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双语·狮子、女巫与魔衣柜 第四章 土耳其软糖

所属教程:译林版·狮子、女巫与魔衣柜

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2022年04月24日

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CHAPTER 4 TURKISH DELIGHT

“BUT what are you?”said the Queen again.“Are you a great overgrown dwarf that has cut off its beard?”

“No, your Majesty,”said Edmund,“I never had a beard, I'm a boy.”

“A boy!”said she.“Do you mean you are a Son of Adam?”

Edmund stood still, saying nothing. He was too confused by this time to understand what the question meant.

“I see you are an idiot, whatever else you may be,”said the Queen.“Answer me, once and for all, or I shall lose my patience. Are you human?”

“Yes, your Majesty,”said Edmund.

“And how, pray, did you come to enter my dominions?”

“Please, your Majesty, I came in through a wardrobe.”

“A wardrobe?What do you mean?”

“I—I opened a door and just found myself here, your Majesty,”said Edmund.

“Ha!”said the Queen, speaking more to herself than to him.“A door. A door from the world of men!I have heard of such things.This may wreck all.But he is only one, and he is easily dealt with.”As she spoke these words she rose from her seat and looked Edmund full in the face, her eyes faming;at the same moment she raised her wand.Edmund felt sure that she was going to do something dreadful but he seemed unable tomove.Then, just as he gave himself up for lost, she appeared to change her mind.

“My poor child,”she said in quite a different voice,“how cold you look!Come and sit with me here on the sledge and I will put my mantle round you and we will talk.”

Edmund did not like this arrangement at all but he dared not disobey;he stepped on to the sledge and sat at her feet, and she put a fold of her fur mantle round him and tucked it well in.

“Perhaps something hot to drink?”said the Queen.“Should you like that?”

“Yes, please, your Majesty,”said Edmund, whose teeth were chattering.

The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as if it were made of copper. Then, holding out her arm, she let one drop fall from it on the snow beside the sledge.Edmund saw the drop for a second in mid-air, shining like a diamond.But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing sound and there stood a jewelled cup full of something that steamed.The dwarf immediately took this and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile;not a very nice smile.Edmund felt much better as he began to sip the hot drink.It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy and creamy, and it warmed him right down to his toes.

“It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating,”said the Queen presently.“What would you like best to eat?”

“Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty,”said Edmund.

The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious.He was quite warm now, andvery comfortable.

While he was eating, the Queen kept asking him questions. At frst Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one's mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive.She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters, and that one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there, and that no one except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia.She seemed especially interested in the fact that there were four of them, and kept on coming back to it.“You are sure there are just four of you?”she asked.“Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, neither more nor less?”and Edmund, with his mouth full of Turkish Delight, kept on saying,“Yes, I told you that before,”and forgetting to call her“Your Majesty”,but she didn't seem to mind now.

At last the Turkish Delight was all fnished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking;for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves.But she did not offer him any more.Instead, she said to him,

“Son of Adam, I should so much like to see your brother and your two sisters. Will you bring them to see me?”

“I'll try,”said Edmund, still looking at the empty box.

“Because, if you did come again—bringing them with you of course—I'd be able to give you some more Turkish Delight. I can't do it now, the magic will only work once.In my own house it would be another matter.”

“Why can't we go to your house now?”said Edmund. When he had frst got on to the sledge he had been afraid that she might drive away with him to some unknown place from which he would not be able to get back;but he had forgotten about that fear now.

“It is a lovely place, my house,”said the Queen.“I am sure you would like it. There are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight, and what's more, I have no children of my own.I want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone.While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long;and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I've ever met.I think I would like to make you the Prince—some day, when you bring the others to visit me.”

“Why not now?”said Edmund. His face had become very red and his mouth and fngers were sticky.He did not look either clever or handsome, whatever the Queen might say.

“Oh, but if I took you there now,”said she,“I shouldn't see your brother and your sisters. I very much want to know your charming relations.You are to be the Prince and—later on—the King;that is understood.But you must have courtiers and nobles.I will make your brother a Duke and your sisters Duchesses.”

