Chapter 7

Chapter 7 As we entered our apartment, I felt dizzy and light-headed. Something was wrong with me. "You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free," Uncle said. "I don't feel well." The room is spinning. Everything's getting blurry… going dark… just darkness… "Zuko!" I barely heard Uncle shout as the floor came rushing up toward me and I passed out. As I slowly woke up, it felt like I was moving through a thick fog. My head was pounding and my eyes felt like they were on fire. Every part of my body hurts. "You're burning up," Uncle said. I was stretched out on a sleeping roll on the floor under heavy blankets. "You have an intense fever." Uncle leaned over me, wiping my face with a wet cloth. "This will cool you down." "So thirsty." I've never felt more parched, like my throat was shriveling up.

当我们走进公寓时，我感到头晕目眩。 我有点不对劲。 “你做得对，放走了神通的野牛。”叔叔说。 “我感觉不舒服。”房间在旋转。 一切都变得模糊了……一片漆黑……一片漆黑……“祖寇！”我几乎没有听到叔叔的喊声，地板冲向我，我昏了过去。 当我慢慢醒来的时候，我感觉自己就像在浓雾中移动。 我的头砰砰直跳，眼睛像着了火一样。 我身体的每一部分都疼。 “你烧起来了，”叔叔说。 我躺在地板上的一个睡卷上，盖着厚厚的毯子。 “你发烧很厉害。” 叔叔靠在我身上，用一块湿布擦我的脸。 “这会让你冷静下来。” “那么渴了。”我从来没有觉得这么干过，就像我的喉咙在萎缩。

"I'll get you some clean water to drink. Stay under the blankets and sweat this out." I drank a ladleful of cool water, then grabbed the whole bucket and gulped it down. I felt as if I could drink an entire lake. I put my head down and drifted back into a deep sleep. And as I slept, I had a strange, disturbing dream. I am Fire Lord Zuko. All is as it should be. I sit upon my throne, flames dancing all around me, as my army awaits my orders. A blue dragon slithers alongside me on my right, while a red dragon raises its scaly head to my left. "It's getting late," hissed the blue dragon. "Are you planning to retire soon, my Lord?" "I'm not tired." "Relax, Fire Lord Zuko," the blue dragon cooed. "Just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while." That sounds good. It makes sense. Perhaps I should get some rest. Being Fire Lord is a tiring responsibility. "No, Fire Lord Zuko!" cried the red dragon. "Do not listen to the blue dragon. You should get out of here. Right now." Hmm… which dragon is right? What should I do?

“我去给你拿些干净的水喝。 待在毯子下面，把汗排出来。” 我喝了一勺凉水，然后抓起一整桶水，一饮而尽。 我觉得我可以喝下整个湖。 我低下头，又沉沉睡去了。 在我睡觉的时候，我做了一个奇怪的、令人不安的梦。 我是烈火王祖寇。一切都该如此。 我坐在宝座上，四周火焰飞舞，我的军队等待着我的命令。 一条蓝色的龙在我的右边滑过，而一条红色的龙在我的左边抬起它有鳞的头。 “时间不早了，”蓝龙嘶嘶地说。 “您打算很快退休吗，大人？”“我不累。” “放轻松，烈火王祖寇。”蓝龙轻声说道。 “放手吧。向它屈服吧。 闭上眼睛一会儿。” 听起来不错。这很有道理。 也许我应该休息一下。 做烈火王是件累人的事。 “不，火王祖寇！”红龙叫道。 “不要听蓝龙的话。 你应该离开这里。 现在。”哪条龙是对的？ 我该怎么办？

