雙語·獅子、女巫與魔衣柜 第一章　露西探看衣柜

CHAPTER 1 LUCY LOOKS INTO A WARDROBE

ONCE there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.They were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post offce.He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a housekeeper called Mrs Macready and three servants.（Their names were Ivy, Margaret and Betty, but they do not come into the story much.）He himself was a very old man with shaggy white hair which grew over most of his face as well as on his head, and they liked him almost at once;but on the frst evening when he came out to meet them at the front door he was so odd-looking that Lucy（who was the youngest）was a little afraid of him, and Edmund（who was the next youngest）wanted to laugh and had to keep on pretending he was blowing his nose to hide it.

As soon as they had said good night to the Professor and gone upstairs on the frst night, the boys came into the girls'room and they all talked it over.

“We've fallen on our feet and no mistake,”said Peter.“This is going to be perfectly splendid. That old chap will let us do anything we like.”

“I think he's an old dear,”said Susan.

“Oh, come off it!”said Edmund, who was tired and pretending not to be tired, which always made him bad-tempered.“Don't go on talking like that.”

“Like what?”said Susan;“and anyway, it's time you were in bed.”

“Trying to talk like Mother,”said Edmund.“And who are you to say when I'm to go to bed?Go to bed yourself.”

“Hadn't we all better go to bed?”said Lucy.“There's sure to be a row if we're heard talking here.”

“No there won't,”said Peter.“I tell you this is the sort of house where no one's going to mind what we do. Anyway, they won't hear us.It's about ten minutes'walk from here down to that dining-room, and any amount of stairs and passages in between.”

“What's that noise?”said Lucy suddenly. It was a far larger house than she had ever been in before and the thought of all those long passages and rows of doors leading into empty rooms was beginning to make her feel a little creepy.

“It's only a bird, silly,”said Edmund.

“It's an owl,”said Peter.“This is going to be a wonderful place for birds. I shall go to bed now.I say, let's go and explore tomorrow.You might fnd anything in a place like this.Did you see those mountains as we came along?And the woods?There might be eagles.There might be stags.There'll be hawks.”

“Badgers!”said Lucy.

“Foxes!”said Edmund.

“Rabbits!”said Susan.

But when next morning came there was a steady rain falling, so thick that when you looked out of the window you could see neither the mountains nor the woods nor even the stream in the garden.

“Of course it would be raining!”said Edmund. They had just fnishedtheir breakfast with the Professor and were upstairs in the room he had set apart for them—a long, low room with two windows looking out in one direction and two in another.

“Do stop grumbling, Ed,”said Susan.“Ten to one it'll clear up in an hour or so. And in the meantime we're pretty well off.There's a wireless and lots of books.”

“Not for me,”said Peter;“I'm going to explore in the house.”

Everyone agreed to this and that was how the adventures began. It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of, and it was full of unexpected places.The frst few doors they tried led only into spare bedrooms, as everyone had expected that they would;but soon they came to a very long room full of pictures, and there they found a suit of armour;and after that was a room all hung with green, with a harp in one corner;and then came three steps down and fve steps up, and then a kind of little upstairs hall and a door that led out on to a balcony, and then a whole series of rooms that led into each other and were lined with books—most of them very old books and some bigger than a Bible in a church.And shortly after that they looked into a room that was quite empty except for one big wardrobe;the sort that has a looking-glass in the door.There was nothing else in the room at all except a dead bluebottle on the window-sill.

“Nothing there!”said Peter, and they all trooped out again—all except Lucy. She stayed behind because she thought it would be worth-while trying the door of the wardrobe, even though she felt almost sure that it would be locked.To her surprise it opened quite easily, and two moth-balls dropped out.

Looking into the inside, she saw several coats hanging up—mostly long fur coats.

There was nothing Lucy liked so much as the smell and feel of fur. She immediately stepped into the wardrobe and got in among the coats and rubbed her face against them, leaving the door open, of course, because she knew that it is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe.Soon she went further in and found that there was a second row of coats hanging up behind the frst one.It was almost quite dark in there and she kept her arms stretched out in front of her so as not to bump her face into the back of the wardrobe.She took a step further in—then two or three steps—always expecting to feel woodwork against the tips of her fngers.But she could not feel it.

