JON
26 琼恩
Jon was showing
Dareon how best to deliver a sidestroke when the new recruit entered the
practice yard. “Your feet should be farther apart,” he urged. “You don’t want
to lose your balance. That’s good. Now pivot as you deliver the stroke, get all
your weight behind the blade.”
那个新兵走进训练场时，琼恩正在向戴利恩示范侧劈的诀窍。“两脚要张开一点，”他叮嘱道，“以免重心不稳，对，就是这样。出手的时候身体旋转，把全部的重心放在剑上。”
Dareon broke off
and lifted his visor. “Seven gods,” he murmured. “Would you look at this, Jon.”
戴利恩停了下来，掀开面罩。“诸神在上，”他喃喃道，“琼恩，你快瞧瞧。”
Jon turned.
Through the eye slit of his helm, he beheld the fattest boy he had ever seen
standing in the door of the armory. By the look of him, he must have weighed
twenty stone. The fur collar of his embroidered surcoat was lost beneath his
chins. Pale eyes moved nervously in a great round moon of a face, and plump
sweaty fingers wiped themselves on the velvet of his doublet. “They ?.?.?.?they
told me I was to come here for?.?.?.?for training,” he said to no one in
particular.
琼恩转身，隔着头盔的细窄眼缝，他看到了他平生所见最为肥胖的男孩站在兵器库门口。单凭目测，他大概有二十石重，肥大的下巴完全遮掩住刺绣外套的绒毛领口，圆滚滚的月亮脸上一对苍白的眼睛局促地四下转动，汗水淋漓的肥胖指头则在天鹅绒上衣上揩个不停。“他……他们叫我来这边……受训。”他不确定地道。
“A lordling,” Pyp observed to Jon. “Southron, most like near
Highgarden.” Pyp had traveled the Seven Kingdoms with a mummers’ troupe, and
bragged that he could tell what you were and where you’d been born just from
the sound of your voice.
“公子哥儿一个，”派普对琼恩说，“南方来的，八成是高庭一带的人。”派普曾经跟着戏班走遍七国全境，自称凭口音便能分辨别人来自何方，操什么营生。
A striding
huntsman had been worked in scarlet thread upon the breast of the fat boy’s
fur-trimmed surcoat. Jon did not recognize the sigil. Ser Alliser Thorne looked
over his new charge and said, “It would seem they have run short of poachers
and thieves down south. Now they send us pigs to man the Wall. Is fur and
velvet your notion of armor, my Lord of Ham?”
胖男孩穿着绒毛滚边的外套，胸前用鲜红丝线绣着一个大跨步的猎人。琼恩不认得这个家徽。只见艾里沙·索恩爵士望了望他的新手下说：“看来这年头南方连盗猎者和小偷都人手短缺，这会儿倒把猪送来防守长城啦。我说火腿大人，这身毛皮和天鹅绒敢情就是您的铠甲了？”
It was soon
revealed that the new recruit had brought his own armor with him; padded
doublet, boiled leather, mail and plate and helm, even a great wood-and-leather
shield blazoned with the same striding huntsman he wore on his surcoat. As none
of it was black, however, Ser Alliser insisted that he reequip himself from the
armory. That took half the morning. His girth required Donal Noye to take apart
a mail hauberk and refit it with leather panels at the sides. To get a helm
over his head the armorer had to detach the visor. His leathers bound so
tightly around his legs and under his arms that he could scarcely move. Dressed
for battle, the new boy looked like an overcooked sausage about to burst its
skin. “Let us hope you are not as inept as you look,” Ser Alliser said.
“Halder, see what Ser Piggy can do.”
众人很快便发现这新兵自己带来了全套行头：加衬垫的上衣，煮过的硬皮甲，铁铠和头盔，还有个包皮的大木盾，上面同样刻着他衣服上那个健步猎人纹章。由于这身装备没一件是黑的，艾里沙爵士便坚持要那新兵到武器库去换一套。这一换就是半早上。因为他的腰围太粗，唐纳·诺伊只好拆开整件胸甲，再帮他前后套上，两边用皮绳捆住。为了帮他戴上头盔，面罩便保不住。他的皮护手和绑腿紧紧地绑在四肢上，使他几乎动弹不得。全副武装之后，新来的小子看起来活像条煮得过熟的香肠，随时可能爆开。“希望你不像看起来那么不中用，”艾里沙爵士道，“霍德，试试猪头爵士有多厉害。”
Jon Snow winced.
Halder had been born in a quarry and apprenticed as a stonemason. He was
sixteen, tall and muscular, and his blows were as hard as any Jon had ever
felt. “This will be uglier than a whore’s ass,” Pyp muttered, and it was.
琼恩·雪诺听了立刻皱起眉头。霍德在采石场里出生，当过石匠的学徒，今年十六岁，高大又结实，打起人来下手很重，琼恩还没尝过更厉害的拳头。“这下有人要他妈的倒大霉了。”派普喃喃道，事情果真如他所料。
The fight lasted
less than a minute before the fat boy was on the ground, his whole body shaking
as blood leaked through his shattered helm and between his pudgy fingers. “I
yield,” he shrilled. “No more, I yield, don’t hit me.” Rast and some of the
other boys were laughing.
打斗不到一分钟就告结束。胖子倒在地上，血从碎掉的头盔和肥短的手指间流出来，他全身都在颤抖。“我投降，”他尖叫，“别打了，我投降，不要打我。”雷斯特和其他几个男孩哄笑成一团。
Even then, Ser
Alliser would not call an end. “On your feet, Ser Piggy,” he called. “Pick up
your sword.” When the boy continued to cling to the ground, Thorne gestured to
Halder. “Hit him with the flat of your blade until he finds his feet.” Halder
delivered a tentative smack to his foe’s upraised cheeks. “You can hit harder
than that,” Thorne taunted. Halder took hold of his longsword with both hands
and brought it down so hard the blow split leather, even on the flat. The new
boy screeched in pain.
即便如此，艾里沙爵士还是不肯罢休。“猪头爵士，给我起来，”他叫道，“把剑捡起来。”眼看胖子还是躺在地上，索恩向霍德示意，“拿剑脊揍他，直到他爬起来为止。”霍德试探性地敲敲对手仰高的脸颊。“你该不会就这点力气罢？”索恩讥讽。霍德于是双手持剑，狠狠地砍将下去，力道之猛，虽然是用剑脊，皮甲还是应声破裂。新兵痛苦地哀嚎。
Jon Snow took a
step forward. Pyp laid a mailed hand on his arm. “Jon, no,” the small boy
whispered with an anxious glance at Ser Alliser Thorne.
