魔法师的外甥 THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW 英文  中文  双语对照  双语交替 首页  目录  上一章   下一章

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CHAPTER FOUR THE BELL AND THE HAMMER

4、 钟与锤

THERE was no doubt about the Magic this time. Down and down they rushed, first through darkness and then through a mass of vague and whirling shapes which might have been almost anything. It grew lighter. Then suddenly they felt that they were standing on something solid. A moment later everything came into focus and they were able to look about them.

这下，魔法毫无疑问地起作用了。他们裁了下去．先是一片黑暗，然后是一团说不清是什么的模糊和旋转的形象，眼前越来越亮，突然，他们感到自己站在坚实的东西上。一会儿，他们便能看见周围的事物，可以向四下里观望了，

"What a queer place!" said Digory.

“多么奇怪的地方！ ”迪格雷说。

"I don't like it," said Polly with something like a shudder.

“我不喜欢。”波莉颇抖了一下。

What they noticed first was the light. It wasn't like sunlight, and it wasn't like electric light, or lamps, or candles, or any other light they had ever seen. It was a dull, rather red light, not at all cheerful. It was steady and did not flicker. They were standing on a flat paved surface and buildings rose all around them. There was no roof overhead; they were in a sort of courtyard. The sky was extraordinarily dark - a blue that was almost black. When you had seen that sky you wondered that there should be any light at all.

他们最先注意到的是光线，既不像日光，也不像电灯、煤油灯、蜡烛或他们见过的任何一种光。那是一种近似红色的惨淡的光，丝毫不让人感到愉快。光线凝固着，没有闪动。他们正站在一个平地上，四面八方都耸立着建筑物。上面没有屋顶，显然是一个院落。天空极为暗淡―——

"It's very funny weather here," said Digory. "I wonder if we've arrived just in time for a thunderstorm; or an eclipse."

一种近乎黑色的蓝。你看到这样的天空，准会想，这里是不是没有任何光线。”这儿的天气直怪，”迪格雷说，“我想我们是不是赶上了一场暴风雨或者日食。”"

"I don't like it," said Polly.

“我不喜欢。”波莉说。

Both of them, without quite knowing why, were talking in whispers. And though there was no reason why they should still go on holding hands after their jump, they didn't let go.

不知为什么，他们两人都悄声说话。虽然跳水以后没有理由再拉着手，他们还是没有松开。

The walls rose very high all round that courtyard. They had many great windows in them, windows without glass, through which you saw nothing but black darkness. Lower down there were great pillared arches, yawning blackly like the mouths of railway tunnels. It was rather cold.

院子四周的围墙非常高，上面有许多大窗子，窗子上没有玻璃，里面一团漆黑。稍往下，有一些巨大的拱门，像铁路隧道一样张着黑洞洞的大口。天气相当寒冷。

The stone of which everything was built seemed to be red, but that might only be because of the curious light. It was obviously very old. Many of the flat stones that paved the courtyard had cracks across them. None of them fitted closely together and the sharp corners were all worn off. One of the arched doorways was half filled up with rubble. The two children kept on turning round and round to look at the different sides of the courtyard. One reason was that they were afraid of somebody - or something - looking out of those windows at them when their backs were turned.

所有的建筑都是用一种像是红色的石头筑成的，但这可能是那种奇怪的光照射的结果。院中，用来铺地的许多石板都裂了缝。石板与石板之问排列得参差个齐，棱角磨掉了，其中一个拱门让碎石镇了一半。两个孩子不停地转身，观察院子四周，因为他们害怕有人或什么东西，趁他们背过身时从窗户里窥视他们。

"Do you think anyone lives here?" said Digory at last, still in a whisper.

“你认为这儿有人住吗，”迪格雷终于开口了，但仍然悄悄的。

"No," said Polly. "It's all in ruins. We haven't heard a sound since we came."

“没有。”波莉说，“这是一个废墟。自从我们来了以后，还没有听到一点儿声音呢。”

"Let's stand still and listen for a bit," suggested Digory.

“那我们站好来听一会儿。”迪格雷建议。

They stood still and listened, but all they could hear was the thump-thump of their own hearts. This place was at least as quiet as the Wood between the Worlds. But it was a different kind of quietness. The silence of the Wood had been rich and warm (you could almost hear the trees growing) and full of life: this was a dead, cold, empty silence. You couldn't imagine anything growing in it.

