8 Oh for Thor’s Sake

8. OH FOR THOR'S SAKE, OF COURSE THEY SHOULDN'T SEARCH THAT FORTUNE- TELLING HUT! HAVE YOU NOT READ ANY OF HICCUP'S MEMOIRS BEFORE? As soon as they opened the door, they regretted it. A crooked little room, so dark that they blinked and struggled to see, and it took a moment or two to peer into the blackness as they stumbled forward, Toothless protesting desperately and trying to pull Hiccup out again by grabbing the back of his waistcoat with his talons. And as their eyes adjusted to the very faint light of a dying fire and a couple of Slugbulbs drowning pathetically in a bowl of water, in one ghastly moment the implications of the room burst upon them. Cobwebs everywhere. A mess of bottles and potions, and bits of meat. Maps and scribblings and decaying paper on the walls with great complicated charts and family trees splatted with what looked like

8. 哦，看在上帝的份上，他们当然不应该搜查那个算命的小屋！你以前没读过小嗝嗝的回忆录吗？ 他们一开门就后悔了。 那是一间歪歪扭扭的小屋子，太黑了，他们眨着眼睛，挣扎着看清楚。他们跌跌撞撞地向前走，花了一两分钟才看清黑暗，无牙拼命抗议，用爪子抓住小嗝嗝的马甲背，想把他拉出来。 当他们的眼睛适应了一堆即将熄灭的微弱的火光和一对鼻涕虫可怜地淹死在一碗水里的时候，在一个可怕的时刻，他们突然想到了这个房间的含义。 蜘蛛网无处不在。一堆瓶子、魔药和碎肉。 墙上的地图、潦草的字迹和腐烂的纸，上面写着复杂的大图表和家谱，上面溅满了看起来像什么的东西

blood. Things drying on washing lines that might be fingernails or bits of hair. A game of chess on a table with one leg propped up by books. A large dark cupboard in the corner of the room. A great cauldron on a dimly flickering fire… And in the centre of it all… In the centre of it all… A brown-cloaked figure, sitting in a chair, as if it had been waiting for them. Oh, they turned as soon as they saw what was in that hut. They turned and tried to run, scrabbled for the door they had just come through on desperate legs with hearts beating quick and a dreadful sick feeling in their dropping stomachs…

血。晾衣绳上晾干的东西可能是指甲或头发。 在桌子上下棋，一条腿靠在书本上。 房间角落里有一个又大又黑的橱柜。 在这一切的中心……在这一切的中心……一个披着棕色斗篷的身影，坐在一把椅子上，仿佛一直在等着他们。 他们一看到茅屋里的东西就转过身来。 他们转过身想跑，拼命地向刚刚穿过的那扇门爬去，心跳得很快，胃里有一种可怕的恶心感……

…but to no avail. A great wind came from behind them as the door was slammed SHUT by unseen hands. And it was too late. They were trapped. 'I thought you'd never arrive, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. I've been waiting for you for ages,' drawled the brown-cloaked figure, and it slowly pulled back its hood.

但无济于事。门被看不见的手砰地关上了，从他们身后刮来一阵大风。 但为时已晚。他们被困住了。 “我还以为你永远不会来了呢，小嗝嗝，可怕的黑线鳕三世。 “我已经等你很久了。”那个披着棕色斗篷的身影慢吞吞地说，慢慢地拉开了兜帽。

It was the witch. 'Mmmf GULP!' At last Toothless managed to swallow the last mouthful of the fortune cookies, and he squealed, 'YOU S-S-SEE! TOOTHLESS TRY TO TELL YOU! THE WITCH IS STILL IN HERE! MUST BE SOMEBODY ELSE IN THE B-B-BANQUETING HALL!' Toothless dived down Hiccup's shirt, whirling round his stomach, and ending up somewhere in the hollow of Hiccup's back, trembling. The witch smiled. She spoke as if she understood Dragonese. 'Yes, one of my Outcast friends is at this very moment sitting in the Banqueting Hall, wearing one of my brown cloaks. You see, I have more than one.'

是女巫。“Mmmf杯!”最后，无牙终于吞下了最后一口幸运饼干，他尖叫道：“你——你——看！我想告诉你！女巫还在这里！一定是别人在宴会厅——宴会厅！”无牙钻到嗝嗝的衬衫里，绕着他的肚子打转，最后钻进了嗝嗝背部的某个地方，颤抖着。 女巫笑了。她说话的样子好像懂龙语似的。 “是的，我的一个流民朋友此刻正坐在宴会厅里，穿着我的一件棕色斗篷。 你看，我可不止一个。”

She was upright, but hunched over like she was used to a smaller space, turning a great sand-glass over and over in terribly wrinkled hands. She was still so painfully white, so drained of colour, that Hiccup could hardly bear to look at her. Bones were so visible under her skin that it was like staring straight at a skull, tapping fingernails tipped with iron. Tap, tap, tap on the sand-glass. Tick-tock, tick-tock in Hiccup's pocket. A scary sight, the witch Excellinor. 'It is so nice to have you here all on your own, my children,' cooed the wicked witch, 'without all those horrid muscly grown-ups. Would you like a cookie?' She pointed to a large basket of delicious smelling cookies, sitting on the table. 'No?' she purred. 'Then what can I do to entertain you? Do you play chess? I may have to warn you that I am very, very good…' Beside the chess game on the table there was a high hat, Stoick's sword, a cigar case that Hiccup recognized as belonging to UG the Uglithug, and Flashburn's red necktie. 'But I am in the middle of a game.

她笔直地站着，但弓着背，好像她已经习惯了一个更小的空间，用皱巴巴的双手一遍遍地转动着一个大沙杯。 她仍然是那么惨白，那么苍白，小嗝嗝几乎不忍心看她一眼。 在她的皮肤下，骨头是如此的清晰可见，就像直直地盯着一个头骨，敲打着尖有铁的指甲。 轻敲，轻敲，轻敲沙漏。 嘀嗒，嘀嗒在嗝嗝的口袋里。 可怕的景象，女巫阁下。 “我的孩子们，能有你们独自在这里真好，”坏女巫低声说，“没有那些可怕的肌肉发达的大人。 你想来块饼干吗？”她指了指桌子上一大篮香味扑鼻的饼干。 “没有?她咕噜着。“那么我怎样才能使你高兴呢？ ” 你下国际象棋吗？在桌上的棋牌旁边，有一顶高帽子，斯托伊克的剑，一个雪茄盒，嗝嗝认出是格里格斯的格里格的，还有Flashburn的红领带。 但我正在比赛中。

Or perhaps,' said the witch, her voice as sweet as poison, 'perhaps you have come to have your fortunes told, and your futures improved?' The three Vikings looked at her, mute with terror, like three little mice that had been cornered by a viper.

“或者，”女巫说，她的声音甜得像毒药，“也许你们是来算命的，来改善你们的前途的？”三个维京人看着她，吓得哑口无言，就像三只被毒蛇逼得走投无路的小老鼠。