博勒汉姆塔楼野兽的真实骇人传说 The True and Ghastly Tale of the Beast of Boleham Tower

作者： Amanda Jeffrey

雷电云翻滚着压过烁银山脉，预示着电光和山火，但什么都没有发生。

Thunderclouds rolled off the Argent Mountains, promising pyrotechnics, but delivering none.

从塔顶看去，进犯的暴民就像小孩子乱糟糟的玩具——都是一些牙签长矛和小小的火把。走在最前面的人是个高个子，她披着一头灰发，腰间挂着一把剑，身上穿着手工的外套。

From the tower, the advancing mob looked like a child’s mismatched toys—all toothpick spears and tiny torches. The figure at the head of the group was tall, with a splash of grey hair, and a blade belted to her homespun tunic.

维迦看着人群撞开外大门，他的恶行让他们火冒三丈，前来要求他为自己的行径负责。终于来了！他快步走下楼梯，来到内门前。

Veigar watched as the group started battering the outer gates, incensed by his villainous ways, demanding justice for the terrible acts he had wrought. Finally! He hurried down the stairs to the inner door.

随着一声爆裂，大门被撞开了，村民们跌跌撞撞地涌入院子。带头的女战士拔出剑向前走，避开身边笨手笨脚的人群，等待其余的人站稳脚跟，找准矛尖的方向。

There was a mighty crack as the gates gave way, and villagers tumbled into the courtyard. The leader drew her sword and advanced, picking her way between ungainly limbs, waiting for the rest of the group to find their feet and hold the right end of their spears.

维迦透过门上的裂口向外瞥，充满期待地窃笑。

Squinting through the gap in the door, Veigar giggled with anticipation.

他和那个女战士对上了目光。

The woman’s gaze snapped up.

维迦用手遮住嘴，但他已经被发现了。农夫们磕磕绊绊地缩到首领的裙摆后面。棒极了。他向后退一步，大笑的颤抖让他几乎拿不稳法杖，随着一股紫色能量的爆破法球，门被炸开了。

Veigar clapped a gauntlet over his mouth, but the jig was up. The farmers tripped over themselves to cower behind their leader’s skirts. It was perfect. He stepped back and, barely holding his staff steady with all his booming laughter, blasted open the door with an explosive ball of purple energy.

他向外走到石头台阶的顶端，尘埃落定。他知道如何摆出自己应有的姿态——他的大帽子几乎与门框同宽，他的铁靴每次踏在地上都碰撞出火花和雷霆，他的护手大到足以捏死任何敢于挑战他的人。

He strode out to the top of the stone steps as the dust settled. He knew how imposing a figure he must strike—his hat barely clearing the enormous door frame, his iron boots sending up sparks and thunder with each giant step, his gauntlet big enough to crush any fool who might challenge him.

不幸的是，那群胆小的村民一直没敢抬头看，这样威风的姿势保持太久就有点做作了。他憋了许久的一大口气吐了出来，身体好像瘪下去了一点。

Unfortunately, the cowering villagers hadn’t looked up yet, and holding an intimidating pose this long was starting to feel forced. He let go of the breath he’d been holding, and deflated a little.

“恶人！”女头领终于先喊出来，同时挥剑指向他。

“The villain!” shouted the leader, eventually, brandishing her blade in his direction.

维迦在帽檐下的阴影中露齿而笑。他用尽可能威武的姿态将自己升到空中，让所有村民都看到他。

In the shadow beneath his hat, Veigar grinned. He drew himself up as intimidatingly as possible as the villagers beheld him.

然后叫嚷和哀嚎开始了。最开心的是，后排甚至有人晕过去了。

Then the shouting and wailing began. Delightfully, someone at the back even fainted.

