Chapter 50 Chapter Forty-Nine: Jon

Jon was eating his breakfast of apple cake and blood sausage when Samwell Tarly plopped down on the bench. "I'm going to the Sept, too," Sam whispered excitedly. "They're going to pass me the test and become an official Brother in Black with you. Can you believe it?" "I don't believe it. Is it true?" "Really. I was sent to help Maestro Aemon with the library and the birds. He needs a helper who can read and write." "I believe you will be happy and competent." Jon said with a smile. Sam looked around uneasily. "Should we go? We'd better not be late before they change their minds." He bounced around as they walked across the weedy yard.The weather is warm and clear, crystal water drops flow down the Great Wall, and the ice glistens in the sun.

In the sanctuary, the morning light poured in from the south-facing window, and shot into the large crystal in the middle, emitting colorful light, reflecting the altar.Pyp's mouth fell open when he saw Sam, and Todd touched Grenn, but no one dared to speak.Brother Celeda was dangling a small censer in his hand, which filled the room with fragrance, and Jon couldn't help but think of Lady Stark praying in the chapel of Winterfell.It was rare for the monk not to be drunk this time. Senior officials arrived together.Maester Aemon leaned against Clydas, Ser Alliser grim-eyed, and Lord Commander Mormont was well dressed, a black wool tunic with bearclaw buttons trimmed with silver.Behind them came the heads of three professions: Steward Bowen Marsh, Chief Tinker Othel Yawick, and Ser Jeremy Lake, who commanded the Rangers in Benjen Stark's place.

Mormont stood before the altar, rainbow lights gleaming on his great bald head. "You came here against the law," he began, "poaching, rape, debt, murder, robbery and abduction. You came as children, alone and in chains, with neither friends nor honor. You When you come, you may be rich and honorable, or you may be poor. You come from a famous family, or you only have the name of an illegitimate child, or even a nameless name, but these are not important. Everything is in the past. On the Great Wall, we are all one family. " "This evening, as the sun sets and the night falls, you will take your oath. From now on, you will be the Brothers of the Night's Watch who you swore to serve. Your crimes will be cleared, your debts will be canceled, and likewise, you must erase the past. The loyalty of the family, put aside the old hatred, forget the past love and grievances. You will have a new life here."

"The night watchman serves the kingdom. It is not for the king, nor for the nobility, nor for the honor or disgrace of the rich, regardless of wealth, honor, or love of children, all for the safety of the kingdom and its people. Night watchmen do not marry wives, nor have children. , we take duty as our wives and honor as our concubines, and you are our only sons." "You have already heard the content of the oath. Please think carefully before taking the oath. Once you put on black clothes, there is no way out. Deviation from duty is the only death penalty." Xiong Lao paused for a moment, and then continued, "Does any of you want to Leave? If so, leave now, we will never look down on you because of this."

No one moves. "Very well," said Mormont, "come back here in the evening, and swear your oath in front of Septon Celeda and the head of your organization. Do any of you believe in the Old Gods?" Jon stood up. "Yes, my lord." "I thought you might like to take your oath under the Heart Tree, like your uncle did," said Mormont. "Yes, my lord," Jon said.The gods of the sanctuary have nothing to do with him.The blood of the First Men still runs in the Starks. He heard Grant whisper behind his back, "There's no godswood here, is there? I never found out."

"You, even if a herd of buffalo came rushing towards you, you wouldn't notice when they trampled you into the snow," Pyp whispered back. "I will," Grant insisted, "I'll see them all the way." Mormont confirmed Grenn's suspicions. "Castle Black needs no godswood. The Haunted Forest has stood beyond the Wall since the Dawn Era, before the Andals brought the Seven across the Narrow Sea, and still does. Half a league north of this you'll find a weirwood , and perhaps find your god too." "My lord," Jon turned his head in surprise, seeing fat Samwell Tarly standing up and wiping his sweaty palms on his clothes. "Can I...can I go with him? To swear an oath under the heart tree?"

"Do the Tarlys worship the Old Gods?" asked Mormont. "No, my lord," Sam answered in a thin, nervous voice.Jon knew the officials frightened him, especially the Old Bear. "I was named in the sept in Horn Hill, in the glory of the Seven. My father did it, and his father did it, and the Tarlys have done it for a thousand years." "Then...why did you abandon your father and the gods your family has long believed in?" Ser Jeremy Lake wondered. "I call the Night's Watch home now," Sam swore. "The Seven never answered my prayers. Maybe the Old Gods do."

"That's it, boy," said Mormont.Sam and Jon sat back down. "According to our needs, as well as your own abilities and skills, you will be assigned to different positions." Bowen Marsh stepped forward and handed him a piece of paper.The Commander-in-Chief spread out the paper. "Hodder, join the artisans," he began, and Hodder nodded stiffly and excitedly. "Glenn, join the rangers. Abbate, join the artisans. Piper, join the rangers." ,” Pip looked at Jon, wagging his ears excitedly. "Samwell, join the clerk." Sam sighed with relief, and hurriedly took out a silk scarf to dry his forehead. "Mesha, join the rangers. Dareon, join the stewards. Todd, join the rangers. Jon, join the stewards."

