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雙語(yǔ)·獅子、女巫與魔衣柜 第五章 回到門的另一邊

所屬教程:譯林版·獅子、女巫與魔衣柜

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2022年04月25日

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CHAPTER 5 BACK ON THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR

BECAUSE the game of hide-and-seek was still going on, it took Edmund and Lucy some time to find the others. But when at last they were all together(which happened in the long room, where the suit of armour was)Lucy burst out:

“Peter!Susan!It's all true. Edmund has seen it too.There is a country you can get to through the wardrobe.Edmund and I both got in.We met one another in there, in the wood.Go on, Edmund;tell them all about it.”

“What's all this about, Ed?”said Peter.

And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story. Up to that moment Edmund had been feeling sick, and sulky, and annoyed with Lucy for being right, but he hadn't made up his mind what to do.When Peter suddenly asked him the question he decided all at once to do the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of.He decided to let Lucy down.

“Tell us, Ed,”said Susan.

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy(there was really only a year's difference)and then a little snigger and said,“Oh, yes, Lucy and I have been playing—pretending that all her story about a country in the wardrobe is true. Just for fun, of course.There's nothing there really.”

Poor Lucy gave Edmund one look and rushed out of the room.

Edmund, who was becoming a nastier person every minute, thought that he had scored a great success, and went on at once to say,“There she goes again. What's the matter with her?That's the worst of young kids, they always—”

“Look here,”said Peter, turning on him savagely,“shut up!You've been perfectly beastly to Lu ever since she started this nonsense about the wardrobe, and now you go playing games with her about it and setting her off again. I believe you did it simply out of spite.”

“But it's all nonsense,”said Edmund, very taken aback.

“Of course it's all nonsense,”said Peter,“that's just the point. Lu was perfectly all right when we left home, but since we've been down here she seems to be either going queer in the head or else turning into a most frightful liar.But whichever it is, what good do you think you'll do by jeering and nagging at her one day and encouraging her the next?”

“I thought—I thought—”said Edmund;but he couldn't think of anything to say.

“You didn't think anything at all,”said Peter;“it's just spite. You've always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself;we've seen that at school before now.”

“Do stop it,”said Susan;“it won't make things any better having a row between you two. Let's go and fnd Lucy.”

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy, a good deal later, everyone could see that she had been crying. Nothing they could say to her made any difference.She stuck to her story and said:

“I don't care what you think, and I don't care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like.I know I've met a Faun in there and—I wish I'd stayed there and you are all beasts, beasts.”

It was an unpleasant evening. Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasn't working as well as he had expected.The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind.They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor.“He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu,”said Peter;“it's getting beyond us.”So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said,“Come in,”and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fngers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had fnished the whole story.After that he said nothing for quite a long time.Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected:

“How do you know,”he asked,“that your sister's story is not true?”

“Oh, but—”began Susan, and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old man's face that he was perfectly serious.Then Susan pulled herself together and said,“But Edmund said they had only been pretending.”

“That is a point,”said the Professor,“which certainly deserves consideration;very careful consideration. For instance—if you will excuse me for asking the question—does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable?I mean, which is the more truthful?”

“That's just the funny thing about it, sir,”said Peter.“Up till now, I'd have said Lucy every time.”

“And what do you think, my dear?”said the Professor, turning to Susan.

“Well,”said Susan,“in general, I'd say the same as Peter, but this couldn't be true—all this about the wood and the Faun.”

“That is more than I know,”said the Professor,“and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing;a very serious thing indeed.”

“We were afraid it mightn't even be lying,”said Susan;“we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy.”

“Madness, you mean?”said the Professor quite coolly.“Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad.”

“But then,”said Susan, and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn't know what to think.

“Logic!”said the Professor half to himself.“Why don't they teach logic at these schools?There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth.You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad.For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.”

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them.

“But how could it be true, sir?”said Peter.

“Why do you say that?”asked the Professor.

“Well, for one thing,”said Peter,“if it was real why doesn't everyone fnd this country every time they go to the wardrobe?I mean, there was nothing there when we looked;even Lucy didn't pretend the was.”

“What has that to do with it?”said the Professor.

“Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time.”

“Are they?”said the Professor;and Peter did not know quite what to say.

