《黎明踏浪號(hào)》第八章 兩次死里逃生
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CHAPTER EIGHT TWO NARROW ESCAPES
第八章 兩次死里逃生
EVERYONE was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed from Dragon Island.They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early next morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon.It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats，but from the ruins of stone huts，and from blackened places where fires had been，they judged that it had been peopled not long before.There were also some bones and broken weapons.黎明踏浪號(hào)終于要離開龍島了，人人都很開心。船一出海灣， 一路順風(fēng)，第二天一大早就到了那個(gè)無(wú)名地。尤斯塔斯還是條龍的時(shí)候，有些人騎在他身上飛過群山曾見過這地方。這是一塊低矮的綠島， 上面有些兔子和幾只山羊，不過根據(jù)石屋的殘址和被火燒得發(fā)黑的巖石來(lái)看，這里不久前還住過人。島上還有一些骨頭和破舊的武器。
“Pirates’work，”said Caspian.
“是海盜的杰作吧。”凱斯賓說
“Or the dragon’s，”said Edmund.
“要不就是龍干的。”愛德蒙說。
The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat， or coracle，on the sands.It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework.It was a tiny boat，barely four feet long，and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion.They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been Dwarfs.Reepicheep decided to keep it，as it was just the right size for him;so it was taken on board.They called that land Burnt Island，and sailed away before noon.
此外他們?cè)趰u上找到的唯一的東西就是一只小皮艇，又叫皮筏子，是用獸皮繃在一個(gè)柳條框架上做成的。那只小小的船，只有四英尺長(zhǎng)，船槳還擱在那兒，和船的大小相稱。他們心想，要么這船是造給孩子的，或者這里住著小矮人。雷佩契普決定留著這條船，因?yàn)檫@船的大小跟它的身材正合適，所以就帶上了大船。他們把這地方叫做火燒島，沒到中午就離開了。
For some five days they ran before a south-south east wind， out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull.Then they had a day that rained hard till the afternoon.Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again，and Edmund said he wished they could have gone to America with Susan.Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said：“Hello ! I do believe it’s stopping.And what’s that ?”
他們順著東南風(fēng)航行了五天，一直沒有見到陸地，也沒有見到魚和海鷗。后來(lái)有一天下了一場(chǎng)雨，午后才停。尤斯塔斯跟雷佩契普下棋，輸了兩局之后，又露出令人討厭的樣子。愛德蒙說他真希望當(dāng)初他們跟蘇珊一起去了美國(guó)。露茜望著窗外說：“嘿!雨真的停了。你們看那是什么?”
They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian，who was on watch，was also staring hard at something astern.Or rather，at several things.They looked a little like smooth rounded rocks，a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.
大家聽到后，都跑到船尾來(lái)看，發(fā)現(xiàn)雨真的停了，正在值班的德里寧也盯著船尾外面的什么東西。確切地說有好多東西。那些東西看上去像光滑的卵石，但是兩兩之間相隔大約四十英尺，排成長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的一列。
“But they can’t be rocks，”Drinian was saying，“because they weren’t there five minutes ago.”
“不可能是石頭，”德里寧說，“因?yàn)槲宸昼娭澳莾哼€沒有這些東西。”
“And one’s just disappeared，”said Lucy.
“有一塊剛才不見了。”露茜說。
“Yes，and there’s another one coming up，”said Edmund.
“是啊，還有一塊突然冒出來(lái)了。”
“And nearer，”said Eustace.
“越來(lái)越近了。”尤斯塔斯說。
“Hang it!”said Caspian.“The whole thing is moving this way.”
“真見鬼!”凱斯賓說，“那些東西都往這兒移動(dòng)了。”
“And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail，Sire，”said Drinian.“It’ll be up with us in a minute.”
“而且它們的速度比我們的船還快，陛下，”德里寧說，“很快就會(huì)追上我們。”
They all held their breath，for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea.But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected.Suddenly， only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side，an appalling head reared itself out of the sea.It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches—except where shellfish clung to it—and shaped rather like a horse’s，though without ears.It had enormous eyes，eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean，and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth.It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck，but as more and more of it emerged everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see—the great Sea Serpent.The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away， rising at intervals from the surface.And now its head was towering up higher than the mast.
他們都屏住呼吸，因?yàn)椴还苁窃陉懙厣线€是海上，被未知的東西追總沒好事。誰(shuí)知道，這玩意一露頭比猜想的還可怕。忽然，在離左舷還有一個(gè)投球距離的時(shí)候，一個(gè)嚇人的腦袋鉆出海面。這東西的腦袋上除了寄生貝之外，還有綠色的、紅色的和紫色的疙瘩。那形狀像一只沒有耳朵的馬頭。腦袋上長(zhǎng)著可以透視海洋深處的大眼睛，還有一張咧開的大嘴長(zhǎng)著上下兩排尖利的牙齒。腦袋和脖子連在一起，越變?cè)介L(zhǎng)——大家這才發(fā)現(xiàn)這不是脖子，而是身子，最后他們總算看見了有不少人想要見識(shí)的——大海蛇。遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)就能看見它巨大的尾巴上的皺槽，不時(shí)升出水面。這時(shí)它正昂起腦袋，高聳在桅桿上面。
Every man rushed to his weapon，but there was nothing to be done，the monster was out of reach.“Shoot !Shoot !”cried the Master Bowman，and several obeyed，but the arrows glanced off the Sea Serpent’s hide as if it was iron—plated.Then，for a dreadful minute，everyone was still，staring up at its eyes and mouth and wondering where it would pounce.
大家都跑去拿武器，可是并沒什么用，因?yàn)檫@東西太高了。“射箭，射箭!”弓箭手頭領(lǐng)一聲令下，幾個(gè)人開始射箭，可是箭只是從蛇皮上擦過去，好像射在了鐵甲上一樣。這時(shí)，大家一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地看著海蛇的眼睛和嘴，倒吸了一口冷氣，因?yàn)椴恢浪鼤?huì)向哪兒撲過來(lái)。
But it didn’t pounce.It shot its head forward across the ship on a level with the yard of the mast.Now its head was just beside the fightingtop.Still it stretched and stretched till its head was over the starboard bulwark.Then down it began to come—not onto the crowded deck but into the water，so that the whole ship was under an arch of serpent.And almost at once that arch began to get smaller：indeed on the starboard the Sea Serpent was now almost touching the Dawn Treader’s side.
可是它沒有。它的腦袋沿著桅桿探過船身，眼看就要到觀測(cè)臺(tái)旁邊了，仍不斷伸長(zhǎng)，一直伸到右舷上。然后開始向下鉆——不是鉆向甲板上的人群，而是海里。然后它的身體就把整條船給圍住了。這個(gè)圈越來(lái)越小，海蛇的身體簡(jiǎn)直要碰到右舷壁了。
Eustace(who had really been trying very hard to behave well， till the rain and the chess put him back)now did the first brave thing he had ever done.He was wearing a sword that Caspian had lent him.As soon as the serpent’s body was near enough on the starboard side he jumped on to the bulwark and began hacking at it with all his might.It is true that he accomplished nothing beyond breaking Caspian’s second-best sword into bits，but it was a fine thing for a beginner to have done.
尤斯塔斯一直努力好好表現(xiàn)，后來(lái)天下雨了他就和別人下棋， 雖然輸給別人的時(shí)候他得表現(xiàn)讓人生厭，但這時(shí)他居然做出平生第一次壯舉。他隨身帶著凱斯賓借給他的一把劍，當(dāng)蛇身快接近右舷壁的時(shí)候，他向舷壁撲過去，使出渾身力量猛然刺向海蛇。當(dāng)然結(jié)果除了把凱斯賓那第二把好劍折成碎片之外，毫無(wú)收獲?？墒菍?duì)一個(gè)初出茅廬的人來(lái)說，這倒是件好事。
Others would have joined him if at that moment Reepicheep had not called out，“Don’t fight ! Push !”It was so unusual for the Mouse to advise anyone not to fight that，even in that terrible moment，every eye turned to him.And when he jumped up on to the bulwark，forward of the snake，and set his little furry back against its huge scaly，slimy back，and began pushing as hard as he could，quite a number of people saw what he meant and rushed to both sides of the ship to do the same.And when，a moment later，the Sea Serpent’s head appeared again，this time on the port side，and this time with its back to them，then everyone understood.
若不是雷佩契普大聲喊：“別打!推!”別人早就跟凱斯賓一起去戰(zhàn)斗了。到了那樣的緊要關(guān)頭，老鼠竟然還勸大家別打，這太奇怪了，所以大家目光都轉(zhuǎn)向它。當(dāng)它撲向舷壁，擋在海蛇前面，用它那毛茸茸的小身子擋住海蛇那長(zhǎng)滿鱗甲，滑膩膩的巨大身子使勁往外推的時(shí)候，好多人這才明白它的用意，紛紛沖到船舷兩側(cè)，學(xué)著他那樣往外推。過了一會(huì)，海蛇的腦袋又出現(xiàn)了，這回在左舷，而且是背對(duì)著大家，于是大家都明白了。
The brute had made a loop of itself round the Dawn Treader and was beginning to draw the loop tight.When it got quite tight— snap ! —there would be floating matchwood where the ship had been and it could pick them out of the water one by one.Their only chance was to push the loop backward till it slid over the stern;or else(to put the same thing another way)to push the ship forward out of the loop.
