Ⅱ 列王的纷争 Chapter53 琼恩
JON
风声峡中一片黑暗。一天中的大半时间，两旁的巨石山峦遮蔽阳光，人马行在阴影下，吐息在冷气里结霜。覆冰的水流自头顶的积雪堆中涓涓滴落，掉在地上，形成冻结的小池，随即被马蹄踩踏而碎。几根杂草从乱石缝隙中挣脱出来，间或还有几点苍白的地衣，但此地没有青草，而他们正在森林之上前进。
It was dark in the Skirling Pass. The great stone flanks of the mountains hid the sun for most of the day, so they rode in shadow, the breath of man and horse steaming in the cold air. Icy fingers of water trickled down from the snowpack above into small frozen pools that cracked and broke beneath the hooves of their garrons. Sometimes they would see a few weeds struggling from some crack in the rock or a splotch of pale lichen, but there was no grass, and they were above the trees now.
小路既陡且窄，盘旋上升，到了山上，狭隘得只能单列前进。侍从戴里吉走在最前，长弓在手，远眺侦察。据说他的视力守夜人军团上下无人能及。
The track was as steep as it was narrow, wending its way ever upward. Where the pass was so constricted that rangers had to go single file, Squire Dalbridge would take the lead, scanning the heights as he went, his longbow ever close to hand. It was said he had the keenest eyes in the Night’s Watch.
白灵焦躁不安地跑在琼恩身旁，不时驻足回头，竖起耳朵，仿如听见什么事物在尾随。琼恩知道影子山猫不会攻击活人——除非实在饿得难受，但仍旧拔出长爪，仔细戒备。
Ghost padded restlessly by Jon’s side. From time to time he would stop and turn, his ears pricked, as if he heard something behind them. Jon did not think the shadowcats would attack living men, not unless they were starving, but he loosened Longclaw in its scabbard even so.
峡道最顶点是块风蚀的灰拱石。从这往下，道路变宽，逐渐下落，直达乳河河谷。科林宣布团队在阴影增长前将于此休息。“影子是黑衣人的朋友，”他说。
A wind-carved arch of grey stone marked the highest point of the pass. Here the way broadened as it began its long descent toward the valley of the Milkwater. Qhorin decreed that they would rest here until the shadows began to grow again. “Shadows are friends to men in black,” he said.
对此琼恩深以为然。在阳光下骑行——任山区的艳阳撒落斗篷，驱散浸骨的寒意——固然令人陶醉，却充满危险。峡口既有三个守望者，越是深入一定更多，随时可能遭遇。
Jon saw the sense of that. It would be pleasant to ride in the light for a time, to let the bright mountain sun soak through their cloaks and chase the chill from their bones, but they dared not. Where there were three watchers there might be others, waiting to sound the alarm.
石蛇蜷进破烂的毛斗篷，几乎立刻睡着了。琼恩和白灵分享腌牛肉，而伊班和侍从戴里吉则喂养马匹。断掌科林背靠岩石坐下，缓慢而无休止地磨着长剑。琼恩盯着高大的游骑兵看了一会儿，才提起勇气走上前。“大人，”他说，“关于那女孩，您还没过问我后来的经过呢。”
Stonesnake curled up under his ragged fur cloak and was asleep almost at once. Jon shared his salt beef with Ghost while Ebben and Squire Dalbridge fed the horses. Qhorin Halfhand sat with his back to a rock, honing the edge of his longsword with long slow strokes. Jon watched the ranger for a few moments, then summoned his courage and went to him. “My lord,” he said, “you never asked me how it went. With the girl.”
“我不是大人，琼恩·雪诺。”科林用只剩两根指头的手掌平稳地握石磨刀。
“I am no lord, Jon Snow.” Qhorin slid the stone smoothly along the steel with his two-fingered hand.
“她要我跟他走，她说曼斯会收留我。”
“She told me Mance would take me, if I ran with her.”
“她说的没错。”
“She told you true.”
