《黎明踏浪號(hào)》第七章 脫離險(xiǎn)境

CHAPTER SEVEN HOW THE ADVENTURE ENDED

第七章　脫離險(xiǎn)境

“LOOK at what ?”said Edmund.
“瞧什么啊?”愛德蒙問(wèn)。
“Look at the device on the gold，”said Caspian.
“瞧金鐲上的紋印。”凱斯賓說(shuō)。
“A little hammer with a diamond above it like a star，”said Drinian.“Why，I’ve seen that before.”
“一把小錘子和星狀的鉆石，”德里寧說(shuō)，“啊呀，這個(gè)我見過(guò)的。”
“Seen it !”said Caspian.“Why，of course you have.It is the sign of a great Narnian house.This is the Lord Octesian’s arm-ring.”
“是的，”凱斯賓說(shuō)，“你當(dāng)然見過(guò)，這是納尼亞貴族的標(biāo)志， 這是奧克特西安公爵的手鐲。”
“Villain，”said Reepicheep to the dragon，“have you devoured a Narnian lord ?”But the dragon shook his head violently.
“混蛋，”雷佩契普說(shuō)，“你把納尼亞的公爵吃掉了?”那只龍拼命搖頭。
“Or perhaps，”said Lucy，“this is the Lord Octesian，turned into a dragon—under an enchantment，you know.”
“或者，”露茜說(shuō)，“這條龍是奧克特西安公爵中了魔法變成的。”
“It needn’t be either，”said Edmund.“All dragons collect gold. But I think it’s a safe guess that Octesian got no further than this island.”
“這也未必，”愛德蒙說(shuō)，“龍都愛收藏金子，不過(guò)我認(rèn)為奧克特西安公爵還在這個(gè)小島上。”
“Are you the Lord Octesian ?”said Lucy to the dragon， and then，when it sadly shook its head，“Are you someone enchanted—someone human，I mean ?”
“你是奧克特西安公爵嗎?”露茜對(duì)龍說(shuō)，但是它傷心地?fù)u搖頭， 露茜又問(wèn)，“那你是中了魔法的人嗎——我的意思是你是人類嗎?”
It nodded violently.
那只龍拼命地點(diǎn)頭。
And then someone said—people disputed afterwards whether Lucy or Edmund said it first—“You’re not—not Eustace by any chance ?”
事后大家一直爭(zhēng)論，直到不知是露西還是愛德蒙先說(shuō)，“你—— 不，不會(huì)是尤斯塔斯吧?”
And Eustace nodded his terrible dragon head and thumped his tail in the sea and everyone skipped back(some of the sailors with ejaculations I will not put down in writing)to avoid the enormous and boiling tears which flowed from his eyes.
尤斯塔斯聽了之后不停地點(diǎn)那嚇人的龍頭，還不停地把尾巴在水里拍打。大家為了避開它眼里的滾滾熱淚，只好紛紛后退。有幾個(gè)水手還罵得很難聽，具體內(nèi)容我就不說(shuō)了。
Lucy tried hard to console him and even screwed up her courage to kiss the scaly face，and nearly everyone said“Hard luck”and several assured Eustace that they would all stand by him and many said there was sure to be some way of disenchanting him and they’d have him as right as rain in a day or two.And of course they were all very anxious to hear his story，but he couldn’t speak. More than once in the days that followed he attempted to write it for them on the sand.But this never succeeded.In the first place Eustace(never having read the right books)had no idea how to tell a story straight.And for another thing，the muscles and nerves of the dragon-claws that he had to use had never learned to write and were not built for writing anyway.As a result he never got nearly to the end before the tide came in and washed away all the writing except the bits he had already trodden on or accidentally swished out with his tail.And all that anyone had seen would be something like this—the dots are for the bits he had smudged out—
露茜想盡一切辦法安慰他，甚至鼓起勇氣去吻他那張長(zhǎng)滿鱗甲的臉，所有的人都說(shuō)“他真倒霉”，只有那么幾個(gè)人是對(duì)尤斯塔斯很關(guān)心的，說(shuō)無(wú)論如何都會(huì)支持他。不少人說(shuō)一定有辦法解除魔法的， 然后他們就可以正常地在一起了。他們都想早點(diǎn)聽聽他的經(jīng)歷，可是他不會(huì)說(shuō)話。后來(lái)的日子里，他總打算把那些事情寫在沙地上，可是都寫不成。第一個(gè)原因是，尤斯塔斯從沒看過(guò)一本正兒八經(jīng)的故事書，根本不會(huì)講故事。其次，他根本不能控制他的龍爪和神經(jīng)寫字。而且每次還沒寫完就被潮汐給沖刷掉了。他只能留住一些用腳踩住的，還讓尾巴不小心掃去一些筆畫。所以大家看到的文字就像下面的內(nèi)容：
I WNET TO SLEE... RGOS AGRONS I MEAN DRANGONS CAVE CAUSE IT—WAS DEAD AND AWING SO HAR... WOKE UP AND COU... GET OFFF MI ARM OH BOTHER...
