Chapter 3

Chapter three, The girls stood on the circular landing at the top of the tower with puzzled expressions on their faces. "If there is a secret room, there's absolutely no way up to it from here," said Sienna. On one side was their dorm– Ruby– and on the other side was Topaz dorm where four boys, Sam, Reuben, Archie and Nawaz, slept. "There isn't a hidden door anywhere out here," said Lyra, tapping the wall between the dorms. "And we've checked our room," said Ivy. "We didn't find any hidden doors in there." "What about in the boys' dorm?" suggested Sienna. "We should probably ask them before we go and look," said Evie slowly. "If we don't touch anything of theirs, I'm sure it'll be OK," said Sienna. Lyra nodded. "We can't give up yet. First rule of exploring. You have to take risks!" Turning the door handle, she went inside. The boys' room was a mirror image of the girls', but decorated in blue and gold rather than red. There were four beds, each with a blue-and-goldcoloured duvet. There was a fluffy gold rug on the floor and blue-and-gold curtains at the windows. On the chest of drawers beside each bed, a lamp glowed with a golden light. Next to their lamp, each boy had put photos of their family and pets, and they each had a shelf for their books, magazines and school folders.

女孩们站在塔顶的圆形平台上，脸上带着困惑的表情。 西耶纳说：“如果有一个密室，从这里绝对没有办法进去。” 一边是他们的宿舍——鲁比，另一边是托帕兹宿舍，萨姆、鲁本、阿奇和纳瓦兹四个男孩都睡在那里。 “这里没有隐蔽的门。”莱拉说着，敲了敲宿舍之间的墙。 “我们也检查了我们的房间，”艾薇说。 “我们没有在里面发现任何隐藏的门。” “那男生宿舍呢？”西耶娜建议道。 “我们也许应该在去看之前问问他们。”伊薇慢慢地说。 “如果我们不碰他们的任何东西，我相信一切都会好起来的，”西耶娜说。 莱拉点点头。“我们还不能放弃。 探索的第一条规则。你必须冒险！”转动门把手，她走了进去。 男孩的房间是女孩房间的镜像，但用蓝色和金色而不是红色装饰。 有四张床，每张床上都铺着蓝金相间的羽绒被。 地板上铺着蓬松的金色地毯，窗户上挂着蓝金相间的窗帘。 每张床旁的五斗橱上，都有一盏金光闪闪的灯。 在他们的灯旁边，每个男孩都放了家人和宠物的照片，他们每个人都有一个架子放他们的书、杂志和学校文件夹。

Lyra's nose wrinkled at the lingering smell of sweaty feet as she picked her way across the floor. A tapestry of three unicorn foals hung on the wall. Could there be a door hidden behind it? She pushed it aside. No, there was just solid wall. The girls checked every centimetre of the room but found nothing. "There's no entrance here either," said Lyra in frustration. She really wanted to solve the mystery! "Time to give up," said Ivy, going to the door. "I vote we go and make a hot chocolate in our lounge." "We can't just abandon the search!" protested Lyra. "I vote for hot chocolate too," said Sienna. "With marshmallows," agreed Evie. Lyra gave in and led the way down the spiral staircase. At the bottom of the staircase were two lounges, one for Topaz dorm and one for Ruby dorm. On the wall between them was a large tapestry of a magnificent unicorn with a golden mane standing beside a forest pool. A tear trickled down the unicorn's face. Her name was embroidered at the bottom: Daybreak. The strange tapestry had caught Lyra's attention on their first day at the school, making her wonder who Daybreak was and why she was crying. She looked at it as she waited for Ivy and Evie to catch up. Evie had almost reached the bottom when she missed a step. She clattered down the last three stairs and landed on her bottom.

莱拉在地板上摸索着走着，闻到了挥之不去的汗脚味，鼻子皱了起来。 墙上挂着三只独角兽小马驹的挂毯。 会不会后面藏着一扇门？ 她把它推到一边。没有，只有一堵坚固的墙。 女孩们检查了房间的每一厘米，但一无所获。 “这里也没有入口。”莱拉沮丧地说。 她真的很想解开这个谜团！“是时候放弃了，”艾薇说着向门口走去。 “我建议我们去休息室做一杯热巧克力。” “我们不能就这样放弃搜索！”莱拉抗议道。 “我也喜欢热巧克力，”西耶娜说。 “用棉花糖，”伊薇同意道。 莱拉让步了，领着大家走下螺旋形楼梯。 楼梯底下有两个休息室，一个是黄玉宿舍，一个是露比宿舍。 他们之间的墙上挂着一幅巨大的挂毯，上面画着一只长着金色鬃毛的独角兽站在森林里的一个池塘边。 一滴眼泪从独角兽的脸上流下来。 底部绣着她的名字：黎明。 这幅奇怪的挂毯在他们来学校的第一天就引起了莱拉的注意，她想知道黎明是谁，她为什么哭。 她看着它，等着艾薇和艾薇赶上来。 艾维快到底部时，她漏了一步。 她噔噔地走下最后三层楼梯，摔了个底朝天。

