《凱斯賓王子》第三章 小矮人

CHAPTER THREE THE DWARF

第三章 小矮人

THE worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early.And when you wake you have to get up because the ground is so hard that you are uncomfortable.And it makes matters worse if there is nothing but apples for breakfast and you have had nothing but apples for supper the night before.When Lucy had said-truly enough-that it was a glorious morning，there did not seem to be anything else nice to be said.Edmund said what everyone was feeling，"We've simply got to get off this island."

在小島上過夜，最糟糕的事情就是一大早就醒來。如果你不想腰酸背痛的話，肯定不會像在自己家一樣賴床，因為地面實在是太硬了。更糟糕的是，早餐除了吃前一天晚上就吃膩了的蘋果，根本沒有其他東西可吃。露茜說得不錯，這的確是一個明媚的清晨，但是沒有任何人覺得它美好。還是愛德蒙說出來了："我們必須離開這兒。"的確，這是大家的心里話。

When they had drunk from the well and splashed their faces they all went down the stream again to the shore and stared at the channel which divided them from the mainland.

他們喝飽了井水，洗了臉之后，便一直順著溪流原路返回，來到了海岸邊。他們呆呆地注視著把他們和大陸隔開的海峽。

"We'll have to swim，"said Edmund.

"看來我們只能游過去了。"愛德蒙說。

"It would be all right for Su，"said Peter (Susan had won prizes for swimming at school)."But I don't know about the rest of us." By"the rest of us"he really meant Edmund who couldn't yet do two lengths at the school baths，and Lucy，who could hardly swim at all.

" 這對蘇珊來說絕對沒問題，"彼得說，"不過我們就難說了。"因為之前蘇珊拿到過學(xué)校游泳比賽的獎牌。其實他說的"我們"是指愛德蒙和露茜，因為就算是在學(xué)校的游泳池里，愛德蒙也游不了一個來回，而露茜更是根本不會游泳。

"Anyway，"said Susan，"there may be currents.Father says it's never wise to bathe in a place you don't know."

"不管怎么說"蘇珊說，"海里會有漩渦。爸爸說過，在不熟悉的地方游泳絕對是不明智的。"

"But，Peter，"said Lucy，"look here.I know I can't swim for nuts at home-in England，I mean.But couldn't we all swim long ago-if it was long ago-when we were Kings and Queens in Narnia? We could ride then too，and do all sorts of things.Don't you think-?"

"但是，彼得，"露茜說，"好吧，我很清楚我在我們家鄉(xiāng)不會游泳，我的意思是在英國。但是之前我們是納尼亞國王和女王的時候，不是會游泳嗎。我們還會騎馬以及做很多其他各種事情，你說呢?"

"Ah，but we were sort of grown-up then，"said Peter.

"啊，是啊，不過那時候我們可是成年人。"彼得說。

"We reigned for years and years and learned to do things.Aren't we just back at our proper ages again now?"

"我們年復(fù)一年地統(tǒng)治納尼亞，學(xué)會了很多事。但是現(xiàn)在我們不在納尼亞，而是在自己生活的國家，不是嗎?

"Oh!"said Edmund in a voice which made everyone stop talking and listen to him.

"哦!"愛德蒙的聲音很大，所有人都默不作聲齊刷刷地看向他。

"I've just seen it all，"he said.

他說，"我終于明白了。"

"Seen what?"asked Peter.

"明白了什么?"彼得問道。

"Why，the whole thing，"said Edmund."You know what we were puzzling about last night，that it was only a year ago since we left Narnia but everything looks as if no one had lived in Cair Paravel for hundreds of years? Well，don't you see? You know that，however long we seemed to have lived in Narnia，when we got back through the wardrobe it seemed to have taken no time at all?"

"嗯，就是整個事情啊，"愛德蒙說，"我終于明白你們說的，也就是之前一直困惑我們的問題。雖然我們離開納尼亞僅僅一年，凱爾帕拉維爾城堡就好像有幾百年沒人住過了。好吧，難道你們還不明白嗎?不管我們在納尼亞待多久，一旦我們從魔衣櫥里回到我們的世界，對于我們那個世界來說，好像根本沒耗費一點時間。"

"Go on，"said Susan."I think I'm beginning to understand."

"接著說，"蘇珊說，"我好像能搞清楚是怎么回事了。"

"And that means，"continued Edmund，"that，once you're out of Narnia，you have no idea how Narnian time is going.Why shouldn't hundreds of years have gone past in Narnia while only one year has passed for us in England?"

