By C. S. Lewis（C. S.劉易斯）、萬潔

C. S. 劉易斯（1898—1963），英國著名作家，所著兒童故事集《納尼亞傳奇》七部曲，情節(jié)動(dòng)人，妙趣橫生。本文選自《納尼亞傳奇》第一部《獅子·女巫·魔衣櫥》。

Lucy ran out of the empty room into the passage and found the other three.

“Its all right，” she repeated， “Ive come back.”

“What on earth are you talking about， Lucy？” asked Susan.

“Why？” said Lucy in amazement， “havent you all been wondering where I was？”

“So youve been hiding， have you？” said Peter. “Poor old Lu， hiding and nobody noticed！ Youll have to hide longer than that if you want people to start looking for you.”

“But Ive been away for hours and hours，” said Lucy.

The others all stared at one another.

“Batty！” said Edmund， tapping his head. “Quite batty.”

“What do you mean， Lu？” asked Peter.

“What I said，” answered Lucy. “It was just after breakfast when I went into the wardrobe， and Ive been away for hours and hours， and had tea， and all sorts of things have happened.”

“Dont be silly， Lucy，” said Susan. “Weve only just come out of that room a moment ago， and you were there then.”

“Shes not being silly at all，” said Peter， “shes just making up a story for fun， arent you， Lu？ And why shouldnt she？”

“No， Peter， Im not，” she said. “Its—its a magic wardrobe. Theres a wood inside it， and its snowing， and theres a Faun and a Witch and its called Narnia; come and see.”

The others did not know what to think， but Lucy was so excited that they all went back with her into the room. She rushed ahead of them， flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried， “Now！ Go in and see for yourselves.”

“Why， you goose，” said Susan， putting her head inside and pulling the fur coats apart， “its just an ordinary wardrobe; look！ theres the back of it.”

露茜跑出空房間，來到走廊上與其他人會(huì)合。

“我沒事?！彼磸?fù)說，“我回來了?！?/p>

“你到底在說些什么呀，露茜？”蘇珊問。

“干嗎這么問？”露茜驚訝地說，“你們難道沒有著急找我嗎？”

“這么說你在藏貓貓了，是嗎？”彼得說，“可憐的露茜，躲起來卻沒人注意你！要是想讓大家找你，你得藏得再久一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

“可是我離開了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)呢！”露茜說。

其他人面面相覷。

“我看你是瘋了！”愛德蒙敲著自己的腦袋說，“這簡直太離譜了?！?/p>

“你什么意思啊，露茜？”彼得說。

“我是說，”露茜答道，“剛吃完早餐那會(huì)兒我就鉆進(jìn)衣櫥了，然后在里邊待了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)，還喝茶來著，然后又發(fā)生了好些事情?！?/p>

“別說蠢話了，露茜?！碧K珊說，“我們剛剛才從那間屋子里出來，你剛才就在那兒呢。”

“她不是在說蠢話?！北说谜f，“她是在編故事逗咱們呢，我說得對(duì)嗎，露茜？她就愛干這事兒。”

“不是的，彼得，我沒有！”她說，“那是一個(gè)有魔力的衣櫥。進(jìn)去之后是片林子，而且在下雪，里面有個(gè)半人羊，還有個(gè)女巫。那地方叫納尼亞。你們都來看看吧?！?/p>

其他人都有點(diǎn)不知所措，不過露茜看到他們都跟著自己回到那間房間就很是興奮。她沖在他們前面，猛地把衣櫥門打開，大叫：“就現(xiàn)在！你們自己進(jìn)去看看吧?！?/p>

“你這個(gè)傻丫頭。”蘇珊說，她將頭探入衣櫥中，把皮大衣?lián)艿絻蛇?，“這只是個(gè)普普通通的衣櫥罷了?？?！這不就是衣櫥后壁嘛?！?/p>

Then everyone looked in and pulled the coats apart; and they all saw—Lucy herself saw—a perfectly ordinary wardrobe. There was no wood and no snow， only the back of the wardrobe， with hooks on it. Peter went in and rapped his knuckles on it to make sure that it was solid.

