JON

? 19瓊恩

The courtyard rang to the song of swords.

刀劍鏗鏘響徹廣場。

Under black wool, boiled leather, and mail,

sweat trickled icily down Jon’s chest as he pressed the attack. Grenn stumbled

backward, defending himself clumsily. When he raised his sword, Jon went

underneath it with a sweeping blow that crunched against the back of the other

boy’s leg and sent him staggering. Grenn’s downcut was answered by an overhand

that dented his helm. When he tried a sideswing, Jon swept aside his blade and

slammed a mailed forearm into his chest. Grenn lost his footing and sat down

hard in the snow. Jon knocked his sword from his fingers with a slash to his

wrist that brought a cry of pain.

瓊恩穿著黑羊毛衫，外罩皮革背心和鎖子甲，內(nèi)里汗如雨下。他向前進逼，葛蘭腳步不穩(wěn)地后退，笨拙地舉劍格擋。他剛舉劍，瓊恩便猛力一揮攻他下盤，擊中他的腳，打得他步伐踉蹌。葛蘭向下還擊，頭上卻挨了一記過肩砍，將他的頭盔打凹。他又使出一記側(cè)劈，結(jié)果瓊恩撥開他的劍，然后用戴了護腕的手肘撞擊他的腹部。葛蘭重心不穩(wěn)，狠狠地跌坐在雪地里。瓊恩跟上砍中他的腕關(guān)節(jié)，痛得他慘叫一聲丟下劍。

“Enough!” Ser

Alliser Thorne had a voice with an edge like Valyrian steel.

“夠了！”艾里沙·索恩爵士的話音如瓦雷利亞刀鋒裂空。

Grenn cradled his hand. “The bastard broke

my wrist.”

葛蘭揉著手道：“這野種把我手腕打脫臼了。”

“The bastard

hamstrung you, opened your empty skull, and cut off your hand. Or would have,

if these blades had an edge. It’s fortunate for you that the Watch needs

stableboys as well as rangers.” Ser Alliser gestured at Jeren and Toad. “Get

the Aurochs on his feet, he has funeral arrangements to make.”

“假如用的真劍，野種早已挑斷你的腿筋，劈開你的腦袋瓜子，砍斷你的雙手了。算你走運，我們守夜人需要的不只是游騎兵，也需要馬房小弟。”艾里沙爵士朝杰倫和陶德?lián)]手道：“把這頭笨牛扶起來，他可以準備辦喪事了。”

Jon took off his helm as the other boys

were pulling Grenn to his feet. The frosty morning air felt good on his face.

He leaned on his sword, drew a deep breath, and allowed himself a moment to

savor the victory.

其他的男孩攙扶葛蘭起身，瓊恩脫下頭盔，結(jié)霜的晨氣吹在臉上，感覺很舒服。他拄劍而立，深吸一口氣，容許自己短暫地享受勝利的喜悅。

“That is a

longsword, not an old man’s cane,” Ser Alliser said sharply. “Are your legs

hurting, Lord Snow?”

“那是劍，不是老人的拐杖。”艾里沙爵士尖銳地說，“雪諾大人，您可是腳痛？”

Jon hated that name, a mockery that Ser

Alliser had hung on him the first day he came to practice. The boys had picked

it up, and now he heard it everywhere. He slid the longsword back into its

scabbard. “No,” he replied.

瓊恩恨透了這個綽號，打從他練劍的第一天起，艾里沙爵士便這么叫他。其他男孩子有樣學樣，現(xiàn)在人人都這么稱呼他了。他將長劍回鞘。“不是。”

Thorne strode toward him, crisp black

leathers whispering faintly as he moved. He was a compact man of fifty years,

spare and hard, with grey in his black hair and eyes like chips of onyx. “The

truth now,” he commanded.

索恩大跨步朝他走來，脆硬的黑皮革發(fā)出悉悉窣窣的聲響。他約莫五十歲，體格結(jié)實，精瘦而嚴峻，一頭黑發(fā)已有些灰白，而那雙眼睛卻如瑪瑙般炯炯有神。“那是怎么回事？”他質(zhì)問。

“I’m tired,” Jon

admitted. His arm burned from the weight of the longsword, and he was starting

to feel his bruises now that the fight was done.

“我累了。”瓊恩承認。他的臂膀因為不斷揮劍而感到酸麻，如今打斗結(jié)束，剛留下的擦傷也開始痛了起來。

“What you are is

weak.”

“這叫軟弱。”

“I won.”

“可我贏了。”

“No. The Aurochs

lost.”

“不。是笨牛他輸了。”

One of the other boys sniggered. Jon knew

better than to reply. He had beaten everyone that Ser Alliser had sent against

him, yet it gained him nothing. The master-at-arms served up only derision.

Thorne hated him, Jon had decided; of course, he hated the other boys even

worse.

一個旁觀的男孩在偷偷竊笑。瓊恩很清楚自己絕不能頂嘴。雖然他擊敗了每一個艾里沙爵士派來對付他的對手，卻還是得不到應有的待遇。教頭的嘴邊只有嘲笑和譏諷。索恩一定是討厭他，瓊恩暗自認為；不過話說回來，索恩更討厭其他男孩。

“That will be

all,” Thorne told them. “I can only stomach so much ineptitude in any one day.

If the Others ever come for us, I pray they have archers, because you lot are

fit for nothing more than arrow fodder.”

“今天就到此為止。”索恩告訴他們。“我對飯桶可沒什么耐性。假如哪天異鬼真打過來，我倒希望他們帶上弓箭，因為你們只配當靶子。”

Jon followed the rest back to the armory,

walking alone. He often walked alone here. There were almost twenty in the

group he trained with, yet not one he could call a friend. Most were two or

three years his senior, yet not one was half the fighter Robb had been at

fourteen. Dareon was quick but afraid of being hit. Pyp used his sword like a

dagger, Jeren was weak as a girl, Grenn slow and clumsy. Halder’s blows were

brutally hard but he ran right into your attacks. The more time he spent with

them, the more Jon despised them.

瓊恩跟著其他人返回兵器庫，孤零零地走在中間。他一直都孤零零的。一起受訓的小隊約有二十人，卻沒有一個稱得上是朋友。多數(shù)人長他兩三歲，打起來卻連十四歲羅柏的一半都比不上。戴利恩動作敏捷，但很怕挨打；派普老把劍當匕首來使；杰倫弱得像個女孩子；葛蘭遲鈍又笨拙；霍德攻勢雖猛，可總是沒頭沒腦。瓊恩越是和這些人交手，就越鄙視他們。

Inside, Jon hung sword and scabbard from a

hook in the stone wall, ignoring the others around him. Methodically, he began

to strip off his mail, leather, and sweat-soaked woolens. Chunks of coal burned

in iron braziers at either end of the long room, but Jon found himself

shivering. The chill was always with him here. In a few years he would forget

what it felt like to be warm.

