《能言馬與男孩》 第七章 阿拉維斯在塔什班城

CHAPTER SEVEN ARAVIS IN TASHBAAN

第七章　阿拉維斯在塔什班城

WHAT had really happened was this. When Aravis saw Shasta hurried away by the Narnians and found herself alone with two horses who (very wisely) wouldn' t say a word, she never lost her head even for a moment. She grabbed Bree' s halter and stood still, holding both the horses;and though her heart was beating as hard as a hammer, she did nothing to show it. As soon as the Narnian lords had passed she tried to move on again. But before she could take a step, another crier ("Bother all these people"thought Aravis) was heard shouting out,"Way, way, way ! Way for the Tarkheena Lasaraleen !"and immediately, following the crier, came four armed slaves and then four bearers carrying a litter which was all a-flutter with silken curtains and all a-jingle with silver bells and which scented the whole street with perfumes and flowers. After the litter, female slaves in beautiful clothes, and then a few grooms, runners, pages, and the like. And now Aravis made her first mistake. She knew Lasaraleen quite well-almost as if they had been at school together-because they had often stayed in the same houses and been to the same parties. And Aravis couldn' t help looking up to see what Lasaraleen looked like now that she was married and a very great person indeed.

沙斯塔所想象的，跟事實(shí)可不太一樣。當(dāng)阿拉維斯看到沙斯塔被納尼亞人帶走，并且發(fā)現(xiàn)自己單獨(dú)和兩匹非常聰明的不愿說話的馬在一起時，她沒有一分鐘喪失自己的理智。她抓住布里的韁繩，仍舊站在那里，同時控制兩匹馬。雖然她的心臟像錘子一樣砰砰跳著，她一點(diǎn)沒有表露出來。納尼亞王爺們剛一走過去，她便嘗試再次前進(jìn)。但她還沒有邁步，就聽到另一個傳喚者大喊出聲：“所有的這些人真討厭”，阿拉維斯心中想，“讓路，讓路，讓路!為泰坎希娜拉斯阿拉莉恩讓路!”緊接著，跟隨那個傳喚者走過來四個全副武裝的奴隸，以及抬著一頂轎子的四個轎夫，轎子上面絲綢轎簾飄揚(yáng)，銀色鈴鐺叮當(dāng)作響，整條街上都彌漫著芳香和花朵的味道。在轎子的后面，有四個穿著漂亮衣服的女奴隸，然后是幾個侍從，跑腿的小廝，青年侍從和類似的人。在這個時候，阿拉維斯犯了第一個錯誤。她十分了解拉斯阿拉莉恩——幾乎好像她們一起上過學(xué)一樣，因?yàn)樗齻冞^去經(jīng)常待在相同的房間里，參加相同的聚會。如今拉斯阿拉莉恩已經(jīng)結(jié)婚了并且成為了一個闊氣的太太，所以阿拉維斯禁不住抬頭去看現(xiàn)在的拉斯阿拉莉恩是什么樣子的。

It was fatal. The eyes of the two girls met. And immediately Lasaraleen sat up in the litter and burst out at the top of her voice.

這是毀滅性的錯誤。兩個女孩的眼光交匯，拉斯阿拉莉恩立即從轎子里站起來，用她最高的嗓門喊道。

"Aravis ! What on earth are you doing here ? Your father—" There was not a moment to lose.Without a second' s delay Aravis let go the Horses,caught the edge of the litter, swung herself up beside Lasaraleen and whispered furiously in her ear.

“阿拉維斯!你究竟在這里做什么啊?你的父親……”真是一刻也不能放松。阿拉維斯一秒鐘也沒有推遲，她松開了馬，抓住轎子的邊緣，自己竄到拉斯阿拉莉恩的身旁，并且在她的耳邊憤怒地低聲說道：

"Shut up !Do you hear !Shut up.You must hide me. Tell your people—"

“閉嘴!你沒聽到嗎?閉嘴。你必須把我藏起來。告訴你的仆從們……”

"But darling—"began Lasaraleen in the same loud voice. (She didn' t in the least mind making people stare;in fact she rather liked it.)

“但是親愛的……”拉斯阿拉莉恩用和之前一樣的大嗓門開始說話。她一點(diǎn)都沒有介意，這使得人們都盯著她看，事實(shí)上，她很喜歡這樣。

"Do what I tell you or I'll never speak to you again," hissed Aravis. "Please, please be quick, Las. It's frightfully important. Tell your people to bring those two horses along. Pull all the curtains of the litter and get away somewhere where I can' t be found.And do hurry."

