16 The Dead-of-Night Ceremony

16. THE DEAD-OF-NIGHT CEREMONY Hiccup and Camicazi followed the trail of winkles back through the maze of rope bridges, running as fast as they dared, with Toothless following at a slightly more leisurely pace as he ate up the winkles they left behind. There was a slightly unnerving moment when Hiccup's foot went through the rotten wood of a plank on the bridge. But all was well. And as they drew nearer and nearer to the Berserk Village, Hiccup's hopeful mood changed. They were very very close to the start of the Ceremony. The Full Moon was shining bright and expectant, the tree-dragons were chattering again, and even the bees, which had grown sleepy and quiet over the last couple of hours, were humming with a new urgency and excitement, as if something was about to happen. 'Quick, quick!' shouted Hiccup to Camicazi. 'We can still just make it…' Surely they would get there in time? Now that everything was so very nearly all right… But when Hiccup and Camicazi, gasping and panting, tattered and torn, finally reached the rope

16. 夜深的仪式嗝嗝和卡米卡齐沿着弯弯曲曲的踪迹穿过迷宫般的索桥，尽他们最大的勇气跑得最快，无牙则以稍微悠闲的步伐跟在后面，把他们留下的弯弯曲曲吃光了。 当小嗝嗝的脚踩在桥上一块腐烂的木板上时，出现了一个令人不安的时刻。 但一切都很好。当他们越来越接近狂暴村时，小嗝嗝充满希望的心情变了。 他们非常非常接近典礼的开始。 满月明亮而充满期待地照耀着，树龙又在叽叽喳喳地叫着，就连在过去两个小时里变得昏昏欲睡、安静下来的蜜蜂，也在发出一种新的紧迫和兴奋的嗡嗡声，好像要发生什么事似的。 “快,快!小嗝嗝对卡米卡齐喊道。 “我们还能赶上……”他们肯定能及时赶到吧？ 但当嗝嗝和卡米卡齐气喘吁吁、衣衫褴褛、衣衫褴褛地终于走到绳子跟前时

bridge that would carry them across to the tree village of Berserk, the Scarers erupted in a cacophony of noise. 'Awake! Awake! It's Dead-of-Night! It's Dead-of- Night!' Just five minutes earlier, Hiccup could have unlocked every single one of those cages, and they could have slipped away into the darkness. But now there was no time. Hiccup threw himself across the last of the rope bridges and skidded across the mossy tree platform to the cages, where Humungously Hotshot and the Fiancés and Fishlegs were already awake. 1st Fiancé: 'Look! It's the latest Fiancé! He appears to be coming back!' 3rd Fiancé: 'You're going the wrong way, boy! Those nutters are waking up. Make off while you still can!' 1st Fiancé: 'YOU BETCHA!' 3rd Fiancé: 'TOO RIGHT…' 9th Fiancé: 'YESSIREE!' 'What are you doing, Hiccup? Turn back!' shouted out Humungously Hotshot. 'Unless, of course, you have a Plan…' urged Fishlegs from somewhere inside a cage so beset with

在通往狂暴树村的桥上，惊吓专员们爆发出一阵不和谐的嘈杂声。 “醒了!”醒了!夜深人静的时候!现在是夜深人静！”就在五分钟前，小嗝嗝可能已经打开了每一个笼子，他们可能已经消失在黑暗中了。 但是现在没有时间了。 小嗝嗝跳上最后一根绳桥，滑过长满青苔的树平台，来到笼子里。在笼子里，大个儿、未婚夫和鱼腿已经醒了。 第一个未婚夫：“看！这是最新款的未婚妻！他似乎要回来了！第三个未婚夫：“孩子，你走错路了！”那些疯子醒了。 趁你还能逃，赶紧逃吧！第一个未婚妻：“当然！”第三个未婚夫：“太对了……”第九个未婚夫：“是的！”“你在干什么，小嗝嗝？” 回头!巨能手喊道。 “当然，除非你有个计划……”鱼腿从一个被困在笼子里的什么地方催促道

Scarers that it seemed like the cage was alive and covered with pale grey fur. 'A REALLY REALLY REALLY clever plan…' Hiccup could see the torches were already being lit inside the tree-houses. Cries of 'UP THERE, HO!' and clanking of chains, and a leg and arm emerging from a door. No time to free any of them. 'Camicazi! Go back home now!' shouted Hiccup. 'And miss all the fun? Who do you think you're giving orders to?' retorted Camicazi hotly. 'Go home yourself!' 'OK, climb a tree or something,' said Hiccup. 'Watchadoing? W-w-watchadoing?' squeaked Toothless in alarm. 'You're going the wrong w-w- way!' as Camicazi shimmied up the nearest tree with the agility of a cat and Hiccup jumped back IN to his own cage, and desperately re-locked the lock with the special key. And as Hiccup flung the animal skins over his head, and began to do himself up in the chains again, Toothless flapped around his head in a frenzy of alarm and anxiety. 'You're s'posed to be e-e-escaping! This not escaping! Escaping is when you get OUT of things! Not INTO things!'

