《凱斯賓王子》第1章:小島
ONCE there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, and it has been told in another book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure. They had opened the door of a magic wardrobe and found themselves in a quite different world from ours, and in that different world they had become Kings and Queens in a country called Narnia. While they were in Narnia they seemed to reign for years and years; but when they came back through the door and found themselves in England again, it all seemed to have taken no time at all. At any rate, no one noticed that they had ever been away, and they never told anyone except one very wise grown-up.
That had all happened a year ago, and now all four of them were sitting on a seat at a railway station with trunks and playboxes piled up round them. They were, in fact, on their way back to school. They had travelled together as far as this station, which was a junction; and here, in a few minutes, one train would arrive and take the girls away to one school, and in about half an hour another train would arrive and the boys would go off to another school. The first part of the journey, when they were all together, always seemed to be part of the holidays; but now when they would be saying good-bye and going different ways so soon, everyone felt that the holidays were really over and everyone felt their term-time feelings beginning again, and they were all rather gloomy and no one could think of anything to say. Lucy was going to boarding school for the first time.
那是一年前發生的事情了。現在，這四個孩子都坐在火車站的長椅上，身邊堆放着大衣箱和用品箱。這是在回學校的路上，他們將在這裏分手。女孩子們準備乘坐很快就要進站的一列火車返回自己的學校，而大約半個小時以後，兩個男孩將乘另一列火車返回他們的學校。這一路上大家熱熱鬧鬧在一起，總覺得仍然是在度假，可是現在，馬上就要握手告別，這使每個人都意識到，假期的確已經結束，天天上課的日子又要開始了。孩子們不由得都情緒低落，誰也想不出該說些什麼纔好。露茜將是第一次上寄宿學校。It was an empty, sleepy, country station and there was hardly anyone on the platform except themselves. Suddenly Lucy gave a sharp little cry, like someone who has been stung by a wasp.
這是個空蕩、沉寂的小鎮車站，月臺上除了他們，幾乎再沒別人。突然，露茜輕聲尖叫了一下，彷彿被馬蜂蟄了一下似的。
"What's up, Lu?" said Edmund - and then suddenly broke off and made a noise like "Ow!"
什麼事，露？"愛德蒙問。可是話音未落，他也"哎喲"聲叫了起來。"What on earth-",began Peter, and then he too suddenly changed what he had been going to say. Instead, he said, "Susan, let go! What are you doing? Where are you dragging me to?"
"真見鬼…"彼得話說了一半，突然也改變了原先想說的話，"蘇珊，放手！你幹什麼？你拉我上哪兒去？""I'm not touching you," said Susan. "Someone is pulling me. Oh - oh -oh -stop it!"
誰碰你了！"蘇珊說，"倒是有人在拉我，哎……哎……哎……別拉我呀！"Everyone noticed that all the others' faces had gone very white.
孩子們一個個臉色變得煞白。"I felt just the same," said Edmund in a breathless voice. "As if I were being dragged along. A most frightful pulling-ugh! it's beginning again."
"我也是，"愛德蒙氣都喘不過來了，"好像有人把我拉向什麼地方。這太可怕了——唷，又來了！”"Me too," said Lucy. "Oh, I can't bear it."
"我也一樣，"露茜喊道，"哦，我支持不住了。""Look sharp!" shouted Edmund. "All catch hands and keep together. This is magic - I can tell by the feeling. Quick!"
"快！"愛德蒙喊道，"大家快拉起手來，不要鬆開！這是一種魔力——我的感覺沒錯，快！”"Yes," said Susan. "Hold hands. Oh, I do wish it would stop-oh!"
"對，"蘇珊急急地說，"拉起手來。噢，恐怕一時還停不了，噢……”Next moment the luggage, the seat, the platform, and the station had completely vanished. The four children, holding hands and panting, found themselves standing in a woody place - such a woody place that branches were sticking into them and there was hardly room to move. They all rubbed their eyes and took a deep breath.
接着是一陣天旋地轉，行李、長楠、月臺和車站轉眼間都消失不見了。四個孩子手拉着手，氣喘吁吁，發現自己站在一片樹林之中——這裏的樹木是那麼稠密，樹枝頂在他們身上，幾乎連一點活動的餘地都沒有。孩子們揉揉眼睛，深深舒了一口氣。"Oh, Peter!" exclaimed Lucy. "Do you think we can possibly have got back to Narnia?"
