(Part II)

美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习

After I refuse her offer, the Queen commands us to be gone and begins to climb the dais with a dismissive wave of her hand.

我拒绝她的提议后女王命令我们离开并开始攀登雏菊

I sense the sands around me begin to shift and change as the floor rises toward us like a glittering tsunami, causing the mutated cephaloids to release everyone and flee.

我感觉到周围的沙子开始移动和变化, 地板像一阵闪闪发光的海啸一样朝向我们, 导致变异的cephaloids 释放了所有人并逃离。

I can’t—won’t—let this happen.

我不能让这种情况发生。

We’ve come too far.

我们走得太远了。

“No!”

“没有!”

I scream and slam my foot onto the ground, sending the force of my will at the upsurge and splitting it in two with the sound of a great boulder shattering.

我尖叫并把脚打倒在地上, 将我意志的力量送去激起, 并把它一分为二,

“Mother, stop this!”

"妈妈,住手!"

Thomas bellows and bounds through the fissure with the rest of us close behind.

托马斯的叫声和界线通过裂缝与我们其余的接近后面。

The Queen pauses on the stairs.

王后在楼梯上暂停.

Her head drops slightly as she snaps her fingers, and the entire room reverberates as the ceiling begins to collapse.

她的头会随着手指被扭断而稍有下降,整个房间会随着天花板开始倒塌而产生反响.

I concentrate on creating a protective shell around us as we run, deflecting immense chunks of ornate stone and transforming them into harmless sand.

我专注于在我们运行时制造出一个保护外壳转移出一大块原生地石把它们变成无害的沙子

“I commanded you to leave,” the Queen’s voice explodes around us as more debris hurls through the air and the ground becomes like thick porridge flowing in the opposite direction, slowing us down.

" 我命令你离开,"王后的声音在我们周围爆炸了,因为更多的碎片从空气中抛出,地上变得像向相反方向流去的厚粥,使我们减速.

Her attacks are unfocused, like the desperate flailing of an angry child, and I’m able to counter each one easily.

她的攻击没有重点, 就像愤怒的孩子绝望地挥舞,

Soon we are ascending the stairs of the dais.

很快,我们升起菊花的楼梯。

The Queen’s expression is pure fury as she glares at us, but I have seen enough tantrums from Jake to recognize the melancholy underneath.

女王的表达纯粹是愤怒的,因为她瞪着我们,但我已经从杰克那里看到足够多的气愤来认出下面的忧郁.

“Why do you insist.

“为什么你坚持。

the Queen starts, but trails off.

女王开始,但小径离开。

She looks at all of us, but I can tell she is avoiding looking at Thomas.

她看着我们所有人但我知道她正在避免看着托马斯

“Mother,” Thomas says quietly.

“妈妈”,托马斯悄悄地说。

The word tears through her, and I can perceive a slight chink in her furious armor, which gives me an idea.

这个词在她身上流出泪来, 我能感觉到她凶猛的盔甲里有一点下巴, 这给了我一个想法。

I concentrate on Thomas, imagining him as the boy who led us out of the Hollow so long ago, except I take away his ghostliness, making him look like a real boy.

我专注于托马斯,想象他是一个男孩谁带领我们出洞很久以前,除了我带走了他的幽灵, 让他看起来像一个真正的男孩。

The white fur silently transforms to skin and clothes, and Thomas, the boy, stands before the Queen.

白色的毛被静静地转变为皮肤和衣服,而男孩托马斯则站在女王面前.

The Queen’s lips constrict, and her eyes soften.

女王的嘴唇收缩了眼睛也软了

Tears begin to gather and run down her cheeks, leaving streaks in the dust that has settled there.

眼泪开始凝聚并流下她的脸颊, 留下一连串的尘埃在那里定居。

“Oh, Thomas,” she whispers.

" 哦,托马斯," 她低语。

“I’m sorry.

" 对不起。

It was.

没错

It was never supposed to be like this.”

本来不该是这样的 “

We hear the sound of glass cracking and shattering around us as the stained-glass windows on either side of the dais break, and Jake and Sarah tumble out in a deluge of sand.

我们听到玻璃碎裂和碎裂的声音周围的玻璃窗在菊花断裂的两侧和杰克和莎拉倒出一滩沙子。

“What happened?”