“A jolly good hoax， Lu，” he said as he came out again， “you have really taken us in， I must admit. We half believed you.”

“But it wasnt a hoax at all，” said Lucy， “really and truly. It was all different a moment ago. Honestly it was. I promise.”

“Come， Lu，” said Peter， “thats going a bit far. Youve had your joke. Hadnt you better drop it now？”

Lucy grew very red in the face and tried to say something， though she hardly knew what she was trying to say， and burst into tears.

然后，大家依次撥開衣服向里看了看，他們都見到了，包括露茜自己也看見了，這完完全全就是個(gè)普通的衣櫥。既沒有什么樹林，也沒有在下雪，只是衣櫥的后壁而已，上面還釘有掛衣鉤。彼得走進(jìn)去用手敲了敲，確定板子后面是實(shí)心的。

“你可真會(huì)騙人，露茜?！彼贿呁聶煌饷孀咭贿呎f，“你這回真的騙到我們了，我得承認(rèn)，我?guī)缀蹙拖嘈拍懔?！?/p>

“可我沒有騙你們啊?！甭盾缯f，“我說的是真的。剛才還不是這樣的。我發(fā)誓我講的都是真的！”

“好了，露茜，”彼得說，“別太過了。你的詭計(jì)已經(jīng)得逞了，現(xiàn)在還是別鬧了好不好？”

露茜的臉漲得很紅，想說些什么，卻壓根兒不知道說什么好，結(jié)果最后竟哭了起來。

For the next few days she was very miserable. She could have made it up with the others quite easily at any moment if she could have brought herself to say that the whole thing was only a story made up for fun. But Lucy was a very truthful girl and she knew that she was really in the right; and she could not bring herself to say this. The others who thought she was telling a lie， and a silly lie too， made her very unhappy. The two elder ones did this without meaning to do it， but Edmund could be spiteful， and on this occasion he was spiteful. He sneered and jeered at Lucy and kept on asking her if shed found any other new countries in other cupboards all over the house. What made it worse was that these days ought to have been delightful. The weather was fine and they were out of doors from morning to night， bathing， fishing， climbing trees， and lying in the heather. But Lucy could not properly enjoy any of it. And so things went on until the next wet day.

That day， when it came to the afternoon and there was still no sign of a break in the weather， they decided to play hide-and-seek. Susan was “It” and as soon as the others scattered to hide， Lucy went to the room where the wardrobe was. She did not mean to hide in the wardrobe， because she knew that would only set the others talking again about the whole wretched business. But she did want to have one more look inside it; for by this time she was beginning to wonder herself whether Narnia and the Faun had not been a dream. The house was so large and complicated and full of hiding-places that she thought she would have time to have one look into the wardrobe and then hide somewhere else. But as soon as she reached it she heard steps in the passage outside， and then there was nothing for it but to jump into the wardrobe and hold the door closed behind her. She did not shut it properly because she knew that it is very silly to shut oneself into a wardrobe， even if it is not a magic one.

接下來的幾天里，她很受煎熬。本來，她只要說整件事情都是她編出來逗大家的，隨時(shí)都可以和大家和好?？陕盾缡莻€(gè)誠實(shí)的女孩，她堅(jiān)信自己是對(duì)的，所以不能允許自己說那種謊話。其他人都覺得她在說謊，而且編的是個(gè)并不太高明的謊言，這讓她一直悶悶不樂。如果說蘇珊和彼得批評(píng)她說謊并不是有意地，那愛德蒙就屬于故意找碴。這回，他抓住露茜的小辮子不放了，總是帶著嘲笑的口吻一次次地問露茜，是不是又在房子里的什么櫥柜中發(fā)現(xiàn)其他新國家了。那幾天本該是愉快的好日子，天氣不錯(cuò)，他們從早到晚都在外邊玩耍，游泳啦，釣魚啦，爬樹啦，掏鳥窩啦，躲在石楠樹叢中玩啦，可露茜卻對(duì)這些一點(diǎn)興趣都提不起來。后來，日子就這樣一天天過去，直到又一個(gè)陰雨天的到來。