"喂，彼得！"露茜大聲說，"你看咱們會不會是又回到納尼亞了？""It might be anywhere," said Peter. "I can't see a yard in all these trees. Let's try to get into the open - if there is any open."
"什麼地方都有可能，"彼得答道，"這麼多的樹，一米之外我就什麼都看不見了。咱們得想法找一找，看看外面有沒有空地。With some difficulty, and with some stings from nettles and pricks from thorns, they struggled out of the thicket. Then they had another surprise. Everything became much brighter, and after a few steps they found themselves at the edge of the wood, looking down on a sandy beach. A few yards away a very calm sea was falling on the sand with such tiny ripples that it made hardly any sound. There was no land in sight and no clouds in the sky. The sun was about where it ought to be at ten o'clock in the morning, and the sea was a dazzling blue. They stood sniffing in the sea-smell.
費了九牛二虎之力，身上多處被樹枝劃破，他們終於走出了樹木最稠密的地區。外面的光線強多了，再往前走幾步，他們突然驚奇地發現自己已站在樹林的邊緣，眼前是一片海灘。離他們不遠處，溫和的海水輕輕地涌上灘頭，激起層層細浪，幾乎一點兒聲響都沒有。這裏看不到田野，天上也沒有云，眼前只有大海那令人目眩的一片蔚藍。根據太陽的位置判斷，現在大約是上午十點鐘。幾個孩子悄然肅立，沐浴在海洋氣息之中。."By Jove!" said Peter. "This is good enough."
"哇！"彼得不禁感嘆道，"這兒風景真好啊！"Five minutes later everyone was barefooted and wading in the cool clear water.
五分鐘之後，大家都脫掉鞋子走進那清涼透澈的海水之中。"This is better than being in a stuffy train on the way back to Latin and French and Algebra!" said Edmund. And then for quite a long time there was no more talking, only splashing and looking for shrimps and crabs.
"比起坐在那悶熱的車廂裏回學校去上那些拉丁文、法文和代數課來，這可真是強多了！"愛德蒙說。這以後有老半天，大家都默不作聲，只是踩着水往前走，一邊尋找水中的蝦蟹。"All the same," said Susan presently, "I suppose we'll have to make some plans. We shall want something to eat before long."
"儘管如此，"過了一會兒蘇珊說，"咱們該認真計劃一下，要不然我們很快就會餓肚子了。""We've got the sandwiches Mother gave us for the journey," said Edmund. "At least I've got mine."
"不是有媽媽給我們帶在路上吃的三明治嗎？"愛德蒙說，"至少我的一份在這裏。"Not me," said Lucy. "Mine were in my little bag."
"我的沒了，"露茜說，"我把它放在小包裏了。""So were mine," said Susan.
"我的也放在那兒。"蘇珊說。"Mine are in my coat-pocket, there on the beach," said Peter. "That'll be two lunches among four. This isn't going to be such fun."
"我的在衣服口袋裏，睹，就在海灘上，"彼得說，"四個人兩份午餐，準不夠吃！”"At present," said Lucy, "I want something to drink more than something to eat."
"我現在並不餓，就是有點渴。"露茜說。Everyone else now felt thirsty, as one usually is after wading in salt water under a hot sun.
這一說，大家都感到口渴起來。當然啦，在烈日下的海水中玩一會兒之後，誰都要口渴的。"It's like being shipwrecked," remarked Edmund. "In the books they always find springs of clear, fresh water on the island. We'd better go and look for them."
"我們現在的情形就好像船在海上遇了險，"愛德蒙一本正經地說，"書中的遇難者們總是能在荒島上找到清涼甘甜的泉水。咱們也該去找找看。"Does that mean we have to go back into all that thick wood?" said Susan.
"你是說，我們還得到那茂密的林子中去？"蘇珊問。"Not a bit of it," said Peter. "If there are streams they're bound to come down to the sea, and if we walk along the beach we're bound to come to them."
