《能言馬與男孩》 第十四章 布里變聰明

CHAPTER FOURTEEN HOW BREE BECAME A WISER HORSE

第十四章　布里變聰明

WE must now return to Aravis and the Horses. The Hermit, watching his pool, was able to tell them that Shasta was not killed or even seriously wounded, for he saw him get up and saw how affectionately he was greeted by King Lune. But as he could only see, not hear, he did not know what anyone was saying and, once the fighting had stopped and the talking had begun, it was not worthwhile looking in the pool any longer.

現(xiàn)在我們要轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭，看看阿拉維斯和馬兒們了。隱士盯著池水，告訴馬兒沙斯塔并沒(méi)有死，甚至重傷也沒(méi)有，因?yàn)樗匆?jiàn)沙斯塔站起來(lái)，受到倫恩國(guó)王的慈愛(ài)接待。但他只能看見(jiàn)不能聽(tīng)見(jiàn)，他就不知道他們?cè)谡勑┦裁?，而且，?zhàn)爭(zhēng)已經(jīng)結(jié)束，看池水中他們談話也沒(méi)什么意義。

Next morning, while the Hermit was indoors, the three of them discussed what they should do next.

第二天早上，隱士還沒(méi)出門，他們?nèi)齻€(gè)就討論下一步的計(jì)劃。

"I've had enough of this," said Hwin. "The Hermit has been very good to us and I m very much obliged to him I m sure. But I m getting as fat as a pet pony,eating all day and getting no exercise.Let s go on to Narnia."

“我已經(jīng)過(guò)夠了這種生活，”赫溫說(shuō)，“隱士待我們不薄，我十分感激他。但我們除了吃睡，一點(diǎn)運(yùn)動(dòng)都沒(méi)，現(xiàn)在胖得像供觀賞的小馬了。我們繼續(xù)向納尼亞進(jìn)發(fā)吧。”

"Oh not today,Ma'am," said Bree."I wouldn't hurry things.Some other day,don t you think ?"

“今天可不行，女士，”布里說(shuō)，“我不喜歡匆匆忙忙，再過(guò)幾天如何?”

"We must see Shasta first and say good-bye to him-and-and apologize,"said Aravis.

“我要先見(jiàn)到沙斯塔，跟他道別……而且……向他道歉。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"Exactly !" said Bree with great enthusiasm. "Just what I was going to say."

“確實(shí)如此!”布里急切地說(shuō)，“這正是我想說(shuō)的。”

"Oh, of course," said Hwin. "I expect he is in Anvard. Naturally we d look in on him and say good-bye. But that s on our way. And why shouldn t we start at once ? After all, I thought it was Narnia we all wanted to get to ?"

“哦，當(dāng)然，”赫溫說(shuō)，“我想他就在安瓦德，我們可一定要去看看他，向他道別。正好順路。所以為什么不立刻動(dòng)身?總之，我們的目標(biāo)就是納尼亞。”

"I suppose so," said Aravis. She was beginning to wonder what exactly she would do when she got there and was feeling a little lonely.

“我看也是這樣。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。她開(kāi)始考慮到了納尼亞具體要干什么，同時(shí)感到有點(diǎn)孤苦伶仃。

"Of course, of course," said Bree hastily. "But there's no need to rush things, if you know what I mean."

“當(dāng)然，當(dāng)然，”布里急忙說(shuō)，“然而無(wú)需匆忙，如果你了解我心意。”

"No, I don't know what you mean," said Hwin. "Why don t you want to go ?"

“不，我不了解，”赫溫說(shuō)，“為什么你不想走呢?”

"M-m-m, broo-hoo," muttered Bree. "Well, don't you see, Ma am-it s an important occasion-returning to one s country-entering society-the best society-it is so essential to make a good impression-not perhaps looking quite ourselves, yet,eh ?"

“呼……呼……呼，布魯……呼，”布里含糊不清，“好吧，你不明白嗎，女士……恰逢良機(jī)……回到祖國(guó)……融入社交界……最高層的社交界……好的印象非常重要……但我們看上去還沒(méi)恢復(fù)本來(lái)面目，是吧?”

Hwin broke out into a horse-laugh. "It's your tail, Bree ! I see it all now. You want to wait till your tail s grown again ! And we don t even know if tails are worn long in Narnia. Really, Bree, you re as vain as that Tarkheena in Tashbaan !"

