Chapter 第六十九章 琼恩（十三）

JON

“让他们去死吧！”赛丽丝皇后愤怒的说。

Let them die,” said Queen Selyse.

琼恩预料到皇后会如此回答，皇后也没让他失望。但是虽然有心理准备，他还是倍受打击。“陛下，”他坚持道：“他们数千人聚集在HARDHOME上忍饥挨饿，风餐露宿，很多还是妇女和——”

It was the answer that Jon Snow had expected. This queen never fails to disappoint. Somehow that did not soften the blow. “Your Grace,” he persisted stubbornly, “they are starving at Hardhome by the thousands. Many are women—”

“和小孩，是的，多么悲伤啊！”皇后把她女儿拉到她身边，亲吻了她没有长灰磷的那一半脸颊。琼恩注意到了。“我们当然为那些小家伙们表示遗憾，但是我们必须明智的意识到我们并没有足够的食物来供给他们，他们对我们还没有任何用处。所以最好还是让他们在光之王的指引下获得重生吧。”

“—and children, yes. Very sad.” The queen pulled her daughter closer to her and kissed her cheek. The cheek unmarred by greyscale, Jon did not fail to note. “We are sorry for the little ones, of course, but we must be sensible. We have no food for them, and they are too young to help the king my husband in his wars. Better that they be reborn into the light.”

这只是让他们等死的委婉的说法。

That was just a softer way of saying let them die.

房间里很拥挤，希琳公主站在皇后的座位旁边，补丁脸在公主脚边翘着腿。皇后身后站着Ser Axell Florent。亚夏的梅丽珊卓站在火边，她颈部的红宝石随着她的呼吸在闪闪发光——红袍女吸引了他所有的注意力。Devan Seaworth和其他两个国王的护卫站在梅丽珊卓身边。

The chamber was crowded. Princess Shireen stood beside her mother’s seat, with Patchface cross-legged at her feet. Behind the queen loomed Ser Axell Florent. Melisandre of Asshai stood closer to the fire, the ruby at her throat pulsing with every breath she took. The red woman too had her attendants—the squire Devan Seaworth and two of the guardsmen the king had left her.

赛丽丝皇后的卫兵站在后面的墙边，闪亮的骑士站成一排：Ser Malegorn， Ser Benethon， Ser Narbert， Ser Patrek， Ser Dorden， Ser Brus。有这么多残忍的野人住在黑城堡，赛丽丝只好选择让她的誓言骑士整天守在身边。拖蒙德听说了这件事，“害怕被偷走，不是吗？我希望你没没说过我的那活有多大，琼恩。雪诺，那可以吓到任何女人。我还真想给我自己找一个长胡子的女人。”然后他就放声大笑起来。

Queen Selyse’s protectors stood along the walls, shining knights all in a row: Ser Malegorn, Ser Benethon, Ser Narbert, Ser Patrek, Ser Dorden, Ser Brus. With so many bloodthirsty wildlings infesting Castle Black, Selyse kept her sworn shields about her night and day. Tormund Giantsbane had roared to hear it. “Afraid of being carried off, is she? I hope you never said how big me member is, Jon Snow, that’d frighten any woman. I always wanted me one with a mustache.” Then he laughed and laughed.

他现在不能笑。

He would not be laughing now.

琼恩在这里浪费了太多的时间。“实在抱歉为了这件事情打扰了皇后陛下。守夜人部队会处理好这个问题的。”

Jon had wasted enough time here. “I’m sorry to have troubled Your Grace. The Night’s Watch will attend to this matter.”

皇后气愤的说道：“你的意思仍然是去救那些野人。我从你的脸上看的出来。让他们死吧，在这之前你都会坚持这个愚蠢的想法。别否认这一点。”

The queen’s nostrils flared. “You still mean to ride to Hardhome. I see it on your face. Let them die, I said, yet you will persist in this mad folly. Do not deny it.”

“我必须做我认为正确的事情。陛下，长城是我的，这件事我说的算。”

“I must do as I think best. With respect, Your Grace, the Wall is mine, and so is this decision.”

“是的，”赛丽丝同意道，“当国王回来时你将要给他一个答复。当然还包括你做过的其他事情。但是你似乎没有任何顾虑，做你必须做的吧。”

“It is,” Selyse allowed, “and you will answer for it when the king returns. And for other decisions you have made, I fear. But I see that you are deaf to sense. Do what you must.”

