雙語(yǔ)·凱斯賓王子 第十章　阿斯蘭歸來(lái)

CHAPTER 10　THE RETURN OF THE LION

TO keep along the edge of the gorge was not so easy as it had looked. Before they had gone many yards they were confronted with young fir woods growing on the very edge, and after they had tried to go through these, stooping and pushing for about ten minutes, they realised that, in there, it would take them an hour to do half a mile. So they came back and out again and decided to go round the fir wood. This took them much farther to their right than they wanted to go, far out of sight of the cliffs and out of sound of the river, till they began to be afraid they had lost it altogether. Nobody knew the time, but it was getting to the hottest part of the day.

When they were able at last to go back to the edge of the gorge (nearly a mile below the point from which they had started) they found the cliffs on their side of it a good deal lower and more broken. Soon they found a way down into the gorge and continued the journey at the river's edge. But first they had a rest and a long drink. No one was talking any more about breakfast, or even dinner, with Caspian.

They may have been wise to stick to the Rush instead of going along the top. It kept them sure of their direction: and ever since the fir wood they had all been afraid of being forced too far out of their course and losing themselves in the wood. It was an old and pathless forest, and you could not keep anything like a straight course in it. Patches of hopeless brambles, fallen trees, boggy places and dense undergrowth would be always getting in your way. But the gorge of the Rush was not at all a nice place for travelling either. I mean, it was not a nice place for people in a hurry. For an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful. It had everything you could want on an occasion of that sort—rumbling waterfalls, silver cascades, deep, amber-coloured pools, mossy rocks, and deep moss on the banks in which you could sink over your ankles, every kind of fern, jewel-like dragon flies, sometimes a hawk overhead and once (Peter and Trumpkin both thought) an eagle. But of course what the children and the Dwarf wanted to see as soon as possible was the Great River below them, and Beruna, and the way to Aslan's How.

As they went on, the Rush began to fall more and more steeply. Their journey became more and more of a climb and less and less of a walk—in places even a dangerous climb over slippery rock with a nasty drop into dark chasms, and the river roaring angrily at the bottom.

You may be sure they watched the cliffs on their left eagerly for any sign of a break or any place where they could climb them; but those cliffs remained cruel. It was maddening, because everyone knew that if once they were out of the gorge on that side, they would have only a smooth slope and a fairly short walk to Caspian's headquarters.

The boys and the Dwarf were now in favor of lighting a fire and cooking their bear-meat. Susan didn't want this; she only wanted, as she said, “to get on and finish it and get out of these beastly woods”. Lucy was far too tired and miserable to have any opinion about anything. But as there was no dry wood to be had, it mattered very little what anyone thought. The boys began to wonder if raw meat was really as nasty as they had always been told. Trumpkin assured them it was.

Of course, if the children had attempted a journey like this a few days ago in England, they would have been worn out. I think I have explained before how Narnia was altering them. Even Lucy was by now, so to speak, only one-third of a little girl going to boarding school for the first time, and two-thirds of Queen Lucy of Narnia.

“At last!” said Susan.

“Oh, hurray!” said Peter.

The river gorge had just made a bend and the whole view spread out beneath them. They could see open country stretching before them to the horizon and, between it and them, the broad silver ribbon of the Great River. They could see the specially broad and shallow place which had once been the Fords of Beruna but was now spanned by a long, many-arched bridge. There was a little town at the far end of it.

“By Jove,” said Edmund. “We fought the Battle of Beruna just where that town is!”

This cheered the boys more than anything. You can't help feeling stronger when you look at a place where you won a glorious victory not to mention a kingdom, hundreds of years ago. Peter and Edmund were soon so busy talking about the battle that they forgot their sore feet and the heavy drag of their mail shirts on their shoulders. The Dwarf was interested too.

They were all getting on at a quicker pace now. The going became easier. Though there were still sheer cliffs on their left, the ground was becoming lower on their right. Soon it was no longer a gorge at all, only a valley. There were no more waterfalls and presently they were in fairly thick woods again.

Then—all at once—whizz, and a sound rather like the stroke of a woodpecker. The children were still wondering where (ages ago) they had heard a sound just like that and why they disliked it so, when Trumpkin shouted, “Down,” at the same moment forcing Lucy (who happened to be next to him) flat down into the bracken. Peter, who had been looking up to see if he could spot a squirrel, had seen what it was—a long cruel arrow had sunk into a tree trunk just above his head. As he pulled Susan down and dropped himself, another came rasping over his shoulder and struck the ground at his side.

“Quick! Quick! Get back! Crawl!” panted Trumpkin.

They turned and wriggled along uphill, under the bracken amid clouds of horribly buzzing flies. Arrows whizzed round them. One struck Susan's helmet with a sharp ping and glanced off. They crawled quicker. Sweat poured off them. Then they ran, stooping nearly double. The boys held their swords in their hands for fear they would trip them up.

