Chapter 13

Tyrion

The north went on forever.

Tyrion Lannister knew the maps as well as anyone, but a fortnight on the wild track that passed for the kingsroad up here had brought home the lesson that the map was one thing and the land quite another.

They had left Winterfell on the same day as the king, amidst all the commotion of the royal departure, riding out to the sound of men shouting and horses snorting, to the rattle of wagons and the groaning of the queen’s huge wheelhouse, as a light snow flurried about them. The kingsroad was just beyond the sprawl of castle and town. There the banners and the wagons and the columns of knights and freeriders turned south, taking the tumult with them, while Tyrion turned north with Benjen Stark and his nephew.

amidst/ə'mɪdst/ prep. 在…当中

commotion/kə'məʊʃ(ə)n/ n. 暴乱；骚动

flurried /'flɝɪd/ adj. 不安的；迷惑的 v. 不安的；迷惑的（flurry的过去分词）

sprawl /sprɔ:l/ vi. 伸开四肢坐〔躺〕 蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展 四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) n. (城市)杂乱无序拓展的地区 随意扩展;蔓延;蔓延物

columns of knights骑手

tumult /'tjuːmʌlt/ n. 吵闹；骚动；骚乱；激动

It had grown colder after that, and far more quiet.

West of the road were flint hills, grey and rugged, with tall watchtowers on their stony summits. To the east the land was lower, the ground flattening to a rolling plain that stretched away as far as the eye could see. Stone bridges spanned swift, narrow rivers, while small farms spread in rings around holdfasts walled in wood and stone. The road was well trafficked, and at night for their comfort there were rude inns to be found.

flatten/'flæt(ə)n/ vt. 使……平坦；击败，摧毁 vi. 变平；变单调

spanned/spænd/ adj. (细胞或微生物的培养)生活期有限的

The road was well trafficked, and at night for their comfort there were rude inns to be found 路上来往颇为频繁，日落后极易找到歇脚旅店。

Three days ride from Winterfell, however, the farmland gave way to dense wood, and the kingsroad grew lonely. The flint hills rose higher and wilder with each passing mile, until by the fifth day they had turned into mountains, cold blue-grey giants with jagged promontories and snow on their shoulders. When the wind blew from the north, long plumes of ice crystals flew from the high peaks like banners.

 dense/dens/ adj. 浓厚的；稠密的；愚钝的

jagged /'dʒægɪd/ adj. 锯齿状的；参差不齐的 v. 使成缺口；使成锯齿状（jag的过去式）

promontory /'prɒm(ə)nt(ə)rɪ/ n. 岬,隆起,海角

With the mountains a wall to the west, the road veered north by northeast through the wood, a forest of oak and evergreen and black brier that seemed older and darker than any Tyrion had ever seen. “The wolfswood,” Benjen Stark called it, and indeed their nights came alive with the howls of distant packs, and some not so distant. Jon Snow’s albino direwolf pricked up his ears at the nightly howling, but never raised his own voice in reply. There was something very unsettling about that animal, Tyrion thought.

veer/vɪə/ vi. 转向；改变观点；[气]风向顺时针转；[海]调转船尾向上风 vt. 使转向；使顺风；使船尾向上风 n. 转向；方向的转变

oak/əʊk/ n. 栎树, 橡树 栎木, 橡木

brier /'braiə/ n. 荆棘；野蔷薇；欧石南

albino /æl'biːnəʊ/ n. 白化病者,白化变种

There were eight in the party by then, not counting the wolf. Tyrion traveled with two of his own men, as befit a Lannister. Benjen Stark had only his bastard nephew and some fresh mounts for the Night’s Watch, but at the edge of the wolfswood they stayed a night behind the wooden walls of a forest holdfast, and there joined up with another of the black brothers, one Yoren. Yoren was stooped and sinister, his features hidden behind a beard as black as his clothing, but he seemed as tough as an old root and as hard as stone. With him were a pair of ragged peasant boys from the Fingers. “Rapers,” Yoren said with a cold look at his charges. Tyrion understood. Life on the Wall was said to be hard, but no doubt it was preferable to castration.

