He had never intended to deceive the warrior. It was as if the deception itself had come quietly over the fields to envelop the two of them.
他从未想过要欺骗武士。好像是欺骗自行悄悄降在原野上，将两人裹在其中。
“I’m pleased to see you safe, young comrade.”
“看到你平安无事，我很高兴，年轻的战友。”
The cooper’s hut appeared to be built inside a deep ditch, its thatch roof so close to the earth that Edwin, lowering his head to pass under it, felt he was climbing into a hole. So he had been prepared for the darkness, but the stifling warmth — and the thick woodsmoke — took him aback, and he announced his arrival with a fit of coughing.
箍桶匠的小屋似乎建在一道深沟里，茅草屋顶离地面很近，埃德温低下头进去的时候，感觉像是爬进了一个洞。他预料到屋里会很黑，但那令人窒息的闷热——以及木头发出的浓烟——让他措手不及，他咳嗽起来，用这种方式通知屋里的人他到了。
“Are you badly hurt, warrior?”
“你受伤严重吗，武士？”
As Wistan sat up, slowly moving into the glow, Edwin saw his face, neck and shoulders were covered in perspiration. Yet the hands that reached to the fire were trembling as if from cold.
维斯坦坐起来，慢慢挪到火光下，埃德温看见他的脸、脖子和肩膀上全是汗。但伸向火堆的那双手却颤抖着，好像很冷一样。
Wistan’s voice came out of the darkness beyond the smouldering fire, then Edwin discerned the warrior’s form on a turf bed.
维斯坦的声音从暗火那边的黑暗中传来，接着埃德温在一张铺着草皮的床上分辨出了武士的身形。
“The wounds are trivial. But they brought with them this fever. It was worse earlier, and I’ve little memory of coming here. The good monks say they tied me to the mare’s back, and I fancy I was muttering all the while as when playing the slack-jawed fool in the forest. What of you, comrade? You bear no wounds, I trust, beyond the one you carried before.”
“伤口是小事。但伤口引起了发热。之前更加严重，我都不记得是怎么到这儿的了。好心的僧侣们说，他们把我绑在马背上，我猜我大概一直在喃喃不休吧，就像在树林里扮演咧着嘴的傻瓜时一样。你怎么样呢，战友？我相信，除了之前那个伤口之外，你没有别的伤了吧。”
The warrior carefully brought both feet to the earth floor, reached down and tossed a log onto the flames. Edwin saw then how his left arm was bound tightly in sacking, and that one side of his face had a spreading bruise that partially closed one eye.
武士小心翼翼地把双脚挪到泥土地面上，弯下腰来，朝火里扔了一根木柴。埃德温发现，他左臂上紧紧地缠着绷带，一边脸上有一大片瘀伤，一只眼睛几乎没法睁开。
“Not so fast, Master Edwin. If you failed me last night, I’ll soon tell you a way to make up your debt to me.”
“不用这么急，埃德温阁下。如果说你昨天晚上让我失望了，我马上就会告诉你，怎么弥补你对我的亏欠。”
“I’m perfectly well, warrior, yet stand before you in shame. I’m a poor comrade to you, sleeping while you fought. Curse me and banish me from your sight, for it’ll be a thing well earned.”
“我非常好，武士，但此刻站在你面前却很羞愧。我可不是你的好战友，你战斗的时候我在睡觉。骂我吧，把我赶走，那也是我应得的惩罚。”
“True,” Wistan said, “when I first looked down from the top of that burning tower and the wagon we so carefully prepared wasn’t there, I’d a mind to curse you. A long fall to stony ground and hot smoke already around me. Listening to the agonies of my enemies below, I asked, do I mingle with them even as we become ash together? Or better be smashed alone under the night sky? Yet before I could find an answer, the wagon arrived after all, tugged by my own mare, a monk pulling her bridle. I hardly asked if this monk was friend or foe, but leapt from that chimney mouth, and our earlier work was well enough done, comrade, for though I plunged through the hay as if it were water, I met nothing to pierce me. I awoke on a table, gentle monks loyal to Father Jonus attending me all around as if I was their supper. The fever must already have taken hold by then, whether from these wounds or from the great heat, for they say they had to muffle my ravings till they brought me down here out of harm’s way. But if the gods favour us, the fever will pass soon and we’ll set off to finish our errand.”
