“Illyrio Mopatis wants you back in Pentos, under his roof.
“伊利里歐?莫帕提斯要您回潘托斯,寄居于他的屋檐下。
Very well, go to him … but in your own time, and not alone.
很好,去就去……但時間由您決定,而且不是孤身一人。
Let us see how loyal and obedient these new subjects of yours truly are.
就讓我們看看他的人究竟有多忠誠、多順從。
Command Groleo to change course for Slaver’s Bay.”
請命令格羅萊船長,改變航線,前往奴隸灣。”
Dany was not certain she liked the sound of that at all.
丹妮有些不安,
Everything she’d ever heard of the flesh marts in the great slave cities of Yunkai, Meereen, and Astapor was dire and frightening.
聽說淵凱、彌林和阿斯塔波這些奴隸制大城邦里的人肉市場如膿包般滋生,相關(guān)的故事讓人心驚膽戰(zhàn)。
“What is there for me in Slaver’s Bay?”
“我去奴隸灣做什么?”
“An army,” said Ser Jorah.
“招募軍隊(duì),”喬拉爵士道,
“If Strong Belwas is so much to your liking you can buy hundreds more like him out of the fighting pits of Meereen …
“既然你喜歡壯漢貝沃斯,滿可以從彌林的斗技場里再買幾百個……
but it is Astapor I’d set my sails for.
但我建議駛往阿斯塔波,
In Astapor you can buy Unsullied.”
在阿斯塔波,您能購買無垢者。”
“The slaves in the spiked bronze hats?”
“戴青銅尖刺盔的奴隸?”
Dany had seen Unsullied guards in the Free Cities, posted at the gates of magisters, archons, and dynasts.
丹妮在自由貿(mào)易城邦見過無垢者,他們往往替總督、大君和執(zhí)政官當(dāng)衛(wèi)兵,
“Why should I want Unsullied?
“我要他們來做什么?
They don’t even ride horses, and most of them are fat.”
無垢者不會騎馬,通常還是很胖。”
“The Unsullied you may have seen in Pentos and Myr were household guards.
“您在潘托斯或密爾見過的無垢者都是些護(hù)衛(wèi),完全不能發(fā)揮長處。
That’s soft service, and eunuchs tend to plumpness in any case.
他們無所事事,而太監(jiān)本容易發(fā)胖,
Food is the only vice allowed them.
因?yàn)槭鞘澄锸撬麄儍H存的欲望。
To judge all Unsullied by a few old household slaves is like judging all squires by Arstan Whitebeard, Your Grace.
陛下,通過幾個老邁的家族奴兵來判斷所有無垢者就跟通過白胡子阿斯坦來判斷所有侍從一樣。
Do you know the tale of the Three Thousand of Qohor?”
對了,您聽過三千勇士保衛(wèi)科霍爾的故事嗎?”
“No.”
“沒聽過,”
The coverlet slipped off Dany’s shoulder, and she tugged it back into place.
床單從丹妮肩頭滑落,她將之拉回原位。
“It was four hundred years ago or more, when the Dothraki first rode out of the east, sacking and burning every town and city in their path.
“四百多年前,多斯拉克人首度從東方騎馬出現(xiàn),沿途洗劫焚燒每個城鎮(zhèn)。
The khal who led them was named Temmo.
領(lǐng)導(dǎo)他們的卡奧叫特莫,
His khalasar was not so big as Drogo’s, but it was big enough.
他的卡拉薩不若卓戈的那么大,但也不小,
Fifty thousand, at the least.
至少有五萬人,
Half of them braided warriors with bells ringing in their hair.
其中一半是辮綁鈴鐺的戰(zhàn)士。”
“The Qohorik knew he was coming.
“科霍爾人知道他來臨的消息后,
They strengthened their walls, doubled the size of their own guard, and hired two free companies besides, the Bright Banners and the Second Sons.
便著手加固城墻,增加一倍士兵,并雇來兩個傭兵團(tuán)——亮幟團(tuán)和次子團(tuán)。
And almost as an afterthought, they sent a man to Astapor to buy three thousand Unsullied.
由于傳來的情況越來越不妙,他們趕緊從阿斯塔波補(bǔ)買三千無垢者,但幾乎已來不及了。
It was a long march back to Qohor, however, and as they approached they saw the smoke and dust and heard the distant din of battle.
無垢者們長途行軍趕往科霍爾,遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)便看見煙霧和塵埃,聽到戰(zhàn)斗的喧囂。”
“By the time the Unsullied reached the city the sun had set.
“等他們抵達(dá)城下,太陽已經(jīng)落山,
Crows and wolves were feasting beneath the walls on what remained of the Qohorik heavy horse.
烏鴉和野狼享用著科霍爾重騎兵們的遺體,而亮幟團(tuán)和次子團(tuán)早早卷旗逃匿,
The Bright Banners and Second Sons had fled, as sellswords are wont to do in the face of hopeless odds.
傭兵一旦面對強(qiáng)弱懸殊、毫無希望的情況就會這樣做。
With dark falling, the Dothraki had retired to their own camps to drink and dance and feast,
夜幕降臨,多斯拉克人沒有再戰(zhàn),他們撤回營地徹夜飲酒、跳舞和狂歡,
but none doubted that they would return on the morrow to smash the city gates, storm the walls, and rape, loot, and slave as they pleased.
準(zhǔn)備第二天攻破城門,肆意奸淫虜掠。”
“But when dawn broke and Temmo and his bloodriders led their khalasar out of camp,
“但到破曉時分,當(dāng)特莫和他的血盟衛(wèi)們領(lǐng)著卡拉薩走出營地,
they found three thousand Unsullied drawn up before the gates with the Black Goat standard flying over their heads.
卻發(fā)現(xiàn)三千名無垢者已在城門前排好陣型,頭頂飄揚(yáng)著科霍爾的黑山羊旗。
So small a force could easily have been flanked, but you know Dothraki.
您若了解多斯拉克人的戰(zhàn)術(shù),就會明白,他們根本不會把這支小隊(duì)伍放在眼里。
These were men on foot, and men on foot are fit only to be ridden down.
陣型不寬,易被包抄;人是徒步,將遭騎兵踐踏。”