Mormont will not run, Jon thought.
莫爾蒙是不會逃跑的,瓊恩心想,
He is too old and he has come too far.
他人老頑固,也走得太遠。
He will strike, and damn the numbers.
他會不顧人數眾寡懸殊,仍然發動攻擊。
One day soon he would hear the sound of warhorns,
不久后,當能聽到號角長鳴,
and see a column of riders pounding down on them with black cloaks flapping and cold steel in their hands.
目睹騎手沖殺而至,黑色斗篷飄揚,手擎冰冷武器。
Three hundred men could not hope to kill a hundred times their number, of course, but Jon did not think they would need to.
當然,三百人不可能殺光三萬人,但瓊恩很清楚守夜人的策略。
He need not slay a thousand, only one.
目標只有一個,
Mance is all that keeps them together.
一個關鍵點,曼斯。
The King-beyond-the-Wall was doing all he could, yet the wildlings remained hopelessly undisciplined, and that made them vulnerable.
塞外之王已竭盡全力,可野人缺乏紀律的狀況仍讓人絕望,這使他們十分脆弱。
Here and there within the leagues-long snake that was their line of march were warriors as fierce as any in the Watch,
隊伍蜿蜒數里格,其中不乏勇猛戰士,
but a good third of them were grouped at either end of the column,
但能作戰的人中三分之一強在隊伍兩頭,
in Harma Dogshead's van and the savage rearguard with its giants, aurochs, and fire flingers.
或效力于狗頭哈犸的前鋒,或與巨人、野牛和擲火者組成兇悍的后衛部隊;
Another third rode with Mance himself near the center,
另有三分之一隨曼斯本人行在中軍,
guarding the wayns and sledges and dog carts that held the great bulk of the host's provisions and supplies,
守衛推車、雪橇和狗拉小車,這是隊伍的補給物資,
all that remained of the last summer harvest.
是夏季剩下的全部收獲;
The rest, divided into small bands under the likes of Rattleshirt, Jarl, Tormund Giantsbane,
其余的分成小隊,由叮當衫、賈爾、巨人克星托蒙德及哭泣者等人率領,
and the Weeper, served as outriders, foragers, and whips,
擔任斥候、征糧隊或監軍,沿著隊伍無休止地跑前跑后,
galloping up and down the column endlessly to keep it moving in a more or less orderly fashion.
以約束大家或多或少有序前進。
And even more telling, only one in a hundred wildlings was mounted.
尤為致命的是,一百個野人中才一人有馬。
The Old Bear will go through them like an axe through porridge.
熊老的隊伍將如利斧穿過麥片粥一樣暢通無阻。
And when that happened, Mance must give chase with his center, to try and blunt the threat.
這樣一來,曼斯只好親率騎兵追趕,以求挫敗守夜人。
If he should fall in the fight that must follow, the Wall would be safe for another hundred years, Jon judged. And if not…
如果他在接下來的戰斗中死去,長城又會安寧一百年,如果相反…
The snow was falling heavily by the time they caught Tormund's band, several hours later.
幾小時之后,他們才趕上托蒙德的小隊,雪下得正大。
Ghost departed along the way, melting into the forest at the scent of prey.
白靈半路離去,前往森林追蹤獵物,
The direwolf would return when they made camp for the night, by dawn at the latest.
他會在夜里扎營時分回來,最晚不過黎明。
However far he prowled, Ghost always came back… and so, it seemed, did Ygritte.
冰原狼一直都在…就和耶哥蕊特一樣。
He flexed the burned fingers of his sword hand.
他用劍的手開開合合,灼燒的指頭蠢蠢欲動。
Longclaw was slung to his saddle, the carved stone wolf’s-head pommel and soft leather grip of the great bastard sword within easy reach.
長爪掛在馬鞍上,他很輕易就能夠到這把長柄劍咆哮狼頭的石圓球和柔軟的皮革把手。
The snow was falling heavily by the time they caught Tormund’s band, several hours later.
幾小時之后,他們才趕上托蒙德的小隊,雪下得正大。
Ghost departed along the way, melting into the forest at the scent of prey.
白靈半路離去,前往森林追蹤獵物,
The direwolf would return when they made camp for the night, by dawn at the latest.
他會在夜里扎營時分回來,最晚不過黎明。冰原狼一直都在……
However far he prowled, Ghost always came back … and so, it seemed, did Ygritte.
就和耶哥蕊特一樣。
“So,” the girl called when she saw him, “d’you believe us now, Jon Snow?
“那么,”女孩看到他便喊,“你現在信了嗎,瓊恩·雪諾?
Did you see the giants on their mammoths?”
你看到騎長毛象的巨人了嗎?”
“Har!” shouted Tormund, before Jon could reply.
“哈!不止如此,”瓊恩不及回答,托蒙德便嚷嚷,
“The crow’s in love! He means to marry one!”
“這只烏鴉還給人家看上了!多半得娶一個咧!”
“A giantess?” Longspear Ryk laughed.
“娶女巨人?”長矛里克笑道。
“No, a mammoth!” Tormund bellowed. “Har!”
“不,娶長毛象!”托蒙德吼回去,“哈!”
Ygritte trotted beside Jon as he slowed his garron to a walk.
瓊恩放慢馬速,耶哥蕊特跟在身旁。
She claimed to be three years older than him, though she stood half a foot shorter;
她自稱比他大三歲,盡管身高要矮上半尺,
however old she might be, the girl was a tough little thing.
不過不管究竟幾歲,她的強韌無庸置疑。
Stonesnake had called her a “spearwife” when they’d captured her in the Skirling Pass.
在風聲峽,石蛇說她是個“矛婦”,
She wasn’t wed and her weapon of choice was a short curved bow of horn and weirwood, but “spearwife” fit her all the same.
但她其實沒結婚,擅用的武器也是一把獸角和魚梁木做的短彎弓,可瓊恩覺得“矛婦”的說法很適合她。
She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier.
她讓他想起小妹艾莉亞,盡管艾莉亞更小更瘦,
It was hard to tell how plump or thin Ygritte might be, with all the furs and skins she wore.
耶哥蕊特則常穿許多獸毛皮革,難以判斷體形。
“Do you know ‘The Last of the Giants’?”
“你會唱‘最后的巨人’嗎?”
Without waiting for an answer Ygritte said,
耶哥蕊特不待回答,便道,
“You need a deeper voice than mine to do it proper.”
“我的嗓音不夠深沉,唱不好呢,”
Then she sang,
她唱起來,
“Ooooooh, I am the last of the giants, my people are gone from the earth.”
“啊啊啊啊啊啊啊,我是最后的巨人,我沒有同伴。”
Tormund Giantsbane heard the words and grinned.
巨人克星托蒙德聽到歌聲,也跟著唱。
“The last of the great mountain giants, who ruled all the world at my birth,”
“最后的巨人,從大山中走來,我們曾經統治世界,”
he bellowed back through the snow.
他透過大雪吼回來。
Longspear Ryk joined in, singing,
長矛里克加入進來,
“Oh, the smallfolk have stolen my forests, they’ve stolen my rivers and hills.”
“啊,小人族偷走森林,偷走山脈,偷走江河。”