C. S. 劉易斯 （萬(wàn)潔譯）

如果這間屋里真的有一扇門(mén)通向某一個(gè)別的世界，那個(gè)世界一定有它自己的一套時(shí)間規(guī)則，所以不管你在那兒逗留了多久，也不會(huì)占去我們這個(gè)世界的任何一點(diǎn)時(shí)間。

BECAUSE the game of hide-and-seek was still going on， it took Edmund and Lucy some time to find the others. But when at last they were all together （which happened in the long room， where the suit of armour was） Lucy burst out：

“Peter！ Susan！ Its all true. Edmund has seen it too. There is a country you can get to through the wardrobe. Edmund and I both got in. We met one another in there， in the wood. Go on， Edmund; tell them all about it.”

“Whats all this about， Ed？” said Peter.

And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story. Up to that moment Edmund had been feeling sick， and sulky， and annoyed with Lucy for being right， but he hadnt made up his mind what to do. When Peter suddenly asked him the question he decided all at once to do the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of. He decided to let Lucy down.

“Tell us， Ed，” said Susan.

因?yàn)楸说煤吞K珊還在藏貓貓，所以愛(ài)德蒙和露茜花了好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才找到他倆。當(dāng)大家聚集到放盔甲的那間屋子里以后，露茜大聲說(shuō)：

“彼得！蘇珊！我說(shuō)的是真的，愛(ài)德蒙也看見(jiàn)了，那里有一個(gè)國(guó)家，可以通過(guò)衣櫥進(jìn)去。愛(ài)德蒙和我進(jìn)去過(guò)了，我們?cè)谀沁叺臉?shù)林里見(jiàn)到了彼此。愛(ài)德蒙，快把你看到的告訴他們?！?/p>

“愛(ài)德蒙，到底怎么回事？”彼得問(wèn)。

現(xiàn)在我們寫(xiě)到這個(gè)故事中最令人不快的一部分。在這以前，愛(ài)德蒙一直感到很不舒服，還挺生氣的，心里為露茜確實(shí)是對(duì)的而感到很煩惱，但他一時(shí)還沒(méi)想好要做些什么?，F(xiàn)在彼得突如其來(lái)地問(wèn)起他這個(gè)問(wèn)題，他立刻決定要做一件他所能想到的最卑劣最招人恨的事情，讓露茜下不來(lái)臺(tái)。

“告訴我們吧，愛(ài)德蒙?！碧K珊說(shuō)。

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy （there was really only a years difference） and then a little snigger and said， “Oh， yes， Lucy and I have been playing—pretending that all her story about a country in the wardrobe is true， just for fun， of course. Theres nothing there really.”

Poor Lucy gave Edmund one look and rushed out of the room.

Edmund， who was becoming a nastier person every minute， thought that he had scored a great success， and went on at once to say， “There she goes again. Whats the matter with her？ Thats the worst of young kids， they always—”

“Look here，” said Peter， turning on him savagely， “shut up！ Youve been perfectly beastly to Lu ever since she started this nonsense about the wardrobe， and now you go playing games with her about it and setting her off again. I believe you did it simply out of spite.”

“But its all nonsense，” said Edmund， very taken aback.

“Of course its all nonsense，” said Peter， “thats just the point. Lu was perfectly all right when we left home， but since weve been down here she seems to be either going queer in the head or else turning into a most frightful liar. But whichever it is， what good do you think youll do by jeering and nagging at her one day and encouraging her the next？”

“I thought—I thought，” said Edmund; but he couldnt think of anything to say.

“You didnt think anything at all，” said Peter， “its just spite. Youve always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself; weve seen that at school before now.”

