Chapter 第二十一章 瓊恩

JON

蠟燭漸漸溶化燃盡，而曙光正在窗戶的百葉上閃耀著。瓊恩再次在工作時睡著了。書籍覆蓋了他的桌子，堆積如山。他借著提燈的光搜遍了灰塵彌漫的地下室，花了半個夜晚的時間才把它們帶上來。山姆是對的，這些書極需分類、列表和整理，然而這項工作無法交給一個既不能讀也不能寫的事務(wù)官。這也許需要等到山姆歸來。

His candle had guttered out in a pool of wax, but morning light was shining through the shutters of his window. Jon had fallen asleep over his work again. Books covered his table, tall stacks of them. He’d fetched them up himself, after spending half the night searching through dusty vaults by lantern light. Sam was right, the books desperately needed to be sorted, listed, and put in order, but that was no task for stewards who could neither read nor write. It would need to wait for Sam’s return.

假如他能夠回來。瓊恩為山姆和伊蒙學(xué)士感到擔(dān)心?？铺?。派克在來自東望的信中報告，暴風(fēng)烏鴉看見了斯卡格斯島沿岸的船只殘骸。不論這破碎的船只是黑鳥號，還是斯坦尼斯。拜拉希恩的雇傭船，或者是一些經(jīng)過的商船，暴鴉的船員無法分辨。我的本意是將吉莉和嬰兒送往安全的地方。是否卻將他們送向了墳?zāi)梗?/p>

If he does return. Jon feared for Sam and Maester Aemon. Cotter Pyke had written from Eastwatch to report that the Storm Crow had sighted the wreckage of a galley along the coast of Skagos. Whether the broken ship was Blackbird, one of Stannis Baratheon’s sellsails, or some passing trader, the crew of the Storm Crow had not been able to discern. I meant to send Gilly and the babe to safety. Did I send them to their graves instead?

昨夜的晚餐已在他的肘邊凍結(jié)，幾乎動也沒動。憂郁的艾迪把他的木盤裝的滿滿的，以便三指霍布臭名昭著的三肉燉菜軟化走味的面包。兄弟們開玩笑說，三肉燉菜中放了羊肉、羊肉和羊肉，但胡蘿卜，洋蔥和蕪菁才更接近現(xiàn)在的味道。冷掉的油脂的薄膜在剩余的燉菜上閃爍著。

Last night’s supper had congealed beside his elbow, scarce touched. Dolorous Edd had filled his trencher almost to overflowing to allow Three-Finger Hobb’s infamous three-meat stew to soften the stale bread. The jest among the brothers was that the three meats were mutton, mutton, and mutton, but carrot, onion, and turnip would have been closer to the mark. A film of cold grease glistened atop the remains of the stew.

斯坦尼斯搬走之后，鮑文。馬什勸他住進位于國王塔中熊老曾今的房間，但是瓊恩謝絕了。太輕易的搬進國王的房間意味著對國王的回歸不做期待。

Bowen Marsh had urged him to move into the Old Bear’s former chambers in the King’s Tower after Stannis vacated them, but Jon had declined. Moving into the king’s chambers could too easily be taken to mean he did not expect the king to return.

自斯坦尼斯向東進軍以來，一種異乎尋常的精神萎靡便降臨在了黑堡，仿佛自由民和黑衣人兄弟同樣在屏息而待，究竟會有什么即將到來。院子和餐廳經(jīng)常是空的，司令塔是個外殼，古老的公共大廳堆疊著漆黑的木材，而哈丁塔看上去仿佛再來一陣強風(fēng)就能將它吹到。軍械庫外的院子里傳來劍與劍之間微弱的撞擊聲，這是瓊恩唯一能夠聽到的生命之聲。艾倫·艾米特正沖著跳腳羅賓（Hop-Robin）大喊，讓他保持防御。我們必須保持良好的防御。

A strange listlessness had settled over Castle Black since Stannis had marched south, as if the free folk and the black brothers alike were holding their breath, waiting to see what would come. The yards and dining hall were empty more oft than not, the Lord Commander’s Tower was a shell, the old common hall a pile of blackened timbers, and Hardin’s Tower looked as if the next gust of wind would knock it over. The only sound of life that Jon could hear was the faint clash of swords coming from the yard outside the armory. Iron Emmett was shouting at Hop-Robin to keep his shield up. We had all best keep our shields up.

瓊恩洗漱穿衣，離開了軍械庫，他只在外面的院子里停留了一會兒，向跳腳羅賓和艾米特其他的部下說了些鼓勵的話。他如往常一樣謝絕了泰提議的護衛(wèi)。他本該帶上足夠多的人，如果有刀光血影，再多兩人也是于事無補。他帶著長爪，不過百靈仍緊隨其后。

Jon washed and dressed and left the armory, stopping in the yard outside just long enough to say a few words of encouragement to Hop-Robin and Emmett’s other charges. He declined Ty’s offer of a tail, as usual. He would have men enough about him; if it came to blood, two more would hardly matter. He did take Longclaw, though, and Ghost followed at his heels.

