Chapter 第五十六章 鐵船長(zhǎng)（維克塔利昂一）

THE IRON SUITOR

悲傷號(hào)在拂曉單獨(dú)出現(xiàn)，她的黑帆鮮明的迎著清晨淡粉色的天空。

Grief appeared alone at daybreak, her black sails stark against the pale pink skies of morning.

五十四，維克塔利昂不開心地想，當(dāng)他們叫醒了他，她孤獨(dú)地航行。他憤怒地默默詛咒風(fēng)暴之神，心口堵了一塊大石頭。我的船在哪里？

Fifty-four, Victarion thought sourly when they woke him, and she sails alone. Silently he cursed the Storm God for his malice, his rage a black stone in his belly. Where are my ships?

他從盾牌列島起航時(shí)有九十三艘船，鐵艦隊(duì)一度由近百艘船組成，一支不屬于個(gè)別領(lǐng)主的艦隊(duì)，而效忠于海石椅本身，來(lái)自所有島嶼的船長(zhǎng)和全體船員。船比綠地的大型快速戰(zhàn)船要小，是的，但三倍大于任何普通的長(zhǎng)船，有深深的船身和兇猛的撞錘，在戰(zhàn)斗中適合滿足國(guó)王自己的艦隊(duì)。

He had set sail from the Shields with ninety-three, of the hundred that had once made up the Iron Fleet, a fleet belonging not to a single lord but to the Seastone Chair itself, captained and crewed by men from all the islands. Ships smaller than the great war dromonds of the green lands, aye, but thrice the size of any common longship, with deep hulls and savage rams, fit to meet the king’s own fleets in battle.

沿著荒涼、貧瘠、遍布淺灘和漩渦的多恩海岸，漫長(zhǎng)的航行之后，他們?cè)谑A列島補(bǔ)充了谷物、野味和淡水。在那里，無(wú)敵鐵種號(hào)捕獲了一艘寬大的商船，大柯克船尊貴夫人號(hào)，在她駛向舊鎮(zhèn)的途中，途經(jīng)海鷗鎮(zhèn)，暮臨廳和君臨，裝載的貨物有咸鱈魚，鯨魚油，腌鯡魚。添加他們補(bǔ)給品的食物很受歡迎。其它五個(gè)獎(jiǎng)品在雷溫德海峽與多恩沿岸被收下——三艘柯克船、一艘加利斯戰(zhàn)艦、一艘平底大船，使他們的船數(shù)達(dá)到了九十九。

In the Stepstones they had taken on grain and game and fresh water, after the long voyage along the bleak and barren coast of Dorne with its shoals and whirlpools. There, the Iron Victory had captured a fat merchant ship, the great cog Noble Lady, on her way to Oldtown by way of Gulltown, Duskendale, and King’s Landing, with a cargo of salt cod, whale oil, and pickled herring. The food was a welcome addition to their stores. Five other prizes taken in the Redwyne Straits and along the Dornish coast—three cogs, a galleas, and a galley—had brought their numbers to ninety-nine.

分處于三支壯觀的艦隊(duì)的九十九艘船，離開了石階列島，奉命在雪松島南端再次集結(jié)。四十五艘船現(xiàn)在抵達(dá)了世界的彼岸。維克塔利昂自己的二十二艘船零星地駛?cè)耄宄扇海袝r(shí)孤單一艘；瘸子拉爾夫的艦隊(duì)回來(lái)了十四艘船；這些到岸的船中，只有九艘是和紅色拉爾夫·斯通豪斯一起出海的。紅色拉爾夫自己也在失蹤之列。艦隊(duì)增加了從海上捕獲的九個(gè)新獎(jiǎng)品在他們的船數(shù)上，所以總數(shù)是五十四……但捕獲的船是柯克船和漁船，商船和販奴船，沒(méi)有戰(zhàn)艦。在戰(zhàn)斗中，它們都是鐵艦隊(duì)損失船只的可憐的替代品。

Nine-and-ninety ships had left the Stepstones in three proud fleets, with orders to join up again off the southern tip of the Isle of Cedars. Forty-five had now arrived on the far side of the world. Twenty-two of Victarion’s own had straggled in, by threes and fours, sometimes alone; fourteen of Ralf the Limper’s; only nine of those that had sailed with Red Ralf Stonehouse. Red Ralf himself was amongst the missing. To their number the fleet had added nine new prizes taken on the seas, so the sum was fifty-four … but the captured ships were cogs and fishing boats, merchantmen and slavers, not warships. In battle, they would be poor substitutes for the lost ships of the Iron Fleet.

最后出現(xiàn)的船是處女的災(zāi)星號(hào)，在三天以前。那天的前一天，三艘船一起出現(xiàn)在南端——被捕獲的貴族小姐號(hào)，在渡鴉罐號(hào)和鐵吻號(hào)之間笨重地行進(jìn)。但前一天和前前一天沒(méi)有什么，在那之前只有無(wú)頭簡(jiǎn)號(hào)和恐懼號(hào)，然后，經(jīng)過(guò)兩天空蕩蕩的海洋和無(wú)云的天空以后，瘸子拉爾夫帶著他艦隊(duì)的殘余部分出現(xiàn)了。奎倫大人號(hào)，白寡婦號(hào)，悲嘆號(hào)，悲哀號(hào)，龐然大物號(hào)，鐵娘子號(hào)，死神之風(fēng)號(hào)，和戰(zhàn)錘號(hào)，后面又有六艘船跟著，其中兩艘被風(fēng)暴損壞，被拖著。

The last ship to appear had been the Maiden’s Bane, three days previous. The day before that, three ships had come out of the south together—his captive Noble Lady, lumbering along between Ravenfeeder and Iron Kiss. But the day before and the day before there had been nothing, and only Headless Jeyne and Fear before that, then two more days of empty seas and cloudless skies after Ralf the Limper appeared with the remnants of his squadron. Lord Quellon, White Widow, Lamentation, Woe, Leviathan, Iron Lady, Reaper’s Wind, and Warhammer, with six more ships behind, two of them storm-wracked and under tow.

“風(fēng)暴，”瘸子拉爾夫喃喃地說(shuō)，他向維克塔利昂爬來(lái)。“三場(chǎng)大風(fēng)暴，之間夾雜著逆風(fēng)。從瓦雷利亞刮來(lái)的紅風(fēng)，帶有灰燼和硫磺的氣味，黑風(fēng)將我們趕向毀滅的海岸。這次遠(yuǎn)行從一開始就被詛咒了。鴉眼害怕你，我的大人，打發(fā)你如此遙遠(yuǎn)為了什么呢？他并不打算讓我們返回。”

“Storms,” Ralf the Limper had muttered when he came crawling to Victarion. “Three big storms, and foul winds between. Red winds out of Valyria that smelled of ash and brimstone, and black winds that drove us toward that blighted shore. This voyage was cursed from the first. The Crow’s Eye fears you, my lord, why else send you so far away? He does not mean for us to return.”

一天，當(dāng)維克塔利昂離開舊瓦蘭提斯遇到第一場(chǎng)風(fēng)暴時(shí)，想過(guò)同樣的問(wèn)題。神恨弒親者，他考慮，否則鴉眼攸倫會(huì)在我手上死掉一千次。大海撞擊著他，甲板在他腳下上升下降，他看到戴貢之盛宴號(hào)和赤潮號(hào)砰地撞在一起，如此猛烈以至于兩艘船都炸成了碎片。“我哥哥的杰作，”他想。那是他自己的第三艦隊(duì)損失的頭兩艘船。但不是最后的。

Victarion had thought the same when he met the first storm a day out of Old Volantis. The gods hate kinslayers, he brooded, elsewise Euron Crow’s Eye would have died a dozen deaths by my hand. As the sea crashed around him and the deck rose and fell beneath his feet, he had seen Dagon’s Feast and Red Tide slammed together so violently that both exploded into splinters. My brother’s work, he’d thought. Those were the first two ships he’d lost from his own third of the fleet. But not the last.

