凯冯爵士摇摇头，“没有了。大人们，乔佛里国王陛下感谢诸位睿智的建议和忠诚的服务。”
Ser Kevan shook his head. “We are done. My lords, His Grace King Joffrey would no doubt wish to thank you all for your wisdom and good counsel.”
“我有话单独和孩子们谈谈，”众人起立后，泰温公爵说，“你也留下，凯冯。”
“I should like private words with my children,” said Lord Tywin as the others rose to leave. “You as well, Kevan.”
重臣们顺从地告辞。瓦里斯率先出门，走在最后的是提利尔和雷德温。当议事厅内只剩四个兰尼斯特，凯冯爵士关上大门。
Obediently, the other councillors made their farewells, Varys the first to depart and Tyrell and Redwyne the last. When the chamber was empty but for the four Lannisters, Ser Kevan closed the door.
“财政大臣？”提利昂矫柔造作地说，“乖乖，谁灵光一现的主意啊？”
“Master of coin?” said Tyrion in a thin strained voice. “Whose notion was that, pray?”
“培提尔大人自己的想法，”父亲说，“我正好顺势推舟，国库早该掌握在我们兰尼斯特手里。怎么，你不是要我给你安排要职吗，究竟能不能胜任？”
“Lord Petyr’s,” his father said, “but it serves us well to have the treasury in the hands of a Lannister. You have asked for important work. Do you fear you might be incapable of the task?”
“当然能。”提利昂道，“怕只怕其中有诈。小指头既狡猾又有野心，我不信任他，你也别信任他。”
“No,” said Tyrion, “I fear a trap. Littlefinger is subtle and ambitious. I do not trust him. Nor should you.”
“他为我们赢得高庭的支持……”瑟曦开口。
“He won Highgarden to our side …” Cersei began.
“……还把奈德·史塔克卖给了你。没错，我很清楚他的行径，只要有利可图，他会同样迅速地出卖我们。钱财和刀剑都不能交到这种人手中。”
“… and sold you Ned Stark, I know. He will sell us just as quick. A coin is as dangerous as a sword in the wrong hands.”
凯冯叔叔不以为然，“我们兰尼斯特不是史塔克。你就放心接任大臣一职吧，凯岩城的金子……”
His uncle Kevan looked at him oddly. “Not to us, surely. The gold of Casterly Rock …”
“……纵然多，但都是从地里辛辛苦苦挖出来的。而小指头的钱似乎能凭空诞生，只需指头轻轻一撮。”
“… is dug from the ground. Littlefinger’s gold is made from thin air, with a snap of his fingers.”
“是啊，亲爱的弟弟，他的本领比你高超许多哟。”瑟曦用怨毒的甜美口吻说。
“A more useful skill than any of yours, sweet brother,” purred Cersei, in a voice sweet with malice.
“小指头是个骗子——”
“Littlefinger is a liar—”
“——和你一样。乌鸦还嫌八哥黑。”
“—and black as well, said the raven of the crow.”
泰温公爵猛地一掌拍在桌子上。“够了！无休无止地争吵，你两个就不觉得丢脸吗？都是兰尼斯特家的人，给我注意点风度！”
Lord Tywin slammed his hand down on the table. “Enough! I will have no more of this unseemly squabbling. You are both Lannisters, and will comport yourselves as such.”
凯冯爵士清清喉咙。“让培提尔·贝里席统治鹰巢城，总比莱莎夫人其他追求者要好。约恩·罗伊斯、林恩·科布瑞、霍顿·雷德佛……哪个不是野心勃勃，骄傲难驯？小指头固然狡猾，但出身寒微，武艺不精。想想看，谷地诸侯决不会接受他作为主君，明争暗斗不就在眼前？”他望向哥哥，待泰温公爵点头后，便又续道，“而且——培提尔大人的忠诚必须得到奖励。昨天，他刚把提利尔家打算诱骗珊莎·史塔克前往高庭‘拜访’，然后就地由梅斯大人的长子维拉斯迎娶的计划通报我们。“
Ser Kevan cleared his throat. “I would sooner have Petyr Baelish ruling the Eyrie than any of Lady Lysa’s other suitors. Yohn Royce, Lyn Corbray, Horton Redfort … these are dangerous men, each in his own way. And proud. Littlefinger may be clever, but he has neither high birth nor skill at arms. The lords of the Vale will never accept such as their liege.” He looked to his brother. When Lord Tywin nodded, he continued. “And there is this—Lord Petyr continues to demonstrate his loyalty. Only yesterday he brought us word of a Tyrell plot to spirit Sansa Stark off to Highgarden for a ‘visit,’ and there marry her to Lord Mace’s eldest son, Willas.”
