必读网 - 人生必读的书

TXT下载此书 | 书籍信息


(双击鼠标开启屏幕滚动,鼠标上下控制速度) 返回首页
选择背景色:
浏览字体:[ ]  
字体颜色: 双击鼠标滚屏: (1最慢,10最快)

3、能言马和男孩

_4 刘易斯 (英)
"Where is the King?"
“国王在哪儿?”
The Hermit turned and pointed with his staff. "Look," he said. "There is another gate, right opposite to the one you entered by. Open it and go straight ahead: always straight ahead, over level or steep, over smooth or rough, over dry or wet. I know by my art that you will find King Lune straight ahead. But run, run: always run."
隐士转过身去,用他的手杖一指。“瞧,”他说,“还有一个门,正对着你们进来的这个大门。打开那个门,笔直往前走去。始终笔直往前走去,经过平坦的或是陡峭的地方,经过干燥或潮湿的地方。我凭我的法术推算得出你笔直往前走去,就会找到伦恩国王。可是你要飞跑,飞跑,始终飞跑。”
Shasta nodded his head, ran to the northern gate and disappeared beyond it. Then the Hermit took Aravis, whom he had all this time been supporting with his left arm, and half led, half carried her into the house. After a long time he came out again.
沙斯塔点点头,向北边的那个门跑去,在门外消失了。隐士一直用左臂支撑着阿拉维斯,这时他就半搀半拉地把她送进了石屋。好久以后,他又从石屋里出来了。
"Now, cousins," he said to the Horses. "It is your turn."
“哦,伙计们,”他对马儿说道,”现在轮到你们了。”
Without waiting for an answer - and indeed they were too exhausted to speak - he took the bridles and saddles off both of them. Then he rubbed them both down, so well that a groom in a King's stable could not have done it bette
也不等它们回答——事实上它们已疲乏得话都说不出来了——他就从它们身上卸下马勒和马鞍,用力按摩两匹马儿的全身,即使是国王御厩里的侍从也不会按摩得那么好。
"There, cousins," he said, "dismiss it all from your minds and be comforted. Here is water and there is grass. You shall have a hot mash when I have milked my other cousins, the goats."
“听着,伙计们,”他说,“把这一切都忘了吧,宽宽心吧。这儿是水,那儿是青草。等我给我其他的伙计们——山羊们——挤过奶,你们就有热饲料可吃了。”
"Sir," said Hwin, finding her voice at last, will the Tarkheena live? Has the lion killed her?"
“先生,”赫温说道,它终于缓过气来了,“泰克希娜生命不危险吧?狮子杀了她吗?”
When Aravis came to herself she found that she was lying on her face on a low bed of extraordinary softness in a cool, bare room with walls of undressed stone. She couldn't understand why she had been laid on her face; but when she tried to turn and felt the hot, burning pains all over her back, she remembered, and realized why. She couldn't understand what delightfully springy stuff the bed was made of, because it was made of heather (which is the best bedding) and heather was a thing she had never seen or heard of.
阿拉维斯苏醒过来时,发觉她正俯卧在一张特别柔软的床上,房间内什么陈设也没有,石头墙也是未经雕琢的、粗糙的。她不明白为什么安排她俯卧;但当她要想翻身而感觉到整个背部灼热发烫、十分疼痛时,她记起来了,明白了非得俯卧不可的缘故。她不明白这床是用什么舒适而有弹性的材料做的,因为这床是用石南荒原草(最好的垫褥)做成的,而她从未见过或听说过这种草。
The door opened and the Hermit entered, carrying a large wooden bowl in his hand. After carefully setting this down, he came to the bedside, and asked:
门打开了,隐士进来了,手里拿着一只大木碗。小心翼翼地把碗放下后,他来到床边,问道:
"How do you find yourself, my daughter?"
“我的女儿,你自己觉得怎样?”
"My back is very sore, father," said Aravis, "but there is nothing else wrong with me."
“父亲,我的背上很痛,”阿拉维斯说道,“但没有其他的毛病。”
He knelt beside her, laid his hand on her forehead, and felt her pulse.
他跪在床边,把手按在她的额上,还给她号脉。
"There is no fever," he said. "You will do well. Indeed there is no reason why you should not get up tomorrow. But now, drink this."
“没有发烧,”他说,“你就会痊愈的。事实上,明儿个你就该起床了。但是现在要喝这个。”
He fetched the wooden bowl and held it to her lips. Aravis couldn't help making a face when she tasted it, for goats' milk is rather a shock when you are not used to it. But she was very thirsty and managed to drink it all and felt better when she had finished.
他拿起木碗,送到她的唇边。她喝下去时不由得做了个鬼脸,因为羊奶还没有喝惯时总是叫人害怕的。她很口渴,设法把那碗羊奶都喝下去了,喝完时,觉得好多了。
"Now, my daughter, you may sleep when you wish," said the Hermit. "For your wounds are washed and dressed and though they smart they are no more serious than if they had been the cuts of a whip. It must have been a very strange lion; for instead-of catching you out of the saddle and getting his teeth into you, he has only drawn his claws across your back. Ten scratches: sore, but not deep or dangerous."
“听着,女儿,你想睡时不妨睡睡,”隐士说道,“因为你的伤口洗过了,敷了药,包裹好了,伤口虽然疼痛,可不比鞭打后的伤痕严重。这必定是一头十分奇怪的狮子,它并没有用牙齿咬到你的肉里,把你从马鞍子上叼下来,只是用爪子在你背上挠了一下。十道伤痕,痛,可是不深,不危险。”
"I say!" said Aravis. "I have had luck."
“嗨!”阿拉维斯说,“我运气好!”
"Daughter," said the Hermit, "I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as Luck. Them is something about all this that I do not understand: but if ever we need to know it, you may be sure that we shall."
“女儿啊,”隐士说道,“我在这个世界上活了一百零九个春秋了,可从来不曾碰到过什么类似运气的东西。在这一切里,有些东西我不理解,但如果我们确实需要弄明白的话,你不妨深信不疑,我们一定会弄明白的。”
"And what about Rabadash and his two hundred horse?" asked Aravis.
“拉巴达什和他的二百人马情况怎么样了呢?”阿拉维斯问道。
"They will not pass this way, I think," said the Hermit. "They must have found a ford by now well to the east of us. From there they will try to ride straight to Anvard."
“他们不会走这条路,我想。”隐士说,“此刻他们必定已经找到一个可以涉水而过的地方,远在我们的东边儿。他们将试图从那儿直奔安瓦德。”
"Poor Shasta!" said Aravis. "Has he far to go? Will he get there first?"
“可怜的沙斯塔!”阿拉维斯说道,“他得跑很远的路吧?他会先到达安瓦德吗?”
"There is good hope of it," said the old man.
“大有希望。”老人说道。
Aravis lay down again (on her side this time) and said, "Have I been asleep for a long time? It seems to be getting dark."
阿拉维斯重新躺下(这回是侧卧了),她说,“我睡了好长时间吗?天色好像在暗下来了。”
The Hermit was looking out of the only window, which faced north. "This is not the darkness of night," he said presently. "The clouds are falling down from Stormness Head. Our foul weather always comes from there in these parts. There will be thick fog tonight."
隐士从那唯一的窗子——朝北的窗子——望出去。“这不是夜间的黑暗,”他立刻说道,“云霾是从暴风雨峰汹涌而下的,我们这些地方的恶劣天气都是从那儿发端的。今夜将有浓重的大雾了。”
Next day, except for her sore back, Aravis felt so well that after breakfast (which was porridge and cream) the Hermit said she could get up. And of course she at once went out to speak to the Horses. The weather had changed and the whole of that green enclosure was filled, like a great green cup, with sunlight. It was a very peaceful place, lonely and quiet.
第二天,除了背上疼痛外,阿拉维斯觉得身体很好,所以,早餐(吃的是粥和奶油)以后,隐士说她可以起床了。当然啰,她立刻就去和两匹马儿说话。天气转晴,整个围场像只苍翠的巨大杯子,里面盛满了阳光。这是个十分安宁的地方,寂寞而又宁静。
Hwin at once trotted across to Aravis and gave her a horse-kiss.
赫温立刻小跑着过来,给了她一个马儿的接吻。
"But where's Bree?" said Aravis when each had asked after the other's health and sleep.
互相问候过健康和睡得好不好后,阿拉维斯说道,“可布里在哪儿呢?”
"Over there," said Hwin, pointing with her nose to the far side of the circle. "And I wish you'd come and talk to him. There's something wrong, I can't get a word out of him."
“在那一边。”赫温说,用它的鼻子指点着围场另一边,“我希望你来跟它说说话。它有点儿闹情绪,我没法从它嘴里挤出一言半语来。”
They strolled across and found Bree lying with his face towards the wall, and though he must have heard them coming, he never turned his head or spoke a word.
她们慢步走过去,发现布里面壁躺着,虽然它明明听见她们来了,却根本不回过头来或说句话儿。
"Good morning, Bree," said Aravis. "How are you this morning?"
“早晨好,布里,”阿拉维斯说,“今天早晨你身体可好?”
Bree muttered something that no one could hear.
布里喃喃而语,可谁也听不清楚。
"The Hermit says that Shasta probably got to King Lune in time," continued Aravis, "so it looks as if all our troubles are over. Narnia, at last, Bree!"
“隐士说,沙斯塔可能及时赶到了国王伦恩那儿,”阿拉维斯继续说道,“所以,看来咱们的一切困难都解决了。终于要到纳尼亚去了,布里!”
"I shall never see Narnia," said Bree in a low voice.
“我将永远见不到纳尼亚了。”布里用低沉的声音说道。
"Aren't you well, Bree dear?" said Aravis.
“你身体不好吗,我亲爱的布里?”阿拉维斯说。
Bree turned round at last, his face mournful as only a horse's can be.
