英雄无敌7#什么是力量

来源：https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/what-is-strength，以下由HeavenK翻译。

什么是力量 - What is Strength

Two servants, hard-faced, well-armed men, and the tutor, Master Salman, took the boy far into the Sahaar Desert. Four days on the backs of grumpy, smelly camels. The three men never spoke. For the first day, the boy asked many questions. The second day, he asked only a few. After that he gave up and resigned himself to whatever fate stood before him.

导师萨尔曼大师和他手下两个铁面无情、全副武装的仆人把男孩带进了萨哈沙漠的深处。在脾气暴躁、臭气熏天的骆驼背上渡过的四天中，这三个人一句话都不说。第一天里，男孩还问了许多问题。到了第二天，他就没剩下多少话了。从那以后，他就放弃并彻底地认命了。

He was being punished. That much was certain.

毫无疑问，他正在接受处罚。

Finally, one morning the boy woke to find the three men packing up the camels without telling him what to do. He fears this would be the day when one of them stuck a knife in his heart.

最终，男孩在一天早上醒来，发现三个男人正在往骆驼上收拾行李，却没有告诉他应该做什么。他担心自己的时辰已到，逃不过被人在心脏上捅上一刀的命运了。

Even at the age of nine, he knew he had been a great disappointment to his Wizard parents. He had failed at every magical task they gave. Not just failed, but spectacularly failed. A couple times, people were injured. They considered him a shame when he was supposed to be a triumph. That level of failure could not be accepted.

虽然他还只有九岁，但是他知道自己让法师父母感到十分的失望。他们给他的所有魔法试炼他都失败了。而且不仅仅是单纯的失败，是彻彻底底地失败。不止一次有人因此而受伤。他本应成功的，但是却被父母看做是他们的耻辱。这种级别的失败不能容忍。

So, that morning as the sun just peeked over the horizon casting a slight orange glow over the endless tan desert, Master Salman walked up to him.

于是，当太阳从天边升起，一缕橘色的光芒洒向无尽的褐色沙海之时，萨尔曼大师走向了男孩。

The tutor held out a single full waterskin. When the boy accepted it wordlessly, the man handed him a curved knife.

导师递过来一个装满的水袋。当男孩无言地接下来以后，他又递给男孩一把弯刀。

“Do not come home,” the tutor said.

“不要回来”，导师说到。

He tried not to cry, but big fat tears dripped on his cheeks as he said, “I know.”

男孩试图忍住哭泣，但是豆大的泪珠滑落他的面颊，他回答说，“我知道”。

Salman walked away, climbed onto his camel. Then the boy jumped forward and asked the question that had always been troubling him. “What did I do wrong?”

萨尔曼离开了，爬上自己的骆驼。随后男孩跳上沙丘，问出了那个一直以来困扰着他的问题：“我到底哪里做错了？”

The servants rode away. Salman paused a moment, looked over his shoulder, and said, “Magic is strength, boy. Your failure is my failure. Your failure is your mother’s failure. You weaken us all.”

仆人们骑着骆驼远去。萨尔曼稍微停留了一会，看向男孩的身后说到：“魔法就是力量，孩子。你的失败就是我的失败，你的失败就是你母亲的失败，你让我们都变弱了。”

Salman rode away, leaving the blue-skinned boy with the long red hair alone in the desert.

萨尔曼骑着骆驼走了，只剩下这个长着红色长发的蓝皮男孩独自待在沙漠中。

Miraculously, a year later he still lived.

奇迹的是，一年之后他还活着。

Dressed in the hides of animals he had killed himself, he carried a spear half again taller than himself. He had learned to avoid the wandering tribes of Orcs and Goblins. He stayed away from the hunting grounds of the Centaurs and learned that he could practically hide beneath the noses of the brutal Cyclopes because although they had eagle-like vision over a distance they relied more upon touch and smell at close range. And apparently the boy did not give off a smell that they recognized as a threat.

穿着从他亲手杀掉的动物身上剥下的毛皮，手持一柄比自己还高一半的长矛，他已经学会如何躲避兽人和地精的巡游部落。他待在远离半人马的狩猎场之外的地方，并且知道如何躲在残暴的独眼巨人的眼皮底下，因为尽管独眼巨人远距离视力和鹰一样好，但是在近距离内它们只能靠触觉和嗅觉。显然，男孩身上并没有散发出让它们感到威胁的味道。

Perhaps that was the Djinn in him.

或是是因为男孩的灯神血统。

He learned the habits and language of the Cyclops first. Periodically, an Orc tribe would seek the aid of the lumbering giants and through those encounters he learned that the Cyclops tongue was just a dialect of the same one the Orcs spoke.

他首先学会了独眼巨人的习惯和语言。兽人部落总会定期地前来寻求这些动作迟缓的巨人们的协助，通过观察这些接触场面，他了解到独眼巨人的腔调更像是兽人语的一种方言。

Then one day the boy was following a small band of jackals hoping to separate one for a meal. He didn’t dare take them all on himself, but jackals were greedy creatures who could be lured by the smell of some rotten meat.

