《能言马与男孩》 第十三章 安瓦德之战

CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE FIGHT AT ANVARD

第十三章　安瓦德之战

BY about eleven o clock the whole company was once more on the march, riding westward with the mountains on their left. Corin and Shasta rode right at the rear with the Giants immediately in front of them. Lucy and Edmund and Peridan were busy with their plans for the battle and though Lucy once said,"But where is his goosecap Highness ?"Edmund only replied,,Not in the front, "and that s good news enough."Leave well alone."

大概十一点的时候，部队开始向西疾行，大山在左边若隐若现。巨人在前面，科林和沙斯塔垫后。露茜、爱德蒙和帕里丹忙于商量作战计划;虽然露茜女王也提到了：“滑稽的王子殿下去哪了?”爱德蒙简单回答:“不在先头部队里，这就已经够好了。随他去吧。”

Shasta told Corin most of his adventures and explained that he had learned all his riding from a horse and didn t really know how to use the reins. Corin instructed him in this, besides telling him all about their secret sailing from Tashbaan.

沙斯塔将他大部分历险告诉了科林，并且告诉他是跟一匹马学习骑术的，这就是为什么他不会用缰绳的原因。科林就指导他怎样使用缰绳，还把他们从塔什班城秘密出行的经历告诉他。

"And where is the Queen Susan ?"

“那么苏珊女王在哪儿?”

"At Cair Paravel,"said Corin.,She s not like Lucy, you know, who s as good as a man, or at any rate as good as a boy. Queen Susan is more like an ordinary grown-up lady.She doesn t ride to the wars, though she is an excellent archer."

“在凯尔帕拉维尔，”科林说，“她不像露茜那样像个男子汉，或者至少像个男孩子。苏珊女王更像大家闺秀。就算她箭术不错，也不会去骑马打仗。”

The hillside path which they were following became narrower all the time and the drop on their right hand became steeper. At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it.,But of course,"he thought,"I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time."

山路越来越窄，旁边的山坡也更加陡峭。最后他们不得不一前一后，沿着悬崖边缘走。当想到自己那个晚上是否也是这样走的，就不寒而栗。“当然，”他自我安慰，“我十分安全。狮子一直在我左边，一直在我和悬崖之间。”

Then the path went left and south away from the cliff and there were thick woods on both sides of it and they went steeply up and up into the pass. There would have been a splendid view from the top if it were open ground but among all those trees you could see nothing-only, every now and then, some huge pinnacle of rock above the tree-tops, and an eagle or two wheeling high up in the blue air.

山路开始向左延伸，背着悬崖向南而去，两边是茂密的树林，山路险峻陡峭，他们向上攀爬，终于到了山口。如果山口开阔，从山顶俯瞰，景色优美，但是周围树木茂盛，就什么也看不到了——只是偶尔看到树顶上出现的石峰，一两只盘旋在蓝天之上的鹰。

"They smell battle,"said Corin,pointing at the birds.,They know we re preparing a feed for them." Shasta didn t like this at all.

“鹰嗅到了战争的气息，”科林指着那些鸟说，“他们知道将会有丰盛的一餐了。”沙斯塔对这种俏皮话兴趣不大。

When they had crossed the neck of the pass and come a good deal lower they reached more open ground and from here Shasta could see all Archenland, blue and hazy, spread out below him and even (he thought) a hint of the desert beyond it. But the sun, which had perhaps two hours or so to go before it set, was in his eyes and he couldn t make things out distinctly.

他们过了山口，走了挺长一段路，开始逐渐开阔起来，沙斯塔能眺望整个阿钦兰国土，蓝蓝的，雾蒙蒙的，在他脚下铺展开来( 他认为)，他甚至能够隐约看到更加遥远的大沙漠。但是，太阳将要下山，射进眼睛的光芒让他目眩，他没法把景物看得很清楚。

Here the army halted and spread out in a line, and there was a great deal of rearranging. A whole detachment of very dangerous-looking Talking Beasts whom Shasta had not noticed before and who were mostly of the cat kind (leopards, panthers, and the like) went padding and growling to take up their positions on the left. The giants were ordered to the right, and before going there they all took off something they had been carrying on their backs and sat down for a moment. Then Shasta saw that what they had been carrying and were now putting on were pairs of boots: horrid, heavy, spiked boots which came up to their knees. Then they sloped their huge clubs over their shoulders and marched to their battle position. The archers, with Queen Lucy, fell to the rear and you could first see them bending their bows and then hear the twangtwang as they tested the strings. And wherever you looked you could see people tightening girths, putting on helmets, drawing swords, and throwing cloaks to the ground. There was hardly any talking now. It was very solemn and very dreadful. "I m in for it now—I really am in for it now,"thought Shasta. Then there came noises far ahead: the sound of many men shouting and a steady thud-thud-thud.