這怪物竟把身子繞成個(gè)圈，套著黎明踏浪號(hào)，并開始把圈套收緊。等這個(gè)圈套收得相當(dāng)緊了，“啪”的一下子，大船就會(huì)變成一堆漂浮的碎片，它就可以在水里把他們一一吃掉。他們的唯一出路是把這個(gè)圈套往船后推，推得它滑過船尾，不然就把圈套朝另一個(gè)方向推， 讓船身前進(jìn)，脫出圈套。
Reepicheep alone had，of course，no more chance of doing this than of lifting up a cathedral，but he had nearly killed himself with trying before others shoved him aside.Very soon the whole ship’s company except Lucy and the Mouse(which was fainting) was in two long lines along the two bulwarks，each man’s chest to the back of the man in front，so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man，pushing for their lives.For a few sickening seconds(which seemed like hours)nothing appeared to happen. Joints cracked，sweat dropped，breath came in grunts and gasps. Then they felt that the ship was moving.They saw that the snake-loop was further from the mast than it had been.But they also saw that it was smaller.And now the real danger was at hand.Could they get it over the poop，or was it already too tight ? Yes.It would just fit.It was resting on the poop rails.A dozen or more sprang up on the poop.This was far better.The Sea Serpent’s body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side.Hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern，the dragon tail，of the Dawn Treader.It would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.
雷佩契普勢(shì)單力薄，無(wú)異蚍蜉撼大樹。當(dāng)別人把它推到一邊時(shí)， 它已用盡力氣，差點(diǎn)送了命。一會(huì)兒工夫全船人，除了露茜和暈倒的老鼠之外，都沿著兩邊舷壁，排成兩條長(zhǎng)隊(duì)，個(gè)個(gè)前胸貼后背， 整列隊(duì)伍的重量都落在隊(duì)尾一個(gè)人身上，大家拼命推。推了幾秒鐘， 就像推了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)，還是毫無(wú)結(jié)果。大家伙兒的關(guān)節(jié)都像散了架， 汗珠往下淌，嘴里哼哼嘿嘿地直喘氣。這時(shí)他們覺得船在動(dòng)了，他們看見蛇圈離桅桿比先前更遠(yuǎn)了，蛇圈卻收小了。真正的危險(xiǎn)迫在眉睫。他們能讓船尾穿過這個(gè)圈嗎?這個(gè)圈是不是已經(jīng)太小了?是啊，這個(gè)圈套貼著船尾樓的欄桿繞成一個(gè)圈。十幾個(gè)人跳上船尾去，這樣就好得多了。這時(shí)海蛇的身體很低，他們?cè)诖矊?duì)面排成一排并肩一齊推。大家滿懷希望，但忽然又想起黎明踏浪號(hào)高聳在船尾的雕花龍尾，要讓龍尾擺脫那個(gè)圈套就不太可能了。
“An axe，”cried Caspian hoarsely，“and still shove.”Lucy， who knew where everything was，heard him where she was standing on the main deck staring up at the poop.In a few seconds she had been below，got the axe，and was rushing up the ladder to the poop.But just as she reached the top there came a great crashing noise like a tree coming down and the ship rocked and darted forward.For at that very moment，whether because the Sea Serpent was being pushed so hard，or because it foolishly decided to draw the noose tight，the whole of the carved stern broke off and the ship was free.
“拿把斧頭來(lái)，”凱斯賓聲嘶力竭喊道：“像原來(lái)那樣用力推。” 露茜對(duì)船上的東西放在哪兒都了如指掌。此時(shí)的她正站在甲板上望著船尾，聽到他這話，她立即沖下艙，拿了斧子，奔上梯子，趕到船尾。誰(shuí)知正當(dāng)她到達(dá)頂上，就聽見“咔嚓”一聲，像樹木倒下似的一聲巨響， 船身?yè)u搖擺擺往前沖去。就在那千鈞一發(fā)之際，不管是因?yàn)榇蠹沂箘琶屯坪Ｉ?，還是因?yàn)楹Ｉ呙偷爻榫o圈套，整個(gè)雕花龍尾都折斷了， 大船也就脫險(xiǎn)了。
The others were too exhausted to see what Lucy saw.There， a few yards behind them，the loop of Sea Serpent’s body got rapidly smaller and disappeared into a splash.Lucy always said(but of course she was very excited at the moment，and it may have been only imagination)that she saw a look of idiotic satisfaction on the creature’s face.What is certain is that it was a very stupid animal，for instead of pursuing the ship it turned its head round and began nosing all along its own body as if it expected to find the wreckage of the Dawn Treader there.But the Dawn Treader was already well away，running before a fresh breeze，and the men lay and sat panting and groaning all about the deck，till presently they were able to talk about it，and then to laugh about it.And when some rum had been served out they even raised a cheer;and everyone praised the valour of Eustace(though it hadn’t done any good)and of Reepicheep.
大伙都筋疲力盡，顧不上去看露茜見到的情景：在船尾幾碼外， 海蛇縮成的圈越收越小，然后撲通一下不見了。露茜總是說她看見那怪物臉上有種白癡的滿足感( 可是當(dāng)時(shí)她那么激動(dòng)，這可能是她的想象而已)。值得慶幸的是，這條海蛇非常愚蠢，它并沒有追這條船， 而是掉過頭去，在自己全身上下嗅探，仿佛能找到船的殘骸似的。不過黎明踏浪號(hào)已經(jīng)安然脫身，歡快地在風(fēng)里航行，所有人都躺在或坐在甲板上，喘著氣又呻吟著，過了好一會(huì)才開始談?wù)撨@個(gè)事。喝甜酒的時(shí)候，大家還舉杯慶賀，都夸尤斯塔斯( 雖然沒幫上什么忙)和雷佩契普真是勇敢。
After this they sailed for three days more and saw nothing but sea and sky.On the fourth day the wind changed to the north and the seas began to rise;by the afternoon it had nearly become a gale. But at the same time they sighted land on their port bow.
脫險(xiǎn)后，他們又航行了三天，除了大海和天空什么也看不見。第四天突然刮起北風(fēng)，海平面也升高了許多，到中午的時(shí)候，竟然刮起了大風(fēng)。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候他們?cè)谧笙夏沁吙匆娪袎K陸地。
“By your leave，Sire，”said Drinian，“we will try to get under the lee of that country by rowing and lie in harbour，maybe till this is over.”Caspian agreed，but a long row against the gale did not bring them to the land before evening.By the last light of that day they steered into a natural harbour and anchored，but no one went ashore that night.In the morning they found themselves in the green bay of a rugged，lonely-looking country which sloped up to a rocky summit.From the windy north beyond that summit clouds came streaming rapidly.They lowered the boat and loaded her with any of the water casks which were now empty.
“陛下，請(qǐng)準(zhǔn)許，”德里寧說，“準(zhǔn)許我們劃槳，停靠在港口里， 設(shè)法在那地方避避風(fēng)，等風(fēng)過了再說。”凱斯賓同意了。不過頂著大風(fēng)劃槳，估計(jì)傍晚才能到那兒。在白天最后一抹光線里，他們開進(jìn)一個(gè)天然港口，拋下了錨，沒有上岸。到早上的時(shí)候，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)那是一個(gè)海水綠色的海灣，岸上崎嶇不平，非常凄清，斜坡上面還有一個(gè)怪石嶙峋的山頂。望向山頂那邊，可以看到烏云從北面滾滾而來(lái)。他們放下小船，把吃空的水桶全都裝上小船。
“Which stream shall we water at，Drinian ?”said Caspian as he took his seat in the stern-sheets of the boat.“There seem to be two coming down into the bay.”
“我們到哪條河打水呢，德里寧?”凱斯賓一邊說，一邊在船尾坐下，“好像有兩條河流匯進(jìn)這個(gè)海灣。”
“It makes little odds，Sire，”said Drinian.“But I think it’s a shorter pull to that on the starboard—the eastern one.”
“都可以，陛下，”德里寧說，“我看右舷東邊那條好一點(diǎn)， 路程稍短。”
“Here comes the rain，”said Lucy.
“下雨了。”露茜說。
“I should think it does!”said Edmund，for it was already pelting hard.“I say，let’s go to the other stream.There are trees there and we’ll have some shelter.”
“我覺得也是!”愛德蒙話剛落下，這時(shí)已經(jīng)是大雨傾盆，“我看還是到另一條河吧。那兒有樹，可以避雨。”
“Yes，let’s，”said Eustace.“No point in getting wetter than we need.”
“是啊，去吧。”尤斯塔斯說，“我們白白淋濕也沒什么意義。”
But all the time Drinian was steadily steering to the starboard， like tiresome people in cars who continue at forty miles an hour while you are explaining to them that they are on the wrong road.
德里寧還是把小船開向右舷那里，像個(gè)聽不進(jìn)意見的司機(jī)，真讓人討厭。盡管你告訴他開錯(cuò)方向了，他還是以一小時(shí)四十英里的速度向前開。
“They’re right，Drinian，”said Caspian.“Why don’t you bring her head round and make for the western stream ?”
“他們說得對(duì)，德里寧，”凱斯賓說，“你為什么不掉頭，到西邊的那條河去?”
“As your Majesty pleases，”said Drinian a little shortly.He had had an anxious day with the weather yesterday，and he didn’t like advice from landsmen.But he altered course;and it turned out afterwards that it was a good thing he did.
“聽陛下調(diào)遣。”德里寧有點(diǎn)不快地說。他昨天為天氣擔(dān)心了一整天，他更不喜歡陸上的人對(duì)他一個(gè)舵手指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。不過他最后還是改變了航向，后來(lái)證明他這么做是做對(duì)了。
By the time they had finished watering，the rain was over and Caspian，with Eustace，the Pevensies，and Reepicheep，decided to walk up to the top of the hill and see what could be seen.It was a stiffish climb through coarse grass and heather and they saw neither man nor beast，except seagulls.When they reached the top they saw that it was a very small island，not more than twenty acres; and from this height the sea looked larger and more desolate than it did from the deck，or even the fighting—top，of the Dawn Treader.
