5 A Fourth Birthday

Chapter Five A Fourth Birthday Every time Princess Rosamund had a birthday, Verity was there to watch over her. Time is very different in the Fairy Tale Kingdom. Four years passed for the princess. But for Verity only four days had gone by and she was getting tired of birthdays! Verity arrived in the castle grounds early

第五章 四岁生日 罗莎蒙德公主每次过生日的时候，维里蒂都会在一旁照看她。 童话王国里的时间和别处大不一样。 公主已经长大了四岁。 可对维里蒂来说才过了四天，她都有点厌倦过生日啦！ 维里蒂一早就到了城堡的庭院里

on Princess Rosamund's fourth birthday. She could hear her pretending to be an aeroplane. "Where have you been? You're my passenger – run behind me," cried the princess as she raced past. "I know, why don't we sit down and read a book?" Verity was keen to do something less energetic. "But I'm an aeroplane!" replied the princess.

这天是罗莎蒙德公主的四岁生日。 她听见公主正假装自己是架飞机呢。 “你去哪儿啦？ 你是我的乘客——跟在我后面跑呀。”公主一边喊着，一边飞快地跑了过去。 “有啦，我们坐下来读本书好不好？” 维里蒂特别想做点没那么费力气的事。 “可我现在是飞机呀！”公主回答道。

"Ooh, I know, we can play the piano! Or what about doing a jigsaw puzzle together?" Verity said breathlessly as she tried to catch up with the princess. "I have a brilliant idea!" Princess Rosamund suddenly stopped running. She pulled off the netting of her skirt and threw it down on the grass. Underneath she was wearing her swimming costume over her tights. "I'm going to be a superhero!" she said. She held her arm straight up in front of her, ready to charge forward. "I know what real superheroes like to do most," Verity said wide-eyed. "They like to sit down and read Sparkle Time while eating marshmallows." This was actually Verity's favourite thing to do.

“哦，对啦，我们可以弹钢琴！ 不然我们一起拼拼图怎么样？” 维里蒂一边使劲追上公主，一边喘着气说。 “我有个超棒的主意！” 罗莎蒙德公主突然停下了脚步。 她扯下裙子上的纱网，扔到了草地上。 裙子里面，她的紧身裤外面还穿着泳衣呢。 “我要当超级英雄！” 她说道。 她把胳膊直直地伸在身前，准备往前冲。 “我知道真正的超级英雄最喜欢做什么哦。”维里蒂睁大眼睛说。 “他们最喜欢坐下来读《闪亮时光》，还能一边吃棉花糖。” 其实这本来就是维里蒂自己最爱做的事。

Princess Rosamund screwed up her face. "No, they don't! They like to run around as fast as they can and chase the baddies." Verity could see the princess's bottom lip starting to wobble. She had to think of something else and quickly or the little princess would cry.

罗莎蒙德公主皱起了小脸。 “不对才不是！ 他们最喜欢飞快地到处跑，去追坏人呀。” 维里蒂看见公主的下嘴唇开始抿起来晃呀晃。 她得赶紧想个别的办法，不然小公主就要哭啦。

"Why don't we play… hide-and-seek?" suggested Verity. "Yes! I'm really good at hiding! You count to one hundred and then come and find me. I bet you won't win!" called Princess Rosamund. As the princess ran inside the castle, Verity heard her whispering to herself, "Nobody ever goes in the room with the spinning wheel." Verity shook her head. It was true nobody ever seemed to go in that room. She sat down on the grass and started counting. When Verity finally reached one hundred she noticed that something was different. There was complete silence. No birds were singing, and the cooks weren't clattering pots

“我们玩……捉迷藏好不好？”维里蒂提议道。 “好呀！ 我躲起来可厉害了！ 你数到一百，然后再来找我。 我赌你肯定找不到我！”罗莎蒙德公主大声喊道。 公主跑进城堡的时候，维里蒂听见她小声念叨着：“从来没人会去放纺车的那个房间。” 维里蒂摇了摇头。 确实好像从来没人进过那个房间。 她坐在草地上，开始数数。 等维里蒂终于数到一百的时候，她发现有点不对劲。 周围静悄悄的一点声音都没有。 鸟儿不唱歌了，厨师们也不在厨房里哐哐当当敲锅

and pans in the kitchen. It was as if the whole castle had fallen asleep. Verity suddenly remembered where Princess Rosamund had said she would hide. A tiny noise broke the silence. "Uh-oh!" squeaked Verity.

敲盆子了。 整座城堡好像都睡着了一样。 维里蒂突然想起罗莎蒙德公主说她要躲在哪里了。 一个小小的声响打破了寂静。 “哎呀糟了！”维里蒂小声叫了出来。