之后某一天，男孩跟随在一小群豺狼后面，期待着落单的时候狩猎来做晚餐。他还不敢一次对付全部的豺狼，不过这些贪婪的野兽很容易被腐肉的味道所吸引过来。

He carefully crawled over the top of the dune only to spot what the jackals had been tracking. A Cyclops.

他小心翼翼地爬上沙丘顶部观察豺狼们追踪的目标，一个独眼巨人。

The giant sat cross-legged out in the open, slumped slightly forward, baking in the afternoon sun. He did not move. Perhaps he was dead and that was why the cowardly jackals had come.

这个巨人盘腿坐在空地上，身体前倾，沐浴在晚霞下。他没有移动，或许已经死掉了，这大概也是胆小的豺狼敢出现的原因。

The boy watched as the dogs circled the Cyclops. They yipped and barked and slinked even closer, building their courage slowly. The boy snarled at the scene. It did not seem fair. This was not the end deserving of such a tower of strength as that Cyclops.

男孩看着这帮狗崽围住了独眼巨人。它们发出低沉的嘶吼，悄悄着接近，缓慢地巩固着自己的勇气。男孩对这一幕气的牙痒。这不公平，这不是一个如巨塔般强壮的独眼巨人所应该面对的结局。

Gripping his spear tightly, he stood. He had counted eight of the jackals. The boy really had no plan other than to run the beasts off. If he could manage to kill a couple, maybe the cowards would do just that.

男孩站起来，手里紧握长矛。他数了数总共八只豺狼，男孩其实并没有什么计划，只能直接冲向这群野兽，如果他能干掉几个，或许这帮胆小的狗崽会就此四散奔逃。

Spear in hand, he charged down the dune toward the scene below.

长矛在手，他冲下了沙丘。

The boy was still too far away to attack when the first of the dogs leaped at the neck of the still Cyclops. Suddenly, the giant burst into action. His right hand came up, drawing a great spiked club up from where it had been buried in a fine layer of sand. Sand splashed the air like water, and then the giant swung the weapon. It struck the brave jackal alpha, killing the dog instantly, and sent it flying far away into a sand dune.

当第一只狗崽咬向独眼巨人的脖子时，男孩还离着战场很遥远。突然，巨人爆发起来，他的右臂前伸，抄起埋在沙层下的狼牙巨棒。巨人挥舞着武器，溅起的沙子如潮水一般涌向天空。它一击就杀死了勇敢的头狼，其尸体被击飞到遥远的沙丘。

Two more dogs attacked as the Cyclops came to his feel. One bit into his hamstring. Another latched onto the giant’s left wrist, who roared in anger even as it dropped the club and went to work on the animals.

另外两只狗崽在独眼巨人缓过劲的同时发动了攻击。一个咬住了他的腿筋，另一个抓向了巨人的左臂。巨棒脱手的巨人愤怒地咆哮，继续着与野兽之间的奋战。

That’s when the boy reached the scene. He thrust his spear into the side of one of the dogs, the weapon going all the way through and sticking in the canine’s ribs. He drew the steel knife given to him long ago by Master Salman, and a second blade he had carved himself from the jaw of a long-dead lioness.

这时男孩冲了进来，他将长矛投向一只狗崽，射入其肋骨之间。随后男孩抽出两把弯刀，一把是许久以前萨尔曼大师留给他的金属弯刀，另一把则是他用死掉母狮的獠牙打造的。

One of the jackals attacked, but a double swing of his blades cut its throat and belly open with ease.

一只豺狼攻了过来，但是男孩双刀挥舞，顺势将豺狼开膛破肚。

Then the rest of the animals, only a few, fled into the desert leaving the ten year-old blue boy standing dangerously close to a slightly injured Cyclops holding the limp carcasses of two jackals in his hands. Slowly, the giant turned toward him and for the first time the boy looked up into its demonic face. The single eye that should have been the most prominent feature of his face was missing and a deep gouge deformed his entire face.

随后，剩下的几只野兽逃离了沙漠，只剩下十岁的蓝皮男孩与手持两只豺狼尸体的轻伤独眼巨人近距离地对视着。巨人缓缓地转过身体，男孩第一次正面看着独眼巨人恶魔般的面容。独眼巨人标志性的特征，其巨大的独眼却没有出现在他的脸上，只剩下一个巨大的空洞。

The Cyclops sniffed at the air and then said in Orcish, “Who there?”

独眼巨人嗅了嗅空气的味道，然后用兽人语问道：“谁？”

“A wanderer,” the boy answered in the Cyclops dialect.

“一个过客”，男孩用独眼巨人方言回应。

The giant dropped the two dead dogs at his feet and said, “You no Cyclops. I kill with bare hands.”

