Chapter 1
BEHIND THE GYM
IT was a dull autumn day and Jill Pole was crying behind the gym.
She was crying because they had been bullying her. This is not going to be a school story, so I shall say as little as possible about Jill's school, which is not a pleasant subject. It was "Co-educational," a school for both boys and girls, what used to be called a "mixed" school; some said it was not nearly so mixed as the minds of the people who ran it. These people had the idea that boys and girls should be allowed to do what they liked. And unfortunately what ten or fifteen of the biggest boys and girls liked best was bullying the others. All sorts of things, horrid things, went on which at an ordinary school would have been found out and stopped in half a term; but at this school they weren't. Or even if they were, the people who did them were not expelled or punished. The Head said they were interesting psychological cases and sent for them and talked to them for hours. And if you knew the right sort of things to say to the Head, the main result was that you became rather a favourite than otherwise.
That was why Jill Pole was crying on that dull autumn day on the damp little path which runs between the back of the gym and the shrubbery. And she hadn't nearly finished her cry when a boy came round the corner of the gym whistling, with his hands in his pockets. He nearly ran into her.
"Can't you look where you're going?" said Jill Pole.
"All right," said the boy, "you needn't start -" and then he noticed her face. "I say, Pole," he said, "what's up?"
Jill only made faces; the sort you make when you're trying to say something but find that if you speak you'll start crying again.
"It's Them, I suppose - as usual," said the boy grimly, digging his hands farther into his pockets.
Jill nodded. There was no need for her to say anything, even if she could have said it. They both knew.
"Now, look here," said the boy, "there's no good us all -"
He meant well, but he did talk rather like someone beginning a lecture. Jill suddenly flew into a temper (which is quite a likely thing to happen if you have been interrupted in a cry).
"Oh, go away and mind your own business," she said. "Nobody asked you to come barging in, did they? And you're a nice person to start telling us what we all ought to do, aren't you? I suppose you mean we ought to spend all our time sucking up to Them, and currying favour, and dancing attendance on Them like you do."
"Oh, Lor!" said the boy, sitting down on the grassy bank at the edge of the shrubbery and very quickly getting up again because the grass was soaking wet. His name unfortunately was Eustace Scrubb, but he wasn't a bad sort.
"Pole!" he said. "Is that fair? Have I been doing anything of the sort this term? Didn't I stand up to Carter about the rabbit? And didn't I keep the secret about Spivvins - under torture too? And didn't I -"
"I d-don't know and I don't care," sobbed Jill.
Scrubb saw that she wasn't quite herself yet and very sensibly offered her a peppermint. He had one too. Presently Jill began to see things in a clearer light.
"I'm sorry, Scrubb," she said presently. "I wasn't fair. You have done all that - this term."
"Then wash out last term if you can," said Eustace. "I was a different chap then. I was - gosh! what a little tick I was."
"Well, honestly, you were," said Jill.
"You think there has been a change, then?" said Eustace.
"It's not only me," said Jill. "Everyone's been saying so. They've noticed it. Eleanor Blakiston heard Adela Pennyfather talking about it in our changing room yesterday. She said, `Someone's got hold of that Scrubb kid. He's quite unmanageable this term. We shall have to attend to him next.'"
Eustace gave a shudder. Everyone at Experiment House knew what it was like being "attended to" by Them.
Both children were quiet for a moment. The drops dripped off the laurel leaves.
"Why were you so different last term?" said Jill presently.
"A lot of queer things happened to me in the hols," said Eustace mysteriously.
"What sort of things?" asked Jill.
Eustace didn't say anything for quite a long time. Then he said:
"Look here, Pole, you and I hate this place about as much as anybody can hate anything, don't we?"
"I know I do," said Jill.
"Then I really think I can trust you."
"Dam' good of you," said Jill.
"Yes, but this is a really terrific secret. Pole, I say, are you good at believing things? I mean things that everyone here would laugh at?"
"I've never had the chance," said Jill, "but I think I would be."
"Could you believe me if I said I'd been right out of the world - outside this world - last hols?"
"I wouldn't know what you meant."
"Well, don't let's bother about that then. Supposing I told you I'd been in a place where animals can talk and where there are - er - enchantments and dragons - and well, all the sorts of things you have in fairy-tales." Scrubb felt terribly awkward as he said this and got red in the face.
"How did you get there?" said Jill. She also felt curiously shy.
"The only way you can - by Magic," said Eustace almost in a whisper. "I was with two cousins of mine. We were just - whisked away. They'd been there before."
Now that they were talking in whispers Jill somehow felt it easier to believe. Then suddenly a horrible suspicion came over her and she said (so fiercely that for the moment she looked like a tigress):
"If I find you've been pulling my leg I'll never speak to you again; never, never, never."
"I'm not," said Eustace. "I swear I'm not. I swear by everything."
(When I was at school one would have said, "I swear by the Bible." But Bibles were not encouraged at Experiment House.)
"All right," said Jill, "I'll believe you."
"And tell nobody?"
"What do you take me for?"
They were very excited as they said this. But when they had said it and Jill looked round and saw the dull autumn sky and heard the drip off the leaves and thought of all the hopelessness of Experiment House (it was a thirteen-week term and there were still eleven weeks to come) she said:
"But after all, what's the good? We're not there: we're here. And we jolly well can't get there. Or can we?"
"That's what I've been wondering," said Eustace. "When we came back from That Place, Someone said that the two Pevensie kids (that's my two cousins) could never go there again. It was their third time, you see. I suppose they've had their share. But he never said I couldn't. Surely he would have said so, unless he meant that I was to get back? And I can't help wondering, can we - could we -?"
"Do you mean, do something to make it happen?"
Eustace nodded.
"You mean we might draw a circle on the ground - and write in queer letters in it - and stand inside it - and recite charms and spells?"
"Well," said Eustace after he had thought hard for a bit. "I believe that was the sort of thing I was thinking of, though I never did it. But now that it comes to the point, I've an idea that all those circles and things are rather rot. I don't think he'd like them. It would look as if we thought we could make him do things. But really, we can only ask him."
"Who is this person you keep on talking about?"
"They call him Aslan in That Place," said Eustace.
"What a curious name!"
"Not half so curious as himself," said Eustace solemnly. "But let's get on. It can't do any harm, just asking. Let's stand side by side, like this. And we'll hold out our arms in front of us with the palms down: like they did in Ramandu's island -"
"Whose island?"
"I'll tell you about that another time. And he might like us to face the east. Let's see, where is the east?"
"I don't know," said Jill.
"It's an extraordinary thing about girls that they never know the points of the compass," said Eustace.
"You don't know either," said Jill indignantly.
"Yes I do, if only you didn't keep on interrupting. I've got it now. That's the east, facing up into the laurels. Now, will you say the words after me?''
"What words?" asked Jill.
"The words I'm going to say, of course," answered Eustace. "Now -"
And he began, "Aslan, Aslan, Aslan!"
"Aslan, Aslan, Aslan," repeated Jill.
"Please let us two go into -"
At that moment a voice from the other side of the gym was heard shouting out, "Pole? Yes. I know where she is. She's blubbing behind the gym. Shall I fetch her out?"
Jill and Eustace gave one glance at each other, dived under the laurels, and began scrambling up the steep, earthy slope of the shrubbery at a speed which did them great credit. (Owing to the curious methods of teaching at Experiment House, one did not learn much French or Maths or Latin or things of that sort; but one did learn a lot about getting away quickly and quietly when They were looking for one.)
After about a minute's scramble they stopped to listen, and knew by the noises they heard that they were being followed.
"If only the door was open again!" said Scrubb as they went on, and Jill nodded. For at the top of the shrubbery was a high stone wall and in that wall a door by which you could get out on to open moor. This door was nearly always locked. But there had been times when people had found it open; or perhaps there had been only one time. But you may imagine how the memory of even one time kept people hoping, and trying the door; for if it should happen to be unlocked it would be a splendid way of getting outside the school grounds without being seen.
Jill and Eustace, now both very hot and very grubby from going along bent almost double under the laurels, panted up to the wall. And there was the door, shut as usual.
"It's sure to be no good," said Eustace with his hand on the handle; and then, "O-o-oh. By Gum!!" For the handle turned and the door opened.
A moment before, both of them had meant to get through that doorway in double quick time, if by any chance the door was not locked. But when the door actually opened, they both stood stock still. For what they saw was quite different from what they had expected.
They had expected to see the grey, heathery slope of the moor going up and up to join the dull autumn sky. Instead, a blaze of sunshine met them. It poured through the doorway as the light of a June day pours into a garage when you open the door. It made the drops of water on the grass glitter like beads and showed up the dirtiness of Jill's tear-stained face. And the sunlight was coming from what certainly did look like a different world - what they could see of it. They saw smooth turf, smoother and brighter than Jill had ever seen before, and blue sky, and, darting to and fro, things so bright that they might have been jewels or huge butterflies.
Although she had been longing for something like this, Jill felt frightened. She looked at Scrubb's face and saw that he was frightened too.
"Come on, Pole," he said in a breathless voice.
"Can we get back? Is it safe?" asked Jill.
At that moment a voice shouted from behind, a mean, spiteful little voice. "Now then, Pole," it squeaked. "Everyone knows you're there. Down you come." It was the voice of Edith Jackle, not one of Them herself but one of their hangers-on and tale-bearers.
"Quick!" said Scrubb. "Here. Hold hands. We mustn't get separated." And before she quite knew what was happening, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door, out of the school grounds, out of England, out of our whole world into That Place.
The sound of Edith Jackle's voice stopped as suddenly as the voice on the radio when it is switched off. Instantly there was a quite different sound all about them. It came from those bright things overhead, which now turned out to be birds. They were making a riotous noise, but it was much more like music - rather advanced music which you don't quite take in at the first hearing - than birds' songs ever are in our world. Yet, in spite of the singing, there was a sort of background of immense silence. That silence, combined with the freshness of the air, made Jill think they must be on the top of a very high mountain.
Scrubb still had her by the hand and they were walking forward, staring about them on every side. Jill saw that huge trees, rather like cedars but bigger, grew in every direction. But as they did not grow close together, and as there was no undergrowth, this did not prevent one from seeing a long way into the forest to left and right. And as far as Jill's eye could reach, it was all the same - level turf, darting birds with yellow, or dragonfly blue, or rainbow plumage, blue shadows, and emptiness. There was not a breath of wind in that cool, bright air. It was a very lonely forest.
Right ahead there were no trees: only blue sky. They went straight on without speaking till suddenly Jill heard Scrubb say, "Look out!" and felt herself jerked back. They were at the very edge of a cliff.
Jill was one of those lucky people who have a good head for heights. She didn't mind in the least standing on the edge of a precipice. She was rather annoyed with Scrubb for pulling her back - "just as if I was a kid", she said and she wrenched her hand out of his. When she saw how very white he had turned, she despised him.
"What's the matter?" she said. And to show that she was not afraid, she stood very near the edge indeed; in fact, a good deal nearer than even she liked. Then she looked down.
She now realized that Scrubb had some excuse for looking white, for no cliff in our world is to be compared with this. Imagine yourself at the top of the very highest cliff you know. And imagine yourself looking down to the very bottom. And then imagine that the precipice goes on below that, as far again, ten times as far, twenty times as far. And when you've looked down all that distance imagine little white things that might, at first glance, be mistaken for sheep, but presently you realize that they are clouds - not little wreaths of mist but the enormous white, puffy clouds which are themselves as big as most mountains. And at last, in between those clouds, you get your first glimpse of the real bottom, so far away that you can't make out whether it's field or wood, or land or water: farther below those clouds than you are above them.
Jill stared at it. Then she thought that perhaps, after all, she would step back afoot or so from the edge; but she didn't like to for fear of what Scrubb would think. Then she suddenly decided that she didn't care what he thought, and that she would jolly well get away from that horrible edge and never laugh at anyone for not liking heights again. But when she tried to move, she found she couldn't. Her legs seemed to have turned into putty. Everything was swimming before her eyes.
"What are you doing, Pole? Come back-blithering little idiot!" shouted Scrubb. But his voice seemed to he coming from a long way off. She felt him grabbing at her. But by now she had no control over her own arms and legs. There was a moment's struggling on the cliff edge. Jill was too frightened and dizzy to know quite what she was doing, but two things she remembered as long as she lived (they often came back to her in dreams). One was that she had wrenched herself free of Scrubb's clutches; the other was that, at the same moment, Scrubb himself, with a terrified scream, had lost his balance and gone hurtling to the depths.
Fortunately, she was given no time to think over what she had done. Some huge, brightly coloured animal had rushed to the edge of the cliff. It was lying down, leaning over, and (this was the odd thing) blowing. Not roaring or snorting, but just blowing from its wide-opened mouth; blowing out as steadily as a vacuum cleaner sucks in. Jill was lying so close to the creature that she could feel the breath vibrating steadily through its body. She was lying still because she couldn't get up. She was nearly fainting: indeed, she wished she could really faint, but faints don't come for the asking. At last she saw, far away below her, a tiny black speck floating away from the cliff and slightly upwards. As it rose, it also got farther away. By the time it was nearly on a level with the cliff-top it was so far off that she lost sight of it. It was obviously moving away from them at a great speed. Jill couldn't help thinking that the creature at her side was blowing it away.
So she turned and looked at the creature. It was a lion.      1、在体育馆后面      那天是个阴沉的秋日，吉尔;波尔在体育馆后面哭泣。      她哭的原因是他们一直欺侮她。由于本书写的不是学校生活的故事，所以我将尽量少谈吉尔学校里的事，那可不是个愉快的话题。她这学校是一所”男女同校”，一所男女生兼收的学校，通常称之为”男女混合”学校，有人说学校还不如学校管理人脑子里的所想那么”混”。这些人有种想法，认为应该允许男生和女生喜欢干什么就干什么。      不幸的是有那么十个到十五个大龄男女生最喜欢干的就是欺侮同学。各种各样的事，各种各样可怕的事，要出在一所普通学校里，不消半学期就会查出来，加以制止，可在这所学校里却没这么办。或者，即使这些事被查出了，干这些事的人也没被开除或受处分。校长说他们是些有趣的心理学方面的实例，派人去找他们，跟他们谈上几个小时。如果你懂得跟校长说些投合他心意的话，其结果是你就此成了个宠儿。5       这就是吉尔;波尔在那个阴沉的秋日，在体育馆后面和灌木丛之间那条湿漉漉的小路上哭的原因。她还没哭完，就有一个男生双手插在口袋里，绕过体育馆墙角，吹着口哨走来几乎撞上了她。      “你走道就不能看看吗?”吉尔;波尔说。      “好了，”男孩说，”你不用吓……”说到这里他才注意到她的脸。”喂，波尔，”他说，”出什么事了?”      吉尔只是做了几个怪脸;当你想说些什么，可又觉得要是说了，又会哭起来时才做那种怪脸。      “我看，照例——又是他们吧?”这男生脸色严峻地说，两手在口袋里插得更深了。      吉尔点点头。即使她说得出口，她也不必再说什么。他们俩都明白。     “行了，瞧，”这男生说，”我们大家这样可没用……”      他的用意固然不坏，可他说话的确像人家开讲大道理一样。吉尔突然发起脾气来(如果你哭的时候被人打断，八成也会出现这种情况)。      “啊呀，走开，少管闲事，”她说，”没人请你来乱插嘴吧?你倒真是个好人，居然开口教我们大家应该怎么着，对吗?我猜你意思是我们应该用所有的时间讨好他们，像你一样拍马屁，奉承他们。”      “哦，老天啊!”这男生说着在灌木丛边的草坡上坐下，又赶紧站起来，因为草是透湿的。不幸的是他的名字就叫尤斯塔斯;斯克罗布①，不过他人倒不坏。      “波尔!”他说，”你这样说公平吗?这学期我干过那种事没有。我不是为了兔子跟卡特顶过吗?我不是保守了斯皮文的秘密吗——还受到折磨呢!我不是……”      “我不——不知道，我也不关心。”吉尔抽抽搭搭地说。      ①在英语中，尤斯塔斯谐音为”没用的..斯克罗布谐音为”卑鄙的”。      斯克罗布看出她不大对劲儿，就十分乖巧地递给她一块薄荷糖。他自己也吃了一块。不一会儿，吉尔头脑就清醒一点了。      “对不起，斯克罗布，”不久她说，”我是不公平。这学期——你是做了好多事。”      “要是你忘得了，就忘掉上学期的事吧。”尤斯塔斯说，”当时我还是另外一种家伙。我——唉l我当时是个多坏的讨厌鬼啊。”      “嗯，老实说，你当时确实很坏。”吉尔说。”那么你看我已经变了吗?”尤斯塔斯说。      “不单是我，”吉尔说，”大家都这么说。他们已经注意到了。埃莉诺;布莱基斯顿昨天在更衣室里听见阿黛拉;潘尼法瑟说起这事。她说，‘有什么人在左右斯克罗布那小子。这学期他相当不听话。下一步你们得照应他了。      尤斯塔斯一阵哆嗦。实验学校里的每一个人都懂得被他们”照应”是怎么回事。      两个孩子都沉默了片刻。月桂叶上的水珠一滴滴往下滴。     “上学期你怎么会跟现在大不相同呢?”过了一会吉尔问道。      叫段期里我碰上了好多怪事。”尤斯塔斯神秘地说。      “哪种事?”吉尔问。      尤斯塔斯久久没吭声。后来他说      “听着，波尔，你我都恨这个地方，要多恨有多恨吧?”      “我知道自己很恨。”吉尔说。      “那么我真的认为自己完全信得过你了。”      “你这人真好。”吉尔说。      “是啊，不过这件事真是天大的秘密。波尔，我说，你对神怪的事会相信吗?我是说这儿的人听了都会取笑的事?”      “我根本没有机会听。”吉尔说，”不过我想我会相信的。”      “如果我说上回假期里我曾走出过世界——走出过这个世界——你能相信吗?”      “我不知道你是什么意思。”      “得了，那就别管世界不世界了。假定说我告诉你，我到过一个地方，那里的动物都会说话，那里还有——呃——魔法和龙——还有——这个，凡是你在童话里碰到的东西都有。”斯克罗布说这些话的时候觉得狼狈不堪，脸也红了。      “你怎么上那儿去的?”吉尔说。她也觉得怪不好意思的。      “你只有一个办法好去——就是靠魔法，”尤斯塔斯几乎像在说悄悄话，”我是跟我两个表兄妹去的。我们就那么——下子走掉了。他们以前去过那儿。”      由于他们是在说悄悄话，吉尔不知怎么就觉得这事比较容易相信。接着她心里突然又大为怀疑，她说(气势汹汹，看上去真像只母老虎):      “要是我发现你是在捉弄我，我就永远不再跟你说话，决不，决不，决不。”      “我没有，”尤斯塔斯说，”我发誓我没捉弄你。我凭——凭一切起誓。”      我念书那时，人家会说”我凭<圣经〉起誓。”但实验学校里是不提倡念<圣经〉的。      “好吧，”吉尔说，”我就相信你。”      “不告诉任何人?”      “你把我当成什么入了?”      他们说这些话的时候都很激动。可等他们说完了，吉尔往四下一看，只见阴沉沉的秋日天空，又听得树叶上的滴水声，不由想到在实验学校毫无出头之日(他们一学期有十三个星期，还有十一个星期要过呢)，她说:      “可到头来，又有什么好处呢?我们又不在那儿，我们在这儿口而且我们根本不能上那儿去，你说我们能去吗?”      “我一直都在想这事，”尤斯塔斯说，”我们从那个地方回来的时候，有人说佩文西家那两个孩子(就是我那两个表兄妹)永远不能再上那儿去了。要知道，那回是他们第三回去了。我看，他们已经去够了。但他根本没说我不能去。如果他的意思是说我不能回去，他包管早就那么说了。因此我不禁纳闷，我们能不能——能不能……”      “你的意思是想个办法实现这想法?”尤斯塔斯点点头。      “你的意思是我们可以在地上画一个圈——在圈里用希奇古怪的文字写点什么——然后站在圈子里——再念上几段咒语?”      “嗯，”尤斯塔斯苦苦思索了一会儿才说，”我相信我就是在想这种事儿，但我从来没试过。既然谈到这个节骨眼上，我倒觉得所有那些圆圈之类都是荒唐事。我认为他不见得会喜欢。那样做看上去就像是我们以为自己能叫他做事似的。不过说真的，我们只能问问他。”       “你一直在念叨的这人是谁啊?”      “在那个地方，人家叫他阿斯兰。”尤斯塔斯说。”多古怪的名字!”      “才比不上他本人怪呢，”尤斯塔斯一本正经地说，”不过我们接着说下去吧。问问也不妨。让我们就这么并肩站着。伸出双臂，掌心向下:就像他们在拉曼杜的岛上那样——”      “谁的岛?”      “那个我下回再告诉你。而且他可能喜欢我们面向东方站着。我们看看，哪一面是东面?”      “我不知道。”吉尔说。      “姑娘们就这点特别，她们根本不识指南针的方位点。”尤斯塔斯说。      “你也不识，”吉尔愤愤不平地说。      “不，我认识，只要你别老打断我就行了。现在我认出来了。面对月桂，那边就是东面。嗨，你肯跟着我念词儿吗?”      “念什么?”吉尔问。      “当然是我就要念的词儿日罗，”尤斯塔斯答道，”来吧……'      然后他开始念了”阿斯兰，阿斯兰，阿斯兰!      “阿斯兰，阿斯兰，阿斯兰。”吉尔跟着他念一遍。”请让我们俩进入……”      就在这时，体育馆另一边传来呼喊声”波尔?对了，我知道她在哪儿口她正在体育馆后面哭鼻子呢。要我把她拉出来吗?”      吉尔和尤斯塔斯相互看了一眼，就赶紧冲到月桂树下，开始爬上陡峭的灌木丛的泥坡，速度之快真为他们大大增光。(由于实验学校的古怪教学法，学生并没学到多少法文、数学、拉丁文一类的课程，可是倒真学到了一旦他们在找他时迅速悄悄脱身的好多办法。      大约爬了一分钟，他们停下来留神细听，从种种声音听出他们给人钉上了。      “只要那扇门再开开就好了I”他们一路爬着，斯克罗布说，吉尔点点头。因为灌木丛上方有一道高高的石墙，墙上有扇门，穿过这扇门你就可以出去，到开阔的荒野去。这扇门几乎老是锁着。不过人们有时也发现门开着;也许只有过那么一次。不过你可以想像，即使记得只有一次，也就让人们抱有希望，打算试试那扇门;因为要是那扇门正巧没锁，那倒是一个神不知鬼不觉走出校园的绝妙办法。      这会儿吉尔和尤斯塔斯两人因为在月桂树下弯下腰一路走来，弄得浑身又热又脏，气喘吁吁，爬到墙边。那扇门照常关着。      “准没用，”尤斯塔斯一手拉着门把手，说着说着，”哦——哦，老天爷在上I”因为门把手转动了，门开了。      刚才那会儿，他们俩心里还想着，要是那扇门万一没锁上，就飞快地跑出去。但等这门真正开了，他俩却都站着一动也不动。因为他们看见的跟他们料想中的景象可大不一样。      他们原以为会看见荒原上灰不溜秋、长满石南的山坡越来越高，一直通向阴沉沉的秋日的天空，没料到迎面却看见了一片强烈的阳光。阳光照进门口，就像你打开汽车间门，六月里大白天的太阳照进来一样。阳光照得草地上的水珠像珍珠一样闪闪发亮，也使吉尔满是泪痕的脸显得一副脏相。而且据他们判断这阳光一定来自一个不同的世界。他们看见柔嫩的草地，比吉尔以前所见过的更柔嫩，更明亮，还有蓝蓝的天，还有一些发亮的东西在空中飞来飞去，很可能是珠宝或是大蝴蝶。       虽然吉尔一直渴望见到这一类东西，她还是感到惊恐不已。她看看斯克罗布的脸，看出他也害怕了。      “来吧，波尔。”他说话时气都喘不过来了。”我们能回来吗?安全吗?JI吉尔问道。      正在这时，后面有个声音在叫喊，是个卑鄙、恶毒的小嗓门，叽叽喳喳叫道”行了，波尔，大家都知道你在那儿。你下来吧。”这是伊迪丝;杰克尔的声音，她本人还不算是他们一伙的，不过是个跟班和爱搬弄是非的小人而已。      “快！”斯克罗布说，”喂，拉住手。我们千万不能分开。      她还没弄明白怎么回事，他就抓着她的手，拉着她出了门，出了校园，出了英国，出了我们这整个世界，到了那个地方。      伊迪丝;杰克尔的声音突然没了，正如你一关上收音机，里面的声音就突然消失一样。他们周围顿时响起一种完全不同的声音。声音是从他们头顶上那些发亮的东西发出来的，他们马上看出原来是鸟。它们正发出喧闹的声音，不过这种声音比起我们世界里鸟儿的歌声更像音乐——相当先进的音乐，乍一听你还不大领会得了。然而，尽管有歌声，背景却是无比寂静。那份寂静，加上空气新鲜，使吉尔想到他们一定是在一座很高的山顶上。       斯克罗布仍然拉着她的手，他们向前走着，一面朝四周张望。吉尔看见四面八方都长着那种参天大树，很像雪松，但更大些口不过这些树木长得并不密，树下也没有矮树丛，无遮无拦，树林左右老远老远都看得清。吉尔放眼望去，看到的景色全是一样的——平坦的草地，五颜六色的鸟儿飞来飞去，有黄的，有蜻蜓蓝的，有彩虹色的，蓝森森的阴影，一片空荡荡。那凉爽清新的空气中连一丝风也没有。真是一座非常冷清的森林。      正前方那边没有树木，只有蓝天。他们一言不发，笔直地朝前走，走啊走的，突然间吉尔听见斯克罗布说”小心！”接着就觉得自己猛地朝后收住脚步。他们正站在悬崖边上呢。      碰巧吉尔对高地很有头脑。站在悬崖边上，她竟毫不在意。她对斯克罗布把她拉回来相当恼火——”就当我是个小娃娃似的。”她说——说着猛地挣脱了他的手。她看见他脸色变得非常苍白，就瞧不起他了。      “怎么啦?”她说。接着为了显示她并不害怕，居然真的站得离悬崖边很近;事实上，比她心里想站的地方近多了。然后她朝下面望望。      如今她才明白斯克罗布脸色发白是有道理的，因为在我们世界里没有一座悬崖能与这座相比。想像一下你自己站在据你所知是最高的一座悬崖顶上。再想像一下你自己正朝崖底看。再想像一下悬崖继续一直往下，往下，十倍于此，二十倍于此。而当你朝那么远的下面看去，第一眼你可能在想像中把那些小白点错认为羊群吧，但不久你就知道那是白云——不是雾气形成的小云卷，而是又大又白，蓬蓬松松的云层，一片片大得像群山一样。透过这些云层之间，你才终于第一眼看到了那真正的崖底，那么远，那么远，远得你都看不出下面究竟是田野还是树林，是陆地还是水面。你在崖顶上离云层上面还不算远，崖底离云层下面更远。       吉尔目不转睛地望着下面。她这才想到也许自己毕竟该从悬崖边上往后退一两步的，可她生怕斯克罗布会怎么想，又不愿退。后来她突然决定，不管他怎么想，她巴不得赶快离开这可怕的崖边，再也不取笑任何不喜欢高地的人了。但等到她想动弹的时候，却发现自己动不了啦。她两条腿似乎都被捆住了口眼前一切都在旋转。      “你在干什么呀，波尔?回来——头号小傻瓜I”斯克罗布大声喊道。可他的声音似乎来自很远很远的地方。她感到他在拉她。可这会儿她已经控制不了自己的手脚。在悬崖边上挣扎了一会儿。吉尔心里太害怕了，头太晕了，都不大记得自己干了什么，不过有两件事是她这辈子都忘不了的(她还经常梦见这两件事呢)。一件是她挣脱了斯克罗布的手;另一件事是与此同时，斯克罗布本人惊恐地尖叫一声，失去平衡，一头滚下深渊。      幸亏她还来不及想想自己干了些什么。一只颜色鲜艳的巨兽已经冲到悬崖边上。它躺下，探出身子，吹着气(这可真是怪事)。不是怒吼，也不是喷鼻息，而是张大嘴巴吹气;悠悠地不断吹啊吹啊，就像吸尘器在吸一样。吉尔躺着的地方离这只动物那么近，都感觉得到这股气在它身体里沉稳的震动。她躺着一动不动是因为起不来口她差点晕过去了:其实，她但愿自己真的晕过去，不过不是想晕倒就能晕倒的。后来她终于看见了，在她下面很远的地方，一个小黑点正从悬崖飘开，而且稍微往上飘了一点。黑点一升起，就飘远了。等到黑点升到和悬崖差不多高的时候，已经飘得远远的，她就此看不见了。显然这个黑点已飞快地离开了他们。吉尔不禁认为就是她身边这动物把那个黑点吹走的。&       于是她回过头来看看这动物。原来是一头狮子。
Chapter 2
JILL IS GIVEN A TASK
WITHOUT a glance at Jill the lion rose to its feet and gave one last blow. Then, as if satisfied with its work, it turned and stalked slowly away, back into the forest.
"It must be a dream, it must, it must," said Jill to herself. "I'll wake up in a moment." But it wasn't, and she didn't.
"I do wish we'd never come to this dreadful place," said Jill. "I don't believe Scrubb knew any more about it than I do. Or if he did, he had no business to bring me here without warning me what it was like. It's not my fault he fell over that cliff. If he'd left me alone we should both be all right." Then she remembered again the scream that Scrubb had given when he fell, and burst into tears.
Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do. When Jill stopped, she found she was dreadfully thirsty. She had been lying face downward, and now she sat up. The birds had ceased singing and there was perfect silence except for one small, persistent sound, which seemed to come from a good distance away. She listened carefully, and felt almost sure it was the sound of running water.
Jill got up and looked round her very carefully. There was no sign of the lion; but there were so many trees about that it might easily be quite close without her seeing it. For all she knew, there might be several lions. But her thirst was very bad now, and she plucked up her courage to go and look for that running water. She went on tiptoes, stealing cautiously from tree to tree, and stopping to peer round her at every step.
The wood was so still that it was not difficult to decide where the sound was coming from. It grew clearer every moment and, sooner than she expected, she came to an open glade and saw the stream, bright as glass, running across the turf a stone's throw away from her. But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn't rush forward and drink. She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.
It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it, like the lions in Trafalgar Square. She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away - as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.
"If I run away, it'll be after me in a moment," thought Jill. "And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth." Anyway, she couldn't have moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it. How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.
"If you're thirsty, you may drink."
They were the first words she had heard since Scrubb had spoken to her on the edge of the cliff. For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken. Then the voice said again, "If you are thirsty, come and drink," and of course she remembered what Scrubb had said about animals talking in that other world, and realized that it was the lion speaking. Anyway, she had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I - could I - would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion - no one who had seen his stern face could do that - and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once. Before she tasted it she had been intending to make a dash away from the Lion the moment she had finished. Now, she realized that this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of all. She got up and stood there with her lips still wet from drinking.
"Come here," said the Lion. And she had to. She was almost between its front paws now, looking straight into its face. But she couldn't stand that for long; she dropped her eyes.
"Human Child," said the Lion. "Where is the Boy?"
"He fell over the cliff," said Jill, and added, "Sir." She didn't know what else to call him, and it sounded cheek to call him nothing.
"How did he come to do that, Human Child?"
"He was trying to stop me from falling, Sir."
"Why were you so near the edge, Human Child?"
"I was showing off, Sir."
"That is a very good answer, Human Child. Do so no more. And now" (here for the first time the Lion's face became a little less stern) "the boy is safe. I have blown him to Narnia. But your task will be the harder because of what you have done."
"Please, what task, Sir?" said Jill.
"The task for which I called you and him here out of your own world."
This puzzled Jill very much. "It's mistaking me for someone else," she thought. She didn't dare to tell the Lion this, though she felt things would get into a dreadful muddle unless she did.
"Speak your thought, Human Child," said the Lion.
"I was wondering - I mean - could there be some mistake? Because nobody called me and Scrubb, you know. It was we who asked to come here. Scrubb said we were to call to - to Somebody - it was a name I wouldn't know - and perhaps the Somebody would let us in. And we did, and then we found the door open.'
"You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you," said the Lion.
"Then you are Somebody, Sir?" said Jill.
"I am. And now hear your task. Far from here in the land of Narnia there lives an aged king who is sad because he has no prince of his blood to be king after him. He has no heir because his only son was stolen from him many years ago, and no one in Narnia knows where that prince went or whether he is still alive. But he is. I lay on you this command, that you seek this lost prince until either you have found him and brought him to his father's house, or else died in the attempt, or else gone back into your own world."
"How, please?" said Jill.
"I will tell you, Child," said the Lion. "These are the signs by which I will guide you in your quest. First; as soon as the Boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet an old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once; if he does, you will both have good help. Second; you must journey out of Narnia to the north till you come to the ruined city of the ancient giants. Third; you shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you. Fourth; you will know the lost prince (if you find him) by this, that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan."
As the Lion seemed to have finished, Jill thought she should say something. So she said, "Thank you very much. I see."
"Child," said Aslan, in a gentler voice than he had yet used, "perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think. But the first step is to remember. Repeat to me, in order, the four signs."
Jill tried, and didn't get them quite right. So the Lion corrected her, and made her repeat them again and again till she could say them perfectly. He was very patient over this, so that, when it was done, Jill plucked up courage to ask:
"Please, how am I to get to Narnia?"
"On my breath," said the Lion. "I will blow you into the west of the world as I blew Eustace."
"Shall I catch him in time to tell him the first sign? But I suppose it won't matter. If he sees an old friend, he's sure to go and speak to him, isn't he?"
"You will have no time to spare," said the Lion. "That is why I must send you at once. Come. Walk before me to the edge of the cliff."
Jill remembered very well that if there was no time to spare, that was her own fault. "If I hadn't made such a fool of myself, Scrubb and I would have been going together. And he'd have heard all the instructions as well as me," she thought. So she did as she was told. It was very alarming walking back to the edge of the cliff, especially as the Lion did not walk with her but behind her - making no noise on his soft paws.
But long before she had got anywhere near the edge, the voice behind her said, "Stand still. In a moment I will blow. But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters. And now, daughter of Eve, farewell -"
The voice had been growing softer towards the end of this speech and now it faded away altogether. Jill looked behind her. To her astonishment she saw the cliff already more than a hundred yards behind her, and the Lion himself a speck of bright gold on the edge of it. She had been setting her teeth and clenching her fists for a terrible blast of lion's breath; but the breath had really been so gentle that she had not even noticed the moment at which she left the earth. And now, there was nothing but air for thousands upon thousands of feet below her.
She felt frightened only for a second. For one thing, the world beneath her was so very far away that it seemed to have nothing to do with her. For another, floating on the breath of the Lion was so extremely comfortable. She found she could lie on her back or on her face and twist any way she pleased, just as you can in water (if you've learned to float really well). And because she was moving at the same pace as the breath, there was no wind, and the air seemed beautifully warm. It was not in the least like being in an aeroplane, because there was no noise and no vibration. If Jill had ever been in a balloon she might have thought it more like that; only better.
When she looked back now she could take in for the first time the real size of the mountain she was leaving. She wondered why a mountain so huge as that was not covered with snow and ice - "but I suppose all that sort of thing is different in this world," thought Jill. Then she looked below her; but she was so high that she couldn't make out whether she was floating over land or sea, nor what speed she was going at.
"By Jove! The signs!" said Jill suddenly. "I'd better repeat them." She was in a panic for a second or two, but she found she could still say them all correctly. "So that's all right," she said, and lay back on the air as if it was a sofa, with a sigh of contentment.
"Well, I do declare," said Jill to herself some hours later, "I've been asleep. Fancy sleeping on air. I wonder if anyone's done it before. I don't suppose they have. Oh bother - Scrubb probably has! On this same journey, a little bit before me. Let's see what it looks like down below."
What it looked like was an enormous, very dark blue plain. There were no hills to be seen; but there were biggish white things moving slowly across it. "Those must be clouds," she thought. "But far bigger than the ones we saw from the cliff. I suppose they're bigger because they're nearer. I must be getting lower. Bother this sun."
The sun which had been high overhead when she began her journey was now getting into her eyes. This meant that it was getting lower, ahead of her. Scrubb was quite right in saying that Jill (I don't know about girls in general) didn't think much about points of the compass. Otherwise she would have known, when the sun began getting in her eyes, that she was travelling pretty nearly due west.
Staring at the blue plain below her, she presently noticed that there were little dots of brighter, paler colour in it here and there. "It's the sea!" thought Jill. "I do believe those are islands." And so they were. She might have felt rather jealous if she had known that some of them were islands which Scrubb had seen from a ship's deck and even landed on; but she didn't know this. Then, later on, she began to see that there were little wrinkles on the blue flatness: little wrinkles which must be quite big ocean waves if you were down among them. And now, all along the horizon there was a thick dark line which grew thicker and darker so quickly that you could see it growing. That was the first sign she had had of the great speed at which she was travelling. And she knew that the thickening line must be land.
Suddenly from her left (for the wind was in the south) a great white cloud came rushing towards her, this time on the same level as herself. And before she knew where she was, she had shot right into the middle of its cold, wet fogginess. That took her breath away, but she was in it only for a moment. She came out blinking in the sunlight and found her clothes wet. (She had on a blazer and sweater and shorts and stockings and pretty thick shoes; it had been a muddy sort of day in England.) She came out lower than she had gone in; and as soon as she did so she noticed something which, I suppose, she ought to have been expecting, but which came as a surprise and a shock. It was Noises. Up till then she had travelled in total silence. Now, for the first time, she heard the noise of waves and the crying of seagulls. And now, too, she smelled the smell of the sea. There was no mistake about her speed now. She saw two waves meet with a smack and a spout of foam go up between them; but she had hardly seen it before it was a hundred yards behind her. The land was getting nearer at a great pace. She could see mountains far inland, and other nearer mountains on her left. She could see bays and headlands, woods and fields, stretches of sandy beach. The sound of waves breaking on the shore was growing louder every second and drowning the other sea noises.
Suddenly the land opened right ahead of her. She was coming to the mouth of a river. She was very low now, only a few feet above the water. A wave-top came against her toe and a great splash of foam spurted up, drenching her nearly to the waist. Now she was losing speed. Instead of being carried up the river she was gliding in to the river bank on her left. There were so many things to notice that she could hardly take them all in; a smooth, green lawn, a ship so brightly coloured that it looked like an enormous piece of jewellery, towers and battlements, banners fluttering in the air, a crowd, gay clothes, armour, gold, swords, a sound of music. But this was all jumbled. The first thing that she knew clearly was that she had alighted and was standing under a thicket of trees close by the river side, and there, only a few feet away from her, was Scrubb.
The first thing she thought was how very grubby and untidy and generally unimpressive he looked. And the second was "How wet I am!"      2、吉尔接受任务      狮子看也不朝吉尔看一眼，就站起身来，再吹了最后一口气。于是，它好像很满意自己的工作似的，转身昂首慢步走开，回到树林里去了。      “一定是个梦，一定是的，一定是的，”吉尔自言自语说，”我一会儿就会醒过来了。”但这不是梦，她也没醒过来。      “我们要是没到这个可怕的地方来就好了，”吉尔说，”我相信斯克罗布跟我一样，对这个地方也不了解。要是他了解的话，事先不告诫我这是个什么鬼地方，就不该把我带到这儿来。他摔下悬崖可不是我的错。要是他别管我，我们俩就都没事了。”后来她又想起斯克罗布摔下去时尖声叫喊，不由哇的一声大哭起来。      大哭一场固然痛快。不过你早晚还得停下来，然后还得决定怎么办。等吉尔不哭了，她觉得自己渴得要命。她原来一直脸朝下趴着，现在就坐了起来。鸟儿都不唱歌了，四下一片寂静，只有远处似乎传来一种连续不断的小声音。她仔细倾听，几乎肯定这就是流水的声音。       吉尔站起来，小心翼翼地朝四周张望。狮子早没影了;不过周围有那么多树，它很可能就待在附近，只是她看不见罢了。说不定那儿可能有好几头狮子呢。但她这会儿实在是口干舌燥，于是她鼓起勇气去寻找流水。她踞起脚，小心地偷偷从一棵树溜到另一棵树，每走一步都停下四处张望。      森林里一片寂静，要肯定声音从哪儿来并不困难。水声越来越清晰，没想到一下子就来到一片林间空地，看到了那条小溪，像玻璃似的亮晶晶，就在离她不远的地方流过草地。虽然看到了水反而比刚才更渴上十倍，但她并没有冲上前去喝上一口。她就站在那儿，张大嘴巴，一动也不动，像变成了石头人似的。而且她还有充分理由:那头狮子就躺在小溪的这一边。       狮子昂起头，两只前爪伸在前面，躺着的姿势就像特拉法尔加广场①的狮像。她立刻就知道它已经看见她了，因为它眼睛直勾勾地盯着她眼睛看了一会儿，这才掉转眼光——它似乎已经相当了解她，不大看重她了。      ①特拉法尔加广场:在英国伦敦的威斯敏斯特。      “如果我跑开呢，它马上就会来追我，”吉尔想道，”如果我继续往前走呢，我就会一直走到它嘴里去。”不管怎么说，要是她想动，她也动不了，而且她眼光也离不开它。这样僵持了多久，她可无法确定;似乎有好几个小时吧。再说，口越来越渴，渴得她几乎感到只要能保证先喝上一口水，即使被狮子吃了也不在乎。      “要是你渴了，尽管喝吧。”      自从斯克罗布在悬崖边上跟她说话以来，这可是她听到的第一句话。一时间她睁大眼睛到处张望，不知是谁在说话。接着那声音又说了”要是你渴了，过来喝吧。”她当然想起斯克罗布说过另外那个世界的动物会说话的事，心里明白就是那头狮子在说话。不管怎么说，这回她看见狮子的嘴唇在动，而且这声音也不像是男人的声音。这声音更加深沉，更加粗野，更加有力，是一种凝重、洪亮的声音。这声音并没有使她比刚才少害怕一点，只是害怕的程度不同罢了。      “你不渴吗?”狮子说。      “我渴得要命。”吉尔说。      ”那就喝吧。”狮子说。      “我可不可以——我能不能——我喝的时候能不能请你走开一下?”吉尔说。      狮子只看了她一眼，低低吼了一声，算是回答。吉尔久久望着它那一动不动的巨大躯体，明白自己还不如要求整座大山为了她的方便挪到一边去呢。      溪水津津，听得她差点发疯。      “如果我真的来了，你能答应不——对我怎么样吗?”吉尔说。      “我什么也不答应。”狮子说。      吉尔很渴，竟然不知不觉就走近了一步。      “你吃女孩吗?”她说。      “我吞没过女孩和男孩，女人和男人，国王和皇帝，城市和王国。”狮子说。它说话的样子既不像是吹牛皮，也不像感到遗憾，也不像感到愤怒口它只是这么说说罢了。       “我不敢过来喝。”吉尔说。      “那你就会渴死。”狮子说。      “啊呀，天哪!”吉尔说，一边又走近了一步，”我看那就一定得去另找一条小溪了。”      “没有别的小溪了。”狮子说。      吉尔根本没想过不相信这只狮子——看见过它那张神色严峻的脸的人，没一个能不相信它——于是她突然下了决心。她虽从来没挺而走险过，但她还是向前走到溪边，跪下，用手百起水来。她从来没喝过这么凉爽、这么提神的水。你用不着多喝，因为喝了这水立刻就解渴了。没喝水以前，她一直打算一喝完就飞快地从狮子身边奔开。这会儿，她看出这样做是件最最危险的事。她刚喝过水，嘴唇还是湿的，就那么直起身子，站在那儿。      “过来。”狮子说。她只好去了。如今她几乎走到它那两只前爪当中了，一面直望着它的脸。但她望不了多久就垂下了眼睛。      “人类的孩子，”狮子说，”那个男孩上哪儿去了?”      “他从悬崖上摔下去了，”吉尔说，又加了一句，”阁下。她不知道此外还有什么可以称呼它，要是不加称呼又显得没礼貌。      “他怎么会摔下去的，人类的孩子?”      “他想法不让我掉下去，阁下。”      “你为什么要那么靠近悬崖边缘呢，人类的孩子。”      “我在卖弄呢，阁下。”      “回答得好，人类的孩子。可别再卖弄了。好了，”(说到这儿，狮子的脸色才头一回变得略为缓和一点。)”那个男孩安然无事。我已经把他吹到纳尼亚去了。但由于你刚才的行为，你的任务要比他难一些。”      “请问是什么任务，阁下?”吉尔说。      “就是我把你们从你们自己的世界召到这儿来，叫你们办的任务。”      这下吉尔可搞得稀里糊涂了。”它把我错当成另外什么人了。”她想。她不敢对狮子说这事，虽然她觉得除非她说出来，否则事情将会弄得一团糟。      “把你的想法说出来，人类的孩子。”狮子说。      “我想——我的意思是——会不会搞错了?要知道，因为没人叫过我和斯克罗布。是我们要求上这儿来的。斯克罗布说我们要呼唤——向某某呼唤——那名字我不记得了——也许某某就会让我们来。于是我们就呼唤了，后来我们就发现门开了。”       “要是我没有向你们呼唤，你们是不会向我呼唤的。”狮子说。      “那么说你就是某某了，阁下?”吉尔说。      “我就是。现在听好你的任务。离开这儿很远的纳尼亚国，有一个上了年纪的国王，他很伤心，因为他没有亲生的王子来继承他的王位。他之所以没有继承人，就因为他的独生子多年前就被人从他身边偷走了，在纳尼亚没人知道王子上哪儿去了，也没人知道他是否还活着。不过他还活着。      我给你下这道命令，你去寻找这个失踪的王子，找到他就把他带回他父王王宫，找不到就在半路上送掉命，再不然就回到你自己的世界里去。      “请问，怎么找呢?”吉尔说。      “我会告诉你的，孩子，”狮子说，”这几点就是我指点你们寻找王子的指示。第一，尤斯塔斯那孩子一踏进纳尼亚，他就会遇见一位要好的老朋友。他一定得马上去跟那个朋友打招呼，如果他打了招呼，对你们俩就大有帮助。第二，你们必须出了纳尼亚就朝北方走，一直走到古代巨人那个已成废墟的城市。第三，在那个已成废墟的城市里你们会找到一块石头，上有文字，一定得照石头上的文字去做。第四，你们会由此认识那个失踪的王子(如果你们找到他的话)，因为他是你们这一路上遇见的第一个要求你们以我的名义、以阿斯兰的名义去干一件事的人。”      看来狮子的话似乎说完了，吉尔心想她也应该说点什么。因此就说”非常感谢，我懂了。”      “孩子，”阿斯兰说，口气比以前温和多了，”也许你并不像自己所想的那么懂。不过第一步是要记住。你把那四点按顺序再说给我听听。”      吉尔试了一下，但说得不大对。狮子就纠正她，让她说了一遍又一遍，直到说得全对为止。他教得非常耐心，因此，学完以后，吉尔就鼓起勇气问道      “请问，我怎么上纳尼亚去呢?”      “我吹口气送你，”狮子说，”我会像吹尤斯塔斯一样，      把你吹到这世界的西面去。”      “我来得及赶上他，告诉他第一点指示吗?不过我看这没什么关系。要是他看见一个老朋友，他准会过去跟那人打招呼的吧?”      “你已经没有闲工夫了，”狮子说，”所以我必须马上把你送去。来吧，走在我前面，到悬崖边上去。”      吉尔记得清清楚楚，要是说没有工夫，那都是她自己不好。”要是我没干蠢事，我和斯克罗布早就一起去了。而且他还可以跟我一起听到全部指示。”她想。所以她就按照吩咐做了。走回悬崖边是非常令人惊慌的，尤其是狮子不走在她身边，而走在她后面——他那柔软的爪子一点声音也没有。      但她还没走近悬崖边，后面的声音就说道”站着别动，我一会儿就要吹了。但首先你要牢记，牢记，牢记那些指示。每天早上醒来要自言自语地背指示，晚上睡下时，半夜醒来时也要背。不管你碰到什么希奇古怪的事，也别让任何事分心，忘了遵照指示办事。其次，我要警告你，在这儿高山上，我已经对你说得很清楚了:在纳尼亚我可不会经常这么说了。在这儿高山上，空气清新，你脑子也清楚;等你落到下边纳尼亚去了，空气就浑浊了。你要多加小心，别就此脑子迷迷糊糊。你在这儿学过的指示，等你在那儿碰到具体情况时，看上去会跟你想像中完全不一样。所以心里牢牢记住指示，别看事物的外表，这才至关重要。牢记指示，相信指示。其他什么都无关紧要。好了，夏娃的女儿，别了……”      这番话说到末了，声音越来越柔和，这会儿已经完全消失了。吉尔往身后看看口令她大吃一惊的是，只见那座悬崖已经在她后面一百多码以外了，狮子已成了悬崖上金光闪闪的一小点。她本来一直咬紧牙关，握紧拳头，准备承受狮子那口气的可怕威力，但这口气其实十分柔和，她甚至没注意到自己离开地面的那一时刻。眼前，只有身子下的万丈高空而已。       她只有一瞬间觉得害怕，一来在她下面的世界是那么遥远，似乎跟她没有关系;二来，在狮子吹的气上飘浮真是舒服极了。她发觉自己可以仰卧，也可以俯卧，爱怎么转身都行，就像你能在水中随意活动一样(如果你的浮水功夫学得很好的话)。而且因为她转动的速度跟狮子呼的气同步，天上没有凤，空气也似乎暖和极了。这完全不像乘在飞机上，因为既没有声音也没有振动。要是吉尔乘过气球，她可能会觉得这更像乘气球，不过更妙。      这时她回头一看，才头一回看清刚才离开的那座山头的真正规模。不知为什么像这么雄伟的一座大山竟没有冰雪覆盖——”不过我想在这个世界里一切事物都不一样了。”吉尔想道。接着她朝下面望望;但她飘得太高了，所以她弄不清自己是在陆地还是在海洋上飘，也弄不清自己的飘行速度。       “天哪，指示”吉尔突然说，”我最好还是再背背吧。”      她一时惊慌失措，但她发现自己竟还能一字不差地全都背出来。”这就没事了。”她说。她像躺在沙发上一样仰卧在空中，满意地叹了口气。      “嘿，真怪!II过了几小时，吉尔自言自语说，”我睡着了。想想真怪，在空中睡觉。我真想知道以前有没有人睡过。我想没人睡过。唉，讨厌——斯克罗布也许睡过!他跟我走的是同一条路，比我早一点。让我瞧瞧下面是什么样子。”       下面是一片其大无比的深蓝色平原口看不见山丘，只有一些又大又白的东西慢慢穿过上面。”那些一定是云，”她想，”但比我们在悬崖上看到的大多了。我想，云变大了，就是离得近了。我一定是飘得低些了。太阳真讨厌。”       她开始上路时太阳是当头照的，如今已照进她眼睛了。      这就意味着太阳已经在她前面，要下山了。斯克罗布说得不错，他说吉尔(我不了解一般女孩子)不大重视指南针的方位。否则她就该知道，当太阳照进她眼睛时，她就大致是朝正西方向飘行。      她凝视着下面那片蓝色的平原，不久就注意到其中到处都是色彩淡些亮些的小点。”原来是海，”吉尔想，”我相信那些是岛屿。”事实上果然如此。要是她知道斯克罗布曾经在一艘船的甲板上看到过其中几个岛，甚至还到岛上去过，她早就妒忌死了，但她并不知道。后来，又过了一会儿，她才开始看出那一片蓝色中有些小小的皱纹&#8226;要是你在下面身历其境，这些小小的皱纹一定是很大的海浪了。这会儿，天边出现了一道粗粗的黑线，这道线很快就变得更粗，更黑，快得你都看得见那道线在变化。这是她正飞速行进的第一个迹象。她知道这越来越粗的线一定就是陆地了。       突然间，从她的左面(因为风是南面来的)一大朵白云直向她冲来，这次跟她在同一高度。她还不知道自己身在何方，就一下子钻到冷冰冰、湿漉漉、雾蒙蒙的云中去了。这使她大吃一惊，但她在云层里只待了一会儿。出来时她对着阳光直眨眼睛，而且身上衣服都湿了。(她穿着运动衣、羊毛衫、短裤、长袜和很厚的鞋，英国那时节正是泥泞天。)她出云层时比进去时飘得更低一些——她一出来就注意到有动静，我看这应该是她一直在盼望的，然而竟使她大为惊讶和震动。原来是声音。迄今为止，她是在完全寂静中飘行的。如今，她第一次听见了海浪声和海鸥叫。同时她也闻到了海洋的气息。如今她飘行速度之快是绝对错不了的。她刚看见两股海浪啪的一下汇合在一起，中间冒起一股泡沫;但她还没看清，这些己落在她身后一百码的地方了。陆地正高速离她越来越近。她看得见远在内陆的山峦，以及近在她左面的其他山头。她看得见海湾和海师，树林和田野，绵延不断的海滨沙滩。海浪扑打岸边的声音越来越响，淹没了海洋其他的声音。      突然间，陆地展现在她的正前方。她来到了一个河口。      这会儿她飘得很低，离水面只有几英尺高了。一股浪峰溅到她脚趾上，溅起一大片泡沫，几乎把她腰以下都打得湿透了。这会儿她速度慢下来了，她没有被送到河面上，而是滑翔到她左面的河岸上。那儿要看的景物有好多好多，她简直都看不过来了，一片柔嫩的绿草地，一艘船，色彩鲜艳，看上去就像一大块珠宝，高塔和城墙，旗帜迎风招展，一大群人，衣着华丽，盔甲，金饰，刀剑，还有音乐声。但这些全都乱成一团。她首先清楚地知道的是她已经降落了，正站在靠近河边的一片灌木丛下，离她只有几英尺的地方就是斯克罗布。'       她首先想到的就是他看上去非常邋遢，衣冠不整，而且丝毫不起眼。其次才想到”我身上多么湿啊！ 
Chapter 3
THE SAILING OF THE KING
WHAT made Scrubb look so dingy (and Jill too, if she could only have seen herself) was the splendour of their surroundings. I had better describe them at once.
Through a cleft in those mountains which Jill had seen far inland as she approached the land, the sunset light was pouring over a level lawn. On the far side of the lawn, its weather-vanes glittering in the light, rose a many-towered and many-turreted castle; the most beautiful castle Jill had ever seen. On the near side was a quay of white marble and, moored to this, the ship: a tall ship with high forecastle and high poop, gilded and crimson, with a great flag at the mast-head, and many banners waving from the decks, and a row of shields, bright as silver, along the bulwarks. The gang-plank was laid to her, and at the foot of it, just ready to go on board, stood an old, old man. He wore a rich mantle of scarlet which opened in front to show his silver mail shirt. There was a thin circlet of gold on his head. His beard, white as wool, fell nearly to his waist. He stood straight enough, leaning one hand on the shoulder of a richly dressed lord who seemed younger than himself: but you could see he was very old and frail. He looked as if a puff of wind could blow him away, and his eyes were watery.
Immediately in front of the King - who had turned round to speak to his people before going on board the ship - there was a little chair on wheels, and, harnessed to it, a little donkey: not much bigger than a big retriever. In this chair sat a fat little dwarf. He was as richly dressed as the King, but because of his fatness and because he was sitting hunched up among cushions, the effect was quite different: it made him look like a shapeless little bundle of fur and silk and velvet. He was as old as the King, but more hale and hearty, with very keen eyes. His bare head, which was bald and extremely large, shone like a gigantic billiard ball in the sunset light.
Farther back, in a half-circle, stood what Jill at once knew to be the courtiers. They were well worth looking at for their clothes and armour alone. As far as that went, they looked more like a flower-bed than a crowd. But what really made Jill open her eyes and mouth as wide as they would go, was the people themselves. If "people" was the right word. For only about one in every five was human. The rest were things you never see in our world. Fauns, satyrs, centaurs: Jill could give a name to these, for she had seen pictures of them. Dwarfs too. And there were a lot of animals she knew as well; bears, badgers, moles, leopards, mice, and various birds. But then they were so very different from the animals which one called by the same names in England. Some of them were much bigger - the mice, for instance, stood on their hind legs and were over two feet high. But quite apart from that, they all looked different. You could see by the expression in their faces that they could talk and think just as well as you could.
"Golly!" thought Jill. "So it's true after all." But next moment she added, "I wonder are they friendly?" For she had just noticed, on the outskirts of the crowd, one or two giants and some people whom she couldn't give a name to at all.
At that moment Aslan and the signs rushed back into her mind. She had forgotten all about them for the last half-hour.
"Scrubb!" she whispered, grabbing his arm. "Scrubb, quick! Do you see anyone you know?"
"So you've turned up again, have you?" said Scrubb disagreeably (for which he had some reason). "Well, keep quiet, can't you? I want to listen."
"Don't be a fool," said Jill. "There isn't a moment to lose. Don't you see some old friend here? Because you've got to go and speak to him at once."
"What are you talking about?" said Scrubb.
"It's Aslan - the Lion - says you've got to," said Jill despairingly. "I've seen him."
"Oh, you have, have you? What did he say?"
"He said the very first person you saw in Narnia would be an old friend, and you'd got to speak to him at once."
"Well, there's nobody here I've ever seen in my life before; and anyway, I don't know whether this is Narnia."
"Thought you said you'd been here before," said Jill.
"Well, you thought wrong then."
"Well, I like that! You told me -"
"For heaven's sake dry up and let's hear what they're saying."
The King was speaking to the Dwarf, but Jill couldn't hear what he said. And, as far as she could make out, the Dwarf made no answer, though he nodded and wagged his head a great deal. Then the King raised his voice and addressed the whole court: but his voice was so old and cracked that she could understand very little of his speech - especially since it was all about people and places she had never heard of. When the speech was over, the King stooped down and kissed the Dwarf on both cheeks, straightened himself, raised his right hand as if in blessing, and went, slowly and with feeble steps, up the gangway and on board the ship. The courtiers appeared to be greatly moved by his departure. Handkerchiefs were got out, sounds of sobbing were heard in every direction. The gangway was cast off, trumpets sounded from the poop, and the ship moved away from the quay. (It was being towed by a rowing-boat, but Jill didn't see that.)
"Now -" said Scrubb, but he didn't get any farther, because at that moment a large white object - Jill thought for a second that it was a kite - came gliding through the air and alighted at his feet. It was a white owl, but so big that it stood as high as a good-sized dwarf.
It blinked and peered as if it were short-sighted, and put its head a little on one side, and said in a soft, hooting kind of voice:
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo! Who are you two?"
"My name's Scrubb, and this is Pole," said Eustace. "Would you mind telling us where we are?"
"In the land of Narnia, at the King's castle of Cair Paravel."
"Is that the King who's just taken ship?"
"Too true, too true," said the Owl sadly, shaking its big head. "But who are you? There's something magic about you two. I saw you arrive: you flew. Everyone else was so busy seeing the King off that nobody knew. Except me. I happened to notice you, you flew."
"We were sent here by Aslan," said Eustace in a low voice.
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" said the Owl, ruffling out its feathers. "This is almost too much for me, so early in the evening. I'm not quite myself till the sun's down."
"And we've been sent to find the lost Prince," said Jill, who had been anxiously waiting to get into the conversation.
"It's the first I've heard about it," said Eustace. "What prince?"
"You had better come and speak to the Lord Regent at once," it said. "That's him, over there in the donkey carriage; Trumpkin the Dwarf." The bird turned and began leading the way, muttering to itself, "Whoo! Tu-whoo! What a to-do! I can't think clearly yet. It's too early."
