BRAN

布兰

   The hunt left at dawn. The king wanted wildboar at the feast tonight. Prince Joffrey rode with his father, so Robb hadbeen allowed to join the hunters as well. Uncle Benjen, Jory, Theon Greyjoy,Ser Rodrik, and even the queen’s funny little brother had all ridden out withthem. It was the last hunt, after all. On the morrow they left for the south.

打猎的队伍于黎明启程，国王希望能为今天的晚宴多添一道野熊大餐。因为乔佛里王子与国王同行，所以罗柏也得到允许，跟着狩猎队伍一同前往。班扬叔叔、乔里、席恩·葛雷乔伊和罗德利克爵士他们都跟着一道去，就连王后的滑稽小弟也在队伍中。毕竟这是他们在北方最后的打猎机会，明天，国王的队伍就要动身南下。

   Bran had been left behind with Jon and thegirls and Rickon. But Rickon was only a baby and the girls were only girls andJon and his wolf were nowhere to be found. Bran did not look for him very hard.He thought Jon was angry at him. Jon seemed to be angry at everyone these days.Bran did not know why. He was going with Uncle Ben to the Wall, to join theNight’s Watch. That was almost as good as going south with the king. Robb wasthe one they were leaving behind, not Jon.

布兰和琼恩、姐姐们以及瑞肯留在城里。瑞肯只是个小娃娃，女孩子们本来就不喜欢打猎，而琼恩和他的小狼则跑得不见踪影。布兰也没有努力去找他，因为他觉得琼恩似乎在生自己的气。琼恩这几天似乎在生城里每一个人的气，布兰很纳闷，他要和班扬叔叔到长城去加入守夜人军团，那可不是和跟国王南下一样的好事吗？要留在家里的人是罗柏，不是琼恩呀。

   For days, Bran could scarcely wait to beoff. He was going to ride the kingsroad on a horse of his own, not a pony but areal horse. His father would be the Hand of the King, and they were going tolive in the red castle at King’s Landing, the castle the Dragonlords had built.Old Nan said there were ghosts there, and dungeons where terrible things hadbeen done, and dragon heads on the walls. It gave Bran a shiver just to thinkof it, but he was not afraid. How could he be afraid? His father would be withhim, and the king with all his knights and sworn swords.

这几天来，布兰兴奋得坐立不安。他很快就要在国王大道上策马驰骋了，不是骑小马喔，而是骑真正的骏马。父亲将成为国王的首相，他们会搬进君临，住进龙王建造的“红堡”。老奶妈说那里闹鬼，地牢里有不为人知的恐怖酷刑，墙上还挂着龙头。布兰光想想就浑身打颤，但他却不害怕，有什么好怕的呢？他有父亲保护，还有国王和他所有的骑士与宣誓效忠的武士呢。

   Bran was going to be a knight himself someday, one of the Kingsguard. Old Nan said they were the finest swords in allthe realm. There were only seven of them, and they wore white armor and had nowives or children, but lived only to serve the king. Bran knew all the stories.Their names were like music to him. Serwyn of the Mirror Shield. Ser RyamRedwyne. Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. The twins Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, whohad died on one another’s swords hundreds of years ago, when brother foughtsister in the war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons. The White Bull,Gerold Hightower. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Barristan theBold.

有朝一日布兰自己也要当骑士，加入国王的御林铁卫。老奶妈说他们是全国最优秀的战士。御林铁卫一共只有七人，身穿白衣白甲，没有任何家室牵累，活着的惟一目的就是守护国王。关于他们的故事布兰早就听得滚瓜烂熟，倒背如流了：“镜盾”萨文，莱安·雷德温爵士，龙骑士伊蒙王子，几百年前死在对方剑下的孪生兄弟伊利克爵士和亚历克爵士——那是一场骨肉相残，姐弟交战，被后世吟游诗人称为“血龙狂舞”的战争，还有“白牛”杰洛·海陶尔，“拂晓神剑”亚瑟·戴恩爵士，以及“无畏的”巴利斯坦。

   Two of the Kingsguard had come north withKing Robert. Bran had watched them with fascination, never quite daring tospeak to them. Ser Boros was a bald man with a jowly face, and Ser Meryn haddroopy eyes and a beard the color of rust. Ser Jaime Lannister looked more likethe knights in the stories, and he was of the Kingsguard too, but Robb said hehad killed the old mad king and shouldn’t count anymore. The greatest livingknight was Ser Barristan Selmy, Barristan the Bold, the Lord Commander of theKingsguard. Father had promised that they would meet Ser Barristan when theyreached King’s Landing, and Bran had been marking the days on his wall, eagerto depart, to see a world he had only dreamed of and begin a life he couldscarcely imagine.

