Ⅲ 冰雨的風暴 Chapter41 瓊恩
JON
地上到處是松針和被風吹落的樹葉，仿佛一層棕綠色地毯，卻為雨水所浸透。落葉在腳下咯吱作響。光禿禿的大橡樹、高聳的哨兵樹和成片的士卒松矗立在旁。又一座古老圓塔位于山崗，里面空空的，墻壁爬滿厚厚一層綠苔蘚，幾乎直達塔頂。“這些石東西是誰修的？”耶哥蕊特問他，“國王嗎？”
The ground was littered with pine needles and blown leaves, a carpet of green and brown still damp from the recent rains. It squished beneath their feet. Huge bare oaks, tall sentinels, and hosts of soldier pines stood all around them. On a hill above them was another roundtower, ancient and empty, thick green moss crawling up its side almost to the summit. “Who built that, all of stone like that?” Ygritte asked him. “Some king?”
“不，是曾生活在這里的人們修筑的。”
“No. Just the men who used to live here.”
“他們后來怎么了？”
“What happened to them?”
“死了，或是離開。”“布蘭登的饋贈”數千年來都有人耕種，但隨著守夜人軍團的縮減，沒有多余人手用于犁地、養蜂或種植果園，因此許多田地和廳堂被荒野重新占據。“新贈地”本有村落和莊園，其中稅收供養著黑衣弟兄，或以貨物，或以勞動，提供食物衣衫。但這些大多也不存在了。
“They died or went away.” Brandon’s Gift had been farmed for thousands of years, but as the Watch dwindled there were fewer hands to plow the fields, tend the bees, and plant the orchards, so the wild had reclaimed many a field and hall. In the New Gift there had been villages and holdfasts whose taxes, rendered in goods and labor, helped feed and clothe the black brothers. But those were largely gone as well.
“他們是傻瓜，離開這樣一座好城堡。”耶哥蕊特評論。
“They were fools to leave such a castle,” said Ygritte.
“這只是一座塔樓。某個小領主曾帶著家族和效忠他的武士住在這兒，掠襲者到來時，便會燃起烽火報警。真正的城堡，比如臨冬城的塔有這個的三倍高。”
“It’s only a towerhouse. Some little lordling lived there once, with his family and a few sworn men. When raiders came he would light a beacon from the roof. Winterfell has towers three times the size of that.”
她似乎認為他在編故事。“沒有巨人托起石頭，怎能造得那么高呢？”
She looked as if she thought he was making that up. “How could men build so high, with no giants to lift the stones?”
傳說“筑城者”布蘭登正是憑借巨人的幫助才建起臨冬城，但瓊恩不想把話題弄復雜。“人們可以建比這高出許多的城堡。舊鎮有座塔是全世界最高的建筑，比長城還高呢。”他看出她不相信。如果我可以向她展示臨冬城……為她摘一朵玻璃花園的花，與她在大廳里歡宴，給她看坐在王座上的國王石像。我們可以在溫泉里洗澡，在心樹下愛撫，讓舊神看護我們。
In legend, Brandon the Builder had used giants to help raise Winterfell, but Jon did not want to confuse the issue. “Men can build a lot higher than this. In Oldtown there’s a tower taller than the Wall.” He could tell she did not believe him. If I could show her Winterfell … give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us.
甜美的夢……但臨冬城永遠不是讓他給人展示的。它屬于他哥哥，北境之王。他姓雪諾，不姓史塔克。私生子，背誓者，變色龍……
The dream was sweet … but Winterfell would never be his to show. It belonged to his brother, the King in the North. He was a Snow, not a Stark. Bastard, oathbreaker, and turncloak …
“也許以后我們可以回到這兒，住在那座塔里，”她說，“你想不想這樣，瓊恩·雪諾？以后？”
“Might be after we could come back here, and live in that tower,” she said. “Would you want that, Jon Snow? After?”
以后。這個詞像長矛般刺入他心房。戰爭以后。征服以后。野人突破長城以后……
After. The word was a spear thrust. After the war. After the conquest. After the wildlings break the Wall …
父親大人談論過提拔新領主，安置在廢棄的莊園，作為抵擋野人的屏障。這一計劃需要守夜人讓出贈地里的一大片區域，但叔叔班揚相信可以說服莫爾蒙總司令，只要新領主們向黑城堡納稅，而非向臨冬城。“但那是春天的夢想，”艾德公爵說，“而凜冬將至，縱然許以土地，也無法吸引人們前往北方。”
His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. The plan would have required the Watch to yield back a large part of the Gift, but his uncle Benjen believed the Lord Commander could be won around, so long as the new lordlings paid taxes to Castle Black rather than Winterfell. “It is a dream for spring, though,” Lord Eddard had said. “Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on.”
若冬天來去得快，而春天緊接著降臨，我也許會被選中，以父親的名義占據這些塔樓之一。然而艾德公爵死去，班揚叔叔也失了蹤，他們設想的屏障再也不會實現。“這兒屬于守夜人。”瓊恩說。
If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father’s name. Lord Eddard was dead, however, his brother Benjen lost; the shield they dreamt together would never be forged. “This land belongs to the Watch,” Jon said.
她嗤之以鼻，“沒人住在這兒。”
Her nostrils flared. “No one lives here.”
“他們是被掠襲者趕走的。”
“Your raiders drove them off.”
“那他們就是膽小鬼。想保住土地，就該留下來戰斗才對。”
“They were cowards, then. If they wanted the land they should have stayed and fought.”
“也許他們厭倦了戰斗。厭倦了每晚上閂，琢磨叮當衫之流會不會破門而入，擄走妻子。厭倦了收獲或任何可能擁有的家什都被你們盜走。搬到掠襲者所能達到的范圍之外會比較安逸。”倘若長城淪陷，整個北境都將遭受掠襲者的侵擾。
“Maybe they were tired of fighting. Tired of barring their doors every night and wondering if Rattleshirt or someone like him would break them down to carry off their wives. Tired of having their harvests stolen, and any valuables they might have. It’s easier to move beyond the reach of raiders.” But if the Wall should fail, all the north will lie within the reach of raiders.
“你什么都不懂，瓊恩·雪諾。我們只搶女兒，不搶妻子。再說，你們才是真正的強盜。你們霸占整個世界，然后筑起長城，將自由民擋在外面。”
“You know nothing, Jon Snow. Daughters are taken, not wives. You’re the ones who steal. You took the whole world, and built the Wall t’ keep the free folk out.”
“是嗎？”瓊恩有時會忘記她是個十足的野人，每到這時候，她的言行就會主動提醒他，“什么意思？”
“Did we?” Sometimes Jon forgot how wild she was, and then she would remind him. “How did that happen?”
