Prologue
"Do the dead frighten you?" Ser Waymar Royce asked with
just the hint of smile.
Gared did not <u>rise to the bait</u>.
- rise to the bait: 中圈套，中计.
Ser Waymar Royce glanced at the sky with disinterest. "It does that every day about this time. <u>Are you unmanned by the dark</u>, Gared?"
- unmanned : [ˌʌnˈmænd]
adj. 无(需)人操作的;无(需)人控制的;自控的
an unmanned spacecraft
v. 使失去男子气质；使怯懦；阉割
unman的过去分词和过去式
Under the wounded pride, Will could sense somthing else in the older man. You could taste it; a nervous tension that came <u>perilously</u> close to fear.
- perilously : adv, in a dangerous manner.
A cold wind was blowing out of the north, and it made the trees <u>rustle</u> like living things.
- rustle:
（使）发出轻轻的摩擦声，发出沙沙声
if sth dry and light rustles or you rustle it , it makes a sound like paper, leaves, etc. moving or rubbing together.
All day, Will had felt as though something were watching him, something cold and <u>implacable</u> that loved him not.
- implacable:
1 (of strong negative opinions or feelings that cannot be changed) 不能改变的
implacable hatred难以化解的仇恨
2 (of a person) 不愿和解的；不饶人的
unwilling to stop opposing sb/sthan implacable enemy
Will wanted nothing so much as to ride <u>hellbent</u> for the safety of the Wall, but that was not a feeling to share with your commander.
- hellbent:
be ~ on doing sth = be determined to do sth.
His cloak was his crowning glory; sable, thick and black and soft as sin. "Bet he killed them all himself, he did," Gared told the barracks over wine, "twisted their little heads off, our mighty warrior." They had all shared the laugh.
- crowning glory: 至高无上的荣誉.
sable: n, 貂皮
barracks: n, 兵营，营房
mighty: adj, powerful and strong.
"We'll see how warm you can dress when the winter comes." He pulled up his hood and hunched over his garron, silent and sullen.
-
hunched: adj, 弓着身子
sullen: adj, bad-tempered and not speaking.
"We can make a better pace than this, surely," Royce said when the moon was full risen. "Not with this horse," Will said. Fear had made him insolent. "Perhaps my lord would care to take the lead?"
- insolent [ˈɪnsələnt] adj, extremyly rude and showing a lack of respect.
eg: an insolent child/smile
Will saw movement from the corner of his eye. Pale shapes gliding through the wood. He turned his head, glimpsed a white shadow in the darkness. Then it was gone.
- glide (= slide: move smoothly/quietly)
v. 滑行，滑动
n. 滑翔运动 the sport of flying in a glider.
Ser Waymar met him bravely. "Dance with me then." He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant.
- defiant [dɪˈfaɪənt]
openly refusing to obey sb/sth, often in an aggressive way.
Again and again the swords met, until Will wanted to cover his ears against
the strange anguished keening of their clash. Ser Waymar was
panting
from the effort now, his breath steaming in the moonlight. His blade was white
with frost; the Other's danced with pale blue light.
- anguished: adj, showing or feeling great mental suffering or physical pain.
keening: n, cry.
pant: v, if you pant, you breath quickly and loudly with your mouth open,
because you have been doing sth energetic.
Again and again the swords met, until Will wanted to cover his ears against
the strange anguished keening of their clash. Ser Waymar was
panting
from the effort now, his breath steaming in the moonlight. His blade was white
with frost; the Other's danced with pale blue light.
- anguished: adj, showing or feeling great mental suffering or physical pain.
keening: n, cry.
pant: v, if you pant, you breath quickly and loudly with your mouth open,
because you have been doing sth energetic.
Then Royce's parry came a beat too late. The pale sword bit through the
ringmail beneath his arm. The young lord cried out in pain. Blood welled
between the rings. It steamed in the cold, and the droplets seemed red as fire
where they touched the snow. Ser Waymar's fingers brushed his side. His
moleskin glove came away soaked with red.
The Others
