Chapter 第十四章 提利昂
TYRION
很長時間，他都沒有翻身，只是一動不動的躺在當做床的舊麻袋上，聽著呼嘯而過的風聲和浪一下下拍在船舷上的聲音。
For a long while he did not stir, but lay unmoving upon the heap of old sacks that served him for a bed, listening to the wind in the lines, to the lapping of the river at the hull.
滿月掛在桅桿上方，它跟著我順流而下，像只巨眼一樣監視著我。盡管有溫暖的破獸皮蓋著，但是小個子的男人還是一陣顫栗。我需要一杯葡萄酒，許多杯葡萄酒。但是在那個婊子養的格里夫撲滅他的干渴的火焰前，月亮眨了眨眼。非但沒水喝，相反，他被懲罰以失眠的夜晚和揮汗如雨與搖擺不定的白晝。
A full moon floated above the mast. It is following me downriver, watching me like some great eye. Despite the warmth of the musty skins that covered him, a shiver went through the little man. I need a cup of wine. A dozen cups of wine. But the moon would blink before that whoreson Griff let him quench his thirst. Instead he drank water, and was condemned to sleepless nights and days of sweats and shakes.
侏儒起身，用手托著腦袋。我剛才是在做夢么？剛才的一切記憶都消退了。夜晚對提利昂·蘭尼斯特從不仁慈。即使在柔軟的羽毛床墊上他也睡不好。在害羞小姐號上，他在船艙頂上鋪床，用一卷麻繩做了個枕頭。比起船艙的狹窄，他更喜歡這里。這里的空氣更清新，水流的聲音也比鴨子的鼾聲悅耳的多。但是這也是有代價的，倉頂很硬，當他醒來時總是渾身僵硬酸痛，雙腿又痙攣的疼痛難忍。
The dwarf sat up, cradling his head in his hands. Did I dream? All memory of it had fled. The nights had never been kind to Tyrion Lannister. He slept badly even on soft feather beds. On the Shy Maid, he made his bed atop the roof of the cabin, with a coil of hempen rope for a pillow. He liked it better up here than in the boat’s cramped hold. The air was fresher, and the river sounds were sweeter than Duck’s snoring. There was a price to be paid for such joys, though; the deck was hard, and he woke stiff and sore, his legs cramped and aching.
它們現在又在抽搐了，他的小腿變得向木頭似的僵硬。他用手指揉搓著它們，想把那些疼痛搓走，但是當他站起來是那痛楚依然扭曲了他的臉。我得洗個澡，他那身男孩的衣服都發臭了，他自己也一樣。其他人都在河里洗澡，但是迄今為止他還沒試過加入他們。有些沙洲上的海龜看起來一口就能把他咬成兩半。骨甲，鴨子是這么叫它們的。另外，他不想讓萊莫爾看到他赤身的樣子。
They were throbbing now, his calves gone hard as wood. He kneaded them with his fingers, trying to rub the ache away, but when he stood the pain was still enough to make him grimace. I need to bathe. His boy’s clothes stank, and so did he. The others bathed in the river, but thus far he had not joined them. Some of the turtles he’d seen in the shallows looked big enough to bite him in half. Bonesnappers, Duck called them. Besides, he did not want Lemore to see him naked.
有個木梯搭在船艙頂邊，提利昂套上他的靴子下到后甲板上，火盆邊格里夫正裹在他的狼皮斗篷里。雇傭劍士親自守夜，就像他的手下一樣在太陽升起才回去睡覺。
A wooden ladder led down from the cabin roof. Tyrion pulled on his boots and descended to the afterdeck, where Griff sat wrapped in a wolfskin cloak beside an iron brazier. The sellsword kept the night watch by himself, rising as the rest of his band sought their beds and retiring when the sun came up.
提利昂蹲在他對面烤火，河對岸可以聽到夜鶯的歌聲。“天就要亮了，”他對格里夫說。
Tyrion squatted across from him and warmed his hands over the coals. Across the water nightingales were singing. “Day soon,” he said to Griff.
“不會那么快。我們要起航了。”如果能由格里夫決定的話，害羞小姐號早在夜里就會像白天一樣向下游行進，但是楊恩德里和伊西拉不愿意冒險讓船在黑暗中穿行。羅伊達上游的水中漂浮著木樁等各種障礙，任何一種都可能把害羞小姐號的船體撕得粉碎。格里夫當然不希望那種事發生，他想要的就只有瓦蘭提斯。
“Not soon enough. We need to be under way.” If it had been up to Griff, the Shy Maid would continue downstream by night as well as day, but Yandry and Ysilla refused to risk their poleboat in the dark. The Upper Rhoyne was full of snags and sawyers, any one of which could rip out the Shy Maid’s hull. Griff did not want to hear it. What he wanted was Volantis.
雇傭劍士的雙眼中的警惕從未消失，他一直在搜索著夜色……但他想找什么？海盜？石人？奴隸販子？河流是危險的，注入知道，但是對于提利昂格里夫是個更危險的存在。他讓提利昂想起了Bronn，但是Bronn有著雇傭劍士的黑色幽默而這半點沒有體現在格里夫身上。
The sellsword’s eyes were always moving, searching the night for … what? Pirates? Stone men? Slave-catchers? The river had perils, the dwarf knew, but Griff himself struck Tyrion as more dangerous than any of them. He reminded Tyrion of Bronn, though Bronn had a sellsword’s black humor and Griff had no humor at all.
“為一杯紅酒我就能拼個你死我活，”提利昂喃喃。
“I would kill for a cup of wine,” muttered Tyrion.
格里夫沒有回應，在你能嘗到它前你早死了，他的淺色眼睛這樣說。提利昂在害羞小姐號上的第一個晚上喝得爛醉，他早上醒來時的感覺就像有巨龍在腦袋中戰斗。格里夫看了一眼在船舷邊干嘔的提利昂說，“你的酒量還真差。”
Griff made no reply. You will die before you drink, his pale eyes seemed to say. Tyrion had drunk himself blind his first night on the Shy Maid. The next day he awoke with dragons fighting in his skull. Griff took one look at him retching over the side of the poleboat, and said, “You are done with drink.”
“紅酒助我入眠，”提利昂反對道。紅酒會淹沒我的夢，他本來要說。
“Wine helps me sleep,” Tyrion had protested. Wine drowns my dreams, he might have said.
“那就清醒點，”格里夫執意回答。
“Then stay awake,” Griff had replied, implacable.
東邊第一縷蒼白的日光彌散在河的上空。羅伊達河的河水漸漸由黑色變藍，正好呼應了雇傭劍士的須發。格里夫起身。“大家也快起床了，甲板是你的了。”當夜鶯歸于沉寂，水雀接過它們的工作繼續歡歌。白鷺在蘆葦叢中濺起一片水花在沙洲上流下了它們的印記。天空中的云彩看起來鮮亮無比：粉紫相映，褐紫與金色交織，珍珠白中透著橘色。其中一片看起來像條龍。若一個人看見一條飛龍，那還是讓他好好呆在家里中照顧花園吧，有人曾這樣寫道，這個世界上在沒有比這更偉大的奇跡了。提利昂抓撓著他的疤痕試圖想起這句話的主人。最近他越來越多得想到龍。
To the east, the first pale light of day suffused the sky above the river. The waters of the Rhoyne slowly went from black to blue, to match the sellsword’s hair and beard. Griff got to his feet. “The others should wake soon. The deck is yours.” As the nightingales fell silent, the river larks took up their song. Egrets splashed amongst the reeds and left their tracks across the sandbars. The clouds in the sky were aglow: pink and purple, maroon and gold, pearl and saffron. One looked like a dragon. Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay at home and tend his garden in content, someone had written once, for this wide world has no greater wonder. Tyrion scratched at his scar and tried to recall the author’s name. Dragons had been much in his thoughts of late.
