Ⅲ 冰雨的风暴 Chapter75 山姆威尔
SAMWELL
“他吸得比我的孩子猛。”吉莉将婴儿抱在乳头边，抚摸脑袋。
He sucks harder than mine.” Gilly stroked the babe’s head as she held him to her nipple.
“他饿了，”金发女子瓦迩说，黑衣弟兄们称她为野人公主，“以前靠山羊奶过活，外加盲眼学士的药水。”
“He’s hungry,” said the blonde woman Val, the one the black brothers called the wildling princess. “He’s lived on goats’ milk up to now, and potions from that blind maester.”
这男孩跟吉莉的儿子一样，还没有名字。这是野人的风俗，即使是曼斯·雷德的儿子，不到第三年也不给取名，弟兄们则叫他“小王子”和“战场降生”。
The boy did not have a name yet, no more than Gilly’s did. That was the wildling way. Not even Mance Rayder’s son would get a name till his third year, it would seem, though Sam had heard the brothers calling him “the little prince” and “born-in-battle.”
他看着孩子在吉莉胸口吸奶，琼恩也在看。他微笑呢。虽然是悲伤的笑容，但绝对是笑。山姆很高兴，这是我回来之后第二次见他笑。
He watched the child nurse at Gilly’s breast, and then he watched Jon watch. Jon is smiling. A sad smile, still, but definitely a smile of sorts. Sam was glad to see it. It is the first time I’ve seen him smile since I got back.
他们从长夜堡走到深湖居，又从深湖居走到王后门，拖着满是老茧的脚，沿一条狭窄小径赶路，始终让长城保持在视线之内。离黑城堡还有一天半路程时，吉莉听到身后有马蹄声，一队黑衣骑兵从西方而来。“那定是我的弟兄们，”山姆让她放心，“除了守夜人，没人走这条路。”果然，来者由影子塔的丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士率领，队伍中还包括受伤的波文·马尔锡及头骨桥一战的幸存者。当山姆看见戴文、巨人和“忧郁的”艾迪·托勒特，整个人顿时崩溃失声。
They had walked from the Nightfort to Deep Lake, and from Deep Lake to Queensgate, following a narrow track from one castle to the next, never out of sight of the Wall. A day and a half from Castle Black, as they trudged along on callused feet, Gilly heard horses behind them, and turned to see a column of black riders coming from the west. “My brothers,” Sam assured her. “No one uses this road but the Night’s Watch.” It had turned out to be Ser Denys Mallister from the Shadow Tower, along with the wounded Bowen Marsh and the survivors from the fight at the Bridge of Skulls. When Sam saw Dywen, Giant, and Dolorous Edd Tollett, he broke down and wept.
从他们那儿，他听说了长城脚下的战斗。“史坦尼斯让他的骑士在东海望登陆，随后由卡特·派克带路沿游骑兵的巡逻道过来偷袭野人，”巨人解释，“他击溃了他们。曼斯·雷德被俘，其手下上千名骨干被杀，包括‘狗头’哈犸在内。其余人像暴风雨中的树叶一样四散逃窜，大家都这么说。”诸神保佑，山姆心想，如果没有迷路，而是从卡斯特的堡垒往南走，他和吉莉可能径直走进战场……至少是曼斯·雷德的营地。那样对吉莉和孩子来说也许还好，对他可不是。山姆听过野人处置乌鸦的各种故事，不禁浑身颤栗。
It was from them that he learned about the battle beneath the Wall. “Stannis landed his knights at Eastwatch, and Cotter Pyke led him along the ranger’s roads, to take the wildlings unawares,” Giant told him. “He smashed them. Mance Rayder was taken captive, a thousand of his best slain, including Harma Dogshead. The rest scattered like leaves before a storm, we heard.” The gods are good, Sam thought. If he had not gotten lost as he made his way south from Craster’s Keep, he and Gilly might have walked right into the battle … or into Mance Rayder’s camp, at the very least. That might have been well enough for Gilly and the boy, but not for him. Sam had heard all the stories about what wildlings did with captured crows. He shuddered.
虽然弟兄们把黑城堡的情形告诉过他，但亲眼目睹之后还是难以接受。大厅已烧成平地，巨大的木楼梯也化为一片焦木碎冰的瓦砾。唐纳·诺伊、雷斯特、聋子迪克、红埃林等等，他们都死了；而山姆从没见过城堡如此拥挤。超过一千名国王的士兵占据了它，国王塔中真的有了国王，在现世的人们记忆中，这还是头一遭。长枪塔、哈丁塔、灰堡、盾牌厅及其他废弃多年的建筑物顶上此刻都飘扬着旗帜。“那面最大的，金色的，有一头黑鹿，那是拜拉席恩家族的王旗，”他告诉吉莉，吉莉没见过任何旗帜，“狐狸与鲜花代表佛罗伦家族。海龟代表伊斯蒙家族，剑鱼代表巴尔艾蒙家族，交叉的喇叭代表文辛顿家族。”
Nothing that his brothers told him prepared him for what he found at Castle Black, however. The common hall had burned to the ground and the great wooden stair was a mound of broken ice and scorched timbers. Donal Noye was dead, along with Rast, Deaf Dick, Red Alyn, and so many more, yet the castle was more crowded than Sam had ever seen; not with black brothers, but with the king’s soldiers, more than a thousand of them. There was a king in the King’s Tower for the first time in living memory, and banners flew from the Lance, Hardin’s Tower, the Grey Keep, the Shieldhall, and other buildings that had stood empty and abandoned for long years. “The big one, the gold with the black stag, that’s the royal standard of House Baratheon,” he told Gilly, who had never seen banners before. “The fox-and-flowers is House Florent. The turtle is Estermont, the swordfish is Bar Emmon, and the crossed trumpets are for Wensington.”
