More confident than ever before, Rapunzel presented her plan to Flynn: "Well, tomorrow night, they will light the night sky with these lanterns. You will act as my guide, take me to the castle, and return me home safely. Then and only then will I return your satchel¹ to you. That is my deal."

 

Flynn refused.

 

Pascal punched his fist to give Rapunzel courage. Standing² tall atop the mantel, her frying pan in hand, she said in her strongest voice, "You can tear this tower apart brick by brick. But without my help, you will never find your precious satchel."

 

Flynn repeated the offer Rapunzel had made: "I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

 

Rapunzel nodded, adding, "I promise. And when I promise something, I never, ever break that promise. Ever."

 

But Flynn knew he could not go to the kingdom — not now! He was a wanted thief. So he changed his strategy. He relied on his charm and good looks. Confidently he pursed his lips and oh-so-carefully raised one eyebrow³. He knew this was his handsomest expression.

 

Nothing happened. Flynn waited for Rapunzel to react.

 

Rapunzel waited for something to happen. Having never been with other people, she had no idea what this Flynn Rider was doing, but he did look awfully⁴ strange. It was kind of like that crazy look he had given her earlier.

 

"This is kind of an off day for me," Flynn said, beginning to doubt himself. He was finding it hard to believe that this young woman was not swept off her feet by his charms!

 

"Fine," Flynn said finally, "I'll take you to see the lanterns."

 

"Really?" Rapunzel exclaimed. This Was It! She was going to see the lights! She was so excited, she began jumping about the room, leaving Flynn bouncing in his hair-bound position on the chair, landing, at last, face down on the floor.

 

A little while later, Flynn, unbound and freed from Rapunzel's hair, began to climb down the tower the same way he had come up, using his arrows. He could not believe he was actually leaving this place. Just a while ago, he had thought it would be a place to hide from that horse!

 

Halfway⁵ down, he looked up. Rapunzel was standing in the window. She was still holding her pan in case of any trouble. She hadn't moved an inch.

 

"You coming?" Flynn shouted up at her.

 

Rapunzel arranged her hair to let herself down from the tower safely. Then she checked to make sure Pascal had securely tied himself in her hair. The little chameleon⁶ gave her a thumbs-up for courage. This was her big day! She was terrified.

 

Turning, she looked back at her mural and stared at the lights she'd had painted on her wall for so many years. She'd been drawn⁷ to the lights all her life, and now, if she had the courage, she'd get to see them. She wished Mother Gothel had agreed to take her, but she knew she'd have to do this for herself.

 

Slowly, she climbed down the tower for the first time. Using her hair like a rope — as she had done so many times for Mother Gothel, but never for herself — she rappelled toward the ground. At the bottom of the tower, her toes touched the soft grass. Then she was standing on the ground for the first time in her life! The grass tickled⁸ her toes. It was cool. It felt wonderful. The sky looked enormous. The sunlight shimmered⁹ through the trees. It smelled fresh. Outside was great!

 

"Woo-hoo!" Rapunzel shouted, dancing in the sunlight. "I can't believe I did this! I can't believe I did this!"

 

Pascal hung on for dear life.

 

乐佩从来没有如此自信过，她把自己的计划告诉了费林：“好吧，明天晚上，他们会用天灯点亮整个夜空。你当我的向导，带我去城堡，再把我安全送回来。然后，只有到那个时候，我才会把包还给你。这就是我的交易条件。”

 

费林拒绝了。

 

帕斯考挥了下小拳头给乐佩鼓劲。她站在壁炉架顶上，手握平底锅，用最强势的声音说：“你可以把这座塔一点点拆掉，但是没有我的帮助，你永远也不会找到你那宝贝背包。”

 

费林重复了一遍乐佩的提议：“我带你去看天灯，再把你带回家，你就会把我的包还给我？”

 

乐佩点了点头，又加了一句：“我保证。我一旦答应了一件事，就决不会食言。绝对。”

 

但是费林知道他不能去王国——现在不行！他是个被通缉的大盗。所以，他改变了策略。他想利用自己的魅力和英俊的面容。他自信满满地噘起嘴唇，小心翼翼地挑起一边的眉毛。他知道这是他最帅的表情。

 

什么都没有发生。费林等着乐佩的反应。

 

乐佩也等着发生点什么。她从没有见过其他人，所以她根本不知道费林在干什么，只是他看起来奇怪极了。有点像他之前那疯狂的表情。

 

“真是倒霉的一天。”费林说，开始怀疑自己。这个年轻的姑娘竟然没有被他的魅力迷得神魂颠倒，这太难以置信了！

 

“好吧，”费林最终说，“我带你去看天灯。”

 

“真的？”乐佩兴奋地惊叫。成功了！她要去看天灯了！她激动不已，开始在房间里蹦来跳去，费林被她的头发绑在椅子上，跟着弹来弹去，最后，一头栽倒在地板上。

 

不一会儿，费林摆脱了乐佩头发的束缚，手脚自由，开始像他爬上来那样用箭爬下高塔。他真不敢相信自己竟然离开了这个地方。就在刚才，他还认为这是躲避那匹马的好 地方！

 

爬到一半的时候，他向上看了看。乐佩正站在窗口。她仍然紧紧抓着平底锅以防万一。她没有挪动半步。

 

“你下来吗？”费林对她大喊。

 

乐佩仔细拴好头发，以便自己安全下塔。然后，她检查了一下，确认帕斯考把自己安全地绑在她的头发里。这只小变色龙竖起大拇指鼓励她。这是她的大日子！她十分害怕。

 

她转过身，看着身后的壁画，凝视着多年来在墙上画的天灯。她这一辈子都被天灯吸引，现在，如果她有足够的勇气，就能亲眼见到它们。她曾希望高瑟妈妈同意带她去，但她知道，她必须独立这么做。

 

她第一次慢慢地爬下高塔。她把自己的头发当成绳子——她以前常常为高瑟妈妈这么做，但从未为自己这么做过——绕着绳子朝着地面下降。到了塔底，她的脚趾触碰到柔软的草地。然后，她有生以来第一次站在了地面上！草儿挠着她的脚趾。凉凉的。感觉好极了。天空看上去没有边际。阳光在树缝间闪着光。空气清新怡人。外面真好！

 

“哇——喔——”乐佩大喊着，在阳光下起舞，“我不敢相信我做到了！我不敢相信我做到了！”

 

帕斯考拼命抓紧她。

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