“早安，雨果。”萊莫爾修女身著白袍出現，腰間系著一條七彩編織腰帶，她的秀發流瀉在肩上。“睡得怎么樣？”
“Good morrow, Hugor.” Septa Lemore had emerged in her white robes, cinched at the waist with a woven belt of seven colors. Her hair flowed loose about her shoulders. “How did you sleep?”
“時醒時睡，親愛的女士。我又夢到你了。”白日夢。他睡不著，只好將手置于胯間想象著修女伏在他身上酥胸跳動的樣子。
“Fitfully, good lady. I dreamed of you again.” A waking dream. He could not sleep, so he had eased a hand between his legs and imagined the septa atop him, breasts bouncing.
“毫無疑問是個下流的夢，你這個下流的小子。你會對我祈禱寬恕你的罪么？”
“A wicked dream, no doubt. You are a wicked man. Will you pray with me and ask forgiveness for your sins?”
除非我們以盛夏群島的方式祈禱。“不，但是請務為我必給少女一個吻。”
Only if we pray in the fashion of the Summer Isles. “No, but do give the Maiden a long, sweet kiss for me.”
修女大笑著走向船頭，她習慣早上在河中沐浴。“毫無疑問，這條船不是以你命名的，”提利昂在她褪去袍子時說道。
Laughing, the septa walked to the prow of the boat. It was her custom to bathe in the river every morning. “Plainly, this boat was not named for you,” Tyrion called as she disrobed.
“天父和圣母以他們的模樣創造了我們，雨果。我們要以之自豪，我們都是天神的杰作。”
“The Mother and the Father made us in their image, Hugor. We should glory in our bodies, for they are the work of gods.”
天神大概在創造我的時候喝醉了。侏儒看著萊莫爾滑進水中，這光景總讓他變硬，想象著褪下修女那身純潔的白袍張開她的雙腿還真是邪惡的美妙。奪走她的純潔，他想著……但顯然萊莫爾不像她看起來那么純潔。從她的肚子上妊娠紋來看她有過孩子。
The gods must have been drunk when they got to me. The dwarf watched Lemore slip into the water. The sight always made him hard. There was something wonderfully wicked about the thought of peeling the septa out of those chaste white robes and spreading her legs. Innocence despoiled, he thought … though Lemore was not near as innocent as she appeared. She had stretch marks on her belly that could only have come from childbirth.
楊恩德里和伊西拉隨太陽升起回到了他們的崗位。楊恩德里在他檢查纜繩時總時不時偷看一眼萊莫爾修女。他又小又黑的老婆伊西拉對此熟視無睹。她往后甲板上的火盆里丟了些木屑，用把焦黑的刀攪拌了下煤渣，然后就揉起作為早餐餅干的面團。
Yandry and Ysilla had risen with the sun and were going about their business. Yandry stole a glance at Septa Lemore from time to time as he was checking the lines. His small dark wife, Ysilla, took no notice. She fed some wood chips to the brazier on the afterdeck, stirred the coals with a blackened blade, and began to knead the dough for the morning biscuits.
當萊莫爾爬回甲板后，提利昂欣賞著她雙乳間流淌的水流，在晨曦中她光滑的肌膚泛著金光。她已年逾40，端莊更勝美麗，但依舊養眼。他發現沖動是除了醉酒外第二美好的事。那讓他感受到生命依舊留存在體內。“你看到那些烏龜了么，雨果？”修女擰著頭發里的水問他，“那些拱著背的家伙？”
When Lemore climbed back onto the deck, Tyrion savored the sight of water trickling between her breasts, her smooth skin glowing golden in the morning light. She was past forty, more handsome than pretty, but still easy on the eye. Being randy is the next best thing to being drunk, he decided. It made him feel as if he was still alive. “Did you see the turtle, Hugor?” the septa asked him, wringing water from her hair. “The big ridgeback?”
清晨是看見烏龜的最佳時間。白天它們沉在水底，或者在岸邊潛伏，但是在太陽初升時它們會浮到水面。有些會跟著船邊游泳。提利昂一眼掃去看到好幾個品種：大的和小的，平背和紅耳的，軟殼兒的和骨甲的，棕的綠的黑的，爪龜和角龜，還有有著金、翡翠和奶油色呈螺旋狀覆蓋的龜殼和背脊的烏龜。有的大到能馱一個男人在背，楊恩德里發誓有個羅伊達的王子曾騎著它們渡河。他們夫婦倆都有綠血血統，作為一對多恩的孤兒回到了羅伊達母親的懷抱。
The early morning was the best time for seeing turtles. During the day they would swim down deep, or hide in cuts along the banks, but when the sun was newly risen they came to the surface. Some liked to swim beside the boat. Tyrion had glimpsed a dozen different sorts: large turtles and small ones, flatbacks and red-ears, softshells and bonesnappers, brown turtles, green turtles, black turtles, clawed turtles and horned turtles, turtles whose ridged and patterned shells were covered with whorls of gold and jade and cream. Some were so large they could have borne a man upon their backs. Yandry swore the Rhoynar princes used to ride them across the river. He and his wife were Greenblood born, a pair of Dornish orphans come home to Mother Rhoyne.
“我錯過了脊背。”我當時正在看裸女。
“I missed the ridgeback.” I was watching the naked woman.
“我真抱歉。”萊莫爾從頭頂穿上袍子。“我知道你早起是為了看烏龜。”
“I am sad for you.” Lemore slipped her robe over her head. “I know you only rise so early in hopes of seeing turtles.”
“我也喜歡看日出。”就像看一個少女裸身出浴一樣。有些可能長相出眾些，但是每個都很有希望。“我得承認那些烏龜有它們魅力。再沒有什么比一對形狀姣好的……殼能取悅我了。”
“I like to watch the sun come up as well.” It was like watching a maiden rising naked from her bath. Some might be prettier than others, but every one was full of promise. “The turtles have their charms, I will allow. Nothing delights me so much as the sight of a nice pair of shapely … shells.”
“萊莫爾修女大笑。像這條船上的其他人一樣，她也有她的秘密。她在他們中間很受歡迎，我不想了解她，我只想操她。而且她也知道這點。當她把他的修女水晶掛在脖頸搭在雙乳間時她露出個嘲笑的笑容。
Septa Lemore laughed. Like everyone else aboard the Shy Maid, she had her secrets. She was welcome to them. I do not want to know her, I only want to fuck her. She knew it too. As she hung her septa’s crystal about her neck, to nestle in the cleft between her breasts, she teased him with a smile.