所以他在瘸子的臉上扇了倆巴掌，說(shuō)，“第一下是為了你損失的船，第二下是為了你談及詛咒。再提到那個(gè)詞，我會(huì)把你的舌頭釘在桅桿上。如果鴉眼能夠制造啞巴，那么我也能。”他的左手抽痛，使這個(gè)諾言比其恐嚇之意更嚴(yán)厲，但是他說(shuō)到做到。“會(huì)來(lái)更多的船。現(xiàn)在風(fēng)暴結(jié)束了。我會(huì)得到我的艦隊(duì)。”

So he had slapped the Limper twice across the face and said, “The first is for the ships you lost, the second for your talk of curses. Speak of that again and I will nail your tongue to the mast. If the Crow’s Eye can make mutes, so can I.” The throb of pain in his left hand made the words harsher than they might have been elsewise, but he meant what he said. “More ships will come. The storms are done for now. I will have my fleet.”

上頭桅桿上一只猴子嚎叫嘲笑，就像是它能品嘗到他的挫折。骯臟的，吵鬧的畜生。他本可以派一個(gè)人上去追它，但猴子們似乎喜歡這個(gè)游戲，并證明了它們比他的船員更敏捷。可是，嚎叫聲在他的耳邊回響，使他的手似乎抽痛得更厲害了。

A monkey on the mast above howled derision, almost as if it could taste his frustration. Filthy, noisy beast. He could send a man up after it, but the monkeys seemed to like that game and had proved themselves more agile than his crew. The howls rang in his ears, though, and made the throbbing in his hand seem worse.

“五十四，”他嘟囔。一段如此長(zhǎng)的航行之后，鐵艦隊(duì)完好無(wú)損，已成奢望……但七十艘船，甚至八十艘，淹神也許已經(jīng)賜給他這么多。我們?cè)搸蠞癜l(fā)，或一些別的牧師。起航前維克塔利昂舉行了獻(xiàn)祭，當(dāng)他在石階列島把艦隊(duì)一分為三時(shí)，又舉行了一次，但是也許他說(shuō)錯(cuò)了禱詞。那個(gè)，或者淹神在這里沒(méi)有力量。他越來(lái)越擔(dān)心，他們已航行得太遠(yuǎn)，進(jìn)入了陌生的海域，甚至神靈都是古怪的……但這種疑慮，他只向他的黑皮膚女人吐露過(guò)，她沒(méi)有舌頭去亂講。

“Fifty-four,” he grumbled. It would have been too much to hope for the full strength of the Iron Fleet after a voyage of such length … but seventy ships, even eighty, the Drowned God might have granted him that much. Would that we had the Damphair with us, or some other priest. Victarion had made sacrifice before setting sail, and again in the Stepstones when he split the fleet in three, but perhaps he had said the wrong prayers. That, or the Drowned God has no power here. More and more, he had come to fear that they had sailed too far, into strange seas where even the gods were queer … but such doubts he confided only to his dusky woman, who had no tongue to repeat them.

悲傷號(hào)出現(xiàn)時(shí)，維克塔利昂傳喚一只耳沃爾夫。“我想和田鼠說(shuō)話。傳令給瘸子拉爾夫，冷酷的湯姆，和黑色牧羊人。召回所有的狩獵隊(duì)，黎明時(shí)分拔營(yíng)。把采集的水果全部裝上船，把豬群趕上船。困難之時(shí)我們可以宰殺它們。鯊魚號(hào)留在這里以便告訴任何掉隊(duì)者我們?nèi)チ四膬骸！毙扪a(bǔ)她需要太長(zhǎng)時(shí)間；幾場(chǎng)風(fēng)暴讓她比一堆廢木頭好不了多少。這會(huì)使他們的船數(shù)下降到五十三，但無(wú)法避免。“艦隊(duì)明日乘晚潮出發(fā)。”

When Grief appeared, Victarion summoned Wulfe One-Ear. “I will want words with the Vole. Send word to Ralf the Limper, Bloodless Tom, and the Black Shepherd. All hunting parties are to be recalled, the shore camps broken up by first light. Load as much fruit as can be gathered and drive the pigs aboard the ships. We can slaughter them at need. Shark is to remain here to tell any stragglers where we’ve gone.” She would need that long to make repairs; the storms had left her little more than a hulk. That would bring them down to fifty-three, but there was no help for it. “The fleet departs upon the morrow, on the evening tide.”

“尊命，”沃爾夫說(shuō)，“但另一天可能意味著另一艘船，船長(zhǎng)大人。”

“As you command,” said Wulfe, “but another day might mean another ship, lord Captain.”

“是的。十天可能意味著十艘船，或根本一艘都沒(méi)有。我們已經(jīng)浪費(fèi)了很多天等待著看到帆。如果我們以更小的艦隊(duì)取勝，我們的勝利就會(huì)更加甜蜜。”我必須趕在瓦蘭提斯艦隊(duì)之前抵達(dá)龍女王處。

“Aye. And ten days might mean ten ships, or none at all. We have squandered too many days waiting on the sight of sails. Our victory will be that much the sweeter if we win it with a smaller fleet.” And I must needs reach the dragon queen before the Volantenes.

在瓦蘭提斯他看到戰(zhàn)艦在裝給養(yǎng)。整座城市仿佛喝醉了。看到水手、士兵、鐵匠和貴族、胖商人一起在街上跳舞，在大大小小的每一家酒館，酒杯被舉起為新的三元老干杯。談?wù)摰亩际牵坏埮跛懒耍S金、寶石和奴隸將涌入瓦蘭提斯。有一天，面對(duì)這樣的傳聞，維克塔利昂·葛雷喬伊的忍耐達(dá)到了極限；他為食物和水付了‘金錢’，盡管這讓他感到丟臉，帶著他的船隊(duì)回到了大海。

In Volantis he had seen the galleys taking on provisions. The whole city had seemed drunk. Sailors and soldiers and tinkers had been observed dancing in the streets with nobles and fat merchants, and in every inn and winesink cups were being raised to the new triarchs. All the talk had been of the gold and gems and slaves that would flood into Volantis once the dragon queen was dead. One day of such reports was all that Victarion Greyjoy could stomach; he paid the gold price for food and water, though it shamed him, and took his ships back out to sea.

風(fēng)暴會(huì)沖散并耽擱瓦蘭提斯人，正如他們會(huì)經(jīng)歷到他自己的船所經(jīng)歷的。如果運(yùn)氣好，他們的許多戰(zhàn)船會(huì)沉沒(méi)或擱淺。但不是所有的。沒(méi)有神是那么好，那些幸存的綠色戰(zhàn)船，到如今很可能已經(jīng)航行繞過(guò)瓦雷利亞了。他們將往北駛向彌林和淵凱，巨大的快帆戰(zhàn)船上滿載著奴隸士兵。如果風(fēng)暴之神眷顧他們，現(xiàn)在他們可能到達(dá)了悲痛海灣。三百艘船，也許多達(dá)五百。他們的盟友已經(jīng)在彌林的外面：淵凱人和阿斯塔波人，士兵們來(lái)自新吉斯、魁爾斯、托羅斯和風(fēng)暴之神知道的別的什么地方，甚至彌林自己的戰(zhàn)船（它們?cè)诔鞘邢萋渲疤与x了它）。對(duì)抗所有敵人，維克塔利昂有五十四艘船。五十三，少了鯊魚號(hào)。

The storms would have scattered and delayed the Volantenes, even as they had his own ships. If fortune smiled, many of their warships might have sunk or run aground. But not all. No god was that good, and those green galleys that survived by now could well have sailed around Valyria. They will be sweeping north toward Meereen and Yunkai, great dromonds of war teeming with slave soldiers. If the Storm God spared them, by now they could be in the Gulf of Grief. Three hundred ships, perhaps as many as five hundred. Their allies were already off Meereen: Yunkishmen and Astapors, men from New Ghis and Qarth and Tolos and the Storm God knew where else, even Meereen’s own warships, the ones that fled the city before its fall. Against all that, Victarion had four-and-fifty. Three-and-fifty, less the Shark.

鴉眼航行至半個(gè)世界，從魁爾斯到高樹鎮(zhèn)大肆劫掠，停靠在只有瘋子才去的更遠(yuǎn)處的邪惡港口。攸倫甚至勇敢地面對(duì)煙海，并且活著講述它。僅憑一艘船完成這些。如果他可以蔑視眾神，我也能。

The Crow’s Eye had sailed halfway across the world, reaving and plundering from Qarth to Tall Trees Town, calling at unholy ports beyond where only madmen went. Euron had even braved the Smoking Sea and lived to tell of it. And that with only one ship. If he can mock the gods, so can I.

