“你坐吧，”她說，“我站著就好。”

“Keep your seat,” she said. “I can stand as well as you.”

“沒錯，但我站著沒那么容易撞到屋頂嘛。”侏儒的聲音雖嘶啞，但態(tài)度恭謙。布蕾妮看著他刻意修剪的禿頂，許多僧侶都會將頭頂剃光。羅伊拉修女說，這是表示在天父面前沒有任何隱瞞。“難道天父不能透視頭發(fā)嗎？”布蕾妮當即反問。自然，這么問是很蠢的。她一直是個遲鈍的孩子，羅伊拉修女經(jīng)常這樣評價她。此時此刻，她不禁再度覺察到自己的駑鈍，因此默默地坐到長凳末端，侏儒原來的位子上，示意要份燉蟹糊，然后回頭表示感謝。“你在暮谷城圣堂供職嗎，兄弟？”

“Aye, but my head is not so apt to knock upon the ceiling.” The dwarf’s speech was coarse but courteous. Brienne could see the crown of his scalp where he had shaved it. Many holy brothers wore such tonsures. Septa Roelle once told her that it was meant to show that they had nothing to hide from the Father. “Can’t the Father see through hair?” Brienne had asked. A stupid thing to say. She had been a slow child; Septa Roelle often told her so. She felt near as stupid now, so she took the little man’s place at the end of the bench, signaled for stew, and turned to thank the dwarf. “Do you serve some holy house in Duskendale, brother?”

“我的圣堂靠近女泉城，小姐，但它被狼燒了，”那人一邊回答，一邊咬著一截面包。“我們盡可能地加以重建，然后卻來了群傭兵。我說不出是誰的人，但他們蠻橫地搶豬，屠殺兄弟們。我擠進一段空心原木里躲藏起來，其他人個子太大，沒能幸免。感謝鐵匠給予我力量，我花了很長時間把他們?nèi)窳恕Ｍ晔轮螅彝诔鲩L老埋藏的少許錢幣，獨自流浪。”

“ ’Twas nearer Maidenpool, m’lady, but the wolves burned us out,” the man replied, gnawing on a heel of bread. “We rebuilt as best we could, until some sellswords come. I could not say whose men they were, but they took our pigs and killed the brothers. I squeezed inside a hollow log and hid, but t’others were too big. It took me a long time to bury them all, but the Smith, he gave me strength. When that was done I dug up a few coins the elder brother had hid by and set off by myself.”

“我遇到過你的一些兄弟，他們正前往君臨。”

“I met some other brothers going to King’s Landing.”

“對，路上有成百上千的人，不僅包括我這樣的普通僧侶，還包括修士、老百姓……統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都是麻雀。瞧，我也該是一只麻雀，至少鐵匠把我弄得足夠矮小。”他咯咯笑道，“你有什么傷心事，小姐？”

“Aye, there’s hundreds on the roads. Not only brothers. Septons too, and smallfolk. Sparrows all. Might be I’m a sparrow too. The Smith, he made me small enough.” He chuckled. “And what’s your sad tale, m’lady?”

“我在找我妹妹。她貴族出身，只有十三歲，是個漂亮的處女，藍眼睛，棗紅色頭發(fā)。你也許會看到她跟一個騎士或者小丑同行。幫我找到她的人我會以金幣相酬。”

“I am looking for my sister. She’s highborn, only three-and-ten, a pretty maid with blue eyes and auburn hair. You may have seen her traveling with a man. A knight, perhaps a fool. There’s gold for the man who helps me find her.”

“金幣？”僧侶露出紅牙齒，給了她一個鮮紅的微笑，“一碗蟹糊對我而言就夠了，怕只怕我?guī)筒涣四恪Ｐ〕笪矣龅胶芏啵撂幣蜕俚煤芰恕！彼侯^想了一會兒。“等等，有個小丑在女泉城出沒，我這才想起來。據(jù)我觀察，他衣衫襤褸，滿是污垢，但確實穿著五顏六色的小丑服。”

“Gold?” The brother gave her a red smile. “A bowl of that crab stew would be enough reward for me, but I fear I cannot help you. Fools I’ve met, and plenty, but not so many pretty maids.” He cocked his head and thought a moment. “There was a fool at Maidenpool, now that I think of it. He was clad in rags and dirt, as near as I could tell, but under the dirt was motley.”

唐托斯·霍拉德是否會穿小丑服呢？沒人告訴過布蕾妮……但也沒人說他不會穿。為何他衣衫襤褸？莫非他與珊莎逃離君臨后遭遇了不幸？這很有可能，路上十分危險。但也可能根本不是他。“這個小丑……是不是長著紅鼻子，上面布滿瑣碎的血管？”

Did Dontos Hollard wear motley? No one had told Brienne that he did … but no one had ever said he didn’t, either. Why would the man be in rags, though? Had some misfortune overtaken him and Sansa after they fled King’s Landing? That could well be, with the roads so dangerous. It might not have been him at all. “Did this fool have a red nose, full of broken veins?”