“小指头通风报信？”提利昂朝前倾身，“我们的情报总管反而不知？有趣，真有趣。”
“Littlefinger brought you word?” Tyrion leaned against the table. “Not our master of whisperers? How interesting.”
瑟曦则轻松地说：“珊莎是我的人质，未经我允许，她哪儿也去不了。”
Cersei looked at their uncle in disbelief. “Sansa is my hostage. She goes nowhere without my leave.”
“只要提利尔大人开口，你根本无法阻止，”父亲指出，“拒绝就是不信任，不信任构成冒犯。”
“Leave you must perforce grant, should Lord Tyrell ask,” their father pointed out. “To refuse him would be tantamount to declaring that we did not trust him. He would take offense.”
“冒犯就冒犯，有何打紧？”
“Let him. What do we care?”
真是个猪脑袋，提利昂心想。“亲爱的姐姐，”他耐心解释，“冒犯提利尔就等于冒犯雷德温、冒犯塔利、冒犯罗宛和冒犯海塔尔。他们或许将开始盘算，罗柏·史塔克会不会更合自己胃口呢？”
Bloody fool, thought Tyrion. “Sweet sister,” he explained patiently, “offend Tyrell and you offend Redwyne, Tarly, Rowan, and Hightower as well, and perhaps start them wondering whether Robb Stark might not be more accommodating of their desires.”
“玫瑰想和冰原狼同床，门都没有，”泰温公爵宣布，“我们得先发制人。”
“I will not have the rose and the direwolf in bed together,” declared Lord Tywin. “We must forestall him.”
“怎么做？”瑟曦问。
“How?” asked Cersei.
“通过联姻。从你开始。”
“By marriage. Yours, to begin with.”
这话来得如此突然，瑟曦楞了半晌，随后脸像挨了巴掌似地红起来。“不，我不要再婚，不……不。”
It came so suddenly that Cersei could only stare for a moment. Then her cheeks reddened as if she had been slapped. “No. Not again. I will not.”
“太后陛下，”凯冯爵士彬彬有礼地说，“您还年轻，美貌依然，丰饶多产，总不能下半辈子独守空闺吧？况且您一旦再婚，就能终结那些有关乱伦的无耻滥言。”
“Your Grace,” said Ser Kevan, courteously, “you are a young woman, still fair and fertile. Surely you cannot wish to spend the rest of your days alone? And a new marriage would put to rest this talk of incest for good and all.”
“你多当一天的寡妇，就是多给史坦尼斯一天诽谤的机会，”泰温公爵告诉女儿，“你得有个新丈夫，生下新孩子。”
“So long as you remain unwed, you allow Stannis to spread his disgusting slander,” Lord Tywin told his daughter. “You must have a new husband in your bed, to father children on you.”
“三个孩子已经足够。我是七大王国的太后，不是专司生产的母马！摄政王应该自己做主！”
“Three children is quite sufficient. I am Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, not a brood mare! The Queen Regent!”
“你是我女儿，必须照我的意思做。”
“You are my daughter, and will do as I command.”
她站起来，“我不会坐在这里听——”
She stood. “I will not sit here and listen to this—”
“你当然要听，如果还想在丈夫的选择上有发言权的话，”泰温公爵平静地说。
“You will if you wish to have any voice in the choice of your next husband,” Lord Tywin said calmly.
尽管姐姐高声叫嚣，但提利昂明白她已经输了。她犹豫片刻，又坐下来，“我决不再婚！”
When she hesitated, then sat, Tyrion knew she was lost, despite her loud declaration of, “I will not marry again!”
“你必须再婚，也必须生子，每生一个孩子，就是扇史坦尼斯一记耳光。”父亲的眼神似乎将女儿钉在椅子上。“梅斯·提利尔、派克斯特·雷德温和道朗·马泰尔都娶了年轻姑娘，一时半会插不进去，只有巴隆·葛雷乔伊的老婆年老体衰。透过联姻，能赢得铁群岛的支持，但我还在犹豫这样的结合是否明智。”
“You will marry and you will breed. Every child you birth makes Stannis more a liar.” Their father’s eyes seemed to pin her to her chair. “Mace Tyrell, Paxter Redwyne, and Doran Martell are wed to younger women likely to outlive them. Balon Greyjoy’s wife is elderly and failing, but such a match would commit us to an alliance with the Iron Islands, and I am still uncertain whether that would be our wisest course.”
