納尼亞傳奇：第五章 回到了櫥門這一邊

Chapter 5: Back on This Side of the Door

第五章 回到了櫥門這一邊

BECAUSE the game of hide-and-seek was still going on, it took Edmund and Lucy some time to find the others. But when at last they were all together (which happened in the long room, where the suit of armour was) Lucy burst out:

因?yàn)楸说煤吞K珊還在捉迷藏，所以愛(ài)德蒙和露茜花了好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才找到他倆。當(dāng)大家一起聚集到放有盔甲的那間狹長(zhǎng)屋子里以后，露茜大聲說(shuō)：

"Peter! Susan! It's all true. Edmund has seen it too. There is a country you can get to through the wardrobe. Edmund and I both got in. We met one another in there, in the wood. Go on, Edmund; tell them all about it."

“彼得!蘇珊!一點(diǎn)也不錯(cuò)，愛(ài)德蒙也看見(jiàn)了，那里有一個(gè)國(guó)家，可以從衣櫥里邊進(jìn)去。愛(ài)德蒙和我進(jìn)去過(guò)了，把所有的情況都告訴他們。”

"What's all this about, Ed?" said Peter.

“艾德，這到底是怎么一回事?”彼得問(wèn)。

And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story. Up to that moment Edmund had been feeling sick, and sulky, and annoyed with Lucy for being right, but he hadn't made up his mind what to do. When Peter suddenly asked him the question he decided all at once to do the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of. He decided to let Lucy down.

現(xiàn)在我們寫到這個(gè)故事中最令人不愉快的部分。在這以前，愛(ài)德蒙一直感到很不舒服，一直在生露茜的氣，但對(duì)露茜究竟采取什么行動(dòng)，他一時(shí)還沒(méi)有拿定主意?，F(xiàn)在彼得突如其來(lái)地問(wèn)起他這個(gè)問(wèn)題，他就把心一橫，決定干出他所能想到的最不光彩的事情，來(lái)整一下露茜。

"Tell us, Ed," said Susan.

“告訴我們吧，艾德。”蘇珊說(shuō)。

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy (there was really only a year's difference) and then a little snigger and said, "Oh, yes, Lucy and I have been playing - pretending that all her story about a country in the wardrobe is true. just for fun, of course. There's nothing there really."

艾德顯出老成持重的樣子，好像他比露茜要大得多(實(shí)際上兩人只相差一歲)。他噗嗤一笑說(shuō)：“噢，對(duì)啦，露茜和我一直在做游戲，她故意說(shuō)上次講的衣櫥里有個(gè)國(guó)家的故事是真的。當(dāng)然嘍，我們只是開開玩笑，其實(shí)，那兒什么東西也沒(méi)有。”

Poor Lucy gave Edmund one look and rushed out of the room.

可憐的露茜看了愛(ài)德蒙一眼，便一口氣奔到了屋外。

Edmund, who was becoming a nastier person every minute, thought that he had scored a great success, and went on at once to say, "There she goes again. What's the matter with her? That's the worst of young kids, they always -"

愛(ài)德蒙現(xiàn)在變得越來(lái)越不像話了，他自以為已經(jīng)取得了極大的成功，立刻接下去說(shuō)道：“她又去啦，她是中了魔法還是怎么的?小孩子就是愛(ài)胡鬧，他們老是……”

"Look here," said Peter, turning on him savagely, "shut up! You've been perfectly beastly to Lu ever since she started this nonsense about the wardrobe, and now you go playing games with her about it and setting her off again. I believe you did it simply out of spite."

“聽(tīng)我說(shuō)，”彼得轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)，兩眼盯住了他，十分氣憤地說(shuō)：“住口!自從她上次瞎扯了一些衣櫥的事以來(lái)，你對(duì)她總是兇聲兇氣的，現(xiàn)在你跟她一起躲進(jìn)了衣櫥里做游戲，又把她氣走了。我看，你這樣做完全不懷好意。”

"But it's all nonsense," said Edmund, very taken aback.