那一天，直到下午天空也沒有放晴的跡象，于是大家決定來玩藏貓貓。蘇珊來找，其他人四散開來藏在各處，露茜直奔放著衣櫥的那個(gè)房間。她并非有意往衣櫥里藏，因?yàn)樗滥菚?huì)讓其他人再次談起令她難堪的事情。不過，她確實(shí)想要再進(jìn)去探一探。而這一次，她自己已經(jīng)開始動(dòng)搖了。她在想：納尼亞和半人羊是否都只是自己的一場夢而已？這座房子大得不得了，布局也錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜，哪兒都是躲藏的好地方，所以她想自己應(yīng)該有時(shí)間去看一眼那個(gè)衣櫥，然后再躲到其他地方去的。但就當(dāng)她走到衣櫥前時(shí)，外面走廊上傳來了一陣腳步聲，她沒有別的選擇，只能跳進(jìn)衣櫥然后把門掩上。她并沒有將門完全合上，因?yàn)樗?，把自己關(guān)在衣櫥里是件很蠢的事，即便是關(guān)在沒有魔法的衣櫥里也一樣。

Now the steps she had heard were those of Edmund; and he came into the room just in time to see Lucy vanishing into the wardrobe. He at once decided to get into it himself—not because he thought it a particularly good place to hide but because he wanted to go on teasing her about her imaginary country. He opened the door. There were the coats hanging up as usual， and a smell of mothballs， and darkness and silence， and no sign of Lucy. “She thinks Im Susan come to catch her，” said Edmund to himself， “and so shes keeping very quiet in at the back.” He jumped in and shut the door， forgetting what a very foolish thing this is to do. Then he began feeling about for Lucy in the dark. He had expected to find her in a few seconds and was very surprised when he did not. He decided to open the door again and let in some light. But he could not find the door either. He didnt like this at all and began groping wildly in every direction; he even shouted out， “Lucy！ Lu！ Where are you？ I know youre here.”

她剛才聽到的是愛德蒙的腳步聲。愛德蒙走進(jìn)屋的時(shí)候剛巧看見露茜閃進(jìn)衣櫥里，于是他立刻決定跟進(jìn)去，不僅是因?yàn)樗X得這是個(gè)可以藏身的絕好地方，他還想拿她想象出來的國度取笑她一番。他打開門，和往常一樣，衣櫥里掛著大衣，還有一股樟腦球味兒，一樣的黑暗寂靜，沒有露茜的蹤影。她肯定以為我是來找她和蘇珊的，愛德蒙想，所以她才安安靜靜地躲在后面。他跳進(jìn)衣櫥，關(guān)上了門，全然不知他干了一件多蠢的事情。接著，他開始在黑暗中摸索露茜。他原想只消幾秒就能找到她，結(jié)果沒有。這讓他很吃驚，于是決定重新把門打開，透進(jìn)些光來，可竟然連門也找不到了。他很煩躁，開始瘋狂地向各個(gè)方向摸索，甚至大喊：“露茜！露茜！你在哪兒？我知道你在這兒。”

There was no answer and Edmund noticed that his own voice had a curious sound—not the sound you expect in a cupboard， but a kind of open-air sound. He also noticed that he was unexpectedly cold; and then he saw a light.

“Thank goodness，” said Edmund， “the door must have swung open of its own accord.” He forgot all about Lucy and went towards the light， which he thought was the open door of the wardrobe. But instead of finding himself stepping out into the spare room he found himself stepping out from the shadow of some thick dark fir trees into an open place in the middle of a wood.