進到室內(nèi)，瓊恩把入鞘的劍掛回石墻的鉤子上，刻意不理睬其他人。他有條不紊地解下盔甲、皮衣和汗?jié)竦难蛎馈ｉL長的房間兩端，鐵火盆里的煤炭熊熊燃燒，但瓊恩仍止不住發(fā)抖。此地，寒意總是如影隨形，想必數(shù)年之后他便會忘記溫暖的滋味。

The weariness came on him suddenly, as he

donned the roughspun blacks that were their everyday wear. He sat on a bench,

his fingers fumbling with the fastenings on his cloak. So cold, he thought,

remembering the warm halls of Winterfell, where the hot waters ran through the

walls like blood through a man’s body. There was scant warmth to be found in

Castle Black; the walls were cold here, and the people colder.

他穿上日常的粗布黑衣，倦怠感突然排山倒海般朝他襲來。他找條板凳坐下，手指摸索著系上斗篷。好冷啊，他一邊想，一邊回憶起臨冬城的廳堂，那里有溫泉終年流貫壁壘之間，仿如人體內(nèi)流淌的血液。黑城堡里沒有暖意，只有冰冷的墻壁，和更加冷漠的人。

No one had told him the Night’s Watch would

be like this; no one except Tyrion Lannister. The dwarf had given him the truth

on the road north, but by then it had been too late. Jon wondered if his father

had known what the Wall would be like. He must have, he thought; that only made

it hurt the worse.

除了提利昂·蘭尼斯特，沒人對他提過守夜人部隊竟是這副光景。那侏儒在他們北上途中把事情真相告訴了他，但那時已經(jīng)太遲了。瓊恩不禁懷疑父親知不知道長城守軍的真正情形。他一定知道，想到這里他更覺心痛。

Even his uncle had abandoned him in this

cold place at the end of the world. Up here, the genial Benjen Stark he had

known became a different person. He was First Ranger, and he spent his days and

nights with Lord Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon and the other high

officers, while Jon was given over to the less than tender charge of Ser

Alliser Thorne.

就連叔叔，竟也這么把他遺棄在這世界盡頭的冰冷寒荒。他原先所認識的那個個性溫和的班揚·史塔克，到這里完全變了個人。他是首席游騎兵，整日與莫爾蒙總司令，伊蒙學士和其他高級官員為伍，而將瓊恩丟給壞脾氣的艾里沙·索恩爵士。

Three days after their arrival, Jon had

heard that Benjen Stark was to lead a half-dozen men on a ranging into the

haunted forest. That night he sought out his uncle in the great timbered common

hall and pleaded to go with him. Benjen refused him curtly. “This is not

Winterfell,” he told him as he cut his meat with fork and dagger. “On the Wall,

a man gets only what he earns. You’re no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the

smell of summer still on you.”

他們抵達長城三天后，瓊恩聽說班揚·史塔克將率領(lǐng)六名手下深入鬼影森林巡察。當天夜里，他在城堡的木造大廳中找到叔叔，央求他帶自己一道去。班揚直截了當?shù)鼗亟^了他。“這可不是臨冬城，”他邊用刀叉切肉邊對他說，“在長城守軍里，想得到什么樣的待遇，就得證明自己有什么樣的本事。瓊恩，你還不是游騎兵，你只是個稚氣未脫，身上還殘留著夏天氣味的小鬼。”

Stupidly, Jon argued. “I’ll be fifteen on

my name day,” he said. “Almost a man grown.”

瓊恩愚蠢地爭辯：“到明年命名日我就滿十五歲，”他說，“很快就要長大成人了。”

Benjen Stark frowned. “A boy you are, and a

boy you’ll remain until Ser Alliser says you are fit to be a man of the Night’s

Watch. If you thought your Stark blood would win you easy favors, you were

wrong. We put aside our old families when we swear our vows. Your father will

always have a place in my heart, but these are my brothers now.” He gestured

with his dagger at the men around them, all the hard cold men in black.

班揚·史塔克皺眉道：“在艾里沙爵士判定你成為守夜人部隊的漢子之前，你都只是個小鬼，只能是個小鬼。假如你以為仗著自己史塔克家人的身份，就可以坐享其成，那就大錯而特錯。我們宣誓入伍時，早已斷絕一切身家背景。拿你父親來說，雖然他會永遠在我心中占據(jù)一席之地，但如今這些人才是我的手足兄弟。”他拿匕首朝身邊的人比劃兩下，指指這些飽經(jīng)風霜的黑衣戰(zhàn)士。

Jon rose at dawn the next day to watch his

uncle leave. One of his rangers, a big ugly man, sang a bawdy song as he

saddled his garron, his breath steaming in the cold morning air. Ben Stark

smiled at that, but he had no smile for his nephew. “How often must I tell you

no, Jon? We’ll speak when I return.”

翌日拂曉，瓊恩起身目送他叔叔離去。叔叔手下一名高大而丑陋的游騎兵一邊裝配馬鞍，一邊高唱歌詞猥褻的曲子，吐出的氣息在清晨的冷氣里蒸騰。班揚·史塔克對他是滿臉笑容，對自己侄子卻沒好氣。“瓊恩，你要我說多少遍？你不能去，等我回來我們再找時間談談。”

As he watched his uncle lead his horse into

the tunnel, Jon had remembered the things that Tyrion Lannister told him on the

kingsroad, and in his mind’s eye he saw Ben Stark lying dead, his blood red on

the snow. The thought made him sick. What was he becoming?

瓊恩看著叔叔牽馬走進隧道，向北而去，不禁想起提利昂·蘭尼斯特在國王大道上告訴過他的事，腦海里接連浮現(xiàn)出班揚·史塔克倒臥雪地，血跡斑斑的情景。這個念頭令他反胃。我究竟成了個什么人？

Afterward he sought out Ghost in the

loneliness of his cell, and buried his face in his thick white fur.

之后他在孤單的臥室里找到白靈，把臉深深地埋進他厚厚的白毛皮。

If he must be alone, he would make solitude

his armor. Castle Black had no godswood, only a small sept and a drunken

septon, but Jon could not find it in him to pray to any gods, old or new. If

they were real, he thought, they were as cruel and implacable as winter.

既然他注定孤單，他便要化寂寞為力量。黑城堡沒有神木林，只有一間小小的圣堂和醉醺醺的修士，但瓊恩實在無心向神明禱告，管他是新神還是舊神。他心里認為，倘若諸神真的存在，想必也是和這里的嚴冬一樣殘酷無情罷。

He missed his true brothers: little Rickon,

bright eyes shining as he begged for a sweet; Robb, his rival and best friend

and constant companion; Bran, stubborn and curious, always wanting to follow

and join in whatever Jon and Robb were doing. He missed the girls too, even

Sansa, who never called him anything but “my half brother” since she was old

enough to understand what bastard meant. And Arya?.?.?.?he missed her even more

than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair

and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. Arya never seemed to fit, no more than

he had?.?.?.?yet she could always make Jon smile. He would give anything to be

with her now, to muss up her hair once more and watch her make a face, to hear

her finish a sentence with him.