琼恩跨前一步，派普忙伸出戴护套的手抓住他。“琼恩，不要冲动。”小个子一边紧张地瞄了艾里沙·索恩爵士一眼，一边悄声对他说。
“On your feet,” Thorne repeated. The fat boy struggled to rise,
slipped, and fell heavily again. “Ser Piggy is starting to grasp the notion,”
Ser Alliser observed. “Again.”
“还不快给我起来。”索恩又说。胖男孩挣扎着想起身，谁知竟滑了一跤，又重重地摔倒在地。“猪头爵士有进步啰。”艾里沙爵士说，“再打。”
Halder lifted
the sword for another blow. “Cut us off a ham!” Rast urged, laughing.
霍德举起剑准备继续。“给我们切块火腿唷！”雷斯特狞笑着催促他。
Jon shook off
Pyp’s hand. “Halder, enough.”
琼恩甩开派普的手。“霍德，够了。”
Halder looked to
Ser Alliser.
霍德转头去看艾里沙爵士。
“The Bastard speaks and the peasants tremble,” the master-at-arms
said in that sharp, cold voice of his. “I remind you that I am the
master-at-arms here, Lord Snow.”
“野种出来为农民打抱不平啦？”教头用他那尖锐而冷酷的声音说，“雪诺大人，你别忘了，我才是这里的头儿。”
“Look at him, Halder,” Jon urged, ignoring Thorne as best he could.
“There’s no honor in beating a fallen foe. He yielded.” He knelt beside the fat
boy.
“霍德，你看看他，”琼恩劝促道，故意不理睬索恩。“人家都投降了，你这样趁火打劫有什么意义？”他在胖子身旁蹲了下来。
Halder lowered
his sword. “He yielded,” he echoed.
霍德放下剑。“他投降了，”他跟着重复。
Ser Alliser’s
onyx eyes were fixed on Jon Snow. “It would seem our Bastard is in love,” he
said as Jon helped the fat boy to his feet. “Show me your steel, Lord Snow.”
艾里沙爵士黑玛瑙似的眼睛紧紧盯着琼恩·雪诺不放。“我说哪，原来咱们野种谈恋爱啦。”他边看着琼恩扶起胖子边说，“雪诺大人，亮剑。”
Jon drew his
longsword. He dared defy Ser Alliser only to a point, and he feared he was well
beyond it now.
琼恩抽出长剑，他只敢反抗艾里沙爵士到某种程度，而他暗自担心这回做得太过火了。
Thorne smiled.
“The Bastard wishes to defend his lady love, so we shall make an exercise of
it. Rat, Pimple, help our Stone Head here.” Rast and Albett moved to join
Halder. “Three of you ought to be sufficient to make Lady Piggy squeal. All you
need do is get past the Bastard.”
索恩微笑道：“野种打算为他心爱的小姐而战，所以我们得好好打一场。小老鼠、雀斑男，你们跟大笨头一边。”雷斯特和阿贝特走到霍德旁边。“你们三个人应该够猪小姐受的了。但首先，你们要打发掉挡路的野种。”
“Stay behind me,” Jon said to the fat boy. Ser Alliser had often sent
two foes against him, but never three. He knew he would likely go to sleep
bruised and bloody tonight. He braced himself for the assault.
“躲在我背后。”琼恩对胖子说。艾里沙爵士常叫两人打他一个，但从来没有三对一。他自知今晚上床时大概会伤痕累累。于是他屏气凝神，准备大干一场。
Suddenly Pyp was
beside him. “Three to two will make for better sport,” the small boy said
cheerfully. He dropped his visor and slid out his sword. Before Jon could even
think to protest, Grenn had stepped up to make a third.
派普突然出现在他身边。“我想三打二应该会更精彩。”小个子开心地说。他放下面罩，抽出佩剑。琼恩还来不及抗议，葛兰也走上前来加入他们。
The yard had
grown deathly quiet. Jon could feel Ser Alliser’s eyes. “Why are you waiting?”
he asked Rast and the others in a voice gone deceptively soft, but it was Jon
who moved first. Halder barely got his sword up in time.
整个广场顿时一片死寂。琼恩感觉得出艾里沙爵士的眼神。“你们还等什么？”他用轻得吓人的声音问雷斯特和其他人，然而最先出手的却是琼恩，霍德差点就不及举剑格挡。
Jon drove him
backward, attacking with every blow, keeping the older boy on the heels. Know
your foe, Ser Rodrik had taught him once; Jon knew Halder, brutally strong but
short of patience, with no taste for defense. Frustrate him, and he would leave
himself open, as certain as sunset.
琼恩不断进攻，逼得这个年长的男孩节节后退。要了解你的敌人，罗德利克爵士曾经这么教他，而琼恩很了解霍德，他壮得惊人，但缺乏耐心，向来不惯防守。只要想办法激怒他，他自会门户洞开，破绽百出。
The clang of
steel echoed through the yard as the others joined battle around him. Jon
blocked a savage cut at his head, the shock of impact running up his arm as the
swords crashed together. He slammed a sidestroke into Halder’s ribs, and was
rewarded with a muffled grunt of pain. The counterstroke caught Jon on the
shoulder. Chainmail crunched, and pain flared up his neck, but for an instant
Halder was unbalanced. Jon cut his left leg from under him, and he fell with a
curse and a crash.
这时其他人也加入战局，刀剑交击声刹时响彻广场。琼恩挡下一记照头挥来的猛击，力道之大震得他手臂酸麻。他一记侧劈打中霍德的肋骨，只听对方一声闷哼，随即反手砍中琼恩肩膀。锁甲铿锵一声，疼痛直逼脖颈，但霍德也暂时重心不稳，于是琼恩猛力扫他左腿，他咒骂着轰然倒地。
Grenn was
standing his ground as Jon had taught him, giving Albett more than he cared
for, but Pyp was hard-pressed. Rast had two years and forty pounds on him. Jon
stepped up behind him and rang the raper’s helm like a bell. As Rast went
reeling, Pyp slid in under his guard, knocked him down, and leveled a blade at
his throat. By then Jon had moved on. Facing two swords, Albett backed away. “I
yield,” he shouted.