當(dāng)他到達馬廄的時候，憂郁的艾迪已經(jīng)為總司令備好馬等在那里。馬車在鮑文·馬什警惕的注視下排列成隊，斯圖爾德大人正沿著車隊小跑，指指點點，大驚小怪，因為寒冷的緣故，他的臉頰紅紅的。當(dāng)看見瓊恩時，它們變得更紅了?！翱偹玖畲笕耍y道你仍然堅持這種……”

By the time he reached the stable, Dolorous Edd had the lord commander’s palfrey saddled and bridled and waiting for him. The wayns were forming up beneath Bowen Marsh’s watchful eye. The Lord Steward was trotting down the column, pointing and fussing, his cheeks red from the cold. When he spied Jon, they reddened even more. “Lord Commander. Are you still intent on this …”

“……愚蠢的行為？”瓊恩接著說道?！罢埜嬖V我你想說的不是愚蠢，大人。沒錯，我是愚蠢。我們已經(jīng)不只是愚蠢。東望塔想要更多的人。影子塔想要更多的人?；倚l(wèi)堡和冰痕堡也一樣，毫無疑問，我們依然擱置著另外十四座空蕩蕩的城堡，長城有多少里格依然無人看守和無人防御?！?/p>

“… folly?” finished Jon. “Please tell me you were not about to say folly, my lord. Yes, I am. We have been over this. Eastwatch wants more men. The Shadow Tower wants more men. Greyguard and Icemark as well, I have no doubt, and we have fourteen other castles still sitting empty, long leagues of Wall that remain unwatched and undefended.”

馬什撅起嘴唇。“莫爾蒙總司令——”

Marsh pursed his lips. “Lord Commander Mormont—”

“——死了。不是死于野人之手，而是死在他的誓言兄弟，他信任之人的手里。你和我都無法知曉，在這種處境下他會做或者不會做什么?！杯偠髡{(diào)轉(zhuǎn)馬頭?！皠e廢話了，走吧?！?/p>

“—is dead. And not at wildling hands, but at the hands of his own Sworn Brothers, men he trusted. Neither you nor I can know what he would or would not have done in my place.” Jon wheeled his horse around. “Enough talk. Away.”

憂郁的艾迪聽到了整個對話，當(dāng)鮑文·馬什跑開時，他朝著他背后點頭說道：“石榴。那些石榴子能把人嗆死。我寧愿吃個蕪菁，從未聽說蕪菁會對人造成什么傷害。”

Dolorous Edd had heard the entire exchange. As Bowen Marsh trotted off, he nodded toward his back and said, “Pomegranates. All those seeds. A man could choke to death. I’d sooner have a turnip. Never knew a turnip to do a man any harm.”

在這種時候，瓊恩總會非常想念伊蒙學(xué)士。Clydas把渡鴉們照顧的很好，可他的學(xué)問和經(jīng)歷還不及伊蒙·坦格利安的十分之一，更別提他的智慧了。鮑文用自己的方式做著好人，但在顱骨橋受到的創(chuàng)傷讓他變得頑固不化，如今他唯一的論調(diào)就是封上大門。歐塞爾·亞維克因為沉默寡言而顯得冷漠無趣，而首席游騎兵死的如同命名一樣迅速。守夜人失去了太多優(yōu)秀的伙伴，當(dāng)馬車開始移動時，瓊恩想道。熊老，斷掌科林，唐納·諾伊，賈曼·巴克威爾，我的叔叔……

It was at times like this that Jon missed Maester Aemon the most. Clydas tended to the ravens well enough, but he had not a tenth of Aemon Targaryen’s knowledge or experience, and even less of his wisdom. Bowen was a good man in his way, but the wound he had taken at the Bridge of Skulls had hardened his attitudes, and the only song he ever sang now was his familiar refrain about sealing the gates. Othell Yarwyck was as stolid and unimaginative as he was taciturn, and the First Rangers seemed to die as quick as they were named. The Night’s Watch has lost too many of its best men, Jon reflected, as the wagons began to move. The Old Bear, Qhorin Halfhand, Donal Noye, Jarmen Buckwell, my uncle …

車隊沿著國王大道向南前進，潔白的雪花飄落下來。在十二個長矛手和十二個騎馬的弓箭手的護送下，馬車的長龍走過了田野、溪流以及長滿樹木的山坡。以往在鼴鼠村的經(jīng)歷不堪回首，一些推撞，一些喃喃的咒罵，許多陰郁的神情。鮑文·馬什覺得最好不要冒險，他和瓊恩的意見難得保持了一致。

A light snow began to fall as the column made its way south along the kingsroad, the long line of wagons wending past fields and streams and wooded hillsides, with a dozen spearmen and a dozen archers riding escort. The last few trips had seen some ugliness at Mole’s Town, a little pushing and shoving, some muttered curses, a lot of sullen looks. Bowen Marsh felt it best not to take chances, and for once he and Jon were agreed.

事務(wù)長在前領(lǐng)路。瓊恩騎著馬跟在幾碼之后，憂郁的艾迪·托利特則在他身邊。黑堡以南半英里處，艾迪策馬靠近瓊恩說“大人？抬頭看那兒，山上有個高大的醉鬼?！?/p>

The Lord Steward led the way. Jon rode a few yards back, Dolorous Edd Tollett at his side. Half a mile south of Castle Black, Edd urged his garron close to Jon’s and said, “M’lord? Look up there. The big drunkard on the hill.”

那個醉鬼其實是棵灰樹，因百年的風(fēng)蝕而彎曲傾斜。如今它擁有了一張面孔。冷峻嚴(yán)肅的嘴巴，鼻子上長著破碎的樹枝，兩只眼睛深深的刻進樹干，它面朝城堡和長城，在國王大道上凝視著北方。

The drunkard was an ash tree, twisted sideways by centuries of wind. And now it had a face. A solemn mouth, a broken branch for a nose, two eyes carved deep into the trunk, gazing north up the kingsroad, toward the castle and the Wall.

