Ⅱ 列王的纷争 Chapter23 琼恩

JON

狂风夹着细雨，抽打在琼恩脸上，他踢踢马刺，跨过涨水的溪流。在他身旁，莫尔蒙总司令扯紧斗篷的兜帽，喃喃地诅咒着天气。他的乌鸦停在肩上，风弄皱了羽毛，使它看来和熊老本人一样又湿又躁。朔风突起，湿叶纷飞，好似一群死亡的飞鸟。鬼影森林啊，琼恩可怜兮兮地想，不如说是水淹森林。

A blowing rain lashed at Jon’s face as he spurred his horse across the swollen stream. Beside him, Lord Commander Mormont gave the hood of his cloak a tug, muttering curses on the weather. His raven sat on his shoulder, feathers ruffled, as soaked and grumpy as the Old Bear himself. A gust of wind sent wet leaves flapping round them like a flock of dead birds. The haunted forest, Jon thought ruefully. The drowned forest, more like it.

他暗自希望跟在后面的山姆还撑得住。就算天气和煦，他也骑得不好，而今，雨下了整整六天，路况变得十分凶险，处处是软泥和碎石。狂风卷起，漫天的雨落入眼睛。温暖的雨水混合融雪，注满所有的小溪与河流，让人以为南方的长城也说不定会被它们冲垮。此刻，派普和陶德一定会坐在大厅的炉火边，喝着晚餐前的开胃热葡萄酒。琼恩羡慕他们。他自己一身浸透的羊毛衣粘在身上，湿漉发痒，脖子和肩膀则因盔甲与长剑的重量而压得疼痛，更难受的是，他已彻底受够了盐鳕鱼，咸牛肉和硬奶酪的滋味。

He hoped Sam was holding up, back down the column. He was not a good rider even in fair weather, and six days of rain had made the ground treacherous, all soft mud and hidden rocks. When the wind blew, it drove the water right into their eyes. The Wall would be flowing off to the south, the melting ice mingling with warm rain to wash down in sheets and rivers. Pyp and Toad would be sitting near the fire in the common room, drinking cups of mulled wine before their supper. Jon envied them. His wet wool clung to him sodden and itching, his neck and shoulders ached fiercely from the weight of mail and sword, and he was sick of salt cod, salt beef, and hard cheese.

前方，一只猎号发出震颤的声调，隔着交织的急雨显得分外朦胧。“是布克威尔，”熊老宣布，“诸神保佑，卡斯特总算没挪窝。”他的乌鸦把大黑翅膀扇了一扇，嘶哑地叫声“玉米”，便又继续整理羽毛。

Up ahead a hunting horn sounded a quavering note, half drowned beneath the constant patter of the rain. “Buckwell’s horn,” the Old Bear announced. “The gods are good; Craster’s still there.” His raven gave a single flap of his big wings, croaked “Corn,” and ruffled his feathers up again.

琼恩常听黑衣兄弟们讲述卡斯特和他的堡垒的故事，现在终于亲眼目睹。经过了七座空无一人的村庄，每个人都开始怀疑卡斯特的堡垒是否也像其他地方一样死寂荒凉，幸好担忧没有成真。或许熊老能在那儿找到苦苦追寻的答案，他想，但至少，我们能摆脱大雨。

Jon had often heard the black brothers tell tales of Craster and his keep. Now he would see it with his own eyes. After seven empty villages, they had all come to dread finding Craster’s as dead and desolate as the rest, but it seemed they would be spared that. Perhaps the Old Bear will finally get some answers, he thought. Anyway, we’ll be out of the rain.

早前，索伦·斯莫伍德曾向大家保证，卡斯特虽然名声不好，但确是守夜人的朋友。“我承认，这家伙精神不太正常，”他告诉熊老，“但要换你在这受诅咒的森林待上一辈子，也会跟他一样。他虽然疯癫，却从不把我们游骑兵拒之门外，对曼斯·雷德更没好感。他应该能向我们提供一些忠告。”

Thoren Smallwood swore that Craster was a friend to the Watch, despite his unsavory reputation. “The man’s half-mad, I won’t deny it,” he’d told the Old Bear, “but you’d be the same if you’d spent your life in this cursed wood. Even so, he’s never turned a ranger away from his fire, nor does he love Mance Rayder. He’ll give us good counsel.”

只要他提供一顿热饭，提供屋檐和干燥衣服，我就很满足了。在戴文口中，卡斯特不仅弑杀亲人，还是骗子、强盗和懦夫，他甚至暗示对方和奴隶贩子与魔鬼打交道。“更可怕的是，”老林务官“劈啪劈啪”地嚼着木制假牙，补充道，“这混蛋身上有股寒冷的味道，真的。”

So long as he gives us a hot meal and a chance to dry our clothes, I’ll be happy. Dywen said Craster was a kinslayer, liar, raper, and craven, and hinted that he trafficked with slavers and demons. “And worse,” the old forester would add, clacking his wooden teeth. “There’s a cold smell to that one, there is.”