“但她講的通通都是胡說(shuō)八道。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)，彼得的話使他大吃一驚。

"Of course it's all nonsense," said Peter, "that's just the point. Lu was perfectly all right when we left home, but since we've been down here she seems to be either going queer in the head or else turning into a most frightful liar. But whichever it is, what good do you think you'll do by jeering and nagging at her one day and encouraging her the next?"

“當(dāng)然都是胡言亂語(yǔ)，”彼得說(shuō)，“問(wèn)題的嚴(yán)重性就在這里。在家的時(shí)候，璐是好好的，但到了鄉(xiāng)下以后，她看上去要么神經(jīng)不很正常，要么就是謊話連篇。但無(wú)論是哪種情況，你想想看，你今天嘲笑她，對(duì)她喋喋不休說(shuō)個(gè)不停，明天你又去慫恿她，這對(duì)她有什么幫助?”

"I thought - I thought," said Edmund; but he couldn't think of anything to say.

“我原來(lái)想，我原來(lái)……”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)，可是他又想不出說(shuō)什么好。

"You didn't think anything at all," said Peter; "it's just spite. You've always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself; we've seen that at school before now."

“你想什么來(lái)著，”彼得說(shuō)，“你盡想壞主意。你對(duì)比你小的孩子總喜歡這一套，我們以前在學(xué)校里就經(jīng)?？吹侥氵@樣。”

"Do stop it," said Susan; "it won't make things any better having a row between you two. Let's go and find Lucy."

“別說(shuō)了，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“你們互相埋怨又有什么用處?我們還是去找找露茜吧。”

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy, a good deal later, everyone could see that she had been crying. Nothing they could say to her made any difference. She stuck to her story and said:

他們找了好長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間，才找到了露茜。果然不出大家所料，她正哭的傷心。無(wú)論他們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)，露茜都堅(jiān)持她說(shuō)的情況是真的。

"I don't care what you think, and I don't care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know I've met a Faun in there and - I wish I'd stayed there and you are all beasts, beasts."

“不管你們?cè)趺聪?，也不管你們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)，我都無(wú)所謂。你們可以去告訴教授，也可以寫信告訴媽媽，隨便你們?cè)趺醋龆伎梢?。我只知道我在那里碰?jiàn)了一個(gè)農(nóng)牧之神。我要是留在那里多好啊!你們凈欺侮人。”

It was an unpleasant evening. Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasn't working as well as he had expected. The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind. They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

這是一個(gè)十分不愉快的夜晚。露茜感到很委屈，愛(ài)德蒙也開始感到，他的計(jì)劃并沒(méi)有像他預(yù)料的那樣奏效。那兩個(gè)年齡大些的孩子卻真以為露茜的精神不大正常。在她入睡以后很久，他們還站在走廊里小聲議論著。

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. "He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu," said Peter; "it's getting beyond us." So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said "Come in," and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected:

第二天早上，他們決定把全部情況都告訴教授。“假如他也認(rèn)為露茜真的有什么毛病，他將寫信去告訴爸爸，”彼得說(shuō)，“我們可管不了這樣的事。”于是，他們就去敲老教授書房的門。教授說(shuō)了聲“請(qǐng)進(jìn)”，便站起身來(lái)，找了椅子讓他們坐下，還說(shuō)有事盡管來(lái)找他，他樂(lè)意為他們效勞。然后他坐下來(lái)，將手指合攏，靜靜地聽(tīng)他們把整個(gè)故事講完。聽(tīng)完以后，他好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間沒(méi)有吭聲，最后他清了清嗓子，出乎意外地問(wèn)道：

"How do you know," he asked, "that your sister's story is not true?"

“你們?cè)跄軘喽盾缰v的故事就不是真的呢?”

"Oh, but -" began Susan, and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old man's face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said, "But Edmund said they had only been pretending."

