28 Facing the Music and Alvin and the Witch

28. FACING THE MUSIC… AND ALVIN AND THE WITCH Night had fallen in the Amber Slavelands. Outside the prison walls, the air was screaming with dragons. The sentries along the walls were barely holding them back. The courtyard of Prison Darkheart was brilliantly lit with flares. In the centre of the courtyard sat Alvin the Treacherous and his mother, seated on twin thrones. Hundreds and hundreds of Warriors of the Wilderwest and slaves stood carrying flaming torches in their hands. The atmosphere was grim. Every soul in that prison was listening tensely to the dragon apocalypse outside. Alvin had called this Grand Meeting of soldiers, slaves, warriors and everybody, in order to conduct a few executions to work off some of his anger at the loss of Hiccup earlier in the day. But they were interrupted in this amiable diversion by an unexpected visitor. Over those battlements flew the Silver Phantom, and on the Phantom's back was Valhallarama the Hero, and swinging from just one of his mother's metal arms,

28. 面对音乐……阿尔文和女巫夜幕降临在琥珀奴隶地。 监狱墙外，空气中弥漫着龙的尖叫声。 城墙上的哨兵几乎挡不住他们。 黑心监狱的院子里灯火通明。 背信弃义的阿尔文和他的母亲坐在院子中央的两个宝座上。 成百上千的荒野勇士和奴隶站在那里，手里拿着燃烧的火炬。 气氛很严峻。监狱里的每个人都在紧张地听着外面恶龙的启示。 阿尔文召集了这次由士兵、奴隶、勇士和所有人参加的盛大会议，目的是执行一些死刑，以消除他对当天早些时候失去希卡普的愤怒。 但是，他们的这种愉快的消遣被一位不速之客打断了。 银色幻影飞过城垛，幻影的背上是英雄瓦尔哈拉拉马，他只从母亲的一只金属手臂上摇摆，

was the infuriated Hiccup. 'Don't shoot! Hold your fire!' cried Alvin the Treacherous, for he with his quick one eye had already spotted the Dragon Jewel burning bright around Valhallarama's neck. King Alvin's face lit up with sudden joy. 'Mother!' he gasped. 'She's got the Jewel!' The white witch stood up a little higher, her hair trailing behind her in a blaze of glory. 'I knew it!' she spat triumphantly. 'I knew all my calculations could not be wrong!' The Silver Phantom circled round the courtyard once, twice, glowing bright as the moon. And then he landed on his back legs, placing Hiccup carefully on the ground before the witch, and Valhallarama leapt lightly from the Phantom's back and stood there beside him. Hiccup threw himself away from her, shook her arm off him as if it were poisonous, still too angry with her to be frightened. The Phantom was limping slightly from an arrow wound in his foreleg. The crowd was silent until they spotted the Dragon Jewel around Valhallarama's neck.

怒气冲冲的小嗝嗝说。 “别开枪!别开枪！叛徒阿尔文叫道，因为他用那只灵敏的眼睛已经发现了瓦尔哈拉拉马脖子上那颗闪闪发光的龙之宝石。 阿尔文国王的脸上突然露出喜悦的神色。 “母亲!”他喘着气说。“她拿到了珍宝！”白女巫站得更高了一些，她的头发在身后飘动着，闪耀着光彩。 “我就知道！”她得意地啐了一口。 “我知道我所有的计算都不会出错！”银色幽灵绕着院子转了一圈，两圈，像月亮一样明亮。 然后他后腿着地，小心地把小嗝嗝放在女巫面前的地上，瓦尔哈拉拉玛轻轻地从幽灵的背上跳下来，站在他身边。 小嗝嗝猛地挣脱她，把她的胳膊抖开，好像那胳膊是有毒的，他仍然对她很生气，一点也不害怕。 幻影的前腿被箭射中，微微一瘸一拐。 人群一片沉默，直到他们看到瓦尔哈拉拉马脖子上的龙珠。

'The Jewel! She has the Jewel! We're saved!' All around the courtyard the crowd began to cheer: 'VAL-HALL-ARA-MA! VAL-HALL-ARA-MA! She has the Jewel!' Valhallarama was the most popular Hero in the Archipelago, even more famous than Humungously Hotshot or Flashburn. And she had found them the Jewel! Even the slaves were rattling their chains in appreciation. Valhallarama reached for her iron helmet and took it off, throwing it into the crowd, so that all could see her face. A proud white face, cut as if it were made of granite. Daunting to look upon, like a particularly stern cliff. And then she stood with her arms crossed in silence. 'Leave it to me, Alvin,' hissed the witch, trying to see through that suit of armour, that granite face, to what might be Valhallarama's weaknesses. 'Leave it to Mother… This is a slightly sensitive situation, and it calls for a witch's tongue…' It was a slightly sensitive situation– a mother delivering not only the Jewel but her son to his likely death.

