《黎明踏浪號》第一章 臥室內(nèi)的畫
- 雙語對照
- 英文
- 中文
CHAPTER ONE THE PICTURE IN THE BEDROOM
第一章 臥室內(nèi)的畫
THERE was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb，and he almost deserved it.His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb.I can’t tell you how his friends spoke to him，for he had none.He didn’t call his Father and Mother“Father”and“Mother”，but Harold and Alberta.They were very up-to-date and advanced people.They were vegetarians， non-smokers and teetotallers and wore a special kind of underclothes.In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.一個(gè)小男孩叫尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯·斯克倫布[1]，他叫這個(gè)名字真是名副其實(shí)。父母叫他尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯，老師叫他斯克羅布。至于他的朋友們管他叫什么，就不得而知了，因?yàn)樗麎焊鶅簺]有朋友。他不叫自己的父母“爸爸媽媽”，而是直呼他們的名字——哈羅德和艾貝塔。他們是非常時(shí)髦的人，是素食主義者，不吸煙，不喝酒， 穿特制的內(nèi)衣褲。在他們房間里，只有很少的家具，床上基本沒有褥子和床單，窗戶總敞開著。
Eustace Clarence liked animals，especially beetles，if they were dead and pinned on a card.He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.
尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯很喜歡小動物，特別是那些被制成標(biāo)本的甲殼蟲。他也很喜歡看書，尤愛知識類的書籍，比如那些帶插畫的書， 上面畫有谷物輸送機(jī)，或是國外的胖娃娃在他們的示范學(xué)校里做操的情景。
Edmund and Lucy did not at all want to come and stay with Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta.But it really couldn’t be helped. Father had got a job lecturing in America for sixteen weeks that summer，and Mother was to go with him because she hadn’t had a real holiday for ten years.Peter was working very hard for an exam and he was to spend the holidays being coached by old Professor Kirke in whose house these four children had had wonderful adventures long ago in the war years.If he had still been in that house he would have had them all to stay.But he had somehow become poor since the old days and was living in a small cottage with only one bedroom to spare.It would have cost too much money to take the other three all to America，and Susan had gone.
愛德蒙和露茜原本不想住尤斯塔斯家，但他們別無選擇。因?yàn)槭罴偎麄兊母赣H要去美國做十六周的講學(xué)，母親也要跟著去。彼得正在準(zhǔn)備下次考試，所以這個(gè)假期會暫住到柯克老教授家里，柯克老教授還可以為他輔導(dǎo)功課。在早年的戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)期，這幾個(gè)兄弟姐妹就曾住在柯克教授家中避難，并擁有一段難忘的經(jīng)歷?？驴死辖淌诤軜芬馑麄円黄鹱≡谒遥恢趺椿厥?，他的家突然就沒落了，所以不得不搬進(jìn)了一幢小房子里。現(xiàn)在的房子只能勻出一間房給彼得住。父母又實(shí)在沒有錢把三個(gè)孩子都帶走，最后只帶走了蘇珊。
Grown-ups thought her the pretty one of the family and she was no good at school work(though otherwise very old for her age) and Mother said she“would get far more out of a trip to America than the youngsters”.Edmund and Lucy tried not to grudge Susan her luck，but it was dreadful having to spend the summer holidays at their Aunt’s.“But it’s far worse for me，”said Edmund，“because you’ll at least have a room of your own and I shall have to share a bedroom with that record stinker，Eustace.”
蘇珊是幾個(gè)孩子中最乖巧、最漂亮的一個(gè)，可惜她學(xué)習(xí)不好( 盡管她已經(jīng)不小了)。而且母親認(rèn)為，比起那兩個(gè)更小的孩子，她“可以在美國之旅受益匪淺”。露茜和愛德蒙雖然不至于去嫉妒蘇珊的好運(yùn)氣，但想到整個(gè)假期都要在舅媽家里度過，就非常不情愿。“但是， 最倒霉的是我，”愛德蒙說，“最起碼你還有間自己的屋子，而我竟然要和那個(gè)討厭鬼尤斯塔斯住在一起。”
The story begins on an afternoon when Edmund and Lucy were stealing a few precious minutes alone together.And of course they were talking about Narnia，which was the name of their own private and secret country.Most of us，I suppose，have a secret country but for most of us it is only an imaginary country.Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in that respect.Their secret country was real.They had already visited it twice;not in a game or a dream but in reality.They had got there of course by Magic，which is the only way of getting to Narnia.And a promise，or very nearly a promise，had been made them in Narnia itself that they would some day get back.You may imagine that they talked about it a good deal，when they got the chance.
故事在一天下午拉開了序幕。露茜和愛德蒙兩人正偷偷聚在一起，暢談納尼亞的傳奇故事，這是只屬于他們兩個(gè)人的秘密。大多數(shù)人都會有屬于自己的“秘密國度”，但是，那都只是我們想象出來的而已。在這一點(diǎn)上，露茜和愛德蒙比我們幸運(yùn)多了，因?yàn)樗麄兊募{尼亞是真實(shí)存在的，而且他們還去過兩次，他們不是在做游戲或夢境里假裝去到的，而是實(shí)實(shí)在在地去過。當(dāng)然，他們只有依靠魔法才能到達(dá)那里，納尼亞可不是隨便想去就能去的。所以，他們還在納尼亞時(shí)就曾約定，一有機(jī)會，他們肯定會再去的。
They were in Lucy’s room，sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at a picture on the opposite wall.It was the only picture in the house that they liked.Aunt Alberta didn’t like it at all(that was why it was put away in a little back room upstairs)，but she couldn’t get rid of it because it had been a wedding present from someone she did not want to offend.
他們坐在露茜的床邊仔細(xì)端詳著墻上的一幅畫。這是唯一一幅他們非常喜歡的畫，盡管艾貝塔舅媽并不喜歡它( 所以它才被放在樓上的閣樓里)，但是又不能把它扔掉，因?yàn)樗幌氲米锇堰@幅畫當(dāng)作結(jié)婚禮物送給她的那個(gè)人。
It was a picture of a ship—a ship sailing straight towards you. Her prow was gilded and shaped like the head of a dragon with wide-open mouth.She had only one mast and one large，square sail which was a rich purple.The sides of the ship—what you could see of them where the gilded wings of the dragon ended—were green.She had just run up to the top of one glorious blue wave， and the nearer slope of that wave came down towards you，with streaks and bubbles on it.She was obviously running fast before a gay wind，listing over a little on her port side.(By the way，if you are going to read this story at all，and if you don’t know already，you had better get it into your head that the left of a ship when you are looking ahead，is port ，and the right is starboard .) All the sunlight fell on her from that side，and the water on that side was full of greens and purples.On the other，it was darker blue from the shadow of the ship.
畫上是一艘船——一艘看起來正朝你迎面駛來的船。船頭是鍍金的龍頭，張著嘴。船上只有一根桅桿，張著紫色的帆，船舷是綠色的。這艘船正沖向船頭碧浪的最高處，近處的波濤挾著海浪和泡沫向你涌來，它正乘風(fēng)破浪，快速前進(jìn)，左舷略微傾斜。( 如果你想認(rèn)真地把故事看完，而你此時(shí)還不明白之前所描述的場景的話，你可以在腦中想象：你朝一艘船看去時(shí)，船的左邊叫左舷，船的右邊叫右舷) 陽光從船的另一側(cè)灑下來，海水折射出碧綠或者紫色的光芒，而被船身遮擋住了陽光的那一側(cè)的海水泛著幽暗的深藍(lán)色光芒。
“The question is，”said Edmund，“whether it doesn’t make things worse，looking at a Narnian ship when you can’t get there.”
“問題是，”愛德蒙說，“眼睜睜地看著納尼亞的船卻上不去， 真讓人心煩。”
“Even looking is better than nothing，”said Lucy.“And she is such a very Narnian ship.”
“就這樣看一看也好啊，”露茜感嘆，“這畢竟是艘真正的納尼亞的船。”
“Still playing your old game ?”said Eustace Clarence，who had been listening outside the door and now came grinning into the room. Last year，when he had been staying with the Pevensies，he had managed to hear them all talking of Narnia and he loved teasing them about it.He thought of course that they were making it all up;and as he was far too stupid to make anything up himself，he did not approve of that.
