Ⅲ 冰雨的风暴 Chapter79 琼恩
JON
埃恩·伊梅特是个高高瘦瘦的年轻游骑兵，其耐力、力量和剑术冠绝东海望。每次跟他练完，琼恩总感觉僵硬酸痛，第二天早晨醒来，浑身便覆满淤青——但这种效果正是他的追求，若一直跟纱丁、马儿，哪怕葛兰比武，永远无法提高。
Iron Emmett was a long, lanky young ranger whose endurance, strength, and swordsmanship were the pride of Eastwatch. Jon always came away from their sessions stiff and sore, and woke the next day covered with bruises, which was just the way he wanted it. He would never get any better going up against the likes of Satin and Horse, or even Grenn.
琼恩认为大多数时候，自己挨打跟回敬的次数差不多，但今天并非如此。昨晚他几乎没睡，翻来覆去一个钟头之后，便放弃尝试，穿好衣服，来到长城之巅，反复思考史坦尼斯·拜拉席恩的提议，直到太阳升起。缺少睡眠使他受了惩罚，埃梅特无情地发动攻击，一下又一下的回旋砍逼迫他在校场中步步后退，时不时还拿盾牌加以冲撞。琼恩的胳膊逐渐麻木，随着时间推移，没有锋刃的钝剑也显得沉重起来。
Most days he gave as good as he got, Jon liked to think, but not today. He had hardly slept last night, and after an hour of restless tossing he had given up even the attempt, dressed, and walked the top of the Wall till the sun came up, wrestling with Stannis Baratheon’s offer. The lack of sleep was catching up with him now, and Emmett was hammering him mercilessly across the yard, driving him back on his heels with one long looping cut after another, and slamming him with his shield from time to time for good measure. Jon’s arm had gone numb from the shock of impact, and the edgeless practice sword seemed to be growing heavier with every passing moment.
他正打算垂剑叫停，不料埃梅特佯攻下盘，然后以一记凶猛的正手劈，越过琼恩的盾牌，直取太阳穴。他脚步蹒跚，重击之下，头盔和脑袋同时嗡嗡作响。顷刻之间，眼缝外的世界一片模糊。
He was almost ready to lower his blade and call a halt when Emmett feinted low and came in over his shield with a savage forehand slash that caught Jon on the temple. He staggered, his helm and head both ringing from the force of the blow. For half a heartbeat the world beyond his eyeslit was a blur.
岁月如梭，他又回到了临冬城，穿着加衬垫的皮外套，不是锁甲和板甲。他拿起木剑，面对罗柏，而非埃恩·伊梅特。
And then the years were gone, and he was back at Winterfell once more, wearing a quilted leather coat in place of mail and plate. His sword was made of wood, and it was Robb who stood facing him, not Iron Emmett.
从学会走路开始，他们每天早晨都一起练武，雪诺和史塔克，在临冬城内兜圈比划，笑闹叫嚷，没有人看见的时候，还会哭。他们不是小孩子，而是骑士和英雄。“我是龙骑士伊蒙王子！”琼恩大喊，而罗柏吼回去，“我是‘傻瓜’佛罗理安！”或者“我是少龙主！”然后琼恩回答，“我是莱安·雷德温爵士！”
Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. “I’m Prince Aemon the Dragonknight,” Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, “Well, I’m Florian the Fool.” Or Robb would say, “I’m the Young Dragon,” and Jon would reply, “I’m Ser Ryam Redwyne.”
有一天早上，他最先夸口，“我是临冬城公爵！”过去，他上百次这样呼叫。只有这次，就这一次，罗柏答道，“你不可能成为临冬城公爵，你是私生子，我母亲大人说，你永远得不到临冬城。”
That morning he called it first. “I’m Lord of Winterfell!” he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, “You can’t be Lord of Winterfell, you’re bastard-born. My lady mother says you can’t ever be the Lord of Winterfell.”
我还以为自己忘了。琼恩尝到嘴里血的味道。
I thought I had forgotten that. Jon could taste blood in his mouth, from the blow he’d taken.
霍德和马儿不得不一人架一条胳膊，将他拖离埃恩·伊梅特身边。游骑兵头晕目眩地坐倒在地，盾牌几乎成为碎片，头盔的面甲被打歪，钝剑飞出六码之外。“琼恩，够了，”霍德喊，“他输了，你解除了他的武装。够了！”
In the end Halder and Horse had to pull him away from Iron Emmett, one man on either arm. The ranger sat on the ground dazed, his shield half in splinters, the visor of his helm knocked askew, and his sword six yards away. “Jon, enough,” Halder was shouting, “he’s down, you disarmed him. Enough!”
不。不够。永远不够。琼恩扔下武器。“抱歉，”他喃喃道，“伊梅特，没伤着吧？”
No. Not enough. Never enough. Jon let his sword drop. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Emmett, are you hurt?”
