Chapter 1

Chapter 1 My name is Zuko. I am a prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne. As of now, however, I'm a prince in exile. My father, Fire Lord Ozai, has banished me—at least until I can deliver the Avatar to him. This scar on my face, given to me by my own father, is merely an outward sign of my humiliation. The true pain of my exile runs much deeper. So far I have failed to capture the Avatar. But I must succeed, for along with his capture comes the return of my honor, my birthright, and most important of all, my father's respect. I am the older of his two children and it is my destiny to follow my father onto the throne as Fire Lord. But that will never come to pass unless I can redeem myself. Following our terrible defeat at the hands of the Avatar during a huge battle at the North Pole, my uncle Iroh and I escaped on a homemade raft. After three weeks at sea, clinging by a thread to our very lives, we landed at a resort in the Earth Kingdom. Here we will rest and recover while I plan my next step. Today is a very sad day. While my uncle, who is fond of his creature comforts, gets a massage, I can think only of the fact that three years ago on this day

第一章我叫祖寇。 我是烈火国的王子，王位的继承人。 但现在，我是一个流亡的王子。 我的父亲，烈火王欧宰，驱逐了我——至少在我把神通交给他之前。 我脸上的这个伤疤，是我父亲给我的，只不过是我耻辱的一个外在标志。 我被流放的真正痛苦要深得多。 到目前为止，我还没能抓住神通。 但我必须成功，因为随着他的被捕，我的荣誉，我与生俱来的权利，最重要的是，我父亲的尊重也会回来。 我是他两个孩子中的老大我命中注定要跟随父亲登上王位成为烈火王。 但除非我能救赎自己，否则这永远不会发生。 在北极的一场大战中，我们惨败于神通之手，我和艾洛叔叔乘着自制的木筏逃了出来。 在海上漂泊了三个星期，我们命悬一线，终于在土强国的一个度假胜地登陆。 我们在这里休息和恢复，我计划下一步。 今天是非常悲伤的一天。当我喜欢物质享受的叔叔在做按摩时，我却只能想起三年前的今天

my father ordered me to leave the Fire Nation. "It's the anniversary, isn't it?" Uncle asked. "On this day three years ago I was banished. I lost it all… and I want it back!" But I don't know how to go about getting it. And so I wait and think. My uncle doesn't care about my problems. As long as he has a full stomach, a hot cup of tea, and a comfortable bed, nothing else matters. He spends his days walking the beach, collecting useless seashells. One evening after he had returned with a new sack full of shells, I got the shock of my life. "Hello, brother, Uncle," said a voice from the shadows. No, it can't be! Azula! My younger sister, here. But how? Why? And what does she want? All she's ever done is tricked me, humiliated me, and shown everyone that she's better than me—better at Firebending, and at gaining our father's affection. She was not the one banished from her home, so what could she possibly want from me? "What are you doing here?" I shouted. "What, no hello? Have you become uncivilized, Zu-Zu?" "Don't call me that!" I hate it when she calls me that. It's just another

我父亲命令我离开烈火国 “今天是结婚纪念日，是吗？”叔叔问。 “三年前的今天，我被放逐了。 我失去了一切……我想要回来！”但我不知道如何去得到它。 所以我等待着，思考着。我叔叔不关心我的问题。 只要他吃饱了，喝上一杯热茶，睡上一张舒服的床，其他什么都不重要。 他每天都在海滩上散步，收集无用的贝壳。 一天晚上，他带着满满一袋贝壳回来了，这让我大吃一惊。 “你好，哥哥，叔叔。”一个声音从阴影里传来。 不，不可能！Azula !我妹妹，在这儿。 但如何?为什么?她想要什么？ 她所做的一切都是欺骗我，羞辱我，向所有人展示她比我强——她更擅长御火术，更能赢得父亲的喜爱。 她又不是那个被逐出家门的人，她想从我这里得到什么呢？ “你在这儿干什么？”我叫道。 “什么，不打招呼吗？”祖祖，你变得不文明了吗？”“别那样叫我！”我讨厌她那样叫我。 这只是另一个