"用不着，"彼得說，"只要有小溪，它們肯定會潺潺而下，流入大海。我們沿着海岸走，！佳能找得到。They all now waded back and went first across the smooth, wet sand and then up to the dry, crumbly sand that sticks to one's toes, and began putting on their shoes and socks. Edmund and Lucy wanted to leave them behind and do their exploring with bare feet, but Susan said this would be a mad thing to do. "We might never find them again," she pointed out, "and we shall want them if we're still here when night comes and it begins to be cold."
於是，他們開始趟水往回走。在鬆軟的沙灘上，他們穿起鞋襪。愛德蒙和露茜曾異想、天開地要把鞋襪都丟掉，光着腳去探險，幸虧蘇珊及時阻止了他們，說那樣做簡直是發瘋。"那樣就再也找不回它們了，可如果晚上我們還要待在這裏，天又冷起來，你們穿什麼？"When they were dressed again they set out along the shore with the sea on their left hand and the wood on their right. Except for an occasional seagull it was a very quiet place. The wood was so thick and tangled that they could hardly see into it at all; and nothing in it moved - not a bird, not even an insect.
他們穿好後，沿着海岸向前走去，左邊是大海，右邊是森林。這裏非常恬靜，只是間或傳來海鷗的叫聲。樹林十分茂密，枝葉纏結在一起，根本看不到裏面，而且，林子深處一片寂靜——沒有鳥兒，甚至連昆蟲的動靜也沒有。Shells and seaweed and anemones, or tiny crabs in rockpools, are all very well, but you soon get tired of them if you are thirsty. The children's feet, after the change from the cool water, felt hot and heavy. Susan and Lucy had raincoats to carry. Edmund had put down his coat on the station seat just before the magic overtook them, and he and Peter took it in turns to carry Peter's great-coat.
貝殼、海藻、海葵和那岩石縫裏的小螃蟹，都非常好玩。可是，在口渴難當的時候，你就對它們不感興趣了。更糟的是，從涼涼的海水中出來以後，他們不久便感到兩條腿又熱又沉甸甸的。蘇珊和露茜有各自的雨衣要拿，愛德蒙的外衣丟在了車站的長椅上，所以現在他和彼得輪流着拿彼得的大衣。Presently the shore began to curve round to the right. About quarter of an hour later, after they had crossed a rocky ridge which ran out into a point, it made quite a sharp turn. Their backs were now to the part of the sea which had met them when they first came out of the wood, and now, looking ahead, they could see across the water another shore, thickly wooded like the one they were exploring.
不久，海岸開始向右延伸。大約一刻鐘之後，他們繞過一個石崖。這石崖在前面一個急轉彎，把剛纔那片海域拋在了身後。舉目望去，他們看到海峽對面的一片陸地上樹木茂密，與腳下這片土地十分相像。"I wonder, is that an island or do we join on to it presently?" said Lucy.
"那是一個島嗎？或者，沒準兒兩邊很快就連在起了。"露茜說。"Don't know," said Peter and they all plodded on in silence.
"不知道。"彼得懶懶地答道。大家拖着疲憊的步子往前走，誰也不說話。The shore that they were walking on drew nearer and nearer to the opposite shore, and as they came round each promontory the children expected to find the place where the two joined. But in this they were disappointed. They came to some rocks which they had to climb and from the top they could see a fairway ahead and - "Oh bother!" said Edmund, "it's no good. We shan't be able to get to those other woods at all. We're on an island!"
兩邊海岸越來越靠近。每走過一個岬角，他們就期待着看到兩岸相交，可結果總是使他們失望。終於，他們來到片岩石跟前。爬上巖頂，只見一條小路伸向遠方。"真糟糕！"愛德蒙懊惱地說，"白費了半天勁兒|咱們根本無法到達那邊的樹林——這兒是一個小島！"It was true. At this point the channel between them and the opposite coast was only about thirty or forty yards wide; but they could now see that this was its narrowest place. After that, their own coast bent round to the right again and they could see open sea between it and the mainland. It was obvious that they had already come much more than halfway round the island.
千真萬確，從這裏看去，兩岸之間的海峽只不過三十來米，顯然是最狹窄的地方。再往前，腳下的海岸繼續向右延伸，他們可以看到島與大陸之間開闊的海面。看來，他們已經沿着島走了大半圈了。"Look!" said Lucy suddenly. "What's that?" She pointed to a long, silvery, snake-like thing that lay across the beach.