It was heart-breaking work—all uphill again, back over the ground they had already travelled. When they felt that they really couldn't run any more, even to save their lives, they all dropped down in the damp moss beside a waterfall and behind a big boulder, panting. They were surprised to see how high they had already got.

They listened intently and heard no sound of pursuit.

“So that's all right,” said Trumpkin, drawing a deep breath. “They're not searching the wood. Only sentries, I expect. But it means that Miraz has an outpost down there. Bottles and battledores! though, it was a near thing.”

“I ought to have my head smacked for bringing us this way at all,” said Peter.

“On the contrary, your Majesty,” said the Dwarf. “For one thing it wasn't you, it was your royal brother, King Edmund, who first suggested going by Glasswater.”

“I'm afraid the D.L.F.'s right,” said Edmund, who had quite honestly forgotten this ever since things began going wrong.

“And for another,” continued Trumpkin, “if we'd gone my way, we'd have walked straight into that new outpost, most likely; or at least had just the same trouble avoiding it. I think this Glasswater route has turned out for the best.”

“A blessing in disguise,” said Susan.

“Some disguise!” said Edmund.

“I suppose we'll have to go right up the gorge again now,” said Lucy.

“Lu, you're a hero,” said Peter. “That's the nearest you've got today to saying I told you so. Let's get on.”

“And as soon as we're well up into the forest,” said Trumpkin, “whatever anyone says, I'm going to light a fire and cook supper. But we must get well away from here.”

There is no need to describe how they toiled back up the gorge. It was pretty hard work, but oddly enough everyone felt more cheerful. They were getting their second wind; and the word supper had had a wonderful effect.

They reached the fir wood which had caused them so much trouble while it was still daylight, and bivouacked in a hollow just above it. It was tedious gathering the fire wood; but it was grand when the fire blazed up and they began producing the damp and smeary parcels of bear-meat which would have been so very unattractive to anyone who had spent the day indoors. The Dwarf had splendid ideas about cookery. Each apple (they still had a few of these) was wrapped up in bear-meat—as if it was to be apple dumpling with meat instead of pastry, only much thicker— and spiked on a sharp stick and then roasted. And the juice of the apple worked all through the meat, like apple sauce with roast pork. Bear that has lived too much on other animals is not very nice, but bear that has had plenty of honey and fruit is excellent, and this turned out to be that sort of bear. It was a truly glorious meal. And, of course, no washing up—only lying back and watching the smoke from Trumpkin's pipe and stretching one's tired legs and chatting. Everyone felt quite hopeful now about finding King Caspian tomorrow and defeating Miraz in a few days. It may not have been sensible of them to feel like this, but they did.

They dropped off to sleep one by one, but all pretty quickly.

Lucy woke out of the deepest sleep you can imagine, with the feeling that the voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name. She thought at first it was her father's voice, but that did not seem quite right. Then she thought it was Peter's voice, but that did not seem to fit either. She did not want to get up; not because she was still tired—on the contrary she was wonderfully rested and all the aches had gone from her bones—but because she felt so extremely happy and comfortable. She was looking straight up at the Narnian moon, which is larger than ours, and at the starry sky, for the place where they had bivouacked was comparatively open.

“Lucy,” came the call again, neither her father's voice nor Peter's. She sat up, trembling with excitement but not with fear. The moon was so bright that the whole forest landscape around her was almost as clear as day, though it looked wilder. Behind her was the fir wood; away to her right the jagged cliff-tops on the far side of the gorge; straight ahead, open grass to where a glade of trees began about a bow-shot away. Lucy looked very hard at the trees of that glade.

“Why, I do believe they're moving,” she said to her self. “They're walking about.”

She got up, her heart beating wildly, and walked towards them. There was certainly a noise in the glade, a noise such as trees make in a high wind, though there was no wind tonight. Yet it was not exactly an ordinary tree-noise either. Lucy felt there was a tune in it, but she could not catch the tune any more than she had been able to catch the words when the trees had so nearly talked to her the night before. But there was, at least, a lilt; she felt her own feet wanting to dance as she got nearer. And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving—moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. (“And I suppose,” thought Lucy, “when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.”) She was almost among them now.

The first tree she looked at seemed at first glance to be not a tree at all but a huge man with a shaggy beard and great bushes of hair. She was not frightened: she had seen such things before. But when she looked again he was only a tree, though he was still moving. You couldn't see whether he had feet or roots, of course, because when trees move they don't walk on the surface of the earth; they wade in it as we do in water. The same thing happened with every tree she looked at. At one moment they seemed to be the friendly, lovely giant and giantess forms which the tree-people put on when some good magic has called them into full life: next moment they all looked like trees again. But when they looked like trees, it was like strangely human trees, and when they looked like people, it was like strangely branchy and leafy people—and all the time that queer lilting, rustling, cool, merry noise.

