Chapter 26: The Weight of the Familiar （熟悉之重）​​

　　The voyage to Stormwind was swift, aided by favorable winds. The sea air cleared the last of the marsh-damp from Leon's lungs, but it did little to lighten the weight in his heart. He kept to himself, speaking little to the other passengers. The dwarf seemed lost in his own thoughts, and the traders were only interested in the price their goods would fetch in the capital. Leon spent his days on deck, watching the horizon, or below, tracing the grain of the wooden beams with his finger. He was a ghost on the ship, a silent passenger returning to a life he had outgrown.

　　前往暴风城的航程因顺风而十分迅速。海风清除了里昂肺中最后一丝沼泽的潮气，但并未减轻他心中的沉重。他独来独往，很少与其他乘客交谈。矮人似乎沉浸在自己的思绪中，而商人们只关心他们的货物在首都的售价。里昂白天在甲板上眺望地平线，或在下面用手指描摹木梁的纹理。他是船上的一个幽灵，一个沉默的乘客，返回一个他已不再适应的生活。

　　When the lookout finally cried "Land ho!", and the distinct, lion-crested skyline of Stormwind City emerged from the haze, a chorus of relieved cheers went up from the crew and passengers. Leon felt only a cold knot of dread tightening in his stomach.

　　当瞭望员终于喊出“看见陆地了！”，暴风城那独特的、饰有狮鹫徽记的天际线从雾霭中显现时，船员和乘客们发出了一阵如释重负的欢呼。里昂只感到一个冰冷的恐惧结在胃里收紧。

　　The city was immense, its stone walls towering and impregnable. The harbor was a chaotic, vibrant cacophony of noise and movement—ships of all sizes, shouting dockworkers, the smell of fish and smoke and humanity. It was overwhelming. After the quiet order of Theramore and the vast silence of the sea, the sheer density of life and sound felt like an assault on his senses.

　　这座城市巨大无比，石墙高耸，坚不可摧。港口一片混乱，充满了生机勃勃的喧闹和繁忙——各种大小的船只、叫喊的码头工人、鱼腥味、烟味和人潮的气息。这一切令人难以承受。在经历了塞拉摩的宁静有序和海洋的广阔寂静之后，这里密集的生命和声音仿佛是对他感官的冲击。

　　He disembarked, his feet meeting the solid, familiar stone of the Stormwind docks. He was home. Or at least, he was in the place that was supposed to be home. He was swept along in the crowd, a single drop in a river of humanity flowing towards the city gates. The guards at the gate gave him a cursory glance, their eyes glazing over another returning face. He was invisible again, just another citizen. The thought was strangely comforting and utterly terrifying.

　　他下了船，双脚踩在暴风城码头坚实而熟悉的石地上。他回家了。或者至少，他回到了本该是家的地方。他被人群推着走，像汇入流向城门的人潮中的一滴水。门口的守卫随意地瞥了他一眼，目光扫过又一个归来的面孔。他又变得不起眼了，只是又一个平民。这个念头既奇怪地令人安慰，又完全令人恐惧。

　　The walk from the docks through the Cathedral District and into the Trade Quarter was a blur of familiar sights and sounds that now felt alien. The ringing of the blacksmiths' hammers, the chatter of the market, the smell of fresh bread from the bakery—all the things he had missed and dreamed of now seemed... small. The colors were too bright, the noises too sharp. He felt like a giant trying to navigate a dollhouse.

　　从码头穿过教堂广场进入贸易区的步行道，熟悉的景象和声音现在却感觉陌生，一切模糊不清。铁匠铺的锤击声、市场的喧闹声、面包店飘出的新鲜面包香——所有他曾经想念和梦想的东西现在似乎……很渺小。色彩太鲜艳，噪音太刺耳。他感觉自己像一个在玩具屋里穿行的巨人。

　　He turned the final corner, and there it was: his father's smithy. The sign, "Baros & Son," swung gently in the breeze. The forge was cold, but the door to their living quarters above the shop was open. He could hear the familiar sound of his father humming inside.

　　他转过最后一个拐角，它就在那里：他父亲的铁匠铺。“巴洛斯父子”的招牌在微风中轻轻摆动。锻炉是冷的，但店铺上方他们居住区的门开着。他能听到父亲在屋里熟悉的哼歌声。

　　He stood frozen on the cobblestones, his heart pounding. This was the moment he had imagined a thousand times during the cold, hungry nights. But now that it was here, he couldn't move. How could he explain? How could he possibly bridge the chasm between the boy who had left and the person who had returned?

　　他僵立在鹅卵石路上，心脏怦怦直跳。这是他在寒冷饥饿的夜晚想象过无数次的时刻。但现在这一刻来临，他却无法动弹。他该如何解释？他怎么可能弥合离开的那个男孩和归来的这个人之间的鸿沟？

　　The humming stopped. A shadow fell across the doorway. His father appeared, wiping his hands on a rag. He looked older, more tired. His eyes, the same shade of brown as Leon's, scanned the street absently, then stopped, widened in disbelief. The rag fell from his limp fingers.

　　哼歌声停了。一个影子落在门口。他父亲出现了，正用一块破布擦手。他看起来老了，更疲惫了。他那双和里昂一样棕色的眼睛茫然地扫过街道，然后停住了，因难以置信而睁大。破布从他无力的手指间滑落。

　　"Leon?" The name was a choked whisper, barely audible over the street noise. "By the Light... Leon!"

　　“里昂？”这个名字是一声哽咽的低语，在街道的嘈杂声中几乎听不见。“以圣光之名……里昂！”

　　The spell was broken. Leon took a stumbling step forward, and then another. His father rushed down the steps, his arms outstretched, and engulfed him in a crushing embrace that smelled of soot and sweat and home. Leon buried his face in his father's rough tunic, and for the first time since he had been found by the Sentinels, he allowed himself to cry—great, heaving sobs that shook his entire body. They were tears of relief, of exhaustion, and of a profound, bewildering loss for a world and a friendship that he knew, in the depths of his soul, he could never truly explain to the man holding him.

　　魔咒打破了。里昂踉跄地向前迈了一步，又一步。他父亲冲下台阶，张开双臂，将他紧紧抱住，那拥抱带着烟灰、汗水和家的味道，几乎让他窒息。里昂把脸埋在父亲粗糙的束腰外衣里，自从被哨兵发现以来，他第一次放任自己哭了出来——剧烈、抽泣的呜咽震撼着他的全身。这是宽慰的泪水，是精疲力竭的泪水，也是一种深刻的、令人困惑的失落感，为了一个世界和一段友谊，他在灵魂深处知道，他永远无法真正向抱着他的这个人解释清楚。