《凱斯賓王子》第四章 小矮人講述凱斯賓王子的故事

CHAPTER FOUR THE DWARF TELLS OF PRINCE CASPIAN

第四章 小矮人講述凱斯賓王子的故事

PRINCE CASPIAN lived in a great castle in the centre of Narnia with his uncle，Miraz，the King of Narnia，and his aunt，who had red hair and was called Queen Prunaprismia.His father and mother were dead and the person whom Caspian loved best was his nurse，and though (being a prince) he had wonderful toys which would do almost anything but talk，he liked best the last hour of the day when the toys had all been put back in their cupboards and Nurse would tell him stories.

在凱斯賓王子從小就住在納尼亞中部最大的城堡里，和他的叔父和嬸母一起生活，也就是納尼亞的國王彌若茲和那個紅頭發(fā)的普魯娜普瑞絲彌爾王后。凱斯賓王子的父母很早就去世了，保姆就是他最親近的人。作為納尼亞的王子，他有很多玩具，它們除了不會說話之外，什么都會做。但是，他最喜歡的還是每天睡覺之前的時間。因為每天的這個時候，他的保姆就會過來哄他睡覺，給他講故事。

He did not care much for his uncle and aunt，but about twice a week his uncle would send for him and they would walk up and down together for half an hour on the terrace at the south side of the castle.One day，while they were doing this，the King said to him，

他的叔父和嬸母好像并不太關(guān)心他的成長，但是幾乎每周，他的叔父都會叫凱斯賓王子陪他散步半個鐘頭。有一天，他們散步時，他的叔父突然說：

"Well，boy，we must soon teach you to ride and use a sword.You know that your aunt and I have no children，so it looks as if you might have to be King when I'm gone.How shall you like that，eh?"

孩子，我們計劃安排人來教你騎馬和擊劍。你也知道，我和你嬸母沒有孩子。也就是說，我去世后就是你來繼承王位了。你應(yīng)該會很樂意的，是吧?

"I don't know，Uncle，"said Caspian.

"我不知道，叔父。"凱斯賓回答。

"Don't know，eh?"said Miraz."Why，I should like to know what more anyone could wish for!"

"你不知道?什么意思?"彌若茲感到很意外，"為什么!我想知道，一個人除了最高的尊敬和榮耀之外，還想要什么?"

"All the same，I do wish，"said Caspian.

"好吧，叔父，我真的有個愿望。"聽到叔父這么問，凱斯賓認真地回答。

"What do you wish?"asked the King.

"你的愿望是什么?"國王又問。

"I wish-I wish-I wish I could have lived in the Old Days，"said Caspian.(He was only a very little boy at the time.)

"我希望......希望......我希望能生活在過去。"凱斯賓說。(那時候，他不過是個孩子。)

Up till now King Miraz had been talking in the tiresome way that some grown-ups have，which makes it quite clear that they are not really interested in what you are saying，but now he suddenly gave Caspian a very sharp look.

在這之前，彌若茲國王一直用成年人的語調(diào)跟他談話，就是那種他們對孩子說的話不怎么感興趣的樣子。這時，彌爾茲投來了銳利的一瞥。

"Eh? What's that?"he said."What old days do you mean?"

"嗯?那是什么日子?"他說，"什么叫過去的日子?"

"Oh，don't you know，Uncle?"said Caspian."When everything was quite different.When all the animals could talk，and there were nice people who lived in the streams and the trees.Naiads and Dryads they were called.And there were Dwarfs.And there were lovely little Fauns in all the woods.They had feet like goats.And-"

"哦，你不知道嗎，叔父?"凱斯賓說，"那個時候，所有一切和現(xiàn)在都不一樣。那時候的動物會說話，大森林和小溪邊都住著善良的仙女。還有很多小矮人和非常可愛的羊怪，他們有著像山羊一樣的角，還有......"

"That's all nonsense，for babies，"said the King sternly."Only fit for babies，do you hear? You're getting too old for that sort of stuff.At your age you ought to be thinking of battles and adventures，not fairy tales."