野人帶來了他們的神。瓊恩一點也不吃驚。人們不會輕易的放棄他們的神，梅莉珊卓女士在長城那邊精心策劃的整場表演，忽然間仿佛伶人的鬧劇般毫無意義?！翱瓷先ビ悬c像你，艾迪，”他說，設(shè)法忽視這些。

The wildlings brought their gods with them after all. Jon was not surprised. Men do not give up their gods so easily. The whole pageant that Lady Melisandre had orchestrated beyond the Wall suddenly seemed as empty as a mummer’s farce. “Looks a bit like you, Edd,” he said, trying to make light of it.

“是的，大人。我的鼻子上沒長葉子，不過在其他的方面……梅莉珊卓女士不會感到高興的。”

“Aye, m’lord. I don’t have leaves growing out my nose, but elsewise … Lady Melisandre won’t be happy.”

“她不會想看到它?？吹?jīng)]人告訴她的東西?！?/p>

“She’s not like to see it. See that no one tells her.”

“可她能在火焰中看到些事情?！?/p>

“She sees things in those fires, though.”

“煙霧和炭渣。”

“Smoke and cinders.”

“于是人們燒起來了。比如我。鼻子上長著葉子。我總是擔(dān)心自己會被燒死，但我希望能在那之前死去?！?/p>

“And people burning. Me, most like. With leaves up my nose. I always feared I’d burn, but I was hoping to die first.”

瓊恩回頭瞥了一眼樹臉，思考是誰把它雕刻出來。他在鼴鼠村周圍布置了警戒，不僅為了讓他的烏鴉遠離野人婦女，也為了避免自由民溜向南方展開偷襲。很顯然，無論在灰樹上雕刻的人是誰，他都避開了哨兵。如果有一個人能溜出警戒線，那么其他人也同樣可以。我要再次把守衛(wèi)的數(shù)量翻倍，他郁悶的想。如大多數(shù)人那樣把他們殺死兩次，否則這些人可能會成為長城的尸鬼。

Jon glanced back at the face, wondering who had carved it. He had posted guards around Mole’s Town, both to keep his crows away from the wildling women and to keep the free folk from slipping off southward to raid. Whoever had carved up the ash had eluded his sentries, plainly. And if one man could slip through the cordon, others could as well. I could double the guard again, he thought sourly. Waste twice as many men, men who might otherwise be walking the Wall.

馬車穿過凍土和吹雪，繼續(xù)緩慢的向南前進。在一英里更遠處，他們遇到刻在栗樹上的第二張臉，它生長在結(jié)冰的小河邊，眼睛能看到跨河而建的古木橋。“兩倍的麻煩，”憂郁的艾迪宣布。

The wagons continued on their slow way south through frozen mud and blowing snow. A mile farther on, they came upon a second face, carved into a chestnut tree that grew beside an icy stream, where its eyes could watch the old plank bridge that spanned its flow. “Twice as much trouble,” announced Dolorous Edd.

栗樹光禿禿并且瘦骨嶙峋，然而它裸露的棕色主枝卻沒有變空。在懸于溪流的低矮的樹枝上，停著一只駝背的渡鴉，豎著羽毛抵御寒冷。當(dāng)它發(fā)現(xiàn)瓊恩時便展開翅膀發(fā)出一陣尖叫。他剛舉起拳頭呼嘯，這個黑色大鳥便鳴叫著振翅飛下，“玉米，玉米，玉米。”

The chestnut was leafless and skeletal, but its bare brown limbs were not empty. On a low branch overhanging the stream a raven sat hunched, its feathers ruffled up against the cold. When it spied Jon it spread its wings and gave a scream. When he raised his fist and whistled, the big black bird came flapping down, crying, “Corn, corn, corn.”

“玉米是給自由民的，”瓊恩對他說，“沒東西給你。”他想假如按現(xiàn)在的發(fā)展他們也許會在凜冬到來之前就淪落到吃渡鴉為生了。

“Corn for the free folk,” Jon told him. “None for you.” He wondered if they would all be reduced to eating ravens before the coming winter had run its course.

馬車上的兄弟同樣看到了這張臉。瓊恩毫不懷疑。沒人談?wù)撍欢鵁o論誰的眼中都透露出可以清晰讀懂的訊息。瓊恩曾今聽曼斯·雷德說過，大部分的屈膝者是綿羊。“一條狗可以看管一群羊，”塞外之王說，“而自由民，好吧，他們有一些是影子山貓，有一些是石頭。一種在他們想要的地方潛行并且會把你的狗撕成碎片，另一種除非你踢他們否則動也不動?！庇白由截埡褪^都不愿意放棄他們一生崇拜的神直到在一個他們幾乎不知道的神面前屈服。

The brothers on the wagons had seen this face as well, Jon did not doubt. No one spoke of it, but the message was plain to read for any man with eyes. Jon had once heard Mance Rayder say that most kneelers were sheep. “Now, a dog can herd a flock of sheep,” the King-Beyond-the-Wall had said, “but free folk, well, some are shadowcats and some are stones. One kind prowls where they please and will tear your dogs to pieces. The other will not move at all unless you kick them.” Neither shadowcats nor stones were like to give up the gods they had worshiped all their lives to bow down before one they hardly knew.