“They are almost awake, not quite,” said Lucy. She knew she herself was wide awake, wider than anyone usually is.

She went fearlessly in among them, dancing herself as, she leaped this way and that to avoid being run into by these huge partners. But she was only half interested in them. She wanted to get beyond them to something else; it was from beyond them that the dear voice had called.

She soon got through them (half wondering whether she had been using her arms to push branches aside, or to take hands in a Great Chain with big dancers who stooped to reach her) for they were really a ring of trees round a central open place. She stepped out from among their shifting confusion of lovely lights and shadows.

A circle of grass, smooth as a lawn, met her eyes, with dark trees dancing all round it. And then—oh joy! For he was there: the huge Lion, shining white in the moonlight, with his huge black shadow underneath him.

But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but Lucy never thought of that. She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not. She rushed to him. She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.

“Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan,” sobbed Lucy. “At last.”

The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath came all round her. She gazed up into the large wise face.

“Welcome, child,” he said.

“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you're bigger.”

“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

For a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak. But Aslan spoke.

“Lucy,” he said, “we must not lie here for long. You have work in hand, and much time has been lost today.”

“Yes, wasn't it a shame?” said Lucy. “I saw you all right. They wouldn't believe me. They're all so—”

From somewhere deep inside Aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.

“I'm sorry,” said Lucy, who understood some of his moods. “I didn't mean to start slanging the others. But it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?”

The Lion looked straight into her eyes.

“Oh, Aslan,” said Lucy. “You don't mean it was? How could I—I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? Don't look at me like that... oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?”

Aslan said nothing.

“You mean,” said Lucy rather faintly, “that it would have turned out all right—somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?”

“To know what would have happened, child?” said Aslan. “No. Nobody is ever told that.”

“Oh dear,” said Lucy.

“But anyone can find out what will happen,” said Aslan. “If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out.”

“Do you mean that is what you want me to do?” gasped Lucy.

“Yes, little one,” said Aslan.

“Will the others see you too?” asked Lucy.

“Certainly not at first,” said Aslan. “Later on, it depends.”

“But they won't believe me!” said Lucy.

“It doesn't matter,” said Aslan.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Lucy. “And I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you'd let me stay. And I thought you'd come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid.”

“It is hard for you, little one,” said Aslan. “But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now.”

Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into . Quite suddenly she sat up.

“I'm sorry, Aslan,” she said. “I'm ready now.”

“Now you are a lioness,” said Aslan. “And now all Narnia will be renewed. But come. We have no time to lose.”

He got up and walked with stately, noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come: and Lucy went with him, laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane. The trees parted to let them through and for one second assumed their human forms completely. Lucy had a glimpse of tall and lovely wood-gods and wood-goddesses all bowing to the Lion; next moment they were trees again, but still bowing, with such graceful sweeps of branch and trunk that their bowing was itself a kind of dance.

“Now, child,” said Aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, “I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone.”

It is a terrible thing to have to wake four people, all older than yourself and all very tired, for the purpose of telling them something they probably won't believe and making them do something they certainly won't like. “I mustn't think about it, I must just do it,” thought Lucy.

She went to Peter first and shook him. “Peter,” she whispered in his ear, “wake up. Quick. Aslan is here. He says we've got to follow him at once.”

“Certainly, Lu. Whatever you like,” said Peter unexpectedly. This was encouraging, but as Peter instantly rolled round and went to sleep again it wasn't much use.

Then she tried Susan. Susan did really wake up, but only to say in her most annoying grown-up voice, “You've been dreaming, Lucy. Go to sleep again.”

She tackled Edmund next. It was very difficult to wake him, but when at last she had done it he was really awake and sat up.

“Eh?” he said in a grumpy voice. “What are you talking about?”

She said it all over again. This was one of the worst parts of her job, for each time she said it, it sounded less convincing.

“Aslan!” said Edmund, jumping up. “Hurray! Where?”

Lucy turned back to where she could see the Lion waiting, his patient eyes fixed upon her. “There,” she said, pointing.

“Where?” asked Edmund again.

“There. There. Don't you see? Just this side of the trees.”

Edmund stared hard for a while and then said, “No. There's nothing there. You've got dazzled and muddled with the moonlight. One does, you know. I thought I saw something for a moment myself. It's only an optical what-do-you-call-it.”

“I can see him all the time,” said Lucy. “He's looking straight at us.”

“Then why can't I see him?”

“He said you mightn't be able to.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. That's what he said.”

“Oh, bother it all,” said Edmund. “I do wish you wouldn't keep on seeing things. But I suppose we'll have to wake the others.”

