《黎明踏浪號》第十一章 獨(dú)腳怪歡天喜地
《黎明踏浪號》第十一章 獨(dú)腳怪歡天喜地
所屬教程:納尼亞傳奇7本全
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2018年07月11日
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CHAPTER ELEVEN THE DUFFLEPUDS MADE HAPPY
第十一章 獨(dú)腳怪歡天喜地
Lucy followed the great Lion out into the passage and at once she saw coming towards them an old man,barefoot,dressed in a red robe.His white hair was crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves,his beard fell to his girdle,and he supported himself with a curiously carved staff.When he saw Aslan he bowed low and said,
露茜跟著獅王出來,走進(jìn)長廊,迎面過來了一位老人,光著腳, 身穿紅袍。白發(fā)上戴著一頂橡樹葉編的花冠,胡須垂到腰帶,拄著一根巧奪天工的雕花手杖。見到阿斯蘭,他就深深地鞠了一躬,說:
“Welcome,Sir,to the least of your houses.”
“歡迎閣下光臨,真是蓬蓽生輝。”
“Do you grow weary,Coriakin,of ruling such foolish subjects as I have given you here ?”
“科里亞金,我把這些笨蛋交給你管,你是不是不耐煩了?”
“No,”said the Magician,“they are very stupid but there is no real harm in them.I begin to grow rather fond of the creatures. Sometimes,perhaps,I am a little impatient,waiting for the day when they can be governed by wisdom instead of this rough magic.”
“不,他們笨是笨,但是沒有壞心眼。”魔法師說,“只是我一直在期待有一天可以用智慧而不是魔法來管他們,可我還真是等得有點(diǎn)不耐煩了。
“All in good time,Coriakin,”said Aslan.
“到那時(shí)候就好了,科里亞金。”阿斯蘭說。
“Yes,all in very good time,Sir,”was the answer.“Do you intend to show yourself to them ?”
“是啊,到那時(shí)候就好了,閣下,”他回答說,“你不打算在他們面前露面嗎?”
“Nay,”said the Lion,with a little half-growl that meant (Lucy thought)the same as a laugh.“I should frighten them out of their senses.Many stars will grow old and come to take their rest in islands before your people are ripe for that.And today before sunset I must visit Trumpkin the Dwarf where he sits in the castle of Cair Paravel counting the days till his master Caspian comes home. I will tell him all your story,Lucy.Do not look so sad.We shall meet soon again.”
“不。”獅子說,略帶幾分咆哮,露茜想這大概就是笑笑的意思吧。“我會嚇?biāo)浪麄兊???峙碌葝u上的日月星辰都老得該退休了, 那些家伙也不見得有多少長進(jìn)呢。今天太陽落山之前我還要去看看小矮人杜魯普金,他現(xiàn)在正坐在凱爾帕拉維爾的城堡里等著他主人凱斯賓回家。我會把你們的經(jīng)歷全告訴他。露茜,別愁眉苦臉的,我們很快就會再見的。”
“Please,Aslan,”said Lucy,“what do you call soon ?”
“那,阿斯蘭,”露茜說,“很快是多久啊?”
“I call all times soon,”said Aslan;and instantly he was vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.
“隨時(shí)都是很快。”阿斯蘭回答著,突然就消失了。只剩下了露茜和魔法師。
“Gone !”said he,“and you and I quite crestfallen.It’s always like that,you can’t keep him;it’s not as if he were a tame lion.And how did you enjoy my book ?”
“他走了!”他說,“你我都很失望,可是他向來都是這樣, 留不住的。他不是一頭溫馴的獅子。你覺得我的那本書怎么樣?”
“Parts of it very much indeed,”said Lucy.“Did you know I was there all the time ?”
“書里很多地方都很有意思,”露茜說,“我在那兒,你一直都知道嗎?”
“Well,of course I knew when I let the Duffers make themselves invisible that you would be coming along presently to take the spell off.I wasn’t quite sure of the exact day.And I wasn’t especially on the watch this morning.You see they had made me invisible too and being invisible always makes me so sleepy.Heigh-ho-there I’m yawning again.Are you hungry ?”
“這個(gè),那是當(dāng)然的。我把那群笨蛋變成隱形人的時(shí)候,就知道你不久就會經(jīng)過這里破解魔法??墒遣淮_定是哪一天,今天早上倒是沒有防備。你看,魔法把我也變成隱形了,隱形了以后我老是想睡覺,啊……哈……看我又在打哈欠了。你餓嗎?”
“Well,perhaps I am a little,”said Lucy.“I’ve no idea what the time is.”
“嗯,你一說,我還真有點(diǎn)餓了,”露茜說,“現(xiàn)在幾點(diǎn)了?”
“Come,”said the Magician.“All times may be soon to Aslan;but in my home all hungry times are one o’clock.”
“跟我來,”魔法師說,“對阿斯蘭來說,隨時(shí)都是很快。不過我在我家里隨時(shí)餓了都是一點(diǎn)鐘。”
He led her a little way down the passage and opened a door.Passing in,Lucy found herself in a pleasant room full of sunlight and flowers.The table was bare when they entered,but it was of course a magic table,and at a word from the old man the tablecloth,silver,plates,glasses and food appeared.
他帶她走過一段走廊,打開一扇門。露茜看到是一間滿是陽光和鮮花的房間。桌子上是空的,因?yàn)槟鞘且粡埬Хㄗ雷印DХ◣熌盍艘痪渲湔Z,桌布、銀器、盤子、酒杯和吃的都出來了。
“I hope that is—what you would like,”said he.“I have tried to give you food more like the food of your own land than perhaps you have had lately.”
“希望你能喜歡,”他說,“我盡力給你弄一些合乎你口味的食物, 不是你最近吃的那些。”
“It’s lovely,”said Lucy,and so it was;an omelette,piping hot,cold lamb and green peas,a strawberry ice,lemonsquash to drink with the meal and a cup of chocolate to follow.But the magician himself drank only wine and ate only bread.There was nothing alarming about him,and Lucy and he were soon chatting away like old friends.
“太好了。”露茜說,“我確實(shí)喜歡。”她看見桌上有滾燙的煎蛋、冷羊肉、豌豆、草莓冰淇淋和可作佐餐的檸檬汽水還有一杯巧克力。
“When will the spell work ?”asked Lucy.“Will the Duffers be visible again at once ?”
“這咒語什么時(shí)候起作用呢?”露茜問,“那些笨蛋是不是馬上就會現(xiàn)形?”
“Oh yes,they’re visible now.But they’re probably all asleep still;they always take a rest in the middle of the day.”
“是啊,他們這會兒已經(jīng)現(xiàn)形了。不過他們可能都還在睡,他們中午都是要午休的。”
“And now that they’re visible,are you going to let them off being ugly ? Will you make them as they were before ?”
“既然他們都現(xiàn)了形,你會去掉他們的丑樣兒嗎?要不要恢復(fù)他們以前的模樣?”
“Well,that’s rather a delicate question,”said the Magician. “You see,it’s only they who think they were so nice to look at before.They say they’ve been uglified,but that isn’t what I called it. Many people might say the change was for the better.”
“這個(gè),一兩句說不清,”魔法師說,“要知道,只有他們覺得自己從前好看。他們說他們被變丑了,可是我并不覺得,好多人反而變好看了呢。”
“Are they awfully conceited ?”
“他們一直都這樣自以為是嗎?”
“They are.Or at least the Chief Duffer is,and he’s taught all the rest to be.They always believe every word he says.”
“他們就是這樣。至少為首的那家伙是這樣,他把其他人都教得跟他一樣。他說什么,他們就信什么。”
“We’d noticed that,”said Lucy.
“我看出來了。”露茜說。
“Yes-we’d get on better without him,in a way.Of course I could turn him into something else,or even put a spell on him which would make them not believe a word he said.But I don’t like to do that.It’s better for them to admire him than to admire nobody.”
