3 THE FIRETRAP

3. THE FIRETRAP Only Gobber was riding a dragon big enough to fly him over the fire and out of the danger. But there was no question of him abandoning his pupils, who were riding on dragons whose wings were TOO WEAK to take off. They were trying desperately to do so, but only Snotlout's Devilish Dervish could muster up enough strength to carry him any height at all, before it collapsed to the ground again. The Vikings on their dragons galloped down the line of flame, hoping to find a place weak enough to jump through. But the woods were dry as a bone, and the fire burned fierce and quick. On and on the flames ran, and then they began to bend around in a circle, forcing the boys back and herding them up the hill, just as they had herded the reindeer only moments before.

3. 捕火器只有戈柏骑着一条大得足以让他飞过火堆、脱离危险的巨龙。 但他绝不可能抛弃他的学生，他们骑在龙身上，而龙的翅膀却无力起飞。 他们拼命地想这么做，但只有鼻鼻子的魔咒才能鼓起足够的力量把他抬到任何高度，然后它就又倒在地上了。 维京人骑着龙沿着火焰线疾驰，希望找到一个足够脆弱的地方跳过去。 但是树林里干得像骨头一样，火烧得又猛又快。 火焰越烧越旺，然后他们开始弯下腰围成一个圈，迫使孩子们后退，把他们赶到山上，就像他们刚刚把驯鹿赶到山上一样。

The herders were becoming the herded. Both ends of the circle of fire joined together. They were now trapped on the top of the mountain. All at the same time, the boys removed their swords from their scabbards. Even the stupidest among them realized that they were now under attack. The dragons were not terrified of the FIRE of course, for dragons' skins are fairly fireproof,-* and most dragons play in fire as joyfully as dolphins in water. What the dragons did not like was those black shapes prowling IN the fire. This is what terrified them, and sent them snarling backwards, their hackles rising. The boys dismounted their riding dragons, for if they remained on their backs, there was a real danger the dragons would plunge them straight into the inferno in their fever to get away, for dragons are only obedient up to a certain point, and they will not stay and fight if their lives are in danger. And, indeed, the instant the boys got off, the dragons fled upward, making Hiccup's heart sink even lower, for dragons have a strong instinct for the presence of mortal danger. One by one they fled, all of the riding dragons—

牧人变成了牧人。 火圈的两端连在一起。 他们现在被困在山顶上。 同时，男孩们把剑从鞘里拔了出来。 即使是他们当中最愚蠢的人也意识到他们现在受到了攻击。 龙当然不害怕火，因为龙的皮是相当防火的，而且大多数龙在火中玩耍，就像海豚在水里玩耍一样快乐。 龙不喜欢的是那些在火中徘徊的黑影。 这就是使他们惊惶的事，使他们向后狂吠，他们的鬃毛直竖。 孩子们从骑着的龙身上下来，因为如果他们继续骑在背上，就会有真正的危险，龙会在他们发烧的时候把他们直接扔进地狱，因为龙只有在一定程度上才会听话，如果有生命危险，它们是不会留下来战斗的。 事实上，男孩们一下车，龙就向上逃窜了，这让小嗝嗝的心更沉了，因为龙对致命危险有一种强烈的本能。 他们一个接一个地逃走了，所有的骑龙——

the Devilish Dervish, the Marsh Tiger, the Rocket Ripper, and with a final bad-mood, Shetland-ish snort, the Chickenpoxer. All of the hunting dragons—Fireworm (Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare), Seaslug, Horrowcow, Forktail, Snakeheart, Bogflyer. Until only Goliath was left. And the Windwalker. Rather surprisingly, for he had been running away all afternoon, now that there really was a reason to flee, the Windwalker stayed by Hiccup's side, its wings trembling and shaking nervously and looking over its shoulder. Toothless, too, remained, hidden under Hiccup's helmet, and his muffled muttering could be heard echoing through the metal. "D-d-don't know why we're here anyway... t-t-too midge-y... Toothless being bitten to death... Toothless thirsty... Toothless hungry... issa way past Toothless's bedtime, but n-n-nobody thinks of p-p-poor thirsty T-t-toothless, oh no, they're all so s-s-selfish, worrying about their own s-s-silly problems..." The Vikings peered into the flames, up into the smoke-filled sky, waiting, waiting, waiting for the first strike. It didn't take long. There was a petrified scream from behind them.

