Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

第七章

Soon Ivy and her friends were cantering away from the stables. Flame had barely spoken to Ivy. He'll calm down, she reassured herself. He never stays cross for long. Then I'll apologise again and he'll know how sorry I am. They rode up a hill with short tufty grass and stopped at the top to let the unicorns rest. Ivy stared at the trees on the slope beneath them. "How will we find the Memory Tree?" "It's got to be that one," Lyra said, pointing out an evergreen tree that towered above the rest. "It's easily the tallest tree in the woods. Come on!" They set off down the hill and entered the forest, following a well-worn track that twisted and turned. The unicorns' hooves clopped softly on the carpet of pine needles and the air smelled sharp and fresh. Eventually they reached a clearing and Ivy caught her breath. The tree in the centre was the tallest and most beautiful tree she'd ever seen. Its thick trunk glittered silver and Ivy had to tilt her head right back to see the canopy of green branches that spread out overhead high in the sky. Pictures, messages, hearts and trinkets were tied to the branches with brightly coloured ribbons. Everything fluttered in the breeze, tinkling and chiming, making it sound like the tree was singing. Ivy was mesmerised. Sliding from Flame's back, she ran her hand round the tree's vast trunk. The bark was as glassy as ice. "Look how smooth it is, and even the lowest branches are really high up. No wonder the riddle said impossible to climb," she said. "How have people managed to fix their messages to its branches?"

很快，艾薇和她的朋友们就跑出了马厩。 火焰几乎没有和艾薇说过话。 他会平静下来的，她安慰自己。 他从不生气太久。 然后我会再次道歉，他会知道我有多抱歉。 他们骑马上了一座长满矮草的小山，在山顶停下来，让独角兽们休息。 艾薇凝视着他们脚下斜坡上的树木。 “我们怎样才能找到记忆树呢？”“一定是那棵。”莱拉指着一棵比其他树都高的常青树说。 “它是树林里最高的树。 来吧!”他们沿着一条弯弯曲曲的小径下山，进入了森林。 独角兽的蹄子轻轻地踏在松针铺成的地毯上，空气里充满了清新的气味。 最后他们来到一块空地上，艾薇喘了口气。 中间的那棵树是她所见过的最高、最美丽的树。 它粗壮的树干闪着银光，艾薇不得不向后仰着头，才能看到在头顶上伸展开来的翠绿的枝叶。 照片、留言、爱心和小饰品用色彩鲜艳的丝带系在树枝上。 所有的东西都在微风中飘动，叮当作响，叮当作响，听起来就像树在唱歌。 艾薇被迷住了。她从火苗的背上滑下来，用手抚摸着那棵巨大的树干。 树皮像冰一样光滑。 “看它多光滑，就连最低的树枝也长得很高。 难怪谜语上说不可能爬，”她说。 “人们是如何设法将他们的信息固定到分支机构的？”

"The tree is enchanted, according to the book I read. When a person comes here to remember someone, the tree lowers a branch down so they can tie the item on," said Evie as she and the others also dismounted. "Hey, Memory Tree, could you lower your branches so we can climb up?" Sienna asked the tree hopefully. Nothing happened– the tree's boughs just continued to move gently in the breeze and the trinkets and messages chinked and tinkled. Lyra frowned. "How are we going to climb up it to look for the map? I suppose we could get a ladder, but it would have to be huge." "Maybe we could use a rope," said Evie. "Or Flame could shrink the tree with his magic," suggested Sienna. "Great idea," said Ivy excitedly. "How about it, Flame?" Flame backed away, his eyes like saucers. "No! What if I shrink it and can't regrow it?" "Please try, Flame. Pleeeeease!" said Lyra. "I can't!" Flame said. Ivy felt a sharp stab of guilt as she saw the panic in his eyes. He'd been so happy doing magic earlier but the mistakes had knocked his confidence and it was all her fault. She should have helped him practise. If only she could turn back time and do things diff erently. She slipped off his back. "Flame, you can do this; I know you can," she said. "You got the map back to normal size yesterday and you regrew that bucket of sky berries just now." "They ended up all over you," said Flame miserably. "What if my magic goes wrong and the tree explodes or something?" He shook his head. "No, I can't do it." "You can!" all the girls insisted, their unicorns joining In with whinnies of encouragement.

“根据我读的书，这棵树被施了魔法。 当一个人来到这里纪念某人时，树就会放下一根树枝，这样他们就可以把东西绑在上面。”伊薇说着，她和其他人也下了马。 “嘿，记忆树，你能把你的树枝放下来，让我们爬上去吗？”西耶娜满怀希望地问树。 什么也没发生——树枝只是继续在微风中轻轻摆动，小饰品和信息叮当作响。 莱拉皱起了眉头。“我们怎么爬上去找地图呢？” 我想我们可以弄个梯子，不过梯子得很大。” “也许我们可以用一根绳子，”伊薇说。 “或者火焰可以用他的魔法把树缩小。”西耶娜建议。 “好主意，”艾薇兴奋地说。 “怎么样，火苗？”火焰退去了，他的眼睛像碟子。 “不!如果我把它缩小了，不能再长出来怎么办？”“请试试，火苗。 求你了！”莱拉说。“我不能!”火焰说。 艾薇看到他眼中的恐慌，感到一阵内疚。 他之前一直很开心地施魔法，但这些错误打击了他的信心，这都是她的错。 她本应该帮助他练习的。 要是她能让时光倒流，以不同的方式做事就好了。 她从他背上滑了下来。“火焰，你能做到的；我知道你可以，”她说。 “你昨天把地图恢复到正常大小，刚才又重新长出了那桶天空莓。” “它们最后都落在你身上了。”火苗痛苦地说。 “如果我的魔法出了问题，树爆炸了怎么办？”他摇了摇头。 “不，我做不到。”“你行！”所有的女孩都坚持，她们的独角兽也跟着发出鼓励的呜呜声。