"那全是無稽之談，哄騙小孩的!"國王怒斥道，"只是糊弄三歲小孩的話，你明白了嗎?你已經(jīng)過了那樣的年紀(jì)了。你現(xiàn)在長大了，應(yīng)該去關(guān)注戰(zhàn)爭和探險，而不是童話故事。"

"Oh，but there were battles and adventures in those days，"said Caspian."Wonderful adventures.Once there was a White Witch and she made herself Queen of the whole country.And she made it so that it was always winter.And then two boys and two girls came from somewhere and so they killed the Witch and they were made Kings and Queens of Narnia，and their names were Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy.And so they reigned for ever so long and everyone had a lovely time，and it was all because of Aslan-"

"嗯，可是在那個時候，也有戰(zhàn)爭和探險呀，"凱斯賓說，"還是很奇妙的冒險!那個時候，有個白女巫自封為納尼亞的女王。她用魔法讓整個納尼亞只有漫長寒冷的冬天。然后，不知道從什么地方來了兩個男孩和兩個女孩，他們殺了女巫，成了納尼亞的國王和女王。他們叫彼得、蘇珊、愛德蒙和露茜。他們統(tǒng)治納尼亞多年，讓人們過著幸福的生活。這都是因為阿斯蘭......。"

"Who's he?"said Miraz.And if Caspian had been a very little older，the tone of his uncle's voice would have warned him that it would be wiser to shut up.But he babbled on，

"阿斯蘭是誰?"彌若茲生氣地問。如果凱斯賓的年齡再大一點，他肯定能從叔父的語調(diào)中聽出異樣，并且識相地閉嘴。可是他還是講了下去。

"Oh，don't you know?"he said."Aslan is the great Lion who comes from over the sea."

"噢，你不知道嗎?"他說，"阿斯蘭是漂洋過海而來的一頭偉大的獅子。"

"Who has been telling you all this nonsense?"said the King in a voice of thunder.Caspian was frightened and said nothing.

"你是聽誰胡說八道的?"國王怒氣沖沖地抓起凱斯賓的手，彌若茲的這一舉動嚇壞了凱斯賓，他不敢再說什么了。

"Your Royal Highness，"said King Miraz，letting go of Caspian's hand，which he had been holding till now，"I insist upon being answered.Look me in the face.Who has been telling you this pack of lies?"

"我尊貴的王子，"彌若茲國王放開了抓住凱斯賓的手，接著說，"你看著我的眼睛，告訴我，是誰給你講了這些謊話?"

"N-Nurse，"faltered Caspian，and burst into tears.

"是保......保姆。"凱斯賓顫抖地回答，嚇得眼淚都出來了。

"Stop that noise，"said his uncle，taking Caspian by the shoulders and giving him a shake."Stop it.And never let me catch you talking-or thinking either-about all those silly stories again.There never were those Kings and Queens.How could there be two Kings at the same time? And there's no such person as Aslan.And there are no such things as lions.And there never was a time when animals could talk.Do you hear?"

"不準(zhǔn)哭!"國王抓住他的肩，使勁地搖，"別再讓我聽到你講這些荒誕的故事，想都不準(zhǔn)想。什么國王、女王的，根本都不存在。一個國家怎么可能有兩個國王和女王，更沒有什么阿斯蘭獅子，也不會有什么會說話的動物。聽明白了嗎?"

"Yes，Uncle，"sobbed Caspian.

"好的，叔父。"凱斯賓還在抽泣。

"Then let's have no more of it，"said the King.Then he called to one of the gentlemen-in-waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrace and said in a cold voice，"Conduct His Royal Highness to his apartments and send His Royal Highness's nurse to me AT ONCE."

"好了，不說了。"國王叫來恭候在陽臺的侍從，冷冷地說，"送王子殿下回他的房間，然后把他的保姆給我?guī)蟻?"

Next day Caspian found what a terrible thing he had done，for Nurse had been sent away without even being allowed to say good-bye to him，and he was told he was to have a Tutor.

第二天，凱斯賓才知道自己做了多么可怕的事，保姆被趕走了，甚至不準(zhǔn)她跟王子道別，而且他馬上會有一位新的家庭教師。

Caspian missed his nurse very much and shed many tears; and because he was so miserable，he thought about the old stories of Narnia far more than before.He dreamed of Dwarfs and Dryads every night and tried very hard to make the dogs and cats in the castle talk to him.But the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred.