埃恩·伊梅特摘下被砸扁的头盔。“你没听过‘投降’这个词吗，雪诺大人？”他说话的语气很和善，伊梅特喜欢比武，也爱开玩笑。“战士保佑，”他叹道，“我总算明白‘断掌’科林的感受了。”
Iron Emmett pulled his battered helm off. “Was there some part of yield you could not comprehend, Lord Snow?” It was said amiably, though. Emmett was an amiable man, and he loved the song of swords. “Warrior defend me,” he groaned, “now I know how Qhorin Halfhand must have felt.”
这实在难以接受。琼恩挣脱朋友们，独自回到兵器库，耳朵仍因伊梅特的击打而嗡嗡作响。他坐在板凳上，将头埋进双手之中。我在气什么？他问自己，这是个愚蠢的问题。临冬城公爵。我可以当上临冬城公爵。成为父亲的继承人。
That was too much. Jon wrenched free of his friends and retreated to the armory, alone. His ears were still ringing from the blow Emmett had dealt him. He sat on the bench and buried his head in his hands. Why am I so angry? he asked himself, but it was a stupid question. Lord of Winterfell. I could be the Lord of Winterfell. My father’s heir.
然而眼前浮现的却不是艾德公爵的脸，而是凯特琳夫人。她那深沉的蓝眼睛和严厉冰冷的嘴唇，看上去就像史坦尼斯。和铁一样，他心想，弯曲之前就会先断掉。以前在临冬城，不管剑法、算术还是别的东西，只要表现优于罗柏，她就会用这样的眼神打量他。你是谁？那双蓝眼睛说，这里不欢迎你，你来这里做什么？
It was not Lord Eddard’s face he saw floating before him, though; it was Lady Catelyn’s. With her deep blue eyes and hard cold mouth, she looked a bit like Stannis. Iron, he thought, but brittle. She was looking at him the way she used to look at him at Winterfell, whenever he had bested Robb at swords or sums or most anything. Who are you? that look had always seemed to say. This is not your place. Why are you here?
朋友们仍在练武，但依琼恩现下的心情，实在无法面对他们。于是他从后门离开兵器库，走下陡峭石梯，进入虫道，也就是连接黑城堡各堡垒和塔楼的地下隧道。去浴室的路不远，在那儿，他先跳入凉水中洗掉一身臭汗，然后泡进温暖的石澡盆。热气稍稍消除了肌肉的酸痛，令他想起临冬城神木林里蒸腾翻滚的温泉。临冬城，他心想，席恩将它焚毁，由我加以重建。这是父亲的希望，罗柏的希望，他们绝不想让城堡成为废墟。
His friends were still out in the practice yard, but Jon was in no fit state to face them. He left the armory by the back, descending a steep flight of stone steps to the wormways, the tunnels that linked the castle’s keeps and towers below the earth. It was short walk to the bathhouse, where he took a cold plunge to wash the sweat off and soaked in a hot stone tub. The warmth took some of the ache from his muscles and made him think of Winterfell’s muddy pools, steaming and bubbling in the godswood. Winterfell, he thought. Theon left it burned and broken, but I could restore it. Surely his father would have wanted that, and Robb as well. They would never have wanted the castle left in ruins.
你是私生子，你永远得不到临冬城。他又听见罗柏的话。而那些国王石像用花岗岩的舌头朝他咆哮，你不是史塔克家的人，这里没有你的位置。琼恩闭上眼睛，看到那棵心树，苍白的枝杈，红色的叶子，肃穆的脸。这棵鱼梁木代表了临冬城，艾德公爵如是说……今天为了拯救城堡，琼恩不得不将它古老的根须连脉拔起，献给红袍女饥饿的火神。我没有这个权力，他心想，临冬城属于旧神。
You can’t be the Lord of Winterfell, you’re bastard-born, he heard Robb say again. And the stone kings were growling at him with granite tongues. You do not belong here. This is not your place. When Jon closed his eyes he saw the heart tree, with its pale limbs, red leaves, and solemn face. The weirwood was the heart of Winterfell, Lord Eddard always said … but to save the castle Jon would have to tear that heart up by its ancient roots, and feed it to the red woman’s hungry fire god. I have no right, he thought. Winterfell belongs to the old gods.
拱形天花板反射的回音将他带回黑城堡。“我不知道，”有个人在说，语调中充满怀疑，“也许当我更了解此人时……你知道，史坦尼斯大人对他评价不佳。”
The sound of voices echoing off the vaulted ceiling brought him back to Castle Black. “I don’t know,” a man was saying, in a voice thick with doubts. “Maybe if I knew the man better … Lord Stannis didn’t have much good to say of him, I’ll tell you that.”
“史坦尼斯·拜拉席恩几时对人有好评价？”没错，是艾里沙爵士冷酷的声音，“若总司令人选得由史坦尼斯决定，那我们除了名义上的权利，岂不都成了他的臣属。泰温·兰尼斯特不可能忘记这点，而我们都清楚泰温公爵才是最后的赢家。在黑水河，他已打败了史坦尼斯。”
“When has Stannis Baratheon ever had much good to say of anyone?” Ser Alliser’s flinty voice was unmistakable. “If we let Stannis choose our Lord Commander, we become his bannermen in all but name. Tywin Lannister is not like to forget that, and you know it will be Lord Tywin who wins in the end. He’s already beaten Stannis once, on the Blackwater.”