“发生了什么事? “

Sarah asks groggily before she sees her mom and sprints toward her.

莎拉在见到她妈妈冲向她前问得很烦恼

The two share a tearful embrace as Sarah cries, “It’s really you.

两人在Sarah喊道:“真的是你,

It’s really you.”

这真的是你。 “

Jake squeals with glee and says, “That was fun!

Jake用欢快的叫声说道:“那很有趣!

Let’s do it again.”

让我们再来一次。 “

Uncle Jasper and I gather him into the biggest hug.

贾斯珀叔叔和我把他召集到最大的拥抱中

“Ugh, you’re crushing me,” Jake says.

Jake说:“啊,你压倒我了,”

The reunion is short-lived, though, as sounds of destruction continue to erupt around us.

然而,团聚是短暂的,因为我们周围不断有破坏的声音。

We can see the night sky through the crumbled roof and the incredible towers, which have begun to snap and plummet, disintegrating into glittering, glowing grains of sand.

我们可以看到夜空穿过破碎的屋顶和令人难以置信的塔楼, 这些塔楼开始被崩塌和倒塌, 分解成闪闪发光的沙粒。

All around us, the palace begins to collapse, falling to the ground in great plumes of sparkling dust.

我们周围的宫殿开始倒塌倒入了一团起伏的尘埃中

For such an impressive structure, its destruction takes only minutes, and as a breeze begins to clear the dust clouds away, we watch the collapse spread outward, consuming the solid areas as far as we can see.

对于这样一个令人印象深刻的结构来说,它的破坏只需要几分钟,当一阵微风开始清除出尘云时,我们看着崩塌向外蔓延,消耗着我们所看到的固体区域.

Beautiful dunes shimmer in the moonlight around us.

美丽的沙丘在我们周围的月光下闪烁.

Soon, the brightly colored heads of cephaloids begin to emerge from the sand, and Seth greets each with complicated tentacle gestures that seem to mean they know each other.

不久后,有明亮颜色的cephaloid人头开始从沙地上出没,赛斯以复杂的触角手势迎接每个人,这似乎意味着他们彼此相识.

As this is happening, I return my attention to the Queen, who has suddenly become ancient: her brown hair has turned snow-white, and her porcelain skin is wrinkled and nearly translucent.

随着这种情况的发生,我把注意力还给王后,她突然变得古老了:她的棕发已经变了雪白了,而她的花瓷皮被皱了,几乎半透明了.

She looks shrunken and frail within her dress, and I realize she must have been using the power of the sand to maintain her youthful appearance.

她的衣着看起来萎缩而虚弱,我意识到她一定是利用了沙子的力量来保持她年轻时的外貌.

Thomas clutches one of her withered hands, and she gestures with the other for me to approach.

托马斯握住她一只枯萎的手她与另一个手势让我接近

“Thank you, child,” she says in a raspy voice, “for refusing me and forcing me to realize what I was doing.”

“谢谢,孩子,”她用粗口的口吻说,“因为拒绝我并强迫我意识到自己在做什么。 “

Her body is wracked by a dry cough for a moment before she turns her attention back to me.

她的身体被干燥的咳嗽压了一会儿然后再把注意力转向我

“Many years ago, I was Tatiana Porter, and I lived in Porter’s Mill with my husband and our children.

“许多年前,我是塔蒂亚娜·波特,我与我的丈夫和子女住在波特磨坊。

It was the happiest time in my life—so full of love.

这是我一生中最快乐的时光充满了爱

I stumbled upon the doorway in the cave by accident one day and found myself in this marvelous world.

有一天我偶然地在洞穴的门道上发现自己在这个奇妙的世界里

I brought the children here, and we created such lovely things.

我把孩子们带到这里, 我们创造了这样可爱的东西。

“Then one day, Thomas, my dear child, the only child of my own blood, fell deathly ill, and we could do nothing to save him.

“然后有一天,我亲生的唯一孩子托马斯病倒了,我们无能为力来救他。

His passing was torturous, and I felt every moment of it.

他的逝去是痛苦的, 我感觉到它的每一刻。

After, everything changed, and I became adrift in my sorrow.

