元初公理 The Axiomata

作者：Daniel Couts

河流带来的记忆，属于那个逝去已久的世界。我很好奇是不是只有我自己能找到这些记忆。

The river brings memories from a dead world. I wonder if I’m the only one able to find them.

河水对岸，我看到了父亲打理的藤蔓，它们弯曲缠绕，在以绪塔尔的边缘保护着这里的人民，这是符文之地最后的净土。无论上游还是下游，河流上方都被枝叶拢成的拱顶覆盖，延伸到晨曦远方的昏暗尽头。每到此处，我都在好奇这黑暗中是否潜藏着蟒蛇或猎豹，或者其他危险。我的母亲专门狩猎那些野兽，提供肉食，也为瑟姆丘尔村提供保护。我的父母以为我会追随他们的脚步，以为我会成为园艺师阿里埃，或者猎手阿里埃。

Across the water, I see the vines my father tends, curling protectively around Ixtal and its people, the last of Runeterra. Leaves and branches hang in ragged loops all up and downstream, disappearing into gloom past dawn’s limited reach. Each visit, I wonder if the dark hides serpent or jaguar, or some other danger. My mother hunts those beasts, providing meat and protecting our village of Semchul. My parents expected I would follow in their footsteps. That I would grow into Aliay the gardener, or Aliay the hunter.

这两条路我都没选，但他们的教诲共同塑造了我现在的路。

I chose neither, but their lessons combined to shape my path.

我抖落长袍，将风素索丝滑透明的长穗在两只手上各绕一环。二十三年来对元初公理的苦学已经把它们烙印在我的脑海里——只要以素索为集中点，我就能操控它所勾勒出的元素。我的研习让我获得了掌控、领悟、智慧。但如果没有素索，我对元素的掌控并不比其他以绪塔尔人更出众。

I shrug off my robe and wrap my windcord’s braid of translucent silk once around each hand. Twenty-three years’ study of the Axiomata have done much to imprint them into my mind—with the cord as my focus, I wield the elements they describe. My studies have gifted me control, understanding, wisdom. But without the cord I possess no more mastery than any other Ixtali.

我踏进河水，赤脚踩在淤泥中，走到齐腰深的地方。我向前探出一只脚，寻找着水下的树根，那是我用来捕猎的陷阱。找到树根后，我便开始用上素索。

I step into the river, bare feet squelching in the mud, until the water rises to my exposed waist. I quest out with my foot, searching for the submerged tree roots that serve to capture my quarry. When I find them, I set to work with the cord.

我举起双手，找到记忆中第五公理的丝线，然后挥动素索，就像用笔刷在画布上作画。随后，河水开始翻涌，一个巨大的气泡开始在我身边缓缓臌胀，从水面延伸到河床。流经的河水冲击推挤我制造出的气流，压迫这非自然产生的空隙，但我的杰作并没有让步。脚下的河床显露出淤泥、石块和树根。盘根错节之中俘获了零落的碎片，那是以绪塔尔以外某个地方冲来的东西。这些远古的碎片是那个遗失已久的世界仅存的回忆。

Raising my hands, I trace the lines of the Fifth Axiom from memory, whipping the cord like a paintbrush across canvas. In turn, the water churns as a bubble of air slowly widens around me, from the river’s surface to its bed. Passing water rushes and pushes against my crafted currents, straining against unnatural displacement, but my work holds. The riverbed reveals mud and stone and gnarled roots. Debris catches in the tangle, objects from somewhere beyond Ixtal. These ancient reminders are all that remain of the lost world.

那些远古文明一定非常震撼，因为他们的工艺品往往在经受了时间与流水冲刷以后依然完好如初。今天也是如此，有什么东西被一束阳光映得银灿灿。看到它，我的专注立刻变为喜悦。我咧嘴露出笑容，扑通一声盘腿坐到泥巴里。我开始顺着树根挖掘，挖出了一把短柄斧，整把斧子都由一块钢铁浑然打造。美极了。

These civilizations must have been astounding, for often their craftsmanship remains untouched by time or tide. Such is the case today, as something shining and silver catches a feeble ray of sun. My studied concentration turns to joy at the sight. I grin and plop right into the mud, cross-legged before the roots. I dig, revealing a short-handled axe crafted from a single piece of steel. It’s beautiful.

我仿佛看到了一场几千年前的战斗。一群勇敢的战士对抗那群吞噬了符文之地的怪物，我突然充满感激，因为我现在能有机会纪念那场高尚的垂死挣扎。我立刻附身向前，继续深挖淤泥，寻找我的防水藏宝箱。

I envision a battle, millennia ago. Some brave warrior standing against the monsters that consumed Runeterra, and I’m grateful for the chance to memorialize that noble, doomed struggle. I scoot forward and bury my fingers into the mud, searching for my waterproof treasure box.

我找到了藏宝箱的盖子，它需要一些元初公理知识才能打开——这是我很早以前的防范措施，以免我被人发现。这里面装满了所有我认为值得保留——和隐藏的东西，已经收藏了许多年。等我成了育恩塔尔，我将把这些宝藏带到以绪奥肯，让历史学家和其他学者们共同研究。米瓦西姆，我亲爱的导师，也是以绪塔尔最伟大的自然元素使之一，经常责骂我对纳西亚纳——“彼方世界”的兴趣。所以现在我还需要保密。我把斧子放在一顶铜盔旁边，然后手腕一翻，关上了宝箱。

I find it and touch the latch, which requires a certain measure of axiomatic mastery to move—an old precaution in case I were discovered. It is filled with everything I felt worth saving—and hiding—over the years. When I am Yun Tal, I will bring these treasures to Ixaocan, to register with our historians and share with other scholars. Mivasim, my dear mentor and one of Ixtal’s greatest natural elementalists, often chastises me for my interest in the Nasiana, the World Beyond, so I keep my secrets for now. I place the axe beside a bronze helmet, then shut the box with a flick of my wrist.

然后我的心跳到了嗓子眼。

And then my heart leaps into my throat.

我的风素索不见了。

My windcord is gone.

我从来没敢想过这种事。我仅凭自己的力量就关上了盖子，根本没多想。只有育恩塔尔才有能力——才有资格这么做。我在泥地里胡乱翻找，但素索却无处可循。慌张、喜悦、恐惧在我体内争锋夺势。然后我才注意到，河水依然在我身旁分开流淌。我在掌控元素。

I never imagined it was possible. I resealed the latch on my own, without a thought. Only the Yun Tal are capable—are worthy—of such action. I scramble in the mud, but it’s nowhere to be seen. Panic, joy, and fear war within me. Then I notice the river remains parted. I am in control.

我转身看向那面藤蔓的高墙，以绪塔尔的边境，然后冒出一个疯狂的想法：我用气流包裹自己作为屏障，漫游在一个没有生命、只有答案的平原上。

I turn toward the vined wall, the borders of Ixtal, and think a manic thought: myself, wrapped in a cocoon of protective currents of my making, wandering a landscape that’s empty of life but full of answers.

