The Black Arrow黑箭-part1

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The Black Arrow, Part I

was young when the Duchess of Woda hired
me as an assistant footman at her summer palace. My experience with the ways of the titled aristocracy was very limited before that day. There were wealthy merchants, traders, diplomats, and officials who had large operations in Eldenroot, and ostentatious palaces for entertaining, but my relatives were all far from those social circles.
我年轻的时候在Woda的女伯爵的夏宫当实习男仆。在那之前我对那些有头衔的贵族的生活方式是很不熟知的。那里有富有的商人，外交官和在Eldnroot有很大权柄的官员，以及豪华的宫殿供人享乐。但我的亲戚们都和这种社交圈沾不上关系。

There was no family business for me to enter when I reached adulthood, but my cousin heard that an estate far from the city required servants. It was so remotely located that there were unlikely to be many applicants for the positions. I walked for five days into the jungles of Valenwood before I met a group of riders going my direction. They were three Bosmer men, one Bosmer woman, two Breton women, and a Dunmer man, adventurers from the look of them.
在我到了成年的时候，家里并没有需要我照顾的生意，不过我的表弟听说有个离城堡很远的庄园需要雇佣一些仆人。那地方很远，看上去不像会有有太多申请者去应聘这些职位。我在Valenwood丛林里走了5天直到我遇到了一群和我去往一个方向的赶路人。他们是三个男性木精灵，一个女木精灵，两个女布雷顿人，和一个男性黑精灵。他们看上去像是冒险家骑着高头大马。

“Are you also going to Moliva?” asked Prolyssa, one of the Breton women, after we had made our introductions.
“你是要去Moliva么？”Prolyssa问，他们中的一个女布雷顿问，在我们做了一番自我介绍后。

“I don't know what that is,” I replied. “I'm seeking a domestic position with the Duchess of Woda.”
“我不知道 Moliva是哪里，”我回答到。“我正想向Woda的女伯爵谋一个职位。”
“We'll take you to her gate,” said the Dunmer Missun Akin, pulling me up to his horse. “But you would be wise not to tell Her Grace that students from Moliva escorted you. Not unless you don't really want the position in her service.”
“我们会带你到她的城门去，”黑精灵Missun Akin说着将我拉上他的坐骑。“不过你到时候要聪明点别告诉她是从Moliva的学生们护送你来的。除非你不想要她给安排个你个职位。”

Akin explained himself as we rode on. Moliva was the closest village to the Duchess's estate, where a great and renowned archer had retired after a long life of military service. His name was Hiomaste, and though he was retired, he had begun to accept students who wished to learn the art of the bow. In time, when word spread of the great teacher, more and more students arrived to learn from the Master. The Breton women had come down all the way from the Western Reach of High Rock. Akin himself had journeyed across the continent from his home near the great volcano in Morrowind. He showed me the ebony arrows he had brought from his homeland. I had never seen anything so black.
我们一路前行，Akin边走边向我做介绍。Moliva是离女伯爵城堡最近的村庄，那个村庄里出过一个很有名的弓箭手，在漫长的服役后退休了。他的名字叫Hiomaste，虽然他已经退休了，他开始收一些想跟他学习箭术的学生。他收徒的消息越传越远，越来越多的学生到Moliva村来向他学艺。那个布雷顿女人从西边遥远的高岩省过来。Akin他自己从他的晨风家乡横穿过大陆过来。他在马背上向我展示了他从家乡带来的ebony箭矢。我敢说我没见过比他的ebony箭矢还要黑的。

“From what we've heard,” said Kopale, one of the Bosmer men. “The Duchess is an Imperial whose family has been here even before the Empire was formed, so you might think that she was accustomed to the common people of Valenwood. Nothing could be further from the truth. She despises the village, and the school most of all.”
“我们听说，”kpale其中的一个木精灵男性说。“女伯爵是一个帝国人，而且在帝国成立前就居住在那里。因此你可能会以为她对KoValenwood的大多数居民都很习惯。但事实恰恰相反，她鄙视农村人，学校里的也是。”

“I suppose she wants to control all the traffic in her jungle,” laughed Prolyssa.
“我猜想她想要控制这个丛林的所有交通路线，”Prolyssa调笑道。

I accepted the information with gratitude, and found myself dreading more and more my first meeting with the intolerant Duchess. My first sight of the palace through the trees did nothing to assuage my fears.
我感激地接受了他们给我的信息，发现我越来越担心与这位挑剔的女伯爵初次见面。而透过树林夏宫那美丽的身姿并不能减轻我的畏惧。

