ARYA

22 艾莉亚

Her father had

been fighting with the council again. Arya could see it on his face when he

came to table, late again, as he had been so often. The first course, a thick

sweet soup made with pumpkins, had already been taken away when Ned Stark

strode into the Small Hall. They called it that to set it apart from the Great

Hall, where the king could feast a thousand, but it was a long room with a high

vaulted ceiling and bench space for two hundred at its trestle tables.

那天父亲大人又是很晚才来用饭，艾莉亚看得出他又跟朝廷闹意见了。当奈德·史塔克大跨步走进“小厅”的时候，晚餐的第一道菜，那锅浓稠的南瓜甜汤，早已被撤下桌去。他们把这儿叫做“小厅”，用以区别国王那足以容纳千人的大厅。话虽如此，这里却也不小，这是一间有着高耸圆顶的狭长房间，长凳上坐得下两百号人。

“My lord,” Jory said when Father entered. He rose to his feet, and

the rest of the guard rose with him. Each man wore a new cloak, heavy grey wool

with a white satin border. A hand of beaten silver clutched the woolen folds of

each cloak and marked their wearers as men of the Hand’s household guard. There

were only fifty of them, so most of the benches were empty.

“大人。”父亲进来时，乔里开口说。他站起来，其余的侍卫也立即起身，他们个个穿着厚重的灰羊毛滚白缎边的新斗篷，褶层上绣了一只银手，标示他们是首相的贴身护卫。由于总共才五十人，因此长凳显得空荡荡的。

“Be seated,” Eddard Stark said. “I see you have started without me. I

am pleased to know there are still some men of sense in this city.” He signaled

for the meal to resume. The servants began bringing out platters of ribs,

roasted in a crust of garlic and herbs.

“坐下罢。”艾德·史塔克道，“我很高兴这城里就你们还有点常识，至少知道先开动。”他示意大家继续用餐，侍者端出一盘盘用蒜头和草药包裹的烤排骨。

“The talk in the yard is we shall have a tourney, my lord,” Jory said

as he resumed his seat. “They say that knights will come from all over the

realm to joust and feast in honor of your appointment as Hand of the King.”

“老爷，外面人人都在传说要举办一场比武大会。”乔里坐回位子。“听说全国各地的骑士都会前来，为您的荣誉而战，庆祝您走马上任。”

Arya could see

that her father was not very happy about that. “Do they also say this is the

last thing in the world I would have wished?”

艾莉亚看得出父亲对此不甚高兴。“他们怎么不说这是我最不愿见到的事？”

Sansa’s eyes had

grown wide as the plates. “A tourney,” she breathed. She was seated between

Septa Mordane and Jeyne Poole, as far from Arya as she could get without

drawing a reproach from Father. “Will we be permitted to go, Father?”

珊莎的眼睛睁得跟盘子一样大。“比武大会。”她吸了口气。她坐在茉丹修女和珍妮·普尔中间，在不引起父亲注意的范围内，尽可能离艾莉亚远远的。“父亲大人，我们可以去吗？”

“You know my feelings, Sansa. It seems I must arrange Robert’s games

and pretend to be honored for his sake. That does not mean I must subject my

daughters to this folly.”

“珊莎，你知道我对这件事的看法。这档蠢事分明是劳勃自己的主意，我帮他筹办也就算了，还得假装受宠若惊，但那不代表我必须带女儿去参加。”

“Oh, please,” Sansa said. “I want to see.”

“哎哟，拜托嘛。”珊莎说，“人家好想去。”

Septa Mordane

spoke up. “Princess Myrcella will be there, my lord, and her younger than Lady

Sansa. All the ladies of the court will be expected at a grand event like this,

and as the tourney is in your honor, it would look queer if your family did not

attend.”

茉丹修女开口：“老爷，届时弥赛

公主也会出席，而她年纪比珊莎小姐还小。遇到这种盛事，宫廷里的仕女们都应该出席。更何况这届比武大会以您之名举办的，您的家人若不到场，可能有些不妥。”

Father looked

pained. “I suppose so. Very well, I shall arrange a place for you, Sansa.” He

saw Arya. “For both of you.”

父亲神色痛苦。“我想也是。也罢，珊莎，我就帮你安排个席位。”他看看艾莉亚。“帮你们两个都弄个席位。”

“I don’t care about their stupid tourney,” Arya said. She knew Prince

Joffrey would be there, and she hated Prince Joffrey.

“我才没兴趣参加什么无聊的比武会呢。”艾莉亚说。她知道乔佛里王子到时候一定也在场，而她恨死乔佛里王子了。

Sansa lifted her

head. “It will be a splendid event. You shan’t be wanted.”

珊莎昂头道：“这会是一场盛况空前的庆祝。本来也没人希望你参加。”

Anger flashed

across Father’s face. “Enough, Sansa. More of that and you will change my mind.

I am weary unto death of this endless war you two are fighting. You are

sisters. I expect you to behave like sisters, is that understood?”

