Ⅲ 冰雨的风暴 Chapter74 艾莉亚

ARYA

客栈外风雨侵蚀的绞刑架上，女人的骨架随风摇摆，发出“咔哒咔哒”的撞击声。

Outside the inn on a weathered gibbet, a woman’s bones were twisting and rattling at every gust of wind.

我认得这家客栈。南下途中，她和姐姐珊莎曾在茉丹修女关照下于此休息，但那时门外没有绞架。“我们别进去，”艾莉亚突然决定，“里面也许有鬼魂。”

I know this inn. There hadn’t been a gibbet outside the door when she had slept here with her sister Sansa under the watchful eye of Septa Mordane, though. “We don’t want to go in,” Arya decided suddenly, “there might be ghosts.”

“你知道我有多久没喝酒了？”桑铎翻身下马，“况且需要了解谁掌握着红宝石滩。你怕的话，就留下来陪马，反正我他妈要进去。”

“You know how long it’s been since I had a cup of wine?” Sandor swung down from the saddle. “Besides, we need to learn who holds the ruby ford. Stay with the horses if you want, it’s no hair off my arse.”

“被人认出怎么办？”桑铎不再费神隐藏面容，似乎已不在乎，“他们也许会抓你。”

“What if they know you?” Sandor no longer troubled to hide his face. He no longer seemed to care who knew him. “They might want to take you captive.”

“让他们试试看。”他松开鞘里的长剑，推门而入。

“Let them try.” He loosened his longsword in its scabbard, and pushed through the door.

这是最好的逃跑机会。艾莉亚可以骑胆小鬼跑掉，同时带走陌客。她咬紧嘴唇，把马牵到马厩，跟在猎狗后面进去了。

Arya would never have a better chance to escape. She could ride off on Craven and take Stranger too. She chewed her lip. Then she led the horses to the stables, and went in after him.

他们果然认识他。沉默说明了一切。但那不是最糟的。最糟的是，她也认识他们。不是瘦骨嶙峋的店家，不是那群女人，也不是火炉边的农夫，而是那些兵。她认识那些兵。

They know him. The silence told her that. But that wasn’t the worst thing. She knew them too. Not the skinny innkeep, nor the women, nor the fieldhands by the hearth. But the others. The soldiers. She knew the soldiers.

“找哥哥吗，桑铎？”波利佛怀中坐着一个女孩，他的手刚才伸进对方胸衣里，现在抽了出来。

“Looking for your brother, Sandor?” Polliver’s hand was down the bodice of the girl on his lap, but now he slid it out.

“找酒喝。店家，来壶红酒。”克里冈将一把铜板扔在地上。

“Looking for a cup of wine. Innkeep, a flagon of red.” Clegane threw a handful of coppers on the floor.

“我不想惹麻烦，爵士。”店家说。

“I don’t want no trouble, ser,” the innkeep said.

“那就别叫我‘爵士’。”他的嘴抽搐了一下。“聋了吗，笨蛋？倒酒！”对方慌忙跑开，克里冈追着喊，“两杯！这女孩也渴了！”

“Then don’t call me ser.” His mouth twitched. “Are you deaf, fool? I ordered wine.” As the man ran off, Clegane shouted after him, “Two cups! The girl’s thirsty too!”

他们只有三个，艾莉亚心想。波利佛稍稍瞥了她一下，他边上的男孩根本没在意，但第三个家伙使劲盯着她看了许久。他中等身高，中等体型，长相平凡，甚至连年龄都很难分辨。记事本。记事本和波利佛。而那男孩以衣着和年龄论，大概是个侍从，鼻子一侧有个白色大疙瘩，额头还长了些红疹子。“哟，这不是格雷果爵士走丢的小狗吗？”男孩装腔作势地询问记事本，“经常在草席上撒尿的不是？”

There are only three, Arya thought. Polliver gave her a fleeting glance and the boy beside him never looked at her at all, but the third one gazed long and hard. He was a man of middling height and build, with a face so ordinary that it was hard to say how old he was. The Tickler. The Tickler and Polliver both. The boy was a squire, judging by his age and dress. He had a big white pimple on one side of his nose, and some red ones on his forehead. “Is this the lost puppy Ser Gregor spoke of?” he asked the Tickler. “The one who piddled in the rushes and ran off?”

记事本警告性地将一只手搭在男孩胳膊上，短促地摇摇头。其中的暗示连艾莉亚都明白。

The Tickler put a warning hand on the boy’s arm, and gave a short sharp shake of his head. Arya read that plain enough.

可惜侍从不明白，或许是不在乎。“爵士说，君临的战斗升温时，他的小狗弟弟夹起尾巴，哀叫着逃了。”他咧嘴朝猎狗傻乎乎地假笑。

The squire didn’t, or else he didn’t care. “Ser said his puppy brother tucked his tail between his legs when the battle got too warm at King’s Landing. He said he ran off whimpering.” He gave the Hound a stupid mocking grin.

克里冈打量着男孩，一个字也没说。波利佛把女孩推开，站起身来。“这小子醉了。”他说。士兵几乎跟猎狗一样高，但肌肉不及后者壮硕，下巴和脸颊上覆盖着铲形胡子，又浓又黑，修剪整齐，脑袋却比较秃。“他喝不了多少酒，就是这样。”

Clegane studied the boy and never said a word. Polliver shoved the girl off his lap and got to his feet. “The lad’s drunk,” he said. The man-at-arms was almost as tall as the Hound, though not so heavily muscled. A spade-shaped beard covered his jaws and jowls, thick and black and neatly trimmed, but his head was more bald than not. “He can’t hold his wine, is all.”

“那他不该喝。”

“Then he shouldn’t drink.”

“小狗不怕……”男孩还没说完，便被记事本漫不经心地用拇指和食指拧住耳朵，话音变成痛苦的尖叫。

“The puppy doesn’t scare …” the boy began, till the Tickler casually twisted his ear between thumb and forefinger. The words became a squeal of pain.

这时店家端着白蜡盘子匆忙跑回来，上面有两个石杯和一个酒壶。桑铎二话不说，提起酒壶，对准嘴巴就灌。吞咽时，艾莉亚看到他脖子上的肌肉不住颤动。等他将酒壶重重砸到桌上，一半的酒已没了。“现在倒酒吧。记得把铜板收起来，今天你大概只能见到这些钱。”

The innkeep came scurrying back with two stone cups and a flagon on a pewter platter. Sandor lifted the flagon to his mouth. Arya could see the muscles in his neck working as he gulped. When he slammed it back down on the table, half the wine was gone. “Now you can pour. Best pick up those coppers too, it’s the only coin you’re like to see today.”

“我们喝完会付钱。”波利佛说。

“We’ll pay when we’re done drinking,” said Polliver.