“諸神創造世界給人類共享。然而所謂的國王們帶著王冠和鋼劍到來，宣稱那全是他們的。‘這是我的樹，’他們說，‘你不能吃上面的蘋果。這是我的河，你不能在這兒捕魚。這是我的森林，你不能過來打獵。這些是我的土地，我的流水，我的城堡，我的女兒，把你們的手拿開，否則休怪我剁了它。當然啦，朝我下跪的話，我也許會讓你們嗅一嗅。’你們稱我們是賊，但賊至少得敏捷、機智和勇敢。下跪的人只會下跪。”
“The gods made the earth for all men t’ share. Only when the kings come with their crowns and steel swords, they claimed it was all theirs. My trees, they said, you can’t eat them apples. My stream, you can’t fish here. My wood, you’re not t’ hunt. My earth, my water, my castle, my daughter, keep your hands away or I’ll chop ’em off, but maybe if you kneel t’ me I’ll let you have a sniff. You call us thieves, but at least a thief has t’ be brave and clever and quick. A kneeler only has t’ kneel.”
“哈瑪和骨頭袋子可不是為魚或蘋果而掠襲。他們掠奪長劍和斧子，香料、絲綢與毛皮，攫取能找到的每枚硬幣、每枚戒指和每只珠寶杯子，夏天搶酒，冬季搶肉，任何季節都搶女人，并將她們擄過長城。”
“Harma and the Bag of Bones don’t come raiding for fish and apples. They steal swords and axes. Spices, silks, and furs. They grab every coin and ring and jeweled cup they can find, casks of wine in summer and casks of beef in winter, and they take women in any season and carry them off beyond the Wall.”
“那又怎樣？我寧愿被強壯的男人偷走，也不要被父親嫁給懦夫。”
“And what if they do? I’d sooner be stolen by a strong man than be given t’ some weakling by my father.”
“說是這么說，但你怎知道對方是好是壞？若被討厭的人偷走怎么辦？”
“You say that, but how can you know? What if you were stolen by someone you hated?”
“要偷走我，他必須敏捷、機智和勇敢。這樣他的兒子也會又強壯又聰明。我為什么要討厭這樣的人？”
“He’d have t’ be quick and cunning and brave t’ steal me. So his sons would be strong and smart as well. Why would I hate such a man as that?”
“也許他從不洗澡，臭得像頭熊。”
“Maybe he never washes, so he smells as rank as a bear.”
“那我就把他推進河里，或者潑桶水到他身上。不管怎么說，男人不該聞起來像花。”
“Then I’d push him in a stream or throw a bucket o’ water on him. Anyhow, men shouldn’t smell sweet like flowers.”
“花有什么錯？”
“What’s wrong with flowers?”
“沒什么——對蜜蜂而言。上床嘛，我要這樣的。”耶哥蕊特伸手勾他馬褲前褶。
“Nothing, for a bee. For bed I want one o’ these.” Ygritte made to grab the front of his breeches.
瓊恩握住她手腕。“如果偷走你的人是個酒鬼呢？”他堅持，“如果他粗暴殘忍呢？”他使勁捏緊，加以強調。“如果他比你強壯，又喜歡狠狠揍你呢？”
Jon caught her wrist. “What if the man who stole you drank too much?” he insisted. “What if he was brutal or cruel?” He tightened his grip to make a point. “What if he was stronger than you, and liked to beat you bloody?”
“那我就趁他睡著時割他喉嚨。你什么都不懂，瓊恩·雪諾。”耶哥蕊特像鰻魚一樣扭動，掙脫了他。
“I’d cut his throat while he slept. You know nothing, Jon Snow.” Ygritte twisted like an eel and wrenched away from him.
我懂，你打骨予里是個十足的野人。當他們一起歡笑、一起接吻時，這點很容易忘記。但隨后其中一人會說些什么，做些什么，于是他會突然記起他們的世界之間隔著一堵墻。
I know one thing. I know that you are wildling to the bone. It was easy to forget that sometimes, when they were laughing together, or kissing. But then one of them would say something, or do something, and he would suddenly be reminded of the wall between their worlds.
“男人要么占有女人，要么得到匕首，”耶哥蕊特告訴他，“每個女孩小時候都從母親那兒得到了教誨。”她挑戰似地揚起下巴，晃晃濃密的紅發。“而且人們不能占有土地，正如不能占有海洋和天空。你們下跪之人自認為可以，曼斯會讓你們知道并非如此。”
“A man can own a woman or a man can own a knife,” Ygritte told him, “but no man can own both. Every little girl learns that from her mother.” She raised her chin defiantly and gave her thick red hair a shake. “And men can’t own the land no more’n they can own the sea or the sky. You kneelers think you do, but Mance is going t’ show you different.”
這話很是英勇自豪，卻十分空洞。瓊恩回頭瞥了一眼，確定馬格拿聽不到。埃洛克、大癤子和麻繩丹跟在身后幾碼處行走，但都沒留意。大癤子正抱怨他的屁股。“耶哥蕊特，”他壓低聲音說，“曼斯贏不了這場戰爭。”
It was a fine brave boast, but it rang hollow. Jon glanced back to make certain the Magnar was not in earshot. Errok, Big Boil, and Hempen Dan were walking a few yards behind them, but paying no attention. Big Boil was complaining of his arse. “Ygritte,” he said in a low voice, “Mance cannot win this war.”
“他能！”她堅持，“你什么都不懂，瓊恩·雪諾。你從沒見過自由民打仗！”
“He can!” she insisted. “You know nothing, Jon Snow. You have never seen the free folk fight!”
自由民打起仗來像英雄還是像惡魔，取決于你的交談對象，但說到底是一回事。他們憑著魯莽的勇氣，為榮耀而戰。“我絲毫不懷疑你們的勇敢，然則戰爭需要紀律，沒有規矩不成方圓。曼斯終將像以前的塞外之王一樣失敗，而當他失敗時，你們會死！你們所有人都會死。”
Wildlings fought like heroes or demons, depending on who you talked to, but it came down to the same thing in the end. They fight with reckless courage, every man out for glory. “I don’t doubt that you’re all very brave, but when it comes to battle, discipline beats valor every time. In the end Mance will fail as all the Kings-beyond-the-Wall have failed before him. And when he does, you’ll die. All of you.”
耶哥蕊特看起來非常生氣，他甚至以為她要打他。“我們所有人，”她說，“你也一樣。你現在不是烏鴉了，瓊恩·雪諾。我曾發誓說你不是，所以你最好不是。”她將他推向后面一棵樹的樹干，就在這衣衫襤褸的隊列中間，拼命接吻，嘴唇緊貼。瓊恩聽見山羊格里格的聳恿，還有人哈哈大笑，但他渾不理會，也回吻向她。終于分開時，耶哥蕊特臉上泛著紅暈。“你是我的，”她輕聲說。“我的，就像我也是你的。如果要死，就一起死好了。凡人皆有一死，瓊恩·雪諾，但首先得好好地活。”
Ygritte had looked so angry he thought she was about to strike him. “All of us,” she said. “You too. You’re no crow now, Jon Snow. I swore you weren’t, so you better not be.” She pushed him back against the trunk of a tree and kissed him, full on the lips right there in the midst of the ragged column. Jon heard Grigg the Goat urging her on. Someone else laughed. He kissed her back despite all that. When they finally broke apart, Ygritte was flushed. “You’re mine,” she whispered. “Mine, as I’m yours. And if we die, we die. All men must die, Jon Snow. But first we’ll live.”