僅僅在鼴鼠村的北面，他們就發(fā)現(xiàn)了第三個觀察者。它被刻在一顆巨大的橡樹上，標(biāo)志村莊的周圍，深陷的眼睛注視著國王大道。那不是張友好的臉，瓊恩·雪諾思索到。在過去的數(shù)個世紀(jì)里，先民與森林之子在魚梁木上刻畫的面孔表情嚴(yán)肅，或者多半是些野蠻的面容，然而這顆巨大的橡樹看起來卻格外的生氣，仿佛它正要將自己的根從地底中拔出并在他們身后咆哮。它的創(chuàng)傷如同刻畫它的人一樣新鮮。

Just north of Mole’s Town they came upon the third watcher, carved into the huge oak that marked the village perimeter, its deep eyes fixed upon the kingsroad. That is not a friendly face, Jon Snow reflected. The faces that the First Men and the children of the forest had carved into the weirwoods in eons past had stern or savage visages more oft than not, but the great oak looked especially angry, as if it were about to tear its roots from the earth and come roaring after them. Its wounds are as fresh as the wounds of the men who carved it.

鼴鼠村總比它看起來的要大，它有很大一部分位于地下，在寒冷與風(fēng)雪中受到庇護。如今這種布局比任何時候都要正確。塞恩的鐵軍在進攻黑堡的路上把空空如也的村莊付之一炬，只留下熏黑的橫梁和烤焦的石頭……然而在這冰凍大地的下面，地下室和隧道以及深窖仍持久不衰，那里是自由民的避難所，他們在黑暗中像鼴鼠一般蜷縮在一起，而鼴鼠正是這座村莊的名字。

Mole’s Town had always been larger than it seemed; most of it was underground, sheltered from the cold and snow. That was more true than ever now. The Magnar of Thenn had put the empty village to the torch when he passed through on his way to attack Castle Black, and only heaps of blackened beams and old scorched stones remained above-ground … but down beneath the frozen earth, the vaults and tunnels and deep cellars still endured, and that was where the free folk had taken refuge, huddled together in the dark like the moles from which the village took its name.

新月中，馬車在一幢建筑前停下，那里曾今是村上的鐵匠鋪。不遠處，一群紅臉的孩子正在建造冰雪堡壘，他們一看到黑衣人兄弟就一哄而散，消失在一個或者另一個洞中。不一會兒，成年人開始從洞穴中冒出。伴隨著惡臭，那是骯臟軀體與污穢衣物的氣味，糞便與尿液的氣味。瓊恩看到他的一個手下皺起了鼻子，對著旁邊的人說了些什么。有關(guān)自由氣味的笑話，他猜。他的許多兄弟開起了關(guān)于鼴鼠村野蠻人惡臭的玩笑。

The wagons drew up in a crescent in front of what had once been the village smithy. Nearby a swarm of red-faced children were building a snow fort, but they scattered at the sight of the black-cloaked brothers, vanishing down one hole or another. A few moments later the adults began to emerge from the earth. A stench came with them, the smell of unwashed bodies and soiled clothing, of nightsoil and urine. Jon saw one of his men wrinkle his nose and say something to the man beside him. Some jape about the smell of freedom, he guessed. Too many of his brothers were making japes about the stench of the savages in Mole’s Town.

無知的蠢豬，瓊恩想，自由民與守夜人沒什么不同；有些干凈，有些臟，而更多的則是有時干凈有時臟。臭氣僅僅來自上千個擠在地下室和隧道的人，而那里為了避難被挖出不過百年。

Pig ignorance, Jon thought. The free folk were no different than the men of the Night’s Watch; some were clean, some dirty, but most were clean at times and dirty at other times. This stink was just the smell of a thousand people jammed into cellars and tunnels that had been dug to shelter no more than a hundred.

野人們之前跳過這種舞蹈。他們在馬車后面默默地排成一隊。每個男人擁有三個女人，和很多孩子——抓著衣擺，蒼白干瘦的小東西。瓊恩看到極少數(shù)的嬰兒，嬰兒都在行進中死去了，他意識到，那些在戰(zhàn)斗中幸存的人則死在了國王的柵欄里。

The wildlings had done this dance before. Wordless, they formed up in lines behind the wagons. There were three women for every man, many with children—pale skinny things clutching at their skirts. Jon saw very few babes in arms. The babes in arms died during the march, he realized, and those who survived the battle died in the king’s stockade.

戰(zhàn)士吃好些。賈斯汀·梅西在會議中聲稱有三百個到了戰(zhàn)斗年齡的人。哈伍德·費爾大人清點了他們的數(shù)量。那里也會有矛婦。五十，六十，可能多達一百。費爾把受傷的人也計算在內(nèi)，瓊恩知道。他看到二十幾個那樣的人——拄著粗糙拐杖的，袖子里空蕩蕩失去手臂的，只剩下一只眼或半張臉的，被兩個朋友攙扶著沒有腿的。每個人都面色灰暗臉色憔悴。絕望的人們，他想，異鬼不是唯一活著的死人。

The fighters had fared better. Three hundred men of fighting age, Justin Massey had claimed in council. Lord Harwood Fell had counted them. There will be spearwives too. Fifty, sixty, maybe as many as a hundred. Fell’s count had included men who had suffered wounds, Jon knew. He saw a score of those—men on crude crutches, men with empty sleeves and missing hands, men with one eye or half a face, a legless man carried between two friends. And every one grey-faced and gaunt. Broken men, he thought. The wights are not the only sort of living dead.

