Ⅱ 列王的纷争 Chapter47 艾莉亚

ARYA

“这儿闹鬼，真的哦。”热派正在揉面包，从手掌到胳膊肘沾满面粉。“昨晚皮雅在储藏室里碰到东西了。”

There’s ghosts, I know there is.” Hot Pie was kneading bread, his arms floured up to his elbows. “Pia saw something in the buttery last night.”

艾莉亚骂了句粗话。皮雅常在储藏室里见东西。通常是男人。“可不可以给我个果酱派？”她问，“你烤了整整一盘嘛。”

Arya made a rude noise. Pia was always seeing things in the buttery. Usually they were men. “Can I have a tart?” she asked. “You baked a whole tray.”

“我需要一整盘。亚摩利爵士就好这口。”

“I need a whole tray. Ser Amory is partial to them.”

她恨亚摩利爵士，“那我们在上面啐口水。”

She hated Ser Amory. “Let’s spit on them.”

热派紧张地东张西望。厨房里满是阴影和回音，其他厨子和下人都在炉子上方巨穴般的阁楼里睡觉。“他会发现的！”

Hot Pie looked around nervously. The kitchens were full of shadows and echoes, but the other cooks and scullions were all asleep in the cavernous lofts above the ovens. “He’ll know.”

“才不会，”艾莉亚说，“口水又吃不出来。”

“He will not,” Arya said. “You can’t taste spit.”

“他要是吃出来，挨鞭子的是我。”热派停止揉面。“你甚至不该待在这儿。现在是深夜呢。”

“If he does, it’s me they’ll whip.” Hot Pie stopped his kneading. “You shouldn’t even be here. It’s the black of night.”

没错，但艾莉亚才不在乎。即使在漆黑的深夜，厨房也不会停止工作，总有人值班：揉面团制作面包，拿长木勺搅汤，或者杀猪来准备亚摩利爵士的早餐培根。今晚轮到热派。

It was, but Arya never minded. Even in the black of night, the kitchens were never still; there was always someone rolling dough for the morning bread, stirring a kettle with a long wooden spoon, or butchering a hog for Ser Amory’s breakfast bacon. Tonight it was Hot Pie.

“如果‘粉红眼’醒来发现你不在——”热派说。

“If Pinkeye wakes and finds you gone—” Hot Pie said.

“粉红眼不会醒啦，”他的真名是梅布尔，但人人都叫他“粉红眼”，因为他眼睛老是黏呼呼的，“睡下去跟死猪一样。”他一早起来就拿麦酒配早餐，晚饭后便醉醺醺地睡去，连梦中流淌的唾沫都是酒的颜色。艾莉亚只需等到他打呼噜，便可赤脚悄悄爬上仆人用的楼梯，发出的声响就像老鼠。她已经成了老鼠，大小蜡烛都不用。西利欧曾告诉她，黑暗可以为友，他说得对，月光和星光便已足够。“我打赌，我们能逃跑，我跑了粉红眼也不知道，”她告诉热派。

“Pinkeye never wakes.” His true name was Mebble, but everyone called him Pinkeye for his runny eyes. “Not once he’s passed out.” Each morning he broke his fast with ale. Each evening he fell into a drunken sleep after supper, wine-colored spit running down his chin. Arya would wait until she heard him snoring, then creep barefoot up the servant’s stair, making no more noise than the mouse she’d been. She carried neither candle nor taper. Syrio had told her once that darkness could be her friend, and he was right. If she had the moon and the stars to see by, that was enough. “I bet we could escape, and Pinkeye wouldn’t even notice I was gone,” she told Hot Pie.

“我才不要逃呢，在这儿多好，比荒山野林的强多了。我不想吃虫子。来，帮我撒点面粉到板子上。”

“I don’t want to escape. It’s better here than it was in them woods. I don’t want to eat no worms. Here, sprinkle some flour on the board.”

艾莉亚竖起耳朵，“那是什么？”

Arya cocked her head. “What’s that?”

“什么？我没——”

“What? I don’t—”

“用你的耳朵听，不是用嘴巴。那是战号，吹了两下，你没听见吗？还有闸门拉铁链的声音，不是有人要出去，就是有人要进来。想不想去看看？”自那天早上泰温公爵率军出发后，赫伦堡的城门还没开过呢。

“Listen with your ears, not your mouth. That was a warhorn. Two blasts, didn’t you hear? And there, that’s the portcullis chains, someone’s going out or coming in. Want to go see?” The gates of Harrenhal had not been opened since the morning Lord Tywin had marched with his host.

