Chapter11 Aslan Is Nearer阿斯兰来了-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 Eleven Aslan Is Nearer Edmund meanwhile had been having a most disappointing time.When the dwarf had gone to get the sledge ready he expected that the Witch would start being nice to him,as she had been at their last meeting.But she said nothing at all.And when at last Edmund plucked up his courage to say,"Please,your Majesty,could I have some Turkish Delight?You-you-said-"she answered,"Silence,fool!"Then she appeared to change her mind and said,as if to herself,"And yet it will not do to have the brat fainting on the way,"and once more clapped her hands.Another dwarf appeared. "Bring the human creature food and drink,"she said. The dwarf went away and presently returned bringing an iron bowl with some water in it and an iron plate with a hunk of dry bread on it.He grinned in a repulsive manner as he set them down on the floor beside Edmund and said: "Turkish Delight for the little Prince.Ha!Ha!Ha!" “Take it away,”said Edmund sulkily.“Idon't want dry bread.”But the Witch suddenly turned on him with such a terrible expression on her face that he apologized and began to nibble at the bread,though,it was so stale he could hardly get it down. "You may be glad enough of it before you taste bread again,"said the Witch. ·132· 第十一章 阿斯兰来了 与此同时，埃德蒙却经历了一个令他极其失望的时 刻。小矮人去准备雪橇了，埃德蒙期望白巫能对他和蔼 一点，就像他们上次见面时那样。但是白巫根本什么都 不说，最后埃德蒙壮着胆子开口说：“请原谅，女王陛 下，我能吃一块土耳其软糖吗？您—您—您答应过 的一”可白巫回答说：“别说话，傻瓜！”说完，她似 ①brat[bret)n.[贬语、轻 乎又改变了主意，接着说，又像是在自言自语，“这小 蔑语或戏谑语]乳臭小 东西在路上饿晕可不好。”于是她又一次拍了拍手，另 儿，小家伙 ②faint[feint]v.昏过去， 一个小矮人出现了。 昏倒 “给这个人类拿些食物和饮料。”她吩附说。 小矮人转身离开，过了一会儿又出现了，手里端着 ③hunk [hank]n.[口语] 大块，大片 一个盛着水的铁碗和放着一块干面包的铁盘子。他把碗 ④grin[grim]k(尤指因高 和盘子放在靠近埃德蒙的地板上，脸上挂着令人厌恶的 兴、愉快、满足等)咧 笑容说： 嘴而笑 5 repulsive [ri'pAlsiv]a. “给小王子的土耳其软糖，哈，哈，哈！” 令人厌恶的：冷淡的 “把这些都拿走，”埃德蒙闷闷不乐地说，“我不稀 ⑥nibble[nibl]v.一点- 罕干面包。”可当他瞅见白巫脸上那突然出现的狰狞表 点地咬 ⑦stale[stei可a.(面包等】 情时，他又道了款，开始不情愿地咬起干面包，但这面 变硬的 包放得太陈了，他几乎咽不下去。 “你应该感到庆幸，这会儿还能吃上面包，等一会 ·133· Chapter Eleven Aslan Is Nearer While he was still chewing away the first dwarf came back and announced that the sledge was ready.The White Witch rose and went out,ordering Edmund to go with her.The snow was again falling as they came into the courtyard,but she took no notice of that and made Edmund sit beside her on the sledge.But before they drove off she called Maugrim and he came bounding like an enormous dog to the side of the sledge. "Take with you the swiftest of your wolves and go at once to the house of the Beavers,"said the Witch,"and kill whatever you find there.If they are already gone,then make all speed to the Stone Table,but do not be seen.Wait for me there in hiding.I meanwhile must go many miles to the West before I find a place where I can drive across the