大家裝滿水之后，雨停了。凱斯賓就帶著尤斯塔斯、佩文西兄妹和雷佩契普去了山頂，看看有沒有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)。這條遍地野草和碎石的山坡很難爬，路上看不見人，也沒看見野獸，只能看到幾只海鳥。到了山頂才發(fā)現(xiàn)這是個(gè)小島，還不到二十英畝。從這望去，海面比從甲板或者黎明踏浪號(hào)的桅頂觀測(cè)臺(tái)上望去更大更荒涼。
“Crazy，you know，”said Eustace to Lucy in a low voice， looking at the eastern horizon.“Sailing on and on into that with no idea what we may get to.”But he only said it out of habit，not really nastily as he would have done at one time.
“你這是在發(fā)瘋，你知道嗎，”尤斯塔斯望著東方地平線，低聲對(duì)露茜說，“打算去哪兒心里也沒個(gè)譜。”不過是出于習(xí)慣才這樣說， 并不是之前那樣存心抬杠。
It was too cold to stay long on the ridge for the wind still blew freshly from the north.
山上很冷，不能待久，北面還有冷風(fēng)吹來(lái)。
“Don’t let’s go back the same way，”said Lucy as they turned;“let’s go along a bit and come down by the other stream， the one Drinian wanted to go to.”
“我們回去的時(shí)候別走老路。”回程的時(shí)候露茜說，“我們到另外一條河邊去，就是德里寧想去的那邊。”
Everyone agreed to this and after about fifteen minutes they were at the source of the second river.It was a more interesting place than they had expected;a deep little mountain lake， surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed.Here at last they were out of the wind，and all sat down in the heather above the cliff for a rest.
大家都同意露茜的主意。十五分鐘后，他們就到了另一條河的源頭。這里有想象不出的美：深山中有一個(gè)小湖泊，周圍是懸崖峭壁， 只有一條狹窄的水道通向海里。在這里吹不到風(fēng)，大家在懸崖邊的樹叢里坐下來(lái)休息了一會(huì)兒。
All sat down，but one(it was Edmund)jumped up again very quickly.
大家剛坐下，愛德蒙突然又跳了起來(lái)。
“They go in for sharp stones on this island，”he said，groping about in the heather.“Where is the wretched thing ? ... Ah，now I’ve got it... Hullo ! It wasn’t a stone at all，it’s a sword-hilt.No，by jove，it’s a whole sword;what the rust has left of it.It must have lain here for ages.”
“這島上全是尖石頭，”他在石叢里摸索著說，“那該死的石頭在哪兒……啊，我找到了……嗨!這根本不是石頭，是劍柄。不，天哪， 是一把完整的劍。上面生了厚厚的一層銹，一定落在這兒有好多年了。”
“Narnian，too，by the look of it，”said Caspian，as they all crowded round.
“看起來(lái)，它是納尼亞的劍。”大家都圍上來(lái)，凱斯賓說。
“I’m sitting on something too，”said Lucy.“Something hard.”It turned out to be the remains of a mail shirt.By this time everyone was on hands and knees，feeling in the thick heather in every direction.Their search revealed，one by one，a helmet， a dagger，and a few coins;not Calormen crescents but genuine Narnian“Lions”and“Trees”such as you might see any day in the market-place of Beaversdam or Beruna.
“我也坐在什么上面了呢，”露茜說，“有點(diǎn)硬硬的。”仔細(xì)一看， 原來(lái)是一副鎧甲的殘留。這時(shí)大家都跪在地上用手在密密麻麻的石叢里摸索。之后，他們搜出了一個(gè)頭盔、一把匕首、幾枚錢幣。這可不是卡樂門國(guó)的彎月銀幣，而是納尼亞國(guó)的真正的“獅子硬幣”和“樹幣”。這種貨幣，在海貍大壩和柏盧納的市場(chǎng)上隨處可見。
“Looks as if this might be all that’s left of one of our seven lords，”said Edmund.
“看來(lái)，這很像是七位公爵中的一位留下的物品。”愛德蒙說。
“Just what I was thinking，”said Caspian.“I wonder which it was.There’s nothing on the dagger to show.And I wonder how he died.”
“我也這么覺得，”凱斯賓說，“不知道是哪一位，從匕首上看不出來(lái)，也不知道他是怎么死的。”
“And how we are to avenge him，”added Reepicheep.
“所以無(wú)法替他報(bào)仇。”雷佩契普加上一句。
Edmund，the only one of the party who had read several detective stories，had meanwhile been thinking.
在這群人中，愛德蒙是唯一看過幾本偵探小說的人，這時(shí)他一直在思考。
“Look here，”he said，“there’s something very fishy about this. He can’t have been killed in a fight.”
“聽我說，”他說，“這件事很蹊蹺，他應(yīng)該不是在決斗中戰(zhàn)死的。”
“Why not?”asked Caspian.
“為什么呢?”凱斯賓問。
“No bones，”said Edmund.“An enemy might take the armour and leave the body.But who ever heard of a chap who’d won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armour ?”
“尸骨蕩然無(wú)存，”愛德蒙說，“他的敵人應(yīng)該會(huì)拿走他的鎧甲， 丟下尸體。誰(shuí)聽說打勝了仗把尸體帶走，丟下鎧甲的?”
“Perhaps he was killed by a wild animal，”Lucy suggested.
“有可能是被野獸吃掉的。”露茜提出。
“It’d be a clever animal，”said Edmund，“that would take a man’s mail shirt off.”
“那必須得是只聰明的野獸，”愛德蒙說，“才能把人的鎧甲脫掉。”
“Perhaps a dragon ?”said Caspian.
“會(huì)不會(huì)是條龍?”凱斯賓說。
“Nothing doing，”said Eustace.“A dragon couldn’t do it.I ought to know.”
“不可能，”尤斯塔斯說，“龍辦不到，我知道的。”
“Well，let’s get away from the place，anyway，”said Lucy. She had not felt like sitting down again since Edmund had raised the question of bones.
“好吧，無(wú)論如何，我們應(yīng)該離開這里。”露茜說。聽到愛德蒙提起尸骨的事情，她不想待在這兒了。
“If you like，”said Caspian，getting up.“I don’t think any of this stuff is worth taking away.”
“好的，”凱斯賓站起來(lái)說，“這些東西哪樣都不值得我們帶走。”
They came down and round to the little opening where the stream came out of the lake，and stood looking at the deep water within the circle of cliffs.If it had been a hot day，no doubt some would have been tempted to bathe and everyone would have had a drink.Indeed，even as it was，Eustace was on the very point of stooping down and scooping up some water in his hands when Reepicheep and Lucy both at the same moment cried，“Look，”so he forgot about his drink and looked into the water.
他們下了山，繞到河流的小空地上，看著懸崖中間的那潭深水。如果是大熱天，保準(zhǔn)有人情不自禁去洗個(gè)澡，興許大家還會(huì)喝個(gè)飽。說真的，盡管天不熱，在尤斯塔斯彎下腰來(lái)，想用雙手舀些水喝時(shí)， 忽然聽到雷佩契普和露茜同時(shí)喊道：“看!”他頓時(shí)忘了喝水，看向水里。
The bottom of the pool was made of large greyish-blue stones and the water was perfectly clear，and on the bottom lay a life-size figure of a man，made apparently of gold.It lay face downwards with its arms stretched out above its head.And it so happened that as they looked at it，the clouds parted and the sun shone out.The golden shape was lit up from end to end.Lucy thought it was the most beautiful statue she had ever seen.
潭底由青灰色的大石塊砌成，水非常清澈，潭底躺著一個(gè)和真人一般大小的人像，分明是金子鑄成的。臉向下，兩臂高舉過頭頂。他們看著它的時(shí)候，烏云漸漸散開，太陽(yáng)出來(lái)了。金像上上下下都被照得明晃晃的，露茜覺得這是她見過的人像中最美的一尊。
“Well !”whistled Caspian.“That was worth coming to see ! I wonder，can we get it out ?”
“太好啦”，凱斯賓吹著口哨說，“太值得一看了，不知道能不能撈上來(lái)?”
“We can dive for it，Sire，”said Reepicheep.
“我們可以潛下去打撈，陛下。”雷佩契普說。
“No good at all，”said Edmund.“At least，if it’s really gold—solid gold—it’ll be far too heavy to bring up.And that pool’s twelve or fifteen feet deep if it’s an inch.Half a moment， though.It’s a good thing I’ve brought a hunting spear with me. Let’s see what the depth is like.Hold on to my hand，Caspian， while I lean out over the water a bit.”Caspian took his hand and Edmund，leaning forward，began to lower his spear into the water.
“沒用的，”愛德蒙說，“要是純金的話就太沉了，撈不出來(lái)。而且那水至少有十二到十五英尺那么深。話說回來(lái)，等一下，我有一支魚叉，讓我們來(lái)看看水有多深。凱斯賓，你抓住我的手。”凱斯賓就抓住他的手，愛德蒙探出身子，把魚叉插下水去。
Before it was half-way in Lucy said，“I don’t believe the statue is gold at all.It’s only the light.Your spear looks just the same colour.”
沒插到一半，露茜說，“我根本不信這人像是金的?？赡苁枪饩€的問題，你看魚叉插進(jìn)去也是這顏色。”
“What’s wrong ?”asked several voices at once;for Edmund had suddenly let go of the spear.