布里终于转过身来,它一脸哀痛的神色,只有马儿才能这样。
"I shall go back to Calormen," he said.
“我要回卡乐门去。”它说。
"What?" said Aravis. "Back to slavery!"
“什么?”阿拉维斯说道,“回去作奴隶吗?”
"Yes," said Bree. "Slavery is all I'm fit for. How can I ever show my face among the free Horses of Narnia? - I who left a mare and a girl and a boy to be eaten by lions while I galloped all I could to save my own wretched skin!"
“是的,”布里说,“我只配作奴隶。我有何面目去见纳尼亚的自由的马儿啊?我,丢下一匹母马,一个女孩,一个男孩,让他们去被狮子吃掉,自己却为了活命,使出浑身力气逃跑了!”
"We all ran as hard as we could," said Hwin.
“我们大家都是拼命飞跑的啊。”赫温说。
"Shasta didn't!" snorted Bree. "At least he ran in the right direction: ran back. And that is what shames me most of all. I, who called myself a war-horse and boasted of a hundred fights, to be beaten by a little human boy - a child, a mere foal, who had never held a sword nor had any good nurture or example in his life!"
“沙斯塔没有逃跑!”布里喷着鼻息,“至少他是按照正确的方向飞跑的:他跑回去了。这是最使我感到羞愧的了。我,自称是一匹战马,夸口身经百战,却被一个乳臭小儿比下去了——一个孩子,不过是一头驹子,生平从没有拿过剑,也没有受过任何良好的教育或见过任何典范!”
"I know," said Aravis. "I felt just the same. Shasta was marvellous. I'm just as bad as you, Bree. I've been snubbing him and looking down on him ever since you met us and now he turns out to be the best of us all. But I think it would be better to stay and say we're sorry than to go back to Calormen."
“我明白,”阿拉维斯说,“我有同样的感想。沙斯塔是了不得的。我同你一样的糟糕,布里。自从你们遇到我们以来,我一直怠慢他,瞧不起他,如今他可一变而为我们之中最出色的人了。但我认为,还是待下来表示歉意,要比回到卡乐门去好得多。”
"It's all very well for you," said Bree. "You haven't disgraced yourself. But I've lost everything."
“这办法对你是挺好的,”布里说,“你没有给自己丢脸。我却把什么都丢光了。”
"My good Horse," said the Hermit, who had approached them unnoticed because his bare feet made so little noise on that sweet, dewy grass. "My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another. And now, if you and my other four-footed cousin will come round to the kitchen door we'll see about the other half of that mash."
“我的好马儿,”隐士说道,大家没有察觉他的悄悄到来,因为他的光脚板踏在清香的沾露青草上是没有什么声音的,“我的好马儿,你除了自命不凡,没有丢失什么东西。不,不,我的老伙计。别对我把耳朵向后贴去,也别抖动你的鬃毛。如果你确实像你一分钟以前所说的那样谦虚,那么你就应该听听理智的声音。你一直生活在可怜的哑巴马儿中间,便自以为是了不得的马儿;其实不然。当然,你比它们要勇敢、聪明些。你是不由自主地成了比它们高明的马儿的。但这种情况不能引伸为你将在纳尼亚成为什么特别出类拔萃的马儿。然而,只要你认识到你并不是出类拔萃的,那么,总的看来,你就基本上属于一种挺不错的马儿。现在,如果你和我的另一位四足老伙计愿意绕到厨房门口去,我们就将瞧瞧另外半份饲料了。”
Chapter 11
第十一章
THE UNWELCOME FELLOW TRAVELLER
不受欢迎的同路人
WHEN Shasta went through the gate he found a slope of grass and a little heather running up before him to some trees. He had nothing to think about now and no plans to make: he had only to run, and that was quite enough. His limbs were shaking, a terrible stitch was beginning in his side, and the sweat that kept dropping into his eyes blinded them and made them smart. He was unsteady on his feet too, and more than once he nearly turned his ankle on a loose stone.
沙斯塔穿过门,但见面前一个青草萋萋的山坡,还有些石南往上蔓延到一些树木附近。如今他没有什么事情要考虑的,没有什么计划要制定的,他只要飞跑就是了;飞跑也够他受的。他的四肢战战兢兢,两肋开始剧痛,汗珠不断地滚进眼睛里,弄得两眼疼痛而又模糊不清。他的脚步也不稳了,不止一次,他的脚踝骨撞在零乱的石头上。
The trees were thicker now than they had yet been and in the more open spaces there was bracken. The sun had gone in without making it any cooler. It had become one of those hot, grey days when there seem to be twice as many flies as usual. Shasta's face was covered with them; he didn't even try to shake them off - he had too much else to do.
现在树木比刚才浓密了,更多的空地里长着蕨菜。太阳已经落山,可并没使这个地方凉快些,却使它变得炎热而暗淡,苍蝇也比平常多了一倍。沙斯塔的脸上爬满了苍蝇,他甚至并不设法驱逐它们——他要干的其他事情实在太多了。
Suddenly he heard a horn - not a great throbbing horn like the horns of Tashbaan but a merry call, Ti-ro-to-to-ho! Next moment he came out into a wide glade and found himself in a crowd of people.
突然,他听到了号角的声音——不是像塔什班城那种震撼人心的响亮的号角,而是一种欢乐的呼唤,蒂——罗——托托——霍!不久他就走进一片宽阔的林间空地,发觉自己置身一大群人中间了。
At least, it looked a crowd to him. In reality there were about fifteen or twenty of them, all gentlemen in green huntingdress, with their horses; some in the saddle and some standing by their horses' heads. In the centre someone was holding the stirrup for a man to mount. And the man he was holding it for was the jolliest, fat, applecheeked, twinkling eyed King you could imagine.
至少在他看来是一大群人。事实上,他们有十五个或二十个人光景,都是穿着绿色猎装的绅士,带着马儿,有的坐在马鞍子上,有的站在马儿脑袋边。在这群人的中央,有人拉着马镫以便另一个人跨上马去。那位人家侍候他上马的人,你可以想像得出,就是最最兴高采烈的、肥胖的、生着苹果脸和闪烁眼睛的国王。
As soon as Shasta came in sight this King forgot all about mounting his horse. He spread out his arms to Shasta, his face lit up, and he cried out in a great, deep voice that seemed to come from the bottom of his chest:
沙斯塔一走进国王的视野之内,国王就把上马的事情完全忘了。他向沙斯塔伸出双臂,脸上容光焕发,用那仿佛来自胸腔深处的洪亮而深沉的声音叫了出来。
"Corin! My son! And on foot, and in rags! What-"
“科林!我的儿子!而且步行,衣衫槛楼!什么——”
"No," panted Shasta, shaking his head. "Not Prince Corin. I - I - know I'm like him... saw his Highness in Tashbaan... sent his greetings."
“不,”沙斯塔摇晃着脑袋,气喘吁吁地说道,“不是科林王子。我——我——知道我长得跟他很像……我在塔什班看到过王子殿下……我带来王子的问候。”
The King was staring at Shasta with an extraordinary expression on his face.
国王目不转睛地瞧着沙斯塔,脸上露出异于寻常的神情。
"Are you K-King Lune?" gasped Shasta. And then, without waiting for an answer, "Lord King - fly - Anvard shut the gates - enemies upon you - Rabadash and two hundred horse."
“你是国——国王伦恩吗?”沙斯塔喘息着说道,也不等对方回答,便继续说下去了,“国王隆下——快跑——安瓦德——关上城门——敌人扑过来了——拉巴达什和二百人马。”
"Have you assurance of this, boy?" asked one of the other gentlemen.
“孩子,你这话靠得住吗?”另一位绅士问道。
"My own eyes," said Shasta. "I've seen them. Raced them all the way from Tashbaan."
“我亲眼目睹的,”沙斯塔说,“我看到了他们。我从塔什班城一路上和他们赛跑过来的。”
"On foot?" said the gentleman, raising his eyebrows a little.
“徒步行走吗?”那绅士稍稍掀了一下眉毛,说道。
Horses-with the Hermit," said Shasta.
“骑马——马在隐士家里。”沙斯塔说。
"Question him no more; Darrin," said King Lune. "I see truth in his face. We must ride for it, gentlemen. A spare horse there, for the boy. You can ride fast, friend?"
“别再问了,达兰,”国王伦恩说,“我从他脸上看到了真情实况。绅士们,我们必须快马加鞭。给这孩子一匹备用的马。朋友,你能骑马快跑吗?”
For answer Shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which had been led towards him and a moment later he was in the saddle. He had done it a hundred times with Bree in the last few weeks, and his mounting was very different now from what it had been on that first night when Bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were climbing a haystack.
马牵过来了。作为回答,沙斯塔把脚踏在马镫上,很快就坐到马鞍上了。在最近几个星期里,他由布里引导着,已经跨上马背一百多次了,他第一夜爬上马背时布里说他简直像爬上一个干草堆,现在的情况可大不相同了。
He was pleased to hear the Lord Darrin say to the King, "The boy has a true horseman's seat, Sire. I'll warrant there's noble blood in him."
他很高兴地听到达兰爵士对国王说道,“这孩子骑马的姿势有真正的骑士风度,陛下。我保证他身上有贵族血统。”
"His blood, aye, there's the point," said the King. And he stared hard at Shasta again with that curious expression, almost a hungry expression, in his steady, grey eyes.
