C. S. 劉易斯 （吳民?譯）

C. S.劉易斯（1898—1963），英國著名文學(xué)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》第二部《凱斯賓王子》。

“We should not have Aslan for friend if we brought in that rabble，” said Trufflehunter as they came away from the cave of the Black Dwarfs.

“Oh， Aslan！” said Trumpkin， cheerily but contemptuously. “What matters much more is that you wouldnt have me.”

“Do you believe in Aslan？” said Caspian to Nikabrik.

“Ill believe in anyone or anything，” said Nikabrik， “thatll batter these cursed Telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of Narnia. Anyone or anything， Aslan or the White Witch， do you understand？”

“Silence， silence，” said Trufflehunter. “You do not know what you are saying. She was a worse enemy than Miraz and all his race.”

“Not to Dwarfs， she wasnt，” said Nikabrik.

Their next visit was a pleasanter one. As they came lower down， the mountains opened out into a great glen or wooded gorge with a swift river running at the bottom. The open places near the rivers edge were a mass of foxgloves and wild roses and the air was buzzing with bees. Here Trufflehunter called again， “Glenstorm！ Glenstorm！” and after a pause Caspian heard the sound of hoofs. It grew louder till the valley trembled and at last， breaking and trampling the thickets， there came in sight the noblest creatures that Caspian had yet seen， the great Centaur Glenstorm and his three sons. His flanks were glossy chestnut and the beard that covered his broad chest was golden red. He was a prophet and a star-gazer and knew what they had come about.

“Long live the King，” he cried. “I and my sons are ready for war. When is the battle to be joined？”

Up till now neither Caspian nor the others had really been thinking of a war. They had some vague idea， perhaps， of an occasional raid on some Human farmstead or of attacking a party of hunters， if it ventured too far into these southern wilds. But， in the main， they had thought only of living to themselves in woods and caves and building up an attempt at Old Narnia in hiding. As soon as Glenstorm had spoken everyone felt much more serious.

“Do you mean a real war to drive Miraz out of Narnia？” asked Caspian.

“What else？” said the Centaur. “Why else does your Majesty go clad in mail and girt with sword？”

“Is it possible， Glenstorm？” said the Badger.

“要是我們收容了這些壞蛋，阿斯蘭就不會(huì)站在我們這邊了?！碑?dāng)他們從黑小矮人的山洞里走出來的時(shí)候，特魯佛漢特說。

“哼，阿斯蘭！”杜魯普金似乎很不服氣，“你們要是沒有我這個(gè)朋友，那才不得了呢！”

“你不相信阿斯蘭嗎？”凱斯賓問尼克布瑞克。

“我相信一切能夠參戰(zhàn)的生靈?！蹦峥瞬既鹂烁呗曊f，“只要能夠鏟除那些臺(tái)爾馬暴徒，把他們趕出納尼亞，一切生靈，不管他叫阿斯蘭，還是叫白女巫，你明白了嗎？”

“你給我住嘴！”特魯佛漢特說，“你知道自己在說什么嗎？白女巫比彌若茲和他的同類還危險(xiǎn)和可惡百倍！”

“可是對(duì)小矮人來講，她不是?！蹦峥瞬既鹂苏f道。

接下來的旅程令人愉快。他們順著山坡往下走，來到一個(gè)寬闊的幽谷。谷底有一條湍急的河，河岸邊的空地上，大片大片的毛地黃和野玫瑰迎風(fēng)怒放，蜜蜂嗡嗡地采著花蜜。特魯佛漢特高聲喊道：“格蘭斯托姆！格蘭斯托姆！”不一會(huì)兒，凱斯賓聽到一陣馬蹄聲，那聲音越來越近，氣勢(shì)震動(dòng)山河。突然，幾個(gè)高大的生靈沖出灌木叢跑了過來。這是凱斯賓平生見到的最奇異、最高貴的動(dòng)物了——半人馬格蘭斯托姆，后面跟著它的三個(gè)兒子。它那強(qiáng)健的馬身發(fā)出栗色的光澤，高貴的人頭瀟灑地?fù)P起，一綹金紅色的胡子在寬闊的胸前飄揚(yáng)。它是位預(yù)言家，又是位占星家，完全了解客人來訪的目的。

“國王萬歲！”它高呼，“我和我的兒子們隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備參加戰(zhàn)斗。什么時(shí)候開始決戰(zhàn)？”

直到現(xiàn)在，凱斯賓和其他幾個(gè)人都沒有想過打仗的事。他們只有一些模糊不清的設(shè)想，比方說，襲擊農(nóng)戶和獵人——如果他們膽敢到這片野樹林中來騷擾的話。他們?cè)瓉碇幌腚[居在森林中、洞穴里，建立起一個(gè)隱蔽的、傳統(tǒng)的納尼亞。格蘭斯托姆的這句話，讓大家開始反思。

“你是說，發(fā)動(dòng)一場正義的戰(zhàn)爭，把彌若茲徹底趕出納尼亞？”凱斯賓問。

“對(duì)！”半人馬說，“陛下身穿盔甲，佩掛寶劍，難道不是為了戰(zhàn)斗？”

“能成功嗎？”獾將信將疑。

“The time is ripe，” said Glenstorm. “I watch the skies， Badger， for it is mine to watch， as it is yours to remember. Tarva and Alambil have met in the halls of high heaven， and on earth a son of Adam has once more arisen to rule and name the creatures. The hour has struck. Our council at the Dancing Lawn must be a council of war.” He spoke in such a voice that neither Caspian nor the others hesitated for a moment： it now seemed to them quite possible that they might win a war and quite certain that they must wage one.

