Ⅳ 群鴉的盛宴 Chapter0 序章
PROLOGUE
“龍?！蹦m德邊說，邊從地上抓起一只干癟的蘋果，在雙手之間丟來丟去。
Dragons,” said Mollander. He snatched a withered apple off the ground and tossed it hand to hand.
“扔啊?！蓖馓枴八狗铱怂埂钡睦偎_催促。他從箭囊里抽出一支箭，搭上弓弦。
“Throw the apple,” urged Alleras the Sphinx. He slipped an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bowstring.
“我想看龍?！濒斈嵩谒麄儺?dāng)中年紀(jì)最小，又矮又胖，尚有兩歲才成年?！澳呐乱谎鄱己??！?/p>
“I should like to see a dragon.” Roone was the youngest of them, a chunky boy still two years shy of manhood. “I should like that very much.”
我想蘿希摟著我睡覺，佩特心想。他坐在板凳上不安地挪動。到明天早上，女孩就是他的人了。我要帶她遠(yuǎn)離舊鎮(zhèn)，穿越狹海，去自由貿(mào)易城邦。那里沒有學(xué)士，沒有人會抓他。
And I should like to sleep with Rosey’s arms around me, Pate thought. He shifted restlessly on the bench. By the morrow the girl could well be his. I will take her far from Oldtown, across the narrow sea to one of the Free Cities. There were no maesters there, no one to accuse him.
艾瑪?shù)男β晱念^頂?shù)恼爸袀鞒?，夾雜著恩客低沉的嗓門—她乃“羽筆酒樽”最年長的女招待，年過四十，卻是體態(tài)豐盈，風(fēng)韻猶存。蘿希是她女兒，芳齡十五，剛剛有了月事。艾瑪早已宣布，蘿希的初夜需花費(fèi)一枚金龍。佩特費(fèi)盡心機(jī)，才存下九枚銀鹿，外加一罐銅星幣和零散的銅板，但要叫他存滿一枚金幣，恐怕比孵出一條真龍更難。
He could hear Emma’s laughter coming through a shuttered window overhead, mingled with the deeper voice of the man she was entertaining. She was the oldest of the serving wenches at the Quill and Tankard, forty if she was a day, but still pretty in a fleshy sort of way. Rosey was her daughter, fifteen and freshly flowered. Emma had decreed that Rosey’s maidenhead would cost a golden dragon. Pate had saved nine silver stags and a pot of copper stars and pennies, for all the good that would do him. He would have stood a better chance of hatching a real dragon than saving up enough coin to make a golden one.
“你生得太遲，看不到龍了，小子。”助理學(xué)士阿曼告訴魯尼。阿曼脖子上掛著一根皮繩，串有白、錫、鉛和銅的鏈條，跟大多數(shù)助理學(xué)士一樣，他似乎也認(rèn)為學(xué)徒們肩膀上長的是蕪菁，不是腦袋?！白詈笠活^龍在伊耿三世的朝代就死了。”
“You were born too late for dragons, lad,” Armen the Acolyte told Roone. Armen wore a leather thong about his neck, strung with links of pewter, tin, lead, and copper, and like most acolytes he seemed to believe that novices had turnips growing from their shoulders in place of heads. “The last one perished during the reign of King Aegon the Third.”
“那是維斯特洛的最后一頭龍?！蹦m德強(qiáng)調(diào)。
“The last dragon in Westeros,” insisted Mollander.
“快扔蘋果?！崩偎_再度催促。這小子生得標(biāo)致，人稱“斯芬克斯”，深得女招待們的喜愛，連蘿希也會偶爾在端酒時趁機(jī)碰他胳膊一把，佩特只好咬咬牙，假裝沒看見。
“Throw the apple,” Alleras urged again. He was a comely youth, their Sphinx. All the serving wenches doted on him. Even Rosey would sometimes touch him on the arm when she brought him wine, and Pate had to gnash his teeth and pretend not to see.
“維斯特洛的最后一頭龍就是全世界的最后一頭龍，”阿曼固執(zhí)地說，“大家都知道?！?/p>
“The last dragon in Westeros was the last dragon,” said Armen doggedly. “That is well known.”
