Decumus Scotti was supposed to be in Gideon, a thoroughly Imperialized city in southern Black Marsh, arranging business dealings to improve commerce in the province on behalf of Lord Vanech's Building Commission and its clients. Instead, he was in a half-submerged, rotten little village called Hixinoag, where he knew no one. Except for a drug smuggler named Chaero Gemullus.
Scotti计划是到Gideon，一个具有帝国特色的Black Marsh南方城市，为Lord Vanech委员会和他们的客户做一些生意，取而代之的是一个半荒废的被掩埋了一半的一个叫Hixinoag的城市，一个他从没有听说的地方，而这个地方是一个药材走私商人叫Gemullus的告诉他的。
Gemullus was not at all perturbed that the merchant caravan had gone north instead of south. He even let Scotti share his bucket of trodh, tiny little crunchy fish, he had bought from the villagers. Scotti would have preferred them cooked, or at any rate, dead, but Gemullus blithely explained that dead, cooked trodh are deadly poison.
Gemullus显然并没有被这种错误的线路所影响，他还让Scotti看他的收藏，一桶发出嘎吱声音的小鱼。都是从其他村庄买来的，Scotti还想考虑要怎么烹饪他们，不过Gemullus开心的解释道，如果这种鱼死了之后就会变得有毒，还是可以致死的毒。
"If I were where I was supposed to be," Scotti pouted, putting one of the wriggling little creatures in his mouth. "I could be having a roast, and some cheese, and a glass of wine."
“如果我没有走错路就好了”Scotti撅着嘴，然后从桶里捞出一只活蹦乱跳的生物放入嘴中。“我好想一边就着美酒一边吃着烤肉，还有一些奶酪。”
"I sell moonsugar in the north, and buy it in the south," he shrugged. "You have to be more flexible, my friend."
“我通常都是卖东西在北部,然后在南部地区买这些东西”Gemullus耸耸肩,"你要适应这种生活,我的朋友."
"My only business is in Gideon," Scotti frowned.
"我的工作在Gideon!"Scotti怒道.
"Well, you have a couple choices," replied the smuggler. "You could just stay here. Most villages in Argonia don't stay put for very long, and there's a good chance Hixinoag will drift right down to the gates of Gideon. Might take you a month or two. Probably the easiest way."
"那么你有几个选择,"Gemullus回应到."你可以呆在这儿.大部分的Argonia的村庄不会呆在原地太久,有可能运气不错的话Hixinoag会正好漂移到Gideon的要道上.但是可能会花上一到两个月,应该是最简单的办法."
"That'd put me far behind schedule."
"那就会让我落后很多日程进度."
"Next option, you could join up with the caravan again," said Gemullus. "They might be going in the right direction this time, and they might not get stuck in the mud, and they might not be all murdered by Naga highwaymen."
"另一个选择,你可以重新加入车队,他们这次会走在正确的方向上,他们可能会陷在沼泽里,也可能会被Naga们杀掉."
"Not tempting," Scotti frowned. "Any other ideas?"
"想都不要想"Scotti说到"还有其他方法吗?"
"Ride the roots. The underground express," Gemullus grinned. "Follow me."
"乘坐树根快车,地下轨道."Gemullus微笑道."跟我来."
Scotti followed Gemullus out of the village and into a copse of trees shrouded by veils of wispy moss. The smuggler kept his eye on the ground, poking at the viscuous mud intermittently. Finally he found a spot which triggered a mass of big oily bubbles to rise to the surface.
Scotti 跟着Gemullus走出村落,走进一片灌木丛中，Gemullus一直盯着地面，不时戳下地面。终于他找到了一个从地面冒着泛油的泡泡的地方。
"Perfect," he said. "Now, the important thing is not to panic. The express will take you due south, that's the wintertide migration, and you'll know you're near Gideon when you see a lot of red clay. Just don't panic, and when you see a mass of bubbles, that's a breathing hole you can use to get out."
“很好。”他说“现在，最重要的是不要惊慌，这个地下快车会带你到南部，现在是冬季迁徙的时候，当你看到到处都是红色的泥土的时候你就知道你已经离Gideon不远了。不要担心，你会看到很多气泡，那是它呼吸的洞，你可以利用他回到地面上。”
Scotti looked at Gemullus blankly. The man was talking perfect gibberish. "What?"
Scotti看着他，脑子一片空白。这个人在说天方夜谭。“什么东西？”
Gemullus took Scotti by the shoulder and positioning him on top of the mass of bubbles. "You stand right here …"
Gemullus抓住Scotti的肩膀，把他带到气泡的中央。“你站在这儿.....”
