This content was created by Lois Letchford. This content was uploaded by Lois Letchford. This is a YouTube video titled "Isaac Letchford Reads 'How To Be A Pirate': Chapter 18 Part 1" (uploaded Dec 21, 2022) containing an English narrated reading by Isaac Letchford of Chapter 18. The excerpt is a prose passage in which Hiccup, Alvin, Toothless, and Fishlegs confront Grimbeard the Ghastly's booby-trap — a subterranean tentacled monster called a monstrous strangulator. The passage vividly describes the creature, its transparent body showing swallowed dragons, Alvin being seized and swallowed alive, and Hiccup's attempts (with Toothless and Fishlegs) to avoid being eaten and to free himself.
Chapters
Chapter 18, Grimbeard the Ghastly's Final Surprise. The entire mound reared up and shook itself, cups and jewels and swords and coins cascading down the sides like molten lava. Something that looked like a big white rope reached out of the treasure and wound its way around Alvin's waist. Alvin's waist. It wasn't a rope. It was a singularly unattractive white tentacle that looked as if it were made out of a quivering piece of fat. The tentacle was dotted with small indentations, out of which there oozed a disgusting whitey-gray sticky, sticky sludge that smelt indescribably Awful. Alvin shrieked in horror as the treasure dropped away and to reveal the creature that had been sleeping underneath it, a creature they had woken with their sword fight. It was Grimbeard the Ghastly's last surprise, his final booby trap. He had left it there to guard the treasure, a monster that Hiccup had heard Of in legends, but never seen before, and one that he indescribably hoped he would never ever have to see again. It was the same animal that surprised the little lost deadly natter the day before, if you remember, and it was called a monstrous strangulator. A strangulator was a gigantic monster. Genetically related to dragons, octopuses, and snakes. It had tiny withered dragon wings and tiny crippled dragon legs that were basically useless as it heaved its great body through, through underground tunnels like a serpent, leaving a trail of gooey slime. It had never seen daylight and was the color of nothing. Its tentacles had obviously found a way up through the upper caves to the Wild Dragon Cliffs, for it was transparent, and you could actually see the forms of unfortunate dragons it had eaten moving through its digestive systems. Some Further down the strangulator's great length were lying quite still. Others that he had eaten more recently were jerking about, and one was trying to fly, trapped in the monster's great throat. The naturalist in Hiccup automatically identified the species. Monstrous Nightmare. Deadly natter. Common or garden 3x3. Making their slow progress through the serpent's elementary canal. So small was the creature's brain in proportion to its size that it had difficulty in keeping sensory track of all of its squirming tentacles, and they wandered about as if they had independent lives of their own. The creature had to concentrate hard to make the tentacle that was holding Alvin move very slowly up to its head so that it could have a look at him. Unsure of what to make of this weird new animal— Serpent, musingly to itself. Hiccup practically cried with relief, for the creature was speaking a dialect of Dragonese A very ancient form of it, but Dragonese nonetheless. And Hiccup was of the opinion that if you could talk to your killer, you were in there with a chance. Alvin struggled wildly and slashed at the great squeezing tentacle with the Stormblade. Tickle me with your prickle, would you? Then I'll tickle you with mine. In languidity, it dangled the tip of its tail in front of Alvin's face. Hiccup had seen such a tail on much smaller, much smaller animals. It was filled to the tip with a green grass venom, pure as glass. There was a plunger a little way down, and the tip just had to penetrate its victim. The plunger would go down, and it was goodnight sweet world, hello Valhalla. Oh, excellent, thought Hiccup to himself. A poisonous monstrous strangulator. My favorite kind. Alvin fainted as soon as he set eyes on the deadly tail. He was frightened of needles, so the strangulator didn't even bother to inject him. It just swallowed him whole, alive, just as he was, storm blade and all. In fascinated horror, Hiccup watched the now awake and struggling form of Alvin traveling down the Strangler Eater's transparent throat. So, Hiccup thought, the eater of humans' flesh is eating himself. Isn't fate artistic? Sometimes it is harder to force yourself to stand still than it is to run away, but Hiccup knew that he wouldn't have a chance if he tried to escape. The animal is just too big. So Hiccup froze in the hope that the creature's eyesight was poor, just like other beasts that live solely underground. Hiccup was probably right, but one of those constantly moving tentacles accidentally bumped into him, and as soon as it made contact with his warm body, it automatically wrapped itself around Hiccup and lifted him A plan! Fishlegs shouted out wildly from below. You need a friendly-ish clever plan! Thank you, Fishlegs, said Hiccup, his mind flickering about like a shrimp in a net and trying to ignore the terrible squeezing around his chest. I'm aware of that. Toothless! Come up here! The tentacle was turning Hiccup over and over. Toothless flapped up and hovered as close as he could. Toothless shouted something into the little dragon's ear. That's a t-t-terrible plan! moaned Toothless, shaking his head. Just do as you're told for once in your life! yelled Hiccup. While the creature remained unconscious of having Caught anything. Hiccup still stood a chance of escape. With his sword, he jabbed away at the sticky tentacle that was encircling his trunk, and it seemed to be loosening.