“她甚至宣称我跟她是亲戚。她给我讲了个故事，关于……”
“She even claimed we were kin. She told me a story …”
“……吟游诗人贝尔和临冬城的玫瑰。石蛇已对我说了。恰好我也听过这首歌。从前，曼斯每次巡逻归来都会唱它。他很喜欢野人的音乐，唉，还有他们的女人。”
“… of Bael the Bard and the rose of Winterfell. So Stonesnake told me. It happens I know the song. Mance would sing it of old, when he came back from a ranging. He had a passion for wildling music. Aye, and for their women as well.”
“您认识他？”
“You knew him?”
“我们都认识他。”他语调悲哀。
“We all knew him.” His voice was sad.
他们曾并肩作战，亲如兄弟，琼恩明白了，如今却成为不共戴天的仇敌。“他为什么背誓离开？”
They were friends as well as brothers, Jon realized, and now they are sworn foes. “Why did he desert?”
“有人说他为个婊子，有人说他为顶王冠。”科林用拇指试试剑锋。“曼斯很爱女人，而且也属于那种不爱向别人屈膝的人，这些都没错，但他离去的理由更深刻。比起长城来，他更爱荒野。那是他的血液、他的天性。他生来便是野种，是我们从截杀的掠袭者怀中留下的孩子——这种孩子守夜人为之取姓‘雷德’①，离开影子塔对他而言不过是回家。”
“For a wench, some say. For a crown, others would have it.” Qhorin tested the edge of his sword with the ball of his thumb. “He liked women, Mance did, and he was not a man whose knees bent easily, that’s true. But it was more than that. He loved the wild better than the Wall. It was in his blood. He was wildling born, taken as a child when some raiders were put to the sword. When he left the Shadow Tower he was only going home again.”
“当年他是个好游骑兵吗？”
“Was he a good ranger?”
“他是咱们这批人中最棒的一个，”断掌说，“但从某种意义上而言，也算得上最糟糕的一人。琼恩，只有索伦·斯莫伍德那样的傻瓜才鄙视野人，他们其实和我们一样勇敢，一样强健，一样迅捷，一样聪明，只是缺乏纪律。他们自称为自由民，每个人都以为自己似国王一般伟大，如学士一样睿智。曼斯正是如此，他从未学会服从的含义。”
“He was the best of us,” said the Halfhand, “and the worst as well. Only fools like Thoren Smallwood despise the wildlings. They are as brave as we are, Jon. As strong, as quick, as clever. But they have no discipline. They name themselves the free folk, and each one thinks himself as good as a king and wiser than a maester. Mance was the same. He never learned how to obey.”
“和我一样，”琼恩静静地说。
“No more than me,” said Jon quietly.
科林精明的灰眼睛似乎能看穿他。“你放了她。”他的语气没有一丝一毫的惊讶。
Qhorin’s shrewd grey eyes seemed to see right through him. “So you let her go?” He did not sound the least surprised.
“您知道？”
“You know?”
“刚知道。告诉我，你为何放过她？”
“Now. Tell me why you spared her.”
这很难说明白。“我父亲从不用刽子手。他常说，如果你要取人性命，至少应该注视她的双眼，聆听她的临终遗言。当我望向耶哥蕊特的眼睛，我……”琼恩埋下头，无助地望着双手。“我知道她是敌人，可她眼里没有邪恶。”
It was hard to put into words. “My father never used a headsman. He said he owed it to men he killed to look into their eyes and hear their last words. And when I looked into Ygritte’s eyes, I …” Jon stared down at his hands helplessly. “I know she was an enemy, but there was no evil in her.”
“之前那两人也没有。”
“No more than in the other two.”
“可当时他们跟咱们是你死我活的关系，”琼恩说，“如果被他们发现，如果他们吹响号角……”
“It was their lives or ours,” Jon said. “If they had seen us, if they had sounded that horn …”
“野人便会对我们穷追不舍，斩尽杀绝。这不结了？”
“The wildlings would hunt us down and slay us, true enough.”
