假如她是贵族出身，那其他孩子格格不入的姿态，对她就是自然而然的。布蕾妮怀疑垂柳并非像看上去那么简单。她太小，也不够漂亮，不可能是珊莎·史塔克，但年龄跟珊莎的妹妹一致。凯特琳夫人说，艾莉亚没有姐姐的美貌。棕头发，棕眼睛，骨瘦如柴……会不会是她呢？艾莉亚·史塔克的头发是棕色，布蕾妮记起来，但无法确定眼睛的颜色。棕眼棕发，是那样吗？有没可能她其实并未死在盐场镇？
If she were highborn, command would come naturally to her, and deference to them. Brienne wondered whether Willow might be more than she appeared. The girl was too young and too plain to be Sansa Stark, but she was of the right age to be the younger sister, and even Lady Catelyn had said that Arya lacked her sister’s beauty. Brown hair, brown eyes, skinny … could it be? Arya Stark’s hair was brown, she recalled, but Brienne was not sure of the color of her eyes. Brown and brown, was that it? Could it be that she did not die at Saltpans after all?
门外，最后一丝光线正在退去，室内，垂柳命人点起四支油腻腻的牛油蜡烛，再让女孩们把炉火烧得又高又旺。男孩们帮波德瑞克·派恩卸下驴子上的包裹，将腌鳕鱼、羊肉、蔬菜、坚果和一轮轮奶酪搬进来，梅里巴德修士则去厨房煮粥。“可惜，我的橘子都没了，恐怕要到春天才能再见到，”他告诉一个小男孩，“你有没吃过啊，孩子？挤出美味的果汁来吮吸？”男孩摇头否定，修士揉了揉他的头发。“等到春天我给你带一个，假如你做个乖孩子，帮我搅拌这锅粥的话。”
Outside, the last light of day was fading. Inside, Willow had four greasy tallow candles lit and told the girls to keep the hearthfire burning high and hot. The boys helped Podrick Payne unpack the donkey and carried in the salt cod, mutton, vegetables, nuts, and wheels of cheese, whilst Septon Meribald repaired to the kitchens to take charge of the porridge. “Alas, my oranges are gone, and I doubt that I shall see another till the spring,” he told one small boy. “Have you ever had an orange, lad? Squeezed one and sucked down that fine juice?” When the boy shook his head no, the septon mussed his hair. “Then I’ll bring you one, come spring, if you will be a good lad and help me stir the porridge.”
海尔爵士脱下靴子在火边暖脚。布蕾妮坐到他旁边时，他朝房间远处的角落点点头。“那儿地板上有血迹，狗儿在嗅。擦洗过了，但血渗入木头，无法去除。”
Ser Hyle pulled off his boots to warm his feet by the fire. When Brienne sat down next to him, he nodded at the far end of the room. “There are bloodstains on the floor over there where Dog is sniffing. They’ve been scrubbed, but the blood soaked deep into the wood, and there’s no getting it out.”
“桑铎·克里冈在这个客栈里杀了三名他哥哥的手下。”她提醒他。
“This is the inn where Sandor Clegane killed three of his brother’s men,” she reminded him.
“是的，”亨特同意，“但谁说得准他们三个是最早的倒霉鬼……抑或是最后的倒霉鬼呢？”
“ ’Tis that,” Hunt agreed, “but who is to say that they were the first to die here … or that they’ll be the last.”
“你怕几个小孩子？”
“Are you afraid of a few children?”
“四个可以算几个，十个就太多了，而这里远远不止十个。小孩子就应该包在襁褓里，挂到墙上，直到女孩长出胸脯，男孩大到需要刮胡子。”
“Four would be a few. Ten would be a surfeit. This is a cacophony. Children should be wrapped in swaddling clothes and hung upon the wall until the girls grow breasts and the boys are old enough to shave.”
“我为他们难过。他们都失去了父母，甚至有的人眼睁睁看着父母遇害。”
“I feel sorry for them. All of them have lost their mothers and fathers. Some have seen them slain.”