“不，”瑟曦苍白的嘴唇结结巴巴地支吾着，“不，不，不……”
“No,” Cersei said from between white lips. “No, no, no.”
想到姐姐要被送去鸟不生蛋的派克岛，提利昂简直掩饰不住内心的狂喜。赞美诸神，它们毕竟听见了我的祈祷。
Tyrion could not quite suppress the grin that came to his lips at the thought of packing his sister off to Pyke. Just when I was about to give up praying, some sweet god gives me this.
泰温公爵浑不理会地继续，“奥柏伦·马泰尔本可考虑，可如此一来又会冒犯提利尔。所以，算来算去，目光得盯住小字辈，你不会在意嫁给年轻男人吧？”
Lord Tywin went on. “Oberyn Martell might suit, but the Tyrells would take that very ill. So we must look to the sons. I assume you do not object to wedding a man younger than yourself?”
“我不会嫁给任何男——”
“I object to wedding any—”
“我考虑过雷德温的孪生子、席恩·葛雷乔伊、昆廷·马泰尔，以及其他十来个候选人。但从根本上说，助我们打败史坦尼斯、保住王位的，乃是与提利尔的联盟，应该对它加以巩固。现而今，洛拉斯爵士披了白袍，加兰爵士和佛索威家成亲，只剩一个选择，那就是他们计划用来迎娶珊莎·史塔克的长子。”
“I have considered the Redwyne twins, Theon Greyjoy, Quentyn Martell, and a number of others. But our alliance with Highgarden was the sword that broke Stannis. It should be tempered and made stronger. Ser Loras has taken the white and Ser Garlan is wed to one of the Fossoways, but there remains the eldest son, the boy they scheme to wed to Sansa Stark.”
维拉斯·提利尔。从瑟曦无助的怒火中，提利昂感到邪性的欢乐。“这家伙是个残废，”他指出。
Willas Tyrell. Tyrion was taking a wicked pleasure in Cersei’s helpless fury. “That would be the cripple,” he said.
父亲冷冷一眼让他闭了嘴。“维拉斯是高庭的继承人，根据各种情报来看，还是个温和有礼的青年，喜好读书和观星。此外，他有繁殖动物的兴趣，养了七国上下最为优良的猎狗、猎鹰和骏马。”
Their father chilled him with a look. “Willas is heir to Highgarden, and by all reports a mild and courtly young man, fond of reading books and looking at the stars. He has a passion for breeding animals as well, and owns the finest hounds, hawks, and horses in the Seven Kingdoms.”
真是绝配，提利昂欢快地想，瑟曦在“繁殖”那方面也有兴趣。可怜的维拉斯·提利尔，等见到我姐姐，真不知他该哭还是该笑。
A perfect match, mused Tyrion. Cersei also has a passion for breeding. He pitied poor Willas Tyrell, and did not know whether he wanted to laugh at his sister or weep for her.
“综合各种因素，巴隆大王和提利尔的继承人是两大目标，”泰温公爵总结，“如果是我，会选择后者。”
“The Tyrell heir would be my choice,” Lord Tywin concluded, “but if you would prefer another, I will hear your reasons.”
“您真是太好心了，父亲，”瑟曦带着冰冷的礼数说。“好一个艰难的选择。要跟我上床的，不是老乌贼，便是残废的狗崽子？好，好，请给我几天时间考虑。我可以走了吗？”
“That is so very kind of you, Father,” Cersei said with icy courtesy. “It is such a difficult choice you give me. Who would I sooner take to bed, the old squid or the crippled dog boy? I shall need a few days to consider. Do I have your leave to go?”
你是太后，笨蛋，提利昂想对她说，他才该来请示你。
You are the queen, Tyrion wanted to tell her. He ought to be begging leave of you.
“走吧，”父亲说，“等你冷静下来，我们再谈。记住自己的责任。”
“Go,” their father said. “We shall talk again after you have composed yourself. Remember your duty.”
