Chapter 28 Chapter 27 Jon

Jon was showing Dareon the tricks of the side split when the recruit walked into the training grounds. "Spread your feet a little wider," he reminded, "so as not to lose your center of gravity. Yes, that's it. When you make a move, turn your body around and place all your weight on the sword." Dareon stopped and lifted his mask. "By gods," he murmured, "Look, Jon." Jon turned, and through the narrow slits of his helmet he saw the fattest boy he had ever seen standing in the doorway of the armory.By visual inspection alone, he weighed about twenty stone, his fat chin completely concealing the fluffy collar of his embroidered coat, a pair of pale eyes shifting awkwardly on his round moon face, fat fingers dripping with sweat on the velvet tunic Wipe non-stop. "He... they asked me to come here... for training." He said uncertainly.

"My lord," Pyp said to Jon, "from the south, probably Highgarden." What a living. The fat boy wore a fleece-trimmed coat with a large-striding hunter embroidered in scarlet thread on the chest.Jon did not recognize the sigil.Sir Alliser Thorne looked at his new men and said, "Looks like the South is short of poachers and thieves these days, and now they're sending pigs to defend the Wall. I say, Lord Ham, this body Are furs and velvets your armor?" It soon became apparent that the recruit himself had brought a full set of gear: a padded tunic, boiled leather armor, iron mail and a helmet, and a large wooden shield with the same engraving of the striding hunter on his suit. coat of arms.As none of the equipment was black, Ser Alliser insisted that the recruit go to the armory to change it.This change is in the middle of the morning.Because his waist was too thick, Donal Noye had to dismantle the whole breastplate and put it on for him back and forth, binding the sides with leather cords.To help him put the helmet on, the visor won't hold.His leather gauntlets and leggings bound his limbs so tightly that he could barely move.Armed up, the new kid looks like an overcooked sausage ready to burst. "I hope you're not as useless as you seem," Ser Alliser said. "Hodder, try Ser Pighead."

Jon Snow frowned immediately when he heard this.Hodder was born in a quarry and had been a stonemason's apprentice. He was sixteen years old, tall and strong, and he hit people hard. Jon had never tasted a stronger fist. "Someone's going to be damned unlucky now," murmured Pyp, and it was exactly as he'd expected. The fight was over in less than a minute.The fat man fell to the ground, blood flowing from the broken helmet and between the fat fingers, and his whole body was shaking. "I surrender," he screamed, "don't hit me, I surrender, don't hit me." Lester and the other boys burst into laughter.

Even so, Ser Alliser would not rest. "Ser Pig, get up," he called, "pick up the sword." Seeing that the fat man was still lying on the ground, Thorne motioned to Hodder, "Hit him with the spine of the sword until he gets up." Hodder Tap the opponent's upturned cheek tentatively. "Isn't it just your strength?" Thorne sneered.Huo De then held the sword in both hands, and slashed down fiercely. Even though he used the spine of the sword, the leather armor still burst.The recruits wailed in pain. Jon took a step forward, and Pyp reached out and grabbed him with a sheathed hand. "Don't be rash, Jon," the little man whispered to Ser Alliser Thorne, casting a nervous glance.

"Get up soon," Thorne said again.The fat boy struggled to get up, but unexpectedly slipped and fell heavily to the ground again. "Ser Pig is improving," Ser Alliser said. "Fight again." Hodder raised his sword to continue. "Cut us a piece of ham!" Lester urged him with a grinning grin. Jon shook off Pyp's hand. "Hodder, that's enough." Hodder turned to look at Ser Alliser. "Has the wild species come out to fight for the injustice of the peasants?" The instructor said in his sharp and cold voice, "Master Snow, don't forget, I am the leader here."

"Hodder, look at him," Jon urged, deliberately ignoring Thorne. "Everyone has surrendered, what's the point of taking advantage of the fire?" He squatted down beside the fat man. Howard dropped his sword. "He surrendered," he repeated. Ser Alliser's onyx eyes were fixed on Jon Snow. "What did I say, so we bastards are in love." He said while watching Jon help the fat man up, "Master Snow, shine your sword." Jon drew his longsword. He could only resist Ser Alliser so far, and he secretly feared he had gone too far this time. Thorne smiled and said: "The bastard is going to fight for his beloved lady, so we have to fight well. Little mouse, freckled man, you and the big stupid head." Lester and Abbet walked to Hodder beside. "The three of you should be enough for Miss Piggy. But first, you need to get rid of the bastards that get in your way."