“但后来石蛇拿到了号，我们也取走耶哥蕊特的小刀和斧头。她跟着我们，一路步行，手无寸铁……”
“Stonesnake has the horn now, though, and we took Ygritte’s knife and axe. She’s behind us, afoot, unarmed …”
“应该不构成威胁，”科林同意，“我真想她死，早留下伊班去办，或是亲自动手。”
“And not like to be a threat,” Qhorin agreed. “If I had needed her dead, I would have left her with Ebben, or done the thing myself.”
“那您为何命令我去？”
“Then why did you command it of me?”
“我没有命令你。我只让你做你自己该做的事，一切由你自行考虑。”科林站起身来，长剑收回鞘中。“要攀登高山，我会叫石蛇；要在刮着强风的战场上射穿敌人眼睛，我会派侍从戴里吉；而伊班能让任何人吐露秘密。知人才能善任，琼恩·雪诺，我现在对你的了解比今晨时更深。”
“I did not command it. I told you to do what needed to be done, and left you to decide what that would be.” Qhorin stood and slid his longsword back into its scabbard. “When I want a mountain scaled, I call on Stonesnake. Should I need to put an arrow through the eye of some foe across a windy battlefield, I summon Squire Dalbridge. Ebben can make any man give up his secrets. To lead men you must know them, Jon Snow. I know more of you now than I did this morning.”
“假如我杀了她呢？”琼恩问。
“And if I had slain her?” asked Jon.
“她死，而我了解你的目的也同样达到。好，话不多说，你应该睡一会儿。前面还有好多里格的路，危险着呢，你需要保存体力。”
“She would be dead, and I would know you better than I had before. But enough talk. You ought be sleeping. We have leagues to go, and dangers to face. You will need your strength.”
琼恩知道自己睡不着，但明白断掌确是好意。他在一块高悬的岩石下找到避风之所，合衣躺下，斗篷权当毯子。“白灵，”他唤道，“过来，到我这儿。”通常只要大白狼偎在身边会睡得比较香甜，他的气味让琼恩心安，那身蓬松的厚白毛更能带来久违的温暖。但这一次，白灵只看了他几眼，便转头绕着马儿小跑，旋即飞速逃开。他想打猎，琼恩心想，山里面说不定有山羊，影子山猫总得靠什么过活吧。“别太勉强喔，抓猫可不太好。”他呢喃道。即使对冰原狼而言，影子山猫也是个威胁。他拉起斗篷盖住自己，在岩石遮蔽下摊开身体。
Jon did not think sleep would come easily, but he knew the Halfhand was right. He found a place out of the wind, beneath an overhang of rock, and took off his cloak to use it for a blanket. “Ghost,” he called. “Here. To me.” He always slept better with the great white wolf beside him; there was comfort in the smell of him, and welcome warmth in that shaggy pale fur. This time, though, Ghost did no more than look at him. Then he turned away and padded around the garrons, and quick as that he was gone. He wants to hunt, Jon thought. Perhaps there were goats in these mountains. The shadowcats must live on something. “Just don’t try and bring down a ’cat,” he muttered. Even for a direwolf, that would be dangerous. He tugged his cloak over him and stretched out beneath the rock.
闭上眼睛，他梦见了冰原狼。
When he closed his eyes, he dreamed of direwolves.
六狼一体，五狼残存，分割天涯，互不联络。他只觉深沉的空虚和撕裂的疼痛。森林辽广清寒，他们如此渺小，如此失落。他知道兄弟姐妹就在某地，却嗅不出气息。于是他蜷身而坐，向着黑暗的天空仰天长嗥，叫声回荡在森林，成为悠长孤寂的哀叹。余音渐衰，他竖起耳朵，等待答复。惟一的回应是吹雪的叹息。
There were five of them when there should have been six, and they were scattered, each apart from the others. He felt a deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness. The forest was vast and cold, and they were so small, so lost. His brothers were out there somewhere, and his sister, but he had lost their scent. He sat on his haunches and lifted his head to the darkening sky, and his cry echoed through the forest, a long lonely mournful sound. As it died away, he pricked up his ears, listening for an answer, but the only sound was the sigh of blowing snow.