“它们都跟花儿一样鲜艳。”吉莉指点，“我喜欢那些黄色上面带火焰的。瞧，一些战士的外衣上也有同样的标志。”
“They’re all bright as flowers.” Gilly pointed. “I like those yellow ones, with the fire. Look, and some of the fighters have the same thing on their blouses.”
“燃烧的红心。我不知这是谁的纹章。”
“A fiery heart. I don’t know whose sigil that is.”
答案来得很快。“那属于后党，”派普告诉他——接着一声尖呼，喊道，“快跑，伙计们，闩上门，‘杀手’山姆从坟墓里出来了。”同时葛兰上前使劲拥抱，他觉得肋骨都快断了——“别乱打听王后的事。史坦尼斯将她留在东海望，跟他们的女儿和舰队一起。除了那红袍女，他没带别的女人。”
He found out soon enough. “Queen’s men,” Pyp told him—after he let out a whoop, and shouted, “Run and bar the doors, lads, it’s Sam the Slayer come back from the grave,” while Grenn was hugging Sam so hard he thought his ribs might break—“but best you don’t go asking where the queen is. Stannis left her at Eastwatch, with their daughter and his fleet. He brought no woman but the red one.”
“红袍女？”山姆不确定地问。
“The red one?” said Sam uncertainly.
“亚夏的梅衍珊卓，”葛兰接口，“国王的女巫。听说为让史坦尼斯北行风向顺遂，她在龙石岛活活烧死一个人。她打仗时骑行在他身边，还给他一把魔剑，叫什么‘光明使者’。等着瞧吧，那剑亮得很，好像里面有个太阳。”他又看看山姆，咧开大嘴，无可救药地傻乎乎笑道，“我仍然无法相信你在这里。”
“Melisandre of Asshai,” said Grenn. “The king’s sorceress. They say she burned a man alive at Dragonstone so Stannis would have favorable winds for his voyage north. She rode beside him in the battle too, and gave him his magic sword. Lightbringer, they call it. Wait till you see it. It glows like it had a piece of sun inside it.” He looked at Sam again and grinned a big helpless stupid grin. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
琼恩·雪诺见到他时也曾微笑，但那是疲倦的笑容，跟现在挂着的一样。“你终于回来了，”他说，“还把吉莉也带来了。干得好，山姆。”
Jon Snow had smiled to see him too, but it was a tired smile, like the one he wore now. “You made it back after all,” he said. “And brought Gilly out as well. You’ve done well, Sam.”
据葛兰所述，琼恩自己干得更出色。然而夺取冬之号角并俘虏野人王子仍不能满足艾里沙·索恩爵士一伙，他们依旧称他为变色龙。伊蒙学士说他的伤口恢复得很好，但琼恩有其他疤痕，比眼睛周围的黑眼圈更深。他哀悼着他的野人女孩和亲兄弟们。
Jon had done more than well himself, to hear Grenn tell it. Yet even capturing the Horn of Winter and a wildling prince had not been enough for Ser Alliser Thorne and his friends, who still named him turncloak. Though Maester Aemon said his wound was healing well, Jon bore other scars, deeper than the ones around his eye. He grieves for his wildling girl, and for his brothers.
“真奇怪，”他对山姆说，“卡斯特不喜欢曼斯，曼斯也不喜欢卡斯特，如今卡斯特的女儿却给曼斯的儿子喂奶。”
“It’s strange,” he said to Sam. “Craster had no love for Mance, nor Mance for Craster, but now Craster’s daughter is feeding Mance’s son.”
“我有奶水，”吉莉道，她的声音轻柔羞涩，“我儿子只吃一点，不像这孩子那么贪婪。”
“I have the milk,” Gilly said, her voice soft and shy. “Mine takes only a little. He’s not so greedy as this one.”
女野人瓦迩转向他们。“我听王后的人说，等曼斯身体恢复，红袍女就把他送进火堆。”
The wildling woman Val turned to face them. “I’ve heard the queen’s men saying that the red woman means to give Mance to the fire, as soon as he is strong enough.”
琼恩疲倦地看了她一眼。“曼斯是守夜人军团的逃兵，处罚是唯一死刑，如果被守夜人抓住，现在已经绞死了。然而他是国王的俘虏，除了红袍女，没人了解国王的心思。”
Jon gave her a weary look. “Mance is a deserter from the Night’s Watch. The penalty for that is death. If the Watch had taken him, he would have been hanged by now, but he’s the king’s captive, and no one knows the king’s mind but the red woman.”
“我想见他，”瓦迩说，“我想让他看看儿子。你们杀他之前，至少该让他看一眼。”
“I want to see him,” Val said. “I want to show him his son. He deserves that much, before you kill him.”
