听力原文

“Ser Jorah is now in Pentos, anxious to earn a royal pardon that would allow him to return from exile,” Robert explained. “Lord Varys makes good use of him.”

"乔拉爵士现下人在潘托斯，正焦急地等着王家特赦好渡海回国。"劳勃解释，"瓦里斯伯爵妥善运用了这个优势。"

“So the slaver has become a spy,” Ned said with distaste. He handed the letter back. “I would rather he become a corpse.”

"人口贩子这下又成了间谍？"奈德嫌恶地说，一边把信件交还。"我倒是宁愿他变成一具尸体。"

“Varys tells me that spies are more useful than corpses,” Robert said. “Jorah aside, what do you make of his report?”

"瓦里斯认为间谍比尸体有用得多，"劳勃道，"不过撇开乔拉不谈，你对此事有何看法？"

“Daenerys Targaryen has wed some Dothraki horselord. What of it? Shall we send her a wedding gift?”

"丹妮莉丝嫁给一个多斯拉克马王，那又如何？难不成我们该送份结婚贺礼过去？"

The king frowned. “A knife, perhaps. A good sharp one, and a bold man to wield it.”

国王皱眉："我看送把刀更好。一把锐利的好刀，拿在一个有胆量的人手里。"

Ned did not feign surprise; Robert’s hatred of the Targaryens was a madness in him. He remembered the angry words they had exchanged when Tywin Lannister had presented Robert with the corpses of Rhaegar’s wife and children as a token of fealty. Ned had named that murder; Robert called it war. When he had protested that the young prince and princess were no more than babes, his new-made king had replied, “I see no babes. Only dragonspawn.” Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that storm. Eddard Stark had ridden out that very day in a cold rage, to fight the last battles of the war alone in the south. It had taken another death to reconcile them; Lyanna’s death, and the grief they had shared over her passing.

奈德没有故作惊讶。劳勃对坦格利安家族的恨意几近疯狂，他至今都还记忆犹新，当年泰温·兰尼斯特献上雷加妻儿们的尸体以示效忠时，两人所发生的激烈口角。奈德认为这是谋杀，劳勃却说是战争中难免的惨剧。当他辩称年幼的王子和公主与婴儿无异时，甫登上王位的劳勃应道："我可没看到什么婴儿，只见到恶龙的孽种。"就连琼恩·艾林也无法平息那场纷争。艾德·史塔克当天便愤然拂袖而去，独自领兵前往南方打最后的一场仗。后来是因为莱安娜的死，两人才言归于好。

背景介绍：

《权力的游戏》是一部中世纪史诗奇幻题材的电视连续剧。该剧以美国作家乔治·R·R·马丁的奇幻巨作《冰与火之歌》七部曲为基础改编创作，由大卫·贝尼奥夫和丹尼尔·威斯编剧、HBO电视网推出。乔治·雷蒙德·理查德·马丁是欧美奇幻小说大师。马丁的作品主要以人物为关注点，描写细腻丰富，突破了幻想文学界固有的创作模式，多次引领阅读潮流。由于马丁的辉煌成就，他被誉为美国的托尔金和新世纪的海明威。从1989年开始，马丁淡出文学界，转而投身演艺界发展，1996年他才重返文坛而开始奇幻文学的创作，处女作便是《权力的游戏》，即为《冰与火之歌》的首部曲。《权力的游戏》甫出便拿下了British Fantasy Society、 世界奇幻奖和星云奖年度最佳幻想作品提名，在非官方的不记名奇幻作品投票中，《冰与火之歌》俨然已经可以和《魔戒》平起平坐，作者网站的访问量也是和斯蒂芬·金、J.K.罗琳等不相上下，其受欢迎的程度可见一斑。乔治马丁被时代杂志评选为2011年影响世界的一百人之一。

妙语连珠

1. allow sb to do sth

允许...做...

eg. Pleases allow me to arrange a tour for you. We can go together.

请允许我为你安排一次观光，我可以陪你。

eg. Donald Felton: I take the money that I would have spent on coffee and pay someone in India to do my job for me, so allow me to unleash my full potential.

我将原本会花费在咖啡上的钱支付给远在印度的某个人，让他帮我做我的本职工作，这样我就可以腾出时间发挥我的全部潜能了。

2. return from

从……回来

eg. This, of course, is the story of Agamemnon, murdered by Clytemnestra on his return from the Trojan War.

当然，这是个关于阿伽门农的故事，他从特洛伊战争中回来后就被克吕泰涅斯特谋杀了。

eg. At our New Year's party ,he thanked us for helping him make up the lessons after his return from Sydney.

在我们的新年晚会上，他感谢我们在他从悉尼回来后帮他把功课赶上来。

3. hand back

退还；归还

eg. He handed the book back.

他归还了这本书。

eg. In other cases the reason seems to be spite: Russia refuses to hand back, for example, Estonia's presidential seal and regalia, seized during the annexation in 1940.

至于另外一些的理由似乎站不住脚：例如，俄罗斯1940年吞并爱沙尼亚时抢走了该国总统印章与专用饰品，至今仍不归还。