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All I need do is walk, Sam told himself, as he took that first step toward home.
我只需一直走，山姆告訴自己，就可以回家了。
But before an hour was gone he had begun to struggle, and to lag …
但走不到一個小時，他便開始踉蹌，開始落后……
They were lagging now as well, he saw.
而他們三人現在越落越后，他知道。
He remembered Pyp saying once how Small Paul was the strongest man in the Watch.
記得派普曾說，小保羅是守夜人軍團中最壯的人。
He must be, to carry me.
一定是的，所以才能抱著我走。
Yet even so, the snow was growing deeper, the ground more treacherous, and Paul’s strides had begun to shorten.
即便如此，前方的積雪卻越來越深，地面越來越險，保羅的步伐越來越小。
More horsemen passed, wounded men who looked at Sam with dull incurious eyes.
更多騎馬的人超過去，傷員們用呆滯冷漠的眼神看看山姆。
Some torch bearers went by as well.
一些火炬手也超過去。
“You’re falling behind,” one told them.
“你們要掉隊了，”其中一個說。
The next agreed.
另一個贊同，
“No one’s like to wait for you, Paul.
“沒人會等你，保羅，
Leave the pig for the dead men.”
把這頭豬留給那些死人吧。”
“He promised I could have a bird,”
“他答應送俺一只鳥，”
Small Paul said, even though Sam hadn’t, not truly.
小保羅說，雖然山姆并沒有答應，沒有真正答應。
They aren’t mine to give.
它們不是我的，不能送人。
“I want me a bird that talks, and eats corn from my hand.”
“俺想搞一只會說話、能從俺手上吃玉米的鳥。”
“Bloody fool,” the torch man said.
“真是個大呆瓜，”火炬手道，
Then he was gone.
然后走了。
It was a while after when Grenn stopped suddenly.
過了一會兒，葛蘭突然停下。
“We’re alone,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“我們掉隊了，”他嘶聲道，
“I can’t see the other torches.
“看不到其他火炬。
Was that the rear guard?”
殿后的人在哪兒？”
Small Paul had no answer for him.
小保羅無言以對。
The big man gave a grunt and sank to his knees.
大個子咕噥一聲，跪了下去，
His arms trembled as he lay Sam gently in the snow.
當他輕輕地將山姆放到雪地上時，手臂都在打顫。
“I can’t carry you no more. I would, but I can’t.”
“俺抱不動你了。俺是想抱，但抱不動了，”
He shivered violently.
他渾身劇烈顫抖。
The wind sighed through the trees, driving a fine spray of snow into their faces.
寒風在樹木間嘆息，將細小的雪粒吹到他們臉上。
The cold was so bitter that Sam felt naked.
冷，不堪忍受的冷，山姆感覺自己什么也沒穿。
He looked for the other torches, but they were gone, every one of them.
他搜尋著火炬，但它們業已消失，個個不見蹤影——
There was only the one Grenn carried, the flames rising from it like pale orange silks.
除了葛蘭手里那支，火焰如淡橙色絲綢，向上升起。
He could see through them, to the black beyond.
透過它，他可以看到遠處的黑暗。
That torch will burn out soon, he thought, and we are all alone, without food or friends or fire.
它很快就會燃盡，他想，只剩下我們三人，沒有食物，沒有朋友，沒有火。
But that was wrong.
并非如此。
They weren’t alone at all.
他錯了。
The lower branches of the great green sentinel shed their burden of snow with a soft wet plop.
巨大的綠色哨兵樹低處的枝杈動了一動，振落上面沉沉的積雪，發出含混的“噗哧”響。
Grenn spun, thrusting out his torch.
葛蘭轉身，伸出火炬，
“Who goes there?”
“誰在那兒！？”
A horse’s head emerged from the darkness.
一個馬頭從黑暗中出現。
Sam felt a moment’s relief, until he saw the horse.
山姆感到片刻的欣慰，直至看見整匹馬。
Hoarfrost covered it like a sheen of frozen sweat, and a nest of stiff black entrails dragged from its open belly.
它全身包裹一層白霜，活像結凍的汗水，黑色僵死的腸子從裂開的腹部拖墜而下，
On its back was a rider pale as ice.
在它背部，坐了一位玄冰般蒼白的騎手。
Sam made a whimpery sound deep in his throat.
山姆喉嚨深處發出一聲嗚咽，
He was so scared he might have pissed himself all over again, but the cold was in him, a cold so savage that his bladder felt frozen solid.
他嚇壞了，只想尿褲子，可體內有股寒意，劇烈的寒意，把膀胱凍得嚴嚴實實。
The Other slid gracefully from the saddle to stand upon the snow.
異鬼優雅地下馬，挺立在雪地里。
Sword-slim it was, and milky white.
它像長劍一般纖細，如牛奶一樣白皙，
Its armor rippled and shifted as it moved, and its feet did not break the crust of the new-fallen snow.
它的盔甲隨著移動而改變顏色，而它的腳絲毫沒有踩碎新雪的結冰。
Small Paul unslung the long-hafted axe strapped across his back.
小保羅取下綁在后背的長柄斧，
“Why’d you hurt that horse?
“你為什么傷害這匹馬？
That was Mawney’s horse.”
這是毛尼的馬。”
Sam groped for the hilt of his sword, but the scabbard was empty.
山姆摸向自己的劍，鞘是空的。
He had lost it on the Fist, he remembered too late.
他這才想起把它丟在了先民拳峰。
“Get away!”
“滾開！”
Grenn took a step, thrusting the torch out before him.
葛蘭跨了一步，火炬伸在前面。
“Away, or you burn.”
“滾開，否則燒死你！”
He poked at it with the flames.
他用火焰指著它。
The Other’s sword gleamed with a faint blue glow.
異鬼的劍閃著淡淡而詭異的藍光。
It moved toward Grenn, lightning quick, slashing.
它移向葛蘭，閃電般攻打過來。
When the ice blue blade brushed the flames, a screech stabbed Sam’s ears sharp as a needle.
冰藍的劍刃掃過火焰，發出尖銳的響聲，如針一樣刺痛山姆的耳朵。
