BRAN

66 布兰

The oldest were

men grown, seventeen and eighteen years from the day of their naming. One was

past twenty. Most were younger, sixteen or less.

他们之中最年长的已经成年，达到十七八岁，还有一个年过二十。但多数人都很年轻，在十六岁以下。

Bran watched

them from the balcony of Maester Luwin’s turret, listening to them grunt and

strain and curse as they swung their staves and wooden swords. The yard was

alive to the clack of wood on wood, punctuated all too often by thwacks and

yowls of pain when a blow struck leather or flesh. Ser Rodrik strode among the

boys, face reddening beneath his white whiskers, muttering at them one and all.

Bran had never seen the old knight look so fierce. “No,” he kept saying. “No.

No. No.”

布兰在鲁温师傅塔楼的阳台上观看他们挥舞棍棒和木剑，气喘吁吁，闷哼和咒骂。木头敲击的喀啦声响彻校场，不时还传来挨揍时发出的号叫。罗德利克爵士迈着大步，在男孩群里走来走去，白胡子下脸红成一片，嘴里念念有词，布兰从没见老骑士的表情如此严厉过。“不行，”他不停念叨，“不行，不行，不行啊！”

“They don’t fight very well,” Bran said dubiously. He scratched

Summer idly behind the ears as the direwolf tore at a haunch of meat. Bones

crunched between his teeth.

“他们打得不太好。”布兰怀疑地说。他漫不经心地搔搔夏天的耳背，冰原狼啃着一块后腿肉，牙齿咬得骨头嘎吱作晌。

“For a certainty,” Maester Luwin agreed with a deep sigh. The maester

was peering through his big Myrish lens tube, measuring shadows and noting the

position of the comet that hung low in the morning sky. “Yet given time?.?.?.?Ser

Rodrik has the truth of it, we need men to walk the walls. Your lord father

took the cream of his guard to King’s Landing, and your brother took the rest,

along with all the likely lads for leagues around. Many will not come back to

us, and we must needs find the men to take their places.”

“没错，”鲁温师傅长叹一声，表示同意。老学士正用长长的密尔透镜管测量影子，计算低挂在晨空中的彗星的位置。“他们得多花时间训练……罗德利克爵士考虑周到，我们需要人手防守城堡。城里精锐的卫士都被你父亲大人带去君临，你哥哥又把剩下的全部带走，方圆几里格内可用的年轻人也都跟着他走了，许多人一去就不会回来。我们得找人代替他们的位置。”

Bran stared

resentfully at the sweating boys below. “If I still had my legs, I could beat

them all.” He remembered the last time he’d held a sword in his hand, when the

king had come to Winterfell. It was only a wooden sword, yet he’d knocked

Prince Tommen down half a hundred times. “Ser Rodrik should teach me to use a

poleaxe. If I had a poleaxe with a big long haft, Hodor could be my legs. We

could be a knight together.”

布兰愤恨地看着楼下汗流浃背的男孩。“如果我还能走路，他们谁都打不过我。”他记得自己最后一次握剑，是国王到临冬城来的时候，只是用把木剑，他却把托曼王子打倒在地好多次。“罗德利克爵士应该教我用斧子，我去做一把长柄斧，就可以让阿多当我的脚，我们一起当骑士。”

“I think that?.?.?.?unlikely,” Maester Luwin said. “Bran, when a man

fights, his arms and legs and thoughts must be as one.”

“我想这……恐怕不太可能。”鲁温师傅说，“布兰，打仗的时候，人必须手脚和思想完全一致才行。”

Below in the

yard, Ser Rodrik was yelling. “You fight like a goose. He pecks you and you

peck him harder. Parry! Block the blow. Goose fighting will not suffice. If

those were real swords, the first peck would take your arm off!” One of the

other boys laughed, and the old knight rounded on him. “You laugh. You. Now

that is gall. You fight like a hedgehog?.?.?.?”

下方的场子里，罗德利克爵士正在高喊：“你们打起来活像呆头鹅，他啄一下，你啄回去，要挡啊！把攻击挡下来！打架像鹅怎么成？这是真剑的话，啄一下你的手就没啦！”旁边一个男孩忍不住笑出声，老骑士立刻转身面对他。“你觉得好笑？啊？你到底懂不懂礼貌？你瞧瞧你，打起来像刺猬……”

“There was a knight once who couldn’t see,” Bran said stubbornly, as

Ser Rodrik went on below. “Old Nan told me about him. He had a long staff with

blades at both ends and he could spin it in his hands and chop two men at

once.”

“从前有个骑士眼睛看不见，”布兰固执地说。罗德利克爵士在下面继续喝骂。“老奶妈跟我说，他有一根长长的棍子，两边都有尖刀，他可以拿在手中转，一次砍两个人。”

“Symeon Star-Eyes,” Luwin said as he marked numbers in a book. “When

he lost his eyes, he put star sapphires in the empty sockets, or so the singers

claim. Bran, that is only a story, like the tales of Florian the Fool. A fable

from the Age of Heroes.” The maester tsked. “You must put these dreams aside,

they will only break your heart.”

“那是‘星眼’赛米恩，”鲁温边说边在簿子上做记号。“失去双眼之后，他把星辰蓝宝石放进空空的眼窝，吟游诗人是这么唱的。可布兰啊，那只是个故事，就像傻瓜佛罗理安的故事一样，都是从英雄纪元流传下来的寓言。”老学士啧了一声。“你要学着抛开这些白日梦，它们只会伤你心的。”

The mention of

dreams reminded him. “I dreamed about the crow again last night. The one with

three eyes. He flew into my bedchamber and told me to come with him, so I did.

