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《黎明踏浪号》第十二章 噩梦岛

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2018年07月12日

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CHAPTER TWELVE THE DARK ISLAND
第十二章 噩梦岛

AFTER this adventure they sailed on south and a little east for twelve days with a gentle wind,the skies being mostly clear and the air warm,and saw no bird or fish,except that once there were whales spouting a long way to starboard.Lucy and Reepicheep played a good deal of chess at this time.Then on the thirteenth day,Edmund,from the fighting top,sighted what looked like a great dark mountain rising out of the sea on their port bow.
这段奇遇结束之后,他们顺着风,向南偏东的方向航行了十二天,天气晴朗,空气很温暖,天上没有鸟,海面下也没有鱼,只在右舷外见过一次鲸在喷水。这段时间里露茜和雷佩契普下了不少盘棋。第十三天的时候,爱德蒙在桅顶的观测台上看到左舷的海面上矗立着黑乎乎的一团东西,看上去像一座山。
They altered course and made for this land,mostly by oar, for the wind would not serve them to sail north-east.When evening fell they were still a long way from it and rowed all night. Next morning the weather was fair but a flat calm.The dark mass lay ahead,much nearer and larger,but still very dim,so that some thought it was still a long way off and others thought they were running into a mist.
他们改变航向朝那里开去,可是风力不足,只好靠划桨,不能向东北行驶。夜幕降临时,他们离那里还很远,足足划了一整夜。第二天早晨,天气很好,海面上风平浪静。那一团黑乎乎的庞然大物就横亘在他们前面,虽然近得多,大得多,但还是非常模糊,有些人还以为它还离得老远,也有一些人认为他们已经闯进了一团迷雾中。
About nine that morning,very suddenly,it was so close that they could see that it was not land at all,nor even,in an ordinary sense,a mist.It was a Darkness.It is rather hard to describe, but you will see what it was like if you imagine yourself looking into the mouth of a railway tunnel-a tunnel either so long or so twisty that you cannot see the light at the far end.And you know what it would be like.For a few feet you would see the rails and sleepers and gravel in broad daylight;then there would come a place where they were in twilight;and then,pretty suddenly, but of course without a sharp dividing line,they would vanish altogether into smooth,solid blackness.It was just so here. For a few feet in front of their bows they could see the swell of the bright greenish-blue water.Beyond that,they could see the water looking pale and grey as it would look late in the evening.But beyond that again,utter blackness as if they had come to the edge of moonless and starless night.
"那一天早晨九点左右,他们以为离陆地已经很近,却突然发现这里根本不是陆地,也不是通常所说的迷雾,而是一片黑暗。那种状况很难描写,如果你设想自己站在一条铁路隧道的入口,望进去只看到一条很长很长或者弯弯曲曲,望不到尽头光线的隧道——那你就会明白我的意思了。

你想象一下隧道的样子,然后先在几英尺外看见冷白的铁轨、枕木和碎石,然后来到一个幽暗的地方。再后来,突然一下子,也没有明显的分界线,突然就处在浑然一体的黑暗中了。这里的情况就是这样。在船头前几英尺外,他们看得见碧绿的海水在波涛汹涌。再往前,只见海水变成灰蒙蒙的,像在傍晚时分那样。可是再往远看, 就只见黑漆漆的一片,就像在无星无月的黑夜里一样。
"
Caspian shouted to the boatswain to keep her back,and all except the rowers rushed forward and gazed from the bows.But there was nothing to be seen by gazing.Behind them was the sea and the sun,before them the Darkness.
凯斯宾大声下令把船往后划,除了划桨的之外,其他人都奔上来, 从船头向外眺望。可是看来看去都看不到什么东西。后面是大海和太阳,前面是一片黑暗。
“Do we go into this ?”asked Caspian at length.
“要开进去吗?”凯斯宾终于问道。
“Not by my advice,”said Drinian.
“我觉得还是不进去为妙。”德里宁说。
“The Captain’s right,”said several sailors.
“船长说得对。”好几个水手说。
“I almost think he is,”said Edmund.
“我基本上也认为他说得很对。”爱德蒙说。
Lucy and Eustace didn’t speak but they felt very glad inside at the turn things seemed to be taking.But all at once the clear voice of Reepicheep broke in upon the silence.
露茜和尤斯塔斯虽然都没说话,可是当事情就要确定下来的关键时刻,他们心里却很兴奋,突出雷佩契普那独特的嗓音马上打破沉默。
“And why not?”he said.“Will someone explain to me why not.”
“为什么不进去?”它说,“有人愿意给我解释一下吗?”
No one was anxious to explain,so Reepicheep continued:
没有人解释,雷佩契普又说下去:
“If I were addressing peasants or slaves,”he said,“I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice.But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark.”
“假如我是在和庄稼人或奴隶对话,”它说,“我可能会认为提出这个主意是因为怯懦。可是我不希望今后纳尼亚有人会说一行尊贵的皇室成员,明明年轻力强, 却因为害怕黑暗而胆怯还撒腿就跑。”
“But what manner of use would it be ploughing through that blackness ?”asked Drinian.
“可是,辛辛苦苦开进那片黑暗里到底有什么用呢?”德里宁问。
“Use ?”replied Reepicheep.“Use,Captain ? If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses,I confess it will be no use at all.So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventure.And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of,and here,if we turn back,no tittle impeachment of all our honours.”
“用处?”雷佩契普答,“用处吗,船长?如果你所谓的用处只是填饱我们的肚子或腰包,我承认没有用。据我所知,我们扬帆远航并不是去找寻有用的东西,而是寻求荣誉和奇遇。眼前就有一场闻所未闻的奇遇,如果往回走,那我们的荣誉就要蒙受不明的指责。”
Several of the sailors said things under their breath that sounded like“Honour be blowed”,but Caspian said:
几个水手一起低声嘟囔,好像在说:“狗屁荣誉。”可是凯斯宾说:
“Oh,bother you,Reepicheep.I almost wish we’d left you at home.All right ! If you put it that way,I suppose we shall have to go on.Unless Lucy would rather not ?”
“哎呀,你真讨厌,雷佩契普。我真希望一开始把你留在国内。好啦! 既然你那样说,我们只好往前走了,除非露茜不愿意去?”
Lucy felt that she would very much rather not,but what she said out loud was,“I’m game.”
露茜心里非常不愿意去,可是嘴里却大声说:“我愿意去。”
“Your Majesty will at least order lights ?”said Drinian.
“陛下下令吧,至少点上灯?”德里宁说。
“By all means,”said Caspian.“See to it,Captain.”
“那还用说,”凯斯宾说,“一定要点,船长。”
So the three lanterns,at the stern,and the prow and the masthead,were all lit,and Drinian ordered two torches amidships.Pale and feeble they looked in the sunshine.Then all the men except some who were left below at the oars were ordered on deck and fully armed and posted in their battle stations with swords drawn.Lucy and two archers were posted on the fighting top with bows bent and arrows on the string.Rynelf was in the bows with his line ready to take soundings.Reepicheep, Edmund,Eustace and Caspian,glittering in mail,were with him. Drinian took the tiller.
然后船尾、船头、桅顶三处的灯都亮了,德里宁下令在船的中心点两个火把。这些灯在阳光下看上去黯淡无光。除了几个划桨的人之外,所有人都奉命到甲板上去,全副武装,刀剑出鞘,守在战斗岗位上。露茜和两个弓箭手被派到桅顶观测台上,弓拉满,箭上弦。水手赖尼夫在船头,拿着测深锤随时准备探测水深。雷佩契普、爱德蒙、尤斯塔斯和凯斯宾都戴上头盔,披上铠甲,浑身闪闪发亮。在他边上, 德里宁掌着大舵。
“And now,in Aslan’s name,forward !”cried Caspian.“A slow,steady stroke.And let every man be silent and keep his ears open for orders.”
“好了,以阿斯兰的名义,前进!”凯斯宾喊道,“桨要划得慢而稳。大家都别说话,安静地等待命令。”
With a creak and a groan the Dawn Treader started to creep forward as the men began to row.Lucy,up in the fighting top, had a wonderful view of the exact moment at which they entered the darkness.The bows had already disappeared before the sunlight had left the stern.She saw it go.At one minute the gilded stern, the blue sea,and the sky,were all in broad daylight:next minute the sea and sky had vanished,the stern lantern-which had been hardly noticeable before-was the only thing to show where the ship ended.In front of the lantern she could see the black shape of Drinian crouching at the tiller.Down below her the two torches made visible two small patches of deck and gleamed on swords and helmets,and forward there was another island of light on the forecastle.Apart from that,the fighting top,lit by the masthead light which was only just above her,seemed to be a little lighted world of its own floating in lonely darkness.And the lights themselves,as always happens with lights when you have to have them at the wrong time of day,looked lurid and unnatural.She also noticed that she was very cold.
"随着船员划桨,黎明踏浪号发出吱吱嘎嘎,咿咿呀呀的声音, 悄然前进了。

