Chapter 1

Chapter ONE I was enjoying a lazy Saturday lying on my clamshell bed, propped up by sea- sponge pillows, and reading my new book, Aqua Magic. Dad had given it to me only the day before—it was about an explorer mermaid called Cleodora Blue who went off in search of sea sprites—tiny creatures who live far away in a magical

一个慵懒的星期六，我躺在翻盖床上，用海绵枕头撑着，读着我的新书《水的魔力》。 爸爸前一天才给我看的，讲的是一个名叫克利奥多拉·布鲁的美人鱼探险家，她去寻找海精灵——一种生活在遥远的魔法世界里的小生物

part of the ocean. They looked so cute in the illustrations with their little faces and delicate gills. I couldn't help stroking the pictures with my finger!

海洋的一部分。他们的小脸和精致的腮在插图中看起来很可爱。 我忍不住用手指抚摸着这些画！

I turned the page, watching how the metallic illustrations shimmered in the underwater light. Then I took a sip of my seaberry smoothie which was sitting on my bedside table and nibbled a slice of mermaid toast, spread with deliciously sweet seaweed butter. I felt very content and peaceful. Palace life can be busy and I was still sort of getting used to it. My mum married King Auster recently (which makes me a princess—yes, really!) but I only live here half the time. The other half I spend with my dad who lives in our old house on the other side of Scallop City. I turned the next page in my book. The tiny sea sprites twinkled up at me.

我翻了一页，看着那些金属色的插图在水下的光线下闪闪发光。 然后，我喝了一口放在床头柜上的海莓奶昔，咬了一片涂着美味的海藻黄油的美人鱼吐司。 我感到非常满足和平静。 宫廷生活是忙碌的，我还在慢慢适应。 我妈妈最近嫁给了奥斯特国王（这让我成为了公主——是的，真的！），但我只有一半的时间住在这里。 另一半时间我和我爸爸一起度过他住在我们在扇贝城另一边的老房子里。 我翻开了书的下一页。 小小的海精灵向我闪烁着光芒。

I smiled and reached again for my drink. 'Emeraaald!' came a sudden, familiar voice from outside my bedroom door. It was so loud that it made me jump and I almost dropped my smoothie onto my little pet octopus, Inkibelle! Without knocking, my stepsister Delphina came bursting into my room, her royal curls bouncing as she swished over to where I was lying on my bed.

我笑了笑，又伸手去拿我的饮料。 “Emeraaald !从我卧室门外突然传来一个熟悉的声音。 声音太大了，吓得我跳了起来，差点把我的奶昔掉到我的小宠物章鱼Inkibelle上！我同父异母的妹妹黛尔菲娜没有敲门，就冲进了我的房间，她那高贵的卷发在我躺在床上的地方跳来跳去。

'Emerald!' she said. 'How are you? I'm well, thank you. I was just feeling a little bit bored. I thought you might like to play! Do you want to play?' 'Erm...' I said.

“翡翠!她说。“你好吗？” 我很好，谢谢你。我只是觉得有点无聊。 我想你可能会喜欢玩！你想玩吗？“嗯……”我说。