“還在玩你們的幻想游戲嗎?”尤斯塔斯突然走進(jìn)屋子里。原來他一直躲在門外偷聽他們說話，這會兒正咧著嘴取笑他們。去年， 在佩文西家的時(shí)候他就曾聽到過他們談?wù)摷{尼亞，之后他經(jīng)常拿這事來取笑他們。因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為那全是他們編出來的，并對此不以為然， 盡管他自己什么也編不出來。
“You’re not wanted here，”said Edmund curtly.
“這里不歡迎你。”愛德蒙粗聲粗氣地說。
“I’m trying to think of a limerick，”said Eustace.“Something like this：
“我正在寫一首打油詩，”尤斯塔斯說，“大概是這樣的：
“Well Narnia and balmier don’t rhyme，to begin with，”said Lucy.
“得了吧，孩子和愚蠢兩個(gè)詞根本就不押韻。”露茜說。
“It’s an assonance，”said Eustace.
“它們押的是元音。”尤斯塔斯狡辯。
“Don’t ask him what an assy-thingummy is，”said Edmund.“He’s only longing to be asked.Say nothing and perhaps he’ll go away.”
“別問他什么是押元音，”愛德蒙說，“他巴不得別人問他。別理他，他自討沒趣就走了。”
Most boys，on meeting a reception like this，would either have cleared out or flared up.Eustace did neither.He just hung about grinning，and presently began talking again.“Do you like that picture ?”he asked.
這樣碰了一鼻子灰，一般的孩子不是扭頭就走就是火冒三丈。但尤斯塔斯卻沒有這樣做，他嬉皮笑臉地賴著不走。還問：“你們喜歡那幅畫嗎?”
“For heaven’s sake don’t let him get started about Art and all that，”said Edmund hurriedly，but Lucy，who was very truthful， had already said，“Yes，I do.I like it very much.”
“天知道他會不會又說藝術(shù)審美的事。”愛德蒙急忙說。但露茜卻真誠地回答：“是呀，非常喜歡。”
“It’s a rotten picture，”said Eustace.
“這幅畫很爛。”尤斯塔斯詆毀道。
“You won’t see it if you step outside，”said Edmund.
“你滾出去，不就看不見了。”愛德蒙說。
“Why do you like it ?”said Eustace to Lucy.
“你為什么會喜歡這幅畫呢?”尤斯塔斯問露茜。
“Well，for one thing，”said Lucy，“I like it because the ship looks as if it was really moving.And the water looks as if it was really wet.And the waves look as if they were really going up and down.”
“嗯，其一，”露茜回答：“這艘船看上去像是真的正航行在海里， 畫上的海水像是潮濕的，海浪看上去也像是真的在翻騰。”
Of course Eustace knew lots of answers to this，but he didn’t say anything.The reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down.He had only once been in a ship(and then only as far as the Isle of Wight)and had been horribly seasick.The look of the waves in the picture made him feel sick again.He turned rather green and tried another look.And then all three children were staring with open mouths.
尤斯塔斯有很多話來回答露茜，現(xiàn)在他卻一言不發(fā)。因?yàn)樗部吹侥切┖＠嗽谄鸱黄?。他只坐過一次船( 只到了懷特島)，還暈船暈得很厲害?，F(xiàn)在一看海浪他又有點(diǎn)暈了。他臉色鐵青，卻抑制不住對海浪的好奇心。接下來發(fā)生的事情，更是讓三個(gè)孩子目瞪口呆。
What they were seeing may be hard to believe when you read it in print，but it was almost as hard to believe when you saw it happening.The things in the picture were moving.It didn’t look at all like a cinema either;the colours were too real and clean and out-of-doors for that.Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray.And then up went the wave behind her，and her stern and her deck became visible for the first time，and then disappeared as the next wave came to meet her and her bows went up again.At the same moment an exercise book which had been lying beside Edmund on the bed flapped，rose and sailed through the air to the wall behind him，and Lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day. And this was a windy day;but the wind was blowing out of the picture towards them.And suddenly with the wind came the noises—the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship’s sides and the creaking and the over—all high steady roar of air and water. But it was the smell，the wild，briny smell，which really convinced Lucy that she was not dreaming.
面對這些鉛字的時(shí)候，你們真的難以想象他們眼前的場景。即便親眼看到，你們也會不敢相信自己的眼睛的。畫上的東西突然動了， 卻不像露天電影幕布里的那樣。那幅畫的色彩非常逼真，相信即使露天電影也不會有這樣逼真的效果：那條船分明在海上航行，船頭在海浪中起伏，激起一大片浪花后又猛地把它們甩在后面。他們剛看見了船尾和甲板，第二個(gè)浪就打過來了，船又在海浪中起起伏伏，船尾和甲板又不見了。就在此時(shí)，一直放在愛德蒙身邊的練習(xí)本開始呼啦啦地翻動，甚至飛了起來，向愛德蒙身后的墻上飛去。好像刮了一場大風(fēng)，露茜滿頭發(fā)絲都被吹到了臉上。其實(shí)那會兒的確刮風(fēng)了——不過風(fēng)是從畫上刮來的，還夾雜著各種聲響——海浪沙沙的沖刷聲，海水拍打船舷的聲音，船身嘎嘎的鳴響聲，以及那回蕩在天地間像是要摧毀一切的怒號聲。海水那股強(qiáng)烈的咸澀味讓露茜更加確定，自己不是在做夢。
“Stop it，”came Eustace’s voice，squeaky with fright and bad temper.“It’s some silly trick you two are playing.Stop it.I’ll tell Alberta—Ow !”
“快停下!”尤斯塔斯的聲音充滿著恐懼和驚慌，“你們又在玩什么鬼把戲!快停下，我要去告訴艾貝塔了……”
The other two were much more accustomed to adventures， but，just exactly as Eustace Clarence said“Ow，”they both said“Ow”too.The reason was that a great cold，salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it，besides being wet through.
兩兄妹對這種冒險(xiǎn)的事本來早已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常了，誰料就在尤斯塔斯嗷嗷大叫的同時(shí)，他倆也一起“噢”了一聲。因?yàn)橛譀鲇窒痰暮Ｋ畯漠嬛袥_了出來，不僅把他們?nèi)矶即驖窳?，還差點(diǎn)讓他們喘不過氣來。
“I’ll smash the rotten thing，”cried Eustace;and then several things happened at the same time.Eustace rushed towards the picture.Edmund，who knew something about magic，sprang after him，warning him to look out and not to be a fool.Lucy grabbed at him from the other side and was dragged forward.And by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger.Eustace jumped to try to pull it off the wall and found himself standing on the frame;in front of him was not glass but real sea，and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock.He lost his head and clutched at the other two who had jumped up beside him.There was a second of struggling and shouting，and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them，swept them off their feet，and drew them down into the sea.Eustace’s despairing cry suddenly ended as the water got into his mouth.
“我要把這幅畫砸爛!”尤斯塔斯大叫著沖向那幅畫。此時(shí)， 一些事情好像巧合般地上演。尤斯塔斯已沖到畫的前面，對魔法略懂一二的愛德蒙，立刻拉住尤斯塔斯，警告他別去干傻事。露茜從另一邊拉著他，卻還是被他拽著向前沖去。這時(shí)候，不知道是畫越變越大， 還是他們越變越小了。尤斯塔斯跳起來，想把畫從墻上扯下來，沒想到發(fā)現(xiàn)自己竟站在了畫框里。此刻在他面前的不是玻璃鏡面，而是真正的大海，海風(fēng)和海浪像拍打岸邊巖石一樣向他撲面沖來。他被這景象嚇昏了頭， 緊緊地抓住愛德蒙和露茜。他們?nèi)齻€(gè)在畫框上又是掙扎，又是喊叫， 折騰了好一會兒。正當(dāng)他們剛剛保持住平衡時(shí)，一個(gè)巨大的藍(lán)色海浪又把他們拖到了海里。苦澀的海水沖進(jìn)了尤斯塔斯的嘴里，讓他那絕望的叫喊聲戛然而止。
Lucy thanked her stars that she had worked hard at her swimming last summer term.It is true that she would have got on much better if she had used a slower stroke，and also that the water felt a great deal colder than it had looked while it was only a picture. Still，she kept her head and kicked her shoes off，as everyone ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes.She even kept her mouth shut and her eyes open.They were still quite near the ship;she saw its green side towering high above them，and people looking at her from the deck.Then，as one might have expected， Eustace clutched at her in a panic and down they both went.