就在船开进那片黑暗的一瞬间,露茜在桅顶观测台上看到了片刻的奇观。阳光还照着船尾,船头已经看不清楚了。这会儿镀金的船尾,碧蓝的大海和天空,还都在光天化日之下,过一会儿海天都消失了,刚才还看不见的船尾灯,成了船尾的唯一标记。她能看出灯前德里宁正弯着腰掌舵。在她下面,两支火把照在甲板上留下两个亮斑, 火光在刀剑和头盔上闪烁,往前看,船首楼上也有一片亮着。除此之外,她脑袋上方点着灯的观测台自成一个发亮的小天地,漂浮在沉寂的黑暗中。就像你有时不得不在白天,或并不是点灯的时候点灯一样, 这些灯光看上去总是阴森森而不自然。她突然感到很冷。
"
How long this voyage into the darkness lasted,nobody knew. Except for the creak of the rowlocks and the splash of the oars there was nothing to show that they were moving at all.Edmund, peering from the bows,could see nothing except the reflection of the lantern in the water before him.It looked a greasy sort of reflection,and the ripple made by their advancing prow appeared to be heavy,small,and lifeless.As time went on everyone except the rowers began to shiver with cold.
没人知道这次到黑暗中的航程要持续多久。除了桨吱吱嘎嘎, 桨板哗啦哗啦的声音之外,一点都不像船在行进。爱德蒙从船头上向外张望,除了面前水面上灯光的倒影之外,其他什么都看不见。这倒影看上去黏糊糊的,船头前进时激起的涟漪也变得凝重、细小、没有生气。时间一分一秒地过去,除了划桨的人,大家都冷得直打哆嗦。
Suddenly,from somewhere-no one’s sense of direction was very clear by now-there came a cry,either of some inhuman voice or else a voice of one in such extremity of terror that he had almost lost his humanity.
现在没有人还能分清方向,忽然不知从哪儿传来一声喊叫,听上去不像是人类的声音。要不就是谁被吓破了胆,声音没了人样儿。
Caspian was still trying to speak-his mouth was too dry-when the shrill voice of Reepicheep,which sounded louder than usual in that silence,was heard.
凯斯宾的喉咙很干,但他还是想开口说话,这时只听见雷佩契普那独特的嗓音,在寂静中格外响亮。
“Who calls ?”it piped.“If you are a foe we do not fear you, and if you are a friend your enemies shall be taught the fear of us.”
“是谁在叫?”他尖声说,“如果你是敌人,我们可不怕你。如果你是朋友,我们就同仇敌忾,共同杀敌。”
“Mercy !”cried the voice.“Mercy !Even if you are only one more dream,have merry.Take me on board.Take me,even if you strike me dead.But in the name of all mercies do not fade away and leave me in this horrible land.”
“可怜可怜吧,”那声音叫道,“行行好吧!即使只不过又是一个梦,也行行好吧。让我上船。收留我吧,哪怕你们会打死我。可是, 千万行行好,不要再消失,把我扔在这个可怕的鬼地方。”
“Where are you ?”shouted Caspian.“Come aboard and welcome.”
“你在哪儿?”凯斯宾叫道,“上来吧!”
There came another cry,whether of joy or terror,and then they knew that someone was swimming towards them.
又听到了一声喊叫,不知这是出于喜悦还是出于恐惧,随后他们听到有人正向他们游来。
“Stand by to heave him up,men,”said Caspian.
“伙计们,把他拉上来。”凯斯宾说。
“Aye,aye,your Majesty,”said the sailors.Several crowded to the port bulwark with ropes and one,leaning far out over the side,held the torch.A wild,white face appeared in the blackness of the water,and then,after some scrambling and pulling,a dozen friendly hands had heaved the stranger on board.
“是,陛下。”水手们说。几个人拿着缆绳,挤到左舷,一个人举着火把,身子远远探到船舷外面。一张抓狂的白脸从漆黑的水里冒出来,经过一阵攀登和牵拉,十几只手总算把这个人拉上了船。
Edmund thought he had never seen a wilder-looking man. Though he did not otherwise look very old,his hair was an untidy mop of white,his face was thin and drawn,and,for clothing, only a few wet rags hung about him.But what one mainly noticed were his eyes,which were so widely opened that he seemed to have no eyelids at all,and stared as if in an agony of pure fear. The moment his feet reached the deck he said:
爱德蒙从来没见过长相这么狂乱的人。虽然他看上去并不很老, 头发却像一团乱蓬蓬的白雪,他的脸非常瘦削,紧紧绷着,身上只挂着一些湿淋淋的破布条。不过更引人注意的是他张得很大的眼睛,好像没有眼皮一样,直愣愣的,吓得没命似的。他两脚一踏上甲板就说:
“Fly ! Fly ! About with your ship and fly ! Row,row,row for your lives away from this accursed shore.”
“逃呀!逃呀!船和人一起逃呀!划呀,划呀,拼命划呀,快离开这个晦气的海岸。”
“Compose yourself,”said Reepicheep,“and tell us what the danger is.We are not used to flying.”
“冷静一下,”雷佩契普说,“告诉我们这里的危险,我们可不习惯逃跑。”
The stranger started horribly at the voice of the Mouse,which he had not noticed before.
陌生人听到老鼠的声音吓坏了,他刚才没看到有老鼠。
“Nevertheless you will fly from here,”he gasped.“This is the Island where Dreams come true.”
“不管怎样你们一定要从这里逃走,”他气喘吁吁地说,“在这个岛,梦会变成真的。”
“That’s the island I’ve been looking for this long time,”said one of the sailors.“I reckoned I’d find I was married to Nancy if we landed here.”
“这正是我多年一直寻求的。”一个水手说,“我想,如果我们在这里上岸,我就可以跟南茜结婚了。
“And I’d find Tom alive again,”said another.
“我就能看到汤姆死而复生了。”另一个说。
“Fools !”said the man,stamping his foot with rage.“That is the sort of talk that brought me here,and I’d better have been drowned or never born.Do you hear what I say ? This is where dreams-dreams,do you understand,come to life,come real. Not daydreams:dreams.”
“笨蛋!”那人怒气冲冲地跺着脚说,“我就是听了这些胡说八道的话才到这儿来的,我真恨不得淹死,或是没生出来。你们在听我说话吗?这里是梦……梦变成真实的地方。不是白日梦,是噩梦。”
There was about half a minute’s silence and then,with a great clatter of armour,the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before;and Drinian was swinging round the tiller,and the boatswain was giving out the quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea.For it had taken everyone just that halfminute to remember certain dreams they had had-dreams that make you afraid of going to sleep again-and to realize what it would mean to land on a country where dreams come true.
大家沉默了几十秒,只听见盔甲铿铿锵锵的声音,所有人连滚带爬地冲下了主舱口,拿起桨就划,从没见人这么卖力地划桨;德里宁扭转舵柄,让船来个大转弯,船长使出航海技术中史无前例的划法。就在那半分钟里,人人都想起了自己做过的梦,那是让人吓得不敢再入睡的梦——大家都明白了踏上那片会使噩梦成真的地方会有什么后果。
Only Reepicheep remained unmoved.
只有雷佩契普依旧保持着镇定。
“Your Majesty,your Majesty,”he said,“are you going to tolerate this mutiny,this poltroonery ?This is a panic,this is a rout.”
“陛下,陛下,”它说,“你打算纵容这种造反,临阵脱逃行为吗? 这是惊慌失措,真是溃不成军啊!”
“Row,row,”bellowed Caspian.“Pull for all our lives.Is her head right,Drinian ?You can say what you like,Reepicheep. There are some things no man can face.”
“划啊,划啊,”凯斯宾大吼道,“加油划啊!方向对吗,德里宁? 你爱怎么说就怎么说吧,雷佩契普,有些事情没有人能应付得了的。”
“It is,then,my good fortune not to be a man,”replied Reepicheep with a very stiff bow.
“如此说来,幸亏我不是人了。”雷佩契普僵硬地鞠躬说。
Lucy from up aloft had heard it all.In an instant that one of her own dreams which she had tried hardest to forget came back to her as vividly as if she had only just woken from it.So that was what was behind them,on the island,in the darkness!For a second she wanted to go down to the deck and be with Edmund and Caspian.But what was the use ? If dreams began coming true, Edmund and Caspian themselves might turn into something horrible just as she reached them.She gripped the rail of the fighting top and tried to steady herself.They were rowing back to the light as hard as they could:it would be all right in a few seconds.But oh,if only it could be all right now !
露茜在桅杆高处听到了这些对话。她自己竭尽全力忘掉的梦, 顿时全都栩栩如生地重现在眼前,仿佛刚从那个梦中醒来似的。在他们后面,那些噩梦梦境就在那岛上的黑暗中!有一瞬间她想要下去, 到甲板上跟爱德蒙和凯斯宾在一起。可是有什么用处呢?如果梦成真的话,等她走到他们面前,他们也可能会变成可怕的怪物。她抓住观测台的栏杆,尽力稳住身子。他们竭尽全力划到亮处。很快就没事了。哎呀,现在没事就好!