“There's nothing special aboutthem,”said Edmund,“and, anyway, I could always bring them some other time.”

“Ah, but once you were in my house,”said the Queen,“you might forget all about them. You would be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn't want the bother of going to fetch them.No.You must go back to your own country now and come to me another day, with them, you understand.It is no good coming without them.”

“But I don't even know the way back to my own country,”pleaded Edmund.

“That's easy,”answered the Queen.“Do you see that lamp?”She pointed with her wand and Edmund turned and saw the same lamp-post under which Lucy had met the Faun.“Straight on, beyond that, is the way to the World of Men. And now look the other way”—here she pointed in the opposite direction—“and tell me if you can see two little hills rising above the trees.”

“I think I can,”said Edmund.

“Well, my house is between those two hills. So next time you come you have only to fnd the lamp-post and look for those two hills and walk through the wood till you reach my house.But remember—you must bring the others with you.I might have to be very angry with you if you came alone.”

“I'll do my best,”said Edmund.

“And, by the way,”said the Queen,“you needn't tell them about me. It would be fun to keep it a secret between us two, wouldn't it?Make it a surprise for them.Just bring them along to the two hills—a clever boy like you will easily think of some excuse for doing that—and when you come to my house you could just say,‘Let's see who lives here',or something like that.I am sure that would be best.If your sister has met one of the Fauns, she may have heard strange stories about me—nasty stories that might make her afraid to come to me.Fauns will say anything, you know, and now—”

“Please, please,”said Edmund suddenly,“please couldn't I have just one piece of Turkish Delight to eat on the way home?”

“No, no,”said the Queen with a laugh,“you must wait till next time.”While she spoke, she signalled to the dwarf to drive on, but as the sledge swept away out of sight, the Queen waved to Edmund, calling out,“Next time!Next time!Don't forget. Come soon.”

Edmund was still staring after the sledge when he heard someonecalling his own name, and looking round he saw Lucy coming towards him from another part of the wood.

“Oh, Edmund!”she cried.“So you've got in too!Isn't it wonderful, and now—”

“All right,”said Edmund,“I see you were right and it is a magic wardrobe after all. I'll say I'm sorry if you like.But where on earth have you been all this time?I've been looking for you everywhere.”

“If I'd known you had got in I'd have waited for you,”said Lucy, who was too happy and excited to notice how snappishly Edmund spoke or how flushed and strange his face was.“I've been having lunch with dear Mr Tumnus, the Faun, and he's very well and the White Witch has done nothing to him for letting me go, so he thinks she can't have found out and perhaps everything is going to be all right after all.”

“The White Witch?”said Edmund;“who's she?”

“She is a perfectly terrible person,”said Lucy.“She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryads and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals—at least all the good ones—simply hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things.And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas.And she drives about on a sledge, drawn by reindeer, with her wand in her hand and a crown on her head.”

Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets, and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable. But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else.

“Who told you all that stuff about the White Witch?”he asked.

“Mr Tumnus, the Faun,”said Lucy.

“You can't always believe what Fauns say,”said Edmund, trying to sound as if he knew far more about them than Lucy.

“Who said so?”asked Lucy.

“Everyone knows it,”said Edmund;“ask anybody you like. But it's pretty poor sport standing here in the snow.Let's go home.”

“Yes, let's,”said Lucy.“Oh, Edmund, I am glad you've got in too. The others will have to believe in Narnia now that both of us have been there.What fun it will be!”

But Edmund secretly thought that it would not be as good fun for him as for her. He would have to admit that Lucy had been right, before all the others, and he felt sure the others would all be on the side of the Fauns and the animals;but he was already more than half on the side of the Witch.He did not know what he would say, or how he would keep his secret once they were all talking about Narnia.

By this time they had walked a good way. Then suddenly they felt coats around them instead of branches and next moment they were both standing outside the wardrobe in the empty room.

“I say,”said Lucy,“you do look awful, Edmund. Don't you feel well?”