Scotti sank quickly into the mud, staring at the smuggler, horror-struck.
很快Scotti就沉入土里，惊恐地看着Gemullus。
"And remember to wait 'til you see the red clay, and then the next time you see bubbles, push up …"
“记住，等到你看到红色的泥土，然后找到那些气泡，然后上去...”
The more Scotti wriggled to get free, the faster he sunk. The mud enveloped Scotti to his neck, and he continued staring, unable to articulate anything but a noise like "Oog."
Scotti越是紧张地扭动身体，他就下沉的越快，很快就淹没到他的脖子，他想呼叫，但是只发出“哦哦哦”的杂音出来。
"And don't panic at the idea that you're being digested. You could live in a rootworm's belly for months."
“不要担心，你正在被根虫消化到肚子里面。你可以在根虫的肚子里面呆上好几个月。”
Scotti took one last panicked gasp of air and closed his eyes before he disappeared into the mud.
Scotti在他被泥土淹没前赶紧大吸一口气，闭上眼睛。
The clerk felt a warmth he hadn't expected all around him. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was entirely surrounded by a translucent goo, and was traveling rapidly forward, southward, gliding through the mud as if it were air, skipping along an intricate network of roots. Scotti felt confusion and euphoria in equal measures, madly rushing forward through an alien environment of darkness, spinning around and over the thick fibrous tentacles of the trees. It was if he were high in the sky at midnight, not deep beneath the swamp in the Underground Express.
一种完全没有料到的温暖包围着他。睁开眼睛一看，他被一种透明的粘性的东西包裹着，穿过泥土穿过网络一般的树根正快速地往南方移动，就好像在空气中移动一样。Scotti有种迷惑又兴奋的感觉，就像游荡在异乡一片漆黑的路上，转着圈，穿过像触手一样的树根。你会觉得这哪是在地底下搭乘地底快车，而是在半夜的天空中盘旋。
Looking up slightly at the massive root structure above, Scotti saw something wriggle past. A eight-foot-long, armless, legless, colorless, boneless, eyeless, nearly shapeless creature, riding the roots. Something dark was inside of it, and as it came closer, Scotti could see it was an Argonian man. He waved, and the disgusting creature the Argonian was in flattened slightly and rushed onward.
在树根的上面，Scotti看到有个东西在动，大概8尺长，没有手，没有脚，也没有颜色，没有特征骑在树根上。内部有一团黑黑的东西，慢慢靠近后，他看到里面是个Argonian男人。他挥了挥手，那团东西带着Argonian人走远了。
Gemullus's words began to reappear in Scotti's mind at this sight. "The wintertide migration," "air hole," "you're being digested,"—these were the phrases that danced around as if trying to find some place to live in a brain which was highly resistant to them coming in. But there was no other way to look at the situation. Scotti had gone from eating living fish to being eaten alive as a way of transport. He was in one of those worms.
Gemullus的话又在Scotti脑中回荡。“冬季迁徙，空气洞口，你被消化。”这些短语在脑中飞舞就好像它们想在大脑里找个待的地方，但是大脑没法理解。讽刺的是，他从活吞小鱼到现在为了迁移在其他虫子的体内，真是奇特啊。
Scotti made an executive decision to faint.
Scotti晕了过去。
He awoke in stages, having a beautiful dream of being held in a woman's warm embrace. Smiling and opening his eyes, the reality of where he really was rushed over him.
过了许久他醒了，正做着被女人怀抱的美梦，满足的睁开眼睛，不过现实反差着实让他不好受了。
The creature was still rushing madly, blindly forward, gliding over roots, but it was no longer like a flight through the night sky. Now it was like the sky at sunrise, in pinks and reds. Scotti remembered Gemullus telling him to look for the red clay, and he would be near Gideon. The next thing he had to find was the bubbles.
这些生物仍然不停的前进着，不过看起来不像是在夜空中前行，现在周围都是粉色和红色的就像是太阳下的天空。Scotti记起来Gemullus对他说的要注意红色的泥土，应该是在Gideon附近。现在他需要找到那些气泡。
There were no bubbles anywhere. Though the inside of the worm was still warm and comfortable, Scotti felt the weight of the earth all around him. "Just don't panic" Gemullus had said, but it was one thing to hear that advice, and quite another to take it. He began to squirm, and the creature began to move faster at the increased pressure from within.
