Ⅳ 群鴉的盛宴 Chapter22 艾莉亞

ARYA

每晚睡覺前，她都會(huì)對著枕頭喃喃祈禱偏螺⌒惺瑁“格雷果爵士，”禱詞由此開始套像，“鄧森酿联，‘甜嘴’拉夫，伊林爵士夺巩，馬林爵士贞让，瑟曦太后×”假如她知道河渡口佛雷家人的名字喳张，也會(huì)念出來的。有朝一日我會(huì)知道美澳，她告訴自己销部，然后把他們?nèi)珰⒐狻?/p>

Each night before sleep, she murmured her prayer into her pillow. “Ser Gregor,” it went. “Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei.” She would have whispered the names of the Freys of the Crossing too, if she had known them. One day I’ll know, she told herself, and then I’ll kill them all.

在黑白之院中，再怎么放低聲音也會(huì)被人聽見制跟【俗“孩子，”那個(gè)慈祥的人某天說雨膨，“你每晚輕聲念的那些名字是誰擂涛？”

No whisper was too faint to be heard in the House of Black and White. “Child,” said the kindly man one day, “what are those names you whisper of a night?”

“我沒念什么名字×募牵”她說撒妈。

“I don’t whisper any names,” she said.

“你撒謊”，他說排监，“人們害怕時(shí)都會(huì)撒謊踩身。只不過有些人撒得多，有些人撒得少社露，更有些人只是在重復(fù)一個(gè)大謊言挟阻，直到自己也幾乎相信那是真的……但他們心中某個(gè)角落始終明白，謊言依舊是謊言，而這會(huì)在臉上表露出來附鸽。告訴我那些名字脱拼。”

“You lie,” he said. “All men lie when they are afraid. Some tell many lies, some but a few. Some have only one great lie they tell so often that they almost come to believe it … though some small part of them will always know that it is still a lie, and that will show upon their faces. Tell me of these names.”

她咬緊嘴唇坷备，“名字不重要熄浓。”

She chewed her lip. “The names don’t matter.”

“很重要省撑，”慈祥的人堅(jiān)持赌蔑，“告訴我，孩子竟秫⊥薰撸”

“They do,” the kindly man insisted. “Tell me, child.”

不說就把你趕出去，她聽得懂言下之意肥败≈呵常“我恨他們，我要他們死馒稍∶笊冢”

Tell me, or we will turn you out, she heard. “They’re people I hate. I want them to die.”

“在這棟房子里，有許多這樣的祈禱纽谒≈づ颍”

“We hear many such prayers in this House.”

“我知道」那”艾莉亞說椎例。賈昆·赫加爾曾給了她三個(gè)愿望。我只需湊在他耳邊低語……

“I know,” said Arya. Jaqen H’ghar had granted three of her prayers once. All I had to do was whisper …

“這就是你來我們這兒的原因请祖？”慈祥的人續(xù)道订歪，“來學(xué)習(xí)我們的技藝，好殺死這些你仇恨的人肆捕？”

“Is that why you have come to us?” the kindly man went on. “To learn our arts, so you may kill these men you hate?”

艾莉亞不知如何回答：“也許吧刷晋。”

Arya did not know how to answer that. “Maybe.”

“你找錯(cuò)了地方慎陵。生死并非你所能決定眼虱，只有千面之神才能恩賜。我們不過是他的仆人席纽，發(fā)誓代表他的意愿行事捏悬。”

“Then you have come to the wrong place. It is not for you to say who shall live and who shall die. That gift belongs to Him of Many Faces. We are but his servants, sworn to do his will.”

“噢润梯」溃”艾莉亞掃了一眼沿墻立著的雕像甥厦，蠟燭在它們腳邊閃爍】芏ぃ“他是哪一個(gè)神呀刀疙？”

“Oh.” Arya glanced at the statues that stood along the walls, candles glimmering round their feet. “Which god is he?”

“啊，所有的都是扫倡∏恚”穿黑白長袍的牧師道。

“Why, all of them,” said the priest in black and white.

他從沒把自己的名字告訴她撵溃，那流浪兒也沒有疚鲤。流浪兒眼睛大，臉頰凹陷缘挑，讓她想起另一個(gè)叫黃鼠狼的小女孩集歇。跟艾莉亞一樣，她也住在神廟里卖哎，廟中還有三個(gè)侍僧、兩個(gè)仆人和廚師烏瑪删性。烏瑪喜歡邊干活邊講話亏娜，但她說的艾莉亞一個(gè)字也聽不懂。其他人沒有名字蹬挺，或不愿公開姓名维贺。有一位仆人年紀(jì)太大炼邀，背駝得像把弓揖膜；另一位紅臉孔官边，耳朵里長出毛發(fā)川背。她原以為他倆是啞巴淡诗，直到聽見他們祈禱奴紧。侍僧們比較年輕懂牧，最大的跟她父親年齡相仿坤学，其他兩位比她姐姐珊莎大不了多少用押，他們也穿黑白長袍肢簿，卻沒有兜帽，而且左黑右白——跟慈祥的人和流浪兒正好相反蜻拨。他們拿仆人的衣服給艾莉亞穿：未經(jīng)染色的羊毛上衣池充，松垮的長褲，麻布內(nèi)衣缎讼，布拖鞋收夸。

