評論
打印
"I will not wait the tenth part of a second," said the King. "But while Jewel and I go forward, do you gallop as hard as you may to Cair Paravel. Here is my ring for your token. Get me a score of men-at-arms, all well mounted, and a score of Talking Dogs, and ten Dwarfs (let them all be fell archers), and a Leopard or so, and Stonefoot the Giant. Bring all these after us as quickly as may be."
“我十分之一秒鐘也不愿等待，”國王說，“但，我和珍寶朝前趕去時，你就盡快直奔凱爾帕拉維爾。我這戒指給你作個憑證。給我調來二十個全副武裝的、個個善于騎馬的武士，二十頭會說人話的狗兒，十個小矮人(須得個個是百發百中的弓箭手)，一兩只豹子，還有石足巨人。盡可能迅速地把這支隊伍調來支援我們。”
"With a good will, Sire," said Roonwit. And at once he turned and galloped Eastward down the valley.
“陛下，衷心祝愿成功。”龍威特說，立刻轉過身體，朝東跑下山谷去了。
The King strode on at a great pace, sometimes muttering to himself and sometimes clenching his fists. Jewel walked beside him, saying nothing; so there was no sound between them but the faint jingle of a rich gold chain that hung round the Unicorn's neck and the noise of two feet and four hoofs.
國王大踏步前進，有時喃喃自語，有時握緊拳頭。珍寶在國王身旁行走，默默無言；因而他們之間沒有什么別的聲音，只有那掛在獨角獸頸子里的粗大金鏈條的微弱的丁當聲，人的兩足踏步聲，獨角獸的四蹄唱唱聲。
They soon reached the River and turned up it where there was a grassy road: they had the water on their left and the forest on their right. Soon after that they came to the place where the ground grew rougher and thick wood came down to the water's edge. The road, what there was of it, now ran on the Southern bank and they had to ford the River to reach it. It was up to Tirian's arm-pits, but Jewel (who had four legs and was therefore steadier) kept on his right so as to break the force of the current, and Tirian put his strong arm round the Unicorn's strong neck and they both got safely over. The King was still so angry that he hardly noticed the cold of the water. But of course he dried his sword very carefully on the shoulder of his cloak, which was the only dry part of him, as soon as they came to shore.
他們不久就來到河流邊上，他們經由一條芳草萋萋而上：現在他們的左邊是河水，右邊是樹林。不久以后，他們走到一個地方，地面愈來愈高低不平，濃密的樹林往下綿延到河水之濱。道路斷了，道路的走向，現在跳到河水的南岸去了，他們不得不涉水渡河，才能走上對岸的道路。河水很深，漫到蒂蓮的腋窩邊，但珍寶有四條腿，因而比蒂蓮站得穩，它在國王的右邊堅持著，擋住了激流的沖擊力量，蒂蓮伸出他強壯的胳膊抱住獨角獸強壯的脖子，他們倆安全渡過了河流。國王仍舊十分憤怒，沒注意河水很冷。不過，他們剛登上南岸時，他當然十分仔細地在他外套的肩膀上擦干他的劍，這是他身上惟一沒有浸濕的地方了。
They were now going Westward with the River on their right and Lantern Waste straight ahead of them. They had not gone more than a mile when they both stopped and both spoke at the same moment. The King said "What have we here?" and Jewel said "Look!"
他們現在朝西走去，河流在他們的右邊，燈柱野林筆直地在他們的前邊。他們還沒有走上一英里多的路，他倆就同時站定，開口說話了。國王說“這兒是什么東西？”珍寶說“瞧！”
"It is a raft," said King Tirian.
“是個木排啊。”國王蒂蓮說道。
And so it was. Half a dozen splendid tree-trunks, all newly cut and newly lopped of their branches, had been lashed together to make a raft, and were gliding swiftly down the river. On the front of the raft there was a water rat with a pole to steer it.
確實是個木排。六根漂亮的樹干，全是新伐倒的、新砍掉枝丫的，捆綁在一起，做成一個木排，正迅速地順流而下。木排的前端有個水客，拿根竹籬駕御著木排。
"Hey! Water-Rat! What are you about?" cried the King.
“嗨！你在干嗎呀？”國王大聲問道。
"Taking logs down to sell to the Calormenes, Sire," said the Rat, touching his ear as he might have touched his cap if he had had one.
“把木頭運到下游，賣給卡樂門人，陛下。”水客答道，舉手伸到耳朵上向國王致敬，如果他戴帽子的話，他就會舉手到帽子邊上致敬。
"Calormenes!" thundered Tirian. "What do you mean? Who gave order for these trees to be felled?"
“卡樂門人！”蓮大發雷霆地吼道，“你這話是什么意思？誰砍倒這些樹木的？”
The River flows so swiftly at that time of the year that the raft had already glided past the King and Jewel. But the Water-Rat looked back over its shoulder and shouted out:
一年之中，這時節的河水奔流得很快，木排已經在國王和珍寶的身邊滑過去了。但水客從肩上回過頭來叫喊道：
"The Lion's orders, Sire. Aslan himself." He added something more but they couldn't hear it.
“奉獅王的命令，陛下。阿斯蘭親自下的命令。”他還補充了幾句話，可是國王他們聽不見了。
The King and the Unicorn stared at one another and both looked more frightened than they had ever been in any battle.
國王和獨角獸面面相覷，他倆的臉色，看上去都比過去參加任何戰爭時更加惶恐。
"Aslan," said the King at last, in a very low voice. "Aslan. Could it be true? Could he be felling the holy trees and murdering the Dryads?"
“阿斯蘭，”國王終于用十分低沉的聲音說道，“阿斯蘭。能是真的嗎？阿斯蘭能砍伐神圣的樹木、謀害樹精的性命嗎？”
"Unless the Dryads have all done something dreadfully wrong-" murmured Jewel.
“除非樹精都犯了可怕的錯誤——”珍寶喃喃說道。
"But selling them to Calormenes!" said the King. "Is it possible?"
“可是竟把樹木賣給卡樂門人！”國王說，“這樣的事，可能嗎？”
"I don't know," said Jewel miserably. "He's not a tame lion."
“我不知道，”珍寶悲慘地說道，“他并不是一頭馴服的獅子。”
"Well," said the King at last, "we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us."
“好吧，”國王終于說道，“我們必須繼續前進，冒著面臨的風險。”