"也就是說，"愛德蒙繼續(xù)說，"我們一離開納尼亞，就沒有了納尼亞的時間概念。這么一來，我們在英國待一年，納尼亞怎么就不能過了幾百年了呢?"

"By Jove，Ed，"said Peter."I believe you've got it.In that sense it really was hundreds of years ago that we lived in Cair Paravel.And now we're coming back to Narnia just as if we were Crusaders or Anglo-Saxons or Ancient Britons or someone coming back to modern England?"

"親愛的愛德蒙，"彼得開口說,"我相信你說的是對的，現(xiàn)在看來凱爾帕拉維爾已經(jīng)是過了幾百年了!我們現(xiàn)在重返納尼亞，就跟十字軍和盎格魯-撒克遜人或是古代的英國人穿越到現(xiàn)在社會一樣。

"How excited they'll be to see us-"began Lucy，but at the same moment everyone else said，"Hush!"or"Look!"For now something was happening.

"要是納尼亞的朋友看到我們，該有多么激動啊!"露茜一張嘴，就被其他人的"噓"聲和那一聲"看!"給打斷了。

There was a wooded point on the mainland a little to their right，and they all felt sure that just beyond that point must be the mouth of the river.And now，round that point there came into sight a boat.When it had cleared the point，it turned and began coming along the channel towards them.There were two people on board，one rowing，the other sitting in the stern and holding a bundle that twitched and moved as if it were alive.Both these people seemed to be soldiers.They had steel caps on their heads and light shirts of chain-mail.Their faces were bearded and hard.The children drew back from the beach into the wood and watched without moving a finger.

于是，所有人都注意到了海峽對面那個右邊一點的樹林。一時之間，他們似乎都確定了那就是河口。現(xiàn)在，有只小船正闖入他們的視線，劃向他們。隨著距離的拉近，一切變得越來越清晰。船上有兩個人，其中一個在搖櫓，另外一個則坐在船尾，抓住一個不停扭動的東西。他們戴著鋼盔，穿著輕薄的鎖子甲，滿臉的胡須，表情兇悍，看起來像是士兵。孩子們從沙灘上退回樹林，一動不動地注視著他們，不敢發(fā)出任何聲響。

"This'll do，"said the soldier in the stern when the boat had come about opposite to them.

"這兒就可以了。"小船停到孩子對面的時候，船尾的那個人說。

"What about tying a stone to his feet，Corporal?"said the other，resting on his oars.

"捆一塊石頭在他的腳上吧，老大?"搖櫓的人邊說邊停下了手中的槳。

"Garn!"growled the other."We don't need that，and we haven't brought one.He'll drown sure enough without a stone，as long as we've tied the cords right."With these words he rose and lifted his bundle.Peter now saw that it was really alive and was in fact a Dwarf，bound hand and foot but struggling as hard as he could.Next moment he heard a twang just beside his ear，and all at once the soldier threw up his arms，dropping the Dwarf into the bottom of the boat，and fell over into the water.He floundered away to the far bank and Peter knew that Susan's arrow had struck on his helmet.He turned and saw that she was very pale but was already fitting a second arrow to the string.But it was never used.As soon as he saw his companion fall，the other soldier，with a loud cry，jumped out of the boat on the far side，and he also floundered through the water (which was apparently just in his depth) and disappeared into the woods of the mainland.

"閉嘴!"船尾的那個人粗魯?shù)卣f，"不需要，咱們沒帶石頭。只要綁緊點，不用石頭照樣能淹死他。"說著，那個人站起來，提起了那個東西。彼得看得很清楚，是一個手和腳都被捆住的小矮人，他在拼命掙扎。突然，小矮人掉在了船上，士兵也掉到了水里，掙扎著游向河岸。彼得知道，肯定是蘇珊一箭射中了士兵的頭盔?；剡^頭來，發(fā)現(xiàn)蘇珊鐵青著臉，正準備發(fā)射第二箭。但她還沒有射出去，那個小兵看到老大遭到襲擊，自己就尖叫著從船的另一頭跳進了河水里，玩命似的一口氣游到了對岸。很快，便消失在對岸的樹林里。(顯然這里水太淺，淹不死他。)