“没错，”维斯坦说，“当时我从熊熊燃烧的塔顶往下看，我们精心准备的推车却不在那儿，我的确想骂你。从高塔上跳下，摔到石头地上？我已经被热浪裹住了。我听着下面敌人痛苦的叫声，我问自己，就算我们一起化为灰烬，我们能合得来吗？在夜空下独自摔下去，是不是更好？但是，我还没拿定主意，那辆车竟然来了，是我自己的马拉来的，由一名僧侣牵着缰绳。我不去管这名僧侣是敌是友，立即从烟囱口上跳了下去。我们之前的工作做得很好，我的战友，我整个人都扎了进去，好像车上的干草是水一样，但草里并没有什么东西把我刺穿。醒来的时候，我躺在餐桌上，对乔纳斯神父忠心耿耿的一些僧侣在周围照顾我，好像我是他们的晚餐一样。那时候，我肯定烧发得很厉害了，不知道是因为受了伤，还是因为被火烤的，他们说只好把我嘴巴堵住，以免我胡言乱语，然后把我送到山下安全的地方。但是，如果众神眷顾，这烧很快就会过去，那我们就出发，完成我们的任务。”
“Do you suppose I chose you for your courage alone, young comrade? You’ve remarkable spirit right enough, and if we survive this errand, I’ll see you learn the skills to make you a true warrior. But just now you’re rough-hewn, not yet a blade. I chose you above others, Master Edwin, because I saw you had the hunter’s gift to match your warrior spirit. A rare thing indeed to have both.”
“你以为我选了你，只是因为你的勇气吗，年轻的战友？你有非常出色的精神，如果我们能完成这项任务，全身而退，我会让你学习本领，使你成为真正的武士。但是，你现在只是一块粗铁，还算不得刀刃。埃德温阁下，我选择你，首先是因为我看到你有猎人的禀赋，与你的武士精神匹配。两者都有，可真是很罕见的事情。”
Even as he said this, his mother’s voice had called, resounding around the little hovel so Edwin was hardly sure he had spoken these words aloud. But he must have done, for he heard Wistan say:
就在他说这话的时候，母亲已经在召唤他，她的声音在这小茅屋里回响，以至于埃德温都不确定，这些话究竟有没有说出来。不过，他应该说出来了，因为他听到维斯坦说：
“How can that be, warrior? I know nothing of hunting.”
“这怎么可能呢，武士？我对打猎一无所知。”
“Warrior, I still stand here in shame. Even after I awoke and saw the soldiers around the tower, I let some sprite possess me, and fled the monastery behind those elderly Britons. I’d beg you to curse me now or beat me, but I heard you say there was some way I might make up to you for last night’s disgrace. Tell me the way, warrior, and I’ll fall on whatever task you give me with impatience.”
“武士，我仍然很羞愧。就是醒来之后，看到士兵围住了塔，我仍然让精灵迷了心窍，跟在那些不列颠老人后面逃出了修道院。我祈求你现在骂我吧，或者打我，但你刚才说了，我还可以弥补昨天晚上的耻辱行为。告诉我怎么弥补，武士，无论你给我什么任务，我都马上去完成。”
“Warrior, I fear you misplace your faith where it will find no shelter. No kin of mine ever boasted of such skills, and no one suspected me of them. Even Steffa, who saw my warrior’s soul, never mentioned such skills as these.”
“武士，恐怕你的信任放错了地方，最后没法兑现。我们家族没人拥有这种技能，也没人说过我可能有。斯特法看出我有武士的灵魂，但他也没提到过这种能力。”
“A wolf cub, drinking its mother’s milk, can pick up the scent of a prey in the wild. I believe it a gift of nature. Once this fever leaves me, we’ll go further into these hills and I’ll wager you’ll find the sky itself whispering to you which path to take till we stand before the she-dragon’s very lair.”
“一头喝母狼奶水的小狼，能够在荒野里捕捉到猎物的气息。我相信这是天生的禀赋。等我发烧好了，我们再往山里面走，我敢打赌，你会发现天空本身将向你低语，告诉你选择哪条路，才能让我们站到母龙的巢穴跟前。”
“Then leave it to me alone to believe in them, young comrade. I’ll never say you made any such boast. As soon as this fever leaves me, we’ll set off towards those eastern hills, where all talk has it Querig has her lair, and I’ll follow in your footsteps at each fork.”
