Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR The following day was Sunday, and pupils were allowed an extra hour in bed, so Scarlett was not pleased when Layla woke the whole dormitory at the usual time, going to the window and flinging back the curtains with an urgent cry. "Oh no! Look at the lake, everyone!" Sleepily, Scarlett tumbled out of her warm bed and went, shivering, to the frosty window with the others. Layla pushed the window up so that everyone could see out and dislodged a thick layer of snow from the roof above.

第四章第二天是星期天，学生们被允许多睡一个小时，所以当蕾拉在平常的时间叫醒了整个宿舍，走到窗前，急急地大叫一声，拉开窗帘时，思嘉很不高兴。 “哦,不!大家看这湖！”思嘉睡眼惺忪地从温暖的被窝里爬起来，哆嗦着和大家一起走到结霜的窗前。 蕾拉推开窗户，让大家都能看到外面，还把屋顶上的一层厚厚的雪移走了。

"Brrrr," shivered Scarlett as a blast of cold air stung her face. She slammed the window shut again. "But the lake," cried Layla. "Look at it!" gasped Sophia. "It's completely frozen!" The lake's surface was as smooth as glass with swirls of colour trapped inside. Even the fountain was a glassy statue, the rainbow

“唔唔唔，"思嘉打了个寒颤，因为一阵冷风刺痛了她的脸。 她又砰地关上了窗户。 “但是湖，”蕾拉叫道。 “快看！”索菲亚喘着气说。 “完全冻住了！”湖面像玻璃一样光滑，里面有颜色的漩涡。 连喷泉都是一尊玻璃雕像，彩虹

coloured water frozen into towering spirals, with beads of water scattered over the icy lake like bright jewels. "It's so pretty," breathed Scarlett, looking in awe at the beautiful colours. "It's a disaster," said Layla, turning pale. "I'm going to check on Dancer straight away. Thank goodness we collected water yesterday," she added as she pulled on a pair of jodhpurs. "There's enough for a few days– if we're all very careful." She shot a reproachful look at Scarlett. Scarlett felt guilty but pushed the uncomfortable feeling away. Layla was far too serious about things. She should just lighten up. So what if the lake was frozen? Everything was bound to be fine in a few days. Scarlett dressed and headed to the stables through the falling snow. She slowed as she passed the lake. Snow was beginning to lie on the surface, thicker than icing sugar on a cake.

彩色的水冻成高耸的螺旋状，水珠像璀璨的珠宝一样散落在冰冷的湖面上。 “真漂亮，"思嘉低声说，敬畏地望着这些美丽的色彩。 “这是一场灾难，”莱拉说，脸色变得苍白。 “我马上去看看丹瑟。 谢天谢地，我们昨天打了水，”她一边穿上马裤一边补充道。 “够用几天的——如果我们都非常小心的话。” 她责备地看了思嘉一眼。 思嘉感到内疚，但又把这种不舒服的感觉推开了。 莱拉对事情太认真了。 她应该放松点。 如果湖面结冰了呢？ 过几天一切都会好起来的。 思嘉穿好衣服，冒着雪花向马厩走去。 她经过湖时放慢了速度。 雪开始铺在地面上，比蛋糕上的糖粉还厚。

Scarlett imagined building an igloo and having snowball fights. Was it wrong to be just a teeny bit excited? The freeze wouldn't last long so why couldn't they just enjoy it? Feet crunching through the thick snow, she hurried on to the stables. Blaze was in a lively mood, tickling Scarlett with her red and gold tail from the moment she arrived. "Stop it," Scarlett giggled. "I want to tell you about the lake." Blaze stood still and pulled a serious face. "I'm listening." "It's fro— Ooooh! Blaze! Stop it!" Scarlett collapsed in giggles as Blaze made a goofy expression. "Tell me. I'm listening now," said Blaze, serious again, but as Scarlett started speaking she turned round and tickled her once more. "It's snowing and the lake is frozen!" yelled Scarlett, grabbing her tail. That got Blaze's