Clerk?For a moment Jon couldn't believe his ears.Mormont must have read it wrong.He was about to stand up and complain, to tell them they had made a mistake... when he saw Ser Alliser looking at him, his eyes gleaming like obsidian, and suddenly he realized. Xiong Lao rolled up the paper. "Your respective chief officers will introduce your responsibilities. Brethren, may the gods bless you." The commander-in-chief gave them a slight nod and left.Ser Alliser was with him, a faint smile on his face.Jon had never seen the master so happy. "Follow me, Rangers," Ser Jeremy Lake called after they had gone.Pyp stood up slowly, but his eyes were fixed on Jon, his ears were red.Grant laughed happily, not noticing anything wrong at all.Mesha and Todd walked beside them and followed Ser Jeremy out of the sept.

"Craftsman," announced Othel Arwick with the lantern jaw, and Hodder and Abbate followed him. Jon looked around in disgust.Maester Aemon's blind eyes were seen looking toward a source he could not see, where the septon was arranging the altar's crystal.Sam and Dareon were still on the bench, a fat man, a singer...and him. Bursar Bowen Marsh rubbed his fat hands. "Samwell, go and help Maester Aemon manage the birdcage and library. Chett has been transferred to the dog pen to take care of the hounds, and you will live in his room so that you can take care of the maester's daily life at all times. I hope you work hard, he Elderly people are old and they are even more precious to us.”

