Chapter 5

Chapter 5 "Good morning, Earthbending student," Toph said. I leaped to my feet and snapped to attention. "Good morning, Sifu Toph." "Hey!" Katara shouted, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "You never call me Sifu Katara." Oops! "Well, if you think I should…," I replied, then I turned back to Toph. "What are you going to teach me first?" I said, barely able to stand still. "Rock-a-lance? Making whirlpools out of land?" "How about we start with 'move a rock'?" Toph suggested. "The key to Earthbending is your stance," she continued. "You must be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you are going to move it, you've got to be firmly rooted—like a rock— yourself." I watched Toph grip the ground with her toes, as if she were growing right into the earth. Then she swung her arms in a fluid motion and sent a huge boulder flying into the cliff wall. It exploded into a million pieces. Man, she's good! "Now you give it a try," Toph said.

“早上好，学御土术的学生。”拓芙说。 我一跃而起，迅速立正。 “早上好，拓芙师傅。” “嘿!”卡塔拉喊道，揉着睡眼。 “你从来不叫我卡塔拉师傅。” 哦!“好吧，如果你认为我应该……”我回答，然后我又转向拓芙。 “你打算先教我什么？”我说，几乎站不稳了。 “Rock-a-lance ?在陆地上制造漩涡？”“我们从‘移动一块石头’开始怎么样？”Toph建议。 “御土术的关键是你的姿势，”她继续说。 “你必须坚定而强壮。 岩石是倔强的元素。 如果你要移动它，你自己必须像石头一样牢牢地扎根。” 我看着拓芙用脚趾紧紧抓着地面，仿佛她正生长在泥土里。 然后她流畅地挥动双臂，把一块巨石扔到悬崖上。 它爆炸成无数个碎片。 伙计，她太棒了！“现在你试试吧，”拓芙说。

I turned toward another boulder and set my feet. Steady, strong, stubborn, I thought. Then I swung my arms toward the boulder. WHOOSH! I went flying backward through the air, far away from the boulder I was trying to move. I landed fifty feet away from the thing, and it hadn't even budged! It's just sitting there mocking me. What did I do wrong? I did exactly what Toph did, I think. "Maybe if I came at the boulder from another angle, I could—" "No!" Toph shouted. "That's the problem. Stop thinking like an Airbender. There is no different angle or clever solution or trick that's going to move that rock. You can't dance around the problem like you do with Airbending. You've got to face it head-on. Stay rooted. Be rocklike. I see we've got a lot of work to do." Stop thinking like an Airbender? How can I do that? It's who I am. Instead of helping me, she's asking me to do the impossible. I didn't have this kind of trouble when Katara taught me Waterbending —I just picked it up immediately. But this is different. And so is Toph. She's not quite as understanding and sweet as Katara. Next Toph made me run through an obstacle

我转向另一块巨石，站稳了脚。 坚定、坚强、固执，我想。 然后我朝巨石挥动双臂。 嗖!我向后飞向空中，离我试图移动的巨石很远。 我降落在离那东西50英尺远的地方，它甚至一动也没动！它只是坐在那里嘲笑我。 我做错了什么？我想我做的和拓芙一样。 “也许如果我从另一个角度来看巨石，我就能——”“不行！”Toph喊道。 “这就是问题所在。不要像气宗那样思考。 没有不同的角度或聪明的解决方法或技巧可以移动那块石头。 你不能像御气术那样回避问题。 你必须正面面对它。 保持根植。坚硬如岩石的。我知道我们还有很多工作要做。” 不要像气宗那样思考？ 我该怎么做呢？这就是我。 她不但不帮我，反而让我做不可能的事。 当卡塔拉教我御水术的时候，我没有遇到这样的麻烦——我马上就学会了。 但这是不同的。拓芙也是。 她不像卡塔拉那么善解人意。 接下来，拓芙让我跑过一个障碍

course with a heavy stone on my shoulder. I thought I was going to pass out. Then I had to shove my hands into a barrel of sand. Toph did it easily, but no matter how hard I tried, the sand kept scraping my skin and burning me. Why is this so hard for me? Then we tried combat, and I was even worse at that! Toph lunged at me, shouting, "Rocklike!" But I flinched backward, falling back on my old Airbending habits of retreat. I'm not doing anything right! Maybe I should just quit before I get hurt. "Stop thinking like an Airbender!" Toph shouted again and again. I'm trying, but I've approached bending one way my whole life. I can't just force my instincts to change… can I? After hours of practice, I finally made some progress. Toph had me toss a sack of rocks into the air, then move forward and catch it. And I did it! I kept doing it as I moved toward Toph, who was standing across the way. As I neared Toph, she lunged at me. But I stood my ground. I didn't flinch. I didn't jump back. I stayed rooted in my spot like a rock. Toph nodded at me in approval. I think I might float away, I'm so happy. Of

