冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第249期:第十八章 凯特琳(31)

 　　When they finally spied Castle Black, its timbered keeps and stone towers looked like nothing more than a handful of toy blocks scattered¹ on the snow,  待他们终于见到黑城堡，却发现那不过是这面广大冰墙下的木造城楼和石砌高塔，看起来简直就像散布雪地的玩具积木。

　　beneath the vast wall of ice. The ancient stronghold of the black brothers was no Winterfell, no true castle at all.  黑衫军的古老堡垒远不如临冬城，甚至称不上是座像样的城堡。

　　Lacking walls, it could not be defended, not from the south, or east, or west; but it was only the north that concerned the Night's Watch, and to the north loomed² the Wall.  它没有城墙，无法抵御来自东西南三方面的攻击，守夜人部队惟一关心的只有北方，而高耸在黑堡北边的正是绝境长城。

　　Almost seven hundred feet high it stood, three times the height of the tallest tower in the stronghold it sheltered.  长城高近七百尺，足足是它所庇护的要塞上最高的塔楼的三倍。

　　His uncle said the top was wide enough for a dozen armored knights³ to ride abreast⁴.  叔叔说城墙之宽，足以让十二名全副武装的骑士并肩共骑。

　　The gaunt outlines of huge catapults and monstrous⁵ wooden cranes stood sentry⁶ up there, like the skeletons of great birds, and among them walked men in black as small as ants. 巨大的弩炮和怪兽般的投石机守卫着城墙，行走其上的黑衣军渺小如同蝼蚁。

　　As he stood outside the armory⁷ looking up, Jon felt almost as overwhelmed as he had that day on the kingsroad, when he'd seen it for the first time.  如今站在兵器库外向上看去，琼恩感受的震慑丝毫不亚于当日在国王大道上初见之时。

　　The Wall was like that. Sometimes he could almost forget that it was there, the way you forgot about the sky or the earth underfoot,  绝境长城就是如此，有时你会忘记其存在，一如你对头顶长空和脚下大地司空见惯，不以为意，

　　but there were other times when it seemed as if there was nothing else in the world.  但有时又仿佛是举世间惟一真切的存在。

　　It was older than the Seven Kingdoms, and when he stood beneath it and looked up, it made Jon dizzy.  它比七大王国还要古老，每当琼恩站在城墙下抬头仰望，总是头晕目眩。

　　He could feel the great weight of all that ice pressing down on him, as if it were about to topple, and somehow Jon knew that if it fell, the world fell with it. 他可以感觉到雄浑繁厚的冰层向他重压而来，仿佛城墙崩塌要将他掩埋。琼恩隐约知道，倘若哪天长城真的陷落，整个世界必将随之瓦解。

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

4 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

5 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

6 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

7 armory   

n.纹章，兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Nuclear weapons will play a less prominent part in NATO's armory in the future.核武器将来在北约的军械中会起较次要的作用。
• Every March the Armory Show sets up shop in New York.每年三月，军械博览会都会在纽约设置展场。