He never told her his name. Neither did the waif, the little girl with the big eyes and hollow face who reminded her of another little girl, named Weasel. Like Arya, the waif lived below the temple, along with three acolytes, two serving men, and a cook called Umma. Umma liked to talk as she worked, but Arya could not understand a word she said. The others had no names, or did not choose to share them. One serving man was very old, his back bent like a bow. The second was red-faced, with hair growing from his ears. She took them both for mutes until she heard them praying. The acolytes were younger. The eldest was her father’s age; the other two could not have been much older than Sansa, who had been her sister. The acolytes wore black and white too, but their robes had no cowls, and were black on the left side and white on the right. With the kindly man and the waif, it was the opposite. Arya was given servant’s garb: a tunic of undyed wool, baggy breeches, linen smallclothes, cloth slippers for her feet.

只有慈祥的人懂得通用語⊙福“你是誰卧惜？”他每天都問她厘灼。

Only the kindly man knew the Common Tongue. “Who are you?” he would ask her every day.

“無名之輩⌒蛩眨”她回答手幢。她本是史塔克家族的艾莉亞，“搗蛋鬼”艾莉亞忱详，“馬臉”艾莉亞围来，后來，變成了阿利和黃鼠狼匈睁，乳鴿與阿鹽监透，侍酒娜娜，也曾是灰老鼠航唆、綿羊和赫倫堡的鬼魂……但在內(nèi)心深處胀蛮，這些都不是她的真名。在她心中糯钙，她始終是臨冬城的艾莉亞粪狼，艾德·史塔克公爵和凱特琳夫人的女兒，她的兄弟是羅柏任岸、布蘭和瑞肯再榄，她還有姐姐珊莎和冰原狼娜梅莉亞，還有同父異母的哥哥瓊恩·雪諾享潜。在她心中困鸥，她有名有姓……但那并非他想聽的答案。

“No one,” she would answer, she who had been Arya of House Stark, Arya Underfoot, Arya Horseface. She had been Arry and Weasel too, and Squab and Salty, Nan the cupbearer, a grey mouse, a sheep, the ghost of Harrenhal … but not for true, not in her heart of hearts. In there she was Arya of Winterfell, the daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn, who had once had brothers named Robb and Bran and Rickon, a sister named Sansa, a direwolf called Nymeria, a half brother named Jon Snow. In there she was someone … but that was not the answer that he wanted.

由于語言不通剑按，艾莉亞無法與其他人交流疾就，但她干活時(shí)注意聆聽他們講話，并私下重復(fù)聽到的詞語艺蝴。最年輕的侍僧是盲人猬腰，卻負(fù)責(zé)掌管蠟燭，每天穿著柔軟的拖鞋在神廟中走動(dòng)猜敢，前來祈禱的老婦人們在他身邊喃喃低語漆诽。即便眼睛看不見，他總能知道哪些蠟燭熄滅了哪些需要重新點(diǎn)燃锣枝∠崾茫“氣味引導(dǎo)著他，”慈祥的人解釋撇叁，“而且蠟燭燃燒的地方空氣比較溫暖供鸠。”他讓艾莉亞閉上眼睛自己體會(huì)陨闹。

Without a common language, Arya had no way of talking to the others. She listened to them, though, and repeated the words she heard to herself as she went about her work. Though the youngest acolyte was blind, he had charge of the candles. He would walk the temple in soft slippers, surrounded by the murmurings of the old women who came each day to pray. Even without eyes, he always knew which candles had gone out. “He has the scent to guide him,” the kindly man explained, “and the air is warmer where a candle burns.” He told Arya to close her eyes and try it for herself.

黎明時(shí)分楞捂，早飯之前薄坏，他們跪在平靜的黑水池邊祈禱。有些天由慈祥的人領(lǐng)頭寨闹，其余時(shí)候則由流浪兒領(lǐng)頭胶坠。艾莉亞只懂得一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)布拉佛斯語，那些跟高等瓦雷利亞語相同的詞匯繁堡，因此她向千面之神祈禱時(shí)念自己的禱詞沈善，也即“格雷果爵士，鄧森椭蹄，‘甜嘴’拉夫闻牡，伊林爵士，馬林爵士绳矩，瑟曦太后罩润。”她默默祈禱翼馆，心想假如千面之神才是真正靈驗(yàn)的神割以，他應(yīng)該會(huì)聽取她的。

They prayed at dawn before they broke their fast, kneeling around the still, black pool. Some days the kindly man led the prayer. Other days it was the waif. Arya only knew a few words of Braavosi, the ones that were the same in High Valyrian. So she prayed her own prayer to the Many-Faced God, the one that went, “Ser Gregor, Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei.” She prayed in silence. If the Many-Faced God was a proper god, he would hear her.

每天都有敬拜者來黑白之院应媚，其中大多數(shù)人獨(dú)行獨(dú)坐严沥，點(diǎn)燃祭壇上的蠟燭，在水池邊祈禱珍特，有時(shí)還會(huì)哭泣祝峻。有人用黑杯子舀水喝魔吐，然后去睡覺扎筒，更多人則不喝水。這里沒有儀式酬姆，沒有頌歌嗜桌，沒有神的贊美詩，也從不擁擠辞色。偶而骨宠，敬拜者會(huì)求見牧師，慈祥的人或流浪兒便帶他去下面的圣室相满，但那并不多見层亿。

Worshipers came to the House of Black and White every day. Most came alone and sat alone; they lit candles at one altar or another, prayed beside the pool, and sometimes wept. A few drank from the black cup and went to sleep; more did not drink. There were no services, no songs, no paeans of praise to please the god. The temple was never full. From time to time, a worshiper would ask to see a priest, and the kindly man or the waif would take him down into the sanctum, but that did not happen often.