他想念自己真正的兄弟：小瑞肯想吃甜食時眼瞳閃閃發(fā)亮的神情；羅柏是他最旗鼓相當?shù)膶κ郑彩撬钜玫呐笥押屯姘椋还虉?zhí)又充滿好奇心的布蘭，不論瓊恩和羅柏做些什么，他總想插一腳。他也想念兩個妹妹，甚至包括那個自從懂得“私生子”的意思之后，就只肯以“我的同父異母哥哥”來稱呼他的珊莎。至于艾莉亞……這個老是磨破膝蓋，滿頭亂發(fā)，不然就是鉤破衣服，一股牛脾氣的瘦巴巴小東西，他想念她的程度甚至超過羅柏。艾莉亞和他一樣，永遠與環(huán)境格格不入……但她總有辦法讓瓊恩會心一笑。此時瓊恩愿意付出一切，只換取能和她重聚片刻，再撥弄她的亂發(fā)，再看她扮起鬼臉，再聽她和自己心有靈犀地說出同一句話。

“You broke my

wrist, bastard boy.”

“小雜種，你把我弄脫臼了。”

Jon lifted his eyes at the sullen voice.

Grenn loomed over him, thick of neck and red of face, with three of his friends

behind him. He knew Todder, a short ugly boy with an unpleasant voice. The

recruits all called him Toad. The other two were the ones Yoren had brought

north with them, Jon remembered, rapers taken down in the Fingers. He’d

forgotten their names. He hardly ever spoke to them, if he could help it. They

were brutes and bullies, without a thimble of honor between them.

瓊恩抬眼朝那充滿怒意的聲源望去。葛蘭臉紅脖子粗地高高站在他面前，身后還有三個跟班。他認出生得既矮且丑，還有副難聽嗓音的陶德，新兵們都叫他癩哈蟆。瓊恩想起另外兩個家伙是五指半島地方逮著的強奸犯，被尤倫帶到北方來的，不過他忘記名字了。他想盡辦法不和他們說話，他們?nèi)际巧詺埲痰膼喊裕瑥牟恢獦s譽為何物。

Jon stood up. “I’ll break the other one for

you if you ask nicely.” Grenn was sixteen and a head taller than Jon. All four

of them were bigger than he was, but they did not scare him. He’d beaten every

one of them in the yard.

瓊恩霍地起身。“你如果好好求我，我很樂意幫你把另一只手也打斷。”葛蘭今年十六歲，整整比瓊恩高出一頭。他們個頭都比他大，但嚇不了他。他在校場上早就教訓過每一個人。

“Maybe we’ll break

you,” one of the rapers said.

“說不定斷手的是你哦。”其中一名強奸犯道。

“Try.” Jon reached

back for his sword, but one of them grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his

back.

“有種你便試試。”瓊恩伸手拿劍，但對方中的一人抓住他的手，扭到背后。

“You make us look bad,”

complained Toad.

“你老讓我們難看。”癩哈蟆抱怨。

“You looked bad

before I ever met you,” Jon told him. The boy who had his arm jerked upward on

him, hard. Pain lanced through him, but Jon would not cry out.

“咱們沒打照面以前，你們就夠難看啦。”瓊恩告訴他們。抓住他手的男孩用力往后一擰，劇痛立刻直穿腦際，但瓊恩依舊不吭一聲。

Toad stepped close. “The little lordling

has a mouth on him,” he said. He had pig eyes, small and shiny. “Is that your

mommy’s mouth, bastard? What was she, some whore? Tell us her name. Maybe I had

her a time or two.” He laughed.

癩哈蟆向前逼近幾步。“咱們小少爺生了張碎嘴，”他說。他生得一雙小而亮的豬眼睛。“小雜種，是不是你娘傳給你的啊？她是做什么來著的，敢情是個婊子？告訴我她花名叫啥，搞不好老子干過她幾回嘞。”他咧嘴笑道。

Jon twisted like an eel and slammed a heel

down across the instep of the boy holding him. There was a sudden cry of pain,

and he was free. He flew at Toad, knocked him backward over a bench, and landed

on his chest with both hands on his throat, slamming his head against the

packed earth.

瓊恩像條鰻魚般地用力一扭，后腳跟朝抓住他的男孩胯下狠狠踢去。身后傳來一聲慘叫，然后他便掙脫了。他朝癩哈蟆撲過去，一拳把他打得翻過長板凳，他窮追不舍，跳上對方胸膛，兩手掐緊脖子，使勁往地面撞。

The two from the Fingers pulled him off,

throwing him roughly to the ground. Grenn began to kick at him. Jon was rolling

away from the blows when a booming voice cut through the gloom of the armory.

“STOP THIS! NOW!”

兩個五指半島來的家伙拉開他，粗暴地把他摔倒在地，葛蘭開始踢他。瓊恩正要滾離他們的拳打腳踢，只聽一個宏鐘般的聲音劃過兵器庫的陰霾：“通通給我住手！馬上停手！”

Jon pulled himself to his feet. Donal Noye

stood glowering at them. “The yard is for fighting,” the armorer said. “Keep

your quarrels out of my armory, or I’ll make them my quarrels. You won’t like

that.”

瓊恩爬起來，唐納·諾伊怒視著他們，“要打架到場子里去打，”武器師傅說，“別把你們的恩怨帶進我的兵器庫，否則別怪我插手。相信我，你們不會喜歡的。”

Toad sat on the floor, gingerly feeling the

back of his head. His fingers came away bloody. “He tried to kill me.”

癩哈蟆坐在地上，小心翼翼摸摸后腦勺，只見手指上全是血。“他想殺我。”

“ ’S true. I saw

it,” one of the rapers put in.

“是真的，俺親眼看到的。”其中一名強奸犯說。

“He broke my

wrist,” Grenn said again, holding it out to Noye for inspection.

“他把我的手給打斷了。”葛蘭邊說邊舉起手給諾伊看。

The armorer gave the offered wrist the

briefest of glances. “A bruise. Perhaps a sprain. Maester Aemon will give you a

salve. Go with him, Todder, that head wants looking after. The rest of you,

return to your cells. Not you, Snow. You stay.”

武器師傅瞟了他手腕一眼，“我看只是擦傷，頂多扭到，伊蒙師傅那里有的是好膏藥。陶德，你跟他一塊去，頭上的傷注意一下。其他人回營去。雪諾留下。”

Jon sat heavily on the long wooden bench as

the others left, oblivious to the looks they gave him, the silent promises of

future retribution. His arm was throbbing.

瓊恩重重地坐回長板凳，不理睬其他人離去時的眼神，那眼神仿佛在向他保證事情沒這么容易解決。他的手一陣抽痛。

“The Watch has

need of every man it can get,” Donal Noye said when they were alone. “Even men

like Toad. You won’t win any honors killing him.”

“守夜人需要每一份力量，”待他人都離開后，唐納·諾伊道，“甚至像是癩哈蟆這種人。殺了他，你也沒什么光榮可言。”

Jon’s anger flared. “He said my mother

was...”