他们站好细听，但只听到自己心脏的砰砰跳动声。这里至少和世界之间的树林一样宁静。然而，却是另一种宁静。那片树林宁静、青翠、温暖，充满生机，你几乎可以听见树木在生长。这里却是一种冷而空的死寂，你无法想像，这里会有生命在生长。

"Let's go home," said Polly.

‘我们回家吧。”波莉说。

"But we haven't seen anything yet," said Digory. "Now we're here, we simply must have a look round."

”可我们什么也没看见呢，”迪格雷说，“既然来了，就要到处走走。”

"I'm sure there's nothing at all interesting here."

“我敢肯定，这儿不好玩。”

"There's not much point in finding a magic ring that lets you into other worlds if you're afraid to look at them when you've got there."

“要是你来了都不敢看，那么，找一枚有魔法的戒指把你带到‘另外的世界’有什么意义呢？”

"Who's talking about being afraid?" said Polly, letting go of Digory's hand.

“谁说不敢了，”波莉说着．甩开了迪格雷的手。

"I only thought you didn't seem very keen on exploring this place."

“我刚才只是想．你对探索这个地方不太热心。”

"I'll go anywhere you go."

“随便你去哪儿，我都去。”

"We can get away the moment we want to," said Digory. "Let's take off our green rings and put them in our right-hand pockets. All we've got to do is to remember that our yellow are in our left-hand pockets. You can keep your hand as near your pocket as you like, but don't put it in or you'll touch your yellow and vanish."

我们想离开的时候就能离开。”迪格雷说，“取下绿戒指，放进右边的口袋里。只需要记住，左边是黄的，右边是绿的。你可以把手放在离口袋比较近的地方，但不要伸进去，否则，你一碰到黄戒指就会消失。”

They did this and went quietly up to one of the big arched doorways which led into the inside of the building. And when they stood on the threshold and could look in, they saw it was not so dark inside as they had thought at first. It led into a vast, shadowy hall which appeared to be empty; but on the far side there was a row of pillars with arches between them and through those arches there streamed in some more of the same tired-looking light. They crossed the hall, walking very carefully for fear of holes in the floor or of anything lying about that they might trip over. It seemed a long walk. When they had reached the other side they came out through the arches and found themselves in another and larger courtyard.

安排好后，他们悄悄地朝通向建筑内部的一个巨大拱门走去。当他们站在门槛上朝里看时，发现早面并非他们原先所想的那么黑，能看见一个幽暗的空荡荡的大厅．大厅的远端有一排拱门柱，空隙露出更多那种疲惫的光线。他们小心翼翼地穿过大厅，怕地上有洞或其他东西将他们绊倒。当他们走过去，穿过柱子之间的拱门时，发现自己又到了另一个更大的院子里。

"That doesn't look very safe," said Polly, pointing at a place where the wall bulged outward and looked as if it were ready to fall over into the courtyard. In one place a pillar was missing between two arches and the bit that came down to where the top of the pillar ought to have been hung there with nothing to support it. Clearly, the place had been deserted for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.

“好像不太安全。”波莉说，她指着一面似乎随时都可能倒向院中的凸出的墙。有一处地方缺了一根柱子，柱顶原来所在的部位只留下一点儿残迹，豪无支撑地悬在空中。那地方显然已荒芜了几百年甚至上千年了。

"If it's lasted till now, I suppose it'll last a bit longer," said Digory. "But we must be very quiet. You know a noise sometimes brings things down - like an avalanche in the Alps."

“既然能保留到今天，我想一定还会保留得更长。”迪格雷说，‘但我们必须保持安静。你知道，声音有时会使东西塌下来― 就像阿尔卑斯山的雪崩一样。”

They went on out of that courtyard into another doorway, and up a great flight of steps and through vast rooms that opened out of one another till you were dizzy with the mere size of the place. Every now and then they thought they were going to get out into the open and see what sort of country lay around the enormous palace. But each time they only got into another courtyard. They must have been magnificent places when people were still living there. In one there had once been a fountain. A great stone monster with wide-spread wings stood with its mouth open and you could still see a bit of piping at the back of its mouth, out of which the water used to pour. Under it was a wide stone basin to hold the water; but it was as dry as a bone. In other places there were the dry sticks of some sort of climbing plant which had wound itself round the pillars and helped to pull some of them down. But it had died long ago. And there were no ants or spiders or any of the other living things you expect to see in a ruin; and where the dry earth showed between the broken flagstones there was no grass or moss.