我去睡覺……龍洞……龍死了……鐲子套在……我醒了……脫不下來(lái)真討厭……。
It was，however，clear to everyone that Eustace’s character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon.He was anxious to help.He flew over the whole island and found that it was all mountainous and inhabited only by wild goats and droves of wild swine.Of these he brought back many carcasses as provisions for the ship.He was a very humane killer too，for he could dispatch a beast with one blow of his tail so that it didn’t know(and presumably still doesn’t know)it had been killed.He ate a few himself，of course，but always alone，for now that he was a dragon he liked his food raw but he could never bear to let others see him at his messy meals.And one day，flying slowly and wearily but in great triumph，he bore back to camp a great tall pine tree which he had torn up by the roots in a distant valley and which could be made into a capital mast.And in the evening if it turned chilly，as it sometimes did after the heavy rains，he was a comfort to everyone，for the whole party would come and sit with their backs against his hot sides and get well warmed and dried;and one puff of his fiery breath would light the most obstinate fire.Sometimes he would take a select party for a fly on his back，so that they could see wheeling below them the green slopes，the rocky heights，the narrow pit-like valleys and far out over the sea to the eastward a spot of darker blue on the blue horizon which might be land.
但大家心知肚明，尤斯塔斯變成龍之后，性格變好了很多，他在想方設(shè)法地幫大家的忙。他飛遍整個(gè)島，發(fā)現(xiàn)這里全是高山，只有野山羊和成群的野豬。他就帶回好多被他弄死的野豬和山羊送給大家。他應(yīng)該算是一個(gè)非常善良的獵人，他尾巴輕輕掃一下，那些野生動(dòng)物就不知不覺地( 他們大概還不知道) 送了命。他自己也會(huì)吃一些， 偷偷地吃。因?yàn)樗F(xiàn)在是龍，那些人見不得他生吃些血肉模糊的東西。一天，他飛得很慢很用力，但是很得意。因?yàn)樗岩豢酶叽蟮乃蓸溥B根拔起，帶回到沙灘做桅桿。晚上天冷的時(shí)候，所有人都跑過(guò)來(lái)靠在他的兩側(cè)取暖，熱乎乎的。就這樣它成了大家的火爐，而且它噴出一口火，就能把難以燃燒的柴火點(diǎn)著。有時(shí)候它還會(huì)讓幾個(gè)人騎在他背上，帶他們飛過(guò)綠色的山坡、嶙峋的高山和狹窄的山谷。有一次他飛向東邊的海，飛得很遠(yuǎn)，發(fā)現(xiàn)有個(gè)深藍(lán)色的圓點(diǎn)，覺得那里應(yīng)該就是陸地了。
The pleasure(quite new to him)of being liked and，still more，of liking other people，was what kept Eustace from despair.For it was very dreary being a dragon.He shuddered whenever he caught sight of his own reflection as he flew over a mountain lake.He hated the huge bat—like wings，the saw-edged ridge on his back，and the cruel，curved claws.He was almost afraid to be alone with himself and yet he was ashamed to be with the others.On the evenings when he was not being used as a hot-water bottle he would slink away from the camp and lie curled up like a snake between the wood and the water.On such occasions，greatly to his surprise，Reepicheep was his most constant comforter.The noble Mouse would creep away from the merry circle at the camp fire and sit down by the dragon’s head， well to the windward to be out of the way of his smoky b r e a t h.There he would explain that what had happened to Eustace was a striking illustration of the turn of Fortune’s wheel， and that if he had Eustace at his own house in Narnia(it was really a hole not a house and the dragon’s head，let alone his body， would not have fitted in)he could show him more than a hundred examples of emperors，kings，dukes，knights，poets，lovers， astronomers，philosophers，and magicians，who had fallen from prosperity into the most distressing circumstances，and of whom many had recovered and lived happily ever afterwards.It did not， perhaps，seem so very comforting at the time，but it was kindly meant and Eustace never forgot it.