river.You may overtake these humans before they reach the Stone Table.You will know what to do if you find them!" "I hear and obey,O Queen,"growled the Wolf,and immediately he shot away into the snow and darkness,as quickly as a horse can gallop.In a few minutes he had called another wolf and was with him down on the dam sniffing at the Beavers'house.But of course they found it empty.It would have been a dreadful thing for the Beavers and the children if the night had remained fine, for the wolves would then have been able to follow their trail-and ten to one would have overtaken them before they had got to the cave.But now that the snow had begun again the scent was cold and even the footprints were covered up Meanwhile the dwarf whipped up the reindeer,and the Witch and Edmund drove out under the archway and on and away into the darkness and the cold.This was a terrible journey for Edmund,who had no coat.Before they had been going quarter of an hour all the front of him was covered with snow-he soon stopped trying to shake it off because,as quickly as he did that,a new lot gathered,and he was so tired.Soon he was wet to the skin.And oh,how miserable he was!It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King.All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded to him silly now.He would have given anything to meet the ·134· 第十一章 阿斯兰来了 儿就不一定了。”白巫说。 埃德蒙只好努力地吞咽着干面包。第一个小矮人回 来了，他报告说雪橇准备就绪。白巫起身，走了出去， 命令埃德蒙紧跟着她。他们来到院子时，又开始下雪了， ①drive off驾车等离开 但是白巫根本没有理会，命令埃德蒙上雪橇，坐在她的 身边。在雪橇启动前，白巫叫了一声莫格里姆，他像一 条大狗一样迅速奔到雪橇旁。 “带上跑得最快的狼，马上赶到河狸的住处，”白 巫吩咐道，“弄死你找到的所有活物。如果他们己经逃 走了，赶快赶到石桌那边，但是注意不要被发现，躲在 附近等我来。我得绕几英里路到西边找到合适的地点过 河，你要在那些人类到达石桌之前先赶到那里，如果发 现他们的话，你知道该怎么做。” “遵命，女王主人！”这匹狼嗷叫了一声，就窜向 ②gallop[gaelop]v(马等) 雪野，跑得像疾驰的马那样快，很快消失在黑暗中。几 飞跑，疾驰 ③snif[sni的k(吸着气】 分钟后，他领着另一匹狼，一起赶到堤坝，围着河狸的 嗅闻 屋子四周嗅闻。当然屋子里己空无一人。如果那天晚上 天一直晴朗的话，那对河狸及孩子们来说将是一个噩 梦，狼最擅长跟踪一十有八九会在他们钻进洞穴之前 1overtake [.ouvo'teik]v. 截杀他们。幸好，天又开始下雪了，气味变淡了，脚印 [主英国英语]追上 也被盖住了。 ⑤scent[sent]n.气味，味 道 与此同时，小矮人扬鞭抽打着驯鹿出发，雪橇拉着 白巫和埃德蒙驶出拱门，消失在冰天雪地的夜色中。对 埃德蒙来说，这趟外出再糟糕不过了，他没有穿外套。 雪橇跑了大约一刻钟后，埃德蒙的身前全部被雪盖住， 但他也獭得把雪抖掉，因为抖掉之后又会被雪覆盖，这 样把他搞得很累。很快他就湿透了，多么可怜啊！现在 看起来白巫不打算让他当国王了。之前，他骗自己相信 白巫既和蔼又善良，投靠白巫这一边才是正确的想法， 现在才发现自己极其愚蠢。此刻他愿意付出一切代价去 ·135· Chapter Eleven Aslan Is Nearer others at this moment-even Peter!The only way to comfort himself now was to try to believe that the whole thing was a dream and that he might wake up at any moment.And as they went on,hour after hour,it did come to seem like a dream. This lasted longer than I could describe even if I wrote pages and pages about it.But I will skip on to the time when the snow had stopped and the morning had come and they were racing along in the daylight.And still they went on and on, with no sound but the everlasting swish of the snow and the creaking of