露茜暗自慶幸自己去年夏天學(xué)了游泳。事實(shí)上，海水比看上去涼許多，如果她可以游得慢一點(diǎn)，她可以游得很好的。她和所有一下子掉進(jìn)水中的人一樣，努力地保持鎮(zhèn)定，踢掉了鞋子，然后她還緊閉嘴巴，睜開眼睛。這時(shí)他們已經(jīng)離船身非常近了，露茜看到了綠色的船舷，還發(fā)現(xiàn)有人正從甲板上看著她。然而，這時(shí)，尤斯塔斯在慌亂中緊緊地抓住她，兩人一起往下沉。
When they came up again she saw a white figure diving off the ship’s side.Edmund was close beside her now，treading water， and had caught the arms of the howling Eustace.Then someone else，whose face was vaguely familiar，slipped an arm under her from the other side.There was a lot of shouting going on from the ship，heads crowding together above the bulwarks，ropes being thrown.Edmund and the stranger were fastening ropes round her. After that followed what seemed a very long delay during which her face got blue and her teeth began chattering.In reality the delay was not very long;they were waiting till the moment when she could be got on board the ship without being dashed against its side. Even with all their best endeavours she had a bruised knee when she finally stood，dripping and shivering，on the deck.After her Edmund was heaved up，and then the miserable Eustace.Last of all came the stranger-a golden-headed boy some years older than herself.
當(dāng)他們再次浮出水面時(shí)，露茜看見一個(gè)白色的人影跳入水中。此刻愛德蒙緊靠著她，踩著水，雙手抓住還在號叫的尤斯塔斯的胳膊。接著，又有人從另一邊伸出胳膊托住他。露茜隱約中覺得那個(gè)人有些面熟。船上的人七嘴八舌地喊叫著，把纜繩扔了下來。愛德蒙和那個(gè)人一起把繩系在她的身上。繩繞好后，好像又過了很久，直到她著急得臉色發(fā)青，牙齒開始打戰(zhàn)。而事實(shí)上這中間并沒有過多久，他們只是在等繩子固定好， 以便拉她上船時(shí)，不至于讓她的身體碰到船體而受傷。盡管他們做了很多努力，當(dāng)露茜終于被拉上來時(shí)，她發(fā)抖地站在甲板上，渾身濕淋淋，一只膝蓋青腫起來。接著，愛德蒙也被拉上來了，然后是被嚇傻了的尤斯塔斯。最后還有個(gè)陌生人 ——一個(gè)比露茜大不了幾歲的金發(fā)少年。
“Ca—Ca—Caspian !”gasped Lucy as soon as she had breath enough.For Caspian it was;Caspian，the boy king of Narnia whom they had helped to set on the throne during their last visit. Immediately Edmund recognized him too.All three shook hands and clapped one another on the back with great delight.
“凱、凱、凱斯賓!”露茜還沒緩過氣來，就喘著粗氣驚喜地叫道。那個(gè)年輕人正是凱斯賓——他們曾幫助他登上了納尼亞的王位。此時(shí)愛德蒙也認(rèn)出了他，三個(gè)人喜出望外，樂得手舞足蹈。
“But who is your friend ?”said Caspian almost at once， turning to Eustace with his cheerful smile.But Eustace was crying much harder than any boy of his age has a right to cry when nothing worse than a wetting has happened to him，and would only yell out，“Let me go.Let me go back.I don’t like it.”
“這家伙是誰呀?”凱斯賓滿面笑容地轉(zhuǎn)向尤斯塔斯。誰料尤斯塔斯哭得更厲害了。像他這樣的男孩遇見渾身濕透這種事，大哭一場無可厚非，可像他這樣哭得如此夸張，確實(shí)少見。尤斯塔斯還自顧自地叫著：“讓我走，讓我回去，我不喜歡這里!”
“Let you go ?”said Caspian.“But where ?”
“讓你走?”凱斯賓疑惑地問道：“你要去哪兒呢?”
Eustace rushed to the ship’s side，as if he expected to see the picture frame hanging above the sea，and perhaps a glimpse of Lucy’s bedroom.What he saw was blue waves flecked with foam，and paler blue sky，both spreading without a break to the horizon.Perhaps we can hardly blame him if his heart sank.He was promptly sick.
尤斯塔斯沖到船邊，想再看一眼鑲在墻上的畫框，或者是露茜的臥室?？裳矍爸挥蟹褐菽暮Ｋ蜏\藍(lán)色的天空。遠(yuǎn)處，海天一線，無邊無際。他嚇得魂都快沒了。不過我們也不能過分責(zé)備他， 誰讓他暈船呢。
“Hey !Rynelf，”said Caspian to one of the sailors.“Bring spiced wine for their Majesties.You’ll need something to warm you after that dip.”He called Edmund and Lucy their Majesties because they and Peter and Susan had all been Kings and Queens of Narnia long before his time.Narnian time flows differently from ours.If you spent a hundred years in Narnia，you would still come back to our world at the very same hour of the very same day on which you left.And then，if you went back to Narnia after spending a week here，you might find that a thousand Narnian years had passed，or only a day，or no time at all.You never know till you get there.Consequently，when the Pevensie children had returned to Narnia last time for their second visit，it was(for the Narnians)as if King Arthur came back to Britain，as some people say he will.And I say the sooner the better.
“嗨，賴尼夫，”凱斯賓對一個(gè)水手說，“給這兩位陛下送點(diǎn)酒來，”他轉(zhuǎn)向露茜和愛德蒙說，“你們在水里泡了太久，需要喝點(diǎn)東西暖暖身子。”他稱露茜和愛德蒙為“陛下”，因?yàn)樗麄兒吞K珊與彼得一樣，在他即位之前是納尼亞的國王和女王。要知道，納尼亞的時(shí)間和我們這個(gè)世界的時(shí)間是不一樣的，即使你在納尼亞世界過了一百年，當(dāng)你回到這里，仍然還是你離開的那一天的同一個(gè)時(shí)刻。但如果你在自己的世界過上一個(gè)星期或者一天，納尼亞卻早已過了一千年。因此，露茜和愛德蒙兩兄妹自上次從納尼亞離開后， 這次再回來( 在納尼亞人眼中) 就如傳說中亞瑟王一樣，終于重返納尼亞了。
Rynelf returned with the spiced wine steaming in a flagon and four silver cups.It was just what one wanted，and as Lucy and Edmund sipped it they could feel the warmth going right down to their toes.But Eustace made faces and spluttered and spat it out and was sick again and began to cry again and asked if they hadn’t any Plumptree’s Vitaminized Nerve Food and could it be made with distilled water and anyway he insisted on being put ashore at the next station.
賴尼夫端來一瓶冒著香氣的酒和四只銀杯。這酒來得正是時(shí)候， 愛德蒙和露茜抿了一小口，頓覺一股暖流從喉嚨直達(dá)腳底。尤斯塔斯卻還是苦著張臉，先是嘔吐，一會兒又哇哇大哭，問人家有沒有楓樹牌那種加了維生素的營養(yǎng)食品，還告訴人家如果沒有可以用蒸餾水去制作，并堅(jiān)持說到了下一站就回岸上去。
“This is a merry shipmate you’ve brought us，Brother，” whispered Caspian to Edmund with a chuckle;but before he could say anything more Eustace burst out again.
“這個(gè)活寶可是你們帶來的呀，兄弟。”凱斯賓笑著對愛德蒙咬耳朵。還沒等他說其他事情，尤斯塔斯就又開始折騰了。
“Oh !Ugh !What on earth’s that !Take it away，the horrid thing.”
“噢!啊!那究竟是什么玩意?趕緊把這令人惡心的東西弄走!”
