Opening the tower's shutters¹, Rapunzel leaned out over the windowsill, breathing in the fresh morning air. It seemed to smell better out there than inside the tower, and the air always felt cooler and fresher at the window. From a potted strawberry plant next to her, a tiny green chameleon² named Pascal came out to greet her. Pascal was Rapunzel's only friend, and he looked up at her happily, blinking his big eyes. He could turn almost any color. Now, sensing her mood, he turned a bright yellow.

 

Pascal knew, as always, exactly what was best for Rapunzel. She wanted to go outside! Pascal skittered over the windowsill and gestured for her to come out of the tower with him. But Rapunzel shook her head. She couldn't go out.

 

She needed Mother Gothel's permission. Pascal slumped³ a bit.

 

"Oh, come on, Pascal," she said cheerfully to the little chameleon as she motioned to him to come back inside the tower. "It's not that bad."

 

She used her golden hair to pull a lever. Thick wooden shutters that covered the windows over her head at the tower's peak burst open. The tower was flooded with sunlight, glittering specks⁴ of dust filling the air. Their day was about to begin — the day she would ask Mother Gothel to take her to see the sparkling lights!

 

The tower made a small living space — it was tall but narrow. On the main level, there was a small kitchen, along with a living room that had a giant fireplace. The window through which Mother Gothel entered and exited the tower was off to one side. Mother Gothel slept in a bedroom on this cozy⁵ level of the tower.

 

Up a set of winding⁶ wooden stairs was a small loft⁷ where Rapunzel slept. Here she also had a box of paints, a guitar, and a little bed for Pascal.

 

Rapunzel kept herself busy every day. But today Pascal felt her excitement as she rushed through her chores, cleaning, sweeping⁸, dusting the furniture, waxing the floors made of thick golden wood and shining stone, and washing her single, pale purple dress. Then she sat down to play her guitar. She was self-taught, of course, but the melodies that floated from the strings⁹ were beautiful.

 

She had a few puzzles that she put together and took apart regularly. When she started feeling a bit pent up, she often turned to her darts¹⁰. She had quite good aim and placed her targets in every nook and cranny to challenge herself with increasing levels of difficulty. Someday she might just create a dart¹¹ that could fly across the valley and hit one of the far walls of the cliffs. But that day was a long way off. In the meantime, Rapunzel also loved to read! She had exactly three books, all completely memorized — one on culinary arts, which helped her with her cooking, one about geology; and the third about botany. Her favorite was the botany book. It had the best colors and explained about things that grew outside!

 

Pascal tried to be patient as Rapunzel did the same things over and over again, but sometimes he couldn't help rolling his eyes. It was boring! — especially when she had to brush her hair for hours on end.

 

This morning, when she was finally done with all her chores, her guitar, her puzzles and books, her hair ... Rapunzel smiled at Pascal. As usual, she had saved the best for last: painting! It was her passion. The tower's walls were covered with her art. Tossing a length of golden hair over one of the rafters, she hoisted¹² herself up toward her favorite mural.

 

But today, as she pulled back the red curtain that covered the painting, she looked at it differently. The image was a replica¹³ of the view from her window — a night scene showing the glowing lights rising into the sky.

 

Pulling out her paints, she spotted¹⁴ a small blank space that she wanted to fill. When she finished, she had added a small picture of herself ready to enter the forest beyond the tunnel — to see the world outside her little valley.

 

Suddenly, Rapunzel heard her mother's voice. "Rapunzel!" Mother Gothel called from outside the tower. "Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

 

Rapunzel gasped¹⁵. The moment had finally arrived! She took a deep breath and turned to Pascal, who gave her a brave little smile.

 

乐佩打开高塔的百叶窗，将身体探出窗台，呼吸着早晨的新鲜空气。外面的空气似乎比塔内的空气好闻，窗边的空气总是更加清凉，更加新鲜。一只名叫帕斯考的绿色小变色龙从她身边的盆栽草莓中钻出来，向她问好。帕斯考是乐佩唯一的朋友，他高兴地抬头看着她，眨着大眼睛。他可以变成几乎任何颜色。现在，他感觉到她的心情，变成了明亮的黄色。

 

像往常一样，帕斯考知道，什么对乐佩最好。她想出去！帕斯考掠过窗台，示意她和他一起走出高塔。但乐佩摇了摇头。她不能出去。

 

她需要高瑟妈妈的许可。帕斯考有点消沉。

 

“哦，振作些，帕斯考，”她一边示意小变色龙回到塔内，一边欢快地说道，“也没那么坏。”

 

她用金色的头发拉动了一个控制杆。她头顶上方覆盖着塔顶窗户的厚木板百叶窗突然打开了。阳光洒满了高塔，空气中弥漫的尘埃反射着光。他们的一天即将开始——在这一天，她会请求高瑟妈妈带她去看闪烁的天灯！

 

这座塔成了一个小小的生活空间——它很高，但是很狭窄。在主层上，有一个小厨房，一个有巨大壁炉的客厅。在一旁，高瑟妈妈进出高塔的窗口关闭着。高瑟妈妈在高塔里舒服的这一层的一间卧室里睡觉。

 

沿着一段旋转木楼梯而上，有一间小阁楼——这是乐佩睡觉的地方。在这里，她还有一盒颜料、一把吉他和一张给帕斯考的小床。

 

乐佩让自己的每一天都很忙碌。但是今天，当她匆匆做完杂事，扫地清理，掸去家具上的灰尘，为厚实的金色木材和闪亮的石头制成的地板打蜡，洗涤她仅有的那件淡紫色连衣裙的时候，帕斯考觉察出她的兴奋之情。然后，她坐下来弹吉他。她的吉他弹奏当然是自学的，但从琴弦飘出的旋律 很美。

 

她有好几块经常拼拆的拼图。当她开始觉得有点压抑的时候，她经常会转而玩飞镖。她瞄得很准，把目标设在每一个角落和缝隙，增加难度来挑战自己。也许有一天，她会创造出一支能飞越山谷，击中远处悬崖壁的飞镖。但那一天还离得很远。同时，她还喜欢阅读！她整整背下了三本书——一本是对她的烹饪有帮助的关于烹饪艺术的书，一本是关于地质学的书；第三本是关于植物学的。她最喜欢的是这本有关植物学的书。它有最好看的颜色，解释外面世界生长的事物！

 

当乐佩重复做相同的事情的时候，帕斯考试图保持耐心。但是，有时候他忍不住转动眼睛。很无聊！特别是当乐佩一连几个小时都在梳头的时候。

 

这天早上，当乐佩终于完成了所有的杂务，弹完吉他，完成拼图和阅读，梳好头发的时候……她冲着帕斯考微笑。像往常一样，她把最好的留到最后： 绘画！这是她的激情所在。高塔的墙壁上都是她的艺术作品。她将一段金色长发投掷向一根椽木，向喜欢的壁画飞荡过去。

 

但今天，当她揭开那幅画上盖着的红色帘子的时候，她用不同的方式看着它。这幅画复制了窗外的景色——发光的天灯升向天空的夜景。

 

她拿出颜料，找到了她想填补的一处小空白。完成之后，她还加上了一幅小图——准备通过隧道进入森林，去看看小山谷外面的世界。

 

突然，乐佩听到了母亲的声音。“乐佩！” 高瑟妈妈从高塔外喊道。“乐佩！把你的头发放下来！”

 

乐佩充满了渴望。这一刻终于到来了！她深吸了一口气，转向帕斯考。帕斯考给了她一个勇敢的微笑。

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