亨特翻翻白眼。“我忘了自己在跟女人说话。你的心就像修士的粥，软软的，对不对？咱们的剑妞内心深处，其实是位即将临盆的母亲，渴望有个可爱粉嫩的婴儿吮吸自己的奶头。”海尔爵士咧嘴笑道。“听着，要达成梦想，你首先需要一个男人。最好是丈夫。何不选我呢？”
Hunt rolled his eyes. “I forgot that I was talking to a woman. Your heart is as mushy as our septon’s porridge. Can it be? Somewhere inside our swordswench is a mother just squirming to give birth. What you really want is a sweet pink babe to suckle at your teat.” Ser Hyle grinned. “You need a man for that, I hear. A husband, preferably. Why not me?”
“要是你仍然希望赢得赌——”
“If you still hope to win your wager—”
“我想赢得你，塞尔温大人唯一在世的孩子。有的人甘心情愿跟弱智乃至仍在吃奶的婴儿结婚，获得的回报尚只有塔斯的十分之一。我承认，我并非蓝礼·拜拉席恩，但我活得好端端的——有人会说这是我唯一的优点。婚姻对我俩都有好处，我得到土地，你得到一城堡的这些。”他朝孩子们比画了一下。“我有能力，我向你保证。我至少有一个已知的私生子。不用怕，我不会让她给你增添负担。上次去看她时，她母亲泼了我一锅汤。”
“What I want to win is you, Lord Selwyn’s only living child. I’ve known men to wed lackwits and suckling babes for prizes a tenth the size of Tarth. I am not Renly Baratheon, I confess it, but I have the virtue of being still amongst the living. Some would say that is my only virtue. Marriage would serve the both of us. Lands for me, and a castle full of these for you.” He waved his hand at the children. “I am capable, I assure you. I’ve sired at least one bastard that I know of. Have no fear, I shan’t inflict her upon you. The last time I went to see her, her mother doused me with a kettle of soup.”
红晕爬上她颈项。“我父亲才五十四岁，不算太老，可以续弦生子。”
A flush crept up her neck. “My father’s only four-and-fifty. Not too old to wed again and get a son by his new wife.”
“这是我承担的风险……假如你父亲再婚，假如他的新娘真能怀孕，假如那婴儿是个男孩，便证明我押错宝了。”
“That’s a risk … if your father weds again and if his bride proves fertile and if the babe’s a boy. I’ve made worse wagers.”
“然后输掉赌注。跟别人去玩你的游戏吧，爵士。”
“And lost them. Play your game with someone else, ser.”
“没玩过游戏的处女才会这么说，你玩过之后，自然就会转变的。相信我，在黑暗中，你就跟任何一位公主一样美丽，你的嘴唇生来就是为了接吻。”
“So speaks a maid who has never played the game with anyone. Once you do you’ll take a different view. In the dark you’d be as beautiful as any other woman. Your lips were made for kissing.”
“嘴唇就是嘴唇，”布蕾妮道，“所有嘴唇都一样。”
“They are lips,” said Brienne. “All lips are the same.”
“所有嘴唇生来都是为了接吻，”亨特愉快地赞同，“今晚你的房门不要上闩，我会偷偷爬上你的床，证实自己的话。”
“And all lips are made for kissing,” Hunt agreed pleasantly. “Leave your chamber door unbarred tonight, and I will steal into your bed and prove the truth of what I say.”
“你敢这么干，等离开时就变太监了。”布蕾妮起身走开。
“If you do, you’ll be a eunuch when you leave.” Brienne got up and walked away from him.
梅里巴德修士询问是否可以带孩子们祷告。有个光身子的小女孩从桌上爬过来，他没理会。“可以。”垂柳答应，并在桌上爬过来的孩子即将触及那锅粥之前，将她拎了起来。于是他们一起低头感谢天父圣母的施舍……除了铁匠房里的黑发男孩，他双臂交叉抱在胸前，瞪着其他人祈祷。这异状并非只有布蕾妮注意到，祈祷完毕后，梅里巴德修士望向桌子对面，“你不爱诸神吗，孩子？”
Septon Meribald asked if he might lead the children in a grace, ignoring the small girl crawling naked across the table. “Aye,” said Willow, snatching up the crawler before she reached the porridge. So they bowed their heads together and thanked the Father and the Mother for their bounty … all but the black-haired boy from the forge, who crossed his arms against his chest and sat glowering as the others prayed. Brienne was not the only one to notice. When the prayer was done Septon Meribald looked across the table, and said, “Do you have no love for the gods, son?”