"Quick! Before she drifts!"shouted Peter.He and Susan，fully dressed as they were，plunged in，and before the water was up to their shoulders their hands were on the side of the boat.In a few seconds they had hauled her to the bank and lifted the Dwarf out，and Edmund was busily engaged in cutting his bonds with the pocket-knife.(Peter's sword would have been sharper，but a sword is very inconvenient for this sort of work because you can't hold it anywhere lower than the hilt.) When at last the Dwarf was free，he sat up，rubbed his arms and legs，and exclaimed:

"快點!不要讓小船漂走了!"彼得喊了一聲。他和蘇珊衣服都沒來得及脫 ，就一頭扎進了水里，把小船拖到了岸邊，抬出了里面的小矮人。愛德蒙費力地用小折刀割斷了綁著小矮人的繩子。(彼得的劍比小刀鋒利多了，但是他的長劍在這種情況下不太方便，因為不能用手握著刀刃去割繩子。)小矮人被松綁后，就坐了起來，活動了一下手腳，說：

"Well，whatever they say，you don't feel like ghosts."

Like most Dwarfs he was very stocky and deep-chested.He would have been about three feet high if he had been standing up，and an immense beard and whiskers of coarse red hair left little of his face to be seen except a beak-like nose and twinkling black eyes.

"嗯，不管他們怎么說，可我覺得你們并不像幽靈鬼怪。"　和其他大多數(shù)的小矮人一樣，他有雞胸，又矮又胖，不足一米高。那滿臉的紅胡子讓他的臉看起來幾乎只剩下尖尖的高鼻子和閃閃發(fā)光的黑眼睛。

"Anyway，"he continued，"ghosts or not，you've saved my life and I'm extremely obliged to you."

"不管你們是不是幽靈，"他繼續(xù)說，"你們救了我的命，我真的非常感激。"

"But why should we be ghosts?"asked Lucy.

"我們怎么可能是幽靈呢?"露茜問。

"I've been told all my life，"said the Dwarf，"that these woods along the shore were as full of ghosts as they were of trees.That's what the story is.And that's why，when they want to get rid of anyone，they usually bring him down here (like they were doing with me) and say they'll leave him to the ghosts.But I always wondered if they didn't really drown'em or cut their throats.I never quite believed in the ghosts.But those two cowards you've just shot believed all right.They were more frightened of taking me to my death than I was of going!"

"這話我已經(jīng)聽了一輩子了，"小矮人接著說，"大家都說，海岸這邊樹林里的幽靈多得像樹葉一樣，所以當(dāng)他們想除掉誰的時候，就會把他送到這里，交給幽靈處置。(就像我遇到的情況一樣。)但是那些幽靈真的會把人活活淹死或者割斷喉嚨嗎?我一直不相信。但剛才那兩個膽小鬼卻深信不疑，他們本來是要害死我，到頭來卻嚇破了自己的膽子 。

"Oh，"said Susan."So that's why they both ran away."

"哦，難怪他們逃命時跑得那么快!"蘇珊說。

"Eh? What's that?"said the Dwarf.

"什么?他們怎么了?"小矮人問。

"They got away，"said Edmund."To the mainland."

"他們跑了，"愛德蒙說，"到大陸上去了。"

"I wasn't shooting to kill，you know，"said Susan.She would not have liked anyone to think she could miss at such a short range.

蘇珊解釋說："我只是射了一箭嚇嚇他們，并沒打算傷害他們。"她其實是怕別人以為那么近她還射不中。

"Hm，"said the Dwarf."That's not so good.That may mean trouble later on.Unless they hold their tongues for their own sake."

"好吧，"小矮人說，"這可不太好，他們以后會來找麻煩的，除非他們愿意為了自己的利益保守秘密。"

"What were they going to drown you for?"asked Peter.

彼得問："他們?yōu)槭裁匆退滥?"

"Oh，I'm a dangerous criminal，I am，"said the Dwarf cheerfully."But that's a long story.Meantime，I was wondering if perhaps you were going to ask me to breakfast? You've no idea what an appetite it gives one，being executed."

"哦，我是一個危險分子，是的，"小矮人非常自豪地回答。"說來話長，不過現(xiàn)在我想知道的是，你們會不會邀請我一起吃早餐?你們可能不知道一個人死里逃生之后，胃口會有多好。"

"There's only apples，"said Lucy dolefully.

"我們只有蘋果。"露茜頓時很沮喪。

"Better than nothing，but not so good as fresh fish，"said the Dwarf."It looks as if I'll have to ask you to breakfast instead.I saw some fishing tackle in that boat.And anyway，we must take her round to the other side of the island.We don't want anyone from the mainland coming down and seeing her."