尤斯塔斯覺得被人喜歡的感覺真好，更難能可貴的是，他也開始喜歡大家了，這是史無(wú)前例的。變成龍之后的生活是非常乏味的， 每當(dāng)他飛過(guò)湖面看到自己的倒影時(shí)，都會(huì)打一個(gè)寒戰(zhàn)。他討厭那對(duì)像蝙蝠一樣的翅膀，鋸齒形的脊背，鋒利的尖爪。他害怕一個(gè)人待著， 但是晚上又不好意思和別人待一起。晚上沒有人需要靠他取暖的時(shí)候，他就會(huì)偷偷離開營(yíng)地，像蛇一樣蜷縮在樹林和大海之間的地方。最讓人出乎意料的是，雷佩契普經(jīng)常跑來(lái)安慰他。那只溫文爾雅的老鼠會(huì)從篝火周圍的人堆里偷偷跑掉，靠著龍頭邊坐下，看準(zhǔn)風(fēng)向避開他冒煙的鼻息。它說(shuō)，尤斯塔斯的遭遇是造化弄人的一個(gè)典型， 如果能讓尤斯塔斯到他在納尼亞的家中做客( 其實(shí)是個(gè)洞，算不上什么家，龍頭也伸不進(jìn)去，就別提身子了)，它可以舉出百來(lái)個(gè)例子說(shuō)明， 那些皇帝啊、國(guó)王啊、公爵啊、騎士啊、詩(shī)人啊、情人啊、天文學(xué)家啊、哲學(xué)家啊，還有魔法師啊，他們?cè)榷几毁F榮華，一下子就跌進(jìn)了極其悲慘的境地，但后來(lái)一切又都好轉(zhuǎn)了，從此日子過(guò)得很美好。也許這話聽來(lái)，不像是安慰別人的話，但畢竟也是出于一番好意，讓尤斯塔斯終生難忘。
But of course what hung over everyone like a cloud was the problem of what to do with their dragon when they were ready to sail.They tried not to talk of it when he was there，but he couldn’t help overhearing things like，“Would he fit all along one side of the deck ?And we’d have to shift all the stores to the other side down below so as to balance，”or，“Would towing him be any good ?”or “Would he be able to keep up by flying ?”and(most often of all)，“But how are we to feed him ?”And poor Eustace realized more and more that since the first day he came on board he had been an unmitigated nuisance and that he was now a greater nuisance still.And this ate into his mind，just as that bracelet ate into his foreleg.He knew that it only made it worse to tear at it with his great teeth，but he couldn’t help tearing now and then， especially on hot nights.
不過(guò)，始終有兩個(gè)問(wèn)題像朵烏云般籠罩在大家的心頭。等他們啟航的時(shí)候，這條龍?jiān)趺崔k?他在場(chǎng)的時(shí)候，大家都盡量避而不談， 可是他還是免不了偷聽到一些話，比如“把他安頓在整個(gè)甲板的一邊合適嗎?那我們就得把全部貯藏搬到下面的另一側(cè)才能讓船身平衡。”，“拖著他走行不行?”，“他能一直飛下去嗎?”還有，最常聽到的是“可是我們給他吃什么呢?”可憐的尤斯塔斯內(nèi)心很清楚，從他踏上甲板的第一天開始，他就是一個(gè)十足的包袱，如今的他成了更大的包袱。這想法深深刺痛了他的心，就像那只手鐲深深蝕進(jìn)他的前臂一樣。他知道用牙咬手鐲反而讓情況更糟，可是他還是忍不住去咬，尤其是在悶熱的晚上。
About six days after they had landed on Dragon Island， Edmund happened to wake up very early one morning.It was just getting grey so that you could see the tree-trunks if they were between you and the bay but not in the other direction.As he woke he thought he heard something moving，so he raised himself on one elbow and looked about him：and presently he thought he saw a dark figure moving on the seaward side of the wood.The idea that at once occurred to his mind was，“Are we so sure there are no natives on this island after all ?”Then he thought it was Caspian— it was about the right size—but he knew that Caspian had been sleeping next to him and could see that he hadn’t moved.Edmund made sure that his sword was in its place and then rose to investigate.
