《魔法师的外甥》第67期:栽树(1)

Chapter 14 The Planting of the Tree

"WELL done," said Aslan in a voice that made the earth shake. Then Digory knew that All the Narnians had heard those words and that the story of them would be handed down from father to son in that new world for hundreds of years and perhaps forever. But he was in no danger of feeling conceited for he didn't think about it at all now that he was face to face with Aslan. This time he found he could look straight into the Lion's eyes. He had forgotten his troubles and felt absolutely content.

"Well done, son of Adam," said the Lion again. "For this fruit you have hungered and thirsted and wept. No hand but yours shall sow the seed of the Tree that is to be the protection of Narnia. Throw the apple towards the river bank where the ground is soft."

Digory did as he was told. Everyone had grown so quiet that you could hear the soft thump where it fell into the mud.

"It is well thrown," said Aslan. "Let us now proceed to the Coronation of King Frank of Narnia and Helen his Queen."

The children now noticed these two for the first time. They were dressed in strange and beautiful clothes, and from their shoulders rich robes flowed out behind them to where four dwarfs held up the King's train and four rivernymphs the Queen's. Their heads were bare; but Helen had let her hair down and it made a great improvement in her appearance. But it was neither hair nor clothes that made them look so different from their old selves. Their faces had a new expression, especially the King's. All the sharpness and cunning and quarrelsomeness which he had picked up as a London cabby seemed to have been washed away, and the courage and kindness which he had always had were easier to see. Perhaps it was the air of the young world that had done it, or talking with Aslan, or both.

"Upon my word," whispered Fledge to Polly. "My old master's been changed nearly as much as I have! Why, he's a real master now."

"Yes, but don't buzz in my ear like that," said Polly. "It tickles so."

"Now," said Aslan, "some of you undo that tangle you have made with those trees and let us see what we shall find there."

Digory now saw that where four trees grew close together their branches had all been laced together or tied together with switches so as to make a sort of cage. The two Elephants with their trunks and a few dwarfs with their little axes soon got it all undone. There were three things inside. One was a young tree that seemed to be made of gold; the second was a young tree that seemed to be made of silver; but the third was a miserable object in muddy clothes, sitting hunched up between them.

"Gosh!" whispered Digory. "Uncle Andrew!"

第14章 栽树

“干得好。”阿斯兰用震撼大地的声音说。迪格雷知道所有的纳尼亚公民都听到了，他们的故事在那个新世界里将由父辈传给儿子，几百年也许永远流传下去。然而他并没有陷入骄傲自满的危险，因为，现在他面对面地看着阿斯兰的时候，根本就没有想到这一点。这次，他发现可以正视狮子的眼睛。他已经忘了自己的难处，完完全全地心满意足了。

“干得好，亚当的儿子。”狮子又说，“你曾经渴望得到这只苹果并为它流过泪，只有你的手可以栽下这颗用来保卫纳尼亚的树种。将苹果朝河边的松土扔过去吧。”

迪格雷照着做了。大家安静下来，苹果掉进泥里时发出的轻柔响声听得很清楚。

“扔得好，”阿斯兰说，“现在，让我们为纳尼亚的弗兰克国王和他的海伦王后举行加冕典礼。”

孩子们现在才注意到这一对夫妻。他们穿着奇特而美丽的衣服，华贵的长袍从肩上一直拖到地上，四个小矮人托起国王的袍裾，四个河泽仙女托起王后的裙裾。他们的头上没有装饰，但海伦把头发披了下来，显得更加动人。然而，不是头发也不是服装使他们与过去迥然不同，而是脸上有了一种崭新的表情，尤其是国王。他在伦敦当马车夫时养成的尖刻、狡诈和好争吵的秉性全部涤荡一空，勇敢和善良的本性则比较明显。也许，是这个年轻世界的空气或与阿斯兰的谈话产生了这样的效果，也许两者兼有。

“天哪，”弗兰奇悄悄对波莉说，“我的老主人几乎与我一样大大地变了。他现在是个真正的主人了。”

“是的，但别在我耳边叽叽喳喳，”波莉说，“太痒了。”

“现在，”阿斯兰说，“你们去把缠在一起的那几棵树松开。让我们看看里面到底是什么。”

迪格雷这才看见，四棵树紧紧地长在一起，树枝相互缠绕纠结，形成一个像笼子似的东西。两头大象用鼻子、几个小矮人用小斧很快分开了那些树枝。里面有三样东西：一棵小树，似乎是金子做的；另一棵像是银子做的小树；但第三样东西模样太惨，衣服上涂满泥浆，弓腰缩背地夹在两棵树之间。

“哦!”迪格雷低低地喊了一声，“安德鲁舅舅!”