三十尊不同的神像沿墻站立，被點(diǎn)點(diǎn)燭光環(huán)繞立美。艾莉亞發(fā)現(xiàn)“泣婦”是老婦人的最愛匿又，而富翁偏愛“夜獅”，窮人崇拜“兜帽行者”建蹄，士兵會(huì)在“巴卡隆”碌更，也即“蒼白圣童”的祭壇前點(diǎn)燃蠟燭裕偿，水手的對象是“淡月處女”和“人魚王”。她還驚奇地看見了陌客的祭壇痛单，雖然幾乎沒人去那里嘿棘。大多時(shí)候，只有一支蠟燭在陌客腳邊閃爍旭绒。慈祥的人說這沒關(guān)系鸟妙，“他有許多張臉孔，有許多聆聽的耳朵快压≡沧校”

Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King. The Stranger had his shrine as well, though hardly anyone ever came to him. Most of the time only a single candle stood flickering at his feet. The kindly man said it did not matter. “He has many faces, and many ears to hear.”

神廟所在的小山丘內(nèi)部開鑿了無數(shù)隧道。牧師和侍僧的臥室在第一層蔫劣，艾莉亞和仆人睡第二層坪郭。最底下一層除了牧師，其他人禁止入內(nèi)脉幢，那是圣室所在歪沃。

The knoll on which the temple stood was honeycombed with passageways hewn from the rock. The priests and acolytes had their sleeping cells on the first level, Arya and the servants on the second. The lowest level was forbidden to all save the priests. That was where the holy sanctum lay.

每當(dāng)她不干活時(shí)，便可以隨意在地窖和庫房間走動(dòng)嫌松，只要不離開神廟或下去第三層沪曙。她找到一間滿是武器防具的屋子：釉彩頭盔、奇特而古老的胸甲萎羔、長劍液走、匕首、小刀贾陷，還有十字弓和鑲嵌葉形尖頭的長矛缘眶。另一間地窖塞滿了衣服，包括厚厚的裘皮髓废，五顏六色的艷麗絲綢巷懈，邊上卻堆著臭烘烘的破爛袍子和脫線的粗布衫。一定有藏寶室慌洪，艾莉亞斷定顶燕。她想象著一疊疊金盤子，一袋袋銀幣冈爹，海一般的藍(lán)寶石涌攻，綠色大珍珠串成繩子。

When she was not working, Arya was free to wander as she would amongst the vaults and storerooms, so long as she did not leave the temple, nor descend to the third cellar. She found a room full of weapons and armor: ornate helms and curious old breastplates, longswords, daggers, and dirks, crossbows and tall spears with leaf-shaped heads. Another vault was crammed with clothing, thick furs and splendid silks in half a hundred colors, next to piles of foul-smelling rags and threadbare roughspuns. There must be treasure chambers too, Arya decided. She pictured stacks of golden plates, bags of silver coins, sapphires blue as the sea, ropes of fat green pearls.

某天频伤，慈祥的人出乎意料地出現(xiàn)在她面前恳谎，問她在干什么。她說自己迷路了剂买。

One day the kindly man came on her unexpectedly and asked what she was doing. She told him that she had gotten lost.

“你撒謊惠爽。更糟的是癌蓖，你撒謊的水平很差。你是誰婚肆？”

“You lie. Worse, you lie poorly. Who are you?”

“無名之輩租副。”

“No one.”

“又一個(gè)謊言较性∮蒙”他嘆口氣。

“Another lie.” He sighed.

威斯如果逮到她說謊赞咙，就會(huì)狠狠揍她责循，但黑白之院中的規(guī)矩不同。她幫廚時(shí)若是礙手礙腳攀操，烏瑪會(huì)拿勺子敲她院仿，除此之外，其他人從不動(dòng)手速和。他們只殺人歹垫，她心想。

Weese would have beaten her bloody if he had caught her in a lie, but it was different in the House of Black and White. When she was helping in the kitchen, Umma would sometimes smack her with her spoon if she got in the way, but no one else ever raised a hand to her. They only raise their hands to kill, she thought.