“是啊,所以說,沒有他的話我們?nèi)兆訒?。?dāng)然我能把他變成其他東西,或者念一種咒語,使他們對他一句話都不信??墒俏也幌脒@么做,還是讓他們崇拜他吧,總比對誰都不崇拜的好。”
“Don’t they admire you ?”asked Lucy.
“難道他們不崇拜你嗎?”露茜問。
“Oh,not me,”said the Magician.“They wouldn’t admire me.”
“哎呀,才不會呢,”魔法師說,“他們不愿崇拜我。”
“What was it you uglified them for-I mean,what they call uglified ?”
“你為什么把他們變丑——我的意思是,他們所謂的變丑?”
“Well,they wouldn’t do what they were told.Their work is to mind the garden and raise food-not for me,as they imagine, but for themselves.They wouldn’t do it at all if I didn’t make them.And of course for a garden you want water.There is a beautiful spring about half a mile away up the hill.And from that spring there flows a stream which comes right past the garden.All I asked them to do was to take their water from the stream instead of trudging up to the spring with their buckets two or three times a day and tiring themselves out besides spilling half of it on the way back. But they wouldn’t see it.In the end they refused point blank.”
“說起來,是他們自己不聽話。讓他們照料照料花園,種種糧食——不是像他們想象的那樣,那并不是為我,而是為他們自己。要是我不逼迫他們干,他們就不干。打理花園當(dāng)然少不了澆水,山上大約半英里就有眼山泉,有條小溪從山泉一直流到花園旁。我只是讓他們從這條小溪里取水,用不著一天兩三回提著水桶,爬上山到泉眼里打水再筋疲力盡的回來,路上還會灑掉一半。可是他們死活都不明白, 到最后他們直接不干了。”
“Are they as stupid as all that ?”asked Lucy.
“他們真的那么笨嗎?”露茜問。
The Magician sighed.“You wouldn’t believe the troubles I’ve had with them.A few months ago they were all for washing up the plates and knives before dinner:they said it saved time afterwards. I’ve caught them planting boiled potatoes to save cooking them when they were dug up.One day the cat got into the dairy and twenty of them were at work moving all the milk out;no one thought of moving the cat.But I see you’ve finished.Let’s go and look at the Duffers now they can be looked at.”
他嘆了口氣,說:“他們?nèi)堑穆闊?,說了你也不信。兩三個(gè)月前,飯前他們就去洗餐盤和刀子,說這可以節(jié)約時(shí)間,說飯后就不用洗了。有一回他們刨地,我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們在種煮熟的土豆,說是吃的時(shí)候就不用煮了。有一天貓溜進(jìn)了牛奶房,他們二十個(gè)人把牛奶桶搬了出來, 誰都沒想過把貓趕出去。唉,我看你吃完了。那我們?nèi)タ纯催@些笨蛋現(xiàn)在的樣子吧。”
They went into another room which was full of polished instruments hard to understand-such as Astrolabes,Orreries, Chronoscopes,Poesimeters,Choriambuses and Theodolinds-and here,when they had come to the window,the Magician said, “There.There are your Duffers.”
他們走進(jìn)一間房間,里面全是讓人搞不明白的儀表器具,被擦得錚亮錚亮的。比如測天體位置的星盤、太陽系儀、瞬時(shí)儀、節(jié)奏測量儀、韻律計(jì)算儀,經(jīng)緯儀,等等。他們走到窗口,魔法師說:“瞧, 這就是你要看的笨蛋。”
“I don’t see anybody,”said Lucy.“And what are those mushroom things ?”
“我什么人都沒看見啊,”露茜說,“那些長得像蘑菇的東西是什么?”
The things she pointed at were dotted all over the level grass. They were certainly very like mushrooms,but far too big-the stalks about three feet high and the umbrellas about the same length from edge to edge.When she looked carefully she noticed too that the stalks joined the umbrellas not in the middle but at one side which gave an unbalanced look to them.And there was something-a sort of little bundle-lying on the grass at the foot of each stalk.In fact the longer she gazed at them the less like mushrooms they appeared. The umbrella part was not really round as she had thought at first. It was longer than it was broad,and it widened at one end.There were a great many of them,fifty or more.
她說的是草地上的那些東西。確實(shí)很像蘑菇,可是個(gè)頭要大得多,傘柄約三英尺高,傘蓋的直徑也有這么長。她仔細(xì)一看,才發(fā)現(xiàn)蘑菇柄不是在傘蓋中間,而是偏在一邊,看上去不對稱。每根蘑菇根部都有什么東西像一個(gè)小包袱一樣躺在草地上。這些東西越看越不像蘑菇。正如她開頭所想,傘蓋部分并不圓,直徑不一樣長。有好多, 差不多有五十多個(gè)。
The clock struck three.
時(shí)鐘敲響三聲。
Instantly a most extraordinary thing happened.Each of the“mushrooms”suddenly turned upside-down.The little bundles which had lain at the bottom of the stalks were heads and bodies.The stalks themselves were legs.But not two legs to each body.Each body had a single thick leg right under it(not to one side like the leg of a one-legged man)and at the end of it,a single enormous foot-a broadtoed foot with the toes curling up a little so that it looked rather like a small canoe.She saw in a moment why they had looked like mushrooms.They had been lying flat on their backs each with its single leg straight up in the air and its enormous foot spread out above it.She learned afterwards that this was their ordinary way of resting;for the foot kept off both rain and sun and for a Monopod to lie under its own foot is almost as good as being in a tent.
離奇的事發(fā)生了。所有“蘑菇”忽然一下子都顛倒過來了。根部的小包袱原來是腦袋和身子,柄是腿,但不是每個(gè)身子都長著兩條腿。每個(gè)身子下面只長著一條粗腿,腿下是一只奇大無比的腳,腳趾很粗,略為上翹,像一只小小的獨(dú)木舟。露茜突然就明白為什么看上去像蘑菇了。原來他們都仰天平躺在地上,把那條獨(dú)腳伸出來,大腳正好在身子上面。事后她才知道這是他們休息的姿勢。而且這只腳既遮雨又擋太陽,他們躺在自己腳下面就跟躺在帳篷里一樣。
“Oh,the funnies,the funnies,”cried Lucy,bursting into laughter.“Did you make them like that ?”
“哎呀,真有意思,太有意思了,”露茜大笑,“是你讓他們變成這樣的嗎?”
“Yes,yes.I made the Duffers into Monopods,”said the Magician.He too was laughing till the tears ran down his cheeks. “But watch,”he added.
“是啊,是啊,我把這些笨蛋變成了獨(dú)腳怪。”魔法師說完, 也哈哈大笑,笑得臉上眼淚直淌,“可是你看。”他又說。
It was worth watching.Of course these little one-footed men couldn’t walk or run as we do.They got about by jumping,like fleas or frogs.And what jumps they made !as if each big foot were a mass of springs.And with what a bounce they came down; that was what made the thumping noise which had so puzzled Lucy yesterday.For now they were jumping in all directions and calling out to one another,“Hey,lads !We’re visible again.”
這倒值得一看。這些獨(dú)腳小人當(dāng)然不能跟我們一樣走啊跑啊的, 他們就像跳蚤或青蛙一樣跳來跳去,而且蹦得很有勁啊!每只大腳都像是一大團(tuán)彈簧。他們跳得也很有勁。那聲音正是昨天搞得露茜莫名其妙的砰砰聲。這會兒他們四處蹦蹦跳跳,大喊大叫:“嗨,伙計(jì)們! 我們又現(xiàn)形了。”
“Visible we are,”said one in a tasselled red cap who was obviously the Chief Monopod.“And what I say is,when chaps are visible,why,they can see one another.”
“我們現(xiàn)形了,”一個(gè)戴著紅色流蘇帽子的人說,顯然他就是那個(gè)老大,“我們現(xiàn)形了,彼此能看見對方了。”
“Ah,there it is,there it is,Chief,”cried all the others.“There’s the point.No one’s got a clearer head than you.You couldn’t have made it plainer.”
