5 The teahouse

Chapter 5 The teahouse "This way," said Kojima. "Follow me along the edge of the courtyard." The Timekeepers stared at him. "Those swords are scary," said Jackson. Kojima shook his head. "Samurais are aware of everything around them. You won't be harmed." They followed Kojima around the edge of the courtyard. They could almost feel the whoosh of the swords as the samurai practiced their moves. But Kojima was right, and they made it past safely. And at the far end of the courtyard was DeLay! He saw them coming. With a cackling laugh, he lunged at a huge vase of yellow chrysanthemum flowers that stood on a stone pedestal and knocked it to the ground.

“这边走，”小岛说。 “跟着我沿着院子的边缘走。” 计时员盯着他。 “那些剑很可怕，”杰克逊说。 小岛摇了摇头。“武士对周围的一切都了如指掌。 你不会受到伤害的。”他们跟着小岛绕着院子的边缘走。 他们几乎可以感觉到武士在练习他们的动作时剑的嗖嗖声。 但小岛是对的，他们安全通过了。 在院子的另一头，是迪莱！他看见他们来了。 他咯咯地笑着，扑向石座上的一个巨大的黄菊花花瓶，把它打翻在地。

CRASH! The vase shattered, sending flowers, water, and pottery shards in all directions. Tempo squawked in fright. The samurai immediately froze. Sarah gulped. "Uh, oh," murmured Jackson. The teacher marched toward them. "What is going on here? Why are you disrupting our practice?" "I'm sorry," Sarah said. "It wasn't us. It was—" She looked wildly around for DeLay. But he had taken advantage of the commotion and vanished. Kojima bowed to the teacher. "These visitors to Japan are not at fault," he said. "They are good people who are helping me." He glanced at the rows of warriors. "I think these samurai must be here with their Daimyos, visiting the Shogun's court." The teacher nodded. Kojima quickly explained what had happened to his Daimyo. "I'm here to deliver his message to the Shogun, but the rogue who broke that vase has stolen it." The watching samurai looked concerned. No wonder, thought Sarah. One rebellion could be the start of war and the end of peace in Japan. At a signal from the teacher, the samurai warriors all moved aside, leaving a clear path for Kojima and the Timekeepers. Kojima bowed his thanks, and Sarah and Jackson copied him. "Good luck with your mission," said the teacher.

崩溃!花瓶碎了，鲜花、水和陶器碎片四散开来。 泰普吓得尖叫起来。武士立刻僵住了。 莎拉一饮而尽。“呃，哦，”杰克逊喃喃地说。 老师大步走向他们。 “这是怎么回事？”你为什么要扰乱我们的训练？”“对不起，”萨拉说。 “不是我们。那是——"她疯狂地四处寻找迪莱。 但他趁乱逃走了。 小岛向老师鞠了一躬。 “这些来日本的游客没有错，”他说。 “他们是帮助我的好人。” 他瞥了一眼一排排的战士。 “我想这些武士一定是和他们的大名在这里，拜访幕府将军的宫廷。” 老师点了点头。小岛很快解释了大名的遭遇。 “我是来给将军送信的，但打碎花瓶的坏蛋把花瓶偷走了。” 注视着的武士显得很担心。 难怪，萨拉想。一次叛乱可能是日本战争的开始和和平的结束。 在老师的示意下，武士们都退到一边，给小岛和计时员们留下了一条清晰的道路。 小岛鞠了一躬表示感谢，莎拉和杰克逊也跟着鞠了一躬。 “祝你的任务顺利，”老师说。

"Good luck!" called the samurai, as the little group left the courtyard. DeLay was nowhere to be seen, but a loud squawk came from a rooftop along the road. "Tempo!" Sarah said. "Maybe she's spotted DeLay." Their cuckoo friend led them to a peaceful garden. A stream ran through it, gurgling softly as it bubbled over mossy pebbles. Maple trees rustled in the breeze, and a path ran through scented flower beds to a little wooden building. A sign hung outside. "The sign says it's the Silver Moon Teahouse," said Kojima, as Tempo landed on the roof. "She's telling us that DeLay's in there," Sarah said. A wide door, which was fitted with paper instead of glass, was half open. Through the gap, Sarah could see that the floor inside was covered with mats that Kojima said were called tatami. "They are made of cotton and rushes, and are quiet to walk on," he explained.

当这一小群人离开庭院时，武士喊道：“祝你好运！” 没有迟延的迹象，但路边的屋顶上传来了一声响亮的尖叫声。 “速度!”莎拉说。“也许她发现了迪莱。” 他们的杜鹃朋友把他们带到一个宁静的花园。 一条小溪从里面流过，潺潺细流流过长满青苔的鹅卵石。 枫树在微风中沙沙作响，一条小路穿过芬芳的花坛，通向一座小木屋。 外面挂着一块牌子。“招牌上写着这是银月茶馆，”小岛说，这时Tempo降落在屋顶上。 “她告诉我们迪莱在里面，”萨拉说。 一扇宽大的门半开着，门上不是装玻璃，而是装着纸。 透过缝隙，莎拉看到里面的地板上铺着席子，小岛说这种席子叫榻榻米。 “它们是用棉花和灯芯草做的，走在上面很安静，”他解释说。

Ducking low so they wouldn't be seen by DeLay, they made their way around the outside of the teahouse and crouched behind a flowery bush to peer through a large open window. Three people were sitting on tatamis. A young woman in a green and gold kimono knelt opposite them. Before her was a little kettle on a stand. "They're having a tea ceremony, and she's preparing the tea," Kojima whispered. "It's a very important ritual in Japan." The woman stirred the tea with a little bamboo whisk. Then she poured it into a small teacup, which didn't have a handle, and offered it to one of her companions. Once she had served everyone with the tea, she offered small trays with little dishes of food on them.

