不公平，詹姆心想。他是因为自己的孩子而恐惧。他知道我是谁的儿子，比我姑妈都清楚。 “他自己选择了和平，不像他叔叔会让我们流血。”
Unjustly, Jaime thought. It was his child he feared for. He knew whose son I am, better than mine own aunt. “The choice was his. His uncle would have made us bleed.”
“非常同意。”布莱克伍德的声音听不出任何情绪。“我能问问您是怎么对待布林登爵士的吗？”
“We agree on that much.” Blackwood’s voice gave nothing away. “What have you done with Ser Brynden, if I may ask?”
“我提出让他穿上黑衣，结果他跑了。”詹姆微笑，“恐怕你把他藏在这了？”
“I offered to let him take the black. Instead he fled.” Jaime smiled. “Do you have him here, perchance?”
“没有。”
“No.”
“如果他在这你会告诉我吗？”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
这次轮到布莱克伍德微微一笑。
It was Tytos Blackwood’s turn to smile.
詹姆的双手交握在一起，金手包在好的那只里面。“也许我们该谈谈条件了。”
Jaime brought his hands together, the gold fingers inside the fleshy ones. “Perhaps it is time we talked of terms.”
“我应该在这里向您屈膝下跪吗？”
“Is this where I get down on my knees?”
“如果你愿意的话。或者我们也可以说你跪过了。
“If it please you. Or we can say you did.”
于是布莱克伍德伯爵依然安坐。他们很快就主要问题达成一致：认罪、效忠、赦免、一定数额的金银作为赔偿。“您会索要哪些土地？”泰陀斯伯爵问道。当詹姆把地图递给他，他看了一眼就轻声笑起来，“没错，变色龙需要打赏。”
Lord Blackwood remained seated. They soon reached agreement on the major points: confession, fealty, pardon, a certain sum of gold and silver to be paid. “What lands will you require?” Lord Tytos asked. When Jaime handed him the map, he took one look and chuckled. “To be sure. The turncloak must be given his reward.”
“没错，但是比他想象得要少，既然他出的力也没那么多。你愿意献出哪些土地？”
“Yes, but a smaller one than he imagines, for a smaller service. Which of these lands will you consent to part with?”
泰陀斯伯爵思考了片刻，“树篱城、十字弓山，和巴克城”
Lord Tytos considered for a moment. “Woodhedge, Crossbow Ridge, and Buckle.”
“一片废墟，一座小山和一堆小茅屋？大人，你必须为叛国付出代价。他至少想要一座磨坊。”磨坊是税收的重要来源，领主会抽取他们全部收入的十分之一。
“A ruin, a ridge, and a few hovels? Come, my lord. You must suffer for your treason. He will want one of the mills, at least.” Mills were a valuable source of tax. The lord received a tenth of all the grain they ground.
“那么领主磨坊给他，而玉米磨坊是我们的。”
“Lord’s Mill, then. Grindcorn is ours.”
“还有一座村庄，石冢村？”
“And another village. Cairns?”
“我的先人埋在石冢村的岩石之下，”他又看了看地图，“把蜂蜜树村和蜂房给他，那些蜂蜜会让他发胖，然后甜掉他的牙。”
“I have forebears buried beneath the rocks of Cairns.” He looked at the map again. “Give him Honeytree and its hives. All that sweet will make him fat and rot his teeth.”
“成交。不过还有最后一件事。”
“Done, then. But for one last thing.”
“人质。”
“A hostage.”
“是的，大人。我想你有个女儿。”
“Yes, my lord. You have a daughter, I believe.”
“贝莎妮，”泰陀斯伯爵看起来像是受了打击，“我还有两个兄弟和一个姐妹，两个寡妇姑妈。侄女、侄子、表亲。我还以为你会愿意……”
“Bethany.” Lord Tytos looked stricken. “I also have two brothers and a sister. A pair of widowed aunts. Nieces, nephews, cousins. I had thought you might consent …”
“必须是你的亲生孩子。”
“It must be a child of your blood.”