the reindeer's harness.And then at last the Witch said,"What have we here?Stop!" and they did. How Edmund hoped she was going to say something about breakfast!But she had stopped for quite a different reason.A little way off at the foot of a tree sat a merry party,a squirrel and his wife with their children and two satyrs and a dwarf and an old dogfox,all on stools round a table.Edmund couldn't quite see what they were eating,but it smelled lovely and there seemed to be decorations of holly and he wasn't at all sure that he didn't see something like a plum pudding.At the moment when the sledge stopped,the Fox,who was obviously the oldest person present,had just risen to its feet,holding a glass in its right paw as if it was going to say something.But when the whole party saw the sledge stopping and who was in it,all the gaiety went out of their faces.The father squirrel stopped eating with his fork half-way to his mouth and one of the satyrs stopped with its fork actually in its mouth,and the baby squirrels squeaked with terror. "What is the meaning of this?"asked the Witch Queen.Nobody answered. "Speak,vermin!"she said again."Or do you want my dwarf to find you a tongue with his whip?What is the meaning of all this gluttony,this waste,this self-indulgence?Where did you get all these things?" "Please,your Majesty,"said the Fox,"we were given them.And if I might make so bold as to drink your Majesty's very good health-" “Who gave them to you?”said the Witch. "F-F-F-Father Christmas,"stammered the Fox. "What?"roared the Witch,springing from the sledge and taking a few strides ·136· 第十一章阿斯兰来了 找其他人一即使是彼得。唯一的安慰是，埃德蒙试图 让自己相信这只是一场梦，在某个时候，他会从梦中醒 来。他们走呀走，走了好几个小时，现在看起来更像是 一场梦了。 这里虽然客寥几笔，但实际上时间很长，我们直接 说雪停之后的事吧。黎明到来，他们在白日下飞驰，除 了驯鹿的挽具声和雪橇在雪地滑行的声音外，听不到 ①swish[swi门n.嘶声 其他声响。最后，白巫喊道：“这是什么？停！”他们 ②creak[krik]v嘎吱嘎吱 作响 停住了。 埃德蒙心里多么希望白巫能提到早餐啊！但是白 巫喊“停”不是为了吃早餐，而是有其他原因。在一 棵树底下坐着一个欢快的小群体：一只松鼠、松鼠妻子 ③memy[meri]a.欢乐的， 和孩子们，两个红羊人，一个小矮人，以及一只年老 愉快的 的雄狐狸，他们围着一张桌子坐着。埃德蒙看不清楚 他们在吃什么，但是食物的味道很诱人，还有冬青树 做的装饰，他确定那里有一个李子布丁。雪橇停下来时， 那只狐狸，他们中年纪最大的，正站起来右手捧起一 只杯子，像准备要说什么。但当所有动物看见雪橇和 上面的人是谁后，他们脸上的喜色顿时消失。松鼠爸 ④gaiety[geiati间n.快乐， 爸手里的刀叉停在空中，一个红羊人的叉子还在嘴里， 愉快 而松鼠宝宝们发出恐惧的尖叫声。 ⑤squeak[skwi:k发出 “你们在搞什么名堂？”白巫女王问道。没有人回 短促的尖叫声，吱吱叫 答。 “说话呀，坏东西！”她又说道，“难道要我的小 ⑥vermin[va:min]n.令人 讨厌的家伙 矮人用皮鞭帮你们找到舌头吗？在这里大吃大喝要干什 ⑦whip[wipn.鞭子 么，这完全是浪费，是放纵！你们从哪里搞到这些鬼东 ⑧gluttony[glatani]n.暴 西的？” 饮暴食 “请您不要生气，女王陛下，”狐狸回答道，“这些 是别人送的，我能否斗胆为您的健康干杯一” “谁送的？”白巫问。 “圣…圣…圣诞老爹。”狐狸结结巴巴地回答。 “什么？”