Chapter 1

Chapter 1 My name is Azula. I am a princess of the Fire Nation. My father is Fire Lord Ozai, leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. Soon he will rule all the nations—Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. They will fall under his iron grip once my work is complete. Then, in time, I will succeed my father to the throne of the Fire Nation and become the next Fire Lord. But first things first. My task at the moment is to track down my uncle and my brother and return them to the Fire Lord for the punishment they deserve. My uncle Iroh is a traitor and a coward. Oh sure, once he was considered a great warrior, but when he ran from the battle of Ba Sing Se, he let control of the Earth Kingdom slip from his grasp. For that he has been banished from the Fire Nation for life. And what of my beloved big brother, Zuko? He is a failure, total and complete. My father said so just recently when he assigned me this task. Of course I already knew: Zuko's been insufferable since we were children—a weak, whiny boy who never actually grew up. Whenever things didn't go his way, he would go crying to our mother—until one day she was no longer there to protect him. He would never stand up for himself, and he certainly never stood up

第一章我叫阿祖拉。 我是烈火国的公主。 我父亲是烈火王欧宰，地球上最强大国家的领袖。 不久他将统治所有的国家——火、地、水和空气。 一旦我的工作完成，他们就会落入他的铁腕之下。 到时候，我将继承我父亲的王位，成为下一任烈火王。 但重要的事情先做。我现在的任务是找到我的叔叔和弟弟把他们送回烈火王那里接受他们应得的惩罚。 我叔叔艾洛是个叛徒和懦夫。 当然，他曾经被认为是伟大的战士，但当他从永固城战役中逃跑时，他失去了对土强国的控制。 为此，他将被永远驱逐出烈火国。 那我亲爱的大哥祖寇呢？ 他是个彻头彻尾的失败者。 我父亲最近给我布置这个任务时就是这么说的。 当然，我早就知道：祖寇从我们还是孩子的时候起就一直让人难以忍受——一个软弱、爱发牢骚、从未真正长大的男孩。 每当事情不如他所愿时，他就会哭着去找我们的母亲——直到有一天她不再在那里保护他。 他永远不会为自己挺身而出，他当然也永远不会站出来

to me. He's been afraid of me since I was nine years old, and that's just the way I like it. I'm fourteen now, and I could destroy him with just one look. And to think that he's next in line to become Fire Lord! The very idea makes me laugh. I know Zuko's older than me. But Iroh is older than HIS brother, and Iroh's cowardice and incompetence rendered him unworthy of the throne. And so it was my father, Ozai, who became Fire Lord. Well, history has a strange way of repeating itself. I believe that once again the younger sibling will ascend to the throne of the Fire Nation when the time comes. I will be the next Fire Lord, definitely not my useless brother. Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation for disrespecting our father. He has since been searching for the Avatar, to bring that little pest back to Father and eliminate any threat to the Fire Nation's plan for world domination. But, of course, Zuko has failed. Time and again the Avatar has slipped through his fingers, and Zuko now runs and hides in disgrace with our uncle. But he cannot run forever, and he certainly cannot run from me! My father has supplied me with a beautiful ship, a Fire Nation royal sloop, to be precise—and I am nothing if not precise. The ship is filled with the luxuries befitting a princess, and is crewed by Fire

给我。从我九岁起他就怕我，我就喜欢这样。 我现在十四岁了，我只要看他一眼就能毁了他。 想想他就是下一个成为烈火王的人！这个想法让我发笑。 我知道祖寇比我大。 但艾洛比他哥哥年长，他的懦弱和无能使他不配继承王位。 所以我的父亲，欧宰，成为了烈火王。 历史总是以一种奇怪的方式重演。 我相信，当时机成熟时，年幼的弟弟会再次登上烈火国的王位。 我是下一任烈火王，绝对不是我没用的弟弟。 祖寇因为不尊重我们的父亲而被驱逐出烈火国。 从那以后，他一直在寻找神通，把那个小坏蛋带回父亲身边，消除对烈火国统治世界计划的任何威胁。 当然，祖寇失败了。 神通一次又一次地从他的指缝中溜走，祖寇现在带着我们叔叔的耻辱逃跑了。 但他不可能永远逃跑，他当然也逃不掉我！我父亲为我提供了一艘漂亮的船，准确地说，是一艘烈火国的皇家单桅帆船——如果我不严谨，我就一无是处。 这艘船装满了适合公主的奢侈品，船员是火

