冰霜之心 Frozen Hearts

作者：David Slagle

“妈妈……我有个问题。”

“Mom… can I ask you a question?”

“怎么了，努努？你又筋鼻子了，这一次肯定不是因为犹卡尔吧。不是说你，科纳！”

“What’s wrong, Nunu? There’s something crinkling your nose, and I don’t think the elkyr can be blamed… well, this time. No offense, Kona!”

“哈哈，犹卡尔闻起来像粑粑条！不过……我们还是需要靠它们拉车。我不想走，妈妈。我喜欢那个村子。我在泥里找到了一把战争号角。”

“Haha, elkyr smell like doocicles! But… we always make ‘em pull our carts anyway. I don’t wanna leave, mom. I like that village. I found a warhorn in the mud!”

“来我这，我的小筋鼻子怪，我跟你讲。我们诺台人在雪落之时必须离开是有原因的。这是冬之母交付给我们的冒险。”

“Then come close, my little grimaceling, and I will remind you. There is a reason the Notai must leave as the snows settle. An adventure that winter’s mother has entrusted to us.”

“你是说艾尼维亚？”

“You mean Anivia?”

“嗯哼。他们说她是一只凤凰，身上长的不是羽毛而是冰锥——她的翅膀下是寒风，嘎吼！但我们诺台人都知道，载起艾尼维亚的是希望，而且她也不像阿瓦罗萨人说的那样是我们的疆界守护者。她是自由，她是你追随自己激情时的那种精神，无论世事多险恶。你知道什么是激情吗，努努？”

“Mhmm. They say she is a phoenix, with icicles instead of feathers—her wings borne on frigid wind, brrrrrr! But we Notai know, it is hope that carries Anivia, and that she is not a guardian of our realm, as the Avarosans say. She is freedom. She is the spirit that fills you as you follow your passion, no matter how mean the world is. Do you know what passion is, Nunu?”

“激情是不是就像野蛮人亲吻战母？”

“Is it when the barbarian kisses the warmother?”

“嗯，差不多，同时也像是战母亲吻野蛮人。但如果要我说，我觉得激情是……冬季到来时的最后一次庆典，室内的温暖变得更令人眷恋，因为风雪将至。庆典上的舞蹈、歌声，我手中的七弦琴，让我燃烧的同时又让我发抖——这个东西让我无法言说！这就是艾尼维亚交付给我们的东西，我们要载着它穿越弗雷尔卓德。这才是艾尼维亚乘着的风！一些村落将我们视作不可相信的商人，还有人害怕我们是因为冰雪宣告着我们的到来，因为冬季意味着生命也意味着死亡。但我们对他们所有人，都送去歌声，送去团结，我们用自己的精神连接着每个村落。你能想象这是怎样的礼物吗，努努？我们能够获得我们的知识，都是因为车队的颠簸将它们筛进了我们的骨子里。生命就是一条无穷无尽的琴弦，可以记录无数歌谣……”

“Hmm, sometimes, and sometimes the warmother kisses the barbarian. But if I had to name it, I would call passion… the feeling of one last celebration as winter hits, the warmth inside even better because the first snows are falling. The dancing, the singing, a lyre in my hands, shivering even as I burn with this—this thing I try to name! This is what Anivia has tasked us with carrying across the Freljord. This is what gives her wind on her migration! Some villages see us as untrustworthy traders, others fear us for the ice that announces our arrival, the winter that can mean life or death. But to them all, we bring song, we bring togetherness, we link each village with our spirit. Can you imagine what a gift this is, Nunu? To know what we know because caravan carts have rattled it into our bones. Life is an endless string of opportunity for songs...”

“就像这些？”

“Like these?”