然而，不是所有的戰(zhàn)士都受傷了。半打穿著青銅鱗甲的塞恩人聚集在一個地窖樓梯的周圍，繃臉看著，沒有加入的打算。在這古老村莊鐵匠鋪的廢墟中，瓊恩發(fā)現(xiàn)一塊巨大光禿的石板，石板上刻著哈列克，哈瑪·道格斯海德的兄弟?？墒枪?shù)呢i沒了。毫無疑問被吃掉了。那兩個身著毛皮的是霍恩福特人，瘦而兇殘，一直赤著腳站在雪地里。羊群中依然有狼。

Not all the fighting men were broken, though. Half a dozen Thenns in bronze scale armor stood clustered round one cellar stair, watching sullenly and making no attempt to join the others. In the ruins of the old village smithy Jon spied a big bald slab of a man he recognized as Halleck, the brother of Harma Dogshead. Harma’s pigs were gone, though. Eaten, no doubt. Those two in furs were Hornfoot men, as savage as they were scrawny, barefoot even in the snow. There are wolves amongst these sheep, still.

在他最后一次拜訪瓦爾時，她提醒過他?！白杂擅窈颓フ邲]什么不同，瓊恩·雪諾。無論我們出生在長城的哪一邊，男人就是男人，女人就是女人。好人和壞人，英雄和惡棍，忠誠之人，騙子，懦夫，畜生……我們擁有很多，你也一樣?！?/p>

Val had reminded him of that, on his last visit with her. “Free folk and kneelers are more alike than not, Jon Snow. Men are men and women women, no matter which side of the Wall we were born on. Good men and bad, heroes and villains, men of honor, liars, cravens, brutes … we have plenty, as do you.”

她說的沒錯。詭計正將這兩者區(qū)分，將綿羊從山羊中分離。

She was not wrong. The trick was telling one from the other, parting the sheep from the goats.

黑衣人兄弟開始分發(fā)食物。他們帶來了硬的像石頭的咸牛肉，干鱈魚，干豆子，蕪青，胡蘿卜，幾袋大麥粉和小麥粉， 腌制的蛋，幾桶洋蔥和蘋果?！澳憧梢缘玫揭粋€洋蔥或者一個蘋果，”瓊恩聽到海瑞·哈爾對一個女人說，“但不能兩個都要。你必須選一個?！?/p>

The black brothers began to pass out food. They’d brought slabs of hard salt beef, dried cod, dried beans, turnips, carrots, sacks of barley meal and wheaten flour, pickled eggs, barrels of onions and apples. “You can have an onion or an apple,” Jon heard Hairy Hal tell one woman, “but not both. You got to pick.”

女人似乎并不明白。“洋蔥和蘋果各要兩個，我每種拿一個，其他的給我兒子，他生病了，吃個蘋果會讓他好起來?！?/p>

The woman did not seem to understand. “I need two of each. One o’ each for me, t’others for my boy. He’s sick, but an apple will set him right.”

哈爾搖頭?！八仨氉约簛砟盟奶O果?；蛘咚难笫[。不能兩個都要。你也一樣。現(xiàn)在，你是要蘋果還是洋蔥？快點選，后面還有很多人。”

Hal shook his head. “He has to come get his own apple. Or his onion. Not both. Same as you. Now, is it an apple or an onion? Be quick about it, now, there’s more behind you.”

“蘋果，”她說，于是他給了她一個又老又干的蘋果，小而萎縮。

“An apple,” she said, and he gave her one, an old dried thing, small and withered.

“走開，女人，”后面排第三的男人喊道，“這兒很冷?！?/p>

“Move along, woman,” shouted a man three places back. “It’s cold out here.”

女人不理會男人的叫喊。“另一個蘋果，”她對海瑞·哈爾說，“給我的兒子。求你了。這個太小?！?/p>

The woman paid the shout no mind. “Another apple,” she said to Hairy Hal. “For my son. Please. This one is so little.”

哈爾看向瓊恩。瓊恩搖搖頭。他們的蘋果很快就會不夠。如果想要兩個就能得到兩個，那么后來者將什么都得不到。

Hal looked to Jon. Jon shook his head. They would be out of apples soon enough. If they started giving two to everyone who wanted two, the latecomers would get none.

“閃開，”女人后面的女孩說，接著她猛地把她往后推去。女人搖晃著，弄掉了她的蘋果，然后跌倒了。她懷里的食物飛了出去。豆子散落一地，蕪青滾進一個爛泥坑，一帶面粉破了，珍貴的面粉撒在雪中。

“Out of the way,” a girl behind the woman said. Then she shoved her in the back. The woman staggered, lost her apple, and fell. The other foodstuffs in her arms went flying. Beans scattered, a turnip rolled into a mud puddle, a sack of flour split and spilled its precious contents in the snow.

周圍升起用古語和通用語發(fā)出的憤怒聲音。另一輛馬車邊爆發(fā)了更多的推撞?！斑@根本不夠，”一個老人怒吼，“你們這些嗜血的烏鴉正把我們餓死?！币粋€被撞倒的女人正跪在食物后摸索尋找。

Angry voices rose, in the Old Tongue and the Common. More shoving broke out at another wagon. “It’s not enough,” an old man snarled. “You bloody crows are starving us to death.” The woman who’d been knocked down was scrabbling on her knees after her food. Jon saw the flash of naked steel a few yards away. His own bowmen nocked arrows to their strings.

瓊恩看到幾碼之外裸鋼閃爍，他的弓箭手已把箭搭在弦上。

He turned in his saddle. “Rory. Quiet them.”

他揮動鞭子，“羅里，讓他們安靜?！?/p>

Rory lifted his great horn to his lips and blew.