There was crisp， dry snow under his feet and more snow lying on the branches of the trees. Overhead there was pale blue sky， the sort of sky one sees on a fine winter day in the morning. Straight ahead of him he saw between the tree-trunks the sun， just rising， very red and clear. Everything was perfectly still， as if he were the only living creature in that country. There was not even a robin or a squirrel among the trees， and the wood stretched as far as he could see in every direction. He shivered.

He now remembered that he had been looking for Lucy; and also how unpleasant he had been to her about her “imaginary country” which now turned out not to have been imaginary at all. He thought that she must be somewhere quite close and so he shouted，

“Lucy！ Lucy！ Im here too—Edmund.”

There was no answer.

沒有人回答，愛德蒙發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的聲音有點(diǎn)奇怪，感覺不像是在衣櫥里，更像在一片空曠的地方。他還注意到周圍出乎意料地冷，然后，他看到了一束光。

“謝天謝地，”愛德蒙說，“一定是柜門自己蕩開了?！彼@時(shí)候已經(jīng)把露茜忘到一邊了，只顧朝著光亮走去，他以為那是衣櫥的門打開了?？珊芸?，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己并沒有走出衣櫥回到那間空蕩蕩的大房子里，而是走出一片幽暗的冷杉樹濃蔭來到了樹林間的一片開闊地上。

愛德蒙的腳下踩著又干又脆的雪，樹杈上堆著更多積雪，頭頂上是一片淺藍(lán)色的天空，就像冬季晴朗的早晨看到的那種天空的顏色。太陽剛從正前方的樹干間升起，鮮紅明艷。四周一片寂靜，好像在這個(gè)國度除了他什么生靈都不存在一樣。林間連一只知更鳥和松鼠也沒有，目之所及，四面八方都是森林，一望無際。他不禁打起了寒戰(zhàn)。

他現(xiàn)在才記起自己是來找露茜的，也想起那“想象中的國度”，現(xiàn)在看來那根本不是露茜想象出來的。他覺得她肯定就在附近什么地方，所以開始大聲喊她的名字：“露茜！露茜！我也在這兒呢，我是愛德蒙?！?/p>

沒人回答。

“Shes angry about all the things Ive been saying lately，” thought Edmund. And though he did not like to admit that he had been wrong， he also did not much like being alone in this strange， cold， quiet place; so he shouted again.

“I say， Lu！ Im sorry I didnt believe you. I see now you were right all along. Do come out. Make it Pax.”

Still there was no answer.

“Just like a girl，” said Edmund to himself， “sulking somewhere， and wont accept an apology.” He looked round him again and decided he did not much like this place， and had almost made up his mind to go home， when he heard， very far off in the wood， a sound of bells. He listened and the sound came nearer and nearer and at last there swept into sight a sledge drawn by two reindeer.

The reindeer were about the size of Shetland ponies and their hair was so white that even the snow hardly looked white compared with them; their branching horns were gilded and shone like something on fire when the sunrise caught them. Their harness was of scarlet leather and covered with bells. On the sledge， driving the reindeer， sat a fat dwarf who would have been about three feet high if he had been standing. He was dressed in polar bears fur and on his head he wore a red hood with a long gold tassel hanging down from its point; his huge beard covered his knees and served him instead of a rug. But behind him， on a much higher seat in the middle of the sledge sat a very different person—a great lady， taller than any woman that Edmund had ever seen. She also was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head. Her face was white—not merely pale， but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar， except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects， but proud and cold and stern.

The sledge was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards Edmund with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip and the snow flying up on each side of it.