Ser Malegorn问道，“谁会指挥这些游骑兵？”

Up spoke Ser Malegorn. “Lord Snow, who will lead this ranging?”

“你是在毛遂自荐吗？大人？”

“Are you offering yourself, ser?”

“我看起来有那么愚蠢吗？”

“Do I look so foolish?”

补丁脸跳了过来。“我来指挥！”他的铃铛欢快的叮当作响。“我们将会骑入海中，然后再骑回岸上。在海里我们都骑着海马，美人鱼会用贝壳欢迎我们的到来，奥，奥，奥，我知道，我知道。”

Patchface jumped up. “I will lead it!” His bells rang merrily. “We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh.”

他们都笑了起来。甚至皇后也微笑了一下。琼恩很少被逗笑。“我不会派我的人去做我自己都不愿做的事情。我要亲自带队。”

They all laughed. Even Queen Selyse allowed herself a thin smile. Jon was less amused. “I will not ask my men to do what I would not do myself. I mean to lead the ranging.”

“多么英勇啊！”皇后赞叹道。“我们批准了。在这之后会有吟游诗人来歌颂你，毫无疑问，然后我们可以找一个更谨慎的总司令。”她咂了一口酒。“让我们来谈谈别的问题。AXELL，把野人之王带来。”

“How bold of you,” said the queen. “We approve. Afterward some bard will make a stirring song about you, no doubt, and we shall have a more prudent lord commander.” She took a sip of wine. “Let us speak of other matters. Axell, bring in the wildling king, if you would be so good.”

“马上，陛下。”AXELL走进一扇门，过了一会带着国王血脉Gerrick走了出来。“红胡子家的Gerrick，”他宣布道。“野人之王。”

“At once, Your Grace.” Ser Axell went through a door and returned a moment later with Gerrick Kingsblood. “Gerrick of House Redbeard,” he announced, “King of the Wildlings.”

国王血脉Gerrick是一个高个子，长腿，宽肩膀的男人。看起来皇后给他穿了一身国王的旧衣服。精心清洗并且修饰过，装点着绿天鹅绒和貂皮，他的头发修剪并且清洗的很干净，火红的胡子理的恰到好处，这个野人看起来甚至就是一个南方的领主老爷。如果他走进君临的皇宫，没人甚至会感觉到奇怪。琼恩默默的想。

Gerrick Kingsblood was a tall man, long of leg and broad of shoulder. The queen had dressed him in some of the king’s old clothes, it appeared. Scrubbed and groomed, clad in green velvets and an ermine half-cape, with his long red hair freshly washed and his fiery beard shaped and trimmed, the wildling looked every inch a southron lord. He could walk into the throne room at King’s Landing, and no one would blink an eye, Jon thought.

“Gerrick是野人们真正的国王，”皇后说道，“他家族的血脉自从RAYMUN RED-BEARD就没有中断过，反过来看曼斯。雷德就是一个乌鸦和女野人的私生子。”

“Gerrick is the true and rightful king of the wildlings,” the queen said, “descended in an unbroken male line from their great king Raymun Redbeard, whereas the usurper Mance Rayder was born of some common woman and fathered by one of your black brothers.”

不，琼恩应该反驳，Gerrick是RAYMUN RED-BEARD的兄弟的后代。对野人来说这和出自RAYMUN RED-BEARD家是一个概念。他们什么都不懂。更糟的是，他们不会去学。

No, Jon might have said, Gerrick is descended from a younger brother of Raymun Redbeard. To the free folk that counted about as much as being descended from Raymun Redbeard’s horse. They know nothing, Ygritte. And worse, they will not learn.

“Gerrick已经同意把他的长女嫁给我亲爱的AXELL，以光之王的名义神圣的结合在一起。”赛丽丝皇后继续说道，“他的其他女人也会同时结婚，二女儿和BRUS BUCKLER，小女儿和MALEGORN OF REDPOOL.”

“Gerrick has graciously agreed to give the hand of his eldest daughter to my beloved Axell, to be united by the Lord of Light in holy wedlock,” Queen Selyse said. “His other girls shall wed at the same time—the second daughter with Ser Brus Buckler and the youngest with Ser Malegorn of Redpool.”