巨人将死掉狗崽的尸体扔在脚边后，说到：“你不是独眼巨人，我空手都能干掉你。”

“Pick up your cudgel if you want,” the boy said. “It’s behind your right foot.”

“如果想要捡起你的棍子”，男孩说到，“就在你右腿后面”。

Slowly, cautiously, the Cyclops bent low and lifted the huge piece of wood, a tree to the boy, from the ground. The giant stood to his full height of nine feet. If not for his missing eye and hideously scarred face, he would have been one of the most impressive members of his race that the boy had ever seen.

独眼巨人谨慎缓慢地弯下腰，从地上捡起对男孩来说大到像树一样的木棒。巨人站直了自己九英尺高的身躯，如果不是其缺失的独眼以及伤痕累累的面容，它绝对是男孩见过的独眼巨人一族中最令人印象深刻的一位。

“I mean you no harm,” the boy said.

“我没有恶意”，男孩说到。

“You puny for Orc. No smell like nasty Goblin. What you?”

“比起兽人你没有那么高，比起地精你没有那么臭，你到底是什么？”

“I am me. I mean no harm. Let me take one of these jackals and I’ll leave you alone,” the boy said, aware just how empty his stomach had become now that there was fresh meat nearby, even if it was stringy jackal meat.

“我就是我，我没有恶意。我只要其中一只豺狼，然后就离开”，男孩边说边意识到自己的肚子有多饿，而脚边就有新鲜的肉，虽然只是只饥瘦的豺狼。

“I kill three. I keep three.”

“我杀了三只，我留下三只。”

“I killed two, but I can only eat one. Consider the other a gift.”

“我杀了两只，但是我只吃一只，另一只算是礼物。”

For a moment, the boy thought the Cyclops would reconsider and just kill him. One blow with that club and he was dead. Even a glancing blow would end him, and now that he was this close to the thing he did not feel confident in his ability to dodge it. He had seen it in action. Even blind, the Cyclops was a tremendous warrior.

有那么一瞬间，男孩以为独眼巨人会反悔并直接杀掉他。只要巨棒一击就可以置他于死地，即便没有直接命中也难以逃过一劫，而如今他站的太近了，近到不认为自己能够躲开这一击。他已经看过独眼巨人的动作，即便是瞎了之后也是惊人的战士。

The Cyclops turned its head from left to right and back again, sniffing at the air. Then, strangely, he smiled at the boy. He said, “I think one has gone too far. Hit too hard.”

独眼巨人左右晃了晃头，在空中嗅了嗅，然后奇怪的是，他向男孩微笑着说到：“我想有一只跑的太远，已经很难打到了。”

The boy smiled too. “I can see it about sixty feet from here.”

男孩也笑了，“我看到它在六十英尺以外。”

“Only sixty? Must be losing my touch.”

“只有六十？我一定是感觉不灵了。”

The boy laughed.

男孩笑了起来。

They butchered and cooked their own animals over a fire at the entrance to a cave not far from where the boy met the Cyclops.

他们在离男孩遇见独眼巨人的地方不远处的一个洞穴门口生了堆火，把各自的豺狼煮熟了。

The cave had a pool of fresh water in the back from which they drank. Only when their bellies were full and the Cyclops was crunching on the bones of the jackals as an odd dessert, or maybe just to feel them cracking beneath his massive teeth, did the Cyclops turn toward him and speak.

洞穴里有一口清泉可供他们饮用。等他们喂饱了肚子之后，独眼巨人开始嚼起了豺狼的骨头，不知是当做零食还是仅仅是享受这种用牙磨碎骨头的感觉，之后独眼巨人转过身来开了口。

“I Maggrash. Once Maggrash Backbreaker. Maggrash Blood-drinker. Now, Maggrash Blind.”

“我，马格拉什，曾经的断背者马格拉什，饮血者马格拉什，如今则是瞎子马格拉什。”

It was custom for the boy to introduce himself now, but when he opened his mouth to speak the name he had been given at birth he could not speak the words. That wasn’t him anymore. His parents had abandoned him to the desert to die. The only reason he still lived was a great anger had been born within him the day he had been exiled, a great feeling of defiance. The only way he could defy the wish of his parents was the stay alive.

按风俗男孩此时也要自我介绍，但是当他张开嘴打算说出那个自己出生时获得的名字时，他却无法说出那个名字。那已经不再是他了，他的父母把他遗弃在沙漠里等死。他活到现在的唯一原因就是在他被流放的那天他内心中生出的那股怒火，一股受到蔑视的感觉。只有继续活下去，才能当做是对父母期待自己死在外面这一愿望的反抗。

A new name came to him in the moment as he stared into the gaping hole where the Cyclops once had a single eye. So the boy renamed himself.

当男孩看向巨人失去的独眼留下的大洞时，一个新名字出现在脑海中。于是男孩给自己起了新的名字。

“I am Yog.”