之后,一切都变了, 我变得漂泊在我的悲伤。

I couldn’t bear to live in the mill anymore, surrounded by children I knew would grow up and leave me, so I started to spend more and more time here, where everything was within my power to control.

我无法忍受在磨坊里生活, 周围都是我认识的孩子,

“In time, I became lonely and began to miss my family terribly, but I feared returning to the other world, the real world with all its pain.

“那时,我变得孤独并开始非常怀念我的家人,但我担心回到另一个世界,即充满痛苦的真实世界。

I was becoming very adept at manipulating the sands, so I decided to create my own versions of the children who would stay with me forever.

我变得非常善于操弄沙子, 所以我决定创造出我自己的版本孩子们会永远和我在一起。

With time and monumental effort, I recreated my children—even my dear Thomas—as perfect replicas, and I took care to ensure their best qualities were prevalent.

随着时间和巨大的努力,我把我的孩子——甚至我亲爱的托马斯——重新塑造成完美的复制品,我非常注意确保他们的最佳品质是普遍的。

“For years, I was happy again—happier than ever, really, since I could give my children here unending joy.

“多年来,我再次感到快乐——真的比以往更加高兴,因为我可以在这里为我的孩子们带来无休止的快乐。

They never wanted for anything, they never fought or argued, and they always obeyed me.

他们从来不想要任何东西, 他们从来没有战斗或争论, 他们总是服从我。

In time, their perfection started to vex me, and I couldn’t understand why—until I remembered that they weren’t really my children, and they never could be.

直到我想起他们不是我的孩子,

They were too perfect to be human, so I tried to modify them to make them more.

他们太完美了,不能成为人类, 所以我试图修改他们,让他们变得更好。

natural, but I failed.

自然,但我失败了。

“I was becoming increasingly weaker and suffered great difficulty in manipulating the sands.

“我越来越弱,在操纵沙子方面遇到困难。

The children noticed this and begged to help.

孩子们注意到这一点并恳求帮助。

I couldn’t bring myself to return to the world where my real children would be long gone, so using almost all the power I had, I sent my new children over with instructions to bring another person back to assist me in regaining my strength.

我无法回到我真正的孩子早已消失的世界, 因此我用我拥有的几乎所有权力, 派我的新孩子带着指示,

“It worked, and to my great surprise, someone came through the doorway: a kind man who said he was lost in the cave.

“它奏效了,我感到非常惊讶的是,有人走过门道:一个善良的人说他在洞穴中迷路了。

I convinced him he could never return, and he remained here, supporting me.

我说服他再也回不来了他却留在这支持我

It wasn’t long before I realized that if I reached out to his consciousness with the sands, I could control him utterly and use his will as if it were my own.

不久,我意识到,如果我用沙子触摸他的意识,我就能完全控制他,利用他的意志,仿佛是我的意志。

“More people trickled through the doorway, and I became more and more formidable.

“越来越多的人从门道上溜走,我变得越来越强大。

The power was addicting—I could do anything, be anything, go anywhere— I was a queen.

电源上瘾... 我可以做任何事情,做任何事情, 去任何地方,我是一个女王。

I ruled the entire world, but it wasn’t enough—it could never be enough because the whole world could not replace the love of my children.

我统治了整个世界,但这还不够——这永远是不够的,因为整个世界不能取代我孩子的爱。

I used the people who came through the door until their minds frayed and they had no will or imagination left.

我利用那些走进门的人直到他们的思想崩溃了他们没有意志和想象力

Then I sent them back through the door, bewildered and confused.”

后又送出出门来,迷惑而迷惑. “

She pauses for a moment.

她暂停一会儿。

Everyone has congregated around her to hear her story.

每个人都聚集在她周围听她的故事

“I was frozen by my dread and sorrow, and the more people I dragged into it, the more suffering I initiated.

“我被我的恐惧和悲伤所冻住,被我拖入其中的人越多,我就越受苦。

I was trying to control everything and everyone else because I could not control myself.”

我试图控制一切和所有人因为我无法控制自己。 “

She stops and is silent for a long time, her breathing labored as tears stream down her cheeks.

她停了下来,沉默了很长一段时间,她的呼吸像从脸颊流下泪水一样辛勤地进行.

No one speaks.