“先生们。”琼恩转向骑士们问道：“你会因为这次订婚而感到快乐了吗？”

“Sers.” Jon inclined his head to the knights in question. “May you find happiness with your betrothed.”

“在海里，男人和鱼结婚。”补丁脸边唱边跳起来。“他们是这样，他们是这样，他们是这样。”

“Under the sea, men marry fishes.” Patchface did a little dance step, jingling his bells. “They do, they do, they do.”

赛丽丝皇后又吸了一口气，”四个婚礼和三个一样简单。 瓦尔已经住在这里有一段时间了，雪诺大人。我决定把她嫁给我们忠诚的好骑士PATREK.”

Queen Selyse sniffed again. “Four marriages can be made as simply as three. It is past time that this woman Val was settled, Lord Snow. I have decided that she shall wed my good and leal knight, Ser Patrek of King’s Mountain.”

“瓦尔被告知这件事了吗？陛下？”琼恩问。“以自由民的风俗来说，如果一个男人想要一个女人的话，他就应该去偷她。以此来证明他的强壮，狡猾和勇气。如果被女方的亲属抓住，求婚者就有很大的风险，更可怕的是如果让她知道他不值得拥有，那就更糟糕了。”

“Has Val been told, Your Grace?” asked Jon. “Amongst the free folk, when a man desires a woman, he steals her, and thus proves his strength, his cunning, and his courage. The suitor risks a savage beating if he is caught by the woman’s kin, and worse than that if she herself finds him unworthy.”

“野蛮的风俗。”AXELL评论道。

“A savage custom,” Axell Florent said.

PATREK只是在轻声笑着。“没有男人质疑过我的勇气，女人也是如此。”

Ser Patrek only chuckled. “No man has ever had cause to question my courage. No woman ever will.”

赛丽丝皇后皱起嘴唇，“雪诺大人，瓦尔女士对我们的风俗不会很习惯，把她带给我，我会把她教导成一个对于他的丈夫来说合格的贵族的。”

Queen Selyse pursed her lips. “Lord Snow, as Lady Val is a stranger to our ways, please send her to me, that I might instruct her in the duties of a noble lady toward her lord husband.”

那一定很精彩，我知道。琼恩不知道如果皇后知道了瓦尔对于希琳公主的看法的话还是不是那么坚持要把她嫁给她的骑士。“如你所愿。”他答道。“但是如果我可以——”

That will go splendidly, I know. Jon wondered if the queen would be so eager to see Val married to one of her own knights if she knew Val’s feelings about Princess Shireen. “As you wish,” he said, “though if I might speak freely—”

“不，我认为你不可以。你可以走了。”

“No, I think not. You may take your leave of us.”

琼恩下跪，行礼，走人。

Jon Snow bent his knee, bowed his head, withdrew.

他两步并一步的离开了，每看到皇后的卫兵都对他们点头示意。皇后为了保证安全在每层楼层的平台上都派了卫兵看守。下到半路，头顶上一个声音响起，“琼恩。雪诺。”

He took the steps two at a time, nodding to the queen’s guards as he descended. Her Grace had posted men on every landing to keep her safe from murderous wildlings. Halfway down, a voice called out from above him. “Jon Snow.”

琼恩抬头看去。“梅丽珊卓女士。”

Jon turned. “Lady Melisandre.”

“我们必须谈谈。”

“We must speak.”

“我们必须？”我不这么认为。“女士，我有我的职责。”

“Must we?” I think not. “My lady, I have duties.”

“我要说的就是你的那些职责。”她走下楼梯，她长长的裙摆摩挲着楼梯，看起来好像她飘起来了一样。“你的冰原狼在哪？”

“It is those duties I would speak of.” She made her way down, the hem of her scarlet skirts swishing over the steps. It almost seemed as if she floated. “Where is your direwolf?”