“我是约格。”

Maggrash broke into a deep, thunderous laughter that echoed in the cave behind them as well as rolled out over the dunes of the Sahaar Desert. Yog smiled. He knew his name would please the Cyclops, but he hadn’t realized how much.

马格拉什爆发出一阵深沉如雷霆般的笑声，回荡在他们背后的洞穴里，回荡在萨哈沙漠的沙丘上。约格也笑了，他知道这个名字会取悦独眼巨人，不过他没料到巨人会这么高兴。

“Maggrash have no eye and meet boy named Yog,” Maggrash said and burst into laughter again.

“马格拉什没有眼睛却遇到了一个名为约格的男孩”，马格拉什说完，又发出一阵笑声。

“Yog” was the Cyclops word for “eye.”

“约格”在独眼巨人的语言里意为“眼睛”。

Later that night, after Maggrash invited Yog to stay with him and they were settling down for the night, Yog dared to ask, “What happened?”

那夜稍晚，马格拉什邀请约格留下来，他们安顿下来之后，约格斗胆问了一句：“发生了什么？”

“Damned Angel. Only let me live to punish me for my Demon blood. Like Demon blood is Maggrash choice?”

“该死的天使，因为我的恶魔血统，他们让我活着接受惩罚，好像恶魔血统是马格拉什自愿选择的一样？”

“Angels,” Yog said with distaste. Although he had never seen one, he had learned about them growing up. He had learned many things from the books Master Salman had forced him to read. “Angels are always concerned with punishment. They are just self-righteous enough to think they are the ones who should pass judgment like that on others. Who gives them the right?”

“天使”，约格厌恶地说到。虽然他从没见过，但是他从小就听说过。从萨尔曼大师强迫自己阅读的那本书里，他学到了很多。“天使总是和惩罚联系在一起，这帮自以为是的家伙以为自己能够审判别人，谁给了他们这种权力？”

“Dragon of Light give them right,” Maggrash said as if it were obvious. They fell silent for a long time before the Cyclops spoke again. “Maggrash no understand half what you say, boy. What you say, you no like Angels?”

“光之龙神给了他们这种权力”，马格拉什理所当然地说到。他们沉默了好一会，然后独眼巨人再次开口，“马格拉什不能理解男孩说的内容的一半，你是说你不喜欢天使？”

“No, I don’t like them. I don’t like anyone who is self-righteous.” Like a mother and father who could abandon their child to the desert simply because their child couldn’t use magic.

“不，我不喜欢他们，我不喜欢任何自以为是的家伙。”就像是仅仅因为不能使用魔法就将自己的孩子遗弃在沙漠的父母。

“Good. Afraid I was going to have to kill you.”

“很好，恐怕我不得不干掉你了。”

Then the giant quickly started snoring.

随后巨人很快便开始了打鼾。

At sixteen, Yog still travelled with Maggrash. That first year, the Cyclops kept threatening that he would eat the boy. The second year, he complained about Yog’s weakness and ignorance and a thousand other things. The third year, they became friends.

十六岁的时候，约格还在和马格拉什一同旅行。第一年的时候，独眼巨人还在不断威胁要吃掉男孩。第二年的时候，他在一直抱怨约格的软弱，却无视其它任何问题。第三年的时候，他们就已经成为朋友了。

Their reputation as a dangerous and deadly pair had kept most of the clans off their backs. Not for lack of trying though. On more occasions than Yog could recall, Orcs and Goblins and Cyclopes had attempted to kill them. Every challenge, however, was met with deadly force.

他们这个组合危险而致命的声誉让许多部落都不愿接受他们。不是没有过尝试，多到约格都数不清了。兽人、地精和独眼巨人们都试图杀掉他们，每一次的尝试都会面对致命的武力。

Yog became strong and quick out of necessity. When traveling with a giant who always overestimated his strength, soon he found himself carrying for more than he could handle but somehow managing to muscle through. He also learned how to fight with sword and axe, dagger and even bare hands. When he fought back-to-back with Maggrash though, he directed the giant toward the enemy with quick voice commands. They practically had a language of their own and with it they defeated whatever came at them.

出于必要，约格变得更加的强壮敏捷。和一个总是高估他力量的巨人一同旅行，让约格很快发现自己总是要面对远超自己能力的局面，只能靠蛮力扛过去。他同样学会了如何使用剑、斧、匕首甚至是空手进行战斗。当他和马格拉什背靠背作战时，他会用简短的命令指挥巨人冲向敌人，他们发展出了一套自己的语言，以此击败了任何敢来的敌人。

They were so invincible, in fact, they no longer hid from the tribes. On the contrary, some of the clans even invited them into their temporary towns for festivals or celebrations because they were equally known for their celebratory antics as they were for their combat skills.

他们是如此无敌，以致于很快他们就不再需要避开部落。相反，有些氏族甚至会在节日或庆祝的时候邀请他们前来自己的临时城镇，因为他们的杂耍表演和他们的战斗能力一样广为人知。

Those were the happiest years of Yog’s life.