思嘉想象着盖个冰屋，打雪仗。 有那么一点点兴奋有错吗？ 冰冻不会持续太久，他们为什么不能好好享受呢？ 她在厚厚的积雪上嘎吱嘎吱地跑向马厩。 布莱泽心情很好，从思嘉一到，就用它那红金相间的尾巴逗思嘉痒痒。 “别说了，"思嘉咯咯地笑着。 “我想告诉你关于湖的事。” 火焰一动不动地站着，装出一副严肃的表情。 “我在听。”“这是——哦！”大火!阻止它!”布莱兹做了个傻乎乎的表情，思嘉笑得瘫倒在地。 “告诉我。我正在听呢，"布雷兹又一本正经地说，可是思嘉刚开口说话，她就转过身来，又给她挠痒痒。 “下雪了，湖面都结冰了！"思嘉抓着尾巴喊道。 那是布雷兹的

attention. She swung back and stared with wide eyes. "I know. It's awful," Scarlett lowered her voice, "but it's not as if you haven't got anything to drink. There's enough stored water to last for a while. I bet this cold weather will end soon, so we'd better make the most of it. Do you want to play in the snow?" "That sounds fun," Blaze agreed eagerly. Most people had decided to stay in the warm stables with their unicorns, plaiting their manes, weaving friendship bracelets and discussing the big freeze. Even Isabel wanted to stay inside out of the cold, having a contest with Olivia and Sophia as to who could plait the most ribbons into their unicorns' tails. Scarlett and Blaze threaded their way between the chattering pupils, who were busy swapping coloured ribbons and bottles of glittery hoof polish, to reach the door. Outside at last, Blaze's breath puffed out icy

的关注。她转过身来，睁大眼睛盯着。 “我知道。这很可怕，“思嘉压低声音说，”不过你又不是没有喝的。 储存的水足够维持一段时间。 我敢说这种寒冷的天气很快就会过去，所以我们最好好好利用一下。 你想在雪里玩吗？”“听起来很有趣，”布雷兹急切地表示同意。 大多数人决定留在温暖的马厩里，和他们的独角兽在一起，编着他们的鬃毛，编织友谊的手镯，讨论着大冰冻。 就连伊莎贝尔也想待在屋里避寒，她和奥利维亚和索菲亚比赛，看谁能在独角兽的尾巴上编织最多的丝带。 思嘉和Blaze从叽叽喳喳的学生中间穿过，走到门口，他们正忙着交换彩带和闪闪发光的蹄油瓶子。 终于到了外面，火焰呼出了冰冷的气

white clouds as she waited for Scarlett to climb on her back. "Look at me!" she snorted. "I'm smoking like a dragon!" "Me too!" huffed Scarlett, pursing her lips so that her breath came out as snowy white rings. "There's enough snow to build an igloo or a snow unicorn." "Let's have a snowball fight first!" Blaze lifted her hooves high as she waded through the snow. Veering away from the lake, she headed towards the fields and woods. "Faster!" Scarlett cried. Blaze snorted as she sped up, her mane and tail flying out behind her. The cold air stung Scarlett's cheeks and blew her hair in her face. She swiped it away, yelling, "Brake!" as the woods came nearer. Blaze leaned back, digging her hooves into the snow and trying to stop. The icy snow hissed under her hooves and a rainbow-coloured cloud of steam rose up, enveloping Scarlett.

当她等待思嘉爬到她背上时，她看到了白色的云朵。 “看看我！”她哼了一声。 “我抽得像条龙！”“我也是！"思嘉气呼呼地说，一面噘起嘴唇，吐出一口雪白的气来。 “这里的雪足够建一个冰屋或雪独角兽了。” “我们先打雪仗吧！”烈焰在雪地里跋涉时高举着蹄子。 她转身离开湖边，朝田野和树林走去。 “快!”斯佳丽哭了。火焰一边加速，一边哼着鼻子，鬃毛和尾巴在身后飞舞。 冷风刺痛思嘉的面颊，把她的头发吹到脸上。 当树林越来越近的时候，她一边把车开走，一边大喊：“刹车！” Blaze向后靠了靠，把蹄子踩进雪里，试图停下来。 冰冷的雪在她的马蹄下嘶嘶作响，一团彩虹色的蒸汽升起，把思嘉包围了。