You know what? I reckon our elf’s thawing. Typical of Kerillian to be contrary like that, what with the world freezing solid, but it’s good to see, all the same. Even smiled just yesterday. At least, I reckon so. Hard to tell with that mask always in place. Bardin reckons she’s hiding a set of broken teeth that’d make an ogre weep, and maybe he’s right.
嘿！您猜怎么着？现在外头都冻了个屁了，咱们的精灵偏偏要在这会儿玩一出春风拂面——堪称经典的凯瑞莲式叛逆！但至少，这种变化让人欣喜。昨天她甚至还笑了！至少我是这么觉得的。当然，她老带着个面具，所以也很难说。巴丁说搞不好她面具下藏着一口能把食人魔吓哭的碎牙①，没准他是对的。
Anyway, Kerillian joined the rest of us at the hearth last night, and when Bardin finally stopped singing, she started reminiscing about winter in Athel Loren. Unusual. I mean, all asrai are close-lipped – and she’s worse than most – but out of nowhere she starts weaving this story of the King and Queen i’ the Woods.
不管怎么说，凯瑞莲昨晚跟我们一起待在壁炉旁。当巴丁终于唱累了，她开始追忆起艾索洛伦的冬天。很怪！我是说，所有的阿斯莱人都寡言少语，而她更是这方面的翘楚，但那会儿她就毫无征兆的开始说起森林中的国王和王后的故事。
Now, I’ve got to be honest here … I don’t remember all of it. It’s not that I was drunk – not proper drunk. It’s more to do with how she delivered the story. Smooth as glass, it was, and soft as a lullaby. Every phrase flowing into the next with a grace that takes my breath away, even now. I distinctly remember what looked like a tear on Saltzpyre’s cheek before he stalked away, claiming prior commitments. Bardin spent the whole time staring into the fire with that distant look in his eyes. As if Kerillian’s words evoked folk long lost … and I’d be lying if I didn’t see a few familiar faces staring out of the flames. I wonder what happened to old Schepke, anyway? Never mind.
有一说一，我其实……记不太全了，当然不是因为我喝醉了，至少……没醉到那个地步。主要是她讲故事的方式。怎么形容呢？它像玻璃一样光滑，像摇篮曲一样柔和。每一个短语都以一种优雅的方式流入下一个短语，让人听得能忘掉呼吸。现在回想起来依然为之倾倒。
我清楚地记得，萨尔茨皮雷绷着那张死人脸说有事先走的时候，他的脸上似乎有泪痕。而巴丁一直盯着火堆，眼神迷离。仿佛凯瑞莲的话语唤回了那些故人......如果我说没在炉火里看到几张熟悉的面孔，那是在撒谎。不知道老谢普克怎么样了？唉，算了。
Where was I? Oh yes. The King and Queen i’ the Woods, Ariel and Orion.
刚说到到哪儿了？哦，对了。森林中的国王和王后，艾瑞尔和奥莱恩。
Apparently, this story goes back to the early days of Athel Loren, when the elves were newly come to the forest. Ariel was the elf first to speak with the spirits of the wood, and Orion was a warrior bold, admired by all. Seems they met at a great autumnal council of war beneath the Oak of Ages, called to resist a ruthless enemy. Kerillian didn’t name said enemy, but Bardin coughed into his beard at that point, so I reckon we all know who they were. Only Ariel and Orion found better things to do than chinwag with their peers, if you take my meaning. They slipped away into the forest, and no amount of searching could find them.
这个故事要追溯到艾索洛伦早期，当时精灵们刚刚来到这片森林。艾瑞尔是第一个和森林精魄交谈的精灵，而奥莱恩则是一位勇敢的战士，备受景仰。他们在一次重要秋季战争会议上相遇，就在时代橡树的树根下。
该会议旨在抵抗一支残酷的敌人。凯瑞莲没有提到敌人的名字，但巴丁在那时咳嗽了一声，所以我想我们都知道他们是谁了。只有艾瑞尔和奥莱恩没有和同龄人闲扯，他俩找到了更有意思的事情，你懂的。他俩溜进森林，无论搜索多少次都找不到他们。
Now, this was seen as a disaster by the elves, because Ariel and Orion were counted among their greatest champions. And they’d likely have been doomed, had the forest spirits not come to their aid. The totally-not-the-dwarfs were routed, but that was only the beginning of trouble. You see, a big old greenskin army had arrived hard on the dwarfs’ heels. Likely the orcs had wanted a bit of a barny with the dwarfs themselves, but they were quite happy to fight the elves in their place.
对精灵来说，这是一场灾难，因为艾瑞尔和奥莱恩被视为他们最伟大的战士之一。
如果没有森林精魄的帮助，精灵们就完了。那些“非矮人”②的人虽然被击溃了，但战斗才刚刚开始。一大波绿皮已经接踵而至了。也许绿皮们确实想跟矮子干一仗，但是他们更愿意在精灵的地盘杀点精灵。
This time the forest spirits couldn’t help. Autumn had faded to winter, as autumn does. Athel Loren was deep in hibernation – treemen, dryads and the like all sluggish with cold. Still, the elves fought, because what else could they do? You can’t bargain with greenskins. All through winter, the asrai fought the bitter fight, buying time with spent blood and yielded territory, but in the end they had precious little of either left. As the first spring shoots forced their way through the snow, the asrai prepared for their final battle.