羅里把巨型號角舉到嘴邊并且吹響。

AAAAhoooooooo?ooooooooo?oooooooooo?ooooooooo?ooooooo.

騷動和推攘停止了。他們轉(zhuǎn)過頭。一個孩子開始哭泣。莫爾蒙的渡鴉從瓊恩的左肩走到右肩，擺動著腦袋咕噥著，“雪諾，雪諾，雪諾?！?/p>

The tumult and the shoving died. Heads turned. A child began to cry. Mormont’s raven walked from Jon’s left shoulder to his right, bobbing its head and muttering, “Snow, snow, snow.”

瓊恩等到最后一點回音也消失散盡，騎馬到了一個所有人都能看到他的地方。“我們盡最大的努力養(yǎng)活你們，把我們能提供的食物全都帶來了。蘋果，洋蔥，蘿卜，胡蘿卜……在我們所有人的前面還有一場漫長的冬季，而儲備卻不是取之不盡，用之不竭的?！?/p>

Jon waited until the last echoes had faded, then spurred his palfrey forward where everyone could see him. “We’re feeding you as best we can, as much as we can spare. Apples, onions, neeps, carrots … there’s a long winter ahead for all of us, and our stores are not inexhaustible.”

“你們這些烏鴉吃的夠好了，” 哈勒克擠到前面說。

“You crows eat good enough.” Halleck shoved forward.

為了此刻?！拔覀兪匦l(wèi)著長城，長城保衛(wèi)著王國……和你。你知道我們面對著什么樣的敵人。你知道降臨在我們身上的是什么。一些你們曾今面對過的東西。衣柜和白色的濕柜，藍眼黑手的死人。我們也見過他們，與他們戰(zhàn)斗，把他們一個接一個地送往地獄。他們獵殺你，然后用你的死亡來對抗你。巨人無法抵御他們，塞恩軍也不能，冰河氏族，霍恩福特人，自由民……隨著白晝變短夜晚變冷，他們變得更加強大。你離開千百年來居住的家園前往南方……為什么？不就是為了擺脫他們？為了安全。喂，是長城保證了你的安全。是我們保證了你的安全，是這些你鄙視的黑烏鴉?！?/p>

For now. “We hold the Wall. The Wall protects the realm … and you now. You know the foe we face. You know what’s coming down on us. Some of you have faced them before. Wights and white walkers, dead things with blue eyes and black hands. I’ve seen them too, fought them, sent one to hell. They kill, then they send your dead against you. The giants were not able to stand against them, nor you Thenns, the ice-river clans, the Hornfoots, the free folk … and as the days grow shorter and the nights colder, they are growing stronger. You left your homes and came south in your hundreds and your thousands … why, but to escape them? To be safe. Well, it’s the Wall that keeps you safe. It’s us that keeps you safe, the black crows you despise.”

“安全和饑餓，”一個矮胖的臉被吹的發(fā)炎的女人說，她看上去是個矛婦。

“Safe and starved,” said a squat woman with a windburned face, a spearwife by the look of her.

“你想要更多的食物？”瓊恩問到?！笆澄餅閼?zhàn)士準(zhǔn)備。幫我們保衛(wèi)長城，那么你就會吃的和任何一只烏鴉一樣好。”或者一樣差，當(dāng)食物短缺的時候。

“You want more food?” asked Jon. “The food’s for fighters. Help us hold the Wall, and you’ll eat as well as any crow.” Or as poorly, when the food runs short.

周圍一下子安靜了，野人們警惕的交換著眼神。“吃，”渡鴉咕噥著，“玉米，玉米?！?/p>

A silence fell. The wildlings exchanged wary looks. “Eat,” the raven muttered. “Corn, corn.”

“為你而戰(zhàn)？”聲音嘶啞，帶著濃重的口音。Sigorn，一個年輕的塞恩鐵軍，用吞吐的通用語說道。“沒人為你而戰(zhàn)。殺了你更好。把你們?nèi)細⑺?。?/p>

“Fight for you?” This voice was thickly accented. Sigorn, the young Magnar of Thenn, spoke the Common Tongue haltingly at best. “Not fight for you. Kill you better. Kill all you.”

渡鴉拍著翅膀?！皻⑺?，殺死?！?/p>

The raven flapped its wings. “Kill, kill.”

Sigorn的父親，一個老鐵軍，在對黑堡的進攻中從梯子跌落，之后又被壓的粉碎。假如有人要求我和蘭尼斯特合作，我也會有同樣的感受，瓊恩告訴自己?！澳愕母赣H試圖殺死我們，”他提醒Sigorn。“這個鐵軍是個勇敢的人，但他失敗了。如果他成功……誰來守衛(wèi)長城？”他轉(zhuǎn)過身?！芭R冬城的城墻同樣堅固，可如今臨冬城站立在廢墟之上，被燒毀和破壞。城墻只有在人們保衛(wèi)它的時候才有用處?！?/p>

Sigorn’s father, the old Magnar, had been crushed beneath the falling stair during his attack on Castle Black. I would feel the same if someone asked me to make common cause with the Lannisters, Jon told himself. “Your father tried to kill us all,” he reminded Sigorn. “The Magnar was a brave man, yet he failed. And if he had succeeded … who would hold the Wall?” He turned away from the Thenns. “Winterfell’s walls were strong as well, but Winterfell stands in ruins today, burned and broken. A wall is only as good as the men defending it.”

一個懷里抱著蕪菁的老人說，“你殺死我們，你餓死我們，現(xiàn)在你又想奴役我們?！?/p>

An old man with a turnip cradled against his chest said, “You kill us, you starve us, now you want t’ make us slaves.”

