Chapter7 A Day with the Beavers与河狸夫妇度过的一天-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《纳尼亚传奇 狮子,女巫和魔衣橱The Chronicles of Narnia》

Chapter Seven A Day with the Beavers While the two boys were whispering behind,both the girls suddenly cried"Oh!" and stopped. "The robin!"cried Lucy,"the robin.It's flown away."And so it had-right out of sight. "And now what are we to do?"said Edmund,giving Peter a look which was as much as to say "What did I tell you?" “Sh!Look!”said Susan.. "What?"said Peter. "There's something moving among the trees over there to the left." They all stared as hard as they could,and no one felt very comfortable. “There it goes again,.”said Susan presently. "I saw it that time too,"said Peter."It's still there.It's just gone behind that big tree.” "What is it?"asked Lucy,trying very hard not to sound nervous. “Whatever it is,,”said Peter,,“it's dodging③us.lt's something that doesn't want to be seen." "Let's go home,"said Susan.And then,though nobody said it out loud, everyone suddenly realized the same fact that Edmund had whispered to Peter at the end of the last chapter.They were lost. ·074· 第七章与河狸夫妇度过的一天 两个男孩正在后面窃窃私语，走在前面的两个女孩 突然停住脚步，发出“啊”的一声惊叫。 “知更鸟！”露茜喊道，“知更鸟，它飞走了！”知 更鸟确实飞走了一已经不见了踪影。 “现在怎么办？”埃德蒙问。他给彼得使了个眼色， 意思在说，“我跟你说什么来着？” “嘘！快看！”苏珊说。 “什么？”彼得问。 “左边树林里，有什么东西在动。” 大家都紧盯着左边看，显得很紧张。 过了一会儿，苏珊又说：“它又动了。” Dpresently ['prezantli]ad. “刚才我也看到了，”彼得说，“它还在那儿，就躲 不久 在那棵大树后面。” “会是什么呢？”露茜问，竭力使话音听起来不那 ②nervous[na:vas]a.紧张 么紧张。 的 ③dodge[dbd3]躲避 “管它是什么，”彼得说，“它躲着我们，可能就是 不想让我们看到。” “咱们还是回家吧。”苏珊说。但是此刻，尽管没 人提，但大家都突然意识到同一个事实，就是上一章结 尾埃德蒙对彼得嘀咕的事实一他们迷路了。 ·075· Chapter Seven月①ay with the Beavers “What's it like?”said Lucy.. "It's-it's a kind of animal,"said Susan;and then,"Look!Look!Quick!There itis” They all saw it this time,a whiskered furry face which had looked out at them from behind a tree.But this time it didn't immediately draw back.Instead, the animal put its paw against its mouth just as humans put their finger on their lips when they are signalling to you to be quiet.Then it disappeared again.The children,all stood holding their breath. A moment later the stranger came out from behind the tree,glanced all round as if it were afraid someone was watching,said"Hush",made signs to them to join it in the thicker bit of wood where it was standing,and then once more disappeared. 'I know what it is,.”said Peter;“it's a beaver.I saw the tail..” "It wants us to go to it,"said Susan,"and it is warning us not to make a noise." "I know,"said Peter."The question is,are we to go to it or not?What do you think,Lu?” "I think it's a nice beaver,"said Lucy. "Yes,but how do we know?"said Edmund. "Shan't we have to risk it?"said Susan."I mean,it's no good just standing here and I feel I want some dinner." At this moment the Beaver again popped its head out5 from behind the tree and beckoned earnestly7 to them. "Come on,"said Peter,"let's give it a try.All keep close together.We ought to be a match for one beaver if it turns out to be an enemy." So the children all got close together and walked up to the tree and in behind it, and there,sure enough,they found the Beaver;but it still drew back,saying to them in a hoarse throaty whisper,"Further in,come further in.Right in here.We're not safe in the open!”" Only when it had led them into a dark spot where four trees grew so close together that their boughs met and the brown earth and pine needles could be seen underfoot because no snow had been able to fall there,did it begin to ·076· 第七章与河狸夫妇度过的一天 “它长什么样子？”