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Asha and Altheda were angry with Amata, who had accidentally brought along the knight.
阿莎和艾爾蒂達很生阿瑪塔的氣，她竟然不小心把那個騎士也帶了進來。
'Only one can bathe in the Fountain! It will be hard enough to decide which of us it will be, without adding another!'
“只有一個人能在好運泉里洗浴！要在我們中間挑一個人已經夠難的了，現在又加了一個！”
Now, Sir Luckless, as the knight was known in the land outside the walls, observed that these were witches, and, having no magic, nor any great skill at jousting or dueling with swords, nor anything that distinguished the non-magical man, was sure that he had no hope of beating the three women to the Fountain.
這個時候，倒霉爵士——其實在圍墻外的世界就叫這個名字——發現這三個女人是女巫，而他不會魔法，也沒有格斗和舞劍的高超技藝，不具備任何能使非魔法者出類拔萃的才能，他認為自己肯定比不過三個女人，到不了好運泉。
He therefore declared his intention of withdrawing outside the walls again.
于是他宣稱自己打算退出，回到圍墻外面去。
At this, Amata became angry too.
聽了這話，阿瑪塔也非常生氣。
'Faint heart!' she chided him. 'Draw your sword, Knight, and help us reach our goal!'
“懦夫！”她責罵他，“拔出你的劍來，騎士，來幫我們到達目的！”
And so the three witches and the forlorn knight ventured forth into the enchanted garden, where rare herbs, fruit and flowers grew in abundance on either side of the sunlit paths.
于是，三個女巫和愁苦的騎士冒險走進了魔法園林。在陽光照耀的小路兩邊，生長著茂密的奇花異草和珍稀果樹。
They met no obstacle until they reached the foot of the hill on which the Fountain stood.
他們一路暢通無阻，直到抵達好運泉所在的山腳下。
There, however, wrapped around the base of the hill, was a monstrous white Worm, bloated and blind.
然而，在那里，一條巨大的白色蠕蟲盤繞在山底下，它雙目失明，身體臃腫。
At their approach, it turned a foul face upon them, and uttered the following words: 'Pay me the proof of your pain.'
當他們走近時，它把一張污穢的臉轉向他們，說出了下面這句話：“向我證明你的痛苦。”
Sir Luckless drew his sword and attempted to kill the beast, but his blade snapped.
倒霉爵士拔出寶劍想殺死這個妖怪，但是他的劍刃折斷了。
Then Altheda cast rocks at the Worm, while Asha and Amata essayed every spell that might subdue or entrance it, but the power of their wands was no more effective than their friend's stone, or the knight's steel: the Worm would not let them pass.
于是艾爾蒂達朝蠕蟲丟石頭，阿莎和阿瑪塔念了各種可能制服或迷惑它的咒語，可是她們魔杖的力量就像她們朋友的石頭和騎士的劍一樣毫無作用：蠕蟲就是不肯讓他們通過。
The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and Asha, despairing, began to weep.
太陽在天空中越升越高，阿莎絕望地哭了起來。
Then the great Worm placed its face upon hers and drank the tears from her cheeks.
于是，大蠕蟲把臉貼在阿莎的臉上，啜飲著她面頰上的淚水。
Its thirst assuaged, the Worm slithered aside, and vanished into a hole in the ground.
蚯蚓的焦渴得到了緩解，慢慢地爬動到一旁，鉆進一個地洞不見了。
Rejoicing at the Worm's disappearance, the three witches and the knight began to climb the hill, sure that they would reach the Fountain before noon.
看到蠕蟲消失后，三個女巫和騎士開始往山上爬去，他們認為中午之前肯定能趕到好運泉。
Halfway up the steep slope, however, they came across words cut into the ground before them: Pay me the fruit of your labors.
然而，待爬到陡崖的半山腰時，他們看到前面的地上刻著一行字：把你的勞動果實給我。
Sir Luckless took out his only coin, and placed it upon the grassy hillside, but it rolled away and was lost.
倒霉爵士拿出他唯一的一枚硬幣，放在山坡的草地上，可是錢幣滾落開去，不見了。
The three witches and the knight continued to climb, but though they walked for hours more, they advanced not a step; the summit came no nearer, and still the inscription lay in the earth before them.
三個女巫和騎士繼續往上爬，但盡管他們又走了好幾個小時，卻一步也沒有前進，山頂還是那樣遙遠，他們面前的地上仍然刻著那一行字。
All were discouraged as the sun rose over their heads and began to sink towards the far horizon, but Altheda walked faster and harder than any of them, and exhorted the others to follow her example, though she moved no further up the enchanted hill.
太陽掠過他們的頭頂，開始向遠處的地平線下落，他們都感到灰心喪氣，但是艾爾蒂達走得比其他人更快、更加賣力，她還催促其他人像她一樣做，盡管她在魔法山上一步也沒有前進。
'Courage, friends, and do not yield!' she cried, wiping the sweat from her brow.
“勇氣，朋友們，不要屈服！”她喊道，一邊擦去額頭上的汗水。
As the drops fell glittering on to the earth, the inscription blocking their path vanished, and they found that they were able to move upwards once more.
亮晶晶的汗水落在地上，擋住他們道路的那一行字消失了，他們發現自己又能繼續上山了。
Delighted by the removal of this second obstacle, they hurried towards the summit as fast as they could, until at last they glimpsed the Fountain, glittering like crystal in a bower of flowers and trees.
清除了第二個障礙，他們高興極了，以最快的速度往山頂趕去，最后終于看見了好運泉，它像水晶一樣在樹木花草之間閃閃爍爍。
