Chapter10 The Spell Begins to Break魔咒失灵-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 Ten The Spell Begins to Break Now we must go back to Mr and Mrs Beaver and the three other children.As soon as Mr Beaver said,"There's no time to lose,"everyone began bundling themselves into coats,except Mrs Beaver,who started picking up sacks and laying them on the table and said:"Now,Mr Beaver,just reach down that ham.And here's a packet of tea,and there's sugar,and some matches2.And if someone will get two or three loaves out of the crock over there in the corner." "What are you doing,Mrs Beaver?"exclaimed Susan. "Packing a load for each of us,dearie,"said Mrs Beaver very coolly."You didn't think we'd set out on a journey with nothing to eat,did you?" "But we haven't time!"said Susan,buttoning the collar of her coat."She may be here any minute.” “That's what I say,”chimed in Mr Beaver. "Get along with you all,"said his wife."Think it over,Mr Beaver.She can't be here for quarter of an hour at least." "But don't we want as big a start as we can possibly get,"said Peter,"if we're to reach the Stone Table before her?" "You've got to remember that,Mrs Beaver,"said Susan."As soon as she has looked in here and finds we're gone she'll be off at top speed." "That she will,"said Mrs Beaver."But we can't get there before her whatever ·118· 第十章 魔咒失灵 现在我们再回到河狸夫妇的小屋。河狸先生刚说完 “没有时间耽搁了”，大家就开始忙乱地穿外套，只有河 狸太太显得不慌不忙。她拿出几个袋子，放在桌子上， ①reach down(伸手】从 说：“河狸先生，把火腿取下来，装上一包茶叶和一包 高处取下 白糖，再拿些火柴。谁再从墙角的罐子里取几块面包出 ②match[met门n.火柴 3 loaves [lauvz]n.loaf 来？” 的复数)面包 “您要干什么，河狸太太？”苏珊急得大叫。 ④crock[krk]h.瓦罐，瓦 缘 “给大家备些干粮，亲爱的。”河狸太太很冷静地 说，“你不想我们出远门不带一点吃的吧，对不对？” “但是我们没时间了！”苏珊边说，边迅速扣上大 衣领子的扣子，“她马上就到这里了。” “这就是我要说的。”河狸先生附和道。 ⑤chime in插话 “去你的吧，”河狸太太说，“再好好想想，河狸先 生，至少一刻钟内她来不了。” “难道我们不应该尽快出发，赢得先机吗？”彼得 说，“想要比她先到达石桌那边的话。” “您别忘了，河狸太太，”苏珊说，“只要在这里扑 空，她一定会全速追赶我们的。” “她会的，”河狸太太说，“但无论如何我们都不可 ·119· Chapter Ten The Spell Begins to Break. we do,for she'll be on a sledge and we'll be walking." “Then-have we no hope?”said Susan. "Now don't you get fussing,there's a dear,"said Mrs Beaver,"but just get half a dozen clean handkerchiefs out of the drawer.'Course we've got a hope.We can't get there before her but we can keep under cover and go by ways she won't expect and perhaps we'll get through." "That's true enough,Mrs Beaver,"said her husband."But it's time we were out of this." "And don't you start fussing either,Mr Beaver,"said his wife."There.That's better.There's five loads and the smallest for the smallest of us:that's you,my dear,"she added,looking at Lucy. “Oh,do please come on,”said Lucy. "Well,I'm nearly ready now,"answered Mrs Beaver at last,allowing her husband to help her into her snow-boots."I suppose the sewing machine's took heavy to bring?" "Yes.It is,"said Mr Beaver."A great deal too heavy.And you don't think you'll be able to use it while we're on the run,I suppose?" “Ican't abide②the thought of that Witch fiddling with③it,”said Mrs Beaver, "and breaking it or stealing it,as likely as not." "Oh,please,please,please,do hurry!"said the three children.And so at last they all got outside and Mr Beaver locked the door("It'll delay her a bit,"he said)and they set off,all carrying their loads over their shoulders. The snow had stopped and the moon had come out when they began their journey.They went in single file-first Mr