《獅子女巫與魔衣櫥》第11章:阿斯蘭快到了
EDMUND meanwhile had been having a most disappointing time. When the dwarf had gone to get the sledge ready he expected that the Witch would start being nice to him, as she had been at their last meeting. But she said nothing at all. And when at last Edmund plucked up his courage to say, "Please, your Majesty, could I have some Turkish Delight? You - you - said -" she answered, "Silence, fool!" Then she appeared to change her mind and said, as if to herself, a "And yet it will not do to have the brat fainting on the way," and once more clapped her hands. Another, dwarf appeared.
"Bring the human creature food and drink," she said.
The dwarf went away and presently returned bringing an iron bowl with some water in it and an iron plate with a hunk of dry bread on it. He grinned in a repulsive manner as he set them down on the floor beside Edmund and said:
"Turkish Delight for the little Prince. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Take it away," said Edmund sulkily. "I don't want dry bread." But the Witch suddenly turned on him with such a terrible expression on her face that he, apologized and began to nibble at the bread, though, it was so stale he could hardly get it down.
"You may be glad enough of it before you taste bread again," said the Witch.
While he was still chewing away the first dwarf came back and announced that the sledge was ready. The White Witch rose and went out, ordering Edmund to go with her. The snow was again falling as they came into the courtyard, but she took no notice of that and made Edmund sit beside her on the sledge. But before they drove off she called Maugrim and he came bounding like an enormous dog to the side of the sledge.
"Take with you the swiftest of your wolves and go at once to the house of the Beavers," said the Witch, "and kill whatever you find there. If they are already gone, then make all speed to the Stone Table, but do not be seen. Wait for me there in hiding. I meanwhile must go many miles to the West before I find a place where I can drive across the river. You may overtake these humans before they reach the Stone Table. You will know what to do if you find them!"
"I hear and obey, O Queen," growled the Wolf, and immediately he shot away into the snow and darkness, as quickly as a horse can gallop. In a few minutes he had called another wolf and was with him down on the dam sniffing at the Beavers' house. But of course they found it empty. It would have been a dreadful thing for the Beavers and the children if the night had remained fine, for the wolves would then have been able to follow their trail - and ten to one would have overtaken them before they had got to the cave. But now that the snow had begun again the scent was cold and even the footprints were covered up.
Meanwhile the dwarf whipped up the reindeer, and the Witch and Edmund drove out under the archway and on and away into the darkness and the cold. This was a terrible journey for Edmund, who had no coat. Before they had been going quarter of an hour all the front of him was covered with snow - he soon stopped trying to shake it off because, as quickly as he did that, a new lot gathered, and he was so tired. Soon he was wet to the skin. And oh, how miserable he was! It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King. All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded to him silly now. He would have given anything to meet the others at this moment - even Peter! The only way to comfort himself now was to try to believe that the whole thing was a dream and that he might wake up at any moment. And as they went on, hour after hour, it did come to seem like a dream.
This lasted longer than I could describe even if I wrote pages and pages about it. But I will skip on to the time when the snow had stopped and the morning had come and they were racing along in the daylight. And still they went on and on, with no sound but the everlasting swish of the snow and the creaking of the reindeer's harness. And then at last the Witch said, "What have we here? Stop!" and they did.
How Edmund hoped she was going to say something about breakfast! But she had stopped for quite a different reason. A little way off at the foot of a tree sat a merry party, a squirrel and his wife with their children and two satyrs and a dwarf and an old dogfox, all on stools round a table. Edmund couldn't quite see what they were eating, but it smelled lovely and there seemed to be decorations of holly and he wasn't at all sure that he didn't see something like a plum pudding. At the moment when the sledge stopped, the Fox, who was obviously the oldest person present, had just risen to its feet, holding a glass in its right paw as if it was going to say something. But when the whole party saw the sledge stopping and who was in it, all the gaiety went out of their faces. The father squirrel stopped eating with his fork half-way to his mouth and one of the satyrs stopped with its fork actually in its mouth, and the baby squirrels squeaked with terror.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked the Witch Queen. Nobody answered.
"Speak, vermin!" she said again. "Or do you want my dwarf to find you a tongue with his whip? What is the meaning of all this gluttony, this waste, this selfindulgence? Where did you get all these things?"
"Please, your Majesty," said the Fox, "we were given them. And if I might make so bold as to drink your Majesty's very good health - "
"Who gave them to you?" said the Witch.
"F-F-F-Father Christmas," stammered the Fox.
