DAENERYS
64 丹妮莉丝
The flies
circled Khal Drogo slowly, their wings buzzing, a low thrum at the edge of
hearing that filled Dany with dread.
成群苍蝇围绕着卓戈卡奥,缓缓打转,翅膀嗡嗡的声音在丹妮的听觉边际回环,令她满怀恐惧。
The sun was high
and pitiless. Heat shimmered in waves off the stony outcrops of low hills. A
thin finger of sweat trickled slowly between Dany’s swollen breasts. The only
sounds were the steady clop of their horses’ hooves, the rhythmic tingle of the
bells in Drogo’s hair, and the distant voices behind them.
无情的骄阳高挂天空,热气从低矮丘陵裸露的岩层间蒸散而出。汗水如一根根纤细的手指,自丹妮肿胀的双乳缓缓流下。天地间,惟一的声音是马蹄坚定的哒哒声,丹妮发际铃铛有韵律的轻响,以及身后悄声的交谈。
Dany watched the
flies.
丹妮盯着苍蝇。
They were as
large as bees, gross, purplish, glistening. The Dothraki called them
bloodflies. They lived in marshes and stagnant pools, sucked blood from man and
horse alike, and laid their eggs in the dead and dying. Drogo hated them.
Whenever one came near him, his hand would shoot out quick as a striking snake
to close around it. She had never seen him miss. He would hold the fly inside
his huge fist long enough to hear its frantic buzzing. Then his fingers would
tighten, and when he opened his hand again, the fly would be only a red smear
on his palm.
它们大如蜜蜂,体形沉重,略呈紫色,发出湿黏而恶心的光。多斯拉克人称其为“血蝇”。它们居住于沼泽地和死水潭,以吸食人马鲜血为生,并在腐尸或濒死的人畜身上产卵。卓戈恨极了这种生物,每当有血蝇靠近,他的手便如灵蛇般迅速窜出,一把抓住,她从未见他失手过。他会把苍蝇握在巨掌里,听任它狂乱地嗡嗡乱飞,最后才用力捏紧,等张开手,苍蝇已成为他掌心的一滩红印。
Now one crept
across the rump of his stallion, and the horse gave an angry flick of its tail
to brush it away. The others flitted about Drogo, closer and closer. The khal
did not react. His eyes were fixed on distant brown hills, the reins loose in
his hands. Beneath his painted vest, a plaster of fig leaves and caked blue mud
covered the wound on his breast. The herbwomen had made it for him. Mirri Maz
Duur’s poultice had itched and burned, and he had torn it off six days ago,
cursing her for a maegi. The mud plaster was more soothing, and the herbwomen
made him poppy wine as well. He’d been drinking it heavily these past three
days; when it was not poppy wine, it was fermented mare’s milk or pepper beer.
这时,有一只血蝇在他坐骑的臀部爬来爬去,骏马愤怒地甩着尾巴,想把它赶走。其他苍蝇则在卓戈周围来回飞动,越飞越近,然而卡奥却没有反应。他的视线朝向远方的褐色丘陵,缰绳松松垮垮地垂在手中。在他的彩绘背心下,一层无花果叶和干涸的蓝泥覆盖着胸前的伤口,那是草药妇人专为他调制的。弥丽·马兹·笃尔的药膏不仅灼热,更令他搔痒难耐,因此六天前他便已撕掉膏药,骂她是“巫魔女”。泥膏比较舒服,况且草药妇人还为他调制了罂粟酒,这三天来他喝得厉害;即便不喝罂粟酒,他也豪饮发酵马奶或胡椒啤酒。
Yet he scarcely
touched his food, and he thrashed and groaned in the night. Dany could see how
drawn his face had become. Rhaego was restless in her belly, kicking like a
stallion, yet even that did not stir Drogo’s interest as it had. Every morning
her eyes found fresh lines of pain on his face when he woke from his troubled
sleep. And now this silence. It was making her afraid. Since they had mounted
up at dawn, he had said not a word. When she spoke, she got no answer but a
grunt, and not even that much since midday.
然而他却几乎不碰食物,到了夜里则是又踢打又呻吟。丹妮看得出,他的脸变得好削瘦。雷戈在她的肚子里不断骚动,活像一匹骏马,但丝毫没有引起卓戈的兴趣。每天早上,当他从噩梦中醒来,她便发现他的脸上又多了新的痛苦痕迹。眼下,他竟连话也不说了,使她倍感惊恐。是啊,自从他们日出时出发以来,他连一个字也没有说。即便她主动开口,得到的也只是一声咕哝,过了中午,连咕哝都没了。
One of the
bloodflies landed on the bare skin of the khal’s shoulder. Another, circling,
touched down on his neck and crept up toward his mouth. Khal Drogo swayed in
the saddle, bells ringing, as his stallion kept onward at a steady walking
pace.
一只血蝇降落在卡奥裸露的肩膀上,另外一只则盘旋片刻,停上了他脖子,并朝他嘴巴爬去。卓戈卡奥在马鞍上微微晃动,发际铃铛轻声作响,坐骑则以稳定的步伐继续前进。
Dany pressed her
heels into her silver and rode closer. “My lord,” she said softly. “Drogo. My
sun-and-stars.”
丹妮夹紧银马,骑到他身旁。“夫君,”她轻声说,“卓戈,我的日和星。”
He did not seem
to hear. The bloodfly crawled up under his drooping mustache and settled on his
cheek, in the crease beside his nose. Dany gasped, “Drogo.” Clumsily she
reached over and touched his arm.
他似乎根本没听见。血蝇顺着他长长的胡子往上爬,爬上脸颊,停在鼻子旁的皱痕里。丹妮惊讶得屏住呼吸。“卓戈,”她笨拙地伸手去扶他的臂膀。
Khal Drogo
reeled in the saddle, tilted slowly, and fell heavily from his horse. The flies
scattered for a heartbeat, and then circled back to settle on him where he lay.
卓戈卡奥在马鞍上晃了晃,缓缓倾斜,重重地从马上摔了下去。血蝇群散开了一个心跳的瞬间,随即又徘徊而回,停在他身上。
“No,” Dany said, reining up. Heedless of her belly for once, she
scrambled off her silver and ran to him.
“不,”丹妮连忙勒住缰绳,不顾自己的大肚子,蹒跚着翻下小银马,奔向他身边。
The grass
beneath him was brown and dry. Drogo cried out in pain as Dany knelt beside
him. His breath rattled harshly in his throat, and he looked at her without
recognition. “My horse,” he gasped. Dany brushed the flies off his chest,
smashing one as he would have. His skin burned beneath her fingers.
他身下的草地棕黄干枯。当丹妮在他身边跪下时,卓戈发出痛苦的叫喊。他的呼吸卡在喉咙里,看她的眼神仿佛不认得她。“我的马。”他喘着气说。丹妮挥开他胸膛上的苍蝇,学他的样子捏死了一只。手指下,他的皮肤烫得吓人。
The khal’s
bloodriders had been following just behind them. She heard Haggo shout as they
galloped up. Cohollo vaulted from his horse. “Blood of my blood,” he said as he
dropped to his knees. The other two kept to their mounts.
卡奥的血盟卫就跟在后面。她听见哈戈大喊,他们快马加鞭地赶来。科霍罗自马背一跃而下。“吾血之血!”他边跪边喊。其他两人则留在马上。
“No,” Khal Drogo groaned, struggling in Dany’s arms. “Must ride.