“是，船長(zhǎng)，”一只耳沃爾夫說(shuō)。他不及理發(fā)師紐特的一半，但鴉眼偷走了紐特。通過(guò)提拔他當(dāng)橡盾島的領(lǐng)主，他哥哥將維克塔利昂最好的人據(jù)為己有。“仍然駛向彌林？”

“Aye, Captain,” said Wulfe One-Ear. He was not half the man that Nute the Barber was, but the Crow’s Eye had stolen Nute. By raising him to Lord of Oakenshield, his brother made Victarion’s best man his own. “Is it still to be Meereen?”

“那還能去哪兒？龍女王在彌林等待著我。”世界上最美麗的女人，如果我哥哥可以被信任。她的頭發(fā)是銀金色的，她的眼睛是紫水晶。

“Where else? The dragon queen awaits me in Meereen.” The fairest woman in the world if my brother could be believed. Her hair is silver-gold, her eyes are amethysts.

對(duì)攸倫僅此一次實(shí)言以告期望過(guò)高了嗎？也許。很可能，那女孩結(jié)果是某個(gè)胸部垂到膝蓋的麻子臉雞女，她的“龍”只是來(lái)自索斯羅斯沼澤的紋身蜥蜴。不過(guò)，如果她是攸倫索取的全部……他們從石階列島的海盜和舊瓦蘭提斯的胖商人的嘴中，聽到有關(guān)美麗的丹妮莉絲·坦格利安的談?wù)摗Ｋ赡苁钦娴摹Ｘ鼈悰](méi)有把她作為禮物送給維克塔利昂；鴉眼打算自己占有她。他打發(fā)我像個(gè)仆人似的去接她。當(dāng)我為自己贏得她，他會(huì)怎樣哀號(hào)呢。讓船員們抱怨去吧。他們已經(jīng)航行得太遠(yuǎn)，維克塔利昂不拿禮物返回西方失去的太多。

Was it too much to hope that for once Euron had told it true? Perhaps. Like as not, the girl would prove to be some pock-faced slattern with teats slapping against her knees, her “dragons” no more than tattooed lizards from the swamps of Sothoryos. If she is all that Euron claims, though … They had heard talk of the beauty of Daenerys Targaryen from the lips of pirates in the Stepstones and fat merchants in Old Volantis. It might be true. And Euron had not made Victarion a gift of her; the Crow’s Eye meant to take her for himself. He sends me like a serving man to fetch her. How he will howl when I claim her for myself. Let the men mutter. They had sailed too far and lost too much for Victarion to turn west without his prize.

鐵船長(zhǎng)將他的好手握成一個(gè)拳頭。“去保證我的命令執(zhí)行。找到學(xué)士無(wú)論他藏在哪兒，送他到我的船艙。”

The iron captain closed his good hand into a fist. “Go see that my commands are carried out. And find the maester wherever he is hiding and send him to my cabin.”

“是。”沃爾夫一瘸一拐地離開。

“Aye.” Wulfe hobbled off.

維克塔利昂·葛雷喬伊轉(zhuǎn)身走向船頭，他的目光掠過(guò)他的艦隊(duì)。海面上遍布長(zhǎng)船，帆卷好、槳收起，拋錨隨波漂浮或沿著淺色沙灘海岸迅速移動(dòng)。雪松之島。那些雪松在哪里？似乎四百年前被淹沒(méi)了。維克塔利昂多次上岸，獵取新鮮的肉，還沒(méi)有見(jiàn)到一棵雪松。

Victarion Greyjoy turned back toward the prow, his gaze sweeping across his fleet. Longships filled the sea, sails furled and oars shipped, floating at anchor or run up on the pale sand shore. The Isle of Cedars. Where were these cedars? Drowned four hundred years ago, it seemed. Victarion had gone ashore a dozen times, hunting fresh meat, and had yet to see a cedar.

那個(gè)娘娘腔學(xué)士，攸倫使他遭罪，當(dāng)初在維斯特洛聲稱這個(gè)地方曾經(jīng)叫“百戰(zhàn)之島，”但是人們幾百年前打的那些戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)都?xì)w于塵土。猴子之島，他們應(yīng)該這樣叫它。這里還有豬：最大、最黑的野豬，任何鐵種從未見(jiàn)到過(guò)，灌木叢里有很多尖叫的豬崽，大膽的動(dòng)物，不懼怕人類。不過(guò)它們正在學(xué)。鐵艦隊(duì)的貯藏室被熏火腿、熏肉和咸豬肉填滿。

The girlish maester Euron had inflicted upon him back in Westeros claimed this place had once been called ‘the Isle of a Hundred Battles,’ but the men who had fought those battles had all gone to dust centuries ago. The Isle of Monkeys, that’s what they should call it. There were pigs as well: the biggest, blackest boars that any of the ironborn had ever seen and plenty of squealing piglets in the brush, bold creatures that had no fear of man. They were learning, though. The larders of the Iron Fleet were filling up with smoked hams, salted pork, and bacon.

可是猴子……猴子是災(zāi)星。維克塔利昂不允許他的手下帶任何一只魔鬼似的動(dòng)物上船，然而不知怎的，他半數(shù)的艦隊(duì)現(xiàn)在猴滿為患，甚至他自己的無(wú)敵鐵種號(hào)。他現(xiàn)在可以看到一些，從翼梁擺到翼梁，船蕩到船。我希望有架十字弓。

The monkeys, though … the monkeys were a plague. Victarion had forbidden his men to bring any of the demonic creatures aboard ship, yet somehow half his fleet was now infested with them, even his own Iron Victory. He could see some now, swinging from spar to spar and ship to ship. Would that I had a crossbow.

維克塔利昂不喜歡這片海、這片無(wú)垠的晴朗天空、這個(gè)熾熱的太陽(yáng)，火一般照曬著他們的頭頂，烘烤著甲板，直到甲板燙得足以烤焦赤裸的雙腳。他不喜歡這些風(fēng)暴，它們好像憑空出現(xiàn)。派克島附近海域經(jīng)常刮暴風(fēng)雨，但在那里至少人能察覺(jué)到它們來(lái)了。這些南方的風(fēng)暴跟不忠的女人一樣。連水的顏色都不正常——海岸附近是一片閃爍的青綠色，更遠(yuǎn)處藍(lán)的如此之深，將近黑色。維克塔利昂想念家鄉(xiāng)灰綠色的海水，和它們洶涌的波濤、白色的浪花。

Victarion did not like this sea, nor these endless cloudless skies, nor the blazing sun that beat down on their heads and baked the decks until the boards were hot enough to scorch bare feet. He did not like these storms, which seemed to come up out of nowhere. The seas around Pyke were often stormy, but there at least a man could smell them coming. These southron storms were as treacherous as women. Even the water was the wrong color—a shimmering turquoise close to shore, and farther out a blue so deep that it was almost black. Victarion missed the grey-green waters of home, with their whitecaps and surges.

他也不喜歡這座雪松島。狩獵或許令人滿意，但森林太綠太寂靜，充滿了扭曲的樹，奇特的鮮艷的花朵，與他的人以前見(jiàn)過(guò)的一點(diǎn)也不像，有恐怖的東西潛伏在淹沒(méi)的瓦婁斯殘破的宮殿和破碎的雕像中，艦隊(duì)拋錨停泊在北面半里格處。維克塔利昂最后一次上岸，度過(guò)了一個(gè)晚上，他做的夢(mèng)黑暗又令人不安，當(dāng)他醒來(lái)時(shí)，滿口都是血。學(xué)士說(shuō)他在睡覺(jué)時(shí)咬了自己的舌頭，但他將之視為淹神顯靈，一個(gè)警告，如果他在這里逗留的太久，他將被自己的血窒息。

He did not like this Isle of Cedars either. The hunting might be good, but the forests were too green and still, full of twisted trees and queer bright flowers like none his men had ever seen before, and there were horrors lurking amongst the broken palaces and shattered statues of drowned Velos, half a league north of the point where the fleet lay at anchor. The last time Victarion had spent a night ashore, his dreams had been dark and disturbing and when he woke his mouth was full of blood. The maester said he had bitten his own tongue in his sleep, but he took it for a sign from the Drowned God, a warning that if he lingered here too long, he would choke on his own blood.