我走出了两步，这时一股河水激荡到空中，在我身边的空间里荡起巨响。我的双眼下意识地四处张望，搜寻危险。我以为会看到水中的血盆大口或头顶的猎鹰，但最后看到的是一个人影，在河岸边耸立。是米瓦西姆，我的导师。她的育恩塔尔长袍即使在阴影中也显得黑暗，她的体态并未被年岁压弯。她的双眼像青玉中射出闪电，我塑造的气泡缩小了。米瓦西姆只是轻轻挥了下手，河水就开始咆哮着加速，从涓流变成湍涛。我以为自己很聪明，以为可以拥有属于自己的秘密之所。她是不是一直都知道？

I’ve taken two steps forward when a blast of water kicks into the air, filling the space around me with a thunderclap of sound. My eyes dart instinctively, scanning for threats. I expect the ripple of jaws in the water or a hawk overhead, when I see a figure, imposing from the riverbank. It’s Mivasim, my mentor, her Yun Tal robes dark even in shadow, her frame unbent by age. Her eyes gleam like lightning on jade, and my bubble of shaped air shrinks. The water roars as Mivasim, without so much as a wave of her hand, accelerates the river’s flow from a burble to a rush. I had thought myself clever, that I’d had a secret place of my own. Had she always known?

我的气流屏障开始衰弱缩小，河水从我身边擦过。我很快就将被卷走。但我并没有从她身上感受到愤怒。她猛然向我伸来一只摊开的手掌，这个动作我已经很熟悉了。或许只要一番足够聪明的论证，我还有可能避免惩罚。

Water whooshes by as the currents protecting me weaken and shrink. Soon I’ll be swept away. But I feel no anger from her. She thrusts an open palm toward me, a gesture I’ve become familiar with. I may avoid punishment with a clever enough argument.

气流和水雾拍打着我，但我看到了其中的规律。她正在循着一道公理延伸的线条，操控我们之间的空气。

Wind and spray batter me, but I see the pattern. She’s traced the lines of an axiomatic extrapolation into the air between us.

这不是惩罚。这是一次考验。一个谜题，我多年来接受的训练都是为了解开它。我想象自己正在瑟姆丘尔并不大的神殿书库里沿着环路绕圈，开始准备和我的导师逆向而行。

This is no punishment. It’s a test. A puzzle, one I’ve trained for years to solve. I imagine myself walking a circuit around Semchul’s modest athenaeum, and set to work against my mentor.

当我来到她身边，她脸上欣慰的微笑令我精神振奋，但我的身体已经破烂不堪。她张开双臂，在我就要摔倒的时候抱住了我。

When I reach her side, my spirit is buoyed by her triumphant smile, but my body is in tatters. She opens her arms just in time to catch my collapsing form.

“是时候了，我的学生。”她在我渐渐失去意识的同时悄声对我说，“到了以绪奥肯，你将在维达利安下尽你所学，进行自我防卫，而我们将判断你是否有资格成为育恩塔尔。”步行一周后，我们二人来到以绪塔尔的内陆，这是我从没到过的中心，但我们停下来歇脚的村庄看上去比我自己的村子还要简陋。

“It is time, my student,” she whispers as my consciousness fades. “In Ixaocan, you will defend yourself beneath the Vidalion, and we will judge whether you are worthy of becoming Yun Tal.”A week of walking has put us deeper into Ixtal’s interior than I’ve ever been, yet the villages we stop at for rest seem more provincial than my own.

“他们真有必要如此恐惧吗？”与佩斯兰的慷慨家主道别以后，我问米瓦西姆。“我父亲直接打理边境线，而他无所畏惧。”

“Do they truly have so much to fear?” I ask Mivasim, after we say farewell to our gracious hosts in Peslan. “My father tends the borders themselves, and he fears nothing.”

“猎豹的冲刺不会让猎人扭头逃命，”她回应道，一边心不在焉地拖着浮在空中的行囊起起落落，一边继续走着，“但远方的一声咆哮可能会令最勇猛的铁匠落荒而逃。”

“A hunter shies not from the jaguar’s charge,” she responds, absently raising and lowering the pack that floats beside her as we walk, “but a roar in the distance sends even the boldest smith fleeing.”

两个孩童沿着小路打闹着，向着村庄的方向奔跑。“我觉得他们怕的是未知。是可能发生的改变。”

A pair of children tumble into view along the path, racing back toward the village. “I suppose it’s that they fear the unknown. The potential for change.”

我能感知到导师正在纠结着什么。一片片宽厚光亮的叶子正好挡在我们眼前的高度，我伸手将它们推开。“我们所处的情况在历史上绝无仅有，”她叹了口气，“再和我说说，你的父亲如何看待自己工作的价值”

I could sense my teacher struggling with something. I push at the broad, waxy leaves hanging just over either side of our heads. “Our situation is unique in history,” she sighs. “Tell me again how your father describes the value of his work.”

我父母的容貌浮现在眼前，那是我最初的记忆。他们的故事激发了我毕生的追求。我换成了说故事人的轻声语调。“在最终之战过后的年岁里，混沌当道。整个世界都翻江倒海，充斥着怪物和死亡。”

My family’s faces swim into view, around the first fire of my memory. Their stories spurred my life’s pursuit. I put on a storyteller’s whisper. “In the years following the Final War, there was much chaos. The world boiled and churned with monsters and death.”

我让最后一个词回荡在空中，但米瓦西姆并不为所动。于是我继续讲下去。

I let the last word linger in the air, but Mivasim is unmoved. I press on.

“我们几乎被逼到了灭绝的边缘，就在那时，我们的贤者——第一代育恩，将以绪奥肯的元初公理变为了兵器，平息了所有敌人，封锁了我们的边境。由此，这里就成了唯一一片净土，安然度过了那灾难浩劫的时日。”

“We were pushed almost to extinction, when the wisest of us—the first of the Yun—turned the Axiomata of Ixaocan into a weapon, quelling every foe and sealing our borders. And so, this is the only land to have survived those cataclysmic days.

“残存的世界遭到了毒害。以绪塔尔的树冠华盖庇护了我们，其他地方的一切都被毁灭吞噬。”我咧嘴大笑，冲着自己软肋下方打了一拳。“所以，严格来讲，时至今日，是瑟姆丘尔诸位伟大的园艺师在保护以绪塔尔免遭同样的黑暗命运！”

“The world that’s left is poisoned. Beneath Ixtal’s canopies, we are protected from the doom that consumed all else.” I grin, and thump the bottom of my ribcage with a fist. “And so, truly, it is the great gardeners of Semchul who now keep Ixtal from that same dark fate!”

米瓦西姆的微笑在她消瘦的面庞上增添了几道皱纹，多年来，她培养了我和其他多位学生，自己却日渐憔悴。“对于那些园艺师来说，那些侵入我们密林的可怕机器，只不过是那毒害延伸，对吧？是长着机械足的恶瘴。”

Mivasim’s smile creases the soft lines that I and her other students helped etch over the years. “And for those gardeners, the dreaded machines that cut into our jungles are merely an extension of that poison, yes? Miasma with metal legs.”

我们面前的道路回转，豁然开朗，苍白的阳光直接照下来，温暖了我的脸。“应该是吧，”我回答道，“不过育恩塔尔拥有更强大的装备对付它们。”

The path before us turns and opens, pale sunlight gleaming unfiltered and warm on my face. “I suppose, yes,” I reply, “though the Yun Tal are far more equipped to fight them.”

“但还是一样。实际问题，实际解决。”

“Still. A practical problem, with a practical solution.”

“的确。”

“Indeed.”