befit/bɪ'fɪt/ vt. 适合于；为…该做的；对…适当

stoop /stu:p/ adj. 弯腰的，曲背的

sinister/'sɪnɪstə/ adj. 危险的, 不吉祥的, 凶兆的, 险恶的

castration/kæs'treiʃən/   n. 阉割

Five men, three boys, a direwolf, twenty horses, and a cage of ravens given over to Benjen Stark by Maester Luwin. No doubt they made a curious fellowship for the kingsroad, or any road.

Tyrion noticed Jon Snow watching Yoren and his sullen companions, with an odd cast to his face that looked uncomfortably like dismay. Yoren had a twisted shoulder and a sour smell, his hair and beard were matted and greasy and full of lice, his clothing old, patched, and seldom washed. His two young recruits smelled even worse, and seemed as stupid as they were cruel.

sullen/'sʌlən/ adj. 闷闷不乐的 阴郁的, 阴沉的

recruit/rɪ'krʊt/ n. 幼鱼；新兵；新成员（recruit的复数形式） v. 征募；雇佣；恢复健康（recruit的三单形式）

No doubt the boy had made the mistake of thinking that the Night’s Watch was made up of men like his uncle. If so, Yoren and his companions were a rude awakening. Tyrion felt sorry for the boy. He had chosen a hard life . . . or perhaps he should say that a hard life had been chosen for him.

He had rather less sympathy for the uncle. Benjen Stark seemed to share his brother’s distaste for Lannisters, and he had not been pleased when Tyrion had told him of his intentions. “I warn you, Lannister, you’ll find no inns at the Wall,” he had said, looking down on him.

distaste /dɪs'teɪst/ n. 厌恶；讨厌 vt. 厌恶；不喜欢 vi. [废]不喜欢

inn/ɪn/ n. 小旅馆, 客栈, 小酒馆

“No doubt you’ll find some place to put me,” Tyrion had replied. “As you might have noticed, I’m small.”

One did not say no to the queen’s brother, of course, so that had settled the matter, but Stark had not been happy. “You will not like the ride, I promise you that,” he’d said curtly, and since the moment they set out, he had done all he could to live up to that promise.

By the end of the first week, Tyrion’s thighs were raw from hard riding, his legs were cramping badly, and he was chilled to the bone. He did not complain. He was damned if he would give Benjen Stark that satisfaction.

He took a small revenge in the matter of his riding fur, a tattered bearskin, old and musty-smelling. Stark had offered it to him in an excess of Night’s Watch gallantry, no doubt expecting him to graciously decline. Tyrion had accepted with a smile. He had brought his warmest clothing with him when they rode out of Winterfell, and soon discovered that it was nowhere near warm enough. It was cold up here, and growing colder. The nights were well below freezing now, and when the wind blew it was like a knife cutting right through his warmest woolens. By now Stark was no doubt regretting his chivalrous impulse. Perhaps he had learned a lesson. The Lannisters never declined, graciously or otherwise. The Lannisters took what was offered.

revenge/rɪ'ven(d)ʒ/ n. 复仇；报复 vt. 报复；替…报仇；洗雪 vi. 报仇；雪耻

tattered /'tætəd/ adj. 破烂的,衣衫褴褛的

excess /ɪk'ses/ n. 无节制；过度，过量；超过，超额 adj. 额外的，过量的；附加的

gallantry/'gæləntrɪ/ n. 勇敢 (对女子的)殷勤 礼貌的言行

graciously/'greiʃəsli/ adv. 亲切地;和蔼地;殷勤地 优雅地;雅致地；有风度地 慈祥地;仁慈地 优裕地

woolen/ˈ wʊlɪn/ adj. 羊毛的；羊毛制的 n. 毛织品

chivalrous /'ʃɪv(ə)lrəs/ adj. (尤指对女人)有骑士风度的,彬彬有礼的

impulse/'ɪmpʌls/ n. 冲动；脉冲；刺激；推动力；神经冲动 vt. 推动

declined v. 拒绝；下降；衰退（decline的过去分词） n. 被拒绝的；下降的

Farms and holdfasts grew scarcer and smaller as they pressed northward, ever deeper into the darkness of the wolfswood, until finally there were no more roofs to shelter under, and they were thrown back on their own resources.