他们低着身子，不让迪雷看见，绕着茶馆的外面走了一圈，蹲在一丛花后面，从一扇开着的大窗户往里看。 三个人坐在榻榻米上。 一位身穿绿金色和服的年轻女子跪在他们对面。 在她面前有一个小水壶放在架子上。 小岛低声说：“他们正在举行茶道，她正在准备茶。” “这在日本是一个非常重要的仪式。” 那个女人用一个小竹制搅拌器搅茶。 然后她把它倒进一个没有把手的小茶杯里，递给她的一个同伴。 当她给每个人都端上茶后，她又递给大家一个小托盘，上面放着几碟食物。

"Those are kaiseki," said Kojima. "The food is made to look exquisite as well as taste delicious." Mouthwatering aromas drifted toward the Timekeepers. "Mmm, I can smell seafood and ginger and lemon," whispered Jackson. "Don't those little cakes look good? I wish time would stand still so we could have a taste." Kojima grinned. "That would be a great trick!" "It would," said Sarah thoughtfully. It had given her an idea... Kojima moved on to look for DeLay through the next window. Jackson was about to follow, but Sarah tugged his arm. "We can make time stand still, can't we?" she whispered. "I think it'll help!" Jackson grinned. "Time for a Time Freeze?" Their special watches were able to stop time for a short while, but they used Time Freezes only if they were in trouble and had no other option. They could be risky. "It'll take DeLay by surprise," said Sarah. "He'll still be able to move during the freeze, but hopefully it will give us the chance to catch him before he disappears again." Jackson glanced into the teahouse. The people inside were sitting quietly, sipping their tea. "They look so peaceful," Jackson said. "It would be nice if we could catch DeLay without disturbing their tea ceremony. Let's do it!" Quickly, before Kojima noticed what they were up to, Sarah flipped open her watch and pressed a button. Instantly, Kojima stopped in mid-step. The rustling leaves on the maple trees froze. The stream stopped flowing and the birds stopped singing. Everyone—and everything—

小岛说：“那是怀石料理。” “这些食物做得既好看又好吃。” 令人垂涎欲滴的香味飘向计时员。 “嗯，我能闻到海鲜、姜和柠檬的味道，”杰克逊低声说。 “那些小蛋糕看起来不错吧？” 我希望时间静止不动，这样我们就能尝一尝。” 小岛咧嘴一笑。“那将是一个很棒的把戏！”“会的，”萨拉若有所思地说。 这给了她一个主意…… 小岛继续从旁边的窗户寻找迪莱。 杰克逊正要跟上去，但莎拉拽了拽他的胳膊。 “我们可以让时间静止，不是吗？”她小声说。 “我想它会有帮助的！”杰克逊咧嘴一笑。 “时间冻结的时间到了？”他们的特殊手表能够让时间短暂停止，但只有在遇到麻烦、别无选择的情况下，他们才会使用“时间冻结”。 它们可能有风险。“这会让迪莱大吃一惊的。”萨拉说。 “在冰封期间，它仍然可以活动，但希望这能让我们有机会在它再次消失之前抓住它。” 杰克逊朝茶馆里瞥了一眼。 里面的人安静地坐着，喝着茶。 “他们看起来很平静，”杰克逊说。 “如果我们能抓住迪莱而不打扰他们的茶道，那就太好了。 我们开始吧！”在小岛注意到他们在做什么之前，莎拉迅速打开手表，按下了一个按钮。 小岛在中途停了下来。 枫树上沙沙作响的叶子都冻住了。 小溪停止了流动，鸟儿也停止了歌唱。 每个人和一切——

was frozen except for Tempo and the Timekeepers. And DeLay... Sarah slid open one of the paper doors and hurried inside the teahouse. They ran through it, looking everywhere for their enemy. As they passed the room with the tea ceremony, Sarah noticed that the woman in the green and gold kimono had been midway through serving more tea. The water that had been pouring from the tilted kettle's spout now looked like a twisted column of ice. "Keep still," said Jackson. "Maybe we'll hear DeLay moving around." They both held their breaths. Tempo perched on Sarah's shoulder and quietly folded her wings. A shadow moved across one of the paper doors. Sarah lunged to grab the door and slid it aside. Standing there was DeLay! To her amazement, DeLay put his fingertips in his mouth as if he was biting his nails in fear. "Oh no," DeLay said in a trembling voice. "There's no escape. You've caught me!" "Just give us the inro, DeLay, and you can go," Sarah told him.

除了泰普和计时员之外都被冻结了。 和延迟…萨拉推开一扇纸门，匆匆走进茶馆。 他们跑了过去，到处寻找敌人。 当他们经过茶道的房间时，萨拉注意到那个穿着绿金色和服的女人正在上更多的茶。 从倾斜的水壶壶嘴流出的水现在看起来像一根扭曲的冰柱。 “保持安静，”杰克逊说。 “也许我们会听到迪莱走动的声音。” 两人都屏住了呼吸。 Tempo停在Sarah的肩膀上，静静地收起翅膀。 一个影子掠过一扇纸门。 莎拉扑过去抓住门，把它推到一边。 站在那里的是迪莱！令她惊讶的是，迪莱把指尖放进嘴里，好像害怕地咬着指甲。 “哦，不，”迪莱用颤抖的声音说。 “我们无处可逃。你抓住我了！”“把介绍给我们，迪莱，你就可以走了。”萨拉对他说。