“I'm all right,”said Edmund, but this was not true. He was feeling very sick.

“Come on then,”said Lucy,“let's fnd the others. What a lot we shall have to tell them!And what wonderful adventures we shall have now that we're all in it together.”

第四章 土耳其软糖

“那你究竟是什么?”那个女人继续问,“是不是发育过头的小矮人,还把自己胡子剃掉了?”

“不是的,女王,”埃德蒙说,“我还没有长过胡子,我还是个男孩。”

“男孩!”她说,“你是说你是亚当之子?”

埃德蒙安静地站着,什么也没说。他此刻困惑不已,根本不明白这个问题是什么意思。

“不管你说自己是什么,我看你就是个傻瓜,”女王说,“我再问最后一次,如实回答,否则别怪我没耐心。你是人吗?”

“回女王,是的,我是人。”埃德蒙说。

“那请问,你是怎么进入到我的领土的?”

“回女王,我是从一个衣柜进来的。”

“一个衣柜?你说什么?”

“我——我打开衣柜门,然后就出现在这里了。”埃德蒙说。

“哈!”女王说,似乎是自言自语,而不是对埃德蒙说,“一扇门!一扇人类之门。我还没有听过这样的事情。这可能毁掉一切,不过还好,只是出现了一个,这个很好对付。”她一边嘀咕,一边从座位上站起来打量埃德蒙,她的两只眼睛似是闪着烈焰。而与此同时,她举起了手中的魔杖。埃德蒙感觉她即将做出可怕的事情,但自己似乎不能挪动脚步。当埃德蒙回过神来时,她好像改变了主意。

“可怜的孩子,”她用完全不同的语气说,“你看起来都快冻坏了!快过来,和我一起坐在雪橇上,披上我的披风,咱们聊聊天。”

埃德蒙一点儿都不喜欢这样的安排,但是他不敢拒绝。于是,他走过去,踏上雪橇,坐在她脚边,而女王则拉过自己的皮毛披风,把埃德蒙裹住。

“要不喝点儿热的东西?”女王说,“你想要喝点儿吗?”

“是的,女王。”埃德蒙回答说,他被冻得上下牙齿直打战。

女王从衣服里掏出一个小瓶子,看起来像是由铜制成,接着,她伸出手,从瓶子里倒出一滴液体,就滴在雪橇旁边的雪地里。埃德蒙看着那滴液体从空中落下,就像一颗钻石一样闪耀,一接触雪地,就发出嘶嘶的声音,然后一个镶满珍珠的杯子就出现在那滴液体滴落的地方,里面盛着热腾腾的饮料。那个小矮人马上端起那个杯子,笑着向埃德蒙鞠了一躬——并不友善地一笑,然后把杯子递给他。埃德蒙喝着热乎乎的饮料,感觉好多了,从头到脚都暖和起来。这是他之前从没有喝过的东西,甜甜的,有好多泡沫,还有一股奶油味。

“亚当之子,光是喝饮料,不吃东西,这怎么行?”过了一会儿,女王问,“你最想吃什么?”

“回女王,我想吃土耳其软糖。”埃德蒙说。

女王又往雪地上倒了一滴液体,那里立刻就出现了一个系着绿丝带的圆盒子。打开一看,里面竟然装着好几磅最好吃的土耳其软糖。每一块糖都很甜,连糖心也是甜的,埃德蒙从来没有吃过比这更好吃的土耳其软糖了。他现在已经很暖和了,而且还很满足。

在埃德蒙吃土耳其软糖的时候,女王一直在问他问题。一开始,埃德蒙还想着边吃东西边说话不礼貌,但他很快就忘记了,脑子里只想着尽可能把美味的土耳其软糖全都塞进肚子里,他越吃越想吃,从来没有思考过女王为什么会有这么多问题。在女王的询问下,埃德蒙说自己有一个哥哥、一个姐姐和一个妹妹,有一个妹妹已经来过纳尼亚了,还在这里碰见半人羊,不过除了他们四人,没人知道纳尼亚的事情。女王似乎对他有三个兄弟姐妹这一事实感到特别好奇,不断问到这一点。“你确定只有你们四人吗?”她问,“两个亚当之子,两个夏娃之女,不多不少就是四个人?”埃德蒙满嘴含着土耳其软糖,不停说:“是的,我之前告诉过你了。”也忘记加上尊称“女王”,不过女王此刻似乎并不在意这个。