“在我的房间里睡觉，陛下不喜欢白灵到她的房间里去。她怕白灵吓到公主。只要Borroq和他的野猪（注：是拖蒙德带人进长城时来的一个异形者，控制了一头巨大的野猪。）还在，我就不会让它离开。”现在，Borroq在LICHYARD旁的一座古墓旁定居了下来。比起活人来，死人似乎更适合陪伴他。他的野猪也很喜欢喝这些坟墓为伴，远离其他动物。“那个东西就像公牛一样大，它的牙齿像长剑一样锋利，如果我放白灵自由行动的话，它就会尾随这头野猪，这两个家伙如果碰面的话恐怕不是一件令人高兴的事情。”

“Asleep in my chambers. Her Grace does not allow Ghost in her presence. She claims he scares the princess. And so long as Borroq and his boar are about, I dare not let him loose.” The skinchanger was to accompany Soren Shieldbreaker to Stonedoor once the wayns carrying the Sealskinner’s clan to Greenguard returned. Until such time, Borroq had taken up residence in one of the ancient tombs beside the castle lichyard. The company of men long dead seemed to suit him better than that of the living, and his boar seemed happy rooting amongst the graves, well away from other animals. “That thing is the size of a bull, with tusks as long as swords. Ghost would go after him if he were loose, and one or both of them would not survive the meeting.”

“Borroq是你最后关心的事情。 这次骑兵出巡…”

“Borroq is the least of your concerns. This ranging …”

“如果你对王后说点什么的话恐怕会更有效。”

“A word from you might have swayed the queen.”

“赛丽丝有权这么做，雪诺大人。让她们死吧，你不能拯救他们。你的船沉了——”

“Selyse has the right of this, Lord Snow. Let them die. You cannot save them. Your ships are lost—”

“还有六条。一多半还没沉。”

“Six remain. More than half the fleet.”

“你的船失踪了，所有的船。没有人会回来。我在圣火中看到了这些。”

“Your ships are lost. All of them. Not a man shall return. I have seen that in my fires.”

“据我所知你的圣火会说谎。”

“Your fires have been known to lie.”

“我错读了预言，我承认，但是——”

“I have made mistakes, I have admitted as much, but—”

“一个骑在死马上的灰色的女孩。黑暗中的匕首。预言中的王子，诞生在烟与盐之地。在我看来你就没把预言读对过，女士。史坦尼斯在哪？叮当衫和他的矛妇呢？ 我妹妹人在何方？”

“A grey girl on a dying horse. Daggers in the dark. A promised prince, born in smoke and salt. It seems to me that you make nothing but mistakes, my lady. Where is Stannis? What of Rattleshirt and his spearwives? Where is my sister?”

“你所有的问题都会得到答案。尽力去寻找，雪诺大人。当你找到答案，告诉我。禀冬已至，我是你唯一的希望。”

“All your questions shall be answered. Look to the skies, Lord Snow. And when you have your answers, send to me. Winter is almost upon us now. I am your only hope.”

“愚蠢的希望。”琼恩转身离开了她。

“A fool’s hope.” Jon turned and left her.

Leathers在外边的院子里踱着步。“ Toregg回来了。”当琼恩出现的时候他报告道。“他的父亲把他的人安置在Oakenshield，他们回在今天下午带着八十个战士回来。胡子皇后怎么说？”

Leathers was prowling the yard outside. “Toregg has returned,” he reported when Jon emerged. “His father’s settled his people at Oakenshield and will be back this afternoon with eighty fighting men. What did the bearded queen have to say?”

“陛下不会提供任何帮助。”

“Her Grace can provide no help.”

“她应该在忙着拔掉下巴上的‘头发’呢吧。”Leathers抱怨道。“不过没关系，拖蒙德和我们的人足够用。”

“Too busy plucking out her chin hairs, is she?” Leathers spat. “Makes no matter. Tormund’s men and ours will be enough.”

也许足够我们到那去。琼恩关心的是回来的行程。回来的时候，他们会被上千个又饿又病的自由民拖慢步伐。缓慢的人流会像结了冰的河流一样缓慢。这会让他们非常容易受到攻击。森林中的尸鬼，水中的尸鬼。“多少人才足够？”他问Leathers。“一百？ 两百？五百？一千？”我该带更多的人，还是更少的人？一小队人会更快的到达Hardhome…但是没有食物该怎么办？岛上的野人已经开始吃死人。为了供给他们所急需的食物，他必须带着手推车和货车，再找一群牲畜来拉车——马，牛，狗。和小队人马飞速前往相比，这样的部队的速度就相当于爬行。“还有很多决定要做。把消息放出去。我要所有参与者都在晚班前在大厅集合。拖蒙德那时也该回来了。在哪能找到Toregg?”