葛兰依照琼恩教他的诀窍，稳稳地守住阵脚，让阿贝特大感头痛，但派普就没这么好过了。雷斯特大他两岁，又比他重上四十磅，所以他打得很吃力。琼恩闪到雷斯特身后，大力一挥，将这强奸犯的头盔当铃铛敲打，眼看雷斯特头晕眼花，派普乘机突破防线，将他击倒，然后举剑顶着他的喉咙。这时琼恩早已转换阵地，阿贝特一看自己陷入以一打二的劣势，急忙退后叫道：“我投降。”
Ser Alliser
Thorne surveyed the scene with disgust. “The mummer’s farce has gone on long
enough for today.” He walked away. The session was at an end.
艾里沙·索恩爵士一脸嫌恶地环视全场：“你们这些小鬼耍把戏也耍得太久了，今天就到此为止。”说完他走开去，当日的练习便告结束。
Dareon helped
Halder to his feet. The quarryman’s son wrenched off his helm and threw it
across the yard. “For an instant, I thought I finally had you, Snow.”
戴利恩扶霍德起身，采石匠的儿子摘下头盔狠狠地摔到广场对面。“雪诺，刚才那一刹那，我还以为逮到你破绽了呢。”
“For an instant, you did,” Jon replied. Under his mail and leather,
his shoulder was throbbing. He sheathed his sword and tried to remove his helm,
but when he raised his arm, the pain made him grit his teeth.
“嗯，但只有那一刹那。”琼恩回答。覆盖在护甲和皮革下的肩膀隐隐作痛，他收起剑，想取下头盔，但刚抬手就痛得龇牙咧嘴。
“Let me,” a voice said. Thick-fingered hands unfastened helm from
gorget and lifted it off gently. “Did he hurt you?”
“让我来。”一个声音说。粗厚的手指解开他喉咙的皮带，轻轻地捧起头盔。“伤得严重吗？”
“I’ve been bruised before.” He touched his shoulder and winced. The
yard was emptying around them.
“不是第一次了。”他摸摸肩膀，皱紧眉头，广场上除了他们几个一片空旷。
Blood matted the
fat boy’s hair where Halder had split his helm asunder. “My name is Samwell
Tarly, of Horn?.?.?.?” He stopped and licked his lips. “I mean, I was of Horn
Hill, until I?.?.?.?left. I’ve come to take the black. My father is Lord
Randyll, a bannerman to the Tyrells of Highgarden. I used to be his heir,
only?.?.?.?” His voice trailed off.
胖男孩的发际有凝固的血块，正是刚才霍德砍裂头盔的地方。“我是山姆威尔·塔利，来自角……”他停下来舔舔嘴，“我的意思是……那是我……我‘曾经’是角陵塔利家族的人。我前来加入黑衫军，家父是蓝道伯爵，高庭提利尔家族的封臣。我本来是爵位继承人，不过……”他没有说下去。
“I’m Jon Snow, Ned Stark’s bastard, of Winterfell.”
“我是琼恩·雪诺，临冬城公爵奈德·史塔克的私生子。”
Samwell Tarly
nodded. “I?.?.?.?if you want, you can call me Sam. My mother calls me Sam.”
山姆威尔·塔利点点头。“我……如果你愿意的话，可以叫我山姆，我妈都这样叫我。”
“You can call him Lord Snow,” Pyp said as he came up to join them.
“You don’t want to know what his mother calls him.”
“你呢，则要尊称他雪诺大人，”派普边说边凑过来。“你不会想知道他妈怎么叫他的。”
“These two are Grenn and Pypar,” Jon said.
“这两位是葛兰和派普。”琼恩说。
“Grenn’s the ugly one,” Pyp said.
“长得丑的是葛兰。”派普道。
Grenn scowled.
“You’re uglier than me. At least I don’t have ears like a bat.”
葛兰一脸不悦地说：“你比我丑咧，起码我没生一对蝙蝠耳。”
“My thanks to all of you,” the fat boy said gravely.
“我衷心地感谢你们。”胖男孩正色道。
“Why didn’t you get up and fight?” Grenn demanded.
“刚才你怎么不站起来反击啊？”葛兰问他。
“I wanted to, truly. I just?.?.?.?I couldn’t. I didn’t want him to
hit me anymore.” He looked at the ground. “I?.?.?.?I fear I’m a coward. My lord
father always said so.”
“我也想，真的，可我……我就是做不到。我也不想一直被揍。”他看看地面，“我……我猜我是窝囊废一个，家父常这么说。”
Grenn looked
thunderstruck. Even Pyp had no words to say to that, and Pyp had words for
everything. What sort of man would proclaim himself a coward?
葛兰的表情如遭雷击，就连派普也说不出话来，而他一向对任何事情都爱发表意见。怎么会有人自称窝囊废呢？
Samwell Tarly
must have read their thoughts on their faces. His eyes met Jon’s and darted
away, quick as frightened animals. “I?.?.?.?I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t mean
to?.?.?.?to be like I am.” He walked heavily toward the armory.
山姆威尔·塔利想必是从他们脸上读出了他们的想法，他的视线刚碰到琼恩的眼睛，随即像受惊的动物般转开。“我……对不起，”他说，“我……也不想这样的。”他沉重地走向武器库。
Jon called after
him. “You were hurt,” he said. “Tomorrow you’ll do better.”
琼恩叫住他。“你受伤了，”他说，“明天你就会进步的。”
Sam looked
mournfully back over one shoulder. “No I won’t,” he said, blinking back tears.
“I never do better.”
山姆一脸哀怨地回过头。“才不会，”他强忍泪水说，“我永远都不会进步。”
When he was
gone, Grenn frowned. “Nobody likes cravens,” he said uncomfortably. “I wish we
hadn’t helped him. What if they think we’re craven too?”
等他走后，葛兰皱起眉头。“胆小鬼人人讨厌，”他很不舒服地说，“早知道咱们就不帮他了。要是别人把咱们也当胆小鬼那还得了？”
“You’re too stupid to be craven,” Pyp told him.
“你太笨啦，当不成胆小鬼的。”派普告诉他。
“I am not,” Grenn said.
“我才不笨。”葛兰说。
“Yes you are. If a bear attacked you in the woods, you’d be too
stupid to run away.”
“你笨死了。要在树林里遇到大熊，你都不会跑哟。”
“I would not,” Grenn insisted. “I’d run away faster than you.” He stopped
suddenly, scowling when he saw Pyp’s grin and realized what he’d just said. His
thick neck flushed a dark red. Jon left them there arguing as he returned to
the armory, hung up his sword, and stripped off his battered armor.