“而你是一位学者，你接受的专业训练就是站在别人的角度去思辨，去理解异样的观点，对吧？”

“And you are a scholar, trained to argue from a perspective that is not yours, to understand that which may be foreign to you?”

我笑着答，“是的。”

I beam. “Yes.”

“那，一个村民——假设是一个商人，不具备边境园艺师的自信和经验……”

“So a villager—a trader, perhaps—who has neither the pride nor experience of a border-gardener…”

“……那他会把这个问题抽象化，这样一来他们对此产生的反应就完全基于情绪。”

“...Would see the problem as an abstract, to which their reaction is rooted in emotion.”

“没错。”

“Exactly right.”

“除非……”我缓缓说出两个字，双手若有若无地比着什么手势，“除非我们能为他们讲解情况，弥补他们的种种无知。”

“Unless...” I draw out the word, gesturing with my hands at nothing in particular. “Unless we could describe the situation for them in a way which accounts for their various ignorances.”

米瓦西姆摇了摇头，“商人有精力经商。可能还有点精力娱乐，其余的都献给家庭。其他的一切都是干扰。”她的声音中透出一丝揶揄，这意味着这场对话回到了更轻松的闲聊水平。“他们可没有数十年时间的富余，没法在贤明狡黠的大师门下学习。”

Mivasim shakes her head. “The trader has energy to trade. Perhaps some for entertainment, the rest for family. All else is distraction.” A wryness creeps around her voice, signaling a return to more companionable chatter. “They do not have the benefit of decades at the feet of a wise and cunning master.”

我甘拜下风，无言以对。“也没有能够提供慰藉的生活经历。我懂了。谢谢您，米瓦西姆。”

I lack the words or wisdom to counter. “Nor the experience that might provide comfort. I understand. Thank you, Mivasim.”

我们经过了片刻的沉默。“因为这样的差别，以绪塔尔变的更好了。我很高兴你没有成为猎手，我亲爱的衿下。”

We pass a moment in silence. “Ixtal is better for this distinction. I am glad you are not a hunter, my dear sumqa.”

我的笑容迎着太阳。以绪奥肯地域广袤。似乎一直延伸到太阳照到的天边。最高耸的巨塔群突出于树冠之上，光彩夺目、棱角分明、精雕细琢。迈向以绪塔尔都城的每一步都让我看到全新的景象，全新的形状。

My smile matches the sun.Ixaocan is vast. It seems to span the sunlit horizon, the tallest arcologies polished and angular and sculpted above the trees. Each step toward the great capital of Ixtal reveals new vistas, new shapes.

虽然中心巨塔远远看过去就已经蔚为壮观，但当我站到它脚下，才亲身感受到它的磅礴。

And while the cardinal arcology imposes from a distance, it overwhelms in person.

穿过气派的北大门刚走了几分钟，色彩与声响就令我们应接不暇。顽童来回奔跑，身后追着看管人，身后又追着商贩、美容师、占卜师和工匠。米瓦西姆的黑色长靴踩在石板路上发出清脆的声响，比在丛林里的时候更有气势。周围的人群看到米瓦西姆的黑紫色长袍，纷纷毕恭毕敬地让开，那是育恩塔尔专享的织物。纵使以绪奥肯城和瑟姆丘尔村之间千差万别，人们也有一个共同点：对育恩塔尔的绝对尊敬。

Within minutes of striding through its proud northern gates, we are mobbed by color and noise. Youngsters rush this way and that, chased by caretakers, themselves hounded by peddlers, beauticians, scryers, and craftspeople. Mivasim’s black boots click against the stone road, more imposing here than when we were in the jungle. The crowd gives full deference to the rich blacks and purples of Mivasim’s Yun Tal weave. For all the differences between Ixaocan and Semchul, they share this: absolute respect for the Yun Tal.

“米瓦？米瓦！”一个轰鸣的声音从前方传来。

“Miv? Miv!” A voice booms from ahead.

“噢，噼咔，”我的导师喃喃自语，但不等喘完一口气就立刻回到了原来的文质彬彬。我们前方是一个交叉路口，正上方横跨过一座华美的大桥，桥上的人们正坐在优雅的椅子上用餐。一名身材壮硕的老者发疯似地挥手。双瞳碧绿，头顶光秃——身着育恩塔尔的长袍。“亲爱的裘克！”米瓦西姆向他大声打招呼。“你提前了！”

“Oh, pin’kan,” my teacher mutters, and in the same breath returns to the very picture of civility. Before us is a crossroads, canopied by a criss-crossing bridge where diners lounge in elegant chairs. A burly old man waves madly. Green eyes, no hair—and black Yun Tal robes. “Dearest Chiuq!” Mivasim calls out to him. “You’ve arrived ahead of schedule!”

裘克——的全名尊称我还不知道，谨慎起见我没有开口。他迈着撼地的步伐向我们走来，身后跟着十几个眼睛放光的学徒，身上穿着和我一样的学生长袍。“啊，我不是一直都提前嘛！再说，论路途遥远，塔亚尔青还不及瑟姆丘尔的一半。”

Chiuq—whom I am careful not to address, without knowing his full name—lumbers toward us, trailed by a dozen bright-eyed aspirants wearing students’ robes like my own. “Aha, just as I always have, no? Taarqen is not half so far as the wilds of Semchul.”

他张开宽广的怀抱，她从容优雅地回以拥抱。

He barrels in for an embrace, which she returns with practiced grace.

“啊，米瓦。我们上次见你之后过了好久。教了不少……”他的目光游移，毫无疑问是在寻找米瓦西姆的学生团队。最后他的双眼缓缓落在我身上。“教了不少，呃，也不多的……学生？”

“Ah, Miv. Too long since we saw you last. Been training…” He trails off, searching undoubtedly for Mivasim’s stable of students. His eyes are slow to settle on me. “Been, uh, training?”

“是的，也在帮忙打理瑟姆丘尔。”米瓦西姆向后退了难以察觉的一步，裘克似乎没有注意到这个信号，但却也后退了同样的一步。“农村的学生们参加研习的时间很少，而且他们很快就会为了更现实的目标而放弃。”

“And tending to Semchul, yes.” Mivasim takes an almost imperceptible step back, a signal Chiuq mirrors without seeming to notice. “Students have less time for study in the villages, and they soon leave for more achievable pursuits.”

“啊，要是我生长在林野中，一定能成为最出色的猎手！”他挥一挥粗壮的胳膊，示意身后的那群学生。“但我成为了一名还算合格的导师，虽然有自夸之嫌。”

“Ahh, to have been raised in the wilds. I’d have made the finest hunter!” He sweeps a broad arm out toward the gaggle of students in his wake. “But I’ve made a good enough teacher, if I say so myself.”

米瓦西姆看了他们一眼，裘克放声大笑，那群学生也随声附和地笑起来。“维达利安将证明你的实力，我敢肯定。”她平静地回应道。

Mivasim eyes them as Chiuq laughs, and they, fawn-like, laugh after him. “The Vidalion will speak to that, I am certain,” she replies evenly.

一个矮个子红头发的学徒玩弄自己的元素专注力，却不小心被自己拖地的长袍绊到。他扔出一团火，点燃了一个倒霉商贩的羽毛拂尘摊位。那个商贩大叫一声，手忙脚乱地通过一壶水介导自己的魔法。结果火焰却爆燃起来。

A smallish aspirant with false-red hair flicks his elemental focus just as he trips on his too-large robes. A flame casts out and lights on a poor merchant's feather dusters. The merchant yelps, struggling to channel his own magic with an ornate jug of water. The flames only snap in response.