他蓄积起不祥的魔力，一环墨染的光轮出现了，矛尖和皮带扣等铁器之间开始跃出紫色的火花。首领蹒跚着后退，一道漆黑如夜的裂缝蜿蜒着包围了村民们，然后向上爆发形成巨大的巫术牢笼。

He gathered his sinister magic, gaining an inky nimbus, and causing violet sparks to leap off speartips and belt buckles. The leader stumbled back as a serpentine gash of deepest midnight encircled the villagers, and exploded upwards into an ensnaring cage of sorcery.

“肃静！”维迦命令他们。

“Silence!” Veigar commanded them.

他享受着走下漫长楼梯的每一步。暴民们被困住了，在他们身边，紫色的光壁嗡嗡闷响，每隔一段距离都有爪子一般的立柱，构成了一圈诡异的围栏。他停在距离首领刚好一把剑长的距离，怒视着奥术屏障中的囚犯们。

He relished every long stride down the steps toward the trapped mob. Around them, humming walls of violet light stretched between claw-like pillars, forming an eldritch henge. He stopped barely a sword’s length from the leader, glaring at his prisoners through his arcane barrier.

“我能看到你心中的恐惧！”他用一种嘲弄但绝不幽默的语气说。“你们居然敢闯进此地挑战我的恐怖统治？我可是宇宙魔法的统御者，邪恶之伟主维迦！我曾战胜过无数个奥法强敌，无人能阻止我寻求更大的——”

“I can see the fear in your hearts!” he began with a derisive, humorless, snort. “You dare march here to challenge my dread rule? I, Veigar, who has yoked the magic of the universe to my will? Veigar, Great Master of Evil, who has defeated countless arcane foes in my quest for ever greater—”

“诅咒我的田地生了两季鼠鼻虫，你干的！”一个别样粗鲁的农夫喊了出来，面红耳赤、怒气冲冲。

“Cursed my fields with rat-weevils for two seasons, you have!” an especially cloddish looking farmer cried out, crimson-faced with fury.

维迦眨了眨眼，突然的打断让他不知所云。“诅咒你生了什么……？”

Veigar blinked, trying to process this interruption. “Cursed you with what…?”

“你还在收获的前一周害我家多力跛了蹄子！”一个泼辣的农妇狠狠指着那位愈发迷惑的邪恶之伟主。

“And ye turned Dollee lame the week ‘afore harvest!” claimed an outraged tiller, wagging her finger at the increasingly befuddled Great Master of Evil.

话音一落，人群爆发了，村民们开始抒发起各自的不满。维迦只能听到其中几句声音最大的控诉，大多数都在说酸败的奶和和枯瘦的甜菜。随着他在语言的猛攻中败退，紫色的屏障也开始忽明忽暗，最后坍塌，但村民们并没有注意到。他们向前推挤，冲着他的脸大声叫嚷。

With that, the banks broke and the villagers began to make all of their grievances heard. Veigar could only catch snippets of the loudest accusations, the majority featuring soured milk and undersized beets. As he shrunk away from the verbal onslaught, the purple barrier flickered and collapsed, but the villagers didn’t even notice. They shuffled forward, yelling in his face.

他的后背碰到了台阶的石栏。他被包围了。

He felt the stone banister of the stairs at his back. He was surrounded.

他无力地想要回答，他每说一个字，声音都在失去厚度。“但是……我……我是……”他们围了上来，怒目而视，现在已经与他平视，而不是仰视了。

He tried feebly to respond, his voice losing depth with every word. “But I… I am…” They crowded closer, glaring, now eye to eye with him rather than looking up.

突然，一个老成的声音用命令的口吻盖过喧闹。“大家冷静。退后。”

Suddenly, a commanding older voice rose over the din. “Stand down. Everyone.”

“可是，马尔戈……”一个人刚一开口，首领的怒视就打消了他们的抗议。暴民退下了，维迦与她单独面对面。她现在看上去几乎比他高一倍，而且自信的气场喷涌四射。

“But Margaux…” someone began, before the leader’s glare withered their objection. The mob retreated, and Veigar found himself alone with her. She seemed more than twice his height by this point, and radiated confidence.

他恨她。

He hated her.