Enough to get us there, perhaps. It was the journey back that concerned Jon Snow. Coming home, they would be slowed by thousands of free folk, many sick and starved. A river of humanity moving slower than a river of ice. That would leave them vulnerable. Dead things in the woods. Dead things in the water. “How many men are enough?” he asked Leathers. “A hundred? Two hundred? Five hundred? A thousand?” Should I take more men, or fewer? A smaller ranging would reach Hardhome sooner … but what good were swords without food? Mother Mole and her people were already at the point of eating their own dead. To feed them, he would need to bring carts and wagons, and draft animals to haul them—horses, oxen, dogs. Instead of flying through the wood, they would be condemned to crawl. “There is still much to decide. Spread the word. I want all the leading men in the Shieldhall when the evening watch begins. Tormund should be back by then. Where can I find Toregg?”

“和小怪物（曼斯的假儿子）在一起。有传言说他喜欢上了孩子们的一个乳母。”

“With the little monster, like as not. He’s taken a liking to one o’ them milkmaids, I hear.”

他喜欢的是瓦尔。她的妹妹是皇后，她为什么就不能是呢？拖蒙德在遇到曼斯。雷德之前曾经自立为塞外之王。Toregg一定也有过同样的梦想。让他来做野人之王也比Gerrick强的多。“随他去。”琼恩说。“晚些时候我要和他谈谈。”他望向国王塔。颜色灰白，它之上的天空更白一些。下雪的天气。“祈祷我们不要遇到另一场暴风雪吧！”

He has taken a liking to Val. Her sister was a queen, why not her? Tormund had once thought to make himself the King-Beyond-the-Wall, before Mance had bested him. Toregg the Tall might well be dreaming the same dream. Better him than Gerrick Kingsblood. “Let them be,” said Jon. “I can speak with Toregg later.” He glanced up past the King’s Tower. The Wall was a dull white, the sky above it whiter. A snow sky. “Just pray we do not get another storm.”

在军械库外，Mully和Flea正在站岗。“你们如果站到门里去，会更暖和一些。”琼恩说道。

Outside the armory, Mully and the Flea stood shivering at guard. “Shouldn’t you be inside, out of this wind?” Jon asked.

“那是不错，大人，”Flea解释道。“但是你的冰原狼今天没心情和我们做伴。”

“That’d be sweet, m’lord,” said Fulk the Flea, “but your wolf’s in no mood for company today.”

Mully赞同道。“它要攻击我，真的。”

Mully agreed. “He tried to take a bite o’ me, he did.”

“白灵？”琼恩感到震惊。

“Ghost?” Jon was shocked.

“除非大人你养了其他的冰原狼，是的，我从没见过它这样，大人，我的意思是它充满了野性。”

“Unless your lordship has some other white wolf, aye. I never seen him like this, m’lord. All wild-like, I mean.”

他没说错，琼恩一进门就发现了。白灵没有安静的躺着，它从锻炉的的一边走到另一边，不安的走来走去。“放松些，白灵。”琼恩安慰道。“来，坐下，白灵，坐下。”当他想碰碰它时，它竖起汗毛露出牙齿。因为那只野猪，甚至在这里，白灵都能闻到野猪的气味。

He was not wrong, as Jon discovered for himself when he slipped inside the doors. The big white direwolf would not lie still. He paced from one end of the armory to the other, past the cold forge and back again. “Easy, Ghost,” Jon called. “Down. Sit, Ghost. Down.” Yet when he made to touch him, the wolf bristled and bared his teeth. It’s that bloody boar. Even in here, Ghost can smell his stink.

熊老的乌鸦看起来也很焦躁不安。“雪诺。”乌鸦大叫。“雪诺，雪诺，雪诺。”琼恩把它赶走了，然后让纱丁升起了火。当波文。马锡尔和Othell Yarwyck来的时候，琼恩吩咐道“去拿一壶酒来。”

Mormont’s raven seemed agitated too. “Snow,” the bird kept screaming. “Snow, snow, snow.” Jon shooed him off, had Satin start a fire, then sent him out after Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck. “Bring a flagon of mulled wine as well.”

“三个杯子吗？大人？”

“Three cups, m’lord?”

“六个。Mully和Flea去找个暖和的地方。你们也是。”

“Six. Mully and the Flea look in need of something warm. So will you.”

