Ⅲ 冰雨的风暴 Chapter43 艾莉亚

ARYA

当她看到远方出现高山的形影，在下午的太阳底闪着金光，便立即明白又回到了高尚之心。

When Arya saw the shape of a great hill looming in the distance, golden in the afternoon sun, she knew it at once. They had come all the way back to High Heart.

日落时分，他们登上峰顶，在这所谓“不会受伤害”的地方扎营。艾莉亚跟贝里伯爵的侍从艾德一起绕鱼梁木树墩行走，后来又并肩站在其中一个树墩上注视着西方最后一缕光线褪去。从此高处，她看到北方有团汹涌的风暴，但高尚之心矗立在冰雨上方。然而它并不能凌驾于风之上，阵风猛烈吹拂，好似有人在拉扯她的斗篷，只是转身望去，根本毫无人影。

By sunset they were at the top, making camp where no harm could come to them. Arya walked around the circle of weirwood stumps with Lord Beric’s squire Ned, and they stood on top of one watching the last light fade in the west. From up here she could see a storm raging to the north, but High Heart stood above the rain. It wasn’t above the wind, though; the gusts were blowing so strongly that it felt like someone was behind her, yanking on her cloak. Only when she turned, no one was there.

鬼魂，她记起来，高尚之心有鬼魂出没。

Ghosts, she remembered. High Heart is haunted.

土匪们在山顶烧了个大火堆，密尔的索罗斯盘腿坐在旁边，凝视进火焰深处，仿佛世上旁无他物。

They built a great fire atop the hill, and Thoros of Myr sat crosslegged beside it, gazing deep into the flames as if there was nothing else in all the world.

“他干什么？”艾莉亚问艾德。

“What is he doing?” Arya asked Ned.

“他有时能从火焰里看到东西，”侍从告诉她，“比如过去、未来，或发生在遥远地方的事。”

“Sometimes he sees things in the flames,” the squire told her. “The past. The future. Things happening far away.”

艾莉亚眯起眼睛注视着火堆，看看自己能否看到红袍僧所见的东西，但那只能让眼睛流泪，不一会儿，她就将视线移开了。詹德利也盯着红袍僧。“你真的可以从火里面看见未来？”他突然问。

Arya squinted at the fire to see if she could see what the red priest was seeing, but it only made her eyes water and before long she turned away. Gendry was watching the red priest as well. “Can you truly see the future there?” he asked suddenly.

索罗斯将视线从火堆上移开，叹了口气。“此时此地不行，但有时候，我能做到，这是光之王赐予我的能力。”

Thoros turned from the fire, sighing. “Not here. Not now. But some days, yes, the Lord of Light grants me visions.”

詹德利看起来很怀疑。“我师傅说你是个酒鬼，骗子，是全世界最差劲的僧侣。”

Gendry looked dubious. “My master said you were a sot and a fraud, as bad a priest as there ever was.”

“真不厚道。”索罗斯咯咯笑道，“虽然是事实，但真不厚道。你师傅是谁？我认识你吗，孩子？”

“That was unkind.” Thoros chuckled. “True, but unkind. Who was this master of yours? Did I know you, boy?”

“我是武器师傅托布·莫特的学徒，他在钢铁街做生意，你经常向他买剑呢。”

“I was ’prenticed to the master armorer Tobho Mott, on the Street of Steel. You used to buy your swords from him.”

“就是这样。他收我两倍价格，然后骂我将它们点燃。”索罗斯哈哈大笑，“你师傅说得对，我不是什么正派牧师，作为八个孩子中最小的一个，被父亲给了红神庙，并非我自己选择的道路。我颂读祷词，学习法术，但也常带头扫荡厨房，还教人不时发现床上藏有女孩。真淘气的女孩，我从不知她们是怎么跑上床的。”

“Just so. He charged me twice what they were worth, then scolded me for setting them afire.” Thoros laughed. “Your master had it right. I was no very holy priest. I was born youngest of eight, so my father gave me over to the Red Temple, but it was not the path I would have chosen. I prayed the prayers and I spoke the spells, but I would also lead raids on the kitchens, and from time to time they found girls in my bed. Such wicked girls, I never knew how they got there.

“然而我很有语言天赋，而且盯着圣火看的时候，呃，有时会看见某些东西。尽管如此，仍旧算个累赘，没有太大价值，因此才被他们送去君临，负责将光之王的信仰传播到沉迷于七神的维斯特洛。他们认为伊里斯国王这么喜欢火，也许有机可趁，只可惜，那帮火术士的伎俩比我高明。”

“I had a gift for tongues, though. And when I gazed into the flames, well, from time to time I saw things. Even so, I was more bother than I was worth, so they sent me finally to King’s Landing to bring the Lord’s light to seven-besotted Westeros. King Aerys so loved fire it was thought he might make a convert. Alas, his pyromancers knew better tricks than I did.

“但劳勃国王喜欢我。我头一回参加团体比武就拿着一把火焰剑，教凯冯·兰尼斯特的马人立起来，将他掀翻在地，陛下笑得如此厉害，我觉得他肚子都快爆炸了。”红袍僧侣一边回忆一边微笑。“然而不该如此对待钢材，你师傅又说对了。”

“King Robert was fond of me, though. The first time I rode into a mêlée with a flaming sword, Kevan Lannister’s horse reared and threw him and His Grace laughed so hard I thought he might rupture.” The red priest smiled at the memory. “It was no way to treat a blade, though, your master had the right of that too.”

“火焰吞噬一切，”贝里伯爵站在他们后面，声音中的某种东西让索罗斯立即沉默。“吞噬一切，等它过去，什么也不留下。什么也不留下。”

“Fire consumes.” Lord Beric stood behind them, and there was something in his voice that silenced Thoros at once. “It consumes, and when it is done there is nothing left. Nothing.”

“贝里。亲爱的朋友。”僧侣碰碰闪电大王的前臂。“你说什么？”

“Beric. Sweet friend.” The priest touched the lightning lord on the forearm. “What are you saying?”

“不过是说过的话。六次，索罗斯？六次太多了。”他突然转过身去。

“Nothing I have not said before. Six times, Thoros? Six times is too many.” He turned away abruptly.