Tyrion was never much use in making a camp or breaking one. Too small, too hobbled, too in-the-way. So while Stark and Yoren and the other men erected rude shelters, tended the horses, and built a fire, it became his custom to take his fur and a wineskin and go off by himself to read.

hobble /'hɒb(ə)l/ vi. 蹒跚；跛行 vt. 使跛行 n. 跛行步态

erect /ɪ'rekt/ adj. 竖立的, 直立的, 挺立的 vt. 使直立; 竖起 〈正〉建立

On the eighteenth night of their journey, the wine was a rare sweet amber from the Summer Isles that he had brought all the way north from Casterly Rock, and the book a rumination on the history and properties of dragons. With Lord Eddard Stark’s permission, Tyrion had borrowed a few rare volumes from the Winterfell library and packed them for the ride north.

amber/'æmbə/ adj. 琥珀色的；琥珀制的 n. 琥珀；琥珀色 vt. 使呈琥珀色

rumination/ˌru:məˈneɪʃən/   n. 反刍,沉思

volume/'vɒljuːm/ n. 卷, 册, 书卷 体积; 容积, 容量 音量, 响度

He found a comfortable spot just beyond the noise of the camp, beside a swift-running stream with waters clear and cold as ice. A grotesquely ancient oak provided shelter from the biting wind. Tyrion curled up in his fur with his back against the trunk, took a sip of the wine, and began to read about the properties of dragonbone. Dragonbone is black because of its high iron content, the book told him. It is strong as steel, yet lighter and far more flexible, and of course utterly impervious to fire. Dragonbone bows are greatly prized by the Dothraki, and small wonder. An archer so armed can outrange any wooden bow.

grotesquely /grəu'teskli/ adv. 奇异地,荒诞地

impervious/ɪm'pɜːvɪəs/ adj. 不可渗透的,透不过的 无动于衷的,不受影响的

archer/ˈɑ:tʃə/ n. <天>人马座；人马宫

Tyrion had a morbid fascination with dragons. When he had first come to King’s Landing for his sister’s wedding to Robert Baratheon, he had made it a point to seek out the dragon skulls that had hung on the walls of Targaryen’s throne room. King Robert had replaced them with banners and tapestries, but Tyrion had persisted until he found the skulls in the dank cellar where they had been stored.

morbid /'mɔːbɪd/ adj. 由病引起的；病态的；恐怖的；病变部位的

make it a point to打定主意做某事

tapestry/'tæpɪstrɪ/ n. 挂毯；织锦；绣帷 vt. 用挂毯装饰

He had expected to find them impressive, perhaps even frightening. He had not thought to find them beautiful. Yet they were. As black as onyx, polished smooth, so the bone seemed to shimmer in the light of his torch. They liked the fire, he sensed. He’d thrust the torch into the mouth of one of the larger skulls and made the shadows leap and dance on the wall behind him. The teeth were long, curving knives of black diamond. The flame of the torch was nothing to them; they had bathed in the heat of far greater fires. When he had moved away, Tyrion could have sworn that the beast’s empty eye sockets had watched him go.

