冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第650期:第三十一章 艾德(5)

 　　For a brief moment Ned considered telling him all of it, but there was something in Littlefinger's japes that irked him. 有那么一瞬间，奈德犹豫要不要把实情告诉他，但小指头的玩笑令他生厌。

　　The man was too clever by half, a mocking smile never far from his lips. 这家伙老是自以为机灵，那抹促狭的微笑从来不离唇边。

　　"Jon Arryn was studying this volume when he was taken sick," Ned said in a careful tone, to see how he might respond. “琼恩·艾林生病时读的就是这本书。”奈德谨慎地说，打算试探对方的反应。

　　And he responded as he always did: with a quip. 他果然一如既往地耍了个嘴皮子。

　　"In that case," he said, "death must have come as a blessed relief." “若是这样，”他说，“那死还真算得上解脱。”

　　Lord Petyr Baelish bowed and took his leave. 语毕培提尔·贝里席伯爵鞠躬离去。

　　Eddard Stark¹ allowed himself a curse. 艾德·史塔克容许自己咒骂了一句。

　　Aside from his own retainers, there was scarcely a man in this city he trusted. 除了自己的手下，城里无人可以信任。

　　Littlefinger had concealed² Catelyn and helped Ned in his inquiries³,  小指头虽曾帮忙藏匿凯特琳，也协助奈德明查暗访，

　　yet his haste to save his own skin when Jaime and his swords had come out of the rain still rankled⁴. 然而当詹姆和他手下出现时，他那幅急于自保的嘴脸，至今依旧历历如绘。

　　Varys was worse. For all his protestations of loyalty⁵, the eunuch knew too much and did too little. 瓦里斯更糟。他成天强调自己忠心耿耿，事实上他知道的太多，真正去做的却太少。

　　Grand Maester Pycelle seemed more Cersei's creature with every passing day,  派席尔国师越看越像瑟曦的走狗，

　　and Sir Barristan was an old man, and rigid⁶. He would tell Ned to do his duty. 巴利斯坦爵士则年事已高，又食古不化，多半会告诉奈德管好份内之事即可。

　　Time was perilously⁷ short. 时间异常紧迫，

　　The king would return from his hunt soon, and honor would require Ned to go to him with all he had learned. 待国王游猎归来，出于荣誉，奈德非得向他吐露实情不可。

　　Vayon Poole had arranged for Sansa and Arya to sail on the Wind Witch out of Braavos, three days hence. 维扬·普尔已经安排好珊莎和艾莉亚三天后搭乘布拉佛斯的风之巫女号离开，

　　They would be back at Winterfell before the harvest. 她们将在收获之前抵达临冬城。

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 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

3 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 rankled   

v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her comments still rankled. 她的评价仍然让人耿耿于怀。
• The insult rankled in his mind. 这种侮辱使他心里难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

7 perilously   

adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地

参考例句：

• They were perilously close to the edge of the precipice. 他们离悬崖边很近，十分危险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It'seemed to me that we had come perilously close to failure already. 对我来说，好像失败和我只有一步之遥，岌岌可危。 来自互联网