you get your way. Thrull is an ally. I will not divulge his location—certainly not to help humans." "But Thrull's going to bring .e...c. here!" June says. "And .e...c. only wants to destroy this world—and rule over the ashes! If Thrull completes the Tower, you'll lose everything!" I take a slow, heavy step forward. Very dramatically, I say perhaps the most ridiculous thing I've ever said. "The kingdom of Chaz and Slammers will fall...." For a moment, Ry.k's monstrous smile wavers. "You make a compelling argument," he finally admits. June breathes a small sigh of relief. We all

把她手心的汗擦到牛仔裤上。 “即…c。会毁掉一切。” “所以如果你能告诉我们它在哪里，那就太好了，”我插嘴说。 “如果你有一个地址，甚至是一个大致的社区。 十字街头?最亲密的7 - 11。 然后我们就上路了——“叮！”叮铃声!又拔了两根头发，吸了下去。 过了一会儿，ryk说：“你的方式…… 你不会在路上… 你也不会得逞。 Thrull是一个盟友。我不会泄露他的位置——当然不是为了帮助人类。” “但是斯拉尔会带来…… 在这里!”6月说。”,即c。 只想毁灭这个世界，统治灰烬！如果瑟鲁完成了塔，你就会失去一切！”我缓慢而沉重地向前迈了一步。 非常戏剧性地，我说了可能是我说过的最荒谬的话。 “ Chaz和Slammers的王国将沦陷....” 有那么一会儿，ryk那狰狞的笑容动摇了。 “你的论点很有说服力，”他终于承认。 琼松了一口气。 我们都

do. "But... you have given me nothing in return for this information," Ry.k says. He squeezes the rodent furball, reaches down, gathers the rest of its hairs in his long fingers, and then—with one loud, aggressive tug—rips them out. He jams the fat, hairy handful into his mouth, then continues, not bothering to swallow. "And it looks like your time is up. The answer is no." Ry.k motions to the beaked guard behind us. "Feed the humans to the Grizkurl. Whole, or in pieces—I really don't care." "Hey!" I yell. "This is bunk! We did give you something—that super-cool tail spike!" Ry.k laughs. A matted rodent hair dangles from his bottom lip, and it jumps as he speaks. "That was a gift for the privilege of speaking with me. Nothing more. Good-bye." The guard lifts her huge sword. "WAIT!" I shout. Ry.k's lair goes silent. Everyone is waiting to see what I've got. The problem is, I don't

做的。“但是……你没有给我任何信息作为回报，”ryk说。 他捏紧这只啮齿动物的毛球，伸手向下，用他长长的手指收集它剩下的毛，然后大声地、咄咄逼人地一拽，把它们拔了出来。 他把又肥又多毛的那一把塞进嘴里，然后继续吃，没有吞咽。 “看来你的时间不多了。 答案是否定的。”ryk向我们身后的长着喙的警卫示意。 “把人类喂给灰熊。 整个的，还是一块块的——我真的不在乎。” “嘿!”我吼道。“胡说八道！”我们确实给了你一样东西——超级酷的尾钉！”Ry.k笑着说。 一根乱糟糟的啮齿动物毛发从他的下唇垂下，在他说话的时候跳了起来。 “这是对有幸与我交谈的一份礼物。 仅此而已。再见。”卫兵举起她的巨剑。 “等等!”我喊。ryk的巢穴安静了。 每个人都在等着看我有什么。 问题是，我不知道

actually got anything. I quickly throw my arms around my buddies and turn. "OK, huddle up," I whisper. "What's the plan?" "We don't know!" Dirk barks. "You're the one who shouted 'wait' like you had an idea!" "Right, right," I say. "OK, real quick, just blue skyin' here. Three ideas..." run away.

实际上得到了任何东西。我迅速伸出双臂抱住我的伙伴，转过身来。 “好吧，凑在一起。”我低声说。 “计划是什么？”“我们不知道！”德克吠叫。 “是你喊着‘等等’，好像你有主意似的！”“对，对，”我说。 “好吧，很快地，这里的天空是蓝色的。 三个想法……”逃跑。