山姆试图解释，“除了伊蒙学士，没人能见他，夫人。”
Sam tried to explain. “No one is permitted to see him but Maester Aemon, my lady.”
“假如我有权决定，曼斯当然该抱抱儿子，”琼恩的笑容消失了，“很抱歉，瓦迩。”他转过身。“山姆和我还有职务，喏，至少山姆有。先失陪了，你求见曼斯的事我们会问问。我只能承诺这么多。”
“If it were in my power, Mance could hold his son.” Jon’s smile was gone. “I’m sorry, Val.” He turned away. “Sam and I have duties to return to. Well, Sam does, anyway. We’ll ask about your seeing Mance. That’s all I can promise.”
山姆又逗留了一会儿，捏捏吉莉的手，保证晚饭后回来，然后快步追出去。门外有持长矛的卫兵，后党人士。琼恩楼梯下了一半，听见山姆喘着粗气跟过来，便等在原地。“你不是一般地喜欢吉莉，对不对？”
Sam lingered long enough to give Gilly’s hand a squeeze and promise to return again after supper. Then he hurried after. There were guards outside the door, queen’s men with spears. Jon was halfway down the steps, but he waited when he heard Sam puffing after him. “You’re more than fond of Gilly, aren’t you?”
山姆涨红了脸。“吉莉是好人，善良又亲切。”他很高兴长长的噩梦得以终结，很高兴回到黑城堡的弟兄们中间……但有些晚上，独守空房，他会想起他们曾一起蜷在兽皮底下，中间隔着一个婴儿，那时的吉莉多么温暖。“她……她让我更勇敢，琼恩。不是勇敢，而是……更勇敢。”
Sam reddened. “Gilly’s good. She’s good and kind.” He was glad that his long nightmare was done, glad to be back with his brothers at Castle Black … but some nights, alone in his cell, he thought of how warm Gilly had been when they’d curled up beneath the furs with the babe between them. “She … she made me braver, Jon. Not brave, but … braver.”
“你知道自己不能跟她在一起，”琼恩温和地说，“就像我不能跟耶哥蕊特在一起。你发过誓，山姆，跟我一样。我们所有人都发过誓。”
“You know you cannot keep her,” Jon said gently, “no more than I could stay with Ygritte. You said the words, Sam, the same as I did. The same as all of us.”
“我知道。吉莉说她可以做我的妻子，我……我把誓言及其中的含义告诉了她。我不知道这对她好不好，但还是讲了。”他不安地咽下一口口水。“琼恩，如果谎言是出于……出于好意，能否不失荣誉？”
“I know. Gilly said she’d be a wife to me, but … I told her about the words, and what they meant. I don’t know if that made her sad or glad, but I told her.” He swallowed nervously and said, “Jon, could there be honor in a lie, if it were told for a … a good purpose?”
“我想那取决于谎言的内容与目的。”琼恩看着山姆。“你不适合撒谎，我建议别这么做，山姆。你会脸红，说话又尖又结巴。”
“It would depend on the lie and the purpose, I suppose.” Jon looked at Sam. “I wouldn’t advise it. You’re not made to lie, Sam. You blush and squeak and stammer.”
“确实如此，”山姆道，“但我可在信中撒谎。书写我比较擅长。我有一个……一个想法。等这里的情况安定下来，也许对吉莉最好的是……我想……也许可以将她送去角陵，送到我母亲和妹妹们身边，还有我……我父、父、父亲。如果吉莉说这孩子是我、我的……”他又脸红了，“那么我母亲会要他，我知道，她还会给吉莉安排位置，找份工作，不会比伺候卡斯特难。至、至于蓝、蓝道伯爵，他……他虽不会出力赞助，但也许会乐意相信我跟某个野人女孩生了个私生子。至少证明我是男人，可以跟女人睡觉、生子。有回他告诉我，说我死的时候一定还是处子，没有女人愿意……你知道……琼恩，如果我这么做，写下这个谎言……那算不算好事？这孩子的生活……”
“I do,” said Sam, “but I could lie in a letter. I’m better with a quill in hand. I had a … a thought. When things are more settled here, I thought maybe the best thing for Gilly … I thought I might send her to Horn Hill. To my mother and sisters and my … my f-f-father. If Gilly were to say the babe was m-mine …” He was blushing again. “My mother would want him, I know. She would find some place for Gilly, some kind of service, it wouldn’t be as hard as serving Craster. And Lord R-Randyll, he … he would never say so, but he might be pleased to believe I got a bastard on some wildling girl. At least it would prove I was man enough to lie with a woman and father a child. He told me once that I was sure to die a maiden, that no woman would ever … you know … Jon, if I did this, wrote this lie … would that be a good thing? The life the boy would have …”
“在祖父的城堡里作为私生子长大？”琼恩耸耸肩，“基本上这取决于你父亲的态度，以及孩子自己的本性。如果他像你……”
“Growing up a bastard in his grandfather’s castle?” Jon shrugged. “That depends in great part on your father, and what sort of boy this is. If he takes after you …”
“不会的，卡斯特才是他父亲。你见过这人，他跟老树桩一样硬朗，吉莉也比外表看起来坚强。”
“He won’t. Craster’s his real father. You saw him, he was hard as an old tree stump, and Gilly is stronger than she looks.”