琼恩？
Jon?
身后传来一声呼唤，虽微如耳语，却坚定依然。呼喊也可能静寂吗？他忙回头，寻找他的兄弟，期望瞥见林间消瘦的灰影，但对面什么也没有，除了……
The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent? He turned his head, searching for his brother, for a glimpse of a lean grey shape moving beneath the trees, but there was nothing, only …
一棵鱼梁木。
A weirwood.
它自坚固的岩石中萌生而出，苍白的树根从无数裂沟和细缝间螺旋而上。初时这棵鱼梁木比同类来得纤细，几乎只能算树苗，但它在眼前陡然生长，枝干变粗，直向云霄。他警觉起来，小心翼翼地绕着平滑的粗白树干行走，正好撞见树的脸庞。只见红色的眼睛盯着他，目光凶猛但愉悦。原来这棵鱼梁木的脸生得和弟弟一模一样。弟弟一直都有三只眼吗？
It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?
不是一直，静寂的呼喊再度传来，是乌鸦到来之后。
Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow.
他嗅嗅树皮，闻到狼、树和男孩的气息，除此之外，蕴涵有更深远的味道：浓重的棕味是温暖的大地，坚硬的灰味是冰冷的石头，还有别的、更可怕的气味……死亡，他明白过来。他闻到的是死亡的气息。他猛然缩后，毛发直立，露出利齿。
He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.
别害怕，我喜欢身处暗处的感觉。别人看不见你，你看得见别人。但你首先必须睁开眼睛。明白吗？就像这样。大树弯下腰来，触碰了他。
Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.
猛然间，他又回到群山之中，只见自己站在一道巨大的悬崖边，爪子深深地插进雪堆。前方，风声峡已到尽头，展开成为无垠的空旷。一道长长的V字形河谷摆在身下，充盈着秋日午后所有的色彩。
And suddenly he was back in the mountains, his paws sunk deep in a drift of snow as he stood upon the edge of a great precipice. Before him the Skirling Pass opened up into airy emptiness, and a long vee-shaped valley lay spread beneath him like a quilt, awash in all the colors of an autumn afternoon.
谷地尽头，有一道硕大无朋的蓝白巨墙，紧贴着山，好似要把两山挤开。一时之间，他以为自己梦回黑城堡，但随即发现这不过是道数千尺高的冰川。寒光闪烁的冰壁下，有一个雄伟的湖泊，蓝钻般的深水映射着四周雪峰的辉芒。峡谷里有人，他看清了：有好多人，成千上万，拥挤不堪。有的在半冻的土地上挖大坑，其他人则操练战斗。他看见大群骑兵冲击一道盾墙，胯下的马如蚁蝼般渺小。演习的声音好似铁叶瑟瑟拂动，轻微地悬荡在风中。他们的营地毫无规划，杂乱无章：既无沟渠，更无尖桩，连马匹也未整备成列。随处可见土制陋屋，兽皮帐篷萌生出来，犹如大地这张脸上长的痘疹。他望着凌乱的干草堆，闻到山羊、绵羊、马、猪和狗发出的浓郁气味，黑烟如卷须般自千堆营火袅袅上升。
A vast blue-white wall plugged one end of the vale, squeezing between the mountains as if it had shouldered them aside, and for a moment he thought he had dreamed himself back to Castle Black. Then he realized he was looking at a river of ice several thousand feet high. Under that glittering cold cliff was a great lake, its deep cobalt waters reflecting the snowcapped peaks that ringed it. There were men down in the valley, he saw now; many men, thousands, a huge host. Some were tearing great holes in the half-frozen ground, while others trained for war. He watched as a swarming mass of riders charged a shield wall, astride horses no larger than ants. The sound of their mock battle was a rustling of steel leaves, drifting faintly on the wind. Their encampment had no plan to it; he saw no ditches, no sharpened stakes, no neat rows of horse lines. Everywhere crude earthen shelters and hide tents sprouted haphazardly, like a pox on the face of the earth. He spied untidy mounds of hay, smelled goats and sheep, horses and pigs, dogs in great profusion. Tendrils of dark smoke rose from a thousand cookfires.