凱斯賓非常想念他的保姆，還因此哭了好多次?？赡苁且驗檫@現(xiàn)實生活太不盡如人意，所以他比以前更想念納尼亞的古老故事了。他夜夜夢到小矮人和森林里的小仙女，還有會說話的動物。白天他便想盡一切辦法，讓那些城堡里的貓狗和他說話?？墒?，那些狗只會沖他搖尾巴，貓也只是會發(fā)出"咪咪"的叫聲。

Caspian felt sure that he would hate the new Tutor，buy when the new Tutor arrived about a week later he turns out to be the sort of person it is almost impossible not to like.He was the smallest，and also the fattest，man Caspian had ever seen.He had a long，silvery，pointed beard which came down to his waist，and his face，which was brown and covered with wrinkles，looked very wise，very ugly，and very kind.His voice was grave and his eyes were merry so that，until you got to know him really well，it was hard to know when he was joking and when he was serious.His name was Doctor Cornelius.

凱斯賓相信他新來的家庭教師，一定非常討厭?？勺屗馔獾氖?，一個禮拜后，當(dāng)家庭教師出現(xiàn)在他面前時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他太招人喜歡了。他是凱斯賓見過最矮最胖的人，長長的白胡子幾乎垂到了他的肚子上。他的臉是棕色的，布滿皺紋。老師雖然很丑，但是慈祥的眼睛里充滿了智慧。只有跟他混得非常熟，才知道他什么時候開玩笑，什么時候在說正經(jīng)話。他就是克奈爾斯博士。

Of all his lessons with Doctor Cornelius the one that Caspian liked best was History.Up till now，except for Nurse's stories，he had known nothing about the History of Narnia，and he was very surprised to learn that the royal family were newcomers in the country.

在克奈爾斯博士所教的所有課程中，凱斯賓最喜歡歷史課。到現(xiàn)在為止，除了保姆給他講的故事，他對納尼亞的歷史根本是一無所知。當(dāng)了解到自己的王族是從其他地方遷徙過來的時候，他非常驚訝。

"It was your Highness's ancestor，Caspian the First，"said Doctor Cornelius，"who first conquered Narnia and made it his kingdom.It was he who brought all your nation into the country.You are not native Narnians at all.You are all Telmarines-that is，you all came from the Land of Telmar，far beyond the Western Mountains.That is why Caspian the First is called Caspian the Conqueror."

"那是殿下的祖先，凱斯賓一世，"克奈爾斯博士說，"他征服了納尼亞，并且成了它的國王。是他把你們的族人帶到了納尼亞。你們不是土生土長的納尼亞人，而是臺爾馬人，來自西部大山那邊的臺爾馬王國。這就是凱斯賓一世被稱為'征服者凱斯賓'的原因。

"Please，Doctor，"asked Caspian one day，"who lived in Narnia before we all came here out of Telmar?"

"可是，克奈爾斯博士，"有一天凱斯賓問，"我們臺爾馬人來這兒之前，是什么人住在這里的呢?"

"No men-or very few-lived in Narnia before the Telmarines took it，"said Doctor Cornelius.

"沒有人，或者說在臺爾馬人來這兒之前，很少有人來過納尼亞。"克奈爾斯博士回答。

"Then who did my great-great-grandcesters conquer?"

"那么我的祖先征服了誰呢?"

"Whom，not who，your Highness，"said Doctor Cornelius."Perhaps it is time to turn from History to Grammar."

"不是征服誰，而是誰被征服，王子殿下，"克奈爾斯博士話鋒一轉(zhuǎn)，"我覺得現(xiàn)在我們應(yīng)該馬上結(jié)束歷史課了，接下來是語法課。"

"Oh please，not yet!"said Caspian.

再等一下，馬上就好，求求你了，凱斯賓懇求道，

"I mean，wasn't there a battle? Why is he called Caspian the Conqueror if there was nobody to fight with him?"

"那你告訴我，這中間難道就沒有發(fā)生過戰(zhàn)爭嗎?不然，為什么大家稱他為'征服者凱斯賓'呢?"