“怎么回事?”幾個(gè)人異口同聲地問，因?yàn)閻鄣旅墒职阳~叉掉下去了。
“I couldn’t hold it，”gasped Edmund，“It seemed so heavy.”
“我拿不動(dòng)了，”愛德蒙喘著氣說，“好像很沉的樣子。”
“And there it is on the bottom now，”said Caspian，“and Lucy is right.It looks just the same colour as the statue.”
“看，現(xiàn)在沉到底了，”凱斯賓說，“露茜說的是對(duì)的，跟人像顏色一樣。”
But Edmund，who appeared to be having some trouble with his boots—at least he was bending down and looking at them— straightened himself all at once and shouted out in the sharp voice which people hardly ever disobey：
愛德蒙的靴子出了點(diǎn)問題。當(dāng)他彎腰的時(shí)候，忽然一下子挺直身體，尖叫起來(lái)，大家聽了不敢不從。
“Get back !Back from the water.All of you.At once !!”
“趕緊往后退，離水遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)。你們，快點(diǎn)!”
They all did and stared at him.
大家都往后退，然后目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著他。
“Look，”said Edmund，“look at the toes of my boots.”
“看，”愛德蒙說，“看我的靴尖。”
“They look a bit yellow，”began Eustace.
“看上去有點(diǎn)發(fā)黃。”尤斯塔斯先說。
“They’re gold，solid gold，”interrupted Edmund.“Look at them.Feel them.The leather’s pulled away from it already.And they’re as heavy as lead.”
“是金的，純金，”愛德蒙打斷了他的話，“看，我感覺皮子和靴尖分開了，如同鉛那么沉。”
“By Aslan !”said Caspian.“You don’t mean to say—?”
“阿斯蘭在上!”凱斯賓說，“你的意思不是……”
“Yes，I do，”said Edmund.“That water turns things into gold. It turned the spear into gold，that’s why it got so heavy. And it was just lapping against my feet(it’s a good thing I wasn’t barefoot)and it turned the toe-caps into gold.And that poor fellow on the bottom—well，you see.”
“是的，”愛德蒙說，“那水把所有的東西都變成金子了。魚叉也變成金的了，所以很沉。潭水剛剛濺到我腳上，靴尖也變成了金的。水底那個(gè)可憐的家伙——現(xiàn)在，你們明白了吧?”
“So it isn’t a statue at all，”said Lucy in a low voice.
“原來(lái)那根本不是雕像。”露茜低聲地說。
“No.The whole thing is plain now.He was here on a hot day. He undressed on top of the cliff—where we were sitting.The clothes have rotted away or been taken by birds to line nests with; the armour’s still there.Then he dived and—”
“不是。現(xiàn)在真相大白了。他應(yīng)該是在一個(gè)大熱天來(lái)到這里。在我們剛坐的地方脫掉衣服，衣服可能是爛掉了或者被鳥叼走筑巢了，所以鎧甲還在那里。他潛下水，然后就……”
“Don’t，”said Lucy.“What a horrible thing.”
“別說了，”露茜說，“太恐怖了。”
“And what a narrow shave we’ve had，”said Edmund.
“我們剛剛實(shí)在太危險(xiǎn)了。”愛德蒙說。
“Narrow indeed，”said Reepicheep.“Anyone’s finger， anyone’s foot，anyone’s whisker，or anyone’s tail，might have slipped into the water at any moment.”
“差一點(diǎn)，”雷佩契普說，“無(wú)論誰(shuí)的手指，誰(shuí)的腳，誰(shuí)的胡須， 誰(shuí)的尾巴，隨時(shí)都可能滑進(jìn)水里。”
“All the same，”said Caspian，“we may as well test it.”He stooped down and wrenched up a spray of heather.Then，very cautiously，he knelt beside the pool and dipped it in.It was heather that he dipped;what he drew out was a perfect model of heather made of the purest gold，heavy and soft as lead.
“既然這樣，”凱斯賓說，“我們不妨驗(yàn)證一下。”他彎下腰， 折了一枝石南花枝。然后小心翼翼地跪在水邊，把花枝浸在水里。浸的是石南花，抽出來(lái)的卻是純金的石南花模型，跟鉛一樣沉、一樣軟。
“The King who owned this island，”said Caspian slowly， and his face flushed as he spoke，“would soon be the richest of all the Kings of the world.I claim this land for ever as a Narnian possession.It shall be called Goldwater Island.And I bind all of you to secrecy.No one must know of this.Not even Drinian—on pain of death，do you hear ?”
“這個(gè)島的國(guó)王，”凱斯賓說話雖有些慢，但激動(dòng)得滿臉通紅， “馬上會(huì)成為世界上最富有的國(guó)王。我就此聲明，這塊土地是納尼亞的屬地了，取名為金水島。我要求所有人保密，不準(zhǔn)讓外人知道， 連德里寧也不能知道，違者處死，聽見沒有?”
“Who are you talking to ?”said Edmund.“I’m no subject of yours.If anything it’s the other way round.I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under allegiance to the High King my brother.”
“你這是跟誰(shuí)在說話啊?”愛德蒙說，“我可不是你的臣民。其實(shí)， 這話應(yīng)該反過來(lái)說。我是納尼亞王國(guó)古代四位君主之一，你應(yīng)效忠于我哥哥至尊王。”
“So it has come to that，King Edmund，has it ?”said Caspian，laying his hand on his sword-hilt.
“你真的這樣想嗎，愛德蒙國(guó)王?”凱斯賓一手按在劍柄上說。
“Oh，stop it，both of you，”said Lucy.“That’s the worst of doing anything with boys.You’re all such swaggering，bullying idiots—oooh !—”Her voice died away into a gasp.And everyone else saw what she had seen.
“你們兩個(gè)都給我住口，”露茜說，“你們男孩子真是要命， 都是狂妄自大、恃強(qiáng)凌弱的白癡!哎呀……”她說著說著就沒音了，屏住了呼吸，大家都看到了她看到的景象。
Across the grey hillside above them—grey，for the heather was not yet in bloom—without noise，and without looking at them，and shining as if he were in bright sunlight though the sun had in fact gone in，passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen.In describing the scene Lucy said afterwards，“He was the size of an elephant，”though at another time she only said，“The size of a cart-horse.”But it was not the size that mattered.Nobody dared to ask what it was.They knew it was Aslan.
在他們對(duì)面那座灰蒙蒙的山頂——石南還沒開花，所以看上去灰蒙蒙的——有一頭人類眼睛能見到的最雄偉的獅子漫步走過，沒朝他們看一眼。雖然太陽(yáng)被云層遮住了，可是他渾身金光燦燦，就像沐浴在金色的陽(yáng)光中。之后，露茜描述這幕情景時(shí)說，“他的個(gè)頭就像大象那樣大，”還有一次她也這樣說過，“個(gè)頭跟拉車的馬那樣大。” 不過，這不是關(guān)鍵，沒人敢打聽這些。大家都明白，這就是獅王阿斯蘭。
And nobody ever saw how or where he went.They looked at one another like people waking from sleep.
沒有人看到它是怎么走掉的，去了哪里。大家如夢(mèng)初醒，面面相覷。
“What were we talking about ?”said Caspian.“Have I been making rather an ass of myself ?”
“我們剛才說到哪兒了?”凱斯賓問，“我剛才出洋相了嗎?”
“Sire，”said Reepicheep，“this is a place with a curse on it. Let us get back on board at once.And if I might have the honour of naming this island，I should call it Deathwater.”
“陛下，”雷佩契普說，“這個(gè)地方被詛咒了，我們還是回船上吧。如果我可以為這個(gè)島命名，就叫它‘死水島’。”
“That strikes me as a very good name，Reep，”said Caspian， “though now that I come to think of it，I don’t know why.But the weather seems to be settling and I dare say Drinian would like to be off.What a lot we shall have to tell him.”
“還是這個(gè)名字好，雷佩契普，”凱斯賓說，“不知道為什么， 我現(xiàn)在才想到。不過天氣好像穩(wěn)定下來(lái)了。德里寧應(yīng)該愿意起航了， 我覺得我們有好多話要跟他說。”
But in fact they had not much to tell for the memory of the last hour had all become confused.
可是事實(shí)上他們什么都沒說，因?yàn)閯偛拍且恍r(shí)里的事，誰(shuí)都搞不清了。
“Their Majesties all seemed a bit bewitched when they came aboard，”said Drinian to Rhince some hours later when the Dawn Treader was once more under sail and Deathwater Island already below the horizon.“Something happened to them in that place. The only thing I could get clear was that they think they’ve found the body of one of these lords we’re looking for.”
“幾位陛下回到船上時(shí)，都跟中邪了一樣。”幾個(gè)小時(shí)后，黎明踏浪號(hào)再次起航。死水島的風(fēng)景已經(jīng)看不見了，這時(shí)候德里寧對(duì)賴因斯說，“他們好像在那里碰到怪事了。我只聽明白一件事，他們?cè)谀抢镎业搅艘晃晃覀円业墓舻氖w。”
“You don’t say so，Captain，”answered Rhince.“Well， that’s three.Only four more.At this rate we might be home soon after the New Year.And a good thing too.My baccy’s running a bit low.Good night，Sir.”