一個矮胖的紅臉男人大喊同意，“我寧愿一絲不掛也不愿穿一件黑色的破布?！?/p>

A chunky red-faced man shouted assent. “I’d sooner go naked than wear one o’ them black rags on my back.”

一個矛婦笑了?！凹词故悄愕钠拮右膊幌肟茨阋唤z不掛的樣子，巴茨?！?/p>

One of the spearwives laughed. “Even your wife don’t want to see you naked, Butts.”

很多聲音同時響起。塞恩人用古語叫喊著。一個小男孩哭了起來。瓊恩·雪諾等到所有的騷動平靜下來后，轉(zhuǎn)向海瑞·哈爾說，“哈爾，你對這個女人說了什么？”

A dozen voices all began to speak at once. The Thenns were shouting in the Old Tongue. A little boy began to cry. Jon Snow waited until all of it had died down, then turned to Hairy Hal and said, “Hal, what was it that you told this woman?”

哈爾看上去有點困惑?！澳闶侵戈P(guān)于食物的那些談話？一個蘋果還是一個洋蔥？我就說了那些。他們得做出選擇?！?/p>

Hal looked confused. “About the food, you mean? An apple or an onion? That’s all I said. They got to pick.”

“你們必須做出選擇，”瓊恩·雪諾重復(fù)到?！澳銈兯腥?。沒人要求你們立下我們的誓言，我也不在乎你們崇拜的是什么神，是七神，還是別人聽到的你們禱告的神。我們需要的是長矛，弓箭和盯著長城的眼睛?！?/p>

“You have to pick,” Jon Snow repeated. “All of you. No one is asking you to take our vows, and I do not care what gods you worship. My own gods are the old gods, the gods of the North, but you can keep the red god, or the Seven, or any other god who hears your prayers. It’s spears we need. Bows. Eyes along the Wall.

“我會帶上任何十二歲以上，懂得拿矛射箭的男孩。我會帶上你們的老人，你們的傷者，你們的殘廢，即使這些人無法戰(zhàn)斗。他們或許可以完成另外一些工作。給箭裝上羽毛，擠山羊奶，收集火木，清理馬廄……沒完沒了的工作。是的，我也會帶上你們的女人。我沒有保護害羞少女的計劃，但是來多少矛婦我就會帶上多少?！?/p>

“I will take any boy above the age of twelve who knows how to hold a spear or string a bow. I will take your old men, your wounded, and your cripples, even those who can no longer fight. There are other tasks they may be able to perform. Fletching arrows, milking goats, gathering firewood, mucking out our stables … the work is endless. And yes, I will take your women too. I have no need of blushing maidens looking to be protected, but I will take as many spearwives as will come.”

“那女孩們呢？”一個女孩問道。她看起來和瓊恩最后一次見到的艾莉亞差不多大。

“And girls?” a girl asked. She looked as young as Arya had, the last time Jon had seen her.

“十六歲以上?！?/p>

“Sixteen and older.”

“你帶上了12歲的男孩?！?/p>

“You’re taking boys as young as twelve.”

在七大國，12歲的男孩往往是侍從或者隨從，很多人在軍隊里受訓(xùn)多年。12歲的女孩還是孩子。然而這些是野人?！叭缒闼?，12歲的男孩和女孩。但僅限于懂得如何服從命令的人。這適用于你們所有人。我絕不要求你們對我俯首稱臣，但我會指派隊長和士官管理你們，告訴你們何時起床何時睡覺，在哪里吃飯，什么時候喝酒，穿什么，何時拔劍和射箭。守夜人的漢子終身服務(wù)。我不會這樣要求你們，但只要你們身在長城，就得聽命于我。誰違抗命令，我就砍掉誰的腦袋。問問我的兄弟我會不會這樣。他們見我做過?！?/p>

Down in the Seven Kingdoms boys of twelve were often pages or squires; many had been training at arms for years. Girls of twelve were children. These are wildlings, though. “As you will. Boys and girls as young as twelve. But only those who know how to obey an order. That goes for all of you. I will never ask you to kneel to me, but I will set captains over you, and serjeants who will tell you when to rise and when to sleep, where to eat, when to drink, what to wear, when to draw your swords and loose your arrows. The men of the Night’s Watch serve for life. I will not ask that of you, but so long as you are on the Wall you will be under my command. Disobey an order, and I’ll have your head off. Ask my brothers if I won’t. They’ve seen me do it.”

“砍掉，”熊老的渡鴉尖叫道，“砍掉，砍掉，砍掉?！?/p>

“Off,” screamed the Old Bear’s raven. “Off, off, off.”

“選擇權(quán)在你們那，” 瓊恩·雪諾告訴他們。“誰想要與我們一起保衛(wèi)長城，與我一起回到黑堡，我就會確保他的裝備的食物。剩下的人，拿上你們的蕪菁和洋蔥，爬回你們的洞中?！?/p>

“The choice is yours,” Jon Snow told them. “Those who want to help us hold the Wall, return to Castle Black with me and I’ll see you armed and fed. The rest of you, get your turnips and your onions and crawl back inside your holes.”

那個女孩是第一個站出來的人?！拔夷軕?zhàn)斗。我媽媽是個矛婦。”瓊恩點頭。她可能還不到十二歲，他想，當(dāng)她在一對老人之間扭動身體，但他不打算拒絕這唯一的新成員。

The girl was the first to come forward. “I can fight. My mother was a spearwife.” Jon nodded. She may not even be twelve, he thought, as she squirmed between a pair of old men, but he was not about to turn away his only recruit.

