In the streets below, Anna was strolling dreamily around the harbor, watching the ships and imagining all the fun the coronation party would bring. For once, it wouldn’t matter that Elsa didn’t want to spend time with her, because she’d be spending time with everyone else!
Anna rounded a corner and suddenly–smack!–a horse bumped into her!
Caught by surprise, Anna lost her balance and stumbled, falling into a small rowboat on the dock. The boat tipped precariously toward the water. Luckily, the horse came forward and placed its hoof on the end of the boat to keep it from sliding into the harbor.
“Hey!” Anna exclaimed in surprise, looking up at the horse and its rider.
“I’m so sorry,” the rider said. “Are you hurt?”
Anna tried to regain her composure. “Hey, uh... No, I’m okay,” she managed to say. She couldn’t help noticing that the rider was very handsome.
“Are you sure?” the young man asked. He hopped off his horse. He was tall and sharply dressed in a fancy uniform. He looked very concerned about her welfare.
“Yeah, I just wasn’t looking where I was going,” Anna said. She smiled. “But I’m great, actually.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” the stranger said, smiling. He stepped into the little boat and extended his hand to Anna. When their eyes met, a happy charge of excitement passed between them.
The young man smiled. “Prince Hans of the Southern Isles,” he said, introducing himself.
Anna stood up and curtsied. “Princess Anna of Arendelle,” she replied.
“Princess?” he responded, horrified. “My lady!” He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
His horse also dropped to one knee. Immediately, the little boat tipped backward, and Hans tumbled on top of Anna. They both giggled awkwardly.
“Hi again,” Anna said. The prince’s face was just inches from hers.
Apparently realizing his mistake, the horse slammed its hoof back down on the boat. Anna and Hans fell the opposite way. This time, Anna landed on top of Hans!
“Oh, boy,” Hans said, embarrassed.
“Ha! This is awkward,” Anna said, acknowledging their positions. “Not that you’re awkward,” she said, trying to cover her embarrassment. “But just because we’re... I’m awkward!” she said. “You’re gorgeous.” Her hand flew to her mouth. Had she just said that out loud? “Wait, what?”
Hans jumped to his feet, quickly regaining a royal posture. “I’d like to formally apologize for hitting the Princess of Arendelle with my horse. And for every moment after,” he added.
“No, no,” Anna said. “It’s fine. I’m not that princess. I mean, if you’d hit my sister, Elsa, this would be...” She paused for a moment. “Yeesh! Because, you know...” Anna patted the horse, trying to recover her rambling thoughts. “Hello,” she said to the horse. She turned back to Hans and offered him a princess grin. “But lucky for you, it’s just me.”
“Just you?” Hans asked. A warm smile spread across his face.
Anna couldn’t help smiling back. All of sudden, the castle bells began to peal.
“The bells!” she cried. “The coronation — I’d better go,” she said. She hopped off the boat onto the pier and waved. “Uh, bye!”
Hans waved back. Even the horse waved, lifting his hoof off the boat for a moment. Unfortunately, that caused the boat’s weight to shift again.
“Oh, no!” Hans said.
The boat flipped off the dock and Hans fell into the water with a splash! Lifting the boat off his head, Hans peeked up from the water and watched Anna run through the streets toward the castle. He grinned as he thought about his wonderful chance meeting with the beautiful princess.
Soon the people of Arendelle, along with dignitaries from around the land, were making their way into the royal church for Elsa’s coronation. Kristoff, however, was far away, in a corner of the town. He had sold all his ice and was now busy bargaining for a brand-new sled.
“Watch this, Sven,” Kristoff called as he played around with the sled’s special features, which allowed it to switch between runners and wheels. “It’s a sled! It’s a wagon! It’s a sled! It’s a wagon!”
The sled salesman looked concerned, as if he was wondering what kind of person would talk to a reindeer. But he wanted to finish the sale. He tried to make small talk as they completed their deal. “You sticking around to see the queen and the princess?” he asked Kristoff.
“Are you kidding?” Kristoff replied. “I’ve got a brand-new sled... with wheels!” He grinned. “I’m hitting the road.”
“Suit yourself,” the man said. “But I bet they’re beautiful.”
Kristoff didn’t even hear the man. He and Sven were already headed back to the mountains with their new sled.
第5章
在城堡外的街道上,安娜恍恍惚惚地在港口周圍閑逛,看著一艘艘輪船,想象著加冕儀式后的派對一定會十分有趣。這一次即使艾莎不愿意陪她也沒關(guān)系,因為她可以和其他所有人共度好時光!
安娜走過一個拐角,突然,一匹馬和她撞了個正著!
