Chapter 2-3

CHAPTER THREE In which we see how pirates can ruin a lovely day out, and- as well!- there is a Sea Serpent A few hours later, the pirate ships were still far out at sea, and the three royals had hauled the picnic hamper up the steep cliffs. They were at the top, unpacking the special box that was kept at the narrow pointy end of the cliff for the princess sacrifice. It was labelled very clearly.

第三章 本章我们会看到海盗如何毁掉美好的出游，另外——还有一头海蛇呢 几个小时后，海盗船还远在海面上，三位王室成员已经把野餐篮拖上了陡峭的悬崖。 他们到了崖顶，正打开那个放在悬崖狭窄尖角处、用来献祭公主的特殊盒子。 盒子上的标识写得清清楚楚。

KEEP OUT. PRINCESS SACRIFICE KIT. USE ONLY IN AN EMERGENCY. GOOD LUCK, YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS! (PLEASE DO NOT REUSE BLOODSTAINED DRESSES.) The princess stake, stuck like a lamp post on the narrow clifftop, was still there from the last time a princess had been offered to the Sea Serpent. "Do you know any of the sacrifices?" Courier asked curiously as they dressed him in the special doomed gown and combed his curly blond hair under the tall pink hat. "My mum, the queen," Florizella said. "My dad rescued her, and they married and lived happily ever after. Look, she carved her initials here." Courier looked at all the initials of princesses carved on the stake. Every now and then there was a gap as if a girl had failed to write her name. "What about her?" he asked. "She just seems to have started a C." "Sweet Princess Claire," Florizella said.

禁止入内。 公主献祭套装。 仅限紧急情况使用。 祝您好运，公主殿下！ （沾血的礼服请勿重复使用。） 用来绑公主的木桩像路灯柱似的立在狭窄的崖顶，上次献祭给海蛇的公主用过之后就一直留在这儿。 “你认识这些献祭的人吗？” 库里厄好奇地问，这会儿大家正给他穿上注定要被献祭的特殊礼服，给他那头金色卷发梳顺，再戴上高高的粉色帽子。 “我妈妈，也就是女王，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “我爸爸救了她，然后他们结了婚，从此幸福地生活在一起。 你看，她还在这儿刻了自己名字的首字母呢。” 库里厄看着木桩上刻着的所有公主的名字首字母。 时不时会有个空缺，就好像有个女孩没来得及写下自己的名字。 “那她呢？”他问。 “她好像只刻了个C开头的字母。” “是可爱的克莱尔公主，”弗洛里泽拉说。

"Eaten?" Courier started to look rather nervous. "The clue's in the name," Bennett told him. "Sweet Princess Claire. Gone in a moment. Like a jellybaby. See this one? "G?" "Chewy Princess Giselle," Florizella said. "She was lucky– he spat her out. Too tough. But all the rest of the gaps on the stake are princesses who were eaten so quickly that they didn't even have time to carve their name. That's the thing– if you rely on a prince to save you, and he doesn't get here in time, then it's one for the Sea Serpent." Courier turned a little pale as they tied him up to the stake. "But we'll be sure to rescue you, because we're right here, right now," Bennett reassured him. "And besides, you're a prince, not a princess." "Can a Sea Serpent tell the difference?" Courier asked. "Well, there isn't much difference," Florizella agreed. "A princess is just a prince with more SSs." "What are the SSs for?" "Sea Serpent," said Bennett.

