Chapter 2

Chapter 2 I feel lost in limbo. We ride on this beast from town to town, but with no plan, no direction, and at the moment, no food. And so now we find ourselves in the humiliating situation of sitting here in the marketplace of a small village begging for coins. I hate this! I just hate it. "Spare coins for weary travelers?" Uncle called out to each person walking by. Some toss coins into his basket, others don't. "This is humiliating! We're royalty. These people should be giving us whatever we want." "They will," Uncle replied. "If you ask nicely." That's not what I meant! Imagine me, a prince of the Fire Nation, reduced to this. Things can't get any worse than they already are. Just then a man came up to us, waving a gold coin at Uncle. "How about some entertainment in exchange for a gold piece?" he asked. How dare he! What are we, trained animals singing and dancing for our supper? "We're not performers," I said. This guy should just move along before I make him regret the fact that he ever saw us. What's Uncle doing? I can't believe it. He's

第二章我迷失在地狱的边缘。 我们骑着这头野兽从一个城镇到另一个城镇，但没有计划，没有方向，目前，没有食物。 所以现在我们发现自己处于一种屈辱的境地坐在一个小村庄的市场上乞讨硬币。 我讨厌这个！我只是讨厌它。 “给疲惫的旅客的零钱？”叔叔对每一个路过的人喊一声。 有些人把硬币扔进篮子里，有些人不扔。 “这太丢脸了！”我们皇室。 这些人应该给我们想要的任何东西。” “他们会的，”叔叔回答。 “如果你客气地问的话。”我不是那个意思！想象一下我，一个烈火国的王子，沦落到这个地步。 事情不会比现在更糟了。 就在这时，一个男人向我们走来，向叔叔挥舞着一枚金币。 “用一块金币换点娱乐怎么样？”他问道。 他怎么敢！我们是什么，训练有素的动物为我们的晚餐唱歌跳舞吗？ “我们不是表演者，”我说。 这家伙该走了不然我会让他后悔见过我们。 叔叔在做什么？我真不敢相信。 他是

standing and singing for this guy. "Let's see some action!" the man yelled, before pulling out two swords. "Dance!" he shouted. Now he's swiping the swords at Uncle's feet. Uncle is dancing to stay out of the way. I would blast this guy with Firebending in a heartbeat if it wouldn't blow our cover. "Ha! Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner," the man said, laughing. Then he tossed the gold coin into our basket. I'm totally humiliated, but Uncle doesn't seem the least bit embarrassed. "Such a kind man," Uncle said. I can't take this anymore. Maybe I can't stop the humiliation in the middle of a crowded market, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything about it. That night I put on a blue mask to hide my identity. Moving quickly across the rooftops, I looked down into a dimly lit alley and spotted the man who had forced Uncle to dance. Perfect! Down I dropped, taking the arrogant fool by surprise. I knocked him down and he dropped his swords. I snatched them up quickly and flashed them

站着为这家伙唱歌。 “让我们看好戏！”那人喊道，然后掏出两把剑。 “跳舞！”他喊道。现在他在叔叔脚下挥舞着剑。 叔叔在跳舞，以免碍事。 如果不暴露我们的身份我可以毫不犹豫地用御火术干掉他。 “哈!没有什么比一个胖子为他的晚餐跳舞更好的了，”男人笑着说。 然后他把金币扔进我们的篮子里。 我觉得很丢脸，但叔叔似乎一点也不尴尬。 “真是个善良的人，”叔叔说。 我再也受不了了。 也许我无法阻止在拥挤的市场中受到羞辱，但这并不意味着我无能为力。 那天晚上，我戴上了一个蓝色的面具来隐藏我的身份。 我飞快地穿过屋顶，朝一条灯光昏暗的小巷望去，发现了那个强迫叔叔跳舞的人。 完美!我倒下了，让这个傲慢的傻瓜大吃一惊。 我把他打倒在地，他的剑掉在地上。 我迅速地把它们拿起来，亮出它们

in front of the man's face. He scrambled to his feet and dashed away. Now I have a disguise—and two excellent weapons! Hmm… that gives me an idea. If those who have plenty won't give me what I want, I'll simply take it—or rather, my alter ego, the Blue Spirit, will take it! There's someone carrying baskets of food. Those baskets look like they belong to me. I'll just swoop down on these foolish peasants. If my mask doesn't scare them, my swords will! There! I have freed the food from the grasp of these peasants, and it is now mine. I feel better already. But I can't let Uncle know I'm doing this. He'll go on about right and wrong and I'll never hear the end of it. I hid the mask and swords in the trees, then delivered my bounty. "Here!" I said, tossing the food to Uncle. "Where did you get this?" he asked suspiciously. I knew he would give me a hard time. "What does it matter where they came from?" When have you ever questioned free food, old man? Over the next few days I brought many treasures to Uncle at our hideout in the woods. Food, blankets, gold, jewels, all liberated from their former owners by the Blue Spirit.

