Chapter 10 eight

Explore Sky Castle and other events * The mountains are gradually dawning.The storms of the past few days have passed, and the air is clean and cold. Tall and raven-like, Lord Youngmoose of Stormcastle walked up the ledge, looking around as if searching for something he had lost.He led a short, shaggy brown pony horse and stopped at the place where the mountain road widened, and seemed to have found what he was looking for beside the trail.It was an old buggy, little better than a goat-drawn wagon, turned over on its side.Nearby lay two corpses, the first being a white billy goat whose head was red with blood.Young Moose poked the dead goat with his feet and moved its head; the ram had a deep fatal gash on its forehead, between its two horns.Next to the goat is the body of a young man, whose dead face looks dull as it must have been in life.Apart from a dark bruise on the temple, there were no fatal wounds.

A few yards from the two bodies, another body was half-hidden behind boulders.Young Moos approached the middle-aged male corpse, his face was down and he was wearing dark clothes.The man's complexion was pale, and blood pooled in the rocky ground beneath his body.Moose knelt down next to the corpse, carefully grabbed his hair, and raised his head.His throat had been deftly slit, a slender cut running from one ear to the other.Young Moose stared at the corpse in bewilderment, he recognized it, but He coughed dryly, then laughed.Your beard, he said aloud to the corpse, you shaved it off.Seems like I wouldn't recognize you without a beard, Bermus.

Standing next to the other brothers, the gray blur of Bomus said: You should know me, Youngmus.But it might buy me a little time, let me see you before you recognize me.But the voices of the dead were only the morning breeze whistling through the thorny bushes. Moose stood up.The sun came up, and climbed to the easternmost summit of Belly Mountain, merging him in its radiance.Then I am the eighty-second Lord of Stormwind.He talked to the corpses on the ground, and then he talked to himself, not to mention Lord of the Cliff, Lord of the Spire City, Guardian of the Fortress, Lord Huangshan and all the other titles.

My brother, you are nothing without the power of Stormhold around your neck.Wouters said sourly. And there's the matter of revenge.Jondoons' voice is the wind that howls through the crag, and you must leave other things to avenge your brother's tragic death.This is the law of blood. Young Moose seemed to hear their voices and shook his head.Why can't you wait a few more days, Brother Bermus?he asked the corpse at his feet.I will kill you myself.I devised a sophisticated death plan for you.When I found out that you were no longer in Dreamheart, it did take me a while to steal that boat's dinghy and continue on your trail.Now it is time for me to avenge your pathetic corpse, for the sake of our blood and the honor of Stormwind.

Therefore, Young Moose will become the eighty-second Lord of Stormcastle.Shutis said. There is a well-known proverb chiefly admonishing one not to count too carefully the value of unhatched chicks.Wouters pointed out. Young Moose leaves the body, urinates in front of a gray boulder, and then walks towards Bermus' body.If I kill you, I can leave you here to rot.But because the fun belongs to others, he said, I must take you a short distance and leave you on a high cliff to be eaten by the vultures.As he spoke, he snorted vigorously, and finally lifted the body stuck to the ground and dragged it onto the pony's back.He fumbled for the belt on the corpse, and untied the bag containing the stone flakes of the mysterious symbols.Thank you for these flakes, brother.He patted the corpse's back lightly and said.

If you don't avenge me on the villain who slit my throat, I hope you choke on these flakes.Bermus said with the chirp of a merle welcoming the day. ★ They sat side by side in a thick white cumulus cloud about the size of a small town.The cloud beneath me was soft and cool, and the more I sat down, the colder it became.Tristan reached his burned hand down as far as he could, deep into the cloud; the cloud resisted a little, but let him reach in anyway.The inside of the cloud layer feels cold like a sponge, real and illusory.Yun slightly cooled the pain in his hand, allowing him to think more clearly.

Oh after a while, he said, I'm afraid I've screwed up everything. Star sat beside him on a cloud, in a gown borrowed from the hotel woman, with a broken leg stretched straight out into the mist in front of him.You saved my life, she said finally, didn't she? I think, I saved you, yes. I hate you, she said, I've hated you for everything, but now I hate you especially. Tristan flexed his burned hand in the comfort of the cold cloud.He felt tired and a little dizzy.Is there any particular reason? For, said the star to him, in an unnatural voice, you saved my life, and you are responsible to me, and I to you, by our laws.Wherever you are going, I must go too.