魔鬼苦行僧，沼泽虎，火箭开膛手，最后是心情不好的设得兰式鼻息，鸡力。 所有的狩猎龙——火龙（鼻涕虫的可怕噩梦），海蛞蝓，Horrowcow，叉尾，蛇心，Bogflyer。 直到只剩下歌利亚。 还有风行者。令人惊讶的是，他已经跑了一下午了，现在终于有了逃跑的理由，风行客留在嗝嗝身边，它的翅膀颤抖着，紧张地抖动着，从肩膀上往外看。 无牙也留在那里，藏在小嗝嗝的头盔下面，他低沉的咕哝声在金属间回荡。 “不——不——不知道我们为什么在这里…… t-t-too midge-y……没牙被咬死… 无口渴……没有牙齿的饿… 我早就过了无牙的睡觉时间，但是——没有——没有人想到——可怜的——口渴的——无牙，哦，不，他们都那么——自私，担心他们自己的——愚蠢的问题……” 维京人凝视着火焰，凝视着烟雾弥漫的天空，等待着，等待着，等待着第一次袭击。 没花多长时间。他们身后传来一声惊恐的尖叫。

They whipped around, just in time to see a reindeer fall down dead on the spot, from what looked like a long sword wound to the throat. "What was that?" asked Fishlegs, quivering. But no one could answer him, for it was too quick to see what had happened exactly. "I think I saw something," whispered Clueless, "something black, a dragon maybe, came shooting out of the flames, killed the deer, and sprang back out of the circle again..." Silence again, and the boys were rigid with tension, peering from left to right in the circle of smoke to try and guess where the next attack would come from. Hiccup was sweating so hard he had to wipe his left palm on his waistcoat, because his sword was slipping in his hand. And then there was another scream from another reindeer, and again the boys whirled round, and again the reindeer was already dead, this time from sword wounds both to the heart and the head. "OK," said Gobber, "we need to evacuate this area NOW." "How many of us can you take on your back at once, Goliath?" asked Hiccup. "Two, I'd say," grunted the big Bullrougher. "One if it's a fatty like that one," and he pointed a

他们猛地转过身来，正好看到一头驯鹿倒地而死，喉咙上似乎有一道长剑的伤口。 “那是什么？”鱼腿颤抖着问。 但是没有人能回答他，因为太快了，看不清到底发生了什么。 “我想我看到了什么东西，”独行侠低声说，“一个黑色的东西，可能是一条龙，从火焰中窜出来，杀死了鹿，然后又跳出了圈子……” 又是一片寂静，孩子们紧张得僵住了，在烟雾圈里从左到右打量着，试图猜测下一次袭击会从哪里来。 嗝嗝大汗淋漓，他不得不在背心上擦左手掌，因为他的剑在他手里打滑了。 接着，另一头驯鹿又发出了一声尖叫，孩子们又转过身来，驯鹿又死了，这次是心脏和头部都被剑伤了。 “好的，”戈伯说，“我们现在需要撤离这个地区。” “歌利亚，你一次能背多少人？”嗝嗝问。 “我看是两个。”大个子粗壮地说。 “如果是像那样的胖子，那就一个。”他指着一个