“我在做早餐面包，”热派抱怨。“而—而且我跟你说了，我讨厌黑暗。”

“I’m making the morning bread,” Hot Pie complained. “Anyhow I don’t like it when it’s dark, I told you.”

“那我一个人去看，待会儿再告诉你。给我一个果酱派行不行？”

“I’m going. I’ll tell you after. Can I have a tart?”

“不行。”

“No.”

她还是偷了一个，边走边吃。派皮又薄又脆，其中塞满碎果仁、水果和奶酪，刚刚出炉，还是热的。偷吃亚摩利爵士的果酱派让艾莉亚觉得自己很英勇。光着一双脚，稳健又轻巧，她轻声唱道，我是鬼魂在赫伦堡。

She filched one anyway, and ate it on her way out. It was stuffed with chopped nuts and fruit and cheese, the crust flaky and still warm from the oven. Eating Ser Amory’s tart made Arya feel daring. Barefoot surefoot lightfoot, she sang under her breath. I am the ghost in Harrenhal.

号角将沉睡中的城堡唤醒，大家纷纷走到院子来看个究竟，艾莉亚混在人群中。一列牛车隆隆作响驶进闸门，抢来的财物，她一看就知道。护卫车队的骑手们嘀咕着怪异的语言，甲胄在月光下闪着淡淡的光，她看到两匹黑白条纹的马。是血戏班。艾莉亚往阴影里缩了缩。牛车运进一头关在笼子里的大黑熊，其他车里则载满银器、武器、盾牌、一袋袋面粉、一窝窝尖叫的猪，以及骨瘦如柴的狗和鸡。艾莉亚正计算自己有多久没吃过烤猪肉，这时俘虏们走了进来。

The horn had stirred the castle from sleep; men were coming out into the ward to see what the commotion was about. Arya fell in with the others. A line of ox carts were rumbling under the portcullis. Plunder, she knew at once. The riders escorting the carts spoke in a babble of queer tongues. Their armor glinted pale in the moonlight, and she saw a pair of striped black-and-white zorses. The Bloody Mummers. Arya withdrew a little deeper into the shadows, and watched as a huge black bear rolled by, caged in the back of a wagon. Other carts were loaded down with silver plate, weapons and shields, bags of flour, pens of squealing hogs and scrawny dogs and chickens. Arya was thinking how long it had been since she’d had a slice off a pork roast when she saw the first of the prisoners.

他高傲地昂着头，从举止和衣着看来，一定是位领主。她看到他破碎的红外衣下闪亮的锁甲，还以为是兰尼斯特家的人，但当他经过火炬旁，她发现他的纹章是银色的拳套，不是狮子。他手腕被绑得紧紧的，脚踝的绳子更将他和身后的人连在一起，绳子互相衔接：整个队列只能以一致的步伐摇晃着缓缓挪动。许多人受了伤，但只要谁停下来，骑手便会跑上来抽一鞭，驱赶他继续前进。她想数数总共有多少俘虏，但数到五十就乱了套，只知道总数至少是这个数的两倍。他们衣服上沾泥带血，映着火炬的光，令人很难分辨纹章印记，但一瞥之下，她还是认出了一部分：双塔，日芒，剥皮人，战斧……战斧是赛文家，黑底日芒是卡史塔克。他们是北方人，父亲的部下，罗柏的部下。她不愿去想这代表什么意义。

By his bearing and the proud way he held his head, he must have been a lord. She could see mail glinting beneath his torn red surcoat. At first Arya took him for a Lannister, but when he passed near a torch she saw his device was a silver fist, not a lion. His wrists were bound tightly, and a rope around one ankle tied him to the man behind him, and him to the man behind him, so the whole column had to shuffle along in a lurching lockstep. Many of the captives were wounded. If any halted, one of the riders would trot up and give him a lick of the whip to get him moving again. She tried to judge how many prisoners there were, but lost count before she got to fifty. There were twice that many at least. Their clothing was stained with mud and blood, and in the torchlight it was hard to make out all their badges and sigils, but some of those Arya glimpsed she recognized. Twin towers. Sunburst. Bloody man. Battle-axe. The battle-axe is for Cerwyn, and the white sun on black is Karstark. They’re northmen. My father’s men, and Robb’s. She didn’t like to think what that might mean.

