《黎明踏浪號(hào)》第二章 在黎明踏浪號(hào)上
《黎明踏浪號(hào)》第二章 在黎明踏浪號(hào)上
所屬教程:納尼亞傳奇7本全
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2018年07月03日
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CHAPTER TWO ON BOARD THE DAWN TREADER
第二章 在黎明踏浪號(hào)上
“AH,there you are,Lucy,”said Caspian.“We were just waiting for you.This is my captain,the Lord Drinian.”
“哎呀,露茜,你可回來(lái)了,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我們一直都在等你, 這位是我們的船長(zhǎng),德里寧公爵。”
A dark-haired man went down on one knee and kissed her hand.The only others present were Reepicheep and Edmund.
那個(gè)黑發(fā)人單膝下跪,吻她的手。雷佩契普和愛(ài)德蒙也在場(chǎng)。
“Where is Eustace ?”asked Lucy.
“尤斯塔斯去哪兒了?”露茜問(wèn)道。
“In bed,”said Edmund,“and I don’t think we can do anything for him.It only makes him worse if you try to be nice to him.”
“他在床上躺著呢,”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō),“我們幫不了他,恐怕只會(huì)幫倒忙。”
“Meanwhile,”said Caspian,“we want to talk.”
“那我們敘敘舊吧。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。
“By Jove,we do,”said Edmund.“And first,about time. It’s a year ago by our time since we left you just before your coronation.How long has it been in Narnia ?”
“哎呀,我真想和你好好聊聊。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō),“那我們先說(shuō)說(shuō)時(shí)間的問(wèn)題。上次我們是在你加冕典禮前離開(kāi)的。按我們那里的時(shí)間, 已經(jīng)過(guò)了一年了,不知道這里過(guò)了多久啊?”
“Exactly three years,”said Caspian.
“正好是三年。”凱斯賓回答。
“All going well ?”asked Edmund.
“這里都還好吧?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
“You don’t suppose I’d have left my kingdom and put to sea unless all was well,”answered the King.“It couldn’t be better.There’s no trouble at all now between Telmarines,Dwarfs,Talking Beasts,F(xiàn)auns and the rest.And we gave those troublesome giants on the frontier such a good beating last summer that they pay us tribute now.And I had an excellent person to leave as Regent while I’m away—Trumpkin,the Dwarf.You remember him ?”
“不用擔(dān)心,要是國(guó)內(nèi)有事的話(huà),我還能出海遠(yuǎn)航嗎?”凱斯賓國(guó)王回答,“現(xiàn)在比以前的狀況好多了,臺(tái)爾馬人、小矮人、會(huì)說(shuō)話(huà)的獸類(lèi)、小羊怪和其他臣民都沒(méi)什么矛盾。我們?nèi)ツ杲o邊境那些惹是生非的人一頓教訓(xùn)之后,他們現(xiàn)在還向我們進(jìn)貢呢。我出海之前把國(guó)內(nèi)的政事交給了一個(gè)了不起的人,你還記得小矮人杜魯普金嗎?”
“Dear Trumpkin,”said Lucy,“of course I do.You couldn’t have made a better choice.”
“你是說(shuō)杜魯普金嗎?”露茜說(shuō),“我當(dāng)然記得啦,你選的這個(gè)人再合適不過(guò)了。”
“Loyal as a badger ,M a’am,and valiant as — as a Mouse,”said Drinian.He had been going to say“as a lion”but had noticed Reepicheep’s eyes fixed on him.
“是啊,女王陛下,他像獾一樣忠誠(chéng),像老鼠一樣勇敢。”德里寧說(shuō)。他本來(lái)想說(shuō)“像獅子一樣勇敢”,但看到雷佩契普看自己的眼神,只好改了口。
“And where are we heading for ?”asked Edmund.
“我們要去哪里啊?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
“Well,”said Caspian,“that’s rather a long story.Perhaps you remember that when I was a child my usurping uncle Miraz got rid of seven friends of my father’s(who might have taken my part) by sending them off to explore the unknown Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands.”
“這個(gè)嘛,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“說(shuō)來(lái)話(huà)長(zhǎng),你們是否還記得,在我小時(shí)候, 我父王的七位朋友曾支持我做國(guó)王,可是我的叔父卻想篡奪王位,就把他們派到孤獨(dú)群島那邊,去開(kāi)發(fā)東大洋的那片未知地嗎?”
“Yes,”said Lucy,“and none of them ever came back.”
“記得啊,”露茜說(shuō),“他們一個(gè)都沒(méi)能回來(lái)。”
“Right.Well,on my coronation day,with Aslan’s approval,I swore an oath that,if once I established peace in Narnia,I would sail east myself for a year and a day to find my father’s friends or to learn of their deaths and avenge them if I could.These were their names:the Lord Revilian,the Lord Bern,the Lord Argoz,the Lord Mavramorn,the Lord Octesian,the Lord Restimar,and—oh,that other one who’s so hard to remember.”
“沒(méi)錯(cuò)。說(shuō)起來(lái)就在我加冕那天,在獅王阿斯蘭的見(jiàn)證下,我發(fā)誓一旦納尼亞重建和平,我就親自航海去東海,用一年的時(shí)間去找我父王的朋友,不論他們是否還在人世。如果可能的話(huà),我一定會(huì)替他們報(bào)仇。他們七個(gè)是雷維廉公爵、伯恩公爵、阿爾戈茲公爵、馬弗拉蒙公爵、奧克特西安公爵、雷斯蒂瑪公爵,還有……唉,還有一個(gè)名字,我記不清了。”
“The Lord Rhoop,Sire,”said Drinian.
“陛下,是羅普公爵。”德里寧提醒道。
“Rhoop,Rhoop,of course,”said Caspian.“That is my main intention.But Reepicheep here has an even higher hope.”Everyone’s eyes turned to the Mouse.
“羅普,是羅普,當(dāng)然,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“這就是我這次出海的目的??墒俏覀兊睦着迤跗者€有個(gè)更大的夢(mèng)想。”話(huà)音剛落,大家的目光就都投向那只老鼠。
“As high as my spirit,”it said.“Though perhaps as small as my stature.Why should we not come to the very eastern end of the world ? And what might we find there ? I expect to find Aslan’s own country.It is always from the east,across the sea,that the great Lion comes to us.”
“別看我個(gè)頭不高,”它說(shuō),“可是我夢(mèng)想遠(yuǎn)大。既然我們出海遠(yuǎn)航,為什么不到世界的最東方呢?去那里會(huì)有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)呢?說(shuō)不定那邊就是獅王阿斯蘭的國(guó)土。他總是從東方漂洋過(guò)海來(lái)找我們。”
“I say,that is an idea,”said Edmund in an awed voice.
“我說(shuō),這真是一個(gè)好主意。”愛(ài)德蒙的聲音中充滿(mǎn)敬意。
“But do you think,”said Lucy,“Aslan’s country would be that sort of country—I mean,the sort you could ever sail to ?”
“但你想過(guò)沒(méi)有,”露茜說(shuō),“阿斯蘭王國(guó)究竟是怎樣的王國(guó), 我的意思是,你乘船能到那里嗎?”
“I do not know,Madam,”said Reepicheep.“But there is this. When I was in my cradle a wood woman,a Dryad,spoke this verse over me:
“我不知道,女王陛下,”雷佩契普說(shuō),“不過(guò)有一首詩(shī)里寫(xiě)到過(guò), 當(dāng)我還在搖籃里的時(shí)候,樹(shù)仙女曾給我念過(guò)那首詩(shī):
“Where sky and water meet,Where the waves grow sweet,Doubt not,Reepicheep,To find all you seek,There is the utter East.”
海天相連之地,海水變得甜又香。雷佩契普把心放,定能找到那地方。那里就是最東方。”
“I do not know what it means.But the spell of it has been on me all my life.”
雖不知道這句詩(shī)歌是什么意思,但無(wú)形中它總能給我一種神奇的力量。”
After a short silence Lucy asked,“And where are we now, Caspian ?”
短暫的沉默之后,露茜問(wèn),“凱斯賓,我們現(xiàn)在到哪兒了?”
“The Captain can tell you better than I,”said Caspian,so Drinian got out his chart and spread it on the table.
“船長(zhǎng)肯定比我說(shuō)得清楚。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。德里寧拿出地圖,攤在桌子上。
“That’s our position,”he said,laying his finger on it.“Or was at noon today.We had a fair wind from Cair Paravel and stood a little north for Galma,which we made on the next day.We were in port for a week,for the Duke of Galma made a great tournament for His Majesty and there he unhorsed many knights—”
“我們現(xiàn)在在這里,”他指著地圖上的某個(gè)點(diǎn),“這兒是今天正午的方位,我們從凱爾帕拉維爾出來(lái)之后,一路順風(fēng),稍稍向北, 第二天就到達(dá)了加爾馬。我們?cè)诟劭谕A艘恢埽驗(yàn)榧訝栺R公爵為陛下舉行了一次比武大賽,陛下把很多騎士都打下了馬……”
“And got a few nasty falls myself,Drinian.Some of the bruises are there still,”put in Caspian.
“德里寧,你都沒(méi)提我也摔下來(lái)好幾次,而且很狼狽,直到現(xiàn)在腫塊還沒(méi)消。”凱斯賓插了一句。
“—And unhorsed many knights,”repeated Drinian with a grin. “We thought the Duke would have been pleased if the King’s Majesty would have married his daughter,but nothing came of that—”
“……陛下把很多騎士都打落到馬下,”德里寧又說(shuō)了一遍, 咧著嘴笑著說(shuō),“我們還以為國(guó)王陛下為了討公爵的歡心,會(huì)迎娶公爵家的小姐??墒牵瑳](méi)有……”
“Squints,and has freckles,”said Caspian.
“她是個(gè)斜視眼,臉上好多雀斑。”凱斯賓接過(guò)話(huà)。
“Oh,poor girl,”said Lucy.
“啊,可憐的姑娘。”露茜感嘆了一聲。
“And we sailed from Galma,”continued Drinian,“and ran into a calm for the best part of two days and had to row,and then had wind again and did not make Terebinthia till the fourth day from Galma.And there their King sent out a warning not to land for there was sickness in Terebinthia,but we doubled the cape and put in at a little creek far from the city and watered.Then we had to lie off for three days before we got a south east wind and stood out for Seven Isles.The third day out a pirate(Terebinthian by her rig)overhauled us,but when she saw us well armed she stood off after some shooting of arrows on either part—”
“后來(lái)我們從加爾馬起航,”德里寧又說(shuō),“整整兩天都是風(fēng)平浪靜,只好用槳?jiǎng)澊=又制痫L(fēng)了,所以離開(kāi)加爾馬后第四天我們才到達(dá)特里賓西亞。那里發(fā)出警報(bào)說(shuō),我們不能在當(dāng)?shù)氐顷?,因?yàn)槟莾赫隰[瘟疫。我們只好兩次繞過(guò)海角,駛進(jìn)了一個(gè)小海灣,加滿(mǎn)水。后來(lái),我們?cè)谟錾舷乱粋€(gè)東南風(fēng)之前不得已歇了三天,才開(kāi)往七島。第三天的時(shí)候,有一條海盜船追我們,看裝備是特里賓西亞的船, 不過(guò)那條船看見(jiàn)我們?nèi)蔽溲b,朝船兩邊射了幾箭之后就開(kāi)走了。”
“And we ought to have given her chase and boarded her and hanged every mother’s son of them,”said Reepicheep.
