Chapter15 远古时代之前的更深魔法-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 Fifteen Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time While the two girls still crouched in the bushes with their hands over their faces, they heard the voice of the Witch calling out, "Now!Follow me all and we will set about what remains of this war!It will not take us long to crush the human vermin and the traitors now that the great Fool, the great Cat,lies dead." At this moment the children were for a few seconds in very great danger.For with wild cries and a noise of skirling pipes and shrill horns blowing,the whole of that vile2 rabble came sweeping off the hill-top and down the slope right past their hiding-place.They felt the Spectres go by them like a cold wind and they felt the ground shake beneath them under the galloping feet of the Minotaurs;and overhead there went a flurry of foul wings and a blackness of vultures and giant bats.At any other time they would have trembled with fear;but now the sadness and shame and horror of Aslan's death so filled their minds that they hardly thought of it. As soon as the wood was silent again Susan and Lucy crept out onto the open hill-top.The moon was getting low and thin clouds were passing across her,but still they could see the shape of the Lion lying dead in his bonds.And down they both knelt in the wet grass and kissed his cold face and stroked his beautiful fur-what was left of it-and cried till they could cry no more.And then they ·186· 第十五章 远古时代之前的 更深魔法 姐妹俩捂着眼睛，伏在草丛中，听见女巫大叫道： “听着！所有人跟我去解决这场战斗，马上就能消 灭人类的祸害和叛徒。现在，这个大傻瓜，这头狮子， 死了。” 此时，姐妹俩的处境一度极其危险，因为这群邪恶 的乌合之众开始从山顶一拥而下，恰好要经过她俩藏身 ①ski[ska:I](风笛)发 的草丛。粗野的喊叫声、刺耳的呼吸声以及尖厉的号角 出尖声 声响彻山中。她们能感觉到幽灵像一阵寒风从身边掠过， ②vile[vai训a.恶劣的，极 坏的 人身牛头怪的蹄子踩得地面都在颤抖，邪恶的飞禽、秃 ③goby经过 鹰、大蝙蝠扇动着翅膀从头顶飞过。这要是换在其他时 ④beneath[bi'ni0ad.在 下面，在下方 间，她俩准会害怕得发抖，但是现在，阿斯兰的死所带 ⑤foul[faul]a.令人恶心 来的悲痛、遗憾以及震惊充斥着她们的心灵，她们已想 的，令人作呕的 不起恐惧。 树林刚一回归平静，苏珊与露茜就钻出树林，爬上 ⑥vulture[valt∫]n,秃鹰 山顶的空地。山顶上月亮低沉，慢慢穿过薄薄的云。她 ⑦bond[bond]m.(捆缚用 们在微弱的光下看到狮王的尸体，上面还捆着绳子。她 的)绳，带 俩跪倒在湿漉漉的草地上，亲吻着狮王冰冷的脸，抚摸 ⑧knelt [nelt]跪下 (kneel的过去式) 着他美丽的皮毛—仅剩下的一些—放声痛哭直到哭 ·187· Chapter Fifteen Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time looked at each other and held each other's hands for mere loneliness and cried again;and then again were silent.At last Lucy said, "I can't bear to look at that horrible muzzle.I wonder could we take if off?" So they tried.And after a lot of working at it (for their fingers were cold and it was now the darkest part of the night)they succeeded.And when they saw his face without it they burst out crying again and kissed it and fondled it and wiped away the blood and the foam as well as they could.And it was all more lonely and hopeless and horrid than I know how to describe. "I wonder could we untie him as well?"said Susan presently.But the enemies,out of pure spitefulness,had drawn the cords so tight that the girls could make nothing of the knots. I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night;but if you have been-if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you-you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness.You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.At any rate that was how it felt to these