3. A Snowy Start

"Thank goodness Doodle is safe!" cried Queen Titania happily. "But the snowstorm means that one of the goblins is close to your town," the king warned. "And he must have Doodle's magic Snow Feather!" Kirsty turned to Rachel. "Do you think your parents will let you come and stay with me?" she said. "My mom said it was OK." "I'll ask them," Rachel replied. "Then we can get the feathers back from the goblins!" The king nodded. "That would be wonderful," he said. The queen stepped forward. She had two golden lockets in her hand. "Each locket is filled with fairy dust," she explained, giving them

“谢天谢地，嘟嘟安全了！”泰坦妮娅女王高兴地叫道。 “但是这场暴风雪意味着有一个半兽人已经接近你的城镇了。”国王警告道。 “他一定有嘟嘟的魔法雪羽！”柯斯蒂转向瑞秋。 “你觉得你父母会让你来和我一起住吗？”她说。 “我妈妈说没关系。”拉结说：“我去问他们。” “然后我们就可以从半兽人那里拿回羽毛了！”国王点点头。 “那太好了，”他说。 王后走上前来。 她手里拿着两个金挂坠盒。 “每个挂坠盒里都装满了仙尘，”她一边解释，一边递给他们

to the girls. "You can use a pinch of this whenever you need to turn yourself into fairies and back into humans again. But remember!" She smiled at Rachel and Kirsty. "Don't look too hard for magic— it will find you. And when it does, you will know that one of the magic feathers is close by." The girls fastened the lockets around their necks. "And beware of the goblins," the king added. "Jack Frost has cast a spell to make them bigger than usual." "Bigger!" Rachel said, feeling nervous. "As big as humans, you

敬女孩们。“只要你需要把自己变成仙女，再变回人类，你就可以用一点这个。 但要记住!”她朝瑞秋和科斯蒂笑了笑。 “不要太努力地寻找魔法——它会找到你的。 到那时候，你就会知道一根神奇羽毛就在你身边。” 姑娘们把挂坠盒系在脖子上。 “还要提防半兽人。”国王补充道。 “杰克·弗罗斯特施了一个咒语，让它们比平时更大。” “大!”瑞秋紧张地说。 “你和人类一样大

mean?" The king shook his head. "We have a law in Fairyland that not even magic can make anything bigger than the highest tower of the Fairy Palace." He pointed at the tallest pink tower. "But it means that now the goblins are almost as tall as your shoulders— when you're human-sized." Kirsty shivered. "We'll have to be careful," she said. "But of course we're happy to help." Rachel nodded. "Thank you," said the king gratefully. "We knew you wouldn't let us down." The queen scattered fairy dust over the girls. It whipped around them, and in a few seconds, a whirlwind was gently lifting them up into the sky. "Good-bye!" Kirsty and Rachel called, waving at their friends below. "And don't worry. We'll find Doodle's feathers and bring him safely home."

意思?”国王摇了摇头。 “我们在仙境里有一条法律，即使是魔法也不能制造出比仙女宫最高的塔更大的东西。” 他指着最高的粉色塔。 “但这意味着现在妖精几乎和你的肩膀一样高——当你和人类一样大的时候。” 哆嗦了一下。“我们得小心点，”她说。 “当然，我们很乐意帮忙。” 雷切尔点了点头。“谢谢你。”国王感激地说。 “我们知道你不会让我们失望的。” 王后把仙尘撒在姑娘们身上。 它在他们周围盘旋，几秒钟后，一股旋风把他们轻轻地推上了天空。 “再见!”科斯蒂和瑞秋喊道，向下面的朋友挥手。 “别担心。我们会找到嘟嘟的羽毛，把他安全带回家的。”

"Rachel's here!" Kirsty shouted, rushing to the front door. The Walkers' car was just turning into the driveway. "Put on your boots before you go out in the snow," called Mrs. Tate from the kitchen. Kirsty pulled on her boots. It was the day after she and Rachel had been to Fairyland, and Rachel's parents had agreed that she could come and stay with the Tates. Kirsty had been worried that the Walkers wouldn't be able to make it to Wetherbury, though. The goblins had been up to their tricks again. There had been a heavy snowfall, and flakes were still drifting down. Kirsty ran outside, followed by her mom and dad. The Walkers were unloading Rachel's suitcase from the car. "Hello," called Mr. Tate. "Sorry about the weather. Isn't it awful?"