wing at Dogsbreath the Duhbrain. "He said he could take two," Hiccup told Gobber. Interestingly, Gobber did not tell Hiccup off for speaking Dragonese in this emergency. "Fishlegs and Speedifist," ordered Gobber, "get up on Goliath's back." The two boys scrambled up, and the big riding dragon spread its wings and took off, up over the flame barrier, and out of the firetrap. Now the remaining Vikings had their work cut out trying to avoid being trampled to death by the hooves of the terrified reindeer, or speared by their antlers, as they panicked and stampeded around the circle, rearing up at the flames and squealing in terror. Silence again, and the boys were rigid with tension, peering from left to right of the circle of smoke. Was it Hiccup's imagination, or did the circle of fire appear to be closing in on them? By the time that Goliath returned, the flames were definitely inching forward, making the circle they were standing on ever so slightly smaller. "Snotlout and Wartihog, you go next," yelled Gobber the Belch. Five times, Goliath flew out of the circle, with

在狗呼吸的Duhbrain的翅膀。 “他说他可以带两个，”小嗝嗝告诉戈伯。 有趣的是，戈伯并没有因为小嗝嗝在这种紧急情况下说龙语而责备他。 “鱼腿和速度拳，”戈伯命令道，“站到歌利亚背上来。” 两个男孩爬了上去，那只骑着马的大龙展开翅膀，飞了起来，越过火焰屏障，飞出了陷阱。 剩下的维京人正忙着避免被受惊的驯鹿的蹄子踩死，或被鹿角戳死，他们惊慌失措，绕着圈子狂奔，面对火焰抬起头来，惊恐地尖叫着。 又是一片寂静，孩子们紧张得僵住了，从左到右盯着烟雾圈。 是小嗝嗝的想象，还是那团火正在逼近他们？ 当歌利亚回来的时候，火焰确实在缓慢地向前移动，使他们所站的圈子变得更小了。 “鼻鼻子和战猪，你们先走。”打嗝哥伯喊道。 五次，歌利亚飞出了圆圈，带着

two boys on his back each time. The sixth time he could only carry Dogsbreath the Duhbrain. And the flames were burning higher than four tall trees on top of each other, terrible great towers, flaming all around them in a fiery circle so close that Hiccup's eyes watered and his cheeks burned as hot as if they were on fire already. "Me tired," complained Toothless from under Hiccup's helmet, still unaware of what was going on. "W-w-when we going h-h-home?" "I think you should go home now, Toothless, while you still can," said Hiccup, trying to take his helmet off, but Toothless held it down with his gripping little claws and squealed in indignation. "G-g-go away, m-m-mean Master, is too midge-y for poor Toothless out there; Toothless be eaten alive if he go out there!" "Come on, Goliath, come on," muttered Gobber the Belch, "you great SLUG of a reptile, we're going to be Viking hamburgers at this rate, get a move on... ah, here he is, thank Thor." The great beast flew out of the flames up to the scrabbly pinnacle of mountaintop where the boy and his Master were kneeling. The boy's dragon, his Windwalker, was pressed up beside them both, with its wings outstretched, trying to protect them from the

每次都有两个男孩在他背上。 第六次，他只带着狗屎。 火焰燃烧得比四棵参天大树还高，像可怕的高塔，在他们周围燃烧成一个火热的圆圈，离得很近，小嗝嗝的眼睛湿润了，他的脸颊烧得滚烫，好像已经着火了一样。 “我累了。”无牙从嗝嗝的头盔下面抱怨道，他仍然不知道发生了什么事。 “我们什么时候回家？”“我想你现在应该回家了，无牙，趁你还能回家的时候。”小嗝嗝说着，想把他的头盔摘下来，但无牙用他的小爪子抓住头盔，愤怒地尖叫起来。 “走开——走开，卑鄙的主人——可怜的无牙，他太瘦小了；如果他出去，他会被活活吃掉的！”“加油，歌利亚，加油，”打嗝哥伯嘟囔着，“你这个大爬虫，照这样下去，我们就要变成维京汉堡了，快点…… 啊，他来了，谢谢托尔。” 那头巨兽从火焰中飞到山顶上，男孩和他的主人跪在那里。 男孩的火龙，他的风行者，紧紧地站在他们俩身边，张开翅膀，试图保护他们免受