军队在此止步，排列成一条战线，国王做了新的作战计划。一整队会说话的野兽，沙斯塔以前没有注意过;大部分是猫科动物( 花豹、黑豹等等)，咆哮着、大踏步走到左边去列成阵地。巨人奉命开拔到右边，进入阵地前，它们卸下背上的东西，坐下休息了一会儿。沙斯塔这才有机会看清巨人背的东西，还有脚上穿的是一双双靴子：难看的、沉重的、底部有尖钉、长及膝头，接着巨人就扛着大棒进入阵地。露茜和弓箭手被安排在后方，他们在试弓，然后能听到拉紧弓弦的嘣嘣声。不论何处，人们都在系紧腰带，戴上头盔，抽出刀剑，把大麾放在地上。场面肃穆，无人交谈。“现在没法当逃兵了——真的不能当逃兵了。”沙斯塔想。阵地前方声音嘈杂：人们大嚷大叫，还有一种沉重的砰砰声。

"Battering ram,"whispered Corin."They re battering the gate."

“攻城槌，”科林小声说，“敌人想打破城门。”。

Even Corin looked quite serious now.

连科林也开始严肃起来了

"Why doesn t King Edmund get on ?"he said.,I can t stand this waiting about.Chilly too."

“为什么爱德蒙国王不出击?”他说，“我受不了这种等待。浑身冰冷。”

Shasta nodded: hoping he didn t look as frightened as felt.

沙斯塔点点头：希望他不像外在表现的那样害怕。

The trumpet at last ! On the move now-now trotting the banner streaming out in the wind. They had topped low ridge now,and below them the whole scene sudden opened out;a little, many-towered castle with its gate towards them. No moat, unfortunately, but of course the gate shut and the portcullis down. On the walls they could see, like little white dots, the faces of the defenders. Down below, about fifty of the Calormenes, dismounted, were steadily swinging a great tree trunk against the gate. But at once the scene changed. The main bulk of Rabadash s men had been on foot ready to assault the gate. But now he had seen the Narnians sweeping down from the ridge. There is no doubt those Calormenes are wonderfully trained. It seemed to Shasta only a second before a whole line of the enemy were on horseback again, wheeling round to meet them, swinging towards them.

喇叭声终于响起!部队开始出兵——马儿疾奔——旗帜飘扬。他们爬上了一个山脊，山下景色一览无遗。一个多城楼的小城堡，城门正对他们。不幸的是没有护城河，城门紧闭，吊闸落下。城墙上保卫者的脸像一个个小白点，大约五十个卡乐门人下了马，用一根大树干牢牢的撞击城门，但是这情景转瞬即逝。罗八达的主力部队早已下马步行，做好攻击城门的准备，当他们看到奔腾而下的纳尼亚军队时，这些训练有素的卡乐门部队几乎一秒内就上了马，调转马头，排好队列，开始迎战。

And now a gallop.The ground between the two armies grew less every moment.Faster,faster.All swords out now, all shields up to the nose,all prayers said,all teeth clenched. Shasta was dreadfully frightened.But it suddenly came into his head,,If you funk this,you ll funk every battle all your life. Now or never."

随着一阵狂奔，两军之间的距离急剧缩短，越来越快，越来越快。刀剑出鞘，盾牌举起，祷告已宣，牙关紧咬，沙斯塔惶恐至极。但一个想法突然冒出来：“这次害怕，那么今后就无法面对战争，时不我待!”

