Yet Jon Arryn had asked for it, and Ned felt certain he had reasons.  但琼恩·艾林既然找来读了，奈德相信必有其原因。

　　There was something here, some truth buried in these brittle yellow pages, if only he could see it. But what?  在这些泛黄的脆弱书页间，肯定埋藏着重要的线索，问题只在于他是否能钻研出其中深意。那究竟是什么呢？

　　The tome was over a century old. Scarcely a man now alive had yet been born when Malleon had compiled his dusty lists of weddings, births, and deaths. 这本书册的历史已经超过百年。当梅利恩收集这份蒙尘的婚丧喜庆清单时，目前活在世上的人几乎都还没出生呢。

　　He opened to the section on House Lannister once more, and turned the pages slowly, hoping against hope that something would leap out at him.  他再度翻到兰尼斯特家族的部分，刻意慢慢翻页，虽然明知不可能，却仍希望藉此灵光乍现。

　　The Lannisters were an old family, tracing their descent back to Lann the Clever,a trickster from the Age of Heroes who was no doubt as legendary as Bran the Builder,  兰尼斯特家族历史悠久，向上可以追溯到英雄纪元时的骗术高手机灵的兰尼。他和筑城者布兰登一样同富传奇色彩，

　　though far more beloved of singers and taletellers.  却更受歌手和说书人的爱戴。

　　In the songs, Lann was the fellow who winkled the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock with no weapon but his wits, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair.  歌谣中的兰尼不靠刀剑，光凭他的机智就把凯斯德利家族赶出凯岩城，又从太阳那里偷来黄金为他的卷发增光。

　　Ned wished he were here now, to winkle the truth out of this damnable book. 奈德真希望他此刻就在自己身边，帮他把书中那该死的秘密赶出来。

　　A sharp rap on the door heralded Jory Cassel. Ned closed Malleon's tome and bid him enter.  一阵急促的敲门声宣告了乔里·凯索的到来。奈德阖上梅利恩的巨著，传他进来。

　　I've promised the City Watch twenty of my guard until the tourney is done, he told him.  我答应从我的卫队里抽二十个人给都城守卫队，直到比武大会结束。他告诉他，

　　I rely on you to make the choice. Give Alyn the command, and make certain the men understand that they are needed to stop fights, not start them.  挑人的事就交给你。让埃林领队，但务必让他们明白，首要任务是平息纷争，而非制造冲突。

　　Rising, Ned opened a cedar chest and removed a light linen undertunic. Did you find the stableboy? 奈德起身，打开雪松木箱，拿出一件轻制亚麻布上衣。找到那个马僮了吗？