第十章　阿斯蘭歸來(lái)

沿著峽谷邊緣行走可不像看起來(lái)的那么容易。沒(méi)走多少碼，他們就被長(zhǎng)在懸崖邊的冷杉幼林擋住了去路。他們?cè)噲D穿越這片樹林，彎著腰掙扎行進(jìn)了約十分鐘，才意識(shí)到在這片林子里走半英里就得花上一個(gè)鐘頭。他們只好返回重新來(lái)過(guò)，決定繞著杉樹林走。這使得他們大大偏離了原定的右邊方向，遠(yuǎn)得看不見(jiàn)懸崖，聽(tīng)不到河流聲，這時(shí)他們開(kāi)始擔(dān)心他們完全走錯(cuò)了。沒(méi)人知道幾點(diǎn)，但氣溫最高的正午時(shí)分差不多到了。

當(dāng)他們最后總算走回到峽谷邊上時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)他們這一側(cè)的峽谷峭壁要低矮得多，比他們的出發(fā)地低了約一英里，而且更崎嶇。他們很快找到了一條路徑，爬下了峽谷，沿著河邊繼續(xù)他們的行程。不過(guò)在繼續(xù)之前，他們先停下歇息了一會(huì)兒，喝足了水。沒(méi)人再談起跟凱斯賓一塊共進(jìn)午餐甚或是晚餐的事了。

明智的做法不是在峽谷頂上走而是挨著拉什河走。這能確保他們走對(duì)方向：遭遇了那片杉樹林后，他們一直擔(dān)心會(huì)不由自主地偏離路線太遠(yuǎn)，在樹林里迷路。那片樹林古老，無(wú)路可行，在那里面根本沒(méi)法走直路。大片大片令人絕望的荊棘，倒伏的大樹，泥濘的沼澤，茂密的矮樹叢，總是層出不窮地?fù)踝∷麄兊娜ヂ?。不過(guò)，拉什河峽谷也根本不是一個(gè)好行走的地方。我是說(shuō)，對(duì)匆忙趕路的人來(lái)說(shuō)不是個(gè)好地方。可要是午后漫游，再來(lái)上一份野外茶點(diǎn)，那倒是令人愉悅的。就游覽而言，這里的景致應(yīng)有盡有：轟鳴的瀑布，銀色的飛流，琥珀色的深潭，爬滿青苔的巖石，岸邊的深苔，深得一腳踩下可陷及腳踝，各種蕨類植物，寶石一般的蜻蜓，時(shí)不時(shí)有鷹在頭頂掠過(guò)，還見(jiàn)到了一只雕（彼得和特魯普金都這么認(rèn)為）。不過(guò)，當(dāng)然啦，孩子們和矮人最想見(jiàn)到的就是他們下方的大河，還有貝魯納淺灘，以及去向阿斯蘭堡壘的路徑。

越繼續(xù)前行，拉什河流經(jīng)的地方越陡峭。他們更多是在爬行，而不是在行走——在有些地方，他們很艱險(xiǎn)地攀爬，要翻過(guò)滑溜的巖石，身下就是幽暗的深谷，谷底是轟鳴湍急的河流。

你可以想見(jiàn)他們?nèi)绾渭鼻械夭榭醋筮厬已拢胝业饺魏瘟芽诨蛉魏文芘逝赖目p隙；可那些懸崖險(xiǎn)得很。這真讓人發(fā)瘋，因?yàn)榇蠹叶贾溃灰叱鰨{谷，他們只需要越過(guò)一個(gè)緩坡，再走上一小段路就能到達(dá)凱斯賓的指揮部。

男孩們和矮人都贊成現(xiàn)在生火烤熊肉吃。蘇珊不想這么干；像她說(shuō)的，她只想“繼續(xù)走，走到頭，走出這些討厭的樹林”。露西太累太難受，顧不上思考什么。可既然沒(méi)有干柴可尋，任何想法都不再重要。男孩們開(kāi)始動(dòng)起了心思，不知道生肉是不是真像人家說(shuō)的那樣嘗起來(lái)惡心。特魯普金向他們保證確實(shí)如此。

當(dāng)然啦，要是幾天前在英國(guó)讓孩子們經(jīng)歷如此旅程，他們?cè)缇屠劭辶?。之前我已?jīng)解釋過(guò)納尼亞如何改造他們了。哪怕是露西，可以說(shuō)，如今的她只剩下三分之一還是那個(gè)第一次上寄宿學(xué)校的小女孩，另外三分之二是納尼亞的露西女王。

“總算走出來(lái)了！”蘇珊說(shuō)。

“啊，萬(wàn)歲！”彼得說(shuō)。

河谷在此轉(zhuǎn)彎，他們身下的景色一覽無(wú)遺。他們看到腳下開(kāi)闊的原野一直延伸到天際，原野與他們之間隔著大河，像一條寬闊的銀色帶子。他們看到那處特別寬且淺的河灘，那里曾經(jīng)是貝魯納淺灘，但如今立起了一座長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的多孔拱橋。橋的遠(yuǎn)處有一座小鎮(zhèn)。

