《最後一戰》第16期:夜裏發生的事(4)

But the darkness and the cold and the quietness went on just the same.
"Let me be killed," cried the King. "I ask nothing for myself. But come and save all Narnia."
And still there was no change in the night or the wood, but there began to be a kind of change inside Tirian. Without knowing why, he began to feel a faint hope. And he felt somehow stronger. "Oh Aslan, Aslan," he whispered. "If you will not come yourself, at least send me the helpers from beyond the world. Or let me call them. Let my voice carry beyond the world." Then, hardly knowing that he was doing it, he suddenly cried out in a great voice:
"Children! Children! Friends of Narnia! Quick. Come to me. Across the worlds I call you; I Tirian, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands!"
And immediately he was plunged into a dream (if it was a dream) more vivid than any he had had in his life.
He seemed to be standing in a lighted room where seven people sat round a table. It looked as if they had just finished their meal. Two of those people were very old, an old man with a white beard and an old woman with wise, merry, twinkling eyes. He who sat at the right hand of the old man was hardly full grown, certainly younger than Tirian himself, but his face had already the look of a king and a warrior. And you could almost say the same of the other youth who sat at the right hand of the old woman. Facing Tirian across the table sat a fair-haired girl younger than either of these, and on either side of her a boy and girl who were younger still. They were all dressed in what seemed to Tirian the oddest kind of clothes.
But he had no time to think about details like that, for instantly the younger boy and both the girls started to their feet, and one of them gave a little scream. The old woman started and drew in her breath sharply. The old man must have made some sudden movement too for the wine glass which stood at his right hand was swept off the table: Tirian could hear the tinkling noise as it broke on the floor.
Then Tirian realized that these people could see him; they were staring at him as if they saw a ghost. But he noticed that the king-like one who sat at the old man's right never moved (though he turned pale) except that he clenched his hand very tight. Then he said:
"Speak, if you're not a phantom or a dream. You have a Narnian look about you and we are the seven friends of Narnia."
Tirian was longing to speak, and he tried to cry out aloud that he was Tirian of Narnia, in great need of help. But he found (as I have sometimes found in dreams too) that his voice made no noise at all.
The one who had already spoken to him rose to his feet. "Shadow or spirit or whatever you are," he said, fixing his eyes full upon Tirian. "If you are from Narnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. I am Peter the High King."
The room began to swim before Tirian's eyes. He heard the voices of those seven people all speaking at once, and all getting fainter every second, and they were saying things like, "Look! It's fading." "It's melting away." "It's vanishing." Next moment he was wide awake, still tied to the tree, colder and stiffer than ever. The wood was full of the pale, dreary light that comes before sunrise, and he was soaking wet with dew; it was nearly morning.
That waking was about the worst moment he had ever had in his life.

然而，黑暗、寒冷和寂靜依舊是老樣子，毫無變化。"讓我被殺死吧，"國王喊道，"我絲毫不爲我自己懇求什麼。可我求你光臨，拯救整個納尼亞。"不論在黑夜裏或是樹林裏，依舊絲毫沒有變化，但在蒂蓮的內心裏開始發生了一種變化，自己也不知道爲什麼，他開始感到一種隱隱約約的希望。他反正感到自己比較強有力了。"啊，阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭，"他低聲說道，"如果你不願親自駕臨，至少從其他世界給我派些助手來吧。啊，讓我呼喚他們。讓我的聲音傳到外部世界去。"接着，自己也不明白自己正在幹什麼，他突然大聲叫喊起來:
"孩子們！孩子們！納尼亞的朋友們！快，到我這兒來吧。我在天涯海角呼喚你們，我是蒂蓮，納尼亞的國王，凱爾帕拉維爾的君主，人跡罕至的羣島的帝王！"
於是他立刻進入了一個夢境(如果這是個夢)，比他生平做過的任何一個夢都要鮮明生動。
他彷彿正站在一個燈火輝煌的房間裏，有七個人圍着一張桌子坐在那兒。看上去他們剛吃完飯。有兩個人年紀很大，一個是自須老漢，二個是老婦人，生着聰明而歡樂的閃閃爍爍的眼睛。坐在老漢右邊的人還沒有成年，肯定比蒂蓮本人還年輕，但他的臉上已經具有國王和戰士的神情。對於坐在老婦人右邊那個少年，幾乎也可以說同樣的話。桌子對面，臉朝蒂蓮，坐着一位金髮姑娘，比上述兩位還要年輕，而坐在她兩邊的一男一女，那就更年輕了。他們都穿着蒂蓮覺得是最最古怪的衣裳。但他沒有時間去考慮這些細節，因爲最年輕的男孩和兩個小姑娘立刻從座位上跳起身來，有一位還發出了一聲輕微的叫喊。老婦人吃了一驚，猛吸了一口氣。老漢必定也做出了一個突然動作，因爲放在他右手邊的酒杯，給碰下桌子去了，蒂蓮聽得見酒杯啪啦跌碎在地板上時的聲音。於是蒂蓮認識到這些人能看見他，他們正瞪眼瞧着他，彷彿他們看見了一個鬼魂似的。但他也看在眼裏：坐在老漢身旁的那位國王模樣的人，可從未動彈過(儘管他的臉色變白了)，只不過把他的手捏得緊緊的而已。接着他就說道：
"說出來吧，如果你不是個幻影或夢。你具有納尼亞人的神態，而我們是納尼亞王國的七個朋友。"
蒂蓮很想說話，他力圖大聲喊叫，他是納尼亞王國的蒂蓮，迫切需要幫助。但他發覺(就像我們在夢裏也常發覺的那樣)他的嗓門裏發不出聲音來。已經對他說話的那個人站起身來了。"影子也好，鬼魂也好，不論你究竟是什麼人，"他一邊說一邊盯住蒂蓮直瞧，"如果你來自納尼亞，我以阿斯蘭的名義命令你，把話對我說出來吧。我就是大國王彼得。"
這房間開始在蒂蓮的眼前搖搖晃晃。他聽到這七個人立刻一齊說話的聲音，而且聲音都在一秒鐘又一秒鐘地減弱下去，他們說的是類似這樣的話"瞧，它在褪色了。"
"它在溶化了。""它在消失了。"一會兒後他便完全從夢中醒過來了，仍舊綁在樹上，比以前更加寒冷、僵硬。樹林裏充滿了日出之前蒼白而陰沉的光芒，他渾身被露水溼透，早晨快要來臨了。
這一夢醒之際，乃是他生平所經歷過的最最難堪的時刻。