最后,埃德蒙吃光了所有的土耳其软糖。他直直盯着空盒子,多么希望女王问他是否还要吃。也许,女王知道埃德蒙在想什么,因为她知道——虽然埃德蒙并不知道——这土耳其软糖被施了魔法,任何人只要吃一口,就会想要吃更多,如果有足够的糖,就会一直吃到自己死为止。不过,她并没有给埃德蒙更多的糖,而是对他说:

“亚当之子,我特别希望见见你的兄弟姐妹,你会把他们带过来见我吗?”

“我可以试试。”埃德蒙说,眼睛依旧盯着那个空盒子。

“因为,如果你再来见我——当然,得带上你的兄弟姐妹——我就会给你更多的土耳其软糖。我现在没法给你更多了,因为在这里,魔法只能用一次。不过在我的宫殿里,就是另外一回事了。”“为什么咱们现在不能去你的宫殿呢?”埃德蒙说。当他刚踏上雪橇时,埃德蒙还害怕自己被她载到不知名的地方,再也回不去,可现在他早就把当时的恐惧忘得一干二净。

“我的宫殿可是一个漂亮的地方,”女王说,“我敢肯定你会喜欢的,里面有很多间屋子,都装满了土耳其软糖。还有啊,我自己没有孩子,我想要一个优秀的男孩,把他培养成王子,等我去世后,他就是纳尼亚的国王。当他是王子的时候,他可以戴着金色的王冠,天天吃土耳其软糖,而你差不多是我见过的最聪明、最英俊的年轻小伙子,我觉得我可以把你培养成王子——有朝一日,你带其他人来见我的时候吧。”

“为什么现在不可以呢?”埃德蒙问,他的脸变得通红,嘴巴和手指都是黏黏的。尽管女王刚刚说了一堆赞扬他的话,但他看起来可既不英俊,也不聪明。

“噢!我要是现在带你去,”她说,“那我就看不见你的兄弟姐妹了。我很想见见你那些可爱的兄弟姐妹。你会当上王子,然后——以后会成为国王,这个你知道了,但你也必须有朝臣和王公贵族。我会封你哥哥为公爵,将你的姐妹封为女公爵。”

“他们没什么特别之处,”埃德蒙说,“而且,我可以找个时间把他们带过来。”

“啊,但是一旦你去了我的宫殿,”女王说,“你可能就会把他们都忘记,尽情享乐,也就不会再想去找他们了。你必须现在回你的国家,改天再来找我,和他们一起,明白吗?要是你一个人来,那是不行的。”

“但是我都忘记回去的路了。”埃德蒙哀求道。

“这很简单,”女王回答,“你看见那盏灯了吗?”她用魔杖一指。埃德蒙转过头,看见了一盏灯,就是在那盏灯下,露西遇见了半人羊。“顺着那方向一直往前走,就会回到人类的世界。现在往这边看——”她接着指向相反的方向——“告诉我,你能不能看见那边树林之上有两座小山。”

“我觉得我看见了。”埃德蒙说。

“很好,我的宫殿就坐落在那两座小山之间,所以,等你下次来,只要找到这盏灯,然后你就可以看见这两座小山。穿过树林,你就能走到我的宫殿。但要记住——你必须把其他三个带过来,如果你单独来,我一定会十分生气。”

“我会尽自己最大努力的。”埃德蒙说。

“对了,”女王继续说,“你不需要告诉他们我的事情。就把这当成你我之间的秘密,这样会更有意思,你说是不是?给他们一个惊喜。你只需要把他们带到那两座小山之间——你这么聪明的小伙子肯定能想到一个好借口,把他们带过去——等你到达我的宫殿,你可以说‘咱们去看看里面有没有人’或者其他类似的话,不过这样说最好了。如果你的妹妹见过这里的半人羊,她可能听说过一些关于我的奇怪故事——一些胡说八道的事情,她可能会害怕来见我,你知道的,半人羊什么话都能说出口,那现在——”

“求你了,求你了。”埃德蒙突然插嘴,“请给我一块土耳其软糖,让我在回家的路上吃,好吗?”