“你說的不完全對(duì)，船長(zhǎng)，”賴因斯說，“總之我們已經(jīng)找到三位了，只剩下四位了。按這個(gè)速度，我們過年之后就能回家了。這也是個(gè)好事。我的煙草也快抽完了。晚安，船長(zhǎng)。”
CHAPTER EIGHT TWO NARROW ESCAPES
EVERYONE was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed from Dragon Island.They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early next morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon.It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats，but from the ruins of stone huts，and from blackened places where fires had been，they judged that it had been peopled not long before.There were also some bones and broken weapons.“Pirates’work，”said Caspian.
“Or the dragon’s，”said Edmund.
The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat， or coracle，on the sands.It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework.It was a tiny boat，barely four feet long，and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion.They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been Dwarfs.Reepicheep decided to keep it，as it was just the right size for him;so it was taken on board.They called that land Burnt Island，and sailed away before noon.
For some five days they ran before a south-south east wind， out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull.Then they had a day that rained hard till the afternoon.Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again，and Edmund said he wished they could have gone to America with Susan.Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said：“Hello ! I do believe it’s stopping.And what’s that ?”
They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian，who was on watch，was also staring hard at something astern.Or rather，at several things.They looked a little like smooth rounded rocks，a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.
“But they can’t be rocks，”Drinian was saying，“because they weren’t there five minutes ago.”
“And one’s just disappeared，”said Lucy.
“Yes，and there’s another one coming up，”said Edmund.
“And nearer，”said Eustace.
“Hang it!”said Caspian.“The whole thing is moving this way.”
“And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail，Sire，”said Drinian.“It’ll be up with us in a minute.”
They all held their breath，for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea.But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected.Suddenly， only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side，an appalling head reared itself out of the sea.It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches—except where shellfish clung to it—and shaped rather like a horse’s，though without ears.It had enormous eyes，eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean，and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth.It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck，but as more and more of it emerged everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see—the great Sea Serpent.The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away， rising at intervals from the surface.And now its head was towering up higher than the mast.
Every man rushed to his weapon，but there was nothing to be done，the monster was out of reach.“Shoot !Shoot !”cried the Master Bowman，and several obeyed，but the arrows glanced off the Sea Serpent’s hide as if it was iron—plated.Then，for a dreadful minute，everyone was still，staring up at its eyes and mouth and wondering where it would pounce.
But it didn’t pounce.It shot its head forward across the ship on a level with the yard of the mast.Now its head was just beside the fightingtop.Still it stretched and stretched till its head was over the starboard bulwark.Then down it began to come—not onto the crowded deck but into the water，so that the whole ship was under an arch of serpent.And almost at once that arch began to get smaller：indeed on the starboard the Sea Serpent was now almost touching the Dawn Treader’s side.
Eustace(who had really been trying very hard to behave well， till the rain and the chess put him back)now did the first brave thing he had ever done.He was wearing a sword that Caspian had lent him.As soon as the serpent’s body was near enough on the starboard side he jumped on to the bulwark and began hacking at it with all his might.It is true that he accomplished nothing beyond breaking Caspian’s second-best sword into bits，but it was a fine thing for a beginner to have done.
Others would have joined him if at that moment Reepicheep had not called out，“Don’t fight ! Push !”It was so unusual for the Mouse to advise anyone not to fight that，even in that terrible moment，every eye turned to him.And when he jumped up on to the bulwark，forward of the snake，and set his little furry back against its huge scaly，slimy back，and began pushing as hard as he could，quite a number of people saw what he meant and rushed to both sides of the ship to do the same.And when，a moment later，the Sea Serpent’s head appeared again，this time on the port side，and this time with its back to them，then everyone understood.
The brute had made a loop of itself round the Dawn Treader and was beginning to draw the loop tight.When it got quite tight— snap ! —there would be floating matchwood where the ship had been and it could pick them out of the water one by one.Their only chance was to push the loop backward till it slid over the stern;or else(to put the same thing another way)to push the ship forward out of the loop.
Reepicheep alone had，of course，no more chance of doing this than of lifting up a cathedral，but he had nearly killed himself with trying before others shoved him aside.Very soon the whole ship’s company except Lucy and the Mouse(which was fainting) was in two long lines along the two bulwarks，each man’s chest to the back of the man in front，so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man，pushing for their lives.For a few sickening seconds(which seemed like hours)nothing appeared to happen. Joints cracked，sweat dropped，breath came in grunts and gasps. Then they felt that the ship was moving.They saw that the snake-loop was further from the mast than it had been.But they also saw that it was smaller.And now the real danger was at hand.Could they get it over the poop，or was it already too tight ? Yes.It would just fit.It was resting on the poop rails.A dozen or more sprang up on the poop.This was far better.The Sea Serpent’s body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side.Hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern，the dragon tail，of the Dawn Treader.It would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.
“An axe，”cried Caspian hoarsely，“and still shove.”Lucy， who knew where everything was，heard him where she was standing on the main deck staring up at the poop.In a few seconds she had been below，got the axe，and was rushing up the ladder to the poop.But just as she reached the top there came a great crashing noise like a tree coming down and the ship rocked and darted forward.For at that very moment，whether because the Sea Serpent was being pushed so hard，or because it foolishly decided to draw the noose tight，the whole of the carved stern broke off and the ship was free.
The others were too exhausted to see what Lucy saw.There， a few yards behind them，the loop of Sea Serpent’s body got rapidly smaller and disappeared into a splash.Lucy always said(but of course she was very excited at the moment，and it may have been only imagination)that she saw a look of idiotic satisfaction on the creature’s face.What is certain is that it was a very stupid animal，for instead of pursuing the ship it turned its head round and began nosing all along its own body as if it expected to find the wreckage of the Dawn Treader there.But the Dawn Treader was already well away，running before a fresh breeze，and the men lay and sat panting and groaning all about the deck，till presently they were able to talk about it，and then to laugh about it.And when some rum had been served out they even raised a cheer;and everyone praised the valour of Eustace(though it hadn’t done any good)and of Reepicheep.
After this they sailed for three days more and saw nothing but sea and sky.On the fourth day the wind changed to the north and the seas began to rise;by the afternoon it had nearly become a gale. But at the same time they sighted land on their port bow.
“By your leave，Sire，”said Drinian，“we will try to get under the lee of that country by rowing and lie in harbour，maybe till this is over.”Caspian agreed，but a long row against the gale did not bring them to the land before evening.By the last light of that day they steered into a natural harbour and anchored，but no one went ashore that night.In the morning they found themselves in the green bay of a rugged，lonely-looking country which sloped up to a rocky summit.From the windy north beyond that summit clouds came streaming rapidly.They lowered the boat and loaded her with any of the water casks which were now empty.
“Which stream shall we water at，Drinian ?”said Caspian as he took his seat in the stern-sheets of the boat.“There seem to be two coming down into the bay.”
“It makes little odds，Sire，”said Drinian.“But I think it’s a shorter pull to that on the starboard—the eastern one.”
“Here comes the rain，”said Lucy.
“I should think it does!”said Edmund，for it was already pelting hard.“I say，let’s go to the other stream.There are trees there and we’ll have some shelter.”
“Yes，let’s，”said Eustace.“No point in getting wetter than we need.”
But all the time Drinian was steadily steering to the starboard， like tiresome people in cars who continue at forty miles an hour while you are explaining to them that they are on the wrong road.
“They’re right，Drinian，”said Caspian.“Why don’t you bring her head round and make for the western stream ?”
“As your Majesty pleases，”said Drinian a little shortly.He had had an anxious day with the weather yesterday，and he didn’t like advice from landsmen.But he altered course;and it turned out afterwards that it was a good thing he did.
By the time they had finished watering，the rain was over and Caspian，with Eustace，the Pevensies，and Reepicheep，decided to walk up to the top of the hill and see what could be seen.It was a stiffish climb through coarse grass and heather and they saw neither man nor beast，except seagulls.When they reached the top they saw that it was a very small island，not more than twenty acres; and from this height the sea looked larger and more desolate than it did from the deck，or even the fighting—top，of the Dawn Treader.
“Crazy，you know，”said Eustace to Lucy in a low voice， looking at the eastern horizon.“Sailing on and on into that with no idea what we may get to.”But he only said it out of habit，not really nastily as he would have done at one time.
It was too cold to stay long on the ridge for the wind still blew freshly from the north.
“Don’t let’s go back the same way，”said Lucy as they turned;“let’s go along a bit and come down by the other stream， the one Drinian wanted to go to.”
Everyone agreed to this and after about fifteen minutes they were at the source of the second river.It was a more interesting place than they had expected;a deep little mountain lake， surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed.Here at last they were out of the wind，and all sat down in the heather above the cliff for a rest.
All sat down，but one(it was Edmund)jumped up again very quickly.
“They go in for sharp stones on this island，”he said，groping about in the heather.“Where is the wretched thing ? ... Ah，now I’ve got it... Hullo ! It wasn’t a stone at all，it’s a sword-hilt.No，by jove，it’s a whole sword;what the rust has left of it.It must have lain here for ages.”
“Narnian，too，by the look of it，”said Caspian，as they all crowded round.
“I’m sitting on something too，”said Lucy.“Something hard.”It turned out to be the remains of a mail shirt.By this time everyone was on hands and knees，feeling in the thick heather in every direction.Their search revealed，one by one，a helmet， a dagger，and a few coins;not Calormen crescents but genuine Narnian“Lions”and“Trees”such as you might see any day in the market-place of Beaversdam or Beruna.
“Looks as if this might be all that’s left of one of our seven lords，”said Edmund.
“Just what I was thinking，”said Caspian.“I wonder which it was.There’s nothing on the dagger to show.And I wonder how he died.”
“And how we are to avenge him，”added Reepicheep.
