长蛇号 The Ophidian

作者： Anthony Reynolds

不不不，那个座儿没人。朋友，一块儿坐吧，灌上几大口……啊，我习惯这么说了，呵。

No, no, that seat’s not taken. Pull up a chair, and sink a few, friend... Though that might be a poor turn o’ phrase, given my history. Heh.

诶，我是见过海难的。和你一样年纪的时候，我自己还经历过一次。叫长蛇号，那艘船，沉在了锯齿海峡。只有我活了下来。你要是替我买杯喝的，我就跟你好好说说。

Aye, I’ve seen a few shipwrecks. Been in one me self, as it goes, back when I was young like you. Her name was the Ophidian, that ship, pulled down beneath the Jagged Straits. I was the only survivor too, mind. Maybe you buys me a drink, and I’ll tell ye about it.

这个？朋友，这个金币不能花的。我的幸运海妖币，用来缴我的什一税。

This? No, this coin’s not for spending, friend. That’s my lucky Kraken, for to pay the Tithe.

什一税。你知道吗。人人都知道的。 “什一不缴，海沸山摇。”

The Tithe. Ye know the Tithe. Everyone knows about the Tithe. “Pay the Tithe, or face the ocean’s wrath.”

哎呀，胡子女士说的……那你肯定也没听说过诺提勒斯咯？就是深渊里的泰坦呀？

Oh, by the Bearded Lady... Then you never heard o’ Nautilus, either? The Titan of the Depths?

老板！酒再给我们满上，这才是好娘们儿！俗话说，故事一堆，不醉不归……我这朋友付钱。

Barkeep! Pour us a round, barkeep, there’s a good lass. This is a tale that needs an ale, as they say... and my friend here’s buyin’.

啊~好东西啊，真的是。

Ahh, that’s the good stuff, that is.

差不多有三十年了吧，我们刚捕猎回来。我以前是鱼叉手，屠宰舰队里准头最好的。我们猎到了一条斧鳍巨兽——对，就是那种大个头的混蛋玩意儿。我们拖着怪兽往港口返航。拉尔斯：当时天刚要亮，比尔吉沃特的灯光远远地闪烁着，在呼唤我们。剃刀鱼和疯狗鲨紧跟着我们，因为巨兽的血渗进了海水，懂了吧。

‘Twas almost thirty years back, now, returning from a hunt. I was a harpooner, finest shot in the Slaughter Fleets. We’d caught ourselves an axe-fin leviathanaye, one o’ them big, mean boggersand we was haulin’ the beast back to port. It were just before dawn. Bilgewater’s city lights flickered in the distance, beckonin’ us in. There were razorfish and berserker sharks following close by, ‘cos the axe-fin was oozing into the water, see.

然后我们船长……哎，我们都不怎么待见他。靠不住的家伙。他指天咒地地发誓，说我们走之前他缴了什一税的。“一枚金海妖呢，”他说，“我只有这么多了。”

And our captain... Well, none of us much cared for him. Untrustworthy sort. He swears blind he paid the Tithe ‘afore we left. “A single gold Kraken,” he said, “for ‘tis all I have to give.”

但我们谁也没看到他把金币扔出船舷，真没有。所以很自然，我们就不太相信他，因为他就是个抠门儿得要死的大老鼠。但不管怎样，我们还是继续赶路了。

But none of us seen him throw it over the side, now did we. So, naturally we was suspicious, ‘cos we knew he was a tight-fisted old wharf rat. But on we sailed anyway.

深海泰坦就是这个时候来的。

And that was when the Titan hit us.

我们一点防备也没有，大得要死的铁锚就从水底冲了上来。干脆地打断龙骨，穿出主甲板，紧紧地扣住了船身，开始把我们往下拖……噢，朋友，当时乱得很。水手们被抛了出去，海水像开了锅一样，食腐的鱼群开始大吃大嚼。我抓住船长，朝他大喊：“你这骗子！胡母在惩罚没上税的人！”

Without warning, this bloody great anchor comes at us from below. Smashed clean through the keel, up through the main deck. Caught us tight, and started pullin’ us down... Oh, it was chaos, friend. Sailors thrown overboard. The waters churnin’, scavengers feedin’. I grabs the captain, screamin’ at him, “You’re a liar! This is the Lady’s punishment for those as don’t pay!”