“他的血统,是呀,这就是关键。”国王说。他重新目不转睛地瞧着沙斯塔,沉着的灰色眼睛里露出一种探询的神色,一种几乎如饥似渴的神色。
But by now -the whole party was moving off at a brisk canter. Shasta's seat was excellent but he was sadly puzzled what to do with his reins, for he had never touched the reins while he was on Bree's back. But he looked very carefully out of the corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing (as some of us have done at parties when we weren't quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use) and tried to get his fingers right. But he didn't dare to try really directing the horse; he trusted it would follow the rest. The horse was of course an ordinary horse, not a Talking Horse; but it had quite wits enough to realize that the strange boy on its back had no whip and no spurs and was not really master of the situation. That was why Shasta soon found himself at the tail end of the procession.
但现在这一群绅士以轻快的慢跑统统行动起来了。沙斯塔坐的马鞍子极好,但他苦恼地不知道怎样运用缰绳,因为他骑在布里背上时是从来不去碰那缰绳的。但他小心翼翼地从眼角里瞧着别人的动作(就像我们有些人在宴会上对于该用刀或叉没多大把握时那样),竭力使自己的手指姿势正确。但他不敢真的利用缰绳去指挥马儿,他深信马儿会跟着其余的人马行动。这马儿当然是一匹普普通通的马儿,不是一匹会说人话的马儿;但它的智慧也足以认识到:这个骑在它背上的陌生孩子,既没有鞭子,又没有马刺,并非真正控制局面的主人。这就是为什么沙斯塔不久便发现自己落在整个队伍末尾的缘故。
Even so, he was going pretty fast. There were no flies now and the air in his face was delicious. He had got his breath back too. And his errand had succeeded. For the first time since the arrival at Tashbaan (how long ago it seemed!) he was beginning to enjoy himself.
即使如此,他跑得还挺快。现在没有苍蝇了,拂面的空气是清新的。他也恢复正常的呼吸了,而且他报信的使命已经完成。自从到达塔什班城以来(仿佛已经是很久很久以前的事情了!),他第一次感到自得其乐。
He looked up to see how much nearer the mountain tops had come. To his disappointment he could not see them at all: only a vague greyness, rolling down towards them. He had never been in mountain country before and was surprised. "It's a cloud," he said to himself, "a cloud coming down. I see. Up here in the hills one is really in the sky. I shall see what the inside of a cloud is like. What fun! I've often wondered." Far away on his left and a little behind him, the sun was getting ready to set.
他抬头仰望,瞧瞧已经离山顶多近了。使他失望的是,他压根儿看不到山顶,但见一大片模糊的灰色向他倾泻而下。以前他从未在山野待过,眼前的景色使他诧异。“这是一大片云,”他跟自己说道,“一片正在下降的云。待在这群山之中,人确实是在天空中了。我就要看到云里边是怎么样的了。多有趣!我曾时常想弄个明白。”在他左边的远方,稍稍在他背后一点儿的地方,太阳开始落山了。
They had come to a rough kind of road by now and were making very good speed. But Shasta's horse was still the last of the lot. Once or twice when the road made a bend (there was now continuous forest on each side of it) he lost sight of the others for a second or two.
现在他们来到崎岖的道路上,正在加快驰骋的速度。但沙斯塔的马儿仍旧落在最后。有一两次,逢到大路转弯时(现在大路两旁都是绵延不断的森林了),有那么一两秒钟,他望不见前边的人马。
Then they plunged into the fog, or else the fog rolled over them. The world became grey. Shasta had not realized how cold and wet the inside of a cloud would be; nor how dark. The grey turned to black with alarming speed.
接着他们进入了大雾,或者说大雾滚滚,把他们吞没了。世界变成灰蒙蒙的。沙斯塔不曾认识到处在云雾之中竟会这么寒冷、这么潮湿,也不知道竟会那么黑暗。灰色以惊人的速度变成黑色了。
Someone at the head of the column winded the horn every now and then, and each time the sound came from a little farther off. He couldn't see any of the others now, but of course he'd be able to as soon as he got round the next bend. But when he rounded it he still couldn't see them. In fact he could see nothing at all. His horse was walking now. "Get on, Horse, get on," said Shasta. Then came the horn, very faint. Bree had always told him that he must keep his heels well turned out, and Shasta had got the idea that something very terrible would happen if he dug his heels into a horse's sides. This seemed to him an occasion for trying it. "Look here, Horse," he said, "if you don't buck up, do you know what I'll do? I'll dig my heels into you. I really will." The horse, however, took no notice of this threat. So Shasta settled himself firmly in the saddle, gripped with his knees, clenched his teeth, and punched both the horse's sides with his heels as hard as he could.
纵队的前头有人不时吹响号角,每次号角声传来时,都比上一次远了一点儿。现在他没法儿看到别的人马,但只要他再转过弯去,他就立刻可以看到他们。但当他转过弯来时,却仍旧看不见他们。事实上,他压根儿什么也看不见。现在他的马儿是在散步了。“赶上去,马儿,赶上去。”沙斯塔说。然后传来了号角声,可是十分轻微。布里总是嘱咐他,必须使脚跟朝着外边,沙斯塔由此养成一种概念,如果他让脚跟戳到马儿的两胁上,就会发生可怕的事情。他觉得此刻倒可以试试。“听着,马儿,”他说,“如果你再不快跑,你可知道我要干什么?我要用脚跟戳到你的两胁里。我真的干得出来的。”然而,这马儿不理睬他的威胁。所以,沙斯塔便稳稳地坐牢在马鞍子上,牙齿咬紧,双膝夹紧,尽力用两个脚跟狠狠刺马儿的两胁。
The only result was that the horse broke into a kind of pretence of a trot for five or six paces and then subsided into a walk again. And now it was quite dark and they seemed to have given up blowing that horn. The only sound was a steady drip-drip from the branches of the trees.
唯一的效果是,那马儿爆发出一阵装模作样的小跑,才跑了五六步,又变成慢步了。现在天色已十分黑暗,他们似乎已经不再吹响号角了。唯一的声音是不断从树木的枝桠上往下滴水之声。
"Well, I suppose even a walk will get us somewhere sometime," said Shasta to himself. "I only hope I shan't run into Rabadash and his people."
“哦,我想、哪怕它步行也会走到某个地方吧,”沙斯塔跟他自己说道,“我只是希望我不要碰到拉巴达什和他的人马。”
He went on for what seemed a long time, always at a walking pace. He began to hate that horse, and he was also beginning to feel very hungry.
他继续走了仿佛很长的时间,走的始终是那种慢步。他开始憎恨那马儿,也开始感觉十分饥饿。
Presently he came to a place where the road divided into two. He was just wondering which led to Anvard when he was startled by a noise from behind him. It was the noise of trotting horses. "Rabadash!" thought Shasta. He had no way of guessing which road Rabadash would take. "But if I take one," said Shasta to himself, "he may take the other: and if I stay at the cross-roads I'm sure to be caught." He dismounted and led his horse as quickly as he could along the right-hand road.
不久他来到了一个岔路口。他正在琢磨哪一条路是通向安瓦德的,这时他背后一阵声音使他吃了惊。原来是马儿奔腾的声音。“拉巴达什!”沙斯塔心中想道。他没法儿猜测拉巴达什会走哪条路。“但如果我走这一条,”沙斯塔跟自己说道,“他说不定会走那一条,如果我待在这岔路口,我一定会被他们逮住的。”他下了马,尽最大力量赶紧牵着马儿沿右边那条路走去。
The sound of the cavalry grew rapidly nearer and in a minute or two Shasta realized that they were at the crossroads. He held his breath, waiting to see which way they would take.
骑兵的声音迅速地愈来愈近,一两分钟之内沙斯塔便觉察到他们已经在岔路口了。他屏息静气,等着看他们走哪条路。
There came a low word of command "Halt!" then a moment of horsey noises - nostrils blowing, hoofs pawing, bits being champed, necks being patted. Then a voice spoke.
传来一声低沉的命令“停止前进!”——接下来的片刻之间,都是马儿的声音——马鼻子里喷着鼻息,马蹄刨着地面,吧啦吧啦地咬着马嚼子,以及被轻轻拍着的马脖子等。然后,有个声音讲话了。
"Attend, all of you," it said. "We are now within a furlong of the castle. Remember your orders. Once we are in Narnia, as we should be by sunrise, you are to kill as little as possible. On this venture you are to regard every drop of Narnian blood as more precious than a gallon of your own. On this venture, I say. The gods will send us a happier hour and then you must leave nothing alive between Cair Paravel and the Western Waste. But we are not yet in Narnia. Here in Archenland it is another thing. In the assault on this castle of King Lune's, nothing matters but speed. Show your mettle. It must be mine within an hour. And if it is, I give it all to you. I reserve no booty for myself. Kill me every barbarian male within its walls, down to the child that was born yesterday, and everything else is yours to divide as you please - the women, the gold, the jewels, the weapons, and the wine. The man that I see hanging back when we come to the gates shall be burned alive. In the name of Tash the irresistible, the inexorable forward!"
“你们大家注意啦,”这声音说道,“我们现在离城堡不到八分之一英里了。牢牢记住命令。一旦我们进入纳尼亚国境(应该在太阳出来时到达),你们要尽可能少杀人。在此番冒险行动中,你们要把每一滴纳尼亚人的血看得比你们自己的每一加仑血还要重要。我说的是在此番冒险行动中。天神会赐给我好时辰的,那时你们在凯尔帕拉维尔和西部沙漠之间就不必留下任何活的东西了。但你们现在还没有进入纳尼亚境内。在这儿阿钦兰境内那就是另外一回事了。在攻击伦恩国王的城堡时,最要紧的是速度,其他都无足轻重。拿出你们的勇气来。必须在一个钟头之内把它拿下来。如果你们占领了它,我把一切都给你们。我什么战利品也不留给自己。替我把城墙里每一个野蛮的男子,直到昨天刚生的孩子,统统杀掉,其余的一切也归你们,你们高兴怎样分享就怎样分享——包括女人、金子、珠宝、武器和美酒。进到城门口而退缩的人,我要把他活活烧死。以不可抗拒、不可阻挡的塔什神的名义——前进!”