血戏班的成员一一下马。马房小弟揉揉睡眼，从稻草堆里爬出来，照料他们累得半死的坐骑。有人大喊着要酒。吵闹声惊醒了亚摩利·洛奇爵士，他来到院子上方拱顶的楼台，左右各有一人执火炬侍候。山羊头盔的瓦格·赫特在下面勒住缰绳。“代理城主大人，”佣兵打声招呼。他的声音浑浊不清，好像舌头太大，嘴里放不下似的。

The Bloody Mummers began to dismount. Stableboys emerged sleepy from their straw to tend their lathered horses. One of the riders was shouting for ale. The noise brought Ser Amory Lorch out onto the covered gallery above the ward, flanked by two torchbearers. Goat-helmed Vargo Hoat reined up below him. “My lord cathellan,” the sellsword said. He had a thick, slobbery voice, as if his tongue was too big for his mouth.

“怎么回事，赫特？”亚摩利爵士皱眉问。

“What’s all this, Hoat?” Ser Amory demanded, frowning.

“抓到俘虏。如斯·波顿想过河，但我们勇士船把他的先头部队打了个七零八落。杀死好多，可是波顿跑了。这是他们的先锋官，葛洛佛，后面那个是伊尼斯·佛雷爵士。”（注：译者在这里用了个别别字，擅作主张修改了过来，请口齿不清地读赫特的话:-D）

“Captiths. Rooth Bolton thought to croth the river, but my Brafe Companions cut his van to pieceth. Killed many, and thent Bolton running. Thith ith their lord commander, Glover, and the one behind ith Ther Aenyth Frey.”

亚摩利爵士用那双小猪眼瞪着下方绑在一起的俘虏。艾莉亚觉得他并不高兴，全城都知道，他与瓦格·赫特不合。“很好，”他说，“凯德温爵士，把这些人丢进地牢。”

Ser Amory Lorch stared down at the roped captives with his little pig eyes. Arya did not think he was pleased. Everyone in the castle knew that he and Vargo Hoat hated each other. “Very well,” he said. “Ser Cadwyn, take these men to the dungeons.”

外衣有钢甲拳套的领主抬起头。“你保证给我们礼遇——”他开口。

The lord with the mailed fist on his surcoat raised his eyes. “We were promised honorable treatment—” he began.

“闭嘴！”瓦格·赫特喷着唾沫，朝他嘶叫。

“Silenth!” Vargo Hoat screamed at him, spraying spittle.

亚摩利爵士转向俘虏们：“赫特的保证与我无关。泰温大人任命我为赫伦堡代理城主，我爱怎样处置，就怎样处置。”他对卫兵打个手势。“寡妇塔下的大牢应该能容纳所有人。谁不愿去，可以死在这里。”

Ser Amory addressed the captives. “What Hoat promised you is nothing to me. Lord Tywin made me the castellan of Harrenhal, and I shall do with you as I please.” He gestured to his guards. “The great cell under the Widow’s Tower ought to hold them all. Any who do not care to go are free to die here.”

当他的手下用矛尖驱赶俘虏们离开时，艾莉亚看见粉红眼终于出现在楼梯间，在火光下直眨眼睛。若是他发现她失踪，准会大呼小叫地威胁拿鞭子狠抽她一顿，但她并不害怕。他不是威斯。他一会儿威胁打这个，一会儿又要抽那个，但艾莉亚从没见他真正打过人。当然，最好还是别让他瞧见。她环视四周，人们正给牛解下輓具，并从车辆卸货，勇士团的成员嚷嚷着要酒，还有许多好奇的人在围观笼子里的熊。混乱中，偷溜走很容易。她悄悄打来路离开，希望在被人发现抓去干活之前，逃个无影无踪。

As his men herded off the captives at spearpoint, Arya saw Pinkeye emerge from the stairwell, blinking at the torchlight. If he found her missing, he would shout and threaten to whip the bloody hide off her, but she was not afraid. He was no Weese. He was forever threatening to whip the bloody hide off this one or that one, but Arya never actually knew him to hit. Still, it would be better if he never saw her. She glanced around. The oxen were being unharnessed, the carts unloaded, while the Brave Companions clamored for drink and the curious gathered around the caged bear. In the commotion, it was not hard to slip off unseen. She went back the way she had come, wanting to be out of sight before someone noticed her and thought to put her to work.