“這我無法斷言。必須承認，我沒怎么留意他。掩埋掉兄弟們之后，我便去女泉城，以為能找船前往君臨。我第一次是在碼頭邊瞥見這個小丑的。他舉止鬼鬼崇崇，小心翼翼地避開塔利大人的士兵。后來我又在臭鵝酒館遇到了他。”

“I could not swear to that. I confess, I paid him little heed. I’d gone to Maidenpool after burying my brothers, thinking that I might find a ship to take me to King’s Landing. I first glimpsed the fool down by the docks. He had a furtive air to him and took care to avoid Lord Tarly’s soldiers. Later, I encountered him again, at the Stinking Goose.”

“臭鵝酒館？”她不大確定地說。

“The Stinking Goose?” she said, uncertain.

“一個聲名狼藉的地方，”侏儒承認，“女泉城碼頭有塔利大人的手下巡邏，但臭鵝酒館里滿是水手，大家都知道，水手會偷偷把人梢?guī)洗恍璩鰤騼r碼。那小丑想出價讓三個人搭船去狹海對岸，我經(jīng)常在那兒看他跟船上下來的槳手們談判。有時他會唱滑稽的小曲兒。”

“An unsavory place,” the dwarf admitted. “Lord Tarly’s men patrol the port at Maidenpool, but the Goose is always full of sailors, and sailors have been known to smuggle men aboard their ships, if the price is right. This fool was seeking passage for three across the narrow sea. I oft saw him there, talking with oarsmen off the galleys. Sometimes he would sing a funny song.”

“三個人？不是兩個？”

“Seeking passage for three? Not two?”

“三個，女士，我愿以七神之名起誓。”三個，她心想，珊莎，唐托斯爵士……第三個是誰？小惡魔？“那小丑找到船了嗎？”

“Three, m’lady. That I’d swear to, by the Seven.” Three, she thought. Sansa, Ser Dontos … but who would be the third? The Imp? “Did the fool find his ship?”

“這我說不準，”侏儒告訴她，“但某天晚上，塔利大人的士兵來臭鵝酒館搜他，幾天之后，我聽見另一個人炫耀說他哄騙了一個小丑，而且有金幣為證。他喝醉之后，給所有人買了酒。”

“That I could not say,” the dwarf told her, “but one night some of Lord Tarly’s soldiers visited the Goose looking for him, and a few days later I heard another man boasting that he’d fooled a fool and had the gold to prove it. He was drunk, and buying ale for everyone.”

“哄騙了一個小丑，”她說，“那是什么意思？”

“ ‘Fooled a fool,’ ” she said. “What did he mean by that?”

“我不知道，此人名叫機靈狄克，這我倒記得。”侏儒攤開雙手。“除了矮個子的祈禱之外，恐怕我只能提供給你這些了。”

“I could not tell you. His name was Nimble Dick, though, that I do recall.” The dwarf spread his hands. “I fear that’s all that I can offer you, aside from a small man’s prayers.”

布蕾妮信守諾言，給他買了一碗熱蟹糊……外加新鮮面包和一杯紅酒。他站在旁邊吃東西，布蕾妮則琢磨他所告知的情況。小惡魔有沒可能加入他們？假如珊莎失蹤是由提利昂·蘭尼斯特策劃，而非唐托斯·霍拉德，那逃往狹海對岸顯然是首選方案。

True to her word, Brienne bought him his bowl of hot crab stew … and some hot fresh bread and a cup of wine as well. As he ate it, standing by her side, she mulled what he had told her. Could the Imp have joined them? If Tyrion Lannister were behind Sansa’s disappearance, and not Dontos Hollard, it stood to reason that they would need to flee across the narrow sea.

矮個子喝完自己碗里的蟹糊之后，又吃掉了她剩下的東西。“你該多吃點，”他說，“像你這么大個的女人需要保持體力；女泉城并不遠，但最近路上很危險。”

When the little man was done with his bowl of stew, he finished what was left of hers as well. “You should eat more,” he said. “A woman big as you needs t’ keep her strength up. It is not far to Maidenpool, but the road is perilous these days.”