这次有两名御林铁卫和劳勃国王一同北来，布兰瞠目结舌地看着他们，始终不敢上前攀谈。柏洛斯爵士是个秃了顶、双下巴的人，马林爵士则两眼低垂，须如铁锈。只有詹姆·兰尼斯特爵士看起来比较像故事里的伟大骑士，他也是七铁卫之一，不过罗柏说他杀了疯狂的老王，已经不能算御林铁卫了。如今世上最伟大的骑士是巴利斯坦·赛尔弥爵士，人称“无畏的”巴利斯坦，他是御林铁卫队长。父亲答应过他们，等抵达君临之后，一定会让他们见见巴利斯坦爵士。布兰每天在墙上画记号数日子，迫不及待想动身出发，去看看一个以往只存在于梦中的世界，过另一种从来无法想像的生活。

   Yet now that the last day was at hand,suddenly Bran felt lost. Winterfell had been the only home he had ever known.His father had told him that he ought to say his farewells today, and he hadtried. After the hunt had ridden out, he wandered through the castle with hiswolf at his side, intending to visit the ones who would be left behind, Old Nanand Gage the cook, Mikken in his smithy, Hodor the stableboy who smiled so muchand took care of his pony and never said anything but “Hodor,” the man in theglass gardens who gave him a blackberry when he came to visit?.?.?.?

可现在离出发只剩一天，布兰却突然若有所失起来。临冬城是他惟一熟悉的家园，父亲叮嘱他今天要向大家道别，他也尽力去试。打猎队伍离开后，他带着小狼在城堡里闲逛，打算和熟人们一个个说再见。老奶妈、厨师盖吉，铁匠密肯，还有负责帮他照顾小马，成天咧着嘴笑，除了“阿多”两个字以外，一句话也不会讲的马夫阿多。每次布兰去玻璃花园玩，阿多总会给他一颗黑莓。

   But it was no good. He had gone to thestable first, and seen his pony there in its stall, except it wasn’t his ponyanymore, he was getting a real horse and leaving the pony behind, and all of asudden Bran just wanted to sit down and cry. He turned and ran off before Hodorand the other stableboys could see the tears in his eyes. That was the end ofhis farewells. Instead Bran spent the morning alone in the godswood, trying toteach his wolf to fetch a stick, and failing. The wolfling was smarter than anyof the hounds in his father’s kennel and Bran would have sworn he understoodevery word that was said to him, but he showed very little interest in chasingsticks.

但他开不了口。他先去了马厩，看到自己的小马，只是现在已经不属于他了。他很快便会拥有一匹真正的马，而把小马留在这里，突然间布兰好想坐下来放声大哭，于是他赶紧跑开，以免阿多和其他马夫见到他眼中的泪水。他总共就说了这么一次再见，之后便一早上独自躲在神木林里，教他的小狼把丢出去的树枝叼回来，却徒劳无功。他的小狼比父亲兽舍里所有的猎狗都要聪明，他几乎可以肯定他听得懂他说的每一句话。只可惜他对叼树枝似乎没多少兴趣。

   He was still trying to decide on a name.Robb was calling his Grey Wind, because he ran so fast. Sansa had named hersLady, and Arya named hers after some old witch queen in the songs, and littleRickon called his Shaggydog, which Bran thought was a pretty stupid name for adirewolf. Jon’s wolf, the white one, was Ghost. Bran wished he had thought ofthat first, even though his wolf wasn’t white. He had tried a hundred names inthe last fortnight, but none of them sounded right.

他到现在还无法决定给它取什么名字。罗柏的狼叫做“灰风”，因为它跑起来迅捷如风；珊莎的叫做“淑女”；艾莉亚用歌谣里某个古老的女巫王为她的狼命名；小瑞肯则把他的狼叫做“毛毛狗”——布兰觉得给冰原狼起这种名字实在很蠢；琼恩的那只白狼叫白灵。布兰真希望自己比琼恩先想到这个名字，即使他的狼毛色不是很白。过去这两周以来，他不知道已经想过多少名字了，偏偏就是没一个听来顺耳。

   Finally he got tired of the stick game anddecided to go climbing. He hadn’t been up to the broken tower for weeks witheverything that had happened, and this might be his last chance.

最后他累了，便决定去爬墙。最近发生了这么多事情，他已经好几个星期没爬到残塔上玩了，这说不定还是他最后的机会呢。

   He raced across the godswood, taking thelong way around to avoid the pool where the heart tree grew. The heart tree hadalways frightened him; trees ought not have eyes, Bran thought, or leaves thatlooked like hands. His wolf came sprinting at his heels. “You stay here,” hetold him at the base of the sentinel tree near the armory wall. “Lie down.That’s right. Now stay...”