瓊恩怒火中燒。“他說我媽是——”

“...a whore. I

heard him. What of it?”

“——是個婊子。我聽到了。那又如何？”

“Lord Eddard Stark

was not a man to sleep with whores,” Jon said icily. “His honor...”

“艾德·史塔克公爵才不是會去逛窯子的人，”瓊恩冷冷地說，“他的榮譽——”

“...did not

prevent him from fathering a bastard. Did it?”

“——免不了他在外面生出個私生子，不是么？”

Jon was cold with rage. “Can I go?”

瓊恩氣得渾身發(fā)冷。“我可以走了嗎？”

“You go when I

tell you to go.”

“我說可以你才可以。”

Jon stared sullenly at the smoke rising

from the brazier, until Noye took him under the chin, thick fingers twisting

his head around. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, boy.”

瓊恩恨恨地盯著火盆升起的白煙，直到諾伊伸出粗壯的手托住他下巴，把他的頭粗暴地扭過來。“小子，我跟你說話的時候看著我。”

Jon looked. The armorer had a chest like a

keg of ale and a gut to match. His nose was flat and broad, and he always

seemed in need of a shave. The left sleeve of his black wool tunic was fastened

at the shoulder with a silver pin in the shape of a longsword. “Words won’t

make your mother a whore. She was what she was, and nothing Toad says can

change that. You know, we have men on the Wall whose mothers were whores.”

于是瓊恩看著他。武器師傅的胸膛寬闊得像個酒桶，肚子更是大得驚人。他的鼻子又寬又扁，那一臉胡子好似從來沒刮。他的黑羊毛外衣左襟用一個長劍形狀的別針系在肩頭。“光嘴巴上說說，你媽也不會變成婊子。她是什么樣的人，就是什么樣的人，和癩哈蟆怎么說有何干系。話說回來，咱們部隊里還真有些人的娘是婊子。”

Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He

knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed

of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she

was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind.

我媽可不是，瓊恩倔強地暗想。他對自己的母親一無所知，艾德·史塔克絕口不提關(guān)于她的事情。但他經(jīng)常夢見她，次數(shù)頻繁到他幾乎可以拼湊出她的容貌。夢中的她出身高貴，美麗動人，眼神慈藹。

“You think you had

it hard, being a high lord’s bastard?” the armorer went on. “That boy Jeren is

a septon’s get, and Cotter Pyke is the baseborn son of a tavern wench. Now he

commands Eastwatch by the Sea.”

“你以為自己是大貴族的私生子，就覺得特別難受？”武器師傅繼續(xù)下去，“告訴你，杰倫那家伙是個六根不凈的教士的野種。卡特·派克是個酒館女侍的兒子，結(jié)果現(xiàn)在人家是東海望守備隊長。”

“I don’t care,”

Jon said. “I don’t care about them and I don’t care about you or Thorne or

Benjen Stark or any of it. I hate it here. It’s too?.?.?.? it’s cold.”

“我不在乎，”瓊恩道，“我才不管他們怎樣，我也不管你或索恩或班揚·史塔克或是誰誰誰怎么樣。我恨死這地方了。這里……這里好冷。”

“Yes. Cold and

hard and mean, that’s the Wall, and the men who walk it. Not like the stories

your wet nurse told you. Well, piss on the stories and piss on your wet nurse.

This is the way it is, and you’re here for life, same as the rest of us.”

“是啊，又冷又苦又險惡，這就是長城的景況，也是這里守軍的寫照。絕不像你奶媽所說的睡前故事。哼，去他的睡前故事，去你的奶媽罷，事情就是這樣子，而你一輩子都跟我們其他人一起，注定要待在這兒了。”

“Life,” Jon

repeated bitterly. The armorer could talk about life. He’d had one. He’d only

taken the black after he’d lost an arm at the siege of Storm’s End. Before that

he’d smithed for Stannis Baratheon, the king’s brother. He’d seen the Seven

Kingdoms from one end to the other; he’d feasted and wenched and fought in a

hundred battles. They said it was Donal Noye who’d forged King Robert’s

warhammer, the one that crushed the life from Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident.

He’d done all the things that Jon would never do, and then when he was old, well

past thirty, he’d taken a glancing blow from an axe and the wound had festered

until the whole arm had to come off. Only then, crippled, had Donal Noye come

to the Wall, when his life was all but over.

“一輩子。”瓊恩苦澀地重復。武器師傅可以拿一輩子來大做文章，因為他見過世面，經(jīng)歷過大風大浪。他是在風息堡之圍中失去了一條胳膊后才加入黑衫軍的，在那之前他是國王的大弟史坦尼斯·拜拉席恩的鐵匠。他足跡遍布七國，吃過山珍海味，嘗過女人的甜美，打過不知幾百場大小戰(zhàn)役。據(jù)說勞勃國王在三叉戟河上殺死雷加·坦格利安那把戰(zhàn)錘，正是唐納·諾伊所鑄造。他已經(jīng)做過瓊恩永遠也不可能做到的事，等到年過三十，卻因一記輕微的斧傷發(fā)炎潰爛，最后不得不截掉整只手。也就是在他成了殘廢，這輩子的幸運已經(jīng)結(jié)束的時候，唐納·諾伊才來到長城。

“Yes, life,” Noye

said. “A long life or a short one, it’s up to you, Snow. The road you’re

walking, one of your brothers will slit your throat for you one night.”

“是啊，雪諾，一輩子。”諾伊道，“或長或短，操之你手。照你現(xiàn)在這種態(tài)度，早晚會有弟兄半夜割了你喉嚨。”

“They’re not my

brothers,” Jon snapped. “They hate me because I’m better than they are.”

“他們才不是我弟兄，”瓊恩駁斥，“他們恨我，因為我比他們優(yōu)秀。”

“No. They hate you

because you act like you’re better than they are. They look at you and see a

castle-bred bastard who thinks he’s a lordling.” The armorer leaned close.

“You’re no lordling. Remember that. You’re a Snow, not a Stark. You’re a

bastard and a bully.”

“錯了，他們恨的是你高高在上的優(yōu)越感。他們眼中的你，是個城里來的、自以為是小少爺?shù)碾s種。”武器匠靠近來，“記住，你不是什么大人少爺，你姓的是雪諾，不是史塔克。而現(xiàn)在，你不但是私生子，還是個惡霸。”

“A bully?” Jon

almost choked on the word. The accusation was so unjust it took his breath

away. “They were the ones who came after me. Four of them.”

“惡霸？”瓊恩差點說不出話。這指控實在太不公平，氣得他喘不過氣來。“是他們四個先來找我麻煩。”

“Four that you’ve

humiliated in the yard. Four who are probably afraid of you. I’ve watched you

fight. It’s not training with you. Put a good edge on your sword, and they’d be

dead meat; you know it, I know it, they know it. You leave them nothing. You

shame them. Does that make you proud?”