two.Hours and hours seemed to go by in this dead calm,and they hardly noticed that they were getting colder and colder.But at last Lucy noticed two other things.One was that the sky on the east side of the hill was a little less dark than it had been an hour ago.The other was some tiny movement going on in the grass at her feet.At first she took no interest in this.What did it matter?Nothing mattered now!But at last she saw that whatever-it-was had begun to move up the upright stones of the Stone Table.And now whatever-they-were were moving about on Aslan's body.She peered closer.They were little grey things. "Ugh!"said Susan from the other side of the Table."How beastly!There are horrid little mice crawling over him.Go away,you little beasts."And she raised her hand to frighten them away. "Wait!"said Lucy,who had been looking at them more closely still."Can you see what they're doing?" Both girls bent down and stared. ·188· 第十五章远古时代之前的更深魔法 不出声音来。姐妹俩互相看了一眼，抓紧对方的手，感 到非常孤独，又继续痛哭，直到又哭没了声音。最后， 露茜开口说： “我受不了那个恐怖的口套，我们把它去掉吧。” 于是她俩试着扯掉它，花了好长时间（因为她们的 ①fondle[fond川w温柔地 手指冻僵了，加上现在是夜里最黑的时段)，最后成功 抚摸，抚弄 取下。当再次看见狮王的脸，她俩又忍不住痛哭起来。 ②foam[faum]n.泡沫 她们亲吻着狮王，并用手抹去他脸上的血沫。一种我无 ③horrid[h3rida.可怕 的，恐怖的 法描述的孤独、无助及恐惧充斥着她们的心。 “我们解开绑他的绳子好吗？”过了一会儿，苏珊 说。可是敌人，可恶至极的敌人，把绳子绑得那么紧， ④knot[nth.(线、绳等 的）结 两个女孩根本就解不开。 我希望本书的读者都不要遇到那天晚上苏珊和露茜 那样悲惨的境况，但如果你遇到过—如果你曾一夜痛 哭不停，哭干了眼泪，你就会明白，到最后会感到一种 平静。你会感觉到好像什么事情都不会再发生了，这就 是她俩当时的感受。时间一小时一小时在死寂的沉默中 过去了，她俩的身体变得越来越冷，可竟没有感觉到。 最后，露茜注意到周围发生了两点变化：一是山顶东侧 的天空与一小时前相比亮了一点，另一个是脚下的草丛 中有了细微的动静。起先，她并不关心，这不重要，什 么都不重要了。接着，她发现什么东西爬到石桌的石头 上，并且出现在狮王尸体的周围，她向周围瞥了一眼， 看到一些灰色的小东西。 “呸！”苏珊叫道，她正在石桌的另一边，“真恶 ⑤pccr[piv凝视 心！讨厌的小老鼠爬到他的身上了。滚开，你们这帮小 东西。”她扬起手正要赶走这些老鼠。 “等等！”露茜说，她一直在仔细地观察着它们。 “看看它们要干什么？” 她俩蹲下身，仔细盯着。 ·189· Chapter Fifteen Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time "I do believe-"said Susan."But how queer!They're nibbling away at the cords!" "That's what I thought,"said Lucy."I think they're friendly mice.Poor little things-they don't realize he's dead.They think it'll do some good untying him." It was quite definitely lighter by now.Each of the girls noticed for the first time the white face of the other.They could see the mice nibbling away;dozens and dozens,even hundreds,of little field mice.And at last,one by one,the ropes were all gnawed through. The sky in the east was whitish by now and the stars were getting fainter- all except one very big one low down on the eastern horizon.They felt colder than they had been all night.The mice crept away again. The girls cleared away the remains of the gnawed ropes.Aslan looked more like himself without them.Every moment his dead face looked nobler,as the light grew and they could see it better. In the wood behind them a bird gave a chuckling sound.It had been so still for hours and hours that it startled them.Then another bird answered it.Soon there were birds singing all over the place. It was quite definitely early morning now,not late night. "I'm so cold,"said Lucy. “So am I,”said Susan.