"Rapunzel!" Flynn yelled as he jumped off Maximus's back. No answer. "Rapunzel, let down your hair!" he yelled again, desperately¹ hoping she was safe.

 

Swoosh! Rapunzel's long blond hair glided² out of the window and down the tower. She was alive! Grasping her hair, Flynn climbed up the tower as fast as he could. At last, he made it to the window and hauled himself inside.

 

"Rapunzel, I thought I'd never see you again!" Flynn exclaimed. Then he stopped short and gasped³. In the darkness, he saw the shards⁵ of a broken mirror on the floor — and heard the muffled⁶ sound of Rapunzel's voice. She was kneeling on the floor across from him. Mother Gothel had chained her to the wall and gagged her. Rapunzel's eyes were wide with fear as she struggled to warn him. ... Then Flynn felt the sharp point of Mother Gothel's dagger⁷ against his back. He crumpled⁸ to the floor in pain.

 

Rapunzel cried out through the rags stuffed in her mouth. But Mother Gothel stared at her coldly and said, "Now look what you've done, Rapunzel. Oh, don't you worry, dear. Our secret will die with him."

 

Rapunzel could not speak, but now she understood: Mother Gothel intended to leave Flynn here to die!

 

Rapunzel needed to save him with her hair!

 

Mother Gothel unfastened Rapunzel's chains and dragged her toward the secret trapdoor in the floor. "And as for us, we are going where no one will ever find you." Mother Gothel yanked Rapunzel, who was struggling against her with all her might.

 

"Rapunzel! Really!" Mother Gothel shouted. "Enough already! STOP FIGHTING ME!"

 

But Rapunzel did fight — as hard as she could — until the rags fell from her mouth.

 

"No!" Rapunzel cried out in defiance⁹. "I won't stop! For every minute, for the rest of my life, I will fight!" Rapunzel was stronger now, stronger than she ever had been. At last she knew the truth. She knew everything, and she understood everything clearly. "I will never stop trying to get away from you." She drew a deep breath, refusing to take her eyes off Mother Gothel. And she made her choice. "If you let me save him, I will go with you."

 

"No!" Flynn cried out. Rapunzel needed to be free from this woman. "No, Rapunzel!"

 

But Rapunzel kept her gaze on Mother Gothel. "I'll never run," Rapunzel promised. "I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal him. And you and I will be together. Forever. Just like you want." Rapunzel knew that her promise meant she would never see Flynn again, but at least she would know that he was alive, living outside in the beautiful world filled with wonderful, kind people. Her voice barely a whisper, she repeated, "Just let me heal him."

 

Mother Gothel's eyes narrowed for a moment before she let Rapunzel go.

 

Rapunzel ran to Flynn. He was still lying on the floor, doubled over in pain.

 

"Rapunzel, no!" he said weakly. "I can't let you. ..." His voice faded as he clutched a shard⁴ of the broken mirror. He would rather die than have the lovely, spirited Rapunzel live the rest of her life imprisoned¹⁰ in some secret tower with Mother Gothel. Using his last ounce of strength, Flynn reached up and, in one swift motion, cut off Rapunzel's hair.

 

The long golden locks fell to the floor and turned brown, depleted¹¹ of their magic. The short tufts of hair on Rapunzel's head also darkened.

 

"No! What have you done? NO!" Mother Gothel was clutching the brown hair that lay on the floor. The hair on her head turned white; her skin shriveled. Stumbling, she staggered across the room. She was aging rapidly, and quickly disintegrated¹² into nothing more than a pile of dust. The evil woman was gone forever.

 

But Rapunzel was looking at Flynn. He was dying, and there was no magic left in her hair to save him! "Oh, no! Eugene! Don't go. Stay with me!" she sobbed¹³. "Don't leave me. I can't do this without you."

 

"Hey," Flynn whispered with his last breaths. "You were my new dream."

 

"And you were mine, too." Rapunzel leaned toward Flynn as he closed his eyes.

 

Desperately, she began to sing. She wanted to bring forth¹⁴ some bit of magic from her shorn hair to save him. But the magic was gone with her hair.

 

Distraught, Rapunzel could not hold back her grief. She wept, cradling Flynn's limp body.

 

A single golden tear fell on his cheek.

 

Flynn stirred. Though she didn't know it, Rapunzel did have one last bit of magic left deep inside her, and it was contained in that single golden tear. Flynn's eyes fluttered open.

 

"Rapunzel!" he whispered.

 

"Eugene!"

 

Flynn was alive!