那是约格一生中最快乐的年华。

But it was Maggrash who wanted more. Yog was content to wander the desert alone depending only on his giant friend and his will to survive. The Cyclops, however, started talking about the strength of a good clan, and building a clan into an entire tribe, and using a tribe to create an army of tribes that could march against the Holy Empire and the Angels.

但是马格拉什想要的更多。约格已经满足于在沙漠上孤独的游荡，只要有自己的巨人朋友和求生意志他就能活下来。但是独眼巨人开始讲述一个好的氏族的力量，以及如何从一个氏族发展成整个部落，并建立一支部落大军从而能够远征神圣帝国和那里的天使们。

Because he felt he owed the Cyclops everything, and because he secretly loved the blind giant like a father, Yog listened.

由于约格觉得他欠独眼巨人很多，同时也因为他其实以及把这个盲眼的巨人当做父亲来爱戴，所以约格聆听着。

“No one follow blind chief,” Maggrash declared one night out on the open desert.

“没有人会追随一个瞎子酋长”，有一天晚上，马格拉什在开阔的沙漠中说到。

“Then how are we going to get that clan of yours?”

“那我们怎样建立一个你的氏族？”

“Not Maggrash clan, stupid. I talk of Yog clan. No one follow blind chief but Yog is Eye. He see far. He see enemy move before enemy make move. He see all. Yog clan be strong.”

“不是马格拉什的氏族，小傻瓜，我说的是约格的氏族。没有人会追随一个瞎子酋长，但是约格是眼睛，他看得远，能够在敌人行动之前看见敌人，他看穿一切，约格的氏族将会很强大。”

“No one will follow me,” Yog said. “I am human and Djinn. I was born in the Seven Cities. Orcs hate the Wizards.”

“没人会追随我”，约格说到：“我是人类和灯神的混血，出生在七城联邦，兽人憎恨法师。”

“So you human. So you blue. Orc not care, if you strong. Cyclops not care, if you strong. No one care, if you strong.”

“无论你人类，无论你蓝皮，兽人不在乎，只要你强大；巨人不在乎，只要你强大；没有人在乎，只要你强大。”

Strong. The words of Master Salman suddenly came back to Yog. He hadn’t thought of that long-bearded man in years. Now, he could picture him perfectly, sitting on that camel staring back at him as if he were the ultimate shame.

强大，这个萨尔曼大师说过的词又突然出现在约格面前。他已经很久没有想起过这个大胡子男人了。如今，他又想起了当时的样子，萨尔曼大师在骆驼上盯着他，就好像他是无比的耻辱一般。

“Someone told me once that magic is strength,” Yog said distantly.

“有人曾告诉我说魔法就是力量”，约格小声说到。

“That stupid! Strength is strength. Magic is magic. Rabbit is rabbit,” Maggrash said in his usual way of simplifying the world down to its core. Yog used to think of Cyclopes as moronic creatures but after living with Maggrash for all these years he had come to respect the giant for his uncomplicated wisdom.

“这太蠢了！力量就是力量，魔法就算魔法，兔子就是兔子”，马格拉什用其惯常的方式言简意赅地说到。约格以前曾以为独眼巨人们都是迟钝的生物，但是在和马格拉什生活这么多年后，他开始尊敬巨人无比的智慧。

Maggrash reached out slowly and placed a huge hand over Yog’s shoulder. It was heavy and strong but also comforting. The Cyclops said, “Yog is Yog. Yog not Wizard parents just like Maggrash not Demon blood.”

马格拉什缓缓地靠过来，将大手抚在约格的肩膀上。虽然沉重强壮，但是同样令人安心。独眼巨人说到：“约格就是约格，约格不是法师的孩子，就像马格拉什不是恶魔的血脉。”

Yog didn’t want a clan, but Maggrash did. Desperately. So, he asked, “How do we begin?”

约格并不想要建立氏族，但是马格拉什需要。所以约格没有选择，只能问到：“我们从哪里开始？”

“With Cyclops.”

“先从独眼巨人开始。”

It would be his first real battle. Yog had been in combat before. He had killed many in his seventeen years, but now he was the leader of his own band of Cyclopes. Twelve, not including Maggrash and himself.

这将是约格第一场真正的战斗。他曾经经历过战斗，在他十七年的岁月里他干掉了许多敌人，但是如今他将作为领袖，率领自己麾下的十二个独眼巨人，不包括马格拉什和他自己。

Across a dry grass field stood another band, almost sixty members, attempting to make a name for itself mostly through raiding the borders of the Seven Cities and now for killing the infamous Maggrash and Yog. They were a mix of Orcs and Goblins and four Cyclopes led by a merciless Orc named Kondo.

