雙語讀電影 《沉睡魔咒》第19章 :你沒有聽說過一見鐘情嗎？

CHAPTER  19
Night had fallen. Hours had passed since Maleficent had felt the pain in her finger and known Aurora was lost to sleep. Now, standing in front of King Stefan’s castle, Maleficent and Diaval, once more in his human form, stared up at the big iron gates. Behind them, Phillip slept on, propped up against a tree. The gates were unguarded and oddly quiet. Noticing that, Maleficent cocked her head. On one hand, that was good news, as it meant Maleficent could enter the castle undetected. But on the other hand, it meant she had no idea what to expect once inside.
“He’s waiting for you in there,” Diaval pointed out. He didn’t bother to say who, as Maleficent knew all too well. “If we go inside those walls, we’ll never get out alive.”
Maleficent continued to stare straight ahead, barely registering Diaval’s words. “Then don’t come,” she said absently. “It’s not your fight.” Using her staff, she lifted the sleeping Phillip and began to move on.　
Behind her, Diaval let out a sigh. Once, just once, it would be nice if Maleficent were able to see what was really going on. It would be nice to hear her say, “Please come with me, Diaval. We can do anything as long as we’re together.” But Diaval knew those were words he would never hear. And while he wished it were different, he also knew he could never let Maleficent go into that castle alone. Letting out a little groan, he ran to catch up.　
Inside the castle, the halls were quiet. News that the curse had been fulfilled had spread like wildfire, and servants and soldiers alike quaked with fear at King Stefan’s rage. He had already taken his anger out on the three dimwitted pixies who had let Aurora come back too early. After berating them for hours, calling them useless and failures, he had ordered them to find someone—anyone—who could give his daughter the kiss of true love.
What he didn’t know was that his own first love was now inside his castle, making her way closer with the one man who might stand a chance at waking up his daughter.
As soon as Maleficent had passed through the castle’s main gate, she had felt the weight of the iron on her. While she was able to avoid touching it, the dark metal was everywhere. It lined the walls, carefully sculpted into the shape of brambles and thorns, effectively making it appear like an iron version of her Thorn Wall. The iron thorns thrust out of the wall and jutted down from the ceiling, forcing Maleficent to walk carefully and keep her pace slow. Eager to get to Aurora, she chafed at the speed. But when they heard a guard approaching and had to duck back into the shadows, Maleficent realized that walking was not as bad as the searing pain she felt when the iron touched her back.　
When the guard had finally passed and the coast was clear, Maleficent stepped away from the wall, gasping for breath.　
“Are you burned?” Diaval asked, concern lacing his voice.　
But Maleficent didn’t answer. Gritting her teeth, she simply said, “Carry on.”　
For the next few minutes, they walked along in silence. Hearing still more footsteps, they once again hid in the shadows. But this time Maleficent was careful to keep her back off the walls. Peeking out, she saw that the footsteps belonged to two handmaidens. They carried clean linens in their arms as they scurried down the hall.　
“How long will she sleep?” one of them asked.
The other shrugged. “Forever, I guess.”
Maleficent looked at Diaval and raised an eyebrow. The women could be talking about only one person: Aurora. Maleficent waited until the pair had moved past, then silently slipped back into the hall. Diaval joined her, holding Phillip up in his arms. They began to follow the handmaidens.　
A short while later they arrived at the princess’s room. They ducked behind a thick set of drapes that covered the wall opposite the room, and Maleficent took stock of the situation. Two soldiers stood guard, and through the open door, Maleficent could hear the grating voices of Knotgrass, Thistlewit, and Flittle.
Maleficent knew this was her chance. Moving slightly away from the curtain, she waved her hand in front of Phillip and softly whispered, “Wake.” Then, with a gentle shove, she pushed him out from behind the curtain. He stumbled into the hall, the noise alerting the guards, who quickly raised their swords, unsure where the young man had come from. At the same moment, the three pixies bustled out, nearly crashing into Phillip.
Looking around, Phillip shook his head, as though trying to clear his vision. “Pardon me,” he said, seeing the three pixies. “I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know where I am.” Despite having just woken up from a magical sleep and not knowing where he was or how he had gotten there, he looked every part the perfect, handsome gentleman, Maleficent had to admit.　
The faeries must have thought so, too, because they didn’t slam the door in his face. Instead, they informed him that he was in King Stefan’s castle.　
Upon hearing that, Phillip looked surprised. “This is where I’m meant to be,” he said, trying to understand. “Odd that I can’t recall how I got here. My father sent me to see the king.”　