这哪是一支军队，分明是一座闹市。四面八方的人都聚集而来。
This is no army, no more than it is a town. This is a whole people come together.
长湖对面，一座土墩正在移动。他目不转睛地盯着它走近，赫然发现那并非泥土，而是活物，是一只有着蛇样鼻子、行动迟缓的毛茸怪兽，那对獠牙比他所见过最壮观的野猪牙都庞大。骑着它的东西也同样巨大，不过形体有些奇怪，腿臀极粗，不太像人。
Across the long lake, one of the mounds moved. He watched it more closely and saw that it was not dirt at all, but alive, a shaggy lumbering beast with a snake for a nose and tusks larger than those of the greatest boar that had ever lived. And the thing riding it was huge as well, and his shape was wrong, too thick in the leg and hips to be a man.
突如其来一阵寒风，吹得他毛发直竖，翅翼的尖啸令天空战栗。他抬眼望向白雪皑皑的高峰，只见一道阴影自半空垂直而下。恐怖的呐喊撕裂长天，灰蓝的巨翅向外伸展，遮天蔽日……
Then a sudden gust of cold made his fur stand up, and the air thrilled to the sound of wings. As he lifted his eyes to the ice-white mountain heights above, a shadow plummeted out of the sky. A shrill scream split the air. He glimpsed blue-grey pinions spread wide, shutting out the sun …
“白灵！”琼恩大喊一声，坐起身来。他仍能感觉那利爪，那疼痛。“白灵，回来！”
“Ghost!” Jon shouted, sitting up. He could still feel the talons, the pain. “Ghost, to me!”
来的是伊班，他捉住琼恩，摇晃不休。“安静！你打算把野人都引下来吗？你是哪里不对劲，小子？”
Ebben appeared, grabbed him, shook him. “Quiet! You mean to bring the wildlings down on us? What’s wrong with you, boy?”
“梦，”琼恩无力地说，“梦中我成为白灵，站在悬崖边俯瞰结冻的河流。接着有东西攻击我。是只鸟……鹰，我想……”
“A dream,” said Jon feebly. “I was Ghost, I was on the edge of the mountain looking down on a frozen river, and something attacked me. A bird … an eagle, I think …”
侍从戴里吉笑了，“咱常梦的都是漂亮妞儿，真该多发发梦的。”
Squire Dalbridge smiled. “It’s always pretty women in my dreams. Would that I dreamed more often.”
科林走到身旁。“你是说，结冻的河流？”
Qhorin came up beside him. “A frozen river, you say?”
“乳河发源于冰川底部的深湖，”石蛇插话。
“The Milkwater flows from a great lake at the foot of a glacier,” Stonesnake put in.
“那里有棵树，长着我弟弟的脸庞。有野人……成千上万的野人，我从来不知他们有那么多，还有骑长毛象的巨人。”透过天光的变化，琼恩判断自己已睡了四五个钟头。他头痛欲裂，后颈处因爪牙的攻击而灼痛。可那是梦啊。
“There was a tree with my brother’s face. The wildlings … there were thousands, more than I ever knew existed. And giants riding mammoths.” From the way the light had shifted, Jon judged that he had been asleep for four or five hours. His head ached, and the back of his neck where the talons had burned through him. But that was in the dream.
“把你还记得的东西都告诉我，从头到尾，巨细无遗。”断掌科林道。
“Tell me all that you remember, from first to last,” said Qhorin Halfhand.