“按照我對你說的去做，否則我將永遠(yuǎn)不再和你說話，”阿拉維斯低聲說道，“請，請快點(diǎn)，拉斯。事情嚴(yán)重得可怕。告訴你的仆從們帶上那兩匹馬，把你轎子上的所有轎簾都放下來，并且到一個不會被發(fā)現(xiàn)的地方。盡快!”

"All right,darling," said Lasaraleen in her lazy voice. "Here.Two of you take the Tarkheena's horses. " (This was to the slaves.) "And now home.I say,darling,do you think we really want the curtains drawn on a day like this ?I mean to say—" But Aravis had already drawn the curtains, enclosing Lasaraleen and herself in a rich and scented, but rather stuffy, kind of tent.

“好吧，親愛的。”拉斯阿拉莉恩用她懶洋洋的腔調(diào)說道，“這里，你們中的兩個帶上泰坎希娜的馬”這里是對奴隸們說話。“然后現(xiàn)在回家。聽我說，親愛的，你真的想要所有的轎簾都在這樣的日子里放下來嗎?我的意思是說……”這時阿拉維斯已經(jīng)將轎簾放下來了，將拉斯阿拉莉恩和她自己封閉在一個富麗芳香，但卻相當(dāng)悶熱，類似于帳篷一樣的東西中。

"I mustn't be seen, "she said. "My father doesn't know I'm here.I' m running away."

“我必須不被任何人看到，”她說，“我的父親并不知道我在這里。我正在逃跑。”

"My dear, how perfectly thrilling, "said Lasaraleen. "I'm dying to hear all about it. Darling, you' re sitting on my dress. Do you mind ? That' s better.It is a new one. Do you like it ? I got it at—"

“我親愛的，多么完美的刺激之旅啊，”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我非常想聽關(guān)于這件事的全部。親愛的，你坐到我的衣服上了。介意挪一挪嗎?現(xiàn)在好多了。這是一件新衣服。你喜歡它嗎?我買到它是在……”

"Oh,Las,do be serious,"said Aravis..Where is my father ?"

“噢，拉斯，請嚴(yán)肅些，”阿拉維斯說道，“我的父親在哪?”

"Didn' t you know?"said Lasaraleen..He' s here,of course. He came to town yesterday and is asking about you everywhere. And to think of you and me being here together and his not knowing anything about it ! It' s the funniest thing I ever heard."And she went off into giggles.She always had been a terrible giggler,as Aravis now remembered.

“你不知道嗎?”拉斯阿拉莉恩說，“他當(dāng)然就在這里。他昨天來到城鎮(zhèn)里，并且到處詢問關(guān)于你的下落。而且你想一想，你和我一起在這里，但是他卻一點(diǎn)都不知道。這是我聽到過的最可笑的事情。”她開始咯咯地笑著說。阿拉維斯現(xiàn)在記起來，她始終都是個令人感到可怕的咯咯地笑個不停的人。

"It isn' t funny at all,"she said..It' s dreadfully serious. Where can you hide me ?"

“這一點(diǎn)都不好笑。”她說道，“這非常嚴(yán)肅。你能把我藏在什么地方?”

"No difficulty at all, my dear girl,"said Lasaraleen..I'll take you home. My husband' s away and no one will see you. Phew!It' s not much fun with the curtains drawn.I want to see people.There' s no point in having a new dress on if one' s to go about shut up like this."

“這一點(diǎn)困難都沒有，我親愛的女孩。”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我將帶你回家。我的丈夫出去了，沒有人會看到你。瞧，轎簾放下來就沒那么有趣了。我想要給人們看看。如果一個人要像這樣封閉起來，穿上一件新的衣服就沒有意義了。”

"I hope no one heard you when you shouted out to me like that,"said Aravis.

“小聲一點(diǎn)兒，我不希望被人聽到你和我說話。”阿拉維斯說道。

"No,no,of course,darling,"said Lasaraleen absentmindedly..But you haven' teven told me yet what you think of the dress."

“不，當(dāng)然沒有人聽到，親愛的。”拉斯阿拉莉恩心不在焉地說，

"Another thing,"said Aravis..You must tell your people to treat those two horses very respectfully. That' s part of the secret. They' re really Talking Horses from Narnia."