“But there was no time,”said Susan.“Lucy had had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after usthe very moment we were out of the room.It was less than minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours.”

“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true,”said the Professor.“If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world(and I should warn you that this is a very strange house, and even I know very little about it)—if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at all surprised to fnd that the other world had a separate time of its own;so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don't think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves.If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story.”

“But do you really mean, sir,”said Peter,“that there could be other worlds—all over the place, just round the corner—like that?”

“Nothing is more probable,”said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he muttered to himself,“I wonder what theydo teach them at these schools.”

“But what are we to do?”said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

“My dear young lady,”said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them,“there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying.”

“What's that?”said Susan.

“We might all try minding our own business,”said he. And that was the end of that conversation.

After this, things were a good deal better for Lucy. Peter saw to it that Edmund stopped jeering at her, and neither she nor anyone else felt inclined to talk about the wardrobe at all.It had become a rather alarming subject.And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming toan end;but that was not to be.

This house of the Professor's—which even he knew so little about—was so old and famous that people from all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it. It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories;and well it might be, for all manner of stories were told about it, some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now.And when parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house, the Professor always gave them permission, and Mrs Macready, the housekeeper, showed them round, telling them about the pictures and the armour, and the rare books in the library.Mrs Macready was not fond of children, and did not like to be interrupted when she was telling visitors all the things she knew.She had said to Susan and Peter almost on the frst morning(along with a good many other instructions),“And please remember you're to keep out of the way whenever I'm taking a party over the house.”

“Just as if any of us would want to waste half the morning trailing round with a crowd of strange grown-ups!”said Edmund, and the other three thought the same. That was how the adventures began for the second time.

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said,“Look out!Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her.”

“Sharp's the word,”said Peter, and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room. But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it, into the Library, they suddenly heard voices ahead of them, and realised that Mrs Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs—instead of up the front stairs as they had expected.And after that—whether it was that they lost their heads, orthat Mrs Macready was trying to catch them, or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia—they seemed to fnd themselves being followed everywhere, until at last Susan said,“Oh bother those trippers!Here—let's get into the Wardrobe Room till they've passed.No one will follow us in there.”But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage—and then someone fumbling at the door—and then they saw the handle turning.

“Quick!”said Peter,“there's nowhere else,”and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there, panting, in the dark.Peter held the door closed but did not shut it;for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never, never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

第五章 回到門的另一邊

因?yàn)樽矫圆氐挠螒蜻€在繼續(xù),露西和埃德蒙費(fèi)了一點(diǎn)兒時(shí)間才把其他兩人找到。最后大家在一起時(shí)(在那間擺著一副盔甲的長(zhǎng)屋子里),露西脫口而出:

“彼得!蘇珊!我說(shuō)的都是真的,埃德蒙也看見了。真的有一個(gè)國(guó)家,我們可以穿過衣柜到那里去。埃德蒙和我都去過了,我們?cè)诶锩娴臉淞掷镉鲆娏吮舜?。埃德蒙,快告訴他們。”

“這是怎么一回事啊,埃德?”彼得問。

現(xiàn)在,到了這個(gè)故事最可惡的片段之一。一直到此刻,埃德蒙仍然感到不舒服,悶悶不樂,想到露西是對(duì)的,他就很煩躁,但他一直沒想好該怎么回應(yīng)。當(dāng)彼得突然問他怎么回事,他立即決定要做自己所能想到的最卑鄙可惡的一件事——他決定讓露西大失所望。

“埃德,給我們說(shuō)說(shuō)?!碧K珊說(shuō)。

這時(shí),埃德蒙露出一副優(yōu)越者的神情,就像他比露西大很多一樣(其實(shí)兩人就相差一歲而已),他竊聲笑了笑,才說(shuō)道:“哦!剛剛露西和我一直在玩游戲——假裝她之前講的衣柜里的國(guó)家是真的。當(dāng)然了,我們只是鬧著玩,那些都不是真實(shí)的?!?/p>

可憐的露西狠狠看了埃德蒙一眼,轉(zhuǎn)身沖出了房間。

而埃德蒙心眼越變?cè)綁?,他心里得意自己剛贏得那么漂亮,緊接著又說(shuō)開去:“她又來(lái)這一套!她到底怎么回事?。啃『⒆泳瓦@點(diǎn)招人煩,他們總是——”