“好了，恶人，”她狠狠地说。“你已经听到我们的控诉了。你冤枉吗？”

“Alright, villain,” she spat. “You’ve heard our accusations. Do you plead innocence?”

维嘉感觉自己像是被打了一耳光。他挺起胸膛，感觉高了一尺。“冤枉？冤枉？”他转过身开始爬台阶，站到人群上方。“你们蛮横无理地找上门来，毫无依据地控诉你们的鸡毛蒜皮胃疼脚凉，还要我亲口否认来自取其辱？”

Veigar felt like he had been slapped. He puffed out his chest, feeling a foot taller. “Innocence? Innocence?!” He turned and began climbing the steps, gaining height on the crowd. “You have the audacity to bring your superstitious bellyachings to my door, and then insult me by asking if I deny them?!”

他背着身回过头，对他们怒目而视。

He glared over his shoulder in their direction.

“我冤！你们说的每一样我都冤！但你们可别以为我在自证清白。你们控诉我的邪恶行径——而我就是邪恶！我击败了这座奥法高塔的孱弱主人并将此处据为己有，随后我还烧了你们的田地！我还恐吓了你们的军阀，把他们打得落花流水，让他们发誓永远都不再回来！”他大步跨上最后两级台阶。“而我也已开始我的恐怖征讨战略，附近的邪恶巫师全都别想跑！我不会允许任何人阻挡我追寻终极魔法力量！”

“I do! I deny every one of them! But do not dare presume that I claim innocence. You accuse me of evildoing—and I am evil! Since I took this arcane tower from its puny owner, I have burned your fields! I have terrorized your warlords, defeating them so thoroughly that they swore never to return!” He took the last two stairs in one great stride. “And I have begun my campaign of terror upon neighboring villainous sorcerers! For none will be permitted to obstruct my path to ultimate magical power! ”

话音刚落，天空传来一声炸裂巨响，魔法的飞箭从云际射下，在庭院周围爆炸。维迦仰天大笑，恶贯满盈、荣光四射的时刻令他欣喜若狂。那些弱小的凡人将会在他恐怖的邪威之下乞求原谅。

At this, the sky crackled, and magical bolts hurtled from the clouds, exploding around the courtyard. Veigar threw his head back and laughed, reveling in the sheer glory of his own evil. These puny mortals would beg forgiveness in the face of his terrible magnificence!

他停下来喘口气的时候，发现村民们正围成一堆商议着什么，时不时向他的方向投来审视的目光。其中一个妇人抬起头。“你战胜了残忍的蔚西斯吗？就是那个军阀？”

When he stopped for breath, the villagers were conferring in a huddle, casting appraising glances in his direction. One of them popped her head up. “Did you defeat Vixis the Cruel? The warlord?”

“当然了！她没有展现出应有的尊重，所以我……”

“Of course I did! She failed to exhibit proper deference, and I…”

他的话说到一半没声了，因为人群的注意力又回到热烈的悄声讨论中。维嘉有点坐立不安，他很想听听他们在说什么。人们一个接一个地互相点头，然后转过身面向他。

His words trailed off as the group returned to their earnest whispers. Veigar shifted uncomfortably, straining to hear what they were saying. One by one, the mob nodded to each other, and turned to face him.

他们看到维嘉正在冷静地欣赏自己护手的抛光工艺。

They found him coolly admiring the polished gleam of his gauntlet.

女首领玛尔戈走到台阶底下，用奇怪的姿势微微鞠躬，然后开始对他说。“噢，伟大万能的……呃……巫师……？”

The leader, Margaux, strode to the bottom of the steps, awkwardly half-bowing, and addressed him. “Oh, great and mighty… uh… sorcerer…?”

“魔法师！”维嘉纠正她。

“Wizard!” Veigar corrected her.

万能的魔法师。我们来自不值一提的博乐汉姆村——

“Mighty wizard. We, the residents of the barely-worth-bothering-with village of Boleham—”

“对，是我们村！”某个人适时地补充道。

“That’s our village!” someone helpfully interjected.

