《最後一戰》第54期:穿過馬廄的門(2)
Tirian and his friends, still panting from their fight and thankful for a few minutes' rest, stood and looked on while the Tarkaan led his men against the Dwarfs. It was a strange scene by now. The fire had sunk lower: the light it gave was now less and of a darker red. As far as one could see, the whole place of assembly was now empty except for the Dwarf and the Calormenes. In that light one couldn't make out much of what was happening. It sounded as if the Dwarfs were putting up a good fight. Tirian could hear Griffle using dreadful language, and every now and then the Tarkaan calling, "Take all you can alive! Take them alive!"
Whatever that fight may have been like, it did not last long. The noise of it died away. Then Jill saw the Tarkaan coming back to the stable: eleven men followed him, dragging eleven bound Dwarfs. (Whether the others had all been killed, or whether some of them had got away, was never known.)
"Throw them into the shrine of Tash," said Rishda Tarkaan.
And when the eleven Dwarfs, one after the other, had been flung or kicked into that dark doorway and the door had been shut again, he bowed low to the stable and said:
"These also are for thy burnt offering, Lord Tash."
And all the Calormenes banged the flats of their swords on their shields and shouted, "Tash! Tash! The great god Tash! Inexorable Tash!" (There was no nonsense about "Tashlan" now.)
The little party by the white rock watched these doings and whispered to one another. They had found a trickle of water coming down the rock and all had drunk eagerly - Jill and Poggin and the King in their hands, while the four-footed ones lapped from the little pool which it had made at the foot of the stone. Such was their thirst that it seemed the most delicious drink they had ever had in their lives, and while they were drinking they were perfectly happy and could not think of anything else.
"I feel in my bones," said Poggin, "that we shall all, one by one, pass through that dark door before morning. I can think of a hundred deaths I would rather have died."
"It is indeed a grim door," said Tirian. "It is more like a mouth."
"Oh, can't we do anything to stop it?" said Jill in a shaken voice.
"Nay, fair friend," said Jewel, nosing her gently. "It may be for us the door to Aslan's country and we shall sup at his table tonight."
Rishda Tarkaan turned his back on the stable and walked slowly to a place in front of the white rock.
蒂蓮和他的朋友們，作戰後喘息未止，倒很感謝有幾分鐘休息，泰坎帶領他的人馬向小矮人們衝擊時，他們站在一旁觀看。眼前是一片奇怪的景象。篝火的火焰往下落了，它發出的光亮度也減低了，顏色也變爲暗紅色了。人們能夠看得出的是：整個集會的地方現在空蕩蕩的，只剩下小矮人和卡樂門士兵。在這種暗淡的光線裏，人們對正在發生的事情，已經看不到看不清多少了。聽上去小矮人們正在進行一場激烈的拼搏。蒂蓮聽得見格里夫爾正在使用可怕的語言罵人，而泰坎間歇地叫喊：“要盡力把他們全都活捉過來！活捉他們！”
不論這場戰鬥是怎麼打的，打的時間可不長。鼓譟聲逐漸消失了。於是吉爾便看到泰坎回到馬廄這邊來了；有十一個兵跟着他，拖着十一個擒獲後綁起來的小矮人。其他的小矮人是否都被殺死了，其中是否有些已經逃走了，那可永遠不知道了。
“把它們扔進塔什的神殿裏去。”泰坎利什達說。
那十一個小矮人，一個復一個的，被扔進或踢進馬廄黑暗的門口，門又重新關上了，這時他向馬廄低首鞠躬，說道：
“這些也都是供你焚燒的祭品。塔什神啊。”
所有的卡樂門士兵都用刀背砰砰地敲着他們的盾，大聲喊道：“塔什！塔什！偉大的塔什神！不可抗拒的塔什神！”如今可不說那荒謬絕倫的“塔什蘭”了。
白石頭旁的這一小羣人馬瞧着這些行動，互相竊竊私語。他們發現一道涓滴細流正從白石頭上淌下來，大家便迫不及待地喝水——吉爾、波金和國王都用雙手捧水喝，四條腿的動物則從白石頭底下積起來的小小水潭中舔水吃。他們是那麼口渴得厲害，因而這水就彷彿是他們平生所喝的最美味的飲料；他們喝水時開心得很，因而其他事情都想不起來了。
“我深信不疑，”波金說，“我們大家，都將一個又一個的，在早晨之前穿過那黑暗的門。我可不願那樣死去。我能想得出上百種其他死法哩。”
“這確實是個殘酷無情的門，”蒂蓮道，“它更像一張血盆大口。”
“啊，我們能有什麼辦法堵住它嗎？”吉爾用顫抖的聲音問道。
“不，漂亮的朋友，”珍寶說道，溫柔地用鼻子碰碰她，“說不定這是通往阿斯蘭的國家的門，今夜我們可以在阿斯蘭的餐桌上吃晚飯哩。”
泰坎利什達轉身揹着馬廄，慢慢地向白石頭前面的一個地點走去。