琼恩糊涂了。“那不是梦么？”
Jon was confused. “It was only a dream.”
“那是狼梦，”断掌说，“卡斯特告诉总司令，野人们正在乳河源头集结。或许因为这个，你做这个梦；或许你是真看见了等待着我们的东西，远远提前于我们的脚步。不管怎样，告诉我实情。”把这些事说给科林和其他游骑兵听，让他觉得自己像个蠢蛋，但必须服从命令。奇怪的是，听完之后，没一个黑衣兄弟笑话他，连侍从戴里吉也收起笑容。
“A wolf dream,” the Halfhand said. “Craster told the Lord Commander that the wildlings were gathering at the source of the Milkwater. That may be why you dreamed it. Or it may be that you saw what waits for us, a few hours farther on. Tell me.”
“易形者？”伊班严峻地说，一边望向断掌。他指的是老鹰？琼恩思量，还是我？易形者和狼灵只出现在老奶妈的故事里，并不属于这个他所降生的世界。但在此地，在这一片陌生凄冷的岩雪荒原中，什么都不难相信。
It made him feel half a fool to talk of such things to Qhorin and the other rangers, but he did as he was commanded. None of the black brothers laughed at him, however. By the time he was done, even Squire Dalbridge was no longer smiling.
“冷风正要吹起，莫尔蒙感觉到了，班扬·史塔克也感觉到了。死人行走，树眼重现。狼灵和易形者又有什么难以置信的呢？”
“Skinchanger?” said Ebben grimly, looking at the Halfhand. Does he mean the eagle? Jon wondered. Or me? Skinchangers and wargs belonged in Old Nan’s stories, not in the world he had lived in all his life. Yet here, in this strange bleak wilderness of rock and ice, it was not hard to believe.
“莫非咱的梦也能成真？”侍从戴里吉道，“雪诺大人就留着他的长毛象好了，我要我那些女人。”
“The cold winds are rising. Mormont feared as much. Benjen Stark felt it as well. Dead men walk and the trees have eyes again. Why should we balk at wargs and giants?”
“我从小到大为守夜人服役，巡逻次数比旁人都多，”伊班说，“我见过巨人遗骨，听过许多奇怪的传说，却从未看过实物。眼见为实，如今我要好好瞧瞧。”
“Does this mean my dreams are true as well?” asked Squire Dalbridge. “Lord Snow can keep his mammoths, I want my women.”
“小心，别让他们瞧见你，伊班，”石蛇道。
“Man and boy I’ve served the Watch, and ranged as far as any,” said Ebben. “I’ve seen the bones of giants, and heard many a queer tale, but no more. I want to see them with my own eyes.”
直到人们再次前进，白灵也未现身。这时阴影已完全覆盖峡道底部，太阳正朝着游骑兵们称为“叉梢”的两座尖锐的孪生巨峰急速下落。如果梦是真的……这念头想想都吓人。难道白灵真的伤在老鹰爪下？难道被推下悬崖了吗？还有那棵长着弟弟脸庞的鱼梁木，它怎么有死亡和黑暗的气息？
“Be careful they don’t see you, Ebben,” Stonesnake said.
最后一缕阳光隐没在“叉梢”之后，黄昏的朦胧笼罩风声峡，气温似乎刹那间便下降许多。他们不再攀登，事实上，道路缓缓下降，虽然粗拙却不陡峭。路上充满裂缝、碎岩和大块落石。天很快就要全黑，白灵仍不见踪影，这种感觉快把琼恩生生撕裂，偏偏他不能像平日一样呼唤冰原狼，因为此地危机四伏。
Ghost did not reappear as they set out again. The shadows covered the floor of the pass by then, and the sun was sinking fast toward the jagged twin peaks of the huge mountain the rangers named Forktop. If the dream was true … Even the thought scared him. Could the eagle have hurt Ghost, or knocked him off the precipice? And what about the weirwood with his brother’s face, that smelled of death and darkness?