He really had some excuse this time for feeling a little surprised.Something very curious indeed had come out of the cabin in the poop and was slowly approaching them.You might call it—and indeed it was—a Mouse.But then it was a Mouse on its hind legs and stood about two feet high.A thin band of gold passed round its head under one ear and over the other and in this was stuck a long crimson feather.(As the Mouse’s fur was very dark，almost black，the effect was bold and striking.)Its left paw rested on the hilt of a sword very nearly as long as its tail .Its balance，as it paced gravely along the swaying deck，was perfect，and its manners courtly.Lucy and Edmund recognized it at once—Reepicheep，the most valiant of all the Talking Beasts of Narnia，and the Chief Mouse.It had won undying glory in the second Battle of Beruna.Lucy longed，as she had always done， to take Reepicheep up in her arms and cuddle him.But this，as she well knew，was a pleasure she could never have：it would have offended him deeply.Instead，she went down on one knee to talk to him.
尤斯塔斯的吃驚情有可原，因?yàn)榇簿谷幻俺鰜硪粋€(gè)非常奇怪的東西，正向他們慢慢走來。我們把它叫做老鼠——確實(shí)是一只老鼠?？伤谷豢梢灾挥脙蓷l后腿站立，看上去有兩英尺高。一個(gè)細(xì)細(xì)的金箍套住了它的腦袋，一只耳朵在金箍上面，另一只在下面，箍上還插了一支深紅色長羽毛。( 老鼠的皮毛顏色非常深，接近黑色，非常引人注目) 老鼠的左爪放在幾乎和它尾巴一樣長的寶劍的劍柄上。它神色莊嚴(yán)，舉止優(yōu)雅，穩(wěn)當(dāng)?shù)貋砘卮┬性陬嶔さ募装迳稀鄣旅珊吐盾缫谎劬驼J(rèn)出它是雷佩契普，納尼亞王國里會說話的獸類中，最驍勇善戰(zhàn)的老鼠大軍的頭目。在柏盧納的第二次戰(zhàn)役中， 它還獲得了不朽的殊榮。露茜真想把它摟在懷里，她一直都想這么做。不過她知道自己是享受不到這種待遇的，因?yàn)槟菢拥脑挄米锼Ｒ虼寺盾缰缓脝蜗ス虻貋砀f話。
Reepicheep put forward his left leg，drew back his right， bowed，kissed her hand，straightened himself，twirled his whiskers，and said in his shrill，piping voice：
雷佩契普先伸出左腿，縮回右腿，向她鞠躬，再吻她的手，然后挺直身體，捻著自己的胡須，尖著嗓子說：
“My humble duty to your Majesty.And to King Edmund， too.”(Here he bowed again.)“Nothing except your Majesties’ presence was lacking to this glorious venture.”
“向愛德蒙國王陛下和露茜女王陛下致敬。( 說到這兒，它又向他們鞠了一躬) 承蒙兩位陛下光臨，這次輝煌的遠(yuǎn)航可算是十全十美了。”
“Ugh，take it away，”wailed Eustace.“I hate mice.And I never could bear performing animals.They’re silly and vulgar and—and sentimental.”
“啊，把它弄走!”尤斯塔斯叫道，“我討厭老鼠。我最討厭看動物表演，不僅無聊粗俗，而且……還自作多情。”
“Am I to understand，”said Reepicheep to Lucy after a long stare at Eustace，“that this singularly discourteous person is under your Majesty’s protection ? Because，if not—”
“如此無禮的人也受到陛下您的保護(hù)嗎?”雷佩契普盯了尤斯塔斯好一會兒后，才接著說，“因?yàn)?，如果不是的?hellip;…”
At this moment Lucy and Edmund both sneezed.
正巧這時(shí)，露茜和愛德蒙兩個(gè)人同時(shí)打了個(gè)噴嚏。
“What a fool I am to keep you all standing here in your wet things，”said Caspian.“Come on below and get changed.I’ll give you my cabin of course，Lucy，but I’m afraid we have no women’s clothes on board.You’ll have to make do with some of mine.Lead the way，Reepicheep，like a good fellow.”
“是我糊涂，讓你們渾身濕淋淋地站在這兒。”凱斯賓說，“快到船艙里換上干衣服。露茜，你去我的房間，不過，船上恐怕沒有女人的衣服，你只好先將就一下穿我的衣服了。雷佩契普，好好帶路。”
“To the convenience of a lady，”said Reepicheep，“even a question of honour must give way—at least for the moment—”and here he looked very hard at Eustace.But Caspian hustled them on and in a few minutes Lucy found herself passing through the door into the stern cabin.She fell in love with it at once—the three square windows that looked out on the blue，swirling water astern，the low cushioned benches round three sides of the table， the swinging silver lamp overhead(Dwarfs’ work，she knew at once by its exquisite delicacy)and the flat gold image of Aslan the Lion on the forward wall above the door.All this she took in in a flash，for Caspian immediately opened a door on the starboard side，and said，“This’ll be your room，Lucy.I’ll just get some dry things for myself—”he was rummaging in one of the lockers while he spoke—“and then leave you to change.If you’ll fling your wet things outside the door I’ll get them taken to the galley to be dried.”
“看在女王的份上，”雷佩契普說，“即使是事關(guān)尊嚴(yán)，也只能作罷，至少暫時(shí)只能如此。”話音未落，它狠狠地瞪了尤斯塔斯一眼， 凱斯賓催促他們趕緊走。不一會兒，露茜就走到了船尾的艙房。一進(jìn)艙房她就喜歡上了這里——三扇方形的玻璃窗外面是碧藍(lán)的海水，桌子的三邊各擺著矮凳，矮凳上都鋪上軟墊。房頂?shù)踔y燈( 從那精巧的做工，她就知道這是小矮人的杰作)，門頭上方的墻上還掛著獅王阿斯蘭的金像。她掃了整個(gè)房間一眼，凱斯賓打開一側(cè)的房門，“露茜，你住我的房間，我去給你找?guī)准梢路?rdquo;凱斯賓說著開始翻開一個(gè)衣櫥， 然后說：“換下來的濕衣服放門外就行了，有人會來拿走給你烘干的。”
Lucy found herself as much at home as if she had been in Caspian’s cabin for weeks，and the motion of the ship did not worry her，for in the old days when she had been a queen in Narnia she had done a good deal of voyaging.The cabin was very tiny but bright with painted panels(all birds and beasts and crimson dragons and vines)and spotlessly clean.Caspian’s clothes were too big for her，but she could manage.His shoes，sandals and sea-boots were hopelessly big but she did not mind going barefoot on board ship.When she had finished dressing she looked out of her window at the water rushing past and took a long deep breath.She felt quite sure they were in for a lovely time.
露茜覺得凱斯賓的艙房像家一樣舒適，那種感覺像已經(jīng)在這里住了很久似的。她一點(diǎn)都不害怕船身搖晃，想當(dāng)初她在納尼亞當(dāng)女王的時(shí)候， 還多次出海遠(yuǎn)航呢。這艙房小卻很明亮，墻上掛著鑲板畫( 畫上都是些飛禽走獸，紅色的龍以及一些藤蔓植物) 纖塵不染，非常干凈。穿凱斯賓的衣服有點(diǎn)大，但勉強(qiáng)湊合。鞋子也大，不過露茜并不介意光著腳在船上走動。她穿好衣服后眺望窗外的海水，深深地呼了一口氣。她知道又一段美好的時(shí)光已經(jīng)到來了。
Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins the four Pevensies， Peter，Susan，Edmund and Lucy.But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay.For deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying;and，though he was a puny little person who couldn’t have stood up even to Lucy，let alone Edmund，in a fight，he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.
“Some kids who played games about Narnia Got gradually balmier and balmier—”
尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯不喜歡佩文西家的那些表兄弟姐妹—— 彼得、蘇珊、愛德蒙和露茜。但聽說愛德蒙和露茜要來他們家住，他還是非常高興。雖然他骨子里喜歡對別人發(fā)號施令，欺凌弱小，但他身材矮小，還沒有露茜個(gè)子高，更別說能打贏愛德蒙了。他已在心里盤算著，如果露茜和愛德蒙寄住在自己家里，他就可以用盡各種辦法來捉弄他們。
玩納尼亞游戲的孩子會變得越來越愚蠢，越來越愚蠢……”
CHAPTER ONE THE PICTURE IN THE BEDROOM
THERE was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb，and he almost deserved it.His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb.I can’t tell you how his friends spoke to him，for he had none.He didn’t call his Father and Mother“Father”and“Mother”，but Harold and Alberta.They were very up-to-date and advanced people.They were vegetarians， non-smokers and teetotallers and wore a special kind of underclothes.In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.Eustace Clarence liked animals，especially beetles，if they were dead and pinned on a card.He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.
Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins the four Pevensies， Peter，Susan，Edmund and Lucy.But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay.For deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying;and，though he was a puny little person who couldn’t have stood up even to Lucy，let alone Edmund，in a fight，he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.
Edmund and Lucy did not at all want to come and stay with Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta.But it really couldn’t be helped. Father had got a job lecturing in America for sixteen weeks that summer，and Mother was to go with him because she hadn’t had a real holiday for ten years.Peter was working very hard for an exam and he was to spend the holidays being coached by old Professor Kirke in whose house these four children had had wonderful adventures long ago in the war years.If he had still been in that house he would have had them all to stay.But he had somehow become poor since the old days and was living in a small cottage with only one bedroom to spare.It would have cost too much money to take the other three all to America，and Susan had gone.
Grown-ups thought her the pretty one of the family and she was no good at school work(though otherwise very old for her age) and Mother said she“would get far more out of a trip to America than the youngsters”.Edmund and Lucy tried not to grudge Susan her luck，but it was dreadful having to spend the summer holidays at their Aunt’s.“But it’s far worse for me，”said Edmund，“because you’ll at least have a room of your own and I shall have to share a bedroom with that record stinker，Eustace.”
The story begins on an afternoon when Edmund and Lucy were stealing a few precious minutes alone together.And of course they were talking about Narnia，which was the name of their own private and secret country.Most of us，I suppose，have a secret country but for most of us it is only an imaginary country.Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in that respect.Their secret country was real.They had already visited it twice;not in a game or a dream but in reality.They had got there of course by Magic，which is the only way of getting to Narnia.And a promise，or very nearly a promise，had been made them in Narnia itself that they would some day get back.You may imagine that they talked about it a good deal，when they got the chance.
They were in Lucy’s room，sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at a picture on the opposite wall.It was the only picture in the house that they liked.Aunt Alberta didn’t like it at all(that was why it was put away in a little back room upstairs)，but she couldn’t get rid of it because it had been a wedding present from someone she did not want to offend.
It was a picture of a ship—a ship sailing straight towards you. Her prow was gilded and shaped like the head of a dragon with wide-open mouth.She had only one mast and one large，square sail which was a rich purple.The sides of the ship—what you could see of them where the gilded wings of the dragon ended—were green.She had just run up to the top of one glorious blue wave， and the nearer slope of that wave came down towards you，with streaks and bubbles on it.She was obviously running fast before a gay wind，listing over a little on her port side.(By the way，if you are going to read this story at all，and if you don’t know already，you had better get it into your head that the left of a ship when you are looking ahead，is port ，and the right is starboard .) All the sunlight fell on her from that side，and the water on that side was full of greens and purples.On the other，it was darker blue from the shadow of the ship.
“The question is，”said Edmund，“whether it doesn’t make things worse，looking at a Narnian ship when you can’t get there.”
“Even looking is better than nothing，”said Lucy.“And she is such a very Narnian ship.”
“Still playing your old game ?”said Eustace Clarence，who had been listening outside the door and now came grinning into the room. Last year，when he had been staying with the Pevensies，he had managed to hear them all talking of Narnia and he loved teasing them about it.He thought of course that they were making it all up;and as he was far too stupid to make anything up himself，he did not approve of that.
“You’re not wanted here，”said Edmund curtly.
“I’m trying to think of a limerick，”said Eustace.“Something like this：
“Some kids who played games about Narnia Got gradually balmier and balmier—”
“Well Narnia and balmier don’t rhyme，to begin with，”said Lucy.
“It’s an assonance，”said Eustace.
“Don’t ask him what an assy-thingummy is，”said Edmund.“He’s only longing to be asked.Say nothing and perhaps he’ll go away.”
Most boys，on meeting a reception like this，would either have cleared out or flared up.Eustace did neither.He just hung about grinning，and presently began talking again.“Do you like that picture ?”he asked.
“For heaven’s sake don’t let him get started about Art and all that，”said Edmund hurriedly，but Lucy，who was very truthful， had already said，“Yes，I do.I like it very much.”
“It’s a rotten picture，”said Eustace.
“You won’t see it if you step outside，”said Edmund.
“Why do you like it ?”said Eustace to Lucy.
“Well，for one thing，”said Lucy，“I like it because the ship looks as if it was really moving.And the water looks as if it was really wet.And the waves look as if they were really going up and down.”
Of course Eustace knew lots of answers to this，but he didn’t say anything.The reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down.He had only once been in a ship(and then only as far as the Isle of Wight)and had been horribly seasick.The look of the waves in the picture made him feel sick again.He turned rather green and tried another look.And then all three children were staring with open mouths.
What they were seeing may be hard to believe when you read it in print，but it was almost as hard to believe when you saw it happening.The things in the picture were moving.It didn’t look at all like a cinema either;the colours were too real and clean and out-of-doors for that.Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray.And then up went the wave behind her，and her stern and her deck became visible for the first time，and then disappeared as the next wave came to meet her and her bows went up again.At the same moment an exercise book which had been lying beside Edmund on the bed flapped，rose and sailed through the air to the wall behind him，and Lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day. And this was a windy day;but the wind was blowing out of the picture towards them.And suddenly with the wind came the noises—the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship’s sides and the creaking and the over—all high steady roar of air and water. But it was the smell，the wild，briny smell，which really convinced Lucy that she was not dreaming.
“Stop it，”came Eustace’s voice，squeaky with fright and bad temper.“It’s some silly trick you two are playing.Stop it.I’ll tell Alberta—Ow !”
The other two were much more accustomed to adventures， but，just exactly as Eustace Clarence said“Ow，”they both said“Ow”too.The reason was that a great cold，salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it，besides being wet through.
“I’ll smash the rotten thing，”cried Eustace;and then several things happened at the same time.Eustace rushed towards the picture.Edmund，who knew something about magic，sprang after him，warning him to look out and not to be a fool.Lucy grabbed at him from the other side and was dragged forward.And by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger.Eustace jumped to try to pull it off the wall and found himself standing on the frame;in front of him was not glass but real sea，and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock.He lost his head and clutched at the other two who had jumped up beside him.There was a second of struggling and shouting，and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them，swept them off their feet，and drew them down into the sea.Eustace’s despairing cry suddenly ended as the water got into his mouth.
Lucy thanked her stars that she had worked hard at her swimming last summer term.It is true that she would have got on much better if she had used a slower stroke，and also that the water felt a great deal colder than it had looked while it was only a picture. Still，she kept her head and kicked her shoes off，as everyone ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes.She even kept her mouth shut and her eyes open.They were still quite near the ship;she saw its green side towering high above them，and people looking at her from the deck.Then，as one might have expected， Eustace clutched at her in a panic and down they both went.
When they came up again she saw a white figure diving off the ship’s side.Edmund was close beside her now，treading water， and had caught the arms of the howling Eustace.Then someone else，whose face was vaguely familiar，slipped an arm under her from the other side.There was a lot of shouting going on from the ship，heads crowding together above the bulwarks，ropes being thrown.Edmund and the stranger were fastening ropes round her. After that followed what seemed a very long delay during which her face got blue and her teeth began chattering.In reality the delay was not very long;they were waiting till the moment when she could be got on board the ship without being dashed against its side. Even with all their best endeavours she had a bruised knee when she finally stood，dripping and shivering，on the deck.After her Edmund was heaved up，and then the miserable Eustace.Last of all came the stranger-a golden-headed boy some years older than herself.
“Ca—Ca—Caspian !”gasped Lucy as soon as she had breath enough.For Caspian it was;Caspian，the boy king of Narnia whom they had helped to set on the throne during their last visit. Immediately Edmund recognized him too.All three shook hands and clapped one another on the back with great delight.
