Chapter 7 Chapter 5 The Gunslinger and the Man in Black
The man in black took him to an ancient slaughterhouse.The gunslinger knew immediately what it was: a cemetery, where the skeletons lay.White skulls stared blankly at them. There were skulls of various animals—cows, coyotes, deer, rabbits, bumblers.Judging from the alabaster xylophone-shaped skeleton here, a female pheasant was killed while pecking; there, there is the bone of a tiny mole, which a wild dog may have killed for fun.
The cemetery was in a hollow on the slope of the hill, and beyond that the ground leveled off, and the gunslinger saw that there were yuccas and dwarf firs growing there.The sky above him was a blue, softer than he had seen in twelve months; there were some unspeakable sights that suggested the sea was not far away.
I'm on the west side, Cuthbert, he can't believe it himself.If this isn't Mid-World, at least I'm pretty close to it.
The man in black chose an old hardwood pier to sit on.His boots were gray with dust and the ashes here, and the thought of them being ashes made him uneasy.He put his hood back on, but the gunslinger could still see his square jaw and the shadow that fell on it.
A smile played on lips shaded by the hood. "Gather some wood, gunslinger. It's warm up here, but at this height the cold will cut through the stomach like a knife. It's a place of death, isn't it?"
"I'll kill you," said the gunslinger.
"No, you won't. You can't. But you can pick up some wood in memory of your Isaac."
The gunslinger did not know whom he was referring to.Without saying a word, he went to gather some firewood, like an ordinary kitchen helper.The firewood here is very thin.There's no ghost grass on the slopes here, and the hardwoods won't catch fire.Besides, the hardwoods here are like rocks.At last he returned with a bundle of firewood of a similar shape, all strewn with crushed ashes as if rolled in flour.The sun, already hidden behind the tallest yucca, was beginning to take on a reddish glow, and looked coldly at them through the branches.
"That's great!" the man in black praised him. "You are brilliant! What a wit! What a way! I salute you!" He giggled, and the gunslinger threw the firewood at his feet and jumped A burst of ashes.
The man in black was not frightened, nor did he jump up; he began to build wood for the fire.The gunslinger watched in awe as the familiar glyph slowly took shape (this time, fresh and unburned).When the firewood was finished, it resembled a small intricate double chimney, about two feet high.The man in black raised his hand towards the sky, shaking out a well-shaped hand from the wide cuff, he quickly retracted his hand, and stretched out his index finger and little finger to form a vicious gaze (Note: According to superstition, this will cause harm.) This ancient gesture.A blue flame appeared above the logs, and their fire was lit.
"I have matches." The man in black said lightly, "but I think you'll like this little trick. It's for you, gunslinger. Now, let's cook dinner."
His robe shook a few times, and a fat rabbit with its fur removed and its internal organs washed out fell out and fell into the soil.
The gunslinger was silent and began to roast the rabbit.As the sun went down, a mouth-watering aroma wafted away.Purple cloud shadows hungrily wandered over the depression chosen by the man in black.When the rabbit meat was slightly browned, the gunslinger's stomach growled helplessly; but when the rabbit meat was cooked and the gravy was soaked through, he silently handed the whole rabbit to the man in black, while he was almost After searching for a long time in the flat backpack, I took out the last bit of jerky.The jerky was salty, like the taste of tears, and it stung his chapped lips.
"The gesture is meaningless," said the man in black, amused but trying to feign anger.
"So what?" said the gunslinger.There were many ulcers in his mouth, the result of many days of lack of vitamins, and the bitter salty taste made him grin his teeth like a helpless smile.
"Aren't you afraid to eat the meat conjured by magic?"
"Yes, exactly."
The man in black pushed the hood back again.
The gunslinger watched him silently.The face that had been covered by the hood somewhat disappointed him.This face is very ordinary, even somewhat handsome, without any scars or any special features that can make people realize that this person has experienced horrible times and participated in the planning of shocking secrets.His hair is black and of varying length.His forehead was high, and his dark eyes were very bright.His nose was featureless and indescribable, but his full lips were sensual.His pale complexion was very close to that of the gunslinger.
The gunslinger finally said, "I imagine you're much older."
"Why? I am almost immortal, just like you, Roland - at least for now. I could have chosen a face you are more familiar with, but I finally decided to meet you with my true colors - ah - this It's the face I was born with. Look, gunslinger, sunset."