“琼恩，”莫尔蒙司令命令，“骑到后面去，把消息告诉大家。还有，提醒军官们约束部下，我不允许任何人打卡斯特老婆的主意。谁也不准毛手毛脚，没事少跟她们搭腔。”

“Jon,” Lord Mormont commanded, “ride back along the column and spread the word. And remind the officers that I want no trouble about Craster’s wives. The men are to mind their hands and speak to these women as little as need be.”

“遵命，大人。”琼恩把马转回来时的方向。能让飞雨暂离自己的脸庞，虽然为时不长，他也觉得舒心。一路穿过众多兄弟，每人看来都像在哭泣，整个队列在树林中延伸半里之长。

“Aye, my lord.” Jon turned his horse back the way they’d come. It was pleasant to have the rain out of his face, if only for a little while. Everyone he passed seemed to be weeping. The march was strung out through half a mile of woods.

在辎重车辆间，琼恩遇见了山姆威尔·塔利，塔利戴着一顶宽边稻草软帽，无精打采地坐在鞍上。他骑着一匹高大笨拙的驮马，吆喝着其他几匹马。雨点嗡嗡地打在遮住铁笼的篷布上，里面的渡鸦拍打嘶叫，不住地抗议。“哈，你莫非放了只狐狸进去？”琼恩打招呼。

In the midst of the baggage train, Jon passed Samwell Tarly, slumped in his saddle under a wide floppy hat. He was riding one dray horse and leading the others. The drumming of the rain against the hoods of their cages had the ravens squawking and fluttering. “You put a fox in with them?” Jon called out.

山姆抬头，雨水从帽檐如注流下。“喂，你好，琼恩。不是的，它们只是讨厌下雨，和我们一样。”

Water ran off the brim of Sam’s hat as he lifted his head. “Oh, hullo, Jon. No, they just hate the rain, the same as us.”

“你感觉怎样，山姆？”

“How are you faring, Sam?”

“湿透了。”胖男孩竭力装出笑容。“还好，没什么危险。”

“Wetly.” The fat boy managed a smile. “Nothing has killed me yet, though.”

“那就好。卡斯特的堡垒就在前面，希望诸神保佑，他让我们在温暖的炉火边借宿一宿。”

“Good. Craster’s Keep is just ahead. If the gods are good, he’ll let us sleep by his fire.”

山姆露出半信半疑的神情。“忧郁的艾迪说卡斯特是个恐怖的野蛮人。他娶自己女儿为妻，除了自己订的规矩，什么律法都不依。戴文还跟葛兰说他身上流的是没心肝的黑血，因为他母亲是个女野人，和游骑兵通奸，才有他这个杂……”突然间，他住了嘴。

Sam looked dubious. “Dolorous Edd says Craster’s a terrible savage. He marries his daughters and obeys no laws but those he makes himself. And Dywen told Grenn he’s got black blood in his veins. His mother was a wildling woman who lay with a ranger, so he’s a bas …” Suddenly he realized what he was about to say.

“杂种，”琼恩笑道，“只管直说就是，山姆，我以前又不是没听过。”他踢踢马刺，驱策胯下那匹结实的矮马前进。“我得去找奥廷爵士。对了，不可招惹卡斯特的女人哦，”好像山姆威尔还需要提醒似的，“扎营以后，我们再聊。”

“A bastard,” Jon said with a laugh. “You can say it, Sam. I’ve heard the word before.” He put the spurs to his surefooted little garron. “I need to hunt down Ser Ottyn. Be careful around Craster’s women.” As if Samwell Tarly needed warning on that score. “We’ll talk later, after we’ve made camp.”

找到奥廷·威勒斯爵士时，他正率领后卫部队一路缓行。奥廷爵士和莫尔蒙年纪相当，矮短身材，尖尖的脸，模样总那么疲惫(从前在黑城堡时也一样)。大雨无情地冲刷着他。“好消息，”他说，“这里的湿气都浸进我骨头里去了，瞧，只怕连鞍子都在抗议哩，痛得很哪。”

Jon carried the word back to Ser Ottyn Wythers, plodding along with the rear guard. A small prune-faced man of an age with Mormont, Ser Ottyn always looked tired, even at Castle Black, and the rain had beaten him down unmercifully. “Welcome tidings,” he said. “This wet has soaked my bones, and even my saddle sores complain of saddle sores.”

回程路上，琼恩远远避开拉长的队列，转而在浓密的森林中选择捷径。人马的声音渐渐降低，吞没在润湿的绿荒中，不一会儿，耳中只剩瓢泼大雨击打叶子、树木和岩石的声响。天色刚入下午，森林里却黑如黄昏。琼恩在岩石和水坑之间寻找道路，穿过大橡树，灰绿的哨兵树和黑皮铁树。浓密的树枝为他搭起天篷，使他暂时摆脱雨点的敲打。骑经一棵被闪电击中，爬满野生白玫瑰的栗树时，他听见草丛里沙沙作响。“白灵，”他唤道，“白灵，过来。”

On his way back, Jon swung wide of the column’s line of march and took a shorter path through the thick of the wood. The sounds of man and horse diminished, swallowed up by the wet green wild, and soon enough he could hear only the steady wash of rain against leaf and tree and rock. It was midafternoon, yet the forest seemed as dark as dusk. Jon wove a path between rocks and puddles, past great oaks, grey-green sentinels, and black-barked ironwoods. In places the branches wove a canopy overhead and he was given a moment’s respite from the drumming of the rain against his head. As he rode past a lightning-blasted chestnut tree overgrown with wild white roses, he heard something rustling in the underbrush. “Ghost,” he called out. “Ghost, to me.”