"Hide behind me," Jon said to the fat one.Ser Alliser used to have two against him, but never three against one.He knew he'd probably be bruised when he went to bed tonight.So he held his breath and concentrated, ready to do a big job. Piper suddenly appeared beside him. "I think three-on-two should be more exciting." The little man said happily.He lowered his mask and drew his sword.Before Jon could protest, Grenn stepped forward to join them. The whole square was suddenly dead silent.Jon could feel Ser Alliser's eyes. "What are you waiting for?" He asked Lester and the others in a frighteningly soft voice, but it was Jon who shot first, and Hodder almost had time to raise his sword to block.

Jon kept attacking, driving the older boy back.Know your enemy, Ser Rodrik had taught him, and Jon knew Halder well, for he was astonishingly strong but impatient and never used to defense.As long as he finds a way to provoke him, he will open the door open and reveal a lot of loopholes. At this time, other people also joined the battle, and the sound of clashing swords resounded through the square in an instant.Jon parried a blow to the head, so hard that his arm went numb.He hit Hodder in the ribs with a side attack, only to hear the other side grunt, and then slashed Jon's shoulder with his backhand.There was a clang of mail, and the pain hit his neck, but Hodder was also momentarily unsteady, and Jon slammed his left leg so hard that he fell cursing.

Grenn held his ground firmly, following the trick Jon had taught him, which gave Abbate a headache, but not so much for Pyp.Lester was two years older than him and forty pounds heavier, so he struggled.Jon dodged behind Rast and slammed the rapist's helmet like a bell with a powerful swing. Seeing that Rast was dizzy, Pyp took the opportunity to break through the defenses, knocked him down, and held his sword to his throat.At this time, Jon had already changed positions, and Abbeth saw that he was at a disadvantage of one against two, and hurriedly stepped back and shouted: "I surrender."

Sir Alliser Thorne looked around the room with disgust. "You little bastards have been playing tricks for too long. That's it for today." With that, he walked away, and the day's practice was over. Darion helped Hodder up, and the quarryman's son took off his helmet and fell hard across the square. "Xue Nuo, at that moment just now, I thought I had caught your weakness." "Well, but only for a moment," Jon replied.The shoulder covered under the armor and leather was aching. He put away the sword and tried to take off the helmet, but just as he raised his hand, he grinned in pain.