“贝莎妮才八岁。一个懂事的小姑娘，充满欢笑。她从未离开我的城堡超过一天的骑程。”
“Bethany is only eight. A gentle girl, full of laughter. She has never been more than a day’s ride from my hall.”
“为何不让她看看君临？国王陛下差不多跟她同岁，他会很高兴结交新的朋友。”
“Why not let her see King’s Landing? His Grace is almost of an age with her. He would be pleased to have another friend.”
“一个当她父亲触怒他的时候可以被吊死的朋友？”泰陀斯伯爵问道，“我有四个儿子，您能考虑换成其中一个吗？本十二岁了，而且渴望冒险，如果大人乐意，他可以当您的侍从。”
“One he can hang if the friend’s father should displease him?” asked Lord Tytos. “I have four sons. Would you consider one of them instead? Ben is twelve and thirsty for adventure. He could squire for you if it please my lord.”
“我的侍从多的不知道该打发他们去干什么。每次我撒尿的时候他们都争着帮我扶老二。而且你有六个儿子，不是四个。”
“I have more squires than I know what to do with. Every time I take a piss, they fight for the right to hold my cock. And you have six sons, my lord, not four.”
“曾经是六个。劳勃是我最小的儿子，不太健壮。他九天前死于痢疾。卢卡斯在红色婚礼上被谋杀。瓦德？佛雷的第四任妻子是一个布莱克伍德，但是在孪河城，亲属关系就和宾客权利一样一文不值。我希望能把卢卡斯葬在神木林下，但是佛雷家还没有决定把他的尸骨还给我。”
“Once. Robert was my youngest and never strong. He died nine days ago, of a looseness of the bowels. Lucas was murdered at the Red Wedding. Walder Frey’s fourth wife was a Blackwood, but kinship counts for no more than guest right at the Twins. I should like to bury Lucas beneath the tree, but the Freys have not yet seen fit to return his bones to me.”
“我会督促他们做的。卢卡斯是你的大儿子？”
“I’ll see that they do. Was Lucas your eldest son?”
“二儿子。布林登是大儿子，我的继承人。接下来是霍斯特，恐怕是个书呆子。”
“My second. Brynden is my eldest, and my heir. Next comes Hoster. A bookish boy, I fear.”
“君临也有很多书，我记得我弟弟经常读它们，也许你儿子愿意去看看那些书。我接受霍斯特作为我们的人质。”
“They have books in King’s Landing too. I recall my little brother reading them from time to time. Perhaps your son would like a look at them. I will accept Hoster as our hostage.”
布莱克伍德明显松了口气。“谢谢你，大人。”他犹豫了一下。“如果我可以继续大胆的提个建议的话，您也应该从裘诺斯伯爵那里索要一个人质。一个女儿。他发情的时候不够男人，所以也生不出儿子。”
Blackwood’s relief was palpable. “Thank you, my lord.” He hesitated a moment. “If I may be so bold, you would do well to require a hostage from Lord Jonos too. One of his daughters. For all his rutting, he has not proved man enough to father sons.”
“他有一个私生子在战争中被杀了。”
“He had a bastard son killed in the war.”
“是么？哈利是一个私生子，没错。但是他是不是裘诺斯的种，这就说不准了。他是一个金发男孩，很漂亮。裘诺斯不具备这两个特点中的任何一个。”泰托斯伯爵站起身来，“你愿意赏光和我一起进晚餐吗？”
“Did he? Harry was a bastard, true enough, but whether Jonos sired him is a thornier question. A fair-haired boy, he was, and comely. Jonos is neither.” Lord Tytos got to his feet. “Will you do me the honor of taking supper with me?”
“下一次吧，伯爵大人。”整个城堡的人都在挨饿，从他们嘴里偷走食物实在不是什么好做法。“我不能耽搁。奔流城在等着我。”
“Some other time, my lord.” The castle was starving; no good would be served by Jaime stealing food from their mouths. “I cannot linger. Riverrun awaits.”