With a great cloppitty-clop the column began to move, and Shasta breathed again. They had taken the other road.
蹄声嘚嘚复嘚嘚,骑兵纵队开始移动了,沙斯塔缓过一口气来。他们走上了另一条大路。
Shasta thought they took a long time going past, for though he had been talking and thinking about "two hundred horse" all day, he had not realized how many they really were. But at last the sound died away and once more he was alone amid the drip-drip from the trees.
沙斯塔认为骑兵纵队花了好长时间才开过去,尽管他整天讲着、想着“二百人马”,他可并未确悉他们究竟有多少人马。最后,骑兵纵队的声音终于消失了,他再次独自听着树木枝头滴水的声音。
He now knew the way to Anvard but of course he could not now go there: that would only mean running into the arms of Rabadash's troopers. "What on earth am I to do?" said Shasta to himself. But he remounted his horse and continued along the road he had chosen, in the faint hope of finding some cottage where he might ask for shelter and a meal. He had thought, of course, of going back to Aravis and Bree and Hwin at the hermitage, but he couldn't because by now he had not the least idea of the direction.
现在他知道到安瓦德去的路了,但他此刻当然不能到那儿去,去的话只不过是意味着撞到拉巴达什军队的刀剑上去。“我究竟该干什么呢?”沙斯塔跟他自己说。他重新跨上了马,沿着他选定的道路继续前进,心里抱着微薄的希望,但愿能找到一间茅屋,在那儿求个栖身之所,弄到一顿饭吃。当然,他曾想回到隐士住处同阿拉维斯、布里、赫温相会,可是他办不到,因为如今他压根儿弄不清方向了。
"After all," said Shasta, "this road is bound to get to somewhere."
“这条路,”沙斯塔想,“终归是要通往某个地方的。”
But that all depends on what you mean by somewhere. The road kept on getting to somewhere in the sense that it got to more and more trees, all dark and dripping, and to colder and colder air. And strange, icy winds kept blowing the mist past him though they never blew it away. If he had been used to mountain country he would have realized that this meant he was now very high up - perhaps right at the top of the pass. But Shasta knew nothing about mountains.
但那完全在于你所说的某个地方是什么意思。道路不断地向某个地方延伸,一路上树木愈来愈多,而且全都是黑沉沉的,滴滴答答地滴着水珠,空气愈来愈凛冽,奇怪而冰冷的风不断地把雾霭从他身旁吹过,却从不把雾霭吹散掉。如果他习惯于山野风光的话,他就会明白,这意味着他现在攀登得很高了——也许正好在那关隘的顶上。但沙斯塔对山岭一无所知。
"I do think," said Shasta, "that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole world. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away from Tashbaan; I was left behind. Aravis and Bree and Hwin are all as snug as anything with that old Hermit: of course I was the one who was sent on. King Lune and his people must have got safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived, but I get left out."
“我确实认为,”沙斯塔说,“我必定是活在世界上的最最不幸的孩子了。除了我,人人都是万事如意。那些纳尼亚王公和小姐都安全离开了塔什班城,我却被留在后面。阿拉维斯、布里、赫温跟老隐士在一起,要多舒适就有多舒适:当然只派我出来奔波。伦恩国王和他的随从必定已经安全进入城堡,早在拉巴达什到达之前把城门关上了,唯独我被丢在外边了。”
And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.
他身体十分疲倦,肚子里又空空如也,他为自己感到十分伤心,泪珠流过面颊滚下来了。
What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone or somebody was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Thing (or Person) was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock.
结束这一切伤感的是一种突如其来的惶恐。沙斯塔发现有个人或动物正在他身边行走。周围漆黑一团,他什么也看不见。而这个动物(或人)行路那么安静,他听不见什么脚步声。他听得见的是呼吸的声音。他的隐身同伴的呼吸似乎规模很大,沙斯塔得到的印象是:它是个庞然大物。他是逐渐注意到这种呼吸声的,因而他确实不知道它已经存在多久了。这是个可怕的震惊。
It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these Northern countries. He bit his lip in terror. But now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped crying.
他脑子里忽然想起:很久以前他就听说过,北方各国有巨人。他惶恐地咬着嘴唇。如今他确实有事情要号啕大哭,他倒停止哭泣了。
The Thing (unless it was a Person) went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. That couldn't be imagination! Anyway, he had felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand.
那个庞然大物(除非它是个人)继续在他身边走着,可是十分文静,因而沙斯塔开始希望这只不过是他的幻觉罢了。但正当他变得确信是幻觉时,突然从他身边的黑暗之中传来一声深沉的长叹。不可能是幻觉了!无论如何,他感觉到那长叹中的一股热气冲到了他冰冷的左手上。
If the horse had been any good - or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse - he would have risked everything on a breakaway and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn't make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear it no longer.
如果这马儿有点儿用处——或者他如果知道怎样使马儿发挥点作用的话——他会冒险脱逃、疯狂驰骋的。但他明白他无法使马儿驰骋。所以他慢步前行,而那看不见的伙伴就在他身边走着,就在他身边呼吸。最后,他再也不能忍受下去了。
"Who are you?" he said, scarcely above a whisper.
“你是谁啊?”他说,声音比窃窃私语高不了多少。
"One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.
“我等你说话好久了。”那个家伙说。他的说话不响亮,但嗓门儿很大,很深沉。
"Are you- are you a giant?" asked Shasta.
“你是——你是巨人吗?”
"You might call me a giant," said the Large Voice. "But I am not like the creatures you call giants."
“你不妨称我为巨人,”大嗓门说道,“但我跟你称之为巨人的动物并不像。”
"I can't see you at all," said Shasta, after staring very hard. Then (for an even more terrible idea had come into his head) he said, almost in a scream, "You're not - not something dead, are you? Oh please - please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!"
“我压根儿无法瞧见你。”沙斯塔瞪大眼睛瞧了半天后说道。接着(一个甚至更加可怕的想法跳上他的心头),他几乎是叫喊着说道:“你不是——不是什么已经死掉的东西吧,是不是?——请走开吧。我可没做什么伤害你的事啊!咳,我是世界上最倒霉的人了。”
Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. "There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."
他再一次感到对方的一股热烘烘的气息冲到了他的手上和脸上。“听着,”庞然大物说,“这可不是鬼魂的气息。把你的烦恼告诉我吧。”
Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.
沙斯塔对那气息稍稍有点儿放心了,所以他就告诉对方:他从来不知道他真正的父亲或母亲,他是由一个渔夫严厉地抚养大的。然后他又讲了他逃跑的故事,以及他们怎样被狮子追逐,被迫泅水逃命等;他讲到了他们在塔什班城所经历的一切危险,他在坟场里过夜以及沙漠里的野兽对他的咆哮。他讲到了沙漠旅途中的炎热和口渴,以及他们快要到达目的地时另一头狮子怎样追逐他们,并且抓伤了阿拉维斯。他也讲了从那时起他好久没吃过任何东西。
"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.
“我并不认为你是不幸的。”大嗓门说。
"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.
“遇到这么多狮子,你还不认为是倒霉吗?”沙斯塔说。
"There was only one lion," said the Voice.
“只有一头狮子。”那声音说道。
"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and-"
“你这话究竟是什么意思?我刚才就告诉过你,至少第一夜有两头狮子,还有……”
"There was only one: but he was swift of foot."
“只有一头狮子,但那头狮子跑得极快。”
"How do you know?"
“你怎么知道呢?”
"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."
“我就是那头狮子。”由于沙斯塔紧张得张大了嘴巴却说不出话来,庞然大物继续说到,“我就是逼你与阿拉维斯同行的那头狮子。我就是在坟场这死人之家里安慰你的那只猫咪。我就是在你睡熟时替你驱逐豺狼的那头狮子。我就是使马儿们在恐惧中获得新的力量、奔驰最后一段路程,以便你及时见到伦恩国王的那头狮子。而且我还是你当年并不记得的那头狮子,当年你奄奄一息躺在一条小船里,是我把船推动,使它漂到一个海滩上,有个渔夫坐在那儿,午夜未睡,收留了你。”
"Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"
“那么,抓伤阿拉维斯的,也是你吗?”
"It was I"
“是我。”
"But what for?"
“干吗要抓伤她呢?”
"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."
“孩子,”那声音说道,“我在把你的故事告诉你,不是她的。我只对一个人讲他本人的故事,不讲别的。”
"Who are you?" asked Shasta.
“你是谁呢?”沙斯塔问道。
"Myself," said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again "Myself", loud and clear and gay: and then the third time "Myself", whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.
“我自己。”那声音说道,又低又深沉,大地为之震动;接着是第二遍,“我自己。”响亮、清晰、愉快;然后是第三遍,“我自己。”那可是柔和的低声细语,你几乎听不大见,然而它又从四面八方向你传来,仿佛树叶儿也随之簌簌有声。
Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.
沙斯塔不再害怕这声音来自要吞吃他的大虫了,不再害怕这是鬼魂的声音了。但一种崭新的截然不同的战战兢兢之情,传遍了他的身心。而且他觉得非常愉快。
The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now, the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; his eyes began to blink. Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.
雾霭由墨黑变为浅灰,再有浅灰转为雪白。这个变化必定是好些时候以前就已经开始的。但在他和庞然大物交谈之际,他一直未留意其他任何东西。现在,他周围的一片白色,变成一种熠熠生光的白色了。他开始眨巴着眼睛。他听得见前边儿什么地方鸟儿在啁啾。他知道黑夜终于过去了。现在他能十分容易地瞧见马儿的脑袋、耳朵和鬃毛了。一道金光从左边落在他们身上。他以为这是太阳。
He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.
