Chapter 3

Chapter THREE I awoke very early the next morning and swooshed out of bed. Another whole day lay ahead of me in which to play with my new tiny friends! I swam over to my doll's house and peeped through the bedroom window. There they were! Cuddled up together beneath the frilly seaweed blanket, snoozing away. I smiled at them,

第三章第二天，我很早就醒了，嗖地一声下了床。 我还有一整天的时间可以和我的新小朋友们一起玩！我游到娃娃家，从卧室的窗户往里看。 他们在那儿！依偎在褶边海藻毯下，呼呼大睡。 我对他们微笑，

thinking about how it would be nice to surprise them with a yummy breakfast. I knew all about the foods that are good for sea sprites from my book. They like sea biscuits but also it's important for them to eat lots of a special type of ruby- red seaweed. There would probably be some in the palace gardens! I could go and pick some to serve on the tiny plates in the doll's house dining room!

想着用美味的早餐给他们一个惊喜该有多好。 我从我的书里知道了所有对海精灵有益的食物。 它们喜欢吃海饼干，但对它们来说，吃大量一种特殊的红宝石红色海藻也很重要。 宫殿花园里可能会有一些！我可以去摘一些放在娃娃家餐厅的小盘子里！

I turned and swam towards my door, just as there came the gentle sound of knocking on it from the other side. 'Delphina!' I whispered, pulling the door open. 'I couldn't sleep,' Delphina replied. I kept thinking of the sea sprites. Can I look at them again?' 'They're asleep,' I said. 'But I was just going down to fetch them some breakfast.

我转身向我的门游去，就在这时，从门那边传来轻轻的敲门声。 “Delphina !”我低声说，拉开门。 “我睡不着，”德尔菲娜回答。 我一直在想海精灵。 我能再看一遍吗？“他们睡着了，”我说。 “可我正要下楼给他们拿些早餐来。

Do you want to help?' 'Of course!' said Delphina. We swam through the silent hallways of the palace and out into the palace gardens where the plants looked like they were glowing in the early morning shafts of watery sunlight.

你想帮忙吗？“当然！”德尔菲娜说。 我们游过宫殿里寂静的走廊，来到宫殿花园，那里的植物在清晨湿润的阳光下闪闪发光。

'We have to find some ruby-red seaweed,' I said. 'It's really good for sea sprites!' 'There's some over by the royal statue,' said Delphina. Together we swam among the waving fronds to the centre of the gardens where a huge gold statue of King Auster stood. Just below it, beautiful flowers of ruby-red seaweed fluttered in the underwater current. 'Perfect!' I cried, snatching up a few petals.

“我们得找一些红宝石红色的海藻，”我说。 “这对海精灵来说真的很好！”“在王家雕像那边有一些，”德尔菲娜说。 我们一起在摇曳的叶子中游向花园的中心，那里矗立着一座巨大的金色奥斯特国王雕像。 就在它下面，美丽的红宝石红色海藻花在水下的水流中拍打着。 “完美!”我哭着，抓起几片花瓣。

Delphina and I raced back up to my bedroom, then we carefully cut the seaweed petals into teeny heart shapes and sprinkled them into a bowl. 'It looks like fancy cereal!' exclaimed Delphina. It wasn't long before the sea sprites began to wake up, stretching and yawning. They wriggled out of bed and waved at us. 'Good morning! We made you breakfast,' I said, showing the sea sprites to the dining room. 'Is it just me,' whispered Delphina as we watched one of the sea sprites sniff one of the red petal hearts, 'or do they all look a little less... sparkly today?'

德尔菲娜和我跑回我的卧室，然后我们小心翼翼地把海藻花瓣切成小小的心形，洒在一个碗里。 “看起来像高档麦片！”德尔菲娜叫道。 没过多久，海妖们就醒了，伸伸懒腰，打呵欠。 他们扭动着从床上爬起来，向我们挥手。 “早上好!”“我们给你们做了早餐。”我说着，把海精灵领进了餐厅。 “是只有我这样吗？”黛尔菲娜低声说，这时我们正看着一只海精灵嗅着其中一颗红色的花瓣，“还是它们看起来都不那么…… 闪亮的今天吗?”