Ride. No.”
“不,”卓戈卡奥呻吟着在丹妮怀中挣扎。“必须骑马。骑马。不。”
“He fell from his horse,” Haggo said, staring down. His broad face
was impassive, but his voice was leaden.
“他从自己的马上摔下来。”哈戈瞪着脚下的他们说,他那张阔脸毫无表情,但声音如铅般沉重。
“You must not say that,” Dany told him. “We have ridden far enough
today. We will camp here.”
“别说这种话,”丹妮告诉他,“今天我们骑得也够远了,就在这里扎营。”
“Here?” Haggo looked around them. The land was brown and sere,
inhospitable. “This is no camping ground.”
“这里?”哈戈环顾四周。此地植物干枯,一片棕黄,不适人居。“这里不能扎营。”
“It is not for a woman to bid us halt,” said Qotho, “not even a
khaleesi.”
“女人无权命令我们停下,”柯索说,“即便卡丽熙也不例外。”
“We camp here,” Dany repeated. “Haggo, tell them Khal Drogo commanded
the halt. If any ask why, say to them that my time is near and I could not
continue. Cohollo, bring up the slaves, they must put up the khal’s tent at
once. Qotho...”
“我们就在这里扎营。”丹妮重复,“哈戈,传话下去,就说卓戈卡奥命令大家停下。若有人问起原因,就说我快生了,无法再走。科霍罗,把奴隶带来,让他们立刻搭起卡奥的帐篷。柯索——”
“You do not command me, Khaleesi,” Qotho said.
“卡丽熙,你无权命令我。”柯索说。
“Find Mirri Maz Duur,” she told him. The godswife would be walking
among the other Lamb Men, in the long column of slaves. “Bring her to me, with
her chest.”
“你去把弥丽·马兹·笃尔找来。”她告诉他。女祭司应该和其他“羊人”一起,位于长长的奴隶队伍中。“带她来见我,叫她把药箱也带来。”
Qotho glared
down at her, his eyes hard as flint. “The maegi.” He spat. “This I will not
do.”
柯索从马上瞪着她,两眼刚硬如燧石。“巫魔女,”他啐了一口,“我不干。”
“You will,” Dany said, “or when Drogo wakes, he will hear why you
defied me.”
“你立刻去办,”丹妮说,“否则等卓戈醒来,他会想知道你为何忤逆我。”
Furious, Qotho
wheeled his stallion around and galloped off in anger?.?.?.?but Dany knew he
would return with Mirri Maz Duur, however little he might like it. The slaves
erected Khal Drogo’s tent beneath a jagged outcrop of black rock whose shadow
gave some relief from the heat of the afternoon sun. Even so, it was stifling
under the sandsilk as Irri and Doreah helped Dany walk Drogo inside. Thick
patterned carpets had been laid down over the ground, and pillows scattered in
the corners. Eroeh, the timid girl Dany had rescued outside the mud walls of
the Lamb Men, set up a brazier. They stretched Drogo out on a woven mat. “No,”
he muttered in the Common Tongue. “No, no.” It was all he said, all he seemed
capable of saying.
柯索愤怒地调转马头,飞奔而去……但丹妮知道,无论他多么不情愿,终究是会把弥丽·马兹·笃尔带来的。奴隶们在一片崎岖的黑色岩层下搭起卓戈卡奥的大帐,那里的阴影可以稍稍遮挡午后的骄阳。即便如此,当伊丽和多莉亚协助丹妮搀扶卓戈走进沙丝帐时,里面依旧热得令人窒息。地上铺着厚重的绘画地毯,枕头散置于角落。埃萝叶,那个丹妮在“羊人”城镇的泥墙外解救的羞怯女孩,已经燃起一个火盆。他们让卓戈平躺在草席上。“不,”他用通用语呢喃着,“不,不。”他只说得出这个字,仿佛这是他能力惟一所及。
Doreah unhooked
his medallion belt and stripped off his vest and leggings, while Jhiqui knelt
by his feet to undo the laces of his riding sandals. Irri wanted to leave the
tent flaps open to let in the breeze, but Dany forbade it. She would not have
any see Drogo this way, in delirium and weakness. When her khas came up, she
posted them outside at guard. “Admit no one without my leave,” she told Jhogo.
“No one.”
多莉亚解开他的奖章腰带,脱下他的背心和绑腿,姬琪则跪在他脚边,为他解开骑马凉鞋。伊丽想让帐篷敞开通风,但丹妮不准,她绝不能让别人看见卓戈神智不清的虚弱模样。当她的卡斯部众抵达时,她要他们守在门口。“未经我允许,不准任何人进来。”她对乔戈说,“谁都不行。”
Eroeh stared
fearfully at Drogo where he lay. “He dies,” she whispered.
埃萝叶畏惧地看着躺在席上的卓戈。“他死了。”她小声说。
Dany slapped
her. “The khal cannot die. He is the father of the stallion who mounts the
world. His hair has never been cut. He still wears the bells his father gave
him.”
丹妮抽了她一个耳光。“卡奥不会死,他是骑着世界的骏马之父,他的头发从未修剪,至今依旧绑着他父亲留给他的铃铛。”
“Khaleesi, “ Jhiqui said, “he fell from his horse.”
“可是,卡丽熙,”姬琪道,“他从自己的马上摔下来。”
Trembling, her
eyes full of sudden tears, Dany turned away from them. He fell from his horse!
It was so, she had seen it, and the bloodriders, and no doubt her handmaids and
the men of her khas as well. And how many more? They could not keep it secret,
and Dany knew what that meant. A khal who could not ride could not rule, and
Drogo had fallen from his horse.
丹妮眼中突然盈满泪水,她颤抖着别过头去。他从自己的马上摔下来!的确如此,不仅她亲眼目睹,血盟卫看到了,目击者还包括她的女仆和卡斯部众。除此之外还有多少呢?他们不可能保守秘密,丹妮知道这意味着什么:无法骑马的卡奥便无能统治,而卓戈竟从自己的马上摔了下去。
“We must bathe him,” she said stubbornly. She must not allow herself
to despair. “Irri, have the tub brought at once. Doreah, Eroeh, find water,
cool water, he’s so hot.” He was a fire in human skin.
“我们必须帮他沐浴。”她固执地说。她绝不能让自己陷入绝望。“伊丽,叫人马上把澡盆搬来。多莉亚、埃萝叶,去找水,要凉水,他身体好烫。”他简直是人皮包裹的一团火。
The slaves set
up the heavy copper tub in the corner of the tent. When Doreah brought the
first jar of water, Dany wet a length of silk to lay across Drogo’s brow, over
the burning skin. His eyes looked at her, but he did not see. When his lips
opened, no words escaped them, only a moan. “Where is Mirri Maz Duur?” she
demanded, her patience rubbed raw with fear.
奴隶们将沉重的赤铜澡盆放在帐篷角落。当多莉亚拿来第一罐水时,丹妮浸湿一卷丝布,盖在卓戈滚烫的额际。他双眼直视,却视而不见。他张开嘴巴,却说不出话,只有呻吟。“弥丽·马兹·笃尔在哪儿?”她的耐心快要被恐惧磨光,忍不住厉声质问。
“Qotho will find her,” Irri said.