Though the rowing made a good deal of noise it did not quite conceal the total silence which surrounded the ship.
虽然划桨发出很大声音,可是掩饰不了船上笼罩的那片死寂。
Everyone knew it would be better not to listen,not to strain his ears for any sound from the darkness.But no one could help listening.And soon everyone was hearing things.Each one heard something different.
人人都知道最好不要听,不要竖起耳朵听黑暗中的任何动静。可是大家却都情不自禁地听着。不久就听到动静了,而且每个人听见的都不一样。
“Do you hear a noise like... like a huge pair of scissors opening and shutting... over there ?”Eustace asked Rynelf.
“你听到有种声音像……像大剪刀在咔嚓咔嚓地响吗?”尤斯塔斯问赖因斯。
“Hush !”said Rynelf.“I can hear them crawling up the sides of the ship.”
“嘘!”赖因斯说,“我听得见他们爬上船舷了。”
“It’s just going to settle on the mast,”said Caspian.
“就要落在桅杆上了。”凯斯宾说。
“Ugh!”said a sailor.“There are the gongs beginning.I knew they would.”
“嘿!”一个水手说,“开始鸣锣了,我就知道会鸣锣的。”
Caspian,trying not to look at anything(especially not to keep looking behind him),went aft to Drinian.
凯斯宾尽力目不斜视,并不回头看,径直走向船尾的德里宁那儿。
“Drinian,”he said in a very low voice.“How long did we take rowing in ? -I mean rowing to where we picked up.the stranger.”
“德里宁,”他压低嗓音说,“我们刚才进去,划了多长时间呢? 就是从驶入黑暗起到救起那个陌生人为止。”
“Five minutes,perhaps,”whispered Drinian.“Why ?”
“大概五分钟吧,”德里宁小声说,“为什么这么问?”
“Because we’ve been more than that already trying to get out.”
“我们试图划出来已经不止五分钟了。”
Drinian’s hand shook on the tiller and a line of cold sweat ran down his face.The same idea was occurring to everyone on board. “We shall never get out,never get’ out,”moaned the rowers.“He’s steering us wrong.We’re going round and round in circles.We shall never get out.”The stranger,who had been lying in a huddled heap on the deck,sat up and burst out into a horrible screaming laugh.
德里宁掌舵的那只手开始哆嗦了,一行冷汗从脸上流下来。船上的人都冒出同样的念头。“我们出不去了,我们出不去了,”划桨的人悲叹道,“他把我们领错航线了。我们都在绕圈子,永远出不去了。”那个陌生人一直蜷成一团躺在甲板上,现在却坐起来,在一旁尖声怪气地恐怖地大笑。
“Never get out !”he yelled.“That’s it.Of course.We shall never get out.What a fool I was to have thought they would let me go as easily as that.No,no,we shall never get out.”
“出不去了!”他大声喊道,“一点也不错。当然,我们永远出不去了。我多蠢啊,竟然以为他们这次会放过我。不,不,我们永远出不去的。”
Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered,“Aslan,Aslan,if ever you loved us at all,send us help now.”The darkness did not grow any less,but she began to feel a little-a very,very little-better.“After all,nothing has really happened to us yet,”she thought.
露茜把脑袋靠在观测台边上,轻轻地说:“阿斯兰啊,阿斯兰, 你真爱我们的话,马上来救救我们吧。”那片黑暗虽然并未减少丝毫, 可是她开始感到有一点儿好转,只有那么一丁点。“说到底,我们还没出过什么事呢。”她暗暗想道。
“Look !”cried Rynelf’s voice hoarsely from the bows. There was a tiny speck of light ahead,and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship.It did not alter the surrounding darkness,but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight.Caspian blinked,stared round,saw the faces of his companions all with wild,fixed expressions.Everyone was staring in the same direction:behind everyone lay his black, sharply-edged shadow.
“瞧!”赖尼夫在船头嘶哑地喊道。前面有一小点光,他们看了一会儿,那一点光竟发出一大束光来照在船身上。虽然并没改变周围漆黑的环境,可是整条船就像被探照灯照亮了似的。凯斯宾眨眨眼, 朝四下看着,只见伙伴们脸上个个都带着狂热而专注的神情。大家目不转睛地望着同一方向,每个人的身后都有一道轮廓分明的黑影。
Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross,then it looked like an aeroplane, then it looked like a kite,and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross.It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow.It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them.After that it spread its wings,rose,and began to fly slowly ahead, bearing a little to starboard.Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance.But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her,“Courage,dear heart,”and the voice,she felt sure,was Aslan’s,and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.
露茜顺着光束看去,很快就看见光束里有什么东西。第一眼觉得像个十字架,再看又像一架飞机,再后来像个风筝,最后风筝翅膀呼呼地旋转,飞到头顶上空,原来是只信天翁。信天翁绕着桅杆飞了三圈,接着在船头镀金的龙脖子上歇了片刻。它发出一串有力的悦耳声音,似乎在说什么,可没人听得懂。之后它就张开翅膀飞了起来, 一开始飞得很慢,稍微偏向右舷。德里宁对它的导航深信不疑,就跟着它驾驶。可是除了露茜,谁也不知道它绕着桅杆飞时悄悄对她说过: “勇敢点儿,宝贝儿。”她相信这是阿斯兰的声音,话音未落,还有一股奇妙的香味散发到她脸上。
In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead, and then,almost before they dared to begin hoping,they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm,blue world again.And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been.They blinked their eyes and looked about them.The brightness of the ship herself astonished them:they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum.And then first one,and then another,began laughing.
过了一会儿,前面那片黑暗就变成一片灰暗。之后,他们的内心还不敢抱有希望,这条船就穿进阳光中,走到了温暖的蓝色天地。就像有些时候,你躺在床上看见阳光泻进窗户,听到窗外早班的邮差和送奶人的笑声,才清醒地认识到这原来只不过是个梦,这不是真的, 这种感觉真是妙不可言。为了体会到醒来的乐趣,哪怕梦到噩梦也是值得的。当他们冲出黑暗时,所有人都有这种体会。船身的明亮使他们大为吃惊:他们原来还以为会被黑暗纠缠不放,在雪白、碧绿、金黄的船身上留下污垢和残渣。呆立片刻,所有人都朗声大笑起来。
“I reckon we’ve made pretty good fools of ourselves,”said Rynelf.
“我想,我们耍了自己一回。”赖尼夫说。
Lucy lost no time in coming down to the deck,where she found the others all gathered round the newcomer.For a long time he was too happy to speak,and could only gaze at the sea and the sun and feel the bulwarks and the ropes,as if to make sure he was really awake,while tears rolled down his cheeks.
露茜下来走到甲板上,看到大家都围着那个陌生人。他兴奋到许久说不出话来,只是望着大海和太阳,摸着船舷和缆绳,仿佛努力让他相信自己是醒着的,脸上泪水滚滚直流。
“Thank you,”he said at last.“You have saved me from... but I won’t talk of that.And now let me know who you are.I am a Telmarine of Narnia,and when I was worth anything men called me the Lord Rhoop.”
“太感谢你们了,”他终于说,“你们把我救出来了……我不愿提那件事。现在我跟你们说我是什么人。我是纳尼亚的台尔马人, 当年很有身份时,被大家称作罗普公爵。”
“And I,”said Caspian,“am Caspian,King of Narnia,and I sail to find you and your companions who were my father’s friends.”
“我就是纳尼亚国王凯斯宾,”凯斯宾说,“我出海远航就是来找你以及你的伙伴,你们可是我父亲的好朋友。”
Lord Rhoop fell on his knees and kissed the King’s hand. “Sire,”he said,“you are the man in all the world I most wished to see.Grant me a boon.”
罗普公爵当即跪下,吻了国王的手。“陛下,”他说,“您是这个世界上我最希望见到的人,请陛下开恩。”
“What is it ?”asked Caspian.
“什么事?”凯斯宾问。
“Never to bring me back there,”he said.He pointed astern. They all looked.But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky.The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.
“请您不要问我,也别让任何人问我这些年来在噩梦岛上的所见所闻。”罗普公爵恳求地说道。
“Why !”cried Lord Rhoop.“You have destroyed it !”
“这好说,公爵,”凯斯宾回答,不禁又打了个寒噤,“问你, 我也认为不该问你。我愿意拿出全部财宝,也决不愿听到这种事。”
“I don’t think it was us,”said Lucy.