船沉得很快。但甲板吃不住力，铁锚脱了扣就掉回了海里。如果这就结束了，我们很多人说不定都能捡回一条命。

The ship was going down fast. But then the planking gave way, didn’ it, and the anchor slid back into the depths. If it had ended then, more of us might’ve got away.

但是没有。诺提勒斯还没完事呢。

But it weren’t over. Nautilus weren’t done wi’ us yet.

船身倾向右舷，就是右边。因为泰坦拉住了船舷要爬上来，压得船侧倾了。也许他以前是个人类，但那天晚上我看到的，从海里钻出来的东西可不是人。我掐住船长的脖子，大吼，“看你干的好事！”我越掐越紧，他的眼珠子瞪大了。他看见诺提勒斯正朝我们走过来……

The ship tipped to starboard, right-sudden. It was the weight of the Titan himself, hauling up onto the deck. Perhaps once it’d been a man, but it weren’t no man I saw that night, risin’ from the waves. I has our captain by the throat. “This is your doing!” I roared, as I chokes the bastard, his eyes wide. He can see Nautilus is comin’ for us...

所以我扔下船长，钻进了倾斜的甲板。那家伙一只手就抓起了船长，你敢信么！它个头很大，抓着船长的手指居然能完全合拢——不管怎么说，船长都不是小个子。

So I shoves the captain away, down the slanted deck, and this thing catches him in one hand, if you can believe it! It was so big, the fingers closed completely around ‘is bodyand the captain weren’t a small man by any stretch.

我叫了一声，“拿他抵我的税！”，然后跳下了船。

“There’s your Tithe!” I yells, and jumped overboard.

我不知道我在水里呆了多久。肯定只有几秒钟，但是感觉像过了一年。赞美蛇母，海里的食腐鱼没有吃了我。我挣扎着爬上一块礁石的尖顶，海峡里有不少。然后我就看着长蛇号沉下去。

I dunno how long I was in the water. Must’ve only been seconds, but it felt like an age. But the sea scavengers didn’t get me, Mother Serpent be praised. Pulled myself up onto one of them stone pinnacles, out there in the Straits, an’ I watched the Ophidian sink.

诺提勒斯仍然抓着船长。他在它手心里像条虫子似的扭来扭去，但根本挣脱不了。深海泰坦就站在那儿一动不动，跟雕像一样。我看着他们离去——向下，一直向下，沉到黑暗里。

Nautilus still held the captain, squirmin’ and wrigglin’ like a stuck worm, but there were no escapin’ that grasp. The Titan was just standing there, motionless as a statue. I watched them go down, down into the darkness.

为什么会放过我？我真不知道。也许我是唯一一个进贡了的人吧。又或者，诺提勒斯要留个活口，跟别人讲这个故事？不过，在比尔吉沃特最黑的夜里，杀人的雾气降临时，你说不定能听到他从阴影中蹚着水走出来，慢慢地，一步一步，身后拖着那根要命的铁锚……

Why spare me? Don’t rightly know. Perhaps I was the only one to make an offering. Or maybe Nautilus wanted someone left alive, to tell the tale. But on the darkest Bilgewater nights, when the murder-fogs roll in, ye might hear ‘im wading out from the shallows, slow and steady like, draggin’ that accursed anchor in his wake...

朋友，你问我有什么建议？口袋里始终装着一枚金币，什一税一定要缴。还有，不要相信任何一个嘴上说缴过税的船长，除非你亲眼看见了。

Want my advice, friend? Keep a coin in your pocket, and always pay the Tithe. And don’t trust no captain who says he’s done it, ‘less you seen it for yourself.

毕竟，你不一定有我这样的好运啊。

After all, ye might not be so lucky as me.