“柯索一定能找到她,”伊丽说。
Her handmaids
filled the tub with tepid water that stank of sulfur, sweetening it with jars
of bitter oil and handfuls of crushed mint leaves. While the bath was being
prepared, Dany knelt awkwardly beside her lord husband, her belly great with
their child within. She undid his braid with anxious fingers, as she had on the
night he’d taken her for the first time, beneath the stars. His bells she laid
aside carefully, one by one. He would want them again when he was well, she
told herself.
女仆们将澡盆灌满散发着硫磺气息的温水,加入几罐苦油和几把捣碎的薄荷叶。在她们准备洗澡水时,身怀六甲的丹妮笨拙地跪在夫君身边,用不安的手指解开他的发辫,一如他在星空下与她初次结合的那个晚上。她小心翼翼地把他的铃铛一个个放好,她告诉自己,等他康复,他需要重新系上这些铃铛。
A breath of air
entered the tent as Aggo poked his head through the silk. “Khaleesi, “ he said,
“the Andal is come, and begs leave to enter.”
一股空气吹进帐篷,原来是阿戈从丝幕间探头。“卡丽熙,”他说,“安达尔人来了,他请求进来。”
“The Andal” was what the Dothraki called Ser Jorah. “Yes,” she said,
rising clumsily, “send him in.” She trusted the knight. He would know what to
do if anyone did.
“安达尔人”是多斯拉克人对乔拉爵士的称呼。“好的,”她笨拙地起身,“让他进来。”她信任这位骑士,假如还有人知道现在该怎么做,那此人非他莫属。
Ser Jorah
Mormont ducked through the door flap and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust
to the dimness. In the fierce heat of the south, he wore loose trousers of
mottled sandsilk and open-toed riding sandals that laced up to his knee. His
scabbard hung from a twisted horsehair belt. Under a bleached white vest, he
was bare-chested, skin reddened by the sun. “Talk goes from mouth to ear, all
over the khalasar,” he said. “It is said Khal Drogo fell from his horse.”
乔拉·莫尔蒙爵士低头穿过帐门,等了一会儿,使眼睛适应黑暗。在南方的炎热气候下,他穿了宽松的斑纹沙丝长裤,绑到膝盖、露出脚趾的骑马凉鞋,佩剑则挂在一条曲折的马鬃带上。在漂白的背心下,他赤裸胸膛,皮肤因日晒而通红。“到处都是谣言,整个卡拉萨都传遍了。”他说,“据说卓戈卡奥从自己的马上摔下来。”
“Help him,” Dany pleaded. “For the love you say you bear me, help him
now.”
“帮帮他吧,”丹妮哀求。“看在你承诺过对我的爱份上,帮帮他罢。”
The knight knelt
beside her. He looked at Drogo long and hard, and then at Dany. “Send your
maids away.”
骑士在她身边跪下,意味深长地审视卓戈良久,最后对丹妮说:“把您的女仆支开。”
Wordlessly, her
throat tight with fear, Dany made a gesture. Irri herded the other girls from
the tent.
丹妮的喉咙因恐惧而紧绷,她一言不发地打了个手势,伊丽便哄着其他人出了帐篷。
When they were
alone, Ser Jorah drew his dagger. Deftly, with a delicacy surprising in such a
big man, he began to scrape away the black leaves and dried blue mud from
Drogo’s chest. The plaster had caked hard as the mud walls of the Lamb Men, and
like those walls it cracked easily. Ser Jorah broke the dry mud with his knife,
pried the chunks from the flesh, peeled off the leaves one by one. A foul,
sweet smell rose from the wound, so thick it almost choked her. The leaves were
crusted with blood and pus, Drogo’s breast black and glistening with
corruption.
她们离去后,乔拉爵士抽出匕首,熟练地割开卓戈胸膛上的黑叶和干蓝泥,动作之轻巧,难以想像竟是出自如此一位大汉之手。敷料早已干如羊人的泥墙,也像泥墙一样轻易破裂。乔拉爵士用匕首切开于泥,撬掉血肉上的碎块,剥下一片片叶子。一股恶臭甜腻的味道从伤口涌出,浓烈得让她不能呼吸。满地落叶结满了血块和脓疮,卓戈的胸膛一片漆黑,腐烂的伤口闪闪发亮。
“No,” Dany whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. “No, please, gods
hear me, no.”
“不,”丹妮小声说,泪水滚下双颊。“不,求求你,诸神救救我,不要。”
Khal Drogo
thrashed, fighting some unseen enemy. Black blood ran slow and thick from his
open wound.
卓戈卡奥抽搐了一下,好似在与某个看不见的敌人拼斗。黑色的脓血自他伤口缓缓地流下。
“Your khal is good as dead, Princess.”
“公主殿下,您的卡奥与死人无异。”
“No, he can’t die, he mustn’t, it was only a cut.” Dany took his
large callused hand in her own small ones, and held it tight between them. “I
will not let him die ?.?.?.?”
“不,他不能死,他不可以死,这只是个小伤,”丹妮伸出细小的双手,紧紧握住卓戈长满老茧的巨掌。“我不会让他死……”
Ser Jorah gave a
bitter laugh. “Khaleesi or queen, that command is beyond your power. Save your
tears, child. Weep for him tomorrow, or a year from now. We do not have time
for grief. We must go, and quickly, before he dies.”
乔拉爵士苦涩地笑笑。“无论你是卡丽熙还是公主,只怕这个命令都超出了你的能力所及。孩子,请留住你的泪水,明天、或是明年再为他哀悼,眼下我们无暇悲伤。趁他还没断气,我们得赶紧走。”
Dany was lost.
“Go? Where should we go?”
丹妮不知所措。“走?去哪里?”
“Asshai, I would say. It lies far to the south, at the end of the
known world, yet men say it is a great port. We will find a ship to take us
back to Pentos. It will be a hard journey, make no mistake. Do you trust your
khas? Will they come with us?”
“我提议去亚夏。此地位于极远的南方,是所知世界的尽头,据说也是个繁盛的大港。在那里,我们应当能搭船回潘托斯,但毫无疑问,这将是一趟极为艰苦的旅程。你能信任你的卡斯部众吗?他们会不会跟我们走?”
“Khal Drogo commanded them to keep me safe,” Dany replied
uncertainly, “but if he dies?.?.?.?” She touched the swell of her belly. “I
don’t understand. Why should we flee? I am khaleesi. I carry Drogo’s heir. He
will be khal after Drogo?.?.?.?”
“卓戈卡奥命令他们保护我的安全,”丹妮有些犹疑地回答:“假如他死了……”她摸摸自己隆起的小腹。“我不懂,我们为什么要逃走?我是卡丽熙,肚里怀着卓戈的后代,卓戈死后他会继任卡奥……”
Ser Jorah
frowned. “Princess, hear me. The Dothraki will not follow a suckling babe.
Drogo’s strength was what they bowed to, and only that. When he is gone, Jhaqo
and Pono and the other kos will fight for his place, and this khalasar will
devour itself. The winner will want no more rivals. The boy will be taken from
your breast the moment he is born. They will give him to the dogs?.?.?.?”