当晚的风就像狼嗥，而西方远处有些真正的狼在教授风如何嗥叫。诺奇、安盖和月镇的梅利守夜，艾德、詹德利和其他人都睡得很熟，艾莉亚窥到有个小小的苍白身影从马匹后面潜出来，倚着一根疙疙瘩瘩的黑拐杖，稀疏的白发狂乱地飞舞。那女人不超过三尺高，火光令她眼睛闪着红芒，就像琼恩的狼。他就叫白灵嘛。艾莉亚偷偷靠近，跪下来观察。

That night the wind was howling almost like a wolf and there were some real wolves off to the west giving it lessons. Notch, Anguy, and Merrit o’ Moontown had the watch. Ned, Gendry, and many of the others were fast asleep when Arya spied the small pale shape creeping behind the horses, thin white hair flying wild as she leaned upon a gnarled cane. The woman could not have been more than three feet tall. The firelight made her eyes gleam as red as the eyes of Jon’s wolf. He was a ghost too. Arya stole closer, and knelt to watch.

矮女人不请自来地坐到火堆旁，索罗斯、柠檬和贝里伯爵也在。她用灼热的眼睛斜睨他们。“余烬和柠檬又来造访了，还有死尸之王陛下。”

Thoros and Lem were with Lord Beric when the dwarf woman sat down uninvited by the fire. She squinted at them with eyes like hot coals. “The Ember and the Lemon come to honor me again, and His Grace the Lord of Corpses.”

“不吉利的名字。我叫你不要用它。”

“An ill-omened name. I have asked you not to use it.”

“是的，你说过，但你身上确实散发出强烈的死亡气息，大人。”她只剩一颗牙齿。“给酒，否则我就走。这身老骨头，刮风就关节疼，而此地这么高，风从来不停。”

“Aye, you have. But the stink of death is fresh on you, my lord.” She had but a single tooth remaining. “Give me wine or I will go. My bones are old. My joints ache when the winds do blow, and up here the winds are always blowing.”

“一枚银鹿报答您的梦，夫人，”贝里伯爵严肃而又谦恭地说，“若您有新消息，就再加一枚。”

“A silver stag for your dreams, my lady,” Lord Beric said, with solemn courtesy. “Another if you have news for us.”

“这银鹿既不能吃，也不能骑。我说，一袋酒换我的梦，那穿黄斗篷的傻大个给我一个吻，换我的消息。”矮个女人喋喋不休，“对，湿乎乎的吻，用点舌头。太久了，太久了……他嘴里有柠檬的味道，而我嘴里是骨头的气息。我太老了。”

“I cannot eat a silver stag, nor ride one. A skin of wine for my dreams, and for my news a kiss from the great oaf in the yellow cloak.” The little woman cackled. “Aye, a sloppy kiss, a bit of tongue. It has been too long, too long. His mouth will taste of lemons, and mine of bones. I am too old.”

“是啊，”柠檬抱怨，“你太老了，享受不了美酒和亲吻。你能从我这里得到的，最多是被剑背砸打，老太婆。”

“Aye,” Lem complained. “Too old for wine and kisses. All you’ll get from me is the flat of my sword, crone.”

“唉，头发一把一把掉下，好像有千年之久，没人亲吻过我。变这么老真辛苦啊。好吧，那我要一首歌，七弦汤姆唱的歌，换消息。”

“My hair comes out in handfuls and no one has kissed me for a thousand years. It is hard to be so old. Well, I will have a song then. A song from Tom o’ Sevens, for my news.”

“汤姆会给您唱歌。”贝里伯爵承诺，说完亲自将酒袋递给她。

“You will have your song from Tom,” Lord Beric promised. He gave her the wineskin himself.

矮个女人喝了一大口，酒从下巴滴落。她放下袋子，用满是皱褶的手背擦擦嘴，“劣酒换坏消息，能比这更合适吗？国王死了，对你们来说，够坏的吧？”

The dwarf woman drank deep, the wine running down her chin. When she lowered the skin, she wiped her mouth with the back of a wrinkled hand and said, “Sour wine for sour tidings, what could be more fitting? The king is dead, is that sour enough for you?”

艾莉亚的心卡在喉咙口。

Arya’s heart caught in her throat.

“妈的，哪个国王，老太婆？”柠檬质问。

“Which bloody king is dead, crone?” Lem demanded.

“水里那个，海怪国王，大人们。上回我梦到他会死，这次他真的死了，而铁乌贼们开始自相残杀。噢，霍斯特·徒利公爵也死了，不过你们知道，对吗？山羊独坐在诸王之殿里发高烧，而大狗前来攻打。”老妇人边挤压酒袋边将它举到唇边，又喝一大口。

“The wet one. The kraken king, m’lords. I dreamt him dead and he died, and the iron squids now turn on one another. Oh, and Lord Hoster Tully’s died too, but you know that, don’t you? In the hall of kings, the goat sits alone and fevered as the great dog descends on him.” The old woman took another long gulp of wine, squeezing the skin as she raised it to her lips.

大狗。她指猎狗？他哥哥魔山？艾莉亚无法确定。他们有相同的徽纹，黄底上三条黑狗。她的祈祷名单中一半和格雷果·克里冈爵士有关：波利佛、邓森、“甜嘴”拉夫、记事本，外加格雷果爵士本人。也许贝里大人会把他们统统吊死。

The great dog. Did she mean the Hound? Or maybe his brother, the Mountain That Rides? Arya was not certain. They bore the same arms, three black dogs on a yellow field. Half the men whose deaths she prayed for belonged to Ser Gregor Clegane; Polliver, Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, the Tickler, and Ser Gregor himself. Maybe Lord Beric will hang them all.

“我梦到一头狼在雨中嗥叫，但无人倾听他的不幸，”矮个女人续道，“我梦到一阵刺耳的喧闹，闹得头都快炸了，其中有鼓点、号角、笛子及尖叫，但最悲哀的是小铃铛的声响。我梦到一位少女参加宴会，她头发里有紫色的毒蛇，致命的汁液从它们牙齿上滴落。稍后，我又梦到那位少女在冰雪城堡外杀了一个无敌的巨人。”她突然转头，朝黑暗中的艾莉亚微笑，“在我面前藏不住的，孩子。走近些，快点。”

“I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief,” the dwarf woman was saying. “I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.” She turned her head sharply and smiled through the gloom, right at Arya. “You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer, now.”

