Chapter 1

Chapter ONE It was a very busy morning in the palace. Everywhere I looked, merpeople were swishing around, polishing the chandeliers and putting huge bunches of beautiful wavy sea flowers in vases.

这是宫殿里一个非常忙碌的早晨。 无论我往哪里看，人鱼都在四处游动，擦拭着枝形吊灯，把一大束美丽的波浪状海花插在花瓶里。

My stepsister, Delphina, was doing excited somersaults in the water, leaving trails of sparkling bubbles behind her. 'I can't wait for our guests to arrive!' she squealed. 'What do you think they'll be like, Emerald?' 'I don't know,' I said, shrugging.

我的继妹黛尔菲娜在水里兴奋地翻着筋斗，身后留下一道道闪闪发光的气泡。 “我等不及客人们的到来了！”她尖叫道。 “你认为他们会是什么样子，祖母绿？”“我不知道，”我耸耸肩说。

All I wanted to do was find a quiet place to start on my school project. My teacher, Mrs Shell-Clacker, wanted us all to write about something new we had learned over the summer holidays to share with the rest of the class. It was almost time for school to start again and I hadn't got around to writing anything!

我想做的就是找一个安静的地方开始我的学校作业。 我的老师，Shell-Clacker夫人，希望我们所有人都写一些我们在暑假中学到的新东西，与班上的其他同学分享。 又快开学了，我还没抽出时间写东西呢！

'Are you still thinking about your project, Emerald?' asked Delphina. I can't decide what subject to write about, I admitted. 'I've had loads of fun over the summer with my friends, but I don't think we did anything new. Most of the time we just hung out at the skate park. 'I know!' said Delphina. 'You could do your project on how to arrange a bunch of sea flowers, or how about... chandelier polishing!' 'Er...' I said. 'Maybe.' I didn't want to hurt Delphina's

“你还在考虑你的计划吗，Emerald?”德尔菲娜问。 我不能决定写什么主题，我承认。 “这个夏天我和朋友们玩得很开心，但我觉得我们没有做什么新鲜事。 大部分时间我们只是在滑板公园闲逛。 “我知道!德尔菲娜说。“你可以做一个关于如何安排一束海花的项目，或者…… 吊灯抛光!“呃……”我说。 “也许吧。”我不想伤害戴尔菲娜的

feelings—she was only trying to be helpful—but neither of her suggestions sounded very me. Even though I am a princess, I'm not a regular type of princess. It's all still very new. Mum recently married King Auster so I spend half my time living in the palace and half with Dad, who lives in a small, pearly pink house on the other side of Scallop City. 'I'll think about it,' I said. 'Thanks, Delphina!' I swam off to see if I could find Mum and Auster. Maybe they would be able to help me?

感觉——她只是想帮忙——但她的建议听起来都不太像我。 虽然我是公主，但我不是普通的公主。 这一切都还很新。妈妈最近嫁给了奥斯特国王，所以我一半的时间住在宫殿里，一半的时间和爸爸在一起，他住在扇贝城另一边的一所珍珠粉色的小房子里。 “我会考虑的，”我说。 “谢谢,Delphina !”我游过去，想看看能不能找到妈妈和奥斯特。 也许他们能帮我？