赫溫發(fā)出一陣嘲笑。“布里，你在擔(dān)心你的尾巴!我完全明白了。你想等你的尾巴重新長(zhǎng)出來(lái)!但是我們連納尼亞的馬是否留長(zhǎng)尾巴都不清楚。布里啊，你的虛榮心的確很強(qiáng)，和塔什班城的那位泰坎希娜一模一樣。”

"You are silly, Bree," said Aravis.

“你真蠢，布里。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"By the Lion's Mane, Tarkheena, I'm nothing of the sort," said Bree indignantly. "I have a proper respect for myself and for my fellow horses, that s all."

“天哪，我和泰坎希娜那種人物截然不同，”布里憤憤地說(shuō)，“我對(duì)我自己，包括我的馬兒伙伴，都抱有足夠的尊重，僅此而已。”

"Bree," said Aravis, who was not very interested in the cut of his tail, "I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time. Why do you keep on swearing By the Lion and By the Lion s Mane ? I thought you hated lions."

“布里，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，她對(duì)布里的短尾巴興趣不大，“我很久以來(lái)一直好奇一件事情。為什么你總是‘憑獅子’、‘憑獅子的鬃毛’起誓?難道你憎恨獅子?”

"So I do," answered Bree. "But when I speak of the Lion of course I mean Aslan, the great deliverer of Narnia who drove away the Witch and the Winter.All Narnians swear by him."

“當(dāng)然不是，”布里答道，“我說(shuō)的獅子是指阿斯蘭，納尼亞的救世主，它驅(qū)趕了蕭條和女巫。所有納尼亞人都以阿斯蘭起誓。”

"But is he a lion ?"

“但它是獅子嗎?”

"No,no,of course not," said Bree in a rather shocked voice.

“不，不，當(dāng)然不是。”布里誠(chéng)惶誠(chéng)恐地說(shuō)。

"All the stories about him in Tashbaan say he is," replied Aravis. "And if he isn't a lion why do you call him a lion ?"

“在塔什班流傳的故事，都說(shuō)它是獅子。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，“如果不是的話，你干嘛稱它為獅子呢?”

"Well, you'd hardly understand that at your age," said Bree. "And I was only a little foal when I left so I don't quite fully understand it myself."

“你太年輕，無(wú)法理解，”布里說(shuō)，“我離開(kāi)納尼亞時(shí)，只不過(guò)是還未滿周歲的小馬，所以我也不大清楚。”

(Bree was standing with his back to the green wall while he said this, and the other two were facing him. He was talking in rather a superior tone with his eyes half shut;that was why he didn t see the changed expression in the faces of Hwin and Aravis. They had good reason to have open mouths and staring eyes;because while Bree spoke they saw an enormous lion leap up from outside and balance itself on the top of the green wall;only it was a brighter yellow and it was bigger and more beautiful and more alarming than any lion they had ever seen. And at once it jumped down inside the wall and began approaching Bree from behind. It made no noise at all. And Hwin and Aravis couldn t make any noise themselves, no more than if they were frozen.)

布里說(shuō)這話的時(shí)候，背靠綠色墻垣，赫溫和阿拉維斯面對(duì)布里。布里眼睛半閉，語(yǔ)氣傲慢，所以他沒(méi)看到赫溫和阿拉維斯的表情變化。她們瞠目結(jié)舌是有原因的，因?yàn)椴祭镌谡f(shuō)話時(shí)，一只巨大的獅子從墻外穩(wěn)穩(wěn)的躍到墻頭上：和她們從前見(jiàn)過(guò)的獅子比，這頭更加有光澤，肢體強(qiáng)壯、美麗，也更讓人害怕。它往墻下縱身一跳，從背后靠近布里，沒(méi)什么聲音。赫溫和阿拉維斯嚇得都噤聲了，像凍僵了似的。

"No doubt," continued Bree,"when they speak of him as a Lion they only mean he s as strong as a lion or (to our enemies, of course) as fierce as a lion.Or something of that kind.Even a little girl like you, Aravis, must see that it would be quite absurd to suppose he is a real lion.Indeed it would be disrespectful. If he was a lion he d have to be a Beast just like the rest of us. Why !" (and here Bree began to laugh) "If he was a lion he'd have four paws,and a tail,and Whiskers!-Aie,ooh, hoo-hoo !Help !"