Beaver,then Lucy,then Peter,then Susan,and Mrs Beaver last of all.Mr Beaver led them across the dam and on to the right bank of the river and then along a very rough sort of path among the trees right down by the river-bank.The sides of the valley,shining in the moonlight,towered up far above them on either hand."Best keep down here as much as possible,"he said."She'll have to keep to the top,for you couldn't bring a sledge down here." It would have been a pretty enough scene to look at it through a window from a ·120· 第十章魔咒失灵 能早到，她坐雪橇，我们得走路。” “那么一我们还有希望吗？”苏珊担心地问。 ①fuss[fAs]g大惊小怪， “别大惊小怪了，拜托，”河狸太太说，“从抽屉里 小题大做 拿出六块干净的手帕。我们当然还有希望。虽不能比她 先到，但我们可以隐蔽起来，走她想不到的路，或许这 样我们可以逃脱。” “太对了，河狸太太，”河狸先生说，“但是我们该 动身了。” “河狸先生，你也别嚷嚷了，”河狸太太说，“好了 这样好多了。这里有五个包袱，最小的给年龄最小的， 也就是你了，亲爱的。”河狸太太看着露茜说。 “哦，拜托了，请您快点。”露茜说。 “好，我就好了。”最后河狸太太说，让河狸先生 帮她套上雪地靴，“恐怕缝纫机太重了带不上吧？” “没错，”河狸先生说，“实在是太重了，我想在逃 跑时你没有时间用到它，对吧？” “想到白巫乱动我这缝纫机我就难受，”河狸太太 嘟囔道，“它很可能会被弄坏，或者偷走。” “哦，快、快、快！拜托了，快一点！”三个孩子 ②abide[a'baid]v.忍受，容 忍 一起说。终于大家都出了屋子，河狸先生锁上门(“这 ③fiddle with诈取，骗取 兴许能拖住她一会儿。”河狸先生说)，他们便出发了， 各自都背着包袱。 ④delay[di'leiy推迟，使 延迟 这时雪停了，月亮出来了。他们在雪地上走成一列， 河狸先生领头，后面紧跟着露茜、彼得、苏珊，河狸太 太走在最后。河狸先生带着大家先穿过堤坝，来到河的 右岸，然后下河岸钻入一片树林，踏上一段高低不平的 路。峡谷两边的峭壁在明亮的月光照射下，显得高不可 测。“这里要尽量走下面的路，”河狸先生说，“白巫只 ⑤tower up远远高于 会走在上面，下面跑不了雪橇。” 如果坐在舒服的扶手椅上看着窗外，这里的景色 ·121· Chapter Ten The Spell Begins to Break. comfortable armchair;and even as things were,Lucy enjoyed it at first.But as they went on walking and walking-and walking and as the sack she was carrying felt heavier and heavier,she began to wonder how she was going to keep up at all. And she stopped looking at the dazzling brightness of the frozen river with all its waterfalls of ice and at the white masses of the tree-tops and the great glaring moon and the countless stars and could only watch the little short legs of Mr Beaver going pad-pad-pad-pad through the snow in front of her as if they were never going to stop.Then the moon disappeared and the snow began to fall once more.And at last Lucy was so tired that she was almost asleep and walking at the same time when suddenly she found that Mr Beaver had turned away from the river-bank to the right and was leading them steeply uphill into the very thickest bushes.And then as she came fully awake she found that Mr Beaver was just vanishing into a little hole in the bank which had been almost hidden under the bushes until you were quite on top of it.In fact,by the time she realized what was happening,only his short flat tail was showing. Lucy immediately stooped down and crawled in after him.Then she heard noises of scrambling and puffing and panting behind her and in a moment all five of them were inside. "Wherever is this?"said Peter's voice,sounding tired and pale in the darkness. (I hope you know what I mean by a voice sounding pale.) "It's an old hiding-place for beavers in bad times,"said Mr Beaver,"and a great secret.It's not much of a place but we must get a few hours'sleep." "If you hadn't all been in such a plaguey fuss when we were starting,I'd have brought some pillows,"said Mrs Beaver. It wasn't nearly such a nice cave as Mr Tumnus's,Lucy thought-just a hole in the ground but dry and earthy.It was very small so that when they all lay down they were all a bundle of clothes together,and what with that and being warmed up by their long walk they were really rather snug.If only the floor of the cave had been a little smoother!Then Mrs Beaver handed round in the dark a little flask out of which everyone drank something-it made one cough and splutter a little and ·122· 第十章魔咒失灵 确实很美。