瑟曦迅速离开房间，怒气显而易见。她奈何不了父亲。从前在与劳勃的婚事上，已经证明了这一点。但詹姆是个危险因素。瑟曦初次结婚时，哥哥还年轻，如今却决不会轻易接受姐姐再婚的事实。不幸的维拉斯·提利尔很可能将面临死亡威胁，接下来就是高庭和凯岩城联盟瓦解，刀兵相见。呃，我该说点什么吗？对不起，父亲，我老姐想嫁的其实是我老哥？
Cersei swept stiffly from the room, her rage plain to see. Yet in the end she will do as Father bid. She had proved that with Robert. Though there is Jaime to consider. Their brother had been much younger when Cersei wed the first time; he might not acquiesce to a second marriage quite so easily. The unfortunate Willas Tyrell was like to contract a sudden fatal case of sword-through-bowels, which could rather sour the alliance between Highgarden and Casterly Rock. I should say something, but what? Pardon me, Father, but it’s our brother she wants to marry?
“提利昂。”
“Tyrion.”
他听天由命地一笑，“司仪宣我出场了？”
He gave a resigned smile. “Do I hear the herald summoning me to the lists?”
“爱搞妓女，是你最大的弱点，”泰温公爵不加掩饰地说，“这点我也有责任。由于你身材跟小孩似的，就不把你当成年男子看待，不考虑你的性需求，这是我的过失。总的来说，你长大了，该结婚了。”
“Your whoring is a weakness in you,” Lord Tywin said without preamble, “but perhaps some share of the blame is mine. Since you stand no taller than a boy, I have found it easy to forget that you are in truth a man grown, with all of a man’s baser needs. It is past time you were wed.”
我结过婚，你忘了吗？提利昂扭扭嘴唇，烂鼻子呈现出半是嘻笑、半是咆哮的怪相。
I was wed, or have you forgotten? Tyrion’s mouth twisted, and the noise emerged that was half laugh and half snarl.
“提起结婚，令你如此兴奋？”
“Does the prospect of marriage amuse you?”
“噢，我只是在想，一个多么英俊潇洒的新郎将要诞生了啊。”事实上，他的确需要一个老婆，凭着对方的土地和城堡，他能远离乔佛里的宫廷……远离瑟曦和父亲。
“Only imagining what a bugger-all handsome bridegroom I’ll make.” A wife might be the very thing he needed. If she brought him lands and a keep, it would give him a place in the world apart from Joffrey’s court … and away from Cersei and their father.
但另一方面，这就很对不起雪伊了。不管她如何睹咒发誓只想当我的“妓女”，我知道她心里很不痛快。
On the other hand, there was Shae. She will not like this, for all she swears that she is content to be my whore.
当然啦，这名营妓对父亲而言比鸿毛还轻，于是提利昂向上蠕蠕身子，道：“你要我娶珊莎·史塔克，以化解提利尔家的威胁，是也不是？”
That was scarcely a point to sway his father, however, so Tyrion squirmed higher in his seat and said, “You mean to wed me to Sansa Stark. But won’t the Tyrells take the match as an affront, if they have designs on the girl?”
“在完成乔佛里的婚礼之前，提利尔大人不会提出史塔克女孩的问题，这里面有个时间差。如果珊莎在之前就结了婚，便不构成冒犯，因为我们根本不清楚他的‘意图’。”
“Lord Tyrell will not broach the matter of the Stark girl until after Joffrey’s wedding. If Sansa is wed before that, how can he take offense, when he gave us no hint of his intentions?”
“正是，”凯冯爵士接口，“然后我们顺势提议瑟曦与维拉斯联姻，作为安抚。”
“Quite so,” said Ser Kevan, “and any lingering resentments should be soothed by the offer of Cersei for his Willas.”
提利昂揉揉发痒的烂鼻子。“自珊莎的父亲身亡以后，咱们高贵的脓包陛下就对她很不好，今天她刚摆脱小乔，你又要她嫁给我。这好残忍啊，即便是你，也不会感到不安吗，父亲？”
Tyrion rubbed at the raw stub of his nose. The scar tissue itched abominably sometimes. “His Grace the royal pustule has made Sansa’s life a misery since the day her father died, and now that she is finally rid of Joffrey you propose to marry her to me. That seems singularly cruel. Even for you, Father.”
“怎么，你打算虐待她？”父亲语气中更多的是好奇，“老实讲，她的幸福根本不在我的考虑范围之内，你也不用多想。眼下，我们与南境的联盟如同凯岩城一样坚硬牢实，但北方叛乱未息，解决的关键就在于珊莎·史塔克。”
“Why, do you plan to mistreat her?” His father sounded more curious than concerned. “The girl’s happiness is not my purpose, nor should it be yours. Our alliances in the south may be as solid as Casterly Rock, but there remains the north to win, and the key to the north is Sansa Stark.”