It was nothing like any building I had ever seen in Valenwood. A vast edifice of stone and iron, with a jagged row of battlements like the jaws of a great beast. Most of the trees near the palace had been hewn away long ago: I could only imagine the scandal that must have caused, and what fear the Bosmer peasants must have had of the Duchy of Woda to have allowed it. In their stead was a wide gray-green moat circling in a ring around the palace, so it seemed to be on a perfect if artificial island. I had seen such sights in tapestries from High Rock and the Imperial Province, but never in my homeland.
那建筑和我在Valenwood看到的完全不同。一个巨大的石头和铁建成的大厦，城堡上锯齿状排列的城垛就像是猛兽的爪子。宫殿附近的大多数树木都在很早年前被锯断了：我只能凭借想象这行为肯定会引起当地木精灵的闲言碎语，而这夏宫的主人肯定是他们敢怒不敢言的原因。取代那些树木的是一个很宽的灰绿相间的护城壕围绕在宫殿周围，使宫殿看起来像是一座岛屿。我曾经在高岩省的tapestries和帝都见过这样的景象，但从未有在家乡见过。

“There'll be a guard at the gate, so we'll leave you here,” said Akin, stopping his horse in the road. “It'd be best for you if you weren't damned by association with us.”
“城门有个卫兵在那里，我们就把你放在这了，”Akin说着将马停在路上。“没和我们搭上关系会看上去好些。”

I thanked my companions, and wished them good luck with their schooling. They rode on and I followed on foot. In a few minutes' time, I was at the front gate, which I noticed was linked to tall and ornate railings to keep the compound secure. When the gate-keeper understood that I was there to inquire about a domestic position, he allowed me past and signaled to another guard across the open lawn to extend the drawbridge and allow me to cross the moat.
我向同伴表示了感谢，祝愿他们箭术有成。他们继续骑行，我朝着城门走去。不一会我走到城**，注意到那城门连接着又高且装饰华丽的栅栏来保证城门的安全。看门守卫直到我是来应聘职位的后准许我通过，接着向城内另一个守卫示意降下吊桥让我过去。

There was one last security measure: the front door. An iron monstrosity with the Woda Coat of Arms across the top, reinforced by more strips of iron, and a single golden keyhole. The man standing guard unlocked the door and gave me passage into the huge gloomy gray stone palace.
接下来还剩最后一个关卡：前门。一个巨大的铁门上面是Woda外套的袖子穿过去，上面装饰着很多铁条和一个黄金的做得钥匙孔。守门卫兵用钥匙开了铁门放我通行到里面巨大的宫殿里。

