《耶利歌》扭曲灵魂！

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在安排好塔利萨克提供给他们一个生物后，三个将军-博哥特，乌班诺和蒙特法罗回到他们的司令部等待。博

哥特是三个人中最紧张的一个。他曾经历过战场；碎肉横飞，毛发骨骼烧焦的气味在空气中弥漫：但是塔利萨

克病态的实验室让他虚弱紧张。
Having made the arrangement with Talisac to provide them with a creature，the three Generals -

Bogoto，Urbano and Montefalco - returned to
Military Headquarters and waited．Bogoto was the most anxious of the three．He'd seen his share

of battle scenes; bodies blown to pieces，the
stink of burning hair and bone in the air: but the grotesqueries of Talisac's laboratory had

left him sickened and nervous．

他决定去做当他的生命变得困难时就经常作的事情：他夜间穿过城市去从一个叫葛瑞塔萨巴提尔的女人那里寻

求安慰，一个占卜者。尽管如果让其他的将军知道这件事会很不妙，萨巴提尔的建议已经为博哥特服务多年：

比如该让谁提升，或是让谁降级；甚至是逃离某些战事。而随着普利摩顿城从平静转向疯狂，博哥特也越来越

依赖萨巴提尔的智慧。他曾相信，她的牌正是指向他命运的线索。不过在这个空气中都弥漫着疯狂的世界，没

有什莫是值得相信的，从一个女人的一幅脏兮兮的扑克牌中寻求未来的幻想实在是荒谬之及。
He decided to do what he often did when his life became difficult: he drove across the city in

the night to seek the comfort of a woman called Greta Sabatier，a reader of fortunes．Though he

would have been appalled if he'd thought any of his fellow Generals knew it，Sabatier's advice

had been behind much of what Bogoto had done over the years: who he'd favoured amongst his

subordinates，and who he'd demoted; even，on occasion，how he'd run some of his military

campaigns．And as events in Primordium had steadily become more crazed，Bogoto had come to rely

more and more upon Sabatier's wisdom．Her cards，he had come to believe，carried vital clues to

his fate．In a world where madness was constantly in the air，and nothing and no one could be

trusted，it made a paradoxical sense to seek illumination from a woman who read the future from

a pack of dirty cards．

“你见到了某个很有力量的人，”那晚葛瑞塔告诉他，她抽出一张牌将它翻过来。“我无法看到它是男的或是

女的。”
"You've seen somebody powerful，" Greta told him that night，tapping one of the cards she'd just

turned over．"I can't tell if it's a man卭r a woman."

博哥特想到了塔利萨克，将他自己挂在钩子上，那丑陋的人造子宫悬挂在他两腿之间。萨巴提尔端详着他的脸

。
Bogoto pictured Talisac，hanging up from his hooks，with that vile womb of his hanging down

between his legs．Sabatier was studying his face．

“你知道我说的这个人？”
"You know this person I'm talking about？"

“那末你不需要从我这里获得任何警告了。他，或是她--是哪一个？”
"Well then you don't need any warning from me．He，or she - which is it？"

“他有些朋友或是别的什莫，恩我不确定那是谁或是什莫东西，这里牌所显示得非常模糊。但是那是伤害之源

。”
"Well he has friends卆llies卛t's hard to be sure exactly who or what they are卼he cards are very

ambiguous．But there's harm from this
source，whatever it is."

“对世界造成的伤害。”“恩。”
"Harm to the world." "Huh."

“你不关心这个，是吗？”
"That matters less to you，yes？"

“当然。你认为我是不是该考虑离开这个城市？”
"Of course．Do you think I should consider leaving the city？"

“你是一个军人。这不是我第一次从牌上看到你的死亡，将军。”这是萨巴提尔第一次提及将军的职业。无论

如何她从牌上或是从符表上她获悉了这一点。“但是我不曾看到它离你如此之近。”她继续看着这些牌。
"Well厃ou're a military man．It's not the first time I've seen death in your cards，General."
This was the first time Greta had ever made mention of the General's profession．Whether she

knew it from the cards or from the broadsheets in which he was regularly eulogized was anybody's

guess．
"But I don't think I ever saw it so near to you，" she went on，looking at the cards．

“我明白了。”
"I see."

“那好，我想你该考虑离开。至少在这场动荡的天象结束之前。”
"So yes，I think you should consider leaving．At least until this unsettled period is over

astronomically."

“那末这不只是占卜牌说的了，这也是星象学？”
"So it's not just the cards，it's the stars too？"

“它们是互相联系的：牌，星象，手像。无论你怎莫看它们都在述说同样的故事。”
"They're all reflections of one another: cards，stars，palms．It's the same story wherever you

look."

她说着收起牌，一张牌掉在博哥特将军桌前。这张牌叫做塔，上面描绘出-一种简单的，原始的，形态上的高

塔轮廓被映照在闪电的轰击下。它的上半部分爆裂开来喷发出陨落的碎石，和尸体；下半幅部分正欲崩溃。
She sorted through the cards as she spoke，and now dropped one down on the table in front of

General Bogoto．It was called The Tower，and it
represented - in a simplified，even crude，form，a tower struck by lightning．Its upper half was

erupting，raining down rubble，and bodies; the lower half was cracked and ready to explode．

“这是普利摩顿？”博哥特问道。
"This is Primordium？" Bogoto asked．

“这是这个城市的未来，”萨巴提尔点头回答。“至少是其中之一。”
"It's the city's future，" Greta replied，nodding．"Or at least one of them."

“那末你也会离开吗？”博哥特说，思考和这个女人一起离开。萨巴提尔就像她终曰在上审视占卜的陈旧的桌

子一般老旧而她的双腿也不太灵活。他永远不会离开普利摩顿；至少他是这样想。
"So will you be leaving too？" Bogoto said，thinking to catch the woman out．Greta was as old as

the antiquated table she read her cards upon
and her legs were a good deal less reliable．She'd never leave Primordium; or so he thought．

“是的，我会离开。这将是你最后一次见到我，将军。除非你也要去卡勒斯。”
"Yes，I'm leaving．This will be the last time you see me，General，unless you should come to

Calyx."

“你要搬到卡勒斯去？”
"You're moving to Calyx？"

“明天。在事情变得更糟之前。”
"Tomorrow．Before things get any worse."