1刺客登場
Enter the Assassin
刺客的名字：隱娘，本名聶窈。
刺客的身世：生於唐 德宗 貞元年間（西元785年）
父親聶鋒，掌管魏博軍紀的都虞侯。
母親聶田氏，嘉誠公主的録事官。
The assassin’s name was Nie Yinniang. She was born in 785 during the Tang Dynasty. Her father Nie Feng was a military officer of Weibo and her mother Nie Tian was a scribe of Princess Jiacheng.
隱娘成為刺客，是一個傳奇…
The legend began when Nie Yinniang was twelve years of age.
那一年，隱娘十二歲。
三月三上巳日，魏博城郊，杏花風吹雪般地飄入野宴帳幕內。
緋衣的十二歲女孩，在鞦韆上，飛也似的把自己盪到碧天高處，
突然縱身飛出，躍上樹梢，攀走於枝椏間，身手俐落，引來眾人一片驚嘩…，
帳幕內美麗的元誼女前來覲見嘉誠公主與藩主田緒，
少主田季安被喚入帳內相識，眾聲讚美，好一對璧人！
It was the third day of the third month that year. The governor of Weibo was having an outdoor banquet. Spring was in full bloom. Yinniang sat on a swing and went all the way up in the air and landed lightly on a tree.
元誼女來自塞外，是洺州刺史的愛女，
不久前，在一個大雪紛飛的正月春日，
元誼大將軍率兵五千及其家人萬餘口，前來與魏博結盟。
Not long ago, Yuan Yi, magistrate of faraway Mingzhou, took his troops and their families to seek shelter with the governor.
野宴河邊的校場上，少主田季安擊鞠，
穿梭在眾少年間的隱娘是唯一的女孩兒。
只見她策馬乘勢追擊，一揮桿，鞠球準準擊入元家的帳帷內，
元誼女卻沉著不驚。
On that day, out on the polo ground, Yinniang was the only girl among the young men playing in the game. With a single drive she sent the ball straight into the tent of Yuan's daughter.
嘉誠公主目睹著這一切，眼神悲憫。
同時此刻，站在遠方默默觀察的道姑，不禁沉吟思量著…
決定將她帶走，訓練她成為頂尖殺手。
A Taoist nun watching at a distance was impressed with Little Yinniang's nimble moves and quick wits and decided to take the girl and train her in the trade of assassination.
2刺客的訓練
The Training of the Assassin
日行千里，隱娘跟隨道姑來到一處高山絕境，山中氤嵐虛無飄渺。
Traveling thousands of miles and countless days, Yinniang followed the nun to the deep, misty mountains.
道姑傳授隱娘劍術，
「第一年，劍長二尺，刀鋒利可刃毛。
第三年，能刺猿狖，百無一失。
第五年，劍長五寸，能躍空騰枝，刺鷹隼，沒有不中。
第七年，劍三寸，刺賊於市集，無人能知覺。」
Yinniang learned the art of swordsmanship from the nun:
The first year, she could split a hair with a longsword of two feet.
The third year, she could stab a jumping monkey without fail.
The fifth year, she could pierce a flying falcon with a blade of five inches.
The seventh year, with a dagger of three inches, she would kill a thief in the market without anyone knowing.
道姑教導隱娘：
「凡鳥獸一定藏匿形影，所以蛇色逐地，茅兔必赤，鷹色隨樹，
同化於物類之中，冥然忘形，是謂隱劍。」
意思是動物會讓自己形成一層保護色，隱身於大自然的環境中，
好讓自己的形體無法一眼被辨識出來。
而高明的劍道，在於能動察先機，速極無形，一擊必殺，此為隱劍的奧妙。
The nun told Yinniang: "Birds and animals hide their traces. Therefore snakes take on the color of the earth, prairie hares hide in the grasses and eagles blend in with the trees. Assimilating oneself into similar kinds, that is, losing one's own traces, is the art of hidden swordsmanship."
道姑又說：
「隱劍之志，在於止殺。殺一獨夫子，能救千百人，就殺。」
行刺的目的，在於阻止更多的殺戮，這是必要之惡。
如果除掉一個殘暴的獨裁者，可以拯救千百人，那就該殺！
道姑是這樣想的！
可是，隱娘，也這樣想嗎?
She also taught Yinniang that “the end of hidden swordsmanship is to end killings. If killing a tyrant or a villain can save the lives of thousands, you shall kill." This was the logic of the nun. Did Yinniang share the same thought?
3 刺客的任務
The Tasks of the Assassin
道觀軒堂前，
道姑見隱娘劍術已成，授予一把長約三寸的羊角匕首，
數落某藩鎮大僚諸多罪狀後，命令隱娘刺殺他。
One day, the nun gave Yinniang a dagger and told her to go to the bustling horse market. Her first mission was to kill a heavily guarded corrupt official.
馬市，喧鬧雜沓，
大僚騎著馬被層層隨扈保護著，
只見隱娘穿越雜樹林，如飛鳥飛入，
以匕首，直刺大僚頸項間，
隨即飛出，如刺鳥般容易，周遭人馬渾然不察。
坐騎續行百尺，大僚才墜馬身亡。
Yinniang flew into the crowd like a bird and sliced the official's throat with her dagger. Then she disappeared like a shadow without anyone noticing. It was after the horse rode another few hundred feet that the official fell to the ground.
晌午，某節度使府院內，蟬聲嘹亮。
隱娘潛入蟄伏於樑柱斗拱上方，靜候時機，
奉命行刺另一位作惡多端的大僚。
室內，大僚與小兒在大榻前嬉戲，
良久，嬉戲聲漸歇、小兒俯臥於大僚胸前，睡姿令人憐愛，
隱娘突然不忍心動手…
Another day, Yinniang’s task was to kill a villainous official. She crept into his house in broad daylight, hid among the ceiling rafters and waited for her chance. But after seeing the official tending to his sleeping child, her heart softened and she spared him.
返回道觀後，道姑訓斥她 : 以後若遇到這種情形，
應當先殺他最鍾愛的小兒、再殺大僚…
Yinniang had failed her task and returned empty-handed. The nun scolded her that if she found herself in the same situation next time, she should kill the child before finishing off the target.
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