他們?cè)邶垗u上岸大約六天后。這天早晨，愛德蒙醒得很早。天色剛亮，勉強(qiáng)只能讓人看得見海灘那邊的樹干，其他的一切都無(wú)法看清。他醒來(lái)時(shí)似乎聽到一些動(dòng)靜，就支起一個(gè)胳膊肘，朝四下張望： 不一會(huì)兒就看見一個(gè)黑影在林子那頭走動(dòng)。他腦子里頓時(shí)生出一個(gè)念頭，“難道我們能肯定這島上根本沒有土著人?”接著他轉(zhuǎn)念一想， 那該是凱斯賓吧——個(gè)頭看起來(lái)差不多——可凱斯賓一直睡在他身邊，根本沒動(dòng)彈過(guò)。愛德蒙見自己的劍還在原來(lái)的地方，就起身去查看了。
He came down softly to the edge of the wood and the dark figure was still there.He saw now that it was too small for Caspian and too big for Lucy.It did not run away.Edmund drew his sword and was about to challenge the stranger when the stranger
他躡手躡腳地來(lái)到林子邊，那個(gè)黑影還在。這時(shí)他看出那黑影的個(gè)子比凱斯賓小，又比露茜大一些。那黑影并沒有逃走。愛德蒙拔出劍來(lái)，打算向那黑影挑戰(zhàn)，
said in a low voice，“Is that you，Edmund ?”
這時(shí)那黑影低聲說(shuō)，“是愛德蒙嗎?”
“Yes.Who are you ?”said he.
“對(duì)。你是誰(shuí)?”他問(wèn)道。
“Don’t you know me ?”said the other.“It’s me—Eustace.”
“你不認(rèn)識(shí)我了嗎?”對(duì)方說(shuō)，“我是尤斯塔斯。”
“By jove，”said Edmund，“so it is.My dear chap—”
“天啊，”愛德蒙說(shuō)，“原來(lái)是你，老伙計(jì)……”
“Hush，”said Eustace and lurched as if he were going to fall.
“噓……”尤斯塔斯說(shuō)著身子?xùn)|倒西歪，眼看就要摔倒了。
“Hello !”said Edmund，steadying him.“What’s up ? Are you ill ?”
“天哪!”愛德蒙連忙扶穩(wěn)他說(shuō)，“你怎么了?病了?”
Eustace was silent for so long that Edmund thought he was fainting;but at last he said，“It’s been ghastly.You don’t know... but it’s all right now.Could we go and talk somewhere ? I don’t want to meet the others just yet.”
尤斯塔斯沉默了許久，愛德蒙以為他暈過(guò)去了。他突然又開口說(shuō)： “太可怕了，你不知道……不過(guò)現(xiàn)在沒事了。我們找個(gè)地方談?wù)劙桑?現(xiàn)在我不想見其他人。”
“Yes，rather，anywhere you like，”said Edmund.“We can go and sit on the rocks over there.I say，I am glad to see you— er—looking yourself again.You must have had a pretty beastly time.”
“好啊，你愿意去哪兒就去哪兒，”愛德蒙說(shuō)，“我們?nèi)ツ抢锇桑?坐在巖石上。哎呀，看見你真高興……呃……我是說(shuō)看見你變回以前的樣子，心里真高興，你一定吃了不少苦頭吧?”
They went to the rocks and sat down looking out across the bay while the sky got paler and paler and the stars disappeared except for one very bright one low down and near the horizon.
他們走到巖石那邊坐下來(lái)，眺望著海灣對(duì)面。天色越來(lái)越亮， 除了一顆很亮的星星，低得接近地平線以外，其他的星星都看不見了。
“I won’t tell you how I became a—a dragon till I can tell the others and get it all over，”said Eustace.“By the way，I didn’t even know it was a dragon till I heard you all using the word when I turned up here the other morning.I want to tell you how I stopped being one.”