onyx/'ɒnɪks/ n. 缟玛瑙；爪甲

torch/tɔːtʃ/ n. 火把，火炬；手电筒；启发之物 vi. 像火炬一样燃烧 vt. 用火炬点燃

diamond/'daɪəmənd/ n. 钻石，金刚石；菱形；方块牌 adj. 金刚钻的；菱形的

socket/'sɑkɪt/ n. 套接口；插座；套筒（socket的复数） v. 把…装入托座；[高尔夫球]用棒头承口部位击（socket的三单形式）

There were nineteen skulls. The oldest was more than three thousand years old; the youngest a mere century and a half. The most recent were also the smallest; a matched pair no bigger than mastiffs skulls, and oddly misshapen, all that remained of the last two hatchlings born on Dragonstone. They were the last of the Targaryen dragons, perhaps the last dragons anywhere, and they had not lived very long.

mastiff/'mæstɪf/ n. 獒,大驯犬(大型猛犬的一种)

oddly /ˈɔdlɪ/ adv. 古怪地；奇妙地；单数地

misshapen/mɪs'ʃeɪp(ə)n/ adj. 奇形怪状的,畸形的

hatchling /'hætʃliŋ/   n. 人工孵化的鱼苗或小鸟

From there the skulls ranged upward in size to the three great monsters of song and story, the dragons that Aegon Targaryen and his sisters had unleashed on the Seven Kingdoms of old. The singers had given them the names of gods: Balerion, Meraxes, Vhaghar. Tyrion had stood between their gaping jaws, wordless and awed. You could have ridden a horse down Vhaghar’s gullet, although you would not have ridden it out again. Meraxes was even bigger. And the greatest of them, Balerion, the Black Dread, could have swallowed an aurochs whole, or even one of the hairy mammoths said to roam the cold wastes beyond the Port of Ibben.

unleash/ʌn'liːʃ/ vt. 把(感情、力量等)释放出来, 发泄

gaping jaws大嘴

awed /ɔ:d/ adj. 充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的

aurochs/'ɔːrɒks/ n. [古]欧洲野牛

hairy/'heərɪ/ adj. 多毛的；毛状的；长毛的

mammoth/'mæməθ/ n. 长毛象；猛犸象；庞然大物 adj. 猛犸似的；巨大的，庞大的

Tyrion stood in that dank cellar for a long time, staring at Balerion’s huge, empty-eyed skull until his torch burned low, trying to grasp the size of the living animal, to imagine how it must have looked when it spread its great black wings and swept across the skies, breathing fire.

cellar/'selə/ n. 地窖；酒窖；地下室 vt. 把…藏入地窖

His own remote ancestor, King Loren of the Rock, had tried to stand against the fire when he joined with King Mern of the Reach to oppose the Targaryen conquest. That was close on three hundred years ago, when the Seven Kingdoms were kingdoms, and not mere provinces of a greater realm. Between them, the Two Kings had six hundred banners flying, five thousand mounted knights, and ten times as many freeriders and men-at-arms. Aegon Dragonlord had perhaps a fifth that number, the chroniclers said, and most of those were conscripts from the ranks of the last king he had slain, their loyalties uncertain.

chronicler/'krɔniklə/ n. 年代记编(记录)者

conscript/kən'skrɪpt/ vt. 征召(某人入伍) n. 应征入伍者

slain /sleɪn/   v. 杀死（slay的过去分词）

The hosts met on the broad plains of the Reach, amidst golden fields of wheat ripe for harvest. When the Two Kings charged, the Targaryen army shivered and shattered and began to run. For a few moments, the chroniclers wrote, the conquest was at an end . . . but only for those few moments, before Aegon Targaryen and his sisters joined the battle.

It was the only time that Vhaghar, Meraxes, and Balerion were all unleashed at once. The singers called it the Field of Fire.

Near four thousand men had burned that day, among them King Mern of the Reach. King Loren had escaped, and lived long enough to surrender, pledge his fealty to the Targaryens, and beget a son, for which Tyrion was duly grateful.

fealty /'fiːəltɪ/ n. 忠实；忠诚

“Why do you read so much?”

Tyrion looked up at the sound of the voice. Jon Snow was standing a few feet away, regarding him curiously. He closed the book on a finger and said, “Look at me and tell me what you see.”

