《最後一戰》第74期:告別幻影世界(2)

"Further up and further in," cried Jewel and instantly they were off again.

They were out of Narnia now and up into the Western Wild which neither Tirian nor Peter nor even the Eagle had ever seen before. But the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly had. "Do you remember? Do you remember?" they said - and said it in steady voices too, without panting, though the whole pArty was now running faster than an arrow flies.

"What, Lord?" said Tirian. "Is it then true, as stories tell, that you two journeyed here on the very day the world was made?"

"Yes," said Digory, "and it seems to me as if it were only yesterday."

"And on a flying horse?" asked Tirian. "Is that part true?"

"Certainly," said Digory. But the Dogs barked, "Faster, faster!"

So they ran faster and faster till it was more like flying than running, and even the Eagle overhead was going no faster than they. And they went through winding valley after winding valley and up the steep sides of hills and, faster than ever, down the other side, following the river and sometimes crossing it and skimming across mountainlakes as if they were living speed-boats, till at last at the far end of one long lake which looked as blue as a turquoise, they saw a smooth green hill. Its sides were as steep as the sides of a pyramid and round the very top of it ran a green wall: but above the wall rose the branches of trees whose leaves looked like silver and their fruit like gold.

"Further up and further in!" roared the Unicorn, and no one held back. They charged straight at the foot of the hill and then found themselves running up it almost as water from a broken wave runs up a rock out at the point of some bay. Though the slope was nearly as steep as the roof of a house and the grass was smooth as a bowling green, no one slipped. Only when they had reached the very top did they slow up; that was because they found themselves facing great golden gates. And for a moment none of them was bold enough to try if the gates would open. They all felt just as they had felt about the fruit "Dare we? Is it right? Can it be meant for us?"

But while they were standing thus a great horn, wonderfully loud and sweet, blew from somewhere inside that walled garden and the gates swung open.

Tirian stood holding his breath and wondering who would come out. And what came was the last thing he had expected: a little, sleek, bright-eyed Talking Mouse with a red feather stuck in a circlet on its head and its left paw resting on a long sword. It bowed, a most beautiful bow, and said in its shrill voice:

"Welcome, in the Lion's name. Come further up and further in."

Then Tirian saw King Peter and King Edmund and Queen Lucy rush forward to kneel down and greet the Mouse and they all cried out "Reepicheep!" And Tirian breathed fast with the sheer wonder of it, for now he knew that he was looking at one of the great heroes of Narnia, Reepicheep the Mouse who had fought at the great Battle of Beruna and afterwards sailed to the World's end with King Caspian the Seafarer. But before he had had much time to think of this he felt two strong arms thrown about him and felt a bearded kiss on his cheeks and heard a well remembered voice saying:

"What, lad? Art thicker and taller since I last touched thee!"

It was his own father, the good King Erlian: but not as Tirian had seen him last when they brought him home pale and wounded from his fight with the giant, nor even as Tirian remembered him in his later years when he was a grey-headed warrior. This was his father, young and merry, as he could just remember him from very early days when he himself had been a little boy playing games with his father in the castle garden at Cair Paravel, just before bedtime on summer evenings. The very smell of the bread-and-milk he used to have for supper came back to him.

“朝更高更深處前進。”獨角獸珍寶大聲叫道，於是他們立刻又出發了。

現在他們出了納尼亞，往高處進入西部荒原，那可是蒂蓮、彼得，甚至老鷹以前都沒見過的地方。但迪格雷勳爵和波莉夫人倒見過。“你記得嗎？你記得嗎？”他們說——而且還是用平平穩穩的聲調說的，一點也沒有氣喘吁吁，儘管這一行人獸正飛跑得比箭還快哩。

“啊，勳爵，”蒂蓮說道，“故事裏說，你們兩人在世界初創之日就到這兒來旅行過，那麼是確有其事的啦？”

“是的，”迪格雷勳爵說道，“我覺得彷彿不過是昨天的事。”

“騎了一匹飛馬嗎？”蒂蓮問道，“這情節是真實的嗎？”

“然是真的。”迪格雷說。但狗兒們吠叫了“快，快！”

所以他們便愈跑愈快，直跑得不像跑而更像飛了，天空的老鷹也不比他們快了。他們穿過一個彎曲的河谷又穿過一個彎曲的河谷，走上羣山的陡坡，比以前更加快速地又走下另一邊的陡坡，循着河流走過去，有時渡過河去，漂過高山湖泊去，彷彿他們自己就是有生命的快艇。最後他們到了一個長湖的盡頭，湖水藍得像土耳其玉。於是他們看到了一個光滑的綠色小山。小山的兩側陡得像金字塔的邊，環繞山頂四周築有一道綠色的牆垣，牆上伸展出樹枝，樹葉看上去像銀的，果實像金的。

“朝更高更深處前進！”獨角獸大聲吼道，沒有一個人退縮。他們筆直地朝山麓衝去，這就發現他們自己已經奔上山去，幾乎就像一個給攔斷的波浪，衝上了海灣尖端突出的一塊大石頭一樣。雖然山坡幾乎陡得像屋頂，草地光滑得像玩滾木球遊戲的草坪，沒有一個失足滑倒的。只是他們在到達山頂時放慢了腳步，那是因爲他們發現自己面對着巨大的金門。有那麼一會兒，誰也不夠大膽，不敢去試試金門是否會打開。他們大家的感覺，就像他們對那神奇果實的感覺一模一樣——“我們敢嗎？對頭嗎？難道這門能爲我們而打開嗎？”

但，當他們這麼站在門外的時候，一隻巨大的號角，聲音響亮甜潤，在牆內花園裏什麼地方嗚嗚地吹着，金門便打開了。

蒂蓮屏息靜氣地站着，心中猜測誰會走出門來。但出來的是他完全沒料到的角色：一頭小小的、毛髮柔軟發光、眼睛明亮的、會說人話的老鼠，頭上一個圈裏插着一根紅羽毛，左腳爪按在一把長劍上。它鞠躬，鞠了一個最最漂亮的躬，尖聲說道：

“以獅王的名義，歡迎。往更高更深處前進。”

接着蒂蓮便看到至尊王彼得和國王愛德蒙和女王露茜跑上前去，跪下向老鼠致敬，大家齊聲喊道：“雷佩契普！” 事情神奇之至，蒂蓮連呼吸也急促了，因爲他現在知道，他正親眼目睹納尼亞的大英雄老鼠雷佩契普，當年它曾打過伯龍納大戰，後來跟着航海者凱斯賓國王一直到了天涯海角。但，他還來不及思考這件事情，便覺得有兩條強壯的胳膊抱住他，感到有把鬍子在吻他的面頰，聽到一個挺熟悉的聲音說道：

“怎麼樣，孩子？比我上次吻你時鬍子更密更長了吧？”

說這話的是他自己的父親，善良的國王厄蓮：但既不是蒂蓮曾看見過的與巨人作戰受傷、臉色蒼白、人家送他回家來時的父親，甚至也不是蒂蓮所記得的晚年是個白髮蒼蒼的老戰士的父親。眼前可是個年輕而又開心的父親，蒂蓮童年時期所能記得的父親，當年他自己是個小男孩，在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡花園裏同父親一起做遊戲，時間就在夏天黃昏上牀之前。晚餐時他常吃的牛奶麪包的味道又回來了。