《黎明踏浪號(hào)》第四章（上）

劉易斯

Next morning the Lord Bern called his guests early， and after breakfast he asked Caspian to order every man he had into full armour. “And above all，” he added， “l(fā)et everything be as trim and scoured as if it were the morning of the first battle in a great war between noble kings with all the world looking on.” This was done; and then in three boatloads， Caspian and his people， and Bern with a few of his， put out for Narrowhaven. The Kings flag flew in the stern of his boat and his trumpeter was with him.

When they reached the jetty at Narrowhaven， Caspian found a considerable crowd assembled to meet them. “This is what I sent word about last night，” said Bern. “They are all friends of mine and honest people.” And as soon as Caspian stepped ashore the crowd broke out into hurrahs and shouts of， “Narnia！ Narnia！ Long live the King.” At the same moment—and this was also due to Berns messengers—bells began ringing from many parts of the town. Then Caspian caused his banner to be advanced and his trumpet to be blown and every man drew his sword and set his face into a joyful sternness， and they marched up the street so that the street shook， and their armour shone （for it was a sunny morning） so that one could hardly look at it steadily.

第二天一早，波恩爵士就把他的客人早早地叫了起來(lái)。吃完早飯后，波恩爵士請(qǐng)凱斯賓召集所有人，讓大家全副武裝起來(lái)。等這一切都做完了之后，波恩爵士補(bǔ)充道：“最重要的是，我們每個(gè)人、每個(gè)方面都一定要看起來(lái)整整齊齊、光光鮮鮮。要讓今天看起來(lái)像是我們與對(duì)手進(jìn)行一場(chǎng)大戰(zhàn)的第一天，我們是捍衛(wèi)榮譽(yù)、去打一場(chǎng)國(guó)王與試圖叛亂的人之間的仗，一場(chǎng)全世界矚目的大戰(zhàn)?！钡纫磺蟹愿劳．?dāng)，準(zhǔn)備就緒之后，凱斯賓和他的部下，加上波恩爵士和他的幾名士兵，登上了三艘船，向窄港前進(jìn)。國(guó)王凱斯賓的旗幟在他所乘坐的那艘船的船尾飄揚(yáng)，他的號(hào)手也侍立在他身邊，隨時(shí)待命。

當(dāng)他們的船進(jìn)入窄港的碼頭時(shí)，凱斯賓驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)碼頭上聚集了很大一群人在迎接他們。波恩爵士說：“這就是我昨天晚上所做的安排。現(xiàn)在前來(lái)歡迎你的人都是我的朋友，他們都是些正直誠(chéng)實(shí)的人?！彪S即，船靠了岸，凱斯賓一行人登上了窄港的土地。當(dāng)他剛一落腳，就聽到歡迎的人群中爆發(fā)出一陣歡呼。人群高喊道：“納尼亞！納尼亞！國(guó)王萬(wàn)歲！”而與此同時(shí)，窄港城里的很多地方，都傳來(lái)了洪亮的鐘聲——這同樣也是波恩昨天派信使安排好的。凱斯賓讓旗手把自己的旗幟打出來(lái)，走在隊(duì)伍的最前頭，然后命令號(hào)手吹號(hào)。隊(duì)伍里的每一名士兵都把自己的佩劍拔出來(lái)，擎在手里，臉上帶著一副肅穆的神情。就這樣，凱斯賓的隊(duì)伍從碼頭向城里走去。隊(duì)伍所到之處，聲震遐邇，整條街道都轟動(dòng)了。士兵們的甲胄閃閃發(fā)光（因?yàn)槟翘煺檬莻€(gè)陽(yáng)光燦爛的天氣），讓人的目光沒法直視。

At first the only people who cheered were those who had been warned by Berns messenger and knew what was happening and wanted it to happen. But then all the children joined in because they liked a procession and had seen very few. And then all the schoolboys joined in because they also liked processions and felt that the more noise and disturbance there was the less likely they would be to have any school that morning. And then all the old women put their heads out of doors and windows and began chattering and cheering because it was a king， and what is a governor compared with that？ And all the young women joined in for the same reason and also because Caspian and Drinian and the rest were so handsome. And then all the young men came to see what the young women were looking at， so that by the time Caspian reached the castle gates， nearly the whole town was shouting; and where Gumpas sat in the castle， muddling and messing about with accounts and forms and rules and regulations， he heard the noise.