“是的，”他的聲音含糊不清，“首先得好好地活。”
“Yes.” His voice was thick. “First we’ll live.”
聽到這話她咧嘴笑笑，讓瓊恩看到彎彎曲曲的牙齒，他現在居然有點喜歡起那些牙齒來。你打骨子里是個十足的野人，他再次想到，心口有種沮喪悲哀的感覺，握劍的手不禁開開合合。倘若耶哥蕊特知道他的心思，會怎么做呢？倘若拉她坐下，告訴她自己仍是艾德·史塔克的兒子，仍是守夜人的漢子，她會不會背叛他？他希望不會，但不敢冒險。太多人的安危取決于他，得設法趕在馬格拿之前抵達黑城堡……假設能找到機會逃跑的話。
She grinned at that, showing Jon the crooked teeth that he had somehow come to love. Wildling to the bone, he thought again, with a sick sad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He flexed the fingers of his sword hand, and wondered what Ygritte would do if she knew his heart. Would she betray him if he sat her down and told her that he was still Ned Stark’s son and a man of the Night’s Watch? He hoped not, but he dare not take that risk. Too many lives depended on his somehow reaching Castle Black before the Magnar … assuming he found a chance to escape the wildlings.
他們通過灰衛堡南下，該要塞已被廢棄了兩百年，而一個多世紀之前，巨大的石階梯就已崩塌，即使如此，下來也比攀登容易。斯迪率隊由此深入贈地，以免遭遇守夜人的巡邏隊。山羊格里格帶路，繞開少數幾個尚有人居住的村子。行進途中，除開一些四處分散、像石手指般伸向天空的圓塔，看不到任何文明的痕跡。穿越陰冷潮濕的丘陵和強風吹刮的平原，沒人監視，沒被發現。
They had descended the south face of the Wall at Greyguard, abandoned for two hundred years. A section of the huge stone steps had collapsed a century before, but even so the descent was a good deal easier than the climb. From there Styr marched them deep into the Gift, to avoid the Watch’s customary patrols. Grigg the Goat led them past the few inhabited villages that remained in these lands. Aside from a few scattered roundtowers poking the sky like stone fingers, they saw no sign of man. Through cold wet hills and windy plains they marched, unwatched, unseen.
不管要你做什么，都不準違抗，統統照辦，斷掌吩咐，與他們一起行軍，與他們一起用餐，與他們一起作戰，直到時機來臨。他跟他們騎了無數里，如今又改為步行，他跟他們共享鹽和面包，還與耶哥蕊特同床共枕，但仍不受信任。瑟恩人日日夜夜地監視，提防任何背叛。他無法脫身，然而過不多久，一切就太遲了。
You must not balk, whatever is asked of you, the Halfhand had said. Ride with them, eat with them, fight with them, for as long as it takes. He’d ridden many leagues and walked for more, had shared their bread and salt, and Ygritte’s blankets as well, but still they did not trust him. Day and night the Thenns watched him, alert for any signs of betrayal. He could not get away, and soon it would be too late.
跟他們一起作戰，科林死在長爪之下以前如是說……好在迄今為止，情勢尚不至于此。哪怕奪走一個弟兄的生命，我就會迷失，就會永遠越過絕境長城，再也無法回來。
Fight with them, Qhorin had said, before he surrendered his own life to Longclaw … but it had not come to that, till now. Once I shed a brother’s blood I am lost. I cross the Wall for good then, and there is no crossing back.
每天行軍之后，馬格拿都會召他來提一些關于黑城堡的尖銳而精明的問題，以了解守軍情況和防御工事。瓊恩在敢于說謊的地方騙他，有時則佯作不知，但山羊格里格和埃洛克就在旁邊，他們知道得不少，足以讓瓊恩警惕。太過明顯的謊話將暴露意圖。
After each day’s march the Magnar summoned him to ask shrewd sharp questions about Castle Black, its garrison and defenses. Jon lied where he dared and feigned ignorance a few times, but Grigg the Goat and Errok listened as well, and they knew enough to make Jon careful. Too blatant a lie would betray him.
真相十分可怕。除開長城本身，黑城堡沒有防御工事，連木柵欄和土堤都無。而所謂的“城堡”不過是些木造城樓和石砌高塔，其中三分之二業已塌陷損毀。至于守軍，熊老出擊時帶走兩百人。有人回來嗎？瓊恩無從得知。城中約剩四百人，多半是工匠和事務官，并非游騎兵。
But the truth was terrible. Castle Black had no defenses, but for the Wall itself. It lacked even wooden palisades or earthen dikes. The “castle” was nothing more than a cluster of towers and keeps, two-thirds of them falling into ruin. As for the garrison, the Old Bear had taken two hundred on his ranging. Had any returned? Jon could not know. Perhaps four hundred remained at the castle, but most of those were builders or stewards, not rangers.
瑟恩人是堅毅的戰士，比尋常野人更有紀律性——無疑這是曼斯選擇他們的原因。而與之相對，黑城堡的防御者包括盲人伊蒙學士，照料他的半盲事務官克萊達斯，獨臂的唐納·諾伊，醉醺醺的賽勒達修士，聾子迪克·佛拉德，“三指”哈布，老文頓·史陶爵士，還有霍德、陶德、派普、阿貝特及其他曾跟瓊恩一起受訓的男孩們，他們的指揮官是胖胖的總務長、紅臉孔波文·馬爾錫——莫爾蒙總司令缺席期間，由他擔任代理城主。憂郁的艾迪照“熊老”配莫爾蒙的樣，為馬爾錫取了個外號叫“石榴老”。“等哪天你在戰場上跟敵人堂堂正正地交手，就會發現他是你最需要的人，”艾迪以一貫陰沉的聲調說，“他會幫你把對方人數點得清清楚楚。那家伙是個活算盤。”
The Thenns were hardened warriors, and more disciplined than the common run of wildling; no doubt that was why Mance had chosen them. The defenders of Castle Black would include blind Maester Aemon and his half-blind steward Clydas, one-armed Donal Noye, drunken Septon Cellador, Deaf Dick Follard, Three-Finger Hobb the cook, old Ser Wynton Stout, as well as Halder and Toad and Pyp and Albett and the rest of the boys who’d trained with Jon. And commanding them would be red-faced Bowen Marsh, the plump Lord Steward who had been made castellan in Lord Mormont’s absence. Dolorous Edd sometimes called Marsh “the Old Pomegranate,” which fit him just as well as “the Old Bear” fit Mormont. “He’s the man you want in front when the foes are in the field,” Edd would say in his usual dour voice. “He’ll count them right up for you. A regular demon for counting, that one.”