当纱丁离开后，琼恩坐在地图前凝视着长城以北的地图。前往Hardhome最快的路就是沿着海岸走。从东海望出发。森林在海边比较稀疏，地势平坦，起伏的小山还有盐沼是一些小麻烦。当秋季风暴来临的时候，海边会下雨夹雪和冰雹甚至冻雨，而不是雪。巨人们都在东海望，Leathers说他们中的一些会愿意帮忙。从黑城堡出发的话会比较困难，他们要从鬼影森林的腹地穿过。如果雪在长城这里是这么深的话，那在那种地方会怎么样？

When Satin left, Jon seated himself and had another look at the maps of the lands north of the Wall. The fastest way to Hardhome was along the coast … from Eastwatch. The woods were thinner near the sea, the terrain mostly flatlands, rolling hills, and salt marshes. And when the autumn storms came howling, the coast got sleet and hail and freezing rain rather than snow. The giants are at Eastwatch, and Leathers says that some will help. From Castle Black the way was more difficult, right through the heart of the haunted forest. If the snow is this deep at the Wall, how much worse up there?

马锡尔抽着鼻子走了进来，Yarwck阴沉的说道。“另一场风暴。”首席工匠宣称。”我们如何在这种条件下工作？我需要更多的人手。”

Marsh entered snuffling, Yarwyck dour. “Another storm,” the First Builder announced. “How are we to work in this? I need more builders.”

“用自由民。”琼恩回到道。

“Use the free folk,” Jon said.

Yarwyck摇摇头。“他们只会带来更多的麻烦。马虎，粗心，懒惰…好的木匠到处都是，这一点我不否认。但是他们中很少有泥瓦匠，更没有铁匠。他们也许是很好的后备队，但是他们不按命令行事。然而我们需要用这些人来把废墟变成堡垒，这不可能，大人。说实话，这不可能。”

Yarwyck shook his head. “More trouble than they’re worth, that lot. Sloppy, careless, lazy … some good woodworkers here and there, I’ll not deny it, but hardly a mason amongst them, and nary a smith. Strong backs, might be, but they won’t do as they are told. And us with all these ruins to turn back into forts. Can’t be done, my lord. I tell you true. It can’t be done.”

“这些必须完成。”琼恩命令道。“否则他们将住在废墟里。”

“It will be done,” said Jon, “or they will live in ruins.”

领导需要正直的人在身边提供忠诚可靠的谏言。马锡尔和Yarwyck显然不是善于阿谀奉承的小人，这很好…但是他们同样也无法提供任何帮助。越来越多的时候，他总能发现他们和他的意见并不一致。

A lord needed men about him he could rely upon for honest counsel. Marsh and Yarwyck were no lickspittles, and that was to the good … but they were seldom any help either. More and more, he found he knew what they would say before he asked them.

特别是当涉及到自由民的时候，他们的反对意见就像深入骨髓一样难缠。当琼恩把Soren Shieldbreaker安置在Stonedoor时，Yarwyck抱怨说那会让他们太过独立以至于失去控制。他们根本不知道这些自由民会在深山里搞什么飞机。当他把Tormund Giantsbane安置在Oakenshield，把Morna White Mask安置在Queensgate时，马锡尔指出那样的话黑城堡将会被自由民包围，并且随时有被切断补给线和援兵的风险。对于Borroq，Othell Yarwyck认为Stonedoor北方的森林里有太多的野猪。谁知道这个异形人会不会组建一支自己的野猪大军？

Especially when it concerned the free folk, where their disapproval went bone deep. When Jon settled Stonedoor on Soren Shieldbreaker, Yarwyck complained that it was too isolated. How could they know what mischief Soren might get up to, off in those hills? When he conferred Oakenshield on Tormund Giantsbane and Queensgate on Morna White Mask, Marsh pointed out that Castle Black would now have foes on either side who could easily cut them off from the rest of the Wall. As for Borroq, Othell Yarwyck claimed the woods north of Stonedoor were full of wild boars. Who was to say the skinchanger would not make his own pig army?

