It was a question, I am sure, equally to baffle Axl as he came wearily up the mountain slope. When the young girl had first mentioned the giant’s cairn, he had pictured something atop a large mound. Yet this cairn had simply appeared before them on the incline, no feature around it to explain its presence. The goat, nonetheless, seemed immediately to sense its significance, struggling frantically as soon as the cairn had become visible as a dark finger against the sky. “It knows its fate,” Sir Gawain had remarked, guiding his horse up with Beatrice in the saddle.
我敢肯定，埃克索疲惫地走上山坡时，同样也为这个问题感到疑惑。那个小姑娘第一次提到巨人冢时，他想到的是一个东西立在大土堆上。但这个石冢却在山坡上突然出现，周围没有任何其他东西提醒人们它的存在。不过，山羊似乎立即意识到这是个特殊的地方，石冢刚一出现，像一根黑色的手指指向天空时，它就马上疯狂地挣扎起来。“它明白自己的命，”高文爵士说道。他拉着马往山上走，比特丽丝坐在马背上。
Some of you will have fine monuments by which the living may remember the evil done to you. Some of you will have only crude wooden crosses or painted rocks, while yet others of you must remain hidden in the shadows of history. You are in any case part of an ancient procession, and so it is always possible the giant’s cairn was erected to mark the site of some such tragedy long ago when young innocents were slaughtered in war. This aside, it is not easy to think of reasons for its standing. One can see why on lower ground our ancestors might have wished to commemorate a victory or a king. But why stack heavy stones to above a man’s height in so high and remote a place as this?
你们有些人会有隆重的纪念碑，让活着的人记住你们受的罪。有些人只会有粗糙的木头十字架或者彩色石块，其他的人呢，就只能藏匿在历史的阴影中。无论如何，你们都是一个古老进程的一部分，所以当初立巨人冢，有可能就是为了纪念这个地方很久以前发生过的类似悲剧——年轻的无辜者在战争中遭到屠杀。除此之外，很难想到立此巨冢的其他原因。如果建在低一点的地方，我们的祖先也许是为了纪念一场胜利或一位国王。但是，为什么要选一个这么高、这么远的地方，把沉重的大石头堆得比一个人还高呢？
“Can it be Querig’s mist works its mischief on goats and men alike?”
“有没有可能是因为魁瑞格的气息，对人和山羊都能起作用？”
“If the goat dies first, Axl, do you suppose she’ll still sup on meat not living and fresh?”
“如果羊先死了，埃克索，你觉得母龙会吃死动物身上不新鲜的肉吗？”
But now the goat had forgotten its earlier dread and was chewing the mountain grass contentedly.
现在呢，山羊似乎忘记了之前的恐惧，正心满意足地啃着草。
It was Beatrice who asked this as she held with both hands the animal’s rope. Axl had for the moment relinquished the creature while he hammered into the ground with a stone the wooden stake around which the rope had been wound.
问这话的是比特丽丝，她正用双手抓着拴羊的绳子。埃克索这下子把羊交给她，自己正用石头把一根木桩砸进土里，拴羊的绳子绑在木桩上。
“Who knows, princess. But if God cares at all for goats, he’ll bring the she-dragon here before long, or it’ll be a lonely wait for this poor animal.”
“谁知道啊，公主。但是如果上帝真关心山羊的话，那就该快点把母龙引来，否则这可怜的东西孤零零地要等很久啊。”
“Who knows how a she-dragon likes her meat? But there’s grass here to keep this goat a while, princess, even if it’s of a mean sort.”
“母龙喜欢什么肉，谁知道呢？不过这里有些草，公主，虽然不怎么样，但能让山羊活一阵子。”
“Look there, Axl. I thought the knight would help us, weary as we both are. But he’s forgotten his usual manners.”
“你看那儿，埃克索。我们两人都累了，我还以为骑士会帮忙呢。可他已经忘记了他平常的礼貌。”
Indeed Sir Gawain had become oddly reticent since their arrival at the cairn. “This is the place you seek,” he had said in an almost sulky voice, before wandering off. And now he stood with his back to them, staring at the clouds.
的确如此，到了石冢之后，高文爵士就异常沉默。“这就是你们要找的地方，”他几乎有些生气地说，然后就转身走开了。现在，他背对着他们站着，盯着天上的云。
“Sir Gawain,” Axl called out, pausing from his work. “Will you not assist holding this goat? My poor wife grows tired from it.”
“高文爵士，”埃克索停下手头的活儿，喊道。“你能帮忙拉着这头羊吗？我可怜的妻子已经拉不动了。”
“I see them below,” the old knight said. “And nothing now to turn them.”
“我看到他们在下面，”老骑士说。“现在，谁也拦不住他们啦。”
“I speak of your recent companions, sir. The same with whom you travelled yesterday when we met. They emerge from the wood below, and who’ll stop them now? For a moment, I raised a hope I merely looked on two black widows strayed from that infernal procession. But it was the cloudy sky playing its tricks, and it’s them, no mistake.”
“我说的是你最近的伙伴们，先生。昨天我们见面的时候，你和他们一起走的。他们从下面的树林里出来了，现在谁能拦住他们呢？有一下子，我还希望那只是两名黑寡妇，离开了那个该死的队伍。但那只是天上的云耍的把戏，是他们俩，没错。”
The old knight did not react, and Axl, assuming he had not heard, was about to repeat his request, when Gawain turned suddenly, and with such a look of solemnity, they both stared at him.
老骑士没有反应，埃克索以为他没听见，正准备再说一遍，高文却突然转过身来，脸上庄重得可怕，以至于他们两人都瞪大了眼睛。
“Who is it you see, sir?” Axl asked. Then when the knight remained silent, “Are they soldiers? We watched earlier some long column on the horizon, but thought they moved away from us.”
“你看到谁了呢，先生？”埃克索问。骑士没有说话，他又问：“是士兵吗？之前我们看到过，很远的地平线上有个长长的队伍，但我们以为他们是朝另一边走，离我们越来越远。”
“That he did, sir. And now he comes, and on his rope not a goat, but the Saxon boy to guide him.”
“是逃出来了，先生。现在他来了，也拉着绳子，绑的不是山羊，而是那个给他当向导的撒克逊男孩。”
“So Master Wistan escaped the monastery after all,” Axl said.
“这么说，维斯坦阁下还是从修道院里逃了出来，”埃克索说。
“Then he joins forces with us,” Beatrice said, “to bring down the she-dragon.”
“那他就会和我们联手，”比特丽丝说，“一起杀死母龙。”
“And have our friends in turn seen us here, Sir Gawain?” Axl asked, returning to his task.
“我们的朋友也看见我们了吗，高文爵士？”埃克索问道，转身继续干活。
“I’ll wager that warrior has keen eyes, and sees us even now against the sky, figures in a tug contest, the goat our opponent!” He laughed to himself, but a melancholy lingered in his voice. “Yes,” he said finally. “I fancy he sees us well enough.”
“我敢打赌，武士眼睛很尖，现在就能看到我们站在高处，背后就是天空，正在和山羊拔河比力气呢！”他笑了一声，但声音中仍然有一丝忧郁。“是的，”他又说道。“我想他能清楚地看到我们。”
At last Sir Gawain seemed to notice Beatrice struggling with the animal and came hurriedly from the cliff edge to seize the rope. But Beatrice did not let go, and for a moment it was as if she and the knight were tussling for control of the goat. In time they stood steadily, both holding the rope, the old knight a step or two in front of Beatrice.
最后，高文爵士终于注意到比特丽丝正在拼命拽住山羊，赶紧从悬崖边上赶过来，抓住了绳子。但比特丽丝并没有放手，有一下子，好像她和骑士两人在争夺这只羊。过了一会儿，两人都站稳了，都抓着绳子，老骑士在比特丽丝前方，隔着一两步的距离。
“Believing what, Sir Gawain?”
“相信什么，高文爵士？”
Sir Gawain looked from one to the other of them uneasily. Then he said: “Master Axl, do you still persist in believing it?”
高文爵士不安地轮流打量着他们俩。然后他说道：“埃克索阁下，你现在仍然相信这一点？”
“That we gather here in this forsaken spot as comrades?”
“在这个偏僻的地方相聚，我们俩是战友？”
“Make your meaning clearer, sir knight.”
“请把意思说清楚，骑士阁下。”
“Master Axl, didn’t our ways part years ago? Mine remained with Arthur, while yours…” He seemed now to become aware of Beatrice behind him, and turning, bowed politely. “Dear lady, I beg you let go this rope and rest. I’ll not let the animal escape. Sit down beside the cairn there. It will shelter at least some part of you from this wind.”
“埃克索阁下，我们多年前不就已经分道扬镳了吗？我仍然跟着亚瑟，而你呢…”这时候，他似乎意识到比特丽丝在身后，于是他转过身，礼貌地鞠了个躬。“亲爱的女士，我请你放开绳子，休息吧。我不会让羊跑掉的。到那边的石冢旁坐下来。至少可以挡一挡风。”
Gawain led the goat to where Axl was kneeling, oblivious of Beatrice following behind, still clutching her end of the rope.
高文牵着羊来到埃克索跪着的地方，他没察觉到比特丽丝在后面跟着，手里还抓着绳子的另一端。
“Thank you, Sir Gawain,” Beatrice said. “Then I’ll trust you with this creature, and it’s a precious one to us.”
“谢谢你，高文爵士，”比特丽丝说。“那我就把羊交给你啦，它对我们可很宝贵啊。”
She began to make her way towards the cairn, and something about the way she did so, her shoulders hunched against the wind, caused a fragment of recollection to stir on the edges of Axl’s mind. The emotion it provoked, even before he could hold it down, surprised and shocked him, for mingled with the overwhelming desire to go to her now and shelter her, were distinct shadows of anger and bitterness. She had talked of a long night spent alone, tormented by his absence, but could it be he too had known such a night, or even several, of similar anguish? Then, as Beatrice stopped before the cairn and bowed her head to the stones as if in apology, he felt both memory and anger growing firmer, and a fear made him turn away from her. Only then did he notice Sir Gawain also gazing over at Beatrice, a look of tenderness in his eyes, seemingly lost in his thoughts. But the knight soon collected himself, and coming closer to Axl, leant right down as though to remove any small chance of Beatrice overhearing.
她迈步朝石冢走去，身体前倾、肩膀缩着，以抵挡大风，那样子让埃克索隐隐约约回想起了什么往事。这在他心中激起了特殊的情感，还没来得及压制，就已经让他备感意外，甚至感到震惊，因为他一方面强烈渴望立即走到她身边，为她遮风挡雨，另一方面却又清晰地感受到了愤怒与怨恨。她说起过，某一个漫长的夜晚，她独自一人，因为他不在而备受煎熬。然而，有没有可能，他自己也曾有过某个同样痛苦的夜晚，甚至几个这样的夜晚？比特丽丝在石冢前停下来，对着那些石块低下头，好像道歉一样，这时他感到记忆更加清晰，愤怒也更加强烈了，一种恐惧感袭来，让他转过脸去不再看她。这时候他才注意到，高文爵士也在凝望着比特丽丝，眼里露出温柔的神情，似乎陷入了沉思。随后骑士回过神来，靠到埃克索身旁，弯下腰来，似乎是要排除一切被比特丽丝听到的可能。
“Who’s to say your path wasn’t the more godly?” he said. “To leave behind all great talk of war and peace. Leave behind that fine law to bring men closer to God. To leave behind Arthur once and for all and devote yourself to…” He glanced over again at Beatrice, who had remained on her feet, her forehead almost touching the piled stones in her effort to escape the wind. “To a good wife, sir. I’ve watched how she goes beside you as a kind shadow. Should I have done the same? Yet God guided us down separate paths. I had a duty. Ha! And do I fear him now? Never, sir, never. I accuse you of nothing. That great law you brokered torn down in blood! Yet it held well for a time. Torn down in blood! Who blames us for it now? Do I fear youth? Is it youth alone can defeat an opponent? Let him come, let him come. Remember it, sir! I saw you that very day and you talked of cries in your ears of children and babes. I heard the same, sir, yet were they not like the cries from the surgeon’s tent when a man’s life is spared even as the cure brings agonies? Yet I admit it. There are days I long for a kind shadow to follow me. Even now I turn in hope to see one. Doesn’t every animal, every bird in the sky crave a tender companion? There were one or two I’d willingly have given my years. Why should I fear him now? I’ve fought fanged Norsemen with reindeer snouts, and they no masks! Here, sir, tie your goat now. How much deeper will you drive that stake? Is it a goat you tether or a lion?”
“你选的道路也许更加神圣，谁又敢说不是呢？”他说道。“丢开战争与和平的大事。丢开那条让人更亲近上帝的好法律。永远丢开亚瑟，一心去…”他又朝比特丽丝那边望了一眼，她仍旧站着，为了避开大风，额头几乎都要碰到那些堆砌起来的石块了。“一心去陪伴你的好妻子，先生。我注意到了，她在你身边走着，像一个温暖的影子。我当初也该这样做吗？可是，上帝将我们引上了不同的道路。我有职责。哈哈！现在我害怕他吗？不怕，先生，从没怕过。我对你没有任何指责。你帮助推行的那条伟大律法被撕碎了，沾满了血！但是，有一段时间，那法律的确生了效。撕碎了，沾满了血！现在谁为这事责怪我们呢？我害怕年轻吗？单凭年轻就能打败对手吗？让他来吧，让他来。这一点你记住，先生！那一天我亲眼见到了你，你说耳朵里有孩子和婴儿的哭声。我也听到啦，先生，可是那与医生帐篷里传出来的病人的哭声，有什么不同吗？治疗虽然带来痛苦，却能让一个人保住性命。但是，这一点我承认。有些日子里，我也希望有个温暖的影子跟着我。现在我一转身，还希望能看到一个呢。地上的每个动物、天上的每只鸟，不都渴望有温柔的伴侣吗？有那么一两个，为了她们，我倒愿意舍弃大好年华。我现在为什么要怕他？我斗过长着獠牙的挪威人，鼻子像驯鹿一样——那不是面具！给你，先生，把你的山羊拴好吧。你还要把那根桩砸多深啊？你这是要拴山羊还是拴狮子？”
“What are you saying, princess?”