“如果这孩子显示出使用枪剑的技巧，至少能在你父亲的卫队里谋个职位，”琼恩思索，“而且私生子被训练成侍从，然后晋升骑士的事并不少见。可是呢，你得确定吉莉有足够的演技。从你描述的蓝道伯爵来看，我怀疑他不会容忍任何欺骗。”
“If the boy shows any skill with sword or lance, he should have a place with your father’s household guard at the least,” Jon said. “It’s not unknown for bastards to be trained as squires and raised to knighthood. But you’d best be sure Gilly can play this game convincingly. From what you’ve told me of Lord Randyll, I doubt he would take kindly to being deceived.”
塔外楼梯有更多卫兵。然而这些属于国王，山姆很快发现了其中区别。国王的人跟大家一样朴实平和，不若后党人士那么热切笃信亚夏的梅莉珊卓和她的光之王。“你又要去校场？”穿过庭院时山姆问，“腿伤还没痊愈，这样拼命练明智吗？”
More guards were posted on the steps outside the tower. These were king’s men, though; Sam had quickly learned the difference. The king’s men were as earthy and impious as any other soldiers, but the queen’s men were fervid in their devotion to Melisandre of Asshai and her Lord of Light. “Are you going to the practice yard again?” Sam asked as they crossed the yard. “Is it wise to train so hard before your leg’s done healing?”
琼恩耸耸肩，“我还有什么可干？马尔锡不给我分配任何职务，担心我是个叛徒。”
Jon shrugged. “What else is there for me to do? Marsh has removed me from duty, for fear that I’m still a turncloak.”
“这事没几个人相信，”山姆向他保证，“除了艾里沙爵士一伙。大多数弟兄都明白道理，我敢打赌，史坦尼斯国王也明白，你把冬之号角献给他，还俘虏了曼斯的儿子。”
“It’s only a few who believe that,” Sam assured him. “Ser Alliser and his friends. Most of the brothers know better. King Stannis knows as well, I’ll wager. You brought him the Horn of Winter and captured Mance Rayder’s son.”
“我不过在野人们崩溃时保护瓦迩和婴儿不受劫掠伤害，并让他们一直待在原地，等待游骑兵出现。我没俘虏任何人。很明显，史坦尼斯国王把部下约束得好。他让他们劫掠了一阵，但我只听说三个女野人遭到强暴，而犯事的人都被阉割。我猜我本该杀几个逃跑的自由民。这会儿艾里沙爵士到处宣扬，说我只肯为保护敌人拔剑，还把我没杀曼斯·雷德的旧账翻出来。”
“All I did was protect Val and the babe against looters when the wildlings fled, and keep them there until the rangers found us. I never captured anyone. King Stannis keeps his men well in hand, that’s plain. He lets them plunder some, but I’ve only heard of three wildling women being raped, and the men who did it have all been gelded. I suppose I should have been killing the free folk as they ran. Ser Alliser has been putting it about that the only time I bared my sword was to defend our foes. I failed to kill Mance Rayder because I was in league with him, he says.”
“那是艾里沙爵士，”山姆说，“大家都清楚他是什么样的人。”凭着贵族出身、骑士身份和守夜人军团多年服役的资历，艾里沙·索恩爵士本该是总司令头衔强有力的竞争者，可惜他在担任教头期间几乎得罪了所有新兵。他的名字理所当然地被提了出来，结果第一天仅排第六，第二天更为糟糕。于是索恩宣告退出，转而支持杰诺斯·史林特大人。
“That’s only Ser Alliser,” said Sam. “Everyone knows the sort of man he is.” With his noble birth, his knighthood, and his long years in the Watch, Ser Alliser Thorne might have been a strong challenger for the Lord Commander’s title, but almost all the men he’d trained during his years as master-at-arms despised him. His name had been offered, of course, but after running a weak sixth on the first day and actually losing votes on the second, Thorne had withdrawn to support Lord Janos Slynt.
“大家都清楚艾里沙爵士是嫡出世家的骑士，而我是杀死‘断掌’科林的凶手，跟矛妇上床的杂种。他们称我为‘狼灵’。我问你，连狼都没有，怎么做狼灵？”他嘴角扭曲了一下。“我甚至梦不到白灵，梦到的只有墓窖，只有王座上的国王石像。有时我听见罗柏和父亲的声音，似乎在举行宴会，但彼此之间隔了一堵墙，那里没有我的位置。”
“What everyone knows is that Ser Alliser is a knight from a noble line, and trueborn, while I’m the bastard who killed Qhorin Halfhand and bedded with a spearwife. The warg, I’ve heard them call me. How can I be a warg without a wolf, I ask you?” His mouth twisted. “I don’t even dream of Ghost anymore. All my dreams are of the crypts, of the stone kings on their thrones. Sometimes I hear Robb’s voice, and my father’s, as if they were at a feast. But there’s a wall between us, and I know that no place has been set for me.”