Edmund，the only one of the party who had read several detective stories，had meanwhile been thinking.
“Look here，”he said，“there’s something very fishy about this. He can’t have been killed in a fight.”
“Why not?”asked Caspian.
“No bones，”said Edmund.“An enemy might take the armour and leave the body.But who ever heard of a chap who’d won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armour ?”
“Perhaps he was killed by a wild animal，”Lucy suggested.
“It’d be a clever animal，”said Edmund，“that would take a man’s mail shirt off.”
“Perhaps a dragon ?”said Caspian.
“Nothing doing，”said Eustace.“A dragon couldn’t do it.I ought to know.”
“Well，let’s get away from the place，anyway，”said Lucy. She had not felt like sitting down again since Edmund had raised the question of bones.
“If you like，”said Caspian，getting up.“I don’t think any of this stuff is worth taking away.”
They came down and round to the little opening where the stream came out of the lake，and stood looking at the deep water within the circle of cliffs.If it had been a hot day，no doubt some would have been tempted to bathe and everyone would have had a drink.Indeed，even as it was，Eustace was on the very point of stooping down and scooping up some water in his hands when Reepicheep and Lucy both at the same moment cried，“Look，”so he forgot about his drink and looked into the water.
The bottom of the pool was made of large greyish-blue stones and the water was perfectly clear，and on the bottom lay a life-size figure of a man，made apparently of gold.It lay face downwards with its arms stretched out above its head.And it so happened that as they looked at it，the clouds parted and the sun shone out.The golden shape was lit up from end to end.Lucy thought it was the most beautiful statue she had ever seen.
“Well !”whistled Caspian.“That was worth coming to see ! I wonder，can we get it out ?”
“We can dive for it，Sire，”said Reepicheep.
“No good at all，”said Edmund.“At least，if it’s really gold—solid gold—it’ll be far too heavy to bring up.And that pool’s twelve or fifteen feet deep if it’s an inch.Half a moment， though.It’s a good thing I’ve brought a hunting spear with me. Let’s see what the depth is like.Hold on to my hand，Caspian， while I lean out over the water a bit.”Caspian took his hand and Edmund，leaning forward，began to lower his spear into the water.
Before it was half-way in Lucy said，“I don’t believe the statue is gold at all.It’s only the light.Your spear looks just the same colour.”
“What’s wrong ?”asked several voices at once;for Edmund had suddenly let go of the spear.
“I couldn’t hold it，”gasped Edmund，“It seemed so heavy.”
“And there it is on the bottom now，”said Caspian，“and Lucy is right.It looks just the same colour as the statue.”
But Edmund，who appeared to be having some trouble with his boots—at least he was bending down and looking at them— straightened himself all at once and shouted out in the sharp voice which people hardly ever disobey：
“Get back !Back from the water.All of you.At once !!”
They all did and stared at him.
“Look，”said Edmund，“look at the toes of my boots.”
“They look a bit yellow，”began Eustace.
“They’re gold，solid gold，”interrupted Edmund.“Look at them.Feel them.The leather’s pulled away from it already.And they’re as heavy as lead.”
“By Aslan !”said Caspian.“You don’t mean to say—?”
“Yes，I do，”said Edmund.“That water turns things into gold. It turned the spear into gold，that’s why it got so heavy. And it was just lapping against my feet(it’s a good thing I wasn’t barefoot)and it turned the toe-caps into gold.And that poor fellow on the bottom—well，you see.”
“So it isn’t a statue at all，”said Lucy in a low voice.
“No.The whole thing is plain now.He was here on a hot day. He undressed on top of the cliff—where we were sitting.The clothes have rotted away or been taken by birds to line nests with; the armour’s still there.Then he dived and—”
“Don’t，”said Lucy.“What a horrible thing.”
“And what a narrow shave we’ve had，”said Edmund.
“Narrow indeed，”said Reepicheep.“Anyone’s finger， anyone’s foot，anyone’s whisker，or anyone’s tail，might have slipped into the water at any moment.”
“All the same，”said Caspian，“we may as well test it.”He stooped down and wrenched up a spray of heather.Then，very cautiously，he knelt beside the pool and dipped it in.It was heather that he dipped;what he drew out was a perfect model of heather made of the purest gold，heavy and soft as lead.
“The King who owned this island，”said Caspian slowly， and his face flushed as he spoke，“would soon be the richest of all the Kings of the world.I claim this land for ever as a Narnian possession.It shall be called Goldwater Island.And I bind all of you to secrecy.No one must know of this.Not even Drinian—on pain of death，do you hear ?”
“Who are you talking to ?”said Edmund.“I’m no subject of yours.If anything it’s the other way round.I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under allegiance to the High King my brother.”
“So it has come to that，King Edmund，has it ?”said Caspian，laying his hand on his sword-hilt.
“Oh，stop it，both of you，”said Lucy.“That’s the worst of doing anything with boys.You’re all such swaggering，bullying idiots—oooh !—”Her voice died away into a gasp.And everyone else saw what she had seen.
Across the grey hillside above them—grey，for the heather was not yet in bloom—without noise，and without looking at them，and shining as if he were in bright sunlight though the sun had in fact gone in，passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen.In describing the scene Lucy said afterwards，“He was the size of an elephant，”though at another time she only said，“The size of a cart-horse.”But it was not the size that mattered.Nobody dared to ask what it was.They knew it was Aslan.
And nobody ever saw how or where he went.They looked at one another like people waking from sleep.
“What were we talking about ?”said Caspian.“Have I been making rather an ass of myself ?”
“Sire，”said Reepicheep，“this is a place with a curse on it. Let us get back on board at once.And if I might have the honour of naming this island，I should call it Deathwater.”
“That strikes me as a very good name，Reep，”said Caspian， “though now that I come to think of it，I don’t know why.But the weather seems to be settling and I dare say Drinian would like to be off.What a lot we shall have to tell him.”
But in fact they had not much to tell for the memory of the last hour had all become confused.
“Their Majesties all seemed a bit bewitched when they came aboard，”said Drinian to Rhince some hours later when the Dawn Treader was once more under sail and Deathwater Island already below the horizon.“Something happened to them in that place. The only thing I could get clear was that they think they’ve found the body of one of these lords we’re looking for.”
“You don’t say so，Captain，”answered Rhince.“Well， that’s three.Only four more.At this rate we might be home soon after the New Year.And a good thing too.My baccy’s running a bit low.Good night，Sir.”
第八章 兩次死里逃生
黎明踏浪號(hào)終于要離開龍島了，人人都很開心。船一出海灣， 一路順風(fēng)，第二天一大早就到了那個(gè)無(wú)名地。尤斯塔斯還是條龍的時(shí)候，有些人騎在他身上飛過群山曾見過這地方。這是一塊低矮的綠島， 上面有些兔子和幾只山羊，不過根據(jù)石屋的殘址和被火燒得發(fā)黑的巖石來(lái)看，這里不久前還住過人。島上還有一些骨頭和破舊的武器。“是海盜的杰作吧。”凱斯賓說
“要不就是龍干的。”愛德蒙說。
此外他們?cè)趰u上找到的唯一的東西就是一只小皮艇，又叫皮筏子，是用獸皮繃在一個(gè)柳條框架上做成的。那只小小的船，只有四英尺長(zhǎng)，船槳還擱在那兒，和船的大小相稱。他們心想，要么這船是造給孩子的，或者這里住著小矮人。雷佩契普決定留著這條船，因?yàn)檫@船的大小跟它的身材正合適，所以就帶上了大船。他們把這地方叫做火燒島，沒到中午就離開了。
他們順著東南風(fēng)航行了五天，一直沒有見到陸地，也沒有見到魚和海鷗。后來(lái)有一天下了一場(chǎng)雨，午后才停。尤斯塔斯跟雷佩契普下棋，輸了兩局之后，又露出令人討厭的樣子。愛德蒙說他真希望當(dāng)初他們跟蘇珊一起去了美國(guó)。露茜望著窗外說：“嘿!雨真的停了。你們看那是什么?”