于是他拔腿跑过神木林，还特地绕路避开心树旁边的那泓冷泉。布兰一直很怕心树，他总觉得树不应该长眼睛，叶子也不该生成手掌的模样。小狼跟在他身边。“你留在这儿。”他在武器库墙外哨兵树下对它说，“乖乖躺下，对，就这样，留在这儿别动——”

   The wolf did as he was told. Bran scratchedhim behind the ears, then turned away, jumped, grabbed a low branch, and pulledhimself up. He was halfway up the tree, moving easily from limb to limb, whenthe wolf got to his feet and began to howl.

小狼果然乖乖地留在原地，布兰搔了搔它的耳后根，然后转身一跃，抓住低垂的枝干，一翻身便上了树。可当他爬到一半，正游刃有余地穿梭枝丫时，小狼却霍地起身嗥叫开来。

   Bran looked back down. His wolf fell silent,staring up at him through slitted yellow eyes. A strange chill went throughhim. He began to climb again. Once more the wolf howled. “Quiet,” he yelled.“Sit down. Stay. You’re worse than Mother.” The howling chased him all the wayup the tree, until finally he jumped off onto the armory roof and out of sight.

布兰低头一看，小狼便立刻安静，睁大那双亮闪闪的黄色眼珠往上瞧。布兰觉得有股诡异的寒意流贯全身。他继续爬，小狼又继续嗥。“别叫啦！”他喊，“乖乖坐好别动，你比妈还烦。”然而狼嗥却一直跟随着他，直到他跳上武器库屋顶，消失了踪影为止。

   The rooftops of Winterfell were Bran’ssecond home. His mother often said that Bran could climb before he could walk.Bran could not remember when he first learned to walk, but he could notremember when he started to climb either, so he supposed it must be true.

临冬城的屋顶几乎可算是布兰的第二个家，母亲总说他连走路都还没学会，就先学会爬墙啦。布兰既不记得自己什么时候学会走路，也不知道自己什么时候学会爬墙，所以他猜她说得应该没错。

   To a boy, Winterfell was a grey stonelabyrinth of walls and towers and courtyards and tunnels spreading out in alldirections. In the older parts of the castle, the halls slanted up and down sothat you couldn’t even be sure what floor you were on. The place had grown overthe centuries like some monstrous stone tree, Maester Luwin told him once, andits branches were gnarled and thick and twisted, its roots sunk deep into theearth.

对一个小男孩而言，临冬城的城墙高塔、庭院甬道就像是座灰石砌成的广袤迷宫。在城堡比较老旧的部分，无数厅堂四处倾斜，容易让人产生不知置身何处之感。鲁温学士曾说，几千年来，城堡就像一棵不断蔓生的怪物般的石头巨树，枝干扭曲，盘根错节。

   When he got out from under it and scrambledup near the sky, Bran could see all of Winterfell in a glance. He liked the wayit looked, spread out beneath him, only birds wheeling over his head while allthe life of the castle went on below. Bran could perch for hours among theshapeless, rain-worn gargoyles that brooded over the First Keep, watching itall: the men drilling with wood and steel in the yard, the cooks tending theirvegetables in the glass garden, restless dogs running back and forth in thekennels, the silence of the godswood, the girls gossiping beside the washingwell. It made him feel like he was lord of the castle, in a way even Robb wouldnever know.

当布兰穿过错综复杂的倾颓古城，爬到接近天空的地方，全城的景致终于一览无遗。他很喜欢临冬城在他面前展开的辽阔样貌，城堡里的一切熙来攘往、人声喧哗都在他脚下，惟有天际飞鸟在头上盘旋。布兰往往就这样趴在首堡之上，置身在形状早已不复辨识、被风霜雨雪摧残殆尽的石像鬼间，俯瞰下方的城间百态。看着广场上拖运木材和钢铁的长工，看着玻璃花园里采集菜蔬的厨师，看着犬舍里来回奔跑、局促不安的猎狗，看着静默无语的神木林，看着深井边交头接耳的女侍，仿佛他才是城堡真正的主人，即使罗柏也无法体会这种境界。

   It taught him Winterfell’s secrets too. Thebuilders had not even leveled the earth; there were hills and valleys behindthe walls of Winterfell. There was a covered bridge that went from the fourthfloor of the bell tower across to the second floor of the rookery. Bran knewabout that. And he knew you could get inside the inner wall by the south gate,climb three floors and run all the way around Winterfell through a narrowtunnel in the stone, and then come out on ground level at the north gate, witha hundred feet of wall looming over you. Even Maester Luwin didn’t know that,Bran was convinced.

