Chapter 2-2

CHAPTER TWO In which the messenger parrot proves its worth again Florizella saddled up Jellybean again. He was most reluctant to set off to the Purple Forest for the second time that day. Jellybean was not very keen to leave his safe green field, to go to a forest where, in the past, he had personally met– in this order: a leopard

第二章 信使鹦鹉再次证明了自己的本事 弗洛里泽拉又给果冻豆套上了鞍。 这天要第二次动身去紫色森林，他心里可一万个不愿意。 果冻豆一点也不想离开自己安全的绿草地，跑到那片森林去——之前他在那儿可是实打实按顺序碰到过：一只豹子

a dragon (just one but it had two heads) wolves (a family) brigands (very bad brigands). And he was now looking for bears. Not even Florizella felt very brave as they went deeper and deeper into the wood, and the branches overhead blotted out the light. It was called the Purple Forest because from a distance, from her bedroom window in the castle, the endless trees had a purple haze in the evening light. Florizella thought that the Purple Forest was at it's best when seen from a distance. Now that she was actually inside the forest at dusk it was not purple; it was shadowy and dark. And the trees creaked as if they were about to fall on her. And the dried leaves on the path rustled as if something was following her. And the wind sighed in the branches of the trees as if it was saying whooo-whooo rather like a… Florizella stopped herself thinking what might go whooo-whooo in a dark, thickly wooded forest, and instead concentrated on following the path as Jellybean went slower and slower, with his head

一条龙（虽然只有一条，但长了两个脑袋）、一群狼（一大家子）、还有强盗（穷凶极恶的那种）。 现在他还得去找熊。 她们往林子深处越走越深，头顶的树枝遮得光线都透不进来，就连弗洛里泽拉也没多少底气了。 这片林子叫紫色森林，是因为站在城堡里她卧室的窗边远远望过去，傍晚的光线下，无边无际的树林蒙着一层紫雾。 弗洛里泽拉一直觉得，紫色森林远远看着的时候才是最好看的。 现在她真的在黄昏时分走进了林子里，这儿根本不是紫色的，到处影影绰绰，黑沉沉的。 树木吱呀作响，好像下一秒就要倒下来砸到她身上。 小路上的枯叶沙沙响，就像有什么东西在后面跟着她。 风在树枝间叹息，发出“呜——呜——”的声音，活像是……弗洛里泽拉赶紧打住，不去想黑漆漆的密林里什么东西会发出这种呜呜声，只顾着专心看路。果冻豆走得越来越慢，脑袋

drooping lower and lower, and Florizella had to whistle a happy little tune to keep her spirits up. Maybe it was because she wasn't very good at whistling; maybe it was because she did not know a happy little tune right at that moment, but her spirits sank lower and lower. Her courage ebbed away, bit by bit, as they went deeper and deeper into the forest. She was very relieved to arrive at the little clearing with the stream and the cave where they had left Bear, hoping that he would love his new life in the wild, but secretly fearing that he might not. And there was the picnic hamper! Perhaps everything was fine. The lid was shut, so maybe he had eaten the sandwiches and then shut the lid with the litter inside, as any tidy, sensible bear would do. Florizella jumped down from Jellybean and tied the pony to a tree. She looked around to see if Bear was anywhere near. Jellybean looked around too, hoping very much to see nothing– no bear and definitely not a dragon. Florizella opened the lid of the basket, expecting to see a couple of wrappers and perhaps the well-sucked stick of a lollipop… But there was the entire picnic– untouched! This was very bad indeed.

垂得越来越低，弗洛里泽拉只好吹起欢快的小调子，给自己打气。 可能是她吹口哨的技术实在不怎么样， 也可能是她这会儿压根想不出什么欢快的小曲子，反正她的心情越来越低落。 她们往森林里越走越深，她的勇气一点一点地泄光了。 终于到了那块有小溪和山洞的小空地，之前她们就是把熊留在这儿的，弗洛里泽拉松了一大口气。她本来希望熊能喜欢野外的新生活，暗地里却又担心他适应不了。 野餐篮还在那儿呢！ 说不定一切都好。 篮子盖得严严实实的，没准他吃完三明治，就把垃圾都放进篮子里盖好了，就像所有爱干净、懂道理的熊会做的那样。 弗洛里泽拉从果冻豆背上跳下来，把小马拴到一棵树上。 她四处张望，看看熊是不是在附近。 果冻豆也东张西望，巴不得什么都没看见——别看见熊，更别看见龙。 弗洛里泽拉掀开篮子盖，以为会看见几张包装纸，没准还有根被舔得干干净净的棒棒糖棍……可一整份野餐都在那儿，一口都没动过！ 这下可大事不妙了。