“Let's walk about a bit.” They walked to the eastern edge of the hill and looked down.The one big star had almost disappeared.The country all looked dark grey,but beyond,at the very end of the world,the sea showed pale.The sky began to turn red.They walked to and fro more times than they could count between the dead Aslan and the eastern ridge,trying to keep warm;and oh,how tired their legs felt.Then at last,as they stood for a moment looking out towards they sea and Cair Paravel (which they could now just make out)the red turned to gold along the line where the sea and the sky met and very slowly up came the edge of the sun.At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise-a great cracking,deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate. ·190· 第十五章远古时代之前的更深魔法 “我认为一可这也太奇怪了，”苏珊惊叹道，“我 觉得它们在咬绳子！” “是的，”露茜说，“它们是友好的老鼠。可怜的小 ①dos0 me good对…有 东西，还不知道他已经死了，还以为自己在解救他。” 好处 现在天色更亮了，女孩们这才发现彼此的脸色非常 苍白。大约有几十只，甚至上百只小老鼠在咬绳子。最 后，所有绳子被一条一条地咬断了。 东方的天空开始发白，星星变得暗淡一只有一颗 ②gnaw [no:]v咬断，咬坏 ⑧③whitish[waii门a,略带 星星依然闪亮在东方的地平线上。她俩觉得更冷了。老 白色的，发白的 鼠也已经离开了。 姐妹俩扯掉狮王尸体上残留的绳子，阿斯兰恢复了 原貌。天越来越亮，她们看得越来越真切，他的脸也显 得越来越高贵。 这时身后的树林里突然传出一只鸟的叽喳声，因为 刚刚经过好几个小时的静寂，她俩被这鸟叫声吓了一 跳。接着，另一只鸟跟着发出鸣叫声。很快，整个林子 里鸟叫声响成一片。 ④startle['sta:tl,使大吃 一惊，使震惊 黑夜已经过去，黎明来了。 “我觉得很冷。”露茜说。 “我也是，”苏珊说，“我们走一走吧！” 她们走到山顶的东侧，向下看去。那颗巨大的星 星已经消失了，整片地区变成深灰色。但是在远处， 在世界的尽头，是泛白的大海。天边开始泛红。她俩 在狮王的尸体与山顶东侧之间来回地走，想暖和一点。 走了不知多少回，感到腿很累。最后，当她们驻足跳 ⑤to and fro来回地 望大海和凯尔帕拉维尔城堡时（现在她俩能辨认出来）， 海天交际之处己由红色变成了金色，太阳慢慢露出了 头。这时，从她们的身后传来石破天惊的声音—这 震耳欲聋的巨响声就像是一位巨人打破了另一位巨人 的盘子。 6 deafening ['defonin]a. 震耳欲聋的，非常喧闹 的 ·191· Chapter Fifteen Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time "What's that?"said Lucy,clutching Susan's arm. “I-I feel afraid to turn round,”said Susan;"“something awful is happening.” “They're doing something worse to Him,”said Lucy.“Come on!'"And she turned,pulling Susan round with her. The rising of the sun had made everything look so different-all colours and shadows were changed that for a moment they didn't see the important thing.Then they did.The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end;and there was no Aslan. "Oh,oh,oh!"cried the two girls,rushing back to the Table. “oh,it's too bad,.”sobbed Lucy;“they might have left the body alone.” "Who's done it?"cried Susan."What does it mean?Is it magic?" "Yes!"said a great voice behind their backs."It is more magic."They looked round.There,shining in the sunrise,larger than they had seen him before,shaking his mane(for it had apparently grown again)stood Aslan himself. "Oh,Aslan!"cried both the children,staring up at him,almost as much frightened as they were glad. "Aren't you dead then,dear Aslan?"said Lucy. Not now,”said Aslan. "You're not-not a-?"asked Susan in a shaky2 voice.She couldn't bring herself to say the word ghost3.Aslan stooped his golden head and licked her forehead.The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her. “Do I look it?he said. "Oh,you're real,you're real!Oh,Aslan!"cried Lucy,and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses. "But what does it all mean?"asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer. "It means,"said Aslan,"that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic,there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.Her knowledge goes back only ·192· 第十五章远古时代之前的更深魔法 ①clutch[klAf]g抓住 “什么声音？”露茜紧张地抓住苏珊的胳膊问。 “我—我不敢回头看，”苏珊说，“奇怪的事情发 生了。” “他们在对他做坏事，”露茜说，“快！”她抓着苏 珊一同转过身。 冉冉上升的太阳让周围一切变了样一各种色彩及 阴影全变了，一时间她们没觉察到重大变化。接着，她 们注意到，一条裂缝横贯整个石桌，石桌裂为两半，阿 斯兰不见了。 “哦，哦，哦！”