“那好吧，年轻的战友，那就让我一个人相信你的能力吧。我绝不会说你自夸有这个本事。等我发烧好了，我们立即出发，到东边的山里去。大家都说魁瑞格的巢穴在那儿，每到路口，我就会跟着你的脚步走。”
It was then the deception had begun. He had never planned it, nor welcomed it when, like a pixie stepping out from its dark corner, it had entered their presence. His mother had continued to call. “Find the strength for me, Edwin. You’re almost grown. Find the strength and come rescue me.” And it was as much the wish to appease her as his eagerness to redeem himself in the warrior’s eyes that had made him say:
欺骗，就是在这个时候开始的。他此前没有欺骗的打算，现在也不喜欢。然而，欺骗悄悄来到两人之间，像个小妖精，从黑暗的角落迈步出场。他母亲仍在召唤。“为我找到你的力量吧，埃德温。你几乎长大成人了。找到你的力量，来救我。”他希望安慰母亲，也渴望挽回武士对自己的印象，于是说道：
Even as he said this, the scenes were rapidly filling his mind: how he would enter their camp, startling them as they sat silently in their semi-circle to watch his mother trying to free herself. They would be full-grown men by now; most likely bearded and heavy-bellied, no longer the lithe young men who had come swaggering into their village that day. Burly, coarse men, and as they reached for their axes, they would see the warrior following behind Edwin and fear would enter their eyes.
他说这话的时候，脑海中快速闪过一幕幕场景：那些人围成半圆静静地坐着，看着他母亲试图挣脱束缚，他走进营地，让那些人大吃一惊。这时候他们都该是成年人了，很可能留着胡子、腆着肚子，再也不是那天大摇大摆走进村庄的那群身材挺拔的小青年了。都是壮实、粗鄙的男人，他们伸手去拿斧头，看到埃德温身后跟着的武士，眼睛里会流露出恐惧。
But how could he deceive the warrior — his teacher and the man he admired above all others? And here was Wistan nodding with satisfaction, saying: “I knew it as soon as I saw you, Master Edwin. Even as I released you from those ogres by the river.” He would enter their camp. He would free his mother. The burly men would be killed, or perhaps be allowed to flee into the mountain fog. And then what? Edwin would have to explain why, even as they were hurrying to complete an urgent errand, he had chosen to deceive the warrior.
可他怎么能欺骗武士呢？这是他的老师，又是他最崇拜的人。而维斯坦却点着头，满意地说：“我一见到你就知道啦，埃德温阁下。在河边把你从食人兽那儿救回来的时候就知道了。”他将进入他们的营地。他将释放母亲。那些壮实的男人将被杀掉，或许会让他们逃入山间的雾霭之中。然后呢？他们要匆忙赶去完成一项紧急任务，同时埃德温必须解释，他为什么要欺骗武士。
“It’s curious, warrior. Now you speak of it, I feel already this she-dragon’s pull. More a taste in the wind than a scent. We should go without delay, for who knows how long I’ll feel it.”
“真奇怪，武士。你这一说起来，我就已经感觉到母龙的吸引力啦。不像是气息，更像是风里的某种味道。我们该马上就走，因为我是不是能一直感觉到，谁也说不清楚。”
Wistan was receding back into the darkness, reclining once more onto his bed. Now all Edwin could see of him was one bare knee moving slowly from side to side.
维斯坦又躺了下去，没入了黑暗中。现在，埃德温只能看到一只裸露的膝盖，缓慢地摇来摇去。
Partly to distract himself from such thoughts — for he now sensed it was too late for a retreat — he said: “Warrior, there’s a question I have of you. Though you may think it impertinent.”
或许是为了让自己尽量不去想这些念头——因为他感觉到，现在已经没有退路了——他说道：“武士，我有个问题想问你。不过也许你会觉得不礼貌。”
“Ask it, young comrade.”
“问吧，小战友。”
“I’m wondering, warrior. Is there some special feud between you and Lord Brennus makes you stay and fight his soldiers when we might have fled the monastery and be half a day closer to Querig? It must be some mighty reason to make you put aside even your errand.”