听她这么说，艾莉亚觉得仿佛有无数冰冷的手指伸进脖子里。恐惧比利剑更伤人，她提醒自己，于是站起身来，小心翼翼地靠近火堆，期间踮着脚尖，随时准备逃走。

Cold fingers walked down Arya’s neck. Fear cuts deeper than swords, she reminded herself. She stood and approached the fire warily, light on the balls of her feet, poised to flee.

矮个女人用暗红色的眼睛打量她。“我看见你了，”她低声道，“我看见你了。小狼孩。血孩子。我还以为死亡气息来自于伯爵大人……”她开始抽泣，瘦小的身体不断颤抖。“你怎能来到我的山岗上？太残忍，太残忍了！我已在盛夏厅尝尽悲哀，不想再感受你的。滚开吧，黑心脏，滚开！”

The dwarf woman studied her with dim red eyes. “I see you,” she whispered. “I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death …” She began to sob, her little body shaking. “You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!”

她声音里充满恐惧，甚至让艾莉亚退开一步，怀疑这老妇人是不是疯了。“别吓这孩子，”索罗斯抗议，“她是无辜的。”

There was such fear in her voice that Arya took a step backward, wondering if the woman was mad. “Don’t frighten the child,” Thoros protested. “There’s no harm in her.”

柠檬斗篷摸摸破裂的鼻子，“妈的，别太肯定。”

Lem Lemoncloak’s finger went to his broken nose. “Don’t be so bloody sure of that.”

“她明早就跟我们一起离开，”贝里伯爵向矮个女人保证，“我们带她去奔流城，把她送回母亲身边。”

“She will leave on the morrow, with us,” Lord Beric assured the little woman. “We’re taking her to Riverrun, to her mother.”

“不，”矮个女人说，“错了。三河地区现由黑鱼掌管……要找她母亲，得去孪河城，那儿有场婚礼。”她咯咯傻笑，“看进你的火里面去，粉红袍子的和尚，你会明白的。但不是此时此地，在这儿你什么也看不到，因为这地方仍属于旧神……他们跟我一样在此徘徊，颓败衰落，但没消亡。他们不喜欢火焰。橡树结橡果，橡果生橡树，而鱼梁木树墩保留着所有记忆——他们记得先民擎火炬来到此处。”她连吞四大口，喝光最后一点酒，然后将酒袋扔开，用拐杖指着贝里伯爵。“现在，我要我的报酬，我要听听你答应过的歌。”

“Nay,” said the dwarf. “You’re not. The black fish holds the rivers now. If it’s the mother you want, seek her at the Twins. For there’s to be a wedding.” She cackled again. “Look in your fires, pink priest, and you will see. Not now, though, not here, you’ll see nothing here. This place belongs to the old gods still … they linger here as I do, shrunken and feeble but not yet dead. Nor do they love the flames. For the oak recalls the acorn, the acorn dreams the oak, the stump lives in them both. And they remember when the First Men came with fire in their fists.” She drank the last of the wine in four long swallows, flung the skin aside, and pointed her stick at Lord Beric. “I’ll have my payment now. I’ll have the song you promised me.”

于是柠檬叫醒躺在毛皮下的七弦汤姆，歌手一边打哈欠，一边被带到火堆旁，手里拿着木竖琴。“同一首歌？”他问。

And so Lem woke Tom Sevenstrings beneath his furs, and brought him yawning to the fireside with his woodharp in hand. “The same song as before?” he asked.

“噢，是的，我的珍妮的歌。还能有别的吗？”

“Oh, aye. My Jenny’s song. Is there another?”

歌手开始演唱，矮个女人闭上眼睛缓缓地前后摇摆，一边低吟歌词，一边声声啜泣。索罗斯紧紧抓住艾莉亚的手，将她拉到旁边。“让这老婆子安静地享受她的歌吧，”他说，“她已别无所有了。”

And so he sang, and the dwarf woman closed her eyes and rocked slowly back and forth, murmuring the words and crying. Thoros took Arya firmly by the hand and drew her aside. “Let her savor her song in peace,” he said. “It is all she has left.”

我对她没有恶意，艾莉亚心想。“她说孪河城是什么意思？我母亲在奔流城呀，不是吗？”

I wasn’t going to hurt her, Arya thought. “What did she mean about the Twins? My mother’s at Riverrun, isn’t she?”

“应该是。”红袍僧揉揉下巴底。“她说有一场婚礼，呃，我们会弄明白。放心，不管她在哪里，贝里伯爵都能找到。”

“She was.” The red priest rubbed beneath his chin. “A wedding, she said. We shall see. Wherever she is, Lord Beric will find her, though.”

不久后，闪电将天空撕裂，雷声于山间滚动，雨水倾注而下，模糊了视线。矮个女人跟出现时一样突然地消失，而土匪们收集树枝，搭起简陋的遮篷。

Not long after, the sky opened. Lightning cracked and thunder rolled across the hills, and the rain fell in blinding sheets. The dwarf woman vanished as suddenly as she had appeared, while the outlaws gathered branches and threw up crude shelters.

雨下整夜，到得早晨，艾德、柠檬和磨坊主瓦特醒来时都说冷，瓦特连早餐都吃不下，而小艾德一会儿发烧，一会儿打颤，皮肤摸起来粘粘的。诺奇告诉贝里伯爵，往北半日骑程有个废弃的村庄，可以在那休息避雨。于是他们不情不愿地上马出发，行下巨峰。

It rained all through that night, and come morning Ned, Lem, and Watty the Miller awoke with chills. Watty could not keep his breakfast down, and young Ned was feverish and shivering by turns, with skin clammy to the touch. There was an abandoned village half a day’s ride to the north, Notch told Lord Beric; they’d find better shelter there, a place to wait out the worst of the rains. So they dragged themselves back into the saddles and urged their horses down the great hill.