"What?" roared the Witch, springing from the sledge and taking a few strides nearer to the terrified animals. "He has not been here! He cannot have been here! How dare you - but no. Say you have been lying and you shall even now be forgiven."
At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely.
"He has - he has - he has!" it squeaked, beating its little spoon on the table. Edmund saw the Witch bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek. Then she raised her wand. "Oh, don't, don't, please don't," shouted Edmund, but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand and instantly where the merry party had been there were only statues of creatures (one with its stone fork fixed forever half-way to its stone mouth) seated round a stone table on which there were stone plates and a stone plum pudding.
"As for you," said the Witch, giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge, "let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors. Drive on!" And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself. It seemed so pitiful to think of those little stone figures sitting there all the silent days and all the dark nights, year after year, till the moss grew on them and at last even their faces crumbled away.
Now they were steadily racing on again. And soon Edmund noticed that the snow which splashed against them as they rushed through it was much wetter than it had been all last night. At the same time he noticed that he was feeling much less cold. It was also becoming foggy. In fact every minute it grew foggier and warmer. And the sledge was not running nearly as well as it had been running up till now. At first he thought this was because the reindeer were tired, but soon he saw that that couldn't be the real reason. The sledge jerked, and skidded and kept on jolting as if it had struck against stones. And however the dwarf whipped the poor reindeer the sledge went slower and slower. There also seemed to be a curious noise all round them, but the noise of their driving and jolting and the dwarf's shouting at the reindeer prevented Edmund from hearing what it was, until suddenly the sledge stuck so fast that it wouldn't go on at all. When that happened there was a moment's silence. And in that silence Edmund could at last listen to the other noise properly. A strange, sweet, rustling, chattering noise - and yet not so strange, for he'd heard it before - if only he could remember where! Then all at once he did remember. It was the noise of running water. All round them though out of sight, there were streams, chattering, murmuring, bubbling, splashing and even (in the distance) roaring. And his heart gave a great leap (though he hardly knew why) when he realized that the frost was over. And much nearer there was a drip-drip-drip from the branches of all the trees. And then, as he looked at one tree he saw a great load of snow slide off it and for the first time since he had entered Narnia he saw the dark green of a fir tree. But he hadn't time to listen or watch any longer, for the Witch said:
"Don't sit staring, fool! Get out and help."
And of course Edmund had to obey. He stepped out into the snow - but it was really only slush by now - and began helping the dwarf to get the sledge out of the muddy hole it had got into. They got it out in the end, and by being very cruel to the reindeer the dwarf managed to get it on the move again, and they drove a little further. And now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction. Unless you have looked at a world of snow as long as Edmund had been looking at it, you will hardly be able to imagine what a relief those green patches were after the endless white. Then the sledge stopped again.
"It's no good, your Majesty," said the dwarf. "We can't sledge in this thaw."
"Then we must walk," said the Witch.
"We shall never overtake them walking," growled the dwarf. "Not with the start they've got."
"Are you my councillor or my slave?" said the Witch. "Do as you're told. Tie the hands of the human creature behind it and keep hold of the end of the rope. And take your whip. And cut the harness of the reindeer; they'll find their own way home."
The dwarf obeyed, and in a few minutes Edmund found himself being forced to walk as fast as he could with his hands tied behind him. He kept on slipping in the slush and mud and wet grass, and every time he slipped the dwarf gave him a curse and sometimes a flick with the whip. The Witch walked behind the dwarf and kept on saying, "Faster! Faster!"
Every moment the patches of green grew bigger and the patches of spow grew smaller. Every moment more and more of the trees shook off their robes of snow. Soon, wherever you looked, instead of white shapes you saw the dark green of firs or the black prickly branches of bare oaks and beeches and elms. Then the mist turned from white to gold and presently cleared away altogether. Shafts of delicious sunlight struck down on to the forest floor and overhead you could see a blue sky between the tree tops.
Soon there were more wonderful things happening. Coming suddenly round a corner into a glade of silver birch trees Edmund saw the ground covered in all directions with little yellow flowers - celandines. The noise of water grew louder. Presently they actually crossed a stream. Beyond it they found snowdrops growing.
"Mind your own business!" said the dwarf when he saw that Edmund had turned his head to look at them; and he gave the rope a vicious jerk.