“嗨!”彼得怒氣沖沖地對(duì)埃德蒙喊,“你別說(shuō)了!自從露西開始講衣柜的那些事,你就對(duì)她糟透了,現(xiàn)在你們都一起玩衣柜王國(guó)的游戲了,又把她給氣走。我覺得你這么做完全就是故意傷害她?!?/p>

“但那全是胡扯!”埃德蒙說(shuō),他十分吃驚。

“的確是胡扯,”彼得說(shuō),“這點(diǎn)你說(shuō)對(duì)了。我們離開家的時(shí)候,露西還好好的,一到這里之后似乎就變了,要么就是她腦子變古怪了,要么就是學(xué)會(huì)了撒大謊。不管她到底怎么回事,你今天嘲笑她,惹惱她,明天又和她玩游戲鼓勵(lì)她,你覺得這樣做有什么好?”

“我認(rèn)為——我認(rèn)為……”埃德蒙說(shuō),但他完全不知道該說(shuō)什么。

“你根本就沒想過這些,”彼得說(shuō),“你就是故意的。一直以來(lái),你對(duì)比你小的人都很不好,之前在學(xué)校,我們就已經(jīng)看見過了?!?/p>

“別吵了,”蘇珊說(shuō),“你倆在這里爭(zhēng)有什么用嗎?我們還是去找露西吧。”

過了好一會(huì)兒,大家找到了露西,每個(gè)人都看得出來(lái)她哭過,這倒也不奇怪。大家知道這時(shí)候說(shuō)什么都不管用。露西還是堅(jiān)持自己所說(shuō)的,她說(shuō):

“我不管你們?cè)趺聪?,我也不管你們說(shuō)什么。你們可以去告訴教授,或者寫信給媽媽,做什么都可以。我知道我在那里見過半人羊——真希望自己可以待在那里不出來(lái),你們都討厭,討厭死了?!?/p>

這是一個(gè)令人沮喪的夜晚。露西很痛苦,而埃德蒙開始感覺到事情并沒按照他設(shè)想的那樣進(jìn)行。兩個(gè)年紀(jì)大一點(diǎn)兒的孩子開始猜測(cè)露西是不是瘋了。露西上床睡覺后,蘇珊和彼得站在過道里,低聲交談著。

結(jié)果,第二天早上,兩人決定去找教授,把一切都告訴他?!叭绻X得露西有什么不對(duì),他會(huì)給爸爸寫信的,”彼得說(shuō),“這件事我們處理不了?!庇谑?,他們走去敲教授的書房門?!罢?qǐng)進(jìn)?!苯淌谡f(shuō)。他起身給他們找椅子來(lái)坐,說(shuō)將洗耳恭聽。接著,他雙手合十,仔細(xì)聽兩人講,沒有說(shuō)一句話,直到兩人把整個(gè)事情都說(shuō)完。之后,教授并沒有立即說(shuō)話,很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間的靜默后,他清了清嗓子,說(shuō)了一句大家都沒有料到的話:

“你們?cè)趺粗?,”他說(shuō),“你們的妹妹說(shuō)的就不是真的呢?”

“啊,可是——”蘇珊開口,但又停住了。從教授的神情來(lái)看,誰(shuí)都看得出來(lái)他很嚴(yán)肅。接著,蘇珊定了定神,說(shuō):“但是埃德蒙說(shuō)他們只是假裝而已?!?/p>

“這就是問題關(guān)鍵所在,”教授說(shuō),“這里當(dāng)然需要多做思考,還要細(xì)細(xì)思慮。比方說(shuō)——如果你們?cè)试S我這樣問——根據(jù)你們的經(jīng)驗(yàn),你們認(rèn)為是你們的弟弟,還是你們的妹妹更可靠一些?我的意思是說(shuō),你們覺得誰(shuí)更值得信賴?”

