Chapter 1-3

First things first: in order to teach Prince Courier, they had to get hold of him. "We can't just take him out of his cradle!" Florizella said. "I know that's not allowed." But actually, when she went to look, the prince had grown again, and wasn't there. He no longer fitted the royal cradle.

首先要做的事是：要教库里尔王子，他们得先找到他才行。 “我们总不能直接把他从摇篮里抱出来呀！” 弗洛里泽拉说。 “我知道那是不允许的。” 可实际上，等她过去看的时候，小王子又长大了，已经不在摇篮里了。 王室的摇篮已经装不下他了。

"How they shoot up," the king said fondly. "Look, Florizella, he's going to be taller than you." "Yes," Florizella agreed. "By tomorrow at this rate. But that still wouldn't make him king. Because if it was just about how tall you were, then basketball players would be kings. If it was about how strong you were, then all the kings would be weight lifters– and that isn't so." "Undoubtedly!" said the king who was quite short and rounded. "Undootedly!" "So, you agree that it doesn't matter how big you are to be king?" said Florizella. "No," the king agreed. "It doesn't matter how big you are." "And it doesn't matter how strong you are to be king?" "No," he said cautiously. "Then why should it matter if you're a girl or a boy, or anything else?" The king stroked his chin and looked thoughtful. "It's a tradition, that's why," he said. "Dating back to the time when kings did everything and princesses were mostly goose girls,

“小孩长得可真快呀。”国王宠溺地说。 “你看，弗洛里泽拉，他很快就要比你高啦。” “是啊。”弗洛里泽拉点点头。 “照这个速度，到明天他就比我高了。 可就算他长得高，也不能当国王呀。 要是个子高就能当国王，那篮球运动员早就都当国王了。 要是力气大就能当国王，那所有国王都得是举重运动员——可事实根本不是这样。” “太对了！”个子矮矮、身材圆滚滚的国王说道。 “太对了！” “所以您也同意，当国王和个子大小没关系对不对？”弗洛里泽拉问。 “没错。”国王点头赞同。 “和个子大小没关系。” “那当国王也和力气大小没关系对不对？” “对。”他小心地回答。 “那为什么当国王还要分是男孩还是女孩，或者别的什么身份呢？” 国王摸了摸下巴，看起来若有所思。 “这是传统，原因就在这。”他说。 “要从以前国王包揽所有事的年代说起，那时候公主大多都是放鹅姑娘，

or sometimes servants. Or sometimes they were hardly people at all but grew out of fish or flowers. Some of them were locked up in towers that they couldn't climb down. Quite a few were fast asleep until they were woken up by the prince. Poor things! Fancy having your birthday and falling asleep in the middle of your first ever party, and not waking up for a hundred years! Girls are so ridiculous!" The king laughed and when he saw Florizella's face he turned it into a cough. "Poor things," he said more seriously. "Terrible, really." "Those days are gone," Florizella said firmly. "Long gone. Can we take Courier out for a walk?" "You can take him for a ride on his pony," the king said. "He's got a pony? Why has he got a pony all of a sudden?" "He's a prince!" said the king. "He gets everything."

有时候还得当仆人。 有时候她们甚至不算正经人，是从鱼或者花里长出来的。 有些公主被锁在高塔上，根本爬不下来。 还有不少公主一直睡着，得等王子来吻醒她们。 太可怜了！ 想想看，生日当天人生第一场派对才开到一半就睡着了，一睡就是一百年！ 女孩子也太惨了！” 国王笑出了声，看到弗洛里泽拉的脸色，赶紧假装咳嗽掩饰。 “是挺可怜的。”他语气严肃了些。 “真的很糟糕。” “那些日子早就过去了。”弗洛里泽拉坚定地说。 早就一去不复返了。 我们能带库里尔出去散散步吗？” “你们可以带他骑他的小马去兜风。”国王说。 “他有小马了？ 怎么突然就有小马了？” “他可是王子啊！”国王说。 “他想要什么都有。”

So they all went out on their ponies to the Purple Forest and showed Courier where Florizella had found the wolf cub, Samson, who now lived at the palace, and where a dragon had found Prince Bennett. As they rode home Bennett said very nicely, "Look here, Courier, you can't be king you know; it's Florizella's kingdom." "I did wonder," Courier said cautiously. "But it seemed as though all I had to do was just turn up and get everything."