他转过头来,看见在身旁行走着一头狮子,比马儿还大。马儿似乎并不怕它,要不就是看不见它。原来金光发自狮子身上。没有人看到过比这更可怕或更美丽的东西了。
Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.
幸亏沙斯塔一直生活在卡乐门南方边远地区,没听到过塔什班城里窃窃私语的传闻:一个可怕的纳尼亚魔鬼化身为一头狮子。关于阿斯兰的真正故事,关于伟大的狮子,海外皇帝之子、纳尼亚国诸大国王之最高国王的真正的故事,沙斯塔当然是一点儿也不知道的。但他对狮子的脸瞧了一眼以后,就翻身下马,跪倒在狮子的脚边。他说不出什么话来,但那是他也不想说什么话,而且他心里明白他无需说什么话。
The High King above all kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all round him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with the horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky. And there were birds singing.
诸大国王之最高国王向他俯下头来。他的鬃毛散发出奇怪而庄严的香气,下垂在沙斯塔的周围。他用舌头舔舐他的前额。他仰起脸来。他们相对而视。接着,雾霭的苍白光芒和狮子如火的光芒立刻混在一起,化作一片光华的漩涡,集拢收缩,终于消失无存了。沙斯塔独自在蓝天下芳草萋萋的山坡上。鸟儿在鸣唱。
Chapter 12
第十二章
SHASTA IN NARNIA
沙斯塔在纳尼亚
"WAS it all a dream?" wondered Shasta. But it couldn't have been a dream for there in the grass before him he saw the deep, large print of the Lion's front right paw. It took one's breath away to think of the weight that could make a footprint like that. But there was something more remarkable than the size about it. As he looked at it, water had already filled the bottom of it. Soon it was full to the brim, and then overflowing, and a little stream was running downhill, past him, over the grass.
“这一切是个梦?”沙斯塔心中疑惑。但这不可能是个梦,因为他看到前面草地上有个狮子右前爪的又深又大的印子,能造成这样的爪印的重量,想想也叫人透不过气来。但还有比爪印大小深浅更令人奇怪的事哩。当他瞧着那爪印时,水已经铺满它的底部了。不多一会儿,水就漫到边上来了,往外溢出来了,一条小小溪水,流过青草,经过他的身边,奔流下山去了。
Shasta stooped and drank - a very long drink - and then dipped his face in and splashed his head. It was extremely cold, and clear as glass, and refreshed him very much. After that he stood up, shaking the water out of his ears and flinging the wet hair back from his forehead, and began to take stock of his surroundings.
沙斯塔俯下身去喝水——喝了好久——然后把脸浸在水里,把水泼在头上。水极冷,清澄如玻璃,他喝了神清气爽。这之后,他站起身来,把耳朵里的水甩掉,把潮湿的头发从前额上撩到后面去,开始观察周围环境。
Apparently it was still very early morning. The sun had only just risen, and it had risen out of the forests which he saw low down and far away on his right. The country j which he was looking at was absolutely new to him. It was t a green valley-land dotted with trees through which he caught the gleam of a river that wound away roughly to the North-West. On the far side of the valley there were high and even rocky hills, but they were lower than the mountains he had seen yesterday. Then he began to guess where he was. He turned and looked behind him and saw that the slope on which he was standing belonged to a range of far higher mountains.
显然还是挺早的清晨。太阳不过刚刚升起,他望见右首山下远方有许多森林,太阳就是从森林那儿冒出来的。他正遥望的国土,对他说来是绝对新鲜的。这是一片苍翠的溪谷之地,树木星罗棋布,他瞥见树木之间有一条河流闪闪生光,这河拐了个弯,向大致是西北方向奔腾而去。溪谷对岸是高高的石头小山,但它们比他昨天看到的山岭要低。于是他开始琢磨,他如今身在何处。他转过身来,向后瞧瞧,看到他所站立的山坡是处在更多更高的崇山峻岭之中。
"I see," said Shasta to himself. "Those are the big mountains between Archenland and Narnia. I was on the? other side of them yesterday. I must have come through the pass in the night. What luck that I hit it! - at least it wasn't luck at all really, it was Him. And now I'm in Narnia."
“我明白了,”沙斯塔跟他自己说道,“这些就是介于阿钦兰和纳尼亚之间的大山大岭。我昨天是在大山的那一边。我必定是在夜间穿过山隘的。我碰巧走对了,运道真好!——实际上,这压根儿不是运道好,这是它帮了大忙。现在我是在纳尼亚境内了。”
He turned and unsaddled his horse and took off its bridle - "Though you are a perfectly horrid horse," he said. It took no notice of this remark and immediately began eating grass. That horse had a very low opinion of Shasta.
他再转过身去,给马卸下了鞍子,取下了马勒——“尽管你是一匹完全令人厌恶的马。”他说道。马不理会他的批评,立刻开始吃起青草来了。那马对沙斯塔的评价不高。
"I wish I could eat grass!" thought Shasta. "It's no good going back to Anvard, it'll all be besieged. I'd better get lower down into the valley and see if I can get anything to eat."
“我但愿我能吃草啊!”沙斯塔心中想道,“回到安瓦德去毫无用处,这城将被团团围攻。我还不如到下边的山谷里去,瞧瞧能否弄到点东西吃。”
So he went on downhill (the thick dew was cruelly cold to his bare feet) till he came into a wood. There was a kind of track running through it and he had not followed this for many minutes when he heard a thick and rather wheezy voice saying to him.
所以他就走下山去(浓重的露水,让他的光脚丫子冷极了),一直走进一个树林。有一条踏出来的小路贯穿树林,他沿着这小路走了没有几分钟,就听到一个沙哑而呼哧呼哧的声音同他说话。
"Good morning, neighbour."
“早安,邻居。”
Shasta looked round eagerly to find the speaker and presently saw a small, prickly person with a dark face who had just come out from among the trees. At least, it was small for a person but very big indeed for a hedgehog, which was what it was.
沙斯塔热切地向四周打量,想要找到说话的人,他立刻看见了刚从树林里出来的一个身材短小、黑脸多刺的人。至少,作为一个人,它是太小了,但作为一只刺猬,却是很大的了:它就是一只刺猬。
"Good morning," said Shasta. "But I'm not a neighbour. In fact I'm a stranger in these parts."
“早安,”沙斯塔说道,“但我不是你的邻居。事实上,我是这地方的一个陌生人。”
"Ah?" said the Hedgehog inquiringly.
“啊?”刺猬询问地说道。
"I've come over the mountains - from Archenland, you know."
“我越过大山而来——你要知道,我是从阿钦兰来的。”
"Ha, Archenland," said the Hedgehog. "That's a terrible long way. Never been there myself."
“呀,阿钦兰,”刺猬说道,“离这儿远得可怕。我自己从没去过。”
"And I think, perhaps," said Shasta, "someone ought to be told that there's an army of savage Calormenes attacking Anvard at this very moment."
“而且我认为,”沙斯塔说道,“也许应该告诉人们:此时此刻,有一支野蛮的卡乐门军队正在进攻安瓦德城。”
"You don't say so!" answered the Hedgehog. "Well, think of that. And they do say that Calormen is hundreds and thousands of miles away, right at the world's end, across a great sea of sand."
“不会这样吧!”刺猬答道,“哦,想想吧。不是据说卡乐门在几百、几千里之外,在世界的尽头,跟这儿还隔着一个大沙漠吗?”
"It's not nearly as far as you think," said Shasta. "And oughtn't something to be done about this attack on Anvard? Oughtn't your High King to be told?"
“不像你所想像的那么遥远,”沙斯塔说道,“关于这次对安瓦德的进攻,总该做点儿事吧。总该禀告你们的至尊王吧?”
"Certain sure, something ought to be done about it," said the Hedgehog. "But you see I'm just on my way to bed for a good day's sleep. Hullo, neighbour!"
“确实如此,总该为此干点儿事情。”刺猬说道,“但,你瞧,我正要到床上去,美美地睡它一个白昼啊。哈啰,邻居!”
The last words were addressed to an immense biscuitcoloured rabbit whose head had just popped up from somewhere beside the path. The Hedgehog immediately told the Rabbit what it had just learned from Shasta. The Rabbit agreed that this was very remarkable news and that somebody ought to tell someone about it with a view to doing something.
最后一句话是对一只巨大的淡褐色兔子说的,兔子的脑袋刚从小径旁的地底下突然冒出来。刺猬立刻把它从沙斯塔那里听来的事情告诉兔子。兔子同意这是个惊人的消息,应该有人去告诉别人,以便为此干点儿事。
And so it went on. Every few minutes they were joined by other creatures, some from the branches overhead and some from little underground houses at their feet, till the party consisted of five rabbits, a squirrel, two magpies, a goat-foot faun, and a mouse, who all talked at the same time and all agreed with the Hedgehog. For the truth was that in that golden age when the Witch and the Winter had gone and Peter the High King ruled at Cair Paravel, the smaller woodland people of Narnia were so safe and happy that they were getting a little careless.
于是就这样纷纷传开去了。每隔几分钟,就有别的生物参加进来,有的来自头上的树枝,有的来自脚下的地底小屋:这一帮子,终于包含了五只兔子、一只松鼠、两只喜鹊、一个羊脚怪物以及一只耗子,它们大家同时说着话儿,大家都同意刺猬的意见。因为,事情的真相是:在那黄金时代里,女巫和冬天已经被赶走,至尊王彼得治理着凯尔帕拉维尔,纳尼亚较小林地里的居民们是那么安宁和幸福,所以它们有点儿麻痹大意了。
Presently, however, two more practical people arrived in the little wood. One was a Red Dwarf whose name appeared to be Duffle. The other was a stag, a beautiful lordly creature with wide liquid eyes, dappled flanks and legs so thin and graceful that they looked as if you could break them with two fingers.
