Digory had never seen such a sun. The sun above the ruins of Charn had looked older than ours: this looked younger. You could imagine that it laughed for joy as it came up. And as its beams shot across the land the travellers could see for the first time what sort of place they were in. It was a valley through which a broad, swift river wound its way, flowing eastward towards the sun. Southward there were mountains, northward there were lower hills. But it was a valley of mere earth, rock and water; there was not a tree, not a bush, not a blade of grass to be seen. The earth was of many colours: they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited; until you saw the Singer himself, and then you forgot everything else.
It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright, it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away.
“This is a terrible world,” said the Witch. “We must fly at once. Prepare the Magic.”
“I quite agree with you, Madam,” said Uncle Andrew. “A most disagreeable place. Completely uncivilized. If only I were a younger man and had a gun.”
“Garn!” said the Cabby. “You don’t think you could shoot ‘im, do
you?”
“And who would?” said Polly.
“Prepare the Magic, old fool,” said Jadis.
“Certainly, Madam,” said Uncle Andrew cunningly. “I must have both the children touching me. Put on your homeward ring at once, Digory.” He wanted to get away without the Witch.
“Oh, it’s rings, is it?” cried Jadis. She would have had her hands in Digory‘s pocket before you could say knife, but Digory grabbed Polly and shouted out:
“Take care. If either of you come half an inch nearer, we two will vanish and you’ll be left here for good. Yes: I have a ring in my pocket that will take Polly and me home. And look! My hand is just ready. So keep your distance. I‘m sorry about you” (he looked at the Cabby) “and about the horse, but I can’t help that. As for you two” (he looked at Uncle Andrew and the Queen), “you‘re both magicians, so you ought to enjoy living together.”
“’Old your noise, everyone,” said the Cabby. “I want to listen to the moosic.”
For the song had now changed.
中文阅读
“哈!女王陛下,是吗?我们等着瞧吧。”一个声音说道。另一个声音又跟着打趣:“为柯尼·哈奇(伦敦一所精神病院)的女王三呼万岁。”许多人跟着瞎起哄。女巫的脸上泛起两朵红云,她微微地鞠了一躬。欢呼声停了下来,取而代之的是一阵哄堂大笑。她察觉到,他们是在嘲笑她。她的神情骤变,把刀换到了左手。随后,没有任何预先警告,女巫做出一件可怕的事情。她伸出右手,轻而易举地扯下路灯柱上的一根铁棒,仿佛这是世界上再寻常不过的事情。如果说她在我们的世界里丧失了一些魔力的话,她的力量并没有消失。她能够折断一根铁棍,就像折断一根麦芽糖棒。她把自己的新武器抛在空中,又伸手接住,挥舞了几下,便催马向前。
“现在我的机会来了。”迪戈里心想。他冲到了马和栏杆之间,开始向前奔跑。只要那匹马能够静止片刻,他就有希望抓住女巫的脚跟。就在奔跑之际,他听到了一个瘆人的击打声和砰然倒地的声音。女巫用铁棒打在了警长的头盔上,那人就像九柱戏中的木柱一样倒了下去。
“快点,迪戈里,必须阻止她。”一个声音在他身边说道。原来是波利,家人刚一允许她起床,她就立即跑了过来。
“你真讲义气。”迪戈里说,“抓紧我。必须由你来使用戒指。黄色的,记住了。一听到我喊,你就戴上。”
又是“砰”的一声,另一个警察倒在了地上。人群中响起了愤怒的吼叫:“把她拉下来。拿铺路石砸她。去叫军队。”大多数人都尽量躲得远远的。不过,那个马车夫显然是人群中最勇敢最善良的人。他紧紧跟着那匹马,来回闪躲以避开那根铁棍。他一次次尝试着,想要抓住草莓的马头。
人群再次发出了嘘声和吼叫。一块石头呼啸着从迪戈里的头上飞过。接着传来了女巫钟声般洪亮的声音,这一次听起来好像她很快活。
“人渣!等我征服了你们的世界,你们将要为此付出高昂的代价。你们的城市将连一块石头也不会留下。我要让它像恰恩城一样,像费林达,像索利斯,像布拉曼丁。”
迪戈里终于抓住了她的脚脖子。她用脚跟向后猛踢,踢到了他的嘴上。一阵疼痛使他松开了手。他的嘴唇被踢破了,嘴里满是鲜血。从附近传来了安德鲁舅舅颤抖的尖叫声:“小姐..我亲爱的年轻女士..看在上天的份上..镇静下来。”迪戈里第二次伸手抓住了她的脚跟,又被她挣脱了。这时更多的人被铁棒打倒在地。他第三次伸手抓住了她的脚跟,死死地攥住不放,对波利大叫:“走!”然后..哦,谢天谢地。那些愤怒、惊恐的面容不见了。那些愤怒、惊恐的声音也消失了,只有安德鲁舅舅的声音还在迪戈里身旁的黑暗中哀号:“噢,噢,我神智不清了吗?我死到临头了吗?我受不了啦。这不公平。我从来都没打算成为魔法师。这都是误会。都是我教母的错。我必须对此表示抗议。在我这种健康状况下。一个非常古老的多塞特郡的家族。”“真讨厌!”迪戈里想,“我们可不想把他也一起带来。好家伙,这可真够乱的。你在那儿吗,波利?”“是的,我在这里。别一个劲儿地推来搡去。”“我没有动。”迪戈里刚说到这儿,还没来得及说出更多的话,他们的脑袋就已经从水里冒了出来,沐浴在树林里温暖的绿色阳光之中。就在他们走出池塘的时候,波利叫道:
“哦,看哪!我们把那匹老马也带来了。还有凯特利先生。还有马车夫。这可真是乱了套啦!”
女巫一发现自己又到了那片树林,她的脸色立即变得苍白。她俯下身子,将脸贴在了马的鬃毛上。你可以看得出来,她难受得要命。安德鲁舅舅像是在筛糠一样,浑身颤抖。那匹马草莓,摇了摇脑袋,发出一声快活的嘶鸣,看样子它感觉好多了。自从迪戈里看见这匹马,它还是头一次变得这么安静。它的耳朵,本来一直紧贴在脑壳上,现在又恢复了原状,它眼中的怒火也熄灭了。