The sun had long since disappeared, and the only light left on the horizon was dull, like the afterglow of a dying stove.
"It will be a long time before you see the sunrise again," said the man in black.
The gunslinger remembered the darkness in the cave at the base of the mountains. He looked up at the sky, which was now full of stars, and the constellations they formed were faintly discernible.
"It doesn't matter now," he said softly.
The cards seemed to fly between the fingers as the men in black shuffled them.This deck is extra thick, and the pattern on the back of the card swirls, making people dazzled. "These are tarot cards, Gunslinger—sort of. I added suits of my own creation to a standard tarot deck. You'll have to look carefully."
"What should I watch?"
"I will foretell your future. Seven cards must be turned over, one at a time, with the others. I have been since the days when Gilead was strong and the ladies played skittles on the West Lawn. Haven't used my tarot cards. And I guess I've never seen anyone with your fate." The sarcasm slowly returned to his voice. "You are the last adventurer in the world. The last fighter. That will satisfy you, Roland! But when you start your journey again, you don't know how close you are to the tower. The worlds are Spin around your head."
"Start again, why do you say that? I never stop my journey."
This time, the man in black laughed from his heart, but he didn't say what made him laugh. "Tell me what kind of future I have." Roland urged him.
He turned over the first card.
"The hanging man", the man in black interpreted.It was night, and even though he wasn't hooded, he couldn't see his expression clearly. "Still here, unconnected with the other cards, which symbolize strength, not death. You, the gunslinger, are the one who hangs, trudging forward forever, crossing many chasms from childhood to manhood, but your The goal never changes. You've already thrown someone with you into a ditch, haven't you?"
The gunslinger made no reply.He turned over a second card.
"Sailor! Notice the fine brow, the clean cheek, the pained eyes. He's drowned, gunslinger, and no one throws a rope. Boy Jack."
The gunslinger frowned, but still said nothing.
On the third card, a laughing baboon sits astride the shoulders of a young man.The young man's face was turned upward, with pain and fear between his brows, like a grimace by design.Looking closer, the gunslinger saw that the baboon was holding a whip.
"This is a prisoner." The man in black explained.The flames jumped, and the light and shadow cast on the face of the young man carrying the baboon flickered, making him look like he was in extreme fear, and his facial features were twisted together.The gunslinger blinked and looked away from the cards.
"It's a little frustrating, isn't it?" The man in black seemed to be about to snicker.
He turned over a fourth card.A woman in a turban is spinning a spinning wheel.The gunslinger's eyes were blurry, and she looked as if she was smiling slyly, but crying at the same time.
"Ms. Shadow." The man in black commented briefly, "In your opinion, does she have two faces? She does. At least two faces. She broke the blue plate!"
"What's the meaning?"
"I don't know either." At least—for now—the gunslinger felt that his opponent was telling the truth.
"Why are you showing me these cards?"
"Don't ask!" said the man in black sharply, still smiling. "Don't ask. Just watch. Just think of it as a meaningless ritual, if the thought of it relaxes you. It's like church."
He sneered and turned over the fifth card.
A rice-cutter grinned, clutching a scythe in bony fingers. "Reaper." The man in black said simply, "but it's not looking for you."
The sixth card.
The gunslinger looked at the cards and felt a sudden twitch in his stomach, as if he had a strange expectation.Fear and joy are mixed together, making the emotions at this time indescribable.It made him feel like throwing up and want to dance at the same time.
"The tower." The man in black explained softly, "This is the tower."
The gunslinger's card occupies the center of the figure; the cards connected to it are located at its four corners, with four cards at each corner, like satellites orbiting a star.
"Where does this card go?" asked the gunslinger.
The Man in Black places the "Tower" on top of the "Hanging Man", completely covering the first card.
"What does that mean?" asked the gunslinger.
The man in black didn't answer.
"What the hell does that mean?" he asked gruffly, as if losing control.
The man in black still didn't answer.
"Damn you!"
The man in black ignored it.
"Then I will consider myself unlucky. What is the seventh card?"
The man in black turned over the seventh card.A red sun rises in the blue sky.Cupid and elves surround it.The sun shines on the earth, and below the sun is a large red land.Did the rose or the blood turn the earth red?Gunslinger is hard to judge.Perhaps, he thought, both reflected the earth at the same time.
