納尼亞傳奇：第四章 土耳其軟糖

Chapter 4:Turkish Delight

第四章　土耳其軟糖

"BUT what are you?" said the Queen again. "Are you a great overgrown dwarf that has cut off its beard?"

“但你究竟是干什么的?”那女人又問，“你是個剃掉了胡子，長得特別高大的小妖嗎?”

"No, your Majesty," said Edmund, "I never had a beard, I'm a boy."

“不，陛下，”愛德蒙說，“我還沒有長胡子呢，我是個男孩。”

"A boy!" said she. "Do you mean you are a Son of Adam?"

“一個男孩!”她說，“你是說你是亞當?shù)膬鹤?”

Edmund stood still, saying nothing. He was too confused by this time to understand what the question meant.

愛德蒙一愣，沒有開口。他被問的莫名其妙，一點也不懂這句話的意思。

"I see you are an idiot, whatever else you may be," said the Queen. "Answer me, once and for all, or I shall lose my patience. Are you human?"

“我看，不管你是干什么的，你都像個白癡，”女王說，“回答我的問題，就這么一次了，別惹我發(fā)怒，你是人嗎?”

"Yes, your Majesty," said Edmund.

“是的，陛下。”愛德蒙說。

"And how, pray, did you come to enter my dominions?"

“那么，我問你，你是怎么來到我統(tǒng)治的這個地方的?”

"Please, your Majesty, I came in through a wardrobe."

“陛下，對不起，我是從一個衣櫥進來的。”

"A wardrobe? What do you mean?"

“一個衣櫥?這是怎么一回事?”

"I - I opened a door and just found myself here, your Majesty," said Edmund.

“陛下，我，我開了櫥門，一跑到里面，就發(fā)現(xiàn)我在這兒了。”愛德蒙回答說。 +

"Ha!" said the Queen, speaking more to herself than to him. "A door. A door from the world of men! I have heard of such things. This may wreck all. But he is only one, and he is easily dealt with." As she spoke these words she rose from her seat and looked Edmund full in the face, her eyes flaming; at the same moment she raised her wand. Edmund felt sure that she was going to do something dreadful but he seemed unable to move. Then, just as he gave himself up for lost, she appeared to change her mind.

“哈哈!”女王像是在自言自語，“一扇門，一扇通向人類世界的門!以前我也聽說過這樣的事。這下可糟糕了。不過，他只有一個人，還容易對付。”她一邊說，一邊從她的座位上站起來，死死的盯著愛德蒙的臉，眼里射出惡狠狠的光焰。她揮起手中的棍子。愛德蒙想，她一定要干什么可怕的事情了。他似乎覺得自己已動彈不得。正當他感到自己快要死的時候，那女王又好像改變了主意。

"My poor child," she said in quite a different voice, "how cold you look! Come and sit with me here on the sledge and I will put my mantle round you and we will talk."

“我可憐的孩子，”她說話的腔調(diào)變得不同了，“瞧，你被凍得這個樣子!坐到我雪橇上來吧，我給你裹上披風，好一起談談心。”

Edmund did not like this arrangement at all but he dared not disobey; he stepped on to the sledge and sat at her feet, and she put a fold of her fur mantle round him and tucked it well in.

愛德蒙內(nèi)心不愿意，但又不敢違抗，他只好跨上雪橇，坐在她腳旁。她把毛皮披風的一角披在他身上，將他裹的緊緊的。

"Perhaps something hot to drink?" said the Queen. "Should you like that?"

“你想喝點什么熱的東西嗎?”女王問。

"Yes please, your Majesty," said Edmund, whose teeth were chattering.

“謝謝，陛下。”愛德蒙說，他的牙齒在不停地打戰(zhàn)。

The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as if it were made of copper. Then, holding out her arm, she let one drop fall from it on the snow beside the sledge. Edmund saw the drop for a second in mid-air, shining like a diamond. But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing sound and there stood a jewelled cup full of something that steamed. The dwarf immediately took this and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile; not a very nice smile. Edmund felt much better as he began to sip the hot drink. It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy and creamy, and it warmed him right down to his toes.