"I said there were very few men in Narnia，"said the Doctor，looking at the little boy very strangely through his great spectacles.

"我說過了，納尼亞之前很少有人的。"克奈爾斯博士透過他的老花鏡，用一種異樣的眼神看著這個小男孩。

For a moment Caspian was puzzled and then suddenly his heart gave a leap."Do you mean，"he gasped，"that there were other things? Do you mean it was like in the stories? Were there-?"

有那么一瞬間，凱斯賓感到很迷惑，但是他馬上就激動了起來。"那么說，"他急切地問道，"難道真的像故事里講的那樣，納尼亞之前還有其他的生靈嗎?比如有......"

"Hush!"said Doctor Cornelius，laying his head very close to Caspian's."Not a word more.Don't you know your Nurse was sent away for telling you about Old Narnia? The King doesn't like it.If he found me telling you secrets，you'd be whipped and I should have my head cut off."

"噓!"克奈爾斯博士湊近凱斯賓說，"別提這個了。難道你忘了，你的保姆就是因為跟你講這些故事被趕走的嗎?我們的國王不讓提這些。如果他發(fā)現(xiàn)我跟你講了這些，我的命就會保不住，你也會被打一頓的。"

"But why?"asked Caspian.

"可是，為什么不讓提這些呢?"凱斯賓又問。

"1t is high time we turned to Grammar now，"said Doctor Cornelius in a loud voice."Will your Royal Highness be pleased to open Pulverulentus Siccus at the fourth page of his Grammatical garden or the Arbour of Accidence pleasantlie open'd to Tender Wits?"

"我們現(xiàn)在必須上語法課了，"克奈爾斯博士提高了聲調(diào)，"王子殿下，請打開《語法解析》翻到第四頁，我們要講趣味語法點滴以及語言的結(jié)構(gòu)和妙用。"

After that it was all nouns and verbs till lunchtime，but I don't think Caspian learned much.He was too excited.He felt sure that Doctor Cornelius would not have said so much unless he meant to tell him more sooner or later.

這之后到午飯之前，克奈爾斯博士一直在講名詞、動詞，但是凱斯賓什么都沒聽進去。他非常確定克奈爾斯博士遲早還會接著講那些故事的，如果他不打算告訴他，之前也不會說這么多了。

In this he was not disappointed.A few days later his Tutor said，"Tonight I am going to give you a lesson in Astronomy.At dead of night two noble planets，Tarva and Alambil，will pass within one degree of each other.Such a conjunction has not occurred for two hundred years，and your Highness will not live to see it again.It will be best if you go to bed a little earlier than usual.When the time of the conjunction draws near,I will come and wake you."

克奈爾斯博士果然沒有讓他失望。過了幾天，他對凱斯賓說："今天晚上我們要上天文課。今夜兩顆神圣的行星--塔瓦和阿拉姆畢爾將會相遇，他們之間的距離是近兩百年里最接近的?？峙麓松姷竭@種奇跡的機會僅此一次。所以，王子殿下今晚最好早點睡覺，在兩顆星星相遇之前我來叫醒你。"

This didn't seem to have anything to do with Old Narnia，which was what Caspian really wanted to hear about，but getting up in the middle of the night is always interesting and he was moderately pleased.When he went to bed that night，he thought at first that he would not be able to sleep; but he soon dropped off and it seemed only a few minutes before he felt someone gently shaking him.

凱斯賓覺得，這和古老的納尼亞似乎沒有什么關(guān)系。但是，半夜起床去做其他的事情倒也很新鮮，他想想都非常開心。起先，他估計自己會興奮得睡不著，可事實是，他很快就睡著了。而且，好像是剛睡了一小會兒就有人輕輕地叫醒他。

He sat up in bed and saw that the room was full of moonlight.

他坐起來，看到屋子滿是銀色的月光。

Doctor Cornelius，muffled in a hooded robe and holding a small lamp in his hand，stood by the bedside.