總的來說颠放，她跟廚師關(guān)系不錯(cuò)排惨。烏瑪將小刀塞入她手中，然后指指洋蔥碰凶，艾莉亞就會(huì)去切暮芭；烏瑪把她推到生面團(tuán)跟前，艾莉亞就開始揉欲低，直到廚師叫停（“驮辏”是她在神廟里學(xué)會(huì)的第一個(gè)布拉佛斯詞匯）；烏瑪交給她魚伸头，艾莉亞就剔骨切片匾效，并將廚師碾碎的干果卷在里面舷蟀。布拉佛斯周圍的魚類和貝殼海腥味太重恤磷，慈祥的人不喜歡，但有一條棕色和緩的河流從南面注入大礁湖野宜，途中蜿蜒穿越一大片蘆葦扫步、潮水坑、泥沼和淺灘匈子，那里所產(chǎn)的大量蛤蜊扇貝河胎，包括蚌殼、麝香魚虎敦、青蛙游岳、烏龜政敢、泥蟹、花蟹胚迫、攀緣蟹喷户、紅鰻、黑鰻访锻、條紋鰻褪尝，七鰓鰻和牡蠣等等，全是千面之神的仆人們就餐的雕花木桌上經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的食物期犬。有些晚上河哑，烏瑪用海鹽和碎胡椒子燒魚，或用蒜末煮鰻龟虎，偶爾甚至?xí)右稽c(diǎn)藏紅花璃谨。熱派會(huì)喜歡上這里的，艾莉亞心想鲤妥。

She got along well enough with the cook. Umma would slap a knife into her hand and point at an onion, and Arya would chop it. Umma would shove her toward a mound of dough, and Arya would knead it until the cook said stop (stop was the first Braavosi word she learned). Umma would hand her a fish, and Arya would bone it and fillet it and roll it in the nuts the cook was crushing. The brackish waters that surrounded Braavos teemed with fish and shellfish of every sort, the kindly man explained. A slow brown river entered the lagoon from the south, wandering through a wide expanse of reeds, tidal pools, and mudflats. Clams and cockles abounded hereabouts; mussels and muskfish, frogs and turtles, mud crabs and leopard crabs and climber crabs, red eels, black eels, striped eels, lampreys, and oysters; all made frequent appearances on the carved wooden table where the servants of the Many-Faced God took their meals. Some nights Umma spiced the fish with sea salt and cracked peppercorns, or cooked the eels with chopped garlic. Once in a great while the cook would even use some saffron. Hot Pie would have liked it here, Arya thought.

她喜歡晚餐時(shí)間睬罗，因?yàn)橹盁o窮歲月里似乎都是餓著肚子入睡的。有些晚上旭斥，慈祥的人允許她問問題容达。某回，她問他垂券，為什么來神廟里的人總顯得如此平靜花盐，而她家鄉(xiāng)的人卻貪生怕死。她記得將匕首插入疙瘩臉的侍從肚子時(shí)菇爪，他如何哭泣算芯；她記得“山羊”把亞摩利·洛奇爵士扔進(jìn)熊坑時(shí)，他如何乞求凳宙；她記得神眼湖邊熙揍，每當(dāng)“記事本”開始詢問金子的去向，村民們?nèi)绾梧秽还纸惺仙耗螨R流届囚。

Supper was her favorite time. It had been a long while since Arya had gone to sleep every night with a full belly. Some nights the kindly man would allow her to ask him questions. Once she asked him why the people who came to the temple always seemed so peaceful; back home, people were scared to die. She remembered how that pimply squire had wept when she stabbed him in the belly, and the way Ser Amory Lorch had begged when the Goat had him thrown in the bear pit. She remembered the village by the God’s Eye, and the way the villagers shrieked and screamed and whimpered whenever the Tickler started asking after gold.

“從某種意義上說，死亡不是壞事是尖，”慈祥的人回答意系，“它是神恩賜的禮物，以終止我們的渴望饺汹，同時(shí)也終結(jié)痛苦蛔添。每個(gè)人出生那天，千面之神都會(huì)派來一位黑天使，在我們身邊終生相伴迎瞧。當(dāng)我們的罪孽變得太過深重夸溶，當(dāng)我們的苦難變得難以承受，這位天使便會(huì)牽起我們的手凶硅，帶領(lǐng)我們前往黑夜之地蜘醋，那里的星星永遠(yuǎn)明亮閃耀。用黑杯子喝水的人正是來尋找他們的天使咏尝，蠟燭使他們平靜压语。說說，當(dāng)你聞到我們的蠟燭時(shí)编检，想了些什么胎食，孩子？”

“Death is not the worst thing,” the kindly man replied. “It is His gift to us, an end to want and pain. On the day that we are born the Many-Faced God sends each of us a dark angel to walk through life beside us. When our sins and our sufferings grow too great to be borne, the angel takes us by the hand to lead us to the nightlands, where the stars burn ever bright. Those who come to drink from the black cup are looking for their angels. If they are afraid, the candles soothe them. When you smell our candles burning, what does it make you think of, my child?”

臨冬城允懂，她差點(diǎn)說出口厕怜，我聞到雪、松針和熱騰騰的肉湯蕾总。我聞到馬廄粥航。我聞到阿多的笑聲，聞到瓊恩和羅柏在院子里打斗生百，聞到珊莎在唱歌递雀，歌唱某位美麗的笨蛋淑女。我聞到坐著無數(shù)國王石像的墓窖蚀浆，我聞到熱乎乎的烤面包缀程，我聞到神木林。我聞到我的狼市俊，聞到她的毛皮杨凑，仿佛她仍在我身邊“诿粒“我什么也沒聞到撩满。”她想聽聽他的評論绅你。

Winterfell, she might have said. I smell snow and smoke and pine needles. I smell the stables. I smell Hodor laughing, and Jon and Robb battling in the yard, and Sansa singing about some stupid lady fair. I smell the crypts where the stone kings sit, I smell hot bread baking, I smell the godswood. I smell my wolf, I smell her fur, almost as if she were still beside me. “I don’t smell anything,” she said, to see what he would say.