雨没减弱。人马穿过树林和原野，趟过高涨的小河，湍急的水流直达马肚子。艾莉亚拉起兜帽，趴低身子，虽然通体湿透，一阵阵地颤抖，却毫不示弱。很快，梅利和墨吉开始跟瓦提一样剧烈咳嗽，而可怜的艾德每多走一里地就变得愈加痛苦。“戴上头盔，雨点敲打铁皮让我头疼，”他抱怨，“但摘下头盔，头发就会浸满水，粘在脸上，还钻进嘴巴里。”

The rains did not let up. They rode through woods and fields, fording swollen streams where the rushing water came up to the bellies of their horses. Arya pulled up the hood of her cloak and hunched down, sodden and shivering but determined not to falter. Merrit and Mudge were soon coughing as bad as Watty, and poor Ned seemed to grow more miserable with every mile. “When I wear my helm, the rain beats against the steel and gives me headaches,” he complained. “But when I take it off, my hair gets soaked and sticks to my face and in my mouth.”

“你有匕首，”詹德利建议，“若头发这么讨人厌，就把那该死的脑袋剃光。”

“You have a knife,” Gendry suggested. “If your hair annoys you so much, shave your bloody head.”

他不喜欢艾德。这侍从对艾莉亚似乎还不错，也许有点害羞，但脾气很好。她常听说多恩人都是小个子、黑皮肤，长着黑头发和小小的黑眼睛，但艾德有蓝蓝的大眼睛，颜色如此之深，近乎于紫。他的头发也挺漂亮，白金色，犹如灰烬和蜂蜜的结合。

He doesn’t like Ned. The squire seemed nice enough to Arya; maybe a little shy, but good-natured. She had always heard that Dornishmen were small and swarthy, with black hair and small black eyes, but Ned had big blue eyes, so dark that they looked almost purple. And his hair was a pale blond, more ash than honey.

“你当贝里伯爵的侍从多久了？”她问，好让他分心，别那么痛苦。

“How long have you been Lord Beric’s squire?” she asked, to take his mind from his misery.

“他跟我姑母订婚时将我收为侍卫。”他边咳嗽边回答，“那时我七岁，十岁时，他将我提升为侍从。我在长枪比武上得过奖。”

“He took me for his page when he espoused my aunt.” He coughed. “I was seven, but when I turned ten he raised me to squire. I won a prize once, riding at rings.”

“我没学过长枪，但可以用剑打败你，”艾莉亚说。“你杀过人吗？”

“I never learned the lance, but I could beat you with a sword,” said Arya. “Have you killed anyone?”

这话似乎吓了他一跳。“我才十二岁耶。”

That seemed to startle him. “I’m only twelve.”

我八岁时就杀了一个男孩，艾莉亚差点出口，旋即觉得不妥。“嗯，但你打过仗。”

I killed a boy when I was eight, Arya almost said, but she thought she’d better not. “You’ve been in battles, though.”

“是的，”他听起来并不怎么以此为豪。“在戏子滩，贝里伯爵掉进河里，是我将他拖到岸上，让他不被淹死，然后拿着剑守在他身旁。可我根本没和敌人交手，大人身上戳了一支断裂的长枪，因此没人在意。等我们重新集结，格林·杰钦帮忙把大人拉到马背上。”

“Yes.” He did not sound very proud of it. “I was at the Mummer’s Ford. When Lord Beric fell into the river, I dragged him up onto the bank so he wouldn’t drown and stood over him with my sword. I never had to fight, though. He had a broken lance sticking out of him, so no one bothered us. When we regrouped, Green Gergen helped pull his lordship back onto a horse.”

艾莉亚想起君临城的马童，想起赫伦堡那个被割喉的卫兵，想起湖畔庄园外亚摩利爵士的手下。她不知威斯和奇斯威克算不算，还有因黄鼠狼汤而死的那些……突然间，她感到非常悲哀。“我父亲也叫艾德，”她说。

Arya was remembering the stableboy at King’s Landing. After him there’d been that guard whose throat she cut at Harrenhal, and Ser Amory’s men at that holdfast by the lake. She didn’t know if Weese and Chiswyck counted, or the ones who’d died on account of the weasel soup … all of a sudden, she felt very sad. “My father was called Ned too,” she said.

“我知道。我在首相的比武大会上见过他，本想上前跟他说话呢，却想不出说什么。”艾德在斗篷下颤抖，淡紫色长斗篷浸满了水。“您也在比武大会上吗？我看到您姐姐在那儿，洛拉斯·提利尔爵士送她一朵玫瑰。”

“I know. I saw him at the Hand’s tourney. I wanted to go up and speak with him, but I couldn’t think what to say.” Ned shivered beneath his cloak, a sodden length of pale purple. “Were you at the tourney? I saw your sister there. Ser Loras Tyrell gave her a rose.”

“她告诉我了。”一千年前的往事。“她的朋友珍妮·普尔爱上了你们的贝里伯爵。”

“She told me.” It all seemed so long ago. “Her friend Jeyne Poole fell in love with your Lord Beric.”

“他跟我姑母订婚了。”艾德有些不安。“但那是从前。在他……”

“He’s promised to my aunt.” Ned looked uncomfortable. “That was before, though. Before he …”

……死之前？她心想，艾德的声音逐渐减弱，变成窘迫的沉默。马蹄在泥泞中踩踏，发出粘乎乎的声音。

… died? she thought, as Ned’s voice trailed off into an awkward silence. Their horses’ hooves made sucking sounds as they pulled free of the mud.

“小姐？”艾德最后道，“您有个庶出的哥哥……琼恩·雪诺？”

“My lady?” Ned said at last. “You have a baseborn brother … Jon Snow?”

“他在长城的守夜人军团服役。”也许我该去长城，而不是奔流城。琼恩不会在乎我杀了谁，或者我梳不梳头发……“琼恩的模样跟我很像，尽管他是私生子。他以前常弄乱我的头发，叫我‘我的小妹’。”艾莉亚最想念琼恩，单单说出他的名字就让她伤心。“你怎么知道琼恩？”

“He’s with the Night’s Watch on the Wall.” Maybe I should go to the Wall instead of Riverrun. Jon wouldn’t care who I killed or whether I brushed my hair … “Jon looks like me, even though he’s bastard-born. He used to muss my hair and call me ‘little sister.’ ” Arya missed Jon most of all. Just saying his name made her sad. “How do you know about Jon?”

“他是我的乳奶兄弟。”

“He is my milk brother.”

“兄弟？”艾莉亚不明白，“但你来自多恩，怎会跟琼恩是亲戚？”

“Brother?” Arya did not understand. “But you’re from Dorne. How could you and Jon be blood?”