“我当然会跑，”葛兰坚持，“而且跑得比你快。”他看到派普嘻皮笑脸，赶紧住口，这才恍然大悟，气得脸红脖子粗。琼恩让他们吵个痛快，自己走回武器库，挂回佩剑，脱下一身伤痕累累的铠甲。
Life at Castle
Black followed certain patterns; the mornings were for swordplay, the
afternoons for work. The black brothers set new recruits to many different
tasks, to learn where their skills lay. Jon cherished the rare afternoons when
he was sent out with Ghost ranging at his side to bring back game for the Lord
Commander’s table, but for every day spent hunting, he gave a dozen to Donal
Noye in the armory, spinning the whetstone while the one-armed smith sharpened
axes grown dull from use, or pumping the bellows as Noye hammered out a new
sword. Other times he ran messages, stood at guard, mucked out stables,
fletched arrows, assisted Maester Aemon with his birds or Bowen Marsh with his
counts and inventories.
黑城堡的生活有种固定的规律：早上练剑，下午干活。黑衫弟兄交给新兵们各种不同的差事，以判断他们适合的职业。偶尔琼恩会奉命带着白灵出外打猎，为总司令的晚餐加菜，他非常珍惜这种机会。只可惜这种机会实在少之又少，他得用十几倍的时间待在唐纳·诺伊的武器库里，转磨刀石，帮这位独臂铁匠把钝斧磨利；或是在诺伊敲打铸剑时，在旁鼓动风炉。其他时候他还会传达口信，站岗放哨，刷洗马厩，制造弓箭，照料伊蒙师傅的鸟儿或协助波文·马尔锡清点账目。
That afternoon,
the watch commander sent him to the winch cage with four barrels of
fresh-crushed stone, to scatter gravel over the icy footpaths atop the Wall. It
was lonely and boring work, even with Ghost along for company, but Jon found he
did not mind. On a clear day you could see half the world from the top of the
Wall, and the air was always cold and bracing. He could think here, and he
found himself thinking of Samwell Tarly?.?.?.?and, oddly, of Tyrion Lannister.
He wondered what Tyrion would have made of the fat boy. Most men would rather
deny a hard truth than face it, the dwarf had told him, grinning. The world was
full of cravens who pretended to be heroes; it took a queer sort of courage to
admit to cowardice as Samwell Tarly had.
当天下午，他奉守卫长之命，带着四桶刚压碎的小石子，前往升降铁笼，负责把碎石铺在长城结冰的走道上。即使有白灵相伴，这依旧是件既孤单又无趣的差事，但琼恩不以为忤。倘若天气清朗，站在长城之上，半个世界尽收眼底，何况这里的空气向来清新冷冽。他可以在这里静静思考，而他发觉自己想起了山姆威尔·塔利……奇怪的是，还有提利昂·兰尼斯特。他不禁好奇提利昂会怎么对待这胖小子。侏儒曾嘻嘻笑着对他说：大部分的人宁可否认事实，也不愿面对真相。这个世界有太多逞英雄的胆小鬼，能像山姆威尔·塔利这样自承怯懦还真需要点古怪的勇气。
His sore
shoulder made the work go slowly. It was late afternoon before Jon finished
graveling the paths. He lingered on high to watch the sun go down, turning the
western sky the color of blood. Finally, as dusk was settling over the north,
Jon rolled the empty barrels back into the cage and signaled the winch men to
lower him.
他的肩膀还在痛，也因此拖慢了工作进度，等铺完走道，天已经快黑。他逗留在长城上观看日落，看着夕阳把西边的天染成一片血红。直到夜幕低垂，琼恩方才拾起空桶，走回铁笼，拉铃叫下面的守卫放他下去。
The evening meal
was almost done by the time he and Ghost reached the common hall. A group of
the black brothers were dicing over mulled wine near the fire. His friends were
at the bench nearest the west wall, laughing. Pyp was in the middle of a story.
The mummer’s boy with the big ears was a born liar with a hundred different
voices, and he did not tell his tales so much as live them, playing all the
parts as needed, a king one moment and a swineherd the next. When he turned
into an alehouse girl or a virgin princess, he used a high falsetto voice that
reduced them all to tears of helpless laughter, and his eunuchs were always eerily
accurate caricatures of Ser Alliser. Jon took as much pleasure from Pyp’s
antics as anyone?.?.?.?yet that night he turned away and went instead to the
end of the bench, where Samwell Tarly sat alone, as far from the others as he
could get.
他和白灵回到大厅时，晚餐已差不多结束。一群黑衣弟兄聚在火炉边喝着烫过的酒，赌起骰子。他的朋友们坐在西墙下的长凳上，笑作一团。派普正绘声绘色地说着故事，这个跟过戏班的大耳朵男孩是个天生的骗子，擅长模仿各种声音，听他讲故事，如同身临其境，一会儿模仿国王，一会儿又变成猪倌。当他学起酒店女侍或待字闺中的公主时，那高亢的假音每每让大伙儿笑得泪流不止，而他装起太监则像极夸张化的艾里沙爵士。琼恩和大家一样喜欢听派普胡闹……但这天晚上他却转身走到长凳的尽头，山姆威尔·塔利坐在那儿，离其他人远远的。
He was finishing
the last of the pork pie the cooks had served up for supper when Jon sat down
across from him. The fat boy’s eyes widened at the sight of Ghost. “Is that a
wolf?”
琼恩在他对面坐下时，他正吃着厨子们为晚餐准备的最后一个猪肉馅饼。胖男孩看到白灵，两眼张得老大。“那是狼？”
“A direwolf,” Jon said. “His name is Ghost. The direwolf is the sigil
of my father’s House.”
“是冰原狼，”琼恩道，“他叫白灵。冰原狼是我父亲的家徽。”
“Ours is a striding huntsman,” Samwell Tarly said.
“我们家是健步猎人。”山姆威尔·塔利说。
“Do you like to hunt?”
“你喜欢打猎？”
The fat boy
shuddered. “I hate it.” He looked as though he was going to cry again.
胖男孩听了浑身发抖，“最讨厌了，”他似乎又要哭起来。
“What’s wrong now?” Jon asked him. “Why are you always so
frightened?”
“又怎么了？”琼恩问他，“你怎么老是怕东怕西？”
Sam stared at
the last of his pork pie and gave a feeble shake of his head, too scared even
to talk. A burst of laughter filled the hall. Jon heard Pyp squeaking in a high
voice. He stood. “Let’s go outside.”
