??The King Returns 国王归来 By the time the king set out for Chouxville the following morning, rumours that the Ickabog had killed a man had not only travelled over the bridge into Baronstown, they’d even trickled down to the capital, courtesy of a cluster of cheesemongers, who’d set out before dawn. 次日清晨国王向着首克斯威乐启航时，艾卡伯格杀死人的传说传闻不但超出桥梁传到巴融斯通，还被拂晓早年启航的一群奶酪商家们传抵达了首都。 However, Chouxville was not only the furthest away from the northern marsh, it also held itself to be far better informed and educated than the other Cornucopian towns, so when the wave of panic reached the capital, it met an upswell of disbelief. 可是，首克斯威乐不可是间隔北部池沼地最远的场所，还认为本身涵养教训比国度其异乡镇要好不少。是以当焦虑触及到首都时，他们大多数是不信赖的。 The city’s taverns and markets rang with excited arguments. Sceptics laughed at the preposterous idea of the Ickabog existing, while others said that people who’d never been to the Marshlands ought not to pretend to be experts. 首都的客栈和商场都在剧烈争论着。猜忌论者冷笑着艾卡伯格存在的荒诞设法，而有些人认为历来没去过麻石地的人就别充当专家了。 The Ickabog rumours had gained a lot of colour as they travelled south. Some people said that the Ickabog had killed three men, others that it had merely torn off somebody’s nose. 艾卡伯格的传说传闻南向传布时被增加了许多多少异常色采。比如有人说艾卡伯格杀死了三小我了，有的人说它只咬掉人的鼻子。 In the City-Within-The-City, however, discussion was seasoned with a little pinch of anxiety. The wives, children and friends of the Royal Guard were worried about the soldiers, but they reassured each other that if any of the men had been killed, their families would have been informed by messenger. 在城内之城，谈判只是略微调和了一下焦虑。皇家侍卫家中的妻儿及亲友老友都担忧着。但他们彼此劝慰着对方如果有任何一小我被杀，他们的家庭会早已收到信使的告诉。 This was the comfort that Mrs Beamish gave Bert, when he came looking for her in the palace kitchens, having been scared by the rumours circulating among the schoolchildren. 当波特来王宫厨房来看她时，比姆式太太也是多么劝慰被孩子间的传说传闻吓坏的波特的。 ‘The king would have told us if anything had happened to Daddy,’ she told Bert. ‘Here, now, I’ve got you a little treat.’ “如果父亲发生任何事端，国王早会奉告咱们了。来，我给你预备了好吃的。”她对波特说。 Mrs Beamish had prepared Hopes-of-Heaven for the king’s return, and she now gave one that wasn’t quite sy小妹etrical to Bert. He gasped (because he only ever had Hopes-of-Heaven on his birthday), and bit into the little cake. 比姆式太太早已预备了天国之愿糕点来迎候国王的回归，如今她给了波特一块不怎样完善的。波特匆忙捉住吃了一口小糕点，那是他只需在生日才干吃到的天国之愿。 At once, his eyes filled with happy tears, as paradise wafted up through the roof of his mouth and melted all his cares away. He thought excitedly of his father coming home in his smart uniform, and how he, Bert, would be centre of attention at school tomorrow, because he’d know exactly what had happened to the king’s men in the faraway Marshlands. 当即，波特他的双眼布满了夸姣的泪水，就像天国穿过房顶带着他漂荡并熔化了他一切的忧虑。他开心的设想着他的父亲穿戴洒脱的戎服而来，而本身则会变成往日诰日的中心，因为波特就可以晓得国王的兵士们究竟在麻石地发生了甚么。 Dusk was settling over Chouxville when at last the king’s party rode into view. This time, Spittleworth hadn’t sent a messenger to tell people to stay inside. He wanted the king to feel the full force of Chouxville’s panic and fear when they saw His Majesty returning to his palace with the body of one of the Royal Guard. 终极国王和部队在烟尘滔滔中进入世人视野。这次，沃斯没有提前发信息让我们待在家里。他想让国王感遭到当首都我们看到国王带着一个皇家侍卫的尸身归来时，他们的焦虑和惧怕的威力。 The people of Chouxville saw the drawn, miserable faces of the returning men, and watched in silence as the party approached. Then they spotted the wrapped-up body slung over the steel-grey horse, and gasps spread through the crowd like flames. 首都的我们看到了归来人僵直的，悲惨的表情，恬静地看着他们接近。今后，他们看到了在健旺灰登时包裹的尸身，全员屏息如火所造成的。 Up through the narrow cobbled streets of Chouxville the king’s party moved, and men removed their hats and women curtsied, and they hardly knew whether they were paying their respects to the king or the dead man. 国王和部队在首都狭小的鹅卵石大街前进步时，汉子们摘下帽子，女我们屈蒲伏爬行礼，也不晓得他们的敬意是给国王的仍是给阿谁死人的。 Daisy Dovetail was one of the first to realise who was missing. Peering between the legs of grown-ups, she recognised Major Beamish’s horse. Instantly forgetting that she and Bert hadn’t talked to each other since their fight of the previous week, Daisy pulled free of her father’s hand and began to run, forcing her way through the crowds, her brown pigtails flying. She had to reach Bert before he saw the body on the horse. She had to warn him. But the people were so tightly packed that, fast as Daisy moved, she couldn’t keep pace with the horses. 黛西豆文太奥是此中之一最早意想到谁没在的人。在成年我们的腿空位张望的她认出来比姆式首级的马。她随即忘了与波特自从上星期争斗后就没再遣词的事，黛西挣开父亲的手在拥堵的人群中挤出一条路，她跑的很快，棕色马尾辫都飘起来了。她必需在波特看到登时的尸身前抵达波特那儿。她必需针砭针砭波特。可是人群是如斯的拥堵，尽管黛西移动很快，仍是不克不及遇上部队马儿的步骤。 Bert and Mrs Beamish, who were standing outside their cottage in the shadow of the palace walls, knew there was something wrong because of the crowd’s gasps. Although Mrs Beamish felt somewhat anxious, she was still sure that she was about to see her handsome husband, because the king would have sent word if he’d been hurt. 波特和比姆式太太站在本身的天井里，天井正在王宫高墙的阴影里，他们晓得必定发生了甚么不好的事，因为世人都屏息了。尽管，比姆式太太感触有些烦躁，她仍然深信本身即将看到本身俊美的丈夫，因为如果她丈夫受伤的话国王早已送来信息。 So when the procession rounded the corner, Mrs Beamish’s eyes slid from face to face, expecting to see the major’s. And when she realised that there were no more faces left, the colour drained slowly from her own. Then her gaze fell upon the body strapped to Major Beamish’s steel-grey horse, and, still holding Bert’s hand, she fainted clean away. 是以，当步队转过弯来，比姆式太太的双眼从世人的脸上逐个滑过，盼望着看到本身的丈夫。直到最终她创造本身看遍了世人仍没找到，她的表情逐渐苍白。随后她的目光落在了比姆式首级健旺灰登时绑着的尸身，当然手还牢牢握着波特，她昏了以前。