We went down to the crypts. Father was there, and we talked. He was sad.”

说到了白日梦，倒是提醒了他。“我昨晚又梦见了那只乌鸦，就是生了三只眼睛的那只。它飞进我的卧房，要我跟它一起走，我就随它去了。我们飞下墓窖，父亲正在那里，我和他说了话。他很难过。”

“And why was that?” Luwin peered through his tube.

“为什么难过？”鲁温透过镜管向外看。

“It was something to do about Jon, I think.” The dream had been

deeply disturbing, more so than any of the other crow dreams. “Hodor won’t go

down into the crypts.”

“我记得……好像是和琼恩有关的事，”这个梦令他很不舒服，比其他有乌鸦的梦更甚。“后来阿多不肯下墓窖去。”

The maester had

only been half listening, Bran could tell. He lifted his eye from the tube,

blinking. “Hodor won’t?.?.?.?”

布兰看得出，老师傅有些心不在焉。他把眼睛从镜管上抬起，眨了眨。“阿多不肯怎样？”

“Go down into the crypts. When I woke, I told him to take me down, to

see if Father was truly there. At first he didn’t know what I was saying, but I

got him to the steps by telling him to go here and go there, only then he

wouldn’t go down. He just stood on the top step and said ‘Hodor,’ like he was

scared of the dark, but I had a torch. It made me so mad I almost gave him a

swat in the head, like Old Nan is always doing.” He saw the way the maester was

frowning and hurriedly added, “I didn’t, though.”

“不肯下墓窖去。我醒来之后，叫他带我下去，看看父亲是不是真的在那里。起初他不明白我在说什么，我只好叫他到这到那，最后走到楼梯边，但他却死活不肯下去。他就站在楼梯口，说着‘阿多’，好像他怕黑，可我有火把啊。我好生气，差点就像老奶妈一样敲他的头。”他见老师傅皱起眉头，赶忙补充一句，“不过我没敲啦。”

“Good. Hodor is a man, not a mule to be beaten.”

“很好。阿多是个人，不能像驴子一样随便打的。”

“In the dream I flew down with the crow, but I can’t do that when I’m

awake,” Bran explained.

“在梦里，我跟乌鸦一起飞下去，可我醒来以后就飞不了了。”布兰解释。

“Why would you want to go down to the crypts?”

“你为什么想到墓窖去？”

“I told you. To look for Father.”

“我跟你说了啊，去找父亲嘛。”

The maester

tugged at the chain around his neck, as he often did when he was uncomfortable.

“Bran, sweet child, one day Lord Eddard will sit below in stone, beside his

father and his father’s father and all the Starks back to the old Kings in the

North?.?.?.?but that will not be for many years, gods be good. Your father is a

prisoner of the queen in King’s Landing. You will not find him in the crypts.”

学士扯扯脖子上的项链，他觉得不安的时候常会这么做。“布兰，好孩子，总有一天艾德大人会化身石像，坐在地底墓窖，和他的父亲、祖父，以及古代冬境之王以来所有的史塔克家人团聚……但愿诸神保佑，那是很多年以后的事。你父亲现下人在君临，是太后的阶下囚，你到了墓窖也找不到他的。”

“He was there last night. I talked to him.”

“可他昨天晚上真的在啊，我还跟他讲话呢。”

“Stubborn boy,” the maester sighed, setting his book aside. “Would

you like to go see?”

“好个固执的孩子。”老师傅叹口气，把簿子挪到一边。“你想下去看看？”

“I can’t. Hodor won’t go, and the steps are too narrow and twisty for

Dancer.”

“我去不了，阿多又不肯，楼梯太窄还曲折得厉害，所以小舞也不行。”

“I believe I can solve that difficulty.”

“我想这还难不倒我。”

In place of

Hodor, the wildling woman Osha was summoned. She was tall and tough and

uncomplaining, willing to go wherever she was commanded. “I lived my life

beyond the Wall, a hole in the ground won’t fret me none, m’lords,” she said.

于是他找来女野人欧莎代替阿多，她身高体壮，又从不抱怨，叫她去哪里就去哪里。“大人，咱打小在长城外长大，一个地洞吓不倒我，”她保证。

“Summer, come,” Bran called as she lifted him in wiry-strong arms.

The direwolf left his bone and followed as Osha carried Bran across the yard

and down the spiral steps to the cold vault under the earth. Maester Luwin went

ahead with a torch. Bran did not even mind, too badly, that she carried him in

her arms and not on her back. Ser Rodrik had ordered Osha’s chain struck off,

since she had served faithfully and well since she had been at Winterfell. She

still wore the heavy iron shackles around her ankles, a sign that she was not

yet wholly trusted, but they did not hinder her sure strides down the steps.

“夏天，过来。”欧莎伸出精瘦而结实双手抱起布兰，布兰一边唤道。冰原狼立刻丢下骨头，跟随欧莎穿过校场，走下螺旋阶梯，来到地底的冰冷墓窖。鲁温师傅走在最前，手持火把。布兰不在意——不太在意——被她抱着，而非背在身后。罗德利克爵士已命人砍断欧莎的脚链，因为她来到临冬城之后，不仅忠心耿耿，而且工作又有效率。两个重镣环虽仍在她踝上——表示她还未得到完全的信赖——却不影响她下楼梯的稳健步伐。

Bran could not

recall the last time he had been in the crypts. It had been before, for

certain. When he was little, he used to play down here with Robb and Jon and

his sisters.