“裘克斯兰！”米瓦西姆高声大喊着。她一只手优雅地回旋，抽出了火焰中的空气。

“Chiuqeslan!” Mivasim calls out sharply. A graceful curl of her hand draws the air from the flame.

那个商贩紧扣着双手走过来。“我真是——噢，天啊。二位明者，万分抱歉。请原谅我的摊位摆放凌乱，真是……我是说——”

The merchant approaches with hands clasped. “I am— Oh, dear. Bright Ones, a thousand pardons. Forgive the untidiness of my wares, it is… I mean—”

“相安无事，”米瓦西姆说，裘克斯兰则大吼一声“哈！”同时一巴掌拍在那个学生的后背。

“Peace,” Mivasim says, as Chiuqeslan bellows “Hah!” and claps his student on the back.

“我这个徒弟天赋异禀！看这烧的多快！”他向后推搡着自己的学生们，向城中心继续前进。他回过头对我喊道，“米瓦的学生，祝你好运！”

“My boy here is gifted! See how quickly the flame consumed!” He ushers his students back, onward into the city. Over his shoulder, he calls back to me. “Good luck, student of Miv!”

商贩惊恐地瞪圆了双眼看着米瓦西姆。“抱歉，尊敬的商人。”她说着，从长袍里提出两只甜木瓜，那是上一个村子的赠礼。她把木瓜交给他，然后将我拉到身边。

The merchant stares, horrified, at Mivasim. “Apologies, honored merchant,” she says, pulling a pair of sweet papayas from her robes, a gift from the last village. She hands them to him, and then pulls me to her side.

“那个人，裘克斯兰——”我刚要开口问，米瓦西姆就打断了我。

“That man, that Chiuqeslan—” I begin, before Mivasim’s words cut into my own.

“——他是育恩塔尔，无论如何，这一点都不会变。你这辈子只见过为数不多的几位，衿下。”她带着我快步走过拥挤的大街。“他是残酷的教训，你很快就会懂。不要让他——也不要让以绪奥肯城，抢走你的专注。”裘克斯兰那个放火的学生失败了。按照传统，他必须沉默地离开以绪奥肯。

“—is Yun Tal, whatever else he may be. You have met only a handful in your life, sumqa.” She urges me down the crowded boulevard. “His is a cruel lesson, one you will learn shortly. Do not let him—nor Ixaocan itself—compel focus from your task.”Chiuqeslan’s firestarting student fails. Tradition says he must depart Ixaocan in silence.

他一生都献给了研习。或许他会成为商贩、裁缝或者说故事人。我希望他能幸福，但他永远都不可能成为育恩塔尔。他的同学都黯然失神、心灰意冷。他这个榜样灭掉了他们的心气，但却坚定了我的决心。

He had given his life to study. Perhaps he will become a merchant or a tailor or a storyteller. I hope he will be happy, but he will never be Yun Tal. His peers are hollow, their eyes sunken, their hearts torn. His example serves only to extinguish their spirit, though it steels my resolve.

几天之内，我就已经能够猜出哪个学生会通过、哪个会失败、哪个会崩溃。这种领悟让我想为他们流泪。

Within days I am able to surmise which students will pass, which will fail, which will break. The understanding makes me want to weep for them.

但我心中只想着等待我的试炼。终于，这一刻到来了。我踏进了以绪奥肯的心脏，看到地面上印刻着上千道弧线。在这精密复杂的几何线条中，隐藏着元素的语言。我感到自己迷失其中，眼前掠过一个个我似乎认识的公理……

But I think only of the trial ahead of me.Finally, the moment comes. I step into the heart of Ixaocan, and see that the floor has been etched with thousands of curving lines. Hidden within this intricate geometry is the language of the elements. I feel myself growing lost amidst them, catching glimpses of one Axiom or another that I might recognize…

当心。

Careful.

我集中思绪。在我头顶的开阔空间，育恩塔尔长老团正站在回廊上俯视，他们的长袍代表着夜的每一种色泽与气质。每一位都是完美的哲学家。每一位都是各自元素系领域的大师。

I focus my thoughts. The Yun Tal stand above me in the gallery around the massive space, their robes every shade and quality of night. Each a perfect philosopher. Each a master of their elemental discipline.

巨塔的中心空室似乎被一分为二。下半部，是我即将接受自卫试炼的竞技场。上半部，是一座巨大厚重的环形石台，它的重量更多由奇术魔法承载，而不是结构工程。空室分割处，一道宽厚的环形魔法形成汹涌的旋涡。看上去深不可测，不知嵌入地底多远。

The arcology’s central chamber appears to be split in two. Below, the arena where I will defend myself. Above, a wide ring of the heaviest stone, its load borne more by thaumaturgy than engineering. Where the chamber splits swirls a wide ring of magic. I cannot see how deep it goes, how far it pushes into the earth.

石环之上的高处，漂浮着维达利安，宏大的织器，它周围环绕着合金圆环，散发着黄金的光晕，它的丝线正在杂乱无章地旋转。我将在它的经纬之下尽我所学保护自己。如果我成功了，它将织出一套长袍，代表我育恩塔尔的身份。

Floating high above the circle is the Vidalion, the great loom, itself haloed by a band of some golden alloy, its threads spinning ceaselessly. I will defend myself beneath its warp and weft. If successful, it will weave a set of robes to mark me as Yun Tal.

今天，我将掌控元素的湍流。我踏进了石刻图案的中央。

I will master the currents, today. I step into the center of the pattern.

力量的潮涌让我炫目，纯粹的元素之力通过元初公理聚焦于这一点。这力量磅礴浩荡。我就像一只渺小的蜂鸟，掠过风暴的乌云。我用力眨眼，巨塔的空室回到我眼前。

I’m blinded by the surge of power, the sheer elemental might focused by the Axiomata into this single spot. It’s overwhelming. I am a hummingbird, skimming a stormcloud. I blink, and the chamber returns.

米瓦西姆站在上方某处。我找不到她的目光；我的心弦紧绷。四面八方的目光打在我身上。他们是育恩塔尔，贤明的长老团。

Mivasim stands somewhere above. I cannot meet her gaze; my mind is a taut wire. Eyes bore into me from all directions. They are Yun Tal, the most-wise.

“阿里埃•昆兰。”我的名字回荡在空室中，或许是回荡在以绪塔尔全境。“你正站在万物的中心。你正处于所有人的目光下。请你用尽所学，保护自己。”

“Aliay Qunlan.” My name echoes across the chamber, perhaps across all Ixtal. “You stand at the heart of all things. You are watched through the eyes of all people. Defend yourself.”

维达利安开始旋转，放出松垮的纤维。我伸出手，让一根午夜丝线落入掌中。“那条正割线被你截断了，”一个坚定的批判声音传进我的意识，一条线段发出光亮。“现在它将影响温度，而不是压强。”

The Vidalion spins, setting loose tendrils of fabric. I reach out and let a midnight thread fall to my grasp.