“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，”布里繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“當(dāng)講起它時(shí)，說(shuō)是獅子，只是指它和獅子一樣強(qiáng)壯，或者和獅子一樣兇猛( 當(dāng)然是對(duì)敵人而言);或者諸如此類的意思。哪怕是像阿拉維斯一樣的小姑娘，也必須留神，你要是認(rèn)為它真的是一頭獅子，那就荒謬了，這樣是很失敬的。如果它真的是獅子，那就和我們馬兒一樣是獸類了。呃!”( 說(shuō)到這兒，布里開(kāi)始哈哈大笑)“如果它是獅子，那它就生著四個(gè)爪子，一條尾巴，還有胡子!……啊艾伊，嗚，呵——呵!救命!”

For just as he said the word Whiskers one of Aslan s had actually tickled his ear. Bree shot away like an arrow to the other side of the enclosure and there turned;the wall was too high for him to jump and he could fly no farther. Aravis and Hwin both started back.There was about a second of intense silence.

當(dāng)他恰巧說(shuō)出“胡子”兩字時(shí)，阿斯蘭的一根胡子觸到他的耳朵，癢癢的。布里像支箭一樣竄到墻的那邊，然后轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)：墻太高，他沒(méi)法跳過(guò)去，無(wú)路可逃了。阿拉維斯和赫溫都嚇得縮到后面。大約一秒鐘的時(shí)間，氣氛緊張，寂靜無(wú)聲。

Then Hwin, though shaking all over, gave a strange little neigh,and trotted across to the Lion.

接著，渾身發(fā)抖的赫溫，卻發(fā)出一聲奇怪的、低低的嘶鳴，小步向獅子走去。

"Please,"she said,"you're so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I d sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else."

“對(duì)不起，”赫溫說(shuō)，“你那么健壯，可以隨心所欲把我吃掉。比起喂其他人，我更愿意早點(diǎn)被你吃掉。”

"Dearest daughter," said Aslan, planting a lion's kiss on her twitching, velvet nose,"I knew you would not be long in coming to me.Joy shall be yours."Then he lifted his head and spoke in a louder voice.

“我最親愛(ài)的子女啊，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，吻了一下她那天鵝絨般翕動(dòng)的鼻子，“我知道你不久就會(huì)來(lái)到我身邊。歡樂(lè)必將歸你所有。”

"Now, Bree," he said,"you poor, proud frightened Horse,draw near.Nearer still, my son.Do not dare not to dare. Touch me. Smell me. Here are my paws, here is my tail, these are my whiskers.I am a true Beast."

“布里啊，”他說(shuō)，“你這可憐巴巴、驕傲自大、戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢的馬，向我靠攏吧，我的子女，再靠攏點(diǎn)兒。別害怕。摸摸我，聞聞我吧，這是我的爪子，這是尾巴，這是胡子。我是一頭真正的野獸。”

"Aslan," said Bree in a shaken voice,"I'm afraid I must be rather a fool."

“阿斯蘭，”布里聲音發(fā)顫，“我真是個(gè)傻瓜。”

"Happy the Horse who knows that while he is still young. Or the Human either. Draw near, Aravis my daughter. See ! My paws are velveted.You will not be torn this time."

“亡羊補(bǔ)牢，為時(shí)未晚。人類也是一樣。靠近點(diǎn)，我親愛(ài)的女兒阿拉維斯?？?我的爪子像天鵝絨一般，這次不會(huì)再抓傷你了。”

"This time,sir ?" said Aravis.

“這次，先生?”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"It was I who wounded you," said Aslan. "I am the only lion you met in all your journeyings. Do you know why I tore you ?"

“上一次就是我抓傷你的，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“在你的整個(gè)旅途中，只碰到我一頭獅子。你知道我為什么抓傷你嗎?”

No, sir.

“不知道，先生。”

"The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother s slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her.You needed to know what it felt like."

“你背上的傷痕，以牙還牙，以眼還眼，和你繼母的女奴背上的鞭痕是對(duì)應(yīng)的，因?yàn)槟憬o她吃了安眠藥，害她挨打。”

"Yes,sir.Please—"

“是的，先生。對(duì)不起……”

"Ask on, my dear," said Aslan.