“奔流城？还是君临？”
“Riverrun? Or King’s Landing?”
“都是。”
“Both.”
泰托斯伯爵看起来并不想说服他改变主意。“霍斯特一个小时之内就能做好出发准备。”
Lord Tytos did not attempt to dissuade him. “Hoster can be ready to depart within the hour.”
他确实做到了。男孩在马厩里见了詹姆，肩膀上随意的扔着一卷铺盖，胳膊夹着一捆卷轴。他肯定不超过十六岁，但是已经长得比父亲还高，长胳膊长腿，几乎有七英尺，很瘦，动作显得有些笨拙，额前有一绺头发。“队长大人，我是你的人质了。霍斯特，他们都叫我霍斯。”他咧嘴笑着。
He was. The boy met Jaime by the stables, with a bedroll slung over one shoulder and a bundle of scrolls beneath his arm. He could not have been any older than sixteen, yet he was even taller than his father, almost seven feet of legs and shins and elbows, a gangling, gawky boy with a cowlick. “Lord Commander. I’m your hostage, Hoster. Hos, they call me.” He grinned.
他以为这是闹着玩儿的吗？ “告诉我，他们是谁？”
Does he think this is a lark? “Pray, who are they?”
“我的朋友们。我的兄弟们。”
“My friends. My brothers.”
“我既不是你的朋友，也不是你的兄弟。”这句话将男孩脸上的笑容一扫而光。詹姆转向泰托斯伯爵：“伯爵大人，在这件事上务必不能有任何误解。贝里？唐德利恩伯爵，密尔的索罗斯，桑铎？克里冈，布兰登？徒利，石心夫人……所有这些人都是逃犯和反叛者，是国王和所有效忠国王的人的敌人。如果我听说你或者你的人私藏了他们，保护了他们，或者以任何方式帮助了他们，我会毫不犹豫的送上你儿子的脑袋。我希望你能理解这一点。同时也了解这一点：我可不是莱曼？佛雷。”
“I am not your friend and I am not your brother.” That cleaned the grin off the boy’s face. Jaime turned to Lord Tytos. “My lord, let there be no misunderstanding here. Lord Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Sandor Clegane, Brynden Tully, this woman Stoneheart … all these are outlaws and rebels, enemies to the king and all his leal subjects. If I should learn that you or yours are hiding them, protecting them, or assisting them in any way, I will not hesitate to send you your son’s head. I hope you understand that. Understand this as well: I am not Ryman Frey.”
“你不是。”所有的温和从布莱克伍德伯爵的嘴角消失。“我知道我在和谁打交道，弑君者。”
“No.” All trace of warmth had left Lord Blackwood’s mouth. “I know who I am dealing with. Kingslayer.”
“很好。”詹姆骑上马，向城门方向调转马头。“我祝你今年有个好收成，并且能享受到国王的和平给你带来的快乐。”
“Good.” Jaime mounted and wheeled Honor toward the gate. “I wish you a good harvest and the joy of the king’s peace.”
他没有骑很远。裘诺斯。布雷肯伯爵就在鸦树城外等他，距离城墙的距离恰好在一个优质十字弓的射程以外。他已经骑上装备完毕的战马，身着甲衣，巨大的灰色金属头盔上坠着一绺马鬃的流苏。“我看见他们撤下了冰原狼旗帜。”詹姆走近的时候，他说，“都解决了？”
He did not ride far. Lord Jonos Bracken was waiting for him outside Raventree, just beyond the range of a good crossbow. He was mounted on an armored destrier and had donned his plate and mail, and a grey steel greathelm with a horsehair crest. “I saw them pull the direwolf banner down,” he said when Jaime reached him. “Is it done?”
“完全摆平。回家种地吧。”
“Done and done. Go home and plant your fields.”
布雷肯伯爵打开头盔面罩。“我相信比起你去城堡里之前，现在我有更多的地种。”
Lord Bracken raised his visor. “I trust I have more fields to plant than when you went into that castle.”