"What is the King's name?" asked Eustace.
"Caspian the Tenth," said the Owl. And Jill wondered why Scrubb had suddenly pulled up short in his walk and turned an extraordinary colour. She thought she had never seen him look so sick about anything. But before she had time to ask any questions they had reached the dwarf, who was just gathering up the reins of his donkey and preparing to drive back to the castle. The crowd of courtiers had broken up and were going in the same direction, by ones and twos and little knots, like people coming away from watching a game or a race.
"Tu-whoo! Ahem! Lord Regent," said the Owl, stooping down a little and holding its beak near the Dwarf's ear.
"Heh? What's that?" said the Dwarf.
"Two strangers, my lord," said the Owl.
"Rangers! What d'ye mean?" said the Dwarf. "I see two uncommonly grubby man-cubs. What do they want?"
"My name's Jill," said Jill, pressing forward. She was very eager to explain the important business on which they had come.
"The girl's called Jill," said the Owl, as loud as it could.
"What's that?" said the Dwarf. "The girls are all killed! I don't believe a word of it. What girls? Who killed 'em?"
"Only one girl, my lord," said the Owl. "Her name is Jill."
"Speak up, speak up," said the Dwarf. "Don't stand there buzzing and twittering in my ear. Who's been killed?"
"Nobody's been killed," hooted the Owl.
"Who?"
"NOBODY."
"All right, all right. You needn't shout. I'm not so deaf as all that. What do you mean by coming here to tell me that nobody's been killed? Why should anyone have been killed?"
"Better tell him I'm Eustace," said Scrubb.
"The boy's Eustace, my lord," hooted the Owl as loud as it could.
"Useless?" said the Dwarf irritably. "I dare say he is. Is that any reason for bringing him to court? Hey?"
"Not useless," said the Owl. "EUSTACE."
"Used to it, is he? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm sure. I tell you what it is, Master Glimfeather; when I was a young Dwarf there used to be talking beasts and birds in this country who really could talk. There wasn't all this mumbling and muttering and whispering. It wouldn't have been tolerated for a moment. Not for a moment, Sir. Urnus, my trumpet please -"
A little Faun who had been standing quietly beside the Dwarf's elbow all this time now handed him a silver eartrumpet. It was made like the musical instrument called a serpent, so that the tube curled right round the Dwarf's neck. While he was getting it settled the Owl, Glimfeather, suddenly said to the children in a whisper:
"My brain's a bit clearer now. Don't say anything about the lost Prince. I'll explain later. It wouldn't do, wouldn't do, Tu-Whoo! Oh what a to-do!"
"Now," said the Dwarf, "if you have anything sensible to say, Master Glimfeather, try and say it. Take a deep breath and don't attempt to speak too quickly."
With help from the children, and in spite of a fit of coughing on the part of the Dwarf, Glimfeather explained that the strangers had been sent by Aslan to visit the court of Narnia. The Dwarf glanced quickly up at them with a new expression in his eyes.
"Sent by the Lion Himself, hey?" he said. "And from m'm - from that other Place - beyond the world's end, hey?"
"Yes, my lord," bawled Eustace into the trumpet.
"Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, hey?" said the Dwarf. But people at Experiment House haven't heard of Adam and Eve, so Jill and Eustace couldn't answer this. But the Dwarf didn't seem to notice.
"Well, my dears," he said, taking first one and then the other by the hand and bowing his head a little. "You are very heartily welcome. If the good King, my poor Master, had not this very hour set sail for Seven Isles, he would have been glad of your coming. It would have brought back his youth to him for a moment - for a moment. And now, it is high time for supper. You shall tell me your business in full council tomorrow morning. Master Glimfeather, see that bedchambers and suitable clothes and all else are provided for these guests in the most honourable fashion. And - Glimfeather - in your ear -"
Here the Dwarf put his mouth close to the Owl's head and, no doubt, intended to whisper: but, like other deaf people, he wasn't a very good judge of his own voice, and both children heard him say, "See that they're properly washed."
After that, the Dwarf touched up his donkey and it set off towards the castle at something between a trot and a waddle (it was a very fat little beast), while the Faun, the Owl, and the children followed at a rather slower pace. The sun had set and the air was growing cool.
They went across the lawn and then through an orchard and so to the North Gate of Cair Paravel, which stood wide open. Inside, they found a grassy courtyard. Lights were already showing from the windows of the great hall on their right and from a more complicated mass of buildings straight ahead. Into these the Owl led them, and there a most delightful person was called to look after Jill. She was not much taller than Jill herself, and a good deal slenderer, but obviously full grown, graceful as a willow, and her hair was willowy too, and there seemed to be moss in it. She brought Jill to a round room in one of the turrets, where there was a little bath sunk in the floor and a fire of sweet-smelling woods burning on the flat hearth and a lamp hanging by a silver chain from the vaulted roof. The window looked west into the strange land of Narnia, and Jill saw the red remains of the sunset still glowing behind distant mountains. It made her long for more adventures and feel sure that this was only the beginning.
When she had had her bath, and brushed her hair, and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her - they were the kind that not only felt nice, but looked nice and smelled nice and made nice sounds when you moved as well - she would have gone back to gaze out of that exciting window, but she was interrupted by a bang on the door.
"Come in," said Jill. And in came Scrubb, also bathed and splendidly dressed in Narnian clothes. But his face didn't look as if he were enjoying it.
"Oh, here you are at last," he said crossly, flinging himself into a chair. "I've been trying to find you for ever so long."
"Well, now you have," said Jill. "I say, Scrubb, isn't it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words." She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.
"Oh! That's what you think, is it?" said Scrubb: and then, after a pause, "I wish to goodness we'd never come."
"Why on earth?"
"I can't bear it," said Scrubb. "Seeing the King Caspian - a doddering old man like that. It's - it's frightful."
"Why, what harm does it do you?"
"Oh, you don't understand. Now that I come to think of it, you couldn't. I didn't tell you that this world has a different time from ours."
"How do you mean?"
"The time you spend here doesn't take up any of our time. Do you see? I mean, however long we spend here, we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it -"
"That won't be much fun."
"Oh, dry up! Don't keep interrupting. And when you're back in England - in our world - you can't tell how time is going here. It might be any number of years in Narnia while we're having one year at home. The Pevensies explained it all to me, but, like a fool, I forgot about it. And now apparently it's been about seventy years Narnian years - since I was here last. Do you see now? And I come back and find Caspian an old, old man."
"Then the King was an old friend of yours!" said Jill. A horrid thought had struck her.
"I should jolly well think he was," said Scrubb miserably. "About as good a friend as a chap could have. And last time he was only a few years older than me. And to see that old man with a white beard, and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands, or in the fight with the Sea Serpent - oh, it's frightful. It's worse than coming back and finding him dead."
"Oh, shut up," said Jill impatiently. "It's far worse than you think. We've muffed the first Sign." Of course Scrubb did not understand this. Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.
"So you see," she wound up, "you did see an old friend, just as Aslan said, and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once. And now you haven't, and everything is going wrong from the very beginning."
"But how was I to know?" said Scrubb.
"If you'd only listened to me when I tried to tell you, we'd be all right," said Jill.
"Yes, and if you hadn't played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me - all right, I said murder, and I'll say it again as often as I like, so keep your hair on - we'd have come together and both known what to do."
"I suppose he was the first person you saw?" said Jill. "You must have been here hours before me. Are you sure you didn't see anyone else first?"
"I was only here about a minute before you," said Scrubb. "He must have blown you quicker than me. Making up for lost time: the time you lost."
"Don't be a perfect beast, Scrubb," said Jill. "Hallo! What's that?"
It was the castle bell ringing for supper, and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short. Both had a good appetite by this time.
Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen; for though Eustace had been in that world before, he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land. The banners hung from the roof, and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums. There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of, and the lovely fishes called pavenders, and venison and peacock and pies, and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts, and all manner of wines and fruit drinks. Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was "something like". And when all the serious eating and drinking was over, a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree, which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. (I haven't time to tell it now, though it is well worth hearing.)
When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed, yawning their heads off, Jill said, "I bet we sleep well, tonight"; for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.      3国王启航      斯克罗布看上去那么遛逼的原因(吉尔也一样，只要她能看见自己这副模样就好了)是他们周围的景象雄伟。我最好立刻把这一切描绘一下。      吉尔快到陆地时，曾经从那些山峰的一条裂缝中看到过遥远的内地，夕阳的余辉正泻在一片平坦的草地上。草地尽头，风向标在夕阳下闪闪发光，矗立着一幢有很多尖塔和很多角楼的城堡，吉尔从没见过这么美丽的城堡。近处是一个大理石砌的码头，停泊在这儿的是一艘船;一艘高高的船，有高高的船首楼和高高的船尾楼，漆成金色和深红色，榄杆顶上有一面大旗，甲板上旗帜迎风招展，沿着舷墙是一排银光闪闪的盾形纹徽口一条跳板lI。.向船上，就在跳板脚下，有一个很老很老的人站在那儿，正准备走上跳板。他身披一件贵重的猩红色斗篷，前面敞着，露出里面银色的铠甲。头上有一条细细的金环。他的胡子白得像羊毛一样，一直垂到近腰部。他站得笔直，一只手搁在一个衣着华丽的贵族肩上，那人似于比他年轻一点，但你能看出他也很老了，而且身体虚弱。看上去一阵风就能把这人吹走，他两眼泪汪汪的。      国王这时趁着还没上船，转身向他的百姓讲话——紧挨着国王前面是一只小小的轮椅，前面套着一匹小小的驴子，比一只大猎狗大不了多少的驴子。这把椅子上坐着一个胖胖的小矮人，他的衣服和国王一样华贵，但因为他是胖子，又弓起身子坐在软垫堆上，结果看上去竟大不一样，他看上去就像乱糟糟一小堆毛皮、丝绸和丝绒。小矮人和国王一样老，但更健壮，目光锐利。他没戴帽子，脑袋都秃了，而且其大无比，在夕阳下就像一颗特大台球似的发亮。      再往后，一溜儿站成半园形的，吉尔一看就知道是大臣们。如果光看他们的衣服和盔甲，那倒是值得一看的。实际上他们看上去更像一个花坛，而不像一群人。但真正使吉尔自瞪口呆的是那些百姓。就是说，如果用”百姓”这个字眼合适的话。因为其中只有五分之一是人类。其他都是你在我们的世界里从来没见过的。有羊怪、树精、人头马，吉尔叫得出这些名字，因为她看见过这些怪物的图画。还有小矮人。还有很多动物她也认识有熊、灌、睡鼠、豹、老鼠以及各种鸟儿。不过这些动物比起英国的同类动物可大不相同。好多动物都大得多——比方说老鼠吧，它们用后腿站着，就不止两英尺高。而除了这点以外，它们看上去全都不一样。你从它们脸上的表情就看得出，它们能说话，也能想，就像你能说能想一样。       “天哪!II吉尔想道，”原来这竟是真的。”但过了一会她又说，”不知它们对人是不是友好?”因为她刚刚注意到在人群外围还有一两个巨人，以及她完全叫不出名字的百姓呢。      正在此时，阿斯兰和他的指示又突然回到她脑海里。这半个小时她本来已经忘记得干干净净了。      “斯克罗布!II她悄悄说，一面抓住他的胳臂，”斯克罗布，快!你看见哪个认识的人没有?”      “原来你又钻出来了啊?”斯克罗布不高兴地说(他这样也有道理)，”行了，安静点，好吗?我要听听。”      “别犯傻了，”吉尔说，”没时间耽搁了。你看见这儿有什么老朋友吗?因为你得马上去跟他说话。”      “你在说些什么呀?”斯克罗布说。      “阿斯兰——狮王——说你一定得去的，”吉尔绝望地说，”我见过他了。”      “啊呀，你见过他了吗?他说什么了?”      “他说你在纳尼亚看见的第一个人就是一个老朋友，你一定得马上去跟他说话。”      “唉，这儿可没有一个人是我以前见过的;再有呢，不管怎么说，我还不知道这究竟是不是纳尼亚。”      “我想你说过你以前到过这儿的。”吉尔说。”哼，那么你想错了。”      “亏你说得出口，你告诉过我……”      “看在老天的分上，快住口，我们听听他们在说什么。”国王正在跟那个小矮人说话，但吉尔听不出他在说什么。她只弄明白那小矮人虽然一个劲儿地点头或摇头，却没回答国王的话。接着国王扯开嗓门对全场的人讲话，但他的声音苍老嘶哑，她听得懂的话实在太少了——尤其是这番话全都是关于她从来没听见过的百姓和地方的。讲完以后，国王弯下腰吻了小矮人两颊，再站直身子，举起右手，似乎是在祝福，然后拖着有气无力的步子慢慢地走上跳板，上了船。那些大臣似乎都为他的起程深受感动。好多人拿出了手帕，四面八方都是哭声。跳板撤掉了，船尾楼响起了喇叭声，船离开了码头。(船是由一条划艇拖走的，不过吉尔没看见那划艇。      “好了……”斯克罗布说，不过他没说下去，因为就在这时一个又大又白的东西——吉尔一时还以为那是只风筝呢——从空中滑过来，停在他脚边。原来是一只白猫头鹰，不过个儿真大，站在那儿竟有一个大个儿小矮人那么高。      它眼睛眨巴眨巴，像近视眼似的盯着他们看，脑袋歪在一边，以一种柔和的唬唬叫声说:      “唷嗬，唷嗬!你们俩是什么人啊?”      “我叫斯克罗布，这一位是波尔，”尤斯塔斯说，”你能告诉我们，我们在哪儿吗?”      “在纳尼亚的土地上，在凯尔帕拉维尔国王的城堡。”      “那个刚刚上船的就是国王吗?”      “太对了，太对了，”猫头鹰晃着大脑袋伤心地说，”可你们是谁呢?你们两个身上有魔法。我看见你们到的你们是飞来的。大家都忙着为国王送行，没人知道。只有我。我正好注意到你们，你们飞过来了。”       “我们是阿斯兰派到这儿来的。”尤斯塔斯低声说。      “喔嗬，喔嗬，”猫头鹰说着，一边竖起了羽毛，”天色还很旱，我可受不了。太阳下山前我总是不大自在。”      “我们是派来寻找失踪的王子的。”吉尔说，她一直巴不得插进来谈谈。      “这事我可是第一回听到，”尤斯塔斯说，”什么王子?”      “你们最好马上就去跟摄政王谈谈，”它说，”那个就是，就在那边的驴车里，小矮人杜鲁普金。”猫头鹰转身开始领路，一面喃喃自语，”嗬!喔嗬!乱哄哄的!我还不能好好想一想呢。天太早了。”      “国王叫什么名字?”尤斯塔斯问。      “凯斯宾十世。”猫头鹰说。吉尔不知斯克罗布走着走着干吗突然停下，脸色也异常了。她心想自己还从来没见过他看上去对任何事那么难过呢。但她还来不及问什么，他们就已经走到小矮人身边，他正好收起驴子的缰绳，准备驾车回城堡去。那群大臣也散开了，三五成群，往同一个方向走去，就像人们看完运动会或比赛散场一样。      “喔嗬l嗯嗬!摄政王。”猫头鹰弯下身子，嘴巴凑近小矮人耳朵说。      “嗨！什么事?”小矮人说。      “两个陌生人，大人。”猫头鹰说。      “守林人①？你什么意思?”小矮人说，”我看见两个非常邋遢的野小子。他们要什么?”      “我叫吉尔。”吉尔说着挤到前面。她急于要说明他们来此办理的那件重要大事。      “姑娘名叫吉尔，”猫头鹰尽量大声说道。      “什么?”小矮人说，”姑娘都被杀了②叫我一点也不相信。什么姑娘?谁杀了她们?”      ①英语中陌生人与守林人发音相似。      ②英语中吉尔与被杀一词音相近，小矮人耳聋，听错了。      “只有一个姑娘，大人，”猫头鹰说，”她叫吉尔。”      “大声讲，大声讲，”小矮人说，”别站在那儿，对着我耳朵叽叽喳喳的。谁被杀了?”      “没人被杀。”猫头鹰叫道。      ”谁.?”      “没人。”      “好了，好了。你用不着嚷嚷。我还没聋到那个地步。你到这儿来告诉我没人被杀是什么意思?为什么该有人被杀呢?”      “你最好告诉他我是尤斯塔斯。”斯克罗布说。      “这个男孩是尤斯塔斯，大人。”猫头鹰尽量大声叫道。”没用处?”小矮人性急地说，”我敢说他是没用处的。      你有什么理由把他带到宫里来呢?嗯?”      “不是没用处，”猫头鹰说，”是尤斯塔斯。”      “有事没事吗?说真的，我不知道你在说些什么。格里姆费瑟大师，我来告诉你是怎么回事吧，我年轻时，这个国家就有了会说话的兽类和鸟类，那才是真正会说话的。完全不是这种咕咕哝哝，叽叽喳喳，悄声细气。这种说话一刻都不能容忍。一刻都不行。乌纳斯，请拿我的助听器。”      一直悄悄站在小矮人身边的一只小羊怪就递给他一只银制的助听器，这东西做得就像一种蛇形的乐器，因此那管子就盘在小矮人的脖子上。他正在戴助听器时，猫头鹰格里姆费瑟突然悄悄对两个孩子说      “我脑子现在清楚一点了。别提任何有关失踪的王子的事。回头我再解释。那样不行的，不行的，喔嗬!哦，乱哄哄的!”      “行了，”小矮人说，”如果你有什么合情合理的话要说，格里姆费瑟大师，那就说说看吧。先深深吸口气，别企图说得太快了。”      在两个孩子的帮助下，尽管小矮人一阵阵咳嗽，格里姆费瑟总算解释说这两个陌生人是阿斯兰派来访问纳尼亚宫廷的。小矮人换上一种眼神迅速看了他们一眼。      “是狮王亲自派来的，嗯?”他说，”而且是从——咱——喝——从另一个地方，从世界尽头以外来的，嗯?”      “是的，爵爷。”尤斯塔斯对准助听器大声叫道。       “是亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿吧，嗯?”小矮人说。但实验学校的人们都没听说过亚当和夏娃，因此吉尔和尤斯塔斯对此没法回答。不过小矮人似乎并不在意。      “好了，亲爱的，”他说着拉起第一个的手，接着又拉起第二个的手，稍微点了点头，”衷心欢迎你们。要是我可怜的主人，善良的国王此时此刻没乘船去七群岛的话，他准会对你们来到表示高兴的。这会把他暂时带回他的青年时代——暂时。而现在呢，该是吃晚饭的时候了。明天早上你们可以把你们的事在全体会议上告诉我。格里姆费瑟大师，务必要以最隆重的规格为这两个贵宾提供卧室和合身的衣服以及其他一切。还有——格里姆费瑟——你耳朵凑过来;…”      说到这儿，小矮人嘴巴凑到猫头鹰脑袋旁边，毫无疑问，他是打算悄悄说话的但正像其他聋子一样，他对自己的声音估计不足，两个孩子都听见他说”务必让他们好好洗洗干净。”:       说罢，小矮人用鞭轻轻打了一下小驴子，驴子就向城堡出发了，步子不快不慢，摇摇摆摆(拉车的是头很胖的小驴子)，而羊怪、猫头鹰和两个孩子就放慢步子跟着。这时太阳已经下山了，空气也变得凉爽了。      他们穿过草地，接着穿过果园，来到凯尔帕拉维尔的北门，大门敞开着。里面是一个长满青草的院子，在他们右面的大厅窗户里已经透出了灯光，正前方一大片更复杂的楼房里也有灯光。猫头鹰领他们走了进去。在那儿叫了一个很讨人喜欢的人来照顾吉尔。她跟吉尔个子差不多，却苗条得多，而且显然是个成人，她像杨柳一样文雅，头发也像杨柳，里面好像还有青苔呢。她把吉尔带到一座塔楼上的一间圆形的房间，那里地面上嵌着一只小浴缸，壁炉里生着火，木柴香气扑鼻，拱形屋顶垂下一条银链吊着一盏灯。从朝西的窗户里可以看见纳尼亚陌生的国土，吉尔看见落日的余辉仍然在远处的群山后发着红光。这使她渴望更多的奇遇，而且确信这还只是个开头。       她洗完澡，梳了梳头，穿上已经给她放好的衣服——这些衣服不仅摸上去舒服，看上去也好看，还有股香味，走动时还发出好听的声音——她本想再回去细看窗外令人兴奋的景色，不料门砰的一响打断了她的思绪。       “进来。”吉尔说。于是斯克罗布走了进来，他也洗了澡，穿着华丽的纳尼亚服装。但他脸上并没有高兴的神情。      “哦，总算看见你了。”他发着脾气说，一面一屁股坐在椅子上，”我老早就在想法找你了。”      “得，你现在找到啦，”吉尔说，”哎呀，斯克罗布，这儿的一切太令人激动了，好得没法说。”这时她已经把指示和失踪的王子忘得一干二净。      “哦，那是你的想法吧?”斯克罗布说，接着，他停了一下，”我倒但愿我们根本没来过。”      “究竟怎么啦?”      “我受不了，”斯克罗布说，”看到国王——凯斯宾——成了那样一个老态龙钟的老头儿。这真——这真可怕。”      “为什么，那碍你什么事?”      “哦，你不明白。现在我想起来了。你没法想像的。我没告诉你这个世界的时间跟我们的时间是不一样的。”      “什么意思?”      “你在这儿度过的时间并没花掉一丁点儿我们的时间。      你懂吗?我意思是说，无论我们在这儿过多久，我们将来回到实验学校仍然是我们离开的那会儿....      “那就不怎么有趣了……”      “哦，快住口，别老打断我。一旦你回到英国——在我们的世界里——你就说不出这儿的时间是怎么过的。我们在国内过上一年，这儿就可能是不知多少年了。佩文西家兄妹对我解释过这一切，可我竟像个傻瓜似的忘了。自从我上回到这儿来算起，按纳尼亚的年份来说——如今显然已经有七十年了。现在你懂了吧?我回来一看凯斯宾竟是个老老头了。”       “那么说国王原来是你的一个老朋友啰?”吉尔说。她突然有了一个可怕的想法。      “我真该认为他是的，”斯克罗布痛苦地说，”这位朋友要多好有多好。上回来的时候，他只比我大几岁，看看那个白胡子老头，再想想我们占领孤独群岛的那天早上的凯斯宾，还有大战海蛇那时的凯斯宾——哦，这真可怕，比我回来发现他死了更糟。”      “哦，住口，”吉尔不耐烦地说，”事情比你想的糟得多，我们已经把第一点指示错过了。”斯克罗布当然听不懂这句话，于是吉尔把自己和阿斯兰之间的谈话，以及四点指示，还有交给他们寻找失踪的王子的任务——告诉了他。       “因此你明白了吧，”她结束道，”正像阿斯兰所说的，你的确看到了一个老朋友，你本来应该立刻上去跟他说话的。而现在你没去，刚开头一切就都乱了套。”      “可我怎么会知道呢?”斯克罗布说。      “我想方设法告诉你的时候，你只要听我说，我们就没事了。”吉尔说。      “是啊，只要你不在悬崖边上胡闹，差点送了我的命——对了，我是说送命，我随时高兴还要再说，以便让你保持镇静——我们早就可以一起上这儿来，那么两个人都知道该干什么了。”       “我看，他就是你看见的第一个人吧？”吉尔说，”你一定比我早到了好几小时。你肯定没有先看见别人吗?”      “我只比你早到一分钟，”斯克罗布说，”他一定把你吹得比我快。补上耽搁的时间;你耽搁的时间。”      “别那么坏，斯克罗布，”吉尔说，”喂，什么事啊?”      原来是城堡里响起晚餐钟声，这样一来一场唇枪舌剑就此皆大欢喜地中断了。两个人这时候胃口都特别好。      在城堡大厅里用晚餐，可是他们两个人从未见识过的豪华大场面。因为尤斯塔斯虽然以前到过这个世界，可是他来访的整个时期都是在海上度过的，对纳尼亚人在自己国土上的排场和礼节一无所知。屋顶上垂下一面面旗帜，每道菜上来时都要吹号击鼓。一道道汤叫你一想到就要垂涎欲滴。那种叫帕文德的好吃的鱼，还有鹿肉、孔雀肉和馅饼，雪糕和果冻，水果和果仁，以及各种各样的美酒和果汁。就连尤斯塔斯也高兴起来，承认这顿饭”像样”。等到一本正经的吃喝全部结束，一个盲诗人就走上前来，开始演唱美妙的老故事<能言马与男孩>，讲的是科奥王子和阿拉维斯以及一匹叫布里的马，那是彼得在凯尔帕拉维尔当至尊王的黄金时代，发生在纳尼亚和卡乐门以及其交界土地上的一次奇遇。(尽管这故事很值得一听，可我现在没时间说了。)       等到他们拖着脚步慢吞吞上楼去睡觉，两个人都呵欠连天。吉尔说”我敢说我们今晚都会睡得好。”因为这一天己经过得满满当当了，而这仅仅说明没人知道下一步他们还将碰到什么事。
Chapter 4
A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS
IT is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting to bed; especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room. Jill felt she couldn't even start undressing unless she sat down in front of the fire for a bit first. And once she had sat down, she didn't want to get up again. She had already said to herself about five times, "I must go to bed", when she was startled by a tap on the window.
She got up, pulled the curtain, and at first saw nothing but darkness. Then she jumped and started backwards, for something very large had dashed itself against the window, giving a sharp tap on the glass as. it did so. A very unpleasant idea came into her head - "Suppose they have giant moths in this country! Ugh!" But then the thing came back, and this time she was almost sure she saw a beak, and that the beak had made that tapping noise. "It's some huge bird," thought Jill. "Could it be an eagle?" She didn't very much want a visit even from an eagle, but she opened the window and looked out. Instantly, with a great whirring noise, the creature alighted on the window-sill and stood there filling up the whole window, so that Jill had to step back to make room for it. It was the Owl.
"Hush, hush! Tu-whoo, tu-whoo," said the Owl. "Don't make a noise. Now, are you two really in earnest about what you've got to do?"
"About the lost Prince, you mean?" said Jill. "Yes, we've got to be." For now she remembered the Lion's voice and face, which she had nearly forgotten during the feasting and story-telling in the hall.
"Good!" said the Owl. "Then there's no time to waste.
You must get away from here at once. I'll go and wake the other human. Then I'll come back for you. You'd better change those court clothes and put on something you can travel in. I'll be back in two twos. Tu-whoo!" And without waiting for an answer, he was gone.
If Jill had been more used to adventures, she might have doubted the Owl's word, but this never occurred to her: and in the exciting idea of a midnight escape she forgot her sleepiness. She changed back into sweater and shorts there was a guide's knife on the belt of the shorts which might come in useful - and added a few of the things that had been left in the room for her by the girl with the willowy hair. She chose a short cloak that came down to her knees and had a hood ("just the thing, if it rains," she thought), a few handkerchiefs and a comb. Then she sat down and waited.
She was getting sleepy again when the Owl returned.
"Now we're ready," it said.
"You'd better lead the way," said Jill. "I don't know all these passages yet."
"Tu-whoo!" said the Owl. "We're not going through the castle. That would never do. You must ride on me. We shall fly."
"Oh!" said Jill, and stood with her mouth open, not much liking the idea. "Shan't I be too heavy for you?"
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo! Don't you be a fool. I've already carried the other one. Now. But we'll put out that lamp first."
As soon as the lamp was out, the bit of the night which you saw through the window looked less dark - no longer black, but grey. The Owl stood on the window-sill with his back to the room and raised his wings. Jill had to climb on to his short fat body and get her knees under the wings and grip tight. The feathers felt beautifully warm and soft but there was nothing to hold on by. "I wonder how Scrubb liked his ride!" thought Jill. And just as she was thinking this, with a horrid plunge they had left the window-sill, and the wings were making a flurry round her ears, and the night air, rather cool and damp, was flying in her face.
It was much lighter than she expected, and though the sky was overcast, one patch of watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds. The fields beneath her looked grey, and the trees black. There was a certain amount of wind - a hushing, ruffling sort of wind which meant that rain was coming soon.
The Owl wheeled round so that the castle was now ahead of them. Very few of the windows showed lights. They flew right over it, northwards, crossing the river: the air grew colder, and Jill thought she could see the white reflection of the Owl in the water beneath her. But soon they were on the north bank of the river, flying above wooded country.
The Owl snapped at something which Jill couldn't see.
"Oh, don't, please!" said Jill. "Don't jerk like that. You nearly threw me off."
"I beg your pardon," said the Owl. "I was just nabbing a bat. There's nothing so sustaining, in a small way, as a nice plump little bat. Shall I catch you one?"
"No, thanks," said Jill with a shudder.
He was flying a little lower now and a large, black looking object was looming up towards them. Jill had just time to see that it was a tower - a partly ruinous tower, with a lot of ivy on it, she thought - when she found herself ducking to avoid the archway of a window, as the Owl squeezed with her through the ivied cobwebby opening, out of the fresh, grey night into a dark place inside the top of the tower. It was rather fusty inside and, the moment she slipped off the Owl's back, she knew (as one usually does somehow) that it was quite crowded And when voices began saying out of the darkness from every direction "Tuwhoo! Tu-whoo!" she knew it was crowded with owls. She was rather relieved when a very different voice said:
"Is that you, Pole?"
"Is that you, Scrubb?" said Jill.
"Now," said Glimfeather, "I think we're all here. Let us hold a parliament of owls."
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo. True for you. That's the right thing to do," said several voices.
"Half a moment," said Scrubb's voice. "There's something I want to say first."
"Do, do, do," said the owls; and Jill said, "Fire ahead."
"I suppose all you chaps-owls, I mean," said Scrubb, "I suppose you all know that King Caspian the Tenth, in his young days, sailed to the eastern end of the world. Well, I was with him on that journey: with him and Reepicheep the Mouse, and the Lord Drinian and all of them. I know it sounds hard to believe, but people don't grow older in our world at the same speed as they do in yours. And what I want to say is this, that I'm the King's man; and if this parliament of owls is any sort of plot against the King, I'm having nothing to do with it."
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo, we're all the King's owls too," said the owls.
"What's it all about then?" said Scrubb.
"It's only this," said Glimfeather. "That if the Lord Regent, the Dwarf Trumpkin, hears you are going to look for the lost Prince, he won't let you start. He'd keep you under lock and key sooner."
"Great Scott!" said Scrubb. "You don't mean that Trumpkin is a traitor? I used to hear a lot about him in the old days, at sea. Caspian - the King, I mean - trusted him absolutely."
"Oh no," said a voice. "Trumpkin's no traitor. But more than thirty champions (knights, centaurs, good giants, and all sorts) have at one time or another set out to look for the lost Prince, and none of them have ever come back. And at last the King said he was not going to have all the bravest Narnians destroyed in the search for his son. And now nobody is allowed to go."
"But surely he'd let us go," said Scrubb. "When he knew who I was and who had sent me."
("Sent both of us," put in Jill.)
"Yes," said Glimfeather, "I think, very likely, he would. But the King's away. And Trumpkin will stick to the rules. He's as true as steel, but he's deaf as a post and very peppery. You could never make him see that this might be the time for making an exception to the rule."
"You might think he'd take some notice of us, because we're owls and everyone knows how wise owls are," said someone else. "But he's so old now he'd only say, `You're a mere chick. I remember you when you were an egg. Don't come trying to teach me, Sir. Crabs and crumpets!'"
This owl imitated Trumpkin's voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round. The children began to see that the Narnians all felt about Trumpkin as people feel at school about some crusty teacher, whom everyone is a little afraid of and everyone makes fun of and nobody really dislikes.
"How long is the King going to be away?" asked Scrubb.
"If only we knew!" said Glimfeather. "You see, there has been a rumour lately that Aslan himself has been seen in the islands - in Terebinthia, I think it was. And the King said he would make one more attempt before he died to see Aslan face to face again, and ask his advice about who is to be King after him. But we're all afraid that, if he doesn't meet Aslan in Terebinthia, he'll go on east, to Seven Isles and Lone Islands - and on and on. He never talks about it, but we all know he has never forgotten that voyage to the world's end. I'm sure in his heart of hearts he wants to go there again."
"Then there's no good waiting for him to come back?" said Jill.
"No, no good," said the Owl. "Oh, what a to-do! If only you two had known and spoken to him at once! He'd have arranged everything - probably given you an army to go with you in search of the Prince."
Jill kept quiet at this and hoped Scrubb would be sporting enough not to tell all the owls why this hadn't happened. He was, or very nearly. That is, he only muttered under his breath, "Well, it wasn't my fault," before saying out loud:
"Very well. We'll have to manage without it. But there's just one thing more I want to know. If this owls' parliament, as you call it, is all fair and above board and means no mischief, why does it have to be so jolly secret- meeting in a ruin in dead of night, and all that?"
"Tu-whoo! Tu-whoo!" hooted several owls. "Where should we meet? When would anyone meet except at night?"
"You see," explained Glimfeather, "most of the creatures in Narnia have such unnatural habits. They do things by day, in broad blazing sunlight (ugh!) when everyone ought to be asleep. And, as a result, at night they're so blind and stupid that you can't get a word out of them. So we owls have got into the habit of meeting at sensible hours, on our own, when we want to talk about things."
"I see," said Scrubb. "Well now, let's get on. Tell us all about the lost Prince." Then an old owl, not Glimfeather, related the story.
About ten years ago, it appeared, when Rilian, the son of Caspian, was a very young knight, he rode with the Queen his mother on a May morning in the north parts of Narnia. They had many squires and ladies with them and all wore garlands of fresh leaves on their heads, and horns at their sides; but they had no hounds with them, for they were maying, not hunting. In the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly out of the earth, and there they dismounted and ate and drank and were merry. After a time the Queen felt sleepy, and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank, and Prince Rilian with the rest of the party went a little way from her, that their tales and laughter might not wake her. And so, presently, a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the Queen in her hand. All heard her cry out and rushed towards her, and Rilian was first at her side. He saw the worm gliding away from her and made after it with his sword drawn. It was great, shining, and as green as poison, so that he could see it well: but it glided away into thick bushes and he could not come at it. So he returned to his mother, and found them all busy about her.
But they were busy in vain, for at the first glance of her face Rilian knew that no physic in the world would do her good. As long as the life was in her she seemed to be trying hard to tell him something. But she could not speak clearly and, whatever her message was, she died without delivering it. It was then hardly ten minutes since they had first heard her cry.
They carried the dead Queen back to Cair Paravel, and she was bitterly mourned by Rilian and by the King, and by all Narnia. She had been a great lady, wise and gracious and happy, King Caspian's bride whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world. And men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins. The Prince took his mother's death very hardly, as well he might. After that, he was always riding on the northern marches of Narnia, hunting for that venomous worm, to kill it and be avenged. No one remarked much on this, though the Prince came home from these wanderings looking tired and distraught. But about a month after the Queen's death, some said they could see a change in him. There was a look in his eyes as of a man who has seen visions, and though he would be out all day, his horse did not bear the signs of hard riding. His chief friend among the older courtiers was the Lord Driman, he who had been his father's captain on that great voyage to the east parts of the earth.
One evening Drinian said to the Prince, "Your Highness must soon give over seeking the worm. There is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man. You weary yourself in vain." The Prince answered him, "My Lord, I have almost forgotten the worm this seven days." Drinian asked him why, if that were so, he rode so continually in the northern woods. "My lord," said the Prince, "I have seen there the most beautiful thing that was ever made." "Fair Prince," said Drinian, "of your courtesy let me ride with you tomorrow, that I also may see this fair thing." "With a good will," said Rilian.
Then in good time on the next day they saddled their horses and rode a great gallop into the northern woods and alighted at that same fountain where the Queen got her death. Drinian thought it strange that the Prince should choose that place of all places, to linger in. And there they rested till it came to high noon: and at noon Drinian looked up and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen; and she stood at the north side of the fountain and said no word but beckoned to the Prince with her hand as if she bade him come to her. And she was tall and great, shining, and wrapped in a thin garment as green as poison. And the Prince stared at her like a man out of his wits. But suddenly the lady was gone, Driman knew not where; and the two returned to Cair Paravel. It stuck in Drinian's mind that this shining green woman was evil.
Drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the King, but he had little wish to be a blab and a tale-bearer and so he held his tongue. But afterwards he wished he had spoken. For next day Prince Rilian rode out alone. That night he came not back, and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in Narnia nor any neighbouring land, and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything else was ever found. Then Drinian in the bitterness of his heart went to Caspian and said, "Lord King, slay me speedily as a great traitor: for by my silence I have destroyed your son." And he told him the story. Then Caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the Lord Drinian to kill him, and Drinian stood still as a stock for the death blow. But when the axe was raised, Caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out, "I have lost my queen and my son: shall I lose my friend also?" And he fell upon the Lord Drinian's neck and embraced him and both wept, and their friendship was not broken.
Such was the story of Rilian. And when it was over, Jill said, "I bet that serpent and that woman were the same person."
"True, true, we think the same as you," hooted the owls.
"But we don't think she killed the Prince," said Glimfeather, "because no bones -"
"We know she didn't," said Scrubb. "Aslan told Pole he was still alive somewhere."
"That almost makes it worse," said the oldest owl. "It means she has some use for him, and some deep scheme against Narnia. Long, long ago, at the very beginning, a White Witch came out of the North and bound our land in snow and ice for a hundred years. And we think this may be some of the same crew."
"Very well, then," said Scrubb. "Pole and I have got to `Find this Prince. Can you help us?"
"Have you any clue, you two?" asked Glimfeather.
"Yes," said Scrubb. "We know we've got to go north. And w e know we've got to reach the ruins of a giant city."
At this there was a greater tu-whooing than ever, and noise of birds shifting their feet and ruffling their feathers, and then all the owls started speaking at once. They all explained how very sorry they were that they themselves could not go with the children on their search for the lost Prince "You'd want to travel by day, and we'd want to travel by night," they said. "It wouldn't do, wouldn't do." One or two owls added that even here in the ruined tower it wasn't nearly so dark as it had been when they began, and that the parliament had been going on quite long enough. In fact, the mere mention of a journey to the ruined city of giants seemed to have damped the spirits of those birds. But Glimfeather said:
"If they want to go that way - into Ettinsmoor - we must take them to one of the Marsh-wiggles. They're the Only people who can help them much."
"'True, true. Do," said the owls.
"Come on, then," said Glimfeather. "I'll take one. Who'll take the other? It must be done tonight."
"I will: as far as the Marsh-wiggles," said another owl.
"Are you ready?" said Glimfeather to Jill.
"I think Pole's asleep," said Scrubb.      4、猫头鹰的会议      说来有趣，你越是困，你准备上床的时间就越长，尤其是如果你房间里侥幸还生着火的时候。吉尔就觉得她要不先在火边坐一会儿，甚至不能动手脱衣服。可她一坐下，就不愿再站起来。她大约已经对自己说了五回”我得上床了”，这时响起了轻轻的敲窗声，把她吓了一跳。      她起来拉开窗帘，开头除了一片黑暗，什么也看不见。接着她跳起来，开始朝后退，因为有样庞然大物冲到窗子上，在玻璃上猛地敲了一下。她脑子里出现了一个很不愉快的念头——”是不是他们这个国家有巨型蛾子呢?啊!”谁知这东西又回来了，这一回她几乎肯定自己看见了一只尖尖的嘴，就是这只尖嘴在敲窗子。”这是什么大鸟?”吉尔想，      “会不会是鹰呢?”她可不大希望一只鹰上门来找她，不过她还是开了窗，往外看看。顿时间，只听得呼呼声响，那只鸟就停在窗台上，而且站在那儿把整个窗户都堵住了，吉尔只好后退几步让它。原来是那只猫头鹰。      “嘘，嘘!喔嗬，喔嗬，”猫头鹰说，”别出声。好了，你们俩是真心诚意要去干你们一定得干的事吗？”      “你是说，那失踪的王子的事?”吉尔说，”是啊，我们一定得干。”因为这时她想起了狮王的声音和面容，这事在大厅赴宴和听故事时她几乎全忘了。      “好，”猫头鹰说，”那么没时间可浪费了。你必须立刻离开这儿。我去叫醒另外那个人。然后我再回来接你。你最好把这些宫廷的衣服换掉，穿上几件能在路上穿的。我马上就回来。喔嗬I”它不等吉尔回话就飞走了。      要是吉尔一向冒险惯了，她也许会怀疑猫头鹰的话，但她从来没这么想过;半夜逃走这个令人激动的主意，让她就此忘了自己的困倦。她重新换上羊毛衫和短裤——短裤裤带上有一把向导用的刀，可能用得上——又加了几样东西，是那个有垂柳似的头发的姑娘留在房间里给她用的。她选了一件长到膝盖的连风帽的短斗篷(“要是下雨，正好用得着。”她想道)I几块手帕和一把梳子。于是她坐下等着。      等猫头鹰回来时，她已经又困了。      “我们准备好了。”它说。      “你最好带带路，”吉尔说，”我还不熟悉这些走廊。”      “喔嗬，”猫头鹰说，”我们不穿过城堡。那是绝对不行的。你得骑在我身上。我们要飞。”      “哦I”吉尔说着，嘴巴张得老大，她不大喜欢这个主意，”你不嫌我太重吗?”      “喔嗬，喔嗬!你别犯傻了。我已经送走了另外一个。得了。可我们先得把灯灭了。      灯一灭，从窗子里望出去看到的那一小块夜空就不那么黑了——不再是黑色，而是灰色。猫头鹰站在窗台上，背朝里，抬起双翅。吉尔只好爬上它那又胖又矮的身体，膝盖抵着翅膀下面，紧紧夹住。它的羽毛非常暖和柔软，就是没个抓处。”我真想知道斯克罗布觉得这次飞行怎么样!”吉尔想道。她正想着，他们猛地向前一冲，就离开了窗台，那对翅膀在她耳边振起一阵疾风，晚上的空气凉风里陋、湿润润，扑面而来。       这次飞行比她预想中轻松得多，尽管天空阴云密布，一片水汪汪的银光，显示月亮就躲在云层上面。她下面的田野看上去灰蒙蒙，树林黑沉沉。这时有一股大风——沙沙沙、呼呼呼的直响，说明就要下雨了。      猫头鹰改变了方向，因此城堡这会儿就在他们前方了。      只有很少几扇窗户露出灯光。他们飞过城堡，向北，飞过河。空气变得更冷了，吉尔感到自己能看见猫头鹰在她下面水中白色的倒影。但不一会儿他们就飞到这条河的北岸，飞在林区上空。      猫头鹰猛地咬住了吉尔没看见的什么东西。      “哦，请你别那样I”吉尔说，”你别那么猛地一动。差点把我摔下去了。”      “请原谅，”猫头鹰说，”我只是抓了一只蝙蝠，吃得省些，没有比一只胖胖的小蝙蝠更耐饥的东西了。要我给你抓一只吗?”      “不，谢谢。”吉尔说着打了个哆嗦。      猫头鹰这会儿飞得低些了。一个黑乎乎的庞然大物隐隐出现在他们眼前。吉尔刚好看出这是一座塔，一座已经部分倾圮的塔，上面有好多常春藤，她心里想。猫头鹰带着她挤进满是常春藤、蛛网密布的空隙，从清新、灰色的夜空钻进塔顶的一个黑咕隆咚的地方，这时她不知不觉地急忙弯下身子，免得撞上窗户的拱洞。里头尽是一股霉湿味儿，从她打猫头鹰背上溜下来那一刻起，她就知道(人家一般总会知道的)这地方很挤。她听见黑暗中四面八方都有声音开始说话，”喔嗬，喔嘀!II这才知道挤在这儿的都是猫头鹰。听到一个与众不同的声音在说话，她顿时轻松多了。       “是你吗，波尔?”      “是你吗，斯克罗布?”吉尔说。      “行了，”格里姆费瑟说，”我想我们全到齐了。让我们举行一次猫头鹰会议吧。”      “喔嗬，喔嗬!你说得不错。这么做是对的。”好几个声音都这么说。      “等一下，”斯克罗布的声音说，”我有点事要先说说。”      “说吧，说吧。”猫头鹰都说;吉尔也说”说下去。”      “我猜你们大伙儿——我意思是猫头鹰们，”斯克罗布说，”我猜你们都知道国王凯斯宾十世年轻的时候，航海到过世界东部的尽头。说起来，那次旅程我就跟他在一起：跟他、雷佩契普老鼠将军，还有德里宁勋爵以及所有的人口我知道听起来这不大可信，但人们在我们的世界里变老的速度跟你们在你们的世界里不一样。而我要说的就是，我是国王的人;要是这次猫头鹰会议有任何反对国王的阴谋，那可跟我无关。”      “喔嗬，喔嗬，我们也都是国王的猫头鹰啊。”那些猫头鹰说。      “那么这是怎么回事呢?”斯克罗布说。      “是这样的，”格里姆费瑟说，”要是摄政王，小矮人杜鲁普金听到你们要去找失踪的王子，他决不会让你们动身的，宁可把你们关起来。”      “老天爷！”斯克罗布说，”你意思不是说杜鲁普金是个卖国贼吧。以前，在海上的时候，我听到过好多关于他的事。凯斯宾——我意思是说国王——绝对信任他。”      “哦，不，”一个声音说，”杜鲁普金不是卖国贼。但已有三十几个勇士(骑士、人头马、善良的巨人等等)先后出发去寻找失踪的王子，他们没有一个回来的。最后国王说他不打算为寻找他的儿子而毁了纳尼亚所有的勇士。如今，什么人也不准去了。”       “但等他知道了我是谁，以及谁派我们来的时候，肯定会让我们去的。”斯克罗布说。      “派我们俩来的。”吉尔插话说。      “是啊，”格里姆费瑟说，”我想，他很可能会的。但国王不在。而杜鲁普金总是照章办事。他非常忠实，但他耳朵完全聋了，而且脾气又很暴躁。你根本没法让他明白这回该破例办理了。”      “你可能认为他多少会理会我们，因为我们是猫头鹰，大家都知道猫头鹰有多么聪明。”另一只猫头鹰说，”可他现在已经那么老了，他只会说，’你只是只小鸟儿罢了，我还记得你是鸟蛋的时候呢。别想来教训我，先生。多嘴多舌!'“      这只猫头鹰模仿杜鲁普金的声调，学得惟妙惟肖，四周响起了猫头鹰那种笑声。孩子们开始明白纳尼亚人对杜鲁普金的心情就像人们在学校对一个爱发脾气的老师一样，人人都有点怕他，人人都取笑他，但没人真的不喜欢他。      “国王要去多长时间呢?”斯克罗布问。      “我们知道就好了!”格里姆费瑟说，”你们知道，最近有个谣言说有人看见向斯兰本人就在群岛上——在特里宾西亚岛，我想是这个地方吧。国王说他临死前要再试一回，再跟阿斯兰见见面，请教他谁来继承王位。但我们都生怕一旦他在特里宾西亚没见到阿斯兰，他就要上东边去，到七群岛和孤独群岛去——直往前。虽然他从来没提起过，但我们都知道他从来没忘记过那次到世界尽头的航行。我肯定在他内心深处，他想再上那儿去。”       “那么说等他回来就没用了?”吉尔说。      “是没用了，”猫头鹰说，”哦，乱哄哄的！如果你们俩认出他，马上跟他说话就好了。他会安排一切——也许会拨给你们一支军队，跟你们一起去寻找王子呢。”       吉尔听了一言不发，她希望斯克罗布够男子汉气派，别把真相告诉所有的猫头鹰。他的确有这份气派，或者说差不多有吧。就是说，他只是小声嘀咕着，”嗯，那可不是我的错。”然后才大声说：       “好极了。我们只好在没有军队的情况下想办法了。但还有一件事我想知道。要是你们所说的这个猫头鹰会议是完全公正，光明磊落，毫无恶意的，那干吗要这么保密——而且，还要深更半夜在废墟里开呢?”      “喔嗬!喔嗬!”几只猫头鹰叫了起来，”我们该上哪儿去碰头呢?除了晚上还有什么时候碰头呢?”      “你瞧，”格里姆费瑟解释说，”在纳尼亚，大多数动物都有那种不合自然规律的习惯。他们办事都在白天，在耀眼的太阳光下办事，哼!这时大家应该是在睡觉的呀。而结果呢，到了晚上，他们就又瞎又笨，你别想听他们说一句话。因此我们猫头鹰才养成在合情合理的时间开会的习惯，当我们要议论什么事的时候，我们就自己开会。”       “原来如此，”斯克罗布说，”好吧，大家继续开会。跟我们谈谈失踪王子的全部情况。”于是一只老猫头鹰(不是格里姆费瑟)，讲述了这个故事。      大约十年以前，那时凯斯宾的儿子瑞廉还是一个很年轻的骑士。五月里一天早晨，他陪母后一起骑马去纳尼亚北部。他们一行中还有好多乡绅和贵妇人，大家头上都戴着用新鲜树叶编的花环，身边都带着号角，但没带猎狗，因为他们是在采花，不是打猎。白天天气暖和的时候，他们来到一片舒适的林中空地，那儿还有一股凉爽的喷泉从地上喷涌而出。他们在那儿下马，又吃又喝，十分高兴。过了一段时间，王后觉得困了，他们就把斗篷铺在草地上，瑞廉王子跟同行的其他人都走开一点，免得他们谈天说笑的声音吵醒她。就这样，不一会儿，密林里出来了一条大毒蛇，在王后手上咬了一口。大家都听见她叫起来，就朝她身边赶去，瑞廉第一个赶到她身边，他看见那条蛇正从王后身边溜走，就拔出剑追了过去。那是一条又大又亮，青绿色的蛇。他看得很清楚;但它溜到密密的灌木丛中去了，他进不去。因此他回到母亲身边，发现大家都在为她忙个不停。但他们白白忙了一阵，因为瑞廉一眼看见她脸色，就知道世界上什么医药都对她没用了。她临死前似乎拼命要告诉他什么事。但她已经口齿不清，不管她想留下什么话，可没说出来就死了。这时离他们初次听见她喊叫还不到十分钟。       他们把死去的王后运回凯尔帕拉维尔，瑞廉和国王，以及纳尼亚全国上下都沉痛悼念她。她是一位伟大的王后，聪明、文雅、无忧无虑，就是凯斯宾当初从世界东部尽头带回家的那个新娘。人们说她血管里流的是星星的血。王子对他母亲的死非常悲伤。从那以后，他常骑马出没在纳尼亚北部      沼泽地区，寻找那条毒蛇，要杀了它报仇。尽管王子漫游归来，总是神色疲劳，忧心忡忡，但大家对此倒不以为意。王后死后大约一个月，人家说他们看得出，王子变了。他的眼神就像一个人看见了绝色美女那样失魂落魄，尽管他整天在外面，他的马却并没有跑得筋疲力尽的样子。在那些年长的大臣中，王子最主要的朋友就是德里宁勋爵，勋爵曾在他父亲到世界东部去的那次伟大远航中担任船长。      一天傍晚，德里宁对王子说，”殿下一定得赶快放弃寻找那条毒蛇的念头。对一条无知的野兽，不比对一个人，谈不上真正的报仇。你白白把自己累坏了。”王子回答说，”爵爷，这星期以来，我几乎已忘掉那条毒蛇了。”德里宁问要是这样他为什么还不断骑马到北部树林里去呢。”爵爷，我在那儿看见了天下最美的东西。”王子说。”王子殿下，”德里宁说，”请恩准，让我明天陪你骑马一起去，让我也瞧瞧这美丽的东西。””我很乐意。”瑞廉说。,       于是第二天他们立刻套上马，飞驰到北部森林，停在王后遇难的那个喷泉附近。德里宁觉得很奇怪，王子为什么偏偏挑中这个地方停留口他们在那儿休息，一直歇到正午:到了正午，德里宁抬头一看，就看到了他生平见过的最美丽的女人;她就站在喷泉北面，一言不发，只对王子招手，好像要叫王子到她那儿去。她个子高高的，长得很美，光彩照人，裹着一件薄薄的青绿色长外套。王子失魂落魄地盯着她。没想到那女人突然不见了，德里宁不知道她上哪儿去了。他们俩就此回到凯尔帕拉维尔。德里宁心头总觉得这光彩照人的绿衣女人是魔鬼。      德里宁拿不准自己是否应该把这次奇遇报告国王，但又不想做个乱说乱讲、搬弄是非的人，因此他对此事闭口不谈。可是事后他倒但愿自己说了就好了。因为瑞廉王子第二天一个人骑马外出，晚上竟没回来，从那时起不管是在纳尼亚，或是任何邻近地区都没发现他的踪影，连他的马、帽子、斗篷，或任何别的东西也没发现。当时德里宁心里十分痛苦，就去见凯斯宾，说道，”陪下，赶紧把我当作一个大叛徒杀了吧，因为都怪我一声不吭，我害了你的儿子。”于是他把这事告诉国王。凯斯宾听罢抓起一把战斧，对准德里宁勋爵冲过来要杀了他，德里宁就像根木头，一动也不动，等着他一斧砍下来。但国王刚举起斧子，又突然把斧子扔开，叫道，”我已经失去了我的王后和儿子，难道我还要失去我的朋友吗?”他搂着德里宁的脖子，拥抱他，两人都哭了，他们的友谊没有破裂。      这就是瑞廉的故事。故事说完以后，吉尔说”我敢说那毒蛇和那个女人就是一个人。”      “不错，不错，我们的想法跟你二样。”猫头鹰都叫着说。      “但我们认为她没杀王子，”格里姆费瑟说，”因为没有骨头…      “我们知道她不杀，”斯克罗布说，”阿斯兰告诉波尔，他仍然活着待在什么地方。”      “那样更糟，”那最老的猫头鹰说，”那就是说他对她还有点用，她有个反对纳尼亚的险恶阴谋。很久很久以前，北方来了个白女巫，把我们这里都冻成冰天雪地，足有一百年。我们认为这个也是一路货。”       “那么好吧，”斯克罗布说，”我和波尔必须去找这位王子。你们能帮助我们吗?”      “你们俩有什么线索吗?”格里姆费瑟问。      “有，”斯克罗布说，”我们知道自己得上北方去。还有我们得到一个巨人城的废墟去。”      一听到这句话，那些猫头鹰喔嗬喔响地叫得更响，还发出换脚、竖起羽毛的声音，接着所有的猫头鹰立刻七嘴八舌地说起话来。它们都解释说，它们为不能陪这两个孩子去寻找失踪的王子是多么遗憾。”你们要在白天赶路，而我们要在晚上。”它们说，”这不行，这不行。”还有一两只猫头鹰又说，连这儿这个倾圮的塔里，也没有刚才开会时那么黑了，而且这次会也开得够长的了。其实只不过提到要去巨人城废墟，那些猫头鹰似乎就泄气了。但格里姆费瑟说：      “要是他们想走那条路——到艾丁斯荒原去——我们一定得把他们带到一个沼泽怪那儿去。沼泽怪是惟一能帮这两个孩子大忙的人。”      “不错，不错，去吧。”猫头鹰们说。      “那么来吧，”格里姆费瑟说，”我带一个。另一个谁来带?这事一定得在今晚办好。”      “我愿意去，就到沼泽怪那儿为止。”另一只猫头鹰说。      ”你准备好了吗?”格里姆费瑟问吉尔。      “我想波尔睡着了。”斯克罗布说。
Chapter 5
PUDDLEGLUM
JILL. was asleep. Ever since the owls' parliament began she had been yawning terribly and now she had dropped off. She was not at all pleased at being waked again, and at finding herself lying on bare boards in a dusty belfry sort of place, completely dark, and almost completely full of owls. She was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else - and not, apparently, for bed - on the Owl's back.
"Oh, come on, Pole, buck up," said Scrubb's voice. "After all, it is an adventure."
"I'm sick of adventures," said Jill crossly.
She did, however, consent to climb on to Glimfeather's back, and was thoroughly waked up (for a while) by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night. The moon had disappeared and there were no stars. Far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground; doubtless, in one of the towers of Cair Paravel. It made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom, snug in bed, watching the firelight on the walls. She put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her. It was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away; Scrubb and his owl were talking to one another. "He doesn't sound tired," thought Jill. She did not realize that he had been on great adventures in that world before and that the Narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the Eastern Seas with King Caspian.
Jill had to pinch herself to keep awake, for she knew that if she dozed on Glimfeather's back she would probably fall off. When at last the two owls ended their flight, she climbed stiffly off Glimfeather and found herself on flat ground. A chilly wind was blowing and they appeared to be in a place without trees. "Tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" Glimfeather was calling. "Wake up, Puddleglum. Wake up. It is on the Lion's business."
For a long time there was no reply. Then, a long way off, a dim light appeared and began to come nearer. With it came a voice.
"Owls ahoy!" it said. "What is it? Is the King dead? Has an enemy landed in Narnia? Is it a flood? Or dragons?"
When the light reached them, it turned out to be that of a large lantern. She could see very little of the person who held it. He seemed to be all legs and arms. The owls were talking to him, explaining everything, but she was too tired to listen. She tried to wake herself up a bit when she realized that they were saying goodbye to her. But she could never afterwards remember much except that, sooner or later, she and Scrubb were stooping to enter a low doorway and then (oh, thank heavens) were lying down on something soft and warm, and a voice was saying:
"There you are. Best we can do. You'll lie cold and hard. Damp too, I shouldn't wonder. Won't sleep a wink, most likely; even if there isn't a thunderstorm or a flood or the wigwam doesn't fall down on top of us all, as I've known them do. Must make the best of it -" But she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.
When the children woke late next morning they found that they were lying, very dry and warm, on beds of straw in a dark place. A triangular opening let in the daylight.
"Where on earth are we?" asked Jill.
"In the wigwam of a Marsh-wiggle," said Eustace.
"A what?"
"A Marsh-wiggle. Don't ask me what it is. I couldn't see it last night. I'm getting up. Let's go and look for it."
"How beastly one feels after sleeping in one's clothes," said Jill, sitting up.
"I was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress," said Eustace.
"Or wash either, I suppose," said Jill scornfully. But Scrubb had already got up, yawned, shaken himself, and crawled out of the wigwam. Jill did the same.
What they found outside was quite unlike the bit of Narnia they had seen on the day before. They were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless channels of water. The islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes. Sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent. Clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again-duck, snipe, bitterns, herons. Many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but all at a good distance from one another; for Marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy. Except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there was not a tree in sight. Eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there. To the North there were low pale-coloured hills, in places bastioned with rock. The rest was all flat marsh. It would have been a depressing place on a w et evening. Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness. The children felt their spirits rise.
"Where has the thingummy got to, I wonder?" said Jill.
"The Marsh-wiggle," said Scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. "I expect-hullo, that must be him." And then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away. He had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.
"I suppose we'd better go and speak to him," said Jill. Scrubb nodded. They both felt a little nervous.
As they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard. He was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim. The hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds. His expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.
"Good morning, Guests," he said. "Though when I say good I don't mean it won't probably turn to rain or it might he snow, or fog, or thunder. You didn't get any sleep, I dare say.
"Yes we did, though," said Jill. "We had a lovely night."
"Ah," said the Marsh-wiggle, shaking his head. "I see you're making the best of a bad job. That's right. You've been well brought up, you have. You've learned to put a good face on things."
"Please, we don't know your name," said Scrubb.
"Puddleglum's my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it. I can always tell you again."
The children sat down on each side of him. They now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up. The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's, and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. He was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.
"I'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner," said Puddleglum. "Though I shouldn't wonder if I didn't get any. And you won't like them much if I do."