Oh, he said, it's not that bad, is it? I'd rather be chained to a vicious wolf than a pig or a swamp spirit.Star said to him flatly. I'm not that bad, he told Xing Xing, you'll know when you get to know me.Hey, I'm sorry about chaining you up.Maybe we can do it all over again and pretend it never happened.Well, my name is Tristan.Song En, nice to meet you.He held out his unburned hand to the star. Mother Moon protects me!Xing Xing said, shaking hands with you?you this I'm pretty sure you will.Tristan said that this time she didn't wait for her to say anything ugly to compare.I said, I'm sorry, he said to the stars, let's start over.I'm Tristan.Song En, nice to meet you.

Star sighed. So high above the ground, the air is thin and cold, but the sun is warm.The shape of the clouds around them reminded Tristan of a visionary city or a spooky town.Far, far below them, the real world can be seen: the sun beating every sapling, turning every winding river into thin silvery snail trails that glisten and meander across Fairyland. how?Tristan said. Well, said the Star, this is a great joke, isn't it?Wherever you are going, I have to go.Had to go even if it cost me my life.She drew circles on the surface of the clouds with her hands, and the mist rippled like light waves.Then she reached out and touched Tristan's hand quickly.My sisters call me Evanie, she told Tristan, because I used to be the evening star.

① Annotation: Ivani sounds like evening star. Look at us, said Tristan, what a match made in heaven.Your leg is broken and my hand is hurt. show me your hands. He withdrew his hand from the cold cloud; his hand was red, and every inch of skin on the palm and back where the flames had licked was covered with blisters. Does it hurt?Yvani asked. Pain, he said, full of pain, really. very good.Yvani said. If my hand hadn't been burned, you would be dead by now.he pointed out.Evanie lowered her head in embarrassment, looking ashamed.You know, he added, changing the subject, I left my bag at that mad woman's hotel.Nothing left but the clothes we were wearing standing up.

sitting.Star corrects him. We had no food, no water, were about half a mile above the ground and couldn't get down, and couldn't control the direction the cloud was going.And we both got hurt.Did I miss anything? You forget that clouds dissipate little by little until they are all gone.That's what cloud is, Yvani said.I see a lot.I can't afford to fall again. Tristan shrugged.Oh, he said, then we're probably doomed.But while we're high up here, we can take a good look around. He helped Yvani to her feet, and the two of them staggered awkwardly over the clouds.Evanie sat down again.This is useless, she said to Tristan, you go shopping.I'm here waiting for you. you promise?He asked, won't you run away this time? I swear.By the name of my mother Moon, said Yvani mournfully, you saved my life. Hearing what she said, Tristan finally felt relieved. ★ Now her hair is almost all gray, her cheeks are sagging, and her throat, eyes, and mouth are lined.Despite the bright and striking scarlet of her skirt, she was pale.Her clothes were torn at the shoulders, revealing a deep scar underneath, which was terribly crumpled.She drove across the moor in a black carriage, the wind whipping her hair against her cheek.The four stallions stumbled frequently, profuse sweat dripping from their sides and bloody foam dripped from their lips.Yet their hooves kept pounding, traversing the muddy ground where nothing grew on the barren wasteland. This magic queen, the oldest Lilim, reined in beside the copper-green rock pinnacles that protruded like needles from the marshy soil of the wasteland.Then, like any woman who has experienced her first (or even second) puberty, she slowly climbed out of the driver's seat and onto the wet ground. She walked around the car and opened the door.Her dagger was still in the cold eye socket of the dead unicorn just as she had done it.The witch climbed into the carriage with difficulty and pulled the unicorn's mouth open.Its body had begun to stiffen, and it was very difficult to pull the jaw apart.The witch bit her tongue until it bled, and the pain felt like sharp metal passing through her mouth.She swished the blood in her mouth, letting the blood mix well with her saliva (she could feel several front teeth starting to loosen), and spat on the mottled tongue of the dead unicorn.Blood stained her lips and chin.She muttered a few words that shouldn't be recorded here, and pushed the unicorn's mouth shut again.Get out of the wagon.she said to the dead beast. The unicorn raised its head stiffly and awkwardly.Then he moved his limbs, like a newborn pony or a young deer just learning to walk, and twitched and stood up on all fours.It half climbed and fell out of the carriage door, landed on the muddy floor, and stood up.It was lying on its side in the carriage just now, the left half of its body was swollen and discolored from blood and body fluids.The dead unicorn, with only one eye remaining, staggered toward the green rock spire, reached a hollow at the base of the stone tower, and knelt down on its front legs in a parody of prayer. The Enchanted Queen leaned over and drew her own knife from the beast's eye socket.She cut along the beast's throat, blood oozing very slowly from the cut.She returned to the wagon, retrieved the large cleaver, and began hacking at the unicorn's neck until the neck parted from the body.The severed heads fell into hollows in the rock, and little pools of crimson, salty blood formed. She took the unicorn by the horn, and laid her head beside the body, on the rock; then she looked with her stern gray eyes into the red pool she had just made.Two faces peered out of the pond; the two women were much older than she was now. where is she?The first face asked impatiently, what did you do with her? look at you!The second Lilim said, You have taken the last bit of our youth that I myself tore from the chest of the stars long, long ago.Even though she screamed and writhed, I kept going.From the looks of your face, you've wasted most of your youth. I am very close to her, said the witch to her sisters in the pond, but a unicorn protects her.Now that I have the unicorn's head, I'll bring it back with me, because we haven't had fresh unicorn horns to grind into powder for spells in a long time. To hell with the unicorn horns, said her youngest sister, and what about the stars? I can't find her.It was almost as if she was no longer in fairyland. There was a silence. No, a younger sister spoke, and she was still in Fairyland.But she was going to the market place in Stonewall, which was too close to the world on the other side of the wall.Once she enters that world, we shall lose her. They both knew that as soon as the stars passed through the stone walls and entered the world of things as they were, they would turn into metallic rocks falling from the sky in an instant, pitted and cold and lifeless, and no longer useful to them. Then I should go to Diggory and wait.Anyone going to Stonewall Town must pass by that road. The reflections of the two old women looked out of the pond disapprovingly.The Enchanted Queen licked her teeth around with her tongue (the top one would fall off by dusk, she thought, shaking so hard), and spat into the pool of blood.The ripples spread, erasing all trace of Lilim; now the pond reflected only the wasteland sky, with pale white clouds hanging high above. She kicked the unicorn's headless corpse, which fell sideways.She picked up the unicorn's head and took the driver's seat.Putting her head by her side, she grabbed the reins and lashed the restless horse, which trotted wearily. ★ Tristan sat on top of the cloud, thinking about all the penny novels he'd devoured and why none of the heroes in them were hungry.His stomach was rumbling with hunger, and his hands ached like hell. (Adventures are all very well in their world,) he thought, (but there's a lot more to be said about diet and freedom from suffering.) Still, he was alive, with the wind in his hair and the clouds racing across the sky like Spanish galleons at full steam.Looking down at the world from above, he had never felt so alive before.In this sky and this world, there is a sky and a present that he has never seen, felt or understood. In some ways, he knew he was as far from the puzzle as he was from the world.The pain in his hand was very far away from him.He thought about his actions and adventures, and the journey ahead, and the whole thing suddenly seemed insignificant and easy to him.He stood on the