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本帖最后由 nidhogg 于 2014-6-3 18:12 编辑
BOOK TWO
卷二
Less certain of himself or his destiny than ever, the albino king must perforce bring his powers of sorcery into play, conscious that he has embarked upon a course of action by no means at one with his original conception of the way he wished to live his life. And now matters must be settled. He must begin to rule. He must become cruel. But even in this he will find himself thwarted.
现实迫使白子国王必须开始动用他的巫术力量，纵使他前所未有地缺乏自信，更不知命运在将他推往何方。他深知自己所从事的这一切，都与最初希望的生活相去甚远。但现在已经没有犹豫的机会。他必须开始强硬。必须让自己变得冷酷。但即便如此，他依然发现自己重重受阻，难以如愿。
1
The Caverns of the Sea King
第一章 海之王的洞穴
ELRIC SANK RAPIDLY, desperately trying to keep the last of his breath in his body. He had no strength to swim and the weight of the armour denied any hope of his rising to the surface and being sighted by Magum Colim or one of the others still loyal to him.
Elric疾速地下沉，绝望地想留住肺中最后一点空气。他没有力气游泳，盔甲的重量也扼杀了任何一点让他浮上水面，被Magum Colim或其他那些依然忠于他的人发现的可能。
The roaring in his ears gradually faded to a whisper so that it sounded as if little voices were speaking to him, the voices of the water elementals with whom, in his youth, he had had a kind of friendship. And the pain in his lungs faded; the red mist cleared from his eyes and he thought he saw the face of his father, Sadric, of Cymoril and, fleetingly, of Yyrkoon. Stupid Yyrkoon: for all that he prided himself that he was a Melnibonean, he lacked the Melnibonean subtlety. He was as brutal and direct as some of the Young Kingdom barbarians he so much despised. And now Elric began to feel almost grateful to his cousin. His life was over. The conflicts which tore his mind would no longer trouble him. His fears, his torments, his loves and his hatreds all lay in the past and only oblivion lay before him. As the last of his breath left his body, he gave himself wholly to the sea; to Straasha, Lord of all the Water Elementals, once the comrade of the Melnibonean folk. And as he did this he remembered the old spell which his ancestors had used to summon Straasha. The spell came unbidden into his dying brain.
耳边水流的轰鸣渐渐弱去，变得宛如许多声细碎低语，仿佛在耳畔对他说话，那些话语，是他年少时曾与之为伴的水元素的声音。他胸口的疼痛消失了；眼前不再为红色迷雾所障，他觉得自己仿佛看见父亲Sadric的面庞，还有Cymoril，甚至，还有Yyrkoon一闪而过的面容。愚蠢的Yyrkoon：无论他对自己Melnibone人的身份有多骄傲，他独缺Melnibone人细致与隐秘的秉性。他就像某些自己所鄙视的幼国蛮人般，粗鲁而直接。现在，Elric对他表兄的所为几乎抱着感激。他就要死了。不断撕扯着他内心的冲突，不会再困扰他。他的恐惧与痛苦，他的爱与恨，全都被抛在身后，眼前等待他的只有遗忘。当最后一口空气离开他的身体时，他将自己完全交给了大海；交给Straasha，水元素之主，Melnibone人曾经的盟友。在水中，他想起自己祖先曾用以召唤Straasha的古老咒语。那咒语，不期而至地闯入他濒死的脑海。
Waters of the sea, thou gave us birth
And were our milk and mother both
In days when skies were overcast
You who were first shall be the last.
Sea-rulers, fathers of our blood,
Thine aid is sought, thine aid is sought,
Your salt is blood, our blood your salt,
Your blood the blood of Man.
Straasha, eternal king, eternal sea
Thine aid is sought by me;
For enemies of thine and mine
Seek to defeat our destiny, and drain
away our sea.