他也因此挖掘出临冬城许多不为人知的秘密，比如当初建筑工人并没有把城堡附近的地势铲平，所以城墙外面不但有起伏丘陵，还有溪涧峡谷。布兰知道一座密闭的桥道，可以从钟塔的四楼直接通鸦巢的二层。他还知道如何从南门进入内城墙里边，顺着门梯爬三层，便能找到一条狭窄的石砌甬道，它可以绕行临冬城，最后抵达位于百尺高墙阴影下的北门底层。布兰相信就连鲁温师傅也不知道这条捷径。

   His mother was terrified that one day Branwould slip off a wall and kill himself. He told her that he wouldn’t, but shenever believed him. Once she made him promise that he would stay on the ground.He had managed to keep that promise for almost a fortnight, miserable everyday, until one night he had gone out the window of his bedroom when hisbrothers were fast asleep.

母亲一直很害怕布兰哪天会不小心滑下来，失足摔死。任他再三保证，她却怎么也不肯相信。有次她强迫他发誓不再往高处爬，结果这个诺言只勉强维持了两个星期，他每天都痛苦无比，最后有一天夜里，趁他兄弟熟睡的时候，他还是爬出了卧房窗户。

   He confessed his crime the next day in a fitof guilt. Lord Eddard ordered him to the godswood to cleanse himself. Guardswere posted to see that Bran remained there alone all night to reflect on hisdisobedience. The next morning Bran was nowhere to be seen. They finally foundhim fast asleep in the upper branches of the tallest sentinel in the grove.

翌日他满怀罪恶感地自行招认，艾德公爵叫他独自去神木林忏悔，还派了守卫监视，以确保他整晚都在林子里反省他不听话的行为。没想到第二天清晨，布兰却不见踪影，最后众人是在林间最高的一棵哨兵树的上层枝干找到睡得正香甜的他。

   As angry as he was, his father could nothelp but laugh. “You’re not my son,” he told Bran when they fetched him down,“you’re a squirrel. So be it. If you must climb, then climb, but try not to letyour mother see you.”

尽管父亲气得半死，终于还是忍不住笑道：“你一定不是我儿子，”当其他人把布兰抱下来时，他对儿子说，“你根本是只松鼠。算了，我认了，如果你真的非爬不可，那就去爬吧，尽量别让你母亲瞧见就是。”

   Bran did his best, although he did not thinkhe ever really fooled her. Since his father would not forbid it, she turned toothers. Old Nan told him a story about a bad little boy who climbed too highand was struck down by lightning, and how afterward the crows came to peck outhis eyes. Bran was not impressed. There were crows’ nests atop the brokentower, where no one ever went but him, and sometimes he filled his pockets withcorn before he climbed up there and the crows ate it right out of his hand. Noneof them had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in pecking out his eyes.

布兰很努力，虽然他认为母亲对他的举动其实一清二楚。既然父亲不愿阻止他四处攀爬，她便转而采取迂回策略。首先来的是老奶妈，她跟他讲了一个故事，说从前有个不听话的坏小孩，越爬越高，最后被雷活活劈死，死后乌鸦还来啄他眼睛。布兰听了不为所动，因为残塔上多的是乌鸦窠巢，那里除了他没人会去，所以有时他会在口袋里装满玉米。一上塔顶，乌鸦便都开开心心地聚拢来从他手心啄食，怎么也不像会啄他眼睛的模样。

   Later, Maester Luwin built a little potteryboy and dressed him in Bran’s clothes and flung him off the wall into the yardbelow, to demonstrate what would happen to Bran if he fell. That had been fun,but afterward Bran just looked at the maester and said, “I’m not made of clay.And anyhow, I never fall.”

眼看这招无效，鲁温师傅便用陶土捏了个小男孩，为它穿上布兰的衣服，然后从城墙上丢下去，好让布兰了解他若是摔下，会有多么凄惨的结果。那是个有趣的实验，但事后布兰却只盯着鲁温师傅，面无表情地说：“我不是泥做的，而且我绝对不会摔下去。”

   Then for a while the guards would chase himwhenever they saw him on the roofs, and try to haul him down. That was the besttime of all. It was like playing a game with his brothers, except that Branalways won. None of the guards could climb half so well as Bran, not even Jory.Most of the time they never saw him anyway. People never looked up. That wasanother thing he liked about climbing; it was almost like being invisible.

在此之后，轮到了城里的守卫，有一段时间，只要他们发现他在屋顶上，就会吆喝追赶，想把他赶下来。那是最紧张刺激的时刻了，简直就像和哥哥弟弟们玩游戏，只不过，这游戏每次都是布兰获胜。卫兵们谁也没有布兰这种本事，连乔里也拿他没辙。不过多数时候他们根本就没看见他，人是从来不往上看的。这也是他喜欢爬墙的原因之一，仿佛可以因此隐身遁形。

   He liked how it felt too, pulling himself upa wall stone by stone, fingers and toes digging hard into the small crevicesbetween. He always took off his boots and went barefoot when he climbed; itmade him feel as if he had four hands instead of two. He liked the deep, sweetache it left in the muscles afterward. He liked the way the air tasted way uphigh, sweet and cold as a winter peach. He liked the birds: the crows in thebroken tower, the tiny little sparrows that nested in cracks between thestones, the ancient owl that slept in the dusty loft above the old armory. Branknew them all.