在城门和马厩之外，巨大的城堡几乎全部荒芜。吵闹逐渐减弱。旋风刮起，号哭塔的石头缝隙发出高亢悚然的尖啸。神木林已开始落叶，叶子随风飘过废弃的庭院，飘过空荡荡的建筑物，擦着石头，发出轻微的声响。如今赫伦堡再度空旷，声音由是有了诡异的效果。有时石头会吸走声音，将庭院裹进一层沉默的毯子；有时回音有自己的生命，每一次落脚都成为幽灵大军的踏步，每一回远方的话音都成为鬼魂欢宴的笑语。这些奇怪的声响困扰着热派，却不能困扰艾莉亚。

Away from the gates and the stables, the great castle was largely deserted. The noise dwindled behind her. A swirling wind gusted, drawing a high shivery scream from the cracks in the Wailing Tower. Leaves had begun to fall from the trees in the godswood, and she could hear them moving through the deserted courtyards and between the empty buildings, making a faint skittery sound as the wind drove them across the stones. Now that Harrenhal was near empty once again, sound did queer things here. Sometimes the stones seemed to drink up noise, shrouding the yards in a blanket of silence. Other times, the echoes had a life of their own, so every footfall became the tread of a ghostly army, and every distant voice a ghostly feast. The funny sounds were one of the things that bothered Hot Pie, but not Arya.

静如影，她安然掠过中庭，绕开恐怖塔，穿过空荡荡的鹰笼——据说在这里，死去猎鹰的鬼魂仍在用虚无的翅膀搅动空气。她觉得好自由，想去哪儿就能去哪儿。驻军不到一百，如此小的一支部队，完全被偌大的赫伦堡所吞没，于是百炉厅连同许多次要建筑一起关闭，甚至号哭塔也废弃不用。亚摩利·洛奇爵士住进焚王塔里的领主套房，和大贵族的居所一样宽敞，艾莉亚和其他仆人也跟着搬进塔下的地窖，以便就近使唤。当初泰温公爵在时，去哪儿都有士兵盘问，但如今一百个人守着一千扇门，谁也不清楚谁在哪儿，也没人在乎他人的去向了。

Quiet as a shadow, she flitted across the middle bailey, around the Tower of Dread, and through the empty mews, where people said the spirits of dead falcons stirred the air with ghostly wings. She could go where she would. The garrison numbered no more than a hundred men, so small a troop that they were lost in Harrenhal. The Hall of a Hundred Hearths was closed off, along with many of the lesser buildings, even the Wailing Tower. Ser Amory Lorch resided in the castellan’s chambers in Kingspyre, themselves as spacious as a lord’s, and Arya and the other servants had moved to the cellars beneath him so they would be close at hand. While Lord Tywin had been in residence, there was always a man-at-arms wanting to know your business. But now there were only a hundred men left to guard a thousand doors, and no one seemed to know who should be where, or care much.

经过铁匠房时，艾莉亚听见锤子不断铿锵。高高的窗户，映着暗橙色的火光。她爬上屋顶偷偷往下看，只见詹德利正在打造胸甲，他干活很专心，似乎全世界只剩下金属、风箱和炉火，而铁锤成了手臂的一部分。她看着他胸肌的运动，倾听他用钢铁制造的音乐。他好强壮，她心想。当他拿起长柄钳子，将胸甲夹起浸入回火的水槽时，艾莉亚“哧溜”一声翻下窗口，跳到他身旁的地面。

As she passed the armory, Arya heard the ring of a hammer. A deep orange glow shone through the high windows. She climbed to the roof and peeked down. Gendry was beating out a breastplate. When he worked, nothing existed for him but metal, bellows, fire. The hammer was like part of his arm. She watched the play of muscles in his chest and listened to the steel music he made. He’s strong, she thought. As he took up the long-handled tongs to dip the breastplate into the quenching trough, Arya slithered through the window and leapt down to the floor beside him.

他看来并不惊讶，“小妹妹，该上床睡觉啦。”他把胸甲浸入冷水，甲胄发出猫一样的“咝咝”声，“外面那么吵，怎么回事？”

He did not seem surprised to see her. “You should be abed, girl.” The breastplate hissed like a cat as he dipped it in the cold water. “What was all that noise?”

“瓦格·赫特带回一些俘虏。我看到他们的纹章，里面有个是深林堡葛洛佛家的是我父亲的人。其他人大部分也是。”突然间，艾莉亚明白自己为何信步走到这里。“你帮帮我，把他们救出来。”

“Vargo Hoat’s come back with prisoners. I saw their badges. There’s a Glover, from Deepwood Motte, he’s my father’s man. The rest too, mostly.” All of a sudden, Arya knew why her feet had brought her here. “You have to help me get them out.”

詹德利大笑，“我们该怎么做呢？”

Gendry laughed. “And how do we do that?”

“亚摩利爵士把他们关进地牢，就寡妇塔下那间大牢房。你可以用你的锤子把门砸开——”

“Ser Amory sent them down to the dungeon. The one under the Widow’s Tower, that’s just one big cell. You could smash the door open with your hammer—”

“你以为卫兵会干看着，一边打赌我要挥几下才能砸开？”

“While the guards watch and make bets on how many swings it will take me, maybe?”