“巴克城，树篱城，蜂蜜树村和它所有的蜂巢。”他还忘了一个，“哦，还有十字弓山。”
“Buckle, Woodhedge, Honeytree and all its hives.” He was forgetting one. “Oh, and Crossbow Ridge.”
“一座磨坊。”布雷肯说，“我必须有一座磨坊。”
“A mill,” said Bracken. “I must have a mill.”
“领主磨坊。”
“Lord’s Mill.”
裘诺斯伯爵哼了一声。“好吧，这还差不多。我是指现在。”他指着正和小派一起走进队伍的霍斯特？布莱克伍德，“这就是他给你的人质？你被骗了，爵士。这小子太瘦弱，血液都是用水做成的。别看他这么高，我任何一个女儿都能像打翻一根烂树枝似的把他揍倒在地。”
Lord Jonos snorted. “Aye, that will serve. For now.” He pointed at Hoster Blackwood, riding back with Peck. “Is this what he gave you for a hostage? You were cozened, ser. A weakling, this one. Water for blood. Never mind how tall he is, any one of my girls could snap him like a rotten twig.”
“你有几个女儿，伯爵大人？”詹姆问他。
“How many daughters do you have, my lord?” Jaime asked him.
“五个。第一个老婆生了两个，第三个老婆生了三个。”太迟了，他看起来似乎意识到自己说漏了嘴。
“Five. Two by my first wife and three by my third.” Too late, he seemed to realize that he might have said too much.
“送一个去王宫。她将会拥有服侍摄政太后的荣幸。”
“Send one of them to court. She will have the privilege of attending the Queen Regent.”
当布雷肯伯爵意识到这话的威力的时候，他的脸黑了下来。“你就是这样回报石篱城的友谊吗”？
Bracken’s face grew dark as he realized the import of those words. “Is this how you repay the friendship of Stone Hedge?”
“服侍太后是巨大的荣誉。”詹姆提醒他，“也许你该对她强调这一点。我们希望女孩能在年末之前到达。”他不等布雷肯爵士回答，就轻轻的用他的金马刺碰了碰“荣誉”，小跑着离去。他的人马排队跟上，旗帜随风飘扬。城堡和帐篷很快就被他们甩在身后，淹没在马蹄卷起的尘土中。
“It is a great honor to wait upon the queen,” Jaime reminded his lordship. “You might want to impress that on her. We’ll look for the girl before the year is out.” He did not wait for Lord Bracken to reply but touched Honor lightly with his golden spurs and trotted off. His men formed up and followed, banners streaming. Castle and camp were soon lost behind them, obscured by the dust of their hooves.
他们来鸦树城的路上，没有被任何逃犯和狼群骚扰。所以詹姆决定走另一条路回去。如果幸运的话，说不定能撞上逃跑中的黑鱼，或者能引诱贝里。唐德利恩来个不明智的攻击然后将他擒获。
Neither outlaws nor wolves had troubled them on their way to Raventree, so Jaime decided to return by a different route. If the gods were good, he might stumble on the Blackfish, or lure Beric Dondarrion into an unwise attack.
傍晚到来时，他们正沿着寡妇河前行。詹姆叫了他的人质，问他最近的能过河的浅滩在哪里，男孩带他们找到了一处。当众人水花飞溅的淌过河水时，太阳正落到一对绿草盈盈的山丘后面。“双乳峰。”霍斯特？布莱克伍德说。
They were following the Widow’s Wash when they ran out of day. Jaime called his hostage forward and asked him where to find the nearest ford, and the boy led them there. As the column splashed across the shallow waters, the sun was setting behind a pair of grassy hills. “The Teats,” said Hoster Blackwood.
詹姆想起了布雷肯伯爵的地图。“那两座山丘中间有个村子。”
Jaime recalled Lord Bracken’s map. “There’s a village between those hills.”