我没有理睬那个声音，凭意志握住更多丝线，将集束导向下一条线。经过几秒钟的高度集中，我听到自己的回应。“压强和温度是一对姐妹。只要我能控制空间，就能获得更强大的效果。”我消除了育恩塔尔标注的幽影光亮，继续自己的操作。在内心深处，我感到一种惊恐，因为自己竟然能如此淡然地回绝长者的批评。

“You’ve cut off that secant,” a voice, firm and disapproving, floats into my consciousness, and a section of thread lights up. “Now it will affect temperature, not pressure.”

但在眼下，我摒弃了这种感觉。

I ignore the voice, willing more thread into my grip and directing it along the next line. After seconds of intense concentration, I hear myself respond. “Pressure and temperature are sisters. While I control the space, this effect is more powerful.” I lift the ghostly light the Yun Tal shone upon my not-error and return to my work. Distantly, I’m horrified at the ease with which I dismiss a critique of my betters.

又传来一个声音。“我看到，你的元初公理集合中有十一条正切线。普遍接受的做法是对每一条正切线做一条平行线。如果不这么做，就会引入不必要的图形，就有失衡的风险。”

Presently, I discard the feeling.

我想起了米瓦西姆。这个做法是她自己的发明，受到我年轻叛逆的启发。

Another voice. “I count eleven tangents in your Axiomata. Accepted practice is to give each tangent a parallel. Not doing so risks an imbalance when non-sequential patterns are joined.”

“普遍接受的做法并不是真正的掌控，仅仅是为了美观。”我回答道。“这种连接方式可以补充第三公理，同时加强第五公理。它们的合力可以抵消失衡效果。”

I think of Mivasim. This was an invention of her own, discovered with the aid of my youthful rebelliousness.

回应我的只有沉默，不过我右侧的衣袖翻动了一下，引起我的注意。一名女子，烟灰与碧绿相间的长袍，双眼如同被烧红的钢铁。她是育恩阿莱，新一代皇储之一。她赏识的笑容像一只利爪，划过我的心头。

“Accepted practice is not mastery, but rhetoric,” I reply. “This connection complements the Third Axiom, and empowers the Fifth. Together, they negate the imbalance.”

我埋头继续。

Silence is the only response I receive, but a shift of cloth to my right catches my attention. A woman, robes of smoke and jade, eyes of fired steel. A member of the Yunalai, the revered new generation. Her appreciative smirk claws at my heart.

现有的元初公理集合已经完整自洽。我最初的焦虑和恐惧已经从脑海中渐渐隐去，我已成为凡体肉身之上的存在。我就是以绪奥肯，我此刻似乎拥有全世界的力量。我随着自己作品的形状，寻找下一个——

I press on.

噗通。

The existing Axiomata are complete, and holding. My initial anxiety and fear are fading echoes in my mind, as I become much more than the confines of my form. I am Ixaocan itself, and I wield more power in this moment than I could ever have guessed lay in all the world. I follow the shape of my design, seeking the next—

——戛然而止。一下心跳的工夫，时间似乎出现了停顿。我抬起视线，望向空室外墙中的神秘旋涡。它剧烈翻涌着，就像无数丝线织成一团乱麻。

Thump-thump.

在错综复杂之中，有什么东西在召唤我。

—and stop. A heartbeat, a stutter in time. I lift my gaze to the mystical swirling in the chamber’s outer wall. It churns, like threads in a mad tapestry.

我不假思索地迎了上去。

In the abstract snarl, something calls to me.

我并没有在中心巨塔内。我正在丛林上空翱翔，我正在飞过以绪塔尔。

Without thinking, I reach out for it.

我向下望，看到了元初公理。那不是某一座巨塔中聚集的几何图案，也不是许多几何图案——那是覆盖了全世界的线条。我乘着一条环绕以绪奥肯的线飞驰，它带着我，顷刻间就回到了瑟姆丘尔。我微笑着看到熟悉的树廊、我偷懒打盹的角落、还有——

I am not in the cardinal arcology. I soar across the jungle, across Ixtal.瑟姆丘尔被甩在我身后。不太对劲。I look down, and I see the Axiomata. Not a pattern focused upon a single arcology, nor many—they are a pattern encompassing the whole world. I ride along one of the lines ringing Ixaocan, and it leads me home to Semchul in an instant. I smile as I see its familiar arches, the nooks where I stole naps, the—我瞪圆双眼，双脚踩空，一头扎进了精心打理的藤蔓之网，那是生与死的分界线。我抱紧自己，准备迎接终末的湮灭。可我却飞过了葱郁的绿植。开阔的野地上，各种各样的生物奔跑跳跃。我掠过了一条大河，宽如以绪塔尔全境。Semchul is behind me. Something is wrong.我一定是疯了。这些飞旋的景象都是凡人临死前的念头吗？My eyes widen, heels dig into nothingness as I crash into the net of tended vines that separate death from life. I brace for obliteration, squinting against the end. Instead I soar past lush greenery. Creatures buck and sprint across a too-open field. I skim a river as wide as Ixtal itself.我的试炼失败了吗？I am mad, surely. Are these the spiraling thoughts of a mind’s final moments?我看到山峦、谷壑——还有人。我看到了人。我——Have I failed the test?我停了下来，停在某个寒冷的地方。白色。白得炫目，还有狂风吹雪。I see mountains, valleys—people. I see people. I—景象的背后，存续着力量。元初公理交汇于此。不应如此。I’ve stopped, somewhere cold. White. Blinding, with gale-driven snow.一群人，有男有女，穿着毛皮和白骨的衣物，正在彼此切磋武艺。不对——他们是在交战。一根棍棒敲碎了一个人的头颅。我伸出手。粉雪的云雾形成涡旋，他们纷纷逃离这异象，逃离我。唯独一个比其他人都更高大的人，他直接盯着我的双眼。我能感到他在扭曲，在寻找我。他用冰霜生成了一支长枪。Behind it, there is power. Axiomata cross here. This should not be.这个野蛮人绝非来自以绪塔尔。他怎么可能染指元初公理？A group of men and women draped in fur and bone spar with one another. No—they war. A club caves a skull. I reach out. Clouds of powder swirl, and they flee the phenomenon, flee me. One, taller than the others, stares into my eyes. I can feel him twist, searching for me. He crafts a spear from frost.他的魔法不一样。力量来自别处，也触碰不到我。虽然他的长枪对我没有效果，但他的存在本身就已经让我动摇。他的存在是错的。This brute is not Ixtali. How is it that he taps the Axiomata?以绪塔尔的外面，什么都没有。什么都没——

His magic is different. It comes from elsewhere, and does not touch me. But where his spear misses the mark, his being strikes me down. His very existence is wrong.

我眼前的景象顷刻间消失，在我体内只留下了真空。血液如雷霆般汹涌地填补空缺，尖锐的呼啸声刺穿我的双耳，我的心智正在迅速回归肉身，快得让我难以适应。

There is nothing beyond Ixtal. There is noth—

当然了。这个世界当然没有死去。以绪塔尔当然不是唯一一个抵挡了灾难浩劫的地方，我们只不过是用了一层藤蔓的幻象帷幕而已。我当然不会是独行的冒险者。在空气屏障的包裹之中荡遍全世界？愚蠢。我想起了父亲，作为园艺师的他，对自己的作品那么自豪。对藤蔓帷幕的真正意义那么无知。

The scene disappears in an instant, leaving a vacuum inside of me. The thunder of blood in my veins rushes to fill it, and a keening pierces my ears as my mind makes connections faster than I can keep up.