钻出来的却是戴文，他骑着一匹鬃毛杂乱的灰矮马，旁边还有葛兰。熊老在行军纵队两翼都派出轻骑，不仅为了探察地形，更为了警报敌人的逼近。他不敢大意，训令侦查兵们两两一组，结伴行动。

But it was Dywen who emerged from the greenery, forking a shaggy grey garron with Grenn ahorse beside him. The Old Bear had deployed outriders to either side of the main column, to screen their march and warn of the approach of any enemies, and even there he took no chances, sending the men out in pairs.

“啊，是你呀，雪诺大人。”戴文咧嘴大笑，他的假牙是用橡木雕的，且极不搭配。“我和这孩子还以为咱遇异鬼了哩。怎么，狼走丢了？”

“Ah, it’s you, Lord Snow.” Dywen smiled an oaken smile; his teeth were carved of wood, and fit badly. “Thought me and the boy had us one o’ them Others to deal with. Lose your wolf?”

“他打猎去了，”白灵不爱和队伍一起前进，但也不会跑远。每当人们安营扎寨后，他自会找到总司令帐篷，返回琼恩身边。

“He’s off hunting.” Ghost did not like to travel with the column, but he would not be far. When they made camp for the night, he’d find his way to Jon at the Lord Commander’s tent.

“照我看，只怕是捉鱼去了吧，到处都是滔天大水。”戴文说。

“Fishing, I’d call it, in this wet,” Dywen said.

“我妈常说，多下雨对庄稼好，”葛兰乐观地插话。

“My mother always said rain was good for growing crops,” Grenn put in hopefully.

“吓，庄稼上的霉长得比较快，”戴文道，“像这样的雨能带来的惟一好处，就是省了洗澡的工夫。”他的木假牙发出一声清脆的劈啪。

“Aye, a good crop of mildew,” Dywen said. “The best thing about a rain like this, it saves a man from taking baths.” He made a clacking sound on his wooden teeth.

“布克威尔找到了卡斯特，”琼恩告诉他们。

“Buckwell’s found Craster,” Jon told them.

“他弄丢过他吗？”戴文咯咯笑道，“你们这些小伙子啊，可千万别招惹卡斯特的老婆，听到没？”

“Had he lost him?” Dywen chuckled. “See that you young bucks don’t go nosing about Craster’s wives, you hear?”

琼恩笑了，“想独占芳泽么，戴文？”

Jon smiled. “Want them all for yourself, Dywen?”

戴文再度嚼起假牙。“别说，我还真有这种打算哩。卡斯特还不是十根指头一个鸡巴，最多数到十一。少两三个，想来也发现不了。”

Dywen clacked his teeth some more. “Might be I do. Craster’s got ten fingers and one cock, so he don’t count but to eleven. He’d never miss a couple.”

“说真的，他到底有几个老婆啊？”葛兰问。

“How many wives does he have, truly?” Grenn asked.

“反正你是永远别想比啦，兄弟。是嘛，老婆自己生，要多少有多少。哦，雪诺，你那家伙回来啦。”

“More’n you ever will, brother. Well, it’s not so hard when you breed your own. There’s your beast, Snow.”

白灵小跑着来到琼恩马边，尾巴高翘，一身白毛在大雨中显得厚实了许多。他来去无声，琼恩也不知道是何时出现的。葛兰的马一闻到气息就惊得退开——即使现在，经过了一年多时间，马儿们还是没能习惯冰原狼的存在。“跟我走，白灵，”琼恩朝卡斯特的堡垒骑去。

Ghost was trotting along beside Jon’s horse with tail held high, his white fur ruffed up thick against the rain. He moved so silently Jon could not have said just when he appeared. Grenn’s mount shied at the scent of him; even now, after more than a year, the horses were uneasy in the presence of the direwolf. “With me, Ghost.” Jon spurred off to Craster’s Keep.

他不敢想像在离开长城这么远的地方还能发现石制城堡，所以便自顾自地勾勒出一幅树丛之中栏栅围着木楼的景象，没料到，事实却更为糟糕：这里只有一个垃圾堆，一间猪舍，一栏空虚的羊圈和一座枝条与泥土敷的厅堂，不值一提，连窗户都没有。大厅又长又矮，房木粗糙，屋顶上铺了草。这个“堡垒”建在一座简直不配称为山丘的小坡上，四周环绕着一道土堤。常年的雨水在堤防上蚀出无数小洞，棕色的水流随之溢下斜坡，汇入一道向北蜿蜒的奔流小溪，因为暴雨，原本便水源丰富的溪涧已成黑暗的急流。

He had never thought to find a stone castle on the far side of the Wall, but he had pictured some sort of motte-and-bailey with a wooden palisade and a timber tower keep. What they found instead was a midden heap, a pigsty, an empty sheepfold, and a windowless daub-and-wattle hall scarce worthy of the name. It was long and low, chinked together from logs and roofed with sod. The compound stood atop a rise too modest to name a hill, surrounded by an earthen dike. Brown rivulets flowed down the slope where the rain had eaten gaping holes in the defenses, to join a rushing brook that curved around to the north, its thick waters turned into a murky torrent by the rains.