"Let me do it," said a voice.Thick fingers unfastened the strap around his throat and lifted the helmet gently. "Is it badly hurt?" "It's not the first time." He touched his shoulder and frowned. The square was empty except for a few of them. There were blood clots on the hairline of the fat boy, which was where Hodder had chopped off the helmet just now. "I'm Samwell Tarly from Horn..." He paused to lick his lips, "I mean... that's me... I 'was' a Horn Tarly. I come Joined the Blackshirt Army, my father was Earl Randyll, a vassal of House Tyrell of Highgarden. I was originally the heir to the title, but..." He didn't continue. "I am Jon Snow, bastard son of Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfell." Samwell Tarly nodded. "I...you can call me Sam if you want, that's what my mother calls me." "As for you, you'll call him Lord Snow," Pyp said, moving closer. "You don't want to know what the fuck called him." "These are Grenn and Pyp," Jon said. "Glenn is the ugly one," said Piper. Grant said displeasedly, "You're uglier than me, at least I don't have a pair of bat ears." "I thank you from the bottom of my heart." The fat boy said seriously. "Why didn't you stand up and fight back just now?" Grant asked him. "I want to, too, really, but I... I just can't do it. I don't want to be beaten all the time." He looked at the ground. "I... I guess I'm a wimp, my father used to say that." Grenn's expression was struck by lightning, and even Pyp, who always liked to have an opinion on everything, was speechless.How could someone call himself a wimp? Samwell Tarly must have read their thoughts in their faces, his eyes met Jon's before he looked away like a frightened animal. "I...sorry," he said, "I...don't want that either." He lumbered toward the armory. Jon called to him. "You're hurt," he said, "and tomorrow you'll improve." Sam turned his head sadly. "No," he said, fighting back tears, "I'll never improve." After he left, Grant frowned. "Cowards are hated by everyone," he said uncomfortably. "If we had known, we wouldn't have helped him. What if others thought we were cowards?" "You're too stupid to be a coward," Pyp told him. "I'm not stupid," Grant said. "You're stupid. If you meet a big bear in the woods, you won't run away." "Of course I'll run," Grenn insisted, "and faster than you." Seeing Pip's hippie smile, he shut up quickly, and then suddenly realized, blushing with anger.Jon let them have a good time, walked back to the armory, hung back his sword, and took off his scarred armor. Life at Castle Black has a certain pattern: Sword practice in the morning and work in the afternoon.Brothers in black shirts handed recruits a variety of errands to judge their suitable occupations.Occasionally Jon would be ordered to take Ghost out hunting, to serve the Lord Lord Commander's dinner, and he cherished such opportunities.It's a pity that such opportunities are really rare. He has to spend more than ten times his time in Donal Noye's arsenal, turning the whetstone, and helping the one-armed blacksmith sharpen the blunt axe; or While Noi was beating the forging sword, he was blowing the furnace.Other times he delivered messages, stood guard, scrubbed the stables, made bows and arrows, tended Maester Aemon's birds, or helped Bowen Marsh with his accounts. That afternoon, he was ordered by the chief of the guard to take four buckets of freshly crushed pebbles to the hoisting iron cage, and was responsible for spreading the gravel on the icy walkway of the Great Wall.Even with Ghost by his side, it was still a lonely and uninteresting job, but Jon didn't mind.If the weather is clear and clear, standing on the Great Wall, you can have a panoramic view of half the world, not to mention the air here is always fresh and cold.Here he could think quietly, and he found himself thinking of Samwell Tarly... and, oddly enough, Tyrion Lannister.He couldn't help wondering what Tyrion would do to the fat boy.The dwarf once said to him with a smile: Most people would rather deny the truth than face the truth.There are too many cowards pretending to be heroes in this world, and it takes a queer kind of courage to admit to cowardice like Samwell Tarly. His shoulder was still hurting, which slowed down the progress of the work. By the time the aisle was finished, it was almost dark.He stayed on the Great Wall to watch the sunset, watching the sunset dye the western sky blood red.It wasn't until nightfall that Jon picked up the empty bucket, walked back to the cage, and rang the bell to tell the guards below to let him down. Dinner was almost over when he and Ghost returned to the Great Hall.A group of brothers in black gathered around the fire drinking hot wine and playing dice.His friends sat on a bench under the western wall, laughing.Pyp was telling stories vividly. This mummer boy with big ears was a born liar and was good at imitating all kinds of voices. Listening to him tell stories was like being there, imitating a king for a while, and becoming a swineherd for a while.When he played the