2 The Component Parts

2 The Component Parts Peanuts turned to her father and smiled as they descended. "So, you're definitely Conté's heir, then?" she asked. Nicolas-Jacques Conté was a famous French engineer credited with inventing the pencil in the late eighteenth century. His prototype, Pencil Number One, also known as Little Tail, was currently sitting snugly in Peanut's bandolier, the shoulder belt in which she kept her art materials.

2 组成部分 皮娜往下走时，转头对着爸爸露出了微笑。 “这么说，你肯定就是孔特的继承人了对不对？” 她问道。 尼古拉-雅克·孔特是法国著名工程师，公认是十八世纪末铅笔的发明者。 他设计的原型笔一号铅笔，也叫小尾巴，现在正安稳地放在皮娜放画材的肩带（子弹带）里。

It was this pencil's magical properties— the fact that whatever it draws becomes real— that had brought Peanut and her friends to Chroma in the first place when she had sketched a door in her bedroom and walked through it. This portal- creating ability was unique to the pencil, and therefore made it something that Mr White desperately wanted. He'd stolen it from Peanut during her first adventure in Chroma, but luckily she'd managed to get it back. She still couldn't quite believe that Dad, her free-spirited artist of a father, was Conté's heir. On the other hand, she totally believed it. He was something of an artistic genius, after all. "Well, the Markmakers seem to think so," replied Dad. Millicent and Malcolm Markmaker were the leaders of Chroma's Resistance army, the one that Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit had just helped to reclaim control of the city. And, apparently, so does Mr White. Our intelligence tells us that I've been his primary target ever since he discovered that Pencil Number One existed. It's probably because he thinks I'm the heir and he knows what the heir can do with the pencil. That's why I had to stay in hiding during the Battle for the Spire. So that White wasn't able to capture me." "If he had, we would have just rescued you," said Little- Bit, confidently. "I'm sure you would have tried your best," said Dad with a smile, "but, quite frankly, I don't think White would have kept

这支铅笔拥有神奇能力——它画出来的任何东西都会变成真的。当初皮娜在自己卧室画了一扇门并穿了过去，正是因为这个能力，她和朋友们才会来到克罗玛。 这种打开传送门的能力是这支铅笔独有的，也因此让怀特先生拼了命想得到它。 他在皮娜第一次探索克罗玛的时候偷走了铅笔，不过幸运的是，皮娜又把它夺了回来。 皮娜至今都不敢相信，爸爸——她那个随性自由的艺术家爸爸——居然真的是孔特的继承人。 可换个角度想，她又觉得这事完全合理。 毕竟，爸爸本来就是个艺术天才呀。 “唔，马克梅克一家好像就是这么认为的。”爸爸回答道。 米利森特和马尔科姆·马克梅克是克罗玛抵抗军的领袖，皮娜、洛克威尔和小不点刚刚帮他们夺回了城市的控制权。 而且很明显，怀特先生也认可这件事。 我们的情报显示，自从怀特发现一号铅笔存在，我就一直是他的首要目标。 大概是因为他认定我是继承人，也知道继承人能拿这支铅笔做什么。 这就是尖塔之战的时候我必须躲起来的原因。 这样怀特才抓不到我。 “要是他真抓到你了，我们肯定会把你救出来的。”小 不点自信地说道。 “我相信你们肯定会拼尽全力的，”爸爸笑着说，“不过说实话，我觉得怀特不会留着

me rescuable for too long, if you know what I mean. I think he wants to see the back of Conté's heir once and for all. Peanut, Little-Bit and Leo went white at the thought. "Oh, don't worry, kids," said Dad quickly, seeing their frightened faces. "I won't let him hurt me. And now that I have you guys here to protect me, I feel as safe as houses." The colour began to return to their cheeks.