“你们喝完，就会拷问店家，找出藏金子的地方。不是吗？”

“When you’re done drinking you’ll tickle the innkeep to see where he keeps his gold. The way you always do.”

店家突然记起厨房里有事。当地人纷纷离开，女孩们也全不见。厅内唯一的声响只剩火炉里焰苗轻微的噼啪。我也该走了，艾莉亚心想。

The innkeep suddenly remembered something in the kitchen. The locals were leaving too, and the girls were gone. The only sound in the common room was the faint crackling of the fire in the hearth. We should go too, Arya knew.

“要找爵士，你来迟了，”波利佛道，“他前阵子还在赫伦堡，现下被太后招回了都城。”他佩有三把武器；左臀挂着长剑，右面是一把匕首，外加一把较细的……作为匕首太长，说是剑又太短。“你知道，乔佛里国王死了，”他补充，“在自己婚宴上给毒死的。”

“If you’re looking for Ser, you come too late,” Polliver said. “He was at Harrenhal, but now he’s not. The queen sent for him.” He wore three blades on his belt, Arya saw; a longsword on his left hip, and on his right a dagger and a slimmer blade, too long to be a dirk and too short to be a sword. “King Joffrey’s dead, you know,” he added. “Poisoned at his own wedding feast.”

艾莉亚朝屋内移去。乔佛里死了。她几乎能看到他，卷曲的金发，不怀好意的微笑，又软又肥的嘴唇。乔佛里死了！她应该高兴，却不知怎的，仍然感到空荡荡的。乔佛里死了，但罗柏也死了，所以又有什么意义呢？

Arya edged farther into the room. Joffrey’s dead. She could almost see him, with his blond curls and his mean smile and his fat soft lips. Joffrey’s dead! She knew it ought to make her happy, but somehow she still felt empty inside. Joffrey was dead, but if Robb was dead too, what did it matter?

“我英勇的铁卫弟兄们不过如此啊，”猎狗轻蔑地哼了一声，“谁干的？”

“So much for my brave brothers of the Kingsguard.” The Hound gave a snort of contempt. “Who killed him?”

“大家认为是小恶魔。他和他老婆干的。”

“The Imp, it’s thought. Him and his little wife.”

“他老婆？”

“What wife?”

“我忘了，你一直东躲西藏来着。他老婆是那个北方女。临冬城的女儿。听说她用魔法杀死国王，然后变成一头狼，还长着蝙蝠般的革质大翅膀，从塔楼窗户飞了出去。但她把侏儒抛下，于是瑟曦打算砍他的头。”

“I forgot, you’ve been hiding under a rock. The northern girl. Winterfell’s daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window. But she left the dwarf behind and Cersei means to have his head.”

太笨了，艾莉亚心想，珊莎只会唱歌，不会魔法，而且她绝不会嫁给小恶魔。

That’s stupid, Arya thought. Sansa only knows songs, not spells, and she’d never marry the Imp.

猎狗坐在离门最近的椅子上，灼伤那侧嘴抽搐了一下，“她该把他扔进野火烧个够。或者拷问他，直到月亮变黑。”他举起酒杯一饮而尽。

The Hound sat on the bench closest to the door. His mouth twitched, but only the burned side. “She ought to dip him in wildfire and cook him. Or tickle him till the moon turns black.” He raised his wine cup and drained it straightaway.

他跟他们是同路人，艾莉亚明白过来。她咬紧嘴唇，尝到血的味道。他跟他们是同路人！我真该趁睡觉时杀了他！

He’s one of them, Arya thought when she saw that. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. He’s just like they are. I should kill him when he sleeps.

“这么说，格雷果攻下了赫伦堡？”桑铎问。

“So Gregor took Harrenhal?” Sandor said.

“用不着攻，”波利佛道，“佣兵听说我们要来，就全逃了，只剩几个人。有位厨子为我们打开一道边门，因为山羊砍了他的脚。”他咯咯窃笑。“我们留他煮饭，外加几个姑娘暖被窝，其他人全杀了。”

“Didn’t require much taking,” said Polliver. “The sellswords fled as soon as they knew we were coming, all but a few. One of the cooks opened a postern gate for us, to get back at Hoat for cutting off his foot.” He chuckled. “We kept him to cook for us, a couple wenches to warm our beds, and put all the rest to the sword.”

“全杀了？”艾莉亚脱口而出。

“All the rest?” Arya blurted out.

“哦，爵士还留着山羊打发时间。”

“Well, Ser kept Hoat to pass the time.”

桑铎说，“黑鱼继续镇守奔流城？”

Sandor said, “The Blackfish is still in Riverrun?”

“守不了多久，”波利佛说，“他被包围了。要么交出城堡，否则老佛雷便要吊死艾德慕·徒利。其他地方的仗都打完了，只有在鸦树城，布莱伍德和布雷肯对着干。布雷肯现在是我们这边儿的。”

“Not for long,” said Polliver. “He’s under siege. Old Frey’s going to hang Edmure Tully unless he yields the castle. The only real fighting’s around Raventree. Blackwoods and Brackens. The Brackens are ours now.”

猎狗给艾莉亚倒了一杯酒，给自己也倒了一杯，盯着炉火喝下去。“如此说来，小小鸟飞走了，是吗？嗯，真不错，在小恶魔头上拉了泡屎，然后飞走了。”

The Hound poured a cup of wine for Arya and another for himself, and drank it down while staring at the hearthfire. “The little bird flew away, did she? Well, bloody good for her. She shit on the Imp’s head and flew off.”

“他们在抓她，”波利佛说，“即使花费凯岩城一半的金子也在所不惜。”

“They’ll find her,” said Polliver. “If it takes half the gold in Casterly Rock.”

“听说是个可爱的小妹妹，”记事本道，“甜美得很。”他咂嘴微笑。

“A pretty girl, I hear,” said the Tickler. “Honey sweet.” He smacked his lips and smiled.

“而且很有礼貌，”猎狗赞同，“端庄的小女士。跟她该死的妹妹一丁点儿都不像。”

“And courteous,” the Hound agreed. “A proper little lady. Not like her bloody sister.”

“她也给找到了，”波利佛说，“我指那个妹妹，听说要跟波顿家的杂种成亲呢。”

“They found her too,” said Polliver. “The sister. She’s for Bolton’s bastard, I hear.”

艾莉亚呷了口酒，不让他们看见自己的表情。她不明白波利佛的话。珊莎没有别的妹妹啊。只听桑铎·克里冈纵声大笑。

Arya sipped her wine so they could not see her mouth. She didn’t understand what Polliver was talking about. Sansa has no other sister. Sandor Clegane laughed aloud.

“妈的，什么事这么好笑？”波利佛问。

“What’s so bloody funny?” asked Polliver.

猎狗瞟都没瞟艾莉亚一眼。“我想说的话，自然会说。盐场镇有船吗？”

The Hound never flicked an eye at Arya. “If I’d wanted you to know, I’d have told you. Are there ships at Saltpans?”