我知道。克里奧·佛雷爵士便是死在那條路上，她和詹姆爵士則被血戲班逮住。先是詹姆想殺我，她記起來，盡管他憔悴虛弱，手上還有鐵鏈。即便如此，他差點就成功了——那是佐羅砍掉他右手之前的事。后來……后來若非詹姆告訴佐羅、羅爾杰和夏格維，她身價相當于她體重那么多的藍寶石的話，他們早就強暴她幾十遍了。

I know. It was on that very road that Ser Cleos Frey had died, and she and Ser Jaime had been taken by the Bloody Mummers. Jaime tried to kill me, she remembered, though he was gaunt and weak, and his wrists were chained. It had been a close thing, even so, but that was before Zollo hacked his hand off. Zollo and Rorge and Shagwell would have raped her half a hundred times if Ser Jaime had not told them she was worth her weight in sapphires.

“小姐？你看上去很難過，想妹妹了？”侏儒輕輕拍打她手背。“別擔(dān)心，老嫗會照亮你的前路，指引你尋找到她。圣母會保護她的安全。”

“M’lady? You look sad. Are you thinking of your sister?” The dwarf patted her on the hand. “The Crone will light your way to her, never fear. The Maiden will keep her safe.”

“但愿你說得沒錯。”

“I pray that you are right.”

“一定不會錯。”他鞠了一躬。“我得走了，此去君臨路還很遠。”

“I am.” He bowed. “But now I must be on my way. I’ve a long way yet to go to reach King’s Landing.”

“你有馬嗎？有騾子？”

“Do you have a horse? A mule?”

“我有兩頭騾子，”侏儒笑道，“就在這兒，我的腳底下。它們能載我去天涯海角。”他又鞠了個躬，一步一蹣跚地向門口走去。

“Two mules.” The little man laughed. “There they are, at the bottom of my legs. They get me where I want t’ go.” He bowed, and waddled to the door, swaying with each step.

他走后，她仍然坐在桌邊，呷著一杯兌水的紅酒。布蕾妮不常喝酒，但偶爾嘗試有助于鎮(zhèn)靜心神。接下來怎么走？她問自己，去女泉城，到“臭鵝酒館”找“機靈狄克”？

She remained at the table after he had gone, lingering over a cup of watered wine. Brienne did not oft drink wine, but once in a great while she found it helped to settle her belly. And where do I want to go? she asked herself. To Maidenpool, to look for a man named Nimble Dick in a place called the Stinking Goose?

她上回目睹的女泉城乃是一片廢墟，領(lǐng)主緊閉城堡大門，龜縮其中，老百姓死的死，逃的逃，躲的躲。她記得燒焦的房屋、空曠的街道和砸裂的城門。游蕩的野狗偷偷摸摸尾隨他們的坐騎，腫脹腐爛的尸體像蒼白的大蓮花一般漂浮在泉水會聚而成的池塘里——鎮(zhèn)子的名稱就是由這池子而來。我請求詹姆安靜些，他卻高唱“六女同池”，還哈哈大笑。現(xiàn)下藍道·塔利也在女泉城，這又是一個她不想去的理由。也許坐船去海鷗鎮(zhèn)或白港搜尋更好。然而我可以兩處都去。先造訪臭鵝酒館，跟機靈狄克談?wù)劊僭谂钱數(shù)毓痛巴狈健?/p>

When last she had seen Maidenpool, the town had been a desolation, its lord shut up inside his castle, its smallfolk dead or fled or hiding. She remembered burned houses and empty streets, smashed and broken gates. Feral dogs had skulked along behind their horses, whilst swollen corpses floated like huge pale water lilies atop the spring-fed pool that gave the town its name. Jaime sang “Six Maids in a Pool,” and laughed when I begged him to be quiet. And Randyll Tarly was at Maidenpool as well, another reason for her to avoid the town. She might do better to take ship for Gulltown or White Harbor. I could do both, though. Pay a call on the Stinking Goose and talk to this Nimble Dick, then find a ship at Maidenpool to take me farther north.

大廳里的人群稀疏起來。布蕾妮一邊扯面包，一邊聆聽其他桌上的談話，談話內(nèi)容大多跟泰溫·蘭尼斯特公爵之死有關(guān)。“據(jù)說，他是被自己兒子謀害的，”一個鞋匠模樣的當?shù)厝苏谥v，“就是那畸形小魔猴。”

The common room had begun to empty. Brienne tore a chunk of bread in half, listening to the talk at the other tables. Most of it concerned the death of Lord Tywin Lannister. “Murdered by his own son, they say,” a local man was saying, a cobbler by the look of him, “that vile little dwarf.”

“國王不過是個孩子，”四位修女中最年長的說，“他成年之前誰來統(tǒng)治我們呢？”

“And the king is just a boy,” said the oldest of the four septas. “Who is to rule us till he comes of age?”

“泰溫大人的弟弟吧，”一個衛(wèi)兵道，“或者那個提利爾大人，再或者弒君者。”

“Lord Tywin’s brother,” said a guardsman. “Or that Lord Tyrell, might be. Or the Kingslayer.”