“但是你到現(xiàn)在都沒有告訴我你認(rèn)為這件衣服怎么樣呢。”“還有一件事，”阿拉維斯說，“你必須告訴你的仆從們要非常尊敬地對待那兩匹馬兒。它們是秘密的一部分。它們的確是來自納尼亞的會說話的馬。”

"Fancy !"said Lasaraleen..How exciting !And oh,darling,have you seen the barbarian queen from Narnia ? She' s staying in Tashbaan at present.They say Prince Rabadash is madly in love with her. There have been the most wonderful parties and hunts and things all this last fortnight. I can' t see that she' s so very pretty myself.But some of the Narnian men are lovely. I was taken out on a river party the day before yesterday, and I was wearing my—"

“多么富有想象力啊!”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“多么令人振奮人心啊!而且，噢，親愛的，你見過來自納尼亞的野蠻女王嗎?她現(xiàn)在正在塔什班城里。人們說王子羅八達(dá)瘋狂地愛上了她。最近兩星期，一直在舉行最美妙的聚會，打獵以及所有的事情。我自己可看不出來她有那么漂亮。但是一些納尼亞的男人們非?？蓯?。我前天被邀請參加了河邊的聚會，而且我穿上了我的……”

How shall we prevent your people telling everyone that you' ve got a visitor-dressed like a beggar' s brat-in your house ? It might so easily get round to my father."

“我們怎么才能阻止你的仆從告訴別人你有一個客人——穿得像乞丐一樣的在你的房間里?這消息可能很容易傳到我的父親那里。”

"Now don' t keep on fussing, there' s a dear,"said Lasaraleen..We' ll get you some proper clothes in a moment. And here we are !"

“現(xiàn)在不要這么大驚小怪，親愛的。”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我們立刻就會給你些合適的衣服?？矗覀兊搅?。”

The bearers had stopped and the litter was being lowered. When the curtains had been drawn Aravis found that she was in a courtyard-garden very like the one that Shasta had been taken into a few minutes earlier in another part of the city. Lasaraleen would have gone indoors at once but Aravis reminded her in a frantic whisper to say something to the slaves about not telling anyone of their mistress' s strange visitor.

轎夫們已經(jīng)停了下來，轎子被放下來。當(dāng)轎簾被拉開的時候，阿拉維斯發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正處在一個庭院當(dāng)中，就和之前早些時候在城市的另一個地方沙斯塔被帶進(jìn)去的庭院差不多。拉斯阿拉莉恩本來立刻就要進(jìn)入室內(nèi)，但是阿拉維斯用瘋瘋癲癲的私語提醒她要交代奴隸們一些事情——不要告訴任何人他們女主人有奇怪的來訪者這件事。

"Sorry, darling, it had gone right out of my head,"saidLasareleen. "Here. All of you. And you, doorkeeper. No one is to be let out of the house today. And anyone I catch talking about this young lady will be first beaten to death and then burned alive and after that be kept on bread and water for six weeks.There."

“很抱歉，親愛的，我完全忘記了這件事。”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“聽著，所有人，包括你、門房。今天誰也不許離開這個房子。如果我抓到談?wù)撚嘘P(guān)這位年輕女士事情的人，首先會先被我打到半死，然后六個星期不給任何面包和水等著活活地?zé)?。就這樣。”

Although Lasaraleen had said she was dying to hear Aravis' s story,she showed no sign of really wanting to hear it at all. She was,in fact,much better at talking than at listening. She insisted on Aravis having a long and luxurious bath (Calormene baths are famous) and then dressing her up in the finest clothes before she would let her explain anything.The fuss she made about choosing the dresses nearly drove Aravis mad. She remembered now that Lasaraleen had always been like that, interested in clothes and parties and gossip. Aravis had always been more interested in bows and arrows and horses and dogs and swimming.You will guess that each thought the other silly. But when at last they were both seated after a meal (it was chiefly of the whipped cream and jelly and fruit and ice sort) in a beautiful pillared room (which Aravis would have liked better if Lasaraleen' s spoiled pet monkey hadn' t been climbing about it all the time), Lasaraleen at last asked her why she was running away from home.

雖然拉斯阿拉莉恩說過她很想聽阿拉維斯的故事，但是她根本沒有表現(xiàn)出來一點(diǎn)確實(shí)想聽的跡象。事實(shí)上，比起聽，她更喜歡去講。她堅(jiān)持要阿拉維斯洗一個漫長且奢華的澡。在卡樂門洗澡是出了名的奢華，然后在她允許她解釋任何事情之前，用最好的衣服將她打扮了起來。她選擇哪件衣服都要小題大做，幾乎讓阿拉維斯感到瘋狂了。她記起拉斯阿拉莉恩始終都是這個樣子的：對衣服，聚會還有流言感興趣。阿拉維斯則總是對弓、箭、馬、狗和游泳有更多的興趣。你可以猜到她們倆每一個都認(rèn)為另一個很愚蠢。但是當(dāng)最后她們兩個都吃完飯——主要是冰激凌，果子凍，水果和冰點(diǎn)后，在美麗的圓柱房間里坐下來的時候，拉斯阿拉莉恩終于詢問她為什么從家里逃出來了。要不是那只被拉斯阿拉莉恩寵壞了的寵物猴子爬來爬去，阿拉維斯會更加喜歡房間。

When Aravis had finished telling her story, Lasaraleen said, "But,darling, why don't you marry Ahoshta Tarkaan ? Everyone' s crazy about him.My husband says he is beginning to be one of the greatest men in Calormen.He has just been made Grand Vizier now old Axartha has died.Didn't you know ?"

