Chapter 5

THE DEPLORABLE WORD

THE children were facing one another across the pillar where the bell hung, still trembling, though it no longer gave out any note. Suddenly they heard a soft noise from the end of the room which was still undamaged. They turned quick as lightning to see what it was. One of the robed figures, the furthest-off one of all, the woman whom Digory thought so beautiful, was rising from its chair. When she stood up they realized that she was even taller than they had thought. And you could see at once, not only from her crown and robes, but from the flash of her eyes and the curve of her lips, that she was a great queen. She looked round the room and saw the damage and saw the children, but you could not guess from her face what she thought of either or whether she was surprised. She came forward with long, swift strides.

"Who has awaked me? Who has broken the spell?" she asked.

"I think it must have been me," said Digory.

"You!" said the Queen, laying her hand on his shoulder - a white, beautiful hand, but Digory could feel that it was strong as steel pincers. "You? But you are only a child, a common child. Anyone can see at a glance that you have no drop of royal or noble blood in your veins. How did such as you dare to enter this house?"

"We've come from another world; by Magic," said Polly, who thought it was high time the Queen took some notice of her as well as of Digory.

"Is this true?" said the Queen, still looking at Digory and not giving Polly even a glance.

"Yes, it is," said he.

The Queen put her other hand under his chin and forced it up so that she could see his face better. Digory tried to stare back but he soon had to let his eyes drop. There was something about hers that overpowered him.

After she had studied him for well over a minute, she let go of his chin and said:

"You are no magician. The mark of it is not on you. You must be only the servant of a magician. It is on another's Magic that you have travelled here."

"It was my Uncle Andrew," said Digory.

At the moment, not in the room itself but from somewhere very close, there came, first a rumbling, then a creaking, and then a roar of falling masonry, and the floor shook.

"There is great peril here," said the Queen. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes we shall be buried under the ruin." She spoke as calmly as if she had been merely mentioning the time of day. "Come," she added, and held out a hand to each of the children. Polly, who was disliking the Queen and feeling rather sulky, would not have let her hand be taken if she could have helped it. But though the Queen spoke so calmly, her movements were as quick as thought. Before Polly knew what was happening her left hand had been caught in a hand so much larger and stronger than her own that she could do nothing about it.

"This is a terrible woman," thought Polly. "She's strong enough to break my arm with one twist. And now that she's got my left hand I can't get at my yellow ring. If I tried to stretch across and get my right hand into my left pocket I mightn't be able to reach it, before she asked me what I was doing. Whatever happens we mustn't let her know about the rings. I do hope Digory has the sense to keep his mouth shut. I wish I could get a word with him alone."

The Queen led them out of the Hall of Images into a long corridor and then through a whole maze of halls and stairs and courtyards. Again and again they heard parts of the great palace collapsing, sometimes quite close to them. Once a huge arch came thundering down only a moment after they had passed through it. The Queen was walking quickly - the children had to trot to keep up with her but she showed no sign of fear. Digory thought, "She's wonderfully brave. And strong. She's what I call a Queen! I do hope she's going to tell us the story of this place."

She did tell them certain things as they went along:

"That is the door to the dungeons," she would say, or "That passage leads to the principal torture chambers," or "This was the old banqueting hall where my greatgrandfather bade seven hundred nobles to a feast and killed them all before they had drunk their fill. They had had rebellious thoughts."

They came at last into a hall larger and loftier than any they had yet seen. From its size and from the great doors at the far end, Digory thought that now at last they must be coming to the main entrance. In this he was quite right. The doors were dead black, either ebony or some black metal which is not found in our world. They were fastened with great bars, most of them too high to reach and all too heavy to lift. He wondered how they would get out.

The Queen let go of his hand and raised her arm. She drew herself up to her full height and stood rigid. Then she said something which they couldn't understand (but it sounded horrid) and made an action as if she were throwing something towards the doors. And those high and heavy doors trembled for a second as if they were made of silk and then crumbled away till there was nothing left of them but a heap of dust on the threshold.

"Whew!" whistled Digory.

"Has your master magician, your uncle, power like mine?" asked the Queen, firmly seizing Digory's hand again. "But I shall know later. In the meantime, remember what you have seen. This is what happens to things, and to people, who stand in my way."