“便士树村。”男孩肯定地回答。
“Pennytree,” the lad confirmed.
“我们晚上在那儿宿营。”如果附近有村民的话，他们也许能知道布林登爵士或者那群逃犯的下落。“裘诺斯伯爵对于它们究竟是谁的乳头发表了一些看法。”当他们走向渐渐暗下来的山丘时，他对布莱克伍德男孩回忆道。最后一丝光线正从他们面前的山头上消失。“布雷肯家族对它们有一种叫法，而布莱克伍德家族有另一种叫法。”
“We’ll camp there for the night.” If there were villagers about, they might have knowledge of Ser Brynden or the outlaws. “Lord Jonos made some remark about whose teats they were,” he recalled to the Blackwood boy as they rode toward the darkening hills and the last light of the day. “The Brackens call them by one name and the Blackwoods by another.”
“是的，大人。已经一百多年了。在此之前它们被称为圣母的双乳，或者就是双乳峰。因为有两座，而且它们看起来像……”
“Aye, my lord. For a hundred years or so. Before that, they were the Mother’s Teats, or just the Teats. There are two of them, and it was thought that they resembled …”
“我能看出来它们像什么。”詹姆发现他正在回想帐篷里的那个女人，和她试图遮挡住又大又黑的乳头的样子。“那一百多年前发生了什么，使得山丘的命名发生了分歧？”
“I can see what they resemble.” Jaime found himself thinking back on the woman in the tent and the way she’d tried to hide her large, dark nipples. “What changed a hundred years ago?”
“庸王伊耿找了芭巴？布雷肯做情妇。”书呆子男孩回答道，“他们说，她是个非常丰满的妞儿，所以在国王拜访石篱城期间，有一天，他出去打猎，看到了双乳峰……”
“Aegon the Unworthy took Barba Bracken as his mistress,” the bookish boy replied. “She was a very buxom wench, they say, and one day when the king was visiting at the Stone Hedge he went out hunting and saw the Teats and …”
“……就把情妇的名字赐予了它。”伊耿四世在詹姆出生前很久就去世了，但是他还是想起了一些伊耿四世王朝的历史，使得他完全能猜出接下来发生了什么。“直到后来他抛弃了布雷肯家的女孩，找了一个布莱克伍德，是不是这样？”
“… named them for his mistress.” Aegon the Fourth had died long before Jaime had been born, but he recalled enough of the history of his reign to guess what must have happened next. “Only later he put the Bracken girl aside and took up with a Blackwood, was that the way of it?”
“梅丽莎夫人。”霍斯特肯定道，“他们叫她米茜。我们的神木林里有个她的雕像。她比芭巴？布雷肯漂亮得多，但是太苗条。有人听见芭巴说米茜的胸部就像男人一样平。当这话传到国王的耳朵里的时候，他……”
“Lady Melissa,” Hoster confirmed. “Missy, they called her. There’s a statue of her in our godswood. She was much more beautiful than Barba Bracken, but slender, and Barba was heard to say that Missy was flat as a boy. When King Aegon heard, he …”
“……把芭巴的双乳给了梅丽莎。”詹姆大笑。“这一切都是怎么开始的？布莱克伍德和布雷肯之间的战争？有史书记载了下来吗？”
“… gave her Barba’s teats.” Jaime laughed. “How did all this begin, between Blackwood and Bracken? Is it written down?”
“是的，大人。”男孩说，“但是有些部分是由他们家的学士记载的，有些是由我们家的学士记载的。他们把这些故事写入编年史的时候，事情已经过去好几百年了。这些历史能上溯到英雄纪元。布莱克伍德在那个时候还是国王。布雷肯家族是小领主，以擅于养殖种马而闻名。然而他们非但没有回报国王的公正，反而用养马赚来的钱雇了剑客，谋杀了国王。”
“It is, my lord,” the boy said, “but some of the histories were penned by their maesters and some by ours, centuries after the events that they purport to chronicle. It goes back to the Age of Heroes. The Blackwoods were kings in those days. The Brackens were petty lords, renowned for breeding horses. Rather than pay their king his just due, they used the gold their horses brought them to hire swords and cast him down.”