生者在死者的宴会中没有位置。山姆竭力保持沉默，但他的心都要碎了。布兰没死，琼恩，他真想说。他跟朋友们在一起，骑一头巨大的麋鹿去了北方，到鬼影森林深处寻找三眼乌鸦。这听起来如此疯狂，有时山姆·塔利觉得都是自己的想象，由于发烧、恐惧和饥饿而产生的幻觉……假如他没发誓，只怕就当真讲出来了。
The living have no place at the feasts of the dead. It tore the heart from Sam to hold his silence then. Bran’s not dead, Jon, he wanted to stay. He’s with friends, and they’re going north on a giant elk to find a three-eyed crow in the depths of the haunted forest. It sounded so mad that there were times Sam Tarly thought he must have dreamt it all, conjured it whole from fever and fear and hunger … but he would have blurted it out anyway, if he had not given his word.
然而他三次发誓守秘：一次对布兰本人，一次对那奇怪的男孩玖健·黎德，最后是对“冷手”。“全世界都认为这孩子死了，”分手时，他的救星说，“就让他尸骨安息吧。我们不希望被人追踪。发誓，守夜人山姆威尔，以你欠我的生命发誓。”
Three times he had sworn to keep the secret; once to Bran himself, once to that strange boy Jojen Reed, and last of all to Coldhands. “The world believes the boy is dead,” his rescuer had said as they parted. “Let his bones lie undisturbed. We want no seekers coming after us. Swear it, Samwell of the Night’s Watch. Swear it for the life you owe me.”
山姆凄惨地移了一下脚底重心，“杰诺斯大人不会被选为总司令，”这是他能给琼恩最好，也是唯一的安慰，“绝不会。”
Miserable, Sam shifted his weight and said, “Lord Janos will never be chosen Lord Commander.” It was the best comfort he had to offer Jon, the only comfort. “That won’t happen.”
“山姆，你是个可爱的傻瓜。睁开眼睛吧，依这几天的情况看，事情就要发生了。”琼恩将眼前的头发拨开，“我也许别的不知道，对这个却很清楚。请原谅，我想用剑狠狠打人去。”
“Sam, you’re a sweet fool. Open your eyes. It’s been happening for days.” Jon pushed his hair back out of his eyes and said, “I may know nothing, but I know that. Now pray excuse me, I need to hit someone very hard with a sword.”
山姆无可奈何，只能看着他大步流星地走向兵器库和校场。琼恩·雪诺醒着的时候多半在那里度过。由于安德鲁爵士战死，艾里沙爵士又漠不关心，黑城堡没了教头，于是琼恩自愿担当跟几个新兵练习的任务：纱丁、马儿、畸型足的“跳脚”罗宾、艾隆与艾蒙克。当他们有别的任务时，他便独自练剑、盾和长矛，一练就是数小时，任何人只要愿意，他都会与之过招。
There was naught that Sam could do but watch him stride off toward the armory and the practice yard. That was where Jon Snow spent most of his waking hours. With Ser Endrew dead and Ser Alliser disinterested, Castle Black had no master-at-arms, so Jon had taken it on himself to work with some of the rawer recruits; Satin, Horse, Hop-Robin with his clubfoot, Arron and Emrick. And when they had duties, he would train alone for hours with sword and shield and spear, or match himself against anyone who cared to take him on.
山姆，你是个可爱的傻瓜。山姆走向学士的居所，一路回想琼恩的话，睁开眼睛吧，依这几天的情况看，事情就要发生了。他说得对吗？成为守夜人军团总司令需要得到三分之二的票数，然而经过九天，九次投票之后，连接近这个数目的都没有。是的，最近杰诺斯大人追了上来，先悄悄攀过波文·马尔锡，然后超越奥赛尔·亚威克，但仍远远落后于影子塔的丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士和东海望的卡特·派克。他们中的一位肯定会成为新任总司令，山姆告诉自己。
Sam, you’re a sweet fool, he could hear Jon saying, all the way back to the maester’s keep. Open your eyes. It’s been happening for days. Could he be right? A man needed the votes of two-thirds of the Sworn Brothers to become the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and after nine days and nine votes no one was even close to that. Lord Janos had been gaining, true, creeping up past first Bowen Marsh and then Othell Yarwyck, but he was still well behind Ser Denys Mallister of the Shadow Tower and Cotter Pyke of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. One of them will be the new Lord Commander, surely, Sam told himself.
史坦尼斯在学士居所门外也安排了卫兵。屋内热烘烘的，挤满伤员：黑衣弟兄，国王的人，后党人士，三者皆有。克莱达斯端着山羊奶和安眠酒在他们中间穿梭，但伊蒙学士还没回来，每天早晨他都要去照看曼斯·雷德。山姆将斗篷挂在钩子上，前来帮忙。即使递东西、倒水和换药的同时，琼恩的话仍困扰着他。山姆，你是个可爱的傻瓜。睁开眼睛吧，依这几天的情况看，事情就要发生了。
Stannis had posted guards outside the maester’s door too. Within, the rooms were hot and crowded with the wounded from the battle; black brothers, king’s men, and queen’s men, all three. Clydas was shuffling amongst them with flagons of goats’ milk and dreamwine, but Maester Aemon had not yet returned from his morning call on Mance Rayder. Sam hung his cloak upon a peg and went to lend a hand. But even as he fetched and poured and changed dressings, Jon’s words nagged at him. Sam, you’re a sweet fool. Open your eyes. It’s been happening for days.
