As the sun rose over their little campsite, Flynn Rider was fast asleep. He didn't notice that Maximus had finally found him. Again. Maximus glared down at the sleeping man, wondering what he should do to him first.

 

The horse had galloped¹, swum, and scrambled² up and down mountains, falling and picking himself up again, utterly³ exhausting himself trying to hunt Flynn down. And now the big horse had him. Maximus nipped at Flynn's sleeve as Flynn jumped to his feet.

 

Rapunzel awoke to a scream. The tenacious⁴ horse now had hold of Flynn's foot and was dragging him away!

 

Astonished at the sight, Rapunzel tried to help, grabbing Flynn's arms. Soon Rapunzel and Maximus were engaged in a tug-of-war with Flynn stretched between them.

 

"Don't worry, Blondie!" Flynn said, trying to sound as if he were in control. "I've got him right where I want him!"

 

"Give me him!" Rapunzel ordered Maximus. She and the horse were pulling Flynn in opposite directions when Flynn wiggled his foot out of the boot in Maximus's mouth. Flynn scrambled away. Maximus charged after him.

 

Rapunzel stepped in front of the horse. "Whoa, boy," she said softly. "Easy."

 

She took hold of the horse's bridle⁵ and whispered, "Easy, boy. Shhh. Whoa, boy."

 

Maximus looked at Rapunzel. She cared!

 

Peeking⁶ out from Rapunzel's hair, Pascal watched in awe⁷ as she tamed the horse.

 

"That's it," Rapunzel said sweetly. "Now sit." Maximus hesitated. But Rapunzel looked him in the eye and said again, "Sit."

 

This time Maximus sat. It felt good. He had been racing⁸ and hunting and sniffing⁹ and falling over cliffs for days now! Rapunzel smiled. "You're such a good boy," she said, patting the horse's neck. "Yes, you are. Now drop the boot."

 

The boot instantly fell from the horse's mouth. Rapunzel patted him gently. "Oh, look at you, all wet and tired. Are you tired from chasing this bad man all over the place?"

 

Maximus had always thought that women had a gentler touch than men when it came to caring for horses.

 

"Nobody appreciates you, do they?" she asked kindly¹⁰.

 

Flynn was shocked. She was taking sides — the wrong side! "What? You're kidding me," he said, putting his boot back on.

 

But Rapunzel ignored Flynn and kept talking to the horse. "Yes, you are tired, and nobody appreciates you, do they? Do they?" The horse neighed, and Rapunzel nodded sympathetically.

 

"Oh, come on!" Flynn said impatiently. "He's a bad horse!"

 

Rapunzel just shrugged¹¹ the comment off. "Oh, he's nothing but a big sweetheart," she said. She read the name printed on the horse's bridle and smiled. "Isn't that right, Maximus?"

 

Flynn rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me." Then he cringed just a bit. He wondered, Am I actually jealous of a horse?Ugh!

 

Rapunzel looked into the horse's big eyes and explained everything very sweetly to him. "Today is the biggest day of my life," she said. Maximus nodded. "And the thing is, I want you not to get Flynn arrested. Just for twenty-four hours, and then you can chase each other to your hearts' content. Okay?" Rapunzel paused. "And it's also my birthday — just so you know."

 

The horse whinnied and shook his big head as if to say everything was okay. But he was only doing this for Rapunzel.

 

Carefully, Rapunzel guided Maximus and Flynn together. She wanted them to shake hoof¹² and hand in a truce¹³. Man and horse glared at each other angrily. They could not stand each other.

 

The horse snorted and finally raised his hoof. Flynn grudgingly¹⁴ reached out to shake it. He was only doing this for Rapunzel.

 

"Oof!" Flynn felt the hoof bypass his hand and punch him in the gut¹⁵. So much for starting a truce the nice way, Flynn thought.

 

It was the beginning of a perfect day, Rapunzel thought. And just when she was sure it couldn't get any better, the bells of the kingdom began to ring in the distance.

 

Rapunzel darted¹⁶ to the crest¹⁷ of a nearby hill, following the sound of the bells.

 

In front of her lay a kingdom that was more beautiful than anything she could ever have imagined. Bordered by a body of crystal-blue water, an elegant castle sparkled in the sun, flags flying from its many spires¹⁸. A village of lovely stone and wood cottages and small bridges nestled at its base.

 

Rapunzel turned and smiled at Flynn. She couldn't wait. Today she would visit the kingdom — and later see those lights at last.