way of putting me down, making me feel like she's really the big sister and I'm just a little kid. "I've come with a message from home," she began. "Father's changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home." Did I just hear that correctly? Is it possible that Father wants me home? All of a sudden, all is forgiven? Can everything in my life change in a matter of seconds? Now Azula is yelling at me, but I don't hear her. All I can think of is going home. "Did you hear me?" I finally heard her shout. "You should be happy! Excited! Grateful." I just can't believe that Father regrets what he did, and that he wants me back. I'm feeling something I haven't felt in three years: hope… and relief. I'm really going home! At some point Azula left, but I didn't remember her going. This was before Uncle ruined the happiness I was feeling. "I have never known my brother to regret anything," he said. "If Ozai wants you back, it may not be for the reasons you imagine." How can Uncle betray me like this? Why is he standing there shattering my dreams? "You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know

用这种方式贬低我，让我觉得她才是真正的大姐姐，而我只是个小孩子。 “我是带着家信来的，”她开始说。 “爸爸改变主意了。 家庭对他突然变得很重要了。 父亲对你的放逐感到遗憾。 他要你回家。”我没听错吧？ 有没有可能父亲想让我回家？ 突然之间，一切都被原谅了？ 我生活中的一切都能在几秒钟内改变吗？ 现在阿祖拉在吼我，但我没听见。 我满脑子想的就是回家。 “你听见了吗？”我终于听到了她的呼喊。 “你应该高兴！”兴奋!感激。” 我只是不敢相信父亲会后悔他的所作所为，他想让我回来。 我有一种三年来从未有过的感觉：希望……还有解脱。 我真的要回家了！阿祖拉离开了，但我不记得她离开了。 那是在舅舅毁了我的幸福之前。 他说：“我从来没听说过我哥哥会后悔什么。” “如果尾宰想让你回来，可能不是因为你想象的原因。” 叔叔怎么能这样背叛我？ 他为什么站在那里粉碎我的梦想？ “你不知道我父亲对我的感觉。 你不知道

anything!" I snapped. I wish he could let me enjoy my moment of redemption. "You are a lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who has always been jealous of his brother!" I shouted, then I ran outside. That's it then, isn't it? Uncle can't hope to be half the man that Father is. For these three years he's been trying to act like he was my father. But now that Father wants me back, Uncle is jealous. He doesn't want to give me up. Well, too bad. I'm not his son. I'm Prince Zuko, son of the Fire Lord, and I am going home! I hurried away as quickly as I could, making my way toward Azula's ship. But as I walked, doubt began to creep into my mind, and I tried to fend it off. Can I be wrong about Uncle? Maybe I'm being too harsh. He's always stuck by me no matter what. Maybe I'm judging him too quickly. He would make good company on the long voyage back to the Fire Nation, and— I hear someone coming up behind me. It's Uncle! "Wait!" he called, hurrying to catch up. "Don't leave without me!" "You changed your mind!" He must realize that

任何东西!”我厉声说。我希望他能让我享受救赎的时刻。 “你是一个懒惰、多疑、肤浅的老人，总是嫉妒他的兄弟！”我喊道，然后跑了出去。 那就这样了，不是吗？叔叔不可能有父亲一半那么优秀。 这三年来他一直想表现得像我父亲一样。 但现在父亲想让我回去，叔叔很嫉妒。 他不想放弃我。 太糟糕了。我不是他的儿子。 我是祖寇王子，烈火王之子，我要回家了！我以最快的速度匆匆离开，朝阿祖拉的船走去。 但是当我走着的时候，怀疑开始爬进我的脑海，我试图把它赶走。 我对叔叔的看法会不会是错的？ 也许我太苛刻了。 无论发生什么，他总是支持我。 也许我对他的评价太快了。 在回烈火国的漫长航程中，他会是很好的伙伴，而且——我听见有人从我身后走过来。 它的叔叔!“等等！”他喊道，急忙追了上去。 “别丢下我走！”“你改变主意了！”他必须意识到