Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

第四章

Dinner was Ivy's favourite meal: pizza with salad followed by warm chocolate brownies and ice cream. By the time she'd finished eating she was full and very sleepy but there was still the extra homework to do for Ms Hazel. While Lyra, Evie and Sienna played a noisy board game in their lounge, Ivy struggled with her essay. "Do you want any help?" asked Evie. "Or we could stop playing if we're being too loud?" "It's OK." Ivy didn't want to spoil the fun but she kept getting distracted by her friends' shrieks of laughter. "You should go and work in the dorm," said Sienna. "You're never going to get it done otherwise." "Chill. I've got this," said Ivy, but she ended up joining In with the game so that when they finally packed up to get ready for bed, she still hadn't finished her work. Evie went to sit beside her. "Budge up and I'll help you." Ivy waved her away. It wasn't fair that Evie should have to stay up late to help her. "It's OK, thanks, I'm nearly done." Evie looked at her doubtfully. "Don't be too long then." She dropped her voice. "We've got to be up at midnight, remember!" Ivy's head buzzed like it was full of sleepy bees as everyone trooped out of the lounge to go back to their dorm. At least it was quiet now, but it still took her a while to finish her essay. Finally she took it along to the teachers' staff room. Ms Nettles, the headteacher, answered the door and stared at Ivy in surprise. "Are you sick, Ivy?" Ivy handed over her book, yawning. "No, I just needed to give this to Ms Hazel." Ms Nettles frowned as she took the assignment. "Why wasn't this finished earlier?" "Sorry, Ms Nettles." Ivy swallowed another yawn. "I did try." Ms Nettles shook her head. "You need to be more disciplined, Ivy, and use your time more efficiently. You can cause yourself and others a lot of trouble if you put things off until the last minute." Her face softened. "All right, well, run along now."

晚餐是艾薇最喜欢的一餐：披萨配沙拉，然后是热巧克力布朗尼和冰淇淋。 吃完饭的时候，她已经吃饱了，而且很困，但黑兹尔女士还有额外的作业要做。 莱拉、伊薇和西耶娜在休息室里玩着吵闹的棋盘游戏，而艾薇则在努力写论文。 “你需要帮助吗？”伊薇问。 “或者如果我们的声音太大，我们可以停止演奏？”“没关系。” 艾薇不想扫兴，但她总是被朋友们的尖叫声分散注意力。 “你应该去宿舍工作，”西耶娜说。 “否则你永远也完成不了。” “寒意。艾薇说，但她最终还是加入了这个游戏，所以当他们最后收拾行李准备睡觉时，她还没有完成她的工作。 伊薇走过去坐在她旁边。 “挪一下，我来帮你。” 艾薇挥手让她走开。伊维不得不熬夜帮助她，这是不公平的。 “没关系，谢谢，我马上就好了。” 伊维怀疑地看着她。 “那就别太久了。”她压低了声音。 “我们半夜得起床，记住！”当每个人都成群结队地走出休息室回宿舍时，艾薇的脑袋嗡嗡作响，好像满是昏昏欲睡的蜜蜂。 至少现在安静了，但她还是花了一些时间才完成她的论文。 最后，她把它带到教师休息室。 校长内特尔斯女士开了门，惊讶地盯着艾薇。 “你病了吗，艾薇？”艾薇递过来她的书，打着哈欠。 “不，我只是想把这个给黑兹尔女士。” 纳特尔斯女士接过作业时皱起了眉头。 “为什么不早点完成呢？”“对不起，荨麻女士。” 艾薇又打了个哈欠。 “我试过了。”荨麻女士摇了摇头。 “你需要更自律，艾薇，更有效地利用你的时间。 如果你把事情拖到最后一刻，你会给自己和别人带来很多麻烦。” 她的脸色柔和了。“好吧，你走吧。”

"Thanks, Ms Nettles." For once Ivy didn't dawdle but ran back to her dorm. At midnight Lyra woke them all up. Ivy hated getting up at the best of times and now she felt like she'd only been asleep five minutes. Evie gently tugged her arm. "Come on, Ivy! It's time to go!" "Just a few more minutes," she mumbled. There was a cold rush of air as Sienna pulled her duvet off her. "No way! We've got an awesome adventure ahead of us!" Ivy gave in and swung her feet out of the bed. They all got dressed and then Lyra picked up a torch and led the girls out of the dorm, down the spiral staircase and through the silent academy. Outside, a full moon In a star-studded sky bathed the grounds in a silvery glow. Sparkle Lake and the rainbow-coloured fountain glittered brightly as the girls quietly ran past. The air was chilly but the stables were warm and inviting, the unicorns snorting as they slept. Ivy felt her stomach knot slightly as she ran to Flame's door. Would he still be upset?