惊吓人员说，这个笼子似乎是活的，上面覆盖着浅灰色的毛。 “一个非常非常非常聪明的计划……”嗝嗝看见树屋里的火把已经点燃了。 “在上面，嗬！”铁链的丁当声，一条腿和一只胳膊从门里伸出来。 没时间释放他们了。 “Camicazi !现在就回家去！嗝嗝喊道。 “错过所有的乐趣吗？”你以为你在给谁下命令？卡米卡齐愤怒地反驳道。 “你自己回家去！”“好吧，爬上树什么的，”小嗝嗝说。 “Watchadoing ?W-w-watchadoing吗?无牙惊恐地尖声问道。 “你走错——错——路了！”卡米卡兹像猫一样敏捷地爬上了最近的一棵树，小嗝嗝又跳回了自己的笼子里，拼命地用那把特殊的钥匙重新锁上了锁。 当嗝嗝把兽皮扔到他头上，又开始用铁链把自己捆起来的时候，无牙惊慌不安，疯狂地拍打着他的头。 “你应该是在————逃跑！”这不是逃避！逃避就是你从事物中脱身！不喜欢任何东西！”

It was only in the nick of time, for the Berserks were up and yawning, and a particularly large, fat one so covered in chains he could barely walk gave a toot on a curly-wurly bugle three foot long and shouted out: 'LET THE DEAD-OF-NIGHT CEREMONY… BEGIN!!' The Berserk Treetop Village was built around a clearing in the forest. An entire circle of bridges surrounded the clearing, forming a sort of tree amphitheatre, so that everybody could get a good view of the Ceremony. Clattering and chattering, the Berserks made their way to their places on the rope bridges in their hundreds. 'PREPARE THE FIANCéS!' yelled the Chief Berserk, and step, TAP, step, TAP, step TAP, clank clank– Alvin the Treacherous approached the cages. At this point, Hiccup had the great satisfaction of sitting bolt upright, swaddled in his chains like a little metal mummy. 'AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!' screeched Alvin the Treacherous, leaping backwards as if someone had bit him. His eye popped. 'WHAT… how did you… when did you… you're supposed to be… what are YOU doing here???'

这一切来得正是时候，因为疯战士们都起来打呵欠了，一个特别大、特别胖的疯战士被铁链绑得几乎走不动路，用脚踢了一下三英尺长的卷毛军号，喊道：“让夜深人静的仪式……开始吧！”狂暴树顶村是围绕森林中的一块空地建造的。 整整一圈桥围在空地上，形成了一个树形圆形剧场，这样每个人都能清楚地看到典礼。 成百上千的狂暴者们叽叽喳喳地走向他们在索桥上的位置。 “准备好未婚夫！”狂暴队长喊道，然后一步，一步，一步，一步，一步，一步，哐当哐当——叛徒阿尔文走近笼子。 这时，小嗝嗝非常满意地坐直了身子，像个小金属木乃伊一样被链子包裹着。 “AAAAAAAAARGH ! !奸诈的阿尔文尖叫着，向后一跳，好像有人咬了他似的。 他的眼睛突了一下。“什么……你怎么……你什么时候……你应该……你在这里做什么——？”

Hiccup yawned. 'Well, I'm hanging around waiting to be killed in some spooky Dead-of-Night Ceremony of yours, of course,' he replied. 'What did you expect me to be doing? Playing chess? Looking for birds' eggs? Practising my breaststroke? There's not a lot I CAN be doing, is there, when I'm chained up inside this cage.' 'But… but… but… but….' stammered Alvin the Treacherous, staring at Hiccup as if he had seen a ghost. 'HURRY UP, ALPHONSE! BRING ON THE FIRST VICTIM!' yelled the Chief Berserk. The drumming began, the same drumming that Hiccup had heard from a distance on the Beach of the Broken Heart. It seemed a lifetime ago. The entire Berserk Tribe had turned out to watch the Ceremony. They lined the bridges of the walkways, shaking their chains in excitement, howling up at the sky and generally making a tremendous racket. They were already beginning to lose themselves in a Berserker rage, and one or two of them lost it entirely in their excitement, and leapt over the edge of the bridge into the depths below. They began to stamp in unison on the rope bridges, chanting:

打嗝打了个哈欠。“嗯，当然，我在这儿闲荡着，等着在你们那种鬼鬼祟祟的夜深人静的仪式上被杀掉。”他回答。 “你想让我干什么？” 下棋吗?找鸟蛋？ 练习我的蛙泳？ 当我被锁在这个笼子里的时候，我能做的事情不是很多吗？“但是……但是……但是....。奸诈的阿尔文结结巴巴地说，他盯着小嗝嗝，好像看见了鬼似的。 “快点，阿方斯！”带来第一个受害者！狂怒队长喊道。 鼓声响起来了，和小嗝嗝从远处的心碎海滩上听到的鼓声是一样的。 好像是很久以前的事了。整个狂暴部落的人都出来观看了典礼。 他们站在人行道的桥上，兴奋地摇晃着铁链，对着天空嚎叫，通常发出巨大的噪音。 他们已经开始在狂战士的狂怒中迷失了自己，其中有一两个在兴奋中完全失去了理智，从桥的边缘跳到了下面的深处。 他们开始在绳桥上齐声跺着脚，唱着：

DEAD-OF-NIGHT! DEAD-OF NIGHT! DEAD-OF NIGHT! in time to the drumming. And then louder, 'Dead-of- Night! Dead-of-Night! Dead-of-Night!' And then louder still, 'DEAD-OF-NIGHT! FEED THE BEAST! DEAD OF-NIGHT! FEED THE BEAST!' they screamed. It wasn't the noise of the Berserkers that was so frightening, though. It was the low grumble of noise that was coming

夜深人静的时候!死的夜晚!死的夜晚!随着鼓声的节拍。 然后更大声地说：“夜深人静！夜深人静的时候!夜深人静的时候!”然后声音更大了，“夜深人静！”喂野兽！死的!喂野兽！他们尖叫着。 不过，狂暴战士的噪音并不是那么可怕。 传来的是低沉的嘟哝声