当着那人的面。 他爬起来，冲了出去。 现在我有了伪装——还有两件出色的武器！这让我想到了一个主意。 如果那些富有的人不给我想要的东西，我就直接拿走——或者更确切地说，我的另一个自我，蓝色精灵，会拿走它！有人提着一篮子食物。 那些篮子看起来像是我的。 我直接扑向这些愚蠢的农民。 就算我的面具吓不倒他们，我的剑也会！在那里!我把粮食从这些农民手中解放出来，现在粮食是我的了。 我已经感觉好多了。但我不能让叔叔知道我这么做。 他会没完没了地说什么是对是错，我听他没完没了地说。 我把面具和剑藏在树林里，然后送去我的赏金。 “在这里!”我边说边把食物扔给叔叔。 “你从哪儿弄来的？”他怀疑地问。 我知道他会为难我的。 “它们来自哪里又有什么关系呢？”你什么时候质疑过免费食物，老家伙？ 在接下来的几天里，我带了许多宝物到我们在树林里的藏身处给叔叔。 食物，毯子，黄金，珠宝，都是蓝精灵从他们的前任主人手中解放出来的。

I like taking what I want without asking permission. "Zuko, I think we should talk," Uncle said when I had returned with a large sack of gold and food and a new teapot for him. "I know we've had some difficult times lately. We've had to struggle to get by. But it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty." Honor? How can he speak of honor? Has he forgotten so soon? "There is no honor for me without the Avatar." "Zuko, even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not so sure it would solve our problems. Not now." Hard as it is for me to acknowledge this, I know that he is right. With Father now having placed his trust in Azula, even getting my hands on the Avatar might not be enough to satisfy him. "Then there is no hope at all." Uncle leaped up and grabbed me by the shoulders. "No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair, to your darkest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give to yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength." Words. Just words. They mean nothing to me. Uncle can't possibly know how I feel. In fact, I can't see a good reason to continue traveling with him. I

我喜欢不经允许就拿走我想要的东西。 “祖寇，我想我们应该谈谈，”当我带着一大袋金子、食物和给他的新茶壶回来时，叔叔说。 “我知道我们最近经历了一些困难时期。 我们不得不挣扎度日。 但这没什么好羞愧的。 贫穷也是一种简单的荣誉。” 荣誉吗?他怎么能说荣誉呢？ 他这么快就忘了吗？“没有神通，我就没有荣誉” “祖寇，即使你真的抓住了神通，我也不确定这能解决我们的问题。 不是现在。”虽然我很难承认这一点，但我知道他是对的。 父亲现在信任阿祖拉，即使让我拿到神通也不足以让他满意。 “那就没有希望了。” 叔叔跳起来抓住我的肩膀。 “不,Zuko !你绝不能向绝望屈服，向你最黑暗的本能屈服。 在最黑暗的时刻，希望是你给自己的东西。 这就是内在力量的含义。” 单词。只是口头上的。它们对我来说毫无意义。 叔叔不可能知道我的感受。 事实上，我找不到继续和他一起旅行的好理由。 我

have lingered too long in his shadow. He slows me down. Him and his tea and his food and his comforts. No, it's for the best. I must do what is good for me. "Uncle, I've thought a lot about what you said and it's helped me realize something. We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together. I need to find my own way." There, I said it. I feel better already, like a burden has been lifted. He's not saying a word. He's just looking away. Very well. I'll just go. "Wait!" Uncle cried. What? Now that he sees me leaving, is he going to try to talk me out of going? No. He's just giving me the ostrich-horse. Well, it will be easier than walking. I'll take it. Thank you, Uncle. Good-bye. I've always had to struggle, always had to fight, from the time I was a boy. It's made me strong, made me who I am. That's why I know I will survive, here, alone. I rode the ostrich-horse into a small Earth Kingdom village. My stomach was grumbling and I felt light-headed, but I had to focus. I had to find food in this village. "Could I get some water, a bag of feed for the

在他的阴影下徘徊太久。 他让我慢下来。他，他的茶，他的食物，他的舒适。 不，这样对大家都好。我必须做对我有好处的事。 “叔叔，你说的话我想了很多，让我明白了一些事情。 我们一起旅行不再有什么好处了。 我需要找到自己的路。” 好了，我说出来了。我感觉好多了，就像卸下了一个包袱。 他什么也没说。他只是看向别处。 很好。我还是走吧。“等等!”叔叔哭了。 怎么啦？既然他看到我要走了，他会劝我不要走吗？ 否。他只是给了我一个鸵鸟马。 这可比走路容易多了。 我买了。谢谢你，叔叔。 再见。从我还是个孩子的时候起，我就一直在挣扎，一直在战斗。 它让我坚强，让我成为现在的我。 所以我知道我会活下来，独自一人。 我骑着驼马进入了一个土强国的小村庄。 我的胃咕咕叫，感到头晕，但我必须集中注意力。 我必须在这个村子里找吃的。 “能给我拿点水，一袋饲料吗？