Origins

He is a New Yorker through and through — or so he considers himself. When he puts someone down, he says this is my city; at the height of a hot streak he simply declares: I ain’t goin’ anywhere, baby, I am New York. He even keeps tabs on the city’s ball club: he grumbles that the Knickerbockers sucked this year, yet says that if the Knickerbockers win the championship, he’s fine with a few fires and a little public rioting around town.

“I ain't goin' anywhere, baby. I am New York.”

“宝贝，我哪儿也不去，我就是纽约人”

What stings him most is being looked down on. When Lady Geist looks down her nose at him, he shoots back that he’s tired of people like her looking down on him. In his city there are people he respects, and a few acquaintances out on Long Island who “don’t totally suck.”

“I'm tired of people like you looking down on me, Geist.”

“我受够了像你这样的人瞧不起我，盖斯特”

About the cops, he has an account he is almost proud of: the reason he gets away from them so often is that nobody sees him come or go. Facing Holliday, he calls her “pig,” demands her badge number, and says cops are always trying to pick on the little guy.

“How do you think I get away from the cops so much…”

“你以为我怎么总能躲开条子……”TL

Of his family he has let slip only a few words. His ma held that this head of his was good for nothing; so, charging in, he fires back: and Ma said this head was good for nothin’. He has also said that people have been trying to kill him since he was in the womb.

“And ma said this head was good for nothin'.”

“妈妈还说这个头什么都没用”

As for the goat head, it was his own choice, and that much he doesn’t deny: it ain’t why I turned my head into a goat, but it’s a helluva perk. Why he chose it, and how, he will never say. Kelvin had barely begun — “How did you get the—” — before Billy cut him off: I’m not gonna be the subject of your next book. Ivy got no further than “So I was wondering…” before he threatened to bash her skull in, and only then did she marvel: people ask about that? Yet to Seven he once flung a hard line: you think you’re special because you got eldritch power? Where do you think the goat head came from?

“It ain't why I turned my head into a goat, but it's a helluva perk.”

“这不是我把头变成山羊的原因，但这是个好消息”

“You think you're special because you got eldritch power? Newsflash buddy, where you think the goat head came from?”

“你以为你拥有异界力量就高人一等？醒醒吧，伙计，你以为羊头是从哪儿来的？”

He will even quarrel over the standing of goat horns: in this city goat horns get zero respect; it’s all Ixian this, ram horns that.

Old Friends and Foes

Vyper: An Old Acquaintance, and a Partner

Vyper is an old acquaintance of his, and when they meet she even teases him with the name “Lash.” Seeing her again, he said he didn’t think he’d seen her since she got pinched; she shot back: that’s cause you never bothered to visit. He mumbled that he’d just assumed she busted out. Later, when she finally brought him down, it was that same old grievance on her lips: that’s for never visiting me in Atlantic City.

But old accounts are not all that is left between them. He calls her “V” and says me and you are about to wreck some shop; she says, God, I’m glad to be working with you and not some of these other stiffs. It is he who speaks up first: let’s summon a god.

“Let's summon a god, V.”

“走，去召唤个神，V。”TL

On human nature, too, they stand opposed. She says people change; he says people don’t change, they just stop pretending to be something they’re not. He calls her a stupid criminal; she says she “loves to hate that guy.”

Violet: The One He Puts the Bat Down For

He asked Violet to get a beer after the ritual, and she asked back whether they were actually getting a beer or whether he was hoping she was like Vyper; actual beer, he answered — the last thing he needed was Vyper seeing her and trying to stab her. Look at you feeling protective, she said; all he would own to was being a gentleman. Talking over the rally later on, she told him to try not to get arrested this time, and he answered that if he got arrested, it meant he’d survived the ritual, so he was playing with house money. When talk turned to last weekend, he said he’d beat up some scabs crossing a picket line; she said she’d got high as hell and painted a mural. He pressed her on what it was of, and what they were doing, and having heard her out said only: amazing. Later, when she brought him down, she first said sorry, then said he’d surely find something else to be pissed at later. She has also said that maybe people will start seeing another side of Billy.