"Why not?" asked Scrubb.
"Why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though I've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it. All the same, while I am a catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire - no harm trying -! The wood's behind the wigwam. It may be wet. You could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes. Or you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. Here's my tinder-box. You won't know how to use it, I expect."
But Scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure. The children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood (which was perfectly dry) and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty. Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash - not a very nice one - in the nearest channel. After that she saw to the fire and he had a wash. Both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry.
Presently the Marsh-wiggle joined them. In spite of his expectation of catching no eels, he had a dozen or so, which he had already skinned and cleaned. He put a big pot on, mended the fire, and lit his pipe. Marsh-wiggles smoke a very strange, heavy sort of tobacco (some people say they mix it with mud) and the children noticed the smoke from Puddleglum's pipe hardly rose in the air at all. It trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist. It was very black and set Scrubb coughing.
"Now," said Puddleglum. "Those eels will take a mortal long time to cook, and either of you might faint with hunger before they're done. I knew a little girl - but I'd better not tell you that story. It might lower your spirits, and that's a thing I never do. So, to keep your minds off your hunger, we may as well talk about our plans."
"Yes, do let's," said Jill. "Can you help us to find Prince Rilian?"
The Marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. "Well, I don't know that you'd call it help," he said. "I don't know that anyone can exactly help. It stands to reason we're not likely to get very far on a journey to the North, not at this time of the year, with the winter coming on soon and all. And an early winter too, by the look of things. But you mustn't let that make you down-hearted. Very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we'll hardly notice the weather. And if we don't get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry."
Both children noticed that he said "we", not "you", and both exclaimed at the same moment. "Are you coming with us?"
"Oh yes, I'm coming of course. Might as well, you see. I don't suppose we shall ever see the King back in Narnia, now that he's once set off for foreign parts; and he had a nasty cough when he left. Then there's Trumpkin. He's failing fast. And you'll find there'll have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer. And I shouldn't wonder if some enemy attacked us. Mark my words."
"And how shall we start?" said Scrubb.
"Well," said the Marsh-wiggle very slowly, "all the others who ever went looking for Prince Rilian started from that same fountain where the Lord Drinian saw the lady. They went north, mostly. And as none of them ever came back, we can't exactly say how they got on."
"We've got to start by finding a ruined city of giants," said Jill. "Aslan said so."
"Got to start by finding it, have we?" answered Puddleglum. "Not allowed to start by looking for it, I suppose?"
"That's what I meant, of course," said Jill. "And then, when we've found it-"
"Yes, when!" said Puddleglum very drily.
"Doesn't anyone know where it is?" asked Scrubb.
"I don't know about Anyone," said Puddleglum. "And I won't say I haven't heard of that Ruined City. You wouldn't start from the fountain, though. You'd have to go across Ettinsmoor. That's where the Ruined City is, if it's anywhere. But I've been as far in that direction as most people and I never got to any ruins, so I won't deceive you."
"Where's Ettinsmoor?" said Scrubb.
"Look over there northward," said Puddleglum, pointing with his pipe. "See those hills and bits of cliff? That's the beginning of Ettinsmoor. But there's a river between it and us; the river Shribble. No bridges, of course."
"I suppose we can ford it, though," said Scrubb.
"Well, it has been forded," admitted the Marsh-wiggle.
"Perhaps we shall meet people on Ettinsmoor who can tell us the way," said Jill.
"You're right about meeting people," said Puddleglum.
"What sort of people live there?" she asked.
"It's not for me to say they aren't all right in their own way," answered Puddleglum. "If you like their way."
"Yes, but what are they?" pressed Jill. "There are so many queer creatures in this country. I mean, are they animals, or birds, or dwarfs, or what?"
The Marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle. "Phew!" he said. "Don't you know? I thought the owls had told you. They're giants."
Jill winced. She had never liked giants even in books, and she had once met one in a nightmare. Then she saw Scrubb's face, which had turned rather green, and thought to herself, "I bet he's in a worse funk than I am." That made her feel braver.
"The King told me long ago," said Scrubb - "that time when I was with him at sea-that he'd jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute."
"That's true enough," said Puddleglum. "They're at peace with us all right. As long as we stay on our own side of the Shribble, they won't do us any harm. Over on their side, on the Moor - Still, there's always a chance. If we don't get near any of them, and if none of them forget themselves, and if we're not seen, it's just possible we might get a long way."
"Look here!" said Scrubb, suddenly losing his temper, as people so easily do when they have been frightened. "I don't believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you're making out; any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet. I don't think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that."
He quite expected the Marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply, but he only said, "That's the spirit, Scrubb. That's the way to talk. Put a good face on it. But we all need to be very careful about our tempers, seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. Won't do to quarrel, you know. At any rate, don't begin it too soon. I know these expeditions usually end that way: knifing one another, I shouldn't wonder, before all's done. But the longer we can keep off it-"
"Well, if you feel it's so hopeless," interrupted Scrubb, "I think you'd better stay behind. Pole and I can go on alone, can't we, Pole?"
"Shut up and don't be an ass, Scrubb," said Jill hastily, terrified lest the Marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.
"Don't you lose heart, Pole," said Puddleglum. "I'm coming, sure and certain. I'm not going to lose an opportunity like this. It will do me good. They all say - I mean, the other wiggles all say-that I'm too flighty; don't take life seriously enough. If they've said it once, they've said it a thousand times. 'Puddleglum,' they've said, `you're altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. You've got to learn that life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want something to sober you down a bit. We're only saying it for your own good, Puddleglum.' That's what they say. Now a job like this - a journey up north just as winter's beginning, looking for a Prince that probably isn't there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen - will be just the thing. If that doesn't steady a chap, I don't know what will." And he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime. "And now," he added, "let's see how those eels are getting on."
When the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each. At first the Marsh-wiggle wouldn't believe that they really liked it, and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them, he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly. "What's food for wiggles may be poison for humans, I shouldn't wonder," he said. After the meal they had tea, in tins (as you've seen men having it who are working on the road), and Puddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle. He offered the children some of it, but they thought it very nasty.
The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start tomorrow morning. Puddleglum, being far the biggest, said he would carry three blankets, with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them. Jill was to carry the remains of the eels, some biscuit, and the tinder-box. Scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and Jill's when they didn't want to wear them. Scrubb (who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the East under Caspian) had Puddleglum's secondbest bow, and Puddleglum had his best one; though he said that what with winds, and damp bowstrings, and bad light, and cold fingers, it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything. He and Scrubb both had swords Scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Cair Paravel, but Jill had to be content with her knife. There would have been a quarrel about this, but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said, "Ah, there you are. I thought as much. That's what usually happens on adventures." This made them both shut up.
All three went to bed early in the wigwam. This time the children really had a rather bad night. That was because Puddleglum, after saying, "You'd better try for some sleep, you two; not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight," instantly went off into such a loud, continuous snore that, when Jill at last got to sleep, she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.      5、普德格伦      吉尔睡着了。从猫头鹰会议一开始，她就呵欠连天，这会儿她早已睡熟了。她再次被叫醒，心里很不乐意，而且她还发现自己竟在一片漆黑、满是灰尘的钟塔一类的地方的光秃秃的木板上躺着，周围几乎挤满了猫头鹰。当她听到他们还得骑着猫头鹰出发到另外什么地方去——而且，显然不是去睡觉的——心里就更不高兴了。      “哦，来吧，波尔，打起精神来。”斯克罗布的声音说，”这毕竟是一次冒险呀。”      “我就讨厌冒险。”吉尔发脾气道。      不过，她还是答应爬到格里姆费瑟的背上，当它带着她飞进夜空，空气中那股出乎意料的寒意竟使她完全清醒过来(只有一会儿)。月亮已经不见了，也没有星星。在她后面远处，她能看见地面上有一扇亮着灯的窗户，毫无疑问，那窗户就在凯尔帕拉维尔的一座塔楼里。灯光使她渴望回到那间令人愉快的卧室，蜷在床上，望着墙上映着的火光。她把手放在斗篷下，用斗篷紧紧裹住身子。听着黑沉沉的夜空不远处传来两个声音真有点不可思议。斯克罗布和他那只猫头鹰正在说话呢。”听上去他倒不累。”吉尔想口她不明白斯克罗布以前在这个世界里参加过几场轰轰烈烈的冒险活动，纳尼亚的空气已经使他恢复了当初跟随凯斯宾国王去东部海域航海时获得的力量。       吉尔只好掐自己身子来保持清醒，因为她知道如果她在格里姆费瑟背上打瞌睡，恐怕就会掉下去。等到两只猫头鹰终于结束了它们的飞行，她手脚僵硬地从格里姆费瑟身上爬下来，站到平地上。一股凉飕飕的风迎面吹来，看来他们是在一个没有树木的地方。”喔响，喔嘀I”格里姆费瑟在呼唤，”醒醒吧，普德格伦，醒醒。狮王有要事。”      叫了半天没有回音。后来，远处出现了一圈暗淡的灯光，渐渐靠近。随即传来一个声音。      “喂，是猫头鹰吗?”它说，”怎么回事?是国王死了?敌人在纳尼亚登陆了？还是发大水了?龙来了?”      灯光来到他们身边，这才知道那原来是只大灯笼。她看不清那个拿着灯笼的人。它似乎浑身全是胳臂和腿。两只猫头鹰跟它说话，解释一切，但她太累了，没听他们说什么。当她明白它们在跟自己说再见，就尽量想让自己清醒一点。但事后，除此以外，她再也想不起更多的事了，不久，她和斯克罗布就弯腰走进一个低矮的门口，接着(啊呀，谢天谢地)就躺到又柔软又暖和的什么东西上。一个声音说：      “到了，我们尽了最大努力了。你们躺着会又冷又硬，又潮湿，这我不奇怪。很可能一点也睡不着;即使这儿没有雷雨、洪水，这棚屋没倒在我们大家身上，我以前就碰到过这种事。必须随遇而安……”不过话还没说完，她早已熟睡了。      第二天早上两个孩子醒得很晚，他们发现自己在一个阴暗的角落里两只又干燥又暖和的草铺上躺着。阳光从一块三角形的口子照进来。      “我们到底在哪儿呀?”吉尔问。      “在一个沼泽怪的棚屋里。”尤斯塔斯说。”一个什么?”      “一个沼泽怪。别问我它是什么。昨晚我看不见它。我要起来了。我们去看看它吧。”      “一个人穿着随身衣服睡觉，醒来感到多别扭呀。”吉尔说着坐了起来。      “我正在想起床时不用忙着穿衣服有多妙呢。”尤斯塔斯说。      “我看还不用洗脸吧。”吉尔轻蔑地说。但斯克罗布已经起床了，打着呵欠，抖擞精神，爬出了棚屋。吉尔也跟他一模一样。      他们在外面看到这儿和他们昨天看见的那一小块纳尼亚大不相同。他们是在一大片平原上，无数水沟把平原分割为无数小岛。这些小岛都覆盖着粗糙的草，四周都是芦苇和灯心草。有的地方是一片片有一英亩大的灯心草草圃。成群的鸟儿不断地在其中起降——有鸭子、鹊、苍莺。周围还看得见许多棚屋星罗棋布的，就像他们昨晚过夜住的一个样儿，不过所有的棚屋之间都拉开相当距离;因为沼泽怪都喜欢单独居住，不受打扰。除了西面和南面几英里以外的森林边缘外，这地方看不见一棵树。往东面看，平坦的沼泽地伸展到地平线附近低矮的沙丘，从那个方向刮来的风带有一股强烈的咸昧，你就知道那边是海了。北面是灰白色的低矮的山丘，处处筑有石头堡垒。其他地方都是平坦的沼泽地。碰到潮湿的晚上，这地方可真闷得慌。如今在朝阳下看看，还有清新的风吹拂着，空中鸟鸣不绝。这儿虽然荒凉却相当美食、清新、干净。孩子们觉得兴致又高了。       “不知道那个叫什么来着的东西上哪儿去了?”吉尔说。      “沼泽怪。”斯克罗布说，他知道这个叫法似乎相当得意，”我希望——嗨，那个一定就是它。”这时他们俩都看见它了，在约五十码以外，背对他们坐着钓鱼。起初他们看不清，因为它浑身几乎和沼泽一样颜色，而且它坐着一动也不动。-       “我看我们最好去跟它谈一谈。”吉尔说。斯克罗布点点头。他俩都觉得有点儿紧张。      他们走近时，那个身影扭过头来，露出一张瘦长脸，面颊凹陷，尖鼻子，嘴唇紧闭，没有胡子。它戴着一顶又高又尖的帽子，就像一座尖塔，还有圈其宽无比的帽檐。披在大耳朵上的头发，要是算得上头发的话，是绿灰色的。而且每根头发都是扁的，而不是圆的，因此更像小芦苇。它的表情很庄重，肤色跟泥巴一样。你立刻就能看出它对生活的态度是很严肃的。      “早上好，客人们，”它说，”可是我说‘好'，意思并不是说也许不会下雨，或可能下雪啊，有雾啊，打雷啊。我敢说你们一直没睡着吧。”      “可我们倒真睡着了。”吉尔说，”我们这一晚过得很好。”      “啊，”沼泽怪摇摇头说，”我明白你们能随遇而安。那是对的。你们有教养。学会了对事情要采取乐观态度。”      “对不起，我们还不知道你的大名。”斯克罗布说。      “我叫普德格伦。不过要是你们忘记了也没关系。我可以再告诉你们。”      两个孩子一边一个在它身边坐下。他们这会儿才看见它的胳臂和腿都很长很长，因此尽管它的身体并不比小矮人大，站起来却比多数人高。它的手指有蹼，像青蛙的爪子，两只在泥浆水里晃荡的脚也有蹼。它穿着土黄色的宽松衣服。       “我正想抓几条鲤鱼来做个炖鲤鱼当午饭，”普德格伦说，”可要是我一条也抓不到，也不奇怪。再说你们也不大会像我这样喜欢吃鲤鱼。”      “为什么不喜欢?”斯克罗布问。      “为什么，虽然我毫不怀疑你们会装得对此毫不在乎的样子，可是要你们喜欢我们这种食品是不合情理的。反正没关系，我在捉鱼的时候，如果你们俩能想法把火生起来——不妨试试看——木柴就在棚屋后面。可能是湿的。你们可以在棚屋里生火，那么所有的烟都会熏到我们眼睛里。你们也可以在外头生火，那么要是下雨，就会把火淋灭了。这是我的51火盒，我想你们不会知道怎么用吧?”"       但斯克罗布在上回探险时已经学过这一类事了。两个孩子一起奔回棚屋，找到了木柴(那完全是干的)，没费什么事就生起一堆火。于是斯克罗布坐下照顾火堆，吉尔到最近的水沟去洗洗脸——洗得不怎么痛快。洗好后她来照顾火堆，斯克罗布也去洗了一下。两个人都觉得清醒多了，但肚子都很饿了。      不一会儿，沼泽怪来了。虽然它估计过一条鲤鱼也捉不到，居然已经捉了十多条，而且已经把鱼皮剥了，洗干净了。它在火上搁了一只大锅，添了柴火，点上了烟斗。沼泽怪抽的是一种十分奇怪、味儿浓的烟草(有人说它们在烟草里搀了泥巴)。两个孩子还注意到普德格伦烟斗里的烟几乎不大往上升，而是从烟斗里一缕缕出来，往下飘，顺着地面像一层薄雾似的飘啊飘的。而且这烟很黑，熏得斯克罗布直咳嗽。      “好了，”普德格伦说，”那些鲤鱼要烧很长时间，没烧好你们哪个就会饿昏的。我认识一个小姑娘——不过我还是别告诉你们那个故事的好。你们听了会扫兴的，那种事我绝对不干。因此，为了让你们脑子别尽想肚子饿，我们还是先谈谈我们的计划吧。”      “是啊，我们谈谈吧。”吉尔说，”你能帮助我们找到瑞廉王子吗?”"       沼泽怪使劲。咂着烟斗，咂得两颊都凹下去，凹成那副样子你怎么也想像不出来。”嗯，我不知道你们称这为帮助。”它说，”我不知道哪个正好能帮这个忙。原因是一年中在这个季节，冬天很快就要到了，我们往北走不大可能走得很远。而且看趋势，今年冬天来得早。不过你们不必为此垂头丧气。由于会碰到敌人，又要爬山，又要过河，又是迷路，又是几乎没东西可吃，又是脚痛，我们多半不大会注意天气。而且要是我们走不远，成不了什么事，我们也用不着急于回来，不妨再走得远些。”       两个孩子都注意到它说”我们”而不是”你们”，两人都同时欢呼起来”你跟我们一起去吗?”      “哦，是啊，我当然去啦。干脆一起去，你们懂吗?既然国王已经动身出国了，我看我们再也见不到国王回到纳尼亚了，而且他走的时候咳嗽得很厉害。再说杜鲁普金呢，他老得很快。你们会看见这个夏季大旱之后遇上歉收。要是有什么敌人向我们进攻，我是不会奇怪的。记住我的话好了。”       “我们怎么着手呢?”斯克罗布说。      “恩”沼泽怪慢吞吞地说，”所有那些去寻找瑞廉王子的人都是从德里宁勋爵看见那个女人的喷泉出发的。他们大多朝北走。因为他们一个也没回来过。我们也说不准他们到底有什么进展。”      “我们开头得找到一座巨人城的废墟，”吉尔说，”阿斯兰这么说的。”      “我们开头就得找到它吧?”普德格伦说，”我看，不允许只是找找看了?”      “当然啦，我就是这个意思，”吉尔说，”然后，等我们找到以后......      “是啊，几时才找到呢I”普德格伦冷冰冰地说。”有谁认识这地方在哪儿吗?”斯克罗布问。      “我不知道有谁认识，”普德格伦说，”可我决不会说我没听说过那个废墟城。话说回来，你们不必从喷泉出发。你们得穿过艾丁斯荒原。要有的话，那个废墟城就在那儿。但我也朝那个方向走过，跟大多数人走得一样远，可我从来也没到过什么废墟，所以我决不会欺骗你们。”       “艾丁斯荒原在哪儿呢?”斯克罗布说      “从这儿往北边那儿看，”普德格伦说着用烟斗一指，”看见那些小山和悬崖吗?那儿就是艾丁斯荒原开始的地方。不过和我们这儿还隔着一条河，叫斯力布河。当然，没有桥。”       “话虽这么说，我看我们可以蹚水过去。”斯克罗布说。”得，已经有人蹚水去过了。”沼泽怪承认了。      “也许我们会在艾丁斯荒原遇见什么人能给我们指路。”吉尔说。      “遇见人，你算说对了。”普德格伦说。”那儿住的是什么样的人呢?”她问。      “要是你们喜欢他们那一套的话，我也不能说他们按自己那一套过日子有什么不好。”普德格伦回答说。      “是啊。但他们是什么呢?”吉尔追问道，”这个地方有这么多奇禽怪兽。我意思是他们是走兽还是飞禽，还是小矮人，还是什么?”      沼泽怪吹了一声长长的口哨。”嘘！”它说，”你们不知道吗?我还以为猫头鹰已经告诉你们了呢。他们是巨人呀。”      吉尔畏缩了，即使是书本里的巨人，她也从来没喜欢过，而且她有一次做噩梦还看见过一个巨人呢。这时她看见斯克罗布的脸也已经发青了，她暗自想道”我敢说他比我还要害怕昵。”这一想她就觉得自己勇敢些了。      “国王很久以前告诉过我，”斯克罗布说，”那时我跟他一起在海上，他说他在战争中把巨人打得大败而归，而且逼得他们向他进贡。”      “那倒一点不假，”普德格伦说，”他们跟我们相安无事没错。只要我们待在斯力布河自己这边，他们就不会伤害我们。不过，在他们那边呢，在荒原上——总有个万一。要是我们不接近任何巨人，要是他们没人忘乎所以，而我们又没被他们看见，那很可能走上一大段路。”      “听着，”斯克罗布说，他突然发脾气了，人们受了惊很容易发脾气，”我就不相信这件事有你说的一半那么吓人，跟你说的棚屋里的床是硬的、柴是湿的一样没什么可怕。要是这事真的那么希望渺茫，我认为阿斯兰就不会派我们来。”      他原以为沼泽怪也会怒气冲冲地回答他，但它只是说:“这种精神很好，斯克罗布。应该这样说话。摆出满不在乎的样子。不过我们对自己的脾气都要十分小心，要看到我们得一起度过所有的困难时刻。吵架是不行的，你知道吗?不管怎么说，别一开头就吵架。我知道这些探险队通常都是那样结束的:事情还没办成，就五相动刀子，我是不会奇怪的。不过我们避免这一点的时间要能长一点…”      “得了，要是你认为这事那么没希望，”斯克罗布插嘴说，”我想你还是待在后面的好。我和波尔可以自己去，对不对，波尔?”      “闭嘴，别犯傻了，斯克罗布。”吉尔赶紧说，生怕沼泽怪把他的话当真了。      “你别觉得扫兴，波尔，”普德格伦说，”我绝对肯定去的。我可不打算失掉这样一个机会。这对我有好处。人家都说——我是说，其他的沼泽怪都说——我太轻浮，对生活不够严肃。一旦他们说了一遍，就不止说上几千遍。’普德格伦，’他们说，’你实在太爱夸夸其谈，精力过剩。你得懂得生活并不全是油煎青蛙和鲤鱼馅饼。你需要有点事让你清醒一下，我们这么说都是为你好，普德格伦。'他们就是这样说的。眼下就在冬天快开始的时候，上北方走一趟，去找一个大概不在那儿的王子，取道一个谁也没见过的废墟城——这样一项差使正是我需要的。如果这种事还不能使一个家伙稳定下来，那我就不知道还有什么办法了。”说着它搓搓那双像青蛙爪子似的大手，仿佛它是在谈起去参加舞会或看哑剧似的。”现在呢，”它加上一句说，”我们看看那些鲤鱼煮得怎样了。”       那道菜端上来时，味道真美极了，两个孩子都吃了双份儿。起初沼泽怪不相信他们真的喜欢吃，后来看他们吃了那么多，它只好相信了。它退而说这些东西可能大大不合他们口味。”对沼泽怪来说是食物，对人类也许就是毒药，我不会奇怪的。”它说。吃完午饭以后他们又喝茶，茶装在铁皮罐里(就像你们看见那些在路上干活的人喝的一样)，普德格伦从一个方的黑瓶子里喝了好多口。他请两个孩子喝一点这种饮料，但他们觉得那东西非常难喝。       饭后半天时间就都用来准备第二天一早出发的事。普德格伦比起他们来算是最大的，说它将带上三条毯子，里面还包上一大块熏肉。吉尔把吃剩的鳝鱼带上，还有一些饼干和引火盒。斯克罗布就把他和吉尔不穿的斗篷带上。斯克罗布上次跟凯斯宾往东方航行时曾学过一点射箭，所以又带上普德格伦第二把好弓，普德格伦则带着自己最好的那把，可它又说，有风，加上弓弦潮湿，光线不好，手指冰凉，他们俩射中目标的可能性只有百分之一。它和斯克罗布都带上剑——斯克罗布把凯尔帕拉维尔宫在他房里专门为他准备的那把剑带来了。可吉尔只能将就带上那把刀算数。他们本来为此还吵了一架，但刚开始吵，沼泽怪就搓着于说，”啊，又来了吧。我就想到了。去探险往往有这种情况。”这么一说他们俩就都住口了。      他们三个都早早在棚屋里上了床。这一晚上两个孩子倒真的没睡好。那是因为普德格伦说”你们俩最好想法睡一会儿，我不是说我们大家今晚都睡不着。”说完它立刻解声如雷，接连不断，到吉尔终于睡着后，整晚都梦见路面钻孔机、瀑布，以及隧道里的特别快车。. 
Chapter 6
THE WILD WASTE LANDS OF THE NORTH
AT about nine o'clock next morning three lonely figures might have been seen picking their way across the Shribble by the shoals and stepping-stones. It was a shallow, noisy stream, and even Jill was not wet above her knees when they reached the northern bank. About fifty yards ahead, the land rose up to the beginning of the moor, everywhere steeply, and often in cliffs.
"I suppose that's our way!" said Scrubb, pointing left and west to where a stream flowed down from the moor through a shallow gorge. But the Marsh-wiggle shook his head.
"The giants mainly live along the side of that gorge," he said. "You might say the gorge was like a street to them. We'll do better straight ahead, even though it's a bit steep."
They found a place where they could scramble up, and in about ten minutes stood panting at the top. They cast a longing look back at the valley-land of Narnia and then turned their faces to the North. The vast, lonely moor stretched on and up as far as they could see. On their left was rockier ground. Jill thought that must be the edge of the giants' gorge and did not much care about looking in that direction. They set out.
It was good, springy ground for walking, and a day of pale winter sunlight. As they got deeper into the moor, the loneliness increased: one could hear peewits and see an occasional hawk. When they halted in the middle of the morning for a rest and a drink in a little hollow by a stream, Jill was beginning to feel that she might enjoy adventures after all, and said so.
"We haven't had any yet," said the Marsh-wiggle.
Walks after the first halt - like school mornings after break or railway journeys after changing trains - never go on as they were before. When they set out again, Jill noticed that the rocky edge of the gorge had drawn nearer. And the rocks were less flat, more upright, than they had been. In fact they were like little towers of rock. And what funny shapes they were!
"I do believe," thought Jill, "that all the stories about giants might have come from those funny rocks. If you were coming along here when it was half dark, you could easily think those piles of rock were giants. Look at that one, now! You could almost imagine that the lump on top was a head. It would be rather too big for the body, but it would do well enough for an ugly giant. And all that bushy stuff - I suppose it's heather and birds' nests, really - would do quite well for hair and beard. And the things sticking out on each side are quite like ears. They'd be horribly big, but then I dare say giants would have big ears, like elephants. And - o-o-o-h! -"
Her blood froze. The thing moved. It was a real giant. There was no mistaking it; she had seen it turn its head. She had caught a glimpse of the great, stupid, puffcheeked face. All the things were giants, not rocks. There were forty or fifty of them, all in a row; obviously standing with their feet on the bottom of the gorge and their elbows resting on the edge of the gorge, just as men might stand leaning on a wall - lazy men, on a fine morning after breakfast.
"Keep straight on," whispered Puddleglum, who had noticed them too. "Don't look at them. And whatever you do, don't run. They'd be after us in a moment."
So they kept on, pretending not to have seen the giants. It was like walking past the gate of a house where there is a fierce dog, only far worse. There were dozens and dozens of these giants. They didn't look angry - or kind or interested at all. There was no sign that they had seen the travellers.
Then - whizz-whizz-whizz - some heavy object came hurtling through the air, and with a crash a big boulder fell about twenty paces ahead of them. And then - thud! - another fell twenty feet behind.
"Are they aiming at us?" asked Scrubb.
"No," said Puddleglum. "We'd be a good deal safer if they were. They're trying to hit that - that cairn over there to the right. They won't hit it, you know. It's safe enough; they're such very bad shots. They play cock-shies most fine mornings. About the only game they're clever enough to understand."
It was a horrible time. There seemed no end to the line of giants, and they never ceased hurling stones, some of which fell extremely close. Quite apart from the real danger, the very sight and sound of their faces and voices were enough to scare anyone. Jill tried not to look at them.
After about twenty-five minutes the giants apparently had a quarrel. This put an end to the cock-shies, but it is not pleasant to be within a mile of quarrelling giants. They stormed and jeered at one another in long, meaningless words of about twenty syllables each. They foamed and gibbered and jumped in their rage, and each jump shook the earth like a bomb. They lammed each other on the head with great, clumsy stone hammers; but their skulls were so hard that the hammers bounced off again, and then the monster who had given the blow would drop his hammer and howl with pain because it had stung his fingers. But he was so stupid that he would do exactly the same thing a minute later. This was a good thing in the long run, for by the end of an hour all the giants were so hurt that they sat down and began to cry. When they sat down, their heads were below the edge of the gorge, so that you saw them no more; but Jill could hear them howling and blubbering and boo-booing like great babies even after the place was a mile behind.
That night they bivouacked on the bare moor, and Puddleglum showed the children how to make the best of their blankets by sleeping back to back. (The backs keep each other warm and you can then have both blankets on top.) But it was chilly even so, and the ground was hard and lumpy. The Marsh-wiggle told them they would feel more comfortable if only they thought how very much colder it would be later on and farther north; but this didn't cheer them up at all.
They travelled across Ettinsmoor for many days, saving the bacon and living chiefly on the moor-fowl (they were not, of course, talking birds) which Eustace and the wiggle shot. Jill rather envied Eustace for being able to shoot; he had learned it on his voyage with King Caspian. As there were countless streams on the moor, they were never short of water. Jill thought that when, in books, people live on what they shoot, it never tells you what a long, smelly, messy job it is plucking and cleaning dead birds, and how cold it makes your fingers. But the great thing was that they met hardly any giants. One giant saw them, but he only roared with laughter and stumped away about his own business.
About the tenth day, they reached a place where the country changed. They came to the northern edge of the moor and looked down a long, steep slope into a different, and grimmer, land. At the bottom of the slope were cliffs: beyond these, a country of high mountains, dark precipices, stony valleys, ravines so deep and narrow that one could not see far into them, and rivers that poured out of echoing gorges to plunge sullenly into black depths. Needless to say, it was Puddleglum who pointed out a sprinkling of snow on the more distant slopes.
"But there'll be more on the north side of them, I shouldn't wonder," he added.
It took them some time to reach the foot of the slope and, when they did, they looked down from the top of the cliffs at a river running below them from west to east. It was walled in by precipices on the far side as well as on their own, and it was green and sunless, full of rapids and waterfalls. The roar of it shook the earth even where they stood.
"The bright side of it is," said Puddleglum, "that if we break our necks getting down the cliff, then we're safe from being drowned in the river."
"What about that?" said Scrubb suddenly, pointing upstream to their left. Then they all looked and saw the last thing they were expecting - a bridge. And what a bridge, too! It was a huge, single arch that spanned the gorge from cliff-top to cliff-top; and the crown of that arch was as high above the cliff-tops as the dome of St Paul's is above the street.
"Why, it must be a giants' bridge!" said Jill.
"Or a sorcerer's, more likely," said Puddleglum. "We've got to look out for enchantments in a place like this. I think it's a trap. I think it'll turn into mist and melt away just when we're out on the middle of it."
"Oh, for goodness' sake, don't be such a wet blanket," said Scrubb. "Why on earth shouldn't it be a proper bridge?"
"Do you think any of the giants we've seen would have sense to build a thing like that?" said Puddleglum.
"But mightn't it have been built by other giants?" said Jill. "I mean, by giants who lived hundreds of years ago, and were far cleverer than the modern kind. It might have been built by the same ones who built the giant city we're looking for. And that would mean we were on the right track - the old bridge leading to the old city!"
"That's a real brain-wave, Pole," said Scrubb. "It must be that. Come on."
So they turned and went to the bridge. And when they reached it, it certainly seemed solid enough. The single stones were as big as those at Stonehenge and must have been squared by good masons once, though now they were cracked and crumbled. The balustrade had apparently been covered with rich carvings, of which some traces remained; mouldering faces and forms of giants, minotaurs, squids, centipedes, and dreadful gods. Puddleglum still didn't trust it, but he consented to cross it with the children.
The climb up to the crown of the arch was long and heavy. In many places the great stones had dropped out, leaving horrible gaps through which you looked down on the river foaming thousands of feet below. They saw an eagle fly through under their feet. And the higher they went, the colder it grew, and the wind blew so that they could hardly keep their footing. It seemed to shake the bridge.
When they reached the top and could look down the farther slope of the bridge, they saw what looked like the remains of an ancient giant road stretching away before them into the heart of the mountains. Many stones of its pavement were missing and there were wide patches of grass between those that remained. And riding towards them on that ancient road were two people of normal grown-up human size.
"Keep on. Move towards them," said Puddleglum. "Anyone you meet in a place like this is as likely as not to be an enemy, but we mustn't let them think we're afraid."
By the time they had stepped off the end of the bridge on to the grass, the two strangers were quite close. One was a knight in complete armour with his visor down. His armour and his horse were black; there was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear. The other was a lady on a white horse, a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give it a lump of sugar at once. But the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green, was lovelier still.
"Good day, t-r-r-avellers," she cried out in a voice as sweet as the sweetest bird's song, trilling her R's delightfully. "Some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste."
"That's as may be, Ma'am," said Puddleglum very stiffly and on his guard.
"We're looking for the ruined city of the giants," said Jill.
"The r-r-ruined city?" said the Lady. "That is a strange place to be seeking. What will you do if you find it?"
"We've got to -" began Jill, but Puddleglum interrupted.
"Begging your pardon, Ma'am. But we don't know you or your friend - a silent chap, isn't he? - and you don't know us. And we'd as soon not talk to strangers about our business, if you don't mind. Shall we have a little rain soon, do you think?"
The Lady laughed: the richest, most musical laugh you can imagine. "Well, children," she said, "you have a wise, solemn old guide with you. I think none the worse of him for keeping his own counsel, but I'll be free with mine. I have often heard the name of the giantish City Ruinous, but never met any who would tell me the way thither. This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants. They are as mild, civil, prudent, and courteous as those of Ettinsmoor are foolish, fierce, savage, and given to all beastliness. And in Harfang you may or may not hear tidings of the City Ruinous, but certainly you shall find good lodgings and merry hosts. You would be wise to winter there, or, at the least, to tarry certain days for your ease and refreshment. There you shall have steaming baths, soft beds, and bright hearths; and the roast and the baked and the sweet and the strong will be on the table four times in a day."
"I say!" exclaimed Scrubb. "That's something like! Think of sleeping in a bed again."
"Yes, and having a hot bath," said Jill. "Do you think they'll ask us to stay? We don't know them, you see."
"Only tell them," answered the Lady, "that She of the Green Kirtle salutes them by you, and has sent them two fair Southern children for the Autumn Feast."
"Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much," said Jill and Scrubb.
"But have a care," said the Lady. "On whatever day you reach Harfang, that you come not to the door too late. For they shut their gates a few hours after noon, and it is the custom of the castle that they open to none when once they have drawn bolt, how hard so ever he knock."
The children thanked her again, with shining eyes, and the Lady waved to them. The Marsh-wiggle took off his steeple-hat and bowed very stiffly. Then the silent Knight and the Lady started walking their horses up the slope of the bridge with a great clatter of hoofs.
"Well!" said Puddleglum. "I'd give a good deal to know where she's coming from and where she's going. Not the sort you expect to meet in the wilds of Giantland, is she? Up to no good, I'll be bound."
"Oh rot!" said Scrubb. "I thought she was simply super. And think of hot meals and warm rooms. I do hope Harfang isn't a long way off."
"Same here," said Jill. "And hadn't she a scrumptious dress. And the horse!"
"All the same," said Puddleglum, "I wish we knew a bit more about her."
"I was going to ask her all about herself," said Jill. "But how could I when you wouldn't tell her anything about us?"
"Yes," said Scrubb. "And why were you so stiff and unpleasant. Didn't you like them?"
"Them?" said the wiggle. "Who's them? I only saw one."
"Didn't you see the Knight?" asked Jill.
"I saw a suit of armour," said Puddleglum. "Why didn't he speak?"
"I expect he was shy," said Jill. "Or perhaps he just wants to look at her and listen to her lovely voice. I'm sure I would if I was him."
"I was wondering," remarked Puddleglum, "what you'd really see if you lifted up the visor of that helmet and looked inside."
"Hang it all," said Scrubb. "Think of the shape of the armour! What could be inside it except a man?"
"How about a skeleton?" asked the Marsh-wiggle with ghastly cheerfulness. "Or perhaps," he added as an afterthought, "nothing at all. I mean, nothing you could see. Someone invisible."
"Really, Puddleglum," said Jill with a shudder, "you do have the most horrible ideas. How do you think of them all?"
"Oh, bother his ideas!" said Scrubb. "He's always expecting the worst, and he's always wrong. Let's think about those Gentle Giants and get on to Harfang as quickly as we can. I wish I knew how far it is."
And now they nearly had the first of those quarrels which Puddleglum had foretold: not that Jill and Scrubb hadn't been sparring and snapping at each other a good deal before, but this was the first really serious disagreement. Puddleglum didn't want them to go to Harfang at all. He said that he didn't know what a giant's idea of being "gentle" might be, and that, anyway, Aslan's signs had said nothing about staying with giants, gentle or otherwise. The children, on the other hand, who were sick of wind and rain, and skinny fowl roasted over campfires, and hard, cold earth to sleep on, were absolutely dead set to visit the Gentle Giants. In the end, Puddleglum agreed to do so, but only on one condition. The others must give an absolute promise that, unless he gave them leave, they would not tell the Gentle Giants that they came from Narnia or that they were looking for Prince Rilian. And they gave him this promise, and went on.
After that talk with the Lady things got worse in two different ways. In the first place the country was much harder. The road led through endless, narrow valleys down which a cruel north wind was always blowing in their faces. There was nothing that could be used for firewood, and there were no nice little hollows to camp in, as there had been on the moor. And the ground was all stony, and made your feet sore by day and every bit of you sore by night.
In the second place, whatever the Lady had intended by telling them about Harfang, the actual effect on the children was a bad one. They could think about nothing but beds and baths and hot meals and how lovely it would be to get indoors. They never talked about Aslan, or even about the lost prince, now. And Jill gave up her habit of repeating the signs over to herself every night and morning. She said to herself, at first, that she was too tired, but she soon forgot all about it. And though you might have expected that the idea of having a good time at Harfang would have made them more cheerful, it really made them more sorry for themselves and more grumpy and snappy with each other and with Puddleglum.
At last they came one afternoon to a place where the gorge in which they were travelling widened out and dark fir woods rose on either side. They looked ahead and saw that they had come through the mountains. Before them lay a desolate, rocky plain: beyond it, further mountains capped with snow. But between them and those further mountains rose a low hill with an irregular flattish top.
"Look! Look!" cried Jill, and pointed across the plain; and there, through the gathering dusk, from beyond the flat hill, everyone saw lights. Lights! Not moonlight, nor fires, but a homely cheering row of lighted windows. If you have never been in the wild wilderness, day and night, for weeks, you will hardly understand how they felt.
"Harfang!" cried Scrubb and Jill in glad, excited voices; and "Harfang," repeated Puddleglum in a dull, gloomy voice. But he added, "Hullo! Wild geese!" and had the bow off his shoulder in a second. He brought down a good fat goose. It was far too late to think of reaching Harfang that day. But they had a hot meal and a fire, and started the night warmer than they had been for over a week. After the fire had gone out, the night grew bitterly cold, and when they woke next morning, their blankets were stiff with frost.
"Never mind!" said Jill, stamping her feet. "Hot baths tonight!"      6、北方的荒原      第二天早上九点左右，只见三个孤零零的身影专拣浅滩的地方，踩着踏脚石头过河。斯力布河是一条浅浅的、喧闹的小河，他们到达北岸时，连吉尔也只湿到膝盖以下。前面大约五十码的地方，地面就升高了，荒原就从那里开始，到处地势都陡峭险峻，还有不少峭壁。       “我看我们该走那条道?”斯克罗布说着指指左面朝西的地方，那儿有一条小河从荒原穿过一座浅浅的峡谷顺流而下。但沼泽怪摇摇头。      “巨人们主要就住在沿着那峡谷边上一带，”它说，”你可以说峡谷就像是他们的一条街。我们最好是一直往前走，即使这地方比较陡一点也没办法。”      他们找到一个可以爬上去的地方，大约十分钟以后，大家就站在山坡顶上喘气了。他们回头向纳尼亚的谷地怀念地瞧了一眼，就转身面向北方。放眼望去，只见渺无人迹的广阔荒原绵延不绝。他们左边的地面岩石重叠。吉尔想那一定是巨人的峡谷边上，她不大想往那边看。他们就此出发了。      这儿的土地走起路来很舒服，又松又软，整天都有淡淡的冬天的阳光。他们越深入荒原，那份荒凉感越厉害：听得见红嘴鸥鸣叫，偶尔也看得见一只鹰。中午前他们停下来休息，在一条小河边的一个小水坑里喝了点水。吉尔开始觉得她终究还是喜欢探险的，就这样说了出来。       “我们还没有经历什么险情呢。”沼泽怪说。      第一次休息以后——就像学校里早上休息过后，或是铁路旅行中换车后那样——走起路来跟以前就大不一样了。他们重新上路时，吉尔注意到峡谷的岩边越来越近。而且比起刚才那些岩石，这些岩石高高低低，更加垂直。事实上，这些岩石就像一座座小小的岩塔。这些形状多有趣啊。      “我确信，”吉尔想道，”凡是写巨人的故事都可能来源于那些有趣的岩石。要是你在天快黑的时候上这儿来，很容易把那些一堆堆的石头当做巨人。瞧瞧那一块，嗨!你几乎可以想像那顶上的一块就是一个脑袋。虽然这脑袋太大了些，跟身体不相称，但是对丑陋的巨人来说就够好的了。还有那些浓密的东西——我猜实际上那些是石南和鸟窝吧——就当成头发和胡子也不错。还有一边高出一块的很像是耳朵。这耳朵大得吓人，不过我敢说巨人和象一样都会有大耳朵。还有——哦——哦I”       她的血冻结了。那东西动起来了。原来是个真正的巨人。一点没错;她已经看见他扭过头来了。她看见那张又大又蠢、鼓起腮帮子的脸。所有这些东西都是巨人，不是岩石。他们大约有四五十个，排成一排，显然是站在峡谷底层，手拐儿搁在峡谷边上，就像人们靠墙站着一样——像懒洋洋的男人早晨吃完早饭时那副模样。       “一直往前走。”普德格伦悄声说。它也注意到他们了。      “别朝他们看。不管你做什么，别跑。他们马上会来追我们的。”      他们就这样继续往前走，装作没看见那些巨人。正像走过一幢有恶狗的屋子的大门那样，只是更吓人。那儿有好几十个这种巨人。他们看来既不生气也不和气，也不对什么流露出一点兴趣。没有迹象表明他们看见了这些行人。       接着——飕——飕——飕——有什么沉甸甸的东西投向空中，一声巨响，一块大石头掉在他们前面大约二十步的地方。再接着——咚！——第二块掉在他们身后二十英尺的地方。       “他们是对准我们扔的吗?”斯克罗布问。      “不，要是他们对准我们，我们反而安全多了。他们是想掷那个——右边那个石堆。他们掷不中的，你们知道吗?那儿够安全的，因为他们个个都是其糟无比的投手。天好时他们大多玩掷石头打靶，凭他们那点聪明只懂这种游戏。”       那段时间真可怕，那排巨人似乎长得没完没了，他们一直不停地掷石头，有几块落在很近的地方。除了真正的危险，看看他们的脸，听听他们的声音也够吓人的。吉尔尽量不去看他们。      过了大约二十五分钟，巨人们显然吵起来了。掷石头这才结束，但吵架的巨人离他们还不到一英里，这件事可不愉快。他们大发雷霆，互相嘲笑，用的都是没意思的字眼，一个字足足有二十来个音节。他们发脾气时唾沫四溅，叽里咕噜，一跳八丈高，跳一跳就像扔炸弹似的震撼着大地。他们彼此用笨重的大石槌敲打对方的头，但因为他们的脑壳实在太硬，石槌敲下去就再弹开，这时那敲槌子的怪物会扔下槌子，痛得大吼大叫，因为槌子弄痛了他的手指。不过他实在太笨，一分钟以后他又干起同样的事了。这最终倒是件好事，因为玩了一小时，所有的巨人都痛得坐下哭了起来。等他们坐下后，他们的脑袋就在峡谷边缘以下，就看不见他们了。但吉尔还听得见他们像大娃娃似的哇啦哇啦，大哭大叫，即使那地方已在他们后面一英里以外，也还是听得见。      那天晚上，他们就在光秃秃的荒原上露营，普德格伦做给两个孩子看，怎样背靠背睡，充分利用毯子(背靠背睡，彼此都暖和，而且那样身子上面就可以有两条毯子盖着)。但即使如此仍然是寒气逼人，而且地面硬邦邦，粗糙不平。沼泽怪告诉他们只要他们想想今后再往北走还要冷得多，他们就会感到舒服一点，不过这话一点也没让他们振作起来。      他们在艾丁斯荒原走了好多天，省下熏肉，主要以荒原上野禽为生(当然不是会说话的鸟禽)，那都是尤斯塔斯和沼泽怪打来的。吉尔挺妒忌尤斯塔斯会射箭，他当初跟凯斯宾国王航行途中学到了这一手。因为荒原上有数不清的小溪，他们倒一点也不缺水喝。吉尔心想，书里写人们靠打野物为生，从来就没告诉你，把那些死鸟拔毛，洗净是件多臭多脏，多耗时费力的活儿，而且弄得你手指冰冷。但值得庆幸的是他们不大碰见巨人。有一个巨人看见他们了，但他只是大笑了一阵，就噔噔噔地走开，去忙自己的事了。      大约第十天，他们到了一个地形变化的地方。他们来到荒原北部边缘，俯临一片陡峭的长坡，一直通向一片不同的、更可怕的土地。山坡底下就是悬崖，只见那边高山重叠，茫茫一片，黑沉沉的峭壁，乱石丛生的山谷，幽谷又深又狭，看不见底。几条河从回声隆隆的峡谷里倾泻而出，冲入漆黑的深渊。不用说，还是普德格伦，指出更远的山坡上有点儿雪。      “不过山坡北面的雪会更多，这我不会奇怪。”它又加了一句。      他们费了好长时间才到达山坡脚下，他们到了那里就从悬崖上往下看，只见有条河从西向东奔流而过。河流两岸远近都是峭壁，河水碧绿，没有太阳，到处是险滩、瀑布。咆哮的河水震撼着大地，连他们站的地方也在震动。      “值得高兴的是，”普德格伦说，”要是我们下悬崖摔断了脖子，那我们就不至于淹死在河里。”      “那个怎么样？”斯克罗布突然说，一面指着他们左面河的上流。于是大家都往那边看，瞧见了他们决没有料想到的东西——一座桥。这座桥真是鬼斧神工！是一座其大无比的单拱桥，横跨峡谷，从那边悬崖顶上通往这边的悬崖顶上，而且桥拱顶端耸立在两边悬崖顶部上空，就像圣保罗教堂的圆屋顶耸立在街道上空一样。      “咦，这一定是座巨人桥吧!”吉尔说。      “或者说八成是座巫师桥，”普德格伦说，”我们在这种地方得留神有没有魔法。我认为这是个陷阱。等我们走到桥当中，桥就会成为雾，化掉。”      “啊呀，看在老天分上，别那么煞风景了。”斯克罗布说。”这桥干吗不该是一座正儿八经的桥呢?”      “你想想，我们见到的那些巨人有头脑造这么个东西吗?”普德格伦说。      “但这桥会不会是别种巨人造的呢?”吉尔说，”我意思是说，生活在几百年前的巨人们造的，那些巨人比现代这种聪明得多。可能就是建造我们正在寻找的巨人城的那种巨人造的。而那样一来就说明我们这一路走对了——老桥通往老城嘛。”       “你倒真是神机妙算，波尔，”斯克罗布说，”一定是那么回事。来吧。”      于是他们转身向桥走去。他们走到桥边，只见那座桥的确够结实的。那一块块石头都有史前巨石群①的石头那么大，而且当初一定是由能工巧匠切割成方块的，然而现在都已裂痕累累了。桥栏上以前显然满是富丽的雕刻，如今还留有一些痕迹，残破的脸部和形态，有巨人，有牛头怪，有大乌贼鱼，有娱蛤，还有一些可怕的神像。普德格伦虽然对这座桥还不放心，但他答应跟两个孩子一起过桥。      爬上桥顶的路又长又难走。好多地方的大石块都掉了，留下一道道吓人的裂口，从裂口往下看，只见几千英尺以下的河里浪花四溅。他们看见一只鹰从他们脚下飞过。而且他们越往上走就越冷，风吹得他们几乎站也站不稳，似乎桥都在摇晃。      他们到了桥顶，才能往下看远处的桥坡，只见有条看上去像是古代巨人的大路的遗迹从他们面前伸展开去，直至群山腹地。路面好多石头都没有了，残留的石头之间是大片大片的野草。在这条古道上有两个正常身材的成人正骑马向他们驰来。      “走啊。往他们那儿走，”普德格伦说，”凡是在这种地方遇到的人都可能不是敌人，但我们千万不能让他们认为我们害怕了。”      ①英国索尔兹伯里平原上。      他们刚下桥，踏在草地上，那两个陌生人已经近在眼前。一个是骑士，穿着全副盔甲，面罩也拉下来。他的盔甲和马都是黑色的。他的盾上没有纹章，矛上也没有小旗①另一个是位夫人，骑着匹白马，那马真可爱，你恨不得马上就去亲亲它鼻子，给它一块糖吃。而那位夫人骑的是女鞍，侧坐在马上，穿了一件绿得耀眼的长衣服，就更可爱了。       “你们好，旅——旅——客们。”她说话的声音就像最可爱的鸟儿在唱歌，拖长的颤音听了让人高兴，”你们当中有人是特地来这片荒原的小旅客吧。”      “那倒不一定，夫人。”普德格伦生硬地说，留神提防着。      ①英国古代骑士盾牌上应有贵族家庭的纹章，矛上有小旗也是一种爵位的象征。      “我们在找巨人城的废墟。”吉尔说。      “城的废——废墟?”那夫人说，”你们要找的倒是一个古怪的地方。找到了又怎么样呢?”      “我们得…”吉尔开口说，但普德格伦打断了她。      “请原谅，夫人。但我们不认识你和你这位朋友——他是个不爱说话的家伙吧?——而你也不认识我们。要是你不介意的话，我们宁可在陌生人前面不谈自己的事情。你看很快就要下雨了吧?”       夫人笑了，笑声要多圆润有多圆润，要多动听有多动听。”好了，孩子们，”她说，”你们有一个聪明、庄重的老向导陪着，虽然他守口如瓶，我还是不怪他，但我倒愿意随便谈谈我的看法。我经常听到巨人城废墟这个名字，但从来没遇见过任何人告诉我上那儿去的路。这条路是通往哈方镇和城堡的，那儿住着斯文的巨人。他们性格温和，举止文明，处世谨慎，待人有礼，而艾丁斯荒原那些巨人却是愚蠢、凶残、野蛮，而且兽性十足。虽然你们在哈方能不能打听到城市废墟的消息还不一定，但你们肯定会找到舒服的住处和好客的主人。你们聪明的话可以在那儿过冬，要不然，至少住上一段日子，放松一下，恢复体力。那儿可以洗蒸汽澡，可以睡软和的床，过得心情愉快;还有烘的烤的，甜的辣的，一天供应四顿。”       “哇I”斯克罗布叫道，”那太棒了。想想看，又有床睡了!”      “是啊，而且还可以洗热水澡，”吉尔说，”你想他们会留我们住下吗？你瞧，我们可不认识他们。”      “只要对他们说，”那夫人回答说，”绿衣夫人派你们代为向他们致敬，而且给秋季盛宴送来两个白嫩的南方孩子。”      “哦，谢谢你，多谢了。”吉尔和斯克罗布说。      “但得留心，”夫人说，”无论你们哪天到达哈方，上门可别太晚。因为他们中午过后几小时就关大门。那是城堡的风俗，一旦他们上了门问，别人怎么敲门他们也不开的。，，两个孩子眼睛发亮，再次谢了她，那夫人向他们挥挥手。沼泽怪脱下尖帽子，姿势僵硬地鞠了个躬。于是那一声不吭的骑士和夫人就骑着马走上桥坡，扬起一阵嘚嘚蹄声。       “好吧，”普德格伦说，”我真想知道她从哪儿来，上哪儿去。巨人国荒原上决不会遇到她这种人吧?我敢肯定，她不怀好意。”      “哎，胡说，”斯克罗布说，”我认为她这人好极了。一想起热饭热菜，还有暖和的房间。我真希望到哈方这条路不远。”      “我也这么想，”吉尔说，”而且她还穿了件极美的衣服。还有那匹马!”      “虽然这样，”普德格伦说，”可我还是希望对她了解得多一点。”      “我正打算问问她自己的事，”吉尔说，”但你不肯告诉她我们的事，我又怎么能问她呢?”      “是啊，”斯克罗布说，”还有你干吗那么生硬，大煞风景，难道你不喜欢他们?”      “他们?”沼泽怪说，”他们是谁?我可只看见一个。”      “你没看见那骑士?”吉尔问。      “我看见一套盔甲，”普德格伦说，”他干吗不说话?”      “我想他是害羞吧，”吉尔说，”或许他只想看着她，听着她可爱的声音。我敢说我要是他，也会那样的。”      “我真想知道，”普德格伦说，”你们抬起那头盔的面罩会真正看到什么。”      “见鬼，”斯克罗布说，”想想那盔甲的形状!除了人以外还能有什么呀?”      “是骨骷髅该怎么说呢?”沼泽怪装出一副幸灾乐祸的讨厌相问。”要不然，”它又加了一句说，”什么都没有。我意思是你们什么也看不见。是个隐身人。”      “说真的，普德格伦，”吉尔说着打了个哆嗦，”你心里真有这么可怕的想法。你对他们怎么想的啊?”      “啊呀，去他的想法吧!”斯克罗布说，”它老是往坏里想，结果总是错的。我们还是想想那些斯文的巨人，赶快去哈方吧。我要知道那条路有多远就好了。”      这下子普德格伦预见到的争吵几乎头一回闹开了。倒不是说吉尔和斯克罗布之间以前没有吵闹、斗嘴什么的，但这回可是头一回当真谈不到一块儿了。普德格伦根本不愿意大家上哈方去。它说它不知道巨人所谓的举止斯文是怎么回事，不管怎么说，阿斯兰的指示里也没提起到巨人那儿去，斯文不斯文都没提。另一方面，两个孩子已经厌倦了凤里来，雨里去，在篝火上烤皮包骨的野禽，睡在又冷又硬的地上这种生活，下定决心要去寻找斯文的巨人。最后，普德格伦只好同意去了，但有一个条件。他们必须绝对保证，没有它的准许，不得告诉斯文的巨人，他们是从纳尼亚来的，也不能说他们在找寻瑞廉王子。他们向它做出保证后，才继续往前走。       跟那位夫人谈过话后，有两个方面的情况变得更糟糕了。第一，走的地方更难走，那条路直通望不见尽头的峡谷，山谷下面老有凛冽的北风刮在他们脸上。不像以前在荒原时那样，没有木柴可以用来烧火，也没有好好的小洞穴可以宿营，而且地上全是石头，白天走路使你脚痛，晚上睡觉使你全身都痛。       第二，不管那夫人告诉两个孩子哈方的事出于什么用意，实际上对他们反而起了坏作用。他们一心只想到床铺、洗澡和热饭热菜，想到屋里该有多舒服，别的什么都不想。如今，他们从来不谈起阿斯兰，甚至对失踪的王子也绝口不提。吉尔也放弃了她每天早晚暗自背诵指示的习惯。开头，她对自己说，我太累了，可是她很快就把这事完全抛在脑后。你可能以为他们想到在哈方可以过得愉快，心里就会高兴一点，其实这反而使他们更为自己难过，他们彼此之间也好，对普德格伦也好，都变得更暴躁，容易上火。       最后，有一天下午，他们一路走过的峡谷到了一个地方豁然开阔，两边还出现了暗沉沉的拟树林。他们往前看，只见自己已经穿过了群山。前面是一片满目荒凉、岩石丛生的平原，平原外，远处的群山山顶上都有积雪。但就在他们和远处的群山之间有一座小山头，山顶虽然参差不齐，地势还比较平坦。      “看哪!看哪I”吉尔叫道，指着平原对面。暮色苍茫中，在那座平坦的小山的另一边，大家看见了灯光。灯光!不是月光，不是火光，而是一排亮着灯光的窗户，普普通通，令人宽慰。如果你从来没去过荒野，不曾几个星期日日夜夜待在荒野里，你就难以了解他们的心情。       “哈方I”斯克罗布和吉尔叫了起来，声音又高兴又激动。”哈方!”普德格伦也说了一遍，声音单调，阴郁。但它又说，”嗨!野鹅!”并立刻拿起了弓。它打中了二只大肥鹅。当天想要到达哈方，已经太晚了。但他们吃了一顿热的，还生了一堆火。这天晚上开头倒比以往这一个多星期都暖和得多。火灭了以后，夜里变得寒意刺骨，等他们第二天早上醒来，毯子全都是霜，冻得硬邦邦的。       “没关系I”吉尔一面说着一面顿脚，”今晚就洗上热水澡啦!”
Chapter 7
THE HILL OF THE STRANGE TRENCHES
THERE Is no denying it was a beast of a day. Overhead was a sunless sky, muffled in clouds that were heavy with snow; underfoot, a black frost; blowing over it, a wind that felt as if it would take your skin off. When they got down into the plain they found that this part of the ancient road was much more ruinous than any they had yet seen. They had to pick their way over great broken stones and between boulders and across rubble: hard going for sore feet. And, however tired they got, it was far too cold for a halt.
At about ten o'clock the first tiny snow flakes came loitering down and settled on Jill's arm. Ten minutes later they were falling quite thickly. In twenty minutes the ground was noticeably white. And by the end of half an hour a good steady snowstorm, which looked as if it meant to last all day, was driving in their faces so that they could hardly see.
In order to understand what followed, you must keep on remembering how little they could see. As they drew near the low hill which separated them from the place where the lighted windows had appeared, they had no general view of it at all. It was a question of seeing the next few paces ahead, and, even for that, you had to screw up your eyes. Needless to say, they were not talking.
When they reached the foot of the hill they caught a glimpse of what might be rocks on each side - squarish rocks, if you looked at them carefully, but no one did. All were more concerned with the ledge right in front of them which barred their way. It was about four feet high. The Marsh-wiggle, with his long legs, had no difficulty in jumping onto the top of it, and he then helped the others up. It was a nasty wet business for them, though not for him, because the snow now lay quite deep on the ledge. They then had a stiff climb - Jill fell once - up very rough ground for about a hundred yards, and came to a second ledge. There were four of these ledges altogether, at quite irregular intervals.
As they struggled on to the fourth ledge, there was no mistaking the fact that they were now at the top of the flat hill. Up till now the slope had given them some shelter; here, they got the full fury of the wind. For the hill, oddly enough, was quite as flat on top as it had looked from a distance: a great level tableland which the storm tore across without resistance. In most places the snow was still hardly lying at all, for the wind kept catching it up off the ground in sheets and clouds, and hurling it in their faces. And round their feet little eddies of snow ran about as you sometimes see them doing over ice. And, indeed, in many places, the surface was almost as smooth as ice. But to make matters worse it was crossed and crisscrossed with curious banks or dykes, which sometimes divided it up into squares and oblongs. All these of course had to be climbed; they varied from two to five feet in height and were about a couple of yards thick. On the north side of each bank the snow already lay in deep drifts; and after each climb you came down into a drift and got wet.
Fighting her way forward with hood up and head down and numb hands inside her cloak, Jill had glimpses of other odd things on that horrible tableland - things on her right that looked vaguely like factory chimneys, and, on her left, a huge cliff, straighter than any cliff ought to be. But she wasn't at all interested and didn't give them a thought. The only things she thought about were her cold hands (and nose and chin and ears) and hot baths and beds at Harfang.