尽管情况危急，露茜一开始还是很喜欢这 ①sack[sek]n.麻袋，相布 里的景色。但是他们走呀走，不停地走，露茜就感到 袋 背的袋子变得越来越重，开始担心跟不上大伙。她再 ②dazzling ['dazlin]a.炫 也无心欣赏晶莹剔透的冰河与冻结的瀑布、白皑皑的 目的，輝眼的 树冠、皎洁的月亮和深邃的星空，而是眼睛直直地瞅 着河狸先生短短的腿在前面雪地上啪嗒啪嗒地走个不 停。这时月亮消失了，又下起雪来。露茜感到累极了， 走着走着都快要睡着了，突然她发现河狸先生从岸上 转到右边，领着他们上山钻进浓密的灌木丛中。等她 完全清醒过来时，竟发现河狸先生消失在岸边的一个 小洞里，洞口被灌木盖得严严实实，只有走到跟前才 能看见，而当她意识到的时候，只看见河狸先生又短 又扁的尾巴露在外面。 露茜迅速弯腰，紧跟着河狸先生爬进洞。紧接着后 面传来杂乱的脚步与喘息声，很快五个人都进了洞。 “这是哪儿？”彼得问，黑暗中，他的声音听起 ③crawl [kra:l]v:爬行 来很疲惫苍白。（我希望你能明白声音听起来苍白的意 ④puf[pAk气喘，喘息 思。) “这本是河狸在紧急时候藏身的地方，”河狸先生 说，“这儿很隐蔽，大家将就点，我们需要休息几个小 时。” “要不是你们在出发时惊慌失措的话，我还会带一 些枕头来的。”河狸太太说。 这个洞可不能与达姆纳斯先生的洞相比，露茜暗 ⑤plaguey[pleig]a.讨厌 想，这只是在地里面打个洞而已，不过里面很干燥，还 的 有一股清新的泥土味。洞很小，他们躺下后，就像一些 衣服堆在那儿，而且经过了长途跋涉，大家都感到身上 ⑥earthy[ax0ia.泥土的 热乎乎的，因此洞里暖暖的。美中不足的是，洞里的地 面不太平整。河狸太太在黑暗里递给大家一个小瓶子， ⑦snug[sAga.温暖的 ⑧iask[hcsk]n.(旅行者 口袋中可携带的)水瓶 ⑨splutter['splAto](液 体)溅泼 ·123 Chapter Ten The Spell Begins to Break. stung the throat,but it also made you feel deliciously warm after you'd swallowed it and everyone went straight to sleep. It seemed to Lucy only the next minute(though really it was hours and hours later)when she woke up feeling a little cold and dreadfully stiff and thinking how she would like a hot bath.Then she felt a set of long whiskers tickling her cheek and saw the cold daylight coming in through the mouth of the cave.But immediately after that she was very wide awake indeed,and so was everyone else. In fact they were all sitting up with their mouths and eyes wide open listening to a sound which was the very sound they'd all been thinking of (and sometimes imagining they heard)during their walk last night.It was a sound of jingling bells. Mr Beaver was out of the cave like a flash the moment he heard it.Perhaps you think,as Lucy thought for a moment,that this was a very silly thing to do?But it was really a very sensible one.He knew he could scramble to the top of the bank among bushes and brambles without being seen;and he wanted above all things to see which way the Witch's sledge went.The others all sat in the cave waiting and wondering.They waited nearly five minutes.Then they heard something that frightened them very much.They heard voices."Oh,"thought Lucy,"he's been seen.She's caught him!" Great was their surprise when a little later,they heard Mr Beaver's voice calling to them from just outside the cave. "It's all right,"he was shouting."Come out,Mrs Beaver.Come out,Sons and Daughters of Adam.It's all right!It isn't Her!"This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited;I mean,in Narnia-in our world they usually don't talk at all. So Mrs Beaver and the children came bundling out of the cave,all blinking in the daylight,and with earth all over them,and looking very frowsty and unbrushed and uncombed and with the sleep in their eyes. “Come on!”cried Mr Beaver,,who was almost dancing with delight..“Come and see!This is a nasty knock for the Witch!It looks as if her power is already crumbling.” ·124· 第十章魔咒失灵 让大家喝一点一这东西喝起来会叫人忍不住咳嗽，嗓 子也火辣辣的，但喝下后却感到甘甜又温暖，很快大家 都睡着了。 ①stif[stif]a.不灵活的 露茜觉得只打了个打盹（事实上睡了好几个小时） 就醒来了，她觉得有点冷，浑身僵硬，不禁幻想要能 洗个热水澡该多好啊。这时她感到一缕长胡须触到脸 上，便睁开眼，看见冰冷的日光从洞口照了进来。