But when at last the two lines met he had really very littler idea of what happened. There was a frightful confusion;and an appalling noise. His sword was knocked clean out of his hand pretty soon. And he d got the reins tangled somehow. Then he found himself slipping. Then a spear came straight at him and as he ducked to avoid it he rolled right off his horse, bashed his left knuckles terribly against someone else s armour, and then-But it is no use trying to describe the battle from Shasta s point of view;

但是两军短兵相接的时候，他对现场情况毫不知情，加上可怕的混乱和恐怖的惨叫，他手中的刀很快就被直接打落，缰绳也不知弄哪儿去了。他发觉自己正滑下马，一支长矛笔直地刺过来，他低头躲避，滑落下马，左膝猛地撞在别人的盔甲上，然后……但试图从沙斯塔的角度去描绘战争毫无意义，他对战斗了解甚少，甚至不了解自己在战争中扮演何种角色。如果想要知道发生了什么，最好的办法就是带你到几英里外，那里的南征隐士正在目不转睛地凝视平静的池水，树影荫蔽，布里、赫温和阿拉维斯都在他身边。

he understood too little of the fight in general and even of his own part in it.The best way I can tell you what really happened is to take you some miles away to where the Hermit of the Southern March sat gazing into the smooth pool beneath the spreading tree, with Bree and Hwin and Aravis beside him.

如果想要知道自己世外桃源外的世界在发生什么，隐士就朝池水张望。在像镜子一样的池水里，他能看到在特定的时间，远在塔什班南方的城市街道上发生的事情，诸如什么船在遥远的七群岛驶进了红港，或者强盗或野兽在灯柱野林和台尔马之间的西部大森林里捣乱。这天隐士在池边寸步不离，吃饭和喝水也不离开，因为他知道，阿钦兰有重大事件发生。

For it was in this pool that the Hermit looked when he wanted to know what was going on in the world outside the green walls of his hermitage. There, as in a mirror, he could see, at certain times, what was going on in the streets of cities far farther south than Tashbaan, or what ships were putting into Redhaven in the remote Seven Isles, or what robbers or wild beasts stirred in the great Western forests between Lantern Waste and Telmar. And all this day he had hardly left his pool, even to eat or drink, for he knew that great events were on foot in Archenland. Aravis and the Horses gazed into it too. They could see it was a magic pool: instead of reflecting the tree and the sky it revealed cloudy and coloured shapes moving, always moving, in its depths. But they could see nothing clearly. The Hermit could and from time to time he told them what he saw. A little while before Shasta rode into his first battle, the Hermit had begun speaking like this:

阿拉维斯和另两匹马也朝水里张望，他们看得出，这水有魔力。水中没有绿树蓝天的倒影，却有活动的、模糊的彩色影像。但是他们什么也看不清，看得清的隐士便把看到的告诉他们。沙斯塔骑上马，进入人生中第一次战争前的一会儿，隐士便这样说道：

"I see one-two-three eagles wheeling in the gap by Stormness Head. One is the oldest of all the eagles. He would not be out unless battle was at hand. I see him wheel to and fro, peering down sometimes at Anvard and sometimes to the east, behind Stormness. Ah-I see now what Rabadash and his men have been so busy at all day.They have felled and lopped a great tree and they are now coming out of the woods carrying it as a ram. They have learned something from the failure of last night s assult. He would have been wiser if he had set his men to making ladders: but it takes too long and he is impatient. Fool that he is ! He ought to have ridden back to Tashbaan as soon as the first attack failed, for his whole plan depended on speed and surprise. Now they are bringing their ram into position. King Lune s men are shooting hard from the walls. Five Calormenes have fallen: but not many will. They have their shields above their heads. Rabadash is giving his orders now. With him are his most trusted lords, fierce Tarkaans from the eastern provinces. I can see their faces. There is Corradin of Castle Tormunt, and Azrooh, and Chlamash, and Ilgamuth of the twisted lip, and a tall Tarkaan with a crimson beard—"

“我看到一只、两只、三只鹰，在暴风雨山的山口盘旋。其中那只年纪最大的，没有一触即发的战争它是不会出来的。它来回盘旋，时而俯瞰安瓦德，时而俯瞰暴风雨山背后的东方。啊!现在我知道罗八达和他的部队整天在忙什么了。他们砍了一棵大树，锯掉一段，掮着它出了树林，想把树干用作攻城槌。他们从昨晚的失败中吸取了一点教训，如果他让部队制作云梯显然更好：但制作云梯很费时间，他等不及。真是愚蠢!初战失利，应该立刻策马回塔什班，因为他的整个作战计划，靠的是速度和出其不意。现在他部署好了攻城槌。伦恩国王的士兵在城墙上拼命射箭，五个卡乐门士兵倒下了;但不会有更多人倒下，因为他们用盾牌挡着。罗八达已经下令，他最信赖的主公，从东部各地来的凶残的泰坎，都和他一起。我看得见泰坎的脸，托芒城堡的安拉丁、阿兹鲁、奇拉马什，歪嘴伊尔加默思，还有个红胡子的泰坎……”

