Chapter 1-4

They rode in silence for a little while, thinking about everything they'd talked about, when suddenly there was a crash and a clatter, like someone riding very fast through the bushes towards them. "Watch out!" Florizella exclaimed. "Something's coming, and it's coming very fast!" "Suddenly!" Bennett said, pleased. "My favourite word! Stand fast!"

他们默默骑了一小会儿，回味着刚才聊的所有事，忽然传来一阵哗啦哐当的声响，像是有人正飞快地穿过灌木丛朝他们冲来。 “当心！” 弗洛里泽拉大声喊道。 “有东西过来了，速度特别快！” “突然！” 贝内特开心地说。 “我最喜欢的词！ 站稳了！”

Florizella and Bennett got either side of Prince Courier on his smaller pony, and they turned to face the danger. "We've got no swords," Bennett said crossly. "I thought we were just going out for a ride." "I've got a dagger in my boot," Florizella said. "Course you have," Bennett said enviously as five horse riders rode out of the forest, scaring the birds and frightening Courier's pony. "D'you always carry it?" "Course I do," Florizella replied. "Stand and deliver!" Courier shouted at the horse riders. "What does he mean?" Bennett asked Florizella over her little brother's head. "Does he think he's a highwayman?" "No idea," she said. "He's very keen on deliveries– because of how we got him. I think he means "Halt!"." "I DO! That's what I mean!" Courier shouted. "Halt! Who goes there?" "We're a kidnapping party," the riders said helpfully. "Sir."

弗洛里泽拉和贝内特分别站在骑着小矮马的库里尔王子两边，转过身准备面对危险。 “我们没带剑啊，”贝内特气呼呼地说。 “我还以为我们就是出来骑会儿马呢。” “我靴子里有把匕首，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “那当然啦，”贝内特羡慕地说，这时五个骑马的人从森林里冲了出来，惊飞了鸟儿，也吓到了库里尔的小矮马。 “你一直都带着它吗？” “当然啦，”弗洛里泽拉回答。 “站住，交出东西！” 库里尔对着那些骑马的人大喊。 “他说什么呢？” 贝内特越过小弟弟的头顶问弗洛里泽拉。 “他以为自己是拦路抢劫的强盗吗？” “不知道，”她说。 “他特别喜欢‘递东西’‘送东西’这类词——毕竟我们当初就是这么捡到他的。 我觉得他想说的是‘站住！’。” “没错！ 我就是这个意思！” 库里尔大喊道。 “站住！ 来者何人？” “我们是绑匪小队，”那些骑手爽快地回答。 “大人。”

"What?" Bennett yelped. "We've come to kidnap the new prince," the first man said. "We heard that the Land of the Seven Kingdoms had a prince at last. So we're going to kidnap him. If you could just hand him over, then we'll take him off to our villainous lair, and wait for the sacks of gold for ransom money." "You never kidnapped me," Florizella pointed out. The man shrugged. "Hardly worth the effort," he said. "A princess ransom? Not worth saddling up the horses. Now– is that him? Hand him over!" "Never! He goes nowhere without us!" Florizella threatened. She meant the man to understand that he would have to fight them for Prince Courier but, instead, it seemed he was perfectly agreeable to the idea of kidnapping them all. "Just as you like," he said. "Since you're all here." And the man behind him giggled. "Three for the price of one!"

“什么？”贝内特惊叫起来。 “我们是来绑走新来的王子的，”为首的男人说。 “我们听说七国之地终于有王子了。 所以我们要绑架他。 要是你们能乖乖把他交出来，我们就把他带到我们的坏人老巢去，等着你们拿成袋的金子来赎人。” “你们从来没绑过我，”弗洛里泽拉指出。 男人耸了耸肩。 “犯不上费那个劲，”他说。 “公主的赎金？ 都不值得我们给马备鞍。 好了——那就是他对吧？ 把他交出来！” “休想！ 没有我们陪着，他哪儿也不去！” 弗洛里泽拉放了狠话。 她本来想让对方明白，要带走库里尔王子就得先打赢他们，可没想到，对方似乎完全乐意把他们仨一起绑走。 “随你们的便，”他说。 “反正你们都在这儿了。” 他身后的人还咯咯笑了起来。 “花一份的钱绑三个，赚了！”