“谢谢，荨麻女士。”这一次艾薇没有磨蹭，而是跑回了宿舍。 午夜时分，莱拉把他们都叫醒了。 艾薇讨厌在最好的时间起床，现在她觉得自己只睡了五分钟。 伊薇轻轻地拉了拉她的胳膊。 “加油，艾薇！”该走了！”“再等几分钟，”她喃喃地说。 西耶娜脱下羽绒被，一阵冷风袭来。 “不可能!我们有一场精彩的冒险在等着我们！”艾薇让步了，把脚甩出了床。 他们都穿好衣服，然后莱拉拿起手电筒，领着女孩们走出宿舍，走下螺旋形楼梯，穿过寂静的学院。 外面，一轮满月在星光熠熠的天空中沐浴在银色的光芒中。 当女孩们安静地跑过去时，闪闪发光的湖和彩虹色的喷泉闪闪发光。 空气很冷，但马厩里温暖宜人，独角兽在呼呼大睡。 艾薇跑到火苗的门口时，觉得肚子有点打结。 他还会生气吗？

To her relief he pricked his ears as soon as he saw her. "Hi, Ivy. I feel much better now. I can't wait for us to use the magical map!" He gave a whinny of excitement. "Shh," said Ivy, looking around. "You'll wake everyone up." "Sorry!" Then Flame mimicked her as they left the stables, creeping with exaggerated steps and lifting his hooves extra high. Ivy couldn't help but smile. Flame was really funny sometimes. The girls and their unicorns crept inside the academy, Lyra reaching the hall door first and pushing it open. Moonlight flooded the room, shining In through the domed roof and lighting up the magical map with a soft glow. A delicious tingle of anticipation prickled through Ivy as they approached the humming invisible force field that surrounded the map. Would the map let them pass?

使她宽慰的是，他一看到她就竖起了耳朵。 “嗨,艾薇。我现在感觉好多了。 我等不及要用魔法地图了！”他发出激动的嘶鸣声。 “嘘，”艾薇环顾四周说。 “你会把所有人都吵醒的。” “对不起!”然后，当他们离开马厩时，火焰模仿她，用夸张的步伐爬行，把蹄子抬得特别高。 艾薇忍不住笑了。 火焰有时真的很有趣。 姑娘们带着她们的独角兽蹑手蹑脚地走进学院，莱拉先走到门厅门口，推开了门。 月光洒满了房间，透过圆顶屋顶照了进来，柔和的月光照亮了这张神奇的地图。 当他们走近环绕着地图的嗡嗡作响的看不见的力场时，一种美妙的期待刺痛了艾薇。 地图会让他们通过吗？

There was a pop and a bright flash, then the room fell silent as the force field shut down. "See! The map wants us to go to the observatory," said Lyra, grinning in relief. "I knew this was the right thing to do! The map only lets students use it without permission if it approves of what they're doing." Flame tossed his head. "I hope I get to use my magic again tonight! I'm feeling much stronger now and I bet I'll be able to do it perfectly!" He stamped a hoof eagerly. There was a bright flash and a flurry of pink and green sparks fell over the map. Lyra gasped, staring at the map. "Flame! You've shrunk it!" Ivy leaned forward, her heart thundering. The map was still there only now it was half its original size! "Flame, no!" squeaked Ivy. "Quick, make it bigger again!" "Don't worry, I've got this! Stand back, everyone!" Flame stamped hard again. Coloured sparks fluttered and twirled around his head and landed on the map, but as they dissolved the map was even smaller. Ivy didn't usually let things get to her but now she felt a rush of alarm. This was serious. What if Flame made the map disappear completely?! Ms Nettles would be more than just mad– she might expel them! "Stop, Flame! Please!" she said quickly. "Don't use your magic again." "Shh!" Sienna suddenly hissed, motioning for everyone to be quiet and looking around. "I heard a noise!" Ivy's heart beat faster. Had one of the teachers heard them and come to see what was happening? At last Sienna relaxed and shook her head. "Sorry, guys. I must have imagined it." They all heaved sighs of relief. "Right, Flame. Come on," said Lyra, taking charge. "You're going to have to fix the map." "Wait, Lyra, maybe we should just go and tell Ms Nettles," said Evie. "We don't want to risk the map shrinking any further." Ivy nodded. She really didn't want to go and tell Ms Nettles what Flame had done but it would be even worse if he shrank the map completely. "Evie's right," she said. "We should go and get help." Flame shot her an angry look. "No," said Lyra. "We'll be in so much trouble if we do that. I'm sure Flame can fix this."

