獅子·女巫·魔衣櫥

C. S. 劉易斯 （萬潔譯）

如果這間屋里真的有一扇門通向某一個別的世界，那個世界一定有它自己的一套時間規(guī)則，所以不管你在那兒逗留了多久，也不會占去我們這個世界的任何一點時間。

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！ Its 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.”

“Whats 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 hadnt 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.

因為彼得和蘇珊還在藏貓貓，所以愛德蒙和露茜花了好長時間才找到他倆。當大家聚集到放盔甲的那間屋子里以后，露茜大聲說：

“彼得！蘇珊！我說的是真的，愛德蒙也看見了，那里有一個國家，可以通過衣櫥進去。愛德蒙和我進去過了，我們在那邊的樹林里見到了彼此。愛德蒙，快把你看到的告訴他們?！?/p>

“愛德蒙，到底怎么回事？”彼得問。

現(xiàn)在我們寫到這個故事中最令人不快的一部分。在這以前，愛德蒙一直感到很不舒服，還挺生氣的，心里為露茜確實是對的而感到很煩惱，但他一時還沒想好要做些什么?，F(xiàn)在彼得突如其來地問起他這個問題，他立刻決定要做一件他所能想到的最卑劣最招人恨的事情，讓露茜下不來臺。

“告訴我們吧，愛德蒙?！碧K珊說。

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy （there was really only a years 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. Theres 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. Whats the matter with her？ Thats the worst of young kids， they always—”

“Look here，” said Peter， turning on him savagely， “shut up！ Youve 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 its all nonsense，” said Edmund， very taken aback.

“Of course its all nonsense，” said Peter， “thats just the point. Lu was perfectly all right when we left home， but since weve 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 youll do by jeering and nagging at her one day and encouraging her the next？”

“I thought—I thought，” said Edmund; but he couldnt think of anything to say.

“You didnt think anything at all，” said Peter， “its just spite. Youve always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself; weve seen that at school before now.”

愛德蒙裝出很老成的樣子，就好像他比露茜要大得多（實際上兩人只相差一歲）。他撲哧一笑說：“噢，是的，露茜和我一直在做游戲，假裝她上次講的衣櫥里有個國家的故事是真的。當然嘍，我們只是在找樂子，其實，那兒什么東西也沒有。”

露茜委屈地看了愛德蒙一眼，便扭頭跑了出去。

愛德蒙現(xiàn)在變得越來越不像話了，他自以為已經(jīng)取得了極大的成功，立刻接下去說道：“她又來這一套，她到底是出了什么問題？小孩子就是這樣，老是……”

“聽我說！”彼得轉(zhuǎn)過身來對著他，十分氣憤地說，“住口！自從她上次瞎編了一些有關(guān)衣櫥的事之后，你對她總是冷嘲熱諷的?，F(xiàn)在你跟她一起躲進了衣櫥里做游戲，又把她氣走了。我覺得你這樣做完全是不懷好意！”

“但她講的通通都是鬼扯?！睈鄣旅烧f，彼得讓他吃了一驚。

“當然是鬼扯，”彼得說，“這才是問題的關(guān)鍵。離開家的時候，露茜還是好好的，但到了鄉(xiāng)下以后，看起來她要么精神有點問題，要么就是謊話連篇。但無論是哪種情況，你想想看，你今天譏諷她，對她喋喋不休說個不停，明天你又去慫恿她，這對她有什么幫助？”

“我原本想，我原本……”愛德蒙說，可是他又想不出說什么好。

“你想什么想！”彼得說，“你老是想壞主意。你總喜歡對比你小的孩子來這一套，以前在學校里我們就經(jīng)常看到你這樣！”

Word Study

annoy /?'n??/ v. 使惱怒;使生氣

It really annoys me when people forget to say thank you.

spiteful /'spa?tfl/ adj. 惡意的;居心不良的

superior /su?'p??ri?（r）/ adj. 有優(yōu)越感的;高傲的

He always looks so superior.

pretend /pr?'tend/ v. 假裝;佯裝

Im tired of having to pretend all the time.

out of spite 為泄恨，為出氣

She broke her elder brothers watch out of spite.