Nation soldiers at my command. A great warrior and leader deserves nothing less. As the magnificent ship approached the port where Iroh and Zuko had last been seen, I addressed the troops who gathered on deck. "My brother and uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord and brought shame on all of us. I understand that you may have mixed feelings about attacking members of the royal family, but I assure you, if you hesitate in your duty to me and to your country, I will not hesitate to bring you down." I can feel the fear spreading among them like a plague. Good. I like it when people are afraid of me. Frightened soldiers are obedient soldiers. They will obey my every wish, or they will know my wrath. Trust me. They don't want to know my wrath. "Dismissed!" As the troops hurried off to their posts, the ship's captain, a spineless little weasel, came scurrying up to me, muttering some gibberish about how the tides wouldn't allow him to bring the ship into port before nightfall. I know just how to handle this poor excuse for a soldier. "I'm sorry, Captain," I said with extreme politeness, "but I do not know much about the tides.

全国士兵听命于我。 一个伟大的战士和领袖理应如此。 当这艘宏伟的船驶近艾洛和祖寇最后一次出现的港口时，我向聚集在甲板上的部队发表了讲话。 “我哥哥和叔叔让烈火王蒙羞，也让我们大家蒙羞。 我理解你对攻击王室成员可能有复杂的感情，但我向你保证，如果你在对我和你的国家的责任上犹豫不决，我将毫不犹豫地把你打倒。” 我能感觉到恐惧像瘟疫一样在他们中间蔓延。 好。我喜欢别人怕我的样子。 受惊吓的士兵是听话的士兵。 他们必须服从我的一切意愿，否则他们就会知道我的愤怒。 相信我。他们不想知道我的愤怒。 “驳回了!”当部队匆忙地回到他们的岗位上时，船长，一个没有骨气的小黄鼠狼，急匆匆地向我跑来，咕哝着一些胡言乱语，说潮水不允许他在天黑前把船开进港口。 我知道该怎么对付这个可怜的士兵。 “对不起，船长，”我非常客气地说，“我不太了解潮汐。

Can you explain something to me?" "Of course, Your Highness." Weakling. I'd love to get rid of him. But then who would steer the ship? "Do the tides command this ship?" I asked him. "I'm afraid I don't understand." Of course you don't. You have no idea how close you are to vanishing in a flash of blue flame. "You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in. So again I ask you: Do the tides command this ship?" "No, Princess." He seems to be catching on. Good. "And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?" "No, Princess." I see the sweat bead on his forehead and his neck muscles tighten. He is afraid of me. "Well then, Captain, maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over." At this point the nervous man won't even make eye contact with me. "I-I'll p-pull us in at once, Your Highness," he stammered, swallowing hard. Smart man. I'll let you live. For today, anyway.

你能给我解释一下吗？”“当然，殿下。” 虚弱的人。我很想摆脱他。 那谁来掌舵呢？ “是潮汐在指挥这艘船吗？”我问他。 “恐怕我不明白。” 你当然不知道。你不知道你离消失在蓝色火焰中有多近。 “你说过潮水不允许我们把船靠岸。 所以我再问您，这船是由潮汐指挥的吗？”“不,公主。” 他似乎正在迎头赶上。 好。“如果我把您扔到海里去，潮水会把您撞到礁石上吗？”“不,公主。” 我看到他额头上的汗珠，脖子上的肌肉也绷紧了。 他怕我。“那么，船长，也许您应该少担心潮水，因为潮水已经决定要杀死您了，您应该多为我担心，因为我还在考虑这件事。” 在这一点上，紧张的男人甚至不愿与我有眼神交流。 “我——我——我马上把我们拉进去，殿下。”他结结巴巴地说，使劲咽着口水。 聪明的人。我会让你活下去。 至少今天是这样。