“他們四個人在場子里都被你羞辱過，說不定怕你怕得要死。我看過你練劍，跟你比劃那不叫練習，要是你使的真劍，他們已經(jīng)死上好幾回了。你很清楚，我很清楚，他們也很清楚。你完全不留情面地羞辱他們，難道你覺得這樣很值得驕傲？”

Jon hesitated. He did feel proud when he

won. Why shouldn’t he? But the armorer was taking that away too, making it

sound as if he were doing something wrong. “They’re all older than me,” he said

defensively.

瓊恩遲疑了。他打贏的時候的確頗感驕傲，難道他不應該么？武器師傅連這么一點點喜悅也要剝奪，還讓他覺得自己好像做錯了什么。“他們年紀都比我大。”他防衛(wèi)性地說。

“Older and bigger

and stronger, that’s the truth. I’ll wager your master-at-arms taught you how

to fight bigger men at Winterfell, though. Who was he, some old knight?”

“他們是比你年長，也比你高壯。不過我敢打賭臨冬城的教頭一定教過你如何對付比自己高大的人。他是誰，某位老騎士？”

“Ser Rodrik

Cassel,” Jon said warily. There was a trap here. He felt it closing around him.

“是羅德利克·凱索爵士。”瓊恩小心答道。他覺得對方話中有話。

Donal Noye leaned forward, into Jon’s face.

“Now think on this, boy. None of these others have ever had a master-at-arms

until Ser Alliser. Their fathers were farmers and wagonmen and poachers, smiths

and miners and oars on a trading galley. What they know of fighting they

learned between decks, in the alleys of Oldtown and Lannisport, in wayside

brothels and taverns on the kingsroad. They may have clacked a few sticks

together before they came here, but I promise you, not one in twenty was ever

rich enough to own a real sword.” His look was grim. “So how do you like the

taste of your victories now, Lord Snow?”

唐納·諾伊向前靠，幾乎要貼上瓊恩的臉。“小子，你想想罷，這兒的人在遇上艾里沙爵士以前沒一個受過正式訓練。他們的父親是農(nóng)民、車夫還有盜獵者，是鐵匠、礦工或船上的槳手。他們的打架技巧是從甲板上、舊鎮(zhèn)和蘭尼斯港的暗巷里，或從國王大道路邊的妓院、酒館中學來的。他們或許相互耍耍棍子，但我跟你保證，里面沒幾個買得起真劍。”他一臉冷酷的表情，“所以雪諾大人，你倒是告訴我，打贏這些人真的很爽么？”

“Don’t call me

that!” Jon said sharply, but the force had gone out of his anger. Suddenly he

felt ashamed and guilty. “I never?.?.?.? I didn’t think?.?.?.?”

“不要這樣叫我！”瓊恩激動地說。但他的怒意已沒了力氣，突然間只覺得慚愧和罪惡。“我不知道……我以為……”

“Best you start

thinking,” Noye warned him. “That, or sleep with a dagger by your bed. Now go.”

“好好想一想，”諾伊提醒他。“不然就準備枕著匕首睡覺。行了，你回去吧。”

By the time Jon left the armory, it was

almost midday. The sun had broken through the clouds. He turned his back on it

and lifted his eyes to the Wall, blazing blue and crystalline in the sunlight.

Even after all these weeks, the sight of it still gave him the shivers.

Centuries of windblown dirt had pocked and scoured it, covering it like a film,

and it often seemed a pale grey, the color of an overcast sky?.?.?.?but when

the sun caught it fair on a bright day, it shone, alive with light, a colossal

blue-white cliff that filled up half the sky.

瓊恩離開武器庫時，已近中午。太陽撥開云層，露出臉來。他轉(zhuǎn)身背向陽光，將視線抬至長城，看著城墻在陽光下閃著晶瑩的藍光。雖然已經(jīng)在此生活了好幾個星期，可每當他目光觸及這番景象，依舊不禁渾身顫抖。無數(shù)世代的風沙污泥，早在城墻留下印痕，宛如一層覆蓋的膜，以至于城墻有時成了淺灰，猶如陰霾天際……但當晴日里天光直射，長城又仿佛有生命般閃閃發(fā)亮，如同一道橫斷半天的藍白絕壁。

The largest structure ever built by the

hands of man, Benjen Stark had told Jon on the kingsroad when they had first

caught sight of the Wall in the distance. “And beyond a doubt the most

useless,” Tyrion Lannister had added with a grin, but even the Imp grew silent

as they rode closer. You could see it from miles off, a pale blue line across

the northern horizon, stretching away to the east and west and vanishing in the

far distance, immense and unbroken. This is the end of the world, it seemed to

say.

當初他們在國王大道上遙遙望見長城時，班揚·史塔克告訴瓊恩這是人類所造最龐大的建筑物。“毫無疑問也是最沒用的。”聽完后，提利昂·蘭尼斯特嘻笑著加上一句。然而隨著距離漸漸拉近，連小惡魔也沉默下來。幾里之外便可清楚地看到這條橫亙北方地平線的灰藍直線，毫不間斷地向東西兩邊延展，直到消失于遠方，好像在宣告：這里便是世界盡頭。

When they finally spied Castle Black, its

timbered keeps and stone towers looked like nothing more than a handful of toy

blocks scattered on the snow, beneath the vast wall of ice. The ancient

stronghold of the black brothers was no Winterfell, no true castle at all.

Lacking walls, it could not be defended, not from the south, or east, or west;

but it was only the north that concerned the Night’s Watch, and to the north

loomed the Wall. Almost seven hundred feet high it stood, three times the

height of the tallest tower in the stronghold it sheltered. His uncle said the

top was wide enough for a dozen armored knights to ride abreast. The gaunt

outlines of huge catapults and monstrous wooden cranes stood sentry up there,

like the skeletons of great birds, and among them walked men in black as small

as ants.

待他們終于見到黑城堡，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)那不過是這面廣大冰墻下的木造城樓和石砌高塔，看起來簡直就像散布雪地的玩具積木。黑衫軍的古老堡壘遠不如臨冬城，甚至稱不上是座像樣的城堡。它沒有城墻，無法抵御來自東西南三方面的攻擊，守夜人部隊惟一關(guān)心的只有北方，而高聳在黑堡北邊的正是絕境長城。長城高近七百尺，足足是它所庇護的要塞上最高的塔樓的三倍。叔叔說城墻之寬，足以讓十二名全副武裝的騎士并肩共騎。巨大的弩炮和怪獸般的投石機守衛(wèi)著城墻，行走其上的黑衣軍渺小如同螻蟻。

As he stood outside the armory looking up,

Jon felt almost as overwhelmed as he had that day on the kingsroad, when he’d

seen it for the first time. The Wall was like that. Sometimes he could almost

forget that it was there, the way you forgot about the sky or the earth

underfoot, but there were other times when it seemed as if there was nothing

else in the world. It was older than the Seven Kingdoms, and when he stood

beneath it and looked up, it made Jon dizzy. He could feel the great weight of

all that ice pressing down on him, as if it were about to topple, and somehow

Jon knew that if it fell, the world fell with it.