“我在寻思啊，武士，本来我们可以逃离修道院，早半天去找魁瑞格的，你和布雷纳斯爵爷之间是不是有什么特别的仇恨，所以你才留下来与他的士兵战斗？你连任务都暂时放到一边，肯定有什么重要的理由吧。”
The silence that followed was so long Edwin thought the warrior had passed out in the stifling air. But then there was the knee still moving slowly, and when the voice eventually came out of the darkness, the slight tremor of the fever seemed to have evaporated.
接下来的沉默很长，以至于埃德温以为，武士在令人窒息的空气中晕过去了。但是，那只膝盖仍旧在缓缓晃动，当他的声音终于从黑暗中传来时，发烧引起的微微颤抖似乎已经消失了。
“I’ve no excuse, young comrade. I can only confess my folly, and that after the good father’s warning not to forget my duty! See how weak is the resolve of your master. Yet I’m a warrior before all else, and it’s no easy thing to flee a battle I know I can win. You’re right, we could even now be standing at the she-dragon’s den, calling her to come greet us. But Brennus I knew it to be, even a hope he’d come in person, and it was more than I could do not to stay and welcome them.”
“我没有借口，小战友。我只能承认自己很傻，而且好心的神父还刚提醒过我不要忘记职责呢！你看，你师傅的意志力多么脆弱。不过，我首先是一名武士，面对战斗，如果我明知道能够打赢，要我逃走可不容易。你说得对，说不定我们本可以现在就站在母龙的巢穴旁，喊她出来迎接。但我知道他们是布雷纳斯的人，也许他自己还会来，不留下来与他们会面，我可做不到。”
“No feud worth the name. We knew each other as boys, as young as you are now. This was in a country further west of here, in a well-guarded fort where we boys, twenty or more, were trained morning till night to become warriors in the Britons’ ranks. I grew to feel great affection for my companions of those days, for they were splendid fellows and we lived like brothers. All except Brennus, that is, for being the lord’s son, he loathed to mix with us. Yet he often trained with us, and though his skills were feeble, whenever one of us faced him with a wooden sword, or at wrestling in the sandpit, we had to let him win. Anything short of glorious victory for the lord’s son would result in punishments for us all. Can you imagine it, young comrade? To be proud young boys, as we were, and have such an inferior opponent appear to conquer us day after day? Worse, Brennus delighted in heaping humiliations on his opponents even as we feigned defeat. It pleased him to stand on our necks, or to kick us as we lay for him on the ground. Imagine how this felt to us, comrade!”
“没有真正的仇恨。我们小的时候就认识，和你现在差不多大。那是在西方的一个遥远国家，我们住在一个守卫森严的要塞里，二十多个男孩，从早到晚接受训练，要成为不列颠军队中的武士。我慢慢喜欢上了那些伙伴，他们都很优秀，我们像兄弟一样生活在一起。大家都很要好，只有布雷纳斯例外，他是爵爷的儿子，不屑于和我们打成一片。但他经常和我们一起训练，他的本领很弱，可是如果我们要与他用木剑格斗，或者在沙坑里摔跤，我们都必须让他赢。爵爷的儿子如果不能取得辉煌的胜利，那我们大家都要受罚。你能想象吗，小战友？我们那时候都是骄傲的少年，可每天都要让那么弱的对手征服我们，那是什么感受？更糟糕的是，我们假装被打败的时候，布雷纳斯还很喜欢羞辱对手。踩住我们的脖子，或者在我们已经躺倒在地的时候再踢上几脚，他都很高兴。我的战友，想想我们当时是什么感受吧！”
“Then I’m right, warrior. There’s some feud between you and Lord Brennus.”
“那我猜得没错，武士。你和布雷纳斯爵爷之间有什么旧仇。”
“Of course it’s shameful, boy. I feel shame even now remembering the affection I had for them. But it was Brennus showed me my error. Perhaps because even then my skills stood out, he delighted to choose me as his sparring opponent, and reserved his greatest humiliations for me. And he was not slow to notice I was a Saxon boy, and before long, turned each of my companions against me on that account. Even those once closest to me joined against me, spitting in my food, or hiding my clothes as we hurried to our training on a harsh winter’s morning, fearful of our teachers’ wrath. It was a great lesson Brennus taught me then, and when I understood how I shamed myself loving Britons as my brothers, I made up my mind to leave that fort, even with no friend or kin beyond those walls.”