我等你们来救太久的，你们懂我的意思吧。 我觉得他是想彻底除掉孔特的继承人。 一想到这儿，皮娜、小不点和利奥的脸都吓白了。 “哦，别担心，孩子们，”爸爸看到他们害怕的表情，连忙说道。 “我不会让他伤到我的。 而且现在有你们在这里保护我，我安心极了。” 他们脸上这才渐渐恢复了血色。

The lift came to an abrupt stop and Dad flicked a switch to the right of the door. A small screen lit up showing grainy black-and-white footage of another room, which appeared to be completely filled with water. He then flicked a second switch and the liquid began to drain away. "Why's this Mr White bloke so worried about Conté's heir, anyway?" asked Leo. "Well, if the Markmakers and all of those history books are right," said Dad, "when Conté's heir holds Pencil Number One in their hand, an unbelievably potent magic force is released. This force would immediately restore all of the creative power that the city once had, that which Mr White has spent so long trying to destroy. As such, the pencil— that pencil," he nodded towards Peanut's bandolier, "could well be the most powerful weapon we have against White and his plan to destroy Chroma. And now that you've got Little Tail back, it's even more important that I stay hidden. We're so close to ending this. We just need to keep both component parts of the

电梯突然停了下来，爸爸按了一下门右边的开关。 一块小屏幕亮了，显示出另一个房间模糊的黑白画面，那个房间看起来灌满了水。 接着他按了第二个开关，水开始慢慢排出去。 “话说回来，那个怀特先生为什么这么在意孔特的继承人呀？”利奥问道。 “唔，如果马克梅克一家和所有历史书的记载没错的话，”爸爸说，“当孔特的继承人握住一号铅笔，就会释放出一股威力无穷的魔法力量。 这股力量会立刻恢复这座城市原本所有的创造力，那些创造力都是怀特花了很长时间想要毁掉的。 所以这支铅笔——就是这支，”他朝皮娜的子弹带点了点头，“绝对是我们对抗怀特、阻止他毁掉克罗玛最强有力的武器。 现在你们已经把小尾巴拿回来了，我就更得躲起来了。 我们离结束这一切已经很近了。 我们只需要把这件武器的两个组成部分

weapon safe until we have captured White. Those component parts being Pencil Number One and me." "Hang on," said Rockwell. "Why can't we just give you Little Tail now? Wouldn't that instantly sort everything out?" "It's tempting," said Dad. "But it's too much of a risk. I want to make sure that White is captured and, more importantly, that Mum is safe before we do anything with the pencil. There's so much uncertainty right now. Peanut pulled Little Tail from its special slot in her bandolier and looked at it. It felt much heavier than an object of that size should feel. "Such a small thing," she whispered, "but so important. Are you sure you don't want to take it now?" She held it out, offering it to her father. His eyes widened, and he swallowed loudly. He began to lift his hand, but quickly dropped it back to his side.

好好保管到抓住怀特为止。 这两个组成部分就是一号铅笔和我。” “等一下，”洛克威尔说。 “为什么我们不现在就把小尾巴给你呢？ 这样不就能立刻解决所有问题了吗？” “我也很想这么做，”爸爸说。 “但现在这么做风险太大了。 在我们动用这支铅笔之前，我要先确认怀特被抓住，更重要的是，要确认妈妈是安全的。 现在太多事情都还不确定。 皮娜把小尾巴从子弹带的专属槽位里拿出来，低头看着它。 它拿在手里，比同样大小的普通铅笔要重得多。 “这么小的一支笔，”她轻声说，“却这么重要。 你确定不现在就拿走它吗？” 她伸出手，把铅笔递给爸爸。 爸爸睁大了眼睛，重重吞了下口水。 他刚抬起手，很快又放回到了身侧。

"No," he said. "Not until White is safely locked up. Nobody knows for sure how the magic works and, as the Markmakers are always saying, we might only have one shot at this. We have to make sure we do it properly.

“不行，”他说。 得等怀特被牢牢关起来才行。 没有人确切知道魔法的运作方式，而且就像马克梅克一家常说的，我们可能只有一次机会。 我们必须确保把这件事做对做好。