愛(ài)德蒙裝出很老成的樣子，就好像他比露茜要大得多（實(shí)際上兩人只相差一歲）。他撲哧一笑說(shuō)：“噢，是的，露茜和我一直在做游戲，假裝她上次講的衣櫥里有個(gè)國(guó)家的故事是真的。當(dāng)然嘍，我們只是在找樂(lè)子，其實(shí)，那兒什么東西也沒(méi)有?！?/p>

露茜委屈地看了愛(ài)德蒙一眼，便扭頭跑了出去。

愛(ài)德蒙現(xiàn)在變得越來(lái)越不像話了，他自以為已經(jīng)取得了極大的成功，立刻接下去說(shuō)道：“她又來(lái)這一套，她到底是出了什么問(wèn)題？小孩子就是這樣，老是……”

“聽(tīng)我說(shuō)！”彼得轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)對(duì)著他，十分氣憤地說(shuō)，“住口！自從她上次瞎編了一些有關(guān)衣櫥的事之后，你對(duì)她總是冷嘲熱諷的?，F(xiàn)在你跟她一起躲進(jìn)了衣櫥里做游戲，又把她氣走了。我覺(jué)得你這樣做完全是不懷好意！”

“但她講的通通都是鬼扯?！睈?ài)德蒙說(shuō)，彼得讓他吃了一驚。

“當(dāng)然是鬼扯，”彼得說(shuō)，“這才是問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵。離開(kāi)家的時(shí)候，露茜還是好好的，但到了鄉(xiāng)下以后，看起來(lái)她要么精神有點(diǎn)問(wèn)題，要么就是謊話連篇。但無(wú)論是哪種情況，你想想看，你今天譏諷她，對(duì)她喋喋不休說(shuō)個(gè)不停，明天你又去慫恿她，這對(duì)她有什么幫助？”

“我原本想，我原本……”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)，可是他又想不出說(shuō)什么好。

“你想什么想！”彼得說(shuō)，“你老是想壞主意。你總喜歡對(duì)比你小的孩子來(lái)這一套，以前在學(xué)校里我們就經(jīng)?？吹侥氵@樣！”

Word Study

annoy /?'n??/ v. 使惱怒;使生氣

It really annoys me when people forget to say thank you.

spiteful /'spa?tfl/ adj. 惡意的;居心不良的

superior /su?'p??ri?（r）/ adj. 有優(yōu)越感的;高傲的

He always looks so superior.

pretend /pr?'tend/ v. 假裝;佯裝

Im tired of having to pretend all the time.

out of spite 為泄恨，為出氣

She broke her elder brothers watch out of spite.

take aback 使……震驚;使……大吃一驚

“Do stop it，” said Susan， “it wont make things any better having a row between you two. Lets go and find Lucy.”

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy， a good deal later， everyone could see that she had been crying. Nothing they could say to her made any difference. She stuck to her story and said：

“I dont care what you think， and I dont care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know Ive met a Faun in there and—I wish Id stayed there and you are all beasts， beasts.”

It was an unpleasant evening. Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasnt working as well as he had expected. The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind. They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. “Hell write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu，” said Peter， “its getting beyond us.” So they went and knocked at the study door， and the Professor said “Come in，” and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting， till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected：

“How do you know，” he asked， “that your sisters story is not true？”

“別說(shuō)了，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“你們互相埋怨有什么用？我們還是去找找露茜吧。”

他們找了好長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間才找到了露茜。果然不出大家所料，她哭得正傷心。無(wú)論他們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)，露茜都堅(jiān)持她說(shuō)的是真的。她說(shuō)道：

“不管你們?cè)趺聪?，也不管你們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)，我都無(wú)所謂。你們可以去教授那兒告狀，也可以寫(xiě)信告訴媽媽?zhuān)S便你們?cè)趺醋龆夹?。我只知道我在那里碰?jiàn)了一個(gè)半人羊。我真希望能留在那里！你們凈出口傷人?！?/p>

這是一個(gè)十分不愉快的夜晚。露茜感到很委屈，愛(ài)德蒙也開(kāi)始覺(jué)得自己的計(jì)劃并沒(méi)有像他預(yù)料的那樣奏效。而那兩個(gè)大點(diǎn)的孩子卻真以為露茜的精神不大正常。在她入睡以后很久，他們還站在走廊里小聲議論著。