"The seventh card is life. But not for you."
"Where does it fit in the overall graph?"
"You can't know this yet." The man in black said, "I don't know either. Roland, I'm not the person you're looking for in the end. I'm just his messenger." A card flicks into the dying fire.The cards charred, curled up, and finally melted into the flames.The gunslinger felt his heart quivering, his chest filled with ice.
"Now you sleep for a while. Maybe you will dream and think about those things." The man in black said leisurely.
"What my bullets can't do, maybe my hands can do it." As soon as the gunslinger finished speaking, his legs twisted up, and he jumped up, leaped over the campfire, stretched his arms forward, and grabbed the man in black. Go, this action is so sudden that people are caught off guard.But the man in black smiled, his body swelled rapidly, and he drifted away along a long corridor full of echoes.The world filled with his mocking laughter, and the gunslinger fell, dying.He fell asleep.
The gunslinger entered dreamland.
The universe is empty.Nothing is moving.Also no objects are moved.
The gunslinger was floating in the air, not knowing where he was.
"Let's have some light." The man in black's emotionless voice came from somewhere.There was light before us.The gunslinger looked at this change with cold eyes, and thought it would be a good idea to have more light.
"Now let the darkness overhead be streaked with stars. Let's have some water below."
These also happened.He floated across the endless ocean.There was a starry sky above his head, but none of the stars he saw now had guided him in his life.
"Land," demanded the man in black, and there appeared land again; stretches of land stretched out of the water.The land is red, and because it is too dry, the cracks are like meridians all over the land; the barren land has no signs of life, and there are volcanoes spewing lava everywhere, like an ugly boy with a baseball-like head. Full of giant pimples.
"Okay. This is just the beginning. We also need some plants. Trees, grass and fields."
All this is in front of your eyes.Dinosaurs roamed here and there, snarling and snarling, devouring each other and getting stuck in pools of bubbling, smelly tar.Dense tropical rain forests can be seen everywhere, giant ferns stretch out their jagged leaves and beckon to the sky, and some beetles with two heads lie on the leaves.The gunslinger saw all this clearly, and he felt like a giant bending over the creatures.
"Now, bring the humans," the man in black whispered, but the gunslinger began to fall... but upwards.This huge fertile land began to curl up.People had said that the horizon actually rolled in a circle, and his teacher Fanny told them that it had been proved a long time ago.But this--
Farther and farther away, and higher and lower.He was amazed to see the land divided into pieces and shapes; clouds whirling like clockwork appeared before his eyes, and his vision was blurred.The atmosphere is like the placental sac that encloses the whole world.The sun slowly emerged from above the earth—
He yelled and quickly stretched out his arms to cover his eyes.
"Let this place be filled with light!"
It was no longer the voice of the man in black.The shout was so loud that it echoed so loudly that it resounded through the sky and filled the space between the stars.
"Light!"
keep falling.
As he flew away, the sun slowly became smaller.A red planet whizzed past him, and he saw rivers carved into its surface, and two moons whirled wildly around it.Then he saw some rocks whirling rapidly to form a belt around a huge star in the center. The surface of the planet was boiling and emitting gas. It seemed too large to maintain balance, and finally it became an oblate spheroid.Another planet came, surrounded by a halo, dazzling, like a gem surrounded by needle-shaped ice crystals.
"Light! Let here—"
Other planets flew by, one, two, three.Beyond that, a solitary sphere of rock and ice revolved around a star, dark all around, and itself no brighter than a dimmed coin.
Beyond that, there was only darkness.
"Oh, no." The gunslinger's voice was muffled, unable to produce any echo in the dark space.It's darker than night here, darker than black.Compared with this, the darkest night of a man's soul is like noon, and the darkness under the mountains is but a blot on the bright surface. "Enough. Please, it's enough. It's enough—"
"Light!"
"Enough. Enough, please—"
Planets are starting to get smaller.All the nebulae gathered together, and finally only a trace of light remained.It seemed as if the entire universe was drawn around him.
"Please, enough enough enough enough—"
The man in black whispered in his ear, and he advised obsequiously, "Then relinquish your promise. Put aside all thoughts of the tower. Go your own way, gunslinger, it will take a lot to save your soul." Put a lot of effort into it."
He came to his senses.He was completely enveloped in darkness, and the words of the man in black flowed through his body like an electric current, making him tremble unceasingly.He cheered up and gave a firm answer to the man in black's proposal:
"Never!"