忙了整整一小时，他才得以告辞去喂乌鸦。去鸦巢途中，他停下来核查了一下昨晚统计的结果。选举开始时，有三十多个人被提名，但一旦明了无法获胜，多数人选择退出。昨晚剩下七个。丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士获得两百一十三票，卡特·派克一百八十七票，史林特大人七十四票，奥赛尔·亚威克六十票，波文·马尔锡四十九票，“三指”哈布五票，“优郁的”艾迪·托勒特一票——派普开的蠢玩笑。山姆翻看以前的记录。丹尼斯爵士、卡特·派克和波文·马尔锡的得票从第三天起递减，奥赛尔·亚威克从第六天，只有杰诺斯·史林特大人节节攀升，一天一天接一天。
It was a good hour before he could excuse himself to feed the ravens. On the way up to the rookery, he stopped to check the tally he had made of last night’s count. At the start of the choosing, more than thirty names had been offered, but most had withdrawn once it became clear they could not win. Seven remained as of last night. Ser Denys Mallister had collected two hundred and thirteen tokens, Cotter Pyke one hundred and eighty-seven, Lord Slynt seventy-four, Othell Yarwyck sixty, Bowen Marsh forty-nine, Three-Finger Hobb five, and Dolorous Edd Tollett one. Pyp and his stupid japes. Sam shuffled through the earlier counts. Ser Denys, Cotter Pyke, and Bowen Marsh had all been falling since the third day, Othell Yarwyck since the sixth. Only Lord Janos Slynt was climbing, day after day after day.
鸟儿在鸦巢里聒噪，于是他放下纸，爬上楼梯去喂它们。他高兴地发现又有三只乌鸦回来了。“雪诺，”它们朝他喊，“雪诺，雪诺，雪诺。”是他教的。然而即使加上新近回来的鸟，鸦巢还是显得空荡，令人沮丧。伊蒙送出去的那些至今只有极少数回来，幸好其中一只到了史坦尼斯那里。到了龙石岛，找到一个仍然关心王国的国王。山姆知道，在万里之外的南方，父亲带领塔利家族支持铁王座上的男孩，而当守夜人迫切求助时，无论乔佛里国王还是托曼国王都无动于衷。不愿守护王国的国王有什么用？他气愤地想，不由得记起先民拳峰上那个夜晚，以及前往卡斯特堡垒的可怕旅途，黑暗、恐惧和飘飞的大雪。后党人士让他不安，这没错，但他们至少来帮忙了。
He could hear the birds quorking in the rookery, so he put the papers away and climbed the steps to feed them. Three more ravens had come in, he saw with pleasure. “Snow,” they cried at him. “Snow, snow, snow.” He had taught them that. Even with the newcomers, the ravenry seemed dismally empty. Few of the birds that Aemon had sent off had returned as yet. One reached Stannis, though. One found Dragonstone, and a king who still cared. A thousand leagues south, Sam knew, his father had joined House Tarly to the cause of the boy on the Iron Throne, but neither King Joffrey nor little King Tommen had bestirred himself when the Watch cried out for help. What good is a king who will not defend his realm? he thought angrily, remembering the night on the Fist of the First Men and the terrible trek to Craster’s Keep through darkness, fear, and falling snow. The queen’s men made him uneasy, it was true, but at least they had come.
当天晚饭时，山姆寻找琼恩·雪诺，但地窖里遍寻不着——如今弟兄们改在巨大的石地窖用餐。最后，他只好在其他朋友的板凳边坐下。派普正把赌博的事告诉“忧郁的”艾迪，打赌内容是哪个稻草人哨兵中箭最多。“你一直领先，但长湖的瓦特在最后一天连中三箭，超了过去。”
That night at supper Sam looked for Jon Snow, but did not see him anywhere in the cavernous stone vault where the brothers now took their meals. He finally took a place on the bench near his other friends. Pyp was telling Dolorous Edd about the contest they’d had to see which of the straw soldiers could collect the most wildling arrows. “You were leading most of the way, but Watt of Long Lake got three in the last day and passed you.”
“我从没赢过，”“忧郁的”艾迪抱怨，“而诸神总是对瓦特微笑。野人们将他打下头骨桥时，他居然落进深水池，避开了所有岩石，那该多么幸运啊！”
“I never win anything,” Dolorous Edd complained. “The gods always smiled on Watt, though. When the wildlings knocked him off the Bridge of Skulls, somehow he landed in a nice deep pool of water. How lucky was that, missing all those rocks?”
“掉下去的地方高吗？”葛兰想知道，“落进水池有没有救他的命？”
“Was it a long fall?” Grenn wanted to know. “Did landing in the pool of water save his life?”
“没有，”“忧郁的”艾迪说，“他头上挨了一斧，早没命了，但还是很幸运，避开了所有岩石。”
“No,” said Dolorous Edd. “He was dead already, from that axe in his head. Still, it was pretty lucky, missing the rocks.”