But of course this didn't prevent Edmund from seeing. Only five minutes later he noticed a dozen crocuses growing round the foot of an old tree - gold and purple and white. Then came a sound even more delicious than the sound of the water. Close beside the path they were following a bird suddenly chirped from the branch of a tree. It was answered by the chuckle of another bird a little further off. And then, as if that had been a signal, there was chattering and chirruping in every direction, and then a moment of full song, and within five minutes the whole wood was ringing with birds' music, and wherever Edmund's eyes turned he saw birds alighting on branches, or sailing overhead or chasing one another or having their little quarrels or tidying up their feathers with their beaks.
"Faster! Faster!" said the Witch.
There was no trace of the fog now. The sky became bluer and bluer, and now there were white clouds hurrying across it from time to time. In the wide glades there were primroses. A light breeze sprang up which scattered drops of moisture from the swaying branches and carried cool, delicious scents against the faces of the travellers. The trees began to come fully alive. The larches and birches were covered with green, the laburnums with gold. Soon the beech trees had put forth their delicate, transparent leaves. As the travellers walked under them the light also became green. A bee buzzed across their path.
"This is no thaw," said the dwarf, suddenly stopping. "This is Spring. What are we to do? Your winter has been destroyed, I tell you! This is Aslan's doing."
"If either of you mention that name again," said the Witch, "he shall instantly be killed."
說——”她回答說，“安靜，笨蛋！”後來她又像改變主意了，彷彿自言自語地說，“讓這個小崽子昏倒在路上總是不行的。”說着她又一次拍拍手，又來了一個小矮人。
“給這個人拿點吃喝的東西來。”她說。
小矮人走開了，不一會兒就拿來一隻鐵碗，裏面盛了點水，還有一隻鐵盤子，上面放了一大塊乾麪包。他把東西放在愛德蒙身邊的地板上，還咧嘴一笑，那副神情實在令人厭惡，他說：