露茜问。 “它一像是某种动物。”苏珊说，然后又叫道， “快看！快看！就在那里。” ①whiskered[wiskod]a. 这回大家都看清楚了，一张长着胡须、毛茸茸的脸 留胡须的，有连鬓胡子 正从树后探出来，向这边张望。但是，这次它没有迅速 的 ②furry[fa:ri]a.毛皮的， 躲起来，而是将前爪轻轻立在嘴边，就像是人把手指放 毛皮制的 在唇边示意保持安静一样，然后又消失了。孩子们都站 ③paw[px]h.爪子 在这里，屏住了呼吸。 很快，那个陌生的动物从树后又钻出，向四周扫视 了一遍，似乎很担心被别人发现，接着发出“嘘”的一 声，用手势示意孩子们到它所在的林子深处来。之后， 又消失得无影无踪。 ④beaver[brva]n.河狸 “我知道它是什么了，”彼得说，“是河狸，我瞅见 它的尾巴了。” “它叫我们过去呢，”苏珊说，“还让我们不要出声。” “我知道，”彼得说，“可是，我们要不要跟着它呢？ 露露，你怎么想？” “我想它是只善良的河狸。”露茜说。 “是吗？那我们又怎么知道呢？”埃德蒙问。 “我们难道就不能冒一次险吗？”苏珊说，“我是说， ⑤pop out突然出现 站在这里也好不到哪里去，我感到有点饿了。” ⑥beckon[bekan]片召唤 ⑦earnestly[nistli的ad.认 这时，河狸又从树后探出脑袋，急切地向他们示意 真地，诚挚地 快过去。 “走吧！”彼得说，“我们就试一试，大家可别散开。 如果它是敌人，我们应该能对付得了一只河狸的。” ⑧match [maet们n.(旗鼓 于是，孩子们就一起走近那棵树，到了跟前，发 相当的)对手，敌手 现河狸就躲在树后。但是它继续向后挪动，用沙哑的 嗓子轻声地说：“再来，再来，到这里来，在外面不安 ⑨hoarse[hxsa.(嗓音) 全！” 嘶哑的 ⑩bough[baun.树枝（尤 就这样，河狸一直把孩子们领到一处隐蔽的地点， 指主枝) 那里有四棵树紧紧地长在一起，枝叶在空中交错，底下 ⑩pine needle松叶，松针 是黄褐色的泥土与松针，没有一丁点雪。这时，河狸才 ·077· Chapter Seven A Day with the Beavers talk to them. "Are you the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve?"it said. “We're some of them,”said Peter. “S-s-s-sh!”said the Beaver,“not so loud please.We're not safe even here..” "Why,who are you afraid of?"said Peter."There's no one here but ourselves." "There are the trees,"said the Beaver."They're always listening.Most of them are on our side,but there are trees that would betray us to her;you know who I mean,"and it nodded its head several times. "If it comes to talking about sides,"said Edmund,"how do we know you're a friend?" "Not meaning to be rude,Mr Beaver,"added Peter,"but you see,we're strangers.” "Quite right,quite right,"said the Beaver."Here is my token."With these words it held up to them a little white object.They all looked at it in surprise,till suddenly Lucy said,"Oh,of course.It's my handkerchief-the one I gave to poor Mr Tumnus.” "That's right,"said the Beaver."Poor fellow,he got wind of the arrest before it actually happened and handed this over to me.He said that if anything happened to him I must meet you here and take you on to-"Here the Beaver's voice sank into silence and it gave one or two very mysterious nods.Then signalling to the children to stand as close around it as they possibly could,so that their faces were actually tickled by its whiskers,it added in a low whisper- "They say Aslan is on the move-perhaps has already landed." And now a very curious thing happened.None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do;but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different.Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don't understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning-either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words,which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and ·078· 第七章 与河浬夫妇度刘的一天 正式开始对他们说话。 “你们都是亚当夏娃的儿女吗？”河狸问。 “我们是其中的四个。”彼得说。 “嘘一嘘一嘘！”河狸说，“可不能大声说话， 这里也不太安全。” “为什么呀，你害怕谁呀？”彼得问，“除了我们 四个这里再没有别人。” “这里有树，”河狸说，“它们也能听懂话。尽管绝 大多数树站在我们一边，但也不排除有一些树甘愿充当 她的奸细，出卖我们。你们知道我说的谁吧。”说着， 他接连点了好几下头。 “讲到立场问题，”埃德蒙说，“我们怎么知道你是 朋友呢？” ①token[taukon]t.