“親愛(ài)的，還有問(wèn)題嗎。”阿斯蘭說(shuō)。

"Will any more harm come to her by what I did ?"

“我給她吃安眠藥，還帶來(lái)了什么其他傷害嗎?”

"Child," said the Lion, "I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own."Then he shook his head and spoke in a lighter voice.

“孩子，”獅子說(shuō)，“我在講述你的故事，不是女奴的。我只對(duì)一個(gè)人講述他自己的故事。”然后他搖搖頭，語(yǔ)調(diào)輕快。

"Be merry,little ones," he said. "We shall meet soon again.But before that you will have another visitor."Then in one bound he reached the top of the wall and vanished from their sight. Strange to say,they felt no inclination to talk to one another about him after he had gone. They all moved slowly away to different parts of the quiet grass and there paced to and fro, each alone, thinking.

“高興起來(lái)，小家伙們，”他說(shuō)，“后會(huì)有期。不過(guò)很快會(huì)有另一個(gè)客人來(lái)訪。”于是他竄上墻頭，很快消失了。說(shuō)起來(lái)也奇怪，阿斯蘭走了之后，他們都無(wú)意去談?wù)撍?。他們慢慢地散開(kāi)，到寧?kù)o的草地的不同角落去了，各自在那兒躊躇沉思。

About half an hour later the two Horses were summoned to the back of the house to eat something nice that the Hermit had got ready for them and Aravis,still walking and thinking, was startled by the harsh sound of a trumpet outside the gate. "Who is there ?" asked Aravis.

半個(gè)小時(shí)后，兩匹馬被叫到屋子后頭，享用隱士準(zhǔn)備的好東西去了，而阿拉維斯仍在踱步、思索，一陣?yán)嚷晱拈T外傳來(lái)，嚇了她一跳。“誰(shuí)啊?”阿拉維斯問(wèn)。

"His Royal Highness Prince Cor of Archenland," said a voice from outside.

“阿欽蘭王子科奧殿下。”門外傳來(lái)一個(gè)聲音。

Aravis undid the door and opened it, drawing back a little way to let the strangers in.

阿拉維斯拔掉門閂，打開(kāi)大門，向后退了一點(diǎn)，以便讓陌生人進(jìn)來(lái)。

Two soldiers with halberds came first and took their stand at each side of the entry.Then followed a herald, and the trumpeter.

兩個(gè)士兵持戟先進(jìn)門，在門口兩側(cè)守備，傳令官和號(hào)手跟在后面。

"His Royal Highness Prince Cor of Archenland desires an audience of the Lady Aravis,"said the Herald. Then he and the trumpeter drew aside and bowed and the soldiers saluted and the Prince himself came in. All his attendants withdrew and closed the gate behind them.

“阿欽蘭王子科奧殿下要接見(jiàn)阿拉維斯女士。”傳令官說(shuō)。然后和號(hào)手退到旁邊，士兵敬禮，王子殿下進(jìn)來(lái)了。隨從都退了出去，大門被隨手關(guān)上。

The Prince bowed, and a very clumsy bow for a Prince it was. Aravis curtsied in the Calormene style (which is not at all like ours) and did it very well because, of course, she had been taught how. Then she looked up and saw what sort of person this Prince was.

王子鞠了一躬，但是稍顯笨拙。阿拉維斯用卡樂(lè)門的行禮方式( 和我們的屈膝禮壓根不一樣)，當(dāng)然，她行禮像模像樣的，因?yàn)楦改冈?jīng)教過(guò)她。

She saw a mere boy. He was bare-headed and his fair hair was encircled with a very thin band of gold,hardly thicker than a wire. His upper tunic was of white cambric, as fine as a handkerchief, so that the bright red tunic beneath it showed through. His left hand, which rested on his enamelled sword hilt, was bandaged.

然后她抬起頭，看看這個(gè)王子到底是什么人物。她覺(jué)得他只不過(guò)是個(gè)小孩子。沒(méi)戴帽子，漂亮的金發(fā)上圍著一條薄薄的金色帶子，比鐵絲還要薄。白麻布做的緊身短衣，像手絹一樣精致整潔，明顯的映出了里面鮮亮的紅色內(nèi)衣。裹著繃帶的左手按在寶劍的琺瑯柄上。

Aravis looked twice at his face before she gasped and said, "Why ! It's Shasta !"

