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双语·银椅 第十二章 地下世界的女王

所属教程:译林版·银椅

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2022年05月16日

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CHAPTER TWELVE: 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 Marshwiggle, 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, hurray! 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 swordarm 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.

第十二章 地下世界的女王

两个地下人走了上来,但他们没有往房间里面走,而是一边一个地站在门两边,然后深深鞠躬。紧接着,出现了这个时候所有人都没有想到也绝对不想见的人:绿裙女士,地下世界的女王。她站在门口,一动不动,他们能够看到她眼珠转动着打量整个屋内的情势——三个陌生人,银椅毁了,王子自由了,手中拿着剑。

她的脸变得刷白,吉尔觉得这并不是那种人们在害怕时会出现的白,而是在生气时会出现的白。女巫的视线牢牢地锁在王子身上好一会儿,眼神中透着杀气。然后,她似乎改变了主意。

“退下。”她对那两个地下人说,“除非我传唤,不要让任何人打扰我们,违令者死。”地精们顺从地离开了,巫女王把门关上,又上了锁。

“怎么了,我尊贵的王子?”她说,“你每晚的发作还没开始吗?还是提前结束了?你为什么站在这里,没有被绑住?这些外人是谁?是他们摧毁了银椅吗?那可是你唯一的安全之所。”

她说话的时候,瑞利安王子打了个哆嗦。这丝毫不奇怪,要想在半小时内摆脱一个奴役了你十年的魔法,那可不容易。然后,他费了很大力气,说:“女士,我不再需要那把椅子了。而你,曾经跟我说过一百次,你是因为我中了巫术而深切地同情我,你听到这魔法已经永远结束了,一定会很开心吧。似乎你对付巫术的方法有点儿小小的错误。而这些人,我真正的朋友们拯救了我。现在,我意识清醒,有两件事情我要对你说。首先——你计划让我担任地下人大军的头领,冲出地面,冲入地上世界,然后依靠武力,让我成为一个从来都没有对我做过丝毫错事的国家的国王,杀死他们本来的大臣,掌握他们的王座,成为一个血腥的异族暴君——而现在,我又知道了自己是谁,我坚决拒绝,并认为这一举动是一种赤裸裸的恶行。第二,我是纳尼亚国王的儿子瑞利安,是凯斯宾十世,航海家凯斯宾唯一的子嗣。因此,女士,我计划——并且也有责任——离开你的王庭,回到我自己的国家。请你授予我和我的朋友们一个安全通行证和一个向导,穿越你的黑暗王国。”

女巫一言未发,只是脚步轻盈地走向房间另一头,她的眼睛和脸始终牢牢地朝向王子。她走到壁炉附近,那里的墙上嵌着一个小柜子,她打开柜子,从中抓出一把绿色的粉末。她将粉末丢到了火上。粉末并没有熊熊燃烧起来,而是散发出了一种令人昏昏欲睡的甜美气息。在接下来的交谈中,这种气息越来越浓,充斥了整个房间,令人难以思考。然后,她又拿出一个很像是曼陀林(1)的乐器,开始用手指弹奏——那是一种沉稳而单调的弹拨声,开头你并不在意,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。这同样会让人难以思考。弹了一会儿之后(这时甜美的气息已经变浓了),她用一种甜美而平静的声音开口说话了。

“纳尼亚?”她说,“纳尼亚?我经常听殿下在发狂时叫出这个名字。亲爱的王子,你病得很严重。没有一个地方叫纳尼亚。”

“有的,是有的,女士,”普登格伦姆说,“你看,我碰巧一生都生活在那里。”

“的确。”女巫说,“那么,我请你告诉我,那个国家在哪里?”

“在上面。”普登格伦姆断然说,他指了指头顶,“我——我不知道具体在哪里。”

“怎么回事?”女王发出了一阵温柔、和缓、如同音乐般的笑声,“在上面的石头和屋顶的泥灰当中有一个国家吗?”

“不是。”普登格伦姆有些勉强地控制着自己的呼吸,“是在地上世界。”

“那是什么,是哪里,这个……你怎么称呼来着……这个地上世界?”