大家聽到后，都跑到船尾來(lái)看，發(fā)現(xiàn)雨真的停了，正在值班的德里寧也盯著船尾外面的什么東西。確切地說有好多東西。那些東西看上去像光滑的卵石，但是兩兩之間相隔大約四十英尺，排成長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的一列。
“不可能是石頭，”德里寧說，“因?yàn)槲宸昼娭澳莾哼€沒有這些東西。”
“有一塊剛才不見了。”露茜說。
“是啊，還有一塊突然冒出來(lái)了。”
“越來(lái)越近了。”尤斯塔斯說。
“真見鬼!”凱斯賓說，“那些東西都往這兒移動(dòng)了。”
“而且它們的速度比我們的船還快，陛下，”德里寧說，“很快就會(huì)追上我們。”
他們都屏住呼吸，因?yàn)椴还苁窃陉懙厣线€是海上，被未知的東西追總沒好事。誰(shuí)知道，這玩意一露頭比猜想的還可怕。忽然，在離左舷還有一個(gè)投球距離的時(shí)候，一個(gè)嚇人的腦袋鉆出海面。這東西的腦袋上除了寄生貝之外，還有綠色的、紅色的和紫色的疙瘩。那形狀像一只沒有耳朵的馬頭。腦袋上長(zhǎng)著可以透視海洋深處的大眼睛，還有一張咧開的大嘴長(zhǎng)著上下兩排尖利的牙齒。腦袋和脖子連在一起，越變?cè)介L(zhǎng)——大家這才發(fā)現(xiàn)這不是脖子，而是身子，最后他們總算看見了有不少人想要見識(shí)的——大海蛇。遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)就能看見它巨大的尾巴上的皺槽，不時(shí)升出水面。這時(shí)它正昂起腦袋，高聳在桅桿上面。
大家都跑去拿武器，可是并沒什么用，因?yàn)檫@東西太高了。“射箭，射箭!”弓箭手頭領(lǐng)一聲令下，幾個(gè)人開始射箭，可是箭只是從蛇皮上擦過去，好像射在了鐵甲上一樣。這時(shí)，大家一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地看著海蛇的眼睛和嘴，倒吸了一口冷氣，因?yàn)椴恢浪鼤?huì)向哪兒撲過來(lái)。
可是它沒有。它的腦袋沿著桅桿探過船身，眼看就要到觀測(cè)臺(tái)旁邊了，仍不斷伸長(zhǎng)，一直伸到右舷上。然后開始向下鉆——不是鉆向甲板上的人群，而是海里。然后它的身體就把整條船給圍住了。這個(gè)圈越來(lái)越小，海蛇的身體簡(jiǎn)直要碰到右舷壁了。
尤斯塔斯一直努力好好表現(xiàn)，后來(lái)天下雨了他就和別人下棋， 雖然輸給別人的時(shí)候他得表現(xiàn)讓人生厭，但這時(shí)他居然做出平生第一次壯舉。他隨身帶著凱斯賓借給他的一把劍，當(dāng)蛇身快接近右舷壁的時(shí)候，他向舷壁撲過去，使出渾身力量猛然刺向海蛇。當(dāng)然結(jié)果除了把凱斯賓那第二把好劍折成碎片之外，毫無(wú)收獲?？墒菍?duì)一個(gè)初出茅廬的人來(lái)說，這倒是件好事。
若不是雷佩契普大聲喊：“別打!推!”別人早就跟凱斯賓一起去戰(zhàn)斗了。到了那樣的緊要關(guān)頭，老鼠竟然還勸大家別打，這太奇怪了，所以大家目光都轉(zhuǎn)向它。當(dāng)它撲向舷壁，擋在海蛇前面，用它那毛茸茸的小身子擋住海蛇那長(zhǎng)滿鱗甲，滑膩膩的巨大身子使勁往外推的時(shí)候，好多人這才明白它的用意，紛紛沖到船舷兩側(cè)，學(xué)著他那樣往外推。過了一會(huì)，海蛇的腦袋又出現(xiàn)了，這回在左舷，而且是背對(duì)著大家，于是大家都明白了。
這怪物竟把身子繞成個(gè)圈，套著黎明踏浪號(hào)，并開始把圈套收緊。等這個(gè)圈套收得相當(dāng)緊了，“啪”的一下子，大船就會(huì)變成一堆漂浮的碎片，它就可以在水里把他們一一吃掉。他們的唯一出路是把這個(gè)圈套往船后推，推得它滑過船尾，不然就把圈套朝另一個(gè)方向推， 讓船身前進(jìn)，脫出圈套。
雷佩契普勢(shì)單力薄，無(wú)異蚍蜉撼大樹。當(dāng)別人把它推到一邊時(shí)， 它已用盡力氣，差點(diǎn)送了命。一會(huì)兒工夫全船人，除了露茜和暈倒的老鼠之外，都沿著兩邊舷壁，排成兩條長(zhǎng)隊(duì)，個(gè)個(gè)前胸貼后背， 整列隊(duì)伍的重量都落在隊(duì)尾一個(gè)人身上，大家拼命推。推了幾秒鐘， 就像推了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)，還是毫無(wú)結(jié)果。大家伙兒的關(guān)節(jié)都像散了架， 汗珠往下淌，嘴里哼哼嘿嘿地直喘氣。這時(shí)他們覺得船在動(dòng)了，他們看見蛇圈離桅桿比先前更遠(yuǎn)了，蛇圈卻收小了。真正的危險(xiǎn)迫在眉睫。他們能讓船尾穿過這個(gè)圈嗎?這個(gè)圈是不是已經(jīng)太小了?是啊，這個(gè)圈套貼著船尾樓的欄桿繞成一個(gè)圈。十幾個(gè)人跳上船尾去，這樣就好得多了。這時(shí)海蛇的身體很低，他們?cè)诖矊?duì)面排成一排并肩一齊推。大家滿懷希望，但忽然又想起黎明踏浪號(hào)高聳在船尾的雕花龍尾，要讓龍尾擺脫那個(gè)圈套就不太可能了。
“拿把斧頭來(lái)，”凱斯賓聲嘶力竭喊道：“像原來(lái)那樣用力推。” 露茜對(duì)船上的東西放在哪兒都了如指掌。此時(shí)的她正站在甲板上望著船尾，聽到他這話，她立即沖下艙，拿了斧子，奔上梯子，趕到船尾。誰(shuí)知正當(dāng)她到達(dá)頂上，就聽見“咔嚓”一聲，像樹木倒下似的一聲巨響， 船身?yè)u搖擺擺往前沖去。就在那千鈞一發(fā)之際，不管是因?yàn)榇蠹沂箘琶屯坪Ｉ?，還是因?yàn)楹Ｉ呙偷爻榫o圈套，整個(gè)雕花龍尾都折斷了， 大船也就脫險(xiǎn)了。
大伙都筋疲力盡，顧不上去看露茜見到的情景：在船尾幾碼外， 海蛇縮成的圈越收越小，然后撲通一下不見了。露茜總是說她看見那怪物臉上有種白癡的滿足感( 可是當(dāng)時(shí)她那么激動(dòng)，這可能是她的想象而已)。值得慶幸的是，這條海蛇非常愚蠢，它并沒有追這條船， 而是掉過頭去，在自己全身上下嗅探，仿佛能找到船的殘骸似的。不過黎明踏浪號(hào)已經(jīng)安然脫身，歡快地在風(fēng)里航行，所有人都躺在或坐在甲板上，喘著氣又呻吟著，過了好一會(huì)才開始談?wù)撨@個(gè)事。喝甜酒的時(shí)候，大家還舉杯慶賀，都夸尤斯塔斯( 雖然沒幫上什么忙)和雷佩契普真是勇敢。
脫險(xiǎn)后，他們又航行了三天，除了大海和天空什么也看不見。第四天突然刮起北風(fēng)，海平面也升高了許多，到中午的時(shí)候，竟然刮起了大風(fēng)。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候他們?cè)谧笙夏沁吙匆娪袎K陸地。
“陛下，請(qǐng)準(zhǔn)許，”德里寧說，“準(zhǔn)許我們劃槳，?？吭诟劭诶?， 設(shè)法在那地方避避風(fēng)，等風(fēng)過了再說。”凱斯賓同意了。不過頂著大風(fēng)劃槳，估計(jì)傍晚才能到那兒。在白天最后一抹光線里，他們開進(jìn)一個(gè)天然港口，拋下了錨，沒有上岸。到早上的時(shí)候，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)那是一個(gè)海水綠色的海灣，岸上崎嶇不平，非常凄清，斜坡上面還有一個(gè)怪石嶙峋的山頂。望向山頂那邊，可以看到烏云從北面滾滾而來(lái)。他們放下小船，把吃空的水桶全都裝上小船。
“我們到哪條河打水呢，德里寧?”凱斯賓一邊說，一邊在船尾坐下，“好像有兩條河流匯進(jìn)這個(gè)海灣。”
“都可以，陛下，”德里寧說，“我看右舷東邊那條好一點(diǎn)， 路程稍短。”
“下雨了。”露茜說。
“我覺得也是!”愛德蒙話剛落下，這時(shí)已經(jīng)是大雨傾盆，“我看還是到另一條河吧。那兒有樹，可以避雨。”
“是啊，去吧。”尤斯塔斯說，“我們白白淋濕也沒什么意義。”
德里寧還是把小船開向右舷那里，像個(gè)聽不進(jìn)意見的司機(jī)，真讓人討厭。盡管你告訴他開錯(cuò)方向了，他還是以一小時(shí)四十英里的速度向前開。
“他們說得對(duì)，德里寧，”凱斯賓說，“你為什么不掉頭，到西邊的那條河去?”