“不爱你们的神。”詹德利突然站起来。“我有活干。”他没吃一口就昂首阔步走了出去。
“Not for your gods.” Gendry stood abruptly. “I have work to do.” He stalked out without a bite of food.
“他爱什么神？”海尔·亨特问。
“Is there some other god he loves?” asked Hyle Hunt.
“光之王。”一个瘦瘦的男孩用尖细的嗓音说，他大约六岁。
“The Lord of Light,” piped one scrawny boy, nigh to six.
垂柳拿勺子敲了他一下，“大嘴本恩。这儿有吃的。你只管吃东西，别打扰大人们谈话。”
Willow hit him with her spoon. “Ben Big Mouth. There’s food. You should be eating it, not bothering m’lords with talk.”
孩子们扑向晚餐，好像狼群吞食受伤的鹿。他们争夺鳕鱼，将大麦面包撕成碎片，把粥弄得到处都是，连硕大一轮奶酪没多久也不见了。布蕾妮用了点鱼、面包和胡萝卜，而梅里巴德修士自己吃一口就喂两口给狗儿。外面开始下雨，屋内的火堆噼啪作响，大厅里充满咀嚼声和垂柳用勺子拍打孩子们的声音。“总有一天，这小女孩会成为某个男人凶悍的妻子，”海尔爵士评论，“很可能是那可怜的学徒小子。”
The children fell upon the supper like wolves upon a wounded deer, quarreling over codfish, tearing the barley bread to pieces, and getting porridge everywhere. Even the huge wheel of cheese did not long survive. Brienne contented herself with fish and bread and carrots, whilst Septon Meribald fed two morsels to Dog for every one he ate himself. Outside, a rain began to fall. Inside, the fire crackled, and the common room was filled by the sounds of chewing, and Willow smacking children with her spoon. “One day that little girl will make some man a frightful wife,” Ser Hyle observed. “That poor ’prentice boy, most like.”
“该有人给他拿点食物去，趁东西还没吃光。”
“Someone should take him some food before it’s all gone.”
“那个人就是你。”
“You’re someone.”
于是她用布包起一角奶酪、一块面包、一只干苹果，还有两薄片炸鳕鱼。波德利克起身要跟出去，她让他坐回去吃饭，“我很快便回来。”
She wrapped a wedge of cheese, a heel of bread, a dried apple, and two chunks of flaky fried cod in a square of cloth. When Podrick got up to follow her outside, she told him to sit back down and eat. “I will not be long.”
院子里雨下得很大。布蕾妮掀起斗篷遮住食物。经过马厩时，一些马朝她嘶鸣。它们也饿了。
The rain was coming down heavy in the yard. Brienne covered the food with a fold of her cloak. Some of the horses whinnied at her as she made her way past the stables. They are hungry too.
詹德利在火炉边，使劲敲打一柄剑，仿佛那是他的敌人。他皮围裙下赤裸着胸膛，浸透汗水的头发垂在额头。她注视了一会儿。他有蓝礼的眼睛和头发，但体型不同。蓝礼公爵身材瘦长，没那么强壮结实……不像哥哥劳勃，劳勃的力量天下闻名。
Gendry was at his forge, bare-chested beneath his leather apron. He was beating on a sword as if he wished it were a foe, his sweat-soaked hair falling across his brow. She watched him for a moment. He has Renly’s eyes and Renly’s hair, but not his build. Lord Renly was more lithe than brawny … not like his brother Robert, whose strength was fabled.
詹德利停下来擦拭额头时才看到她站在那儿，“你干什么？”
It was not until he stopped to wipe his brow that Gendry saw her standing there. “What do you want?”
“我带来了晚餐。”她打开布包给他看。
“I brought supper.” She opened the cloth for him to see.
“想吃的话，我自己会动。”
“If I wanted food, I would have eaten some.”
“多吃东西才有力气打铁。”
“A smith needs to eat to keep his strength up.”
“你是我妈？”
“Are you my mother?”