role of a hotel maid or a princess in a boudoir, his high-pitched falsetto made everyone cry with laughter, and he played a eunuch like a very exaggerated Sir Alliser.Jon loved listening to Pyp as much as anyone...but this night he turned and walked to the end of the bench, where Samwell Tarly sat, away from the others. He was eating the last pork pie the cooks had prepared for dinner when Jon sat down across from him.When the fat boy saw Bai Ling, his eyes widened. "Is that a wolf?" "It's the direwolf," Jon said. "His name is Ghost. The direwolf is my father's sigil." "We're walking hunters," said Samwell Tarly. "Do you like hunting?" The fat boy trembled when he heard this, "It's the most annoying," he seemed about to cry again. "What's the matter?" Jon asked him. "Why are you always afraid?" Sam stared at the last pork pie and shook his head weakly, too frightened to speak.There was a sudden burst of laughter in the hall, and Jon heard Pip yelling in falsetto.He stood up. "Let's go out." The fat round face looked up at him suspiciously. "Why? What are you going out for?" "Chat." Jon said, "Have you seen the Great Wall?" "I'm fat, but I'm not blind," said Samwell Tarly. "Of course I saw it. It's seven hundred feet high." But he got up and wrapped himself up in a down-trimmed cloak , followed Jon out of the hall.He was still apprehensive, as if suspecting that some base mischief awaited him in the dark night outside the door.Ghost followed them. "I didn't expect it to be like this," Sam said as he walked, his breath misting in the cold air.He was out of breath just by keeping up. "All the houses are in dilapidated condition, and it's so... well..." "So cold?" Jon could feel the gray weeds crackling under his feet as thick frost was covering the castle. Sam nodded mournfully. "I'm most afraid of the cold," he said. "I woke up in the middle of the night last night. The room was pitch black and the fire was out. I thought I would freeze to death this morning." "You must have come from somewhere warmer." "I hadn't seen snow until last month. I was crossing the Barrens with the men my father sent me up north when this white stuff started falling, like soft rain. At first I thought It’s so beautiful, like a feather that fell from the sky, but it kept falling, so cold that my bones were almost frozen. The snow kept falling, until people’s beards were full of ice, and their shoulders were covered with snow, and it still didn’t stop , I'm really afraid that it will continue like this." Jon just smiled. The Impassable Great Wall towered high in front of them, gleaming under the pale light of the waning moon.Stars burn in the night overhead, clear and sharp. "Are they going to make me go up?" Sam asked, his face as stiff as clotted sour milk as he glanced at the winding wooden stairs above the city. "It's no wonder I don't die if I climb up." "There's a winch over there," Jon pointed out. "You can sit in a cage and go up there." Samwell Tarly snorted. "I hate high places." This is outrageous.Jon frowned in disbelief. "What are you not afraid of?" he asked. "I don't understand. If you're such a loser, why are you here? What would a coward do with the Night's Watch?" Samwell Tarly stared at him for a long time, his round face seemed about to cave in.He sat down on the frosty ground and just burst into tears, sobbing and shaking all over his body.Jon Snow lost his mind and could only stand and watch.His tears are like the snow in the barren land, and it seems that they will never stop. In the end, Bai Ling was still smart.The pale direwolf leaned in silently like a shadow, licking the warm tears from Samwell Tarly's face.The fat boy let out a cry...but for some reason, his sobbing turned to laughter in an instant. Jon Snow laughed too.Then they sat together on the frozen ground, curled up in their cloaks, Ghost nestled between them.Jon tells the story of how he and Robb found the newborn wolf pack in the snow in late summer.This seems to be a story from a thousand years ago.But soon, he found himself talking about Winterfell. "I sometimes go back in my dreams," he said. "I dreamed that I was walking in an empty hall, and my voice was reflected on the walls, but no one answered, so I quickened my pace and opened the doors. Calling other people's names. I don't know who I'm looking for. Mostly it's my father, sometimes it's Robb, sometimes it's my little sister Arya, or my uncle." Still missing Benjen Stark, he couldn't help feeling sad.Xiong Lao sent Rangers north to the Great Wall to find him.Ser Jeremy Lake led the team twice, and Colin "Halfhand" set out from the Shadow Tower, but except for the occasional torches that his uncle left behind in the forest as a road sign, he found nothing.Once in the steep northwestern highlands, the signs suddenly disappeared, and no trace of Benjen Stark disappeared without a trace. "Did you find someone in the dream?" Sam asked. Jon shook his head. "Not once. The castle is always empty." He'd never told anyone about the dream, and he didn't know why he was