“蘋果，”拉蕾薩說，“除非你想吃了它。”
“The apple,” Alleras said. “Unless you mean to eat it.”
“來了?！蹦m德拖著畸形的腳輕跳一步，轉(zhuǎn)了一圈，胳膊甩出，將蘋果拋向蜜酒河上的霧氣之中。若非那只腳，他或許能像父親一樣當(dāng)騎士。他有粗壯的胳膊和寬闊的肩膀，不缺力量，只見蘋果飛得又遠(yuǎn)又急……
“Here.” Dragging his clubfoot, Mollander took a short hop, whirled, and whipped the apple sidearm into the mists that hung above the Honeywine. If not for his foot, he would have been a knight like his father. He had the strength for it in those thick arms and broad shoulders. Far and fast the apple flew …
……卻不如后面呼嘯而來的那支箭，一碼長的金木箭桿上鑲著鮮紅羽飾。佩特沒看到箭射中蘋果，但聽到了聲音。一聲輕微的悶響在河面上回蕩，緊接著是落水聲。
… but not as fast as the arrow that whistled after it, a yard-long shaft of golden wood fletched with scarlet feathers. Pate did not see the arrow catch the apple, but he heard it. A soft chunk echoed back across the river, followed by a splash.
莫蘭德打個呼哨?！罢邪凶?。寶貝兒?！?/p>
Mollander whistled. “You cored it. Sweet.”
蘿希是我的寶貝兒。佩特愛她淡褐色的眼睛，蓓蕾初綻的乳房，還有她每次見到他時微笑的模樣。他愛她臉頰上的酒窩。她時而會光著腳，以感受腳下的草地，這點(diǎn)他也很喜歡。他愛她清新的氣味，愛她的秀發(fā)鬈曲在耳后的樣子，甚至愛她的腳趾頭。某天晚上，她把腳伸給他摩挲玩弄，于是他替每個腳趾頭都編了一個好玩的故事，逗得她咯咯笑個不停。
Not half as sweet as Rosey. Pate loved her hazel eyes and budding breasts, and the way she smiled every time she saw him. He loved the dimples in her cheeks. Sometimes she went barefoot as she served, to feel the grass beneath her feet. He loved that too. He loved the clean fresh smell of her, the way her hair curled behind her ears. He even loved her toes. One night she’d let him rub her feet and play with them, and he’d made up a funny tale for every toe to keep her giggling.
也許留在狹海這一邊更好。他可以用存下的錢買頭驢子，和蘿希輪流騎著周游維斯特洛。雖然安布羅斯認(rèn)為他還不配獲得銀鏈條，但佩特已懂得如何接骨，如何用水蛭放血退燒了。老百姓們會看重他的。若是再學(xué)會剪發(fā)和刮胡子，他甚至可以當(dāng)理發(fā)師。那就夠了，他告訴自己，只要擁有蘿希。蘿希是他所有的渴望。
Perhaps he would do better to remain on this side of the narrow sea. He could buy a donkey with the coin he’d saved, and he and Rosey could take turns riding it as they wandered Westeros. Ebrose might not think him worthy of the silver, but Pate knew how to set a bone and leech a fever. The smallfolk would be grateful for his help. If he could learn to cut hair and shave beards, he might even be a barber. That would be enough, he told himself, so long as I had Rosey. Rosey was all that he wanted in the world.
從前并非如此。從前他夢想成為城堡中的學(xué)士，為某位慷慨的領(lǐng)主效力，領(lǐng)主會尊重他的諫言，賜他一匹良種白馬，以答謝他的服務(wù)。他會高高騎在馬上，莊嚴(yán)又高貴，一路微笑著俯視經(jīng)過的平民……
That had not always been so. Once he had dreamed of being a maester in a castle, in service to some open-handed lord who would honor him for his wisdom and bestow a fine white horse on him to thank him for his service. How high he’d ride, how nobly, smiling down at the smallfolk when he passed them on the road …
直到有天晚上，在“羽筆酒樽”的大廳里，喝下兩大杯烈性蘋果酒之后，佩特夸口說自己不會永遠(yuǎn)是學(xué)徒?！爱?dāng)然了，”“懶人”里奧大聲說，“你會是個作豬倌的前學(xué)徒，哈哈！”
One night in the Quill and Tankard’s common room, after his second tankard of fearsomely strong cider, Pate had boasted that he would not always be a novice. “Too true,” Lazy Leo had called out. “You’ll be a former novice, herding swine.”