父亲听了满脸怒容。“够了，珊莎。再说下去，小心我改变主意。我已经被你们俩没完没了的争吵给烦死了。再怎么说你们都是亲姐妹，我希望你们像姐妹一样相亲相爱，知道了么？”

Sansa bit her

lip and nodded. Arya lowered her face to stare sullenly at her plate. She could

feel tears stinging her eyes. She rubbed them away angrily, determined not to

cry.

珊莎咬着嘴唇点点头，艾莉亚低头不快地盯着眼前的餐盘，感觉到泪水刺痛眼睛。她愤怒地抹掉眼泪，决心不要哭。

The only sound

was the clatter of knives and forks. “Pray excuse me,” her father announced to

the table. “I find I have small appetite tonight.” He walked from the hall.

四周只剩下刀叉碰触的声音。“很抱歉，”父亲对全桌的人说，“今晚我没什么胃口。”说完他便走出小厅。

After he was

gone, Sansa exchanged excited whispers with Jeyne Poole. Down the table Jory

laughed at a joke, and Hullen started in about h orseflesh. “Your warhorse,

now, he may not be the best one for the joust. Not the same thing, oh, no, not

the same at all.” The men had heard it all before; Desmond, Jacks, and Hullen’s

son Harwin shouted him down together, and Porther called for more wine.

他离开之后，珊莎立刻兴奋地和珍妮·普尔窃窃私语起来。坐在长桌彼端的乔里有说有笑，胡伦也开始大谈马经。“我说啊，你那匹战马实在不是比武的最佳选择，这和平时骑完全是两码事，懂吗？完全两码事。”这套说词其他人很早就听过，戴斯蒙、杰克斯和胡伦的儿子哈尔温齐声要他闭嘴，波瑟则叫人多来点葡萄酒。

No one talked to

Arya. She didn’t care. She liked it that way. She would have eaten her meals

alone in her bedchamber if they let her. Sometimes they did, when Father had to

dine with the king or some lord or the envoys from this place or that place.

The rest of the time, they ate in his solar, just him and her and Sansa. That

was when Arya missed her brothers most. She wanted to tease Bran and play with

baby Rickon and have Robb smile at her. She wanted Jon to muss up her hair and

call her “little sister” and finish her sentences with her. But all of them were

gone. She had no one left but Sansa, and Sansa wouldn’t even talk to her unless

Father made her.

偏偏没人跟艾莉亚说话。其实她也不在乎，她还挺喜欢这种情形。若非大人们不准，她宁愿躲在卧房里吃。遇到父亲和国王、某某爵爷或某某使节共进晚餐的时候，她就可以得逞。不过多半，她跟父亲和姐姐三人在首相书房里用餐。每当这种时候，艾莉亚最想念哥哥弟弟。她想取笑布兰，想跟小瑞肯玩闹，想让罗柏含笑看着自己。她想要琼恩弄乱她的头发，叫她“我的小妹”，然后和她异口同声说出一句话。如今她只有珊莎为伴，但除非父亲逼迫，否则珊莎一句话都不和她讲。

Back at

Winterfell, they had eaten in the Great Hall almost half the time. Her father

used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them.

“Know the men who follow you,” she heard him tell Robb once, “and let them know

you. Don’t ask your men to die for a stranger.” At Winterfell, he always had an

extra seat set at his own table, and every day a different man would be asked

to join him. One night it would be Vayon Poole, and the talk would be coppers

and bread stores and servants. The next time it would be Mikken, and her father

would listen to him go on about armor and swords and how hot a forge should be

and the best way to temper steel. Another day it might be Hullen with his

endless horse talk, or Septon Chayle from the library, or Jory, or Ser Rodrik,

or even Old Nan with her stories.

从前在临冬城，他们常在城堡大厅用餐。父亲总是说，做领主的必须要和手下一同进食，如此才能留住他们的心。“你不但要了解自己的部下，”有次她听父亲这么对罗柏说，“还必须让他们也了解你。别想叫你的手下为一个他们所不认识的人卖命。”在临冬城，他总会在自己的餐桌上特别留出一个座位，每晚请来不同的人。如果请来维扬·普尔，谈的便是财务状况、粮食补给和仆人们的事。下次若换成密肯，父亲便会听他分析盔甲宝剑，解说炼钢打铁时风炉的热度。有时候则是三句不离养马的胡伦，管理图书室的柴尔修士，或是乔里，罗德利克爵士，甚至是最会说故事的老奶妈。

Arya had loved

nothing better than to sit at her father’s table and listen to them talk. She

had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as

leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She

used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen.

Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played

monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their

children. Fat Tom used to call her “Arya Underfoot,” because he said that was

where she always was. She’d liked that a lot better than “Arya Horseface.”