And, on the top, a note written with a clumsy red crayon in very bad writing… A rather terrible note to read, it said: Florizella sat down on the grass with a bump, as if her legs had given way beneath her. "Oh no!" she said. "Oh no! This has all gone Terribly Wrong." It didn't take Florizella more than a few moments to realise that she had to get help if she was going to rescue Bear from unknown numbers of pirates, headed by Five-Fathom Frieda, arriving at six o'clock. It didn't take Florizella very long to realise

最上面还压着张字条，是用笨拙的红色蜡笔写的，字歪歪扭扭的……字条内容相当吓人，上面写着： 弗洛里泽拉“咚”的一下坐到草地上，腿好像突然没了力气撑不住身子。 “哦，糟了！” 她说。 “哦，糟了！ 这下全出大乱子了。” 弗洛里泽拉立刻就反应过来，要从五寻弗里达带领的、数不清的海盗手里救回熊，她必须得找人帮忙，海盗们六点就要到了。 弗洛里泽拉马上就意识到

that she had only a couple of hours of daylight left to get help, as it was just after lunch when she had left the palace. She reached into her rucksack and pulled out a messenger bird called Swithin. He was a little green parrot, new to the work and very eager. "Swithin," said Florizella, "you're to find Prince Courier and then Prince Bennett and give them this message." Swithin put up his little green crest and said, "Cark!" Florizella looked at him a little doubtfully. "I'll take that as a yes," she said. "Now listen– this is very important. Here is the message: No picnic eaten. Not even jelly. Not fishpaste. Pirates have Bear. Come at once. Jump to it for his sake. Can you remember that?" "Cark!" said Swithin. "Good," said Florizella. "Repeat it back to me." "No picnic eaten," began the parrot. It even sounded like it was Florizella speaking. Swithin copied her voice as well as memorising the words. "Not even jelly. Not fishpaste. Pirates have bear. Come at once. Jump to it for his sake."

她只剩下两个小时的 daylight 了，得赶紧去找人帮忙，毕竟她离开王宫的时候刚过午饭时间。 她伸手进背包，掏出一只叫斯威辛的信使鸟。 他是只绿色的小鹦鹉，刚干这份工作没多久，做事特别积极。 “斯威辛，”弗洛里泽拉说，“你得先找到库里尔王子，再找班尼特王子，把这个消息传给他们。” 斯威辛竖起自己绿色的小凤头，叫了一声：“咔！” 弗洛里泽拉有点怀疑地看着他。 “我就当你答应了啊，”她说。 “现在听好了——这事非常重要。 消息是：野餐一口没动。 连果冻都没碰。 鱼酱也没动。 海盗抓走了熊。 立刻赶来。 看在他的份上赶紧行动。 你能记住吗？” “咔！”斯威辛叫了一声。 “好，”弗洛里泽拉说。 “给我重复一遍。” “野餐一口没动。”鹦鹉开口说道。 听起来简直和弗洛里泽拉的声音一模一样。 斯威辛不光记下了话，还模仿得和她的声音分毫不差。 “连果冻都没碰。 鱼酱也没动。 海盗抓走了熊。 立刻赶来。 看在他的份上赶紧行动。”

"That's perfect," said Florizella, more surprised than she would like to admit. "Now go to Prince Courier and tell him all that. I'll wait here." Swithin nodded, spread his little green wings, took a leap into the air and shot upwards. He circled once overhead as if to note exactly where Florizella was, and then confidently headed north for Prince Bennett's castle in the Land of Deep Lakes. "No!" Florizella yelled from the ground below. "I said go to Courier first! Not Bennett!" But Swithin was gone.

“太厉害了。”弗洛里泽拉说，心里惊讶得不行，只是不想表现出来。 “现在去找库里尔王子，把这些话都告诉他。 我在这儿等着。” 斯威辛点了点头，张开绿色的小翅膀，纵身一跃飞到空中，箭一般向上冲去。 他在头顶盘旋了一圈，像是要把弗洛里泽拉的位置记牢，然后就信心满满地往北飞，要去深湖之地找班尼特王子的城堡。 “不对！” 弗洛里泽拉在地上大喊。 “我说了先去找库里尔！ 不是班尼特！” 可斯威辛已经飞得没影了。