土堤西南方，有一扇开着的小门，门边有一对插着动物头骨的长竿：一边是熊头，一边是羊头。琼恩加入进门的大队伍，发现熊头上还有一点残存的血肉。里面，贾曼·布克威尔的侦察兵与索伦·斯莫伍德的前卫部队已经把马排成行，忙着搭帐篷了。猪圈里，一大群小猪偎在三头肥母猪身边。旁边，一个小女孩一丝不挂地蹲在雨中的菜园里拔萝卜，另两个女人正准备屠宰一头猪。牲畜尖声惨叫，高亢而恐怖，好似悲苦万分的人所发出的哭喊。齐特的猎狗们疯狂咆哮回应，且不管齐特怎么咒骂制止，它们还是吠个不休，惹得卡斯特养的一群狗也叫喊着回应。不过它们一见白灵，便纷纷住嘴，夹着尾巴逃走，只有少数几只还在低声抱怨，不肯认输。冰原狼对它们不理不睬，琼恩也一样。

On the southwest, he found an open gate flanked by a pair of animal skulls on high poles: a bear to one side, a ram to the other. Bits of flesh still clung to the bear skull, Jon noted as he joined the line riding past. Within, Jarmen Buckwell’s scouts and men from Thoren Smallwood’s van were setting up horse lines and struggling to raise tents. A host of piglets rooted about three huge sows in the sty. Nearby, a small girl pulled carrots from a garden, naked in the rain, while two women tied a pig for slaughter. The animal’s squeals were high and horrible, almost human in their distress. Chett’s hounds barked wildly in answer, snarling and snapping despite his curses, with a pair of Craster’s dogs barking back. When they saw Ghost, some of the dogs broke off and ran, while others began to bay and growl. The direwolf ignored them, as did Jon.

好吧，现在我们之中大概有三十人能暖暖和和，烘干衣服了，琼恩仔细打量房子一眼得出结论，说不定能容纳五十人。然而这地方太小，绝对不够两百人睡，所以多数人肯定还得待在外面。可要他们住哪儿呢？在这个杂乱的院落里，除了及踝深的水坑，就是湿漉漉的泥泞。看来，又一个阴郁的夜晚等在眼前。

Well, thirty of us will be warm and dry, Jon thought once he’d gotten a good look at the hall. Perhaps as many as fifty. The place was much too small to sleep two hundred men, so most would need to remain outside. And where to put them? The rain had turned half the compound yard to ankle-deep puddles and the rest to sucking mud. Another dismal night was in prospect.

总司令已经把坐骑交给忧郁的艾迪照管。琼恩下马时，他正忙着洗刷马蹄上的泥巴。“莫尔蒙司令在大厅里，”他宣布，“他叫你过去。不过你最好把狼留外面，瞧他饿成那样，你会以为他要把卡斯特的孩子抓来吃了。好吧，说真的，我自己就饿得能吃他一个孩子哩，只要热腾腾端上来就行。去吧，马交给我。对了，如果里面又暖又干，就不用给我说啦，没人请我进去。”他边说边弹开马蹄底部一撮湿泥。“这泥巴，你看像不像屎？会不会这整个山坡都是卡斯特拉出来的呢？”

The Lord Commander had entrusted his mount to Dolorous Edd. He was cleaning mud out of the horse’s hooves as Jon dismounted. “Lord Mormont’s in the hall,” he announced. “He said for you to join him. Best leave the wolf outside, he looks hungry enough to eat one of Craster’s children. Well, truth be told, I’m hungry enough to eat one of Craster’s children, so long as he was served hot. Go on, I’ll see to your horse. If it’s warm and dry inside, don’t tell me, I wasn’t asked in.” He flicked a glob of wet mud out from under a horseshoe. “Does this mud look like shit to you? Could it be that this whole hill is made of Craster’s shit?”

琼恩微笑道：“这个嘛，听说他在这儿住了好久哟。”

Jon smiled. “Well, I hear he’s been here a long time.”

“你安慰不了我。还是快进去见熊老吧。”

“You cheer me not. Go see the Old Bear.”

“白灵，留在这儿，”他命令。卡斯特堡垒的门是两片鹿皮，琼恩推开它们，弯腰越过门楣。在他之前，已有二十来个游骑兵头目进了屋，围站在泥地正中的火盆边，水顺着靴子流下，聚成一个个小水塘。厅堂里混杂着煤灰、粪便和湿淋淋的狗的气味，很难闻。然而烟味虽重，空气却仍旧潮湿。雨水从屋顶的烟洞渗进。整栋屋子就只有这一个房间，外加顶上一个用做卧室的阁楼，通过一座摇摇欲坠的梯子相连。

“Ghost, stay,” he commanded. The door to Craster’s Keep was made of two flaps of deerhide. Jon shoved between them, stooping to pass under the low lintel. Two dozen of the chief rangers had preceded him, and were standing around the firepit in the center of the dirt floor while puddles collected about their boots. The hall stank of soot, dung, and wet dog. The air was heavy with smoke, yet somehow still damp. Rain leaked through the smoke hole in the roof. It was all a single room, with a sleeping loft above reached by a pair of splintery ladders.