赐予生命的海，你的水是母乳，是母亲
始于昏冥的你，是最初也是最终
海上领主，我的血脉之祖，请给予帮助
你的盐是血，我辈之血，即是你的盐
你的血，凡人之血
Straasha，永恒的王，永恒的海，请求你的帮助
你我共同的敌人，企图抽干我们的海，打破我们的命运
Either the words had an old, symbolic meaning or they referred to some incident in Melnibonean history which even Elric had not read about. The words meant very little to him and yet they continued to repeat themselves as his body sank deeper and deeper into the green waters. Even when blackness overwhelmed him and his lungs filled with water, the words continued to whisper through the corridors of his brain. It was strange that he should be dead and still hear the incantation.
不知是蕴含某种古老的象征寓意，还是反映了Melnibone史上某件连Elric都没有读到过的事变，这番话似乎没有什么意义。但随着他的身体愈来愈深地沉入深绿的海中，它们亦一遍一遍不断地重复。即使黑暗将他吞没，海水将他填满，这些句子依然在他脑海的长廊中回荡。他奇怪自己应该已经死了，但却依然听得见咒语吟唱。
xxx
It seemed a long while later that his eyes opened and revealed swirling water and, through it, huge, indistinct figures gliding towards him. Death, it appeared, took a long time to come and, while he died, he dreamed. The leading figure had a turquoise beard and hair, pale green skin that seemed made of the sea itself and, when he spoke, a voice that was like a rushing tide. He smiled at Elric.
似乎过了很久，他睁开眼睛，看到眼前旋转的涡流。漩涡中，模糊不清的巨大形影向他飘来。似乎死亡，花了很长时间才降临，而他在死时，坠入了梦境。领头的身影有着绿松石色的须发，苍绿色的皮肤几乎就像取自大海本身，他说话时的声音，是海潮的涛声。他对着Elric微笑。
'Straasha answers thy summons, mortal. Our destinies are bound together. How may I aid thee, and, in aiding thee, aid myself?'
“Straasha响应了你的召唤，会死的人。你我间有着命运的羁绊。我能如何帮助你？又如何通过协助你，帮助我自己？”
Elric's mouth was filled with water and yet he still seemed capable of speech (thus proving he dreamed).
Elric的口中灌满海水，但他似乎依然能说话（证明他确实在做梦）。
He said:
他说：
'King Straasha. The paintings in the Tower of D'a'rputna--in the library. When I was a boy I saw them, King Straasha.'
“海王Straasha。D'a'rputna之塔图书馆中的那些绘像。在我还小时，见过那些画，Straasha王。”
The sea-king stretched out his sea-green hands. 'Aye. You sent the summons. You need our aid. We honour our ancient pact with your folk.'
海王展开他那海绿色的双臂。“是的。你发出了召唤。你需要我们的帮助。我们信守古时与你们族人的约定，履约而来。”
'No. I did not mean to summon you. The summons came unbidden to my dying mind. I am happy to drown, King Straasha.'
“误会了。我不是有意召唤你的。咒语未经思索就闯入我垂死的大脑。我乐意就此淹死，海王Straasha。”
'That cannot be. If your mind summoned us it means you wish to live. We will aid you.' King Straasha's beard streamed in the tide and his deep, green eyes were gentle, almost tender, as they regarded the albino.
“不可能。如果你的思想召唤我们，那么说明你想活下去。我们会帮助你的。”海王Straasha的长须飘荡在洋流中，他注视白子的深邃绿色双眸，神色温和，几乎称得上温柔。
Elric closed his own eyes again. 'I dream,' he said. 'I deceive myself with fantasies of hope.' He felt the water in his lungs and he knew he no longer breathed. It stood to reason, therefore, that he was dead. 'But if you were real, old friend, and you wished to aid me, you would return me to Melnibone so that I might deal with the usurper, Yyrkoon, and save Cymoril, before it is too late. That is my only regret--the torment which Cymoril will suffer if her brother becomes Emperor of Melnibone.'
Elric再次闭上眼睛。“我在做梦，”他说。“我在用希望的幻觉蒙骗自己。”他能感觉到肺腔中的海水，他知道自己已经没有呼吸。因此，死亡才是合理的解释。“但如果你是真的，我的老友，如果你真的想帮助我，那么请你把我带回Melnibone，让我赶在还来得及之前，制伏那个篡位者，Yyrkoon，拯救Cymoril。否则若是让她哥哥成为Melnibone皇帝，必将给她带来痛苦——这也是我唯一的遗憾。”
'Is that all you ask of the water elementals?' King Straasha seemed almost disappointed.