"Then fill this place with light!"
There was indeed light around, the most primitive light, as strong as a hammer.No one could remain conscious in such a blazing light; but before consciousness had completely faded, the gunslinger clearly saw a thing of unrivaled importance which he had always believed to be.He was enraged, which only made him grip the thing harder; he tried to find refuge deep inside before the bright light blinded his eyes and disintegrated his mind.
He escaped from the glare of the light, and from the suggestion of the light, so that he returned to his original state.In fact, others do too; even the best of them.
It was still night when he awoke—he didn't know whether it was the same night or if it had been a whole day.He propped himself up to sit up, and found that he was still lying on the same spot—the place where he fell when he threw himself at the man in black frantically earlier. Many people call him that) the wooden pier he sat on.But he is gone.
A wave of desperation came over him—Jesus, it had to start all over again—and just as he was feeling chills, the man in black said from behind his back: "Here I am, Gunslinger. I don't like being too close to you. You Talking in your sleep." He sneered at the gunslinger.
The gunslinger struggled to his feet and fell to his knees.He turned around.The fire was reduced to embers and a heap of ash, and the burnt logs left familiar patterns.The man in black was sitting by the side, gnawing on the remaining bit of greasy rabbit meat, and smacking his lips vigorously.
"You are doing well." The man in black put down the rabbit meat and said, "I never let your father have this dream. He will be drooling and talking nonsense when he wakes up."
"What's that?" asked the gunslinger, his voice muffled and trembling slightly.He felt that if he tried to stand up, his legs would not work.
"Universe." The man in black said as if nothing happened.He belched and tossed the rabbit bone into the fire. The grease on the surface of the bone turned shiny at first, but soon turned black.There was a gust of wind on the cemetery, howling.
"Cosmos?" The gunslinger was puzzled.He was not at all familiar with the word.His first reaction was that the man in black was reciting poetry.
"You want the tower," said the man in black, but it sounded like a problem.
"yes."
"But you don't deserve it," said the man in black, smiling with undisguised cruelty, "whether you pawned your soul or sold it outright, no one else cares. Go up This time, this almost forced you to lose your position, and I can see it. If this is the case, the tower will destroy you before you go far."
"You don't know anything about me," the gunslinger said calmly, and the man in black's smile disappeared.
"I made your father successful, but I ruined him." The man in black said coldly, "I turned into a horse vine, approached your mother—this has already made you suspicious, didn't it?—and possessed She was like a willow branch bent over me... and yet (this may please you) the willow branch never broke. Whatever the circumstances, fate must have happened. I am the Dark Tower The ruler's farthest servant, the earth is in the king's red palm."
"Red? Why do you say he has red hands?"
"Never mind. We don't talk about him, but if you keep asking, you'll know more than you care to know. What hurts you once hurts you a second time. It's not the beginning, it's the beginning The ending. If you can remember that, you will benefit...but you never remember."
"I do not understand what you say."
"Yes. You don't understand. You never understand, and you never will. You don't have any imagination. In that respect, you're like a blind man."
"What did I see? What did I see at the end of the dream? What did it mean?"
"What does it look like?"
The gunslinger remained silent, looking thoughtful.He reached for the tobacco leaves, but there were none left.The man in black didn't volunteer to fill his pipe with his witchcraft or ecstasy.Maybe in the future he can find tobacco leaves in his "grow bag" (Note: a grow bag is a kind of magical pocket, which can grow things to satisfy people's wishes.), but now it seems that " Later" is far away.
"There's a light," the gunslinger said at last, "a blinding white light. Then—" He choked up, staring at the man in black.He leaned forward slightly, a strange expression was clearly written on his face, it was not a disguise or denial, it was awe or surprise.Maybe there is no difference between the two.
"You don't know!" There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, "Oh, the amazing wizard who can bring people back to life, you actually said you didn't know. You are a liar!"
"I understand why you think that. But, I don't know... what."
"White light," repeated the gunslinger, "and then—a blade of grass. Just a blade of grass fills everything. And I'm small, as insignificant as dust."
"Grass." The man in black closed his eyes.His face was elongated and haggard. "Clover. Are you sure?"
"Of course." The gunslinger frowned, "but it's purple."
"Listen to me, Roland, Steven's son. Are you listening?"