"Evie! Are you OK?" Lyra rushed to help her up. "I'm fine." Evie turned bright red as Lyra helped her to her feet. Lyra glanced down and noticed a tiny carving scratched into the stone on the rise of the bottom step. "It's Daybreak!" she said in surprise. "That unicorn on the tapestry over there. It's definitely her. Look at the teardrop on her face and the pool of water at her feet. But why would someone put it here?" There was a circle round the picture and Lyra ran a finger over it. To her astonishment the circle depressed slightly. She pressed harder. "It's a

“艾维!你还好吗？”莱拉冲过去扶她起来。 “我很好”。莱拉扶着艾薇站了起来，她的脸涨得通红。 莱拉往下瞥了一眼，发现在最下面的台阶上方的石头上有一个小小的雕刻。 “黎明来了！”她惊讶地说。 “那边挂毯上的独角兽。 绝对是她。看她脸上的泪珠和她脚边的一滩水。 但为什么会有人把它放在这里呢？”画周围有一个圈，莱拉用手指在上面摸了摸。 令她吃惊的是，圈子里的人稍稍低落了一些。 她更用力了。“这是一个

button!" she cried. With a grating sound, a section of the wall behind the tapestry slid back. Sienna and Ivy squealed and raced over. Pulling aside the tapestry they saw a second spiral staircase, smaller and darker than the one they had just come down.

按钮！”她叫道。随着一声刺耳的声音，挂毯后面的一段墙向后滑动。 西耶娜和艾薇尖叫着跑了过来。 他们拉开挂毯，看到了第二个螺旋形楼梯，比他们刚下来的那个更小、更黑。

"Look at that!" said Sienna in surprise. "I knew it." Lyra could hardly breathe with excitement. "It has to be the way up to the secret room! Come on, let's check it out." Cobwebs festooned the staircase like bunting and the steps were covered in a thick layer of dust. "No one's been up here in ages," Lyra commented as she climbed. At the top they reached a small room with a window set in the curved wall. The stone walls and the dark wooden floorboards were bare and the window was grimy. Lyra stared around the gloomy room. It was really weird to think she was standing above Ruby dorm in a space that looked like it had been forgotten about for years. "There's nothing in here," said Sienna disappointedly. "Why bother to hide a room and not put anything exciting in it?" She and Ivy went to the window and looked out while Evie hovered anxiously in the doorway. Lyra walked around the room, looking carefully. When a floorboard under her foot gave way slightly, she jumped back, thinking the wood must be rotten. She peered down at it. The floorboard looked fine, so she knelt to investigate. One end of the board dipped below the level of the others. Then her sharp eyes caught sight of something strange. At the other end of the floorboard was a hinge. She almost hadn't seen it because it was made of dark metal and blended in with the wood. "Can we go back down now?" asked Evie uneasily. "We might get into trouble." "Wait!" said Lyra, pulling a penknife from her pocket. It had lots of useful tools in it including a screwdriver. She wriggled the flat end of the screwdriver under the end of the floorboard and levered it up, revealing a cavity. Lyra's heart beat fast. She lay down and reached into the space. "What are you doing?" asked Sienna, coming over. Lyra's fingers closed on a piece of paper, and she gasped. "I've found something!" she said, pulling it out. The other three crowded round. "What is it?" Ivy asked eagerly. Sitting back up, Lyra smoothed the rectangle of paper out. It was thick

“看那个！”西耶娜惊讶地说。 “我就知道。”莱拉激动得几乎喘不过气来。 “一定是通往密室的路！”来吧，我们去看看。” 蜘蛛网像狩猎一样布满了楼梯，台阶上覆盖着一层厚厚的灰尘。 “好久没人来过这里了。”莱拉边爬边说。 到了山顶，他们来到一个小房间，弯曲的墙壁上有一扇窗户。 石墙和深色的木地板光秃秃的，窗户也脏兮兮的。 莱拉环视着阴暗的房间。 一想到她站在鲁比宿舍楼上的地方，就觉得很奇怪，这个地方看起来已经被遗忘了很多年。 “这里什么也没有，”西耶娜失望地说。 “为什么要把房间藏起来，不放任何令人兴奋的东西呢？”她和艾薇走到窗前向外看，而艾薇则焦急地在门口徘徊。 莱拉在房间里走来走去，仔细地打量着。 当她脚下的一块地板稍微松动时，她跳了回来，以为木头已经腐烂了。 她低头看了看。地板看起来很好，所以她跪下来查看。 木板的一端低于另一端的水平面。 然后，她敏锐的眼睛发现了一些奇怪的东西。 地板的另一端是一个铰链。 她几乎没有看到它，因为它是由深色金属制成的，和木头混在一起。 “我们现在可以回去了吗？”伊薇不安地问。 “我们可能会遇到麻烦。” “等等！”莱拉说着，从口袋里掏出一把小刀。 里面有很多有用的工具，包括螺丝刀。 她把螺丝刀的平端在地板下面扭动，用杠杆把它扳起来，露出了一个洞。 莱拉的心跳得很快。她躺下，把手伸到空中。 “你在干什么？”西耶娜走过来问。 莱拉的手指碰到了一张纸，她倒吸了一口气。 “我找到东西了！”她边说边把它拔了出来。 另外三个人围了过来。 “什么事？”艾薇急切地问。 莱拉重新坐起来，把那张长方形的纸弄平。 它很厚