不过,又有两个小树林里比较实际的居民来了。一个是红色小矮人,名叫德夫尔。另一个是一头牡鹿,一只美丽华贵的生物,眼睛大大的水汪汪的,两胁斑斑点点,两腿又纤细又雅致,看上去仿佛用两个手指就能把那腿折断似的。
"Lion alive!" roared the Dwarf as soon as he had heard the news. "And if that's so, why are we all standing still, chattering? Enemies at Anvard! News must be sent to Cair Paravel at once. The army must be called out. Narnia must go to the aid of King Lune."
“狮子还活着!”小矮人听到消息就大声嚷嚷,“如果真是这么一回事,咱们大家为什么仍旧站着闲谈呢?敌人猛攻安瓦德!必须立刻把消息送到凯尔帕拉维尔去。必须把军队动员起来。纳尼亚必须去支援国王伦恩。”
"Ah!" said the Hedgehog. "But you won't find the High King at the Cair. He's away to the North trouncing those giants. And talking of giants, neighbours, that puts me in mind -"
“啊!”刺猬说,“可是你在凯尔帕拉维尔找不到至尊王。他正北上讨伐巨人们。讲到巨人们,邻居们,使我想起了——”
"Who'll take our message?" interrupted the Dwarf. "Anyone here got more speed than me?"
“我们谁去送信?”小矮人说,“有谁跑得比我还快吗?”
"I've got speed," said the Stag. "What's my message? How many Calormenes?"
“我跑得快,”牡鹿说,“我怎么说?有多少卡乐门人?”
"Two hundred: under Prince Rabadash. And -" But the Stag was already away - all four legs off the ground at once, and in a moment its white stern had disappeared among the remoter trees.
“二百人马,由王子拉巴达什统率,还有……”但牡鹿已经跑掉了——立刻四脚腾空地飞跑,片刻之间,它的白色臀部便在遥远的树木之间消失了。
"Wonder where he's going," said a Rabbit. "He won't find the High King at Cair Paravel, you know."
“不明白它跑到什么地方去,”一只兔子说道,“要知道,它在凯尔帕拉维尔是找不到至尊王的。”
"He'll find Queen Lucy," said Duffle. "And then hullo! What's wrong with the Human? It looks pretty green. Why, I do believe it's quite faint. Perhaps it's mortal hungry. When did you last have a meal, youngster?"
“它可以找到露茜女王,”德夫尔说道,“然后……喂!喂!这个人有什么毛病呀?他的脸色发青。咳,我相信他要昏过去了。说不定这就是人的饥饿。小家伙,你最后一顿饭是什么时候吃的?”
"Yesterday morning," said Shasta weakly.
“昨天早晨。”沙斯塔虚弱无力地说道。
"Come on, then, come on," said the Dwarf, at once throwing his thick little arms round Shasta's waist to support him. "Why, neighbours, we ought all to be ashamed of ourselves! You come with me, lad. Breakfast! Better than talking."
“来吧,那么,来吧。”小矮人说道,立刻用他胖胖的小手臂抱住沙斯塔的腰,扶着他。“喂!邻居,我们大家都应该为自己感到羞耻。孩子,你跟我来吧。早餐!吃早餐比谈话好。”
With a great deal' of bustle, muttering reproaches to itself, the Dwarf half led and half supported Shasta at a great speed further into the wood and a little downhill. It was a longer walk than Shasta wanted at that moment and his legs had begun to feel very shaky before they came out from the trees on to bare hillside. There they found a little house with a smoking chimney and an open door, and as they came to the doorway Duffle called out,
小矮人大大的一阵忙乱,喃喃地责备着自己,半搀半扶地赶快把沙斯塔带进树林,稍稍走下山去一点儿。走的这段路比沙斯塔此刻所愿意走的要长得多,他们还没有走出树林,还没有到达光秃秃的山坡上,他已经开始感觉到两腿在发抖了。他们在山坡上找到一个小屋子,烟囱里在冒烟,门户洞开,当他们来到门口时,德夫尔喊道:
"Hey, brothers! A visitor for breakfast."
“嗨,兄弟们!有位客人来吃早饭了。”
And immediately, mixed with a sizzling sound, there came to Shasta a simply delightful smell. It was one he had never smelled in his life before, but I hope you have. It was, in fact, the smell of bacon and eggs and mushrooms all frying in a pan.
伴随着咝咝的油炸之声,立刻向沙斯塔飘来了令人垂涎欲滴的香味。这是一种他生平从未闻到过的香味,但我希望你是闻到过的。事实上,这是咸猪肉、鸡蛋和蘑菇在锅里油炸的香味。
"Mind your head, lad," said Duffle a moment too late, for Shasta had already bashed his forehead against the low lintel of the door.
“留神你的脑袋,孩子。”德夫尔说得晚了一点儿,因为沙斯塔的前额已经撞在低低的门楣上了。
"Now," continued the Dwarf, "sit you down. The table's a bit low for you, but then the stool's low too. That's right. And here's porridge - and here's a jug of cream - and here's a spoon."
“现在,”小矮人继续说道,“你坐下吧。对于你,桌子是低了一点儿,凳子也低了一点儿。这就行了。这儿是粥——这儿是壶奶油——这儿是个调羹。”
By the time Shasta had finished his porridge, the Dwarf's two brothers (whose names were Rogin and Bricklethumb) were putting the dish of bacon and eggs and mushrooms, and the coffee pot and the hot milk, and the toast, on the table.
沙斯塔喝完粥时,小矮人的两个兄弟(他们叫罗金和布里克尔森姆)正在把咸猪肉、鸡蛋和蘑菇,以及咖啡壶、热牛奶和吐司放到桌子上。
It was all new and wonderful to Shasta for Calormene food is quite different. He didn't even know what the slices of brown stuff were, for he had never seen toast before. He didn't know what the yellow soft thing they smeared on the toast was, because in Calormen you nearly always get oil instead of butter. And the house itself was quite different from the dark, frowsty, fish-smelling but of Arsheesh and from the pillared and carpeted halls in the palaces of Tashbaan. The roof was very low, and everything was made of wood, and there was a cuckoo-clock and a red-and-white checked table-cloth and a bowl of wild flowers and little curtains on the thick-paned windows. It was also rather troublesome having to use dwarf cups and plates and knives and forks. This meant that helpings were very small, but then there were a great many helpings, so that Shasta's plate or cup was being filled every moment, and every moment the Dwarfs themselves were saying, "Butter please", or "Another cup of coffee," or "I'd like a few more mushrooms," or "What about frying another egg or so?" And when at last they had all eaten as much as they possibly could the three Dwarfs drew lots for who would do the washing-up, and Rogin was the unlucky one. Then Duffle and Bricklethumb took Shasta outside to a bench which ran against the cottage wall, and they all stretched out their legs and gave a great sigh of contentment and the two Dwarfs lit their pipes. The dew was off the grass now and the sun was warm; indeed, if there hadn't been a light breeze, it would have been too hot.
对沙斯塔来说,这顿早餐全然是新奇的、了不起的,因为卡乐门的食物是完全不同的。他甚至不知道这一片片棕色的东西是什么玩意儿,因为他以前从未见过吐司。他不知道涂在吐司上的黄色柔软的东西是什么玩意儿,因为在卡乐门几乎总是用油来代替白脱的。而这屋子本身也跟阿什伊什黑暗、霉臭、鱼腥的小屋不同,跟塔什班城王宫里圆柱耸立、毯子铺地的大厅截然不同。屋顶很低,一切都是木头做的,有一只以杜鹃叫声报时的钟,一块红白格子台布,一碗野花,厚玻璃窗上还挂着小小的白色窗帘。不得不用小矮人的杯子、盘子、刀叉,也是很麻烦的事。这意味着每份食品都很少,却又有许多份,所以沙斯塔的盘子或是杯子,时时刻刻都在重新添盛,而小矮人们自己也时时刻刻在说:“请来点儿白脱”,“再来一杯咖啡”,或是“我再要些蘑菇”,或是“再来一份煎鸡蛋好吗?”最后,当大家尽量吃饱以后,三个小矮人便拈阄决定由谁洗盘子,结果是罗金倒霉。于是德夫尔和布里克尔森姆便领沙斯塔到屋子外的一条长凳上坐下,那长凳靠着小屋的墙垣;于是他们大家都伸直了腿,心满意足地吁出一口气来,两个小矮人还点上了烟斗。现在青草上的露水不见了,太阳是温暖的,确实,如果没有一阵阵清风的话,天气就会显得太热了。
"Now, Stranger," said Duffle, "I'll show you the lie of the land. You can see nearly all South Narnia from here, and we're rather proud of the view. Right away on your left, beyond those near hills, you can just see the Western Mountains. And that round hill away on your right is called the Hill of the Stone Table. Just beyond -"
“陌生人啊,”德夫尔说,“我来把地形地势指给你看。你从这儿几乎可以看见整个南部纳尼亚,我们是很以这里的景色自豪的。向你的左边望过去,越过那些附近的小山,你正好能望见西部群山。在你右边那个圆圆的小山,叫作石桌山。就在它外边……”
But at that moment he was interrupted by a snore from Shasta who, what with his night's journey and his excellent breakfast, had gone fast asleep. The kindly Dwarfs, as soon as they noticed this, began making signs to each other not to wake him, and indeed did so much whispering and nodding and getting up and -tiptoeing away that they certainly would have waked him if he had been less tired.
但这时候他被沙斯塔的鼾声打断了,沙斯塔经过一夜奔波,吃了一顿美美的早餐,很快就睡熟了。好心的小矮人们一发现他睡着了,就立刻互相作手势,不要去惊醒他。事实上,他们彼此窃窃私语,点头会意,站起身来,踮着脚尖走动,好不热闹,若不是沙斯塔十分困倦,他倒是一定会被惊醒的。
He slept pretty well -nearly all day but woke up in time for supper. The beds in that house were all too small for him but they made him a fine bed of heather on the floor, and he never stirred nor dreamed all night. Next morning they had just finished breakfast when they heard a shrill, exciting sound from outside.