他喝干杯中殘渣?；鹁嬲找坝鸸P酒樽”所在的露臺，猶如霧海中的光島。下游遠(yuǎn)處，參天塔上的烽火漂浮在夜晚氤氳的水汽中，仿佛一輪朦朧魔幻的橙月，卻難以提振他的情緒。
He drained the dregs of his tankard. The torchlit terrace of the Quill and Tankard was an island of light in a sea of mist this morning. Downriver, the distant beacon of the Hightower floated in the damp of night like a hazy orange moon, but the light did little to lift his spirits.
煉金術(shù)士應(yīng)該到了呀？！難道這是個殘酷的玩笑？還是那人出了事？這并非頭一回好運(yùn)在佩特身上變霉運(yùn)了。他曾經(jīng)沾沾自喜，因為被選中幫年邁的沃格雷夫博士管理烏鴉，但他做夢也沒想到，自己還得給博士做飯、打掃清潔，每天早晨幫他穿衣服。人人都說，關(guān)于烏鴉的知識，沃格雷夫忘記的比其他學(xué)士知道的還多，佩特?fù)?jù)此以為自己至少有望獲得一個黑鐵鏈條，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)沃格雷夫根本沒辦法傳授任何東西。讓老人仍頂著博士頭銜完全出于禮節(jié)。不錯，他曾經(jīng)很偉大，現(xiàn)在卻連用長袍遮掩臟污的內(nèi)衣都做不到，半年前，幾個助理學(xué)士發(fā)現(xiàn)他在圖書館哭泣，因為找不到回房的路。如今葛曼學(xué)士代替他執(zhí)掌鐵面具，正是這個葛曼指控佩特偷竊。
The alchemist should have come by now. Had it all been some cruel jape, or had something happened to the man? It would not have been the first time that good fortune had turned sour on Pate. He had once counted himself lucky to be chosen to help old Archmaester Walgrave with the ravens, never dreaming that before long he would also be fetching the man’s meals, sweeping out his chambers, and dressing him every morning. Everyone said that Walgrave had forgotten more of ravencraft than most maesters ever knew, so Pate assumed a black iron link was the least that he could hope for, only to find that Walgrave could not grant him one. The old man remained an archmaester only by courtesy. As great a maester as once he’d been, now his robes concealed soiled smallclothes oft as not, and half a year ago some acolytes found him weeping in the Library, unable to find his way back to his chambers. Maester Gormon sat below the iron mask in Walgrave’s place, the same Gormon who had once accused Pate of theft.
河邊的蘋果樹上，一只夜鶯開始歌唱，對于終日聽?wèi)T了烏鴉的刺耳尖叫和無盡聒噪的佩特而言，真算得上是天籟之音。白鴉們知道他的名字，無論何時，只要看見他，就會彼此嘀咕叫嚷，“佩特，佩特，佩特，”直到他想尖叫。這些大白鳥是沃格雷夫博士的驕傲，沃格雷夫死后想讓它們把自己吃掉，佩特懷疑它們也打算吃了他。
In the apple tree beside the water, a nightingale began to sing. It was a sweet sound, a welcome respite from the harsh screams and endless quorking of the ravens he had tended all day long. The white ravens knew his name, and would mutter it to each other whenever they caught sight of him, “Pate, Pate, Pate,” until he wanted to scream. The big white birds were Archmaester Walgrave’s pride. He wanted them to eat him when he died, but Pate half suspected that they meant to eat him too.