The boy looked at him suspiciously. “Is this some kind of trick? I see you. Tyrion Lannister.”

trick /trɪk/   n. 戏法, 把戏 计谋, 诡计, 花招 诀窍, 技巧, 技艺 vt. 哄骗; 欺骗 打扮 adj. 用于特技的 有意捉弄人的

Tyrion sighed. “You are remarkably polite for a bastard, Snow. What you see is a dwarf. You are what, twelve?”

dwarf /dwɔːf/   vi. 变矮小 n. 侏儒，矮子 vt. 使矮小 adj. 矮小的

“Fourteen,” the boy said.

“Fourteen, and you’re taller than I will ever be. My legs are short and twisted, and I walk with difficulty. I require a special saddle to keep from falling off my horse. A saddle of my own design, you may be interested to know. It was either that or ride a pony. My arms are strong enough, but again, too short. I will never make a swordsman. Had I been born a peasant, they might have left me out to die, or sold me to some slaver’s grotesquerie. Alas, I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock, and the grotesqueries are all the poorer. Things are expected of me. My father was the Hand of the King for twenty years. My brother later killed that very same king, as it turns out, but life is full of these little ironies. My sister married the new king and my repulsive nephew will be king after him. I must do my part for the honor of my House, wouldn’t you agree? Yet how? Well, my legs may be too small for my body, but my head is too large, although I prefer to think it is just large enough for my mind. I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind . . . and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book. “That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow.”

peasant /'pez(ə)nt/ n. 农民；乡下人

grotesquerie/grəu'teskəri/ n. 怪异图案,奇怪,滑稽可笑

repulsive/rɪ'pʌlsɪv/ adj. 令人厌恶的,可憎的

warhammer 战锤

whetstone/'wetstəʊn/ n. 磨石,油石

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. “What are you reading about?” he asked.

“Dragons,” Tyrion told him.

“What good is that? There are no more dragons,” the boy said with the easy certainty of youth.

“So they say,” Tyrion replied. “Sad, isn’t it? When I was your age, used to dream of having a dragon of my own.”

“You did?” the boy said suspiciously. Perhaps he thought Tyrion was making fun of him.

“Oh, yes. Even a stunted, twisted, ugly little boy can look down over the world when he’s seated on a dragon’s back.” Tyrion pushed the bearskin aside and climbed to his feet. “I used to start fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock and stare at the flames for hours, pretending they were dragonfire. Sometimes I’d imagine my father burning. At other times, my sister.” Jon Snow was staring at him, a look equal parts horror and fascination. Tyrion guffawed. “Don’t look at me that way, bastard. I know your secret. You’ve dreamt the same kind of dreams.”

stunted/'stʌntɪd/ adj. 成长受妨碍的,矮小的

guffaw/gə'fɔː/ n. 哄笑；狂笑 vi. 哄笑 vt. 大笑着说

“No,” Jon Snow said, horrified. “I wouldn’t . . .”

“No? Never?” Tyrion raised an eyebrow. “Well, no doubt the Starks have been terribly good to you. I’m certain Lady Stark treats you as if you were one of her own. And your brother Robb, he’s always been kind, and why not? He gets Winterfell and you get the Wall. And your father . . . he must have good reasons for packing you off to the Night’s Watch

“Stop it,” Jon Snow said, his face dark with anger. “The Night’s Watch is a noble calling!”

noble ['nəʊb(ə)l]adj. 高尚的；贵族的；惰性的；宏伟的 n. 贵族 vt. 抓住；逮捕

Tyrion laughed. “You’re too smart to believe that. The Night’s Watch is a midden heap for all the misfits of the realm. I’ve seen you looking at Yoren and his boys. Those are your new brothers, Jon Snow, how do you like them? Sullen peasants, debtors, poachers, rapers, thieves, and bastards like you all wind up on the Wall, watching for grumkins and snarks and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about. The good part is there are no grumkins or snarks, so it’s scarcely dangerous work. The bad part is you freeze your balls off, but since you’re not allowed to breed anyway, I don’t suppose that matters.”