他很喜欢攀爬时那种一石高过一石，手脚并用，聚精会神的感觉。每次他都先把靴子脱掉，然后光着脚丫爬墙，如此一来让他觉得自己多出两只手。他喜欢每次事后浑身肌肉那种疲累却甜丝丝的酸疼；喜欢高处清冽的空气，冰冷甘美宛如冬雪甜桃；喜欢各式各样的鸟类，包括群聚残塔上的大乌鸦，筑巢乱石间的小麻雀和栖息在旧武器库积满灰尘阁楼里的老夜枭。布兰对这些事物通通了如指掌。

   Most of all, he liked going places that noone else could go, and seeing the grey sprawl of Winterfell in a way that noone else ever saw it. It made the whole castle Bran’s secret place.

不过他最喜欢的还是登上人迹罕至的地方，看着城堡以一种不曾为他人展示的样貌，在眼前灰蒙蒙地呈现出来。整座临冬城似乎都因此成了布兰的秘密基地。

   His favorite haunt was the broken tower.Once it had been a watchtower, the tallest in Winterfell. A long time ago, ahundred years before even his father had been born, a lightning strike had setit afire. The top third of the structure had collapsed inward, and the towerhad never been rebuilt. Sometimes his father sent ratters into the base of thetower, to clean out the nests they always found among the jumble of fallenstones and charred and rotten beams. But no one ever got up to the jagged topof the structure now except for Bran and the crows.

他对曾是临冬城最高瞭望台的残塔情有独钟。很久很久以前，在他父亲出生前约一百年，高塔遭暴雷击中，起火燃烧，顶端三分之一的建筑朝塔内崩塌，自此以后始终没有重建。父亲偶尔会派人进到残塔底层清理断垣残壁间的老鼠窝，然而除了布兰和乌鸦，从来没有人登上过塔顶废墟。

   He knew two ways to get there. You couldclimb straight up the side of the tower itself, but the stones were loose, themortar that held them together long gone to ash, and Bran never liked to puthis full weight on them.

他知道两种登上塔顶的途径，一是直接从残塔外围爬上去，但是由于当年刷的泥浆早已干燥风化，砖石容易松落，因此布兰爬的时候不太敢把重心放在上面。

   The best way was to start from the godswood,shinny up the tall sentinel, and cross over the armory and the guards hall,leaping roof to roof, barefoot so the guards wouldn’t hear you overhead. Thatbrought you up to the blind side of the First Keep, the oldest part of thecastle, a squat round fortress that was taller than it looked. Only rats andspiders lived there now but the old stones still made for good climbing. Youcould go straight up to where the gargoyles leaned out blindly over emptyspace, and swing from gargoyle to gargoyle, hand over hand, around to the northside. From there, if you really stretched, you could reach out and pullyourself over to the broken tower where it leaned close. The last part was thescramble up the blackened stones to the eyrie, no more than ten feet, and thenthe crows would come round to see if you’d brought any corn.

最好的方法还是从神木林出发，爬上高高的哨兵树，从武器库的屋顶跳到守卫室的屋顶，其间光着脚以免守卫听见，如此便可顺利抵达城中最古老的首堡后方。那是座低矮的圆形堡垒，其实它比乍看上去要高得多。如今堡内虽只有老鼠和蜘蛛，但当年建筑的古老石块仍旧提供了攀爬的最佳场所。你甚至可以直接爬到眼神空洞的石像鬼雕像驻守的空旷高台，两手勾紧，从这个石像鬼悬荡到那个石像鬼，随后抵达城楼北端。接着，只要全力伸展，便可够到倾斜的残塔。最后的部分只是翻越焦黑的乱石堆登上养鹰楼，爬不到十尺，乌鸦群便会竞相迎接，看你有没有带玉米粒给它们了。

   Bran was moving from gargoyle to gargoylewith the ease of long practice when he heard the voices. He was so startled healmost lost his grip. The First Keep had been empty all his life.

这天布兰一如往常，驾轻就熟地在石像鬼雕像间荡来荡去，不料却听到说话的声音。他吓得差点松手，首堡向来是个人迹罕至的地方呀！

   “I do not like it,” a woman was saying.There was a row of windows beneath him, and the voice was drifting out of the lastwindow on this side. “You should be the Hand.”

“我不喜欢这样，”有个女人的声音说。布兰下方有一排窗户，声音是从最后一扇窗里传出来的，“当首相的该是你才对。”

   “Gods forbid,” a man’s voice replied lazily.“It’s not an honor I’d want. There’s far too much work involved.”