“Sire,”said Drinian,“this wind is fair for the southeast.Shall I have our poor fellows up and set sail ? And after that,every man who can be spared,to his hammock.”
“陛下,”德里宁说,“这会儿朝东南去正是顺风。要不要叫我们可怜的伙伴起来准备起航?等开船后,空出来的人手再去吊床睡觉。”
“Yes,”said Caspian,“and let there be grog all round.Heigh-ho,I feel I could sleep the clock round myself.”
“好的,”凯斯宾说,“让大家痛饮一场。啊哈,我困得现在能睡上一天一夜。”
So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind.But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.


然后整个下午大家都很开心,船向东南顺风行驶,船后的噩梦岛越来越小,越来越模糊。不过没有人注意到那只信天翁什么时候不见了。


CHAPTER TWELVE THE DARK ISLAND

AFTER this adventure they sailed on south and a little east for twelve days with a gentle wind,the skies being mostly clear and the air warm,and saw no bird or fish,except that once there were whales spouting a long way to starboard.Lucy and Reepicheep played a good deal of chess at this time.Then on the thirteenth day,Edmund,from the fighting top,sighted what looked like a great dark mountain rising out of the sea on their port bow.
They altered course and made for this land,mostly by oar, for the wind would not serve them to sail north-east.When evening fell they were still a long way from it and rowed all night. Next morning the weather was fair but a flat calm.The dark mass lay ahead,much nearer and larger,but still very dim,so that some thought it was still a long way off and others thought they were running into a mist.
About nine that morning,very suddenly,it was so close that they could see that it was not land at all,nor even,in an ordinary sense,a mist.It was a Darkness.It is rather hard to describe, but you will see what it was like if you imagine yourself looking into the mouth of a railway tunnel-a tunnel either so long or so twisty that you cannot see the light at the far end.And you know what it would be like.For a few feet you would see the rails and sleepers and gravel in broad daylight;then there would come a place where they were in twilight;and then,pretty suddenly, but of course without a sharp dividing line,they would vanish altogether into smooth,solid blackness.It was just so here. For a few feet in front of their bows they could see the swell of the bright greenish-blue water.Beyond that,they could see the water looking pale and grey as it would look late in the evening.But beyond that again,utter blackness as if they had come to the edge of moonless and starless night.
Caspian shouted to the boatswain to keep her back,and all except the rowers rushed forward and gazed from the bows.But there was nothing to be seen by gazing.Behind them was the sea and the sun,before them the Darkness.
“Do we go into this ?”asked Caspian at length.
“Not by my advice,”said Drinian.
“The Captain’s right,”said several sailors.
“I almost think he is,”said Edmund.
Lucy and Eustace didn’t speak but they felt very glad inside at the turn things seemed to be taking.But all at once the clear voice of Reepicheep broke in upon the silence.
“And why not?”he said.“Will someone explain to me why not.”
No one was anxious to explain,so Reepicheep continued:
“If I were addressing peasants or slaves,”he said,“I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice.But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark.”
“But what manner of use would it be ploughing through that blackness ?”asked Drinian.
“Use ?”replied Reepicheep.“Use,Captain ? If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses,I confess it will be no use at all.So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventure.And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of,and here,if we turn back,no tittle impeachment of all our honours.”
Several of the sailors said things under their breath that sounded like“Honour be blowed”,but Caspian said:
“Oh,bother you,Reepicheep.I almost wish we’d left you at home.All right ! If you put it that way,I suppose we shall have to go on.Unless Lucy would rather not ?”
Lucy felt that she would very much rather not,but what she said out loud was,“I’m game.”
“Your Majesty will at least order lights ?”said Drinian.
“By all means,”said Caspian.“See to it,Captain.”
So the three lanterns,at the stern,and the prow and the masthead,were all lit,and Drinian ordered two torches amidships.Pale and feeble they looked in the sunshine.Then all the men except some who were left below at the oars were ordered on deck and fully armed and posted in their battle stations with swords drawn.Lucy and two archers were posted on the fighting top with bows bent and arrows on the string.Rynelf was in the bows with his line ready to take soundings.Reepicheep, Edmund,Eustace and Caspian,glittering in mail,were with him. Drinian took the tiller.
“And now,in Aslan’s name,forward !”cried Caspian.“A slow,steady stroke.And let every man be silent and keep his ears open for orders.”
With a creak and a groan the Dawn Treader started to creep forward as the men began to row.Lucy,up in the fighting top, had a wonderful view of the exact moment at which they entered the darkness.The bows had already disappeared before the sunlight had left the stern.She saw it go.At one minute the gilded stern, the blue sea,and the sky,were all in broad daylight:next minute the sea and sky had vanished,the stern lantern-which had been hardly noticeable before-was the only thing to show where the ship ended.In front of the lantern she could see the black shape of Drinian crouching at the tiller.Down below her the two torches made visible two small patches of deck and gleamed on swords and helmets,and forward there was another island of light on the forecastle.Apart from that,the fighting top,lit by the masthead light which was only just above her,seemed to be a little lighted world of its own floating in lonely darkness.And the lights themselves,as always happens with lights when you have to have them at the wrong time of day,looked lurid and unnatural.She also noticed that she was very cold.
How long this voyage into the darkness lasted,nobody knew. Except for the creak of the rowlocks and the splash of the oars there was nothing to show that they were moving at all.Edmund, peering from the bows,could see nothing except the reflection of the lantern in the water before him.It looked a greasy sort of reflection,and the ripple made by their advancing prow appeared to be heavy,small,and lifeless.As time went on everyone except the rowers began to shiver with cold.
Suddenly,from somewhere-no one’s sense of direction was very clear by now-there came a cry,either of some inhuman voice or else a voice of one in such extremity of terror that he had almost lost his humanity.
Caspian was still trying to speak-his mouth was too dry-when the shrill voice of Reepicheep,which sounded louder than usual in that silence,was heard.
“Who calls ?”it piped.“If you are a foe we do not fear you, and if you are a friend your enemies shall be taught the fear of us.”
“Mercy !”cried the voice.“Mercy !Even if you are only one more dream,have merry.Take me on board.Take me,even if you strike me dead.But in the name of all mercies do not fade away and leave me in this horrible land.”
“Where are you ?”shouted Caspian.“Come aboard and welcome.”
There came another cry,whether of joy or terror,and then they knew that someone was swimming towards them.
“Stand by to heave him up,men,”said Caspian.