而克奈爾斯博士穿著一件帶帽子的大斗篷，提著一盞燈，站在他的床邊。

Caspian remembered at once what they were going to do.He got up and put on some clothes.Athough it was a summer night he felt colder than he had expected and was quite glad when the Doctor wrapped him in a robe like his own and gave him a pair of warm，soft buskins for his feet.A moment later，both muffled so that they could hardly be seen in the dark corridors，and both shod so that they made almost no noise，master and pupil left the room.

凱斯賓很快清醒過來。他趕緊爬起來穿衣服，雖然這是夏天，但深夜里還是有點涼意。克奈爾斯博士給他披了一件和自己一樣的斗篷，還給了他一雙溫暖的長筒靴。然后，兩個人裹上黑色的斗篷，在漆黑的廊子里躡手躡腳地走，一點聲音也沒有。這對師生像隱形了一樣，離開了房間。

Caspian followed the Doctor through many passages and up several staircases，and at last，through a little door in a turret，they came out upon the leads.On one side were the battlements，on the other a steep roof; below them，all shadowy and shimmery，the castle gardens; above them，stars and moon.Presently they came to another door，which led into the great central tower of the whole castle: Doctor Cornelius unlocked it and they began to climb the dark winding stair of the tower.Caspian was becoming excited; he had never been allowed up this stair before.

凱斯賓跟著克奈爾斯博士走過很多長廊，爬了很多層樓梯，最后穿過一扇小門，來到天臺。凱斯賓在夜色中遙望下面幽暗的城堡和花園。抬起頭，皓月當(dāng)空，星羅棋布。很快，他們又進入另一扇門，走向城堡中心的高塔?？四螤査共┦看蜷_鎖，帶著凱斯賓沿著旋轉(zhuǎn)樓梯爬上去。凱斯賓非常興奮，因為這樓梯平時是不準(zhǔn)爬的。

It was long and steep，but when they came out on the roof of the tower and Caspian had got his breath，he felt that it had been well worth it.Away on his right he could see，rather indistinctly，the Western Mountains.On his left was the gleam of the Great River，and everything was so quiet that he could hear the sound of the waterfall at Beaversdam，a mile away.There was no difficulty in picking out the two stars they had come to see.They hung rather low in the southern sky，almost as bright as two little moons and very close together.

樓梯又長又陡。爬到塔頂時，凱斯賓已經(jīng)上氣不接下氣了。但是，他馬上發(fā)現(xiàn)這一切都是值得的。向右望去，山巒重重，依稀可見，左邊是一條九曲回腸的大河。此時萬籟俱寂，凱斯賓隱約聽得見一英里外大壩的水聲。他們開始從眾星中找出那兩顆神圣的星星，不過這似乎并不難--它們低懸在南方，明亮得像兩顆小月亮，而且相距非常近。

"Are they going to have a collision?"he asked in an awestruck voice.

"它們會撞在一起嗎?"凱斯賓突然不安地問。

"Nay，dear Prince，"said the Doctor (and he too spoke in a whisper)."The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance too well for that.Look well upon them.Their meeting is fortunate and means some great good for the sad realm of Narnia.Tarva，the Lord of Victory，salutes Alambil，the Lady of Peace.They are just coming to their nearest."

"不會的，我的王子殿下，"克奈爾斯博士說，"那些星星太熟悉它們的軌道了，怎么可能會撞在一起呢。你好好地看著吧，這次相聚是個吉兆的，將會給不幸的納尼亞帶來福音。你看!勝利之神塔瓦正在向和平女神阿拉姆畢爾致敬呢，它們就要到相距最近的地方了。"

"It's a pity that tree gets in the way，"said Caspian."We'd really see better from the West Tower，though it is not so high."

"可惜被那棵樹擋住了，"凱斯賓說，"西塔的視線應(yīng)該會好一點，而且也不用爬這么高。"

Doctor Cornelius said nothing for about two minutes，but stood still with his eyes fixed on Tarva and Alambil.Then he drew a deep breath and turned to Caspian.

大概有兩分鐘，克奈爾斯博士一句話都沒說，就像雕像一樣站在那里，注視著行星塔瓦和阿拉姆畢爾。然后，他深深地吐了口氣，轉(zhuǎn)頭看著凱斯賓。

"There，"he said."You have seen what no man now alive has seen，nor will see again.And you are right.We should have seen it even better from the smaller tower.I brought you here for another reason."