"Darion, I heard that you have performed in front of many high-ranking officials and have seen a little bit of the world, so we sent you to Eastwatch to assist Carter Parker. When the merchant ships come to trade, your skills may come in handy. Recently, the prices of corned beef and salted fish are astonishingly high, and the quality of olive oil is horribly rotten. When you arrive, first go to Bokas, and he will explain how you negotiate with merchant ships." Marsh smiled and turned to look at Jon. "Jon, Commander Mormont has made you a special request to be his personal steward. You will sleep in the room below his bedroom, in the conning tower." "May I ask what my duties are?" Jon asked pointedly. "Should I help the Lord Commander take care of his meals, help him change his clothes, and bring him hot water for his bath?" "That's right." Marsh frowned after hearing Jon's tone. "On top of that, you'll run errands for him, light a fire in his room, change the sheets and blankets every day, and do whatever else the Commander-in-Chief wants you to do." "Do you think I'm a servant?" "No," said Maester Aemon, behind the sept.Clydas helped him to his feet. "We thought you were a man of the Night's Watch...but maybe we were wrong about you." Jon restrained himself as hard as he could to keep from turning away.Is he going to cut butter all day long and sew clothes like a girl? "Can I leave?" he asked stiffly. "Go ahead," replied Bowen Marsh. Dareon and Sam go with him.They walked back to the square in silence, and Jon looked up at the Great Wall gleaming in the sun, and the melting ice flowed down like thousands of slender fingers.He was so annoyed that he wished he could smash the entire Great Wall into pieces immediately, and let his world live or die. "Jon," said Samwell Tarly excitedly, "wait for us, don't you see what they're up to?" Jon turned his head angrily. "I only see that it is Ser Alliser's fault. He wanted to humiliate me, and now he will." Dareon glanced at him. "Sam, it's not a problem for someone like you and me to be the general manager, but Lord Snow is amazing." "Nonsense, I'm better than you at wielding a sword or riding a horse," Jon retorted angrily, "This is so unfair!" "Fair?" Dareon snorted. "That chick was stripped naked, waiting for me as if she had just been born in the womb, or she pulled me in through the window. Are you telling me what fairness is?" "There's nothing shameful about being a steward," said Sam. "Do you want me to wash the underwear of a lifetime old man?" "The old man is Lord Commander of the Night's Watch," Sam reminded him, "and you'll be with him day and night. Yes, you'll have to pour his drink and wash his sheets, but you'll deliver his mail, too, as he pleases." Attend meetings, serve as his squire in battles. You will be inseparable from him, you will know about everything big and small, and you can even exert influence...not to mention that the Bursar said that Mormont specially appointed you!" "When I was a child, my father always insisted on my attendance whenever he held a council; and whenever he went to Highgarden to defeat Lord Tyrell, he always took me. Until he took Dickon instead and left me at home. As long as Dickon is with him, he doesn't care if I'm at the meeting or not. His intention is to bring his 'heir' with him, you understand? Let him read and learn from it. Jon, I bet Lord Mormont is too That’s what it means. Otherwise, why would he do this? He wants to train you to be the successor to the commander-in-chief!” Jon was completely stunned.Indeed, when he was in Winterfell, Duke Eddard often asked Robb to attend various meetings.Is what Sam said true?It was always said that even bastards could rise to high positions in the Night's Watch. "I don't want to do that," he said stiffly. "None of us want to be here," Sam reminded him again. Suddenly Jon Snow felt ashamed and ashamed. Coward or not, Samwell Tarly had the courage to accept his fate like a man.In the defenders of the Great Wall, if you want to get what kind of treatment, you have to prove what kind of ability you have. On the night Jon saw the living Benyan Stark for the last time, he once said, you are not a ranger , you are just a kid who is still childish and still has the smell of summer on your body.It is said that illegitimate children grow faster than others. On the Great Wall, if you don't grow up quickly, you will only die. Jon let out a long sigh. "You're right. I'm being childish." "Then you will stay and take the oath with me?" "The Old Gods are waiting for us." He forced himself a smile. They set off that afternoon.There is not a single city gate along the Great Wall for 300 miles, and they have to lead their horses through narrow tunnels piercing the ice.The path twisted and twisted, and the dark and cold ice wall approached them all the time.They passed three railings, and each time they had to stop to let Bowen Marsh produce a large bunch of keys and open the heavy chains that locked the bars.Jon felt a tremendous weight pressing down on him as he waited for the Bursar to open the door.The air here is colder than in the tomb, and more stagnant.When they finally reached the north of the Great Wall and saw the afternoon sun again, they immediately felt a strange sense of relief. Facing the sudden bright light, Sam blinked and looked around worriedly. "The wildlings...they don't...they dare not come so close to the Wall, do they?" "Never dared." Jon got on his horse.When Bowen Marsh and the rangers who escorted them were mounted, Jon put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, and Ghost came galloping out of the tunnel. The steward's steed hissed back. "You're taking the beast with you?" "Yes, my lord," said Jon.Bai Ling raised his head, as if he was experiencing the air beyond the Wall.Then, in the blink of an eye, he was out, galloping across the vast, weedy plain, and disappearing in the distant woods in an instant. As soon as they entered the forest, they seemed to be in another world.Jon used to go hunting with his father and Jory and Robb.Knows everything about the Wolfwood outside Winterfell.The haunted forests are roughly the same in appearance, but have an extremely different atmosphere. This may be a feeling.The thought of having crossed the end of the world made all the difference.The same shadow, this place is darker, the same sound, this place feels more ominous.The trees are very close to each other, blocking the fading oblique sunlight.The thin snow on the ground shattered under the horse's hooves, and the sound was as crisp as broken bones.The new wind blows, and the fallen leaves rustle, like countless cold fingers slowly climbing up the back.The Great Wall is behind, and the road ahead is blurred, and the gods know where to go. When they arrived at their destination, the sun had already set in the treetops.It was a small clearing deep in the forest, where nine weirwoods grew together in a rough circle.Jon took a deep breath and looked up to see Sam's eyes widen too.Even in the north, even in the wolf forest, you can't find this kind of white tree growing in two or three, and nine is almost unheard of.The woodland was covered with fallen leaves, blood red above and rotting black below.The wide, smooth trunk was as pale as dry bones, and nine faces stared toward the center of the circle, the dry sap around the eyes red and hard like gems.Bowen Marsh ordered them to keep the horses outside the circle. "This is a sacred place, we must not desecrate it." Stepping into the bushes, Samwell Tarly turned his head slowly to examine each face.They are all different. "The ancient gods," he whispered, "are watching us." "Yes." Jon dropped to one knee, and Sam knelt beside him. As the last rays of the sun went down and the gray day turned to night, they said their oath in unison. "Listen to my oath and be my witness." Their recitations filled the woods in the twilight. "The night is coming, and I will watch from now on until I die. I will take no wife, hold no land, and bear no children. I I will wear no crown, nor contend for honor. I will do my duty, I will live and die here. I am the sword in the dark, the guardian on the wall, the fire against the cold, the light at dawn, the horn to wake the sleepers, the guardian of the kingdom The Shield. I give my life and honor to the Night's Watch, tonight and every night to come." The forest was silent. "You kneel like children," intoned Bowen Marsh solemnly. "Arise, men of the Night's Watch." Jon reached out and pulled Sam to his feet.The accompanying rangers leaned over to smile and congratulate, with the exception of the wrinkled old forest officer, Devin. "My lord, we'd better be on our way," he said to Bowen Marsh. "It's getting dark, and there's a smell I don't like." Suddenly, Ghost came back running lightly through the two weirwoods.White hair and red eyes, Jon thought uneasily, like these trees... There was something black in the wolf's mouth. "What did he bite?" asked Bowen Marsh, frowning. "Ghost, come to me." Jon knelt down on one knee. "Bring something here." The direwolf trotted up to him.Jon heard Samwell Tarly gasp. "Gods be merciful," Devon murmured, "a hand."