Suddenly she skidded, slid about five feet, and found herself to her horror sliding down into a dark, narrow chasm which seemed that moment to have appeared in front of her. Half a second later she had reached the bottom. She appeared to be in a kind of trench or groove, only about three feet wide. And though she was shaken by the fall, almost the first thing she noticed was the relief of being out of the wind; for the walls of the trench rose high above her. The next thing she noticed was, naturally, the anxious faces of Scrubb and Puddleglum looking down at her from the edge.
"Are you hurt, Pole?" shouted Scrubb.
"Both legs broken, I shouldn't wonder," shouted Puddleglum.
Jill stood up and explained that she was all right, but they'd have to help her out.
"What is it you've fallen into?" asked Scrubb.
"It's a kind of trench, or it might be a kind of sunken lane or something," said Jill. "It runs quite straight."
"Yes, by Jove," said Scrubb. "And it runs due north! I wonder is it a sort of road? If it was, we'd be out of this infernal wind down there. Is there a lot of snow at the bottom?"
"Hardly any. It all blows over the top, I suppose."
"What happens farther on?"
"Half a sec. I'll go and see," said Jill. She got up and walked along the trench; but before she had gone far, it turned sharply to the right. She shouted this information back to the others.
"What's round the corner?" asked Scrubb.
Now it happened that Jill had the same feeling about twisty passages and dark places underground, or even nearly underground, that Scrubb had about the edges of cliffs. She had no intention of going round that corner alone; especially when she heard Puddleglum bawling out from behind her:
"Be careful, Pole. It's just the sort of place that might lead to a dragon's cave. And in a giant country, there might be giant earth-worms or giant beetles."
"I don't think it goes anywhere much," said Jill, coming hastily back.
"I'm jolly well going to have a look," said Scrubb. "What do you mean by anywhere much, I should like to know?" So he sat down on the edge of the trench (everyone was too wet by now to bother about being a bit wetter) and then dropped in. He pushed past Jill and, though he didn't say anything, she felt sure that he knew she had funked it. So she followed him close, but took care not to get in front of him.
It proved, however, a disappointing exploration. They went round the right-hand turn and straight on for a few paces. Here there was a choice of ways: straight on again, or sharp to the right. "That's no good," said Scrubb, glancing down the right-hand turn, "that would be taking us back - south." He went straight on, but once more, in a few steps, they found a second turn to the right. But this time there was no choice of ways, for the trench they had been following here came to a dead end.
"No good," grunted Scrubb. Jill lost no time in turning and leading the way back. When they returned to the place where Jill had first fallen in, the Marsh-wiggle with his long arms had no difficulty in pulling them out.
But it was dreadful to be out on top again. Down in those narrow slits of trenches, their ears had almost begun to thaw. They had been able to see clearly and breathe easily and hear each other speak without shouting. It was absolute misery to come back into the withering coldness. And it did seem hard when Puddleglum chose that moment for saying:
"Are you still sure of those signs, Pole? What's the one we ought to be after, now?"
"Oh, come on! Bother the signs," said Pole. "Something about someone mentioning Aslan's name, I think. But I'm jolly well not going to give a recitation here."
As you see, she had got the order wrong. That was because she had given up saying the signs over every night. She still really knew them, if she troubled to think: but she was no longer so "pat" in her lesson as to be sure of reeling them off in the right order at a moment's notice and without thinking. Puddleglum's question annoyed her because, deep down inside her, she was already annoyed with herself for not knowing the Lion's lesson quite so well as she felt she ought to have known it. This annoyance, added to the misery of being very cold and tired, made her say, "Bother the signs." She didn't perhaps quite mean it.
"Oh, that was next, was it?" said Puddleglum. "Now I wonder, are you right? Got 'em mixed, I shouldn't wonder. It seems to me, this hill, this flat place we're on, is worth stopping to have a look at. Have you noticed -"
"Oh Lor!" said Scrubb, "is this a time for stopping to admire the view? For goodness' sake let's get on."
"Oh, look, look, look," cried Jill and pointed. Everyone turned, and everyone saw. Some way off to the north, and a good deal higher up than the tableland on which they stood, a line of lights had appeared. This time, even more obviously than when the travellers had seen them the night before, they were windows: smaller windows that made one think deliciously of bedrooms, and larger windows that made one think of great halls with fires roaring on the hearth and hot soup or juicy sirloins smoking on the table.
"Harfang!" exclaimed Scrubb.
"That's all very well," said Puddleglum. "But what I was saying was -"
"Oh, shut up," said Jill crossly. "We haven't a moment to lose. Don't you remember what the Lady said about their locking up so early? We must get there in time, we must, we must. We'll die if we're shut out on a night like this."
"Well, it isn't exactly a night, not yet," began Puddleglum; but the two children both said, "Come on," and began stumbling forward on the slippery tableland as quickly as their legs would carry them. The Marsh-wiggle followed them: still talking, but now that they were forcing their way into the wind again, they could not have heard him even if they had wanted to. And they didn't want. They were thinking of baths and beds and hot drinks; and the idea of coming to Harfang too late and being shut out was almost unbearable.
In spite of their haste, it took them a long time to cross the flat top of that hill. And even when they had crossed it, there were still several ledges to climb down on the far side. But at last they reached the bottom and could see what Harfang was like.
It stood on a high crag, and in spite of its many towers was more a huge house than a castle. Obviously, the Gentle Giants feared no attack. There were windows in the outside wall quite close to the ground - a thing no one would have in a serious fortress. There were even odd little doors here and there, so that it would be quite easy to get in and out of the castle without going through the courtyard. This raised the spirits of Jill and Scrubb. It made the whole place look more friendly and less forbidding.
At first the height and steepness of the crag frightened them, but presently they noticed that there was an easier way up on the left and that the road wound up towards it. It was a terrible climb, after the journey they had already had, and Jill nearly gave up. Scrubb and Puddleglum had to help her for the last hundred yards.
But in the end they stood before the castle gate. The portcullis was up and the gate open.
However tired you are, it takes some nerve to walk up to a giant's front door. In spite of all his previous warnings against Harfang, it was Puddleglum who showed most courage.
"Steady pace, now," he said. "Don't look frightened, whatever you do. We've done the silliest thing in the world by coming at all: but now that we are here, we'd best put a bold face on it."
With these words he strode forward into the gateway, stood still under the arch where the echo would help his voice, and called out as loud as he could.
"Ho! Porter! Guests who seek lodging."
And while he was waiting for something to happen, he took off his hat and knocked off the heavy mass of snow which had gathered on its wide brim.
"I say," whispered Scrubb to Jill. "He may be a wet blanket, but he has plenty of pluck - and cheek."
A door opened, letting out a delicious glow of firelight, and the Porter appeared. Jill bit her lips for fear she should scream. He was not a perfectly enormous giant; that is to say, he was rather taller than an apple tree but nothing like so tall as a telegraph pole. He had bristly red hair, a leather jerkin with metal plates fastened all over it so as to make a kind of mail shirt, bare knees (very hairy indeed) and things like puttees on his legs. He stooped down and goggled at Puddleglum.
"And what sort of creature do you call yourself," he said.
Jill took her courage in both hands. "Please," she said, shouting up at the giant. "The Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes the King of the Gentle Giants, and has sent us two Southern children and this Marsh-wiggle (his name's Puddleglum) to your Autumn Feast. - If it's quite convenient, of course," she added.
"Oho!" said the Porter. "That's quite a different story. Come in, little people, come in. You'd best come into the lodge while I'm sending word to his Majesty." He looked at the children with curiosity. "Blue faces," he said. "I didn't know they. were that colour. Don't care about it myself. But I dare say you look quite nice to one another. Beetles fancy other beetles, they do say."
"Our faces are only blue with cold," said Jill. "We're not this colour really."
"Then come in and get warm. Come in, little shrimps," said the Porter. They followed him into the lodge. And though it was rather terrible to hear such a big door clang shut behind them, they forgot about it as soon as they saw the thing they had been longing for ever since supper time last night - afire. And such a fire! It looked as if four or five whole trees were blazing on it, and it was so hot they couldn't go within yards of it. But they all flopped down on the brick floor, as near as they could bear the heat, and heaved great sighs of relief.
"Now, youngster," said the Porter to another giant who had been sitting in the back of the room, staring at the visitors till it looked as if his eyes would start out of his head, "run across with this message to the House." And he repeated what Jill had said to him. The younger giant, after a final stare, and a great guffaw, left the room.
"Now, Froggy," said the Porter to Puddleglum, "you look as if you wanted some cheering up." He produced a black bottle very like Puddleglum's own, but about twenty times larger. "Let me see, let me see," said the Porter. "I can't give you a cup or you'll drown yourself. Let me see. This salt-cellar will be just the thing. Youneedn't mention it over at the House. The silver will keep on getting over here, and it's not my fault."
The salt-cellar was not very like one of ours, being narrower and more upright, and made quite a good cup for Puddleglum, when the giant set it down on the floor beside him. The children expected Puddleglum to refuse it, distrusting the Gentle Giants as he did. But he muttered, "It's rather late to be thinking of precautions now that we're inside and the door shut behind us." Then he sniffed at the liquor. "Smells all right," he said. "But that's nothing to go by. Better make sure," and took a sip. "Tastes all right, too," he said. "But it might do that at the first sip. How does it go on?" He took a larger sip. "Ah!" he said. "But is it the same all the way down?" and took another. "There'll be something nasty at the bottom, I shouldn't wonder," he said, and finished the drink. He licked his lips and remarked to the children, "This'll be a test, you see. If I curl up, or burst, or turn into a lizard, or something, then you'll know not to take anything they offer you." But the giant, who was too far up to hear the things Puddleglum had been saying under his breath, roared with laughter and said, "Why, Froggy, you're a man. See him put it away!"
"Not a man . . . Marsh-wiggle," replied Puddleglum in a somewhat indistinct voice. "Not frog either: Marshwiggle."
At that moment the door opened behind them and the younger giant came in saying, "They're to go to the throne-room at once."
The children stood up but Puddleglum remained sitting and said, "Marsh-wiggle. Marsh-wiggle. Very respectable Marsh-wiggle. Respectowiggle."
"Show them the way, young 'un," said the giant Porter. "You'd better carry Froggy. He's had a drop more than's good for him."
"Nothing wrong with me," said Puddleglum. "Not a frog. Nothing frog with me. I'm a respectabiggle."
But the young giant caught him up by the waist and signed to the children to follow. In this undignified way they crossed the courtyard. Puddleglum, held in the giant's fist, and vaguely kicking the air, did certainly look very like a frog. But they had little time to notice this, for they soon entered the great doorway of the main castle - both their hearts beating faster than usual - and, after pattering along several corridors at a trot to keep up with the giant's paces, found themselves blinking in the light of an enormous room, where lamps glowed and a fire roared on the hearth and both were reflected from the gilding of roof and cornice. More giants than they could count stood on their left and right, all in magnificent robes; and on two thrones at the far end, sat two huge shapes that appeared to be the King and Queen.
About twenty feet from the thrones, they stopped. Scrubb and Jill made an awkward attempt at a bow (girls are not taught how to curtsey at Experiment House) and the young giant carefully put Puddleglum down on the floor, where he collapsed into a sort of sitting position. With his long limbs he looked, to tell the truth, uncommonly like a large spider.      7、小山上奇怪的壕沟      无可否认，天气真够恶劣的。头顶上，天空没有太阳，乌云密布，像要下雪；脚下，一层黑霜，一阵风吹来，让人觉得身上的皮都刮掉了。等他们下来，走到平原上，才发现那条古道的这一段比他们以前所见过的毁损得更厉害。他们不得不在断裂的大石头上和卵石之间，以及碎石堆上挑着道儿走。脚痛，路更难走。而且，不管他们有多累，因为天太冷都不能停下歇会儿。      大约十点左右，第一阵小雪花慢慢飘下来了，正落在吉尔的手臂上。十分钟以后，雪就密密麻麻漫天飞舞。过了二十分钟，大地明显成了银白世界。过了半小时，来了一场持续不断的暴风雪，看样子要下个一整天，暴风雪扑面而来，他们几乎什么也看不见。      为了弄清接下来发生的事，你们一定要记住，他们几乎什么也看不见了。当他们走近低矮的小山时，那座小山把昨天晚上窗户亮着灯的那地方挡住了，所以他们一点也看不见。只看得见前面几步路的地方，即使这么着，也还得眯起眼睛。不用说，他们大家都不说话。$       等他们到达山脚下，他们往两边那些可能是岩石的东西看了一眼——仔细瞧瞧的话，就知道这是近似方形的岩石，但谁也没好好看。大家更关心的是正前方挡住他们路的那块突出的石头。约有四英尺高。沼泽怪腿长，毫不费力就跳了上去，接着就帮另外两个上来。对他们两个来说，爬上去弄得湿漉漉可真够呛，因为那块石头上的积雪已经很深了，不过沼泽怪倒不当一回事。后来他们又在崎岖不平的地上往上爬了大约一百码——吉尔还摔下来一回——才爬上第二块突出的石头。一共有四块这种石头，距离都不相等。,       他们好不容易才爬上了第四块石头，事实摆明他们这会儿已经在这扁平的小山顶上了。到现在为止，那山坡总算给了他们个避风的地方；在这儿，他们可领教了暴风的威力。说也奇怪，这座小山顶上居然相当平坦，就跟在远处看时一样。暴风就在这一大片高地上无遮无拦地呼啸而过。多半地方仍然不大有积雪，因为风不断把雪卷离地面，成片成团地抛到他们脸上。还有一股股风雪交加的小旋涡在他们脚边打转转，就像有时候看到暴风雪刮过冰上那样。而多地方的表面确实也像冰一样光溜溜。但更糟的是，这地方还布满了纵横交错、奇奇怪怪的堤坝，把这地方分割成一块块正方形和长方形。所有这些堤坝当然都要爬上去，高度从二英尺到五英尺不等，厚度也有两三码。每道堤坝的北侧都已积起厚厚的雪；每爬过一道堤坝，就陷到积雪里，弄得浑身湿漉漉。       吉尔拉起风帽，低着头，麻木的双手藏在斗篷里，一路挣扎着向前，她在这可怕的高地上还看见了其他一些古怪的东西。她右边那些东西看上去隐约像是工厂的烟囱，她左边有一大块悬崖比任何悬崖都陡直。但她丝毫不感兴趣，没把这些放在心上。她只想一件事，就是她那双冰凉的手(还有冰凉的鼻子、下巴和耳朵)，还想到哈方的热水澡和床。      突然她脚下一滑，就此滑出去约有五英尺，她发现自己滑进了一个又黑又狭的坑，不由吓得半死。这坑似乎刚刚出现在她眼前，转眼间，她已滑到底了。她似乎是掉在沟沟槽槽之类的里边了，只有三英尺宽。虽然这次摔倒使她大为震惊，但她首先注意到的就是吹不到风了，总算松了口气，因为沟壁比她高出一截。其次她注意到的，自然是斯克罗布和普德格伦那两张焦急的脸正从沟边上往下望着她。      “你受伤了吗，波尔？”斯克罗布大声道。      “两条腿全摔断我都不奇怪。”普德格伦大声道。      吉尔站起来说明她没事儿，但他们得帮她出去。      “你掉进去的是个什么地方？”斯克罗布问。      “是一种沟吧，也可能是一种暗巷之类，”吉尔说，”是笔直的。”      “是啊，天哪，”斯克罗布说，”而且通往正北。不知道这是不是一种路？要是的话，我们在下面就吹不到该死的风了。底下有雪吗？”      “几乎没有。我看雪全从顶上吹过去了。”      “再往里头还有什么？”      “等一下，我去看看。”吉尔说。她站起来，沿着沟走去；但没走出多远，沟就向右来了个急转弯。她把这情况大声告诉另外两个。      “拐角上有什么？”斯克罗布问。      恰巧这会儿吉尔对地下，或者说近乎地下的这些转弯抹角的通道和那些黑咕隆咚的地方的感想和斯克罗布对悬崖边上的感想是一样的。她可不打算一个人拐过那个角去，尤其是她听见普德格伦在后面大声叫道       “小心点，波尔。这正是那种可能通往龙洞的地方。在巨人国里，还可能有巨大的蚯蚓和巨大的甲虫呢。”      “我想这儿到哪儿也不通。”吉尔说着，赶紧往回走。      “我最好去看一看，”斯克罗布说，”我倒想知道哪儿也不通是什么意思？”于是他坐在沟边上(如今大家都浑身透湿，再湿一点也无所谓了)，接着就落在沟里。他从吉尔身边挤过去，尽管他嘴上没说什么，她心里确信他知道她是因为害怕才不去的。因此她就紧紧跟着他，只是小心翼翼别走在他头里。'       然而，这次探险结果真令人失望。他们往右拐弯后朝前只走了几步，就碰到有两条路可走，要么再往前一直走，要么朝右急转弯。”不行，”斯克罗布看了右转弯那条路一眼说，”那样又走回去——到南面了。”他就一直往前走，但只走了几步，他们又一次发现了第二条往右拐的路，但这回没有其他路好走了，因为他们走的这条沟到这儿就到头了。       “不行。”斯克罗布咕哝说。吉尔立刻转身带路回去。等他们回到吉尔掉下来的地方，沼泽怪的长胳膊毫不费力就把他们拉了出来。      但回到上面实在太可怕了。在下面那些狭长的沟里，他们的耳朵几乎都开始回暖了。他们眼睛也看得清，呼吸也轻松，对方说话不用嚷嚷也听得清。回到这刺骨的寒冷中简直是活受罪。令人难堪的是，普德格伦竟挑了这么个时候说:      “你仍然确信那些指示吗，波尔？现在我们该照哪一条办呢？”      “啊呀，行了，去他的指示吧，”波尔说，”我想是什么人提到阿斯兰名字的什么事吧。不过我决不在这儿背诵指示。”      你们大概看得出，她已经把指示的次序搞错了。那是因为她已经放弃了每天晚上把指示背一遍的习惯。要是她肯费心想一想，她其实还是知道的，但她对自己的功课已不再背得滚瓜烂熟，遇到人家一问，未能不假思索一字不差地背出来。普德格伦这一问惹恼了她，因为在她内心深处，她已经对自己不那么熟悉狮王的功课很恼火了，她觉得自己本来应该熟悉的。心里恼火，加上又冷又累，痛苦不堪，她竟说出了”去他的指示”。也许她并不是有意的。      “哦，那是下一句吧？”普德格伦说，”现在我真想知道你是不是对？你把指示弄混了，我也不会奇怪的。在我看来，这小山，我们待的这块平地似乎值得我们停下来看一看。你们有没有注意……”       “哦，天哪，”斯克罗布说，”难道这是停下来欣赏风景的时候吗？看在老天的分上，我们走吧。”      “哦，瞧，瞧，瞧！”吉尔叫着，用于一指。大家都回过身来，都看见了。朝北再过去一点，比他们站着的这块高地还要高得多的地方，已经出现了一排灯。这一回，比这三个旅客昨晚看见的甚至更明显了。那些都是窗户：小点儿的窗户使人美美地想起卧室，大点儿的窗户使人想起壁炉里火光熊熊的柴堆，餐桌上热汤和油汪汪的牛腰肉正冒着热气。      “哈方！”斯克罗布欢呼道。      “好极了，”普德格伦说，”但我刚才说的是……”      “哦，住口，”吉尔发着脾气说，”我们没时间了。你不记得那夫人说过他们很早就锁上门吗？我们一定得及时赶到那儿，我们一定得去，一定得去。要是我们在这种晚上给关在门外，我们会死的。”       “得了，这还不是晚上，还没到呢。”普德格伦开口说，但两个孩子都说”来吧”，就开始在清溜溜的高地上跌跌冲冲，尽快向前奔去。沼泽怪跟着他们，嘴里还在说话，不过这会儿他们已经再次冲进风里，即使他们想听它说话也听不见了。而且他们也不想听。他们想的是洗澡和床铺以及热饮料；想起赶到哈方太晚，被关在门外就叫人受不了。      尽管他们急忙赶路，要穿过那小山的平顶却花了他们很长时间。即使他们已经穿过了山顶，远处也还有几块突出的石头要爬下去。最后他们终于到了山下，这才看得见哈方是什么样子。      城堡矗立在高高的巉崖上，尽管有好多尖塔，看上去只是大宅，而不像一座城堡。显然斯文的巨人是不怕攻击的。房子外墙上就有好多离地面很近的窗——在正儿八经的堡垒里就不会有这种事。到处还有一扇扇奇特的小门，这样进出城堡就不用穿过院子，十分方便。吉尔和斯克罗布一看，又来了劲儿。这下子整个城堡看上去也更友好了，不那么阴森可怕了。      开始时，巉崖的高峻让他们害怕，但不久他们就注意到左面有一条比较容易上去的路，而那条路就朝这城堡盘旋而上。他们已经走了那么远的路再要爬上去可真够呛。吉尔差点要放弃了。斯克罗布和普德格伦在最后几百码时只好帮她一把。不过他们到底还是站在城堡大门口了。城堡的吊闸吊上去了，大门开着。"       不管你有多么疲倦，要走到一个巨人的大门口总是需要一点勇气的。尽管普德格伦以前多次警告他们别来哈方，结果还是它显得最勇敢。      “好了，步子放稳点，”它说，”不管你干什么，别露出惊慌失措的样子。我们到这儿来就是干了一件头号大傻事。但既然我们已经到了这儿，最好还是装出一副满不在子的样子。”      说了这些话，它就大步走到大门口，一动不动地站在拱门下，然后尽量大声叫喊，那儿的回声可以给它壮壮声势。      “响，看门的！有客想借宿！”      它在等着听回音的时候，就脱下帽子，扑打那宽宽的帽檐上的大片积雪。      “啊呀，”斯克罗布悄悄对吉尔说，”虽然它也许专爱扫人家兴，但它勇气倒不小，脸皮也厚。”      一扇门开了，漏出一抹诱人的炉火火光，看门的出来了。吉尔吓得咬住嘴唇生怕自己尖叫起来。他并不完全是个大个子巨人；就是说他比一棵苹果树高些，但还没有一根电线杆那么高。他长着一头又短又硬的头发，一件无袖短皮上衣，上面钉着好多金属片，像是要把上衣变成一件铠甲；双膝光着(当然上面有好多汗毛)，腿上像是打着绑腿。他弯下腰，瞪大眼望着普德格伦。      “你说说看，你自己是哪种动物。”他说。      吉尔鼓起勇气。”对不起，”她对巨人大声嚷道，”绿衣夫人向斯文的巨人国王致敬，她派我们两个南方孩子和这个沼泽怪(它名叫普德格伦)参加你们的秋季盛宴——当然，要是方便的话。”她又加了一句。      “哦嗬，”看门人说，”那就是另一回事了。进来吧，小不点儿，进来吧。我传话给陆下的时候，你们最好到门房里来。”他好奇地瞧瞧两个孩子。”青面孔，”他说，”我不知道他们竟是这种颜色。我本人对此倒不在乎。但我敢说，你们彼此间看看都挺好的。人家都说物以类聚嘛。”      “我们的脸只是冻得发青的，”吉尔说，”其实我们不是这种颜色。”      “那么进来取取暖吧。进来，小虾米。”看门人说。他们跟着他进了门房。尽管听见那么大一扇门在他们身后砰地关上，挺吓人的，但他们一看见从昨天晚饭时就一直想望的东西——一堆火，也就把这事忘了。多旺的一堆火啊！看上去似乎有四五棵树在熊熊燃烧，火堆那么热，他们在好几码以外就不能走近。不过他们全都扑通一下坐在砖地上，尽量靠近到受得了热气的地方，发出声声宽慰的叹息。      “好了，小子。”看门人对另一个巨人说，这人一直坐在房间后半部，眼睛瞪得像要掉下来似的，直盯着这些客人看。”跑去把这个信息报给王上。”他把吉尔对他说的话又重说了一遍。那个年轻点的巨人，临走还盯了他们一眼，喃喃大笑一阵，才离开了房间。      “嗨，青蛙儿，”看门人对普德格伦说，”看上去你需要点提神的。”他拿了一个黑瓶子，样子很像普德格伦自己那个，但比那个约大二十倍。”让我瞧瞧，让我瞧瞧。”看门人说，”我不能给你杯子，否则你会淹死。让我瞧瞧，那个盐瓶大概正合适。你到了王上那儿可不必提到这事。银器今后还会继续弄到这儿来的，而这可不是我的错。”       那个盐瓶不大像我们的盐瓶，它比较窄，比较直，巨人把盐瓶放在普德格伦身边地上，竟成了它一个挺合适的酒杯。两个孩子以为普德格伦原来就不信任斯文的巨人，会不肯喝，谁知它喃喃自语说”既然我们已经进来了，门也关上了，再想提防也来不及了。”接着它闻闻那酒。”味儿不错，”它说，”不过那也不足为凭，最好尝个明白。”于是它喝了一小口。”口味也不错，”它说，”不过初次上口可能不错。再喝下去又怎么样呢？”它喝了一大口。”啊！”它说，”但是不是全都一个味儿呢？”又喝了一大口。”要是底下有什么叫人恶心的东西，我是不会奇怪的。”它说着就把酒喝完了，舔舔嘴唇对两个孩子说”这是试验，你们懂吗？要是我倒下来，或是发作了，或是变成一条晰蹋什么的，那么你们就知道凡是他们给你们的东西都别碰。”不过那个巨人高高在上，听不见普德格伦一直在悄声说什么，却哈哈大笑说”喂，青蛙儿，你真是个男子汉。瞧瞧它把酒都喝光了！”       “不是男子汉……沼泽怪，”普德格伦回答时声音含含糊糊的，”也不是青蛙，是沼泽怪。”      正在这时，他们身后的门开了，那个年轻的巨人进来说”要他们立刻到觐见室去。”      两个孩子站了起来，但普德格伦仍然坐着，嘴里说着：”沼泽怪，沼泽怪。值得尊敬的沼泽怪，尊敬的怪。”      “给他们带路，小子，”看门的巨人说，”你最好带上青蛙儿。它喝多了一点。”      “我没事儿，”普德格伦说，”不是青蛙。我不是青蛙。我是个尊敬的怪。”      但那个年轻的巨人拦腰把它一把抓起，再做个手势叫两个孩子跟着走。他们就这样不成体统地穿过院子。抓在巨人手里的普德格伦神志不清地在空中蹬着腿，看上去倒确实像只青蛙了。不过他们也没工夫注意这事，因为他们一下子就走进了主城堡的大门口——他俩的心都比平时跳得更快了——为了赶上巨人的步伐，他们一路小跑，嘚嘚地跑过好几条走廊，不知不觉中就到了一间宏伟的屋子，给里面的亮光照得直眨眼睛，屋里灯火辉煌，炉火熊熊，灯火炉火都反射在镀金的屋顶和飞檐上。数不清的巨人都穿着华丽的袍子分站在左右两边。屋子尽头有两个宝座，坐着两个庞然大物，看来是国王和王后了。      走到离宝座约二十英尺的地方，他们就停下了。斯克罗布和吉尔尴尬地试着鞠了一躬(实验学校里没教过女孩子怎样行屈膝礼)，那年轻的巨人小心地把普德格伦放在地板上，它就瘫坐在那儿。说老实话，看着它长长的四肢，非常像只大蜘蛛。 
Chapter 8
THE HOUSE OF HARFANG
"Go on, Pole, do your stuff," whispered Scrubb.
Jill found that her mouth was so dry that she couldn't speak a word. She nodded savagely at Scrubb.
Thinking to himself that he would never forgive her (or Puddleglum either), Scrubb licked his lips and shouted up to the King giant.
"If you please, Sire, the Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes you by us and said you'd like to have us for your Autumn Feast."
The giant King and Queen looked at each other, nodded to each other, and smiled in a way that Jill didn't exactly like. She liked the King better than the Queen. He had a fine, curled beard and a straight eagle-like nose, and was really rather good-looking as giants go. The Queen was dreadfully fat and had a double chin and a fat, powdered face - which isn't a very nice thing at the best of times, and of course looks much worse when it is ten times too big. Then the King put out his tongue and licked his lips. Anyone might do that: but his tongue was so very large and red, and came out so unexpectedly, that it gave Jill quite a shock.
"Oh, what good children!" said the Queen. ("Perhaps she's the nice one after all," thought Jill.)
"Yes indeed," said the King. "Quite excellent children. We welcome you to our court. Give me your hands."
He stretched down his great right hand - very clean and with any number of rings on the fingers, but also with terrible pointed nails. He was much too big to shake the hands which the children, in turn, held up to him; but he shook the arms.
"And what's that?" asked the King, pointing to Puddleglum.
"Reshpeckobiggle," said Puddleglum.
"Oh!" screamed the Queen, gathering her skirts close about her ankles. "The horrid thing! It's alive."
"He's quite all right, your Majesty, really, he is," said Scrubb hastily. "You'll like him much better when you get to know him. I'm sure you will."
I hope you won't lose all interest in Jill for the rest of the book if I tell you that at this moment she began to cry. There was a good deal of excuse for her. Her feet and hands and ears and nose were still only just beginning to thaw; melted snow was trickling off her clothes; she had had hardly anything to eat or drink that day; and her legs were aching so that she felt she could not go on standing much longer. Anyway, it did more good at the moment than anything else would have done, for the Queen said:
"Ah, the poor child! My lord, we do wrong to keep our guests standing. Quick, some of you! Take them away. Give them food and wine and baths. Comfort the little girl. Give her lollipops, give her dolls, give her physics, give her all you can think of - possets and comfits and caraways and lullabies and toys. Don't cry, little girl, or you won't be good for anything when the feast comes."
Jill was just as indignant as you and I would have been at the mention of toys and dolls; and, though lollipops and comfits might be all very well in their way, she very much hoped that something more solid would be provided. The Queen's foolish speech, however, produced excellent results, for Puddleglum and Scrubb were at once picked up by gigantic gentlemen-in-waiting, and Jill by a gigantic maid of honour, and carried off to their rooms.
Jill's room was about the size of a church, and would have been rather grim if it had not had a roaring fire on the hearth and a very thick crimson carpet on the floor. And here delightful things began to happen to her. She was handed over to the Queen's old Nurse, who was, from the giants' point of view, a little old woman almost bent double with age, and, from the human point of view, a giantess small enough to go about an ordinary room without knocking her head on the ceiling. She was very capable, though Jill did wish she wouldn't keep on clicking her tongue and saying things like "Oh la, la! Ups-adaisy" and "There's a duck" and "Now we'll be all right, my poppet". She filled a giant foot-bath with hot water and helped Jill into it. If you can swim (as Jill could) a giant bath is a lovely thing. And giant towels, though a bit rough and coarse, are lovely too, because there are acres of them. In fact you don't need to dry at all, you just roll about on them in front of the fire and enjoy yourself. And when that was over, clean, fresh, warmed clothes were put on Jill: very splendid clothes and a little too big for her, but clearly made for humans not giantesses. "I suppose if that woman in the green kirtle comes here, they must be used to guests of our size," thought Jill.
She soon saw that she was right about this, for a table and chair of the right height for an ordinary grown-up human were placed for her, and the knives and forks and spoons were the proper size too. It was delightful to sit down, feeling warm and clean at last. Her feet were still bare and it was lovely to tread on the giant carpet. She sank in it well over her ankles and it was just the thing for sore feet. The meal - which I suppose we must call dinner, though it was nearer tea time - was cock-a-leekie soup, and hot roast turkey, and a steamed pudding, and roast chestnuts, and as much fruit as you could eat.
The only annoying thing was that the Nurse kept coming in and out, and every time she came in, she brought a gigantic toy with her - a huge doll, bigger than Jill herself, a wooden horse on wheels, about the size of an elephant, a drum that looked like a young gasometer, and a woolly lamb. They were crude, badly made things, painted in very bright colours, and Jill hated the sight of them. She kept on telling the Nurse she didn't want them, but the Nurse said:
"Tut-tut-tut-tut. You'll want 'em all right when you've had a bit of a rest, I know! Te-he-he! Beddy bye, now. A precious poppet!"
The bed was not a giant bed but only a big four-poster, like what you might see in an old-fashioned hotel; and very small it looked in that enormous room. She was very glad to tumble into it.
"Is it still snowing, Nurse?" she asked sleepily.
"No. Raining now, ducky!" said the giantess. "Rain'll wash away all the nasty snow. Precious poppet will be able to go out and play tomorrow!" And she tucked Jill up and said good night.
I know nothing so disagreeable as being kissed by a giantess. Jill thought the same, but was asleep in five minutes.
The rain fell steadily all the evening and all the night, dashing against the windows of the castle, and Jill never heard it but slept deeply, past supper time and past midnight. And then came the deadest hour of the night and nothing stirred but mice in the house of the giants. At that hour there came to Jill a dream. It seemed to her that she awoke in the same room and saw the fire, sunk low and red, and in the firelight the great wooden horse. And the horse came of its own will, rolling on its wheels across the carpet, and stood at her head. And now it was no longer a horse, but a lion as big as the horse. And then it was not a toy lion, but a real lion, The Real Lion, just as she had seen him on the mountain beyond the world's end. And a smell of all sweet-smelling things there are filled the room. But there was some trouble in Jill's mind, though she could not think what it was, and the tears streamed down her face and wet the pillow. The Lion told her to repeat the signs, and she found that she had forgotten them all. At that, a great horror came over her. And Aslan took her up in his jaws (she could feel his lips and his breath but not his teeth) and carried her to the window and made her look out. The moon shone bright; and written in great letters across the world or the sky (she did not know which) were the words UNDER ME. After that, the dream faded away, and when she woke, very late next morning, she did not remember that she had dreamed at all.
She was up and dressed and had finished breakfast in front of the fire when the Nurse opened the door and said: "Here's pretty poppet's little friends come to play with her."
In came Scrubb and the Marsh-wiggle.
"Hullo! Good morning," said Jill. "Isn't this fun? I've slept about fifteen hours, I believe. I do feel better, don't you?"
"1 do," said Scrubb, "but Puddleglum says he has a headache. Hullo! - your window has a window seat. If we got up on that, we could see out." And at once they all did so: and at the first glance Jill said, "Oh, how perfectly dreadful!"
The sun was shining and, except for a few drifts, the snow had been almost completely washed away by the rain. Down below them, spread out like a map, lay the flat hill-top which they had struggled over yesterday afternoon; seen from the castle, it could not be mistaken for anything but the ruins of a gigantic city. It had been flat, as Jill now saw, because it was still, on the whole, paved, though in places the pavement was broken. The criss-cross banks were what was left of the walls of huge buildings which might once have been giants' palaces and temples. One bit of wall, about five hundred feet high, was still standing; it was that which she had thought was a cliff. The things that had looked like factory chimneys were enormous pillars, broken off at unequal heights; their fragments lay at their bases like felled trees of monstrous stone. The ledges which they had climbed down on the north side of the hill - and also, no doubt the other ledges which they had climbed up on the south side - were the remaining steps of giant stairs. To crown all, in large, dark lettering across the centre of the pavement, ran the words UNDER ME.
The three travellers looked at each other in dismay, and, after a short whistle, Scrubb said what they were all thinking, "The second and third signs muffed." And at that moment Jill's dream rushed back into her mind.
"It's my fault," she said in despairing tones. "I - I'd given up repeating the signs every night. If I'd been thinking about them I could have seen it was the city, even in all that snow."
"I'm worse," said Puddleglum. "I did see, or nearly. I thought it looked uncommonly like a ruined city."
"You're the only one who isn't to blame," said Scrubb. "You did try to make us stop."
"Didn't try hard enough, though," said the Marshwiggle. "And I'd no call to be trying. I ought to have done it. As if I couldn't have stopped you two with one hand each!"
"The truth is," said Scrubb, "we were so jolly keen on getting to this place that we weren't bothering about anything else. At least I know I was. Ever since we met that woman with the knight who didn't talk, we've been thinking of nothing else. We'd nearly forgotten about Prince Rilian."
"I shouldn't wonder," said Puddleglum, "if that wasn't exactly what she intended."
"What I don't quite understand," said Jill, "is how we didn't see the lettering? Or could it have come there since last night. Could he - Aslan - have put it there in the night? I had such a queer dream." And she told them all about it.
"Why, you chump!" said Scrubb. "We did see it. We got into the lettering. Don't you see? We got into the letter E in ME. That was your sunk lane. We walked along the bottom stroke of the E, due north - turned to our right along the upright - came to another turn to the right - that's the middle stroke - and then went on to the top left-hand corner, or (if you like) the north-eastern corner of the letter, and came back. Like the bally idiots we are." He kicked the window seat savagely, and went on, "So it's no good, Pole. I know what you were thinking because I was thinking the same. You were thinking how nice it would have been if Aslan hadn't put the instructions on the stones of the ruined city till after we'd passed it. And then it would have been his fault, not ours. So likely, isn't it? No. We must just own up. We've only four signs to go by, and we've muffed the first three."
"You mean I have," said Jill. "It's quite true. I've spoiled everything ever since you brought me here. All the same - I'm frightfully sorry and all that - all the same, what are the instructions? UNDER ME doesn't seem to make much sense."
"Yes it does, though," said Puddleglum. "It means we've got to look for the Prince under that city."
"But how can we?" asked Jill.
"That's the question," said Puddleglum, rubbing his big, frog-like hands together. "How can we now? No doubt, if we'd had our minds on our job when we were at the Ruinous City, we'd have been shown how - found a little door, or a cave, or a tunnel, met someone to help us. Might have been (you never know) Aslan himself. We'd have got down under those paving-stones somehow or other. Aslan's instructions always work: there are no exceptions. But how to do it now - that's another matter."
"Well, we shall just have to go back, I suppose," said Jill.
"Easy, isn't it?" said Puddleglum. "We might try opening that door to begin with." And they all looked at the door and saw that none of them could reach the handle, and that almost certainly no one could turn it if they did.
"Do you think they won't let us out if we ask?" said Jill. And nobody said, but everyone thought, "Supposing they don't."
It was not a pleasant idea. Puddleglum was dead against any idea of telling the giants their real business and simply asking to be let out; and of course the children couldn't tell without his permission, because they had promised. And all three felt pretty sure that there would be no chance of escaping from the castle by night. Once they were in their rooms with the doors shut, they would be prisoners till morning. They might, of course, ask to have their doors left open, but that would rouse suspicions.
"Our only chance," said Scrubb, "is to try to sneak away by daylight. Mightn't there be an hour in the afternoon when most of the giants are asleep? - and if we could steal down into the kitchen, mightn't there be a back door open?"
"It's hardly what I call a Chance," said the Marshwiggle. "But it's all the chance we're likely to get." As a matter of fact, Scrubb's plan was not quite so hopeless as you might think. If you want to get out of a house without being seen, the middle of the afternoon is in some ways a better time to try it than the middle of the night. Doors and windows are more likely to be open; and if you are caught, you can always pretend you weren't meaning to go far and had no particular plans. (It is very hard to make either giants or grown-ups believe this if you're found climbing out of a bedroom window at one o'clock in the morning.)
"We must put them off their guard, though," said Scrubb. "We must pretend we love being here and are longing for this Autumn Feast."
"That's tomorrow night," said Puddleglum. "I heard one of them say so."
"I see," said Jill. "We must pretend to be awfully excited about it, and keep on asking questions. They think we're absolute infants anyway, which will make it easier."
"Gay," said Puddleglum with a deep sigh. "That's what we've got to be. Gay. As if we hadn't a care in the world. Frolicsome. You two youngsters haven't always got very high spirits, I've noticed. You must watch me, and do as I do. I'll be gay. Like this" - and he assumed a ghastly grin. "And frolicsome" - here he cut a most mournful caper. "You'll soon get into it, if you keep your eyes on me. They think I'm a funny fellow already, you see. I dare say you two thought I was a trifle tipsy last night, but I do assure you it was - well, most of it was - put on. I had an idea it would come in useful, somehow."
The children, when they talked over their adventures afterwards, could never feel sure whether this last statement was quite strictly true; but they were sure that Puddleglum thought it was true when he made it.
"All right. Gay's the word," said Scrubb. "Now, if we could only get someone to open this door. While we're fooling about and being gay, we've got to find out all we can about this castle."
Luckily, at that very moment the door opened, and the giant Nurse bustled in saying, "Now, my poppets. Like to come and see the King and all the court setting out on the hunting? Such a pretty sight!"
They lost no time in rushing out past her and climbing down the first staircase they came to. The noise of hounds and horns and giant voices guided them, so that in a few minutes they reached the courtyard. The giants were all on foot, for there are no giant horses in that part of the world, and the giants' hunting is done on foot; like beagling in England. The hounds were also of normal size. When Jill saw that there were no horses she was at first dreadfully disappointed, for she felt sure that the great fat Queen would never go after hounds on foot; and it would never do to have her about the house all day. But then she saw the Queen in a kind of litter supported on the shoulders of six young giants. The silly old creature was all got up in green and had a horn at her side.
Twenty or thirty giants, including the King, were assembled, ready for the sport, all talking and laughing fit to deafen you: and down below, nearer Jill's level, there were wagging tails, and barking, and loose, slobbery mouths and noses of dogs thrust into your hand. Puddleglum was just beginning to strike what he thought a gay and gamesome attitude (which might have spoiled everything if it had been noticed) when Jill put on her most attractively childish smile, rushed across to the Queen's litter and shouted up to the Queen.
"Oh, please! You're not going away, are you? You will come back?"
"Yes, my dear," said the Queen. "I'll be back tonight."
"Oh, good. How lovely!" said Jill. "And we may come to the feast tomorrow night, mayn't we? We're so longing for tomorrow night! And we do love being here. And while you're out, we may run over the whole castle and see everything, mayn't we? Do say yes."
The Queen did say yes, but the laughter of all the courtiers nearly drowned her voice.      “继续吧，波尔，显显你的本事吧。”斯克罗布悄声说。吉尔觉得自己口干得厉害，一句话也说不出来。她拼命朝斯克罗布点头。      斯克罗布暗想他永远也不会原谅她(也不会原谅普德格伦)，舔了舔嘴唇，对着巨人国王大声说道：      “请睦下容我说，绿衣夫人派我们代她向你致敬，她说你们会乐意让我们参加你们的秋季盛宴。”      巨人国王和王后互相望望，彼此点点头，微微一笑。吉尔可不大喜欢他们笑的样子。她比较喜欢国王。他有一部好看的拳曲的胡子，一个笔直的鹰钩鼻，就巨人来说，算是相当漂亮的了。王后胖得吓人，双下巴，一张擦着粉的胖脸——即使在最好的情况下，这都不是件好事，而这张脸又大了十倍，当然看上去就更糟了。这时国王伸出舌头，舔了舔嘴唇。虽然任何人都会伸舌头，但他的舌头又大又红，而且是出其不意地伸出来，真把吉尔吓了一跳。       “哦，多好的孩子啊！”王后说。(“说不定到头来她竟是个好人呢口”吉尔想。      “是啊，一点不错，”国王说，”好得没说的。我们欢迎你们到我们宫里来。把你们的手给我。”      他伸出他那只巨大的右手——非常干净，手指上还戴了不知多少戒指，不过指甲可尖得可怕。他的手实在太大了，没法跟两个孩子——伸出来的手握，他只好握握他们的胳膊。      “那是什么？”国王问，一面指着普德格伦。      “正敬的乖。”普德格伦说。      “哦！”王后尖叫一声，一面收拢裙子，围住脚脖子，”怪物！还是活的昵。”      “它相当不错，隆下，真的，相当不错，”斯克罗布赶紧说，”等你跟它熟了，就会更喜欢它的。包你们会喜欢。”      要是我告诉你就在这时吉尔哭了起来，希望你们看到下文不要对吉尔失去兴趣。她哭的理由可多着呢。她的手、脚、耳、鼻还只刚开始变软；融化的雪正慢慢从她衣服上淌下，当天她简直还没吃过，也没喝过什么东西；她的腿又痛得再也站不住了。不管怎么说，她这个时候哭比做出任何举动都来得好，因为王后说：       “啊呀，可怜的孩子！隆下，我们尽让我们的客人站着可不对啊。快，来人哪！把他们带下去。给他们吃点东西，喝点酒，让他们洗洗澡。安慰安慰那个小女孩。给她棒糖，给她娃娃，给她吃药，凡是你们想得到的统统给她——牛奶甜酒、蜜饿、催眠曲和玩具。别哭了，小姑娘，否则你在盛宴上就一点也没用了。”       吉尔跟你我一样，一听到提起什么玩具和娃娃，就感到气不打一处来；虽然按他们的规矩糖果和蜜钱也许不错，可是她却非常希望来点更实惠的东西。不过王后这篇蠢话倒产生了极好的结果，因为普德格伦和斯克罗布立刻被几个巨人男侍从抱起，吉尔也被一个女侍从抱走，送到各自的房间里去了。4       吉尔的房间有一个教堂那么大，要是壁炉里没有旺旺的火，地上没铺着厚厚的红地毯，屋里看上去就相当阴暗可怕。在这儿她开始遇上一些令人高兴的事。吉尔被人交给了王后的老保姆，从巨人的观点看，她是个上了年纪，弯腰屈背的小老太婆，从人类的观点来看，她仍算是个女巨人，只是身材矮小得可以走进一间普通房间，脑袋不至于碰到天花板罢了。老保姆非常能干，然而吉尔真希望她不要老是喋喋不休，说什么，”哦，啦啦，抱抱就好了”，”真是小宝贝儿”，”好，我们就好了，小乖乖”。她在一只巨人的洗脚盆里倒上热水，帮吉尔爬进去。要是你会游泳(吉尔就会游泳)，在巨人盆里洗次澡可真妙。还有巨人的毛巾，虽然有点粗糙，也很可爱，因为那毛巾足有几英亩那么大，事实上你完全不用擦干，只要在毛巾上滚过去，滚到炉火前，痛痛快快玩就行了。洗完澡以后，吉尔穿上了干净、鲜艳、暖和的衣服。衣服十分华丽，就是大了一点，但看得出这衣服是为人做的，而不是为女巨人做的。”我猜要是那个绿衣女人上这儿来，这些衣服就用来给我们这种身材的客人穿。”吉尔想道。      她很快就看出她猜对了，因为一副给普通成人用的桌椅已经为她放好了，还有刀、叉、匙也都是正常的规格。终于能够暖暖和和、干干净净地坐下来，真叫人高兴。她还光着两只脚，踩在巨人的地毯上可真舒服。她的脚在里面一直陷到足踝，对痛脚来说正需要这样的东西。那顿饭——我想我们得称之为午饭，虽然那时已将近用茶点的时间了——是韭菜鸡肉汤、热的烤火鸡，还有一道蒸布丁、烤栗子以及尽够吃的水果。       惟一讨厌的事是老保姆出出进进，每次进来，都带来一个巨型玩具——一个大娃娃，比吉尔本人还要大，一匹有四个轮子的木马，大约有一只象那么大，一只鼓大得像只小煤气罐，还有一只毛茸茸的小羊羔。这些东西都是粗制滥造，涂着十分鲜艳的颜色，吉尔看见这些东西就不喜欢。她不断跟保姆说她不要这些东西，但保姆说:      “啧，啧，啧。你休息一会儿以后准会要的，我知道！嘻，嘻，嘻，好了，上床吧，可爱的小宝贝！”      那张床不是一张巨人床，只是一张有四个柱子的大床，像老式旅馆里看得见的那种，在这间其大无比的屋子里看上去很小很小。她非常高兴地爬上了床。      “外面还在下雪吗，嬷嬷？”她睡眼惺忪地问。      “不。现在下雨了，宝宝！”老保姆说，”雨会把讨厌的大雪统统冲洗掉。小宝贝明天就能上外面去玩了！”她给吉尔盖好了被子，并道了晚安。      我不知道还有什么比让一个女巨人亲亲更讨厌的事，吉尔也有同样想法，但她不到五分钟就睡着了。      那天傍晚的雨一直不停地下了整整一夜，雨点溅在城堡的窗户上，但吉尔完全没听见，只是沉沉熟睡，睡过了晚饭时刻，睡过了午夜。到了夜阑人静的时刻，在这座巨人的屋子里，除了老鼠，什么动静也没有。就在这时吉尔做了一个梦。梦中她似乎就在这间屋里醒来，看见那堆火，火力已经减弱，发红了，火光中是那匹大木马。木马轮子自动转起来，滚过地毯，停在她床头。这会儿那不是马，而是一只像马那么大的狮子了。接着它又不是玩具狮子，而是一头真正的狮子了。真正的狮王，就像她曾经在世界尽头外的高山上看见过的一样。屋里充满了各种各样的香味儿。但吉尔脑子里出了点麻烦，尽管她想不出是怎么回事，眼泪还是刷刷地流下她脸蛋，把枕头都弄湿了。狮王叫她背一下指示，而她竟发现自己已经把指示全忘光了。因此，她吓得要命。后来阿斯兰把她衔起来(她感觉到他的嘴唇和呼吸，但感觉不到牙齿)，带她来到窗前，叫她往外看。外面月光明亮，在天上或地上(她不知道是哪儿)是几个大大的字”在我下面”。此后，梦就消失了，第二天早上她很晚才醒来，这时她已完全不记得做过梦了。       她起来穿上衣服，在炉火前吃完早餐，这时保姆开开门说:       “漂亮宝贝的小朋友来跟她玩了。”      斯克罗布和沼泽怪走了进来。      “嗨，早上好，”吉尔说，”这多有趣？我相信自己已睡了十五个小时了。我真觉得好多了，你们呢？”      “我也好多了，”斯克罗布说，”不过普德格伦说它头痛。嗨，你这儿的窗户有窗座。要是我们站在上面，就能看看外面。”他们立刻都站了上去。吉尔刚看了一眼就说”哦，糟糕透了！”      外面阳光普照，除了几堆残雪以外，几乎全被雨冲掉了。在他们下面，像一张地图似的展开着的正是他们昨天下午拼命爬过来的那平坦的山顶，从城堡望去，分明是一座巨人城的废墟，决不会看错成任何东西。吉尔现在才看出，说山顶是平的，是因为那儿基本上还铺着路面，虽然有好多地方路面已经裂开了。那些纵横交错的堤岸原来是那些庞大的建筑留下的残垣断壁，这里可能一度是巨人的宫殿和庙宇吧。有一面墙，大约有五百英尺高，仍然屹立不动，她就是把这堵墙当成是悬崖的。那些看来像工厂烟囱的是巨大的柱子，断裂成高低不一的残桩；断裂的碎片就堆在柱子底座旁边，像是倒下的大石头树。他们从山北坡往下爬的那些突出的石头——毫无疑问，还有他们从南面往上爬的另外那些石头——原来是巨型楼梯残留下来的梯级。更糟糕的是，在路面中央，有黑色大字这么写着:在我下面。       他们三个都惊愕地面面相觑，斯克罗布嘘的一下吹了声口哨，说出了他们大家心里想的。”第二点和第三点指示错过了。”这时吉尔才回想起她的梦。      “都怪我不好，”她说，声音充满绝望，”我——我放弃了每晚背诵那些指示。要是我一直想着那些指示，即使在那么大的雪里，我本来也看得出那是个城市的。”      “我更不好，”普德格伦说，”我的确看见了，或者说差不多看见了。我还认为那地方看上去非常像一座废墟城呢。”      “只有你不该受到责怪，”斯克罗布说，”你的确尽力想拉住我们。”      “可是还不够尽力，”沼泽怪说，”而且我也不必要尽力想着，我本来应该动于干的。我一手拉着一个，还拉不住你们吗？”      “实际情况是，”斯克罗布说，”我们都一心向往着这个地方，别的事就不肯操心了。至少我知道我是这样的。自从我们遇见那个女人和那个不说话的骑士，就一直没想过别的事，几乎已经忘了瑞廉王子了。”       “如果那正是她的目的，”普德格伦说，”我也不会奇怪。”     “我不大懂的是，”吉尔说，”我们怎么会没看见那些字呢？要不，这字是不是昨天晚上才出现的？是不是他——阿斯兰——晚上写在那儿的？我做了个怪梦。”她把那个梦一五一十全告诉他们。       “咦，你这个笨蛋！”斯克罗布说，”我们的确见过的。我们走到字里面去了，你还不明白？我们走到ME字后一个字母E里去了，那就是你掉下去的那条沟。我们走在E字最下面一划里，正北——转到我们右边，顶着竖的一笔——来到另一个右转弯——那是当中的一划——然后再继续到左上角拐角，或者说(也许)这字母的东北角，再回来。我们都是些大笨瓜。”他粗鲁地踢了窗座一脚，再说下去：”所以这事不妙，波尔，我知道你在想什么，因为我跟你有同样想法。你在想，要是阿斯兰是在我们走过这个废墟城之后再把这些指示写在石头上的该有多好呀。那就是他的错，不是我们的错了。很可能，对吗？不行口我们一定得坦白承认。我们只有第四点指示可以照办，而前面三点都已经错过了。”       “你意思是说我错过了，”吉尔说，”这话不假。从你带我上这儿来以后，我就把一切都弄糟了。反正都一样——说我非常抱歉什么的——反正都一样。那指示是什么？在我下面好像没什么意思吧。”       “可是，那的确有意思，”普德格伦说，”意思是我们得到那个城市下面去寻找王子。”      “但我们怎么能去呢？”吉尔问。      “问题就在这儿，”普德格伦说着，一面搓搓那双像青蛙爪子般的大手，”现在我们有什么办法呢？毫无疑问，要是我们在废墟城的时候，就一心一意放在要干的事上面，早就有人来指点我们怎么办了——发现一扇小门啊，或者一个山洞啊，或者一条地道啊，遇见什么人帮助我们啊，也许是阿斯兰本人(事情很难说)。我们总有办法钻到那些铺路石下面去的。阿斯兰的指示一向管用，毫无例外。但现在怎么办——那是另一回事了。”       “得了，我想我们只好回去。”吉尔说。      “说来容易吧？”普德格伦说，”开头我们不妨想法打开那扇门。”于是他们都看着那扇门，只见谁也够不着门把，即使够得着也几乎肯定没人转得动那门把。      “你们看，要是我们要求出去，他们会不让我们出去吗？”吉尔说。大家都不吭声，但每个人都在想”假如他们不肯呢？”      这主意可不妙。普德格伦坚决反对把他们真正的任务告诉巨人和干脆要求出去这样的主意。当然两个孩子没有它的许可也不能说，因为他们已经保证过了。他们三个都知道要在晚上逃出城堡是万万不可能的。一旦他们待在自己的房间里，房门关上了，他们就得一直关到早上为止。他们当然可以请求让房门开着，但那样会引起怀疑。      “我们惟一的机会是，”斯克罗布说，”想法在白天偷偷溜走。下午会不会有个把小时大多数巨人都睡着了呢？——要是我们能偷偷到厨房里去，会不会有一扇后门开着？”      “这也说不上是一个机会，”沼泽怪说，”但我们很可能只有这么个机会了。”事实上，斯克罗布的计划并不像你们认为那么希望渺茫。如果你要走出一所房子而不让人看见，从某些方面看来，在下午这段时间试试看，倒比半夜里更好，门窗很可能都开着，万一被抓住，你总是可以装出并不是有意要走远，而且也没什么特别的打算。(要是半夜一点钟给人发现你正从卧室窗户往外爬，就很难叫巨人或成人相信这一点了。       “可是，我们一定要趁他们不提防，”斯克罗布说，”我们得装出喜欢待在这儿，一心盼望着这次秋季盛宴。”      “那就在明天晚上，”普德格伦说，”我听他们中间有人这么说。”      “明白了，”吉尔说，”我们得装出对秋季盛宴非常起劲儿，问这问那，问个没完。反正他们当我们完全是小娃娃，这样事情也好办一些。”     “高高兴兴，”普德格伦说着深深叹了口气，”我们一定得这样，高高兴兴的。仿佛我们一点心事也没有，就爱闹着玩儿。我注意到了，你们两个孩子没有经常保持兴高采烈的样子。你们得看着我，照我做的去做。我会高高兴兴的。就像这样——”它龇牙咧嘴，装出一副可怕的笑容，”还爱闹着玩儿——”说到这儿它又苦中作乐地蹦蹦跳跳，”要是你们一直看着我，很快就学会了。你们瞧，他们已经把我当成有趣的家伙了。我敢说，你们俩都认为昨晚我有点喝醉了吧，但我请你们放心，那是——嗯，大部分是——装出来的。我有个想法，这样做总会派上用处的。”      “行啊，就高高兴兴吧，”斯克罗布说，”好了，只要我们能让什么人打开这扇门就行。我们在四处闲逛，装得高高兴兴的时候，还得尽量摸清这座城堡的情况。”      幸亏就在这时，门开了，那个巨人保姆急忙奔进来说:”喂，我的宝贝儿。想来看看国王和满朝上下出发去打猎吗？那场面真好看啊！”      他们立刻奔过她身边，爬下他们走到的第一段阶梯。猎狗、号角和巨人的声音为他们指路，因此不到几分钟他们就来到院子里。巨人们全都步行，因为在世界那一边还没有巨型马，所以巨人打猎是走着去的，就像在英国打兔子那样。       而且猎狗也是正常大小的狗。吉尔看见没有马，开头她感到非常失望，因为她确信那个大胖王后是绝对不会跟在猎狗后面走的，而让王后整天都待在宫里也是绝对不行的。不料后来她看见王后原来坐在一种轿子里，由六个年轻的巨人抬着。那个老蠢货穿着一身绿，身边还放着一只号角。二三十个巨人，包括国王，集合起来准备去打猎，大家说说笑笑，把你耳朵都要震聋了。底下，同吉尔差不多高的，尽是一条条摇摆的尾巴，汪汪叫的、松开的、潮乎乎的狗嘴和狗鼻子硬挨到你手里。普德格伦正开始装出一种它认为是高高兴兴、好玩的态度(要是有谁注意到它，可能就把一切都毁了),这时吉尔就装出她最动人的孩子气的笑容，冲到王后轿边，大声朝王后嚷道:       “哦，求求你了！你不走吧。你要回来吗？”      “是啊，亲爱的，”王后说”我今天晚上就回来。”      “哦，好啊。多妙啊！”吉尔说，“我们能参加明天的盛宴吧？我们都盼望着明天晚上呢！我们真喜欢待在这儿。你们出去的时候我们能在城堡里跑来跑去看看，行吗？请说声行吧。”      王后果真说了声行，但所有大臣都哈哈大笑，笑声几乎把她的声音淹没了。
Chapter 9
HOW THEY DISCOVERED SOMETHING WORTH KNOWING
THE others admitted afterwards that Jill had been wonderful that day. As soon as the King and the rest of the hunting party had set off, she began making a tour of the whole castle and asking questions, but all in such an innocent, babyish way that no one could suspect her of any secret design. Though her tongue was never still, you could hardly say she talked: she prattled and giggled. She made love to everyone - the grooms, the porters, the housemaids, the ladies-in-waiting, and the elderly giant lords whose hunting days were past. She submitted to being kissed and pawed about by any number of giantesses, many of whom seemed sorry for her and called her "a poor little thing" though none of them explained why. She made especial friends with the cook and discovered the all-important fact there was a scullery door which let you out through the outer wall, so that you did not have to cross the courtyard or pass the great gatehouse. In the kitchen she pretended to be greedy, and ate all sorts of scraps which the cook and scullions delighted to give her. But upstairs among the ladies she asked questions about how she would be dressed for the great feast, and how long she would be allowed to sit up, and whether she would dance with some very, very small giant. And then (it made her hot all over when she remembered it afterwards) she would put her head on one side in an idiotic fashion which grown-ups, giant and otherwise, thought very fetching, and shake her curls, and fidget, and say, "Oh, I do wish it was tomorrow night, don't you? Do you think the time will go quickly till then?" And all the giantesses said she was a perfect little darling; and some of them dabbed their eyes with enormous handkerchiefs as if they were going to cry.