女孩们哭着跑向石桌。 “哦，太糟糕了，”露茜抽泣着说，“他们连尸体都 不放过。” “是谁干的？”苏珊哭着问，“为什么要这样，是 魔法在起作用吗？” “没错！”身后有一个声音回答说，“这是更深的 魔法。”她俩转过身，发现阿斯兰正站在晨曦中，抖着 一头的鬃毛（很明显鬃毛又长出来了）。他的身形似乎 比以前更加高大威猛。 “天啊，阿斯兰！”她俩齐声惊叫道，怔怔地看着 ②shaky[feiki]a.颤抖的 他，既害怕又欣喜。 ③ghost[93ust]n.鬼 “亲爱的阿斯兰，您刚才不是死了吗？”露茜问。 “现在没有！”阿斯兰说。 “您该不是一不是一”苏珊声音颤抖地问。她 没有勇气说出“鬼魂”这个词来。阿斯兰低下金色的头 颅，舔了舔她的额头。她感到一股温暖的气息，以及他 毛发里散发出来的那股熟悉的味道。 ④fling upon扑向 “我看上去像吗？”阿斯兰问。 “哦，您是真的，您是真的，阿斯兰！”露茜叫道。 她俩投到阿斯兰的怀抱，亲吻着他。 稍稍平静后苏珊问：“这到底是怎么回事呀？” “是这样的，”阿斯兰解释说，“女巫只知道深层魔 ·193· Chapter Fifteen Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time to the dawn of time.But if she could have looked a little further back,into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned,she would have read there a different incantation2.She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead,the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.And now-" "Oh yes.Now?"said Lucy,jumping up and clapping her hands. "Oh,children,"said the Lion,"I feel my strength coming back to me.Oh, children,catch me if you can!"He stood for a second,his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering,lashing himself with his tail.Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table.Laughing,though she didn't know why,Lucy scrambled over it to reach him.Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began.Round and round the hill-top he led them,now hopelessly out of their reach,now letting them almost catch his tail,now diving between them,now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again,and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs.It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia;and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind.And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun the girls no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty. "And now,"said Aslan presently,"to business.I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears." And they did.And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it.And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blasts of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind.Then he said, "We have a long journey to go.You must ride on me."And he crouched down and the children climbed on to his warm,golden back,and Susan sat first, ·194· 第十五章远古时代之前的更深魔法 ①dawn[dhrn]n.黎明，拂 法，并不知道还有更深的魔法。她的认识只停留在远古 晓 时代。假使她能看得更远一点，看到太古时代的寂静与 ②incantation 黑暗，她就会知道还有一种不同的魔法。她就应该知道 [inkn'teifon]n.咒语 杀死一个自愿代替背叛者牺牲的人，石桌就会裂开，死 ③treachery[tretfari]n.背 叛 者就会重生。现在我—一” “哦，是这么回事。现在怎样？”露茜高兴得跳起 来，鼓掌庆祝。 “哦，孩子们，”狮王说，“我感到力量已经恢复。 孩子们，跟我来！”阿斯兰停了片刻，他目光如炬，四 ④limb [lim]n.肢 肢抖动，左右摆动着尾巴，然后从她俩头顶一跃而过， ⑤lash [lae]￥猛烈摇动 (尾巴等) 落在石桌的另一侧。露茜开心大笑起来（尽管没想过因 何而笑)，紧追着阿斯兰。阿斯兰又一跃而起，一场疯 狂的追逐开始了。阿斯兰领着她俩在山顶上一圈一圈地 跑，时而让孩子们感到根本就追不上他：时而让她们觉 得快要抓住他的尾巴了；时而跳到她俩中间：时而用他 那厚大、金丝绒般的手掌把孩子们轻轻抛到空中，又稳 稳地接住：时而猛地一停，他们三个便撞到一起，在欢 快的笑声中滚在一块，仿佛胳膊、腿、绒毛堆在一起。 ⑤romp [romp]n.嬉闹 这样的游戏，除了在纳尼亚，谁也没有在其他地方经历 ⑦thunderstorm [0Andasto:m]n,雷暴 过。到底像是在与暴风雨玩耍，还是像在与一只小猫玩， 露茜也没弄明白。有趣的是，当他们三个最后停下来， 一起躺在太阳下喘气的时候，女孩们却再也不感到累、 饥饿或者口渴。 过了一会儿，阿斯兰说：“现在，干正事了，我要 吼几声，你俩最好堵住耳朵。” 姐妹俩用手指堵住耳朵，看见阿斯兰站起来，张 口怒吼。怒吼时，他的脸色变得很恐怖，孩子们都不 ⑧blast[blest]n.一阵 ⑨meadow[medou]m.草 敢抬头看。面前的树木在阿斯兰的吼声中震弯了腰， 地，牧场 就像一阵疾风吹过草丛一样。然后，阿斯兰说： “我们要走长路，你俩必须坐在我背上。”说完， 阿斯兰俯下身，孩子们爬上他的背，坐在温暖的金色 毛发里。苏珊在前，紧紧抓着他的鬃毛：露茜在后，紧 ·195·