“是乳奶兄弟，无血缘关系的。我小时候，母亲大人没有奶水，不得不让薇拉喂奶。”

“Milk brothers. Not blood. My lady mother had no milk when I was little, so Wylla had to nurse me.”

艾莉亚完全糊涂了。“谁是薇拉？”

Arya was lost. “Who’s Wylla?”

“琼恩·雪诺的母亲，他没告诉您吗？她为我们效力有好多好多年，从我出生以前就开始。”

“Jon Snow’s mother. He never told you? She’s served us for years and years. Since before I was born.”

“琼恩从不知道他母亲是谁，甚至连她的名字都不知道。”艾莉亚警惕地看了艾德一眼，“你认识她？真的？”他在开我玩笑？“如果你撒谎，我就揍你的脸。”

“Jon never knew his mother. Not even her name.” Arya gave Ned a wary look. “You know her? Truly?” Is he making mock of me? “If you lie I’ll punch your face.”

“薇拉是我的乳母，”他严肃地重复，“我以我家族的荣誉起誓。”

“Wylla was my wetnurse,” he repeated solemnly. “I swear it on the honor of my House.”

“你的家族？”真笨！他是个侍从，当然有家族。“你到底是谁啊？”

“You have a House?” That was stupid; he was a squire, of course he had a House. “Who are you?”

“小姐？”艾德似乎很窘迫。“我是艾德瑞克·戴恩……星坠城领主。”

“My lady?” Ned looked embarrassed. “I’m Edric Dayne, the … the Lord of Starfall.”

詹德利在身后发出呻吟。“领主与小姐，”他用厌恶的语气叫道。艾莉亚顺手从树枝上摘下一颗干瘪的酸果朝他丢去，砸在那颗笨钝的牛脑袋上。“噢，”他说，“好疼。”他摸摸眼睛上方，“哪门子小姐会朝百姓扔东西啊？”

Behind them, Gendry groaned. “Lords and ladies,” he proclaimed in a disgusted tone. Arya plucked a withered crabapple off a passing branch and whipped it at him, bouncing it off his thick bull head. “Ow,” he said. “That hurt.” He felt the skin above his eye. “What kind of lady throws crabapples at people?”

“坏的那种，”艾莉亚说，突然感到几分懊悔，连忙转回头面对艾德。“抱歉，我不知您的身份，大人。”

“The bad kind,” said Arya, suddenly contrite. She turned back to Ned. “I’m sorry I didn’t know who you were. My lord.”

“是我的错，小姐。”他非常礼貌。

“The fault is mine, my lady.” He was very polite.

琼恩有个母亲。薇拉，她叫薇拉。她得记住，下次见面就可以告诉他。她不知琼恩是否还会叫自己“我的小妹”。我已经不小了。他得换个称呼。或许等到了奔流城，就给琼恩写封信，把艾德·戴恩说的告诉他。“有个亚瑟·戴恩，”她记起来，“是什么‘拂晓神剑’。”

Jon has a mother. Wylla, her name is Wylla. She would need to remember so she could tell him, the next time she saw him. She wondered if he would still call her “little sister.” I’m not so little anymore. He’d have to call me something else. Maybe once she got to Riverrun she could write Jon a letter and tell him what Ned Dayne had said. “There was an Arthur Dayne,” she remembered. “The one they called the Sword of the Morning.”

“我父亲是亚瑟爵士的哥哥，还有个妹妹亚夏拉小姐——但我从来不认识她，她在我出生之前，就从白石剑塔顶跳进了大海。”

“My father was Ser Arthur’s elder brother. Lady Ashara was my aunt. I never knew her, though. She threw herself into the sea from atop the Palestone Sword before I was born.”

“她为何这么做呀？”艾莉亚惊讶万分地问。

“Why would she do that?” said Arya, startled.

艾德看上去很小心，似乎害怕艾莉亚也朝自己扔东西。“您父亲大人没告诉过您吗？”他问，“星坠城的亚夏拉·戴恩小姐？”

Ned looked wary. Maybe he was afraid that she was going to throw something at him. “Your lord father never spoke of her?” he said. “The Lady Ashara Dayne, of Starfall?”

“没有。他认识她？”

“No. Did he know her?”

“劳勃成为国王之前，她在赫伦堡与您父亲和他的兄弟姐妹们相遇，那一年是错误的春天。”

“Before Robert was king. She met your father and his brothers at Harrenhal, during the year of the false spring.”

“哦，”艾莉亚不知该说什么，“她为什么要跳进海里呢？”

“Oh.” Arya did not know what else to say. “Why did she jump in the sea, though?”

“因为她的心碎了。”

“Her heart was broken.”

珊莎会为真爱而叹息流泪，但艾莉亚觉得那很笨。当然，她不能这么对艾德讲，不能这么说他的亲姑母。“是有人让她心碎吗？”

Sansa would have sighed and shed a tear for true love, but Arya just thought it was stupid. She couldn’t say that to Ned, though, not about his own aunt. “Did someone break it?”

他犹豫不决，“也许我不该……”

He hesitated. “Perhaps it’s not my place …”

“告诉我嘛。”

“Tell me.”

他惴惴地看着她，“据我姑母阿莉里亚说，亚夏拉小姐和您父亲在赫伦堡相爱——”

He looked at her uncomfortably. “My aunt Allyria says Lady Ashara and your father fell in love at Harrenhal—”

“不会的。他爱我母亲大人。”

“That’s not so. He loved my lady mother.”

“我肯定他很爱，可是，小姐——”

“I’m sure he did, my lady, but—”

“他只爱她一个。”

“She was the only one he loved.”

“那他一定是在白菜叶子底下找到的私生子。”詹德利在后面说。

“He must have found that bastard under a cabbage leaf, then,” Gendry said behind them.

艾莉亚希望再有一粒酸果可以扔到他脸上。“我父亲是个重荣誉的人，”她气恼地强调，“而且我们又没跟你说话。你干吗不回石堂镇，让那个女孩子敲响你的笨钟呢？”

Arya wished she had another crabapple to bounce off his face. “My father had honor,” she said angrily. “And we weren’t talking to you anyway. Why don’t you go back to Stoney Sept and ring that girl’s stupid bells?”

