冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第346期:第二十二章 琼恩(8)

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　　The black brothers set new recruits to many different tasks, to learn where their skills lay.  黑衫弟兄交给新兵们各种不同的差事，以判断他们适合的职业。

　　Jon cherished the rare afternoons when he was sent out with Ghost ranging at his side to bring back game for the Lord Commander's table,  偶尔琼恩会奉命带着白灵出外打猎，为总司令的晚餐加菜，他非常珍惜这种机会。

　　but for every day spent hunting, he gave a dozen to Donal Noye in the armory¹, spinning the whetstone while the one-armed smith sharpened axes grown dull from use,  只可惜这种机会实在少之又少，他得用十几倍的时间待在唐纳·诺伊的武器库里，转磨刀石，帮这位独臂铁匠把钝斧磨利；

　　or pumping the bellows² as Noye hammered out a new sword. Other times he ran messages, stood at guard, mucked out stables, fletched arrows, assisted Maester Aemon with his birds or Bowen Marsh³ with his counts and inventories⁴. 或是在诺伊敲打铸剑时，在旁鼓动风炉。其他时候他还会传达口信，站岗放哨，刷洗马厩，制造弓箭，照料伊蒙师傅的鸟儿或协助波文·马尔锡清点账目。

　　That afternoon, the watch commander sent him to the winch cage with four barrels of fresh-crushed stone, to scatter⁵ gravel⁶ over the icy footpaths⁷ atop the Wall.  当天下午，他奉守卫长之命，带着四桶刚压碎的小石子，前往升降铁笼，负责把碎石铺在长城结冰的走道上。

　　It was lonely and boring work, even with Ghost along for company,  即使有白灵相伴，

　　but Jon found he did not mind. On a clear day you could see half the world from the top of the Wall, and the air was always cold and bracing⁸.  这依旧是件既孤单又无趣的差事，但琼恩不以为忤。倘若天气清朗，站在长城之上，半个世界尽收眼底，何况这里的空气向来清新冷冽。

　　He could think here, and he found himself thinking of Samwell Tarly...and, oddly, of Tyrion Lannister.  他可以在这里静静思考，而他发觉自己想起了山姆威尔·塔利…奇怪的是，还有提利昂·兰尼斯特。

　　He wondered what Tyrion would have made of the fat boy. Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, the dwarf⁹ had told him, grinning. 他不禁好奇提利昂会怎么对待这胖小子。侏儒曾嘻嘻笑着对他说：大部分的人宁可否认事实，也不愿面对真相。

　　The world was full of cravens who pretended to be heroes; it took a queer sort of courage to admit to cowardice¹⁰ as Samwell Tarly had. 这个世界有太多逞英雄的胆小鬼，能像山姆威尔·塔利这样自承怯懦还真需要点古怪的勇气。

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