倘若馬格拿出其不意地襲擊黑城堡，將是一場血腥屠殺，那些男孩還沒明白過來，就會在睡夢中死于床上。瓊恩必須警告他們，但怎么做呢？他從未被派出去征集或打獵，也沒被允許單獨站崗。他還為耶哥蕊特擔心。他不能帶走她，但若將她留下，馬格拿會要她為他的背叛負責嗎？兩顆跳動如一的心……
If the Magnar takes Castle Black unawares, it will be red slaughter, boys butchered in their beds before they know they are under attack. Jon had to warn them, but how? He was never sent out to forage or hunt, nor allowed to stand a watch alone. And he feared for Ygritte as well. He could not take her, but if he left her, would the Magnar make her answer for his treachery? Two hearts that beat as one …
他們每晚共用一張毯子，入睡時總有她的頭枕在胸前，紅發輕蹭下巴。她的體味成了他的一部分。她彎彎曲曲的牙齒，她的乳房握在手中的感覺，她嘴巴里的滋味……是他的快樂，也是他的無奈。無數個晚上，躺在耶哥蕊特溫暖的身軀旁，他疑惑地想，不管自己生母是誰，父親大人想必也有同樣的感覺吧？耶哥蕊特設好陷阱，曼斯·雷德將我推進去。
They shared the same sleeping skins every night, and he went to sleep with her head against his chest and her red hair tickling his chin. The smell of her had become a part of him. Her crooked teeth, the feel of her breast when he cupped it in his hand, the taste of her mouth … they were his joy and his despair. Many a night he lay with Ygritte warm beside him, wondering if his lord father had felt this confused about his mother, whoever she had been. Ygritte set the trap and Mance Rayder pushed me into it.
每天和野人一起生活，他發現自己越來越難以去履行必須履行的責任。他要想方設法背叛這些朝夕相處的人，而一旦找到方法，他們就會因此而死。他不能接受他們的友誼，正如他不該接受耶哥蕊特的愛情。然而……瑟恩人講古語，很少跟瓊恩交談，但賈爾的掠襲者們、那些攀登冰墻的壯士就不同了。起初并非情愿，但他逐漸開始了解這些人：精瘦安靜的埃洛克，愛交朋友的山羊格里格，男孩科特和波吉，制繩子的麻繩丹。其中最糟的是戴爾，一位與瓊恩年紀相仿的馬臉少年，他會如夢似幻般地講述打算去偷的那個野人女孩。“她是幸運的，跟你的耶哥蕊特一樣火吻而生喲。”
Every day he spent among the wildlings made what he had to do that much harder. He was going to have to find some way to betray these men, and when he did they would die. He did not want their friendship, any more than he wanted Ygritte’s love. And yet … the Thenns spoke the Old Tongue and seldom talked to Jon at all, but it was different with Jarl’s raiders, the men who’d climbed the Wall. Jon was coming to know them despite himself: gaunt, quiet Errok and gregarious Grigg the Goat, the boys Quort and Bodger, Hempen Dan the ropemaker. The worst of the lot was Del, a horsefaced youth near Jon’s own age, who would talk dreamily of this wildling girl he meant to steal. “She’s lucky, like your Ygritte. She’s kissed by fire.”
瓊恩只好忍住不開口。他不想知道德爾的女孩，不想知道波吉的母親，不想知道“頭盔”亨克位于海邊的家鄉，不想知道格里格探訪千面嶼上綠人的渴望，也不想知道一頭駝鹿怎樣趕著“手指腳”上樹。他不想聽“大癤子”講屁股上的癤子，不想聽“石拇指”能喝多少麥酒，也不想聽科特的小弟懇求他不要像賈爾那樣死去。科特本人不超過十四歲，卻早已給自己偷到老婆，并且有個孩子即將出世。“也許他將出生在某個城堡里，”那男孩夸口，“像領主一樣，出生在城堡里哦！”他對看到的“城堡”十分入迷，實際上那只是些嘹望塔。
Jon had to bite his tongue. He didn’t want to know about Del’s girl or Bodger’s mother, the place by the sea that Henk the Helm came from, how Grigg yearned to visit the green men on the Isle of Faces, or the time a moose had chased Toefinger up a tree. He didn’t want to hear about the boil on Big Boil’s arse, how much ale Stone Thumbs could drink, or how Quort’s little brother had begged him not to go with Jarl. Quort could not have been older than fourteen, though he’d already stolen himself a wife and had a child on the way. “Might be he’ll be born in some castle,” the boy boasted. “Born in a castle like a lord!” He was very taken with the “castles” they’d seen, by which he meant watchtowers.
瓊恩不知白靈現在在哪兒。他去了黑城堡，還是跟狼群一起在森林里逡巡？他感知不到冰原狼的存在，甚至在夢里也做不到，這讓他覺得自己的一部分被切斷了。縱然身邊有耶哥蕊特，他仍感到孤獨。他不想孤獨地死去。
Jon wondered where Ghost was now. Had he gone to Castle Black, or was he running with some wolfpack in the woods? He had no sense of the direwolf, not even in his dreams. It made him feel as if part of himself had been cut off. Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone. He did not want to die alone.
那天下午，樹木變得稀少，他們沿緩緩起伏的平原向東進發。青草長到齊腰之高，株株野麥隨風輕曳。白天大多數時間溫暖明亮，然而，到得日落時分，烏云從西方壓來，很快吞噬了橙色的太陽，萊恩估計一場大風暴即將來臨。他母親是森林女巫，掠襲者們都認定他有預言氣象的天賦。“附近有個村子，”山羊格里格告訴馬格拿，“離這兒兩三里地。我們可以在那兒過夜。”斯迪立刻同意。
By that afternoon the trees had begun to thin, and they marched east over gently rolling plains. Grass rose waist high around them, and stands of wild wheat swayed gently when the wind came gusting, but for the most part the day was warm and bright. Toward sunset, however, clouds began to threaten in the west. They soon engulfed the orange sun, and Lenn foretold a bad storm coming. His mother was a woods witch, so all the raiders agreed he had a gift for foretelling the weather. “There’s a village close,” Grigg the Goat told the Magnar. “Two miles, three. We could shelter there.” Styr agreed at once.
等到達那地方，天早已黑暗，風暴開始肆虐。村子坐落在湖邊，很久以前就被廢棄，所有房屋都已倒塌，甚至那木結構的小客棧也倒了一半。過去，旅人看到它定會十分寬慰，而今這沒屋頂的廢墟卻怎么也讓人高興不起來。我們在這兒得不到遮蔽，瓊恩沮喪地想。每次閃電劃過，都能看見湖中央小島上矗立著一座圓形石塔，但沒船，過不去。
It was well past dark and the storm was raging by the time they reached the place. The village sat beside a lake, and had been so long abandoned that most of the houses had collapsed. Even the small timber inn that must once have been a welcome sight for travelers stood half-fallen and roofless. We will find scant shelter here, Jon thought gloomily. Whenever the lightning flashed he could see a stone roundtower rising from an island out in the lake, but without boats they had no way to reach it.