“不，”她放下食物。“谁是你妈？”
“No.” She put down the food. “Who was your mother?”
“关你什么事？”
“What’s that to you?”
“你出生在君临。”从他说话的方式，她可以确定。
“You were born in King’s Landing.” The way he spoke made her certain of it.
“我和其他许多人都是。”他把剑浸入一盆雨水中淬火。热铁愤怒地嘶嘶作响。
“Me and many more.” He plunged the sword into a tub of rainwater to quench it. The hot steel hissed angrily.
“你多大？”布蕾妮问，“你母亲还活着吗？你父亲呢，他是谁？”
“How old are you?” Brienne asked. “Is your mother still alive? And your father, who was he?”
“你问太多了。”他放下剑。“我母亲死了，而我从来不认识父亲。”
“You ask too many questions.” He set down the sword. “My mother’s dead and I never knew my father.”
“你是个私生子。”
“You’re a bastard.”
他把这当做侮辱。“我是个骑士。那把剑就是给我自己用的，等铸成之后。”
He took it for an insult. “I’m a knight. That sword will be mine own, once it’s done.”
骑士在铁匠房里干活算什么事呢？“你长着黑头发，蓝眼睛，出生在红堡下。从来没人评论过你的脸吗？”
What would a knight be doing working at a smithy? “You have black hair and blue eyes, and you were born in the shadow of the Red Keep. Has no one ever remarked upon your face?”
“我的脸怎么了？不像你那么丑。”
“What’s wrong with my face? It’s not as ugly as yours.”
“你在君临城一定见过劳勃国王。”
“In King’s Landing you must have seen King Robert.”
他耸耸肩，“是见过几次。比武大会上，远远地看到。有一次在贝勒大圣堂，金袍子把我们推到一边，好让他通过。还有一次他打猎归来，我正在烂泥门附近玩。当时他醉得太厉害，差点骑马把我撞翻。这个胖酒鬼，比起他那些儿子，还算比较好的国王。”
He shrugged. “Sometimes. At tourneys, from afar. Once at Baelor’s Sept. The gold cloaks shoved us aside so he could pass. Another time I was playing near the Mud Gate when he come back from a hunt. He was so drunk he almost rode me down. A big fat sot, he was, but a better king than these sons of his.”
他们不是他儿子。史坦尼斯跟蓝礼谈判那天说得没错。乔佛里和托曼根本不是劳勃的儿子。而这男孩……“听我说，”布蕾妮刚开口，就听见狗儿高声狂吠，“有人来了。”
They are not his sons. Stannis told it true, that day he met with Renly. Joffrey and Tommen were never Robert’s sons. This boy, though … “Listen to me,” Brienne began. Then she heard Dog barking, loud and frantic. “Someone is coming.”
“是朋友。”詹德利满不在乎。
“Friends,” said Gendry, unconcerned.
“什么朋友？”布蕾妮走到铁匠房门口，透过雨水向外张望。
“What sort of friends?” Brienne moved to the door of the smithy to peer out through the rain.
他耸耸肩，“你很快就会见到了。”
He shrugged. “You’ll meet them soon enough.”
也许我不想见到他们，布蕾妮心想。第一个骑手踏着水花奔入院子，透过哗哗的雨声和狗儿的吠叫，她听见对方褴褛的斗篷底下长剑和盔甲的轻微碰撞。他们一边进来，她一边数。二，四，六，七。依骑马的姿势判断，有些人受了伤。最后一位魁梧圆胖，有其他人两个那么大。他的马气喘吁吁，浑身是血，在重压之下步履踉跄。除开他，所有骑手都戴起兜帽，以遮挡倾盆暴雨。此人的面容宽阔无毛，犹如白蛆，圆鼓鼓的脸上生满流脓面疱。
I may not want to meet them, Brienne thought, as the first riders came splashing through the puddles into the yard. Beneath the patter of the rain and Dog’s barking, she could hear the faint clink of swords and mail from beneath their ragged cloaks. She counted them as they came. Two, four, six, seven. Some of them were wounded, judging from the way they rode. The last man was massive and hulking, as big as two of the others. His horse was blown and bloody, staggering beneath his weight. All the riders had their hoods up against the lashing rain, save him alone. His face was broad and hairless, maggot white, his round cheeks covered with weeping sores.