“当然可耻，孩子。现在连想起以前对他们的感情，我都会感到耻辱。是布雷纳斯让我明白了这个错误。可能是因为我的本领技巧比较出色吧，他喜欢选我当格斗对手，最厉害的羞辱手段，都要留着，用在我身上。他很快发现我是撒克逊人，于是以此为理由，让我的所有伙伴都来反对我。连以前和我最亲密的伙伴，也加入了反对我的行列，在我的食物里吐口水，或者在寒冷的冬天早晨，在我们一边担心教官生气一边急匆匆赶往训练场时，把我的衣服藏起来。那时候布雷纳斯给我上了一堂重要的课，我明白了，像兄弟一样去爱不列颠人，是一件耻辱的事情，于是我下定决心离开要塞，虽然在要塞之外，我没有亲人、没有朋友。”
“But is that so shameful, warrior, if you were brought up beside them facing harsh tasks together?”
“可是，武士啊，你和他们一起长大，一起面对艰巨的任务，爱上他们有什么可耻的吗？”
“But today I’ve reason to be grateful to Lord Brennus, for he saved me from a pitiable fate. I’ve told you already, Master Edwin, I’d begun to love my companions in that fort as my own brothers, even though they were Britons and I a Saxon.”
“但是，今天我有理由感谢布雷纳斯爵爷，因为他让我避免了可悲的命运。我刚才说过，埃德温阁下，我已经爱上了要塞里的伙伴们，把他们当成兄弟，虽然他们是不列颠人，我是撒克逊人。”
“I see it well, warrior.”
“我能理解，武士。”
“Judge for me if I did or not, comrade, for I’m undecided on the question. The custom in that fort was for us apprentices, after our day’s training, to be allowed an hour after supper to idle away together. We’d build a fire in the yard and sit around it talking and jesting the way boys will. Brennus never joined us, of course, for he had his privileged quarters, but on that evening, for whatever reason, I saw him walk past. I moved away from the rest then, my companions suspecting nothing. Now that fort, like any other, had many hidden passages, all of which I knew well, so that before long I was in an unwatched corner where the battlements cast black shadows over the ground. Brennus came strolling my way, alone, and when I moved from the gloom he stopped and looked at me with terror. For he saw at once this could be no chance encounter, and further, that his usual powers were suspended. It was curious, Master Edwin, to see this swaggering lord turned so swiftly to an infant ready to make water before me for fear. I was sorely tempted to say to him, ‘Good sir, I see your sword on your hip. Knowing how much more skilfully you wield it, you’ll have no fear drawing it against mine.’ Yet I said no such thing, for had I hurt him in that dark corner, what of my dreams of a life beyond those walls? I said nothing, but remained before him in silence, letting the moment grow long between us, for I wished it to be one never forgotten. And though he cowered back and would have cried for help had not some remnant of pride told him to do so would ensure his abiding humiliation, we neither of us spoke to the other. Then in time I left him, and so you see, Master Edwin, nothing and yet everything had passed between us. I knew then I’d do well to leave that very night, and since these were no longer times of war, the watch wasn’t strict. I slipped quietly past the guards, saying no farewells, and was soon a boy under the moonlight, my dear companions left behind, my own kin long slaughtered, nothing but my courage and lately learned skills to carry on my journey.”