"看，那是什麼？"露茜突然說，手指着橫臥在海灘上的一條銀色的、長蛇般的東西。"A stream! A stream!" shouted the others, and, tired as they were, they lost no time in clattering down the rocks and racing to the fresh water. They knew that the stream would be better to drink farther up, away from the beach, so they went at once to the spot where it came out of the wood. The trees were as thick as ever, but the stream had made itself a deep course between high mossy banks so that by stooping you could follow it up in a sort of tunnel of leaves. They dropped on their knees by the first brown, dimply pool and drank and drank, and dipped their faces in the water, and then dipped their arms in up to the elbow.
"小溪，一條小溪！”其他幾個齊聲歡呼起來。儘管已經十分疲倦，他們還是毫不遲疑地跳下岩石，向那淡水小溪跑過去。他們知道，上游的溪水才最好喝，便沿着小溪朝上游走去。樹林仍然是那麼茂密，好在天長日久，那小溪衝出了一條通道：彎下身來，在枝葉搭起的天然隧道里，就能順水而上。他們在第一個水潭邊跪下來，盡情地喝了個夠。然後把臉浸在水裏，再把胳膊也伸進去，一直浸到臂彎處。"Now," said Edmund, "what about those sandwiches?"
"好極了！"愛德蒙長長地舒了一口氣，"現在，讓我們來點兒三明治怎麼樣？""Oh, hadn't we better have them?" said Susan. "We may need them far worse later on."
"喂，我們是不是該省着點兒吃？"蘇珊猶豫地說，"也許我們以後更需要它們。""I do wish," said Lucy, "now that we're not thirsty, we could go on feeling as not-hungry as we did when we were thirsty."
"現在我們已經不覺得口渴了，"露茜說，"我真希望，仍然像剛纔口渴時那樣一點兒都不覺得餓。""But what about those sandwiches?" repeated Edmund. "There's no good saving them till they go bad. You've got to remember it's a good deal hotter here than in England and we've been carrying them about in pockets for hours." So they got out the two packets and divided them into four portions, and nobody had quite enough, but it was a great deal better than nothing. Then they talked about their plans for the next meal. Lucy wanted to go back to the sea and catch shrimps, until someone pointed out that they had no nets. Edmund said they must gather gulls' eggs from the rocks, but when they came to think of it they couldn't remember having seen any gulls' eggs and wouldn't be able to cook them if they found any. Peter thought to himself that unless they had some stroke of luck they would soon be glad to eat eggs raw, but he didn't see any point in saying this out loud. Susan said it was a pity they had eaten the sandwiches so soon. One or two tempers very nearly got lost at this stage. Finally Edmund said:
"可那些三明治怎麼辦呢？"愛德蒙仍不甘心，"我們可別省着不吃，結果卻把它們放壞了。你們別忘了，這兒氣溫很高，我們把它們裝在口袋裏已經走了很久。"於是他們把那兩包三明治取出來，分成四份。說實在的，誰都沒有吃飽，但這總比什麼都不吃強多了。可下一餐怎麼辦呢？露茜提議回到海邊去捕捉海蝦，可是沒有網。愛德蒙認爲最好是去岩石縫裏蒐集海鷗蛋，可誰也想不起來曾在哪裏看到過海鷗蛋，再說即使找到，也無法把它們做熟。彼得心想，除非碰上好運氣，否則不用多久，能有生蛋吃就不錯了。當然，他明白沒有必要把這話講出來。蘇珊開始懊悔不該這麼早早地就把三明治一下子吃個精光。孩子們有些沉不住氣了。最後，還是愛德蒙開口說道"Look here. There's only one thing to be done. We must explore the wood. Hermits and knights-errant and people like that always manage to live somehow if they're in a forest. They find roots and berries and things."
"聽我說，現在我們只能去森林裏面碰碰運氣。探險家、雲遊四海的騎士、俠客以及許多諸如此類的古人，在這種情況下總是想辦法活下來的。他們吃根莖、野果和任何可以充飢的東西。":"What sort of roots?" asked Susan.
"什麼根莖？"蘇珊好奇地問。"I always thought it meant roots of trees," said Lucy.