那一天末日浩劫降臨瓦雷利亞，據(jù)說(shuō)，三百英尺高的水墻襲擊這座島嶼，淹死成千上萬(wàn)的男人、女人和孩子，沒(méi)有人離開來(lái)講述這個(gè)故事，除了一些已在海上的漁民，和少數(shù)被派進(jìn)建在島上最的山上的一座堅(jiān)固的石塔中的瓦婁斯長(zhǎng)矛手，目睹他們下方的丘陵和山谷變成一片波濤洶涌的大海。一個(gè)心跳間，公正的瓦婁斯連同其雪松與粉紅色大理石宮殿一起突然消失了。在島的北端，古老的磚墻和奴隸港口茍?jiān)俚碾A梯金字塔遭受了同樣的命運(yùn)。

On the day the Doom came to Valyria, it was said, a wall of water three hundred feet high had descended on the island, drowning hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, leaving none to tell the tale but some fisherfolk who had been at sea and a handful of Velosi spearmen posted in a stout stone tower on the island’s highest hill, who had seen the hills and valleys beneath them turn into a raging sea. Fair Velos with its palaces of cedar and pink marble had vanished in a heartbeat. On the north end of the island, the ancient brick walls and stepped pyramids of the slaver port Ghozai had suffered the same fate.

那么多淹死的人，這里的淹神勢(shì)必強(qiáng)大，維克塔利昂考慮，當(dāng)他選擇該島作為他艦隊(duì)三個(gè)分隊(duì)的重新集結(jié)地點(diǎn)時(shí)。不過(guò)他沒(méi)有牧師。如果他理解反了將會(huì)怎樣？也許淹神一怒之下摧毀了這座島。他弟弟伊倫可能知道，但濕發(fā)回鐵群島去了，宣揚(yáng)反對(duì)鴉眼和他的統(tǒng)治。不信神的人不可以坐上海石椅。然而，在選王會(huì)上，船長(zhǎng)們和國(guó)王們叫喊著攸倫，選定了他，勝于維克塔利昂和其他敬虔的人。

So many drowned men, the Drowned God will be strong there, Victarion had thought when he chose the island for the three parts of his fleet to join up again. He was no priest, though. What if he had gotten it backwards? Perhaps the Drowned God had destroyed the island in his wroth. His brother Aeron might have known, but the Damphair was back on the Iron Islands, preaching against the Crow’s Eye and his rule. No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair. Yet the captains and kings had cried for Euron at the kingsmoot, choosing him above Victarion and other godly men.

朝陽(yáng)照耀著泛著漣漪的海面，光芒太耀眼而不能直視。維克塔利昂的頭開始一撞一撞地疼，盡管無(wú)論太陽(yáng)，他的手，或者疑慮困擾著他，他都不能說(shuō)。他下到他的船艙，那兒的空氣冰冷昏暗。黑女人了解他甚至不用他要求。當(dāng)他在椅子里放松時(shí)，她從盆里取出一塊濕軟布，放在他的額頭上。“好，”他說(shuō)。“好。現(xiàn)在這只手。”

The morning sun was shining off the water in ripples of light too bright to look upon. Victarion’s head had begun to pound, though whether from the sun, his hand, or the doubts that troubled him, he could not say. He made his way below to his cabin, where the air was cool and dim. The dusky woman knew what he wanted without his even asking. As he eased himself into his chair, she took a soft damp cloth from the basin and laid it across his brow. “Good,” he said. “Good. And now the hand.”

黑女人沒(méi)有回答。攸倫把她給他之前割了她的舌頭。維克塔利昂不懷疑鴉眼也上過(guò)她。這是他哥哥的作風(fēng)。攸倫的禮物是有毒的，黑女人登船的那一天船長(zhǎng)曾經(jīng)提醒自己。我不想撿他的剩飯。他當(dāng)時(shí)決定，他要割了她的喉嚨，把她扔進(jìn)海里，血祭淹神。然而不知怎的，他實(shí)際上從沒(méi)抽時(shí)間做這個(gè)。

The dusky woman made no reply. Euron had sliced her tongue out before giving her to him. Victarion did not doubt that the Crow’s Eye had bedded her as well. That was his brother’s way. Euron’s gifts are poisoned, the captain had reminded himself the day the dusky woman came aboard. I want none of his leavings. He had decided then that he would slit her throat and toss her in the sea, a blood sacrifice to the Drowned God. Somehow, though, he had never quite gotten around to it.

既然他們有了長(zhǎng)足的進(jìn)步。維克塔利昂會(huì)與黑女人談話。她從不試圖頂嘴。“悲傷號(hào)是最后的一艘，”他告訴她，當(dāng)她脫下他的分指手套。“其余的迷了路或遲到或沉沒(méi)。”他呲牙咧嘴，當(dāng)女人將刀尖劃過(guò)裹在他持盾手上傷口上的臟亞麻布。“有些人說(shuō)我不應(yīng)該分開艦隊(duì)。傻瓜。我們有九十九艘船……帶領(lǐng)一頭笨重的野獸飄洋過(guò)海到世界的盡頭。如果我不分散它們，較快的船就會(huì)被最慢的拖累。去哪兒找給這么多張嘴吃的食物？沒(méi)有港口想要這么多艘戰(zhàn)船進(jìn)入他們的水域。不管怎樣，風(fēng)暴會(huì)使我們分散。像無(wú)數(shù)樹葉散落在夏日之海上。”

They had come a long way since. Victarion could talk to the dusky woman. She never attempted to talk back. “Grief is the last,” he told her, as she eased his glove off. “The rest are lost or late or sunk.” He grimaced as the woman slid the point of her knife beneath the soiled linen wound about his shield hand. “Some will say I should not have split the fleet. Fools. Nine-and-ninety ships we had … a cumbersome beast to shepherd across the seas to the far end of the world. If I’d kept them together, the faster ships would have been held hostage to the slowest. And where to find provisions for so many mouths? No port wants so many warships in their waters. The storms would have scattered us, in any case. Like leaves strewn across the Summer Sea.”

他反而把龐大的艦隊(duì)分為中隊(duì)，派每支中隊(duì)走一條不同的路線去奴隸灣。最快的船，他給了紅色拉爾夫·斯通豪斯，駕駛海盜船沿索斯羅斯北岸航行。那些死氣沉沉的城市在熾熱中腐爛，最好避開悶熱的海岸，每個(gè)水手都知道，但在蛇蜥群島的那些泥和血市鎮(zhèn)，充滿著逃跑的奴隸、奴隸販子、騙子、雞女、獵人、有斑紋的人，更糟的是，這里總是有給養(yǎng)提供給不怕付鐵錢的人。

Instead he had broken the great fleet into squadrons, and sent each by a different route to Slaver’s Bay. The swiftest ships he gave to Red Ralf Stonehouse to sail the corsair’s road along the northern coast of Sothoryos. The dead cities rotting on that fervid, sweltering shore were best avoided, every seamen knew, but in the mud-and-blood towns of the Basilisks Isles, teeming with escaped slaves, slavers, skinners, whores, hunters, brindled men, and worse, there were always provisions to be had for men who were not afraid to pay the iron price.

較大，較重，較慢的船前往里斯，去賣掉從盾牌列島抓來(lái)的俘虜，赫威特伯爵的城鎮(zhèn)和其他島嶼上的婦女、孩子、和決定好死不如賴活著的男人。維克塔利昂只鄙視如此軟弱的人。即便如此，販奴在他嘴里留下骯臟的味道。抓一個(gè)男人當(dāng)奴工或女人當(dāng)鹽妻，是正確和恰當(dāng)?shù)模瞬皇巧窖蚧蚣仪菘梢再?gòu)買和賣作黃金。他很高興將販奴的活丟給瘸子拉爾夫，他會(huì)用錢幣裝他的大船，和往東漫長(zhǎng)緩慢的途中所需的給養(yǎng)放在一起。

The larger, heavier, slower ships made for Lys, to sell the captives taken on the Shields, the women and children of Lord Hewett’s Town and other islands, along with such men who decided they would sooner yield than die. Victarion had only contempt for such weaklings. Even so, the selling left a foul taste in his mouth. Taking a man as thrall or a woman as a salt wife, that was right and proper, but men were not goats or fowl to be bought and sold for gold. He was glad to leave the selling to Ralf the Limper, who would use the coin to load his big ships with provisions for the long slow middle passage east.