opening up to Sam by himself at this moment, but it felt good to say so. "Even the crows in the bird's nest disappeared, and there was only a pile of dead bones left in the stable, which scared me half to death every time. I started running around, opening doors everywhere, and climbing the stairs of the tower in three steps at a time. Calling someone's name, anyone. Finally, I found myself standing in front of the door leading to the catacombs. It was pitch black, and all I could see was the spiral staircase winding down. Somehow, I was aware that I Must go down, but I don't want to go down. I'm afraid of what's waiting inside. There were all the ancient Kings of Winter, sitting on their thrones, with stone wolves lying at their feet, iron swords across their laps, But it wasn't them that I was afraid of. I screamed and I told them I wasn't a Stark and this place was none of my business, but it was no use, I had to go down anyway. So I walked on the wall, no torches I had to go down slowly. The road was getting darker and darker, until it was so dark that I wanted to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "Every time I dream of this place, I wake up." He always woke up covered in cold sweat, shivering alone in the dark bedroom.Then Ghost would jump up beside him and snuggle up against him with his body as warm as the morning sun, and then he would lay his face on the direwolf's long white fur and fall back into a deep sleep. "Would you dream of Horn Hill?" "No." Sam pursed his lips. "I hate it there." He scratched the back of Bailing's ear, lost in thought, and Jon didn't ask.After a while, Samwell Tarly finally began to speak, while Jon Snow listened quietly, listening to the self-proclaimed cowardly coward telling the reason why he came to the Great Wall. The Tarly family has a long history and is famous far and wide. They are the vassals of Mace Tyrell, Duke of Highgarden and Guardian of the South.Samwell is the eldest son of Earl Randyll Tarly, who was born to inherit a rich territory, a strong fortress and a legendary two-handed sword.Broken Heart, the sword's name, was forged of Valyrian steel and had been passed down from father to son for nearly five hundred years. However, no matter what kind of pride the father had for his son when Samwell was born, it all disappeared as he grew up, became fat, weak and eccentric.Sam likes to listen to music, like to compose music, like to wear soft velvet, like to be with the chef in the castle kitchen, and be intoxicated in the rich aroma of lemon cake and blueberry dessert he made.His hobbies lie in reading and playing with kittens. He is clumsy, but he loves dancing abnormally.It's just that he felt sick to his stomach when he saw blood, and even cried when he saw a chicken being killed.The masters of Horn Hill came and went, trying to turn Samwell into the brave knight his father wanted him to be.This child has been scolded and beaten, slapped and starved.Someone told him to sleep in chain mail to get him used to life in the army.Another told him to dress up in his mother's clothes and parade around the city, using humiliation to excite his manliness.As a result, he became fatter and fatter, and his courage became smaller and smaller. In the end, Earl Randyll's disappointment turned into anger and finally disgust. "Once," Sam reveals, his voice whispering. "From Qarth came two wizards with white skin and blue lips, and they killed a wild bull, and then bathed me in warm blood, but I did not become brave as they said, I only Felt nauseous and vomited. Father whipped them both." After giving birth to three daughters in three consecutive years, Lady Tully finally gave birth to a second son for the Earl.From that day on, Lord Randyll paid no attention to Sam, and devoted all his energy to his younger, stronger and more vigorous son, who was more pleasing to him in any way.So Samwell passed a few sweet years of ease, lost in music and books. Until the morning of his fifteenth name day, when he was woken up to find his horse saddled and waiting for him.Three guards escorted him to a forest near Horn Hill, where his father was skinning deerskins. "You are coming of age and my heir again," Lord Randyll Tarly said to his eldest son, cutting open the flesh with his hunting knife to reveal the skeleton inside. "You have given me no excuses, I cannot Remove you, but I will not give you the domain and title that Dickon should inherit. Only a strong man is worthy of holding a "broken heart", and you are not worthy to even touch its hilt. So I did Decide, you shall declare today your desire to wear black, renounce all rights of inheritance, and set out north before dark." "If you don't do it, tomorrow we'll be out hunting, and your horse will fall somewhere in the woods, and you'll fly out of the saddle and die... at least that's what I'll tell your mother. She's too soft-hearted to even People like you are very loving, and I don't want to make her sad. You don't have to imagine how easy it will be to die, or have a way to resist, because