“盐场镇？我咋知道？听说有些商船慢慢回了女泉城。蓝道·塔利夺取城堡后，把慕顿锁在塔楼房间。关于盐场镇，无可奉告。”

“Saltpans? How should I know? The traders are back at Maidenpool, I heard. Randyll Tarly took the castle and locked Mooton in a tower cell. I haven’t heard shit about Saltpans.”

记事本倾身向前，“你不跟哥哥道别就出海？”听他问问题，艾莉亚不寒而栗，“爵士希望你跟我们回赫伦堡，桑铎，我打赌他这么想。或者君临……”

The Tickler leaned forward. “Would you put to sea without bidding farewell to your brother?” It gave Arya chills to hear him ask a question. “Ser would sooner you returned to Harrenhal with us, Sandor. I bet he would. Or King’s Landing …”

“去他的。去你的。操你妈。”

“Bugger that. Bugger him. Bugger you.”

记事本耸耸肩，坐直身体，并将一只手伸到脑后揉脖子。随后，一切便同时发生。桑铎摇摇晃晃地起身，波利佛拔出长剑，而记事本手一甩，仿佛模糊的形影，某件银光闪闪的的东西穿过厅堂。假如猎狗没动，匕首会正中喉结，然而现在只擦过肋骨，钉在门边的墙上，微微颤抖。他笑起来，冰冷空洞的笑声仿佛来自一口深井。“我正等着你们干蠢事。”他抽剑而出，刚好拨开波利佛的第一下劈砍。

The Tickler shrugged, straightened, and reached a hand behind his head to rub the back of his neck. Everything seemed to happen at once then; Sandor lurched to his feet, Polliver drew his longsword, and the Tickler’s hand whipped around in a blur to send something silver flashing across the common room. If the Hound had not been moving, the knife might have cored the apple of his throat; instead it only grazed his ribs, and wound up quivering in the wall near the door. He laughed then, a laugh as cold and hollow as if it had come from the bottom of a deep well. “I was hoping you’d do something stupid.” His sword slid from its scabbard just in time to knock aside Polliver’s first cut.

当长剑的奏鸣曲开始后，艾莉亚退后一步，记事本则翻过长椅，一手持短剑，一手持匕首。连那矮胖的棕发侍从也站起来，伸手摸剑带。她从桌上抓起酒杯，扔向他的脸。这次比在孪河城时瞄得准，杯子正中对方的白色大疙瘩，男孩重重地坐倒在地。

Arya took a step backward as the long steel song began. The Tickler came off the bench with a shortsword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Even the chunky brown-haired squire was up, fumbling for his swordhilt. She snatched her wine cup off the table and threw it at his face. Her aim was better than it had been at the Twins. The cup hit him right on his big white pimple and he went down hard on his tail.

波利佛是个精打细算、有条不紊的剑客，他稳定地向桑铎施加压力，迫使对方退却，沉重的长剑在他手中显得精确而无情。猎狗的回击却拖泥带水，招架也是匆匆忙忙，脚步迟缓笨拙。他醉了，艾莉亚沮丧地意识到，他喝得太多太快，又没吃东西。记事本沿墙绕向背后。她抓起第二只杯子扔过去，但他的动作比那侍从快得多，及时低头。他回瞪她的眼神里充满冰冷的咒誓。村里藏有金子吗？她可以听到他提问。那笨侍从正抓着桌子跪起来。艾莉亚喉头满是恐惧的滋味。恐惧比利剑更伤人。恐惧比利剑……

Polliver was a grim, methodical fighter, and he pressed Sandor steadily backward, his heavy longsword moving with brutal precision. The Hound’s own cuts were sloppier, his parries rushed, his feet slow and clumsy. He’s drunk, Arya realized with dismay. He drank too much too fast, with no food in his belly. And the Tickler was sliding around the wall to get behind him. She grabbed the second wine cup and flung it at him, but he was quicker than the squire had been and ducked his head in time. The look he gave her then was cold with promise. Is there gold hidden in the village? she could hear him ask. The stupid squire was clutching the edge of a table and pulling himself to his knees. Arya could taste the beginnings of panic in the back of her throat. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Fears cuts deeper …

桑铎发出一声痛苦的咕哝。灼伤的半边脸从面颊到太阳穴都是红色，而那截耳朵根不见了。这似乎激怒了他。他以狂暴的攻击把波利佛逼回，用山里换来的豁口旧剑猛烈击打。大胡子往后退，显得手足无措。随后，记事本跃过长椅，快得像条蛇，短剑袭向猎狗后颈。

Sandor gave a grunt of pain. The burned side of his face ran red from temple to cheek, and the stub of his ear was gone. That seemed to make him angry. He drove back Polliver with a furious attack, hammering at him with the old nicked longsword he had swapped for in the hills. The bearded man gave way, but none of the cuts so much as touched him. And then the Tickler leapt over a bench quick as a snake, and slashed at the back of the Hound’s neck with the edge of his short sword.

他要杀他。艾莉亚没有更多杯子，但有样更好的东西。她拔出那柄从濒死弓箭手身上抄来的匕首，试图像记事本那样发射。但这跟扔石头和酸果不一样，匕首摇摇摆摆地飞出，刀柄打中胳膊。他甚至没感觉。他专注于克里冈。

They’re killing him. Arya had no more cups, but there was something better to throw. She drew the dagger they’d robbed off the dying archer and tried to fling it at the Tickler the way he’d done. It wasn’t the same as throwing a rock or a crabapple, though. The knife wobbled, and hit him in the arm hilt first. He never even felt it. He was too intent on Clegane.

短剑刺出时，克里冈猛地向侧面一扭，争取到片刻时间。鲜血从他脸上和脖子上的伤口流淌而下。魔山的两名亲兵抓住机会反扑，波利佛攻击脑袋和肩膀，记事本则刺他的背部和小腹。沉重的石酒壶还在桌上，艾莉亚双手刚捧起来，就被人攫住手臂。酒壶从指间滑落，摔在地上碎了。她扭身，发现自己跟那侍从脸对着脸。笨蛋，你完全把他给忘了。他的白色大疙瘩破了。

As he stabbed, Clegane twisted violently aside, winning himself half a heartbeat’s respite. Blood ran down his face and from the gash in his neck. Both of the Mountain’s men came after him hard, Polliver hacking at his head and shoulders while the Tickler darted in to stab at back and belly. The heavy stone flagon was still on the table. Arya grabbed it with two hands, but as she lifted it someone grabbed her arm. The flagon slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor. Wrenched around, she found herself nose to nose with the squire. You stupid, you forgot all about him. His big white pimple had burst, she saw.