“你说什么呢，公主？”
Handing Axl the rope, Gawain went striding off, not stopping till he stood where the land’s edge appeared to meet the sky. Axl, one knee pressed into the grass, tied the rope tightly around the notch in the wood, then looked once more over to his wife. She was standing at the cairn much as before, and though something in her posture again tugged at him, he was relieved to find in himself no trace of the earlier bitterness. Instead he felt almost overcome by an urge to defend her, not just from the harsh wind, but from something else large and dark even then gathering around them. He rose and hurried to her.
高文把绳子递给埃克索，大步走开了，一直走到大地边缘似乎与天空相接的地方，才停下脚步。埃克索单膝跪在草上，把绳子紧紧绕在木桩的槽口上，然后又一次望着妻子。她站在石冢旁，和之前差不多，她那姿势又让他心中一动，但让他欣慰的是，之前那种怨恨的感觉，这次没有了。相反，他感到一股极其强烈的冲动，要去保护她，不仅是要遮挡猛烈的风，而且是要挡住另一种又大又暗，正在他们周围聚集的东西。他站起身，急忙朝她走去。
“The goat’s well secured, princess,” he said. “Just as soon as you’re ready, let’s be off down this slope. For haven’t we completed the errand promised to those children and to ourselves?”
“羊拴牢了，公主，”他说。“等你准备好了，我们就沿着这山坡离开吧。对孩子们和我们自己承诺的任务，不是已经完成了吗？”
“Oh Axl, I don’t want to go back to those woods.”
“噢，埃克索，我不想回到那树林里去。”
“Axl, you never went to the pond’s edge, you were so busy talking to this knight. You never looked into that chilly water.”
“埃克索，你没到池塘边，你在忙着和这位骑士说话。你没朝那冰冷的水里看。”
“These winds have tired you, princess.”
“风太大，公主，你是累了。”
“The babes, and only a short way beneath the water’s surface. I thought first they were smiling, and some waving, but when I went nearer I saw how they lay unmoving.”
“那些婴儿，就在水面之下不远。一开始我以为他们在微笑，有些在招手，等走近一看，才发现他们躺在那儿，一动不动。”
“Who, princess?”
“谁啊，公主？”
Sir Gawain, gazing down at the view, had raised his arm in the air, and now without turning, shouted through the wind: “They’ll soon be upon us! They come up the slope eagerly.”
高文爵士凝视着山下，一条胳膊已经举在空中，这时他并没有转身，但嘴里喊了起来，声音随着风传过来。“他们很快就到了！正急匆匆上坡。”
“I saw their faces staring up as if resting in their beds.”
“我看见他们的脸仰着，好像躺在床上睡觉一样。”
“Just another dream came to you while you rested against that tree. I remember seeing you asleep there and took comfort from it at the time, even as I talked with the old knight.”
“这就是你刚才靠着树休息时做的一个梦。我记得看到你睡着啦，当时心里还觉得宽慰呢，尽管我在和老骑士谈话。”
“I truly saw them, Axl. Among the green weed. Let’s not go back to that wood, for I’m sure some evil lingers there.”
“我真的看见了他们，埃克索。在绿色的水草里。我们不要回到树林去，因为我肯定，那儿有恶魔。”
The goat was pulling at its rope as they passed, but the stake showed no sign of shifting. Axl had been keen to see how near the approaching figures were, but now the old knight came walking towards them, and they all three halted not far from where the animal was tethered.
他们走过去的时候，那只山羊在拉绳子，不过木桩并没有动。埃克索很想看看山下来的人离这儿还有多远，可这时老骑士转身朝他们走过来，在离山羊不远的地方，三人都停下了脚步。
“Let’s go to him, princess, but keep the cloak around you. I was foolish to bring you this far, but we’ll soon find shelter again. Yet let’s see what troubles the good knight.”
“我们到他那儿去吧，公主，但你把斗篷裹紧点。我真是傻，不该带你走这么远，但我们很快又能找到遮风的地方。不过，我们先看看这好心的骑士究竟在担心什么。”
“Free the goat? What do I care for your goat, sir? The Saxon warrior will soon be upon us, and what a fellow he is! Go, look if you doubt it! What do I care for your goat? Master Axl, I see you before me now and I’m reminded of that night. The wind as fierce then as this one. And you, cursing Arthur to his face while the rest of us stood with heads bowed! For who wanted the task of striking you down? Each of us hiding from the king’s eye, for fear he’d command with one glance to run you through, unarmed though you were. But see, sir, Arthur was a great king, and here’s more proof of it! You cursed him before his finest knights, yet he replied gently to you. You recall this, sir?”
“把羊放掉？我为什么要在乎你的羊呢，先生？那个撒克逊武士很快就要来了，他可不是等闲之辈！去吧，不相信的话自己去看看！我为什么要在乎你的羊呢？埃克索阁下，看到你在我面前，让我想起了那个晚上。风也很猛，和现在一样。你呢，当着亚瑟的面骂他，而我们其他人都低着头站着！把你打倒的任务，谁愿意接受呢？我们每个人都避开国王的眼睛，害怕他以目光示意，下令将你打倒，虽然你没带武器。可是，你看啊，先生，亚瑟是位伟大的国王，这又多了一项证明！你当着他最优秀的骑士的面咒骂他，可他却温和地回答你的话。你还记得吧，先生？”
“What’s this you ask? Too much, sir! Did I not tell you when we met in Merlin’s wood to climb this hill no further? It was you both insisted on coming here.”
“你这提的是什么要求？太过分啦，先生！在梅林的树林中见面的时候，我不是告诉你们不要再往山上爬了吗？是你们两人坚持要到这儿来。”
“Sir Gawain,” Axl said, “my wife grows weak and must return to shelter and food. May we carry her down on your horse as we brought her up?”
“高文爵士，”埃克索说，“我妻子身体虚弱，必须回去找个地方休息，吃点东西。我们能像上山的时候一样，让你的马驮着她吗？”
“Perhaps we were foolish, sir, but we had a purpose, and if we must turn back without you, you must promise not to free this goat cost us so dearly to bring here.”
“也许我们是傻，先生，但我们是怀着一个目标的，如果我们自个儿下山的话，你必须答应我们，不要把山羊放掉，把羊拉上山可花了我们很多气力。”
“I recall nothing of it, Sir Gawain. Your she-dragon’s breath keeps it all from me.”
“我一点儿也不记得，高文爵士。你们那条母龙的气息，把这一切全挡住了。”
“I don’t care for any of these memories, Sir Gawain. Today I seek others from another stormy night my wife speaks of.”
“我不在乎那些记忆，高文爵士。今天我要找的记忆，是我妻子提到的另外一个风雨交加的夜晚。”
“My eyes lowered like the rest, expecting your head to roll past my feet even as I gazed down at them! Yet Arthur spoke to you with gentleness! You don’t recall even a part of it? The wind that night almost as strong as this one, our tent ready to fly into the dark sky. Yet Arthur meets curses with gentle words. He thanked you for your service. For your friendship. And he bade us all think of you with honour. I myself whispered farewell to you, sir, as you took your fury into the storm. You didn’t hear me, for it was said under my breath, but a sincere farewell all the same, and I wasn’t alone. We all shared something of your anger, sir, even if you did wrong to curse Arthur, and on the very day of his great victory! You say now Querig’s breath keeps this from your mind, or is it the years alone, or even this wind enough to make the wisest monk a fool?”
“我像其他人一样低着头，眼睛看着脚，心里却担心你的头随时可能会从我脚旁滚过！可是，亚瑟却温和地与你说话！你一点儿都想不起来了？那天晚上的风几乎和现在一样猛烈，我们的帐篷随时会飞到黑暗的天空中。可是，亚瑟却用温和的言语来回应咒骂。他感谢你的贡献。感谢你的友谊。他要求我们记住你的荣耀。你大怒离开，冲进狂风暴雨之中，先生，我自己则低声跟你告了别。你没有听见，因为我说得很轻，但那也是真诚的告别，而且这样做的也不止我一个。我们多少也都理解你的愤怒，先生，虽然你犯了大错，不该咒骂亚瑟，还是在他取得伟大胜利的日子！现在你说魁瑞格的气息挡住了记忆，或者只是因为上了年纪，甚至是这足以将最明智的僧侣变成傻瓜的山风？”
“A sincere farewell I bade you, sir, and let me confess it, when you cursed Arthur a small part of me spoke through you. For that was a great treaty you brokered, and well held for years. Didn’t all men, Christian and pagan, sleep more easily for it, even on the eve of battle? To fight knowing our innocents safe in our villages? And yet, sir, the wars didn’t finish. Where once we fought for land and God, we now fought to avenge fallen comrades, themselves slaughtered in vengeance. Where could it end? Babes growing to men knowing only days of war. And your great law already suffering violation…”
“我给了你一个真诚的告别，先生，让我坦白吧，你骂亚瑟的时候，也说出了我一部分心里话。因为你帮助推行的是一项伟大的约定，而且遵守了很多年。因为这项约定，哪怕是在战斗的前夕，所有的人不都睡得更好吗，无论基督徒还是异教徒？作战的时候知道我们的无辜老幼在村子里很安全？可是呢，先生，战争没有结束啊。以前我们为土地、为上帝而战，现在我们又要作战，为死去的战友们报仇，而那些人本身也是在复仇之中被杀害的。什么时候才能结束呢？婴儿长成大人，只知道年年打仗。而你的伟大法律已经遭到破坏…”
“The law was well held on both sides until that day, Sir Gawain,” Axl said. “It was an unholy thing to break it.”
“高文爵士，那天之前，双方没有人破坏过法律，”埃克索说。“破坏法律是亵渎神明的事情。”
“Ah, now you recall it!”
“啊，现在你记起来了！”
“My memory’s of God himself betrayed, sir. And I’m not sorry if the mist robs me further of it.”
“我的记忆是，上帝被背叛了，先生。如果迷雾把我的记忆全部带走，我也不感到遗憾。”
“For a time I wished the same of the mist, Master Axl. Yet soon I understood the hand of a truly great king. For the wars stopped at last, wasn’t that so, sir? Hasn’t peace been our companion since that day?”
“有一阵子，埃克索阁下，我也希望这样。但很快我就理解了一位真正伟大的国王的战略。因为战争终于停止了，难道不是吗，先生？那天之后，我们不一直处于和平之中吗？”
“My horse, sir? You imply I’ve no more use of my Horace? You go too far, sir! I don’t fear him, even if he’s youth on his side!”
“我的马，先生？你这是暗示说，我已经用不着我的霍拉斯了？这你说得太轻率啦，先生！我可不害怕他，尽管他年轻，占了便宜！”
“Remind me no more, Sir Gawain. I don’t thank you for it. Let me see instead the life I led with my dear wife, shivering here beside me. Will you not lend us your horse, sir? At least down to the woods where we met. We’ll leave him safely there to await you.”
“不要再提醒我了，高文爵士。我并不领情。让我看着和亲爱的妻子一起度过的日子吧，她在我身旁发抖呢。你不愿意把马借给我们吗，先生？至少到我们见面的那个树林。我们会把马安全地留在那儿等着你。”
“My horse, sir? Do you insist his eyes be masked or watch his master’s fall? He’s a battlehorse, sir! Not some pony frolics in buttercups! A battlehorse, sir, and well ready to see me fall or triumph as God wills!”
“我的马，先生？你要坚持把他的眼睛蒙起来，不让他看着主人倒下？那是匹战马，先生！可不是在毛茛丛里撒欢的小矮马！战马啊，先生，无论上帝旨意如何，让我倒下还是获胜，他都敢看！”
“I imply nothing, Sir Gawain, only ask for the assistance of your excellent horse to carry my wife down to shelter…”
“我没有暗示什么，高文爵士，只请求你这匹好马帮忙，驮我妻子下山休息…”
“If my wife must travel on my own back, sir knight, so be it. Yet I thought you might spare your horse at least the distance down to the wood…”
“如果我妻子只能由我自己背下山的话，骑士阁下，那就这样吧。我还以为你能让我们用一下你的马，至少到树林那么多路…”
“Oh Axl, I’ll not return to those woods! Why insist we leave this place now and go down there? Can it be, husband, you still fear the mist’s fading, never mind the promise I made you?”
“噢，埃克索，我不愿意回到树林！为什么一定要我们现在离开，下山到那个地方去呢？丈夫啊，你是不是仍然害怕迷雾消散，尽管我对你作了承诺？”
“I’ll remain here, Axl, never mind this cruel wind, and if Master Wistan’s nearly upon us, we’ll stay and see if it’s him or the she-dragon survives this day. Or is it you’d rather not see the mist fade after all, husband?”
“我要待在这儿，埃克索，别管这残酷的山风了，如果维斯坦阁下马上要来，我们就留下来，看看能活过今天的，是他还是母龙。丈夫啊，难道你还是不愿意这迷雾消退吗？”
“I’ve seen it before many times, sir! An eager young one brought down by a wise old head. Many times!”
“我以前见过很多次啦，先生！急不可待的年轻人，被经验丰富的老家伙打倒。很多次啦！”
“Will you not understand the acts of a great king, sir? We can only watch and wonder. A great king, like God himself, must perform deeds mortals flinch from! Do you think there were none that caught my eye? A tender flower or two passed on the way I didn’t long to press to my bosom? Is this metal coat to be my only bedfellow? Who calls me a coward, sir? Or a slaughterer of babes? Where were you that day? Were you with us? My helmet! I left it in those woods! But what need of it now? The armour too I’d take off but I fear you all laughing to see the skinned fox beneath!”