“科林，”侍从戴里吉轻唤道，“那儿。你看。”
The last ray of sun vanished behind the peaks of Forktop. Twilight filled the Skirling Pass. It seemed to grow colder almost at once. They were no longer climbing. In fact, the ground had begun to descend, though as yet not sharply. It was littered with cracks and broken boulders and tumbled heaps of rock. It will be dark soon, and still no sight of Ghost. It was tearing Jon apart, yet he dare not shout for the direwolf as he would have liked. Other things might be listening as well.
一只老鹰栖息在头顶一道岩脊上，衬着逐渐暗淡的天空。我们常见到鹰，琼恩心想，这不可能是我梦见的那只。
“Qhorin,” Squire Dalbridge called softly. “There. Look.”
虽然如此，伊班还是搭箭弯弓，侍从拦住他。“那鸟远在射程之外。”
The eagle was perched on a spine of rock far above them, outlined against the darkening sky. We’ve seen other eagles, Jon thought. That need not be the one I dreamed of.
“我不喜欢它盯着我们。”
Even so, Ebben would have loosed a shaft at it, but the squire stopped him. “The bird’s well out of bowshot.”
侍从耸肩，“我也是，但你管不了它，只会浪费一根上好的羽箭。”
“I don’t like it watching us.”
科林坐在鞍上，长时间观察老鹰。“我们继续，”最后他说。于是游骑兵们继续下坡。
The squire shrugged. “Nor me, but you won’t stop it. Only waste a good arrow.”
白灵啊，琼恩只想高呼，你到底在哪儿？
Qhorin sat in his saddle, studying the eagle for a long time. “We press on,” he finally said. The rangers resumed their descent.
他刚想跟上科林和其他人，不觉瞥见两颗大石之间白光一闪。是堆积的残雪罢，他正这么想，只见那堆“雪”抖了抖。这次他立刻翻身下马，跪倒在乱石间。
Ghost, Jon wanted to shout, where are you?
白灵抬头，颈项闪烁着潮湿的反光，当琼恩摘下手套抚摩他时，也没发出半点声音。鹰爪撕得皮开肉绽，血肉模糊，幸好没有折断脖子，致他死命。
He was about to follow Qhorin and the others when he glimpsed a flash of white between two boulders. A patch of old snow, he thought, until he saw it stir. He was off his horse at once. As he went to his knees, Ghost lifted his head. His neck glistened wetly, but he made no sound when Jon peeled off a glove and touched him. The talons had torn a bloody path through fur and flesh, but the bird had not been able to snap his neck.
断掌科林站在琼恩身边。“有多严重？”
Qhorin Halfhand was standing over him. “How bad?”
白灵似乎想作答，挣扎着起身。
As if in answer, Ghost struggled to his feet.
“好强壮的狼，”游骑兵道，“伊班，水。石蛇，你的酒袋。琼恩，把他按紧。”
“The wolf is strong,” the ranger said. “Ebben, water. Stonesnake, your skin of wine. Hold him still, Jon.”
众人协力，总算清掉冰原狼毛皮上的凝血。科林将酒倒入鹰爪留下的一片血红模糊的伤口时，白灵竭力挣脱，咧牙露齿，然而琼恩紧紧抱住，呢喃安慰的话语，终于使狼平静下来。最后，他们从琼恩的斗篷撕下布条，为狼包裹伤口。四野全然黑暗，一抹星光将漆黑的天空和漆黑的山岩区分开来。“我们继续？”石蛇想知道。
Together they washed the caked blood from the direwolf’s fur. Ghost struggled and bared his teeth when Qhorin poured the wine into the ragged red gashes the eagle had left him, but Jon wrapped his arms around him and murmured soothing words, and soon enough the wolf quieted. By the time they’d ripped a strip from Jon’s cloak to wrap the wounds, full dark had settled. Only a dusting of stars set the black of sky apart from the black of stone. “Do we press on?” Stonesnake wanted to know.
