Chapter One第一章

City of Vorganthian, Kobor, within Terra’s light

沃甘提安城，科博尔，泰拉之光所照之地(指太阳系内)

Pain was an old friend. Meroved kept this in mind as he worked through the last of the sword and spear disciplines. Thrust, turn, parry, thrust, turn, parry. The regimen was nece­ssarily rigorous, the pace increasing with each rotation, and it showed in the finest sheen of sweat across his body. His muscles burned as he completed the final kata, his spear-tip blurring with sheer ferocity.

痛苦是一位老朋友。梅罗维德在练习最后一项剑术和矛术时牢记这一点。刺、转、抵挡、刺、转、抵挡。这套动作必须非常严格，每转一圈，速度都会加快，他全身都流出了细密的汗珠。当他进行到最后一项套路时，他的肌肉在燃烧，他的矛尖因纯粹的凶猛而模糊不清

Meroved held his stance for several minutes at the end, his skin trembling with the effort, his breath even and controlled to siphon the pain.

最后，梅罗维德保持了几分钟的姿势，他的皮肤因用力而颤抖，他的呼吸均匀而有节制，以摆脱疼痛。

He looked into the eyes of the man in the mirror before him. They were weary and the colour of creamy jade. It was not for vanity that the entire north wall of the training arena had been replaced with this silver reflective pane. He studied with it. Form mattered, so did speed and precision.

他看着面前镜子里那个人的眼睛。它们疲惫不堪，颜色像乳白色的翡翠。训练场的整个北墙都换成了这种银色反光玻璃，这并不是为了虚荣。他用它研究。套路很重要，速度和精度也很重要。

An old man, at least to Meroved’s eyes, looked back. Barefoot, naked but for the short-legged training fatigues he wore. Sweating and weary from exertion. More grey than black in his beard. The skin looser than it had been before, the ink proclaiming his many deeds and many names faded, scars that had soured with age. Even the bionics, the metal that had replaced shattered bone and destroyed tissue, appeared to have lost some of their Martian solidity. Centuries take a toll. He had lessened. To mortal eyes he would appear quite different. But their senses were not so attuned, and more awestruck.

一个老人，至少在梅洛维德的眼中是这样，他回过头来。这个老人光着，除了训练短裤外一丝不挂。因劳累而满头大汗。他的胡须已经更多地是灰色而非黑色。皮肤比以前松弛，标示着他众多事迹和众多名字的墨迹已经褪色，年岁已经使得那些曾经令年轻的他骄傲的伤疤变得苍白。甚至那些曾经取代了破碎骨骼和毁坏组织的金属生化装置，也似乎失去了一些他们在火星制造时的坚固性。几个世纪过去了，他已经变得苍老。在凡人的眼中，他会显得截然不同。他们的感官并不那么敏锐，比起对衰老的鄙薄(意译),更多的是敬畏。‘End session,’ he said with barely a discernible hint of fatigue, but Meroved heard it. He knew.

“结束训练，”他说，声音中几乎没有一丝疲惫，但梅洛维德听到了。他知道。

The chrono confirmed it. Three-tenths of a second slower.

计时器证实了这一点。慢了十分之三秒。

‘I am dying…’ he said to himself, and set down the spear. It touched the ground with heavy metallic resonance. ‘As all things must. As all things should.’

我要死了...... "他自言自语着，丢下长矛。长矛触地，发出沉重的金属共鸣。'万物皆如此。万物皆应如此'。

He turned from his reflection, tired of seeing it and being reminded of everything he was not, and everything he used to be in his mind’s eye, and padded out of the room.

他转过身，厌倦地看着自己的倒影，被它提醒着自己所不再拥有的一切，以及他在想象中曾经成为的一切，然后悄悄踱出了房间。(意译)

‘Zatu…’ he said, pulling a black robe from the rack in the arming chamber.

“扎图……”他说着，从武装室的架子上扯下一件黑色长袍。

‘My lord.’

  主人

 Relayed through a vox-speaker built into the wall, the voice of his majordomo sounded cold and metallic.

声音借由墙上内置的扬声器传递，他的大管家的声音听起来冰冷而坚硬(意译)。

Meroved cast his eye across the many weapons shackled behind stasis fields.

梅罗维德将目光投向了被桎梏在静止场后的众多武器。

‘I am resuming vigil,’ he said.

他说：'我将继续守望。’

‘As you wish, my lord.’

“如你所愿，大人。”

The various armaments took up most of the south wall in a vaulted room that stretched fifty feet above where he was standing. It had taken several centuries to curate those weapons and the other pieces of armour and battle ephemera that he stored alongside them. Many remained unused, for he had his favourites, though they all paled in comparison to the trappings of his former calling.

