冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第396期:第二十四章 珊莎(7)

 　　By then, the moon was well up and the crowd was tired, so the king decreed that the last three matches would be fought the next morning, before the melee¹.  这时月亮早已升起，人们也累了，于是国王宣布最后三场比试将等到明天早上，在团体比武前举行。

　　While the commons began their walk home, talking of the day's jousts² and the matches to come on the morrow, the court moved to the riverside to begin the feast.  群众渐渐散去，一边讨论着当日的比武盛事和隔天的重头好戏，廷臣要员们则前往河边用餐。

　　Six monstrous³ huge aurochs had been roasting for hours, turning slowly on wooden spits while kitchen boys basted⁴ them with butter and herbs until the meat crackled and spit.  六头大得惊人的牦牛在烤肉铁叉上缓缓转动，已经烤了好几个小时，旁边的厨房小弟忙着涂抹奶油和草药，直到肉烤得香香酥酥，油脂四溢。

　　Tables and benches had been raised outside the pavilions, piled high with sweetgrass and strawberries and fresh-baked bread. 帐篷外搭起大餐桌和长椅，桌上的甜菜、草莓和刚出炉的面包堆得老高。

　　Sansa and Septa Mordane were given places of high honor, to the left of the raised dais where the king himself sat beside his queen.  珊莎和茉丹修女被安排在临时搭建的高台上的贵宾席，就在国王和王后的左边。

　　When Prince Joffrey seated himself to her right, she felt her throat tighten⁵.  当乔佛里王子在她右手坐下时，她直觉得喉咙发紧。

　　He had not spoken a word to her since the awful thing had happened, and she had not dared to speak to him.  自上次的事件后，他便一句话都没跟她说，她也不敢开口。

　　At first she thought she hated him for what they'd done to Lady, but after Sansa had wept her eyes dry, she told herself that it had not been Joffrey's doing, not truly.  起初因为他们杀了淑女，她以为自己恨他，然而等珊莎眼泪流干，她又告诉自己真正的错不在乔佛里，而在王后，王后才是她该怨的人，王后和艾莉亚。

　　The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya. Nothing bad would have happened except for Arya. 如果不是艾莉亚，就什么事都不会发生了。

　　She could not hate Joffrey tonight.  今晚她实在没办法去恨乔佛里，因为他委实太过俊美。

　　He was too beautiful to hate. He wore a deep blue doublet studded with a double row of golden lion's heads, and around his brow a slim coronet made of gold and sapphires⁶.  他穿了一件深蓝的紧身上衣，上绣两排金色狮头，额间戴了一顶用黄金和蓝宝石做成的纤细冠冕。他的头发如真金一般闪亮。

　　His hair was as bright as the metal. Sansa looked at him and trembled, afraid that he might ignore her or, worse, turn hateful again and send her weeping from the table. 珊莎看着她，不禁浑身颤抖，生怕他会不理她，甚至又对她恶声恶气，让她哭着跑开。

1 melee   

n.混战；混战的人群

参考例句：

• There was a scuffle and I lost my hat in the melee.因发生一场斗殴，我的帽子也在混乱中丢失了。
• In the melee that followed they trampled their mother a couple of times.他们打在一团，七手八脚的又踩了他们的母亲几下。

2 jousts   

（骑士）骑着马用长矛打斗( joust的名词复数 )； 格斗，竞争

参考例句：

• The oil company jousts with Esso for lead position in UK sales. 这家石油公司和埃索公司角逐英国市场销量的榜首位置。 来自柯林斯例句
• There were notable jousts with the Secretary of Commerce. 和商业部长之间明显存在竞争。 来自柯林斯例句

3 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！

4 basted   

v.打( baste的过去式和过去分词 )；粗缝；痛斥；（烤肉等时）往上抹[浇]油

参考例句：

• The turkey is basted to keep it from drying out. 烤火鸡时润以油脂以免烤干。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Meat is basted to keep it from drying out and to improve its flavour. 烤肉时润以脂油使不致烤焦并可增加香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

6 sapphires   

n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色

参考例句：

• Again there was that moment of splintered sapphires before the lids, dropping like scales, extinguished it. 她眼眶中又闪烁出蓝宝石的光彩，接着眼睑象鱼鳞般地垂落下来，双目又黯然失色了。 来自辞典例句
• She also sported a somewhat gawdy gold watch set with diamonds and sapphires. 她还收到一块镶着钻石和蓝宝石的金表。 来自辞典例句