阿拉維斯再次打量他的臉，長(zhǎng)吁一口氣，說(shuō)：“呀!你是沙斯塔!”

Shasta all at once turned very red and began speaking very quickly."Look here, Aravis,"he said,"I do hope you won t think I m got up like this (and the trumpeter and all) to try to impress you or make out that I m different or any rot of that sort. Because I d far rather have come in my old clothes, but they re burnt now, and my father said—" "Your father ?" said Aravis.

沙斯塔立刻紅了臉，說(shuō)話速度也快了：“聽(tīng)我說(shuō)，阿拉維斯，我希望你不要認(rèn)為我這副打扮( 還有號(hào)手等排場(chǎng)) 是為了讓你印象深刻，或者顯得我與眾不同，或諸如此類的擺闊炫耀。因?yàn)槲覍幵干碇f裝來(lái)見(jiàn)你，但它們已經(jīng)被燒掉了，我的父親也說(shuō)……”“你的父親?”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"Apparently King Lune is my father," said Shasta. "I might really have guessed it.Corin being so like me.We were twins, you see.Oh,and my name isn t Shasta,it s Cor."

“很顯然，我的父親就是倫恩國(guó)王，”沙斯塔說(shuō)，“我早就該猜到?？屏趾臀夷敲聪?。你看，我們是孿生兄弟。哦，我不叫沙斯塔，我叫科奧。”

"Cor is a nicer name than Shasta," said Aravis.

“科奧這名字比沙斯塔好。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"Brothers' names run like that in Archenland," said Shasta (or Prince Cor as we must now call him). "Like Dar and Darrin, Cole and Colin and so on."

“在阿欽蘭，兄弟的名字都這么起，”沙斯塔( 或許我們現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該叫他科奧王子了) 說(shuō)，“例如達(dá)爾和達(dá)蘭，柯?tīng)柡涂屏郑T如此類。”

"Shasta-I mean Cor," said Aravis. "No,shut up. There s something I ve got to say at once.I m sorry I ve been such a pig.But I did change before I knew you were a Prince, honestly I did: when you went back, and faced the Lion."

“沙斯塔——我是說(shuō)科奧，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。“不，閉嘴。我有些話必須說(shuō)。我很抱歉，從前我像豬一樣蠢。但在得知你是王子之前我就改變了，老實(shí)說(shuō)：就在你折回來(lái)，對(duì)抗獅子的時(shí)候。”

"It wasn't really going to kill you at all,that Lion," said Cor.

“那獅子，并不是有意要?dú)⒛恪?rdquo;科奧說(shuō)。

"I know," said Aravis, nodding.Both were still and solemn for a moment as each saw that the other knew about Asian.

“我知道，”阿拉維斯點(diǎn)頭說(shuō)道。當(dāng)看出彼此對(duì)阿斯蘭都有所了解的時(shí)候，好一會(huì)兒，他們都沉默無(wú)語(yǔ)。

Suddenly Aravis remembered Cor's bandaged hand. "I say !" she cried,"I forgot!You've been in a battle. Is that a wound ?"

阿拉維斯突然想起科奧綁著繃帶的手。“啊呀!”她喊道，“我竟然忘了!這是你參加戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)受的傷嗎?”

"A mere scratch," said Cor,using for the first time a rather lordly tone.But a moment later he burst out laughing and said,

“擦破了點(diǎn)皮而已。”科奧說(shuō)，第一次像王公大臣那樣的語(yǔ)氣。但很快，他就哈哈大笑，

"If you want to know the truth, it isn't a proper wound at all. I only took the skin off my knuckles just as any clumsy fool might do without going near a battle."

說(shuō)：“如果你知道真相，這壓根就不是傷。只不過(guò)是手指頭擦破了點(diǎn)皮，任何一個(gè)不了解戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的傻瓜，都會(huì)受這樣的傷。”

"Still you were in the battle," said Aravis."It must have been wonderful."

“但是你畢竟參加了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，“這肯定是了不起的事。”

"It wasn't at all like what I thought," said Cor.