詹德利不予理会。“至少你父亲将私生子抚养长大，不像我父亲，我连他名字都不清楚。但我敢打赌，他是个臭烘烘的醉鬼，就跟我母亲从酒馆里拖回家的其他男人一样。每次她生我气时都会说：‘若你父亲在，就会狠狠揍你。’关于他我只知道这些。”他啐了一口。“嗯，如果他现在过来，也许我会狠狠揍他。我想他该是死了，而你父亲也死了，所以他跟谁睡觉又有什么关系呢？”

Gendry ignored that. “At least your father raised his bastard, not like mine. I don’t even know my father’s name. Some smelly drunk, I’d wager, like the others my mother dragged home from the alehouse. Whenever she got mad at me, she’d say, ‘If your father was here, he’d beat you bloody.’ That’s all I know of him.” He spat. “Well, if he was here now, might be I’d beat him bloody. But he’s dead, I figure, and your father’s dead too, so what does it matter who he lay with?”

对艾莉亚而言，那有关系，尽管她说不出究竟是为什么。艾德试图为冒犯她的事道歉，但艾莉亚不想听，她用膝盖一顶马儿，离开两个男孩。射手安盖在前方不远处骑行。她赶上去，“多恩人爱说谎，对不对？”

It mattered to Arya, though she could not have said why. Ned was trying to apologize for upsetting her, but she did not want to hear it. She pressed her heels into her horse and left them both. Anguy the Archer was riding a few yards ahead. When she caught up with him, she said, “Dornishmen lie, don’t they?”

“他们以此闻名天下。”弓手咧嘴笑道，“当然，他们也这样指责我们边疆地人，仅此而已。有什么问题吗？艾德是个好小子……”

“They’re famous for it.” The bowman grinned. “Of course, they say the same of us marchers, so there you are. What’s the trouble now? Ned’s a good lad …”

“他是个笨蛋，骗子！”艾莉亚离开小路，跃过一根腐烂的树木，踏进河床，溅起水花，对背后土匪们的呼喊置之不理。他们不过想继续撒谎。她想逃离他们，但对方人太多，而且熟悉地形。如果铁定被抓，逃走又有什么用呢？

“He’s just a stupid liar.” Arya left the trail, leapt a rotten log and splashed across a streambed, ignoring the shouts of the outlaws behind her. They just want to tell me more lies. She thought about trying to get away from them, but there were too many and they knew these lands too well. What was the use of running if they caught you?

最后是哈尔温骑到她边上。“你想上哪儿去，小姐？你不该独自跑开，森林里有狼群，还有更糟糕的东西。”

It was Harwin who rode up beside her, in the end. “Where do you think you’re going, milady? You shouldn’t run off. There are wolves in these woods, and worse things.”

“我才不怕，”她说。“那个叫艾德的男孩说……”

“I’m not afraid,” she said. “That boy Ned said …”

“对，他也告诉了我。亚夏拉·戴恩小姐。这是个老故事，我在临冬城就听过一次，那时跟你差不多大呢。”他牢牢抓住她坐骑的缰绳，圈转过来。“我怀疑其中毫无真相可言。即使有，又怎样呢？你父亲艾德大人与这位多恩的小姐相遇时，他哥哥布兰登仍在世，并跟凯特琳女士订了婚，所以他的荣誉并未遭到玷污。比武大会是最令人热血沸腾的场合，也许某天晚上，某个帐篷，某次幽会，谁说得准呢？幽会，亲吻，也许不止于此，那又有什么害处呢？春天来了，至少当时他们那么想，而且彼此都没有婚约。”

“Aye, he told me. Lady Ashara Dayne. It’s an old tale, that one. I heard it once at Winterfell, when I was no older than you are now.” He took hold of her bridle firmly and turned her horse around. “I doubt there’s any truth to it. But if there is, what of it? When Ned met this Dornish lady, his brother Brandon was still alive, and it was him betrothed to Lady Catelyn, so there’s no stain on your father’s honor. There’s nought like a tourney to make the blood run hot, so maybe some words were whispered in a tent of a night, who can say? Words or kisses, maybe more, but where’s the harm in that? Spring had come, or so they thought, and neither one of them was pledged.”

“但她自杀了，”艾莉亚不大确定地说，“艾德说她从一座塔上跳进了海里。”

“She killed herself, though,” said Arya uncertainly. “Ned says she jumped from a tower into the sea.”

“她是自杀了，”哈尔温边领她回去，边承认，“我敢打赌，那是因为悲伤，别忘记，她失去了哥哥，传奇的拂晓神剑。”他摇摇头。“随它去吧，小姐，他们都死了，所有人都死了，随它去吧……还有，到达奔流城后，千万不要把这些事告诉你母亲。”

“So she did,” Harwin admitted, as he led her back, “but that was for grief, I’d wager. She’d lost a brother, the Sword of the Morning.” He shook his head. “Let it lie, my lady. They’re dead, all of them. Let it lie … and please, when we come to Riverrun, say naught of this to your mother.”

村庄的位置跟诺奇讲的完全一致。他们在灰石马厩内宿营，那儿只有一半屋顶保留下来，却已比村里其他建筑物都多。这不是村庄，只余焦石与骨骸。“这里的居民都教兰尼斯特杀了？”艾莉亚边问，边帮安盖刷马。

The village was just where Notch had promised it would be. They took shelter in a grey stone stable. Only half a roof remained, but that was half a roof more than any other building in the village. It’s not a village, it’s only black stones and old bones. “Did the Lannisters kill the people who lived here?” Arya asked as she helped Anguy dry the horses.

“不。”他指点，“看看石头上的苔藓多厚。很久没人动过了。那儿有棵树从墙里长出来，看到了吗？这地方很久以前就被洗劫焚烧啦。”

“No.” He pointed. “Look at how thick the moss grows on the stones. No one’s moved them for a long time. And there’s a tree growing out of the wall there, see? This place was put to the torch a long time ago.”

“谁干的？”詹德利问。

“Who did it, then?” asked Gendry.