“不會是他，”店家斷言，“不會是背誓的人！”他往火堆里啐了一口唾沫。布蕾妮扔下面包，拍去褲子上的碎屑。她聽夠了。

“Not him,” declared the innkeep. “Not that oathbreaker.” He spat into the fire. Brienne let the bread fall from her hands and wiped the crumbs off on her breeches. She’d heard enough.

當晚，她夢見自己又回到藍禮的帳篷。所有蠟燭都告熄滅，濃濃的寒氣于身邊圍繞。某種東西，某種邪惡恐怖的東西正在綠光的黑暗中移動，直撲她的國王。她想保護他，但四肢冰冷僵硬，連抬手的力氣也沒有。影子劍割開綠鐵護喉，鮮血噴涌而出。她發(fā)現(xiàn)瀕死的國王原來竟不是藍禮，而是詹姆·蘭尼斯特，她辜負了他。

That night she dreamed herself in Renly’s tent again. All the candles were guttering out, and the cold was thick around her. Something was moving through green darkness, something foul and horrible was hurtling toward her king. She wanted to protect him, but her limbs felt stiff and frozen, and it took more strength than she had just to lift her hand. And when the shadow sword sliced through the green steel gorget and the blood began to flow, she saw that the dying king was not Renly after all but Jaime Lannister, and she had failed him.

隊長的妹妹在大廳里找到她時，她正在喝蜂蜜牛奶，里面混了三只生雞蛋。那女子給她看新漆好的盾牌。“你畫得真美。”她說。那更像一幅畫，而非嚴格意義上的紋章，它仿佛將她帶回了多年以前，帶回了父親陰暗涼爽的軍械庫。她記得自己的手指如何摸索碎裂褪色的畫漆，劃過樹上的綠葉，循著流星的軌跡。

The captain’s sister found her in the common room, drinking a cup of milk and honey with three raw eggs mixed in. “You did beautifully,” she said, when the woman showed her the freshly painted shield. It was more a picture than a proper coat of arms, and the sight of it took her back through the long years, to the cool dark of her father’s armory. She remembered how she’d run her fingertips across the cracked and fading paint, over the green leaves of the tree, and along the path of the falling star.

布蕾妮付給隊長妹妹比原先談好的多一半的價錢，然后問廚子買了些干面包、奶酪和面粉，將盾牌挎上肩頭，離開了客棧。她從北門離開鎮(zhèn)子，緩緩騎過田原和農(nóng)場，當狼仔們襲擊暮谷城時，最激烈的戰(zhàn)斗就發(fā)生在這里。

Brienne paid the captain’s sister half again the sum they had agreed, and slung the shield across one shoulder when she left the inn, after buying some hardbread, cheese, and flour from the cook. She left the town by the north gate, riding slowly through the fields and farms where the worst of the fighting had been, when the wolves came down on Duskendale.

藍道·塔利大人指揮喬佛里的軍隊，士兵多由西境和風(fēng)暴之地的人組成，其核心卻是河灣地的騎士。他手下若在此陣亡，將被抬進城內(nèi)，安葬于暮谷城圣堂的英雄墓地；而死去的北方人雖然數(shù)量多得多，但全都埋在海邊一個公共墓穴里，在他們高聳的墳頭之上，勝利者豎起一塊粗糙木碑，上面僅僅書寫著兩個大字“狼墳”。布蕾妮在它邊上停下，默默地為戰(zhàn)死的北方人祈禱，也為凱特琳·史塔克及其兒子羅柏，為所有與他們一同死去的人祈禱。

Lord Randyll Tarly had commanded Joffrey’s army, made up of westermen and stormlanders and knights from the Reach. Those men of his who had died here had been carried back inside the walls, to rest in heroes’ tombs beneath the septs of Duskendale. The northern dead, far more numerous, were buried in a common grave beside the sea. Above the cairn that marked their resting place, the victors had raised a rough-hewn wooden marker. HERE LIE THE WOLVES was all it said. Brienne stopped beside it and said a silent prayer for them, and for Catelyn Stark and her son Robb and all the men who’d died with them as well.

她記得那天晚上，當凱特琳夫人獲悉自己兩個小兒子的死訊時的場景。她將他們留在臨冬城，本來是要確保他們安全的。布蕾妮打一開始就預(yù)感到大事不妙，她問凱特琳夫人有沒有兒子們的消息。“除了羅柏，我沒有兒子了。”凱特琳夫人答道，她的聲音聽上去仿佛有把匕首在肚內(nèi)攪動。布蕾妮隔著桌子伸手過去，想安慰她，卻在快觸到她手時停下，因為怕她會畏縮。凱特琳張開手掌，給布蕾妮看手心和手指上的疤痕，一把瓦雷利亞匕首曾深深割開血肉。然后她開始談?wù)撆畠骸！吧荷莻€小淑女，”她說，“隨時隨地都有禮貌，討人歡心。她最愛聽騎士們的英勇故事。大家都說她長得像我，其實她長大后會比我當年漂亮許多，你見了她就明白了。我常遣開她的侍女，親自為她梳頭。她的頭發(fā)是棗紅色，比我的淺，濃密而柔軟……紅色的發(fā)絲猶如火炬的光芒，像銅板一樣閃亮。”

