Chapter 1-7

The kidnappers, lulled by the warmth of the fire, did not wake, but their horses heard the palace guard horses approaching and were so irritated at having their blankets stolen, that they neighed loudly to complain of the cold. So when the captain, the guard and Bennett marched into the clearing of the forest, the kidnappers were stumbling to their feet, and sleepily demanding

绑匪们被暖融融的火堆烘得昏昏欲睡，还没醒过来，可他们的马听见王宫卫队的马匹正靠近，又因为自己的毯子被偷了憋了一肚子气，就大声嘶鸣起来，抱怨自己冻得慌。 所以当队长、卫队还有班奈特走进森林里的空地时，绑匪们才磕磕绊绊地爬起来，睡眼惺忪地质问

what all the fuss was about, and what had happened to the horses" blankets? "You're under arrest," the captain of the guard told them. "Throw down your arms." Nobody ever refused to do what Captain Stella told them. There was a clatter as the kidnappers threw down their bows and arrows, their catapults and one rusty old sword. "Hand over the prince and princess," the captain demanded. "Or vice versa," Bennett reminded her. "What?" she asked. "Got to be fair," Bennett whispered. "Hand them over in any order. The prince or the princess. The princess or the prince. Not one before another. No one more important than the other." The captain was puzzled for a moment and then she turned back to the kidnappers. "Either," she said. "Both. At once. And Look Smart About It." The chief kidnapper pointed to the shadowy hedge where Florizella and Courier had been tied

这闹哄哄的是怎么回事，还有他们的马毯去哪了？ “你们被捕了。”卫队队长对他们说。 “放下武器。” 从来没人敢违抗斯特拉队长的命令。 一阵哐当声响，绑匪们扔下了弓箭、投石索，还有一把锈迹斑斑的旧剑。 “把王子和公主交出来。”队长发令。 “或者反过来也行。”班奈特提醒她。 “什么？”她问。 “得公平嘛。”班奈特小声说。 “按什么顺序交都行。 先交王子还是公主都可以。 先交公主还是王子也都可以。 不用分先后。 谁也不比谁更金贵。” 队长愣了一下，随即转回头对着绑匪。 “随便哪个先。”她说。 “两个都交出来。 马上。 动作麻利点。” 绑匪头子指了指昏暗的树篱，之前弗洛里泽拉和库里尔就是被绑在那儿的

to the tree. "We want a ransom for them," he said. "We want a million crowns of gold." "Nonsense," said Captain Stella. "You'll hand them over right now or you'll have a million arrows through your head." "And besides," Bennett pointed out, "they're not there." "Not there?" the kidnapper swung round and strode over to the tree in his big villainous boots. "Not there?" A shower of hard peppermints on his head like hail made him look up to see Florizella and Courier looking down at him from a very high tree.

树上的。 “我们要赎金才肯放人。”他说。 “我们要一百万枚金币。” “胡说八道。”斯特拉队长说。 “你们要么现在立刻放人，要么脑袋上就会被射满一百万支箭。” “而且啊，”班奈特指出来，“他们根本不在那儿。” “不在那儿？” 绑匪猛地转过身，穿着那双恶人专属的大靴子，大步走到树跟前。 “不在那儿？” 一阵冰雹似的硬薄荷糖砸到他头上，他抬头一看，发现弗洛里泽拉和库里尔正站在一棵很高的树上往下看他呢。

"I knew you'd save us," Florizella said to Bennett. "But while we were waiting, we thought we'd escape." "Very well done," Bennett said.

“我就知道你会来救我们的。”弗洛里泽拉对班奈特说。 “不过我们等着的时候，觉得不如自己先逃出来。” “做得太棒了。”班奈特说。

The captain of the guard pointed the sharp end of her standard at the chief kidnapper. "Shall it be surrender?" she asked. "Or something much worse?" "Just surrender please," the kidnapper said. All the kidnappers lined up, and the captain loaded them on to horses and sent them off to the castle dungeons, which were (as all the best dungeons always are) impenetrably deep and impossible to escape. There they would stay until they said they were truly sorry and promised to do nothing but good in future. The captain turned her attention to Florizella and Courier. "Can you climb down?" she asked. Courier looked at the ground far below him. "You know, I don't think I can," he admitted.

卫队队长把自己权杖的尖端正对着绑匪头子。 “是要投降？”她问。 “还是想尝尝更苦头？” “我们投降，求您了。”绑匪说。 所有绑匪都排成一队，队长把他们押到马上，送回城堡的地牢去了，那地牢就像所有最棒的地牢一样，深不见底，根本不可能逃出去。 他们得一直待在那儿，直到真心悔悟，保证以后只做好事才能出来。 队长转而看向弗洛里泽拉和库里尔。 “你们能爬下来吗？” 她问。 库里尔看了看下面老远的地面。 “那个，我觉得我爬不下去。”他老实承认。

"Last time I was stuck, she let me jump into her cape," Florizella told him. "But we're too high for that today." To Captain Stella she said, "If you throw me a rope, I think I can lower him." The captain of the guard had a better idea. She sent up one of the guards with a pulley that they tied to a branch above Florizella and Courier's heads. Then they pulled up a great hook, like you would see on the end of a crane, and a harness. Florizella strapped Courier into the harness, attached him to the hook, and told him to trust in team work: princes and princesses working together. Courier stepped off his branch and the rope went taut and held his weight, then they lowered him gently to the ground. He was still so small and light that it took only one guard to hold the rope. Then they did the same thing with Florizella with two people holding the rope just to make sure that she came down slowly, without crashing into the tree. As soon as Florizella and Courier landed, they gave Bennett a big hug and said thank you for the

“上次我卡在高处的时候，她让我跳进她的披风里。”弗洛里泽拉告诉他。 “但今天我们待的地方太高了，这办法行不通。” 她对斯特拉队长说：“要是你扔根绳子上来，我应该能把他放下去。” 卫队队长有个更好的主意。 她派了一名卫兵带了个滑轮上去，他们把滑轮绑在弗洛里泽拉和库里尔头顶上方的树枝上。 然后他们拉上来一个大吊钩，就是吊车尾端常见的那种，还有一副安全绑带。 弗洛里泽拉给库里尔系好绑带，把他挂到吊钩上，告诉他要相信团队的力量：王子和公主要齐心协力。 库里尔从站的树枝上迈了出去，绳子绷紧了，稳稳托住了他的重量，接着他们慢慢地把他放到了地面上。 他又小又轻，只需要一个卫兵拉着绳子就够了。 然后他们用同样的办法接弗洛里泽拉下来，这次安排了两个人拉绳子，确保她降落得慢一点，不会撞到树上。 弗洛里泽拉和库里尔刚一落地，就给了班奈特一个大大的拥抱，感谢他组织了