“小王子的土耳其軟糖來了。哈！哈！哈！”
“把它拿走，”愛德蒙生氣地說，“我不要吃乾麪包。”不料妖婆突然向他撲來，臉上的神情那麼可怕，他只好賠個不是，一點點啃起那塊麪包來，可是麪包太乾，他簡直咽不下
“在你再吃到麪包之前，有這個吃你該高興。”妖婆說。他還在那兒咬啊嚼啊，第一個小矮人已回來報告雪橇準備好了。白妖婆站起來就走，同時命令愛德蒙跟她一塊兒去。他們走到院子裏時，雪又下起來了，但她對此並不在意，還叫愛德蒙到雪橇上坐在她身邊。臨出發前她又招呼芬瑞斯·烏爾夫，它就像條大狗似的跳到雪橇旁邊。
“你帶上跑得最快的狼，馬上到海狸家裏去。”妖婆說，“你們在那兒不管找到什麼，統統都殺掉。如果他們已經走了，那就全速趕到石桌去，但別給人看見。你們躲在那兒等着我。我得向西走好多英里，才找得到一個能駕雪橇過河的地方。你可以趁那些人沒到達石桌前先趕上他們。要是找到了他們，你總知道該怎麼幹！”
“遵命，女王。”那隻狼吼道，說着立刻飛奔到黑暗的雪地裏，就像駿馬騰空那麼快。轉眼工夫它又叫來一隻狼，一起奔向堤壩，在海狸夫婦的房子裏四處嗅聞。不過房子當然是空的。要是那天晚上天氣一直很好，對海狸夫婦和孩子們倒是禍害了，因爲狼會跟蹤他們的足跡——十之八九在他們進洞以前就會趕上他們。但這會兒又開始下雪了，氣味也淡了，連腳印也都給淹沒了。
同時小矮人趕着馴鹿，跟妖婆和愛德蒙出了拱門，然後一路向黑暗的冰天雪地裏駛去。對愛德蒙來說這可真是一次可怕的旅程，因爲他沒有大衣。他們走了還不到一刻鐘，他面前就積滿了雪—一會兒他就不再撣雪花了，因爲儘管他撣得快，剛撣掉就又積起一堆來，而且他很累。不一會兒他就渾身溼透了。哦，他多慘啊。目前看來妖婆並不打算給他當國王了啊！他爲了讓自己相信她是好人，善心人，她這一邊纔是真正正義的一邊，而對自己說過的種種話，如今聽起來都是些蠢話了。他願意放棄一切，這會兒就去找大家——甚至彼得！如今惟一能安慰他自己的辦法就是儘量相信這整個事件是場夢，他隨時會醒過來。他們走啊走啊，過了一個小時又一個小時，似乎真成爲一場夢了。
這一路上花的時間長得很，哪怕我再寫上多少頁也寫不完。不過我就跳過這一段，先說說這時雪停了，天亮了，他們在陽光下飛駛着。他們還在繼續趕路，除了雪地上不斷的嗖嗖聲，馴鹿挽具的嘎吱聲，什麼聲音也沒有。最後，妖婆終於說：“我們看看這兒有什麼？停下！”他們這才停下了。
愛德蒙多麼希望她開口說說吃早飯的事！可是她停下來的理由卻完全不同。離雪橇不遠的一棵樹下坐着快快樂樂的一夥：松鼠夫婦和孩子，還有兩個森林神，一個小矮人．一隻老雄狐，全都圍着桌子坐在矮凳上。愛德蒙看不清他們在吃什麼，不過味道聞起來真香，而且似乎還用了冬青做裝飾，他簡直不敢相信自己看見了葡萄乾布丁之類的東西。雪橇停下時，那隻狐狸，顯然是在場年紀最老的，剛剛站起身來，右爪舉起一隻杯子，似乎要說些什麼。但等這一夥看到雪橇停下，是誰乘在上頭時，大家臉上的歡樂神情就全部消失了。松鼠爸爸的叉子舉到嘴邊，半途就停下不吃了。還有一個森林神嘴裏含着叉子就停下了，松鼠娃娃都嚇得吱吱叫。
“這是什麼意思？”妖婆女王問道。沒人回答。
“說呀，壞蛋，”她又說，“難道你們想要我的小矮人用鞭子叫你們開口嗎？你們大吃大喝，鋪張浪費，縱情歡樂，是什麼意思？這一切東西你們究竟從哪兒弄來的？”
“你別見怪，陛下，”狐理說，“這些都是給我們的。請恕我冒昧，讓我爲陛下的健康乾杯——”
“這些東西是誰給你們的？”妖婆問。
“聖誕老——老——老人。”狐狸結結巴巴地說。
“什麼？”妖婆吼道，從雪橇上一躍而起，向那些受驚的動物走近幾大步。“他沒到這兒來過，他決不會到這兒來！你們竟敢——可是不。說你們是在說謊，那麼就可以寬恕你們。”
這時一隻小松鼠竟然完全昏了頭。
“他來過了——他來過了——他來過了！”一面吱吱叫着，一面用小匙敲桌子。
愛德蒙看見妖婆咬咬嘴脣，雪白的臉蛋上沁出一滴血。接着她舉起了魔杖。
“哦，別，別，請不要。”愛德蒙叫道，但就在他大聲喊叫時，她已經揮動了魔杖，剛纔一羣動物歡宴的地方，立刻出現了一個個動物的石像(其中一隻就永遠舉着石叉凝固在離嘴一半的地方)，圍坐在一張石桌前，桌上是石盤和石頭的葡萄乾布丁。
“至於你，”妖婆說，重新坐上雪橇時給了他一下耳光，打得他昏頭昏腦，“這就是你替奸細和叛徒求情的教訓。上路！”在這個故事中愛德蒙還是第一次爲別人感到難過呢。想到那些小小的石像就此坐在那兒度過寂靜的白天、黑暗的夜晚，日復一日，年復一年，直到身上長滿苔蘚，最後甚至臉部也會分解，這似乎太可憐了。
