本集演播：槑贰 

后期：米粒儿

英文对照文本在最底下，请往下拉到底。

第24章 公主初长成

公主从美梦中醒过来，睁开眼睛看见奶妈正弯腰看着她呢。奶妈身后是管家，管家身后是洗衣房女工，她们也都望着公主。房间里满是女仆；房间外，门边的侍卫和身后的一队男仆在叽叽喳喳悄声说话，有的在努力往里瞧。

公主一醒就先想起了早上吓到她的哥布林，于是问了一声：“那些可怕的怪物走了吗？”。

洛蒂哭着说：“你这个淘气鬼，不听话的小公主！”

她的脸可苍白了，上面还有红印子。看起来洛蒂好像正打算把公主摇醒。但艾琳一声不吭，只等着看洛蒂会先说什么。

“你怎么可以这样躲在衣服堆里，害我们都以为你不见了！大家一整天都在找你！你这孩子最难管了！我们觉得这一点都不好玩，我可告诉你！”

找不到公主，，奶妈也只能这样数落她一下。

艾琳轻声细语地说：“我没有，洛蒂。”

而奶妈可粗鲁了，她大声喊：“不要说大话！”

“我什么都不该和你说。”艾琳说。

“那一样不对！”奶妈说。

“什么都不说和说大话一样不对吗？”公主抗议。“我会问问父王，他才不会这么说。我想他也不喜欢你这样说。”

“你就说你是什么意思吧！”奶妈大嚷，气疯了，可是一想到自己可能会有什么下场又怕极了。

公主倒是一点都不生气，说：“洛蒂，我跟你说实话的时候，你就说‘不要说大话’。好像我一定要说大话你才会相信我。”

“公主，你太无礼了。”奶妈说。

公主反驳：“洛蒂，你太过分了，我不和你说话了，等你道歉我才说。明知道你不相信我，我为什么还要跟你说呢？”她很清楚，她越是和洛蒂说她做了什么，洛蒂就越不相信她。

“你这孩子太让人生气了！”奶妈说，“这么调皮该狠狠罚你一顿！”

“管家太太，”公主说，“能不能带我去你的房间，让我在那儿等我父王来？我会让他尽快来的。”

一听这话，大家都目瞪口呆了。在这之前他们都只是把她当作小婴儿。

但是管家担心奶妈，努力想大事化小，小事化了。她说：

“公主，嬷嬷一定不是故意冒犯你的。”

“我觉得，像洛蒂这样说话的人，我父王不会想让她做我的奶妈的。如果她觉得我在撒谎，最好也告诉我父王，不然就走开。沃尔特爵士，你可以照管我吗？”

“万分荣幸，公主。”侍卫长说着大步走进房间。

围观的仆人赶紧让出一条路出来，侍卫长走到小公主床前深深鞠躬，说：“我会马上派出仆人，快马加鞭去禀告您的父王，禀告他公主殿下希望国王前来。请选一个下人留下服侍您，我会让其他人离开。。”

“非常感谢，沃尔特爵士。”公主说着，眼睛瞄了瞄那个新来的洗碗工，她的脸红扑扑的。

可是洛蒂看到她亲爱的公主在找别人要换了自己时，她跪在床边，悲伤地嚎啕大哭起来。

“沃尔特爵士，我想，”公主说，“我要留下洛蒂，但我归你照看。你先不用去打搅我父王，等我说了再去。你们都退下可以吗？我很安全也很好，我并没有躲起来，逗自己开心，害你们担心。洛蒂，你能帮我更衣吗？”

Irene Behaves Like a Princess

When the princess awoke from the sweetest of sleeps, she found her nurse bending over her, the housekeeper looking over the nurse's shoulder, and the laundry-maid looking over the housekeeper's. The room was full of women-servants; and the gentlemen-at-arms, with a long column of servants behind them, were peeping, or trying to peep in at the door of the nursery.

'Are those horrid creatures gone?' asked the princess, remembering first what had terrified her in the morning.

'You naughty, naughty little princess!' cried Lootie.

Her face was very pale, with red streaks in it, and she looked as if she were going to shake her; but Irene said nothing—only waited to hear what should come next.

'How could you get under the clothes like that, and make us all fancy you were lost! And keep it up all day too! You are the most obstinate child! It's anything but fun to us, I can tell you!'

It was the only way the nurse could account for her disappearance.

'I didn't do that, Lootie,' said Irene, very quietly.

'Don't tell stories!' cried her nurse quite rudely.

'I shall tell you nothing at all,' said Irene.

'That's just as bad,' said the nurse.

'Just as bad to say nothing at all as to tell stories?' exclaimed the princess. 'I will ask my papa about that. He won't say so. And I don't think he will like you to say so.'

'Tell me directly what you mean by it!' screamed the nurse, half wild with anger at the princess and fright at the possible consequences to herself.

'When I tell you the truth, Lootie,' said the princess, who somehow did not feel at all angry, 'you say to me "Don't tell stories": it seems I must tell stories before you will believe me.'

'You are very rude, princess,' said the nurse.

'You are so rude, Lootie, that I will not speak to you again till you are sorry. Why should I, when I know you will not believe me?' returned the princess. For she did know perfectly well that if she were to tell Lootie what she had been about, the more she went on to tell her, the less would she believe her.

'You are the most provoking child!' cried her nurse. 'You deserve to be well punished for your wicked behaviour.'

'Please, Mrs Housekeeper,' said the princess, 'will you take me to your room, and keep me till my king-papa comes? I will ask him to come as soon as he can.'

Every one stared at these words. Up to this moment they had all regarded her as little more than a baby.

But the housekeeper was afraid of the nurse, and sought to patch matters up, saying:

'I am sure, princess, nurs  ie did not mean to be rude to you.'

'I do not think my papa would wish me to have a nurse who spoke to me as Lootie does. If she thinks I tell lies, she had better either say so to my papa, or go away. Sir Walter, will you take charge of me?'

'With the greatest of pleasure, princess,' answered the captain of the gentlemen-at-arms, walking with his great stride into the room.

The crowd of servants made eager way for him, and he bowed low before the little princess's bed. 'I shall send my servant at once, on the fastest horse in the stable, to tell your king-papa that Your Royal Highness desires his presence. When you have chosen one of these under-servants to wait upon you, I shall order the room to be cleared.'

'Thank you very much, Sir Walter,' said the princess, and her eye glanced towards a rosy-cheeked girl who had lately come to the house as a scullery-maid.

But when Lootie saw the eyes of her dear princess going in search of another instead of her, she fell upon her knees by the bedside, and burst into a great cry of distress.

'I think, Sir Walter,' said the princess, 'I will keep Lootie. But I put myself under your care; and you need not trouble my king-papa until I speak to you again. Will you all please to go away? I am quite safe and well, and I did not hide myself for the sake either of amusing myself, or of troubling my people. Lootie, will you please to dress me.'