各种武器占据了南方的拱形房间，该房间高达五十英尺。他花了几个世纪的时间来整理这些武器，以及存放在它们旁边的其他盔甲和战利品。许多武器从未得过垂怜，因为他有自己的挚爱，尽管与他以前的职业相比，这些武器都相形见绌。

Except for one. The misericordia(意大利语的悲悯) was a knife of rare provenance and still rarer craftsmanship. Its beauty and significance eclipsed everything else in Meroved’s vast arsenal and yet he had not drawn it from its scabbard in many centuries. Before he had exiled himself.只有一把除外。悲悯之刃是一把来历罕见、工艺更是精美绝伦的短剑。在梅洛维德庞大的武器库中，此剑的精致和意义迥绝他物，但他已经有好几个世纪没有把它从剑鞘中拔出来了,在他放逐自己之后.

In any case, in this place he was no longer a spear-bearer

无论如何，在这个地方，他不再是禁军了

He had left behind the life of auric gods. He had embraced shadows and alchemy.

‘I am His eyes,’ he reminded himself, and tried very hard to believe that was still enough.

他已经放弃了作为耀金的生活。隐入阴影和变局(意译,炼金术又是啥的指代,小梅也没用过啊)之中

“我仍是他的眼睛，”他提醒自己，努力相信这就已经足够了。

He walked out onto a metal promontory that resembled a gangplank. Below his feet, the chamber plummeted into a deep shaft not unlike a large well. At the end of the gangplank an iron cage hung from a cable bolted to the ceiling, turning slightly with the movement of the air.

他走到一个类似舷梯的金属岬角上。在他的脚下，是深不见底的黑洞，与一口深井别无二致。在跳板的尽头，一个铁笼子悬挂在天花板上的缆绳上，随着空气的流动微微转动。

Meroved crossed the rest of the promontory and entered the cage.

梅罗维德越过剩下的岬角，进入了牢笼。

‘Ascend,’ he uttered, and the cage began to rise. ‘Any items of import, Zatu?’ he asked during the ascent.

'上升'他说，于是笼子开始上升。’可有要事，扎图？"他在上升过程中问道。

‘The Vexen Cage has been found, my lord. Awaiting confirmation.’

"心控牢笼(意译)已经找到了，大人。等待您的确认.”

A tremor of unease and excitement warred ambivalently within Meroved at this news. His tone betrayed none of this inner conflict, however.

‘Where?’

‘Within the city districts.’

‘Active?’

‘Unknown.’

‘Exact location?’

‘Unknown.’

听到这个消息，梅洛维德内心矛盾地颤抖着，既不安又兴奋。然而，他的语气中丝毫没有流露出内心的驳杂。

“在哪里？”

“在市区内。”

'是否活跃？'

'未知。'

“确切位置？”

'未知。'

The cage finished its ascent and came to a halt. The soft glow of another room beckoned through an archway. Meroved heard the low susurrus of the machine within. Its activity hum had become like music.

‘Then let’s rectify that, Zatu.’

笼子上升完毕，停了下来。另一个房间的柔和光芒透过拱门向他招手。梅罗维德听到了里面机器低沉的嗡嗡声。机器的嗡嗡声此时变得像音乐一样动听。

'那就让我们活动(意译)一下吧，扎图。'

‘As you wish, my lord,’ the major-domo replied, welcoming Meroved to the nexus chamber, the dwelling place of the machine.

“如您所愿，大人。”总管回答道.迎接梅罗维德进入机器的核心室，那是机器主体(意译)之所在。

Zatu bowed as Meroved entered beneath the archway, retreating on the wheeled trackbed he possessed in place of legs. His arm ports were currently vacant, having been slaved to the machine. The light in the vision slit of his helm turned from red to green as he surrendered operation to Meroved.

扎图在梅罗维德走进拱门下时鞠躬退下，他的双腿被履带代替(我不确定)。原来应是双臂的地方目前已经被嫁接上了机器。扎图头上的金属缝隙中灯光由红变为绿，表示他将操作权交给了梅罗维德。‘And the other matter, my lord?’

“还有别的事吗，大人？”

‘Make contact,’Meroved answered, taking up position in the command throne of the machine and allowing the mechadendrite frame to attach to his back. A twitch of pain recognition registered in his cheek as synaptic pins entered his flesh. ‘Bring her here to me. Events are transpiring more quickly than I anticipated, Zatu. We must be swift to ascertain the nature of the threat.’

“设法和他们(意译)取得联系”梅洛韦德回答，在机器的命令宝座中占据位置，并允许机械支架连接到他的背部。当突触针进入他的肌肉时，他的脸颊上出现了肉眼可见的疼痛

”把她带到我这里来。事情发生得比我预想的要快，扎图。我们必须迅速查明威胁的性质”

‘I can reach the Unsighted for you, my lord, and petition the Aegis.

“我是否该替您联系无视者(不知道是啥)，并向金座请求帮助。

Meroved considered it. Much was still unknown.”

梅洛维德考虑过这种可能，但事态尚未明朗。

‘That won’t be necessary. Not yet.’

‘那没必要。至少现在没有。’

(ps:本人英语奇烂,对锤更是云的透彻,特放上原文.望锤友们不吝赐教)