"yes."
In this way, the man in black began to tell.
The universe (he says) is all-encompassing, and there exists a profound contradiction which is difficult for man to grasp with his finite mind.Just as a living brain cannot conceive a non-living brain—though it thinks it can—a finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite.
The mere fact of the existence of the universe blows the pragmatists and romantics alike.There was a time, at least a few hundred years before the world began to change, when men had mastered enough science and technology to allow them to hew fragments from the great stone pillar of reality.Even then, the false light (knowledge, if you will) created by science shines only on a few developed countries.One company (or cabal) is a model in this regard; it calls itself Northern Central Electronics.Despite the ever-increasing number of superficial phenomena that people have grasped, there is hardly any insight into the underlying phenomena.
"Gunslingers, our ancestors, generations ago, they conquered diseases that would rot people or organs, back then it was called cancer; "
"I don't believe that." The gunslinger's voice was flat.
To this, the Man in Black just smiled, and he replied, "You don't have to believe it. But it is what it is. They have discovered or created hundreds of other amazing gadgets. But this information is not sufficient for them to produce Any deep understanding. There is no eternal ode to the miracles of artificial insemination—the creation of babies from frozen sperm—nor is there a car powered by solar energy. Few realize that in reality The most true principle: New knowledge always leads people to more terrifying mysteries. The more complete the knowledge of the brain's physiology, the less likely the soul exists, but the nature of research makes it possible The possibilities have grown. Do you understand? Of course you don't. You've reached the limit of your comprehension. But never mind—it's not very relevant to my subject."
"Then what exactly is your theme?"
"One of the great mysteries of the universe is not about life, but about size. Size surrounds life, and towers surround size. A child, always at home, with endless curiosity, asks: Daddy, the sky What is on it? The father will say: dark space. The child will ask: what is outside the space? The father will say: the galaxy. The child will ask: what is outside the galaxy? The father will answer: another galaxy. The child will ask: what is outside the galaxy? The father will say: Nobody knows.
"Do you see? Size overwhelms us. To a fish, the lake it lives in is its universe. If the fish is hooked out of its silver finite existence, to a new universe where the air Let it drown, the light is crazy blue, what is it going to think? Why are those gillless bipeds stuffing it in boxes that suffocate it and cover it with wet weeds to rob it its life?
"Someone might cut off a pencil point and zoom in on it. He would be stunned by the fact that the pencil point is not solid; it is composed of tens of billions of constantly rotating atoms that Like planets in the universe. To our naked eyes, solid things are actually like a loose net, and all the substances that make it up are attracted together by gravity to form a net-like structure. If the actual size of an atom is used as a standard, these There are only a few distances between atoms, and some are like abysses that can't even be seen. The atoms themselves are composed of nuclei, spinning protons and electrons. We can even further analyze subatomic particles. What will be the next ? Tachyons? There is no matter anymore? This is of course impossible. Everything in the universe rejects the statement that "no matter exists"; absurd.
"If you go out to the outer reaches of the universe and you reach its limit, do you see a sign over there saying: The end? No. Maybe you see round hard objects like chickens hatching Before coming out, like an egg seen from the inside. If you pecked through that layer of matter (maybe you'd find a door), what kind of glare would rush through the gap you opened at the end of the universe? Is it possible to look around and see that our whole universe is but a part of an atom on a blade of grass? Does it occur to you that by burning a twig you are actually burning an infinite number of beings? One? There is not only one, but an infinite number of infinite things with such a mode of being.
"Perhaps you see where our universe occupies a range of matter - like an atom on a blade of grass. Everything we can see, from viruses under a microscope to the distant Horsehead Nebula , could all this be on a blade of grass that lasts only a short season in the long river of time? What would happen if the blade of grass were cut with a sickle? If the blade The grass is starting to die, will its rot seep into our universe and our lives, turning everything in our world brown and dry? Maybe this is already starting to happen. We always say the world is starting to change ; maybe what we really mean is that it's starting to dry up.
"Gunsman, think how small this idea makes us! If there is a God who sees this happening, can He really do justice to one of these infinite species of mosquitoes? A hydrogen atom in the deep space is still small, can his eyes really see the sparrow fall? If he can indeed see... Then what characteristics should this God have? Where can he live? He And how is it possible to live outside the infinite?
