5 A chat with Old Wrinkly

5. A CHAT WITH OLD WRINKLY The next morning, Hiccup checked the dragon under his bed. It was still asleep. When his mother, Valhallarama, asked him at breakfast, 'How did Inititation go yesterday, dear?', Hiccup said, 'Oh, it was fine. I caught my dragon.' 'That's nice, dear,' Valhallarama replied vaguely. Stoick the Vast looked up briefly from his bowl and boomed, 'EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT,' before getting back to the important task of shovelling food into his mouth. After breakfast, Hiccup went to sit on the front step beside his grandfather, who was smoking a pipe. It was a beautiful, cold, clear winter's morning, with not a breath of wind and the sea all around as flat as glass. Old Wrinkly blew out smoke rings contentedly as he watched the sun coming up. Hiccup shivered and chucked stones into the bracken. Neither of them spoke for a long time. At last Hiccup said, 'I got that dragon.' 'I said you would, didn't I?' replied Old Wrinkly,

5. 和老皱纹的谈话第二天早上，嗝嗝检查了床底下的龙。 它还在睡觉。当他的母亲瓦尔哈拉罗摩（Valhallarama）在早餐时问他：“亲爱的，昨天的印心怎么样？”，小嗝嗝说，“哦，还好。 我抓住了我的龙。“很好，亲爱的。”瓦尔哈拉罗摩含糊地回答。 巨人斯托伊克从他的碗里抬起头来，低声说道：“太棒了，太棒了。”然后他又继续把食物塞进嘴里。 早餐后，小嗝嗝走到前面的台阶上，坐在正在抽烟斗的爷爷旁边。 这是一个美丽、寒冷、晴朗的冬日早晨，没有一丝风，四周的大海平如玻璃。 看着太阳升起，老皱纹心满意足地吹着烟圈。 嗝嗝打了个寒颤，把石头扔进了蕨菜里。 他们两人都沉默了很长时间。 最后小嗝嗝说：“我抓到那条龙了。“我说过你会的，不是吗？”老皱纹回答道，

very pleased with himself. Old Wrinkly had taken up soothsaying in his old age, mostly unsuccessfully. Looking into the future is a complicated business. So he was particularly pleased that he'd got this right. 'Something extraordinary, you said,' complained Hiccup. 'A truly unusual dragon, you said. An animal that would really make me stand out in the crowd.' 'Absolutely,' agreed Old Wrinkly. 'The entrails were undeniable.' 'The only extraordinary thing about this dragon,' continued Hiccup, 'is how extraordinarily SMALL it is. In that it is super-unusual. I'm even more of a laughing-stock than ever.' 'Oh dear,' said Old Wrinkly, chuckling in a wheezy way over his pipe. Hiccup looked at him reproachfully. Old Wrinkly hurriedly turned the laugh into a cough. 'Size is all relative, Hiccup,' said Old Wrinkly. 'ALL of these dragons are super-small compared to a real Sea Dragon. A REAL Sea Dragon is fifty times as big as that little creature. A real Sea Dragon from the bottom of the ocean can swallow ten large Viking ships in one gulp and not even notice.

他对自己非常满意。 老皱纹在他年老的时候就开始占卜了，但大多不成功。 展望未来是一件复杂的事情。 所以他特别高兴自己做对了。 “你说有什么不寻常的事，”小嗝嗝抱怨道。 “一条真正不同寻常的龙，你说过。 一只能让我在人群中脱颖而出的动物。“当然，”老皱纹同意道。 内脏是不可否认的。“这条龙唯一不寻常的地方，”嗝嗝继续说，“就是它小得不寻常。 这是非常不寻常的。 我比以前更像个笑柄了。“哦，天哪，”老皱纹一边抽着烟斗，一边气喘吁吁地笑着说。 小嗝嗝责备地看着他。 老皱纹急忙把笑声变成了咳嗽。 “大小都是相对的，小嗝嗝，”老皱纹说。 “与真正的海龙相比，所有这些龙都非常小。 真正的海龙比那个小东西大50倍。 一条来自海底的真正的海龙可以一口吞下十艘大型维京船，甚至不会注意到。

A real Sea Dragon is a cruel, careless mystery like the mighty ocean itself, one moment calm as a scallop, the next raging like an octopus.' 'Well, here on Berk,' said Hiccup, 'where we haven't any Sea Dragons to compare anything with, my dragon is just considerably smaller than everybody else's. You are getting off the point.' 'Am I?' asked Old Wrinkly. 'The point is, I just don't see how I am ever going to become a Hero,' said Hiccup gloomily. 'I am the least Heroic boy in the whole Hooligan Tribe.' 'Oh pshaw, this ridiculous Tribe,' fumed Old Wrinkly. 'OK so you are not what we call a born Hero. You're not big and tough and charismatic like Snotlout. But you're just going to have to work at it. You're going to have to learn how to be a Hero the Hard Way.' 'Anyway,' said Old Wrinkly, 'it might be just what this Tribe needs, a change in leadership style. Because the thing is, times are changing. We can't get away with being bigger and more violent than everybody else any more. IMAGINATION. That's what they need and what you've got. A Hero of the Future is going to have to be clever and cunning, not just a big