"在這里，"他說，"你看到了別人沒看過的，而且此后再也不會有人看到的奇跡。當(dāng)然你是對的，我們在西塔可以看得更清楚。但是我?guī)銇磉@里，還有別的原因。"

Caspian looked up at him，but the Doctor's hood concealed most of his face.

凱斯賓仰起頭看著他，可是克奈爾斯博士的帽子遮住了他大半個臉。

"The virtue of this tower，"said Doctor Cornelius，"is that we have six empty rooms beneath us，and a long stair，and the door at the bottom of the stair is locked.We cannot be overheard."

"來這座塔真正的原因，"克奈爾斯博士說，"是因為在我們下面，有六間空屋子，還有長長的樓梯，底樓還上了鎖，所以沒有人能聽到我們講話。

"Are you going to tell me what you wouldn't tell me the other day?"said Caspian.

"你是不是要告訴我那天沒說完的事?"凱斯賓急切地問。

"I am，"said the Doctor."But remember.You and I must never talk about these things except here-on the very top of the Great Tower."

"沒錯，"克奈爾斯博士說，"但是你必須要記住，我們不要再談?wù)撨@件事，除非在這里。"

"No.That's a promise，"said Caspian."But do go on，please."

"好的，我答應(yīng)你。"凱斯賓說，"那你現(xiàn)在就給我講吧。"

"Listen，"said the Doctor."All you have heard about Old Narnia is true.It is not the land of Men.It is the country of Aslan，the country of the Waking Trees and Visible Naiads，of Fauns and Satyrs，of Dwarfs and Giants，of the gods and the Centaurs，of Talking Beasts.It was against these that the first Caspian fought.It is you Telmarines who silenced the beasts and the trees and the fountains，and who killed and drove away the Dwarfs and Fauns，and are now trying to cover up even the memory of them.The King does not allow them to be spoken of."

"那你聽好了，"博士說，"那些關(guān)于納尼亞的傳說都是真實的。納尼亞根本不是人類的領(lǐng)地，它屬于阿斯蘭。以前的納尼亞，有清醒的大樹，有機靈的水仙女、羊怪、小矮人和巨人，還有海貍和人馬，以及其他會說話的動物。就是他們敗給了凱斯賓一世，正是你們臺爾馬人讓這些圣靈都變得安靜和愚鈍，是你們臺爾馬人趕走了小矮人和羊怪。而且你們臺爾馬人還想把這些惡行從人們的記憶中抹去，所以國王不準(zhǔn)任何人提起這些事。"

"Oh，I do wish we hadn't，"said Caspian."And I am glad it was all true，even if it is all over."

"啊，我寧愿我的祖先沒有做過這些事情，"凱斯賓說，"但是我很高興，因為這些傳說雖然已經(jīng)過去了很久，但是它們都是真的。"

"Many of your race wish that in secret，"said Doctor Cornelius.

"當(dāng)然，在你的同胞里，也有一些人暗地里反對過你們祖先做那些事情。"克奈爾斯博士說。

"But，Doctor，"said Caspian，"why do you say my race? After all，I suppose you're a Telmarine too."

"但是，克奈爾斯博士，"凱斯賓禁不住問，"你為什么說'我的同胞'，難道你不是臺爾馬人?"

"Am I?"said the Doctor.

"你覺得我像嗎?"克奈爾斯博士問。

"Well，you're a Man anyway，"said Caspian.

"嗯，你好歹算是一個人嘛。"凱斯賓回答。

"Am I?"repeated the Doctor in a deeper voice，at the same moment throwing back his hood so that Caspian could see his face clearly in the moonlight.

"你確定?"克奈爾斯博士的聲音更加低沉了，他說著取掉了斗篷的帽子。凱斯賓借著月光看清了他的臉。

All at once Caspian realized the truth and felt that he ought to have realized it long before.Doctor Cornelius was so small，and so fat，and had such a very long beard.Two thoughts came into his head at the same moment.One was a thought of terror-"He's not a real man，not a man at all，he's a Dwarf，and he's brought me up here to kill me."The other was sheer delight-"There are real Dwarfs still，and I've seen one at last."