女王從身邊掏出一個很小的瓶子，它看上去是銅做的。然后，她伸出手臂，從瓶里倒出一滴東西滴在雪橇旁邊的雪地上。愛德蒙看到，這一滴東西在落地前像寶石一樣閃閃發(fā)光，但它一碰到雪，便發(fā)出一陣咝咝的響聲，頓時就變成了一個寶石杯，杯子里盛滿了飲料，還直冒熱氣。那個小妖馬上拿起杯子，遞給愛德蒙，皮笑肉不笑地向他鞠了一個躬。愛德蒙呷了一口，感到舒服多了。這是他從沒嘗到過的奶油飲料，非常甜，泡沫很多，他喝下以后，一直暖到腳跟。

"It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating," said the Queen presently. "What would you like best to eat?"

“亞當?shù)膬鹤樱伙嫴怀允巧倒希?rdquo;女王過了一會兒說，“你最喜歡吃什么東西呀?”

"Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty," said Edmund.

“土耳其軟糖，陛下。”愛德蒙說。

The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious. He was quite warm now, and very comfortable.

于是，女王又從瓶子里倒出一滴東西滴到雪地上，地上立即出現(xiàn)了一個圓盒子，用綠絲帶扎著，把它一打開，里面裝著好幾磅最好的土耳其軟糖。每一塊又甜又軟，愛德蒙從沒有吃過比它還要好吃的東西。他現(xiàn)在感到非常暖和，非常舒適。

While he was eating the Queen kept asking him questions. At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one's mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive. She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters, and that one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there, and that no one except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia. She seemed especially interested in the fact that there were four of them, and kept on coming back to it. "You are sure there are just four of you?" she asked. "Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, neither more nor less?" and Edmund, with his mouth full of Turkish Delight, kept on saying, "Yes, I told you that before," and forgetting to call her "Your Majesty", but she didn't seem to mind now.

在他吃軟糖的時候，女王接二連三地問了他許多問題。開始，愛德蒙竭力讓自己記住，嘴里塞滿了東西講話是不禮貌的，但沒有多久他就忘得干干凈凈，只顧狼吞虎咽地吃軟糖。他吃得越多，就越是想吃，一點兒也沒想到為什么女王要問他這么多問題。最后，他把一切情況都告訴了她：他有一個哥哥，一個姐姐和一個妹妹，他的妹妹也曾到過那尼亞，還遇見了一個農(nóng)牧之神，除了他們兄妹四人以外，沒有誰知道那尼亞的情況。女王聽到他們有兄妹四人，似乎感到特別有興趣，她反反復復地問：“你能肯定你們正好是四個人嗎?亞當?shù)膬蓚€兒子和夏娃的兩個女兒，不多也不少?”愛德蒙嘴里塞滿了軟糖，一遍又一遍地回答：“是的，我已經(jīng)告訴過你了。”現(xiàn)在他都忘了稱她“陛下”，但她好像并不在乎。

At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves. But she did not offer him any more. Instead, she said to him,

最后，土耳其軟糖全吃完了，愛德蒙的眼睛滴溜溜地看著那個空盒子，巴不得她再問他一聲是不是還想吃。女王很可能知道他此時的思想活動。因為，愛德蒙雖然沒有說出口，但她卻十分清楚，這種土耳其軟糖是一種施了妖法的迷魂糖，不管哪個吃了以后，都會越吃越想吃，只要有得吃，他就不會住口，一直吃到被毒死為止。女王并沒有再給他吃，只是說：

"Son of Adam, I should so much like to see your brother and your two sisters. Will you bring them to see me?"

“亞當?shù)膬鹤?，我多么希望能夠看到你的哥哥和姐妹?請你把他們帶到我這兒來好嗎?”

"I'll try," said Edmund, still looking at the empty box.

“我一定照辦。”愛德蒙說，兩只眼睛依舊盯住那只空盒子。

"Because, if you did come again - bringing them with you of course - I'd be able to give you some more Turkish Delight. I can't do it now, the magic will only work once. In my own house it would be another matter."

