-
2007-08-17地海古墓——第四章 梦想与传说下 （补完） - [粗相译]
【在这里隆重感谢my sweet heart：‘猫影重重’同学。如果没有你的帮助俺是木办法把这一截翻译出来的！】
“而这些了不起的英雄就拿他们异教的咒语到这儿来挑衅。”萨尔说道，“他们中最强大的巫师是个龙人，他在这儿遭到了惨败。那是很久之前的事了，太久太久，然而故事一直流传了下来，甚至陵墓所在地之外也不例外。巫师名叫艾伦斯-阿比，同时也是西方的君主。他来到这片土地，在阿瓦巴斯加入某个卡格西叛军组织，与双生神密宗神庙的大主教争夺这个城的统治权，他们激战了很长时间，巫师以法术对抗众神的电雷，神庙在他们之间纷纷崩塌，最后大主教折断他的巫杖，将他的的护身符臂环砍成两截。他败走麦城，从卡格西大陆经地海流窜至西方边缘：最终因为力量丧失殆尽，被那里的一条龙给干掉了。此后内陆一方的势力便渐消渐退。接下来的主教名叫尹塔士，他是按族谱世袭萨伯馆的第一继承人。他的血统可以追溯到卡瑞钩阿特的祭司王一代，也就是所有卡格德神王的前身。所以，在实现预言之后的数百年，从尹塔士开始卡格西大陆的势力愈发壮大，那些前来偷窃的巫师，一次次想把艾伦斯-阿比破碎的守护符带走。但它始终都在这儿，由高等祭司们严密保管着，在这里的还有那些盗窃者的尸骨……”萨尔指了指她们脚下那片土地。
“其中半截臂环由尹塔士亲手放进陵墓宝库里，以确保永久留存。而另一半则在巫师的手中，流窜之前他送给了一个国王，那是众多造反者里的一个小叛国，名叫涪庞的索若格，我不知道他这么做的用意所在。”
“为了引起争纷，为了突现索若格的狂妄自大。”柯西说道，“就是这样。在萨伯馆治理期间，索若格的后裔们又接连不断地造反，他们发兵抵抗第一代神王，拒绝承认他是‘王’和‘神’，这个被诅咒的、专事蛊惑的民族，现在他们早就死光了。”
萨尔点点头。“当今神王的父亲,阿瑞辛的君王，放逐了涪庞的家族，拆毁了他们的宫殿。那之后，从艾伦斯-阿比和尹塔士流传下来的半截臂环就不翼而飞，没人知道它丢失在何处。这已经是几十年前的事了。”
“毫无疑问，它肯定被当作废物给扔掉了。”柯西说道，“他们说这东西除了被诅咒附身看上去没有半点价值，任何与男巫有关的东西都被诅咒过。”柯西捅了捅火焰。
“你曾经见过那半截臂环吗？”欧哈问萨尔。
这个瘦小的女人摇了摇头。“除了第一女祭司，谁也进不了那个宝库。它可能是里面最值钱的宝贝了，我不太清楚，但多半如此。数百年来，内陆不断地指使盗贼和巫师来把它偷回去，但从没人能在一箱箱未封印的黄金面前心无旁笃地寻找那么一个玩意儿。艾伦斯-阿比和尹塔士的时代已经过去很久了，但在媪团和西方，神话还口耳相传着。世间大多数事物都会随时间流逝而消亡，只有很少一部分留存于世，珍贵的依旧珍贵，故事自然也就经久不衰。”
欧哈沉思了一会儿，接着说道，“进入陵墓的那些人不是一些莽夫，就是一群蠢货。他们难道不晓得无名者的力量吗？”
“是的，”柯西用冰冷的声音说道。“他们只玩弄魔法，不信奉神明。对他们而言自己就是神，但事实并非如此。他们没有不朽的灵魂，死后尘归尘土归土，除了在被风吹散之前哀鸣那么一会儿，他们是断不能转生的。”
“但他们使用的是什么魔法？”欧哈迷惑不解地问道。她不记得自己曾说过，如果海船从内陆过来她会不屑一顾地扭头，拒绝多看一眼。
“都是些诡计，骗术，小杂耍。”柯西说道。
“不止如此。”萨尔说道，“如果按照传说，哪怕仅有部分真实，西方巫士们都能随心所欲地使役风，让它们刮哪儿就刮哪儿，让它们停下来就停下来。关于这点，所有人都是一个说法。这就是为何他们全是了不起的航海员：他们能在航行中用魔法操纵风向，平息海上的飓风，以图抵达他们所去的地方。据说他们能凭意念制造出光和暗来，把石头变成钻石，或炼成黄金；他们能瞬间筑出一幢华丽的宫殿或是一整片城市，至少看上去如此；他们还可以将自己幻化成熊，或者鱼和龙，只要他们高兴。”
“我可不信，”柯西说道。“不错，他们是危险分子、奸猾的诈骗犯、是些象鳗鲡一样油滑的家伙。但也有人说只要你把木杖从他们手边拿走，他们就什么法力也没有了。或许是那木杖上写了些古老的邪恶咒语。”
萨尔又摇了摇头。“他们确实是随身带着木杖，但那只是承载他们法力的工具而已。”
“但他们是怎么得到那些力量的?”欧哈继续问道。“它们来自何处？”
“来自假相，”柯西说。
“是言语，”萨尔说道。“有人曾见过一个来自内陆的强大巫师，一个他们所谓的大魔法师。他们在偷袭西方小国时将他俘获。巫师在他们面前掏出一根枯树枝，对着它只念了一个词。然后你瞧！枯木就开枝生花了。他接着又念了另一个词，瞧！树枝间钻出了红苹果。他再念了一个词，于是树枝，花朵和苹果全部消失。一同消失掉的还有那个巫师，只需一个词他便如同彩虹般随风而去，杳无踪影。此后他们再也没在那座小岛上找到他。难道那仅仅只是一个小戏法？”