“难道你无法理解一位伟大国王的行动吗，先生？我们只能看着，只能赞赏。一位伟大的国王，像上帝本人一样，必须做出令常人畏缩的行动！你以为我的眼睛就看不见吗？路上看到一两朵娇柔的花儿，我难道就不想放在胸口？难道床上就只能让这身铁衣裳给我作伴？谁说我是个懦夫，先生？谁说我屠杀婴儿？那天你上哪儿去啦？和我们在一起吗？我的头盔！我丢在树林里啦！可现在要头盔有什么用呢？这身盔甲我都想脱掉，只是这盔甲下面的身体，像只剥了皮的狐狸，我担心你们看到了会笑话！”
“Is it not enough, husband, I swore you an oath, and only this morning, I’d not let go what I feel in my heart for you today, no matter what the mist’s fading reveals?”
“我已经向你发过誓了，就在今天早上，无论迷雾消散之后出现什么情况，我都不会忘记我今天心里对你的感情，丈夫啊，难道这还不够吗？”
“Sir, let me implore you again to remember your gentlemanly ways. This wind drains my wife of strength.”
“先生，我再次请求你回想一下你的绅士风度。这风把我妻子的气力都耗尽了。”
“My apologies,” the warrior said. “Yet it’s all I can do to stop him leaping rock to rock till he breaks himself.”
“很抱歉，”武士说道。“我只能想出这个办法来阻止他，否则他要踩着石头一路跳过来，把自己折腾死为止。”
For a moment, all three of them were shouting over each other, the howl of the wind a fourth voice against theirs, but now Axl became aware that both Gawain and his wife had fallen silent and were staring past his shoulder. Turning, he saw the warrior and the Saxon boy standing at the cliff’s edge, almost on the very spot where before Sir Gawain had been gazing broodingly out at the view. The sky had thickened, so that to Axl it was as if the newcomers had been carried here on the clouds. Now both of them, in near-silhouette, appeared peculiarly transfixed: the warrior holding firm his rein in both hands like a charioteer; the boy leaning forward at an angle, both arms outstretched as though for balance. There was a new sound in the wind, and then Axl heard Sir Gawain say: “Ah! the boy sings again! Can you not make him cease, sir?”
有一下子，三个人都在相互叫喊，大风呼号，成了与他们抗衡的第四个声音，但现在埃克索突然意识到，高文和妻子都已经住了口，盯着他身后看。他一转身，看见武士和那名撒克逊男孩站在悬崖边上，高文爵士之前也曾站在同一地点，若有所思地眺望着远方。这时天上阴云密布，所以在埃克索看来，这两位似乎是驾着云凌空而降的。他们的剪影，看起来特别像一幅定格的图画：武士双手紧紧拉着缰绳，像驾驶战车一样；男孩身体向前倾着，与地面形成一定角度，双臂向前伸展，似乎是为了平衡身体。风里传来了一个新的声音，接着埃克索听见高文说：“啊！这孩子又唱起来了！你就不能让他停下来吗，先生？”
Wistan gave a laugh, and the two figures lost their rigidity and came towards them, the boy pulling in front.
维斯坦笑了一声，两个身影都动了起来，男孩在前面拉着，两人走了过来。
“What can be the matter with the boy, Axl?” Beatrice said, close to his ear, and he was grateful to hear the gentle intimacy returned to her voice. “He was just this way before that dog appeared.”
“这男孩是怎么了，埃克索？”比特丽丝在他耳边说道，听到她声音里又恢复了往日的温柔亲密，埃克索心生感激。“那条狗出现之前，他就是这个样子。”
“The same business as yours, Master Wistan. We crave the end to this she-dragon who robs us of treasured memories. You see, sir, we’ve brought with us a poisoned goat to do our work.”
“和你一样，维斯坦阁下。这条母龙夺走了我们宝贵的记忆，我们渴望看到她的末日。你看，先生，我们带来了一头有毒的山羊，让它帮我们达成心愿。”
“It taxed us greatly bringing it here, Master Wistan,” Beatrice said, “even if we were helped by this good knight met again on the way up. But seeing you here, I’m cheered, for it must be our hopes no longer rest solely with our animal.”
“把羊牵到这儿来，可花了我们不少力气，维斯坦阁下，”比特丽丝说，“尽管上山的时候又遇到了这位好心的骑士，得到了他的帮助。但是在这儿看到你，我很高兴，因为看来我们不用完全指望这头山羊啦。”
“Must he sing so untunefully?” Sir Gawain addressed Wistan again. “I’d box his ears but fear he’d not even feel me!”
“他一定要唱得这么难听吗？”高文爵士又对武士说。“我倒想打他几耳光，但是恐怕他都感觉不到！”
The warrior, still approaching, laughed again, then glanced cheerfully at Axl and Beatrice. “My friends, this is a surprise. I fancied you’d be in your son’s village by now. What brings you instead to this lonely spot?”
武士越走越近，又笑了起来，然后他高兴地看了一眼埃克索和比特丽丝。“我的朋友们，这可没想到啊。我还以为这时候你们早到儿子的村庄了。怎么到这个偏僻的地方来了呢？”
Wistan regarded the animal and shook his head. “This must be a mighty and cunning creature we face, friends. I fear your goat may not trouble her beyond a belch or two.”
维斯坦打量着山羊，然后摇了摇头。“朋友们，我们要面对的，肯定是个庞大而狡猾的家伙。恐怕你们的山羊对她没什么作用，最多打一两个嗝而已。”
“Master Wistan,” Axl said, “we share a duty to keep this boy from harm. We must watch him carefully in this high place.”
“维斯坦阁下，”埃克索说，“我们都有责任不让这个男孩受到伤害。在这么高的地方，我们要仔细盯着他。”
“I hold him by a leash, sir, but can no more control him than a crazed goblin.”
“我用绳子拉着他，先生，但我没法控制他——简直和发疯的小妖精一样。”
“Master Edwin appears anxious to reach those rocks up there. Sir Gawain, what lies in them? I see stones piled one upon another, as though to hide a pit or lair.”
“埃德温阁下似乎急于赶到那边山上去。高文爵士，那山里有什么？我看到石头叠在一起，好像是要隐藏一个坑洞或巢穴啊。”
“Why ask me, sir?” said Sir Gawain. “Ask your young companion and he may even stop his songs!”
“为什么问我呢，先生？”高文爵士说。“问你年轻的同伴吧，他也许连歌都可以不唱了呢！”
The warrior led Edwin to where Axl had hammered in the stake, and crouching down began securing the boy’s rope to it. Indeed it seemed to Axl that Wistan lavished unusual care on this task, testing repeatedly each knot he made, as well as the soundness of Axl’s handiwork. Meanwhile the boy himself remained oblivious. He calmed somewhat, but his gaze stayed fixed on the rocks at the top of the slope, and he continued to tug with quiet insistence. His singing, though far less shrill, had gained a dogged quality that reminded Axl of the way exhausted soldiers sing to keep marching. For its part, the goat had moved as far away as its own rope would allow, but was nonetheless gawping in fascination.
武士牵着埃德温，来到埃克索钉的木桩旁，蹲下身子，开始把捆男孩的绳子系上去。的确，在埃克索看来，维斯坦这件事似乎做得特别仔细，每个结紧不紧，埃克索的木桩是否牢靠，都要反复测试。同时，男孩自己仍旧对周围浑然不觉。他多少安静了一些，但目光一直盯着坡顶的岩石，而且仍旧在安静而执拗地拽着绳子。他的歌声远没有刚才那么尖锐，但有一种绝不放弃的味道，让埃克索想起疲惫的士兵唱着歌以继续行军。山羊呢，在绳子许可的范围内，已经走到了最远的地方，不过眼睛仍然在傻傻地盯着前方，好像很感兴趣一样。
But now Edwin’s singing was making it hard for them to hear one another, and the boy was tugging more than ever, the object of his attention quite evidently a spot at the crest of the next slope. Wistan gave the rope a sharp pull, then said:
但是，这时候埃德温的歌声让大家很难听见对方的话，而且他在拼命拉绳子，目标显然是下一道山坡坡顶的某个地方。维斯坦狠狠拉了一下绳子，然后说道：
“Well said, sir. I’ll tether him, if I may, to the same post as your goat.”
“说得好，先生。如果可以的话，我就把他绑在你拴山羊的那根木桩上。”
As for Sir Gawain, he had been watching Wistan’s every movement with care, and — so it seemed to Axl — a kind of sly cunning had come into his eyes. As the Saxon warrior had become absorbed in his task, the knight had moved stealthily closer, drawn out his sword, and planting it into the soil, leant his weight on it, forearms resting on the broad hilt. In this stance, Gawain was now watching Wistan, and it struck Axl he might be memorising details concerning the warrior’s person: his height, his reach, the strength in the calves, the strapped left arm.
至于高文爵士，他一直仔细地观察着维斯坦的每一个动作，而且——在埃克索看来——他的眼睛里慢慢露出了某种狡黠的神色。撒克逊武士专心做着手头的事情，骑士则悄悄走到近前，拔出剑，插在泥土里，然后将两条胳膊放在宽大的剑柄上，让剑支撑着身体。现在，他保持着这个姿势，正在观察维斯坦，埃克索想到，他也许在回忆关于武士的各种细节：身高、攻击范围、小腿的力量、绑着绷带的左臂。
His work completed to his satisfaction, Wistan rose and turned to face Sir Gawain. For a small moment there was a strange uneasiness in the looks they exchanged, then Wistan smiled warmly.
维斯坦满意地系好了绳子，站起身来，转身面对着高文爵士。两人互相看着，短短一瞬间，他们的眼神中有种奇怪的焦虑感，随后维斯坦便热情地笑了。
“Now here’s a custom divides Britons from Saxons,” he said, pointing. “See there, sir. Your sword’s drawn and you use it to rest your weight, as if it’s cousin to a chair or footstool. To any Saxon warrior, even one taught by Britons as I was, it seems a strange custom.”
“这个习惯呢，就能看出不列颠人和撒克逊人的不同了，”他用手指着，说道。“你看那儿，先生。你的剑拔出来了，你用它来支撑身体，好像那是椅子或板凳之类的东西。虽然教我的是不列颠人，但对任何撒克逊武士来说，这都是个奇怪的做法。”
“Grow to my creaky years, sir, you’ll see if it seems so strange! In days of peace like these, I fancy a good sword’s only too glad of the work, even if just to relieve its owner’s bones. What’s odd about it, sir?”
“活到我这把风烛残年吧，先生，你就知道是不是那么奇怪了！这是和平年代，我想一把好剑能起点作用总是高兴的吧，哪怕是用来给主人歇歇这把老骨头。有什么奇怪的呢，先生？”
“But observe, Sir Gawain, how it presses into the earth. Now to us Saxons, a sword’s edge is a thing of never-sleeping worry. We fear to show a blade even the air lest it lose a tiny part of its edge.”
“可是，高文爵士，你仔细看看，剑都插进土里了。对我们撒克逊人来说，剑的刃口是连睡觉都要关心的事情。我们甚至都不让刃口接触到空气，担心它失去哪怕一丁点儿锋刃。”
“Is that so? A sharp edge’s of importance, Master Wistan, I’ll not dispute. But isn’t there too much made of it? Good footwork, sound strategy, calm courage. And that little wildness makes a warrior hard to predict. These are what determine a contest, sir. And the knowledge God wills one’s victory. So let an old man rest his shoulders. Besides, aren’t there times a sword left in the sheath’s drawn too late? I’ve stood this way on many a battlefield to gather breath, comforted my blade’s already out and ready, and it won’t be rubbing its eyes and asking me if it’s afternoon or morn even as I try to put it to good use.”
“是这样吗？锋利的剑刃很重要，维斯坦阁下，这我不打算争辩。不过，也不是什么都靠剑刃吧？好的步伐，可靠的战略，镇定自若的勇气。还要有那么一点儿野路子，让人难以捉摸。先生，这些才是决定竞技的要素。还要相信获胜是上帝的旨意。所以呢，还是让老人家歇歇脚吧。而且，剑插在剑鞘里，有时候不是来不及拔吗？我在很多战场上都是这么站着喘气的，心里很踏实，因为我的剑已经拔出来了，随时可以出击，绝不会等我要用它的时候，它却揉着眼睛，迷迷糊糊地问我，这是下午呢，还是早晨啊。”
“A difference in custom then, sir. It reminds me of a Saxon I once knew, a fine fellow, and he and I gathering kindling on a cold night. I would be busying my sword to hack from a dead tree, yet there he is beside me, employing his bare hands and sometimes a blunt stone. ‘Have you forgotten your blade, friend?’ I asked him. ‘Why go at it like a sharp-clawed bear?’ But he wouldn’t hear me. At the time I thought him crazed, yet now you enlighten me. Even with my years, there are still lessons to learn!”
“看来是风俗不同吧，先生。这让我想起以前认识的一个撒克逊人，一个不错的家伙，我和他在一个寒冷的夜晚搜集柴火。我忙着用剑砍一棵死树，而他就在我旁边，只用双手，有时候用块钝石头。‘你忘记你的剑了吗，我的朋友？’我问他。‘为什么要空手，像头有利爪的熊呢？’但他不听我的。当时我以为他疯了，现在呢，你让我明白道理啦。就是活到我这么大年纪，还是有功课要学习啊！”
“Then it must be we Saxons keep our swords more heartlessly. For we demand they not sleep at all, even as they rest in the dark of their scabbards. Take my own here, sir. It knows my manner well. It doesn’t expect to take the air without soon touching flesh and bone.”
“看来我们撒克逊人对剑更狠心一些。因为我们根本不许它睡觉，哪怕在黑暗的剑鞘中休息时也不许睡。看看我自己的剑吧，先生。它很了解我的脾气。它知道，一旦呼吸了空气，很快就会碰上皮肉和骨头。”
They both laughed briefly, then Wistan said:
两人都笑了笑，然后维斯坦说：
“There may be more than custom on my side, Sir Gawain. I was always taught that even as my blade travels through one opponent, I must in my thought prepare the cut that will follow. Now if my edge isn’t sharp, sir, and the blade’s passage slowed even a tiny instant, snagged in bone or dawdling through the tangles of a man’s insides, I’ll surely be late for the next cut, and on such may hang victory or defeat.”