布兰不记得自己上次到墓窖来是什么时候的事了，但可以确定，是意外发生之前。他小时候常与罗柏、琼恩及姐姐们在这下面玩耍。

He wished they

were here now; the vault might not have seemed so dark and scary. Summer

stalked out in the echoing gloom, then stopped, lifted his head, and sniffed

the chill dead air. He bared his teeth and crept backward, eyes glowing golden

in the light of the maester’s torch. Even Osha, hard as old iron, seemed

uncomfortable. “Grim folk, by the look of them,” she said as she eyed the long

row of granite Starks on their stone thrones.

他好希望这会儿他们都在，那样的话，墓窖就不会这么阴森吓人。夏天潜入充满回音的幽暗，停下脚步，抬起头，嗅嗅死寂的冰冷空气。随后它张嘴露出尖牙，缓步向后爬开，在学士的火炬照耀下，它的双眼闪着金光。即便刚强如铁的欧莎，此刻也觉得有些不自在。“看起来都是些阴森的家伙。”她一边扫视长排的大理石王座，一边说，上面坐着历代的史塔克。

“They were the Kings of Winter,” Bran whispered. Somehow it felt

wrong to talk too loudly in this place.

“他们是冬境之王。”布兰低声道。不知怎地，他觉得在这里似乎不应该大声讲话。

Osha smiled.

“Winter’s got no king. If you’d seen it, you’d know that, summer boy.”

欧莎微微一笑。“冬天是没有国王的。假如你亲眼见识过凛冬的威力，你就知道啦，夏天的小子。”

“They were the Kings in the North for thousands of years,” Maester

Luwin said, lifting the torch high so the light shone on the stone faces. Some

were hairy and bearded, shaggy men fierce as the wolves that crouched by their

feet. Others were shaved clean, their features gaunt and sharp-edged as the

iron longswords across their laps. “Hard men for a hard time. Come.” He strode

briskly down the vault, past the procession of stone pillars and the endless

carved figures. A tongue of flame trailed back from the upraised torch as he

went.

“他们在北境称王长达数千年之久，”鲁温师傅说着举起火把，照亮石像的脸庞。它们有的头发极长，生了大胡子，毛茸而坚毅的脸有如趴伏脚下的冰原狼；有的则是修面整洁，五官憔悴而锐利，有如横放膝上的铁剑。“他们都是生长在艰苦环境中的坚毅之人。来吧。”他快步朝墓窖深处走去，经过一排排石柱和无数的雕像，手中高举的火把向后曳出一条长舌。

The vault was

cavernous, longer than Winterfell itself, and Jon had told him once that there

were other levels underneath, vaults even deeper and darker where the older

kings were buried. It would not do to lose the light. Summer refused to move

from the steps, even when Osha followed the torch, Bran in her arms.

墓窖宽阔，比临冬城本身还长。琼恩曾对他说，在墓窖底下，更深更幽暗的地方，还有其他墓穴，年代更久远的古代君王便睡在那里。这样看来，如果火把熄灭，那可就糟了。夏天不肯离开楼梯，只有欧莎怀抱布兰，跟着火把。

“Do you recall your history, Bran?” the maester said as they walked.

“Tell Osha who they were and what they did, if you can.”

“布兰，学过的历史还记得么？”学士边走边说，“如果你还没忘掉，就告诉欧莎这些人是谁，以及他们的生平事迹吧。”

He looked at the

passing faces and the tales came back to him. The maester had told him the

stories, and Old Nan had made them come alive. “That one is Jon Stark. When the

sea raiders landed in the east, he drove them out and built the castle at White

Harbor. His son was Rickard Stark, not my father’s father but another Rickard,

he took the Neck away from the Marsh King and married his daughter. Theon

Stark’s the real thin one with the long hair and the skinny beard. They called

him the ‘Hungry Wolf,’ because he was always at war. That’s a Brandon, the tall

one with the dreamy face, he was Brandon the Shipwright, because he loved the

sea. His tomb is empty. He tried to sail west across the Sunset Sea and was

never seen again. His son was Brandon the Burner, because he put the torch to

all his father’s ships in grief. There’s Rodrik Stark, who won Bear Island in a

wrestling match and gave it to the Mormonts. And that’s Torrhen Stark, the King

Who Knelt. He was the last King in the North and the first Lord of Winterfell,

after he yielded to Aegon the Conqueror. Oh, there, he’s Cregan Stark. He

fought with Prince Aemon once, and the Dragonknight said he’d never faced a

finer swordsman.” They were almost at the end now, and Bran felt a sadness

creeping over him. “And there’s my grandfather, Lord Rickard, who was beheaded

by Mad King Aerys. His daughter Lyanna and his son Brandon are in the tombs

beside him. Not me, another Brandon, my father’s brother. They’re not supposed

to have statues, that’s only for the lords and the kings, but my father loved

them so much he had them done.”

于是他环顾经过的张张脸庞，属于他们的故事便纷纷涌现。这些故事虽是鲁温师傅告诉他的，但使他们鲜活还得归功于老奶妈。“那个是琼恩·史塔克，海盗从东方来袭时，他把他们打退，并在白港盖了城堡。他的儿子是瑞卡德·史塔克，不是我爷爷，而是另一个瑞卡德，他从沼泽王手中夺走颈泽，并娶了沼泽王的女儿为妻。那个很瘦很瘦，长头发尖胡子的是席恩·史塔克，大家叫他“饿狼”，因为他一天到晚打仗。那个个子很高，一副做梦模样的国王也叫布兰登，‘造船者’布兰登，他很喜欢海洋。他的坟墓是空的，因为他乘船向西横渡落日之海，从此下落不明。他的儿子是‘焚船者’布兰登，他在伤心之余，纵火烧掉了父亲所有的船只。那个是罗德利克·史塔克，传说他在一场摔角比赛里赢得了熊岛，并把熊岛赠送给莫尔蒙家族。那个就是‘降服王’托伦·史塔克，最后的北境之王，第一个临冬城公爵，是他向征服者伊耿投降。噢，你看那边，他是克雷根·史塔克，曾经和伊蒙王子决斗，后来，龙骑士说这辈子再没碰上比他更优秀的剑手。”他们几乎走到了末端，布兰只觉一阵哀伤涌上心头。“那是我爷爷，瑞卡德公爵，他被‘疯王’伊里斯处死。他女儿莱安娜和他儿子布兰登就在他身旁的坟墓里。不是我，是另一个布兰登，我父亲的哥哥。他们原本不该有雕像的，那是公爵和国王才享有的荣耀，可父亲实在太爱他们，所以也为他们造了雕像。”

“The maid’s a fair one,” Osha said.