“我的战友，你来判断一下，我这算不算报了仇，我自己还没拿定主意呢。根据要塞的规定，我们这些学徒一天训练结束，晚饭后有一个小时的时间，可以自由活动。我们会在院子里生个火，围坐在周围，像其他男孩子一样聊天、开玩笑。当然，布雷纳斯不和我们一起，他有专门的地方，但是那天晚上，我看见他从一旁走过，不知道是干什么。我起身离开人群，伙伴们并没有生疑。和别的要塞一样，那儿也有很多秘密通道，我都很熟悉。不久，我来到一个没人守卫的角落，城垛的黑影落在地面上。布雷纳斯优哉游哉朝我这边走来，一个人，我从黑暗中现身，他停下脚步，惊恐地看着我。他立即明白，这绝不是偶然碰上，而且他平日里的力量都失效了。真是奇怪的事啊，埃德温阁下，这位平时趾高气扬的爵爷，一下子变成了婴儿，在我面前害怕得简直要尿裤子。我真想跟他说：‘我的爵爷，我看到你的剑背在身后。你知道你的剑术比我们高明得多，拔出剑来和我比一比，你肯定不会胆怯吧。’但我没说这种话，因为如果我在那个黑暗的角落里伤了他，那我还能逃出要塞开始新的生活吗？我什么都没说，就默默地站在他身前，让时间在我们两人之间慢慢过去，因为我希望这一刻永生难忘。他往后退缩，之所以没有大喊救命，是因为残存的一点儿自尊告诉他，如果喊出来，那肯定一辈子都得忍受羞辱。我们都没有跟对方说话。等时间差不多了，我就走了，你看，埃德温阁下，我们之间没发生什么事，也可以说什么都发生了。我知道，我当天晚上就应该离开了，那不是战争时期，守卫并不严。我悄悄避开卫兵们，也没跟人告别，很快我就来到了外面的月光之下，孤零零一个少年，离开了我亲爱的伙伴们，我的亲人们很久以前就被杀了，只有依靠自己的勇气和新近学到的本领才能继续走下去。”
Wistan ceased speaking for a moment while his breath came heavily from beyond the fire.
维斯坦停了一会儿，粗重的喘气声从火堆那边传过来。
“So did you take your revenge on Lord Brennus, warrior, before you left that place?”
“那么，在你离开之前，武士，你找布雷纳斯爵爷报仇了吗？”
So he had failed to hide his restlessness, but surely Wistan could not suspect his deception. Was it possible the warrior too could hear his mother’s voice? She had been calling all the while the warrior had been speaking. “Will you not find the strength for me, Edwin? Are you too young after all? Will you not come to me, Edwin? Did you not promise me that day you would?”
看来，他的焦虑没有隐藏好，但维斯坦肯定不会怀疑自己骗了他吧。有没有可能武士也能听见他母亲的声音？刚才武士说话的时候，她一直在呼喊。“你没有力量来救我吗，埃德温？难道你还是太小了？你不到我这儿来吗，埃德温？那天你不是答应我一定要来吗？”
“Warrior, does Brennus hunt you even today fearing your vengeance from those days?”
“武士，布雷纳斯今天还要抓你，是害怕你报以前的仇吗？”
“Who knows what demons whisper in that fool’s ear? A great lord now, in this country and the next, yet he lives in dread of any Saxon traveller from the east passing through his lands. Has he fed the fear of that night again and again that it now sits in his belly a giant worm? Or is it the she-dragon’s breath makes him forget whatever cause he once had to fear me, yet the dread grows all the more monstrous for being unnamed? Only last year a Saxon warrior from the fens, one I knew well, was killed as he travelled in peace through this very country. Yet I remain indebted to Lord Brennus for the lesson he taught me, for without it I might even now be counting Britons as my brother warriors. What troubles you, young comrade? You shift from foot to foot as if my fever possesses you also.”
“谁知道哪些魔鬼在那个傻瓜耳朵里说悄悄话？现在他是个了不起的爵爷啦，在这个国家和邻国声威显赫，但他一直害怕有撒克逊人从东方来，从他的地盘上经过。他是不是一遍遍重温那天晚上的场景，以至于恐惧在他身上生了根，像肚子里盘了一条大虫子呢？或者母龙的气息让他忘了害怕我的原因，恐惧感却因为没有原因反而更加可怕？有个从东方沼泽来的撒克逊武士，我很熟悉，去年在这个国家和平旅行，被杀了。不过，我仍然要感谢布雷纳斯爵爷给我的教训，否则我现在还把不列颠人当作兄弟呢。小战友，你怎么啦？你两只脚动来动去，好像我这儿发烧传给你了一样。”
“We’ll be gone as soon as I’m able to climb onto that mare’s back. But leave me a little longer, comrade, for how else can we face such an opponent as this dragon when I’m too fevered to lift a sword?’
“等我能爬上马背，我们立即出发。再给我一点儿时间吧，战友，如果我发烧，剑都举不起来，我们俩怎么能面对母龙这么凶悍的对手呢？”
“I’m sorry, warrior. It’s my hunter’s instinct makes me impatient, for I fear to lose the scent, and the morning sun already rising outside.”
“对不起，武士。猎人的本能让我有些急躁，因为我担心那气味会消失，外面太阳快起山了。”
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