艾莉亚最喜欢坐在父亲桌边听他们说话，她也喜欢听坐在下方长凳上的人们说话：坚毅粗鲁的自由骑手，彬彬有礼的成年骑士，口无遮拦的年轻侍从，饱经风霜的沙场老兵。以前她常朝他们丢雪球，或帮他们从厨房里夹带馅饼。他们的妻子会烤饼给她吃，她则替她们的宝宝起名字，和她们的孩子玩“美女与怪兽”、比赛寻宝、做城堡游戏。胖汤姆老爱叫她“捣蛋鬼艾莉亚”，因为他说她老是跑来跑去。她喜欢这个绰号远胜过“马脸艾莉亚”。

Only that was

Winterfell, a world away, and now everything was changed. This was the first

time they had supped with the men since arriving in King’s Landing. Arya hated

it. She hated the sounds of their voices now, the way they laughed, the stories

they told. They’d been her friends, she’d felt safe around them, but now she

knew that was a lie. They’d let the queen kill Lady, that was horrible enough,

but then the Hound found Mycah. Jeyne Poole had told Arya that he’d cut him up

in so many pieces that they’d given him back to the butcher in a bag, and at first the poor man

had thought it was a pig they’d slaughtered. And no one had raised a voice or

drawn a blade or anything, not Harwin who always talked so bold, or Alyn who

was going to be a knight, or Jory who was captain of the guard. Not even her

father.

只可惜那都是发生在临冬城的事，仿佛是另一个世界，现在一切都变了。说来今天是他们抵达君临以来头一次和下人一同用餐，艾莉亚却恨透了这种安排。她恨透了其他人说话的声音，恨透了他们开怀大笑的方式，以及他们所说的故事。他们曾经是她的朋友，与他们为伍曾让她很有安全感，如今她知道这全是假的。他们袖手旁观，让王后杀了淑女，这本来已经够糟，后来又任“猎狗”逮着了米凯。珍妮·普尔告诉艾莉亚，他把米凯大卸八块，人们只好把尸体用袋子装起来交还屠夫，只可怜那杀猪匠起初还以为里面装的是刚杀的猪仔。没有人对此质疑或拔刀相助，什么都没有，不管是最会吹嘘自己勇敢的哈尔温，还是立志要当骑士的埃林，或是身为侍卫队长的乔里，就连父亲也没有出面阻止。

“He was my friend,” Arya whispered into her plate, so low that no one

could hear. Her ribs sat there untouched, grown cold now, a thin film of grease

congealing beneath them on the plate. Arya looked at them and felt ill. She pushed

away from the table.

“他是我朋友呀。”艾莉亚对着餐盘低语，声音低到无人听见。她的排骨躺在盘里，动也没动，已经冷掉了，餐盘和肉块间凝了一层油。艾莉亚越看越恶心，便推开椅子站起来。

“Pray, where do you think you are going, young lady?” Septa Mordane

asked.

“等等，小姐，你要去哪里啊？”茉丹修女问。

“I’m not hungry.” Arya found it an effort to remember her courtesies.

“May I be excused, please?” she recited stiffly.

“我不饿。”艾莉亚想起要顾及礼节。“请问，我可以先告退吗？”她生硬地背诵道。

“You may not,” the septa said. “You have scarcely touched your food.

You will sit down and clean your plate.”

“还不行，”修女说，“你的东西几乎都没吃，请你坐下来先把盘里的食物清干净。”

“You clean it!” Before anyone could stop her, Arya bolted for the

door as the men laughed and Septa Mordane called loudly after her, her voice

rising higher and higher.

“要清你自己清！”趁人们还没反应过来，艾莉亚便往门边奔去。其他人哈哈大笑，茉丹修女则跟在后面大声叫唤，声音越来越高。

Fat Tom was at

his post, guarding the door to the Tower of the Hand. He blinked when he saw

Arya rushing toward him and heard the septa’s shouts. “Here now, little one,

hold on,” he started to say, reaching, but Arya slid between his legs and then

she was running up the winding tower steps, her feet hammering on the stone

while Fat Tom huffed and puffed behind her.

胖汤姆守在岗位上，负责把守通往首相塔的门。眼见艾莉亚朝自己冲来，又听见后面修女的喊叫，他眨了眨眼。“哟呼，小娃娃，别乱跑呀。”他才刚开口，准备伸手阻拦，艾莉亚便已穿过他胯下，跑上迂回的高塔楼梯。她的脚步重重地踩在石阶上，胖汤姆则气喘吁吁地跟在后面。

Her bedchamber

was the only place that Arya liked in all of King’s Landing, and the thing she

liked best about it was the door, a massive slab of dark oak with black iron

bands. When she slammed that door and dropped the heavy crossbar, nobody could

get into her room, not Septa Mordane or Fat Tom or Sansa or Jory or the Hound,

nobody! She slammed it now.

诺大的君临城，艾莉亚惟一喜欢的地方就是自己的卧室，尤其是那扇用深色橡木做成，镶有黑铁环的厚重大门。她只要把门一摔，放下沉重的门闩，便谁也别想进来。不论茉丹修女、胖汤姆、珊莎、乔里还是死猎狗，他们都进不来，通通都进不来！这会儿她就把门一摔。

When the bar was

down, Arya finally felt safe enough to cry.