“泰温公爵支持史林特，”波文·马尔锡焦虑不安地承认，“我可以给你看信，奥赛尔，他称他为‘忠实的朋友和仆人’。”
“Lord Tywin favors Slynt,” said Bowen Marsh, in a fretful, anxious voice. “I can show you his letter, Othell. ‘Our faithful friend and servant,’ he called him.”
琼恩·雪诺突然坐起来，其他三人听到水声全僵住了。“大人们。”他带着冷淡的礼貌说。
Jon Snow sat up suddenly, and the three men froze at the sound of the slosh. “My lords,” he said with cold courtesy.
“你在这儿干吗，野种？”索恩问。
“What are you doing here, bastard?” Thorne asked.
“洗澡。别让我打断你们的谋划。”琼恩从水里爬出来，擦干身子，穿上衣服，留下他们继续讨论。
“Bathing. But don’t let me spoil your plotting.” Jon climbed from the water, dried, dressed, and left them to conspire.
到了外面，他才发现不知该去哪儿。他走过司令塔的断垣残壁，他曾在那儿从死人手中救出熊老；他走过耶哥蕊特挂着悲伤的微笑死去的空地；他走过国王塔，他曾在那儿跟纱丁和聋子迪克·佛拉德一起等待马格拿和他的瑟恩人；他走过巨大木楼梯的残骸，它已成为一片焦木碎冰。内城门敞开，琼恩走入隧道，感受周围的寒气和头顶冰山的重量。他经过唐纳·诺伊跟“强壮的”玛格同归于尽的地方，穿越新的外城门，回到苍白阴冷的阳光下。
Outside, he found he had no idea where he was going. He walked past the shell of the Lord Commander’s Tower, where once he’d saved the Old Bear from a dead man; past the spot where Ygritte had died with that sad smile on her face; past the King’s Tower where he and Satin and Deaf Dick Follard had waited for the Magnar and his Thenns; past the heaped and charred remains of the great wooden stair. The inner gate was open, so Jon went down the tunnel, through the Wall. He could feel the cold around him, the weight of all the ice above his head. He walked past the place where Donal Noye and Mag the Mighty had fought and died together, through the new outer gate, and back into the pale cold sunlight.
他这才允许自己停下来，喘口气，思考。除了木材、石料和泥灰的事务，奥赛尔·亚威克别无所长，熊老对此相当清楚。索恩和马尔锡会动摇他，让他支持杰诺斯大人，而杰诺斯大人将被选为总司令。这一切和临冬城公爵又有什么关系呢？
Only then did he permit himself to stop, to take a breath, to think. Othell Yarwyck was not a man of strong convictions, except when it came to wood and stone and mortar. The Old Bear had known that. Thorne and Marsh will sway him, Yarwyck will support Lord Janos, and Lord Janos will be chosen Lord Commander. And what does that leave me, if not Winterfell?
冷风在墙边打转，拉扯斗篷。他可以感觉到冰墙散发的寒气，就像火堆会散发热量。琼恩拉上兜帽，继续漫步。暮色深重，太阳低垂在西。百码之外的营地，史坦尼斯国王用壕沟、尖桩和高高的木栅栏圈禁野人俘虏。左边有三个大火坑，胜利者在此焚烧死于长城下的自由民、硕大多毛的巨人和矮小的硬足民。昔日的沙场今天一片荒凉，满是烧焦杂草和凝固沥青，到处都有曼斯部众的痕迹：一片撕裂的兽皮原本是帐篷，还有巨人的大槌、战车的轮子、断矛和长毛象的粪便。鬼影森林边缘，原先辽广的营区里，琼恩找到一个橡树墩，坐下来。
A wind swirled against the Wall, tugging at his cloak. He could feel the cold coming off the ice the way heat comes off a fire. Jon pulled up his hood and began to walk again. The afternoon was growing old, and the sun was low in the west. A hundred yards away was the camp where King Stannis had confined his wildling captives within a ring of ditches, sharpened stakes, and high wooden fences. To his left were three great firepits, where the victors had burned the bodies of all the free folk to die beneath the Wall, huge pelted giants and little Hornfoot men alike. The killing ground was still a desolation of scorched weeds and hardened pitch, but Mance’s people had left traces of themselves everywhere; a torn hide that might have been part of a tent, a giant’s maul, the wheel of a chariot, a broken spear, a pile of mammoth dung. On the edge of the haunted forest, where the tents had been, Jon found an oakwood stump and sat.