“霍斯特·徒利。”诺奇是个驼背的灰发瘦男子，出生在这附近。“这是古柏克伯爵的村子，当初奔流城宣布支持劳勃，古柏克仍忠于国王，因此徒利公爵带着火与剑杀来。三河之役后，老古柏克的儿子跟劳勃与霍斯特公爵讲和，但死者已矣。”

“Hoster Tully.” Notch was a stooped thin grey-haired man, born in these parts. “This was Lord Goodbrook’s village. When Riverrun declared for Robert, Goodbrook stayed loyal to the king, so Lord Tully came down on him with fire and sword. After the Trident, Goodbrook’s son made his peace with Robert and Lord Hoster, but that didn’t help the dead none.”

接着是沉默。詹德利古怪地看了艾莉亚一眼，然后转身梳理自己的马。外面雨下个不停。“我们生火吧，”索罗斯宣布，“长夜黑暗，处处险恶，而且也潮湿得紧，不是吗？非常非常潮湿。”

A silence fell. Gendry gave Arya a queer look, then turned away to brush his horse. Outside the rain came down and down. “I say we need a fire,” Thoros declared. “The night is dark and full of terrors. And wet too, eh? Too very wet.”

幸运杰克砍下牲畜栏当木柴，同时诺奇和梅利收集起引火用的草秆。索罗斯亲自打燃火星，柠檬用大黄斗篷扇动，直至焰苗呼号盘旋。很快，马厩里变得热烘烘的。索罗斯盘腿坐在火堆前，凝视进火焰深处，跟在高尚之心的时候一样。艾莉亚观察着他，期间他的嘴唇动了动，她觉得自己听见他低吟，“奔流城”。柠檬边咳嗽，边拖着长长的影子来回踱步，而七弦汤姆脱下靴子，揉揉脚掌。“我疯了才回奔流城去，”歌手抱怨。“老汤姆从没在徒利家那儿交上好运。那莱莎赶我走山路，结果被月人部抢了马和钱财不说，更搭上所有衣服。谷地骑士至今还嘲笑我浑身上下一丝不挂，带着一把竖琴走回血门。他们逼我唱过‘命名日的男孩’和‘没勇气的国王’才打开城门，唯一的安慰是，有三个人给笑死了！从此以后，我再没去过鹰巢城，而且决不再唱‘没勇气的国王’，哪怕给我全凯岩城的金子——”

Jack-Be-Lucky hacked some dry wood from a stall, while Notch and Merrit gathered straw for kindling. Thoros himself struck the spark, and Lem fanned the flames with his big yellow cloak until they roared and swirled. Soon it grew almost hot inside the stable. Thoros sat before it crosslegged, devouring the flames with his eyes just as he had atop High Heart. Arya watched him closely, and once his lips moved, and she thought she heard him mutter, “Riverrun.” Lem paced back and forth, coughing, a long shadow matching him stride for stride, while Tom o’ Sevens pulled off his boots and rubbed his feet. “I must be mad, to be going back to Riverrun,” the singer complained. “The Tullys have never been lucky for old Tom. It was that Lysa sent me up the high road, when the moon men took my gold and my horse and all my clothes as well. There’s knights in the Vale still telling how I came walking up to the Bloody Gate with only my harp to keep me modest. They made me sing ‘The Name Day Boy’ and ‘The King Without Courage’ before they opened that gate. My only solace was that three of them died laughing. I haven’t been back to the Eyrie since, and I won’t sing ‘The King Without Courage’ either, not for all the gold in Casterly—”

“兰尼斯特，”索罗斯叫道，“咆哮的红色与金色。”他身子一晃，站了起来，走向贝里伯爵。柠檬和汤姆立即跟进。艾莉亚听不清他们说什么，但歌手不停地瞟她，而柠檬愤怒地一拳打在墙上。这时，贝里伯爵比个手势，让她过来。她老大不愿意，可哈尔温的手搭在背心，将她往前推。她走了两步，踌躇不前，充满恐惧。“大人。”她等着贝里伯爵发话。

“Lannisters,” Thoros said. “Roaring red and gold.” He lurched to his feet and went to Lord Beric. Lem and Tom wasted no time joining them. Arya could not make out what they were saying, but the singer kept glancing at her, and one time Lem got so angry he pounded a fist against the wall. That was when Lord Beric gestured for her to come closer. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but Harwin put a hand in the small of her back and pushed her forward. She took two steps and hesitated, full of dread. “My lord.” She waited to hear what Lord Beric would say.

“告诉她。”闪电大王命令索罗斯。

“Tell her,” the lightning lord commanded Thoros.

红袍僧侣在她身边蹲下。“小姐，”他说，“真主让我看到奔流城的景象。它仿如火海中的孤岛，而那火焰是腾跃的雄狮，有着长长的绯红爪子，猛烈地咆哮！一片兰尼斯特的海洋，小姐，奔流城很快将遭到攻打。”

The red priest squatted down beside her. “My lady,” he said, “the Lord granted me a view of Riverrun. An island in a sea of fire, it seemed. The flames were leaping lions with long crimson claws. And how they roared! A sea of Lannisters, my lady. Riverrun will soon come under attack.”

艾莉亚感觉肚子挨了一拳。“不！”

Arya felt as though he’d punched her in the belly. “No!”

“亲爱的，”索罗斯说，“圣火中没有谎言。我能力有限，时而解读失误，但我认为这次没错：奔流城将被兰尼斯特家围困。”

“Sweetling,” said Thoros, “the flames do not lie. Sometimes I read them wrongly, blind fool that I am. But not this time, I think. The Lannisters will soon have Riverrun under siege.”

“罗柏会打败他们。”艾莉亚一脸固执，“像以前一样打败他们。”

“Robb will beat them.” Arya got a stubborn look. “He’ll beat them like he did before.”

“你哥哥或许已经离开，”索罗斯道，“还有你母亲，我在圣火中没看到他们的脸。老太婆口中的婚礼，在孪河城举行……她有办法获得消息，真的，睡觉时鱼梁木会在她耳边低语。如果说你母亲去了孪河城……”

“Your brother may be gone,” said Thoros. “Your mother as well. I did not see them in the flames. This wedding the old one spoke of, a wedding on the Twins … she has her own ways of knowing things, that one. The weirwoods whisper in her ear when she sleeps. If she says your mother is gone to the Twins …”

艾莉亚转向汤姆和柠檬。“如果你们不抓我，我已经到了奔流城，我已经到了家！”

Arya turned on Tom and Lem. “If you hadn’t caught me, I would have been there. I would have been home.”

