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“Now,”
“快。”
her uncle urged.
叔叔勸促。
Beside him, her brother Edmure—Lord Edmure now in truth, and how long would that take to grow used to?
旁邊的艾德慕弟弟——如今已是奔流城公爵，但何時才能長大？
Knocked an arrow to his bowstring.
何時才能承擔重擔？
His squire held a brand to its point.
——趕緊搭箭上弓，他的侍從用烙鐵將箭點燃。
Edmure waited until the flame caught, then lifted the great bow, drew the string to his ear, and let fly.
艾德慕等待半晌，舉起巨弓，將箭拉到耳畔，“嗖”地一聲，釋放出去。
With a deep thrum, the arrow sped upward.
隨著深沉的響動，飛箭騰空而去，
Catelyn followed its flight with her eyes and heart, until it plunged into the water with a soft hiss, well astern of Lord Hoster’s boat.
帶走了凱特琳的目光和心靈，最后卻輕輕落在船尾，離目標相去甚遠。
Edmure cursed softly.
艾德慕輕聲咒罵，
“The wind,” he said, pulling a second arrow.
“該死的風，”他搭起第二支箭，
“Again.”
“再來。”
The brand kissed the oil-soaked rag behind the arrowhead, the flames went licking up, Edmure lifted, pulled, and released.
烙鐵點燃箭頭包的油布，焰苗搖曳，弟弟舉弓，拉弦，再度釋放。
High and far the arrow flew.
這次飛得又高又遠，
Too far.
太遠了，
It vanished in the river a dozen yards beyond the boat, its fire winking out in an instant.
竟在船頭之前十余碼處入水，火焰頓時熄滅。
A flush was creeping up Edmure’s neck, red as his beard.
艾德慕脖子上爬起一圈紅暈，跟胡須一般顏色。
“Once more,”
“再來，”
he commanded, taking a third arrow from the quiver.
他命令，一邊從箭筒里取出第三支箭。
He is as tight as his bowstring, Catelyn thought.
他太緊張，繃得跟弓弦似的，凱特琳心想。
Ser Brynden must have seen the same thing.
布林登爵士也察覺到了。
“Let me, my lord,” he offered.
“讓我來，大人。”他請求。
“I can do it,” Edmure insisted.
“我能行。”艾德慕堅持。
He let them light the arrow, jerked the bow up, took a deep breath, drew back the arrow.
他再度點燃箭頭，舉起弓來，深吸一口氣，拉滿了弦。
For a long moment he seemed to hesitate while the fire crept up the shaft, crackling.
這次他瞄了許久，待火焰燒光箭頭，爬上箭桿，發(fā)出噼里啪啦的聲響，
Finally he released.
才終于發(fā)射。
The arrow flashed up and up, and finally curved down again, falling, falling … and hissing past the billowing sail.
箭支風一般地爬升，爬升，然后弧形下降，下降，下降……稍稍略過搖晃的船只。
A narrow miss, no more than a handspan, and yet a miss.
差了一點，不到一掌寬，但確實沒射中。
“The Others take it!” her brother swore.
“該死！”弟弟大聲詛咒。
The boat was almost out of range, drifting in and out among the river mists.
船只已快駛到射程之外，在河霧中忽隱忽現(xiàn)。
Wordless, Edmure thrust the bow at his uncle.
艾德慕無言地將弓交給叔叔。
“Swiftly,” Ser Brynden said.
“是。”布林登爵士道。
He nocked an arrow, held it steady for the brand, drew and released before Catelyn was quite sure that the fire had caught …
他搭起箭，堅定地放到烙鐵上，凱特琳還未確定箭頭是否點燃，他便舉弓迅速射了出去……
but as the shot rose, she saw the flames trailing through the air, a pale orange pennon.
飛箭臨空，她看見火焰劃出軌跡，猶如一面淡橙色的三角旗。
The boat had vanished in the mists.
前方的船只已然消失在迷離中，
Falling, the flaming arrow was swallowed up as well … but only for a heartbeat.
墜落的羽箭也隨即無蹤……但一陣心跳之后，
Then, sudden as hope, they saw the red bloom flower.
驟起猶如希望，紅花猛烈綻放。
The sails took fire, and the fog glowed pink and orange.
燃燒的風帆將霧氣染成粉色和橙色，
For a moment Catelyn saw the outline of the boat clearly, wreathed in leaping flames.
凱特琳看見船只的輪廓，在飛揚的火舞中掙扎萎縮。
Watch for me, little cat, she could hear him whisper.
你有沒有等我啊，小凱特？父親輕輕地說。
Catelyn reached out blindly, groping for her brother’s hand,
凱特琳不由自主地伸手想挽弟弟，
but Edmure had moved away, to stand alone on the highest point of the battlements.
艾德慕卻已走開，一個人默默地站在城堡最高處。
Her uncle Brynden took her hand instead, twining his strong fingers through hers.
挽住她的是叔叔布林登，用他那剛勁的手指。
Together they watched the little fire grow smaller as the burning boat receded in the distance.
他們并肩而立，看著火焰逐漸熄滅，燃燒的船只不復得見，徹底消失……
And then it was gone … drifting downriver still, perhaps, or broken up and sinking.
……或許還在繼續(xù)漂流，或許已經(jīng)破裂沉沒。
The weight of his armor would carry Lord Hoster down to rest in the soft mud of the riverbed,
總而言之，霍斯特公爵的盔甲將把他的身軀帶進河底軟泥中安息，
in the watery halls where the Tullys held eternal court, with schools of fish their last attendants.
在水下宮殿里，徒利家族的成員永恒歡聚，而形形色色的魚類是他們的臣民。
No sooner had the burning boat vanished from their sight than Edmure walked off.
這時，艾德慕急匆匆離開。
Catelyn would have liked to embrace him, if only for a moment;
凱特琳多么想擁抱他，
to sit for an hour or a night or the turn of a moon to speak of the dead and mourn.
多么想和弟弟坐在一起，
Yet she knew as well as he that this was not the time;
竟日懇談死者和哀悼，但她明白時候不對：
he was Lord of Riverrun now, and his knights were falling in around him,
弟弟如今已是奔流城公爵，無數(shù)騎士諸侯將要對他致以悼念，
murmuring condolences and promises of fealty, walling him off from something as small as a sister’s grief.
約誓忠誠，怎有時間來陪伴傷心的姐姐呢？
Edmure listened, hearing none of the words.
艾德慕靜靜地聽著人們的語言，一句話也沒有說。
“It is no disgrace to miss your shot,” her uncle told her quietly.
“偶爾失手不值得羞愧，”叔叔輕聲告訴她，
“Edmure should hear that.
“艾德慕應該明白，
The day my own lord father went downriver, Hoster missed as well.”
就連我父親大人離去時，霍斯特也沒射中。”
“With his first shaft.”
“父親只射失了第一箭，”
Catelyn had been too young to remember, but Lord Hoster had often told the tale.
凱特琳當時還太小，沒有記憶，但霍斯特公爵常提這件陳年舊事，
“His second found the sail.”
“第二箭正中風帆。”