She remembered the night that Lady Catelyn had learned her sons were dead, the two young boys she’d left at Winterfell to keep them safe. Brienne had known that something was terribly amiss. She had asked her if there had been news of her sons. “I have no sons but Robb,” Lady Catelyn had replied. She had sounded as if a knife were twisting her belly. Brienne had reached across the table to give her comfort, but she stopped before her fingers brushed the older woman’s, for fear that she would flinch away. Lady Catelyn had turned over her hands, to show Brienne the scars on her palms and fingers where a knife once bit deep into her flesh. Then she had begun to talk about her daughters. “Sansa was a little lady,” she had said, “always courteous and eager to please. She loved tales of knightly valor. She will grow into a woman far more beautiful than I, you can see that. I would often brush her hair myself. She had auburn hair, thick and soft … the red in it would shine like copper in the light of the torches.”

她也說到小女兒艾莉亞，但艾莉亞早就失蹤了，現(xiàn)在多半已經(jīng)死亡。然而珊莎……我會找到她的，夫人，布蕾妮就著凱特琳夫人不安的形影起誓，我決不放棄。若有必要，我寧愿犧牲生命，犧牲榮譽，犧牲所有的夢想，也會找到她。

She had spoken of Arya too, her younger daughter, but Arya was lost, most likely dead by now. Sansa, though … I will find her, my lady, Brienne swore to Lady Catelyn’s restless shade. I will never stop looking. I will give up my life if need be, give up my honor, give up all my dreams, but I will find her.

經(jīng)過戰(zhàn)場之后，道路沿海岸延伸，夾在波濤洶涌的灰綠色海洋和一排低矮的石灰?guī)r丘陵之間。布蕾妮并非路上唯一的行人，沿長長的海岸線有許多漁村，漁民們通過這條路將魚送去集市販賣。她經(jīng)過一名漁婦及其女兒們，她們肩頭擔(dān)著空籃子，正在回家。由于她身著甲胄，因此她們都以為遇到了騎士，直到看見她的臉。女孩們互相竊竊私語，打量著她。“你們沿途有沒有看到一個十三歲處女？”她問她們，“一個藍眼睛、棗紅色頭發(fā)的貴族處女？”夏德里奇爵士的事使她警覺起來，但她必須不斷嘗試。“她可能跟一個小丑同行。”但她們只是搖頭，用手遮掩著嘴巴咯咯傻笑。

Beyond the battleground the road ran beside the shore, between the surging grey-green sea and a line of low limestone hills. Brienne was not the only traveler on the road. There were fishing villages up along the coast for many leagues, and the fisherfolk used this road to take their fish to market. She rode past a fishwife and her daughters, walking home with empty baskets on their shoulders. In her armor, they took her for a knight until they saw her face. Then the girls whispered to one another and gave her looks. “Have you seen a maid of three-and-ten along the road?” she asked them. “A highborn maid with blue eyes and auburn hair?” Ser Shadrich had made her wary, but she had to keep on trying. “She may have been traveling with a fool.” But they only shook their heads and giggled at her behind their hands.

在她到達的第一個村子里，光腳的男孩們跟著她的馬跑。漁民們的笑聲讓她難堪，她為此不得不戴上頭盔，結(jié)果后來的人便把她當成了男人。一個男孩要賣給她蛤蜊，另一個賣螃蟹，還有一個賣自己的妹妹。

In the first village she came to, barefoot boys ran along beside her horse. She had donned her helm, stung by the giggles of the fisherfolk, so they took her for a man. One boy offered to sell her clams, one offered crabs, and one offered her his sister.

布蕾妮從第二個男孩那兒買了三只螃蟹。離開村子時，天空開始下雨，風(fēng)勢漸大。風(fēng)暴要來了，她望著海面，心里尋思。一路上雨點敲打著頭盔，令她耳朵嗡嗡作響，好歹比海中的漁船要舒服一些。

Brienne bought three crabs from the second boy. By the time she left the village it had begun to rain, and the wind was rising. Storm coming, she thought, glancing out to sea. The raindrops pinged against the steel of her helm, making her ears ring as she rode, but it was better than being out there in a boat.