四周观望没有气泡，虽然这里很舒适，Scotti还是感觉到四周的泥土的压力。“不要惊慌”Gemullus曾经说到，但是现实的情况却不容易做到这点。他开始不断扭动，那东西越走越快，感受到的压力也在不断增加。
Suddenly, Scotti saw it ahead of him, a slim spire of bubbles rising up through the mud from some underground stream, straight up, through the roots to the surface above him. The moment the rootworm went through it, Scotti pushed with all of his might upward, bursting through the creature's thin skin. The bubbles pushed Scotti up quickly, and before he could blink, he was popping out of the red slushy mud.
突然间，Scotti看到他的前方，一股气泡从地底下的某处盘旋升起，一直往上穿过树根到达地面，这个时候，根虫也正在穿过这个气泡，Scotti使出全力往上一推，从这个生物的包裹里挣脱.气泡也带着Scotti的身体快速往上升,在他睁开眼睛前,他已经被带到了红色的泥泞的地面上了.
Two gray Argonians were standing under a tree nearby, holding a net. They looked in Scotti's direction with polite curiosity. In their net, Scotti noticed, were several squirming furry rat-like creatures. While he addressed them, another fell out of the tree. Though Scotti had not been educated in this practice, he recognized fishing when he saw it.
两个灰色Argonian人手持猎网站在他附近的树的下面，好奇而又礼貌的看着他。Scotti注意到网中有一些像老鼠一样的毛茸茸的生物正在蠕动着。当他正在招呼他们时，正好又有一只从树上掉了下来。虽然他没有受过这种训练，但也明白他们正在捕猎。
"Excuse me, lads," Scotti said jovially. "I was wondering if you'd point me in the direction of Gideon?"
“打扰一下，伙计们”，Scotti高兴的说道。“请问下到Gideon的方向怎么走？”
The Argonians introduced themselves as Drawing-Flame and Furl-Of-Fresh-Leaves, and looked at one another, puzzling over the question.
Argonian人自我介绍了一番，一个是Drawing-Flame和Furl-OF-Fresh—Leaves，两个人看着对方对这个问题摸不着头脑。
"Who you seek?" asked Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves.
“你找谁？”Furl—of-Fresh-leaves问道。
"I believe his name is," said Scotti, trying to remember the contents of his long gone file of Black Marsh contacts in Gideon. "Archein Right-Foot … Rock?"
“我想他的名字是”Scotti说到，努力从那些已经被丢弃在了去Gideon路上的文件中回忆起那个名字。“Archein-Foot 。。。。Rock？”
Drawing-Flame nodded, "For five gold, show you way. Just east. Is plantation east of Gideon. Very nice."
Drawing-Flame点点头，“5个金币，给你指路，一直向东走，Gideon的东边有座种植园。很漂亮。”
Scotti thought that the best business he had heard of in two days, and handed Drawing-Flames the five septims.
Scotti觉得这是这几天来做过的最划算的生意，然后交个Drawing-Flames5个金币。
The Argonians led Scotti onto a muddy ribbon of road that passed through the reeds, and soon revealed the bright blue expanse of Topal Bay far to the west. Scotti looked around at the magnificent walled estates, where bright crimson blossoms sprang forth from the very dirt of the walls, and surprised himself by thinking, "This is very pretty."
Argonian人带着Scotti穿过芦苇丛走上一条泥泞的小路，不一会儿看到了西面远处宽阔蔚蓝的Topal湾。周围都是华丽的房子，深红色的花朵从四周的墙角绽放。“真是漂亮。”他自己都被眼前的景象看惊呆了。
The road ran parallel to a fast-moving stream, running eastward from Topal Bay. It was called the Onkobra River, he was told. It ran deep into Black Marsh, to the very dark heart of the province.
和这条路平行的是一条叫做Onkobra的湍急河流，从Topal湾一直顺东而下，会一直到Black Marsh的最深处，到达这个省最黑暗的腹地。
Peeking past the gates to the plantations east of Gideon, Scotti saw that few of the fields were tended. Most had rotten crops from harvests past still clinging to wilted vines, orchards of desolate, leafless trees. The Argonian serfs who worked the fields were thin, weak, near death, more like haunting spirits than creatures of life and reason.
走过这些庄园，往大门里面望去，很小一部分土地被精心照料，大部分的作物从丰收季节后没有打理而在田里腐败，果园也荒芜起来，树叶也掉光了。那些Argonian农奴们一个个都是又老又瘦。更像是游荡在田野间的鬼魂而不是一个真正的生命。
Two hours later, as the three continued their trudge east, the estates were still impressive at least from a distance, the road was still solid if weedy, but Scotti was irritated, horrified by the field workers and the agricultural state, and no longer charitable towards the area. "How much further?"