top of the cloud and yelled hello several times as loud as he could! .He even waved the jacket in his hand, feeling a little stupid as he waved it.Then he climbed down to the top of the cloud; ten feet from the bottom of the cloud, he stepped into the air and fell into the mist-soft white cloud. What were you yelling just now?Yvani asked. To let others know we are here.Tristan said to her. who? It's not certain, he said, it's better to call people who aren't there than to be unnoticed by people who are there because I didn't make a sound. Evanie said nothing. I am always thinking.Tristan said, what I think is, when we finish what I have to do, we will take you back to Stonewall and give it to Victoria.Forrester, maybe we can do what you want to do. What should I do? Oh, you want to go back, don't you?Back on the sky, twinkling again in the night sky.We can sort this out. She looked up at Tristan and shook her head.No such thing, she explained, the stars never return to the sky after they die. You can set a precedent, he said, you must believe it.Otherwise it will never happen. It just won't happen.She told Tristan it was like calling for help from such a high place when there was no one there, trying to get attention.It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not, it's just the way it is.How are your hands? He shrugged.It just hurts.How are your legs? It hurts, she said, but not as much as it used to. Hello!A voice came from far above them.Hello!Below!Does anyone need help?A small boat gleamed in the sun, its sails bulging, and a ruddy face with a mustache looked down at them from the side.Boy, were you jumping around just now? It's me, Tristan said, I think we really need help, yes. OK, said the man, then get ready to grab the ladder. "Unfortunately, my friend's foot is broken," he exclaimed, "and my hand is hurt too.I don't think any of us can climb a ladder. This is not a problem.We can pull you up.The man said as he threw a long rope ladder over the side of the boat.With his uninjured hand, Tristan held onto the rope ladder firmly as Ivanie climbed up, and followed her up.The face disappeared over the side of the boat as Tristan and Yvani hung awkwardly at the bottom of the rope ladder. The wind moved the spaceship, making the rope ladder pulling Tristan and Evanni slowly circle in the air. Now, pull hard!Several voices yelled in unison, and Tristan felt himself being pulled up several feet.pull!pull!pull!Every call is a signal to pull them higher.The cloud they were sitting on was no longer under their feet, and Tristan guessed there must be more than a mile between them and that cloud.He clung to the rope and hooked the elbow of his burned hand to the ladder. There was another jerk from above, and Yvani was as tall as the top of the ship's fence.Someone picked her up carefully and put her on the deck.Tristan struggled himself over the fence and rolled onto the oak deck. The ruddy man held out a hand.Welcome aboard, he said, this is the Liberty Ship Perdita, a member of the Hunting Lightning Expedition.John Hannis.Captain Eberrick is at your beck and call.He coughed from deep in his chest.Before Tristan could reply, the captain noticed Tristan's left hand and shouted: Margot!Margaux!Damn you, where did you go?Come here!Passengers need care.Now, boy, Margaux will take care of your hands.We eat at six bells.You sit at the same table as me. In a few moments, Margaux, a nervous-looking woman with an explosion of wild, carrot-colored hair, escorted him to the hull below decks, smeared a thick layer of green ointment on his hands, and let him The hand cools down and relieves pain.He was then led into the mess hall, a small dining room next to the galley (he was delighted to find that it was also called the galley, as he had read in Sea Tales). Tristan actually ate at the captain's table, although there were actually no other tables in the mess hall.In addition to the captain and Margot, there are five crew members.This disparate group seemed content to let Captain Eberrick do all the talking, and he did, taking turns holding the stump-like pipe with the ale-bottle in one hand, delivering the food into the mouth. The food was a thick soup of vegetables, beans, and barley, and Tristan was not only full, but satisfied.They drank