记号， “请多多包涵，河狸先生，”彼得附和道，“可您瞧， 信物 我们还不认识呢。” “说得对，说得对，”河狸说，“我有信物。”说完， 他拿出一个白色的小东西给他们看。大家都诧异地看着 这个东西。突然，露茜说：“哦，我当然认识它，这是 我的手绢呀一我把它送给了可怜的达姆纳斯先生。” “这就对了。”河狸说，“我那可怜的朋友，在得知 ②sank into(sink into的过 去式】陷入 就要被抓走的消息后，就把手绢托我保存。他还说万一 他遭遇不测，一定要我在这里等你，把你带到一”这 时，河狸停止说话，神秘地点了几下头，然后用手示意 ③tickle[tik,轻触使觉 得痒 孩子们尽量围过来。他们围得很近，脸都被河狸的长胡 须扎得发痒，河狸这才低声说一 “他们说阿斯兰已经动身了一可能己经来到了。” 奇怪的事情发生了。和你一样，孩子们压根就不 知道阿斯兰是谁，但当河狸此刻说出这句话时，每个 人都有一种异样的感觉。或许，你在梦中曾经体验过 ④enormous[i'nx:mas]a. 这种情景，听到有人说了什么，尽管理解不了，可是 极大的，巨大的 由于身处梦境，所以听起来似乎意思玄妙万千一或 者是内容阴森恐怖，使你噩梦不断：或者意思美妙绝 ·079· Chapter Seven A Day with the Beavers are always wishing you could get into that dream again.It was like that now.At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside.Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror.Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her.And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. "And what about Mr Tumnus,"said Lucy;"where is he?" "S-s-s-sh,"said the Beaver,"not here.I must bring you where we can have a real talk and also dinner." No one except Edmund felt any difficulty about trusting the beaver now,and everyone,including Edmund,was very glad to hear the word"dinner". They therefore all hurried along behind their new friend who led them at a surprisingly quick pace,and always in the thickest parts of the forest,for over an hour.Everyone was feeling very tired and very hungry when suddenly the trees began to get thinner in front of them and the ground to fall steeply downhill.A minute later they came out under the open sky(the sun was still shining)and found themselves looking down on a fine sight. They were standing on the edge of a steep,narrow valley at the bottom of which ran-at least it would have been running if it hadn't been frozen-a fairly large river.Just below them a dam had been built across this river,and when they saw it everyone suddenly remembered that of course beavers are always making dams and felt quite sure that Mr Beaver had made this one.They also noticed that he now had a sort of modest expression on his face-the sort of look people have when you are visiting a garden they've made or reading a story they've written.So it was only common politeness when Susan said,"What a lovely dam!"And Mr Beaver didn't say "Hush"this time but"Merely a trifle!Merely a trifle!And it isn't really finished!" Above the dam there was what ought to have been a deep pool but was now,of course,a level floor of dark green ice.And below the dam,much lower ·080· 第七章与河浬夫妇度过的一天 伦，难以言表，对此你一辈子都念念不忘，总希望能 再次进入那场梦。现在的情形就是这样：一听到阿斯兰 D sensation [sen'seifan]n. 的名字，每个孩子在内心都有不同的反应。埃德蒙感 感觉，知觉 到一种莫名的恐惧：而彼得却变得勇气十足，充满了冒 ②strain[strein]n.音乐片 段，旋律 险的精神：对苏珊来说，就如同身体沐浴在一种诱人的 ③1oat[n3utg浮现（于 香味，或柔和的音乐中：可给露茜的感觉就像是清晨 眼前、心中等) 起床后，突然意识到今天是假日的开始，或者夏季的 开始。 “那达姆纳斯先生呢？”露茜问，“他在哪儿？” “嘘—”河狸说，“他不在这里，我必须带你到 一处可以放心说话，还能吃晚餐的地方去。” 除了埃德蒙之外，大家都相信了河狸的话：同时大 家（也包括埃德蒙）非常高兴听到“晚餐”这个词。 于是，大家紧跟着他们的新朋友继续匆匆前行，而 这位朋友领着他们走得异常快，总是行走在林木最密集 的地方。又走了大约一个多小时，大家都觉得又累又饿。 这时，突然树木变得稀疏起来，前面出现一个陡坡，直 通山下。很快，他们走出林子，来到阳光灿烂的露天下， 眼前呈现出一片山下的美景。 他们正站在悬崖边上。山下狭窄的峡谷里流淌 着一如果不是冰封着的话 条大河。就在他们正 ④frozen ['frauzn]a.结冰 的，冰冻的 下方有个堤坝横跨过河面。一看见堤坝，大家顿时想到 ⑤dam[demh是，坝 修建堤坝是河狸最擅长的工作，而这个堤坝一定是河狸 先生所为。他们也注意到此时河狸脸上露出一种谦虚的 表情，通常当你参观一座花园，或者阅读一本书时，在 花园主人或书作者的脸上总能看到这种表情。于是，出 于礼貌苏珊称赞说：“多漂亮的堤坝呀！”这次，河狸先 生没有说“嘘”，而是说：“小事一桩！