“你撒謊伺帘，”他說，“但只要你愿意勇吊，你可以保留自己的秘密曼追，史塔克家族的艾莉亞窍仰『汗妫”只有當(dāng)艾莉亞惹他不高興時(shí)，他才會(huì)如此稱呼她≌胧罚“你也可以離開此地晶伦。你不是我們的一員，現(xiàn)在還不是啄枕。你任何時(shí)候都可以回家婚陪。”

“You lie,” he said, “but you may keep your secrets if you wish, Arya of House Stark.” He only called her that when she displeased him. “You know that you may leave this place. You are not one of us, not yet. You may go home anytime you wish.”

“你告訴我频祝，假如離開泌参，就不能再回來〕？眨”

“You told me that if I left, I couldn’t come back.”

“就是這樣沽一。”

“Just so.”

這句回答讓她很傷感漓糙。這是西里歐的口頭禪铣缠，艾莉亞記得，“就是這樣”昆禽。西里歐·佛瑞爾不僅教她使用縫衣針蝗蛙，還為她而死∽肀睿“我不想離開捡硅。”

Those words made her sad. Syrio used to say that too, Arya remembered. He said it all the time. Syrio Forel had taught her needlework and died for her. “I don’t want to leave.”

“那就留下吧……但是請記得盗棵，別把黑白之院當(dāng)孤兒收容所病曾。在這座神廟的屋檐下，所有人的職責(zé)都是侍奉漾根，明白嗎泰涂？Valar dohaeris。我們要求你服從辐怕，任何時(shí)間逼蒙，任何事情，都必須服從寄疏。如果做不到是牢，就請離開∩陆兀”

“Then stay … but remember, the House of Black and White is not a home for orphans. All men must serve beneath this roof. Valar dohaeris is how we say it here. Remain if you will, but know that we shall require your obedience. At all times and in all things. If you cannot obey, you must depart.”

“我會(huì)服從的驳棱。”

“I can obey.”

“我們走著瞧农曲∩缃粒”

“We shall see.”

除了幫烏瑪驻债，她也被分配別的任務(wù)：打掃地板，端菜倒酒形葬，整理一摞摞死人的衣衫合呐，倒空他們的錢袋，清點(diǎn)古怪的硬幣等等笙以。每天早晨淌实，她都走在慈祥的人身邊，在神廟中巡視，尋找死者逻炊。靜如影，她告訴自己，一邊想起了西里歐。她提著一盞有厚厚鐵隔板的燈籠伸刃，每到一個(gè)空穴碉哑，她都會(huì)將隔板掀開一條縫激捏，借助光亮尋找死尸序六。

She had other tasks besides helping Umma. She swept the temple floors; she served and poured at meals; she sorted piles of dead men’s clothing, emptied their purses, and counted out stacks of queer coins. Every morning she walked beside the kindly man as he made his circuit of the temple to find the dead. Silent as a shadow, she would tell herself, remembering Syrio. She carried a lantern with thick iron shutters. At each alcove, she would open the shutter a crack, to look for corpses.

死者很多繁涂。他們來黑白之院祈禱矿酵，或者一小時(shí)，或者一天棘捣，或者一年倔矾，喝下池子里甜甜的黑水，然后平躺在某個(gè)神像背后的石床上柱锹，閉上眼睛睡覺哪自，再也不會(huì)醒來〗“千面之神的恩賜有無數(shù)形式壤巷，”慈祥的人告訴她，“但在這里瞧毙，總是最溫和最仁慈的方式胧华〖闹ⅲ”每當(dāng)找到尸體，他會(huì)先說一句禱詞矩动，確認(rèn)生命已經(jīng)消逝后有巧，派艾莉亞去叫仆人，他們的任務(wù)則是將尸體抬到下面的地窖悲没。侍僧將在那里脫下死尸的衣服篮迎，并把尸體清洗干凈。死者的衣服示姿、錢幣及貴重物品放進(jìn)箱子甜橱，準(zhǔn)備分類，冰冷的血肉則被帶到更下面的圣室中栈戳，只有牧師能進(jìn)去岂傲，艾莉亞不清楚那里面會(huì)發(fā)生些什么。某次吃晚餐時(shí)子檀，一個(gè)可怕的念頭忽然進(jìn)入她腦海镊掖，她連忙放下刀子，懷疑地瞪著一塊蒼白的肉褂痰。慈祥的人察覺到她臉上的驚恐亩进。“是豬肉脐恩，孩子镐侯，”他說，“豬肉而已驶冒」斗”

The dead were never hard to find. They came to the House of Black and White, prayed for an hour or a day or a year, drank sweet dark water from the pool, and stretched out on a stone bed behind one god or another. They closed their eyes, and slept, and never woke. “The gift of the Many-Faced God takes myriad forms,” the kindly man told her, “but here it is always gentle.” When they found a body he would say a prayer and make certain life had fled, and Arya would fetch the serving men, whose task it was to carry the dead down to the vaults. There acolytes would strip and wash the bodies. The dead men’s clothes and coins and valuables went into a bin for sorting. Their cold flesh would be taken to the lower sanctum where only the priests could go; what happened in there Arya was not allowed to know. Once, as she was eating her supper, a terrible suspicion seized hold of her, and she put down her knife and stared suspiciously at a slice of pale white meat. The kindly man saw the horror on her face. “It is pork, child,” he told her, “only pork.”