艾莉亚咬紧嘴唇。“我们得杀死卫兵。”

Arya chewed her lips. “We’d need to kill the guards.”

“怎么杀？”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“他们没几个人啦。”

“Maybe there won’t be a lot of them.”

“就算只有两个，对你我来说还是太多。在渔村，你还没学到教训吗？你要真去试，包管被瓦格·赫特砍掉双手双脚，别忘了，这是他的作风。”詹德利又拿起钳子。

“If there’s two, that’s too many for you and me. You never learned nothing in that village, did you? You try this and Vargo Hoat will cut off your hands and feet, the way he does.” Gendry took up the tongs again.

“你怕了。”

“You’re afraid.”

“别烦我，小妹妹。”

“Leave me alone, girl.”

“詹德利，那里有一百个北方人呢，也许还要多，我数都数不过来，反正不比亚摩利爵士的人少。嗯，我是没算上血戏班，但只要放他们出来，我们肯定能夺下城堡，然后逃跑。”

“Gendry, there’s a hundred northmen. Maybe more, I couldn’t count them all. That’s as many as Ser Amory has. Well, not counting the Bloody Mummers. We just have to get them out and we can take over the castle and escape.”

“算了吧，你放不了他们，就像你救不了罗米。”詹德利用钳子翻动胸甲，仔细检查。“就算真能逃，我们去哪里？”

“Well, you can’t get them out, no more’n you could save Lommy.” Gendry turned the breastplate with the tongs to look at it closely. “And if we did escape, where would we go?”

“去临冬城啊，”她立即答道。“我会告诉母亲你是怎么帮我的，你可以留在——”

“Winterfell,” she said at once. “I’d tell Mother how you helped me, and you could stay—”

“我会获得小姐您的青睐？从此为您的坐骑镶蹄铁，为您尊贵的兄弟们铸剑？”

“Would m’lady permit? Could I shoe your horses for you, and make swords for your lordly brothers?”

有时候他就是会惹人生气。“你别这样笨啦！”

Sometimes he made her so angry. “You stop that!”

“一样是流汗出力，我凭什么赌上双脚，拿临冬城跟赫伦堡交换？你认得‘黑拇指’老本恩吗？他从小来到赫伦堡，先后为河安伯爵夫人及她的父亲和祖父打铁效力，甚至在河安家接管赫伦堡之前，还为罗斯坦家族服务过。眼下他是泰温公爵的铁匠，你知道他怎么说？剑就是剑，盔就是盔，手伸进火里就会烧伤——这些东西，不管你为谁效力都不变。总而言之，卢坎是个不错的师傅，我要留下来。”

“Why should I wager my feet for the chance to sweat in Winterfell in place of Harrenhal? You know old Ben Blackthumb? He came here as a boy. Smithed for Lady Whent and her father before her and his father before him, and even for Lord Lothston who held Harrenhal before the Whents. Now he smiths for Lord Tywin, and you know what he says? A sword’s a sword, a helm’s a helm, and if you reach in the fire you get burned, no matter who you’re serving. Lucan’s a fair enough master. I’ll stay here.”

“你会被太后抓到的！‘黑拇指’本恩又没人要抓！”

“The queen will catch you, then. She didn’t send gold cloaks after Ben Blackthumb!”

“金袍子要的很可能不是我。”

“Likely it wasn’t even me they wanted.”

“才怪！就是你，你明明知道：你是个重要人物。”

“It was too, you know it. You’re somebody.”

“我是个铁匠学徒，有朝一日说不定能成为武器师傅……只要我别干些逃跑的蠢事，然后为此失去双脚甚至丢掉小命的话。”他背过身去，再度举起锤子敲打。艾莉亚无助地握手成拳。“下次你做头盔，把牛角改成骡耳朵！”再不快跑，她就会忍不住要揍他了。就算我揍他，这笨蛋也没感觉啦！好啊，等他们发现他是谁，一刀砍下这骡脑袋，他就会后悔不帮我了。没他参加才好呢，在那个渔村，就是他害她被抓的。

“I’m a ’prentice smith, and one day might be I’ll make a master armorer … if I don’t run off and lose my feet or get myself killed.” He turned away from her, picked up his hammer once more, and began to bang.