琼恩还记得从长城出发当天自己的感受：纵然紧张得像个出嫁的少女，却也心怀渴望，期待前方不断升起的陌生地平线后有怎样的神秘和奇迹。好啊，现在总算是发现了一个，他看着这间又脏又臭的大厅，一边告诉自己。辛辣的烟雾熏得他眼睛流泪。真可惜，派普和陶德错过了这么精彩的事儿。

Jon remembered how he’d felt the day they had left the Wall: nervous as a maiden, but eager to glimpse the mysteries and wonders beyond each new horizon. Well, here’s one of the wonders, he told himself, gazing about the squalid, foul-smelling hall. The acrid smoke was making his eyes water. A pity that Pyp and Toad can’t see all they’re missing.

卡斯特靠在火盆边，他是屋内惟一一个有椅子坐的人。连莫尔蒙司令都只能挤在长凳上，他的乌鸦在他肩上嘀咕着。贾曼·布克威尔站在他身后，打补丁的盔甲和湿得发亮的皮衣不住淌水，索伦·斯莫伍德也站在旁边，身穿以前属于杰瑞米爵士的胸甲和黑貂皮斗篷。

Craster sat above the fire, the only man to enjoy his own chair. Even Lord Commander Mormont must seat himself on the common bench, with his raven muttering on his shoulder. Jarman Buckwell stood behind, dripping from patched mail and shiny wet leather, beside Thoren Smallwood in the late Ser Jaremy’s heavy breastplate and sable-trimmed cloak.

相较之下，卡斯特一身羊皮背心和兽皮拼成的斗篷显得寒酸了许多，然而在他粗大的手腕上，却带有一只手镯，分量颇重，金光闪闪。他看上去虽已进入人生末途，头发由灰转白，时日应该不多，但毋庸置疑，仍旧是个很有力量的人。扁平的鼻子和下垂的嘴唇让他的模样带有几分凶残，他还缺了一只耳朵。这就是活生生的野人。琼恩想起老奶妈口中用头骨饮血的蛮人。但眼前的卡斯特喝的是淡黄啤酒，用的是琢石杯子。也许他根本不知道那些故事哩。

Craster’s sheepskin jerkin and cloak of sewn skins made a shabby contrast, but around one thick wrist was a heavy ring that had the glint of gold. He looked to be a powerful man, though well into the winter of his days now, his mane of hair grey going to white. A flat nose and a drooping mouth gave him a cruel look, and one of his ears was missing. So this is a wildling. Jon remembered Old Nan’s tales of the savage folk who drank blood from human skulls. Craster seemed to be drinking a thin yellow beer from a chipped stone cup. Perhaps he had not heard the stories.

“三年没见着班扬·史塔克了，”他告诉莫尔蒙，“说实话，我一点都不想念他。”六七只小黑狗和一两头落单的猪在长凳之间躲迷藏，穿着褴褛鹿皮的女人们送来一杯杯啤酒，并升好炉火，开始往壶里切萝卜和洋葱。

“I’ve not seen Benjen Stark for three years,” he was telling Mormont. “And if truth be told, I never once missed him.” A half-dozen black puppies and the odd pig or two skulked among the benches, while women in ragged deerskins passed horns of beer, stirred the fire, and chopped carrots and onions into a kettle.

“就去年，他应该路过这儿，”索伦·斯莫伍德道。一只狗在他腿边嗅来嗅去。他飞起一脚，踢得它汪汪直叫。

“He ought to have passed here last year,” said Thoren Smallwood. A dog came sniffing round his leg. He kicked it and sent it off yipping.

莫尔蒙司令说：“当时，班是出来搜寻威玛·罗伊斯爵士的，他跟盖瑞及小威尔一起失踪了。”

Lord Mormont said, “Ben was searching for Ser Waymar Royce, who’d vanished with Gared and young Will.”

“哦，这三个我还知道。带头的贵族小少爷比这些狗崽子大不了多少，穿一身貂皮斗篷拿着黑剑，就骄傲得了不起，还不屑于睡我屋子呢。不过我老婆们倒把眼睛瞪得牛大，望着他瞧。”他转头斜视离他最近的女人。“盖瑞说他们在追踪土匪强盗。我给他说，你自个儿当头的都是个菜鸟，最好别真的追上。就乌鸦而言，盖瑞还不算太坏的种。这家伙，耳朵比我还少，都是给寒风咬的，和我一样。”卡斯特笑了，“现在么，听说他头也没啦。不知栽在哪条道上啰？”

“Aye, those three I recall. The lordling no older than one of these pups. Too proud to sleep under my roof, him in his sable cloak and black steel. My wives give him big cow eyes all the same.” He turned his squint on the nearest of the women. “Gared says they were chasing raiders. I told him, with a commander that green, best not catch ’em. Gared wasn’t half-bad, for a crow. Had less ears than me, that one. The ’bite took ’em, same as mine.” Craster laughed. “Now I hear he got no head neither. The ’bite do that too?”