凱斯賓頓時恍然大悟，他早就應(yīng)該發(fā)現(xiàn)的，克奈爾斯博士身材那么矮小，那么胖，而且胡子那么長、那么密。他的腦海里立即閃過兩個念頭，一個聲音恐懼地想，"難道克奈爾斯博士是個小矮人，為了報復(fù)臺爾馬人，把我?guī)У竭@里偷偷殺掉。"另一個聲音卻很樂觀，"竟然有小矮人活了下來，還讓我親眼見到了。"

"So you've guessed it in the end，"said Doctor Cornelius."Or guessed it nearly right.I'm not a pure Dwarf.I have human blood in me too.Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lived on，shaving their beards and wearing high-heeled shoes and pretending to be men.They have mixed with your Telmarines.I am one of those，only a half-Dwarf，and if any of my kindred，the true Dwarfs，are still alive anywhere in the world，doubtless they would despise me and call me a traitor.But never in all these years have we forgotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia，and the long-lost days of freedom."

"你應(yīng)該明白是怎么回事了吧。"克奈爾斯博士說，"可能你猜對了，我不是純正的小矮人，我有人類的血統(tǒng)。事實上，很多小矮人在那場戰(zhàn)爭中幸存了下來。只不過為了繼續(xù)活著，他們剃掉胡子穿上長筒靴，扮成人類和臺爾馬人混居。我是其中的一個，但是我只是半個小矮人。如果我的同胞，也就是說純正的小矮人還活在世上的話，他們肯定會瞧不起我，叫我'叛徒'。但是這么多年來，我從來沒有忘記它們，還有古納尼亞的那些生靈和那神仙般的生活。"

"I'm-I'm sorry，Doctor，"said Caspian."It wasn't my fault，you know."

"對......對不起，克奈爾斯博士，"凱斯賓說，"你知道的，那并不是我的錯。"

"I am not saying these things in blame of you，dear Prince，"answered the Doctor."You may well ask why I say them at all.But I have two reasons.Firstly，because my old heart has carried these secret memories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you.But secondly，for this: that when you become King you may help us，for I know that you also，Telmarine though you are，love the Old Things."

"我的王子，我沒有責(zé)備你的意思。"博士回答說，"你應(yīng)該很好奇，我為什么對你說這些。這其中有兩個原因，其一，這些秘密待在我心里面，實在是太久了，這些回憶在我心里隱隱作痛，但是我又改變不了什么。其二我希望你將來成為國王的時候，能幫助我們。因為我知道，雖然你是一個臺爾馬人，但是你像我一樣，熱愛古納尼亞的一切。

"I do，I do，"said Caspian."But how can I help?"

"我愿意，當(dāng)然愿意，"凱斯賓說，"可是我該怎么幫助你呢?"

"You can be kind to the poor remnants of the Dwarf people，like myself.You can gather learned magicians and try to find a way of awaking the trees once more.You can search through all the nooks and wild places of the land to see if any Fauns or Talking Beasts or Dwarfs are perhaps still alive in hiding."

"你可以對那些幸存下來的小矮人好一些，召集充滿智慧的資深魔法師喚醒樹神;你可以派人找找其他地方是不是還有羊怪、會說話的動物和小矮人。也許他們現(xiàn)在沒有死，而是在我們找不到的地方避難。

"Do you think there are any?"asked Caspian eagerly.

"你覺得我們真的能找到他們嗎?"凱斯賓急切地問。

"I don't know-I don't know，"said the Doctor with a deep sigh."Sometimes I am afraid there can't be.I have been looking for traces of them all my life.Sometimes I have thought I heard a Dwarf-drum in the mountains.Sometimes at night，in the woods，I thought I had caught a glimpse of Fauns and Satyrs dancing a long way off; but when I came to the place，there was never anything there.I have often despaired; but something always happens to start me hoping again.I don't know.But at least you can try to be a King like the High King Peter of old，and not like your uncle."