埃洛克和戴爾躡手躡腳地前去偵察廢墟，后者幾乎立刻就回來了。斯迪當即止住隊列，派出十幾個瑟恩人，手持長矛，一路小跑往前行。這時瓊恩也發現了：閃爍的火光映紅了客棧的煙囪。我們并非唯一的訪客。恐懼像蛇一樣纏繞在他心中。他聽見一聲馬嘶，然后是呼喊。與他們一起行軍，與他們一起用餐，與他們一起作戰，科林的吩咐……
Errok and Del had crept ahead to scout the ruins, but Del was back almost at once. Styr halted the column and sent a dozen of his Thenns trotting forward, spears in hand. By then Jon had seen it too: the glimmer of a fire, reddening the chimney of the inn. We are not alone. Dread coiled inside him like a snake. He heard a horse neigh, and then shouts. Ride with them, eat with them, fight with them, Qhorin had said.
戰斗剛開始就告結束。“只有一個人，”埃洛克回來報告，“一個老頭跟一匹馬。”
But the fighting was done. “There’s only one of them,” Errok said when he came back. “An old man with a horse.”
馬格拿用古語大聲發號施令，二十個瑟恩人分散開來，圍住村子，其余部下則于房屋之間巡察，確保沒人躲在雜草叢或亂石堆里。掠襲者們擠在那沒屋頂的客棧，互相推攘著向壁爐靠近。老人用來點火的斷枝所產生的煙似乎比熱量還多，但在這樣一個狂暴的雨夜，哪怕一點點暖意都令人舒心。兩個瑟恩人將老人推到地上，搜查他的隨身物品，另一個牽了他的馬，還有三個在翻他的鞍囊。
The Magnar shouted commands in the Old Tongue and a score of his Thenns spread out to establish a perimeter around the village, whilst others went prowling through the houses to make certain no one else was hiding amongst the weeds and tumbled stones. The rest crowded into the roofless inn, jostling each other to get closer to the hearth. The broken branches the old man had been burning seemed to generate more smoke than heat, but any warmth was welcome on such a wild rainy night. Two of the Thenns had thrown the man to the ground and were going through his things. Another held his horse, while three more looted his saddlebags.
瓊恩走開了。一個爛蘋果在腳下碾碎。斯迪會殺了他。馬格拿在灰衛堡就聲明過，遇到任何下跪之人，都要立刻處死，以確保他們無法示警。與他們一起行軍，與他們一起用餐，與他們一起作戰。這是否意味著，必須沉默無助地看著他們割開無辜老人的喉嚨？
Jon walked away. A rotten apple squished beneath his heel. Styr will kill him. The Magnar had said as much at Greyguard; any kneelers they met were to be put to death at once, to make certain they could not raise the alarm. Ride with them, eat with them, fight with them. Did that mean he must stand mute and helpless while they slit an old man’s throat?
在村子邊緣，瓊恩面對面遇上一名斯迪安排的守衛。瑟恩人用古語低沉地說了些什么，并用矛尖指指客棧。回到屬于你的地方去，瓊恩猜測。但我屬于哪兒呢？
Near the edge of the village, Jon came face-to-face with one of the guards Styr had posted. The Thenn growled something in the Old Tongue and pointed his spear back toward the inn. Get back where you belong, Jon guessed. But where is that?
他走向湖邊，在一堵傾斜的土木墻邊發現塊干燥的地方——那堵墻屬于一幢搖搖欲墜、大部坍塌的村舍——坐下來呆呆地望著雨點抽打的湖面。耶哥蕊特正是在這兒找到了他。“我知道這地方的名字，”她坐在他身邊，他說，“下次閃電的時候注意看塔頂，告訴我看到了什么。”
He walked towards the water, and discovered an almost dry spot beneath the leaning daub-and-wattle wall of a tumbledown cottage that had mostly tumbled down. That was where Ygritte found him sitting, staring off across the rain-whipped lake. “I know this place,” he told her when she sat beside him. “That tower … look at the top of it the next time the lightning flashes, and tell me what you see.”
“好，只要你喜歡，”她回答，然后續道，“一些瑟恩人聽見那兒有響聲，似乎是里面傳出的喊叫。”
“Aye, if you like,” she said, and then, “Some o’ the Thenns are saying they heard noises out there. Shouting, they say.”
“多半是打雷吧。”
“Thunder.”
“他們說是喊叫。也許有鬼魂呢。”
“They say shouting. Might be it’s ghosts.”
那要塞黑乎乎地矗立在風暴中，而它所在的巖島四周，雨水不停地鞭擊湖面，看起來確實有點陰森森，像是鬼魂出沒之所。“我們可以過去看看，”他建議，“反正身子夠濕，不會更糟了。”
The holdfast did have a grim haunted look, standing there black against the storm on its rocky island with the rain lashing at the lake all around it. “We could go out and take a look,” he suggested. “I doubt we could get much wetter than we are.”
“游泳？在風暴中游泳？”她報以大笑，“是想騙我脫衣服嗎，瓊恩·雪諾？”
“Swimming? In the storm?” She laughed at the notion. “Is this a trick t’ get the clothes off me, Jon Snow?”
“為此還需要騙你？”他調皮地回答，“還是你根本連劃水都不行呀？”瓊恩自己是個游泳能手，小時候在臨冬城的寬闊護城河里學就的。
“Do I need a trick for that now?” he teased. “Or is that you can’t swim a stroke?” Jon was a strong swimmer himself, having learned the art as a boy in Winterfell’s great moat.
耶哥蕊特捶了一下他的胳膊。“你什么都不懂，瓊恩·雪諾。我就是半條魚，你會明白的。”
Ygritte punched his arm. “You know nothing, Jon Snow. I’m half a fish, I’ll have you know.”
“半條魚，半頭山羊，半匹馬……你的一半也太多了，耶哥蕊特。”他搖搖頭，“我們不需要游，如果這就是我所知道的那個地方，我們可以走過去。”
“Half fish, half goat, half horse … there’s too many halves to you, Ygritte.” He shook his head. “We wouldn’t need to swim, if this is the place I think. We could walk.”
她退后一步，瞪著他瞧。“在水上走？這是南方佬的哪門子巫術啊？”
She pulled back and gave him a look. “Walk on water? What southron sorcery is that?”
“不是巫——”他剛開口，便有一道巨大的閃電從天劈落，打在湖面上。剎那間，世界如正午般明亮。雷霆爆裂，耶哥蕊特驚呼一聲，捂住耳朵。
“No sorc—” he began, as a huge bolt of lightning stabbed down from the sky and touched the surface of the lake. For half a heartbeat the world was noonday bright. The clap of thunder was so loud that Ygritte gasped and covered her ears.
“你看到沒？”瓊恩問，此時聲音已滾向遠方，夜晚再度黑暗，“看清了嗎？”
“Did you look?” Jon asked, as the sound rolled away and the night turned black again. “Did you see?”