想到渔村，她就想起那一路的长途跋涉，想起仓库，想起记事本，想起那个被钉头锤砸扁脸的小男孩，想起老笨蛋“一切皆为乔佛里”，想起绿手罗米。我从前是头绵羊，现在成了老鼠，只会躲躲藏藏。艾莉亚咬紧嘴唇，试图寻找自己的勇气。贾昆给过我勇气，他让我成为赫伦堡的鬼魂，而不只是老鼠。

Arya’s hands curled into helpless fists. “The next helm you make, put mule’s ears on it in place of bull’s horns!” She had to flee, or else she would have started hitting him. He probably wouldn’t even feel it if I did. When they find who he is and cut off his stupid mulehead, he’ll be sorry he didn’t help. She was better off without him anyhow. He was the one who got her caught at the village.

威斯死后她一直在躲避罗拉斯人。奇斯威克的死还好说，谁都可以把人从城墙上推下来，但威斯那条丑陋的斑点狗是他从小养大的，要让这畜牲背叛他，想必用了什么黑魔法。贾昆、罗尔杰和尖牙都是尤伦从黑牢里挖出来的，她想起来，贾昆一定干过些可怕的事，尤伦知道，所以才用链子捆着他。如果这个罗拉斯人是巫师，那罗尔杰和尖牙就是他从地狱里召唤来的恶魔，他们根本不像人呢。

But thinking of the village made her remember the march, and the storeroom, and the Tickler. She thought of the little boy who’d been hit in the face with the mace, of stupid old All-for-Joffrey, of Lommy Greenhands. I was a sheep, and then I was a mouse, I couldn’t do anything but hide. Arya chewed her lip and tried to think when her courage had come back. Jaqen made me brave again. He made me a ghost instead of a mouse.

贾昆还欠她一条命。在老奶妈的故事里，古灵精怪会让人们许愿，许第三个愿时得特别小心，因为那是最后一个愿望。奇斯威克和威斯都不太重要，第三条命一定得有价值，艾莉亚每晚复诵姓名时都告诉自己。现在边跑边想，她突然怀疑自己犹豫不决的真正原因。是啊，只用一句耳语便能取人性命，她便无需害怕任何人……可一旦用掉最后一个名额，她又要变回老鼠了。

She had been avoiding the Lorathi since Weese’s death. Chiswyck had been easy, anyone could push a man off the wallwalk, but Weese had raised that ugly spotted dog from a pup, and only some dark magic could have turned the animal against him. Yoren found Jaqen in a black cell, the same as Rorge and Biter, she remembered. Jaqen did something horrible and Yoren knew, that’s why he kept him in chains. If the Lorathi was a wizard, Rorge and Biter could be demons he called up from some hell, not men at all.

粉红眼已经醒来，她不敢回去睡觉，可又不知该躲哪儿，于是去了神木林。她喜欢松木和哨兵树强烈刺激的味道，喜欢青草和泥土挤进趾缝的感觉，喜欢风吹树叶的声响。一条蜿蜒的小溪缓缓流过林间。一棵树木倒落下来，下面有个小坑。

Jaqen still owed her one death. In Old Nan’s stories about men who were given magic wishes by a grumkin, you had to be especially careful with the third wish, because it was the last. Chiswyck and Weese hadn’t been very important. The last death has to count, Arya told herself every night when she whispered her names. But now she wondered if that was truly the reason she had hesitated. So long as she could kill with a whisper, Arya need not be afraid of anyone … but once she used up the last death, she would only be a mouse again.

在腐木和扭曲的碎枝下，她找到自己的剑。

With Pinkeye awake, she dared not go back to her bed. Not knowing where else to hide, she made for the godswood. She liked the sharp smell of the pines and sentinels, the feel of grass and dirt between her toes, and the sound the wind made in the leaves. A slow little stream meandered through the wood, and there was one spot where it had eaten the ground away beneath a deadfall.

詹德利太固执，不愿给她做，她只好自己摘扫帚的须茬当剑用。这剑实在太轻，而且没有握把，但剑尖却还参差锐利。

There, beneath rotting wood and twisted splintered branches, she found her hidden sword.

平日只要得空，她就会偷偷溜过来练习从前西利欧传授的技艺。她光着脚在落叶间移动，劈下枝条，击落树叶，甚至爬到树上，在枝干间跳跃舞蹈。她用脚趾攀住树枝，来回行动，随着平衡感逐渐建立，摇晃不稳的情况日益减少。最好的练习时间是晚上，晚上没有人打扰她。

Gendry was too stubborn to make one for her, so she had made her own by breaking the bristles off a broom. Her blade was much too light and had no proper grip, but she liked the sharp jagged splintery end. Whenever she had a free hour she stole away to work at the drills Syrio had taught her, moving barefoot over the fallen leaves, slashing at branches and whacking down leaves. Sometimes she even climbed the trees and danced among the upper branches, her toes gripping the limbs as she moved back and forth, teetering a little less every day as her balance returned to her. Night was the best time; no one ever bothered her at night.

