24 The Wink of a Red Herring

24. THE WINK OF A RED HERRING You know how it is. You search high and low in the Archipelago for something, and it's only when you're looking for something else that you accidentally find it. Squinting very hard at the map, Hiccup thought the lines and scribbles might indicate a way through the maze. Limping and slithering on the wet glass, Hiccup went through the exit of the cavern, and made his way through a warren of tunnels, following until the lair of the Monster opened out into a great glass chamber, and Hiccup let out a cry of wonder. There it was, the Maze of Mirrors, the creature's secret chamber of treasures. How could such a primitive creature create something so very, very beautiful? Maybe the Wodensfang was right. There must be poetry, even in Monsters. For the glass in that chamber was woven with such artistry, and polished

24. 你知道这是怎么回事。 你在群岛上到处找一样东西，只有当你在找别的东西的时候你才会意外地找到它。 小嗝嗝使劲地眯着眼睛看地图，他想那些线条和潦草的字迹可能会指明一条穿过迷宫的路。 小嗝嗝一瘸一拐地在湿玻璃上滑着，穿过洞穴的出口，穿过一个坑坑洼洼的隧道，一直走到怪物的巢穴打开，进入一个巨大的玻璃房间，小嗝嗝惊奇地叫了一声。 它就在那里，镜子迷宫，这个生物的秘密宝库。 这么原始的生物怎么会创造出如此美丽的东西呢？ 也许沃登方是对的。 即使在《怪物》里，也必须有诗歌。 因为那房间里的玻璃是精心编织的，而且擦得很亮

so fine that it had turned into mirrors. The ceiling was woven with glass like a spider's web, and then in the centre of the chamber was column after column of mirrored glass, as beautiful as columns on a Roman temple. When you got closer still you could see, encased in the glass, the Monster's treasures that must have been stolen from generation after generation of poor Viking amber-collectors. The Monster must have attacked Romans too, for there were gorgeous Roman silver cups floating in the columns like flies in amber. And speaking of amber, there was quantities and quantities of the stuff studded in the glass columns, the colour of honey, the colour of gold, the colour of fire, some with little creatures stuck in the golden liquid. But Hiccup ran through that maze without even stopping, guided all the way by the squiggles on Grimbeard's map and his own gut. It was very confusing, just as confusing as looking into the eyes of a Triple-Header Deadly Shadow, for some of the columns were glass and some were mirror, and it was very difficult to tell what was see-through and what was a reflection. On he slipped and slid through that sliding

细得都变成了镜子。 天花板像蜘蛛网一样用玻璃编织而成，房间的中央是一柱又一柱的镜面玻璃，像罗马神庙上的柱子一样美丽。 当你走近时，你可以看到，在玻璃里，怪物的宝藏一定是从一代又一代可怜的维京琥珀收藏家那里偷来的。 怪物一定也袭击了罗马人，因为华丽的罗马银杯像琥珀中的苍蝇一样漂浮在柱子上。 说到琥珀，玻璃柱里镶嵌着大量的琥珀，有蜂蜜的颜色，有金色的颜色，有火焰的颜色，有些金色的液体里还粘着小生物。 但是Hiccup在Grimbeard的地图和他自己的肠子的指引下，甚至没有停下来就跑过了迷宫。 这让人很困惑，就像看着一个三头杀手的眼睛一样，因为有些柱子是玻璃的，有些是镜子，很难分辨哪些是透明的，哪些是反射的。 他滑了又滑，滑过了那个滑梯

mirror maze, searching, searching, for he knew what he was looking for now. And heart lifting with hope… …he found it. Wonder of wonders. Water into stone. A single glass column, shining, pure as a drop of water. And right in the centre, suspended there as if it were floating, a little higher than Hiccup's eye level, was the dark red heart, the dark red Jewel… the Dragon's Jewel. The Jewel that spelt the destruction of the dragons, and the humans' only hope. The Jewel was hanging on a necklace, encased in the glass in such a way that it was as if the necklace was hanging on the neck of an invisible ghost. And as Hiccup circled round the column, nose pressed to the glass, his imagination filled in the torso of a gigantic bearded man: Grimbeard the Ghastly. As Hiccup circled the column, he could just make out, on the golden backing of the necklace, the scratched initials: G.G. Hiccup felt in his waistband for Camicazi's sword. He took it out and took a good aim at the

