《最後一戰》第37期:馬廄山的集會(2)

The King's first idea was that they should not go back to Stable Hill - they were sick of the very name of it by now till after dark. But the Dwarf told them that if they arrived there by daylight they would probably find the place deserted, except perhaps for a Calormene sentry. The Beasts were far too frightened by what the Ape (and Ginger) had told them about this new angry Aslan - or Tashlan - to go near it except when they were called together for these horrible midnight meetings. And Calormenes are never good woodsmen. Poggin thought that even by daylight they could easily get round to somewhere behind the stable without being seen. This would be much harder to do when the night had come and the Ape might be calling the Beasts together and all the Calormenes were on duty. And when the meeting did begin they could leave Puzzle at the back of the stable, completely out of sight, till the moment at which they wanted to produce him. This was obviously a good thing: for their only chance was to give the Narnians a sudden surprise.

Everyone agreed and the whole party set off on a new line - North-West - towards the hated Hill. The Eagle sometimes flew to and fro above them, sometimes he sat perched on Puzzle's back. No one - not even the King himself except in some great need - would dream of riding on a Unicorn.

This time Jill and Eustace walked together. They had been feeling very brave when they were begging to be allowed to come with the others, but now they didn't feel brave at all.

"Pole," said Eustace in a whisper. "I may as well tell you I've got the wind up."

"Oh you're all right, Scrubb," said Jill. "You can fight. But I - I'm just shaking, if you want to know the truth."

"Oh shaking's nothing," said Eustace. "I'm feeling I'm going to be sick."

"Don't talk about that, for goodness' sake," said Jill.

They went on in silence for a minute or two.

"Pole," said Eustace presently.

"What?" said she.

"What'll happen if we get killed here?"

"Well we'll be dead, I suppose."

國王第一個主意是不到天黑以後，他們不應該回到馬廄山去——現在他們聽到這山的名字就感到厭惡了。但小矮人告訴他們，如果他們在白天到達山上，他們就很可能發現那兒寂無人影，也許只碰到個把警衛。野獸們被無尾猿(和金格)所告訴它們的阿斯蘭——或塔什蘭——的新的憤怒嚇壞了，它們不敢走近馬廄去，除非被叫去開那些可怕的午夜大會。卡樂門人從來不是善於在森林裏活動的好手。波金認爲，在白天裏他們倒容易繞到馬廄山背後的什麼地方，不會被人看見的。黑夜來臨，無尾猿就要把野獸召集攏來，所有的卡樂門兵都要值班上崗，那時倒難辦得多。大會開始時，他們可以把迷惑留在馬~背後，藏得完全看不見，直到他們要牽它出來示衆。這顯然是件好事；因爲他們惟一取勝的機會，就在於突然叫納尼亞野獸們意想不到地大吃一驚。

大家都同意這個方案，於是整個隊伍沿着一條新的路線——朝西北方向——向那可恨的山頭進發。老鷹有時在他們的上方飛來飛去，有時坐在迷惑的背脊上休息。沒有人會妄想騎一頭獨角獸走路的——除了有重大的必要性，連國王也不騎獨角獸代步的。

這一次，吉爾和尤斯塔斯一起行走。他們懇求國王允許他們跟其他的人一起來作戰時，曾經感到自己十分勇敢，但現在他們壓根兒不感到勇敢了。

"波爾，"尤斯塔斯悄悄地說道，"我還是告訴你吧，我已經心驚肉跳了。"

"啊，斯克羅布，你行，"吉爾說道，"你能打仗。但我——我正在發抖，如果想知道真相的話。"

"啊，發抖不算什麼，"尤斯塔斯說，"我覺得我快要生病了。"

"天哪，別提它了。"吉爾說。

他們默不作聲地走了兩分鐘。

"波爾。"尤斯塔斯不久又開口了。

"什麼事?"她說。

"如果我們在這兒給殺死了，會發生什麼事呢?"

"我想，我們就成了死人了。"