狮子·女巫·魔衣橱

2020-05-15C.S.刘易斯

时代英语·高一 2020年3期

C. S.刘易斯（万洁译）

“I wish the Macready would hurry up and take all these people away，” said Susan presently. “Im getting horribly cramped.”

“And what a filthy smell of camphor！” said Edmund.

“I expect the pockets of these coats are full of it，” said Susan， “to keep away the moths.”

“Theres something sticking into my back，” said Peter.

“And isnt it cold？” said Susan.

“Now that you mention it， it is cold，” said Peter， “and hang it all， its wet too. Whats the matter with this place？ Im sitting on something wet. Its getting wetter every minute.” He struggled to his feet.

“Lets get out，” said Edmund. “Theyve gone.”

“O-o-oh！” said Susan suddenly， and everyone asked her what was the matter.

“Im sitting against a tree，” said Susan， “and look！ Its getting light—over there.”

“By Jove， youre right，” said Peter， “and look there—and there. Its trees all round. And this wet stuff is snow. Why， I do believe weve got into Lucys wood after all.”

“我真希望麥克雷迪太太赶快把这些人带走。”不一会儿，苏珊就忍不住说，“我有点抽筋，真难受。”

“樟脑球的气味太难闻了！”爱德蒙接着说。

“我倒希望这些大衣的口袋里多放些樟脑球，”苏珊说，“这样就不会有衣虫了。”

“有什么东西戳到我背上了。”彼得说。

“你们感到冷吗？”苏珊问。

“你这么一说，我倒真觉得冷了。”彼得说，“真该死，这里还有点潮湿呢。这地方到底怎么回事？我坐的地方一下子变得湿漉漉的了。”他一下子跳了起来。

“我们还是出去吧。”爱德蒙说，“他们已经走啦。”

“哟！”苏珊突然尖叫一声，大家都问她怎么了。

“我正靠着一棵树呢。”苏珊说，“看，那边有亮光了。”

“啊，真的，”彼得说，“瞧那儿，还有那儿，到处都是树。潮乎乎的东西是雪。啊，我现在觉得我们一定是到了露茜来过的森林里了。”

And now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day. Behind them were coats hanging on pegs; in front of them were snow-covered trees.

Peter turned at once to Lucy.

“I apologize for not believing you，” he said. “Im sorry. Will you shake hands？”

“Of course，” said Lucy， and did.

“And now，” said Susan， “what do we do next？”

“Do？” said Peter， “Why， go and explore the wood， of course.”

“Ugh！” said Susan， stamping her feet， “Its pretty cold. What about putting on some of these coats？”

“Theyre not ours，” said Peter doubtfully.

“I am sure nobody would mind，” said Susan. “It isnt as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shant take them even out of the wardrobe.”

“I never thought of that， Su，” said Peter. “Of course， now you put it that way， I see. No one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in the wardrobe where you found it. And I suppose this whole country is in the wardrobe.”

They immediately carried out Susans very sensible plan. The coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on. But they all felt a good deal warmer and each thought the others looked better in their new get-up and more suitable to the landscape.

彼得的话一点也不错。四个孩子全站在那儿，在冬天阳光的照耀下，他们眨巴着眼睛。他们身后是挂在衣钩上的外套，面前则是覆盖着积雪的树木。

彼得随即转过身看着露茜。

“我以前不相信你说的话，”他说，“现在我向你道歉。真对不起，我们握手言和吧，好吗？”

“好。”露茜一边说，一边和他握手。

“那么，”苏珊说，“我们下一步该做什么？”

“做什么？”彼得说，“还用说吗，当然是到森林里去探险喽。”

“哦，”苏珊跺着脚说，“多冷呀，拿几件外套先穿上，你们说好吗？”

“这怎么行，衣服不是我们的。”彼得犹豫不决地说。

“我相信没人会在乎那几件大衣的。”苏珊说，“我们又不把它们穿到屋外去，我们甚至都不算把它们带出衣橱。”

“我倒没考虑到这一点，苏珊。”彼得说，“要是这样的话，当然可以了。只要我们穿完之后放回原地，就不会有谁说我们是小偷了。据我猜测，这整个国家都在衣橱里边。”

于是，他们立即实施了苏珊的这个合情合理的计划。衣服太大，套在他们身上，一直垂到脚后跟，就像是穿了皇族的长袍一样。但他们都感到暖和多了，相互一打量，也都觉得这样打扮显得更好看了，与周遭天寒地冻的环境也更相配了。

“We can pretend we are Arctic explorers，” said Lucy.

“This is going to be exciting enough without pretending，” said Peter， as he began leading the way forward into the forest. There were heavy darkish clouds overhead and it looked as if there might be more snow before night.

“I say，” began Edmund presently， “oughtnt we to be bearing a bit more to the left， that is， if we are aiming for the lamp-post？” He had forgotten for the moment that he must pretend never to have been in the wood before. The moment the words were out of his mouth he realized that he had given himself away. Everyone stopped; everyone stared at him.

Peter whistled. “So you really were here，” he said. “That time Lu said shed met you in here—and you made out she was telling lies.”

There was a dead silence. “Well， of all the poisonous little beasts—” said Peter， and shrugged his shoulders and said no more. There seemed， indeed， no more to say， and presently the four resumed their journey; but Edmund was saying to himself， “Ill pay you all out for this， you pack of stuck-up， self-satisfied prigs.”

“我們可以装扮成北极探险家。”露茜说。

“就这样，不用什么装扮，也够威风的了。”彼得一边说，一边领着大家朝森林前进。头上乌云密布，似乎在傍晚前还要下一场大雪。

“喂，”走了一会儿以后爱德蒙说，“如果我们要到灯柱那边去的话，我们就应该向左边走一点儿。”他一时忘记了必须要装成以前没来过这儿的样子。话刚说出口，他就意识到自己穿帮了。大家都停下脚步盯着他看。

彼得吹了一声口哨。“这么说，你真的到过这儿。”他说，“那次露茜说在这儿碰见你，你却一口咬定她说谎。”

接着是死一般的沉寂。“唉，你可真是个居心叵测的小人……”彼得说着，耸了耸肩膀，就没有再说什么了。看来，也确实没有更多的话可说了。过了一会儿，四个人又继续踏上他们的旅程。爱德蒙暗暗在想：我总有一天要惩罚你们一下，你们这伙自命不凡的假正经！