“你是小狗养的小狗吗？”他右手握剑，左手抓她胳膊，而她自己两手空空。于是她从他的刀鞘里抽出匕首，插入肚子，搅动。他没穿锁甲或皮甲，因此匕首直接刺进去，就像在君临用缝衣针杀那马僮一样。侍从瞪大眼睛，放开她的手臂。艾莉亚转到门口，从墙上使劲拔出记事本的匕首。

“Are you the puppy’s puppy?” He had his sword in his right hand and her arm in his left, but her own hands were free, so she jerked his knife from its sheath and sheathed it again in his belly, twisting. He wasn’t wearing mail or even boiled leather, so it went right in, the same way Needle had when she killed the stableboy at King’s Landing. The squire’s eyes got big and he let go of her arm. Arya spun to the door and wrenched the Tickler’s knife from the wall.

波利佛和记事本已将猎狗逼到长椅后的角落，除开原来的伤口，他大腿上又多了一道丑陋的红色裂痕。桑铎靠在墙上，一边流血，一边大声喘气，看起来站都站不住，更不用说打架了。“扔剑，跟我们回赫伦堡。”波利佛告诉他。

Polliver and the Tickler had driven the Hound into a corner behind a bench, and one of them had given him an ugly red gash on his upper thigh to go with his other wounds. Sandor was leaning against the wall, bleeding and breathing noisily. He looked as though he could barely stand, let alone fight. “Throw down the sword, and we’ll take you back to Harrenhal,” Polliver told him.

“好让格雷果结果我？”

“So Gregor can finish me himself?”

记事本道：“也许他会把你交给我。”

The Tickler said, “Maybe he’ll give you to me.”

“想要我，就来抓啊。”桑铎推离墙壁，半蹲在椅子后，长剑横架在前。

“If you want me, come get me.” Sandor pushed away from the wall and stood in a half-crouch behind the bench, his sword held across his body.

“你以为我们不行？”波利佛说，“你醉了。”

“You think we won’t?” said Polliver. “You’re drunk.”

“也许罢，”猎狗道，“但你死了。”他猛地踢向长椅，椅子狠狠砸在波利佛小腿上。大胡子竟没跌倒，但猎狗弯腰躲过他胡乱的劈砍，用自己的剑凶猛地反手出击。血溅到天花板和墙壁上。剑刃卡在波利佛的脸中间，猎狗使劲一扯，半边脑袋飞了出去。

“Might be,” said the Hound, “but you’re dead.” His foot lashed out and caught the bench, driving it hard into Polliver’s shins. Somehow the bearded man kept his feet, but the Hound ducked under his wild slash and brought his own sword up in a vicious backhand cut. Blood spattered on the ceiling and walls. The blade caught in the middle of Polliver’s face, and when the Hound wrenched it loose half his head came with it.

记事本向后退开。艾莉亚可以嗅到他的恐惧。跟猎狗的长剑相比，他手中的短剑顷刻间成了玩具，而且他也没穿盔甲。于是他敏捷地移动，脚下步履轻盈，目光一刻也不曾离开桑铎·克里冈。因此背刺成了世上最容易的事。

The Tickler backed away. Arya could smell his fear. The shortsword in his hand suddenly seemed almost a toy against the long blade the Hound was holding, and he wasn’t armored either. He moved swiftly, light on his feet, never taking his eyes off Sandor Clegane. It was the easiest thing in the world for Arya to step up behind him and stab him.

“村里藏有金子吗？”她边喊，边将匕首捅进他的背。“银子和珠宝呢？”她又刺两刀。“存粮呢？贝里·唐德利恩伯爵在哪儿？”她扑到他身上，不停地刺。“他离开后去了哪儿？身边有多少人？其中有多少骑士，多少弓手，多少步兵？有多少，有多少，有多少，有多少，有多少，有多少？村里藏有金子吗？”

“Is there gold hidden in the village?” she shouted as she drove the blade up through his back. “Is there silver? Gems?” She stabbed twice more. “Is there food? Where is Lord Beric?” She was on top of him by then, still stabbing. “Where did he go? How many men were with him? How many knights? How many bowmen? How many, how many, how many, how many, how many, how many? Is there gold in the village?”

桑铎将她拉开时，她手上又红又黏。“够了。”他只说了这句。他自己像被宰的猪一般流血，走路拖着一条腿。

Her hands were red and sticky when Sandor dragged her off him. “Enough,” was all he said. He was bleeding like a butchered pig himself, and dragging one leg when he walked.

“还有一个。”艾莉亚提醒他。

“There’s one more,” Arya reminded him.

侍从已将匕首从肚内拔出，试图用双手止血。猎狗把他提起来时，他尖声呼叫，像婴儿一样哭喊。“饶命，”他抽泣着，“求求您。别杀我。圣母慈悲。”

The squire had pulled the knife out of his belly and was trying to stop the blood with his hands. When the Hound yanked him upright, he screamed and started to blubber like a baby. “Mercy,” he wept, “please. Don’t kill me. Mother have mercy.”

“我他妈看上去像圣母吗？”猎狗看上去根本不像人。“这个人也死在你手上，”他告诉艾莉亚，“刺穿了肚子，他完了，但结束得很慢。”

“Do I look like your bloody mother?” The Hound looked like nothing human. “You killed this one too,” he told Arya. “Pricked him in his bowels, that’s the end of him. He’ll be a long time dying, though.”

男孩似乎没听到他的话。“我是为女孩子来的，”他呜咽着，“……完成成年礼，波利说……噢，诸神在上，求求您，带我去城堡……找学士……带我找学士，我父亲有钱……不过是为了女孩子……饶命，爵士。”

The boy didn’t seemed to hear him. “I came for the girls,” he whimpered. “… make me a man, Polly said … oh, gods, please, take me to a castle … a maester, take me to a maester, my father’s got gold … it was only for the girls … mercy, ser.”

猎狗“啪”地一记耳光，令他再度尖叫。“别叫我爵士。”他转向艾莉亚，“你的，小狼女，动手吧。”

The Hound gave him a crack across the face that made him scream again. “Don’t call me ser.” He turned back to Arya. “This one is yours, she-wolf. You do it.”

她懂他什么意思。艾莉亚走向波利佛，在血泊之中跪了一会儿，解下剑带。匕首旁挂着一把细剑，作为匕首太长，说是剑又太短……但对她刚刚合适。

She knew what he meant. Arya went to Polliver and knelt in his blood long enough to undo his swordbelt. Hanging beside his dagger was a slimmer blade, too long to be a dirk, too short to be a man’s sword … but it felt just right in her hand.

“记得心脏所在的位置吗？”猎狗问。

“You remember where the heart is?” the Hound asked.

她点点头。侍从翻起眼珠，“饶命。”

She nodded. The squire rolled his eyes. “Mercy.”

缝衣针穿过肋骨，要了他的命。

Needle slipped between his ribs and gave it to him.