她肯定在因?yàn)槲抑罢f的那些話生我的氣。愛德蒙想。他雖然不想承認(rèn)他之前做錯(cuò)了，可更不想獨(dú)自一人在這個(gè)陌生、冰冷又安靜的地方待著，于是他接著喊露茜。

“嘿，露茜！我之前沒相信你，真對(duì)不起！我現(xiàn)在知道你說的都是真的?？斐鰜戆?。我們和好吧。”

還是沒人回答。

“真是個(gè)小女孩，”愛德蒙自言自語道，“就知道躲在一旁生悶氣，向她道歉她都不接受?！彼俅蜗蛑車戳丝?，覺得并不喜歡這個(gè)地方，有點(diǎn)想往回走。這時(shí)，他聽到林子那頭傳來一陣鈴聲。他仔細(xì)聽著，鈴聲越來越近了，最后，兩只馴鹿拉著雪橇出現(xiàn)在他面前。

這兩只馴鹿的大小和設(shè)得蘭群島的矮種馬差不多，身上的毛比雪還白，頭上的鹿角在紅日的映照下像是鍍了一層金，又像是沐浴在火中。它們脖子上的套具是用深紅色的皮革制成的，上面帶著鈴鐺。坐在雪橇上馭鹿的是個(gè)胖胖的小矮人，就算站直了也只有三英尺左右高。他穿著白色的毛皮大衣，頭上罩著紅風(fēng)帽，長長的金黃色的穗子從帽頂垂下來;他的大胡子一直垂到膝蓋上，簡直可以當(dāng)圍巾用。他身后的雪橇中間是一個(gè)高得多的座位，上面坐著一個(gè)與眾不同的女人，她比愛德蒙以前見過的任何一個(gè)女人都要高大。她也全身穿著雪白的毛皮大衣，右手握著一根又長又直的金色權(quán)杖，頭上戴著一頂金冠。她的臉很白，不是普通的那種蒼白，而是像雪、紙或冰糖一樣白，只有她的嘴唇是血紅的。她的臉還算漂亮，但卻顯得十分驕橫和冷酷。

雪橇向著愛德蒙疾馳而來，鈴鐺丁零零地響，小矮人啪啪地舞著鞭子，地上的雪向兩側(cè)飛濺，看上去是個(gè)挺美的畫面。

“Stop！” said the Lady， and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up so sharp that they almost sat down. Then they recovered themselves and stood champing their bits and blowing. In the frosty air the breath coming out of their nostrils looked like smoke.

“And what， pray， are you？” said the Lady， looking hard at Edmund.

“Im—Im—my names Edmund，” said Edmund rather awkwardly. He did not like the way she looked at him.

The Lady frowned， “Is that how you address a Queen？” she asked， looking sterner than ever.

“I beg your pardon， your Majesty， I didnt know，” said Edmund.

“Not know the Queen of Narnia？” cried she. “Ha！ You shall know us better hereafter. But I repeat—what are you？”

“Please， your Majesty，” said Edmund， “I dont know what you mean. Im at school—at least I was. Its the holidays now.”

“停！”雪橇上的女人說，小矮人猛地拉住馴鹿，它們差點(diǎn)被拉得坐在地上。然后它們又恢復(fù)了原狀，站起來格格地咬著嚼子，呼呼地喘氣。在寒冷的空氣里，它們噴出的鼻息看起來就像煙霧一樣。

“你是什么？”女人盯著愛德蒙問。

“我……我……我叫愛德蒙?！睈鄣旅删执俨话驳卣f。他不喜歡她打量自己時(shí)的那種神情。

女人眉頭一皺，“你就這樣回答女王的問話嗎？”她問道，用格外嚴(yán)厲的眼神盯著他。

“請(qǐng)?jiān)徫?，女王陛下，我不知道您是女王。”愛德蒙說。

“竟然連納尼亞的女王都不認(rèn)識(shí)？”她厲聲說，“哈！以后讓你好好認(rèn)識(shí)一下。我再問一遍，你是什么？”

“女王陛下，”愛德蒙說，“我不懂您問的意思，我是個(gè)學(xué)生，至少前段時(shí)間還在上學(xué)，陛下，這幾天學(xué)校放假?！?/p>