砰的一声，一道明亮的闪光，然后随着力场的关闭，房间变得安静下来。 “看!地图要我们去天文台。”莱拉说，松了口气，咧嘴一笑。 “我知道这样做是对的！”该地图只允许学生在未经许可的情况下使用，前提是该地图认可他们的行为。” 火焰把他的头摇了一下。“我希望今晚能再次使用我的魔法！”我现在感觉强壮多了，我敢打赌我一定能做得很好！”他急切地跺着蹄子。 一道明亮的闪光和一阵粉红色和绿色的火花落在地图上。 莱拉盯着地图，喘着气。 “火焰!你把它缩小了！”艾薇倾身向前，她的心怦怦直跳。 地图还在那儿，只是现在只有原来的一半大小了！“火焰，不要！”艾薇尖叫道。 “快，把它再变大一点！”“别担心，我能行！”大家退后！”火焰又使劲地戳了一下。 彩色的火花在他的头上飞舞、旋转，落在地图上，但随着它们融化，地图变得更小了。 艾薇通常不会让事情影响到她，但现在她感到一阵恐慌。 这很严重。如果火焰让地图完全消失呢？荨麻老师可不止是疯了——她可能会把他们开除！“停止,火焰!求你了！”她赶紧说。 “别再用你的魔法了。” “嘘!”西耶娜突然发出嘶嘶声，示意大家安静下来，四处看看。 “我听到有声音！”艾薇的心跳加快了。 是不是有老师听到了，过来看看发生了什么事？ 西耶娜终于放松下来，摇了摇头。 “对不起,伙计们。我一定是想象出来的。” 他们都松了一口气。 “对,火焰。来吧。”莱拉说，开始负责。 “你得把地图修好。” “等等，莱拉，也许我们应该去告诉荨麻小姐。” “我们不想冒险让地图进一步缩小。” 艾薇点点头。她真的不想去告诉荨麻女士火焰做了什么，但如果他把地图完全缩小，那就更糟了。 “艾维说得对，”她说。“我们应该去找人帮忙。” 火焰怒视了她一眼。 “没有。”莱拉说。“如果我们那样做，我们会有大麻烦的。 我相信火焰可以解决这个问题。”

Ivy wasn't so certain but, seeing the cross expression on Flame's face, she pushed her doubts away. She didn't want him to get in a huff with her again. "Lyra's right, Flame. Your magic is strong enough." She stroked Flame's neck. "Maybe it will help if you try picturing it In your mind, imagine it looking exactly the right size, then use your magic." Flame looked uncertain for once. "You can do this," Ivy told him. "I know you can." He nodded. "OK, I'll try." He stared intently at the magical map and smacked his hoof on the floor. Green and pink sparks swirled around it and suddenly the map began to creak. As Ivy watched, the teeny mountains, rivers and meadows grew bigger until everything was back to its original size. Ivy flung her arms round Flame's neck. "You did it! Well done!" Flame snorted in relief. "Thanks for helping me, Ivy. For a moment I wasn't sure I could actually do it. Perhaps I do need to learn to control my magic better. Will you help me?" "Of course," she promised. "We can start working on it tomorrow." He nuzzled her in response. "Now the map's back to normal, let's go!" said Lyra. The girls mounted their unicorns and linked hands. Lyra kept one hand free as she leaned over the map, looking for the observatory perched high on the west coast cliffs. She touched the ground beside it and said, "Please take us to the observatory, magic map."

艾薇不太确定，但看到火焰脸上的交叉表情，她打消了疑虑。 她不想让他再跟她生气。 “莱拉说得对，火苗。你的魔法够强大的。” 她抚摸着火苗的脖子。“如果你试着在脑海中想象它的样子，想象它的大小正好合适，然后使用你的魔法，也许会有所帮助。” 火苗第一次显得不确定。 “你能做到的，”艾薇告诉他。 “我知道你可以。”他点了点头。 “好吧，我试试。”他目不转睛地盯着那张神奇的地图，用蹄子敲了敲地板。 绿色和粉红色的火花在它周围旋转，突然，地图开始吱吱作响。 艾薇看着，小小的山脉、河流和草地变得越来越大，直到一切都恢复了原来的大小。 艾薇伸出双臂搂住火苗的脖子。 “你做到了！”做得好!”火焰松了口气。 “谢谢你帮助我，艾薇。 有那么一刻，我不确定我真的能做到。 也许我确实需要学会更好地控制我的魔法。 你会帮我吗？”“当然，”她答应道。 “我们明天就可以开始了。” 他用鼻子蹭她作为回应。 “现在地图恢复正常了，我们走吧！” 姑娘们骑上独角兽，手挽着手。 莱拉一边俯身看地图，一边腾出一只手，寻找那座高高矗立在西海岸悬崖上的天文台。 她摸着它旁边的地面说：“请带我们去天文台，神奇的地图。”