the cleanest, coldest water Tristan had ever tasted. The captain didn't ask them why they were high in the clouds, and they didn't offer to provide answers.Tristan got a berth next to the first mate, Odinis, a quiet gentleman with thick arms and a bad stutter.Yvanie slept in Margaux's cabin, and Margaux moved to sleep in a hammock. During his subsequent journeys through Faerie, Tristan often recalled his time on Perdita as one of the happiest times of his life.The crew asked him to help with the sails, and often even gave him the helm.Sometimes the crew would use small copper boxes to catch lightning when the ship was on top of a huge, dark, mountainous storm cloud.Rain and wind washed the decks of the boat, and he often found himself laughing lightly as the rain ran down his face, or as he held on to the handrail with his good hand to keep from rolling overboard in a storm. Margaux, who was a little taller and thinner than Yvanie, lent her some of her own clothes; Star dressed comfortably, happy to be able to wear new clothes every day.Despite a broken leg, she used to climb up to the bow frieze and sit looking at the ground beneath her. ★ How is your hand?asked the captain. Much better, thank you.Tristan said.His skin was shiny and scarred, and his fingers hadn't felt much yet.But Margaux's ointment has taken away most of the pain, and the healing process has been speeded up.He sat on the deck looking out, his legs dangling over the side of the boat. We'll dock in a week's time to stock up on provisions and carry some cargo.Maybe we'd better disembark you there, said the captain. Oh thank you.Tristan said. You'll be a little closer to Stonewall, though it's still about ten weeks away, maybe longer.But Margo said she almost got your friend's leg back.Soon enough to carry her weight again. They sit side by side.The captain was puffing on his pipe; his clothes were covered with fine charcoal.When he wasn't smoking his pipe, he chewed on the stem, or dug it with a sharp metal tool, or filled it with fresh tobacco. You know, said the captain, staring at the horizon, it is not quite by chance that we shall find you.Well, it's true that we found you by accident, but honestly, I was keeping an eye out for you, too.Not just me, but a few people around here. Why?Tristan said, how do you know about me? The captain replied by drawing a shape with his finger on the shiny wooden board covered with fog. It looks like a castle.Tristan said. The captain winked at him.Don't speak too loudly, he said, even at this high up here.Just think of it as a partnership. Tristan stared at him.Did you know a short and hairy guy?Wearing a hat and carrying a huge load of cargo? The captain tapped his pipe over the side of the boat.With a flick of his hand, he erased the castle he had just painted.Eh.And he's not the only member of the partnership who cares about your return to Stonewall.Which reminds me, you should tell the young lady that if she's not going to be found out who she really is, she'd better try to give the impression that she's eating something from time to time, anything. I never mentioned Stonewall to you, said Tristan, when you asked where we came from, I said the back, and when you asked where we were going, I said the front. My boy, said the captain, is quite right. Another week passed.On the fifth day of the week, Margaux announced that Yvanie's splint could be removed.She removed the makeshift bandages and splints, and Yvanie hobbled around the deck to practice walking, clutching the railings, from bow to stern.Although still limping a bit, she soon had no trouble getting around the boat. On the sixth day there was a great storm, and they caught six good lightning bolts in a copper box.On the seventh day they docked.Tristan and Yvani say goodbye to the captain and crew of the freedom ship Perdita.Margaux gave Tristan a small jar of green ointment to wipe his hands, and Yvanie to rub it on her legs.The captain gave Tristan a leather shoulder bag full of jerky, fruit, shredded tobacco, a knife, and a tinderbox (oh, don't worry, lad. We're going to be stocking up here anyway) .At the same time, Margaux gave Ivany a blue silk gown as a gift, with a lot of silver stars and moons sewn on it (because you look better in it than I do, dear). At the top