“她不过是个孩子。”
“She is no more than a child.”
“你姐姐向我保证她已经来潮。正确地讲，她是个女人，可以上床。你，必须立刻取得她的贞操，以防夜长梦多。在此之后，要冷落她一年、两年、甚至十年，都是你作为丈夫的权利。”
“Your sister swears she’s flowered. If so, she is a woman, fit to be wed. You must needs take her maidenhead, so no man can say the marriage was not consummated. After that, if you prefer to wait a year or two before bedding her again, you would be within your rights as her husband.”
我想要的只有雪伊，他心想，而且珊莎是个天真的小姑娘，老混蛋。“你既不想让提利尔家得到她，干嘛不把她送回去？如此一来，或能与罗柏·史塔克和解也说不定。”
Shae is all the woman I need just now, he thought, and Sansa’s a girl, no matter what you say. “If your purpose here is to keep her from the Tyrells, why not return her to her mother? Perhaps that would convince Robb Stark to bend the knee.”
泰温公爵一脸轻蔑，“把她送回奔流城，她母亲就会将她嫁给布莱伍德、梅利斯特或其他人，以确保他儿子在三河流域站稳脚跟；把她送回北境，则会让曼德勒家或安柏家得利；与之相比，她和提利尔家结合的威胁倒还小些。所以，时不我待，我们兰尼斯特必须立刻动手。”
Lord Tywin’s look was scornful. “Send her to Riverrun and her mother will match her with a Blackwood or a Mallister to shore up her son’s alliances along the Trident. Send her north, and she will be wed to some Manderly or Umber before the moon turns. Yet she is no less dangerous here at court, as this business with the Tyrells should prove. She must marry a Lannister, and soon.”
“谁娶珊莎·史塔克，谁就能获得临冬城的继承权，”凯冯叔叔解释，“你就不动心么？”
“The man who weds Sansa Stark can claim Winterfell in her name,” his uncle Kevan put in. “Had that not occurred to you?”
“如果你实在不愿意，我们只好把她给你的表亲们，”父亲道，“凯冯，依你看，蓝赛尔身体撑得住吗？”
“If you will not have the girl, we shall give her to one of your cousins,” said his father. “Kevan, is Lancel strong enough to wed, do you think?”
凯冯爵士犹豫半晌，“要他和这女孩上床，只能做些前戏……交合嘛，还不行……本来我那对双胞胎挺合适，但俩人目前都被史塔克关押，吉娜的儿子提恩也是这个问题。”
Ser Kevan hesitated. “If we bring the girl to his bedside, he could say the words … but to consummate, no … I would suggest one of the twins, but the Starks hold them both at Riverrun. They have Genna’s boy Tion as well, else he might serve.”
提利昂任父亲和叔叔一唱一和，他心知肚明，说了半天都是为了打动他。珊莎·史塔克，他思索，那个说话温柔、笑容甜蜜的珊莎，那个喜欢漂亮衣服、动人歌谣、英雄事迹和俊俏骑士的珊莎。想到要和她成亲，他好似又回到船桥上，甲板在脚底咯吱摇晃。
Tyrion let them have their byplay; it was all for his benefit, he knew. Sansa Stark, he mused. Soft-spoken sweet-smelling Sansa, who loved silks, songs, chivalry and tall gallant knights with handsome faces. He felt as though he was back on the bridge of boats, the deck shifting beneath his feet.
“你要我奖励你在战争中的表现，”泰温公爵刻意提醒他，“这就是奖品，提利昂，是你一辈子最好的机会。”父亲的指头不耐烦地敲打桌面，“从前，我计划让你哥娶莱莎·徒利为妻，可惜伊里斯先我一步把詹姆收为铁卫。我向霍斯特公爵提议用你作代替，他的回答是他们徒利家的女儿要个完人，不要半人。”
“You asked me to reward you for your efforts in the battle,” Lord Tywin reminded him forcefully. “This is a chance for you, Tyrion, the best you are ever likely to have.” He drummed his fingers impatiently on the table. “I once hoped to marry your brother to Lysa Tully, but Aerys named Jaime to his Kingsguard before the arrangements were complete. When I suggested to Lord Hoster that Lysa might be wed to you instead, he replied that he wanted a whole man for his daughter.”