玛尔戈叹了口气。“对，是我们村。你看，是这样，我们已经知错了，所以在此谦卑地乞求万能的魔法师，龟甲——”

Margaux sighed. “Yes, our village. Well, you see, we’ve come to our senses, and do humbly beg the mighty wizard, Gray Jar—”

“是维——迦！维迦！”

“It’s Vay-gar! Veigar!”

“抱歉！维迦！我们谦卑地乞求您饶过我们的小命，而且，嗯，就是……请再接再厉。”

“Sorry! Veigar! We humbly beg that you spare us and just, umm, you know… keep doing what you’re doing.”

维嘉怀疑地眯起眼睛。“你什么意思？”

Veigar narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“嗯，你知道的。我们老老实实回家，然后你继续你的……恐怖统治……什么的。万寿无疆，恐怖长存，没别的意思。”

“Well, you know. We’ll just go home, and you keep doing your… reign of terror… thingy. Live and let terrorize, that’s what I say.”

这一定是某种诡计。但她还没说完。

This had to be some kind of trick. And yet, she went on.

“当然，我们会展现出应有的，就是，尊重。背地里咒骂你的名字。散布关于你邪恶狂暴的故事。弗伦克说他在格罗夫特有个亲戚，听说过关于一个邪恶巫师的传闻，如果你感兴趣的话，可能……”

“Of course, we’d exhibit the proper, you know, deference. Curse your name in your absence. Spread tales of your vile rampage. Frenk says his cousin down in Glorft heard a rumor of an evil sorcerer, if you’d be interested in, you know…”

“灭了他们！将他们的恐怖巫术据为己有！”维嘉握紧了拳头，想象着在魔法对决中碾压奥法对手的甜美胜利。

“Destroying them! And taking their dread sorceries for my own!” Veigar clenched his gauntleted hand, imagining the sweet triumph of crushing an arcane peer in a wizard battle.

玛尔戈小心翼翼地看着他。如她所愿，维迦注意到了。

Margaux was watching him carefully. Hopefully, Veigar realized.

最后，经过一阵漫长的停顿，他翻了个白眼，挥舞自己的法杖。

Finally, after a long pause, he rolled his eyes and flourished his staff.

“你们这群蠢货！你们以为能骗的了我，邪恶之伟主，维迦？或许你们以为我会赐予你们快速且无痛苦的终结！哼，我遗憾地通知你们，你们的生命根本不值得我花时间！”

“You fools! You thought you could trick me, Veigar, Master of Evil?! Perhaps you hoped I would grant you the mercy of a swift and painless end! Well, I regret to inform you that your lives are simply not worth my time!”

他放声大笑——足以配得上他伟岸身躯的轰鸣大笑。

He laughed—a big, booming laugh to match his renewed stature.

“收起你们的皮囊，离开我的视线，无足轻重的农民们！回到博勒汉姆去，祈祷我再也别注意到你们吧！”

“Take yourselves from my sight, insignificant peasants! Return to Boleham, and pray I do not find you worthy of my attention ever again!”

村民之中有几人假惺惺地鞠躬或行礼，然后悉悉索索地退回破损的大门。玛尔戈趁人不注意向他轻眨了一下眼，然后转身离开。

The villagers managed a few half-hearted bows or curtseys, before shuffling back toward the damaged archway. Margaux chanced a quick wink at him, then turned to leave.

“慢着！”他声如雷霆。她的手立刻扶在剑柄上。

“Wait!” he thundered. Her hand snapped to the pommel of her sword.

维迦尽量摆出了一副漠不关心的淡然，再次挪步走下楼梯。

With as much indifference as he could muster, Veigar edged his way down the steps once more.

“你觉得我什么时候能和弗伦克的亲戚谈谈关于那个巫师的事？”

“When do you think I could talk to Frenk’s cousin about that other sorcerer?”