I will be happy to chase after you and kill you, a pig, with my own hands." He Putting aside the hunting knife, his arms to the elbows were all stained red. "So, you have two choices, not the Night's Watch"—he reached into the deer carcass, pulled out the heart, and held it bloody in his hand—"this is it." Sam told the story in a calm, dead voice, as if it had happened to someone else rather than himself.Strange, Jon thought, he stopped crying.After he finished speaking, the two sat together and listened to Night Breeze.There is no other voice in the world. Finally Jon said, "We should go back to the Great Hall." "how?" Jon shrugged. "There's mulled cider there, or you can drink scalded wine. Dareon will sing for us when he's in the mood. Before he came here, he was... er, a singer, um, maybe not very professional." , but it’s not bad, it’s a singer who hasn’t graduated yet.” "How did he come here?" asked Sam. "The Earl of Rowan in Golden Tree City found that his daughter had been slept by him. The girl was two years older than him, and Darion swore that she helped him climb into the bedroom window, but under her father's stern gaze, she claimed that she was raped, so he Here it is. Maester Aemon, when he heard him sing, said he sounded like thunder with honey." Jon smiled. "Todd sings sometimes, too, if you call that a song. He sings all of them." some drinking songs from his daddy, and Pyp says his voice is fart with piss on it." They both laughed in unison. "I want to hear both of them singing," Sam admits. "But they won't welcome me," he said with a sad face. "He'll make me fight tomorrow, won't he?" "Yes." Jon said reluctantly. Sam staggered to his feet. "I'll find a way to sleep for a while." He wrapped his cloak tightly and left. The others were still there when Jon led Ghost back into the Great Hall. "Where have you been?" Pyp asked. "Talk to Sam," he said. "He's really useless," Glenn said. "For dinner at night, there are still vacant seats on the bench, but he didn't dare to come and sit with us after he took the pie." "Master Ham is too honorable, he won't eat at the same table with people like us." Jay Chou guessed. "Look at the way he eats pork pie," Todd said with a grin. "It's like reminiscing with brothers." After speaking, he imitated the pig's bray. "Shut up!" Jon snapped angrily. The other boys fell silent, overwhelmed by his sudden anger. "Listen to me." Jon quietly told them what to do.Pyp was on his side, as he'd expected, but Hodder was pleasantly supportive, too.Grenn was hesitant at first, but Jon knew how to persuade him.Others agreed.Jon either persuaded with kind words, or tempted with benefits, sometimes humiliated with words, and threatened with force if necessary.In the end everyone was willing to do what he said... except Lester. "If you want a coward, you can be a coward," Lester said, "but if Thorne tells me to fight Miss Piggy, I'll cut him a big piece of ham." He sneered twice in front of Jon, Turn around and leave. A few hours later, when the whole city was asleep, the three of them went to his bedroom.Jon could hear Rast gasping as Grenn grabbed his hand, Pyp sat on his lap, and Ghost threw himself on his chest.The direwolf's eyes were like a pair of red embers, and he gently scratched the soft skin of the boy's throat with his teeth, bleeding slightly. "Don't forget, we know where you sleep," Jon said softly. The next morning, Jon hears Rast explain to Abbate and Todd how he accidentally cut himself with a razor while shaving. From that day on, no one, Lester or anyone else, would harm Samwell Tarly.If Ser Alliser asked them to fight him alone, they would stand where they were and brush aside his slow, clumsy strikes.If the master-at-arms screamed for an attack, they would dance in and tap Sam lightly on breastplate or helm or leg.Ser Alliser was half dead with anger, and threatened them, calling them cowards, sissies, and everything else, but no one touched Sam.A few nights later, at Jon's urging, he sat down next to Hodder for dinner.It was another two weeks before he worked up the courage to join the conversation, and soon, like everyone else, he was laughing at Pyp's grimace and cracking jokes about Grenn. Samwell Tarly was fat and clumsy and timid, but he wasn't stupid.He came to Jon's bedroom one night, "I don't know what you did," he said, "but I know you did it." He looked away shyly. "I never had a friend." "We're not friends," Jon patted Sam on the broad shoulder. "We're brothers." They were indeed brothers, he thought to himself after Sam left.Robb, Bran, and Rickon are all father's children, and he still loves them, but because of Catelyn Stark, Jon knows that he is not one of them after all.The gray walls of Winterfell may still haunt him, but now Castle Black is his refuge, and his siblings are Sam, Glenn, Hodder, Pyp and others who cannot be seen in society.A night watchman in black. "Uncle is right," he whispered to Ghost, wondering if he would meet Benjen Stark again in this life, so that he could thank him face to face.