 

“乐佩！”费林大叫着从捍马的背上跳下来。没人回答。“乐佩，放下你的头发！”他又叫道，非常希望她平安无事。

 

哗！乐佩的金色长发从窗口放下，一直滑到高塔下。她还活着！费林抓住头发，尽最大努力迅速爬上高塔。他终于爬到窗口，翻身进去。

 

“乐佩！我以为我再也见不到你了！”费林兴奋地大叫。然后他突然停了下来，倒抽一口冷气。黑暗中，他见到地上的镜子碎片——他听到被捂住嘴巴的乐佩发出呜呜声。她正跪在他对面的地板上。高瑟妈妈用链条把她锁在墙上，堵住了她的嘴巴。乐佩的眼睛因为恐惧而睁得很大，她挣扎着想提醒他……就在这时，费林觉察到高瑟妈妈的匕首尖刺进了他的背脊。他痛得瘫倒在地。

 

乐佩哭喊起来，声音透过堵住嘴巴的破布传出来。但是高瑟妈妈冷冷地瞪着她，开口道：“现在看看你做了什么，乐佩。哦，不要担心，亲爱的。我们的秘密会随他而去。”

 

乐佩无法说话，但是她现在明白了： 高瑟妈妈打算任由费林死在这儿！

 

乐佩要用自己的头发来救他！

 

高瑟妈妈解开乐佩的锁链，把她拖向地板下隐蔽的地板门。“至于我们，我们要去没人能找到你的地方。”高瑟妈妈猛拉乐佩，乐佩正用自己所有的力量对抗她。

 

“乐佩！真的！”高瑟妈妈喊道，“够了！别再跟我反抗！”

 

但是乐佩仍在反抗——用尽全身力气——直到塞在嘴里的布掉了下来。

 

“不！”乐佩反抗大叫，“我不会停止！余生的每一分钟，我都会反抗！”乐佩现在很坚强，比过去任何时候都坚强。她终于知道了真相。她什么都知道了，她对一切一清二楚。“我会努力离开你，永远也不会放弃。”她深吸一口气，眼睛牢牢地盯着高瑟妈妈。她做了选择，“除非你让我救他，我就跟 你走。”

 

“不！”费林大叫。乐佩必须摆脱这个女人，“不，乐佩！”

 

但是乐佩紧紧盯着高瑟妈妈。“我不会跑，”乐佩承诺，“我永远不会试图逃走。只要让我治好他。我就跟你一起。永远。如你所愿。”乐佩知道自己的承诺意味着再也见不到费林，但至少她知道他还活着，在外面满是善良的好人的美妙世界里活下去。她的声音近乎低语，她重复着：“只要让我治好他。”

 

高瑟妈妈眯缝起眼，过了一会儿，她放开了乐佩。

 

乐佩跑向费林。他仍然倒在地上，身体因为疼痛而蜷缩起来。

 

“乐佩，不！”他虚弱地说，“我不能让你……”他抓住一块镜子碎片，声音轻了下去。他宁愿死，也不愿让活泼可爱的乐佩余生都被高瑟妈妈囚禁在秘密高塔里。费林用尽最后一丝力气，抬起手臂，只迅速一划，便割断了乐佩的长发。

 

长长的金色头发落到地板上，变成了棕色，失去了魔力。留在乐佩头上的头发颜色也变深了。

 

“不！你做了什么？不！”高瑟妈妈抓起地上的棕色长发。头发在她的手上变成了白色。她的皮肤迅速皱缩。她踉踉跄跄地穿过房间。她在迅速衰老，很快便化成一堆尘土。这个邪恶的女人永远消失了。

 

但是乐佩看着费林。他快死了，她的头发失去了魔力，再也不能救他了！“哦，不，尤金！不要走。跟我在一起！”她呜咽着，“不要离开我。没有你我做不到这些。”

 

“嘿，”费林用最后一口气低语道，“你是我的新梦想。”

 

“你也是我的新梦想。”费林闭上眼睛，乐佩靠在了他身上。

 

她绝望地开始歌唱。她想从她的短发中汲取一些魔力拯救他。但是魔力和头发一起消失了。

 

乐佩悲痛欲绝，无法抑制悲伤。她抱着费林无力的身体痛哭起来。

 

一滴金色的泪珠从她的脸颊滑落。

 

费林动了一下。乐佩不知道，她的体内的确还有最后一点魔力存在，就在那滴金色的泪珠里。费林的眼睛颤抖着睁开了。

 

“乐佩！”他小声说。

 

“尤金！”

 

费林活过来了！

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