“啊,說得對,說得太對了,老大,”其他的人齊聲喊,“一針見血, 誰的頭腦也比不上你清醒,你說得再明白不過了。”
“She caught the old man napping,that little girl did,”said the Chief Monopod.“We’ve beaten him this time.”
“那小姑娘弄得老頭措手不及,她真行,”獨(dú)角怪的頭兒說,“這回我們騙過他了。”
“Just what we were,going to say ourselves,”chimed the chorus.“You’re going stronger than ever today,Chief.Keep it up,keep it up.”
“我們也這么覺得,”大家齊聲附和,“你今天比往日強(qiáng)多了, 老大。厲害,厲害。”
“That’s one of the funny things about the Duffers,”said the Magician.“One minute they talk as if I ran everything and overheard everything and was extremely dangerous.The next moment they think they can take me in by tricks that a baby would see through-bless them !”
“那些笨蛋總是干這樣好笑的事,”魔法師說,“他們一會兒說我掌管一切,監(jiān)聽一切,極度危險(xiǎn)。一會兒又說三歲小孩兒都能看出來的把戲就能騙過我,天哪!”
“Will they have to be turned back into their proper shapes ?”asked Lucy.“Oh,I do hope it wouldn’t be unkind to leave them as they are.Do they really mind very much ?They seem pretty happy.I say-look at that jump.What were they like before ?”
“你要把他們變成原來的樣子嗎?”露茜問,“唉,如果我希望他們就這樣不會很過分吧。他們真的在乎嗎?他們這樣好像很快樂。哎呀,瞧那蹦蹦跳跳的樣子。他們原來是什么樣子的?”
“Common little dwarfs,”said he.“Nothing like so nice as the sort you have in Narnia.”
“普通的小矮人啊,”他說,“不過,跟納尼亞的小矮人比差遠(yuǎn)了。”
“It would be a pity to change them back,”said Lucy.“They’re so funny:and they’re rather nice.Do you think it would make any difference if I told them that ?”
“把他們變回去有點(diǎn)可惜,”露茜說,“他們很滑稽,而且一點(diǎn)都不難看。你認(rèn)為如果我跟他們這么說會有用嗎?”
“I’m sure it would-if you could get it into their heads.”
“如果你能讓他們明白的話,會有用的。”
“Will you come with me and try ?”
“那你愿意陪我去試試嗎?”
“No,no.You’ll get on far better without me.”
“不,不,我不在場效果會更好。”
“Thanks awfully for the lunch,”said Lucy and turned quickly away.She ran down the stairs which she had come up so nervously that morning and cannoned into Edmund at the bottom.All the others were there with him waiting,and Lucy’s conscience smote her when she saw their anxious faces and realized how long she had forgotten them.
“非常感謝你請我吃飯。”露茜說著轉(zhuǎn)身就跑下樓梯。今天早上走在上面的時(shí)候心里還七上八下的呢。她在樓梯口一下子撞上了愛德蒙,其他人和他一起在那里等著她。露茜看見大家都非常焦慮的樣子,才明白自己把他們一時(shí)忘記了,不由得心有不安。
“It’s all right,”she shouted.“Everything’s all right.The Magician’s a brick-and I’ve seen Him-Aslan.”
“沒事啦,”她大聲說,“什么事都沒有啦,魔法師是個(gè)好人。我還看見它——阿斯蘭。”
After that she went from them like the wind and out into the garden.Here the earth was shaking with the jumps and the air ringing with the shouts of the Monopods.Both were redoubled when they caught sight of her.
說完她像風(fēng)一樣跑到花園,獨(dú)腳怪把地面跳得直震動(dòng),周圍只聽見一片叫喊。他們一看見她,跳得更厲害,也更起勁了。
“Here she comes,here she comes,”they cried.“Three cheers for the little girl.Ah ! She put it across the old gentleman properly,she did.”
“她來啦,她來啦,”他們?nèi)碌乐?ldquo;為小姑娘三呼萬歲。哎呀! 是她把老頭兒糊弄過去了。”
“And we’re extremely regrettable,”said the Chief Monopod, “that we can’t give you the pleasure of seeing us as we were before we were uglified,for you wouldn’t believe the difference,and that’s the truth,for there’s no denying we’re mortal ugly now,so we won’t deceive you.”
“我們非常遺憾,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“沒法讓你看到我們沒變丑時(shí)的模樣。你不會相信這之間的差別,這是實(shí)話,不可否認(rèn)。我們現(xiàn)在真是丑極了,所以我們不會騙你。”
“Eh,that we are,Chief,that we are,”echoed the others, bouncing like so many toy balloons.“You’ve said it,you’ve said it.”
“啊,說得對,老大,說得太對了,”其他人隨聲附和的同時(shí), 像很多玩具氣球一樣蹦得很高,“你說得對,你說得對。”
“But I don’t think you are at all,”said Lucy,shouting to make herself heard.“I think you look very nice.”
“可是我一點(diǎn)也不覺得你們丑,”露茜提高聲音說,好讓大家聽見,“我覺得你們很好看。”
“Hear her,hear her,”said the Monopods.“True for you, Missie.Very nice we look.You couldn’t find a handsomer lot.”They said this without any surprise and did not seem to notice that they had changed their minds.
“她說得對,她說得對,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“小姑娘,你說得不錯(cuò), 我們非常好看,沒有更漂亮的人了。”他們毫不驚訝,而且根本沒注意到自己已經(jīng)改變主意了。
“She’s a-saying,”remarked the Chief Monopod,“as how we looked very nice before we were uglified.”
“她說的是,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“我們大家比以前好看。”
“True for you,Chief,true for you,”chanted the others.“That’s what she says.We heard her ourselves.”
“說得對,頭兒,說得太對了,”其他人又喊,“她就是這么說的, 我們親耳聽到的。”
“I did not,”bawled Lucy.“I said you’re very nice now.”
“我沒那么說,”露茜大聲喊著,“我是說你們現(xiàn)在好看。”
“So she did,so she did,”said the Chief Monopod,“said we were very nice then.”
“她是那么說的,就是那么說的,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“說我們那時(shí)候非常好看。”
“Hear‘ em both,hear’em both,”said the Monopods.“There’s a pair for you.Always right.They couldn’t have put it better.”
“他們兩個(gè)說的都對,他們兩個(gè)說得都對,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“你們太默契了,一向是這樣,他們說得再好不過了。”
“But we’re saying just the opposite,”said Lucy,stamping her foot with impatience.
“可是我們兩個(gè)說的話相反。”露茜不耐煩地跺跺腳。
“So you are,to be sure,so you are,”said the Monopods.“Nothing like an opposite.Keep it up,both of you.”
“一點(diǎn)不假,她是這意思,就是這意思,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“不相反, 你們兩個(gè)都說下去。”
“You’re enough to drive anyone mad,”said Lucy,and gave it up.But the Monopods seemed perfectly contented,and she decided that on the whole the conversation had been a success.
“你們真是胡攪蠻纏,我簡直快瘋了。”露茜干脆不說了??墒仟?dú)腳怪好像心滿意足的樣子。然后她得出結(jié)論,這次談話算得上是成功的。
And before everyone went to bed that evening something else happened which made them even more satisfied with their one-legged condition.Caspian and all the Narnians went back as soon as possible to the shore to give their news to Rhince and the others on board the Dawn Treader,who were by now very anxious. And,of course,the Monopods went with them,bouncing like footballs and agreeing with one another in loud voices till Eustace said,“I wish the Magician would make them inaudible instead of invisible.”(He was soon sorry he had spoken because then he had to explain that an inaudible thing is something you can’t hear,and though he took a lot of trouble he never felt sure that the Monopods had really understood,and what especially annoyed him was that they said in the end,“Eh,he can’t put things the way our Chief does.But you’ll learn,young man.Hark to him.He’ll show you how to say things.There’s a speaker for you !”)When they reached the bay,Reepicheep had a brilliant idea.He had his little coracle lowered and paddled himself about in it till the Monopods were thoroughly interested.He then stood up in it and said,“Worthy and intelligent Monopods,you do not need boats.Each of you has a foot that will do instead.Just jump as lightly as you can on the water and see what happens.”