乔拉爵士皱起眉头。“公主殿下,请听我说。多斯拉克人绝不会追随嗷嗷待哺的婴儿,他们臣服于卓戈的威势,但仅止于此。卓戈死后,贾科、波诺及其他‘寇’便会争夺他的地位,整个卡拉萨将自相残杀,而最后的胜者一定不会留下对手的活口。你的孩子刚一出生就会被夺走,被他们拿去喂狗……”
Dany hugged
herself. “But why?” she cried plaintively. “Why should they kill a little
baby?”
丹妮的双手紧紧抱住胸口。“可这是为什么?”她哀怨地哭道,“为什么他们要杀一个小婴儿?”
“He is Drogo’s son, and the crones say he will be the stallion who
mounts the world. It was prophesied. Better to kill the child than to risk his
fury when he grows to manhood.”
“因为他是卓戈的儿子,况且老妪们宣布他将成为骑着世界的骏马,他的成就已被预言。与其冒让他长大成人后回来复仇的风险,不如趁他年纪还小时杀了他。”
The child kicked
inside her, as if he had heard. Dany remembered the story Viserys had told her,
of what the Usurper’s dogs had done to Rhaegar’s children. His son had been a
babe as well, yet they had ripped him from his mother’s breast and dashed his
head against a wall. That was the way of men. “They must not hurt my son!” she
cried. “I will order my khas to keep him safe, and Drogo’s bloodriders will...”
此话仿佛给胎儿听到,他在她肚子里应声踢打起来。丹妮想起韦赛里斯说过的故事,篡夺者的走狗是如何啃食雷加的孩儿。大哥的儿子当年也只是个襁褓里的婴儿,但他们依旧将他从母亲的怀抱里硬生生夺走,一头撞死在墙上。这就是男人。“他们绝不能伤害我儿子!”她叫道,“我将命令我的卡斯部众保护他的安全,卓戈的血盟卫也会——”
Ser Jorah held
her by the shoulders. “A bloodrider dies with his khal. You know that, child.
They will take you to Vaes Dothrak, to the crones, that is the last duty they
owe him in life ?.?.?.?when it is done, they will join Drogo in the night
lands.”
乔拉爵士搂住她的肩膀。“孩子,血盟卫会陪卡奥殉死,这你是知道的。他们会带你去维斯·多斯拉克,将你交付给老妪,那是他们在世间对他所付的最后职责……在那之后,他们便会追随卓戈进入夜晚的国度。”
Dany did not
want to go back to Vaes Dothrak and live the rest of her life among those
terrible old women, yet she knew that the knight spoke the truth. Drogo had
been more than her sun-and-stars; he had been the shield that kept her safe. “I
will not leave him,” she said stubbornly, miserably. She took his hand again.
“I will not.”
丹妮不愿意返回维斯·多斯拉克,去和那群恐怖的老妇共度余生,但她知道骑士说的是实话。卓戈不仅是她的日和星,更是保护她的免遭危难的屏障。“我不能离开他,”她固执而悲苦地说,再度执起他的手。“我绝不能。”
A stirring at
the tent flap made Dany turn her head. Mirri Maz Duur entered, bowing low. Days
on the march, trailing behind the khalasar, had left her limping and haggard,
with blistered and bleeding feet and hollows under her eyes. Behind her came
Qotho and Haggo, carrying the godswife’s chest between them. When the
bloodriders caught sight of Drogo’s wound, the chest slipped from Haggo’s
fingers and crashed to the floor of the tent, and Qotho swore an oath so foul
it seared the air.
帷幕掀动,丹妮回身,只见弥丽·马兹·笃尔进来,深深低头。由于连日跟在卡拉萨后长途跋涉,她跛了脚,形容憔悴,双腿皮破血流,眼窝凹陷。柯索和哈戈跟在她后面,提着女祭司的药箱。血盟卫们一见到卓戈的伤势,哈戈手指一松,药箱滑落在地,匡地一声巨响。柯索则骂了一句非常难听的话,语气之凶恶,仿佛能燃烧空气。
Mirri Maz Duur
studied Drogo, her face still and dead. “The wound has festered.”
弥丽·马兹·笃尔脸如死灰地盯着卓戈。“伤口化脓了。”
“This is your work, maegi,” Qotho said. Haggo laid his fist across
Mirri’s cheek with a meaty smack that drove her to the ground. Then he kicked
her where she lay.
“巫魔女,都是你干的好事!”柯索说。哈戈一拳挥去,正中弥丽脸颊,轰地一声将她打倒在地,接着又扬腿踢她。
“Stop it!” Dany screamed.
“住手!”丹妮尖叫。
Qotho pulled
Haggo away, saying, “Kicks are too merciful for a maegi. Take her outside. We
will stake her to the earth, to be the mount of every passing man. And when
they are done with her, the dogs will use her as well. Weasels will tear out
her entrails and carrion crows feast upon her eyes. The flies off the river
shall lay their eggs in her womb and drink pus from the ruins of her
breasts?.?.?.?” He dug iron-hard fingers into the soft, wobbly flesh under the
godswife’s arm and hauled her to her feet.
柯索拉开哈戈,并对他说:“不要踢她,这对巫魔女太仁慈了,把她拖到外面去,钉在地上,让每个经过的男人都骑上一回,结束之后,再让狗来骑她。让黄鼠狼扯出她的内脏,让乌鸦啄食她的眼睛,河边的苍蝇将在她的子宫里产卵,吸食她乳房溃烂的脓汁……”他伸出铁一般刚硬的手指,抠进女祭司臂膀松软的肌肉,一把将她拉起来。
“No,” Dany said. “I will not have her harmed.”
“住手!”丹妮说,“我不许你伤害她。”
Qotho’s lips
skinned back from his crooked brown teeth in a terrible mockery of a smile.
“No? You say me no? Better you should pray that we do not stake you out beside
your maegi. You did this, as much as the other.”
柯索的嘴皮自他弯曲的黄板牙往上一翻,露出恐怖的嘲笑,“住手?你叫我住手?你最好祈祷我们不要把你钉在这个巫魔女旁边,今天发生这种事,你要负一半责任。”
Ser Jorah
stepped between them, loosening his longsword in its scabbard. “Rein in your
tongue, bloodrider. The princess is still your khaleesi. “
乔拉爵士隔在他们之间,作势欲拔长剑。“血盟卫,你讲话小心一点,公主殿下她仍然是你的卡丽熙。”
“Only while the blood-of-my-blood still lives,” Qotho told the
knight. “When he dies, she is nothing.”
“除非吾血之血还能活下去,”柯索对骑士说,“在他死后,她就什么也不是了。”
Dany felt a
tightness inside her. “Before I was khaleesi, I was the blood of the dragon.
Ser Jorah, summon my khas.”
丹妮只觉浑身一凛。“我不仅是卡丽熙,更是真龙传人。乔拉爵士,立刻召集我的卡斯部众。”
“No,” said Qotho. “We will go. For now?.?.?.?Khaleesi. “ Haggo
followed him from the tent, scowling.
“哼,”柯索道,“我们走,先不跟你计较……卡丽熙。”哈戈跟随他走出帐篷,双眉深锁。
“That one means you no good, Princess,” Mormont said. “The Dothraki
say a man and his bloodriders share one life, and Qotho sees it ending. A dead
man is beyond fear.”
“公主殿下,那人恐怕会对您不利。”莫尔蒙道,“按多斯拉克习俗,卡奥与他的血盟卫同生共死,柯索眼看自己寿命将近,才会这样放肆。死人是什么都不怕的。”
“No one has died,” Dany said. “Ser Jorah, I may have need of your
blade. Best go don your armor.” She was more frightened than she dared admit,
even to herself.