“你想要水元素为你做的，只有这些吗？”海王Straasha似乎显得有点失望。
'I do not even ask that of you. I only voice what I would have wished, had this been reality and I was speaking, which I know is impossible. Now I shall die.'
“我甚至连这些都不想要。我只是说出了自己的愿望，尽管我知道这一切不可能是真的，我不能说话。现在让我死吧。”
'That cannot be, Lord Elric, for our destinies are truly intertwined and I know that it is not yet your destiny to perish. Therefore I will aid you as you have suggested.'
“不可能，Elric阁下，因为我们的命运确实已牵绊在一起，而且我知道，你命中注定不会死在今日。因此我会依你的愿望，协助你。”
Elric was surprised at the sharpness of detail of this fantasy. He said to himself. 'What a cruel torment I subject myself to. Now I must set about admitting my death...'
这幻觉惊人清晰的细节让Elric吃惊。他对自己说：“我怎么会让自己承受这样残酷的折磨。现在我必须让自己接受死亡……”
'You cannot die. Not yet.'
“你不能死。还不是时候。”
Now it was as if the sea-king's gentle hands had picked him up and bore him through twisting corridors of a delicate coral pink texture, slightly shadowed, no longer in water. And Elric felt the water vanish from his lungs and stomach and he breathed. Could it be that he had actually been brought to the legendary plane of the elemental folk--a plane which intersected that of the earth and in which they dwelled, for the most part?
接着仿佛海王用他温柔的双手将他抬起，带着他穿越由粉红色珊瑚构起的精致隧道，百转千回的隧道半明半暗，他们已经脱离水域。Elric感觉到肺腔与胃中的水消失了，他可以呼吸了。他正被携往的，是否即是传说中的元素位面——那个元素种族绝大多数时候逗留的，与世界相交错的位面？
In a huge, circular cavern, which shone with pink and blue mother-of-pearl, they came to rest at last. The sea-king laid Elric down upon the floor of the cavern, which seemed to be covered with fine, white sand which was yet not sand for it yielded and then sprang back when he moved.
最后，他们终于在一个闪着粉红与蓝色珍珠贝光泽的巨大圆洞中停顿下来。海王将Elric平放在洞穴的地面上，细腻的白沙似乎覆满地表，但那又不是沙子，因为它们随着他的移动而凹陷，向外扩散开去。
When King Straasha moved, it was with a sound like the tide drawing itself back over shingle. The sea-king crossed the white sand, walking towards a large throne of milky jade. He seated himself upon this throne and placed his green head on his green fist, regarding Elric with puzzled, yet compassionate eyes.
Straasha王移动时，声音就仿佛潮水冲刷过布满砾石的海岸。海王穿过白沙，走向巨大的白玉石王座。他坐进王座中，将他绿色的头枕在绿色的手上，用迷惑又怜悯的眼神望着Elric。
Elric was still physically weak, but he could breathe. It was as if the sea water had filled him and then cleansed him when it was driven out. He felt clear-headed. And now he was much less sure that he dreamed.
Elric的身体依然虚弱，但他现在可以呼吸了。就好像灌入他身体的海水，在被抽出时将他洗净。他感觉头脑清晰。现在他已经不再那么确信这一切只是梦境。
'I still find it hard to know why you saved me, King Straasha,' he murmured from where he lay on the sand.
“我还是不太明白你为什么救我，Straasha王。”他躺在白沙上，轻声说道。
'The rune. We heard it on this plane and we came. That is all.'
“因为你的咒语。我们在这个位面听见你的吟唱，因此我们赶来了。仅此而已。”
'Aye. But there is more to sorcery-working than that. There are chants, symbols, rituals of all sorts. Previously that has always been true.'
“是这样没错。但巫术的运作没有这么简单。需要吟唱及繁复的仪式、符文等等。以前这些都是必不可少的。”
'Perhaps the rituals take the place of urgent need of the kind which sent out your summons to us. Though you say you wished to die, it was evident you did not really want to die or the summoning would not have been so clear and have reached us so swiftly. Forget all this now. When you have rested, we shall do what you have requested of us.'
