Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot? For that is really the best description of what was happening. In all directions it was swelling into humps. They were of very different sizes, some no bigger than molehills, some as big as wheelbarrows, two the size of cottages. And the humps moved and swelled till they burst, and the crumbled earth poured out of them, and from each hump there came out an animal. The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England. The dogs came out, barking the moment their heads were free, and struggling as you‘ve seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge. The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at first Digory thought they were trees. The frogs, who all came up near the river, went straight into it with a plop.plop and a loud croaking. The panthers, leopards and things of that sort, sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hind quarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws. Showers of birds came out of the trees. Butterflies fluttered. Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn’t a second to lose. But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back, the large, wise head, and the four baggy.trousered legs of an elephant. And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion; there was so much cawing, cooing, crowing, braying, neighing, baying, barking, lowing, bleating, and trumpeting.
But though Digory could no longer hear the Lion, he could see it. It was so big and so bright that he could not take his eyes off it. The other animals did not appear to be afraid of it. Indeed, at that very moment, Digory heard the sound of hoofs from behind; a second later the old cab.horse trotted past him and joined the other beasts. (The air had apparently suited him as well as it had suited Uncle Andrew. He no longer looked like the poor old slave he had been in London;he was picking up his feet and holding his head erect.) And now, for the first time, the Lion was quite silent. He was going to and fro among the animals. And every now and then he would go up to two of them (always two at a time) and touch their noses with his. He would touch two beavers among all the beavers, two leopards among all the leopards, one stag and one deer among all the deer, and leave the rest. Some sorts of animal he passed over altogether. But the pairs which he had touched instantly left their own kinds and followed him. At last he stood still and all the creatures whom he had touched came and stood in a wide circle around him. The others whom he had not touched began to wander away. Their noises faded gradually into the distance. The chosen beasts who remained were now utterly silent, all with their eyes fixed intently upon the Lion. The cat.like ones gave an occasional twitch of the tail but otherwise all were still. For the first time that day there was complete silence, except for the noise of running water. Digory‘s heart beat wildly; he knew something very solemn was going to be done. He had not forgotten about his Mother, but he knew jolly well that, even for her, he couldn’t interrupt a thing like this.
The Lion, whose eyes never blinked, stared at the animals as hard as if he was going to burn them up with his mere stare. And gradually a change came over them. The smaller ones.the rabbits, moles and such.like.grew a good deal larger. The very big ones.you noticed it most with the elephants.grew a little smaller. Many animals sat up on their hind legs. Most put their heads on one side as if they were trying very hard to understand. The Lion opened his mouth, but no sound came from it; he was breathing out, a long, warm breath; it seemed to sway all the beasts as the wind sways a line of trees. Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children‘s bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying:
“Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
中文阅读
狮子在那片空旷的大地上来回走动,唱着他的新歌。这首歌比刚才唤出星星和太阳的那首歌更加柔和,更加轻快,是一首行云流水般的轻柔乐曲。随着他的走动与歌唱,峡谷披上了绿装。青草地如同池水从狮子的脚下向周围扩展,如同波浪爬上了丘陵的山坡。几分钟后,又开始从低处的山坡向上蔓延,爬满了远处的崇山峻岭。每时每刻,这个年轻的世界都变得更加柔和。他们听到轻风吹过,青草随着风儿起伏。很快,除了草地,又有了新的东西。高处的斜坡上长满了石南,色彩多少有点儿暗淡。一团团粗糙而有棱角的绿色物体出现在峡谷里。有一团在迪戈里的附近冒了出来,他这才看清楚。那东西有着小小的尖刺,伸展开数十个绿色的枝条,以大约每两秒一英寸的速度迅速增长。迪戈里的周围已经有好几十个这种东西了。当它们长到和他本人差不多高的时候,他终于看出来这些东西究竟是什么。“树木!”他高声嚷道。
令人厌恶的是,正如波利事后所说,他们不能静下心来观赏这一切。就在迪戈里喊叫“树木”的时候,他被迫跳到了一旁,因为安德鲁舅舅再次偷偷地凑到他的跟前,正要去掏他的口袋。其实就算安德鲁舅舅把戒指偷到手,对他也不会有多大用处。他仍然误以为绿戒指是管“返程”的,所以他盯着的是右边的口袋。当然,迪戈里也不愿失去任何一个戒指。
“住手!”女巫大叫,“退回来。不行,再往后退。如果有人走进两个孩子十步以内的范围,我就让他的脑袋开花。”她手里高举着自己从路灯柱上扯下的铁棒,随时准备将它投掷出去。不知什么原因,没有人怀疑她会打不中目标。
“怎么!”她说,“你还想和这个男孩偷偷地溜回到你们的世界,把我留在这里吗?”