楊恩德里升起錨，從艙頂拖下一根長桿然后起航了。兩只白鷺抬起頭看著害羞小姐號離岸滑進水流，緩緩向下游駛去。楊恩德里來到舵柄跟前，伊西拉正在翻烤餅干，她將一個平底鐵鍋置于火盆上，放了片培根進去。有時候她烤培根加餅干，有時則是餅干加培根。每隔兩周，也許會有烤魚，但今天沒有。
Yandry pulled up the anchor, slid one of the long poles off the cabin roof, and pushed them off. Two of the herons raised their heads to watch as the Shy Maid drifted away from the bank, out into the current. Slowly the boat began to move downstream. Yandry went to the tiller. Ysilla was turning the biscuits. She laid an iron pan atop the brazier and put the bacon in. Some days she cooked biscuits and bacon; some days bacon and biscuits. Once every fortnight there might be a fish, but not today.
趁著伊西拉轉身，提利昂從火盆上偷抓了片餅干就飛快溜走以防遭到她大木勺的招呼。若蘸著蜂蜜和黃油趁熱吃味道最好了。很開培根的香味就把鴨子從船艙里引了過來，他嗅過火盆，遭到伊西拉大木勺的招待后轉身去了船尾撒尿。
When Ysilla turned her back, Tyrion snatched a biscuit off the brazier, darting away just in time to avoid a smack from her fearsome wooden spoon. They were best when eaten hot, dripping with honey and butter. The smell of the bacon cooking soon fetched Duck up from the hold. He sniffed over the brazier, received a swack from Ysilla’s spoon, and went back to have his morning piss off the stern.
提利昂蹣跚走來加入了他。“看看現在的景象，”他在釋放膀胱的同時打趣，“一個侏儒和一只鴨子，讓強大的羅伊達河更強。”
Tyrion waddled over to join him. “Now here’s a sight to see,” he quipped as they were emptying their bladders, “a dwarf and a duck, making the mighty Rhoyne that much mightier.”
楊恩德里用鼻子哼了哼。“母親河羅伊達才不要你那點噓噓，尤羅，她是世界上最偉大的河。”
Yandry snorted in derision. “Mother Rhoyne has no need of your water, Yollo. She is the greatest river in the world.”
提利昂抖下最后幾滴。“大的足以淹死一個侏儒，我保證。雖然曼德河也一樣寬廣，當然還有三岔河，黑水河則深一些。”
Tyrion shook off the last few drops. “Big enough to drown a dwarf, I grant you. The Mander is as broad, though. So is the Trident, near its mouth. The Blackwater runs deeper.”
“你不了解河流，等著瞧吧。”
“You do not know the river. Wait, and you will see.”
培根已經烤的鮮脆而餅干則泛著金棕色。小格里夫爬上甲板吼道。“早上好，各位。”男孩比鴨子矮些但是他細長的身軀顯示他還沒長成。這個沒毛的小子無論是不是個藍毛兒，放在七大王國能得到任何女孩的芳心，他的眼睛就能使她們融化。像他老子一樣，小格里夫有著一對藍眼睛，但是不像他父親的淺色，他的眼睛是深藍。在燈火中它們看起來如墨色一般，而在暮光中則映出紫色的神彩。他還有著長長的像女孩似地睫毛。
The bacon turned crisp, the biscuits golden brown. Young Griff stumbled up onto deck yawning. “Good morrow, all.” The lad was shorter than Duck, but his lanky build suggested that he had not yet come into his full growth. This beardless boy could have any maiden in the Seven Kingdoms, blue hair or no. Those eyes of his would melt them. Like his sire, Young Griff had blue eyes, but where the father’s eyes were pale, the son’s were dark. By lamplight they turned black, and in the light of dusk they seemed purple. His eyelashes were as long as any woman’s.
“我聞到培根了。”男孩說，拉上他的靴子。
“I smell bacon,” the lad said, pulling on his boots.
“很不錯的培根，”伊西拉說。“坐吧。”
“Good bacon,” said Ysilla. “Sit.”
她在后甲板上給他們分食物，給小格里夫蜂蜜餅干，在鴨子伸手要更多的培根時用大木勺招呼他。提利昂把掰開兩片餅干夾著培根，給了在舵柄邊的楊恩德里一份。之后他幫鴨子升起害羞小姐號的風帆，帶著大家行駛到河中央的急流。害羞小姐號是條可愛的傳船，她的吃水是如此之前于是她可以載著大家在河流最細的支流中行駛，在會使大船陷入困境的沙洲間游走，同時風帆鼓張、水流承托，她可以輕盈疾行。楊恩德里聲稱在羅伊達河的上游河段這決定著生死。“傷心地上游河段無法可依，至少近一千年來是這樣。”
She fed them on the afterdeck, pressing honeyed biscuits on Young Griff and hitting Duck’s hand with her spoon whenever he made a grab for more bacon. Tyrion pulled apart two biscuits, filled them with bacon, and carried one to Yandry at the tiller. Afterward he helped Duck to raise the Shy Maid’s big lateen sail. Yandry took them out into the center of the river, where the current was strongest. The Shy Maid was a sweet boat. Her draft was so shallow she could work her way up even the smallest of the river’s vassal streams, negotiating sandbars that would have stranded larger vessels, yet with her sail raised and a current under her, she could make good speed. That could mean life and death on the upper reaches of the Rhoyne, Yandry claimed. “There is no law above the Sorrows, not for a thousand years.”
“就我所看，人也一樣。”他瞥到沿河兩岸的廢墟，雜草叢生，爬滿了藤蔓青苔和野花，滿目瘡痍，再沒有人類棲居地的痕跡。
“And no people, so far as I can see.” He’d glimpsed some ruins along the banks, piles of masonry overgrown by vines and moss and flowers, but no other signs of human habitation.
“你不了解河流，尤羅。海盜船可能在任何溪流里窺伺，出逃的奴隸則在那些廢墟中潛伏。奴隸販子絕少來到這樣北的地方。 ”
“You do not know the river, Yollo. A pirate boat may lurk up any stream, and escaped slaves oft hide amongst the ruins. The slave-catchers seldom come so far north.”
“對于那些烏龜來說奴隸販子肯定很受歡迎。”自己不是在逃的奴隸，提利昂不用擔心會被抓。也沒有哪個海盜會自找麻煩劫掠一艘順流而下的平底船。商品都是從下游的瓦蘭提斯向上游運輸。
“Slave-catchers would be a welcome change from turtles.” Not being an escaped slave, Tyrion need not fear being caught. And no pirate was like to bother a poleboat moving downstream. The valuable goods came up the river from Volantis.
當培根吃完后，鴨子拍了拍小格里夫的肩膀。“是時候來點兒訓練了。今天練劍吧。”
When the bacon was gone, Duck punched Young Griff in the shoulder. “Time to raise some bruises. Swords today, I think.”
“劍？”小格里夫咧嘴一笑。“練劍最好了。”
“Swords?” Young Griff grinned. “Swords will be sweet.”
提利昂幫他船上格斗用裝，厚重的褲子，緊身上衣，還有一套凹痕累累的舊鐵甲。洛里爵士套上他的鎖子甲和熟皮甲。兩人都帶上了頭盔從武器箱里選了鈍劍。他們在后甲板上打起來，那天上午的其他時間，在大家的微觀中，有力的擊打對方。
Tyrion helped him dress for the bout, in heavy breeches, padded doublet, and a dinted suit of old steel plate. Ser Rolly shrugged into his mail and boiled leather. Both set helms upon their heads and chose blunted longswords from the bundle in the weapons chest. They set to on the afterdeck, having at each other lustily whilst the rest of the morning company looked on.