耶哥蕊特要我成为野人。史坦尼斯要我成为临冬城公爵。我自己要什么？太阳爬下天空，沉入沿西方山丘绵延起伏的长城后面。琼恩注视着高大宽阔的冰墙披上红粉余晖。我要身为变色龙被杰诺斯大人绞死，还是该打破誓言，迎娶瓦迩，成为临冬城公爵？这么衡量，选择很容易……若耶哥蕊特仍活着，也许更容易。瓦迩是个陌生人，但不难看，而且她姐姐是曼斯·雷德的王后，可……
Ygritte wanted me to be a wildling. Stannis wants me to be the Lord of Winterfell. But what do I want? The sun crept down the sky to dip behind the Wall where it curved through the western hills. Jon watched as that towering expanse of ice took on the reds and pinks of sunset. Would I sooner be hanged for a turncloak by Lord Janos, or forswear my vows, marry Val, and become the Lord of Winterfell? It seemed an easy choice when he thought of it in those terms … though if Ygritte had still been alive, it might have been even easier. Val was a stranger to him. She was not hard on the eyes, certainly, and she had been sister to Mance Rayder’s queen, but still …
想得到她的爱，我就必须偷走她，然后她会给我生孩子。也许有一天，我能抱上自己的嫡生儿。儿子是琼恩从来不敢梦想的，因此才决定来长城度过一生。我可以给他取名罗柏。瓦迩想留着姐姐的儿子的话，我们可以在临冬城将他收养长大，还有吉莉的儿子。山姆不需要撒谎，我们会为吉莉找好住所，让他一年来看她一次。曼斯的儿子和卡斯特的儿子将会像兄弟一般长大，就如我和罗柏。
I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well. Sam would never need to tell his lie. We’d find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb.
我想要，琼恩明白了，我想要这一切胜过任何东西。我一直想要，他满怀负疚，愿诸神宽恕我。这是体内的饥饿，比龙晶刀刃更锋利。饥饿……他感觉得到。他需要吃的，猎物，散发着恐惧气息的红鹿，桀骜不驯的大麇鹿。他需要杀戮，用鲜肉和热血填饱肚子。想到这些，他口水横流。
He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. A hunger … he could feel it. It was food he needed, prey, a red deer that stank of fear or a great elk proud and defiant. He needed to kill and fill his belly with fresh meat and hot dark blood. His mouth began to water with the thought.
过了很久，他才明白过来怎么回事，不由得立即跳将起来。“白灵？”他转向树林。“他”来了，“他”静悄悄地跑出深绿的阴影，温暖的呼吸化为腾腾的白色雾气。“白灵！”他高喊，冰原狼迈步奔跑。“他”瘦了，但更高大，发出的唯一响动只是爪下枯叶碎裂的轻声。“他”来到琼恩身边，将他扑倒在地，他们在棕色的草丛和长长的阴影里翻滚打闹，星星出来了。“天哪，小狼，你上哪儿去了？”等白灵不再咬他的手臂，琼恩道，“我还以为你死了呢，就跟罗柏、耶哥蕊特和其他人一样。自从爬上长城，我就感觉不到你，连梦里也不能。”冰原狼没有回答，只舔着琼恩的脸，舌头犹如湿乎乎的锉刀，而眼睛反射出最后一线目光，像两个红红的大太阳，闪耀。
It was a long moment before he understood what was happening. When he did, he bolted to his feet. “Ghost?” He turned toward the wood, and there he came, padding silently out of the green dusk, the breath coming warm and white from his open jaws. “Ghost!” he shouted, and the direwolf broke into a run. He was leaner than he had been, but bigger as well, and the only sound he made was the soft crunch of dead leaves beneath his paws. When he reached Jon he leapt, and they wrestled amidst brown grass and long shadows as the stars came out above them. “Gods, wolf, where have you been?” Jon said when Ghost stopped worrying at his forearm. “I thought you’d died on me, like Robb and Ygritte and all the rest. I’ve had no sense of you, not since I climbed the Wall, not even in dreams.” The direwolf had no answer, but he licked Jon’s face with a tongue like a wet rasp, and his eyes caught the last light and shone like two great red suns.
红色的眼睛，琼恩意识到，但跟梅莉珊卓不同。“他”有鱼梁木的眼睛。红色的眼睛，红色的嘴，净白的毛皮。血与骨，就像心树，来自旧神。所有冰原狼里，只有他是纯净的白。在夏末的初雪地，他和罗柏一起发现六只小狼，其中五只是灰色、黑色或褐色，正好对应史塔克家的五个孩子。另一只洁白无暇，白得像雪。
Red eyes, Jon realized, but not like Melisandre’s. He had a weirwood’s eyes. Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one. And he alone of all the direwolves was white. Six pups they’d found in the late summer snows, him and Robb; five that were grey and black and brown, for the five Starks, and one white, as white as Snow.
他有了答案。
He had his answer then.