當(dāng)阿拉維斯告訴她自己的故事之后，拉斯阿拉莉恩說道：“但是，親愛的，為什么你不和泰坎阿霍什塔結(jié)婚呢?每個人都為他瘋狂。我的丈夫說他將是卡樂門最偉大的男人之一。如今老阿克薩沙死掉，他剛剛成為首相大臣。你不知道嗎?”

"I don't care.I can't stand the sight of him," said Aravis.

“我毫不在意。我連看到他都不能忍受。”阿拉維斯說道。

"But, darling, only think ! Three palaces, and one of them that beautiful one down on the lake at Ilkeen. Positively ropes of pearls, I' m told. Baths of asses' milk. And you' d see such a lot of me."

“但，親愛的，仔細(xì)想想。三個宮殿，其中一個非常漂亮，就在伊爾基茵湖的下游。我聽其他人說，珍珠都確確實(shí)實(shí)是大串大串的?？梢杂皿H的乳汁沐浴。而且你還可以經(jīng)?？吹轿?。”

"He can keep his pearls and palaces as far as I'm concerned," said Aravis.

“我不關(guān)心這些，他可以留著他的珍珠和宮殿。”阿拉維斯說道。

"You always were a queer girl,Aravis," said Lasaraleen. "What more do you want ?"

“你總是一個古怪的女孩，阿拉維斯。”拉斯阿拉莉恩說，“你還想要更多的什么呢?”

In the end, however, Aravis managed to make her friend believe that she was in earnest and even to discuss plans. There would be no difficulty now about getting the two horses out of the North gate and then on to the Tombs. No one would stop or question a groom in fine clothes leading a war horse and a lady' s saddle horse down to the river, and Lasaraleen had plenty of grooms to send. It wasn' t so easy to decide what to do about Aravis herself. She suggested that she could be carried out in the litter with the curtains drawn. But Lasaraleen told her that litters were only used in the city and the sight of one going out through the gate would be certain to lead to questions.

最后，阿拉維斯還是設(shè)法使她的朋友相信她是認(rèn)真的，甚至討論起她的計(jì)劃。如果現(xiàn)在將兩匹馬從北門帶出去，然后趕到墳場，沒有任何困難。沒有人將會阻止或者詢問一個穿著華麗，牽著一匹戰(zhàn)馬，并且?guī)е晃或T馬的女士到河的下游去的侍從。而且拉斯阿拉莉恩擁有很多可以派遣的侍從。決定阿拉維斯本人要做什么是一件不容易的事情。她提議她可以坐在轎簾放下來的轎子中。但是拉斯阿拉莉恩告訴她，轎子僅僅可以在城里使用，而且看到一頂轎子從城門出去，一定會引起人們的注意。

When they had talked for a long time-and it was all the longer because Aravis found it hard to keep her friend to the point-at last Lasaraleen clapped her hands and said,"Oh, I have an idea. There is one way of getting out of the city without using the gates. The Tisroc' s garden (may he live for ever !) runs right down to the water and there is a little water-door. Only for the palace people of course-but then you know, dear. "(here she tittered a little) "We almost are palace people. I say, it is lucky for you that you came to me. The dear Tisroc (may he live for ever !) is so kind. We' re asked to the palace almost every day and it is like a second home. I love all the dear princes and princesses and I positively adore Prince Rabadash. I might run in and see any of the palace ladies at any hour of the day or night. Why shouldn' t I slip in with you, after dark, and let you out by the water-door ? There are always a few punts and things tied up outside it. And even if we were caught—"