“This must be a simply enormous wardrobe!”thought Lucy, going still further in and pushing the soft folds of the coats aside to make room for her. Then she noticed that there was something crunching under her feet.“I wonder is that more mothballs?”she thought, stooping down to feel it with her hand.But instead of feeling the hard, smooth wood of the foor of the wardrobe, she felt something soft and powdery and extremely cold.“This is very queer,”she said, and went on a step or two further.

Next moment she found that what was rubbing against her face and hands was no longer soft fur but something hard and rough and even prickly.“Why, it is just like branches of trees!”exclaimed Lucy. And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her;not a few inches away where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off.Something cold and soft was falling on her.A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowfakes falling through the air.

Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well. She looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree-trunks;she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out.（She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing toshut oneself into a wardrobe.）It seemed to be still daylight there.“I can always get back if anything goes wrong,”thought Lucy.She began to walk forward, crunch-crunch over the snow and through the wood towards the other light.In about ten minutes she reached it and found it was a lamp-post.As she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next, she heard a pitter patter of feet coming towards her.And soon after that a very strange person stepped out from among the trees into the light of the lamp-post.

He was only a little taller than Lucy herself and he carried over his head an umbrella, white with snow. From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs were shaped like a goat's（the hair on them was glossy black）and instead of feet he had goat's hoofs.He also had a tail, but Lucy did not notice this at frst because it was neatly caught up over the arm that held the umbrella so as to keep it from trailing in the snow.He had a red woollen muffer round his neck, and his skin was rather reddish too.He had a strange, but pleasant little face, with a short pointed beard and curly hair, and out of the hair there stuck two horns, one on each side of his forehead.One of his hands, as I have said, held the umbrella;in the other arm he carried several brown-paper parcels.What with the parcels and the snow it looked just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping.He was a Faun.And when he saw Lucy he gave such a start of surprise that he dropped all his parcels.

“Goodness gracious me!”exclaimed the Faun.

第一章　露西探看衣柜

從前有四個(gè)小孩，他們分別是：彼得、蘇珊、埃德蒙和露西。當(dāng)時(shí)，為了躲避戰(zhàn)時(shí)空襲，這四個(gè)孩子被送到遠(yuǎn)離倫敦的鄉(xiāng)村，住到一位老教授的房子里。故事就是在那里發(fā)生的。老教授的房子坐落在村子中央，離最近的火車站有十英里遠(yuǎn)，距最近的郵局也有兩英里。老教授沒有妻子，孤身一人。他和女管家麥克雷迪太太，還有三個(gè)仆人（分別是：艾薇、瑪格麗特和貝蒂，不過她們在故事中出現(xiàn)的次數(shù)不多）一起住在這棟大房子里。老教授年紀(jì)很大，滿頭銀發(fā)，把臉遮去了大半，孩子們幾乎立刻就喜歡上了老教授。不過當(dāng)他第一天晚上在門口迎接四個(gè)孩子時(shí)，他看上去有些奇怪。露西（四個(gè)孩子當(dāng)中她年齡最小）一看見他便覺得有點(diǎn)兒害怕，而埃德蒙（他年齡倒數(shù)第二小）則是想笑，為了不讓人發(fā)現(xiàn)他在笑，他只好不斷假裝擤鼻涕來掩飾自己。

第一天晚上，四個(gè)孩子向老教授道完晚安，就上樓休息了。剛一上樓，兩個(gè)男孩就跑到兩個(gè)女孩的房間里，大家開始聊了起來。

“咱們這回運(yùn)氣可真好?！北说谜f，“接下來肯定特別好玩，這個(gè)老頭會(huì)讓咱們隨便玩?！?/p>

“我覺得他是一個(gè)可愛的老頭?！碧K珊說。

“哎喲，別扯了！”埃德蒙說。他當(dāng)時(shí)已經(jīng)累了，但又假裝自己不累，這總是把他弄得沒有好脾氣?！皠e再用這種口氣說話了?！?/p>

“什么口氣？”蘇珊說，“再說了，你這時(shí)候本來就該在床上睡覺的。”

