12-第十章：谁才是王？(15)

’ ‘DEATH!’ interrupted Alvin eagerly. ‘The penalty is DEATH!’ ‘What have you to say for yourself?’ asked the Druid Guardian. ‘Don’t ask him!’ hissed the Witch uneasily. ‘You mustn’t let the little rat talk! He’s a clever little rat, and you must never let him talk!’ Hiccup swallowed. What could he say? He had known that this would be a sticking-point from the
moment the little brown dragon told him the problem back there on the beach of Hero’s End. How could anybody who didn’t have any of the King’s Things claim the Crown? Besides, he had no idea who he was, let alone how to make an argument that he should be the rightful King of this Wilderwest country. But… There is no such thing as im-POSSIBLE, Alvin. Only im-PROBABLE. The Witch’s words tweaked a memory in Hiccup’s brain, like tugging on a little piece of string in a knot that will not unravel. The wrinkly old man standing just two feet away from Hiccup, hadn’t he said those words to Hiccup some time before? Long, long ago? Who was that dear old man smiling at him so sweetly, willing him to do well? Hiccup was sure that he recognised him, sure that he remembered other things that old man had said to him…