“我們真應(yīng)該追上那條船,上去把那些強(qiáng)盜一個(gè)個(gè)絞死。”雷佩契普說(shuō)。
“—And in five days more we were insight of Muil,which, as you know,is the westernmost of the Seven Isles.Then we rowed through the straits and came about sundown into Redhaven on the isle of Brenn,where we were very lovingly feasted and had victuals and water at will.We left Redhaven six days ago and have made marvellously good speed,so that I hope to see the Lone Islands the day after tomorrow.The sum is,we are now nearly thirty days at sea and have sailed more than four hundred leagues from Narnia.”
“又過(guò)了五天,我們看到了米爾島,正如你所知,它是七島中最西邊的一個(gè)小島。然后我們劃出海峽,傍晚的時(shí)候到了布倫島上的紅港。當(dāng)?shù)厝耸⑶榭畲宋覀?,食物和水想加多少就加多少。六天前我們離開(kāi)了紅港,一路上出奇的順利,我們估計(jì)后天就能到孤獨(dú)群島了??偟膩?lái)說(shuō),我們已經(jīng)出海將近三十天,已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離納尼亞四百多海里了。
“And after the Lone Islands ?”said Lucy.
“到了那里之后呢?”露茜問(wèn)。
“No one knows,your Majesty,”answered Drinian.“Unless the Lone Islanders themselves can tell us.”
“現(xiàn)在還不好說(shuō),陛下,”德里寧說(shuō),“除非島上有人告訴我們。”
“They couldn’t in our days,”said Edmund.
“他們未必能告訴我們。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)。
“Then,”said Reepicheep,“it is after the Lone Islands that the adventure really begins.”
“那么說(shuō)來(lái),”雷佩契普說(shuō),“到了群島之后,探險(xiǎn)才算是真正的開(kāi)始呢。”
Caspian now suggested that they might like to be shown over the ship before supper,but Lucy’s conscience smote her and she said,“I think I really must go and see Eustace.Seasickness is horrid,you know.If I had my old cordial with me I could cure him.”
凱斯賓提議大家先在船上參觀(guān)一下,再吃晚飯,可是露茜心里一直有小小的牽掛。她說(shuō),“我想去看看尤斯塔斯。他暈船暈得厲害, 如果我現(xiàn)在還有原來(lái)隨身攜帶的藥瓶,就可以治好他。”
“But you have,”said Caspian.“I’d quite forgotten about it.As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it—if you think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness.”
“藥還有,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我差點(diǎn)忘了。當(dāng)初你走的時(shí)候留下這藥, 我想著,不妨把這藥當(dāng)成一件王室寶貝,所以我一直隨身攜帶——如果你想在暈船這個(gè)小毛病上把它浪費(fèi)掉的話(huà),你就用吧。”
“It’ll only take a drop,”said Lucy.
“我只要一滴。”露茜說(shuō)。
Caspian opened one of the lockers beneath the bench and brought out the beautiful little diamond flask which Lucy remembered so well.“Take back your own,Queen,”he said.They then left the cabin and went out into the sunshine.
凱斯賓打開(kāi)凳子下面的一個(gè)儲(chǔ)物箱,取出露茜給他的那個(gè)小鉆石藥瓶,她對(duì)這個(gè)再熟悉不過(guò)了。他說(shuō):“我親愛(ài)的女王,你的寶貝還給你。”于是他們離開(kāi)艙房,走到陽(yáng)光下。
In the deck there were two large,long hatches,fore and aft of the mast,and both open,as they always were in fair weather,to let light and air into the belly of the ship.Caspian led them down a ladder into the after hatch.Here they found themselves in a place where benches for rowing ran from side to side and the light came in through the oarholes and danced on the roof.Of course Caspian’s ship was not that horrible thing,a galley rowed by slaves.Oars were used only when wind failed or for getting in and out of harbour and everyone(except Reepicheep whose legs were too short)had often taken a turn.At each side of the ship the space under the benches was left clear for the rowers’ feet,but all down the center there was a kind of pit which went down to the very keel and this was filled with all kinds of things—sacks of flour,casks of water and beer,barrels of pork,jars of honey,skin bottles of wine, apples,nuts,cheeses,biscuits,turnips,sides of bacon.From the roof—that is,from the under side of the deck—hung hams and strings of onions,and also the men of the watch off—duty in their hammocks.Caspian led them aft,stepping from bench to bench; at least,it was stepping for him,and something between a step and a jump for Lucy,and a real long jump for Reepicheep.In this way they came to a partition with a door in it.Caspian opened the door and led them into a cabin which filled the stern underneath the deck cabins in the poop.It was of course not so nice.It was very low and the sides sloped together as they went down so that there was hardly any floor;and though it had windows of thick glass, they were not made to open because they were under water.In fact at this very moment,as the ship pitched they were alternately golden with sunlight and dim green with the sea.
"甲板上有兩個(gè)敞開(kāi)的艙口蓋,又大又長(zhǎng)。晴天的時(shí)候,水手們總是把它們打開(kāi),用來(lái)通風(fēng)和采光。凱斯賓帶他們走到梯子下面,進(jìn)入后面的艙口。他們這才發(fā)現(xiàn),原來(lái)左右兩邊都有劃槳的長(zhǎng)凳,陽(yáng)光透過(guò)槳孔照進(jìn)來(lái),在艙頂上閃爍不定。凱斯賓的船不是由奴隸劃槳的, 也沒(méi)有單層甲板大帆船那種可怕的東西。在沒(méi)風(fēng)或者進(jìn)出港口的時(shí)候,船槳才會(huì)被用到。除了個(gè)頭矮小的雷佩契普之外,其他人都要輪流劃槳。船兩邊的長(zhǎng)凳下都有空地方供劃船的人擱腳,中間部分有個(gè)深窖,一直通向龍骨處,里面堆滿(mǎn)了各種東西,比如很多袋的面粉,很多桶水,很多塊豬肉,很多罐蜂蜜,還有很多裝滿(mǎn)酒的皮囊,以及蘋(píng)果、堅(jiān)果、奶酪、餅干、大頭菜和熏肉。艙頂,也就是甲板下面, 掛著很多火腿和成捆成捆的大蔥。當(dāng)然,還有個(gè)值班人員下班后在里面的吊床上休息。凱斯賓帶他們走到船尾,從一個(gè)長(zhǎng)凳跨到另一個(gè)長(zhǎng)凳,他的確是名副其實(shí)的跨,露茜則是邊跳邊跨,而對(duì)雷佩契普來(lái)說(shuō), 那就不能稱(chēng)作跨了,簡(jiǎn)直就是大幅度地跳。就這樣,他們走到一塊有門(mén)的隔板前。凱斯賓打開(kāi)門(mén),帶他們走了進(jìn)去,這間艙房正好在船尾幾間甲板艙下面的尾部,所以條件不太好。房間很低,屋頂根本沒(méi)有天花板,墻壁都是傾斜著靠在一起的。他們一路走過(guò)去,船里一點(diǎn)空隙都沒(méi)有了。雖然里面有厚厚的玻璃窗, 卻打不開(kāi),因?yàn)樗鼈兌荚谒隆2贿^(guò),這個(gè)時(shí)候如果船身前后顛簸, 艙房里就會(huì)一下子閃爍著金色的陽(yáng)光,一下子泛著幽暗的綠光。
"
“You and I must lodge here,Edmund,”said Caspian.“We’ll leave your kinsman the bunk and sling hammocks for ourselves.”
“我們只能睡在這兒了,愛(ài)德蒙。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。
“I beseech your Majesty—”said Drinian.
“可是陛下您……”德里寧說(shuō)。
“No,no shipmate,”said Caspian,“we have argued all that out already.You and Rhince”(Rhince was the mate)“are sailing the ship and will have cares and labours many a night when we are singing catches or telling stories,so you and he must have the port cabin above.King Edmund and I can lie very snug here below. But how is the stranger ?”
“不,不,船長(zhǎng),”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我們已經(jīng)說(shuō)好了。你和賴(lài)因斯還要掌舵( 賴(lài)因斯是副駕),已經(jīng)操勞了好多個(gè)晚上,而我們幾個(gè)只是唱唱歌,聊聊天,所以你應(yīng)該和他一起住在艙房里。我和愛(ài)德蒙國(guó)王在這下面一樣可以睡得很好。只是,不知道那個(gè)陌生人怎樣了?
Eustace,very green in the face,scowled and asked whether there was any sign of the storm getting less.But Caspian said,“What storm ?”and Drinian burst out laughing.
尤斯塔斯臉色鐵青,正滿(mǎn)臉憂(yōu)愁地打聽(tīng)風(fēng)浪有沒(méi)有平息的跡象。凱斯賓卻問(wèn):“什么風(fēng)浪呢?”德里寧不由得放聲大笑。
“Storm,young master !”he roared.“This is as fair weather as a man could ask for.”
“大少爺,你是在說(shuō)風(fēng)浪嗎?”他哈哈大笑,“現(xiàn)在的天氣好得不能再好了。”
“Who’s that ?”said Eustace irritably.“Send him away.His voice goes through my head.”
“你是誰(shuí)?”尤斯塔斯不耐煩地說(shuō),“叫他走,聽(tīng)到他的聲音我腦袋就疼。”
“I’ve brought you something that will make you feel better, Eustace,”said Lucy.
“我給你拿了點(diǎn)東西,吃了你就會(huì)感覺(jué)好多了,尤斯塔斯。” 露茜說(shuō)。
“Oh,go away and leave me alone,”growled Eustace.But he took a drop from her flask,and though he said it was beastly stuff(the smell in the cabin when she opened it was delicious)it is certain that his face came the right colour a few moments after he had swallowed it,and he must have felt better because,instead of wailing about the storm and his head,he began demanding to be put ashore and said that at the first port he would“lodge a disposition”against them all with the British Consul.But when Reepicheep asked what a disposition was and how you lodged it(Reepicheep thought it was some new way of arranging a single combat)Eustace could only reply,“Fancy not knowing that.”In the end they succeeded in convincing Eustace that they were already sailing as fast as they could towards the nearest land they knew,and that they had no more power of sending him back to Cambridge—which was where Uncle Harold lived—than of sending him to the moon. After that he sulkily agreed to put on the fresh clothes which had been put out for him and come on deck.
