7 Practising swordfighting

7. PRACTISING SWORDFIGHTING AND SNIFFING FOR TREASURE In Hiccup's opinion, everything went wrong from the moment Alvin the Poor-But-Honest-Farmer was let out of the coffin. It wasn't Alvin's fault, of course. He was a most entertaining and enjoyable companion. He made the women blush by praising their muscles and their fat yellow plaits. He made the men laugh with hilarious farty jokes and impressions of Mogadon the Meathead. He made the children adore him by telling stories of the trickeries and battles of long-dead Heroes. Hiccup liked him, too. Alvin came across Hiccup one day, practising his swordfighting for the second depressing hour in a row. Hiccup was trying to do the 'Grimbeard's Grapple', and failing miserably every time. Stoick had given him a new sword to replace the Scaremaker, an impressively large and heavy one called a Stretchapoint. 'Got a lot of LENGTH to it, my boy,' Stoick had

7. 在小嗝嗝看来，从可怜但诚实的农民阿尔文被从棺材里放出来的那一刻起，一切都出了问题。 当然，这不是阿尔文的错。 他是一个最有趣、最令人愉快的伙伴。 他称赞女人的肌肉和黄色的肥辫，使她们脸红。 他用滑稽的笑话和对“白痴摩加迪安”的印象逗得男人们哈哈大笑。 他给孩子们讲死去已久的英雄们的诡计和战斗的故事，使孩子们崇拜他。 小嗝嗝也喜欢他。有一天，阿尔文遇到了小嗝嗝，他正在练习剑术，这已经是他连续第二个小时练习剑术了。 小嗝嗝试着做“Grimbeard’s grip”，但每次都失败得很惨。 斯托伊克给了他一把新剑来代替稻草人，一把又大又重、叫担架点的剑。 “写得很长，我的孩子，”斯托伊克说

said. 'It'll make up for your shortness of arm. Give you a better reach.' But Hiccup had difficulty keeping it steady, and when he got to the lunge at the end he tended to fall over. He had just got up and wearily picked up the Stretchapoint for another go, when Alvin the Poor-But-Honest-Farmer suddenly appeared right behind him and said, 'Hiccup, isn't it?' Hiccup was so startled he nearly fell over again. He hadn't realised he was being watched. 'You're the Heir to Stoick the Vast, aren't you?' smiled Alvin. Hiccup sighed. 'Well, I hope so,' he said. 'That's the general idea, anyway. But unless I get better at this swordfighting, I'm never going to be anybody's Heir.

说。“它可以弥补你胳膊短的缺点。 这样你就够得着了。”但小嗝嗝很难保持稳定，当他最后冲刺时，他往往会摔倒。 他刚站起来，疲惫地拿起担架架，准备再试一次。这时，可怜但诚实的农民阿尔文突然出现在他身后，说：“是打嗝吧？”嗝嗝吓得差点又摔倒了。 他没有意识到有人在监视他。 “你是巨人斯托伊克的继承人，对吗？”阿尔文笑着说。 打嗝叹了口气。“嗯，我希望如此，”他说。 “不管怎么说，这就是总体思路。 但除非我剑术练得更好，否则我永远不会成为任何人的继承人。

I'm HOPELESS at it.' 'No, no,' said Alvin reassuringly, 'you've got natural ability, I can see that. You just need a little coaching, that's all. Let me show you.' Alvin carefully put his helmet by the side of the ferns for safekeeping. Hiccup watched, fascinated, as he untwisted the claw attached to his right arm. In its place he fixed a 'sword-holder' mechanism. He then drew his sword and showed Hiccup how he could fit it into the mechanism. He twisted it tight so it wouldn't fall off. 'A clever little contraption I designed myself,' said Alvin. 'I think I fight even better now than I did before the accident…' He twirled his moustache and demonstrated the Grapple himself. 'You see,' said Alvin, 'the weight should be kept on the left foot.' Hiccup followed him carefully… and fell over again. 'BRAVO!' clapped Alvin, to Hiccup's surprise. 'But I fell over again,' said Hiccup. 'But with such STYLE,' said Alvin. 'You can't teach that, it's in the blood.' Alvin replaced the sword with the claw and