"總比什么都吃不上強吧。如果加上幾條活魚做早餐，那就更好了。"小矮人說，"這樣說來我只好反客為主，請你們吃早餐了，我看到了船上有一些漁具。不過無論如何，我們必須先把小船弄到小島的另一邊，千萬不能讓對面陸地上的人看到它。"

"I ought to have thought of that myself，"said Peter.

"這一點，我早該想到的。"彼得說。

The four children and the Dwarf went down to the water's edge，pushed off the boat with some difficulty，and scrambled aboard.The Dwarf at once took charge.The oars were of course too big for him to use，so Peter rowed and the Dwarf steered them north along the channel and presently eastward round the tip of the island.From here the children could see right up the river，and all the bays and headlands of the coast beyond it.They thought they could recognize bits of it，but the woods，which had grown up since their time，made everything look very different.

四個孩子和小矮人一起來到水邊，折騰了半天，終于把小船推進水里，然后爬了上去。小矮人熟練地指揮起來?？墒?，船槳對他來說顯然太大了。于是他掌舵，彼得劃槳，小船緩緩朝北駛?cè)?，繞過小島駛向東方。從這里他們可以看到整個海灣和對面海岸的沙地。他們原本以為，那些往日美好的時光總會留下一些印記，但是那些不知道什么年代開始長成的松林，讓這一切都那么陌生，那些時光就這么面目全非，無從尋找了。

When they had come round into open sea on the east of the island，the Dwarf took to fishing.They had an excellent catch of pavenders，a beautiful rainbow-coloured fish which they all remembered eating in Cair Paravel in the old days.When they had caught enough they ran the boat up into a little creek and moored her to a tree.The Dwarf，who was a most capable person (and，indeed，though one meets bad Dwarfs，I never heard of a Dwarf who was a fool)，cut the fish open，cleaned them，and said:

到了小島東邊小矮人開始釣魚。他們很幸運，釣到了很多像彩虹一樣五顏六色的鱒魚。這讓他們想起了，在凱爾帕拉維爾時，他們也吃這種魚。當(dāng)他們釣到差不多足夠吃的魚時，就把小船劃進了一條小溪，拴在樹上。那個小矮人超級能干，(其實，盡管小矮人中也有壞人，但他們都很聰明。)他利落地殺魚，把魚剖開，并且清洗干凈。然后說：

"Now，what we want next is some firewood."

好了，現(xiàn)在我們需要一堆柴火來烤魚。

"We've got some up at the castle，"said Edmund.

"在城堡里，我們已經(jīng)架起了火堆。"愛德蒙說。

The Dwarf gave a low whistle."Beards and bedsteads!"he said."So there really is a castle，after all?"

小矮人輕輕地吹了聲口哨，"我的老天啊!這真的有城堡嗎?"

"It's only a ruin，"said Lucy.

"現(xiàn)在是一片廢墟了。"露茜接過話。

The Dwarf stared round at all four of them with a very curious expression on his face."And who on earth-?"he began，but then broke off and said，"No matter.Breakfast first.But one thing before we go on.Can you lay your hand on your hearts and tell me I'm really alive? Are you sure I wasn't drowned and we're not all ghosts together?"

小矮人滿臉狐疑，打量著他們。"你們究竟是......"他小聲嘟囔，但是很快就改口說，"無所謂了，先吃早飯。但是，吃飯前我們必須做一件事：你們把手放到胸口上，對我連說三遍'你真的還活著'。你們真的確定，我既沒有被淹死，也沒有和幽靈們在一起嗎?"

When they had all reassured him，the next question was how to carry the fish.They had nothing to string them on and no basket.They had to use Edmund's hat in the end because no one else had a hat.He would have made much more fuss about this if he had not by now been so ravenously hungry.

幾個孩子齊聲向他做出保證。于是，小矮人不再有任何懷疑?？墒?，接下來又有一個問題，那就是怎么帶走這些魚。他們沒有繩子也沒有籠子。最后，他們不得不用愛德蒙的帽子。要不是他餓得心慌，他才不會同意用自己心愛的帽子裝魚呢!