山姆盯着最后一个猪肉馅饼，虚弱地摇摇头，吓得连话都不敢说。大厅里突然响起一阵哄笑，琼恩听到派普用假音发出怪叫。他站起身。“我们出去吧。”
The round fat
face looked up at him, suspicious. “Why? What will we do outside?”
肥大的圆脸抬起来，狐疑地看着他。“干嘛？出去做什么？”
“Talk,” Jon said. “Have you seen the Wall?”
“聊天。”琼恩道，“你看到长城了吗？”
“I’m fat, not blind,” Samwell Tarly said. “Of course I saw it, it’s
seven hundred feet high.” Yet he stood up all the same, wrapped a fur-lined
cloak over his shoulders, and followed Jon from the common hall, still wary, as
if he suspected some cruel trick was waiting for him in the night. Ghost padded
along beside them. “I never thought it would be like this,” Sam said as they
walked, his words steaming in the cold air. Already he was huffing and puffing
as he tried to keep up. “All the buildings are falling down, and it’s
so?.?.?.?so?.?.?.?”
“我胖虽胖，眼睛可没瞎。”山姆威尔·塔利说，“我当然看见了，它有七百尺高哩。”但他还是站了起来，裹起一件绒毛滚边的披风，随琼恩走出大厅。他依旧提心吊胆，仿佛怀疑有什么卑劣的恶作剧在门外的暗夜等候他。白灵跟在他们身边。“我真没想到是这样，”山姆边走边说，呼息在冷气里凝成白雾。他光是跟上脚步，就已经累得气喘吁吁。“所有的房舍都破败不堪，而且这儿好……好……”
“Cold?” A hard frost was settling over the castle, and Jon could hear
the soft crunch of grey weeds beneath his boots.
“好冷？”厚厚的冻霜正逐渐笼罩城堡，琼恩感觉得到灰色的野草在他脚下咯啦碎裂。
Sam nodded
miserably. “I hate the cold,” he said. “Last night I woke up in the dark and
the fire had gone out and I was certain I was going to freeze to death by
morning.”
山姆悲苦地点头。“我最怕冷了，”他说，“昨晚我半夜醒来，屋里黑漆漆的，火也熄了，我本以为等到今早上，自己一定会活活冻死。”
“It must have been warmer where you come from.”
“你一定是从比较温暖的地方来的。”
“I never saw snow until last month. We were crossing the barrowlands,
me and the men my father sent to see me north, and this white stuff began to
fall, like a soft rain. At first I thought it was so beautiful, like feathers
drifting from the sky, but it kept on and on, until I was frozen to the bone.
The men had crusts of snow in their beards and more on their shoulders, and
still it kept coming. I was afraid it would never end.”
“到上个月为止，我都没见过雪。当时我正跟家父派来送我北上的人穿越荒冢地，天上就开始落下这种白白的东西，像阵柔软的雨。起初我觉得好美，像是从天而降的羽毛，但它下个不停，冻得我连骨头都快结冰。雪一直下，下到人们胡子里都是冰块，肩膀上也积满了雪，还是不停，我真怕它就这样下个没完。”
Jon smiled.
琼恩只是微笑。
The Wall loomed
before them, glimmering palely in the light of the half moon. In the sky above,
the stars burned clear and sharp. “Are they going to make me go up there?” Sam
asked. His face curdled like old milk as he looked at the great wooden stairs.
“I’ll die if I have
to climb that.”
绝境长城高高地耸立在他们面前，在残月苍白的光芒照映下闪闪发亮。繁星在头顶的夜幕中燃烧，澄澈而锐利。“他们会逼我上去吗？”山姆问，他一眼扫到城上蜿蜒的木制长梯，脸顿时像结块的酸牛奶一样僵硬。“要我爬上去我不死才怪。”
“There’s a winch,” Jon said, pointing. “They can draw you up in a
cage.”
“那边有个绞盘，”琼恩指给他看，“你可以坐在铁笼里吊上去。”
Samwell Tarly
sniffled. “I don’t like high places.”
山姆威尔·塔利哼了一声：“我讨厌高的地方。”
It was too much.
Jon frowned, incredulous. “Are you afraid of everything?” he asked. “I don’t
understand. If you are truly so craven, why are you here? Why would a coward
want to join the Night’s Watch?”
这太离谱了。琼恩难以置信地皱起眉头。“你到底有什么不怕？”他问，“我真搞不懂，假如你真这么窝囊，那你干嘛来这儿？胆小鬼加入守夜人部队做什么？”
Samwell Tarly
looked at him for a long moment, and his round face seemed to cave in on
itself. He sat down on the frost-covered ground and began to cry, huge choking
sobs that made his whole body shake. Jon Snow could only stand and watch. Like
the snowfall on the barrowlands, it seemed the tears would never end.
山姆威尔·塔利久久地注视着他，那张大圆脸仿佛就要塌陷进去。他在结霜的地面坐下，竟就这么哭了起来，抽抽噎噎，整个身体都在颤抖。琼恩·雪诺没了主意，只能站在一旁观看。他的泪水如同荒冢地的雪，似乎永远不会停。
It was Ghost who
knew what to do. Silent as shadow, the pale direwolf moved closer and began to
lick the warm tears off Samwell Tarly’s face. The fat boy cried out,
startled?.?.?.?and somehow, in a heartbeat, his sobs turned to laughter.
到头来还是白灵聪明。苍白的冰原狼像阴影一般无声地靠过去，舔舐山姆威尔·塔利脸上温热的泪水。胖男孩惊叫了一声……但不知什么缘故，转眼间他的啜泣就变成了欢笑。
Jon Snow laughed
with him. Afterward they sat on the frozen ground, huddled in their cloaks with
Ghost between them. Jon told the story of how he and Robb had found the pups
newborn in the late summer snows. It seemed a thousand years ago now. Before
long he found himself talking of Winterfell.
琼恩·雪诺也笑了。随后他们一起坐在结冰的地面上，蜷缩在斗篷里，白灵窝在两人之间。琼恩说起他和罗柏在夏末雪地里找到刚出生的小狼群的故事。这好像是一千年前的故事了。但很快，他发觉自己谈到了临冬城。
“Sometimes I dream about it,” he said. “I’m walking down this long
empty hall. My voice echoes all around, but no one answers, so I walk faster,
opening doors, shouting names. I don’t even know who I’m looking for. Most
nights it’s my father, but sometimes it’s Robb instead, or my little sister
Arya, or my uncle.” The thought of Benjen Stark saddened him; his uncle was
still missing. The Old Bear had sent out rangers in search of him. Ser Jaremy
Rykker had led two sweeps, and Quorin Halfhand had gone forth from the Shadow
Tower, but they’d found nothing aside from a few blazes in the trees that his
uncle had left to mark his way. In the stony highlands to the northwest, the
marks stopped abruptly and all trace of Ben Stark vanished.