我觉得双眼在脑壳里跳痛。我全身的皮肤发麻，一部分的自我对新的发现欣喜若狂，但剩余的自我则满心厌恶。育恩塔尔肯定可以听到我的心跳，我的心正在颤抖着发出断断续续的狂跳声。但他们纹丝不动。

Of course. Of course the world isn’t dead. Of course Ixtal alone didn’t stave off apocalypse with a thin, illusory veil of vines. Of course I wasn’t going to be a lone adventurer, trekking across the world in a cocoon of air. Foolish. I think of my father, of the gardeners, so proud of the work they do. So ignorant of their true purpose.

一段儿时记忆突然占据了我的脑海。在那段记忆里，我恭敬地向米瓦西姆呈上我在河里找到的第一件古代遗物。我记得她的迟疑；那时我以为她是被我无尽的好奇打动。那一天，她纳我为学徒。我那么喜欢对她讲述我的天真猜想，那么期待成为育恩塔尔，那么希望与米瓦西姆的贤者同辈们共同探索未知。

I feel my eyes throbbing within my skull. Chills race over my skin as part of me delights in a new discovery, even as the rest revolts. The Yun Tal can surely hear my heart, hammering a tremulous staccato. But they remain motionless.

我的样子一定特别傻。

A sudden childhood memory steals whatever’s left of my mind. In it, I reverently present Mivasim with the first artifact I discovered in the river. I remember her hesitation; I thought her impressed with my relentless curiosity. She accepted me as a student that day. I had such fondness for sharing my little theories, was so excited to become Yun Tal and chart the uncharted with the likes of most-wise Mivasim.

以绪奥肯的力量稳住了我颤抖的身躯。我渐渐冷静下来，心跳减缓。但愤怒涌入了空隙，即使以绪奥肯也无法阻挡。这是一条洪流，卷着背叛、羞愧和悲伤。

I must have seemed so stupid.

某种丑恶的东西控制了我。我颤抖的双拳紧握以绪奥肯的神力。我要碾压这间空室，埋葬这里的所有人，就像琥珀中的昆虫。在以绪塔尔古老的力量中心点，感觉这是轻而易举的事。

Ixaocan’s power stills my shuddering frame. The chills settle, my heartbeat slows. But anger crashes into the empty space, and even Ixaocan cannot stop it. A river flooding with betrayal and embarrassment and grief.

数十年的哲学思考与修辞学辩论拯救了我。练习过无数次的反射行为替代了情绪化的宣泄：这个情绪背后的真相是什么？我必须称赞米瓦西姆，是她的教导让我迅速从疯狂的边缘撤回了脚步，来到了唯一可能的结论。

Something ugly captures me. I hold the might of Ixaocan in my trembling fists. I’ll crush this chamber, and trap us all like insects in amber. Enmeshed in Ixtal’s ancient center of power, that feels like it would be the easiest thing in the world.

这才是真正的试炼。

I’m saved by decades of rhetorical and philosophical debate. Simple, practiced reflex to an emotional appeal: what is the truth behind that emotion? I must credit Mivasim for how quickly I retreat from the edge of madness, and arrive at the only possible conclusion.

育恩塔尔长老团世世代代都在维持这个幻象。这个世界的真相不能被简单地解释或讲述；你必须自己亲眼看见，必须有足够的智慧，放下自己最初的反应，得到最终的领悟。我把一阵不可救药的笑意藏在心里，我突然意识到为什么会有这么多育恩塔尔长老共聚于此。毫无疑问，以他们共同的力量，可以轻易摧毁或迷惑走到我这一步、且被情绪征服的人，即便我掌握着以绪奥肯的力量，对他们来说也不足为惧。

This is the test.

我的愤怒冷却下来化为决心。我扫视周围，迎接每一位贤者投下来的凝视。我的眼神在对他们说：我已经通过了你们的试炼，剩下的都是走过场。

The Yun Tal have maintained this illusion for generations. The world cannot be simply explained or described; one must see it for themselves, must be wise enough to move past reaction and reach understanding. I internalize a helpless laugh as I realize the purpose for so many gathered Yun Tal. Surely together they would find it trivial to destroy or confound anyone who reached this point and fell prey to their emotion, even wielding Ixaocan’s power as their own.

我不会被现实击垮。我回到几何线条之中，开始完成最后的收束。

My rage cools to determination. I scan the room, meet the gaze of each of the most-wise above me. My eyes have words: I have passed your test, the rest is ritual.

I won’t be crushed by this reality. I return to the pattern, and the unfinished extrusion.

育恩塔尔长老团默默地看着我的操作。结束了。元初公理标志着我已经充分领悟并掌控了气、水、以及二者的全部结合方式。我想起了那个人，想起了彼方世界。在我头上，育恩塔尔正在仔细浏览我交出的线束，在其中寻找错误。他们是找不到的。

The Yun Tal are silent as I work.It is finished. The Axiomata mark my full understanding of—and control over—air, water, and all the ways they might be combined. I think of the man, of the World Beyond. Above, the Yun Tal roam the threads of my work, searching for error. They will find none.

气氛发生了变化，他们已经做出了决定。我站起身，缓缓旋转，神奇地摆脱了大地的吸引力。我再次看向我的导师。我希望从她的双眼中看到羞耻、自责、或者忧伤，因为我被她的谎言蒙蔽了数十年。但我看到的只有自豪。

Something shifts in the air as they make their decision. I rise up, spinning slowly, absurdly, free of the earth’s pull. I look, again, into my mentor’s eyes. I hope to see shame, or guilt, or sorrow for her decades of lies. But there is only pride.

我放声大笑。我实在忍不住。虽然这时维达利安正在越转越快，我在刻纹地面留下的丝线正在收拢包裹，而我就像蜘蛛网中的小虫。

I laugh. I can’t help it, even as the Vidalion spins faster, as the threads I laid upon the etched floor ensnare me now like prey in a spider’s cruel web.

魔法从我体内流淌消散，疼痛占据了我。育恩塔尔长老团异口同声地开始了吟诵。我听不懂他们的言语，但发光的丝线正在围绕着我，彩虹微光沿着我的双臂双腿缠绕盘旋。

Pain takes me as the magic bleeds from my body. The Yun Tal chant as one. I cannot understand their words, but threads of light trail and curl around me, and shimmering rainbows spin their way down my arms and legs.

我飘浮着，被囚禁在维达利安和新生的织物之间。我感受到力量重新注入我的体内，就像麻木的肢体渐渐复苏。

I float, trapped between the Vidalion and the nascent fabric. I feel power creep back into me, like waking a sleeping limb.

随着丝线织成了布匹，我感受到了。我已成为育恩塔尔。

As the threads resolve into cloth, I feel it. I am Yun Tal.

他们的诵唱声音渐强，我缓缓飘落到地上。一张张冷漠的面孔纷纷绽放出笑容，但我从中感受不到任何温暖。我梦到了我的藏宝箱，里面装满了远古的物件。

Their chant crescendos as I float to the ground. Impassive faces break into joyous smiles, but I cannot feel any warmth from them.I dream of my treasure box, of ancient things.

我愚蠢的热爱。数十年对彼方世界的想象，还自以为是地想要与育恩塔尔分享秘密。我回忆起那个年轻、愚蠢的阿里埃，一心想要探索发现。我希望那个男孩能够获得的，不能说是复仇，但也差不离。

My foolish passion. Decades spent imagining the World Beyond, eager to share with the Yun Tal things I thought I knew. I think of young, foolish Aliay, so eager to discover. Vengeance is the wrong name for what I wish for him, but it’s close.