所以他把她嫁给琼恩·艾林——老得足以当她祖父！想到莱莎·艾林如今的样子，提利昂不由得忘了恼怒，只想谢天谢地。
So he wed her to Jon Arryn, who was old enough to be her grandfather. Tyrion was more inclined to be thankful than angry, considering what Lysa Arryn had become.
“我还拿你向多恩提亲，却被对方当成侮辱，”泰温公爵续道，“以后数年间，约恩·罗伊斯和雷顿·海塔尔也都拒绝了我的提议。见你实在娶不了人，我只好降低标准，向佛罗伦家讨要那个劳勃在他弟弟婚床上玷污过的女人，但他父亲宁可将她送给麾下诺科斯家的骑士，也不愿要你。”
“When I offered you to Dorne I was told that the suggestion was an insult,” Lord Tywin continued. “In later years I had similar answers from Yohn Royce and Leyton Hightower. I finally stooped so low as to suggest you might take the Florent girl Robert deflowered in his brother’s wedding bed, but her father preferred to give her to one of his own household knights.
“今次，你若当真拒绝这个史塔克女孩，我也会为你找个老婆。七大王国地域广大，乐意与凯岩城结交的小贵族比比皆是。例如，坦妲伯爵夫人正式提出以洛丽丝……”
“If you will not have the Stark girl, I shall find you another wife. Somewhere in the realm there is doubtless some little lordling who’d gladly part with a daughter to win the friendship of Casterly Rock. Lady Tanda has offered Lollys …”
提利昂慌忙否定：“她？她若过来，我把她大卸八块，喂山羊吃。”
Tyrion gave a shudder of dismay. “I’d sooner cut it off and feed it to the goats.”
“既然你不傻，就给我面对现实！这史塔克女孩年轻、漂亮、温顺，不仅出身高贵，还是个真真正正的处女。条件这么好，你还犹豫什么？”
“Then open your eyes. The Stark girl is young, nubile, tractable, of the highest birth, and still a maid. She is not uncomely. Why would you hesitate?”
我在犹豫什么？“请原谅，就个人而言，我更想要个乐意跟我上床的老婆。”
Why indeed? “A quirk of mine. Strange to say, I would prefer a wife who wants me in her bed.”
“你以为那些跟你上床的婊子都心甘情愿吗？不可救药的大傻瓜！”泰温公爵说，“你太让我失望了，提利昂。我本认为这个提议会让你满意。”
“If you think your whores want you in their bed, you are an even greater fool than I suspected,” said Lord Tywin. “You disappoint me, Tyrion. I had hoped this match would please you.”
“是啊，咱俩都清楚您有多在乎我的感受。算了，说说实质问题，你说解决北方的关键在于珊莎·史塔克？但眼下北方的主人是葛雷乔伊，他家也有个女儿，为何要我娶珊莎·史塔克，而不是她？”他望进父亲的眼睛，那对闪烁着明亮金光的冰冷绿眸。
“Yes, we all know how important my pleasure is to you, Father. But there’s more to this. The key to the north, you say? The Greyjoys hold the north now, and King Balon has a daughter. Why Sansa Stark, and not her?” He looked into his father’s cool green eyes with their bright flecks of gold.
泰温公爵十指交叉，顶着下巴。“巴隆·葛雷乔伊满脑子想的都是劫掠，根本不懂统治之道。就让他享受一秋的王冠，然后经历北境的寒冬吧，你瞧好，北方人很快会起来造反，等春天一到，海怪们就得被扔出去。到那时候，你护送艾德·史塔克的孙子荣归故里，接受贵族与平民的朝拜，你的孩子将坐上古老的王座——我希望，你有生孩子的能力吧？”
Lord Tywin steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “Balon Greyjoy thinks in terms of plunder, not rule. Let him enjoy an autumn crown and suffer a northern winter. He will give his subjects no cause to love him. Come spring, the northmen will have had a bellyful of krakens. When you bring Eddard Stark’s grandson home to claim his birthright, lords and little folk alike will rise as one to place him on the high seat of his ancestors. You are capable of getting a woman with child, I hope?”