Much more light than they had yet seen in that country was pouring in through the now empty doorway, and when the Queen led them out through it they were not surprised to find themselves in the open air. The wind that blew in their faces was cold, yet somehow stale. They were looking from a high terrace and there was a great landscape out below them.

Low down and near the horizon hung a great, red sun, far bigger than our sun. Digory felt at once that it was also older than ours: a sun near the end of its life, weary of looking down upon that world. To the left of the sun, and higher up, there was a single star, big and bright. Those were the only two things to be seen in the dark sky; they made a dismal group. And on the earth, in every direction, as far as the eye could reach, there spread a vast city in which there was no living thing to be seen. And all the temples, towers, palaces, pyramids, and bridges cast long, disastrous-looking shadows in the light of that withered sun. Once a great river had flowed through the city, but the water had long since vanished, and it was now only a wide ditch of grey dust.

"Look well on that which no eyes will ever see again," said the Queen. "Such was Charn, that great city, the city of the King of Kings, the wonder of the world, perhaps of all worlds. Does your uncle rule any city as great as this, boy?"

"No," said Digory. He was going to explain that Uncle Andrew didn't rule any cities, but the Queen went on:

"It is silent now. But I have stood here when the whole air was full of the noises of Charn; the trampling of feet, the creaking of wheels, the cracking of the whips and the groaning of slaves, the thunder of chariots, and the sacrificial drums beating in the temples. I have stood here (but that was near the end) when the roar of battle went up from every street and the river of Charn ran red." She paused and added, "All in one moment one woman blotted it out for ever."

"Who?" said Digory in a faint voice; but he had already guessed the answer.

"I," said the Queen. "I, Jadis the last Queen, but the Queen of the World."

The two children stood silent, shivering in the cold wind.

"It was my sister's fault," said the Queen. "She drove me to it. May the curse of all the Powers rest upon her forever! At any moment I was ready to make peace - yes and to spare her life too, if only she would yield me the throne. But she would not. Her pride has destroyed the whole world. Even after the war had begun, there was a solemn promise that neither side would use Magic. But when she broke her promise, what could I do? Fool! As if she did not know that I had more Magic than she! She even knew that I had the secret of the Deplorable Word. Did she think - she was always a weakling - that I would not use it?"

"What was it?" said Digory.

"That was the secret of secrets," said the Queen Jadis. "It had long been known to the great kings of our race that there was a word which, if spoken with the proper ceremonies, would destroy all living things except the one who spoke it. But the ancient kings were weak and softhearted and bound themselves and all who should come after them with great oaths never even to seek after the knowledge of that word. But I learned it in a secret place and paid a terrible price to learn it. I did not use it until she forced me to it. I fought to overcome her by every other means. I poured out the blood of my armies like water -"

"Beast!" muttered Polly.

"The last great battle," said the Queen, "raged for three days here in Charn itself. For three days I looked down upon it from this very spot. I did not use my power till the last of my soldiers had fallen, and the accursed woman, my sister, at the head of her rebels was halfway up those great stairs that lead up from the city to the terrace. Then I waited till we were so close that we could see one another's faces. She flashed her horrible, wicked eyes upon me and said, "Victory." "Yes," said I, "Victory, but not yours." Then I spoke the Deplorable Word. A moment later I was the only living thing beneath the sun.",

"But the people?" gasped Digory.

"What people, boy?" asked the Queen.

"All the ordinary people," said Polly, "who'd never done you any harm. And the women, and the children, and the animals."

"Don't you understand?" said the Queen (still speaking to Digory). "I was the Queen. They were all my people. What else were they there for but to do my will?"

"It was rather hard luck on them, all the same," said he.

"I had forgotten that you are only a common boy. How should you understand reasons of State? You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny."

Digory suddenly remembered that Uncle Andrew had used exactly the same words. But they sounded much grander when Queen Jadis said them; perhaps because Uncle Andrew was not seven feet tall and dazzlingly beautiful.

"And what did you do then?" said Digory.

"I had already cast strong spells on the hall where the images of my ancestors sit. And the force of those spells was that I should sleep among them, like an image myself, and need neither food nor fire, though it were a thousand years, till one came and struck the bell and awoke me."