或許是烈性蘋果酒作祟—其實他來這里并非為了喝酒，是正好遇上拉蕾薩請客，以慶賀獲得銅鏈條，由于罪惡感，他不覺喝多了些—在他耳中，夜鶯仿佛在興奮地高歌：黑鐵換黃金，黑鐵換黃金，黑鐵換黃金。真奇怪，這正是當(dāng)晚蘿希安排他跟陌生人會面時對方說的話?！澳闶钦l？”佩特追問。那人答道，“我是煉金術(shù)士，你可以用黑鐵來換我的黃金。”他手中出現(xiàn)了一枚金龍，在指節(jié)間翻來翻去，淡黃的金幣在燭光中閃耀，其中一面是三頭龍，另一面是某個死掉的國王。黑鐵換黃金，他回想，沒有更好的機(jī)會了。你要她嗎？你愛她嗎？“我不是小偷，”他告訴自稱煉金術(shù)士的人，“我是學(xué)城的學(xué)徒?！睙捊鹦g(shù)士點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，“你再考慮考慮吧，三天后，我會帶著金龍幣重回此地?！?/p>
Perhaps it was the fearsomely strong cider—he had not come here to drink, but Alleras had been buying to celebrate his copper link, and guilt had made him thirsty—but it almost sounded as if the nightingale were trilling gold for iron, gold for iron, gold for iron. Which was passing strange, because that was what the stranger had said the night Rosey brought the two of them together. “Who are you?” Pate had demanded of him, and the man had replied, “An alchemist. I can change iron into gold.” And then the coin was in his hand, dancing across his knuckles, the soft yellow gold shining in the candlelight. On one side was a three-headed dragon, on the other the head of some dead king. Gold for iron, Pate remembered, you won’t do better. Do you want her? Do you love her? “I am no thief,” he had told the man who called himself the alchemist, “I am a novice of the Citadel.” The alchemist had bowed his head, and said, “If you should reconsider, I shall return here three days hence, with my dragon.”
整整三天過去了，佩特回到“羽筆酒樽”，仍然拿不定主意，他沒等到煉金術(shù)士，反而遇上了莫蘭德、阿曼、“斯芬克斯”和魯尼一行。若不加入慶祝，定會引起懷疑的。
Three days had passed. Pate had returned to the Quill and Tankard, still uncertain what he was, but instead of the alchemist he’d found Mollander and Armen and the Sphinx, with Roone in tow. It would have raised suspicions not to join them.
“羽筆酒樽”從不打烊，六百年來，它始終矗立在蜜酒河中的小島上，不曾關(guān)門歇業(yè)。盡管這座高大的木房子向南歪斜，猶如醉酒的學(xué)徒，但佩特毫不懷疑它還將繼續(xù)矗立六百年，售賣葡萄酒、麥酒及烈性蘋果酒給過河人、海員、鐵匠和歌手，僧侶與王公，學(xué)城的學(xué)徒與助理學(xué)士都是這兒的?？汀?/p>
The Quill and Tankard never closed. For six hundred years it had been standing on its island in the Honeywine, and never once had its doors been shut to trade. Though the tall, timbered building leaned toward the south the way novices sometimes leaned after a tankard, Pate expected that the inn would go on standing for another six hundred years, selling wine and ale and fearsomely strong cider to rivermen and seamen, smiths and singers, priests and princes, and the novices and acolytes of the Citadel.
“舊鎮(zhèn)不是全世界?！蹦m德大聲嚷嚷。他是騎士之子，此刻已酩酊大醉。得知父親死在黑水河之后，他便夜夜買醉。唉，即使身處遠(yuǎn)離戰(zhàn)火的舊鎮(zhèn)，有重重高墻保護(hù)，五王之戰(zhàn)還是影響了所有人……不過貝尼狄克博士堅稱根本沒有所謂的“五王之戰(zhàn)”，因為藍(lán)禮·拜拉席恩早在巴隆·葛雷喬伊自封為王之前就遇害了。
“Oldtown is not the world,” declared Mollander, too loudly. He was a knight’s son, and drunk as drunk could be. Since they brought him word of his father’s death upon the Blackwater, he got drunk most every night. Even in Oldtown, far from the fighting and safe behind its walls, the War of the Five Kings had touched them all … although Archmaester Benedict insisted that there had never been a war of five kings, since Renly Baratheon had been slain before Balon Greyjoy had crowned himself.
