21 A Story from the Past

21. A STORY FROM THE PAST The Deadly Shadow was lying very still. The first head looked up, though, and spoke to Hiccup, who was working on that dragon-trap quicker than he had ever worked before. 'While we are waiting,' said Innocence, 'let me tell you the story of the necklace you wear around your neck. And then perhaps you can tell it to Fisshlegs if you find him again.' 'He cannot find him again,' said Arrogance flatly. 'The Fishlegs boy is dead.' 'Let him tell the story,' said Patience longingly. 'Tell it… Tell it, Innocence. Tell it one last time… I want to remember.' So Innocence began to speak. Never had a story been told in stranger circumstances, the beautiful three-headed dragon caught in the trap, the red sands and the sense of danger all around. Hiccup working, working, to free the dragon. But in fact the story had a kind of calming influence on Hiccup. It steadied his shivering hands– his hands that needed to be steady to unlock this trap.

21. 过去的故事死亡的影子静静地躺着。 第一个脑袋抬起头来，对小嗝嗝说，小嗝嗝正在用前所未有的速度制作捕龙器。 “在我们等待的时候，”纯真说，“让我给你讲讲你脖子上戴的项链的故事。 如果你再找到鱼腿，也许你可以告诉他。“他找不到他了。”傲慢断然地说。 “鱼腿男孩死了。“让他讲故事吧，”佩兴斯渴望地说。 “说吧……说吧，天真。” 再说最后一遍……我要记住。”于是纯真开始说话了。 从来没有一个故事是在如此陌生的环境下讲述的，美丽的三头龙被困在陷阱里，红色的沙滩和周围的危险感。 小嗝嗝努力，努力，解救巨龙。 但事实上，这个故事对小嗝嗝有一种平静的影响。 它稳住了他颤抖的手——他的手需要稳住才能打开这个陷阱。

The comforting, reverberating echo of Innocence's voice had a relaxing effect, like that of some sort of soothing drug. It was almost as if Innocence was telling the story somewhere safe, by some Viking fireside, and not in a moment of desperate peril, out on the red sands, deep in the territory of the Monster of the Amber Slavelands.

天真的声音抚慰人心，回荡着回音，有一种放松的效果，就像某种镇静剂一样。 就好像纯真在某个安全的地方讲故事，在维京人的火炉边，而不是在绝望的危险时刻，在红色的沙滩上，在琥珀奴隶地怪物的领地深处。

The story of the Lobster Claw Necklace

龙虾爪项链的故事

'Not so long ago we had a human that belonged to us,' began Innocence. 'A human of our very own. Our mistress was a happy young girl,' continued Innocence. 'Half-Murderous, half–Berserk.' 'But you never would have guessed the Berserk bit,' Arrogance interrupted, getting suddenly into the mood of the story. 'She was so kind and gentle.' 'Her name was Termagant,' said Innocence. 'But it didn't suit her. She wasn't what you might call a natural Murderous, and she found the life of a Chieftain's daughter and her fiercely ambitious father, Chief Moody the Murderous, a bit difficult to handle, so she often used to escape from her father's village on my back, and we would come out here to explore the islands. 'This was our secret place. 'We were already a fully-grown riding-dragon when we met her, but with her we felt young again. Even Arrogance. She wasn't like all the other Murderous who beat their riding-dragons and kept them prisoner. Termagant was different. It seemed like she and us were the very same being, as if our

“不久以前，我们有一个属于我们的人，”纯真开始说。 “一个我们自己的人。“我们的女主人是个快乐的年轻姑娘，”天真继续说。 “Half-Murderous, half-Berserk。“但你绝对猜不到狂暴的部分，”傲慢打断了他的话，突然进入了故事的气氛。 “她是那么善良和温柔。“她的名字叫特马甘特，”纯真说。 但这并不适合她。她并不是你所说的那种天生的杀人狂魔，她觉得酋长的女儿和她那野心勃勃的杀人狂魔穆迪酋长的生活有点难以应付，所以她经常骑着我从她父亲的村子里逃出来，我们会到这里来探索这些岛屿。 “这是我们的秘密场所。 “当我们遇到她的时候，我们已经是一只成熟的骑龙了，但有了她，我们又觉得年轻了。 甚至傲慢。她不像其他所有的杀人者那样，殴打自己的龙骑，把它们囚禁起来。 Termagant则不同。她和我们似乎是同一个人，就好像我们的