琼恩回想起洒在白雪里的那滩红血，想起席恩·葛雷乔伊踢死人头的情景。此人是个逃兵。回临冬城的路上，琼恩和罗柏一起赛跑，在雪地里发现六只冰原狼小崽。一千年前的往事。

Jon remembered a spray of red blood on white snow, and the way Theon Greyjoy had kicked the dead man’s head. The man was a deserter. On the way back to Winterfell, Jon and Robb had raced, and found six direwolf pups in the snow. A thousand years ago.

“威玛爵士离开后，去了哪里？”

“When Ser Waymar left you, where was he bound?”

卡斯特耸肩，“我事情多着呢，哪有空管乌鸦打哪儿来，飞哪儿去。”他把酒一饮而尽，杯子放到一边。“嘿，整整一年，都没南方的好酒来啦！我缺酒，还缺把新斧子。旧的太钝，没用，老子有一大堆老婆要保护哩。”他环视他那群忙碌的妻子。

Craster gave a shrug. “Happens I have better things to do than tend to the comings and goings of crows.” He drank a pull of beer and set the cup aside. “Had no good southron wine up here for a bear’s night. I could use me some wine, and a new axe. Mine’s lost its bite, can’t have that, I got me women to protect.” He gazed around at his scurrying wives.

“你们这里人少，又孤立无援，”熊老说，“只要你愿意，我这就派人护送你南下长城。”

“You are few here, and isolated,” Mormont said. “If you like, I’ll detail some men to escort you south to the Wall.”

乌鸦似乎很喜欢这提议。“长城，”它尖叫，一边张开黑色的翅膀，莫尔蒙的颈上好似戴了高领子。

The raven seemed to like the notion. “Wall,” it screamed, spreading black wings like a high collar behind Mormont’s head.

主人做出一个肮脏的笑容，露出满口破黄牙。“我们去那儿干什么，伺候你晚餐么？咱可是天生的自由民。我卡斯特决不伺候任何人。”

Their host gave a nasty smile, showing a mouthful of broken brown teeth. “And what would we do there, serve you at supper? We’re free folk here. Craster serves no man.”

“如今是艰难时代，独居荒野很不妥啊。冷风已然吹起。”

“These are bad times to dwell alone in the wild. The cold winds are rising.”

“让它们吹。我的根基深得很。”卡斯特猛然抓住一个路过的女人的腰。“告诉他，老婆。告诉乌鸦大人我们有多喜欢这地方。”

“Let them rise. My roots are sunk deep.” Craster grabbed a passing woman by the wrist. “Tell him, wife. Tell the Lord Crow how well content we are.”

女人舔舔薄唇。“这里是我们的土地。卡斯特的堡垒保护我们的安全。我们宁可身为自由人而死，也决不当奴隶。”

The woman licked at thin lips. “This is our place. Craster keeps us safe. Better to die free than live a slave.”

“奴隶，”乌鸦咕哝着。

“Slave,” muttered the raven.

莫尔蒙倾身向前，“一路走来，每个村子都遭遗弃。离开长城以后，你这儿是我们头一处见到活人的地方。其他人都消失了……被杀，逃走，还是被俘，我不知道。连动物也都不在了。什么都没有。早些时候，我们还在离长城仅几里格的地方找到班杨·史塔克手下两个游骑兵的尸体。他们苍白冰冷，手脚乌黑，伤口不流血。我们把他们带回黑城堡，他们却在半夜里爬起来杀人。其中一个杀掉了杰瑞米·莱克爵士，另一个跑来杀我，可见他们虽然保留着生前的某些记忆，但已经换成了一副毫无人性的歹毒心肠。”

Mormont leaned forward. “Every village we have passed has been abandoned. Yours are the first living faces we’ve seen since we left the Wall. The people are gone … whether dead, fled, or taken, I could not say. The animals as well. Nothing is left. And earlier, we found the bodies of two of Ben Stark’s rangers only a few leagues from the Wall. They were pale and cold, with black hands and black feet and wounds that did not bleed. Yet when we took them back to Castle Black they rose in the night and killed. One slew Ser Jaremy Rykker and the other came for me, which tells me that they remember some of what they knew when they lived, but there was no human mercy left in them.”

女人合不拢嘴，脸上活像长了个潮湿的粉红洞穴，但卡斯特嗤之以鼻：“我们这儿可没那种麻烦……我谢谢你，不要在我的屋檐下说这些邪恶的事。我是个敬神的人，神灵会保佑我平安。就算尸体变鬼爬出来，我也知道怎么送他们回坟墓。不过嘛，得先找把称手锋利的新斧子。”他一巴掌打在妻子身上，吼着要她快行动，“再拿点啤酒来，搞快点。”

The woman’s mouth hung open, a wet pink cave, but Craster only gave a snort. “We’ve had no such troubles here … and I’ll thank you not to tell such evil tales under my roof. I’m a godly man, and the gods keep me safe. If wights come walking, I’ll know how to send them back to their graves. Though I could use me a sharp new axe.” He sent his wife scurrying with a slap on her leg and a shout of “More beer, and be quick about it.”

“既然你不怕死人，”贾曼·布克威尔说，“那活人呢，大人？你的国王怎么说？”

“No trouble from the dead,” Jarmen Buckwell said, “but what of the living, my lord? What of your king?”