“很好。”猎狗声音里充满痛苦。“这三个家伙在这儿鬼混，说明格雷果控制了河滩与赫伦堡，他其余的宠物随时可能过来，妈的，我们今天杀得够多了。”

“Good.” Sandor’s voice was thick with pain. “If these three were whoring here, Gregor must hold the ford as well as Harrenhal. More of his pets could ride up any moment, and we’ve killed enough of the bloody buggers for one day.”

“我们去哪里？”她问。

“Where will we go?” she asked.

“盐场镇。”他一只大手搭住她肩膀，以防倒下。“弄点酒，小狼女。拿他们的钱，有多少拿多少。若盐场镇有船，我们走海路去谷地。”他的嘴朝她抽搐了一下，更多鲜血从耳朵应该在的地方流下来。“也许莱莎夫人会把你嫁给他的小劳勃。我喜欢这样般配的一对。”他哈哈大笑，接着呻吟起来。

“Saltpans.” He put a big hand on her shoulder to keep from falling. “Get some wine, she-wolf. And take whatever coin they have as well, we’ll need it. If there’s ships at Saltpans, we can reach the Vale by sea.” His mouth twitched at her, as more blood ran down from where his ear had been. “Maybe Lady Lysa will marry you to her little Robert. There’s a match I’d like to see.” He started to laugh, then groaned instead.

离开时，猎狗需要艾莉亚帮忙才能坐上陌客。他脖子和大腿各绑一条绷带，又从门边钩子上取下侍从的斗篷。斗篷是绿色，中间有支绿箭搭在一条白色斜纹上，但当猎狗将它揉起来擦耳朵时，它很快变红了。艾莉亚担心他随时会垮掉，结果桑铎居然勉力维持在马鞍上。

When the time came to leave, he needed Arya’s help to get back up on Stranger. He had tied a strip of cloth about his neck and another around his thigh, and taken the squire’s cloak off its peg by the door. The cloak was green, with a green arrow on a white bend, but when the Hound wadded it up and pressed it to his ear it soon turned red. Arya was afraid he would collapse the moment they set out, but somehow he stayed in the saddle.

不管谁控制红宝石滩，他们都不敢冒险，所以没走国王大道，而是斜向东南，穿越杂草丛生的田地、树林和沼泽，数小时后，抵达三叉戟河。艾莉亚发现河道已恢复往日的温驯，褐色的激流随大雨一起消失。它也累了，她心想。

They could not risk meeting whoever held the ruby ford, so instead of following the kingsroad they angled south by east, through weedy fields, woods, and marshes. It was hours before they reached the banks of the Trident. The river had returned meekly to its accustomed channel, Arya saw, all its wet brown rage vanished with the rains. It’s tired too, she thought.

就在河岸边，他们找到几棵柳树，从一堆风化的乱石当中长出。岩石和树木构成天然的堡垒，足以躲避河中和道上的人。“这儿好，”猎狗说，“先洗马，再搜集生火的干木头。”他下马时得抓住树枝，以免跌倒。

Close by the water’s edge, they found some willows rising from a jumble of weathered rocks. Together the rocks and trees formed a sort of natural fort where they could hide from both river and trail. “Here will do,” the Hound said. “Water the horses and gather some deadwood for a fire.” When he dismounted, he had to catch himself on a tree limb to keep from falling.

“生火？不是有烟吗？”

“Won’t the smoke be seen?”

“谁想找我们，跟踪血迹就够。去洗马拣木头吧。唔，先把酒袋给我。”

“Anyone wants to find us, all they need to do is follow my blood. Water and wood. But bring me that wineskin first.”

等一切备妥，桑铎将自己的头盔支在火焰上，将酒袋里的酒灌了一半进去，然后倒在一块覆盖苔藓的岩石上，仿佛再也不想起来。后来他又叫艾莉亚洗净侍从的斗篷，割成长条，把这些也放进头盔。“若有多的酒，我宁愿醉死。或许该让你回那该死的客栈，再弄两三袋来。”

When he got the fire going, Sandor propped up his helm in the flames, emptied half the wineskin into it, and collapsed back against a jut of moss-covered stone as if he never meant to rise again. He made Arya wash out the squire’s cloak and cut it into strips. Those went into his helm as well. “If I had more wine, I’d drink till I was dead to the world. Maybe I ought to send you back to that bloody inn for another skin or three.”

“不。”艾莉亚说。他不会的，对吗？若真让我去，我就离开他，骑马跑得远远的。

“No,” Arya said. He wouldn’t, would he? If he does, I’ll just leave him and ride off.

桑铎看到她脸上的恐惧，哈哈大笑，“开个玩笑，小狼女，开个该死的玩笑。给我找根棍子，这么长，不要太大。还有，把泥巴清干净。我讨厌泥巴的味道。”

Sandor laughed at the fear on her face. “A jest, wolf girl. A bloody jest. Find me a stick, about so long and not too big around. And wash the mud off it. I hate the taste of mud.”

他不喜欢她最先拿来的两根棍子，等找到合适的，火焰已熏黑了狗头盔的尖嘴，直到眼眶，里面的红酒疯狂沸腾。“从我的铺盖卷里取杯子，装满半杯，”他告诉她，“小心，若是把那该死的东西洒了，我就真的让你回去弄些来。端好，倒在我的伤口上，行吗？”艾莉亚点点头。“那还等什么？”他大吼一声。

He didn’t like the first two sticks she brought him. By the time she found one that suited him, the flames had scorched his dog’s snout black all the way to the eyes. Inside the wine was boiling madly. “Get the cup from my bedroll and dip it half full,” he told her. “Be careful. You knock the damn thing over, I will send you back for more. Take the wine and pour it on my wounds. Think you can do that?” Arya nodded. “Then what are you waiting for?” he growled.

头一次灌杯子，她指关节擦到钢铁，烫起水泡。艾莉亚不得不咬紧嘴唇，以免喊出声。猎狗要木棍也是同样目的，他将它紧咬在齿问。她先处理他大腿上的伤口，然后是脖子后较浅的割伤。沸酒往腿上泼去，桑铎右手成拳，捶打地面。轮到脖子时，他咬得如此之紧，居然把木棍咬断了，她只好去找了根新的。她可以看到他眼里的恐惧。“转头。”她在他耳朵应该在的地方将红酒沿鲜红裸露的血肉浇下，缕缕棕色的血和红色的酒流过下巴。这次尽管有棍子，他还是喊了出来，并因疼痛而昏厥。

Her knuckles brushed the steel the first time she filled the cup, burning her so badly she got blisters. Arya had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. The Hound used the stick for the same purpose, clamping it between his teeth as she poured. She did the gash in his thigh first, then the shallower cut on the back of his neck. Sandor coiled his right hand into a fist and beat against the ground when she did his leg. When it came to his neck, he bit the stick so hard it broke, and she had to find him a new one. She could see the terror in his eyes. “Turn your head.” She trickled the wine down over the raw red flesh where his ear had been, and fingers of brown blood and red wine crept over his jaw. He did scream then, despite the stick. Then he passed out from the pain.