他们继续朝前走，出了院子，又进了另一个门。登上一大段台阶，穿过一个接一个的大房间，直到被那地方的规模之大弄得头晕目眩。他们不时地想，可能就要走到户外，可以看看这个巨大的宫殿之外是什么样的田野了，但是每次都只是走进了另一个院子。这地方有人居住时一定是一派宏伟壮丽的景象。其中的一个院子里曾经有一眼喷泉。一个巨大的石兽张着翅，咧着嘴，巍然屹立；在它的口中，还能看见曾用来喷水的管道的残迹。它的下面有一个接水的石盐，但已经干涸得像白骨一般了。在其他地方，有一种攀援植物的枯藤，这些藤曾经缠绕在柱子上并促使一些柱子坍塌。但这种植物很久以前就死了。没有蚂蚁、蜘蛛，也没有其他废墟中常见的小生物。破碎的石板间茸出干燥的泥土，没有草，也没有青苔。

It was all so dreary and all so much the same that even Digory was thinking they had better put on their yellow rings and get back to the warm, green, living forest of the In-between place, when they came to two huge doors of some metal that might possibly be gold. One stood a little ajar. So of course they went to look in. Both started back and drew a long breath: for here at last was something worth seeing.

四周的景物千篇一律，显得十分阴森可怖。迪格雷正想着，他们不如戴上黄戒指，回到中间地带那片温暖而充满生机的绿树林中去；这时，他们来到两扇巨大的门前，门是用一种像金了的金属做的，其中一扇半开着。他们很自然地朝里一望，两人都深吸一口气，退了回来，终于找到值得看的地方了。

For a second they thought the room was full of people - hundreds of people, all seated, and all perfectly still. Polly and Digory, as you may guess, stood perfectly still themselves for a good long time, looking in. But presently they decided that what they were looking at could not be real people. There was not a movement nor the sound of a breath among them all. They were like the most wonderful waxworks you ever saw.

刚开始的那会儿，他们以为屋子里尽是人―——

This time Polly took the lead. There was something in this room which interested her more than it interested Digory: all the figures were wearing magnificent clothes. If you were interested in clothes at all, you could hardly help going in to see them closer. And the blaze of their colours made this room look, not exactly cheerful, but at any rate rich and majestic after all the dust and emptiness of the others. It had more windows, too, and was a good deal lighter.

好几百人，全都一动不动地坐着。你可以猜到，波莉和迪格雷也一动不动地站了很久。但他们很快意识到，他们看见的可能不是真人。没有动静，也听不见呼吸。可能是蜡像，他们见过的最好的蜡像。

I can hardly describe the clothes. The figures were all robed and had crowns on their heads. Their robes were of crimson and silvery grey and deep purple and vivid green: and there were patterns, and pictures of flowers and strange beasts, in needlework all over them. Precious stones of astonishing size and brightness stared from their crowns and hung in chains round their necks and peeped out from all the places where anything was fastened.

这一次，波莉一马当先，屋子里有些东西对她的吸引超过了对迪格雷的吸引。所有的那些塑像全都衣着华丽。如果你对服装感兴趣，会忍不住走近去着。经过了那么多空荡荡、灰扑扑的房间后，这间屋里服饰的光泽，虽说不上十分赏心悦目，但无论如何，都将屋子映衬得多姿多彩。而且，这里有更多的窗户，要明亮得多。

"Why haven't these clothes all rotted away long ago?" asked Polly.

我很难描绘他们的服装。那些塑像全部长袍加身，头戴王冠。绯红、银灰、深紫和鲜绿色的长袍上绣着图案、花卉和怪兽。大得惊人、亮得耀眼的珍稀宝石从他们的王冠和项链上进射出夺目的光彩，全身每一处有装饰的地方都闪耀着珠光宝气。

"Magic," whispered Digory. "Can't you feel it? I bet this whole room is just stiff with enchantments. I could feel it the moment we came in."