“三指”哈布为弟兄们烤了长毛象的腰肉，也许想多得些选票。如果他这么盘算，该找头年轻的长毛象，山姆一边想，一边从齿缝里拉出一根软骨。他叹口气，将食物推开。
Three-Finger Hobb had promised the brothers roast haunch of mammoth that night, maybe in hopes of cadging a few more votes. If that was his notion, he should have found a younger mammoth, Sam thought, as he pulled a string of gristle out from between his teeth. Sighing, he pushed the food away.
很快又要投票，空气中凝重的气氛比烟雾更浓。卡特·派克坐在火堆旁，围着一圈东海望的游骑兵。丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士待在门口，跟一小撮影子塔的人为伴。而杰诺斯·史林特占据了最好的位置，山姆意识到，在火焰和大门之间。他不安地看到波文·马尔锡凑在旁边，脸色苍白，形容憔悴，头上仍缠着亚麻布，仔细听杰诺斯大人说话。当他向朋友们指出之后，派普补充，“看那儿，艾里沙爵士在跟奥赛尔·亚威克咬耳朵。”
There would be another vote shortly, and the tensions in the air were thicker than the smoke. Cotter Pyke sat by the fire, surrounded by rangers from Eastwatch. Ser Denys Mallister was near the door with a smaller group of Shadow Tower men. Janos Slynt has the best place, Sam realized, halfway between the flames and the drafts. He was alarmed to see Bowen Marsh beside him, wan-faced and haggard, his head still wrapped in linen, but listening to all that Lord Janos had to say. When he pointed that out to his friends, Pyp said, “And look down there, that’s Ser Alliser whispering with Othell Yarwyck.”
吃完饭，伊蒙学士起身询问，投票之前哪个兄弟希望发言。“忧郁的”艾迪首先站起来，脸色依然像石头一样阴沉，“我想对投我票的人说，我肯定是个糟糕的总司令。其他人也一样。”接下来波文·马尔锡一只手搭在史林特大人肩上道：“弟兄们，朋友们，我请求将自己的名字撤出选举。伤势令我困扰，而且这个职务对我来说恐怕负担太重……但对杰诺斯大人而言却不是，他曾指挥君临的金袍卫士多年，让我们转而支持他、相信他吧。”
After the meal Maester Aemon rose to ask if any of the brothers wished to speak before they cast their tokens. Dolorous Edd got up, stone-faced and glum as ever. “I just want to say to whoever is voting for me that I would certainly make an awful Lord Commander. But so would all these others.” He was followed by Bowen Marsh, who stood with one hand on Lord Slynt’s shoulder. “Brothers and friends, I am asking that my name be withdrawn from this choosing. My wound still troubles me, and the task is too large for me, I fear … but not for Lord Janos here, who commanded the gold cloaks of King’s Landing for many years. Let us all give him our support.”
山姆听见卡特·派克那边发出一阵愤怒的低语，而丹尼斯爵士看看伙伴，摇了摇头。太晚了，伤害已经铸成。他不知琼恩在哪里，为什么要躲开。
Sam heard angry mutters from Cotter Pyke’s end of the room, and Ser Denys looked at one of his companions and shook his head. It is too late, the damage is done. He wondered where Jon was, and why he had stayed away.
大半弟兄不识字，因此，按照惯例，选票以物品充当，投入一个由“三指”哈布和“呆子”欧文从厨房拖出来的大肚子铁罐中。装代票物品的不同木桶放在角落，由一条厚重幕帘隔开，保证投票者秘密选择。如果你恰好有任务在身，可以让朋友代投，因此有些人拿了两个、三个，甚至四个代票物品，而丹尼斯爵士和卡特·派克替全体留守的驻军投票。
Most of the brothers were unlettered, so by tradition the choosing was done by dropping tokens into a big potbellied iron kettle that Three-Finger Hobb and Owen the Oaf had dragged over from the kitchens. The barrels of tokens were off in a corner behind a heavy drape, so the voters could make their choice unseen. You were allowed to have a friend cast your token if you had duty, so some men took two tokens, three, or four, and Ser Denys and Cotter Pyke voted for the garrisons they had left behind.
等大厅终于安静，只剩下他们几个，山姆和克莱达斯当着伊蒙学士的面将罐子倒空。贝壳，石子和铜板如瀑布般落下，铺满桌子。伊蒙学士满是褶皱的手快得令人吃惊，他将贝壳移到这里，石头移到那里，铜板移到另一边，少量箭头、钉子和橡果也各自分开。山姆和克莱达斯分头计点每堆数目，并各自数了一遍。
When the hall was finally empty, save for them, Sam and Clydas upended the kettle in front of Maester Aemon. A cascade of seashells, stones, and copper pennies covered the table. Aemon’s wrinkled hands sorted with surprising speed, moving the shells here, the stones there, the pennies to one side, the occasional arrowhead, nail, and acorn off to themselves. Sam and Clydas counted the piles, each of them keeping his own tally.
今晚轮到山姆先汇报结果。“两百零三票投丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士，”他说，“一百六十九票投卡特·派克。一百三十七票投杰诺斯·史林特大人，七十二票投奥赛尔·亚威克，五票投‘三指’哈布，两票投‘忧郁的’艾迪。”
Tonight it was Sam’s turn to give his results first. “Two hundred and three for Ser Denys Mallister,” he said. “One hundred and sixty-nine for Cotter Pyke. One hundred and thirty-seven for Lord Janos Slynt, seventy-two for Othell Yarwyck, five for Three-Finger Hobb, and two for Dolorous Edd.”