"那天臨睡前又出了些事,使那些獨(dú)腳怪對于自己的現(xiàn)狀更加滿意了。凱斯賓和所有納尼亞人回到岸邊,向賴因斯和黎明踏浪號上的其他人報(bào)信,船上的人都急壞了。不用說,那些獨(dú)腳怪也跟他們一起去,一邊像足球似的蹦蹦跳跳,一邊一唱一和,直到尤斯塔斯說了句: “我真希望魔法師不是把他們變成隱形人,而是無聲人。”
說完他就后悔了,因?yàn)樗坏貌桓麄兘忉専o聲就是聽不見聲音。盡管他費(fèi)了不少口舌,但是也不知道他們是不是真的明白了。更讓他惱火的是,最后他們竟然說:“嗯,他不能像我們的老大那樣會講話。不過你會明白的,年輕人。聽老大講話吧,他會教你怎么講, 多會演講的人呀!”
大家來到海灘,雷佩契普想到一個(gè)好主意。它放下自己的小筏子, 坐在里面劃船,獨(dú)腳怪非常感興趣。于是他站起來說:“聰明的獨(dú)腳先生,你們用不著小船。你們的腳可以當(dāng)船用,只要盡量在水面上輕輕地跳就行了。”
"
The Chief Monopod hung back and warned the others that they’d find the water powerful wet,but one or two of the younger ones tried it almost at once;and then a few others followed their example,and at last the whole lot did the same.It worked perfectly.The huge single foot of a Monopod acted as a natural raft or boat,and when Reepicheep had taught them how to cut rude paddles for themselves,they all paddled about the bay and round the Dawn Treader,looking for all the world like a fleet of little canoes with a fat dwarf standing up in the extreme stern of each.And they had races,and bottles of wine were lowered down to them from the ship as prizes,and the sailors stood leaning over the ship’s sides and laughed till their own sides ached.
獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒縮在后面,警告其他人水是潮濕的,可是一兩個(gè)年輕人還是決定去試試,接著又有幾個(gè)跟著,最后所有人都到水里去了。獨(dú)腳怪的大腳可以當(dāng)一只天然筏子或小船,雷佩契普教他們做簡單的槳,他們就在海灣繞著黎明踏浪號劃過來劃過去,看上去像一支小筏子組成的船隊(duì),每條小筏子的船尾都站著一個(gè)胖胖的小矮人。他們還進(jìn)行比賽,大船還給他們一瓶瓶酒作獎(jiǎng)品。水手們趴在大船舷上看他們的模樣,笑得肚子都痛了。
The Duffers were also very pleased with their new name of Monopods,which seemed to them a magnificent name though they never got it right.“That’s what we are,”they bellowed, “Moneypuds,Pomonods,Poddymons.Just what it was on the tips of our tongues to call ourselves.”But they soon got it mixed up with their old name of Duffers and finally settled down to calling themselves the Dufflepuds;and that is what they will probably be called for centuries.
那些笨蛋對“獨(dú)腳怪”的新名稱興致盎然,雖然他們念不準(zhǔn), 可是在他們心中這似乎是個(gè)了不起的名字。“我們就叫這個(gè),”他們大吼大叫道,“獨(dú)角怪,怪獨(dú)角,角怪獨(dú)。這個(gè)稱呼實(shí)在太簡明順口了。” 一眨眼的工夫,他們就把新稱呼與舊稱呼“笨蛋”搞混了,叫著叫著就叫成了“笨蛋怪”。他們大概還會叫上好幾百年吧。
That evening all the Narnians dined upstairs with the Magician,and Lucy noticed how different the whole top floor looked now that she was no longer afraid of it.The mysterious signs on the doors were still mysterious but now looked as if they had kind and cheerful meanings,and even the bearded mirror now seemed funny rather than frightening.At dinner everyone had by magic what everyone liked best to eat and drink,and after dinner the Magician did a very useful and beautiful piece of magic.He laid two blank sheets of parchment on the table and asked Drinian to give him an exact account of their voyage up to date:and as Drinian spoke,everything he described came out on the parchment in fine clear lines till at last each sheet was a splendid map of the Eastern Ocean,showing Galma,Terebinthia,the Seven Isles, the Lone Islands,Dragon Island,Burnt Island,Deathwater, and the land of the Duffers itself,all exactly the right sizes and in the right positions.They were the first maps ever made of those seas and better than any that have been made since without magic. For on these,though the towns and mountains looked at first just as they would on an ordinary map,when the Magician lent them a magnifying glass you saw that they were perfect little pictures of the real things,so that you could see the very castle and slave market and streets in Narrowhaven,all very clear though very distant,like things seen through the wrong end of a telescope. The only drawback was that the coastline of most of the islands was incomplete,for the map showed only what Drinianhad seen with his own eyes.When they were finished the.Magician kept one himself and presented the other to Caspian:it still hangs in his Chamber of Instruments at Cair Paravel.But the Magician could tell them nothing about seas or lands further east.He did, however,tell them that about seven years before a Narnian ship had put in at his waters and that she had on board the lords Revilian, Argoz,Mavramorn and Rhoop:so they judged that the golden man they had seen lying in Deathwater must be the Lord Restimar.
"那天晚上,所有納尼亞的客人都在樓上和魔法師共進(jìn)晚餐,露茜注意到整個(gè)樓都變了,感覺一點(diǎn)都不可怕。門上的神秘符號還是神秘的,可是現(xiàn)在看上去卻也是善良可親,甚至長胡子的鏡子現(xiàn)在看上去也沒有那么嚇人,而是很有趣的樣子。席間,靠魔法的力量,大家都嘗到自己最喜愛的菜肴和飲料。飯后,魔法師還使出了另外一種非常實(shí)用的魔法。
他在桌上鋪了兩張羊皮紙,讓德里寧精確地講述到目前的全部航程:德里寧一開始講,紙上就清晰地顯出他講的細(xì)節(jié),最后每張紙都成了一幅絕妙的東方海洋的地圖,上邊標(biāo)注了加爾馬、特里賓西亞、七群島、孤獨(dú)群島、龍島、火燒島、死水島和野蠻人居住的地方,比例、位置、方向絲毫不差。這是那片海域的第一次張地圖,比后來他們不用魔法制作的地圖好得多。
這兩張地圖上標(biāo)注的城鎮(zhèn)和山脈乍一看和普通地圖一模一樣, 可是魔法師給他們一個(gè)放大鏡后,看到的就是活的真實(shí)景物的縮小版了,能看見狹港那個(gè)城堡和奴隸市場還有街道,雖然很遠(yuǎn),卻很清晰, 就跟用望遠(yuǎn)鏡看到的東西一樣。唯一的缺陷是大部分島嶼的海岸線都不是完整的,因?yàn)榈貓D只能根據(jù)德里寧親眼看到的來標(biāo)注。地圖完成之后,魔法師就留下一幅,另一幅送給了凱斯賓,這幅地圖至今仍然掛在凱爾帕拉維爾儀器館里。
然后,魔法師卻無法告訴他們再往東航行的海洋和陸地的情況。他告訴他們,七年前有一艘納尼亞船來過這里,船上有雷維廉、阿爾戈茲、馬弗拉蒙、羅普幾位公爵。于是大家一致推斷那個(gè)躺在死水里的金人就是雷斯蒂瑪公爵。
"
Next day,the Magician magically mended the stern of the Dawn Treader where it had been damaged by the Sear Serpent and loaded her with useful gifts.There was a most friendly parting, and when she sailed,two hours after noon,all the Dufflepuds paddled out with her to the harbour mouth,and cheered until she was out of sound of their cheering.