“不行,不行,”女王笑着说,“你必须等到下一次才能吃。”她一边说,一边示意小矮人开路,在雪橇消失之前,女王向埃德蒙挥手,大声说:“下次见!下次见!别忘记了!早点儿来!”

埃德蒙一直站在那里,傻傻望着雪橇消失的方向,直到听到有人叫他的名字。他回过身来,看见露西从树林的另一端向他跑来。“哇!埃德蒙!”她大声说,“原来你也进来了!这里很好玩,对不对?那现在——”

“好啦,”埃德蒙说,“我知道你是正确的,那确实是个魔法衣柜。如果你愿意,我会向你道歉。不过,这么长时间,你都上哪里去了啊?我一直在到处找你。”

“如果我知道你也进来了,我就会等你了。”露西说,她太开心,太激动了,以至于都没有注意到埃德蒙的语气很焦躁,也没有注意到他的脸又红又奇怪。“我一直在和亲爱的塔姆纳斯先生吃午餐,就是那个半人羊,他一切都挺好,他把我放走之后,白女巫并没有对他怎么样,所以他想白女巫并没有发现这件事,之后也没什么好担心的了。”

“白女巫?”埃德蒙问,“她是谁啊?”

“她实在太坏了,”露西说,“她自称为纳尼亚的女王,但她根本没有那个资格,所有的半人羊、树精灵、水仙女、小矮人和动物——至少他们当中那些好的——都恨她。她可以把人变成石头,还会做许许多多可怕的事情。就是她施了魔咒,纳尼亚才永远都是冬天——一直是冬天,还从来没有圣诞节。她出门就坐在由驯鹿拉着的雪橇上,头上戴着王冠,手里拿着魔杖。”

埃德蒙吃了那么多甜的土耳其软糖,本来就不太舒服了,听到露西把自己刚结交的女王说成一个危险的巫婆,他觉得更加难受,但是他现在最想的还是再次吃上那美味的土耳其软糖。

“谁告诉你白女巫的这些事情的?”他问露西。

“塔姆纳斯先生,就是半人羊。”露西回答。

“你不能总是相信半人羊的话。”埃德蒙说,想要表现出自己好像比露西了解得更多。

“是谁这么说的?”露西问。

“大家都知道啊,”埃德蒙说,“不信你随便去问谁。不过,这么站在雪地里多傻啊,我们回家吧。”

“好啊,走吧,”露西说,“噢!埃德蒙,我好高兴你也进来啦。现在我们两个都进来过了,其他人该相信纳尼亚的存在了,这实在是太好了!”

不过,埃德蒙心里暗想,这对露西来说是好事,而对自己来说可没啥好处。他这下不得不在其他人面前承认露西是对的,他很确信一点,其他人都会站在半人羊和动物那一边,但是他自己差不多算是站在女巫那一边了。他不知道自己该说什么,也不知道日后大家谈论纳尼亚的时候,自己该如何保守住他和女王之间的秘密。

这时候,两人已经走了很长一段路了,突然,他们感到自己被衣服包围着,而不再是树枝,很快两人就站在放衣柜的那间空屋子里了。

“我觉得,”露西说,“埃德蒙,你脸色看起来很糟糕,你没事吧?”

“我没事。”埃德蒙说,但这并不是实话,他觉得很难受。

“那好吧,”露西说,“我们去找其他人吧,有那么多事情要给他们讲!到时候,我们一起去里面探险,肯定会特别有趣!”

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