这次，艾莉亚又爬上树。高高地站在树叶的王国中，她拔出剑来，刹时将亚摩利爵士、血戏班、父亲的部下这一切的一切都抛在脑后，沉醉于脚底粗糙的木枝和空中挥舞扫帚剑的快感中。破枝杈变作乔佛里，她不停攻击，直到它掉落下去。太后、伊林爵士、马林爵士和猎狗都只是树叶，她毫不留情地将之一一斩杀，捣成丝丝绿碎片。胳膊挥累了，她便跷脚坐上高枝，在凉爽黑暗的空气中喘气，一边倾听捕猎的蝙蝠发出的吱吱尖叫。透过繁茂的树冠，她看见白骨一般的心树枝干。和临冬城完全一样。难道真是那棵？……难道她只需爬下去，就又回到了家里，甚至还发现父亲一如往常地坐在那棵鱼梁木下。

Arya climbed. Up in the kingdom of the leaves, she unsheathed and for a time forgot them all, Ser Amory and the Mummers and her father’s men alike, losing herself in the feel of rough wood beneath the soles of her feet and the swish of sword through air. A broken branch became Joffrey. She struck at it until it fell away. The queen and Ser Ilyn and Ser Meryn and the Hound were only leaves, but she killed them all as well, slashing them to wet green ribbons. When her arm grew weary, she sat with her legs over a high limb to catch her breath in the cool dark air, listening to the squeak of bats as they hunted. Through the leafy canopy she could see the bone-white branches of the heart tree. It looks just like the one in Winterfell from here. If only it had been … then when she climbed down she would have been home again, and maybe find her father sitting under the weirwood where he always sat.

于是她把剑往腰带里一塞，顺着高低的枝条滑回地面，向鱼梁木走去。月光将它的枝干染成银白，五角的红叶在夜色里却是黑暗。艾莉亚注视着刻在树干上的人脸，那是一张可怕的脸，嘴巴扭曲，眼神凌厉，充满仇恨。诸神就是这般模样吗？诸神也会像凡人一样受到伤害吗？我该向它们祈祷啊，她突然想。

Shoving her sword through her belt, she slipped down branch to branch until she was back on the ground. The light of the moon painted the limbs of the weirwood silvery white as she made her way toward it, but the five-pointed red leaves turned black by night. Arya stared at the face carved into its trunk. It was a terrible face, its mouth twisted, its eyes flaring and full of hate. Is that what a god looked like? Could gods be hurt, the same as people? I should pray, she thought suddenly.

艾莉亚跪下来，却不知道怎么开始。她合拢双手，请帮帮我，远古诸神，她默默祷告，帮我把那些人放出地牢，杀了亚摩利爵士，然后带我回临冬城，回家。让我成为水舞者，成为冰原狼，永远不要害怕。

Arya went to her knees. She wasn’t sure how she should begin. She clasped her hands together. Help me, you old gods, she prayed silently. Help me get those men out of the dungeon so we can kill Ser Amory, and bring me home to Winterfell. Make me a water dancer and a wolf and not afraid again, ever.

这样就够了吗？远古诸神听见了吗？是不是该大声说呢？或许……该祈祷得久一点，记得父亲时常祈祷很久很久的。可是远古诸神却不帮他，想起这点她很恼火。“你们应该救他，”她忍不住责骂那棵树，“他一直向你们祷告。帮不帮我我倒不在乎，反正就算你们要帮，我觉得你们也没能耐……”

Was that enough? Maybe she should pray aloud if she wanted the old gods to hear. Maybe she should pray longer. Sometimes her father had prayed a long time, she remembered. But the old gods had never helped him. Remembering that made her angry. “You should have saved him,” she scolded the tree. “He prayed to you all the time. I don’t care if you help me or not. I don’t think you could even if you wanted to.”

“女孩不可嘲弄众神。”

“Gods are not mocked, girl.”

这声音令她大吃一惊。她拔出木剑，一跃而起。贾昆·赫加尔站在黑暗中，一动不动，仿佛林中一棵树。“某人来听名字。一个两个第三个。某人要把该做的事做完。”

The voice startled her. She leapt to her feet and drew her wooden sword. Jaqen H’ghar stood so still in the darkness that he seemed one of the trees. “A man comes to hear a name. One and two and then comes three. A man would have done.”