“饶了我罢，”一个男人的声音慵懒地回答，“这种苦差我可不想揽，想做的事多着呢。”

   Bran hung, listening, suddenly afraid to goon. They might glimpse his feet if he tried to swing by.

布兰悬在半空，静静地听着，突然心生恐惧，不敢再往前荡，生怕经过时自己的双脚会被他们发现。

   “Don’t you see the danger this puts us in?”the woman said. “Robert loves the man like a brother.”

“你难道看不出背后隐藏的危险？”女人接着说，“劳勃把那家伙当亲兄弟一样。”

   “Robert can barely stomach his brothers. Notthat I blame him. Stannis would be enough to give anyone indigestion.”

“劳勃最受不了他两个弟弟。我也不怪他，有史坦尼斯那样的老弟，任谁都要反胃。”

   “Don’t play the fool. Stannis and Renly areone thing, and Eddard Stark is quite another. Robert will listen to Stark. Damnthem both. I should have insisted that he name you, but I was certain Starkwould refuse him.”

“别傻了，史坦尼斯和蓝礼是一回事，艾德·史塔克又是另一回事。劳勃对史塔克会言听计从。这两人都该下地狱，早知道我就坚持要他选你当首相。我一直以为史塔克会拒绝他。”

   “We ought to count ourselves fortunate,” theman said. “The king might as easily have named one of his brothers, or evenLittlefinger, gods help us. Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitiousones, and I’ll sleep more easily by night.”

　　“我们这样已经算走运啦，”男人道，“诸神在上，谁知道国王会不会叫他弟弟或那个小指头来当首相。比起野心勃勃的对手，让我面对讲究荣誉的敌人，可能还会睡得安稳些。”

   They were talking about Father, Branrealized. He wanted to hear more. A few more feet?.?.?.?but they would see himif he swung out in front of the window.

布兰这才会意，他们谈论的正是父亲！他想多听一些，再靠近几尺……可他如果荡过那扇窗户，他们一定会看到他的脚。

   “We will have to watch him carefully,” thewoman said.

“我们得好好监视他才行。”女人说。

   “I would sooner watch you,” the man said. Hesounded bored. “Come back here.”

“我宁愿好好看看你，”男人说，他的语气听起来很无趣，“过来吧。”

   “Lord Eddard has never taken any interest inanything that happened south of the Neck,” the woman said. “Never. I tell you,he means to move against us. Why else would he leave the seat of his power?”

“艾德公爵从没插手过南方的事务，”女人道，“从来没有。我告诉你，他明明就是要对付我们，不然何必离开他的势力中心？”

   “A hundred reasons. Duty. Honor. He yearnsto write his name large across the book of history, to get away from his wife,or both. Perhaps he just wants to be warm for once in his life.”

“理由多的是，责任心、荣誉感都有可能，或者他想名垂青史，或者他们夫妻不和，甚至两者皆有，也或许他只想找个温暖的地方住住而已。”

   “His wife is Lady Arryn’s sister. It’s awonder Lysa was not here to greet us with her accusations.”

“他太太是艾林夫人的姐姐，莱莎竟然没有跑到这里，用她的指控欢迎我们，已经很难得了。”

   Bran looked down. There was a narrow ledgebeneath the window, only a few inches wide. He tried to lower himself towardit. Too far. He would never reach.

布兰往下看去，窗子下方只有个几寸宽的窗棂，他试着放低身子，但是距离太远，够不到。

   “You fret too much. Lysa Arryn is afrightened cow.”

“你想太多啦，艾林夫人不过是头吓坏的母牛嘛。”

   “That frightened cow shared Jon Arryn’sbed.”

“这头母牛可是和琼恩·艾林同床共枕的。”

   “If she knew anything, she would have goneto Robert before she fled King’s Landing.”

“假如她知道，早在离开君临之前就去找劳勃告状了。”

   “When he had already agreed to foster thatweakling son of hers at Casterly Rock? I think not. She knew the boy’s lifewould be hostage to her silence. She may grow bolder now that he’s safe atopthe Eyrie.”

“在他刚刚决定要把她那没用的儿子送去凯岩城作养子的时候？我想不会。她自己也明白如此一来她儿子会成为人质，威胁她不准说出实情。现在回到了鹰巢城，只怕她胆子会大起来。”

   “Mothers.” The man made the word sound likea curse. “I think birthing does something to your minds. You are all mad.” Helaughed. It was a bitter sound. “Let Lady Arryn grow as bold as she likes.Whatever she knows, whatever she thinks she knows, she has no proof.” He pauseda moment. “Or does she?”