当然，我肩上还扛着一块沉重的石头。 我以为我要晕过去了。 然后我不得不把手伸进一桶沙子里。 拓芙轻松地做到了，但无论我多么努力，沙子总是刮伤我的皮肤，把我烫伤。 为什么这对我来说就这么难？ 然后我们尝试了战斗，而我更不擅长战斗！拓芙扑向我，喊道：“像石头一样！”但我畏缩了一下，又恢复了我以前的御气术习惯。 我什么都没做对！也许我应该在受伤前辞职。 “别像气宗一样思考！”拓芙一遍又一遍地喊着。 我在努力，但我这辈子都在用一种方式练习御术。 我不能强迫我的直觉改变，对吧？ 经过几个小时的练习，我终于取得了一些进展。 拓芙让我把一袋石头抛向空中，然后向前去接住它。 我做到了！我一边朝站在对面的拓芙走去，一边不停地这样做。 当我接近拓芙时，她扑向我。 但我坚持自己的立场。我没有退缩。 我没有跳回去。我像石头一样在我的位置上扎了根。 拓芙点头表示赞同。 我想我可能会飘走，我太高兴了。 的

course, that wouldn't be rocklike. I didn't stay happy for too long. We were at the bottom of a long ramp that Toph had created, and I could see a huge boulder resting at the top of it. "I'm going to roll that boulder down at you," Toph explained. "If you have the attitude of an Earthbender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock." I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. What happens if I can't do it? Stopping a rolling boulder seems much tougher than simply moving one. "Sorry, Toph," Katara said, "but are you sure this is really the best way to teach Aang Earthbending?" "Actually, Katara, there is a better way," Toph said. Phew! Thank you, Katara! Maybe I won't have to stop that boulder after all. Wait a minute—why is Toph tying a blindfold around my eyes? She can't be serious? "This way you'll have to sense the vibration of the boulder to stop it," Toph said. Oh, great! Big help, Katara! Now I'll really get flattened. Okay, just take a deep breath, root your feet to the ground, and set your stance, hands extended in front of you. You are going to stop that boulder, Aang, even with this blindfold on.

当然，那不会像岩石一样。 我没能开心太久。 我们在一条长长的坡道的底部，这是拓芙造的，我可以看到坡顶有一块巨石。 “我要把那块巨石滚下来砸你，”拓芙解释道。 “如果你有御土师的姿态，你就会保持你的姿势，阻止石头。” 我突然觉得胃不舒服。 如果我做不到怎么办？ 阻止一块滚动的巨石似乎比简单地移动它要困难得多。 “对不起，拓芙，”卡塔拉说，“但你确定这真的是教安昂御土术的最好方法吗？”“事实上，卡塔拉，有更好的办法，”拓芙说。 唷!谢谢你，卡塔拉！也许我根本不用阻止那块大石头了。 等等，为什么拓芙要给我蒙上眼罩？ 她不会是认真的吧？“这样你就必须感觉到巨石的振动来阻止它，”Toph说。 哦,太棒了!帮大忙了，卡塔拉！现在我真的要被压扁了。 好了，深呼吸，双脚着地，站好，双手向前伸。 安昂，即使你戴着眼罩，你也要阻止那巨石。

Then Toph gave it an Earthbending shove. Hey, I CAN feel the vibrations through my feet. It's rolling down. I CAN feel the boulder picking up speed. It's close, getting closer, just a few inches away. AHHH! I have to get out of the way! This rock is going to crush me! I just know it. I can't move it! I can't stop it. I'm just not an Earthbender—that's all there is to it! Jump! Jump! Save yourself! Then the boulder rolled harmlessly past. "You blew it!" Toph yelled. "You had a perfect stance and perfect form, but when it came right down to it, you just didn't have the guts!" She's right. I blew it. What kind of Avatar am I? "I know. I'm sorry." "You ARE sorry. You're a jelly-boned wimp. Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an Earthbender?" Why does she have to yell at me all the time? Why does she have to make everything so hard? She treats me like I'm a little kid, and like she's the greatest thing that ever lived. I can't stand it anymore. "No," I replied, turning away. "I don't think I have what it takes." Katara suggested that we work on some

然后拓芙用御土术推了它一下。 嘿，我可以通过我的脚感觉到振动。 它在往下滚。我能感觉到巨石的速度在加快。 它很近了，越来越近了，只有几英寸远。 啊!我得让开！这块石头要砸死我了！我就是知道。 我动不了！我无法阻止它。 我不是御土师——就是这么回事！跳!跳!拯救你自己!然后巨石安然无恙地滚了过去。 “你搞砸了！”Toph喊道。 “你有完美的姿势和完美的姿势，但当比赛到来的时候，你就是没有勇气！”她是对的。 我搞砸了。我是什么样的神通？ “我知道。我很抱歉。”“你很抱歉。 你是个骨瘦如柴的懦夫。 现在，你有本事像御土师一样面对那块石头吗？”为什么她总是对我大喊大叫？ 她为什么要把事情搞得这么难？ 她把我当小孩子，把她当世上最伟大的人。 我再也受不了了。“不，”我回答，转过身去。 “我不认为我有这个能力。” 卡塔拉建议我们做一些