“如果你再來的話——當然要把他們一起帶來——我就會給你更多的土耳其軟糖吃。但現(xiàn)在不能給你，因為這種魔法只能使用一次。當然，到了我的家，情況就不同了。”

"Why can't we go to your house now?" said Edmund. When he had first got on to the sledge he had been afraid that she might drive away with him to some unknown place from which he would not be able to get back; but he had forgotten about that fear now.

“那么我們現(xiàn)在就到你家里去好嗎?”愛德蒙試探著問道。他剛坐上雪橇時，擔心她會把他帶到一個非常陌生的地方去，他將永遠回不來了，可是現(xiàn)在，他的這種擔心已被拋到了九霄云外。

"It is a lovely place, my house," said the Queen. "I am sure you would like it. There are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight, and what's more, I have no children of my own. I want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone. While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long; and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I've ever met. I think I would like to make you the Prince - some day, when you bring the others to visit me."

“我家是個很舒適的地方。”女王說，“我肯定你會喜歡，那里有好些房間是專門放土耳其軟糖的。再說，我自己沒有孩子，我很想領一個漂亮的男孩當王子。你哪一天把另外三個人帶到我家來，我就哪一天讓你當王子。”

"Why not now?" said Edmund. His face had become very red and his mouth and fingers were sticky. He did not look either clever or handsome, whatever the Queen might say.

“為什么不讓我現(xiàn)在就去呢?”愛德蒙說，他臉色變得通紅，嘴和手指上面都黏糊糊的。不管女王怎么夸獎她，他乍看起來既不聰明又不漂亮。

"Oh, but if I took you there now," said she, "I shouldn't see your brother and your sisters. I very much want to know your charming relations. You are to be the Prince and - later on - the King; that is understood. But you must have courtiers and nobles. I will make your brother a Duke and your sisters Duchesses."

“哦，假如我現(xiàn)在就把你帶回家去，”她說，“我就見不到你的哥哥、姐姐和妹妹了。我很想認識他們。你將成為王子，以后還要做國王，但你還必須有大臣和貴族。我將封你的哥哥當公爵，封你的姐姐和妹妹當作女公爵。”

"There's nothing special about them," said Edmund, "and, anyway, I could always bring them some other time."

“他們沒有什么值得你特別器重的，”愛德蒙說，“而且，我可以隨便在哪一天把他們帶來。”

"Ah, but once you were in my house," said the Queen, "you might forget all about them. You would be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn't want the bother of going to fetch them. No. You must go back to your own country now and come to me another day, with them, you understand. It is no good coming without them."

“不錯，但是如果你現(xiàn)在到了我的家里，”女王說，“你就會把他們忘得干干凈凈，你就會只顧自己玩樂，而不想再去找他們了。不行!你現(xiàn)在必須回到你自己的國家去，過幾天和他們一起到我這兒來，不和他們一起來是不行的。”

"But I don't even know the way back to my own country," pleaded Edmund. "That's easy," answered the Queen. "Do you see that lamp?" She pointed with her wand and Edmund turned and saw the same lamp-post under which Lucy had met the Faun. "Straight on, beyond that, is the way to the World of Men. And now look the other way'- here she pointed in the opposite direction - "and tell me if you can see two little hills rising above the trees."

“但我不認得回去的路。”愛德蒙懇求說。

"I think I can," said Edmund.

“這容易。”女王回答說，“你看見那盞燈嗎?”她用手中的棍子指了指，愛德蒙轉(zhuǎn)過身去，看見了露茜曾在那兒碰見了農(nóng)牧之神的那個燈柱。“一直往前走，到燈柱那邊，就能找到通向人世間的路，嗯，現(xiàn)在請你看另外一條路，”她指著相反的方向問，“順著樹梢的上頭看過去，你看到有兩座小山嗎?”

"Well, my house is between those two hills. So next time you come you have only to find the lamp-post and look for those two hills and walk through the wood till you reach my house. But remember - you must bring the others with you. I might have to be very angry with you if you came alone."