當他們開始用狼牙棒和長鈍斧戰斗時，洛里爵士偉岸的身軀和力量很快就壓倒了對方，加上劍的話更甚。這天噪聲兩人都沒有用盾，所以這是一場在甲板前后揮砍與避閃的游戲。河流應和著他們格斗的節拍，小格里夫的擊打次數較多但是鴨子的更重。一會兒，大塊頭開始疲勞了，他的劈砍變的有點遲緩，攻擊力也變弱。小格里夫開始反擊發起了狂暴的攻擊迫使洛里爵士后退。當他們退到船尾時，男孩絞起他們的刀刃用肩膀猛撞了鴨子一下，于是大塊頭就掉進了河里。
When they fought with mace or blunted longaxe, Ser Rolly’s greater size and strength would quickly overwhelm his charge; with swords the contests were more even. Neither man had taken up a shield this morning, so it was a game of slash and parry, back and forth across the deck. The river rang to the sounds of their combat. Young Griff landed more blows, though Duck’s were harder. After a while, the bigger man began to tire. His cuts came a little slower, a little lower. Young Griff turned them all and launched a furious attack that forced Ser Rolly back. When they reached the stern, the lad tied up their blades and slammed a shoulder into Duck, and the big man went into the river.
他變的氣急敗壞不斷咒罵，吼著在那些烏龜咬掉他的老二前讓人把他釣上來。提利昂扔了條繩子給他。“鴨子該游的好些，”他說著同時和楊安德里一起把落水的其實拽回害羞小姐的甲板。
He came up sputtering and cursing, bellowing for someone to fish him out before a ’snapper ate his privates. Tyrion tossed a line to him. “Ducks should swim better than that,” he said as he and Yandry were hauling the knight back aboard the Shy Maid.
洛里爵士抓住提利昂的領口。“讓我們看看侏儒怎么游，”他說著把侏儒猛扔進羅伊達河。
Ser Rolly grabbed Tyrion by the collar. “Let us see how dwarfs swim,” he said, chucking him headlong into the Rhoyne.
侏儒笑到了最后；他劃水劃的能力還不錯，而他也確實是……知道他的雙腿開始抽筋。小格里夫伸給他一根桿子。“你不是第一個想把我淹死的人，”他一邊把鞋子里的水倒出來一邊告訴鴨子，“我爸在我出生那天就把我扔下了井，但我實在太丑所以井里的老巫婆把我吐了回去。”他脫下另一只靴子，沿著甲板做了個側手翻，甩了大家一身水。
The dwarf laughed last; he could paddle passably well, and did … until his legs began to cramp. Young Griff extended him a pole. “You are not the first to try and drown me,” he told Duck, as he was pouring river water from his boot. “My father threw me down a well the day I was born, but I was so ugly that the water witch who lived down there spat me back.” He pulled off the other boot, then did a cartwheel along the deck, spraying all of them.
小格里夫笑道。“你在哪兒學的那手？”
Young Griff laughed. “Where did you learn that?”
“伶人教的，”他沒說實話。“我媽媽最疼我了，因為我是孩子里最小的。直到我滿7歲她都親自哺乳我。那讓我的哥哥們吃足了飛醋，所以他們把我塞進了一個麻袋賣給了馬戲團。當我試圖逃走時老板割掉了我半個鼻子這樣我別無選擇只好跟著他們學逗樂。”
“The mummers taught me,” he lied. “My mother loved me best of all her children because I was so small. She nursed me at her breast till I was seven. That made my brothers jealous, so they stuffed me in a sack and sold me to a mummer’s troupe. When I tried to run off the master mummer cut off half my nose, so I had no choice but to go with them and learn to be amusing.”
真想遠非這樣。他的叔叔在他六七歲的時候教了他點翻跟頭，他太高興了，有半年時間他都高興的在凱巖城里翻著跟頭走，給修士，侍從和仆人之類的人逗樂。甚至瑟熙看到他也笑過一兩次。
The truth was rather different. His uncle had taught him a bit of tumbling when he was six or seven. Tyrion had taken to it eagerly. For half a year he cartwheeled his merry way about Casterly Rock, bringing smiles to the faces of septons, squires, and servants alike. Even Cersei laughed to see him once or twice.
一切在他父親從君臨的旅居回來后結束了，那天提利昂用手走了長桌那么長的距離驚訝的發現他的父親一點兒也不高興。“上天把你造成了諸如難道你就得表現的像個白癡？你生為一頭獅子不是一只猴子。”
All that ended abruptly the day his father returned from a sojourn in King’s Landing. That night at supper Tyrion surprised his sire by walking the length of the high table on his hands. Lord Tywin was not pleased. “The gods made you a dwarf. Must you be a fool as well? You were born a lion, not a monkey.”
你現在是死人啦，老爹，所以現在我想怎么樣裝蠢你也管不著。“你逗人發笑真有一手，”萊莫爾修女在提利昂晾干腳趾的時候告訴他。“你得感謝天父，他賜予他所有的孩子以天賦。”
And you’re a corpse, Father, so I’ll caper as I please.
“他的確，”他高興的同意了。所以當我死后，請讓一個十字弓與我陪葬，這樣我就可以像感謝地底下那個老爹一樣感謝天上的天父的賜予的天賦。
“You have a gift for making men smile,” Septa Lemore told Tyrion as he was drying off his toes. “You should thank the Father Above. He gives gifts to all his children.”
他的衣服依舊如剛才那不情愿的落水時一樣濕漉漉的，粘在胳膊腿上弄的他很不舒服，小格里夫隨萊莫爾修女去接受信仰神秘的指導去了，提利昂脫下濕衣服換上干的。鴨子一上甲板就又開始一陣狂笑，他不好責備他，穿成這樣一定很滑稽。他的緊身上衣在中間分成了兩半：左半邊是紫色天鵝絨鑲嵌青銅紐扣，右邊是刺著花朵圖案的黃色羊毛。他的褲子同樣分兩種顏色，右腿是純綠色，左腿的是紅白相間的條紋。伊利里歐給的其中一個箱子里塞滿了兒童服飾，雖然陳舊但是質量上乘。萊莫爾修女把每件衣服都撕成兩半然后把他們交叉縫好，造就了一種粗獷混雜的款式。格里夫堅持要體諒幫助她撕裂拼接那些衣服，他的以為是羞辱提利昂讓他學著點謙卑，但是提利昂對于針線活還玩的蠻開心。除了每當他對神靈說點不敬的話就會批評他的嗜好外，萊莫爾總的來說是個愉快的伙伴。若格里芬之一讓我當個小丑，那我就陪他玩這個游戲。
“He does,” he agreed pleasantly. And when I die, please let them bury with me a crossbow, so I can thank the Father Above for his gifts the same way I thanked the father below.