“瑞秋在这里!”科斯蒂喊道，冲到前门。 沃克家的车刚驶进车道。 “在雪地里出去之前，把靴子穿上，”泰特太太从厨房里喊道。 科斯蒂穿上靴子。 那是她和瑞秋去过仙境的第二天，瑞秋的父母同意她来和泰特一家住在一起。 不过，科斯蒂一直担心沃克一家无法到达韦瑟伯里。 半兽人又开始耍花招了。 刚刚下了一场大雪，雪花还在飘来飘去。 科斯蒂跑了出去，后面跟着她的爸爸妈妈。 沃克一家正在把瑞秋的箱子从车上卸下来。 “你好，”泰特先生喊道。“天气不好。 是不是很可怕？”

"I packed my boots, scarf, and gloves in my suitcase," Rachel whispered to Kirsty as they hugged hello. "Would you like to come in for some coffee?" Mrs. Tate asked. "That would be nice," Rachel's mom agreed. "But we shouldn't stay too long, in case the snow gets worse." "Come and see Doodle," Kirsty said quietly to Rachel, as their parents chatted. Mr. Tate had put Doodle inside the hall closet. Gently, Kirsty lifted the weather vane out. "Oh, poor Doodle!" said Rachel when she saw the rusty rooster. "We have to find his feathers, Kirsty!"

“我把靴子、围巾和手套都装进了行李箱。”她们拥抱打招呼时，瑞秋小声对科斯蒂说。 “你想进来喝杯咖啡吗？”泰特太太问。 “那太好了，”瑞秋的妈妈同意道。 “但我们不应该呆太久，以防雪更大。” “过来看看嘟嘟，”当他们的父母聊天时，科斯蒂平静地对雷切尔说。 泰特先生把嘟嘟放在门厅的壁橱里。 柯斯蒂轻轻地把风向标拿出来。 “哦，可怜的嘟嘟！”瑞秋看到生锈的公鸡说。 “我们必须找到他的羽毛，科斯蒂！”

A knock at the front door made them both turn. "I wonder who that is?" Kirsty said, putting Doodle away again. Kirsty's mom had opened the door and was talking to an old lady who was bundled up in winter clothes. "It's Mom's friend, Mrs. Fordham," Kirsty whispered to Rachel. "She lives on Willow Hill." "I'm sorry to bother you," Mrs. Fordham was saying, "but there's so much snow, I can't get back to my house. I wondered if I could wait here for a while." "Of course," said Mrs. Tate, helping her inside. "Come and have a cup of coffee." "I've never seen weather like this," Mrs. Fordham went on, unwinding her scarf. "And it seems to be worse on Willow Hill than anywhere else. I don't know why." Kirsty and Rachel glanced at each other. "Why do you think there's more snow on Willow Hill?" Rachel whispered to Kirsty. Kirsty looked excited. "Maybe that's where the goblin has taken the Snow Feather!"

前门传来敲门声，两人都转过身来。 “不知道那是谁？”科斯蒂说着，又把嘟嘟放了起来。 科斯蒂的妈妈打开了门，正在和一位裹着冬衣的老太太说话。 “是妈妈的朋友，福德汉姆太太。”柯斯蒂低声对瑞秋说。 “她住在柳树山上。” “很抱歉打扰你，”福德汉姆太太说，“但是雪太大了，我回不了家。 我想知道我是否可以在这里等一会儿。” “当然，”泰特太太说着，把她扶了进去。 “过来喝杯咖啡。” “我从没见过这样的天气，”福德汉姆太太继续说，一边解开围巾。 “柳山的情况似乎比其他任何地方都更糟。 我不知道为什么。”柯斯蒂和瑞秋互相看了一眼。 “你认为柳树山上为什么会有更多的雪？”瑞秋小声对柯斯蒂说。 柯斯蒂看起来很兴奋。“也许那就是妖精把雪羽带走的地方！”