他自己的船沿著有爭(zhēng)議的土地的海岸緩慢行駛，以便南行繞過(guò)瓦雷利亞前，在瓦蘭提斯裝上食物、葡萄酒和淡水。這是往東最尋常的路線，和交通最繁忙的，有唾手可得的獎(jiǎng)品和小島嶼，在那里他們可以躲避風(fēng)暴，進(jìn)行修理，如果需要，填充他們的貯藏室。

His own ships crept along the shores of the Disputed Lands to take on food and wine and fresh water at Volantis before swinging south around Valyria. That was the most common way east, and the one most heavily trafficked, with prizes for the taking and small islands where they could shelter during storms, make repairs, and renew their stores if need be.

“五十四艘船太少，”他告訴黑女人，“但我不能再等了。唯一的方法”——他哼了一聲，她扯下繃帶時(shí)，也撕裂了一個(gè)血痂的殼。下面曾被劍砍傷的肉是綠色和黑色的。“做這個(gè)的唯一辦法是，打奴隸們個(gè)措手不及，像昔日我在蘭尼斯港一樣。從海上襲來(lái)并摧毀他們，然后帶上女孩在瓦蘭提斯人突襲我們之前飛快地跑回家。”維克塔利昂不膽小，但他也不是一個(gè)傻瓜；他不能以五十四艘船擊敗三百艘船。“她將成為我的妻子，你會(huì)是她的女仆。”一個(gè)沒(méi)有舌頭的女仆，從來(lái)不會(huì)無(wú)意中說(shuō)出任何秘密。

“Four-and-fifty ships is too few,” he told the dusky woman, “but I can wait no longer. The only way”—He grunted as she peeled the bandage off, tearing a crust of scab as well. The flesh beneath was green and black where the sword had sliced him.—“the only way to do this is to take the slavers unawares, as once I did at Lannisport. Sweep in from the sea and smash them, then take the girl and race for home before the Volantenes descend upon us.” Victarion was no craven, but no more was he a fool; he could not defeat three hundred ships with fifty-four. “She’ll be my wife, and you will be her maid.” A maid without a tongue could never let slip any secrets.

他可以說(shuō)得更多，但這時(shí)候?qū)W士來(lái)了，像膽小的老鼠一樣叩著艙門。“進(jìn)來(lái)，”維克塔利昂喊道，“并閂上門。你知道為什么你來(lái)這兒。”

He might have said more, but that was when the maester came, rapping at the cabin door as timid as a mouse. “Enter,” Victarion called out, “and bar the door. You know why you are here.”

“船長(zhǎng)大人。”學(xué)士看起來(lái)也像只老鼠，穿著他的灰色長(zhǎng)袍，嘴唇上面留著棕色小胡子。他認(rèn)為那會(huì)使他看起來(lái)更有男子氣概？他的名字是科爾溫 。他很年輕，二十——也許二十。“我可以看一下你的手嗎？“他問(wèn)。

“Lord Captain.” The maester looked like a mouse as well, with his grey robes and little brown mustachio. Does he think that makes him look more manly? Kerwin was his name. He was very young, two-and-twenty maybe. “May I see your hand?” he asked.

一個(gè)愚蠢的問(wèn)題。學(xué)士有多項(xiàng)用途，但維克塔利昂唯有鄙視這位科爾溫。他有著粉嫩的臉蛋，柔軟的雙手，棕色的鬈發(fā)，他看上去比大多數(shù)女孩更女氣。當(dāng)他第一次登上無(wú)敵鐵種號(hào)，他還虛假的淺笑，但在石階列島的一個(gè)晚上，他對(duì)錯(cuò)誤的人微笑，伯頓·亨布爾打掉了他四顆牙齒。那以后不久，科爾溫學(xué)士爬來(lái)向船長(zhǎng)抱怨四名船員將他拖進(jìn)船艙，把他當(dāng)女人用。“這兒就是你如何結(jié)束它” 維克塔利昂告訴他，砰地一聲把匕首插在他們之間的桌子上。科爾溫拔出了刀刃（太害怕而不敢推卻，船長(zhǎng)估計(jì)）但他從未用過(guò)它。

A fool’s question. Maesters had their uses, but Victarion had nothing but contempt for this Kerwin. With his smooth pink cheeks, soft hands, and brown curls, he looked more girlish than most girls. When first he came aboard the Iron Victory, he had a smirky little smile too, but one night off the Stepstones he had smiled at the wrong man, and Burton Humble had knocked out four of his teeth. Not long after that Kerwin had come creeping to the captain to complain that four of the crew had dragged him belowdecks and used him as a woman. “Here is how you put an end to that,” Victarion had told him, slamming a dagger down on the table between them. Kerwin took the blade—too afraid to refuse it, the captain judged—but he had never used it.

“我的手在這里，”維克塔利昂說(shuō)。“你愿意就看個(gè)夠。”

“My hand is here,” Victarion said. “Look all you like.”

科爾溫學(xué)士單膝跪地，以便更好地檢查傷口。他甚至聞了它一下，像一條狗。“我需要再放一次膿。這顏色……船長(zhǎng)，傷口沒(méi)有愈合。我可能需要鋸掉你的手。”

Maester Kerwin went down to one knee, the better to inspect the wound. He even sniffed at it, like a dog. “I will need to let the pus again. The color … lord Captain, the cut is not healing. It may be that I will need to take your hand.”

之前他們討論過(guò)這個(gè)。“如果你把我的手鋸掉，我就會(huì)殺了你。但首先我會(huì)把你綁在欄桿上，使你的屁股成為船員們的禮物。繼續(xù)。”

They had talked of this before. “If you take my hand, I will kill you. But first I will tie you over the rail and make the crew a gift of your arse. Get on with it.”

“會(huì)疼。”

“There will be pain.”

“每次都疼”。人生是痛苦的，你這個(gè)傻瓜。沒(méi)有喜悅，除了在淹神的水底圣殿。“做。”

“Always.” Life is pain, you fool. There is no joy but in the Drowned God’s watery halls. “Do it.”

這位男孩將匕首的刀刃劃過(guò)船長(zhǎng)的手掌，并割破了它。濃稠的膿向外爆裂、黃的像餿牛奶。黑女人聞到這氣味皺起了鼻子，學(xué)士作嘔，甚至維克塔利昂自己都覺(jué)得胃里翻滾。“切得更深些。切穿它。把血割出來(lái)給我看。”

The boy—it was hard to think of one so soft and pink as a man—laid the edge of the dagger across the captain’s palm and slashed. The pus that burst forth was thick and yellow as sour milk. The dusky woman wrinkled her nose at the smell, the maester gagged, and even Victarion himself felt his stomach churn. “Cut deeper. Get it all. Show me the blood.”

科爾溫學(xué)士將匕首壓深。這次疼了，但是血涌了出來(lái)，膿也涌了出來(lái)，血的顏色那么深，燈光下看起來(lái)像黑色。

Maester Kerwin pressed the dagger deep. This time it hurt, but blood welled up as well as pus, blood so dark that it looked black in the lantern light.

血是健康的。維克塔利昂嘟噥著贊許。他無(wú)所畏懼地坐在那里，當(dāng)學(xué)士用幾塊泡在煮沸的醋里的軟布擦拭、擠壓、讓膿變干凈時(shí)。到他完成的時(shí)候，盆里干凈的水變成一盆滿是浮渣的湯。瞥一眼能使任何人都惡心。“端上臟東西然后滾吧。”維克塔利昂沖黑女人點(diǎn)頭。“她能為我包扎。”

Blood was good. Victarion grunted in approval. He sat there unflinching as the maester dabbed and squeezed and cleaned the pus away with squares of soft cloth boiled in vinegar. By the time he finished, the clean water in his basin had become a scummy soup. The sight alone would sicken any man. “Take that filth and go.” Victarion nodded at the dusky woman. “She can bind me up.”

即使那男孩逃離之后，惡臭余留。短時(shí)間內(nèi)，無(wú)法逃避它。學(xué)士曾經(jīng)建議，到甲板上排干傷口可能是最好的，在新鮮空氣和陽(yáng)光中，但維克塔利昂不許可。這是重要的事，不能讓他的船員看到。他們從家走了半個(gè)世界的距離，太遠(yuǎn)了，不能讓他們看到他們的鐵船長(zhǎng)已經(jīng)開始生銹。

Even after the boy had fled, the stink remained. Of late, there was no escaping it. The maester had suggested that the wound might best be drained up on deck, amidst fresh air and sunlight, but Victarion forbade it. This was not something that his crew could see. They were half a world away from home, too far to let them see that their iron captain had begun to rust.