“我相信我能，”他生硬地说，“虽然得承认，我还没证明过。你瞧，我可是试了又试，把我小小的种子播在……”
“I believe I am,” he said, bristling. “I confess, I cannot prove it. Though no one can say I have not tried. Why, I plant my little seeds just as often as I can …”
“阴沟和粪坑里，”泰温公爵替他说完，“在那种地方，也只可能留下麻烦的杂种。你该负起责任来，清理后花园了。”他站起身，“我说过，决不会把凯岩城传给你，但是，我可以给你珊莎·史塔克，给你临冬城。”
“In the gutters and the ditches,” finished Lord Tywin, “and in common ground where only bastard weeds take root. It is past time you kept your own garden.” He rose to his feet. “You shall never have Casterly Rock, I promise you. But wed Sansa Stark, and it is just possible that you might win Winterfell.”
临冬城摄政提利昂·兰尼斯特。想到这儿，他不禁奇怪地浑身颤抖。“很公平，父亲，”他缓缓地说，“但在你整个计划里面，有个极大的障碍：罗柏·史塔克的生产能力想必不在我之下，而他又和素有丰饶之名的佛雷家族订了亲，如此一来，只要少狼主生出个小崽儿，那珊莎的孩子就什么也继承不了了。”
Tyrion Lannister, Lord Protector of Winterfell. The prospect gave him a queer chill. “Very good, Father,” he said slowly, “but there’s a big ugly roach in your rushes. Robb Stark is as capable as I am, presumably, and sworn to marry one of those fertile Freys. And once the Young Wolf sires a litter, any pups that Sansa births are heirs to nothing.”
泰温公爵不为所动，“我跟你保证，罗柏·史塔克和丰饶的佛雷家族之间没有关系。有个小新闻我没在御前会议上讲，但这些大人们很快就会知道：少狼主已和加文·维斯特林的长女成了亲。”
Lord Tywin was unconcerned. “Robb Stark will father no children on his fertile Frey, you have my word. There is a bit of news I have not yet seen fit to share with the council, though no doubt the good lords will hear it soon enough. The Young Wolf has taken Gawen Westerling’s eldest daughter to wife.”
片刻之间，提利昂简直不相信自己的耳朵。“背弃自己的誓言？”他怀疑地反问，“背弃佛雷家族？就为……”真不知该怎么形容。
For a moment Tyrion could not believe he’d heard his father right. “He broke his sworn word?” he said, incredulous. “He threw away the Freys for …” Words failed him.
“就为一个名叫简妮的十六岁少女，”凯冯爵士道，“从前，加文大人拿她向我的威廉和马丁提过亲，我拒绝了，理由很简单，加文本身是个好人，可他娶希蓓儿·斯派瑟为妻，她算什么东西？维斯特林家就有这个传统：对荣誉太刻板，搞得脑子不清醒。实际上，希蓓儿夫人的祖父是个卖藏红花和胡椒粉的贩子，出生比史坦尼斯手下那走私贩还低，而她祖母更是东方来的神秘人物——身躯老朽不堪，却有一股怕人气势，人唤作‘巫魔女’，其真名无法发音。当年，兰尼斯港里一多半人跑到她那儿去购买还魂药、春情丹之类的东西。”叔叔耸耸肩，“好在她早死了，简妮我倒见过一次，是个甜美的好孩子，虽然血统嘛……”
“A maid of sixteen years, named Jeyne,” said Ser Kevan. “Lord Gawen once suggested her to me for Willem or Martyn, but I had to refuse him. Gawen is a good man, but his wife is Sybell Spicer. He should never have wed her. The Westerlings always did have more honor than sense. Lady Sybell’s grandfather was a trader in saffron and pepper, almost as lowborn as that smuggler Stannis keeps. And the grandmother was some woman he’d brought back from the east. A frightening old crone, supposed to be a priestess. Maegi, they called her. No one could pronounce her real name. Half of Lannisport used to go to her for cures and love potions and the like.” He shrugged. “She’s long dead, to be sure. And Jeyne seemed a sweet child, I’ll grant you, though I only saw her once. But with such doubtful blood …”
提利昂和妓女结过婚，因此叔叔认为十恶不赦的血统，他并不太在意。如此说来……甜美的好孩子，毒药往往以糖为衣，这其中有蹊跷……维斯特林家族系古老，更以此为傲。要高贵的加文·维斯特林大人与希蓓儿夫人成亲，想必有钱财的关系。他去过峭岩城，那里的矿藏早已采尽，土地纷纷出卖抵押，城堡本身也年久失修，不过是一座孤立在海边峭壁上的浪漫废墟罢了。“很意外，”提利昂承认，“我以为罗柏·史塔克挺会谋划，”
Having once married a whore, Tyrion could not entirely share his uncle’s horror at the thought of wedding a girl whose great grandfather sold cloves. Even so … A sweet child, Ser Kevan had said, but many a poison was sweet as well. The Westerlings were old blood, but they had more pride than power. It would not surprise him to learn that Lady Sybell had brought more wealth to the marriage than her highborn husband. The Westerling mines had failed years ago, their best lands had been sold off or lost, and the Crag was more ruin than stronghold. A romantic ruin, though, jutting up so brave above the sea. “I am surprised,” Tyrion had to confess. “I thought Robb Stark had better sense.”