“作母亲的都一个样，”男人把“母亲”一词说得仿佛是个诅咒，“我总认为生产会烧坏脑子，你们全都疯了。”他苦涩地笑笑，“不管她究竟知道什么，或自以为知道多少，反正她没有证据。”他停了一会儿，“她有么？”

   “Do you think the king will require proof?”the woman said. “I tell you, he loves me not.”

“告诉我，你觉得国王会需要什么证据？”女人回答，“他根本就不爱我！”

   “And whose fault is that, sweet sister?”

“好姐姐，这是谁的错啊？”

   Bran studied the ledge. He could drop down.It was too narrow to land on, but if he could catch hold as he fell past, pullhimself up?.?.?.?except that might make a noise, draw them to the window. Hewas not sure what he was hearing, but he knew it was not meant for his ears.

布兰仔细看看窗棂，他应该可以跳下去，虽然窗棂太窄，没法站稳，但他可以在坠落的时候钩住，然后再攀上去……怕只怕会弄出声音，引来他们的注意。他不太了解所听到的事情，只是很确定这些话不是说给他听的。

   “You are as blind as Robert,” the woman wassaying.

“你和劳勃一样都瞎了眼。”女人说。

   “If you mean I see the same thing, yes,” theman said. “I see a man who would sooner die than betray his king.”

“如果你的意思是我和他看法一致，没有错，”男人答道，“我眼中的艾德·史塔克是个宁死也不愿背叛国王的人。”

   “He betrayed one already, or have youforgotten?” the woman said. “Oh, I don’t deny he’s loyal to Robert, that’sobvious. What happens when Robert dies and Joff takes the throne? And thesooner that comes to pass, the safer we’ll all be. My husband grows morerestless every day. Having Stark beside him will only make him worse. He’s stillin love with the sister, the insipid little dead sixteen-year-old. How longtill he decides to put me aside for some new Lyanna?”

“他已经背叛过一个国王，你难道忘了吗？”女人道，“噢，我不否认他对劳勃忠心耿耿，这毋庸置疑，但要是劳勃死了，小乔继承王位呢？而劳勃越早死，我们便越安全。我丈夫近来愈加焦躁不安，让史塔克随侍他身旁只会让情况恶化。他到现在还爱着那个死了的十六岁小妹，谁知道哪天他会为了新的莱安娜，把我丢到一边？”

   Bran was suddenly very frightened. He wantednothing so much as to go back the way he had come, to find his brothers. Onlywhat would he tell them? He had to get closer, Bran realized. He had to see whowas talking.

布兰突然觉得害怕极了，此时的他只想赶快循原路回去，去找他的兄弟寻求协助。然而他要告诉他们些什么呢？布兰明白自己非再靠近一点不可，他得看看说话的人是谁。

   The man sighed. “You should think less aboutthe future and more about the pleasures at hand.”

男人叹道：“你别老担心未来的事，多想想眼前的幸福罢。”

   “Stop that!” the woman said. Bran heard thesudden slap of flesh on flesh, then the man’s laughter.

“少说这种话！”女人斥道。布兰听到突如其来的皮肉拍打，接着又听见男人的笑声。

   Bran pulled himself up, climbed over thegargoyle, crawled out onto the roof. This was the easy way. He moved across theroof to the next gargoyle, right above the window of the room where they weretalking.

布兰决定往上攀，翻过石像鬼，爬到屋顶上。这是比较容易的路径，他跑到下一只石像鬼雕像旁，恰好在传出说话声的房间正上方。

   “All this talk is getting very tiresome,sister,” the man said. “Come here and be quiet.”

“好姐姐，尽说些这种事，说得我都累了。”男人说，“闭上嘴巴过来吧。”

   Bran sat astride the gargoyle, tightened hislegs around it, and swung himself around, upside down. He hung by his legs andslowly stretched his head down toward the window. The world looked strangeupside down. A courtyard swam dizzily below him, its stones still wet withmelted snow.

布兰跨坐在石像鬼雕像上，两腿夹紧，然后整个人头朝下倒转过去。他两脚紧勾住石像，缓缓地把头靠近窗边。上下颠倒的世界感觉非常怪异，庭院在他下方天旋地转地晃动，砖石上还留有未化的残雪。

   Bran looked in the window.

布兰从窗外向里看去。

   Inside the room, a man and a woman werewrestling. They were both naked. Bran could not tell who they were. The man’sback was to him, and his body screened the woman from view as he pushed her upagainst a wall.

房间内一男一女正扭成一团，两人都没穿衣服。布兰认不出他们是谁，男人背对着他，不断地将女人往墙边推挤，他的身体恰好挡住了女人的脸。

   There were soft, wet sounds. Bran realizedthey were kissing. He watched, wide-eyed and frightened, his breath tight inhis throat. The man had a hand down between her legs, and he must have beenhurting her there, because the woman started to moan, low in her throat. “Stopit,” she said, “stop it, stop it. Oh, please?.?.?.?” But her voice was low andweak, and she did not push him away. Her hands buried themselves in his hair,his tangled golden hair, and pulled his face down to her breast.

