《耶利歌》扭曲灵魂！

V

第二天，普利摩顿的大街小巷里充满了猜忌和议论：议员的死在引发了各种流言。这次谋杀是否是国王阻止民主化进程的第一步呢？结果，参议院里的许多人匆匆离开普利摩顿，担心自己成为国王谋杀名单上的下一个人。动荡不安的气氛四处漫延开来。
The following day the streets of Primordium were alive with gossip andspeculation: the death of the Senator had started all kinds ofrumours．Was this murder the first indication that the Emperor would putup with no more moves towards democracy in the city？ Believing this tobe the case many members of the Senate left Primordium hurriedly，incase they were next on the Emperor’s hit list．There was a general senseof unrest，everyhere．

而在克里奇的心里，一种对不可知未来的复杂感受油然而生。
And in Kreiger，a profound sense of anticipation．

他一夜不眠，思索着昨天到底发生了什么。不，不仅仅是昨天。他在思考自己的人生：他已经走了多远，以及——如果露辛迪克的诺言是真的——他将走向何方。
He had barely slept，thinking of what had happened the nightbefore．No，not just the night before．Thinking about his life: where ithad led him so far，and whrere — if Lucidique’s promise were a true one— it would go after this．

他不时地抬头看一眼城堡的高墙（今天在那里巡逻的侍卫是昨天的两倍），想知道她说要想办法让一个人去推翻王朝究竟是什么意思？
Every now and then he’d glance towards the walls of the palace （whichhad twice as many guads patrolling them today as yesterday） and wonderto himself what she had meant about finding a way for one man to bringdown a Dynasty？

VI

凌晨一点钟，克里奇坐在距离普利摩顿西城门一公里外的一块岩石上守侯。大约在一点零九分的时候，两匹马从远处飞奔而来（与克里奇预想的相反，她不是从普利摩顿城的方向来，而是从城市西南面那片广袤无边的沙漠中来。）
At one o’clock in the morning，a mile outside the West Gate ofPrimordium，he sat on a stone and he waited．At nine minutes past one，apair of horses approached （not from the city，from which directionKreiger had expected her to come，but from the Desert，which lay，vast andlargely uncharted，out to the West and South-West of the city.）

他们越来越近，然后翻身下马。
They drew nearer，and dismounted．

“克里奇……”
“Kreiger…”

“怎么？”
“Yes？”

“我想让你见见阿冈尼司帝斯。”
“I want you to meet Agonistes.”

克里奇曾经听说过关于阿冈尼司帝斯的传闻。它在杀手之间流传甚广，但更象是个传说而不是现实。
Kreiger had heard rumours about this man Agonistes．It was the kind ofstory that was wxchanged between assassins，more of a legend than areality．

但是此刻，他确确实实在这儿。和带领他来到的露辛迪克一样真实。
But here he was．As real as the woman who’d brought him．

“我听说你想使普利摩顿成为一个共和国，”阿冈尼司帝斯开口说道，“用你一个人的力量。”
“I hear you want to make Primordium a Republic，” Agonistes said．“Single-handed.”

“她劝说我相信我可以办到，”克里奇回答说，“但是……我并不相信。”
“She persuaded me it was possible，” kreiger replied．“But… I don’t believe it is.”

“你应当自信一点，克里奇。我能让你成为国王们恐惧的目标，只要你自己有足够的愿望这样做。一切都由你自己决定。快点决定吧，要是你不想让我为你服务的话今晚我还有其他更重要的事要去做呢。每时每刻，我都能听见上百个祷告者的倾诉声从普利摩顿城里倾泻出来；人们正在等我去赋予他们力量来改变他们的世界。”
“Youshould have more faith，Kreiger．I can make you the terror of Emperors，ifyou want it badly enough．It’s up to you．Make up your mind quickly，for Ihave better business elsewhere tonight if you don’t require myservices．I can hear a hundred prayers pouring out of Primordium at thisvery moment; people wanting me to give them the power to change theirworld．”

露辛迪克抬起手放在克里奇的脸上。“此时此刻，我发现你并不想要它，”她说，“你害怕了。”
Lucidique put her hand up to kreiger’s face．“Now the moment’s here，I see you don’t want it，” she said．“You’re afraid.”

“我并不害怕！”克里奇说。他想起了他那死于瘟疫的母亲，想起了童年时惨死在贵族马蹄下的哥哥们，想起了他那精神失常的妹妹，她被送进疯人院永远也没有恢复的可能了。
“I’m not afraid！” Kreiger said．He thought of his mother，dead of thepox，of his brothers killed in the street as children by noblemenpassing on horses，of his sister，in the asylum，never to be sane again．

“带我走吧，”他说。
“Take me，” he said．

“你肯定吗？”阿冈尼司帝斯问他，“记住，这可是一条不归路。”
“You’re sure？” Agonistes asked him，“Remember，there’s no way back.”

“我不会回头的。带我走吧，让我变形。”
“I don’t want to go back．Take me．Change me.”

他瞥了一眼露辛迪克。她正朝他微笑。
He glanced at Lucidique．She was smiling．

“把马带走，”阿冈尼司帝斯对她说。“我们不再需要它们了。”
“Take the horses，” Agonistes told her．“We won’t need them.”

然后，克里奇和阿冈尼司帝斯一起掉头朝着沙漠走去。
So together，Kreiger and Agonistes turned round and headed into the desert．