等门闩放好，艾莉亚终于觉得自己可以尽情地哭了。

She went to the

window seat and sat there, sniffling, hating them all, and herself most of all.

It was all her fault, everything bad that had happened. Sansa said so, and

Jeyne too.

她走到窗边坐下，一边吸着鼻涕，一边痛恨着所有的人，尤其恨她自己。一切都是她的错，所有的事都因她而起。珊莎这么说，珍妮也这么说。

Fat Tom was

knocking on her door. “Arya girl, what’s wrong?” he called out. “You in there?”

胖汤姆正在敲门。“艾莉亚小妹，怎么啦？”他叫道，“你在里面吗？”

“No!” she shouted. The knocking stopped. A moment later she heard him

going away. Fat Tom was always easy to fool.

“不在！”她吼回去。敲门声停了，片刻之后她听见他走远的声音。胖汤姆向来很好骗。

Arya went to the

chest at the foot of her bed. She knelt, opened the lid, and began pulling her

clothes out with both hands, grabbing handfuls of silk and satin and velvet and

wool and tossing them on the floor. It was there at the bottom of the chest,

where she’d hidden it. Arya lifted it out almost tenderly and drew the slender

blade from its sheath.

艾莉亚拖出放在床脚的箱子，她跪下来，掀开盖子，双手并用，开始把她的衣服往外丢，把满手丝质、绸缎、天鹅绒、羊毛织的衣物扔到地板上。东西藏在箱底，艾莉亚轻轻地捧起它，抽出剑鞘。

Needle.

缝衣针。

She thought of

Mycah again and her eyes filled with tears. Her fault, her fault, her fault. If

she had never asked him to play at swords with her?.?.?.?

她想起米凯，顿时泪水盈眶。是她的错，她的错，她的错。如果她没要他跟自己练剑……

There was a

pounding at her door, louder than before. “Arya Stark, you open this door at

once, do you hear me?”

门上响起更大的敲门声。“艾莉亚·史塔克，立刻把门给我打开，你听见了没有？”

Arya spun

around, with Needle in her hand. “You better not come in here!” she warned. She

slashed at the air savagely.

艾莉亚倏地转身，手中紧握‘缝衣针’。“你不要进来！”她出声警告，一边对着空气疯狂挥砍。

“The Hand will hear of this!” Septa Mordane raged.

“我会让首相知道这件事！”茉丹修女怒喝。

“I don’t care,” Arya screamed. “Go away.”

“我不管。”艾莉亚尖叫，“走开。”

“You will rue this insolent behavior, young lady, I promise you

that.” Arya listened at the door until she heard the sound of the septa’s

receding footsteps.

“小姐，我跟你保证，你一定会为自己粗野的行为而后悔。”艾莉亚在门边侧耳倾听，直到听见修女渐行渐远的脚步声。

She went back to

the window, Needle in hand, and looked down into the courtyard below. If only

she could climb like Bran, she thought; she would go out the window and down

the tower, run away from this horrible place, away from Sansa and Septa Mordane

and Prince Joffrey, from all of them. Steal some food from the kitchens, take

Needle and her good boots and a warm cloak. She could find Nymeria in the wild

woods below the Trident, and together they’d return to Winterfell, or run to

Jon on the Wall. She found herself wishing that Jon was here with her now. Then

maybe she wouldn’t feel so alone.

她又回到窗边，手里握着‘缝衣针’，朝下方的庭院望去。要是她能像布兰一样爬上爬下就好了，她心想，那么她就能爬出窗户，爬下高塔，逃离这个烂地方，远离珊莎、茉丹修女和乔佛里王子，远离所有的人。顺便从厨房偷点吃的，带上“缝衣针”，上好的靴子，外加一件保暖的斗篷。她可以在三叉戟河下游的森林里找到娜梅莉亚，然后她们就可以一起回临冬城，或跑到长城去找琼恩了。她发现自己好希望琼恩此刻在自己身边，那样她就不会觉得这么孤单了。

A soft knock at

the door behind her turned Arya away from the window and her dreams of escape.

“Arya,” her father’s voice called out. “Open the door. We need to talk.”

轻轻的敲门声将艾莉亚从她的脱逃梦里拉回现实。“艾莉亚，”父亲唤道，“开门罢，我们需要谈谈。”

Arya crossed the

room and lifted the crossbar. Father was alone. He seemed more sad than angry.

That made Arya feel even worse. “May I come in?” Arya nodded, then dropped her

eyes, ashamed. Father closed the door. “Whose sword is that?”

艾莉亚穿过房间，举起门闩。只见父亲独自一人站在门外，那样子与其说是生气，毋宁说是悲伤。这却让艾莉亚更难过。“我可以进来吗？”艾莉亚点点头，羞愧地垂下视线。父亲关上门。“那把剑是谁的？”

“Mine.” Arya had almost forgotten Needle, in her hand.