沙斯塔几乎睡了整整一天,醒来时刚赶上吃晚饭。屋子里的床给他睡是太小了,但他们在地上给他铺了一个极好的石南床,他睡在那床上,整夜没有动弹,整夜没有作梦。第二天早晨他们刚吃完早餐,便听到从屋子外传来一个尖锐而激动的声音。
"Trumpets!" said all the Dwarfs, as they and Shasta all came running out.
“喇叭声!”小矮人们一齐说道,这时他们和沙斯塔都跑出门外去了。
The trumpets sounded again: a new noise to Shasta, not huge and solemn like the horns of Tashbaan nor gay and merry like King Lune's hunting horn, but clear and sharp and valiant. The noise was coming from the woods to the East, and soon there was a noise of horse-hoofs mixed with it. A moment later the head of the column came into sight.
喇叭声又响起来了:对沙斯塔说来,的确是个崭新的声音,既不像塔什班城的号角那么洪亮庄重,又不像国王伦恩的狩猎号角那么轻快欢乐,却清晰、尖厉、豪迈。喇叭声是从树林传到东边来的,不久又有马蹄嘚嘚声同喇叭声混合在一起。一会儿之后,纵队的先锋就看得见了。
First came the Lord Peridan on a bay horse carrying the great banner of Narnia - a red lion on a green ground. Shasta knew him at once. Then came three people riding abreast, two on great chargers and one on a pony. The two on the chargers were King Edmund and а fаir-haired lady with a very merry face who wore a helmet and a mail shirt and carried a bow across her shoulder and a quiver full of arrows at her side. ("The Queen Lucy," whispered Duffle.) But the one on the pony was Corin. After that came the main body of the army: men on ordinary horses, men on Talking Horses (who didn't mind being ridden on proper occasions, as when Narnia went to war), centaurs, stern, hard-bitten bears, great Talking Dogs, and last of all six giants. For there are good giants in Narnia. But though he knew they were on the right side Shasta at first could hardly bear to look at them; there are some things that take a lot of getting used to.
走在第一个的是珀里丹勋爵,骑一匹栗色马,手执纳尼亚大旗——青绿底色上一头红狮子。沙斯塔立刻认出他来了。接着是三个并驾齐驱的人,两个人跨着战马,一个人骑着马驹子。骑在战马上的一个是爱德蒙国王,另一个是金发女郎,满脸兴高采烈的神色,头戴头盔,身穿锁子甲,肩上背着一只弓,身边挂着装满箭的箭袋。(“露茜女王。”德夫尔低声说道。)骑在马驹子上的是科林。这三人之后,是军队的主体:骑在寻常马儿身上的士卒、骑在会说人话的马儿身上的军人(遇到正当情况,例如纳尼亚要作战时,这种马儿并不在意被人骑)、人头马、咬起来凶狠的板着脸的熊、了不得的会说人话的狗,最后是六个巨人。然而,尽管他知道他们是站在正义一边的,沙斯塔开头还是不大敢看他们;有些事情要经过很多时间才能看得惯哩。
Just as the King and Queen reached the cottage and the Dwarfs began making low bows to them, King Edmund called out,
正当国王和女王到达小屋门前、小矮人们开始向他们鞠躬时,国王爱德蒙大声喊道:
"Now, friends! Time for a halt and a morsel!" and at once there was a great bustle of people dismounting and haversacks being opened and conversation beginning when Corm came running up to Shasta and seized both his hands and cried,
“朋友们!该歇一歇、吃一口东西了。”于是立刻出现了一阵忙乱,人们纷纷跳下马来,打开干粮袋,开始交谈起来,这时科林向沙斯塔跑过来,抓住他的双手,叫喊道:
"What! You here! So you got through all right? I am glad. Now we shall have some sport. And isn't it luck! We only got into harbour at Cair Paravel yesterday morning and the very first person who met us was Chervy the Stag with all this news of an attack on Anvard. Don't you think -"
“啊!你在这儿!那么你是一路平安地过来了?我很高兴。如今我们将参加游戏了,这岂不是好运道!我们在凯尔帕拉维尔刚进港,第一个遇见我们的是牡鹿彻耳,它带来了敌人进攻安瓦德的全部消息。你可认为……”
"Who is your Highness's friend?" said King Edmund who had just got off his horse.
“殿下的朋友是谁呀?”刚下马的国王爱德蒙问道。
"Don't you see, Sire?" said Corin. "It's my double: the boy you mistook me for at Tashbaan."
“陛下,你可看出来了?”科林说道,“他就是跟我极相似的人:你在塔什班城错把他当作我了。”
"Why, so he is your double," exclaimed Queen Lucy. "As like as two twins. This is a marvellous thing."
“呀,他就是跟你极相似的人,”露茜女王叫道,“跟孪生兄弟一样相像。真是件不可思议的事情。”
"Please, your Majesty," said Shasta to King Edmund, "I was no traitor, really I wasn't. And I couldn't help hearing your plans. But I'd never have dreamed of telling them to your enemies."
“禀告陛下,”沙斯塔对国王爱德蒙说道,“我不是奸细,我确实不是。我不由自主地听到了你们的计划。但我做梦也想不到把这计划告诉你的敌人。”
"I know now that you were no traitor, boy," said King Edmund, laying his hand on Shasta's head. "But if you would not be taken for one, another time try not to hear what's meant for other ears. But all's well."
“孩子,我现在知道你并不是奸细,”国王爱德蒙的手按在沙斯塔的头上,说道,“但如果你不愿意被当作奸细,下次就要竭力不去听那原是要讲给别的耳朵听的话。但一切很顺利。”
After that there was so much bustle and talk and coming and going that Shasta for a few minutes lost sight of Corin and Edmund and Lucy. But Corin was the sort of boy whom one is sure to hear of pretty soon and it wasn't very long before Shasta heard King Edmund saying in a loud voice:
这之后,又有许多忙乱,许多谈话,许多来来往往,不到几分钟,沙斯塔就看不见科林、爱德蒙和露茜了。但科林是不久就会让人听到有关他的消息的那种孩子;过不了多久,沙斯塔果然就听到国王爱德蒙大声说道:
"By the Lion's Mane, prince, this is too much! Will your Highness never be better? You are more of a heart's-scald than our whole army together! I'd as lief have a regiment of hornets in my command as you."
“凭着狮王的鬃毛,王子,这是太过分了。殿下永远不会长进吗?我们整个军队加在一起也不及你那么让人火烧火燎的!指挥你,我宁愿指挥一个团的大黄蜂。”
Shasta wormed his way through the crowd and there saw Edmund, looking very angry indeed, Corin looking a little ashamed of himself, and a strange Dwarf sitting on the ground making faces. A couple of fauns had apparently just been helping it out of its armour.
沙斯塔在人群中钻过去,终于看到了国王爱德蒙,他看上去确实十分愤怒,科林呢,看上去有点儿不好意思,还有一个奇怪的小矮人正坐在地上作鬼脸。显而易见,两个羊怪刚帮助那小矮人卸下盔甲。
"If I had but my cordial with me," Queen Lucy was saying, "I could soon mend this. But the High King has so strictly charged me not to carry it commonly to the wars and to keep it only for great extremities!"
“如果我把药酒带来的话,”露茜女王说,“我很快就能替他治愈的。但至尊王严格地要求我别稀松平常地把它带到战场上来,要留待非常危险时使用!”
What had happened was this. As soon as Corin had spoken to Shasta, Corin's elbow had been plucked by a Dwarf in the army called Thornbut.
事情原来是这样的。科林刚同沙斯塔说过话,他的肘拐儿便被一个小矮人抓住了。军队里管这个小矮人叫“刺儿头”。
"What is it, Thornbut?" Corin had said.
“你这是干什么,刺儿头?”科林说。
"Your Royal Highness," said Thornbut, drawing him aside, "our march today will bring us through the pass and right to your royal father's castle. We may be in battle before night."
“王子殿下,”刺儿头把他拉到一边说,“我们今天的行军会带我们穿过关隘,直接开到你父王的城堡。黑夜以前我们也许就要参加战斗了。”
"I know," said Corin. "Isn't it splendid!"
“我知道,”科林说,“战争不是很壮观吗?”
"Splendid or not," said Thornbut, "I have the strictest orders from King Edmund to see to it that your Highness is not in the fight. You will be allowed to see it, and that's treat enough for your Highness's little years."
“壮观也好,不壮观也好,”刺儿头说,“我可奉到国王爱德蒙最最严厉的命令,要我留神不让殿下你参加战斗。可以容许你在旁观战;以殿下的年龄,这种待遇已经够意思的了。”
"Oh what nonsense!" Corin burst out. "Of course I'm going to fight. Why, the Queen Lucy's going to be with the archers."
“真是胡说八道!”科林发作道,“当然我要去打仗的。为什么露茜女王带着她的弓箭手一同去打仗呢?”
"The Queen's grace will do as she pleases," said Thornbut. "But you are in my charge. Either I must have your solemn and princely word that you'll keep your pony beside mine - not half a neck ahead - till I give your Highness leave to depart: or else - it is his Majesty's word - we must go with our wrists tied together like two prisoners."
“女王通情达理,可以随心所欲,”刺儿头说,“但你是由我看管的。要么,我必须得到你王子的庄严诺言:你得使你的马驹子在我的马儿旁边并驾齐驱,超前半个脖子也不行,直至我同意你离开为止;要么——这是陛下亲口说的——咱俩必须把咱们的手腕缚在一起,像囚徒一样。”
"I'll knock you down if you try to bind me," said Corm.
