Chapter 8

第八章

 

Thor found her there, letting her mind spin around in circles of anger and self-blame.

托尔在那里找到了她，任由她的思绪在愤怒和自责中旋转。

 

He had to wave his hand in front of Kamala's face a few times before she noticed him.

他在卡玛拉眼前挥了好几下手才引起她的注意。

 

“Oh,” she said, “it's you.”

“哦，”她说，“是你啊。”

 

“Should not you be wearing your mask, Ms. Marvel?” Thor asked gently, crouching down in front of her. He picked her mask up off the ground and offered it to her.

“你怎么没戴面具，惊奇队长？”托尔在她跟前蹲下身子，关切地询问道。他从地上捡起面具并递给了卡玛拉。

 

Kamala stared at it blankly for a while and then shook her head.

卡玛拉茫然地盯了面具片刻，随后摇了摇头。

 

“I'm not feeling very heroic,” she said. She told Thor all about what had happened.

“我觉得自己不像英雄。”她说。接着她把刚才发生的一切告诉了托尔。

 

“I thought it was the Inventor's fault that my life is a mess,” Kamala finished, “but it's my fault. I'm the one who forgot to study for the test. I'm the one who let down my friend. I'm the one who's messing things up every day. I just didn't want to face it, and I took it out on that stupid chicken kid.”

“我原以为都怪那个创造者，是他搅乱了我的生活。”卡玛拉说，“其实都怪我自己。是我自己忘了复习考试，是我自己对不住朋友，是我把每天的生活搅得一团糟。我不敢面对，却把气撒在了那个幼稚的半鸡孩子身上。”

 

Thor sat down next to her and stared thoughtfully up at the sky.

托尔挨着她坐了下来，若有所思地抬头凝视着天空。

 

“Perhaps you do not believe this,” he said, “but I have felt the same way myself.”

“也许你不信，”他说，“我也有过这样的感受。”

 

Kamala squinted at him skeptically. “You're right,” she said. “I don't believe it.”

卡玛拉疑惑地看着托尔。“没错，”她说，“我不信。”

 

Thor sighed. “I was not always as wise or as humble as I am now,” he said. “When I was a younger man, I had many faults. I was arrogant. I was impatient.”

托尔叹了口气。“我并不总像现在这样聪明或谦卑，”他说，“我年轻时，有很多缺点，傲慢、焦躁。”

 

He paused. “To be fair,” he said, “I was very handsome, brave, and fierce in battle. I still am!”

他停顿了片刻，又说：“说句公道话，战斗中，我还是非常英俊潇洒、勇猛威武的。我现在依然如此！”

 

Kamala smiled and poked Thor in the side. “And wise and humble, too.”

卡玛拉笑了，戳了托尔一下，说：“既聪明又谦卑。”

 

Thor grinned. “Perhaps not perfectly humble,” he admitted. “We are none of us perfect.”

托尔咧嘴笑了，他承认：“也许不是极其的谦虚，但人无完人。”

 

“No,” Kamala said sadly. “We aren't. Me especially.”

“是啊，”卡玛拉忧伤地说，“我们都不是完美的人，尤其是我。”

 

“But that is my point,” Thor said. “Heed my tale, Kamala Khan. There came a day when I realized that I was nothing more than an arrogant child. And on that day, I doubted.”

“可这正是我想的”，托尔说，“听我讲，卡玛拉·克汗，有一天，我忽然意识到自己不过是一个傲慢的孩子。从那天开始，便产生怀疑了。”

 

Kamala looked up at him. Thor was still staring at the sky, but there was something in his face that she recognized, because it was the same thing she was feeling.

卡玛拉抬头看着托尔，他依然凝视着天空。卡玛拉领悟到了托尔神情中传达出的某种意味，因为她感同身受。

 

“I doubted myself,” Thor continued. “I saw that I had been vain, cruel, and thoughtless. This man is no hero, I thought. This man is a fool.”

“我怀疑自己，”托尔接着说，“我发现自己自负、冷酷、轻率。我想，这样的人怎么能是英雄呢，纯粹就是个傻瓜。”

 

Kamala's heart twisted a little in her chest. “What did you do?” she asked.

卡玛拉心头一紧，便问：“那你怎么办？”

 

“I learned to accept two important things,” Thor said. “First, that I was not perfect. Then, that I did not need to be, as long as I kept trying.”

“我学会了接受两件重要的事情，”托尔说，“第一，我不是完人；第二，我也不必是完人，只要全力趋近之即可。”

 

Kamala frowned. “I know you're hoping to make me feel better about how badly I screwed up,” she said, “but I don't buy it. You seem pretty perfect to me. You're an Avenger.”

卡玛拉皱了皱眉头。“我表现得很糟糕，我知道你在安慰我，”她说，“但我不相信。在我看来，你很完美。你可是复仇者呀！”

 

“I am an Avenger because I have learned to accept my faults,” Thor said. “And if I were perfect, I would have realized immediately that ‘slime suspect’ is not a thing.”