这一次，森林精魄也帮不上忙了。就像秋叶会掉落，金秋也会褪色成寒冬。整个艾索洛伦都陷入了冬眠，石树人、树精们都因为寒冷而昏昏欲睡。
但精灵们仍在死战，他们只能死战——绿皮是不会跟你讲条件的。
阿斯莱精灵们在用自己的血和地熬过这个冬天，现在，血快流干了，地也快丢没了。当第一簇的新芽钻破积雪时，阿斯莱精灵们也准备迎接他们最后的一战。
And then, a miracle! A godly horn rang out, and the mighty form of Kurnous filled the spaces beneath the trees, a pack of murderous, shadowy mutts on his heels and freshly-revivified dryads capering on his heels. As the God of the Hunt winded his mighty horn once more, the shivering elves found new strength. As for the greenskins? Well, Kerillian sang loads of verses describing their fate, but let’s just say it was a very bad day to be an orc, and leave it at that, shall we?
在这千钧一发的时候，奇迹出现了！一声神圣的号角响起，林中浮现库诺斯伟岸的身影，凶残暗影犬紧随其后，林间闪现着刚刚恢复活力的树精们。当狩猎之神再次吹响他的号角时，摇摇欲坠的精灵们找到了新的力量。
至于绿皮？好吧，凯瑞莲唱了很多描述他们命运的诗句，但在我这儿就不赘述了，简而言之就是“生为绿皮，我很抱歉”。
In victory’s aftermath, the elves returned to the Oak of Ages and discovered Ariel and Orion enthroned … or sort of. The tale gets a bit murky here, but it seems the two had somehow become the worldly avatars for Isha and Kurnous – the mother goddess and the hunter of the elven pantheon. Either Kerillian skipped over this part, or I’ve forgotten, but I’m not quite sure if that’s just a figure of speech, or whether some sort of amazing transformation had occurred.
胜利之后，当精灵们回到时代橡树时，发现艾瑞尔和奥莱恩已经登基......大差不差是这个意思。故事这段我有点迷糊——要么是凯瑞莲没说清楚，要么是我忘记了。我不知道这是一种比喻还是说某种神迹的展现，意思好像是说艾瑞尔和奥莱恩以某种方式分别成为了精灵母神伊莎和狩猎之神库诺斯在凡世的化身？
Was it godly intervention? Was it the elders of the forest enacting some strange plan? Were Ariel and Orion actually Isha and Kurnous all along? Is it some fancy metaphor? Who bloody knows? It’s elves. It’s probably all of those things at once and none at all.
到底是诸神的把戏？还是那帮老树根的谋划？那有没有一种可能，艾瑞尔和奥莱恩本来就是伊莎和库诺斯的本尊？还是什么晦涩的隐喻？嗐，谁他妈知道，精灵的事儿嘛，说不准的。
Anyway, the ascension of Ariel and Orion marked the salvation of Athel Loren, and a lasting pact between elves and forest, but it wasn’t without cost. You see, they were both now tied to the seasons, and as autumn faded to winter all over again, Orion grew weak. As the snows returned, Ariel bade a great pyre be raised, and her consort – her king – surrendered to the flames until he was nothing but ash.
反正，艾瑞尔和奥莱恩的升格意味着艾索洛伦得救了，自此，精灵与森林盟约长存。当然，任何事情都是有代价的，你看哈，他们现在跟植物一样受季节影响：随着秋去冬来，奥莱恩就越来越虚弱，等到艾索洛伦迎来第一场雪，艾瑞尔会先让人弄个大火堆，然后她老公，也是她的王，会步入火中化为灰烬。
But don’t worry, seems he came back the next spring and every spring in the millennia after. Kerillian didn’t explain the hows or whys, and didn’t look like she’d be pushed on the matter. The point of the story, she said, was that no matter how bad things get, there’s always hope when the snows fade.
不过不要紧，来年春天他又将复活，岁岁枯荣，轮回千载。关于仪式具体的细节，看得出来她既不愿解释，也不想被问。她说，故事的重点在于：无论情况有多糟，待得冰雪消融，希望总会出现。
And you know what? I did feel a bit better about the coming year. Let’s face it, the one we’re leaving behind was no great shakes, despite our best efforts. If even old Orion can arise from the ashes to keep fighting the good fight, well I reckon old Franz Lohner can keep his creaking bones in motion until the job’s done. I can rest when it’s done, you know?
该说不说，干完这碗鸡汤，我对来年都有点信心了。咱们应该支楞起来，即便这一年来诸事不顺，但至少大伙儿尽力了。如果连老奥都能从灰烬里爬起来干仗，那我老洛这把老骨头，也该再撑一阵，至少撑到把这摊子事儿办完再歇着，对吧？
Reckon I saw the same resolve in other eyeballs and all. Not Saltzpyre’s, of course, what with him having wandered off out of fear of betraying some manner of human emotion. But Bardin, Kruber and Sienna had that glint. Even Olesya almost smiled, and imagine that. Catrinne’s on at me to get hold of some asrai art for her to study, so Kerillian definitely made an impression there.
我想我在其他人眼中看到了同样的决心。当然，萨尔茨皮雷除外，这货担心自己真情流露，早就溜了。但是，巴丁、克鲁伯和西耶娜的眼里都有了光。连奥蕾丝雅都差点笑了，你敢信？卡特妮妮③让我帮她找一些阿斯莱的艺术品来研究，显而易见，凯瑞莲在她心中也留下了深刻的印象。
Funny thing is, the only person who didn’t look better for Kerillian’s tale was Kerillian herself. She looked even more distant than usual. Like she’d shrunk in on herself. Homesickness, I think. I hope. Because I can’t shake the feeling that she took no heart from the story because she’s worried that it’s a lie, and that there is no hope for the coming year.
说来也怪，听完这个故事，唯一没能因此好受一点的人，偏偏是凯瑞莲自己。她看起来比平常更疏离了，整个人像是蜷缩了起来。大概是想家了吧，但愿如此。
因为我总有种挥之不去的感觉：她并没能从这个故事里得到宽慰，是因为她害怕故事本身就是个谎言——怕来年真的毫无希望。