“黃色，”她說，“你指這個？頂上豎立的石頭有些是黃色。”
“Yellow,” she said. “Is that what you meant? Some o’ them standing stones on top were yellow.”
“那些石頭我們稱之為‘城垛’。很久以前，它們被漆成金色。這里就叫‘后冠鎮’。”
“We call them merlons. They were painted gold a long time ago. This is Queenscrown.”
湖對面那座塔又變回陰沉沉的模樣，黯淡的影子依稀可見。“那兒曾住著一位王后？”耶哥蕊特問。
Across the lake, the tower was black again, a dim shape dimly seen. “A queen lived there?” asked Ygritte.
“一個王后在那兒住了一晚上。”故事是老奶媽講的，但其中的梗概為魯溫學士所證實。“亞莉珊王后是‘仲裁者’杰赫里斯國王的妻子，他也被稱為‘人瑞王’，因為統治時期有好幾十年。但他坐上鐵王座時還很年輕，喜歡周游全境。有一天，他帶著王后、六條龍及半數廷臣來到臨冬城，并跟北境守護商議國事，亞莉珊王后覺得無聊，因此乘她的龍‘銀翼’飛到北方去看絕境長城。這個村子是她路過的地方之一。她走之后，百姓們將要塞頂涂成金色，使其看起來像是她跟他們共度那一晚所戴的金冠。”
“A queen stayed there for a night.” Old Nan had told him the story, but Maester Luwin had confirmed most of it. “Alysanne, the wife of King Jaehaerys the Conciliator. He’s called the Old King because he reigned so long, but he was young when he first came to the Iron Throne. In those days, it was his wont to travel all over the realm. When he came to Winterfell, he brought his queen, six dragons, and half his court. The king had matters to discuss with his Warden of the North, and Alysanne grew bored, so she mounted her dragon Silverwing and flew north to see the Wall. This village was one of the places where she stopped. Afterward the smallfolk painted the top of their holdfast to look like the golden crown she’d worn when she spent the night among them.”
“我沒見過龍。”
“I have never seen a dragon.”
“沒人見過。最后的巨龍一百多年前就死了。這是比那更早的事。”
“No one has. The last dragons died a hundred years ago or more. But this was before that.”
“你說她叫亞莉珊王后？”
“Queen Alysanne, you say?”
“人稱她為‘善良的亞莉珊’。長城上有個城堡‘王后門’就是為她而命名的，那里從前叫‘風雪門’。”
“Good Queen Alysanne, they called her later. One of the castles on the Wall was named for her as well. Queensgate. Before her visit they called it Snowgate.”
“如果她真那么善良，就該把長城推倒。”
“If she was so good, she should have torn that Wall down.”
不，他心想，長城保護著王國全境，抵御異鬼……還有你們，親愛的。“我有個朋友夢到過龍。他是個侏儒，他告訴我——”
No, he thought. The Wall protects the realm. From the Others … and from you and your kind as well, sweetling. “I had another friend who dreamed of dragons. A dwarf. He told me—”
“瓊恩·雪諾！”一個皺緊眉頭的瑟恩人出現在上方，“來，馬格拿要。”瓊恩覺得這就是攀登冰墻前夜在山洞外找到自己的那個人，但無法確定。他站起身，耶哥蕊特緊緊跟隨——這點一直讓斯迪不滿。然而每次他要她離開，她總會回答：她是個女自由民，不是下跪之人，想來就來，想走就走。
“JON SNOW!” One of the Thenns loomed above them, frowning. “Magnar wants.” Jon thought it might have been the same man who’d found him outside the cave, the night before they climbed the Wall, but he could not be sure. He got to his feet. Ygritte came with him, which always made Styr frown, but whenever he tried to dismiss her she would remind him that she was a free woman, not a kneeler. She came and went as she pleased.
他們發現馬格拿站在一棵從客棧大廳地板里長出來的樹下，俘虜跪在壁爐前，周圍是一圈亮出木長矛和青銅劍的瑟恩人。斯迪看瓊恩走近，沒有說話。積水沿墻流淌而下，雨點啪啪敲打仍附在樹上的最后幾片葉子，火堆里升起盤旋的濃煙。
They found the Magnar standing beneath the tree that grew through the floor of the common room. His captive knelt before the hearth, encircled by wooden spears and bronze swords. He watched Jon approach, but did not speak. The rain was running down the walls and pattering against the last few leaves that still clung to the tree, while smoke swirled thick from the fire.
“他必須死，”斯迪馬格拿說，“你來動手，烏鴉。”
“He must die,” Styr the Magnar said. “Do it, crow.”
老人沒說話。他只是站在野人中間望著瓊恩。雨水和煙霧中，僅靠那火堆的光亮，加上披的羊皮斗篷，他不可能看清瓊恩的黑衣。他究竟能看清嗎？
The old man said no word. He only looked at Jon, standing amongst the wildlings. Amidst the rain and smoke, lit only by the fire, he could not have seen that Jon was all in black, but for his sheepskin cloak. Or could he?
瓊恩拔出長爪。雨水沖刷著瓦雷利亞鋼劍，火焰沿刃面反射出陰郁的橙光。燃起一小堆火，卻要了這老人的性命。他記起斷掌科林在風聲峽說的話：火是生命之源，也是取死之道。然而那是霜雪之牙，長城外沒有法律的荒野；這里是贈地，受守夜人和臨冬城的保護。人們可以隨意生火，不必因此而死。
Jon drew Longclaw from its sheath. Rain washed the steel, and the firelight traced a sullen orange line along the edge. Such a small fire, to cost a man his life. He remembered what Qhorin Halfhand had said when they spied the fire in the Skirling Pass. Fire is life up here, he told them, but it can be death as well. That was high in the Frostfangs, though, in the lawless wild beyond the Wall. This was the Gift, protected by the Night’s Watch and the power of Winterfell. A man should have been free to build a fire here, without dying for it.
“還猶豫什么？”斯迪說，“快動手！”
“Why do you hesitate?” Styr said. “Kill him, and be done.”
即使到這個關頭，俘虜也沒說話。他可以說“饒命！”或者“您們奪了我的馬、我的錢和我的食物，就讓我留下這條命吧！”或者“不，求求您，我沒有做傷害您們的事！”……他還有其他上千種說法，或者哭泣，或者呼喚信仰的神靈。但什么言語都救不了他，或許正因為明白這點，所以老人閉上嘴巴，以譴責與控訴的眼光望向瓊恩。
Even then the captive did not speak. “Mercy,” he might have said, or “You have taken my horse, my coin, my food, let me keep my life,” or “No, please, I have done you no harm.” He might have said a thousand things, or wept, or called upon his gods. No words would save him now, though. Perhaps he knew that. So he held his tongue, and looked at Jon in accusation and appeal.