“我成为复仇者，是因为我已经学会接受自己的缺点。”托尔说，“如果我是完美的，就应该立马明白，对付‘王牌嫌犯’根本不是什么事。”

 

Kamala giggled. “See, Hawkeye knows what being an Avenger is really all about,” she said. “Pranking your teammates.”

卡玛拉咯咯笑了起来。“看来，鹰眼真懂当复仇者意味着什么，”她说，“又在打趣队友。”

 

“Indeed,” Thor said, smiling. Then he looked at Kamala very seriously. “You have failed today, but that does not mean you are a failure. You cannot do everything perfectly, Kamala Khan, and you cannot do everything by yourself.”

“的确，”托尔微笑着，转而异常严肃地看着卡玛拉，说道，“今天失败了，并不意味着你是一个失败者。卡玛拉·克汗，你不能事事完美，也无法事事亲为。”

 

Kamala smiled. “Thank you, Thor,” she said. “That means a lot to me.” And she really did feel better. There was something amazing about knowing that Thor, the mighty Avenger, had once dealt with the same doubts and fears.

卡玛拉笑了。“谢谢你，托尔。”她说，“对我来说，意义非同。”她真的感觉好多了。让人难以相信，雷神，这位强大的复仇者，竟也曾怀疑过、忧惧过。

 

“There is no need to thank me,” Thor said. He handed Kamala her Ms. Marvel mask again, and this time she accepted it. “And you should not be so hard on yourself. You are a better person at sixteen than I was at nine hundred.”

“不用感谢我。”托尔说，他又把惊奇队长的面具递了过去，这回卡玛拉接住了，“别对自己太苛刻，十六岁的你比过去九百岁的我棒多了。”

 

“Aw,” Kamala said, throwing her arms around Thor, “you don't look a day over eight hundred and ninety-nine.”

“噢，”卡玛拉搂着托尔说，“你不像过了八百九十九岁啊。”

 

Evening was dimming into night when Ms. Marvel and Thor approached the Inventor's lair at last. “I think he must be back by now,” Ms. Marvel said. “Hopefully we've still got the drop on him.”

惊奇队长和托尔快到创造者的藏身地时，夜幕降临了。“我觉得他现在一定回来了，”惊奇队长说，“但愿我们能先发制人。”

 

Then a shout shattered the quiet night air.

随后，一声叫喊划破了寂静的夜空。

 

“It's time!” A shrill, unpleasant voice erupted from the factory tower. “My brilliance knows no bounds!”

“是时候了！”工厂塔楼里传来一阵刺耳、难听的声音，“我才华无限。”

 

Ms. Marvel and Thor looked at each other.

惊奇队长和托尔面面相觑。

 

“That's definitely the Inventor's voice,” Ms. Marvel said.

“肯定是创造者的声音。”惊奇队长说。

 

“Tonight, we take Jersey City,” the Inventor yelled. “And tomorrow—”

“今晚，我们将攻下泽西城，”创造者高呼，“明天——”

 

“Ah, I know this one,” Thor told Kamala. He threw a fist into the air as though he were a maniacal villain. “And tomorrow, the world!” he said, mimicking the Inventor.

“啊，我知道他要说什么。”托尔告诉卡玛拉，说着便朝空中挥舞拳头，仿佛是一条疯狂的恶棍。“明天，征服世界！”托尔学着创造者的口吻说道。

 

“The world?” Ms. Marvel replied incredulously. “With that gang of birdbrains as his army?”

“世界？”惊奇队长怀疑地应道，“就凭这群虾兵蟹将？”

 

“And tomorrow, the New York metropolitan area!” the Inventor finished triumphantly from inside the factory.

“明天，直捣纽约大都会区！”创造者在工厂里耀武扬威地完成了演说。

 

“That seems more reasonable,” Thor remarked.

“这么讲还差不多。”托尔评论道。

 

“And shortly after that,” the Inventor added, still yelling, “the tristate area! And then, following our takeover of the northeastern United States, we'll move on to the Eastern Seaboard—”

“不久之后，”创造者又接着高喊，“还有三州地区！接着占领美国东北部后，我们将挺进东部沿海区——”

 

“Should we just go in right now?” Ms. Marvel said. “I feel like this could go on for a while.”

“我们现在就冲进去吗？”惊奇队长问道，“看样子他还得说一会儿呢。”

 

“By all means,” Thor said. He offered his arm, and Ms. Marvel grabbed it. Thor swung Mjolnir skyward, and the two heroes sailed into the sky, heading directly toward the tower.

“出战必胜。”托尔说道。惊奇队长抓住托尔伸出的胳膊，托尔冲着天空挥舞雷神之锤，两位英雄飞向天空，直抵塔楼。

 

It was time to fight.

是时候出击了。