“我父親常說，領(lǐng)主的城堡之外，那才是世界。”莫蘭德續(xù)道，“在魁爾斯、亞夏或夷地，龍一定是最不起眼的東西。最近水手們的故事說……”
“My father always said the world was bigger than any lord’s castle,” Mollander went on. “Dragons must be the least of the things a man might find in Qarth and Asshai and Yi Ti. These sailors’ stories …”
“……水手們的故事也只是故事，”阿曼打斷他，“水手，親愛的莫蘭德，我敢打賭，你隨時去碼頭邊，都可以找到那種人，要么自稱跟美人魚睡過覺，要么吹噓在魚肚子里呆過一年。”
“… are stories told by sailors,” Armen interrupted. “Sailors, my dear Mollander. Go back down to the docks, and I wager you’ll find sailors who’ll tell you of the mermaids that they bedded, or how they spent a year in the belly of a fish.”
“你怎么知道他們沒有？”莫蘭德踏著沉重的步伐在草地上找蘋果，“除非你親自鉆到魚肚子里去過。個別水手的故事，沒錯，你可以付之一笑，但四艘船上操四種不同語言的槳手講述同一個故事……”
“How do you know they didn’t?” Mollander thumped through the grass, looking for more apples. “You’d need to be down the belly yourself to swear they weren’t. One sailor with a story, aye, a man might laugh at that, but when oarsmen off four different ships tell the same tale in four different tongues …”
“不是同一個故事，”阿曼堅持，“亞夏的龍，魁爾斯的龍，彌林的龍，多斯拉克的龍，解放奴隸的龍……故事的版本不一樣?！?/p>
“The tales are not the same,” insisted Armen. “Dragons in Asshai, dragons in Qarth, dragons in Meereen, Dothraki dragons, dragons freeing slaves … each telling differs from the last.”
“只有細(xì)節(jié)不同?！蹦m德喝醉之后變得更加執(zhí)拗，清醒時他已經(jīng)夠頑固了?！肮适吕锩娑加旋?，還有一位年輕美麗的女王?！?/p>
“Only in details.” Mollander grew more stubborn when he drank, and even when sober he was bullheaded. “All speak of dragons, and a beautiful young queen.”
佩特只關(guān)心金龍。他琢磨著煉金術(shù)士。這是第三天。他說過會回來的。
The only dragon Pate cared about was made of yellow gold. He wondered what had happened to the alchemist. The third day. He said he’d be here.
“你腳邊有一只蘋果，”拉蕾薩朝莫蘭德喊，“我箭囊里還有兩支箭?！?/p>
“There’s another apple near your foot,” Alleras called to Mollander, “and I still have two arrows in my quiver.”
“你的箭囊見鬼去吧?！蹦m德抄起掉落的果子?！吧x了。”他抱怨，但還是扔了出去。蘋果開始下墜時，被箭只逮個正著，干凈利落地劈成兩半。其中一半掉在塔頂，然后滾到下面較低的屋檐，彈落至阿曼身邊一尺遠(yuǎn)處?！鞍讶湎x切成兩半，它會變成兩條蟲子?！敝韺W(xué)士教導(dǎo)他們。
“Fuck your quiver.” Mollander scooped up the windfall. “This one’s wormy,” he complained, but he threw it anyway. The arrow caught the apple as it began to fall and sliced it clean in two. One half landed on a turret roof, tumbled to a lower roof, bounced, and missed Armen by a foot. “If you cut a worm in two, you make two worms,” the acolyte informed them.
“蘋果也能這樣就好了，天底下便沒人會餓肚子?！崩偎_帶著慣常的微笑說?！八狗铱怂埂笨偸敲鎺⑿?，仿佛知道什么隱秘的玩笑，這讓他看起來有點(diǎn)不懷好意，尤其是他還長著尖下巴、尖鼻子、尖額頭和一頭烏黑濃密的短鬈發(fā)。
“If only it worked that way with apples, no one would ever need go hungry,” said Alleras with one of his soft smiles. The Sphinx was always smiling, as if he knew some secret jape. It gave him a wicked look that went well with his pointed chin, widow’s peak, and dense mat of close-cropped jet-black curls.
