The others followed him out, all but the woman Dalla.
大家跟着他离开,除了女人妲娜。
“Sit, if you like,” Rayder said when they were gone.
“随便坐。”等人们离开后雷德说,
“Are you hungry? Tormund left us two birds at least.”
“饿吗?托蒙德还留了两只鸟。”
“I would be pleased to eat, Your Grace. And thank you.”
“我很荣幸能吃您的东西,陛下,谢谢您。”
“Your Grace?”
“陛下?”
The king smiled.
国王笑了,
“That’s not a style one often hears from the lips of free folk.
“没人能从自由民嘴里听到这个头衔。
I’m Mance to most, The Mance to some.
他们多半直接叫我曼斯,少数人称我为曼斯头领。
Will you take a horn of mead?”
来角蜜酒?”
“Gladly,” said Jon.
“乐意之至。”琼恩说。
The king poured himself as Dalla cut the well-crisped hens apart and brought them each a half.
妲娜切割着烤脆的小鸡,给了他俩一人一半,国王则豪饮蜜酒。
Jon peeled off his gloves and ate with his fingers, sucking every morsel of meat off the bones.
琼恩摘下手套,用手指帮助进食,他饿得厉害,吮吸着骨头上每片肉丁。
“Tormund spoke truly,” said Mance Rayder as he ripped apart a loaf of bread.
“托蒙德说得没错,”曼斯·雷德边撕面包边讲,
“The black crow is a tricksy bird, that’s so … but I was a crow when you were no bigger than the babe in Dalla’s belly, Jon Snow.
“黑乌鸦确实是种诡计多端的鸟儿……而我在你出生之前就是乌鸦了,琼恩·雪诺,
So take care not to play tricksy with me.”
所以当心哟,千万别对我耍花招。”
“As you say, Your—Mance.”
“如您所说,陛——曼斯。”
The king laughed.
国王忍俊不禁,
“Your Mance! Why not?
“曼斯陛下!有何不可?
I promised you a tale before, of how I knew you.
好啦,我答应要讲故事,讲讲我为什么认识你。
Have you puzzled it out yet?”
你想明白了吗?”
Jon shook his head.
琼恩摇摇头,
“Did Rattleshirt send word ahead?”
“叮当衫预先通报过?”
“By wing? We have no trained ravens.
“用鸟?我们没有训练有素的乌鸦。
No, I knew your face. I’ve seen it before. Twice.”
不,我记得你的脸,因为以前见过。见过两次。”
It made no sense at first, but as Jon turned it over in his mind, dawn broke.
这没道理。琼恩使劲想想,终于弄明白了。
“When you were a brother of the Watch …”
“当您还是守夜人的兄弟时……”
“Very good! Yes, that was the first time.
“非常正确!是的,那是第一次。
You were just a boy, and I was all in black,
当年的你还是个小孩,我则全身黑衣,
one of a dozen riding escort to old Lord Commander Qorgyle when he came down to see your father at Winterfell.
作为前任司令官科格尔的十二名护卫之一,护送他前来临冬城拜访你父亲。
I was walking the wall around the yard when I came on you and your brother Robb.
我在庭院周围的内城墙上漫步,撞见你和你哥哥罗柏。
It had snowed the night before, and the two of you had built a great mountain above the gate and were waiting for someone likely to pass underneath.”
前天夜里下过雪,你俩个在城门上堆了一大堆,等着某个倒霉鬼从下面经过。”
“I remember,” said Jon with a startled laugh.
“我记起来了!”琼恩带着惊讶的笑容说。
A young black brother on the wallwalk, yes …
一个在城墙上漫步的年轻黑衣兄弟,是的……
“You swore not to tell.”
“你发誓不会暴露我们的。”
“And kept my vow. That one, at least.”
“而我守住了誓言。至少,守住了这个。”
“We dumped the snow on Fat Tom.
“我们把雪倒在胖汤姆头上,
He was Father’s slowest guardsman.”
他是我父亲手下最迟钝的侍卫。”
Tom had chased them around the yard afterward, until all three were red as autumn apples.
后来他俩被汤姆追得满院子跑,直到三人的脸颊都变得像熟透的苹果一般红。
“But you said you saw me twice.
“可你说见过我两次,
When was the other time?”
另一次是什么时候呢?”
“When King Robert came to Winterfell to make your father Hand,”
“当劳勃国王前来临冬城任命你父亲为御前首相的时候,”
the King-beyond-the-Wall said lightly.
塞外之王轻声道。
Jon’s eyes widened in disbelief.
琼恩的眼睛由于难以置信而瞪得老大,
“That can’t be so.”
“那怎么可能?”
“It was.
“那是事实。
When your father learned the king was coming, he sent word to his brother Benjen on the Wall, so he might come down for the feast.
你父亲知道国王已在途中后,便给长城上的弟弟班扬写信,让他赶来参加宴会。
There is more commerce between the black brothers and the free folk than you know, and soon enough word came to my ears as well.
黑衣兄弟和自由民之间的交易来往比你所了解的要深得多,所以消息很快也传到了我耳中。
It was too choice a chance to resist.
这个诱惑我无法抗拒。
Your uncle did not know me by sight, so I had no fear from that quarter,
你叔叔没见过我,所以我不担心他,
and I did not think your father was like to remember a young crow he’d met briefly years before.
我也不认为你父亲会记得多年以前匆匆飞过的一只小乌鸦。
I wanted to see this Robert with my own eyes, king to king, and get the measure of your uncle Benjen as well.
我打算亲眼看看劳勃,国王对国王,同时也想多了解一下你叔叔班扬。
He was First Ranger by then, and the bane of all my people.
那时他是首席游骑兵,是我子民的灾星。
So I saddled my fleetest horse, and rode.”
所以我骑上最快的马,说走就走。”
“But,” Jon objected, “the Wall …”
“可是,”琼恩提出异议,“长城……”
“The Wall can stop an army, but not a man alone.
“长城能够阻止军队,却不能挡住独身的汉子。
I took a lute and a bag of silver, scaled the ice near Long Barrow, walked a few leagues south of the New Gift, and bought a horse.
我带上琵琶和一包银鹿,在长车楼附近攀过冰墙,越过新赠地,再南行数里格后买马。
All in all I made much better time than Robert, who was traveling with a ponderous great wheelhouse to keep his queen in comfort.
我日夜兼程,而劳勃带着沉重的大轮宫以便他的王后能舒服地旅行,