這會兒他們又穩穩地飛駛向前。不久愛德蒙就注意到他們衝過去時濺起的雪比昨晚溼多了。同時他也注意到自己已經不大覺得冷了。天變得霧濛濛的。事實上，霧氣越來越濃，天也越來越暖和。雪橇也遠遠沒有原來行駛得那麼快了。開頭，他以爲這是因爲拉雪橇的馴鹿累了，但不久他就看出這不是真正的原因。雪橇猛地一動，朝邊上滑去，還不斷顛簸，就像撞上了石頭。儘管小矮人鞭打可憐的馴鹿，雪橇還是越來越慢。他們周圍似乎還有種怪異的聲音，但雪橇行駛和顛簸的聲音，加上小矮人吆喝馴鹿的聲音，響得愛德蒙沒法聽清楚，直到後來雪橇突然困住了，寸步不能動彈。出了這事以後，一時四下寂靜。愛德蒙總算能好好聽一聽那聲音了。原來那是一種又奇特又可愛的沙沙聲、潺潺聲——
但畢竟也不算太奇特，因爲他知道自己以前聽見過這種聲音——要是他想得起在哪兒聽見的就好了！接着他突然想起來了。那是流水聲。雖然看不見，但就在他們周圍，那是小溪潺潺歡唱，水流淙淙，噗噗冒泡，水花四濺，甚至(遠處)激流咆哮。等他明白嚴冬已過，他心頭也猛地一跳(雖然他壓根不知道爲什麼)。離他們更近的樹木的枝幹上都在滴滴答答地滴水。隨後，當他看着一棵樹時，他看見一大塊積雪從樹上滑落下來，這是他進入納尼亞以來第一次看見一棵冷杉樹的深綠色。但他沒時間多聽多看，因爲妖婆說話了。
“別坐在那兒乾瞪眼，笨蛋！來幫個忙。”
愛德蒙當然只好服從。他踩到雪地裏——不過目前這兒都是成雪水了——開始幫小矮人把雪橇從陷進去的泥潭裏拉出來。他們終於把雪橇拉了出來，小矮人對馴鹿十分兇狠，雪橇總算又動了，他們又走了一小段路。這會兒雪真的完全融化了，四面八方都出現了一小塊一小塊的綠草地。除非你也像愛德蒙那樣長時間看着一片冰雪世界，否則很難想象看了無窮無盡的白雪之後，看到那一片片綠地，心情有多麼欣慰。此時雪橇又停下了。
“不行啊，陛下，”小矮人說，“我們在融雪中沒法駕雪橇。”
“那我們就得走。”妖婆說。
“走着去我們永遠也趕不上他們，”小矮人咕噥道，“他們先走一步。”
“你是我的顧問還是我的奴隸啊！”妖婆說，“照我說的辦。把這個人的手綁在身後，拉住繩子一頭。再帶上你的鞭子。把馴鹿的挽具割斷，它們自己會找到路回家。”
小矮人服從命令，不一會兒愛德蒙就被反綁着雙手，被迫儘快趕路。他不斷滑倒在雪水中、泥漿裏和溼草地上，每次他一滑倒，小矮人就罵他，有時還給他一鞭子。妖婆走在小矮人後面，嘴裏不停地說：“快點！快點！”
塊塊綠地隨時隨刻都在變大，塊塊雪地都在縮小。隨時隨刻都有更多的樹木脫下雪袍。不久，你無論朝哪兒看，白色都不見了，只見深綠的冷杉樹，光禿禿的橡樹那黑色多刺的樹枝，以及山毛櫸和榆樹。接着薄霧由白色轉爲金色，一會兒就完全消失了。道道美妙的陽光射向森林的地面，從當頭的樹梢之間可以看到一片藍天。
不久發生了更奇妙的事情。他們突然繞過一個拐角，來到一片銀白色的白樺樹林中的空地，愛德蒙看見空地上四面八方都開滿了黃色的小花——白苣菜。水聲更響了。不一會兒他們果真穿過了一條小河。他們還發現河邊長出了雪蓮花。
“少管閒事！”小矮人說，他看見愛德蒙扭頭看花，就惡毒地用力拉拉繩子。
不過這當然阻止不了愛德蒙觀看。只過了五分鐘他就注意到一棵老樹腳下長着十幾朵藏紅花——有金色的、紫色的和白色的。接着又傳來了一種比水聲更美妙的聲音。在他們走的那條小路附近，一隻鳥突然在樹枝上吱吱叫了起來。不遠處另一隻鳥兒喳喳叫着回答。此後，彷彿聽到信號似的，四面八方都唧唧喳喳叫個不停。一時間滿耳都是鳥鳴聲。不到五分鐘，鳥的音樂響徹了整個樹林，愛德蒙不論往哪兒看，都看得見一隻只鳥兒或落在樹枝上，或在空中飛翔，或喧鬧不休。
“快點！快點！”妖婆說。
這會兒霧已經消失得無影無蹤，天空變得越來越藍，不時還有幾片白雲匆匆掠過。寬闊的林間空地上開着朵朵櫻草花。一陣微風吹過，搖曳的樹枝上露珠紛紛灑落，拂來清涼、美妙的香味。樹木都開始活過來了。落葉松和白樺樹披上了綠裝，金蓮花金光燦燦。不久山毛櫸就長出了嬌嫩、透明的葉子。行人在樹下走過，光線也變成綠色的了。一隻蜜蜂嗡嗡叫着穿過他們走的那條小徑。
“這不是融雪，”小矮人說着突然停下，“這是春天。我們怎麼辦？說真的，你的冬天已經給趕跑了。這是阿斯蘭乾的。”
“如果你們有誰再提起那個名字，”妖婆說，“就叫他立刻送命。”
