Chapter 3-8

CHAPTER EIGHT Arks ahoy! The three children and the enormous Mammoth were the last to board the palace ark. There was room enough for everyone, but the Mammoth had to stand on the bottom of the ark in the hold, with his head poking out through the hatch on the deck. The king and queen had their thrones on the quarterdeck, and Florizella, Bennett and Courier leaned over the rails and called to the enchanters.

第八章 方舟来啦！ 三个孩子和那头巨型猛犸象是最后登上王宫方舟的。 方舟里的空间够所有人待，但猛犸象只能站在方舟底部的货舱里，脑袋从甲板的舱口伸出来。 国王和王后的宝座设在后甲板上，弗洛里泽拉、班尼特和考里尔趴在栏杆边，朝魔法师们喊话。

"Is everyone aboard all the arks and nobody left behind?" "Aye aye!" shouted the orange enchanter, who had got so excited about the arks that now he thought he was a sailor. "Are you absolutely sure?" Florizella checked. "Aye aye, captain!" "Then reverse the Ice Age spell!" Courier cried. The enchanters came on board and the gangplank was taken in, and everyone waited. At first there was silence and nothing happened. Then the ark, which was sitting on a mountain of ice, started to sink and sink as the ice beneath it melted. All the snow and ice around them melted too, and the land became huge lakes and great stretches of water that all joined up so that all the arks bobbed on wintry seas. It became warmer as the sun came out, and bluer as the snow clouds blew away, until it was a beautifully warm sunny day and all the arks floated around on a perfectly calm sea with no land to be seen in any direction as far as the blue horizon.

“所有方舟上的人都到齐了吗？没人落下吧？” “没错没错！”穿橙色衣服的魔法师喊道，他这会儿对方舟太兴奋了，都觉得自己是个水手了。 “你们确定吗？” 弗洛里泽拉追问了一句。 “完全确定，船长！” “那就解除冰河时代的咒语！” 考里尔大喊道。 魔法师们登上了船，舷梯也被收了上来，所有人都在等着。 一开始安安静静的，什么动静都没有。 接着，停在冰山上的方舟开始往下沉啊沉，因为它底下的冰正在融化。 周围的冰雪也都融化了，陆地变成了一个个大湖和一片片宽阔的水域，这些水面连在了一起，所有方舟都在冬日的海面上晃晃悠悠地浮着。 太阳出来了，天气渐渐暖了起来，雪云被吹走后，天也越来越蓝，最后变成了温暖晴朗的好天气，所有方舟都漂浮在风平浪静的海面上，放眼望去，一直到蓝色的地平线，哪都看不到陆地的影子。

"Pleasant," the king said. "Very pleasant. I love a boat trip. And now, let's have lunch." "Right away, Your Majesty," said the royal chef and he was moving towards the galley when he stopped in his tracks, looked out to sea and pointed a trembling finger. "And what is the meaning of this?" came an extraordinarily cross voice, which Florizella recognised at once. "Have you seen the size of this ocean? Where is my home? What have you done with my Unscalable Cliffs?" "Hallo, Sea Serpent," Courier said as the Sea Serpent reared out of the sea, flared its beautiful gills and glared at them with its wonderful sapphire stare. "Fwightening!" said the Mammoth and ducked back under the hatch. Courier went to the rail to talk to the Sea Serpent. "Sorry about earlier," he said. "Did the Good Manner Eagles take you safely home OK?" "No sooner did I land in the water than the whole ocean froze!" the Sea Serpent said angrily.

“真舒服啊，”国王说。 “太舒服了。 我最喜欢坐船旅行了。 现在呀，咱们吃午饭吧。” “马上就来，陛下。”皇家厨师说着就往厨房走，可他突然停下了脚步，望着海面，颤抖着手指指向外面。 “这到底是怎么回事？”一个格外生气的声音传了过来，弗洛里泽拉一下子就听出是谁了。 “你们看见这海洋有多大了吗？ 我的家在哪？ 你们把我那爬不上的悬崖弄哪去了？” “你好呀，海蛇。”考里尔说道，这时海蛇从海里猛地探出身，张开它漂亮的鳃，用蓝宝石一样的美丽眼睛瞪着他们。 “好吓银！”猛犸象说着就缩回了舱口底下。 考里尔走到栏杆边，打算和海蛇聊聊。 “之前的事对不起呀，”他说。 “礼貌鹰是不是把你安全送回家啦？” “我刚落到水里，整个海洋就冻住了！” 海蛇气呼呼地说。

"I was like a fancy ice sculpture. I take it this was your doing, you miserable royal?" "Sort of," Courier said. "But I didn't mean to inconvenience you. What happened when you melted?" "I found myself in an unending waste of water, an eternity of waves, washing this way and that, like some pitiful unattached weed. I am NOT happy." "Me too," said the king, hearing the last bit. "Undootedly! I agree with you, Sea Serpent. You'll be wanting your lunch." "Oh, good idea!" the Sea Serpent said. It flicked its tongue and widened its beautiful blue eyes at the queen. She looked right back. "Not me," she said shortly. "No, no," the king said. "You like a picnic, don't you?" "I do," said the Sea Serpent, flattening down its gills and speaking more sweetly, so that the Mammoth popped an eye out of the hatch to have a look.