Hoarfrost Hill 和 Rimegate 仍然缺少人手， 所以琼恩让他们去剩下的野人首领中去找到合适的部落去这两个地方驻扎。 “我们有 Brogg， Gavin the Trader， the Great Walrus … Howd Wanderer 自有去处，拖蒙德这么告诉我， 但是还是有 Harle the Huntsman， Harle the Handsome， Blind Doss … Ygon Old-father 有一些追随者， 但是他们中的大部分都是他的儿子和女儿。 他有18个妻子， 其中一半是偷来的。 这些人…”

Hoarfrost Hill and Rimegate still lacked garrisons, so Jon had asked their views on which of the remaining wildling chiefs and war lords might be best suited to hold them. “We have Brogg, Gavin the Trader, the Great Walrus … Howd Wanderer walks alone, Tormund says, but there’s still Harle the Huntsman, Harle the Handsome, Blind Doss … Ygon Oldfather commands a following, but most are his owns sons and grandsons. He has eighteen wives, half of them stolen on raids. Which of these …”

“什么也不是。”波文。马锡尔说道。“我非常了解这些人，他们应该被关进大牢，而不是和我们分享城堡。”

“None,” Bowen Marsh had said. “I know all these men by their deeds. We should be fitting them for nooses, not giving them our castles.”

“正是如此。”Othell Yarwyck同意道。“真是一个非常非常糟糕的选择。总司令大人把我们送给了一群狼，然后还命令我们摆好姿势等着被咬破喉咙。”

“Aye,” Othell Yarwyck had agreed. “Bad and worse and worst makes a beggar’s choice. My lord had as well present us with a pack of wolves and ask which we’d like to tear our throats out.”

在Hardhome的问题上相同的情况再次发生。纱丁倒酒的同时琼恩和他们讲了会见皇后的经过。马锡尔听的很认真，对手里的葡萄酒置若罔闻。Yarwyck却喝了一杯又一杯。当他讲完后事务官长说道：“皇后陛下是明智的，让那些野人死在那里吧。”

It was the same again with Hardhome. Satin poured whilst Jon told them of his audience with the queen. Marsh listened attentively, ignoring the mulled wine, whilst Yarwyck drank one cup and then another. But no sooner had Jon finished than the Lord Steward said, “Her Grace is wise. Let them die.”

琼恩反问道：“那就是你能提供的建议吗？事务官长大人？拖蒙德带来了八十个人。我们应该派出多少？难道我们应该派出巨人和矛妇？如果我们带着女人，那可能会让岛上的人一路上过的无比舒服。”

Jon sat back. “Is that the only counsel you can offer, my lord? Tormund is bringing eighty men. How many should we send? Shall we call upon the giants? The spearwives at Long Barrow? If we have women with us, it may put Mother Mole’s people at ease.”

“女人，巨人，没断奶的孩童。这些就是总司令大人想听的答案吗？”马锡尔轻抚着在骸骨之桥得到的伤疤。“都派出去吧，剩下的人越少，我们需要填满的嘴巴就越少。”

“Send women, then. Send giants. Send suckling babes. Is that what my lord wishes to hear?” Bowen Marsh rubbed at the scar he had won at the Bridge of Skulls. “Send them all. The more we lose, the fewer mouths we’ll have to feed.”

Yarwyck的建议同样没什么帮助。“如果在HARDHOME的野人需要帮助，让这里的野人去救他们。拖蒙德知道去那里的路。听听他怎么说，他可以派人去救下他们。”

Yarwyck was no more helpful. “If the wildlings at Hardhome need saving, let the wildlings here go save them. Tormund knows the way to Hardhome. To hear him talk, he can save them all himself with his huge member.”

毫无意义，琼恩想。毫无意义，徒劳无功，没有希望。“非常感谢你们的谏言，大人们。”

This was pointless, Jon thought. Pointless, fruitless, hopeless. “Thank you for your counsel, my lords.”

纱丁帮他们穿上衣服。当这些人穿过军械库时，白灵跑到他们脚边嗅来嗅去，尾巴直立，充满敌意。我的兄弟们。守夜人需要领导人有伊蒙师傅的睿智，有山姆威尔。塔利的学识，有断掌科林的勇气，有熊老的固执强硬，有铁匠诺伊尔的怜悯之心。代替他们的人又是什么样子呢？

Satin helped them back into their cloaks. As they walked through the armory, Ghost sniffed at them, his tail upraised and bristling. My brothers. The Night’s Watch needed leaders with the wisdom of Maester Aemon, the learning of Samwell Tarly, the courage of Qhorin Halfhand, the stubborn strength of the Old Bear, the compassion of Donal Noye. What it had instead was them.