1 First catch your dragon

A Note from Hiccup There were dragons when I was a boy. There were great, grim, sky dragons that nested on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds. Little, brown, scuttly dragons that hunted down the mice and rats in well-organised packs. Preposterously huge Sea Dragons that were twenty times as big as the Big Blue Whale and who killed for the fun of it. You will have to take my word for it, for the dragons are disappearing so fast they may soon become extinct. Nobody knows what is happening. They are crawling back into the sea from whence they came, leaving not a bone, not a fang, in the earth for the men of the future to remember them by. So, in order that these amazing creatures should not be forgotten, I will tell this true story from my childhood. I was not the sort of boy who could train a dragon with the mere lifting of an eyebrow. I was not a natural at the Heroism business. I had to work at it. This is the story of becoming a Hero the Hard Way.

小嗝嗝的遗书我小的时候有龙。 有巨大的、可怕的天龙栖息在悬崖顶上，就像巨大的可怕的鸟。 褐色的、干瘦的小龙，它们组织严密地猎捕老鼠。 巨大得出奇的海龙，比蓝鲸大二十倍，它们为了取乐而杀人。 你必须相信我的话，因为龙消失得如此之快，它们可能很快就会灭绝。 没有人知道发生了什么。 它们正在爬回它们来的地方，在地上不留一根骨头，一根牙，让未来的人记住它们。 所以，为了让这些神奇的生物不被遗忘，我将讲述我童年的真实故事。 我不是那种动动眉毛就能驯龙的孩子。 我不擅长英雄主义这一行。 我必须努力去做。这是一个通过艰难的方式成为英雄的故事。

1. FIRST CATCH YOUR DRAGON Long ago, on the wild and windy isle of Berk, a smallish Viking with a longish name stood up to his ankles in snow. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, had been feeling slightly sick ever since he woke up that morning. Ten boys, including Hiccup, were hoping to become full members of the Tribe by passing the Dragon Initiation Programme. They were standing on a bleak little beach at the bleakest spot on the whole bleak island. A heavy snow was falling. 'PAY ATTENTION!' screamed Gobber the Belch, the soldier in charge of teaching Initiation. 'This will be your first military operation, and Hiccup will be commanding the team.' 'Oh, not Hic-cup,' groaned Dogsbreath the Duhbrain and most of the other boys. 'You can't put Hiccup in charge, sir, he's USELESS.' Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the

1. 很久以前，在荒凉多风的博克岛上，一个身材矮小、名字很长的维京人站在没过脚踝的雪地里。 希卡普·可怕黑线鳕三世，长毛流氓部落的希望和继承人，那天早上醒来后就觉得有点不舒服。 包括小嗝嗝在内的10个男孩希望通过“龙入门计划”成为部落的正式成员。 他们站在一个荒凉的小海滩上，在整个荒凉的岛上最荒凉的地方。 下着一场大雪。“注意!”负责教授入会课的士兵嗝哥伯尖叫道。 “这将是你的第一次军事行动，小嗝嗝将指挥这支队伍。“哦，别叫嗝嗝，”狗狗呼吸、笨蛋和其他大多数男孩呻吟道。 “你不能让嗝嗝负责，先生，他没用。”嗝嗝可怕的黑线鳕第三号

Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, wiped his nose miserably on his sleeve. He sank a little deeper into the snow. 'ANYBODY would be better than Hiccup,' sneered Snotface Snotlout. 'Even Fishlegs would be better than Hiccup.' Fishlegs had a squint that made him as blind as a jellyfish, and an allergy to reptiles. 'SILENCE!' roared Gobber the Belch. 'The next boy to speak has limpets for lunch for the next THREE WEEKS!' There was absolute silence immediately. Limpets are a bit like worms and a bit like snot and a lot less tasty than either. 'Hiccup will be in charge and that is an order!' screamed Gobber, who didn't do noises quieter than screaming. He was a seven-foot giant with a mad glint in his one working eye and a beard like exploding fireworks. Despite the freezing cold he was wearing hairy shorts and a teeny weeny deerskin vest that showed off his lobster-red skin and bulging muscles. He was holding a flaming torch in one gigantic fist.

希望和毛流氓部落的继承人，可怜地用袖子擦了擦鼻子。 他在雪里陷得更深了一点。 “谁都比小嗝嗝强。” “就算是鱼腿也比嗝嗝强。”鱼腿的斜视使他像水母一样失明，而且对爬行动物过敏。 “安静!”嗝哥吼道。 “下一个说话的男孩在接下来的三个星期里都有帽贝当午餐！”全场立刻鸦雀无声。 帽贝有点像蠕虫，有点像鼻涕，但味道却差得多。 “小嗝嗝负责，这是命令！”戈伯尖叫道，他发出的声音比尖叫还小。 他是一个七英尺高的巨人，一只正常的眼睛里闪烁着疯狂的光芒，胡子像爆炸的烟花。 尽管很冷，他还是穿着毛茸茸的短裤和一件小小的鹿皮背心，露出了他龙虾红色的皮肤和鼓鼓的肌肉。 他那巨大的拳头握着一个燃烧着的火炬。

'Hiccup will be leading you, although he is, admittedly, completely useless, because Hiccup is the son of the CHIEF, and that's the way things go with us Vikings. Where do you think you are, the REPUBLIC OF ROME? Anyway, that is the least of your problems today. You are here to prove yourself as a Viking Hero. And it is an ancient tradition of the Hooligan Tribe that you should' – Gobber paused dramatically – 'FIRST CATCH YOUR DRAGON!' Ohhhhhh suffering scallops, thought Hiccup. 'Our dragons are what set us apart!' bellowed Gobber. 'Lesser humans train hawks to hunt for them, horses to carry them. It is only the VIKING HEROES who dare to tame the wildest, most dangerous creatures on earth.' Gobber spat solemnly into the snow. 'There are three parts to the Dragon Initiation Test. The first and most dangerous part is a test of your courage and skill at burglary. If you wish to enter the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, you must first catch your dragon. And that is WHY,' continued Gobber, at full volume, 'I have

“希卡普将带领你们，虽然他毫无用处，这是无可否认的，因为希卡普是首领的儿子，我们维京人就是这样。 你以为你在哪里，罗马共和国？ 不管怎样，这是你今天最微不足道的问题。 你是来证明自己是维京英雄的。 这是流氓部落的一个古老传统，你应该——”戈伯戏剧性地停顿了一下——“先抓住你的龙！”哦，痛苦的扇贝，嗝嗝想。 “我们的龙让我们与众不同！”戈伯吼道。 低等人类训练鹰来捕猎他们，训练马来运送他们。 只有维京英雄才敢于驯服地球上最凶猛、最危险的生物。”戈伯严肃地对着雪地啐了一口唾沫。 “龙入门测试有三个部分。 第一步也是最危险的一步是考验你的勇气和盗窃技巧。 如果你想进入毛流氓部落，你必须先抓住你的龙。 “这就是为什么，”戈贝尔用最大的音量继续说，“我有