拉蕾薩將成為學(xué)士。他在學(xué)城才待一年，卻已鑄就了頸鏈的三個鏈條。阿曼的鏈條雖多，但每一個都要花費(fèi)一年工夫，然而最終，他也會成為學(xué)士。魯尼和莫蘭德仍是光脖子的學(xué)徒，可魯尼還小，而莫蘭德喜好飲酒勝于閱讀。
Alleras would make a maester. He had only been at the Citadel for a year, yet already he had forged three links of his maester’s chain. Armen might have more, but each of his had taken him a year to earn. Still, he would make a maester too. Roone and Mollander remained pink-necked novices, but Roone was very young and Mollander preferred drinking to reading.
至于佩特……
Pate, though …
他在學(xué)城已有五年，從西境過來時不過十三歲，歲月匆匆，脖子卻仍跟初來乍到時一樣光溜溜的。他兩度相信自己作好了準(zhǔn)備。第一次是在維林博士面前展示天文知識，結(jié)果教他明白了維林這“酸醋”的外號果真名不虛傳；佩特整整花了兩年時間才鼓起勇氣再作嘗試。這回他信托于慈祥的老安布羅斯博士，老人素來言行溫和，但事實證明，安布羅斯的嘆息和維林的嘲諷一樣令人痛苦。
He had been five years at the Citadel, arriving when he was no more than three-and-ten, yet his neck remained as pink as it had been on the day he first arrived from the westerlands. Twice had he believed himself ready. The first time he had gone before Archmaester Vaellyn to demonstrate his knowledge of the heavens. Instead he learned how Vinegar Vaellyn had earned that name. It took Pate two years to summon up the courage to try again. This time he submitted himself to kindly old Archmaester Ebrose, renowned for his soft voice and gentle hands, but Ebrose’s sighs had somehow proved just as painful as Vaellyn’s barbs.
“最后一只蘋果，”拉蕾薩承諾，“然后我就告訴你們，我對這些龍的看法?！?/p>
“One last apple,” promised Alleras, “and I will tell you what I suspect about these dragons.”
“你會曉得什么我不曉得的？”莫蘭德咕噥。他發(fā)現(xiàn)樹枝上有只蘋果，便跳起來將它摘下，再扔出去。拉蕾薩將弓弦拉至耳邊，優(yōu)雅地跟蹤目標(biāo)的飛行軌跡。蘋果剛要下墜，箭離弦而出。
“What could you know that I don’t?” grumbled Mollander. He spied an apple on a branch, jumped up, pulled it down, and threw. Alleras drew his bowstring back to his ear, turning gracefully to follow the target in flight. He loosed his shaft just as the apple began to fall.
“你的最后一箭老是失手?！濒斈嵴f。
“You always miss your last shot,” said Roone.
話音未落，蘋果便完好無損地掉進(jìn)河中。
The apple splashed down into the river, untouched.
“看到?jīng)]？”魯尼說。
“See?” said Roone.
“你拿大滿貫?zāi)翘?，就是無法再進(jìn)步的時候?！闭f罷拉蕾薩卸下弓弦，將長弓輕巧地塞入皮套之中。這把弓由金心木雕成，那是產(chǎn)自盛夏群島的稀有木材。佩特碰過這把弓，但拉不動?！八狗铱怂埂笨雌饋砣醪唤L(fēng)，實際上那雙細(xì)長的胳膊很有力量，他思忖。此時拉蕾薩一邊將腿跨過板凳，一邊伸手去取酒杯?！褒堄腥齻€頭。”他拖著柔和的多恩腔調(diào)宣布。
“The day you make them all is the day you stop improving.” Alleras unstrung his longbow and eased it into its leather case. The bow was carved from goldenheart, a rare and fabled wood from the Summer Isles. Pate had tried to bend it once, and failed. The Sphinx looks slight, but there’s strength in those slim arms, he reflected, as Alleras threw a leg across the bench and reached for his wine cup. “The dragon has three heads,” he announced in his soft Dornish drawl.