“如果你想缚我,我就把你打倒在地。”科林说。
"I'd like to see your Highness do it," said the Dwarf.
“我倒很想瞧瞧殿下动手打人。”小矮人说道。
That was quite enough for a boy like Corin and in a second he and the Dwarf were at it hammer and tongs. It would have been an even match for, though Corin had longer arms and more height, the Dwarf was older and tougher. But it was never fought out (that's the worst of fights on a rough hillside) for by very bad luck Thornbut trod on a loose stone, came flat down on his nose, and found when he tried to get up that he had sprained his ankle: a real excruciating sprain which would keep him from walking or riding for at least a fortnight.
这句话就足够把科林这样的孩子惹恼了,他和小矮人立刻激烈地打起来了。这本来是一场势均力敌的搏斗,因为虽然科林身高手长,小矮人却比较年长、健壮。但这场搏斗没有能一决雌雄(这是崎岖山坡上最糟糕的一次打架),因为刺儿头大倒其霉,踩在一块活动的石头上,鼻子朝地跌了下去,竭力站起来时发觉踝关节扭伤了:一种造成剧烈疼痛的扭伤,至少两个星期不能走路或骑马。
"See what your Highness has done," said King Edmund. "Deprived us of a proved warrior on the very edge of battle."
“瞧瞧殿下的所作所为吧,”国王爱德蒙说道,“马上就要打仗了,你却剥夺了我们一个久经考验的战士。”
"I'll take his place, Sire," said Corin.
“我一定代替他作战,陛下。”科林说。
"Pshaw," said Edmund. "No one doubts your courage. But a boy in battle is a danger only to his own side."
“呸!”爱德蒙说,“没有人怀疑你的勇气。但战斗中的孩子,只不过是他自己那一方的一个危险而已。”
At that moment the King was called away to attend to something else, and Corin, after apologizing handsomely to the Dwarf, rushed up to Shasta and whispered,
就在这当儿,国王被请去安排别的事情了,而科林呢,漂亮地向小矮人道歉以后,便跑到沙斯塔身边,悄悄说道:
"Quick. There's a spare pony now, and the Dwarf's armour. Put it on before anyone notices."
“赶快。现在有一匹备用的马驹子,还有小矮人的那副盔甲。趁着还没有人注意,你就穿上吧。”
"What for?" said Shasta.
“穿上干吗?”沙斯塔说。
"Why, so that you and I can fight in the battle of course! Don't you want to?"
“呀,当然是为了你和我能参加打仗啊!你可愿意去打仗吗?”
"Oh - ah, yes, of course," said Shasta. But he hadn't been thinking of doing so at all, and began to get a most uncomfortable prickly feeling in his spine.
“啊——啊,是的,当然愿意啰。”沙斯塔说。但他压根儿没想到去打仗,而且脊骨里开始有种极不舒服的刺痛之感。
"That's right," said Corin. "Over your head. Now the sword-belt. But we must ride near the tail of the column and keep as quiet as mice. Once the battle begins everyone will be far too busy to notice us."
“这就对了,”科林说,“套在你脑袋上。再把剑带束在腰间。但我们必须骑马走在纵队的尾巴附近,而且不声不响,像老鼠一样。一旦战斗打响,大家就忙碌极了,不会注意我们了。”
Chapter 13
第十三章
THE FIGHT AT ANVARD
安瓦德之战
By about eleven o'clock the whole company was once more on the march, riding westward with the mountains on their left. Corin and Shasta rode right at the rear with the Giants immediately in front of them. Lucy and Edmund and Peridan were busy with their plans for the battle and though Lucy once said, "But where is his goosecap Highness?" Edmund only replied, "Not in the front, and that's good news enough. Leave well alone."
十一点钟光景,整个部队重新行军,向西飞驰而去,大山在他们的左边。科林和沙斯塔骑马殿后,巨人们在他们的前边。露茜、爱德蒙和珀里丹忙于商量作战计划;虽然露茜说过:“可鹅帽殿下在哪儿啊?”爱德蒙只是答道,“不在先头部队里,那就真是好消息了。随他去吧。”
Shasta told Corin most of his adventures and explained that he had learned all his riding from a horse and didn't really know how to use the reins. Corin instructed him in this, besides telling him all about their secret sailing from Tashbaan.
沙斯塔把他大部分惊险经历告诉了科林,并且解释道:他是跟一匹马儿学习骑马的,因此他确实不知道怎样使用缰绳。科林便教他,还把他们从塔什班城秘密出航的经过告诉了他。
"And where is the Queen Susan?"
“那么苏珊女王在哪儿呢?”
"At Cair Paravel," said Corin. "She's not like Lucy, you know, who's as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy. Queen Susan is more like an ordinary grown-up lady. She doesn't ride to the wars, though she is an excellent archer."
“在凯尔帕拉维尔,”科林说,“她不像露茜,你要知道,她像男子汉一样,或者,无论如何也像男孩子一样。苏珊女王更像一位长大成人的普通小姐。她并不骑着马去作战,尽管她是个射箭好手。”
The hillside path which they were following became narrower all the time and the drop on their right hand became steeper. At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it. "But of course," he thought, "I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time."
他们正在走的山径愈来愈狭窄,右首的山坡也更加陡了。最后,他们改成单行沿着悬崖的边缘走去;沙斯塔不寒而栗地想到上一夜他是不知不觉地在这悬崖边上走过去的。“然而,当然啦,”他心中想道,“我是十分安全的。那就是为什么狮子始终走在我左边的缘故。狮子自始至终是走在我和悬崖之间啊。”
Then the path went left and south away from the cliff and there were thick woods on both sides of it and they went steeply up and up into the pass. There would have been a splendid view from the top if it were open ground but among all those trees you could see nothing - only, every now and then, some huge pinnacle of rock above the tree-tops, and an eagle or two wheeling high up in the blue air.
接着,山径向左首延伸,背离悬崖向南而去,这时两旁都是密密的树林,山径险峻陡急,他们不断地往上、往上登高,终于进入关隘。如果关隘是片开阔地带,从顶上俯瞰,准是一片好风景,可是如今置身这许多树木之中,你就什么也看不见了——只是有时看见一些巨大的石峰矗立在树顶的上方,一两只鹰在高高的蓝天里盘旋飞翔。
"They smell battle," said Corin, pointing at the birds. "They know we're preparing a feed for them."
“鹰嗅到战争的气息了,”科林指点着鸟儿说道,“它们知道我们在为它们准备美餐哩。”
Shasta didn't like this at all.
沙斯塔压根儿不喜欢这种俏皮话。
When they had crossed the neck of the pass and come a good deal lower they reached more open ground and from here Shasta could see all Archenland, blue and hazy, spread out below him and even (he thought) a hint of the desert beyond it. But the sun, which had perhaps two hours or so to go before it set, was in his eyes and he couldn't make things out distinctly.
当他们经过了隘口,又往下走了好多路,便来到比较开阔的地带,沙斯塔从这儿能看见全部阿钦兰国土,蓝悠悠,雾蒙蒙,展现在他的脚下(他认为),他甚至望见了阿钦兰背后隐隐约约的大沙漠。然而,也许再过两个钟点就要下山的太阳,光芒直射他的眼睛,他眼花缭乱,没法儿把景物看个清清楚楚。
Here the army halted and spread out in a line, and there was a great deal of rearranging. A whole detachment of very dangerous-looking Talking Beasts whom Shasta had not noticed before and who were mostly of the cat kind (leopards, panthers, and the like) went padding and growling to take up their positions on the left. The giants were ordered to the right, and before going there they all took off something they had been carrying on their backs and sat down for a moment. Then Shasta saw that what they had been carrying and were now putting on were pairs of boots: horrid, heavy, spiked boots which came up to their knees. Then they sloped their huge clubs over their shoulders and marched to their battle position. The archers, with Queen Lucy, fell to the rear and you could first see them bending their bows and then hear the twangtwang as they tested the strings. And wherever you looked you could see people tightening girths, putting on helmets, drawing swords, and throwing cloaks to the ground. There was hardly any talking now. It was very solemn and very dreadful. "I'm in for it now - I really am in for it now," thought Shasta. Then there came noises far ahead: the sound of many men shouting and a steady thud-thud-thud.
军队在这儿止步了,展开成为一条战线,而且作了许多新的安排。整整一队是外貌狰狞的说人话的野兽,沙斯塔以前不曾注意它们;它们大部分都属于猫科(花豹、黑豹,诸如此类),咆哮着大踏步走到左边去进入阵地。巨人们奉命开拔到右边去,开拔之前,他们都从背上卸下他们所背的东西,并且在地上坐了一会儿。于是沙斯塔看到巨人们刚才背着的、现在正穿上脚去的,乃是一双双的靴子:可怕的、沉重的、底部有尖钉的、长及膝头的靴子。巨人们接着就掮着大棒进入他们的阵地。弓箭手以及露茜女王调到了后边儿,你能首先看见他们弯弓,其次听到他们试拉弓弦的嘣嘣声。不论你朝哪儿看,你处处看得见人们在收紧肚带,戴上头盔,抽出刀剑,把大氅丢在地上。现在没有什么人谈话了。十分庄严,十分可怕。“现在我已经不能中途退回了——现在我确确实实不能中途退回了。”沙斯塔心中想道。 从前边儿远远地传来嘈杂喧闹的声音:许多人在大叫大嚷,还有一种稳定不变的砰砰声。
"Battering ram," whispered Corin. "They're battering the gate."
“攻城槌,”科林低声说道,“敌人正在猛撞城门。”
Even Corin looked quite serious now.
现在甚至科林也神情严肃。
"Why doesn't King Edmund get on?" he said. "I can' stand this waiting about. Chilly too."
“爱德蒙国王为什么不出击呢?”他说,“我受不了这种等待。也冷得很。”
返回书籍页