繼續(xù)北行了一小時，道路分岔，此地有堆亂石，顯然是座荒廢的小城堡。右邊岔道沿海岸接著蜿蜒前進，通往蟹爪半島，荒蕪貧瘠的沼澤地；左邊岔道穿越丘陵、田野和樹林，通往女泉城。雨下得更大了。布蕾妮跳下母馬，牽它離開道路，到廢墟之中躲雨。在荊棘、雜草和野榆樹之中，城墻依稀可以辨別，但筑城石像小孩的積木一樣散落在兩條路之間。主堡的一部分仍然矗立著，其三座塔樓跟破碎的城墻一樣由灰色花崗巖砌成，但它們頂端的城齒是黃色砂巖。三頂王冠，她透過雨水凝視，三頂金冠。這肯定是霍拉德家族的家堡，唐托斯爵士或許就出生于此。

An hour farther north, the road divided at a pile of tumbled stones that marked the ruins of a small castle. The right-hand fork followed the coast, meandering up along the shore toward Crackclaw Point, a dismal land of bogs and pine barrens; the left-hand ran through hills and fields and woods to Maidenpool. The rain was falling more heavily by then. Brienne dismounted and led her mare off the road to take shelter amongst the ruins. The course of the castle walls could still be discerned amongst the brambles, weeds, and wild elms, but the stones that had made them up were strewn like a child’s blocks between the roads. Part of the main keep still stood, however. Its triple towers were grey granite, like the broken walls, but their merlons were yellow sandstone. Three crowns, she realized, as she gazed at them through the rain. Three golden crowns. This had been a Hollard castle. Ser Dontos had been born here, like as not.

她牽馬穿過碎石堆，來到城堡大門口。城門只剩下生銹鉸鏈，但屋頂依然完好，里面不漏雨。布蕾妮將馬系在墻壁的燭臺上，摘下頭盔，甩干頭發(fā)。當她尋找用來點火的干柴時，聽到馬蹄聲漸漸接近。她本能地退入陰影之中，躲到從路上看不到的地方。她和詹姆爵士上次就是在這條路上被俘的，不能再重蹈覆轍了。

She led her mare through the rubble to the keep’s main entrance. Of the door only rusted iron hinges remained, but the roof was still sound, and it was dry within. Brienne tied her mare to a wall sconce, took off her helm, and shook out her hair. She was searching for some dry wood to light a fire when she heard the sound of another horse, coming closer. Some instinct made her step back into the shadows, where she could not be seen from the road. This was the very road where she and Ser Jaime had been captured. She did not intend to suffer that again.

騎手是小個子，她一眼便看了出來，原來是瘋鼠，她心想，他在跟蹤我。布蕾妮的指頭伸向劍柄，不曉得這夏德里奇爵士是否認為遇到了好獵物，因為她是女人。格蘭德森伯爵的代理城主就犯過這樣的錯誤。他名叫亨佛利·瓦格斯塔夫，當時六十五歲，是個自負的老頭，鷹鉤鼻，頭上布滿老年斑。訂婚那天，他警告布蕾妮，婚后要做個得體的女人。“我不許我的夫人穿著男人的盔甲到處亂跑。這點你必須服從，免得我懲罰你。”

The rider was a small man. The Mad Mouse, she thought, at her first sight of him. Somehow he’s followed me. Her hand went to her sword hilt, and she found herself wondering if Ser Shadrich would think her easy prey just because she was a woman. Lord Grandison’s castellan had once made that error. Humfrey Wagstaff was his name; a proud old man of five-and-sixty, with a nose like a hawk and a spotted head. The day they were betrothed, he warned Brienne that he would expect her to be a proper woman once they’d wed. “I will not have my lady wife cavorting about in man’s mail. On this you shall obey me, lest I be forced to chastise you.”

當時的她十六歲，已精于劍術(shù)，在校場上勇武過人，卻仍有點羞澀。她鼓足勇氣告訴亨佛利爵士，要她接受懲罰，須先打敗她才行。老騎士氣得臉色發(fā)紫，他穿好盔甲，要教教做她女人的本分。他們用鈍器交手，因此布蕾妮的釘頭錘上沒有尖刺，可她仍舊打斷了亨佛利爵士的鎖骨和兩根肋骨，婚約也隨之解除。這是她第三個未婚夫，也是最后一個。從此之后，她父親不再堅持要她結(jié)婚。

She was sixteen and no stranger to a sword, but still shy despite her prowess in the yard. Yet somehow she had found the courage to tell Ser Humfrey that she would accept chastisement only from a man who could outfight her. The old knight purpled, but agreed to don his own armor to teach her a woman’s proper place. They fought with blunted tourney weapons, so Brienne’s mace had no spikes. She broke Ser Humfrey’s collarbone, two ribs, and their betrothal. He was her third prospective husband, and her last. Her father did not insist again.

