冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第465期:第二十七章 艾德(2)

 　　The other councillors were all doing their best to pretend that they were somewhere else. No doubt they were wiser than he was. Eddard Stark¹ had seldom felt quite so alone.  其余重臣正竭尽所能假装不在现场。他们这么做，无疑比他聪明得多。艾德·史塔克极少感到如此孤独。假如你真这样做，你将遗臭万年。

　　You will dishonor yourself forever if you do this. 要怪就尽量怪到我头上来吧，只要事情能办成。

　　Then let it be on my head, so long as it is done. I am not so blind that I cannot see the shadow of the axe² when it is hanging over my own neck. 我还没盲目到斧头的影子都在脖子上晃了自己还看不到的地步。

　　There is no axe, Ned told his king. Only the shadow of a shadow, twenty years removed...if it exists at all. 根本没有什么斧头，奈德告诉他的国王：只有二十年前的陈年旧事，你这是在捕风捉影…而且究竟有没有影子还未可知。

　　If? Varys asked softly, wringing³ powdered hands together. My lord, you wrong me. Would I bring ties to king and council? 还未可知？瓦里斯轻声问，一边扭着他那双洒满香粉的手。大人，您错怪我了。难道我会编造假消息来欺骗国王陛下和诸位大人吗？

　　Ned looked at the eunuch coldly. You would bring us the whisperings of a traitor⁴ half a world away, my lord. Perhaps Mormont is wrong. Perhaps he is lying. 奈德冷冷地看着太监。大人，您的消息来源于千里之外的叛徒。或许莫尔蒙弄错了，或许他在撒谎。

　　Ser Jorah would not dare deceive me, Varys said with a sly smile. Rely on it, my lord. The princess is with child. 乔拉爵士想必不敢骗我，瓦里斯露出狡猾的笑容。请放心吧，大人，公主怀孕的事不会错的。

　　So you say. If you are wrong, we need not fear. If the girl miscarries, we need not fear. If she births a daughter in place of a son, we need not fear.  这可是你说的。若你弄错了，我们无须害怕；若那女孩流产，我们无须害怕；若她生的是女儿，并非儿子，我们无须害怕；

　　If the babe dies in infancy⁵, we need not fear. 若那孩子还未长大就死于襁褓，我们也无须害怕。

　　But if it is a boy? Robert insisted. If he lives? 但万一真是个儿子呢？劳勃坚持，万一他活下来了呢？

　　The narrow sea would still lie between us. I shall fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water. 狭海依旧隔在中间。等多斯拉克人教会他们的马在水上走路的那一天，我才会害怕。

1 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

2 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

3 wringing   

淋湿的，湿透的

参考例句：

• He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
• He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

4 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

5 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。