“哎呀,都走開(kāi),別來(lái)煩我。”尤斯塔斯有些瘋狂。露茜打開(kāi)藥瓶, 艙房里彌散出一股清香。盡管尤斯塔斯說(shuō)這是致命的毒藥,但他還是喝了一滴。等他喝下藥后,臉色明顯好轉(zhuǎn)了,相信他也感覺(jué)舒服了許多。此刻他不再感到頭昏腦脹,也不再提風(fēng)浪了,只是要求他們把他送到岸上去,他還說(shuō)只要自己一踏上海港,就向英國(guó)領(lǐng)事館申請(qǐng)對(duì)他們所有人做出裁決。雷佩契普以為這是種新的決斗方式,問(wèn)他裁決是什么、怎樣申請(qǐng)時(shí),尤斯塔斯嘲諷道:“你真是太奇怪了,連裁決都不知道。”最后, 大家不得不讓尤斯塔斯相信,他們已經(jīng)盡快朝所知道的最近陸地駛?cè)?,但就像他們沒(méi)法送他上月球一樣,他們也沒(méi)有能力送他回到哈羅德舅舅所住的劍橋。他聽(tīng)了之后很不愉快,但還是換上了他們?yōu)樗麥?zhǔn)備的干凈衣服,走到了甲板上。
Caspian now showed them over the ship,though indeed they had seen most of it already.They went up on the forecastle and saw the look-out man standing on a little shelf inside the gilded dragon’s neck and peering through its open mouth.Inside the forecastle was the galley(or ship’s kitchen)and quarters for such people as the boatswain,the carpenter,the cook and the master-archer.If you think it odd to have the galley in the bows and imagine the smoke from its chimney streaming back over the ship,that is because you are thinking of steamships where there is always a headwind.On a sailing ship the wind is coming from behind,and anything smelly is put as far forward as possible. They were taken up to the fighting—top,and at first it was rather alarming to rock to and fro there and see the deck looking small and far away beneath.You realized that if you fell there was no particular reason why you should fall on board rather than in the sea. Then they were taken to the poop,where Rhince was on duty with another man at the great tiller,and behind that the dragon’s tail rose up,covered with gilding,and round inside it ran a little bench.The name of the ship was Dawn Treader.She was only a little bit of a thing compared with one of our ships,or even with the cogs,dromonds,carracks and galleons which Narnia had owned when Lucy and Edmund had reigned there under Peter as the High King,for nearly all navigation had died out in the reigns of Caspian’s ancestors.When his uncle,Miraz the usurper, had sent the seven lords to sea,they had had to buy a Galmian ship and man it with hired Galmian sailors.But now Caspian had begun to teach the Narnians to be sea-faring folk once more,and the Dawn Treader was the finest ship he had built yet.She was so small that,forward of the mast,there was hardly any deck room between the central hatch and the ship’s boat on one side and the hen-coop(Lucy fed the hens)on the other.But she was a beauty of her kind,a“lady”as sailors say,her lines perfect,her colours pure,and every spar and rope and pin lovingly made.Eustace of course would be pleased with nothing,and kept on boasting about liners and motor boats and aeroplanes and submarines(“As if he knew anything about them,”muttered Edmund),but the other two were delighted with the Dawn Treader,and when they returned aft to the cabin and supper,and saw the whole western sky lit up with an immense crimson sunset,and felt the quiver of the ship,and tasted the salt on their lips,and thought of unknown lands on the Eastern rim of the world,Lucy felt that she was almost too happy to speak.
"凱斯賓帶他們到甲板上參觀(guān)整艘船,事實(shí)上,他們已經(jīng)參觀(guān)過(guò)一大半了。他們登上第一個(gè)閣樓,看到瞭望員站在鍍金龍頭旁的一個(gè)小木架上,從張開(kāi)的龍嘴向外張望。閣樓里有廚房( 或者說(shuō)船上的廚房),還有水手、木匠、廚子,以及弓箭手頭頭兒的住處。如果你認(rèn)為煙囪的煙是向后飄,覺(jué)得廚房在前面很奇怪的話(huà),你就要知道, 所有的輪船都是逆風(fēng)行駛的。事實(shí)上,帆船是靠后面的風(fēng)推動(dòng)而行, 那樣的話(huà)所有的尾氣和炊煙都會(huì)被吹到前面,所以廚房只能設(shè)在帆船的前面。他們到桅桿頂?shù)挠^(guān)測(cè)臺(tái),起初那里晃得厲害,過(guò)了好一會(huì)才穩(wěn)住了,從那兒往下看,甲板看起來(lái)又小又遠(yuǎn)。那種感覺(jué)自然是驚心動(dòng)魄的。你想啊,萬(wàn)一掉了下去,肯定不會(huì)掉到海里,毫無(wú)疑問(wèn),只能掉到甲板上。然后他們又去了船尾,賴(lài)因斯和另一個(gè)水手正在值班掌舵,舵后面的龍尾是翹著的,上面鍍著金粉,半圓形的船尾內(nèi)有一排小凳子。這艘船被命名為“黎明踏浪號(hào)”。跟我們這里的船比起來(lái),真是小巫見(jiàn)大巫,它甚至跟彼得國(guó)王、露茜和愛(ài)德蒙統(tǒng)治納尼亞王國(guó)時(shí)的單桅船、雙桅船、大帆船等任何一條船都沒(méi)法比。不知為何,從凱斯賓時(shí)代起,幾乎所有的航海事業(yè)都消亡了。所以當(dāng)初凱斯賓的叔父, 那個(gè)篡奪王位的彌若茲國(guó)王把七位公爵派去出海時(shí),只好買(mǎi)了一艘加爾馬的船只,并雇傭了加爾馬的水手?,F(xiàn)在凱斯賓開(kāi)始鼓勵(lì)納尼亞人學(xué)習(xí)造船技術(shù)并出海了。迄今為止,黎明踏浪號(hào)是他們建造出來(lái)的最優(yōu)秀的船只。
這條船,結(jié)構(gòu)小巧,一邊是救生艇,另一邊是露茜的雞棚( 露茜養(yǎng)了一些母雞),中間剩下的地方就不多了。其實(shí)它的確算得上是同類(lèi)船中的“美人兒”了,水手稱(chēng)她是一位“小姐”,因?yàn)榇耐庑魏苊?,顏色純凈,甚至每根桅桿、每條纜繩、每只圓釘?shù)淖龉ざ己芫馈?br />
尤斯塔斯對(duì)他們說(shuō)的一概沒(méi)有興趣,一個(gè)人自顧自地吹噓大客輪、汽艇、飛機(jī)和潛水艇( 愛(ài)德蒙暗自說(shuō):“就像他真的無(wú)所不知似的。”)。露茜和愛(ài)德蒙兩個(gè)人對(duì)黎明踏浪號(hào)非常喜歡。在他們從船尾回到艙里吃飯的時(shí)候,看見(jiàn)西邊的天空出現(xiàn)了一大片玫瑰色的晚霞。船身在前進(jìn)中不停地顫動(dòng),似乎海水的咸味已經(jīng)到了嘴邊。想到馬上就要到達(dá)世界最東方之外的那片未知地了,露茜覺(jué)得幸福得說(shuō)不出話(huà)來(lái)。
"
What Eustace thought had best be told in his own words,for when they all got their clothes back,dried,next morning,he at once got out a little black notebook and a pencil and started to keep a diary.He always had this notebook with him and kept a record of his marks in it,for though he didn’t care much about any subject for its own sake,he cared a great deal about marks and would even go to people and say,“I got so much.What did you get ?”But as he didn’t seem likely to get many marks on the Dawn Treader he now started a diary.This was the first entry.
尤斯塔斯心里的想法,恐怕是換個(gè)人都說(shuō)不好。第二天早上, 在他們都取回自己的干衣服之后,他馬上掏出一本黑色的筆記本和一只鉛筆,開(kāi)始寫(xiě)日記。這本日記本是他隨身攜帶的,里面記著他每次考試的分?jǐn)?shù),雖然他對(duì)功課本身沒(méi)有興趣,卻十分在乎那些分?jǐn)?shù)。他最喜歡做的事情莫過(guò)于走到別人面前,炫耀道:“我得了好多分, 你得了多少呢?”可是,在黎明踏浪號(hào)上,他不能炫耀自己得了多少分。現(xiàn)在,他只能寫(xiě)日記,寫(xiě)下的第一段文字如下:
“7 August.Have now been twenty-four hours on this ghastly boat if it isn ’t a dream.All the time a frightful storm has been raging (it’s a good thing I’m not seasick).Huge waves keep coming in over the front and I have seen the boat nearly go under any number of times.All the others pretend to take no notice of this,either from swank or because Harold says one of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to Facts.It’s madness to come out into the sea in a rotten little thing like this.Not much bigger than a lifeboat.And,of course,absolutely primitive indoors.No proper saloon,no radio,no bathrooms,no deck-chairs.I was dragged all over it yesterday evening and it would make anyone sick to hear Caspian showing off his funny little toy boat as if it was the Queen Mary.I tried to tell him what real ships are like,but he’s too dense. E. and L.,of course,didn’t back me up.I suppose a kid like L. doesn’t realize the danger and E.is buttering up C.as everyone does here. They call him a King.I said I was a Republican but he had to ask me what that meant ! He doesn’t seem to know anything at all.Needless to say I’ve been put in the worst cabin of the boat, a perfect dungeon,and Lucy has been given a whole room on deck to herself,almost a nice room compared with the rest of this place. C.says that’s because she’s a girl.I tried to make him see what Alberta says,that all that sort of thing is really lowering girls but he was too dense.Still,he might see that I shall be ill if I’m kept in that hole any longer.E.says we mustn’t grumble because C.is sharing it with us himself to make room for L.As if that didn’t make it more crowded and far worse.Nearly forgot to say that there is also a kind of Mouse thing that gives everyone the most frightful cheek. The others can put up with it if they like but I shall twist his tail pretty soon if he tries it on me.The food is frightful too .”