第二天,魔法師用魔法修理好黎明踏浪號上被海蛇破壞的船尾, 還送給他們很多有用的禮物。大家友好的道別,下午兩點(diǎn)起航時(shí),所有的笨蛋怪都劃著槳到港口,一直歡呼直到船上聽不到他們的聲音。
“But do they dare to talk about you like that ?”said Lucy. “They seemed to be so afraid of you yesterday.Don’t they know you might be listening ?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN THE DUFFLEPUDS MADE HAPPY
Lucy followed the great Lion out into the passage and at once she saw coming towards them an old man,barefoot,dressed in a red robe.His white hair was crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves,his beard fell to his girdle,and he supported himself with a curiously carved staff.When he saw Aslan he bowed low and said,
“Welcome,Sir,to the least of your houses.”
“Do you grow weary,Coriakin,of ruling such foolish subjects as I have given you here ?”
“No,”said the Magician,“they are very stupid but there is no real harm in them.I begin to grow rather fond of the creatures. Sometimes,perhaps,I am a little impatient,waiting for the day when they can be governed by wisdom instead of this rough magic.”
“All in good time,Coriakin,”said Aslan.
“Yes,all in very good time,Sir,”was the answer.“Do you intend to show yourself to them ?”
“Nay,”said the Lion,with a little half-growl that meant (Lucy thought)the same as a laugh.“I should frighten them out of their senses.Many stars will grow old and come to take their rest in islands before your people are ripe for that.And today before sunset I must visit Trumpkin the Dwarf where he sits in the castle of Cair Paravel counting the days till his master Caspian comes home. I will tell him all your story,Lucy.Do not look so sad.We shall meet soon again.”
“Please,Aslan,”said Lucy,“what do you call soon ?”
“I call all times soon,”said Aslan;and instantly he was vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.
“Gone !”said he,“and you and I quite crestfallen.It’s always like that,you can’t keep him;it’s not as if he were a tame lion.And how did you enjoy my book ?”
“Parts of it very much indeed,”said Lucy.“Did you know I was there all the time ?”
“Well,of course I knew when I let the Duffers make themselves invisible that you would be coming along presently to take the spell off.I wasn’t quite sure of the exact day.And I wasn’t especially on the watch this morning.You see they had made me invisible too and being invisible always makes me so sleepy.Heigh-ho-there I’m yawning again.Are you hungry ?”
“Well,perhaps I am a little,”said Lucy.“I’ve no idea what the time is.”
“Come,”said the Magician.“All times may be soon to Aslan;but in my home all hungry times are one o’clock.”
He led her a little way down the passage and opened a door.Passing in,Lucy found herself in a pleasant room full of sunlight and flowers.The table was bare when they entered,but it was of course a magic table,and at a word from the old man the tablecloth,silver,plates,glasses and food appeared.
“I hope that is—what you would like,”said he.“I have tried to give you food more like the food of your own land than perhaps you have had lately.”
“It’s lovely,”said Lucy,and so it was;an omelette,piping hot,cold lamb and green peas,a strawberry ice,lemonsquash to drink with the meal and a cup of chocolate to follow.But the magician himself drank only wine and ate only bread.There was nothing alarming about him,and Lucy and he were soon chatting away like old friends.
“When will the spell work ?”asked Lucy.“Will the Duffers be visible again at once ?”
“Oh yes,they’re visible now.But they’re probably all asleep still;they always take a rest in the middle of the day.”
“And now that they’re visible,are you going to let them off being ugly ? Will you make them as they were before ?”
“Well,that’s rather a delicate question,”said the Magician. “You see,it’s only they who think they were so nice to look at before.They say they’ve been uglified,but that isn’t what I called it. Many people might say the change was for the better.”
“Are they awfully conceited ?”
“They are.Or at least the Chief Duffer is,and he’s taught all the rest to be.They always believe every word he says.”
“We’d noticed that,”said Lucy.
“Yes-we’d get on better without him,in a way.Of course I could turn him into something else,or even put a spell on him which would make them not believe a word he said.But I don’t like to do that.It’s better for them to admire him than to admire nobody.”
“Don’t they admire you ?”asked Lucy.
“Oh,not me,”said the Magician.“They wouldn’t admire me.”
“What was it you uglified them for-I mean,what they call uglified ?”
“Well,they wouldn’t do what they were told.Their work is to mind the garden and raise food-not for me,as they imagine, but for themselves.They wouldn’t do it at all if I didn’t make them.And of course for a garden you want water.There is a beautiful spring about half a mile away up the hill.And from that spring there flows a stream which comes right past the garden.All I asked them to do was to take their water from the stream instead of trudging up to the spring with their buckets two or three times a day and tiring themselves out besides spilling half of it on the way back. But they wouldn’t see it.In the end they refused point blank.”
“Are they as stupid as all that ?”asked Lucy.
The Magician sighed.“You wouldn’t believe the troubles I’ve had with them.A few months ago they were all for washing up the plates and knives before dinner:they said it saved time afterwards. I’ve caught them planting boiled potatoes to save cooking them when they were dug up.One day the cat got into the dairy and twenty of them were at work moving all the milk out;no one thought of moving the cat.But I see you’ve finished.Let’s go and look at the Duffers now they can be looked at.”
They went into another room which was full of polished instruments hard to understand-such as Astrolabes,Orreries, Chronoscopes,Poesimeters,Choriambuses and Theodolinds-and here,when they had come to the window,the Magician said, “There.There are your Duffers.”
“I don’t see anybody,”said Lucy.“And what are those mushroom things ?”
The things she pointed at were dotted all over the level grass. They were certainly very like mushrooms,but far too big-the stalks about three feet high and the umbrellas about the same length from edge to edge.When she looked carefully she noticed too that the stalks joined the umbrellas not in the middle but at one side which gave an unbalanced look to them.And there was something-a sort of little bundle-lying on the grass at the foot of each stalk.In fact the longer she gazed at them the less like mushrooms they appeared. The umbrella part was not really round as she had thought at first. It was longer than it was broad,and it widened at one end.There were a great many of them,fifty or more.
The clock struck three.
Instantly a most extraordinary thing happened.Each of the“mushrooms”suddenly turned upside-down.The little bundles which had lain at the bottom of the stalks were heads and bodies.The stalks themselves were legs.But not two legs to each body.Each body had a single thick leg right under it(not to one side like the leg of a one-legged man)and at the end of it,a single enormous foot-a broadtoed foot with the toes curling up a little so that it looked rather like a small canoe.She saw in a moment why they had looked like mushrooms.They had been lying flat on their backs each with its single leg straight up in the air and its enormous foot spread out above it.She learned afterwards that this was their ordinary way of resting;for the foot kept off both rain and sun and for a Monopod to lie under its own foot is almost as good as being in a tent.
“Oh,the funnies,the funnies,”cried Lucy,bursting into laughter.“Did you make them like that ?”
“Yes,yes.I made the Duffers into Monopods,”said the Magician.He too was laughing till the tears ran down his cheeks. “But watch,”he added.
It was worth watching.Of course these little one-footed men couldn’t walk or run as we do.They got about by jumping,like fleas or frogs.And what jumps they made !as if each big foot were a mass of springs.And with what a bounce they came down; that was what made the thumping noise which had so puzzled Lucy yesterday.For now they were jumping in all directions and calling out to one another,“Hey,lads !We’re visible again.”
“Visible we are,”said one in a tasselled red cap who was obviously the Chief Monopod.“And what I say is,when chaps are visible,why,they can see one another.”
“Ah,there it is,there it is,Chief,”cried all the others.“There’s the point.No one’s got a clearer head than you.You couldn’t have made it plainer.”
“She caught the old man napping,that little girl did,”said the Chief Monopod.“We’ve beaten him this time.”
“Just what we were,going to say ourselves,”chimed the chorus.“You’re going stronger than ever today,Chief.Keep it up,keep it up.”
“But do they dare to talk about you like that ?”said Lucy. “They seemed to be so afraid of you yesterday.Don’t they know you might be listening ?”
“That’s one of the funny things about the Duffers,”said the Magician.“One minute they talk as if I ran everything and overheard everything and was extremely dangerous.The next moment they think they can take me in by tricks that a baby would see through-bless them !”