“壓根不像我原先想的那樣。”科奧說(shuō)。

"But Sha-Cor,I mean-you haven't told me anything yet about King Lune and how he found out who you were. "

“但沙——我是說(shuō)科奧——關(guān)于倫恩國(guó)王，以及他怎么知道你身份的事，還沒(méi)有告訴我呢。”

"Well, let's sit down," said Cor. "For it's rather a long story. And by the way, Father's an absolute brick. I'd be just as pleased-or very nearly-at finding he' s my father even if he wasn't a king. Even though Education and all sorts of horrible things are going to happen to me. But you want the story. Well, Corin and I were twins. And about a week after we were both born, apparently, they took us to a wise old Centaur in Narnia to be blessed or something. Now this Centaur was a prophet as a good many Centaurs are. Perhaps you haven't seen any Centaurs yet ? There were some in the battle yesterday. Most remarkable people,but I can't say I feel quite at home with them yet. I say, Aravis, there are going to be a lot of things to get used to in these Northern countries."

“好吧，要促膝長(zhǎng)談了，”科奧說(shuō)，“說(shuō)來(lái)話長(zhǎng)。順便一提，父親是個(gè)絕對(duì)好心的人。當(dāng)發(fā)現(xiàn)他是我父親時(shí)，即使他不是國(guó)王，我也會(huì)喜不自禁的;盡管我馬上就要接受教育和其他可怕的事情了。但你想聽(tīng)故事……好，科林和我是雙胞胎。大概在我們出生后的一個(gè)星期，他們把我們帶到納尼亞一個(gè)年長(zhǎng)的、智慧的人頭馬那里，接受祝福什么的?，F(xiàn)在這個(gè)人頭馬和許多其他人頭馬一樣，成為了先知?；蛟S你從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)人頭馬吧。昨天的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中還有幾匹，確實(shí)很杰出：但我還不能說(shuō)和它們相處融洽。我說(shuō)，阿拉維斯，在這些北方國(guó)家中，有很多需要我們習(xí)慣的事情。”

"Yes, there are," said Aravis."But get on with the story."

“是，有很多，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，“但是繼續(xù)講故事啊!”

"Well, as soon as he saw Corin and me, it seems this Centaur looked at me and said, A day will come when that boy will save Archenland from the deadliest danger in which ever she lay. So of course my Father and Mother were very pleased. But there was someone present who wasn' t. This was a chap called the Lord Bar who had been Father' s Lord Chancellor. And apparently he'd done something wrong—bezzling or some word like that—I didn't understand that part very well—and Father had had to dismiss him. But nothing else was done to him and he was allowed to go on living in Archenland. But he must have been as bad as he could be, for it came out afterwards he had been in the pay of the Tisroc and had sent a lot of secret information to Tashbaan. So as soon as he heard I was going to save Archenland from a great danger he decided I must be put out of the way. Well, he succeeded in kidnapping me (I don't exactly know how) and rode away down the Winding Arrow to the coast. He'd had everything prepared and there was a ship manned with his own followers lying ready for him and he put out to sea with me on board. But Father got wind of it, though not quite in time, and was after him as quickly as he could. The Lord Bar was already at sea when Father reached the coast, but not out of sight. And Father was embarked in one of his own warships within twenty minutes.

“好吧，一看見(jiàn)我和科林，人頭馬就好像看著我說(shuō)道：‘有朝一日，這個(gè)孩子將拯救阿欽蘭于水火之中’。我父母理所當(dāng)然的很高興。但是，在場(chǎng)的人中，有個(gè)叫巴爾勛爵的人并不高興。他曾經(jīng)是我父親手下的大法官。顯然他犯了一些錯(cuò)誤——貪污瀆職或者諸如此類的，這些事情我不清楚，然后父親只得解除他的職務(wù)，但并沒(méi)有多作懲罰，仍然被允許生活在阿欽蘭。但他肯定是個(gè)奸賊，因?yàn)楹髞?lái)查明，他曾經(jīng)被太洛帝收買，把很多秘密情報(bào)送到了塔什班城。一聽(tīng)見(jiàn)我將成為阿欽蘭的救世主時(shí)，就下定決心除掉我。接著，他成功地綁架了我( 我也不知道究竟怎么綁架的)，策馬沿著旋箭河跑到海灘。他計(jì)劃完美，早有一條他的隨從駕駛的船在那兒等他，他駕著船，帶我從海上逃離。但父親還是聽(tīng)到風(fēng)聲，雖然不太及時(shí)，但仍然奮力追趕。父親到達(dá)海灘時(shí)，巴爾勛爵已經(jīng)出海，但是沒(méi)走遠(yuǎn)。二十分鐘后，父親就跳上了一艘巴爾勛爵的戰(zhàn)艦。”