“看到了。”愛德蒙回答。

"I'll do my best," said Edmund.

“好哇，我住的地方就在那兩座小山之間。你下次來的時候，只要找到燈柱，朝著那兩座小山的方向，穿過這座森林，就可以到我住的地方。你要讓這條河流一直緊靠在你的右邊。但必須記住，你得帶著你的哥哥、姐姐和妹妹一起來。如果只來你一個人，可別怪我發(fā)怒。”

"And, by the way," said the Queen, "you needn't tell them about me. It would be fun to keep it a secret between us two, wouldn't it? Make it a surprise for them. Just bring them along to the two hills - a clever boy like you will easily think of some excuse for doing that - and when you come to my house you could just say "Let's see who lives here" or something like that. I am sure that would be best. If your sister has met one of the Fauns, she may have heard strange stories about me - nasty stories that might make her afraid to come to me. Fauns will say anything, you know, and now -"

“我將盡我最大努力。”愛德蒙回答說。

"Please, please," said Edmund suddenly, "please couldn't I have just one piece of Turkish Delight to eat on the way home?"

“嗯，順便說一句，”女王說，“你不必把我的情況告訴他們。我們兩人必須嚴守秘密，這將是非常有趣的事情，你說是不是?要讓他們來了以后大吃一驚。你只要想辦法把他們帶進那兩座小山就行了——一個像你這樣聰明的孩子要找個這樣的借口還不容易——你到了我家以后，只消說一聲，‘讓我們看看誰住在這兒’或別的這一類的話就行了。據(jù)我看來，這是再好不過的辦法。如果你的妹妹見到過一個農(nóng)牧之神，她或許聽到過關于我的什么壞話。她可能怕到我這兒來。那些農(nóng)牧之神最會瞎說一通，現(xiàn)在……”

"No, no," said the Queen with a laugh, "you must wait till next time." While she spoke, she signalled to the dwarf to drive on, but as the sledge swept away out of sight, the Queen waved to Edmund, calling out, "Next time! Next time! Don't forget. Come soon."

“陛下，”愛德蒙插嘴問道，“請你再給我一塊土耳其軟糖，讓我在回家的路上吃吃好嗎?”

Edmund was still staring after the sledge when he heard someone calling his own name, and looking round he saw Lucy coming towards him from another part of the wood.

“不行，不行，”女王大笑著說，“一定要等到下一次，”她一邊說，一邊向小妖打了一個繼續(xù)趕路的手勢，于是雪橇便疾駛而去，女王朝愛德蒙揮手喊道，“等到下一次，等到下一次。別忘了，過幾天就到我家里來。”

"Oh, Edmund!" she cried. "So you've got in too! Isn't it wonderful, and now-"

正當愛德蒙凝視著遠去的雪橇的時候，他忽然聽見有人在喊他的名字。他掉轉(zhuǎn)頭來，看見露茜正從樹林的另一個方向朝他走了過來。

"All right," said Edmund, "I see you were right and it is a magic wardrobe after all. I'll say I'm sorry if you like. But where on earth have you been all this time? I've been looking for you everywhere."

“噢，愛德蒙!”她驚喜地喊了起來，“你也進來了!還好玩嗎?”

"If I'd known you had got in I'd have waited for you," said Lucy, who was too happy and excited to notice how snappishly Edmund spoke or how flushed and strange his face was. "I've been having lunch with dear Mr Tumnus, the Faun, and he's very well and the White Witch has done nothing to him for letting me go, so he thinks she can't have found out and perhaps everything is going to be all right after all."

“是啊，”愛德蒙說，“你看，你以前說的事是真的，這真的是個神秘的衣櫥。我必須向你道歉，可是你剛才究竟在哪里?我到處找你呢。”

"The White Witch?" said Edmund; "who's she?"