小事一桩！还没 ⑥trifle[trai).琐事，小 有完工呢！” 事，微不足道的事物 堤坝上面本该是一个深水湖，但是现在只能看到 一大片暗绿色的冰面。堤坝下面，冰面要低很多，但 ·081· Chapter Seven A Day with the Beavers down,was more ice,but instead of being smooth this was all frozen into the foamy and wavy shapes in which the water had been rushing along at the very moment when the frost came.And where the water had been trickling over and spurting through the dam there was now a glittering wall of icicles,as if the side of the dam had been covered all over with flowers and wreaths and festoons of the purest sugar.And out in the middle,and partly on top of the dam was a funny little house shaped rather like an enormous beehive and from a hole in the roof smoke was going up,so that when you saw it (especially if you were hungry)you at once thought of cooking and became hungrier than you were before That was what the others chiefly noticed,but Edmund noticed something else.A little lower down the river there was another small river which came down another small valley to join it.And looking up that valley,Edmund could see two small hills,and he was almost sure they were the two hills which the White Witch had pointed out to him when he parted from her at the lamp-post that other day. And then between them,he thought,must be her palace,only a mile off or less. And he thought about Turkish Delight and about being a King("And I wonder how Peter will like that?"he asked himself)and horrible ideas came into his head. "Here we are,"said Mr Beaver,"and it looks as if Mrs Beaver is expecting us. I'll lead the way.But be careful and don't slip." The top of the dam was wide enough to walk on,though not (for humans)a very nice place to walk because it was covered with ice,and though the frozen pool was level with it on one side,there was a nasty drop to the lower river on the other.Along this route Mr Beaver led them in single file right out to the middle where they could look a long way up the river and a long way down it.And when they had reached the middle they were at the door of the house. "Here we are,Mrs Beaver,"said Mr Beaver,"I've found them.Here are the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve"-and they all went in. The first thing Lucy noticed as she went in was a burring sound,and the first thing she saw was a kindlooking old she-beaver sitting in the corner with a thread ·082· 第七章与河浬失妇度过的一天 这些冰并不平滑，而是呈现出波浪翻滚的姿态。显然， ①way[weivi]a.波状的 奔涌的水流一瞬间被突如其来的严寒凝固于此。而从 ②frost[frost]n.霜，白霜 堤坝的缝隙渗出的细流与从顶部流泻而下的瀑布现在 ③spurt[spaU喷出 ④icicle['aisikl]n.(由滴水 也凝固成一面闪闪发亮的冰墙，上面好像装饰了晶莹 冻结而成的)冰柱，冰 剔透的鲜花与花环。在堤坝的中间，差不多到堤坝的 溜，冰锥 顶端，建有一个外形奇特的小屋子，就像一个巨大的 ⑤wreath[ri0i.花环 ⑥festoon[fes'tu:n]n.(两 蜂巢，顶部的一个洞里正冒着袅袅的炊烟。一看到炊 端挂着中间下垂的)花 烟—特别是当你感到饥饿时—就会不由自主地想 彩 到美餐，而使你变得更加饥肠辘辘。 这些都是其他人所看到的情景，但埃德蒙却注意到 别的景象。在大河的下游不远处，有一条小河从另外一 个小峡谷流出来，汇入了大河。再朝小峡谷上面看，埃 德蒙发现了两座小山，他几乎马上可以确定，那就是那 天在路灯柱分手时，白巫指给他看的那两座小山。他断 定白巫的宫殿就在那两座小山之间，离这里大约只有一 英里左右的路程。他又想起土耳其软糖和国王的宝座 (他暗想：“真想知道彼得会不会喜欢？”)，头脑里又闪 现出一些可怕的念头 “我们走吧，”河狸说，“看样子河狸太太正在等我 们，我来带路，当心，不要滑倒。” 堤坝的顶部很宽敞，上面可以走路，尽管（对人 类来说)不是一个特别适合行走的地方一上面覆盖 着厚厚的冰，堤坝内侧是与坝一样平的冰面，而另一侧 ⑦be level with和.一 是落差很大的河面。沿着这条路，河狸先生领着他们排 样高 成一列向中间走去，可以看见河的上游很远，河的下游 ⑧file[fain.纵列 也很长。最后，他们走到堤坝中间，屋子的门前。 “我们到了，河狸太太，”河狸先生说，“我找到他 们了，亚当与夏娃的儿女来啰！”他们都进了屋。 进屋子，露茜就听到一阵刺耳的声音，看见一位 慈祥的河狸老太太坐在屋子一角，嘴里咬着线在缝纫机 ⑨thread[0redn线 ·083·