科林走向坐骑。“不，回头。”
Qhorin went to his garron. “Back, not on.”
“回头？”琼恩讶异得一愣。
“Back?” Jon was taken by surprise.
“鹰眼比人眼尖锐。我们被发现了，得赶快逃。”断掌在头上绑条黑长巾，翻身上马。
“Eagles have sharper eyes than men. We are seen. So now we run.” The Halfhand wound a long black scarf around his face and swung up into the saddle.
其他游骑兵互看一眼，无人争辩。接下来他们一个个上马，朝家的方向调头。“白灵，过来，”他呼唤，于是冰原狼跟上来，犹如穿梭夜色的一道白影。
The other rangers exchanged a look, but no man thought to argue. One by one they mounted and turned their mounts toward home. “Ghost, come,” he called, and the direwolf followed, a pale shadow moving through the night.
他们整夜骑行，踏着蜿蜒上升的峡道，穿越破碎的土地。风势渐强。天地间时时骤然漆黑，只能下马步行，一边牵引坐骑。伊班曾建议引火照明，但科林断然拒绝：“不能有火”。到达顶峰石梁后，他们接着下行。黑暗之中，有只影子山猫在愤怒咆哮，吼声于山谷间回荡传扬，好似成打的猫遥相呼应。琼恩一度看见头顶峰巅上有对炽热的眼眸，大如圆月。
All night they rode, feeling their way up the twisting pass and through the stretches of broken ground. The wind grew stronger. Sometimes it was so dark that they dismounted and went ahead on foot, each man leading his garron. Once Ebben suggested that some torches might serve them well, but Qhorin said, “No fire,” and that was the end of that. They reached the stone bridge at the summit and began to descend again. Off in the darkness a shadowcat screamed in fury, its voice bouncing off the rocks so it seemed as though a dozen other ’cats were giving answer. Once Jon thought he saw a pair of glowing eyes on a ledge overhead, as big as harvest moons.
黎明前的黑暗时分，他们终于停下来饮马，一匹喂一把燕麦、几撮干草。“离咱们杀野人的地方不远了，”科林说，“那里可以以一挡百，只要人选正确。”他望向侍从戴里吉。
In the black hour before dawn, they stopped to let the horses drink and fed them each a handful of oats and a twist or two of hay. “We are not far from the place the wildlings died,” said Qhorin. “From there, one man could hold a hundred. The right man.” He looked at Squire Dalbridge.
侍从低头一鞠躬。“弟兄们，把多余的箭都留给我。”他敲敲长弓。“回家以后记得给我的马喂个苹果。可怜的家伙，那是它应得的奖励。”
The squire bowed his head. “Leave me as many arrows as you can spare, brothers.” He stroked his longbow. “And see my garron has an apple when you’re home. He’s earned it, poor beastie.”
他要留下殉死，琼恩明白。
He’s staying to die, Jon realized.
科林用带手套的手紧握侍从的前臂。“若老鹰从天上飞下……”
Qhorin clasped the squire’s forearm with a gloved hand. “If the eagle flies down for a look at you …”
“……它就得换身羽毛。”
“… he’ll sprout some new feathers.”
琼恩看见侍从戴里吉的最后一眼是他的背影，手脚并用，直上峰峦。
The last Jon saw of Squire Dalbridge was his back as he clambered up the narrow path to the heights.
天亮后，琼恩抬眼望向无云的天空，一个斑点在蓝幕上移动。伊班也发现了，禁不住咒骂，科林要他静声，“听。”
When dawn broke, Jon looked up into a cloudless sky and saw a speck moving through the blue. Ebben saw it too, and cursed, but Qhorin told him to be quiet. “Listen.”
琼恩屏住呼吸，侧耳倾听。在他们身后，辽远的地方，传来一声猎号的呼唤，游荡于群山之间。
Jon held his breath, and heard it. Far away and behind them, the call of a hunting horn echoed against the mountains.
“他们来了，”科林说。
“And now they come,” said Qhorin.