“But who is your friend ?”said Caspian almost at once， turning to Eustace with his cheerful smile.But Eustace was crying much harder than any boy of his age has a right to cry when nothing worse than a wetting has happened to him，and would only yell out，“Let me go.Let me go back.I don’t like it.”
“Let you go ?”said Caspian.“But where ?”
Eustace rushed to the ship’s side，as if he expected to see the picture frame hanging above the sea，and perhaps a glimpse of Lucy’s bedroom.What he saw was blue waves flecked with foam，and paler blue sky，both spreading without a break to the horizon.Perhaps we can hardly blame him if his heart sank.He was promptly sick.
“Hey !Rynelf，”said Caspian to one of the sailors.“Bring spiced wine for their Majesties.You’ll need something to warm you after that dip.”He called Edmund and Lucy their Majesties because they and Peter and Susan had all been Kings and Queens of Narnia long before his time.Narnian time flows differently from ours.If you spent a hundred years in Narnia，you would still come back to our world at the very same hour of the very same day on which you left.And then，if you went back to Narnia after spending a week here，you might find that a thousand Narnian years had passed，or only a day，or no time at all.You never know till you get there.Consequently，when the Pevensie children had returned to Narnia last time for their second visit，it was(for the Narnians)as if King Arthur came back to Britain，as some people say he will.And I say the sooner the better.
Rynelf returned with the spiced wine steaming in a flagon and four silver cups.It was just what one wanted，and as Lucy and Edmund sipped it they could feel the warmth going right down to their toes.But Eustace made faces and spluttered and spat it out and was sick again and began to cry again and asked if they hadn’t any Plumptree’s Vitaminized Nerve Food and could it be made with distilled water and anyway he insisted on being put ashore at the next station.
“This is a merry shipmate you’ve brought us，Brother，” whispered Caspian to Edmund with a chuckle;but before he could say anything more Eustace burst out again.
“Oh !Ugh !What on earth’s that !Take it away，the horrid thing.”
He really had some excuse this time for feeling a little surprised.Something very curious indeed had come out of the cabin in the poop and was slowly approaching them.You might call it—and indeed it was—a Mouse.But then it was a Mouse on its hind legs and stood about two feet high.A thin band of gold passed round its head under one ear and over the other and in this was stuck a long crimson feather.(As the Mouse’s fur was very dark，almost black，the effect was bold and striking.)Its left paw rested on the hilt of a sword very nearly as long as its tail .Its balance，as it paced gravely along the swaying deck，was perfect，and its manners courtly.Lucy and Edmund recognized it at once—Reepicheep，the most valiant of all the Talking Beasts of Narnia，and the Chief Mouse.It had won undying glory in the second Battle of Beruna.Lucy longed，as she had always done， to take Reepicheep up in her arms and cuddle him.But this，as she well knew，was a pleasure she could never have：it would have offended him deeply.Instead，she went down on one knee to talk to him.
Reepicheep put forward his left leg，drew back his right， bowed，kissed her hand，straightened himself，twirled his whiskers，and said in his shrill，piping voice：
“My humble duty to your Majesty.And to King Edmund， too.”(Here he bowed again.)“Nothing except your Majesties’ presence was lacking to this glorious venture.”
“Ugh，take it away，”wailed Eustace.“I hate mice.And I never could bear performing animals.They’re silly and vulgar and—and sentimental.”
“Am I to understand，”said Reepicheep to Lucy after a long stare at Eustace，“that this singularly discourteous person is under your Majesty’s protection ? Because，if not—”
At this moment Lucy and Edmund both sneezed.
“What a fool I am to keep you all standing here in your wet things，”said Caspian.“Come on below and get changed.I’ll give you my cabin of course，Lucy，but I’m afraid we have no women’s clothes on board.You’ll have to make do with some of mine.Lead the way，Reepicheep，like a good fellow.”
“To the convenience of a lady，”said Reepicheep，“even a question of honour must give way—at least for the moment—”and here he looked very hard at Eustace.But Caspian hustled them on and in a few minutes Lucy found herself passing through the door into the stern cabin.She fell in love with it at once—the three square windows that looked out on the blue，swirling water astern，the low cushioned benches round three sides of the table， the swinging silver lamp overhead(Dwarfs’ work，she knew at once by its exquisite delicacy)and the flat gold image of Aslan the Lion on the forward wall above the door.All this she took in in a flash，for Caspian immediately opened a door on the starboard side，and said，“This’ll be your room，Lucy.I’ll just get some dry things for myself—”he was rummaging in one of the lockers while he spoke—“and then leave you to change.If you’ll fling your wet things outside the door I’ll get them taken to the galley to be dried.”
