冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第1111期:第五十三章 提利昂(3)

 　　The walls rise sheer from the water, 城墙自水中高高拔起，

　　and from their towers the defenders¹ have a commanding view of the opposite shores for many leagues around. 守军自塔楼上可以看清对岸数里格之内的所有事物。

　　To cut off all the approaches, a besieger² must needs place one camp north of the Tumblestone, 若要切断各方支援，攻城方必须在腾石河北岸、

　　one south of the Red Fork, and a third between the rivers, west of the moat. 红又河南岸以及护城河西岸，亦即两条河之间，各放置一支军队。

　　There is no other way, none." 除此之外，别无他法。

　　Sir Kevan speaks truly, my lords, the courier said. “诸位大人，凯冯爵士说得没错，”信使说，

　　"We'd built palisades of sharpened stakes around the camps, “我军已在营地周围密布削尖木栅，

　　yet it was not enough, not with no warning and the rivers cutting us off from each other. 但在没有任何预警，河水又把我们的营地互相切断的情况下，这样的准备远远不够。

　　They came down on the north camp first. No one was expecting an attack. 他们首先袭击北方的营地，时机完全出乎我们的意料。

　　Marq Piper had been raiding our supply trains, but he had no more than fifty men. 先前，马柯·派柏不断骚扰我军的补给车队，但他手下只有五六十人。

　　Sir Jaime had gone out to deal with them the night before... well, with what we thought was them. 遭受攻击的前一晚，詹姆爵士亲自带兵去对付他们……唉，当时我们以为目标就是派柏那伙人。

　　We were told the Stark³ host was east of the Green Fork, marching south... " 我们听说史塔克军还在绿叉河东岸，正朝南而去……”

　　And your outriders? Sir Gregor Clegane's face might have been hewn from rock. “你们的斥候呢？”格雷果·克里冈爵士的脸活像石雕，

　　The fire in the hearth⁴ gave a somber⁵ orange cast to his skin and put deep shadows in the hollows of his eyes. 火光为他的皮肤罩上了一层阴森的橙色，在他的眼眶底投下深深的阴影。

　　"They saw nothing? They gave you no warning?" “莫非他们什么都没看到？没给你们任何警讯？”

　　The bloodstained messenger shook his head. 满身血污的信使摇摇头。

　　"Our outriders had been vanishing. Marq Piper's work, we thought. “我们的侦察部队最近不断失踪，我们以为是马柯·派柏搞的鬼。

　　The ones who did come back had seen nothing." 而偶尔回来的人又说什么也没发现。”

1 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 besieger   

n. 围攻者, 围攻军

参考例句：

3 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。

4 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

5 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。