"Was it the Deplorable Word that made the sun like that?" asked Digory.

"Like what?" said Jadis

"So big, so red, and so cold."

"It has always been so," said Jadis. "At least, for hundreds of thousands of years. Have you a different sort of sun in your world?"

"Yes, it's smaller and yellower. And it gives a good deal more heat."

The Queen gave a long drawn "A-a-ah!" And Digory saw on her face that same hungry and greedy look which he had lately seen on Uncle Andrew's. "So," she said, "yours is a younger world."

She paused for a moment to look once more at the deserted city - and if she was sorry for all the evil she had done there, she certainly didn't show it - and then said: "Now, let us be going. It is cold here at the end of all a the ages."

"Going where?" asked both the children.

"Where?" repeated Jadis in surprise. "To your world, of course."

Polly and Digory looked at each other, aghast. Polly had disliked the Queen from the first; and even Digory, now that he had heard the story, felt that he had seen quite as much of her as he wanted. Certainly, she was not at all the sort of person one would like to take home. And if they did like, they didn't know how they could. What they wanted was to get away themselves: but Polly couldn't get at her ring and of course Digory couldn't go without her. Digory got very red in the face and stammered.

"Oh - oh - our world. I d-didn't know you wanted to go there."

"What else were you sent here for if not to fetch me?" asked Jadis.

"I'm sure you wouldn't like our world at all," said Digory. "It's not her sort of place, is it Polly? It's very dull; not worth seeing, really."

"It will soon be worth seeing when I rule it," answered the Queen.

"Oh, but you can't," said Digory. "It's not like that. They wouldn't let you, you know."

The Queen gave a contemptuous smile. "Many great kings," she said, "thought they could stand against the House of Charn. But they all fell, and their very names are forgotten. Foolish boy! Do you think that I, with my beauty and my Magic, will not have your whole world at my feet before a year has passed? Prepare your incantations and take me there at once."

"This is perfectly frightful," said Digory to Polly.

"Perhaps you fear for this Uncle of yours," said Jadis. "But if he honours me duly, he shall keep his life and his throne. I am not coming to fight against him. He must be a very great Magician, if he has found how to send you here. Is he King of your whole world or only of part?"

"He isn't King of anywhere," said Digory.

"You are lying," said the Queen. "Does not Magic always go with the royal blood? Who ever heard of common people being Magicians? I can see the truth whether you speak it or not. Your Uncle is the great King and the great Enchanter of your world. And by his art he has seen the shadow of my face, in some magic mirror or some enchanted pool; and for the love of my beauty he has made a potent spell which shook your world to its foundations and sent you across the vast gulf between world and world to ask my favour and to bring me to him. Answer me: is that not how it was?"

"Well, not exactly," said Digory.

"Not exactly," shouted Polly. "Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."

"Minions!" cried the Queen, turning in rage upon Polly and seizing her hair, at the very top of her head where it hurts most. But in so doing she let go of both the children's hands. "Now," shouted Digory; and "Quick! shouted Polly. They plunged their left hands into their pockets. They did not even need to put the rings on. The moment they touched them, the whole of that dreary, world vanished from their eyes. They were rushing upward and a warm green light was growing nearer over head.