“天啊，”埃德蒙說(shuō)，“我們就在小鎮(zhèn)那里打了貝魯納戰(zhàn)役！”

沒(méi)有什么比這更能振奮兩個(gè)男孩了。當(dāng)再次見(jiàn)到幾百年前曾經(jīng)贏得一場(chǎng)輝煌戰(zhàn)役的地方，你會(huì)情不自禁地豪氣倍增，更別提那場(chǎng)勝利贏得了一個(gè)王國(guó)。彼得和埃德蒙津津有味地談?wù)撝菆?chǎng)戰(zhàn)役，忘卻了腳的酸痛和肩背上盔甲的沉重。矮人也聽(tīng)得入神。

大家都加快腳步繼續(xù)前行。路好走了些。盡管他們左邊還是陡峭的懸崖，不過(guò)他們右側(cè)的地面坡度趨于緩和。很快他們走出了陡峭的峽谷，面前是一片山谷。這里沒(méi)有了瀑布，他們很快進(jìn)入了一片密林。

接著，很突然地“嗖”的一聲，聽(tīng)起來(lái)很像啄木鳥發(fā)出的啄木聲。孩子們還在尋思多年前在哪里聽(tīng)到過(guò)類似的聲響，還納悶為什么他們討厭這個(gè)聲音，這時(shí)就聽(tīng)到特魯普金大喊：“趴下！”同時(shí)把他身旁的露西拽倒在蕨叢中。彼得，正抬起頭來(lái)看是否來(lái)了一只松鼠，明白了那是什么聲音——一支長(zhǎng)利箭擦過(guò)他的頭頂扎入了樹干。他剛把蘇珊拽倒，自己趴下，另一支箭刺耳地擦過(guò)他的肩頭，射入了他身旁的地面。

“快！快！后退！爬行！”特魯普金喘著氣說(shuō)。

他們轉(zhuǎn)身，扭動(dòng)著身子爬上山坡，身下是蕨草，周邊是討厭的嗡嗡叫的成群蠅蟲。箭矢在他們身邊嗖嗖地掠過(guò)。一支箭射中了蘇珊的頭盔，發(fā)出砰的一聲銳響后彈開(kāi)。他們加速爬行，大汗淋漓。接著他們跑了起來(lái)，幾乎呈九十度貓著腰。男孩們把劍握在手里，免得被劍絆倒。

太令人沮喪了，又得重新上坡，重走剛才走過(guò)的路。當(dāng)他們覺(jué)得再也跑不動(dòng)時(shí)，哪怕就是為了逃命，他們?nèi)祭鄣乖谄俨歼叺囊粔K大石后，倒在潮濕的苔蘚上，上氣不接下氣。見(jiàn)到自己居然爬了這么高，他們都吃了一驚。

他們凝神傾聽(tīng)，沒(méi)有聽(tīng)到追蹤的聲響。

“沒(méi)事了，”特魯普金說(shuō)，深吸了一口氣，“他們沒(méi)搜查樹林。看來(lái)那些僅是哨兵。不過(guò)，那就意味著米亞茲在那里設(shè)了哨所。該死的！(1)剛才可真險(xiǎn)?！?/p>

“把大家?guī)线@條路，我真該摑自己的腦袋?！北说谜f(shuō)。

“恰恰相反，陛下，”矮人說(shuō)，“原因之一，不是你，而是你的御弟，埃德蒙國(guó)王，是他最早建議我們走清水灣這條路?！?/p>

“恐怕D．L．F.說(shuō)對(duì)了?！卑５旅烧f(shuō)，出狀況以來(lái)他的確把這點(diǎn)給忘掉了。

“原因之二，”特魯普金繼續(xù)道，“要是剛才照我的路線走，我們要么直接走入那個(gè)新哨所的伏擊范圍，極有這個(gè)可能；要么為避開(kāi)那個(gè)哨所我們也至少得遭遇同樣的麻煩。我認(rèn)為，這條清水灣路線實(shí)際上是最佳的路線?！?/p>

“因禍得福?！碧K珊說(shuō)。

“這禍可夠大的！”埃德蒙說(shuō)。

“我想我們現(xiàn)在只能沿著峽谷往上走。”露西說(shuō)。

“露，你真是個(gè)好人，”彼得說(shuō)，“你本可以說(shuō)‘早該聽(tīng)我的’，可你沒(méi)有。上路吧。”

“等我們進(jìn)入樹林，”特魯普金說(shuō)，“不管你們說(shuō)什么，我都要生火做晚餐。不過(guò)得先離開(kāi)這里。”