“或许仪式取代了传递召唤所需的急切愿求的位置。尽管你说自己想死，显然你并不是真的希望死去，否则你的召唤不会如此清晰，也不会这样迅速地传至我们这里。先不要去想这些了。等你休息过后，我们就会履行你对我们的请求。”
Painfully, Elric raised himself into a sitting position. 'You spoke earlier of "intertwined destinies". Do you, then, know something of my destiny?'
Elric艰难地尽力让自己坐起身。“你先前提起‘命运的牵绊’。那么，你知道有关我命运的事吗？”
'A little, I think. Our world grows old. Once the elementals were powerful on your plane and the people of Melnibone all shared that power. But now our power wanes, as does yours. Something is changing. There are intimations that the Lords of the Higher Worlds are again taking an interest in your world. Perhaps they fear that the folk of the Young Kingdoms have forgotten them. Perhaps the folk of the Young Kingdoms threaten to bring in a new age, where gods and beings such as myself no longer shall have a place. I suspect there is a certain unease upon the planes of the Higher Worlds.'
“或许知道一点。我们的世界已近暮年。元素们，曾在你们的位面很强大，Melnibone人也共享这份力量。但如今我们的力量衰落了，你们也是一样。有什么事情正在发生变化。有些事隐隐暗示，上界君主正再次对你们的世界发生兴趣。或许他们害怕幼国的人已经将他们遗忘。或许幼国的人威胁要创造一个新纪元，而在这个新的纪元中，诸神和如我这样的存在不再有他们的容身之地。我怀疑，某种不安的气氛正在上界位面中酝酿。”
'You know no more?'
“其他你还知道吗？”
King Straasha raised his head and looked directly into Elric's eyes. 'There is no more I can tell you, son of my old friends, save that you would be happier if you gave yourself up entirely to your destiny when you understand it.'
Straasha王抬起头，直视Elric的眼睛。“除了告诉你，当你终于知晓自己的命运时，如果完全将自己交出，才会比较不痛苦之外，我没有什么可再多说的了，我故友的子嗣。”
Elric sighed. 'I think I know of what you speak, King Straasha. I shall try to follow your advice.'
Elric叹气。“我觉得我知道你指的是什么，Straasha王。我会尽力遵从你的建议。”
'And now that you have rested, it is time to return.'
“现在你已经休息过了，是时候回去了。”
The sea-king rose from his throne of milky jade and flowed towards Elric, lifting him up in strong, green arms.
海王从他的白玉王座上站起身，游向Elric，将他举起在自己强壮的绿色手臂中。
'We shall meet again before your life ends, Elric. I hope that I shall be able to aid you once more. And remember that our brothers of the air and of fire will try to aid you also. And remember the beasts--they, too, can be of service to you. There is no need to suspect their help. But beware of gods, Elric. Beware of the Lords of the Higher Worlds and remember that their aid and their gifts must always be paid for.'
“在你死之前，我们还会再见面的，Elric。我希望可以再帮你一次。另外记住，我们大气与火焰的兄弟也会来帮助你。还有那些鸟兽——它们同样会协助你。不必怀疑它们的动机。但你要小心诸神，Elric。当心那些上界主君，记住他们的协助与礼物，永远都是有代价的。”
These were the last words Elric heard the sea-king speak before they rushed again through the sinuous tunnels of this other plane, moving at such a speed that Elric could distinguish no details and, at times, did not know whether they remained in King Straasha's kingdom or had returned to the depths of his own world's sea.
这是当他们重新冲入这个异域位面蜿蜒的通道前，Elric最后一次听到海王说话。他们的速度之快，让Elric只看得到一片模糊，有时甚至分不清他们究竟是尚留在海王Straasha的国度，还是已经回到他自己世界的深海。
——第一章完——
——第二章——
——返回第一卷第一章——
拖延症再犯。每当类似诗歌的东西出现就感觉特别无力，好渣。总之抱着方块字只是参考的心态就好了……
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发表于 2013-12-9 00:25:48