如今站在兵器庫外向上看去，瓊恩感受的震懾絲毫不亞于當日在國王大道上初見之時。絕境長城就是如此，有時你會忘記其存在，一如你對頭頂長空和腳下大地司空見慣，不以為意，但有時又仿佛是舉世間惟一真切的存在。它比七大王國還要古老，每當瓊恩站在城墻下抬頭仰望，總是頭暈目眩。他可以感覺到雄渾繁厚的冰層向他重壓而來，仿佛城墻崩塌要將他掩埋。瓊恩隱約知道，倘若哪天長城真的陷落，整個世界必將隨之瓦解。

“Makes you wonder

what lies beyond,” a familiar voice said.

“墻外是什么，真叫人猜不透，對吧？”一個熟悉的聲音道。

Jon looked around. “Lannister. I didn’t

see, I mean, I thought I was alone.”

瓊恩轉(zhuǎn)過頭。“蘭尼斯特。我沒看到——我的意思是說，我以為這兒只有我一個人。”

Tyrion Lannister was bundled in furs so

thickly he looked like a very small bear. “There’s much to be said for taking

people unawares. You never know what you might learn.”

提利昂·蘭尼斯特全身裹滿毛皮，活像只小熊。“乘人不備好處多多，你永遠也不知道會學到些什么。”

“You won’t learn

anything from me,” Jon told him. He had seen little of the dwarf since their

journey ended. As the queen’s own brother, Tyrion Lannister had been an honored

guest of the Night’s Watch. The Lord Commander had given him rooms in the

King’s Tower, so-called, though no king had visited it for a hundred years, and

Lannister dined at Mormont’s own table and spent his days riding the Wall and

his nights dicing and drinking with Ser Alliser and Bowen Marsh and the other

high officers.

“從我這兒你能學到什么？”瓊恩告訴他。自他們的旅途結(jié)束之后，他便很少看到這侏儒。提利昂·蘭尼斯特既是王后的弟弟，自然受到貴客般的款待。莫爾蒙總司令讓他住在國王塔——說得好聽，其實已有一百年沒國王住過了——和他同桌用餐。蘭尼斯特白天在長城上騎馬，晚上則與艾里沙爵士、波文·馬爾錫和其他高階官員飲酒賭博。

“Oh, I learn

things everywhere I go.” The little man gestured up at the Wall with a gnarled

black walking stick. “As I was saying?.?.?.?why is it that when one man builds

a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what’s on the other side?” He

cocked his head and looked at Jon with his curious mismatched eyes. “You do

want to know what’s on the other side, don’t you?”

“唉，我走到哪兒學到哪兒。”這矮子用一根粗糙的黑拐杖指著長城，“我常說……怎么前人千辛萬苦才把城墻蓋好，后人立刻便想知道墻的另一面有什么？”他歪著頭，用那雙大小不一的古怪眼睛看著瓊恩。“你也不例外，對不？”

“It’s nothing

special,” Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep

into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s

wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak

of the things you wanted. “The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and

frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

“我看沒什么特別。”瓊恩道。他好想跟隨班揚·史塔克一同出外巡獵，深入鬼影森林，好想與曼斯·雷德的野人交鋒，守護王國免于異鬼侵襲，但自己心里想要什么，還是別說出來的好。“游騎兵說墻外不過就是樹林、山脈和結(jié)凍的湖泊，一片冰天雪地。”

“And the grumkins

and the snarks,” Tyrion said. “Let us not forget them, Lord Snow, or else

what’s that big thing for?”

“還有害人的古靈精怪吶，”提利昂說，“可別忘了，雪諾大人。否則大伙兒干嘛這么大動干戈？”

“Don’t call me

Lord Snow.”

“不要叫我雪諾大人。”

The dwarf lifted an eyebrow. “Would you

rather be called the Imp? Let them see that their words can cut you, and you’ll

never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name, take it, make it

your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it anymore.” He gestured with his

stick. “Come, walk with me. They’ll be serving some vile stew in the common

hall by now, and I could do with a bowl of something hot.”

侏儒揚揚眉毛。“難道我喜歡被人叫小惡魔？一旦別人發(fā)現(xiàn)綽號對你的殺傷力，這綽號就跟定你啦。既然他們愛給你起綽號，你就大大方方地接受，最好還裝出樂在其中的樣子，那他們就再也傷不了你了。”他舉起拐杖指指前方。“哪，跟我走走。他們這會兒應該在大廳里弄那難吃的湯了，我正想喝點熱的。”

Jon was hungry too, so he fell in beside

Lannister and slowed his pace to match the dwarf’s awkward, waddling steps. The

wind was rising, and they could hear the old wooden buildings creaking around

them, and in the distance a heavy shutter banging, over and over, forgotten.

Once there was a muffled thump as a blanket of snow slid from a roof and landed

near them.

瓊恩也餓了，所以他走在蘭尼斯特身邊，刻意放慢腳步以配合侏儒笨拙而古怪的姿勢。風勢漸大，他們可以聽見周圍木屋嘎吱作響。遠處，一道被遺忘的厚重窗戶反復噼砰。一堆雪從屋頂滑下，落在他們身邊，發(fā)出低沉的撞擊。

“I don’t see your

wolf,” Lannister said as they walked.

“沒見你的狼呢。”蘭尼斯特邊走邊說。

“I chain him up in

the old stables when we’re training. They board all the horses in the east stables

now, so no one bothers him. The rest of the time he stays with me. My sleeping

cell is in Hardin’s Tower.”

“訓練的時候，我把它拴在舊馬房那邊。他們現(xiàn)在把馬都關(guān)在東邊的馬廄，所以不會礙著他。其他時候他都跟著我，我睡在哈丁塔。”

“That’s the one

with the broken battlement, no? Shattered stone in the yard below, and a lean

to it like our noble king Robert after a long night’s drinking? I thought all

those buildings had been abandoned.”

“就那座連城垛都塌掉的塔，是嗎？那塔下面的廣場都是碎石頭，整個還歪歪斜斜，跟咱們高貴的勞勃國王酒醉后一個德行。我以為那些塔早就廢棄不用了。”

Jon shrugged. “No one cares where you

sleep. Most of the old keeps are empty, you can pick any cell you want.” Once

Castle Black had housed five thousand fighting men with all their horses and

servants and weapons. Now it was home to a tenth that number, and parts of it

were falling into ruin.

瓊恩聳聳肩道，“反正沒人管你睡哪兒。這些古堡幾乎都荒廢了，愛睡哪里隨便你。”黑城堡曾經(jīng)擁有多達五千名全副武裝、鞍馬齊備、仆從如云的戰(zhàn)士。如今卻只剩十分之一的數(shù)量，建筑也紛紛淪為荒頹廢墟。

Tyrion Lannister’s laughter steamed in the

cold air. “I’ll be sure to tell your father to arrest more stonemasons, before

your tower collapses.”