“你醒了。”一个熟悉的声音，似乎是从时空之外传来。我觉得自己并没有醒来，但我身下是一张舒适的床，旁边有温暖的火盆，还有一位关切的导师。我有太多问题想问她，但我害怕自己已经知道了答案。

“You’re awake,” comes a familiar voice, somewhere outside of time. I don’t feel awake, but there is a comfortable bed, a warming brazier, a concerned mentor. I want to ask her so much, but I fear I already know all the answers.

“我醒了，米瓦西姆。”我的声音比我预想的要柔和，既没有泪水的哽咽，也没有愤怒的强横。

“I’m awake, Mivasim.” My voice is smoother than I expect, free of the choke of tears or the roughness of anger.

“从现在起，你要叫我米瓦，”她回应道，“我们是平级了。”

“Miv, now,” she responds. “We are peers.”

随后是静默。我们共度了这么多年，今天是她第一次以沉默相对。

Silence follows. So many years together, and only today is she at a loss for words.

最后，她开口说道，“我当时对我的导师怒不可遏，你知道吗。我们好几天都没说话。我……我只是来看你是否安好，你要是想休息的话我就不打扰了。”

Finally, she speaks. “I was furious with my own teacher, you know. We didn't speak for days. I… I just wanted to be sure you were comfortable, but I can leave you to your rest.”

我不需要休息。我要行动。

I don’t want rest. I want action.

但我表现得很平静。“您教导有方。”

But outwardly, I am calm. “You prepared me well.”

“哦？来和我说说你的想法。”这句话，我曾在研习过程中听到过无数次，但现在听上去却不像是在等待正确答案。毕竟，是平级了。

“Oh? Please, tell me your thoughts.” This is a question I’ve heard in study, but which now sounds strangely free of expectation. Peers after all.

我还没有时间去练习其他育恩塔尔长老的虚伪，但我不需要虚伪。我知道自己现在已经成为了弥天大谎的一部分。我能描绘出大概的轮廓，然后米瓦西姆的宽慰和自豪将补充其余的细节，然后这场对话圆满结束。

I have not had the time to practice deception the way the other Yun Tal have, but I don’t need it. I understand the great lie of which I am now a part. I can provide the basic shape of it, and Mivasim’s relief and pride will fill in the details well enough to conclude this conversation.

“育恩塔尔长老团完好地保留以绪塔尔。”我首先确认了这一点，“每个以绪塔尔人都知道，只要长老团做出了决定，就没有回旋余地。”

“The Yun Tal preserve Ixtal,” I confirm. “Every Ixtali understands the finality of their decisions, once made.”

说话的同时，我渐渐找回了自己。修辞论述的熟络让我感到踏实。

I feel more myself as I speak. The familiarity of rhetoric is comforting.

不过，我还是有点反感。有点不甘。

Still, I resent the feeling. Just a little.

“千千万万条丝线构成了每个决定，每一条都是我们通过思辨、探索、和换位思考学来的。如果你能领悟所有丝线，你就能做出完美的决定。”

“A million small threads comprise each decision, learned through argument, discovery, and new perspectives. If you understand the threads, you will make the perfect decision.”

不经过米瓦西姆首肯就继续发言，我还有点不适应，于是我紧盯着火盆里的焰心，任凭它灼痛我的视野。“所以育恩塔尔肩负着做出决定的重任。在以绪塔尔人眼里——包括此前的我自己，我们的土地是一片封闭的领域。我们让每个人看到的丝线，仅限于他们能力所及，正如我们在路上讨论过的。而且……”

It's hard for me not to look to Mivasim for approval, to suggest I'm on the right path, so I continue staring into the brazier’s fire even as it stings my eyes. “So the Yun Tal bear the burden of decision. To the Ixtali—to myself, until recently—our land is a closed realm. We reveal to each only those threads that they are capable of processing, as we discussed on the road. And…”

我到底还是忍不住，扭头看向她，征求那个短暂而又坚定的首肯，确认我思路的正确。“早期的育恩贤者们遭遇了这个无法想象的两难困境。怎样才能最好地保护自己的人民免遭外部世界的毒害。他们的选择是让我们与世隔绝。任何愚钝无能之辈都走不出这伟大的一步，都可能导致以绪塔尔的毁灭。所以才有了现今的区别，才有了造就育恩塔尔的苦读研习。”

I turn, finally, to seek the brief but firm nod that signals the rightness of my thinking. “The early Yun were faced with this unimaginable dilemma. How best to protect their people from the world outside. They chose to cloister us. Anyone without sufficient wisdom might have misstepped, caused Ixtal’s end. Hence the distinction, the rigor of study that produces the Yun Tal.”

这个理由很充分。但是，我依然厌恶不已。

It’s a defensible argument. Still, I loathe it.

我最后总结道，“所以说，育恩塔尔长老团内部也已经争论了不知几百年，但没有哪一位长老能够拿出足够好的议案，足以撤回这个决定。”

I conclude. “Which must mean that the Yun Tal have argued among themselves for countless centuries, and not a single one of them has brought forth a suggestion worthy of reversing that choice.”

平静祥和的大势，静候最贤明的思想出现，确保下一步不会走错。这样不对，总感觉哪里不对，不止是残酷的虚伪本质。

A peaceful status quo, awaiting the brightest mind to ensure the next step is the right one. It’s wrong, somewhere, beyond its cruel deception.

我猜，我可以花一辈子的时间，用语言去描述哪里不对。与大势为敌。

I suppose I will have all my life to put words to that wrongness. To make the status quo my enemy.

米瓦西姆上身微微前倾，对我致以敬意。“面对维达利安之后，我花了更久才得出同样的结论。”她站起身，递给我一只手。我握住了她的手，艰难地站了起来。“来吧。开餐了。我们这些长老必须共同庆祝，又有新人能够直面我们的目光而不倒。”

Mivasim inclines her head toward me in a gesture of respect. “It took me rather longer to draw the same conclusion after I faced the Vidalion.” She stands, and offers me her hand. I take it, and limp to a standing position. “Come. Eat. We elders must celebrate with those who can stand to look the rest of us in the eye.”

我再次想起我的藏宝箱。

I think again of my old treasure box.

我想象着自己打开盖子，把我的愤怒放了进去，然后把箱子封闭、藏好。

I imagine myself lifting the lid, placing my anger within it, and sealing it away.

我露出疲惫的笑容。“走吧。”我站在中层，面对大厅的喧嚣。盛满食物的餐桌在三五成群的宾客之间飘浮穿梭，人们沉浸在研讨、叙事、和舞蹈中。几个新晋成员看起来和我一样愤怒，但他们的气馁已经被同僚友爱之情缓和，每个人都清楚地知道，这种愤怒一点也不新鲜。在以绪塔尔境内，没有任何地方像这里一样牢牢地掌控着元素的力量，他们大多数人似乎都很快接受了自己优渥富足的新生活。

A tired smile forms on my face. “Let’s go.”I watch from the mezzanine as noise fills the hall. Tables full of food drift between small groups entrenched in discussion, storytelling, and dancing. A few of the other new initiates seem as angry as I, but their frustration is soothed by camaraderie and assurances that this outrage is nothing new. Nowhere in Ixtal are the elements under such firm command, and most seem quick to embrace the opulence of their new lives.

