Chapter 1-10

CHAPTER TEN "Wove made me bwave" Just as he used to do on the palace drawbridge, the Mammoth started his stealthy approach. PAD… PAD… PAD. That brought him to the outstretched ropes of the tent. Daintily, he stepped over them and untied the tent door. Shuffle… shuffle… That took him halfway into the doorway. Bowing low, so that he did not brush the roof, he took one cautious step

第十章 「爱让我勇敢」猛犸象就像以前在宫殿吊桥上那样，开始悄咪咪地靠近。 啪嗒…啪嗒…啪嗒。 他走到了帐篷伸出来的绳索跟前。 他小心翼翼地跨过去，解开了帐篷的门绳。 窸窣…窸窣…他挪到了门口一半的位置。 他弓着背免得碰到帐篷顶，小心地迈出了一步

over the sleeping Prince Courier and poised silently, on his fluffy tiptoes, to slide his trunk under the Countess N'Asty's pillow.

越过正在睡觉的信使王子，踮着毛茸茸的脚尖静静站定，准备把鼻子伸到娜丝蒂伯爵夫人的枕头底下。

She stirred in her sleep and the Mammoth went rigid. His heart was beating so loudly that he thought the thudding noise would wake her, but still he did not turn and run. Not even now, not at the worst moment, did his courage fail him. One huge black cat, asleep on the pillow, opened its green eyes, found it was nose to nose with a ginger mammoth, and closed them again, thinking it was a ridiculous dream. In a grumbly purr, it muttered to itself that it had better lay off the pilchards. The countess did not wake. Silently, the acclaimed master of Grandmother's Footsteps drew the keys from underneath the pillow and held them tightly in his trunk. Now he had to do something that was yet more skilful. There was no room to turn in the tent so he would have to back out the way he had come in, making no noise. Keeping his little eyes fixed on the sleeping countess, the Mammoth went in reverse. Silently, he tiptoed backwards to the door, stepping carefully over Courier in his little bed, all the way to the tent doorway. His huge ginger bottom brushed the flap open, and he felt the meadow grass under his back feet. Amazingly, he had made it out.

她在睡梦里动了动，猛犸象瞬间僵住了。 他的心跳得太响，都觉得咚咚的声音会吵醒她，可他还是没有转身逃跑。 就算是现在，就算是最糟糕的时刻，他的勇气也没有消失。 枕头上睡着一只大黑猫，它睁开绿眼睛，发现自己和一只姜黄色猛犸象鼻对鼻，又把眼睛闭上了，只当是做了个离谱的梦。 它呼噜噜地嘟囔着，自己最好别再吃沙丁鱼了。 伯爵夫人没有醒。 这位玩「外婆的脚步声」的公认高手，静悄悄地从枕头底下掏出钥匙，用鼻子紧紧攥住。 现在他要做一件更需要技巧的事。 帐篷里没有转身的空间，所以他得顺着进来的路退出去，一点声音都不能出。 猛犸象小眼睛紧紧盯着睡着的伯爵夫人，开始往后退。 他静悄悄地踮着脚退到门口，小心地跨过睡在小床上的信使，一路退到帐篷门口。 他姜黄色的大屁股蹭开了门帘，后脚已经踩到了草地上。 太了不起了，他居然成功出来了。

But he did not run away. He leaned back into the tent, took a firm grip of the train of Courier's pink princess gown and pulled him from his bed, and out of the tent. Courier slept on, dragged step by step through the meadow grass, over the bumpy ruts of the lane, all the way to the Sea Serpent tank. "What have you got there?" The Sea Serpent swam up to the glass and peered over the top. "Looks like dinner." "It's Pwince Couwier," the Mammoth whispered. "Asweep. They're aww asweep. I had to do evewything on my own!" "You got the keys?" The Sea Serpent was amazed. "All on your own?" "Aww by myself!" the Mammoth exulted, still in a hushed voice. "I was bwave!" "However did you dare?" The Sea Serpent knew its friend was afraid of almost everything, and nervous about the rest. The Mammoth shook his head. Truly, he did not know. His love for his friend had been greater than his fear. "Let me out!" the Sea Serpent exclaimed. "Quick!"

可他没有跑开。 他探回身子进帐篷，牢牢咬住信使的粉色公主礼服裙摆，把他从床上拖出来，拉出了帐篷。 信使还在睡，被一步一步拖着穿过草地，越过小路上坑坑洼洼的车辙，一路拖到了海怪的水箱跟前。 「你拿的什么呀？」 海怪游到玻璃边，探出头往外看。 「看着像晚饭。」 「是信使王子，」猛犸象小声说。 「睡着了。 他们都睡着了。 所有事都得我自己做！」 「你拿到钥匙了？」 海怪特别惊讶。 「全是你自己拿的？」「全是我自己！」 猛犸象开心极了，声音还是压得低低的。 「我可勇敢了！」 你怎么敢的呀？」 海怪知道自己的朋友几乎什么都怕，剩下的那点事也总能让他紧张。 猛犸象摇摇头。 说真的，他也不知道。 他对朋友的爱，比他的恐惧更强大。 「快放我出去！」 海怪喊道。 「快点！」

The Mammoth left Courier where he was lying and galloped on his tip toes round to the back of the tank. The keyhole was awkward and he had to find the right key and then turn it. There was a screech of metal as the key turned and the Mammoth held his breath in case anyone heard it. At once, the kookaburra let out a call, the first laugh that had ever pealed out in the Nasty Show, just to cover the noise of the turning key and the shooting of the bolts. Inside the tank, the Sea Serpent swam up to the fake cliff and pressed on the lever, the princess stake dropped into the dry chamber below and the Sea Serpent, fluid as a snake, climbed the rock face and poured itself down into the gap into the chamber and out of the open door. It wrapped itself round the Mammoth like a boa constrictor and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you," it said. Tears stood in its beautiful blue eyes. "You are a true friend. A true, brave friend." "I am your fwend," the Mammoth said proudly. "Wove made me bwave."

猛犸象把信使留在原地，踮着脚尖飞快跑到水箱后面。 钥匙孔位置很别扭，他得先找到对的钥匙，再把它转动。 钥匙转动的时候传来金属的刺耳声响，猛犸象屏住呼吸，生怕有人听见。 立刻，笑翠鸟叫了起来，这是「糟糕秀」里第一次响起笑声，刚好盖住了钥匙转动和门闩弹开的声音。 水箱里的海怪游到假悬崖边按下杠杆，公主 stake 掉进了下面的干燥隔间，海怪像蛇一样灵活，爬上岩壁，顺着缝隙滑进隔间，从开着的门游了出来。 它像蟒蛇一样缠在猛犸象身上，给了他一个大大的拥抱。 「谢谢你。」它说。 它漂亮的蓝眼睛里盛满了泪水。 「你是真正的朋友。 真正的、勇敢的朋友。」 「我是你的朋友，」猛犸象骄傲地说。 「爱让我勇敢。」

"Now let's get out of here." The Sea Serpent was still new to emotions and found them tiring. It started off, crawling with its forelegs and slithering with its tail. "We have to bwing him!" The Mammoth went round to the front of the tank, where Courier lay like

「现在咱们快离开这儿。」 海怪还不太习惯情绪波动，觉得这些感觉累得慌。 它迈开前腿，拖着尾巴开始往前爬。 「我们得带上他呀！」 猛犸象跑到水箱前面，信使正躺在那儿，像