“等這事全過(guò)去了，我再跟你說(shuō)我是怎么變成—條……一條龍的，”尤斯塔斯說(shuō)，“順便說(shuō)一句，那天早上，我在這兒聽到你們說(shuō)‘龍’ 這個(gè)字，我才知道自己變成龍了。我現(xiàn)在只想告訴你我為什么又變回來(lái)了。”
“Fire ahead，”said Edmund.
“快說(shuō)吧。”愛德蒙說(shuō)。
“Well，last night I was more miserable than ever.And that beastly arm-ring was hurting like anything—”
“好吧，昨晚是最難受的一晚，那只該死的手鐲勒得我疼死了……”
“Is that all right now ?”
“現(xiàn)在沒事了吧?”
Eustace laughed—a different laugh from any Edmund had heard him give before—and slipped the bracelet easily off his arm. “There it is，”he said，“and anyone who likes can have it as far as I’m concerned.Well，as I say，I was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me.And then—but，mind you， it may have been all a dream.I don’t know.”
尤斯塔斯笑了，愛德蒙以前沒見他如此開心地笑過(guò)。尤斯塔斯輕輕一捋就把手鐲從手臂上拿下來(lái)了。“瞧，”他說(shuō)，“誰(shuí)想要誰(shuí)就拿去吧。唉，當(dāng)時(shí)我正躺在那兒，沒想過(guò)會(huì)發(fā)生什么事。這時(shí)——不過(guò)， 你聽著，這也許完全是個(gè)夢(mèng)，我也不知道到底發(fā)生了什么事。”
“Go on，”said Edmund，with considerable patience.
“接著說(shuō)。”愛德蒙很有耐性地鼓勵(lì)他。
“Well，anyway，I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected：a huge lion coming slowly towards me.And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night，but there was moonlight where the lion was.So it came nearer and nearer.I was terribly afraid of it.You may think that，being a dragon，I could have knocked any lion out easily enough.But it wasn’t that kind of fear.I wasn’t afraid of it eating me，I was just afraid of it-if you can understand.Well，it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes.And I shut my eyes tight.But that wasn’t any good because it told me to follow it.”
“唉，反正我一睜眼就看見一頭大獅子向我走來(lái)，我怎么也想不到會(huì)看到這樣的東西。奇怪的是，昨晚并沒有月亮，可月光卻一直照在它身上。它朝著我走來(lái)，我非常害怕。你也許會(huì)想，既然我是條龍，要打倒獅子還不容易嗎?可是我心底里的不是那種害怕。我不是怕它吃我，我只是純粹怕它——不知道你能不能理解我的感受。唉， 它一步步走近了我，一直盯著我眼睛。我緊緊地閉上眼睛，可沒有用， 因?yàn)樗形腋摺?rdquo;
“You mean it spoke ?”
“你是說(shuō)，它說(shuō)話了?”
“I don’t know.Now that you mention it，I don’t think it did. But it told me all the same.And I knew I’d have to do what it told me，so I got up and followed it.And it led me a long way into the mountains.And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went.So at last we came to the top of a mountain I’d never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden—trees and fruit and everything.In the middle of it there was a well.
“我不知道。它好像也沒有開口，不過(guò)他的確叫我這么做了。我只知道我必須按照它說(shuō)的去做，就起身跟它走了。它帶著我走了好遠(yuǎn)，進(jìn)到了大山里。這一路上，不管我們到哪里，月光總是籠罩著獅子。我們來(lái)到一個(gè)我沒見過(guò)的山頂，上面有個(gè)花園——里面有很多樹和水果，花園里還有口井。
“I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it：but it was a lot bigger than most wells— like a very big，round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg.But the lion told me I must undress first.Mind you，I don’t know if he said any words out loud or not.
“我非常確定這是口井，因?yàn)榫撞粩嗝俺鏊畞?lái)。這口井比其他的井大多了——像一個(gè)大大的浴池，有大理石階梯通向里面。井水很清澈，我想，如果能下去泡泡，我的腿痛應(yīng)該會(huì)減輕一些。獅子讓我先脫掉衣服。但是，我不太確定它是不是說(shuō)了這些話。
“I was just going to say that I couldn’t undress because I hadn’t any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins.Oh，of course，thought I，that’s what the lion means.So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place.And then I scratched a little deeper and，instead of just scales coming off here and there， my whole skin started peeling off beautifully，like it does after an illness，or as if I was a banana.In a minute or two I just stepped out of it.I could see it lying there beside me，looking rather nasty.It was a most lovely feeling.So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.
