5 The Hatchling

CHAPTER 5

第五章

The Hatchling Stefan raced into the great hall. "Hear ye! Hear ye! The time has come!" he shouted. "The dragon egg has begun to hatch!" The royal family dropped everything they were doing and set sail for Crestwood. Again, André brought them to the dragon's egg. Sure enough, the egg had a crack that zigzagged across the middle. "It won't be long," Grom said. Everyone sat and waited. The egg lay very still. A hawk cried overhead. Quails rustled in the underbrush nearby. Wrens warbled in the treetops. Nobody said a word until the egg began to rock. It then wobbled and trembled. The egg rolled around, and then, all at once, the shell broke apart. And there in the center stood a very unsteady, very red baby dragon. "Aaack! Aaack!" it cried, sticking out its red tongue.

斯戴芬冲进大厅。 “你们当听!你们当听!时间到了！”他喊道。 “龙蛋已经开始孵化了！”王室放下手头的一切，启航前往克雷斯伍德。 再一次，安德烈把他们带到龙蛋那里。 果然，鸡蛋中间有一条曲折的裂缝。 “不会太久的，”格罗姆说。 每个人都坐着等待。蛋静静地躺着。 一只鹰在头顶上鸣叫。鹌鹑在附近的灌木丛中沙沙作响。 鹪鹩在树梢啼叫。 没有人说话，直到蛋开始摇晃。 然后它摇晃着，颤抖着。 鸡蛋滚来滚去，突然，蛋壳裂开了。 中间站着一条非常不稳的、非常红的小龙。 “Aaack !啊！”它叫着，伸出了红色的舌头。

The baby dragon was the size of a kitten. It had the face of a lizard and horns on top of its head. It also had a long pointy tail, batlike wings, and two eyes that glowed like emeralds. The dragon was a stunning shade of crimson fire. "It's extraordinary!" said André. "It's adorable!" cried the queen. "It's magnificent!" said Lucas.

小龙只有小猫那么大。 它长着蜥蜴的脸，头顶上长着角。 它还有一条又长又尖的尾巴，像蝙蝠一样的翅膀，还有两只像绿宝石一样闪闪发光的眼睛。 龙是一种令人惊叹的深红色火焰阴影。 “太不寻常了！”安德烈说。 “太可爱了！”王后叫道。 “太棒了！”卢卡斯说。

"It's unbelievable!" said the king. "It's a boy!" cried Grom, who swiftly swept the broken eggshells into a leather sack. André lifted the dragon and let him perch on his arm. The hatchling steadied himself with his wings. André offered the dragon some spinach and berries. But

“难以置信！”国王说。 “是个男孩！”格罗姆叫道，他迅速地把破蛋壳扫进一个皮袋里。 安德烈把龙举起来，让它坐在他的胳膊上。 那只刚孵出的小鸡用翅膀稳住自己。 安德烈给了龙一些菠菜和浆果。 但

the dragon didn't seem interested. He just wanted to perch.

龙似乎不感兴趣。 他只是想栖息。