真正的海龙就像浩瀚的海洋本身一样，是一个残酷、粗心的谜，一会儿平静得像扇贝，一会儿又像章鱼一样狂暴。“嗯，在博克岛上，”嗝嗝说，“我们没有海龙可以和任何东西作比较，我的海龙比别人的要小得多。” 你跑题了。“是吗？”老皱纹问。 “问题是，我不知道我怎样才能成为英雄。”小嗝嗝沮丧地说。 “我是整个流氓部落里最不英勇的男孩。“哦，呸，这个可笑的部落，”老皱纹生气地说。 “好吧，所以你不是我们所说的天生的英雄。 你不像鼻涕精那样高大，坚强，有魅力。 但你必须努力去做。 你将不得不学习如何成为一个英雄的艰难之路。“不管怎样，”老皱纹说，“也许这正是这个部落所需要的，改变一下领导风格。” 因为事实是，时代在变。 我们不能再比别人更强大更暴力了。 的想象力。这就是他们所需要的，而你拥有的。 未来英雄必须是聪明和狡猾的，而不仅仅是一个大

lump with overdeveloped muscles. He's going to have to stop everyone quarrelling among themselves and get them to face the enemy together.' 'How am I going to persuade anybody to do anything?' asked Hiccup. 'They've started calling me HICCUP THE USELESS. That is not a great name for a Military Leader.' 'You have to see the bigger picture, Hiccup,' continued Old Wrinkly, ignoring him. 'You're called a few names. You're not a natural at Bashyball. Who cares? These are very little problems in the grand scheme of things.' 'It's all very well for you to say they are little problems,' said Hiccup crossly, 'but I have a LOT of little problems. I have to train this super-small dragon in time for Thor'sday Thursday or be thrown out of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe for ever.' 'Ah yes,' said Old Wrinkly, thoughtfully. 'There's a book on this subject, isn't there? Remind me, how does the great Professor of Meathead University think you should train a dragon?' 'He thinks you should yell at it,' said Hiccup, gloomily chucking stones again. 'Show the beast who is Master by the sheer charismatic force of your

肌肉过度发达的肿块。 他将不得不停止大家之间的争吵，让他们一起面对敌人。“我怎么能说服别人做任何事呢？”小嗝嗝问。 “他们开始叫我没用的嗝嗝。 这可不是军事领袖的好名字。“你得看大局，嗝嗝，”老皱纹不理他，继续说。 “有人叫了你几个名字。 你不擅长打棒球。 谁在乎呢?这些都是大局中的小问题。“你说这些都是小问题，这倒不错，”小嗝嗝生气地说，“但我有很多小问题。” 我必须在周四的雷神日前训练好这条超小型的龙否则就会被永远赶出毛流氓部落。“啊，是的，”老皱纹若有所思地说。 “有一本关于这个问题的书，不是吗？” 提醒我一下，伟大的米海德大学教授认为你应该怎么训练龙？“他认为你应该对它大喊大叫，”小嗝嗝说着，又闷闷不乐地扔起石头来。 “让野兽看看谁才是主人，用你的魅力。

personality, that sort of thing. I have about as much charisma as a stranded jellyfish and yelling is just another thing I am useless at.' 'Ye-e-es,' said Old Wrinkly, 'but maybe you'll have to Train Your Dragon the Hard Way. You know a very great deal about dragons, don't you, Hiccup? All that Dragon-watching you've been doing over the years?' 'That's a secret,' said Hiccup, uncomfortably. 'I've seen you talking to them,' said Old Wrinkly. 'That's NOT TRUE,' protested Hiccup, going bright-red in the face. 'OK, then,' soothed Old Wrinkly, calmly smoking his pipe, 'it's not true.' There was silence for a bit.

性格之类的东西。 我的魅力就像一只搁浅的水母，大喊大叫是另一件我不擅长的事情。“是啊，是啊，”老皱纹说，“但也许你必须用艰苦的方式训练你的龙。” 你对龙很了解，是不是，小嗝嗝？ 这些年你一直在观察巨龙吗？“这是个秘密，”小嗝嗝不安地说。 “我看见你和他们说话了，”老皱纹说。 “那不是真的，”小嗝嗝抗议道，脸涨得通红。 “好吧，那么，”老皱纹安慰道，平静地抽着烟斗，“这不是真的。”沉默了一会儿。

'It is true,' admitted Hiccup, 'but for Thor's sake don't tell anybody, they wouldn't understand.' 'Talking to dragons is a highly unusual skill,' said Old Wrinkly. 'Maybe,' said Old Wrinkly, 'you can train a dragon better by talking to it, than by yelling at it.' 'That's sweet,' said Hiccup 'and a very touching thought. However, a dragon is not a fluffy creature like a dog or a cat or a pony. A dragon is not going to do what you say just because you ask it pretty please. From what I know about dragons,' said Hiccup, 'I should say that yelling was a pretty good method.' 'But it has its limitations, doesn't it?' Old Wrinkly pointed out. 'I would say that yelling was highly effective on any dragon smaller than a sea-lion. And positively suicidal if you try it on anything larger. Why don't you come up with some alternative training schemes yourself? You might be able to add something to Professor Yobbish's book. I've often thought that that book needs a little something extra… I can't quite put my finger on it…' 'WORDS,' said Hiccup. 'That book needs a lot more words.'

“这是真的，”小嗝嗝承认道，“但是看在上帝的份上，不要告诉任何人，他们不会理解的。“和龙说话是一种非常不寻常的技能，”老皱纹说。 “也许，”老皱纹说，“和龙说话比对它大喊大叫能更好地训练它。“太好了，”小嗝嗝说，“这想法真感人。” 然而，龙不是像狗、猫或小马那样毛茸茸的动物。 龙是不会照你说的去做的。 “根据我对恶龙的了解，”小嗝嗝说，“我应该说，吼叫是一种很好的方法。“但它也有它的局限性，不是吗？”老皱纹指出。 “我想说，吼叫对任何比海狮还小的龙都非常有效。 如果你在更大的地方尝试，肯定会自杀。 你为什么不自己想出一些其他的培训计划呢？ 你也许能给约比什教授的书添点什么。 我常常想，这本书还需要一些额外的东西……我也说不清是什么……” “那本书需要更多的字。”