“這是個謎題嗎？”魯尼想知道，“傳說中的斯芬克斯是出謎題者?！?/p>
“Is this a riddle?” Roone wanted to know. “Sphinxes always speak in riddles in the tales.”
“這不是謎題。”拉蕾薩呷了口葡萄酒。其他人喝的都是“羽筆酒樽”聞名天下的烈性蘋果酒，他卻喜歡來自他母親家鄉(xiāng)的奇特的甜葡萄酒，即使在舊鎮(zhèn)，這種紅酒也價格不菲。
“No riddle.” Alleras sipped his wine. The rest of them were quaffing tankards of the fearsomely strong cider that the Quill and Tankard was renowned for, but he preferred the strange, sweet wines of his mother’s country. Even in Oldtown such wines did not come cheap.
“懶人”里奧給拉蕾薩取了“斯芬克斯”的綽號。傳說斯芬克斯是個四不像：人面，獅身，鷹翼。拉蕾薩正是如此：他父親是多恩人，母親卻為黑皮膚的盛夏群島人，他自己的皮膚如柚木般黝黑，跟學(xué)城大門兩側(cè)的綠色大理石斯芬克斯像相同，拉蕾薩的眼睛是瑪瑙色。
It had been Lazy Leo who dubbed Alleras “the Sphinx.” A sphinx is a bit of this, a bit of that: a human face, the body of a lion, the wings of a hawk. Alleras was the same: his father was a Dornishman, his mother a black-skinned Summer Islander. His own skin was dark as teak. And like the green marble sphinxes that flanked the Citadel’s main gate, Alleras had eyes of onyx.
“從來沒有一條龍會長三個腦袋，除了盾牌和旗幟上畫的紋章，”助理學(xué)士阿曼堅稱，“那充其量只是圖案而已。況且，坦格利安家的人死光了?！?/p>
“No dragon has ever had three heads except on shields and banners,” Armen the Acolyte said firmly. “That was a heraldic charge, no more. Furthermore, the Targaryens are all dead.”
“沒有死光，”拉蕾薩道，“乞丐王的妹妹還活著?！?/p>
“Not all,” said Alleras. “The Beggar King had a sister.”
“她不是腦袋在墻上撞碎了嗎？”魯尼說。
“I thought her head was smashed against a wall,” said Roone.
“不對，”拉蕾薩說，“你說的是雷加王子之子伊耿，他被蘭尼斯特獅子手下的勇士殺害。我講的是雷加的妹妹，龍石島陷落前出生在那里，名曰丹妮莉絲?！?/p>
“No,” said Alleras. “It was Prince Rhaegar’s young son Aegon whose head was dashed against the wall by the Lion of Lannister’s brave men. We speak of Rhaegar’s sister, born on Dragonstone before its fall. The one they called Daenerys.”
“‘風(fēng)暴降生’！我想起來了?！蹦m德高舉酒杯，剩余的蘋果酒飛濺出來?！盀樗杀?！”他一飲而盡，“砰”的一聲將空杯子砸在桌上，打了個嗝，用手背抹抹嘴。“蘿希在哪兒？讓我們?yōu)楹戏ǖ呐踉俸纫惠?，怎么樣？?/p>
“The Stormborn. I recall her now.” Mollander lifted his tankard high, sloshing the cider that remained. “Here’s to her!” He gulped, slammed his empty tankard down, belched, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Where’s Rosey? Our rightful queen deserves another round of cider, wouldn’t you say?”
助理學(xué)士阿曼面色驚恐：“小聲點(diǎn)，蠢貨，這種事開不得玩笑。隔墻有耳啊，到處都有八爪蜘蛛的眼線?！?/p>
Armen the Acolyte looked alarmed. “Lower your voice, fool. You should not even jape about such things. You never know who could be listening. The Spider has ears everywhere.”
“噢，尿褲子了，阿曼？行了，我只是建議咱們多喝杯酒，又不是要起兵造反?！?/p>
“Ah, don’t piss your breeches, Armen. I was proposing a drink, not a rebellion.”