“Maybe people will start seeing another side of Billy”

“说不定大家会看到比利的另一面。”TL

Holliday: The Partner He Won’t Admit To

His hostility toward Holliday is the steadiest he has. Just because he’s gotta work with a pig, he says, doesn’t mean he’s gotta talk to one; told that Murphy is always talking about the goat guy, he decided on the spot that the cop had it out for him, and when she said he really doesn’t, he still said pigs are always covering for other pigs. Yet he also warned her in advance: at some point during the ritual I’m gonna save your life, and when that happens, don’t go thinking I actually like you. He grumbles about her bounce pad but uses it all the same, saying I pay your salary; when he sees her with a foe caught in her lasso, his cry is that they’ve got to help. Once, the one caught in her lasso was himself, and what he hollered was: put me down, pig!

“Alright pig, here's the deal: at some point during the ritual I'm gonna save your life. When that happens I don't want you thinkin' I actually like you.”

“好了，猪，听着：在仪式进行到某个阶段时，我会救你的命。但到那时，我可不想让你觉得我真的喜欢你”

“I pay your salary, Holliday, I can use this.”

“你的工资是我付的，哈雷黛，我能用这个”

“We got to help, Holliday.”

“我们必须帮忙，哈雷黛”

She, for her part, is far more blunt: she doesn’t have time for this, goat-boy; and, she says, I hate New Yorkers.

Seven and Kelvin: Two Kinds of Asshole

Seven says he is governed by his emotions and will always be seen as a joke. He fires back: being smart didn’t save you from the chair. He asked Seven to “dismantle the system”; Seven refused, saying he had already stuck it to them when he butchered his captors in Lost Whisper, and the government doesn’t get to claim his wish as well.

“Being smart didn't save you from the chair.”

“聪明也没让你躲过电椅。”TL

He thinks even less of Kelvin. The moment they met, he sneered: so the guy in charge is the only survivor, huh? Typical. Kelvin answered: I’d give anything to change that. Later he told Kelvin: Seven killed people that got in his way, you got people killed who believed in you, so yeah, I trust the asshole who knows he’s an asshole a lot more than the one who doesn’t. He also accused the expedition leader of pretending to some moral high ground while happily taking Geist’s money.

“So the guy in charge is the only survivor, huh? Typical.”

“所以当头儿的是唯一的幸存者，是吧？真典型。”TL

“Seven killed people that got in his way. You got people killed who believed in you…so yeah I trust the asshole who knows he's an asshole a lot more than the asshole who doesn't”

“柒杀的是挡他路的人。你害死的是信任你的人……所以没错，比起那个不知道自己是混蛋的混蛋，我更信那个清楚自己是混蛋的混蛋。”TL

“That guy likes to pretend he's on some moral high ground but he was happy to take Geist's money.”

“那家伙喜欢装出一副道德高尚的样子，但他却乐于接受盖斯特的钱”

Still, Kelvin’s healing really did save him once, and he said, honestly enough: I needed that.

“I needed that, Kelvin.”

“我就需要那个，开尔文”

Nurse Harrow: The Healer Who Creeps Him Out

Meeting him face to face, Nurse Harrow opened with: what are you supposed to be? He tossed back “Figure it out, baby,” and she said she’d rather not. Then he let drop that he doesn’t trust doctors; she asked: are they responsible for your current state? No, he said, they’re just assholes — to which she said she saw he wished to have a monopoly on that. He demanded to know whether that was supposed to be an insult, and she said only: no, just an observation.

She calls him the resident provocateur, and he shoots back: you gotta problem with that? Told that so long as he’s caving in their enemies’ skulls she doesn’t particularly care about anything else, he grumbled that she just wanted to use him as a war doll, and yet in the end he signed on. When a fight between them is settled, she calls him “William,” asks must he be so stubborn, and says the goat boy is not a problem anymore; he, in turn, calls her a quack, says that lady creeps him out, and tells her to take her medicine.