“現(xiàn)在又學(xué)媽媽的口氣說話，”埃德蒙說，“你是誰啊，管我什么時(shí)候上床睡覺，你自己睡你的覺吧?！?/p>

“咱們是不是最好上床睡覺？”露西說，“咱們在這里說話，萬一被別人聽見，肯定會(huì)挨罵的?！?/p>

“不會(huì)有事的?！北说谜f，“我給你們講，住在這種房子里，是不會(huì)有人在意我們做什么的。總之，他們聽不見我們說話。從這里走到樓下的餐廳差不多都要十分鐘，而且中間還隔了那么多的樓梯和過道?！?/p>

“什么聲音啊？”露西突然說。她之前從來沒有住過這么大的房子，一想到那些長長的過道還有一排排門后的空屋子，她心里就發(fā)毛。

“傻瓜，不過是一只鳥兒。”埃德蒙說。

“是貓頭鷹吧，”彼得說，“對(duì)鳥兒來說這里可是個(gè)好地方啊。現(xiàn)在我應(yīng)該去睡覺了，要不明天我們好好轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)吧，這種地方可能什么都有。來的路上，你們有沒有注意到那些山，還有樹林？這里可能會(huì)有鷹、鹿，可能還會(huì)有隼。”

“還有獾！”露西說。

“還有狐貍！”埃德蒙說。

“還有野兔！”蘇珊說。

不過，第二天清晨，天空竟然下起了雨，雨很大，一直下著，以至于抬頭向窗外望去，既看不見遠(yuǎn)山，也看不見樹林，連花園里的小溪也看不見。

“真是的！竟然下雨了！”埃德蒙說。孩子們剛和老教授一起吃完早餐，現(xiàn)在待在樓上一間房間里。房間是老教授為他們準(zhǔn)備的，長而低矮，各有兩扇窗戶朝向兩個(gè)不同的方向。

“埃德，別抱怨啦，”蘇珊說，“估計(jì)再過一個(gè)小時(shí)，十有八九雨就會(huì)停。我們這會(huì)兒也有很多東西可以玩，這里有一臺(tái)收音機(jī)，還有許多書?！?/p>

“我不喜歡這些，”彼得說，“我要去探索這座房子?！?/p>

彼得的這個(gè)主意得到了大家的贊同，于是探索行動(dòng)就這樣開始了。一般這種好像永遠(yuǎn)也走不到盡頭的大房子，里面總會(huì)有許多讓人意想不到的地方。剛開始，他們試著打開幾扇門，結(jié)果和大家想象中一樣，門后不過是空蕩蕩的房間而已。不過，沒過一會(huì)兒，他們走進(jìn)一個(gè)長長的房間，里面掛滿了畫，還有一副盔甲；緊接著又進(jìn)入一間房，墻面掛滿了綠色裝飾品，角落里擺放著一把豎琴；之后，大家伙下三個(gè)臺(tái)階，上五個(gè)臺(tái)階，然后爬了一小段樓梯，來到一扇門前，打開后發(fā)現(xiàn)背后是一個(gè)陽臺(tái)；接著是好幾個(gè)相通的房間，里面堆著好多書——大部分都是舊書，有的書比教堂里的《圣經(jīng)》還要大。沒過多久，他們將目光投向一個(gè)非?？盏姆块g，房間里只擺放著一個(gè)大大的衣柜，就是那種門上嵌著穿衣鏡的衣柜。除了這個(gè)衣柜和窗臺(tái)上一只死反吐麗蠅，屋子里什么也沒有。

“這里什么也沒有！”彼得說完，大家就都往外走了，不過，露西并沒有離開。她停在原地，因?yàn)樗氪蜷_衣柜看看里面有什么。雖然她估摸著這個(gè)衣柜多半上了鎖，但還是覺得值得一試。令她大吃一驚的是，她沒費(fèi)什么力氣就打開了衣柜。拉開衣柜門，只見兩個(gè)樟腦丸滾了出來。