"They're dear little things at that age," said one giantess to another. "It seems almost a pity . . ."
Scrubb and Puddleglum both did their best, but girls do that kind of thing better than boys. Even boys do it better than Marsh-wiggles.
At lunchtime something happened which made all three of them more anxious than ever to leave the castle of the Gentle Giants. They had lunch in the great hall at a little table of their own, near the fireplace. At a bigger table, about twenty yards away, half a dozen old giants were lunching. Their conversation was so noisy, and so high up in the air, that the children soon took no more notice of it than you would of hooters outside the window or traffic noises in the street. They were eating cold venison, a kind of food which Jill had never tasted before, and she was liking it.
Suddenly Puddleglum turned to them, and his face had gone so pale that you could see the paleness under the natural muddiness of his complexion. He said:
"Don't eat another bite."
"What's wrong?" asked the other two in a whisper.
"Didn't you hear what those giants were saying? `That's a nice tender haunch of venison,' said one of them. `Then that stag was a liar,' said another. `Why?' said the first one. `Oh,' said the other. `They say that when he was caught he said, Don't kill me, I'm tough. You won't like me.'" For a moment Jill did not realize the full meaning of this. But she did when Scrubb's eyes opened wide with horror and he said:
"So we've been eating a Talking stag."
This discovery didn't have exactly the same effect on all of them. Jill, who was new to that world, was sorry for the poor stag and thought it rotten of the giants to have killed him. Scrubb, who had been in that world before and had at least one Talking beast as his dear friend, felt horrified; as you might feel about a murder. But Puddleglum, who was Narnian born, was sick and faint, and felt as you would feel if you found you had eaten a baby.
"We've brought the anger of Aslan on us," he said. "That's what comes of not attending to the signs. We're under a curse, I expect. If it was allowed, it would be the best thing we could do, to take these knives and drive them into our own hearts."
And gradually even Jill came to see it from his point of view. At any rate, none of them wanted any more lunch. And as soon as they thought it safe they crept quietly out of the hall.
It was now drawing near to that time of the day on which their hopes of escape depended, and all became nervous. They hung about in passages and waited for things to become quiet. The giants in the hall sat on a dreadfully long time after the meal was over. The bald one was telling a story. When that was over, the three travellers dawdled down to the kitchen. But there were still plenty of giants there, or at least in the scullery, washing up and putting things away. It was agonizing, waiting till these finished their jobs and, one by one, wiped their hands and went away. At last only one old giantess was left in the room. She pottered about, and pottered about, and at last the three travellers realized with horror that she did not intend to go away at all.
"Well, dearies," she said to them. "That job's about through. Let's put the kettle there. That'll make a nice cup of tea presently. Now I can have a little bit of a rest. Just look into the scullery, like good poppets, and tell me if the back door is open."
"Yes, it is," said Scrubb.
"That's right. I always leave it open so as Puss can get in and out, the poor thing."
Then she sat down on one chair and put her feet up on another.
"I don't know as I mightn't have forty winks," said the giantess. "If only that blarney hunting party doesn't come back too soon."
All their spirits leaped up when she mentioned forty winks, and flopped down again when she mentioned the return of the hunting party.
"When do they usually comeback?" asked Jill.
"You never can tell," said the giantess. "But there; go and be quiet for a bit, my dearies."
They retreated to the far end of the kitchen, and would have slipped out into the scullery there and then if the giantess had not sat up, opened her eyes, and brushed away a fly. "Don't try it till we're sure she's really asleep," whispered Scrubb. "Or it'll spoil everything." So they all huddled at the kitchen end, waiting and watching. The thought that the hunters might come back at any moment was terrible. And the giantess was fidgety. Whenever they thought she had really gone to sleep, she moved.
"I can't bear this," thought Jill. To distract her mind, she began looking about her. Just in front of her was a clean wide table with two clean pie-dishes on it, and an open book. They were giant pie-dishes of course. Jill thought that she could lie down just comfortably in one of them. Then she climbed up on the bench beside the table to look at the book. She read:
MALLARD. This delicious bird can be cooked in a variety of ways.
"It's a cookery book," thought Jill without much interest, and glanced over her shoulder. The giantess's eyes were shut but she didn't look as if she were properly asleep. Jill glanced back at the book. It was arranged alphabetically: and at the very next entry her heart seemed to stop beating; It ran
MAN. This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy. It forms a traditional part of the Autumn Feast, and is served between the fish and the joint. Each Man...
but she could not bear to read any more. She turned round. The giantess had wakened up and was having a fit of coughing. Jill nudged the other two and pointed to the book. They also mounted the bench and bent over the huge pages. Scrubb was still reading about how to cook Men when Puddleglum pointed to the next entry below it. It was like this:
MARSH-WIGGLE. Some authorities reject this animal altogether as unfit for giants' consumption because of its stringy consistency and muddy flavour. The flavour can, however, be greatly reduced if-
Jill touched his feet, and Scrubb's, gently. All three looked back at the giantess. Her mouth was slightly open and from her nose there came a sound which at that moment was more welcome to them than any music; she snored. And now it was a question of tiptoe work, not daring to go too fast, hardly daring to breathe, out through the scullery (giant sculleries smell horrid), out at last into the pale sunlight of a winter afternoon.
They were at the top of a rough little path which ran steeply down. And, thank heavens, on the right side of the castle; the City Ruinous was in sight. In a few minutes they were back on the broad, steep road which led down from the main gate of the castle. They were also in full view from every single window on that side. If it had been one, or two, or five windows there'd be a reasonable chance that no one might be looking out. But there were nearer fifty than five. They now realized, too, that the road on which they were, and indeed all the ground between them and the City Ruinous, didn't offer as much cover as would hide a fox; it was all coarse grass and pebbles and flat stones. To make matters worse, they were now in the clothes that the giants had provided for them last night: except Puddleglum, whom nothing would fit. Jill wore a vivid green robe, rather too long for her, and over that a scarlet mantle fringed with white fur. Scrubb had scarlet stockings, blue tunic and cloak, a gold-hilted sword, and a feathered bonnet.
"Nice bits of colour, you two are," muttered Puddleglum. "Show up very prettily on a winter day. The worst archer in the world couldn't miss either of you if you were in range. And talking of archers, we'll be sorry not to have our own bows before long, I shouldn't wonder. Bit thin, too, those clothes of yours, are they?"
"Yes, I'm freezing already," said Jill.
A few minutes ago when they had been in the kitchen, she had thought that if only they could once get out of the castle, their escape would be almost complete. She now realized that the most dangerous part of it was still to come.
"Steady, steady," said Puddleglum. "Don't look back. Don't walk too quickly. Whatever you do, don't run. Look as if we were just taking a stroll, and then, if anyone sees us, he might, just possibly, not bother. The moment we look like people running away, we're done."
The distance to the City Ruinous seemed longer than Jill would have believed possible. But bit by bit they were covering it. Then came a noise. The other two gasped. Jill, who didn't know what it was, said, "What's that?"
"Hunting horn," whispered Scrubb.
"But don't run even now," said Puddleglum. "Not until I give the word."
This time Jill couldn't help glancing over her shoulder. There, about half a mile away, was the hunt returning from behind them on the left.
They walked on. Suddenly a great clamour of giant voices arose: then shouts and hollas.
"They've seen us. Run," said Puddleglum.
Jill gathered up her long skirts - horrible things for running in - and ran. There was no mistaking the danger now. She could hear the music of the hounds. She could hear the King's voice roaring out, "After them, after them, or we'll have no man-pies tomorrow."
She was last of the three now, cumbered with her dress, slipping on loose stones, her hair getting in her mouth, running-pains across her chest. The hounds were much nearer. Now she had to run uphill, up the stony slope which led to the lowest step of the giant stairway. She had no idea what they would do when they got there, or how they would be any better off even if they reached the top.
But she didn't think about that. She was like a hunted animal now; as long as the pack was after her, she must run till she dropped.
The Marsh-wiggle was ahead. As he came to the lowest step he stopped, looked a little to his right, and all of a sudden darted into a little hole or crevice at the bottom of it. His long legs, disappearing into it, looked very like those of a spider. Scrubb hesitated and then vanished after him. Jill, breathless and reeling, came to the place about a minute later. It was an unattractive hole - a crack between the earth and the stone about three feet long and hardly more than a foot high. You had to fling yourself flat on your face and crawl in. You couldn't do it so very quickly either. She felt sure that a dog's teeth would close on her heel before she had got inside.
"Quick, quick. Stones. Fill up the opening," came Puddleglum's voice in the darkness beside her. It was pitch black in there, except for the grey light in the opening by which they had crawled in. The other two were working hard. She could see Scrubb's small hands and the Marshwiggle's big, frog-like hands black against the light, working desperately to pile up stones. Then she realized how important this was and began groping for large stones herself, and handing them to the others. Before the dogs were baying and yelping at the cave mouth, they had it pretty well filled; and now, of course, there was no light at all.
"Farther in, quick," said Puddleglum's voice.
"Let's all hold hands," said Jill.
"Good idea," said Scrubb. But it took them quite a long time to find one another's hands in the darkness. The dogs were sniffing at the other side of the barrier now.
"Try if we can stand up," suggested Scrubb. They did and found that they could. Then, Puddleglum holding out a hand behind him to Scrubb, and Scrubb holding a hand out behind him to Jill (who wished very much that she was the middle one of the party and not the last), they began groping with their feet and stumbling forwards into the blackness. It was all loose stones underfoot. Then Puddleglum came up to a wall of rock. They turned a little to their right and went on. There were a good many more twists and turns. Jill had now no sense of direction at all, and no idea where the mouth of the cave lay.
"The question is," came Puddleglum's voice out of the darkness ahead, "whether, taking one thing with another, it wouldn't be better to go back (if we can) and give the giants a treat at that feast of theirs, instead of losing our way in the guts of a hill where, ten to one, there's dragons and deep holes and gases and water and - Ow! Let go! Save yourselves. I'm -"
After that all happened quickly. There was a wild cry, a swishing, dusty, gravelly noise, a rattle of stones, and Jill found herself sliding, sliding, hopelessly sliding, and sliding quicker every moment down a slope that grew steeper every moment. It was not a smooth, firm slope, but a slope of small stones and rubbish. Even if you could have stood up, it would have been no use. Any bit of that slope you had put your foot on would have slid away from under you and carried you down with it. But Jill was more lying than standing. And the farther they all slid, the more they disturbed all the stones and earth, so that the general downward rush of everything (including themselves) got faster and louder and dustier and dirtier. From the sharp cries and swearing of the other two, Jill got the idea that many of the stones which she was dislodging were hitting Scrubb and Puddleglum pretty hard. And now she was going at a furious rate and felt sure she would be broken to bits at the bottom.
Yet somehow they weren't. They were a mass of bruises, and the wet sticky stuff on her face appeared to be blood. And such a mass of loose earth, shingle, and larger stones was piled up round her (and partly over her) that she couldn't get up. The darkness was so complete that it made no difference at all whether you had your eyes open or shut. There was no noise. And that was the very worst moment Jill had ever known in her life. Supposing she was alone: supposing the others . . . Then she heard movements around her. And presently all three, in shaken voices, were explaining that none of them seemed to have any broken bones.
"We can never get up that again," said Scrubb's voice.
"And have you noticed how warm it is?" said the voice of Puddleglum. "That means we're a long way down. Might be nearly a mile."
No one said anything. Some time later Puddleglum added:
"My tinder-box has gone."
After another long pause Jill said, "I'm terribly thirsty."
No one suggested doing anything. There was so obviously nothing to be done. For the moment, they did not feel it quite so badly as one might have expected; that was because they were so tired.
Long, long afterwards, without the slightest warning, an utterly strange voice spoke. They knew at once that it was not the one voice in the whole world for which each had secretly been hoping; the voice of Aslan. It was a dark, flat voice - almost, if you know what that means, a pitch-black voice. It said:
"What make you here, creatures of the Overworld?"9、真相大白      另外两位事后承认，那天吉尔的表演真是妙极了。国王和和其余那些参加打猎的人刚出发，她就开始游览整个城堡，还问了好多问题，但全都用那副天真烂漫、孩子气的腔调，所以没人能怀疑她有什么密谋。虽然她嘴巴一直没闲着，你却很难说她在说话，她唠唠叨叨，格格痴笑。她讨好每一个人——男仆、看门人、女仆、女侍官，还有那些过了打猎时代的老年巨人贵族。她忍受好多女巨人的亲吻和抚摸，好多人似乎为她难过，叫她“可怜的小东西”然而谁也没有说明为什么。她跟厨子成了特别要好的朋友，并发现了最重要的实际情况。厨房洗碗间有一扇门，可以让你从外墙出去，因此你就不必穿过院子，或经过门房。她在厨房里装出一副馋相，吃了厨子和厨房帮工乐于给她的各种各样碎屑。而到了楼上那些夫人当中，她就问，在盛宴上她得怎么穿衣服啊，准许她坐多长时间啊，她是否能跟一个最小最小的巨人跳舞啊。然后(事后她回想起这些事，只觉得浑身发烫)，她就一副傻样儿，把脑袋歪在一边，好多巨人啊什么的大人看了都觉得十分迷人，她还抖动自己的髦发，坐立不安地说，“哦，我真希望现在就是明天晚上，你们说呢？你们认为时间会过得快些吗？”所有的女巨人都说她是个十全十美的小宝贝；有些人还拿出一块好大的手绢轻轻擦眼睛，好像快要哭了。      “她们这个年纪的都是些可爱的小东西，”一个女巨人对另一个说，“这似乎有点可怜……”      斯克罗布和普德格伦也都使出浑身解数，但女孩子做这种事总比男孩子强，甚至连男孩子做这种事也比沼泽怪强。"       午饭时又出了件事，使他们三个格外急着要离开斯文巨人的城堡了。他们在大厅里靠近火炉的地方一张小桌上用餐。大约二十码以外，在一张大桌子旁边，坐着六个老巨人也在用餐。他们说话声音那么吵，那么响，两个孩子一下子就不去注意这些话了，正像你对窗外的汽笛声和街上交通往来的声音也不注意一样。他们正在吃冷的鹿肉，这是吉尔以前从来没吃过的食品，她倒很喜欢吃。      突然间普德格伦向他们转过身来，它的脸色变得那么苍白，你能从它那天然泥土色的皮肤上也看得出这份苍白。它说      “一口也别吃了！”      “怎么啦？”另外两个悄悄地问。      “你们没听见那些巨人说的话吗？一个说，‘那是一大块嫩鹿腿肉。'另一个说，‘那么说那只鹿在说谎了。'一个又说，‘为什么？'‘哦，'另外那个说，‘他们说抓住这只鹿的时候，它说‘别杀我，我的肉很老，你们不会喜欢我的’”。      吉尔一时没领会这句话的全部意义。但看到斯克罗布吓得眼睛睁得大大的，她就明白了。他说:      “原来我们正在吃一只会说话的鹿。”      这个发现对他们三个来说，其影响并不完全一样。吉尔是刚到这个世界的，心里为这只可怜的鹿感到难过，并认为杀了它的那些巨人很坏。斯克罗布以前来过这个世界，他的好朋友中至少有一只是会说话的兽类，心里感到不寒而栗，就像你对谋杀案的感受一样。而普德格伦，它生长在纳尼亚，觉得恶心，要昏过去，它的感觉就像发现自己吃下了一个娃娃似的。       “我们惹阿斯兰动怒了，”它说，“那是我们不照指示做的结果。我想，我们正受到诅咒。要是允许的话，我们最好拿起这些刀，对着自己的心脏刺进去。”      甚至吉尔也渐渐理解了它的观点。总之，他们大家一点也不想吃了。一等到他们认为比较安全的时候，他们就悄悄溜出了大厅。      现在决定他们逃跑希望成败的时间快到了，大家都变得很紧张。他们在过道里闲逛，等着周围静下来。大厅里的巨人吃完饭还坐了很长时间。一个秃顶巨人正在讲故事。等故事讲完，他们三个又混到厨房里。但那儿仍然有好多巨人，至少在洗碗间里有好多人，洗洗涮涮，收拾东西。等着这些人干完活，一个一个擦擦手走开，真是件极其痛苦的事。最后厨房里只留下一个上了年纪的女巨人了。她东走走，西逛逛，他们三个终于厌恶地明白她根本就没打算走。       “好了，宝贝儿，”她对他们说，“那些活儿都差不多干完了。我们放上一只水壶。一会儿就可以煮上一杯好茶。这会儿我要休息一下。做个好宝宝，去看看洗碗间里头，告诉我那扇后门开着吗？”      “开着。”斯克罗布说。      “对了，我总是让门开着，那么猫咪就能出出进进了，可怜的小东西。”      接着她在一只椅子上坐下，把双脚搁在另一只椅子上。      “不知道我能不能打个盹儿，”那女巨人说，“只要那伙混蛋打猎的别那么快回来就好了。”      他们听到她提起打盹儿，顿时情绪高涨，再听到她提起打猎那伙人回头又垂头丧气了。      “他们通常什么时候回来？”吉尔问。      “从来就没个准，”女巨人说，“不过，得了，宝贝儿，你们去安静一会儿吧。”      他们退到厨房尽头，要不是那女巨人坐起来，张开眼睛，挥开一只苍蝇，他们早就溜进洗碗间去了。“到确定她真的睡着了再溜，”斯克罗布小声说，“否则一切都完蛋。”于是他们全都蜷缩在厨房尽头等啊，看啊。想到那些打猎的随时都可能回来不免心惊肉跳。而那个女巨人又睡得不安生。每当他们认为她真睡着了，她又动了。      “这样我可受不了。”吉尔想道。为了分散注意力，她就东张西望。面前正好有一张干净的大桌子，上面有两只放馅饼的干净盘子，还有一本打开的书。那当然是巨人的盘子，吉尔想她可以舒舒服服躺在盘子里口随后她就爬到桌边的长凳上，去看看那本书。她看到:6       野鸭:这种美味的野禽可以用多种方式烹调。     “是本烹调书。”吉尔不大感兴趣地想，又回头望了一眼。女巨人眼睛闭着，但看上去她似乎没睡熟。吉尔又回头看这本书。书是按字母排列的，看到下一条，她的心似乎都停止跳动了。      人:这种文雅的两足小动物很久以来一直被珍视为美味佳肴，也形成了秋季盛宴的一道传统菜。上菜应在鱼和带骨腿肉之间。每个人……但她再也看不下去了。她转过身去。女巨人已经醒来，正咳嗽不止口吉尔轻轻推推另外两个，并指指那本书。他们也爬上长凳，弯腰看着那巨大的书页。斯克罗布还在看人的烹调法时，普德格伦指着下面一条。上面这样写着:      沼泽怪:某些权威不吃这种动物，因为其肉多筋坚韧，有泥土味，认为其不适合巨人食用，不过此味可以大大减少，只要……吉尔轻轻碰碰普德格伦和斯克罗布的脚。大家都回头看看女巨人。只见她嘴巴微微张开，鼻子里响起一种那时对他们来说比任何音乐更中日斤的声音：她在打呼噜呢。这会儿只是踮着脚走路的问题了，他们不敢走得太快，也不大敢呼吸，就这么走出了洗碗间(巨人的洗碗间味道可难闻呢)，终于来到冬日下午淡淡的阳光下。       他们走在一条崎岖不平的小路上，小路下坡十分陡峭。感谢老天爷，就在城堡右面，已经看得见那废墟城了。一会儿工夫，他们就回到城堡大门通下来那条宽阔、陡峭的大路上。城堡那边的每扇窗户也都看得见他们。要是那边只有一两扇，或五扇窗户，倒还可能碰巧没人往外看。可那儿有将近五十扇窗户，而不是五扇。这时他们才明白他们走的这条路，以及他们和废墟城之间那段地面，连一只狐狸躲藏的地方都没有。这儿全是粗糙的野草和鹅卵石，以及平坦的石块。更糟糕的是他们现在都穿着昨晚巨人给他们的衣服，除了普德格伦，因为没有适合它穿的。吉尔穿了件嫩绿色袍子，袍子又太长，外面罩了一件镶着白色毛皮的猩红色披凤。斯克罗布穿着猩红色长袜子，蓝色紧身短上衣和斗篷，带着一把金柄的剑，还戴了一顶插着羽毛的帽子。       “你们俩的颜色真好，”普德格伦喃喃说，“在冬日里显得真漂亮。要是你们在射程以内，最糟的弓箭手也射得中你们俩口说起弓箭手，我们不久就要为自己没带弓箭而遗憾了，我不会奇怪的。你们那些衣服也有点薄吧？”      “是啊，我已经冷极了。”吉尔说。      刚才那会儿他们在厨房里的时候，她曾想过只要他们一逃出城堡，就差不多大功告成了。现在她才明白最危险的时刻还没到呢。      “沉住气，沉住气，”普德格伦说，“别往后看。另外走得太快。随便你怎么走，别跑。看上去我们似乎正在散步，那么，要是有人看见我们，他可能，只是可能，不来打扰。我们看上去像是逃走的人，那就完了。”       到废墟城那段路似乎比吉尔心目中认为的更长。但他们还是一点一点走过去。这时传来了一种声音，另外两个气也透不过来了。吉尔不知道那是什么，问道”那是什么呀？”      “打猎的号角声。”斯克罗布悄声说。     “不过即使到了这时刻也别跑，”普德格伦说，“等我下了命令再跑。”      这回吉尔忍不住回头望了一眼。那边，大约半英里以外，打猎的从他们左后方回来了。      他们继续往前走，突然间响起好多巨人吵吵嚷嚷的声音，接着是大喊大叫。      “他们看见我们了，跑啊。”普德格伦说。      吉尔提起她的长裙就跑，穿着这长裙跑起来真讨厌。现在确实有危险了。她听得见猎狗的叫声。听得见国王在咆哮“抓住他们，抓住他们，否则我们明天就没有人肉馅饼了。”      这会儿她已经落在最后一个了，衣服绊手绊脚，滑倒在松散的石头上，头发披散到嘴里，胸口跑得发疼。猎狗更近了。现在她得往山上跑，跑到通往底下一级大石阶的那个斜坡。她不知道他们跑到那儿之后怎么办，也不知道即使到了顶上他们情况会不会好一些。但她不想那些事。目前她像一只被追捕的动物；只要那群狗在追她，她就得跑到倒下为止。      沼泽怪跑在前面。它刚到底下一级石阶就停下了，朝稍右一点地方看看，突然冲进石阶底部的一个小洞或是裂缝里去了。它的长腿一下就看不见了，看上去真像一只蜘蛛。斯克罗布犹疑了一下，接着跟在它后头也不见人影了。吉尔气喘吁吁，摇摇晃晃，过一会儿也到了这个地方。这洞一点也不起眼——只是泥地和石头之间的一条裂缝罢了。大约有三英尺长，不到一英尺高。你得扑在地上爬进去。你也不能爬得最快。她确信自己还没爬到洞里，狗就会来咬住她了。      “快，快，石头，把口子堵上。”普德格伦的声音从她身边暗处传来。除了他们爬进来的那条裂缝有点灰蒙蒙的光，里面是一片漆黑。另外两个正在大忙特忙。她看得见斯克罗布那双小手和沼泽怪那双像青蛙爪子的大于，背着光看上去黑乎乎的，正在拼命堆石头。这时她才明白这有多么重要，自己也开始摸着找大石头，递给另外两个。他们总算赶在猎狗到洞口狂吠之前把洞堵得严严实实。眼前，他们当然一点也没亮光了。      “再往里走，快。”普德格伦的声音说。”我们大家手拉手吧。”吉尔说。     “好主意。”斯克罗布说。但黑暗中要寻找彼此的手也费了好长时间。猎狗这会儿正在石垒那一边嗅气味呢。      “试试看能不能站起来？”斯克罗布建议道。他们试了，发现他们能站起来。接着，普德格伦伸出一只手从后面拉着斯克罗布，斯克罗布伸出一只手从后面拉着吉尔(她真希望她站在他俩中间而不是最后)，他们开始用脚探着路，在黑暗中跌跌撞撞往前走。脚下全是松散的石头。后来普德格伦走到一堵石墙前面。他们稍稍往右拐，继续走下去。那儿有好多弯道和拐角。吉尔已经根本不辨方向，也不知道洞口在什么地方了。      “问题是，”普德格伦的声音从前面黑暗中传来，“总的看来，要是我们能回去的话，回去让巨人在他们的盛宴上请客，比起在小山沟里迷路也不见得好，这里十之八九有龙，有深洞，有沼气，还有水，还有——哎呀！放手！保住你们自己。我……”      说时迟，那时快，一下子只听得一声狂叫，一阵沙喇喇、哗嚓嚓的声音，石头骨碌碌滚动。吉尔只觉得自己在滑下去，滑下去，毫无希望地滑下去，每滑下一个越来越陡的斜坡，就滑得更快。这不是一种光滑、结实的斜坡，而是小石子和碎屑的斜坡。即使你能站起来也没用。你踩住斜坡任何一片地方，都会从脚下滑掉把你拖下去。但吉尔与其说是站着，不如说是躺着。他们滑得越远，越是把所有的石头和泥土都搅乱了，搅得一切都一齐往下冲(也包括他们自己)，冲势越来越快，越来越响，越来越尘土飞扬，越来越脏。从另外两个的尖声叫喊和骂声里，吉尔知道她踩掉的石头有好多重重砸在斯克罗布和普德格伦身上。目前她正以飞快速度滑下去，她确信自己掉到底下时准会粉身碎骨。      然而不知怎么的，他们并没粉身碎骨。他们摔得全都青一块，紫一块的，她脸上那又湿又季占的东西好像是血。那么大一堆碎土、砂石和大石块都堆在她周围(有些还高过她)，使她没法站起来。这儿黑咕隆咚，睁着眼闭着眼都一样。一点声音也没有。这真是吉尔一生中最最糟糕的时刻。假定只有她一个人，假定别人……这时她听见身边有动静。不久，他们三个，声音哆嗦地都在说看来他们谁也没有摔断骨头。/       “我们再也上不去了。”斯克罗布的声音说。     “你们注意到这儿多么暖和吗？”普德格伦的声音说。”那就是说我们已经滑下很长一段路了。可能有一英里左右吧。”      谁也不说话。过了一会儿，普德格伦又加了→句.      “我的引火盒不见了。”      又歇了很长一段时间，吉尔说“我口渴极了。”      没人提出干什么。明摆着这儿没什么可干的。目前他们并不像预料中感到那么糟，那是因为他们都很累了。      很久很久以后，冷不防，一个完全陌生的声音说话了。      他们立刻就知道这可不是大家暗暗盼望的声音，不是阿斯兰的声音。那是一种阴沉单调的声音——要是你明白那是什么意思，几乎可以说是一种漆黑的声音。它说：      “上面世界的人，你们怎么到这儿来了？”
Chapter 10
TRAVELS WITHOUT THE SUN
"WHO's there?" shouted the three travellers.
"I am the Warden of the Marches of Underland, and with me stand a hundred Earthmen in arms," came the reply. "Tell me quickly who you are and what is your errand in the Deep Realm?"
"We fell down by accident," said Puddleglum, truthfully enough.
"Many fall down, and few return to the sunlit lands," said the voice. "Make ready now to come with me to the Queen of the Deep Realm."
"What does she want with us?" asked Scrubb cautiously.
"I do not know," said the voice. "Her will is not to be questioned but obeyed."
While he said these words there was a noise like a soft explosion and immediately a cold light, grey with a little blue in it, flooded the cavern. All hope that the speaker had been idly boasting when he spoke of his hundred armed followers died at once. Jill found herself blinking and staring at a dense crowd. They were of all sizes, from little gnomes barely a foot high to stately figures taller than men. All carried three-pronged spears in their hands, and all were dreadfully pale, and all stood as still as statues. Apart from that, they were very different; some had tails and others not, some wore great beards and others had very round, smooth faces, big as pumpkins. There were long, pointed noses, and long, soft noses like small trunks, and great blobby noses. Several had single horns in the middle of their foreheads. But in one respect they were all alike: every face in the whole hundred was as sad as a face could be. They were so sad that, after the first glance, Jill almost forgot to be afraid of them. She felt she would like to cheer them up.
"Well!" said Puddleglum, rubbing his hands. "This is just what I needed. If these chaps don't teach me to take a serious view of life, I don't know what will. Look at that fellow with the walrus moustache - or that one with the -"
"Get up," said the leader of the Earthmen.
There was nothing else to be done. The three travellers scrambled to their feet and joined hands. One wanted the touch of a friend's hand at a moment like that. And the Earthmen came all round them, padding on large, soft feet, on which some had ten toes, some twelve, and others none.
"March," said the Warden: and march they did.
The cold light came from a large ball on the top of a long pole, and the tallest of the gnomes carried this at the head of the procession. By its cheerless rays they could see that they were in a natural cavern; the walls and roof were knobbed, twisted, and gashed into a thousand fantastic shapes, and the stony floor sloped downward as they proceeded. It was worse for Jill than for the others, because she hated dark, underground places. And when, as they went on, the cave got lower and narrower, and when, at last, the light-bearer stood aside, and the gnomes, one by one, stooped down (all except the very smallest ones) and stepped into a little dark crack and disappeared, she felt she could bear it no longer.
"I can't go in there, I can't! I can't! I won't," she panted. The Earthmen said nothing but they all lowered their spears and pointed them at her.
"Steady, Pole," said Puddleglum. "Those big fellows wouldn't be crawling in there if it didn't get wider later on. And there's one thing about this underground work, we shan't get any rain."
"Oh, you don't understand. I can't," wailed Jill.
"Think how 1 felt on that cliff, Pole," said Scrubb. "You go first, Puddleglum, and I'll come after her."
"That's right," said the Marsh-wiggle, getting down on his hands and knees. "You keep a grip of my heels, Pole, and Scrubb will hold on to yours. Then we'll all be comfortable."
"Comfortable!" said Jill. But she got down and they crawled in on their elbows. It was a nasty place. You had to go flat on your face for what seemed like half an hour, though it may really have been only five minutes. It was hot. Jill felt she was being smothered. But at last a dim light showed ahead, the tunnel grew wider and higher, and they came out, hot, dirty, and shaken, into a cave so large that it scarcely seemed like a cave at all.
It was full of a dim, drowsy radiance, so that here they had no need of the Earthmen's strange lantern. The floor was soft with some kind of moss and out of this grew many strange shapes, branched and tall like trees, but flabby like mushrooms. They stood too far apart to make a forest; it was more like a park. The light (a greenish grey) seemed to come both from them and from the moss, and it was not strong enough to reach the roof of the cave, which must have been a long way overhead. Across the mild, soft, sleepy place they were now made to march. It was very sad, but with a quiet sort of sadness like soft music.
Here they passed dozens of strange animals lying on the turf, either dead or asleep, Jill could not tell which. These were mostly of a dragonish or bat-like sort; Puddleglum did not know what any of them were.
"Do they grow here?" Scrubb asked the Warden. He seemed very surprised at being spoken to, but replied, "No. They are all beasts that have found their way down by chasms and caves, out of Overland into the Deep Realm. Many come down, and few return to the sunlit lands. It is said that they will all wake at the end of the world."
His mouth shut like a box when he had said this, and in the great silence of that cave the children felt that they would not dare to speak again. The bare feet of the gnomes, padding on the deep moss, made no sound. There was no wind, there were no birds, there was no sound of water. There was no sound of breathing from the strange beasts.
When they had walked for several miles, they came to a wall of rock, and in it a low archway leading into another cavern. It was not, however, so bad as the last entrance and Jill could go through it without bending her head. It brought them into a smaller cave, long and narrow, about the shape and size of a cathedral. And here, filling almost the whole length of it, lay an enormous man fast asleep. He was far bigger than any of the giants, and his face was not like a giant's, but noble and beautiful. His breast rose and fell gently under the snowy beard which covered him to the waist. A pure, silver light (no one saw where it came from) rested upon him.
"Who's that?" asked Puddleglum. And it was so long since anyone had spoken, that Jill wondered how he had the nerve.
"That is old Father Time, who once was a King in Overland," said the Warden. "And now he has sunk down into the Deep Realm and lies dreaming of all the things that are done in the upper world. Many sink down, and few return to the sunlit lands. They say he will wake at the end of the world."
And out of that cave they passed into another, and then into another and another, and so on till Jill lost count, but always they were going downhill and each cave was lower than the last, till the very thought of the weight and depth of earth above you was suffocating. At last they came to a place where the Warden commanded his cheerless lantern to be lit again. Then they passed into a cave so wide and dark that they could see nothing of it except that right in front of them a strip of pale sand ran down into still water. And there, beside a little jetty, lay a ship without mast or sail but with many oars. They were made to go on board her and led forward to the bows where there was a clear space in front of the rowers' benches and a seat running round inside the bulwarks.
"One thing I'd like to know," said Puddleglum, "is whether anyone from our world - from up-a-top, I mean has ever done this trip before?"
"Many have taken ship at the pale beaches," replied the Warden, "and-"
"Yes, I know," interrupted Puddleglum. "And few return to the sunlit lands. You needn't say it again. You are a chap of one idea, aren't you?"
The children huddled close together on each side of Puddleglum. They had thought him a wet blanket while they were still above ground, but down here he seemed the only comforting thing they had. Then the pale lantern was hung up amidships, the Earthmen sat to the oars, and the ship began to move. The lantern cast its light only a very short way. Looking ahead, they could see nothing but smooth, dark water, fading into absolute blackness.
"Oh, whatever will become of us?" said Jill despairingly.
"Now don't you let your spirits down, Pole," said the Marsh-wiggle. "There's one thing you've got to remember. We're back on the right lines. We were to go under the Ruined City, and we are under it. We're following the instructions again."
Presently they were given food - flat, flabby cakes of some sort which had hardly any taste. And after that, they gradually fell asleep. But when they woke, everything was just the same; the gnomes still rowing, the ship still gliding on, still dead blackness ahead. How often they woke and slept and ate and slept again, none of them could ever remember. And the worst thing about it was that you began to feel as if you had always lived on that ship, in that darkness, and to wonder whether sun and blue skies and wind and birds had not been only a dream.
They had almost given up hoping or being afraid about anything when at last they saw lights ahead: dreary lights, like that of their own lantern. Then, quite suddenly, one of these lights came close and they saw that they were passing another ship. After that they met several ships. Then, staring till their eyes hurt, they saw that some of the lights ahead were shining on what looked like wharfs, walls, towers, and moving crowds. But still there was hardly any noise.
"By Jove," said Scrubb. "A city!" and soon they all saw that he was right.
But it was a queer city. The lights were so few and far apart that they would hardly have done for scattered cottages in our world. But the little bits of the place which you could see by the lights were like glimpses of a great seaport. You could make out in one place a whole crowd of ships loading or unloading; in another, bales of stuff and warehouses; in a third, walls and pillars that suggested great palaces or temples; and always, wherever the light fell, endless crowds - hundreds of Earthmen, jostling one another as they padded softly about their business in narrow streets, broad squares, or up great flights of steps. Their continued movement made a sort of soft, murmuring noise as the ship drew nearer and nearer; but there was not a song or a shout or a bell or the rattle of a wheel anywhere. The City was as quiet, and nearly as dark, as the inside of an ant-hill.
At last their ship was brought alongside a quay and made fast. The three travellers were taken ashore and marched up into the City. Crowds of Earthmen, no two alike, rubbed shoulders with them in the crowded streets, and the sad light fell on many sad and grotesque faces. But no one showed any interest in the strangers. Every gnome seemed to be as busy as it was sad, though Jill never found what they were so busy about. But the endless moving, shoving, hurrying, and the soft pad-pad-pad went on.
At last they came to what appeared to be a great castle, though few of the windows in it were lighted. Here they were taken in and made to cross a courtyard, and to climb many staircases. This brought them in the end to a great murkily lit room. But in one corner of it - oh joy! - there was an archway filled with a quite different sort of light; the honest, yellowish, warm light of such a lamp as humans use. What showed by this light inside the archway was the foot of a staircase which wound upward between walls of stone. The light seemed to come from the top. Two Earthmen stood one on each side of the arch like sentries, or footmen.
The Warden went up to these two, and said, as if it were a password:
"Many sink down to the Underworld."
"And few return to the sunlit lands," they answered, as if it were the countersign. Then all three put their heads together and talked. At last one of the two gnomes-in-waiting said, "I tell you the Queen's grace is gone from hence on her great affair. We had best keep these top dwellers in strait prison till her homecoming. Few return to the sunlit lands."
At that moment the conversation was interrupted by what seemed to Jill the most delightful noise in the world. It came from above, from the top of the staircase; and it was a clear, ringing, perfectly human voice, the voice of a young man.
"What coil are you keeping down there, Mullugutherum?" it shouted. "Overworlders, ha! Bring them up to me, and that presently."
"Please it your Highness to remember," began Mullugutherum, but the voice cut him short.
"It pleases my Highness principally to be obeyed, old mutterer. Bring them up," it called.
Mullugutherum shook his head, motioned to the travellers to follow and began going up the staircase. At every step the light increased. There were rich tapestries hanging on the walls. The lamplight shone golden through thin curtains at the staircase-head. The Earthmen parted the curtains and stood aside. The three passed in. They were in a beautiful room, richly tapestried, with a bright fire on a clean hearth, and red wine and cut glass sparkling on the table. A young man with fair hair rose to greet them. He was handsome and looked both bold and kind, though there was something about his face that didn't seem quite right. He was dressed in black and altogether looked a little bit like Hamlet.
"Welcome, Overworlders," he cried. "But stay a moment! I cry you mercy! I have seen you two fair children, and this, your strange governor, before. Was it not you three that met me by the bridge on the borders of Ettinsmoor when I rode there by my Lady's side?"
"Oh . . . you were the black knight who never spoke?" exclaimed Jill.
"And was that lady the Queen of Underland?" asked Puddleglum, in no very friendly voice. And Scrubb, who was thinking the same, burst out, "Because if it was, I think she was jolly mean to send us off to a castle of giants who intended to eat us. What harm had we ever done her, I should like to know?"
"How?" said the Black Knight with a frown. "If you were not so young a warrior, Boy, you and I must have fought to the death on this quarrel. I can hear no words against my Lady's honour. But of this you may be assured, that whatever she said to you, she said of a good intent. You do not know her. She is a nosegay of all virtues, as truth, mercy, constancy, gentleness, courage, and the rest. I say what I know. Her kindness to me alone, who can in no way reward her, would make an admirable history. But you shall know and love her hereafter. Meanwhile, what is your errand in the Deep Lands?"
And before Puddleglum could stop her, Jill blurted out, "Please we are trying to find Prince Rilian of Narnia." And then she realized what a frightful risk she had taken; these people might be enemies. But the Knight showed no interest.
"Rilian? Narnia?" he said carelessly. "Narnia? What land is that? I have never heard the name. It must be a thousand leagues from those parts of the Overworld that I know. But it was a strange fantasy that brought you seeking this - how do you call him? - Billian? Trillian? in my Lady's realm. Indeed, to my certain knowledge, there is no such man here." He laughed very loudly at this, and Jill thought to herself, "I wonder is that what's wrong with his face? Is he a bit silly?"
"We had been told to look for a message on the stones of the City Ruinous," said Scrubb. "And we saw the words UNDER ME."
The Knight laughed even more heartily than before. "You were the more deceived," he said. "Those words meant nothing to your purpose. Had you but asked my Lady, she could have given you better counsel. For those words are all that is left of a longer script, which in ancient times, as she well remembers, expressed this verse:
Though under Earth and throneless now I be, Yet, while I lived, all Earth was under me.
From which it is plain that some great king of the ancient giants, who lies buried there, caused this boast to be cut in the stone over his sepulchre; though the breaking up of some stones, and the carrying away of others for new buildings, and the filling up of the cuts with rubble, has left only two words that can still be read. Is it not the merriest jest in the world that you should have thought they were written to you?"
This was like cold water down the back to Scrubb and
Jill; for it seemed to them very likely that the words had nothing to do with their quest at all, and that they had been taken in by a mere accident.
"Don't you mind him," said Puddleglum. "There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this."
"This guide of yours must be a long liver, friend," said the Knight with another of his laughs.
Jill began to find them a little irritating.
"And it seems to me, Sir," answered Puddleglum, "that this Lady of yours must be a long liver too, if she remembers the verse as it was when they first cut it."
"Very shrewd, Frog-face," said the Knight, clapping Puddleglum on the shoulder and laughing again. "And you have hit the truth. She is of divine race, and knows neither age nor death. I am the more thankful to her for all her infinite bounty to such a poor mortal wretch as I. For you must know, Sirs, I am a man under most strange afflictions, and none but the Queen's grace would have had patience with me. Patience, said I? But it goes far beyond that. She has promised me a great kingdom in Overland, and, when I am king, her own most gracious hand in marriage. But the tale is too long for you to hear fasting and standing. Hi there, some of you! Bring wine and Updwellers' food for my guests. Please you, be seated, gentlemen. Little maiden, sit in this chair. You shall hear it all."      10、不见太阳的旅行     “谁在那儿？”他们三个大声喊道。“我是地下世界边境看守，跟我站在一起的有一百个全副武装的地下人，”回答说，“赶快告诉我，你们是什么人，到幽深王国来有什么事？”      “我们是不小心掉下来的。”普德格伦老老实实地说。      “掉下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。”那声音说，“现在准备跟我走，到幽深王国女王那儿去。”      “她要我们干什么？”斯克罗布小心地问。      “我不知道，”那声音说，“她的意愿可问不得，只能服从。”      他说这些话的时候，有个声音像是轻柔的爆炸声，大岩洞里顿时有一片冷光，灰沉沉中带点蓝幽幽的光。大家都希望那个一直在瞎吹牛，提到有一百个武装的随从的人马上死掉。吉尔却不知不觉对着密密麻麻一群人眨眨眼睛，还盯着他们看。这些人个子高矮不一，有不到一英尺高的小精灵，也有比常人高的威武的大个子。手里全都拿着三叉长矛，个个都苍白得要命，全都一动不动站着，活像雕像。除此之外，他们就大不相同了；有的有尾巴，有的没有，有的留着大胡子，另外的人脸蛋圆滚滚，光溜溜，像只大南瓜。有的是长长的尖鼻子，有的是软绵绵的长鼻子，像小象鼻似的，还有胖乎乎肉疙瘩似的大鼻子。还有几个前额正中长了只独角。但有一点他们却很相像:在这百来张脸上每张都有无比伤心的神情。他们是那么伤心，吉尔看了一眼后，几乎忘了害怕他们。她感到她很想让他们高兴起来。       “得，”普德格伦搓搓手说，“这正是我需要的。如果这些家伙教不会我对待生活要严肃，我不知道什么会教我了。看看那个长着海象胡子的家伙——或者那个有……”       “起来。”地下人的头头说。      没办法，他们三个只好赶紧站起来，手拉着手。一个人在这种时候就需要摸着一个朋友的手。那些地下人全都围在他们身边，一双双又大又软的脚慢慢走着，有的长着十个脚趾，有的长着十二个，另外一些一个也没有。       “开步走。”看守说。他们就走了。      那团冷光是从一根长杆顶上的一个大球里发出来的。      一个最高的小精灵举着这根长杆，走在队伍前面。在惨淡的光线下，他们看得出自己正在一个天然的大岩洞里；洞壁和洞顶都疙疙瘩瘩，歪歪扭扭，裂成千奇百怪的形状。他们走的石头地往下倾斜。这对吉尔比对别人更糟，因为她最讨厌黑暗的地下场所。他们走下去时，那山洞变得越来越低，越来越窄，最后拿灯的那个站在一边，小精灵一个一个弯下腰(只有最小的几个不用弯腰)，踏进一条又小又黑的裂缝里就不见了，她觉得自己再也受不了啦。       “我不能进去，我不能！我不能！我不去。”她气喘吁吁地说。地下人不说话，只是全都把矛放低，用矛头对着她。      “沉住气，波尔，”普德格伦说，“要是这个洞回头不变宽些，那些大个子家伙就不会爬进去。而且这地下世界有一件事倒好，淋不到雨。”      “哦，你不懂的，我不能去。”吉尔哭叫着。      “想想我在那悬崖上是什么感觉吧，波尔，”斯克罗布说，“你先走，普德格伦，我跟在她后面。”      “好吧，”沼泽怪说着两手两膝着地，”你抓着我的脚后跟，波尔，斯克罗布再抓住你的，那我们大家就都舒服了。”      “舒服”吉尔说。不过她还是跪下了，他们都用手拐儿撑着爬了进去。洞里是个让人恶心的地方，你得趴在地上，似乎爬上半小时光景，其实可能只有五分钟。里面很热，吉尔觉得自己要闷死了。不过前面终于露出一点朦胧的光，地道也变得更宽更高了。他们走出来时又热又脏，浑身发抖，来到一个山洞里，这山洞很大，简直完全不像一个山洞。       洞里充满朦朦胧胧、昏昏沉沉的光，因此他们不需要地下人那奇怪的灯笼了。地上软软的，长着一种青苔，青苔上长着好多奇形怪状、分枝的、像树那么高像蘑菇那么松软的东西。这些东西离得太远，形不成树林，倒更像个公园。那种光(一种绿灰色的光)似乎就是从这些东西和青苔上发出来的，不过还不够亮，照不到洞顶，想必离头顶还有一大段距离吧。穿过这个不冷不热，令人困倦的柔软地方，他们被迫往前走。这真叫人非常伤心，只是像柔和的音乐那样，伤心中又带点恬静的味儿。       他们在这儿又经过许许多多躺在草地上的奇怪动物，吉尔说不清它们究竟是死了还是睡着了。这些动物大部分像是龙，或是蝙蝠一类，普德格伦一样也不认识。:       “它们都是生长在这儿的吗？”斯克罗布问那个看守。他对有人对他说话似乎十分惊讶，但回答说，“不，它们全是。从裂缝和山洞钻下来的动物，从上面的世界钻到幽深王国。下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。据说到了世界末日，它们才会醒过来。”       说了这些话以后，他的嘴就紧紧闭上，在山洞的一片寂静中，两个孩子觉得自己也不敢再说话了。小精灵的一双双光脚走在深深的青苔上，一点声音也没有。没有风，没有鸟，没有水声。那些奇怪的动物连呼吸的声音也没有。       他们这样走了好几英里，来到一堵石墙面前，墙上有一道低低的拱门，通往另一个山洞。不过这个拱门不像上次那个入口那么糟，吉尔走过去时不用低头。走过拱门，他们就进入一个小一点的山洞，又长又窄，形状大小就像个大教堂。有一个其大无比的人躺在那儿呼呼大睡，从山洞这头到那头几乎都给他身子塞满了。他个子比任何巨人都大得多，而脸却不像巨人，显得高贵而美丽。胸脯在垂到腰部的雪白胡子下轻轻起伏。一股纯银色的光照在他身上(谁也没看见这光是哪儿来的)。     “那是谁？”普德格伦问。隔了那么久没人说话，吉尔真想知道它怎么有那股勇气。      “那是时间老人，他从前是地上世界的一个国王，”看守说，“如今他掉进幽深王国，躺在那儿梦见在上面世界做过的一切事情。掉下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。据说到世界末日他才会醒来。”       出了那个山洞，他们又经过另一个山洞，接着再走进一个又一个，走啊走的，走得吉尔都数不清走过几个山洞了，但他们一直是在下山，每个山洞都比前一个低，你一想起上面的土地有多重有多深就不由憋住气。最后他们来到一个地方，看守命令再点上那只惨淡的灯笼。于是他们走进了一个又宽又黑的山洞，里面什么都看不见，只见一股灰白的沙子正泻入静止的水面。在一个小小的码头旁边，停着一条船，没有梳杆也没有帆，只有很多桨。他们被赶上船，带到船头，在划船手的长凳前面，有一块空间，沿舷墙内侧还装着一排座位。      “有件事我想打听一下，”普德格伦说，“以前有没有从我们世界来的人——我意思是从上面来的——到这儿来过？”      “在灰白沙滩乘船的多，”看守回答说，”而……”      “是啊，我知道了，”普德格伦打断他说，“而回到阳光下的大地上去的少。你不必再说了。你真是个死心眼儿，对吗？”      两个孩子紧紧缩在普德格伦两旁。在地面上的时候他      们认为它是个扫兴的家伙，在下面这儿它倒似乎成了他们惟一的安慰。接着那盏惨白的灯笼挂在船的中部，地下人坐下来划桨，船就动起来了。灯笼的光只能照亮一小段路，往前看，他们什么也看不见，只有平滑的黑水消失在一片漆黑中。       “哦，我们究竟会遇上什么事啊？”吉尔绝望地说。      “嗨，不要弄得垂头丧气，波尔，”沼泽怪说，”有一件事你一定得记住。我们已回到正确路线上来了。我们要到废墟城下面去，而我们已经在城下面了。我们又按照指做了。”      不久，他们分到了一点食物——种又淡又松，几乎吃不出什么味道的饼。此后他们就慢慢睡着了。但等他们醒来时，一切还是一样，小精灵依然在划桨，船依然在悄悄前进，前面依然是一团漆黑。他们醒了又睡，吃了又睡有多少次，大家都记不得了。最糟糕的就是你开始觉得自己似乎一直生活在这艘船上，生活在那片黑暗中，心里闹不清什么太阳、蓝天、风和鸟，到底是否只是一场梦。      他们几乎已经不抱希望，也不再害怕什么的时候，终于看见前面有灯光;像船上那盏灯笼一样阴森森的光。随后，突然有一盏灯靠近了，一看只见是另一条船经过他们面前。      此后他们又遇见了好几条船。接着他们一直望穿了眼睛才看出前头有些灯光照着的看来像是码头，墙壁，塔或来往的人群。但那边仍然不大有声音。      “天哪，”斯克罗布说，“一座城市！”他们一下子就明白他说得对。      但这是座奇怪的城市。灯光那么少，距离又那么远，在我们的世界里还比不上分散的农舍呢。但从灯光下你看得见的这一小块地方很像是一个大海港。你看得出有一个地方有好多船正在装卸货物；另一个地方，有一包包货物和一个个仓库，第三个地方，有墙和柱子，使人想起大宫殿或庙宇；而且，无论哪儿有灯，总有没完没了的人群——成千上万的地下人，一个个挨挨挤挤，在狭窄的街道上，宽阔的广场上，或者在巨大的石阶上，轻轻走动，忙着自己的事儿。船越来越近，他们不停的动作形成一种轻轻的沙沙声，但到处都听不到歌声、吆喝声或是钟声，或是车轮声。这个城市是静悄悄的，而且几乎像一座蚁山内部那么漆黑。       最后他们这条船给拖到码头边拴牢。他们三个被带上岸，走进城去。成群的地下人，面貌各不相同，在拥挤的街头跟他们擦肩而过，暗淡的光照在许许多多悲哀、古怪的脸上。但没人对陌生人表现出一点兴趣。每个小精灵似乎都是又忙碌又悲哀，虽然吉尔根本看不出他们那么忙忙碌碌在干什么。只是没完没了的走啊走、推推搡搡，匆匆忙忙，轻轻的脚步声叭嗒叭嗒响个不停。       他们终于来到了一座似乎是大城堡的前面，可是里面只有几扇窗户亮着灯。他们被押进去，穿过一个院子，爬上好多级楼梯，终于给带进了一间灯光暗淡的大房间。不料就在这房间的一角——哦，开心啊——那儿有座拱门，竟洋溢着一片大不相同的灯光；那是人类用的灯那种；炎黄的真正暖光。这光照着拱门里面的楼梯脚，楼梯是在石墙间盘旋而上的。灯光似乎从楼上照下来。拱门两边各站着一个地下人，像是卫兵或是仆人。      看守走到这两个人身边，说了一句口令似的话道“掉进地下世界的多。”      “回到阳光下大地上的少。”他们回答说，像是在应答暗号。于是三个人脑袋凑在一起说话。最后其中一个侍从小精灵说，“我告诉你，女王陛下有要事从这儿出去了。我们最好把这些上面的人关在暗牢里等她回来。回到阳光下大地上的少。”       这时这段谈话被一个声音打断了。吉尔觉得那是天下最可爱的声音，声音是从上面楼梯顶上来的；清脆、响亮，十足是人类的声音，一个年轻男人的声音。      “你们下面乱哄哄的吵什么呀，穆鲁古瑟伦？”那声音大声说道，“上面世界的人，哈！带到我这儿来，马上来。”      “请殿下记住。”穆鲁古瑟伦开口说，但那声音立刻打断了他。      “要让殿下我高兴，主要就是要服从，老贫嘴。把他们带上来。”      穆鲁古瑟伦摇摇头，对这三个做做手势，让他们跟着开始上楼。每上一级楼梯，灯光就更亮。墙上挂着富丽的挂毯。在楼梯头有薄薄的帘子透出的金色灯光。地下人拉开帘子，站在一边。他们三个就走了进去。那是一间十分漂亮的房间，挂满了挂毯，干净的壁炉里炉光明亮，桌上的刻花玻璃杯和红酒闪闪发光。一个年轻的金发男人起身向他们问好。他长得一表人材，看上去为人勇敢又和气，然而脸上似乎有一种不大对头的神情。他全身都穿黑，看上去有点像哈姆莱特。      “欢迎，上面世界的人们，”他叫道，“可是等一下！请原谅！我见过你们这两个漂亮的孩子，还有这位，你们古怪的老师。你们三个不是在艾丁斯荒原边界的桥上遇见过我的吗？我当时骑着马跟在夫人旁边。”      “哦……你就是那个一声不吭的黑骑士？”吉尔失声喊道。      “那位夫人就是地下王国的女王吧？”普德格伦很不客气，没好声气地问。斯克罗布也抱有同样想法，脱口而出说:      “因为要是这么回事的话，我认为她完全是有意把我们打发到一个想吃掉我们的巨人城堡去的。我倒想知道我们哪儿得罪她了？”      “怎么？”那黑骑士皱皱眉说，”如果你不是那么年轻的一个武士，小子，你我就必须为这场争吵决一死战。我听不得任何有损夫人荣誉的话。但这一点你们可以放心，不论她对你们说什么，她的用意都是好的。你们不了解她。她是集所有美德于一体的花束：如忠诚、仁慈、坚定、温柔、勇敢，等等。我是知道什么说什么。单说她对我的好处，我就没法报答她，可以写成一部令人赞叹的书。不过你们今后会知道而且喜欢她的。另一方面，你们到幽深王国来干什么？”       普德格伦还来不及阻止吉尔，她已经脱口而出说“对不起，我们是在想法寻找纳尼亚的瑞廉王子。”说罢她才明白自己冒了一次多大的风险，这些人可能是敌人哪。谁知那骑士竟毫无兴趣。       “瑞廉？纳尼亚？”他漫不经心地说，“纳尼亚？那是什么地方？我从来没听说过这个名字。据我所知，那一定是在上面的世界几千海里之外的地方了。但这真是异想天开，你们竟会相信而到这儿来找这个——人家叫他什么来着？——比廉？特里廉？据我所知，在夫人的王国里，确实没有这么个人。”他说完哈哈大笑，吉尔暗暗想道”真奇怪，他脸上是不是有什么不对头的？他有点儿傻吧？”      “我们奉命来找废墟城石头上的一个信息，”斯克罗布说，“而且我们看见了那些字:在我下面。”      那骑士笑得格外欢了。”你们又受骗了，”他说，”那些字对你们此行目的毫无意义。你们只要问问夫人，她可能给你们出更好的主意。因为那些字是古时候一句长句的残迹，她记得很清楚，原来写的是这句诗:      尽管如今我在地下，没有王位。然而，当我活着的时候，整个大地都在我下面。      从这些诗句看来，显然是古代巨人中某个伟大的国王葬在那里，才会因此把这段自吹自擂的话刻在他墓地的石头上，然而一些石头已经断裂，另外一些被拿走去盖新房子，缺口填上些碎石，只留下这几个字仍然看得出来。你们原来以为这些字是写给你们看的，岂不是天大的笑话？”       斯克罗布和吉尔一听这话无异凉水浇背；因为对他们来说，很可能这些话与他们的寻找完全无关，那么他们仅仅是偶然被带到这儿来的了。      “你们别在意，”普德格伦说，“这不是偶然的，我们的向导是阿斯兰，巨人国王叫人刻这些字的时候他就在场，他已经知道一切会由此引起的事情:也包括这件事。”      “你们这个向导一定是个长命的人，朋友。”骑士说完又是一阵大笑。      吉尔开始觉得这笑声有点让人烦躁了。      “阁下，我似乎觉得，”普德格伦回答说，”要是这位夫人记得起最初他们刻在石头上的诗句，她一定也是个长命的人。      “你很机灵，青蛙脸，”骑士说着拍拍普德格伦肩膀，又一阵哈哈大笑，”而且你说中了。她出身神族，长生不老。她对我这么个不幸的可怜虫表示的无比慷慨，我是感激不尽的。因为你们必须知道，诸位，我是一个忍受最最奇特折磨的人，除了女王陛下，没人会对我有耐心。我说了耐心，是吗？但还远远不止于此。她已经答应给我上面世界的一个大王国，等我做了国王，就同她结婚。不过你们饿着肚子，站着听这个故事可太长了。喂，来人哪，拿酒和上界居民的食物给我的客人吃。请坐，诸位。小姐，你坐这张椅子吧。回头我就把全部经过说给你们听。"
Chapter 11
IN THE DARK CASTLE
WHEN the meal (which was pigeon pie, cold ham, salad, and cakes) had been brought, and all had drawn their chairs up to the table and begun, the Knight continued:
"You must understand, friends, that I know nothing of who I was and whence I came into this Dark World. I remember no time when I was not dwelling, as now, at the court of this all but heavenly Queen; but my thought is that she saved me from some evil enchantment and brought me hither of her exceeding bounty. (Honest Frogfoot, your cup is empty. Suffer me to refill it.) And this seems to me the likelier because even now I am bound by a spell, from which my Lady alone can free me. Every night there comes an hour when my mind is most horribly changed, and, after my mind, my body. For first I become furious and wild and would rush upon my dearest friends to kill them, if I were not bound. And soon after that, I turn into the likeness of a great serpent, hungry, fierce, and deadly. (Sir, be pleased to take another breast of pigeon, I entreat you.) So they tell me, and they certainly speak truth, for my Lady says the same. I myself know nothing of it, for when my hour is past I awake forgetful of all that vile fit and in my proper shape and sound mind - saving that I am somewhat wearied. (Little lady, eat one of these honey cakes, which are brought for me from some barbarous land in the far south of the world.) Now the Queen's majesty knows by her art that I shall be freed from this enchantment when once she has made me king of a land in the Overworld and set its crown upon my head. The land is already chosen and the very place of our breaking out. Her Earthmen have worked day and night digging a way beneath it, and have now gone so far and so high that they tunnel not a score of feet beneath the very grass on which the Updwellers of that country walk. It will be very soon now that those Uplanders' fate will come upon them. She herself is at the diggings tonight, and I expect a message to go to her. Then the thin roof of earth which still keeps me from my kingdom will be broken through, and with her to guide me and a thousand Earthmen at my back, I shall ride forth in arms, fall suddenly on our enemies, slay their chief men, cast down their strong places, and doubtless be their crowned king within four and twenty hours."
"It's a bit rough luck on them, isn't it?" said Scrubb.