布蕾妮倒抽一口冷气，拔出守誓剑。太多了，她惊恐地想，他们人太多了。“詹德利，”她低声说，“拿剑，穿盔甲。这些不是你的朋友。他们不是任何人的朋友。”
Brienne sucked in her breath and drew Oathkeeper. Too many, she thought, with a start of fear, they are too many. “Gendry,” she said in a low voice, “you’ll want a sword, and armor. These are not your friends. They’re no one’s friends.”
“你说什么？”男孩过来站到她身边，手中拿着锤子。
“What are you talking about?” The boy came and stood beside her, his hammer in his hand.
闪电劈裂南方的天空，骑手们纷纷甩腿下马。片刻间，黑夜亮如白昼。一把斧子泛着银蓝的光，锁甲和板甲也反射光芒，布蕾妮在头一个骑手的黑兜帽底下，看到一只龇着钢牙的狗嘴。
Lightning cracked to the south as the riders swung down off their horses. For half a heartbeat darkness turned to day. An axe gleamed silvery blue, light shimmered off mail and plate, and beneath the dark hood of the lead rider Brienne glimpsed an iron snout and rows of steel teeth, snarling.
詹德利也看到了。“是他。”
Gendry saw it too. “Him.”
“不是他。是他的头盔。”布蕾妮尽量不让恐惧渗入话音中，但嘴里已如尘土般干涩。她非常清楚是谁戴着猎狗的头盔。孩子们怎么办？她心想。
“Not him. His helm.” Brienne tried to keep the fear from her voice, but her mouth was dry as dust. She had a pretty good notion who wore the Hound’s helm. The children, she thought.
客栈门“砰”的一声打开。垂柳端着十字弓，踱入雨中。那女孩朝骑手们喊叫，但一阵闷雷滚过庭院，淹没了她的话。等雷声消去，布蕾妮听见戴猎狗头盔的人说，“你敢射，我就把那只箭塞进你的洞里面，拿它狠狠地操你，最后把你该死的眼珠挖出来，喂你吃下去。”来人话中的怒气逼得垂柳颤抖着退后一步。
The door to the inn banged open. Willow stepped out into the rain, a crossbow in her hands. The girl was shouting at the riders, but a clap of thunder rolled across the yard, drowning out her words. As it faded, Brienne heard the man in the Hound’s helm say, “Loose a quarrel at me and I’ll shove that crossbow up your cunt and fuck you with it. Then I’ll pop your fucking eyes out and make you eat them.” The fury in the man’s voice drove Willow back a step, trembling.
七个，布蕾妮再次绝望地想。七个，她没有机会。没有机会，也没有选择。
Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice.
她手执守誓剑踏入雨中。“别碰她。想强暴的话，来我这儿试试。”
She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. “Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me.”
歹徒们一起转头，其中一个笑出声来，另一个用布蕾妮听不懂的语言说了些什么。长着惨白宽脸的巨人发出恶毒的嘶嘶声，戴猎狗头盔的人笑道，“你比记忆中更丑怪了。我宁愿操你的马。”
The oulaws turned as one. One laughed, and another said something in a tongue Brienne did not know. The huge one with the broad white face gave a malevolent hissssssssssssssss. The man in the Hound’s helm began to laugh. “You’re even uglier than I remembered. I’d sooner rape your horse.”
“马，我们要马，”一名伤员说，“好马和食物。土匪在追我们，把马交出来，我们就走。不伤害你们。”
“Horses, that’s what we want,” one of the wounded men said. “Fresh horses, and some food. There are outlaws after us. Give us your horses and we’ll be gone. We won’t do you harm.”
“去你妈。”戴猎狗头盔的歹徒从马鞍上拽出战斧。“我他妈要把她的腿砍了，教她杵着断肢看我干那拿十字弓的小婊子。”
“Fuck that.” The outlaw in the Hound’s helm yanked a battle axe off his saddle. “I want to cut her bloody legs off. I’ll set her on her stumps so she can watch me fuck the crossbow girl.”