“我剛想說(shuō)我不能脫衣服，因?yàn)槲疑砩鲜裁匆路紱]穿。這時(shí)， 我才意識(shí)到，龍像蛇一樣能蛻去身上的皮。我想，獅子就是這個(gè)意思吧。所以我就在身上亂抓，鱗甲紛紛掉了一地。我試著抓得深一點(diǎn)， 身上整張皮都完整地剝了下來(lái)。我感覺自己大病初愈，就像被剝了皮的香蕉。轉(zhuǎn)眼間，我從龍皮里出來(lái)了，這身皮堆在一邊，看上去非常惡心。不過(guò)這感覺很好，然后我就下井去洗澡了。
“But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before.Oh，that’s all right，said I，it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one， and I’ll have to get out of it too.So 1 scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.
“哪能想到我剛要把腳伸進(jìn)水里時(shí)，我往腳下看了看，又看見自己像剛剛那樣，長(zhǎng)出了粗硬又皺巴巴的鱗甲。我想說(shuō)，原來(lái)的鱗片下還有一層鱗片呀，我必須把這些全部拔掉。所以我又抓又扯，里面的鱗甲也完整地脫落下來(lái)了。我把這層皮扔在頭一層皮的旁邊，然后走到井邊洗了個(gè)澡。
“Well，exactly the same thing happened again.And I thought to myself，oh dear，how ever many skins have I got to take off ? For I was longing to bathe my leg.So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin，just like the two others，and stepped out of it.But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.
“沒想到同樣的事情又發(fā)生了。我暗自想，我到底要蛻下多少層皮啊?因?yàn)槲乙恍闹幌肱菖萃龋晕业谌巫チ俗约?，又蛻下一層皮，跟前兩次相同。我朝水里看了下倒影，知道這么做沒什么用。
“Then the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’I was afraid of his claws，I can tell you，but I was pretty nearly desperate now.So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.
“我聽到獅子說(shuō)——我并不知道他是否開口說(shuō)話了——‘必須得由我來(lái)為你脫掉這層皮’。實(shí)話實(shí)說(shuō)，我很害怕它的爪子，但這次我別無(wú)選擇，所以我只能躺下，讓它來(lái)為我做這件事情。
“The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.And when he began pulling the skin off，it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt.The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.You know—if you’ve ever picked the scab of a sore place.It hurts like billy—oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.”
“它第一爪抓下來(lái)就很深，深得快要刺進(jìn)我心臟里去。當(dāng)他把皮扯下來(lái)，那種疼痛讓人無(wú)法忍受。唯一讓我開心的是，那層皮終于掉下來(lái)了。那種感覺就像你揭去傷口的痂。雖然痛得厲害，但是它終于脫落了，我還是很高興的。”
“I know exactly what you mean，”said Edmund.
“我能理解你的感受。”愛德蒙說(shuō)。
“Well，he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times，only they hadn’t hurt— and there it was lying on the grass：only ever so much thicker， and darker，and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been.Then he caught hold of me—I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on— and threw me into the water.It smarted like anything but only for a moment.After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm.And then I saw why.I’d turned into a boy again.You’d think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms.I know they’ve no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian’s，but I was so glad to see them.
“然后，那層該死的皮終于被扯掉了——正如前三回我自己親手扯掉過(guò)的一樣，只是前幾回不痛——這層皮落在草地上，厚得多， 黑得多，而且看上去比前幾層皮的疙瘩更多。這樣下來(lái)，我如同一根剛剛被剝掉皮的細(xì)樹枝，不僅光滑柔軟，身體也比之前瘦小了許多。獅子猛地抓住我——我有點(diǎn)不高興他這樣，因?yàn)榇丝涛疑砩喜]有皮，肉更是嫩。他卻把我丟進(jìn)水里，讓我痛徹心肺，幸虧我不一會(huì)兒就出來(lái)了。之后我感覺舒服極了，等我再去游泳，拍水的時(shí)候，發(fā)現(xiàn)手臂一點(diǎn)也不痛了。我這才明白整個(gè)事情是怎么回事，我終于重新變回一個(gè)孩子了。告訴你，也許你會(huì)不信，我摸著自己的手臂特別高興。我知道我手臂上并沒有肌肉，比起凱斯賓來(lái)說(shuō)，實(shí)在差太多，但看到自己的手臂心里還是很興奮的。”
“After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me—”
“不一會(huì)，獅子就從水里把我撈上來(lái)了，替我穿上了衣服。”
“Dressed you.With his paws ?”