“为什么这些衣服这么久没有腐烂？”波莉问。

"Any one of these dresses would cost hundreds of pounds," said Polly.

“魔法。”迪格雷悄声说，“你感觉不到吗？我敢打赌，整个这间房子都中了魔法。一进来我就感觉到了。”

But Digory was more interested in the faces, and indeed these were well worth looking at. The people sat in their stone chairs on each side of the room and the floor was left free down the middle. You could walk down and look at the faces in turn.

“那些衣服随便哪件都值几百英镑吧？”波莉说。但迪格雷更感兴娜的，是那一张张很有看头的面孔。那些人坐在屋子四周的石椅上，地板中间空出一片，可以走过去，依次观看那些脸。

"They were nice people, I think," said Digory.

“我觉得这些人很好看。”迪格雷说。

Polly nodded. All the faces they could see were certainly nice. Both the men and women looked kind and wise, and they seemed to come of a handsome race. But after the children had gone a few steps down the room they came to faces that looked a little different. These were very solemn faces. You felt you would have to mind your P's and Q's, if you ever met living people who looked like that. When they had gone a little further, they found themselves among faces they didn't like: this was about the middle of the room. The faces here looked very strong and proud and happy, but they looked cruel. A little further on they looked crueller. Further on again, they were still cruel but they no longer looked happy. They were even despairing faces: as if the people they belonged to had done dreadful things and also suffered dreadful things. The last figure of all was the most interesting - a woman even more richly dressed than the others, very tall (but every figure in that room was taller than the people of our world), with a look of such fierceness and pride that it took your breath away. Yet she was beautiful too. Years afterwards when he was an old man, Digory said he had never in all his life known a woman so beautiful. It is only fair to add that Polly always said she couldn't see anything specially beautiful about her.

波莉点点头。他们者见的所有面孔都很可爱。男男女女都显得聪明而善良，而且，似乎是一个漂亮、英俊的种族的后代。但当孩子们朝屋子中间走了几步后，他们看见的面孔便有些异样。这些面孔十分严肃，使你觉得，如果你遇到有这种而孔的活生生的人，便不得不注意自己的言行举止。又走了几步，眼前的面孔看去非常强悍、自豪、得惫，却十分冷酷，是他们不喜欢的那一种。越往前走，面孔越显得冷酷。再往前．那些面孔依然冷酷，但得意的痕迹消失了，甚至显得沮丧绝望：好像有一那种面孔的人做过可怕的事，有过可怕的经历似的。最后一尊塑像也是最有趣的一一个衣着更加富丽的高女人（屋子里每一尊塑像都比我们这个世界的人高），脸上露出的残忍和骄傲表情使人窒息。多年以后，迪格雷老了，还说这是他一生中见过的最美丽的女人。不过我们得公平地补充说，波莉总是认为，她从那个女人身上着不出特别美丽的地方。

This woman, as I said, was the last: but there were plenty of empty chairs beyond her, as if the room had been intended for a much larger collection of images.

我说的这个女人是最后一个，在她的身后，放着无数把空椅子，似乎这间屋子原来准备容纳更多的塑像。

"I do wish we knew the story that's behind all this," said Digory. "Let's go back and look at that table sort of thing in the middle of the room."

“我多希望我们知道这里面的故事。”迪格雷说，“我们回头看看中间那个像桌子一样的东西吧。”

The thing in the middle of the room was not exactly a table. It was a square pillar about four feet high and on it there rose a little golden arch from which there hung a little golden bell; and beside this there lay a little golden hammer to hit the bell with.

屋子的中间不是一张真正的桌子，而是一个四尺高的方形柱，上面降起一个金色的小拱门，门上悬梓着一只金色的小钟，钟的旁边放着一把用来敲钟的金色小锤。

"I wonder... I wonder... I wonder..." said Digory.

“我想… … 我想… … 我想… … ”迪格雷说。

"There seems to be something written here," said Polly, stooping down and looking at the side of the pillar.

“这儿好像写着什么。”波莉弯下腰，看着柱子的侧面。‘天哪，就在这儿”迪格雷说，“可是，我们读不懂的。”

"By gum, so there is," said Digory. "But of course we shan't be able to read it."