他要做的工作除了裝蠢就再無其他。鴨子有他的劍，我有羽毛筆和羊皮紙。格里夫讓他寫下他所知的所有關于龍的知識。這是個困難的工作，但是侏儒每天都對它盡心盡力雖然當他在艙頂席地而坐時，得盡量讓字不那么歪斜。
His clothing was still soaked from his involuntary swim, clinging to his arms and legs uncomfortably. Whilst Young Griff went off with Septa Lemore to be instructed in the mysteries of the Faith, Tyrion stripped off the wet clothes and donned dry ones. Duck had a good guffaw when he emerged on deck again. He could not blame him. Dressed as he was, he made a comic sight. His doublet was divided down the middle; the left side was purple velvet with bronze studs; the right, yellow wool embroidered in green floral patterns. His breeches were similarly split; the right leg was solid green, the left leg striped in red and white. One of Illyrio’s chests had been packed with a child’s clothing, musty but well made. Septa Lemore had slit each garment apart, then sewn them back together, joining half of this to half of that to fashion a crude motley. Griff had even insisted that Tyrion help with the cutting and sewing. No doubt he meant for it to be humbling, but Tyrion enjoyed the needlework. Lemore was always pleasant company, despite her penchant for scolding him whenever he said something rude about the gods. If Griff wants to cast me as the fool, I’ll play the game. Somewhere, he knew, Lord Tywin Lannister was horrified, and that took the sting from it.
提利昂多年來讀了很多關于龍的知識。其中的大部分都是沒法依靠的無根據的傳說，另外伊利里歐提供的那些書并不是他所希望的那些。他真正想要的是那些關于The Fires of the Freehold、伽蘭德羅關于瓦雷利亞歷史的全文記載。但在維斯特洛伊，卻沒有什么全抄本留存，即使是學城的遺失的27卷卷軸也是。在古老的瓦蘭提斯毫無疑問肯定有座圖書館。若能找到方法進到“黑墻”進入城市中心，我在那可能能找到一份好點的抄本。
His other duty was anything but foolish. Duck has his sword, I my quill and parchment. Griff had commanded him to set down all he knew of dragonlore. The task was a formidable one, but the dwarf labored at it every day, scratching away as best he could as he sat cross-legged on the cabin roof.
關于巴斯修士的《龍，Wyrms和Wyverns：他們的非自然史》這本書他就更沒信心了。巴斯是個鐵匠的兒子，最后在“人瑞王”杰赫里斯一世當政時期晉升到國王之手。他的敵人總說他是巫師而非主教。“受神祝福的”貝勒登上鐵王座后下令焚毀巴斯的所有著作。十年前，提利昂曾讀到一片逃脫貝勒魔掌的《非自然史》的殘片，但是他懷疑巴斯的著作是否有幸跨越狹海得意留存。當然他找到那些不知名的，殘破的，血浸的磚頭似的書，比如叫《血與火》，有時被稱為《龍之死》的書，據說它現存的唯一的抄本在學城的地下墓穴埋藏。
Tyrion had read much and more of dragons through the years. The greater part of those accounts were idle tales and could not be relied on, and the books that Illyrio had provided them were not the ones he might have wished for. What he really wanted was the complete text of The Fires of the Freehold, Galendro’s history of Valyria. No complete copy was known to Westeros, however; even the Citadel’s lacked twenty-seven scrolls. They must have a library in Old Volantis, surely. I may find a better copy there, if I can find a way inside the Black Walls to the city’s heart.
當“半學士”打著哈欠出現在甲板上時，侏儒正在寫剛剛想起的關于龍交配的習性，在這點上，巴斯，芒坤和托馬克斯各執其詞。哈爾頓大步走向船尾，朝著太陽的方向撒尿，太陽倒影閃閃發光隨著每一陣風碎裂。“我們到晚上就能和諾伊尼匯合了，尤羅，”“半學士”大聲說。
He was less hopeful concerning Septon Barth’s Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History. Barth had been a blacksmith’s son who rose to be King’s Hand during the reign of Jaehaerys the Conciliator. His enemies always claimed he was more sorcerer than septon. Baelor the Blessed had ordered all Barth’s writings destroyed when he came to the Iron Throne. Ten years ago, Tyrion had read a fragment of Unnatural History that had eluded the Blessed Baelor, but he doubted that any of Barth’s work had found its way across the narrow sea. And of course there was even less chance of his coming on the fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome sometimes called Blood and Fire and sometimes The Death of Dragons, the only surviving copy of which was supposedly hidden away in a locked vault beneath the Citadel.
提利昂從奮筆疾書中抬起頭，“我的名字是雨果。尤羅藏在我褲襠里，你要讓它出來溜達溜達么？”
When the Halfmaester appeared on deck, yawning, the dwarf was writing down what he recalled concerning the mating habits of dragons, on which subject Barth, Munkun, and Thomax held markedly divergent views. Haldon stalked to the stern to piss down at the sun where it shimmered on the water, breaking apart with every puff of wind. “We should reach the junction with the Noyne by evening, Yollo,” the Halfmaester called out.
“最好別，你可能會嚇到烏龜的。”哈爾頓的笑容鋒利的如同匕首的刀刃。“你告訴我的那條蘭尼斯特港你出生的街道叫什么來著，尤羅？”
Tyrion glanced up from his writing. “My name is Hugor. Yollo is hiding in my breeches. Shall I let him out to play?”
“那是個無名小巷。”提利昂從胡謅出雨果·希爾，或者被稱為尤羅——蘭尼斯特港遺棄的雜種——的這個家伙多彩的人生上感到一種諷刺的滿足。最棒的謊言總有點真相來調味。侏儒知道他的口音聽起來是個西方人，而且是個出身高貴的西方人，所以雨果得當過某位大人的私生子。出生在蘭尼斯特港是因為比起君臨和舊鎮他對那兒更熟悉，而且那時大多數侏儒要去的地方，還有鄉下地主女人的小崽子。鄉下可沒有滑稽戲和啞劇表演……不過倒是不少水井供顏色那些不想要的小貓咪、三個腦袋的牛犢和像他這樣的怪胎。
“Best not. You might frighten the turtles.” Haldon’s smile was as sharp as the blade of a dagger. “What did you tell me was the name of that street in Lannisport where you were born, Yollo?”
“我看你已經損壞了不少羊皮紙了，尤羅。”哈爾頓系上了他的褲帶。
“It was an alley. It had no name.” Tyrion took a mordant pleasure in inventing the details of the colorful life of Hugor Hill, also known as Yollo, a bastard out of Lannisport. The best lies are seasoned with a bit of truth. The dwarf knew he sounded like a westerman, and a highborn westerman at that, so Hugor must needs be some lordling’s by-blow. Born in Lannisport because he knew that city better than Oldtown or King’s Landing, and cities were where most dwarfs ended up, even those whelped by Goodwife Bumpkin in the turnip patch. The countryside had no grotesqueries or mummer shows … though it did have wells aplenty, to swallow up unwanted kittens, three-headed calves, and babes like him.
“不是我們中的所有人都能當個半學士的。”提利昂的手在痙攣，于是他放下羽毛筆搓了搓粗短的手。“有興趣再來玩一盤錫瓦斯棋？”“半學士”總是能贏他，但是這不失為一個打發時間的法子。
“I see you have been defacing more good parchment, Yollo.” Haldon laced up his breeches.
“今晚吧。你要來參加小格里夫的課程么？”
“Not all of us can be half a maester.” Tyrion’s hand was cramping. He put his quill aside and flexed his stubby fingers. “Fancy another game of cyvasse?” The Halfmaester always defeated him, but it was a way to pass the time.
“為什么不呢？總得有人挑你的刺兒。”
“This evening. Will you join us for Young Griff’s lesson?”
害羞小姐上游四個船艙，楊恩德里和伊西拉共用一間。
“Why not? Someone needs to correct your errors.”