Vindicta and Grey Talon: The Ones Who Look Down on Him

Vindicta says he screams at the ills of the world but does nothing to change them. He says he wakes people up and speaks truth to power; she shot back that she is systematically murdering the bloodline of a judge who sentenced innocent women to death, and all he could stammer was: the uh… the ritual’s starting. Bringing him down, she says his performative outrage is tiring. Not that he never gives her credit: when she lands a fine long-range shot, he’ll say, not gonna lie, that was impressive.

“Lady, I wake people up. I speak truth to power. What the hell do you do other than walk around central park barefoot.”

“女士，我唤醒人们。我向当权者说真话。除了你光着脚在中央公园闲逛，还干什么？”

“Not gonna lie that was impressive.”

“说实话，那确实令人印象深刻”

Grey Talon told him: the Patron doesn’t hate you. I do. And: the fact that I didn’t turn my head into a goat makes me better than you. Billy promptly hollered that he’d been biased against him from the beginning. Grey Talon has one more verdict that lands on him: you’re not a rebel, you’re just an asshole. Billy once guessed that the Baxter Society’s reputation was all a bunch of smoke and mirrors for publicity; Grey Talon answered coldly that Billy being a moron had nothing to do with his starting the Society.

“You're not a rebel, Billy, you're just an asshole.”

“你不是叛逆者比利，你只是个狂徒”

Not that the two of them do nothing but tear each other down. When Grey Talon’s long shot finds its mark, Billy says: I ain’t making jokes about the bow no more; another time, when the owl came to the rescue, he muttered that the old man ain’t totally useless.

“I ain't making jokes about the bow no more.”

“我不再拿弓开玩笑了”

Baba: The Old Woman He Truly Looks Out For

In his telling, Baba is the Central Park Pigeon Lady, as much a New York institution as the Doomsayer on Park. Anyone gives her trouble, he says, he’ll cave their skull in; hearing that she threw a brick at the mayor while he was jogging, he said: you are even cooler than I thought. Facing him from the other side, she sighs that she hates having to fight another New Yorker — shame we don’t get to work together, Billy.

“Anyone gives you trouble, let me know, I'll cave their goddamn skull in.”

“谁敢找你麻烦，告诉我，我把他那该死的脑袋砸烂。”TL

“Shame we don't get to work together Billy.”

“比利，真可惜我们没法合作。”TL

Rat King: A Visitor’s Terms

Rat King reckons he is nine-tenths human, too much human, and finally relents: he can visit Long Island, but he can’t own real estate. Billy answers: I’ll take it. But Rat King means to kill every human on the island once he takes over, so Billy set terms of his own: there are some people there who don’t totally suck, and if he helps, he doesn’t want them getting hurt. Rat King swore it: actually taken care of. When they meet as foes, Billy cries that he ain’t letting anything happen to New York; Rat King retorts: you’ll never be one of us.

“I'll take it.”

“我会接受的”

Paige and Rem: The Ones Who Try to See Him

Paige is one of the few who want to see what lies behind his anger. That whole mad-at-the-world schtick, she says, may be masking some void in his life, and deep down he has the heart of a poet; people who can’t stand each other in the first act are best friends by the third. He holds his ground — I hate you, I don’t want to know you — yet when she brings up the Shakespeare festival and says he would basically be their king, he still says: maybe I’ll check it out. Later, bringing him down, she says only: I wish I could just give him a hug.

“This whole mad at the world schtick. I bet secretly you have the heart of a poet and just are waiting for the world to be a little kinder.”

“你这副愤世嫉俗的样子，我敢打赌你内心深处其实有一颗诗人的心，只是在等待这个世界变得更友善一些”

“Maybe I'll check it out.”

“或许我会去看看”

Rem is still a child, who can’t tell whether Billy is a fun big kid or a mean big kid, and who tells him: I have big feelings too, Billy.

“I have big feelings too, Billy.”