“是的，就像我的琴弦。每一条弦都是一首歌，弦上的每一个结都是一个音符，每一个音符都是我们在追随艾尼维亚的路上去过的一个地方。比如这一段。这段音符是朝圣者聚集的蜂鸣，他们在拉克斯塔克的阿瓦罗萨雕像下朝拜，拉克斯塔克本来是一座闪耀的冻湖，如同一颗巨大得谁都带不走的宝石。但阿瓦罗萨人却在它旁边建造了纪念碑，自顾自地说他们拥有这珍宝。他们的生活如同雕像。战母、冰裔，他们不肯走出去，他们害怕阿瓦罗萨阴影之外的世界。但在旁人眼中，他们已经走了太远……”

“Yes, like my song strands. Each string is a song, each knot in the string a note, and each note a place we’ve been while following Anivia. Like this one. This is the droning murmur of pilgrims, gathered beneath the statue of Avarosa at Rakelstake—a frozen lake that glitters like a jewel too massive for anyone to own. But the Avarosans have built a monument beside it, and say they own it anyway. They live their lives as if they are statues. Warmothers, Iceborn, they do not move, they fear the world that exists outside of Avarosa’s shadow. But to others, they have already moved too much…”

“凛冬之爪部族。他们恨透了阿瓦罗萨部族。”

“The Winter’s Claw. They hate Avarosinians.”

“阿瓦罗萨部族。但那首歌将他们连在一起，就像这一段。这段音符是格拉泽港口的狼船被铁链拴在一起的声音，也象征着曾经的凛冬之爪。古老的习俗，雪中的鲜血。他们生活在破碎的冰上。他们认为是自己的力量开了一条入海之路，让狼船破冰前行……但依靠铁链可不是力量，命令别人承托自己也不是力量。”

“Avarosans. But the song binds them together, like this. This is the sound of the chains tying wolfships to Glaserport, and the Winter’s Claw to the past. The old ways. Blood in the snow. They live their lives on shattered ice. They think it is their might that cracks a path to sea, the wolfships prowling through… but it is not strong to cling to chains, and to demand that others carry them as well.”

“我记得狼船，妈妈。是木头做的，不是狼做的！凛冬之爪部族根本不会起名字。”

“I ‘member the wolfships, mom. They were made out of wood. Not wolves! The Winter’s Claw don’t know how to name things.”

“有些东西呀，努努，是不应该有名字的。比如霜卫要塞，还有它下面的嚎哭深渊。所有那些秘密……我自己的秘密，我找到的温暖……他们口口声声宣讲着三姐妹的话语，但我认为他们真正信仰的是秘密本身。如果一个人面临着他不知道的威胁，你还要如何去拯救？只有这首从深渊中升起嚎哭的挽歌才记得，霜卫在对抗的是什么。”

“Some things, Nunu, should not be named. Like the Frostguard Citadel, above the Howling Abyss. All those secrets… secrets of my own, of the warmth I have found… They preach there the words of the Three Sisters, but I think secrets are their true faith. How can you rescue someone from something they don’t know? That only this howled dirge remembers, rising from the Abyss. What the Frostguard guard against.”

“他们是英雄吗，就像歌里唱的那种？我也想成为英雄。”

“Are they heroes, like in the songs? I want to be a hero, too!”

“来听听这段音符，努努。这是霜角峰上的要塞以及下面的地穴。这是静谧。空荡。冰裔的敌人早已被遗忘。现在，没了其他敌人，他们将武力用于统治。阿瓦罗萨，凛冬之爪，冰霜守卫，他们都一样。他们使用神像、铁链和秘密，让人们下跪臣服。但你……当我望向前方的道路，我看到的是你的未来，努努。你将为许多人带来快乐，正如你为我带来的快乐。冬之母有灵，她用她的风托起了你，我也将献出爱。你是我的心声之歌，努努。我们接下来要加上什么音符呢？爱会将我们带向何方？”

“Listen to these notes, Nunu. They are the fortress at Frosthorn Peak and the crypts beneath. They are quiet. Empty. Whatever the Iceborn fought against has been forgotten. And now, with nothing else to fight, they use their power to rule. Avarosans, Winter’s Claw, Frostguard, they are the same. They use statues, chains, secrets, to push men down onto their knees. But you… When I look out onto the road, I see your future, Nunu. The joy you will bring to so many, as you have brought me. As winter’s mother wills it, and as she sends her winds to carry you, I will send love. You are my heart-song, Nunu. What notes should we add next? Where should love take us?”

