11 The Crgstal Cave

Chapter 11. The Crystal Cave. The secret door! whispered Jack. Yes! said Annie. Jack dropped the compass into his pack. Then he and Annie scrambled through the bushes and climbed up the rocks to the door. Annie took Sir Lancelot's glass key from around her neck. She slipped the key into the keyhole. She turned the key slowly. Clink. Yippee! Annie said softly. She pushed open the door.

第十一章 水晶洞穴 “是那扇密门！”杰克小声说。 “没错！”安妮说。 杰克把罗盘塞进背包，接着他和安妮连忙 钻过灌木丛，攀上岩石，走到了那扇门跟前。 安妮从脖子上摘下兰斯洛特爵士的玻璃钥匙。 她把钥匙插进锁孔，慢慢转动。 咔哒。 太棒啦！ 安妮轻声说。 她一把推开了门。

Beyond the door was a huge glittering cave. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of clear crystal. Jack and Annie stepped inside. The cave was filled with dancing streams of purple light. It's so bright, whispered Jack. Where's all the purple light coming from? There, said Annie. She pointed to a crack on the far side of the cave. Let's look. They crossed the cave and peered through the crack into a room. Along the brilliant crystal walls of the room were four doorways. In the far corner of the room was a fire. The fire blazed with leaping purple flames. Over the flames hung a gleaming golden cauldron. There it is, whispered Jack. Wow, whispered Annie. The cauldron was the water of memory and imagination, whispered Jack. I know, whispered Annie. Let's go. They squeezed through the crack, then walked toward the gleaming cauldron. Jack reached into his pack and pulled out Sir Galahad's silver cup.

门后是一个超大的闪闪发光的洞穴，地面、墙壁还有天花板全是 透明的水晶做的。杰克和安妮走了进去，洞里飘着一道道舞动的 紫色光带。 “好亮啊，”杰克小声说，“这些紫色的光都是从哪来的呀？” “在那儿，”安妮说着，指了指洞穴远处的一道裂缝。 咱们过去看看。 他们穿过洞穴，顺着裂缝往里面的房间瞅。房间亮闪闪的水晶 墙壁边有四扇门道。房间远处的角落生着一堆火，火焰 燃着跳动的紫色火苗，火焰上方悬着一口亮闪闪的大金锅。 “就是它，”杰克小声说。 “哇，”安妮小声惊叹。 这口锅里装的就是记忆与想象之水， 杰克低声说。 “我知道，”安妮小声说，“咱们过去吧。” 他们挤过裂缝，然后朝着那口亮闪闪的大锅走去。 杰克伸手进背包，掏出了加拉哈德爵士的银杯。

The cauldron's too high," said Annie. We can't get to the water. Here, take this," said Jack, handing her the cup. Climb on my back. He bent over, and Annie climbed on piggy -back. Jack stood up shakily. Hurry, he said, you're heavy. I can't reach it," said Annie. Move closer. Jack staggered forward a few steps, stretching as far as she could. Annie reached again. She skimmed water from the top of the bubbling cauldron, filling the silver cup. Got it, she whispered. Now set me down, slowly. Annie held the cup with both hands. Jack slowly bent his knees, and Annie climbed carefully off his back. They stared silently for a moment at the water of memory and imagination in the cup. It was clear and shimmering. Now we can save Morgan, said Annie.

“大锅太高啦，”安妮说。 咱们够不到里面的水。 “来，拿着这个，”杰克边说边把杯子递给她。 爬到我背上来。 他弯下腰，安妮爬到了他的背上。 杰克摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 “快点啊，”他说，“你好重。” “我够不到呀，”安妮说。 再往近点走。 杰克跌跌撞撞往前挪了几步，尽量把身子往前伸。 安妮又伸手去够。 她从咕嘟冒泡的大锅表面舀了水，把银杯装满了。 “拿到啦，”她小声说。 现在慢慢把我放下来吧。 安妮双手紧紧捧着杯子。 杰克慢慢弯下膝盖，安妮小心翼翼地从他背上爬了下来。 他们静静地盯着杯子里的记忆与想象之水看了一会儿。 那水澄澈透亮，还闪着微光。 “现在咱们能救摩根啦，”安妮说。

Just then Jack smelled something strange. It was like the smell of rotten seaweed. He heard weird gurgling sounds behind them. He and Annie turned around.

就在这时，杰克闻到了一股怪味，闻起来像腐烂的海草。 他听到他们身后传来奇怪的咕噜声，他和安妮连忙转过身去。

A giant, slimy, mud -colored creature crawled out through one of the doorways. The creature was long and scaly like a crocodile, but much, much bigger. It had wings that looked as if they'd been spun from a thousand spider webs. It had glowing red eyes and long, curled claws.

一个巨大的、黏糊糊的、泥色的怪物从其中一扇门道爬了出来。 这怪物身子长长的，像鳄鱼一样长着鳞片，但个头要大得多得多。 它的翅膀看起来就像是用一千张蜘蛛网织成的。 它长着发红光的眼睛，还有长长的、弯弯的爪子。

The creature opened its huge jaws, strands of drool dripped from its sharp, pointed teeth. The creature hissed and hot blue flame shot from its mouth. Another monster crawled through a different doorway, quickly followed by a third and then a fourth. Yikes! said Annie. The real keepers of the Cauldron! whispered Jack.

那怪物张开血盆大口，一串串口水从它尖利的牙齿上滴下来。 怪物嘶嘶地叫着，滚烫的蓝色火焰从它嘴里喷了出来。 另一个怪物从另一扇门道爬了出来，很快第三个、第四个也跟着 爬了出来。 “哎呀！”安妮叫道。 “是大锅真正的守护者！”杰克小声说。