Knotgrass perked up. If his father had sent him to see the king, perhaps this young man was someone of importance. There was one way to find out. “Who is your father?” she asked.　
“King John of Ulstead,” Phillip replied.　
The three faeries exchanged looks as they mouthed, “Prince.” Without a word of explanation, they pulled him into the room.　
In the hall, Maleficent anxiously waited, straining to hear what was going on. While she had been surprised to hear Phillip say his father was a king, she was rather pleased. It seemed only right that if Aurora, a princess, were to be awoken, it would be by the kiss of true love from a prince.　
“What’s your name?” she heard Knotgrass ask, followed by the sound of footsteps as the group made their way toward Aurora.
“Phillip,” he answered.　
“Well, Prince Phillip, meet Princess Aurora,” Flittle said.
Maleficent didn’t have to be in the room to know that as Flittle stepped aside, Phillip would see Aurora and his eyes would widen as recognized her from the forest.　
Sure enough, his next words were “I know this girl.”
Not satisfied only to listen in on the events unfolding, Maleficent stepped out of the shadows. The two guards had only a moment to recognize the horns before Maleficent lifted her staff and quickly knocked them out. Turning, she gestured to Diaval to follow her.
Silently, they slipped through the open door. A huge bed dominated the center of the room, heavy curtains draped on either side of the massive headboard. Intricate carvings were etched into the four wooden posts that held up the bed. And flowing down from the top, covering the now sleeping form of Aurora, was a thin white translucent fabric that made Maleficent think of a spider’s web. Seemingly weak, but actually strong enough to keep things trapped inside.　
Glancing around the rest of the room, Maleficent felt a wave of sadness flood over her. This was clearly the room that had once been intended as Aurora’s nursery. A small crib, the same translucent fabric covering it, was pushed against one of the three giant windows that lined the far wall. But while the large bed was clean, the crib was covered in a thick layer of dust, as were the toys and rocking horse pushed into the far corner.　
This is my doing, Maleficent thought, gazing around the sad room. This was where Aurora would have spent hours playing, reading with her mother, pouring tea with her imaginary friends. But I took that from her. I even took her chance of happiness in the Moors away from her. And now she lies here, lifeless. And I have no one to blame but myself.
Shaking her head, Maleficent moved a bit closer, careful not to make any noise that would alert the pixies or Phillip. There was still a small chance, a very small chance, that all was not lost. But it depended on something intangible.
“Why is she sleeping?” Phillip asked, unaware of Maleficent’s arrival.
“She’s trapped in an enchantment,” Knotgrass answered.　
Maleficent rolled her eyes. The three pixies were hopeless. Phillip knew nothing of magic. Telling him it was an enchantment could frighten him away.
Luckily, it didn’t seem to faze Phillip. He took a step closer to Aurora. “She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he said.　
The three pixies exchanged excited glances. “Do you want to kiss her?” Thistlewit asked.
Phillip nodded. “Very much.”
“Go on, then,” Knotgrass said, gesturing toward the bed.
“I wouldn’t feel right about it,” Phillip said, hesitating. “I barely know her. We only met once.”　
In the shadows, Maleficent’s heart began to pound. He had to kiss her. He had to! The faeries couldn’t let him walk out the door just because he was being a gentleman. This could be their last chance. This could be true love! Feeling Diaval’s gaze on her, she turned and shot him a look. She knew what he was thinking. He was thinking I told you so. True Love’s Kiss can exist. But she didn’t even care. Hope was flowing through her, pushing aside the old, hard skepticism that had filled her for years.
Luckily, the pixies had no intention of letting Phillip walk out of the room just yet.
Flittle pushed the prince closer. “Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”
“Kiss her!” Knotgrass urged.　
Slowly, Phillip leaned down and gently moved aside the light fabric. Maleficent’s breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to close his eyes, pucker his lips ...
Then he leaned back up. “An enchantment, you say?”
Maleficent nearly cried out in frustration. At the same time, the pixies shouted, “Kiss her!” and, together, pushed him back down.　
For a moment, Phillip struggled, and Maleficent felt panic rise in her throat. But then he stopped fighting and, once more, leaned down.
And then, ever so slowly, he gently kissed her.
It was the perfect kiss. Soft, sweet, full of unspoken promises. It was the kiss girls dreamed of as they lay in bed at night. It was the kiss poems were written about. It was the kiss of fairy tales and romance. Maleficent couldn’t have imagined such a perfect kiss sixteen years earlier when she cursed an innocent babe.
But it didn’t matter how perfect the kiss was or how much love Phillip felt.
Aurora didn’t wake up.