《冰与火之歌》Bran 幕1
The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.
晨色清冷，带著一丝寂寥，隐然暗示夏日将尽。
- dawn在这里做动词，表示(of a day or a period of time) to begin“破晓”，虽然dawn是动词，但后面跟的是形容词clear and cold。clear and cold修饰的是morning，而非dawn。再看一个类似的句子：
The following morning dawned bright and warm.
第二天一大早阳光和煦。
在这句话中，用dawn比用be更具有动态感，仿佛身临其境，微冷的早晨，天边的一缕晨光映入眼帘，天色渐亮。
- with a crispness补充“The morning had dawned clear and cold”，指晨色清冷，带著一丝寂寥。crispness后面又跟了一个定语从句，对crispness展开：that hinted at the end of summer 暗示夏日将尽。
They set forth at daybreak to see a man beheaded, twenty in all, and Bran rode among them, nervous with excitement.
为数二十人的队伍於破晓时分轻骑启程，布兰策马置身其间，满心焦虑又兴奋难耐。
- set forth点出人物的动作：动身、出发；
- daybreak点明时间：黎明、拂晓，呼应了前面的dawn。daybreak是两个名词组合成另一个名词的构词结构，类似的还有heartbeat 心跳， sunrise 日出 等等。
- see a man beheaded是see sb/sth done的结构，表示“看到sb/sth被做某事”，后面也出现了这种用法：see the king’s justice done（do sb/sth justice 公正合理地对待sb/sth、伸张正义）
Robb thought he was a wildling, his sword sworn to Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall.
罗柏认为他是个誓死效忠"境外之王"曼斯·雷德的野人。
- his sword sworn to Mance Rayder是独立主格，sworn to...可以看成过去分词形式的后置定语，修饰sword。这里用了个借喻，用sword剑来代指人物的誓言，这在《冰与火之歌》里非常常见。
在新闻中，be sworn in (as president / to office)则表示“宣誓就任总统、宣誓就职”，比如拜登在北京时间1月21日就任美国总统，可以说：
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in on Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States.（New York Times）
拜登于周三就任美国第46届总统。
It made Bran’s skin prickle to think of it.
浑身起了鸡皮疙瘩。
- prickle 作动词指感到刺痛，《哈利波特》中也出现过这个说法：
His scar was starting to prickle again.
哈利的伤疤又开始刺痛起来。
They consorted with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns.
他们与巨人族和食尸鬼狼狈为奸，在暗夜里诱拐童女、以磨亮的兽角茹毛饮血。
三个精彩的词组，让野人的形象跃然纸上consort with giants; stole girl children; drank blood. 狼狈为奸，坑蒙拐骗，茹毛饮血... 这对7岁的Bran来说简直是噩梦。
He had lost both ears and a finger to frostbite, and he dressed all in black, the same as a brother of the Night’s Watch, except that his furs were ragged and greasy.
他在酷寒中因冻疮失去了双耳和一根手指，全身衣著漆黑，与守夜人弟兄们的制服没有两样，只不过他的衣衫褴褛，而且脓疮四溢。
- lose A to B：A被B夺去（to表示方向，可从词组的字面意思去理解：把A失去给了B，即A被B夺去，英文是画面感很强的语言，我们要想象那种画面。）
所以，lost both ears and a finger to frostbite 就是“双耳和一个手指被霜冻夺去”。
His closely trimmed beard was shot with white, making him look older than his thirty-five years.
他修剪整齐的胡子冒出几缕白丝，看起来比三十五岁的实际年龄还要老些。
- shot在这里是熟词僻义，形容词，be shot with...指“带有...杂色”(having another colour mixed with main colour)，所以His trimmed beard was shot with white可以翻译成：修剪整齐的胡子夹杂着几缕银丝。
我们小学的时候写作文经常会说：我抬头一看，发现妈妈的黑发中有几根白头发……这时就可以用到be shot with...了。
He had a grim cast to his grey eyes this day
这天他的灰色眼瞳严厉无情
- cast在这里是一个很老的意思，指眼神、瞳影，had a grim cast to his grey eyes的意思是：灰色的眼睛有着严肃的眼神，即神情凝重坚毅。
父亲眼神严肃坚毅，从此刻起他是临冬城的城主，而非那个炉边给Bran讲故事的慈父。
He had taken off Father’s face, Bran thought, and donned the face of Lord Stark of Winterfell.