“这女孩很漂亮。”欧莎说。

“Robert was betrothed to marry her, but Prince Rhaegar carried her

off and raped her,” Bran explained. “Robert fought a war to win her back. He

killed Rhaegar on the Trident with his hammer, but Lyanna died and he never got

her back at all.”

“劳勃和她已经订了婚，雷加王子却把她强行掳走，并强暴了她。”布兰解释，“为了救她回来，劳勃挑起了一场战争，他在三叉戟河上用自己的战锤亲手杀了雷加，但莱安娜却已经死去，他最后还是来不及救她。”（文＇心＇手＇打＇组＇手＇打＇整＇理）

“A sad tale,” said Osha, “but those empty holes are sadder.”

“真是个悲伤的故事，”欧莎说，“但那几个空空的洞更教人难过。”

“Lord Eddard’s tomb, for when his time comes,” Maester Luwin said.

“Is this where you saw your father in your dream, Bran?”

“以后，那里就是艾德大人的坟墓，”鲁温师傅道，“布兰，你梦中就是在这里看到你父亲的吗？”

“Yes.” The memory made him shiver. He looked around the vault

uneasily, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. Had he heard a noise?

Was there someone here?

“是啊。”回忆令他颤抖，他不安地环顾墓窖，颈背毛发竖立。他好像听见了什么？难道这里还有别人？

Maester Luwin

stepped toward the open sepulchre, torch in hand. “As you see, he’s not here.

Nor will he be, for many a year. Dreams are only dreams, child.” He thrust his

arm into the blackness inside the tomb, as into the mouth of some great beast.

“Do you see? It’s quite empt...”

鲁温师傅举着火把，朝敞开的坟墓走去。“你看，他不在这儿，他还要等好多好多年才会在这儿。孩子，梦，不过就是梦。”他伸手探进墓穴中的黑暗，活像探进怪兽的巨口。“你看清楚了，这里空得——”

The darkness

sprang at him, snarling.

黑暗咆哮着朝他扑来。

Bran saw eyes

like green fire, a flash of teeth, fur as black as the pit around them. Maester

Luwin yelled and threw up his hands. The torch went flying from his fingers,

caromed off the stone face of Brandon Stark, and tumbled to the statue’s feet,

the flames licking up his legs. In the drunken shifting torchlight, they saw

Luwin struggling with the direwolf, beating at his muzzle with one hand while

the jaws closed on the other.

一双宛如绿火的眼睛，一排闪烁即逝的洁白利齿，还有黑得像所处墓穴的毛皮。鲁温师傅大叫一声，扬起双手。火把从他指间飞了出去，撞到布兰登·史塔克的石脸，反弹开来，滚落至雕像脚边，火舌舔上他的小腿。在宛如醺醉的摇曳光线下，他们看见鲁温正与一头冰原狼搏斗，他的一只手拼命捶打狼嘴，另一只手则被狼牢牢咬住。

“Summer!” Bran screamed.

“夏天！”布兰尖叫。

And Summer came,

shooting from the dimness behind them, a leaping shadow. He slammed into

Shaggydog and knocked him back, and the two direwolves rolled over and over in

a tangle of grey and black fur, snapping and biting at each other, while

Maester Luwin struggled to his knees, his arm torn and bloody. Osha propped

Bran up against Lord Rickard’s stone wolf as she hurried to assist the maester.

In the light of the guttering torch, shadow wolves twenty feet tall fought on

the wall and roof.

夏天立刻从身后的昏暗中射出，有如一个奔跃的影子，一头把毛毛狗撞开，两只冰原狼在地上来回翻滚，灰色和黑色的毛皮纠结在一起，互相撕扯啮咬。鲁温师傅挣扎着起身，欧莎让布兰斜靠在瑞卡德公爵的石狼身上，急忙过去帮老学士的忙。摇曳的火光一照，狼影成了二十尺高的庞然大物，在墙壁和天顶上拼斗。

“Shaggy,” a small voice called. When Bran looked up, his little

brother was standing in the mouth of Father’s tomb. With one final snap at

Summer’s face, Shaggydog broke off and bounded to Rickon’s side. “You let my

father be,” Rickon warned Luwin. “You let him be.”

“毛毛。”一个小小的声音唤道。布兰抬头，发现他的小弟正站在父亲坟墓的进口。毛毛狗朝夏天的脸咬了最后一口，回身奔至瑞肯身旁。“你别来烦我爸爸，”瑞肯警告鲁温，“你别烦他。”

“Rickon,” Bran said softly. “Father’s not here.”

“瑞肯，”布兰轻声说，“父亲不在这里。”

“Yes he is. I saw him.” Tears glistened on Rickon’s face. “I saw him

last night.”

“他明明就在，我看到的，”瑞肯脸上泪水晶莹。“我昨晚上看到的。”

“In your dream?.?.?.??”