Lucy found herself as much at home as if she had been in Caspian’s cabin for weeks，and the motion of the ship did not worry her，for in the old days when she had been a queen in Narnia she had done a good deal of voyaging.The cabin was very tiny but bright with painted panels(all birds and beasts and crimson dragons and vines)and spotlessly clean.Caspian’s clothes were too big for her，but she could manage.His shoes，sandals and sea-boots were hopelessly big but she did not mind going barefoot on board ship.When she had finished dressing she looked out of her window at the water rushing past and took a long deep breath.She felt quite sure they were in for a lovely time.
第一章 臥室內(nèi)的畫
一個(gè)小男孩叫尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯·斯克倫布[1]，他叫這個(gè)名字真是名副其實(shí)。父母叫他尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯，老師叫他斯克羅布。至于他的朋友們管他叫什么，就不得而知了，因?yàn)樗麎焊鶅簺]有朋友。他不叫自己的父母“爸爸媽媽”，而是直呼他們的名字——哈羅德和艾貝塔。他們是非常時(shí)髦的人，是素食主義者，不吸煙，不喝酒， 穿特制的內(nèi)衣褲。在他們房間里，只有很少的家具，床上基本沒有褥子和床單，窗戶總敞開著。尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯很喜歡小動物，特別是那些被制成標(biāo)本的甲殼蟲。他也很喜歡看書，尤愛知識類的書籍，比如那些帶插畫的書， 上面畫有谷物輸送機(jī)，或是國外的胖娃娃在他們的示范學(xué)校里做操的情景。
尤斯塔斯·克拉倫斯不喜歡佩文西家的那些表兄弟姐妹—— 彼得、蘇珊、愛德蒙和露茜。但聽說愛德蒙和露茜要來他們家住，他還是非常高興。雖然他骨子里喜歡對別人發(fā)號施令，欺凌弱小，但他身材矮小，還沒有露茜個(gè)子高，更別說能打贏愛德蒙了。他已在心里盤算著，如果露茜和愛德蒙寄住在自己家里，他就可以用盡各種辦法來捉弄他們。
愛德蒙和露茜原本不想住尤斯塔斯家，但他們別無選擇。因?yàn)槭罴偎麄兊母赣H要去美國做十六周的講學(xué)，母親也要跟著去。彼得正在準(zhǔn)備下次考試，所以這個(gè)假期會暫住到柯克老教授家里，柯克老教授還可以為他輔導(dǎo)功課。在早年的戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)期，這幾個(gè)兄弟姐妹就曾住在柯克教授家中避難，并擁有一段難忘的經(jīng)歷?？驴死辖淌诤軜芬馑麄円黄鹱≡谒遥恢趺椿厥?，他的家突然就沒落了，所以不得不搬進(jìn)了一幢小房子里?，F(xiàn)在的房子只能勻出一間房給彼得住。父母又實(shí)在沒有錢把三個(gè)孩子都帶走，最后只帶走了蘇珊。
蘇珊是幾個(gè)孩子中最乖巧、最漂亮的一個(gè)，可惜她學(xué)習(xí)不好( 盡管她已經(jīng)不小了)。而且母親認(rèn)為，比起那兩個(gè)更小的孩子，她“可以在美國之旅受益匪淺”。露茜和愛德蒙雖然不至于去嫉妒蘇珊的好運(yùn)氣，但想到整個(gè)假期都要在舅媽家里度過，就非常不情愿。“但是， 最倒霉的是我，”愛德蒙說，“最起碼你還有間自己的屋子，而我竟然要和那個(gè)討厭鬼尤斯塔斯住在一起。”
故事在一天下午拉開了序幕。露茜和愛德蒙兩人正偷偷聚在一起，暢談納尼亞的傳奇故事，這是只屬于他們兩個(gè)人的秘密。大多數(shù)人都會有屬于自己的“秘密國度”，但是，那都只是我們想象出來的而已。在這一點(diǎn)上，露茜和愛德蒙比我們幸運(yùn)多了，因?yàn)樗麄兊募{尼亞是真實(shí)存在的，而且他們還去過兩次，他們不是在做游戲或夢境里假裝去到的，而是實(shí)實(shí)在在地去過。當(dāng)然，他們只有依靠魔法才能到達(dá)那里，納尼亞可不是隨便想去就能去的。所以，他們還在納尼亞時(shí)就曾約定，一有機(jī)會，他們肯定會再去的。
他們坐在露茜的床邊仔細(xì)端詳著墻上的一幅畫。這是唯一一幅他們非常喜歡的畫，盡管艾貝塔舅媽并不喜歡它( 所以它才被放在樓上的閣樓里)，但是又不能把它扔掉，因?yàn)樗幌氲米锇堰@幅畫當(dāng)作結(jié)婚禮物送給她的那個(gè)人。
畫上是一艘船——一艘看起來正朝你迎面駛來的船。船頭是鍍金的龍頭，張著嘴。船上只有一根桅桿，張著紫色的帆，船舷是綠色的。這艘船正沖向船頭碧浪的最高處，近處的波濤挾著海浪和泡沫向你涌來，它正乘風(fēng)破浪，快速前進(jìn)，左舷略微傾斜。( 如果你想認(rèn)真地把故事看完，而你此時(shí)還不明白之前所描述的場景的話，你可以在腦中想象：你朝一艘船看去時(shí)，船的左邊叫左舷，船的右邊叫右舷) 陽光從船的另一側(cè)灑下來，海水折射出碧綠或者紫色的光芒，而被船身遮擋住了陽光的那一側(cè)的海水泛著幽暗的深藍(lán)色光芒。
“問題是，”愛德蒙說，“眼睜睜地看著納尼亞的船卻上不去， 真讓人心煩。”
“就這樣看一看也好啊，”露茜感嘆，“這畢竟是艘真正的納尼亞的船。”
“還在玩你們的幻想游戲嗎?”尤斯塔斯突然走進(jìn)屋子里。原來他一直躲在門外偷聽他們說話，這會兒正咧著嘴取笑他們。去年， 在佩文西家的時(shí)候他就曾聽到過他們談?wù)摷{尼亞，之后他經(jīng)常拿這事來取笑他們。因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為那全是他們編出來的，并對此不以為然， 盡管他自己什么也編不出來。
“這里不歡迎你。”愛德蒙粗聲粗氣地說。
“我正在寫一首打油詩，”尤斯塔斯說，“大概是這樣的：
玩納尼亞游戲的孩子會變得越來越愚蠢，越來越愚蠢……”
“得了吧，孩子和愚蠢兩個(gè)詞根本就不押韻。”露茜說。
“它們押的是元音。”尤斯塔斯狡辯。
“別問他什么是押元音，”愛德蒙說，“他巴不得別人問他。別理他，他自討沒趣就走了。”
這樣碰了一鼻子灰，一般的孩子不是扭頭就走就是火冒三丈。但尤斯塔斯卻沒有這樣做，他嬉皮笑臉地賴著不走。還問：“你們喜歡那幅畫嗎?”
“天知道他會不會又說藝術(shù)審美的事。”愛德蒙急忙說。但露茜卻真誠地回答：“是呀，非常喜歡。”
“這幅畫很爛。”尤斯塔斯詆毀道。
“你滾出去，不就看不見了。”愛德蒙說。
“你為什么會喜歡這幅畫呢?”尤斯塔斯問露茜。
“嗯，其一，”露茜回答：“這艘船看上去像是真的正航行在海里， 畫上的海水像是潮濕的，海浪看上去也像是真的在翻騰。”
尤斯塔斯有很多話來回答露茜，現(xiàn)在他卻一言不發(fā)。因?yàn)樗部吹侥切┖＠嗽谄鸱黄?。他只坐過一次船( 只到了懷特島)，還暈船暈得很厲害。現(xiàn)在一看海浪他又有點(diǎn)暈了。他臉色鐵青，卻抑制不住對海浪的好奇心。接下來發(fā)生的事情，更是讓三個(gè)孩子目瞪口呆。
面對這些鉛字的時(shí)候，你們真的難以想象他們眼前的場景。即便親眼看到，你們也會不敢相信自己的眼睛的。畫上的東西突然動了， 卻不像露天電影幕布里的那樣。那幅畫的色彩非常逼真，相信即使露天電影也不會有這樣逼真的效果：那條船分明在海上航行，船頭在海浪中起伏，激起一大片浪花后又猛地把它們甩在后面。他們剛看見了船尾和甲板，第二個(gè)浪就打過來了，船又在海浪中起起伏伏，船尾和甲板又不見了。就在此時(shí)，一直放在愛德蒙身邊的練習(xí)本開始呼啦啦地翻動，甚至飛了起來，向愛德蒙身后的墻上飛去。好像刮了一場大風(fēng)，露茜滿頭發(fā)絲都被吹到了臉上。其實(shí)那會兒的確刮風(fēng)了——不過風(fēng)是從畫上刮來的，還夾雜著各種聲響——海浪沙沙的沖刷聲，海水拍打船舷的聲音，船身嘎嘎的鳴響聲，以及那回蕩在天地間像是要摧毀一切的怒號聲。海水那股強(qiáng)烈的咸澀味讓露茜更加確定，自己不是在做夢。
“快停下!”尤斯塔斯的聲音充滿著恐懼和驚慌，“你們又在玩什么鬼把戲!快停下，我要去告訴艾貝塔了……”
兩兄妹對這種冒險(xiǎn)的事本來早已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常了，誰料就在尤斯塔斯嗷嗷大叫的同時(shí)，他倆也一起“噢”了一聲。因?yàn)橛譀鲇窒痰暮Ｋ畯漠嬛袥_了出來，不僅把他們?nèi)矶即驖窳?，還差點(diǎn)讓他們喘不過氣來。
“我要把這幅畫砸爛!”尤斯塔斯大叫著沖向那幅畫。此時(shí)， 一些事情好像巧合般地上演。尤斯塔斯已沖到畫的前面，對魔法略懂一二的愛德蒙，立刻拉住尤斯塔斯，警告他別去干傻事。露茜從另一邊拉著他，卻還是被他拽著向前沖去。這時(shí)候，不知道是畫越變越大， 還是他們越變越小了。尤斯塔斯跳起來，想把畫從墻上扯下來，沒想到發(fā)現(xiàn)自己竟站在了畫框里。此刻在他面前的不是玻璃鏡面，而是真正的大海，海風(fēng)和海浪像拍打岸邊巖石一樣向他撲面沖來。他被這景象嚇昏了頭， 緊緊地抓住愛德蒙和露茜。他們?nèi)齻€(gè)在畫框上又是掙扎，又是喊叫， 折騰了好一會兒。正當(dāng)他們剛剛保持住平衡時(shí)，一個(gè)巨大的藍(lán)色海浪又把他們拖到了海里?？酀暮Ｋ疀_進(jìn)了尤斯塔斯的嘴里，讓他那絕望的叫喊聲戛然而止。
露茜暗自慶幸自己去年夏天學(xué)了游泳。事實(shí)上，海水比看上去涼許多，如果她可以游得慢一點(diǎn)，她可以游得很好的。她和所有一下子掉進(jìn)水中的人一樣，努力地保持鎮(zhèn)定，踢掉了鞋子，然后她還緊閉嘴巴，睜開眼睛。這時(shí)他們已經(jīng)離船身非常近了，露茜看到了綠色的船舷，還發(fā)現(xiàn)有人正從甲板上看著她。然而，這時(shí)，尤斯塔斯在慌亂中緊緊地抓住她，兩人一起往下沉。
當(dāng)他們再次浮出水面時(shí)，露茜看見一個(gè)白色的人影跳入水中。此刻愛德蒙緊靠著她，踩著水，雙手抓住還在號叫的尤斯塔斯的胳膊。接著，又有人從另一邊伸出胳膊托住他。露茜隱約中覺得那個(gè)人有些面熟。船上的人七嘴八舌地喊叫著，把纜繩扔了下來。愛德蒙和那個(gè)人一起把繩系在她的身上。繩繞好后，好像又過了很久，直到她著急得臉色發(fā)青，牙齒開始打戰(zhàn)。而事實(shí)上這中間并沒有過多久，他們只是在等繩子固定好， 以便拉她上船時(shí)，不至于讓她的身體碰到船體而受傷。盡管他們做了很多努力，當(dāng)露茜終于被拉上來時(shí)，她發(fā)抖地站在甲板上，渾身濕淋淋，一只膝蓋青腫起來。接著，愛德蒙也被拉上來了，然后是被嚇傻了的尤斯塔斯。最后還有個(gè)陌生人 ——一個(gè)比露茜大不了幾歲的金發(fā)少年。
“凱、凱、凱斯賓!”露茜還沒緩過氣來，就喘著粗氣驚喜地叫道。那個(gè)年輕人正是凱斯賓——他們曾幫助他登上了納尼亞的王位。此時(shí)愛德蒙也認(rèn)出了他，三個(gè)人喜出望外，樂得手舞足蹈。
“這家伙是誰呀?”凱斯賓滿面笑容地轉(zhuǎn)向尤斯塔斯。誰料尤斯塔斯哭得更厲害了。像他這樣的男孩遇見渾身濕透這種事，大哭一場無可厚非，可像他這樣哭得如此夸張，確實(shí)少見。尤斯塔斯還自顧自地叫著：“讓我走，讓我回去，我不喜歡這里!”