于是大家都骑着小马去了紫森林，还指给库里尔看，之前弗洛里泽拉是在哪找到小狼崽参孙的，现在参孙就住在王宫里，还有之前龙是在哪捡到班尼特王子的。 他们骑马回家的时候，班尼特特别友好地说：“喂，库里尔，你知道吗，你不能当国王的； 这是弗洛里泽拉的王国。” “我之前也在纳闷呢。”库里尔小心地说。 “可我之前以为，我只要现身，就能得到所有东西。”

"Well, you can't." Florizella had been feeling a bit awkward about saying that the kingdom was hers– which is odd really, since it was hers, and always had been. But it is sometimes hard to stand up for yourself, even if you are a princess. She had not yet learned that one of the lessons of being a princess is learning to stand up for yourself. You can do it quite nicely. "But it's called a kingdom," Courier pointed out. "So it sounds as though it should naturally be for a king. For me!" "The name will have to change too," Florizella said. "And there are a few other things about the Prince Permit that we might as well get rid of," Bennett suggested. "While we're at it." "Like what?" Courier asked. "Don't be too hasty, Bennett. It seems pretty good to me. I've been studying it. Princes go first into battle, we get the best horse—" "But, Courier, that's the point. It's not fair that princes get everything just because they're boys," Bennett interrupted.

“哦，那可不行。” 之前弗洛里泽拉还有点不好意思说王国是她的——说起来也奇怪，这本来就是她的，一直都是。 可有时候哪怕你是公主，要为自己说话也挺难的。 她还没意识到，当公主的必修课之一，就是要学会为自己争取权益。 你完全可以大大方方地说出来。 “可它叫王国呀。”库里尔指出。 “所以听上去本来就应该属于国王啊。 也就是属于我呀！” “那名字也得改改。”弗洛里泽拉说。 “还有《王子特权条例》里的不少内容，我们也干脆删掉算了。”班尼特提议。 “正好现在一起改了。” “比如什么内容？” 库里尔问。 “别太急嘛，班尼特。 我觉得这条例挺好的啊。 我都研究过了。 打仗的时候王子冲在第一个，能分到最好的马——” “可是库里尔，这就是问题所在啊。 就因为是男孩，王子就能得到所有东西，这太不公平了。”班尼特打断了他的话。

"And vice versa," Florizella offered. "We'll rewrite the Princess Rules too. I want it to be fair for boys and girls." "Why? Do girls get anything that boys don't have?" Courier asked, interested. Florizella thought for a moment. "Dancing lessons?" Bennett shook his head. "I can tell you: boys get dancing lessons. I had to dance with one hundred and twenty princesses at my princess-choosing ball. I had lessons. For months." "We get girls" toys," Florizella said. "Dolls to dress up and cuddle." "Isn't that just to teach you how to be a mum?" Courier asked. "So that you have something to do while I'm being king?" "We get to wear dresses?" "I would really like a great dress," Courier agreed. "A long one that goes swish." "We can wear dresses if we want," Bennett pointed out. "We just call them robes. I have some fantastic capes. And wow! You should see my uniforms. I'm an admiral."

“反过来也一样。”弗洛里泽拉补充道。 “我们也要把《公主守则》重新写一遍。 我想让规则对男孩女孩都公平。” “为什么？ 女孩有什么男孩没有的好处吗？” 库里尔好奇地问。 弗洛里泽拉想了一会儿。 “舞蹈课？” 班尼特摇了摇头。 “我跟你说：男孩也上舞蹈课。 上次我的选妃舞会上，我得和一百二十位公主跳舞呢。 我之前上了好久的课。 学了好几个月。” “我们有女孩的玩具呀。”弗洛里泽拉说。 “可以打扮、可以抱的洋娃娃。” “那不就是教你们怎么当妈妈吗？” 库里尔问。 “这样我当国王的时候，你们就有事做了对不对？” “我们可以穿裙子呀？” “我真的很想要一条好看的裙子。”库里尔赞同道。 “长长的，走起来沙沙响的那种。” “我们想穿裙子也可以穿啊。”班尼特指出。 “我们只是管它叫长袍而已。 我有好多超好看的披风。 对了！ 你该看看我的制服。 我还是海军上将呢。”