“我有时候做梦都还会回去。”他说，“我梦到自己走在空荡荡的大厅里，四壁反射着我的声音，却无人应答，所以我加快脚步，打开一扇扇门，喊着其他人的名字。我不知道自己究竟要找谁，多半是找我父亲，有时候却是罗柏，有时又是我小妹艾莉亚，或是我叔叔。”想起至今依然下落不明的班扬·史塔克，他不禁难过起来。熊老派了游骑兵北出长城去找他。杰瑞米·莱克爵士领过两次队，“断掌”科林则从影子塔出发，但除了叔叔在森林里偶尔留下来当路标的火把外，可说一无所获。一旦进入陡峭的西北高地，各种记号便都突然不见，班扬·史塔克的痕迹消失得无影无踪。
“Do you ever find anyone in your dream?” Sam asked.
“在梦中你找到人了吗？”山姆问。
Jon shook his
head. “No one. The castle is always empty.” He had never told anyone of the
dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it
felt good to talk of it. “Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the
stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing
open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone,
for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It’s black
inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go
down there, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid of what might be waiting for me.
The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone
wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it’s not them I’m
afraid of. I scream that I’m not a Stark, that this isn’t my place, but it’s no
good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend,
with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to
scream.” He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. “That’s when I always wake.” His
skin cold and clammy, shivering in the darkness of his cell. Ghost would leap
up beside him, his warmth as comforting as daybreak. He would go back to sleep
with his face pressed into the direwolf s shaggy white fur. “Do you dream of
Horn Hill?” Jon asked.
琼恩摇摇头。“一次也没有。城堡里总是空无一人。”他从未对人说起过这个梦，更不明白自己此刻为何独对山姆敞开胸怀，但说出来的感觉真好。“连鸟巢里的乌鸦也不见了，马厩里只剩下一堆枯骨，每次都把我吓得半死。我开始乱跑，到处开门，三步并作两步地爬着高塔楼梯，尖叫着别人的名字，任何人都好。最后，我发现自己站在通往地下墓窖的门前，里面一团漆黑，我只能看见蜿蜒向下的螺旋梯。不知怎的，我很清楚自己必须下去，但我却不想下去。我害怕等在里面的东西。古时候历代的冬境之王都在那儿，坐在他们的王位上，石雕狼躺在脚边，大腿横放着铁剑，可我怕的却不是他们。我大声尖叫，我告诉他们我不是史塔克家的人，此地与我无关，然而没有用，不管怎样我都必须下去。于是我扶着墙壁前进，没有火把照明，我只好慢慢往下走。路越来越暗，越来越暗，暗到我直想尖叫。”他停下来，皱起眉头，觉得很不好意思。“每次梦到这里，我就醒了。”他醒来时总是浑身冷汗，独自在黑暗的卧室里发抖。这时白灵会跳到他身边，用如朝阳般温暖的身躯依偎他，然后他会把脸枕在冰原狼长长的白色毛皮上，再度沉沉睡去。“你会梦见角陵吗？”
“No.” Sam’s mouth grew tight and hard. “I hated it there.” He
scratched Ghost behind the ear, brooding, and Jon let the silence breathe.
After a long while Samwell Tarly began to talk, and Jon Snow listened quietly,
and learned how it was that a self-confessed coward found himself on the Wall.
“不会。”山姆抿紧嘴唇。“我讨厌那里。”他搔搔白灵耳背，陷入沉思，琼恩也没追问。又过了一阵子，山姆威尔·塔利终于开始说话，琼恩·雪诺则静静聆听，听这个自承懦弱的胆小鬼亲口述说来到绝境长城的的缘由。
The Tarlys were
a family old in honor, bannermen to Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden and Warden
of the South. The eldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly, Samwell was born heir to
rich lands, a strong keep, and a storied two-handed greatsword named
Heartsbane, forged of Valyrian steel and passed down from father to son near
five hundred years.
塔利家族历史悠久，盛名远播，是高庭公爵兼南境守护梅斯·提利尔的封臣。山姆威尔乃是蓝道·塔利伯爵的嫡长子，生来就继承了富饶的领地、坚固的堡垒和一把传奇的双手巨剑。剑名“碎心”，是用瓦雷利亚钢打造而成，父子历代相传，已有近五百年之久。
Whatever pride
his lord father might have felt at Samwell’s birth vanished as the boy grew up
plump, soft, and awkward. Sam loved to listen to music and make his own songs,
to wear soft velvets, to play in the castle kitchen beside the cooks, drinking
in the rich smells as he snitched lemon cakes and blueberry tarts. His passions
were books and kittens and dancing, clumsy as he was. But he grew ill at the
sight of blood, and wept to see even a chicken slaughtered. A dozen
masters-at-arms came and went at Horn Hill, trying to turn Samwell into the
knight his father wanted. The boy was cursed and caned, slapped and starved.
One man had him sleep in his chainmail to make him more martial. Another
dressed him in his mother’s clothing and paraded him through the bailey to
shame him into valor. He only grew fatter and more frightened, until Lord
Randyll’s disappointment turned to anger and then to loathing. “One time,” Sam
confided, his voice dropping from a whisper, “two men came to the castle,
warlocks from Qarth with white skin and blue lips. They slaughtered a bull
aurochs and made me bathe in the hot blood, but it didn’t make me brave as
they’d promised. I got sick and retched. Father had them scourged.”
然而不论山姆威尔诞生时，父亲对儿子有着何种的骄傲，都已经随着他的日渐长大、变得肥胖、柔弱又脾气古怪，而全部烟消云散。山姆喜欢听音乐，喜欢编曲子，喜欢穿柔软的天鹅绒，喜欢跟在城堡厨房的师傅身边、陶醉于他调制的柠檬蛋糕和蓝莓甜饼的浓郁香气里。他的兴趣在于读书以及和小猫玩耍，手脚笨拙的他，却又反常地热爱舞蹈。只是他见了血就反胃，连看杀鸡都会哭。角陵的教头来了又去，试图将山姆威尔变成他父亲所期望的骁勇骑士。这孩子受过骂也挨过棍，尝过耳光也熬过饿。有个人叫他穿着锁子甲睡觉，好让他习惯军中生活。另一个人则叫他穿上母亲的衣服，绕城示众，用羞辱来激发他的男子气概。结果他却越来越胖，胆子越变越小，最后蓝道伯爵的失望转成愤怒，终至厌恶。“有一次，”山姆透露，他的声音像是悄悄话。“从魁尔斯来了两个白皮肤蓝嘴唇的男巫，他们杀了一头野公牛，然后把我浸在温热的鲜血里，可我并没有像他们所说的那样变勇敢，我只觉得恶心，呕吐。结果父亲教他们两个都吃了顿鞭子。”
Finally, after
three girls in as many years, Lady Tarly gave her lord husband a second son.