"By the Mane,my old master Anradin !"said Bree. "S-s-sh"said Aravis.

“天啊，那是我的老主人安拉丁!”布里说。

"Now the ram has started.If I could hear as well as see, what a noise that would make ! Stroke after stroke: and no gate can stand it for ever.But wait ! Something up by Stormness has scared the birds.They re coming out in masses.And wait again--- I can't see yet---ah !Now I can.The whole ridge, up on the east,is black with horsemen. If only the wind would catch that standard and spread it out.They re over the ridge now,whoever they are.Aha !I ve seen the banner now. Narnia,Narnia ! It s the red lion.They re in full career down the hill now. I can see King Edmund. There s a woman behind among the archers.Oh !—"

“嘘……”阿拉维斯说。“攻城槌开始撞击了。如果我能听见，那东西会发出多大的声音啊!一槌又一槌!没有一个城门扛得住。且慢!暴风雨山附近的鸟儿受到了惊动，大群的飞了出来。再等等……我还看不到……啊!现在看见了。东边高地，山脊上全是黑压压的骑兵。风能把军旗吹开就好了。不管他们是谁，现在都越过山脊了。啊!我看到旗子了。纳尼亚，是纳尼亚!红狮旗!他们全速下山。我看到爱德蒙国王。阵地后方有个女弓箭手。哦!”

"What is it ?"asked Hwin breathlessly.

“那是什么东西?”赫温屏息静气的问。

"All his Cats are dashing out from the left of the line."

“所有猫科动物从左翼攻了过去。”

"Cats ?"said Aravis. "Great cats, leopards and such," said the Hermit impatiently."I see, I see. The Cats are coming round in a circle to get at the horses of the dismounted men. A good stroke. The Calormene horses are mad with terror already. Now the Cats are in among them. But Rabadash has reformed his line and has a hundred men in the saddle. They re riding to meet the Narnians. There s only a hundred yards between the two lines now. Only fifty. I can see King Edmund, I can see the Lord Peridan. There are two mere children in the Narnian line. What can the King be about to let them into battle ? Only ten yards-the lines have met. The Giants on the Narnian right are doing wonders-but one s down-shot through the eye, I suppose. The centre s all in a muddle. I can see more on the left. There are the two boys again. Lion alive ! one is Prince Corm. The other, like him as two peas. It s your little Shasta. Corm is fighting like a man. He s killed a Calormene. I can see a bit of the centre now. Rabadash and Edmund almost met then, but the press has separated them—"

“猫科动物?”阿拉维斯问。“巨大的猫科动物，雪豹之类的，”隐士有点焦躁，“我明白了，明白了。猫科动物要围成一圈，去逮那些无人骑的马。好高明的一着棋。卡乐门的马已经恐惧不已了。这些猫科动物又冲进了马群中。但罗八达调整了队伍，百来个士兵上了马，他们纵马迎战纳尼亚人，现在两边队伍不到一百码，现在不到五十码了。我看见爱德蒙国王和帕丽丹勋爵，纳尼亚队伍中有两个孩子模样的人，国王怎么可以让孩子参加战斗?双方距离只有十码了——短兵相接。纳尼亚右翼的巨人们正在大杀四方……但有个巨人倒下了，我猜是眼睛被射中了。中间在混战，左边的能够看到更多，又是那两个孩子。天哪，一个是科林王子，另一个和科林一模一样，就是你们的小沙斯塔。科林像个男子汉一样战斗，他杀死了一个卡乐门人。现在能够看见一点中间的战况了。罗八达和爱德蒙几乎要面对面了，但蜂拥而上的士兵冲散了他们……”

"What about Shasta ?"said Aravis.

