I watched “How to Train your Dragon” yesterday and was moved by this exchange:
| Astrid | It’s a mess. You must feel horrible. You’ve lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend… |
| Hiccup | Thank you for summing that up. [silence] Why couldn’t I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? Would’ve been better, for everyone… |
| Astrid | Yep. The rest of us would have done it. So why didn’t you? [pauses] Why didn’t you? |
| Hiccup | I don’t know… I couldn’t. |
| Astrid | That’s not an answer. |
| Hiccup | Why is this so important to you all of a sudden? |
| Astrid | Because I want to remember what you say, right now. |
| Hiccup | Oh, for the love of… I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn’t kill a dragon! |
| Astrid | You said wouldn’t, that time. |
| Hiccup | Agh, whatever… I wouldn’t! Three hundred years, and I’m the first Viking who wouldn’t kill a dragon! [pause] |
| Astrid | First to ride one, though. So…? |
| Hiccup | I wouldn’t kill him, because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him… and I saw myself. |