      5、 灭绝咒
      虽然钟声停止了，但钟仍然颤抖着；两个孩子隔普挂钟的柱子面面相觑。忽然，从还没有毁坏的屋子一角传来一阵轻柔的声音。他们立即转身看去。所有穿长袍的塑像中最远的那个，即迪格雷认为非常美丽的女人，正从椅子上站起来。当她站起来后，他们意识到，她比他们原来想像的还要高。而且，从她的王冠、长袍、眼神和嘴唇的线条上，你马上便能看出，她是一位了不起的女王。她环视屋子当中毁坏的场面，也看见了孩子们，但你无法从她脸上的表情判断她是否感到惊讶。她大步流星地走了过来。
      “是谁唤醒了我，是谁破了魔咒，”她问。
      “我想，肯定是我。”迪格雷说。
      “你？”女王说着，把手搭在迪格雷肩上——那是一只白皙而漂亮的手，但迪格雷却感到铁钳般的沉重。“你？你只是个孩子，一个普通孩子。任何人只要看一眼，就知道你的血管里连一滴皇家或贵族的血也没有。像你这样的人怎么敢走进这间屋子？"
      “我们是靠魔法从另一个世界来的。”波莉说，她认为应该抓住时机，让那女王像注意迪格雷一样地注意她。“真的吗？”女王说，眼睛仍然看若迪格雷，瞟都不瞟波莉一眼。
      “是的。”他说。
      女王一只手托起迪格雷的下巴，仔细端详他的脸。迪格雷想用目光反抗她，但很快就不得不俯下眼皮，她眼中的某种东西制服了他。她将迪格雷认真地研究了一分多钟，然后，松开他的下巴，说：
      “你不是魔法师，你脸上没有标记。你一定只是魔法师的仆人。你是靠别人的魔法到这儿来的。”
      “是我的安德鲁舅舅。”迪格雷说。
      这时，不是从屋子里面，而是从身旁极近的地方，传来轰降隆继而是劈里啪啦的响声，过后是砖石坍塌的咣啷声，地板晃动起来。
      “灾祸来了，”女王说，“整个宫殿就要塌掉。如果我们不在几分钟内出去，就会被埋在废墟里。”她说得平平静静，好像只是在谈论一天的时辰。“来。”她说着，向两个孩子各伸出一只手。波莉讨厌这个女王并且仍在生气，如果可能的话，她决不会让她抓住自己的手。女王虽然说话时显得不慌不忙，但行动却像思维一样敏捷。波莉还未反应过来，她的左于就被一只长得多、有力得多的大手抓住了，她根本无法挣脱。
      “这是一个可怕的女人，”波莉想，“她太有劲了，稍稍一打就会把我的手臂弄断。现在，她拉住我的左手，我摸不到黄戒指了。要是我把右手伸到左边口袋里，就可以在她问我干什么之前摸到戒指。无论如何，不能让她知道戒指的事。我真希望迪格雷能守口如瓶，也希望能亲口叮嘱他一句。”
      女王带领他们出了塑像厅，来到一条长长的走廊，又接二连三地穿过许多大厅、台阶和院子。他们不断地听见那座大宫殿里传来坍塌的声音。有一次，他们刚刚走过，一个巨大的拱门就轰降隆地塌了下来。女王健步疾走——孩子们不得不小跑若才能跟上——而她也并未露出害怕的神色。迪格雷想，“她真是勇敢得出奇，又强壮，这才是我心目中的女王！要是能让她讲讲这儿的故事该多好！”
      她边走边告诉他们“那道门里是地牢”,
      “那条路通向中心行刑室”，或者“这是以前的宴会斤，我的曾祖父在这里宴请过七百贵族，在他们吃饱喝足之前就将他们全部杀了。他们想造反”。
      最后，他们走进一间比先前见到的所有房间都更大更高的厅堂，从它的规模和尽头那些大型的门洞来看，迪格雷认为他们到了主要的入口处。这次，他猜对了。门呈乌黑色，要么是用乌木，要么是用一种我们这个世界找不到的黑色金属做的。门上牢牢地拴着许多大门闩，大多数都高不可及，重不可举。他感到纳闷的是他们如何出去。
      女工放开他，举起手臂，尽量往上挺直，然后，她说了几句他们听不懂的话（
      但听起来很恐怖），朝门做了一个扔东西的动作。那些高而重的门像丝织品一样震颤了一秒钟便塌了卜来，彻彻底底地毁坏了，门槛七只剩下一堆灰。
      “嘘！”迪格雷轻轻地吹了一声口哨。