格里夫和小格里夫用另一個。萊莫爾修女有她自己的一間，哈爾頓也是。“半學士”的房間是四個里面最大的。一面墻排滿了書架和裝滿了卷軸和羊皮紙的罐子；另一面墻則是一排排藥膏、草藥和藥水。金色的陽光斜灑進微微晃動的圓窗黃玻璃。家具則包括床鋪、書桌、椅子、凳子還有一個“半學士”的錫瓦斯棋游戲桌，到處都是木頭碎屑。
There were four cabins on the Shy Maid. Yandry and Ysilla shared one, Griff and Young Griff another. Septa Lemore had a cabin to herself, as did Haldon. The Halfmaester’s cabin was the largest of the four. One wall was lined with bookshelves and bins stacked with old scrolls and parchments; another held racks of ointments, herbs, and potions. Golden light slanted through the wavy yellow glass of the round window. The furnishings included a bunk, a writing desk, a chair, a stool, and the Halfmaester’s cyvasse table, strewn with carved wooden pieces.
課程由語言開始。小格里夫把通用語說得就像母語一樣，高等瓦雷利亞語，潘托斯、泰洛西、密爾、里斯的下層方言和水手們的行話也很流利。而他和提利昂一樣對瓦蘭提斯語一竅不通。所以每一天他們都學一點詞匯，而哈爾頓來糾正他們。彌林語要更難一些，它瓦雷利亞語同源，但是像嫁接到灌木上的大樹一樣，帶著難聽的舊基斯發音。“得要只蜜蜂蟄一下你的鼻子你才能正確的說出基斯語，”提利昂抱怨。小格里夫一陣大笑，但是“半學士”只是說，“再來一遍。”男孩服從了，但是這回在發“zzzs”這個音的時候他不免翻了翻白眼。他有個比我更靈敏的耳朵，提利昂不得不承認，但我打賭我的舌頭要更靈活。
The lesson began with languages. Young Griff spoke the Common Tongue as if he had been born to it, and was fluent in High Valyrian, the low dialects of Pentos, Tyrosh, Myr, and Lys, and the trade talk of sailors. The Volantene dialect was as new to him as it was to Tyrion, so every day they learned a few more words whilst Haldon corrected their mistakes. Meereenese was harder; its roots were Valyrian as well, but the tree had been grafted onto the harsh, ugly tongue of Old Ghis. “You need a bee up your nose to speak Ghiscari properly,” Tyrion complained. Young Griff laughed, but the Halfmaester only said, “Again.” The boy obeyed, though he rolled his eyes along with his zzzs this time. He has a better ear than me, Tyrion was forced to admit, though I’ll wager my tongue is still more nimble.
接下來是幾何課程。這方面男孩就沒那么機敏了，但是哈爾頓是個耐心的老師，提利昂也有他自己的方法。他在凱巖城他父親的學士那里已經學過了關于矩形圓形和三角形的謎題，他發現想起這些比想象的容易。
Geometry followed languages. There the boy was less adroit, but Haldon was a patient teacher, and Tyrion was able to make himself of use as well. He had learned the mysteries of squares and circles and triangles from his father’s maesters at Casterly Rock, and they came back more quickly than he would have thought.
等到開始上歷史，小格里夫變得不耐煩了。“我們正在討論瓦蘭提斯的歷史，”哈爾頓告訴他。“你能告訴尤羅如何區分老虎和大象么？”
By the time they turned to history, Young Griff was growing restive. “We were discussing the history of Volantis,” Haldon said to him. “Can you tell Yollo the difference between a tiger and an elephant?”
“瓦蘭提斯是九個自由城邦里最古老的，瓦雷利亞的第一個女兒。”男孩用無聊的口吻回答。“在瓦雷利亞末日浩劫后它依舊讓瓦蘭提斯人認為自己是世界的統治者和不動產（Freehold）的繼承人而自鳴得意，但是他們卻為如何取得統治地位產生分歧，“舊血（The Old Blood）”支持動武而商人和放貸者則提倡商貿。當他們爭奪城市統治權時，兩派分別叫做虎黨與象黨。
“Volantis is the oldest of the Nine Free Cities, first daughter of Valyria,” the lad replied, in a bored tone. “After the Doom it pleased the Volantenes to consider themselves the heirs of the Freehold and rightful rulers of the world, but they were divided as to how dominion might best be achieved. The Old Blood favored the sword, while the merchants and moneylenders advocated trade. As they contended for rule of the city, the factions became known as the tigers and elephants, respectively.
“在瓦雷利亞末日浩劫后虎黨的統治長達一世紀。曾幾一時他們也輝煌過，一隊瓦蘭提斯艦隊政府了里斯而瓦蘭提斯陸軍則橫掃密爾，在長達兩代人的時間內三個城市的統治者居于‘黑墻’之內。但是這一切在虎黨吞并泰洛西的企圖中終結，當時潘托斯和維斯特洛伊大陸的暴風王加入了泰洛西一方。布拉赴死給里斯流放者們提供了百艘戰艦，伊耿·坦格利安乘巨龍‘黑死神’參戰，而自由的里斯和密爾人則起義造反。戰爭留給‘爭執之地’一片焦土，而里斯和密爾的聯盟也解除。虎黨們還遭受了其他的挫敗，他們排除收復瓦雷利亞的艦隊消失在‘煙海’。當德加湖上的火炮戰艦開戰后，科霍爾和諾拉佛斯摧毀了他們在羅伊達的的有生力量。從東邊來的多斯拉克人將平明從其寒舍貴族從其田產中驅逐出去，直到科霍爾森林和Selhoru河源間只剩下野草和廢墟。在長達一個世紀的戰爭過去后，瓦蘭提斯已破敗不堪，窮困潦倒，人丁稀少。接著就是象黨的崛起，自此他們通知瓦蘭提斯至今。有的年份里虎黨也會參選三元老（triarch），有的年份則不會，但他們從來得不到超過一個席位，所以象黨已經統治城市長達300年了。
“The tigers held sway for almost a century after the Doom of Valyria. For a time they were successful. A Volantene fleet took Lys and a Volantene army captured Myr, and for two generations all three cities were ruled from within the Black Walls. That ended when the tigers tried to swallow Tyrosh. Pentos came into the war on the Tyroshi side, along with the Westerosi Storm King. Braavos provided a Lyseni exile with a hundred warships, Aegon Targaryen flew forth from Dragonstone on the Black Dread, and Myr and Lys rose up in rebellion. The war left the Disputed Lands a waste, and freed Lys and Myr from the yoke. The tigers suffered other defeats as well. The fleet they sent to reclaim Valyria vanished in the Smoking Sea. Qohor and Norvos broke their power on the Rhoyne when the fire galleys fought on Dagger Lake. Out of the east came the Dothraki, driving smallfolk from their hovels and nobles from their estates, until only grass and ruins remained from the forest of Qohor to the headwaters of the Selhoru. After a century of war, Volantis found herself broken, bankrupt, and depopulated. It was then that the elephants rose up. They have held sway ever since. Some years the tigers elect a triarch, and some years they do not, but never more than one, so the elephants have ruled the city for three hundred years.”
“大體如此，”哈爾頓說。“那現在的三位元老們是誰？”
“Just so,” said Haldon. “And the present triarchs?”
“瑪拉闊（Malaquo）是老虎，尼耶索斯（Nyessos）和多尼弗斯（Doniphos）是象黨。”
“Malaquo is a tiger, Nyessos and Doniphos are elephants.”