“用什么干？”布蕾妮嘲笑，“夏格维说他们把你的鼻子连同老二一起割了。”
“With what?” taunted Brienne. “Shagwell said they cut your manhood off when they took your nose.”
她以言语相激，果然奏效。只见他怒吼咒骂，向她扑来，脚下溅起黑色泥水。正如她祈祷的那样，其余人站在后面看好戏。布蕾妮静如磐石，一动不动地等待。院子里光线昏暗，脚底泥泞湿滑。让他冲过来。诸神慈悲，但愿他滑倒在地。
She meant it to provoke him, and it did. Bellowing curses, he came at her, his feet sending up splashes of black water as he charged. The others stood back to watch the show, as she had prayed they might. Brienne stayed as still as stone, waiting. The yard was dark, the mud slippery underfoot. Better to let him come to me. If the gods are good, he’ll slip and fall.
诸神没那么慈悲，只能靠她的剑。布蕾妮默数，五步，四步，就是现在，守誓剑迎着他冲击的势头劈去。钢铁相交，斧子朝她砸下来的同时，她的剑穿透他的破衣服，在锁甲上划开一道口子。她扭身闪开，边撤边刺他胸口。
The gods were not that good, but her sword was. Five steps, four steps, now, Brienne counted, and Oathkeeper swept up to meet his rush. Steel crashed against steel as her blade bit through his rags and opened a gash in his chain mail, even as his axe came crashing down at her. She twisted aside, slashing at his chest again as she retreated.
他踉踉跄跄流着血追来，发出愤怒的吼叫。“婊子！”他低沉地咆哮，“怪胎！贱货！我要让狗来干你，他妈的贱货！”斧子划出致命的弧线，每当闪电亮起，无情的黑影就转化为银色。布蕾妮没有盾牌，斧头袭来时，她只能退避，忽左忽右地躲闪。有一次，她脚后跟在泥地上一溜，差点跌倒，使尽全力方才恢复平衡，却免不了被斧子擦过左肩。一阵灼痛。“打中那婊子了！”一个人喊，男一个说，“看她还怎么躲！”
He followed, staggering and bleeding, roaring rage. “Whore!” he boomed. “Freak! Bitch! I’ll give you to my dog to fuck, you bloody bitch!” His axe whirled in murderous arcs, a brutal black shadow that turned silver every time the lightning flashed. Brienne had no shield to catch the blows. All she could do was slide back away from him, darting this way and that as the axehead flew at her. Once the mud gave way under her heel and she almost fell, but somehow she recovered herself, though the axe grazed her left shoulder that time and left a blaze of pain in its wake. “You got the bitch!” one of the others called, and another said, “Let’s see her dance away from that one.”
她躲开了，暗自庆幸他们只是看热闹，没有插手帮忙。她不可能独斗七人，即便其中有一两个伤员。去世多年的老古德温爵士又在她耳边低语。“男人永远会低估你，”他说，“自尊心驱使他们用力，因为他们害怕被议论说给女人弄得如此狼狈。让他们疯狂地消耗体力，而你悄悄积聚力量。等待、观察，孩子，等待、观察。”她等待着，观察着，侧移，后撤，再侧移，刺他的脸，砍他的腿，劈他的手臂。他的斧子越来越沉，动作越来越慢。布蕾妮逼他转身，让他的眼睛迎向雨水，然后迅速退后两步。他再度提起斧头，咒骂着摇摇晃晃地扑来，一只脚在泥地里打了滑……
Dance she did, relieved that they were watching. Better that than have them interfere. She could not fight seven, not alone, even if one or two were wounded. Old Ser Goodwin was long in his grave, yet she could hear him whispering in her ear. Men will always underestimate you, he said, and their pride will make them want to vanquish you quickly, lest it be said that a woman tried them sorely. Let them spend their strength in furious attacks, whilst you conserve your own. Wait and watch, girl, wait and watch. She waited, watching, moving sideways, then backwards, then sideways again, slashing now at his face, now at his legs, now at his arm. His blows came more slowly as his axe grew heavier. Brienne turned him so the rain was in his eyes, and stepped back two quick steps. He wrenched his axe up once more, cursing, and lurched after her, one foot sliding in the mud …
