第三篇
接下来怎样？
恶魔们的绝对丑陋中包含着一种朴素的美。在人们对待这些造物这方面，没有丁点含糊、犹豫或是误解的余地。你不会和恶魔赌博。你不会听信它们的谎言。你将它们逐出，毁灭它们，把它们从这个世界清除掉——即使面对着利用它们的力量去拯救他人这种勉强可认为算是善良行为的诱惑。
这对于很多人来说是一个很难领会的观念，而且导致了很多错误地召唤恶魔并且允许那些造物背离他们初衷——那最初的目的也许只是为某个问题求得答案——而行动的法师和牧师们的身败名裂，因为他们被这造物所能提供的力量所蛊惑。那些遭到毁灭的施法者中有很多人坚信自己是在通过强迫恶魔们随侍左右、通过支撑他们的那些理想、通过由恶魔战士建成的大军，做正确的事。他们认为，如果最终结果被证明是更好的话，那又有什么坏处呢？如果有小妖精威胁到自己国土的话，难道一位贤明的君主不会善加考虑把一些“受到约束的”恶魔加入到他的国家防卫力量中去吗？
我想不会，因为对善良的保护如果有赖于利用这样显而易见且不可救药的邪恶去击退另一种邪恶，那也就已经没有什么真正值得去捍卫了。
因此，恶魔们的唯一用处只在于，当它们必须背叛罪恶之源而且身处高度控制之下以致无望逃脱时，将其推上第一战线。我确信凯德立在高飞之灵那安全的召唤室里正是这么做的，正如无数牧师和法师曾经做过的一样。但这样的召唤并不是没有风险，即使防护圈形成得十分完美，因为有一种诱惑始终存在：拥有足够的操纵力量去奴役一个巴洛魔或是判魂魔。
在这诱惑中一定长存着某种不可救药邪恶的实现。不可救药。不存任何希望。在任何这种交易中报偿的概念都是至关重要的决定性一环。一旦报偿成为可能，锻造刀刃使其更加致命，当履行的时机迫在眉睫时握紧武器，然后在敌人无望偿还时毫不怜悯地发起猛烈攻击。
我怀疑就这个尺度而言，阿提密斯•恩崔立会处于一个怎样的位置？这个人类真的是那么不可救药毫无希望吗？
以前我坚信事实就是这样，之后却又不那么肯定了。没人会向阿提密斯•恩崔立伸出援手因为这个人类决不会接受任何帮助。他最大的缺点就是他的骄傲——不同于很多逊色于他的战士们吹嘘的自傲，那是一种绝对独立不屈自恃的骄傲。我原本能向他指出他的错误，正如曾以任何方式认识他的任何人所能做的一样，但他不会听取我的忠告。
然而对这个人类来说或许还是存在着某种被救赎的希望。我不知道他的愤怒之源在哪里，但那一定是十分骇人的遭遇。但我决不会允许那个原由——不管它曾有多么艰辛和可怕——以任何方式为这个人类的所作所为释罪。恩崔立那长剑和标志性匕首上沾染的鲜血是他必须以一己之力背负的重荷。
相信他承受这个并不是那么轻松的事。它如黑龙的喷吐一样烧灼他的皮肤，贪婪啃噬他内心的一切。在我们最后一场遭遇战中，我看清了他黯色双眼深处那沉静而阴郁的痛苦。我打败了他，本来能杀掉他，事实上我相信从很多角度来讲他希望我乐于这么做，希望我终结掉他那在很大程度上是自愿选择承受的苦难。
那痛苦使我止住了自己的刀，我内心存有一丝希望：在阿提密斯•恩崔立灵魂深处某个地方已经有所认知，他的生活方式需要作出改变，他现在正依循前行的道路如此空虚并将最终通向绝望。双刀在手站在这个毫无防备的人类面前，许许多多念头飞快掠过我的脑海。当看到他双眼深藏的痛苦并且明白那很可能是救赎的前兆，我怎能就此发起攻击？然而，当清楚意识到放任阿提密斯•恩崔立走出水晶塔可能招致其他人的厄运我又怎能不这样做？
这的确是个两难的选择，一个良知与平衡的转捩。我发觉在那临界瞬间自己得出的答案竟然是关于我的父亲札克纳凡。我明白就恩崔立而言他和札克并不是那么不同，而事实上这两者也的确有着相似之处。他们都是一个敌意环境下的幸存者，都向各自所认知的邪恶作出了某种妥协。同时，以各自的认知而言，这两者又都没有背弃自己的原则而杀掉任何一个不该杀的人。难道那些为卡林港卑劣帕夏搏命的战士和杀手们比之卓尔家族士兵而言，处境就能说是更好吗？所以，从很多角度来说，札克的行动和这人类杀手的所作所为真的没什么不同。都只不过是在一个充满阴谋、危机和邪恶的世界中挣扎求存罢了。两者同样借助残酷无情的手段从各自的禁锢中幸存下来。当恩崔立环视他的世界，他的牢狱，他是否满怀厌恶和沮丧一如札克环视魔索布莱？到那时这杀手是否会失掉他惯常的冰冷面具，一如那个在担任杜垩登家族侍父期间杀死无数黑暗精灵的武技长曾经所为一般？
当我追击将瑞吉斯当作囚犯带走的杀手而第一次来到卡林港（我必须承认，即使当时他采取那种行动也确实是正当的），我意识到自己情不自禁把这两个人进行了对比，而这样的对比真的让人非常困扰。从高超的武技和表面上看来毫不迟疑的杀戮欲来看，他们是多么的相近？那么，当我能挥刀对恩崔立砍下那一刻，使我止住了手中弯刀的是否正是自己内心深处那因札克而生的莫名情绪？
不，我说不，而且我必须坚信这一点，因为父亲在谁该杀谁不该杀这个问题上远有更强的分辨力。我了解札克的真心，清楚他还拥有去爱的能力，而仅仅这一点就是阿提密斯•恩崔立的真实自我所无法与之相提并论的。