of a giant tree, the Perdita was moored alongside a dozen similar ships.The tree is big enough to support hundreds of dwellings built into its trunk.Here lived a great many men, gnomes, earth spirits, forest elves, and other strange beings.There are stairs around the trunk, and Tristan and Xingxing walk down slowly.Tristan felt relieved to be back on something bonded to solid ground.However, he couldn't express how depressed he felt, as if when his feet set foot on the ground again, he, too, lost something very good. They walked for three days before the harbor tree disappeared beyond the horizon. They headed west toward the sunset, along the dusty road.They slept by the bushes.Tristan ate fruit and nuts from bushes and trees, and drank clean streams.They met few people on the way.They stopped at small farms whenever they could, and Tristan would work odd jobs for an afternoon in exchange for food and overnight stays on straw in the barn.Sometimes they stop in small towns or villages on the way to wash and eat (or, in the case of stars, pretend to eat); if they can afford it, they stay in small hotels in town. In a town called Under Hill Sinkook, Tristan and Evanie encountered a gang of obsessive goblins, which could have had an unhappy ending, leaving Tristan to spend the rest of his life underground with goblins. There were endless battles to be fought, but relying on Ivani's quick mind and articulate speech, she saved herself from danger.In the Beringhead Forest, Tristan has no fear in the face of the giant steppe eagle, who wants to take the two of them back to his nest for his chicks, fearless of nothing but fire. In Foxton's tavern, Tristan gained a high reputation for reciting from memory Coleridge's Kubla Khan, Psalm XXIII, What is tolerance in The Merchant of Venice? A speech, and a poem about a boy standing on a burning deck from whom only he escaped; each one he had to memorize at school.He thanked Mrs. Cherry for her dedication and made him recite poems, and finally the townspeople of Foxton apparently decided that he would stay there forever as the next town bard.Tristan and Yvani were forced to sneak away from town in the dead of night, and they managed to escape because Yvani (in ways Tristan would never figure out) convinced the town dogs not to leave the town while they were away. when barking. The sun had turned Tristan's face a nutty brown, and his clothes had faded to the hue of rust and sand.Yvani was still as white as the moon, and no matter how far she walked, her feet were still limping. One evening, when they were spending the night by the edge of a vast wood, Tristan heard some beautiful melody he had never heard before, both sad and strange, filling his mind with images, and filling his heart with awe and joy.The music made him think of boundless space, of great crystalline spheres spinning very slowly around vast halls of air.The melody excited him so much that he couldn't help himself. Maybe many hours later, maybe only a few minutes, the melody stopped, and Tristan sighed.It's so sweet.He said. Xingxing's lips moved, involuntarily pulled into a smile, and his eyes sparkled.Thank you, she said, I think, I've never been in the mood to sing until now. I've never heard a melody like this. Some nights, she said to Tristan, my sisters and I sang together.Singing songs like the one just now are all about our noble mothers, the natural laws of time, radiant joy, and loneliness. it's a pity. No regrets, she said, at least I'm still alive.I was lucky enough to fall in Fairyland.And I think I'm pretty lucky to have met you. Thank you.Tristan said. You're welcome.said the stars.She sighed, and it was her turn to gaze at the sky through a gap in the trees. ★ Tristan was looking for breakfast.He found some small puff mushrooms and a plum tree full of purple plums.When he noticed the birds under the tree, he saw that the plums were so ripe that they were almost dried plums. He wasn't going to catch the bird (he'd been given a bad start a few weeks ago. He'd just missed a brown-gray hare for dinner, and it stopped by the edge of the forest, looked at him contemptuously and said: Oh, I only hope you are proud of yourself, and hopped away into the long grass), but was strongly attracted by it.It was a remarkably handsome