“我的。”艾莉亚忘了‘缝衣针’还握在自己手里。

“Give it to me.”

“给我。”

Reluctantly Arya

surrendered her sword, wondering if she would ever hold it again. Her father

turned it in the light, examining both sides of the blade. He tested the point

with his thumb. “A bravo’s blade,” he said. “Yet it seems to me that I know

this maker’s mark. This is Mikken’s work.”

艾莉亚心不甘情不愿地交出剑，心里嘀咕不知还有没有机会再握起它。父亲就着光反复翻转，审视剑锋的两面，然后用拇指测量锐利程度。“这是杀手用的剑，”他说，“但我似乎认得铸剑人的记号，这是密肯打的。”

Arya could not

lie to him. She lowered her eyes.

艾莉亚知道骗不过他，只好低下头。

Lord Eddard

Stark sighed. “My nine-year-old daughter is being armed from my own forge, and

I know nothing of it. The Hand of the King is expected to rule the Seven

Kingdoms, yet it seems I cannot even rule my own household. How is it that you

come to own a sword, Arya? Where did you get this?”

艾德·史塔克公爵叹气道：“我九岁大的女儿从我自家的武器炉中拿到武器，我却毫不知情。首相的职责是管理七大王国，结果我连自己家里都管不好。艾莉亚，你怎么弄到这把剑的？从哪儿弄来的？”

Arya chewed her

lip and said nothing. She would not betray Jon, not even to their father.

艾莉亚咬着嘴唇，不发一语。她绝不出卖琼恩，即使是对父亲大人也一样。

After a while,

Father said, “I don’t suppose it matters, truly.” He looked down gravely at the

sword in his hands. “This is no toy for children, least of all for a girl. What

would Septa Mordane say if she knew you were playing with swords?”

过了半晌，父亲说：“其实，你说不说都没差。”他低下头，沉重地看着手中的剑。“这可不是小孩子玩具，女孩子家尤其不该碰。要是茉丹修女知道你在玩剑，她会怎么说？”

“I wasn’t playing,” Arya insisted. “I hate Septa Mordane.”

“我才不是玩剑呢。”艾莉亚坚持，“而且我恨茉丹修女。”

“That’s enough.” Her father’s voice was curt and hard. “The septa is

doing no more than is her duty, though gods know you have made it a struggle

for the poor woman. Your mother and I have charged her with the impossible task

of making you a lady.”

“够了，”父亲的语气严厉而坚定。“修女只是尽她的职责本分，天知道你让这可怜女人吃了多少苦头。你母亲和我请她教导你成为淑女，这根本就是件不可能完成的任务。”

“I don’t want to be a lady!” Arya flared.

“我又不想变成淑女！”艾莉亚怒道。

“I ought to snap this toy across my knee here and now, and put an end

to this nonsense.”

“我真应该现在就用膝盖把这玩意儿折断，终止这场闹剧。”

“Needle wouldn’t break,” Arya said defiantly, but her voice betrayed

her words.

“‘缝衣针’不会断的。”艾莉亚不服气地说，然而她知道自己的口气颇为心虚。

“It has a name, does it?” Her father sighed. “Ah, Arya. You have a

wildness in you, child. ‘The wolf blood,’ my father used to call it. Lyanna had

a touch of it, and my brother Brandon more than a touch. It brought them both

to an early grave.” Arya heard sadness in his voice; he did not often speak of

his father, or of the brother and sister who had died before she was born.

“Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You

remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her.”

“它还有名字？”父亲叹道，“啊，艾莉亚，我的孩子，你有股特别的野性，你的祖父称之为‘奔狼之血’。莱安娜有那么一点，我哥哥布兰登则更多，结果两人都英年早逝。”艾莉亚从他话音里听出了哀伤，他鲜少谈及自己的父亲和兄妹，他们都在她出生前就过世了。“当初若是你祖父答应，莱安娜大概也会舞刀弄剑。有时候看到你，我就想起她，你甚至长得都跟她有几分神似。”

“Lyanna was beautiful,” Arya said, startled. Everybody said so. It

was not a thing that was ever said of Arya.

“莱安娜是个大美人。”艾莉亚错愕地道。每个人都这么说，但从没有人拿她来形容艾莉亚。

“She was,” Eddard Stark agreed, “beautiful, and willful, and dead

before her time.” He lifted the sword, held it out between them. “Arya, what

did you think to do with this?.?.?.?Needle? Who did you hope to skewer? Your

sister? Septa Mordane? Do you know the first thing about sword fighting?”

“可不是吗？”艾德·史塔克同意，“她既美丽又任性，结果红颜薄命。”他举起剑，隔在两人之间。“艾莉亚，你要这……‘缝衣针’做什么？你想拿来对付谁？你姐姐？还是茉丹修女？你知道剑道的第一步是什么？”

All she could

think of was the lesson Jon had given her. “Stick them with the pointy end,”

she blurted out.