“Will they have to be turned back into their proper shapes ?”asked Lucy.“Oh,I do hope it wouldn’t be unkind to leave them as they are.Do they really mind very much ?They seem pretty happy.I say-look at that jump.What were they like before ?”
“Common little dwarfs,”said he.“Nothing like so nice as the sort you have in Narnia.”
“It would be a pity to change them back,”said Lucy.“They’re so funny:and they’re rather nice.Do you think it would make any difference if I told them that ?”
“I’m sure it would-if you could get it into their heads.”
“Will you come with me and try ?”
“No,no.You’ll get on far better without me.”
“Thanks awfully for the lunch,”said Lucy and turned quickly away.She ran down the stairs which she had come up so nervously that morning and cannoned into Edmund at the bottom.All the others were there with him waiting,and Lucy’s conscience smote her when she saw their anxious faces and realized how long she had forgotten them.
“It’s all right,”she shouted.“Everything’s all right.The Magician’s a brick-and I’ve seen Him-Aslan.”
After that she went from them like the wind and out into the garden.Here the earth was shaking with the jumps and the air ringing with the shouts of the Monopods.Both were redoubled when they caught sight of her.
“Here she comes,here she comes,”they cried.“Three cheers for the little girl.Ah ! She put it across the old gentleman properly,she did.”
“And we’re extremely regrettable,”said the Chief Monopod, “that we can’t give you the pleasure of seeing us as we were before we were uglified,for you wouldn’t believe the difference,and that’s the truth,for there’s no denying we’re mortal ugly now,so we won’t deceive you.”
“Eh,that we are,Chief,that we are,”echoed the others, bouncing like so many toy balloons.“You’ve said it,you’ve said it.”
“But I don’t think you are at all,”said Lucy,shouting to make herself heard.“I think you look very nice.”
“Hear her,hear her,”said the Monopods.“True for you, Missie.Very nice we look.You couldn’t find a handsomer lot.”They said this without any surprise and did not seem to notice that they had changed their minds.
“She’s a-saying,”remarked the Chief Monopod,“as how we looked very nice before we were uglified.”
“True for you,Chief,true for you,”chanted the others.“That’s what she says.We heard her ourselves.”
“I did not,”bawled Lucy.“I said you’re very nice now.”
“So she did,so she did,”said the Chief Monopod,“said we were very nice then.”
“Hear‘ em both,hear’em both,”said the Monopods.“There’s a pair for you.Always right.They couldn’t have put it better.”
“But we’re saying just the opposite,”said Lucy,stamping her foot with impatience.
“So you are,to be sure,so you are,”said the Monopods.“Nothing like an opposite.Keep it up,both of you.”
“You’re enough to drive anyone mad,”said Lucy,and gave it up.But the Monopods seemed perfectly contented,and she decided that on the whole the conversation had been a success.
And before everyone went to bed that evening something else happened which made them even more satisfied with their one-legged condition.Caspian and all the Narnians went back as soon as possible to the shore to give their news to Rhince and the others on board the Dawn Treader,who were by now very anxious. And,of course,the Monopods went with them,bouncing like footballs and agreeing with one another in loud voices till Eustace said,“I wish the Magician would make them inaudible instead of invisible.”(He was soon sorry he had spoken because then he had to explain that an inaudible thing is something you can’t hear,and though he took a lot of trouble he never felt sure that the Monopods had really understood,and what especially annoyed him was that they said in the end,“Eh,he can’t put things the way our Chief does.But you’ll learn,young man.Hark to him.He’ll show you how to say things.There’s a speaker for you !”)When they reached the bay,Reepicheep had a brilliant idea.He had his little coracle lowered and paddled himself about in it till the Monopods were thoroughly interested.He then stood up in it and said,“Worthy and intelligent Monopods,you do not need boats.Each of you has a foot that will do instead.Just jump as lightly as you can on the water and see what happens.”
The Chief Monopod hung back and warned the others that they’d find the water powerful wet,but one or two of the younger ones tried it almost at once;and then a few others followed their example,and at last the whole lot did the same.It worked perfectly.The huge single foot of a Monopod acted as a natural raft or boat,and when Reepicheep had taught them how to cut rude paddles for themselves,they all paddled about the bay and round the Dawn Treader,looking for all the world like a fleet of little canoes with a fat dwarf standing up in the extreme stern of each.And they had races,and bottles of wine were lowered down to them from the ship as prizes,and the sailors stood leaning over the ship’s sides and laughed till their own sides ached.
The Duffers were also very pleased with their new name of Monopods,which seemed to them a magnificent name though they never got it right.“That’s what we are,”they bellowed, “Moneypuds,Pomonods,Poddymons.Just what it was on the tips of our tongues to call ourselves.”But they soon got it mixed up with their old name of Duffers and finally settled down to calling themselves the Dufflepuds;and that is what they will probably be called for centuries.
That evening all the Narnians dined upstairs with the Magician,and Lucy noticed how different the whole top floor looked now that she was no longer afraid of it.The mysterious signs on the doors were still mysterious but now looked as if they had kind and cheerful meanings,and even the bearded mirror now seemed funny rather than frightening.At dinner everyone had by magic what everyone liked best to eat and drink,and after dinner the Magician did a very useful and beautiful piece of magic.He laid two blank sheets of parchment on the table and asked Drinian to give him an exact account of their voyage up to date:and as Drinian spoke,everything he described came out on the parchment in fine clear lines till at last each sheet was a splendid map of the Eastern Ocean,showing Galma,Terebinthia,the Seven Isles, the Lone Islands,Dragon Island,Burnt Island,Deathwater, and the land of the Duffers itself,all exactly the right sizes and in the right positions.They were the first maps ever made of those seas and better than any that have been made since without magic. For on these,though the towns and mountains looked at first just as they would on an ordinary map,when the Magician lent them a magnifying glass you saw that they were perfect little pictures of the real things,so that you could see the very castle and slave market and streets in Narrowhaven,all very clear though very distant,like things seen through the wrong end of a telescope. The only drawback was that the coastline of most of the islands was incomplete,for the map showed only what Drinianhad seen with his own eyes.When they were finished the.Magician kept one himself and presented the other to Caspian:it still hangs in his Chamber of Instruments at Cair Paravel.But the Magician could tell them nothing about seas or lands further east.He did, however,tell them that about seven years before a Narnian ship had put in at his waters and that she had on board the lords Revilian, Argoz,Mavramorn and Rhoop:so they judged that the golden man they had seen lying in Deathwater must be the Lord Restimar.
Next day,the Magician magically mended the stern of the Dawn Treader where it had been damaged by the Sear Serpent and loaded her with useful gifts.There was a most friendly parting, and when she sailed,two hours after noon,all the Dufflepuds paddled out with her to the harbour mouth,and cheered until she was out of sound of their cheering.
第十一章 獨(dú)腳怪歡天喜地
露茜跟著獅王出來,走進(jìn)長廊,迎面過來了一位老人,光著腳, 身穿紅袍。白發(fā)上戴著一頂橡樹葉編的花冠,胡須垂到腰帶,拄著一根巧奪天工的雕花手杖。見到阿斯蘭,他就深深地鞠了一躬,說:
“歡迎閣下光臨,真是蓬蓽生輝。”
“科里亞金,我把這些笨蛋交給你管,你是不是不耐煩了?”
“不,他們笨是笨,但是沒有壞心眼。”魔法師說,“只是我一直在期待有一天可以用智慧而不是魔法來管他們,可我還真是等得有點(diǎn)不耐煩了。
“到那時(shí)候就好了,科里亞金。”阿斯蘭說。
“是啊,到那時(shí)候就好了,閣下,”他回答說,“你不打算在他們面前露面嗎?”
“不。”獅子說,略帶幾分咆哮,露茜想這大概就是笑笑的意思吧。“我會嚇?biāo)浪麄兊?。恐怕等島上的日月星辰都老得該退休了, 那些家伙也不見得有多少長進(jìn)呢。今天太陽落山之前我還要去看看小矮人杜魯普金,他現(xiàn)在正坐在凱爾帕拉維爾的城堡里等著他主人凱斯賓回家。我會把你們的經(jīng)歷全告訴他。露茜,別愁眉苦臉的,我們很快就會再見的。”
“那,阿斯蘭,”露茜說,“很快是多久啊?”