“蠢货们总是容易上当受骗。”柯西说。
她们不再多语，以避免因此争吵，但欧哈并不愿意话题就此终结。“那些巫师们看上去是什么样子的？”她问道，“除了眼睛他们从头到脚都是黑色，这是不是真的？”
“他们都是污秽而卑劣的家伙，我没见过其中任何一个。”柯西自得地说道，臃肿的身躯朝凳子边缘移了过去，在火炉上摊开手来。
“愿双生神们将它们都赶得远远的。”萨而嘀咕着。
“他们永远不会再来这里了。”柯西说道。火炉里炭火喷溅出来，屋外雨水溅落在房顶上，阴沉的屋廊上传来曼安尖锐的欢叫声：“啊哈！我赢了一半，一半！”
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
"And their great heroes would come among us to test their swords," Thar said, "and work their ungodly spells. One of them, a mighty sorcerer and dragonlord, the greatest of them all, came to grief here. It was long ago, very long ago, but the tale is still remembered, and not only in this place. The sorcerer was named Erreth-Akbe, and he was both king and wizard in the West. He came to our lands, and in Awabath he joined with certain Kargish rebel lords, and fought for the rule of the city with the High Priest of the Inmost Temple of the Twin Gods. Long they fought, the man's sorcery against the lightning of the gods, and the temple was destroyed around them. At last the High Priest broke the sorcerer's witching-staff, broke in half his amulet of power, and defeated him. He escaped from the city and from the Kargish lands, and fled clear across Earthsea to the farthest west; and there a dragon slew him, because his power was gone. And since that day the power and might of the Inner Lands has ever waned. Now the High Priest was named Intathin, and he was the first of the house of Tarb, that lineage from which, after the fulfillment of the prophecies and the centuries, the Priest-Kings of Karego-At were descended, and from them, the Godkings of all Kargad. So it is that since the day of Intathin the power and might of the Kargish lands has ever grown. Those who came to rob the Tombs, they were sorcerers, trying and trying to get back the broken amulet of Erreth-Akbe. But it is still here, where the High Priest put it for safekeeping. And so are their bones..." Thar pointed at the ground under her feet.