Seeing his unhappiness, Ivy understood that she was the only person who could really help him. "Come with me," she said softly. She led him away from the others and stroked his face. "Flame, I am so sorry. I should have realised how much you were counting on my help and put you first. Please forgive me. I promise to be more organised in future and not leave everything to the last possible minute." Flame's gaze met hers. "Well, I guess I'm to blame as well. I do like to show off." He looked sheepish. "Do you think we're right for each other? Maybe I should be paired with someone who's competitive and showy, and you should be with a unicorn who's chilled and likes a slower pace." "No!" Ivy was certain. "You're the best unicorn in the world. I love everything about you, including your magic!" The tension faded from Flame and his eyes glowed. "Thank you, and I do forgive you– provided you promise that you'll forgive me when I mess up too." "Always," she told him, hugging him. "Everyone makes mistakes and we're both bound to make loads more. The important thing is that we're

看到他的不幸，艾薇明白她是唯一能真正帮助他的人。 “跟我来，”她轻声说。 她把他从其他人身边引开，抚摸着他的脸。 “火焰，我很抱歉。我应该意识到你有多依赖我的帮助，把你放在第一位。 请原谅我。我保证以后会更有条理，不会把事情拖到最后一分钟。” 火焰的目光与她相遇。“嗯，我想我也有责任。 我确实喜欢炫耀。”他显得很不好意思。 “你觉得我们适合彼此吗？” 也许我应该和一个争强好胜、爱炫耀的人配对，而你应该和一个冷静、喜欢慢节奏的独角兽配对。” “不!”艾薇很确定。“你是世界上最好的独角兽。 我爱你的一切，包括你的魔法！”火苗的紧张情绪消失了，他的眼睛闪闪发光。 “谢谢你，我原谅你——只要你答应我，当我搞砸了你也会原谅我。” “一直都是，”她拥抱着他说。 “每个人都会犯错，我们都注定会犯更多的错误。 重要的是我们

there for each other and help each other. I'm sorry about earlier. I should have come to the stables immediately instead of going for lunch, and I should have helped you properly when you asked instead of just watching." "And I shouldn't have rushed into shrinking all those things but taken it more slowly." Flame glanced back at the tree. "Do you really believe I can shrink the tree and then regrow it?" "Yes," Ivy declared. "Together we can do anything!" He snorted happily and she kissed the centre of his forehead. "Come on, let's do this!" They made their way back to the others. "I'm ready!" said Flame, lifting his head and pricking his ears. "We're both ready," Ivy said, smiling at him. The others called out words of encouragement as Flame stepped up to the tree and focused on its glassy trunk. Ivy stroked him. "You can do this," she reminded him. "Do what you did yesterday and picture the tree In your mind. Imagine it exactly the size you want it to be." Flame stamped his hoof and pink and green sparks twirled round the tree's trunk. With a shrieking, creaking sound the trunk retracted like a telescope, shrinking faster and faster until it was about as tall as a house. The memories fluttered on branches a couple of metres above the girls' heads. "I can't make it go any smaller," Flame panted. "That's all I can do."

互相扶持，互相帮助。 之前的事我很抱歉。我应该立刻到马厩来，而不是去吃午饭；当你要求我的时候，我应该适当地帮助你，而不是袖手旁观。” “我不应该急于缩小所有这些东西，而是应该慢慢来。” 火苗回头看了看那棵树。 “你真的相信我能把树缩小，然后再长出来吗？”“是的，”艾薇说。 “我们一起可以做任何事！”他高兴地哼了一声，她吻了吻他的前额中央。 “来吧，我们开始吧！”他们回到了其他人身边。 “我准备好了！”火苗说着，抬起头，竖起耳朵。 “我们都准备好了，”艾薇笑着对他说。 当“火焰”走到树前，把注意力集中在玻璃般的树干上时，其他人大声鼓励。 艾薇抚摸着他。“你能做到的，”她提醒他。 “做你昨天做的事，在你的脑海里想象那棵树。 把它想象成你想要的大小。” 火焰踩在他的蹄子上，粉红色和绿色的火花在树干上旋转。 随着一声吱吱嘎嘎的尖叫，树干像望远镜一样缩回去，缩得越来越快，最后只剩房子那么高了。 记忆在女孩头顶几米高的树枝上飘动。 “我不能让它再变小了。”火焰气喘吁吁地说。 “这就是我所能做的。”