"Thou art a lad of a wondrous, quick-working wit!" exclaimed the Knight. "For, on my honour, I had never thought of it so before. I see your meaning." He looked slightly, very slightly troubled for a moment or two; but his face soon cleared and he broke out, with another of his loud laughs, "But fie on gravity! Is it not the most comical and ridiculous thing in the world to think of them all going about their business and never dreaming that under their peaceful fields and floors, only a fathom down, there is a great army ready to break out upon them like a fountain! And they never to have suspected! Why, they themselves, when once the first smart of their defeat is over, can hardly choose but laugh at the thought!"
"I don't think it's funny at all," said Jill. "I think you'll be a wicked tyrant."
"What?" said the Knight, still laughing and patting her head in a quite infuriating fashion. "Is our little maid a deep politician? But never fear, sweetheart. In ruling that land, I shall do all by the counsel of my Lady, who will then be my Queen too. Her word shall be my law, even as my word will be law to the people we have conquered."
"Where I come from," said Jill, who was disliking him more every minute, "they don't think much of men who are bossed about by their wives."
"Shalt think otherwise when thou hast a man of thine own, I warrant you," said the Knight, apparently thinking this very funny. "But with my Lady, it is another matter. I am well content to live by her word, who has already saved me from a thousand dangers. No mother has taken pains more tenderly for her child, than the Queen's grace has for me. Why, look you, amid all her cares and business, she rideth out with me in the Overworld many a time and oft to accustom my eyes to the sunlight. And then I must go fully armed and with visor down, so that no man may see my face, and I must speak to no one. For she has found out by art magical that this would hinder my deliverance from the grievous enchantment I lie under. Is not that a lady worthy of a man's whole worship?"
"Sounds a very nice lady indeed," said Puddleglum in a voice which meant exactly the opposite.
They were thoroughly tired of the Knight's talk before they had finished supper. Puddleglum was thinking, "I wonder what game that witch is really playing with this young fool." Scrubb was thinking, "He's a great baby, really: tied to that woman's apron strings; he's a sap." And Jill was thinking, "He's the silliest, most conceited, selfish pig I've met for a long time." But when the meal was over, the Knight's mood had changed. There was no more laughter about him.
"Friends," he said, "my hour is now very near. I am ashamed that you should see me yet I dread being left alone. They will come in presently and bind me hand and foot to yonder chair. Alas, so it must be: for in my fury, they tell me, I would destroy all that I could reach."
"I say," said Scrubb, "I'm awfully sorry about your enchantment of course, but what will those fellows do to us when they come to bind you? They talked of putting us in prison. And we don't like all those dark places very much. We'd much rather stay here till you're . . . better . . . if we may."
"It is well thought of," said the Knight. "By custom none but the Queen herself remains with me in my evil hour. Such is her tender care for my honour that she would not willingly suffer any ears but her own to hear the words I utter in that frenzy. But I could not easily persuade my attendant gnomes that you should be left with me. And I think I hear their soft feet even now upon the stairs. Go through yonder door: it leads into my other apartments. And there, either await my coming when they have unbound me; or, if you will, return and sit with me in my ravings."
They followed his directions and passed out of the room by a door which they had not yet seen opened. It brought them, they were pleased to see, not into darkness but into a lighted corridor. They tried various doors and found (what they very badly needed) water for washing and even a looking glass. "He never offered us a wash before supper," said Jill, drying her face. "Selfish, selfcentred pig."
"Are we going back to watch the enchantment, or shall we stay here?" said Scrubb.
"Stay here, I vote," said Jill. "I'd much rather not see it." But she felt a little inquisitive all the same.
"No, go back," said Puddleglum. "We may pick up some information, and we need all we can get. I am sure that Queen is a witch and an enemy. And those Earthmen would knock us on the head as soon as look at us. There's a stronger smell of danger and lies and magic and treason about this land than I've ever smelled before. We need to keep our eyes and ears open."
They went back down the corridor and gently pushed the door open. "It's all right," said Scrubb, meaning that there were no Earthmen about. Then they all came back into the room where they had supped.
The main door was now shut, concealing the curtain between which they had first entered. The Knight was seated in a curious silver chair, to which he was bound by his ankles, his knees, his elbows, his wrists, and his waist. There was sweat on his forehead and his face was filled with anguish.
"Come in, friends," he said, glancing quickly up. "The fit is not yet upon me. Make no noise, for I told that prying chamberlain that you were in bed. Now . . . I can feel it coming. Quick! Listen while I am master of myself. When the fit is upon me, it well may be that I shall beg and implore you, with entreaties and threatenings, to loosen my bonds. They say I do. I shall call upon you by all that is most dear and most dreadful. But do not listen to me. Harden your hearts and stop your ears. For while I am bound you are safe. But if once I were up and out of this chair, then first would come my fury, and after that" - he shuddered - "the change into a loathsome serpent."
"There's no fear of our loosing you," said Puddleglum. "We've no wish to meet wild men; or serpents either."
"I should think not," said Scrubb and Jill together.
"All the same," added Puddleglum in a whisper. "Don't let's be too sure. Let's be on our guard. We've muffed everything else, you know. He'll be cunning, I shouldn't wonder, once he gets started. Can we trust one another? Do we all promise that whatever he says we don't touch those cords? Whatever he says, mind you?"
"Rather!" said Scrubb.
"There's nothing in the world he can say or do that'll make me change my mind," said Jill.
"Hush! Something's happening," said Puddleglum.
The Knight was moaning. His face was as pale as putty, and he writhed in his bonds. And whether because she was sorry for him, or for some other reason, Jill thought that he looked a nicer sort of man than he had looked before.
"Ah," he groaned. "Enchantments, enchantments . . . the heavy, tangled, cold, clammy web of evil magic. Buried alive. Dragged down under the earth, down into the sooty blackness . . . how many years is it? . . . Have I lived ten years, or a thousand years, in the pit? Maggotmen all around me. Oh, have mercy. Let me out, let me go back. Let me feel the wind and see the sky . . . There used to be a little pool. When you looked down into it you could see all the trees growing upside-down in the water, all green, and below them, deep, very deep, the blue sky."
He had been speaking in a low voice; now he looked up, fixed his eyes upon them, and said loud and clear:
"Quick! I am sane now. Every night I am sane. If only I could get out of this enchanted chair, it would last. I should be a man again. But every night they bind me, and so every night my chance is gone. But you are not enemies. I am not your prisoner. Quick! Cut these cords."
"Stand fast! Steady," said Puddleglum to the two children.
"I beseech you to hear me," said the Knight, forcing himself to speak calmly. "Have they told you that if I am released from this chair I shall kill you and become a serpent? I see by your faces that they have. It is a lie. It is at this hour that I am in my right mind: it is all the rest of the day that I am enchanted. You are not Earthmen nor witches. Why should you be on their side? Of your courtesy, cut my bonds."
"Steady! Steady! Steady!" said the three travellers to one another.
"Oh, you have hearts of stone," said the Knight. "Believe me, you look upon a wretch who has suffered almost more than any mortal can bear. What wrong have I ever done you, that you should side with my enemies to keep me in such miseries? And the minutes are slipping past. Now you can save me; when this hour has passed, I shall be witless again - the toy and lap-dog, nay, more likely the pawn and tool, of the most devilish sorceress that ever planned the woe of men. And this night, of all nights, when she is away! You take from me a chance that may never come again."
"This is dreadful. I do wish we'd stayed away till it was over," said Jill.
"Steady!" said Puddleglum.
The prisoner's voice was now rising into a shriek. "Let me go, I say. Give me my sword. My sword! Once I am free I shall take such revenge on Earthmen that Underland will talk of it for a thousand years!"
"Now the frenzy is beginning," said Scrubb. "I hope those knots are all right."
"Yes," said Puddleglum. "He'd have twice his natural strength if he got free now. And I'm not clever with my sword. He'd get us both, I shouldn't wonder; and then Pole on her own would be left to tackle the snake."
The prisoner was now so straining at his bonds that they cut into his wrists and ankles. "Beware," he said. "Beware. One night I did break them. But the witch was there that time. You will not have her to help you tonight. Free me now, and I am your friend. I'm your mortal enemy else."
"Cunning, isn't he?" said Puddleglum.
"Once and for all," said the prisoner, "I adjure you to set me free. By all fears and all loves, by the bright skies of Overland, by the great Lion, by Aslan himself, I charge you -"
"Oh!" cried the three travellers as though they had been hurt. "It's the sign," said Puddleglum. "It was the words of the sign," said Scrubb more cautiously. "Oh, what are we to do?" said Jill.
It was a dreadful question. What had been the use of promising one another that they would not on any account set the Knight free, if they were now to do so the first time he happened to call upon a name they really cared about? On the other hand, what had been the use of learning the signs if they weren't going to obey them? Yet could Aslan have really meant them to unbind anyone even a lunatic - who asked it in his name? Could it be a mere accident? Or how if the Queen of the Underworld knew all about the signs and had made the Knight learn this name simply in order to entrap them? But then, supposing this was the real sign? . . . They had muffed three already; they daren't muff the fourth.
"Oh, if only we knew!" said Jill.
"I think we do know," said Puddleglum.
"Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?" said Scrubb.
"I don't know about that," said Puddleglum. "You see, Aslan didn't tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he's up, I shouldn't wonder. But that doesn't let us off following the sign."
They all stood looking at one another with bright eyes. It was a sickening moment. "All right!" said Jill suddenly. "Let's get it over. Good-bye, everyone ...!" They all shook hands. The Knight was screaming by now; there was foam on his cheeks.
"Come on, Scrubb," said Puddleglum. He and Scrubb drew their swords and went over to the captive.
"In the name of Aslan," they said and began methodically cutting the cords. The instant the prisoner was free, he crossed the room in a single bound, seized his own sword (which had been taken from him and laid on the table), and drew it.
"You first!" he cried and fell upon the silver chair. That must have been a good sword. The silver gave way before its edge like string, and in a moment a few twisted fragments, shining on the floor, were all that was left. But as the chair broke, there came from it a bright flash, a sound like small thunder, and (for one moment) a loathsome smell.
"Lie there, vile engine of sorcery," he said, "lest your mistress should ever use you for another victim." Then he turned and surveyed his rescuers; and the something wrong, whatever it was, had vanished from his face.
"What?" he cried, turning to Puddleglum. "Do I see before me a Marsh-wiggle - a real, live, honest, Narnian Marsh-wiggle?"
"Oh, so you have heard of Narnia after all?" said Jill.
"Had I forgotten it when I was under the spell?" asked the Knight. "Well, that and all other bedevilments are now over. You may well believe that I know Narnia, for I am Rilian, Prince of Narnia, and Caspian the great King is my father."
"Your Royal Highness," said Puddleglum, sinking on one knee (and the children did the same), "we have come hither for no other end than to seek you."
"And who are you, my other deliverers?" said the Prince to Scrubb and Jill.
"We were sent by Aslan himself from beyond the world's end to seek your Highness," said Scrubb. "I am Eustace who sailed with him to the island of Ramandu."
"I owe all three of you a greater debt than I can ever pay," said Prince Rilian. "But my father? Is he yet alive?"
"He sailed east again before we left Narnia, my lord," said Puddleglum. "But your Highness must consider that the King is very old. It is ten to one his Majesty must die on the voyage."
"He is old, you say. How long then have I been in the power of the witch?'
"It is more than ten years since your Highness was lost in the woods at the north side of Narnia."
"Ten years!" said the Prince, drawing his hand across his face as if to rub away the past. "Yes, I believe you. For now that I am myself I can remember that enchanted life, though while I was enchanted I could not remember my true self. And now, fair friends - but wait! I hear their feet (does it not sicken a man, that padding woolly tread! faugh!) on the stairs. Lock the door, boy. Or stay. I have a better thought than that. I will fool these Earthmen, if Aslan gives me the wit. Take your cue from me."
He walked resolutely to the door and flung it wide open.      11、在黑暗的城堡里      等到上了饭莱(鸽肉馅饼、冷火腿、凉拌菜和糕饼)，大家都把椅子拉到桌边吃了起来，骑士就继续说道：     “你们一定得明白，朋友们，我并不知道自己是谁，什么时候来到这黑暗世界。我不记得住进这位简直举世无双的女王王宫之前的一切；但我的想法是她把我从邪恶的魔法里救出来，非常慷慨地把我带到这儿。(可敬的青蛙脚，你的酒杯空了，允许我替你斟满吧。)我觉得，这点似乎可能性大些，因为即使到现在，我还是受魔法的约束，只有夫       人能使我解脱。每天晚上都有一小时，我头脑里会起可怕的变化，先是头脑，后是身体。开头我会暴跳如雷，拼命撒野，如果不把我绑起来，我会冲到我最亲爱的朋友身边杀了他们。过后不久，我就变成类似一条大毒蛇的东西，又饿，又凶，又厉害。(阁下，请你再吃一块鸽胸肉吧。)他们这么告诉我，他们当然说的是真话，因为夫人也这么说。我本人则对此一无所知，因为过了这一个小时，我醒来时已经忘记了那一切恶性发作，而且恢复了原形，脑子也清楚了——只是有点儿累。(小姐，吃一块这种蜜糕吧，这是从世界上很远的南方什么蛮荒地方带来给我的。)现在女王陛下凭法术知道，一旦她让我成为上面世界一个国家的国王，为我加冕，我就从魔法里解脱出来了。那个国家已经选好了。还有我们破土而出的那个地方。她的地下人日日夜夜都在干活，在那个地方下面挖一条路，这条路已经挖得很远很高，离那个国家的上界居民走路的草地已不到二十英尺了。不久上界人的命运就要突变。女王本人今晚也亲自去挖了，我希望给她送个信。到那时把我和我的王国隔开的地面这层薄薄的顶层就要打通，前面有她为我带路，后面有一千地下人撑腰，我就要全副武装，骑马上阵，出其不意扑到我们的敌人身上，把他们的首领杀掉，扫平他们的据点，毫无疑义，在二十四小时之内就加冕做他们的国王。”       “那他们就有点倒霉了吧?”斯克罗布说。      “你这孩子头脑非常敏捷，”骑士失声喊道，“因为，凭良心说，我以前就从来没想到这点，我明白你的意思。”一时他看上去有一点点烦恼的样子；但他脸色很快就开朗了，又响亮地哈哈大笑起来。“呸，别一本正经了!想想看，他们全都在忙着自己的事，做梦也没想到在他们那宁静的田野和地板下面，只有六英尺以下，就有一支大军，准备着像喷泉一样冲出来打他们，这岂不是世界上最滑稽可笑的事吗?而且他们根本不会怀疑!嗨，他们吃过第一个大败仗的苦头之后就只好对这个妙计付之一笑了。”       “我认为这一点儿都不可笑，”吉尔说，“我认为你会当个恶毒的暴君。”      “什么?”骑士说着，一边还是笑个不停，一边激怒地拍拍她脑袋，“我们这位小姐竟是个深谋远虑的政治家?不过别害怕，宝贝儿。在统治那个国家时，我一切都要跟夫人商量，那时她也是我的王后了。她的话就是我的法律，甚至就像我的话将成为我们征服的人民的法律一样。”      “我来的那个地方，”吉尔说，她越来越不喜欢他了，“他们可看不起被自己老婆指挥的男人。”       “等你有了你自己的男人，包管你就不会那样想了。”骑士说，显然认为这话十分有趣，“不过跟夫人在一起，那是另一回事。我甘心情愿根据她的命令生活，她已经把我从无数次危险中拯救出来。没有一个母亲像女王陛下对我那样亲切地为孩子尽力。咳，听着，尽管她操劳的事这么多，还是常常陪我骑马到上面世界去，让我眼睛习惯阳光。那时我必须披甲挂胄，拉下面罩，这样就没人能看见我的脸，而且我千万不能跟任何人说话。因为她凭法术看出这样会妨碍我从可恶的魔法下解脱出来。难道那么一位夫人不值得男人全心全意崇拜吗?”      “听上去确实是一位非常好的夫人。”普德格伦说话的嗓音意味着他说的全是反话。"        他们还没吃完晚饭就对骑士的话厌烦透了。普德格伦心想，“我真想知道那个女巫究竟在这个小傻瓜身上搞了什么鬼把戏。”斯克罗布心想，“他真是一个大活宝：被那个女人牵着鼻子走：他是个笨蛋。”吉尔心想，“我好久没见过他这么愚蠢，这么自负，这么自私的粗坯了。”但等吃过饭以后，骑士的态度就改变了，再也听不见他笑了。      “朋友们，”他说，“我的时辰已经很近了，让你们看见我那副模样，我真羞愧，然而我又怕一个人待着。他们很快就要来把我手脚绑在那边的椅子上。唉，一定得那样干：因为他们告诉我，我发起火来会把够得到的一切都毁掉。”      “听着，”斯克罗布说，“我对你中了魔法当然感到非常遗憾，但那些家伙来绑你的时候又会怎样对待我们呢?他们说过要把我们关到牢里。我们可不大喜欢那种黑暗的地方。如果可以的话，我们宁可待在这儿，直到你……好转。”       “考虑得很周到，”骑士说，“习惯上，在我不幸发作的时刻里只有女王留在我身边。她对我的名誉如此关心体贴，除了她本人，她不愿让任何人听见我在昏乱中说的那些话。但我不容易说服那些小精灵随从让你们留在这儿陪我。而且我想我现在已经听见楼梯上有他们轻柔的脚步声了。你们从那边的门出去，门通向我另外的房间。你们或者在那儿等到他们给我松绑以后我过来；或者，你们愿意的话，在我说胡话的时候回到这儿来坐下陪着我。”       他们按照他的指点，从一扇没看见开过的门里走出房间。他们看到这扇门不是通向黑暗，而是通向一条有灯的走廊，心里很高兴。他们试着打开各扇门，找到了他们迫切需要用来洗洗脸的水，甚至还有一面镜子。“晚饭前他根本没请我们来洗一洗，”吉尔说着把脸擦干，“真是自私自利的粗坯。”      “我们回去看魔法吗?还是待在这儿?”斯克罗布说。      “我主张待在这儿，”吉尔说，“我情愿不看见这种事情。”但她心里还是觉得有点儿好奇。      “不，回去，”普德格伦说，“我们可能会打听到一些消息，而我们需要一切能得到的消息。我肯定那女王是个女巫，是敌人。而那些地下人一看见我们就会把我们打死。这地方充满了危险、谎言、魔法和反叛的气味，比我以前闻到的更强烈。我们需要多提防着点儿。”       他们从走廊走回去，轻轻推开门，“好了。”斯克罗布说，意思是那里没有地下人了。于是他们全都回到他们吃晚饭的那问房间里。      那扇大门这会儿已经关上了，遮住了他们最初进来时走过的门帘。骑士坐在一张古怪的银椅上，脚踝、膝部、肘部、手腕和腰部都绑在椅子上。他前额上全是汗，脸上神情非常痛苦。       “进来，朋友们，”他说，一边赶快看了他们一眼，“我还没开始发作。你们别出声，因为我告诉那爱打听的侍从你们已经睡觉去了。现在……我能感觉到就要发作了。快，趁我还作得了自己的主，听我说。当我发作时，我很可能会哀求你们，恳求你们给我松绑，又是软磨又是恐吓。他们说我会这样做。我会用一切最可爱和最可怕的话请求你们。但你们别听我的话。硬起心肠，堵起耳朵。因为我被绑着的时候你们就安全。但要是我一旦站起来，离开了这张椅子，那么我首先就要狂怒，过后”——他浑身发抖——“就变成一条可恶的毒蛇。”      “不用害怕我们放了你，”普德格伦说，“我们不希望遇见疯子，也不希望遇见毒蛇。”      “我也不想。”斯克罗布和吉尔异口同声说。      普德格伦悄悄说：“我们还是别太相信。要多留神。你们知道我们已经把别的一切都错过了。一旦他发作起来，他会很狡猾，这我不会奇怪。我们彼此信得过吗?我们大家不是都保证过无论他说什么，我们都不碰那些绳子吗?无论他说什么?”       “当然啦!”斯克罗布说。      “无论他说什么干什么都不能让我改变主意。”吉尔说。      “嘘，发生什么事了?”普德格伦说。      那骑士正在呻吟。他脸如死灰，身子在五花大绑中扭动。吉尔不知是不是为他难过，还是别的原因，竟觉得他比先前看上去更像个好点的人了。      “啊，”他呻吟道，“魔法，魔法……沉重，混乱，又冷又湿，邪恶的魔法网。活埋了。拖到地下，拖到黑暗里……有多少年了……我在这地狱里住了十年还是一千年?周围全是怪物。哦，可怜可怜吧。让我出去，让我回去。让我感受到风吹，看看天空……那儿以前有一个小水塘。你往水塘里看，就能看见所有的树在水中的倒影，一片绿色，树下面深处是蓝蓝的天。”      他一直在低声说话；这会儿他抬起头来，眼睛盯着他们，响亮而清楚地说：     “快!我现在神志清醒了。每天晚上我都是清醒的。只要我能从这把有魔法的骑子上起来，我就会一直清醒。我就又成了一个男子汉。但他们每天晚上都把我绑起来，因此每天晚上我的机会都消失了。但你们不是敌人。我不是你们的囚犯。快!砍掉这些绳子。”      “站好!沉住气。”普德格伦对两个孩子说。      “我恳求你们听我说，”骑士说，他强自镇定地说话，“他们有没有告诉你们，要是把我从这把椅子上放开，我就要杀掉你们，而且变成一条毒蛇?我从你们脸上就看出他们已经告诉你们了。这是谎言。实际上只有这一小时里我脑子才是清醒的：其余时间我都在魔法的迷惑下。你们不是地下人也不是女巫。你们干吗要站在他们一边?你们就行行好，给我松了绑吧。”       “沉住气!沉住气!沉住气!”他们三个相互提醒说。      “哦，你们真是铁石心肠，”骑士说，“相信我，你们面对一个不幸的人，他经受的折磨几乎是任何临死的人也忍受不了的。我有什么对不起你们的，你们竟站在我的敌人一边，让我经受这种痛苦?一分钟又一分钟过去了，现在只有你们能救我；等这一个小时过去了，我又要糊涂了——成为设计陷害男人的最毒辣的女巫的玩具，叭儿狗，不，十之八九是狗腿子和工具。惟独只有今天晚上，趁她不在的时候，你们才碰上一个千载难逢的机会。”      “这太可怕了。我真希望我们待在别的地方，等到他发作过后。”吉尔说。      “沉住气!”普德格伦说。      那个被绑着的人的声音这会儿变成尖叫了。“我说让我走。把我的剑给我。我的剑!一旦我自由了，我就要向地下人报仇，地下世界将千年万载议论我的复仇!”      “现在开始狂乱了，”斯克罗布说，“我希望那些绳结都牢靠。”      “是啊，”普德格伦说，“要是现在放开他，他会比原来的力量大上一倍。我的剑术不大好。他会杀死我们两个，这我不奇怪；这一来波尔就得独自对付那条蛇了。”       那个被绑住的人这会儿拼命使劲挣脱勒进他手腕和脚踝的绳索。“注意，”他说，“注意。有天晚上，我真的把绳子挣断了。但那时女巫在场。今晚你们可没有她帮你们。现在把我放了，我就是你们的朋友。否则我就是你们不共戴天的敌人。”      “他有多狡猾呀!”普德格伦说。      “我要求你们把我放了，”被绑住的人说，“爽快点。以全部的恐惧和全部的爱的名义，以上面世界明亮的天的名义，以伟大的狮王，以阿斯兰本人的名义，我命令你们——”       “啊呀!”他们三个像受了伤似的大叫起来。“这是指示，”普德格伦说，“这是指示里的话呀。”斯克罗布格外小心地说。“哦，我们怎么办呢?”吉尔说。      这问题倒难办了。要是他第一次偶然提起一个他们真正关心的名字，他们就把骑士放开，那么刚才彼此保证在任何情况下都不放开他又有什么用?反过来说，要是他们不打算遵照指示行事，那学指示还有什么用?不过，阿斯兰是否可能真的要他们给以他的名义提出松绑要求的任何人松绑呢——哪怕那人是个疯子?这会不会仅仅出于偶然呢?如果地下世界的女王知道有关指示的一切，就迫使骑士学说这个名字，就为了让他们落入圈套，那又怎么办呢?但是，假定这是真正的指示呢?……他们已经错过了三点，可不敢错过第四点了。      “哦，只要我们知道就好了!”吉尔说。      “我认为我们的确知道。”普德格伦说。      “你意思是说假如我们真的救了他，你认为一切都会好起来?”斯克罗布说。      “那个我不知道，”普德格伦说，“你瞧，阿斯兰并没告诉波尔会出什么事，他只告诉她干什么。那家伙一旦站起来，我们就死定了，这我不会奇怪。但放了他我们就不违背指示了。”      他们全都眼晴发亮，站在那儿你看看我，我看看你。这段时间可真难受。“好吧，”吉尔突然说，“让我们了结这件事吧。大家再见了……”他们互相握握手。骑士这会儿正在尖声喊叫，满脸全是汗。      “来吧，斯克罗布。”普德格伦说。它和斯克罗布抽出剑走到那个被绑住的人身边。      “以阿斯兰的名义，”他们说着开始井井有条地割断绳子。那人刚刚获得自由，就跳到房间那边，抓起他自己那把剑(那剑从他身上解下后就放在桌上)，抽出剑来。       “首先是你!”他叫着对准银椅劈下去。那一定是把好剑，银椅碰到剑锋就像绳子一样碎了，一会儿工夫，地板上就只剩下几块弯弯曲曲的碎片在发亮。不过椅子碎裂的时候，里面亮晃晃的一闪，有一种像打雷的声音，片刻间还有一种叫人恶心的味儿。)       “可恶的魔法工具，你就躺在那儿吧，”他说，“免得你的女主人把你再用在另一个受害人身上。”说着他转身打量他的救命恩人；脸上那种不知怎么总有点不对头的神情已经消失了。       “什么?”他转过身对普德格伦叫道，“难道我面前不是一个沼泽怪吗?——不是一个地地道道、活蹦乱跳的纳尼亚沼泽怪吗?”      “哦，原来你毕竟还是听说过纳尼亚的?”吉尔说。      “我中邪的时候忘记了纳尼亚吗?”骑士问，“好了，那一点和一切其他困扰都过去了。你们完全可以相信我知道纳尼亚，因为我就是纳尼亚的王子瑞廉，伟大的凯斯宾国王就是我父亲。”       “殿下，”普德格伦说着单腿跪下(两个孩子也照做)，“我们到这儿来的目的就是来找你的。”      “我的另两位救命恩人，你们是什么人啊?”王子问斯克罗布和吉尔。      “我们是阿斯兰本人从世界尽头以外派来寻找殿下的，”斯克罗布说，“我叫尤斯塔斯，曾经跟他一起航海到拉曼杜岛去。”      “我欠你们三个的情是我还也还不清的。”瑞廉王子说，“可我父亲呢?他还活着吗?”      “我们离开纳尼亚之前，他又乘船往东面去了，殿下，”普德格伦说，“但殿下必须考虑国王已经很老了。十有八九陛下必定死在半路上。”      “你说他老了。那我落到女巫手里有多久了呢?”      “自从殿下在纳尼亚北边的森林里失踪以来，已经十年多了。”      “十年!”王子说，一手在脸上擦了一把，像是要擦去往事。“是啊，我相信你。因为现在我清醒了，我能记起那段中了邪的生活，虽然我中邪时我记不得自己本来面貌。行啦，好朋友——可等一下!我听见楼梯上他们的脚步声了，(那种轻轻的，模模糊糊的脚步声，不是让人听了作呕吗?)呸!把门锁上，孩子。要不，还是待着吧。我有个比那更好的主意。要是阿斯兰给了我智慧，我就来骗骗这些地下人。你们看我的暗示行事。”       他果断地走到门口，把门打开。
Chapter 12
THE QUEEN OF UNDERLAND
TWO Earthmen entered, but instead of advancing into the room, they placed themselves one on each side of the door, and bowed deeply. They were followed immediately by the last person whom anyone had expected or wished to see: the Lady of the Green Kirtle, the Queen of Underland. She stood dead still in the doorway, and they could see her eyes moving as she took in the whole situation - the three strangers, the silver chair destroyed, and the Prince free, with his sword in his hand.
She turned very white; but Jill thought it was the sort of whiteness that comes over some people's faces not when they are frightened but when they are angry. For a moment the Witch fixed her eyes on the Prince, and there was murder in them. Then she seemed to change her mind.
"Leave us," she said to the two Earthmen. "And let none disturb us till I call, on pain of death." The gnomes padded away obediently, and the Witch-queen shut and locked the door.
"How now, my lord Prince," she said. "Has your nightly fit not yet come upon you, or is it over so soon? Why stand you here unbound? Who are these aliens? And is it they who have destroyed the chair which was your only safety?"
Prince Rilian shivered as she spoke to him. And no wonder: it is not easy to throw off in half an hour an enchantment which has made one a slave for ten years. Then, speaking with a great effort, he said:
"Madam, there will be no more need of that chair. And you, who have told me a hundred times how deeply you pitied me for the sorceries by which I was bound, will doubtless hear with joy that they are now ended for ever. There was, it seems, some small error in your Ladyship's way of treating them. These, my true friends, have delivered me. I am now in my right mind, and there are two things I will say to you. First - as for your Ladyship's design of putting me at the head of an army of Earthmen so that I may break out into the Overworld and there, by main force, make myself king over some nation that never did me wrong - murdering their natural lords and holding their throne as a bloody and foreign tyrant - now that I know myself, I do utterly abhor and renounce it as plain villainy. And second: I am the King's son of Narnia, Rilian, the only child of Caspian, Tenth of that name, whom some call Caspian the Seafarer. Therefore, Madam, it is my purpose, as it is also my duty, to depart suddenly from your Highness's court into my own country. Please it you to grant me and my friends safe conduct and a guide through your dark realm."
Now the Witch said nothing at all, but moved gently across the room, always keeping her face and eyes very steadily towards the Prince. When she had come to a little ark set in the wall not far from the fireplace, she opened it, and took out first a handful of a green powder. This she threw on the fire. It did not blaze much, but a very sweet and drowsy smell came from it. And all through the conversation which followed, that smell grew stronger, and filled the room, and made it harder to think. Secondly, she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin. She began to play it with her fingers - a steady, monotonous thrumming that you didn't notice after a few minutes. But the less you noticed it, the more it got into your brain and your blood. This also made it hard to think. After she had thrummed for a time (and the sweet smell was now strong) she began speaking in a sweet, quiet voice.
"Narnia?" she said. "Narnia? I have often heard your Lordship utter that name in your ravings. Dear Prince, you are very sick. There is no land called Narnia."
"Yes there is, though, Ma'am," said Puddleglum. "You see, I happen to have lived there all my life."
"Indeed," said the Witch. "Tell me, I pray you, where that country is?"
"Up there," said Puddleglum, stoutly, pointing overhead. "I - I don't know exactly where."
"How?" said the Queen, with a kind, soft, musical laugh. "Is there a country up among the stones and mortar of the roof?"
"No," said Puddleglum, struggling a little to get his breath. "It's in Overworld."
"And what, or where, pray is this . . . how do you call it. . . Overworld?"
"Oh, don't be so silly," said Scrubb, who was fighting hard against the enchantment of the sweet smell and the thrumming. "As if you didn't know! It's up above, up where you can see the sky and the sun and the stars. Why, you've been there yourself. We met you there."
"I cry you mercy, little brother," laughed the Witch (you couldn't have heard a lovelier laugh). "I have no memory of that meeting. But we often meet our friends in strange places when we dream. And unless all dreamed alike, you must not ask them to remember it."
"Madam," said the Prince sternly, "I have already told your Grace that I am the King's son of Narnia."
"And shalt be, dear friend," said the Witch in a soothing voice, as if she was humouring a child, "shalt be king of many imagined lands in thy fancies."
"We've been there, too," snapped Jill. She was very angry because she could feel enchantment getting hold of her every moment. But of course the very fact that she could still feel it, showed that it had not yet fully worked.
"And thou art Queen of Narnia too, I doubt not, pretty one," said the Witch in the same coaxing, half-mocking tone.
"I'm nothing of the sort," said Jill, stamping her foot. "We come from another world."
"Why, this is a prettier game than the other," said the Witch. "Tell us, little maid, where is this other world? What ships and chariots go between it and ours?"
Of course a lot of things darted into Jill's head at once: Experiment House, Adela Pennyfather, her own home, radio-sets, cinemas, cars, aeroplanes, ration-books, queues. But they seemed dim and far away. (Thrum thrum - thrum - went the strings of the Witch's instrument.) Jill couldn't remember the names of the things in our world. And this time it didn't come into her head that she was being enchanted, for now the magic was in its full strength; and of course, the more enchanted you get, the more certain you feel that you are not enchanted at all. She found herself saying (and at the moment it was a relief to say):
"No. I suppose that other world must be all a dream."
"Yes. It is all a dream," said the Witch, always thrumming.
"Yes, all a dream," said Jill.
"There never was such a world," said the Witch.
"No," said Jill and Scrubb, "never was such a world."
"There never was any world but mine," said the Witch.
"There never was any world but yours," said they.
Puddleglum was still fighting hard. "I don't know rightly what you all mean by a world," he said, talking like a man who hasn't enough air. "But you can play that fiddle till your fingers drop off, and still you won't make me forget Narnia; and the whole Overworld too. We'll never see it again, I shouldn't wonder. You may have blotted it out and turned it dark like this, for all I know. Nothing more likely. But I know I was there once. I've seen the sky full of stars. I've seen the sun coming up out of the sea of a morning and sinking behind the mountains at night. And I've seen him up in the midday sky when I couldn't look at him for brightness."
Puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect. The other three all breathed again and looked at one another like people newly awaked.
"Why, there it is!" cried the Prince. "Of course! The blessing of Aslan upon this honest Marsh-wiggle. We have all been dreaming, these last few minutes. How could we have forgotten it? Of course we've all seen the sun."
"By Jove, so we have!" said Scrubb. "Good for you, Puddleglum! You're the only one of us with any sense, I do believe."
Then came the Witch's voice, cooing softly like the voice of a wood-pigeon from the high elms in an old garden at three o'clock in the middle of a sleepy, summer afternoon; and it said:
"What is this sun that you all speak of? Do you mean anything by the word?"
"Yes, we jolly well do," said Scrubb.
"Can you tell me what it's like?" asked the Witch (thrum, thrum, thrum, went the strings).
"Please it your Grace," said the Prince, very coldly and politely. "You see that lamp. It is round and yellow and gives light to the whole room; and hangeth moreover from the roof. Now that thing which we call the sun is like the lamp, only far greater and brighter. It giveth light to the whole Overworld and hangeth in the sky."
"Hangeth from what, my lord?" asked the Witch; and then, while they were all still thinking how to answer her, she added, with another of her soft, silver laughs: "You see? When you try to think out clearly what this sun must be, you cannot tell me. You can only tell me it is like the lamp. Your sun is a dream; and there is nothing in that dream that was not copied from the lamp. The lamp is the real thing; the sun is but a tale, a children's story."
"Yes, I see now," said Jill in a heavy, hopeless tone. "It must be so." And while she said this, it seemed to her to be very good sense.
Slowly and gravely the Witch repeated, "There is no sun." And they all said nothing. She repeated, in a softer and deeper voice. "There is no sun." After a pause, and after a struggle in their minds, all four of them said together. "You are right. There is no sun." It was such a relief to give in and say it.
"There never was a sun," said the Witch.
"No. There never was a sun," said the Prince, and the Marsh-wiggle, and the children.
For the last few minutes Jill had been feeling that there was something she must remember at all costs. And now she did. But it was dreadfully hard to say it. She felt as if huge weights were laid on her lips. At last, with an effort that seemed to take all the good out of her, she said:
"There's Aslan."
"Aslan?" said the Witch, quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming. "What a pretty name! What does it mean?"
"He is the great Lion who called us out of our own world," said Scrubb, "and sent us into this to find Prince Rilian."
"What is a lion?" asked the Witch.
"Oh, hang it all!" said Scrubb. "Don't you know? How can we describe it to her? Have you ever seen a cat?"
"Surely," said the Queen. "I love cats."
"Well, a lion is a little bit - only a little bit, mind you like a huge cat - with a mane. At least, it's not like a horse's mane, you know, it's more like a judge's wig. And it's yellow. And terrifically strong."
The Witch shook her head. "I see," she said, "that we should do no better with your lion, as you call it, than we did with your sun. You have seen lamps, and so you imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun. You've seen cats, and now you want a bigger and better cat, and it's to be called a lion. Well, 'tis a pretty makebelieve, though, to say truth, it would suit you all better if you were younger. And look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without copying it from the real world, this world of mine, which is the only world. But even you children are too old for such play. As for you, my lord Prince, that art a man full grown, fie upon you! Are you not ashamed of such toys? Come, all of you. Put away these childish tricks. I have work for you all in the real world. There is no Narnia, no Overworld, no sky, no sun, no Aslan. And now, to bed all. And let us begin a wiser life tomorrow. But, first, to bed; to sleep; deep sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams."
The Prince and the two children were standing with their heads hung down, their cheeks flushed, their eyes half closed; the strength all gone from them; the enchantment almost complete. But Puddleglum, desperately gathering all his strength, walked over to the fire. Then he did a very brave thing. He knew it wouldn't hurt him quite as much as it would hurt a human; for his feet (which were bare) were webbed and hard and coldblooded like a duck's. But he knew it would hurt him badly enough; and so it did. With his bare foot he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth. And three things happened at once.
First, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less. For though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of burnt Marsh-wiggle, which is not at all an enchanting smell. This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
Secondly, the Witch, in a loud, terrible voice, utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, "What are you doing? Dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and I'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins."
Thirdly, the pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.
"One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a playworld which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."
"Oh, hurrah! Good old Puddleglum!" cried Scrubb and Jill. But the Prince shouted suddenly, "Ware! Look to the Witch."
When they did look their hair nearly stood on end.
The instrument dropped from her hands. Her arms appeared to be fastened to her sides. Her legs were intertwined with each other, and her feet had disappeared. The long green train of her skirt thickened and grew solid, and seemed to be all one piece with the writhing green pillar of her interlocked legs. And that writhing green pillar was curving and swaying as if it had no joints, or else were all joints. Her head was thrown far back and while her nose grew longer and longer, every other part of her face seemed to disappear, except her eyes. Huge flaming eyes they were now, without brows or lashes. All this takes time to write down; it happened so quickly that there was only just time to see it. Long before there was time to do anything, the change was complete, and the great serpent which the Witch had become, green as poison, thick as Jill's waist, had flung two or three coils of its loathsome body round the Prince's legs. Quick as lightning another great loop darted round, intending to pinion his sword-arm to his side. But the Prince was just in time. He raised his arms and got them clear: the living knot closed only round his chest - ready to crack his ribs like firewood when it drew tight.
The Prince caught the creature's neck in his left hand, trying to squeeze it till it choked. This held its face (if you could call it a face) about five inches from his own. The forked tongue flickered horribly in and out, but could not reach him. With his right hand he drew back his sword for the strongest blow he could give. Meanwhile Scrubb and Puddleglum had drawn their weapons and rushed to his aid. All three blows fell at once: Scrubb's (which did not even pierce the scales and did no good) on the body of the snake below the Prince's hand, but the Prince's own blow and Puddleglum's both on its neck. Even that did not quite kill it, though it began to loosen its hold on Rilian's legs and chest. With repeated blows they hacked off its head. The horrible thing went on coiling and moving like a bit of wire long after it had died; and the floor, as you may imagine, was a nasty mess.
The Prince, when he had breath, said, "Gentlemen, I thank you." Then the three conquerors stood staring at one another and panting, without another word, for a long time. Jill had very wisely sat down and was keeping quiet; she was saying to herself, "I do hope I don't faint or blub - or do anything idiotic."
"My royal mother is avenged," said Rilian presently. "This is undoubtedly the same worm that I pursued in vain by the fountain in the forest of Narnia, so many years ago. All these years I have been the slave of my mother's slayer. Yet I am glad, gentlemen, that the foul Witch took to her serpent form at the last. It would not have suited well either with my heart or with my honour to have slain a woman. But look to the lady." He meant Jill.
"I'm all right, thanks," said she.
"Damsel," said the Prince, bowing to her. "You are of a high courage, and therefore, I doubt not, you come of a noble blood in your own world. But come, friends. Here is some wine left. Let us refresh ourselves and each pledge his fellows. After that, to our plans."
"A jolly good idea, Sir," said Scrubb.      12、地下世界的女王      两个地下人进了门，但他们没有再走进房间里面，而是在门口一边一个站好，然后深深鞠躬。紧跟在他们后面的正是他们任何人最不愿意见到的人：那个绿衣夫人，地下世界的女王。她站在门口一动不动，他们看得出她眼珠转来转去，想了解一下整个局面——三个陌生人，银椅毁了，王子自由了，手上还拿着剑。      她脸色发白，但吉尔认为这种白不是有些人受惊时那种白，而是愤怒时的那种白。女巫盯着王子看了一会儿，眼神杀气腾腾，随后她似乎改了主意。“下去吧，”她对两个地下人说。“不准让人来打扰我们，违反命令一律处死。”小精灵乖乖地轻轻走掉了，巫婆女王把门关上，锁好。“怎么回事，王子殿下，”她说，“你每晚都要发作，现在还没发作吗?还是一下子发过就好了?你怎么没绑上就站在这儿?这些外人是谁呀?是他们把你惟一的救命椅子毁了吗?”      她跟瑞廉王子说话的时候，他打了个哆嗦。这也难怪，要在半小时之内摆脱一种使人当了十年奴隶的魔法可不容易。因此，他费了好大的劲才说：      “夫人，那把椅子已经用不着了。你曾经干百次告诉过我，你是多么深切地怜悯我受到魔法禁锢，你听到这魔法如今已经永远完蛋，无疑也会高兴的。看来，夫人对待这消息的方式似乎有点不大对头。是我这些真诚的朋友解救了我。我现在头脑清醒了，有两件事我要告诉你。首先——说到夫人设计的让我率领一支地下人的军队，以便破土而出到上面世界去，全靠武力让我在一个从来没有对不起我的国家里当国王——杀害他们原来的贵族，像个残忍的外国暴君那样霸占他们的王位——如今我清醒了，我绝对憎恶和放弃这种十足的罪恶勾当。其次，我是纳尼亚国王的儿子，瑞廉，人称航海家凯斯宾，凯斯宾十世的独子。夫人，因此，突然离开陛下的宫廷回到我自己的国家是我的目的，也是我的责任。请你授予我和我的朋友安全通行证，并派一个向导领我们通过你的黑暗王国。”       这会儿女巫一言不发，只是轻轻穿过房间，脸和眼睛始终牢牢对着王子。她来到火炉边不远，墙上一套小柜子旁边，打开柜子，拿出一把绿色的粉末，把粉末撒在火上。那粉末不大发光，只发出一股让人昏昏欲睡的香味。接下来大家谈话时，那股气味一直越来越浓，弥漫在整个房间里，使人动不了脑筋。其次，她拿出一件类似曼陀林的乐器。开始用手指弹着乐器——一种没有变化、单调的噔噔声，开头一会儿你并不在意，但你越不去注意这声音，这声音却越钻到你脑子里和血液里。这也使你动不了脑筋。她这么弹了一阵子(那股香味儿也更浓了)，就开始用一副甜蜜、沉着的嗓音说话。      “纳尼亚?”她说，      “纳尼亚?我常常听见殿下说胡话时提到那个名字。亲爱的王子，你病重了。根本没有叫纳尼亚的地方。”      “可是，夫人，有这块地方，”普德格伦说，“你瞧，我恰巧一辈子都住在那儿。”      “真的啊，”女巫说，“那么请你告诉我，那个国家在什么地方?”      “在上面，”普德格伦说着顽强地指着头顶上，“我——我不知道究竟在哪儿。”      “怎么?”女王说着发出一串亲切、柔和、美妙动听的笑声，“在上面的石头和屋顶的灰泥当中有个国家?”      “不，”普德格伦挣扎了一阵才恢复正常，“是在上面世界。”      “那么请告诉我……你怎么叫它上面世界，是怎么回事，在哪儿?”      “哦，别犯傻了，”斯克罗布说，他一直在拼命跟那股香味和噔噔声的魔法斗，“好像你不知道似的!那世界在上面，在你能看得见天，看得见太阳和星星的地方。咦，你自己也到上面去过，我们在那儿遇见过你。”      “请原谅，小兄弟，”女巫笑了(你从来没听到过比这更可爱的笑声)，“我可记不得这次见面。但我们做梦时常常在希奇古怪的地方遇见我们的朋友。除非所有的梦全都一样，你不能要求人家记住梦。”       “夫人，”王子坚定地说，“我已经告诉你了，我就是纳尼亚国王的儿子。”      “将来会的，亲爱的朋友，”女巫用安慰的声音说话，像是在哄孩子，“在你幻想中会成为很多想像中地方的国王。”      “我们也到过那儿。”吉尔厉声说。她能感觉到魔法正逐渐在控制她，所以很生气。但从她还能感觉到这事实来看，当然说明魔法还没有完全起作用。      “那么我确信你也是纳尼亚的女王了，小美人。”女巫用同样哄骗、半带嘲弄的口气说。      “我可不是那种人，”吉尔顿着脚说，“我们是另一个世界的人。”      “咦，这个游戏比另一个游戏更有趣了，”女巫说，“告诉我们，小姑娘，另一个世界在哪儿?你们的世界和我们的世界之间来往乘什么船和车?”      吉尔脑子里当然立刻就出现了好多东西：实验学校、阿黛拉;潘尼法瑟、她自己的家、收音机、电影院、汽车、飞机、配给供应车、排队。但这些事都模模糊糊，在很远很远的地方(噔——噔——噔，那女巫的乐器一直响个不停)，吉尔想不起我们世界里那些东西的名字了。这回她没想到自己中了魔法，因为魔法已经充分发挥作用。当然，你入魔越深，你就根本感觉不到自己中了魔法。她不知不觉中竟说(当时那么说了，倒松了一口气)：;       “不。我猜想那另外的世界一定完全是个梦。”      “是啊。那完全是个梦。”女巫说着手里一直噔噔地弹着。      “是啊，完全是个梦。”吉尔说。      “从来没有那么个世界。”女巫说。      “对，”吉尔和斯克罗布说，“从来没有那么个世界。”      “除了我的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”女巫说。      “除了你的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”他们说。       普德格伦仍然在苦苦搏斗。“我不大明白你们大家说的只有一个世界是什么意思，”它说，说话那模样就像一个人得不到充足的空气一样，“但你尽管把那琴弹到手指掉下来，还是不能让我忘记纳尼亚和整个的上面世界。我们再也看不见这些了，这我不奇怪。你不妨把这些一笔抹杀，让这些都变得这么黑，谁知道呢。很有可能吧。但我知道我曾经到过那儿。我看到过满是星星的天空。我看到过早上太阳从海上升起，晚上在群山后面落下。我还看见过正午天空的太阳，亮得我不敢正眼看着它。”      普德格伦的话起到令人十分振奋的效果。另外三个人全都重新呼吸，彼此对望着，就像人们刚刚醒来一样。       “咦，是啊，”王子叫道，“阿斯兰保佑这个正直的沼泽怪。刚才这几分钟，我们全在做梦。我们怎么能忘记呢?当然我们全见过太阳。”“天哪，我们都见过的，”斯克罗布说，“好样的，普德格伦!我真的相信你是我们当中惟一有点头脑的。”'       接着女巫开口了，声音很柔，同寂静的夏日下午三点钟，从老花园里高高的榆树上发出的野鸽子叫声一样低柔：      她说：      “你们大家说到的太阳是什么呀?你们那个字眼是有什么意思的吧?”      “是啊，完全有的。”斯克罗布说。      “你能告诉我那是什么样子的吗?”女巫问道(噔，噔，噔，琴弦还在响)。      “遵命，陛下，”王子十分冷淡而有礼貌地说，“你看看那盏灯。灯是圆的，黄色的，给整个房间带来了光。而且是在屋顶上挂着。这会儿我们称之为太阳的东西正像这盏灯，只是太阳大得多，也亮得多。它照亮整个上面世界，而且在天上挂着。”      “在什么地方挂着，殿下?”女巫问道，随后，在他们大家还在想着怎么回答她的时候，她又发出一阵银铃似的柔和笑声，加了一句，“瞧，你们都在拼命想弄明白这个太阳该是个什么东西，可你们却说不出来。你们只能告诉我太阳就像灯。你们的太阳是个梦；梦里的东西没一样不是模仿这灯的。灯是件真正的东西；太阳只是个故事，是童话。”      “是啊，现在我明白了，”吉尔说话声调沉重，绝望，“一定是这么回事。”她这么说的时候，似乎这话对她还是很有道理的。      女巫沉着地慢慢重复说道：“没有太阳。”他们都一声不吭。她声音更柔和更深沉地重复着。“没有太阳。”歇了一会儿，他们四个心里挣扎了一番之后一起说道，“你说得对，没有太阳。”他们屈服了，说了这句话好像松了一口气。      “从来就没有过太阳。”女巫说。      “对，从来就没有太阳。”王子、沼泽怪和两个孩子说道。      刚才这几分钟里吉尔一直觉得有什么事她无论如何得想出来。如今她想起来了。但要说出口可真难哪。她只觉得嘴唇上好沉好沉。她终于用尽全身力量说道：      “有阿斯兰。”      “阿斯兰?”女巫说着稍稍加快了噔噔噔的拍子，“多好听的名字!那是什么意思?”      “他是伟大的狮王，他把我们从我们自己的世界里叫出来，”斯克罗布说，“派我们到这儿来找瑞廉王子。”      “狮子是什么?”女巫问。      “啊呀，见鬼!”斯克罗布说，“难道你不知道?我们怎么才能对她形容狮子呢?你见过猫吗?”      “当然，”女王说，“我喜欢猫。”      “好吧，一只狮子就有点——听着，只有一点儿——像一只大猫——还有鬃毛。至少，它不像马鬃，你知道，更像法官的假发。鬃毛是黄的。而且非常强壮。”       女巫摇摇头。“我明白了，”她说，“我们看你们称之为狮子跟你们的太阳都是一回事。你们看见过灯，于是你们想像出一个更大更好的灯，把它叫做太阳。你们见过猫，现在你们想要一只更大更好的猫，你们就叫它做狮子。好了，这都是有趣的想像。不过，老实说，要是你们年纪小一点，这样说说会更合适些。瞧你们不从我这个真正的世界里偷学些什么，你们又怎么能想像得出呢，我这个世界才是惟一的世界。但即使是你们两个孩子玩这套游戏也太大了。至于你，王子殿下，你是个成年人了，真亏你做得出!你玩这种玩意儿就不害臊吗?来吧，你们大伙儿。把这套孩子气的把戏收起来。在真正的世界里，我有活儿给你们大家干。没有什么纳尼亚，没有上面的世界，没有天空，没有太阳，没有阿斯兰。现在大家都上床去吧。让我们明天开始过得更懂事吧。      但首先是上床、睡觉，睡得熟熟的，软软的枕头，好好睡一觉，不做荒唐的梦。”      王子和两个孩子站在那儿，搭拉着脑袋，脸蛋红红的，眼睛半开半闭；他们浑身无力，魔法几乎就大功告成了。不料普德格伦拼命鼓起全身力量，走到火炉边。接着它干了一件非常勇敢的事。它知道火会烧伤它，但不会像烧伤人那么严重。因为它光着的脚像鸭子一样有蹼，又硬，而且又是冷血的。但它知道火也会把它烧得够呛；果然如此。它光着脚就去踩火，把浅浅的炉床里的大部分火都碾成了灰。这一来立刻就发生了三件事。       第一，那股又香又浓的味道大为减少。因为尽管火还没完全扑灭，也已经灭了一大半，而且留下了沼泽怪烧伤的浓烈焦臭味，那就完全不是魔法的气味了。这一下顿时使每个人的脑子都清醒多了。王子和两个孩子又抬起头，睁开了眼睛。      第二，女巫一反刚才一直用的甜言蜜语声调，扯起嗓门，怪吓人地大声叫道，“你干什么?再敢碰碰我的火，脏泥巴，我要把你血管里的血烧起来。”      第三，疼痛使普德格伦的头脑一时完全清醒了，它完全知道自己真正的想法。要解除一种魔法，没有比疼痛的强烈刺激更管用的了。      “再说一句，夫人，”它说着从火炉边走回来，因为脚痛，走路一瘸一拐，“再说一句。你刚才说的一切都很对，这我不奇怪。但我这家伙一向喜欢知道最坏的情况，然后尽量往好处想。因此我不否认你说的一切。但即使如此，也还得再说上一句。假定我们只是梦见，或者说捏造出了那一切——树木啊，草地啊，太阳啊，月亮啊，星星啊，还有阿斯兰本身。假定这都是我们梦见的。那么我能说的一切就是，既然那样，那捏造出来的东西似乎比真正的东西重要得多。假定你这个王国的黑洞就是惟一世界的话。咳，那我可觉得是一个挺可怜的世界。想起这点来倒也有趣。要是你说得对，我们只是些小娃娃，凑起来玩游戏。但四个小娃娃玩的游戏能成为一个游戏世界，把你那真正的世界打得落花流水。那就是我忠于游戏世界的原因。即使没有阿斯兰来领导这个世界，我也站在阿斯兰一边。即使没有纳尼亚这个地方，我也要尽量像一个纳尼亚人那样生活。所以，感谢你好意招待我们吃晚饭，要是这两位先生和小姐准备好了，我们立刻就离开你的王宫，在黑暗中出发，去为寻找上面的世界奉献一生。我想，这并不是说我们的一生会过得很长，但要是这个世界就像你说的这样沉闷，那么这也不是什么大损失。”       “哦，好哇，普德格伦真是好样的!”斯克罗布和吉尔大声叫道。但王子突然嚷起来：“小心!看那女巫!”      大家一看顿时毛骨悚然。      那个乐器已经从她手里掉了下来。她两条胳臂似乎紧紧贴在身体两侧。两条腿缠在一起，脚已经不见了。长长的绿裙裙摆变厚，变成了实心的，似乎跟两根连在一起的腿拧成一根蠕动的绿柱子。而那根蠕动的绿柱子正歪歪扭扭，摇摇摆摆，仿佛浑身没有关节，要不然就是浑身都是关节。她的脑袋远远朝后仰着，鼻子变得越来越长，脸上除了眼睛以外，其他部分似乎都不见了。这会儿只见两只火红的大眼晴，没有眉毛也没有睫毛。所有这一切写下来虽很费时间，但事情发生得那么快，差点看都来不及看。他们还没工夫动手干什么，女巫早就变成了一条大毒蛇，像毒药一样绿幽幽，有吉尔的腰那么粗，已经把它那令人恶心的身体在王子腿上绕了两三圈。另外一大圈也像闪电般冲上来，打算把王子拿剑的那条胳臂贴身捆住。但王子正好及时举起了双臂，没给缠上。那活结只缠到他胸脯——准备收紧后把王子的肋骨当木柴般弄断。       王子左手抓住蛇颈，拼命想把它掐闷。这一下抓得蛇脸(要是能称作脸的话)离他的脸大约只有五英寸了。那根开叉的舌头吓人地不停吐出缩进，但够不着王子。他又举起右手，抽出剑，使劲劈下去。同时普德格伦和斯克罗布也都抽出武器，冲上去帮助他。一下子就向蛇刺了三下。斯克罗布那一下刺在王子手下面的蛇身上(他连蛇鳞也没刺穿，毫无用处)，不过王子本人和普德格伦那一下都刺中了蛇颈。      即使如此，也还没有杀死它，可是绕在瑞廉腿上和胸脯上的蛇身却开始松动了。他们接连又刺了好多下，才把蛇头砍掉。那可怕的怪物死后还在继续盘绕扭动，就像一根电线一样。你们也不难想像地板上已经弄得一团糟了。9       但等王子缓过气来，才说：“感谢诸位。”于是这三个胜利者站在那儿，面面相觑，喘着粗气，久久说不出一句话。吉尔已经很聪明地坐下了，一声不吭。她心里正在嘀咕：“我真希望自己别昏过去——也别哭——别干什么傻事。”.       “我母后的仇报了，”一会儿瑞廉说，“这条蛇无疑就是我多年前在纳尼亚森林喷泉边白白追捕的那条。这些年来我竞成了杀害我母亲的凶手的奴隶。可是我很高兴，诸位，这恶毒的女巫终于现出了她毒蛇的原形。否则杀掉一个女人跟我的良心或荣誉都不大相称。不过照料一下这位小姐吧。”他指的是吉尔。      “我没事儿，谢谢。”她说。      “小姐，”王子说着对她鞠了一躬，“你非常勇敢，因此，我深信你出身于你们自己的世界里的高贵门第。啊，来吧，朋友们，这儿还剩下一点酒，我们喝一点，为大伙儿干杯。过后我们再想想办法。”      “好主意，殿下。”斯克罗布说。
Chapter 13
UNDERLAND WITHOUT THE QUEEN
ALL felt that they had earned what Scrubb called a "breather". The Witch had locked the door and told the Earthmen not to disturb her, so there was no danger of interruption for the present. Their first business was, of course, Puddleglum's burnt foot. A couple of clean shirts from the Prince's bedroom, torn into strips, and well greased on the inside with butter and salad oil off the supper table, made a fairly good dressing. When this had been applied, they all sat down and had a little refreshment, and discussed plans for escaping from the Underworld.
Rilian explained that there were quite a lot of outlets by which one could get to the surface; he had been taken out through most of them at one time or another. But he had never gone out alone, only with the Witch; and he had always reached these outlets by going in a ship across the Sunless Sea. What the Earthmen would say if he went down to the harbour without the Witch, and with four strangers, and simply ordered a ship, no one could guess. But most likely they would ask awkward questions. On the other hand the new outlet, the one for the invasion of Overworld, was on this side of the sea, and only a few miles away. The Prince knew that it was nearly finished; only a few feet of earth divided the diggings from the outer air. It was even possible that it had now been quite finished. Perhaps the Witch had come back to tell him this and to start the attack. Even if it was not, they could probably dig themselves out by that route in a few hours - if they could only get there without being stopped, and if only they found the diggings unguarded. But those were the difficulties.
"If you ask me -" began Puddleglum, when Scrubb interrupted.
"I say," he asked, "what's that noise?"
"I've been wondering that for some time!" said Jill.
They had all, in fact, been hearing the noise but it had begun and increased so gradually that they did not know when they had first noticed it. For a time it had been only a vague disquiet like gentle winds, or traffic very far away. Then it swelled to a murmur like the sea. Then came rumblings and rushings. Now there seemed to be voices as well and also a steady roaring that was not voices.
"By the Lion," said Prince Rilian, "it seems this silent land has found a tongue at last." He rose, walked to the window, and drew aside the curtains. The others crowded round him to look out.
The very first thing they noticed was a great red glow. Its reflection made a red patch on the roof of the Underworld thousands of feet above them, so that they could see a rocky ceiling which had perhaps been hidden in darkness ever since the world was made. The glow itself came from the far side of the city so that many buildings, grim and great, stood up blackly against it. But it also cast its light down many streets that ran from it towards the castle. And in those streets something very strange was going on. The closely-packed, silent crowds of Earthmen had vanished. Instead, there were figures darting about by ones, or twos, or threes. They behaved like people who do not want to be seen: lurking in shadow behind buttresses or in doorways, and then moving quickly across the open into fresh places of hiding. But the strangest thing of all, to anyone who knew the gnomes, was the noise. Shouts and cries came from all directions. But from the harbour there came a low, rumbling roar which grew steadily louder and was already shaking the whole city.
"What's happened to the Earthmen?" said Scrubb. "Is it them shouting?"