At first the Dwarf did not seem very comfortable in the castle.He kept looking round and sniffing and saying，"H'm.Looks a bit spooky after all.Smells like ghosts，too."But he cheered up when it came to lighting the fire and showing them how to roast the fresh pavenders in the embers.Eating hot fish with no forks，and one pocket-knife between five people，is a messy business and there were several burnt fingers before the meal was ended; but，as it was now nine o'clock and they had been up since five，nobody minded the burns so much as you might have expected.When everyone had finished off with a drink from the well and an apple or so，the Dwarf produced a pipe about the size of his own arm，filled it，lit it，blew a great cloud of fragrant smoke，and said，"Now."

在城堡里面，剛開始時，小矮人渾身不自在，他時不時地東張西望，不停地聞來聞去，嘴里不停地嘟囔，"咦，這里真是古怪，有種幽靈的味道。"可是當(dāng)火堆點燃后，他就來了精神，指手畫腳地教那幾個孩子如何用炭火烤新鮮的鱒魚。他們沒有叉子，只有一把小刀，還要五個人用。烤熟的魚很燙手，飯還沒吃完就有幾個人的手指被燙傷了。不過，饑餓難耐的他們，根本顧不上這點燙傷?！‘?dāng)他們吃完這頓美餐后，又喝了些井水，吃了一兩個蘋果才算完事。那個小矮人不知道什么時候做了個跟他胳膊差不多粗的煙斗，填滿煙絲，開始吞云吐霧。心滿意足地說，"好了。"

"You tell us your story first，0"said Peter."And then we'll tell you ours."

"你先給我們講講你的故事，"彼得說，"然后我們再給你講講我們的。"

"Well，"said the Dwarf，"as you've saved my life it is only fair you should have your own way.But I hardly know where to begin.First of all I'm a messenger of King Caspian's."

"好啊，"小矮人說，"看在你們救了我的份上，我當(dāng)然會滿足你們的要求，但是真不知該從何說起。首先，我是凱斯賓國王的信使。"

"Who's he?"asked four voices all at once.

"凱斯賓是誰?"四個孩子異口同聲地問道。

"Caspian the Tenth，King of Narnia，and long may he reign!"answered the Dwarf."That is to say，he ought to be King of Narnia and we hope he will be.At present he is only King of us Old Narnians-"

"凱斯賓十世，是納尼亞的國王。凱斯賓萬歲!"小矮人祈禱著。"也就是說，我們希望他是整個納尼亞的統(tǒng)治者?？涩F(xiàn)在他只是我們舊納尼亞人的國王。"

"What do you mean by old Narnians，please?"asked Lucy.

"舊納尼亞人是指誰?"露茜問道。

"Why，that's us，"said the Dwarf."We're a kind of rebellion，I suppose."

"唉，當(dāng)然是我們，"小矮人說，"我們這些土生土長的納尼亞人，現(xiàn)在被稱為'叛徒'的人。"

"I see，"said Peter."And Caspian is the chief Old Narnian."

"我明白了，"彼得說道，"凱斯賓是納尼亞以前的首領(lǐng)。"

"Well，in a manner of speaking，"said the Dwarf，scratching his head."But he's really a New Narnian himself，a Telmarine，if you follow me."

"好吧，也可以這么說，"小矮人撓了撓頭，然后說，"其實，他自己也是個新納尼亞人，是臺爾馬人。你們明白我的意思嗎?"

"I don't，"said Edmund.

我不明白。"愛德蒙說。

"It's worse than the Wars of the Roses，"said Lucy.

"我也糊涂了。"露茜說。

"Oh dear，"said the Dwarf."I'm doing this very badly.Look here: I think I'll have to go right back to the beginning and tell you how Caspian grew up in his uncle's court and how he comes to be on our side at all.But it'll be a long story."

"啊，天哪，"小矮人說，"我的表達能力太差了，我還是從頭講起吧，從凱斯賓是怎樣在他叔父的王宮里成長，講到他是怎樣站到我們這邊的。這是一個很長很長的故事。"

"All the better，"said Lucy."We love stories."

"越長越好，"露茜說，"我們都很喜歡聽故事。"

So the Dwarf settled down and told his tale.I shall not give it to you in his words，putting in all the children's questions and interruptions，because it would take too long and be confusing，and，even so，it would leave out some points that the children only heard later.But the gist of the story，as they knew it in the end，was as follows.

小矮人坐下來開始講他的故事。我不打算復(fù)述他的原話，因為這樣的話，孩子們的提問和他們的插話也要原原本本地寫出來。這樣一來，這個故事就更長更復(fù)雜了。我把小矮人講的故事歸納了一下，與孩子們后來了解到的情況完全一致。那個故事就是下面這樣的。