“隨時(shí)都是很快。”阿斯蘭回答著,突然就消失了。只剩下了露茜和魔法師。
“他走了!”他說,“你我都很失望,可是他向來都是這樣, 留不住的。他不是一頭溫馴的獅子。你覺得我的那本書怎么樣?”
“書里很多地方都很有意思,”露茜說,“我在那兒,你一直都知道嗎?”
“這個(gè),那是當(dāng)然的。我把那群笨蛋變成隱形人的時(shí)候,就知道你不久就會經(jīng)過這里破解魔法。可是不確定是哪一天,今天早上倒是沒有防備。你看,魔法把我也變成隱形了,隱形了以后我老是想睡覺,啊……哈……看我又在打哈欠了。你餓嗎?”
“嗯,你一說,我還真有點(diǎn)餓了,”露茜說,“現(xiàn)在幾點(diǎn)了?”
“跟我來,”魔法師說,“對阿斯蘭來說,隨時(shí)都是很快。不過我在我家里隨時(shí)餓了都是一點(diǎn)鐘。”
他帶她走過一段走廊,打開一扇門。露茜看到是一間滿是陽光和鮮花的房間。桌子上是空的,因?yàn)槟鞘且粡埬Хㄗ雷?。魔法師念了一句咒語,桌布、銀器、盤子、酒杯和吃的都出來了。
“希望你能喜歡,”他說,“我盡力給你弄一些合乎你口味的食物, 不是你最近吃的那些。”
“太好了。”露茜說,“我確實(shí)喜歡。”她看見桌上有滾燙的煎蛋、冷羊肉、豌豆、草莓冰淇淋和可作佐餐的檸檬汽水還有一杯巧克力。
“這咒語什么時(shí)候起作用呢?”露茜問,“那些笨蛋是不是馬上就會現(xiàn)形?”
“是啊,他們這會兒已經(jīng)現(xiàn)形了。不過他們可能都還在睡,他們中午都是要午休的。”
“既然他們都現(xiàn)了形,你會去掉他們的丑樣兒嗎?要不要恢復(fù)他們以前的模樣?”
“這個(gè),一兩句說不清,”魔法師說,“要知道,只有他們覺得自己從前好看。他們說他們被變丑了,可是我并不覺得,好多人反而變好看了呢。”
“他們一直都這樣自以為是嗎?”
“他們就是這樣。至少為首的那家伙是這樣,他把其他人都教得跟他一樣。他說什么,他們就信什么。”
“我看出來了。”露茜說。
“是啊,所以說,沒有他的話我們?nèi)兆訒?。?dāng)然我能把他變成其他東西,或者念一種咒語,使他們對他一句話都不信??墒俏也幌脒@么做,還是讓他們崇拜他吧,總比對誰都不崇拜的好。”
“難道他們不崇拜你嗎?”露茜問。
“哎呀,才不會呢,”魔法師說,“他們不愿崇拜我。”
“你為什么把他們變丑——我的意思是,他們所謂的變丑?”
“說起來,是他們自己不聽話。讓他們照料照料花園,種種糧食——不是像他們想象的那樣,那并不是為我,而是為他們自己。要是我不逼迫他們干,他們就不干。打理花園當(dāng)然少不了澆水,山上大約半英里就有眼山泉,有條小溪從山泉一直流到花園旁。我只是讓他們從這條小溪里取水,用不著一天兩三回提著水桶,爬上山到泉眼里打水再筋疲力盡的回來,路上還會灑掉一半。可是他們死活都不明白, 到最后他們直接不干了。”
“他們真的那么笨嗎?”露茜問。
他嘆了口氣,說:“他們?nèi)堑穆闊?,說了你也不信。兩三個(gè)月前,飯前他們就去洗餐盤和刀子,說這可以節(jié)約時(shí)間,說飯后就不用洗了。有一回他們刨地,我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們在種煮熟的土豆,說是吃的時(shí)候就不用煮了。有一天貓溜進(jìn)了牛奶房,他們二十個(gè)人把牛奶桶搬了出來, 誰都沒想過把貓趕出去。唉,我看你吃完了。那我們?nèi)タ纯催@些笨蛋現(xiàn)在的樣子吧。”
他們走進(jìn)一間房間,里面全是讓人搞不明白的儀表器具,被擦得錚亮錚亮的。比如測天體位置的星盤、太陽系儀、瞬時(shí)儀、節(jié)奏測量儀、韻律計(jì)算儀,經(jīng)緯儀,等等。他們走到窗口,魔法師說:“瞧, 這就是你要看的笨蛋。”
“我什么人都沒看見啊,”露茜說,“那些長得像蘑菇的東西是什么?”
她說的是草地上的那些東西。確實(shí)很像蘑菇,可是個(gè)頭要大得多,傘柄約三英尺高,傘蓋的直徑也有這么長。她仔細(xì)一看,才發(fā)現(xiàn)蘑菇柄不是在傘蓋中間,而是偏在一邊,看上去不對稱。每根蘑菇根部都有什么東西像一個(gè)小包袱一樣躺在草地上。這些東西越看越不像蘑菇。正如她開頭所想,傘蓋部分并不圓,直徑不一樣長。有好多, 差不多有五十多個(gè)。
時(shí)鐘敲響三聲。
離奇的事發(fā)生了。所有“蘑菇”忽然一下子都顛倒過來了。根部的小包袱原來是腦袋和身子,柄是腿,但不是每個(gè)身子都長著兩條腿。每個(gè)身子下面只長著一條粗腿,腿下是一只奇大無比的腳,腳趾很粗,略為上翹,像一只小小的獨(dú)木舟。露茜突然就明白為什么看上去像蘑菇了。原來他們都仰天平躺在地上,把那條獨(dú)腳伸出來,大腳正好在身子上面。事后她才知道這是他們休息的姿勢。而且這只腳既遮雨又擋太陽,他們躺在自己腳下面就跟躺在帳篷里一樣。
“哎呀,真有意思,太有意思了,”露茜大笑,“是你讓他們變成這樣的嗎?”
“是啊,是啊,我把這些笨蛋變成了獨(dú)腳怪。”魔法師說完, 也哈哈大笑,笑得臉上眼淚直淌,“可是你看。”他又說。
這倒值得一看。這些獨(dú)腳小人當(dāng)然不能跟我們一樣走啊跑啊的, 他們就像跳蚤或青蛙一樣跳來跳去,而且蹦得很有勁啊!每只大腳都像是一大團(tuán)彈簧。他們跳得也很有勁。那聲音正是昨天搞得露茜莫名其妙的砰砰聲。這會兒他們四處蹦蹦跳跳,大喊大叫:“嗨,伙計(jì)們! 我們又現(xiàn)形了。”
“我們現(xiàn)形了,”一個(gè)戴著紅色流蘇帽子的人說,顯然他就是那個(gè)老大,“我們現(xiàn)形了,彼此能看見對方了。”
“啊,說得對,說得太對了,老大,”其他的人齊聲喊,“一針見血, 誰的頭腦也比不上你清醒,你說得再明白不過了。”
“那小姑娘弄得老頭措手不及,她真行,”獨(dú)角怪的頭兒說,“這回我們騙過他了。”
“我們也這么覺得,”大家齊聲附和,“你今天比往日強(qiáng)多了, 老大。厲害,厲害。”
“那些笨蛋總是干這樣好笑的事,”魔法師說,“他們一會兒說我掌管一切,監(jiān)聽一切,極度危險(xiǎn)。一會兒又說三歲小孩兒都能看出來的把戲就能騙過我,天哪!”
“你要把他們變成原來的樣子嗎?”露茜問,“唉,如果我希望他們就這樣不會很過分吧。他們真的在乎嗎?他們這樣好像很快樂。哎呀,瞧那蹦蹦跳跳的樣子。他們原來是什么樣子的?”