长城下面，后党人士点燃夜火，梅莉珊卓从隧道里出来，国王跟在身边。她将带领大家祈祷，以驱走黑暗。“过来，白灵，”琼恩告诉冰原狼，“跟我来。你饿了，我有感觉，我们这就去吃东西。”他们一起奔向城门，远远绕开火堆，那火焰像爪子一样伸向黑沉沉的夜空。
Beneath the Wall, the queen’s men were kindling their nightfire. He saw Melisandre emerge from the tunnel with the king beside her, to lead the prayers she believed would keep the dark away. “Come, Ghost,” Jon told the wolf. “With me. You’re hungry, I know. I could feel it.” They ran together for the gate, circling wide around the nightfire, where reaching flames clawed at the black belly of the night.
国王的人在黑城堡的庭院里十分显眼，琼恩经过时，他们都停下来，目瞪口呆地望着他。他们中谁也没见过冰原狼，他意识到，白灵有南方大森林里游荡的普通狼只两倍之大。他们继续朝兵器库方向走去，琼恩偶一抬头，看到瓦迩站在塔楼窗前打量他。抱歉，他心想，我不能当那个偷你的人。虽然平凡苦难，但这是我的命。
The king’s men were much in evidence in the yards of Castle Black. They stopped as Jon went by, and gaped at him. None of them had ever seen a direwolf before, he realized, and Ghost was twice as large as the common wolves that prowled their southron greenwoods. As he walked toward the armory, Jon chanced to look up and saw Val standing in her tower window. I’m sorry, he thought. I’m not the man to steal you out of there.
校场中，他又撞上十来个国王的人，个个手拿长矛火炬。领头的骑士看到白灵，皱起眉头，两名部下放下长矛阻挡，最后骑士道：“让开，让他们过去。”他对琼恩说：“才来吃晚饭？你迟到了。”
In the practice yard he came upon a dozen king’s men with torches and long spears in their hands. Their sergeant looked at Ghost and scowled, and a couple of his men lowered their spears until the knight who led them said, “Move aside and let them pass.” To Jon he said, “You’re late for your supper.”
“是的，就让我快过去吧，爵士先生。”琼恩回答，于是那骑士让开。
“Then get out of my way, ser,” Jon replied, and he did.
还没走下楼梯，他就听到了吵闹：逐渐升高的说话声，咒骂，还有人在敲桌子。琼恩走进地窖，但没人注意他。弟兄们挤在板凳和桌子上，更多的人站着叫嚷，没人吃东西。没有食物。怎么了？杰诺斯·史林特大人喊着变色龙、叛徒之类的东西，埃恩·伊梅特长剑出鞘、踩上桌子，而“三指”哈布在喝骂一个影子塔的游骑兵……有个东海望的人不停拿拳头砸桌子，要求安静，然而声音只不过融入喧嚣的噪音中，在拱形天花板上回荡。
He could hear the noise even before he reached the bottom of the steps; raised voices, curses, someone pounding on a table. Jon stepped into the vault all but unnoticed. His brothers crowded the benches and the tables, but more were standing and shouting than were sitting, and no one was eating. There was no food. What’s happening here? Lord Janos Slynt was bellowing about turncloaks and treason, Iron Emmett stood on a table with a naked sword in his fist, Three-Finger Hobb was cursing a ranger from the Shadow Tower … some Eastwatch man slammed his fist onto the table again and again, demanding quiet, but all that did was add to the din echoing off the vaulted ceiling.
派普头一个发现琼恩，也见到了白灵。他咧嘴笑笑，将两根指头放进嘴里，吹响口哨——那是从小在戏班练就的绝活。这声尖啸犹如利剑切开嘈杂。琼恩走向桌子，弟兄们纷纷注意到他，并安静下来。沉默在地窖里蔓延，直到最后，唯一的声音只剩下琼恩在石地板上的脚步和火炉里木头轻微的噼啪。
Pyp was the first to see Jon. He grinned at the sight of Ghost, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled as only a mummer’s boy could whistle. The shrill sound cut through the clamor like a sword. As Jon walked toward the tables, more of the brothers took note, and fell quiet. A hush spread across the cellar, until the only sounds were Jon’s heels clicking on the stone floor, and the soft crackle of the logs in the hearth.
接着，艾里沙·索恩爵士打破沉默，“变色龙终于屈尊现身了。”
Ser Alliser Thorne shattered the silence. “The turncloak graces us with his presence at last.”
杰诺斯大人则涨红了脸，浑身颤抖。“野兽，”他倒吸了一口气，“看！这就是夺走“断掌”生命的野兽。我们中间有个狼灵，弟兄们，狼灵！这……这凶兽怎配领导我们！这凶兽不该活着！”
Lord Janos was red-faced and quivering. “The beast,” he gasped. “Look! The beast that tore the life from Halfhand. A warg walks among us, brothers. A WARG! This … this creature is not fit to lead us! This beastling is not fit to live!”
白灵呲牙露齿，琼恩将一只手搭在“他”头上。“大人，”他说，“这里到底发生了什么？”
Ghost bared his teeth, but Jon put a hand on his head. “My lord,” he said, “will you tell me what’s happened here?”