heap /hiːp/ n. 累积；堆；许多 vt. 堆积；堆 vi. 堆起来

misfit/'mɪsfɪt/ n. 不适合；不适应环境的人 vt. 对…不适合

grumkins古灵精怪（Grumkin） 是《冰与火之歌》中常见于维斯特洛人民间故事的一种神秘生物。书中人们有时以'grumkins and snarks'表示不被相信存在的生物。

snark[snɑ:k]n. 蛇鲨

breed [briːd]vi. 繁殖；饲养；产生 vt. 繁殖；饲养；养育，教育；引起 n. [生物] 品种；种类，类型

“Stop it!” the boy screamed. He took a step forward, his hands coiling into fists, close to tears.

coiling[kɔɪl]n. 卷绕，成卷；螺旋

Suddenly, absurdly, Tyrion felt guilty. He took a step forward, intending to give the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder or mutter some word of apology.

reassuring[,riːə'ʃʊərɪŋ] adj. 安心的；可靠的；鼓气的 v. 使放心（reassure的ing形式）

He never saw the wolf, where it was or how it came at him. One moment he was walking toward Snow and the next he was flat on his back on the hard rocky ground, the book spinning away from him as he fell, the breath going out of him at the sudden impact, his mouth full of dirt and blood and rotting leaves. As he tried to get up, his back spasmed painfully. He must have wrenched it in the fall. He ground his teeth in frustration, grabbed a root, and pulled himself back to a sitting position. “Help me,” he said to the boy, reaching up a hand.

spasm ['spæz(ə)m] 【医学】痉挛，抽搐 (感情等的)一阵发作，突发

wrench [ren(t)ʃ] n. 扳手，扳钳；扭伤；痛苦；歪曲；猛扭 vt. 扭伤；猛扭；曲解；折磨 vi. 扭伤；猛扭；猛绞

And suddenly the wolf was between them. He did not growl. The damned thing never made a sound. He only looked at him with those bright red eyes, and showed him his teeth, and that was more than enough. Tyrion sagged back to the ground with a grunt. “Don’t help me, then. I’ll sit right here until you leave.”

sagged [sægd] adj. 下垂的；凹陷的 v. 下垂；下降（sag的过去式）

grunt[grʌnt]n. 咕哝；呼噜声 vi. 作呼噜声；发哼声 vt. 咕哝着说

Jon Snow stroked Ghost’s thick white fur, smiling now. “Ask me nicely.”

stroked [strəʊk] n. 中风；冲程；笔画；打击；尝试；轻抚 vt. 抚摸；敲击；划尾桨；划掉 vi. 击球；作尾桨手；敲击键盘

Tyrion Lannister felt the anger coiling inside him, and crushed it out with a will. It was not the first time in his life he had been humiliated, and it would not be the last. Perhaps he even deserved this. “I should be very grateful for your kind assistance, Jon,” he said mildly.

humiliated[hjʊ'mɪlɪ,et] v. 屈辱（humiliate的过去式）；使…丢脸，使…蒙羞 adj. 羞辱的

“Down, Ghost,” the boy said. The direwolf sat on his haunches. Those red eyes never left Tyrion. Jon came around behind him, slid his hands under his arms, and lifted him easily to his feet. Then he picked up the book and handed it back.

haunch[hɔːn(t)ʃ]n. 腰部，腰；臀部

“Why did he attack me’?” Tyrion asked with a sidelong glance at the direwolf. He wiped blood and dirt from his mouth with the back of his hand.

sidelong ['saɪdlɒŋ] adv. 向侧面；横向地 adj. 斜的；横的

“Maybe he thought you were a grumkin.”