“珠宝!她有宝石！我们得救了!”院子四周的人群开始欢呼起来：“瓦尔-霍尔-阿拉-马！”VAL-HALL-ARA-MA !她拿到了珍宝！”Valhallarama是群岛上最受欢迎的英雄，甚至比humungous Hotshot或Flashburn还要出名。 她给他们找到了珍宝！就连奴隶们也在感激地摇着铁链。 瓦尔哈拉拉马伸手取下她的铁头盔，扔向人群，让所有人都能看到她的脸。 一张骄傲的白脸，仿佛是花岗岩做的。 看起来令人生畏，像一个特别陡峭的悬崖。 然后她双臂交叉，默默地站着。 “交给我吧，阿尔文。”女巫嘶嘶地说，试图透过那套盔甲，那张花岗岩的脸，看到瓦尔哈拉拉马的弱点。 “把这件事交给妈妈……这是一个有点敏感的情况，需要一个女巫的舌头……”这是一个有点敏感的情况——一个母亲不仅要把宝石送去，还要把她的儿子送去可能的死亡。

'Congratulations, Valhallarama!' said the witch, holding up one bony white arm in salutation. 'I have to confess, Valhallarama,' continued the witch, 'I underestimated you. I did not tell you that the Traitor of the Wilderwest was your own son, in case you let family feeling get in the way of your duty. I should have known that a great Hero like yourself would put your Kingdom above mere personal whims. Three cheers for Valhallarama!' The courtyard rocked with applause. Valhallarama said nothing. 'Give Alvin the Jewel that will save us all, Valhallarama,' said the witch, trying to sound casual and as if it were not an order. But Valhallarama did not give Alvin the Jewel. Instead, she withdrew a single arrow from her quiver. An arrow with black raven feathers on it. She twirled it round and round on one finger, thoughtfully. Valhallarama said nothing, her Hero's face impassive as she twirled that arrow round and round. There is a power in silence, especially when you have as charismatic a presence as Valhallarama. The power of silence is that it forces others to speak.

“恭喜,Valhallarama !女巫说着，举起一只瘦骨嶙峋的白胳膊向她致意。 “我必须承认，瓦尔哈拉拉马，”女巫继续说道，“我低估了你。 我没有告诉你，荒野西部的叛徒是你自己的儿子，以免你让家庭感情妨碍了你的职责。 我早该知道，像你这样伟大的英雄会把王国置于个人心血来潮之上。 为瓦尔哈拉罗摩欢呼三声！”院子里充满了掌声。 瓦尔哈拉拉马什么也没说。 “把能拯救我们所有人的宝石给阿尔文吧，瓦尔哈拉拉马。”女巫说，装出漫不经心的样子，好像这不是一个命令。 但瓦尔哈拉拉马没有把宝石给阿尔文。 相反，她从箭筒里抽出了一支箭。 一支箭上有黑乌鸦的羽毛。 她若有所思地在一根手指上旋转着它。 瓦尔哈拉拉马什么也没说，当她旋转着箭时，她的英雄的脸毫无表情。 沉默有一种力量，尤其是当你有像瓦尔哈拉拉马那样有魅力的存在时。 沉默的力量在于它迫使别人说话。

The witch moistened her lips, her half-blind eyes taking in the movement of the arrow. 'I see you have the arrow that an unknown soldier may have accidentally shot your Silver Phantom with, after the Phantom so very kindly delivered us the map…' said the witch smoothly. 'We are so glad that it did not hurt him badly, aren't we, Alvin?' Alvin showed his teeth in a charming smile. 'My relief is beyond words.' 'It was an accident. We were furious with the soldier in question. Indeed, he lost his life. I need not tell you, Valhallarama, that our promise that we gave you still holds,' purred the witch. 'Alvin promises that if you give him the Dragon Jewel, he will use it merely as a threat, not to destroy the dragons for ever. Is that not so, Alvin?' 'Word of a Treacherous,' smiled Alvin. 'Unless of course,' the witch continued, sweet and smooth as butter, 'the Dragon Furious gives us no choice…' She shrugged her shoulders, indicating the roar of the Rebellion outside. 'Alvin is realistic, and he would have the strength to act decisively if he is forced. Look around you at the Archipelago. Our perfect world, burnt to a crisp by dragon fire. The dragons would kill us all!'

女巫湿润了嘴唇，半瞎的眼睛注视着箭的移动。 “我看到你有一支箭，可能是一个不知名的士兵不小心射中你的银幽灵的，在幽灵非常好心地把地图交给我们之后……”女巫平静地说。 “我们很高兴它没有伤得很重，是不是，阿尔文？”阿尔文露出牙齿，露出迷人的微笑。 “我的宽慰无以言表。”“那是个意外。 我们对那个士兵大为光火。 事实上，他失去了生命。“我不必告诉你，瓦尔哈拉拉马，我们给你的诺言仍然有效。”女巫咕噜着。 “阿尔文保证，如果你把龙珠给他，他只会把它当作一种威胁，而不是永远消灭龙。 不是吗，阿尔文？“背信弃义的话，”阿尔文笑着说。 “当然，除非，”女巫继续说，声音像黄油一样甜美、光滑，“暴龙怒让我们别无选择……”她耸耸肩，指了指外面起义军的吼声。 “阿尔文很现实，如果他被逼不得已，他会有力量果断采取行动。 看看你周围的群岛。 我们完美的世界，被龙火烤焦了。 龙会把我们都杀死的！”