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"How can I cross the desert?" she inquired.
她问：“我怎么能够穿越这沙漠？”
"Well, I'll tell you what I think," said the little man.
“哦，我有一个绝妙的主意，”矮小的老人说。
"You see, when I came to this country it was in a balloon.
“我告诉过你的，我来到这个国土上，是坐在一个轻气球里面的。
You also came through the air, being carried by a cyclone.
你也是被一阵旋风卷着，从空中飘来的。
So I believe the best way to get across the desert will be through the air.
所以我相信从空中走，一定能越过沙漠。
Now, it is quite beyond my powers to make a cyclone;
现在要制造一阵旋风，这我们都做不到；
and I've been thinking the matter over, and I believe I can make a balloon."
但是我认真地想过这件事情了，我相信我能够做一个轻气球。”
"How?" asked Dorothy.
多萝茜问：“做轻气球？”
"A balloon," said Oz, "is made of silk, which is coated with glue to keep the gas in it.
“不错，”奥芝说，“是用绸来做的，涂上了胶，使它里面储藏着煤气。
I have plenty of silk in the Palace, so it will be no trouble to make the balloon.
在我的宫殿里，有许多的绸，所以做一个轻气球，不费什么事儿的。
But in all this country there is no gas to fill the balloon with, to make it float."
但是在我这整个国家里，没有煤气，来装进轻气球里去，使它飞起来。”
"If it won't float," remarked Dorothy, "it will be of no use to us."
“如果没有煤气，”多萝茜注意地说，“那轻气球对我就没有用处了。”
"True," answered Oz. "But there is another way to make it float, which is to fill it with hot air.
“确实是这样，”奥芝回答。“但是还有一个办法让它升起来，可以用热气灌满在里面。
Hot air isn't as good as gas, for if the air should get cold the balloon would come down in the desert, and we should be lost."
但是热气不如煤气那般安全，因为假如碰到了寒冷，那轻气球便会坠落在沙漠里，我们将迷失在沙漠里了。”
"We!" exclaimed the girl. "Are you going with me?"
“我们！”女孩子高声喊出来；“你要跟我一起走！”
"Yes, of course," replied Oz. "I am tired of being such a humbug.
“是的，当然，”奥芝回答说。“我不愿意再做一个骗子了。
If I should go out of this Palace my people would soon discover I am not a Wizard,
如果我走出这个宫殿，我的老百姓立刻会发现事实的真相，
and then they would be vexed with me for having deceived them.
于是他们让我不得安宁，因为我欺骗了他们。
So I have to stay shut up in these rooms all day, and it gets tiresome.
因此我不得不整天地关在这些房间里，我已经厌倦。
I'd much rather go back to Kansas with you and be in a circus again."
我决定和你一起回去，宁愿再回到马戏班里。”