“高文爵士，站在我这边的也许不仅仅是风俗。他们总是教我，哪怕在我的剑刃穿过对手身体时，我的脑子里也必须为接下来的那一剑做准备。如果我的剑刃不够锋利，先生，剑的运行哪怕只慢一丁点儿，碰上骨头时顿了一下，或者在对手缠结的内脏中耽搁了，那么我的下一剑必然会慢，胜负也许就在这一瞬间。”
“Of course, sir, take your comfort. Merely a thought struck me seeing you rest that way.”
“当然啦，先生，你舒服就行。看见你这么休息，我想起了这一点而已。”
“You’re right, sir. I believe it’s old age and these long years of peace make me careless. I’ll follow your example from here, yet just now my knees sag from the climb, and I beg you allow me this small relief.”
“你说得对，先生。我相信我是年纪大了，而且多年没有打仗，才这么粗心。从现在开始我要以你为榜样，可是我的膝盖因为爬山没了力气，求你给我这份小小的安慰吧。”
Suddenly Edwin stopped singing and began to shout. He was making the same statement over and over, and Axl, turning to Beatrice beside him, asked quietly: “What is it he says, princess?”
突然，埃德温停止歌唱，开始叫喊起来。他一遍一遍喊着相同的话，埃克索转过脸，低声问身旁的比特丽丝：“他说什么呢，公主？”
“Sir Gawain,” Axl said finally. “We look now to you, sir. Let’s keep no more disguises between us. You’re the she-dragon’s protector, are you not?”
“高文爵士，”最后埃克索说道。“现在我们都看着你啦，先生。我们之间就不要遮遮掩掩了。你是母龙的守护人，不是吗？”
“I am, sir.” Gawain gazed at each of them in turn, Edwin included, with an air of defiance. “Her protector, and lately her only friend. The monks kept her fed for years, leaving tethered animals at this spot, as you do. But now they quarrel among themselves, and Querig senses their treachery. Yet she knows I stay loyal.”
“是的，先生。”高文神色傲慢，轮流盯着大家，包括埃德温。“她的守护人，最近也是她唯一的朋友。僧侣们喂了她很多年，和你们一样，把动物拴在这个地方。但是现在他们自己吵了起来，魁瑞格察觉到了他们的背叛。不过她知道，我依然忠心耿耿。”
Wistan and Gawain were both staring at the boy with something like embarrassment. For another moment, Edwin continued to shout and pull, then fell silent, slumping down onto the ground, and appeared on the verge of tears. No one spoke for what seemed a long time, the wind howling between them.
维斯坦和高文两人瞪大眼睛看着这男孩，神色都有些尴尬。埃德温一边喊叫，一边拽着绳子，过了一会儿，他安静下来，瘫软在地上，好像马上就要哭出来似的。时间过得很慢，大家很久都没说话，只有大风呼号。
“He talks of some bandits’ camp lies up there. He bids us all follow him to it.”
“他说，那山上有什么土匪的营地。要我们都跟他去。”
“She’s near, sir. You’ve done well to arrive here, even if you had good fortune stumbling on that boy for a guide.”
“她就在附近，先生。你能找到这儿来，很不容易，尽管你运气好，碰到了这个男孩给你当向导。”
“Master Edwin here may prove of greater fortune yet,” said the warrior. “For I’ve a hunch he’s a pupil to quickly surpass his poor master and one day do great things for his kin. Perhaps even as your Arthur did for his.”
“埃德温阁下以后可能运气更好呢，”武士说。“因为我有直觉，这个学生很快就会超过他可怜的老师，总有一天会为他的同胞做出了不起的事情。也许和你们的亚瑟王差不多呢。”
“Then Sir Gawain,” Wistan said, “will you care to tell us if we stand near the she-dragon now?”
“那么，高文爵士，”维斯坦说，“你能不能告诉大家，我们现在站的地方，就在这母龙附近吗？”
Edwin, who was back on his feet, began to sing once more, albeit in a low chant-like manner.
埃德温已经站起身，又开始唱起来，不过声音很低，像吟诵经文一样。
“Perhaps Master Wistan here’s keen to explain it, mistress.”
“夫人，也许维斯坦阁下很想解释这件事。”
“Sir Gawain,” Beatrice interrupted, “tell a weary old woman if you will. How is it a fine knight like you, and a nephew to the great Arthur, turns out this she-dragon’s protector?”
“高文爵士，”比特丽丝插了一句，“能说的话，就跟我这个疲惫的老太太说说吧。你是位优秀的骑士，还是伟大的亚瑟王的外甥，怎么成了母龙的守护人呢？”
“What, sir? This boy now singing and tugging like a half-wit?”
“先生，你说什么？就这个像傻子一样又拉绳子又唱歌的男孩？”
“On the contrary, I’m as eager as Mistress Beatrice to hear your account of it. Yet all in good time. First, we must settle one question. Will I cut loose Master Edwin to see where he runs? Or will you, Sir Gawain, lead the way to Querig’s lair?”
“恰恰相反，我和比特丽丝夫人一样，很想听听你的说法。不过，以后还有时间。首先，我们要解决一个问题。我该放开埃德温阁下，看看他往哪儿跑吗？还是你，高文爵士，领我们去魁瑞格的巢穴？”
“I thank you, sir,” Wistan said. “I’m grateful we spare the boy the danger. Yet I may now guess the way without a guide. We must go to those rocks atop this next slope, must we not?”
“我谢谢你啦，先生，”维斯坦说。“我们不让这孩子涉险，我很感谢。不过，现在就算没有向导，我或许也能猜出路来。我们要去的地方，就是下一道山坡顶上那些石头那儿，是不是啊？”
Sir Gawain sighed again, glanced at Axl as though for help, then shook his head sadly. “Quite right, sir,” he said. “Those rocks circle a pit, and no small one. A pit as deep as a quarry, and you’ll find Querig asleep there. If you really mean to fight her, Master Wistan, you’ll have to climb down into it. Now I ask you, sir, do you really mean to do such a wild thing?”
高文爵士又叹了口气，望了一眼埃克索，好像是要求助一样，然后又伤心地摇了摇头。“非常对，先生，”他说。“那些石头围成一圈，中间是个坑，可不是小坑哪，有采石场那么大。你们会发现魁瑞格在那儿睡觉。维斯坦阁下，如果你真想要斗它，那就必须爬到坑下面去。现在我问你，先生，你真打算做这么疯狂的事情吗？”
Sir Gawain stared emptily at the struggling boy, then sighed. “Leave him where he is,” he said heavily. “I’ll lead the way.” He straightened to his full height, pulled the sword from the ground and carefully returned it to its scabbard.
男孩正在挣扎，高文爵士瞪大眼睛看着，眼神空洞，然后他叹了口气。“把他留在这儿吧，”他语气沉重地说。“我来带路。”他挺直了身子，从地上拔起剑来，小心地插回剑鞘。
“I’ve come this long way to do so, sir.”
“先生，我走了这么远的路来，就是为了做这件事。”
“Master Wistan,” Beatrice said, “if you’ll excuse an old woman’s intrusion. You laughed just now at our goat, but this is a great battle you face. If this knight will not help you, at least allow us to take our goat up this last slope and prod it down into this pit. If you must fight a she-dragon single-handed, let it be one slowed by poison.”
“维斯坦阁下，”比特丽丝说，“我这个老太太要插句嘴，请你原谅。你刚才嘲笑我们的山羊，但你现在面临的是一场大战。如果这位骑士不愿帮助你，至少允许我们把山羊牵上这最后的山坡，然后把它赶进坑里去。如果你要一个人与母龙战斗的话，中毒的母龙行动总要慢一点。”
“But Sir Gawain,” Beatrice said, “my husband and I’ve stretched our strength to come this far. We’d walk with you this last slope if there’s a way to do so without danger.”
“可是，高文爵士，”比特丽丝说，“我和丈夫用尽了气力才走了这么远。我们愿意和你一起走完这最后的山坡，如果没什么危险的话。”
Sir Gawain once again shook his head helplessly. “Then let’s all go together, friends. I dare say no harm will befall you, and I’ll be easier myself for your presence. Come, friends, let’s go to Querig’s lair, and keep your voices low lest she stir from her sleep.”
高文爵士又一次无奈地摇摇头。“那我们就一起走吧，朋友们。我敢说你们不会受到伤害，而且你们在场，我自己也轻松一些。走吧，朋友们，到魁瑞格的巢穴去，说话声音轻一点啊，不要把她惊醒。”
“Then let’s have it over with,” Sir Gawain said. “Come, sir, I’ll lead the way.” Then to Axl and Beatrice: “Wait down here, friends, and hide from the wind beside the cairn. You’ll not wait long.”
“那我们就做个了结吧，”高文爵士说。“来吧，先生，我来带路。”然后他对埃克索和比特丽丝说：“在山下等着吧，朋友们，在石冢旁边避避风。你们不用等很久的。”
“Thank you, mistress, your concern’s well received. Yet while I may take advantage of her slumber, poison’s a weapon I don’t care to employ. Besides, I lack the patience now to wait another half day or more to discover if the she-dragon will sicken from her supper.”
“谢谢你，夫人，你的建议非常周到。不过，我也许会利用她正在睡觉的机会，下毒这种武器我就不想使用了。何况我现在也没什么耐心，不想再等半天或者更久，看看母龙吃了晚餐之后会不会生病。”
As they ascended the next path, the wind grew less harsh, even though they felt more than ever to be touching the sky. The knight and the warrior were striding steadily before them, for all the world like two old companions taking the air together, and before long a distance had opened between them and the elderly couple.
他们沿着下一条道往上走，山风没那么猛烈了，尽管大家都觉得离天空更近，几乎触手可及。骑士和武士大步走在前面，像两位老伙伴一起散步，不久他们俩和这对老夫妻之间就拉开了距离。
But Beatrice’s step remained determined. “I’ll have us go on,” she said. “Here, Axl, take my hand and help me keep my courage. For I’m thinking now I’m the one to fear most the mist’s clearing, not you. I stood beside those stones just now and it came to me there were dark things I did to you once, husband. Feel how this hand trembles in yours to think they may be returned to us! What will you say to me then? Will you turn away and leave me on this bleak hill? There’s a part of me would see this brave warrior fall even as he walks before us now, yet I’ll not have us hide. No, I’ll not, Axl, and aren’t you the same? Let’s see freely the path we’ve come together, whether it’s in dark or mellow sun. And if this warrior must really face the she-dragon in her own pit, let’s do what we can to keep up his spirits. It may be a shout of warning in the right place, or one to rouse him from a fierce blow will make the difference.”
但比特丽丝仍然坚定地向前走。“我希望我们继续走，”她说。“来吧，埃克索，抓住我的手，帮助我不要泄气。因为现在我在想，最担心迷雾消散的人应该是我，不是你。刚才站在那堆石头那儿，我想起来了，丈夫啊，我曾对你做过不好的事情。想起那些事情可能回到我们脑海中，你看看，你握的这只手都在颤抖！到时候你会对我说什么呢？你会不会转身就走，把我丢在这荒山上？这勇敢的武士现在就在我们前面走，我心里有个声音，希望他倒下去，但是我又不愿意我们躲躲藏藏。是的，不愿意，埃克索，你不也这样想吗？我们一起走过的路，无论阴云密布还是阳光明媚，我们都坦坦荡荡地面对吧！如果这位武士真要在母龙自己的巢穴里与她战斗，让我们尽力帮他提升斗志吧。有危险的时候喊一声，或者在对手发起猛烈攻击的时候提醒一下，说不定结果就不一样了呢。”
“This is foolishness, princess,” Axl said as they walked. “What business do we have following these gentlemen? And who knows what dangers lie ahead? Let’s turn back and wait beside the boy.”
“这是傻事，公主，”两人走着，埃克索说道。“我们跟着他们走干什么呢？谁知道前面还有什么危险？我们回去吧，和那个小男孩一起等着。”
Axl had let her talk on, listening with only half his mind as he walked, because he had become aware once more of something at the far edge of his memory: a stormy night, a bitter hurt, a loneliness opening before him like unfathomed waters. Could it really have been he, not Beatrice, standing alone in their chamber, unable to sleep, a small candle lit before him?
埃克索任凭她絮絮叨叨，一边走路一边心不在焉地听着，因为他又意识到，在遥远的记忆边缘藏着什么事情：一个风雨交加的夜晚，一次深深的伤害，一种孤独感在他面前裂开，如同深不见底的海水。孤身一人在屋里站着，无法入睡，手里拿着一根点亮的小蜡烛——那个人真的是他，而不是比特丽丝吗？
Indeed Sir Gawain and Wistan had halted on the path ahead to wait for them, and appeared to be in genial conversation. As he came up to them, Axl could hear Sir Gawain saying with a small chuckle: “I’ll confess, Master Wistan, my hope’s that even now Querig’s breath will rob you of the memory of why you walk beside me. I await eagerly your asking where it is I lead you! Yet I see from both your eye and step you forget little.”
的确，高文爵士和维斯坦已经停了下来，在前面的路上等着，看来两人正在愉快地交谈。埃克索走上来，听见高文爵士正笑着说道：“我说实话吧，维斯坦阁下，我希望这时候魁瑞格的气息夺走你的记忆，让你忘记为什么和我走在一起。我就等着你问，我这是要把你领到哪儿呢？可是，从你的眼睛和步伐上看，你可一点儿也没忘记啊！”
“What became of our son, princess?” he asked suddenly, and felt her hand tighten on his. “Does he really wait for us in his village? Or will we search this country for a year and still not find him?”
“我们的儿子后来怎么啦，公主？”他突然问道，随即感觉她的手抓紧了。“他真的在村里等我们吗？会不会我们在全国找上一年都没有他的踪影？”
“It’s a thought came to me too, but I was afraid to think it aloud. But hush now, Axl, or we’ll be heard.”
