9 The Evil Reaches

9. THE EVIL REACHES So Hiccup and Stoick and Eggingarde set off to the east, and within a surprisingly short time they were on their own, the other members of the Amber- Hunters Team merely specks on the distant horizon. Oooh dear… Already this was really spooky. No birds called over those sands. Not one. Why was that? It must be because they sensed the danger that was below. It was a horrible feeling, racing over those sands, because any minute Hiccup felt that something might reach out of them unexpectedly, and grab him by the ankle, like in Eggingarde's story. Eggingarde didn't help his nerves either, because every time there was a perfectly harmless sucking noise, which was probably the draining of the tide or the 'glopping' of a scallop, she would roar at it, 'ROAR!', with a loudness and a suddenness that made you practically fall off your sand-yacht. (It probably rather alarmed the scallop too.) The hood of her bearsuit was so low down over her face that she couldn't see where she was going.

9. 于是小嗝嗝、斯托伊克和埃格加德出发向东，在令人惊讶的短时间内，他们就靠自己了，琥珀猎人队的其他成员只是在遥远的地平线上的斑点。 天哪，这已经很恐怖了。 沙滩上没有鸟叫。 没有一个。为什么呢？这一定是因为他们感觉到下面的危险。 在沙滩上奔跑是一种可怕的感觉，因为小嗝嗝随时都觉得有什么东西可能会出乎意料地从沙滩里伸出来，抓住他的脚踝，就像埃金加德的故事一样。 埃金加德也没办法让自己紧张起来，因为每次听到一种完全无害的吸吮声，可能是退潮的声音，也可能是扇贝“扑哧扑哧”的声音，她就会朝它吼：“吼！，声音之大、之突然，几乎使你从你的沙游艇上掉下来。 （这可能也吓坏了扇贝。）她的熊装帽兜得太低，遮住了脸，她看不清自己要去哪里。

Hiccup would be sledging along and he'd suddenly realise Eggingarde had sailed off in the other direction so he'd have to go and collect her and put her back on course. Eventually Stoick slowed down and started looking for amber. Hiccup leaned out and scooped up something glinting in the sand, and then brought the net up to examine what it was. No, not amber at all, just a big old bit of crab shell. He threw it over his shoulder. He sighed, looked warily around him at those bubbling sands to check there was nothing horrible rising out of them and moved forward. Half an hour passed, and he had found only three pieces of amber, all quite small, and none of them the Dragon Jewel. He was suddenly bowed down by the hopeless ambition of what he was supposed to be doing. 'How am I, in this whole vast wilderness of sand, supposed to find one single Jewel?' whispered Hiccup. 'Your heart must be in your Quest,' said the Wodensfang, which was all very wise and supportive, but was actually also, to be honest, a little vague and not particularly helpful. Hiccup sighed and carried on hunting. It was quite an odd situation, to be out there on

小嗝嗝会在雪橇上滑行，他会突然意识到埃金加德已经向另一个方向航行了，所以他必须去把她找回来，让她回到航线上。 最终，斯托伊克放慢了脚步，开始寻找琥珀。 小嗝嗝探出身子，在沙子里捞起一件闪闪发光的东西，然后把网拿上来，想看看那是什么。 不，根本不是琥珀，只是一大块蟹壳。 他把它扔到肩上。 他叹了口气，小心翼翼地环顾四周冒着泡泡的沙滩，看看有没有什么可怕的东西冒出来，然后继续往前走。 半个小时过去了，他只找到了三颗琥珀，都很小，而且没有一颗是龙珠。 他突然被自己应该做的事情的无望的野心压垮了。 “在这茫茫沙漠里，我怎么可能找到一颗宝石呢？”嗝嗝低声说。 “你的心一定是放在你的任务上的。”沃登方说，这句话很有智慧，也很支持你，但老实说，也有点含糊，没有什么特别的帮助。 嗝嗝叹了口气，继续打猎。 这是一个很奇怪的情况，在那里

the endless wilderness of the red sands with a father who doesn't realise you are his son. 'Go on, Hiccup,' whispered the Wodensfang encouragingly from inside Hiccup's waistcoat. 'Talk to your father. Tell him who you are, and why you are here. Tell him about your Quest…' 'It isn't so easy,' Hiccup whispered back. He tried to push out of his mind the memory of Baggybum saying to Snotlout, 'I am ashamed to be your father.' Stoick wouldn't say that would he?