有人咯咯竊笑，接著，一個輕柔狡猾的聲音從佩特身后傳來?！拔揖椭滥闶莻€叛徒，青蛙?！薄皯腥恕崩飱W由搖晃的古舊木板橋走過來。他一身綠金條紋的綢緞衣服，黑絲披肩由一朵玉雕玫瑰別住，衣襟前染滿酒漬，由顏色判斷，是深紅色的酒。一縷淺金頭發(fā)懸垂下來，遮住了一只眼睛。
Pate heard a chuckle. A soft, sly voice called out from behind him. “I always knew you were a traitor, Hopfrog.” Lazy Leo was slouching by the foot of the old plank bridge, draped in satin striped in green and gold, with a black silk half cape pinned to his shoulder by a rose of jade. The wine he’d dribbled down his front had been a robust red, judging from the color of the spots. A lock of his ash-blond hair fell down across one eye.
莫蘭德看到他就怒發(fā)沖冠?！安倌隳棠痰?。滾一邊去。這里不歡迎你?！崩偎_伸出一只手按住他胳膊，讓他冷靜，阿曼則皺起眉頭，“里奧大人，據(jù)我所知，您不是被學(xué)城禁足，還要待上……”
Mollander bristled at the sight of him. “Bugger that. Go away. You are not welcome here.” Alleras laid a hand upon his arm to calm him, whilst Armen frowned. “Leo. My lord. I had understood that you were still confined to the Citadel for …”
“……三天?！薄皯腥恕崩飱W聳聳肩，“佩雷斯坦說世界已有四萬年歷史，莫拉斯卻說有五十萬年?？偠灾?，三天算什么？”露臺中有十幾張空桌，里奧偏偏坐到他們這桌。“請我喝杯青亭島的金色葡萄酒，青蛙，或許我不會把你的祝酒詞稟告老爸。我在‘多變輪盤’那里牌運(yùn)不佳，又把最后一枚銀鹿花在了晚餐上。李子醬乳豬，塞了栗子跟白松菇，喏，人總得吃飯哪。對啦，你們這幫小子都吃些什么？”
“… three more days.” Lazy Leo shrugged. “Perestan says the world is forty thousand years old. Mollos says five hundred thousand. What are three days, I ask you?” Though there were a dozen empty tables on the terrace, Leo sat himself at theirs. “Buy me a cup of Arbor gold, Hopfrog, and perhaps I won’t inform my father of your toast. The tiles turned against me at the Checkered Hazard, and I wasted my last stag on supper. Suckling pig in plum sauce, stuffed with chestnuts and white truffles. A man must eat. What did you lads have?”
“羊肉，”莫蘭德咕噥。聽起來他不太滿意?！拔覀兎质骋粔K煮羊肉?！?/p>
“Mutton,” muttered Mollander. He sounded none too pleased about it. “We shared a haunch of boiled mutton.”
“那肯定管飽?！崩飱W轉(zhuǎn)向拉蕾薩?！霸趺粗亢篱T之子應(yīng)該慷慨點(diǎn)兒，斯芬克斯。我知道你獲得了銅鏈條，請我喝一杯以表慶賀怎么樣？”
“I’m certain it was filling.” Leo turned to Alleras. “A lord’s son should be open-handed, Sphinx. I understand you won your copper link. I’ll drink to that.”
拉蕾薩回以微笑。“我只請朋友喝酒。而且我并非豪門之子，我說過，我母親是生意人?！?/p>
Alleras smiled back at him. “I only buy for friends. And I am no lord’s son, I’ve told you that. My mother was a trader.”
里奧淡褐色的眼睛里閃爍著酒意和惡毒?！澳隳赣H是只盛夏群島的猴子，哼，反正只要兩腿間有個洞，多恩人就會上。噢，別生氣啊，你的皮膚或許跟榛果殼一樣，但至少會洗澡，不像我們的雀斑豬倌?！彼逄?fù)]揮手。
Leo’s eyes were hazel, bright with wine and malice. “Your mother was a monkey from the Summer Isles. The Dornish will fuck anything with a hole between its legs. Meaning no offense. You may be brown as a nut, but at least you bathe. Unlike our spotted pig boy.” He waved a hand toward Pate.