“读不性？我看不一定。” 波莉说。

"Shan't we? I'm not so sure," said Polly.

两人认真地看着，你可能猜得到，刻在石头上的是一种奇怪的字母。但就在这时，一个不可思议的奇迹发生了：他们看的时候，字母的形状并未改变，他们却发现自己能够读懂了。要是迪格雷记得几分钟前他说过，这间屋子里有魔法，他就早该想到魔法开始起作用了，但他的心中除了好奇以外，什么也想不到。他越来越急于知道柱子上写了什么。很快，内人都读懂了。上面是这样写的，至少大意如此，虽然原诗读起来更好：

They both looked at it hard and, as you might have expected, the letters cut in the stone were strange. But now a great wonder happened: for, as they looked, though the shape of the strange letters never altered, they found that they could understand them. If only Digory had remembered what he himself had said a few minutes ago, that this was an enchanted room, he might have guessed that the enchantment was beginning to work. But he was too wild with curiosity to think about that. He was longing more and more to know what was written on the pillar. And very soon they both knew. What it said was something like this - at least this is the sense of it though the poetry, when you read it there, was better:

选择吧．喜欢冒险的陌生人，

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger; Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had.

敲响钟，等候危险的来临，

"No fear!" said Polly. "We don't want any danger."

或者，呆呆地想，这会有什么后果，

"Oh but don't you see it's no good!" said Digory. "We can't get out of it now. We shall always be wondering what else would have happened if we had struck the bell. I'm not going home to be driven mad by always thinking of that. No fear!"

直到你想得发疯。

"Don't be so silly," said Polly. "As if anyone would! What does it matter what would have happened?"

“当然不，”波莉说，“我们不想要任何危险。”

"I expect anyone who's come as far as this is bound to go on wondering till it sends him dotty. That's the Magic of it, you see. I can feel it beginning to work on me already."

“你难道不明白这是没用的吗？”迪格雷说，“我们现在摆脱不了啦。我们将一直想下去，敲了钟会发生什么事。我不愿意被这种想法纠缠得疯疯巅巅地回家。不愿意！”,

"Well I don't," said Polly crossly. "And I don't believe you do either. You're just putting it on."

“别那么傻，”波莉说，”好像谁愿意疯疯巅巅地想下去似的。发不发生什么事又有什么关系呢？”

"That's all you know," said Digory. "It's because you're a girl. Girls never want to know anything but gossip and rot about people getting engaged."

“我认为，到这里来的任何一个人都必然会不停地想，直到变得半痴半傻。你看，这就是魔法，我感到它已经对我起作用了。”

"You looked exactly like your Uncle when you said that," said Polly.

“我感觉不出。”波莉愤愤地说，“我不相信你真有感觉，不过是装腔作势罢了。”

"Why can't you keep to the point?" said Digory. "What we're talking about is -"

“你就知道这些，”迪格雷说，“因为你是个女孩。女孩什么都不想知道，老是唠唠叨叨，说某某人和某某人订婚了，等等。”

"How exactly like a man!" said Polly in a very grownup voice; but she added hastily, in her real voice, "And don't say I'm just like a woman, or you'll be a beastly copy-cat."

“你说这话的时候就跟你舅舅一模一样。”波莉说。“为什么你就不能谈正题？”迪格雷说，“我们现在谈的是。”

"I should never dream of calling a kid like you a woman," said Digory loftily.

“多像一个男子汉啊！”波莉用大人的口气说道；接着，又用自己的语调匆匆补了一句，“不要说我就像个女人，那样你就是一只讨厌的学舌鹅鹉。”

"Oh, I'm a kid, am I?" said Polly who was now in a real rage. "Well you needn't be bothered by having a kid with you any longer then. I'm off. I've had enough of this place. And I've had enough of you too - you beastly, stuck-up, obstinate pig!"