“沙斯塔怎么样了?”阿拉维斯问。

"Oh the fool !"groaned the Hermit.,Poor, brave little fool. He knows nothing about this work. He s making no use at all of his shield.His whole side s exposed.He hasn t the faintest idea what to do with his sword. Oh, he s remembered it now. He s waving it wildly about- nearly cut his own pony s head off, and he will in a moment if he s not careful. It s been knocked out of his hand now. It s mere murder sending a child into the battle;he can't live five minutes. Duck you fool-oh, he s down."

“这个傻瓜!”隐士不禁叹息，“可怜的、勇敢的小傻瓜。他不了解打仗。他根本就没有使用盾牌，要害都暴露在外。他也不知道怎么用他的剑，现在他想起来用剑了。他胡乱挥舞……差点把自己小马的脑袋砍下来。现在他的剑被打落了，让孩子上战场，简直就是谋杀;他只有不到五分钟可活了。你这傻瓜，低头啊……啊，他从马上跌下来了。”

"Killed ?" asked three voices breathlessly.

“死了?”三个声音屏息问道。

"How can I tell ?" said the Hermit."The Cats have done their work. All the riderless horses are dead or escaped now: no retreat for the Calormenes on them. Now the Cats are turning back into the main battle. They re leaping on the rams-men. The ram is down. Oh, good!good!The gates are opening from the inside: there s going to be a sortie. The first three are out. It s King Lune in the middle: the brothers Dar and Darrin on each side of him. Behind them are Tran and Shar and Cole with his brother Colin. There are ten—twenty—nearly thirty of them out by now. The Calormen line is being forced back upon them. King Edmund is dealing marvellous strokes. He's just slashed Corradin's head off. Lots of Calormenes have thrown down their arms and are running for the woods. Those that remain are hard pressed. The Giants are closing in on the right-Cats on the left-King Lune from their rear. The Calormenes are a little knot now, fighting back to back. Your Tarkaan's down, Bree. Lune and Azrooh are fighting hand to hand;the King looks like winning-the King is keeping it up well—the King has won. Azrooh s down. King Edmund s down—no,he s up again: he s at it with Rabadash.

“我该怎么说呢?”隐士说，“猫科动物完成了战斗任务，无人骑的马非死即散：骑这些马的卡乐门人必死无疑。现在猫科动物重新全力投入战斗，他们向用攻城槌的人扑去，攻城槌掉在地上了。啊，妙!妙!城门由里打开：马上就有一番突围了。打头三个人，伦恩国王在中间，达尔达兰兄弟在其左右。特兰、沙尔、柯尔和科林兄弟紧随其后。现在有十个、二十个、三十个左右的战士出来了。卡乐门军队被逼退后，爱德蒙国王勇猛奋起，威力无比。他刚砍下安拉丁的脑袋，卡乐门战士丢盔弃甲，向树林逃窜。巨人在左翼，猫科动物在右翼，伦恩国王在后面，步步紧逼余下的队伍。卡乐门队伍腹背受敌，紧张慌乱，他们围成圈子守备。布里，你的老主人倒下了。伦恩国王和阿兹鲁短兵相接;国王优势明显——国王保持着优势——国王赢了，阿兹鲁倒下了。国王爱德蒙倒下了又站了起来：他在和罗八达搏斗。

They re fighting in the very gate of the castle. Several Calormenes have surrendered. Darrin has killed Ilgamuth. I can t see what s happened to Rabadash. I think he s dead, leaning against the castle wall, but I don t know. Chlamash and King Edmund are still fighting but the battle is over everywhere else. Chlamash has surrendered. The battle is over. The Calormenes are utterly defeated."

他们在城堡门口交战，好多卡乐门人投降了，达兰杀了伊尔加默思。我不知道罗八达怎么样了，他紧靠城墙，我不清楚他是否已经死了。奇拉马什仍在苟延残喘，但剩下队伍大势已去。奇拉马什投降，战争结束。卡乐门人彻底输了。”

When Shasta fell off his horse he gave himself up for lost. But horses, even in battle, tread on human beings very much less than you would suppose. After a very horrible ten minutes or so Shasta realized suddenly that there were no longer any horses stamping about in the immediate neighbourhood and that the noise (for there were still a good many noises going on) was no longer that of a battle. He sat up and stared about him. Even he, little as he knew of battles, could soon see that the Archenlanders and Narnians had won. The only living Calormenes he could see were prisoners, the castle gates were wide open, and King Lune and King Edmund were shaking hands across the battering ram. From the circle of lords and warriors around them there arose a sound of breathless and excited, but obviously cheerful conversation. And then,suddenly,it all united and swelled into a great roar of laughter.