“什么人都没死哪,”丹妮说,“乔拉爵士,我需要借重你的剑术,请你去穿上盔甲。”她不敢承认自己有多害怕,即便在自己心里。
The knight
bowed. “As you say.” He strode from the tent.
骑士一躬到底,“如您所愿。”他大步走出营帐。
Dany turned back
to Mirri Maz Duur. The woman’s eyes were wary. “So you have saved me once
more.”
丹妮转身面向弥丽·马兹·笃尔。妇人的眼神非常虚弱,“看来,您又救了我一命。”
“And now you must save him,” Dany said. “Please?.?.?.?”
“换你救他一命了,”丹妮说,“求求你……”
“You do not ask a slave,” Mirri replied sharply, “you tell her.” She
went to Drogo burning on his mat, and gazed long at his wound. “Ask or tell, it
makes no matter. He is beyond a healer’s skills.” The khal’s eyes were closed.
She opened one with her fingers. “He has been dulling the hurt with milk of the
poppy.”
“跟奴隶说话不是用问的,”弥丽尖刻地回答,“你只要交代下去,让她照办就成了。”她走到浑身发烫的卓戈席边,凝视他的伤口良久。“但眼下,无论你询问还是交代,结果都没有差别,已经没有任何医者可以救他。”卡奥双眼紧闭,她伸手拉开一边眼皮。“他是不是一直喝罂粟花奶麻痹痛觉?”
“Yes,” Dany admitted.
“是。”丹妮承认。
“I made him a poultice of firepod and sting-me-not and bound it in a
lambskin.”
“我曾用火豆和勿螫我草为他调制药膏,并用羊皮绑上。”
“It burned, he said. He tore it off. The herbwomen made him a new
one, wet and soothing.”
“他说那灼热得厉害,所以把羊皮撕了。草药妇人帮他弄了一帖新的,湿湿的很舒服。”
“It burned, yes. There is great healing magic in fire, even your
hairless men know that.”
“的确很灼热,但火具有强大的疗效,就连你们的无毛人都知道。”
“Make him another poultice,” Dany begged. “This time I will make
certain he wears it.”
“帮他再弄帖敷药罢,”丹妮哀求,“这次我保证让他戴好。”
“The time for that is past, my lady,” Mirri said. “All I can do now
is ease the dark road before him, so he might ride painless to the night lands.
He will be gone by morning.”
“夫人,来不及了,”弥丽说,“如今我能做的,只是为他指引黑暗的道路,让他毫无痛苦地骑马进入夜晚的国度。明日清晨,他就会离去。”
Her words were a
knife through Dany’s breast. What had she ever done to make the gods so cruel?
She had finally found a safe place, had finally tasted love and hope. She was
finally going home. And now to lose it all?.?.?.?“No,” she pleaded. “Save him,
and I will free you, I swear it. You must know a way?.?.?.?some magic,
some?.?.?.?”
她的这番话有如利刃刺进丹妮胸膛,她究竟造了什么孽,竟得到天上诸神如此残酷的对待?好不容易找到栖身之所,好不容易尝到爱情与希望的甜美,好不容易踏上归乡之路,到头来一切都是幻梦……“不,”她恳求,“只要你救他,我就放你自由,我对天发誓。你一定还知道其他的办法……某种魔法,或者……”
Mirri Maz Duur
sat back on her heels and studied Daenerys through eyes as black as night.
“There is a spell.” Her voice was quiet, scarcely more than a whisper. “But it
is hard, lady, and dark. Some would say that death is cleaner. I learned the
way in Asshai, and paid dear for the lesson. My teacher was a bloodmage from
the Shadow Lands.”
弥丽·马兹·笃尔跪坐下来,用那双漆黑如夜的眼睛打量着丹妮。“的确还有一种魔法。”她的声音静得出奇,几与呓语无异。“但是,夫人,这个法术不但施行困难,而且非常黑暗,对某些人而言,死亡反而比较干脆。我在亚夏学会了这个法术,并为此付出惨痛的代价。我的导师是来自阴影之地的血巫。”
Dany went cold
all over. “Then you truly are a maegi?.?.?.?”
丹妮只觉全身冰冷。“你真的是巫魔女……”
“Am I?” Mirri Maz Duur smiled. “Only a maegi can save your rider now,
Silver Lady.”
“是吗?”弥丽·马兹·笃尔微笑,“银夫人,眼下也只有巫魔女可以救您的勇士。”
“Is there no other way?”
“没有别的办法?”
“No other.”
“没有。”
Khal Drogo gave
a shuddering gasp.
卓戈卡奥颤抖着喘了口气。
“Do it,” Dany blurted. She must not be afraid; she was the blood of
the dragon. “Save him.”
“动手吧,”丹妮脱口而出。她不能害怕,她是真龙传人。“快救救他。”
“There is a price,” the godswife warned her.
“您必须付出代价。”女祭司警告她。
“You’ll have gold, horses, whatever you like.”
“黄金、马匹……你要什么都可以。”
“It is not a matter of gold or horses. This is bloodmagic, lady. Only
death may pay for life.”
“这不是黄金或马匹的问题,夫人,这是血魔法,惟有死亡方能换取生命。”
“Death?” Dany wrapped her arms around herself protectively, rocked
back and forth on her heels. “My death?” She told herself she would die for
him, if she must. She was the blood of the dragon, she would not be afraid. Her
brother Rhaegar had died for the woman he loved.
“死亡?”丹妮防卫性地双手抱胸,前后摇晃。“我的死?”她告诉自己,如果情非得已,她愿意为他牺牲性命。她是真龙传人,她不怕,她大哥雷加不就为他深爱的女人而献身了么?
“No,” Mirri Maz Duur promised. “Not your death, Khaleesi.”
“不,”弥丽·马兹·笃尔向她保证。“不是您的死,卡丽熙。”
Dany trembled
with relief. “Do it.”
丹妮如释重负地颤抖开来。“那就动手吧。”
The maegi nodded
solemnly. “As you speak, so it shall be done. Call your servants.”
巫魔女神情肃穆地点点头。“如您所愿,我将完成这个仪式。先请您的仆人进来。”
Khal Drogo
writhed feebly as Rakharo and Quaro lowered him into the bath. “No,” he
muttered, “no. Must ride.” Once in the water, all the strength seemed to leak
out of him.
当拉卡洛和魁洛把卓戈卡奥放进浴缸时,他虚弱地动了动。“不,”他喃喃道,“不,必须骑马。”但等他一进到水里,力量便仿佛尽数泄出。
“Bring his horse,” Mirri Maz Duur commanded, and so it was done.
Jhogo led the great red stallion into the tent. When the animal caught the
scent of death, he screamed and reared, rolling his eyes. It took three men to
subdue him.
“把他的马带进来。”弥丽·马兹·笃尔下达指令,他们随即照办。乔戈将那匹雄壮的红骏马牵进帐篷,它一闻到死亡的气息,立即翻开白眼,扬起前脚,嘶鸣不休,合三人之力才将它制服。
“What do you mean to do?” Dany asked her.
“你打算怎么做?”丹妮问她。
“We need the blood,” Mirri answered. “That is the way.”