“我们可能会去往另一个村子。但这个村子不会有战争号角……”

“We’re probably going to another village. But this one won’t have warhorns...”

“没错，努努。外面的世界总会有更多的新东西，你只需要去想象！我们可能会来到一座曾经通往天空的桥！只不过它早已在无人记得的年代坍塌，而桥的残余都藏在云朵上。但，你能听到吗？有人正在一步，一步，一步地沿着桥走。我们可能会进入古代生物的墓穴，他们可能在人类之前统治过弗雷尔卓德，要找到空中冻结的霜雾，给古老的梦境赋予形状。你面前的是什么，努努？你能用舌尖捕到梦吗？或者找到分叉的冰河隧道，如同追踪世界树的枝干，即便我们的祖先已经将世界树摧毁并埋葬于冰底。这些东西你都找得到，只要你睁开眼。你可以去任何你想象到的地方。”

“No, Nunu. There is always more out there, you only need to imagine it! We could travel to a bridge that once spanned the sky! Only it collapsed in a forgotten age, and most of it lies hidden behind the clouds. But, can you hear that? Someone is step, step, stepping along its edge. We could pass into the tombs of creatures who ruled the Freljord before humans, find the mist that freezes in mid-air, giving ancient dreams shape. What is that in front of you, Nunu? Can you catch a dream on your tongue? Or find glacial tunnels that branch, as if tracing the shape of a world-tree that our ancestors destroyed, and buried in ice. All these things you can find, if only you look. You can go anywhere you can imagine.”

“我们可不可以去全世界的顶点，然后奏响我的战争号角？我敢说阿瓦罗萨本人也能听得到，然后她就会回来！”

“Could we go to the top of the whole wide world, so I could play my warhorn? I bet then even Avarosa would hear it, and she’d come back!”

我们现在就能去，努努，只要你告诉我那里的样子。你看到了什么？你心中的故事是什么？

“We can go there right now, Nunu, if you tell me all about it. What would you see? What is the story in your heart?”

“我知道故事的开始！很久以前，有一个男孩名叫努努，他的妈妈叫蕾卡……她很美，他们一起生活在一个车队中，然后……他们正在想接下来往哪走。”

“I know how it starts! Once upon a time, there was a boy named Nunu, and Layka, his mom… and she was beautiful, and they lived in a caravan, and… they were trying to think of where to go next.”

“他们是怎么决定的，努努？”

“And what did they decide, Nunu?”

“他们决定无论到哪都要在一起！然后他们的车队就飞向了天空，因为科纳从屁股上长出了翅膀，而且拍打得比艾尼维亚还有力！然后他们母子二人既温暖，又安全，不怕天上飘落的雪片。那是怎样的感觉，妈妈？就像一个拥抱，只不过更加……”

“They decided they could go anywhere together! And so their caravan flew off into the sky when Kona grew wings out of her butt, and flapped harder than Anivia! And the two of them were warm, and safe, even though snow was falling. What’s that feeling, mom? Like a hug, only…”

“家。是家的感觉。我的小英雄。家是我们永远都不会远离的地方，无论我们去到何方。所以我们可以确信，无论寒冷是否追赶我们的脚步，无论世界多么严苛多么需要希望……，努努，只要你爱着身边的人，就永远不会有冬天。”

“It’s home. It’s home, my little hero. And that is where we will always be, no matter where we go. It is how we know, though the cold comes with us, though it can be hard and demand hope… it will never be winter, Nunu, if you love the person beside you.”