她們已經(jīng)討論了很長一段時間——阿拉維斯發(fā)現(xiàn)之所以需要這么長時間，是因?yàn)楹茈y確保她的朋友停留在這個話題之上——最后拉斯阿拉莉恩抓住她的手并且說，“噢，我有一個主意了。有一個方法可以不利用城門就離開這座城市。太洛帝，愿吾皇萬壽無疆!他的花園一直延伸到河的下游，在那里有一個小的水門。當(dāng)然僅僅供宮殿里的人們使用。但是你要知道，親愛的，說到這里，她哧哧地笑了笑，我們幾乎也算是宮殿里的人了。我是說，你來找我真的很幸運(yùn)。親愛的太洛帝非常善良。愿吾皇萬壽無疆!我們幾乎可以每天到宮殿里拜訪，并且將它當(dāng)作自己的第二個家。我喜歡所有親愛的王子和公主，而且我十分崇拜王子羅八達(dá)。我可以在白天或者晚上的任何一個時間進(jìn)入宮殿里去見任何一位夫人。為什么我們不在天黑后帶你溜進(jìn)去，然后將你從水門放出去呢?總是有一些平底船一類的東西系在水門外邊。而且，即使我們被抓住了……”

"All would be lost,"said Aravis.

“那一切就完了。”阿拉維斯說道。

"Oh darling, don' t get so excited,"said Lasaraleen.. I was going to say, even if we were caught everyone would only say it was one of my mad jokes. I'm getting quite well known for them. Only the other day-do listen, dear, this is frightfully funny—"

“噢，親愛的，你不要這么激動。”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我要說的是，即使我們被抓住了，每個人也僅僅會說，這不過是我開的瘋狂玩笑之一罷了。我因?yàn)殚_玩笑而十分出名。就在幾天之前，聽著，親愛的，這真的是非常有趣……”

"I meant, all would be lost for me,"said Aravis a little sharply.

“我的意思是，對于我來說一切都完了。”阿拉維斯有些生氣地說道。

"Oh-ah-yes-I do see what you mean, darling. Well, can you think of any better plan ?"

“噢……啊……是的……我完全知道你在說什么，親愛的，但是，你能想出更好的計(jì)劃嗎?”

Aravis couldn' t, and answered,.No. We' ll have to risk it. When can we start ?"

阿拉維斯想不出來，只能回答道：“不能。我們將不得不冒險了。我們什么時候可以開始呢?”

"Oh, not tonight,"said Lasaraleen..Of course not tonight. There' s a great feast on tonight (I must start getting my hair done for it in a few minutes) and the whole place will be a blaze of lights. And such a crowd too !It would have to be tomorrow night."

“噢，今晚不行，”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“當(dāng)然不能是今晚。今晚有一個巨大的盛會，我必須開始在幾分鐘之內(nèi)整理好我的頭發(fā)，而且整個宮殿將燈火通明，還非常擁擠。不得不改到明天晚上了。”

This was bad news for Aravis,but she had to make the best of it. The afternoon passed very slowly and it was a relief when Lasaraleen went out to the banquet, for Aravis was very tired of her giggling and her talk about dresses and parties, weddings and engagements and scandals. She went to bed early and that part she did enjoy: it was so nice to have pillows and sheets again.

這對阿拉維斯來說是一個壞消息，但是她不得不充分利用這個消息。今天下午過得非常緩慢，當(dāng)拉斯阿拉莉恩去赴宴的時候?qū)λ齺碚f反而是個解脫。因?yàn)榘⒗S斯厭倦了她咯咯的笑聲，厭倦她只談?wù)撽P(guān)于衣服，聚會，婚禮，訂婚和丑聞。她早早地上床，這一點(diǎn)她真的很享受：重新睡在床單和枕頭之上真的十分舒坦。

But the next day passed very slowly.Lasaraleen wanted to go back on the whole arrangement and kept on telling Aravis that Narnia was a country of perpetual snow and ice inhabited by demons and sorcerers,and she was mad to think of going there. .And with a peasant boy,too !"said Lasaraleen..Darling, think of it ! It' s not Nice."Aravis had thought of it a good deal, but she was so tired of Lasaraleen' s silliness by now that,for the first time,she began to think that travelling with Shasta was really rather more fun than fashionable life in Tashbaan.So she only replied,.You forget that I' ll be nobody, just like him, when we get to Narnia.And anyway, I promised."

但是第二天過得十分緩慢。拉斯阿拉莉恩想要取消整個計(jì)劃，并且堅(jiān)持告訴阿拉維斯，納尼亞是一個終年下雪和結(jié)冰，并且居住著惡魔和巫師的國家，她一想到要去那里就感到瘋狂。“而且還是和一個鄉(xiāng)下男孩一起!”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“親愛的，想想看!這可一點(diǎn)都不美好。”阿拉維斯仔細(xì)思考過了，但是她如今真的厭倦了拉斯阿拉莉恩的愚蠢，第一次，她開始想到比起塔什班城時髦的生活，和沙斯塔的旅行真的是有趣得多。所以她只是重復(fù)道：“你忘記了，當(dāng)我們到達(dá)納尼亞的時候，我和他一樣都是無名小卒。而且無論如何，我承諾過要一起去的。”

"And to think," said Lasaraleen,almost crying, .that if only you had sense you could be the wife of a Grand Vizier !" Aravis went away to have a private word with the horses.