      “你的魔法师主人，你的舅舅，有我这种力量吗？”女王又紧紧地抓住了迪格雷的手。“不过我以后会知道的。记住你们今天看见的事。对物如此，对挡住我去路的人也是如此。”
      光从敞开的门洞里射了进来。在这个国家里，他们还从未见过比这更充足的光线。女王带着他们穿过门口，当他们发现自己兰身户外时并没有感到惊奇。他们站在一个高高的台地上，俯瞰着脚下宽广的景致。
      往下看，只见一轮比我们的太阳大得多的红太阳在地平线附近，迪格雷立刻就觉得那轮太阳比我们的太阳老：这幕年的太阳已经厌倦于俯视下面的世界。太阳的左上方，有一颗大而亮的星星。黑暗的天空中，残阳和孤星组成了一幅阴郁的画面。地上，有一个不管从哪个方向极目远眺都望不到边际的巨大的城市。城市里不见活动着的人和物。所有的庙宇、楼塔、宫殿、金字塔和桥在衰弱的阳光下投下长长的悲哀的影子。城里曾经有一条河，但河床早已干涸，只刹下一条宽宽的灰色土沟。
      “好好看，以后再也看不到了。”女王说，“这就是恰恩，伟大的城市，王中王之都，是这个世界，也许是所有世界的奇迹。孩子．你的舅舅是否统治着跟恰恩一样伟大的城市？”
      ”没有。”迪格雷说。他想解释安德鲁舅舅并没有统治任何城市。但女王接着说：
      “现在很安静。但是当空中充斥着恰恩的各种声音那会儿，我曾站在这里。脚步声、车轮声、鞭子的抽打声和奴隶的呻吟，还有马车的轰响以及寺庙里献祭的鼓声。当战斗开始，每条街道上杀声四起，恰恩河水被鲜血染红的时候，我也曾站在这儿（但那时一切都快完了）。”停了一下，她又说，“一个女人顷刻间便将这一切永远地抹去了。”
      “谁，”迪格雷低声问道，但他已经猜到了答案。
      “我，”女王说，“我，简蒂丝，最后的女王，但也就是世界女王。”
      两个孩子静静地站着，在寒风中瑟瑟发抖。
      “是我姐姐的错，”女王说，“她逼我干的。让所有的神都永远地诅咒她吧！那时，我随时都准备讲和——是的，只要她让位给我，我就饶她不死。但她不干，她的傲慢毁了整个世界。甚至在战争开始以后，双方都郑重地保证不使用魔法，但她不守信用，我怎么办呢？傻瓜：好像她不知道我的魔法比她的大似的。她还知道我握了灭绝咒的秘密。她以为——她始终是个弱者——她以为我不会使用这个秘咒吗？”
      “这秘咒是什么呢？”迪格雷问。
      “那是秘密中的秘密，”简蒂丝女王说，“很久以来，我们这个民族的高贵的国王们就知道这个只有一个字的秘咒，只要在恰当的仪式中说出这个字，除了说话人自己外，所有的活物都会灭绝。但是，古代的国王们心肠太软，自己约束自己，而且，还约束他们的后人，让他们宣誓永远不探究那个字的秘密。然而，我在一个秘密的地方付出沉重的代价才学到手。她逼得我走投无路我才用了。为了征服她，我想尽其他一切办法与她作战。我的将士血流成河……”
      “畜生！”波莉低声咕味了一句。
      “最后一次大战，”女王说，“在恰恩城里打了三天。那三天，我就在这儿观战。我一直没有使用魔法，直到我的最后一批战士倒下。那可恶的女人，也就是我的姐姐．带领她的叛军．已经走到了从城市通向这个台地的大台阶的一半。我等候着，当我们互相能看清对方的脸时，她用那双可怕的邪恶的眼睛盯粉我，说‘胜利了。’‘是的，’我说，‘胜利了，但不是你的胜利。’接着，我说出了灭绝咒。顷刻间，我就是太阳下惟一的活物了。”
      “可是，那些人呢。”迪格雷气喘吁吁地问。
      “什么人，孩子？”女王问。
      “所有的替通人，”波莉说，“他们又没有伤害你。妇女，孩子，还有动物。”
      “你还不明白吗？”女王仍然对着迪格雷说．“我是女王，他们都是我的臣民，除了服从我的意志外还能干什么呢？”
      “不管怎么说，他们都是很倒霉的。”迪格雷说。