"Imagine the sands of the Mohaina desert, the desert you once traveled across to find me, assuming trillions of universes—note not worlds, but universes—existed in every grain of sand there; And an infinite number of worlds. From the point of view of a blade of clover just now, we are like giants looking down at these universes; you only need to flick your boots, and you will kick billions and billions of worlds into the darkness , and this chain will never find an end.
"Size, gunslinger... size..."
"However, imagine a step further. Suppose that all the worlds, all the universes converge in a single point of connection, in a single tower gate, in a tower. In this tower, there are stairs leading to divinity. Dare you follow Climb the stairs to the top, gunslinger? Do you think it possible that there would be a room somewhere above the infinite reality? …”
"You do not dare."
In Gunslinger's ears, these words kept echoing: You dare not.
"However, anyone dares to go up there," said the gunslinger.
"Who would that be?"
"God," replied the gunslinger softly.His eyes sparkle. "God went up...maybe that king you speak of...maybe...the room is empty, prophet?"
"I don't know." The shadow of fear flitted across the face of the man in black, soft and dark like the wings of a bald eagle. "And, I won't ask. That might not be wise."
"Afraid of being hacked to death?"
"Perhaps it is the final reckoning that is feared."
The man in black was silent for a while.It was a very long night.The Milky Way is clearly visible and very spectacular, but the darkness between the stars cannot be filled by light, and it is shockingly deep.The gunslinger wondered how he would feel if a slit was suddenly opened in the dark sky and a bright light flooded in.
"Light it up," he said. "I'm cold."
"You build the fire yourself, the butler is on vacation tonight." The man in black smiled slightly.
The gunslinger dozed off and awoke to find the man in black looking at him greedily and sickly.
"What are you staring at?" That's what Kurt used to say. "See your sister's ass?"
"Of course I'm looking at you."
"Don't stare at me like that." He loosened the pine logs to get the fire going but ruined the perfect pictographic pattern. "I don't like people looking at me like that." He looked east, wondering if there was a sign of the sun rising. signs, but the night has no end.
"You can't wait to see the light."
"I was born to be used to the world of light."
"Ah, yes! How rude of me to forget where you came from! But we still have a lot to talk about, you and I. For this is a mission entrusted to me by my master, my king."
"Who the hell is that king?"
The man in black smiled. "Just you and me, let's be honest. Stop lying."
"I thought what we just told was the truth."
But the man in black still insisted on emphasizing his point of view, as if he didn't hear what Roland said. "Let's meet honestly. Not like friends, but two rivals. Roland, such a condition is very rare. Only opponents who stand on the same level can tell the truth. I have always been like this Think. There are never-ending lies between friends and lovers, and they are completely caught in the web of caring for each other's feelings. What a headache!"
"I don't want to bore you, let's tell the truth." This night, he talked a lot. "Then tell me first what you are going to do with the witchcraft."
"Magic, gunslinger! My master has used magic to prolong the night until our talk is over."
"How long will that take?"
"It's been a long time. I can't give you the answer, because I don't know myself." The man in black stood up and looked down at the fire. The embers of the fire reflected on his face, and the light and shadow changed to form various patterns. "You can ask questions. I'll answer you to the best of my knowledge. You caught up with me. That's fair; I thought you'd never catch up. But don't forget, your journey is just beginning. Ask questions. That way we'll soon You can get right to the point.”
"Who is your king?"
"I've never met him, but you must meet him. But before you see him, you must first meet the 'Eternal Stranger'." There was no vicious resentment in the man in black's smile , "You'll have to kill him, gunslinger. But, in my opinion, no one would be willing to take on that. It won't make you feel good."
"If you have never met your king, your master, how did you know him?"
"He always came to my dreams. I lived in a faraway country, when I was poor, and he came to my dreams as a young man. Decades ago, he made me understand I did my duty, and promised me attractive rewards. I helped him with many things in my youth and adulthood before I could rise to immortality. You are the task that brought me to the top, gunslinger. You are My peak." He laughed out loud, "Look, someone takes you seriously."
"This 'stranger', does he have a name?"
"Oh, people have named him."
"Then what's his name?"
"Lychan." The man in black's voice was very soft. There was a rock slide at the mountain range to the east, the voice interrupted his words, and another cougar's female-like scream broke the silence.The gunslinger shuddered, and the man in black also tightened his body. "But I know that's not what you want to know. It's not in your nature to think long term."