"我一向以爲那是指樹根。"露茜說。"Come on," said Peter, "Ed is right. And we must try to do something. And it'll be better than going out into the glare and the sun again."
"出發吧，"彼得鼓勵大家，"愛德蒙是對的。我們必須去闖闖看，這總比傻站在陽光下要強。""So they all got up and began to follow the stream. It was very hard work. They had to stoop under branches and climb over branches, and they blundered through great masses of stuff like rhododendrons and tore their clothes and got their feet wet in the stream; and still there was no noise at all except the noise of the stream and the noises they were making themselves. They were beginning to get very tired of it when they noticed a delicious smell, and then a flash of bright colour high above them at the top of the right bank.
於是，他們站起身來，順着小溪向森林深處走去。行程十分艱難，茂密的枝葉攔在面前，他們不得不彎腰前進，或者從枝幹上面爬過去。他們跌跌撞撞地穿過大片大片杜鵲之類的灌木叢。衣服扯破了，鞋也在小溪裏搞溼了。此時此地，除了小溪流水和他們自己發出的聲響之外，林子裏依然是一片寂靜。正當他們開始感到有些厭倦的時候，突然注意到從什麼地方飄來一股清香。接着，他們看到右上方有一種十分鮮亮的色彩。"I say!" exclaimed Lucy. "I do believe that's an apple tree."
"看呀！"露茜叫道，"我說那一定是一棵蘋果樹。"It was. They panted up the steep bank, forced their way through some brambles, and found themselves standing round an old tree that was heavy with large yellowishgolden apples as firm and juicy as you could wish to see.
果然是一棵蘋果樹。他們一鼓作氣爬上陡坡，從荊棘中踩出一條路，來到這棵老樹前。樹上沉甸甸地掛滿了金黃色的、堅實多汁的大蘋果。"And this is not the only tree," said Edmund with his mouth full of apple. "Look there-and there."
"還不止一棵呢。"愛德蒙嘴裏塞滿了蘋果，吐字含糊不清。"看那兒，還有那兒。""Why, there are dozens of them," said Susan, throwing away the core of her first apple and picking her second. "This must have been an orchard - long, long ago, before the place went wild and the wood grew up."
"可不是，瞧，這裏足有好幾十棵果樹！"蘇珊說着，扔掉了於裏的果核，一邊又摘下一個大蘋果。"很久很久以前，這兒一定是個果園。那時候這兒肯定不像現在這樣沒人照看，那些樹木也還沒有長起來""Then this was once an inhabited island," said Peter.
"也就是說，這是一個曾經有人居住過的小島。"彼得沉思道。"And what's that?" said Lucy, pointing ahead.
"那是什麼？"露茜指着前面。"By Jove, it's a wall," said Peter. "An old stone wall."
"天哪！那兒有一堵牆！"彼得吃了一驚，"一堵古老的石牆！"Pressing their way between the laden branches they reached the wall. It was very old, and broken down in places, with moss and wallflowers growing on it, but it was higher than all but the tallest trees. And when they came quite close to it they found a great arch which must once have had a gate in it but was now almost filled up with the largest of all the apple trees. They had to break some of the branches to get past, and when they had done so they all blinked because the daylight became suddenly much brighter. They found themselves in a wide open place with walls all round it. In here there were no trees, only level grass and daisies, and ivy, and grey walls. It was a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad; and all four stepped out into the middle of it, glad to be able to straighten their backs and move their limbs freely.
他們推開果實累累的樹枝，走到了牆的跟前。這牆的年代已經很久了，有些地方已經塌下來。牆上覆蓋着苔蘚和那種總是長在牆上的小黃花。牆上有個高大的門拱，這兒肯定有過一扇大門，可現在門拱幾乎被一棵最高的蘋果樹堵塞住了。孩子們折斷一些樹枝，爬了進去。牆那邊的光線顯然明亮得多，他們驚愕地發現自己來到一片開闊地。這裏沒有樹，只有平坦的草坪，野花盛開。四周是灰色的圍牆，覆蓋着常春藤。這是一個明亮、寧靜而又神祕的地方，但令人感到有些陰鬱。四個孩子邁步來到院子中間，心裏十分高興。現在他們可以伸伸腰，自由自在地活動一下四肢了。