“你梦见……？”

Rickon nodded.

“You leave him. You leave him be. He’s coming home now, like he promised. He’s

coming home.”

瑞肯点点头。“你别来烦他，别来伤他，他要回家了，他答应过我的，他要回家了。”

Bran had never

seen Maester Luwin took so uncertain before. Blood dripped down his arm where

Shaggydog had shredded the wool of his sleeve and the flesh beneath. “Osha, the

torch,” he said, biting through his pain, and she snatched it up before it went

out. Soot stains blackened both legs of his uncle’s likeness. “That?.?.?.?that

beast,” Luwin went on, “is supposed to be chained up in the kennels.”

布兰从未见鲁温师傅这么犹豫不决。毛毛狗撕裂了他的羊毛衣袖，暴露的手臂不住淌血。“欧莎，把火把拿来。”他强忍着痛说，那火炬尚未熄灭，她拾起来交给他。伯伯雕像的双腿都被熏黑了。“那……那头野东西，”鲁温续道，“应该是被拴在狗舍里。”

Rickon patted

Shaggydog’s muzzle, damp with blood. “I let him loose. He doesn’t like chains.”

He licked at his fingers.

瑞肯拍拍毛毛狗血染的嘴巴。“我把它放出来了。它不喜欢被拴着。”他舔舔手指。

“Rickon,” Bran said, “would you like to come with me?”

“瑞肯，”布兰说，“要不要跟我回去？”

“No. I like it here.”

“不要，我喜欢待在这里。”

“It’s dark here. And cold.”

“可这里又黑又冷。”

“I’m not afraid. I have to wait for Father.”

“我不怕。我要等爸爸回来。”

“You can wait with me,” Bran said. “We’ll wait together, you and me

and our wolves.” Both of the direwolves were licking wounds now, and would bear

close watching.

“你可以跟我一起等啊，”布兰说，“你和我，还有我们的小狼，我们一起等他回来。”这时两只冰原狼都舔起伤口，经此恶斗，他们需要悉心照料。

“Bran,” the maester said firmly, “I know you mean well, but Shaggydog

is too wild to run loose. I’m the third man he’s savaged. Give him the freedom

of the castle and it’s only a question of time before he kills someone. The

truth is hard, but the wolf has to be chained, or?.?.?.?&rdquo He

hesitated?.?.?.?or killed, Bran thought, but what he said was, “He was not made

for chains. We will wait in your tower, all of us.”

“布兰，”学士坚定地说，“我知道你是好意，但毛毛狗性子太野，不能让它这样乱跑。我是第三个被他咬伤的人了。假如让它在城里随意活动，迟早会闹出人命。事实很难接受，可这只狼一定得拴起来，否则……”他犹豫了一下。……就得杀掉，布兰心想，然而他却说：“它生来就不是被拴的，就让我们一起到你的塔里等嘛。”

“That is quite impossible,” Maester Luwin said.

“这实在不可能。”鲁温师傅道。

Osha grinned.

“The boy’s the lordling here, as I recall.” She handed Luwin back his torch and

scooped Bran up into her arms again. “The maester’s tower it is.”

欧莎嘻嘻笑道：“我没记错的话，这里该由这孩子当家，”她把火炬交还鲁温，抱起布兰。“所以就到学士的塔里去吧。”

“Will you come, Rickon?”

“瑞肯，要一起来么？”

His brother

nodded. “If Shaggy comes too,” he said, running after Osha and Bran, and there

was nothing Maester Luwin could do but follow, keeping a wary eye on the

wolves.

弟弟点点头。“如果毛毛也一起去的话。”说完他跑在欧莎和布兰后面，这下子，鲁温师傅也只好跟上，不过他还是充满戒心地看着两只狼。

Maester Luwin’s

turret was so cluttered that it seemed to Bran a wonder that he ever found

anything. Tottering piles of books covered tables and chairs, rows of stoppered

jars lined the shelves, candle stubs and puddles of dried wax dotted the

furniture, the bronze Myrish lens tube sat on a tripod by the terrace door,

star charts hung from the walls, shadow maps lay scattered among the rushes,

papers, quills, and pots of inks were everywhere, and all of it was spotted

with droppings from the ravens in the rafters. Their strident quorks drifted

down from above as Osha washed and cleaned and bandaged the maester’s wounds,

under Luwin’s terse instruction. “This is folly,” the small grey man said while

she dabbed at the wolf bites with a stinging ointment. “I agree that it is odd

that both you boys dreamed the same dream, yet when you stop to consider it,

it’s only natural. You miss your lord father, and you know that he is a

captive. Fear can fever a man’s mind and give him queer thoughts. Rickon is too

young to comprehend...”

鲁温学士的塔里到处堆满了物品，他居然还能从中找到东西，布兰觉得简直就是奇迹。书籍在桌椅上堆得老高，架子上陈列着一排排瓶瓶罐罐，家具上则满是烧剩的蜡烛和干涸的蜡滴，那根密尔制的青铜镜管就端坐在阳台门边的三角架上，墙上挂着星象图，草席上摊着散乱的地图，纸张、羽毛笔和墨水瓶则随处可见，许多东西都沾上了居住屋梁间的渡鸦所遗留的粪便。欧莎听从鲁温简洁的指示，替他清洗伤口，着手包扎。头顶的乌鸦不停地嘎嘎叫唤。“这样的想法真是荒唐，”她为他在狼咬的伤口涂上一种气味扑鼻的膏药，头发灰白的瘦小学士一边说，“我承认，你们两个同时做了相同的梦，咋看起来的确很怪，但仔细一想，其实非常自然。你们想念你们的父亲大人，也知道他如今身遭囚禁。恐惧会影响人的思绪，让人产生奇怪的念头。瑞肯年纪还小，不了解——”

“I’m four now,” Rickon said. He was peeking through the lens tube at

the gargoyles on the First Keep. The direwolves sat on opposite sides of the

large round room, licking their wounds and gnawing on bones.

