31 Cages

Part Three in which Peanut goes on a quest

第三部分 花生开启探寻之旅

31 Cages Doodle led the three children east across the deserted plains of the North Draw towards the Ink District. In the distance, they could see mountains rising from the snow, painted black against the pale sky. As per Mrs M's dotted blue line, the group stuck close to the city limits and headed for the forested area known as Sketchwood. "I've been thinking," said Rockwell as they walked. "What happens if you lose that pencil? We would have absolutely no way of getting back home again, would we?" Didn't Mrs M say something about a portal?" replied Peanut. "No. She said there were rumours of a portal, but that no actual evidence of one has ever been found. "Oh well, in that case, I guess we'd be stuck here until we

31 牢笼 杜德领着三个孩子向东穿行，穿过北旷区荒芜的平原，朝着墨水区前进。 远处，雪山间群山耸立，在浅淡天空的映衬下显出浓黑的轮廓。 按照M夫人画的蓝色虚线，一行人紧贴城区边界，朝着名叫速写林的林区前进。 “我一直在想，”赶路时洛克威尔开口道。 “如果弄丢了那支铅笔怎么办？ 我们就彻底回不了家了，对不对？M夫人不是说过传送门吗？”花生回答道。 “不对。她说只有传送门的传闻，从来没人找到过它存在的确凿证据。 “哦，那这样的话，我们估计就得困在这儿直到

found another way home," said Peanut, trying to sound cheerful. After all, Dad must have got here by other means. He can't have used Little Tail cos it was hidden in the box in my room. "Well, I don't want to be stuck here, thank you very much. Rockwell scratched the back of his head. "If I'm late handing in my differentiation homework I'll be in such trouble." "Do you always follow the rules?" Peanut asked as they trooped along as quickly as they could. "Well, yes. If I didn't, I'd lose my scholarship and they'd kick me out. Immediately. No second chances. Absolutely none! You know St Hubert's. I do." Peanut gave him a quick, sympathetic smile. "In that case I'd better make sure I don't lose the pencil. We can't have you getting in trouble, can we?" Peanut was keen to reach the shelter of the trees as soon as possible, given what she'd heard about Mr White and his RAZERs. If he discovered they were in Chroma, they would definitely be in a fix. After more slow trudging, they finally reached the edge of the woods. "We made it," whispered Rockwell. "Which way now, Doodle?" The dog wagged his tail and started winding his way through the black tree trunks. The children followed. All of a sudden, Doodle stopped walking and cocked his

找到另一条回家的路了，”花生说，努力让语气听起来开朗些。 毕竟，爸爸肯定是通过别的方式来到这儿的。 他不可能用小尾巴笔，那东西一直藏在我房间的箱子里。 “哼，我可不想困在这儿，谢天谢地我才不要。 洛克威尔挠了挠后脑勺。 “要是我微分作业迟交，我可就惨透了。” “你一直都遵守规矩吗？” 花生一边问，一边跟着队伍尽快往前走。 “嗯，对啊。 要是我不遵守，我就会丢掉奖学金，他们会把我开除。 立刻开除。 没有第二次机会。 一次都没有！ 你也知道圣休伯特学校的。 我知道。” 花生对他快速露出一个同情的微笑。 “这样的话我可得盯紧铅笔，不能弄丢它。 我们可不能让你惹麻烦，对吧？” 花生早就听说怀特先生和他的剃刃军团的事，迫切想要尽快赶到树林里躲避。 要是被他发现他们在克罗玛，他们肯定会陷入绝境。 又慢慢跋涉了一阵，他们终于走到了树林边缘。 “我们到了，”洛克威尔小声说。 “杜德，现在往哪走？” 狗狗摇了摇尾巴，开始绕着黑黢黢的树干穿行前进。 孩子们跟在后面。 突然，杜德停下脚步，竖起了

head to one side. Up ahead was a small clearing, in the middle of which stood a solitary, slim figure holding a walking stick. He was looking straight up into the canopy of a particularly tall tree. Instinctively, Peanut crouched down and put her hand over Little-Bit's mouth. She knew that her little sister would find calling out hard to resist. "What do we do?" she whispered to Rockwell. "I don't know. He doesn't look like a robot, but maybe they're masters of disguise." Doodle sniffed noisily at the ground. After a few seconds his tail started to wag and he trotted out into the clearing. "Hello, little fella," said the man. "What are you doing all the way out here on your own?" Doodle allowed him to stroke his back, before turning to face the children. "Woof! woof!" "I think he's saying that it's OK," said Peanut as she removed her hand from Little-Bit's mouth. "Hello there!" shouted the little girl immediately, before running out into the clearing. The man looked startled as Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit emerged from the trees. swell, bless my soul. Children!" He looked down at Peanut's bandolier. "And children carrying contraband. Just about the last thing

脑袋歪向一边。 前方有一小块空地，空地中央孤零零站着一个清瘦的身影，手里拄着手杖。 他正抬着头，直直望着一棵特别高大的树的树冠。 花生本能地蹲下身，用手捂住小比特的嘴。 她知道自己的小妹妹忍不住要出声打招呼。 “我们该怎么办？” 她小声对洛克威尔说。 “我不知道。 他看起来不像机器人，但说不定他们很擅长伪装。” 杜德大声地嗅着地面。 几秒钟后它开始摇尾巴，小跑着进了空地。 “你好呀，小家伙，”男人说。 “你一个人跑到这么远的地方来做什么呀？” 杜德任由他抚摸自己的背，随后转过身面向孩子们。 “汪！汪！” “我觉得它是在说没问题，”花生说着把手从小比特的嘴上拿开。 “你好呀！”小女孩立刻大喊，随后跑进了空地。 看到花生、洛克威尔和小比特从树后走出来，男人吃了一惊。 哎呀，我的天哪。 居然是孩子！” 他低头看向花生的弹带。 “还是带着违禁品的孩子。 这差不多是我最想不到会

I expected to find on my little walk. I'm guessing that you're not from these parts. "No. We're not," said Peanut. "Well, if I were you I wouldn't risk being out in the open carrying pencils and pens like that. Ooh, are those watercolours? I haven't seen a set of watercolours for such a long time." He looked wistful. "Excuse me for asking," said Little-Bit, "but what were you looking at just now? In the tree?" The man glanced upwards. "I was looking at those." The children followed his gaze and saw, hanging in the branches, three ornate black cages. Inside each one was a large bird, about the size of a peacock. They had crests on

在我散步时碰到的了。 我猜你们不是这儿的人吧。 “没错，我们不是，”花生说。 “唉，如果我是你们，我才不会公然带着铅笔钢笔在外面晃呢。 哦，这些是水彩颜料吗？ 我已经好久没见过成套的水彩颜料了。” 他露出怀念的神情。 “不好意思我想问一下，”小比特说，“你刚才在看什么呀， 在树上？” 男人抬眼向上望去。 “我刚才就是在看它们。” 孩子们顺着他的目光看去，只见树枝上挂着三只精致的黑笼子。 每个笼子里都有一只大鸟，个头差不多和孔雀一样大。 它们头顶长着