很 快她完全醒了，其他人也醒了。事实上，他们都坐了 起来，眼睛与嘴巴都张得很大，正在竖起耳朵听着一 种声音，就是昨晚赶路时一直都害怕听到的声音 铃铛的丁零声。 ②flash [flaef]n.闪光 一听到铃声，河狸先生就闪出洞口，或许你和露茜 一样，也认为这样做很愚蠢吧？但是，这实际上是明智 的举动。他知道他悄悄地爬上河堤，躲在顶部的灌木荆 ③bramble[braembl].荆 棘 棘丛中不会被发现，而他急切地想知道白巫的雪橇走的 哪条路。这时其他人都坐在洞里焦急地等待着，他们等 了大约五分钟，突然听到外面有动静，这可把他们吓得 不轻。他们听见了说话声。“哦！”露茜想，“他一定被 发现了，白巫抓住他了！” 接着，他们听到河狸先生在洞外叫他们的声音，这 令他们更是吃惊不小。 “好了，”河狸先生喊道，“快都出来吧，河狸太太， 出来吧，亚当夏娃的儿女。没事了！不是她！”话讲 得很糟，不过河狸们激动时都这样说话。我是说，在 纳尼亚一在我们的世界里，河狸们可不会讲话。 听到这话，河狸太太与孩子们急忙从洞里爬出来， 大家在阳光里眨着眼睛，身上满是尘土，衣冠不整，头 ④frowsty[frausti]a.需臭 发蓬乱，睡眼惺忪。 的，恶臭的 ⑤uncombed[An'kaumd]a. “快来看啊！”河狸先生兴奋地说，他几乎要高兴 未梳理过的 得跳起舞来，“快来看啊！这是对白巫有力的回击！白 ⑥crumble[krambl]v.崩 溃，瓦聊，消失 ·125· Chapter Ten The Spell Begins to Break. "What do you mean,Mr Beaver?"panted Peter as they all scrambled up the steep bank of the valley together. "Didn't I tell you,"answered Mr Beaver,"that she'd made it always winter and never Christmas?Didn't I tell you?Well,just come and see!" And then they were all at the top and did see. It was a sledge,and it was reindeer with bells on their harness.But they were far bigger than the Witch's reindeer,and they were not white but brown.And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man,in a bright red robe(bright as hollyberries)with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard,that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest. Everyone knew him because,though you see people of his sort only in Narnia, you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world-the world on this side of the wardrobe door.But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different.Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly.But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn't find it quite like that.He was so big,and so glad,and so real,that they all became quite still.They felt very glad,but also solemn. "I've come at last,"said he."She has kept me out for a long time,but I have got in at last.Aslan is on the move.The Witch's magic is weakening." And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still. "And now,"said Father Christmas,"for your presents.There is a new and better sewing machine for you,Mrs Beaver.I will drop it in your house as I pass." "If you please,sir,"said Mrs Beaver,making a curtsey."It's locked up." Locks and bolts⑤make no difference to me,”said Father Christmas.“And as for you,Mr Beaver,when you get home you will find your dam finished and mended and all the leaks stopped and a new sluicegate fitted." ·126· 第十章魔咒失灵 巫的力量正在消解。” “我不懂您说的，河狸先生。”彼得气喘吁吁地说， 他们刚爬上陡峭的河堤。 “你忘了我说过的，”河狸先生说，“白巫让这里一 直都是冬天，从不过圣诞节，你忘了吗？好，现在瞧瞧 吧！” 大家都站在河堤顶部，真切地看见了。 几匹挂着铃铛的驯鹿正拉着一架雪橇，这些驯鹿比 白巫的驯鹿体格要大得多，它们也不是纯白色的，而是 栗色的。雪橇上坐着一个人，大家一看就认出了他。他 身材高大，身穿红袍（鲜艳得像红圣果似的），戴着衬 着毛皮的兜帽，留着雪白的胡须，看起来就像卷着泡沫 的瀑布流淌在胸前。 每个人都认识他，尽管只有在纳尼亚才能看到真 人，但在我们的世界里大家通过照片及传说对他们很了 解—就在衣橱门那边的世界里。可在纳尼亚亲眼看到 他们时，发现还是有很大的不同。我们世界里圣诞老爹 的图片既滑稽又快乐，但在这里见到的却完全不同，他 ①solemn[s3lama.严肃 那么高大，那么快活，那么真实，孩子们都怔住了。他 的，庄重的 们感到很高兴，但同时也很庄严。 “我终于进来了，”他说，“白巫把我关在外面很长 时间，但是我终于进来了。阿斯兰在行动。白巫的魔法 己经开始失灵了。” ②si[stil]a.静止的，不 露茜感到内心深处在快乐地颤抖，这种感觉只有当 动的 一个人心境平静肃穆时才能体验到。 ③sewing machine缝纫机 “现在，”圣诞老爹说，“该给你们礼物了。河狸太太， ④curtsey ['ka:tsi]n.屈膝 礼 送给你一台更好的新缝纫机，我顺路放在你家里吧。” ⑤bolt[boult]n(门、窗等 “悉听尊便，先生，”河狸太太高兴地说，并行了 的)插销，门闩 屈膝礼，“可家里门锁上了。” ⑥mend[mcnd,修理 “门锁、门门对我来说没用。”圣诞老爹说，“至于 7 sluicegate ['slus geit]n. 你的礼物嘛，河狸先生，你回到家就会发现，你的堤坝 水闸门 己经完工，并修茸一新，所有漏洞都已堵上，还换上了 ·127·