“我们需要鲜血,”弥丽回答,“这,就是血的来源。”
Jhogo edged
back, his hand on his arakh. He was a youth of sixteen years, whip-thin,
fearless, quick to laugh, with the faint shadow of his first mustachio on his
upper lip. He fell to his knees before her. “Khaleesi, “ he pleaded, “you must
not do this thing. Let me kill this maegi.”
乔戈霍地退后,伸手按住亚拉克弯刀。他是个年方十六的青年,瘦得像根鞭子,沙场上无所畏惧,平时则笑口常开,上唇已开始留出长须。他在她面前跪下。“卡丽熙,”他恳求,“这事做不得,请让我杀了这巫魔女。”
“Kill her and you kill your khal,” Dany said.
“杀了她,你就是杀了卡奥。”丹妮说。
“This is bloodmagic,” he said. “It is forbidden.”
“可这是血魔法啊。”他说,“这是禁忌。”
“I am khaleesi, and I say it is not forbidden. In Vaes Dothrak, Khal
Drogo slew a stallion and I ate his heart, to give our son strength and
courage. This is the same. The same.”
“我是卡丽熙,我说不是禁忌就不是禁忌。在维斯·多斯拉克,卓戈卡奥不也杀了一匹骏马,让我吃下它的心脏,好让我们的儿子拥有勇气和力量。现在这个仪式也一样,完全一样。”
The stallion
kicked and reared as Rakharo, Quaro, and Aggo pulled him close to the tub where
the khal floated like one already dead, pus and blood seeping from his wound to
stain the bathwaters. Mirri Maz Duur chanted words in a tongue that Dany did
not know, and a knife appeared in her hand. Dany never saw where it came from.
It looked old; hammered red bronze, leaf-shaped, its blade covered with ancient
glyphs. The maegi drew it across the stallion’s throat, under the noble head,
and the horse screamed and shuddered as the blood poured out of him in a red
rush. He would have collapsed, but the men of her khas held him up. “Strength
of the mount, go into the rider,” Mirri sang as horse blood swirled into the
waters of Drogo’s bath. “Strength of the beast, go into the man.”
于是,拉卡洛、魁洛和阿戈三人把又跳又踢的骏马拉到浴缸旁,卡奥漂浮在水里,黑血和脓汁不断流出,仿佛已经死去。弥丽·马兹·笃尔开始用一种丹妮从没听过的语言喃喃念诵,手中陡然出现一把小刀。丹妮没看清刀是从哪里来的。这把刀看起来相当陈旧,红铜铸成,树叶形状,锋刃刻满古老符咒。巫魔女举刀划过骏马颈项,割开它高贵的头颅,马儿惨叫一声,猛烈颤抖,鲜血有如一股红泉,自伤口喷出。若非她的卡斯部众死命扶住,它早已四脚一软,瘫倒在地。“坐骑之力,传予骑者。”马血涌进水中,弥丽跟着高唱,“野兽之力,传予人类。”
Jhogo looked
terrified as he struggled with the stallion’s weight, afraid to touch the dead
flesh, yet afraid to let go as well. Only a horse, Dany thought. If she could
buy Drogo’s life with the death of a horse, she would pay a thousand times
over.
乔戈挣扎着,竭力支撑沉重的骏马,脸上写满了惊恐,他害怕碰触死去的肉体,却更害怕放手。不过是匹马,丹妮想,假如一匹马的死,就能换取卓戈的性命,那要她付出一千次这样的代价都没关系。
When they let
the stallion fall, the bath was a dark red, and nothing showed of Drogo but his
face. Mirri Maz Duur had no use for the carcass. “Burn it,” Dany told them. It
was what they did, she knew. When a man died, his mount was killed and placed
beneath him on the funeral pyre, to carry him to the night lands. The men of
her khas dragged the carcass from the tent. The blood had gone everywhere. Even
the sandsilk walls were spotted with red, and the rugs underfoot were black and
wet.
待得他们任马瘫倒,澡盆里已一片暗红,卓戈全身上下只有脸孔露在血水外。弥丽·马兹·笃尔不需要尸体,所以丹妮对他们说:“烧了它。”她知道这是多斯拉克人的习俗:每当有人死去,他的坐骑也会被杀,放在他的火葬柴堆下,与他一同焚烧,好载他进入夜晚的国度。她的卡斯部众遵令将马尸拖出帐篷,四处都是鲜红,连沙丝帐幕上也血迹斑斑,地毯更是被黑血彻底浸湿。
Braziers were
lit. Mirri Maz Duur tossed a red powder onto the coals. It gave the smoke a
spicy scent, a pleasant enough smell, yet Eroeh fled sobbing, and Dany was
filled with fear. But she had gone too far to turn back now. She sent her
handmaids away. “Go with them, Silver Lady,” Mirri Maz Duur told her.
女仆燃起火盆,弥丽·马兹·笃尔在煤上洒了一种红粉末,顷刻间,冒出的烟便有了辛辣香气,虽然并不难闻,却令埃萝叶哭着逃了出去,丹妮自己也心生恐惧,然而走到这步田地,她已经无法回头,于是她把女仆全部遣开。“银夫人,您也得跟她们出去。”弥丽·马兹·笃尔告诉她。
“I will stay,” Dany said. “The man took me under the stars and gave
life to the child inside me. I will not leave him.”
“不,我要留下来,”丹妮说,“这个男人在星空之下与我结合,给了我体内胎儿的生命,我不要离开他。”
“You must. Once I begin to sing, no one must enter this tent. My song
will wake powers old and dark. The dead will dance here this night. No living
man must look on them.”
“你一定要离开。一旦我开始吟唱,任何人都不能进入这座帐篷。我的咒语将唤醒古老而黑暗的力量,今晚亡灵将在此舞蹈,活人不能看到他们。”
Dany bowed her
head, helpless. “No one will enter.” She bent over the tub, over Drogo in his
bath of blood, and kissed him lightly on the brow. “Bring him back to me,” she
whispered to Mirri Maz Duur before she fled.
丹妮无助地低下头。“任何人都不能进入,”她走到澡盆边,弯下身子,看着浸在鲜血里的卓戈,轻轻吻了他的额头。“请为我把他带回来。”逃离帐篷前,她悄声对弥丽·马兹·笃尔说。
Outside, the sun
was low on the horizon, the sky a bruised red. The khalasar had made camp.
Tents and sleeping mats were scattered as far as the eye could see. A hot wind
blew. Jhogo and Aggo were digging a firepit to burn the dead stallion. A crowd
had gathered to stare at Dany with hard black eyes, their faces like masks of
beaten copper. She saw Ser Jorah Mormont, wearing mail and leather now, sweat
beading on his broad, balding forehead. He pushed his way through the Dothraki
to Dany’s side. When he saw the scarlet footprints her boots had left on the
ground, the color seemed to drain from his face. “What have you done, you
little fool?” he asked hoarsely.
帐篷外,夕阳低垂,天空是一片瘀伤的红。卡拉萨已在此扎营,举目所及,尽是帐篷和睡席。热风吹起,乔戈和阿戈正在挖掘焚烧马尸的坑洞。营帐前聚集了一群人,用严厉的黑眼睛瞪着丹妮,他们的脸则活像磨亮赤铜做成的面具。她看见了乔拉·莫尔蒙爵士,他已经穿起锁甲和皮衣,日渐光秃的宽额上布满豆大的汗珠。他推开多斯拉克人群,走到丹妮身边,当他看见她的鞋子在地上留下的猩红足印时,顿时脸色苍白。“你这小笨蛋,你到底做了什么?”他嘶哑地问。
“I had to save him.”