在干草地的另一边有着另一伙人，大概有六十多个，他们试图通过洗劫七城联邦的边境来获取名声，而现在他们转而打算干掉臭名昭著的马格拉什与约格。这伙人由兽人和地精组成，也包括四个独眼巨人，他们的领袖是无情的兽人孔多。

“Today, it begins,” Maggrash said. There was a little white creeping into the hair on his friend’s chest and legs, the first sign of the giant’s advanced age.

“今天，一切将来开序幕”，马格拉什说到，他的胸前与腿上已经出现一些白色的毛发，这是巨人年岁已高的标志。

“I have to face Kondo alone,” Yog said. Otherwise, none of these tribeless Orcs and Goblins would join him. They would end up having to kill the entire band.

“我必须和孔多单挑”，约格说到，否则的话这些无部落所属的兽人和地精是不会加入他的，这样就不得不干掉全部这伙人。

“Others know this,” Maggrash spoke for his Cyclopes kin.

“其他人知道”，马格拉什代表他的兽人亲族说到。

“Do you think I can kill him?”

“你认为我能干掉他么？”

The giant shrugged. “If no, then we follow Kondo instead.”

巨人耸耸肩，“如果不能，我们就去追随孔多。”

“Thanks for the confidence.”

“感谢你的信任。”

“No let Kondo hit you and you win. There, I help,” Maggrash said testily.

“别让孔多打到，你就赢了。这，就是建议”，马格拉什不耐烦的说到。

Yog frowned at the tall, muscular Orc standing at the center of the other band. His skin was heavily tattooed. His fangs were long. More importantly, he was known to be a great warrior with unmatched skill with the huge axe he carried. Somehow, Yog had to kill him all by himself.

约格盯着站在对面那伙人中间的那个又高又壮的兽人。他的皮肤遍布纹身，獠牙很长，更重要的是，这家伙是以巨斧技巧无人能及的战士身份而闻名。而约格不得不想办法独自干掉这个家伙。

Yog walked five paces in front of his band of giants. He knew he looked puny compared to those who stood behind him, but he had done the impossible. He had recruited each member of his band, trained them in new fighting styles based upon strategy as well as strength. They were small in number, but they had already fended off the attacks of forces three times their size.

约格向前走出五步，站在他的巨人们身前。他知道自己和身后的巨人相比十分弱小，但是他之前做到过不可能的事情。他手下的所有巨人都是他招募的，并教给他们新式的战斗方法，结合了战术与力量。他们或许人数稀少，但是他们已经击退过三倍于自己人数的势力。

Yog lifted his sword above his head. His long, red-brown hair blew in the wind. Recently, he had taken to tattooing his body in Orcish fashion but certain inks would not take on his blue skin. It had taken a shaman to find an ink that would work, so the white marks on his blue skin stood out enough for others to see.

约格将自己的剑高举过头顶，他的棕红色长发随风飘舞。最近他开始在身体上纹上兽人样式的纹身，但是传统的墨水在他蓝色的皮肤上显现不出来，多亏了一个萨满才找到了合适的墨水。他蓝色皮肤上的白色纹身使他非常显眼。

“Kondo!” Yog shouted across the field.

“孔多！”约格的吼声穿过了田野。

The giant Orc swung his axe in a wide circle over his head several times, spurring his troops into a frenzy of excitement. Everyone was ready for war.

巨大的兽人在头顶上挥舞着自己的战斧，激励自己的队伍进入激昂的狂热当中，所有人都已经准备好战斗了。

“You’re like a Wizard with an axe, you coward,” Yog yelled, knowing the kind of reaction he would receive from and insult like that. It was an insult that had been carefully planned over the last two weeks ever since he set his ambitions upon this particular bandit band.

“你就像个拿斧子的法师，你个懦夫”，约格喊道，他知道这样的羞辱会带来什么样的回应，这是他两周前下定主意要对这伙强盗下手时就已经仔细预谋过的。

Kondo sprinted about ten paces in front of his troops and shouted, “You blue-bird. Kondo plucks blue-bird’s wings and eat them tonight!”

孔多从自己的队伍中冲出了十步，并高声吼道：“你个蓝鸟，孔多今晚要折断蓝鸟的翅膀并煮了吃掉！”

“Then face me! Face me, coward, or flee back to suckle on your whore of a mother.”

“那就来面对我！面对我，懦夫，要不就滚回去吃你婊子母亲的奶去吧！”

Behind him, Maggrash said, “That too much. Leave Orc some honour.”

马格拉什在约格身后说到：“有点过分了，给兽人留点荣誉。”

But Yog’s words got the desired result. Kondo turned to his troops, shouted a command, and they charged.

但是约格的话起到了效果，孔多转向自己的手下，吼出了命令，让他们冲锋。

Yog ordered, “Spear them in the middle. Get me to Kondo.”