bird, about the size of a pheasant, but of many colors, brilliant reds and yellows, and vivid blues.It looked like a bird in exile in the tropics, not at all suited to the green, fern-covered woods.As he approached, the bird was frightened at first, but the closer he came, the bird hopped awkwardly on one foot and cried out in sharp distress. ②Annotation: The original text is Puffhall mushroom, that is, Puffhall mushroom, commonly known as puffball. When the mushroom ball is mature, it will burst open, spraying out dust-like spores. Tristan got down on one knee beside it and whispered to reassure him.He reached out and caught the bird.The bird's plight is clear: a silver chain attached to the bird's foot is entangled in a twisted stump of a protruding tree root, and the bird is trapped, unable to move. Tristan carefully unwound the coiled silver chain and removed it from the root of the tree, while stroking the bird's ruffled feathers with his left hand.Well, he said to the bird, go home.But the bird made no move to move away from him. Instead, he tilted his head to one side and gazed into his face.Hey, Tristan felt a little strange, and also a little shy and embarrassed.He said: Maybe someone is worried about you.He reached down and picked up the bird. At this time, something hit him, making him dizzy.Although he remained motionless, he seemed to throw himself at an invisible wall at a full tilt.He wobbled and nearly fell. Thief!A hoarse old voice yelled, I'll turn your bones into ice and roast you before the fire!I'll pull out your eyes, and tie one to the herring and the other to the seagull, so that the two visions of sea and sky will drive you mad!I'm going to turn your tongue into a twisted worm, your fingers into a razor, and the fire ants that gnaw your skin itchy, so every time you scratch You don't have to scold like that, Tristan said to the old woman, I didn't steal your bird.Its chain got caught in a tree root, and I just helped it untie it. The old woman, with her mop-like mop of iron-gray hair, stared suspiciously at him.Then hurried forward and hugged the bird.She held the bird up and whispered something to it, and it responded with strange musical chirps.The old woman's eyes narrowed.Oh, maybe what you're telling isn't quite a lie.She admitted it with great reluctance. I'm not lying at all.said Tristan, but the old woman and the bird were already halfway across the swamp.So he gathered the little mushrooms and plums, and walked back to the place where Ivanie had just left. She sat by the path rubbing her legs.Her hips were sore and her legs ached as her feet became more sensitive.Sometimes Tristan would hear her sobbing quietly to herself at night.He wishes Moon would send them another unicorn, but also knows Moon won't do that. Oh, Tristan said to Evanie, how strange things are.He told Yvani what had happened that morning, thinking that was the end of it. Of course he was wrong.A few hours later, Tristan and Star were walking along a forest path, passing a brightly painted caravan.The cart was drawn by two gray mules, and the cart was driven by the old woman who threatened to turn his bones into ice.She reined in the mule and curled a bony finger toward Tristan.Come here, lad.she said. He walked over cautiously.yes ma'am. It seems that I should admit my mistake to you.All in all, she said, you seem to be telling the truth. Yes.Tristan said. let me see you.She said, climbing down and walking to the road.She touched the soft spot under Tristan's chin with cold fingers, and he had to lift his head.His brown eyes stared into the old woman's old green eyes.You seem honest enough.She said, you can call me Mrs. Schmidler.I'm on my way to Stonewall to attend the fair.I was thinking, I would welcome a boy to work for my little flower stand.You know, I sell glass flowers, and they're the prettiest things you'll ever see.It would be nice of you to be a market boy, and we can put a glove on your hand so it won't frighten the customers.what do you think? Tristan thought for a while, said sorry, and went back to discuss with Ivanie.They walked back to the old woman together. Good afternoon, said the star, we have discussed your proposal and we think How about it?Mrs. Schmeler asked, her eyes fixed on Tristan.Don't just stand there like