The gunslinger knew what to ask the next question; it was the question that had eaten him up all night and had been tormenting him for the past few years.The words were already rolling on his lips, but he swallowed again... at least not yet.
"This 'stranger' is also a servant of the Tower? Like you?"
"Yes. He darkens everything, he changes color. He exists in all time. Yet there is one greater than he."
"who is it?"
"Don't ask any more!" The man in black yelled.His voice became very stern, but turned into a pleading tone. "I don't know! I don't want to know. Talking about the end of the world can lead to the destruction of a person's soul."
"After the 'immortal stranger' is the tower, and everything that exists in the tower?"
"Yes." The man in black whispered, "but all of these are things you shouldn't be asking."
This is the truth.
"Okay," said the gunslinger, and asked one of the oldest questions in the world, "Will I make it? Will I make it to the end?"
"If I answered that question, Gunslinger, you'd kill me."
“我早该杀了你。你自己招的。”他的双手落在磨光了的枪把上。
“这些枪打不开门，枪侠；它们只会让门永远地关上。”
“我必须往哪里走？”
“朝西边。到海边去。世界的尽头正是你应该开始的起点。曾经有人教导过你……那个你在多年前就打败的人——”
“是，柯特。”枪侠不耐烦地插嘴。
“他对你的忠告是等待。这个主意真糟糕。其实那时，我已经开始实施颠覆你父亲的计划。他把你派出去，等你回来时——”
“我不想听你讲那段事。”枪侠打断他的话，而他耳边突然出现了母亲的歌声：孩儿宝贝，孩儿亲，孩儿带着你的篮子来。
“那就听我讲这些事：当你回来时，马藤已经往西边去了，加入了叛军。不管究竟发生了什么，所有人都这么说，你也就这么相信了。不过，他和某个巫师给你设下了一个陷阱，你中了他的计。好孩子！尽管那时马藤早已离去了，有一个人会时常让你想起他，不是吗？这个人穿着僧侣的衣服，剃的头发让他看起来像个忏悔者——”
“沃特，”黑衣人话音未落，枪侠就反应过来了。尽管这一晚上他已经听了无数干奇百怪的事，这个赤裸裸的真相仍让他吃了一惊。“是你，马藤就根本没离开过。”
黑衣人笑了：“听候你的吩咐。”
“现在，我应该杀了你。”
“这就不大公平了。再说，那一切都已经是历史了。现在我们就应该心平气和地谈谈往事。”
“你从没离开过。”枪侠仍难以接受这一事实，“你只不过是换了样子。”
“坐下。”黑衣人做了个手势邀他坐到身边，“我会跟你讲一些故事，你愿听多少我就讲多少。我想，你自己的经历可要丰富得多了。”
“我不讲我自己的事。”枪侠喃喃自语。
“但今晚你一定得讲。只有这样，我们才能理解。”
“理解什么？我的目的？这你是知道的。找到塔楼就是我的目的。我发过誓。”
“不是你的目的，枪侠。你的思维。你对过去有倔强的记忆，那些往事一直慢慢地刺激着你的记忆神经。历史上，从来没有人像你这样，也许在天地万物的历史上都找不到像你这样的人。”