约格下令：“冲向他们中间，带我去孔多那里。”

The two forces met each other in a clash of shields and axes and clubs. Any observer would have given the smaller force, even if made up of giants, no chance. But Yog had trained these Cyclopes how to fight larger numbers without breaking formation. They fought strategically but still with honour. Soon, Yog’s forces cut into the other band and split them outward toward the flanks.

两伙人冲到一起，形成一场盾与斧棒的相互交织。任何旁观者都认为人少的那伙要输，虽然他们都是由巨人组成的。但是约格给独眼巨人们做过怎样在寡不敌众的情况下坚守阵线的训练。他们的作战既有策略又保留荣誉。很快，约格的部队就切入了对面那伙人当中，将他们一分为二。

Yog sprinted into the fray with his sword and axe flashing. He cut down two Goblins and an Orc before he reached Kondo. He had been concentrating on the battle around him and nearly lost his head to Kondo’s axe on the first attack.

约格的斧剑纷飞，一路冲进战斗。在到达孔多之前，他已经砍翻了两个地精与一个兽人，但是他太专心于周遭的战斗，导致差点被孔多的第一板斧砍掉脑袋。

The Orc was fast and strong. His axe always seemed to be swinging at Yog and it took all his speed to avoid each attack. He rolled through the grass, came up just in time to block another blow that knocked the axe from his left hand and numbed his arm.

这个兽人迅速且强壮，他的战斧招招致命，约格必须全速才能避开这些攻击。他翻身一跃穿过草地，及时挡开对手打算打脱其左手战斧并撞麻的其手臂的攻击。

Kondo was like a dancer spinning through the battlefield with the giant axe as his partner.

孔多就像一个在战场上旋转的舞者，而巨斧就是其舞伴。

A glancing blow cut open Yog’s left shoulder. The shaft of the axe hit him square in the nose, breaking it and causing blood the flow down into his mouth. Yog barely jumped out of the way of another attack that would have taken his left leg completely off. Instead, he came away with a deep, bloody gash in his thigh.

侧面的一击切开了约格的左肩，斧柄正面打断了约格的鼻子，导致鲜血流入他嘴中。约格跳起才勉强躲过能够彻底砍掉其左腿的一击，只在腿上留下了一条深深的血痕。

Kondo paused. Sweat rolled down the Orc’s ugly face and he was breathing heavily. Around the two combatants, the battle had stopped. Everyone knew what this battle was about and so they paused to wait for the outcome.

孔多停了停，汗水划过兽人丑陋的面容，让他呼吸急促。在两个斗士周围，整个战场都已经停顿了。所有人都知道这场决斗将决定战斗的走向，所以他们都在等待最终的结果。

The Orc said, “Tonight, Kondo drinks blue-bird’s blood.”

兽人说到：“今晚，孔多将喝蓝鸟的血。”

Yog snarled back at him and said, “Then you give all Orcs a bad name. We don’t drink the blood of an enemy. That is a Wizard’s lie. We honour him with death in battle.”

约格咆哮着顶了回来：“那你就败坏了所有兽人的名声。我们从不喝敌人的血，那是法师的谎言，我们让敌人光荣地战死沙场。”

Even Yog could sense some agreement among the crowd circled around them.

就连约格都能感受到周遭的人群中有些赞同的声音。

“What does blue-bird know of being an Orc?” Kondo shouted angrily, spittle flying from between his great fangs.

“蓝鸟知道兽人什么？”孔多生气地吼道，吐沫星子从他的獠牙中飞溅出来。

“You’re right,” he shouted back. “I am not an Orc. I am not Goblin, or Cyclops, or Centaur. I am as merciless as the desert. I am as quick and deadly as the dry lightning that strikes the dunes. I am as relentless as the sandstorm. I am Yog!”

“没错”，约格吼了回去，“我不是兽人，我不是地精，或是独眼巨人，或是半人马。我和沙漠一样无情，我和袭击沙丘的闪电一样迅速而致命，我和沙暴一样狂野，我就是约格！”

The two combatants sprinted toward each other, weapons clashing in sparks and more blood flying to disappear into the desert sands. Somehow, Yog managed to roll under one of Kondo’s attacks and get inside the big Orc’s defences. His sword flashed up cutting into the side of Kondo’s neck.

两个决斗者冲向彼此，武器交织出火花，鲜血飞溅满沙漠。终于，约格纵身一滚躲过孔多的攻击，突入兽人的防御之内，他的剑光一闪，从侧面砍进了孔多的脖子。

The Orc, stunned, dropped his axe and stood still looking out at the desert.

兽人停住了，战斧落地，直愣愣地盯着沙漠的远方。

“Don’t worry, Kondo. I will not be drinking or eating any part of you,” Yog said, and then spun back the other direction with his sword out at arm’s length severing the Orc’s head from his shoulders.

“不必担心，孔多，我不会和你的血或是吃你的肉”，约格说到，随后剑锋挥向另一方向，将兽人的头颅从肩膀上砍了下来。

Cheers went up from the Cyclopes circled around him. Kondo’s remaining forces, however, were uncertain of the fate they would soon face. Their hands tensed on the hilts of their weapons. Would they have to fight for their lives?