take aback 使……震驚;使……大吃一驚

“Do stop it，” said Susan， “it wont make things any better having a row between you two. Lets go and find 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 dont care what you think， and I dont care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know Ive met a Faun in there and—I wish Id 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 wasnt 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. “Hell write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu，” said Peter， “its 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 fingers pressed together and never interrupting， till they had finished 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 sisters story is not true？”

“別說了，”蘇珊說，“你們互相埋怨有什么用？我們還是去找找露茜吧?！?/p>

他們找了好長一段時間才找到了露茜。果然不出大家所料，她哭得正傷心。無論他們怎么說，露茜都堅持她說的是真的。她說道：

“不管你們怎么想，也不管你們怎么說，我都無所謂。你們可以去教授那兒告狀，也可以寫信告訴媽媽，隨便你們怎么做都行。我只知道我在那里碰見了一個半人羊。我真希望能留在那里！你們凈出口傷人?！?/p>

這是一個十分不愉快的夜晚。露茜感到很委屈，愛德蒙也開始覺得自己的計劃并沒有像他預料的那樣奏效。而那兩個大點的孩子卻真以為露茜的精神不大正常。在她入睡以后很久，他們還站在走廊里小聲議論著。

結(jié)果第二天一早，他們決定把全部事情都告訴教授。“假如他也認為露茜真的有什么問題，他就會寫信告訴爸爸的，”彼得說，“我們可管不了這樣的事?！庇谑牵麄兙腿デ美辖淌跁康拈T。教授說了聲“請進”，站起身，讓他們坐下，告訴他們有事盡管來找他，不用客氣。然后他坐下來，手指尖對在一起，靜靜地聽他們把整個事情講完。聽完以后，他好長時間沒有吭聲，最后他清了清嗓子，說了句他們怎么也沒想到的話：

“你們怎能斷定，”他問，“露茜講的故事就不是真的呢？”

“Oh， but—” began Susan， and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old mans 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？”

“Thats just the funny thing about it， sir，” said Peter. “Up till now， Id have said Lucy every time.”

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

“Well，” said Susan， “in general， Id say the same as Peter， but this couldnt 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 mightnt 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 didnt know what to think.

“哦，但是……”蘇珊剛想開口又停住了。誰都能看出老人沒開玩笑。過了一會兒，蘇珊理了理思緒說：“但是愛德蒙說他們只是假裝這是真的。”

“有一個關(guān)鍵問題，”教授說，“你們得考慮一下，而且要慎重考慮。這樣說吧，請原諒我提出這個問題，但是根據(jù)你們的經(jīng)驗來講，你們認為誰更誠實一些，是你們的弟弟，還是你們的妹妹？”

“這個問題確實點到了關(guān)鍵，先生，”彼得說，“直到現(xiàn)在為止，我得說，露茜每次都要比愛德蒙誠實?！?/p>

“你又是怎么認為的呢，我親愛的孩子？”教授轉(zhuǎn)過頭來問蘇珊。

“嗯，”蘇珊說，“我嘛，基本上和彼得的看法相同。但關(guān)于森林和半人羊的故事總不可能是真的吧？”

“這個我就不清楚了，”教授說，“但是，隨便懷疑一個你們一直以來都認為誠實的人說謊，這倒是一個非常嚴重的問題，真的非常嚴重！”

“我們擔心的倒不是露茜說謊，”蘇珊說，“我們覺得很可能露茜精神上出了毛病?！?/p>

“你的意思是她發(fā)了瘋？”教授非常冷靜地說，“嗯，這個你們很容易判斷。你們只要觀察觀察她的行為舉止，再和她說說話，就可以得出結(jié)論?！?/p>

“但是……”蘇珊欲言又止。她做夢也沒想到，像教授這樣的大人會說出這種話來，她被搞糊涂了。

Word Study

at ones disposal 任某人處理;由某人自行支配

Well， Im at your disposal.

interrupt /'?nt?'r?pt/ v. 插嘴;打擾;打岔

Sorry to interrupt， but theres someone to see you.

pull oneself together 使自己鎮(zhèn)定自若（或冷靜）

Stop crying and pull yourself together！

deserve /d?'z??v/ v. 值得;應得;應受

You deserve a rest after all that hard work.