【#蕭叔叔的英國文學課】Game of Thrones《權力遊戲》傳道人Brother Ray的故事
殺人如麻的The Hound重傷獲救，在小村莊休養。他的救命恩人村長Brother Ray，是個傳道人，時常有意無意想感化The Hound。有日閒談間，Brother Ray講到自己的過去：
I was a soldier once.
曾幾何時，我也是個士兵。
All my superiors thought I was brave.
長官都以為我很勇敢。
I wasn't. I mean, I never ran from a fight, only because I was afraid my friends would see I was afraid.
其實不然。我未做過逃兵，只因我怕受同儕鄙視。
That's all I was, a coward who followed orders no matter the orders.
那就是我，一個只懂執行命令的懦夫。
'Burn that village.' Fine, I'm your arsonist.
上頭命令：「把村子燒了！」沒問題，我就去放火。
'Steal that farmer's crops.' Good, I'm your thief.
「把農作物都搶了！」好，我就去搶。
'Kill those young lads so they won't take up arms against us.' I'm your murderer.
「把那些年輕人都殺了！讓他們不能再反抗。」我就去殺人。
You know, I remember once a woman screaming at us, calling us animals as we dragged her son from their hut.
有次，我們從茅屋拖出一個小孩，他媽媽聲嘶力竭向我們咆哮，叫我們畜生。
But we weren't animals. Animals are true to their nature and we had betrayed ours.
我們才不是畜生。畜生都忠於自己本性，我們卻違背了自己本性。
I cut that young boy's throat myself as his mother screamed and my friends held her back.
我親手宰了那個小孩，他媽媽一直尖叫，直至我的戰友把她拖走。
That night... I felt such shame.
那一晚，我羞恥難當。
Shame was so heavy on me, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep.
羞恥得吃不下、睡不著。
All I could do was stare into that dark sky and listen to that mother screaming her son's name.
我望著天空，只聽到那媽媽尖叫著孩子的名字。
I'll hear her screaming the rest of my life.
那尖叫聲，一生都在我耳邊響起。
Now, I know I can never bring that lad back. All I can do with time I've got left is bring a little goodness into the world.
我知道，我永不可能令那孩子復活。現在我能做的，是為人間做一點好事。
That's all any of us can do, isn't it? Never too late to stop robbing people, to stop killing people.
一點點的好事，我們只能做這麼多。別怕遲，要停止搶掠、停止殺戮，永遠不會太遲。
Start helping people. It's never too late to come back.
去幫助別人吧。回頭，總不怕遲。
And it's not about waiting for the gods to answer your prayers. It's not even about the gods.
做好人，不是為了天上的神靈。
It's about you.
做好人，是為了自己。
Learning you have to answer your prayers yourself.
因為我們禱告的對象，其實只有自己。
蕭叔叔
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