“你想想，”拉斯阿拉莉恩幾乎哭著說道，“如果你自己有頭腦的話，你就可以成為首相大臣的妻子!”阿拉維斯卻跑出去，對馬兒說起悄悄話。

"You must go with a groom a little before sunset down to the Tombs,"she said..No more of those packs. You' ll be saddled and bridled again. But there' ll have to be food in Hwin' s saddle-bags and a full water-skin behind yours, Bree. The man has orders to let you both have a good long drink at the far side of the bridge."

“你們必須和一個侍從一起，在太陽下山之前早一點(diǎn)趕到墳場。”她說道，“不要再背著這些包裹了。你將再次配上馬鞍和轡頭。但是赫溫的鞍囊里需要放一些東西，布里，你的則需要放上滿滿一皮袋的水。侍從會奉命帶你們兩個在遠(yuǎn)離大橋的岸邊美美地喝上一頓水。”

"And then, Narnia and the North !"whispered Bree..But what if Shasta is not at the Tombs."

“然后呢，直奔納尼亞和北方!”布里低聲地說道，“但是如果沙斯塔不在墳場，怎么辦呢?”

"Wait for him of course," said Aravis. "I hope you've been quite comfortable."

“當(dāng)然要等他了，”阿拉維斯說道，“我想你們在這里過得足夠舒適。”

"Never better stabled in my life," said Bree. "But if the husband of that tittering Tarkheena friend of yours is paying his head groom to get the best oats, then I think the head groom is cheating him."

“我從來沒有待過比這更好的馬廄，”布里說道，“但是如果你那位哧哧笑的朋友泰坎希娜的丈夫給他的侍從頭子錢要去買最好的燕麥，那么我認(rèn)為侍從頭子一定欺騙了他。”

Aravis and Lasaraleen had supper in the pillared room.

阿拉維斯和拉斯阿拉莉恩在圓柱房間里用了晚餐。

About two hours later they were ready to start. Aravis was dressed to look like a superior slave-girl in a great house and wore a veil over her face. They had agreed that if any questions were asked Lasaraleen would pretend that Aravis was a slave she was taking as a present to one of the princesses.

大概兩個小時之后，她們已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好出發(fā)了。阿拉維斯打扮得像一個大戶人家的高級女奴，并且?guī)狭嗣婕?。她們商量好，如果有人問起，拉斯阿拉莉恩就假裝說，阿拉維斯是她準(zhǔn)備作為禮物送給某一位公主的女奴。

The two girls went out on foot. A very few minutes brought them to the palace gates. Here there were of course soldiers on guard but the officer knew Lasaraleen quite well and called his men to attention and saluted. They passed at once into the Hall of Black Marble. A fair number of courtiers, slaves and others were still moving about here but this only made the two girls less conspicuous. They passed on into the Hall of Pillars and then into the Hall of Statues and down the colonnade, passing the great beatencopper doors of the throne room. It was all magnificent beyond description;what they could see of it in the dim light of the lamps.

兩個女孩都光著腳走了出來。沒過幾分鐘就到了宮殿的門前。門口當(dāng)然有士兵在站崗，但是軍官對拉斯阿拉莉恩十分熟悉，并且讓他手下的士兵們立正敬禮。她們立刻走進(jìn)了黑色大理石做成的大廳。許多大臣，奴隸和其他一些人仍然在大廳里來回走動，使得兩個女孩更加不引人注目了。她們進(jìn)入圓柱大廳，然后進(jìn)入雕像大廳，然后沿著柱廊走下去，經(jīng)過覲見室的銅箔大門。她們在昏暗的燈光中所看到的一切，都是無法用語言形容的富麗堂皇。

Presently they came out into the garden-court which sloped downhill in a number of terraces.On the far side of that they came to the Old Palace. It had already grown almost quite dark and they now found themselves in a maze of corridors lit only by occasional torches fixed in brackets to the walls. Lasaraleen halted at a place where you had to go either left or right.

不久她們走出了宮殿，進(jìn)入到王宮花園中，花園利用許多臺階依山而建。她們從花園的另一邊來到古老的宮殿。天色已經(jīng)幾乎完全黑了，并且她們現(xiàn)在發(fā)現(xiàn)自己置身于回廊的迷宮里，只能依靠著偶爾出現(xiàn)的，固定在墻壁上的火把照明。拉斯阿拉莉恩在一個不知該往左走，還是往右走的路口停了下來。

"Go on, do go on," whispered Aravis, whose heart was beating terribly and who still felt that her father might run into them at any corner.