“這個(gè)就是很蹊蹺的地方,先生,”彼得說(shuō),“到目前為止,我得說(shuō)每次我都會(huì)更相信露西?!?/p>

“親愛的,你怎么想呢?”教授轉(zhuǎn)頭問蘇珊。

“嗯……”蘇珊說(shuō),“總的來(lái)說(shuō),我和彼得想的一樣,但是這次她說(shuō)的——森林和半人羊那些故事——不可能是真的?!?/p>

“這些也不是我所能知曉的,”教授說(shuō),“但是我知道一點(diǎn),一個(gè)你一直信賴的人,若要斷言他欺騙別人,這不是一件小事,事實(shí)上,這是一件很嚴(yán)肅的事情。”

“我們?cè)趽?dān)心這可能不只是撒謊的問題,我們覺得可能露西腦子出了點(diǎn)兒?jiǎn)栴}?!?/p>

“你是說(shuō)她瘋了?”教授語(yǔ)氣特別冷靜,“這個(gè)嘛,很輕易就能判斷。你只需要觀察觀察她,和她說(shuō)說(shuō)話,就能看出她是不是瘋了。”

“可是——”蘇珊想說(shuō)什么,又停住了。她從來(lái)沒想到一個(gè)成年人會(huì)像老教授這樣說(shuō)話,所以不知道該作何想。

“邏輯啊!”教授半是自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō),“他們?cè)趺床辉趯W(xué)校教邏輯呢?這件事只有三種可能性。要么是你們的妹妹撒謊;要么是她瘋了;還有一種可能就是她說(shuō)的都是實(shí)話。你們知道她平時(shí)不會(huì)撒謊,而且很顯然她不是瘋的。就目前來(lái)看,除非還有其他證據(jù)出現(xiàn),否則我們只能斷定她說(shuō)的是事實(shí)?!?/p>

蘇珊認(rèn)真地望著教授,從面部表情來(lái)看,她十分確信教授并沒有和他們開玩笑。

“可是先生,這怎么可能是真的呢?”彼得問。

“你為什么這么說(shuō)?”教授反問。

“因?yàn)?,首先,”彼得說(shuō),“如果露西說(shuō)的是真的,為什么不是每個(gè)人每次去衣柜都能找到那個(gè)國(guó)家呢?我是說(shuō),我們上次都跑進(jìn)衣柜,發(fā)現(xiàn)那里什么也沒有,當(dāng)時(shí)露西也在,她也沒有假裝說(shuō)有什么國(guó)家。”

“這說(shuō)明什么呢?”教授問。

“這個(gè)嘛,先生,這說(shuō)明即使一切是真的,它們也不是一直都存在的?!?/p>

“是嗎?”教授說(shuō)了這么一句,彼得更不知道該說(shuō)什么了。

“可是時(shí)間對(duì)不上啊,”蘇珊說(shuō),“即使真有那么一個(gè)國(guó)家,露西也根本沒有時(shí)間去任何地方。我們剛走出房間,她就跟在后面跑出來(lái)了。前后相差不到一分鐘,可她卻假裝自己離開了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)?!?/p>

“這恰恰就是她的故事顯得真實(shí)的原因?!苯淌谡f(shuō),“如果這座房子里面真有一扇門通向另一個(gè)世界(我應(yīng)該提醒你們這是一座十分古怪的房子,甚至是我對(duì)它了解的也不多)——我覺得啊,如果她進(jìn)入了另外一個(gè)世界,我并不會(huì)驚訝那個(gè)世界有自己一套獨(dú)特的時(shí)間法則。那樣來(lái)說(shuō)的話,無(wú)論你在那里待多久,都不會(huì)占用我們這個(gè)世界的時(shí)間。從另一方面來(lái)說(shuō),我不覺得這個(gè)年紀(jì)的小女孩能夠想出這樣的故事來(lái)。如果她真的在說(shuō)謊,那她就該躲在里面,等到一段合理的時(shí)間過去,再出來(lái)講那個(gè)故事?!?/p>

“那先生,你是說(shuō),”彼得問道,“難道真的存在像這樣的——就在某處,某個(gè)角落里——另外的世界嗎?”