她惟一能想到的只是琼恩教过她的东西。“用尖的那端去刺敌人。”她脱口而出。

Her father

snorted back laughter. “That is the essence of it, I suppose.”

父亲忍俊不禁。“我想这的确是剑术的精髓。”

Arya desperately

wanted to explain, to make him see. “I was trying to learn, but?.?.?.?” Her

eyes filled with tears. “I asked Mycah to practice with me.” The grief came on

her all at once. She turned away, shaking. “I asked him,” she cried. “It was my

fault, it was me?.?.?.?”

艾莉亚拚命想解释，好让他了解。“我想好好学，可是……”她眼里溢满泪水。“我要米凯陪我练。”所有的悲恸这时一齐涌上心头，她颤抖着别过头去。“是我找他的。”她哭着说，“都是我的错，是我……”

Suddenly her

father’s arms were around her. He held her gently as she turned to him and

sobbed against his chest. “No, sweet one,” he murmured. “Grieve for your

friend, but never blame yourself. You did not kill the butcher’s boy. That

murder lies at the Hound’s door, him and the cruel woman he serves.”

突然间，父亲的双臂抱住了她，她转过头，埋在他胸口啜泣，他则温柔地拥着她。“别这样，我亲爱的孩子。”他低语道，“为你的朋友哀悼吧，但不要自责。屠夫小弟不是你害的，该为这桩血案负责的是猎狗和他残酷的女主人。”

“I hate them,” Arya confided, red-faced, sniffling. “The Hound and

the queen and the king and Prince Joffrey. I hate all of them. Joffrey lied, it

wasn’t the way he said. I hate Sansa too. She did remember, she just lied so

Joffrey would like her.”

“我恨他们。”艾莉亚一边吸鼻子，一边红着脸说出心里话。“我恨猎狗、恨王后、恨国王还有乔佛里王子。我恨死他们了。乔佛里骗人，事情根本就不是他讲的那样。我也恨珊莎，她明明就记得，她故意说谎话好让乔佛里喜欢她。”

“We all lie,” her father said. “Or did you truly think I’d believe

that Nymeria ran off?”

“谁没有说过谎呢，”父亲道，“难道你以为我相信娜梅莉亚真的会跑掉？”

Arya blushed

guiltily. “Jory promised not to tell.”

艾莉亚心虚地脸红了。“乔里答应我不说出去的。”

“Jory kept his word,” her father said with a smile. “There are some

things I do not need to be told. Even a blind man could see that wolf would

never have left you willingly.”

“乔里很守信用。”父亲微笑道，“有些事不用别人说我也知道，连瞎子都看得出来小狼不会自动离开你。”

“We had to throw rocks,” she said miserably. “I told her to run, to

go be free, that I didn’t want her anymore. There were other wolves for her to

play with, we heard them howling, and Jory said the woods were full of game, so

she’d have deer to hunt. Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw

rocks. I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so ’shamed, but

it was right, wasn’t it? The queen would have killed her.”

“我们丢了好多石头才赶走她。”她一脸悲苦地说，“我叫她走，放她自由，说我不要她了。她该去找其他狼玩，我们听见好多狼在叫，乔里说森林里猎物很多，她可以去追捕野鹿，可她偏偏要跟着我们，最后我们才不得不丢石头赶她。我打中她两次，她边哀嚎边看着我，我觉得好羞耻，但这样做是正确的对不对？不然王后会杀她的。”

“It was right,” her father said. “And even the lie was?.?.?.?not

without honor.” He’d put Needle aside when he went to Arya to embrace her. Now

he took the blade up again and walked to the window, where he stood for a

moment, looking out across the courtyard. When he turned back, his eyes were

thoughtful. He seated himself on the window seat, Needle across his lap. “Arya,

sit down. I need to try and explain some things to you.”

“你做得没错，”父亲说，“有时谎言也能……不失荣誉。”方才他趋身拥抱艾莉亚时把“缝衣针”放在一边，这会儿他又拾起短剑，踱至窗边。他在那里驻足片刻，视线穿过广场，望向远方。等他回过头来，眼里满是思绪。他在窗边坐下，把“缝衣针”平放膝上。“艾莉亚，坐下来。有些事我要试着跟你解释清楚。”

She perched

anxiously on the edge of her bed. “You are too young to be burdened with all my

cares,” he told her, “but you are also a Stark of Winterfell. You know our

words.”

她不安地在床边坐下。“你年纪还太小，本不该让你分担我所有的忧虑。”他告诉她，“但你是临冬城史塔克家族的一份子，你也知道我们的族语。”

“Winter is coming,” Arya whispered.

“凛冬将至。”艾莉亚轻声说。

“The hard cruel times,” her father said. “We tasted them on the

Trident, child, and when Bran fell. You were born in the long summer, sweet

one, you’ve never known anything else, but now the winter is truly coming. Remember

the sigil of our House, Arya.”