他已经摘下慈父的容颜，而戴上了临冬城主史塔克公爵的面具，布兰心想。
- don 穿上、戴上(=put on) ，这个词源自中世纪，作者采用古英语词汇，契合了中世纪的场景，就像《甄嬛传》里用“甄嬛体”一样。
美国大法官金斯伯格去世后，《时代周刊》为她写了一篇讣告，里面就用了don一词描述了她第一次穿上法袍的情形，突显庄重、严肃：
Before she donned her first black robe, Ginsburg had brought about a small revolution in how women were treated.
在金斯伯格穿上第一件黑色长袍之前，她就已经带来了一场小革命，推动了女性地位提升。
He took hold of Ice with both hands and said, “In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, by the word of Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, I do sentence you to die.” He lifted the great sword high above his head.
父亲脱下手套，然后双手擎剑，开口朗声说道："以安达尔人、洛伊拿人及'先民'的国王，七国统治者暨全境守护者，拜拉席恩家族的劳勃一世之名，我临冬城主与北境统领，史塔克家族的艾德，在此宣判你死刑。"语毕后，他高举巨剑过头。
- Ice 特指Stark大人行刑用的那把寒冰剑。
- in the name of 以...的名义，比如反腐大剧《人民的名义》的英文就是 In the Name of People.
- sentence you to die中的sentence是一个熟词僻义，动词，表示“判刑、判决”，用法为「sentence sb to+刑罚」，如：
to be sentenced to death / life imprisonment / three years in prison 被判死刑 / 终身监禁 / 三年徒刑
His father took off the man’s head with a single sure stroke. Blood sprayed out across the snow, as red as summerwine.
父亲巨剑一挥，俐落地砍下死囚首级。鲜血溅洒在雪地上，殷红一如夏日的葡萄美酿。
- with a single sure stroke 手起刀落，干脆利落……
Blood sprayed out across the snow鲜血溅洒在白雪上，随后作者又将其比作夏日葡萄酒(as red as summerwine)，给读者极大的视觉冲击。
“Are you well, Bran?” he asked, not unkindly.
“布兰，你还好吧？"父亲语带关切地问。
- not unkindly 运用了Litotes 间接肯定的英语修辞（an understatement which applies a negative to express the meaning of the affirmative），通过否定其反面来表达肯定的意思，使语气有所节制。再看两个例子：
This feast is not too bad.
晚宴还不错。
I wasn’t unhappy with the gift.
我对这礼物还算满意。
Wrapped in his furs and leathers, mounted on his great warhorse, his lord father loomed over him like a giant.
父亲穿著毛皮大衣和皮革护甲，骑在雄骏战马上，魁梧伟岸，就像巨人一样。
- loom over 本意是笼罩，如乌云压顶一般。看一下它的英文解释：If something looms over you, it appears as a large or unclear shape, often in a frightening way. （模模糊糊的庞然大物）出现，有种黑云压城的感觉。
在Bran面前，父亲身材伟岸高大，犹如一个巨人，一个巧妙的词组，把Stark大人的威严再一次呈现在我们面前。
That is the only time a man can be brave. 一个人唯有在害怕的时候才能够勇敢。
美国陆军上校大卫•海克沃斯的名言：
Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.
所谓勇者，是心有所畏，唯自知尔。
In truth, the man was an oathbreaker, a deserter from the Night’s Watch.
那人其实是个逃兵，背弃了守夜人的誓言。
Oathbreaker=oath(誓言)+breaker(违反者)，组合起来oathbreaker就“背誓者”，这也是两个名词组合成新名词的构词法，再看几个词：oathkeeper恪守誓言的人；chainbreaker打破锁链者，写作中可用来比喻突破传统、勇于创新之人/物，比如乔布斯、华为、无人驾驶出租车等；law-breaker 违法者；a box-office record breaker 打破票房记录的电影。
The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
史塔克家族的人体内仍流有‘先民’的血液，而我们相信判决死刑的人必须亲自动手。
hols to the belief that...比直接用believe更能强调这一传统。这已经不是Stark本人相信与否，而已经成为一个信念、信条，祖祖辈辈传承至今。
When that day comes, you must take no pleasure in the task, but neither must you look away.
当那天来临的时候，你绝不可以杀戮为乐，亦不可逃避责任。
- take no pleasure in 不以...为乐，后面跟的the task就是指“行刑”；
but neither must you look away使用倒装结构进行强调，强调虽然不能以杀戮为了，但也不能以此逃避责任。 - look away看向别处，即“逃避”，look away from the task 即“逃避行刑”。
A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.
统治者若是躲在幕後，付钱给刽子手执行，很快就会忘记死亡为何物。"
- paid 形容词，表示“有酬金的”，paid executioners：收了钱的刽子手。
深居高塔，逃避责任，这样的统治者只会淡忘、轻视死亡。