“Aye,aye,your Majesty,”said the sailors.Several crowded to the port bulwark with ropes and one,leaning far out over the side,held the torch.A wild,white face appeared in the blackness of the water,and then,after some scrambling and pulling,a dozen friendly hands had heaved the stranger on board.
Edmund thought he had never seen a wilder-looking man. Though he did not otherwise look very old,his hair was an untidy mop of white,his face was thin and drawn,and,for clothing, only a few wet rags hung about him.But what one mainly noticed were his eyes,which were so widely opened that he seemed to have no eyelids at all,and stared as if in an agony of pure fear. The moment his feet reached the deck he said:
“Fly ! Fly ! About with your ship and fly ! Row,row,row for your lives away from this accursed shore.”
“Compose yourself,”said Reepicheep,“and tell us what the danger is.We are not used to flying.”
The stranger started horribly at the voice of the Mouse,which he had not noticed before.
“Nevertheless you will fly from here,”he gasped.“This is the Island where Dreams come true.”
“That’s the island I’ve been looking for this long time,”said one of the sailors.“I reckoned I’d find I was married to Nancy if we landed here.”
“And I’d find Tom alive again,”said another.
“Fools !”said the man,stamping his foot with rage.“That is the sort of talk that brought me here,and I’d better have been drowned or never born.Do you hear what I say ? This is where dreams-dreams,do you understand,come to life,come real. Not daydreams:dreams.”
There was about half a minute’s silence and then,with a great clatter of armour,the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before;and Drinian was swinging round the tiller,and the boatswain was giving out the quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea.For it had taken everyone just that halfminute to remember certain dreams they had had-dreams that make you afraid of going to sleep again-and to realize what it would mean to land on a country where dreams come true.
Only Reepicheep remained unmoved.
“Your Majesty,your Majesty,”he said,“are you going to tolerate this mutiny,this poltroonery ?This is a panic,this is a rout.”
“Row,row,”bellowed Caspian.“Pull for all our lives.Is her head right,Drinian ?You can say what you like,Reepicheep. There are some things no man can face.”
“It is,then,my good fortune not to be a man,”replied Reepicheep with a very stiff bow.
Lucy from up aloft had heard it all.In an instant that one of her own dreams which she had tried hardest to forget came back to her as vividly as if she had only just woken from it.So that was what was behind them,on the island,in the darkness!For a second she wanted to go down to the deck and be with Edmund and Caspian.But what was the use ? If dreams began coming true, Edmund and Caspian themselves might turn into something horrible just as she reached them.She gripped the rail of the fighting top and tried to steady herself.They were rowing back to the light as hard as they could:it would be all right in a few seconds.But oh,if only it could be all right now !
Though the rowing made a good deal of noise it did not quite conceal the total silence which surrounded the ship.
Everyone knew it would be better not to listen,not to strain his ears for any sound from the darkness.But no one could help listening.And soon everyone was hearing things.Each one heard something different.
“Do you hear a noise like... like a huge pair of scissors opening and shutting... over there ?”Eustace asked Rynelf.
“Hush !”said Rynelf.“I can hear them crawling up the sides of the ship.”
“It’s just going to settle on the mast,”said Caspian.
“Ugh!”said a sailor.“There are the gongs beginning.I knew they would.”
Caspian,trying not to look at anything(especially not to keep looking behind him),went aft to Drinian.
“Drinian,”he said in a very low voice.“How long did we take rowing in ? -I mean rowing to where we picked up.the stranger.”
“Five minutes,perhaps,”whispered Drinian.“Why ?”
“Because we’ve been more than that already trying to get out.”
Drinian’s hand shook on the tiller and a line of cold sweat ran down his face.The same idea was occurring to everyone on board. “We shall never get out,never get’ out,”moaned the rowers.“He’s steering us wrong.We’re going round and round in circles.We shall never get out.”The stranger,who had been lying in a huddled heap on the deck,sat up and burst out into a horrible screaming laugh.
“Never get out !”he yelled.“That’s it.Of course.We shall never get out.What a fool I was to have thought they would let me go as easily as that.No,no,we shall never get out.”
Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered,“Aslan,Aslan,if ever you loved us at all,send us help now.”The darkness did not grow any less,but she began to feel a little-a very,very little-better.“After all,nothing has really happened to us yet,”she thought.
“Look !”cried Rynelf’s voice hoarsely from the bows. There was a tiny speck of light ahead,and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship.It did not alter the surrounding darkness,but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight.Caspian blinked,stared round,saw the faces of his companions all with wild,fixed expressions.Everyone was staring in the same direction:behind everyone lay his black, sharply-edged shadow.
Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross,then it looked like an aeroplane, then it looked like a kite,and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross.It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow.It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them.After that it spread its wings,rose,and began to fly slowly ahead, bearing a little to starboard.Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance.But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her,“Courage,dear heart,”and the voice,she felt sure,was Aslan’s,and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.
In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead, and then,almost before they dared to begin hoping,they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm,blue world again.And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been.They blinked their eyes and looked about them.The brightness of the ship herself astonished them:they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum.And then first one,and then another,began laughing.
“I reckon we’ve made pretty good fools of ourselves,”said Rynelf.
Lucy lost no time in coming down to the deck,where she found the others all gathered round the newcomer.For a long time he was too happy to speak,and could only gaze at the sea and the sun and feel the bulwarks and the ropes,as if to make sure he was really awake,while tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Thank you,”he said at last.“You have saved me from... but I won’t talk of that.And now let me know who you are.I am a Telmarine of Narnia,and when I was worth anything men called me the Lord Rhoop.”
“And I,”said Caspian,“am Caspian,King of Narnia,and I sail to find you and your companions who were my father’s friends.”
Lord Rhoop fell on his knees and kissed the King’s hand. “Sire,”he said,“you are the man in all the world I most wished to see.Grant me a boon.”
“What is it ?”asked Caspian.
“Never to bring me back there,”he said.He pointed astern. They all looked.But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky.The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.