“是的，艰苦而残酷的时代即将来临，”父亲说，“我们在三叉戟河上尝到了这种滋味，孩子，布兰坠楼时也是。你生于漫长的盛夏时节，我亲爱的好孩子，至今还未经历其他季节，然而现在冬天真的要来了。艾莉亚，不论何时何地，我要你牢牢记住我们的家徽。”

“The direwolf,” she said, thinking of Nymeria. She hugged her knees

against her chest, suddenly afraid.

“冰原狼。”她边说边想起娜梅莉亚，不由得缩起膝盖、靠着胸膛，害怕了起来。

“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall

and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is

the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other

warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would

truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa?.?.?.?Sansa is your

sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood

flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you?.?.?.?and I need

both of you, gods help me.”

“孩子，让我来说说关于狼的轶事。当大雪降下，冷风吹起，独行狼死，群聚狼生。夏天时可以争吵，但一到冬天，我们便必须保卫彼此，相互温暖，共享力量。所以假如你真要恨，艾莉亚，就恨那些会真正伤害我们的人。茉丹修女是个好女人，而珊莎……珊莎她再怎么说也是你姐姐。你们俩或许有天壤之别，但体内终究流着相同的血液。你需要她，她也同样需要你……而我则需要你们两个，老天保佑。”

He sounded so

tired that it made Arya sad. “I don’t hate Sansa,” she told him. “Not truly.”

It was only half a lie.

他的话听起来好疲倦，听得艾莉亚好心酸。“我不恨珊莎，”她告诉他，“不是真的恨她。”这起码是半句实话。

“I do not mean to frighten you, but neither will I lie to you. We

have come to a dark dangerous place, child. This is not Winterfell. We have

enemies who mean us ill. We cannot fight a war among ourselves. This

willfulness of yours, the running off, the angry words, the

disobedience?.?.?.?at home, these were only the summer games of a child. Here

and now, with winter soon upon us, that is a different matter. It is time to

begin growing up.”

“我并非有意吓你，然而我也不想骗你。孩子，我们来到了一个黑暗危险的地方，这里不是临冬城。有太多敌人想置我们于死地，我们不能自相残杀。你在老家时的任性胡为、种种撒气、乱跑和不听话……都是夏天里小孩子的把戏。此时此地，冬天马上就要来到，断不能与从前相提并论。如今，该是你长大的时候了。”

“I will,” Arya vowed. She had never loved him so much as she did in

that instant. “I can be strong too. I can be as strong as Robb.”

“我会的。”艾莉亚发誓。她从没有像此刻这么爱他。“我也会变强壮，变得跟罗柏一样强壮。”

He held Needle

out to her, hilt first. “Here.”

他把“缝衣针”递给她，剑柄在前。“拿去罢”。

She looked at

the sword with wonder in her eyes. For a moment she was afraid to touch it,

afraid that if she reached for it it would be snatched away again, but then her

father said, “Go on, it’s yours,” and she took it in her hand.

她惊讶地盯着剑，半晌都不敢碰，生怕自己一伸手剑又被拿走。只听父亲说：“拿啊，这是你的了。”她这才伸手接过。

“I can keep it?” she said. “For true?”

“我可以留着吗？”她问。“真的吗？”

“For true.” He smiled. “If I took it away, no doubt I’d find a

morningstar hidden under your pillow within the fortnight. Try not to stab your

sister, whatever the provocation.”

“真的。”他微笑着说。“我要是把它给拿走了，只怕没两个星期就会在你枕头下找到流星锤罢。算啦，无论你多生气，别拿剑刺你姐姐就好。”

“I won’t. I promise.” Arya clutched Needle tightly to her chest as

her father took his leave.

“我不会，我保证不会。”艾莉亚紧紧地把“缝衣针”抱在胸前，目送父亲离去。

The next

morning, as they broke their fast, she apologized to Septa Mordane and asked

for her pardon. The septa peered at her suspiciously, but Father nodded.

隔天吃早饭时，她向茉丹修女道歉，并请求原谅。修女狐疑地看着她，但父亲点了点头。

Three days

later, at midday, her father’s steward Vayon Poole sent Arya to the Small Hall.

The trestle tables had been dismantled and the benches shoved against the

walls. The hall seemed empty, until an unfamiliar voice said, “You are late,

boy.” A slight man with a bald head and a great beak of a nose stepped out of

the shadows, holding a pair of slender wooden swords. “Tomorrow you will be

here at midday.” He had an accent, the lilt of the Free Cities, Bravos perhaps,

or Myr.

三天后的中午，父亲的管家维扬·普尔把艾莉亚带去小厅。餐桌业已拆除，长凳也推至墙边，小厅里空荡荡的。突然，有个陌生的声音说：“小子，你迟到了。”然后一个身形清癯，生着鹰钩大鼻的光头男子从阴影里走出来，手里握着一对细细的木剑。“从明天起你正午就必须到。”他说话带着口音，像是自由贸易城邦的腔调，可能是布拉佛斯，或是密尔。

“Who are you?” Arya asked.