她睡的也是石床，這讓她想起在赫倫堡威斯手下擦洗階梯時(shí)睡的那張床骗污，不過這張床塞的是破布崇猫，不是稻草，跟赫倫堡的比起來不太平整需忿，卻也少了刺人的煩惱诅炉。此外，她想要多少被單都行：厚厚的羊毛毯屋厘，紅色涕烧、綠色，花格子汗洒，而且房間只屬于她一人议纯。她將自己的物品掏出來整理：泰坦之女號(hào)上的水手們給的銀叉、軟帽和無指手套溢谤，她的匕首瞻凤、靴子憨攒、皮帶，賣馬以來一路存下的少許錢財(cái)阀参，穿的衣服……

Her bed was stone, and reminded her of Harrenhal and the bed she’d slept in when scrubbing steps for Weese. The mattress was stuffed with rags instead of straw, which made it lumpier than the one she’d had at Harrenhal, but less scratchy too. She was allowed as many blankets as she wished; thick woolen blankets, red and green and plaid. And her cell was hers alone. She kept her treasures there: the silver fork and floppy hat and fingerless gloves given her by the sailors on the Titan’s Daughter, her dagger, boots, and belt, her small store of coins, the clothes she had been wearing …

還有縫衣針肝集。

And Needle.

盡管工作繁忙，她仍盡量抽出時(shí)間練習(xí)縫衣針蛛壳，就著一根青燭的光亮與自己的影子打斗杏瞻。某天晚上，流浪兒碰巧經(jīng)過炕吸，看到艾莉亞在舞劍伐憾，一個(gè)字也沒說勉痴，然而第二天赫模，慈祥的人便來到艾莉亞的房間≌裘“統(tǒng)統(tǒng)處理掉瀑罗。”他指著她的物品說雏掠。

Though her duties left her little time for needlework, she practiced when she could, dueling with her shadow by the light of a blue candle. One night the waif happened to be passing and saw Arya at her swordplay. The girl did not say a word, but the next day, the kindly man walked Arya back to her cell. “You need to rid yourself of all this,” he said of her treasures.

艾莉亞深受打擊斩祭，“它們是我的∠缁埃”

Arya felt stricken. “They’re mine.”

“那你是誰摧玫？”

“And who are you?”

“無名之輩“笄啵”

“No one.”

他拿起她的銀叉诬像。“這個(gè)屬于史塔克家族的艾莉亞闸婴。所有這些都屬于她坏挠。這里沒有它們的位置，沒有她的位置邪乍。她的名字太驕傲降狠，而我們?nèi)莶幌买湴痢Ｎ覀兊穆氊?zé)是侍奉庇楞“衽洌”

He picked up her silver fork. “This belongs to Arya of House Stark. All these things belong to her. There is no place for them here. There is no place for her. Hers is too proud a name, and we have no room for pride. We are servants here.”

“我愿意侍奉÷郎危”她感覺受了傷害蛋褥。她挺喜歡那把銀叉。

“I serve,” she said, wounded. She liked the silver fork.

“你裝作侍奉聂使，內(nèi)心仍是領(lǐng)主之女壁拉。你用過許多名字谬俄，猶如輕飄飄換上幾件長袍，但那長袍底下始終是艾莉亞弃理±Ｂ郏”

“You play at being a servant, but in your heart you are a lord’s daughter. You have taken other names, but you wore them as lightly as you might wear a gown. Under them was always Arya.”

“我不穿長袍。穿著笨長袍沒法戰(zhàn)斗痘昌≡垦”

“I don’t wear gowns. You can’t fight in a stupid gown.”

“為什么你要戰(zhàn)斗？你羨慕那些招搖過市辆苔、渴望鮮血的刺客算灸？”他嘆口氣∽て。“啜飲冷杯之前菲驴，你必須將一切都奉獻(xiàn)給千面之神。你的身體骑冗。你的靈魂赊瞬。你自己。要是無法做到贼涩，就必須離開此地巧涧。”

“Why would you wish to fight? Are you some bravo, strutting through the alleys, spoiling for blood?” He sighed. “Before you drink from the cold cup, you must offer up all you are to Him of Many Faces. Your body. Your soul. Yourself. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, you must leave this place.”

“那枚鐵幣——”

“The iron coin—”

“——支付了你來此的旅資遥倦。從此往后谤绳，你必須自己付賬，而且代價(jià)不菲袒哥∷跎福”

“—has paid your passage here. From this point you must pay your own way, and the cost is dear.”

“我沒金子⊥撑担”

“I don’t have any gold.”

“我們提供的東西無法用金錢買到歪脏。代價(jià)是你的一切。世上的凡人粮呢，一生中經(jīng)由不同路徑穿越淚水與痛苦的峽谷婿失，而我們選擇的道路最為艱辛，只有極少數(shù)人能做到啄寡。它需要非凡的體力與精神豪硅，需要一顆堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的心⊥ξ铮”

“What we offer cannot be bought with gold. The cost is all of you. Men take many paths through this vale of tears and pain. Ours is the hardest. Few are made to walk it. It takes uncommon strength of body and spirit, and a heart both hard and strong.”