“那從瓦蘭提斯的歷史我們得出什么結論？”
“And what lesson can we draw from Volantene history?”
“如果你想征服世界，最好有龍相隨。”
“If you want to conquer the world, you best have dragons.”
提利昂忍不住大笑。
Tyrion could not help but laugh.
接著，小格里夫登上甲板幫助楊恩德里駕船撐篙，哈爾頓為晚上的游戲鋪好他的錫瓦斯棋游戲桌。提利昂用他大小不一的眼睛審視著一切，說，“那男孩很聰明。你把他教的很好。很悲哀的是維斯特洛伊大陸一半的領主大人都沒如此博學的程度。語言、歷史、詩歌、算數……對于一個雇傭劍士的兒子，還真是大口味呢。”
Later, when Young Griff went up on deck to help Yandry with the sails and poles, Haldon set up his cyvasse table for their game. Tyrion watched with mismatched eyes, and said, “The boy is bright. You have done well by him. Half the lords in Westeros are not so learned, sad to say. Languages, history, songs, sums … a heady stew for some sellsword’s son.”
“如果用的好書本可以像劍一樣危險，”哈爾頓說。“這次試著打敗我吧，尤羅。你玩錫瓦斯棋的糟糕程度堪比你翻滾。”
“A book can be as dangerous as a sword in the right hands,” said Haldon. “Try to give me a better battle this time, Yollo. You play cyvasse as badly as you tumble.”
“我正試圖將你引入自大的歧途，”在他們于木雕的棋盤上把牌排排列到各自的一方時，提利昂說。“你認為是你教了我玩法，但是事情不像表面上看起來的那樣。也許我是從奶酪商那里學的，你考慮過這點么？”
“I am trying to lull you into a false sense of confidence,” said Tyrion, as they arranged their tiles on either side of a carved wooden screen. “You think you taught me how to play, but things are not always as they seem. Perhaps I learned the game from the cheesemonger, have you considered that?”
“伊利里歐不玩兒錫瓦斯棋。”
“Illyrio does not play cyvasse.”
他是不玩，侏儒想，他玩的是權利的游戲，而你和格里夫只是其中的棋子，在他的授意下移動在必要時做出犧牲，就像他犧牲了韋賽里斯一樣。“所以過失依舊歸結于你，如果你玩的很爛，那時你自己的問題。”
No, thought the dwarf, he plays the game of thrones, and you and Griff and Duck are only pieces, to be moved where he will and sacrificed at need, just as he sacrificed Viserys. “The blame must fall on you, then. If I play badly, it is your doing.”
“半學士”輕笑。“尤羅，當海盜割開你喉嚨后我會想念你的。”
The Halfmaester chuckled. “Yollo, I shall miss you when the pirates cut your throat.”
“這些著名的海盜都在哪兒？我都開始認為你和伊利里歐編造了他們的存在了。”
“Where are these famous pirates? I am beginning to think that you and Illyrio made them all up.”
“他們聚集在阿爾諾伊和傷心地之間的河段。在阿爾諾伊的廢墟之上河段，科霍爾人統治河流，而傷心地之下則歸瓦蘭提斯的戰艦統治，但沒有城市聲稱對之間的河段負責，所以海盜們就在那里做了窩。達格湖里的眾多島嶼是他們的聚居點和藏身地。你準備好了么？”
“They are thickest on the stretch of river between Ar Noy and the Sorrows. Above the ruins of Ar Noy, the Qohorik rule the river, and below the Sorrows the galleys of Volantis hold sway, but neither city claims the waters in between, so the pirates have made it their own. Dagger Lake is full of islands where they lurk in hidden caves and secret strongholds. Are you ready?”
“對你？毫無疑問。對海盜？有點兒。”
“For you? Beyond a doubt. For the pirates? Less so.”
哈爾頓遠離棋盤，兩人都凝視著對方的陣仗。“你學的很快，”“半學士”說。
Haldon removed the screen. Each of them contemplated the other’s opening array. “You are learning,” the Halfmaester said.
提利昂幾乎抓住了他的龍但是又好好想了想。上次游戲他太早放她出來結果把她輸給了一個投石機。“若我們真的遇到了這些飄渺的海盜，我可能就直接加入他們了。我告訴他們我的名字是雨果·半學士。”他將輕騎兵移向哈爾頓的山。
Tyrion almost grabbed his dragon but thought better of it. Last game he had brought her out too soon and lost her to a trebuchet. “If we do meet these fabled pirates, I may join up with them. I’ll tell them that my name is Hugor Halfmaester.” He moved his light horse toward Haldon’s mountains.
哈爾頓用一頭象回應。“雨果·半桶水更適合你。”
Haldon answered with an elephant. “Hugor Halfwit would suit you better.”
“我只需用我一半的智慧就可以與你比肩。”提利昂讓他的重騎兵前去支持輕騎兵。“你要不要賭一盤？”
“I only need half my wits to be a match for you.” Tyrion moved up his heavy horse to support the light. “Perhaps you would care to wager on the outcome?”
“半學士”抬起半邊眉毛。“多少錢？”
The Halfmaester arched an eyebrow. “How much?”
“我沒有錢。我們用秘密賭吧。”
“I have no coin. We’ll play for secrets.”
“格里夫會割了我的舌頭。”
“Griff would cut my tongue out.”
“害怕了吧？我若是你就會。”
“Afraid, are you? I would be if I were you.”
“你在錫瓦斯棋上打敗我的那天我就讓烏龜從我屁眼里鉆出來。”“半學士”移動了他的長槍隊。“你得到了你要的賭約，小個子。”
“The day you defeat me at cyvasse will be the day turtles crawl out my arse.” The Halfmaester moved his spears. “You have your wager, little man.”
提利昂向他的龍伸出手。
Tyrion stretched a hand out for his dragon.
三個小時之后小個子的男人才終于爬出甲板去撒了泡尿，鴨子正在幫楊恩德里卷帆，與此同時，伊西拉掌舵。夕陽低低的懸掛在河西岸的蘆葦蕩上空，風開始嘶吼了。我需要一皮囊的紅酒，侏儒心想。他的雙腿由于蹲坐在凳子上太久而抽搐，他感覺頭重腳輕沒掉進河里算是幸運。
It was three hours later when the little man finally crept back up on deck to empty his bladder. Duck was helping Yandry wrestle down the sail, while Ysilla took the tiller. The sun hung low above the reed-beds along the western bank, as the wind began to gust and rip. I need that skin of wine, the dwarf thought. His legs were cramped from squatting on that stool, and he felt so light-headed that he was lucky not to fall into the river.
“尤羅，”鴨子喊道。“哈爾頓在哪？”
“Yollo,” Duck called. “Where’s Haldon?”
“他上床睡覺去了，有點不舒服。他屁眼里有些烏龜在爬進爬出。”他離開了騎士去收拾東西沿梯子爬上了艙頂。遠在東方，有暗影在石島后聚集。
“He’s taken to his bed, in some discomfort. There are turtles crawling out his arse.” He left the knight to sort that out and crawled up the ladder to the cabin roof. Off to the east, there was darkness gathering behind a rocky island.
萊莫爾修女發現他在那兒。“你能感受到醞釀于空氣中的暴風么，雨果·希爾？逡巡著海盜的達格湖就在前方等著我們，在那之后就是傷心地了。”
Septa Lemore found him there. “Can you feel the storms in the air, Hugor Hill? Dagger Lake is ahead of us, where pirates prowl. And beyond that lie the Sorrows.”
