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第6章

prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯-第6章

小说: prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯 字数: 每页3500字

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i heard a dwarf…drum in the mountains。 sometimes at night; in the  woods; i thought i had caught a glimpse of fauns and satyrs dancing a long way off;  but when i came to the place; there was never anything there。 i have often despaired;  but something always happens to start me hoping again。 i dont know。 but at least you can  try to be a king like the high king peter of old; and not like your uncle。鈥

〃then its true about the kings and queens too; and about the white witch?〃  said caspian。

〃certainly it is true;〃 said cornelius。 〃their reign was the golden age in  narnia and the land has never forgotten them。鈥

〃did they live in this castle; doctor?鈥

〃nay; my dear;〃 said the old man。 〃this castle is a thing of yesterday。  your great…great…grandfather built it。 but when the two sons of adam and the two daughters  of eve were made kings and queens of narnia by aslan himself; they lived in the castle  of cair paravel。 no man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the  ruins of it have now vanished。 but we believe it was far from here; down at the mouth of the  great river; on the very shore of the sea。鈥

〃ugh!〃 said caspian with a shudder。 〃do you mean in the black woods? where  all the … the … you know; the ghosts live?鈥

〃your highness speaks as you have been taught;〃 said the doctor。 〃but it is  all lies。

there are no ghosts there。 that is a story invented by the telmarines。 your  kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all  stories aslan es from over the sea。 they dont want to go near it and they dont want anyone  else to go near it。 so they have let great woods grow up to cut their people off from  the coast。 but because they have quarrelled with the trees they are afraid of the woods。  and because they are afraid of the woods they imagine that they are full of ghosts。 and  the kings and great men; hating both the sea and the wood; partly believe these stories;  and partly encourage them。 they feel safer if no one in narnia dares to go down to the  coast and look out to sea towards aslans land and the morning and the eastern end of  the world。鈥

there was a deep silence between them for a few minutes。 then doctor  cornelius said; 〃e。 we have been here long enough。 it is time to go down and to bed。鈥

〃must we?〃 said caspian。 〃id like to go on talking about these things for  hours and hours and hours。鈥

〃someone might begin looking for us; if we did that;〃 said doctor  cornelius。

  



CHAPTER SIX

锛堝皬锛忥紡璇达紡锛弔锛忥紡xt锝//澶//鍫傦級
the people that lived in hiding  now began the happiest times that caspian had ever known。 on a fine summer  morning when the dew lay on the grass he set off with the badger and the two  dwarfs; up through the forest to a high saddle in the mountains and down on to their sunny  southern slopes where one looked across the green wolds of archenland。

〃we will go first to the three bulgy bears;〃 said trumpkin。

they came in a glade to an old hollow oak tree covered with moss; and  trufflehunter tapped with his paw three times on the trunk and there was no answer。 then  he tapped again and a woolly sort of voice from inside said; 〃go away。 its not time  to get up yet。鈥

but when he tapped the third time there was a noise like a small earthquake  from inside and a sort of door opened and out came three brown bears; very bulgy indeed  and blinking their little eyes。 and when everything had been explained to them  (which took a long time because they were so sleepy) they said; just as trufflehunter had  said; that a son of adam ought to be king of narnia and all kissed caspian … very wet;  snuffly kisses they were … and offered him some honey。 caspian did not really want honey;  without bread; at that time in the morning; but he thought it polite to accept。 it  took him a long time afterwards to get unsticky。