他們?nèi)绾纹D難返回不必贅述。雖然艱難，可奇怪的是，大家開(kāi)朗起來(lái)。他們正緩過(guò)勁來(lái)，而且“晚餐”一詞效果非凡。

他們來(lái)到那片曾給他們帶來(lái)很多麻煩的杉樹林，這時(shí)天色尚未暗下來(lái)，他們?cè)谝粋€(gè)低洼處扎營(yíng)。撿拾柴火很乏味，可當(dāng)篝火燃起，那感覺(jué)好極了。他們開(kāi)始拿出潮濕、油污的一包包熊肉，對(duì)那些居家人士來(lái)說(shuō)，這可夠惡心的。矮人對(duì)烹調(diào)很有心得。他們把僅剩的幾個(gè)蘋果裹在熊肉里——就像是蘋果餡餅，不過(guò)用的是熊肉而非面皮，而且外皮更厚實(shí)——然后串在尖木棍上烤。蘋果汁滲進(jìn)肉里，像是烤豬肉用的蘋果醬。常以肉為食的熊，肉質(zhì)不佳，但食用過(guò)大量蜂蜜和水果的熊則肉質(zhì)鮮美，這頭熊正好是后者。這真是一頓美餐。而且，當(dāng)然啦，無(wú)須清洗餐具，光是靠著、望著特魯普金煙斗冒出的煙，舒展疲憊的腿腳，聊著天。每個(gè)人都樂(lè)觀起來(lái)，相信第二天就能找到凱斯賓國(guó)王，幾天后就能打敗米亞茲。這些想法可能不夠理性，可他們就是那么想的。

很快，他們一個(gè)接一個(gè)地睡著了。

露西從熟睡中醒來(lái)，感覺(jué)到這世上她最喜歡的聲音在呼喚她的名字。她起初以為那是爸爸的聲音，可又不像。接著她以為是彼得的聲音，可那也不像。她不想起來(lái)，不是因?yàn)樗€累著——正相反，她休息得很好，骨頭的酸痛都消失了——而是因?yàn)樗杏X(jué)太幸福太舒服了。她仰望著納尼亞明月，那月亮比我們的大，仰望著星空，因?yàn)樗麄兟稜I(yíng)的地方相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)較為空曠。

“露西?！焙魡韭曉俅雾懫穑皇前职忠膊皇潜说玫穆曇?。她坐起身，顫抖起來(lái)，是因?yàn)榧?dòng)而不是害怕。月光明亮，她周圍的樹林景色很清晰，像白晝一樣，但看起來(lái)更野性。她身后是杉樹林；右邊是參差的懸崖頂，聳立在峽谷的對(duì)面；正前方，是一片開(kāi)闊的草地，草地的一箭開(kāi)外是一片林地。露西仔細(xì)盯著那處樹木。

“哎呀，我確信他們?cè)谝苿?dòng)，”她自言自語(yǔ)，“他們?cè)谧邉?dòng)?！?/p>

她站起來(lái)，心跳得厲害，朝他們走去。千真萬(wàn)確，林地傳來(lái)一種聲音，就像是大風(fēng)天樹木的嘩嘩聲，可今晚沒(méi)風(fēng)。但又不完全是一般的樹林聲。露西覺(jué)得其中有種旋律，可她無(wú)法捕捉到那種旋律，就像前一晚她沒(méi)能弄明白樹木幾乎要對(duì)她傾訴的話語(yǔ)。但至少，她聽(tīng)出一種輕快的調(diào)子；走近時(shí)，她發(fā)覺(jué)自己的腳不由自主地跳起舞來(lái)。此時(shí)，確信無(wú)疑，那些樹真的在移動(dòng)——彼此交錯(cuò)地移動(dòng)，仿佛在跳一支復(fù)雜的鄉(xiāng)村舞?！拔蚁耄甭段鲗に?，“樹要是跳舞，那肯定是田園舞。”她此時(shí)幾乎置身其中。

她見(jiàn)到的第一株樹，一眼看去根本不像棵樹，更像是一個(gè)魁梧的男人，胡須亂蓬蓬的，毛發(fā)濃密。她沒(méi)被嚇到：她過(guò)去見(jiàn)過(guò)這類東西。可再一看，他又成了一棵樹，雖然還在移動(dòng)。當(dāng)然啦，你看不出來(lái)他是否有腳或是樹根，因?yàn)闃湟苿?dòng)時(shí)，他們不是走在地面上；他們?cè)谕晾镆苿?dòng)，就像我們?cè)谯徦粯印Ｋ?jiàn)的每一棵樹都發(fā)生了類似的情形。他們時(shí)而形似友好可愛(ài)的男女巨人，當(dāng)善意的魔法將樹人完全喚醒時(shí)，他們就會(huì)呈現(xiàn)巨人形狀；時(shí)而又化身為樹。當(dāng)他們呈現(xiàn)樹形時(shí)，他們看似是古怪的人形樹，而當(dāng)他們看似是人時(shí)，他們又似古怪的長(zhǎng)著枝干樹葉的人。那怪異而悅耳、帶有沙沙聲的愜意聲音一直響著。