“现在是时候让我们谈谈了。到了回顾历史的时候。”
“那你就开始讲吧。”
黑衣人抖了抖长袍宽大的袖子，一个锡箔包着的包裹抖落出来，皱褶形成了多个表面，折射着余烬的光芒。
“烟草，枪侠。你想抽几支吗？”
他能够拒绝兔肉，却无法抵挡烟草的诱惑。他迫不及待地打开锡箔。里面有切得很细的烟叶，还有卷烟用的绿色叶片，仍然十分湿润。过去十年里他都没看到过那么上等的好烟。
他卷了两根烟，在末端咬了一口来释放烟草的香味。他递给黑衣人一支。他伸手接过，两人都从火堆里抽出一根仍有火焰的枝条。
枪侠点燃了烟，深深吸了一口，一股芬芳直入心肺。他合上双眼，享受着烟叶带给感官的愉悦。他长长吐了口气，感到心满意足。
“这烟怎样？”黑衣人问。
“非常好的烟叶。”
“好好享受享受。也许这是你在将来很长一段日子里抽到的最后一根烟了。”
枪侠对这话并没上心。
“很好。那就开始吧。”黑衣人的兴致也不错。“首先，你得理解塔楼一直就矗立在那里，而且总有不少男孩都知道塔楼的存在，并向往能找到它，他们的这种渴望比得到权力、财富和美女都要强烈得多……这些男孩始终在寻找能通向塔楼的大门……”
他不停地讲着，讲了一夜。只有上帝才知道他还有多少故事没讲完（或者他讲了多少真话），但后来枪侠也记不起他讲过些什么……就他实际的思维来判断，黑衣人讲的话没有多少是有意义的。黑衣人又一次强调他必须走到海边，向西走上二十里就能到了，在那儿，有人会为他注入一种神力，他会将一些人从其他世界吸引到身边。
“不过，这样说也不完全准确。”黑衣人把他的烟蒂揿在篝火的灰堆里，“没有人会为你注入任何一种力量，枪侠；这种力量就在你体内，我不得不告诉你，是因为你牺牲了杰克，而且因为这就是我们的法则；万物的自然法则。水肯定是朝山下流，而你必须知道这一点。你身边会多出三个人，我知道……但我其实不在乎，而且我也并不想知道太多。”
“三个。”枪侠念叨着这个数字，想起了森林中的神谕。
“那以后，你会有不少乐趣！不过，到那时，我也早已不存在了。再见，枪侠。我的任务到这里就完成了。锁链仍然在你的手中。当心，别让锁链缠住你自己的脖子。”
好像周围有力量驱使着他，罗兰突然说：“你还有一件事情要交代，对吗？”
“是。”他笑望着枪侠，目光深邃，他向枪侠伸出一只手，说，“让这里充满光亮。”
于是光亮驱走了黑暗。这时，光的出现让枪侠感觉很好。
罗兰醒来时，发现自己还躺在篝火的残迹旁，但他已经老了十岁。鬓角边的黑发变得稀疏，那里出现了几缕如同秋天的蛛网一般的灰发。他脸上的线条刻得更深，皮肤也更加粗糙。
他曾经捡来的木柴变得就像石头，而黑衣人则变成了一具咧嘴笑着的骷髅，身上的黑袍也腐烂了，就像块破布，让这个尸骨遍野的地方又多了一些骨头、一个头颅。
难道这真是你吗？他想，我还有些怀疑，沃特·奥·迪姆……我对你可不敢全信，你曾经不是也变成过马藤嘛。
他站起来，环顾四周。突然，他将手伸向前一晚还是他的同伴的遗体（如果这真是沃特的遗骨的话），那一晚之后，不知为何一晃十年就过去了。他打碎了头颅，拿起微笑着的颚骨，塞到牛仔裤后面左边的口袋里——用这块来代替遗失在山下黑暗中的颚骨，再合适不过了。
“你跟我说了多少谎话？”他问。他敢肯定，黑衣人说了许多谎话，但他能原谅这些谎言，因为和它们搀杂在一起的还有不少真话。
塔楼。在前方的某个地方，它在等他——它是时间的连结点，是大小的连结点。
他开始向西边走，背对着喷薄而起的红日，他意识到他走过了生命中一段重要的历程。“我爱你，杰克。”他大声喊了出来。
他的关节开始变灵活，步履加快了。到了那天傍晚，他已经来到了大地的边缘。他坐在海滩边，荒凉的海滩向左右延伸，望不到尽头。波浪不断涌来，拍打着海岸。夕阳沉下，为水面镶嵌了一条宽宽的金边。
枪侠坐在岸边，抬头望着变得黯淡的光亮。他想着自己的梦魇，看着繁星出现在天际。他的目的没有改变，他的心也未动摇；他的头发现在变得稀疏，两鬓灰白，被海风吹乱了；父亲留下的镶包着檀木的双枪服帖地挨着他的臀部，只有铁硬的质感提醒着这双致命武器的存在；他有些孤独，但并不觉得孤独是种可耻的感觉。夜幕降临了，世界仍向前变化着。枪侠等待着黑衣人所说的那一时刻的到来，那时自己身边会增添几个生命。他做着长长的黑塔之梦，有一天，他会趁着暮霭逼近那座塔楼，吹响他的号角，进行一场让人难以想像的最后的决战。
Notes: 枪侠（黑暗塔系列·Ⅰ）（完）
Notes: 枪侠（黑暗塔系列·Ⅰ）（完）