“哦，，但是……”蘇珊剛想開口又停住了。從老人的臉色可以看出，他是十分嚴(yán)肅的。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，蘇珊鼓起了勇氣說(shuō)：“但是愛(ài)德蒙親口告訴我們，他們只是假裝說(shuō)說(shuō)玩的。”

"That is a point," said the Professor, "which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance - if you will excuse me for asking the question - does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable? I mean, which is the more truthful?"

“有一個(gè)關(guān)鍵問(wèn)題倒值得你們仔細(xì)考慮，”教授說(shuō)，“根據(jù)你們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)——請(qǐng)?jiān)徫姨岢鲞@個(gè)問(wèn)題——你們認(rèn)為誰(shuí)更誠(chéng)實(shí)一些，是你們的弟弟，還是你們的妹妹?”

"That's just the funny thing about it, sir," said Peter. "Up till now, I'd have said Lucy every time."

“這真是一個(gè)十分有趣的問(wèn)題，先生，”彼得說(shuō)，“直到現(xiàn)在為止，我應(yīng)該說(shuō)，露茜要比愛(ài)德蒙誠(chéng)實(shí)。”

"And what do you think, my dear?" said the Professor, turning to Susan.

“你認(rèn)為怎樣呢，我親愛(ài)的孩子?”教授轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)又問(wèn)蘇珊。

"Well," said Susan, "in general, I'd say the same as Peter, but this couldn't be true - all this about the wood and the Faun."

“嗯，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“我嘛，基本上和彼得的看法相同。但關(guān)于森林和農(nóng)牧之神的故事總不可能是真的。”

"That is more than I know," said the Professor, "and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed."

“這個(gè)問(wèn)題我就不清楚了，”教授說(shuō)，“但是，隨口指責(zé)一個(gè)你們都認(rèn)為是誠(chéng)實(shí)的人說(shuō)謊，這倒是一個(gè)非常嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題。”

"We were afraid it mightn't even be lying," said Susan; "we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy."

“我們擔(dān)心的倒不是露茜說(shuō)謊，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“我們認(rèn)為很可能露茜精神有了毛病。”

"Madness, you mean?" said the Professor quite coolly. "Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad."

“你的意思是說(shuō)她發(fā)了瘋?”教授非常冷靜地說(shuō)，“嗯，這個(gè)你們很容易判斷。你們只要觀察觀察她的臉色，再和她交談交談，就可以斷定出來(lái)了。”

"But then," said Susan, and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn't know what to think.

“但是……”蘇珊剛開口又不說(shuō)了。她做夢(mèng)也沒(méi)想到像教授這樣的大人會(huì)說(shuō)出這種話來(lái)，她真被搞糊涂了。

"Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

“邏輯!”教授多半自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在這些學(xué)校為什么不教你們一點(diǎn)邏輯呢?這件事只有三種可能：或是你們的妹妹說(shuō)了謊，或者是她精神不正常，要不，她講的就是真話。你們都說(shuō)她向來(lái)不說(shuō)謊，她的精神又沒(méi)有什么問(wèn)題。那么在發(fā)現(xiàn)更充分的證據(jù)之前，我們就只能假定她講的是真實(shí)的。”

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them.

蘇珊兩眼緊盯著他，從他臉上的表情，她可以肯定他不是在和他們開玩笑。

"But how could it be true, sir?" said Peter.

“但是，這怎么可能呢，先生?”彼得問(wèn)。

"Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.

“為什么就一定不可能呢?”教授反問(wèn)了一句。

"Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was true why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend the was."

“因?yàn)椋?rdquo;彼得說(shuō)，“假如是真的，為什么不是每個(gè)人每次到櫥里都能發(fā)現(xiàn)那個(gè)國(guó)家呢?有一次，我們到櫥里看的時(shí)候，根本沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)什么別的情況，還是露茜親自領(lǐng)著我們?nèi)タ吹哪?，她自己也沒(méi)有說(shuō)她看到了旁的東西。”

"What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.

“這有什么關(guān)系呢?”教授說(shuō)。

"Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."