"我也說不好，真的說不好，"克奈爾斯博士嘆了口氣"很多時候我也在懷疑，他們是不是真的幸存了下來。這些年來我一直在尋找他們的蹤跡，有時我會聽到山中有小矮人的鼓聲;有時我似乎看到了森林中有羊怪，又或者是樹仙女在跳舞?？墒钱?dāng)我走向他們時，他們就突然消失了。每次都這樣，真令人沮喪，但是之后又有類似的事情不斷發(fā)生，又燃起了我的希望。我說不好他們究竟有沒有幸存下來，可是你至少要做一位賢明的國王，像彼得國王那樣，一定不要學(xué)你的叔父。

"Then it's true about the Kings and Queens too，and about the White Witch?"said Caspian.

"那也就是說，關(guān)于國王和女王的傳說也是真的?還有白女巫?"凱斯賓問。

"Certainly it is true，"said Cornelius."Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the land has never forgotten them."

"沒錯，都是真的，"克奈爾斯說，"那是納尼亞的黃金時代，這塊土地是永遠不會忘記他們的。"

"Did they live in this castle，Doctor?"

"克奈爾斯博士，他們當(dāng)時就住在這座城堡嗎?"

"Nay，my dear，"said the old man."This castle is a thing of yesterday.Your great-great-grandfather built it.But when the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve were made Kings and Queens of Narnia by Aslan himself，they lived in the castle of Cair Paravel.No man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the ruins of it have now vanished.But we believe it was far from here，down at the mouth of the Great River，on the very shore of the sea."

"不是的，我的王子，"這位充滿智慧的老者說，"這座城堡是由你曾祖父在前些年修建的。在阿斯蘭加封亞當(dāng)?shù)膬蓚€兒子和夏娃的兩個女兒為國王和女王時，他們住的是凱爾帕拉維爾城堡。沒有人到過那個神圣的地方，連廢墟都找不到。所以，我們相信那兒離這兒很遙遠，在大河的入?？?。

"Ugh!"said Caspian with a shudder."Do you mean in the Black Woods? Where all the-the-you know，the ghosts live?"

"啊?!"凱斯賓吃驚不小，"你說的是'黑樹林'嗎?那個......那個，那里不是住著幽靈嗎?"

"Your Highness speaks as you have been taught，"said the Doctor."But it is all lies.There are no ghosts there.That is a story invented by the Telmarines.Your Kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all stories Aslan comes from over the sea.They don't want to go near it and they don't want anyone else to go near it.So they have let great woods grow up to cut their people off from the coast.But because they have quarrelled with the trees they are afraid of the woods.And because they are afraid of the woods they imagine that they are full of ghosts.And the Kings and great men，hating both the sea and the wood，partly believe these stories，and partly encourage them.They feel safer if no one in Narnia dares to go down to the coast and look out to sea-towards Aslan's land and the morning and the eastern end of the world."

"尊敬的王子殿下，一定是有人曾對你說了謊話，"克奈爾斯博士說，"那里沒有幽靈，那些都是臺爾馬人編造的謊言。歷代的臺爾馬國王都很怕海水，因為他們對過去的傳說耿耿于懷，他們擔(dān)心阿斯蘭會從海外回來懲惡揚善。因此他們不敢親近大海，也不讓其他人親近大海。久而久之，那里的森林就越來越茂密，把他們居住的地方和海岸隔了開來。他們還害怕森林，臆想那里到處都是幽靈。而且歷代國王和大臣都是這樣，對那些謊言推波助瀾。只要沒有人敢去看大海，去遙望阿斯蘭和初升的太陽，他們就覺得安心了。

There was a deep silence between them for a few minutes.Then Doctor Cornelius said，"Come.We have been here long enough.It is time to go down and to bed."

他們倆默默地站了好久，都沒有說話，最后還是克奈爾斯博士先開口，"走吧，我們出來的時間不短了，你該回去睡覺了。"

"Must we?"said Caspian."I'd like to go on talking about these things for hours and hours and hours."

"一定要回去嗎?"凱斯賓意猶未盡地說，"我還沒聽夠呢，真想再聽幾個小時。"

"Someone might begin looking for us，if we did that，"said Doctor Cornelius.

"天快亮了，如果再講下去，恐怕他們要開始四處尋找我們了。"克奈爾斯博士說。