不是我的。我走到哪我就把我的帶到哪。他想起了泰莎想知道哪里是妓女的去處。為什么不是瓦蘭提斯呢？也許在那里我可以找到她。人要緊抓希望。他又想自己若見到她該說些什么：我很抱歉我讓他們操了你，親愛的；我認為你是個妓女；你能打心里原諒我么？我想回到我們的小木屋，回到我們還是夫妻的時候。
Not mine. I carry mine own sorrows with me, everywhere I go. He thought of Tysha and wondered where whores go. Why not Volantis? Perhaps I’ll find her there. A man should cling to hope. He wondered what he would say to her. I am sorry that I let them rape you, love. I thought you were a whore. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I want to go back to our cottage, to the way it was when we were man and wife.
小島在身后漸遠，提利昂看見東岸的一排排廢墟：殘垣斷塔，漏雨的圓頂和腐爛的木柱，街道塞滿了泥漿和茂盛的紫蘚。又一個死城，有Ghoyan Drohe十倍大。烏龜在那定居了，大大的骨甲龜。侏儒認出它們在陽光下由其背甲中央向下，邊緣粗糙的棕黑小丘反射的光。有些看見了害羞小姐號于是劃入水中，在身后留下漣漪。這可不是個適合游泳的地方。
The island fell away behind them. Tyrion saw ruins rising along the eastern bank: crooked walls and fallen towers, broken domes and rows of rotted wooden pillars, streets choked by mud and overgrown with purple moss. Another dead city, ten times as large as Ghoyan Drohe. Turtles lived there now, big bonesnappers. The dwarf could see them basking in the sun, brown and black hummocks with jagged ridges down the center of their shells. A few saw the Shy Maid and slid down into the water, leaving ripples in their wake. This would not be a good place for a swim.
接著，穿過岸邊半浸于水中的樹和寬廣潮濕的街道他瞥見陽光照射在水面的光澤。那邊還有一條河直匯羅伊達河。隨著兩條河間的土地越來越窄，廢墟變的更為高大，直到整個城市到達終點，在那里有座由粉色和綠色大理石建造的巨大宮殿的遺跡，它坍塌的圓頂和破損的尖頂陰森的凸顯在一排有頂拱門上方。提利昂看見更多的骨甲龜在曾經停留著數十艘大船的碼頭睡覺。這是尼米莉亞的宮殿，而這篇廢墟屬于尼薩爾，尼米莉亞的一座城市。
Then, through the twisted half-drowned trees and wide wet streets, he glimpsed the silvery sheen of sunlight upon water. Another river, he knew at once, rushing toward the Rhoyne. The ruins grew taller as the land grew narrower, until the city ended on a point of land where stood the remains of a colossal palace of pink and green marble, its collapsed domes and broken spires looming large above a row of covered archways. Tyrion saw more ’snappers sleeping in the slips where half a hundred ships might once have docked. He knew where he was then. That was Nymeria’s palace, and this is all that remains of Ny Sar, her city.
“尤羅，”楊恩德里在他們駛過那個河流交匯處時吼道，“再說一次維斯特洛伊那些像母親河羅伊達一樣大的河。”
“Yollo,” shouted Yandry as the Shy Maid passed the point, “tell me again of those Westerosi rivers as big as Mother Rhoyne.”
“我不知道，”他吼回去。“七大王國沒有一條河有她一半寬。”那條剛剛匯入的河流是一條他們剛駛過的河流的近親，而他們之前駛過的河就已經有曼德爾和或者三岔河那么寬了。
“I did not know,” he called back. “No river in the Seven Kingdoms is half so wide as this.” The new river that had joined them was a close twin to the one they had been sailing down, and that one alone had almost matched the Mander or the Trident.
“這里是尼薩爾，在這里母親河與其‘狂野的女兒’諾伊達會師了，”楊恩德里說，“但是要在她和其他的女兒們匯合后她才會達到她最狂野的樣子。在達格湖，科伊達河流入，她是‘黑暗的女兒’，帶來了從‘斧地’的金子和琥珀以及科霍爾森林的松果。再往南，母親會遇見來自‘金色平原’‘微笑的女兒’赫茹露，在那里她們加入曾經屹立的克羅亞尼——由水路鋪成和金子建房的節日之城。繼續南下，接著再次往東奔流很久很長一段距離，最終流淌入賽爾胡露，隱匿河道于蘆葦與亂流的‘害羞的女兒’。在那里母親河羅伊達變的如此龐大，一個在其中心的人甚至無法看到她的兩岸。你會看到的，我的小朋友。”
“This is Ny Sar, where the Mother gathers in her Wild Daughter, Noyne,” said Yandry, “but she will not reach her widest point until she meets her other daughters. At Dagger Lake the Qhoyne comes rushing in, the Darkling Daughter, full of gold and amber from the Axe and pinecones from the Forest of Qohor. South of there the Mother meets Lhorulu, the Smiling Daughter from the Golden Fields. Where they join once stood Chroyane, the festival city, where the streets were made of water and the houses made of gold. Then south and east again for long leagues, until at last comes creeping in Selhoru, the Shy Daughter who hides her course in reeds and withes. There Mother Rhoyne waxes so wide that a man upon a boat in the center of the stream cannot see a shore to either side. You shall see, my little friend.”
我會的，侏儒想，同時當他發現距船六碼的地方有一道漣漪，在它浮上水面激起一股水流撞擊了害羞小姐的側舷時，他幾乎要向萊莫爾指出。
I shall, the dwarf was thinking, when he spied a rippling ahead not six yards from the boat. He was about to point it out to Lemore when it came to the surface with a wash of water that rocked the Shy Maid sideways.
那是又一只烏龜，一只角質的巨龜，它深綠色的殼上蓋著棕色的茂盛的水蘚和黑色的脆殼軟體動物。它抬起頭發出一陣咆哮，它低沉單調的怒吼比任何提利昂聽過的戰號都要響。“我們受到了祝福，”伊西拉淚流滿面地大叫，“我們受到了祝福，我們受到了祝福。”
It was another turtle, a horned turtle of enormous size, its dark green shell mottled with brown and overgrown with water moss and crusty black river molluscs. It raised its head and bellowed, a deep-throated thrumming roar louder than any warhorn that Tyrion had ever heard. “We are blessed,” Ysilla was crying loudly, as tears streamed down her face. “We are blessed, we are blessed.”
鴨子滿不在乎，小格里夫也是，哈爾頓來到甲板詢問騷動的事由……但是太晚了。那只巨型烏龜再一次消失在水底。“什么東西導致了剛才的巨響？”“半學士”問。
Duck was hooting, and Young Griff too. Haldon came out on deck to learn the cause of the commotion … but too late. The giant turtle had vanished below the water once again. “What was the cause of all that noise?” the Halfmaester asked.
“一只烏龜，”提利昂說。“一只比這條船都大的烏龜。”
“A turtle,” said Tyrion. “A turtle bigger than this boat.”
“那是他，”楊恩德里大叫。“這條河的河神。”
“It was him,” cried Yandry. “The Old Man of the River.”
為什么不是呢？提利昂笑了。在國王誕生之際總有神靈和奇跡顯現。
And why not? Tyrion grinned. Gods and wonders always appear, to attend the birth of kings.