“这我也想过，但我不敢说出来。现在还是别说了吧，埃克索，人家会听到的。”
Wistan smiled. “I believe, sir, it’s this very gift to withstand strange spells won me this errand from my king. For in the fens, we’ve never known a creature quite like this Querig, yet have known others with wonderful powers, and it was noticed how little I was swayed, even as my comrades swooned and wandered in dreams. I fancy this was my king’s only reason to choose me, for almost all my comrades at home are better warriors than this one walks beside you now.”
维斯坦微笑着。“我有抵抗奇怪魔咒的天赋，先生，我相信国王把这件任务交给我，正是因为这个原因。在东方的沼泽地，我们从没有过像魁瑞格那样的家伙，但是有神奇魔力的动物，我们却知道很多，大家发现我的战友们晕倒了，在梦里游荡，我却不怎么受影响。我想国王选择我，这是唯一的原因吧。我国内的所有战友，几乎都比你身边走的这位更加优秀。”
“You overestimate me, sir. Yesterday, needing to bring down that soldier under your gaze, I was all too aware how a man of your skill might view my small accomplishments. Sufficient to defeat a frightened guardsman, but far short of your approval, I fear.”
“这你过奖啦，先生。昨天，我不得不在你的注视之下打倒那名士兵，我小小的造诣，在你这样才能卓越的人眼里算不了什么，我心里很清楚。打败一名胆怯的卫兵够了，但要获得你的赞赏，恐怕还差得远呢。”
“Impossible to believe, Master Wistan! Both report and observation tell of your extraordinary qualities.”
“这让人很难相信，维斯坦阁下！传言和现场观察，都证明你有罕见的本领。”
“What nonsense, sir! You’re a splendid fellow, and no more of it! Now, friends’– Gawain turned his gaze to include Axl and Beatrice –“it’s not so far now. Let’s be moving on while she still sleeps.”
“这真是胡说，先生！你是个了不起的人物，这种话就不要再说啦！好啦，朋友们”——高文转过脸来看着埃克索和比特丽丝——“现在路不远啦。我们趁她还在睡觉，继续走吧。”
They continued in silence. This time Axl and Beatrice did not fall behind, for a sense of solemnity seemed to descend on Gawain and Wistan, making them proceed in front at an almost ceremonial pace. In any case, the ground had become less demanding, levelling to something like a plateau. The rocks they had discussed from below now loomed before them, and Axl could see, as they came ever nearer, how they were arranged in a rough semi-circle around the top of a mound to the side of their path. He could see too how a row of smaller stones rose in a kind of stairway up the side of the mound, leading right up to the rim of what could only be a pit of significant depth. The grass all around where they had now arrived seemed to have been blackened or burnt, lending the surroundings — already without tree or shrub — an atmosphere of decay. Gawain, bringing the party to a halt near where the crude stairway began, turned to face Wistan with some deliberation.
他们默默地继续走路。这次埃克索和比特丽丝没有落后，高文和维斯坦似乎被某种庄重的氛围包裹，在前面走路时一步一顿，如同参加重大礼仪。而且地面平缓下来，有点像高原，走起来也不那么累。他们在下面谈论过的那些石块，现在就矗立在前方。他们逐渐走近，埃克索看到，路边有个小山丘，石块在山丘顶部大致排列成半圆形。他还看到一排小石头，像阶梯一样，一直向上通到山丘顶部，看来那上面肯定是个很深的坑。他们现在所到的地方，周围的草或黑或焦，四下里本来就没有树或灌木，这时更增添了荒凉衰败的气氛。到了那粗糙的石头台阶下面，高文让大家停下来，面色郑重地对维斯坦说道：
“Will you not consider a last time, sir, leaving this dangerous plan? Why not return now to your orphan tied to his stick? There’s his voice in the wind even now.”
“先生，你就不最后再考虑一下放弃这个危险的计划吗？为什么不现在回头，去找你那位绑在木桩上的孤儿呢？这时候风里还有他的声音呢。”
The warrior glanced back the way they had come, then looked again at Sir Gawain. “You know it, sir. I cannot turn back. Show me this dragon.”
武士回头望望他们走过的路，然后又看着高文爵士。“你知道的，先生。我无法回头。带我去看龙吧。”
Sir Gawain led the way up the side of the mound and on reaching the rocks signalled for them to wait. He then peered over carefully, and after a moment, beckoned to them, saying in a low voice: “Come stand along here, friends, and you’ll see her well enough.”
高文爵士在前面带路，爬上山丘，快到那圈岩石的时候，他打了个手势，让大家停下。他小心翼翼地探头张望，过了一会儿，他招手让他们上来，低声说：“站到这儿来，朋友们，你们能看得很清楚。”
The old knight nodded thoughtfully, as though Wistan had just made some casual but fascinating observation.
老骑士若有所思地点点头，好像维斯坦刚刚随口发表了一个非常有趣的观点一样。
“Very well, friends,” he said. “Then keep your voices low, for what purpose should we wake her?”
“好吧，朋友们，”他说。“那你们不要大声说话，我们吵醒她干什么呢？”
Axl helped his wife onto a ledge beside him, then leant over one of the rocks. The pit below was broader and shallower than he had expected — more like a drained pond than something actually dug into the ground. The greater part of it was now in pale sunlight, and seemed to consist entirely of grey rock and gravel — the blackened grass finishing abruptly at the rim — so that the only living thing visible, aside from the dragon herself, was a solitary hawthorn bush sprouting incongruously through the stone near the centre of the pit’s belly.
埃克索扶着妻子站到身旁一块突出的地方，然后俯身到岩石上看。下面的坑比他想象的更宽、更浅——不像是真正从地上挖出来的，更像一个干枯的水塘。大半个坑被暗淡的阳光照着，似乎全是灰色的石头和沙砾——到边缘兀然变成了焦黑的草——因此除了龙之外，眼睛能看见的唯一的活东西，是一片孤零零的山楂树丛，从坑内深处正中央的那块石头里冒出来，非常惹眼。
As for the dragon, it was hardly clear at first she was alive. Her posture — prone, head twisted to one side, limbs outspread — might easily have resulted from her corpse being hurled into the pit from a height. In fact it took a moment to ascertain this was a dragon at all: she was so emaciated she looked more some worm-like reptile accustomed to water that had mistakenly come aground and was in the process of dehydrating. Her skin, which should have appeared oiled and of a colour not unlike bronze, was instead a yellowing white, reminiscent of the underside of certain fish. The remnants of her wings were sagging folds of skin that a careless glance might have taken for dead leaves accumulated to either side of her. The head being turned against the grey pebbles, Axl could see only the one eye, which was hooded in the manner of a turtle’s, and which opened and closed lethargically according to some internal rhythm. This movement, and the faintest rise and fall along the creature’s backbone, were the only indicators that Querig was still alive.
至于龙呢，一开始几乎很难判断是死是活。她俯身卧着，脑袋扭在一边，四肢伸开，这姿势让人觉得是具尸体，被人从高处扔进了坑里。实际上，要确定这是条龙，都要花点时间：她瘦弱不堪，看起来更像个虫子一样的爬行动物，习惯了水里的生活，却阴差阳错爬上了岸，现在正脱水呢。她的皮肤本该油滑光亮，有着青铜一样的色泽，现在却白得发黄，让人想起某种鱼的肚子。残剩的翅膀不过是一层层耷拉着的皮，不仔细看的话，会以为是龙身体两侧堆积的树叶。龙的脑袋扭向与灰色砾石相对的那一侧，所以埃克索只能看到一只眼睛，上面有海龟那样的眼皮罩着，无精打采地一睁一闭，遵循着某种内在节奏。这一动作，加上脊背的微微起伏，是魁瑞格仍旧活着的仅有迹象。
“Now a little of this comes back to me,” Axl said. “I remember Merlin’s work here and dark it was too.”
“这事我开始有点儿想起来了，”埃克索说。“我记得这是梅林的办法，而且是个阴险的办法。”
“Can this really be her, Axl?” Beatrice said quietly. “This poor creature no more than a fleshy thread?”
“这真的是她吗，埃克索？”比特丽丝低声说。“这可怜的东西，不过是一条有点肉的细绳子罢了，真是她？”
“Is she sick or perhaps already poisoned?” asked Axl.
“她生病了吗，或者已经中毒了？”埃克索问。
“Yet look there, mistress,” Gawain’s voice said behind them. “So long as she’s breath left, she does her duty.”
“可是，公主啊，你看那儿，”高文的声音从他们身后传来。“只要她还有气息，她的影响就还在。”
“Dark, sir?” said Gawain. “Why dark? It was the only way. Even before that battle was properly won, I rode out with four good comrades to tame this same creature, in those days both mighty and angry, so Merlin could place this great spell on her breath. A dark man he may have been, but in this he did God’s will, not only Arthur’s. Without this she-dragon’s breath, would peace ever have come? Look how we live now, sir! Old foes as cousins, village by village. Master Wistan, you fall silent before this sight. I ask again. Will you not leave this poor creature to live out her life? Her breath isn’t what it was, yet holds the magic even now. Think, sir, once that breath should cease, what might be awoken across this land even after these years! Yes, we slaughtered plenty, I admit it, caring not who was strong and who weak. God may not have smiled at us, but we cleansed the land of war. Leave this place, sir, I beg you. We may pray to different gods, yet surely yours will bless this dragon as does mine.”
“阴险，先生？”高文说。“为什么阴险呢？这是唯一的办法。那场战斗还没有真正获胜，我就和四位好战友骑马出发，去驯服这个家伙，那时候她又凶猛又暴躁，驯服之后，梅林才能够在她的气息里种下这伟大的魔咒。他也许是个阴险的人，但这件事他遵从的不仅是亚瑟的命令，还有上帝的旨意。如果没有这条母龙的气息，和平会来吗？先生，看看我们现在的生活！老仇敌变成了兄弟，每个村都是。维斯坦阁下，你看到这儿的情况之后，就没有说过话。我再问一次。难道你不能让这可怜的家伙寿终正寝吗？她的气息不如以前，但即使现在也仍然有魔力。想想吧，先生，一旦这呼吸停止，这片土地上沉睡多年的东西将被唤醒！是啊，我们屠杀了很多人，这我承认，也不去管什么强者弱者。上帝也许不会冲我们微笑，但我们让这片土地免于战争。离开这儿吧，先生，我求你啦。我们信奉的神也许不一样，但你的神肯定也和我的一样，会保佑这条龙吧。”
“She simply grows old, sir, as we all must do. But she still breathes, and so Merlin’s work lingers.”
“她就是老了，先生，就像我们所有人都会老一样。但她还在呼吸，所以梅林的办法仍然有效。”
“What kind of god is it, sir, wishes wrongs to go forgotten and unpunished?”
“希望过错被人遗忘，犯错者逍遥法外，这是什么样的神呢，先生？”
“Foolishness, sir. How can old wounds heal while maggots linger so richly? Or a peace hold for ever built on slaughter and a magician’s trickery? I see how devoutly you wish it, for your old horrors to crumble as dust. Yet they await in the soil as white bones for men to uncover. Sir Gawain, my answer’s unchanged. I must go down into this pit.”
“愚蠢啊，先生。蛆虫越活越肥，旧伤口怎么可能愈合？和平建立在屠杀与魔法师的骗术之上，怎么能够持久？我明白这是你虔诚的渴望，渴望你那些恐怖的往事像尘土一样消于无形。但是，它们却在泥土中蛰伏，像死者的白骨一样，等着人们发掘。高文爵士，我的答复没有更改。我必须到下面的坑里去。”
Wistan turned away from the pit to look at the old knight.
维斯坦转过脸，目光从坑中落到老骑士身上。
“You ask it well, Master Wistan, and I know my god looks uneasily on our deeds of that day. Yet it’s long past and the bones lie sheltered beneath a pleasant green carpet. The young know nothing of them. I beg you leave this place, and let Querig do her work a while longer. Another season or two, that’s the most she’ll last. Yet even that may be long enough for old wounds to heal for ever, and an eternal peace to hold among us. Look how she clings to life, sir! Be merciful and leave this place. Leave this country to rest in forgetfulness.”
“你问得好，维斯坦阁下，我知道我的神为我们那天的行为感到不安。但事情过去很久了，死者安息于地下，地上早已覆盖着怡人的绿草。年轻一代对他们一无所知。我求你离开这个地方，让魁瑞格的作用再发挥一段时间。她还能活一两个季节吧，最多了。可是，那么长时间也许就足以让旧伤口永远愈合，让永久的和平降临在我们中间。你看她多么希望活下去，先生！发发慈悲，离开这个地方吧。让这个国家在遗忘中平复。”
Wistan came past Axl and Beatrice, and down the rough-hewn steps. When he was once more at the foot of the mound, he looked around him and said, in a quite new voice: “Sir Gawain, this earth looks curious here. Can it be the she-dragon, in her more vigorous days, blasted it this way? Or does lightning strike here often to burn the ground before new grasses return?”
维斯坦从埃克索和比特丽丝身边走过，走下粗糙的台阶。他又一次到了山丘脚下，四下里看看，然后说话了，声音与原来完全不同：“高文爵士，这儿的泥土看起来很奇怪。是不是母龙在精力旺盛的时候喷火烧成这个样子的？还是这儿经常遭受雷击，新草长出来之前，地上被焚烧过？”
“You know I cannot, Master Wistan.”
“你知道我做不到，维斯坦阁下。”
Sir Gawain nodded gravely. “I understand, sir.”
高文爵士庄重地点点头。“我理解，先生。”
“It’s as I thought. Well then.”
“我也是这么想的。那好吧。”
Gawain, who had followed him down the mound, also came off the steps, and for a moment the two of them strolled about randomly like companions pondering at which spot to pitch their tent.