“聽陛下調(diào)遣。”德里寧有點(diǎn)不快地說。他昨天為天氣擔(dān)心了一整天，他更不喜歡陸上的人對(duì)他一個(gè)舵手指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。不過他最后還是改變了航向，后來(lái)證明他這么做是做對(duì)了。
大家裝滿水之后，雨停了。凱斯賓就帶著尤斯塔斯、佩文西兄妹和雷佩契普去了山頂，看看有沒有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)。這條遍地野草和碎石的山坡很難爬，路上看不見人，也沒看見野獸，只能看到幾只海鳥。到了山頂才發(fā)現(xiàn)這是個(gè)小島，還不到二十英畝。從這望去，海面比從甲板或者黎明踏浪號(hào)的桅頂觀測(cè)臺(tái)上望去更大更荒涼。
“你這是在發(fā)瘋，你知道嗎，”尤斯塔斯望著東方地平線，低聲對(duì)露茜說，“打算去哪兒心里也沒個(gè)譜。”不過是出于習(xí)慣才這樣說， 并不是之前那樣存心抬杠。
山上很冷，不能待久，北面還有冷風(fēng)吹來(lái)。
“我們回去的時(shí)候別走老路。”回程的時(shí)候露茜說，“我們到另外一條河邊去，就是德里寧想去的那邊。”
大家都同意露茜的主意。十五分鐘后，他們就到了另一條河的源頭。這里有想象不出的美：深山中有一個(gè)小湖泊，周圍是懸崖峭壁， 只有一條狹窄的水道通向海里。在這里吹不到風(fēng)，大家在懸崖邊的樹叢里坐下來(lái)休息了一會(huì)兒。
大家剛坐下，愛德蒙突然又跳了起來(lái)。
“這島上全是尖石頭，”他在石叢里摸索著說，“那該死的石頭在哪兒……啊，我找到了……嗨!這根本不是石頭，是劍柄。不，天哪， 是一把完整的劍。上面生了厚厚的一層銹，一定落在這兒有好多年了。”
“看起來(lái)，它是納尼亞的劍。”大家都圍上來(lái)，凱斯賓說。
“我也坐在什么上面了呢，”露茜說，“有點(diǎn)硬硬的。”仔細(xì)一看， 原來(lái)是一副鎧甲的殘留。這時(shí)大家都跪在地上用手在密密麻麻的石叢里摸索。之后，他們搜出了一個(gè)頭盔、一把匕首、幾枚錢幣。這可不是卡樂門國(guó)的彎月銀幣，而是納尼亞國(guó)的真正的“獅子硬幣”和“樹幣”。這種貨幣，在海貍大壩和柏盧納的市場(chǎng)上隨處可見。
“看來(lái)，這很像是七位公爵中的一位留下的物品。”愛德蒙說。
“我也這么覺得，”凱斯賓說，“不知道是哪一位，從匕首上看不出來(lái)，也不知道他是怎么死的。”
“所以無(wú)法替他報(bào)仇。”雷佩契普加上一句。
在這群人中，愛德蒙是唯一看過幾本偵探小說的人，這時(shí)他一直在思考。
“聽我說，”他說，“這件事很蹊蹺，他應(yīng)該不是在決斗中戰(zhàn)死的。”
“為什么呢?”凱斯賓問。
“尸骨蕩然無(wú)存，”愛德蒙說，“他的敵人應(yīng)該會(huì)拿走他的鎧甲， 丟下尸體。誰(shuí)聽說打勝了仗把尸體帶走，丟下鎧甲的?”
“有可能是被野獸吃掉的。”露茜提出。
“那必須得是只聰明的野獸，”愛德蒙說，“才能把人的鎧甲脫掉。”
“會(huì)不會(huì)是條龍?”凱斯賓說。
“不可能，”尤斯塔斯說，“龍辦不到，我知道的。”
“好吧，無(wú)論如何，我們應(yīng)該離開這里。”露茜說。聽到愛德蒙提起尸骨的事情，她不想待在這兒了。
“好的，”凱斯賓站起來(lái)說，“這些東西哪樣都不值得我們帶走。”
他們下了山，繞到河流的小空地上，看著懸崖中間的那潭深水。如果是大熱天，保準(zhǔn)有人情不自禁去洗個(gè)澡，興許大家還會(huì)喝個(gè)飽。說真的，盡管天不熱，在尤斯塔斯彎下腰來(lái)，想用雙手舀些水喝時(shí)， 忽然聽到雷佩契普和露茜同時(shí)喊道：“看!”他頓時(shí)忘了喝水，看向水里。
潭底由青灰色的大石塊砌成，水非常清澈，潭底躺著一個(gè)和真人一般大小的人像，分明是金子鑄成的。臉向下，兩臂高舉過頭頂。他們看著它的時(shí)候，烏云漸漸散開，太陽(yáng)出來(lái)了。金像上上下下都被照得明晃晃的，露茜覺得這是她見過的人像中最美的一尊。
“太好啦”，凱斯賓吹著口哨說，“太值得一看了，不知道能不能撈上來(lái)?”
“我們可以潛下去打撈，陛下。”雷佩契普說。
“沒用的，”愛德蒙說，“要是純金的話就太沉了，撈不出來(lái)。而且那水至少有十二到十五英尺那么深。話說回來(lái)，等一下，我有一支魚叉，讓我們來(lái)看看水有多深。凱斯賓，你抓住我的手。”凱斯賓就抓住他的手，愛德蒙探出身子，把魚叉插下水去。
沒插到一半，露茜說，“我根本不信這人像是金的?？赡苁枪饩€的問題，你看魚叉插進(jìn)去也是這顏色。”
“怎么回事?”幾個(gè)人異口同聲地問，因?yàn)閻鄣旅墒职阳~叉掉下去了。
“我拿不動(dòng)了，”愛德蒙喘著氣說，“好像很沉的樣子。”
“看，現(xiàn)在沉到底了，”凱斯賓說，“露茜說的是對(duì)的，跟人像顏色一樣。”
愛德蒙的靴子出了點(diǎn)問題。當(dāng)他彎腰的時(shí)候，忽然一下子挺直身體，尖叫起來(lái)，大家聽了不敢不從。
“趕緊往后退，離水遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)。你們，快點(diǎn)!”
大家都往后退，然后目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著他。
“看，”愛德蒙說，“看我的靴尖。”
“看上去有點(diǎn)發(fā)黃。”尤斯塔斯先說。
“是金的，純金，”愛德蒙打斷了他的話，“看，我感覺皮子和靴尖分開了，如同鉛那么沉。”
“阿斯蘭在上!”凱斯賓說，“你的意思不是……”
“是的，”愛德蒙說，“那水把所有的東西都變成金子了。魚叉也變成金的了，所以很沉。潭水剛剛濺到我腳上，靴尖也變成了金的。水底那個(gè)可憐的家伙——現(xiàn)在，你們明白了吧?”
“原來(lái)那根本不是雕像。”露茜低聲地說。
“不是。現(xiàn)在真相大白了。他應(yīng)該是在一個(gè)大熱天來(lái)到這里。在我們剛坐的地方脫掉衣服，衣服可能是爛掉了或者被鳥叼走筑巢了，所以鎧甲還在那里。他潛下水，然后就……”
“別說了，”露茜說，“太恐怖了。”
“我們剛剛實(shí)在太危險(xiǎn)了。”愛德蒙說。
“差一點(diǎn)，”雷佩契普說，“無(wú)論誰(shuí)的手指，誰(shuí)的腳，誰(shuí)的胡須， 誰(shuí)的尾巴，隨時(shí)都可能滑進(jìn)水里。”
“既然這樣，”凱斯賓說，“我們不妨驗(yàn)證一下。”他彎下腰， 折了一枝石南花枝。然后小心翼翼地跪在水邊，把花枝浸在水里。浸的是石南花，抽出來(lái)的卻是純金的石南花模型，跟鉛一樣沉、一樣軟。
“這個(gè)島的國(guó)王，”凱斯賓說話雖有些慢，但激動(dòng)得滿臉通紅， “馬上會(huì)成為世界上最富有的國(guó)王。我就此聲明，這塊土地是納尼亞的屬地了，取名為金水島。我要求所有人保密，不準(zhǔn)讓外人知道， 連德里寧也不能知道，違者處死，聽見沒有?”
“你這是跟誰(shuí)在說話啊?”愛德蒙說，“我可不是你的臣民。其實(shí)， 這話應(yīng)該反過來(lái)說。我是納尼亞王國(guó)古代四位君主之一，你應(yīng)效忠于我哥哥至尊王。”
“你真的這樣想嗎，愛德蒙國(guó)王?”凱斯賓一手按在劍柄上說。
“你們兩個(gè)都給我住口，”露茜說，“你們男孩子真是要命， 都是狂妄自大、恃強(qiáng)凌弱的白癡!哎呀……”她說著說著就沒音了，屏住了呼吸，大家都看到了她看到的景象。
在他們對(duì)面那座灰蒙蒙的山頂——石南還沒開花，所以看上去灰蒙蒙的——有一頭人類眼睛能見到的最雄偉的獅子漫步走過，沒朝他們看一眼。雖然太陽(yáng)被云層遮住了，可是他渾身金光燦燦，就像沐浴在金色的陽(yáng)光中。之后，露茜描述這幕情景時(shí)說，“他的個(gè)頭就像大象那樣大，”還有一次她也這樣說過，“個(gè)頭跟拉車的馬那樣大。” 不過，這不是關(guān)鍵，沒人敢打聽這些。大家都明白，這就是獅王阿斯蘭。
沒有人看到它是怎么走掉的，去了哪里。大家如夢(mèng)初醒，面面相覷。
“我們剛才說到哪兒了?”凱斯賓問，“我剛才出洋相了嗎?”
“陛下，”雷佩契普說，“這個(gè)地方被詛咒了，我們還是回船上吧。如果我可以為這個(gè)島命名，就叫它‘死水島’。”
“還是這個(gè)名字好，雷佩契普，”凱斯賓說，“不知道為什么， 我現(xiàn)在才想到。不過天氣好像穩(wěn)定下來(lái)了。德里寧應(yīng)該愿意起航了， 我覺得我們有好多話要跟他說。”
可是事實(shí)上他們什么都沒說，因?yàn)閯偛拍且恍r(shí)里的事，誰(shuí)都搞不清了。
“幾位陛下回到船上時(shí)，都跟中邪了一樣。”幾個(gè)小時(shí)后，黎明踏浪號(hào)再次起航。死水島的風(fēng)景已經(jīng)看不見了，這時(shí)候德里寧對(duì)賴因斯說，“他們好像在那里碰到怪事了。我只聽明白一件事，他們?cè)谀抢镎业搅艘晃晃覀円业墓舻氖w。”
“你說的不完全對(duì)，船長(zhǎng)，”賴因斯說，“總之我們已經(jīng)找到三位了，只剩下四位了。按這個(gè)速度，我們過年之后就能回家了。這也是個(gè)好事。我的煙草也快抽完了。晚安，船長(zhǎng)。”
