"Okay," Rapunzel said to Pascal, trying to be calm. "No big deal, I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to say, ‘Mother? There's something I've been wanting to ask you!'" Rapunzel's strong voice grew faint as she added, "For eighteen years." She was beginning to feel her heart sinking. Maybe she wasn't ready to go outside.

 

Pascal took one look at Rapunzel and arched his little body, puffing¹ out his chest to tell her to be brave.

 

"I know, Pascal," Rapunzel said, appreciating the encouragement. "Come on, now," she said, motioning to him to hide. "Don't let her see you." Mother Gothel had never approved of indoor pets.

 

Pascal nodded and camouflaged² himself to look like the stone on the mantel.

 

Down below, Mother Gothel yelled, "Rapunzel! I'm not getting any younger down here!" Rapunzel hurried toward the window.

 

"Coming, Mother!" Rapunzel shouted. She placed a loop of her golden hair around a pulley outside the window and lowered it down. As soon as Mother Gothel set her foot in the loop of hair, Rapunzel began to pull her slowly up to the tower window. It was hard work!

 

"Hello, Mother!" Rapunzel said, nearly out of breath.

 

"Rapunzel, how do you manage to do that every day? It looks absolutely exhausting!" Mother Gothel said as she climbed inside.

 

"Oh, it's nothing," Rapunzel replied cheerfully.

 

"Then I don't know why it takes so long," Mother Gothel snapped, adding in the sweetest voice she could muster³, "Oh, I'm just teasing."

 

Meanwhile, Rapunzel remained focused on her big question.

 

"Uh, so, Mother —" she began. But Mother Gothel immediately interrupted her.

 

"Oh, Rapunzel, look in the mirror. Do you know what I see?" she said, pulling Rapunzel into a half hug as they stood side by side. "I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady."

 

Rapunzel was puzzled, until she realized Mother Gothel was talking about her own reflection!

 

Rapunzel took a breath and tried to speak to her mother again.

 

"So ... Mother?" Rapunzel began, stumbling nervously⁴ over her words. "As you know, tomorrow I turn eighteen. And I wanted to ask ... what I really want for this birthday ... actually, I've wanted it for quite a few birthdays now ..."

 

Mother Gothel shook her head impatiently. "Oh, Rapunzel, please stop with the mumbling⁵. You know how I feel about the mumbling. ‘Blah blah blah!' It's very annoying."

 

Rapunzel sighed. Pascal made a gesture for Rapunzel to keep going.

 

Rapunzel nodded and blurted⁶ out, "I want to see the floating lights!"

 

Mother Gothel was stunned⁷. Rapunzel herself was stunned. I did it! she thought. I finally asked!

 

"What?" Mother Gothel said to Rapunzel.

 

"Well," Rapunzel answered, "I was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights this year."

 

"Oh, you mean the stars," Mother Gothel said, hoping Rapunzel was still young enough to be fooled.

 

Rapunzel shook her head. "That's the thing," she said excitedly, "I've charted stars and they're always constant. But these? They appear every year on my birthday, Mother! Only on my birthday! And I can't help but feel that they're meant for me!

 

"I need to see them, Mother," she said. "And not just from my window — in person. I have to know what they are."

 

Mother Gothel tried to appear calm. "Go outside?" she said as she gathered her wits. "Why, Rapunzel, you know why we stay up in this tower."

 

"I know," Rapunzel replied. A shiver crept up her back as Mother Gothel described terrible, frightening things — men, ruffians and thugs, with sharp fangs⁸ and weapons.

 

Mother Gothel kept going until she felt certain Rapunzel understood that she was responsible for protecting her gift: her magical golden hair. Then she spoke⁹ firmly: "Rapunzel. Don't ever ask to leave this tower again."

 

"Yes, Mother," Rapunzel replied obediently, slumping¹⁰ in sadness.

 

"Oh ..." Mother Gothel changed her tone and swept Rapunzel into a warm hug. "I love you very much, dear."

 

"I love you more," Rapunzel answered quietly, as she always did.

 

"I love you most!" Mother Gothel whispered as she kissed Rapunzel atop her head and got ready to leave again.

 

Rapunzel looked up at the sky. How could she doubt her mother's love? She looked down and waved as Mother Gothel disappeared beyond the walls of the valley ... into the mysterious world beyond.