他周围的独眼巨人发出了欢呼，而孔多的手下则不知自己将要面对怎样的命运。他们手中握紧了武器，或许他们只有杀出一条生路？

Maggrash, bleeding from a deep wound on his right arm, walked forward to stand next to his friend. He made a show of looking out at all the gathered enemy. His ugly, scarred face sneered at them all.

右臂上深深的伤口正在流血的马格拉什走向前来，站到好友的身边。他做出一副鄙视所有敌人的姿态，这幅丑陋而遍布伤疤的面容正在嘲笑着他们。

“I say we put all heads on sticks,” Maggrash growled. As if on cue, Yog’s band of Cyclopes, all but one still alive, shouted in agreement.

“我说咱把这些头都插在棍子上吧”，马格拉什咆哮到。仿佛是在暗示一样，约格麾下所有的独眼巨人，无一例外都咆哮着赞同。

Half a minute of screaming made everyone nervous. Battle was near, and frankly everyone would have been satisfied with that result.

接近半分钟的叫声让所有人感到紧张，战斗临近，似乎所有人都接受了这一结果。

But then Yog raised his arm. In all the chaos, he had walked over to where Kondo’s head had rolled into the high grass. He held it up while drops of cooling blood fell on his arm.

但是随后约格举起了自己的手臂，在一片混乱之中，他走向孔多的头颅滚落的那篇高草地。他捡起头颅，滴落的鲜血凝固在他手上。

“This is the only head Yog wants!” Yog yelled.

“这是约格需要的唯一一个头颅！”约格吼道。

All eyes fell upon him.

所有的眼睛都盯着他。

Maggrash growled angrily. Only Yog knew he was acting. Then the blind Cyclops turned to the assembled Orcs, Goblins, and Cyclopes and said, “Honour Chief Yog!”

马格拉什生气的咆哮着，但是只有约格知道他这是演戏。之后盲眼的巨人转向聚集在一起的兽人、地精和独眼巨人，说道：“约格酋长万岁！”

In unison, every single one of the enemy threw their weapons on the ground in front of them in symbolic declaration of loyalty.

所有敌人都一致地将武器扔到面前的地上，这代表着效忠的誓言。

His wounds stitched but aching terribly, Yog sprawled in front of a fire with the beginning of his own clan around him. They celebrated this moment, becoming a stronger, smarter unit with a promise of a powerful future.

约格的伤口已经缝合，但仍然疼得要命，他躺在篝火前，他最初的氏族在他身边，他们庆祝着这一时刻，一个将会更强、更精明，且有着强大未来的誓言。

Maggrash picked at his long teeth as if he didn’t have a concern in the world. It annoyed Yog.

马格拉什则在剔牙，似乎他完全不担心这一切，这让约格很恼火。

“Now what, Maggrash?”

“接下来怎么办，马格拉什？”

“What ask me for? You chief. You always chief.”

“问我干什么？你是酋长，一直都是。”

“Always? What are you talking about? You’ve been leading me,” Yog said.

“一直？你在说什么？是你一直在领着我”，约格说到。

Maggrash laughed sarcastically. “Stupid blue-bird. Maggrash blind. You the eye.”

马格拉什大笑起来，“愚蠢的蓝鸟，马格拉什瞎了，而是才是眼睛。”

Yog felt a burst of pride, but he couldn’t show how he felt even if Maggrash was blind. He said, “Watch it with the blue-bird stuff or I’ll have you an outcast again.”

约格感到一阵骄傲，但他不能表现出来，即便马格拉什已经瞎了也不能。他说到：“再提起什么蓝鸟，我就把你再驱逐出去。”

“Ha, you will try! Kondo not know what blue-bird is. He stupid calling you blue-bird.”

“哈，你可以试试！孔多不知道什么是蓝鸟，他蠢到称呼你为蓝鸟。”

“What do you mean?”

“什么意思？”

Maggrash sprawled on the ground preparing to go to sleep. He placed an arm behind his head and said, “Blue-bird mean death. Blue-bird always by when things die. Yog is death. Yog is strength.”

马格拉什躺在地上，准备入睡。他将手臂枕在头后说到：“蓝鸟意味着死亡，蓝鸟总会在死亡的时候出现。约格就是死亡，约格就是力量。”

Yog grinned and said, “I thought Yog is Yog.”

约格漏齿一笑，说到：“我还以为约格就是约格呢。”

“That too. Now, quit chirping, blue-bird, and let me sleep.”

“那也是。现在，别再叽叽喳喳了，蓝鸟，让我睡觉吧。”

“You’re making all this up as you go along, aren’t you?” Yog said.

“你从一开始就策划着这一切，是不是？”约格说到。

“Maggrash no understand half what you say.”

“马格拉什一点也不知道你在说什么。”