“我非救他不可。”
“We could have fled,” he said. “I would have seen you safe to Asshai,
Princess. There was no need?.?.?.?”
“我们本来可以逃走,”他说,“公主殿下,我本来可以护送你安全抵达亚夏,实在没必要……”
“Am I truly your princess?” she asked him.
“我真的是你的公主?”她问他。
“You know you are, gods save us both.”
“你很清楚你是。啊,诸神救救我们俩。”
“Then help me now.”
“帮帮我。”
Ser Jorah
grimaced. “Would that I knew how.”
乔拉爵士皱眉:“我知道怎么帮就好了。”
Mirri Maz Duur’s
voice rose to a high, ululating wail that sent a shiver down Dany’s back. Some
of the Dothraki began to mutter and back away. The tent was aglow with the
light of braziers within. Through the blood-spattered sandsilk, she glimpsed
shadows moving.
弥丽·马兹·笃尔的声音转为高亢尖细的嚎啕,令丹妮背脊发麻,有些多斯拉克人念念有词地向后退去,火盆的光将营帐照得通明,透过血迹斑斑的沙丝帷幕,她瞥见帐内有无数影子在晃动。
Mirri Maz Duur
was dancing, and not alone.
弥丽·马兹·笃尔正在跳舞,但并非独自一人。
Dany saw naked
fear on the faces of the Dothraki. “This must not be,” Qotho thundered.
恐惧赤裸裸地呈现在多斯拉克人脸上。“这事不能继续。”柯索大喝。
She had not seen
the bloodrider return. Haggo and Cohollo were with him. They had brought the
hairless men, the eunuchs who healed with knife and needle and fire.
她没注意血盟卫回来,哈戈和科霍罗也跟他一道,带着“无毛人”,亦即用尖刀、针线和火焰为人治病疗伤的太监。
“This will be,” Dany replied.
“这事必须继续。”丹妮回答。
“Maegi, “ Haggo growled. And old Cohollo, Cohollo who had bound his
life to Drogo’s on the day of his birth, Cohollo who had always been kind to
her, Cohollo spat full in her face.
“你这巫魔女!”哈戈咆哮。接着,老科霍罗——就是那个早在卓戈诞生之日,便将自己的性命与之紧紧结合的科霍罗,那个向来待她温和的科霍罗——朝她面门吐了口水。
“You will die, maegi,” Qotho promised, “but the other must die
first.” He drew his arakh and made for the tent.
“巫魔女,你等死罢,”柯索向她保证,“但先杀另一个。”他抽出亚拉克弯刀,朝帐篷走去。
“No,” she shouted, “you mustn’t.” She caught him by the shoulder, but
Qotho shoved her aside. Dany fell to her knees, crossing her arms over her
belly to protect the child within. “Stop him,” she commanded her khas, “kill
him.”
“不,”她叫道,“你不能进去!”她抓住他的肩膀,却被柯索手一挥手推开。丹妮跌倒在地,连忙双手抱住腹部,保护肚里的胎儿。“阻止他!”她朝她的卡斯部众下令。“杀了他!”
Rakharo and
Quaro stood beside the tent flap. Quaro took a step forward, reaching for the
handle of his whip, but Qotho spun graceful as a dancer, the curved arakh
rising. It caught Quaro low under the arm, the bright sharp steel biting up
through leather and skin, through muscle and rib bone. Blood fountained as the
young rider reeled backward, gasping.
站在营帐门口的是拉卡洛和魁洛,听到命令,魁洛前跨一步,伸手欲拿皮鞭,但柯索宛如舞者般优雅地向前一跃,举起亚拉克弯刀,砍中魁洛胸膛。尖利的钢刃咬穿皮革和皮肤,直透肌肉和肋骨。年轻战士喘着气向后倒去,血如泉涌。
Qotho wrenched
the blade free. “Horselord,” Ser Jorah Mormont called. “Try me.” His longsword
slid from its scabbard.
柯索抽出弯刀。“马王,”乔拉·莫尔蒙爵士叫道,“来跟我试试!”他的长剑铿地一声,滑出剑鞘。
Qotho whirled,
cursing. The arakh moved so fast that Quaro’s blood flew from it in a fine
spray, like rain in a hot wind. The longsword caught it a foot from Ser Jorah’s
face, and held it quivering for an instant as Qotho howled in fury. The knight
was clad in chainmail, with gauntlets and greaves of lobstered steel and a
heavy gorget around his throat, but he had not thought to don his helm.
柯索咒骂旋身,手中的亚拉克弯刀飞也似地朝对方砍去,速度之快,刀上魁洛的血有如热风中的雨,溅洒开来。乔拉爵士的长剑在离他脸庞只有一尺的地方挡住这记攻势,刀剑僵持了片刻,力道千钧,锋刃颤抖,柯索愤怒地大声嚎叫。骑士穿着锁甲,戴着铁手套和龙虾护膝,还有厚重的护喉,但他没戴头盔。
Qotho danced
backward, arakh whirling around his head in a shining blur, flickering out like
lightning as the knight came on in a rush. Ser Jorah parried as best he could,
but the slashes came so fast that it seemed to Dany that Qotho had four arakhs
and as many arms. She heard the crunch of sword on mail, saw sparks fly as the
long curved blade glanced off a gauntlet. Suddenly it was Mormont stumbling
backward, and Qotho leaping to the attack. The left side of the knight’s face
ran red with blood, and a cut to the hip opened a gash in his mail and left him
limping. Qotho screamed taunts at him, calling him a craven, a milk man, a
eunuch in an iron suit. “You die now!” he promised, arakh shivering through the
red twilight. Inside Dany’s womb, her son kicked wildly. The curved blade slipped
past the straight one and bit deep into the knight’s hip where the mail gaped
open.
柯索向后一跃,骑士随即突前反攻,但柯索舞动亚拉克弯刀,在头部绽开一片亮如闪电的白芒。在丹妮眼中,柯索仿佛生了四手四刀,乔拉爵士只能勉强抵挡。她听见弯刀砍在锁甲上的响声,看到弯刀划过铁手套时激进的火花,几回合后形势逆转,莫尔蒙踉跄后退,柯索则跳近攻击。骑士的左脸血红一片,一记划破他臀部盔甲的刀伤使他行动艰难。柯索厉声嘲弄,辱骂对手是懦夫、是奶人、是穿着铁衣服的太监。“你去死!”他咒道,舞跃的亚拉克弯刀划破血红暮色。丹妮的儿子在子宫里疯狂地踢打。这时,弯刀滑过笔直的长剑,再度深咬进骑士臀部盔甲的裂口。
Mormont grunted,
stumbled. Dany felt a sharp pain in her belly, a wetness on her thighs. Qotho
shrieked triumph, but his arakh had found bone, and for half a heartbeat it caught.
莫尔蒙闷哼一声,绊了一跤。丹妮只觉腹部传来一阵剧痛,两腿间有湿漉漉的感觉。柯索尖声狂叫庆祝胜利,但他的亚拉克弯刀砍到了骨头,卡住了半个心跳的时间。
It was enough.