“Why !”cried Lord Rhoop.“You have destroyed it !”
“I don’t think it was us,”said Lucy.
“Sire,”said Drinian,“this wind is fair for the southeast.Shall I have our poor fellows up and set sail ? And after that,every man who can be spared,to his hammock.”
“Yes,”said Caspian,“and let there be grog all round.Heigh-ho,I feel I could sleep the clock round myself.”
So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind.But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.


第十二章 噩梦岛

这段奇遇结束之后,他们顺着风,向南偏东的方向航行了十二天,天气晴朗,空气很温暖,天上没有鸟,海面下也没有鱼,只在右舷外见过一次鲸在喷水。这段时间里露茜和雷佩契普下了不少盘棋。第十三天的时候,爱德蒙在桅顶的观测台上看到左舷的海面上矗立着黑乎乎的一团东西,看上去像一座山。
他们改变航向朝那里开去,可是风力不足,只好靠划桨,不能向东北行驶。夜幕降临时,他们离那里还很远,足足划了一整夜。第二天早晨,天气很好,海面上风平浪静。那一团黑乎乎的庞然大物就横亘在他们前面,虽然近得多,大得多,但还是非常模糊,有些人还以为它还离得老远,也有一些人认为他们已经闯进了一团迷雾中。
"那一天早晨九点左右,他们以为离陆地已经很近,却突然发现这里根本不是陆地,也不是通常所说的迷雾,而是一片黑暗。那种状况很难描写,如果你设想自己站在一条铁路隧道的入口,望进去只看到一条很长很长或者弯弯曲曲,望不到尽头光线的隧道——那你就会明白我的意思了。