“哎,别装傻了。”斯克罗布努力抗拒着甜味和琴声的魔法,“说得好像你不知道一样!就在上面,在你能看到天空、太阳和星辰的地方。啊,你自己也上去过。我们在那里见过你。”

“请原谅,小弟弟,”女巫笑了(你绝对没听过比那更美好的笑声),“我不记得那次碰面。但我们做梦的时候,总是会在奇怪的地方遇上我们的朋友。除非所有人的梦都一样,否则你不可能叫别人记得那个梦。”

“女士,”王子坚决地说,“我已经告诉你了,我是纳尼亚国王的儿子。”

“会是的,亲爱的朋友,”女巫用一种舒缓的声音说,仿佛是在哄孩子一般,“你会在幻想中成为很多想象中的国度的国王。”

“我们也去过那里。”吉尔厉声说。她非常恼怒,因为她能够感觉到魔法对她的控制愈益增强。不过,她还能感觉到魔法,表明魔法还没有完全见效。

“而你就是纳尼亚的女王了,我毫不怀疑,小可爱。”女巫用同样诱哄又透着嘲弄的语调说。

“完全不是那样的。”吉尔跺了跺脚,“我们来自另外的世界。”

“啊,这个游戏比刚才那个更好玩。”女巫说,“告诉我,小美女,另外的世界在哪里?有什么船只或马车往返于它和我们的世界吗?”

一时之间,吉尔的头脑中涌现出了很多很多东西:实验学校,阿黛拉·彭尼法瑟,她自己的家,收音机,电影院,汽车,飞机,配给供应车,排队。但这一切又都非常模糊非常遥远。(嗡——嗡——嗡,女巫的琴弦发出声响。)吉尔想不起来我们世界中这些东西的名字了。而这一次,她也没有意识到,她是中了魔法,因为现在魔法已经发挥了全部效力。当然,你中的魔法越深,你越会深信自己根本没有中魔法。

她发现自己不知不觉地开始说(当时,这么说倒是让她感觉松了一口气):“不。我认为另外的世界肯定完全就是一场梦。”

“是的。那完全就是一场梦。”女巫说,她始终都在嗡嗡地弹琴。

“是的,完全是一场梦。”吉尔说。

“从来都没有这样的一个世界。”女巫说。

“是的,”吉尔和斯克罗布说,“从来都没有这样的一个世界。”

“除了我的世界,没有其他世界。”女巫说。

“除了你的世界,没有其他世界。”他们说。

普登格伦姆还在奋力地抵抗魔法。“我真的不知道你们所有人都说的一个世界是什么意思。”他说话的样子很像是透不过气来一般,“但你尽管可以一直弹琴,弹到你手指断掉,也还是不能让我忘记纳尼亚,还有整个的地上世界。我们再也不会见到那个世界了,我一点儿都不觉得奇怪。据我所知,你可能会将它吞并,将它变得像这里一样黑暗。这确定无疑。但我知道我曾经生活在那里。我见过满天星斗的天空。我见过太阳在清晨从海上升起,在傍晚落入群山之后。我见过太阳高高挂在中天,阳光明亮得令我无法直视。”

普登格伦姆的话有一种让人清醒的强大效果。其他三个人都开始呼吸,就像刚从睡梦中醒来一样面面相觑。

“啊,是啊!”王子叫道,“当然啦!阿斯兰在庇佑这个诚实的沼泽怪。刚才的几分钟我们全都被催眠了。我们怎么会忘了呢?我们当然全都见过太阳。”

“天啊,是啊!”斯克罗布说,“你太厉害了,普登格伦姆!我相信,你是我们当中唯一一个有理智的。”

这时,女巫的声音又响了起来,轻柔柔,软绵绵,同寂静的夏日下午三点钟,野鸽子从老花园里高高的榆树上发出的叫声一样轻柔。那声音说:“你们说的那个太阳是什么东西?你们这个词有什么意义吗?”

“是的,完全是有的。”斯克罗布说。

“你能告诉我太阳是什么样的吗?”女巫问。(嗡,嗡,嗡,琴弦发出声响。)

“遵命陛下,”王子非常冷静、非常有礼貌,“你看那盏灯。它高高地挂在屋顶上,圆圆的,黄黄的,射出的光芒照亮了整个房间。我们称作太阳的东西,就如同那盏灯,只是要大得多、明亮得多。它高高地挂在天空之上,发出的光能照亮整个地上世界。”

“挂在什么上,殿下?”女巫问,他们都还在想着该如何回答她,她就已经发出了一阵轻柔的银铃般的笑声,接着又说道,“你们明白了没?你们努力地想弄明白这个太阳到底是什么,但又没有办法向我描述。你们只能告诉我说它像一盏灯。你们的太阳就是一个梦,梦里的东西没有一样不是模仿灯的。灯是真实存在的,但太阳只是个传说,是个儿童故事。”