“繼續(xù)走啊，繼續(xù)走。”阿拉維斯低聲說道，她的心可怕地砰砰跳著，她心里覺得她的父親很可能突然出現(xiàn)在任何一個角落撞見她們。

"I'm just wondering---"said Lasaraleen."I'm not absolutely sure which way we go from here. I think it' s the left. Yes, I' m almost sure it' s the left.What fun this is !"

“我只是覺得奇怪……”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我不確定哪條路能讓我們從這里出去。我認(rèn)為是左邊的。是的，我?guī)缀醮_定是左邊這條路了。多么有趣啊!”

They took the left hand way and found themselves in a passage that was hardly lighted at all and which soon began going down steps.

她們選擇了左手邊的那條路，然后發(fā)現(xiàn)她們自己置身在一條幾乎沒有任何光的通道里，通道不久就出現(xiàn)了一級又一級向下延伸的臺階。

"It's all right," said Lasaraleen. "I'm sure we're right now. I remember these steps."But at that moment a moving light appeared ahead. A second later there appeared from round a distant corner, the dark shapes of two men walking backwards and carrying tall candles. And of course it is only before royalties that people walk backwards. Aravis felt Lasaraleen grip her arm-that sort of sudden grip which is almost a pinch and which means that the person who is gripping you is very frightened indeed. Aravis thought it odd that Lasaraleen should be so afraid of the Tisroc if he were really such a friend of hers, but there was no time to go on thinking. Lasaraleen was hurrying her back to the top of the steps,on tiptoes,and groping wildly along the wall.

“這就對了，”拉斯阿拉莉恩說道，“我現(xiàn)在確認(rèn)我們對了。我記得這些臺階。”但就在這個時候，一個移動的光出現(xiàn)在前方。不一會，從一個遙遠(yuǎn)的角落里，出現(xiàn)了兩個男人的黑色影子，他們拿著高大的蠟燭，正倒退著行走。當(dāng)然，只有在王室的人面前，人們才會倒退著行走。阿拉維斯感覺到拉斯阿拉莉恩抓住了她的手臂——這突然的一抓幾乎是擰了她一把，這意味著伸手去抓的人確實(shí)十分驚恐。阿拉維斯感到很奇怪，拉斯阿拉莉恩竟然會這么害怕太洛帝，如果太洛帝真的是她的一個朋友的話。但阿拉維斯幾乎沒有時間繼續(xù)思考。拉斯阿拉莉恩正匆忙地趕回臺階的頂端，發(fā)瘋似的沿著墻壁前進(jìn)。

"Here's a door," she whispered. "Quick. "

“這有一個門。”她低聲說道，“快點(diǎn)。”

They went in,drew the door very softly behind them, and found themselves in pitch darkness.Aravis could hear by Lasaraleen' s breathing that she was terrified.

她們走了進(jìn)去，輕輕地將身后的門關(guān)上，然后發(fā)現(xiàn)她們置身于一團(tuán)漆黑之中。阿拉維斯可以從拉斯阿拉莉恩的呼吸中知道她十分驚恐。

"Tash preserve us !"whispered Lasaraleen..What shall we do if he comes in here.Can we hide ?"

“塔什神救救我們吧。”拉斯阿拉莉恩低聲說道，“如果他們走到這里來，我們能做什么呢?我們能躲起來嗎?”

There was a soft carpet under their feet. They groped forward into the room and blundered on to a sofa.

她們腳下有一塊柔軟的地毯。她們摸索著進(jìn)入房間，結(jié)果撞到了一張沙發(fā)上。

"Let's lie down behind it," whimpered Lasaraleen. "Oh, I do wish we hadn' t come."

“讓我們在沙發(fā)后面躺下來，”拉斯阿拉莉恩嗚咽地說道，“噢，我真希望我們從來沒有來過這里。”

There was just room between the sofa and the curtained wall and the two girls got down. Lasaraleen managed to get the better position and was completely covered. The upper part of Aravis' s face stuck out beyond the sofa, so that if anyone came into that room with a light and happened to look in exactly the right place they would see her. But of course, because she was wearing a veil, what they saw would not at once look like a forehead and a pair of eyes. Aravis shoved desperately to try to make Lasaraleen give her a little more room. But Lasaraleen, now quite selfish in her panic, fought back and pinched her feet. They gave it up and lay still, panting a little. Their own breath semed dreadfully noisy,but there was no other noise.

