26 A Ghost from the Past

26. A GHOST FROM THE PAST Sometimes our little human splashings are not enough. However hard we try, however strong our heroic human wills (and us humans have such a capacity, such a heroic capacity for believing that the impossible might be possible), sometimes our ridiculously puny human arms are too weak. Sometimes the world is just too big for us, the hurricane too wild, the sea so huge, that it wears out even the bravest of hearts, the strongest of wills. So it would have been with Fishlegs and Hiccup, I have to tell you– they would have drowned that day in the seas around the Amber Slavelands, despite everything, despite their miraculous escape from the Maze of Mirrors and the lair of the Slitherfang. Hiccup would have sunk to the ocean floor with the Dragon Jewel around his neck, and this story would have had a very different kind of ending. If it hadn't been for one thing. That one thing was flying right now on invisible wings, above the oceans of the Amber Slavelands, searching, searching. A ghost from the past. A ghost that was hoping to make amends, a ghost

26. 有时，我们小小的人类泼水是不够的。 无论我们多么努力，无论我们的英雄意志多么强大（我们人类有这样一种能力，这样一种英雄的能力，相信不可能的事情可能成为可能），有时我们可笑的瘦小的人类手臂太弱了。 有时候，这个世界对我们来说太大了，飓风太猛烈了，大海太浩瀚了，甚至连最勇敢的心，最坚强的意志也会被它消磨殆尽。 我必须告诉你，鱼腿和小嗝嗝也是这样——尽管发生了这一切，尽管他们奇迹般地从镜迷宫和滑牙怪的巢穴里逃了出来，他们那天还是会淹死在琥珀奴隶地周围的海里。 小嗝嗝可能会脖子上挂着龙珠沉入海底，这个故事可能会有一个完全不同的结局。 如果不是因为一件事。 那东西此刻正插上看不见的翅膀，在琥珀奴隶地的海洋上空飞翔，搜寻，搜寻。 一个来自过去的鬼魂。一个想要赔罪的鬼魂，一个鬼魂

that was never going to give up because of the promise he made to Fishlegs's mother. The Deadly Shadow would not give up. 'There is always hope,' whispered Innocence. 'Remember the last time this happened we gave up, and Fisshlegss was still alive? You have to learn from stories. We will not give up this time…' Even the boundless optimism of Camicazi, riding on the back of the Deadly Shadow, was fading. Of course it was, for had she not seen with her very own eyes, Hiccup dragged down under the sands by some terrifying eyes-on-claws monster? With a howl of terror, the Deadly Shadow had dug at the spot with his great claws, and she had dived down and joined in with her own pathetic human hands, digging, digging, digging at the spot they last saw him. But sometimes the world is too big even for dragon claws. The Deadly Shadow was an Air Dragon, not a Sea Dragon, not an Earth Dweller– he was not built for burrowing. He could not follow Hiccup underneath the sand, however hard he dug. But on, on, he and Camicazi dug, until the great tide swept in, and swallowed up their pathetic diggings, their pointless hole and turned the world to water.

他永远不会放弃，因为他对鱼腿的母亲做出了承诺。 死亡之影不会放弃。 “总是有希望的。”纯真轻声说。 “还记得上次发生这种事的时候吗？我们放弃了，无鱼人还活着。” 你必须从故事中学习。 这一次，我们不会放弃……”就连骑在“死亡之影”背上的卡米卡齐的无限乐观也在消退。 当然是这样，因为她不是亲眼看到，嗝嗝被一个可怕的长着爪子的眼睛的怪物拖到了沙子下面吗？ 随着一声恐怖的嚎叫，死亡之影用它的大爪子在那个地方挖了起来，她也潜入水中，用她那双可怜的人类的手加入了他们的队伍，在他们最后一次见到他的地方挖啊挖啊挖。 但有时候这个世界太大了，龙的爪子也容不下。 死亡之影是一只空龙，不是海龙，也不是地球居民——他不是为穴居而生的。 不管他怎么使劲地挖，他都无法跟着小嗝嗝在沙子下面走。 但他和卡米卡齐一直挖啊挖啊，直到大浪冲了进来，吞没了他们可怜的挖掘，淹没了他们毫无意义的洞，把世界变成了水。

