Every thug in the room eyed the reward mentioned on the poster. All heads turned in Flynn's direction with a keen interest.

 

"It's him, all right," one thug said. "Greno, go find some guards."

 

"That reward's gonna buy me a new hook," a one-armed thug said, licking his chops.

 

The bartender grabbed Flynn. "I could use the money," he said.

 

"What about me?" another thug interrupted. "I'm broke."

 

A brawl¹ quickly ensued, with bottles crashing and chairs flying. Everyone was pulling at Flynn. Pascal and Rapunzel ducked and cringed, terrified.

 

"Please!" Flynn squealed² from under the pile of filthy³ men. "We can work this out!" But the only replies were grunts⁴, shouts, and growls⁵.

 

Rapunzel tried to help. She raised her frying pan and spoke⁶ up. "Um, excuse me? Ruffians?" she said.

 

"Gentlemen! Please!" Flynn cried as one of his arms was twisted behind his back and his knee was jammed into a table.

 

"Is it possible to just get my guide back?" Rapunzel shouted. She poked⁷ one of the thugs with her pan. "Just stop. Stop!" Nothing happened.

 

Rapunzel looked around. She saw a large table and jumped on top of it. It was time to take action! She whacked⁸ her pan against a giant pot hanging from the ceiling. CLANG! Then, with all her might, she yelled, "PUT HIM DOWN!"

 

For a moment, there was absolute silence. Every thug in the tavern⁹ stopped what he was doing and stared at the young woman.

 

Rapunzel took a breath. "Okay," she said to the rabid mob, "I don't know where I am, and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity!" she pleaded. "Haven't you ever had a dream?"

 

Flynn cringed. A dream? Did she really want to talk about dreams with this crowd? His heart sank. He was definitely going to end up with a broken nose.

 

Then the thug with a hook for a hand moved toward Rapunzel with a menacing look. Rapunzel froze.

 

"I had a dream once," the brute¹⁰ said softly. He tossed aside his axe¹¹ and told Rapunzel that he'd dreamed of being a pianist. Finding a small piano, he began to play.

 

A burly thug covered in bumps and bruises¹² took the opportunity to tell Rapunzel about his dream. He handed her a flower. He wanted to fall in love! Rapunzel patted his hand.

 

Flynn was becoming more and more interested. What was up with this young woman, anyway? He watched as the tavern thugs turned to mush, weeping and sweetly telling Rapunzel about their dreams. They confessed to wanting to become everything from florists¹³ to ballet dancers. And all the while, her faithful chameleon¹⁴, Pascal, sat on her shoulder, protectively looking out for her. Everyone seemed to adore her!

 

Unfortunately, something terribly serious was happening outside.

 

Mother Gothel had tracked Rapunzel and Flynn to the Snuggly Duckling. When she looked through the window, she was stunned¹⁵. Rapunzel was happily mingling¹⁶ with those thugs! Mother Gothel felt her world crumbling¹⁷ around her. Without Rapunzel locked away in that tower — without the girl's magical hair — Mother Gothel's life would come to an abrupt¹⁸ end as she quickly aged¹⁹. She had to do something to stop the naive²⁰ girl!

 

Inside, the crowd finally turned to Flynn Rider. "What about you?" the man with the hook for a hand asked. "What's your dream?"

 

Desperately²¹ hoping his answer would be enough, Flynn told them about his dream of living on his own island. The thugs roared their approval and tossed Flynn in the air.

 

"I have one, too!" Rapunzel shouted. She knew she could trust these men with her dream. "I want to see the floating lanterns more than anything in the world!" She described how wonderful it felt — to her surprise — to be outside the tower. She was learning more and more with each passing minute, and she loved the sights she was seeing, the sounds she was hearing, and the people she was meeting.

 

The thugs cheered.

 

Outside, spying through the window, Mother Gothel controlled herself. She had to focus her energies on formulating²² a plan to get Rapunzel back to the tower.

 

Hearing a noise behind her, she swiftly ducked into the shadows. A group of angry palace guards raced past her and burst into the Snuggly Duckling.