八月七日。如果不是在做夢(mèng)的話(huà),我已經(jīng)在這條鬼船上待了整整二十四個(gè)小時(shí)了。外面的驚濤駭浪一直沒(méi)有停歇( 幸好我現(xiàn)在沒(méi)有暈船),之前看到巨浪不斷打來(lái),船好多次都幾乎沉沒(méi)了。其他人卻裝作什么也沒(méi)發(fā)生,這不是我在大驚小怪,正如哈羅德所言,凡人最懦弱的行為就是對(duì)事情的發(fā)生裝作視而不見(jiàn)。坐這樣一條比救生艇大不了多少的破船出海,簡(jiǎn)直就是瘋了。船里面實(shí)在太簡(jiǎn)陋了,沒(méi)有正式的沙龍,沒(méi)有無(wú)線(xiàn)電,沒(méi)有浴室,甲板上也沒(méi)有躺椅。昨天晚上他們拖著我到處跑,凱斯賓還在賣(mài)弄這條可笑的小破船,仿佛它像“瑪麗王后”號(hào)那么尊貴。我試圖告訴他真正的船是什么模樣,可是他太笨了。當(dāng)然,愛(ài)德蒙和露茜也不會(huì)支持我。我說(shuō),像露茜這樣的小孩子根本不知道什么是危險(xiǎn)。愛(ài)德蒙竟然還和這兒的所有人一樣拼命地討好凱斯賓, 叫他凱斯賓陛下。我說(shuō)我是共和主義者,他竟然問(wèn)我共和是什么意思, 看來(lái)他什么也不懂啊。不用說(shuō),他們把我安排在條件最差的艙房里,這里簡(jiǎn)直像地牢一樣。露茜卻被安排在甲板上單獨(dú)的一個(gè)房間里,那里跟其他地方比起來(lái),算是一個(gè)好房間。凱斯賓說(shuō)因?yàn)樗莻€(gè)女孩子。我試圖讓他明白艾貝塔說(shuō)的話(huà),這分明是在貶低女孩子的能力,可是他聽(tīng)不懂我的意思,他實(shí)在是笨得無(wú)可救藥。他應(yīng)該明白一點(diǎn),如果再讓我住在那個(gè)像地牢一樣的房間,我會(huì)生病的。愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)我們不應(yīng)該抱怨,因?yàn)樗舶炎约菏孢m的房間讓給了露茜,他選擇和我們合住。這樣一來(lái), 房間就更擠了。差點(diǎn)忘了說(shuō),這兒竟然有一種令人討厭的老鼠,對(duì)每個(gè)人都非常無(wú)禮。盡管有的人愿意容忍它,如果它要欺負(fù)我,我一定會(huì)扭斷它的尾巴。這里的飯菜也實(shí)在難吃。
The trouble between Eustace and Reepicheep arrived even sooner than might have been expected.Before dinner next day, when the others were sitting round the table waiting(being at sea gives one a magnificent appetite),Eustace came rushing in, wringing his hand and shouting out:
尤斯塔斯和雷佩契普之間的矛盾比料想的還要糟。第二天午飯前,大家都圍在飯桌上等著開(kāi)飯( 因?yàn)樵诤I虾叫?,大家的胃口變得特別好),尤斯塔斯突然沖進(jìn)來(lái),搓著手,大叫著:
“That little brute has half killed me.I insist on it being kept under control.I could bring an action against you,Caspian.I could order you to have it destroyed.”
“那小畜生差點(diǎn)要了我的命。我堅(jiān)持我的觀(guān)點(diǎn),你必須要對(duì)它嚴(yán)加看管。我向你提出控告,凱斯賓,我命令你消滅它。”
At the same moment Reepicheep appeared.His sword was drawn and his whiskers looked very fierce but he was as polite as ever.
就在此刻,雷佩契普來(lái)了。他把劍拔出鞘,憤怒中吹著胡須, 一臉兇相,但他依舊溫文爾雅。
“I ask your pardons all,”he said,“and especially her Majesty’s.If I had known that he would take refuge here I would have awaited a more reasonable time for his correction.”
“請(qǐng)?jiān)徫业聂斆В?rdquo;它說(shuō),“尤其是尊貴的女王陛下??此谶@里避難的份上,我就再等一段時(shí)間,給他一個(gè)改正的機(jī)會(huì)。
“What on earth’s up ?”asked Edmund.
“發(fā)生了什么事情?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
What had really happened was this.Reepicheep,who never felt that the ship was getting on fast enough,loved to sit on the bulwarks far forward just beside the dragon’s head,gazing out at the eastern horizon and singing softly in his little chirruping voice the song the Dryad had made for him.He never held on to anything,however the ship pitched,and kept his balance with perfect ease;perhaps his long tail,hanging down to the deck inside the bulwarks,made this easier.Everyone on board was familiar with this habit,and the sailors liked it because when one was on look-out duty it gave one somebody to talk to.Why exactly Eustace had slipped and reeled and stumbled all the way forward to the forecastle(he had not yet got his sea-legs)I never heard.Perhaps he hoped he would see land,or perhaps he wanted to hang about the galley and scrounge something.Anyway, as soon as he saw that long tail hanging down—and perhaps it was rather tempting—he thought it would be delightful to catch hold of it,swing Reepicheep round by it once or twice upside-down,then run away and laugh.At first the plan seemed to work beautifully.The Mouse was not much heavier than a very large cat.Eustace had him off the rail in a trice and very silly he looked(thought Eustace)with his little limbs all splayed out and his mouth open.But unfortunately Reepicheep,who had fought for his life many a time,never lost his head even for a moment. Nor his skill.It is not very easy to draw one’s sword when one is swinging round in the air by one’s tail,but he did.And the next thing Eustace knew was two agonizing jabs in his hand which made him let go of the tail;and the next thing after that was that the Mouse had picked itself up again as if it were a ball bouncing off the deck,and there it was facing him,and a horrid long, bright,sharp thing like a skewer was waving to and fro within an inch of his stomach.(This doesn’t count as below the belt for mice in Narnia because they can hardly be expected to reach higher.)
"事情是這個(gè)樣子的——雷佩契普自始至終沒(méi)覺(jué)得船開(kāi)得有多快,它總是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地坐在龍頭旁邊的船舷上一邊凝視著東方地平線(xiàn),一邊輕輕地哼唱著樹(shù)仙女為它寫(xiě)的歌曲。也許是它的長(zhǎng)尾巴在甲板上更容易保持平衡吧,它什么東西都不用抓,不管船再怎么顛簸,它都能姿態(tài)優(yōu)雅、穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地坐著。船上的人都知道它這種習(xí)慣,特別是水手,特喜歡它這樣。因?yàn)楫?dāng)有人在值班瞭望時(shí),就會(huì)跟它聊天了。
不知道尤斯塔斯為什么一路上搖搖晃晃,磕磕碰碰地摸到船頭( 他還是暈船)??赡芩肟纯词遣皇悄芸匆?jiàn)陸地,或許他想去廚房外面的走廊逛逛,看看能否找點(diǎn)東西吃吧。反正,只要他看見(jiàn)那條長(zhǎng)尾巴拖在地上——這個(gè)想法太誘人了——他馬上就想一把抓住那條尾巴,把雷佩契普頭朝下扭上一兩圈,自己趕快溜走,躲在一旁偷笑, 真是大快人心啊。
最初這個(gè)計(jì)劃進(jìn)行得很順利。這只老鼠并不比一只貓大多少, 尤斯塔斯輕而易舉地就把它扔到了欄桿外面。只見(jiàn)它張著嘴,四肢仰面朝天,尤斯塔斯覺(jué)得這樣的丑相真是狼狽至極。沒(méi)想到,雷佩契普多次拼死奮戰(zhàn),一點(diǎn)都沒(méi)有驚慌失措,并抓住了機(jī)會(huì)扭轉(zhuǎn)了敗局。按理說(shuō),被人扭住尾巴,身體在空中搖擺是不可能拔出劍來(lái)的,可它卻做到了。
尤斯塔斯不知不覺(jué)就被砍了兩劍,痛得他只好松開(kāi)雷佩契普的尾巴。然后,那只老鼠在甲板上打了個(gè)滾之后爬了起來(lái),用那支明晃晃的劍對(duì)準(zhǔn)了尤斯塔斯,并在他的肚子前一兩寸的地方來(lái)回?fù)]舞。( 這對(duì)納尼亞的老鼠來(lái)說(shuō),不能看成是襲擊腰部以下的違規(guī)行為,因?yàn)槔鲜笾荒軌虻玫侥莻€(gè)位置。)
"
“Stop it,”spluttered Eustace,“go away.Put that thing away.It’s not safe.Stop it,I say.I’ll tell Caspian.I’ll have you muzzled and tied up.”
“住手,”尤斯塔斯唾沫四濺,“走開(kāi)。把那東西收起來(lái),這不安全。我說(shuō),住手。我要告訴凱斯賓,然后把你的嘴巴套上,把你捆起來(lái)。”
“Why do you not draw your own sword,poltroon !”cheeped the Mouse.“Draw and fight or I’ll beat you black and blue with the flat.”
“你這個(gè)膽小鬼,你拔出你的劍啊,我們?cè)俅?”老鼠吱吱地叫著,“拔出劍來(lái)和我打,不然我就用劍打得你渾身青紫。”
“I haven’t got one,”said Eustace.“I’m a pacifist.I don’t believe in fighting.”
“我沒(méi)有劍,”尤斯塔斯說(shuō),“我是個(gè)和平主義者,我不認(rèn)為武力能解決問(wèn)題。”
“Do I understand,”said Reepicheep,withdrawing his sword for a moment and speaking very sternly,“that you do not intend to give me satisfaction ?”
“我明白了,”雷佩契普收回劍,非常嚴(yán)厲地說(shuō),“你是已經(jīng)認(rèn)輸了嗎?”
“I don’t know what you mean,”said Eustace,nursing his hand. “If you don’t know how to take a joke I shan’t bother my head about you.”
“我不知道你什么意思,”尤斯塔斯擦擦手,“如果你不懂什么是開(kāi)玩笑,我也沒(méi)必要和你一般見(jiàn)識(shí)。”
“Then take that,”said Reepicheep,“and that—to teach you manners—and the respect due to a knight—and a Mouse—and a Mouse’s tail—”and at each word he gave Eustace a blow with the side of his rapier,which was thin,fine,dwarf—tempered steel and as supple and effective as a birch rod.Eustace(of course) was at a school where they didn’t have corporal punishment,so the sensation was quite new to him.That was why,in spite of having no sea—legs,it took him less than a minute to get off that forecastle and cover the whole length of the deck and burst in at the cabin door—still hotly pursued by Reepicheep.Indeed it seemed to Eustace that the rapier as well as the pursuit was hot.It might have been red—hot by the feel.
“那你必須受我一劍,”雷佩契普說(shuō),“這一劍會(huì)讓你知道什么叫懂禮貌——懂得怎樣尊敬一位騎士——一只老鼠騎士和老鼠騎士的尾巴。”每說(shuō)一句,它就給尤斯塔斯一個(gè)輕劍,百煉鋼如同繞指柔那般靈活。尤斯塔斯念書(shū)的學(xué)校沒(méi)有體罰,這樣驚心動(dòng)魄的經(jīng)歷對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)很新奇。盡管他會(huì)暈船,還是趁機(jī)逃離了船頭,穿過(guò)甲板, 沖進(jìn)艙房。雷佩契普在后面窮追不舍,不依不饒。在尤斯塔斯看來(lái), 自己不僅被追得火熱,那把劍也是熱的,是火辣辣的熱。
There was not much difficulty in settling the matter once Eustace realized that everyone took the idea of a duel seriously and heard Caspian offering to lend him a sword,and Drinian and Edmund discussing whether he ought to be handicapped in some way to make up for his being so much bigger than Reepicheep.He apologized sulkily and went off with Lucy to have his hand bathed and bandaged and then went to his bunk.He was careful to lie on his side.
大家明白了整件事情的原委,凱斯賓要借給他一把劍,德里寧和愛(ài)德蒙在討論要不要給他點(diǎn)約束,以阻止他在雷佩契普身型上占得便宜。尤斯塔斯聽(tīng)出來(lái)大家對(duì)他們決斗的事情竟然都非常認(rèn)真,只好愁眉苦臉地示弱和道歉,然后跟著露茜去洗傷口,包扎,再乖乖地在自己的床鋪上躺下。
CHAPTER TWO ON BOARD THE DAWN TREADER
“AH,there you are,Lucy,”said Caspian.“We were just waiting for you.This is my captain,the Lord Drinian.”