于是艾莉亚独自完成剩下的工作。她从头盔底部捞出用那侍从的斗篷割的布条，用于包扎伤口。处理耳朵时，不得不把他半个脑袋都包住，方能止血。暮色降临三叉戟河。她放马吃草，然后系好它们准备过夜。两块石头中间有个地方，她尽可能舒服地躺下。火堆烧了一会儿，终于熄灭。艾莉亚透过头顶的树枝注视着月亮。

Arya figured the rest out by herself. She fished the strips they’d made of the squire’s cloak out of the bottom of the helm and used them to bind the cuts. When she came to his ear, she had to wrap up half his head to stop the bleeding. By then dusk was settling over the Trident. She let the horses graze, then hobbled them for the night and made herself as comfortable as she could in a niche between two rocks. The fire burned a while and died. Arya watched the moon through the branches overhead.

“魔山格雷果爵士，”她低声说，“邓森，‘甜嘴’拉夫，伊林爵士，马林爵士，瑟曦太后。”把波利佛和记事本排除在外感觉很怪。还有乔佛里。他死了她很高兴，但希望能当场看着他死，或许亲手杀他。波利佛说珊莎和小恶魔杀了他。这是真的吗？毕竟小恶魔是兰尼斯特家的人，而珊莎……真希望自己也能变成一头狼，长出翅膀，然后飞走。

“Ser Gregor the Mountain,” she said softly. “Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei.” It made her feel queer to leave out Polliver and the Tickler. And Joffrey too. She was glad he was dead, but she wished she could have been there to see him die, or maybe kill him herself. Polliver said that Sansa killed him, and the Imp. Could that be true? The Imp was a Lannister, and Sansa … I wish I could change into a wolf and grow wings and fly away.

如果珊莎不见了，那除了她再没别的史塔克家人。琼恩远在千里之外的长城，但他姓雪诺，猎狗想把她卖给各种阿姨叔伯，他们也不是史塔克家的。他们不是狼。

If Sansa was gone too, there were no more Starks but her. Jon was on the Wall a thousand leagues away, but he was a Snow, and these different aunts and uncles the Hound wanted to sell her to, they weren’t Starks either. They weren’t wolves.

桑铎呻吟起来，她翻身看他。我把他的名字排除在外了，她意识到，为什么呢？她回忆米凯，却想不起对方的样子，毕竟，彼此结交太短。他只跟我练剑而已。“猎狗，”她轻声说，“valar morghulis。”也许到早晨他就死了……

Sandor moaned, and she rolled onto her side to look at him. She had left his name out too, she realized. Why had she done that? She tried to think of Mycah, but it was hard to remember what he’d looked like. She hadn’t known him long. All he ever did was play at swords with me. “The Hound,” she whispered, and, “Valar morghulis.” Maybe he’d be dead by morning …

结果当苍白的曙光透过树丛，叫醒她的仍是他的靴尖。她再度梦到自己是狼，追逐一匹没人骑的马跑上山岗，身后跟着族群里的兄弟姐妹，就在杀戮时刻，他的脚将她唤醒。

But when the pale dawn light came filtering through the trees, it was him who woke her with the toe of his boot. She had dreamed she was a wolf again, chasing a riderless horse up a hill with a pack behind her, but his foot brought her back just as they were closing for the kill.

猎狗仍很虚弱，每个动作都缓慢笨拙。他陷进马鞍，浑身流汗，耳朵上的绷带开始渗血，费尽全力才没从陌客背上摔下。若魔山的人前来追赶，她怀疑他甚至举不起剑，好在身后空荡荡的，唯有一只乌鸦从一棵树飞到另一棵。唯一的声响则来自于河水。

The Hound was still weak, every movement slow and clumsy. He slumped in the saddle, and sweated, and his ear began to bleed through the bandage. He needed all his strength just to keep from falling off Stranger. Had the Mountain’s men come hunting them, she doubted if he would even be able to lift a sword. Arya glanced over her shoulder, but there was nothing behind them but a crow flitting from tree to tree. The only sound was the river.

没到中午，桑铎·克里冈就开始晕眩，他叫停前进时，白昼还剩好几个钟头。“休息。”他只说了这句。这回下马时，他真的摔了下来，而且没起身，只是虚弱地爬到一棵树下，斜靠着树干。“七层地狱，”他咒骂，“七层地狱。”发现艾莉亚瞪着他，他说：“拿杯酒来，否则我剥了你的皮，小妹妹。”

Long before noon, Sandor Clegane was reeling. There were hours of daylight still remaining when he called a halt. “I need to rest,” was all he said. This time when he dismounted he did fall. Instead of trying to get back up he crawled weakly under a tree, and leaned up against the trunk. “Bloody hell,” he cursed. “Bloody hell.” When he saw Arya staring at him, he said, “I’d skin you alive for a cup of wine, girl.”

她只给了水。他喝下一点，抱怨有泥土的味道，便吵吵闹闹地昏睡过去。她过去一摸，发现他皮肤滚烫。于是艾莉亚嗅嗅绷带，学着鲁温学士从前处理她割伤或擦伤的样子。他脸上血流得最多，但大腿上的伤口味道不对劲。

She brought him water instead. He drank a little of it, complained that it tasted of mud, and slid into a noisy fevered sleep. When she touched him, his skin was burning up. Arya sniffed at his bandages the way Maester Luwin had done sometimes when treating her cut or scrape. His face had bled the worst, but it was the wound on his thigh that smelled funny to her.

她不知盐场镇有多远，也不知能否独自找到它。我无须杀他，只需骑马离开，任其自生自灭。他多半会死于高烧，躺在这棵树下，再也起不来。不，也许我该亲自动手。客栈里那个侍从，只不过抓我的手臂，便被我杀了，而猎狗毕竟害过米凯。米凯，还有许多人。我打赌他杀过上百个米凯。若非为赎金，他或许连我也杀。

She wondered how far this Saltpans was, and whether she could find it by herself. I wouldn’t have to kill him. If I just rode off and left him, he’d die all by himself. He’ll die of fever, and lie there beneath that tree until the end of days. But maybe it would be better if she killed him herself. She had killed the squire at the inn and he hadn’t done anything except grab her arm. The Hound had killed Mycah. Mycah and more. I bet he’s killed a hundred Mycahs. He probably would have killed her too, if not for the ransom.

她拔出闪闪发光的缝衣针，波利佛将它磨得很利。艾莉牙不假思索地以水舞者的姿态旋向一侧，枯叶在脚下吱嘎作响。迅如蛇，她心想，柔如丝。

Needle glinted as she drew it. Polliver had kept it nice and sharp, at least. She turned her body sideways in a water dancer’s stance without even thinking about it. Dead leaves crunched beneath her feet. Quick as a snake, she thought. Smooth as summer silk.