Stay or go? "Go! Before it's too late!" shouted the red dragon. My palace is crumbling all around me. My soldiers are vanishing before my eyes. Now the blue dragon moves toward me, emerging from the darkness. "Sleep," the blue dragon said. "Just like Mother!" The blue dragon's mouth is open wide and… no, it can't be… Mother is trapped inside the blue dragon. "Zuko!" Mother cried. "Help me!" Now I'm being swallowed up by my own throne. It's all wrong. It's all falling apart. Going bad! Nooo! It took me a few minutes to absorb my surroundings. Where am I? Oh, I was still in bed, in the apartment in Ba Sing Se. I realized that I was still sick. And I was not the Fire Lord after all. I had had a nightmare. Uncle was preparing tea for me. "You should know this is not a natural sickness," he said, lifting a steaming cup to my lips. "But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea." "What's happening?" "Your critical decision—what you did beneath that lake—was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own

留下还是离开？“去!趁还来得及！”红龙喊道。 我的宫殿在我周围摇摇欲坠。 我的士兵在我眼前消失。 现在那条蓝龙从黑暗中出现，向我走来。 “睡吧，”蓝龙说。 “就像妈妈一样！”蓝龙的嘴张得很大，不，不可能，妈妈被困在蓝龙的肚子里了。 “Zuko !”母亲哭了。“帮帮我!”现在我被自己的王座吞噬了。 这都是错的。一切都在分崩离析。 要坏!人参公鸡!我花了几分钟来适应周围的环境。 我在哪儿？我还躺在床上，在永固城的公寓里。 我意识到我还在生病。 我根本就不是烈火王。 我做了一个噩梦。叔叔在给我准备茶。 “你应该知道这不是一种自然疾病，”他说着，端起一杯热气腾腾的杯子到我嘴边。 “但这不应该阻止你喝茶。” “发生了什么?”“你的关键决定——你在那湖下所做的——与你对自己的形象发生了如此大的冲突，以至于你现在与自己的形象发生了战争

mind and body," Uncle explained. "What does that mean?" "You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience. But when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be." A conflict? Between the part of me that knew it was right to set the bison free, and the way I've always pictured myself, as a ruthless soldier of the Fire Nation? I do feel a battle raging within my mind and body. But which part of me will win? I fell back to sleep. When I finally woke up, I slipped from my bed and walked past Uncle. He was asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. He had been up for days taking care of me. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I paused for a moment, finding something unfamiliar. The skin where my scar is feels soft and smooth again, like before the scar was there. I looked into the mirror. My scar was gone! How could that be? And what's that on my head? A tattoo! The Avatar's arrow tattoo! What have I become? Noooo… I bolted upright in bed. A dream. That whole thing

精神和身体，”叔叔解释道。 “这是什么意思？”“你正在经历一个蜕变，我的侄子。 这不会是一次愉快的经历。 但当你从中出来的时候，你会成为你一直想成为的美丽的王子。” 冲突?一方面我知道放生野牛是对的，另一方面我一直把自己想象成，烈火国的无情战士？ 我确实感到一场战斗在我的思想和身体中肆虐。 但我的哪一部分会赢？ 我又睡着了。当我终于醒来时，我从床上滑了下来，从叔叔身边走过。 他睡着了，我不想吵醒他。 他为了照顾我已经好几天没睡了。 我去了洗手间，把水泼在脸上。 我停了一会儿，觉得有些不熟悉。 我的伤疤所在的皮肤又感觉柔软光滑了，就像以前的伤疤一样。 我看着镜子。我的伤疤不见了！这怎么可能呢？ 我头上的是什么？ 一个纹身!神通的箭纹！我变成了什么？ 不，我在床上直冲直撞。 一个梦。这整件事

was just a dream. I was not in the bathroom. I was in bed. I ran my hand over my face. My scar was still there. What could that dream mean? Am I moving toward the part of me that helped the Avatar? Is the Fire Nation losing the battle within me? I wish I knew what it all meant.

只是一个梦。我不在浴室。 我在床上。我用手捂着脸。 我的伤疤还在。这个梦意味着什么？ 我在向帮助神通的那部分自我靠拢吗？ 烈火国在我体内输掉了战斗吗？ 我希望我知道这一切意味着什么。