《魔法師的外甥》第41期:納尼亞的誕生(2)

All this time the Lion's song, and his stately prowl, to and fro, backwards and forwards, was going on. What was rather alarming was that at each turn he came a little nearer. Polly was finding the song more and more interesting because she thought she was beginning to see the connection between the music and the things that were happening. When a line of dark firs sprang up on a ridge about a hundred yards away she felt that they were connected with a series of deep, prolonged notes which the Lion had sung a second before. And when he burst into a rapid series of lighter notes she was not surprised to see primroses suddenly appearing in every direction. Thus, with an unspeakable thrill, she felt quite certain that all the things were coming (as she said) "out of the Lion's head". When you listened to his song you heard the things he was making up: when you looked round you, you saw them. This was so exciting that she had no time to be afraid. But Digory and the Cabby could not help feeling a bit nervous as each turn of the Lion's walk brought him nearer. As for Uncle Andrew, his teeth were chattering, but his knees were shaking so that he could not run away.

Suddenly the Witch stepped boldly out towards the Lion. It was coming on, always singing, with a slow, heavy pace. It was only twelve yards away. She raised her arm and flung the iron bar straight at its head.

Nobody, least of all Jadis, could have missed at that range. The bar struck the Lion fair between the eyes. It glanced off and fell with a thud in the grass. The Lion came on. Its walk was neither slower nor faster than before; you could not tell whether it even knew it had been hit. Though its soft pads made no noise, you could feel the earth shake beneath their weight.

The Witch shrieked and ran: in a few moments she was out of sight among the trees. Uncle Andrew turned to do likewise, tripped over a root, and fell flat on his face in a little brook that ran down to join the river. The children could not move. They were not even quite sure that they wanted to. The Lion paid no attention to them. Its huge red mouth was open, but open in song not in a snarl. It passed by them so close that they could have touched its mane. They were terribly afraid it would turn and look at them, yet in some queer way they wished it would. But for all the notice it took of them they might just as well have been invisible and unsmellable. When it had passed them and gone a few paces further it turned, passed them again, and continued its march eastward.

Uncle Andrew, coughing and spluttering, picked himself up. "Now, Digory," he said, "we've got rid of that woman, and the brute of a lion is gone. Give me your hand and put on your ring at once."

"Keep off," said Digory, backing away from him. "Keep clear of him, Polly. Come over here beside me. Now I warn you, Uncle Andrew, don't come one step nearer, we'll just vanish."

在這段時間裏，獅子一直不停地唱着歌，莊嚴地前後左右走動。使人驚異的是，它每次轉身，都離他們更近一些。波莉發現，歌聲越來越有趣，因爲她覺得自己開始看出了音樂與眼前發生的事之間的聯繫。當大約百米外的山脊上跳出一排墨綠色的冷杉樹時，她感到這和一秒鐘前獅子唱的一組低沉、悠長的音調緊密相關。豪不奇怪，隨着獅了唱出一組輕快的旋律，她看到報春花從四面八方長了出來。在一陣無以言表的激動中，她肯定所有這些都是從（用她的話說） “獅子腦袋裏出來的”。當你聆聽它歌唱時，你就聽見了它所創造的事物：當你環顧四周，你就能看見這些事物。這太令人激動了，她無暇感到害怕。但獅子每一次轉身離他們更近時，迪格雷和馬車伕都不禁有些緊張，安德魯舅舅則牙齒打戰，雙膝發抖，根本跑不掉了。

突然，女巫大膽地朝獅子衝過去。獅子仍然唱着歌，緩慢而沉穩地前進，只有十幾步遠了。她擡起手臂，朝着它的頭將鐵棒直直地拋了過去。

任何，更不用說簡蒂絲，都不會在這麼近的距離打偏。鐵棒不偏不倚地敲在獅子的兩眼之間，然後一掠而過，砰的一聲落在草中。但獅子沒有停下，步伐既未減慢也未增快，很難說它是否知道自己被打了一下。雖然它柔軟的爪子沒發出任何聲響，你卻能感到大地在它的腳下震頗。

女巫尖叫一聲跑開了，很快便消頭在樹林中。安德魯舅舅轉身想跟着跑，不料絆倒在一根樹樁上，臉朝下倒在流向大河的一條小溪中。孩子們無法動彈。他們甚至不能肯定自己是否想跑。獅子根本沒有注意他們。它張着血紅的大口，沒有咆哮，只是歌唱。它與他們擦身而過，他們可以摸到它的皮毛。兩人害怕極了，怕它轉過身看着自己。但奇怪的是，他們又希望它轉過身來。從開始到現在．他們好像是看不見聞不着的東西，絲豪沒有引起它的注意。它從他們身邊過去，走了幾步，又折回來，兩次與他們擦身而過，轉向東去。

安德魯舅舅爬起來，邊咳嗽邊唾沫飛濺地說：“迪格雷，我們終於擺脫了那個女人，獅子也走了，快把手伸過來，馬上戴好戒指。”

“走開。”迪格雷說着，後退幾步避開他，“離他遠點兒，波莉，到我身邊來。我現在警告你，安德魯舅舅，一步也不要走近，否則，我們就走了。”