A dark-haired man went down on one knee and kissed her hand.The only others present were Reepicheep and Edmund.
“Where is Eustace ?”asked Lucy.
“In bed,”said Edmund,“and I don’t think we can do anything for him.It only makes him worse if you try to be nice to him.”
“Meanwhile,”said Caspian,“we want to talk.”
“By Jove,we do,”said Edmund.“And first,about time. It’s a year ago by our time since we left you just before your coronation.How long has it been in Narnia ?”
“Exactly three years,”said Caspian.
“All going well ?”asked Edmund.
“You don’t suppose I’d have left my kingdom and put to sea unless all was well,”answered the King.“It couldn’t be better.There’s no trouble at all now between Telmarines,Dwarfs,Talking Beasts,F(xiàn)auns and the rest.And we gave those troublesome giants on the frontier such a good beating last summer that they pay us tribute now.And I had an excellent person to leave as Regent while I’m away—Trumpkin,the Dwarf.You remember him ?”
“Dear Trumpkin,”said Lucy,“of course I do.You couldn’t have made a better choice.”
“Loyal as a badger ,M a’am,and valiant as — as a Mouse,”said Drinian.He had been going to say“as a lion”but had noticed Reepicheep’s eyes fixed on him.
“And where are we heading for ?”asked Edmund.
“Well,”said Caspian,“that’s rather a long story.Perhaps you remember that when I was a child my usurping uncle Miraz got rid of seven friends of my father’s(who might have taken my part) by sending them off to explore the unknown Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands.”
“Yes,”said Lucy,“and none of them ever came back.”
“Right.Well,on my coronation day,with Aslan’s approval,I swore an oath that,if once I established peace in Narnia,I would sail east myself for a year and a day to find my father’s friends or to learn of their deaths and avenge them if I could.These were their names:the Lord Revilian,the Lord Bern,the Lord Argoz,the Lord Mavramorn,the Lord Octesian,the Lord Restimar,and—oh,that other one who’s so hard to remember.”
“The Lord Rhoop,Sire,”said Drinian.
“Rhoop,Rhoop,of course,”said Caspian.“That is my main intention.But Reepicheep here has an even higher hope.”Everyone’s eyes turned to the Mouse.
“As high as my spirit,”it said.“Though perhaps as small as my stature.Why should we not come to the very eastern end of the world ? And what might we find there ? I expect to find Aslan’s own country.It is always from the east,across the sea,that the great Lion comes to us.”
“I say,that is an idea,”said Edmund in an awed voice.
“But do you think,”said Lucy,“Aslan’s country would be that sort of country—I mean,the sort you could ever sail to ?”
“I do not know,Madam,”said Reepicheep.“But there is this. When I was in my cradle a wood woman,a Dryad,spoke this verse over me:
“Where sky and water meet,Where the waves grow sweet,Doubt not,Reepicheep,To find all you seek,There is the utter East.”
“I do not know what it means.But the spell of it has been on me all my life.”
After a short silence Lucy asked,“And where are we now, Caspian ?”
“The Captain can tell you better than I,”said Caspian,so Drinian got out his chart and spread it on the table.
“That’s our position,”he said,laying his finger on it.“Or was at noon today.We had a fair wind from Cair Paravel and stood a little north for Galma,which we made on the next day.We were in port for a week,for the Duke of Galma made a great tournament for His Majesty and there he unhorsed many knights—”
“And got a few nasty falls myself,Drinian.Some of the bruises are there still,”put in Caspian.
“—And unhorsed many knights,”repeated Drinian with a grin. “We thought the Duke would have been pleased if the King’s Majesty would have married his daughter,but nothing came of that—”
“Squints,and has freckles,”said Caspian.
“Oh,poor girl,”said Lucy.
“And we sailed from Galma,”continued Drinian,“and ran into a calm for the best part of two days and had to row,and then had wind again and did not make Terebinthia till the fourth day from Galma.And there their King sent out a warning not to land for there was sickness in Terebinthia,but we doubled the cape and put in at a little creek far from the city and watered.Then we had to lie off for three days before we got a south east wind and stood out for Seven Isles.The third day out a pirate(Terebinthian by her rig)overhauled us,but when she saw us well armed she stood off after some shooting of arrows on either part—”
“And we ought to have given her chase and boarded her and hanged every mother’s son of them,”said Reepicheep.
“—And in five days more we were insight of Muil,which, as you know,is the westernmost of the Seven Isles.Then we rowed through the straits and came about sundown into Redhaven on the isle of Brenn,where we were very lovingly feasted and had victuals and water at will.We left Redhaven six days ago and have made marvellously good speed,so that I hope to see the Lone Islands the day after tomorrow.The sum is,we are now nearly thirty days at sea and have sailed more than four hundred leagues from Narnia.”
“And after the Lone Islands ?”said Lucy.
“No one knows,your Majesty,”answered Drinian.“Unless the Lone Islanders themselves can tell us.”
“They couldn’t in our days,”said Edmund.
“Then,”said Reepicheep,“it is after the Lone Islands that the adventure really begins.”
Caspian now suggested that they might like to be shown over the ship before supper,but Lucy’s conscience smote her and she said,“I think I really must go and see Eustace.Seasickness is horrid,you know.If I had my old cordial with me I could cure him.”
“But you have,”said Caspian.“I’d quite forgotten about it.As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it—if you think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness.”
“It’ll only take a drop,”said Lucy.
Caspian opened one of the lockers beneath the bench and brought out the beautiful little diamond flask which Lucy remembered so well.“Take back your own,Queen,”he said.They then left the cabin and went out into the sunshine.
In the deck there were two large,long hatches,fore and aft of the mast,and both open,as they always were in fair weather,to let light and air into the belly of the ship.Caspian led them down a ladder into the after hatch.Here they found themselves in a place where benches for rowing ran from side to side and the light came in through the oarholes and danced on the roof.Of course Caspian’s ship was not that horrible thing,a galley rowed by slaves.Oars were used only when wind failed or for getting in and out of harbour and everyone(except Reepicheep whose legs were too short)had often taken a turn.At each side of the ship the space under the benches was left clear for the rowers’ feet,but all down the center there was a kind of pit which went down to the very keel and this was filled with all kinds of things—sacks of flour,casks of water and beer,barrels of pork,jars of honey,skin bottles of wine, apples,nuts,cheeses,biscuits,turnips,sides of bacon.From the roof—that is,from the under side of the deck—hung hams and strings of onions,and also the men of the watch off—duty in their hammocks.Caspian led them aft,stepping from bench to bench; at least,it was stepping for him,and something between a step and a jump for Lucy,and a real long jump for Reepicheep.In this way they came to a partition with a door in it.Caspian opened the door and led them into a cabin which filled the stern underneath the deck cabins in the poop.It was of course not so nice.It was very low and the sides sloped together as they went down so that there was hardly any floor;and though it had windows of thick glass, they were not made to open because they were under water.In fact at this very moment,as the ship pitched they were alternately golden with sunlight and dim green with the sea.
“You and I must lodge here,Edmund,”said Caspian.“We’ll leave your kinsman the bunk and sling hammocks for ourselves.”
“I beseech your Majesty—”said Drinian.
“No,no shipmate,”said Caspian,“we have argued all that out already.You and Rhince”(Rhince was the mate)“are sailing the ship and will have cares and labours many a night when we are singing catches or telling stories,so you and he must have the port cabin above.King Edmund and I can lie very snug here below. But how is the stranger ?”
Eustace,very green in the face,scowled and asked whether there was any sign of the storm getting less.But Caspian said,“What storm ?”and Drinian burst out laughing.
“Storm,young master !”he roared.“This is as fair weather as a man could ask for.”
“Who’s that ?”said Eustace irritably.“Send him away.His voice goes through my head.”
“I’ve brought you something that will make you feel better, Eustace,”said Lucy.
“Oh,go away and leave me alone,”growled Eustace.But he took a drop from her flask,and though he said it was beastly stuff(the smell in the cabin when she opened it was delicious)it is certain that his face came the right colour a few moments after he had swallowed it,and he must have felt better because,instead of wailing about the storm and his head,he began demanding to be put ashore and said that at the first port he would“lodge a disposition”against them all with the British Consul.But when Reepicheep asked what a disposition was and how you lodged it(Reepicheep thought it was some new way of arranging a single combat)Eustace could only reply,“Fancy not knowing that.”In the end they succeeded in convincing Eustace that they were already sailing as fast as they could towards the nearest land they knew,and that they had no more power of sending him back to Cambridge—which was where Uncle Harold lived—than of sending him to the moon. After that he sulkily agreed to put on the fresh clothes which had been put out for him and come on deck.
Caspian now showed them over the ship,though indeed they had seen most of it already.They went up on the forecastle and saw the look-out man standing on a little shelf inside the gilded dragon’s neck and peering through its open mouth.Inside the forecastle was the galley(or ship’s kitchen)and quarters for such people as the boatswain,the carpenter,the cook and the master-archer.If you think it odd to have the galley in the bows and imagine the smoke from its chimney streaming back over the ship,that is because you are thinking of steamships where there is always a headwind.On a sailing ship the wind is coming from behind,and anything smelly is put as far forward as possible. They were taken up to the fighting—top,and at first it was rather alarming to rock to and fro there and see the deck looking small and far away beneath.You realized that if you fell there was no particular reason why you should fall on board rather than in the sea. Then they were taken to the poop,where Rhince was on duty with another man at the great tiller,and behind that the dragon’s tail rose up,covered with gilding,and round inside it ran a little bench.The name of the ship was Dawn Treader.She was only a little bit of a thing compared with one of our ships,or even with the cogs,dromonds,carracks and galleons which Narnia had owned when Lucy and Edmund had reigned there under Peter as the High King,for nearly all navigation had died out in the reigns of Caspian’s ancestors.When his uncle,Miraz the usurper, had sent the seven lords to sea,they had had to buy a Galmian ship and man it with hired Galmian sailors.But now Caspian had begun to teach the Narnians to be sea-faring folk once more,and the Dawn Treader was the finest ship he had built yet.She was so small that,forward of the mast,there was hardly any deck room between the central hatch and the ship’s boat on one side and the hen-coop(Lucy fed the hens)on the other.But she was a beauty of her kind,a“lady”as sailors say,her lines perfect,her colours pure,and every spar and rope and pin lovingly made.Eustace of course would be pleased with nothing,and kept on boasting about liners and motor boats and aeroplanes and submarines(“As if he knew anything about them,”muttered Edmund),but the other two were delighted with the Dawn Treader,and when they returned aft to the cabin and supper,and saw the whole western sky lit up with an immense crimson sunset,and felt the quiver of the ship,and tasted the salt on their lips,and thought of unknown lands on the Eastern rim of the world,Lucy felt that she was almost too happy to speak.