“你是谁？”艾莉亚问。

“I am your dancing master.” He tossed her one of the wooden blades.

She grabbed for it, missed, and heard it clatter to the floor. “Tomorrow you

will catch it. Now pick it up.”

“我是你的舞蹈老师。”他丢给她一柄木剑。她伸手去接，却没有够着，它咔啦一声掉落在地。“从明天起我一丢你就要接住。现在捡起来。”

It was not just

a stick, but a true wooden sword complete with grip and guard and pommel. Arya

picked it up and clutched it nervously with both hands, holding it out in front

of her. It was heavier than it looked, much heavier than Needle.

那不只是根棍子，而真的是一把木剑，有剑柄、护手，还有装饰剑柄的圆球。艾莉亚拾起来，紧张兮兮地双手交握在前。这把剑比看起来要重，比“缝衣针”重多了。

The bald man

clicked his teeth together. “That is not the way, boy. This is not a greatsword

that is needing two hands to swing it. You will take the blade in one hand.”

光头男子龇牙咧嘴道：“不对不对，小子。这不是双手挥的巨剑。你只准用单手握”。

“It’s too heavy,” Arya said.

“太重了”。艾莉亚说。

“It is heavy as it needs to be to make you strong, and for the

balancing. A hollow inside is filled with lead, just so. One hand now is all

that is needing.”

“这样才能锻炼你的手臂肌肉，还有整体的协调性。里面空心部分灌满了铅，就是这样。你要单手持剑”。

Arya took her

right hand off the grip and wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. She held the

sword in her left hand. He seemed to approve. “The left is good. All is reversed,

it will make your enemies more awkward. Now you are standing wrong. Turn your

body sideface, yes, so. You are skinny as the shaft of a spear, do you know.

That is good too, the target is smaller. Now the grip. Let me see.” He moved

closer and peered at her hand, prying her fingers apart, rearranging them.

“Just so, yes. Do not squeeze it so tight, no, the grip must be deft,

delicate.”

艾莉亚把握剑的右手放下，在裤子上擦了擦掌心的汗，换用左手持剑。而他对此似乎相当满意。“左手最好。左右颠倒，你的敌人会很不习惯。但你的站姿错了，不要正对着我，身体侧一点，对，就是这样。你瘦得跟长矛一样，知道吗？这也挺好，因为目标缩小了。现在让我看看你是怎么握的。”他靠过来，盯着她的手，扳开手指，重新调整。“对，就是这样。别太用力，对，但要灵活，优雅。”

“What if I drop it?” Arya said.

“剑掉了怎么办？”艾莉亚问。

“The steel must be part of your arm,” the bald man told her. “Can you

drop part of your arm? No. Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the

Sealord of Braavos, he knows these things. Listen to him, boy.”

“剑必须和你的手合为一体。”光头男子告诉她，“你的手会掉吗？当然不会。西利欧·佛瑞尔在布拉佛斯海王手下干了九年的首席剑士，他懂得这些东西。听他的话，小子。”

It was the third

time he had called her “boy.” “I’m a girl,” Arya objected.

这已经是他第三次叫她“小子”了。“我是女生。”艾莉亚抗议。

“Boy, girl,” Syrio Forel said. “You are a sword, that is all.” He

clicked his teeth together. “Just so, that is the grip. You are not holding a

battle-axe, you are holding a...”

“管他男的女的，”西利欧·佛瑞尔说，“你是一把剑，这样就够了。”他又龇牙咧嘴道，“好，就是这样，保持这个握姿。记住，你握的不是战斧，你握的是——”

“...needle,” Arya finished for him, fiercely.

“——缝衣针。”艾莉亚凶狠地替他说完。

“Just so. Now we will begin the dance. Remember, child, this is not

the iron dance of Westeros we are learning, the knight’s dance, hacking and

hammering, no. This is the bravo’s dance, the water dance, swift and sudden.

All men are made of water, do you know this? When you pierce them, the water

leaks out and they die.” He took a step backward, raised his own wooden blade.

“Now you will try to strike me.”

“就是这样。现在我们开始跳舞。记住，孩子，我们学的不是维斯特洛的钢铁之舞，骑士之舞，挥来砍去，不是的。这是杀手之舞，水之舞，行动敏捷，出其不意。人都是水做的，你知道吗？当你刺中人体，水流外泄，人就会死。”他向后退开一步，举起木剑。“现在你来打我试试。”

Arya tried to

strike him. She tried for four hours, until every muscle in her body was sore

and aching, while Syrio Forel clicked his teeth together and told her what to

do.

于是艾莉亚尝试攻击他。她一共试了四个小时，直到最后每寸肌肉都酸痛不已，而西利欧·佛瑞尔只是一边龇牙咧嘴，一边纠正个不停。

The next day

their real work began.

到了第二天，好戏才刚刚上演。