“国王！”莫尔蒙的乌鸦尖叫道，“国王，国王，国王。”

“King!” cried Mormont’s raven. “King, king, king.”

“那个曼斯·雷德？”卡斯特朝火堆淬了一口。“所谓的‘塞外之王’？哼，自由民要国王干嘛？”他转头斜视莫尔蒙，“好吧，我可以给你讲讲雷德和他干的那些勾当，不过我记性可不太好。告诉你吧，这些空荡荡的村庄，都是他干的。如果我也那么好欺负，等你们找到这儿，早不见人了。他派来一个骑马的，叫我务必离开自己的堡垒，去他脚边摇尾巴。人被我赶走了，只要了舌头。喏，就钉在墙上。”他指了指，“或许我能告诉你上哪儿去找曼斯·雷德，如果我记得住的话。”他又咧开黄板牙笑了，“这个我们可以慢慢谈。你们大概很想住我的屋檐下吧，嘿嘿，只怕还想把我的猪报销光呢。”

“That Mance Rayder?” Craster spit into the fire. “King-beyond-the-Wall. What do free folk want with kings?” He turned his squint on Mormont. “There’s much I could tell you o’ Rayder and his doings, if I had a mind. This o’ the empty villages, that’s his work. You would have found this hall abandoned as well, if I were a man to scrape to such. He sends a rider, tells me I must leave my own keep to come grovel at his feet. I sent the man back, but kept his tongue. It’s nailed to that wall there.” He pointed. “Might be that I could tell you where to seek Mance Rayder. If I had a mind.” The brown smile again. “But we’ll have time enough for that. You’ll be wanting to sleep beneath my roof, belike, and eat me out of pigs.”

“有个屋檐遮风挡雨咱们感激不尽，大人，”莫尔蒙说，“我们走了很长的路，全身都湿透了。”

“A roof would be most welcome, my lord,” Mormont said. “We’ve had hard riding, and too much wet.”

“那么，今晚你们就算是这里的客人。就只今晚，我可不太喜欢乌鸦。上面的阁楼我和我老婆唾，下面的地板你们爱怎么安排都行。我提供二十人份的肉和啤酒，多的没有。你手下多余的黑乌鸦就啄自己带的玉米去吧。”

“Then you’ll guest here for a night. No longer, I’m not that fond o’ crows. The loft’s for me and mine, but you’ll have all the floor you like. I’ve meat and beer for twenty, no more. The rest o’ your black crows can peck after their own corn.”

“我们有足够的给养，大人，”熊老说，“我们很乐意与您分享我们的食物和饮酒。”

“We’ve packed in our own supplies, my lord,” said the Old Bear. “We should be pleased to share our food and wine.”

卡斯特用毛茸茸的手背揩揩下垂的嘴唇。“我会尝尝你的酒，乌鸦大人，我会的。最后一件事：哪只臭手敢碰我老婆一下，我就把它给剁掉。”

Craster wiped his drooping mouth with the back of a hairy hand. “I’ll taste your wine, Lord Crow, that I will. One more thing. Any man lays a hand on my wives, he loses the hand.”

“你的屋檐下，你说了算。”索伦·斯莫伍德道，莫尔蒙司令僵硬地点点头，他看上去一点都不高兴。

“Your roof, your rule,” said Thoren Smallwood, and Lord Mormont nodded stiffly, though he looked none too pleased.

“那就说定了，”卡斯特不情愿地哼了一声，“你们这群乌鸦里有会画图的吗？”

“That’s settled, then.” Craster grudged them a grunt. “D’ya have a man can draw a map?”

“山姆·塔利行，”琼恩挤上前，“山姆他爱死地图了。”

“Sam Tarly can.” Jon pushed forward. “Sam loves maps.”

莫尔蒙示意他走近，“叫他吃饱了就过来，带上羽毛笔和羊皮纸。把托勒特也找来，让他拿上我的斧头，作为送给主人的谢礼。”

Mormont beckoned him closer. “Send him here after he’s eaten. Have him bring quill and parchment. And find Tollett as well. Tell him to bring my axe. A guest gift for our host.”

“这家伙是谁？”琼恩正要离开，卡斯特开口道，“他看来像个史塔克。”

“Who’s this one now?” Craster said before Jon could go. “He has the look of a Stark.”

“他是我的事务总管和侍从，琼恩·雪诺。”

“My steward and squire, Jon Snow.”

“哦，私生子？”卡斯特上下打量着琼恩。“男人要跟女人睡，就该把她讨来当老婆，像我这样。”他挥手赶琼恩离开。“好吧，赶快去办事，小杂种，一定给我拿把又好又利的斧子，锈铁不顶用。”

“A bastard, is it?” Craster looked Jon up and down. “Man wants to bed a woman, seems like he ought to take her to wife. That’s what I do.” He shooed Jon off with a wave. “Well, run and do your service, bastard, and see that axe is good and sharp now, I’ve no use for dull steel.”

琼恩·雪诺僵硬地一鞠躬，连忙离开。出门时奥廷·威勒斯爵士刚好赶到，两人差点在鹿皮门边撞个满怀。门外，雨势稍缓，院内到处搭起帐篷，堤外的树木下也有。

Jon Snow bowed stiffly and took his leave. Ser Ottyn Wythers was coming in as he was leaving, and they almost collided at the deerhide door. Outside, the rain seemed to have slackened. Tents had gone up all over the compound. Jon could see the tops of others under the trees.