Her Grace greeted me in her drawing room. She was thin and wrinkled like a reptile, cloaked in a simple red gown. It was obviously [sic] that she never smiled. Our interview consisted of a single question.
女爵陛下在大厅召见了我。她看上去瘦丁丁的，皱纹像个爬行动物，穿着一件红色长袍。很显然她从来不笑。面试只有一个简单的问题。
“Do you know anything about being a junior footman in the employment of an Imperial noblewoman?” Her voice was like ancient leather.
“你知道一个受雇于帝国高贵的女爵的初级男佣该做的事情么？”她的嗓音听上去无比苍老。
“No, Your Grace.”
“不知道，我的陛下。”
“Good. No servant ever understands what needs to be done, and I particularly dislike those who think they do. You're engaged.”
“很好。没有一个仆人会懂得需要做什么，而且我特别讨厌那些个自说自话的人。你入选了。”
Life at the palace was joyless, but the position of junior footman was very undemanding. I had nothing to do on most days except to stay out of the Duchess's sight. At such times, I usually walked two miles down the road to Moliva. In some ways, there was nothing special or unusual about the village - there are thousands of identical places in Valenwood. But on the hillside nearby was Master Hiomaste's archery academy, and I would often take my luncheon and watch the practice.
在夏宫的生活很无趣，不过这初级男佣的职位倒是要求不高。我每天无所事事地躲着女伯爵的视野混日子。这些日子里我经常走两公里路到Moliva去。从某种程度来说那个村庄看上去没啥特别的。不过在山顶附近是大师Hiomaste的箭术学院，我经常在那里吃我的中饭，顺便看他们练习。
Prolyssa and Akin would sometimes meet me afterwards. With Akin, the subjects of conversation very seldom strayed far from archery. Though I was very fond of him, I found Prolyssa a more enchanting companion, not only because she was pretty for a Breton, but also because she seemed to have interests outside the realm of marksmanship.
Prolyssa 和 Akin有时候会在练习结束了过来见我。跟Akin在一起话题总是离不开射箭。虽然我很喜欢他，但我发现Prolyssa是个更有魅力的同伴，不仅她是个很美貌的布雷顿人而且她看上去有些别的兴趣爱好，除了射箭。
“There's a circus in High Rock I saw when I was a little girl called the Quill Circus,” she said during one of our walks through the woods. “They've been around for as long as anyone can remember. You have to see them if you ever can. They have plays, and sideshows, and the most amazing acrobats and archers you've ever seen. That's my dream, to join them some day when I'm good enough.”
“当我还是个小女孩的时候见过高岩省的马戏团，叫做Quill马戏团，”有一次我们在树林**的时候她说。那个马戏团历史悠久，你真该去亲眼目睹一下。他们有戏剧、穿插表演和特别棒的杂技演员和弓箭手。等将来我箭术够棒了去加入他们是我的梦想。
“How will you know when you're a good enough archer?” I asked.
“你如何知道你成为一个足够好的弓箭手了呢？”我问。
She didn't answer, and when I turned, I realized that she had disappeared. I looked around, bewildered, until I heard laughter from the tree above me. She was perched on a branch, grinning.
她没有回答，当我转身时我发现她消失了。我回顾四周找寻她直到我听到她在我头顶的树枝上坐着笑我。
“I may not join as an archer, maybe I'll join as an acrobat,” she said. “Or maybe as both. I figured that Valenwood would be the place to go to see what I could learn. You've got all those great teachers to imitate in the trees here. Those ape men.”
“我可能不是以一个弓箭手的身份加入马戏团，可能会以一个杂技演员的身份，”她说。“或许两个都可以。我估计Valenwood是个好去处看我有什么需要去那边学的。那边有很多好的模仿术的老师。”
She coiled up, bracing her left leg before springing forward on her right. In a second, she had leapt across to a neighboring branch. I found it diffi*** to keep talking to her.
她卷起身子，抬起左腿然后用右腿发力冲向前方。一眨眼功夫她已经跳到了隔壁的一条枝头上。我发现很难继续跟她说话。

“The Imga, you mean?” I stammered. “Aren't you nervous up at that height?”
“你是指那个大奖赛？”我结巴道。“你在那么高的地方不害怕么？”
“It's a cliche, I know,” she said, jumping to an even higher branch, “But the secret is not to ever look down.”
“这听起来很陈词滥调，我知道”她边说边跳到更高的树枝上，“但是诀窍就是不要往下看。”
“Would you mind coming down?”
“请你下来好么？”
“I probably should anyhow,” she said. She was a good thirty feet up now, balancing herself, arms outstretched, on a very narrow branch. She gestured toward the gate just barely visible on the other side of the road. “This tree is actually as close as I want to get to your Duchess's palace.”
“好吧”，她说，她在三十尺的高空的一个细枝头上，张开手臂保持平衡。“这棵树是最接近女伯爵宫殿的”她指着城门说。
I held back a gasp as she dove off the branch, somersaulting until she landed on the ground, knees slightly bent. That was the trick, she explained. Anticipating the blow before it happened. I expressed to her my confidence that she would be a great attraction at the Quill Circus. Of course, I know now that never was to be.
我往后退了一些当她从树枝上跳下来，她微曲着膝盖着地。我表达了对她终有一天能加入马戏团的信心。当然我现在已经知道她没有。
On that day, as I recall, I had to return early. It was one of the rare occasions when I had work, of a sort, to do. Whenever the Duchess had guests, I was to be at the palace. That is not to say that I had any particular duties, except to be seen standing at attention in the dining room. The stewards and maids worked hard to bring in the food and clear the plates afterwards, but the footmen were purely decorative, a formality.
我记忆中的那天，我必须早点赶回宫殿。那天是比较少见的我需要工作的日子。不管什么时候女爵有客人要招待了，我必须在宫殿里。那不是说我有什么特别的指派，除了需要在餐厅站桩。管家和女仆是进进出出端菜清盘，但一个男佣需要干的就是纯粹站桩做摆设的。
But at least I was an audience for the drama to come.
但至少我是接下来要发生的戏剧性一幕的观众之一。