艾莉亚垂下破剑，指着地面。“你怎么知道我在这儿？”

Arya lowered the splintery point toward the ground. “How did you know I was here?”

“某人的眼睛会看。某人的耳朵会听。某人洞察真相。”

“A man sees. A man hears. A man knows.”

她怀疑地瞪视他，难道是诸神派他来的？“你怎么让狗杀威斯？罗尔杰和尖牙是不是你从地狱里召唤来的？你真的叫贾昆·赫加尔吗？”

She regarded him suspiciously. Had the gods sent him? “How’d you make the dog kill Weese? Did you call Rorge and Biter up from hell? Is Jaqen H’ghar your true name?”

“有人名字很多。黄鼠狼。阿利。艾莉亚。”

“Some men have many names. Weasel. Arry. Arya.”

她朝后倒退，直到背脊抵住心树。“詹德利说的？”

She backed away from him, until she was pressed against the heart tree. “Did Gendry tell?”

“某人洞察真相。”他重复，“史塔克小姐。”

“A man knows,” he said again. “My lady of Stark.”

也许他的出现真是诸神对她祈祷的回应。“我要你帮忙，把那些人放出地牢。放了那个葛洛佛，还有其他所有人。我们得想办法杀死卫兵，打开牢门——”

Maybe the gods had sent him in answer to her prayers. “I need you to help me get those men out of the dungeons. That Glover and those others, all of them. We have to kill the guards and open the cell somehow—”

“女孩忘记了，”他平静地说，“她有三条命，至今要了两个。要杀哪个卫兵，说出他的名字。”

“A girl forgets,” he said quietly. “Two she has had, three were owed. If a guard must die, she needs only speak his name.”

“一个卫兵是不够的，得把他们通通杀死，才能打开牢房。”艾莉亚狠狠咬住嘴唇，不让自己哭出来。“我要你像我救你一样救那些北方人。”

“But one guard won’t be enough, we need to kill them all to open the cell.” Arya bit her lip hard to stop from crying. “I want you to save the northmen like I saved you.”

他低头看着她，不带一丝同情。“女孩取走三条本属于他的命。女孩就得拿出三条命来偿还。不可欺瞒神灵。”他的声音既像丝绸又像钢铁。

He looked down at her pitilessly. “Three lives were snatched from a god. Three lives must be repaid. The gods are not mocked.” His voice was silk and steel.

“我没有欺瞒。”她想了一会儿。“名字……我说出任何人的名字？你都会杀他？”

“I never mocked.” She thought for a moment. “The name … can I name anyone? And you’ll kill him?”

贾昆·赫加尔点点头。“某人言出必践。”

Jaqen H’ghar inclined his head. “A man has said.”

“任何人都可以吗？”她重复，“男人，女人，小孩，或者泰温公爵？或者总主教？或者你父亲？”

“Anyone?” she repeated. “A man, a woman, a little baby, or Lord Tywin, or the High Septon, or your father?”

“某人高堂早已去世，如果他仍在世，你又说得出他的名字，他的生死便由你支配。”

“A man’s sire is long dead, but did he live, and did you know his name, he would die at your command.”

“你发誓，”艾莉亚说，“对诸神发誓。”

“Swear it,” Arya said. “Swear it by the gods.”

“奉海洋与空气中一切神祗之名，更奉火神之名，吾立此誓。”他将一只手放进鱼梁木嘴里。“奉新生七神及诸多远古神祗之名，吾立此誓。”

“By all the gods of sea and air, and even him of fire, I swear it.” He placed a hand in the mouth of the weirwood. “By the seven new gods and the old gods beyond count, I swear it.”

他发誓了。“即使我说的是国王……”

He has sworn. “Even if I named the king …”

“名字出口，死亡降临。也许次日，也许隔月，也许来年，死亡将不离不弃。某人无翅不能飞，但一步接一步，终有一天会达目的，国王亦将死去。”他跪在她身前，他们面对着面，“女孩如果害怕，可以悄悄地说。快快说出来吧，是不是乔佛里？”

“Speak the name, and death will come. On the morrow, at the turn of the moon, a year from this day, it will come. A man does not fly like a bird, but one foot moves and then another and one day a man is there, and a king dies.” He knelt beside her, so they were face-to-face. “A girl whispers if she fears to speak aloud. Whisper it now. Is it Joffrey?”

艾莉亚将嘴唇凑近他耳朵。“是贾昆·赫加尔。”

Arya put her lips to his ear. “It’s Jaqen H’ghar.”