他的左手依然抽痛——一種隱痛，但持續(xù)不斷。當(dāng)他合攏手握成一個(gè)拳頭，它巨痛，仿佛一把刀刺傷了他的手臂。不是刀，一把長(zhǎng)劍。一把長(zhǎng)劍握在一只鬼魂的手里。西瑞，那曾是他的名字。一名騎士，南盾島繼承人。我殺了他，但他在彼岸的墳?zāi)估锎涛摇奈宜退サ臒o(wú)論什么地獄的炎熱中心，他將武器刺進(jìn)我的手并一擰。

His left hand still throbbed—a dull pain, but persistent. When he closed his hand into a fist it sharpened, as if a knife were stabbing up his arm. Not a knife, a longsword. A longsword in the hand of a ghost. Serry, that had been his name. A knight, and heir to Southshield. I killed him, but he stabs at me from beyond the grave. From the hot heart of whatever hell I sent him to, he thrusts his steel into my hand and twists.

維克塔利昂記得那場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)斗，好像它發(fā)生在昨天。他的盾已經(jīng)成了碎片，無(wú)用地掛在他的手臂上，所以當(dāng)西瑞的長(zhǎng)劍泛著寒光朝他砍下時(shí)，他伸高手臂抓住了它。看起來(lái)這位小伙子比他強(qiáng)壯；他的刀刃刺穿船長(zhǎng)的龍蝦鋼護(hù)手和下面的襯墊手套，切入手掌的肉里。被小貓撓了一下，戰(zhàn)后維克塔利昂告訴自己。他清洗了傷口，在上面倒了一些煮沸的醋，包扎好，更加這樣想了，相信疼痛會(huì)消失，遲早這只手會(huì)自己愈合。

Victarion remembered the fight as if it had been yesterday. His shield had been in shards, hanging useless from his arm, so when Serry’s longsword came flashing down he had reached up and caught it. The stripling had been stronger than he looked; his blade bit through the lobstered steel of the captain’s gauntlet and the padded glove beneath into the meat of his palm. A scratch from a little kitten, Victarion told himself afterward. He had washed the cut, poured some boiled vinegar over it, bound it up, and thought little more of it, trusting that the pain would fade and the hand heal itself in time.

相反，傷口已經(jīng)潰爛，直到維克塔利昂開始懷疑是否西瑞的刀刃上涂了毒。傷口始終不愈合為什么呢？這種想法使他憤怒。真正的男人不會(huì)用毒藥殺人。在卡林灣沼澤魔鬼向他的人射毒箭，但出自如此低等動(dòng)物之手實(shí)屬正常。西瑞曾是一名騎士，出身高貴。毒藥適用于膽小鬼，女人，和多恩人。

Instead the wound had festered, until Victarion began to wonder whether Serry’s blade had been poisoned. Why else would the cut refuse to heal? The thought made him rage. No true man killed with poison. At Moat Cailin the bog devils had loosed poisoned arrows at his men, but that was to be expected from such degraded creatures. Serry had been a knight, highborn. Poison was for cravens, women, and Dornishmen.

“如果不是西瑞，是誰(shuí)？”他問(wèn)黑女人。“是老鼠學(xué)士搞得鬼嗎？學(xué)士們懂得咒語(yǔ)和其它的把戲。他可能用了某一種來(lái)毒害我，希望我會(huì)讓他把我的手切掉。”他越想越有可能。“鴉眼把他給了我，他是只討厭的動(dòng)物。“攸倫從綠盾島抓到科爾溫，他一直在那兒為切斯特大人服務(wù)，照料他的烏鴉，教他的孩子，或者也許是反過(guò)來(lái)。是了，當(dāng)攸倫的一名啞奴拽著他套在脖子上的方便項(xiàng)鏈押送他登上無(wú)敵鐵種號(hào)時(shí)，這只老鼠長(zhǎng)聲尖叫。“如果這是他的報(bào)復(fù)，他冤枉了我。是攸倫堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為要帶上他，阻止他和他的鳥作出惡作劇。”他哥哥還給了他三籠烏鴉，這樣科爾溫就可以在他們航行時(shí)遞送消息，但維克塔利昂禁止他放飛它們。讓鴉眼擔(dān)憂琢磨去吧。

“If not Serry, who?” he asked the dusky woman. “Could that mouse of a maester be doing this? Maesters know spells and other tricks. He might be using one to poison me, hoping I will let him cut my hand off.” The more he thought on it, the more likely it seemed. “The Crow’s Eye gave him to me, wretched creature that he is.” Euron had taken Kerwin off Greenshield, where he had been in service to Lord Chester, tending his ravens and teaching his children, or perhaps the other away around. And how the mouse had squealed when one of Euron’s mutes delivered him aboard the Iron Victory, dragging him along by the convenient chain about his neck. “If this is his revenge, he wrongs me. It was Euron who insisted he be taken, to keep him from making mischief with his birds.” His brother had given him three cages of ravens too, so Kerwin could send back word of their voyaging, but Victarion had forbidden him to loose them. Let the Crow’s Eye stew and wonder.

黑女人用新亞麻布包扎他的手，纏繞他的手掌六次，這時(shí)長(zhǎng)水派克來(lái)敲門，告訴他悲傷號(hào)的船長(zhǎng)帶著一名囚犯上了船。“說(shuō)他給我們帶來(lái)了一位巫師，船長(zhǎng)。說(shuō)他把他從海里撈了上來(lái)。”

The dusky woman was binding his hand with fresh linen, wrapping it six times around his palm, when Longwater Pyke came pounding at the cabin door to tell him that the captain of Grief had come aboard with a prisoner. “Says he’s brought us a wizard, Captain. Says he fished him from the sea.”

“巫師？”可能是淹神送給他一件禮物，在世界遠(yuǎn)端的這里？他弟弟伊倫會(huì)知道，只因?yàn)橐羵愒趶?fù)活之前曾見(jiàn)過(guò)淹神的水底圣殿的壯麗。維克塔利昂敬畏他的神，像所有人那樣，但把他的信仰放于武器中。他彎曲他受傷的手，臉部扭曲，然后套上手套，站起來(lái)。“給我看這名巫師。”

“A wizard?” Could the Drowned God have sent a gift to him, here on the far side of the world? His brother Aeron would have known, but Aeron had seen the majesty of the Drowned God’s watery halls below the sea before being returned to life. Victarion had a healthy fear of his god, as all men should, but put his faith in steel. He flexed his wounded hand, grimacing, then pulled his glove on and rose. “Show me this wizard.”

悲傷號(hào)的主人在甲板上等待著他們。一個(gè)小個(gè)子男人，丑陋又多毛，他是個(gè)土生土長(zhǎng)的斯班人。他的手下稱他為田鼠。“船長(zhǎng)大人，”他說(shuō)，當(dāng)維克塔利昂出現(xiàn)時(shí)，“這是莫闊羅。淹神給我們的一件禮物。”

Grief’s master awaited them on deck. A small man, as hairy as he was homely, he was a Sparr by birth. His men called him the Vole. “Lord Captain,” he said when Victarion appeared, “this is Moqorro. A gift to us from the Drowned God.”

這位巫師就一個(gè)男人而言是一頭怪物，跟維克塔利昂自己一樣高，比他寬一倍，肚子像巨石，長(zhǎng)在臉周圍的一團(tuán)骨白色亂糟糟的毛發(fā)，像一頭獅子的鬃毛。他的皮膚是黑色的。不是天鵝船上的盛夏群島人那樣的堅(jiān)果棕色，不是多斯拉克馬王的紅棕色，不是黑女人皮膚的炭和土地的顏色，而是黑。比煤炭還黑，比黑玉還黑，比烏鴉的翅膀還黑。燒焦了，維克塔利昂想，就像一個(gè)人被放進(jìn)火里烤，直到他的肉被燒焦，變脆，尸體冒煙。燒焦他的大火仍然在他的臉頰和額頭上跳舞，他的雙眼透過(guò)凍結(jié)的火焰面具的中間向外望。奴隸紋身，船長(zhǎng)知道。邪惡的標(biāo)記。

The wizard was a monster of a man, as tall as Victarion himself and twice as wide, with a belly like a boulder and a tangle of bone-white hair that grew about his face like a lion’s mane. His skin was black. Not the nut brown of the Summer Islanders on their swan ships, nor the red-brown of the Dothraki horselords, nor the charcoal-and-earth color of the dusky woman’s skin, but black. Blacker than coal, blacker than jet, blacker than a raven’s wing. Burned, Victarion thought, like a man who has been roasted in the flames until his flesh chars and crisps and falls smoking from his bones. The fires that had charred him still danced across his cheeks and forehead, where his eyes peered out from amongst a mask of frozen flames. Slave tattoos, the captain knew. Marks of evil.