你想象一下隧道的样子,然后先在几英尺外看见冷白的铁轨、枕木和碎石,然后来到一个幽暗的地方。再后来,突然一下子,也没有明显的分界线,突然就处在浑然一体的黑暗中了。这里的情况就是这样。在船头前几英尺外,他们看得见碧绿的海水在波涛汹涌。再往前,只见海水变成灰蒙蒙的,像在傍晚时分那样。可是再往远看, 就只见黑漆漆的一片,就像在无星无月的黑夜里一样。
"
凯斯宾大声下令把船往后划,除了划桨的之外,其他人都奔上来, 从船头向外眺望。可是看来看去都看不到什么东西。后面是大海和太阳,前面是一片黑暗。
“要开进去吗?”凯斯宾终于问道。
“我觉得还是不进去为妙。”德里宁说。
“船长说得对。”好几个水手说。
“我基本上也认为他说得很对。”爱德蒙说。
露茜和尤斯塔斯虽然都没说话,可是当事情就要确定下来的关键时刻,他们心里却很兴奋,突出雷佩契普那独特的嗓音马上打破沉默。
“为什么不进去?”它说,“有人愿意给我解释一下吗?”
没有人解释,雷佩契普又说下去:
“假如我是在和庄稼人或奴隶对话,”它说,“我可能会认为提出这个主意是因为怯懦。可是我不希望今后纳尼亚有人会说一行尊贵的皇室成员,明明年轻力强, 却因为害怕黑暗而胆怯还撒腿就跑。”
“可是,辛辛苦苦开进那片黑暗里到底有什么用呢?”德里宁问。
“用处?”雷佩契普答,“用处吗,船长?如果你所谓的用处只是填饱我们的肚子或腰包,我承认没有用。据我所知,我们扬帆远航并不是去找寻有用的东西,而是寻求荣誉和奇遇。眼前就有一场闻所未闻的奇遇,如果往回走,那我们的荣誉就要蒙受不明的指责。”
几个水手一起低声嘟囔,好像在说:“狗屁荣誉。”可是凯斯宾说:
“哎呀,你真讨厌,雷佩契普。我真希望一开始把你留在国内。好啦! 既然你那样说,我们只好往前走了,除非露茜不愿意去?”
露茜心里非常不愿意去,可是嘴里却大声说:“我愿意去。”
“陛下下令吧,至少点上灯?”德里宁说。
“那还用说,”凯斯宾说,“一定要点,船长。”
然后船尾、船头、桅顶三处的灯都亮了,德里宁下令在船的中心点两个火把。这些灯在阳光下看上去黯淡无光。除了几个划桨的人之外,所有人都奉命到甲板上去,全副武装,刀剑出鞘,守在战斗岗位上。露茜和两个弓箭手被派到桅顶观测台上,弓拉满,箭上弦。水手赖尼夫在船头,拿着测深锤随时准备探测水深。雷佩契普、爱德蒙、尤斯塔斯和凯斯宾都戴上头盔,披上铠甲,浑身闪闪发亮。在他边上, 德里宁掌着大舵。
“好了,以阿斯兰的名义,前进!”凯斯宾喊道,“桨要划得慢而稳。大家都别说话,安静地等待命令。”
"随着船员划桨,黎明踏浪号发出吱吱嘎嘎,咿咿呀呀的声音, 悄然前进了。