高文跟着他也下了山丘，这时他走下台阶，两人四下里随便逛了一会儿，像同伴在寻找搭帐篷的地方一样。
“Then I must ask you in turn, sir knight. Will you leave this place to me and return now to your fine old stallion awaits you below?”
“那么我要反过来请求你了，骑士阁下。你愿意把这个地方留给我，回到现在正在山下等着的那匹忠实的老马那儿去吗？”
“It’s something always puzzled me too, Master Wistan,” Gawain was saying. “For even when younger, she remained above, and I don’t suppose it’s Querig made this blasted ground. Perhaps it was always thus, even when we first brought her here and lowered her into her lair.” Gawain tapped his heel experimentally on the soil. “A good floor, sir, nevertheless.”
“这事儿我也弄不明白，维斯坦阁下，”高文说道。“就算年轻的时候，她也一直在上面，我想地面应该不是魁瑞格烧焦的。也许一直就是这样，我们把她移到这儿放进巢穴的时候，就是这样的。”高文跺跺脚，用脚后跟试一试地面。“不过，地面很不错啊，先生。”
“That’s well observed. Well, then, it’s no bad spot!” Sir Gawain looked up at Axl and Beatrice, who were still up on the ledge, though now with their backs to the pit. “Master Axl,” he called cheerfully, “you were always the great one for diplomacy. Do you care to use your fine eloquence now to let us leave this place as friends?”
“观察很细致。那好吧，这个地方不错！”高文爵士仰头看着埃克索和比特丽丝，他们俩仍旧站在那块突出的地方，不过现在都背对着坑。“埃克索阁下，”他兴冲冲地喊道，“你一直是个外交高手。现在，你还愿意用你的雄辩之术，让我们两人像朋友一样离开这个地方吗？”
They both laughed, then Wistan said:
两人都大笑起来，接着维斯坦说：
“Indeed.” Wistan, his back to Gawain, was also testing the ground with his foot.
“是啊。”维斯坦背对着高文，也在用脚测试地面。
“A needless worry, sir. See how the ground lifts slightly before the cliff there. As for the opposite edge, it’s too far the other way and plenty of thirsty soil first.”
“这是不必要的担心，先生。你看，那边悬崖前的地面要略微高一些。至于另外那一边嘛，距离很远，而且还要先经过一大片干渴的泥土呢。”
“Though perhaps a little short in width?” remarked the knight. “See how that edge rolls over the cliffside. A man who fell here would rest on friendly earth, sure enough, yet his blood may run swiftly through these burnt grasses and over the side. I don’t speak for you, sir, but I’ll not fancy my insides dripping over the cliff like a gull’s white droppings!”
“不过，也许还不够宽？”骑士说道。“你看那条边到了悬崖上。人在这儿倒下，肯定能在友好的土地上安息，但他的血也许会很快流过烧焦的草地，从那边淌到崖下去。我可不是说你的啊，先生，但我可不希望自己的内脏挂在崖壁上，像白色的海鸥粪便一样！”
“I’m sorry, Sir Gawain. You’ve shown us much kindness and we thank you for it. Yet we’re now here to see the end of Querig, and if you’ll defend her, there’s nothing I or my wife can say on your side. Our will’s with Master Wistan in this matter.”
“对不起，高文爵士。你多次帮助我们，我们感谢你。但是，我们到这儿来，是要看着魁瑞格死，如果你要守护她，那我和我妻子就不能帮你说话了。在这件事情上，我们站在维斯坦阁下一边。”
“I see it, sir. Then let me ask at least this of you. I don’t fear this fellow before me. Yet if I should be the one to fall, will you take my good Horace back down this mountain? He’ll welcome a pair of good Britons on his back. You may think he grumbles, but you’ll not be too much for him. Take my dear Horace far away from here and when you’ve no more use of him, find him a fine green meadow where he may eat to his heart’s content and think of old days. Will you do this for me, friends?”
“这我明白了，先生。那么，至少让我提个要求。我并不害怕面前这个人。但是，如果倒下去的是我，你们能不能把我的好霍拉斯带下山去？他肯定会欢迎两个好心的不列颠人骑在背上。你们也许会以为，他可能会哼哼唧唧发牢骚，但你们两人对他来说不会太重。带着我亲爱的霍拉斯离开这里，等你们用不上他了，给他找块上好的绿草地，让他一边尽情地吃，一边想想过去的事情吧。你们可以帮我这个忙吗，朋友？”
“We’ll do it gladly, sir, and your horse will be the saving of us too, for it’s a harsh journey down these hills.”
“我们将很高兴帮忙，先生，而且你的马还是我们的救星呢，这下山的路可不容易。”
“On that point, sir.” Gawain had now come right to the foot of the mound. “I urged you once before to use the river, and do so again. Let Horace take you down these slopes, but once you meet the river, search for a boat to take you east. There’s tin and coins in the saddle to buy your passage.”
“说起这件事，先生。”高文这时候已经到了山丘脚下。“之前我曾劝你们利用那条河，我现在再说一次。让霍拉斯驮着你们下山，你们一到河边，就找艘船往东走。马鞍里有锡块和金币，可以支付船费。”
“But Sir Gawain,” Beatrice said. “If your horse takes the two of us, then how’s your fallen body to be carried from this mountain? In your kindness you neglect your own corpse. And we’d be sorry to bury you in so lonely a spot as this.”
“但是，高文爵士，”比特丽丝说。“如果你的马驮我们两人下山，那么你倒下去之后，尸体怎么下山呢？你太好心了，忘记考虑自己的尸体啦。把你埋葬在这么个孤零零的地方，我们会很难过的。”
“We thank you, sir. Your generosity moves us.”
“我们感谢你，先生。你慷慨大方，令我们感动。”
For an instant, the old knight’s features became solemn, almost sorrowful. Then they creased into a smile, and he said: “Now, mistress. Let’s not discuss burial plans while I still expect to emerge victorious! In any case, this mountain’s no less lonely a spot to me now than any other, and I’d fear the sights my ghost must witness on lower ground should this contest go another way. So no more talk of corpses, madam! Master Wistan, have you anything to ask of these friends should fortune not go your way?”
有一刻，老骑士的面色变得庄重起来，几乎有些悲怆。但是，那张脸上随即绽出笑容来，他说：“好啦，夫人。我还指望能获胜呢，我们就不要讨论怎么埋葬了吧！反正现在对我来说，这座山也不见得比其他地方更加孤单，就算这场战斗不顺利，我还担心我的鬼魂在低地上要看着不想看的场景呢。所以不要谈论尸体啦，夫人！维斯坦阁下，如果运气不在你那边，你有没有什么事要请这两位朋友帮忙呢？”
“We’ll do so, sir,” Axl said. “We’ll seek the best for him, even though the wound he carries makes his future a dark one.”
“我们答应你，先生，”埃克索说。“我们会为他找到最好的村子，尽管他身上带着特殊的伤，前途不容乐观。”
“That’s well said. Now I’m reminded I must do even more to survive this meeting. Well, Sir Gawain, shall we go to it?”
“说得好。这提醒了我，我应该更加努力，不能在这次较量中倒下。好啦，高文爵士，我们可以开始了吧？”
“Like you, sir, I prefer not to think of defeat. Yet only a mighty fool will believe you anything other than a formidable foe, no matter your years. So I too will burden this good couple with a request. If I’m no more, please see to it Master Edwin reaches a kind village, and let him know I considered him the worthiest of apprentices.”
“和你一样，先生，我也宁愿不去考虑失败。然而，你虽然年纪大了，却是个令人生畏的对手，这一点只有大傻瓜才会否认。所以我也要麻烦这对好心的夫妻，请你们帮个忙。如果我不在了，请你们把埃德温阁下送到一个好心的村子里去，并请转告他，我把他看作我最优秀的徒弟。”
“Yet one more request,” said the old knight, “and this one to you, Master Wistan. I raise the matter with embarrassment, for it touches what we discussed with pleasure a moment ago. I mean, sir, the question of drawing the sword. With my heavy years, I find it takes a foolishly long time to pull this old weapon out of its sheath. If you and I faced each other, swords undrawn, my fear is I’d provide you with feeble entertainment, knowing how fast you draw. Why, sir, I might still be hobbling about, muttering small curses and tugging at this iron with one grip then another even as you take the air, wondering if to cut off my head or else sing an ode while waiting! Yet if we were to agree to draw our swords in our own time… Why this embarrasses me greatly, sir!”
“还有一个请求，”老骑士说，“这次是向你提的，维斯坦阁下。这事我提起来有些不好意思，因为与刚才我们愉快讨论的话题有关。先生，我说的是拔剑的问题。我年纪大了，要把这件旧武器从剑鞘里拔出来，我发现要花很长时间，愚蠢得很。如果我们两人面对面，剑都不拔的话，恐怕我就只能供你戏耍了，我知道你拔剑有多快。哎呀，先生，我还在跳来跳去，一边咒骂一边不停地拽这个铁家伙，而你却优哉游哉，心里想是该砍下我的脑袋呢，还是该唱首颂歌慢慢等着！不过，如果我们同意先各自把剑拔出来…哎呀，这可真让我难为情，先生！”
“Not another word on it, Sir Gawain. I never think well of a warrior who leans on the speedy draw of a blade to take advantage of his opponent. So let’s meet with swords ready drawn, just as you suggest.”
“不用再说了，高文爵士。靠拔剑快占对手便宜的武士，我看也没什么了不起。我们就听你的建议，先把剑拔出来再斗吧。”
“I thank you, sir. And in return, though I see your arm strapped, I vow not to seek any special advantage of it.”
“谢谢你，先生。作为回报，虽然我看你的胳膊绑了绷带，但我发誓绝不占这个便宜。”
The old knight drew his sword — indeed it seemed to take some time — and placed the point into the ground, just as he had done earlier at the giant’s cairn. But instead of leaning on it, he stood there regarding his weapon up and down with a mixture of weariness and affection. Then he took the sword in both hands and raised it — and Gawain’s posture took on an unmistakable grandeur.
老骑士拔出了剑——真的花了不少时间——将剑插在地上，像他之前在巨人冢时那样。但这次他没有靠在剑上，而是站在那儿，上上下下打量着这件武器，似乎既喜爱又厌倦。然后他双手握住剑，举在空中——高文的姿势，有一种无上的威仪。
“I’ll turn away now, Axl,” Beatrice said. “Tell me when it’s finished, and let it not be long or unclean.”
“我要转过脸去了，埃克索，”比特丽丝说。“结束了跟我说，最好干净利落，不要受长罪。”
“Well then, sir. With your permission.”
“那好吧，先生。承蒙俯允。”
“I’m grateful, sir, though this injury’s a trivial one.”
“我很感谢，先生，虽然这只是个小伤。”
At first both men held their swords pointing downwards, so as not to exhaust their arms. From his vantage point, Axl could see their positions clearly: at most five strides apart, Wistan’s body angled slightly to the left away from his opponent’s. They held these positions for a time, then Wistan moved three slow steps to his right, so that to all appearances, his outside shoulder was no longer protected by his sword. But to take advantage, Gawain would have had to close the gap very rapidly, and Axl was hardly surprised when the knight, gazing accusingly at the warrior, himself moved to the right with deliberate strides. Wistan meanwhile changed the grip of both his hands on his sword, and Axl could not be sure Gawain had noticed the change — Wistan’s body possibly obscuring the knight’s view. But now Gawain too was changing his hold, letting the sword’s weight fall from the right arm to the left. Then the two men became fixed in their new positions, and to an innocent spectator, they may have looked, in relation to one another, practically unchanged from before. Yet Axl could sense that these new positions had a different significance. It had been a long time since he had had to consider combat in such detail, and there remained a frustrating sense that he was failing to see half of what was unfolding before him. But he knew somehow the contest had reached a critical point; that things could not be held like this for long without one or the other combatant being forced to commit himself.
一开始，两人都将剑尖朝下，这样胳膊不会疲惫。埃克索身在高处，能清楚地看到两个人的位置：在最多五步开外的地方，维斯坦的身体略略向左斜，并非直接面对着对手。这样的姿势，两人保持了一会儿，然后维斯坦向右边缓缓跨了三步，所以从表面上看，他朝外的那侧肩膀已不在剑所能保护的范围之内。但是，要利用这一点，高文就必须快速拉近两人的距离。骑士盯着武士，目光中含有指责的意味，同时也跟着小心迈步向右边移动，埃克索看在眼里，并不感到奇怪。与此同时，维斯坦改变了双手握剑的位置，埃克索不太确定高文是否注意到了这一变化——维斯坦的身体有可能挡住了骑士的视线。但现在高文也在改变握剑姿势，让剑的重量从右臂落到左臂。然后两人保持着新的姿势，在不知情的旁观者眼里，他们两人的姿势、距离，可能与之前完全一样。但是，埃克索能感觉到，新的位置有不一样的含义。他已经很久没有如此细致地观察战斗了，但仍然有一种沮丧的感觉，好像眼前发生的一切，自己所能看到的，连一半都不到。不过，他知道，两人之间的角斗已经到了关键时刻；不可能这样一直持续下去，很快其中一方就必须出击。
Even so, he was taken aback by the suddenness with which Gawain and Wistan met. It was as if they had responded to a signal: the space between them vanished, and the two were suddenly locked in tense embrace. It happened so quickly it appeared to Axl the men had abandoned their swords and were now holding one another in a complicated and mutual armlock. As they did so, they rotated a little, like dancers, and Axl could then see that their two blades, perhaps because of the huge impact of their coming together, had become melded as one. Both men, mortified by this turn of events, were now doing their best to prise the weapons apart. But this was no easy task, and the old knight’s features were contorted with the effort. Wistan’s face, for the moment, was not visible, but Axl could see the warrior’s neck and shoulders shaking as he too did all he could to reverse the calamity. But their efforts were in vain: with each moment, the two swords seemed to fasten more thoroughly, and surely there was nothing for it but to abandon the weapons and start the contest afresh. Neither man, though, appeared willing to give up, even as the effort threatened to drain them of their strength. Then something gave and the blades came apart. As they did so, some dark grain — perhaps the substance that had caused the blades to fasten together in the first place — flew up into the air between them. Gawain, with a look of astonished relief, reeled halfway round and sank to one knee. Wistan, for his part, had been carried by the momentum into turning a near circle, and had come to a halt pointing his now liberated sword towards the clouds beyond the cliff, his back fully turned to the knight.