“讓你走?”凱斯賓疑惑地問道：“你要去哪兒呢?”
尤斯塔斯沖到船邊，想再看一眼鑲在墻上的畫框，或者是露茜的臥室?？裳矍爸挥蟹褐菽暮Ｋ蜏\藍(lán)色的天空。遠(yuǎn)處，海天一線，無邊無際。他嚇得魂都快沒了。不過我們也不能過分責(zé)備他， 誰讓他暈船呢。
“嗨，賴尼夫，”凱斯賓對一個(gè)水手說，“給這兩位陛下送點(diǎn)酒來，”他轉(zhuǎn)向露茜和愛德蒙說，“你們在水里泡了太久，需要喝點(diǎn)東西暖暖身子。”他稱露茜和愛德蒙為“陛下”，因?yàn)樗麄兒吞K珊與彼得一樣，在他即位之前是納尼亞的國王和女王。要知道，納尼亞的時(shí)間和我們這個(gè)世界的時(shí)間是不一樣的，即使你在納尼亞世界過了一百年，當(dāng)你回到這里，仍然還是你離開的那一天的同一個(gè)時(shí)刻。但如果你在自己的世界過上一個(gè)星期或者一天，納尼亞卻早已過了一千年。因此，露茜和愛德蒙兩兄妹自上次從納尼亞離開后， 這次再回來( 在納尼亞人眼中) 就如傳說中亞瑟王一樣，終于重返納尼亞了。
賴尼夫端來一瓶冒著香氣的酒和四只銀杯。這酒來得正是時(shí)候， 愛德蒙和露茜抿了一小口，頓覺一股暖流從喉嚨直達(dá)腳底。尤斯塔斯卻還是苦著張臉，先是嘔吐，一會兒又哇哇大哭，問人家有沒有楓樹牌那種加了維生素的營養(yǎng)食品，還告訴人家如果沒有可以用蒸餾水去制作，并堅(jiān)持說到了下一站就回岸上去。
“這個(gè)活寶可是你們帶來的呀，兄弟。”凱斯賓笑著對愛德蒙咬耳朵。還沒等他說其他事情，尤斯塔斯就又開始折騰了。
“噢!啊!那究竟是什么玩意?趕緊把這令人惡心的東西弄走!”
尤斯塔斯的吃驚情有可原，因?yàn)榇簿谷幻俺鰜硪粋€(gè)非常奇怪的東西，正向他們慢慢走來。我們把它叫做老鼠——確實(shí)是一只老鼠?？伤谷豢梢灾挥脙蓷l后腿站立，看上去有兩英尺高。一個(gè)細(xì)細(xì)的金箍套住了它的腦袋，一只耳朵在金箍上面，另一只在下面，箍上還插了一支深紅色長羽毛。( 老鼠的皮毛顏色非常深，接近黑色，非常引人注目) 老鼠的左爪放在幾乎和它尾巴一樣長的寶劍的劍柄上。它神色莊嚴(yán)，舉止優(yōu)雅，穩(wěn)當(dāng)?shù)貋砘卮┬性陬嶔さ募装迳?。愛德蒙和露茜一眼就認(rèn)出它是雷佩契普，納尼亞王國里會說話的獸類中，最驍勇善戰(zhàn)的老鼠大軍的頭目。在柏盧納的第二次戰(zhàn)役中， 它還獲得了不朽的殊榮。露茜真想把它摟在懷里，她一直都想這么做。不過她知道自己是享受不到這種待遇的，因?yàn)槟菢拥脑挄米锼?。因此露茜只好單膝跪地來跟它說話。
雷佩契普先伸出左腿，縮回右腿，向她鞠躬，再吻她的手，然后挺直身體，捻著自己的胡須，尖著嗓子說：
“向愛德蒙國王陛下和露茜女王陛下致敬。( 說到這兒，它又向他們鞠了一躬) 承蒙兩位陛下光臨，這次輝煌的遠(yuǎn)航可算是十全十美了。”
“啊，把它弄走!”尤斯塔斯叫道，“我討厭老鼠。我最討厭看動物表演，不僅無聊粗俗，而且……還自作多情。”
“如此無禮的人也受到陛下您的保護(hù)嗎?”雷佩契普盯了尤斯塔斯好一會兒后，才接著說，“因?yàn)?，如果不是的?hellip;…”
正巧這時(shí)，露茜和愛德蒙兩個(gè)人同時(shí)打了個(gè)噴嚏。
“是我糊涂，讓你們渾身濕淋淋地站在這兒。”凱斯賓說，“快到船艙里換上干衣服。露茜，你去我的房間，不過，船上恐怕沒有女人的衣服，你只好先將就一下穿我的衣服了。雷佩契普，好好帶路。”
“看在女王的份上，”雷佩契普說，“即使是事關(guān)尊嚴(yán)，也只能作罷，至少暫時(shí)只能如此。”話音未落，它狠狠地瞪了尤斯塔斯一眼， 凱斯賓催促他們趕緊走。不一會兒，露茜就走到了船尾的艙房。一進(jìn)艙房她就喜歡上了這里——三扇方形的玻璃窗外面是碧藍(lán)的海水，桌子的三邊各擺著矮凳，矮凳上都鋪上軟墊。房頂?shù)踔y燈( 從那精巧的做工，她就知道這是小矮人的杰作)，門頭上方的墻上還掛著獅王阿斯蘭的金像。她掃了整個(gè)房間一眼，凱斯賓打開一側(cè)的房門，“露茜，你住我的房間，我去給你找?guī)准梢路?rdquo;凱斯賓說著開始翻開一個(gè)衣櫥， 然后說：“換下來的濕衣服放門外就行了，有人會來拿走給你烘干的。”
露茜覺得凱斯賓的艙房像家一樣舒適，那種感覺像已經(jīng)在這里住了很久似的。她一點(diǎn)都不害怕船身搖晃，想當(dāng)初她在納尼亞當(dāng)女王的時(shí)候， 還多次出海遠(yuǎn)航呢。這艙房小卻很明亮，墻上掛著鑲板畫( 畫上都是些飛禽走獸，紅色的龍以及一些藤蔓植物) 纖塵不染，非常干凈。穿凱斯賓的衣服有點(diǎn)大，但勉強(qiáng)湊合。鞋子也大，不過露茜并不介意光著腳在船上走動。她穿好衣服后眺望窗外的海水，深深地呼了一口氣。她知道又一段美好的時(shí)光已經(jīng)到來了。
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