Chapter 3

Chapter THREE It was a cool, aqua world below. Seaweed fronds waved with the tide, and the sand shimmered under the rippling surface of the water. Marina and I swam away from the shore, towards the sapphire blue deep. We passed fish of all colours and sizes, crabs, clams, jellyfish, and squid. Some of them were quite big, and at times, I felt a

下面是一个凉爽的水的世界。 海草叶随着潮水起伏，沙滩在波光粼粼的水面下闪闪发光。 玛丽娜和我离开海岸，游向湛蓝的大海。 我们走过各种颜色和大小的鱼，螃蟹、蛤蜊、水母和鱿鱼。 其中一些相当大，有时，我觉得

little afraid, but Marina squeezed my hand. 'The sea creatures will never harm you while you're with me,' she said. We swam on, deeper and deeper until I started to see mermaid houses built on the sand. They were smooth and curvy, with roofs made from giant twirly pointed shells. Some of them were studded all over with beautiful shimmery pearls. The further we swam, the more houses appeared, until there were whole streets of them! We were in a mermaid city! And in the distance, I could see the royal palace with its spires and turrets, like a giant sandcastle. Everything looked so pretty and magical that I couldn't stop staring.

玛丽娜有点害怕，但她紧握着我的手。 “只要你和我在一起，海洋生物就不会伤害你。”她说。 我们继续游，越游越深，直到我开始看到建在沙滩上的美人鱼房子。 它们光滑而弯曲，屋顶是由巨大的旋转的尖贝壳制成的。 其中一些镶满了美丽的闪闪发光的珍珠。 我们游得越远，越多的房子出现，直到整条街都是这样的房子！我们在一个美人鱼的城市！在远处，我可以看到皇宫和它的尖顶和塔楼，像一个巨大的沙堡。 一切看起来都那么美丽和神奇，我无法停止凝视。

'This is the centre of town,' said Marina, leading me down a wide street and through some swirly arches. Here there were lots of mer-people swimming about, their tails glinting and flashing all colours of the rainbow. Some were sitting outside cafes eating and drinking strange- looking cakes and smoothies. Some swam in and out of shops, carrying bags made from fishing nets. Everything glowed and twinkled with pearly light. Marina turned off the main street and onto a side street, where there was a row of pastel-coloured shell houses. 'That's where I live!' she said, pointing to the pale aqua one.

“这是镇中心，”玛丽娜说着，领着我走过一条宽阔的街道，穿过一些旋涡状的拱门。 这里有许多人鱼游来游去，它们的尾巴闪闪发光，闪烁着彩虹的各种颜色。 有些人坐在咖啡馆外面吃着喝着奇形怪状的蛋糕和冰沙。 有些人拎着渔网做的袋子，在商店里进进出出。 一切都闪耀着珍珠般的光芒。 玛丽娜离开主街，走到一条小街上，那里有一排色彩柔和的贝壳屋。 “那就是我住的地方！”她指着那只淡水色的说。