镜子迷宫，寻找，寻找，因为他知道他现在在寻找什么。 心中充满希望... ...他找到了。 奇迹中的奇迹。水成石。 一个单一的玻璃柱，闪闪发光，纯净如一滴水。 在正中间，就像漂浮着一样悬在那里，比嗝嗝的眼睛略高一点的地方，是那颗深红色的心，那颗深红色的宝石……那颗龙的宝石。 毁灭巨龙的宝石，也是人类唯一的希望。 那颗宝石挂在一条项链上，镶嵌在玻璃里，仿佛项链挂在一个看不见的鬼魂的脖子上。 小嗝嗝绕着柱子转，鼻子贴在玻璃上，他的想象充满了一个巨大的大胡子的躯干：可怕的Grimbeard。 当小嗝嗝绕着柱子转的时候，他刚好能辨认出项链的金色背面，上面刻着几个潦草的首字母：G.G. 小嗝嗝在腰带里摸着卡米卡齐的剑。 他把枪拿出来，瞄准了

column of glass about a foot or so below where the Jewel was suspended, swinging at it with all his might, as if he were swinging at a tree in the Hooligan forest. The first swing took a big glass chunk out of the column. The second, a larger bite. And on the third swing of the sword Hiccup ducked as the entire column of glass came down with an almighty musical crash, tinkling little pieces raining down on him, and the echoes ringing out in that gigantic underground mirrored cavern like a pealing of bells. Before Hiccup reached out to take it, he hesitated. What if he were to take the Jewel, and it were then to fall into the wrong hands? But what if he did not take the Jewel, and there was nothing then to stop the anger of the Dragon Furious? He put his head in his hands. How I wish that I were not the one who finds the Lost Things! thought Hiccup passionately. Why does it have to be me who makes these choices? Most of us are lucky not to be Kings and Heroes, because we do not have to make the choices that

那是一根玻璃柱子，离珍宝悬挂的地方大约一英尺左右，他正使出全身力气朝柱子荡去，仿佛是在流氓森林里的一棵树上荡去。 第一次摆动就把一大块玻璃从柱子上摔了下来。 第二，更大的一口。 在第三次挥剑时，嗝嗝躲开了，整根玻璃柱轰然落下，发出巨大的音乐声，叮当作响的小碎片像雨点一样落在他身上，回声在这个巨大的地下镜像洞穴里回响，就像钟声一样。 在Hiccup伸手去拿之前，他犹豫了一下。 万一他拿走了珍宝，而它又落入坏人之手呢？ 但如果他没有拿走宝石，那就没有什么能阻止暴龙的愤怒了呢？ 他双手抱头。 我多么希望我不是那个找到丢失的东西的人！小嗝嗝激动地想。 为什么非得由我来做这些选择？ 我们大多数人都很幸运，没有成为国王和英雄，因为我们不必做出那些选择

Kings and Heroes have to make. Hiccup chose to take the Jewel. Hiccup tore a piece off his shirt and wrapped his hand in it so he could draw the Jewel out of the mound of shards of glass. He held it up, so that the light shone brilliantly off the golden amber depths, and carefully swept off the powdered glass with one finger before putting the amber Jewel around his neck and dropping it down his fire-suit so it wasn't visible. And then he said: 'Thank you, Grimbeard the Ghastly.' I don't know why he said it, for there was no one there of course. But there was a beat of about two seconds. And the hairs on the back of Hiccup's head stood up. 'Hic-cup…' said a faint, spooky, echoing voice. 'Hic-cup…' Oh for Thor's sake. What was that? It couldn't be the voice of the Dragon Furious, could it? Hiccup's mind went back to the Dragon chasing him through the cave warren of the Flashburn School of Swordfighting.

国王和英雄必须做出。 小嗝嗝选择了带走宝石。 嗝嗝从衬衫上撕下一块，用它包住自己的手，这样他就能从一堆玻璃碎片中抽出珍宝来。 他把它举起来，金色的琥珀深处的光芒闪闪发亮，他小心地用一根手指拂去玻璃粉，然后把琥珀宝石戴在脖子上，放进他的防火服里，这样就看不见了。 然后他说：“谢谢你，可怕的Grimbeard。”我不知道他为什么这么说，因为那里当然没有人。 但有大约两秒钟的节拍。 小嗝嗝的后脑勺上的头发竖了起来。 “嗝——杯……”一个微弱、诡异、回荡的声音说。 哦，看在雷神的份上。 那是什么？不可能是狂暴龙的声音吧？ 小嗝嗝的思绪又回到了恶龙在Flashburn剑术学校的岩洞里追逐他的情景。