《最後一戰》第31期:老鷹帶來的消息(1)

Chapter 8 What News the Eagle Brought

In the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearing something was moving. It was gliding very slowly Northward. At a first glance you might have mistaken it for smoke, for it was grey and you could see things through it. But the deathly smell was not the smell of smoke. Also, this thing kept its shape instead of billowing and curling as smoke would have done. It was roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip; and its fingers - all twenty of them - were curved like its beak and had long, pointed, bird-like claws instead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking, and the grass seemed to wither beneath it.

After one look at it Puzzle gave a screaming bray and darted into the Tower. And Jill (who was no coward, as you know) hid her face in her hands to shut out the sight of it. The others watched it for perhaps a minute, until it streamed away into the thicker trees on their right and disappeared. Then the sun came out again, and the birds once more began to sing.

Everyone started breathing properly again and moved. They had all been still as statues while it was in sight.

"What was it?" said Eustace in a whisper.

"I have seen it once before," said Tirian. "But that time it was carved in stone and overlaid with gold and had solid diamonds for eyes. It was when I was no older than thou, and had gone as a guest to The Tisroc's court in Tashbaan. He took me into the great temple of Tash. There I saw it, carved above the altar."

"Then that - that thing - was Tash?" said Eustace.

But instead of answering him Tirian slipped his arm behind Jill's shoulders and said, "How is it with you, Lady?"

"A-all right," said Jill, taking her hands away from her pale face and trying to smile. "I'm all right. It only made me feel a little sick for a moment."

"It seems, then," said the Unicorn, "that there is a real Tash, after all."

"Yes," said the Dwarf. "And this fool of an Ape, who didn't believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He called for Tash: Tash has come."

第8章 老鷹帶來的消息

在開闊地遠遠的一邊，樹木的陰影裏，有個東西在移動着。它正在慢慢地向北滑行。第一眼看到時，你會把它看做是煙靄，因爲它是灰白色的，而且可以透過它看出去。但那種屍體的臭味並不是煙的臭味。那東西也保持着它的形體，不像煙那樣起伏翻騰、蜷曲繚繞。它粗看是個人的形體，但長着一個鳥的頭，乃是頭上生着兇狠的鉤形嘴的某種猛禽。它有四條手臂，高舉在腦袋之上，朝北伸張開去，彷彿要把整個納尼亞都抓在它的手掌裏似的；而它的手指——一總共有二十個手指——是像嘴巴一樣彎彎的，尖端長的不是指甲，而是長長的尖尖的跟鳥一樣的爪子。它不是在走路，而是在草土浮動，青草似乎在它身底下枯萎了。

迷惑看了它一下就發出一聲驢子的哀鳴，竄到堡壘裏邊去了。而吉爾(你知道，她可不是懦夫)卻用雙手掩住她的臉，擋住自己的視線。其餘人也許看望了一分鐘光景，直至它進入右邊兒樹林深處，消失無影。於是太陽重新出來了，鳥兒再一次開始嗚囀了。

大家都開始正常呼吸和正常活動。看得見那東西時，大家都一直一動也不動，簡直像泥塑木雕一樣。

"它是什麼東西啊?"尤斯塔斯低聲問道。

"我從前看見過一次的，"蒂蓮說道，"但那次，它是用石頭雕刻出來的，鑲嵌着金子，用堅硬的金剛鑽做眼睛。那時我的年齡不比你現在大，曾到塔什班城'蒂斯羅克'宮廷裏去做過客。'蒂斯羅克'帶我進了塔什神的大廟。我在廟裏看到它的，刻在祭臺的上方。"

"這麼說，那個——那個東西——就是塔什神嗎?"尤斯塔斯問道。

但蒂蓮沒有回答他的問題，他把手臂伸到吉爾的肩膀後面，問道"小姐，你怎麼啦?"

"挺，挺好，"吉爾說，從蒼白的臉上放下手來，竭力微笑，"我挺好。只不過有一忽兒使我覺得要嘔吐似的。"

"那麼，看起來，"獨角獸道，"似乎畢竟有個真正的塔什神。"

"是的，"小矮人說，"這個傻瓜無尾猿，他不相信塔什神，他得到的，必將多於他當初討價還價想弄到手的。他呼喚塔什神：塔什神已經來了。"