没有人说话。

We simply listen as the wind blows sand over the dunes.

我们只是听风吹出沙子在沙丘上。

Then, with a deep breath, she raises a quivering hand and a slit of light appears behind her, quickly becoming wider.

然后她深呼吸一口气,举起一只颤抖的手,一分光线出现在她身后,迅速变得更宽.

Unsure of what’s happening, we all watch anxiously, and soon we hear the echoing sounds of children’s laughter.

我们都很焦虑地注视着,

It’s a familiar sound to Sarah, Jake, and me, and the children from the Hollow begin tumbling out of the light to frolic around in the sand for a moment before gathering around the Queen.

莎拉、杰克和我的耳熟能详, 谷地的孩子们开始从光中倒出,

“Come to me, children,” the Queen says, and then turns to us.

女王说,“孩子们,到我这里来”,然后转向我们。

“It’s time for you to go home.”

" 你该回家了。 “

“What about you and the children?”

"你和孩子们呢? “

I ask.

我问.

“We are home, and our time has come to an end.

“我们已到家,我们的时间已经到来。

We must move on,” her voice cracks slightly as she speaks.

我们必须继续前进,”她说话时的声音稍有裂痕。

“Please, take care of this world and protect it from those who would do it harm.

“请照顾这个世界,保护它免受那些会伤害它的人的伤害。

It is a wondrous place.”

这是一个奇妙的地方。 “

“We will,” Sarah says as she kneels down and gives the ancient woman a hug.

Sarah说:“我们会的,”当她跪下,拥抱古老的女人时。

“Thank you for giving me my mother back.”

“谢谢你把我母亲还给我。 “

Part of me still wants to be angry for everything the Queen put us through, but she’s not that person anymore—she’s Mrs.

我部分人仍想为女王给我们的一切感到愤怒,

Porter, who did everything she could to maintain a fantasy rather than face the agony of reality.

波特,她尽了一切可能来维持幻想而不是面对现实的痛苦

My heart hurts when I think of everything she’s been through.

当我想起她经历的一切,

I kneel down and hug her too.

我也跪下拥抱她

“ And for Uncle Jasper and Jake,” I say.

“对于贾斯珀叔叔和杰克,”

Her arms are weak, but she hugs us tightly.

她的手臂很弱但她紧紧地拥抱着我们

I look up to see Thomas standing nervously next to us.

我仰望着托马斯站在我们旁边时很紧张

I wave him over, and he joins in the embrace.

我向他挥手,他加入拥抱。

Soon, all the children are in the hug, and it’s impossible not to feel the love emanating from them.

很快,所有的孩子都在拥抱之中,不可能不感受到他们的爱。

As we finally pull away, I see Uncle Jasper shaking Seth’s tentacle.

贾斯珀叔叔摇动了塞斯的触手。

“We’ll come back to visit.”

" 我们将回来参观。 “

“I would like that,” Seth replies.

赛斯回答说,

Odie, who has been licking Jake’s face since they reunited a while ago, squirms free of Jake’s arms and bounds over to Seth.

Odie自Jake重新团聚后就一直舔他的脸,

With his tail wagging, he gives a friendly bark and licks Seth’s face.

并舔塞斯的脸。

“Farewell, mighty steed,” Seth says with a flinch and a laugh.

赛斯说,

“Time to go,” Mrs.

“该走了”。

Porter says to us, her hand beginning to droop.

波特对我们说她的手开始跳了

We file through the doorway.

我们通过门道上的文件。

I am the last, and as I take my final step, I turn in time to see the children gathered around Mrs.

我是最后一个,当我迈出最后一步时,我及时转身,看到孩子们聚集在夫人身边.

Porter in a close embrace.

波特紧紧拥抱

I can just see her face, and she looks truly happy.

我能看到她的脸她看起来真的很开心

As I watch, the children dissolve into sand, gently covering their mother, and in the distance, I see hundreds of cephaloids joyfully swimming through the sparkling dunes.

正如我所看到的,孩子们溶入了沙子, 轻轻地覆盖着他们的母亲, 在远处,我看到数百个cephaloids 在闪闪发光的沙丘中快乐地游泳。

I step into the light, ready to return home, and feel myself becoming weightless.