至少以他目前的状态而言是这样，但掩藏在杀手那残忍的行为方式下，这个人类还有望能找到一线光明吗？
也许吧，如果能听说他伸开双臂紧紧拥抱住了光明我真会非常高兴。然而，事实上我怀疑永远没有任何人或事物能穿透阿提密斯•恩崔立目前那厚重而看似难以渗入的冷漠盔甲、激发出他最后一息怜悯与同情。
——崔斯特•杜垩登
[TBC]
再一个半成品，原因同前：本章余部貌似都是凯德立和某女亲切交谈中……T T
不过，小黑对阿恩的某一些评价让我很开心喔^o^
以下为原文：
Part 3
NOW WHAT?
There is a simple beauty in the absolute ugliness of
demons. There is no ambiguity there, no hesitation, no
misconception, about how one must deal with such creatures.
You do not parlay with demons. You do not hear their lies.
You cast them out, destroy them, rid the world of them-even
if the temptation is present to utilize their powers to save
what you perceive to be a little corner of goodness.
This is a difficult concept for many to grasp and has
been the downfall of many wizards and priests who have
errantly summoned demons and allowed the creatures to move
beyond their initial purpose-the answering of a question,
perhaps-because they were tempted by the power offered by
the creature. Many of these doomed spellcasters thought they
would be doing good by forcing the demons to their side, by
bolstering their cause, their army, with demonic soldiers.
What ill, they supposed, if the end result proved to the
greater good? Would not a goodly king be well advised to add
"controlled" demons to his cause if goblins threatened his
lands?
I think not, because if the preservation of goodness
relies upon the use of such obvious and irredeemable evil to
defeat evil, then there is nothing, truly, worth saving.
The sole use of demons, then, is to bring them forth
only in times when they must betray the cause of evil, and
only in a setting so controlled that there is no hope of
their escape. Cadderly has done this within the secure
summoning chamber of the Spirit Soaring, as have, I am sure,
countless priests and wizards. Such a summoning is not
without peril, though, even if the circle of protection is
perfectly formed, for there is always a temptation that goes
with the manipulation of powers such as a balor or a
nalfeshnie.
