冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第834期:第三十九章 凯特琳(4)

 　　All that was left of the great stronghold of the First Men were three towers... 先民所建筑的雄伟要塞只剩三座高塔……

　　three where there had once been twenty, if the taletellers could be believed. 而说书人却说古时曾有二十座。

　　The Gatehouse Tower looked sound enough, and even boasted a few feet of standing¹ wall to either side of it. “城门塔”看来还算完整，左右两边甚至还有几尺城墙。

　　The Drunkard's Tower, off in the bog² where the south and west walls had once met, leaned like a man about to spew a bellyful of wine into the gutter³. “醉鬼塔”陷在泽地边缘，位于过去南墙和西墙交会的地方，如今倾斜得厉害，有如一位准备吐出满肚子酒水的醉汉。

　　And the tall, slender Children's Tower, where legend said the children of the forest had once called upon their nameless gods 相传，森林之子便是在高瘦尖细的“森林之子塔”顶召唤他们的无名诸神，

　　to send the hammer of the waters, had lost half its crown. 送出巨浪的惩罚，如今塔尖少了一半，

　　It looked as if some great beast had taken a bite out of the crenellations along the tower top, and spit the rubble⁴ across the bog. 看上去像是有只大怪兽咬了一口塔楼雉堞，随后又把它吐进沼泽。

　　All three towers were green with moss⁵. 三座塔楼均爬满青苔，

　　A tree was growing out between the stones on the north side of the Gatehouse Tower, 有棵树从城门塔北面石墙缝隙间长出，

　　its gnarled limbs festooned with ropy white blankets of ghostskin. 盘根错节，表面覆盖着幽灵般苍白的坏死树皮。

　　Gods have mercy, Sir Brynden exclaimed when he saw what lay before them. “诸神慈悲，”看到眼前的景象，布林登爵士不禁吃了一惊，

　　"This is Moat Cailin? It's no more than a..." “这就是卡林湾？这不过是个——”

　　...death trap, Catelyn finished. "I know how it looks, Uncle. I thought the same the first time I saw it,  “——死亡陷阱。”凯特琳接口道：“叔叔，我知道这里看起来很不起眼，我初次见到时也这么想，

　　but Ned assured me that this ruin is more formidable than it seems. 但奈德向我保证，这片‘废墟’远比看起来要易守难攻。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

3 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

4 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。