我们把育恩塔尔视作偶像。我曾称他们为完美的哲学家。真理的探寻者。我收集了那么多小物件，我曾渴望探索并钻研外面的世界。我曾梦想着自己能有资格与最贤明的思想唇枪舌剑，让真理之光照耀符文之地。

We idolize the Yun Tal. Perfect philosophers, I once called them. Seekers of truth. I collected trinkets, eager to share in the study and exploration of another world. I studied, hoping to make myself worthy of debating with the brightest minds to grace Runeterra.

现在回顾那些想法，简直……不堪一击。

Now when I look at them, they seem… frail.

“呵，谁也不能怪你闷闷不乐。”我听到了金属碰撞的清脆声，一双华丽的手环搭在栏杆上。“此等水准的庆功宴，还不如那次喜迎小骡子诞生呢。”

“Pah, you are right to brood.” I hear the clatter of metal as braceleted wrists drape against the balustrade. “I have seen better celebrations for the birth of mules.”

是我试炼时看到的那位育恩阿莱。虽然身材并不高大，但她的气场却占据了整个狭小空间，而且她这贵气凌人的口吻，让我不知该如何展现敬意。

The Yunalai from my test. Her presence fills the narrow space despite her small stature, and her imperious tone demands a respect I don’t know how to give.

我最后手足无措地简单鞠了一躬。“我在这里旁听就已经大喜过望了，尊贵的育恩阿莱殿下。”

I opt for a simple bow. “I am happier to listen from here, honored Yunalai.”

她笑了一声，紧接着是一声充满不屑的鼻息。“我的尊贵，可不是靠家族血脉得来的。”她瞪着我等了片刻，看到我不知如何回应，她又说，“我倒不介意直接告诉你，让我苦闷惆怅的，是你居然不认得余。不认得奇亚娜。”

Her laughter brings forth a small snort. “It is not my family bringing me honor.” She stares a moment, and when I fail to respond she says, “I do not mind saying, it pains me that you do not know of this. Of Qiyana.”

奇亚娜。她说自己名字的时候带着夺人的自信，让我面颊火热，羞愧难当。“请恕罪。我的家乡距离以绪奥肯城路途遥远。”

Qiyana. She speaks her own name with acerbic reverence, and my face burns with embarrassment. “Forgive me. I live far from Ixaocan.”

“也是，好吧。那现在你已经知道了。来吧。我管你叫小埃可以吧？”

“Yes, well. Now you are aware. Come. May I call you Aya?”

听上去并不是在询问意见。于是我跟着她来到阳台的门前，走进外面的黑夜。即使是现在，以绪奥肯依然灯火通明、熙熙攘攘。

It seemed to not be a question. I follow her to the balcony’s open doors and step into the night. Even now Ixaocan is bright with activity and firelight.

“在我的试炼中，小埃，我看到了最辉煌的景象。一个可以说是原始的生物，伸出爪子袭向天空，它拥有那么庞大的力量，那种力量应该只存在于巨塔里！它距离我们非常遥远，而且许多人都在为了争抢它而厮杀。”

“During my test, Aya, I saw the most resplendent thing. An almost primal thing, clawing for the skies, and of such power as I have only seen in the arcologies! It is so far from us, and many people have warred for control of it.”

“我见到的景象也差不多。”我答道。她充满热情地点头。

“I saw something similar,” I respond, and she nods enthusiastically.

“是的！当时我心里只想，‘不应如此！’这种地方不应该在存在于以绪塔尔之外，这种力量怎么可以不受育恩塔尔的引导？小埃，这太可怕了。”

“Yes! And I could think only, ‘This should not be so!’ For such a place to exist outside of Ixtal, with no Yun Tal to be its shepherd? Aya, it was horrible.”

她的话引起了我的共鸣。

I find kinship in her words.

这就是与大势为敌。

Here is an enemy of the status quo.

“作为育恩塔尔，我们受到尊敬是因为我们掌控了这个世界。小埃，除了以绪塔尔以外，还有多么广阔的世界！我们只是引领，但我们却不行动。或许有些足够贤明的人能够认识到，他们不能独自承担这个决定。或许其他人是在害怕？”

“The Yun Tal, we are respected for our mastery of this world. Aya, how much more there is of the world than Ixtal! We lead, but we do not act. Maybe some are wise enough to recognize they can’t bear that decision alone. Maybe others are afraid?”

我用心倾听，我知道奇亚娜是不害怕的。不知是什么让她登天远望，也不知是什么让她自信十足，但她在以绪塔尔人里绝对独一无二。

I listen, and I know Qiyana is not afraid. Whatever buoys her step, whatever fuels her unshaken confidence, it is unique among the Ixtali.

“不应如此，”我喃喃自语。这几个字感觉分量十足。

“It should not be so,” I murmur. The words feel heavy, significant.

她看着我，双眼映着以绪奥肯之光。“所以呢。我和你，小埃，我们来一起图强求变。”一年了，我穿上长袍以来第一次觉得不合身。可能是因为其他育恩塔尔长老。可能是因为这间空室。这是我完成试炼以后第一次回来。

She looks at me, the light of Ixaocan reflected in her eyes. “Well then. You and I, Aya, will be the ones to change it.”My robes feel strange for the first time since I donned them, a year past. Perhaps it’s the other Yun Tal. Perhaps it’s the chamber. This is the first time I have returned since my test.

魔法依然沿着墙壁旋转着形成漩涡，在中心的深渊里，我看到了那个地方，现在我知道它叫弗雷尔卓德，在我们最古老的历史里有记载。有朝一日我要亲自踏上那片高山。

Magic still swirls in a ring along the walls, and in its depths I see what I know now to be the Freljord, from our oldest histories. I will walk its mountain paths in person one day.

一名学徒穿过门扉。她自信的笑容让我想起母亲，她几个月前得知自己的孩子成为了育恩塔尔，感到无比骄傲。

A student strides through the doors. Her confident grin reminds me of my mother, who was so proud with her Yun Tal child so many months ago.

我想为她流泪。

I want to weep for her.

群集于此的育恩塔尔长老们全都心照不宣。米瓦西姆在我的左前方，环廊的对面，向我微微点头，她的目光里依然透着骄傲。我也对她微微点头，然后我看向奇亚娜的方向。她的面容没有出卖任何情感，但只需要她在场我就可以放心。我并不是唯一一个看到他们失败之处的人。

The collected Yun Tal share silent affirmations. Mivasim, ahead and to my left across the gallery, nods at me, pride still sparking her gaze. I return the gesture, and look over to Qiyana. Her face betrays nothing, but her presence is a comfort. I am not alone in recognizing the failings of those assembled.

谢谢你，米瓦西姆，谢谢你的教导。我将倾尽所学纠正我们的错误。与奇亚娜一起，我将构建完美的论证，向你的一切致敬，包括你初进育恩塔尔时的那份苦闷。

Thank you, Mivasim, for your lessons. I will use them to correct our mistakes. Alongside Qiyana, I will build the perfect argument, one that honors even the frustration of your first days among the Yun Tal.

我希望，当那一刻来到的时候，你已做好准备。

I hope, when the time comes, you are prepared to hear it.

那名学徒向前迈开步。空室静了下来。

The student strides forward. The chamber stills.