《沉睡魔咒》第22章

The Moors¹ were abuzz with excitement. The wallerbogs burbled and gurgled more mud. The dew faeries flew from leaf to leaf, leaving sparkling water shining like diamonds in their wake. In the streams, the water faeries preened² more than usual. The rest of the Fair Folk headed straight for the Faerie Mound³. Today was the big day, and they did not want to miss anything.　

Maleficent stood in front of the throne on the Mound, smiling at the familiar faces around her. Diaval stood at her side. A rustle⁴ in the brush alerted them that their guest of honor had arrived. Maleficent turned her head to see Aurora⁵ striding toward the Mound, a halo of sunlit hair glowing around her face. The flowers bloomed excitedly as Aurora passed them, and the hovering⁶ sparrows chirped⁷ happily. She stopped in front of Maleficent, grinning at her faerie godmother. Maleficent's eyes welled with proud tears.　

"Oh, there she is! Hurry up! They're waiting!" Knotgrass's shrill⁸ voice came from the other side of the Mound. The crowd turned to see Knotgrass and Flittle zigzagging⁹ toward them with a gleaming crown in tow.

"Wait for me!" Thistlewit called, trailing behind them.

As soon as the three pixies reached Maleficent and Aurora, they paused midair, gasping¹⁰ dramatically to catch their breath. Maleficent restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Finally, Knotgrass spoke¹¹.

"We present this crown to our little Aurora, for whom we have sacrificed the best years of our—" She coughed, stopping her speech as soon as she saw the glare Maleficent was giving her.　

Maleficent knew it was time to take matters in her own hands. Never send a pixie to do a faerie godmother's job, she thought, taking the crown from Knotgrass. Then, ever so gently, she placed it upon Aurora's head.

"You have your queen," Maleficent announced to the crowd. A joyous¹² cheer erupted. Maleficent watched Aurora smile warmly, a smile that only grew as she saw Phillip approach the throne. Maleficent watched as Aurora greeted the border guards, shaking their wooden hands, officially forming a new allegiance. It was all Maleficent's parents had wanted—peace and harmony. The scene overwhelmed Maleficent.

Aurora would make a great and noble queen. One to unite the lands and bring the humans and Fair Folk together.

But, as many thought whenever they saw the graceful¹³ figure soaring through the air, it took a great hero and a terrible villain¹⁴ to make it all come about. And her name was Maleficent.

 

整个摩尔森林都沉浸在兴奋中。沃泥伯格不断咕噜咕噜说着话，吐着更多的泥浆，露珠精灵在树叶间穿梭，处处留下了像钻石一样闪耀的水珠。而在溪流里，水精灵打扮得比以往更漂亮，其他精灵族都忙着赶往精灵丘。今天是个重要的日子，他们可不想错过。

玛琳菲森站在精灵丘的王座前，对周围的熟面孔露出了笑容。迪艾瓦站在一旁。灌木丛中一阵窸窣，他们的荣誉嘉宾来了。玛琳菲森转头看到爱洛正大步向着精灵丘走来，她脸侧的头发在日光的照耀下散发着迷人的光晕。爱洛所到之处，花儿在她身旁热情地绽放，麻雀盘旋着发出快乐的啁啾。爱洛在玛琳菲森面前停住了脚步，朝她的仙女教母会心地微笑，玛琳菲森的眼睛里也溢满了骄傲的泪花。

精灵丘的另一面传来了红叶仙子的尖叫声：“她在这呢！快一点！他们在等着呢！”大家转过身，看见红叶仙子和蓝果仙子拖着一顶闪亮的王冠，摇摇晃晃地飞了过来。

绿蕨仙子跟在后面喊道：“等我一下！”

三个魔法仙子飞到玛琳菲森和爱洛面前，停在半空中，喘着粗气。玛琳菲森尽量忍住翻白眼的冲动。过去了好一会儿，红叶仙子才说道：

“我们向小爱洛献上这顶王冠，为了你，我们耗尽了自己一生中最好的—”她咳嗽了一声，没继续说下去，因为她发现玛琳菲森正瞪着她。

玛琳菲森知道现在该自己出场了。绝对不要让魔法仙子去做仙女教母的活，她一边从红叶仙子手中接过王冠一边这样想着。然后她轻轻地为爱洛戴好。

玛琳菲森向大家宣布道：“这就是你们的女王。”精灵们爆发出喜悦的欢呼。玛琳菲森看到爱洛温暖地微笑着，而当菲力向王座走来的时候，爱洛笑得更开心了。玛琳菲森看见，爱洛和边境守卫打了招呼，握了握他们的木头手，算是正式行过了君臣之礼。这一切正是玛琳菲森的父母所期望看到的—和平与和谐。此情此景让玛琳菲森动容不已。

爱洛会成为一位伟大而高贵的女王，她会统一这片土地，让人类和精灵族友好地生活在一起。

不过，每当人们看见一个优雅的身影在空中翱翔，就会想到这整个故事都是因她而起，她既是一个伟大的英雄又是一个可怕的坏蛋。她的名字就是玛琳菲森。

分享到：