2个小时后，他们3个经过长途跋涉，目的地还是在远方，马路不再泥泞，但是Scotti开始暴躁起来，被眼前的荒凉景象和工人的样子所感到恐慌起来。“还有多远到？”
Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves and Drawing-Flame looked at one another, as if that question was something that hadn't occurred to them.
两个Argonian人面面相觑，感觉这个问题不是在问自己一样。
"Archein is east?" Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves pondered. "Near or far?"
“Archein 在东边？”Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves疑惑着说。“远还是近?”
Drawing-Flame shrugged noncommittally, and said to Scotti, "For five gold, show you way. Just east. Is plantation. Very nice."
Drawing-Flame无奈的耸耸肩，对着Scotti说“5个金币，给你指路，朝着东边，有一片很棒的庄园。”
"You don't have any idea, do you?" Scotti cried. "Why couldn't you tell me that in the first place when I might have asked someone else?"
“你根本不知道对吧？”Scotti差点哭出来。“为什么你们不早说，至少我还可以问别人？”
Around the bend up ahead, there was the sound of hoofbeats. A horse coming closer.
在前面的拐角处，一阵马蹄声传来，一匹马逐渐走近了。
Scotti began to walk towards the sound to hail the rider, and didn't see Drawing-Flame's taloned claws flash out and cast the spell at him. He felt it though. A kiss of ice along his spine, the muscles along his arms and legs suddenly immobile as if wrapped in rigid steel. He was paralyzed.
Scotti动身走了过去准备招呼骑行者，没有注意到Drawing-Flame的爪子舞动对他使用魔法。他中了魔法，一阵冰凉侵入脊柱，他的手和脚的肌肉立刻像被装进了钢管里面无法动弹。
The great curse of paralysis, as the reader may be unfortunate enough to know, is that you continue to see and think even though your body does not respond. The thought that went through Scotti's mind was, "Damn."
有些读者可能不幸中过这种麻痹术，就是你四肢无法动作，但是你的思想和意识却不会受印象。这时候Scotti心里只有一个想法“他妈的！”
For Drawing-Flame and Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves were, of course, like most simple day laborers in Black Marsh, accomplished Illusionists. And no friend of the Imperial.
对于他们两个Argonian人来说，就和Black Marsh其他工人一样，高级术士，但是对Imperial人并不友善。
The Argonians shoved Decumus Scotti to the side of the road, just as the horse and rider came around the corner. He was an impressive figure, a nobleman in a flashing dark green cloak exactly the same color as his scaled skin, and a frilled hood that was part of his flesh and sat upon his head like a horned crown.
他们把Scotti丢在道路的一边，这时马儿也走了过来。骑手是一个卓尔不凡的贵族，披着暗绿色的斗篷和他的鳞片一样的颜色，像兜帽一样的肉冠在头上看起来就像座皇冠。
"Greetings, brothers!" the rider said to the two.
“你们好，兄弟俩！”骑手向他们两个打招呼。
"Greetings, Archein Right-Foot-Rock," they responded, and then Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves added. "What is milord's business on this fine day?"
“您好，Archein Right-Foot-Rock”Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves说到“今天老爷的生意怎么样？”
"No rest, no rest," the Archein sighed regally. "One of my she-workers gave birth to twins. Twins! Fortunately, there's a good trader in town for those, and she didn't put up too much of a fuss. And then there's a fool of an Imperial from Lord Vanech's Building Commission I am supposed to meet with in Gideon. I'm sure he'll want the grand tour before he opens up the treasury for me. Such a lot of fuss."
“太忙了，连休息时间都没有啊！”Archein叹了口气。“我的一个工人生了个双胞胎。双胞胎啊！不过幸运的是有个商人很擅长处理这些情况。而她还没有给我惹出多少乱子。另外，一个来自Imperial Lord Vanech的委员会的傻瓜要和我在Gideon会面。我想他会要求一个盛大的欢迎宴会。真是一大堆烦心事啊。”
Drawing-Flame and Furl-of-Fresh-Leaves sympathesized, and then, as Archein Right-Foot-Rock rode off, they went to look for their hostage.
他们两个附和着，等Archein走远了，他们回头寻找着他们的人质。
Unfortunately for them, gravity being the same in Black Marsh as elsewhere in Tamriel, their hostage, Decumus Scotti, had continued to roll down from where they left him, and was, at that moment, in the Onkobra River, drowning.
不幸的是，地心引力在这里和Tamriel其他地方是一样的。他们的人质，Scotti ，在他们把他推倒在路边后一直翻滚，最后，掉进了Onkobra河中，沉了下去。