"'Tis hardly possible," said the Prince. "I never heard one of the rascals so much as speak with a loud voice in all the weary years of my bondage. Some new devilry, I don't doubt."
"And what is that red light over there?" asked Jill. "Is something on fire?"
"If you ask me," said Puddleglum, "I should say that was the central fires of the Earth breaking out to make a new volcano. We'll be in the middle of it, I shouldn't wonder."
"Look at that ship!" said Scrubb. "Why's it coming on so quickly? No one's rowing it."
"Look, look!" said the Prince. "The ship is already far this side of the harbour - it is in the street. Look! All the ships are driving into the city! By my head, the sea's rising. The flood is upon us. Aslan be praised, this castle stands on high ground. But the water comes on grimly fast."
"Oh, what can be happening?" cried Jill. "Fire and water and all those people dodging about the streets."
"I'll tell you what it is," said Puddleglum. "That Witch has laid a train of magic spells so that whenever she was killed, at that same moment her whole kingdom would fall to pieces. She's the sort that wouldn't so much mind dying herself if she knew that the chap who killed her was going to be burned, or buried, or drowned five minutes later."
"Hast hit it, friend wiggle," said the Prince. "When our swords hacked off the Witch's head, that stroke ended all her magic works, and now the Deep Lands are falling to pieces. We are looking on the end of Underworld."
"That's it, Sir," said Puddleglum. "Unless it should happen to be the end of the whole world."
"But are we just going to stay here and - wait?" gasped Jill.
"Not by my counsel," said the Prince. "I would save my horse, Coalblack, and the Witch's Snowflake (a noble beast and worthy of a better mistress) which are both stabled in the courtyard. After that, let us make shift to get out to high ground and pray that we shall find an outlet. The horses can carry two each at need, and if we put them to it they may outstrip the flood."
"Will your Highness not put on armour?" asked Puddleglum. "I don't like the look of those" - and he pointed down to the street. Everyone looked down. Dozens of creatures (and now that they were close, they obviously were Earthmen) were coming up from the direction of the harbour. But they were not moving like an aimless crowd. They behaved like modern soldiers in an attack, making rushes and taking cover, anxious not to be seen from the castle windows.
"I dare not see the inside of that armour again," said the Prince. "I rode in it as in a movable dungeon, and it stinks of magic and slavery. But I will take the shield."
He left the room and returned with a strange light in his eyes a moment later.
"Look, friends," he said, holding out the shield towards them. "An hour ago it was black and without device; and now, this." The shield had turned bright as silver, and on it, redder than blood or cherries, was the figure of the Lion.
"Doubtless," said the Prince, "this signifies that Aslan  will be our good lord, whether he means us to live or die. And all's one, for that. Now, by my counsel, we shall all kneel and kiss his likeness, and then all shake hands one with another, as true friends that may shortly be parted. And then, let us descend into the city and take the adventure that is sent us."
And they all did as the Prince had said. But when Scrubb shook hands with Jill, he said, "So long, Jill. Sorry I've been a funk and so ratty. I hope you get safe home," and Jill said, "So long, Eustace. And I'm sorry I've been such a pig." And this was the first time they had ever used Christian names, because one didn't do it at school.
The Prince unlocked the door and they all went down the stairs: three of them with drawn swords, and Jill with drawn knife. The attendants had vanished and the great room at the foot of the Prince's stairs was empty. The grey, doleful lamps were still burning and by their light they had no difficulty in passing gallery after gallery and descending stairway after stairway. The noises from outside the castle were not so easily heard here as they had been in the room above. Inside the house all was still as death, and deserted. It was as they turned a corner into the great hall on the ground floor that they met their first Earthman - a fat, whitish creature with a very piglike face who was gobbling up all the remains of food on the tables. It squealed (the squeal also was very like a pig's) and darted under a bench, whisking its long tail out of Puddleglum's reach in the nick of time. Then it rushed away through the far door too quickly to be followed.
From the hall they came out into the courtyard. Jill, who went to a riding school in the holidays, had just noticed the smell of a stable (a very nice, honest, homely smell it is to meet in a place like Underland) when Eustace said, "Great Scott! Look at that!" A magnificent rocket had risen from somewhere beyond the castle walls and broken into green stars.
"Fireworks!" said Jill in a puzzled voice.
"Yes," said Eustace, "but you can't imagine those Earth people letting them off for fun! It must be a signal."
"And means no good to us, I'll be bound," said Puddleglum.
"Friends," said the Prince, "when once a man is launched on such an adventure as this, he must bid farewell to hopes and fears, otherwise death or deliverance will both come too late to save his honour and his reason. Ho, my beauties" (he was now opening the stable door). "Hey cousins! Steady, Coalblack! Softly now, Snowflake! You are not forgotten."
The horses were both frightened by the strange lights and the noises. Jill, who had been so cowardly about going through a black hole betweeen one cave and another, went in without fear between the stamping and snorting beasts, and she and the Prince had them saddled and bridled in a few minutes. Very fine they looked as they came out into the courtyard, tossing their heads. Jill mounted Snowflake, and Puddleglum got up behind her. Eustace got up behind the Prince on Coalblack. Then with a great echo of hoofs, they rode out of the main gateway into the street.
"Not much danger of being burnt. That's the bright side of it," observed Puddleglum, pointing to their right. There, hardly a hundred yards away, lapping against the walls of the houses, was water.
"Courage!" said the Prince. "The road there goes down steeply. That water has climbed only half up the greatest hill in the city. It might come so near in the first half-hour and come no nearer in the next two. My fear is more of that -" and he pointed with his sword to a great tall Earthman with boar's tusks, followed by six others of assorted shapes and sizes who had just dashed out of a side street and stepped into the shadow of the houses where no one could see them.
The Prince led them, aiming always in the direction of the glowing red light but a little to the left of it. His plan was to get round the fire (if it was a fire) on to high ground, in hope that they might find their way to the new diggings. Unlike the other three, he seemed to be almost enjoying himself. He whistled as he rode, and sang snatches of an old song about Corin Thunder-fist of Archenland. The truth is, he was so glad at being free from his long enchantment that all dangers seemed a game in comparison. But the rest found it an eerie journey.
Behind them was the sound of clashing and entangled ships, and the rumble of collapsing buildings. Overhead was the great patch of lurid light on the roof of the Underworld. Ahead was the mysterious glow, which did not seem to grow any bigger. From the same direction came a continual hubbub of shouts, screams, cat-calls, laughter, squeals, and bellowings; and fireworks of all sorts rose in the dark air. No one could guess what they meant. Nearer to them, the city was partly lit up by the red glow, and partly by the very different light of the dreary Gnome lamps. But there were many places where neither of these lights fell, and those places were jet-black. And in and out of those places the shapes of Earthmen were darting and slipping all the time, always with their eyes fixed on the travellers, always trying to keep out of sight themselves. There were big faces and little faces, huge eyes like fishes' eyes and little eyes like bears'. There were feathers and bristles, horns and tusks, noses like whipcord, and chins so long that they looked like beards. Every now and then a group of them would get too big or come too near. Then the Prince would brandish his sword and make a show of charging them. And the creatures, with all manner of hootings, squeakings, and cluckings, would dive away into the darkness.
But when they had climbed many steep streets and were far away from the flood, and almost out of the town on the inland side, it began to be more serious. They were now close to the red glow and nearly on a level with it, though they still could not see what it really was. But by its light they could see their enemies more clearly. Hundreds - perhaps a few thousands - of gnomes were all moving towards it. But they were doing so in short rushes, and whenever they stopped, they turned and faced the travellers.
"If your Highness asked me," said Puddleglum, "I'd say those fellows were meaning to cut us off in front."
"That was my thought too, Puddleglum," said the Prince. "And we can never fight our way through so many. Hark you! Let us ride forth close by the edge of yonder house. And even as we reach it, do you slip off into its shadow. The Lady and I will go forward a few paces. Some of these devils will follow us, I doubt not; they are thick behind us. Do you, who have long arms, take one alive if you may, as it passes your ambush. We may get a true tale of it or learn what is their quarrel against us."
"But won't the others all come rushing at us to rescue the one we catch," said Jill in a voice not so steady as she tried to make it.
"Then, Madam," said the Prince, "you shall see us die fighting around you, and you must commend yourself to the Lion. Now, good Puddleglum."
The Marsh-wiggle slipped off into the shadow as quickly as a cat. The others, for a sickening minute or so, went forward at a walk. Then suddenly from behind them there broke out a series of blood-curdling screams, mixed with the familiar voice of Puddleglum, saying, "Now then! Don't cry out before you're hurt, or you will be hurt, see? Anyone would think it was a pig being killed."
"That was good hunting," exclaimed the Prince, immediately turning Coalblack and coming back to the corner of the house. "Eustace," he said, "of your courtesy, take Coalblack's head." Then he dismounted, and all three gazed in silence while Puddleglum pulled his catch out into the light. It was a most miserable little gnome, only about three feet long. It had a sort of ridge, like a cock's comb (only hard), on the top of its head, little pink eyes, and a mouth and chin so large and round that its face looked like that of a pigmy hippopotamus. If they had not been in such a tight place, they would have burst into laughter at the sight of it.
"Now, Earthman," said the Prince, standing over it and holding his sword point very near the prisoner's neck, "speak, up, like an honest gnome, and you shall go free. Play the knave with us, and you are but a dead Earthman. Good Puddleglum, how can it speak while you hold its mouth tight shut?"
"No, and it can't bite either," said Puddleglum. "If I had the silly soft hands that you humans have (saving your Highness's reverence) I'd have been all over blood by now. Yet even a Marsh-wiggle gets tired of being chewed.'
"Sirrah," said the Prince to the gnome, "one bite and you die. Let its mouth open, Puddleglum."
"Oo-ee-ee," squealed the Earthman, "let me go, let me go. It isn't me. I didn't do it."
"Didn't do what?" asked Puddleglum.
"Whatever your Honours say I did do," answered the creature.
"Tell me your name," said the Prince, "and what you Earthmen are all about today."
"Oh please, your Honours, please, kind gentlemen," whimpered the gnome. "Promise you will not tell the Queen's grace anything I say."
"The Queen's grace, as you call her," said the Prince sternly, "is dead. I killed her myself."
"What!" cried the gnome, opening its ridiculous mouth wider and wider in astonishment. "Dead? The Witch dead? And by your Honour's hand?" It gave a huge sigh of relief and added, "Why then your Honour is a friend!"
The Prince withdrew his sword an inch or so. Puddleglum let the creature sit up. It looked round on the four travellers with its twinkling, red eyes, chuckled once or twice, and began.      13、没有女王的地下世界      大家都觉得他们已经获得了斯克罗布所说的“片刻休息”。女巫刚才已经锁上了门，而且吩咐地下人别来打扰她。因此目前没有被人打扰的危险。他们的第一件事当然是照料普德格伦烧伤的那只脚。他们从王子卧室里拿来了两三件干净的衬衣，撕成一条条，里面涂上晚饭桌上的黄油和色拉油，就成了绝妙的敷料。敷好伤以后，他们都坐下吃了一些茶点，讨论逃出地下世界的计划。      瑞廉解释说这儿有很多通到地面的出口，他以前多次被带领着走过其中大部分出口。但他从来没有单独出去过，只跟着女巫去过；而且他到这些出口总要乘船，穿过暗无天日海。假如他到港口去，身边没有女巫，却是四个陌生人，开口就要一条船，那些地下人会怎么说可没人猜得出。不过他们十之八九会问一些难以回答的问题。另一方面，那个新的出口，那个为侵略上面世界而挖的出口，倒在海的这边，而且只有几英里路。王子知道那个出口已经快完工了，掘的地方跟外面的空间只相隔几英尺土层了。甚至可能现在就已完工了。也许女巫回来就是告诉他这件事，准备发动进攻。即使还没完工，只要他们能不受阻挡，到得了那儿，只要他们发现挖掘的地方没人看守着，他们自己顺着那条路线在几小时之内大概也能挖出去。但那两点都是难关。      “依我说呀……”普德格伦刚开口说，斯克罗布就打断了它。      “喂，”他问，“那是什么声音?”      “我心里纳闷了好一阵子了!”吉尔说。      事实上他们全都一直听到这种声音，但这声音是逐步响起来的，因此他们不知道自己几时初次注意到这声音。有一段时间，那只是一种隐隐约约的骚动，像轻轻的风声，或是远处的人来车往声。随后就增强为海涛般的沙沙声。接着又传来了隆隆声和哗啦啦声。这会儿似乎还有说话声，还夹杂着一种不是说话声的连续吼声。       “狮王在上，”瑞廉王子说，“看来这片沉默的土地终于能开口了。”他站起来，走向窗边，拉开窗帘，其他几个都围在他身边往外看。      他们注意到的第一件事就是一大片红光。红光在他们上面几千英尺高处地下世界顶部反射出一片红色，因此他们能看见一片岩石天花板，也许天花板从这个世界造好以来一直就隐蔽在黑暗中。那片红光来自城市的另一边，因此好多阴森森的大房子在红光衬托下黑压压地矗立着。但红光也照到很多从那儿通向城堡的街道，那些街道上正出了些怪事。那些挨挨挤挤、一声不吭的地下人群已经消失了。       只见三三两两的人影到处冲来冲去。他们显得像人们不希望让人看见一样：偷偷潜伏在扶壁后的阴影里，或者门口，然后很快穿过空地，到新的隐蔽处去。但对任何了解这些小精灵的人来说，最奇怪的事就是声音。四面八方都传来吵吵嚷嚷的声音。不过从港口方面却传来一种低沉的隆隆吼声，逐渐变得更响，而且已经震撼了整个城市。       “地下人出什么事了?”斯克罗布说，“是他们在喊叫吗?”      “这不大可能，”王子说，“在我被监禁的漫长岁月里，从来没听见过哪个无赖大声说话。你看，这是什么新魔法。”      “那边那片红光是什么呢?”吉尔说，“是着火了吧?”      “依我说呀，”普德格伦说，“那是地心的火喷出来形成一个新的火山。我们就在火山的中央，这我不奇怪。”      “瞧那条船哪!”斯克罗布说，“为什么船走得那么快?没人在船上划桨呀。”      “瞧，瞧!”王子说，“船已经开到港口这一边来了——船开到街上来了。瞧，所有的船都开进城来了!啊呀，海水上涨了。要发洪水了。赞美阿斯兰，这个城堡造在高地上。但海水涨起来快得要命。”       “哎呀，会出什么事呢?”吉尔叫道，“又是水，又是火，还有那些人在街上躲躲闪闪的。”      “我告诉你是怎么回事吧。”普德格伦说，“那个女巫已经设下了一连串魔法咒语，因此无论什么时候她被杀了，她的王国同时也就崩溃了。要是她知道杀掉她的人五分钟以后就要被烧死，或活埋，或淹死，她那种坏蛋就是死也不在乎。”       “说得对，沼泽怪朋友，”王子说，“当我们的剑砍下了女巫的脑袋，那一下就把她的一切魔法都结束了，如今幽深王国正在崩溃。我们正眼看着地下世界的末日呢。”       “就是这么回事，殿下，”普德格伦说，“除非这恰好也是整个世界的末日。”      “可我们就这么待在这儿——等着?”吉尔气喘吁吁地说。      “依我之见这不成，”王子说，“我要去救我的马黑炭，还有女巫的马雪花(那是一匹好马，值得找一个更好的女主人)，这两匹马都在院子里的马厩里。过后，我们赶快骑着马到高地上去，但愿我们能找到一个出口。必要时一匹马可以骑两个人，要是我们骑着马，马也可以越过洪水。”       “殿下不披上盔甲吗?”普德格伦问道，“我不喜欢那些东西的样子——”他朝街下指指，大家都朝下看。好多人(现在他们走近了，显然是地下人)正从港口方向走过来。:       他们不像是没有目的走动的人群，他们的举止就像发动攻击的现代士兵，一边向前冲，一边找隐蔽，急于不让城堡窗户里的人看见。      “我不敢再看那副盔甲里面，”王子说，“我披上那副盔甲骑马就像关在一个活动的土牢里，盔甲里有一股魔法和奴役的恶臭。不过我要带上那面盾。”      他离开了房间，过了一会儿他回来了，眼睛里发出奇异的光。      “瞧，朋友们，”他说着把盾举起来对着他们，“一小时以前盾还是黑的，没有纹章；现在啊，瞧这个。”那盾已经变得银光闪闪，上面还有比血、比樱桃更红的狮王图像。      “无疑，”王子说，“这就表明阿斯兰将成为我们的好主宰，不论他叫我们死还是活。其实，反正都一样。现在我劝大家都跪下，亲亲阿斯兰的像，然后彼此握握手，就像好朋友可能马上就要分别一样。接着让我们下去，到城里去经受降临到我们头上的风险。”       他们全都照王子所说的办了。不过斯克罗布跟吉尔握手时，他说，“别了，吉尔，很抱歉，我过去是个胆小鬼，而且十分讨厌。希望你能平安回家去。”吉尔说，“别了，尤斯塔斯，很抱歉，我过去那么蠢。”这是他们第一次彼此称呼名字，因为在学校里大家都不叫名字的。      王子打开了门，他们都走下楼去：三个拿着出鞘的剑，吉尔手里拿着出鞘的刀。那些随从都不见了，王子楼梯脚下那间大房间里空空荡荡。那些灰沉沉、阴森森的灯仍然亮着，借着灯光他们亳不费力地走过一条条走廊，走下一段又一段楼梯。城堡外面的声音在这儿倒不如他们在上面房间听得清楚。屋里寂静如死，空无一人。他们转了一个弯来到底层大厅时才遇到了第一个地下人——一个苍白的胖子，长着一张猪样的脸，正大口大口吃着桌上的残羹剩饭。它尖叫一声(叫声也很像猪叫)，就冲到一条长凳下，长尾巴一挥，正好没让普德格伦抓住。随后它飞快地从另一边门冲了出去，追也追不上了。       他们从门厅来到院子。吉尔在假日里上过骑马学校，恰好闻到一股马厩的味儿(在地下世界这种地方闻到这种味儿，可真好闻，又纯正又亲切)。这时尤斯塔斯说，“天哪!看那边!”城堡墙后的什么地方升起了一股壮丽的焰火，碎裂成很多绿星星。      “焰火!”吉尔迷惑不解地说。      “是啊，”尤斯塔斯说，“但你不能以为那些地下人是放着玩的!那一定是个信号。”      “我敢说，对我们可不妙。”普德格伦说。      “朋友们，”王子说，“一旦一个人开始冒这么大的风险，就必须把希望和恐惧置之度外，否则死神或解脱都来不及保全他的荣誉和理智。嗬，我的美人儿(他打开了马厩门)。嗨，老朋友!黑炭，稳住。别出声，雪花!没有忘记你。”      两匹马都被那些奇怪的亮光和闹声吓坏了。吉尔穿过山洞之间的黑洞时胆子那么小，现在却毫无畏惧地走到两匹又顿脚又喷鼻的牲口当中，她和王子一会儿就把马装好鞍子和笼头。两匹马牵出来时仰着头，看来十分神气。吉尔骑上雪花，普德格伦坐在她后面，尤斯塔斯跨上黑炭，坐在王子后面。然后只听得蹄声旷得旷得，他们就骑着马出了大门，向街上驰去。       “幸亏烧伤没什么大的危险。”普德格伦说，一面指着他们右面。那边，不到一百码以外，就有海水在拍打着屋子的墙壁了。      “鼓起勇气!”王子说，“那边的下坡路陡，海水只升到城里最大一座山的半山腰。开头半小时海水离我们可能很近，接下来两小时就不会更近。我更担心的倒是……”他用剑指着一个身高七英尺的大个子地下人，那人长着一口獠牙，后面跟着另外六个各种形状、高矮不一的地下人，他们刚从一条小街里冲出来，躲进人们看不见的屋子的阴影里。      王子带领大家直奔那片红光的方向，但稍稍偏左一点，他的计划是绕过那片火(如果那是火的话)，登上高地，希望能找到路通往新挖的出口。他跟其他三个人不同，似乎有点自得其乐。骑马时还吹着口哨，还唱起歌颂阿钦兰王国的霹雳拳击手柯林的一首老歌的片断。事实上他因为长期受魔法幽禁，一旦解脱出来感到十分高兴，相比之下，一切危险似乎只是儿戏了。但其他人都觉得这段路程阴森可怕。"       他们后面传来船只互相碰撞、缠绕的声音，建筑物倒下的轰隆隆声。头项是地下世界顶部那一大片火红的光。前面就是那神秘的红光，那光似乎并没有变得大些。从同一方向还不断传来吵闹、呼喊、尖叫、口哨、哄笑、惨叫、怒吼，闹成一片；黑夜中还升起各种各样的焰火。谁也猜不出这是什么意思。离他们近一点的地方，城市有部分地方被那片红光照亮，部分地方被那些大不相同的阴森森的小精灵的灯照亮。       不过还有很多地方两种光都照不到，仍然一片漆黑。地下人的身影就在那些地方不断地冲进去，溜出来，眼睛一直盯着这一行人，始终尽量避开他们的视线。那些人中有的是大脸，有的是小脸，有的长着鱼眼般的大眼睛，有的长着熊眼般的小眼睛，有长着羽毛的，有长着鬃毛的，有长角的，有长獠牙的，有的鼻子长得像鞭绳，有的下巴长得像胡子。有时遇上一群人人数太多，或者靠得太近。王子就挥舞宝剑，装出要打他们的架势。这些家伙就发出各种叫声，有的唬唬叫，有的叽叽叫，有的吱吱叫，然后蹿到黑暗中去。       但等他们爬上一条又一条的陡峭街道，离洪水很远了，而且几乎出了城到内陆一边，事态变得更严重了。这会儿他们已经靠近这片红光，几乎和红光处在同一高度，可是他们仍然看不出这光是怎么回事。不过在这片光照下，他们能把敌人看得更清楚。成百个，也许有几千个小精灵都在朝红光走去。但他们走起路来蜂拥而上，一旦停下，他们就转身面对着这一行人。-       普德格伦说：“依我说呀，这些家伙是打算从正面把我们截住。”      “我也是这么想，普德格伦，”王子说，“我们休想从那么多人中杀出一条路来。你们听好!我们往前骑到靠那边房子跟前。我们刚走到，你就溜到阴影里。我和小姐就再往前走几步。我相信有些妖怪就会跟着我们；他们密密麻麻都躲在我们后面呢。你的手臂长，要是可能的话，碰到哪个经过你埋伏的地方，就抓一个活的。我们可以从它嘴里打听到真相，了解他们究竟跟我们有什么过不去的事。”      “可其他的人会不会全都朝我们冲过来抢救那个给我们抓住的呢?”吉尔说话的嗓音不像她竭力装出来那么镇静。      “那么，小姐，”王子说，“你就将看见我们在你身边血战至死，而你必须给狮王以好印象。来吧，好普德格伦。”      沼泽怪像只猫似的迅速溜到阴影里去。其余的人熬过了一两分钟，又继续往前走。接着他们身后忽然传来一连串令人心惊胆战的尖叫声，夹杂着普德格伦那熟悉的声音在说，“行了，别叫了，免得伤着，不然你就真要伤着了，懂吗?人家听了还以为要杀猪呢。”      “抓得好。”王子喝彩道，一面马上把黑炭调转身子，回到屋角上。“尤斯塔斯，”他说，“请你拉住黑炭的头。”随后他下了马，三个人都默默注视着普德格伦把抓住的东西拉到亮处。一看原来是个可怜透顶的小精灵，大约只有三英尺高。头顶上有个像鸡冠似的脊(只是硬邦邦的)，粉红的小眼睛，嘴和下巴又大又圆，那张脸看上去就像只小河马。如果他们不是处在这么一种困境中，看见这副模样准会捧腹大笑。       “好了，地下人，”王子说，一面监视着它，一面把手里的剑直指它的脖子，“老老实实说出来，就放你自由。跟我们耍花招，你就死定了。普德格伦，你紧紧抓住它的嘴，它怎么能说话呢?”       “对，而且它也不能咬人，”普德格伦说，“如果我也长了一双你们人类那样可笑的软绵绵的手(尊贵的殿下除外)，这会儿我早就浑身是血了。不过连沼泽怪也不喜欢老被它嚼啊。”       “小王子!”王子对小精灵说，“再咬一口，就叫你死。让它张嘴，普德格伦。”      “咦——咦——咦，”那地下人尖声叫喊，“让我走，让我走。不是我。我没干。”      “没干什么?”普德格伦问。      “凡是各位大人说我干的，我都没干。”那家伙答道。      “告诉我，你叫什么名字，”王子说，“还有你们地下人今天都在干什么?”      “哦，求求你们各位大人，求求你们，好心的老爷们，”那小精灵哭着说，“答应我，可别把我说的任何事告诉女王陛下。”      “你所称呼的女王陛下，”王子严厉地说，“已经死了，我亲手杀了她。”      “什么?”那小精灵叫道，那张可笑的嘴巴惊奇地张得越来越大。“死了?女巫死了?而且是大人亲手杀的?”它放心地大大松了口气，又加了一句，“咦，那么说大人是朋友了!”       王子把剑抽回了一两英寸。普德格伦让这家伙坐起来。      它那发亮的红眼睛在大家脸上一一看着，嘻嘻笑了两声，这才开始说话。
Chapter 14
THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD
"MY name is Golg," said the gnome. "And I'll tell your Honours all I know. About an hour ago we were all going about our work - her work, I should say - sad and silent, same as we've done any other day for years and years. Then there came a great crash and bang. As soon as they heard it, everyone says to himself, I haven't had a song or a dance or let off a squib for a long time; why's that? And everyone thinks to himself, Why, I must have been enchanted. And then everyone says to himself, I'm blessed if I know why I'm carrying this load, and I'm not going to carry it any farther: that's that. And down we all throw our sacks and bundles and tools. Then everyone turns and sees the great red glow over yonder. And everyone says to himself, What's that? and everyone answers himself and says, There's a crack or chasm split open and a nice warm glow coming up through it from the Really Deep Land, a thousand fathom under us."
"Great Scott," exclaimed Eustace, "are there other lands still lower down?"
"Oh yes, your Honour," said Golg. "Lovely places; what we call the Land of Bism. This country where we are now, the Witch's country, is what we call the Shallow Lands. It's a good deal too near the surface to suit us. Ugh! You might almost as well be living outside, on the surface itself. You see, we're all poor gnomes from Bism whom the Witch has called up here by magic to work for her. But we'd forgotten all about it till that crash came and the spell broke. We didn't know who we were or where we belonged. We couldn't do anything, or think anything, except what she put into our heads. And it was glum and gloomy things she put there all those years. I've nearly forgotten how to make a joke or dance a jig. But the moment the bang came and the chasm opened and the sea began rising, it all came back. And of course we all set off as quick as we could to get down the crack and home to our own place. And you can see them over there all letting off rockets and standing on their heads for joy. And I'll be very obliged to your Honours if you'll soon let me go and join in."
"I think this is simply splendid," said Jill. "I'm so glad we freed the gnomes as well as ourselves when we cut off the Witch's head! And I'm so glad they aren't really horrid and gloomy any more than the Prince really was well, what he seemed like."
"That's all very well, Pole," said Puddleglum cautiously. "But those gnomes didn't look to me like chaps who were just running away. It looked more like military formations, if you ask me. Do you look me in the face, Mr Golg, and tell me you weren't preparing for battle?"
"Of course we were, your Honour," said Golg. "You see, we didn't know the Witch was dead. We thought she'd be watching from the castle. We were trying to slip away without being seen. And then when you three came out with swords and horses, of course everyone says to himself, Here it comes: not knowing that his Honour wasn't on the Witch's side. And we were determined to fight like anything rather than give up the hope of going back to Bism."
"I'll be sworn 'tis an honest gnome," said the Prince. "Let go of it, friend Puddleglum. As for me, good Golg, I have been enchanted like you and your fellows, and have but newly remembered myself. And now, one question more. Do you know the way to those new diggings, by which the sorceress meant to lead out an army against Overland?"
"Ee-ee-ee!" squeaked Golg. "Yes, I know that terrible road. I will show you where it begins. But it is no manner of use your Honour asking me to go with you on it. I'll die rather."
"Why?" asked Eustace anxiously. "What's so dreadful about it?"
"Too near the top, the outside," said Golg, shuddering. "That was the worst thing the Witch did to us. We were going to be led out into the open - on to the outside of the world. They say there's no roof at all there; only a horrible great emptiness called the sky. And the diggings have gone so far that a few strokes of the pick would bring you out to it. I wouldn't dare go near them."
"Hurrah! Now you're talking!" cried Eustace, and Jill said, "But it's not horrid at all up there. We like it. We live there."
"I know you Overlanders live there," said Golg. "But I thought it was because you couldn't find your way down inside. You can't really like it - crawling about like flies on the top of the world!"
"What about showing us the road at once?" said Puddleglum.
"In a good hour," cried the Prince. The whole party set out. The Prince remounted his charger, Puddleglum climbed up behind Jill, and Golg led the way. As he went, he kept shouting out the good news that the Witch was dead and that the four Overlanders were not dangerous. And those who heard him shouted it on to others, so that in a few minutes the whole of Underland was ringing with shouts and cheers, and gnomes by hundreds and thousands, leaping, turning cart-wheels, standing on their heads, playing leap-frog, and letting off huge crackers, came pressing round Coalblack and Snowflake. And the Prince had to tell the story of his own enchantment and deliverance at least ten times.
In this way they came to the edge of the chasm. It was about a thousand feet long and perhaps two hundred wide. They dismounted from their horses and came to the edge, and looked down into it. A strong heat smote up into their faces, mixed with a smell which was quite unlike any they had ever smelled. It was rich, sharp, exciting, and made you sneeze. The depth of the chasm was so bright that at first it dazzled their eyes and they could see nothing. When they got used to it they thought they could make out a river of fire, and, on the banks of that river, what seemed to be fields and groves of an unbearable, hot brilliance - though they were dim compared with the river. There were blues, reds, greens, and whites all jumbled together: a very good stained-glass window with the tropical sun staring straight through it at midday might have something the same effect. Down the rugged sides of the chasm, looking black like flies against all that fiery light, hundreds of Earthmen were climbing.
"Your honours," said Golg (and when they turned to look at him they could see nothing but blackness for a few minutes, their eyes were so dazzled). "Your honours, why don't you come down to Bism? You'd be happier there than in that cold, unprotected, naked country out on top. Or at least come down for a short visit."
Jill took it for granted that none of the others would listen to such an idea for a moment. To her horror she heard the Prince saying:
"Truly, friend Golg, I have half a mind to come down with you. For this is a marvellous adventure, and it may be no mortal man has ever looked into Bism before or will ever have the chance again. And I know not how, as the years pass, I shall bear to remember that it was once in my power to have probed the uttermost pit of Earth and that I forbore. But could a man live there? You do not swim in the fire-river itself?"
"Oh no, your Honour. Not we. It's only salamanders live in the fire itself."
"What kind of beast is your salamander?" asked the Prince.
"It is hard to tell their kind, your Honour," said Golg. "For they are too white-hot to look at. But they are most like small dragons. They speak to us out of the fire. They are wonderfully clever with their tongues: very witty and eloquent."
Jill glanced hastily at Eustace. She had felt sure that he would like the idea of sliding down that chasm even less than she did. Her heart sank as she saw that his face was quite changed. He looked much more like the Prince than like the old Scrubb at Experiment House. For all his adventures, and the days when he had sailed with King Caspian, were coming back to him.
"Your Highness," he said. "If my old friend Reepicheep the Mouse were here, he would say we could not now refuse the adventures of Bism without a great impeachment to our honour."
"Down there," said Golg, "I could show you real gold, real silver, real diamonds."
"Bosh!" said Jill rudely. "As if we didn't know that we're below the deepest mines even here."
"Yes," said Golg. "I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call mines. But that's where you get dead gold, dead silver, dead gems. Down in Bism we have them alive and growing. There I'll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond-juice. You won't care much about fingering the cold, dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the live ones of Bism."
"My father went to the world's end," said Rilian thoughtfully. "It would be a marvellous thing if his son went to the bottom of the world."
"If your Highness wants to see your father while he's still alive, which I think he'd prefer," said Puddleglum, "it's about time we were getting on to that road to the diggings."
"And I won't go down that hole, whatever anyone says," added Jill.
"Why, if your Honours are really set to go back to Overworld," said Golg, "there is one bit of the road that's rather lower than this. And perhaps, if that flood's still rising -"
"Oh, do, do, do come on!" begged Jill.
"I fear it must be so," said the Prince with a deep sigh. "But I have left half of my heart in the land of Bism."
"Please!" begged Jill.
"Where is the road?" asked Puddleglum.
"There are lamps all the way," said Golg. "Your Honour can see the beginning of the road on the far side of the chasm."
"How long will the lamps burn for?" asked Puddleglum.
At that moment a hissing, scorching voice like the voice of Fire itself (they wondered afterwards if it could have been a salamander's) came whistling up out of the very depths of Bism.
"Quick! Quick! Quick! To the cliffs, to the cliffs, to the cliffs!" it said. "The rift closes. It closes. It closes. Quick! Quick!" And at the same time, with ear-shattering cracks and creaks, the rocks moved. Already, while they looked, the chasm was narrower. From every side belated gnomes were rushing into it. They would not wait to climb down the rocks. They flung themselves headlong and, either because so strong a blast of hot air was beating up from the bottom, or for some other reason, they could be seen floating downwards like leaves. Thicker and thicker they floated, till their blackness almost blotted out the fiery river and the groves of live gems. "Good-bye to your Honours. I'm off," shouted Golg, and dived. Only a few were left to follow him. The chasm was now no broader than a stream. Now it was narrow as the slit in a pillarbox. Now it was only an intensely bright thread. Then, with a shock like a thousand goods trains crashing into a thousand pairs of buffers, the lips of rock closed. The hot, maddening smell vanished. The travellers were alone in an Underworld which now looked far blacker than before. Pale, dim, and dreary, the lamps marked the direction of the road.
"Now," said Puddleglum, "it's ten to one we've already stayed too long, but we may as well make a try. Those lamps will give out in five minutes, I shouldn't wonder."
They urged the horses to a canter and thundered along the dusky road in fine style. But almost at once it began going downhill. They would have thought Golg had sent them the wrong way if they had not seen, on the other side of the valley, the lamps going on and upwards as far as the eye could reach. But at the bottom of the valley the lamps shone on moving water.
"Haste," cried the Prince. They galloped down the slope. It would have been nasty enough at the bottom even five minutes later for the tide was running up the valley like a mill-race, and if it had come to swimming, the horses could hardly have won over. But it was still only a foot or two deep, and though it swished terribly round the horses' legs, they reached the far side in safety.
Then began the slow, weary march uphill with nothing ahead to look at but the pale lamps which went up and up as far as the eye could reach. When they looked back they could see the water spreading. All the hills of Underland were now islands, and it was only on those islands that the lamps remained. Every moment some distant light vanished. Soon there would be total darkness everywhere except on the road they were following; and even on the lower part of it behind them, though no lamps had yet gone out, the lamplight shone on water.
Although they had good reason for hurrying, the horses could not go on for ever without a rest. They halted: and in silence they could hear the lapping of water.
"I wonder is what's his name - Father Time - flooded out now," said Jill. "And all those queer sleeping animals."
"I don't think we're as high as that," said Eustace. "Don't you remember how we had to go downhill to reach the sunless sea? I shouldn't think the water has reached Father Time's cave yet."
"That's as may be," said Puddleglum. "I'm more interested in the lamps on this road. Look a bit sickly, don't they?"
"They always did," said Jill.
"Aye," said Puddleglum. "But they're greener now."
"You don't mean to say you think they're going out?" cried Eustace.
"Well, however they work, you can't expect them to last for ever, you know," replied the Marsh-wiggle. "But don't let your spirits down, Scrubb. I've got my eye on the water too, and I don't think it's rising so fast as it did."
"Small comfort, friend," said the Prince. "If we cannot find our way out. I cry you mercy, all. I am to blame for my pride and fantasy which delayed us by the mouth of the land of Bism. Now, let us ride on."
During the hour or so that followed Jill sometimes thought that Puddleglum was right about the lamps, and sometimes thought it was only her imagination. Meanwhile the land was changing. The roof of Underland was so near that even by that dull light they could now see it quite distinctly. And the great, rugged walls of Underland could be seen drawing closer on each side. The road, in fact, was leading them up into a steep tunnel. They began to pass picks and shovels and barrows and other signs that the diggers had recently been at work. If only one could be sure of getting out, all this was very cheering. But the thought of going on into a hole that would get narrower and narrower, and harder to turn back in, was very unpleasant.
At last the roof was so low that Puddleglum and the Prince knocked their heads against it. The party dismounted and led the horses. The road was uneven here and one had to pick one's steps with some care. That was how Jill noticed the growing darkness. There was no doubt about it now. The faces of the others looked strange and ghastly in the green glow. Then all at once (she couldn't help it) Jill gave a little scream. One light, the next one ahead, went out altogether. The one behind them did the same. Then they were in absolute darkness.
"Courage, friends," came Prince Rilian's voice. "Whether we live or die Aslan will be our good lord."
"That's right, Sir," said Puddleglum's voice. "And you must always remember there's one good thing about being trapped down here: it'll save funeral expenses."
Jill held her tongue. (If you don't want other people to know how frightened you are, this is always a wise thing to do; it's your voice that gives you away.)
"We might as well go on as stand here," said Eustace; and when she heard the tremble in his voice, Jill knew how wise she'd been not to trust her own.
Puddleglum and Eustace went first with their arms stretched out in front of them, for fear of blundering into anything; Jill and the Prince followed, leading the horses.
"I say," came Eustace's voice much later, "are my eyes going queer or is there a patch of light up there?"
Before anyone could answer him, Puddleglum called out: "Stop. I'm up against a dead end. And it's earth, not rock. What were you saying, Scrubb?"
"By the Lion," said the Prince, "Eustace is right. There is a sort of -"
"But it's not daylight," said Jill. "It's only a cold blue sort of light."
"Better than nothing, though," said Eustace. "Can we get up to it?"
"It's not right overhead," said Puddleglum. "It's above us, but it's in this wall that I've run into. How would it be, Pole, if you got on my shoulders and saw whether you could get up to it?"      14、世界底层     “我名叫戈尔格，”小精灵说，“我要把我所知道的全告诉各位大人。大约一小时以前，我们都在干着自己的活——我该说是她的活——大家又伤心又沉默，跟我们多少年来其他任何一天干活一模一样。接着传来了轰隆隆一声巨响。他们一听见这个声音，每个人都对自己说我已经很久没唱一支歌，没跳一支舞，没放一只爆竹了；那是为什么呢?每个人心里都在想，咦，我一定是被魔法迷住了。接着每个人还对自己说，要是我知道自己为什么要搬这么重的东西就好了，我就再也不打算搬下去了。就那么回事。于是我们把口袋、包裹和工具都扔下。随后大家就转身去看那边一大片红光。每个人都对自己说，那是什么啊?大家都自问自答说，原来有条裂缝或缺口豁开了，从几千英寻以下，真正的深层地底照上来一股好暖和的光哟。”      “老天爷，”尤斯塔斯惊叫道，“还有另外的地方比这儿更低吗?”       “哦，有的，大人，”戈尔格说。“可爱的地方。我们管它叫比斯姆国。我们现在所在的国家是女巫的国家，我们管它叫浅地。对我们来说，这儿离地面太近，不适合我们居住。呃!你还不如住在外面，住到地面上去呢。你瞧，我们都是从比斯姆国来的可怜的小精灵，是女巫用魔法把我们招到这儿来为她干活的。可是我们把这些事全忘了，直到传来轰隆一响，魔法破了才想起来。我们不知道自己是什么人，从哪儿来。我们除了她灌到我们头脑里的东西，什么也不能干，什么也不能想。这么多年来她灌到我们头脑里全是些阴郁、愁闷的东西。我几乎已经忘掉了怎么说笑话，怎么跳快步舞了。不料轰隆一响，裂缝豁开了，海水开始涨起来了，一切才又想了起来。当然，我们大家都赶快出发，从裂缝下去，回到我们自己的地方去。而且你们能看见他们在那边放焰火，竖蜻蜒，闹着玩儿。要是你们能马上让我走，跟大家一道回去，我将十分感激各位大人。”      “我认为这简直太好了，”吉尔说，“我真高兴我们砍下女巫的头既解救了自己也解救了小精灵!而且我也很高兴他们其实并不那么可怕和忧郁，正如王子其实也并不是——嗯，看上去这副模样。”     “这固然很好，波尔，”普德格伦谨慎地说，“但那些小精灵在我看来并不像只是在逃跑。依我说呀，它们更像一些军事队形。看着我的脸，戈尔格先生，告诉我，你们不是在准备打仗吗?”      “我们当然准备打仗，大人，”戈尔格说，“不瞒你说，我们并不知道女巫死了。我们还以为她会从城堡里看着。我们正想法溜掉，不让她看见呢。后来你们四个出来了，拿着剑，骑着马，大家当然不免都在暗自说，这下可来了。我们不知道大人不是女巫一边的。我们决定宁可拼命战斗，也决不放弃回比斯姆的希望。”       “我敢说它是个诚实的小精灵，”王子说，“放开它，普德格伦朋友。至于我，好戈尔格，我也像你和你的同胞一样被魔法迷住过，也是刚刚想起我自己的本来面目。现在我再问一个问题。你知道那条到新挖坑道的路吗?就是女巫要领一支军队去打上面世界的那条地道?”-       “咦——咦——咦，”戈尔格尖叫道，“是啊，我知道那条可怕的路。我可以指给你们看那条路从哪儿开头。但大人要叫我陪你们上那儿去，那可绝对不行，我情愿死。”      “为什么?”尤斯塔斯急切地问，“那儿有什么可怕的?”      “离上面、外面太近了，”戈尔格哆哆嗦嗦地说，“这是女巫对我们下的最毒的一手。我们就要被带出去——带到世界外面。听说，那儿根本没有顶层，只有可怕的一大块空白叫做天空。坑道已经挖得很远，只要再挖几锹就可以到外面去了。我可不敢走近那儿。”      “好哇，你这才谈得有点儿门了。”尤斯塔斯喊着说。吉尔说：“不过上面并不那么恐怖。我们喜欢那儿。我们就住在那儿。”      “我知道你们上面世界的人住在那儿，”戈尔格说，“但我认为这是因为你们找不到往地底下的路。你们不会真正喜欢那儿——像苍蝇似的在世界项上爬来爬去。”       “你马上给我们指指路好吗?”普德格伦说。      “赶得早不如赶得巧。”王子叫道。他们这一伙就此出发。王子重新骑上了马，普德格伦爬到吉尔后面，戈尔格在前头带路。它一面走一面叫喊好消息，说女巫已经死了，这四个上面世界的人并不危险。听见它喊叫的，又把消息传给另外的小精灵，所以一会儿工夫，整个地下世界都响起了欢呼声。成千上万的小精灵跳啊，翻筋斗啊，竖蜻蜒啊，玩跳背游戏啊，放大爆竹啊，还过来围着黑炭和雪花。王子只好把他自己中了魔法以及解脱苦难的经历讲了又讲，少说也讲了十遍。       他们就这样来到了缺口的边缘。这条缺口大约有一千英尺长，两百英尺宽。他们下了马，来到缺口边缘往下看。一股强烈的热浪扑面而来，还夹杂着一种他们从来没闻到过的气味。这气味又浓又辣，又刺激，使人要打喷嚏。缺口深处很亮，开头他们的眼睛都发花了，什么也看不见。等他们习惯了这么亮的光，才觉得自己能分辨出一条火河，河的两岸似乎是田野和一种发出难以忍受、热辣辣的光的小树林——可是比起那条河来就黯然失色了。那儿五颜六色，蓝的、红的、绿的和白的全都混在一起；一面优美的彩色玻璃窗在正午时分热带阳光直射下，效果可能跟这儿差不多。在那火红的光照下，成千的地下人看上去就像黑压压一片苍蝇正顺着凹凸不平的裂缝边往下爬去。      “各位大人，”戈尔格说，(他们回头看它时，一时只见一片漆黑，什么都看不见，他们的眼睛都发花了。)“各位大人，你们干吗不到比斯姆去呢?你们在那儿要比在上面那个冷冰冰、光秃秃、没遮没盖的国家快活多了。要不至少下去作一次短期访问也行呀。”       吉尔理所当然地认为决不会有谁听从这么个馊主意，谁知大吃一惊的是竞听到王子在说：      “说真的，戈尔格朋友，我也很想跟你一起下去。因为这是一次极好的探险，也许凡人从来还没有看到过比斯姆，今后也不会再有这种机会。而一年一年过去，将来怎堪回首当年自己一度有能力去探索地球最深的深渊却避而不去啊?但一个人能在那儿生活吗?你们不在那条火河里游泳吧?”      “哦，不，大人。我们不游。只有火蛇才生活在火里。”      “你说的火蛇是什么样的动物?”王子问。      “很难说它是哪一种，大人。”戈尔格说，“因为它们太热太热了，看也看不得。不过它们大多像小龙。在火焰外跟我们说话。它们的口才特别好，能说会道，滔滔不绝。”      吉尔匆匆看了尤斯塔斯一眼。她原来深信他对爬下裂缝的主意甚至比她还要不喜欢。当她看见他的脸色已经大不相同，心里不禁一沉。看上去他更像王子而不像实验学校里过去那个斯克罗布了。因为他正回想起自己的一切奇遇，和跟凯斯宾国王一起航海的日子。     “殿下，”他说，“要是我的老朋友老鼠雷佩契普在这儿，他就会说眼下我们要是不去比斯姆冒险，我们的荣誉就免不了要大受指责。”      “在下面，”戈尔格说，      “我可以让你们看看真正的金子、银子和钻石。”      “胡说八道，”吉尔粗鲁地说，“难道我们不知道我们即使在这儿，就已经在最深的矿下面?”      “是啊，”戈尔格说，“我听说过地壳上那些小小的擦痕，你们上界居民管它叫做矿。那就是你们得到死的金银珠宝的地方。在比斯姆，我们的金银珠宝都是活的，而且还在生长。在那儿我可以给你摘一束束能吃的红宝石，给你挤满满一杯钻石汁。你尝过比斯姆这种活的金银珠宝，就不屑于抚摸浅矿里那些冷冰冰的、死的金银珠宝了。”      “我父亲到世界尽头去了，”瑞廉沉思地说，“要是他的儿子到世界底层去，倒是一件妙事。”      “要是殿下想趁你父亲活着的时候见他，我想他可是求之不得呢，”普德格伦说，“现在我们该上路去坑道了。”      “说什么我也不愿到那个洞里去。”吉尔又说。      “哎呀，要是各位大人真的要动身回上面世界去，”戈尔格说，“有一段路比这还低呢，说不定，要是洪水还在涨的话……”      “哦，快来吧，请你们千万快来吧!”吉尔恳求道。      “恐怕必须走了，”王子深深叹了口气，“不过我的半颗心都留在比斯姆了。”      “求求你了。”吉尔恳求着。      “路在哪儿?”普德格伦问道。      “那儿一路上都有灯，”戈尔格说，“大人在裂缝尽头就看得见路的起点。”      “那些灯能点多少时间?”普德格伦问。      正在这时，从比斯姆最深处一种嘶嘶响、火辣辣的声音呼啸而起。(事后他们真想知道那是不是火蛇的声音。      “快，快，快，到悬崖去，到悬崖去，到悬崖去!”它说，“裂缝关了。关了。关了。快!快!快!”与此同时，岩石在震耳欲聋的哗啦啦响声中移动了。等他们看时，裂缝已经变窄了。掉队的小精灵纷纷从两边朝里面冲去。他们来不及爬下岩石，就倒栽葱似的跳下去，要么是由于底层冒上来的那股热浪太强，要么是什么其他原因，只见他们都像树叶一样朝下飘。飘浮的小精灵变得越来越密，直到黑压压的一片几乎把那条火红的河和活宝石的小树林都遮暗了。“各位大人再见。我走了。”戈尔格大声嚷着，跳了进去，只有少数几个留下的跟着它跳进去。裂缝一会儿就没有一条小溪那么宽了，一会儿就像邮筒的投信口那么窄，一会儿只剩下一条极亮的线了。随后，砰的一声，就像千百节货车撞上了千百对缓冲器，岩石两边合拢了。那股灼热，让人发疯的气味也消失了。他们四个孤零零地待在地下世界里，这儿现在看上去比以前更黑。只有那些苍白、暗淡、阴森森的灯标志着路的方向。      “好了，”普德格伦说，“十有八九我们已经待得太久了。不过我们还不妨试一下。那些灯不到五分钟就要灭了，这我不会奇怪的。”      他们催着马一溜小跑，神气十足地在昏暗的路上蹄声隆隆而去。但几乎立刻就开始走下坡路了，要不是他们看见山谷的另一边还有灯，而且放眼望去，灯都是往上面方向的，他们原来还以为戈尔格指错了路呢。不过到了谷底，灯光照到的就是流水了。      “赶快!”王子叫道。他们沿着斜坡飞驰而下。再晚五分钟，情况就够严重的了，因为潮水正像水车沟里的水似的滚滚流入山谷，要是弄得要游过去的话，两匹马恐怕就不大行了。不过这时潮水还只有一两英尺深，尽管在马腿边发出可怕的哗哗声，他们还是安全地到了对面山坡。      接着就开始又慢又累地爬山，前面除了通向上面那一眼望不到头的苍白灯光，什么都看不见。他们回头望望，看得出潮水已经蔓延开了。所有地下世界的山头这时都变成了岛屿，只有那些岛上的灯还亮着。每时每刻远处都有一盏盏灯灭了。不久除了他们走的这条路，到处都会变得一片漆黑，即使是他们身后的较低的那一段路，虽然灯还没灭，灯光却照在水面上。       尽管他们有充分理由得赶路，马却不能没有休息而一直走下去。他们就停下了，沉默中只听见水的拍打声。      “我真想知道那个叫什么名字的——时间老人——现在是不是被大水冲出来了?”吉尔说，“还有那么多奇怪的睡着的动物?”      “我认为我们还没到那么高，”尤斯塔斯说，“难道你不记得我们怎么下山到那个暗无天日海的吗?我认为大水还没涌到时间老人那个洞呢。”      “那也可能，”普德格伦说，“我更感兴趣的是这条路上的灯。看上去有点暗淡吧?”      “这些灯一直很暗淡。”吉尔说。      “啊，”普德格伦说，“不过这会儿灯更暗得发绿了。”      “你意思不是说你认为灯要灭了吧?”尤斯塔斯叫道。      “嗯，不管这些灯是怎么亮的，要知道，你总不能希望灯永远亮下去啊，”沼泽怪回答说，“不过你也别垂头丧气，斯克罗布。我也留意着水呢，我认为水没有刚才涨得那么快了。”      “小小的安慰，朋友，”王子说，“要是我们找不到出路，我要请大家原谅。都怪我自尊心强和异想天开，害得大家在比斯姆国入口耽搁了。好了，我们继续前进吧。”      此后的一个多小时里，吉尔有时觉得普德格伦关于灯的看法是对的，有时觉得这只是她的想像。同时地上也起了变化。地下世界的顶层已经很近了，即使在暗淡的灯光下，他们也能看得清清楚楚。还有地下世界两边大片凹凸不平的岩壁也看得出正在靠拢。事实上，这条路正把他们引进一条陡峭的地道。他们走过的路上开始出现铁镐、铁锹和手推车，以及其他等等，说明挖坑道的刚刚还在干活。只要你肯定出得去，这一切倒是非常令人鼓舞的。但想到自己正走进一个变得越来越窄的洞，而且窄得难以转身，这却是非常不愉快的。       最后，顶层变得很低，普德格伦和王子脑袋都撞在顶上了。他们都下来牵着马走。这儿的路面高低不平，走路也要小心翼翼。吉尔就是这样才注意到周围越来越黑了。这点目前已经毫无疑问。其他人的脸在绿荧荧的光下看上去又古怪又可怕。随后，突然吉尔情不自禁地尖叫了一声。一盏灯，就是前面的那盏完全灭了。接着他们后面的一盏也灭了。于是他们就完全在黑暗中了。       “鼓起勇气，朋友们，”传来了瑞廉王子的声音，“不论我们是死是活，阿斯兰都是我们的好主宰。”       “说得对，殿下，”普德格伦的声音说，“而且你必须始终记住掉在这儿的陷阱里还有一个好处：丧葬费也省下了。”      吉尔不吭声。(要是你不想让别人知道你有多惊慌，这一向是个聪明办法；否则一出声就露馅了。      “我们站在这儿还不如向前走的好。”尤斯塔斯说。当她听见他嗓音在颤抖，吉尔就知道她不敢吭声有多聪明了。      普德格伦和尤斯塔斯生怕碰上什么东西，伸出两手，走在头里。吉尔和王子拉着马跟着。      “嗨，”过了好一会儿，尤斯塔斯的声音说，“是我的眼睛作怪，还是那上面有片光?”      大家还来不及回答，普德格伦就叫了起来。“停下，我走到头了。而且这是泥土，不是岩石。你说什么来着，斯克罗布?”       “狮王在上，”王子说，“尤斯塔斯是对的。是有一种……”      “话说回来，有光总比没光好，”尤斯塔斯说，“我们能上去吗?”      “那光并不在我们头顶上，”普德格伦说，“是在我们上面，不过就在我撞进来的这堵墙里。波尔，你爬到我肩膀上，看看能不能爬到那儿，怎么样?”
Chapter 15
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JILL
THE patch of light did not show up anything down in the darkness where they were standing. The others could only hear, not see, Jill's efforts to get on to the Marsh-wiggle's back. That is, they heard him saying, "You needn't put your finger in my eye," and, "Nor your foot in my mouth either," and, "That's more like it," and, "Now, I'll hold on to your legs. That'll leave your arms free to steady yourself against the earth."
Then they looked up and soon they saw the black shape of Jill's head against the patch of light.
"Well?" they all shouted up anxiously.
"It's a hole," called Jill's voice. "I could get through it if I was a little bit higher."
"What do you see through it?" asked Eustace.
"Nothing much yet," said Jill. "I say, Puddleglum, let go my legs so that I can stand on your shoulders instead of sitting on them. I can steady myself all right against the edge."
They could hear her moving and then much more of her came into sight against the greyness of the opening; in fact all of her down to the waist.
"I say -" began Jill, but suddenly broke off with a cry: not a sharp cry. It sounded more as if her mouth had been muffled up or had something pushed into it. After that she found her voice and seemed to be shouting out as loud as she could, but they couldn't hear the words. Two things then happened at the same moment. The patch of light was completely blocked up for a second or so; and they heard both a scuffling, struggling sound and the voice of the Marsh-wiggle gasping: "Quick! Help! Hold on to her legs.
Someone's pulling her. There! No, here. Too late!"
The opening, and the cold light which filled it, were now perfectly clear again. Jill had vanished.
"Jill! Jill!" they shouted frantically, but there was no answer.
"Why the dickens couldn't you have held her feet?" said Eustace.
"I don't know, Scrubb," groaned Puddleglum. "Born to be a misfit, I shouldn't wonder. Fated. Fated to be Pole's death, just as I was fated to eat Talking Stag at Harfang. Not that it isn't my own fault as well, of course."
"This is the greatest shame and sorrow that could have fallen on us," said the Prince. "We have sent a brave lady into the hands of enemies and stayed behind in safety."
"Don't paint it too black, Sir," said Puddleglum. "We're not very safe except for death by starvation in this hole."
"I wonder am I small enough to get through where Jill did?" said Eustace.
What had really happened to Jill was this. As soon as she got her head out of the hole she found that she was looking down as if from an upstairs window, not up as if through a trap-door. She had been so long in the dark that her eyes couldn't at first take in what they were seeing: except that she was not looking at the daylit, sunny world which she so wanted to see. The air seemed to be deadly cold, and the light was pale and blue. There was also a good deal of noise going on and a lot of white objects flying about in the air. It was at that moment that she had shouted down to Puddleglum to let her stand up on his shoulders.
When she had done this, she could see and hear a good deal better. The noises she had been hearing turned out to be of two kinds: the rhythmical thump of several feet, and the music of four fiddles, three flutes, and a drum. She also got her own position clear. She was looking out of a hole in a steep bank which sloped down and reached the level about fourteen feet below her. Everything was very white. A lot of people were moving about. Then she gasped! The people were trim little Fauns, and Dryads with leafcrowned hair floating behind them. For a second they looked as if they were moving anyhow; then she saw that they were really doing a dance - a dance with so many complicated steps and figures that it took you some time to understand it. Then it came over her like a thunderclap that the pale, blue light was really moonlight, and the white stuff on the ground was really snow. And of course! There were the stars staring in a black frosty sky overhead. And the tall black things behind the dancers were trees. They had not only got out into the upper world at last, but had come out in the heart of Narnia. Jill felt she could have fainted with delight; and the music - the wild music, intensely sweet and yet just the least bit eerie too, and full of good magic as the Witch's thrumming had been full of bad magic - made her feel it all the more.
All this takes a long time to tell, but of course it took a very short time to see. Jill turned almost at once to shout down to the others, "I say! It's all right. We're out, and we're home." But the reason she never got further than "I say" was this. Circling round and round the dancers was a ring of Dwarfs, all dressed in their finest clothes; mostly scarlet with fur-lined hoods and golden tassels and big furry top-boots. As they circled round they were all diligently throwing snowballs. (Those were the white things that Jill had seen flying through the air.) They weren't throwing them at the dancers as silly boys might have been doing in England. They were throwing them through the dance in such perfect time with the music and with such perfect aim that if all the dancers were in exactly the right places at exactly the right moments, no one would be hit. This is called the Great Snow Dance and it is done every year in Narnia on the first moonlit night when there is snow on the ground. Of course it is a kind of game as well as a dance, because every now and then some dancer will be the least little bit wrong and get a snowball in the face, and then everyone laughs. But a good team of dancers, Dwarfs, and musicians will keep it up for hours without a single hit. On fine nights when the cold and the drum-taps, and the hooting of the owls, and the moonlight, have got into their wild, woodland blood and made it even wilder, they will dance till daybreak. I wish you could see it for yourselves.
What had stopped Jill when she got as far as the say of "I say" was of course simply a fine big snowball that came sailing through the dance from a Dwarf on the far side and got her fair and square in the mouth. She didn't in the least mind; twenty snowballs would not have damped her spirits at that moment. But however happy you are feeling, you can't talk with your mouth full of snow. And when, after considerable spluttering, she could speak again, she quite forgot in her excitement that the others, down in the dark, behind her, still didn't know the good news. She simply leaned as far out of the hole as she could, and yelled to the dancers.
"Help! Help! We're buried in the hill. Come and dig us out."
The Narnians, who had not even noticed the little hole in the hillside, were of course very surprised, and looked about in several wrong directions before they found out where the voice was coming from. But when they caught sight of Jill they all came running towards her, and as many as could scrambled up the bank, and a dozen or more hands were stretched up to help her. And Jill caught hold of them and thus got out of the hole and came slithering down the bank head first, and then picked herself up and said:
"Oh, do go and dig the others out. There are three others, besides the horses. And one of them is Prince Rilian."
She was already in the middle of a crowd when she said this, for besides the dancers all sorts of people who had been watching the dance, and whom she had not seen at first, came running up. Squirrels came out of the trees in showers, and so did Owls. Hedgehogs came waddling as fast as their short legs would carry them. Bears and Badgers followed at a slower pace. A great Panther, twitching its tail in excitement, was the last to join the party.