“这些都是什么时候发生的？”
“When did all this happen?”
“安达尔人入侵前五百年。一千年前，如果大历史书可信的话。只是没有人确定安达尔人是什么时候渡过狭海而来的。大历史书说从那以后已经过了四千年了，但是有些学士坚称只有两千年。总有那么一个时间点，从它再往前，所有的日子都变得模糊而混乱，而历史的真相也就成了笼罩着一层薄雾的传奇。”
“Five hundred years before the Andals. A thousand, if the True History is to be believed. Only no one knows when the Andals crossed the narrow sea. The True History says four thousand years have passed since then, but some maesters claim that it was only two. Past a certain point, all the dates grow hazy and confused, and the clarity of history becomes the fog of legend.”
提利昂会喜欢这小子。他们俩能从早到晚的争论这些书里的问题。有那么一瞬间，他对弟弟的苦涩感觉似乎消失了，直到他重新忆起小恶魔都做了些什么。“所以说，当凯岩城还在凯斯德利手里的时候，你们就已经开始为了一方从另一方手里抢走王位的事情打仗了？那就是一切的根源？为了一个消失了几千年的王国的王座？”他笑着，“那么长的岁月，那么多场战争，那么多位国王……应该有人站出来促成和平。”
Tyrion would like this one. They could talk from dusk to dawn, arguing about books. For a moment his bitterness toward his brother was forgotten, until he remembered what the Imp had done. “So you are fighting over a crown that one of you took from the other back when the Casterlys still held Casterly Rock, is that the root of it? The crown of a kingdom that has not existed for thousands of years?” He chuckled. “So many years, so many wars, so many kings … you’d think someone would have made a peace.”
“有人这样做了，大人。很多人。我们和布雷肯家达成了几百次和平协议，很多都由联姻完成。每一个布莱克伍德身上都流淌着布雷肯的血液，而每一个布雷肯身上也都流着布莱克伍德的血液。先王的和平条约通常会持续半个世纪，然后新的争执便会发生，于是旧伤撕裂开来，再次血流不止。我父亲说，这就是一直以来都在发生的。只要还有人记得祖先的屈辱，就没有持久的和平。就这样我们走过了一个又一个世纪，我们憎恨着布雷肯，布雷肯憎恨着我们。我父亲说这永远也不会结束。
“Someone did, my lord. Many someones. We’ve had a hundred peaces with the Brackens, many sealed with marriages. There’s Blackwood blood in every Bracken, and Bracken blood in every Blackwood. The Old King’s Peace lasted half a century. But then some fresh quarrel broke out, and the old wounds opened and began to bleed again. That’s how it always happens, my father says. So long as men remember the wrongs done to their forebears, no peace will ever last. So we go on century after century, with us hating the Brackens and them hating us. My father says there will never be an end to it.”
“这可以结束。”
“There could be.”
“怎么结束，大人？我父亲说，旧伤永远也不会愈合。”
“How, my lord? The old wounds never heal, my father says.”
“我父亲也有句名言。如果你可以杀了一个仇人，就不要只是伤了他。只要死了就不会复仇。”
“My father had a saying too. Never wound a foe when you can kill him. Dead men don’t claim vengeance.”
“他们的儿子会。”霍斯特辩解说，
“Their sons do,” said Hoster, apologetically.
“如果你不杀了他们的儿子的话。如果你怀疑我，就去问问凯岩城的凯斯德利吧。或者去问问塔贝克大人和夫人，或者去问问卡斯特梅的雷耶斯家族，问问龙石岛王子。”有那么一瞬间，西方山顶上笼罩着的深红云朵让他想起了雷加的孩子们，和他们遇害后被紧紧包裹在深红色斗篷里的身躯。
“Not if you kill the sons as well. Ask the Casterlys about that if you doubt me. Ask Lord and Lady Tarbeck, or the Reynes of Castamere. Ask the Prince of Dragonstone.” For an instant, the deep red clouds that crowned the western hills reminded him of Rhaegar’s children, all wrapped up in crimson cloaks.
