18 A Very Short Chapter

18. A VERY SHORT CHAPTER IN WHICH IT LOOKS LIKE EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO GO RIGHT FOR FIVE MINUTES The boys went to work, getting the ship sailing as fast as possible, expertly handling the ropes like the young Vikings they were. They had done this a thousand times in Viking Sailing Practice. But never together. They worked in surprising unison, for two boys who had loathed each other all their lives. Hiccup felt a weird sense of elation, for the first time in his life to be working side-by-side with Snotlout for a common aim. They were not out of danger. No. But, unbelievably, they had all the Things, every single one, safely locked in the hold. If they could just get them to Tomorrow… so close now that they could actually see it, a dark shadow in the mist, tantalisingly within reach. They had finally laid to rest their old quarrel, they had got all the Things, there was a clear wind taking them across Wrecker's Bay, and for five whole minutes it looked like everything was going to be all right. It would have been even more inspiring if it

18. 男孩们开始工作，让船尽可能快地航行，像年轻的维京人一样熟练地操纵绳索。 他们在维京航行练习中已经做过一千次了。 但从来没有在一起过。他们出人意料地步调一致地工作，因为这两个男孩一生都彼此憎恨。 小嗝嗝感到一种奇怪的兴奋，这是他有生以来第一次和鼻涕鼻子为了一个共同的目标并肩作战。 他们没有脱离危险。 否。但是，令人难以置信的是，他们把所有的东西，每一件，都安全地锁在货舱里。 如果他们能把他们带到明天……现在离他们如此之近，以至于他们可以真正看到它，迷雾中的一个黑影，诱人地触手可及。 他们终于结束了旧日的争吵，得到了所有的东西，一阵清风把他们吹过了沉船湾，整整五分钟的时间里，似乎一切都会好起来的。 那就更鼓舞人心了，如果

hadn't been for the sound of Toothless howling. Still locked in his cage, Toothless had decided he was going to die, so he had stopped singing the song about the thousands of bottles, and he was now singing an even sadder song, which went something like this: 'Toothless is dy-y-y-ying… Poor Toothless is dy-y-ying…' 'Can't you shut the gummy one up,' said Snotlout through gritted teeth. 'It's making me feel like throwing myself off the ship or giving myself up to the witch.' As they slipped out of the witch's harbour, flocks of dragons and seagulls flew screeching overhead, screaming cries of warning, swarming in numbers like a plague of locusts from the direction of the Open Sea. An extraordinary noise followed them, a noise unlike anything Hiccup had ever heard before, a deep and elemental howl. For one second, Hiccup thought it was the Dragon Furious, before realising that no living creature could make that noise– not even a mighty Sea Dragon the size of a mountain. Only a true apocalyptic power could make that noise. Like volcanoes and earthquakes and hurricanes, that noise is one that tells the human being how small and insignificant a pinprick is mankind, for all his cleverness and ingenuity, in the face of the awesome

要不是听到无牙的嚎叫。 被关在笼子里的无牙觉得自己快死了，所以他不再唱那首关于成千上万瓶瓶子的歌了，他现在唱的是一首更悲伤的歌，大概是这样的：“无牙快死了……可怜的无牙快死了……” “这让我感觉像是把自己从船上扔下去，或者把自己交给女巫。”当他们溜出女巫的港口时，成群的龙和海鸥从头顶呼啸而过，发出警告的尖叫，像蝗虫一样从公海方向成群结队地飞来。 一种不同寻常的声音跟在他们后面，一种小嗝嗝以前从未听到过的声音，一种深沉而自然的嚎叫。 一刹那间，小嗝嗝以为那是怒龙，后来才意识到没有任何生物能发出那种声音——即使是像山那么大的海龙。 只有真正的世界末日才能发出这样的声音。 就像火山爆发、地震和飓风一样，这种声音告诉人们，尽管人类有智慧和创造力，但在可怕的事物面前，人类是多么渺小和微不足道

power of Nature itself. 'What is that?' shouted Snotlout, his face turning a little green. 'That,' said Hiccup swallowing, 'is the Winter Wind of Woden.' Just to make their escape a little more interesting than it was already, the Winter Wind of Woden was starting to blow. What were the chances? Hiccup made some calculations. They might avoid the Winter Wind of Woden if they were fast– and lucky. Doggedly, quietly, the two boys set the ship in the direction of the Dragonmarkers' hideout and moved out of the Harbour, streams of dragons and birds shrieking above them like shooting stars, and the clamour and explosions and fireworks of the Battle going on behind them.

大自然本身的力量。“那是什么？”鼻涕鼻子喊道，脸有点发青了。 “那，”嗝嗝吞吞吐吐地说，“是沃登的冬风。”为了让他们的逃跑变得更有趣一点，沃登的冬风开始吹了起来。 有什么机会？小嗝嗝做了一些计算。 如果他们够快，够幸运的话，他们也许能躲过沃登的冬风。 两个男孩顽强地、安静地把船驶向龙标记的藏身之处，驶出了港湾，成群的龙和鸟在他们头顶上像流星一样尖叫，战斗的喧闹声、爆炸声和焰火在他们身后回荡。

So there it was Five tantalizing moments of happiness And then.

这就是五个诱人的幸福时刻然后。