狮子·女巫·魔衣橱

C. S. 刘易斯 （万洁译）

“Logic！” said the Professor half to himself. “Why dont 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 doesnt 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.”

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

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

“Why do you say that？” asked the Professor.

“Well， for one thing，” said Peter， “if it was true why doesnt everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe？ I mean， there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didnt pretend there was.”

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

“Well， sir， if things are real， theyre there all the time.”

“Are they？” said the Professor; and Peter didnt know quite what to say.

“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 a minute， and she pretended to have been away for hours.”

“邏辑！”教授半是自言自语，“现在这些学校怎么不教你们一点逻辑学呢？这件事只有三种可能：一是你们的妹妹说了谎，二是她精神不正常，第三种可能就是她讲的是真话。你们都说她一向不说谎，她的精神又明显没什么问题。要是没有更充分的证据，就目前的状况来讲，我们就只能推断出她讲的是事实。”

苏珊紧盯着他，从他脸上的表情，她可以确定他不是在和他们开玩笑。

“可这怎么可能呢，先生？”彼得问。

“为什么就不可能呢？”教授反问道。

“因为，首先，”彼得说，“如果是真的，为什么不是每个人每次到衣橱里都能发现那个国家呢？我的意思是，我们去衣橱里看的时候，什么都没发现，当时露茜也在场，她自己也没假装看到了什么国家。”

“这有什么关系呢？”教授说。

“有关系，先生。如果是真的，那些东西就应该始终都在那里。”

“真是这样吗？”教授问道，彼得不知如何应答了。

“可时间不对啊，”苏珊说，“即使衣橱里真有这么一个地方，她也没时间去呀。我们刚从空屋里出来，她就跟在我们后面跑出来了，前后还不到一分钟，她却非说离开了好几个钟头。”

“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true，” said the Professor. “If there really is 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 all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand， I dont 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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

“Whats that？” said Susan.

“We might all try minding our own business，” said he. And that was the end of that conversation.

“正因為如此，她说的故事才更像真的。”教授说，“如果这间屋里真的有一个门通向某一个别的世界（我得提醒你们，这是一栋非常神秘的房屋，即使是我，对它也了解很少）——我是说，如果她真的到了另一个世界，那个世界一定有它自己的一套时间规则，对此我一点也不吃惊。所以不管你在那儿逗留了多久，也不会占去我们这个世界的任何一点时间。另外我还认为，像她这样年龄的女孩子，一般不会自己编造出那样的故事来。假如她想说谎，她就会在里面多藏一段时间，然后再出来讲这么个故事。”

“先生，你是说，”彼得问道，“在这栋房屋里，边边角角，比如这周围，都有可能存在着别的世界吗？”

“这是非常可能的，”教授一边说，一边摘下眼镜擦擦干净，还自言自语，“我真不懂，这些孩子在学校里到底学了些什么东西。”

“这叫我们怎么办？”苏珊说，她感到这场谈话已经开始跑题了。

“我亲爱的孩子，”教授突然抬起头来，用一种非常严肃的神情看着他俩说，“有一个计划值得一试，但你们谁也没有提起过。”

“什么计划？”苏珊问。

“那就是你们干脆别管这件事情了。”他说。那次谈话就这样结束了。

Word Study

assume /?'sju?m/ v. 假定，认为

Let us assume for a moment that the plan succeeds.

polish /'p?l??/ v. 擦光;磨光

He polished his glasses with a handkerchief.

mutter /'m?t?（r）/ v. 嘀咕;嘟囔

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.

This house of the Professors—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 youre to keep out of the way whenever Im taking a party over the house.”

“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 third time.

事情告一段落，露茜也轻松很多。彼得努力不让爱德蒙再嘲讽露茜，而且露茜以及其他人都不想再谈衣橱的事了，因为这已成了使人不快的话题。所以，在相当长的一段时间里，所有历险看上去都已经终结了，但事实却并非如此。

这栋房屋是这样古老，就连教授自己对这栋房屋也知之甚少;它又是这样闻名，英国各地的人都常常要求来此参观。旅游指南甚至是历史书上，都对它有所记载，各式各样的故事中都提到过它，其中有些故事比我现在讲的这个故事还要离奇。每当观光的人要求进屋看看的时候，教授总是满口答应，女管家麦克雷迪太太就带领着他们到各处转转，给他们介绍画儿啦、盔甲啦、图书馆里稀有的书籍啦。麦克雷迪太太不太喜欢孩子，她给客人们讲述她所知道的各种掌故时，不喜欢别人插嘴。几乎在孩子们来的第一天早上，她就向苏珊和彼得交代说：“你们要记住，我领客人参观的时候，你们要躲远一点儿。”当然，她还交代了许多别的规矩。

“就好像我们当中会有人愿意跟着一群陌生的大人浪费半天时间似的！”爱德蒙说。另外三人也是这样想的。第三次探险就是因此而起的。

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.”

“Sharps 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—lets get into the Wardrobe Room till theyve 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.

“Quick！” said Peter， “theres 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.

幾天以后，彼得和爱德蒙正望着那副盔甲出神，想试试能否把它拆下来，两个女孩忽然奔进屋里说：“不好啦，麦克雷迪太太带着一群人来了！”

“赶快撤！”彼得说。四个人很快就从另外一头的门溜掉了。他们溜出来以后先进了那间绿色的房间，后来又跑到了图书馆，这时他们突然听到前面有说话声，他们都以为麦克雷迪太太带着观光的人们到后楼去了，而没有像他们预期的那样到前楼来。后来，不知是他们自己昏了头，还是麦克雷迪太太要来驱赶他们，抑或是这所老宅的魔力再次显现，要把他们赶往纳尼亚，他们似乎感到每到一处都有人跟踪。最后，苏珊说：“啊，这些游客真够讨厌的！喂，我们躲到放衣橱的那间空屋里去吧，等他们走了以后再说，谁也不会跟我们到那儿去的。”但他们刚进空屋，就听见走廊里有人在讲话，接着又是推门的声音，一看，门把手已在转动了。

“赶快！”彼得说，“没有别的地方可躲了！”他猛地一下推开了衣橱门。四个人蜷缩在黑咕隆咚的衣橱里边，不停地喘气。彼得带上了橱门，但并没有关紧，因为，每个有理智的人都懂得，决不能把自己关在衣橱里面。

Word Study

inclined /?n'kla?nd/ adj. 想（做某事）

Nobody felt inclined to argue with Smith.

trail /tre?l/ v.（尤指跟在他人后面）疲惫地走，没精打采地慢走

The kids trailed around after us while we shopped for clothes.

bundle /'b?ndl/ v. 推搡;塞