“用他的爪子幫你穿上衣服嗎?”
“Well，I don’t exactly remember that bit.But he did somehow or other：in new clothes—the same I’ve got on now， as a matter of fact.And then suddenly I was back here.Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream.”
“我記不清楚具體的細(xì)節(jié)了。不過(guò)他給我換了新衣服——就是我現(xiàn)在穿著的這身。然后，我就來(lái)到了這里。所以我剛剛以為自己是做了個(gè)夢(mèng)。”
“No.It wasn’t a dream，”said Edmund.
“不，那可不是夢(mèng)。”愛德蒙說(shuō)。
“Why not ?”
“為什么不是呢?”
“Well，there are the clothes，for one thing.And you have been—well，un-dragoned，for another.”
“首先，你是身上穿的這身衣服。再說(shuō)，你已經(jīng)不再是龍了。”
“What do you think it was，then ?”asked Eustace.
“你覺得這中間到底發(fā)生了什么呢?”尤斯塔斯問(wèn)道。
“I think you’ve seen Aslan，”said Edmund.
“我想，應(yīng)該是阿斯蘭幫助了你。”愛德蒙說(shuō)。
“Aslan !”said Eustace.“I’ve heard that name mentioned several times since we joined the Dawn Treader.And I felt—I don’t know what—I hated it.But I was hating everything then. And by the way，I’d like to apologize.I’m afraid I’ve been pretty beastly.”
“阿斯蘭!”尤斯塔斯說(shuō)，“自從我們上了黎明踏浪號(hào)，我就多次聽到這個(gè)名字。可我……我不知道為什么……我討厭這名字。不過(guò)，當(dāng)時(shí)我好像對(duì)什么都不喜歡?，F(xiàn)在，我要道歉。因?yàn)椋抑耙欢ㄊ莻€(gè)惹人厭的家伙吧?”
“That’s all right，”said Edmund.“Between ourselves，you haven’t been as bad as I was on my first trip to Narnia.You were only an ass，but I was a traitor.”
“沒事的，”愛德蒙說(shuō)，“要我說(shuō)，你還沒我頭一回來(lái)納尼亞時(shí)那么壞呢。你只不過(guò)是個(gè)笨蛋，而我是個(gè)叛徒。”
“Well，don’t tell me about it，then，”said Eustace.“But who is Aslan ? Do you know him ?”
“嘿，別提了，”尤斯塔斯說(shuō)，“阿斯蘭是誰(shuí)啊?你和他認(rèn)識(shí)嗎?”
“Well—he knows me，”said Edmund.“He is the great Lion， the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea，who saved me and saved Narnia.We’ve all seen him.Lucy sees him most often.And it may be Aslan’s country we are sailing to.”
“這個(gè)嘛……他認(rèn)識(shí)我，”愛德蒙說(shuō)，“他是一頭偉大的獅王， 海外之王的兒子，他救了我，救了整個(gè)納尼亞王國(guó)。我們都見過(guò)他， 露茜應(yīng)該和他最熟。或許，我們要去的地方就是阿斯蘭的國(guó)土。”
Neither said anything for a while.The last bright star had vanished and though they could not see the sunrise because of the mountains on their right，they knew it was going on because the sky above them and the bay before them turned the colour of roses. Then some bird of the parrot kind screamed in the wood behind them，they heard movements among the trees，and finally a blast on Caspian’s horn.The camp was astir.
