绿野仙踪 第108期:奥芝的秘密(1)

 Chapter 15. The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible 第15章 奥芝的秘密

The four travelers walked up to the great gate of Emerald City and rang the bell.  四个旅行者来到翡翠城的大门前，拉响铃子。

After ringing several times, it was opened by the same Guardian¹ of the Gates they had met before. 过了一会儿，从前的守卫打开了城门。

"What! are you back again?" he asked, in surprise. 他惊讶地问：“啊！你们怎么回来了？”

"Do you not see us?" answered the Scarecrow. 稻草人回答说：“你不是亲眼看见我们站在你面前吗？”

"But I thought you had gone to visit the Wicked Witch of the West." “我还以为你们会和西方女巫遭遇呢。”

"We did visit her," said the Scarecrow. 稻草人说：“是的，我们确实见过她了。”

"And she let you go again?" asked the man, in wonder. 这守门人诧异地问道：“她怎么会让你们回来呢？”

"She could not help it, for she is melted," explained the Scarecrow. “她不能阻止我们，因为她完全溶化了，”稻草人说。

"Melted! Well, that is good news, indeed," said the man. "Who melted her?" 这个人说：“溶化了！啊，这可是个好消息呢，谁溶化了她？”

"It was Dorothy," said the Lion gravely. “是多萝茜，”狮子严肃地说。

"Good gracious!" exclaimed the man, and he bowed very low indeed before her. “天哪！”这个人高声叫出来，恭敬地，在她面前很低很低地鞠躬。

Then he led them into his little room and locked the spectacles from the great box on all their eyes, just as he had done before.  他把他们带进小屋子里，随后照例，从大绿箱子里拿出眼镜，给他们戴上，并且锁紧了。

Afterward² they passed on through the gate into the Emerald City.  此后，他们穿过城门，进入翡翠城。

When the people heard from the Guardian of the Gates that Dorothy had melted the Wicked Witch of the West,  当那街上的行人，从守门人那里，听说他们溶化了西方的坏女巫时，

they all gathered around the travelers and followed them in a great crowd to the Palace of Oz. 就一齐围拢来，并且成群结队地跟在他们后面，到奥芝的宫里去。

The soldier with the green whiskers was still on guard before the door, but he let them in at once,  绿胡须的兵士，仍然守卫在宫门前面，但是他立刻让他们走进去，

and they were again met by the beautiful green girl, who showed each of them to their old rooms at once,  他们又碰到那个美丽的绿女郎，她立刻引导他们到曾经住过的房间里去，

so they might rest until the Great Oz was ready to receive them. 让他们休息几天，等候着伟大的奥芝接见他们。

1 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

2 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。