他眼睛猛然睁开。“记得心脏所在的位置吗？”他用沙哑的声音低声问。

His eyes opened. “You remember where the heart is?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

她顿时杵在原地，不动如石。“我……我只是……”

As still as stone she stood. “I … I was only …”

“别撒谎，”他吼道，“我最恨骗子，更恨胆小的骗子。来吧，动手吧。”见艾莉亚没反应，他续道，“我杀了你的屠夫小弟。我骑马将他劈成两截，之后哈哈大笑。”他发出古怪的声音，过了一会儿她才意识到他在抽泣。“还有小小鸟，你漂亮的姐姐，我穿着白袍，站在那儿，看他们揍她。我逼她给我唱那首该死的歌，不是她自愿的。我还想上她。我应该这么做。我应该狠狠上她，再把她的心掏出来，将身体留给那该死的侏儒。”疼痛扭曲了他的脸。“你想让我乞求吗，母狼？动手吧！给我慈悲……为你的小米克报仇……”

“Don’t lie,” he growled. “I hate liars. I hate gutless frauds even worse. Go on, do it.” When Arya did not move, he said, “I killed your butcher’s boy. I cut him near in half, and laughed about it after.” He made a queer sound, and it took her a moment to realize he was sobbing. “And the little bird, your pretty sister, I stood there in my white cloak and let them beat her. I took the bloody song, she never gave it. I meant to take her too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf.” A spasm of pain twisted his face. “Do you mean to make me beg, bitch? Do it! The gift of mercy … avenge your little Michael …”

“米凯。”艾莉亚远远离开，“你不配获得慈悲。”

“Mycah.” Arya stepped away from him. “You don’t deserve the gift of mercy.”

猎狗用炽热的眼睛看着她给胆小鬼上鞍，没有试图阻止。但当她骑马出发时，他说：“真正的狼会终结受伤的动物。”

The Hound watched her saddle Craven through eyes bright with fever. Not once did he attempt to rise and stop her. But when she mounted, he said, “A real wolf would finish a wounded animal.”

也许真正的狼会找到你，艾莉亚心想，也许它们会在太阳下山之后嗅过来。然后他就知道狼是怎么对付狗的了。“你不该拿斧子砸我，”她说，“你该救我母亲。”她调转马头，扬长而去，再也没有回头。

Maybe some real wolves will find you, Arya thought. Maybe they’ll smell you when the sun goes down. Then he would learn what wolves did to dogs. “You shouldn’t have hit me with an axe,” she said. “You should have saved my mother.” She turned her horse and rode away from him, and never looked back once.

六天之后，一个明亮的早晨，她发现三叉戟河开始变宽，空气里盐的味道首度重于树的味道。她紧贴河边，穿越原野和农场，刚过正午，一座市镇出现在眼前。盐场镇，她期望地想。一座城堡统治着镇子，但它狭小得跟普通庄园差不多，外庭与幕墙围绕着高大的方形堡楼。码头周围多数店铺、客栈和酒馆都曾遭受洗劫或焚烧，其中一些似乎还有人住。港口东面是螃蟹湾，海水在太阳下闪烁着蓝绿光芒。

On a bright morning six days later, she came to a place where the Trident began to widen out and the air smelled more of salt than trees. She stayed close to the water, passing fields and farms, and a little after midday a town appeared before her. Saltpans, she hoped. A small castle dominated the town; no more than a holdfast, really, a single tall square keep with a bailey and a curtain wall. Most of the shops and inns and alehouses around the harbor had been plundered or burned, though some looked still inhabited. But the port was there, and eastward spread the Bay of Crabs, its waters shimmering blue and green in the sun.

这里有船。

And there were ships.

三艘，艾莉亚心想，一共三艘。头两艘不过是河上桨船，吃水很浅，用于往来三叉戟河。第三艘比较大，乃是海洋商船，有两层桨位、一个镀金船头和三根高高的桅杆，上面的紫帆卷起来，船身也漆成紫色。艾莉亚骑着胆小鬼来到码头，以便看得真切。在这里，陌客不像在小村庄那样令人感到陌生和奇怪，似乎没人在乎她是谁，为什么来这儿。

Three, thought Arya, there are three. Two were only river galleys, shallow draft boats made to ply the waters of the Trident. The third was bigger, a salt sea trader with two banks of oars, a gilded prow, and three tall masts with furled purple sails. Her hull was painted purple too. Arya rode Craven down to the docks to get a better look. Strangers are not so strange in a port as they are in little villages, and no one seemed to care who she was or why she was here.

我需要钱。意识到这点，她咬紧嘴唇。他们在波利佛身上找到一枚银鹿和十来个铜板，疙瘩脸侍从有八枚银币，而记事本的钱袋里才几个铜板。猎狗让她撕裂他的靴子，割开他浸满鲜血的衣服，结果在每个鞋尖各发现一枚银鹿，外衣衬里中则缝有三枚金龙。可这些统统都被桑铎收了。不公平。我们一起杀人，应该平分。如果给他慈悲……可惜以前没这么做，现在又不能回去，也不能乞求帮助。乞求帮助的话，便什么也得不到。她得卖掉胆小鬼，收取尽可能多的钱。

I need silver. The realization made her bite her lip. They had found a stag and a dozen coppers on Polliver, eight silvers on the pimply squire she’d killed, and only a couple of pennies in the Tickler’s purse. But the Hound had told her to pull off his boots and slice open his blood-drenched clothes, and she’d turned up a stag in each toe, and three golden dragons sewn in the lining of his jerkin. Sandor had kept it all, though. That wasn’t fair. It was mine as much as his. If she had given him the gift of mercy … she hadn’t, though. She couldn’t go back, no more than she could beg for help. Begging for help never gets you any. She would have to sell Craven, and hope she brought enough.

她从码头上一个男孩口中得知，马厩被烧了，但它的女主人仍在圣堂后面做生意。艾莉亚很容易就找到了她；对方是壮硕的大个子女人，身上有股浓重的马味。她第一眼就喜欢上了胆小鬼，询问艾莉亚它的来历之后，对她的回答咧嘴而笑。“它是匹良马，很明显，我不怀疑它属于某位骑士，亲爱的，”她说，“但那骑士不会是你死去的哥哥。我跟住城堡的人打交道好多年了，知道老爷们长什么样。这匹马血统尊贵，你却并非如此。”她用一根手指戳戳艾莉亚的胸膛。“拣到的？偷来的？怎样都好。你这么邋遏的小东西不可能骑上一匹好马。”

The stable had been burnt, she learned from a boy by the docks, but the woman who’d owned it was still trading behind the sept. Arya found her easily; a big, robust woman with a good horsey smell to her. She liked Craven at first look, asked Arya how she’d come by her, and grinned at her answer. “She’s a well-bred horse, that’s plain enough, and I don’t doubt she belonged to a knight, sweetling,” she said. “But the knight wasn’t no dead brother o’ yours. I been dealing with the castle there many a year, so I know what gentleborn folk is like. This mare is well-bred, but you’re not.” She poked a finger at Arya’s chest. “Found her or stole her, never mind which, that’s how it was. Only way a scruffy little thing like you comes to ride a palfrey.”