“我就跟个 fancy 冰雕似的。 我猜这就是你干的好事吧，你个讨人厌的王室小子？” “差不多吧，”考里尔说。 “但我不是故意要给你添麻烦的。 冰融化的时候你怎么样了？” “我发现自己待在一片望不到头的水里，到处都是浪，把我冲来冲去，就像棵没人管的可怜水草似的。 我可太不高兴了。” “我也是，”国王听到了最后那句，开口说道。 “太对了！ 我同意你说的，海蛇。 你肯定也想吃午饭了吧。” “哦，好主意！” 海蛇说。 它吐了吐信子，对着王后睁圆了那双漂亮的蓝眼睛。 王后直直地瞪了回去。 “别找我，”她冷冷地说。 “不是不是，”国王赶紧说。 “你喜欢野餐对不对？” “对呀，”海蛇说着，把鳃收了起来，声音也软和多了，猛犸象都从舱口探出一只眼睛，好奇地往外看。

"Ugh! What's that?" the Sea Serpent exclaimed. "It's a Mammoth," Florizella said. "From the Ice Age." "Ridiculous," the Sea Serpent said. "Don't give it any picnic." "No, we won't," Bennett said quickly. "Sea Serpent, can you swim all the time, or do you need to rest on land?" "Why?" the Sea Serpent asked, keeping a close eye on the chef, who was slicing bread for sandwiches. "Thicker," it said. "I like a nice fat one." The queen gave him another hard, unfriendly look. "You see, I don't think there is any land for the moment," Florizella apologised. "This is a flood." "You don't say," the Sea Serpent said, watching Courier heap a plate of sandwiches with some pies and chicken and salad. "Not broccoli," it said quickly. "It's good for you," Courier said, paying no attention and putting the plate on the highest deck

“咦！ 那是什么东西？” 海蛇叫了起来。 “是猛犸象呀，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “从冰河时代来的。” “真奇怪，”海蛇说。 “别给它分野餐啊。” “好，我们不给，”班尼特赶紧说。 “海蛇，你能一直游吗，还是说你需要到陆地上休息呀？” “问这个干嘛？”海蛇一边问，一边紧紧盯着厨师，厨师正在切面包做三明治。 “切厚点，”它说。 “我喜欢厚厚的三明治。” 王后又冷冷地、很不友善地瞪了它一眼。 “是这样的，现在暂时好像没有陆地了，”弗洛里泽拉抱歉地说。 “发洪水了。” “还用你说，”海蛇说着，看着考里尔往一盘三明治里加了好些馅饼、鸡肉和沙拉。 “不要西蓝花，”它连忙说。 “西蓝花对你身体好哦，”考里尔说着，根本没理它，把盘子放到了最高的甲板上

so the Sea Serpent could lean over the rail and eat from the plate. "Napkin," the Sea Serpent said with a hard blue stare. "Of course," Bennett said. "But the Good Manner Eagles are just sitting on the mast; they're not watching you. I don't think we have to be absolutely perfectly mannered in an emergency." "I'm not taking any chances," the Sea Serpent said, bending its long neck so that Courier could tie a snowy tablecloth under its chin and it could start eating. "This is better," the king said, as the royal chef served him a big plate. Samson, who was gnawing on a big bone under the royal throne, wordlessly agreed.

这样海蛇就能探过栏杆，吃盘子里的东西了。 “餐巾，”海蛇用冷冰冰的蓝眼睛盯着人说道。 “好的好的，”班尼特说。 “但礼貌鹰都停在桅杆上呢，它们没看着你。 紧急情况咱们不用守那么多规矩啦。” “我可不想冒险，”海蛇说着，弯下它长长的脖子，好让考里尔把一块雪白的桌布系在它下巴底下，这样它就能开始吃饭了。 “这就好多啦，”国王说着，皇家厨师给他端来了满满一盘食物。 参孙正趴在国王宝座底下啃一根大骨头，默默地点头同意。