      “我刚才忘了，你不过是个普通的男孩，你怎么会明白执政者的理由呢？你必须懂得，孩子，对你或者对其他凡人来说错误的事，对我这样的女王来说是不称其为错的。天下的重担压在我们肩上。我们必须从所有律法的约束中解脱出来。我们命定是高贵而孤独的。”
      迪格雷突然想起，安德鲁舅舅也说过完全相同的话，但这些话由简蒂丝女王说出来，就显得庄严、自负得多，可能是因为安德鲁舅舅没有七尺高，也没有美得惊人的外貌吧。
      “然后呢？”迪格雷说。
      “我预先对存放我祖先塑像的大厅施了强有力的魔咒。这魔咒使我自己也变得像一称塑像沉睡在他们中间，一千年不吃饭，不烤火，直到有人进来，敲钟唤醒我。”4
      “太阳这种模样是灭绝咒造成的吗？”迪格雷问。
      “什么模样？”简带丝问。
      “又大，又红，又冷。”
      “一直是这样的，”简蒂丝说，“至少，已经上千年了。你们的太阳不一样吗？”
      “是的，要小一些，黄一些，发出的热量要多得多。”
      “啊——!
      ”女王长长地叹息一声。迪格雷从她脸上看到了他最近从安德鲁舅舅的脸上看到过的那种饥饿和贪婪的表情。“那么，”她说，“你们的世界要年轻一些。”她停了停，再次望了一眼荒凉的城市——要是说她为自己的罪恶感到内疚，那么，她当然没有表露出来——然后说：
      “好了，我们走吧。这儿是世纪的末日，太冷了。”
      “去哪儿，”两个孩子一起问。
      “哪儿？”简蒂丝惊异地重复道，“当然是去你们的世界。”
      波莉和迪格雷迷惑不解地对望了一眼。波莉一开始就讨厌女王，而迪格雷呢，在听了那段故事以后，也觉得对她的了解已经够了。显然，没有谁愿意带她那种人同家。即使愿意，不知道怎么才能带她回家。他们只想着自己逃走；但波莉摸不到戒指，迪格雷自然也不能丢下她单独离去。他满脸通红，结结巴巴地说
      “噢——噢——我们的份界，我——我不知道你想去那儿。”
      “你们不是来接我的，又是来干什么的呢。”简蒂丝问。“我敢说，你一点儿也不会喜欢我们的世界。”迪格雷说，“那地方不适合她，你说对吗，波莉？那儿没意思，不值得看，真的。”)
      “我去统治的时候就值得看了。”女王回答。
      “啊，但你不能，”迪格雷说，“不是那么回事。他们不会允许的，你知道。”
      女王傲慢地一笑。“很多高贵的国王，”她说，“都以为能和恰恩王朝作对，但他们全都失败了，连名字也被人遗忘了。愚获的孩子！你认为，以我的美貌和魔力不会在一年之内使整个你们的世界都拜倒在我的脚下吗？准备施展魔法，立即带我去那儿。”
      “这实在太可怕了。”迪格雷对波莉说。
      “也许你害怕你的舅舅，”简蒂丝说，“只要他适当地对我表示尊敬，他就会保住性命和王位，我不会跟他作对的。如果他知道怎么把你们送到这儿来，他一定是个非常了不起的魔法师。他是你们整个世界的王呢，还是只统治部分？”
      “他哪儿的王都不是。”迪格雷说。
      “你在说谎，”女王说，“只有掌家血统的人才会魔法，不是吗，谁听说过普通人也能当魔法师？不管你说不说，我都知道，事情的真相是你的舅舅是你们那个世界一个伟大的国王，了不起的魔法师。他已经在某个魔镜或魔池里，靠他的魔法看到了我的头影。他爱上了我的美貌，施加了一种能让你们的世界彻底动摇的强大魔咒，让你们穿过各个世界之间的鸿沟，到这里来请我去帮忙，并将我带回他的身边。回答我：难道不是这么回事吗，”
      “嗯，不完全是。”迪格雷说。
      “根本不是，”波莉叫起来，“从头到尾就是胡说八道。”
      “奴才！”女工喊到，她怒火冲天地揪住波莉的头发，刚好抓在最容易扯痛的头顶。但这样一来，她松开了孩子们的手。“好，”迪格雷大叫；波莉也喊了一声，“快！”他们把左手伸进口袋，根本不用戴上戒指，存触到戒指的一刹那间，那个可怕的世界就从他们眼前完完全全地消失了。他们向上冲去，头上，一缕温暖的绿光越来越近。