提利昂·蘭尼斯特的笑在冷空氣里蒸騰。“那我就請你老爸務必在你那座塔垮塌之前，多抓幾個石匠過來。”

Jon could taste the mockery there, but

there was no denying the truth. The Watch had built nineteen great strongholds

along the Wall, but only three were still occupied: Eastwatch on its grey

windswept shore, the Shadow Tower hard by the mountains where the Wall ended,

and Castle Black between them, at the end of the kingsroad. The other keeps,

long deserted, were lonely, haunted places, where cold winds whistled through

black windows and the spirits of the dead manned the parapets.

瓊恩聽得出話中的嘲弄意味，卻無法否認那是事實。守夜人一共沿長城建了十九座雄偉要塞，如今只剩三座仍有部隊駐守：高聳的東海望在強風吹拂的灰暗海濱，影子塔堅毅地佇立于長城邊陲的群山之中，黑城堡則位于兩者之間，地處國王大道盡頭。其他堡壘早已被人遺忘，現(xiàn)在都成了孤獨的鬼城，冷風颼颼吹過黑窗，死者幽靈游蕩其中。

“It’s better that

I’m by myself,” Jon said stubbornly. “The rest of them are scared of Ghost.”

“我一個人住比較好，”瓊恩固執(zhí)地說，“其他人很怕白靈。”

“Wise boys,”

Lannister said. Then he changed the subject. “The talk is, your uncle is too

long away.”

“他們倒聰明。”蘭尼斯特說。他隨即轉(zhuǎn)變話題，“最近大家都在議論你叔叔，他是不是出去太久了？”

Jon remembered the wish he’d wished in his

anger, the vision of Benjen Stark dead in the snow, and he looked away quickly.

The dwarf had a way of sensing things, and Jon did not want him to see the

guilt in his eyes. “He said he’d be back by my name day,” he admitted. His name

day had come and gone, unremarked, a fortnight past. “They were looking for Ser

Waymar Royce, his father is bannerman to Lord Arryn. Uncle Benjen said they

might search as far as the Shadow Tower. That’s all the way up in the

mountains.”

瓊恩憶起自己失望之下的幻想，那幅班揚·史塔克倒臥雪地的景象，立刻撇過頭去。侏儒很擅察言觀色，他可不想讓他瞧見自己眼中的罪惡。“他說會趕在我命名日前回來。”他坦承。他的命名日早在兩周前便已悄無聲息地來了又去。“他們是去找威瑪·羅伊斯爵士，此人的父親是艾林公爵的封臣。班揚叔叔說他們會一直搜索到影子塔，一路深入群山。”

“I hear that a

good many rangers have vanished of late,” Lannister said as they mounted the

steps to the common hall. He grinned and pulled open the door. “Perhaps the

grumkins are hungry this year.”

“聽說近來有不少游騎兵好手失蹤。”他們一邊登上大廳的階梯，蘭尼斯特一邊說，他嘻嘻笑著打開門。“也許古靈精怪今年特別餓罷。”

Inside, the hall was immense and drafty,

even with a fire roaring in its great hearth. Crows nested in the timbers of

its lofty ceiling. Jon heard their cries overhead as he accepted a bowl of stew

and a heel of black bread from the day’s cooks. Grenn and Toad and some of the

others were seated at the bench nearest the warmth, laughing and cursing each

other in rough voices. Jon eyed them thoughtfully for a moment. Then he chose a

spot at the far end of the hall, well away from the other diners.

進入廳堂，雖然爐火熊熊，仍舊感覺地方寬敞，寒氣逼人。烏鴉棲息于高敞的木天花板上，在眾人頭頂嘎嘎叫著。瓊恩從廚子手中接過一碗肉湯和大塊黑面包。葛蘭、癩哈蟆和其他幾人坐在最靠近火爐的長凳上，彼此粗聲笑鬧咒罵。瓊恩若有所思地看了他們一會，然后在大廳的角落挑了個位子坐下，遠遠離開其他人。

Tyrion Lannister sat across from him,

sniffing at the stew suspiciously. “Barley, onion, carrot,” he muttered.

“Someone should tell the cooks that turnip isn’t a meat.”

提利昂·蘭尼斯特坐在他對面，一臉狐疑地嗅著濃湯。“大麥、洋蔥、胡蘿卜，”他喃喃念道，“這些煮飯的到底知不知道蕪箐不能當肉啊？”

“It’s mutton

stew.” Jon pulled off his gloves and warmed his hands in the steam rising from

the bowl. The smell made his mouth water.

“這是羊肉濃湯耶。”瓊恩脫下手套，探手到湯碗溢出的熱氣里取暖。聞到肉香他口水都流了下來。

“Snow.”

“雪諾。”

Jon knew Alliser Thorne’s voice, but there

was a curious note in it that he had not heard before. He turned.

瓊恩認得艾里沙·索恩的聲音，但這回話中卻有種他從前沒聽過的語氣，他轉(zhuǎn)過頭。

“The Lord

Commander wants to see you. Now.”

“司令大人要見你。現(xiàn)在就去。”

For a moment Jon was too frightened to

move. Why would the Lord Commander want to see him? They had heard something

about Benjen, he thought wildly, he was dead, the vision had come true. “Is it

my uncle?” he blurted. “Is he returned safe?”

一時之間瓊恩嚇得不敢動彈。為什么總司令要見他？難道他們有了班揚的消息，他胡亂揣測，一定是他死了，他的想像果然成真。“是我叔叔的事嗎？”他沖口而問，“他平安回來了嗎？”

“The Lord

Commander is not accustomed to waiting,” was Ser Alliser’s reply. “And I am not

accustomed to having my commands questioned by bastards.”

“司令大人平素可不習慣等人。”艾里沙這么回答，“而我更不習慣下了命令還要聽野種問東問西。”

Tyrion Lannister swung off the bench and

rose. “Stop it, Thorne. You’re frightening the boy.”

提利昂·蘭尼斯特霍地跳下長凳，站起身道：“夠了，索恩，你嚇著他了。”

“Keep out of

matters that don’t concern you, Lannister. You have no place here.”

“蘭尼斯特，你少管閑事，你沒資格在這兒說話。”

“I have a place at

court, though,” the dwarf said, smiling. “A word in the right ear, and you’ll

die a sour old man before you get another boy to train. Now tell Snow why the

Old Bear needs to see him. Is there news of his uncle?”

“在朝廷里就不一樣嘍。”侏儒微笑，“我只消幾句，你下半輩子就準備當個孤苦老人，別想再訓練小毛頭了。快告訴雪諾熊老找他干嘛，到底是不是他叔叔的事？”

“No,” Ser Alliser

said. “This is another matter entirely. A bird arrived this morning from

Winterfell, with a message that concerns his brother.” He corrected himself.

“His half brother.”

“不是。”艾里沙道，“完全兩碼子事。今天早上有信鴉從臨冬城飛來，帶來他弟弟的消息。”他更正道，“應該說是他同父異母的弟弟。”

“Bran,” Jon

breathed, scrambling to his feet. “Something’s happened to Bran.”

“布蘭，”瓊恩倒抽一口氣，掙扎著起來。“布蘭出事了。”

Tyrion Lannister laid a hand on his arm.