伊蒙学士从大厅彼端作答：“有人提名你为总司令，琼恩。”
Maester Aemon answered, from the far end of the hall. “Your name has been put forth as Lord Commander, Jon.”
太荒谬了。琼恩忍不住发笑。“谁提的？”他一边说，一边望向朋友们。一定又是派普的玩笑。但这个从前的戏班学徒耸耸肩，葛兰则摇摇头，“优郁的”艾迪·托勒特却站起来。“是我，是我。没错，对朋友干这种事很残酷，但你来当好过我。”
That was so absurd Jon had to smile. “By who?” he said, looking for his friends. This had to be one of Pyp’s japes, surely. But Pyp shrugged at him, and Grenn shook his head. It was Dolorous Edd Tollett who stood. “By me. Aye, it’s a terrible cruel thing to do to a friend, but better you than me.”
杰诺斯大人又开始唾沫横飞，“这、这简直岂有此理。我们该绞死这小子。对！绞死他，依我看，该把这个变色龙、狼灵，跟他的朋友曼斯·雷德一起绞死。提名为总司令？我无法忍受，无法忍受！”
Lord Janos started sputtering again. “This, this is an outrage. We ought to hang this boy. Yes! Hang him, I say, hang him for a turncloak and a warg, along with his friend Mance Rayder. Lord Commander? I will not have it, I will not suffer it!”
卡特·派克霍地起立，“你无法忍受？你也许能训练那帮该死的金袍子舔你的屁股，但别忘了，你现在穿的是黑衣！”
Cotter Pyke stood up. “You won’t suffer it? Might be you had those gold cloaks trained to lick your bloody arse, but you’re wearing a black cloak now.”
“任何弟兄都可以提名任何人，只要对方曾发下誓言穿上黑衣，”丹尼斯·梅利斯特爵士宣布，“托勒特完全有权利这么做，大人。”
“Any brother may offer any name for our consideration, so long as the man has said his vows,” Ser Denys Mallister said. “Tollett is well within his rights, my lord.”
立刻有十几个人同时说话，每个人都试图盖过对方，不一会儿，大厅再度被叫嚷声淹没。这回艾里沙·索恩爵士跳上桌子，举手示意安静。“弟兄们！”他高喊，“吵来吵去没用，投票吧。这个霸占了国王塔的国王在地窖每个出口都布置了卫兵，确保我们没东西吃，也不能离开，直到作出选择。好吧！我们就来选，一次一次地选，如果必要，就选一个晚上，直到选出首领为止……但开始投票前，我相信咱们的首席工匠有话要说。”
A dozen men started to talk at once, each trying to drown out the others, and before long half the hall was shouting once more. This time it was Ser Alliser Thorne who leapt up on the table, and raised his hands for quiet. “Brothers!” he cried, “this gains us naught. I say we vote. This king who has taken the King’s Tower has posted men at all the doors to see that we do not eat nor leave till we have made a choice. So be it! We will choose, and choose again, all night if need be, until we have our lord … but before we cast our tokens, I believe our First Builder has something to say to us.”
奥赛尔·亚威克皱紧眉头，缓缓起身。大个子工匠揉了揉突出的长下巴，“好吧，我请求将自己的名字撤出选举。如果你们要我，已经有过十次机会，很显然，你们认为我不行，至少很多人认为我不行。先前我对朋友说，看来还是支持杰诺斯大人……”
Othell Yarwyck stood up slowly, frowning. The big builder rubbed his long lantern jaw and said, “Well, I’m pulling my name out. If you wanted me, you had ten chances to choose me, and you didn’t. Not enough of you, anyway. I was going to say that those who were casting a token for me ought to choose Lord Janos …”
艾里沙爵士点点头，“史林特大人是最佳——”
Ser Alliser nodded. “Lord Slynt is the best possible—”
“让我把话说完，艾里沙，”亚威克抱怨，“我们都知道，史林特大人曾指挥君临的都城守备队，而且是赫伦堡领主……”
“I wasn’t done, Alliser,” Yarwyck complained. “Lord Slynt commanded the City Watch in King’s Landing, we all know, and he was Lord of Harrenhal …”
“他从未见过赫伦堡。”卡特·派克喊道。
“He’s never seen Harrenhal,” Cotter Pyke shouted out.
“嗯，没错，”亚威克说，“算了，不管怎么样，我站在这儿，却忘了为什么会说史林特是个好选择。选他好比扇史坦尼斯国王一耳光，但对大伙儿又有何好处呢？也许雪诺更好。他在长城待的时间长，又是本·史塔克的外甥和熊老的侍从。”亚威克耸耸肩。“随便你们选谁，反正我退出。”他坐下去。
“Well, that’s so,” said Yarwyck. “Anyway, now that I’m standing here, I don’t recall why I thought Slynt would be such a good choice. That would be sort of kicking King Stannis in the mouth, and I don’t see how that serves us. Might be Snow would be better. He’s been longer on the Wall, he’s Ben Stark’s nephew, and he served the Old Bear as squire.” Yarwyck shrugged. “Pick who you want, just so it’s not me.” He sat down.