“要是我知道你也進來了，我一定會等你。”露茜說，她高興極了，一點也沒注意到愛德蒙說話時是多么急躁;他的臉色是多么紅，多么奇怪。“我和親愛的農(nóng)牧之神圖姆納斯先生一起吃過飯，他平安無事，上次他把我放走了，白女巫沒有對他怎么樣，他說這件事女巫沒有發(fā)覺，他大概不會遇到什么麻煩了。”

"She is a perfectly terrible person," said Lucy. "She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryads and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals - at least all the good ones - simply hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things. And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia - always winter, but it never gets to Christmas. And she drives about on a sledge, drawn by reindeer, with her wand in her hand and a crown on her head."

“白女巫?”愛德蒙問，“她是誰呀?”

Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets, and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable. But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else.

“她是個十分可怕的女巫。”露茜說，“她自稱是那尼亞的女王，可是她根本沒有資格作女王。所有的農(nóng)牧之神、水神、樹神小妖和動物，凡是心腸好的，都對她恨之入骨。她能把人變成石頭，她能做出各種各樣恐怖的事來。她施行一種妖術，使那尼亞一年到頭都是冬天，始終過不上圣誕節(jié)。她手持魔杖，頭戴王冠，坐在馴鹿拉的雪橇里，到處跑著。”

"Who told you all that stuff about the White Witch?" he asked.

愛德蒙軟糖吃得太多，早已感到不很舒服，現(xiàn)在聽說和他交朋友的那個女人原來是個危險的女巫，他就感到更不舒服了。雖然如此，與別的東西相比，他還是喜歡吃土耳其軟糖。

"Mr Tumnus, the Faun," said Lucy.

“所有這些情況，是誰告訴你的?”他問。

"You can't always believe what Fauns say," said Edmund, trying to sound as if he knew far more about them than Lucy.

“農(nóng)牧之神圖姆納斯先生。”露茜說。“你不要總是相信農(nóng)牧之神的話。”愛德蒙說，裝出一副比露茜更加了解農(nóng)牧之神的樣子。

"Who said so?" asked Lucy.

“這話是誰說的?”露茜問。

"Everyone knows it," said Edmund; "ask anybody you like. But it's pretty poor sport standing here in the snow. Let's go home."

“大家都知道，”愛德蒙說，“隨你問哪一個都行。但是，冒雪站在這兒有什么好玩的，我們還是回去吧。”

"Yes, let's," said Lucy. "Oh, Edmund, I am glad you've got in too. The others will have to believe in Narnia now that both of us have been there. What fun it will be!"

“也好，”露茜說，“哦，愛德蒙，你也來了，我感到很高興。我們兩人都到過那尼亞，別人一定會相信我們了。那該多有趣呀!”

But Edmund secretly thought that it would not be as good fun for him as for her. He would have to admit that Lucy had been right, before all the others, and he felt sure the others would all be on the side of the Fauns and the animals; but he was already more than half on the side of the Witch. He did not know what he would say, or how he would keep his secret once they were all talking about Narnia.

愛德蒙卻暗自認為，對他來說，那尼亞并不像露茜說的那樣有趣，但是他不得不在大家面前承認露茜是對的。他敢肯定，別人都會站在農(nóng)牧之神和別的動物一邊，而他卻站在女巫這一邊。如果大家都知道那尼亞的情況，那他就有口難辨了，也無法保守他的秘密了。

By this time they had walked a good way. Then suddenly they felt coats around them instead of branches and next moment they were both standing outside the wardrobe in the empty room.

不知不覺，他們已經(jīng)走了好遠，忽然他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們周圍已不再是樹枝而是衣服了，轉(zhuǎn)瞬間，兩人已站在衣櫥的空屋里了。

"I say," said Lucy, "you do look awful, Edmund. Don't you feel well?"

“哎呦，”露茜說，“你的臉色多么難看啊，愛德蒙，你不舒服嗎?”

"I'm all right," said Edmund, but this was not true. He was feeling very sick.

“我很好。”愛德蒙回答，但這并不是真話，他感到很不舒服。

"Come on then," said Lucy, "let's find the others. What a lot we shall have to tell them! And what wonderful adventures we shall have now that we're all in it together."

“那么走吧，”露茜說，“我們找他們?nèi)?，我們有許多話要告訴他們!如果我們四個人全到了里邊，我們將會遇到很多奇異的事情!”