白巫咆哮道，从雪橇上跳下来，大踏步 ·137· Chapter Eleven Aslan Is Nearer nearer to the terrified animals."He has not been here!He cannot have been here! How dare you-but no.Say you have been lying and you shall even now be forgiven.” At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely. "He has-he has-he has!"it squeaked,beating its little spoon on the table. Edmund saw the Witch bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek.Then she raised her wand."Oh,don't,don't,please don't,"shouted Edmund, but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand and instantly where the merry party had been there were only statues of creatures(one with its stone fork fixed forever half-way to its stone mouth)seated round a stone table on which there were stone plates and a stone plum pudding. "As for you,"said the Witch,giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge,"let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors.Drive on!"And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself.It seemed so pitiful to think of those little stone figures sitting there all the silent days and all the dark nights,year after year,till the moss grew on them and at last even their faces crumbled away. Now they were steadily racing on again.And soon Edmund noticed that the snow which splashed against them as they rushed through it was much wetter than it had been all last night.At the same time he noticed that he was feeling much less cold.It was also becoming foggy.In fact every minute it grew foggier and warmer.And the sledge was not running nearly as well as it had been running up till now.At first he thought this was because the reindeer were tired,but soon he saw that that couldn't be the real reason.The sledge jerked,and skidded and kept on jolting as if it had struck against stones.And however the dwarf whipped the poor reindeer the sledge went slower and slower.There also seemed to be a curious noise all round them,but the noise of their driving and jolting and the dwarf's shouting at the reindeer prevented Edmund from hearing what it was,until suddenly the sledge stuck so fast that it wouldn't go on at all.When that happened there was a moment's silence.And in that silence Edmund could at last listen to the ·138· 第十一章阿斯兰来了 走到战战兢兢的动物们跟前，“他从未来过这里！他不 可能来这里！你们好大的胆子一不过，给你一次机 会。快说，你在撒谎，我会饶恕你们的。” 这时一只小松鼠完全慌了神。 ①lose one's head不知所 措 “他来过—他来过一他来过！”他吱吱叫着回 答道，还用小叉子敲着桌子。埃德蒙看见白巫紧咬着 嘴唇，一滴血出现在她惨白的面颊上。她举起魔杖。“哦， 别，别，请别这样！”埃德蒙叫道。但就在他的叫声中， 白巫挥动魔杖，欢乐的聚会一瞬间变成了石头（一只 石叉永远半悬在一尊石像的嘴边)，这些动物的石像围 着石头桌子坐着，桌子上是石头碟子，里面盛着石头 李子布丁。 白巫转身登上雪橇，赏给埃德蒙一记耳光，打得 他猝不及防。“至于你嘛，”白巫说，“让你长点记性， 这就是替间谍和背叛者求情的后果。赶路！”在这个故 事中，这是埃德蒙第一次替旁人感到难过，他想到那 ②moss[mos]n【植物】 些小石像从此就夜以继日、年复一年安静地待在那里， 薛类 直到青苔爬满全身，最后风吹日晒，面部开裂，觉得 太可怜了。 于是他们又继续走，很快埃德蒙就注意到疾驰中 ③splash[sple1泼溅， 溅起 迎面扑来的雪花与昨晚的雪花相比变得更湿了，并且 感到不那么冷了，天变得雾蒙蒙的。事实上，时时刻 刻天都在变得更暖和，雾气也越来越浓。雪橇开始跑 得不那么平稳了，起初埃德蒙还认为是驯鹿跑累了， 但是很快发现不是这个原因。雪橇开始抖动起来，不 ④jerk[dxk]y颠簸，颤 动 断打滑，反复颠簸，好像是撞到在石头上了。尽管小 ⑤jot[dsoult]v.颠簸 矮人不断抽打着可怜的驯鹿，雪橇还是越跑越慢。周 围也开始响起一些奇怪的声音，但是被雪橇的滑动声、 撞击声、小矮人的呵斥声及驯鹿的惨叫声所掩盖，埃 德蒙听不出来是什么声音。