忧郁的艾迪正在喂马。“送野人一把斧子，有何不可？”他指指莫尔蒙的武器，那是一把镶着金饰花纹的短柄战斧，黑铁斧刃。“他会还我们的，我发誓。不过到时候是插在熊老的头骨里还，聊胜于无。咱们干嘛不把所有的战斧长剑通通都给他算了？骑马的时候，它们丁当喀啦，吵死人啦。没了它们，我们大概会走得更快，直通地狱之门。你说，地狱里也下雨吗？也许卡斯特该要顶好帽子。”

Dolorous Edd was feeding the horses. “Give the wildling an axe, why not?” He pointed out Mormont’s weapon, a short-hafted battle-axe with gold scrollwork inlaid on the black steel blade. “He’ll give it back, I vow. Buried in the Old Bear’s skull, like as not. Why not give him all our axes, and our swords as well? I mislike the way they clank and rattle as we ride. We’d travel faster without them, straight to hell’s door. Does it rain in hell, I wonder? Perhaps Craster would like a nice hat instead.”

琼恩笑道：“他要的是斧子，还有葡萄酒。”

Jon smiled. “He wants an axe. And wine as well.”

“你瞧，这就是熊老高明的地方。先把野人灌得酩酊大醉，等他操斧子杀我们时，说不定就只砍到耳朵。头只有一个，耳朵却还有两个哪。”

“See, the Old Bear’s clever. If we get the wildling well and truly drunk, perhaps he’ll only cut off an ear when he tries to slay us with that axe. I have two ears but only one head.”

“斯莫伍德说卡斯特是守夜人的朋友。”

“Smallwood says Craster is a friend to the Watch.”

“你知道是守夜人朋友的野人和不是守夜人朋友的野人区别在哪儿吗？”这位阴沉的侍从道，“敌人会把我们弃尸荒野，喂乌鸦和野狼；朋友则会把我们悄悄埋起来。我在想，门上那头熊到底挂了多久啊，我们吆喝着到来之前，卡斯特挂在门上的又是什么呢？”艾迪怀疑地望着斧子，雨水不住流下他的长脸。“里面干不干？”

“Do you know the difference between a wildling who’s a friend to the Watch and one who’s not?” asked the dour squire. “Our enemies leave our bodies for the crows and the wolves. Our friends bury us in secret graves. I wonder how long that bear’s been nailed up on that gate, and what Craster had there before we came hallooing?” Edd looked at the axe doubtfully, the rain running down his long face. “Is it dry in there?”

“比外面当然干得多喽。”

“Drier than out here.”

“如果我进去以后，不太靠近火堆，说不定他们到早上才发现我。虽然进到房里的人算是最先没命，但至少死的时候身上干干燥燥的。”

“If I lurk about after, not too close to the fire, belike they’ll take no note of me till morn. The ones under his roof will be the first he murders, but at least we’ll die dry.”

琼恩忍俊不禁，“卡斯特是一个人，而我们有两百弟兄。他杀得了谁呀？”

Jon had to laugh. “Craster’s one man. We’re two hundred. I doubt he’ll murder anyone.”

“你在安慰我，”艾迪说，他的语气低沉到极点。“不过嘛，死在上好的利斧下还算不错。要是被槌子谋杀可就惨了。有一次，我见人被槌子挥中，皮一点没破，可脑袋里全打烂啦，胀得像个大葫芦，整个变成紫红。他人长得本来不错，死的时候却很丑。谢天谢地，我们送的不是槌子。”艾迪摇头走开，一身浸透的黑斗篷不住淌水。

“You cheer me,” said Edd, sounding utterly morose. “And besides, there’s much to be said for a good sharp axe. I’d hate to be murdered with a maul. I saw a man hit in the brow with a maul once. Scarce split the skin at all, but his head turned mushy and swelled up big as a gourd, only purply-red. A comely man, but he died ugly. It’s good that we’re not giving them mauls.” Edd walked away shaking his head, his sodden black cloak shedding rain behind him.

琼恩喂了马，才想起自己没吃晚餐。他正思索上哪儿去找山姆，忽然听到一声惊恐的尖叫：“狼！”他沿着厅堂飞跑，冲向声音传来的方向，靴子不断陷入烂泥。一个卡斯特的女人背靠溅满烂泥的墙，“别过来！”她朝白灵尖叫，“你别过来！”冰原狼嘴衔一只兔子，身前还躺着一只血淋淋的死兔。“快帮我把他赶走吧，大人，”她看见他，便开口哀告。

Jon got the horses fed before he stopped to think of his own supper. He was wondering where to find Sam when he heard a shout of fear. “Wolf!” He sprinted around the hall toward the cry, the earth sucking at his boots. One of Craster’s women was backed up against the mud-spattered wall of the keep. “Keep away,” she was shouting at Ghost. “You keep away!” The direwolf had a rabbit in his mouth and another dead and bloody on the ground before him. “Get it away, m’lord,” she pleaded when she saw him.