“我已经四岁了。”瑞肯说。他正透过镜管，眺望首堡上的石像鬼。两只冰原狼各据偌大的圆形房间的一端，舔着伤口，啃食骨头。

“...too young, and, ooh, seven hells, that burns, no, don’t stop,

more. Too young, as I say, but you, Bran, you’re old enough to know that dreams

are only dreams.”

“——年纪还小，所以——哎哟，七层地狱，还真痛。不，别停下，多抹点。正如我刚才所说，他年纪还小，但布兰你应该知道：梦是没有任何意义的。”

“Some are, some aren’t.” Osha poured pale red firemilk into a long

gash. Luwin gasped. “The children of the forest could tell you a thing or two

about dreaming.”

“有些有，有些没有。”欧莎将淡红色的火奶倒在长长的伤口上，鲁温吸了口气。“森林之子能告诉你关于梦的知识。”

Tears were

streaming down the maester’s face, yet he shook his head doggedly. “The

children?.?.?.?live only in dreams. Now. Dead and gone. Enough, that’s enough.

Now the bandages. Pads and then wrap, and make it tight, I’ll be bleeding.”

老师傅疼得眼泪都流了下来，但他仍旧固执地摇摇头。“森林之子……本身就只存在于梦中。他们早已灭亡、消失。够了，这样就够了，现在把绷带拿来。先垫棉花，再裹绷带，绑紧一点，我大概还会流不少血。”

“Old Nan says the children knew the songs of the trees, that they could

fly like birds and swim like fish and talk to the animals,” Bran said. “She

says that they made music so beautiful that it made you cry like a little baby

just to hear it.”

“老奶妈说森林之子懂得树木的歌谣，会说动物的语言。他们能像鸟一样飞翔，像鱼一般游泳。”布兰说，“她说他们的音乐很美，光是听到就会让你像婴儿一样哭泣。”

“And all this they did with magic,” Maester Luwin said, distracted.

“I wish they were here now. A spell would heal my arm less painfully, and they

could talk to Shaggydog and tell him not to bite.” He gave the big black wolf

an angry glance out of the corner of his eye. “Take a lesson, Bran. The man who

trusts in spells is dueling with a glass sword. As the children did. Here, let

me show you something.” He stood abruptly, crossed the room, and returned with

a green jar in his good hand. “Have a look at these,” he said as he pulled the

stopper and shook out a handful of shiny black arrowheads.

“他们是靠魔法才办到的，”鲁温师傅有些心不在焉地说，“我真希望他们还在。如果有魔法，我的手就不用痛得这么厉害，他们也可以跟毛毛狗沟通，叫它别乱咬人。”他愤怒地瞟了一眼那头大黑狼。“布兰，你要记好，不能相信魔法，否则就会做出拿玻璃剑和人打架的蠢事。森林之子正是如此。来，让我给你看件东西。”他突然起身，穿过房间，回来之时，没受伤的手里多了个绿罐子。“你看看这些。”说着他打开瓶盖，倒出几个闪亮的黑箭头。

Bran picked one

up. “It’s made of glass.” Curious, Rickon drifted closer to peer over the

table.

布兰拾起一个。“这是玻璃做的。”瑞肯也好奇地靠过来，朝桌上看。

“Dragonglass,” Osha named it as she sat down beside Luwin, bandagings

in hand.

“这种玻璃叫龙晶。”欧莎道。她手拿绷带，在鲁温身边坐下。

“Obsidian,” Maester Luwin insisted, holding out his wounded arm.

“Forged in the fires of the gods, far below the earth. The children of the

forest hunted with that, thousands of years ago. The children worked no metal.

In place of mail, they wore long shirts of woven leaves and bound their legs in

bark, so they seemed to melt into the wood. In place of swords, they carried

blades of obsidian.”

“学名是黑曜石。”鲁温澄清，一边挺起受伤的手臂。“这种物质是在地心深处，用诸神之火锻造而成。几千年前，森林之子便是用黑曜石打猎，因为他们不懂冶炼金属。他们以树叶编织的衣服代替盔甲，用树皮充作绑腿，所以看起来仿佛与森林融为一体。他们的飞箭和刀刃都是黑曜石做的。”

“And still do.” Osha placed soft pads over the bites on the maester’s

forearm and bound them tight with long strips of linen.

“现在也依旧如此。”欧莎把一块软垫布盖在学士的前臂伤口，然后用长长的棉绷带扎紧。

Bran held the

arrowhead up close. The black glass was slick and shiny. He thought it

beautiful. “Can I keep one?”

布兰把箭头拿近细看，黑色的玻璃又滑又亮，他觉得好漂亮。“可以给我一个么？”

“As you wish,” the maester said.

“你就拿去吧。”老师傅说。

“I want one too,” Rickon said. “I want four. I’m four.”

“我也要，”瑞肯说，“我要四个，因为我四岁。”

Luwin made him

count them out. “Careful, they’re still sharp. Don’t cut yourself.”

鲁温要他算清楚了。“小心，它们依然很锋利，可别割伤自己。”

“Tell me about the children,” Bran said. It was important.

“告诉我森林之子的事。”布兰说。这很重要。

“What do you wish to know?”

“你想知道哪方面的事呢？”

“Everything.”