就在船开进那片黑暗的一瞬间,露茜在桅顶观测台上看到了片刻的奇观。阳光还照着船尾,船头已经看不清楚了。这会儿镀金的船尾,碧蓝的大海和天空,还都在光天化日之下,过一会儿海天都消失了,刚才还看不见的船尾灯,成了船尾的唯一标记。她能看出灯前德里宁正弯着腰掌舵。在她下面,两支火把照在甲板上留下两个亮斑, 火光在刀剑和头盔上闪烁,往前看,船首楼上也有一片亮着。除此之外,她脑袋上方点着灯的观测台自成一个发亮的小天地,漂浮在沉寂的黑暗中。就像你有时不得不在白天,或并不是点灯的时候点灯一样, 这些灯光看上去总是阴森森而不自然。她突然感到很冷。
"
没人知道这次到黑暗中的航程要持续多久。除了桨吱吱嘎嘎, 桨板哗啦哗啦的声音之外,一点都不像船在行进。爱德蒙从船头上向外张望,除了面前水面上灯光的倒影之外,其他什么都看不见。这倒影看上去黏糊糊的,船头前进时激起的涟漪也变得凝重、细小、没有生气。时间一分一秒地过去,除了划桨的人,大家都冷得直打哆嗦。
现在没有人还能分清方向,忽然不知从哪儿传来一声喊叫,听上去不像是人类的声音。要不就是谁被吓破了胆,声音没了人样儿。
凯斯宾的喉咙很干,但他还是想开口说话,这时只听见雷佩契普那独特的嗓音,在寂静中格外响亮。
“是谁在叫?”他尖声说,“如果你是敌人,我们可不怕你。如果你是朋友,我们就同仇敌忾,共同杀敌。”
“可怜可怜吧,”那声音叫道,“行行好吧!即使只不过又是一个梦,也行行好吧。让我上船。收留我吧,哪怕你们会打死我。可是, 千万行行好,不要再消失,把我扔在这个可怕的鬼地方。”
“你在哪儿?”凯斯宾叫道,“上来吧!”
又听到了一声喊叫,不知这是出于喜悦还是出于恐惧,随后他们听到有人正向他们游来。
“伙计们,把他拉上来。”凯斯宾说。
“是,陛下。”水手们说。几个人拿着缆绳,挤到左舷,一个人举着火把,身子远远探到船舷外面。一张抓狂的白脸从漆黑的水里冒出来,经过一阵攀登和牵拉,十几只手总算把这个人拉上了船。
爱德蒙从来没见过长相这么狂乱的人。虽然他看上去并不很老, 头发却像一团乱蓬蓬的白雪,他的脸非常瘦削,紧紧绷着,身上只挂着一些湿淋淋的破布条。不过更引人注意的是他张得很大的眼睛,好像没有眼皮一样,直愣愣的,吓得没命似的。他两脚一踏上甲板就说:
“逃呀!逃呀!船和人一起逃呀!划呀,划呀,拼命划呀,快离开这个晦气的海岸。”
“冷静一下,”雷佩契普说,“告诉我们这里的危险,我们可不习惯逃跑。”
陌生人听到老鼠的声音吓坏了,他刚才没看到有老鼠。
“不管怎样你们一定要从这里逃走,”他气喘吁吁地说,“在这个岛,梦会变成真的。”
“这正是我多年一直寻求的。”一个水手说,“我想,如果我们在这里上岸,我就可以跟南茜结婚了。
“我就能看到汤姆死而复生了。”另一个说。
“笨蛋!”那人怒气冲冲地跺着脚说,“我就是听了这些胡说八道的话才到这儿来的,我真恨不得淹死,或是没生出来。你们在听我说话吗?这里是梦……梦变成真实的地方。不是白日梦,是噩梦。”
大家沉默了几十秒,只听见盔甲铿铿锵锵的声音,所有人连滚带爬地冲下了主舱口,拿起桨就划,从没见人这么卖力地划桨;德里宁扭转舵柄,让船来个大转弯,船长使出航海技术中史无前例的划法。就在那半分钟里,人人都想起了自己做过的梦,那是让人吓得不敢再入睡的梦——大家都明白了踏上那片会使噩梦成真的地方会有什么后果。
只有雷佩契普依旧保持着镇定。
“陛下,陛下,”它说,“你打算纵容这种造反,临阵脱逃行为吗? 这是惊慌失措,真是溃不成军啊!”
“划啊,划啊,”凯斯宾大吼道,“加油划啊!方向对吗,德里宁? 你爱怎么说就怎么说吧,雷佩契普,有些事情没有人能应付得了的。”
“如此说来,幸亏我不是人了。”雷佩契普僵硬地鞠躬说。
露茜在桅杆高处听到了这些对话。她自己竭尽全力忘掉的梦, 顿时全都栩栩如生地重现在眼前,仿佛刚从那个梦中醒来似的。在他们后面,那些噩梦梦境就在那岛上的黑暗中!有一瞬间她想要下去, 到甲板上跟爱德蒙和凯斯宾在一起。可是有什么用处呢?如果梦成真的话,等她走到他们面前,他们也可能会变成可怕的怪物。她抓住观测台的栏杆,尽力稳住身子。他们竭尽全力划到亮处。很快就没事了。哎呀,现在没事就好!
虽然划桨发出很大声音,可是掩饰不了船上笼罩的那片死寂。
人人都知道最好不要听,不要竖起耳朵听黑暗中的任何动静。可是大家却都情不自禁地听着。不久就听到动静了,而且每个人听见的都不一样。
“你听到有种声音像……像大剪刀在咔嚓咔嚓地响吗?”尤斯塔斯问赖因斯。
“嘘!”赖因斯说,“我听得见他们爬上船舷了。”
“就要落在桅杆上了。”凯斯宾说。
“嘿!”一个水手说,“开始鸣锣了,我就知道会鸣锣的。”
凯斯宾尽力目不斜视,并不回头看,径直走向船尾的德里宁那儿。
“德里宁,”他压低嗓音说,“我们刚才进去,划了多长时间呢? 就是从驶入黑暗起到救起那个陌生人为止。”
“大概五分钟吧,”德里宁小声说,“为什么这么问?”
“我们试图划出来已经不止五分钟了。”
德里宁掌舵的那只手开始哆嗦了,一行冷汗从脸上流下来。船上的人都冒出同样的念头。“我们出不去了,我们出不去了,”划桨的人悲叹道,“他把我们领错航线了。我们都在绕圈子,永远出不去了。”那个陌生人一直蜷成一团躺在甲板上,现在却坐起来,在一旁尖声怪气地恐怖地大笑。
“出不去了!”他大声喊道,“一点也不错。当然,我们永远出不去了。我多蠢啊,竟然以为他们这次会放过我。不,不,我们永远出不去的。”
露茜把脑袋靠在观测台边上,轻轻地说:“阿斯兰啊,阿斯兰, 你真爱我们的话,马上来救救我们吧。”那片黑暗虽然并未减少丝毫, 可是她开始感到有一点儿好转,只有那么一丁点。“说到底,我们还没出过什么事呢。”她暗暗想道。
“瞧!”赖尼夫在船头嘶哑地喊道。前面有一小点光,他们看了一会儿,那一点光竟发出一大束光来照在船身上。虽然并没改变周围漆黑的环境,可是整条船就像被探照灯照亮了似的。凯斯宾眨眨眼, 朝四下看着,只见伙伴们脸上个个都带着狂热而专注的神情。大家目不转睛地望着同一方向,每个人的身后都有一道轮廓分明的黑影。
露茜顺着光束看去,很快就看见光束里有什么东西。第一眼觉得像个十字架,再看又像一架飞机,再后来像个风筝,最后风筝翅膀呼呼地旋转,飞到头顶上空,原来是只信天翁。信天翁绕着桅杆飞了三圈,接着在船头镀金的龙脖子上歇了片刻。它发出一串有力的悦耳声音,似乎在说什么,可没人听得懂。之后它就张开翅膀飞了起来, 一开始飞得很慢,稍微偏向右舷。德里宁对它的导航深信不疑,就跟着它驾驶。可是除了露茜,谁也不知道它绕着桅杆飞时悄悄对她说过: “勇敢点儿,宝贝儿。”她相信这是阿斯兰的声音,话音未落,还有一股奇妙的香味散发到她脸上。
过了一会儿,前面那片黑暗就变成一片灰暗。之后,他们的内心还不敢抱有希望,这条船就穿进阳光中,走到了温暖的蓝色天地。就像有些时候,你躺在床上看见阳光泻进窗户,听到窗外早班的邮差和送奶人的笑声,才清醒地认识到这原来只不过是个梦,这不是真的, 这种感觉真是妙不可言。为了体会到醒来的乐趣,哪怕梦到噩梦也是值得的。当他们冲出黑暗时,所有人都有这种体会。船身的明亮使他们大为吃惊:他们原来还以为会被黑暗纠缠不放,在雪白、碧绿、金黄的船身上留下污垢和残渣。呆立片刻,所有人都朗声大笑起来。
“我想,我们耍了自己一回。”赖尼夫说。
露茜下来走到甲板上,看到大家都围着那个陌生人。他兴奋到许久说不出话来,只是望着大海和太阳,摸着船舷和缆绳,仿佛努力让他相信自己是醒着的,脸上泪水滚滚直流。
“太感谢你们了,”他终于说,“你们把我救出来了……我不愿提那件事。现在我跟你们说我是什么人。我是纳尼亚的台尔马人, 当年很有身份时,被大家称作罗普公爵。”
“我就是纳尼亚国王凯斯宾,”凯斯宾说,“我出海远航就是来找你以及你的伙伴,你们可是我父亲的好朋友。”
罗普公爵当即跪下,吻了国王的手。“陛下,”他说,“您是这个世界上我最希望见到的人,请陛下开恩。”
“什么事?”凯斯宾问。
“请您不要问我,也别让任何人问我这些年来在噩梦岛上的所见所闻。”罗普公爵恳求地说道。

“这好说,公爵,”凯斯宾回答,不禁又打了个寒噤,“问你, 我也认为不该问你。我愿意拿出全部财宝,也决不愿听到这种事。”

“陛下,”德里宁说,“这会儿朝东南去正是顺风。要不要叫我们可怜的伙伴起来准备起航?等开船后,空出来的人手再去吊床睡觉。”
“好的,”凯斯宾说,“让大家痛饮一场。啊哈,我困得现在能睡上一天一夜。”
然后整个下午大家都很开心,船向东南顺风行驶,船后的噩梦岛越来越小,越来越模糊。不过没有人注意到那只信天翁什么时候不见了。
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