Chapter 1-7

CHAPTER SEVEN Why it's good that there is more than one way to be a princess As soon as the dragon saw Florizella and Bennett, he let out a dreadful great roar. His yellow eyes flashed and smoke spouted from all his nostrils in both his noses. Florizella and Bennett stood back to back without saying a word, and both drew their swords. The dragon lurched towards them, his

第七章 为什么当公主不止有一种方式是件好事 恶龙一看到弗洛丽泽拉和班尼特，就发出了一声可怕的巨大咆哮。 他的黄眼睛闪着凶光，两个鼻子的鼻孔里都喷着浓烟。 弗洛丽泽拉和班尼特背靠背站着，一句话也没说，两人都拔出了剑。 恶龙趔趄着朝他们扑来，他的

two great scaly heads getting closer and closer. Florizella's sword went up, and Bennett's too, and before the dragon had a chance to blow flaming breath all over them, the two heroes brought their swords down with a mighty swoosh and a horrid thwack that resounded through the forest. The dragon lay dead at their feet, disappearing from its toes up, as dragons do when their heads are cut off, and That was the End of Him. "Wow!" said Bennett. They both leaned down and wiped the blades of their weapons on the grass and the ferns of the forest. Their swords were smeared with the dragon's bright-green blood. It made them both feel a bit sick just to see it. When their swords were clean, they gave each other a hug and slumped down together on the ground and waited to get their breath back.

两个长着鳞片的大脑袋越来越近。 弗洛丽泽拉举剑，班尼特也跟着举剑，还没等恶龙有机会朝他们喷吐火焰，两位英雄就猛地挥剑砍下，剑破空的嗖嗖声和可怕的重击声响彻整个森林。 恶龙倒在他们脚边死了，像所有被砍头的恶龙那样，身体从脚趾开始往上慢慢消失，他就这么彻底完蛋了。 “哇！”班尼特说。 两人都俯下身，用森林里的草和蕨类植物擦干净武器的刀刃。 他们的剑上沾着恶龙亮绿色的血。 光是看着那血，两人都有点不舒服。 剑擦干净之后，他们互相抱了抱，一起瘫坐在地上，等着喘匀气。

"You know, you shouldn't have risked your life to save me, Florizella," said Bennett as they sat under the pine trees. Florizella thought he was being polite. "That's all right," she said. "You'd do the same for me."

“你知道吗，你本来不该冒着生命危险救我的，弗洛丽泽拉。”他们坐在松树下时，班尼特开口说。 弗洛丽泽拉以为他只是在客气。 “没关系呀，”她说。 “换了你也会为我这么做的。”

But Bennett wasn't being polite at all. He was being horrid, though he didn't mean to be, and though he didn't know it yet. "I'd risk my life to save you," he said carefully, "but you shouldn't have done the same for me, because I am a brave prince and you are a princess, and it's not how a princess should behave. It's right against the Princess Rules." Florizella stopped staring at the sky and listening to her heart, which was beating too fast because she had been so scared by the dragon. She took the stem of grass she was chewing out of her mouth and she looked at Bennett. She did not look at him affectionately. She did not have a pretty-pleasing expression. She squinted at Bennett as if she thought he was about to say something stupid. She was dead right. "It's the prince's job to do the rescuing," Bennett prince-splained. "Everybody knows that the princess has to be caught by the dragon so the prince can come along and rescue her. Then he asks her to marry him and they get married to

可班尼特根本不是在客气。 他其实是在讨人嫌，虽说他自己没这个意思，而且他这会儿还没意识到。 “我是会冒着生命危险救你，”他字斟句酌地说，“但你不该为我这么做，因为我是勇敢的王子，而你是公主，公主就不该做这种事。 这完全违反了《公主守则》。” 弗洛丽泽拉本来正望着天，听着自己因为刚才被恶龙吓坏而跳得飞快的心跳，听到这话她停了下来。 她把嘴里叼着的草茎拿出来，看向班尼特。 她看他的眼神里一点爱意都没有。 脸上也没有半点甜美讨好的表情。 她眯着眼打量班尼特，好像觉得他马上就要说什么蠢话了。 她猜对极了。 “救人本来就是王子的工作。”班尼特摆着王子的架子说教起来。 “所有人都知道，公主得先被恶龙抓走，这样王子才能赶过来救她。 然后王子向公主求婚，两人结婚，从此

universal rejoicing. Everyone knows that. That's how we should have done it." "There wouldn't be universal rejoicing if we got married," Florizella said sharply. "Because one person, at least, wouldn't be rejoicing, and that would be me. You know very well that I don't want to get married yet. You know very well that we agreed to be friends. And if you want to be friends with me then you have to see that I am not the sort of princess who is going to get caught by a dragon and wait to be rescued!" She jumped up and whistled for Jellybean, collecting the cut ropes and gathering the swords in a very busy, cross way. "But that's how princes and princesses are supposed to be!" said Prince Bennett, a bit cross himself. "We're supposed to warn you, you're supposed to wander into obvious danger, then I am supposed to rescue you." Florizella put a hand on Jellybean's halter and looked at the prince with blazing eyes. "Suit yourself!" she said crossly. "If you want to be best friends, then you come to me when I need

举国欢庆。 这是所有人都知道的事。 我们刚才就该按这个流程来的。” “要是我们结婚，才不会有什么举国欢庆呢。”弗洛丽泽拉尖锐地说。 “因为至少有一个人不会开心，那个人就是我。 你明明知道我现在还不想结婚。 你也明明知道我们说好只做朋友的。 要是你还想和我做朋友，就得搞清楚，我才不是那种会被恶龙抓走、等着别人来救的公主！” 她跳起来，吹口哨唤来吉利豆，一边收拾割断的绳子、收拢几把剑，动作又快又急，显然气坏了。 “可王子和公主本来就该是这样的啊！”班尼特王子说，他自己也有点生气了。 “我们本来就该提醒你危险，你本来就该不小心撞上明摆着的危险，然后我本来就该来救你。” 弗洛丽泽拉把手搭在吉利豆的笼头上，眼睛冒着火看向王子。 “随你便！” 她气冲冲地说。 “要是你想做我最好的朋友，那我需要你的时候你就来，

you and I'll come to you when you need me. But if you want to be like other princes and princesses and get married as soon as something interesting happens, so that nothing interesting ever happens again, that's up to you! But I told you once and I'll tell you again– I won't get married for a good long while. And I won't marry you just because we fought a dragon together. You said we were best friends, and that's what I want. But if you want me to be a regular princess– and worse than that– a princess who has to be rescued, then you can fight your own dragons… and I hope they eat you!" "But a proper princess—" Bennett started. "This is a proper princess," Florizella yelled, waving her sword above her head in her agitation. "I am a proper princess! Like a prince only with more s's!"

你需要我的时候我也会去。 可要是你想和别的王子公主一样，一遇到点有意思的事就赶紧结婚，之后这辈子再也没什么新鲜事，那也是你的事！ 但我之前跟你说过，现在再跟你说一遍——我短时间内绝对不会结婚。 我也不会就因为和你一起打了条恶龙就嫁给你。 你说过我们是最好的朋友，我也只想和你做朋友。 可要是你想让我做个规规矩矩的公主——甚至更过分——做个等着被人救的公主，那你自己的恶龙自己打去吧……我还希望他们把你吃了呢！” “可真正的公主——”班尼特刚开口。 “我就是真正的公主。”弗洛丽泽拉大喊，激动得把剑举过头顶挥舞着。 “我就是如假包换的公主！ 和王子差不多，就是多了点公主该有的样子！