屋内有种细小而濡湿的声音，布兰发觉他们正在亲嘴。他张大眼睛，呼吸急促，惊恐地看着房里发生的这一切。男人伸手到女人两腿间，他一定弄痛了她，因为女人开始低声呻吟：“别……别这样，”她说，“住手，住手，噢，求求你……”可她的声音细小微弱，又始终没有把他推开。她反而把双手埋进他凌乱的亮金色头发里，把他的脸往自己胸前拉。

   Bran saw her face. Her eyes were closed andher mouth was open, moaning. Her golden hair swung from side to side as herhead moved back and forth, but still he recognized the queen.

布兰这才见着她的脸。虽然她紧闭双眼，张嘴呻吟，金发随着头部动作而剧烈晃动，他仍然认出她是王后。

   He must have made a noise. Suddenly her eyesopened, and she was staring right at him. She screamed.

此时他一定是不小心发出了什么声音，只见她突然睁开眼睛，视线直直地盯着他，然后惊声尖叫起来。

   Everything happened at once then. ‘ Thewoman pushed the man away wildly, shouting and pointing. Bran tried to pullhimself up, bending double as he reached for the gargoyle. He was in too muchof a hurry. His hand scraped uselessly across smooth stone, and in his panic hislegs slipped, and suddenly he was failing. There was an instant of vertigo, asickening lurch as the window flashed past. He shot out a hand, grabbed for theledge, lost it, caught it again with his other hand. He swung against thebuilding, hard. The impact took the breath out of him. Bran dangled,one-handed, panting.

所有的事情都发生得好快。女人狂乱地推开男人，一边指指点点，一边大声叫嚷。布兰想把自己翻上去，使尽腰力钩住石像鬼雕像，然而他使力太急，双手只是擦过平滑的石像表面，随后他心里一怕，双腿松开，立刻就往下掉。他感到一阵晕眩，窗棂从他身边疾速闪失，一种不舒服的恶心感由胃里升起。他慌忙伸出一只手想抓住窗棂，却立刻滑开，赶紧又用另一只手牢牢抓紧。他狠狠地撞上了墙壁，猛烈的冲击力道痛得他几乎无法呼吸。布兰单手抓住窗棂，在半空中悬晃，喘不过气来。

   Faces appeared in the window above him.

两个人的脸同时出现在他上方的窗边。

   The queen. And now Bran recognized the manbeside her. They looked as much alike as reflections in a mirror.

的确是王后。这时布兰也认出了她旁边的男人，他们相貌神似，站在一起宛如镜子里的倒影。

   “He saw us,” the woman said shrilly.

“他瞧见我们了。”女人尖声道。

   “So he did,” the man said.

“他是瞧见我们了。”男人说。

   Bran’s fingers started to slip. He grabbedthe ledge with his other hand. Fingernails dug into unyielding stone. The manreached down. “Take my hand,” he said. “Before you fall.”

布兰的手指开始松脱，他换用另一只手勾窗棂，指甲深深地陷进坚硬的岩壁。男人向下伸手。“来，”他说，“快抓住我，别要掉下去。”

   Bran seized his arm and held on tight withall his strength. The man yanked him up to the ledge. “What are you doing?” thewoman demanded.

布兰使出浑身力气抓住他的手，男人把他拉上窗台。“你想做什么？”女人质问。

   The man ignored her. He was very strong. Hestood Bran up on the sill. “How old are you, boy?”

男人没有理会她，他用健壮有力的手，把布兰扶到窗台上站稳。“小鬼，你几岁啦？”

   “Seven,” Bran said, shaking with relief. Hisfingers had dug deep gouges in the man’s forearm. He let go sheepishly.

“七岁。”布兰听了如释重负，但仍旧不免发抖。他的指头深深抠进男人的手臂，这时连忙惭愧地放开。

   The man looked over at the woman. “Thethings I do for love,” he said with loathing. He gave Bran a shove.

男人转头去看着女人。“好好想一想，我为爱情做了些什么。”他极不情愿地说，接着便用力把布兰朝外一推。

   Screaming, Bran went backward out the windowinto empty air. There was nothing to grab on to. The courtyard rushed up tomeet him.

布兰尖叫着飞出窗外，落进半空。这次没有任何东西可以让他抓握，庭院以疯狂的速度朝他袭来。

   Somewhere off in the distance, a wolf washowling. Crows circled the broken tower, waiting for corn.

邈远处，孤狼长吼；残塔上，乌鸦盘旋，犹然等待玉米之赐。