 

“好吧，”乐佩对帕斯考说，并努力保持镇静，“没有什么大不了的。我只管去做。我只是想说，‘妈妈？有一件事我一直想问你！’”乐佩补充着，响亮的声音随之弱了下来：“十八年了。” 她开始感到心往下沉。也许她还没准备好到外面去。

 

帕斯考看了乐佩一眼，拱起小身体，鼓起胸膛，告诉她要 勇敢。

 

“我知道，帕斯考。”乐佩感谢他的鼓励。“现在，来吧，” 她说着，示意他藏起来，“别让她看见你。” 高瑟妈妈从来不许在室内养宠物。

 

帕斯考点点头，把自己伪装成壁炉架上的石头。

 

塔下，高瑟妈妈喊道：“乐佩！我可不会在下面越活越年轻！”乐佩急忙跑向窗口。

 

“来了，妈妈！”乐佩喊道。她将一圈金色的头发绕过窗户外面的滑轮，放了下去。当高瑟妈妈踏入头发绕成的圈中，乐佩就开始慢慢地将她朝高塔的窗口拉。这是非常辛苦的 活儿！

 

“你好，妈妈！”乐佩上气不接下气地说。

 

“乐佩，你每天都是怎么做到的？这看起来非常累人！” 高瑟妈妈一边爬进来一边说。

 

“哦，没什么。”乐佩高兴地回答。

 

“那么我不知道为什么需要这么长时间，” 高瑟妈妈忽然停了下来，又用她能挤出的最甜的声音说，“哦，我只是开玩笑。”

 

与此同时，乐佩仍专注于她的重要问题。

 

“嗯，妈妈——”她开口说。但高瑟妈妈立即打断了她。

 

“哦，乐佩，照照镜子。你知道我看到了什么吗？” 她说着，拉过乐佩拥抱着她，两人并排站着。“我看到了一位坚强、自信、美丽的年轻女士。”

 

乐佩很困惑，直到她意识到高瑟妈妈是在谈论她自己的 影像！

 

乐佩做了个深呼吸，试图再跟她妈妈开口。

 

“所以……妈妈？”乐佩紧张地磕磕巴巴地开口道，“你知道，明天我就十八岁了。我想问……这个生日我真想得到……实际上，我已经有好多个生日我都想……”

 

高瑟妈妈不耐烦地摇了摇头。“哦，乐佩，请停止咕哝。你知道我对咕哝的感觉。胡说八道很烦人。

 

乐佩叹了口气。帕斯考向乐佩做了一个手势，让她继续。

 

她点了点头，脱口而出：“我想看飘浮的天灯！”

 

高瑟妈妈惊呆了。乐佩自己也惊呆了。我做到了！她想。我终于问出了这个问题！

 

“什么？” 高瑟妈妈对乐佩说。

 

“嗯，”乐佩回答，“我希望今年你能带我去看飘浮的天灯。”

 

“哦，你是说星星。” 高瑟妈妈说，希望乐佩依然年幼，还能被糊弄。

 

乐佩摇了摇头。“正是这一点，”她兴奋地说，“我跟踪记录了星星的轨迹，他们总是连续不间断。但这些呢？它们每年都会在我的生日出现，妈妈！只在我的生日出现！我不禁觉得它们是为我而出现的！

 

“我需要去看看它们，妈妈，” 她说，“不仅仅是从我的窗户口看——而是亲自去看。我必须知道它们是什么。”

 

高瑟妈妈努力表现出镇定。“到外面去？” 她一边说，一边想主意。“乐佩，你知道为什么我们要待在这座塔里面。”

 

“我知道。”乐佩回答。她的后背打了冷战，当高瑟妈妈描述可怕的、吓人的事情——有着锋利的牙齿和武器的流氓和恶棍。

 

高瑟妈妈一直念叨，直到她确信乐佩明白了她有责任保护她的天赋： 她神奇的金色头发。然后她坚定地说：“乐佩，不要再提离开这座塔了。”

 

“是，妈妈。”乐佩顺从地回答，伤心地消沉下去。

 

“哦……” 高瑟妈妈改变了语调，给乐佩一个温暖的拥抱，“亲爱的，我非常爱你。”

 

“我更爱你。”乐佩轻轻地回答，如往常一样。

 

“我爱你最多！” 高瑟妈妈一边亲吻乐佩的头顶一边轻声说，然后准备再次离开。

 

乐佩抬头看了看天空。她怎么能怀疑妈妈的爱呢？她朝塔下望去，挥手道别——高瑟妈妈随之消失在山谷岩壁后，进入那一边的神秘世界。

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