沙發(fā)和幕墻之間恰好有空間僅夠兩個女孩躺下。拉斯阿拉莉恩試圖占據(jù)更好的位置，并且?guī)缀跬耆谧×俗约旱纳眢w。阿拉維斯的上半部分臉從沙發(fā)后面露了出來，這樣的話，如果有什么人拿著燈走進(jìn)房間中，碰巧朝著這個地方看過來，就會看到她了。由于她帶著面紗，他們一下子看到的也不會像是一個前額和一雙眼睛。阿拉維斯絕望地試圖讓拉斯阿拉莉恩給自己更多的空間。但是現(xiàn)在的拉斯阿拉莉恩，已經(jīng)陷入恐慌之中。她十分自私，又把阿拉維斯擠了回去，并且擰她的腳。她們最終放棄了，只能擠在一起躺著，有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)氣喘。她們自己的呼吸似乎吵得可怕，但是那里沒有任何其他聲音。

"Is it safe ?" said Aravis at last in the tiniest possible whisper.

“這里安全嗎?”阿拉維斯最后用盡可能小的聲音低聲問道。

"I-I-think so," began Lasaraleen. "But my poor nerves-" and then came the most terrible noise they could have heard at that moment: the noise of the door opening. And then came light.And because Aravis couldn' t get her head any further in behind the sofa, she saw everything.

“我……我……我認(rèn)為是這樣的。”拉斯阿拉莉恩開始說，“但我可憐的神經(jīng)……”此刻傳來了她們能夠聽到的最可怕的聲音：開門的聲音。然后燈光照了進(jìn)來，而且因?yàn)榘⒗S斯不能讓她的頭更多地藏在沙發(fā)后面，她可以看到一切。

First came the two slaves (deaf and dumb, as Aravis rightly guessed, and therefore used at the most secret councils) walking backwards and carrying the candles. They took up their stand one at each end of the sofa. This was a good thing, for of course it was now harder for anyone to see Aravis once a slave was in front of her and she was looking between his heels. Then came an old man, very fat, wearing a curious pointed cap by which she immediately knew that he was the Tisroc. The least of the jewels with which he was covered was worth more than all the clothes and weapons of the Narnian lords put together: but he was so fat and such a mass of frills and pleats and bobbles and buttons and tassels and talismans that Aravis couldn' t help thinking the Narnian fashions (at any rate for men) looked nicer. After him came a tall young man with a feathered and jewelled turban on his head and an ivory—sheathed scimitar at his side. He seemed very excited and his eyes and teeth flashed fiercely in the candlelight. Last of all came a little hump-backed, wizened old man in whom she recognized with a shudder the new Grand Vizier and her own betrothed husband,Ahoshta Tarkaan himself.

首先進(jìn)來的是兩個奴隸( 又聾又啞，就像阿拉維斯猜測的那樣，這里方便用于最秘密的會議)，手執(zhí)蠟燭，倒退著走了進(jìn)來。他們站在了沙發(fā)的兩邊。這是一件好事，因?yàn)橐坏┌⒗S斯面前站了一個奴隸，任何人就很難看到她了，而且她可以通過兩個奴隸的腳跟之間向外看。然后走進(jìn)來一個老人，很胖，戴著一頂奇怪的帽子，憑借這個帽子，她立即就知道這個人就是太洛帝。他渾身上下都是珠寶首飾，加起來超過納尼亞王王爺們所有的衣服和武器加在一起的總價值——但是他太胖了，況且那么一大堆首飾、皺裙、羊毛球、紐扣、流蘇、辟邪物，使得阿拉維斯禁不住想到納尼亞的時裝( 無論如何那是給人穿的) 看起來更漂亮一些。在他進(jìn)來之后，一個高高的年輕人走了進(jìn)來，年輕人頭上戴著羽毛和珠寶裝飾的頭巾，身旁佩戴者一把象牙刀鞘的彎刀。他看起來十分興奮，他的眼睛和牙齒在燭光里兇狠地閃爍。最后，進(jìn)來了一個駝背、枯槁的老人，讓她感到驚恐，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)出這個老頭正是新的首相大臣，她新訂婚的丈夫，泰坎阿霍什塔本人。

As soon as all three had entered the room and the door was shut, the Tisroc seated himself on the divan with a sigh of contentment, the young man took his place, standing before him, and the Grand Vizier got down on his knees and elbows and laid his face flat on the carpet.

三個人一進(jìn)入到房間，門就被關(guān)上了。太洛帝在沙發(fā)上落座，發(fā)出愜意的聲音。年輕的男人也站到他的位置上，就在太洛帝的面前，首相大臣則雙膝跪了下來，他雙肘撐地，臉則埋入到地毯之上。