“我数的是一百六十九票投派克，”克莱达斯说，“我的计算缺了两票，山姆缺一票。”
“I had one hundred and sixty-eight for Pyke,” Clydas said. “We are two votes short by my count, and one by Sam’s.”
“山姆是对的，”伊蒙学士说，“琼恩·雪诺没投票。无所谓。没人接近三分之二。”
“Sam’s count is correct,” said Maester Aemon. “Jon Snow did not cast a token. It makes no matter. No one is close.”
山姆欣慰甚于失望。即使有波文·马尔锡支持，杰诺斯大人仍排第三。“一直投‘三指’哈布的五个人是谁？”他疑惑地问。
Sam was more relieved than disappointed. Even with Bowen Marsh’s support, Lord Janos was still only third. “Who are these five who keep voting for Three-Finger Hobb?” he wondered.
“想把他赶出厨房的弟兄们。”克莱达斯提示。
“Brothers who want him out of the kitchens?” said Clydas.
“丹尼斯爵士比昨天少了十票，”山姆指出，“卡特·派克少了近二十票。不是好事。”
“Ser Denys is down ten votes since yesterday,” Sam pointed out. “And Cotter Pyke is down almost twenty. That’s not good.”
“对想成为总司令的他们而言当然不好，”伊蒙学士道，“难说对守夜人的好坏。这不该由我们决定。十天不算长。曾有一回，选举持续近两年，投了七百多次。弟兄们最后总会作出决定。”
“Not good for their hopes of becoming Lord Commander, certainly,” said Maester Aemon. “Yet it may be good for the Night’s Watch, in the end. That is not for us to say. Ten days is not unduly long. There was once a choosing that lasted near two years, some seven hundred votes. The brothers will come to a decision in their own time.”
对，山姆心想，但那是什么样的决定呢？
Yes, Sam thought, but what decision?
稍后，在派普的房间里，喝着兑水的葡萄酒，山姆的舌头松动了，他发现自己把想法大声说了出来。“卡特·派克和丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士渐渐失势，但他们加起来差不多还有三分之二，”他告诉派普和葛兰，“他俩哪个当总司令都行。需要有人说服其中一个退出，支持另一个。”
Later, over cups of watered wine in the privacy of Pyp’s cell, Sam’s tongue loosened and he found himself thinking aloud. “Cotter Pyke and Ser Denys Mallister have been losing ground, but between them they still have almost two-thirds,” he told Pyp and Grenn. “Either one would be fine as Lord Commander. Someone needs to convince one of them to withdraw and support the other.”
“有人？”葛兰怀疑地说，“哪个人？”
“Someone?” said Grenn, doubtfully. “What someone?”
“笨牛以为也许指的是他，”派普道，“其实呀，此人说服派克和梅利斯特和好之后，多半可以继续规劝史坦尼斯国王迎娶瑟曦太后。”
“Grenn is so dumb he thinks someone might be him,” said Pyp. “Maybe when someone is done with Pyke and Mallister, he should convince King Stannis to marry Queen Cersei too.”
“史坦尼斯国王已经结婚了。”葛兰反驳。
“King Stannis is married,” Grenn objected.
“瞧，我该拿他怎么办呢，山姆？”派普叹口气。
“What am I going to do with him, Sam?” sighed Pyp.
“卡特·派克和丹尼斯爵士互不喜欢，”葛兰固执地争辩，“他们每件事都要争。”
“Cotter Pyke and Ser Denys don’t like each other much,” Grenn argued stubbornly. “They fight about everything.”
“对，但同时他们对守夜人都怀有—腔热情，”山姆说，“如果我们向他们解释——”
“Yes, but only because they have different ideas about what’s best for the Watch,” said Sam. “If we explained—”
“我们？”派普说，“怎么‘有人’成了‘我们’？记得吗，我是‘乳臭未干的小毛头’？葛兰嘛，嗯，葛兰。”他朝山姆笑笑，动了动招风耳，“你呢……你是领主的长子，又是学士的助手……”
“We?” said Pyp. “How did someone change to we? I’m the mummer’s monkey, remember? And Grenn is, well, Grenn.” He smiled at Sam, and wiggled his ears. “You, now … you’re a lord’s son, and the maester’s steward …”
“还有‘杀手’山姆，”葛兰说，“你杀过异鬼。”
“And Sam the Slayer,” said Grenn. “You slew an Other.”
“是龙晶杀死它的。”山姆第一百遍告诉他。
“It was the dragonglass that killed it,” Sam told him for the hundredth time.
“领主的长子，学士的助手，‘杀手’山姆，”派普沉思，“你去跟他们谈，也许……”
“A lord’s son, the maester’s steward, and Sam the Slayer,” Pyp mused. “You could talk to them, might be …”
“我去？”山姆用比“忧郁的”艾迪更忧郁的语调说，“我没害怕得一句话都说不出来便是万幸了。”
“I could,” said Sam, sounding as gloomy as Dolorous Edd, “if I wasn’t too craven to face them.”