我的心之所在是個(gè)空洞懒浮，她心想，而且我無處可去⊙庵“我很強(qiáng)壯次伶。跟你一樣強(qiáng)壯。我也夠堅(jiān)強(qiáng)稽穆」谕酰”

I have a hole where my heart should be, she thought, and nowhere else to go. “I’m strong. As strong as you. I’m hard.”

“你相信這是唯一的去處∩嘞猓”他仿佛聽到她的想法柱彻，“你錯(cuò)了。你可以在商賈人家找到輕松的職位餐胀；或者哟楷，你希望成為交際花，讓人們歌頌?zāi)愕拿利悊岱裨郑恐恍枵f出來卖擅，我們就送你去找黑珍珠或幽暗之女。從此坟冲，你將睡在玫瑰花瓣上磨镶，走路時(shí)絲裙婆娑溃蔫，老爺貴人們會(huì)為你的處女之血而低聲下氣健提；再或，若你想結(jié)婚生子伟叛，我們會(huì)為你找個(gè)丈夫私痹。誠實(shí)可靠的小學(xué)徒，富裕的老人统刮，海員紊遵，不管你要什么樣的都行〗拿桑”

“You believe this is the only place for you.” It was as if he’d heard her thoughts. “You are wrong in that. You would find softer service in the household of some merchant. Or would you sooner be a courtesan, and have songs sung of your beauty? Speak the word, and we will send you to the Black Pearl or the Daughter of the Dusk. You will sleep on rose petals and wear silken skirts that rustle when you walk, and great lords will beggar themselves for your maiden’s blood. Or if it is marriage and children you desire, tell me, and we shall find a husband for you. Some honest apprentice boy, a rich old man, a seafarer, whatever you desire.”

這些她都不想要暗膜，于是默默搖頭。

She wanted none of that. Wordless, she shook her head.

“你不是夢想著維斯特洛嗎鞭衩，孩子学搜？盧科·普萊斯坦的‘光明女士號(hào)’明日起程，將依次吐垩埽靠海鷗鎮(zhèn)瑞佩、暮谷城、君臨和泰洛西坯台。我們可以設(shè)法讓你搭乘炬丸。”

“Is it Westeros you dream of, child? Luco Prestayn’s Lady Bright leaves upon the morrow, for Gulltown, Duskendale, King’s Landing, and Tyrosh. Shall we find you passage on her?”

“我才剛從維斯特洛過來呢蜒蕾〕砭妫”有時(shí)候焕阿，逃離君臨似乎是一千年前的往事，而有時(shí)候首启，卻猶如發(fā)生于昨天捣鲸，世態(tài)炎涼歷歷在目。她知道自己回不了家闽坡≡曰蹋“你不要我，我就走疾嗅，但我不回去外厂。”

“I only just came from Westeros.” Sometimes it seemed a thousand years since she had fled King’s Landing, and sometimes it seemed like only yesterday, but she knew she could not go back. “I’ll go if you don’t want me, but I won’t go there.”

“我要不要你并沒有什么關(guān)系代承，”慈祥的人道汁蝶，“也許是千面之神指引你來的，但我眼中的你只是一個(gè)小孩……更糟糕的是论悴，你還是一個(gè)小女孩掖棉。千百年來，許多人侍奉過千面之神膀估，但他的仆人中很少有女性幔亥。這難怪。女人將生命帶來世間察纯。我們賜予的則是死亡帕棉。無人可以兩者兼顧”牵”

“My wants do not matter,” said the kindly man. “It may be that the Many-Faced God has led you here to be His instrument, but when I look at you I see a child … and worse, a girl child. Many have served Him of Many Faces through the centuries, but only a few of His servants have been women. Women bring life into the world. We bring the gift of death. No one can do both.”

他想嚇唬我香伴，艾莉亞心想，就像上次用尸蟲一樣具则〖锤伲“這些我不擔(dān)心〔├撸”

He is trying to scare me away, Arya thought, the way he did with the worm. “I don’t care about that.”

“你應(yīng)該要擔(dān)心低斋。若留下來，千面之神將會(huì)占有你的耳朵束昵、你的鼻子拔稳、你的舌頭和你悲傷的灰眼晴，那雙見識(shí)過世態(tài)炎涼的眼睛锹雏；他也將占有你的手巴比，你的腳，你的胳膊，你的腿轻绞，你的私處采记，你的希望和夢想，你的愛與恨政勃。侍奉他的人首先必須放棄自我唧龄。你能做到嗎？”他捧起她的下巴奸远，注視進(jìn)她的眼睛既棺，眼神如此深邃，令她打了個(gè)冷戰(zhàn)懒叛⊥杳幔“不，”他說薛窥，“我想你做不到胖烛。”

“You should. Stay, and the Many-Faced God will take your ears, your nose, your tongue. He will take your sad grey eyes that have seen so much. He will take your hands, your feet, your arms and legs, your private parts. He will take your hopes and dreams, your loves and hates. Those who enter His service must give up all that makes them who they are. Can you do that?” He cupped her chin and gazed deep into her eyes, so deep it made her shiver. “No,” he said, “I do not think you can.”

艾莉亞推開他的手，“我只要愿意就能做到！”

Arya knocked his hand away. “I could if I wanted to.”