Tyrion glanced at him sharply. Then he laughed, a raw snort of amusement that came bursting out through his nose entirely without his permission. “Oh, gods,” he said, choking on his laughter and shaking his head, “I suppose I do rather look like a grumkin. What does he do to snarks?”

choking ['tʃəʊkɪŋ] adj. 令人窒息的；透不过气来的 v. 阻塞；使…窒息；抑制（choke的ing形式）

“You don’t want to know.” Jon picked up the wineskin and handed it to Tyrion.

Tyrion pulled out the stopper, tilted his head, and squeezed a long stream into his mouth. The wine was cool fire as it trickled down his throat and warmed his belly. He held out the skin to Jon Snow. “Want some?”

trickle['trɪk(ə)l] vi. 滴；细细地流；慢慢地移动 vt. 使…滴；使…淌；使…细细地流 n. 滴，淌；细流

belly['belɪ]n. 腹部；胃；食欲 vi. 涨满；鼓起 vt. 使鼓起

The boy took the skin and tried a cautious swallow. “It’s true, isn’t it?” he said when he was done. “What you said about the Night’s Watch.”

Tyrion nodded.

Jon Snow set his mouth in a grim line. “If that’s what it is, that’s what it is.”

grim[grɪm]adj. 冷酷的；糟糕的；残忍的

Tyrion grinned at him. “That’s good, bastard. Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.”

“Most men,” the boy said. “But not you.”

“No,” Tyrion admitted, “not me. I seldom even dream of dragons anymore. There are no dragons.” He scooped up the fallen bearskin. “Come, we had better return to camp before your uncle calls the banners.”

scoop[skuːp] vt. 掘；舀取；抢先获得；搜集 n. 勺；铲子；独家新闻；凹处

The walk was short, but the ground was rough underfoot and his legs were cramping badly by the time they got back. Jon Snow offered a hand to help him over a thick tangle of roots, but Tyrion shook him off. He would make his own way, as he had all his life. Still, the camp was a welcome sight. The shelters had been thrown up against the tumbledown wall of a long-abandoned holdfast, a shield against the wind. The horses had been fed and a fire had been laid. Yoren sat on a stone, skinning a squirrel. The savory smell of stew filled Tyrion’s nostrils. He dragged himself over to where his man Morrec was tending the stewpot. Wordlessly, Morrec handed him the ladle. Tyrion tasted and handed it back. “More pepper,” he said.

tumbledown ['tʌmb(ə)ldaʊn]adj. 摇摇欲坠的

savory['seivəri]adj. 可口的；风味极佳的；味美的 n. 开胃菜；香薄荷

nostrilsn. [解剖] 鼻孔

stewpot['stjuːpɒt]n. 炖锅

ladle['leɪd(ə)l] vt. 不分对象予以赠送；以杓舀取 n. 钢水包；杓子；长柄杓

Benjen Stark emerged from the shelter he shared with his nephew. “There you are. Jon, damn it, don’t go off like that by yourself. I thought the Others had gotten you.”

“It was the grumkins,” Tyrion told him, laughing. Jon Snow smiled. Stark shot a baffled look at Yoren. The old man grunted, shrugged, and went back to his bloody work.

baffled adj. 带有挡板的 v. 阻碍；使迷惑（baffle的过去式）

The squirrel gave some body to the stew, and they ate it with black bread and hard cheese that night around their fire. Tyrion shared around his skin of wine until even Yoren grew mellow. One by one the company drifted off to their shelters and to sleep, all but Jon Snow, who had drawn the night’s first watch.

mellow['meləʊ] adj. 圆润的，柔和的；成熟的；芳醇的 vt. 使成熟；使柔和 vi. 成熟；变柔和

drifted vt. 漂泊，漂流；吹积（drift的过去分词） vi. 使漂流；使吹积（drift的过去分词）

Tyrion was the last to retire, as always. As he stepped into the shelter his men had built for him, he paused and looked back at Jon Snow. The boy stood near the fire, his face still and hard, looking deep into the flames.

flame[fleɪm] n. 火焰；热情；光辉 v. 焚烧；泛红

Tyrion Lannister smiled sadly and went to bed.