《魔法師的外甥》第39期:燈柱前的戰鬥(5)

Digory had never seen such a sun. The sun above the ruins of Charn had looked older than ours: this looked younger. You could imagine that it laughed for joy as it came up. And as its beams shot across the land the travellers could see for the first time what sort of place they were in. It was a valley through which a broad, swift river wound its way, flowing eastward towards the sun. Southward there were mountains, northward there were lower hills. But it was a valley of mere earth, rock and water; there was not a tree, not a bush, not a blade of grass to be seen. The earth was of many colours: they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else.

It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright, it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away.

"This is a terrible world," said the Witch. "We must fly at once. Prepare the Magic."

"I quite agree with you, Madam," said Uncle Andrew. "A most disagreeable place. Completely uncivilized. If only I were a younger man and had a gun -"

"Garn!" said the Cabby. "You don't think you could shoot 'im, do you?"

"And who would" said Polly.

"Prepare the Magic, old fool," said Jadis.

"Certainly, Madam," said Uncle Andrew cunningly. "I must have both the children touching me. Put on your homeward ring at once, Digory." He wanted to get away without the Witch.

"Oh, it's rings, is it?" cried Jadis. She would have had her hands in Digory's pocket before you could say knife, but Digory grabbed Polly and shouted out:

"Take care. If either of you come half an inch nearer, we two will vanish and you'll be left here for good. Yes: I have a ring in my pocket that will take Polly and me home. And look! My hand is just ready. So keep your distance. I'm sorry about you (he looked at the Cabby) and about the horse, but I can't help that. As for you two (he looked at Uncle Andrew and the Queen), you're both magicians, so you ought to enjoy living together."

"'Old your noise, everyone," said the Cabby. "I want to listen to the moosic."

For the song had now changed.

迪格雷從未見過這樣的太陽。恰恩廢墟上空的太陽看上去比我們的太陽老，這輪太陽卻顯得比我們的太陽年輕些。你可以想像，它是高興地笑着升起來的。當陽光四射、照亮大地的時候，這一羣人第一次看清自己站的地方。那是一片谷地，一條水流平緩的大河穿越其間，朝着太陽升起的東方奔涌而去。南邊有大山，北邊有丘陵。河谷裏只有岩石、土和水，沒有樹和灌木，連一片草葉也沒有。泥土是五顏六色的，新鮮、溫熱，豔麗奪目，令人激動。當你親眼看見歌唱者時，你便忘了其他的一切。

一隻毛髮濃密、生氣勃勃的巨獅，站在離他們約三百米的地方，面向太陽，張着大口在歌唱。

“這個世界太可怕，”女巫說，“我們必須馬上逃走。準備施魔法。”

“我完全同意，夫人。”安德魯舅舅說，“這是一個最讓人厭惡的地方，野蠻透頂。我要是年輕一些，還有枝槍，就好了——”

“槍！”馬車伕說，“你射不到它，對嗎？”

“誰要射它，”波莉問。

“準備施魔法，老傻瓜。”簡蒂絲說。

“當然，夫人，”安德魯舅舅狡猾地說，“我必須讓兩個孩子抓着我。立刻戴上回去的戒指，迪格雷。”他想擻開女巫跑掉。

“哦，原來是戒指，是嗎？”簡蒂絲大叫着從馬上斜過身來。說時遲，那時快，她的手就要伸進迪格雷的口袋了，但迪格雷一拉波莉，高聲說：

“小心點！假如你們敢向這邊走近半步，我們兩個就會消失，把你們永遠留在這裏。是的，我口袋裏有一枚戒指，可以把我和波莉帶同家。看！我的手隨時可以去拿。所以，別過來。我對你（他看着馬車伕）和那匹馬感到遺憾，但我沒有辦法。至於你們兩位（他看着安德魯舅舅和女巫），你們都是魔法師，應該喜歡生活在一起。”

“大家別吵，”馬車伕說，“我想聽聽這音樂。”

這時。歌聲已經改變了。