“有關(guān)系，先生。如果是真的，那些東西就應(yīng)該始終都在那里。”

"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did'nt know quite what to say.

“始終?”教授問(wèn)道，彼得不知如何回答才完全正確。

"But there was no time," said Susan. "Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours."

“但是露茜躲在櫥里只有一眨眼工夫，”蘇珊說(shuō)，“即使櫥里有這么一個(gè)地方，她也不曾有時(shí)間去呀。我們剛從空屋里出來(lái)，她就跟在我們后面溜出來(lái)了，前后還不到一分鐘，她卻硬是說(shuō)離開了好幾個(gè)鐘頭。”

"That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true," said the Professor. "If there really a door in this house that leads to some other world (and I should warn you that this is a very strange house, and even I know very little about it) - if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at a surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stay there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don't think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story."

“正因?yàn)槿绱?，她說(shuō)的故事才更像真的，”教授說(shuō)，“如果這間屋里真的有一個(gè)門通向某一個(gè)別的世界(我得提醒你們，這是一棟非常神秘的房屋，即使是我，對(duì)它也了解很少)——就算她真的到了另一個(gè)世界，那我們也不應(yīng)該感到奇怪，那個(gè)世界一定有它自己的時(shí)間概念，所以不管你在那兒逗留多久，也不會(huì)占去我們這個(gè)世界的任何一點(diǎn)時(shí)間。另外我還認(rèn)為，像她這樣年齡的女孩子，是不可能自己編造出這樣的故事來(lái)的。假如她想說(shuō)謊，她就會(huì)在里面多藏一段時(shí)間，然后再出來(lái)講她的故事。”

"But do you really mean, sir," said Peter, "that there could be other worlds - all over the place, just round the corner - like that?"

“先生，你是說(shuō)，“彼得問(wèn)道，“在這棟房屋里，譬如說(shuō)，就在附近，到處都有可能有別的世界嗎?”

"Nothing is more probable," said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he muttered to himself, "I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."

“這是非?？赡艿?，”教授說(shuō)，他一邊摘下眼鏡擦擦干凈，一邊又自言自語(yǔ)，“我真不懂，這些孩子在學(xué)校里，到底學(xué)了些什么東西?”

"But what are we to do?" said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

“這叫我們?cè)趺崔k?”蘇珊說(shuō)，她感到這場(chǎng)談話已經(jīng)開始離題了。

"My dear young lady," said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them, "there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying."

“孩子們，”教授突然抬起頭來(lái)，用一種非常嚴(yán)肅的神情看著他倆說(shuō)，“有一個(gè)計(jì)劃值得一試，但誰(shuí)也沒(méi)有提起過(guò)。”

"What's that?" said Susan.

“什么計(jì)劃?”蘇珊?jiǎn)枴?/p>

"We might all try minding our own business," said he. And that was the end of that conversation. After this things were a good deal better for Lucy. Peter saw to it that Edmund stopped jeering at her, and neither she nor anyone else felt inclined to talk about the wardrobe at all. It had become a rather alarming subject. And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not to be.

“這個(gè)我們就別去管它了。”他說(shuō)。那次談話就這樣結(jié)束了。彼得做了許多工作，使愛(ài)德蒙不再嘲笑露茜，她和別人都不想再談衣櫥的事，這已成了使人不快的話題。所以，在相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間里，一切奇遇似乎都已成了過(guò)去，但事實(shí)卻并不如此。

This house of the Professor's - which even he knew so little about - was so old and famous that people from all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it. It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories; and well it might be, for all manner of stories were told about it, some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now. And when parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house, the Professor always gave them permission, and Mrs Macready, the housekeeper, showed them round, telling them about the pictures and the armour, and the rare books in the library. Mrs Macready was not fond of children, and did not like to be interrupted when she was telling visitors all the things she knew. She had said to Susan and Peter almost on the first morning (along with a good many other instructions), "And please remember you're to keep out of the way whenever I'm taking a party over the house."

