冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第17期:第一章 布兰(2)

The breath of man and horse mingled, steaming, in the cold morning air as his lord father hadthe man cut down from the wall and dragged before them. Robb and Jon sat tall and still ontheir horses, with Bran between them on his pony, trying to seem older than seven, trying topretend that he’d seen all this before. A faint wind blew through the holdfast gate. Over theirheads flapped the banner of the Starks of Winterfell: a grey direwolf racing across an ice-whitefield.

人马呼息在清晨的冷空气里交织成蒸腾的雪白雾网，父亲下令将墙边的人犯松绑，抱到队伍前面。罗柏和琼恩直挺背脊，昂然跨坐鞍背;布兰则骑著小马在两人中间，努力想要表现出七岁孩童所没有的成熟气度，彷佛眼前一切他早已司空见惯。微风吹过栅门，众人头顶飘扬著临冬城史塔克家族的旗帜，上头画著白底灰色的冰原奔狼。

Bran’s father sat solemnly on his horse, long brown hair stirring in the wind. His closely trimmedbeard was shot with white, making him look older than his thirty-five years. He had a grim castto his grey eyes this day, and he seemed not at all the man who would sit before the fire in theevening and talk softly of the age of heroes and the children of the forest. He had taken offFather’s face, Bran thought, and donned the face of Lord Stark of Winterfell.

父亲神情肃穆地骑在马上，满头棕色长发在风里飞扬。他修剪整齐的胡子冒出几缕白丝，看起来比三十五岁的实际年龄还要老些。这天他的灰色眼瞳严厉无情，怎麽看也不像是那个会在风雪夜里端坐火炉前，娓娓细述远古英雄时代和森林之子故事的人。他已经摘下慈父的容颜，而戴上了临冬城主史塔克公爵的面具，布兰心想。

There were questions asked and answers given there in the chill of morning, but afterward Brancould not recall much of what had been said. Finally his lord father gave a command, and twoof his guardsmen dragged the ragged man to the ironwood stump in the center of the square.They forced his head down onto the hard black wood. Lord Eddard Stark dismounted and hisward Theon Greyjoy brought forth the sword. “Ice,” that sword was called. It was as wideacross as a man’s hand, and taller even than Robb. The blade was Valyrian steel, spell-forgedand dark as smoke. Nothing held an edge like Valyrian steel.

清晨的寒意里，布兰听到有人问了些问题，以及问题的答案，然而事後他却想不起来究竟说过了哪些话。总之最後父亲下了命令，两名卫士便把那衣衫褴褛的人拖到空地中央的铁树木桩前，把他的头硬是按在漆黑的坚硬木头上。艾德·史塔克解鞍下马，他的养子席恩·葛雷乔伊立刻递上宝剑。剑叫做"寒冰"，剑身宽过手掌，立起来比罗柏还长。刺刀是用瓦雷利亚钢锻造而成，受过法术加持，颜色暗如黑烟。世上没有任河东西比瓦雷利亚钢更锐利。