“每个方面我都想知道。”

Maester Luwin

tugged at his chain collar where it chafed against his neck. “They were people

of the Dawn Age, the very first, before kings and kingdoms,” he said. “In those

days, there were no castles or holdfasts, no cities, not so much as a market

town to be found between here and the sea of Dorne. There were no men at all.

Only the children of the forest dwelt in the lands we now call the Seven

Kingdoms.

鲁温师傅拉拉颈链。“他们是生活在黎明之纪元的族群，是世界最初的统治者，远在国王和王国出现之前。”他说，“那时没有城堡，没有村庄，也没有城市，从这里到多恩海，连半个市集都没有。当时没有人类存在，只有森林之子居住在这片我们称之为七大王国的土地上。”

“They were a people dark and beautiful, small of stature, no taller

than children even when grown to manhood. They lived in the depths of the wood,

in caves and crannogs and secret tree towns. Slight as they were, the children

were quick and graceful. Male and female hunted together, with weirwood bows

and flying snares. Their gods were the gods of the forest, stream, and stone,

the old gods whose names are secret. Their wise men were called greenseers, and

carved strange faces in the weirwoods to keep watch on the woods. How long the

children reigned here or where they came from, no man can know.

“他们是一支黝黑而美丽的民族，身材矮小，即使成年人的身高也和我们的小孩子差不多。他们居住于森林深处、洞穴、泽地岛屿和秘密的树上城镇。虽然个子小，森林之子却行动敏捷而优雅，不论男女均用鱼梁木制的弓箭和飞网狩猎。他们信仰属于森林、溪流和岩石的古老神明，这些神的名字都是秘密。他们的智者称为‘绿先知’，绿先知在鱼梁木上刻画奇怪的脸孔，藉以守护森林。森林之子究竟在此统治了多久，或是他们来自何方，没有人知道。”

“But some twelve thousand years ago, the First Men appeared from the

east, crossing the Broken Arm of Dorne before it was broken. They came with

bronze swords and great leathern shields, riding horses. No horse had ever been

seen on this side of the narrow sea. No doubt the children were as frightened

by the horses as the First Men were by the faces in the trees. As the First Men

carved out holdfasts and farms, they cut down the faces and gave them to the

fire. Horror-struck, the children went to war. The old songs say that the

greenseers used dark magics to make the seas rise and sweep away the land,

shattering the Arm, but it was too late to close the door. The wars went on

until the earth ran red with blood of men and children both, but more children

than men, for men were bigger and stronger, and wood and stone and obsidian

make a poor match for bronze. Finally the wise of both races prevailed, and the

chiefs and heroes of the First Men met the greenseers and wood dancers amidst

the weirwood groves of a small island in the great lake called Gods Eye.

“大约一万两千年前，‘先民’出现了，他们通过当时还没断裂的多恩断臂角自东方跨海而来。先民骑着马，带着青铜宝剑和皮革巨盾。狭海这边的生物还没有见过马匹，森林之子对他们的马儿，想必和他们对树上刻画的脸同样感到害怕吧。当先民建造房舍和农田时，他们把有脸的树砍下来当柴烧。惊骇万分的森林之子，随即与他们开战。古老的歌谣传说绿先知施展强力魔法，使海平面上升，横扫陆地，粉碎了多恩之臂，然而为时已晚。战争持续下去，直到人类和森林之子的鲜血染红大地。因为人类更加高大强壮，木材、石头和黑曜石又无法与青铜匹敌，所以森林之子死伤惨重。终于，双方的有识之士提议讲和，于是先民的酋长、英雄，以及森林之子的绿先知和木舞者来到神眼湖中的小岛，在岛上的鱼梁木森林间会面。”

“There they forged the Pact. The First Men were given the coastlands,

the high plains and bright meadows, the mountains and bogs, but the deep woods were

to remain forever the children’s, and no more weirwoods were to be put to the

axe anywhere in the realm. So the gods might bear witness to the signing, every

tree on the island was given a face, and afterward, the sacred order of green

men was formed to keep watch over the Isle of Faces.

“他们在那里订立了‘盟誓’，规定先民拥有海岸、平原、草原、山脉和沼泽，但繁茂的大森林永远归森林之子所有，而王国全境也不准再砍伐任何一棵鱼梁木。为使天上诸神见证此神圣盟誓，他们为岛上每一棵树都刻了脸，并在此成立‘绿人’的神圣组织，专司看守千面屿。”

“The Pact began four thousand years of friendship between men and

children. In time, the First Men even put aside the gods they had brought with

them, and took up the worship of the secret gods of the wood. The signing of

the Pact ended the Dawn Age, and began the Age of Heroes.”

“‘盟誓’开始了人类与森林之子间四千年的友谊，到后来，先民甚至抛弃了他们从东方带来的信仰，改而崇拜森林之子的神秘诸神。盟誓的签署结束了黎明之纪元，开始了英雄之纪元。”

Bran’s fist

curled around the shiny black arrowhead. “But the children of the forest are

all gone now, you said.”

布兰的手掌，紧紧握住闪亮的黑箭头。“可你说森林之子已经灭绝了。”

“Here, they are,” said Osha, as she bit off the end of the last

bandage with her teeth. “North of the Wall, things are different. That’s where

the children went, and the giants, and the other old races.”

“在这里，他们是灭绝了，”欧莎一边说，一边用牙齿咬断绷带末端。“长城以北可就不一样。森林之子、巨人还有其他古老的民族就是到那儿去啦。”

Maester Luwin

sighed. “Woman, by rights you ought to be dead or in chains. The Starks have

treated you more gently than you deserve. It is unkind to repay them for their

kindness by filling the boys’ heads with folly.”