尽管如此，高文和维斯坦交手之突然还是让埃克索吃了一惊。好像有人对他们同时发出了信号一样，两人之间的距离消失了，刹那之间，他们已紧紧抱在一起。事情在电光火石之间发生，在埃克索看来，两人似乎抛开了剑，张开臂膀以复杂的动作锁住了对方。与此同时，两人略微旋转了一下，像跳舞一样，这时候埃克索看到，两人的剑似乎融在了一起，也许是因为两柄剑撞击的力量太大吧。这让两人都觉得尴尬，正尽最大努力，要把武器拉开。但这可不是容易的事情，老骑士拼尽气力，脸上表情都扭曲了。维斯坦的脸这时看不见，但埃克索看到他的脖子和肩膀都在颤抖，显然他也在尽全力扭转这一僵局。可是，他们的努力似乎都白费了：时间越久，两柄剑似乎就粘得更牢，看来没别的办法，只好抛开武器，重新开始战斗了。不过，两人好像都不愿意放弃，尽管这样拼命，简直要把力气耗光。接着，某根弦崩断，两柄剑瞬间分开。剑刃分开时，黑色的尘埃——让剑刃紧紧粘在一起的，也许就是这种物质——从中间腾起，飞向空中。高文脸上露出惊讶而又欣慰的表情，他身体转了半个圈子，单膝跪在地上。维斯坦被这股大力推动，几乎转了整整一圈，停下来的时候，用重获自由的剑指着悬崖之外的云，背部正好对着骑士。
“God protect him,” Beatrice said beside him, and Axl realised she had been watching all the while. When he looked down again, Gawain had lowered his other knee to the ground. Then the tall figure of the knight fell slowly, twistingly, onto the dark grass. There he struggled a moment, like a man in his sleep trying to make himself more comfortable, and when his face was turned to the sky, even though his legs were still folded untidily beneath him, Gawain seemed content. As Wistan approached with a concerned stride, the old knight appeared to say something, but Axl was too far to hear. The warrior remained standing over his opponent for some time, his sword held forgotten at his side, and Axl could see dark drops falling from the tip of the blade onto the soil.
“上帝保佑他，”比特丽丝在身旁说道，埃克索这才意识到，她一直也在观看。等他低头再看时，高文另一只膝盖也跪在了地上。接着，骑士巨大的身躯扭曲着，慢慢倒下，摔在黑色的草地上。他又挣扎了一会儿，像睡梦中的人扭动身体，让姿势更舒服一些，等他脸朝着天空，脸上便显出满足的表情，尽管他的腿仍在身体下面别扭地蜷缩着。维斯坦谨慎地走过去，老骑士似乎在说什么，但埃克索离得太远了，听不见。武士在对手身前站了一会儿，忘了自己手里还拿着剑，埃克索能看见黑色的液体，滴滴答答由剑尖落入泥土。
Beatrice pressed herself against him. “He was the she-dragon’s defender,” she said, “yet showed us kindness. Who knows where we’d be now without him, Axl, and I’m sorry to see him fallen.”
比特丽丝贴在他身上。“他是母龙的守护人，”她说，“可他对我们很好。要不是他，谁知道我们这时候在哪儿呢，埃克索，看着他倒下去，我很难过。”
He pressed Beatrice close to him. Then releasing her, he climbed down a little way to where he could see better Gawain’s body lying on the earth. Wistan had been correct: the blood had flowed only to where the ground rose in a kind of lip at the cliff’s edge, and was pooling there with no danger of spilling over. The sight caused a melancholy to sweep over him, but also — though it was a distant and vague one — the feeling that some great anger within him had at long last been answered.
他把比特丽丝抱紧。过了一会儿，他放开她，向下爬了一点儿，能更清楚地看看躺在地上的高文。维斯坦说得对：地面在悬崖边上略微隆起，血流到那儿便聚集起来，不会洒下崖壁。他看在眼里，感到无比凄凉，但与此同时，他也觉得——虽然只是一种隐隐约约的感受——心中某种强烈的愤怒，埋藏已久，现在终于平息了。
The warrior seemed then to notice the sword still in his hand, and made as though to thrust it into the soft earth at the foot of the mound. But at the last moment he stopped himself, the blade almost at the soil, and straightening, said: “Why clean this sword yet? Why not let this knight’s blood mingle with the she-dragon’s?”
这时候，武士似乎意识到，自己手里还拿着剑，他似乎打算把剑插进山丘脚下的松软泥土里，但在最后一刻住了手，剑尖几乎都碰到泥土了。他直起身子，说道：“这时候把剑擦干净干什么？为什么不让骑士的血和母龙的血合在一起呢？”
Wistan, who had all the while been staring down at the fallen knight, now came slowly, somewhat giddily, to the foot of the mound, and when he looked up appeared to be in something of a dream.
维斯坦一直低头看着倒在地上的骑士，这时他走到山丘脚下，步伐缓慢，多少有些摇晃，他抬头向上望着，脸上神情迷茫，如在梦中。
“I learned long ago,” he said, “not to fear Death as I fought. Yet I thought I heard his soft tread behind me as I faced this knight. Long in years, yet he was close to getting the better of me.”
“很久以前，”他说，“我就学会了在战斗中不畏惧死神。但是，面对这位骑士的时候，我想我听到了死神的脚步声，在我身后轻轻传来。他年纪很大，但差点占了上风。”
He came up the side of the mound, his gait still somewhat like a drunkard’s. Brushing past them, he leant over a rock and gazed down into the pit, his shoulders moving with each breath.
他沿着山丘一侧走上来，脚步仍然不稳，像喝醉了酒。他从他们两人身旁走过，靠着一块石头探出身体，眼睛盯着下面的坑，肩膀随着呼吸起伏。
“Master Wistan,” Beatrice said gently. “We’re now impatient to see you slay Querig. But will you bury the poor knight after? My husband here’s weary and must save his strength for what remains of our journey.”
“维斯坦阁下，”比特丽丝轻声说。“我们现在都急于看你杀死魁瑞格。不过，结束之后，你能埋葬这位可怜的骑士吗？我丈夫很疲惫，还要留点儿力气赶路呢。”
“Bravo, sir,” Axl called down. “Now there’s nothing stands between you and the she-dragon.”
“了不起啊，先生，”埃克索朝下面喊道。“现在，你和母龙之间没有阻碍啦。”
“Then hurry, sir,” Beatrice said, “and finish the task. For though she’s feeble, we’ll not be easy till we know she’s slain.”
“那就快点，先生，”比特丽丝说，“结束任务吧。龙虽然很虚弱，但不杀了它，我们心里就不踏实。”
“Are you well, sir?” Axl asked eventually.
“你没事吧，先生？”埃克索开口问道。
But Wistan seemed no longer to hear her, for he was now gazing at Axl with a faraway expression.
然而，维斯坦似乎听不见她的话了，因为他正盯着埃克索，脸上有种悠远的神情。
“He was a kin of the hated Arthur,” Wistan said, turning to her, “yet I’ll not leave him to the crows. Rest assured, mistress, I’ll see to him, and may even lay him down in this pit, beside the creature he so long defended.”
“亚瑟令人憎恨，他是亚瑟的亲戚，”维斯坦转脸对她说，“不过，我也不会把他的尸体丢给乌鸦。放心吧，夫人，我会照顾他，甚至可能把他葬到这坑里，让他与守护了很久的龙待在一起。”
“Master Axl,” the warrior said, “we may not meet again. So let me ask one last time. Could you be that gentle Briton from my boyhood who once moved like a wise prince through our village, making men dream of ways to keep innocents beyond the reach of war? If you have a remembrance of it, I ask you to confide in me before we part.”
“埃克索阁下，”武士说，“我们以后也许就不会见面了。所以请允许我最后再问一次。有个温和的不列颠人，我小时候就认识，像智慧的王子一样经过我们的村庄，让人们梦想着各种办法，使无辜者免受战争的灾祸，那个人是你吗？如果你还记得，我请求你在我们分手之前告诉我。”
“If I was that man, sir, I see him today only through the haze of this creature’s breath, and he looks a fool and a dreamer, yet one who meant well, and suffered to see solemn oaths undone in cruel slaughter. There were others spread the treaty through the Saxon villages, but if my face stirs something in you, why suppose it was another’s?”
“就算我是那个人，先生，今天我也只能透过这条龙的气息，才能看到他，我看到的是个做着梦的傻瓜，但他的用心是善良的，还要亲眼看着庄重的誓言毁于残酷的屠杀。在撒克逊村庄中传播协议的，还有其他人；但是，如果你能多少回忆起我的面孔，又何必去假设那是旁人呢？”
“What are you saying, husband?” Beatrice pushed forward, placing herself between Axl and the warrior. “What quarrel can there be between you and this warrior? If there is one, he’ll need strike me first.”
“你在说什么呢，丈夫？”比特丽丝挤到前面来，站在埃克索和武士之间。“你和这位武士之间，能有什么争执呢？如果有，那他得先把我打倒。”
“I thought it when we first met, sir, but couldn’t be sure. I thank you for your frankness.”
“先生，我们刚见面的时候，我想到过，但不能确定。感谢你坦诚相告。”
“That man was one I once adored from afar, and it’s true there were times later I wished him cruelly punished for his part in the betrayal. Yet I see today he may have acted with no cunning, wishing well for his own kin and ours alike. If I met him again, sir, I’d bid him go in peace, even though I know peace now can’t hold for long. But excuse me, friends, and let me go down and end my errand.”
“我曾远远地倾慕着那个人，后来，有时候我的确希望他遭到残酷惩罚，为他在背叛中所起的作用负责。但是，今天我看到，他当初的行为并非欺诈，他对自己的同胞和我的族人都怀有善意。如果我再遇到他，先生，我会请他和平地离开，虽然我知道，现在和平不会持久了。现在请让一让吧，朋友们，让我下去完成我的任务。”
“Then speak frankly to me in turn, for it’s a thing shifts within me since our meeting yesterday, and perhaps, in truth, for far longer. This man you remember, Master Wistan. Is he one of whom you would seek vengeance?”
“那么，也请你对我坦言，因为从昨天见面开始，这件事就在我心里记挂着，说实话，也许在此之前我早就想着这事了。你想起来的这个人，维斯坦阁下，你想找他报仇吗？”
“Master Wistan talks of a skin I shed before we two ever met, princess. One I hoped had long crumbled on a forgotten path.” Then to Wistan: “What do you say, sir? Your sword still drips. If it’s vengeance you crave, it’s a thing easily found, though I beg you protect my dear wife who trembles for me.”
“公主啊，维斯坦阁下谈的是我很久以前蜕去的一层皮，那时候我们还没见面呢。我曾希望那层皮丢在被人遗忘的路上，早就碎成齑粉。”然后又对维斯坦说：“你怎么说呢，先生？你的剑上仍然滴着血。如果你渴望的是复仇，那这件事很容易，不过我请求你保护我亲爱的妻子，她在这儿为我发抖呢。”
Down in the pit, neither the dragon’s position nor posture had changed: if her senses were warning her of the proximity of strangers — and of one in particular making his way down the steep side of the pit — Querig gave no indication of it. Or could it be the rise and fall of her spine had become a little more pronounced? And was there a new urgency in the hooded eye as it opened and shut? Axl could not be sure. But as he continued to gaze down at the creature, the idea came to him that the hawthorn bush — the only other thing alive in the pit — had become a source of great comfort to her, and that even now, in her mind’s eye, she was reaching for it. Axl realised the idea was fanciful, yet the more he watched, the more credible it seemed. For how was it a solitary bush was growing in a place like this? Could it not be that Merlin himself had allowed it to grow here, so that the dragon would have a companion?
在下方的坑中，龙的位置、姿势仍然和原来一样：就算魁瑞格的感官在警告她，附近来了陌生人——尤其是沿着陡峭的坑壁下来的那个人——从外表上也看不出任何迹象。她脊骨的一起一伏，也许比原来更明显一点？那眼睛一睁一闭，是不是也比原来急一些？埃克索不确定。但是，就在盯着下面那条龙的时候，他想到一个念头：那片山楂树丛——坑里除了母龙之外的唯一活物——已经成了母龙的巨大慰藉，此时此刻，她在心里仍然想爬过去。埃克索知道，这个念头有些异想天开，可是他越看越觉得有道理。否则这样的地方怎么能长出一片孤零零的树丛呢？难道不是梅林自己让树长在这儿，给母龙做个伴儿的吗？
Wistan was continuing his descent, his sword still unsheathed. His gaze rarely strayed from the spot where the creature lay, as if he half expected her to rise suddenly, transformed into a formidable demon. At one stage he slipped, and dug his sword into the ground to avoid sliding some way down on his backside. This episode sent stones and gravel cascading down the slope, but Querig still gave no response.
维斯坦继续往下走，剑没有插入剑鞘。他的目光一直没有离开躺在地上的龙，好像她会突然起身，变成一个可怕的魔鬼一样。有一下他脚下没站稳，把剑插到地里，以免背部着地一直往下滑。石头和沙砾沿着土坡纷纷落下，但魁瑞格仍然没有反应。
Then Wistan was safely on the ground. He wiped his forehead, glanced up at Axl and Beatrice, then moved towards the dragon, stopping several strides away. He then raised his sword and began to scrutinise the blade, apparently taken aback to discover it streaked with blood. For several moments, Wistan remained like this, not moving, so that Axl wondered if the strange mood that had overtaken the warrior since his victory had momentarily made him forget his reason for entering the pit.