What Eustace thought had best be told in his own words,for when they all got their clothes back,dried,next morning,he at once got out a little black notebook and a pencil and started to keep a diary.He always had this notebook with him and kept a record of his marks in it,for though he didn’t care much about any subject for its own sake,he cared a great deal about marks and would even go to people and say,“I got so much.What did you get ?”But as he didn’t seem likely to get many marks on the Dawn Treader he now started a diary.This was the first entry.
“7 August.Have now been twenty-four hours on this ghastly boat if it isn ’t a dream.All the time a frightful storm has been raging (it’s a good thing I’m not seasick).Huge waves keep coming in over the front and I have seen the boat nearly go under any number of times.All the others pretend to take no notice of this,either from swank or because Harold says one of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to Facts.It’s madness to come out into the sea in a rotten little thing like this.Not much bigger than a lifeboat.And,of course,absolutely primitive indoors.No proper saloon,no radio,no bathrooms,no deck-chairs.I was dragged all over it yesterday evening and it would make anyone sick to hear Caspian showing off his funny little toy boat as if it was the Queen Mary.I tried to tell him what real ships are like,but he’s too dense. E. and L.,of course,didn’t back me up.I suppose a kid like L. doesn’t realize the danger and E.is buttering up C.as everyone does here. They call him a King.I said I was a Republican but he had to ask me what that meant ! He doesn’t seem to know anything at all.Needless to say I’ve been put in the worst cabin of the boat, a perfect dungeon,and Lucy has been given a whole room on deck to herself,almost a nice room compared with the rest of this place. C.says that’s because she’s a girl.I tried to make him see what Alberta says,that all that sort of thing is really lowering girls but he was too dense.Still,he might see that I shall be ill if I’m kept in that hole any longer.E.says we mustn’t grumble because C.is sharing it with us himself to make room for L.As if that didn’t make it more crowded and far worse.Nearly forgot to say that there is also a kind of Mouse thing that gives everyone the most frightful cheek. The others can put up with it if they like but I shall twist his tail pretty soon if he tries it on me.The food is frightful too .”
The trouble between Eustace and Reepicheep arrived even sooner than might have been expected.Before dinner next day, when the others were sitting round the table waiting(being at sea gives one a magnificent appetite),Eustace came rushing in, wringing his hand and shouting out:
“That little brute has half killed me.I insist on it being kept under control.I could bring an action against you,Caspian.I could order you to have it destroyed.”
At the same moment Reepicheep appeared.His sword was drawn and his whiskers looked very fierce but he was as polite as ever.
“I ask your pardons all,”he said,“and especially her Majesty’s.If I had known that he would take refuge here I would have awaited a more reasonable time for his correction.”
“What on earth’s up ?”asked Edmund.
What had really happened was this.Reepicheep,who never felt that the ship was getting on fast enough,loved to sit on the bulwarks far forward just beside the dragon’s head,gazing out at the eastern horizon and singing softly in his little chirruping voice the song the Dryad had made for him.He never held on to anything,however the ship pitched,and kept his balance with perfect ease;perhaps his long tail,hanging down to the deck inside the bulwarks,made this easier.Everyone on board was familiar with this habit,and the sailors liked it because when one was on look-out duty it gave one somebody to talk to.Why exactly Eustace had slipped and reeled and stumbled all the way forward to the forecastle(he had not yet got his sea-legs)I never heard.Perhaps he hoped he would see land,or perhaps he wanted to hang about the galley and scrounge something.Anyway, as soon as he saw that long tail hanging down—and perhaps it was rather tempting—he thought it would be delightful to catch hold of it,swing Reepicheep round by it once or twice upside-down,then run away and laugh.At first the plan seemed to work beautifully.The Mouse was not much heavier than a very large cat.Eustace had him off the rail in a trice and very silly he looked(thought Eustace)with his little limbs all splayed out and his mouth open.But unfortunately Reepicheep,who had fought for his life many a time,never lost his head even for a moment. Nor his skill.It is not very easy to draw one’s sword when one is swinging round in the air by one’s tail,but he did.And the next thing Eustace knew was two agonizing jabs in his hand which made him let go of the tail;and the next thing after that was that the Mouse had picked itself up again as if it were a ball bouncing off the deck,and there it was facing him,and a horrid long, bright,sharp thing like a skewer was waving to and fro within an inch of his stomach.(This doesn’t count as below the belt for mice in Narnia because they can hardly be expected to reach higher.)
“Stop it,”spluttered Eustace,“go away.Put that thing away.It’s not safe.Stop it,I say.I’ll tell Caspian.I’ll have you muzzled and tied up.”
“Why do you not draw your own sword,poltroon !”cheeped the Mouse.“Draw and fight or I’ll beat you black and blue with the flat.”
“I haven’t got one,”said Eustace.“I’m a pacifist.I don’t believe in fighting.”
“Do I understand,”said Reepicheep,withdrawing his sword for a moment and speaking very sternly,“that you do not intend to give me satisfaction ?”
“I don’t know what you mean,”said Eustace,nursing his hand. “If you don’t know how to take a joke I shan’t bother my head about you.”
“Then take that,”said Reepicheep,“and that—to teach you manners—and the respect due to a knight—and a Mouse—and a Mouse’s tail—”and at each word he gave Eustace a blow with the side of his rapier,which was thin,fine,dwarf—tempered steel and as supple and effective as a birch rod.Eustace(of course) was at a school where they didn’t have corporal punishment,so the sensation was quite new to him.That was why,in spite of having no sea—legs,it took him less than a minute to get off that forecastle and cover the whole length of the deck and burst in at the cabin door—still hotly pursued by Reepicheep.Indeed it seemed to Eustace that the rapier as well as the pursuit was hot.It might have been red—hot by the feel.
There was not much difficulty in settling the matter once Eustace realized that everyone took the idea of a duel seriously and heard Caspian offering to lend him a sword,and Drinian and Edmund discussing whether he ought to be handicapped in some way to make up for his being so much bigger than Reepicheep.He apologized sulkily and went off with Lucy to have his hand bathed and bandaged and then went to his bunk.He was careful to lie on his side.
第二章 在黎明踏浪號(hào)上
“哎呀,露茜,你可回來(lái)了,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我們一直都在等你, 這位是我們的船長(zhǎng),德里寧公爵。”
那個(gè)黑發(fā)人單膝下跪,吻她的手。雷佩契普和愛(ài)德蒙也在場(chǎng)。
“尤斯塔斯去哪兒了?”露茜問(wèn)道。
“他在床上躺著呢,”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō),“我們幫不了他,恐怕只會(huì)幫倒忙。”
“那我們敘敘舊吧。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。
“哎呀,我真想和你好好聊聊。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō),“那我們先說(shuō)說(shuō)時(shí)間的問(wèn)題。上次我們是在你加冕典禮前離開(kāi)的。按我們那里的時(shí)間, 已經(jīng)過(guò)了一年了,不知道這里過(guò)了多久啊?”
“正好是三年。”凱斯賓回答。
“這里都還好吧?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
“不用擔(dān)心,要是國(guó)內(nèi)有事的話(huà),我還能出海遠(yuǎn)航嗎?”凱斯賓國(guó)王回答,“現(xiàn)在比以前的狀況好多了,臺(tái)爾馬人、小矮人、會(huì)說(shuō)話(huà)的獸類(lèi)、小羊怪和其他臣民都沒(méi)什么矛盾。我們?nèi)ツ杲o邊境那些惹是生非的人一頓教訓(xùn)之后,他們現(xiàn)在還向我們進(jìn)貢呢。我出海之前把國(guó)內(nèi)的政事交給了一個(gè)了不起的人,你還記得小矮人杜魯普金嗎?”
“你是說(shuō)杜魯普金嗎?”露茜說(shuō),“我當(dāng)然記得啦,你選的這個(gè)人再合適不過(guò)了。”
“是啊,女王陛下,他像獾一樣忠誠(chéng),像老鼠一樣勇敢。”德里寧說(shuō)。他本來(lái)想說(shuō)“像獅子一樣勇敢”,但看到雷佩契普看自己的眼神,只好改了口。
“我們要去哪里啊?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
“這個(gè)嘛,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“說(shuō)來(lái)話(huà)長(zhǎng),你們是否還記得,在我小時(shí)候, 我父王的七位朋友曾支持我做國(guó)王,可是我的叔父卻想篡奪王位,就把他們派到孤獨(dú)群島那邊,去開(kāi)發(fā)東大洋的那片未知地嗎?”
“記得啊,”露茜說(shuō),“他們一個(gè)都沒(méi)能回來(lái)。”
“沒(méi)錯(cuò)。說(shuō)起來(lái)就在我加冕那天,在獅王阿斯蘭的見(jiàn)證下,我發(fā)誓一旦納尼亞重建和平,我就親自航海去東海,用一年的時(shí)間去找我父王的朋友,不論他們是否還在人世。如果可能的話(huà),我一定會(huì)替他們報(bào)仇。他們七個(gè)是雷維廉公爵、伯恩公爵、阿爾戈茲公爵、馬弗拉蒙公爵、奧克特西安公爵、雷斯蒂瑪公爵,還有……唉,還有一個(gè)名字,我記不清了。”
“陛下,是羅普公爵。”德里寧提醒道。
“羅普,是羅普,當(dāng)然,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“這就是我這次出海的目的??墒俏覀兊睦着迤跗者€有個(gè)更大的夢(mèng)想。”話(huà)音剛落,大家的目光就都投向那只老鼠。
“別看我個(gè)頭不高,”它說(shuō),“可是我夢(mèng)想遠(yuǎn)大。既然我們出海遠(yuǎn)航,為什么不到世界的最東方呢?去那里會(huì)有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)呢?說(shuō)不定那邊就是獅王阿斯蘭的國(guó)土。他總是從東方漂洋過(guò)海來(lái)找我們。”
“我說(shuō),這真是一個(gè)好主意。”愛(ài)德蒙的聲音中充滿(mǎn)敬意。
“但你想過(guò)沒(méi)有,”露茜說(shuō),“阿斯蘭王國(guó)究竟是怎樣的王國(guó), 我的意思是,你乘船能到那里嗎?”
“我不知道,女王陛下,”雷佩契普說(shuō),“不過(guò)有一首詩(shī)里寫(xiě)到過(guò), 當(dāng)我還在搖籃里的時(shí)候,樹(shù)仙女曾給我念過(guò)那首詩(shī):
海天相連之地,海水變得甜又香。雷佩契普把心放,定能找到那地方。那里就是最東方。”
雖不知道這句詩(shī)歌是什么意思,但無(wú)形中它總能給我一種神奇的力量。”
短暫的沉默之后,露茜問(wèn),“凱斯賓,我們現(xiàn)在到哪兒了?”