……她双手握紧剑柄，跃上前去。他一头撞到剑尖上，守誓剑穿透衣服、锁甲、皮革．然后是更多衣服，深入腹中，再从后背冒出，与脊柱擦刮时，发出锉刀般的声响。斧子自他无力的指间滑落，两人撞到一起，布蕾妮的脸跟狗头盔碰个正着，冰冷潮湿的金属抵紧面颊。雨水顺着钢铁流淌如注，当闪电再次亮起，她透过眼缝看到痛苦、恐惧和难以置信。“蓝宝石。”她轻轻地对罗尔杰说，同时把剑使劲一拧，令他一阵抽搐。他沉甸甸地靠在她身上，突然之间，她在黑雨中抱着的已是尸体。她退后一步，让他倒下……
… and she leapt to meet his rush, both hands on her sword hilt. His headlong charge brought him right onto her point, and Oathkeeper punched through cloth and mail and leather and more cloth, deep into his bowels and out his back, rasping as it scraped along his spine. His axe fell from limp fingers, and the two of them slammed together, Brienne’s face mashed up against the dog’s head helm. She felt the cold wet metal against her cheek. Rain ran down the steel in rivers, and when the lightning flashed again she saw pain and fear and rank disbelief through the eye slits. “Sapphires,” she whispered at him, as she gave her blade a hard twist that made him shudder. His weight sagged heavily against her, and all at once it was a corpse that she embraced, there in the black rain. She stepped back and let him fall …
……然后尖牙嘶喊着朝她撞来。
… and Biter crashed into her, shrieking.
一大团湿羊毛和乳白色的肉将她提离地面，“砰”的一声砸到地上。她猛然落入一摊烂泥，水花溅入鼻子和眼睛，胸口窒息，脑袋“喀嚓”一声撞中半埋入土的石头。“不。”她刚来得及喊出这个字，他已扑倒在她身上，压得她陷入更深的泥沼。他用一只手揪住她的头发，将脑袋往后扯，另一只手伸向她的咽喉。守誓剑已不见了踪影，她只能赤手空拳与他搏斗，但一拳打中他的脸就像打在一团湿乎乎的白面粉上。他冲她嘶嘶怪叫。
He fell on her like an avalanche of wet wool and milk-white flesh, lifting her off her feet and slamming her down into the ground. She landed in a puddle with a splash that sent water up her nose and into her eyes. All the air was driven out of her, and her head snapped down against some half-buried stone with a crack. “No,” was all that she had time to say before he fell on top of her, his weight driving her deeper into the mud. One of his hands was in her hair, pulling her head back. The other groped for her throat. Oathkeeper was gone, torn from her grasp. She had only her hands to fight him off, but when she slammed a fist into his face it was like punching a ball of wet white dough. He hissed at her.
她继续一拳一拳接一拳地打他，用手掌跟猛击他的眼睛，但他浑若不觉。她又去抠他的手腕，然而尽管鲜血从抓破的伤口里流出，他却掐得更紧。他压住她，令她窒息。她推他的肩膀，拼命挣扎，但他沉得像匹马，无法撼动。她想拿膝盖顶他胯下，却只够得到肚子。尖牙闷哼一声，扯下她一把头发。
She hit him again, again, again, smashing the heel of her hand into his eye, but he did not seem to feel her blows. She clawed at his wrists, but his grip just grew tighter, though blood ran from the gouges where she scratched him. He was crushing her, smothering her. She pushed at his shoulders to get him off her, but he was heavy as a horse, impossible to move. When she tried to knee him in the groin, all she did was drive her knee into his belly. Grunting, Biter tore out a handful of her hair.
