4 The Prince's Ball

Chapter Four The Prince's Ball The Fairy Godmother waved her wand again. A beautiful pair of glass slippers appeared on Cinderella's feet. Then to Verity's surprise, the Fairy Godmother made herself comfortable on the sofa with a book. "Shouldn't we go now?" Verity asked. The Fairy Godmother checked her watch. "You should hurry up, dear. Time is

第四章 王子的舞会 教母仙子再次挥动了她的魔杖。 一双漂亮的水晶鞋出现在了辛德瑞拉的脚上。 接下来让维里蒂惊讶的是，教母仙子拿着一本书，舒舒服服地窝在了沙发里。 “我们现在不该出发吗？” 维里蒂问道。 教母仙子看了看她的手表。 “你得抓紧时间啦，亲爱的。 时间正在

marching on – you don't want to be late!" "Are you not coming?" Verity frowned. "Oh no, dear, I can't miss this programme." The Fairy Godmother put her book down then pointed the remote at the TV and pulled out a bag of mints. Verity was shocked. "But there are so many other more interesting things you could be doing. Like judo. Or water-skiing. Or, I don't know, going to the biggest party of the year!" But the Fairy Godmother didn't seem to be listening. "Don't forget to be back by midnight," she said casually. "Excuse me?" Verity said slowly. "Well, if you don't leave the ball by midnight then Cinderella's dress will turn

一分一秒地走哦——你可不想迟到吧！” “你不和我们一起去吗？” 维里蒂皱起了眉头。 “哦不去啦，亲爱的，我可不能错过这个节目。” 教母仙子把书放下，接着拿遥控器对准电视，还掏出了一袋薄荷糖。 维里蒂惊呆了。 “可是还有好多好多更有意思的事你可以做呀。 比如柔道啊。 或者滑水啊。 再或者，哎呀，去参加一年里最盛大的舞会啊！” 可教母仙子好像根本没在听。 “别忘了午夜之前要回来哦。”她随口说道。 “你说什么？” 维里蒂慢吞吞地问。 “哦，要是你午夜前没离开舞会，辛德瑞拉的裙子就会变

back into rags. Her coach will turn into a pumpkin and the footmen and driver will become mice and rats! Now off you go, dear. Have fun, and I'll see you tomorrow." She waved Verity away. "Oh, pickled pumpkins!" sighed Verity as she took Cinderella to the carriage waiting outside the house.

回破布片。 她的马车会变回南瓜，仆人和车夫也会变回老鼠和家鼠哦！ 好啦，快去吧，亲爱的。 玩得开心，咱们明天见。” 她摆摆手让维里蒂赶紧走。 “哎哟，腌南瓜啊！”维里蒂叹了口气，领着辛德瑞拉走到屋外等着的马车旁边。

"No, it's just a normal pumpkin, dear!" the Fairy Godmother shouted after her. She shook her head. "I wouldn't use pickled pumpkins as a coach… it would smell of vinegar!" The inside of the coach was very luxurious, everything was made of velvet and the seats were extremely comfortable. But Verity was too worried to enjoy the ride. She had no idea how she would know when it was midnight! The prince's castle was beautiful. Cinderella and Verity entered through the huge wooden doors, which quickly slammed shut behind them. Verity wiped her forehead with relief – they had arrived just in time.

“不是啦，那就是普通的南瓜，亲爱的！” 教母仙子在她身后喊道。 她摇了摇头。 “我才不会用腌南瓜当马车呢……那闻起来全是醋味呀！” 马车的内部特别豪华，所有东西都是丝绒做的，座椅也舒服极了。 可维里蒂满心担忧，根本没心思享受这段路程。 她都不知道要怎么判断什么时候到午夜呀！ 王子的城堡漂亮极了。 辛德瑞拉和维里蒂从巨大的木门走了进去，门很快就在她们身后“砰”的一声关上了。 维里蒂松了口气擦了擦额头——她们刚好赶在时间到之前到了。

There was an enormous banquet spread across heaving tables. Verity spotted marshmallows and a chocolate fountain. Her two favourite foods! She would definitely be helping herself to those later. Everybody stared at Cinderella. Verity felt very proud. She could see that the prince was just behind Cinderella, but she needed to come up with a way for him to notice her.

堆得满满的桌子上摆着超级丰盛的宴席。 维里蒂一眼就看到了棉花糖和巧克力喷泉。 这可是她最爱的两种食物！ 等会儿她一定要去吃个够。 所有人都盯着辛德瑞拉看。 维里蒂觉得特别自豪。 她能看到王子就在辛德瑞拉身后，可她得想个办法让王子注意到辛德瑞拉。

"Can I take your photo?" Verity asked Cinderella. "I want to enter the competition in this week's Sparkle Time." "Ooh yes, I've never had my photo taken before." Cinderella was very excited. Verity grabbed her camera from her rucksack and looked through the lens. "Move back," she told Cinderella. "Back a bit more… keep going."

“我能给你拍张照吗？” 维里蒂问辛德瑞拉。 “我想参加这周《闪光时刻》的比赛。” “哇好呀，我以前从来没拍过照呢。” 辛德瑞拉可兴奋了。 维里蒂从背包里掏出相机，看向镜头取景。 “往后退一点哦。”她告诉辛德瑞拉。 “再往后一点……接着退哦。”