“我心里也有很多感受，比利。”TL

Lady Geist, the Doorman and Mina: Those on High

When Lady Geist asked his name, he told her Billy; she found the name beneath a self-respecting man, and has called him only “William” ever since. She sees him as someone who takes his stand by opposing everything: contrarians are so exhausting. She has declared, too, that at the end of the day she’ll be sleeping in her penthouse while he’s chewing on a tin can, wondering where his life went wrong. The Doorman, for his part, told him to his face that he is no person with any real passion, only a caricature of outrage. Billy’s answer is to wish Geist’s ivory tower would come crashing down, to hope the Baroness Hotel burns to the ground, and to say the Doorman is just someone holding a door open for the rich.

“Not like you actually give a shit, but my name's Billy.”

“你可能根本不在乎，但我叫比利”

“Normally I would take this time to make you confront your inner demons, but in order to do that you'd have to be a person with some sort of actual passion and drive. But you’re not. You’re a caricature of outrage. A contrarian who thinks that hating something is the same thing as being interesting. So please leave, you're dreadfully boring.”

“通常我会花这段时间让你面对内心的恶魔，但要做到这一点，你必须是一个有某种真正激情和动力的人。但你不是。你是愤怒的化身。你完全相反，认为讨厌某件事和变得有趣是一回事。所以请离开，你实在无聊透顶”

There are exceptions. At first he suspected Apollo of paying someone else to fight his battles, but told that in Ixia leaders are expected to lead, not delegate, he said: I can respect that. He even went out of his way to tell Apollo it’s bullshit that Ixia hasn’t been invited to the Olympics. And because Mina’s enemy is an older, richer asshole, he is willing to go along with her, though he says plainly that he doesn’t want to be her friend.

“I can respect that.”

“这点我敬你。”TL

“Hey Apollo. I know we don't agree on much, but I just wanted to say that it's bullshit that Ixia hasn’t been invited to the Olympics.”

“嘿，阿波罗。我知道我们很多意见都不一致，但我只想说，伊克斯亚没被邀请参加奥运会简直是胡扯”

Deadman Danny: A Lackey Who Sold Himself

In his eyes, Deadman Danny is a man who has signed himself over to Fairfax Industries. He can’t believe Danny would whore himself out to the company; Danny answers that he is a safety specialist, and his role ultimately saves lives. Billy also told him he was part of the war machine and ought to be ashamed of himself. He says Fairfax Industries sucks, and Danny only says: I disagree. He had barely brought up Maximilian Fairfax when he got a whole tirade hailing the forefather as a genius and an icon. Billy couldn’t be bothered to argue any further and simply took the man to be out of his mind. Once he has put him down, what he spits out is the same few phrases: industry shill, company stooge, that’s what you get for being a sell-out.

“Tell Fairfax he can suck it.”

“告诉菲尔法克斯，去他妈的吧。”TL

Anecdotes

The Bat. He calls himself less a baseball guy than a bat guy; at the drop of a hat he’ll tell you there ain’t no problem a bat can’t solve.

Beer. He takes real pride in how much beer his jacket can hold. You got no idea how much beer I can fit in this jacket, he boasts, and open container laws are bullshit; in a tight spot, he mutters that he needs a little liquid courage.

“You got no idea how much beer I can fit in this jacket.”

“你根本想象不到我这件夹克能装多少啤酒”

The Circle Pit. Charging headlong, he says, is something he used to do in circle pits, before venues started being babies.

Petty Grudges. His venom is a kind of comedy, too. He curses Infernus’s bar and his vest, and says the only person who sets fires in his city is him. To Drifter he first offered help finding a shelter, got told “I’m looking for blood, not your charity,” and only then switched to hoping he gets shot — and to guessing he listens to harpsichords. Infernus finds him loud: God, I love shutting that guy up.

“Hey buddy, you're lookin' a little rough, you need help finding a shelter or something?”

“嘿，哥们，你看着挺落魄的，要不要我帮你找个地方落脚什么的？”TL

Class. He is especially touchy about “rich assholes” and those who “hold a door open to the rich.” To Dynamo he first said college is a scam; once Dynamo had healed him, he conceded that higher education is good for something after all, and added that he didn’t wanna owe him nothin’.

“College is a scam.”

“上大学就是个骗局。”TL

No Compromise. He has said that if you can’t appreciate what he brings to the table, he doesn’t want to help you.

Open Questions