 

太阳升到他们的小营地上方时，费林·雷德睡得正香。他没有留意到捍马最终找到了他。捍马又一次虎视眈眈地看着这个熟睡中的男人，思考他该先怎么对付他。

 

这马一路飞奔，游泳，爬山，下山，摔倒后又站起来，追踪费林已经让它累得筋疲力尽。现在，这匹大马抓住他了。捍马咬着费林的袖子，费林一下子跳了起来。

 

乐佩被一声尖叫吵醒。那匹坚忍顽强的马正叼着费林的脚，把他拖走。

 

乐佩见到此情景目瞪口呆，便上去帮忙，抓住了费林的胳膊。很快，乐佩和捍马展开了一场拔河，费林被拉长了身子，横在他们中间。

 

“别担心，金发美女！”费林说，试图让自己听起来胸有成竹。“我想要他的时候就能抓住他！”

 

“把他给我！”乐佩命令捍马。她和马从相反的方向拉扯费林，就在这个时候，费林把他的脚从捍马咬着的靴子里拔了出来。费林滚了出去，捍马追着他。

 

乐佩站到了马的前面。“吁，好家伙，”她柔声说道，“放松。”

 

她抓住了马缰绳，轻声低语：“放松，好家伙。嘘。吁，好家伙。”

 

捍马看着乐佩。她在乎他！

 

帕斯考从乐佩的头发里往外瞅，崇拜地看着她驯服了马。

 

“这就对了，”乐佩甜甜地说，“现在，坐下。”捍马犹豫不决。但是乐佩看着他的眼睛，又说了一遍：“坐下。”

 

这一次捍马坐下了。感觉很好。它已经一连几天狂奔、搜寻、嗅探、从悬崖上摔下去了！乐佩微微笑着，“你真是个好孩子，”她说道，一边轻拍着马脖子，“是的，你是。现在，放下靴子。”

 

靴子从马嘴里掉出来。乐佩温柔地拍着它：“哦，瞧你，浑身是汗，累坏了。你追着这个坏人到处跑，累了吧？”

 

捍马一直觉得，在关心马匹这方面，女人的抚摸总是比男人的温柔。

 

“没人欣赏你，是吗？”她友好地问。

 

费林感到震惊。她偏袒一方——还是错误的一方！“什么？你开玩笑吗？”他说着把靴子穿回去。

 

但是乐佩没有理会费林，继续和马儿说话：“是的，你累了。没人欣赏你，是吗？是吗？”马嘶叫了一声。乐佩同情地点 点头。

 

“哦，拜托！”费林失去耐心地说，“他是匹坏马！”

 

乐佩只是耸耸肩，没有理会他的话。“哦，他只不过是一个大宝贝。”她说。她看着马缰绳上的名字，微笑了。“是不是，捍马？”

 

费林转了转眼珠。“你一定是在开玩笑吧。”然后，他后退了一点。他不明白。我这是在嫉妒一匹马吗？啊！

 

乐佩看着马的大眼睛，开始非常温柔地向他解释。“今天是我人生中最重要的一天。”她说。捍马点了点头。“所以，我希望你不要逮捕费林。只要二十四小时，然后，你们想怎么追对方就怎么追，好吗？”乐佩顿了顿，接着说，“而且今天是我的生日——让你知道一下。”

 

马嘶叫了一声，点点他的大脑袋，似乎在说，什么事都可以。但他这么做只是为了乐佩。

 

乐佩很小心地把捍马和费林引到一起。她想让他们握手言和。人和马怒容满面地盯着对方。他们受不了彼此。

 

马打了个响鼻，最后还是扬起蹄子。费林很勉强地伸出手和他握了握。他这么做只是为了乐佩。

 

“嗷！”费林感到蹄子绕过他的手，在他的肚子上猛击了一下。握手言和可真够受的，费林想到。

 

这是完美一天的开始，乐佩心想。就在她确信这天不能更美好的时候，王国的钟声开始在远处敲响。

 

乐佩跟随钟声，飞奔到了近旁小山丘的山顶上。

 

王国在她的面前铺展开来，比她能想象的任何东西都要美丽。一座优雅的城堡在阳光下闪闪发光，各个尖顶上飘扬着旗帜，澄澈湛蓝的湖水围绕在四周。可爱的石头小屋、木头小屋和小桥构成的村庄坐落在城堡脚下。

 

乐佩转过身，对着费林微笑。她等不及了。今天，她要到王国去——然后，她终于要看到天灯了。

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