“Jon,” he said. “I am truly sorry.”

提利昂·蘭尼斯特伸手擱在他臂膀上。“瓊恩，”他說，“我真的很遺憾。”

Jon scarcely heard him. He brushed off

Tyrion’s hand and strode across the hall. He was running by the time he hit the

doors. He raced to the Commander’s Keep, dashing through drifts of old snow.

When the guards passed him, he took the tower steps two at a time. By the time

he burst into the presence of the Lord Commander, his boots were soaked and Jon

was wild-eyed and panting. “Bran,” he said. “What does it say about Bran?”

瓊恩幾乎沒聽到他的話。他撥開提利昂的手，大跨步穿過廳堂，到門邊時跑了起來。他一路沖過積雪，狂奔至司令官堡壘。守衛(wèi)讓他通過，他三步并作兩步奔上塔頂。等沖到總司令官面前，瓊恩已經(jīng)滿身大汗，喘不過氣來。“布蘭，”他說，“信上說布蘭怎樣了？”

Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night’s

Watch, was a gruff old man with an immense bald head and a shaggy grey beard.

He had a raven on his arm, and he was feeding it kernels of corn. “I am told

you can read.” He shook the raven off, and it flapped its wings and flew to the

window, where it sat watching as Mormont drew a roll of paper from his belt and

handed it to Jon. “Corn,” it muttered in a raucous voice. “Corn, corn.”

守夜人軍團總司令杰奧·莫爾蒙是個壞脾氣的老人，一把灰胡子，頂著個大光頭。他正拿玉米粒喂食停在手上的烏鴉。“我聽說你識字。”他把烏鴉揮開，它拍著翅膀飛到窗邊，然后蹲坐下來看著莫爾蒙從腰際抽出一張卷好的紙交給瓊恩。“玉米，”它刺耳地叫道，“玉米，玉米。”

Jon’s finger traced the outline of the

direwolf in the white wax of the broken seat. He recognized Robb’s hand, but

the letters seemed to blur and run as he tried to read them. He realized he was

crying. And then, through the tears, he found the sense in the words, and

raised his head. “He woke up,” he said. “The gods gave him back.”

瓊恩的手指在已拆封的白蠟印記上摸索，順著冰原狼的輪廓。他認出這是羅柏的字跡，但隨著閱讀，信本身卻模糊旋轉(zhuǎn)起來，他方才明白自己在哭。透過淚水，他拼湊出信上的意思，抬起頭。“他醒了。”他說，“諸神讓他活過來了。”

“Crippled,”

Mormont said. “I’m sorry, boy. Read the rest of the letter.”

“但也殘廢了。”莫爾蒙道，“小子，我很遺憾。把信讀完罷。”

He looked at the words, but they didn’t

matter. Nothing mattered. Bran was going to live. “My brother is going to

live,” he told Mormont. The Lord Commander shook his head, gathered up a

fistful of corn, and whistled. The raven flew to his shoulder, crying, “Live!

Live!”

他把視線移回信上，但上面寫什么已經(jīng)不重要了。什么都不重要了。布蘭活了下來。“我弟弟活下來了！”他告訴莫爾蒙。總司令搖搖頭，拾起一把玉米，吹聲口哨。烏鴉立即飛上他肩頭，叫道：“活了！活了！”

Jon ran down the stairs, a smile on his

face and Robb’s letter in his hand. “My brother is going to live,” he told the

guards. They exchanged a look. He ran back to the common hall, where he found Tyrion

Lannister just finishing his meal. He grabbed the little man under the arms,

hoisted him up in the air, and spun him around in a circle. “Bran is going to

live!” he whooped. Lannister looked startled. Jon put him down and thrust the

paper into his hands. “Here, read it,” he said.

瓊恩滿臉笑容，手中握著羅柏的信奔下樓梯。“我弟弟活下來了！”他告訴守衛(wèi)。他們互看一眼。他跑回廳堂，發(fā)現(xiàn)提利昂·蘭尼斯特剛吃完東西。他一把抓住小個子的腋下，將他抱到半空轉(zhuǎn)圈。“布蘭活下來了！”他喊。蘭尼斯特一臉驚訝的表情。瓊恩放下他，把信塞到他手中。“這里，你自己讀。”

Others were gathering around and looking at

him curiously. Jon noticed Grenn a few feet away. A thick woolen bandage was

wrapped around one hand. He looked anxious and uncomfortable, not menacing at

all. Jon went to him. Grenn edged backward and put up his hands. “Stay away

from me now, you bastard.”

其他人聚集過來，好奇地看著他。瓊恩看到葛蘭站在幾尺之外，一只手上綁著厚厚的羊毛繃帶。他看起來既焦慮又不安，一點都不兇惡。于是瓊恩朝他走去，葛蘭見狀立即后退，同時舉手說：“小雜種，你離我遠點。”

Jon smiled at him. “I’m sorry about your

wrist. Robb used the same move on me once, only with a wooden blade. It hurt

like seven hells, but yours must be worse. Look, if you want, I can show you

how to defend that.”

瓊恩微笑道：“把你手腕弄成這樣，我很抱歉。以前羅柏也用同樣的招式對付我，雖然用的是木劍，可七層地獄，真他媽的痛。我想你的傷勢一定更嚴重。這樣罷，如果你愿意，改天我來教你如何克制這招。”

Alliser Thorne overheard him. “Lord Snow

wants to take my place now.” He sneered. “I’d have an easier time teaching a

wolf to juggle than you will training this aurochs.”

艾里沙·索恩爵士聽到了這句話。“喲，雪諾大人這下想搶我的位子啦。”他冷笑道，“我看教狼變魔術(shù)都比教這些笨牛容易。”

“I’ll take that

wager, Ser Alliser,” Jon said. “I’d love to see Ghost juggle.”

“艾里沙爵士，我就跟你賭。”瓊恩說，“我倒是很想看白靈變魔術(shù)。”

Jon heard Grenn suck in his breath,

shocked. Silence fell.

瓊恩聽見葛蘭嚇得倒抽一口冷氣。四周一片死寂。

Then Tyrion Lannister guffawed. Three of

the black brothers joined in from a nearby table. The laughter spread up and

down the benches, until even the cooks joined in. The birds stirred in the

rafters, and finally even Grenn began to chuckle.

接著提利昂·蘭尼斯特捧腹大笑起來。鄰近餐桌上三名黑衣弟兄也跟著笑。笑聲快速散播，連廚師們也忍不住加入。梁木上的鳥群被笑聲驚動，最后連葛蘭也咯咯笑了起來。

Ser Alliser never took his eyes from Jon.

As the laughter rolled around him, his face darkened, and his sword hand curled

into a fist. “That was a

grievous error, Lord Snow,” he said at last in the acid tones of an enemy.只有艾里沙爵士從頭至尾沒有將視線從瓊恩身上移開。待笑聲漸止，他一臉陰沉，右手握拳。“雪諾大人，你犯了一個很嚴重的錯誤，”最后，他用對仇人的口吻說。