我在这方面毫无希望。“不，不，”阿尔文安慰他说，“你有天赋，我看得出来。” 你只是需要一点指导，仅此而已。 让我指给你看。”阿尔文小心地把他的头盔放在蕨类植物旁边，以便妥善保管。 小嗝嗝着迷地看着他解开绑在右臂上的爪子。 在原来的地方，他安装了一个“握剑”的装置。 然后他拔出了他的剑，向Hiccup展示了他是如何将剑插入机器的。 他把它拧紧以免掉下来。 “我自己设计的一个精巧的小玩意儿，”阿尔文说。 “我觉得我现在比出事前打得更好了……”他捻了捻胡子，亲自示范了格斗。 “你看，”阿尔文说，“重量应该放在左脚上。”小嗝嗝小心地跟着他……又摔倒了。 “万岁!”阿尔文鼓掌说，这让小嗝嗝大吃一惊。 “但是我又摔倒了，”小嗝嗝说。 “不过是这样的风格。”阿尔文说。 “这是教不来的，这是与生俱来的。”阿尔文把剑换成了爪子，然后

picked up his helmet. He made a grimace as he put it back on his head. He took it off again and peered inside. 'There seems to be some sort of MUD in here, some sort of very SMELLY mud…' 'It's all over your hair, I'm afraid, sir,' said Hiccup. Alvin looked horrified. He was very particular about his personal appearance. He hurried away to wash it off.

拿起他的头盔。他把帽子戴回头上时做了个鬼脸。 他又把帽子摘了下来，往里面看。 “恐怕你的头发上全是泥，先生。”小嗝嗝说。 阿尔文看起来吓坏了。他对自己的外表很讲究。 他急忙去把它洗掉。

Toothless, who had been hunting rats through the ferns, came and perched on Hiccup's shoulder. He had the giggles. Eventually, when he got his breath back, he choked out, 'P-p-pooed in his helmet…' 'TOOTHLESS!' scolded Hiccup. 'That's revolting and unkind. Why did you poo in poor Alvin's helmet?' 'H-h-he's a BAD MAN,' replied Toothless. 'Who, Alvin the Poor-But-Honest-Farmer?' asked Hiccup in surprise. 'Don't be so prejudiced, Toothless, just because he's not from round these parts doesn't make him a bad man…' 'S-s-suit yourself,' shrugged Toothless, checking out his wings for dragonfleas. 'Toothless thinks he's an O-O-Outcast.' Hiccup started nervously. Outcasts were Vikings who were so vicious, so terrible and sneaking and burglarous, that they had been cast out of regular Viking society, and had formed an extraordinarily ferocious Tribe of their own. It was even rumoured that some Outcasts ate their enemies. 'Oh, come ON,' protested Hiccup. 'He doesn't

一直在蕨类植物丛中捉老鼠的无牙走过来，蹲在嗝嗝的肩膀上。 他咯咯地笑。最后，当他喘过气来的时候，他哽咽着说：“噗——噗——在他的头盔里……”小嗝嗝骂道。 “这令人反感，也不厚道。 你为什么在可怜的阿尔文的头盔上便便？“他——他是个坏人。”无牙回答。 “谁，贫穷但诚实的农民阿尔文？”小嗝嗝惊奇地问。 “别这么有偏见，无牙，他不是这一带的人，并不代表他就是坏人……”“你自己穿吧。”无牙耸耸肩，一边检查翅膀上有没有蜻蜓。 “无牙认为他是一个o - o -弃儿。”小嗝嗝开始紧张起来。 “流民”指的是那些邪恶、可怕、鬼鬼祟祟、偷窃成性的维京人，他们被赶出了正常的维京社会，形成了一个极其凶残的部落。 甚至有传言说一些流浪者吃了他们的敌人。 “哦，得了吧，”小嗝嗝抗议道。 “他不

look anything LIKE an Outcast.' 'Y-y-you ever seen one?' asked Toothless. 'Well, no,' admitted Hiccup, 'but neither have you, and you haven't a shred of evidence. Let's go and get some lunch and forget this rubbish.' That conversation sowed a little seed of doubt in Hiccup's mind. He was already feeling uneasy because he knew that he and all the other boys were going to have to join in this suicidal quest to the Isle of the Skullions, which would set out just as soon as Stoick and Alvin had worked out a Plan to avoid the Tiny Problem of everybody being eaten alive the moment they landed on the island. And he knew that he, Hiccup, as the Heir to

看起来像个弃儿。“你见过吗？”无牙问。 “嗯，没有，”小嗝嗝承认，“但你也没有，而且你没有丝毫证据。 咱们去吃午饭吧，忘掉这些废话。”那次谈话在小嗝嗝的心中播下了一点怀疑的种子。 他已经感到不安了，因为他知道，他和其他所有的男孩都必须加入到这个自杀式的前往骷髅岛的探险中来，斯托伊克和阿尔文一旦制定出一个计划，就会立即出发，以避免每个人在岛上一上岸就被活活吃掉的小问题。 他知道他，小嗝嗝，作为继承人