As it was now past the middle of the day， they rested with the Centaurs and ate such food as the Centaurs provided—cakes of oaten meal， and apples， and herbs， and wine， and cheese.

The next place they were to visit was quite near at hand， but they had to go a long way round in order to avoid a region in which Men lived. It was well into the afternoon before they found themselves in level fields， warm between hedgerows. There Trufflehunter called at the mouth of a little hole in a green bank and out popped the last thing Caspian expected—a Talking Mouse. He was of course bigger than a common mouse， well over a foot high when he stood on his hind legs， and with ears nearly as long as （though broader than） a rabbits. His name was Reepicheep and he was a gay and martial mouse. He wore a tiny little rapier at his side and twirled his long whiskers as if they were a moustache. “There are twelve of us， Sire，” he said with a dashing and graceful bow， “and I place all the resources of my people unreservedly at your Majestys disposal.” Caspian tried hard （and successfully） not to laugh， but he couldnt help thinking that Reepicheep and all his people could very easily be put in a washing basket and carried home on ones back.

“Fauns！” cried Caspian， jumping up， and in a moment they were all round him. It took next to no time to explain the whole situation to them and they accepted Caspian at once. Before he knew what he was doing he found himself joining in the dance. Trumpkin， with heavier and jerkier movements， did likewise and even Trufflehunter hopped and lumbered about as best he could. Only Nikabrik stayed where he was， looking on in silence. The Fauns footed it all round Caspian to their reedy pipes. Their strange faces， which seemed mournful and merry all at once， looked into his; dozens of Fauns， Mentius and Obentinus and Dumnus， Voluns， Voltinus， Girbius， Nimienus， Nausus， and Oscuns. Pattertwig had sent them all.

When Caspian awoke next morning he could hardly believe that it had not all been a dream; but the grass was covered with little cloven hoof-marks.

“辦不到！”獾嘆了一口氣說，“我們無能為力。自從人類遷移到這片土地上之后，他們砍伐樹木、污染河流，樹神和水神都隱遁到不知哪里去了。誰也不知道它們是否還會(huì)顯靈。這對(duì)我們來說是個(gè)很大的損失。那些臺(tái)爾馬人最怕這些大樹，一旦大樹們憤怒起來，他們就會(huì)發(fā)瘋似的四處逃竄，盡可能快地逃出納尼亞?！?/p>

“你們動(dòng)物的想象力簡直太豐富啦！”杜普魯金不屑地說，“可是你為什么只講到樹和水，就不往下說了？假如石頭全都能夠自己飛起來，砸向彌若茲，那不是更妙嗎？”

獾聽了這話只是哼了一聲，這以后是很長時(shí)間的沉默。凱斯賓倒在軟軟的草地上漸漸進(jìn)入了夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)。似睡非睡間，凱斯賓仿佛聽到身后的樹林深處傳來了一陣低沉奇妙的音樂。開始他以為那是幻覺，翻個(gè)身打算繼續(xù)睡，可當(dāng)他耳剛一貼近地面，他感覺到或者說聽到（這很難言明）一陣微弱的敲打聲。他抬起頭來，那打擊聲馬上減弱，可音樂聲又響了起來，并越來越清晰，好像是笛子的聲音。這時(shí)候，他看見特魯佛漢特坐起身來，兩眼盯著樹林。明月發(fā)出皎潔的光亮，凱斯賓似乎已經(jīng)睡了一大覺，搖了搖頭，想讓自己變得清醒起來，再側(cè)耳傾聽——音樂聲越來越近了，那是一種粗獷而又讓人心馳神往的旋律。終于，伴隨著輕捷的腳步聲，一群翩翩舞動(dòng)著的身影從樹林里來到月光下——這些年來一直縈繞在凱斯賓心頭的正是這些身影。它們不比小矮人高多少，可身材更苗條，體態(tài)更優(yōu)美高雅。它們卷曲的頭發(fā)上伸出兩只角來，淡淡的月光映出它們赤裸的上身，可它們的腿腳都與山羊的一模一樣。

“半人羊！”凱斯賓跳起身，驚叫起來。半人羊立馬將凱斯賓圍在當(dāng)中。幾乎對(duì)一切情況都不了解時(shí)，它們便很快承認(rèn)凱斯賓是他們的領(lǐng)袖。凱斯賓還未明白過來之前已發(fā)現(xiàn)自己也不禁翩翩起舞。杜普魯金肥嘟嘟的身子搖搖擺擺地也隨著跳了起來，連特魯佛漢特也使出渾身解數(shù)，不停地蹦著，扭擺著。只有尼克布瑞克一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地待在一邊，沉默地看著。半人羊們圍著凱斯賓用它們纖細(xì)的腳跳呀跳。那些面孔看上去時(shí)而悲傷，時(shí)而歡快。與它們?yōu)猷彽倪€有幾十個(gè)小矮人，曼蒂尤斯、奧本蒂納斯、達(dá)姆納斯，這時(shí)都被叫了過來，向新國王致敬。

第二天早晨，凱斯賓一覺醒來，對(duì)夜里發(fā)生的事記憶猶新。他簡直不敢相信這一切都是真的，可是草地上分明布滿了半人羊的足跡。