25 The Illustrated City

25 The Illustrated City The Illustrated City? gasped Peanut. "So I was right. Everything here has been... drawn by somebody. "At some point, yes. "So who did all of the drawing?" asked Rockwell, wiping hot chocolate from his top lip. "Whoever it was must have been pretty handy with the old pencils." Ah, now there's a question" replied the old lady. "The answer is... a great many people. Thousands and thousands." She put down her mug, stood up and walked over to one of the slightly skew-whiff bookshelves. She started peering at the spines of the books. "Chroma has been around for as long as anyone can remember. Longer, actually. The history books tell us that it

25 “插画城？竟然是插画城？”佩内特惊道 “这么说我没猜错 这里的一切都是……别人画出来的 “大体上没错 “那这些都是谁画的？”罗克韦尔擦着上唇的热巧克力问道 不管是谁，肯定握笔的功夫相当了得。" “哎呀，这可问到点子上了”老太太答道 “答案是……许许多多的人 成千上万的人。" 她放下马克杯站起身，走到一个有点歪歪扭扭的书架旁 她盯着书脊仔细看了起来 “克罗玛从没人记得清的年代就存在了 其实比那还要久远 史书告诉我们，它

began as a small settlement on a tiny island, and that it has grown over the centuries. It really is quite big now. If it's so big, how come I've never seen it in my junior atlas?" said Little-Bit. "Or on Mummy's globe in the living room? Or on Google Earth?" Ah well, you won't find it on any of your maps, I'm afraid. You see, Chroma is a very special place and only a few very special people from your world ever get to come here. "What's so special about us, then?" asked Rockwell. Mrs M's eyes narrowed. "That remains to be seen." She pulled a large book bound in green leather from the shelf and returned to her armchair. "First, let me tell you a bit about our city. As I said, it all started on an island in the centre of a circular lake. And that lake is where all of the magic comes from. "Magic?" said Peanut. "What magic?" Ah. Now we get to the nub of it," said the old lady, smiling. "You see, to put it as simply as possible, Chroma is the place where the world's creative and artistic energy comes from. All of it. If Chroma didn't exist, planet Earth would be a pretty colourless, soulless place. The source of all artistic creativity in your world and mine—is right here, in this city. Specifically, in the Rainbow Lake. She opened the book and slid a large piece of folded paper from a pocket on the inside cover.

最初只是小岛上的小小聚居点，历经数百年慢慢发展壮大 现在它已经非常大了 “既然它这么大，为什么我在儿童地图册里从没见过它？”小贝特说道 也没在客厅妈妈的地球仪上见过 也没在谷歌地球上见过？" 唉，恐怕你在任何地图上都找不到它哦 你要知道，克罗玛是个非常特别的地方，只有你们世界少数特别的人才能来到这里 “那我们又有什么特别的呀？”罗克韦尔问道 M夫人眯起了眼睛 “这还说不准呢 她从书架上抽出一本绿封皮的大书，走回扶手椅坐下 “首先，我给你们讲讲这座城的故事吧 正如我刚才说的，一切都始于圆形湖泊中心的小岛 而所有魔法都来自那座湖 “魔法？”佩内特说道 “什么魔法？ 啊 终于说到最关键的地方了”老太太笑着说 你看，简单来说，全世界的创意和艺术能量都来自克罗玛 所有的一切都是 如果克罗玛不存在，地球会变成一个毫无色彩、没有生气的地方 不管是你的世界还是我们这里，所有艺术创意的源头都在这里，就在这座城里 具体来说，就在彩虹湖里 她翻开书，从封二的插袋里抽出一大张折好的纸

It is said that when the original inhabitants swam in the Rainbow Lake, they were suddenly overcome with the urge to create. To draw, to paint, to sculpt, to make. And they found, to their amazement, that whatever they created, even if it was just a flat drawing, became real. If they painted a loaf of bread, they could pick that bread up and eat it. If they drew a horse, they could sit on its back and ride it. The water from the Rainbow Lake made everything that they could possibly imagine real. So almost immediately they started to generate houses, streets, factories, trees, rivers, fields. Very quickly, the city started to expand, and right at its heart, on the island itself, one very special building was erected a huge, multicoloured tower, over five hundred metres tall. It was, and is, called the Spire." I want to swim in the Rainbow Lake!" shouted Little-Bit. Mrs M grinned. "Obviously, as the city grew, so did the population." She started to unfold the piece of paper. "It became a thriving hub of beauty and creativity as more and more people contributed to its good looks." "You said only a few very special people from our world get to come. So we aren't the first outsiders to travel here, then?" said Peanut, leaning forward. "Far from it. Nobody is quite sure how they got here there was a rumour about hidden portals, something like that-but the visitors always kept their secrets and nothing

据说最早的居民在彩虹湖游泳后，突然涌起了强烈的创作欲 想要画画、雕刻、动手创造一切 他们惊讶地发现，不管创作出什么，哪怕只是一张平面画，都会变成真的 如果画了一条面包，就能拿起来吃掉 如果画了一匹马，就能翻身上马骑着它走 彩虹湖的水能把他们能想象到的一切都变成真的 所以很快他们就造出了房子、街道、工厂、树木、河流和田野 城市迅速扩张，在核心地带的小岛上，建起了一座特殊的建筑——一座五百多米高的五彩巨塔 它从古至今都叫做“尖塔”。" “我要去彩虹湖游泳！”小贝特大喊道 M夫人咧开嘴笑了 “很明显，城市扩张了，人口也跟着变多了 她慢慢展开那张纸 越来越多的人一起来打造它，这里成了充满美与创意的繁华中心。" “你说只有我们世界少数特别的人能来这里 这么说我们不是第一批来这里的外人对不对？”佩内特往前探着身子问道 “才不是呢 没人清楚他们是怎么来的——传闻说有隐藏的传送门之类的——但访客们一直保守秘密，什么也

was ever found." Mrs M stood up and spread the paper on the table in front of them. It was a map. "Many, if not all, of the most celebrated creatives from your world have spent time in Chroma. Some have even had districts named after them." She pointed at the piece of paper. "This should give you an idea of how big the Illustrated City is." The three children looked at the map. Peanut recognised lots of the names from the tall signpost. Mrs M folded her arms. "So there you have it. One city, three regions, twelve districts. And we—" she tapped a bony finger near the top of the map—'are right here."

从未被发现过。" M夫人站起身，把纸摊在他们面前的桌子上 那是一张地图 “你们世界最负盛名的创作者，即便不是全部，也有很多来过克罗玛 有些甚至还有以他们名字命名的城区呢。" 她指着这张纸 “这下你就能知道插画城到底有多大了 三个孩子看向地图 佩内特认出了好多那个高路牌上见过的名字 M夫人抱着胳膊 “情况就是这样 一座城，三个大区，十二个片区 而我们——”她用枯瘦的手指点了点地图上方的位置，“就在这儿。"