From that day, Lord Randyll ignored Sam, devoting all his time to the younger
boy, a fierce, robust child more to his liking. Samwell had known several years
of sweet peace with his music and his books.
在接连三年生出三个女儿后，塔利夫人终于又为伯爵产下第二个儿子。从那天起，蓝道伯爵便不再理会山姆，而把全副精神都投注在这个年纪较小、强壮又有活力，怎么看都更讨他欢喜的儿子身上。于是山姆威尔度过了几年甜美的安逸岁月，沉浸在音乐和书本中。
Until the dawn
of his fifteenth name day, when he had been awakened to find his horse saddled and
ready. Three men-at-arms had escorted him into a wood near Horn Hill, where his
father was skinning a deer. “You are almost a man grown now, and my heir,” Lord
Randyll Tarly had told his eldest son, his long knife laying bare the carcass
as he spoke. “You have given me no cause to disown you, but neither will I
allow you to inherit the land and title that should be Dickon’s. Heartsbane
must go to a man strong enough to wield her, and you are not worthy to touch
her hilt. So I have decided that you shall this day announce that you wish to
take the black. You will forsake all claim to your brother’s inheritance and
start north before evenfall.
直到他十五岁命名日那天清晨，他被叫醒后，发现自己的马已经鞍辔妥当，正等着他。三个侍卫护送他来到角陵附近一座森林里，父亲在那儿剥鹿皮。“你就快成年了，又是我的继承人，”蓝道·塔利伯爵一边用猎刀割开皮肉，露出里面的骨架，一边对他的长子说，“你没给我什么借口，我无法将你除名，但我也不会把该由狄肯继承的领地和封号交给你。只有强壮的人才配持有”碎心“，而你连碰它的剑柄都不配。所以我作了决定，你今天就得宣布自己渴望披上黑衣，放弃一切继承权，并在天黑前动身北上。”
“If you do not, then on the morrow we shall have a hunt, and
somewhere in these woods your horse will stumble, and you will be thrown from
the saddle to die?.?.?.?or so I will tell your mother. She has a woman’s heart
and finds it in her to cherish even you, and I have no wish to cause her pain.
Please do not imagine that it will truly be that easy, should you think to defy
me. Nothing would please me more than to hunt you down like the pig you are.”
His arms were red to the elbow as he laid the skinning knife aside. “So. There
is your choice. The Night’s Watch,” he reached inside the deer, ripped out its
heart, and held it in his fist, red and dripping, “or this.”
“如果你不照办，那明天我们会外出打猎，而你的马将在林中某处跌倒，你也会飞出马鞍摔死……至少我会这么告诉你母亲。她心肠太软，连对你这种人都疼爱有加，我不想让她难过。你不用幻想会死得多干脆，或是有办法抵抗，因为我会很乐意穷追不舍，亲手宰掉你这头猪。”他抛开猎刀，手臂到肘全都染得腥红。“所以啰，你有两个选择，不是守夜人，”——他把手伸进鹿尸，掏出心脏，血淋淋地握在手中——“就是这个。”
Sam told the
tale in a calm, dead voice, as if it were something that had happened to
someone else, not to him. And strangely, Jon thought, he did not weep, not even
once. When he was done, they sat together and listened to the wind for a time.
There was no other sound in all the world.
山姆用种平静而死板的声音说着故事，仿佛这事发生在别人身上，而不是他自己。奇怪的是，琼恩心想，他竟然停下来不哭了。他说完后，两人坐在一起听夜风。全世界没有旁的声音。
Finally Jon
said, “We should go back to the common hall.”
最后琼恩道：“我们该回大厅去了。”
“Why?” Sam asked.
“怎么？”
Jon shrugged.
“There’s hot cider to drink, or mulled wine if you prefer. Some nights Dareon
sings for us, if the mood is on him. He was a singer, before?.?.?.?well, not
truly, but almost, an apprentice singer.”
琼恩耸耸肩。“那儿有热苹果酒可喝，不然你也可以喝烫过的葡萄酒。戴利恩心情好的话，会唱歌给我们听。来这儿之前，他原本……呃，是个歌手，嗯，可能不很专业啦，但挺不赖，算是未出师的歌手罢。”
“How did he come here?” Sam asked.
“他怎么会来这儿？”山姆问。
“Lord Rowan of Goldengrove found him in bed with his daughter. The
girl was two years older, and Dareon swears she helped him through her window,
but under her father’s eye she named it rape, so here he is. When Maester Aemon
heard him sing, he said his voice was honey poured over thunder.” Jon smiled.
“Toad sometimes sings too, if you call it singing. Drinking songs he learned in
his father’s winesink. Pyp says his voice is piss poured over a fart.” They
laughed at that together.
“金树城的罗宛伯爵发现女儿被他睡了。那个女的大他两岁，戴利恩发誓是她帮他爬进卧室窗户的，可在父亲严厉的目光下，她指称自己是被强暴，于是他就来啦。伊蒙师傅听过他唱歌后，说他的声音像加了蜜的雷。”琼恩微笑，“陶德有时也唱歌，如果你把那也算做是歌的话。他都唱些打他爹那儿学来的饮酒歌，派普说他的声音是加了尿的屁。”两人齐声哈哈大笑。
“I should like to hear them both,” Sam admitted, “but they would not
want me there.” His face was troubled. “He’s going to make me fight again on
the morrow, isn’t he?”
“他们两人的歌声我都想听听，”山姆承认。“但他们不会欢迎我的。”他满脸愁容道，“他明天还会逼我打架，对吧？”
“He is,” Jon was forced to say.
“没错。”琼恩很不情愿地说。
Sam got
awkwardly to his feet. “I had better try to sleep.” He huddled down in his
cloak and plodded off.
山姆蹒跚地站起身。“我想办法睡一会儿好了。”他裹紧斗篷离开。
The others were
still in the common room when Jon returned, alone but for Ghost. “Where have
you been?” Pyp asked.