“船長(zhǎng)肯定比我說(shuō)得清楚。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。德里寧拿出地圖,攤在桌子上。
“我們現(xiàn)在在這里,”他指著地圖上的某個(gè)點(diǎn),“這兒是今天正午的方位,我們從凱爾帕拉維爾出來(lái)之后,一路順風(fēng),稍稍向北, 第二天就到達(dá)了加爾馬。我們?cè)诟劭谕A艘恢?,因?yàn)榧訝栺R公爵為陛下舉行了一次比武大賽,陛下把很多騎士都打下了馬……”
“德里寧,你都沒(méi)提我也摔下來(lái)好幾次,而且很狼狽,直到現(xiàn)在腫塊還沒(méi)消。”凱斯賓插了一句。
“……陛下把很多騎士都打落到馬下,”德里寧又說(shuō)了一遍, 咧著嘴笑著說(shuō),“我們還以為國(guó)王陛下為了討公爵的歡心,會(huì)迎娶公爵家的小姐??墒牵瑳](méi)有……”
“她是個(gè)斜視眼,臉上好多雀斑。”凱斯賓接過(guò)話(huà)。
“啊,可憐的姑娘。”露茜感嘆了一聲。
“后來(lái)我們從加爾馬起航,”德里寧又說(shuō),“整整兩天都是風(fēng)平浪靜,只好用槳?jiǎng)澊?。接著又起風(fēng)了,所以離開(kāi)加爾馬后第四天我們才到達(dá)特里賓西亞。那里發(fā)出警報(bào)說(shuō),我們不能在當(dāng)?shù)氐顷?,因?yàn)槟莾赫隰[瘟疫。我們只好兩次繞過(guò)海角,駛進(jìn)了一個(gè)小海灣,加滿(mǎn)水。后來(lái),我們?cè)谟錾舷乱粋€(gè)東南風(fēng)之前不得已歇了三天,才開(kāi)往七島。第三天的時(shí)候,有一條海盜船追我們,看裝備是特里賓西亞的船, 不過(guò)那條船看見(jiàn)我們?nèi)蔽溲b,朝船兩邊射了幾箭之后就開(kāi)走了。”
“我們真應(yīng)該追上那條船,上去把那些強(qiáng)盜一個(gè)個(gè)絞死。”雷佩契普說(shuō)。
“又過(guò)了五天,我們看到了米爾島,正如你所知,它是七島中最西邊的一個(gè)小島。然后我們劃出海峽,傍晚的時(shí)候到了布倫島上的紅港。當(dāng)?shù)厝耸⑶榭畲宋覀儯澄锖退爰佣嗌倬图佣嗌?。六天前我們離開(kāi)了紅港,一路上出奇的順利,我們估計(jì)后天就能到孤獨(dú)群島了。總的來(lái)說(shuō),我們已經(jīng)出海將近三十天,已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離納尼亞四百多海里了。
“到了那里之后呢?”露茜問(wèn)。
“現(xiàn)在還不好說(shuō),陛下,”德里寧說(shuō),“除非島上有人告訴我們。”
“他們未必能告訴我們。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)。
“那么說(shuō)來(lái),”雷佩契普說(shuō),“到了群島之后,探險(xiǎn)才算是真正的開(kāi)始呢。”
凱斯賓提議大家先在船上參觀(guān)一下,再吃晚飯,可是露茜心里一直有小小的牽掛。她說(shuō),“我想去看看尤斯塔斯。他暈船暈得厲害, 如果我現(xiàn)在還有原來(lái)隨身攜帶的藥瓶,就可以治好他。”
“藥還有,”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我差點(diǎn)忘了。當(dāng)初你走的時(shí)候留下這藥, 我想著,不妨把這藥當(dāng)成一件王室寶貝,所以我一直隨身攜帶——如果你想在暈船這個(gè)小毛病上把它浪費(fèi)掉的話(huà),你就用吧。”
“我只要一滴。”露茜說(shuō)。
凱斯賓打開(kāi)凳子下面的一個(gè)儲(chǔ)物箱,取出露茜給他的那個(gè)小鉆石藥瓶,她對(duì)這個(gè)再熟悉不過(guò)了。他說(shuō):“我親愛(ài)的女王,你的寶貝還給你。”于是他們離開(kāi)艙房,走到陽(yáng)光下。
"甲板上有兩個(gè)敞開(kāi)的艙口蓋,又大又長(zhǎng)。晴天的時(shí)候,水手們總是把它們打開(kāi),用來(lái)通風(fēng)和采光。凱斯賓帶他們走到梯子下面,進(jìn)入后面的艙口。他們這才發(fā)現(xiàn),原來(lái)左右兩邊都有劃槳的長(zhǎng)凳,陽(yáng)光透過(guò)槳孔照進(jìn)來(lái),在艙頂上閃爍不定。凱斯賓的船不是由奴隸劃槳的, 也沒(méi)有單層甲板大帆船那種可怕的東西。在沒(méi)風(fēng)或者進(jìn)出港口的時(shí)候,船槳才會(huì)被用到。除了個(gè)頭矮小的雷佩契普之外,其他人都要輪流劃槳。船兩邊的長(zhǎng)凳下都有空地方供劃船的人擱腳,中間部分有個(gè)深窖,一直通向龍骨處,里面堆滿(mǎn)了各種東西,比如很多袋的面粉,很多桶水,很多塊豬肉,很多罐蜂蜜,還有很多裝滿(mǎn)酒的皮囊,以及蘋(píng)果、堅(jiān)果、奶酪、餅干、大頭菜和熏肉。艙頂,也就是甲板下面, 掛著很多火腿和成捆成捆的大蔥。當(dāng)然,還有個(gè)值班人員下班后在里面的吊床上休息。凱斯賓帶他們走到船尾,從一個(gè)長(zhǎng)凳跨到另一個(gè)長(zhǎng)凳,他的確是名副其實(shí)的跨,露茜則是邊跳邊跨,而對(duì)雷佩契普來(lái)說(shuō), 那就不能稱(chēng)作跨了,簡(jiǎn)直就是大幅度地跳。就這樣,他們走到一塊有門(mén)的隔板前。凱斯賓打開(kāi)門(mén),帶他們走了進(jìn)去,這間艙房正好在船尾幾間甲板艙下面的尾部,所以條件不太好。房間很低,屋頂根本沒(méi)有天花板,墻壁都是傾斜著靠在一起的。他們一路走過(guò)去,船里一點(diǎn)空隙都沒(méi)有了。雖然里面有厚厚的玻璃窗, 卻打不開(kāi),因?yàn)樗鼈兌荚谒?。不過(guò),這個(gè)時(shí)候如果船身前后顛簸, 艙房里就會(huì)一下子閃爍著金色的陽(yáng)光,一下子泛著幽暗的綠光。
"
“我們只能睡在這兒了,愛(ài)德蒙。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。
“可是陛下您……”德里寧說(shuō)。
“不,不,船長(zhǎng),”凱斯賓說(shuō),“我們已經(jīng)說(shuō)好了。你和賴(lài)因斯還要掌舵( 賴(lài)因斯是副駕),已經(jīng)操勞了好多個(gè)晚上,而我們幾個(gè)只是唱唱歌,聊聊天,所以你應(yīng)該和他一起住在艙房里。我和愛(ài)德蒙國(guó)王在這下面一樣可以睡得很好。只是,不知道那個(gè)陌生人怎樣了?
尤斯塔斯臉色鐵青,正滿(mǎn)臉憂(yōu)愁地打聽(tīng)風(fēng)浪有沒(méi)有平息的跡象。凱斯賓卻問(wèn):“什么風(fēng)浪呢?”德里寧不由得放聲大笑。
“大少爺,你是在說(shuō)風(fēng)浪嗎?”他哈哈大笑,“現(xiàn)在的天氣好得不能再好了。”
“你是誰(shuí)?”尤斯塔斯不耐煩地說(shuō),“叫他走,聽(tīng)到他的聲音我腦袋就疼。”
“我給你拿了點(diǎn)東西,吃了你就會(huì)感覺(jué)好多了,尤斯塔斯。” 露茜說(shuō)。
“哎呀,都走開(kāi),別來(lái)煩我。”尤斯塔斯有些瘋狂。露茜打開(kāi)藥瓶, 艙房里彌散出一股清香。盡管尤斯塔斯說(shuō)這是致命的毒藥,但他還是喝了一滴。等他喝下藥后,臉色明顯好轉(zhuǎn)了,相信他也感覺(jué)舒服了許多。此刻他不再感到頭昏腦脹,也不再提風(fēng)浪了,只是要求他們把他送到岸上去,他還說(shuō)只要自己一踏上海港,就向英國(guó)領(lǐng)事館申請(qǐng)對(duì)他們所有人做出裁決。雷佩契普以為這是種新的決斗方式,問(wèn)他裁決是什么、怎樣申請(qǐng)時(shí),尤斯塔斯嘲諷道:“你真是太奇怪了,連裁決都不知道。”最后, 大家不得不讓尤斯塔斯相信,他們已經(jīng)盡快朝所知道的最近陸地駛?cè)ィ拖袼麄儧](méi)法送他上月球一樣,他們也沒(méi)有能力送他回到哈羅德舅舅所住的劍橋。他聽(tīng)了之后很不愉快,但還是換上了他們?yōu)樗麥?zhǔn)備的干凈衣服,走到了甲板上。
"凱斯賓帶他們到甲板上參觀(guān)整艘船,事實(shí)上,他們已經(jīng)參觀(guān)過(guò)一大半了。他們登上第一個(gè)閣樓,看到瞭望員站在鍍金龍頭旁的一個(gè)小木架上,從張開(kāi)的龍嘴向外張望。閣樓里有廚房( 或者說(shuō)船上的廚房),還有水手、木匠、廚子,以及弓箭手頭頭兒的住處。如果你認(rèn)為煙囪的煙是向后飄,覺(jué)得廚房在前面很奇怪的話(huà),你就要知道, 所有的輪船都是逆風(fēng)行駛的。事實(shí)上,帆船是靠后面的風(fēng)推動(dòng)而行, 那樣的話(huà)所有的尾氣和炊煙都會(huì)被吹到前面,所以廚房只能設(shè)在帆船的前面。他們到桅桿頂?shù)挠^(guān)測(cè)臺(tái),起初那里晃得厲害,過(guò)了好一會(huì)才穩(wěn)住了,從那兒往下看,甲板看起來(lái)又小又遠(yuǎn)。那種感覺(jué)自然是驚心動(dòng)魄的。你想啊,萬(wàn)一掉了下去,肯定不會(huì)掉到海里,毫無(wú)疑問(wèn),只能掉到甲板上。然后他們又去了船尾,賴(lài)因斯和另一個(gè)水手正在值班掌舵,舵后面的龍尾是翹著的,上面鍍著金粉,半圓形的船尾內(nèi)有一排小凳子。這艘船被命名為“黎明踏浪號(hào)”。跟我們這里的船比起來(lái),真是小巫見(jiàn)大巫,它甚至跟彼得國(guó)王、露茜和愛(ài)德蒙統(tǒng)治納尼亞王國(guó)時(shí)的單桅船、雙桅船、大帆船等任何一條船都沒(méi)法比。不知為何,從凱斯賓時(shí)代起,幾乎所有的航海事業(yè)都消亡了。所以當(dāng)初凱斯賓的叔父, 那個(gè)篡奪王位的彌若茲國(guó)王把七位公爵派去出海時(shí),只好買(mǎi)了一艘加爾馬的船只,并雇傭了加爾馬的水手?,F(xiàn)在凱斯賓開(kāi)始鼓勵(lì)納尼亞人學(xué)習(xí)造船技術(shù)并出海了。迄今為止,黎明踏浪號(hào)是他們建造出來(lái)的最優(yōu)秀的船只。