“沒有什么是不可能的,”教授說(shuō)著,取下自己的眼鏡,一邊擦鏡片,一邊自言自語(yǔ)道,“真不知道這些學(xué)校里都教些什么?!?/p>

“那我們?cè)趺崔k?”蘇珊?jiǎn)?。她覺得這場(chǎng)談話快偏離主題了。

“我親愛的年輕女士,”教授突然抬起頭看著他倆,神情十分嚴(yán)肅,“有一個(gè)辦法,你們沒有誰(shuí)提出來(lái),但是值得一試。”

“是什么?”蘇珊?jiǎn)枴?/p>

“我們各自管好自己的事就好了。”他說(shuō)。三個(gè)人的談話就這樣結(jié)束了。

這之后,露西的日子好過很多。彼得注意到埃德蒙不再嘲笑露西,無(wú)論是露西還是其他人都不想談起衣柜那件事。所以相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間里,看起來(lái)似乎一切探險(xiǎn)已經(jīng)結(jié)束,但事實(shí)并非如此。

老教授的這座房子——甚至是他對(duì)它的了解也不多——十分古老,也很出名,全英國(guó)上下,曾有許多人慕名前來(lái)參觀。它不僅被旅游指南提及,甚至還被載入歷史。在這里發(fā)生過各種各樣的故事,有的甚至比我現(xiàn)在講的這個(gè)故事更加離奇古怪。每次觀光團(tuán)體到達(dá)后,請(qǐng)求參觀房屋,教授都會(huì)應(yīng)允,然后女管家麥克雷迪就會(huì)帶領(lǐng)大家參觀,給大家介紹墻上的畫、屋里的盔甲,還有藏書室里的珍本。麥克雷迪太太不太喜歡小孩子,而且不喜歡在給游客講述自己知道的東西時(shí)被打斷,她在第一天早上就告訴彼得和蘇珊(還有許多其他規(guī)定):“請(qǐng)大家記住,無(wú)論何時(shí),我?guī)ьI(lǐng)游客參觀,你們都不要出現(xiàn)在我的視線內(nèi)?!?/p>

“說(shuō)得好像咱們誰(shuí)愿意浪費(fèi)半個(gè)早上的時(shí)間,跟著一群陌生的大人走來(lái)走去似的!”埃德蒙聽后這么說(shuō)道,其他人和他想的一模一樣。第二次探險(xiǎn)正是由此開始的。

幾天后的一個(gè)早晨,彼得和埃德蒙在房間里端詳那副盔甲,想著能不能把它一塊塊卸下來(lái)。這時(shí),兩個(gè)女孩沖進(jìn)房間里,大喊:“不好了!麥克雷迪太太帶著一群游客過來(lái)了!”

“趕緊出去!”彼得說(shuō)。四個(gè)孩子很快從房間遠(yuǎn)端的門跑出去了。但是,當(dāng)大家跑出去后,先是跑進(jìn)綠屋子,然后躲進(jìn)藏書室。這時(shí)突然又聽見前方傳來(lái)說(shuō)話聲,大家意識(shí)到麥克雷迪太太帶著游客從后面的樓梯上來(lái)了——而不是如他們料想那樣,從前面的樓梯上來(lái)。之后,不知是他們亂了方寸,還是麥克雷迪太太成心想捉住大家,或者是這座房子沉睡的魔法開始復(fù)蘇,要把大家引去納尼亞??傊麄冏叩侥睦?,麥克雷迪太太就帶著一群人跟到哪里。最后蘇珊說(shuō):“這群煩人的游客!看這里——讓我們躲進(jìn)放衣柜的房間,等他們走了再出去。沒有人會(huì)跟著我們?nèi)ツ抢??!钡?,?dāng)大家跑進(jìn)放衣柜的房間,說(shuō)話聲又在走廊上響起,接著是一陣摸索開門的聲音,大家眼看門把正在轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)。

“快進(jìn)去!”彼得一邊說(shuō),一邊猛地拉開衣柜,“現(xiàn)在沒有其他地方可以躲了?!庇谑?,他們四個(gè)匆匆躲進(jìn)衣柜。大家坐在黑暗處,喘著氣。彼得將門拉過來(lái)掩上,但并沒有關(guān)上門,因?yàn)樗?dāng)然記得——每一個(gè)頭腦正常的人都知道——永遠(yuǎn)永遠(yuǎn)不要把自己關(guān)在一個(gè)衣柜里。

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