露西往里看，發(fā)現(xiàn)里面掛著幾件大衣，多數(shù)是長款皮毛大衣。露西可是最喜歡皮毛大衣的味道和毛茸茸的感覺了，于是她立馬走進(jìn)去，鉆到衣服中間，用臉摩挲衣服的表面。當(dāng)然，她并沒有關(guān)上衣柜門，因?yàn)樗腊炎约宏P(guān)在衣柜里是一件特別愚蠢的事情。過了一會(huì)兒，她又往里面走了幾步，發(fā)現(xiàn)第一排衣服后還掛著一排衣服。那里面光線很暗，幾乎像是在黑夜里，她便伸直胳膊在前方摸索，以防臉撞到衣柜后壁。她向前走了一步，又邁了兩三步，想著手指馬上就要觸到衣柜后壁的木板了，但是她一直都沒有摸到。

“這可真是一個(gè)頂龐大的衣柜?。　甭段餍睦镆贿呄?，一邊用手把柔軟的皮毛大衣推向兩邊，好繼續(xù)往里面走。隨后，她注意到腳下傳來嘎吱嘎吱的聲音。“我估計(jì)這里還有很多樟腦丸吧？”她心里嘀咕著，彎下腰，伸手去摸，但她并沒有摸到衣柜底部光滑的硬木板，反而感覺手指觸到了軟軟的粉狀物體，而且特別涼。“這可真是奇怪！”露西說著又往前走了一兩步。

就在下一秒，她發(fā)現(xiàn)拂過臉龐和雙手的不再是之前的柔軟的皮毛大衣，變成了堅(jiān)硬而粗糙的東西，還刺得人生疼?！斑@是怎么回事？感覺就像是樹枝！”露西驚叫。然后，她發(fā)現(xiàn)前方亮著一盞燈。本來走幾英尺就該摸到衣柜后壁的，可現(xiàn)在走了好長的距離還沒到。此刻，露西感覺有東西飄在自己頭上，冰冰的、軟軟的。片刻之后，她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正站在一片暗夜籠罩下的樹林中央，腳下是積雪，周圍飄著雪花。

露西心里有點(diǎn)兒害怕，但與此同時(shí)，她又覺得好奇和興奮。她扭過頭往回望，透過黑黑的樹林，還能看見打開著的衣柜門，甚至還瞥見了那間空房子——她出發(fā)的地方（當(dāng)然，她并沒有關(guān)上衣柜門，因?yàn)樗腊炎约宏P(guān)在衣柜里是一件特別愚蠢的事情），那里看起來還是白天?！叭f一出了什么事，我隨時(shí)都可以走回去。”露西心里想著。她開始踩著嘎吱作響的積雪往前走，穿過樹林，朝著那盞燈走去。大約過了十分鐘，她走到那盞燈跟前，發(fā)現(xiàn)原來那是一盞路燈。露西站在那里，凝視著路燈，心里在想為什么樹林中央會(huì)有一盞路燈呢，還有自己接下來該做什么呢。就在這時(shí)，她聽見一陣啪嗒啪嗒的腳步聲向她靠近。不一會(huì)兒，她就看見一個(gè)長相奇特的人從樹林中走出來，來到燈光下。

這個(gè)怪人只比露西高一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)兒，他頭頂上撐著一把傘，傘上面落了一層白白的雪。自腰部往上，他和尋常人無異，不過他的腿長得像山羊腿（腿上的毛發(fā)黝黑發(fā)亮），而且他沒有腳，只有一對(duì)羊蹄。另外，他還有尾巴，只不過露西一開始并沒有注意到，因?yàn)槟侨藶榱瞬蛔屛舶屯显谘┑厣?，將它搭在了舉傘的胳膊上。他的脖子上圍著一條紅色的圍巾，膚色也紅通通的。他的臉較小，生得古怪但招人喜歡，下巴上有一小綹胡子，頭發(fā)是卷的，額頭兩側(cè)、頭發(fā)中間各戳出一只角。我剛提到他的一只手撐著傘，另一只手臂攜著幾個(gè)棕色紙包。在雪地里拿著包裹，讓人覺得他像是剛買完圣誕物品。這個(gè)怪人就是半人羊，他看見露西時(shí)，嚇了一大跳，手里的包裹全掉到雪地上了。

“天??！”半人羊驚叫起來。