鲁温师傅叹道：“女人，照理说你应该被处以死刑或至少披枷戴锁。史塔克家族给你的待遇，远超过你所应得的。他们对你这么好，你却把这孩子的脑袋里装满荒唐思想，实在是太忘恩负义了。”

“Tell me where they went,” Bran said. “I want to know.”

“跟我说嘛，他们到哪里去了？”布兰说，“我想知道。”

“Me too,” Rickon echoed.

“我也是。”瑞肯应和。

“Oh, very well,” Luwin muttered. “So long as the kingdoms of the

First Men held sway, the Pact endured, all through the Age of Heroes and the

Long Night and the birth of the Seven Kingdoms, yet finally there came a time,

many centuries later, when other peoples crossed the narrow sea.

“唉，好罢。”鲁温喃喃道，“只要先民的国度还在，‘盟誓’便仍有效力，经过英雄之纪元、长夜和七大王国的诞生，许多个世纪之后，其他的民族也终于渡海而来。”

“The Andals were the first, a race of tall, fair-haired warriors who

came with steel and fire and the seven-pointed star of the new gods painted on

their chests. The wars lasted hundreds of years, but in the end the six

southron kingdoms all fell before them. Only here, where the King in the North

threw back every army that tried to cross the Neck, did the rule of the First

Men endure. The Andals burnt out the weirwood groves, hacked down the faces,

slaughtered the children where they found them, and everywhere proclaimed the

triumph of the Seven over the old gods. So the children fled north...”

“最先来到的是高大金发的安达尔战士。约从千年前，他们带着精钢打造的武器，胸膛画了象征新神的七芒星，渡海杀来。先民和他们的战争持续了数百年，六个南方王国一个接一个落入他们手中。只有在这里，冬境之王击败了所有试图穿越颈泽的军队；也只有在这里，先民依旧占有一席之地。安达尔人烧毁了所有的鱼梁木丛林，砍倒人面树，一遇森林之子便肆意捕杀，所到之处均大力倡导七神信仰，贬抑远古诸神。于是森林之子纷纷向北逃亡——”

Summer began to

howl.

夏天仰天长嚎。

Maester Luwin

broke off, startled. When Shaggydog bounded to his feet and added his voice to

his brother’s, dread clutched at Bran’s heart. “It’s coming,” he whispered,

with the certainty of despair. He had known it since last night, he realized,

since the crow had led him down into the crypts to say farewell. He had known

it, but he had not believed. He had wanted Maester Luwin to be right. The crow,

he thought, the three-eyed crow?.?.?.?

鲁温师傅吓了一跳，停住讲话。毛毛狗随即跳起来，加入兄弟的长吼，布兰心中充满恐惧。“它来了。”他小声说，语气中有种肯定的绝望。他突然明白，自己从昨天晚上便已知道，因为三眼乌鸦带他到墓窖去道别。他虽然知道，却不肯相信，只下意识地希望鲁温师傅说得没错。那只乌鸦，他心想，那只三眼乌鸦……

The howling

stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Summer padded across the tower floor to

Shaggydog, and began to lick at a mat of bloody fur on the back of his

brother’s neck. From the window came a flutter of wings.

狼嚎才刚开始，便告结束。夏天穿过房间，走到毛毛狗身边，开始舔舐弟弟颈背干涸的血块。窗边传来翅膀拍打的声音。

A raven landed

on the grey stone sill, opened its beak, and gave a harsh, raucous rattle of

distress.

一只渡鸦降落在灰石窗棂上，张开鸟喙，发出一声尖锐、粗哑而痛苦的哀鸣。

Rickon began to

cry. His arrowheads fell from his hand one by one and clattered on the floor.

Bran pulled him close and hugged him.

瑞肯哭了，箭头从他手中一个又一个地滑落，坠地，叮当作响。布兰把他拉过来，紧紧搂住他。

Maester Luwin

stared at the black bird as if it were a scorpion with feathers. He rose, slow

as a sleepwalker, and moved to the window. When he whistled, the raven hopped

onto his bandaged forearm. There was dried blood on its wings. “A hawk,” Luwin

murmured, “perhaps an owl. Poor thing, a wonder it got through.” He took the

letter from its leg.

鲁温师傅怔怔地望着黑鸟，仿佛它是生了羽毛的毒蝎。他站起身，动作缓慢，宛如梦游般地走向窗边。当他轻吹口哨，渡鸦便跳上他缠着绷带的前臂。鸟儿翅膀上有干掉的血迹。“一定是猎鹰，”鲁温喃喃自语：“或者是夜枭。可怜的家伙，它能活着抵达真是奇迹。”他取下鸟儿脚上的信。

Bran found

himself shivering as the maester unrolled the paper. “What is it?” he said,

holding his brother all the harder.

眼看学士展开信纸，布兰发现自己止不住颤抖。“信上说什么？”他问，同时更用力地抱紧弟弟。

“You know what it is, boy,” Osha said, not unkindly. She put her hand

on his head.

“小子，你已经知道是什么了。”欧莎说，话中并无恶意。她伸手摸摸他的头。

Maester Luwin

looked up at them numbly, a small grey man with blood on the sleeve of his grey

wool robe and tears in his bright grey eyes. “My lords,” he said to the sons,

in a voice gone hoarse and shrunken, “we?.?.?.?we shall need to find a

stonecarver who knew his likeness well?.?.?.?”

鲁温师傅抬起头，木然地看着他们。这位身材瘦小，灰衣灰发的老人，长袍袖子上沾满血迹，明亮的灰色眼瞳里泪光晶莹。“大人，”他用一种整个沙哑掉、干瘪掉的声音，对公爵的两个儿子说，“我们……我们得找个熟悉他容貌的雕刻师父了……”