At the castle gate Caspians trumpeter blew a blast and cried， “Open for the King of Narnia， come to visit his trusty and well-beloved servant the governor of the Lone Islands.”

一開始，來(lái)歡迎國(guó)王凱斯賓一行的還只是昨天接到波恩信使通告的人。這些人對(duì)此已經(jīng)有了心理準(zhǔn)備，況且他們也非常期盼國(guó)王駕到。可是當(dāng)隊(duì)伍走了一段之后，全城的孩子都加入了進(jìn)來(lái)。因?yàn)闊狒[的隊(duì)伍對(duì)孩子們有無(wú)上的吸引力，而窄港這個(gè)小地方很難得有這么氣勢(shì)恢宏的隊(duì)伍來(lái)到，孩子們對(duì)此感到新鮮極了。又走了一段之后，全城的學(xué)生也加入了隊(duì)伍。因?yàn)閷W(xué)生也很喜歡熱鬧，他們覺得，如果街上越是吵鬧喧囂，那么他們繼續(xù)待在教室里上課的可能性就越小。再走了一段路之后，全城的主婦都將頭從自家的窗戶或門后面伸了出來(lái)。她們交頭接耳，隨著人群的吵嚷也歡呼了起來(lái)。因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在來(lái)到的可是國(guó)王陛下啊。孤島群島的總督怎么能比得上國(guó)王呢？再然后，全城的年輕姑娘也把頭伸了出來(lái)。一來(lái)她們也很尊敬國(guó)王，不過更重要的是，凱斯賓、德瑞尼亞還有隊(duì)伍中的所有人，都相貌堂堂，令人一見傾心。這樣一來(lái)，全城的年輕男人也跑了出來(lái)，他們想看看年輕姑娘們到底被什么給迷住了。就這樣，當(dāng)凱斯賓的隊(duì)伍到達(dá)窄港城堡大門的時(shí)候，幾乎整個(gè)窄港的人都跟來(lái)了。城堡門外一片人聲鼎沸?？偠綅徟了勾藭r(shí)正坐在城堡里，和他的謀臣秘書一起算計(jì)著他的那些糊涂賬和各種表格，還有理也理不清的種種條款之類的。他也聽到了城堡外的喧囂。

在城堡外，凱斯賓的號(hào)手使勁吹了一陣，然后高聲喊道：“納尼亞國(guó)王陛下駕到。他忠誠(chéng)的仆人，受人尊敬的孤島群島總督，把城堡門打開！”

In those days everything on the islands was done in a slovenly， slouching manner. Only the little postern opened and out came a tousled fellow with a dirty old hat on his head instead of a helmet， and a rusty old pike in his hand. He blinked at the flashing figures before him. “Carn—seez—fishansy，” he mumbled （which was his way of saying， “You cant see His Sufficiency”）. “No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten p.m. second Saturday every month.”

在那個(gè)時(shí)代，孤島群島上的一切事情，都是在一種懶懶散散，邋里邋遢的情形下完成的。所以當(dāng)號(hào)手通報(bào)完畢之后，城堡大門上的一扇小門被打開了，從門里出來(lái)了一個(gè)頭發(fā)亂糟糟的門房。這人沒戴頭盔，而是戴著一頂臟兮兮的帽子，手里捏著一支已經(jīng)生了銹的長(zhǎng)矛。他瞅了瞅眼前這一支盔明甲亮的隊(duì)伍，用懶洋洋的腔調(diào)嘟噥著：“太——升——普——欠?！保ㄒ馑际恰按笕瞬灰姟保┻@個(gè)門房繼續(xù)拿腔拿調(diào)地說，“總督除了每個(gè)月的第二個(gè)星期六晚上九點(diǎn)到十點(diǎn)，其他時(shí)候沒有預(yù)約一律不見?！?/p>

“Uncover before Narnia， you dog，” thundered the Lord Bern， and dealt him a rap with his gauntleted hand which sent his hat flying from his head.