"Who are you?" a kidnapping woman asked. "Before we go to all the trouble of seizing you?" "Princess Florizella and Prince Bennett," Courier told them. "Oh! The old princess." She was very unimpressed. Florizella looked at Bennett. "Are there rules for old princesses too?" He nodded. "It's even worse for old ones. They have to live with no one but cats in a wood." While the first man kept an arrow pointed at Courier's head, the others took the ponies" reins and tied Florizella up in knots, before lashing Prince Courier to his saddle. As they turned towards Bennett the prince made his horse rear up on its hind legs; it was just brilliant. The kidnappers jumped back in fright, just for a moment, and Bennett whirled his horse round and dashed away. "He's running away?" Courier looked at Florizella. "Running away isn't very princely! Shouldn't he have fought everyone and freed us?"

“你们是谁？” 一个女绑匪问道。 “省得我们抓你们的时候都抓错了人？” “是弗洛里泽拉公主和贝内特王子，”库里尔告诉他们。 “哦！ 是那个老公主啊。” 她满脸都写着不屑。 弗洛里泽拉看向贝内特。 “对年纪大的公主也有规矩吗？” 他点了点头。 “对年纪大的公主规矩更糟。 她们得住在树林里，身边除了猫一个人都没有。” 为首的男人用箭指着库里尔的头，其他人拽住小马的缰绳，把弗洛里泽拉捆得结结实实，又把库里尔王子绑在了他的马鞍上。 等他们转向贝内特的时候，这位王子让自己的马扬起前蹄直立起来； 那场面简直帅极了。 绑匪们吓得往后一跳，就趁这一秒的空隙，贝内特调转马头，飞快地跑走了。 “他跑了？” 库里尔看向弗洛里泽拉。 逃跑可一点都不像王子该做的事！ 他不是应该打赢所有人，把我们救出去吗？”

"Thinking not fighting," Florizella advised him. "He'll have gone to get help." Courier turned to the kidnappers. "I'm hungry," he said. Florizella was surprised. The Princess Rules were very clear that "Princesses Live Off Air" and "Princes Feast Like Kings'. So she understood that Courier had a right to get anything he wanted. But she didn't expect him to be whining for biscuits in the middle of a kidnap attempt. "I want sweeties," he said. "Sweeties!" Florizella was beginning to find Prince Courier most unheroic. "Get a grip, Courier," she hissed. "I won't go anywhere without sweeties!" he said, and he opened his mouth to make a great loud bellow. "No crying," Florizella reminded him. "It's in the Prince Permit- no cry babies." "I don't see why not," he said, as one of the kidnappers produced a huge bag of sweeties and thrust them into Courier's hands. "See? It gets you what you want. Anyway, I think I should be allowed to express my feelings."

“他是去想办法，不是来硬拼，”弗洛里泽拉安慰他。 “他肯定是去搬救兵了。” 库里尔转向绑匪们。 “我饿了，”他说。 弗洛里泽拉吃了一惊。 公主守则写得明明白白：“公主靠空气就能活”，“王子要像国王一样享用盛宴”。 所以她知道库里尔有资格要自己想要的任何东西。 但她也没想到，他会在被绑架的半路上闹着要吃饼干。 “我要吃糖，”他说。 “糖！” 弗洛里泽拉越来越觉得库里尔王子一点都不英勇。 “冷静点，库里尔，”她压低声音说。 “没有糖我哪儿也不去！” 他说着，张开嘴就要大声嚎哭。 “不许哭，”弗洛里泽拉提醒他。 “王子守则里写了——不许做爱哭鬼。” “我觉得哭也没什么不行的，”他正说着，一个绑匪掏出一大袋糖，塞到了库里尔手里。 “你看？ 哭就能拿到想要的东西啊。 再说了，我觉得我有权表达自己的情绪。”