我的匕首。布蕾妮绝望地抓住这个念头。她将手伸进两人之间摸索，指头顺着他肮脏沉重的臭肉蠕动，终于寻到刀柄。尖牙扣紧她的脖子，把她的脑袋往地上猛砸。闪电再次炸裂，这次是在她的脑壳里面，然而她握紧手指，居然将匕首拔了出来。由于被他压住，她无法举起匕首刺戳，只能奋力去划他的肚皮，某种温热潮湿的东西涌入指间。尖牙又嘶嘶怪叫起来，比先前更大声，然后他短暂地放开了她的喉咙，旋即殴打她的脸。她听见骨头碎裂，痛得头晕眼花。当她试图再拿刀划他时，他掰下她指间的匕首，用膝盖磕断了她的前臂。接着，他再次抓住她的脑袋，继续尝试将它从肩膀上扯下来。
My dagger. Brienne clutched at the thought, desperate. She worked her hand down between them, fingers squirming under his sour, suffocating flesh, searching until they finally found the hilt. Biter locked both his hands about her neck and began to slam her head against the ground. The lightning flashed again, this time inside her skull, yet somehow her fingers tightened, pulled the dagger from its sheath. With him on top of her, she could not raise the blade to stab, so she drew it hard across his belly. Something warm and wet gushed between her fingers. Biter hissed again, louder than before, and let go of her throat just long enough to smash her in the face. She heard bones crack, and the pain blinded her for an instant. When she tried to slash at him again, he wrenched the dagger from her fingers and slammed a knee down onto her forearm, breaking it. Then he seized her head again and resumed trying to tear it off her shoulders.
布蕾妮听到狗儿的吠声，人们在周围喊叫，雷声轰鸣的间隙，有钢铁交击。海尔爵士，她心想，海尔爵士加入了战团，但所有的一切仿佛都那么遥远，与她毫不相干。她的世界只剩掐着脖子的双手和上方那张阴森森的脸。他越靠越近，雨水从兜帽滴落，呼吸像腐败的奶酪。
Brienne could hear Dog barking, and men were shouting all about her, and between the claps of thunder she heard the clash of steel on steel. Ser Hyle, she thought, Ser Hyle has joined the fight, but all that seemed far away and unimportant. Her world was no larger than the hands at her throat and the face that loomed above her. The rain ran off his hood as he leaned closer. His breath stank like cheese gone rotten.
布蕾妮的胸腔如在燃烧，脑海的暴风雨令她目眩，浑身上下的骨头都在挤压摩擦。尖牙的嘴豁然张开，裂口大得难以想象。她看到扭曲不齐、锉尖的黄牙齿。当那些牙齿咬到她脸上的软肉时，几乎没有感觉。她在黑暗中盘旋下坠。我不能死，她告诉自己，我还有使命。
Brienne’s chest was burning, and the storm was behind her eyes, blinding her. Bones ground against each other inside of her. Biter’s mouth gaped open, impossibly wide. She saw his teeth, yellow and crooked, filed into points. When they closed on the soft meat of her cheek, she hardly felt it. She could feel herself spiraling down into the dark. I cannot die yet, she told herself, there is something I still need to do.
尖牙扯下一大团血肉，啐了一口，咧开嘴，再次将尖牙没入她的脸。这一次他咀嚼吞咽下去。他在吃我的肉，她意识到，可她再没力气抵抗了。她感觉自己仿佛漂浮在上方，看着这一幕恐怖景象，仿佛那是发生在别的女人身上，某个自以为是骑士的蠢女孩。很快就结束了，她告诉自己，他有没活活吃了我不重要了。尖牙仰起头，张开大嘴，厉声嚎叫，并朝她吐舌头。舌头十分尖利，滴着血，比正常人的长很多。它从他的嘴里延伸，越来越长，又红又湿，泛着微光，丑陋又污秽。他的舌头足有一尺长，布蕾妮心想，紧接着，黑暗吞没了她。哦，它看起来就像一把剑。
Biter’s mouth tore free, full of blood and flesh. He spat, grinned, and sank his pointed teeth into her flesh again. This time he chewed and swallowed. He is eating me, she realized, but she had no strength left to fight him any longer. She felt as if she were floating above herself, watching the horror as if it were happening to some other woman, to some stupid girl who thought she was a knight. It will be finished soon, she told herself. Then it will not matter if he eats me. Biter threw back his head and opened his mouth again, howling, and stuck his tongue out at her. It was sharply pointed, dripping blood, longer than any tongue should be. Sliding from his mouth, out and out and out, red and wet and glistening, it made a hideous sight, obscene. His tongue is a foot long, Brienne thought, just before the darkness took her. Why, it looks almost like a sword.
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