"It must have been a wonderful chase.They were six days following Bar s galleon and brought her to battle on the seventh. It was a great sea-fight (I heard a lot about it yesterday evening) from ten o clock in the morning till sunset. Our people took the ship in the end. But I wasn t there. The Lord Bar himself had been killed in the battle. But one of his men said that, early that morning, as soon as he saw he was certain to be overhauled, Bar had given me to one of his knights and sent us both away in the ship s boat. And that boat was never seen again. But of course that was the same boat that Aslan (he seems to be at the back of all the stories) pushed ashore at the right place for Arsheesh to pick me up. I wish I knew that knight s name, for he must have kept me alive and starved himself to do it."

“這注定是一場(chǎng)大追捕。他們追趕巴爾的大帆船六天六夜，第七天，巴爾不得不交戰(zhàn)。這是一場(chǎng)偉大的海戰(zhàn)( 昨晚我還聽(tīng)別人說(shuō)了不少)，從早上十點(diǎn)打到日沉西山。我們的士兵終于占領(lǐng)了那條大帆船。但我不在船上。巴爾勛爵已經(jīng)戰(zhàn)死。但他的一個(gè)手下說(shuō)，那天早上，他發(fā)覺(jué)自己必被趕上，便把我交給了一個(gè)武士，用一艘小船把我們送走了。那條小船永遠(yuǎn)地消失了。但是，當(dāng)然了，阿斯蘭( 看來(lái)阿斯蘭在每件事后都做好了安排) 把小船推到海灘上合適的地方，以便阿什伊什能夠撿到我。我真希望知道那位武士的名字，因?yàn)樗甜嚢ゐI，才讓我活了下來(lái)。”

"I suppose Aslan would say that was part of someone else's story,"said Aravis.

“我想，阿斯蘭肯定會(huì)說(shuō)，這部分是別人的故事了。”阿拉維斯說(shuō)。

"I was forgetting that," said Cor.

“我倒忘了這一點(diǎn)。”科奧說(shuō)。

"And I wonder how the prophecy will work out," said Aravis, "and what the great danger is that you're to save Archenland from."

“我很想知道，預(yù)言如何成為現(xiàn)實(shí)，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，“究竟你要把阿欽蘭從什么大危險(xiǎn)中拯救出來(lái)。”

"Well," said Cor rather awkwardly, "they seem to think I've done it already."

“好吧，”科奧有點(diǎn)尷尬，“他們好像認(rèn)為我已經(jīng)拯救了阿欽蘭了。”

Aravis clapped her hands. "Why, of course !"she said. "How stupid I am. And how wonderful ! Archenland can never be in much greater danger than it was when Rabadash had crossed the Arrow with his two hundred horse and you hadn t yet got through with your message.Don t you feel proud ?"

阿拉維斯鼓掌。“哦，當(dāng)然!”她說(shuō)，“我太笨了。你太了不起了。羅八達(dá)帶著兩百人馬過(guò)了旋箭河的時(shí)候，如果你還沒(méi)有把消息送到，那時(shí)候阿欽蘭危險(xiǎn)到了極點(diǎn)。你難道不自豪嗎?”

"I think I feel a bit scared," said Cor.

“我覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)害怕。”科奧說(shuō)。

"And you'll be living at Anvard now," said Aravis rather wistfully.

“現(xiàn)在你要在安瓦德生活下去了。”阿拉維斯若有所思地說(shuō)。

"Oh !" said Cor, "I'd nearly forgotten what I came about. Father wants you to come and live with us. He says there s been no lady in the court (they call it the court, I don t know why) since Mother died. Do, Aravis. You ll like Father—and Corin. They re not like me;they ve been properly brought up. You needn t be afraid that—"

“啊!”科奧說(shuō)，“我差點(diǎn)忘了來(lái)這兒干什么。父親想要你來(lái)和我們一起住。他說(shuō)宮廷里( 他們都叫它宮廷，我也不知道為何) 自從母親去世后，一直沒(méi)有女士。來(lái)吧，阿拉維斯。你會(huì)喜歡父親和科林的。他們不像我：他們富有教養(yǎng)。你不必害怕……”

"Oh stop it," said Aravis, "or we'll have a real fight. Of course I ll come."