安娜受到驚嚇,身體失去平衡,踉蹌跌入了碼頭上的一艘小劃艇里。小船搖搖晃晃眼看要翻入水中。幸好馬向前一步,前蹄踩住了船尾,小船這才沒有滑入水里。
“嗨!”安娜詫異地大叫道,抬頭打量著這匹馬和它的主人。
“真對不起,”騎士說道,“你受傷了嗎?”
安娜故作淡定。“嗨,呃……沒有,我沒事。”她勉強回答道,忍不住打量眼前這位英俊的騎士。
“你確定沒事嗎?”年輕人問著,跳下了馬。他身材修長,穿著筆挺的禮服。他對安娜的安康十分關(guān)心。
“確定,是我自己剛才走路的時候沒看著路,”她微笑著對騎士說,“我沒事,真的。”
“哦,謝天謝地。”年輕人笑著說道。他走上小船,向安娜伸出手。當他們四目相對時,兩人會心地笑了。
年輕人笑著自我介紹道:“我是南埃爾斯的漢斯王子。”
安娜站了起來,屈膝致禮。“我是艾倫戴爾的安娜公主。”她回答道。
“公主?”他明顯吃了一驚,回答道,“殿下!”他單膝跪地鞠了一躬。
他的馬也抬起前蹄行禮。這下,小船向后傾了一下,漢斯正好摔倒在安娜身上。他們倆都尷尬地笑了。
“嗨。”安娜說道。王子快要貼到她的臉上了。
這才意識到犯錯的馬兒重新踩住了小船。安娜和漢斯又倒向了另一邊。這次安娜倒在了漢斯的身上!
“哦,天哪。”漢斯覺得很難為情。
“呵,真丟臉,”安娜看到倆人的窘境,尷尬地說道,“不是說你。”她邊說邊試著掩飾自己的困窘。“而是因為我們……我很丟臉!”她說。“你帥呆了。”說完,安娜立馬用手捂住了嘴巴。她剛才是不是說得很大聲?“等等,什么?”
漢斯連忙站起來,快速行了一個貴族禮。“我想為我的馬撞到了艾倫戴爾的公主正式道歉。還有后面發(fā)生的事情。”他補充道。
“不,不用,”安娜說,“沒關(guān)系。我可不是那個公主。我的意思是,如果你撞到了我姐姐艾莎,就有可能……”她欲言又止。“噫!因為,你懂的……”安娜輕輕拍了拍馬兒,試圖整理一下混亂的思緒。“你好啊,”她對馬兒說道。她轉(zhuǎn)向漢斯,咧嘴一笑。“不過,幸好你撞到的只是我。”
“只是你?”漢斯問道。他臉上洋溢著熱情的笑容。
安娜忍不住回以微笑。突然,城堡的鐘聲敲響了。
“鐘聲響了!”她叫了出來。“加冕儀式——我得走了。”她說。她跳上碼頭,揮了揮手。“嘿,拜拜!”
漢斯跟她揮手告別。連馬兒也晃了晃蹄子,抬起了原本壓在船上的蹄子。這下,小船又失去了平衡。
“哦,不!”漢斯說道。
小船滑下了碼頭,漢斯不小心掉進水里,濺起了大大的水花!漢斯掀開小船,從水中向上偷偷望去,只見安娜穿過街道跑向了城堡。他回想起與美麗公主邂逅的奇妙經(jīng)歷,笑得樂開了花。
艾倫戴爾的國民和鄰國的貴族們紛紛走向皇家教堂參加艾莎的加冕典禮,而克斯托夫卻遠遠地待在小鎮(zhèn)的一角。他賣完了所有的冰塊,現(xiàn)在正忙著討價還價,買個新雪橇呢。
“快看,斯特。”克斯托夫邊說邊擺弄著雪橇的新功能,它可以在滑軌和車輪之間自由轉(zhuǎn)換。“雪橇!馬車!雪橇哦!馬車哦!”
賣雪橇的人不解地看著,似乎在想什么樣的人竟然可以和馴鹿說話。但他還是想趕緊賣掉雪橇。在結(jié)完賬之后,他試著跟克斯托夫閑聊了幾句。“你也要去看女王和公主嗎?”他問克斯托夫。
“開玩笑呢吧?”克斯托夫回答道,“我有一個新雪橇啦,帶輪子的!”他咧嘴笑了,繼續(xù)說道:“我這就上路啦。”
“隨你便吧,”賣雪橇的人說道,“但我敢說她們一定很美。”
克斯托夫甚至都沒聽清他在說什么。他和斯特已經(jīng)坐著新雪橇調(diào)頭往山里出發(fā)了。