Lois Reads "How to Train Your Dragon" Part 12

27 Jun 2022 · 4 min

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3:30

In this narrated excerpt from Chapter 5 of How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup wakes up to find his newly captured dragon still asleep under his bed. Over breakfast, his mother Valhalla‑Rama asks about the initiation, and Stoick the Vast briefly acknowledges Hiccup’s success before returning to his meal. Later, Hiccup sits on the front step with his grandfather, Old Wrinkly, who is smoking a pipe on a clear, wind‑less winter morning. Their conversation centers on the unusual nature of Hiccup’s dragon – it is extraordinarily small compared to typical dragons. Old Wrinkly, who has taken up soothsaying in his old age, is pleased to have predicted Hiccup’s success. The dialogue mixes humor, familial banter, and a whimsical comparison to a mythical sea dragon that could swallow Viking ships, underscoring the theme that size is relative and that Hiccup’s small dragon, while a source of embarrassment, also makes him stand out.

Chapters

Chapter 5, A Chat with Old Wrinkly. The next morning, Hiccup checked the dragon under his bed. It was still asleep when his mother, Valhalla-Rama, asked him at breakfast. How did initiation go yesterday, dear? Oh, it was fine. I caught my dragon. That's nice, dear, Valharama replied vaguely. Stoick the Vast looked up briefly from his bowl and boomed, Excellent! Excellent! before getting back to the important task of shovelling food into his mouth. After breakfast, Hiccup went to sit on the front step beside his grandfather, who was smoking a pipe. It was a beautiful, cold, clear winter's morning, with not a breath of wind and the sea all around as flat as glass. Old Wrinkly blew out smoke rings contentedly as he watched the sun coming up. Hiccup shivered and chucked stones into the bracken. Neither of them spoke for a time. At last, Hiccup said, I got that dragon. I said you would, didn't I? replied Old Wrinkly, very pleased with him. Old Wrinkly had taken up soothsaying in his old age, mostly unsuccessfully. Looking into the future is a complicated business, So he was particularly pleased that he got this right. Something extraordinary, you said, complained Hipper. A truly unusual dragon, you said. An animal that would make me stand out in the crowd. Absolutely, agreed Old Wrinkly. Absolutely, agreed Old Wrinkly. The entrails were undeniable. The only extraordinary thing about this dragon, replied Hiccup, is how extraordinarily small it is. In it? In that? The only extraordinary thing about this dragon, continued Hiccup, is how extraordinarily small it is. In that it is super unusual. I'm even more of a laughingstock than ever. Oh dear, said Old Wrinkly, chuckling in a wheezy way over his pipe. Hiccup looked at him reproachfully. Old Wrinkly hurriedly turned the laugh into a cough. Size is all relative, Hiccup, said Ol' Reedly. All of these dragons are super small compared with a real sea dragon. A real sea dragon is 50 times as big as that little creature. A real sea dragon from the bottom of the ocean can swallow 10 large Viking ships in one gulp and not even blink.