5 An Unpleasant Old Acquaintance

5. AN UNPLEASANT OLD ACQUAINTANCE They were sharing a deer between them, and Norbert and Madguts made a disgusting sight, sitting there with their hands dipped scarlet in blood as they tore the poor thing limb from limb. Gumboil was a little more delicate in his manners, and he was nibbling daintily at a piece of deer liver on the end of a long pointed black fork. Norbert the Nutjob swallowed the last bits of wine that he was drinking out of a skull, chucked some fleshy bits of deer over his shoulder, and rubbed his bloody hands on his shirtfront. 'Oh well done, Madguts old chap,' said Norbert enthusiastically, 'your Raptortongues have brought us the victims.

5. 他们共用一只鹿，诺伯和麦德古斯特坐在那里，双手浸着鲜红的血，把那可怜的东西撕成碎片，场面令人作呕。 Gumboil的举止稍微文雅一些，他正在用一根又长又尖的黑色叉子尖尖地啃着一块鹿肝。 疯子诺伯把他从头骨里喝的最后一点酒喝了下去，把鹿肉扔到肩上，用沾满鲜血的手在衬衫前胸上擦了擦。 “哦，干得好，疯子老伙计，”诺伯激动地说，“你的迅猛龙舌头给我们带来了牺牲者。

Hiccup didn't like the sound of the word 'victim'. 'What's going on?' he stammered. 'Why have you brought us here? We need to get back to our Swimming Race… And why is Madguts here? He's supposed to be in the Swimming Race too…'

小嗝嗝不喜欢“受害者”这个词的发音。 “发生了什么事？”他结结巴巴地说。 “你为什么把我们带到这儿来？” 我们得继续我们的游泳比赛了，为什么疯胆量会在这里？ 他也应该参加游泳比赛的……”

Norbert got up and thrust his face into Hiccup's face. One mad eyeball stared straight at Hiccup, red veins bulging all over it like lines on a lunatic map, a violent tic sending the pupil quivering and trembling in a wild dance of rage. 'Your race is over,' said Norbert with satisfaction. 'Madguts and I have made a little agreement. Madguts has brought me YOU, and I, in return, have put him up on my ship here for a couple of hours. He will then swim back to shore well after the others, making sure that HE is the Last Man Back…'

诺伯站起来，把脸贴在小嗝嗝的脸上。 一只疯狂的眼睛直直地盯着小嗝嗝，眼睛上布满了红色的血管，就像一张疯狂的地图上的线条，剧烈的抽搐使瞳孔在狂怒的舞蹈中颤抖着。 “你的比赛结束了。”诺伯满意地说。 “疯子和我达成了一个小小的协议。 疯子给我带来了你，作为回报，我让他在我的船上待了几个小时。 然后他会紧跟在其他人后面游回岸边，确保自己是最后一个回来的人……”

'But that's cheating!' protested Hiccup. 'You're not supposed to seek aid by Float or Boat!' 'Of course it's cheating!' laughed Norbert. 'You think your ancestor, Grimbeard the Ghastly, didn't cheat long ago in that famous Swimming Race when he became King of the Archipelago? It isn't physically possible to carry on swimming for THREE WHOLE MONTHS…'

“但那是作弊！”小嗝嗝抗议道。 “你不应该乘花车或小船去寻求帮助！”“当然是作弊！”诺伯笑着说。 “你认为你的祖先，可怕的Grimbeard，在很久以前成为群岛之王的那次著名的游泳比赛中没有作弊吗？” 从身体上讲，连续三个月游泳是不可能的……”

'That is a long time,' grinned Gumboil. 'I'm sorry to interrupt, but we'll be off now, since you've got what you wanted, Norbert. Madguts has rested enough, and he has a race to come last in.' Madguts the Murderous grunted and wiped his bloody palms on the front of his waistcoat. He shook Norbert the Nutjob by the hand, and did a few leg stretches, before swallow-diving off the edge of the boat, followed by the repulsive Gumboil, holding his nose and doing a bomb. The Raptortongues unfolded their bat-like wings and followed them. 'Well, well, well, if it isn't the weird little red-haired boy,' smiled Norbert the Nutjob. 'When last we met, I seem to remember that you stole my ticking-thing, burned down my Great Hall, chewed off my moustaches, and fed Papa to the Squealers.'* 'That was an accident!' protested Hiccup. 'An unfortunate SERIES of accidents which we deeply regret, don't we guys?' 'Mmff,' snorted Norbert. 'Didn't I warn you that the next time we bumped into each other I would KILL you?' 'Well, lovely as it is to see you again,' said Hiccup tactfully (you should always be polite to madmen carrying axes), 'I didn't exactly PLAN this meeting…'

“那是一段很长的时间，”Gumboil笑着说。 “我很抱歉打断你，但既然你得到了你想要的东西，我们现在要走了，诺伯。 疯子已经休息够了，他要跑最后一名。”凶残的疯子哼了一声，在马甲前襟上擦了擦血淋淋的手掌。 他握了握疯子诺伯的手，做了几次腿伸展，然后从船边吞下去，后面跟着那个令人讨厌的Gumboil，他捏着鼻子做了个炸弹动作。 迅猛龙的舌头展开它们蝙蝠般的翅膀，跟着它们。 “好吧，好吧，好吧，这不是那个奇怪的红头发小男孩吗？” “上次我们见面的时候，我好像记得你偷了我的报时器，烧掉了我的大厅，咬掉了我的胡子，还把爸爸喂给了尖叫党。“那是个意外！”小嗝嗝抗议道。 “一系列不幸的事故让我们深感遗憾，不是吗？”“嗯。”诺伯哼了一声。 “我不是警告过你，下次我们碰到我就杀了你吗？”“好吧，再见到你真是太好了，”小嗝嗝机智地说（你应该对拿着斧头的疯子保持礼貌），“我并没有计划这次会面……”