Within that temptation must always lie the realization
of irredeemable evil. Irredeemable. Without hope. That
concept, redemption, must be the crucial determinant in any
such dealings. Temper your blade when redemption is
possible, hold it when redemption is at hand, and strike
hard and without remorse when your opponent is beyond any
hope of redemption.
Where on that scale does Artemis Entreri lie, I wonder?
Is the man truly beyond help and hope?
Yes, to the former, I believe, and no to the latter.
There is no help for Artemis Entreri because the man would
never accept any. His greatest flaw is his pride- not the
boasting pride of so many lesser warriors, but the pride of
absolute independence and unbending self-reliance. I could
tell him his errors, as could anyone who has come to know
him in any way, but he would not hear my words.
Yet perhaps there may be hope of some redemption for the
man. I know not the source of his anger, though it must have
been great. And yet I will not allow that the source,
however difficult and terrible it might have been, in any
way excuses the man from his actions. The blood on Entreri's
sword and trademark dagger is his own to wear.
He does not wear it well, I believe. It burns at his
skin as might the breath of a black dragon and gnaws at all
that is within him. I saw that during our last encounter, a
quiet and dull ache at the side of his dark eyes. I had him
beaten, could have killed him, and I believe that in many
ways he hoped I would finish the task and be done with it,
and end his mostly self-imposed suffering.
That ache is what held my blade, that hope within me
that somewhere deep inside Artemis Entreri there is the
understanding that his path needs to change, that the road
he currently walks is one of emptiness and ultimate despair.
Many thoughts coursed my mind as I stood there, weapons in
hand, with him defenseless before me. How could I strike
when I saw that pain in his eyes and knew that such pain
might well be the precursor to redemption? And yet how could
I not, when I was well
aware that letting Artemis Entreri walk out of that
crystalline tower might spell the doom of others?
Truly it was a dilemma, a crisis of conscience and of
balance. I found my answer in that critical moment in the
memory of my father, Zaknafein. To Entreri's thinking, I
know, he and Zaknafein are not so different, and there are
indeed similarities. Both existed in an environment hostile
and to their respective perceptions evil. Neither, to their
perceptions, did either go out of his way to kill anyone who
did not deserve it. Are the warriors and assassins who fight
for the wretched pashas of Calimport any better than the
soldiers of the drow houses? Thus, in many ways, the actions
of Zaknafein and those of Artemis Entreri are quite similar.
Both existed in a world of intrigue, danger, and evil. Both
survived their imprisonment through ruthless means. If
Entreri views his world, his prison, as full of wretchedness
as Zaknafein viewed Menzoberranzan, then is not Entreri as
entitled to his manner as was Zaknafein, the weapons master
who killed many, many dark elves in his tenure as patron of
House Do'Urden?
It is a comparison I realized when first I went to
Calimport, in pursuit of Entreri, who had taken Regis as
prisoner (and even that act had justification, I must
admit), and a comparison that truly troubled me. How close
are they, given their abilities with the blade and their
apparent willingness to kill? Was it, then, some inner
feelings for Zaknafein that stayed my blade when I could
have cut Entreri down?
No, I say, and I must believe, for Zaknafein was far
more discerning in whom he would kill or would not kill. I
know the truth of Zaknafein's heart. I know that Zaknafein
was possessed of the ability to love, and the reality of
Artemis Entreri simply cannot hold up against that.
Not in his present incarnation, at least, but is there
hope that the man will find a light beneath the murderous
form of the assassin?
Perhaps, and I would be glad indeed to hear that the man
so embraced that light. In truth, though, I doubt that
anyone or anything will ever be able to pull that lost
flame of compassion through the thick and seemingly
impenetrable armor of dispassion that Artemis Entreri now
wears.
-Drizzt Do'Urden
你可以使用这个链接引用该篇文章 http://publishblog.blogchina.com/blog/tb.b?diaryID=4578790