an idiot!say!say!say! I have no intention of working for you at the fair, Tristan said, because I have my own business to attend to there.However, if you will give us a ride, my companion and I will be more than happy to pay you the travel expenses. Mrs. Schmeler shook her head.That didn't work for me at all.I can gather the firewood I need, and you will only burden my two mules with infidelity and despair.I don't take passengers.She climbed back into the driver's seat of the van. But, Tristan said, I'll pay you. The ugly old woman giggled contemptuously.Nothing will give me a ride.Well, if you don't help me with my work at the Stonewall Fair, get out of here. Tristan touched the buttonholes of his jacket and felt it was delicate and cold, just as he had felt it throughout the journey.He pulled it out, pinched it with his index finger and thumb and held it in front of the old woman.You said, you sell glass flowers, he said, are you interested in this? It was a snowdrop plant made of green glass and white glass, the shape was very delicate, as if it had just been plucked from the grassland that morning, with dew still hanging on it.The old woman squinted for a moment, inspecting its green leaves and shapely white petals, and uttered a sharp exclamation that sounded like the cry of a bird in agony when it is captured.Where did you get it?she cried, give it to me!Give it to me right now! Tristan folded his fingers together, covering the snowdrops from the old woman's eyes, and took a few steps back.Well, he exclaimed, I just remembered that I love this flower very much, it was a gift from my father when I started traveling.I think it's very important both in a personal and familial sense.Admittedly, it has brought me good luck in every way.Maybe I'd better keep this flower, and my partner and I can walk to Stonewall. Mrs. Schmeler seemed to be struggling, whether to threaten or coax and abduct, different emotions appeared alternately on her face nakedly, and she seemed to be almost out of control.Then she wrapped her arms around herself and said in a husky, self-made tone: All right, all right.Don't be so impatient.I'm sure we can make a deal. Oh, said Tristan, I doubt it.想引起我的興趣，這個交易就要非常完善，需要確切的安全通行保證，這類保證條款必須確保妳的態度和行為，會一直對我和我的夥伴寬厚和善。 讓我再看雪花蓮一眼。老太婆懇求。 那隻五彩繽紛的鳥兒，一腳繫著銀鎖鍊，振翅飛到篷車敞開著的門口，朝下注視著下頭的談判過程。 可憐的東西，伊凡妮說，用鍊子拴成那樣。妳為什麼不放牠自由呢？ 但老太婆沒回答她，或者像崔斯坦所想的，故意不理她。老太婆對崔斯坦說：我會把你載到石牆鎮，我也以我的榮譽和我真正的名字發誓，我在旅途上不會有傷害你的舉動。 也不能由於怠惰或間接的行為，對我或我的夥伴造成傷害。 as you wish. Tristan thought for a moment.他實在不相信這個老太婆。我希望妳能發誓，我們會以目前的模樣、狀況、型態抵達石牆鎮，而妳會提供我們一路上的膳宿。 老太婆嘖嘖出聲，然後點點頭。她再次費勁地爬下篷車，大聲清嗓子，把一口痰吐在地面上。她指著那灘啐出的唾沫。Now it's your turn.she says.崔斯坦在旁邊也啐了一口。她用腳把那兩灘唾沫抹成一片，混合起來。哪，她說，契約就是契約。把花給我吧。 她臉上的貪婪和渴望如此明顯，崔斯坦此時可以肯定，他原本可以達成更好的交易，但他還是把父親的花交給老太婆。老太婆從他手上拿到花，便咧嘴笑起來，露出缺牙。哎呀，真想不到這就是大約二十年前，那可惡的孩子給出去的上等貨。哪，年輕人，告訴我。她用上了年紀的銳利雙眼朝上看著崔斯坦，問道，你知道你一直戴在釦洞裡的是怎麼樣的東西嗎？ 是一株花。一株玻璃花。 老太婆突然放聲大笑，崔斯坦還以為她窒息了。這是遭到凍結的魔法，她說，是一種力量。像這種東西，會用的人可以表演出不可思議的奇蹟。看好了。她把雪花蓮高舉過頭，再慢慢放下，拂過崔斯坦的前額。 僅在心跳的瞬間，他覺得極為怪異，彷彿濃黑的糖蜜取代了血液，流經血管；世界的形狀改變了。每一樣東西都變得巨大而高聳。老太婆現在似乎成了女巨人，他的視線模糊又凌亂。 兩隻巨大的手伸下來，輕柔將他抱起。這可不是最大的篷車嗎？施美樂夫人說道，聲音低沉而緩慢，像隆隆作響的液體。我要確實遵守誓言，因為你不會受到傷害，我也會在你前往石牆鎮的路上提供膳宿。然後她把這隻睡鼠扔進圍裙的口袋裡，艱難地爬回篷車上。 那妳打算怎麼對付我？伊凡妮問道，不過老太婆不回答，她倒也不怎麼驚訝。她跟著老太婆進入陰暗的篷車。裡頭只有一個房間；一個皮革和松木製成的巨大陳列櫃靠在一面牆邊，櫃子上有數以百計的小格子，其中一個格子裡鋪滿了柔軟的蒲公英種子冠毛，老太婆把雪花蓮插在裡頭。另一面牆邊靠著一張小床，上方有一扇窗戶和一個大碗櫥。 施美樂夫人俯身從床底下放雜物的地方，拉出一個木籠，把瞇著眼的睡鼠從口袋裡掏出來，放到籠子裡。然後她從一個木頭碗中抓了一把堅果、乾果仁和種子放進籠裡，把籠子掛在篷車中央的鍊子上。 好啦，她說，提供膳宿。 伊凡妮坐在老太婆床上的位子，好奇地看著這一切。不知道我說得對不對，她客氣地問道，從手邊的證據歸結起來：也就是說，妳不看我，或是妳的眼睛忽略了我。妳不對我說一句話，也沒有像把我的夥伴變成小動物那樣對待我。妳是根本看不到我也聽不見我，是嗎？ 女巫沒回答。她走上駕駛座，坐下來拿起韁繩。異國鳥兒飛到她身旁，奇妙地啁啾叫了一聲。 我當然是一字不改地信守諾言啦！老太婆像是回答似地說道，到了市集的牧草地，他就會變回來，也會在到達石牆鎮以前恢復原本的樣貌。而且等我把他變回來，我也會把妳再變成人形，因為我還是得找一個比妳這傻丫頭更好的僕人。我沒辦法在整個旅程中忍受他在這裡礙手礙腳，多管閒事、窺探別人又問東問西的。而且我已經遵守契約餵他了，可不只是堅果跟種子而已哩。她緊緊抱住自己，前後搖來搖去。哦，妳早上要很早起來，比我還早起。我真的相信那土包子的花比多年前妳丟掉的那株還好呢。 她咂了咂舌，搖動韁繩，兩匹騾子便從容走上森林小徑。 女巫駕車的時候，伊凡妮便在她發霉的床上休息。篷車喀噠喀噠，東倒西歪穿越森林。車子停下來，她便醒來起身。女巫睡覺時，伊凡妮就坐在篷車頂上仰望繁星。有時女巫的鳥兒會陪著她坐，她會寵愛牠、溺愛照料牠，因為有什麼能確認她的存在總是好事。但女巫在附近時，鳥兒就會完全忽視她。 伊凡妮也關心那隻睡鼠，牠幾乎都在熟睡，頭蜷縮在腳爪間。當女巫出去收集柴火或取水，伊凡妮就會打開籠子撫摸牠，跟牠說話。儘管不知道睡鼠還有沒有崔斯坦的意識，但她有好幾次還是唱歌給牠聽。睡鼠用溫和睏倦的眼睛盯著她瞧，像黑墨水滴似地，牠的毛皮比羽絨還要柔軟。 她的髖關節不痛了；既然她不用每天走路，腳也沒有那麼痛了。她知道自己會永遠跛腳，因為儘管崔斯坦已經盡了力，但他畢竟不是外科醫生，無法修復折斷的骨頭。瑪歌也是這麼說的。 他們偶爾遇到其他人的時候，星星就盡可能躲起來。不過，她很快就知道，即使有人在女巫的聽力範圍內跟她說話，例如曾經有個伐木工人指著她，向施美樂夫人詢問她的事，女巫似乎也無法察覺伊凡妮的存在，甚至聽不見與她存在有關的事。 於是女巫的篷車嘎嘎作響地震動著女巫、鳥兒、睡鼠和流星的骨骼，好幾個星期就這麼過去了。