不管要你做什么，都不準違抗，統統照辦。與他們一起行軍，與他們一起用餐，與他們一起作戰……但眼前的老人毫無反抗。他不過是運氣不好。他是誰？來自何方？要騎那可憐的駝背馬去哪兒……在野人眼里，全都無關緊要。
You must not balk, whatever is asked of you. Ride with them, eat with them, fight with them … But this old man had offered no resistance. He had been unlucky, that was all. Who he was, where he came from, where he meant to go on his sorry sway-backed horse … none of it mattered.
他是個老人，瓊恩告訴自己，五十歲，甚至有六十歲，比大多數人活得長。但瑟恩人會殺了他，不管我說什么或做什么都救不了。長爪仿佛比鉛還重，難以提起。那人繼續瞪他，眼睛像又大又黑的井。我會掉進這口井里淹死。馬格拿也在看他，他幾乎可以聞到猜疑的味道。這人一定會死，由我來殺，又有什么關系呢？只需利落一刀，用盡全身力氣。長爪是瓦雷利亞鋼鑄成。跟“寒冰”一樣。瓊恩記起另一次行刑：逃兵跪在地上，腦袋滾落，雪地上明亮的鮮血……父親的劍，父親的話，父親的臉……
He is an old man, Jon told himself. Fifty, maybe even sixty. He lived a longer life than most. The Thenns will kill him anyway, nothing I can say or do will save him. Longclaw seemed heavier than lead in his hand, too heavy to lift. The man kept staring at him, with eyes as big and black as wells. I will fall into those eyes and drown. The Magnar was looking at him too, and he could almost taste the mistrust. The man is dead. What matter if it is my hand that slays him? One cut would do it, quick and clean. Longclaw was forged of Valyrian steel. Like Ice. Jon remembered another killing; the deserter on his knees, his head rolling, the brightness of blood on snow … his father’s sword, his father’s words, his father’s face …
“動手，瓊恩·雪諾，”耶哥蕊特催促，“你必須動手，證明自己不是烏鴉，而是自由民的一員。”
“Do it, Jon Snow,” Ygritte urged. “You must. T’ prove you are no crow, but one o’ the free folk.”
“殺一個火堆旁的老人？”
“An old man sitting by a fire?”
“歐瑞爾也在火堆旁，你殺他卻很快。”她的眼神堅決而嚴肅。“你也打算殺我——盡管那時我還在睡覺——直到發現我是女人。”
“Orell was sitting by a fire too. You killed him quick enough.” The look she gave him then was hard. “You meant t’ kill me too, till you saw I was a woman. And I was asleep.”
“那不一樣，你們是戰士……是守望者。”
“That was different. You were soldiers … sentries.”
“對啊，你們烏鴉不愿讓人發現，我們現在也一樣。一樣！快殺了他。”
“Aye, and you crows didn’t want t’ be seen. No more’n we do, now. It’s just the same. Kill him.”
他轉身背對老人，“不。”
He turned his back on the man. “No.”
馬格拿走上前，高大，冷酷，不懷好意。“我說要。我是指揮官。”
The Magnar moved closer, tall, cold, and dangerous. “I say yes. I command here.”
“你指揮瑟恩人，”瓊恩告訴他，“管不了自由民。”
“You command Thenns,” Jon told him, “not free folk.”
“我沒看到自由民，只看到烏鴉和烏鴉的老婆。”
“I see no free folk. I see a crow and a crow wife.”
“我不是烏鴉的老婆！”耶哥蕊特拔出匕首，快速跨出三步，抓住老人的頭發，將腦袋向后一扳，割了喉嚨，從一邊耳朵劃到另一邊耳朵。即使死去時，那人也沒出聲。“你什么都不懂，瓊恩·雪諾！”她沖他大喊，將染血的刀扔到他腳下。
“I’m no crow wife!” Ygritte snatched her knife from its sheath. Three quick strides, and she yanked the old man’s head back by the hair and opened his throat from ear to ear. Even in death, the man did not cry out. “You know nothing, Jon Snow!” she shouted at him, and flung the bloody blade at his feet.
馬格拿用古語說了些什么，也許是要瑟恩人就地處決瓊恩，但真相他已永遠無法知曉。閃電陡然劈落，一道耀眼的藍白光芒打在湖中央塔樓的頂端。他可以感覺到它熾烈的憤怒，雷聲降臨，震撼黑夜。
The Magnar said something in the Old Tongue. He might have been telling the Thenns to kill Jon where he stood, but he would never know the truth of that. Lightning crashed down from the sky, a searing blue-white bolt that touched the top of the tower in the lake. They could smell the fury of it, and when the thunder came it seemed to shake the night.
死亡咆哮著撲來。
And death leapt down amongst them.
閃電的強光令瓊恩看不清楚，但在聽見慘叫之前的剎那，他瞥到一個疾馳的影子。頭一個瑟恩人死得和老人一樣，血從撕裂的喉嚨里涌出。然后閃光消失，影子轉身，一聲咆哮，又一人在黑暗中倒下。到處是咒罵、呼喊和痛苦的嚎叫。瓊恩看見大癤子跌跌撞撞地向后倒去，撞翻了三個人。是白靈，他瘋狂地想，白靈跳過長城來救我。接著，閃電又將黑夜變成白晝，他看到那頭狼踩在德爾胸膛，黑乎乎的血從口中流下。灰的。他是灰的。
The lightning flash left Jon night-blind, but he glimpsed the hurtling shadow half a heartbeat before he heard the shriek. The first Thenn died as the old man had, blood gushing from his torn throat. Then the light was gone and the shape was spinning away, snarling, and another man went down in the dark. There were curses, shouts, howls of pain. Jon saw Big Boil stumble backward and knock down three men behind him. Ghost, he thought for one mad instant. Ghost leapt the Wall. Then the lightning turned the night to day, and he saw the wolf standing on Del’s chest, blood running black from his jaws. Grey. He’s grey.
黑暗隨著隆隆雷聲一起到來。狼在瑟恩人中穿梭，他們則用長矛亂刺。老人的母馬被屠殺的氣味刺激得發了狂，后腿人立，蹄子猛踢。長爪仍在手中，瓊恩·雪諾突然意識到，不可能有比這更好的機會了。
Darkness descended with the thunderclap. The Thenns were jabbing with their spears as the wolf darted between them. The old man’s mare reared, maddened by the smell of slaughter, and lashed out with her hooves. Longclaw was still in his hand. All at once Jon Snow knew he would never get a better chance.