 

屋子里的每个恶棍都盯着通缉令上的悬赏。所有人都兴趣盎然地把脑袋转向费林的方向。

 

“就是他，没错，”一个恶棍说，“葛雷诺，找些卫兵来。”

 

“这笔赏钱够我买个新钩子了。”一个独臂恶棍舔着嘴说。

 

酒保一把抓住费林。“我也要这笔钱。”他说。

 

“那么我呢？”另一个恶棍打断了他，“我身无分文。”

 

他们很快起了争执，瓶子破碎，椅子乱飞。每个人都来抓费林。帕斯考和乐佩吓坏了，他们东躲西藏，瑟瑟发抖。

 

“求求你们！”费林在一堆肮脏的男人底下尖叫。“我们可以解决这个问题！”但是回答他的只有咕哝、咆哮和喊叫。

 

乐佩想去帮忙。她举起平底锅，大胆开口。“嗯，不好意思? 恶棍们?”她说。

 

“先生们！求求你们！”费林大叫，他的一条手臂被扭到了背后，一只膝盖被挤进一张桌子里。

 

“能不能把我的向导还给我？”乐佩大叫。她用平底锅捅了捅一个恶棍。“住手，住手！”没人理她。

 

乐佩四下看了看。她看到一张大桌子，于是跳到上面。是时候采取行动了！她用力把平底锅往天花板上挂着的一只大锅上撞去。哐当！然后，她使出浑身力气，高声喊道：“把他 放下！”

 

好一会儿，一片沉寂。酒馆里的所有恶棍都停下手来，盯着这个年轻的姑娘。

 

乐佩吸了口气。“好了，”她对着疯狂的暴徒说，“我不知道我在哪儿，但我需要他带我去看天灯，因为这是我一生的梦想！你们有点人性吧！”她恳求道：“你们就没有过梦想吗？”

 

费林浑身发抖。梦想？她真想和这群暴徒谈论梦想？他的心一沉。他最终肯定要被打歪鼻子。

 

钩子手恶棍气势汹汹地走向乐佩。乐佩整个人僵住了。

 

“我也有过梦想。”这个恶棍柔声说道。他把斧子扔到一边，对乐佩说他的梦想是当一名钢琴演奏家。他找到一架小钢琴，弹奏起来。

 

一个鼻青脸肿、浑身乌青的恶棍趁这个机会向乐佩诉说了他的梦想。他递给她一朵花。他想谈一场恋爱！乐佩轻轻地拍了拍他的手。

 

费林越来越感兴趣。这个年轻的姑娘究竟是怎么回事？他看着酒馆里的恶棍变得多愁善感，流着眼泪温柔地告诉乐佩他们的梦想。他们吐露心声，他们的梦想从成为花匠到芭蕾舞演员，无所不有。在这期间，她忠诚的变色龙帕斯考坐在她的肩头，为保护她而留心周围。看上去人人都很喜欢她！

 

不幸的是，这个时候，外面正发生着非常可怕的事。

 

高瑟妈妈追踪乐佩和费林来到了舒适的小鸭酒馆。当她从窗口向里面看的时候，她惊呆了。乐佩和那些恶棍快乐地打成了一片！高瑟妈妈觉得整个世界崩塌了。乐佩不被关在塔里的话——没有了她的魔法头发——高瑟妈妈会因迅速衰老而终结生命。她得做点什么来阻止这个天真的女孩！

 

店里，这群人终于转向费林·雷德。“那么你呢？”钩子手男人问道，“你的梦想是什么？”

 

费林非常希望自己的答案让人足够满意，就告诉他们他的梦想是住在自己的小岛上。这帮恶棍大声表示赞许，把费林抛到了空中。

 

“我也有一个梦想！”乐佩喊道。她知道她可以放心地把自己的梦想告诉他们，“世上再也没有比看飘浮的天灯更让我向往的了！”她描述着高塔外的世界是多么美妙，这很令她惊讶。每一分钟，她都学到更多。她喜欢见到的景色，听到的声音，遇到的人。

 

恶棍们大声欢呼。

 

店外，透过窗口偷偷窥视的高瑟妈妈极力保持冷静。她集中精力，计划着把乐佩重新弄回高塔。

 

她听到身后有声音，便迅速躲进了阴影处。一队愤怒的宫廷卫兵飞快地跑过她的身边，闯入舒适的小鸭酒馆。

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