“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他抱在一根斷了的翼梁上，”田鼠說(shuō)。“他的船沉了以后，他泡在海里十天。”

“We found him clinging to a broken spar,” said the Vole. “He was ten days in the water after his ship went down.”

“如果他在水里待了十天，他早死了，或者喝海水發(fā)了瘋。”咸水是神圣的；濕發(fā)伊倫和其他祭司可以用它降福于人，不時(shí)吞下它一兩口以加強(qiáng)他們的信仰，但沒(méi)有凡人能在深海中許多天內(nèi)每次都喝，并希望活著。“你聲稱是一名巫師？“維克塔利昂?jiǎn)柷舴浮?/p>

“If he were ten days in the water, he’d be dead, or mad from drinking seawater.” Salt water was holy; Aeron Damphair and other priests might bless men with it and swallow a mouthful or two from time to time to strengthen their faith, but no mortal man could drink of the deep sea for days at a time and hope to live. “You claim to be a sorcerer?” Victarion asked the prisoner.

“不，船長(zhǎng)，”黑男人用通用語(yǔ)回答。他的聲音那么低沉，仿佛源自海底。“我僅僅是光之王拉赫洛的一個(gè)卑微的奴隸。”

“No, Captain,” the black man answered in the Common Tongue. His voice was so deep it seemed to come from the bottom of the sea. “I am but a humble slave of R’hllor, the Lord of Light.”

拉赫洛。那么，一名紅袍僧。維克塔利昂在外國(guó)城市見(jiàn)過(guò)這種人，伺候他們神圣的火焰。那些人穿著鮮艷的紅色絲綢、天鵝絨、羔羊毛長(zhǎng)袍。這位穿著褪色、鹽漬的破舊衣服，緊貼著他的粗腿，破破爛爛地掛在他的身上……但當(dāng)船長(zhǎng)更仔細(xì)地凝視破布，看起來(lái)好像它們可能曾經(jīng)是紅色的。“一個(gè)粉袍僧，”維克塔利昂宣布。

R’hllor. A red priest, then. Victarion had seen such men in foreign cities, tending their sacred fires. Those had worn rich red robes of silk and velvet and lambswool. This one was dressed in faded, salt-stained rags that clung to his thick legs and hung about his torso in tatters … but when the captain peered at the rags more closely, it did appear as if they might once have been red. “A pink priest,” Victarion announced.

“一個(gè)惡魔僧，”一只耳沃爾夫說(shuō)。他吐痰。

“A demon priest,” said Wulfe One-Ear. He spat.

“可能是他的長(zhǎng)袍著了火，所以他跳下船去撲滅它們，”長(zhǎng)水派克提議，引來(lái)哄堂大笑。甚至使猴子們快樂(lè)。它們?cè)陬^頂上嘰嘰喳喳，一只猴子丟下一把它自己的屎飛濺在甲板上。

“Might be his robes caught fire, so he jumped overboard to put them out,” suggested Longwater Pyke, to general laughter. Even the monkeys were amused. They chattered overhead, and one flung down a handful of his own shit to spatter on the boards.

維克塔利昂·葛雷喬伊不信任笑聲。它的聲音總是留給他不安的感覺(jué)——他成了某個(gè)他不懂的笑話的笑柄。攸倫鴉眼常常嘲笑他，當(dāng)他們是男孩時(shí)。伊倫也一樣，在他成為濕發(fā)之前。他們的嘲笑經(jīng)常偽裝得像贊揚(yáng)，有時(shí)維克塔利昂甚至沒(méi)有意識(shí)到自己被人嘲笑了。直到他聽到笑聲。然后怒火中燒，在他的喉嚨后面沸騰，直到他好像被這滋味窒息。他對(duì)猴子的感受就是這樣。它們的滑稽的動(dòng)作從未給船長(zhǎng)臉上帶來(lái)一絲笑容，雖然他的船員們會(huì)大笑、冷笑、吹口哨。

Victarion Greyjoy mistrusted laughter. The sound of it always left him with the uneasy feeling that he was the butt of some jape he did not understand. Euron Crow’s Eye had oft made mock of him when they were boys. So had Aeron, before he had become the Damphair. Their mockery oft came disguised as praise, and sometimes Victarion had not even realized he was being mocked. Not until he heard the laughter. Then came the anger, boiling up in the back of his throat until he was like to choke upon the taste. That was how he felt about the monkeys. Their antics never brought so much as a smile to the captain’s face, though his crew would roar and hoot and whistle.

“在他帶來(lái)詛咒降臨到我們頭上之前，送他下去見(jiàn)淹神吧，”伯頓·亨布爾極力主張。

“Send him down to the Drowned God before he brings a curse upon us,” urged Burton Humble.

“一艘船沉了，只有他抓緊殘骸，”一只耳沃爾夫說(shuō)。“船員們?cè)谀膬海勘凰賳镜膼耗С缘袅藛幔磕撬掖l(fā)生了什么事？“

“A ship gone down, and only him clinging to the wreckage,” said Wulfe One-Ear. “Where’s the crew? Did he call down demons to devour them? What happened to this ship?”

“一場(chǎng)風(fēng)暴”。莫闊羅雙臂交叉在胸前。他并沒(méi)有被嚇到，雖然他周圍的人要求他死。甚至猴子似乎并不喜歡這名巫師。它們從纜繩到纜繩間跳躍，尖叫著。

“A storm.” Moqorro crossed his arms against his chest. He did not appear frightened, though all around him men were calling for his death. Even the monkeys did not seem to like this wizard. They leapt from line to line overhead, screaming.

維克塔利昂不確定。他從海里出來(lái)。如果不是有意讓我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他，淹神為什么會(huì)把他吐出來(lái)？他哥哥攸倫有他的寵物巫師。也許淹神意欲維克塔利昂也該有一個(gè)。“為什么說(shuō)這人是個(gè)巫師？”他問(wèn)田鼠。“我只看到一個(gè)衣衫襤褸的紅袍僧。”

Victarion was uncertain. He came out of the sea. Why would the Drowned God cast him up unless he meant for us to find him? His brother Euron had his pet wizards. Perhaps the Drowned God meant for Victarion to have one too. “Why do you say this man is a wizard?” he asked the Vole. “I see only a ragged red priest.”

“我也是這么想的，船長(zhǎng)大人……但是他知道一些事。在任何人告訴他之前，他就知道我們前往奴隸灣，他知道你會(huì)在這里，在這個(gè)島的沿海。”小個(gè)子男人猶豫了。“船長(zhǎng)大人，他告訴我……他告訴我你會(huì)必死無(wú)疑，如果我們不把他帶到你面前。”

“I thought the same, lord Captain … but he knows things. He knew that we made for Slaver’s Bay before any man could tell him, and he knew you would be here, off this island.” The small man hesitated. “Lord Captain, he told me … he told me you would surely die unless we brought him to you.”

“我會(huì)死嗎？”維克塔利昂哼了一聲。割開他的喉嚨，把他扔進(jìn)大海，他正準(zhǔn)備要說(shuō)，直到他的壞手一陣抽痛，從手臂幾乎升到肘部有如刀割，痛苦如此劇烈，他的話變成喉嚨里的膽汁。他絆了一下，抓住欄桿止住跌倒。

“That I would die?” Victarion snorted. Cut his throat and throw him in the sea, he was about to say, until a throb of pain in his bad hand went stabbing up his arm almost to the elbow, the agony so intense that his words turned to bile in his throat. He stumbled and seized the rail to keep from falling.