“他是个十六岁的小子，”泰温公爵说，“谋划不属于这个年纪，它让位于时髦的荣誉、爱情和淫欲。”
“He is a boy of sixteen,” said Lord Tywin. “At that age, sense weighs for little, against lust and love and honor.”
“他背弃自己的誓言，羞辱治下的封臣，致神圣的婚约于不顾，还谈得上什么荣誉？”
“He forswore himself, shamed an ally, betrayed a solemn promise. Where is the honor in that?”
凯冯爵士给予解答：“他把那女孩的荣誉放在自己的荣誉之上。他开了她的苞，便看得比天还高。”
Ser Kevan answered. “He chose the girl’s honor over his own. Once he had deflowered her, he had no other course.”
“他若真为她好，不如让她留着一个私生子和对他的想念而去。”提利昂坦率地说。与他成亲，维斯特林家族就彻底完了，土地、城堡和成员将被统统消灭。兰尼斯特有债必还。
“It would have been kinder to leave her with a bastard in her belly,” said Tyrion bluntly. The Westerlings stood to lose everything here; their lands, their castle, their very lives. A Lannister always pays his debts.
“你要记住，简妮·维斯特林是她母亲的女儿，”泰温公爵宣布，“而罗柏·史塔克是他父亲的儿子。”
“Jeyne Westerling is her mother’s daughter,” said Lord Tywin, “and Robb Stark is his father’s son.”
提利昂很好奇，为何维斯特林的背叛竟没激怒父亲。父亲最受不了手下封臣三心二意，早在少年时代，便亲自将卡斯特梅城高傲的雷耶斯家和塔贝克厅古老的塔贝克家斩草除根，为此，歌手们谱了一首阴沉的曲谣。多年以后，当仙女城的法曼大人不服管制时，泰温公爵没有多说，只送去一名竖琴手。城堡大厅里响起“卡特特梅的雨季”，法曼从此俯首归顺。对那些敢于蔑视凯岩城威严的人而言，雷耶斯家和塔贝克家无言的废墟是永久的警示。“峭岩城离卡斯特梅和塔贝克厅不远，”提利昂指出，“所以你认为维斯特林家迟早会想起教训。”
This Westerling betrayal did not seem to have enraged his father as much as Tyrion would have expected. Lord Tywin did not suffer disloyalty in his vassals. He had extinguished the proud Reynes of Castamere and the ancient Tarbecks of Tarbeck Hall root and branch when he was still half a boy. The singers had even made a rather gloomy song of it. Some years later, when Lord Farman of Faircastle grew truculent, Lord Tywin sent an envoy bearing a lute instead of a letter. But once he’d heard “The Rains of Castamere” echoing through his hall, Lord Farman gave no further trouble. And if the song were not enough, the shattered castles of the Reynes and Tarbecks still stood as mute testimony to the fate that awaited those who chose to scorn the power of Casterly Rock. “The Crag is not so far from Tarbeck Hall and Castamere,” Tyrion pointed out. “You’d think the Westerlings might have ridden past and seen the lesson there.”
“他们会的，”泰温公爵道，“我向你保证，他们记得卡斯特梅城的下场。”
“Mayhaps they have,” Lord Tywin said. “They are well aware of Castamere, I promise you.”
“那要是维斯特林和斯派瑟们蠢到认定狼能战胜狮子呢？”
“Could the Westerlings and Spicers be such great fools as to believe the wolf can defeat the lion?”
在很长一段时间里，泰温·兰尼斯特公爵看起来都想笑，虽然到最后他并没有笑，但显然没将提利昂的疑问放在心上。“最蠢的人通常也比嘲笑他们的家伙聪明，”他总结，“你必须与珊莎·史塔克结婚，提利昂，而且要快。”
Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister would actually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone was terrible to behold. “The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them,” he said, and then, “You will marry Sansa Stark, Tyrion. And soon.”