接着，维斯坦安全地到了地面。他擦擦额头，望望上面的埃克索和比特丽丝，然后朝母龙走去，在几步开外的地方停下来。他举起剑，开始检查剑刃，发现刃口上有一条条的血迹，他似乎吃了一惊。维斯坦一动不动，就保持着这个样子，以至于埃克索心里想，自从取胜之后，武士就有一种奇怪的情绪，难道因此一时忘了自己到坑里的目的了？
But then with something of the unexpectedness that had characterised his contest with the old knight, Wistan suddenly moved forward. He did not run, but walked briskly, stepping over the dragon’s body without breaking stride, and hurried on as though anxious to reach the other side of the pit. But his sword had described a swift, low arc in passing, and Axl saw the dragon’s head spin into the air and roll a little way before coming to rest on the stony ground. It did not remain there long, however, for it was soon engulfed by the rich tide that first parted around it, then buoyed it up till it swam glidingly across the floor of the pit. It came to a stop at the hawthorn, where it lodged, the throat up to the sky. The sight brought back to Axl the head of the monster dog Gawain had severed in the tunnel, and again a melancholy threatened to sweep over him. He made himself look away from the dragon, and watch instead the figure of Wistan, who had not stopped walking. The warrior was now circling back, avoiding the ever-spreading pool, and then with his sword still unsheathed, began the climb out of the pit.
但是，与之前和老骑士战斗时一样，维斯坦突然开始向前移动。他没有跑，而是快步走，人从龙的身体上越过，但步伐并没有紊乱，然后他加快了脚步，好像急着赶到坑的另一侧一样。但是，在此过程中，他的剑划了一道又急又低的弧线，埃克索看见母龙的脑袋飞到空中，滚了几下，最后在石头地上停住不动了。不过，脑袋并没有在地上停多久，汹涌的血液先在脑袋两侧分开流过，随后脑袋便浮了起来，在坑底快速漂过去，到山楂树丛那儿停了下来，卡住不动了，喉咙朝上向着天空。这场景让埃克索想起了高文在地道里砍下来的那条狗怪的脑袋，心中又感到一阵凄凉。他强迫自己扭过头去，不看母龙，而去看维斯坦的身形：他一直在走，从没停下脚步。这时候武士一边避开漫延的血池，一边绕路回来，到了坑边，开始往上爬，手里的剑仍然没有放回剑鞘。
“It is, princess. Yet there’s still a question I wish to ask this warrior.”
“是的，公主。不过，我还有个问题想问武士。”
Wistan took a surprisingly long time to climb out of the pit. When at last he appeared before them again, he looked overwhelmed and not in the least triumphant. Without a word, he sat down on the blackened ground right on the rim of the pit, and at last thrust his sword deep into the earth. Then he gazed emptily, not into the pit, but beyond, at the clouds and the pale hills in the distance.
维斯坦从坑里爬出来，花了很长时间，令人感到意外。最后，他终于来到两人面前，显得垂头丧气，一点儿凯旋的模样也没有。他一言不发，在坑口边缘的黑色地面上坐下，终于把手里的剑深深插进土里。他眼神空洞，但他没有看坑里，而是望着远处，望着天上的云和淡灰色的山峦。
“Despondent? No matter, I’ll regain my spirit soon, mistress. Yet just at this moment…” Wistan turned away from Beatrice and once more gazed at the clouds. Then he said: “Perhaps I’ve been too long among you Britons. Despised the cowardly among you, admired and loved the best of you, and all from a tender age. And now I sit here, shaking not from weariness, but at the very thought of what my own hands have done. I must soon steel my heart or be a frail warrior for my king in what’s to come.”
“沮丧？没关系，夫人，我的精神很快就会好起来。就是这下子…”维斯坦转过脸去，又一次凝视着天边的云。然后他说道：“也许我和你们不列颠人相处太久了。鄙视你们当中的懦弱者，钦佩、热爱你们当中的优秀者，而且从我很小的时候起，就一直是这样。现在我坐在这儿发抖，不是因为疲惫，而是因为想起了我自己亲手做过的事情。我必须快点狠下心来，否则就只能成为国王的软弱武士，不能在以后的事情中尽力。”
“It’s done, Axl,” Beatrice said.
“结束了，埃克索，”比特丽丝说。
After a moment, Beatrice went over to him and touched his arm gently. “We thank you for this deed, Master Wistan,” she said. “And there’ll be many more across the land would thank you if they were here. Why look so despondent?”
过了一会儿，比特丽丝走过去，轻轻碰了碰他的胳膊。“我们感谢你这一举动，维斯坦阁下，”她说。“这块土地上还有很多人，如果在场的话，也会感谢你。为什么这么沮丧呢？”
“It’s justice and vengeance await, mistress. And they’ll soon hurry this way, for both are much delayed. Yet now the hour’s almost upon us, I find my heart trembles like a maid’s. It can only be I’ve been too long among you.”
“等着我的是公正与复仇，夫人。两者都耽搁很久了，所以很快就会到来。可是，现在时候快到了，我发现自己心里却颤抖起来，像个姑娘一样。这只能是因为我在你们当中待得太久了。”
“What is this you speak of, sir?” Beatrice asked. “What further task awaits you now?”
“你这说的是什么呢，先生？”比特丽丝问。“现在还有什么别的任务等着你吗？”
“I didn’t fail to notice, sir,” Axl said, “your earlier remark to me. You said you’d wish me to go in peace, yet that peace couldn’t hold much longer. I wondered then what you meant by it, even as you descended into this pit. Will you explain yourself to us now?”
“你之前对我说过的话，先生，”埃克索说，“我也不是没有留意。你说，你会希望我在和平中离开，虽然和平不会持久了。当时我就想，你这是什么意思呢，连你下坑的时候我还在想。现在你可以给我们解释解释吗？”
“I see you begin to understand, Master Axl. My king sent me to destroy this she-dragon not simply to build a monument to kin slain long ago. You begin to see, sir, this dragon died to make ready the way for the coming conquest.”
“看得出来，埃克索阁下，你已经开始明白了。我的国王派我来杀死这条母龙，不仅是为了纪念很久以前被屠杀的同胞。你开始明白了，先生，这条龙一死，就为即将到来的征服铺平了道路。”
“Conquest, sir?” Axl moved closer to him. “How can this be, Master Wistan? Are your Saxon armies so swelled by your cousins from overseas? Or is it that your warriors are so fierce you talk of conquest in lands well held in peace?”
“征服，先生？”埃克索靠到他身边。“这怎么可能呢，维斯坦阁下？难道你们的撒克逊军队壮大了，增加了很多海外的兄弟？或者是你们的武士异常勇猛，所以打算征服和平已久的土地？”
“Surely you speak in the confusion of your victory, Master Wistan,” Beatrice said. “How can this be? You see yourself how in these parts it’s your kin and mine mingle village by village. Who among them would turn on neighbours loved since childhood?”
“你说这话，大概是刚才取得了胜利，昏了头吧，维斯坦阁下，”比特丽丝说。“这怎么可能呢？你自己亲眼看到了，这儿的每个村庄，你的同胞和我的同胞都生活在一起。从小就爱着的邻居，他们怎么可能去下手呢？”
“It’s true our armies are yet meagre in numbers, even in the fenlands. Yet look across this whole land. In every valley, beside every river, you’ll now find Saxon communities, and each with strong men and growing boys. It’s from these we’ll swell our ranks even as we come sweeping westward.”
“没错，我们的军队在数量上还很单薄，连东方的沼泽地也不例外。但是，你看看这片土地。每个山谷、每条河流，现在都有撒克逊人的村庄，每个村庄都有强壮的汉子和即将长大的男孩。我们的军队横扫西方之时，这些村庄的人会壮大我们的力量。”
“Yet see your husband’s face, mistress. He begins to understand why I sit here as before a light too fierce for my gaze.”
“夫人，你看看你丈夫的脸。我坐在这儿，好像面前有让人无法睁眼的强光一样，为什么呢？你丈夫已经开始明白了。”
“Right enough, princess, the warrior’s words make me tremble. You and I longed for Querig’s end, thinking only of our own dear memories. Yet who knows what old hatreds will loosen across the land now? We must hope God yet finds a way to preserve the bonds between our peoples, yet custom and suspicion have always divided us. Who knows what will come when quick-tongued men make ancient grievances rhyme with fresh desire for land and conquest?”
“没错，公主，武士的话让我不寒而栗。我和你希望魁瑞格死掉，我们只想着自己的宝贵记忆。可是，多少古老的仇恨将在这块土地上复活，谁又知道呢？我们只好希望上帝能找到办法，维系两族之间的纽带，可习俗与猜忌一直让我们难以团结。如果对土地和征服的新欲望，被巧舌之辈嫁接到古老的怨恨之上，谁知道会带来什么灾祸呢？”
“Can he be right, Axl? Surely he speaks in a fever?”
“他说得对吗，埃克索？他肯定是头脑发热，才这么说的吧？”
“He may yet be mistaken, princess, but this is no fever. The she-dragon’s no more, and Arthur’s shadow will fade with her.” Then to Wistan, he said: “I’m comforted at least, sir, to find you take no delight in these horrors you paint.”
“他有可能说错了，公主，但这不是头脑发热。母龙死了，亚瑟长长的影子也会慢慢消失。”然后他对维斯坦说：“我感到欣慰，先生，你描述的这些可怕景象，至少你自己没有引以为乐。”
“How right to fear it, sir,” Wistan said. “The giant, once well buried, now stirs. When soon he rises, as surely he will, the friendly bonds between us will prove as knots young girls make with the stems of small flowers. Men will burn their neighbours’ houses by night. Hang children from trees at dawn. The rivers will stink with corpses bloated from their days of voyaging. And even as they move on, our armies will grow larger, swollen by anger and thirst for vengeance. For you Britons, it’ll be as a ball of fire rolls towards you. You’ll flee or perish. And country by country, this will become a new land, a Saxon land, with no more trace of your people’s time here than a flock or two of sheep wandering the hills untended.”
“惧怕就对啦，先生，”维斯坦说。“巨人，以前埋在地下，现在动起来啦。他肯定很快就会起来，到那时候，我们之间的友好纽带，就会像小女孩用细细的花茎打的结一样，脆弱不堪。人们会在夜间烧掉邻居的房子。清晨将孩子们吊死在树上。河水发臭，河上漂着泡了很多天的肿胀尸体。我们的军队一面推进，一面会因为愤怒和复仇的渴望而继续壮大。对你们不列颠人来说，那将是向你们滚去的一个大火球。你们要么逃跑，要么毁灭。一个个国家会相继沦陷，这儿会成为一块全新的土地，撒克逊人的土地，没有痕迹表明你们曾在这儿生活过，除了一两群无人照看的绵羊，在山里游荡。”
“You speak of Master Edwin, sir?”
“你说的是埃德温阁下，先生？”
“I’d take delight if I could, Master Axl, for it’ll be vengeance justly served. Yet I’m enfeebled by my years among you, and try as I will, a part of me turns from the flames of hatred. It’s a weakness shames me, yet I’ll soon offer in my place one trained by my own hand, one with a will far cleaner than mine.”
“如果我能够的话，埃克索阁下，我会引以为乐的，因为那将是正当的复仇。但是，我在你们当中生活得太久，变得软弱了，就算我努力，心中也有个声音反对这仇恨的火焰。这是个弱点，让我感到羞耻，但我很快会用我亲手训练出来的人代替我的位置，他的意志比我要纯粹得多。”
“I do, and I dare say he’ll be growing quickly more calm now the dragon’s slain and her pull gone from him. That boy has a true warrior’s spirit given only to a few. The rest he’ll learn fast enough, and I’ll train his heart well to admit no soft sentiments as have invaded mine. He’ll show no mercy in our work ahead.”
“是的，现在母龙被杀，对他的影响也就没了，我敢说他很快就会更加镇定。那个男孩有真正的武士精神，这样的人很少。其余的他很快就能学会，我会锻炼他的心，不允许他像我这样，被柔弱的情感侵入。在我们未来的事业中，他将毫不留情。”
“Master Wistan,” Beatrice said, “I still don’t know if you speak only in a mad fever. But my husband and I grow weak, and must return to lower ground and shelter. Will you remember your promise to bury well the gentle knight?”
“维斯坦阁下，”比特丽丝说，“我还是不知道，你这究竟是不是头脑发热的疯话。但我和我丈夫体力越来越弱，我们必须回到下面去找地方休息了。你能记住你的承诺，好好埋葬这位好心的骑士吗？”
“I promise to do so, mistress, though I fear even now the birds find him. Good friends, forewarned as you are, you’ve time enough to escape. Take the knight’s horse and ride fast from these parts. Seek your son’s village if you must, but linger there no more than a day or two, for who knows how soon the flames will be lit before our coming armies. If your son will not hear your warnings, leave him and flee as far west as you can. You may yet keep ahead of the slaughter. Go now and find the knight’s horse. And should you find Master Edwin much calmed, his strange fever passed, cut him free and bid him come up here to me. A fierce future now opens before him, and it’s my wish he sees this place, the fallen knight and the broken she-dragon, all before his next steps. Besides, I recall how well he digs a grave with a stray stone or two! Now hurry away, gentle friends, and farewell.”
“我承诺，夫人，不过我担心那些鸟现在就找到了他。好朋友们，你们提前获得了警告，有足够的时间逃走。坐上骑士的马，快点离开这儿吧。如果一定要去，那就去找你们儿子的村庄吧，但最多逗留一两天，在我们的军队到来之前，谁知道村子里什么时候会烧起战火呢？你们的儿子如果不肯听从你们的警告，那就丢下他，尽可能往西边跑。你们还有可能跑在屠杀前头。现在就去吧，找到骑士的马。如果你们发现埃德温阁下镇定多了，奇怪的烧退去了，那就把他放开，让他上来找我。他未来要经历大风大浪，我希望他看看这个地方，看看倒下的骑士和死掉的母龙，统统在他脚下。而且，现在我想起来了，他能用一两块石头挖坟呢！好啦，快点走吧，好心的朋友们，就此别过。”
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