“是的,我明白了。”吉尔用一种沉重的、绝望的声音说,“肯定是这样的。”她这么说的时候,自己觉得这话还是很有道理的。

女巫用缓缓的声音郑重重复道:“没有太阳。”他们什么也没有说。女巫的声音变得更加柔和,更加低沉:“没有太阳。”沉默了片刻,此时他们的脑子里一阵纠结,然后四个人齐声说:“你是对的。没有太阳。”他们说出这句话,就此投降,都觉得如释重负。

“从来都没有太阳。”女巫说。

“没有。从来都没有太阳。”王子、沼泽怪和两个孩子说。

在过去的几分钟里,吉尔一直有种感觉,有些东西,无论付出什么代价,她都必须回想起来。而现在她想起来了。只是要说出来,却感觉困难重重。她觉得她的双唇上仿佛压着特别沉重的东西。最后,她似乎是用尽了身体内所有的力量,说:“有阿斯兰。”

“阿斯兰?”女巫说,她弹琴的速度微微地加快了一点儿,“多好听的名字啊!是什么意思?”

“他是伟大的狮子,将我们从我们自己的世界召唤过来,”斯克罗布说,“然后派我们来这里寻找瑞利安王子。”

“狮子是什么?”女巫问。

“啊,该死的!”斯克罗布说,“你不知道吗?我们该怎么向她描述呢?你见过猫吗?”

“当然,”女王说,“我喜欢猫。”

“呃,狮子就是稍微——只是稍微,请注意——像是一只巨猫——还长着鬃毛。不过,完全不像马的鬃毛,你知道吗?它的鬃毛是黄色的,更像法官的假发。而且狮子极其强壮。”

女巫摇了摇头。“我明白了,”她说,“我们对待你们所谓的狮子的态度,应该和对待你们所谓的太阳一样。你们见过灯,于是就想象出了一盏更大更好的灯,将其称作太阳。你们见过猫,于是就想出了更大更好的猫,称其为狮子。好吧,这就是一场家家酒,不过,说实话,如果你们年纪再小些这样说会更合适的。看看你们,你们置入游戏中的东西,无一不是模仿真实的世界,模仿我的世界,而这是唯一存在的世界。不过,即便是这两个孩子,要玩这种游戏,年纪也太大了。而至于你,我的王子殿下,你是成年人了,真丢脸啊!玩这样的东西你不觉得惭愧吗?好啦,你们所有人。丢开这些孩子气的把戏吧。在这个真实的世界中,我有事情需要你们所有人来做。没有纳尼亚,没有地上世界,没有天空,没有太阳,没有阿斯兰。现在,都上床睡觉吧。我们明天开始更加理智的生活。不过,首先,到床上去,去睡觉,睡得沉沉的,枕着软软的枕头,好好睡,不要做愚蠢的梦。”

王子和两个孩子都垂着头站着,脸颊通红,眼睛半闭,他们身体内的力量都被掏空了,魔法几乎完全见效了。而普登格伦姆,拼死积聚起全身最后的力量,走向了炉火。然后他做了一件非常勇敢的事情。他知道火会烧伤他,但不会像烧伤人那么严重,因为他的脚(光着的)就像鸭子的脚一样,有蹼,十分坚硬,里面的血液是冷的。但他也知道这会令他伤得很重,事实的确如此。他赤足踩上了火堆,将浅浅的壁炉底部的大部分火都碾成了灰。这样一来,立刻就发生了三件事情。

首先,那种浓烈的甜甜的气味变弱了很多。尽管火并没有被完全熄灭,但绝大部分都灭了,而还燃烧着的火中混入了很多沼泽怪被烧伤后的气味,已经完全不是有魔力的气味了。这一下每个人的头脑都立刻清醒多了。王子和孩子们又抬起了头,睁开了眼。

其次,女巫发出了一阵骇人的大叫声,和她刚才一直使用的甜美声调截然不同。她吼道:“你在做什么?烂泥,要是你敢再碰我的火,我就把你血管中的血都变成火烧死你!”