“普通的小矮人啊,”他說,“不過,跟納尼亞的小矮人比差遠(yuǎn)了。”
“把他們變回去有點(diǎn)可惜,”露茜說,“他們很滑稽,而且一點(diǎn)都不難看。你認(rèn)為如果我跟他們這么說會有用嗎?”
“如果你能讓他們明白的話,會有用的。”
“那你愿意陪我去試試嗎?”
“不,不,我不在場效果會更好。”
“非常感謝你請我吃飯。”露茜說著轉(zhuǎn)身就跑下樓梯。今天早上走在上面的時(shí)候心里還七上八下的呢。她在樓梯口一下子撞上了愛德蒙,其他人和他一起在那里等著她。露茜看見大家都非常焦慮的樣子,才明白自己把他們一時(shí)忘記了,不由得心有不安。
“沒事啦,”她大聲說,“什么事都沒有啦,魔法師是個(gè)好人。我還看見它——阿斯蘭。”
說完她像風(fēng)一樣跑到花園,獨(dú)腳怪把地面跳得直震動(dòng),周圍只聽見一片叫喊。他們一看見她,跳得更厲害,也更起勁了。
“她來啦,她來啦,”他們?nèi)碌乐?ldquo;為小姑娘三呼萬歲。哎呀! 是她把老頭兒糊弄過去了。”
“我們非常遺憾,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“沒法讓你看到我們沒變丑時(shí)的模樣。你不會相信這之間的差別,這是實(shí)話,不可否認(rèn)。我們現(xiàn)在真是丑極了,所以我們不會騙你。”
“啊,說得對,老大,說得太對了,”其他人隨聲附和的同時(shí), 像很多玩具氣球一樣蹦得很高,“你說得對,你說得對。”
“可是我一點(diǎn)也不覺得你們丑,”露茜提高聲音說,好讓大家聽見,“我覺得你們很好看。”
“她說得對,她說得對,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“小姑娘,你說得不錯(cuò), 我們非常好看,沒有更漂亮的人了。”他們毫不驚訝,而且根本沒注意到自己已經(jīng)改變主意了。
“她說的是,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“我們大家比以前好看。”
“說得對,頭兒,說得太對了,”其他人又喊,“她就是這么說的, 我們親耳聽到的。”
“我沒那么說,”露茜大聲喊著,“我是說你們現(xiàn)在好看。”
“她是那么說的,就是那么說的,”獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒說,“說我們那時(shí)候非常好看。”
“他們兩個(gè)說的都對,他們兩個(gè)說得都對,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“你們太默契了,一向是這樣,他們說得再好不過了。”
“可是我們兩個(gè)說的話相反。”露茜不耐煩地跺跺腳。
“一點(diǎn)不假,她是這意思,就是這意思,”獨(dú)腳怪說,“不相反, 你們兩個(gè)都說下去。”
“你們真是胡攪蠻纏,我簡直快瘋了。”露茜干脆不說了??墒仟?dú)腳怪好像心滿意足的樣子。然后她得出結(jié)論,這次談話算得上是成功的。
"那天臨睡前又出了些事,使那些獨(dú)腳怪對于自己的現(xiàn)狀更加滿意了。凱斯賓和所有納尼亞人回到岸邊,向賴因斯和黎明踏浪號上的其他人報(bào)信,船上的人都急壞了。不用說,那些獨(dú)腳怪也跟他們一起去,一邊像足球似的蹦蹦跳跳,一邊一唱一和,直到尤斯塔斯說了句: “我真希望魔法師不是把他們變成隱形人,而是無聲人。”
說完他就后悔了,因?yàn)樗坏貌桓麄兘忉専o聲就是聽不見聲音。盡管他費(fèi)了不少口舌,但是也不知道他們是不是真的明白了。更讓他惱火的是,最后他們竟然說:“嗯,他不能像我們的老大那樣會講話。不過你會明白的,年輕人。聽老大講話吧,他會教你怎么講, 多會演講的人呀!”
大家來到海灘,雷佩契普想到一個(gè)好主意。它放下自己的小筏子, 坐在里面劃船,獨(dú)腳怪非常感興趣。于是他站起來說:“聰明的獨(dú)腳先生,你們用不著小船。你們的腳可以當(dāng)船用,只要盡量在水面上輕輕地跳就行了。”
"
獨(dú)腳怪的頭兒縮在后面,警告其他人水是潮濕的,可是一兩個(gè)年輕人還是決定去試試,接著又有幾個(gè)跟著,最后所有人都到水里去了。獨(dú)腳怪的大腳可以當(dāng)一只天然筏子或小船,雷佩契普教他們做簡單的槳,他們就在海灣繞著黎明踏浪號劃過來劃過去,看上去像一支小筏子組成的船隊(duì),每條小筏子的船尾都站著一個(gè)胖胖的小矮人。他們還進(jìn)行比賽,大船還給他們一瓶瓶酒作獎(jiǎng)品。水手們趴在大船舷上看他們的模樣,笑得肚子都痛了。
那些笨蛋對“獨(dú)腳怪”的新名稱興致盎然,雖然他們念不準(zhǔn), 可是在他們心中這似乎是個(gè)了不起的名字。“我們就叫這個(gè),”他們大吼大叫道,“獨(dú)角怪,怪獨(dú)角,角怪獨(dú)。這個(gè)稱呼實(shí)在太簡明順口了。” 一眨眼的工夫,他們就把新稱呼與舊稱呼“笨蛋”搞混了,叫著叫著就叫成了“笨蛋怪”。他們大概還會叫上好幾百年吧。
"那天晚上,所有納尼亞的客人都在樓上和魔法師共進(jìn)晚餐,露茜注意到整個(gè)樓都變了,感覺一點(diǎn)都不可怕。門上的神秘符號還是神秘的,可是現(xiàn)在看上去卻也是善良可親,甚至長胡子的鏡子現(xiàn)在看上去也沒有那么嚇人,而是很有趣的樣子。席間,靠魔法的力量,大家都嘗到自己最喜愛的菜肴和飲料。飯后,魔法師還使出了另外一種非常實(shí)用的魔法。
他在桌上鋪了兩張羊皮紙,讓德里寧精確地講述到目前的全部航程:德里寧一開始講,紙上就清晰地顯出他講的細(xì)節(jié),最后每張紙都成了一幅絕妙的東方海洋的地圖,上邊標(biāo)注了加爾馬、特里賓西亞、七群島、孤獨(dú)群島、龍島、火燒島、死水島和野蠻人居住的地方,比例、位置、方向絲毫不差。這是那片海域的第一次張地圖,比后來他們不用魔法制作的地圖好得多。
這兩張地圖上標(biāo)注的城鎮(zhèn)和山脈乍一看和普通地圖一模一樣, 可是魔法師給他們一個(gè)放大鏡后,看到的就是活的真實(shí)景物的縮小版了,能看見狹港那個(gè)城堡和奴隸市場還有街道,雖然很遠(yuǎn),卻很清晰, 就跟用望遠(yuǎn)鏡看到的東西一樣。唯一的缺陷是大部分島嶼的海岸線都不是完整的,因?yàn)榈貓D只能根據(jù)德里寧親眼看到的來標(biāo)注。地圖完成之后,魔法師就留下一幅,另一幅送給了凱斯賓,這幅地圖至今仍然掛在凱爾帕拉維爾儀器館里。
然后,魔法師卻無法告訴他們再往東航行的海洋和陸地的情況。他告訴他們,七年前有一艘納尼亞船來過這里,船上有雷維廉、阿爾戈茲、馬弗拉蒙、羅普幾位公爵。于是大家一致推斷那個(gè)躺在死水里的金人就是雷斯蒂瑪公爵。
"
第二天,魔法師用魔法修理好黎明踏浪號上被海蛇破壞的船尾, 還送給他們很多有用的禮物。大家友好的道別,下午兩點(diǎn)起航時(shí),所有的笨蛋怪都劃著槳到港口,一直歡呼直到船上聽不到他們的聲音。
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