“吃蟲子的女孩附帽，史塔克家族的艾莉亞如是說√宋罚”

“So says Arya of House Stark, eater of grave worms.”

“我可以放棄一切！”

“I can give up anything I want!”

他朝她的物品比畫了一下屑那，“那么拱镐，就從這些開始〕旨剩”

He gestured at her treasures. “Then start with these.”

當(dāng)晚晚餐過后，艾莉亞回到房間哗咆，脫下長袍蜘欲，輕聲念叨那串名字，睡眠卻拒絕降臨晌柬。她在塞滿破布的床上輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)姥份，咬緊嘴唇，感覺到本該是心之所在的那個(gè)空洞年碘。

That night after supper, Arya went back to her cell and took off her robe and whispered her names, but sleep refused to take her. She tossed on her mattress stuffed with rags, gnawing on her lip. She could feel the hole inside her where her heart had been.

于是她在漆黑的半夜起身澈歉，披上從維斯特洛穿來的衣服，扣好劍帶屿衅“Ｄ眩縫衣針懸在一側(cè)，匕首插在另一側(cè)。她頭戴軟帽涡尘，無指手套塞進(jìn)劍帶忍弛，手握銀叉，小心翼翼地爬上樓梯考抄。這里不是史塔克家族的艾莉亞容身之處细疚，她心想。艾莉亞的家在臨冬城川梅，但臨冬城早已不復(fù)存在疯兼。當(dāng)大雪降下，冷風(fēng)吹起贫途，獨(dú)行狼死镇防，群聚狼生。然而她沒有了狼群潮饱，他們都被殺掉了来氧，被伊林爵士、馬林爵士和太后這些壞人香拉，后來啦扬，她試圖尋找新的狼群，結(jié)果那些人統(tǒng)統(tǒng)離開了她凫碌，熱派扑毡，詹德利，尤倫盛险，“綠手”羅米瞄摊，甚至父親的舊部哈爾溫。她推開門苦掘，步入黑夜换帜。

In the black of night she rose again, donned the clothes she’d worn from Westeros, and buckled on her swordbelt. Needle hung from one hip, her dagger from the other. With her floppy hat on her head, her fingerless gloves tucked into her belt, and her silver fork in one hand, she went stealing up the steps. There is no place here for Arya of House Stark, she was thinking. Arya’s place was Winterfell, only Winterfell was gone. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. She had no pack, though. They had killed her pack, Ser Ilyn and Ser Meryn and the queen, and when she tried to make a new one all of them ran off, Hot Pie and Gendry and Yoren and Lommy Greenhands, even Harwin, who had been her father’s man. She shoved through the doors, out into the night.

自來到神廟以來，這是她第一次出門鹤啡。天色陰霾惯驼，迷霧籠罩，仿佛破舊的灰毯子递瑰。右邊水道中傳來劃槳聲祟牲。布拉佛斯，秘之城抖部，她心想说贝，名字取得很恰當(dāng)。她靜悄悄地走下陡峭的階梯慎颗，來到帶頂篷的碼頭乡恕，霧氣在腳下盤旋言询，濃得看不清水面，只聽見水波輕輕拍打石樁几颜。一點(diǎn)亮光在遠(yuǎn)處的黑暗中閃耀倍试，那是紅袍僧神廟中的夜火。

It was the first time she had been outside since entering the temple. The sky was overcast, and fog covered the ground like a frayed grey blanket. Off to her right she heard paddling from the canal. Braavos, the Secret City, she thought. The name seemed very apt. She crept down the steep steps to the covered dock, the mists swirling round her feet. It was so foggy she could not see the water, but she heard it lapping softly at stone pilings. In the distance, a light glowed through the gloom: the nightfire at the temple of the red priests, she thought.

她在水邊停下蛋哭，手握銀叉县习。它是貨真價(jià)實(shí)的純銀制品。這并非我的叉子谆趾，是水手給阿鹽的躁愿。她將叉子輕輕丟出去，聽見它“撲通”一聲沉入水底沪蓬。

At the water’s edge she stopped, the silver fork in hand. It was real silver, solid through and through. It’s not my fork. It was Salty that he gave it to. She tossed it underhand, heard the soft plop as it sank below the water.

接著是軟帽和手套彤钟，它們也屬于阿鹽。她將錢袋在掌心里倒空：五枚銀鹿跷叉，九枚銅星逸雹，還有一些零零碎碎的散錢。她把它們統(tǒng)統(tǒng)撒入水中云挟。然后是那雙靴子梆砸，它們發(fā)出的濺水聲最響。接著是匕首园欣，這是她從一個(gè)弓箭手身上得來的帖世，他曾乞求獵狗給予慈悲。劍帶也進(jìn)了水道沸枯。斗篷日矫、上衣、馬褲绑榴，內(nèi)衣哪轿，所有的一切。除了縫衣針彭沼。

Her floppy hat went next, then the gloves. They were Salty’s too. She emptied her pouch into her palm; five silver stags, nine copper stars, some pennies and halfpennies and groats. She scattered them across the water. Next her boots. They made the loudest splashes. Her dagger followed, the one she’d gotten off the archer who had begged the Hound for mercy. Her swordbelt went into the canal. Her cloak, tunic, breeches, smallclothes, all of it. All but Needle.