教授的這棟房屋——即使他自己，也了解得很少——是這樣古老，又是這樣聞名，全國(guó)各地的人都常常要求來(lái)此參觀，這所房屋在旅游指南一類的書上，甚至在歷史書上，都有所記載，在各式各樣的故事中都談到過(guò)，其中有些故事比我現(xiàn)在對(duì)你講的這個(gè)故事還要離奇。每當(dāng)觀光的人要求進(jìn)屋看看的時(shí)候，教授總是滿口答應(yīng)，女管家瑪卡蕾蒂太太就帶領(lǐng)著他們到各處轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，給他們介紹畫兒啦，盔甲啦，以及圖書館里稀有的書籍啦?，斂ɡ俚偬缓芟矚g孩子，當(dāng)她給客人們滔滔不絕地講述她所知道的各種掌故時(shí)，她是不喜歡別人從旁邊插嘴打擾的。幾乎在孩子們來(lái)的第一天早上，她就向蘇珊和彼得交代說(shuō)(同時(shí)還交待了許多別的規(guī)矩)：“請(qǐng)你們記著，我領(lǐng)人參觀的時(shí)候，你們要躲遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)兒。”

"Just as if any of us would want to waste half the morning trailing round with a crowd of strange grown-ups!" said Edmund, and the other three thought the same. That was how the adventures began for the second time.

“就好像我們當(dāng)中會(huì)有人故意要跟一群陌生的大人浪費(fèi)半天似的。”愛(ài)德蒙說(shuō)。其余三人也有同樣的想法。誰(shuí)知，第二次奇遇就是由此引起的。

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said, "Look out! Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her."

幾天以后，彼得和愛(ài)德蒙正望著那副盔甲出神，想試試能否把它拆卸下來(lái)，兩個(gè)女孩忽然奔進(jìn)屋里說(shuō)：“不好啦，瑪卡蕾蒂帶著一群人來(lái)了!”

"Sharp's the word," said Peter, and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room. But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it, into the Library, they suddenly heard voices ahead of them, and realized that Mrs Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs - instead of up the front stairs as they had expected. And after that - whether it was that they lost their heads, or that Mrs Macready was trying to catch them, or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere, until at last Susan said, "Oh bother those trippers! Here - let's get into the Wardrobe Room till they've passed. No one will follow us in there." But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage - and then someone fumbling at the door - and then they saw the handle turning.

“真糟糕!”彼得說(shuō)，四個(gè)人很快就從另外一頭的門溜掉了。他們溜出來(lái)以后先進(jìn)了那間休息室，后來(lái)又跑到了圖書館，這時(shí)他們突然聽(tīng)到前面有說(shuō)話的聲音，他們都以為瑪卡蕾蒂太太帶著觀光的人群到后樓去了，而沒(méi)有像他們預(yù)料的那樣到前樓來(lái)。以后，不知是他們自己昏了頭，還是瑪卡蕾蒂太太要來(lái)抓他們，還是這所住宅的魔力再次顯現(xiàn)，要把他們趕往那尼亞，他們似乎感到每到一處都有人跟蹤著。最后，蘇珊說(shuō)：“啊，這些游客真夠討厭!喂，讓我們躲到放衣櫥的那間空屋里去吧，等他們走了以后再說(shuō)，誰(shuí)也不會(huì)跟我們到那兒去的。”但他們剛進(jìn)空屋，就聽(tīng)見(jiàn)走廊里有人在講話，接著又是摸門的聲音，一看，門把手已在移動(dòng)了。

"Quick!" said Peter, "there's nowhere else," and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there, panting, in the dark. Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

“趕快!”彼得說(shuō)，“沒(méi)有別的地方可躲了!”他猛地一下推開了櫥門。四個(gè)人蜷縮在黑咕隆咚的衣櫥里邊，不停地喘氣。彼得帶上了櫥門，但并沒(méi)有把它關(guān)緊，因?yàn)?，像每一個(gè)有理智的人一樣，他懂得，一個(gè)人怎么可以把自己關(guān)在衣櫥里面呢?