“被吃掉了？” 库里厄看起来开始有点紧张了。 “名字里已经说得很明白了呀，”贝内特告诉他。 “可爱的克莱尔公主。 一眨眼就没了。 就像软糖似的。 看到这个了吗？” “G？” “是有嚼劲的吉赛尔公主，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “她还算幸运——海蛇把她吐出来了。 太硬了咬不动。 不过木桩上剩下的所有空缺，都是那些被吃得太快的公主的，她们连刻名字的时间都没有。 道理就是这样——如果你等着王子来救你，而他没能及时赶到，那你就成了海蛇的盘中餐。” 大家把库里厄绑到木桩上的时候，他的脸都有点白了。 “不过我们肯定会救你的，因为我们现在就在这儿呀，对吧？”贝内特安慰他。 “再说了，你是王子，又不是公主。” “海蛇能分得清吗？” 库里厄问。 “嗯，其实也没多大区别，”弗洛里泽拉认同地说。 “公主不过就是多了两个S的王子而已。” “两个S是什么意思？” “就是海蛇（Sea Serpent）呀，”贝内特说。

Florizella laughed. "Yes, that's a good one—" "No, I mean it… SEA SERPENT!" And out of the deep blue water uncoiled an enormous shiny green Sea Serpent with a neck as tall as the steep cliffs, and a body with miles of scaly humps. It had a head like a huge dragon, beautiful deep blue eyes, and flaring gills. With a mouth like an alligator, its jaws yawned wide towards Courier as he stood in his beautiful pink dress with his pink tall hat until he shook so much that his veil trembled and he looked just like a terrified princess about to be eaten in a fairy tale. "Wow," said Florizella, very interested. "I had no idea it was that big." "Your mum must be absolutely hardcore," said Bennett, "to be tied up and wait for this to come for her." "She is," Florizella said. "She really is."

弗洛里泽拉笑了起来。 “哈哈，这个说法太有意思了——” “不对，我是认真的……海蛇！海蛇来了！” 只见深蓝色的海水里钻出一条巨大的、闪着绿光的海蛇，它的脖子和陡峭的悬崖一样高，身上的鳞片状隆起来绵延好几里长。 它的脑袋像一条巨龙，长着好看的深蓝色眼睛，还有一张一合的鳃。 它长着鳄鱼似的嘴，朝着库里厄大张着下颚，库里厄穿着漂亮的粉色礼服、戴着粉色高帽站在那儿，浑身抖得头纱都晃个不停，看起来就和童话里马上要被吃掉的、吓坏了的公主一模一样。 “哇，”弗洛里泽拉说道，兴致特别高。 “我之前都不知道它有这么大。” “你妈妈也太厉害了吧，”贝内特说，“当初被绑在这儿等这么个东西来找她。” “她确实厉害，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “真的特别厉害。”

"Oh!" said Courier in a high little voice. "Help, help! Oh! If only a handsome prince would come and rescue me." "And she was here for three days," Florizella pointed out, watching the Sea Serpent as it reared over the helpless prince. "Some day my prince will come!" Courier bellowed. "Why so long?" Bennett asked. "My dad was late," Florizella said. "She's never forgiven him." Courier looked across at Florizella and Bennett. "Help, help," Courier shrieked at the top of his voice. "Oh! If only a handsome prince would come and rescue me! Now! RIGHT NOW! And concentrate! On what we are supposed to be doing!" "Gosh!" Bennett said. "Sorry! Yes!" "Be right with you, Courier!" Florizella said. "Draw swords!" Bennett and Florizella drew their swords and jumped out either side of Courier and faced the Sea Serpent.

“哦！”库里厄发出细细的高音。 “救命啊，救命！ 哦！ 要是有位英俊的王子能来救我就好了。” “她当初在这儿等了三天呢，”弗洛里泽拉指着海蛇说，看着它在无助的王子面前直起身子。 “总有一天我的王子会来的！” 库里厄大喊道。 “为什么等了那么久？” 贝内特问。 “我爸爸迟到了，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “她到现在都没原谅他。” 库里厄看向弗洛里泽拉和贝内特。 “救命啊，救命，”库里厄用最大的声音尖叫起来。 “哦！ 要是有位英俊的王子能来救我就好了！ 现在就来！ 马上就来！ 专心点！ 想想我们现在该干的事啊！” “天哪！” 贝内特说。 “抱歉！ 好的！” “马上来救你，库里厄！” 弗洛里泽拉说。 “拔剑！” 贝内特和弗洛里泽拉拔出剑，分别从库里厄两边跳出来，面对着海蛇。