沙斯塔跌落下马的时候，认为自己已经死了。但马踩人的情况在战场上，远比他想的要少。恐怖的十分钟过去了，沙斯塔突然发现：附近的马已经寥寥无几，而喧闹的声音( 因为附近的喧闹声仍在持续)不再是交战的声音了。他坐起来自己打量四周，虽然他对战争不熟悉，但他也很快看出来：阿钦兰人和纳尼亚人取得了胜利。活着的卡乐门人已经沦为俘虏，城堡大门洞开，伦恩国王和爱德蒙国王手握着槌越过攻城。一群王公大臣和战士围在周围，激动、愉快地交谈着，突然谈话声变成了一阵哄堂大笑。

Shasta,picked himself up,feeling uncommonly stiff,and ran towards the sound to see what the joke was.A very curious sight met his eyes.The unfortunate Rabadash appeared to be suspended from the castle walls. His feet,which were about two feet from the ground, were kicking wildly. His chain-shirt was somehow hitched up so that it was horribly tight under the arms and came halfway over his face. In fact he looked just as a man looks if you catch him in the very act of getting into a stiff shirt that is a little too small for him. As far as could be made out afterwards (and you may be sure the story was well talked over for many a day) what happened was something like this. Early in the battle one of the Giants had made an unsuccessful stamp at Rabadash with his spiked boot: unsuccessful because it didn t crush Rabadash, which was what the Giant had intended, but not quite useless because one of the spikes tore the chain mail, just as you or I might tear an ordinary shirt. So Rabadash, by the time he encountered Edmund at the gate, had a hole in the back of his hauberk. And when Edmund pressed him back nearer and nearer to the wall, he jumped up on a mounting block and stood there raining down blows on Edmund from above. But then, finding that this position, by raising him above the heads of everyone else, made him a mark for every arrow from the Narnian bows, he decided to jump down again. And he meant to look and sound-no doubt for a moment he did look and sound—very grand and very dreadful as he jumped, crying,"The bolt of Tash falls from above. " But he had to jump sideways because the crowd in front of him left him no landing place in that direction. And then, in the neatest way you could wish, the tear in the back of his hauberk caught on a hook in the wall. (Ages ago this hook had had a ring in it for tying horses to.) And there he found himself,like a piece of washing hung up to dry, with everyone laughing at him.

沙斯塔爬起来，觉得四肢不受控制。他朝人群跑去，想看看笑声的源头在哪里。他看到一副有趣的景象，倒霉的罗八达被悬在城墙上，脚离地两英尺，胡乱地踢着。锁子甲被吊了起来，勒紧了他的腋下，中间的锁子甲遮住半边脸。事实上，他看上去就像一个人正把一件尺寸太小的衬衫硬穿上身时的模样。沙斯塔后来得知( 你可以确信，这个故事后来广为流传)，事情的经过大致如此：刚开战时，一个巨人用他的尖钉靴子踩了罗八达一脚。但未能如愿的把罗八达踩个稀巴烂;幸运的是也有点作用，因为靴子像你我撕开一件普通衬衫那样，刺破了锁子甲。所以，罗八达和爱德蒙在城门搏斗时，背后有个大窟窿。爱德蒙向城墙方向步步紧逼，罗八达跳上一个高台，他在台上，用雨点般的剑法攻击爱德蒙。但他觉得自己的位置太显眼，容易成为弓箭手的众矢之的，所以决定跳下来。在跳下来前，他察言观色——毫无疑问，他确实试探了一会儿，然后庄严地跳了下来，口中大喊：“塔什神的雷霆将惩罚你们。”但前面的人太多，没有落脚的地方，所以不得不朝旁边跳，接着，简单来说，他锁子甲上的窟窿，被墙上的一个钩子钩住了( 几百年前，这钩子是用来系马的铁圈)。他发现自己成为了洗净待晾干的衣服，人人都在嘲笑他。

"Let me down, Edmund," howled Rabadash. "Let me down and fight me like a king and a man;or if you are too great a coward to do that, kill me at once."