“他們就要蘇醒了，但還不完全。”露西說(shuō)道。她清楚自己是完全清醒的，比誰(shuí)都清醒。

她毫無(wú)畏懼地走到他們中間，不時(shí)跳著避開(kāi)，免得被這些高大的伙伴撞上。不過(guò)，她對(duì)他們的興趣倒是不大。她想穿過(guò)他們，走近某種東西；那親切的呼喚聲是從樹林外傳來(lái)的。

她很快就穿越了他們（不知是她用手臂將樹枝推開(kāi)，還是手拉著這些高大的舞者，加入了他們的行列，他們要彎下身來(lái)才夠得著她），這些樹木圍成一圈，環(huán)繞著一片空地。她從他們不斷變換交錯(cuò)著的可愛(ài)光影中走了出來(lái)。

一圈青草地，平整得跟修剪過(guò)的草坪一樣，展現(xiàn)在她眼前，周邊幽暗的樹木在跳著舞。于是——啊，歡欣鼓舞！他在那兒：那高大的獅王，在月光下白得發(fā)亮，身下投下他巨大的黑色影子。

他要不是擺動(dòng)著尾巴，就跟石獅一個(gè)樣，不過(guò)，露西根本不那么想。她壓根就沒(méi)想過(guò)這頭獅子友善與否。她沖向他，要是不馬上這么做，她覺(jué)得自己的心就要爆裂。下一刻她發(fā)覺(jué)自己正親吻著他，手臂盡可能地環(huán)抱著他的脖子，臉埋在他那美麗濃密如絲般光滑的鬃毛里。

“阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭，親愛(ài)的阿斯蘭，”露西啜泣著，“終于來(lái)了?！?/p>

那巨獸側(cè)躺下來(lái)，讓露西半坐半倚在他的前爪間。他傾身向前，舌頭舔了舔她的鼻子。他溫暖的氣息包圍著她。她抬頭凝視著那巨大、智慧的臉龐。

“歡迎，孩子?！彼f(shuō)。

“阿斯蘭，”露西說(shuō)，“你變得更高大了。”

“那是因?yàn)槟銡q數(shù)增長(zhǎng)了，小家伙?！彼卮稹?/p>

“難道不是因?yàn)槟阋材觊L(zhǎng)了嗎？”

“我不會(huì)老。但你每長(zhǎng)大一歲，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我變得更高大?！?/p>

她一度太高興了，不愿說(shuō)話。但阿斯蘭開(kāi)了口。

“露西，”他說(shuō)，“我們不能長(zhǎng)時(shí)間在這兒躺著。你現(xiàn)在有事要做，今天浪費(fèi)了很多時(shí)間?！?/p>

“是的，很遺憾?！甭段髡f(shuō)，“我明明見(jiàn)到你了。他們不肯相信我。他們都那么……”

阿斯蘭的身體深處傳來(lái)一聲極低沉的吼聲。

“對(duì)不起，”露西多少明白他的情緒，“我并不想說(shuō)別人的壞話?？稍趺凑f(shuō)那不是我的錯(cuò)，不是嗎？”

獅王直視著她的眼睛。

“噢，阿斯蘭，”露西說(shuō)，“難道說(shuō)你認(rèn)為是我的錯(cuò)？我怎么能……我無(wú)法丟下其他人只身來(lái)找你，我怎么能？別那么看著我……好吧，我想我當(dāng)時(shí)能的。嗯，我知道，要是跟你一起，我不會(huì)是獨(dú)自一個(gè)?？赡怯钟惺裁从媚兀俊?/p>

阿斯蘭沒(méi)吭聲。

“你是說(shuō)，”露西弱弱地說(shuō)，“那樣一切會(huì)順利……會(huì)多少好起來(lái)？可如何會(huì)好起來(lái)？求你了，阿斯蘭！我不能知道嗎？”

“想知道那會(huì)發(fā)生什么，孩子？”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“沒(méi)法知道。沒(méi)人能預(yù)知。”

“天啊。”露西說(shuō)。

“要行動(dòng)了才知道那會(huì)發(fā)生什么，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“要是你現(xiàn)在回到他們身邊，把他們叫醒，告訴他們你又再次見(jiàn)到了我，告訴他們必須馬上起來(lái)跟你走，那樣會(huì)發(fā)生什么？要知道答案只有一種方式。”