突然雪橇停了，一点也动 ·139· Chapter Eleven Aslan Is Nearer other noise properly.A strange,sweet,rustling,chattering noise-and yet not so strange,for he'd heard it before-if only he could remember where!Then all at once he did remember.It was the noise of running water.All round them though out of sight,there were streams,chattering,murmuring,bubbling,splashing and even(in the distance)roaring.And his heart gave a great leap (though he hardly knew why)when he realized that the frost was over.And much nearer there was a drip-drip-drip from the branches of all the trees.And then,as he looked at one tree he saw a great load of snow slide off it and for the first time since he had entered Narnia he saw the dark green of a fir tree.But he hadn't time to listen or watch any longer,for the Witch said: "Don't sit staring,fool!Get out and help." And of course Edmund had to obey.He stepped out into the snow-but it was really only slush by now-and began helping the dwarf to get the sledge out of the muddy hole it had got into.They got it out in the end,and by being very cruel to the reindeer the dwarf managed to get it on the move again,and they drove a little further.And now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction.Unless you have looked at a world of snow as long as Edmund had been looking at it,you will hardly be able to imagine what a relief those green patches were after the endless white.Then the sledge stopped again. t's no good,.your Majesty,”said the dwarf..“We can't sledge in this thaw③.” “Then we must walk,”said the Witch. "We shall never overtake them walking,"growled the dwarf."Not with the start they've got.” "Are you my councilor or my slave?"said the Witch."Do as you're told. Tie the hands of the human creature behind it and keep hold of the end of the rope. And take your whip.And cut the harness of the reindeer;they'll find their own way home.” The dwarf obeyed,and in a few minutes Edmund found himself being forced to walk as fast as he could with his hands tied behind him.He kept on slipping in ·140· 第十一章河斯兰来了 不了了。在片刻的沉寂中，埃德蒙听到了其他的声 音。这是一种奇特又悦耳的沙沙声和潺潺声—实际 上，埃德蒙以前听过一如果他能记起在哪里听过的 话。很快，他想起来了，这是流水的声音，尽管看不到， 但感觉就在周围。溪水发出哗啦哗啦、咕嘟咕嘟、啪 啪啪啪的声音，甚至还能听到远处水流的咆哮声。随 着心猛地一跳（尽管他不知道为什么），埃德蒙意识到 严寒己经结束，附近的树枝上都在向下滴水。当他看 向一棵树时，发现树顶的积雪滑落了下来，他进入纳 尼亚以来第一次看到了深绿色的杉树树冠。但他还没 时间看清楚、听清楚，因为白巫说： “不要坐在那里干瞪眼，傻瓜！下去帮忙。” 埃德蒙不敢违抗，只得跳进雪里，雪地现在已经开 ①slush[slwJ]n.雪泥 始消融了—他开始帮助小矮人把雪橇拉出泥坑。最后， 雪橇终于拉出来了，小矮人用鞭子狠狠地抽打着驯鹿， 让雪橇再次动起来，他们又走了一小段。这时雪已经完 ②in carnest严肃的（地， 全消了，地面露出一片片的绿色。除非你也像埃德蒙一 正经的（地） 样长时间面对冰天雪地，否则很难想象在经历无尽的白 雪地后，再看到片片绿色能给人带来多大的安慰。不久 雪橇又停了。 “实在走不动了，女王陛下，”小矮人说，“我们没 法在融雪中行走。” ③thaw[0z]n.融化 “那我们就走路吧。”白巫道。 “不行，我们追不上他们，”小矮人嘟噜道，“他们 比我们走得早。” 4 councilor ['kaunsala]n. “你是我的顾问还是我的仆人？”白巫说，“照我 顾问 的吩附做，把这个人类的手绑上，用绳子牵着走，带上 ⑤slave[sleiv]n.奴隶 鞭子。把挽具砍断，让驯鹿自己回家。” 小矮人照办了。很快，埃德蒙的手就被绑在身后， 被绳子牵着赶路，他不断滑倒在雪水中，身上沾满泥巴 ·141·