“爱德蒙，放我下来，”罗八达号叫道，“放我下来，以国王的身份，像男子汉那样和我战斗，如果你是个懦夫，不敢放我下来，那就立马杀了我。”

"Certainly," began King Edmund, but King Lune interrupted.

“当然可以。”爱德蒙国王说，但伦恩国王打断了他。

"By your Majesty's good leave," said King Lune to Edmund. "Not so. " Then turning to Rabadash he said, "your royal Highness, if you had given that challenge a week ago, I ll answer for it there was no one in King Edmund s dominion, from the High King down to the smallest Talking Mouse, who would have refused it. But by attacking our castle of Anvard in time of peace without defiance sent, you have proved yourself no knight, but a traitor, and one rather to be whipped by the hangman than to be suffered to cross swords with any person of honour. Take him down, bind him, and carry him within till our pleasure is further known."

“请允许我插一句，”伦恩国王对爱德蒙说，“别这样。”然后，他转过来对罗八达说道：“殿下，如果你在一个星期前就下了挑战书，我会保证：整个爱德蒙国土，上至皇帝，下至最小的会说话的号手，都不会拒绝你的请求。但你在和平时期，连挑战书也不下，就贸然攻击安瓦德，你不配做一个真正的武士，只配做个挨刽子手鞭打的奸贼，不配任何高贵的人和你交战。把他绑起来，带到城里去，等我们宣告了胜利的消息，再作定夺。”

Strong hands wrenched Rabadash s sword from him and he was carried away into the castle,shouting, threatening, cursing,and even crying.For though he could have faced torture he couldn t bear being made ridiculous.In Tashbaan everyone had always taken him seriously.

罗八达的剑被强硬地夺走，他被带到城里去了，他叫喊、威吓、咒骂，甚至大声哭号。因为，他能忍受严刑拷打，却难以忍受嘲弄耻笑。在塔什班城，人人都慑于他的威严。

At that moment Corin ran up to Shasta,seized his hand and started dragging him towards King Lune. "Here he is, Father, here he is,"cried Corin.

就在这时，科林跑过来，抓着沙斯塔的手把他拖到国王跟前。“他在这儿，父亲，他在这儿。”科林大声说。

"Aye,and here thou art,at last," said the King in a very gruff voice."And hast been in the battle, clean contrary to your obedience. A boy to break a father s heart ! At your age a rod to your breech were fitter than a sword in your fist, ha !"But everyone, including Corin, could see that the King was very proud of him.

“呀，你还是来这儿了，”国王粗鲁地说，“而且不听我的话，参加了战斗。一个让父亲担忧心碎的孩子!你这样的年纪，要你拿剑还不如在你身上插根棍子呢。哈哈!”但包括科林在内的所有人，都看出国王自豪不已。

"Chide him no more, Sire, if it please you,"said Lord Darrin."His Highness would not be your son if he did not inherit your conditions. It would grieve your Majesty more if he had to be reproved for the opposite fault."

“对不起，陛下，不要责备他了，”达兰勋爵说，“国王的儿子就要继承国王的英雄气概。如果他不敢参加战争，那才是最让陛下伤心的吧。”

"Well, well," grumbled the King."We'll pass it over for this time.And now—"

“好吧，好吧，”国王咕咕哝哝的说，“下不为例。现在……”

What came next surprised Shasta as much as anything that had ever happened to him in his life. He found himself suddenly embraced inn bear-like hug by King Lune and kissed on both cheeks. Then the King set him down again and said,"Stand here together, boys, and let all the court see you. Hold up your heads. Now, gentlemen, look on them both. Has any man any doubts ?"

接下来的事情，比平生遭遇的事情，更让沙斯塔惊讶不已。伦恩国王像熊一样紧紧地抱住他，亲吻他的脸。然后国王放下他，说：“站在这儿，孩子们，让王公贵族们都看看你们。昂起头来。现在，先生们，瞧瞧这两人。还有什么值得怀疑的吗?”

And still Shasta could not understand why everyone stared at him and at Corin nor what all the cheering was about.

而沙斯塔一头雾水：为什么人们在目不转睛地盯着他和科林?他们在欢呼什么?