艾莉亚咬紧嘴唇，“就是说你不愿买它？”

Arya bit her lip. “Does that mean you won’t buy her?”

那女人咯咯笑道：“就是说我出价多少，你得拿多少，亲爱的。否则我们去城堡见官，也许你一分钱也得不到，甚至因偷马的缘故被绞死。”

The woman chuckled. “It means you’ll take what I give you, sweetling. Else we go down to the castle, and maybe you get nothing. Or even hanged, for stealing some good knight’s horse.”

附近五六个盐场镇居民在忙碌，因此艾莉亚知道不能动手杀人。相反，她不得不咬紧嘴唇，任由对方欺负。她得到一枚银币，当索要马鞍、笼头和毯子的费用时，女人朝她大笑。

A half-dozen other Saltpans folks were around, going about their business, so Arya knew she couldn’t kill the woman. Instead she had to bite her lip and let herself be cheated. The purse she got was pitifully flat, and when she asked for more for the saddle and bridle and blanket, the woman just laughed at her.

她绝不敢欺负猎狗，她一边想，一边沿长长的路走回码头。跟骑马时相比，距离似乎增加了好几里。

She would never have cheated the Hound, she thought during the long walk back to the docks. The distance seemed to have grown by miles since she’d ridden it.

紫色划桨商船仍在那儿。如果在被人欺负时船已起航，那就真无法忍受了。她来到船边，一桶蜜酒正被推着滚上跳板。她试图跟上去，甲板上一名水手朝她大喊，用的是听不懂的语言。“我要见船长。”艾莉亚告诉他，结果对方喊得更响。喧哗声引起了一个灰发人的注意。他是个矮胖子，穿一件紫羊毛布外套，会讲通用语。“我是船长，”他说，“想干什么？快点讲，孩子，我们赶潮水。”

The purple galley was still there. If the ship had sailed while she was being robbed, that would have been too much to bear. A cask of mead was being rolled up the plank when she arrived. When she tried to follow, a sailor up on deck shouted down at her in a tongue she did not know. “I want to see the captain,” Arya told him. He only shouted louder. But the commotion drew the attention of a stout grey-haired man in a coat of purple wool, and he spoke the Common Tongue. “I am captain here,” he said. “What is your wish? Be quick, child, we have a tide to catch.”

“我想去北方，去长城。瞧，我可以付钱。”她把钱袋交给他，“守夜人在海边有个城堡。”

“I want to go north, to the Wall. Here, I can pay.” She gave him the purse. “The Night’s Watch has a castle on the sea.”

“东海望。”船长将那枚银币倒在掌心，皱起眉头，“只有这些？”

“Eastwatch.” The captain spilled out the silver onto his palm and frowned. “Is this all you have?”

这不够，艾莉亚心里明白。她可以从他脸上看出来。“我不住舱房什么的，”她说，“睡在下面货舱就好，或者……”

It is not enough, Arya knew without being told. She could see it on his face. “I wouldn’t need a cabin or anything,” she said. “I could sleep down in the hold, or …”

“把她当船妓带上，”一名路过的桨手说，他肩扛一捆羊毛布，“她可以跟我睡。”

“Take her on as cabin girl,” said a passing oarsman, a bolt of wool over one shoulder. “She can sleep with me.”

“小心你的舌头。”船长呵斥。

“Mind your tongue,” the captain snapped.

“我可以干活，”艾莉亚说，“擦洗甲板什么的——我在城堡里擦过楼梯。或者我可以划……”

“I could work,” said Arya. “I could scrub the decks. I scrubbed a castle steps once. Or I could row …”

“不，”他说，“你力气不够。”他将银币还给她。“即使你行，也没用，孩子。我们不去北方，那里只有冰雪、战争和海盗。来时绕行蟹爪半岛，看到十几艘里斯海盗船正往北去，可不希望再碰到他们。我们从这儿返航回家，我建议你也回家。”

“No,” he said, “you couldn’t.” He gave her back her coins. “It would make no difference if you could, child. The north has nothing for us. Ice and war and pirates. We saw a dozen pirate ships making north as we rounded Crackclaw Point, and I have no wish to meet them again. From here we bend our oars for home, and I suggest you do the same.”

我没有家，艾莉亚心想，没有族群，连马都没有了。

I have no home, Arya thought. I have no pack. And now I don’t even have a horse.

当船长转身离开时，她问：“这是什么船，大人？”

The captain was turning away when she said, “What ship is this, my lord?”

他顿了顿，朝她厌倦地微笑，“这是三桅船‘泰坦之女’号，来自自由贸易城邦布拉佛斯。”

He paused long enough to give her a weary smile. “This is the galleas Titan’s Daughter, of the Free City of Braavos.”

“等等，”艾莉亚突然说，“我有别的。”她将它塞在内衣里，以保安全，因此得从很深的地方掏出来。看她急切的模样，桨手们哄然大笑，船长则显然很不耐烦。“多一枚银币也没区别，孩子。”他最后说。

“Wait,” Arya said suddenly. “I have something else.” She had stuffed it down inside her smallclothes to keep it safe, so she had to dig deep to find it, while the oarsmen laughed and the captain lingered with obvious impatience. “One more silver will make no difference, child,” he finally said.

“那不是银币，”她的手指抓到了它，“是铁的。给。”她将它塞到船长掌心，那是贾昆·赫加尔的黑色小铁币，上面的人像已磨得没了形体。它也许毫无价值，但……

“It’s not silver.” Her fingers closed on it. “It’s iron. Here.” She pressed it into his hand, the small black iron coin that Jaqen H’ghar had given her, so worn the man whose head it bore had no features. It’s probably worthless, but …

船长将它翻个面，惊讶地看着，又将视线转向她。“这……怎么会……？”

The captain turned it over and blinked at it, then looked at her again. “This … how …?”

贾昆说还要讲那句话。于是艾莉亚将手臂抱在胸前。“valar morghulis．”她大声念出来，仿佛知道那是什么意思。

Jaqen said to say the words too. Arya crossed her arms against her chest. “Valar morghulis,” she said, as loud as if she’d known what it meant.

“Valar dohaeris．”船长回应，两根手指触摸眉毛。“你会有一间舱房。”

“Valar dohaeris,” he replied, touching his brow with two fingers. “Of course you shall have a cabin.”