wings were her wings, as if her heart were our heart. 'All was happy when she was growing up– but at that time we did not yet know of the human failing of falling in LOVE. 'Termagant fell in love with a poor wandering fisherman, very handsome, but not the Chieftain's Heir her father would have had her marry. Moody wanted sons of Chiefs with golden axes, not a poor fisherman, however handsome and loveable he was. Worse still, she married her fisherman, despite her father's anger. And worser still than all of that, the sea had its way, and one day her husband's fishing-boat went out in the middle of a storm and sank to the bottom of the ocean.' 'What is it with you humans and love?' growled Arrogance. 'It's a serious design flaw.' 'My mistress was so very very unhappy. Better to have never loved at all, than to shed the tears she shed. The only thing that kept her going was that she was carrying her husband's baby. She would lie, curled up on the windowsill of her father's house, with her head upon my flank, telling me what this dream baby would be like…

翅膀就是她的翅膀，就好像她的心就是我们的心。 “在她成长的过程中，一切都是幸福的——但那时我们还不知道坠入爱河是人类的缺陷。” “特玛甘特爱上了一个贫穷的流浪渔夫，他很英俊，但不是她父亲想让她嫁给的酋长继承人。 穆迪想要的是拿着金斧头的酋长儿子，而不是一个穷渔夫，不管他有多英俊多可爱。 更糟糕的是，她不顾父亲的愤怒，嫁给了她的渔夫。 比这一切更糟糕的是，大海随心所欲，有一天，她丈夫的渔船在暴风雨中出海了，沉入了海底。“你们人类和爱到底是怎么回事？”傲慢咆哮道。 这是一个严重的设计缺陷。”“我的女主人非常非常不高兴。 宁可从未爱过，也不要流她流下的眼泪。 唯一让她坚持下去的是她怀着她丈夫的孩子。 她会蜷缩在她父亲家的窗台上，把头靠在我的腰上，告诉我这个梦中的孩子会是什么样子……

'He would be tall and handsome like her husband. He would be a poet like herself. He would be a Hero (of course), but not a boor like her father– he would be brave and fearless and yet kind to animals. Oh such dreams she had for that baby! 'But dreams and reality can be different, and most unfortunately when the baby was born, it turned out to be what the humans call a "runt". 'There's a saying that you humans have, what is it?' 'Only the strong can belong?' said Hiccup through white lips, fiddling with the locks on the dragon-trap. 'Throw out the freak or the Tribe will be weak? It kind of varies from Tribe to Tribe…' 'That's it,' said Innocence. 'I never will understand you humans. 'Well, Moody the Murderous was most hopping mad. He said it was a sign that Fate disapproved of her marriage. 'He told her he would have to put the baby in a lobster pot and set it out to sea, according to tradition, and the gods would see whether it lived or

“他会像她丈夫一样又高又帅。 他会成为像她一样的诗人。 他会成为一个英雄（当然），但不会像她父亲那样是个乡巴佬——他会勇敢无畏，但对动物很友善。 啊，她对那个孩子做了多少梦啊！“但梦想和现实是不一样的，最不幸的是，当这个孩子出生时，他变成了一个人类所说的‘矮子’。” “你们人类有一句谚语，是什么？”“只有强者才有归属？”嗝嗝拨弄着捕龙器上的锁，嘴唇发白地说。 “把怪物赶出去，不然部落就会软弱？” 每个部落的情况都不一样……”“就是这样，”纯真说。 “我永远也理解不了你们人类。 “唉，杀人魔穆迪简直气疯了。 他说这是命运不赞成她的婚姻的迹象。 他告诉她，按照传统，他必须把孩子放在龙虾罐里，然后把它放到海里，让神灵看看它是活的还是活的