Ser Jorah brought his longsword down with all the strength left him, through
flesh and muscle and bone, and Qotho’s forearm dangled loose, flopping on a
thin cord of skin and sinew. The knight’s next cut was at the Dothraki’s ear,
so savage that Qotho’s face seemed almost to explode.
这就够了。乔拉爵士用尽毕生力气挥剑砍下,穿透皮肤、肌肉和骨头,几乎把柯索的右手前臂硬生生斩断,只剩几丝皮肤和肌腱相连,松垮地摇摆。骑士再度挥剑,朝多斯拉克人耳部一刀,力道极猛,柯索的脸仿佛整个炸开。
The Dothraki
were shouting, Mirri Maz Duur wailing inside the tent like nothing human, Quaro
pleading for water as he died. Dany cried out for help, but no one heard.
Rakharo was fighting Haggo, arakh dancing with arakh until Jhogo’s whip
cracked, loud as thunder, the lash coiling around Haggo’s throat. A yank, and
the bloodrider stumbled backward, losing his feet and his sword. Rakharo sprang
forward, howling, swinging his arakh down with both hands through the top of
Haggo’s head. The point caught between his eyes, red and quivering. Someone
threw a stone, and when Dany looked, her shoulder was torn and bloody. “No,”
she wept, “no, please, stop it, it’s too high, the price is too high.” More
stones came flying. She tried to crawl toward the tent, but Cohollo caught her.
Fingers in her hair, he pulled her head back and she felt the cold touch of his
knife at her throat. “My baby,” she screamed, and perhaps the gods heard, for
as quick as that, Cohollo was dead. Aggo’s arrow took him under the arm, to
pierce his lungs and heart.
围观的多斯拉克人大呼小叫,帐篷里弥丽·马兹·笃尔的嚎叫完全不是人的声音。地上的魁洛哀求别人给他水喝,然后死去。丹妮则出声呼救,但无人在意。拉卡洛正与哈戈搏斗,两柄亚拉克弯刀相互交击,直到乔戈的皮鞭喀啦一响,如爆雷般缠住哈戈的喉咙。他猛力一扯,血盟卫失去重心,踉跄地向后摔倒,弯刀从手中松落。拉卡洛向前疾跃,双手紧握亚拉克弯刀,咆哮着从哈戈头顶捅下。刀尖卡在血盟卫两眼之间,鲜红而颤抖。有人朝丹妮丢石头,她定神一看,自己的肩膀已经皮破流血。“住手,”她哭喊,“住手,求求你们,快住手,太高了,这样的代价太高了。”更多石块朝她飞来,她试图往帐篷爬去,却被科霍罗一把攫住头发,向后拉扯,冰冷的刀锋架上她的喉咙。“我的宝宝!”她尖叫,或许天上诸神真的听见了,因为她莆一出声,科霍罗便倒地身亡。阿戈的箭正中他胸膛,射穿肺部和心脏。
When at last
Daenerys found the strength to raise her head, she saw the crowd dispersing,
the Dothraki stealing silently back to their tents and sleeping mats. Some were
saddling horses and riding off. The sun had set. Fires burned throughout the
khalasar, great orange blazes that crackled with fury and spit embers at the
sky. She tried to rise, and agony seized her and squeezed her like a giant’s
fist. The breath went out of her; it was all she could do to gasp. The sound of
Mirri Maz Duur’s voice was like a funeral dirge. Inside the tent, the shadows
whirled.
等丹妮莉丝终于找回力气抬头,群众已经渐渐散去,原本围观的多斯拉克人蹑手蹑脚地返回自己的营帐和睡席。有的直接装上马鞍骑马离去。夕阳西沉,卡拉萨营地里篝火熊熊,团团橙焰发出愤怒的哔啪声,将火星吐进夜空。她试着起身,却因剧痛无法动弹,仿佛被巨人的拳头紧紧握住。她难以呼吸,只能拼命喘气。弥丽·马兹·笃尔的吟唱有如葬仪上的挽歌。帐篷内,黑影盘旋。
An arm went
under her waist, and then Ser Jorah was lifting her off her feet. His face was
sticky with blood, and Dany saw that half his ear was gone. She convulsed in
his arms as the pain took her again, and heard the knight shouting for her
handmaids to help him. Are they all so afraid? She knew the answer. Another
pain grasped her, and Dany bit back a scream. It felt as if her son had a knife
in each hand, as if he were hacking at her to cut his way out. “Doreah, curse
you,” Ser Jorah roared. “Come here. Fetch the birthing women.”
一只手抱住她的腰,乔拉爵士把她扶了起来。他满脸是血,丹妮发现他还少了半只耳朵。剧痛再度袭来,她在他怀里猛烈抽搐,只听见骑士大声呼唤她的女仆过来帮忙。难道她们都这么怕我吗?她已经知道了答案。又一阵剧痛袭来,丹妮咬紧嘴唇,忍住尖叫。她的儿子仿佛双手都握着尖刀,正从她体内砍出一条路来。“多莉亚,你该死,”乔拉爵士咆哮,“快过来,把接生婆找来!”
“They will not come. They say she is accursed.”
“她们不肯来。她们说她是被诅咒的人。”
“They’ll come or I’ll have their heads.”
“她们要么过来,要么我就把她们的头砍了。”
Doreah wept.
“They are gone, my lord.”
多莉亚哭了出来。“大人,她们都逃了。”
“The maegi,” someone else said. Was that Aggo? “Take her to the
maegi.”
“巫魔女,”另一个人说。是阿戈吗?“带她去巫魔女那里。”
No, Dany wanted
to say, no, not that, you mustn’t, but when she opened her mouth, a long wail
of pain escaped, and the sweat broke over her skin. What was wrong with them,
couldn’t they see? Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the
brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look
human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed
in flames.
不,丹妮想开口,不,不,你们不可以。但当她张开嘴巴,却只能吐出长长的痛苦呻吟,全身上下的皮肤不断冒汗。他们这是怎么了?难道他们看不出来?帐篷内,无数的形影正围绕火盆和血淋淋的澡缸盘旋跳舞,投射在沙丝上,显得格外阴暗,有些形体根本不是人。她瞥见一头巨狼,还有一个如在烈焰中扭动的男子。
“The Lamb Woman knows the secrets of the birthing bed,” Irri said.
“She said so, I heard her.”
“羊女懂得染血产床的所有奥秘,”伊丽说,“她自己说的,我亲耳听见。”
“Yes,” Doreah agreed, “I heard her too.”
“是的,”多莉亚也同意,“我也听见了。”
No, she shouted,
or perhaps she only thought it, for no whisper of sound escaped her lips. She
was being carried. Her eyes opened to gaze up at a flat dead sky, black and
bleak and starless. Please, no. The sound of Mirri Maz Duur’s voice grew
louder, until it filled the world. The shapes! she screamed. The dancers!
不,她高声尖叫,莫非这只是她脑中的想法?因为她的双唇没有发出任何声音。有人把她抬起来,她睁开眼睛,凝望着上方平板死寂的天空,漆黑而凄凉,无星之夜。不,求求你们!弥丽·马兹·笃尔的吟唱越变越大,淹没了整个世界。那些可怕的形体啊!她尖叫,那些骇人的舞者啊!
Ser Jorah
carried her inside the tent.
乔拉爵士抱着她走进帐篷。