“Here？ Whats it all about？” began the doorkeeper， but no one took any notice of him. Two of Caspians men stepped through the postern and after some struggling with bars and bolts （for everything was rusty） flung both wings of the gate wide open. Then the King and his followers strode into the courtyard. Here a number of the governors guards were lounging about and several more （they were mostly wiping their mouths） came tumbling out of various doorways. Though their armour was in a disgraceful condition， these were fellows who might have fought if they had been led or had known what was happening; so this was the dangerous moment. Caspian gave them no time to think.

“Where is the captain？” he asked.

“I am， more or less， if you know what I mean，” said a languid and rather dandified young person without any armour at all.

“It is our wish，” said Caspian， “that our royal visitation to our realm of the Lone Islands should， if possible， be an occasion of joy and not of terror to our loyal subjects. If it were not for that， I should have something to say about the state of your mens armour and weapons. As it is， you are pardoned. Command a cask of wine to be opened that your men may drink our health. But at noon tomorrow I wish to see them here in this courtyard looking like men-at-arms and not like vagabonds. See to it on pain of our extreme displeasure.”

“在國(guó)王面前把你的帽子摘掉，你這狗腿子！”波恩爵士一邊咆哮著，一邊扇了門房一個(gè)巴掌。波恩爵士手上戴著金屬護(hù)手，這一巴掌打得可不輕，直把門房的帽子打飛了出去。

“哎呀，這是干啥？”門房大吃一驚，禁不住地問?？墒菦]人再理他。凱斯賓的兩名部下擠進(jìn)門去，很是花了些力氣才把門欄和門閂弄松（因?yàn)樗羞@些東西都已經(jīng)是銹跡斑斑，長(zhǎng)年沒開過了），把兩扇門給打開了。清除了障礙之后，國(guó)王和他的部下長(zhǎng)驅(qū)直入，來(lái)到城堡的內(nèi)院?？偠降男l(wèi)兵們待在院子里，有的還歪在躺椅上，有的則驚慌失措地從不同的房子里跑出來(lái)（實(shí)際上他們出來(lái)的時(shí)候還在擦著嘴巴哩）。這些衛(wèi)兵的盔甲黯淡無(wú)光，缺乏士兵應(yīng)有的氣勢(shì)?？墒潜M管如此，如果這些衛(wèi)兵有人指揮或者明白過來(lái)眼下的局勢(shì)的話，他們也能同凱斯賓帶領(lǐng)的人打上一陣。因此，這當(dāng)兒正是極其危險(xiǎn)的時(shí)刻。不過，凱斯賓沒有給他們?nèi)魏嗡伎嫉臅r(shí)間。

他立即問道：“你們誰(shuí)是衛(wèi)隊(duì)長(zhǎng)？”

“我是，嗯，多多少少算是。如果你明白我的意思的話?！币粋€(gè)神情倦怠又穿戴得相當(dāng)時(shí)髦的年輕人應(yīng)聲道。他身上沒有披掛盔甲。

凱斯賓說：“皇室此次駕臨納尼亞領(lǐng)地孤島群島，如無(wú)意外，孤王希望給此地忠誠(chéng)的臣民帶來(lái)歡樂而非恐懼。如若并非出于如此愿望，則視爾等之甲胄及兵器如此不堪，孤王定有懲處。但念及此行之根本目的，故對(duì)爾等寬恕不究。爾等可取美酒一桶暢飲，以王室健康長(zhǎng)壽為祝。唯令爾等，于明日中午再行集合于此，務(wù)須軍令整齊，盔甲鮮明，不得放浪形骸，形若乞丐。如有違反，令孤王不快，定當(dāng)嚴(yán)懲不貸！”