“这就是你们杀了所有的史塔克的原因？”
“Is that why you killed all the Starks?”
“不是所有。”詹姆说，“艾德大人的女儿们还活着。一个刚刚结婚。另一个……”布蕾妮，你在哪里？你找到她了么？ “……如果诸神慈悲，她会忘了她是个史塔克。她会和一个健壮的铁匠结婚，或者是胖脸的酒店老板，为他生一屋子的孩子，永远不用害怕有一天会有一个骑士到来，把她所有的孩子的脑袋都撞碎在墙上。”
“Not all,” said Jaime. “Lord Eddard’s daughters live. One has just been wed. The other …” Brienne, where are you? Have you found her? “… if the gods are good, she’ll forget she was a Stark. She’ll wed some burly blacksmith or fat-faced innkeep, fill his house with children, and never need to fear that some knight might come along to smash their heads against a wall.”
“诸神是慈悲的。”他的人质不大确定的说。
“The gods are good,” his hostage said, uncertainly.
那你就继续相信吧。詹姆用马刺碰了碰“荣誉”。
You go on believing that. Jaime let Honor feel his spurs.
便士树村比他想象的要大很多。战争也蔓延到了这里，烧焦的果树和房屋的碎片说明了一切。但是在每一座被毁坏的房屋周围，都有三个被重建起来。在逐渐聚集的深蓝暮色中，詹姆瞥见一排屋顶上新铺的稻草，还有一排新鲜木头做成的房门。在一个养鸭池塘和铁匠铺之间，他看见了赋予这个小村名字的那棵树，一棵古老而高大的橡树。扭曲的树根盘根错节的穿过土壤，在地面周围形成一个宛若缓慢游动的大蛇般的巢穴，上百枚古老的铜钱被嵌入到粗大的树干里。
Pennytree proved to be a much larger village than he had anticipated. The war had been here too; blackened orchards and the scorched shells of broken houses testified to that. But for every home in ruins three more had been rebuilt. Through the gathering blue dusk Jaime glimpsed fresh thatch upon a score of roofs, and doors made of raw green wood. Between a duck pond and a blacksmith’s forge, he came upon the tree that gave the place its name, an oak ancient and tall. Its gnarled roots twisted in and out of the earth like a nest of slow brown serpents, and hundreds of old copper pennies had been nailed to its huge trunk.
小派盯着树看了一会儿，又看了看空空如也的房屋。“人都去哪儿了？”
Peck stared at the tree, then at the empty houses. “Where are the people?”
“藏起来了。”詹姆告诉他。
“Hiding,” Jaime told him.
房屋里所有的火堆都被熄灭，但是有些还在冒烟，而且没有一堆是冷的。在哈利？梅利尔的仔细搜寻下，唯一能找到的活物就是一片菜地里的一只正在喂奶的山羊……但是这村子有一座防御工事，十二英寸高的厚石墙，不比河间地任何一座堡垒差，詹姆知道在那儿能找到村民们。当抢劫者到来时，他们就躲到城墙后面，这就是为什么这儿还能留有一个村子的原因。现在他们又藏到那里去了，为了躲避我。
Inside the homes all the fires had been put out, but some still smoked, and none of them were cold. The nanny goat that Hot Harry Merrell found rooting through a vegetable garden was the only living creature to be seen … but the village had a holdfast as strong as any in the riverlands, with thick stone walls twelve feet high, and Jaime knew that was where he’d find the villagers. They hid behind those walls when raiders came, that’s why there’s still a village here. And they are hiding there again, from me.
他策马走到堡垒门前。“城墙里的人们，我们不想伤害你们。我们是国王的人。”
He rode Honor up to the holdfast gates. “You in the holdfast. We mean you no harm. We’re king’s men.”