“我做梦也没想过把你这样的孩子叫做女人。”迪格雷傲慢地说。

"None of that!" said Digory in a voice even nastier than he meant it to be; for he saw Polly's hand moving to her pocket to get hold of her yellow ring. I can't excuse what he did next except by saying that he was very sorry for it afterwards (and so were a good many other people). Before Polly's hand reached her pocket, he grabbed her wrist, leaning across with his back against her chest. Then, keeping her other arm out of the way with his other elbow, he leaned forward, picked up the hammer, and struck the golden bell a light, smart tap. Then he let her go and they fell apart staring at each other and breathing hard. Polly was just beginning to cry, not with fear, and not even because he had hurt her wrist quite badly, but with furious anger. Within two seconds, however, they had something to think about that drove their own quarrels quite out of their minds.

“噢，我是个孩子，是吗？”波莉这下真火了，“好，你再也不需要带上个孩了来打扰你。我走了。我看够了这个地方，也看够了你―——

As soon as the bell was struck it gave out a note, a sweet note such as you might have expected, and not very loud. But instead of dying away again, it went on; and as it went on it grew louder. Before a minute had passed it was twice as loud as it had been to begin with. It was soon so loud that if the children had tried to speak (but they weren't thinking of speaking now - they were just standing with their mouths open) they would not have heard one another. Very soon it was so loud that they could not have heard one another even by shouting. And still it grew: all on one note, a continuous sweet sound, though the sweetness had something horrible about it, till all the air in that great room was throbbing with it and they could feel the stone floor trembling under their feet. Then at last it began to be mixed with another sound, a vague, disastrous noise which sounded first like the roar of a distant train, and then like the crash of a falling tree. They heard something like great weights falling. Finally, with a sudden, rush and thunder, and a shake that nearly flung them off their feet, about a quarter of the roof at one end of the room fell in, great blocks of masonry fell all round them, and the walls rocked. The noise of the bell stopped. The clouds of dust cleared away. Everything became quiet again.

你这个讨厌的、顽固的、自以为是的蠢猪！”

It was never found out whether the fall of the roof was due to Magic or whether that unbearably loud sound from the bell just happened to strike the note which was more than those crumbling walls could stand.

迪格雷看见波莉的手伸向口袋，要去抓那枚黄戒指，便用一种连自己都意想不到的难听声音喊道“住手！”我不能为迪格雷下面的行为开脱，最多只能说，他后来感到抱嗽（许多人都会这样）。在波莉的手摸到口袋以前，他扼住了她的手腕，俯过身去，用背抵住她的胸膛，然后用另一只手的肘部挡开她另一条手臂。他斜着身，拾起小锤，轻快地在钟上敲了一下。然后，他放开她，两人都跌倒在地，喘着气，狠狠地盯着对方。波莉开始哭了，不是因为害怕，也不是因为他重重地扭伤了她的手腕，而是因为极大的愤怒。但很快，他们就把争吵抛到了九霄云外，有别的事情需要动脑筋了。

"There! I hope you're satisfied now," panted Polly.

钟刚刚敲晌的时候，就发出一种音调，不太响亮，但你可以想像，声音很甜美。这种音调非但没有减弱，反而继续鸣响，而且越来越响，在不到一分钟的时间里，音调就比刚开始时响亮一倍。声音迅速增长到如果孩子们想说话（但他们当时并未想到说话一一他们只是张口结舌地站着）,

"Well, it's all over, anyway," said Digory.

互相之间也无法听见的程度。顷刻间，声音响得即使他们大声喊叫也听不见了。连绵不断的甜美的声音一直在不停地增大，虽然甜美之中透出一丝恐怖的气氛。渐渐地，整个房间的空气也随着那种声音颇动起来，直到两人觉得脚下的石头地板在颤抖。最后，另一种模糊的、灾难性的声音掺合了进来，起初像远方火车的吼叫，接着，又像树木倒下的声音。他们听见似乎有什么重东西在往下倒。突然，一阵晃动几乎将他们抛了出去。随着轰隆隆的冲击声，房间一头大约四分之的屋顶塌了下来，大块大块的砖石落在他们周围，墙壁开始摇晃。钟声停止后，灰尘消散，一切又归于宁静。不知道是魔法使屋顶塌了下来，还是响亮的钟声恰好使墙壁无法忍受而崩塌。

And both thought it was; but they had never been more mistaken in their lives.

“这下好了！我想你现在满意了。”波莉喘着气说。

“这么说，一切都结束了。”迪格雷说。

两人都这样想；然而，他们犯了一生中最大的错误。

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