結(jié)果第二天一早，他們決定把全部事情都告訴教授?！凹偃缢舱J(rèn)為露茜真的有什么問(wèn)題，他就會(huì)寫(xiě)信告訴爸爸的，”彼得說(shuō)，“我們可管不了這樣的事。”于是，他們就去敲老教授書(shū)房的門(mén)。教授說(shuō)了聲“請(qǐng)進(jìn)”，站起身，讓他們坐下，告訴他們有事盡管來(lái)找他，不用客氣。然后他坐下來(lái)，手指尖對(duì)在一起，靜靜地聽(tīng)他們把整個(gè)事情講完。聽(tīng)完以后，他好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間沒(méi)有吭聲，最后他清了清嗓子，說(shuō)了句他們?cè)趺匆矝](méi)想到的話：

“你們?cè)跄軘喽ǎ彼麊?wèn)，“露茜講的故事就不是真的呢？”

“Oh， but—” began Susan， and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old mans face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said， “But Edmund said they had only been pretending.”

“That is a point，” said the Professor， “which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance—if you will excuse me for asking the question—does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable？ I mean， which is the more truthful？”

“Thats just the funny thing about it， sir，” said Peter. “Up till now， Id have said Lucy every time.”

“And what do you think， my dear？” said the Professor， turning to Susan.

“Well，” said Susan， “in general， Id say the same as Peter， but this couldnt be true—all this about the wood and the Faun.”

“That is more than I know，” said the Professor， “and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed.”

“We were afraid it mightnt even be lying，” said Susan， “we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy.”

“Madness， you mean？” said the Professor quite coolly. “Oh， you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad.”

“But then，” said Susan， and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didnt know what to think.

“哦，但是……”蘇珊剛想開(kāi)口又停住了。誰(shuí)都能看出老人沒(méi)開(kāi)玩笑。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，蘇珊理了理思緒說(shuō)：“但是愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)他們只是假裝這是真的?！?/p>

“有一個(gè)關(guān)鍵問(wèn)題，”教授說(shuō)，“你們得考慮一下，而且要慎重考慮。這樣說(shuō)吧，請(qǐng)?jiān)徫姨岢鲞@個(gè)問(wèn)題，但是根據(jù)你們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來(lái)講，你們認(rèn)為誰(shuí)更誠(chéng)實(shí)一些，是你們的弟弟，還是你們的妹妹？”

“這個(gè)問(wèn)題確實(shí)點(diǎn)到了關(guān)鍵，先生，”彼得說(shuō)，“直到現(xiàn)在為止，我得說(shuō)，露茜每次都要比愛(ài)德蒙誠(chéng)實(shí)。”

“你又是怎么認(rèn)為的呢，我親愛(ài)的孩子？”教授轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)問(wèn)蘇珊。

“嗯，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“我嘛，基本上和彼得的看法相同。但關(guān)于森林和半人羊的故事總不可能是真的吧？”

“這個(gè)我就不清楚了，”教授說(shuō)，“但是，隨便懷疑一個(gè)你們一直以來(lái)都認(rèn)為誠(chéng)實(shí)的人說(shuō)謊，這倒是一個(gè)非常嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題，真的非常嚴(yán)重！”

“我們擔(dān)心的倒不是露茜說(shuō)謊，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“我們覺(jué)得很可能露茜精神上出了毛病?！?/p>

“你的意思是她發(fā)了瘋？”教授非常冷靜地說(shuō)，“嗯，這個(gè)你們很容易判斷。你們只要觀察觀察她的行為舉止，再和她說(shuō)說(shuō)話，就可以得出結(jié)論?！?/p>

“但是……”蘇珊欲言又止。她做夢(mèng)也沒(méi)想到，像教授這樣的大人會(huì)說(shuō)出這種話來(lái)，她被搞糊涂了。

Word Study

at ones disposal 任某人處理;由某人自行支配

Well， Im at your disposal.

interrupt /'?nt?'r?pt/ v. 插嘴;打擾;打岔

Sorry to interrupt， but theres someone to see you.

pull oneself together 使自己鎮(zhèn)定自若（或冷靜）

Stop crying and pull yourself together！

deserve /d?'z??v/ v. 值得;應(yīng)得;應(yīng)受

You deserve a rest after all that hard work.