琼恩看到杰诺斯·史林特的脸由红转紫，艾里沙·索恩爵士则毫无血色。那东海望的人又用拳头擂桌，叫着要罐子，他的朋友跟着喊。“罐子！”他们齐声吼，“罐子，罐子，罐子！”
Janos Slynt had turned from red to purple, Jon saw, but Ser Alliser Thorne had gone pale. The Eastwatch man was pounding his fist on the table again, but now he was shouting for the kettle. Some of his friends took up the cry. “Kettle!” they roared, as one. “Kettle, kettle, KETTLE!”
罐子放在火炉边的角落，黑色的大肚子铁罐，有两个硕大的把手和一个沉重的盖子。伊蒙学士对山姆和克莱达斯吩咐了一句，他们便走过去抓住把手，将罐子拖到桌边。一些弟兄在装代票物品的木桶旁排好队，克莱达斯揭开罐子的顶盖，却差点让它砸到自己的腿。随着一声沙哑的尖叫和一阵翅膀的拍打，一只大乌鸦从罐内冲出来，向上飞去，也许是要寻找椽木，或者逃亡的窗户，但地窖里两者皆无。乌鸦被困住了，它大声聒噪，绕着大厅转圈，一圈，两圈，三圈。琼恩听到山姆威尔·塔利说，“我认识这只鸟！它是莫尔蒙大人的乌鸦！”
The kettle was in the corner by the hearth, a big black potbellied thing with two huge handles and a heavy lid. Maester Aemon said a word to Sam and Clydas and they went and grabbed the handles and dragged the kettle over to the table. A few of the brothers were already queueing up by the token barrels as Clydas took the lid off and almost dropped it on his foot. With a raucous scream and a clap of wings, a huge raven burst out of the kettle. It flapped upward, seeking the rafters perhaps, or a window to make its escape, but there were no rafters in the vault, nor windows either. The raven was trapped. Cawing loudly, it circled the hall, once, twice, three times. And Jon heard Samwell Tarly shout, “I know that bird! That’s Lord Mormont’s raven!”
乌鸦落在离琼恩最近的桌子上。“雪诺。”它叫道。这是一只老鸟，满身污泥。“雪诺，”它续道，“雪诺，雪诺，雪诺。”它走到边缘，展开翅膀，飞上琼恩肩头。
The raven landed on the table nearest Jon. “Snow,” it cawed. It was an old bird, dirty and bedraggled. “Snow,” it said again, “Snow, snow, snow.” It walked to the end of the table, spread its wings again, and flew to Jon’s shoulder.
杰诺斯·史林特大人“嘭”地一声沉重地坐下，但艾里沙爵士的嘲笑响彻地窖。“猪头爵士把我们当傻瓜，弟兄们，”他说，“这花招是他教的，它们全都会说‘雪诺’，去鸦巢听听就知道了。莫尔蒙的鸟会讲别的。”
Lord Janos Slynt sat down so heavily he made a thump, but Ser Alliser filled the vault with mocking laughter. “Ser Piggy thinks we’re all fools, brothers,” he said. “He’s taught the bird this little trick. They all say snow, go up to the rookery and hear for yourselves. Mormont’s bird had more words than that.”
乌鸦昂头望向琼恩。“玉米？”它满怀期望地说。由于既没得到玉米，也没得到回答，它又聒噪几声，咕哝道：“罐子？罐子？罐子？”
The raven cocked its head and looked at Jon. “Corn?” it said hopefully. When it got neither corn nor answer, it quorked and muttered, “Kettle? Kettle? Kettle?”
剩下的全是箭头，洪流般的箭头，淹没了最后几枚石子和贝壳，也淹没了那一小撮铜板。
The rest was arrowheads, a torrent of arrowheads, a flood of arrowheads, arrowheads enough to drown the last few stones and shells, and all the copper pennies too.
等计数完毕，琼恩发现自己被围了起来。有人拍他后背，其他人则朝他跪拜，仿佛当他是个真正的领主。纱丁、“呆子”欧文、霍德、“癞蛤蟆”陶德、省靴、巨人、穆利、御林的乌尔马、“美女”唐纳·希山及其他数十人紧紧聚在旁边。戴文的木假牙敲得嗒嗒响，“诸神保佑，我们有了个裹襁褓的总司令。”埃恩·伊梅特说，“希望这不意味着下次练习时我不可以把你揍得屁滚尿流，大人。”“三指”哈布想知道他是仍然跟众人一起吃，还是该把膳食送到书房。连波文·马尔锡也走上前，表示只要雪诺大人答应，他很乐意继续担任总务长。
When the count was done, Jon found himself surrounded. Some clapped him on the back, whilst others bent the knee to him as if he were a lord in truth. Satin, Owen the Oaf, Halder, Toad, Spare Boot, Giant, Mully, Ulmer of the Kingswood, Sweet Donnel Hill, and half a hundred more pressed around him. Dywen clacked his wooden teeth and said, “Gods be good, our Lord Commander’s still in swaddling clothes.” Iron Emmett said, “I hope this don’t mean I can’t beat the bloody piss out of you next time we train, my lord.” Three-Finger Hobb wanted to know if he’d still be eating with the men, or if he’d want his meals sent up to his solar. Even Bowen Marsh came up to say he would be glad to continue as Lord Steward if that was Lord Snow’s wish.
