Inside the Beast

Inside the Beast. Written by Lisa Ng. Illustrated by Stephen Marchese.

《怪兽肚中》 莉萨·恩 撰文 斯蒂芬·马切塞 绘图

Ahead of me, the great beast roared from the pit. It seemed to be in pain. Its huge mouth opened and closed quickly again and again. A stench came from within. A tanga. What is that thing? I asked my guide. It feeds the group, wanderer of the wastes. It is our protector, the great ice beast Eggdurf from the frozen north.

我面前的深坑中，巨兽正在咆哮 它看起来痛苦极了 它的巨嘴一张一合，反复动个不停 一股恶臭从它嘴里飘出来 是阿坦加 那是什么东西呀？ 我问我的向导 它养活我们部落，荒漠的流浪者 它是我们的保护者，来自极北冰原的冰巨兽艾格德夫

I stepped forward toward the edge of the pit. Below the skin of the creature lit up like silver moonlight dancing on black water. The guide hung back, fear in his eyes. The beast roared again, its stench and pain filling the air. What do you do with it? I asked the guide. He replied, we feed it, and in return it feeds us. We place food inside its mouth. The beast will protect what is placed inside it from the desert heat. We then feed from it like fleas from a dog. When we're done, we leave the leftovers for the beast. Well, something has made it sick, I said. I can tell from the stench that it's ill.

我一步步向前，走到深坑边缘 巨兽皮肤下方微光闪烁，像银月光在黑水面起舞 向导往后退缩，眼里满是恐惧 巨兽再次咆哮，空气中填满了恶臭和它的痛苦 你们平常怎么照料它？ 我问向导 他回答说，我们喂它，它反过来给我们提供食物 我们把食物放进它的嘴里 它能保护里面的食物，不被沙漠的热浪弄坏 之后我们再从它那儿取食，就像跳蚤依附狗儿那样 吃完之后，我们就把剩菜留给它 我说：肯定有什么东西让它生病了 我从这臭味就能判断它生病了

Wanderer, what are we to do, Atanga cried. Without the protector, we will waste away to nothing. I turned to him, my jaw set. Someone's got to get in there and remove the cause of the illness.

阿坦加哭喊着：流浪者呀，我们该怎么办？ 没有保护者，我们都会饿死的 我转向他，咬紧了牙关 总得有人进去，把让它生病的病根除掉

Atanga turned and ran. This probably wasn't the first time the beast had been ill. I almost left my guide and his brothers to their fate. Without the ice beast's powers, their stores of fresh food would go bad in the desert heat. The beast would soon infect all that it protected. The food would be covered in blooming black mold. But— I sighed. The ice beast did not deserve to be eaten alive from the inside. Its only crime had been to protect food for Atanga and his brothers.

阿坦加转身跑开了 这大概不是巨兽第一次生病了 我差点就扔下向导和他的族人不管了 没有冰巨兽的能力，他们储存的鲜食会在热浪里变坏 巨兽很快会感染它保护的所有东西 食物上会长满黑乎乎的霉斑 可是——我叹了口气 冰巨兽不该就这样从体内被烂东西毁掉 它唯一做的事，就是给阿坦加和族人保护食物呀

All right, I'm coming in there," I said to the beast. Its mouth opened wide and all became still and quiet. What have they done to you now? I asked. The stench filled my nose and mouth as I reached inside the beast's jaws. My eyes began to tear. I started to scrape orange gunk from the beast's insides. The gunk was old fruit that had rotted and oozed over everything.

我对着巨兽说：好了，我进来了 它张大嘴巴，周围一下子变得安安静静 他们到底对你做了什么？ 我问道 我把手伸进巨兽颚部的时候，臭味灌满了我的口鼻 我的眼睛开始流泪 我开始刮巨兽体内黏糊糊的橙色脏东西 这些脏东西是烂掉的旧水果，汁水流得到处都是