“巫師詛咒了船長(zhǎng)，”一個(gè)聲音說(shuō)。

“The sorcerer’s cursed the captain,” a voice said.

其他人開始喊叫。“割他的喉嚨！在他召喚惡魔降臨之前殺掉他！”長(zhǎng)水派克第一個(gè)拔出短劍。“不！”維克塔利昂咆哮。“靠后站！所有人。派克，把你的武器收起來(lái)。田鼠，回你的船上去。亨布爾，帶巫師去我的船艙。你們其余的，干你們的活。”半個(gè)心跳間他不確定他們會(huì)服從。他們閑站著小聲抱怨，半數(shù)人手里拿著兵刃，每個(gè)人留神其他人以下決定。猴屎如雨灑落在所有人的周圍，啪噠啪噠啪噠。沒(méi)有人動(dòng)，直到維克塔利昂抓住巫師的胳膊，把他拉到艙口。

Other men took up the cry. “Cut his throat! Kill him before he calls his demons down on us!” Longwater Pyke was the first to draw his dirk. “NO!” Victarion bellowed. “Stand back! All of you. Pyke, put up your steel. Vole, back to your ship. Humble, take the wizard to my cabin. The rest of you, about your duties.” For half a heartbeat he was not certain they would obey. They stood about muttering, half with blades to hand, each looking to the others for resolve. Monkey shit rained down around them all, splat splat splat. No one moved until Victarion seized the sorcerer by the arm and pulled him to the hatchway.

當(dāng)他打開門進(jìn)到船長(zhǎng)室，黑女人轉(zhuǎn)向他，沉默并微笑……但當(dāng)她看到在他身邊的紅袍僧時(shí)，她的嘴唇從齒邊收回，她暴怒地發(fā)出嘶嘶嘶嘶的聲音，像一條蛇。維克塔利昂用好手輕拍她的后背，讓她去甲板。“安靜，女人。為我們倆拿葡萄酒來(lái)。”他轉(zhuǎn)向黑男人。“田鼠說(shuō)得是真的嗎？你看到我死了？”

As he opened the door to the captain’s cabin, the dusky woman turned toward him, silent and smiling … but when she saw the red priest at his side her lips drew back from her teeth, and she hisssssed in sudden fury, like a snake. Victarion gave her the back of his good hand and knocked her to the deck. “Be quiet, woman. Wine for both of us.” He turned to the black man. “Did the Vole speak true? You saw my death?”

“是的，還有更多。”

“That, and more.”

“在哪里？什么時(shí)候？我會(huì)在戰(zhàn)斗中死去嗎？”他的好手開開合合。“如果你對(duì)我說(shuō)謊，我會(huì)叫你的腦袋像一只甜瓜似的裂開，讓猴子們吃你的腦子。”

“Where? When? Will I die in battle?” His good hand opened and closed. “If you lie to me, I will split your head open like a melon and let the monkeys eat your brains.”

“你的死亡現(xiàn)在和我們?cè)谝黄穑业拇笕恕＝o我你的手。”

“Your death is with us now, my lord. Give me your hand.”

“我的手。對(duì)于我的手你知道些什么？“

“My hand. What do you know of my hand?”

“我在夜火中曾看到過(guò)你，維克塔利昂·葛雷喬伊。你大步穿過(guò)火焰嚴(yán)肅又兇狠，你的大斧頭滴著血，看不見(jiàn)那些抓住你手腕、脖子、和腳踝的觸須，那些黑色的細(xì)線讓你跳舞。”

“I have seen you in the nightfires, Victarion Greyjoy. You come striding through the flames stern and fierce, your great axe dripping blood, blind to the tentacles that grasp you at wrist and neck and ankle, the black strings that make you dance.”

“跳舞？”維克塔利昂被激怒了。“你的夜火撒謊。我不會(huì)被牽著跳舞，我不是任何人的傀儡。”他猛地拽下手套，把壞手直伸到紅袍僧面前。“這兒。這是你想要的嗎？”新亞麻布已經(jīng)被血和膿變了色。“他的盾牌上有一支玫瑰，給了我這個(gè)的那個(gè)男人。我在一根刺上劃壞了手。”

“Dance?” Victarion bristled. “Your nightfires lie. I was not made for dancing, and I am no man’s puppet.” He yanked off his glove and shoved his bad hand at the priest’s face. “Here. Is this what you wanted?” The new linen was already discolored by blood and pus. “He had a rose on his shield, the man who gave this to me. I scratched my hand on a thorn.”

“即使是最小的劃傷也可能會(huì)致命，船長(zhǎng)大人，但如果您允許我的話，我會(huì)治愈它。我會(huì)需要一個(gè)刀刃。銀是最好的，但鐵也能用。還有一只火盆。我必須要生一堆火。會(huì)痛。劇烈的痛，像你從未經(jīng)歷過(guò)一樣。但是當(dāng)我們做完了，你的手會(huì)歸還給你。”

“Even the smallest scratch can prove mortal, lord Captain, but if you will allow me, I will heal this. I will need a blade. Silver would be best, but iron will serve. A brazier as well. I must needs light a fire. There will be pain. Terrible pain, such as you have never known. But when we are done, your hand will be returned to you.”

他們都一樣，這些神棍們。老鼠也警告過(guò)我疼痛。“我是鐵種，紅袍僧。我蔑視疼痛。你會(huì)有你需要的……但如果你失敗了，我的手沒(méi)有被治愈，我會(huì)親手割了你的喉嚨，把你交給大海。”

They are all the same, these magic men. The mouse warned me of pain as well. “I am ironborn, priest. I laugh at pain. You will have what you require … but if you fail, and my hand is not healed, I will cut your throat myself and give you to the sea.”

莫闊羅鞠躬，他的黑眼睛閃閃發(fā)亮。“正是如此。”

Moqorro bowed, his dark eyes shining. “So be it.”

那一天，鐵船長(zhǎng)沒(méi)再出現(xiàn)，但隨著時(shí)間的流逝，他的無(wú)敵鐵種號(hào)的船員報(bào)告，聽見(jiàn)從船長(zhǎng)室傳來(lái)狂野的笑聲，笑聲低沉、黑暗、瘋狂，當(dāng)長(zhǎng)水派克和一只耳沃爾夫試圖打開艙門，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)它被閂上了。后來(lái)聽到歌聲，一支奇怪的、高音調(diào)、哭號(hào)著的歌曲，用一種學(xué)士說(shuō)是高等瓦雷利亞語(yǔ)的語(yǔ)言。這時(shí)候，猴子們紛紛離開了船，尖叫著跳進(jìn)海水里。

The iron captain was not seen again that day, but as the hours passed the crew of his Iron Victory reported hearing the sound of wild laughter coming from the captain’s cabin, laughter deep and dark and mad, and when Longwater Pyke and Wulfe One-Eye tried the cabin door they found it barred. Later singing was heard, a strange high wailing song in a tongue the maester said was High Valyrian. That was when the monkeys left the ship, screeching as they leapt into the water.

到日落，當(dāng)海水變得像墨水那樣黑，浮腫的太陽(yáng)將天空染成深血紅色，維克塔利昂回到了甲板上。他赤裸著上身，他的左胳膊血染到肘部。他的船員集合，竊竊私語(yǔ)，交換著目光，他舉起一只燒焦發(fā)黑的手。他指著學(xué)士，一縷縷黑煙從他的手指上升起。“那一個(gè)。割他的喉嚨，把他扔進(jìn)大海，去彌林的一路上風(fēng)將有利于我們。”莫闊羅在他的火中見(jiàn)到過(guò)這個(gè)。他也見(jiàn)到了那場(chǎng)通奸的婚禮，但那有什么關(guān)系呢？她不會(huì)是第一個(gè)女人——維克塔利昂·葛雷喬伊制造的寡婦。

Come sunset, as the sea turned black as ink and the swollen sun tinted the sky a deep and bloody red, Victarion came back on deck. He was naked from the waist up, his left arm blood to the elbow. As his crew gathered, whispering and trading glances, he raised a charred and blackened hand. Wisps of dark smoke rose from his fingers as he pointed at the maester. “That one. Cut his throat and throw him in the sea, and the winds will favor us all the way to Meereen.” Moqorro had seen that in his fires. He had seen the wench wed too, but what of it? She would not be the first woman Victarion Greyjoy had made a widow.