贝里伯爵对她的爆发不予理会。“小姐，”他带着疲惫的谦恭道，“你有没有亲眼见过你舅公？‘黑鱼’布林登爵士？或者他认识你？”

Lord Beric paid no heed to her outburst. “My lady,” he said with weary courtesy, “would you know your grandfather’s brother by sight? Ser Brynden Tully, called the Blackfish? Would he know you, perchance?”

艾莉亚可怜地摇摇头。她听母亲谈起过黑鱼布林登爵士，但若真遇到过他本人，那也在很小的时候，根本不记事。

Arya shook her head miserably. She had heard her mother speak of Ser Brynden Blackfish, but if she had ever met him herself it had been when she was too little to remember.

“黑鱼不可能为一个不认识的小女生付一大笔钱，”汤姆说，“徒利家的人个个多疑，迂腐不堪，多半认定我们是骗子。”

“Small chance the Blackfish will pay good coin for a girl he doesn’t know,” said Tom. “Those Tullys are a sour, suspicious lot, he’s like to think we’re selling him false goods.”

“我们可以提出证据，”柠檬斗篷坚持，“她，或者哈尔温。奔流城离此很近，就把她扔到那儿去吧，收了钱，他妈的，就再也不用管了。”

“We’ll convince him,” Lem Lemoncloak insisted. “She will, or Harwin. Riverrun is closest. I say we take her there, get the gold, and be bloody well done with her.”

“如果被狮子围住怎么办？”汤姆反问，“他们巴不得把伯爵大人关进笼子，吊于凯岩城城头。”

“And if the lions catch us inside the castle?” said Tom. “They’d like nothing better than to hang his lordship in a cage from the top of Casterly Rock.”

“我不会被抓，”贝里伯爵道。言下之意悬于空中。宁可战死。他们都听出来了，连艾莉亚也听出来了，尽管闪电大王没说出口。“然而，不能盲目行动，我要知道军队部署，狼和狮子两方面都要知道。沙玛了解一些情况，凡斯伯爵的学士知道得更多，而橡果厅就在附近。遣斥候打探期间，斯莫伍德夫人可以暂时提供住宿……”

“I do not mean to be taken,” said Lord Beric. A final word hung unspoken in the air. Alive. They all heard it, even Arya, though it never passed his lips. “Still, we dare not go blindly here. I want to know where the armies are, the wolves and lions both. Sharna will know something, and Lord Vance’s maester will know more. Acorn Hall’s not far. Lady Smallwood will shelter us for a time while we send scouts ahead to learn …”

他的话就像鼓点敲打在艾莉亚耳畔，突然之间超出了她的承受能力。她要奔流城，不要橡果厅；她要母亲和哥哥罗柏，不要斯莫伍德夫人，或者什么不认识的舅公。她转身向门口冲去，哈尔温试图抓她胳膊，但她侧身闪开，迅如蛇。

His words beat at her ears like the pounding of a drum, and suddenly it was more than Arya could stand. She wanted Riverrun, not Acorn Hall; she wanted her mother and her brother Robb, not Lady Smallwood or some uncle she never knew. Whirling, she broke for the door, and when Harwin tried to grab her arm she spun away from him quick as a snake.

马厩外面，雨仍在下，西方远处闪着电光。艾莉亚竭尽最大速度飞奔，却不知要去哪里，只想一个人独处，远离人声，远离那些空洞的话语和无法兑现的承诺。我想去奔流城。是我自己的错，离开赫伦堡时带上了詹德利和热派，如果一个人就好了，如果一个人，才不会教土匪们逮住，而现在就可以跟罗柏和母亲团聚。他们根本不与我同一族群，如果是的话，绝不会离开我。她踏过一滩泥水，溅起无数水花。有人喊她的名字，也许是哈尔温，也许是詹德利，但闪电后的雷鸣滚过山冈，淹没了他们的声音。闪电大王，她愤怒地想，他死不了才怪！

Outside the stables the rain was still falling, and distant lightning flashed in the west. Arya ran as fast as she could. She did not know where she was going, only that she wanted to be alone, away from all the voices, away from their hollow words and broken promises. All I wanted was to go to Riverrun. It was her own fault, for taking Gendry and Hot Pie with her when she left Harrenhal. She would have been better alone. If she had been alone, the outlaws would never have caught her, and she’d be with Robb and her mother by now. They were never my pack. If they had been, they wouldn’t leave me. She splashed through a puddle of muddy water. Someone was shouting her name, Harwin probably, or Gendry, but the thunder drowned them out as it rolled across the hills, half a heartbeat behind the lightning. The lightning lord, she thought angrily. Maybe he couldn’t die, but he could lie.

左方某处传来马的嘶叫。原来离开马厩才不超过五十码呀？可感觉上连骨头都湿透了。她躲至一栋倒塌的房屋转角，希望长满苔藓的墙能遮挡雨水，却差点撞上一名哨兵。一只钢甲铁手紧紧攫住她胳膊。

Somewhere off to her left a horse whinnied. Arya couldn’t have gone more than fifty yards from the stables, yet already she was soaked to the bone. She ducked around the corner of one of the tumbledown houses, hoping the mossy walls would keep the rain off, and almost bowled right into one of the sentries. A mailed hand closed hard around her arm.

“你把我弄痛了，”她一边在他掌握中挣扎，一边喊，“放手，我正打算回去，我……”

“You’re hurting me,” she said, twisting in his grasp. “Let go, I was going to go back, I …”

“回去？”桑铎·克里冈的笑声如钢铁在石头上摩擦，“见鬼，小狼女，你是我的了。”他一只手将她提离地面，艾莉亚不停乱踢，桑铎·克里冈却浑不理会地拽她朝等在一旁的马儿走去。冷雨抽打着他们俩，冲走她的喊叫，艾莉亚能想到的只有他曾问过的那个问题：知道狗是怎样对付狼的吗？

“Back?” Sandor Clegane’s laughter was iron scraping over stone. “Bugger that, wolf girl. You’re mine.” He needed only one hand to yank her off her feet and drag her kicking toward his waiting horse. The cold rain lashed them both and washed away her shouts, and all that Arya could think of was the question he had asked her. Do you know what dogs do to wolves?