“哦，別說(shuō)了，”阿拉維斯說(shuō)，“不然我們真的要打架。我肯定會(huì)去的。”

"Now let's go and see the Horses," said Cor. There was a great and joyous meeting between Bree and Cor, and Bree,who was still in a rather subdued frame of mind, agreed to set out for Anvard at once: he and Hwin would cross into Narnia on the following day.All four bade an affectionate farewell to the Hermit and promised that they would soon visit him again.By about the middle of the morning they were on their way. The Horses had expected that Aravis and Cor would ride, but Cor explained that except in war,where everyone must do what he can do best,no one in Narnia or Archenland ever dreamed of mounting a Talking Horse.

“讓我們?nèi)タ纯雌渌R兒。”科奧說(shuō)。布里和科奧的相見(jiàn)是愉快歡樂(lè)的，雖然布里情緒低落，但仍然同意立刻向安瓦德進(jìn)發(fā)：翌日，她和赫溫將經(jīng)由安瓦德進(jìn)入納尼亞境內(nèi)。三匹馬和一個(gè)人向隱士道別，許諾不久就會(huì)來(lái)看他。大概早上十點(diǎn)的時(shí)候，他們上路了。馬兒們以為阿拉維斯和科奧會(huì)騎馬走，但科奧解釋道，除非在人人參與的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中，納尼亞和阿欽蘭是不會(huì)有人想騎會(huì)說(shuō)話的馬的。

This reminded poor Bree again of how little he knew about Narnian customs and what dreadful mistakes he might make. So while Hwin strolled along in a happy dream,Bree got more nervous and more self-conscious with every step he took.

這件事再次提醒了布里：他對(duì)納尼亞風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣一無(wú)所知，很可能犯大錯(cuò)。所以，赫溫愉快的一路走過(guò)去，布里的步伐卻變得忐忑不安、扭扭捏捏了。

"Buck up, Bree," said Cor. "It's far worse for me than for you. You aren t going to be educated. I shall be learning reading and writing and heraldry and dancing and history and music while you ll be galloping and rolling on the hills of Narnia to your heart s content."

“振作點(diǎn)，布里，”科奧說(shuō)，“我的處境遠(yuǎn)比你糟。你不用上學(xué)，我不得不馬上就要學(xué)習(xí)讀書(shū)寫(xiě)字、紋章學(xué)、跳舞、歷史和音樂(lè)等等課程，而你可以在納尼亞小山上盡情馳騁、打滾，心滿意足地玩耍。”

"But that's just the point," groaned Bree."Do Talking Horses roll ? Supposing they don t ? I can t bear to give it up. What do you think, Hwin ?"

“但這正正是個(gè)問(wèn)題，”布里嘟囔道，“說(shuō)話的馬還打滾?如果不打滾呢?要我放棄打滾，那可受不了。你覺(jué)得呢，赫溫?”

"I'm going to roll anyway," said Hwin."I don't suppose any of them will care two lumps of sugar whether you roll or not."

“我無(wú)論如何都要打滾，”赫溫說(shuō)，“你是否打滾，我看沒(méi)人會(huì)介意。”

"Are we near that castle ?" said Bree to Cor.

“快到城堡了嗎?”布里問(wèn)科奧。

"Round the next bend," said the Prince.

“再拐個(gè)彎就是了。”王子說(shuō)。

"Well," said Bree,"I'm going to have a good one now: it may be the last.Wait for me a minute."

“好吧，”布里說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在我要盡情地打個(gè)滾兒，也許是最后一次了。等我一會(huì)兒。”

It was five minutes before he rose again, blowing hard and covered with bits of bracken.

五分鐘后，布里重新站了起來(lái)，劇烈地噴著鼻息，渾身都是斑斑點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的羊齒植物。

"Now I'm ready," he said in a voice of profound gloom. "Lead on,Prince Cor, Narnia and the North. "

“我準(zhǔn)備好了，”布里說(shuō)，聲音沉悶，“科奧王子，帶路吧。向著納尼亞和北方進(jìn)發(fā)。”

But he looked more like a horse going to a funeral than a long-lost captive returning to home and freedom.

然而，布里的神色，與其說(shuō)是浪子回歸家鄉(xiāng)和自由，不如說(shuō)是一匹馬走向他的殯葬地的神色。