假如跟蹤她的是夏德里奇爵士，很可能將面臨一場惡斗。她不想跟那人合作，也不想讓他跟隨自己找到珊莎。他具有一種由嫻熟武藝而生的從容自信，她心想，但他個子小，我胳膊比他長，也更強壯。

If it was Ser Shadrich dogging her heels, she might well have a fight on her hands. She did not intend to partner with the man or let him follow her to Sansa. He had the sort of easy arrogance that comes with skill at arms, she thought, but he was small. I’ll have the reach on him, and I should be stronger too.

布蕾妮跟大多數(shù)騎士一樣強壯，而且她以前的教頭說，像她這樣高大的女人原本不可能如此敏捷。此外，諸神還賜予她良好的耐力，古德溫爵士認為太不可思議了。用劍盾打斗十分辛苦，勝利往往屬于最能持久的人。古德溫爵士教導(dǎo)她作戰(zhàn)要謹慎，保留體力的同時，引誘對手，消耗對手。“男人永遠會低估你，”他說，“自尊心驅(qū)使他們用力，因為他們害怕被議論說給女人弄得如此狼狽。”當她自立之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)他說的是事實。在女泉城邊的樹林里，連詹姆·蘭尼斯特也以這種方式攻擊她。如果諸神保佑，瘋鼠將會犯下同樣的錯誤。他或許經(jīng)驗豐富，她心想，但他不是詹姆·蘭尼斯特。她將長劍輕輕抽出。

Brienne was as strong as most knights, and her old master-at-arms used to say that she was quicker than any woman her size had any right to be. The gods had given her stamina too, which Ser Goodwin deemed a noble gift. Fighting with sword and shield was a wearisome business, and victory oft went to the man with most endurance. Ser Goodwin had taught her to fight cautiously, to conserve her strength while letting her foes spend theirs in furious attacks. “Men will always underestimate you,” he said, “and their pride will make them want to vanquish you quickly, lest it be said that a woman tried them sorely.” She had learned the truth of that once she went into the world. Even Jaime Lannister had come at her that way, in the woods by Maidenpool. If the gods were good, the Mad Mouse would make the same mistake. He may be a seasoned knight, she thought, but he is no Jaime Lannister. She slid her sword out of its scabbard.

然而，逼近岔路口的并非夏德里奇爵士的栗色戰(zhàn)馬，而是一匹羸弱衰老的花斑馬，背上騎著個瘦瘦的男孩。布蕾妮看到那馬之后疑惑地怔了一下。是個小男孩，她心想，直到瞥見兜帽底下的臉。是在暮谷城撞到我身上的男孩。是他。

But it was not Ser Shadrich’s chestnut courser that drew up where the road forked, but a broken-down old piebald rounsey with a skinny boy upon his back. When Brienne saw the horse she drew back in confusion. Only some boy, she thought, until she glimpsed the face beneath his hood. The boy in Duskendale, the one who bumped into me. It’s him.

男孩看也沒看荒廢的城堡一眼，便直接順著一條路望去，然后望向另一條。猶豫片刻之后，他將馬撥向丘陵的方向，繼續(xù)前進。布蕾妮看著他消失在雨簾中，突然想起在羅斯比也見過這個男孩。是他在跟蹤我，她意識到，但這游戲雙方都可以玩。她解開母馬，爬上馬鞍，跟在了他后面。

The boy never gave the ruined castle a glance, but looked down one road, then the other. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned the rounsey toward the hills and plodded on. Brienne watched him vanish through the falling rain, and suddenly it came to her that she had seen this same boy in Rosby. He is stalking me, she realized, but that’s a game that two can play. She untied her mare, climbed back into the saddle, and went after him.

男孩騎馬時眼盯地面，注視著積滿水的車轍。雨聲掩蓋了她接近的聲響，而他的兜帽無疑也起到一定作用。他從未回頭，直到布蕾妮奔到背后，用長劍劍背猛擊馬臀。

The boy was staring at the ground as he rode, watching the ruts in the road fill up with water. The rain muffled the sound of her approach, and no doubt his hood played a part as well. He never looked back once, until Brienne trotted up behind him and gave the rounsey a whack across the rump with the flat of her longsword.

那馬人一般立起來，把瘦男孩掀飛出去，他的斗篷像翅膀一樣舞動。他落在泥漿中，爬起來時齒間沾滿泥土和棕色枯草。布蕾妮翻身下馬。就是這男孩，毫無疑問，她認得那顆麥粒腫。“你是誰？”她問道。

The horse reared, and the skinny boy went flying, his cloak flapping like a pair of wings. He landed in the mud and came up with dirt and dead brown grass between his teeth to find Brienne standing over him. It was the same boy, beyond a doubt. She recognized the sty. “Who are you?” she demanded.