琼恩带着白灵回到大厅时，其他人都还在。“你跑哪儿去啦？”派普问。
“Talking with Sam,” he said.
“跟山姆聊天。”他说。
“He truly is craven,” said Grenn. “At supper, there were still places
on the bench when he got his pie, but he was too scared to come sit with us.”
“他实在窝囊透顶，”葛兰道，“晚上吃饭，长凳上明明还有空位，可他拿了馅饼偏偏就不敢过来跟我们一起坐。”
“The Lord of Ham thinks he’s too good to eat with the likes of us,”
suggested Jeren.
“火腿大人太尊贵啦，不跟我们这种人同桌用饭的。”杰伦猜测。
“I saw him eat a pork pie,” Toad said, smirking. “Do you think it was
a brother?” He began to make oinking noises.
“你们看看他吃猪肉饼的样子，”陶德狞笑道，“简直就是在跟兄弟叙旧。”说完他学起了猪叫。
“Stop it!” Jon snapped angrily.
“闭嘴！”琼恩愤怒地斥道。
The other boys
fell silent, taken aback by his sudden fury. “Listen to me,” Jon said into the
quiet, and he told them how it was going to be. Pyp backed him, as he’d known
he would, but when Halder spoke up, it was a pleasant surprise. Grenn was
anxious at the first, but Jon knew the words to move him. One by one the rest
fell in line. Jon persuaded some, cajoled some, shamed the others, made threats
where threats were required. At the end they had all agreed?.?.?.?all but Rast.
其他男孩被他突如其来的怒气吓住，纷纷沉默下来。“听我说。”琼恩平静地告诉他们该怎么做。如他所料，派普站在他这边，但令人惊喜的是霍德也表示支持。葛兰起初还有些犹豫，但琼恩知道怎样才能说动他。其他人也纷纷同意。琼恩或好言劝说，或以利相诱，有时出言羞辱，必要的话也用武力要挟。最后所有人都愿意照他的话去做……只有雷斯特不肯。
“You girls do as you please,” Rast said, “but if Thorne sends me
against Lady Piggy, I’m going to slice me off a rasher of bacon.” He laughed in
Jon’s face and left them there.
“你们要孬种就孬种罢，”雷斯特说，“但如果索恩叫我跟猪小姐打，我可是会好好切他一大块火腿下来。”他当着琼恩的面冷笑两声，转身便走。
Hours later, as
the castle slept, three of them paid a call on his cell. Grenn held his arms
while Pyp sat on his legs. Jon could hear Rast’s rapid breathing as Ghost leapt
onto his chest. The direwolf’s eyes burned red as embers as his teeth nipped
lightly at the soft skin of the boy’s throat, just enough to draw blood.
“Remember, we know where you sleep,” Jon said softly.
几小时后，当全城的人都在沉睡时，他们三个到他寝室去了一趟。当葛兰抓住他的手，派普坐上他的腿，白灵扑到他胸膛的时候，琼恩可以听见雷斯特急促的喘息。冰原狼的两眼如一对彤红的火烬，他用牙齿轻轻划破男孩喉咙柔软的皮肤，微微见血。“别忘了，我们知道你睡在哪儿。”琼恩轻声说。
The next morning
Jon heard Rast tell Albett and Toad how his razor had slipped while he shaved.
隔天早上，琼恩听见雷斯特对阿贝特和陶德解释，说他刮胡子的时候如何不小心被剃刀刮伤。
From that day
forth, neither Rast nor any of the others would hurt Samwell Tarly. When Ser
Alliser matched them against him, they would stand their ground and swat aside
his slow, clumsy strokes. If the master-at-arms screamed for an attack, they
would dance in and tap Sam lightly on breastplate or helm or leg. Ser Alliser
raged and threatened and called them all cravens and women and worse, yet Sam
remained unhurt. A few nights later, at Jon’s urging, he joined them for the
evening meal, taking a place on the bench beside Halder. It was another
fortnight before he found the nerve to join their talk, but in time he was
laughing at Pyp’s faces and teasing Grenn with the best of them.
从那天起，不论是雷斯特或其他人，谁都不会伤害山姆威尔·塔利。若艾里沙爵士要他们和他单打，他们就站在原地，拨开他缓慢笨拙的攻击。假如教头扯着喉咙叫他们进攻，他们便跳到山姆身边，然后轻轻地在他胸甲、头盔或脚上点一记。艾里沙爵士气得半死，出言胁迫，骂他们是懦夫、娘娘腔，什么难听的话都出了笼，但依旧没人动山姆半根汗毛。几天后的一个晚上，他在琼恩的敦促下，坐在霍德旁边跟大家一起吃晚餐。之后又过了两个星期，他才鼓起勇气加入谈话，很快就跟其他人一样，被派普的鬼脸逗得哈哈大笑，然后开起葛兰的玩笑来。
Fat and awkward
and frightened he might be, but Samwell Tarly was no fool. One night he visited
Jon in his cell. “I don’t know what you did,” he said, “but I know you did it.”
He looked away shyly. “I’ve never had a friend before.”
山姆威尔·塔利虽然臃肿笨拙，胆子又小，但他可不笨。有天夜里，他来到琼恩的寝室，“我不知道你做了什么，”他说：“但我知道是你做的。”他害羞地转开视线。“我本来一个朋友也没有。”
“We’re not friends,” Jon said. He put a hand on Sam’s broad shoulder.
“We’re brothers.”
“我们不是朋友，”琼恩拍拍山姆宽阔的肩膀，“我们是兄弟。”
And so they
were, he thought to himself after Sam had taken his leave. Robb and Bran and
Rickon were his father’s sons, and he loved them still, yet Jon knew that he
had never truly been one of them. Catelyn Stark had seen to that. The grey
walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life
now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other
cast-outs who wore the black of the Night’s Watch.
他们的确是兄弟啊，山姆离开后，他暗自思量。罗柏、布兰和瑞肯都是父亲的孩子，他也依然爱着他们，但由于凯特琳·史塔克的关系，琼恩知道自己终究不是他们的一分子。临冬城的灰墙或许仍令他魂牵梦萦，然而现在黑城堡才是他的生命皈依，他的手足兄弟则是山姆、葛兰、霍德、派普和其他无法见容于社会。穿着黑衣的守夜人。
“My uncle spoke truly,” he whispered to Ghost. He wondered if he would ever see Benjen Stark
again, to tell him.
“叔叔说得没错呢。”他悄声对白灵说，却不知此生能否与班扬·史塔克重逢，好当面感谢他。