Hours and hours they searched the world-now-turned-to-ocean. I do not know what moral you can take from this apart from one: they carried on, even though all hope was lost, for it was impossible that Hiccup should have survived being buried deep under sand and under ocean. 'But perhaps he wriggled out of the Monster's claws at the last moment,' said Camicazi to the Deadly Shadow. 'Trust me, guys, I have seen Hiccup survive so many other impossible situations…' But yet again, this seemed like even more of an impossible situation to survive than the last one. Nonetheless, they carried on, and it was good that they did, for as we know, despite all odds, Hiccup had survived, and he and Fishlegs needed them now. The Deadly Shadow had gone back in time. He had forgotten that thirteen years had passed. It was as if it were that very same day that he promised his human, Termagant: 'By our bright-green blood and our shining claws, we will keep your baby safe.' Just such a day it had been, a day of blue, with just a hint of clouds on the edge of the world. 'We promise… We promise…' Patience muttered

他们一小时又一小时地搜索着这个世界——现在已经变成了海洋。 我不知道你还能从中得到什么教训：尽管一切希望都破灭了，他们还是坚持了下来，因为小嗝嗝被深埋在沙子和海洋里是不可能活下来的。 “但也许他是在最后一刻从怪物的魔爪中挣脱出来的，”卡米卡齐对死影说。 “相信我，伙计们，我见过小嗝嗝在很多其他不可能的情况下幸存下来……”但再一次，这次似乎比上次更不可能存活下来。 尽管如此，他们还是坚持了下来，这是件好事，因为正如我们所知，尽管困难重重，嗝嗝还是活了下来，他和鱼腿现在需要他们。 死亡之影回到了过去。 他忘了十三年已经过去了。 就好像就在同一天，他向他的人类特玛甘特承诺：“以我们鲜绿的血液和闪亮的爪子，我们会保护你孩子的安全。”那天正是这样的一天，蓝蓝的，在世界的边缘只有一丝云。 “我们保证……我们保证……

to the others in Dragonese. 'We promise, Termagant, we will keep your baby safe…' 'We promisse… We promissse…' Arrogance and Innocence whispered back. Swooping over the blue expanse of ocean, the endless waves that stretched for ever, they searched for a little lobster pot, bobbing on the waves. Their six Deadly Shadow eyes, the sharpest eyes in the world, the eyes that can see a nanodragon moving from a distance of half a mile, clicking, clicking, scanning the ocean. Their senses all alert. Then, with panic rising, they could feel the clouds moving in, suddenly, a mist beginning to form… Surely history could not be about to repeat itself? Surely this was a day of second chances? They swooped down further, desperately looking for the little lobster pot. And the Deadly Shadow found it. Way down below, a flicker of movement, a smudge of pink, of human life, a tiny wriggle on the endless stretch of blue. Down the Deadly Shadow swooped, joy leaping in his camouflaged breast, and as they soared closer, Camicazi could see it too, and she let out a joyful whoop.

用龙舌兰语对其他人说。 “我们保证，特马甘特，我们会保护你孩子的安全……”“我们保证……我们保证……”傲慢和天真小声回答。 他们在一望无际的蓝色大海和无边无际的海浪上飞来飞去，寻找一只在海浪上上下浮动的小龙虾锅。 它们的六只“致命之影”眼睛，是世界上最敏锐的眼睛，可以看到半英里外移动的纳米龙，咔嗒，咔嗒，扫描海洋。 它们的感官全都警觉起来。接着，随着恐慌的加剧，他们感到乌云密布，突然，一层薄雾开始形成……历史不会重演吧？ 这一定是第二次机会吧？ 他们进一步俯冲下去，拼命地寻找那个小龙虾锅。 死亡之影找到了它。 在下面，一个闪烁的运动，一个粉红色的污点，一个人的生命，一个微小的蠕动在无尽的蓝色。 死亡之影俯冲下来，他伪装的胸膛里跳跃着喜悦，当他们飞得更近时，卡米卡齐也看到了，她发出了一声快乐的喊叫。

A smashed and broken lobster pot, attached to the back of a boy swimming, a boy with a lobster-claw necklace around his neck. The boy was supporting another boy with broken glasses, and even at the height it was flying, the dragon could see in the face of that boy, the smudged and vague outline, the wet bedraggled memory of a human it had loved. Termagant's child!

一个破碎的龙虾壶，绑在一个游泳的男孩的背上，一个脖子上戴着龙虾爪项链的男孩。 男孩用破碎的眼镜扶着另一个男孩，即使在它飞得那么高的地方，巨龙也能从男孩的脸上看到模糊的轮廓，看到它曾经爱过的那个人的湿漉漉的记忆。 泼妇的孩子!

'We'll meet again, Termagant! We'll meet again!' snorted the three heads of the Deadly Shadow triumphantly, shooting out bolts of lightning as he swooped ever downwards.

“我们会再见面的，特马甘特！”我们会再见面的！死影的三个脑袋得意洋洋地哼了一声，猛地向下俯冲，射出一道闪电。