最后,因为疼痛,普登格伦姆的头脑彻底清醒了片刻,他完全明白了自己真正的想法。要解除这种类型的魔法,实在没有什么比得上剧烈的疼痛更有效了。

“再说一句,女士。”他说着从炉火边走了回来,由于疼痛而一瘸一拐的,“再说一句。你刚才所说的一切都是对的,我一点儿都不觉得奇怪。但我这个人,总是希望能做好最坏的打算,然后用最乐观的态度去面对。所以,我不会否认你说的任何事情。不过,即便如此,还是有一件事要说。假设我们只是做梦的时候梦到或是编造了那一切——树,草,太阳,月亮,星星,还有阿斯兰。假设我们是做梦。那么我所能说的就是,那样的话,这些编造出来的东西,要比真实的一切重要得多。假设你的这个黑坑一样的王国就是唯一的世界。好吧,我真觉得,这是个相当可怜的世界。你如果仔细想想,这件事很有意思。如果你说的是对的,我们只是玩游戏的孩子。但四个玩游戏的孩子创造出的一个游戏世界,却可以让你这个真实世界显得一无是处。因此,我要支持那个游戏世界。我要支持阿斯兰,哪怕根本没有阿斯兰。我要像纳尼亚人一样生活,哪怕根本没有纳尼亚。好吧,谢谢你盛情招待我们的晚餐,如果这两位先生和这位小姐准备好了,我们就要立刻离开你的王庭,出发到黑暗中,用尽我们的生命,去寻找地上的世界。我们的生命应该不会很长,我觉得,但如果世界就像你说的这么无趣,那也不会是什么大损失。”

“喔喔,万岁!老普登格伦姆太棒了!”斯克罗布和吉尔叫道。

不过王子突然喊道:“小心!快看女巫!”

他们看过去,头发几乎都竖了起来。

她手中的乐器掉在了地上。她的手臂似乎固定在了身体两侧,两条腿纠缠纽结,脚消失不见。她长长的绿裙越来越厚,越来越坚硬,贴上她缠绕在一起的双腿,连成一体,成为一根绿莹莹的柱子。而这根绿莹莹的柱子蜷曲摇摆,仿佛没有关节,又仿佛全身都是关节。她头向后仰,鼻子越来越长,脸上的其他部分都不见了,只剩下一双眼。巨大的火红的双眼,没有眉毛,没有睫毛。把这一切写下来要花很多时间,但实际上发生得非常迅速,他们只看了一眼她就变成了这样。他们还没有来得及做什么,变形就完成了,女巫变成了一条巨大的毒蛇,泛着毒药一般绿幽幽的光,和吉尔的腰一样粗,它已经用它令人恶心的身体在王子腿上缠了两三圈了。它速度快如闪电,又一圈缠了上来,想要将王子握剑的手困在身侧。不过王子于千钧一发之际抓住了时机。他举起手臂,逃脱了束缚:那个有生命的“绳子”只缠在了他的胸口——不过它越收越紧,随时都可能像折断木柴一般挤断他的肋骨。

王子用左手抓住那条蛇的脖子,想要把它掐到窒息。因此,它的脸(如果你能称之为脸的话)距离他的脸只有五英寸远。它分叉的舌头不停地扭动着,从嘴里进进出出,不过就是够不到王子。王子用右手拔出了剑,用他能使出的最大力气挥出。与此同时,斯克罗布和普登格伦姆也都拔出了武器,冲上去帮忙。三个人的剑同时落下:斯克罗布的剑砍到了王子手下面蛇的身体上(连片鳞片都没有砍掉,一点儿作用都没发挥出来),不过王子的剑和普登格伦姆的剑双双落在了蛇的脖子上。即便如此,也没有彻底将它杀死,不过它开始放松了对瑞利安腿部和胸口的束缚。他们不断地砍,一剑又一剑,最终,砍掉了它的头。但这个可怕的东西在死了之后依然继续扭动缠绕,活动了很长一段时间。因而,你能想象,地板变得一片狼藉。

王子缓过气来说:“先生们,谢谢你们。”之后,很长一段时间,三个战士就站在那里,面面相觑,气喘吁吁,一言不发。吉尔非常明智,安安静静地坐在一边。她心中自言自语:“真希望自己不要晕倒,不要哭哭啼啼——也不要做任何蠢事。”

“我母后的大仇得报了。”过了一会儿,瑞利安说,“毫无疑问,这就是很多年前,我在纳尼亚树林的泉水边寻而未获的那个卑鄙的家伙。这些年来,我一直都是杀死我母亲的凶手的奴隶。不过,先生们,我还是很开心,这个邪恶的女巫最后显出了蛇形。不然,要杀死一个女人,我总是难以心安,也感觉有损荣耀。还是照顾一下女士吧。”他指的是吉尔。

“我没事,谢谢。”她说。

“女士,”王子向她鞠躬,“你勇气可嘉,因此,我毫不怀疑,你在你自己的世界中必然出身高贵。不过,好了,朋友们。这儿还有些酒。咱们缓一缓,也祝贺彼此。然后,再研究我们的计划。”

“真是个好主意,先生。”斯克罗布说。

* * *

(1) 一种小型的弦乐器,演奏时一般采用塑料拨片拨动琴弦发声,一般作为独奏乐器出现,流行于意大利南部和欧美、亚洲各国。

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