趁大家的注意力都在狼身上，他砍倒第一個，推開第二個，劈向第三個。狂亂之中，有人喊他的名字，但無法斷定那是耶哥蕊特還是馬格拿。奮力控制馬匹的那位瑟恩人根本沒看見他，而長爪輕若鴻毛。他揮劍砍向對方小腿，感覺到鋼鐵劈開骨頭。野人倒下去時，母馬沖了出去，瓊恩左手抓緊鬃毛，一下子躍上馬背。腳踝被手攫住，他向下猛砍，然后看到波吉的臉在血泊中消失。馬兒人立，揚腿猛踢，擊中某瑟恩人的太陽穴，發出“喀嚓”聲響。
He cut down the first man as he turned toward the wolf, shoved past a second, slashed at a third. Through the madness he heard someone call his name, but whether it was Ygritte or the Magnar he could not say. The Thenn fighting to control the horse never saw him. Longclaw was feather-light. He swung at the back of the man’s calf, and felt the steel bite down to the bone. When the wildling fell the mare bolted, but somehow Jon managed to grab her mane with his off hand and vault himself onto her back. A hand closed round his ankle, and he hacked down and saw Bodger’s face dissolve in a welter of blood. The horse reared, lashing out. One hoof caught a Thenn in the temple, with a crunch.
隨后人馬開始狂奔。瓊恩沒有引導方向，只盡力伏在馬背上，穿越泥沼、雨水和雷電。濕草抽打著臉，一支長矛從耳際飛過。若馬跌斷腿腳，他們便會追上來，把我殺死，他心想，但舊神與他同在，馬兒沒事。閃電劃過黑暗的天頂，雷聲在平原上翻滾，吶喊在身后減弱消失。
And then they were running. Jon made no effort to guide the horse. It was all he could do to stay on her as they plunged through mud and rain and thunder. Wet grass whipped at his face and a spear flew past his ear. If the horse stumbles and breaks a leg, they will run me down and kill me, he thought, but the old gods were with him and the horse did not stumble. Lightning shivered through the black dome of sky, and thunder rolled across the plains. The shouts dwindled and died behind him.
午夜后，雨停止，瓊恩獨自徘徊在高高的黑草海中，右大腿痛得厲害。他低頭看去，驚訝地發現一支箭戳進大腿后面。什么時候的事？他抓住箭桿，拉了一下，但箭頭深埋進肉中，越拔痛得越厲害。他試圖回想客棧中狂亂的景象，但只能記起那頭灰色的野獸，精瘦而可怖。它太大，不是普通的狼。冰原狼。只可能如此。他從沒見過行為如此之快的動物。就像一陣灰色的風……難道羅柏回了北方？
Long hours later, the rain stopped. Jon found himself alone in a sea of tall black grass. There was a deep throbbing ache in his right thigh. When he looked down, he was surprised to see an arrow jutting out the back of it. When did that happen? He grabbed hold of the shaft and gave it a tug, but the arrowhead was sunk deep in the meat of his leg, and the pain when he pulled on it was excruciating. He tried to think back on the madness at the inn, but all he could remember was the beast, gaunt and grey and terrible. It was too large to be a common wolf. A direwolf, then. It had to be. He had never seen an animal move so fast. Like a grey wind … Could Robb have returned to the north?
瓊恩搖搖頭。找不到答案，難以思考……那頭狼，那個老人，耶哥蕊特……這一切……
Jon shook his head. He had no answers. It was too hard to think … about the wolf, the old man, Ygritte, any of it …
他笨拙地滑下母馬的背，受傷的腿頓時一軟，令他不得不咽下尖叫。會很痛苦。然而箭必須弄出來，等待沒有好處。于是瓊恩握住箭羽，深吸一口氣，往前推去。他悶哼，接著咒罵。實在太疼，做到一半就停了下來。我像頭被屠宰的豬一樣血流如注，他心想，但只能繼續，別無選擇。于是他滿心不情愿地再度嘗試……很快又顫抖著停止。再來一次。這次他喊叫出聲，箭頭總算從大腿前面穿了出去。瓊恩將染血的褲子往后褪開，以便抓得更牢，然后皺緊了臉，緩緩將箭桿穿過腿部。他不知自己為何沒有暈厥。
Clumsily, he slid down off the mare’s back. His wounded leg buckled under him, and he had to swallow a scream. This is going to be agony. The arrow had to come out, though, and nothing good could come of waiting. Jon curled his hand around the fletching, took a deep breath, and shoved the arrow forward. He grunted, then cursed. It hurt so much he had to stop. I am bleeding like a butchered pig, he thought, but there was nothing to be done for it until the arrow was out. He grimaced and tried again … and soon stopped again, trembling. Once more. This time he screamed, but when he was done the arrowhead was poking through the front of his thigh. Jon pushed back his bloody breeches to get a better grip, grimaced, and slowly drew the shaft through his leg. How he got through that without fainting he never knew.
之后，他抓著“戰利品”，躺在地上，靜靜地流血。太虛弱，走不動。過了一會兒，他意識到如果不強迫自己動起來，很可能流血至死。于是瓊恩爬到淺溪旁——母馬正在那兒喝水——用冷水清洗大腿，然后從斗篷上扯下一條布，緊緊包扎起來。他把箭也洗了洗，拿在手里仔細觀察。羽毛是灰的還是白的？耶哥蕊特用淡灰色鵝毛做箭羽。箭是她放的嗎？他不能怪她。不知她是瞄準自己還是瞄準坐騎。若那母馬倒下，我就完了。“幸虧腿擋在中間。”他喃喃道。
He lay on the ground afterward, clutching his prize and bleeding quietly, too weak to move. After a while, he realized that if he did not make himself move he was like to bleed to death. Jon crawled to the shallow stream where the mare was drinking, washed his thigh in the cold water, and bound it tight with a strip of cloth torn from his cloak. He washed the arrow too, turning it in his hands. Was the fletching grey, or white? Ygritte fletched her arrows with pale grey goose feathers. Did she loose a shaft at me as I fled? Jon could not blame her for that. He wondered if she’d been aiming for him or the horse. If the mare had gone down, he would have been doomed. “A lucky thing my leg got in the way,” he muttered.
他休息片刻，讓馬去吃草。它沒游蕩太遠，真不錯，否則他一瘸一拐地拖著傷腿，根本追不上。他好不容易才撐著自己站起來，爬上馬背。之前我是怎么騎的，沒馬鞍，沒馬鐙，手里還拿著一把劍？這又是一個無法回答的問題。
He rested for a while to let the horse graze. She did not wander far. That was good. Hobbled with a bad leg, he could never have caught her. It was all he could do to force himself back to his feet and climb onto her back. How did I ever mount her before, without saddle or stirrups, and a sword in one hand? That was another question he could not answer.
遠處傳來輕微而沉悶的雷聲，但頭頂的烏云已經散開。瓊恩抬頭搜尋，找到冰龍星座，然后調轉馬頭，向著北方的長城和黑城堡進發。膝蓋頂上老人的馬，大腿肌肉便一陣劇痛，令他抽搐。回家了，他告訴自己。如果真是這樣，為何心底如此空洞？
Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, but above him the clouds were breaking up. Jon searched the sky until he found the Ice Dragon, then turned the mare north for the Wall and Castle Black. The throb of pain in his thigh muscle made him wince as he put his heels into the old man’s horse. I am going home, he told himself. But if that was true, why did he feel so hollow?
他一直騎到黎明，繁星如無數只眼睛，向下俯視。
He rode till dawn, while the stars stared down like eyes.