“雪诺大人，”卡特·派克说，“如果你搞得一团糟，我就挖出你的肝，就着洋葱生吃。”
“Lord Snow,” said Cotter Pyke, “if you muck this up, I’m going to rip your liver out and eat it raw with onions.”
丹尼斯·梅利斯特比较礼貌。“年轻的山姆威尔要我做的事不容易，”老骑士坦承，“当科格尔被选中时，我告诉自己，‘没关系，他在长城服役的时间比你久，你的机会在下次。’轮到莫尔蒙时，我心想，‘他强壮又勇猛，但年纪大了，你仍然有机会。’你几乎还是个孩子，雪诺大人，现在我知道自己必须回到影子塔，而机会再也不会到来。”他疲倦地微笑。“不要让我带着遗憾去死。你叔叔是条好汉，你父亲大人，还有你祖父也是。我对你充满期望，希望你跟他们一样。”
Ser Denys Mallister was more courteous. “It was a hard thing young Samwell asked of me,” the old knight confessed. “When Lord Qorgyle was chosen, I told myself, ‘No matter, he has been longer on the Wall than you have, your time will come.’ When it was Lord Mormont, I thought, ‘He is strong and fierce, but he is old, your time may yet come.’ But you are half a boy, Lord Snow, and now I must return to the Shadow Tower knowing that my time will never come.” He smiled a tired smile. “Do not make me die regretful. Your uncle was a great man. Your lord father and his father as well. I shall expect full as much of you.”
“对，”卡特·派克说，“你先去告诉国王的人，一切都结束了，我们要该死的晚餐。”
“Aye,” said Cotter Pyke. “And you can start by telling those king’s men that it’s done, and we want our bloody supper.”
“晚餐，”乌鸦尖叫，“晚餐，晚餐。”
“Supper,” screamed the raven. “Supper, supper.”
国王的人得知选举结束之后，便撤离门口，“三指”哈布忙带十几个助手快步往厨房去拿食物。琼恩不想吃东西，他穿过城堡，怀疑自己在做梦。乌鸦停在肩头，白灵跟在脚边，派普、葛兰和山姆在后面交谈。他没听见他们说什么，直到葛兰低声道：“是山姆干的。”而派普承认，“的确是山姆！”派普带着酒袋，他喝了一大口，唱起来：“山姆，山姆，魔法师山姆，了不起的山姆，山姆，山姆，奇迹山姆。是他干的！但你什么时候把乌鸦藏进罐子，山姆，七层地狱，你怎么确保它会飞向琼恩？如果那鸟儿决定停在杰诺斯·史林特的胖脑袋上，一切就全乱套了。”
The king’s men cleared the door when they told them of the choosing, and Three-Finger Hobb and half a dozen helpers went trotting off to the kitchen to fetch the food. Jon did not wait to eat. He walked across the castle, wondering if he were dreaming, with the raven on his shoulder and Ghost at his heels. Pyp, Grenn, and Sam trailed after him, chattering, but he hardly heard a word until Grenn whispered, “Sam did it,” and Pyp said, “Sam did it!” Pyp had brought a wineskin with him, and he took a long drink and chanted, “Sam, Sam, Sam the wizard, Sam the wonder, Sam Sam the marvel man, he did it. But when did you hide the raven in the kettle, Sam, and how in seven hells could you be certain it would fly to Jon? It would have mucked up everything if the bird had decided to perch on Janos Slynt’s fat head.”
“我跟那只鸟没关系，”山姆坚持，“它飞出罐子时，我差点尿裤子。”
“I had nothing to do with the bird,” Sam insisted. “When it flew out of the kettle I almost wet myself.”
琼恩哈哈大笑。他相当惊讶自己仍然记得笑，“你们是一帮疯狂的傻子，知道吗？”
Jon laughed, half amazed that he still remembered how. “You’re all a bunch of mad fools, do you know that?”
“我们？”派普说，“你说我们是傻子？我们可没被选为第九百九十八任守夜人军团总司令。喝点酒好，琼恩大人，你需要许许多多的酒。”
“Us?” said Pyp. “You call us fools? We’re not the ones who got chosen as the nine-hundredth-and-ninety-eighth Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. You best have some wine, Lord Jon. I think you’re going to need a lot of wine.”
于是琼恩接过酒袋，咽下一口。只有一口。长城是他的了，夜空阴沉黑暗，还有一个国王需要对付。
So Jon Snow took the wineskin from his hand and had a swallow. But only one. The Wall was his, the night was dark, and he had a king to face.