和一个没有意识到你是他儿子的父亲在一起的无尽的荒野。 “说下去，嗝嗝。”沃登毒蛇在嗝嗝的马甲里鼓励地低声说。 “跟你父亲谈谈。告诉他你是谁，为什么来这里。 “这可不容易，”小嗝嗝小声回答。 他试图把Baggybum对snorlout说过的话从脑海中抹去，“我以做你的父亲为耻。”斯托伊克不会这么说，对吧？

Perhaps he would, thought Hiccup. He felt slightly sick. First I'll just try and get a sense of what he's thinking, Hiccup decided. I'll just check that he's not too angry with me… Eggingarde was off at a little distance, roaring at scallops and picking up the amber with a pole nearly twice as long as she was. But Stoick was examining some amber a couple of feet away. Hiccup walked up behindhim and said, as casually as he could, as if he were just interested in an off-hand sort of way, 'So, Chief Stoick, are you really the father of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the boy the witch is searching the Wilderwest for?' Stoick threw a piece of amber over his shoulder. He sailed on, checked the sands all around him to see that there was nothing alarming rising out of them, and Hiccup followed him. 'Why do you young people ask all these questions?' grumbled Stoick the Vast, putting out his net and scooping up amber, examining it, and throwing it over his shoulder again. 'OK!' gulped Hiccup, his voice sliding up from a gruff to a squeak, because it had been behaving in that uncontrolled manner quite a lot recently. 'I've changed

也许他会的，小嗝嗝想。 他感到有点不舒服。“首先我要试着弄清楚他在想什么，”小嗝嗝决定道。 我去看看他是不是太生我的气了……埃金加德在不远处，对着扇贝咆哮，用一根几乎是她两倍长的杆子捡起琥珀。 但斯托伊克正在几英尺外检查一些琥珀。 小嗝嗝走到他身后，尽可能随意地说，好像他只是随便地感兴趣，“那么，斯托伊克酋长，你真的是女巫在最西部荒野寻找的那个男孩——可怕的黑道克小嗝嗝三世的父亲吗？”斯托伊克把一块琥珀扔到他肩上。 他继续航行，检查了一下周围的沙子，看看有没有什么可怕的东西冒出来，小嗝嗝跟着他。 “你们年轻人为什么问这些问题？”巨人斯托伊克嘟囔着，伸出他的网，捞起琥珀，检查了一下，又把它扔到肩上。 “好吧!嗝嗝吞吞吐吐地说，他的声音从沙哑变成了尖利，因为最近他的行为太不受控制了。 “我已经改变

my mind! You don't need to answer my question!' But Stoick seemed to need to get something off his chest. 'When I was young I never asked questions,' boomed Stoick. 'I just did what I was told, I followed the traditions, I stuck to the Barbaric Code. I walked in the path of my own father, and my father's father, and my father's father's father.' For five minutes he worked in silence, seeking the amber, grimly. 'I tried to bring up my son by the same Code,' said Stoick. 'Even though he was so different, and he always asked so many questions.' Stoick sighed and shook his head. 'But it is not always easy

我的心灵!你不需要回答我的问题！”但斯托伊克似乎有话要说。 “当我年轻的时候，我从来不问问题，”斯托伊克大声说。 “我只是做了我被告知的事情，我遵循传统，我坚持野蛮法典。 我走的是我父亲的路，我父亲的父亲的路，我父亲的父亲的父亲的路。”他默默地找了五分钟，神情严峻地寻找着琥珀。 “我试着用同样的方式培养我的儿子，”斯托伊克说。 “尽管他很不一样，他总是问很多问题。”斯托伊克叹了口气，摇了摇头。 但这并不总是那么容易

being a parent. You do your best, of course…' I know what he means, thought Hiccup, thinking of how hard it was training Toothless. 'So when my son asked the question, "Father, if you were King, would you free the dragons?" I told him the right answer. The only answer. The answer a King should give. Free the dragons? Nonsense! It strikes at our very livelihood, the world that we grew up in!' Stoick shook his head, incredulously. 'But what does my son Hiccup do? He rejects my answer, beats his father in a swordfight! And goes over his father's head and asks for freedom for the dragons on his own!'

为人父母。“我明白他的意思，”小嗝嗝想，想着训练无牙是多么困难。 所以当我儿子问我：“父亲，如果你是国王，你会释放龙吗？”我告诉了他正确的答案。 唯一的答案。国王应该给出的答案。 释放龙？胡说!它冲击着我们的生计，冲击着我们成长的世界！”斯托伊克难以置信地摇了摇头。 “可我儿子小嗝嗝是干什么的？” 他拒绝了我的回答，和他父亲斗剑！他越过他父亲的头顶，独自为龙请求自由！”