“你想要我這么做？”露西吃驚地說(shuō)。

“是的，小家伙?！卑⑺固m說(shuō)。

“其他人能看得見(jiàn)你嗎？”露西詢問(wèn)。

“開(kāi)始肯定看不見(jiàn)，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“后面會(huì)看見(jiàn)，那要視情形而定?！?/p>

“可他們不會(huì)信我的！”露西說(shuō)。

“不要緊?！卑⑺固m說(shuō)。

“天啊，天啊，”露西說(shuō)，“剛才很高興再次見(jiàn)到你。我還以為你會(huì)讓我留下。我以為你會(huì)咆哮而來(lái)，把所有的敵人都嚇跑，就像上次一樣。可現(xiàn)在一切都不妙。”

“這對(duì)你而言是艱難的，小家伙，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“可事情不會(huì)以同樣的方式發(fā)生兩次。我們大家在納尼亞一直以來(lái)都很艱難。”

露西把頭埋進(jìn)他的鬃毛，以避開(kāi)看他的臉。他的鬃毛里一定有某種魔力。她感覺(jué)到獅子般的力量注入她的身體。猛地，她坐了起來(lái)。

“對(duì)不起，阿斯蘭，”她說(shuō)，“我現(xiàn)在準(zhǔn)備好了?！?/p>

“你現(xiàn)在有了獅子的力量，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“納尼亞將要復(fù)興。來(lái)吧。我們得抓緊時(shí)間?！?/p>

他起身，邁著莊嚴(yán)無(wú)聲的步子走向那圈舞動(dòng)的樹木，露西剛才就是穿越他們而來(lái)。露西跟著獅子，顫抖的手拉著他的鬃毛。樹木為他們讓路，有那么一瞬間他們完全化身為人。露西見(jiàn)到高大可愛(ài)的樹神和林間仙女紛紛向獅王躬身致意；下一瞬間他們又變回樹木，依然鞠躬致敬，優(yōu)雅地?cái)[動(dòng)著枝干，像是一種舞蹈。

“好了，孩子，”走出樹林后阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“我在此等候。去把其他人喚醒，叫他們跟你走。要是他們不肯，那么至少你只身跟隨我。”

要把那四個(gè)年紀(jì)比你大又疲憊至極的人叫醒可真不容易，更何況就為了跟他們說(shuō)些他們或許不信的話，而且讓他們做他們肯定不愿干的事?！拔也灰ハ耄灰鼍秃昧?。”露西心想。

她先走向彼得，搖晃他。“彼得，”她在他耳邊低語(yǔ)，“醒來(lái)。快。阿斯蘭來(lái)了。他說(shuō)我們得馬上跟他走。”

“當(dāng)然，露。照你的意思辦。”彼得的回答出人意料。這讓人振奮，可下一秒彼得翻了一個(gè)身又睡了過(guò)去，沒(méi)多少用。

下一個(gè)是蘇珊。蘇珊確實(shí)醒了過(guò)來(lái)，但只是用她那很令人討厭的大人腔說(shuō)：“你在做夢(mèng)吧，露西。接著睡吧。”

下一個(gè)她去對(duì)付埃德蒙。費(fèi)了很大勁兒才把他給弄醒，不過(guò)她終于成功了，他是真醒了，坐了起來(lái)。

“嗯？”他不高興地說(shuō)，“你說(shuō)什么呢？”

她又說(shuō)了一遍。這是最難做的部分之一，因?yàn)樗恐v一次，可信度就降低一次。

“阿斯蘭！”埃德蒙說(shuō)，跳了起來(lái)，“好哇！在哪兒呢？”

露西轉(zhuǎn)身對(duì)著一個(gè)方向，她能看見(jiàn)獅王正等在那里，他那耐心的眼睛注視著她。“那里。”她手指著那里。

“哪有？”埃德蒙又問(wèn)。

“那里。那里。你看不到嗎？就在樹的這一頭?！?/p>

埃德蒙仔細(xì)看了一會(huì)兒，然后說(shuō)道：“看不見(jiàn)。那里什么也沒(méi)有。月光弄花了你的眼，看錯(cuò)了。人有時(shí)候會(huì)這樣，你懂的。我剛才有一刻還以為自己見(jiàn)到了什么呢。那只是一種光學(xué)上叫作什么的現(xiàn)象?！?/p>

“我一直都能看見(jiàn)他，”露西說(shuō)，“他正看著我們呢?！?/p>

“那為什么我看不見(jiàn)他？”

“他說(shuō)過(guò)你可能看不到。”

“為什么？”

“不清楚。他就是那么說(shuō)的。”

“唉，真麻煩，”埃德蒙說(shuō)，“我真希望你不要有幻視的毛病。不過(guò)，我覺(jué)得還是叫醒其他人吧?！?/p>

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(1) Bottles and battledores：直譯為“瓶子和板羽球球板”，這兩個(gè)英文單詞押頭韻，不作字面義解，用作感嘆詞。