男孩無聲地動了動嘴巴，眼睛瞪得像雞蛋那么大。“波，”他只能發(fā)出這一個音，“波。”他身上的鎖甲跟他一起顫抖，嗒嗒作響。“波。波。”

The boy’s mouth worked soundlessly. His eyes were big as eggs. “Puh,” was all he could manage. “Puh.” His chain mail byrnie made a rattling sound when he shivered. “Puh. Puh.”

“波？不？”布蕾妮問，“你是說‘不要’嗎？”她將劍尖抵在他喉結(jié)上。“請告訴我你是誰，為何跟著我？”

“Please?” said Brienne. “Are you saying please?” She laid the point of her sword on the apple of his throat. “Please tell me who you are, and why you’re following me.”

“不、波——波——不要。”他將手指伸進嘴里，挖出一團泥，吐了口唾沫。“波——波——波德。我的名字。波——波——波德瑞克。派——派恩。”

“Not puh-puh-please.” He stuck a finger in his mouth, and flicked away a clump of mud, spitting. “Puh-puh-Pod. My name. Puh-puh-Podrick. Puh-Payne.”

布蕾妮垂下長劍。她忽然間很同情這孩子。記得在暮臨廳，一位年輕騎士手執(zhí)一朵玫瑰來見她。他帶玫瑰給我，至少她的修女這么說，并且要她歡迎他。他十八歲，長長的紅發(fā)墜落在肩，她十二歲，緊扎在一件硬邦邦的新禮服里，胸口綴滿閃亮的石榴石。他倆人一般高，但她無法正視他的眼睛，無法說出修女教她的簡單話語：羅蘭爵士，歡迎您來到我父親大人的廳堂，終于能與您見面，真是太好了。

Brienne lowered her sword. She felt a rush of sympathy for the boy. She remembered a day at Evenfall, and a young knight with a rose in his hand. He brought the rose to give to me. Or so her septa told her. All she had to do was welcome him to her father’s castle. He was eighteen, with long red hair that tumbled to his shoulders. She was twelve, tightly laced into a stiff new gown, its bodice bright with garnets. The two of them were of a height, but she could not look him in the eye, nor say the simple words her septa had taught her. Ser Ronnet. I welcome you to my lord father’s hall. It is good to look upon your face at last.

“你為何跟著我？”她問男孩，“有人指派你暗中監(jiān)視？你是瓦里斯還是太后的人？”

“Why are you following me?” she demanded of the boy. “Were you told to spy upon me? Do you belong to Varys, or the queen?”

“不。都不是。誰也不是。”

“No. Not neither. No one.”

布蕾妮估計他有十歲，不過她判斷小孩年齡的水平很糟，總是低估，或許因為她在同齡人中一直個子高大吧。怪胎，羅伊拉修女曾經(jīng)評論，你像個男人。“對一個男孩來說，這條路太危險。”

Brienne put his age at ten, but she was terrible at judging how old a child was. She always thought they were younger than they were, perhaps because she had always been big for her age. Freakish big, Septa Roelle used to say, and mannish. “This road is too dangerous for a boy alone.”

“對一個侍從來說，并不危險。我是他的侍從。首相的侍從。”

“Not for a squire. I’m his squire. The Hand’s squire.”

“泰溫大人的？”布蕾妮收劍入鞘。

“Lord Tywin?” Brienne sheathed her blade.

“不。不是這個首相。是前一個。他兒子。我跟他一起戰(zhàn)斗，高喊‘半人萬歲！半人萬歲！’”

“No. Not that Hand. The one before. His son. I fought with him in the battle. I shouted ‘Halfman! Halfman!’ ”

小惡魔的侍從。布蕾妮甚至不知道他有侍從。提利昂·蘭尼斯特并非騎士。他或許有一兩個男童照料，她猜測，作為侍衛(wèi)或侍酒，幫他穿衣服什么的。侍從？“你為何跟著我？”她繼續(xù)追問，“你想干什么？”

The Imp’s squire. Brienne had not even known he had one. Tyrion Lannister was no knight. He might have been expected to have a serving boy or two to attend him, she supposed, a page and a cupbearer, someone to help dress him. But a squire? “Why are you stalking after me?” she said. “What do you want?”

“我要找到她，”男孩站起身，“找他的夫人。你在找她。貝蕾娜告訴我的。她是他老婆。不是貝蕾娜，是珊莎夫人。因此我想，如果你找到她……”他的臉突然因痛苦而扭曲。“我是他的侍從，”他重復(fù)道，雨水從臉上滑落，“他卻不要我了。”

“To find her.” The boy got to his feet. “His lady. You’re looking for her. Brella told me. She’s his wife. Not Brella, Lady Sansa. So I thought, if you found her …” His face twisted in sudden anguish. “I’m his squire,” he repeated, as the rain ran down his face, “but he left me.”