But as soon as they understood what Jill was saying, they all became active. "Pick and shovel, boys, pick and shovel. Off for our tools!" said the Dwarfs, and dashed away into the woods at top speed. "Wake up some Moles, they're the chaps for digging. They're quite as good as Dwarfs," said a voice. "What was that she said about Prince Rilian?" said another. "Hush!" said the Panther. "The poor child's crazed, and no wonder after being lost inside the hill. She doesn't know what she's saying." "That's right," said an old Bear. "Why, she said Prince Rilian was a horse!" "No, she didn't," said a Squirrel, very pert. "Yes, she did," said another Squirrel, even perter.
"It's quite t-t-t-true. D-d-don't be so silly," said Jill. She spoke like that because her teeth were now chattering with the cold.
Immediately one of the Dryads flung round her a furry cloak which some Dwarf had dropped when he rushed to fetch his mining tools, and an obliging Faun trotted off among the trees to a place where Jill could see firelight in the mouth of a cave, to get her a hot drink. But before it came, all the Dwarfs reappeared with spades and pick-axes and charged at the hillside. Then Jill heard cries of "Hi! What are you doing? Put that sword down," and "Now, young 'un: none of that," and, "He's a vicious one, now, isn't he?" Jill hurried to the spot and didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she saw Eustace's face, very pale and dirty, projecting from the blackness of the hole, and Eustace's right hand brandishing a sword with which he made lunges at anyone who came near him.
For of course Eustace had been having a very different time from Jill during the last few minutes. He had heard Jill cry out and seen her disappear into the unknown. Like the Prince and Puddleglum, he thought that some enemies had caught her. And from down below he didn't see that the pale, blueish light was moonlight. He thought the hole would lead only into some other cave, lit by some ghostly phosphorescence and filled with goodness-knows-what evil creatures of the Underworld. So that when he had persuaded Puddleglum to give him a back, and drawn his sword, and poked out his head, he had really been doing a very brave thing. The others would have done it first if they could, but the hole was too small for them to climb through. Eustace was a little bigger, and a lot clumsier, than Jill, so that when he looked out he bumped his head against the top of the hole and brought a small avalanche of snow down on his face. And so, when he could see again, and saw dozens of figures coming at him as hard as they could run, it is not surprising that he tried to ward them off.
"Stop, Eustace, stop," cried Jill. "They're all friends. Can't you see? We've come up in Narnia. Everything's all right."
Then Eustace did see, and apologized to the Dwarfs (and the Dwarfs said not to mention it), and dozens of thick, hairy, dwarfish hands helped him out just as they had helped Jill out a few minutes before. Then Jill scrambled up the bank and put her head in at the dark opening and shouted the good news in to the prisoners. As she turned away she heard Puddleglum mutter. "Ah, poor Pole. It's been too much for her, this last bit. Turned her head, I shouldn't wonder. She's beginning to see things."
Jill rejoined Eustace and they shook one another by both hands and took in great deep breaths of the free midnight air. And a warm cloak was brought for Eustace and hot drinks, for both. While they were sipping it, the Dwarfs had already got all the snow and all the sods off a large strip of the hillside round the original hole, and the pickaxes and spades were now going as merrily as the feet of Fauns and Dryads had been going in the dance ten minutes before. Only ten minutes! Yet already it felt to Jill and Eustace as if all their dangers in the dark and heat and general smotheriness of the earth must have been only a dream. Out here, in the cold, with the moon and the huge stars overhead (Narnian stars are nearer than stars in our world) and with kind, merry faces all round them, one couldn't quite believe in Underland.
Before they had finished their hot drinks, a dozen or so Moles, newly waked and still very sleepy, and not well pleased, had arrived. But as soon as they understood what it was all about, they joined in with a will. Even the Fauns made themselves useful by carting away the earth in little barrows, and the Squirrels danced and leaped to and fro in great excitement, though Jill never found out exactly what they thought they were doing. The Bears and Owls contented themselves with giving advice, and kept on asking the children if they wouldn't like to come into the cave (that was where Jill had seen the firelight) and get warm and have supper. But the children couldn't bear to go without seeing their friends set free.
No one in our world can work at a job of that sort as Dwarfs and Talking Moles work in Narnia; but then, of course, Moles and Dwarfs don't look on it as work. They like digging. It was therefore not really long before they had opened a great black chasm in the hillside. And out from the blackness into the moonlight - this would have been rather dreadful if one hadn't known who they were came, first, the long, leggy, steeple-hatted figure of the Marsh-wiggle, and then, leading two great horses, Rilian the Prince himself.
As Puddleglum appeared shouts broke out on every side: "Why, it's a Wiggle - why, it's old Puddleglum - old Puddleglum from the Eastern Marshes - what ever have you been doing, Puddleglum? - there've been search-parties out for you - the Lord Trumpkin has been putting up notices there's a reward offered!" But all this died away, all in one moment, into dead silence, as quickly as the noise dies away in a rowdy dormitory if the Headmaster opens the door. For now they saw the Prince.
No one doubted for a moment who he was. There were plenty of Beasts and Dryads and Dwarfs and Fauns who remembered him from the days before his enchanting. There were some old ones who could just remember how his father, King Caspian, had looked when he was a young man, and saw the likeness. But I think they would have known him anyway. Pale though he was from long imprisonment in the Deep Lands, dressed in black, dusty, dishevelled, and weary, there was something in his face and air which no one could mistake. That look is in the face of all true kings of Narnia, who rule by the will of Aslan and sit at Cair Paravel on the throne of Peter the High King.
Instantly every head was bared and every knee was bent; a moment later such cheering and shouting, such jumps and reels of joy, such hand-shakings and kissings and embracings of everybody by everybody else broke out that the tears came into Jill's eyes. Their quest had been worth all the pains it cost.
"Please it your Highness," said the oldest of the Dwarfs, "there is some attempt at a supper in the cave yonder, prepared against the ending of the snow-dance -"
"With a good will, Father," said the Prince. "For never had any Prince, Knight, Gentleman, or Bear so good a stomach to his victuals as we four wanderers have tonight."
The whole crowd began to move away through the trees towards the cave. Jill heard Puddleglum saying to those who pressed round him. "No, no, my story can wait.
Nothing worth talking about has happened to me. I want to hear the news. Don't try breaking it to me gently, for I'd rather have it all at once. Has the King been shipwrecked? Any forest fires? No wars on the Calormen border? Or a few dragons, I shouldn't wonder?" And all the creatures laughed aloud and said, "Isn't that just like a Marshwiggle?"
The two children were nearly dropping with tiredness and hunger, but the warmth of the cave, and the very sight of it, with the firelight dancing on the walls and dressers and cups and saucers and plates and on the smooth stone floor, just as it does in a farmhouse kitchen, revived them a little. All the same they went fast asleep while supper was being got ready. And while they slept Prince Rilian was talking over the whole adventure with the older and wiser Beasts and Dwarfs. And now they all saw what it meant; how a wicked Witch (doubtless the same kind as that White Witch who had brought the Great Winter on Narnia long ago) had contrived the whole thing, first killing Rilian's mother and enchanting Rilian himself. And they saw how she had dug right under Narnia and was going to break out and rule it through Rilian: and how he had never dreamed that the country of which she would make him king (king in name, but really her slave) was his own country. And from the children's part of the story they saw how she was in league and friendship with the dangerous giants of Harfang. "And the lesson of it all is, your Highness," said the oldest Dwarf, "that those Northern Witches always mean the same thing, but in every age they have a different plan for getting it."      15、吉尔不见了      那片光并没照亮他们站着的那片黑暗中的任何东西。其他人只听得见吉尔竭力爬到沼泽怪的背上，可是看不见。就是说，他们听见它一会儿说，“你不必把手指塞到我眼睛里。”一会儿说，“也别把脚塞到我嘴里。”一会儿说，“这样才像话。”一会儿说，“行了，我要抓住你的腿。那样你两条胳臂就可以腾出来撑着泥地，稳住身子。”       接着，他们往上看，马上就看见吉尔脑袋在那片光里的黑色轮廓。"       “怎么样?”他们都急切地嚷道。     “原来是个洞，”吉尔的声音叫道，“要是我再高一点，我就能爬出去。”      “你从洞口看见什么了?”尤斯塔斯问。      “还没看见什么呢，”吉尔说，“嗨，普德格伦，放开我的腿，那样我就能站在你肩膀上而不是坐着。我自己会靠着洞边稳住身子的。”      他们听得见她在动，随后就看见吉尔的大部分身子在洞口灰暗的亮光下，事实上她上半身都在外面了。      “嗨……”吉尔开口说，但突然叫了一声，声音并不尖厉，就中断了。听上去像是她的嘴被人蒙住了，要不就是塞进了什么东西。过后她的声音又恢复了，似乎在拼命地大声喊叫，但他们听不出她在叫什么。于是同时出了两件事。一是有一会儿那片光完全被堵上了；二是他们都听见一阵扭打、挣扎的声音，还听见沼泽怪喘着气说：“快，帮帮忙，抓住她腿，有人在拉她。那儿!不对，这儿。太晚了!”       那个洞和洞口那片冷光又完全露了出来。吉尔却已经不见了。      “吉尔，吉尔。”他们发疯似的大喊大叫，可是没人回答。      “你究竟为什么不抓住她脚呢?”尤斯塔斯说。      “我不知道，斯克罗布，”普德格伦哼哼着说，“生来就时运不济，这我不奇怪。命里注定的。命里注定了波尔的死。就像我命中注定了在哈方吃了会说话的鹿。当然不是说我就没错了。”      “这是我们遇到的奇耻大辱和最大的痛苦，”王子说，“我们把一位勇敢的小姐送到敌人手里，自己却安全地待在后面。”      “别尽往坏里说了，殿下，”普德格伦说，“我们也不是很安全的，只有饿死在这个洞里。”      “我不知道自己的身体是否小得能钻过吉尔出去的那个洞?”尤斯塔斯说。      吉尔真正遇到的事是这样的。她刚把脑袋伸出洞外，就发现自己是在往下看，正像从楼上一扇窗户往下看似的，而不是像从活板门里往上看。她在黑暗中待了很久，开头眼睛一下子看不出眼前的东西，只知道她眼睛不是望着她想要看见的大白天有阳光的世界。空气似乎冷得要命，光线灰暗发青。还有不少声音，许多白晃晃的东西在空中飞来飞去。      她就是在这一瞬间对下面的普德格伦叫喊，叫它让她站在它肩膀上。      她站起来以后，看也看得更清楚，听也听得更清楚。她听见的声音原来有两种，一是有节奏的顿脚，二是四把小提琴、三支笛子和一只鼓演奏的乐声。她也把自己的境地弄清楚了。她正从一片陡峭的山坡上的一个洞往外看，山坡向下倾斜，她离下面平地大约十四英尺。一切景物都是白茫茫一片。好多人在那里不停走动。她看得气也透不过来了。那些人原来是些穿得整整齐齐的小羊怪，以及戴着花冠的头发在身后飘拂的树精。有一会儿它们看上去好像是在走来走去，随后她看出它们实际上是在跳舞——一种有很多复杂的步子和身段的舞蹈，你得看上一会儿才能看懂。再一看突然发现那灰暗发青的光是真正的月光，地上那些白的东西是真正的雪，顿时大吃一惊。当然!头顶上还有星星在黑沉沉的寒夜中凝视着。而那些跳舞的人后面又高又黑的东西原来是树木。他们不仅是终于回到了上面世界，而且是来到了纳尼亚的中心。吉尔觉得她乐得要昏过去了。还有音乐——粗犷的音乐，欢快热烈，然而也带一点怪诞，充满了正道的魔法，正如女巫弹奏的噔噔声充满了邪恶的魔法一样——使她感到更乐了。      这一切说起来要花很长时间，但看上去当然只花了一小会儿工夫。吉尔几乎立刻转身打算往下对其他人叫道，“嗨，好啦。我们出来啦，我们到家啦。”但她只说出“嗨”，就没再说下去，原因是这样的。在那群跳舞的人外面有一圈小矮人在打转，全都穿着节日盛装，多数是猩红的，镶皮风帽，金色流苏和镶皮高统靴。他们转圈子时还一个劲地扔雪球(这就是吉尔刚才看到在空中飞来飞去的白晃晃的东西)。他们并不像英国有些傻小子那样对准跳舞的人扔。他们扔雪球是在整个舞蹈中，跟音乐合节合拍，分毫不差，对准目标，分毫不差扔过去，要是所有的舞蹈者都恰好在算准的时刻站在算准的位子上，那么谁也不会被打中。这就叫做大雪舞，在纳尼亚每年地上积雪以后第一个有月光的夜晚都跳这种舞。当然这既是一种舞蹈也是一种游戏，因为不时会有哪个跳舞的出点小差错，脸上就挨上一个雪球，大家就都大笑一场。不过一队舞蹈者、小矮人和乐师配合得当能保持几个小时挨不到雪球。碰到天气好的晚上，寒气阵阵，鼓声咚咚，猫头鹰唬唬啼叫，还有月光，这些都跟它们那种林地人的狂野气质一拍即合，使它们变得更加狂热，它们会一直跳到天亮。但愿你们能亲眼看到这种场面。       吉尔刚刚说出“嗨”，就住了口，其原因当然只是小矮人扔的一只大雪球从另一边穿过舞蹈者，正好打在她的嘴里。她可一点也不在乎。那时就是扔来二十个雪球也扫不了她的兴。但无论你感到多么高兴，满口都是雪你也说不了话。等她吐掉几口雪，又能说话了，却激动得忘记了其余的人还待在她身后下面的暗处，还不知道这个好消息呢。她干脆从洞里尽量探出身子，向跳舞的人大声叫喊。“救命!救命!我们被埋在这小山里，快把我们挖出来。”      那些纳尼亚人连山坡上有个小洞都没有注意到，当然十分惊讶，东张张，西望望，才发现声音是从哪儿来的。但等他们看见吉尔，就全都朝她跑来；凡是爬得上山坡的都跑上去了，大约有十几双手伸出来帮助她。吉尔抓住他们的手，到了洞外，倒头从坡上滑下去，随后爬起来说：      “哦，去把别人挖出来吧。除了马，还有三个。其中之一就是瑞廉王子。”      她说这些话的时候已经给一大群人围在当中了，因为除了跳舞的，还有各种各样的动物在场观看跳舞，她开头没看到，现在它们也跑了上来。小松鼠像阵雨似的纷纷从树上下来，猫头鹰也纷纷飞来。刺猬摇摇摆摆，撒开短腿赶快跑来。熊和獾跟在后面，步子比较慢。最后赶来的是一只大豹，兴奋得直摇尾巴。      但等它们听明白吉尔说的话，大家全都变得积极了。“铁镐和铁锹，孩子们，铁镐和铁锹。去拿工具来!”小矮人说着飞快冲进树林。“把鼹鼠叫醒，它们才是挖洞的能手，跟小矮人一样能干，”一个声音说，“她说瑞廉王子怎么了?”      另一个问。“嘘，”豹说，“可怜的孩子疯了，在山里迷了路，难怪她都不知道自己在说些什么了。”“是啊，”老熊说，“咦，她还说瑞廉王子是一匹马呢!”“不，她没说。”一只松鼠冒冒失失地说。“是的，她说了。”另一只松鼠说话更冒失。      “这完全是真——真——真的，别——别——别犯傻了。”吉尔说。她说话这个调儿是因为这会儿她正冷得牙齿直打架。      一个树精立刻替她披上一件皮斗篷，那是一个小矮人奔去取他的挖掘工具时掉下的，一只热心助人的羊怪匆匆跑到树林中的一个地方去给她弄点热的喝，吉尔看得见那儿一个山洞口有火光。不过它还没回来，所有的小矮人都带着铲子和铁镐回来了，大家往山上冲去。接着吉尔听见七嘴八舌的喊声，有的喊道，“嗨，你要干什么?把剑放下。”有的喊道，“好了，小伙子，别那样。”还有的喊道，“好啊，他是个恶毒的家伙吧?”吉尔急忙赶过去，正好看见尤斯塔斯的脸色又苍白又肮脏，从黑洞中冒出来，右手还挥舞着一把剑，要猛刺任何敢于接近他的人，一时真是哭笑不得。      尤斯塔斯在刚才这片刻间的经历和吉尔当然大不相同。他听见吉尔喊叫，看见她就此不知钻到什么地方不见了。他跟王子和普德格伦一样，也以为是什么敌人把她抓去了。从下面往上看，他又看不清那灰暗发青的光是月光。他还以为这个洞只通向另一个洞，那洞里亮着鬼火磷光，而且挤满了天知道是哪一种地下世界的妖魔鬼怪。因此当他说服普德格伦让他爬到它背上，并抽出剑，再伸出头来，在他已经干了一件非常勇敢的事了。其余两个要是能先上去的话早就去了，但那个洞太小，他们爬不出去。尤斯塔斯个子比吉尔大一点点，但却比她笨拙得多，他往外张望时，脑袋撞在洞口顶上，撞得积雪崩落下来，掉在他脸上。因此当他又能看时，只见好多人影拼命向他奔来，怪不得他拼命想抵挡了。       “住手，尤斯塔斯，住手，”吉尔叫道，“他们都是朋友。难道你看不出来吗?我们已经来到纳尼亚，太平无事了。”      这一说，尤斯塔斯才真的看清楚了，就向小矮人道歉(小矮人说没关系)，十几双小矮人的粗壮多毛的手帮他出了洞，就像他们刚才帮助吉尔那样。接着吉尔趴在山坡上，脑袋凑到那个黑洞口，大声把好消息报告给陷在里面的人。      她转身时听见普德格伦喃喃地说，“啊呀，可怜的波尔，刚才这一会儿实在难为她了。她昏了头，这我不奇怪。她在活见鬼了。”      吉尔重新跟尤斯塔斯在一起了，两人都双手拉着对方，大口呼吸半夜里的空气。他们给尤斯塔斯带来一件暖和的斗篷，还给他俩端来了热的饮料。他们慢慢喝着饮料时，小矮人已经把山坡上原来那个洞周围的雪和草皮铲掉了一大片。他们欢快地挥舞铲子和铁镐，就像十分钟以前羊怪和树精的脚欢快地跳舞一样。只有十分钟哪!然而对吉尔和尤斯塔斯来说，他们已经觉得刚才在黑暗中的种种危险、炙热，和地底下那种窒息环境一定只是一个梦罢了。在这儿外面，天气寒冷，月亮和大星星当头照着(纳尼亚的星星比我们的世界的星星离得近些)，周围全是和蔼愉快的脸，就不大相信有地下世界了。      他们还没喝完热饮料，就来了十多只鼹鼠，刚刚被叫醒，仍然睡眼惺忪，而且不大高兴。但等它们了解到这是怎么回事，它们就起劲地一起干了。就连羊怪也用小车子推走挖出来的土，松鼠兴奋得来回跳啊蹦的，而吉尔想来想去想不出它们认为在干什么。熊和猫头鹰出出主意就算了，还不断问两个孩子要不要进山洞(就是吉尔看见有火光的那个山洞)去取暖和吃晚饭。不过两个孩子没看到他们的朋友获得自由不忍心走。"       在我们的世界里干那种活的，没一个赶得上纳尼亚的小矮人和会说话的鼹鼠，不过，鼹鼠和小矮人当然也没把这看做干活。他们就喜欢挖洞。所以没过多久他们就在山坡上打开一个黑洞洞的大缺口。他们从黑暗中走到月光下——要是人家不知道这两个是谁，那可怪吓人的——第一个出来的是细长腿、戴尖帽子的沼泽怪的身影，随后拉着两匹大马的是瑞廉王子本人。      普德格伦出来时，四面八方都叫起来了。“咦，是个怪——咦，原来是老普德格伦呀——东部沼泽地的老普德格伦——你一直在干什么呀，普德格伦——有好几批搜寻队去找你了——杜鲁普金爵爷出过告示——还出了赏金呢!”不过这些吵闹声一下子都消失了，变成一片沉默。一个吵吵闹闹的宿舍里，要是校长推开了门，那些吵闹声就是这么一下子消失的。因为他们这会儿看见王子了。       谁也没有怀疑他是谁，好多动物、树精、小矮人和羊怪都记得他中魔法以前那些日子的模样。有一些上了年纪的还记得凯斯宾国王年轻时的面容，看出了相像的地方。但我认为他们不管怎样都会认识他的。尽管他由于长期被监禁在幽深王国而脸色苍白，又穿着黑衣服，灰头土脸，衣冠不整，精神萎靡，但他脸上有种神情和仪态是错不了的。那神情是所有纳尼亚真正的国王都有的，凡是按照阿斯兰意愿统治这个国家，坐在凯尔帕拉维尔至尊王彼得的宝座上的国王都有这种神情。+       大家顿时都脱下帽子跪下，过了一会儿就响起了欢呼声和喊叫声，大家互相握手、亲吻、拥抱，如此热烈的场面使吉尔不由流下了热泪。他们的追求是值得付出千辛万苦代价的。       “请用餐，殿下，”最老的那个小矮人说，“那边山洞正开始在做饭，准备大雪舞结束后吃的……”      “我很乐意，老爹，”王子说，“因为任何王子、骑士、绅士或熊都比不上我们四个迷路人今晚吃起东西来的胃口好。”      大伙儿开始退场，穿过树林，走向山洞。吉尔听见普德格伦对那些挤在它周围的动物说：“不，不，我的事可以等等再说。关于我的遭遇不值一谈。我想要听听消息。可别一点一点儿透露给我，我情愿一口气都听完。国王的船有没有失事?有没有森林火灾?卡乐门边境没打过仗吗?有没有来过三两条龙?这我不奇怪。”所有的动物都哈哈大笑着说：       “这不活脱是个沼泽怪吗?”      两个孩子又累又饿，差点快倒下了，但山洞里暖洋洋，加上看见火光在墙上、食具柜上、杯子上、碟子上、盘子上和光滑的石头地板上跳跃，正如农家厨房里的情景一样，心里倒也振奋了一会儿。但等晚饭准备好的时候他们还是睡着了。他们睡觉的时候瑞廉王子就跟那些老一些、聪明一些的动物和小矮人谈论全部冒险经历。如今他们全明白这是怎么一回事了。一个恶毒的女巫(无疑跟很久以前给纳尼亚带来漫长的冬天的那个白女巫是一路货色)策划了这整个事件，先是杀了瑞廉的母亲，再让瑞廉本人中了魔法。他们还明白她在纳尼亚下面挖洞，准备破土而出，借瑞廉的名义来统治这个国家。而他万万也想不到她要让他做国王(名义上的国王，实际上是她的奴隶)的那个国家竟然就是他自己的国家。而从两个孩子说的经历中他们明白女巫和哈方那些危险的巨人是相互勾结支持的。“殿下，这件事得出的教训是，”最老的那个小矮人说，“那些北部的女巫始终存着一个心眼儿，不过每个不同的时期，他们都有不同的计划来达到目的。”
Chapter 16
THE HEALING OF HARMS
WHEN Jill woke next morning and found herself in a cave, she thought for one horrid moment that she was back in the Underworld. But when she noticed that she was lying on a bed of heather with a furry mantle over her, and saw a cheery fire crackling (as if newly lit) on a stone hearth and, farther off, morning sunlight coming in through the cave's mouth, she remembered all the happy truth. They had had a delightful supper, all crowded into that cave, in spite of being so sleepy before it was properly over. She had a vague impression of Dwarfs crowding round the fire with frying-pans rather bigger than themselves, and the hissing, and delicious smell of sausages, and more, and more, and more sausages. And not wretched sausages half full of bread and soya bean either, but real meaty, spicy ones, fat and piping hot and burst and just the tiniest bit burnt. And great mugs of frothy chocolate, and roast potatoes and roast chestnuts, and baked apples with raisins stuck in where the cores had been, and then ices just to freshen you up after all the hot things.
Jill sat up and looked around. Puddleglum and Eustace were lying not far away, both fast asleep.
"Hi, you two!" shouted Jill in a loud voice. "Aren't you ever going to get up?"
"Shoo, shoo!" said a sleepy voice somewhere above her. "Time to be settling down. Have a good snooze, do, do. Don't make a to-do. Tu-whoo!"
"Why, I do believe," said Jill, glancing up at a white bundle of fluffy feathers which was perched on top of a grandfather clock in one corner of the cave, "I do believe it's Glimfeather!"
"True, true," whirred the Owl, lifting its head out from under its wing and opening one eye. "I came up with a message for the Prince at about two. The squirrels brought us the good news. Message for the Prince. He's gone. You're to follow too. Good-day -" and the head disappeared again.
As there seemed no further hope of getting any information from the Owl, Jill got up and began looking round for any chance of a wash and some breakfast. But almost at once a little Faun came trotting into the cave with a sharp click-clack of his goaty hoofs on the stone floor.
"Ah! You've woken up at last, Daughter of Eve," he said. "Perhaps you'd better wake the Son of Adam. You've got to be off in a few minutes and two Centaurs have very kindly offered to let you ride on their backs down to Cair Paravel." He added in a lower voice. "Of course, you realize it is a most special and unheard-of honour to be allowed to ride a Centaur. I don't know that I ever heard of anyone doing it before. It wouldn't do to keep them waiting."
"Where's the Prince?" was the first question of Eustace and Puddleglum as soon as they had been wakened.
"He's gone down to meet the King, his father, at Cair Paravel," answered the Faun, whose name was Orruns. "His Majesty's ship is expected in harbour any moment. It seems that the King met Aslan - I don't know whether it was in a vision or face to face - before he had sailed far, and Aslan turned him back and told him he would find his long-lost son awaiting him when he reached Narnia."
Eustace was now up and he and Jill set about helping Orruns to get the breakfast. Puddleglum was told to stay in bed. A Centaur called Cloudbirth, a famous healer, or (as Orruns called it) a 'leech', was coming to see to his burnt foot.
"Ah!" said Puddleglum in a tone almost of contentment, "he'll want to have the leg off at the knee, I shouldn't wonder. You see if he doesn't." But he was quite glad to stay in bed.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast and Eustace tackled it just as if he had not had a very large supper in the middle of the night.
"I say, Son of Adam," said the Faun, looking with a certain awe at Eustace's mouthfuls. "There's no need to hurry quite so dreadfully as that. I don't think the Centaurs have quite finished their breakfasts yet."
"Then they must have got up very late," said Eustace. "I bet it's after ten o'clock."
"Oh no," said Orruns. "They got up before it was light."
"Then they must have waited the dickens of a time for breakfast," said Eustace.
"No, they didn't," said Orruns. "They began eating the minute they awoke."
"Golly!" said Eustace. "Do they eat a very big breakfast?"
"Why, Son of Adam, don't you understand? A Centaur has a man-stomach and a horse-stomach. And of course both want breakfast. So first of all he has porridge and pavenders and kidneys and bacon and omelette and cold ham and toast and marmalade and coffee and beer. And after that he attends to the horse part of himself by grazing for an hour or so and finishing up with a hot mash, some oats, and a bag of sugar. That's why it's such a serious thing to ask a Centaur to stay for the week-end. A very serious thing indeed."
At that moment there was a sound of horse-hoofs tapping on rock from the mouth of the cave, and the children looked up. The two Centaurs, one with a black and one with a golden beard flowing over their magnificent bare chests, stood waiting for them, bending their heads a little so as to look into the cave. Then the children became very polite and finished their breakfast very quickly. No one thinks a Centaur funny when he sees it. They are solemn, majestic people, full of ancient wisdom which they learn from the stars, not easily made either merry or angry; but their anger is terrible as a tidal wave when it comes.
"Good-bye, dear Puddleglum," said Jill, going over to the Marsh-wiggle's bed. "I'm sorry we called you a wet blanket."
"So'm I," said Eustace. "You've been the best friend in the world."
"And I do hope we'll meet again," added Jill.
"Not much chance of that, I should say," replied Puddleglum. "1 don't reckon I'm very likely to see my old wigwam again either. And that Prince - he's a nice chap - but do you think he's very strong? Constitution ruined with living underground, I shouldn't wonder. Looks the sort that might go off any day."
"Puddleglum!" said Jill. "You're a regular old humbug. You sound as doleful as a funeral and I believe you're perfectly happy. And you talk as if you were afraid of everything, when you're really as brave as-as a lion."
"Now, speaking of funerals," began Puddleglum, but Jill, who heard the Centaurs tapping with their hoofs behind her, surprised him very much by flinging her arms round his thin neck and kissing his muddy-looking face, while Eustace wrung his hand. Then they both rushed away to the Centaurs, and the Marsh-wiggle, sinking back on his bed, remarked to himself, "Well, I wouldn't have dreamt of her doing that. Even though I am a good-looking chap."
To ride on a Centaur is, no doubt, a great honour (and except Jill and Eustace there is probably no one alive in the world today who has had it) but it is very uncomfortable. For no one who valued his life would suggest putting a saddle on a Centaur, and riding bare-back is no fun; especially if, like Eustace, you have never learned to ride at all. The Centaurs were very polite in a grave, gracious, grown-up kind of way, and as they cantered through the Narnian woods they spoke, without turning their heads, telling the children about the properties of herbs and roots, the influences of the planets, the nine names of Aslan with their meanings, and things of that sort. But however sore and jolted the two humans were, they would now give anything to have that journey over again: to see those glades and slopes sparkling with last night's snow, to be met by rabbits and squirrels and birds that wished you good morning, to breathe again the air of Narnia and hear the voices of the Narnian trees.
They came down to the river, flowing bright and blue in winter sunshine, far below the last bridge (which is at the snug, red-roofed little town of Beruna) and were ferried across in a flat barge by the ferryman; or rather, by the ferry-wiggle, for it is Marsh-wiggles who do most of the watery and fishy kinds of work in Narnia. And when they had crossed they rode along the south bank of the river and presently came to Cair Paravel itself. And at the very moment of their arrival they saw that same bright ship which they had seen when they first set foot in Narnia, gliding up the river like a huge bird. All the court were once more assembled on the green between the castle and the quay to welcome King Caspian home again. Rilian, who had changed his black clothes and was now dressed in a scarlet cloak over silver mail, stood close to the water's edge, bare-headed, to receive his father; and the Dwarf Trumpkin sat beside him in his little donkey-chair. The children saw there would be no chance of reaching the Prince through all that crowd, and, anyway, they now felt rather shy. So they asked the Centaurs if they might go on sitting on their backs a little longer and thus see everything over the heads of the courtiers. And the Centaurs said they might.
A flourish of silver trumpets came over the water from the ship's deck: the sailors threw a rope; rats (Talking Rats, of course) and Marsh-wiggles made it fast ashore; and the ship was warped in. Musicians, hidden somewhere in the crowd, began to play solemn, triumphal music. And soon the King's galleon was alongside and the Rats ran the gangway on board her.
Jill expected to see the old King come down it. But there appeared to be some hitch. A Lord with a pale face came ashore and knelt to the Prince and to Trumpkin. The three were talking with their heads close together for a few minutes, but no one could hear what they said. The music played on, but you could feel that everyone was becoming uneasy. Then four Knights, carrying something and going very slowly, appeared on deck. When they started to come down the gangway you could see what they were carrying: it was the old King on a bed, very pale and still. They set him down. The Prince knelt beside him and embraced him. They could see King Caspian raising his hand to bless his son. And everyone cheered, but it was a half-hearted cheer, for they all felt that something was going wrong. Then suddenly the King's head fell back upon his pillows, the musicians stopped and there was a dead silence. The Prince, kneeling by the King's bed, laid down his head upon it and wept.
There were whisperings and goings to and fro. Then Jill noticed that all who wore hats, bonnets, helmets, or hoods were taking them off - Eustace included. Then she heard a rustling and flapping noise up above the castle; when she looked she saw that the great banner with the golden Lion on it was being brought down to half-mast. And after that, slowly, mercilessly, with wailing strings and disconsolate blowing of horns, the music began again: this time, a tune to break your heart.
They both slipped off their Centaurs (who took no notice of them).
"I wish I was at home," said Jill.
Eustace nodded, saying nothing, and bit his lip.
"I have come," said a deep voice behind them. They turned and saw the Lion himself, so bright and real and strong that everything else began at once to look pale and shadowy compared with him. And in less time than it takes to breathe Jill forgot about the dead King of Narnia and remembered only how she had made Eustace fall over the cliff, and how she had helped to muff nearly all the signs, and about all the snappings and quarrellings. And she wanted to say "I'm sorry" but she could not speak. Then the Lion drew them towards him with his eyes, and bent down and touched their pale faces with his tongue, and said:
"Think of that no more. I will not always be scolding. You have done the work for which I sent you into Narnia."
"Please, Aslan," said Jill, "may we go home now?"
"Yes. I have come to bring you Home," said Aslan. Then he opened his mouth wide and blew. But this time they had no sense of flying through the air: instead, it seemed that they remained still, and the wild breath of Aslan blew away the ship and the dead King and the castle and the snow and the winter sky. For all these things floated off into the air like wreaths of smoke, and suddenly they were standing in a great brightness of mid-summer sunshine, on smooth turf, among mighty trees, and beside a fair, fresh stream.
Then they saw that they were once more on the Mountain of Aslan, high up above and beyond the end of that world in which Narnia lies. But the strange thing was that the funeral music for King Caspian still went on, though no one could tell where it came from. They were walking beside the stream and the Lion went before them: and he became so beautiful, and the music so despairing, that Jill did not know which of them it was that filled her eyes with tears.
Then Aslan stopped, and the children looked into the stream. And there, on the golden gravel of the bed of the stream, lay King Caspian, dead, with the water flowing over him like liquid glass. His long white beard swayed in it like water-weed. And all three stood and wept. Even the Lion wept: great Lion-tears, each tear more precious than the Earth would be if it was a single solid diamond. And Jill noticed that Eustace looked neither like a child crying, nor like a boy crying and wanting to hide it, but like a grownup crying. At least, that is the nearest she could get to it; but really, as she said, people don't seem to have any particular ages on that mountain.
"Son of Adam," said Aslan, "go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there, and bring it to me."
Eustace obeyed. The thorn was a foot long and sharp as a rapier.
"Drive it into my paw, Son of Adam," said Aslan, holding up his right fore-paw and spreading out the great pad towards Eustace.
"Must I?" said Eustace.
"Yes," said Aslan.
Then Eustace set his teeth and drove the thorn into the Lion's pad. And there came out a great drop of blood, redder than all redness that you have ever seen or imagined.
And it splashed into the stream over the dead body of the King. At the same moment the doleful music stopped. And the dead King began to be changed. His white beard turned to grey, and from grey to yellow, and got shorter and vanished altogether; and his sunken cheeks grew round and fresh, and the wrinkles were smoothed, and his eyes opened, and his eyes and lips both laughed, and suddenly he leaped up and stood before them - a very young man, or a boy. (But Jill couldn't say which, because of people having no particular ages in Aslan's country. Even in this world, of course, it is the stupidest children who are most childish and the stupidest grown-ups who are most grownup.) And he rushed to Aslan and flung his arms as far as they would go round the huge neck; and he gave Aslan the strong kisses of a King, and Aslan gave him the wild kisses of a Lion.
At last Caspian turned to the others. He gave a great laugh of astonished joy.
"Why! Eustace!" he said. "Eustace! So you did reach the end of the world after all. What about my second-best sword that you broke on the sea-serpent?"
Eustace made a step towards him with both hands held out, but then drew back with a somewhat startled expression.
"Look here! I say," he stammered. "It's all very well. But aren't you? - I mean didn't you -?"
"Oh, don't be such an ass," said Caspian.
"But," said Eustace, looking at Aslan. "Hasn't he - er died?"
"Yes," said the Lion in a very quiet voice, almost (Jill thought) as if he were laughing. "He has died. Most people have, you know. Even I have. There are very few who haven't."
"Oh," said Caspian. "I see what's bothering you. You think I'm a ghost, or some nonsense. But don't you see? I would be that if I appeared in Narnia now: because I don't belong there any more. But one can't be a ghost in one's own country. I might be a ghost if I got into your world. I don't know. But I suppose it isn't yours either, now you're here."
A great hope rose in the children's hearts. But Aslan shook his shaggy head. "No, my dears," he said. "When you meet me here again, you will have come to stay. But not now. You must go back to your own world for a while."
"Sir," said Caspian, "I've always wanted to have just one glimpse of their world. Is that wrong?"
"You cannot want wrong things any more, now that you have died, my son," said Aslan. "And you shall see their world - for five minutes of their time. It will take no longer for you to set things right there." Then Aslan explained to Caspian what Jill and Eustace were going back to and all about Experiment House: he seemed to know it quite as well as they did.
"Daughter," said Aslan to Jill, "pluck a switch off that bush." She did; and as soon as it was in her hand it turned into a fine new riding crop.
"Now, Sons of Adam, draw your swords," said Aslan. "But use only the flat, for it is cowards and children, not warriors, against whom 1 send you."
"Are you coming with us, Aslan?" said Jill.
"They shall see only my back," said Aslan.
He led them rapidly through the wood, and before they had gone many paces, the wall of Experiment House appcared before them. Then Aslan roared so that the sun shook in the sky and thirty feet of the wall fell down before them. They looked through the gap, down into the school shrubbery and on to the roof of the gym, all under the same dull autumn sky which they had seen before their adventures began. Aslan turned to Jill and Eustace and breathed upon them and touched their foreheads with his tongue. Then he lay down amid the gap he had made in the wall and turned his golden back to England, and his lordly face towards his own lands. At the same moment Jill saw figures whom she knew only too well running up through the laurels towards them. Most of the gang were there Adela Pennyfather and Cholmondely Major, Edith Winterblott, `Spotty' Sorrier, big Bannister, and the two loathsome Garrett twins. But suddenly they stopped. Their faces changed, and all the meanness, conceit, cruelty, and sneakishness almost disappeared in one single expression of terror. For they saw the wall fallen down, and a lion as large as a young elephant lying in the gap, and three figures in glittering clothes with weapons in their hands rushing down upon them. For, with the strength of Aslan in them, Jill plied her crop on the girls and Caspian and Eustace plied the flats of their swords on the boys so well that in two minutes all the bullies were running like mad, crying out, `Murder! Fascists! Lions! It isn't fair.' And then the Head (who was, by the way, a woman) came running out to see what was happening. And when she saw the lion and the broken wall and Caspian and Jill and Eustace (whom she quite failed to recognize) she had hysterics and went back to the house and began ringing up the police with stories about a lion escaped from a circus, and escaped convicts who broke down walls and carried drawn swords. In the midst of all this fuss Jill and Eustace slipped quietly indoors and changed out of their bright clothes into ordinary things, and Caspian went back into his own world. And the wall, at Aslan's word, was made whole again. When the police arrived and found no lion, no broken wall, and no convicts, and the Head behaving like a lunatic, there was an inquiry into the whole thing. And in the inquiry all sorts of things about Experiment House came out, and about ten people got expelled. After that, the Head's friends saw that the Head was no use as a Head, so they got her made an Inspector to interfere with other Heads. And when they found she wasn't much good even at that, they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after.
Eustace buried his fine clothes secretly one night in the school grounds, but Jill smuggled hers home and wore them at a fancy-dress ball next holidays. And from that day forth things changed for the better at Experiment House, and it became quite a good school. And Jill and Eustace were always friends.
But far off in Narnia, King Rilian buried his father, Caspian the Navigator, Tenth of that name, and mourned for him. He himself ruled Narnia well and the land was happy in his days, though Puddleglum (whose foot was as good as new in three weeks) often pointed out that bright mornings brought on wet afternoons, and that you couldn't expect good times to last. The opening into the hillside was left open, and often in hot summer days the Narnians go in there with ships and lanterns and down to the water and sail to and fro, singing, on the cool, dark underground sea, telling each other stories of the cities that lie fathoms deep below. If ever you have the luck to go to Narnia yourself, do not forget to have a look at those caves.      16、皆大欢喜      第二天早上吉尔醒来发现自己在一个山洞里，一时吓坏了，竟以为又回到地下世界去了。不过等她注意到自己正躺在一张石南铺成的床上，盖着一件皮斗篷，看见石头壁炉里的火正劈劈啪啪响得欢(像是刚刚生好的)，在那一边，早上的阳光正从山洞口照进来，她这才想起了一切快乐的现实。尽管晚餐还没正式结束，她就困得要命，可是他们总算美美吃了一顿晚餐，大家都挤进那个山洞里，她模模糊糊地记得好多小矮人围在炉火边，拿着比他们自己还大的煎锅，还有煎得嘶嘶响的、美味可口的香肠，有好多，好多，好多香肠呢。不是那种里面一半塞满面包和黄豆的劣质香肠，而是肉多味辣、肥壮滚烫、煎得裂开、略微焦黄的真正香肠。还有一大杯一大杯满是泡沫的巧克力、烤土豆、烤栗子、挖掉心子里面塞满葡萄干的烘苹果。随后还有雪糕，让你吃了那么多热的以后提提神。      吉尔坐起来看看周围，普德格伦和尤斯塔斯就睡在离她不远的地方，两个都睡得很熟。“嗨，你们两个!”吉尔大声叫道，“你们还不打算起来吗？”      “嘘，嘘，”她上面有个睡意蒙眬的声音说，“是安静下来的时候了。好好睡一觉。睡吧，睡吧。别吵。喔嗬!”“咦，我就相信，”吉尔说着，朝山洞一角那只落地大钟顶上雪白一团蓬蓬松松的羽毛看了一眼，“我就相信那准是格里姆费瑟!”      “不错，不错，”猫头鹰呼噜呼噜说，脑袋从翅膀下伸出来，张开一只眼睛，“我在两点钟左右给王子送了个信。是松鼠带来的好消息。给王子的信。他走了。你们也要跟着去。再见……”脑袋又不见了。2       看来没希望从猫头鹰那儿再打听到什么消息了，吉尔起来开始到处看看有没有机会洗漱一下，吃点早饭。不料一只小羊怪几乎一下子就一溜小跑进了山洞，羊蹄子踩着石板地发出清脆的咔哒咔哒声。,       “啊呀，你总算醒了，夏娃的女儿，”它说，“也许你最好叫醒亚当的儿子，你们一会儿工夫就要走了，两匹人头马恭请你们骑上它们去凯尔帕拉维尔。”它放低声音又说，“当然，你们要明白，骑人头马这可是一种闻所未闻的特殊荣誉。我就从来没听见过以前有谁骑过。让它们等着可不好。”      尤斯塔斯和普德格伦一被叫醒首先就问：“王子到哪儿去了?”      “他到凯尔帕拉维尔去见他父王了，”那只名叫沃伦斯的羊怪回答说，“陛下的船随时都会进港。看来好像是国王还没走远就遇见了阿斯兰——我不知道是在梦里看见，还是当面碰到——阿斯兰就叫他回来，还告诉他，他到达纳尼亚的时候，就会看到失踪已久的儿子在等着他。”       尤斯塔斯已经起来了，他和吉尔动手帮沃伦斯准备早餐。普德格伦按吩咐躺在床上。有匹名叫克劳德伯斯的人头马是有名的郎中，或者说(沃伦斯那么称呼它)“医师”，要来治疗它那只烧伤的脚。      “啊!”普德格伦说话的声调几乎是心满意足的了，“它会把我的腿齐膝截掉，这我不奇怪。它不截掉才怪呢。”不过它倒很高兴躺在床上。      早餐是炒蛋和烤面包片，尤斯塔斯那副吃相就像他半夜里并没吃过一顿丰富的晚餐似的。      “嗨，亚当的儿子，”羊怪说，看着尤斯塔斯大口大口地吃，不免有点害怕，“用不着那么急急忙忙，吃得那么快。我想人头马这会儿还没吃好早餐呢。”      “那么它们一定起来得很晚，”尤斯塔斯说，“我敢说现在已经有十点多了。”      “哦，不，”沃伦斯说，“它们天不亮就起来了。”      “那么它们一定是在等开早餐的时间。”尤斯塔斯说。      “不，它们没等，”沃伦斯说，“它们一醒来就开始吃。”      “天哪，”尤斯塔斯说，“他们要吃一大份早餐吗?”      “怎么，亚当的儿子，难道你不明白?一匹人头马有一个人的胃和一个马的胃。当然两个胃都要填上早餐。因此它先吃点粥和帕文德鱼、腰子、熏肉、煎蛋卷、冷火腿、烤面包片、果酱、咖啡和啤酒。吃过后再照顾自己身上马的那一部分，吃上一个多小时的青草，临了再来点热面糊，一点燕麦和一袋糖。这就是为什么说邀请人头马来度周末是件大事。的确是件天大的事。”      那时山洞口传达了马蹄叩击石头的声音，两个孩子抬头望去。两匹人头马，一匹是黑胡子，一匹是金黄色胡子，胡子飘拂在它们健壮的光胸脯上，正站着等他们。人头马还把头低下来，往山洞里看。于是两个孩子变得很有礼貌，快快地吃完了早餐。看见人头马时谁也不会觉得它可笑。人头马是庄重而威严的动物，一肚子古代学问，那是跟星星学来的，它们轻易不流露喜怒，但它们发起火来就像海啸一样可怕。       “再见，亲爱的普德格伦，”吉尔走到沼泽怪床边说，“很抱歉我们叫你扫兴鬼。”      “我也是，”尤斯塔斯说，“你是世界上最好的朋友。”      “我真希望我们能再见。”吉尔又加了一句。      “我得说，这种机会不多，”普德格伦说，“我想我很可能再也见不到自己的旧棚屋了。还有那个王子——他是个好人——但你们认为他很强壮吗?地下生活把他的身子骨毁了，这我不奇怪。看来他随时都会送命的。”      “普德格伦!’，吉尔说，“你真是个一成不变的鬼话大王。听上去你口气伤心得像在出席葬礼，而我相信你心里十分快活。你说话像是样样事都害怕，其实你勇敢得就像一头狮子。”       “好了，说起葬礼……”普德格伦开始说，但吉尔听见人头马在她后面一个劲儿顿蹄子，就出其不意伸出双臂搂住它的细脖子，亲亲它那泥土色的脸，尤斯塔斯也趁此和它紧紧握手。接着他们都奔向人头马去了，沼泽怪倒在床上，自言自语道：“啊，即使我是个漂亮的家伙，我做梦也没想到她会来这一手。”       骑上一匹人头马，虽然无疑是一份极大的光荣(除了吉尔和尤斯塔斯，今天在世的人大概没一个有过这份光荣)，不过骑在上面十分不舒服。因为爱惜自己生命的人没一个会提出在人头马身上放个马鞍子，而骑光背马可不是闹着玩的，尤其是像尤斯塔斯那种根本没学过骑马的人。人头马非常有礼貌，可以说又庄重又高雅，一副成年人的态度，它们慢慢跑过纳尼亚的树林时，头也不回就说开了，告诉两个孩子草药和根茎的性质、行星的影响、阿斯兰九个名字的意思，等等等等。但不管这两个人当时一路上多颠多痛，如今他们却愿意不惜一切代价再来一趟：看看那些林间空地和山坡在隔夜雪后闪闪发亮，遇上一些兔子、松鼠和鸟儿向你道早安，再呼吸一下纳尼亚的空气，再听听纳尼亚树木的声音。      他们来到河的下游，河水在冬天的阳光下流淌，晶莹碧蓝，在最后一座桥下面(桥在舒适的红屋顶的小镇柏卢纳)，乘上一艘大平底船，由渡船工把他们送到对岸，或者说，由渡船怪送过去，因为在纳尼亚，大多数拖泥带水或沾点鱼腥的活儿都由沼泽怪干。过河以后他们就沿着南岸飞驰，一会儿就到了凯尔帕拉维尔。他们刚到就看见他们第一次踏上纳尼亚时看见过的那条颜色鲜艳的船，正像大鸟似的在河里轻轻驶来。满朝上下又一次聚集在城堡和码头之间的草坪上，欢迎凯斯宾国王再次归来。瑞廉王子已经换掉了黑衣服，现在在银铠甲上披了一件深红的斗篷，没戴帽子，站在靠近河边的地方迎接他的父亲。小矮人杜鲁普金就在他旁边，坐在那辆小驴车里。两个孩子看出他们没法穿过这么多人群到王子身边去，至少，这会儿他们感到有点不敢上去。因此他们请求人头马，是否可以在它们背上多坐一会儿，好看到给那些大臣挡住的一切。人头马说尽坐不妨。水面传来船甲板上一阵响亮的银号声，水手们扔过一根缆绳，老鼠(当然是会说话的老鼠)和沼泽怪把船紧紧拴在岸上；船就给拖进来了。躲在人群中的乐师开始奏起庄重的凯旋音乐。国王的大帆船刚靠岸，老鼠就把跳板架上。       吉尔原想会看见老国王走下跳板。但那边似乎有什么事耽搁了。一位爵爷脸色苍白，走上岸，对王子和杜鲁普金跪拜行礼。过后三个人头凑在一起谈了一会儿，但没人听得出他们在谈什么。音乐还在演奏，不过你能感到大家都变得不安了。接着是四位骑士，抬着什么东西，出现在甲板上，缓缓走来。当他们要走下跳板时你才看得见他们拾的是什么：原来是老国王躺在床上，脸色灰白，一动不动。他们把他放下。王子跪在他身边拥抱他。他们看得见凯斯宾国王举起手祝福他的儿子。大家都欢呼起来，不过这种欢呼无精打采，因为大家全都感到大事不妙。随后国王脑袋突然倒在枕头上，乐师们停下了，四下一片寂静。王子跪在国王床前，头挨着床，哭了起来。       周围一片悄悄说话声，人们来回走动。后来吉尔注意到所有戴帽子的，软帽啊，头盔啊，风帽啊，都脱下了——尤斯塔斯也脱了。随后她又听见城堡上方一阵窸窸窣窣、啪啦啪啦的声音；她抬眼望去，只见那面有金色狮王的大旗正降成半旗。此后，又慢慢无情地奏起乐来，弦乐器在哭泣，号角忧伤地哀号，这一次演奏的是一首令人心碎的曲调       他们俩都从人头马身上溜了下来(但它们并没注意他们)。      “但愿我在家里就好了。”吉尔说。      尤斯塔斯点点头，咬着嘴唇一声不吭。      “我来了。”一个深沉的声音在他们身后说。他们转过身来，看见了狮王本人，浑身闪光，真实不假，威武雄壮，其他的一切跟他相比顿时显得黯然失色。转眼工夫，吉尔就忘掉了纳尼亚国王死了，只记得自己害得尤斯塔斯摔下悬崖，自己把所有的指示几乎都错过了，还记得谩骂和吵架。她想说声“对不起”，但她说不出来。于是狮王用眼神把他们招到身边，弯下身子，用舌头舔舔他们苍白的脸，说道：       “别再想那些了。我不会老是责怪你们。你们已经完成了我和你们到纳尼亚办的事。”      “阿斯兰，请问你，”吉尔说，“我们现在是不是可以回家了?”      “是啊，我就是来带你们回家的，”阿斯兰说。接着他又张大了嘴，吹啊吹。不过这一次他们可不觉得自己在空中飞；相反，他们似乎留在原地不动，阿斯兰那口猛烈的气吹走了那艘船、死去的国王、城堡以及雪和冬日的天空。这一切都像一团团烟圈那样在空中飘走了，突然间，他们站在一大片明亮的仲夏阳光下，站在柔滑的草地上，周围有好多大树，旁边是一条清澈的小溪。这时他们才看出自己又来到了阿斯兰大山，高高耸立在纳尼亚那个世界的尽头之上和之外。奇怪的是凯斯宾国王的哀乐仍然连续不断，然而没人说得出音乐是从哪儿来的。他们在小溪边走着，狮王走在他们前面。他变得那么美，那音乐却是那么令人悲观绝望，吉尔不知道自己为了哪一点才眼泪汪汪。      后来阿斯兰停下了，两个孩子看看那条小溪。在小溪底层的金色碎石上，躺着死去的凯斯宾国王，溪水像透明的玻璃般流过他身上。他那把长长的白胡子在水中像水草一样摇摇摆摆。他们三个都站在那儿哭了。连狮王也哭了，伟大的狮王的眼泪，每颗泪珠如果是一颗纯净钻石的话，那比尘世间什么都珍贵。吉尔注意到尤斯塔斯既不像一个小孩儿哭，也不像一个男孩子哭时要躲躲闪闪，而是像个大人似的哭着。至少这点是她认为最接近事实的看法。不过实际上，正像她说过的一样，在那座山上人们似乎没有什么具体年龄。       “亚当的儿子，”阿斯兰说，“到那边灌木丛里去，看到有刺就拔一根来给我。”      尤斯塔斯遵命去办。那根刺有一英尺长，像把双刃剑那么锐利。      “把刺扎进我爪子里，亚当的儿子。”阿斯兰说，一面伸出他的右前爪，向尤斯塔斯露出那一大块肉趾。      “我非扎不可?”尤斯塔斯说。      “对。”阿斯兰说。      于是尤斯塔斯咬紧牙齿，把刺扎进狮王的肉趾。肉趾上就流出了一大滴血，比你见过的或想像中的所有红色更红。      这滴血溅到小溪里国王的尸体上。同时，哀乐停止了，国王的尸体开始有了变化。白胡子变成了灰胡子，灰胡子又变为黄胡子，越变越短，直到完全消失。凹陷的双颊变成圆滚滚的，脸色也好起来，皱纹都变光滑了，他睁开眼睛，笑容满面，突然一下子跳起来站在他们面前——一个很年轻的男人，或者说是一个男孩子。(不过吉尔说不出他是哪一种，因为在阿斯兰的国家里人们没有具体年龄。当然，即使在这个世界里，最孩子气的才是最笨的孩子，最成人气的是最笨的成人。)他冲向阿斯兰，张开双臂尽量想搂住狮王那粗大的脖子；他给了阿斯兰一个国王的有力的吻，而阿斯兰给了他一个狮王的野性的吻。      最后凯斯宾转身对着那两个孩子。他又惊又喜地哈哈大笑。     “啊呀，尤斯塔斯!”他说，“尤斯塔斯!你到底还是到世界尽头来了!你在海蛇身上砍断的我那第二把好剑怎么样了?”      尤斯塔斯伸出双手向他迎上一步，但又吃惊地缩回来。“瞧，嗨，”他结结巴巴地说，“好倒是好，不过你不是——我是说你没有?……”      “哦，别傻了。”凯斯宾说。      “但是，”尤斯塔斯看着阿斯兰说，“他不是——呃——死了吗?”      “是啊，”狮王十分平静地说，(吉尔觉得)他几乎是在笑，“他已经死了。你们也知道，大多数人都死过。甚至我也死过。没死过的人很少很少。”      “哦，”凯斯宾说，“我明白你为什么伤脑筋了。你当我是鬼，或什么歪门邪道的东西。不过难道你不明白吗?要是我眼下出现在纳尼亚，我就会是鬼，因为我再也不属于那儿了。但一个人不能在自己的国家里做鬼啊。要是我到了你们的世界，我就可以做鬼了。我不知道。但我想那边也不是你们的世界了，你们现在是在这儿。”       两个孩子心里抱着很大的希望。谁知阿斯兰却摇摇蓬蓬松松的脑袋。“不，亲爱的，”他说，“你们再在这儿遇到我时，你们就得来住下了。不过现在不行。你们必须回到你们自己的世界去过些日子。”      “大人，”凯斯宾说，“我一直想要看一眼他们的世界。这要求错了吗?”      “我的儿子，你既然已经死了，想要的东西就再也不会错了。”阿斯兰说，“而且你将去看看他们的世界——按他们那里的时间是五分钟。你把那儿的事情纠正过来要不了更多时间。”接着阿斯兰向凯斯宾解释吉尔和尤斯塔斯是回到什么地方去，还有实验学校的一切事情。他似乎跟他们一样了解那里的情况。      “女儿啊，”阿斯兰对吉尔说，“到那边灌木林去摘一根树枝。”树枝刚到她手里就变成了一根新的马鞭。      “好了，亚当的儿子，抽出你们的剑。”阿斯兰说，“但你们只能用剑的平面，因为我派你们去对付的是胆小鬼和孩子们，不是武士。”      “你跟我们一起去吗，阿斯兰?”吉尔说。      “他们只能看见我的背。”阿斯兰说。      他带他们迅速穿过树林，没走几步，实验学校的墙就出现在他们眼前。于是阿斯兰怒吼起来，吼得天上的太阳抖抖颤颤，他们眼前的墙也倒塌了三十英尺。他们从豁口往里看，看到学校的灌木丛，看到体育馆的屋顶，依然都在他们开始冒险之前看到的阴沉沉的秋日天空下。阿斯兰转身对着吉尔和尤斯塔斯，朝他们吹了口气，用舌头舔舔他们的前额。接着他躺在自己震塌的豁口上，他那金色的背部对着英格兰，高贵的脸对着自己的地方。同时，吉尔看见几个十分熟悉的身影正穿过月桂树向他们跑来。那一帮人大部分都来了——阿黛拉;潘尼法瑟，乔蒙德利;梅杰，伊迪丝;温特布洛特，“雀斑”索纳，大个子班尼斯特，还有加勒特家两个讨厌的双胞胎。不料他们突然都停下了，脸色也变了，所有那些卑鄙、自负、残酷、诡诈的神情几乎都不见了，统统变成一种恐怖神情。因为他们看到了倒塌的墙，一只像小象那么大的狮子躺在豁口上，三个衣着华丽的身影手持武器正向他们冲来。因为有了阿斯兰赋予他们的力量，吉尔用马鞭抽打着女孩子，凯斯宾和尤斯塔斯则得心应手地使劲挥舞着剑，用平面对付男孩子，不到两分钟那些小恶霸都疯也似的逃命去了，一面还大喊大叫：“杀人了!法西斯!狮子!这不公平!”接着校长(顺便说说，校长是个女的)跑出来看出了什么事。等她看到狮子和断墙、凯斯宾、吉尔和尤斯塔斯(她没认出他们)，就大发歇斯底里，回到屋里打电话给警察，编造出狮子逃出马戏团，以及逃犯砸倒了墙，还带着出鞘的剑等一套鬼话。吉尔和尤斯塔斯趁着一片混乱，悄悄溜进屋去，换掉鲜艳的衣服，穿上普通的服装，凯斯宾也回到他自己的世界去了。那堵墙按照阿斯兰的旨意也恢复了原状。等警察到达时，发现没有狮子，也没有断墙，也没有罪犯，而校长那副模样却像个疯子，就对整个事件做了调查。调查中实验学校的种种事情都暴露了，大约有十个人被开除出校。此后校长的朋友看出校长当一校之长不行，就让她当个督学去干涉其他校长。当他们发现她连这个工作也不大行，就把她送进议会，从此她就在议会里过得逍遥自在。       有一天晚上，尤斯塔斯把他的好看衣服偷偷埋在校园里，但吉尔却偷偷把她的衣服带回家去，在接下来几个节日里的化装舞会上穿。从那天以后，实验学校的情况好转了，成了一所挺不错的学校。吉尔和尤斯塔斯一直是朋友。       但在遥远的纳尼亚，瑞廉国王埋葬了他的父亲，航海家凯斯宾十世，并为他哀悼。瑞廉把纳尼亚治理得很好，在他那个时代可以说是国泰民安。尽管普德格伦(它的脚在三个星期后就完全好了)经常指出天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福，你不能指望好日子能一直过下去。山坡上那个裂口就一直开着，纳尼亚人常在炎热的夏天带着船和灯笼到里面去，在水面上来回航行，在阴凉黑暗的地下世界的海上唱歌，互相讲述在好多英寻下面深处的那些城市的故事。如果你有幸亲自到纳尼亚去，可别忘了去看看那些山洞啊。