這條船,結(jié)構(gòu)小巧,一邊是救生艇,另一邊是露茜的雞棚( 露茜養(yǎng)了一些母雞),中間剩下的地方就不多了。其實(shí)它的確算得上是同類(lèi)船中的“美人兒”了,水手稱(chēng)她是一位“小姐”,因?yàn)榇耐庑魏苊?,顏色純凈,甚至每根桅桿、每條纜繩、每只圓釘?shù)淖龉ざ己芫馈?br />
尤斯塔斯對(duì)他們說(shuō)的一概沒(méi)有興趣,一個(gè)人自顧自地吹噓大客輪、汽艇、飛機(jī)和潛水艇( 愛(ài)德蒙暗自說(shuō):“就像他真的無(wú)所不知似的。”)。露茜和愛(ài)德蒙兩個(gè)人對(duì)黎明踏浪號(hào)非常喜歡。在他們從船尾回到艙里吃飯的時(shí)候,看見(jiàn)西邊的天空出現(xiàn)了一大片玫瑰色的晚霞。船身在前進(jìn)中不停地顫動(dòng),似乎海水的咸味已經(jīng)到了嘴邊。想到馬上就要到達(dá)世界最東方之外的那片未知地了,露茜覺(jué)得幸福得說(shuō)不出話(huà)來(lái)。
"
尤斯塔斯心里的想法,恐怕是換個(gè)人都說(shuō)不好。第二天早上, 在他們都取回自己的干衣服之后,他馬上掏出一本黑色的筆記本和一只鉛筆,開(kāi)始寫(xiě)日記。這本日記本是他隨身攜帶的,里面記著他每次考試的分?jǐn)?shù),雖然他對(duì)功課本身沒(méi)有興趣,卻十分在乎那些分?jǐn)?shù)。他最喜歡做的事情莫過(guò)于走到別人面前,炫耀道:“我得了好多分, 你得了多少呢?”可是,在黎明踏浪號(hào)上,他不能炫耀自己得了多少分。現(xiàn)在,他只能寫(xiě)日記,寫(xiě)下的第一段文字如下:
八月七日。如果不是在做夢(mèng)的話(huà),我已經(jīng)在這條鬼船上待了整整二十四個(gè)小時(shí)了。外面的驚濤駭浪一直沒(méi)有停歇( 幸好我現(xiàn)在沒(méi)有暈船),之前看到巨浪不斷打來(lái),船好多次都幾乎沉沒(méi)了。其他人卻裝作什么也沒(méi)發(fā)生,這不是我在大驚小怪,正如哈羅德所言,凡人最懦弱的行為就是對(duì)事情的發(fā)生裝作視而不見(jiàn)。坐這樣一條比救生艇大不了多少的破船出海,簡(jiǎn)直就是瘋了。船里面實(shí)在太簡(jiǎn)陋了,沒(méi)有正式的沙龍,沒(méi)有無(wú)線(xiàn)電,沒(méi)有浴室,甲板上也沒(méi)有躺椅。昨天晚上他們拖著我到處跑,凱斯賓還在賣(mài)弄這條可笑的小破船,仿佛它像“瑪麗王后”號(hào)那么尊貴。我試圖告訴他真正的船是什么模樣,可是他太笨了。當(dāng)然,愛(ài)德蒙和露茜也不會(huì)支持我。我說(shuō),像露茜這樣的小孩子根本不知道什么是危險(xiǎn)。愛(ài)德蒙竟然還和這兒的所有人一樣拼命地討好凱斯賓, 叫他凱斯賓陛下。我說(shuō)我是共和主義者,他竟然問(wèn)我共和是什么意思, 看來(lái)他什么也不懂啊。不用說(shuō),他們把我安排在條件最差的艙房里,這里簡(jiǎn)直像地牢一樣。露茜卻被安排在甲板上單獨(dú)的一個(gè)房間里,那里跟其他地方比起來(lái),算是一個(gè)好房間。凱斯賓說(shuō)因?yàn)樗莻€(gè)女孩子。我試圖讓他明白艾貝塔說(shuō)的話(huà),這分明是在貶低女孩子的能力,可是他聽(tīng)不懂我的意思,他實(shí)在是笨得無(wú)可救藥。他應(yīng)該明白一點(diǎn),如果再讓我住在那個(gè)像地牢一樣的房間,我會(huì)生病的。愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)我們不應(yīng)該抱怨,因?yàn)樗舶炎约菏孢m的房間讓給了露茜,他選擇和我們合住。這樣一來(lái), 房間就更擠了。差點(diǎn)忘了說(shuō),這兒竟然有一種令人討厭的老鼠,對(duì)每個(gè)人都非常無(wú)禮。盡管有的人愿意容忍它,如果它要欺負(fù)我,我一定會(huì)扭斷它的尾巴。這里的飯菜也實(shí)在難吃。
尤斯塔斯和雷佩契普之間的矛盾比料想的還要糟。第二天午飯前,大家都圍在飯桌上等著開(kāi)飯( 因?yàn)樵诤I虾叫?,大家的胃口變得特別好),尤斯塔斯突然沖進(jìn)來(lái),搓著手,大叫著:
“那小畜生差點(diǎn)要了我的命。我堅(jiān)持我的觀(guān)點(diǎn),你必須要對(duì)它嚴(yán)加看管。我向你提出控告,凱斯賓,我命令你消滅它。”
就在此刻,雷佩契普來(lái)了。他把劍拔出鞘,憤怒中吹著胡須, 一臉兇相,但他依舊溫文爾雅。
“請(qǐng)?jiān)徫业聂斆В?rdquo;它說(shuō),“尤其是尊貴的女王陛下。看他在這里避難的份上,我就再等一段時(shí)間,給他一個(gè)改正的機(jī)會(huì)。
“發(fā)生了什么事情?”愛(ài)德蒙問(wèn)。
"事情是這個(gè)樣子的——雷佩契普自始至終沒(méi)覺(jué)得船開(kāi)得有多快,它總是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地坐在龍頭旁邊的船舷上一邊凝視著東方地平線(xiàn),一邊輕輕地哼唱著樹(shù)仙女為它寫(xiě)的歌曲。也許是它的長(zhǎng)尾巴在甲板上更容易保持平衡吧,它什么東西都不用抓,不管船再怎么顛簸,它都能姿態(tài)優(yōu)雅、穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地坐著。船上的人都知道它這種習(xí)慣,特別是水手,特喜歡它這樣。因?yàn)楫?dāng)有人在值班瞭望時(shí),就會(huì)跟它聊天了。
不知道尤斯塔斯為什么一路上搖搖晃晃,磕磕碰碰地摸到船頭( 他還是暈船)??赡芩肟纯词遣皇悄芸匆?jiàn)陸地,或許他想去廚房外面的走廊逛逛,看看能否找點(diǎn)東西吃吧。反正,只要他看見(jiàn)那條長(zhǎng)尾巴拖在地上——這個(gè)想法太誘人了——他馬上就想一把抓住那條尾巴,把雷佩契普頭朝下扭上一兩圈,自己趕快溜走,躲在一旁偷笑, 真是大快人心啊。
最初這個(gè)計(jì)劃進(jìn)行得很順利。這只老鼠并不比一只貓大多少, 尤斯塔斯輕而易舉地就把它扔到了欄桿外面。只見(jiàn)它張著嘴,四肢仰面朝天,尤斯塔斯覺(jué)得這樣的丑相真是狼狽至極。沒(méi)想到,雷佩契普多次拼死奮戰(zhàn),一點(diǎn)都沒(méi)有驚慌失措,并抓住了機(jī)會(huì)扭轉(zhuǎn)了敗局。按理說(shuō),被人扭住尾巴,身體在空中搖擺是不可能拔出劍來(lái)的,可它卻做到了。
尤斯塔斯不知不覺(jué)就被砍了兩劍,痛得他只好松開(kāi)雷佩契普的尾巴。然后,那只老鼠在甲板上打了個(gè)滾之后爬了起來(lái),用那支明晃晃的劍對(duì)準(zhǔn)了尤斯塔斯,并在他的肚子前一兩寸的地方來(lái)回?fù)]舞。( 這對(duì)納尼亞的老鼠來(lái)說(shuō),不能看成是襲擊腰部以下的違規(guī)行為,因?yàn)槔鲜笾荒軌虻玫侥莻€(gè)位置。)
"
“住手,”尤斯塔斯唾沫四濺,“走開(kāi)。把那東西收起來(lái),這不安全。我說(shuō),住手。我要告訴凱斯賓,然后把你的嘴巴套上,把你捆起來(lái)。”
“你這個(gè)膽小鬼,你拔出你的劍啊,我們?cè)俅?”老鼠吱吱地叫著,“拔出劍來(lái)和我打,不然我就用劍打得你渾身青紫。”
“我沒(méi)有劍,”尤斯塔斯說(shuō),“我是個(gè)和平主義者,我不認(rèn)為武力能解決問(wèn)題。”
“我明白了,”雷佩契普收回劍,非常嚴(yán)厲地說(shuō),“你是已經(jīng)認(rèn)輸了嗎?”
“我不知道你什么意思,”尤斯塔斯擦擦手,“如果你不懂什么是開(kāi)玩笑,我也沒(méi)必要和你一般見(jiàn)識(shí)。”
“那你必須受我一劍,”雷佩契普說(shuō),“這一劍會(huì)讓你知道什么叫懂禮貌——懂得怎樣尊敬一位騎士——一只老鼠騎士和老鼠騎士的尾巴。”每說(shuō)一句,它就給尤斯塔斯一個(gè)輕劍,百煉鋼如同繞指柔那般靈活。尤斯塔斯念書(shū)的學(xué)校沒(méi)有體罰,這樣驚心動(dòng)魄的經(jīng)歷對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)很新奇。盡管他會(huì)暈船,還是趁機(jī)逃離了船頭,穿過(guò)甲板, 沖進(jìn)艙房。雷佩契普在后面窮追不舍,不依不饒。在尤斯塔斯看來(lái), 自己不僅被追得火熱,那把劍也是熱的,是火辣辣的熱。
大家明白了整件事情的原委,凱斯賓要借給他一把劍,德里寧和愛(ài)德蒙在討論要不要給他點(diǎn)約束,以阻止他在雷佩契普身型上占得便宜。尤斯塔斯聽(tīng)出來(lái)大家對(duì)他們決斗的事情竟然都非常認(rèn)真,只好愁眉苦臉地示弱和道歉,然后跟著露茜去洗傷口,包扎,再乖乖地在自己的床鋪上躺下。
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