兩個不到十四歲的年輕男孩跟著她站了出來。接著是一個傷痕累累的獨眼男人?！拔乙惨娺^他們，那些尸鬼。即使是烏鴉也好過那些?！币粋€高個的矛婦，一個拄著拐杖的老人，一個獨臂的圓臉男孩，一個紅發(fā)的男孩，他的頭發(fā)讓瓊恩想起了耶歌蕊特。

A pair of striplings followed her, boys no older than fourteen. Next a scarred man with a missing eye. “I seen them too, the dead ones. Even crows are better’n that.” A tall spearwife, an old man on crutches, a moonfaced boy with a withered arm, a young man whose red hair reminded Jon of Ygritte.

然后是哈勒克?！拔也幌矚g你，烏鴉?！彼叵f，“但我從未喜歡過曼斯，我的姐妹也不?？晌覀冞€是為他戰(zhàn)斗。那為什么不能為你而戰(zhàn)呢？”

And then Halleck. “I don’t like you, crow,” he growled, “but I never liked the Mance neither, no more’n my sister did. Still, we fought for him. Why not fight for you?”

然后障礙打破了。哈勒克是個有名望的人。曼斯沒錯?！白杂擅癫蛔冯S姓名，不追隨娘炮，”塞外之王告訴他，“他們不為錢財起舞，他們不在乎你如何稱呼自己，不在乎職位的枷鎖意味著什么，不在乎你的祖父是誰。他們追隨力量。他們追隨真漢子。”

The dam broke then. Halleck was a man of note. Mance was not wrong. “Free folk don’t follow names, or little cloth animals sewn on a tunic,” the King-Beyond-the-Wall had told him. “They won’t dance for coins, they don’t care how you style yourself or what that chain of office means or who your grandsire was. They follow strength. They follow the man.”

哈勒克的家族追隨了哈勒克，接著是哈瑪?shù)囊粋€banner-bearers，接著是一個與她戰(zhàn)斗過的人，接著是另一些聽過他們英勇故事的人。Greybeards 和 green boys，正值盛年的戰(zhàn)士，傷員和殘廢，不錯的矛婦，甚至三個Horn-foot人。

Halleck’s cousins followed Halleck, then one of Harma’s banner-bearers, then men who’d fought with her, then others who had heard tales of their prowess. Greybeards and green boys, fighting men in their prime, wounded men and cripples, a good score of spearwives, even three Hornfoot men.

但是沒有塞恩人。鐵軍退回并消失在洞穴中，他穿著赤褐色衣服的仆人艱難地緊隨其后。

But no Thenns. The Magnar turned and vanished back into the tunnels, and his bronze-clad minions followed hard at his heels.

在最后一點萎縮的蘋果發(fā)完的時候，馬車上擠滿了野人，他們的隊伍比車隊從黑堡出發(fā)的那個早成壯大了63人?！澳銜麄冏鍪裁矗俊痹隍T馬返回國王大道的路上鮑文·馬什問瓊恩。

By the time the last withered apple had been handed out, the wagons were crowded with wildlings, and they were sixty-three stronger than when the column had set out from Castle Black that morning. “What will you do with them?” Bowen Marsh asked Jon on the ride back up the kingsroad.

“訓(xùn)練他們，武裝他們，把他們分成小組。把他們送往需要的地方。東望堡，影子塔，冰痕堡，灰衛(wèi)堡。我打算再開放三座城堡?！?/p>

“Train them, arm them, and split them up. Send them where they’re needed. Eastwatch, the Shadow Tower, Icemark, Greyguard. I mean to open three more forts as well.”

事務(wù)長回頭看過來?！芭艘彩敲?？我們的兄弟不習(xí)慣周圍有女人，大人。他們的誓言……那將會有斗爭，強xx奸……”

The Lord Steward glanced back. “Women too? Our brothers are not accustomed to having women amongst them, my lord. Their vows … there will be fights, rapes …”

“這些女人有刀并且知道該如何使用。”

“These women have knives and know how to use them.”

“當(dāng)一個矛婦第一次切開一個兄弟的喉嚨，接下來要怎么辦？”

“And the first time one of these spearwives slits the throat of one of our brothers, what then?”

“我們會失去一個人，”瓊恩說，“但是我們得到了六十三個。你善于計算，大人。如果我錯了請糾正我，但我的賬單預(yù)先留給我們六十二個?！?/p>

“We will have lost a man,” said Jon, “but we have just gained sixty-three. You’re good at counting, my lord. Correct me if I’m wrong, but my reckoning leaves us sixty-two ahead.”

馬什不服氣?！澳阍黾恿肆龔堊欤笕恕捎卸嗌偃耸菓?zhàn)士，他們又會為誰而戰(zhàn)？如果門外的是衣柜，他們愿意站在我們這邊，我承認(rèn)……但如果是巨人克星托蒙德或是哭泣者帶著一萬個咆哮的殺手呼叫而來，那又如何？”

Marsh was unconvinced. “You’ve added sixty-three more mouths, my lord … but how many are fighters, and whose side will they fight on? If it’s the Others at the gates, most like they’ll stand with us, I grant you … but if it’s Tormund Giantsbane or the Weeping Man come calling with ten thousand howling killers, what then?”

“那我們會知道。所以讓我們希望這永遠也不會發(fā)生?！?/p>

“Then we’ll know. So let us hope it never comes to that.”