城门上方的墙头上出现了几张脸。“就是国王的人烧了我们的村子。”一个人向下叫道，“在这之前，另一些国王的人抢了我们的羊。他们从属于另一个国王，但是对我们的羊来说没有任何区别。国王的人杀了哈斯里和奥蒙德爵士，还把兰茜强暴致死。”
Faces appeared on the wall above the gate. “They was king’s men burned our village,” one man called down. “Before that, some other king’s men took our sheep. They were for a different king, but that didn’t matter none to our sheep. King’s men killed Harsley and Ser Ormond, and raped Lacey till she died.”
“我的人不会的。”詹姆说，“你们能把门打开吗？”
“Not my men,” Jaime said. “Will you open your gates?”
“等你们走了，我们会的。”
“When you’re gone we will.”
肯洛斯爵士骑了过来。“我们很容易就能把那城门破开，或者一把火烧了它。”
Ser Kennos rode close to him. “We could break that gate down easy enough, or put it to the torch.”
“同时他们会向我们扔石头，并且弓箭会像羽毛一样插满我们全身。”詹姆摇了摇头。“这么做太血腥了。而且何必呢？这些人没伤害我们。我们就在房屋里休息，但是不要偷东西。我们有我们自己的储备。”
“While they drop stones on us and feather us with arrows.” Jaime shook his head. “It would be a bloody business, and for what? These people have done us no harm. We’ll shelter in the houses, but I’ll have no stealing. We have our own provisions.”
当半个月亮缓缓爬上天空的时候，他们把马都拴到了村里的空地上，用腌羊肉，干苹果和硬奶酪充当晚饭。詹姆略微吃了一点，并且和小派，霍斯分享了一袋酒。他试着去数老橡树上铜钱币的数量，但是太多了，他总是数到一半就忘了数字。这些铜钱币都代表了什么？如果他开口问，布莱克伍德男孩会告诉他答案，但是这会破坏了原本的神秘感。
As a half-moon crept up the sky, they staked their horses out in the village commons and supped on salted mutton, dried apples, and hard cheese. Jaime ate sparingly and shared a skin of wine with Peck and Hos the hostage. He tried to count the pennies nailed to the old oak, but there were too many of them and he kept losing count. What’s that all about? The Blackwood boy would tell him if he asked, but that would spoil the mystery.
他安排了哨兵，保证没有人走出村子的范围。他也派出了侦察兵，保证没有人趁他们不备偷袭。接近午夜的时候，两个侦察兵回来，带着一个捉到的妇女。“她胆大包天的径直骑了过来，大人，要求和你说话。”
He posted sentries to see that no one left the confines of the village. He sent out scouts as well, to make certain no enemy took them unawares. It was near midnight when two came riding back with a woman they had taken captive. “She rode up bold as you please, m’lord, demanding words with you.”
詹姆飞快地爬起来。“小姐，我没想到这么快就能再见到你。”天啊，她看起来比我上次见她的时候老了十岁。还有，她的脸怎么了？ “这绷带……你受伤了……”
Jaime scrambled to his feet. “My lady. I had not thought to see you again so soon.” Gods be good, she looks ten years older than when I saw her last. And what’s happened to her face? “That bandage … you’ve been wounded …”
“被咬了一口。”她碰了碰她的剑柄。他送给她的那把剑。守誓剑。 “大人，您对我提了一个要求。”
“A bite.” She touched the hilt of her sword, the sword that he had given her. Oathkeeper. “My lord, you gave me a quest.”
“那个女孩。你找到她了么？”
“The girl. Have you found her?”
“找到了。”塔斯的少女布蕾妮说。
“I have,” said Brienne, Maid of Tarth.
“她在哪儿？”
“Where is she?”
“一天的骑程。我可以带你去见她，爵士……但是你必须一个人来。不然，猎狗就要杀了她。”
“A day’s ride. I can take you to her, ser … but you will need to come alone. Elsewise, the Hound will kill her.”