兩個(gè)人都沉默了好久，直到最后一顆明亮的星星也消失了。他們看不見日出，右邊有座大山擋住了他們的視線，但他們能感覺到太陽(yáng)正在升起。因?yàn)轭^頂上的天空與眼前的海灣，正在變成玫瑰色。此時(shí)，后面的林子里傳來(lái)鸚鵡等鳥類的鳴叫，他們聽到樹叢里傳來(lái)了聲音，凱斯賓吹響了號(hào)角。營(yíng)地里，人們開始活動(dòng)了。
Great was the rejoicing when Edmund and the restored Eustace walked into the breakfast circle round the camp fire.And now of course everyone heard the earlier part of his story.People wondered whether the other dragon had killed the Lord Octesian several years ago or whether Octesian himself had been the old dragon.The jewels with which Eustace had crammed his pockets in the cave had disappeared along with the clothes he had then been wearing：but no one，least of all Eustace himself，felt any desire to go back to that valley for more treasure.
愛德蒙和已恢復(fù)人形的尤斯塔斯走進(jìn)圍著篝火吃早餐的人堆時(shí)， 大家顯得特別開心。大家都聽他說(shuō)了之前的經(jīng)歷。于是，人人都想知道，另外一條龍會(huì)不會(huì)在幾年前將奧克特西安公爵殺害了，或者那只已經(jīng)死去的老龍會(huì)不會(huì)就是奧克特西安。在洞口前，尤斯塔斯曾硬往口袋塞進(jìn)去一些珠寶，現(xiàn)在也隨著他當(dāng)時(shí)穿的衣服一起消失了。不過(guò)誰(shuí)都不想到山谷里去尋寶，反正尤斯塔斯是不想再去了。
In a few days now the Dawn Treader，remasted，repainted， and well stored，was ready to sail.Before they embarked Caspian caused to be cut on a smooth cliff facing the bay the words：
兩三天后，黎明踏浪號(hào)安裝上了新的桅桿，油漆一新，貯備充足， 準(zhǔn)備再次出發(fā)。上船之前，凱斯賓讓人在海灣對(duì)面的斷崖刻上這樣的文字：
DRAGON ISLAND DISCOVERED BY CASPIAN X，KING OF NARNIA，ETC.IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. HERE，AS WE SUPPOSE，THE LORD OCTESIAN HAD HIS DEATH .
龍島由納尼亞國(guó)王凱斯賓十世率眾人發(fā)現(xiàn)，此時(shí)是他執(zhí)政的第四年。據(jù)悉，奧克特西安公爵死于此地。
It would be nice，and fairly nearly true，to say that“from that time forth Eustace was a different boy.”To be strictly accurate， he began to be a different boy.He had relapses.There were still many days when he could be very tiresome.But most of those I shall not notice.The cure had begun.
現(xiàn)在說(shuō)“尤斯塔斯從此變了”，這話真是恰到好處，而且是變得越來(lái)越好。確切地說(shuō)，他的性格變了。雖然中間有時(shí)也有反復(fù)，有時(shí)他還是會(huì)讓人生厭。不過(guò)那些事情我就不提了，畢竟他已經(jīng)開始轉(zhuǎn)變。
The Lord Octesian’s arm ring had a curious fate.Eustace did not want it and offered it to Caspian and Caspian offered it to Lucy.She did not care about having it.“Very well，then，catch as catch can，”said Caspian and flung it up in the air.This was when they were all standing looking at the inscription.Up went the ring， flashing in the sunlight，and caught，and hung，as neatly as a well-thrown quoit，on a little projection on the rock.No one could climb up to get it from below and no one could climb down to get it from above.And there，for all I know，it is hanging still and may hang till that world ends.
奧克特西安公爵的手鐲還有一段故事。尤斯塔斯不愿擁有它， 把它送給了凱斯賓，凱斯賓又將它交給露茜保管，露茜好像也不想要它。“算了，誰(shuí)拿到就歸誰(shuí)吧。”凱斯賓說(shuō)完，就把它拋向空中。正好， 大家都站在那里看懸崖上的字。那手鐲被拋向空中，在陽(yáng)光下閃閃發(fā)亮，然后像個(gè)正中靶心的套環(huán)一樣，套中了一個(gè)小小的巖石尖角，掛在了上面。從此，誰(shuí)都沒法從下面爬上去拿，也沒法從上面爬下去拿。據(jù)我所知，至今它還在那里，也許會(huì)掛到世界末日吧。