"The one half, in Intathin's hand, was given by him to the Treasury of the Tombs, where it should lie safe forever. The other remained in the sorcerer's hand, but he gave it before he fled to a petty king, one of the rebels, named Thoreg of Hupun. I do not know why he did so." "To cause strife, to make Thoreg proud," Kossil said. "And so it did. The descendants of Thoreg rebelled again when the house of Tarb ruled; and yet again they took arms against the first Godking, refusing to acknowledge him as either king or god. They were an accursed, ensorcelled race. They are all dead now."Thar nodded. "The father of our present Godking, the Lord Who Has Arisen, put down that family of Hupun, and destroyed their palaces. When that was done, the half-amulet, which they had kept ever since the days of Erreth-Akbe and Intathin, was lost. No one knows what became of it. And that was a lifetime ago." "It was thrown out as trash, no doubt," Kossil said. "They say it doesn't look like anything of value, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. A curse upon it and upon all the things of the wizardfolk!" Kossil spat into the fire. "Have you seen the half that is here?" Arha asked of Thar. The thin woman shook her head. "It is in that treasury to which none may come but the One Priestess. It may be the greatest of all the treasures there; I do not know. I think perhaps it is. For hundreds of years the Inner Lands sent thieves and wizards here to try to steal it back, and they would pass by open coffers of gold, seeking that one thing. It is very long since Erreth-Akbe and Intathin lived, and yet still the story is known and told, both here and in the West. Most things grow old and perish, as the centuries go on and on. Very few are the precious things that remain precious, or the tales that are still told." Arha brooded awhile and said, "They must have been very brave men, or very stupid, to enter the Tombs. Don't they know the powers of the Nameless Ones?"” "No," Kossil said in her cold voice. "They have no gods. They work magic, and think they are gods themselves. But they are not. And when they die, they are not reborn. They become dust and bone, and their ghosts whine on the wind a little while till the wind blows them away. They do not have immortal souls.""But what is this magic they work?" Arha asked, enthralled. She did not remember having said once that she would have turned away and refused to look at the ships from the Inner Lands. "How do they do it? What does it do?""Tricks, deceptions, jugglery," Kossil said. "Somewhat more," said Thar, "if the tales be true even in part. The wizards of the West can raise and still the winds, and make them blow whither they will. On that, all agree, and tell the same tale. That is why they are great sailors; they can put the wind of magic in their sails, and go where they will, and hush the storms at sea. And it is said that they can make light at will, and darkness; and change rocks to diamonds, and lead to gold; that they can build a great palace or a whole city in one instant, at least in seeming; that they can turn themselves into bears, or fish, or dragons, just as they please.""I do not believe all that," said Kossil. "That they are dangerous, subtle with trickery, slippery as eels, yes. But they say that if you take his wooden staff away from a sorcerer, he has no power left. Probably there are evil runes written on the staff."Thar shook her head again. "They carry a staff, indeed, but it is only a tool for the power they bear within them." "But how do they get the power?" Arha asked. "Where does it come from?""Lies," Kossil said. "Words," said Thar. "So I was told by one who once had watched a great sorcerer of the Inner Lands, a Mage as they are called. They had taken him prisoner, raiding to the West. He showed them a stick of dry wood, and spoke a word to it. And lo! it blossomed. And he spoke another word, and lo! it bore red apples. And he spoke one word more, and stick, blossoms, apples, and all vanished, and with them the sorcerer. With one word he had gone as a rainbow goes, like a wink, without a trace; and they never found him on that isle. Was that mere jugglery?""It's easy to fool fools," Kossil said. Thar said no more, avoiding argument but Arha was loath to have the subject dropped. "What do the wizard-folk look like," she asked, "are they truly black all over, with white eyes?" "They are black and vile. I have never seen one," Kossil said with satisfaction, shifting her heavy bulk on the low stool and spreading her hands to the fire. "May the Twin Gods keep them afar," Thar muttered."They will never come here again," said Kossil. And the fire sputtered, and the rain spattered on the roof, and outside the gloomy doorway Manan cried shrilly, "Aha! A half for me, a half!"