after that they went on till they came among tall beech trees and  trufflehunter called out; 〃pattertwig! pattertwig! pattertwig!〃 and almost at once; bounding down  from branch to branch till he was just above their heads; came the most magnificent red  squirrel that caspian had ever seen。 he was far bigger than the ordinary dumb squirrels  which he had sometimes seen in the castle gardens; indeed he was nearly the size of a  terrier and the moment you looked in his face you saw that he could talk。 indeed the  difficulty was to get him to stop talking; for; like all squirrels; he was a chatterer。 he  weled caspian at once and asked if he would like a nut and caspian said thanks; he would。  but as pattertwig went bounding away to fetch it; trufflehunter whispered in  caspians ear; 〃dont look。 look the other way。 its very bad manners among squirrels to  watch anyone going to his store or to look as if you wanted to know where it was。〃 then  pattertwig came back with the nut and caspian ate it and after that pattertwig asked  if he could take any messages to other friends。 〃for i can go nearly everywhere without  setting foot to ground;〃 he said。 trufflehunter and the dwarfs thought this a very good  idea and gave pattertwig messages to all sorts of people with queer names telling them  all to e to a  

feast and council on dancing lawn at midnight three nights ahead。 〃and  youd better tell the three bulgies too;〃 added trumpkin。 〃we forgot to mention it to them。鈥

their next visit was to the seven brothers of shuddering wood。 trumpkin led  the way back to the saddle and then down eastward on the northern slope of the  mountains till they came to a very solemn place among rocks and fir trees。 they went very  quietly and presently caspian could feel the ground shake under his feet as if someone  were hammering down below。 trumpkin went to a flat stone about the size of the  top of a water…butt; and stamped on it with his foot。 after a long pause it was  moved away by someone or something underneath; and there was a dark; round hole with a  good deal of heat and steam ing out of it and in the middle of the hole the head of a  dwarf very like trumpkin himself。 there was a long talk here and the dwarf seemed more  suspicious than the squirrel or the bulgy bears had been; but in the end the whole  party were invited to e down。 caspian found himself descending a dark stairway into the  earth; but when he came to the bottom he saw firelight。 it was the light of a furnace。  the whole place was a smithy。 a subterranean stream ran past on one side of it。 two  dwarfs were at the bellows; another was holding a piece of red…hot metal on the anvil with  a pair of tongs; a fourth was hammering it; and two; wiping their horny little hands  on a greasy cloth; were ing forward to meet the visitors。 it took some time to  satisfy them that caspian was a friend and not an enemy; but when they did; they all cried;  〃long live the king;〃 and their gifts were noble … mail shirts and helmets and swords for  caspian and trumpkin and nikabrik。 the badger could have had the same if he had liked;  but he said he was a beast; he was; and if his claws and teeth could not keep his skin  whole; it wasnt worth keeping。 the workmanship of the arms was far finer than any caspian  had ever seen; and he gladly accepted the dwarf…made sword instead of his own; which  looked; in parison; as feeble as a toy and as clumsy as a stick。 the seven brothers  (who were all red dwarfs) promised to e to the feast at dancing lawn。

a little farther on; in a dry; rocky ravine they reached the cave of five  black dwarfs。

they looked suspiciously at caspian; but in the end the eldest of them  said; 〃if he is against miraz; well have him for king。〃 and the next oldest said; 〃shall  we go farther up for you; up to the crags? theres an ogre or two and a hag that we could  introduce you to; up there。鈥

〃certainly not;〃 said caspian。

〃i should think not; indeed;〃 said trufflehunter。 〃we want none of that  sort on our side。鈥

nikabrik disagreed with this; but trumpkin and the badger overruled him。 it  gave caspian a shock to realize that the horrible creatures out of the old  stories; as well as the nice ones; had some descendants in narnia still。

〃we should not have aslan for friend if we brought in that rabble;〃 said  trufflehunter as they came away from the cave of the black dwarfs。

〃oh; aslan!〃 said trumpkin; cheerily but contemptuously。 〃what matters much  more is that you wouldnt have me。鈥

〃do you believe in aslan?〃 said caspian to nikabrik。

〃ill believe in anyone or anything;〃 said nikabrik; 〃thatll batter these  cursed telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of narnia。 anyone or anything; aslan  or the white witch; do you understand?鈥

〃silence; silence;〃 said trufflehunter。 〃you do not know what you are  saying。 she was a worse enemy than miraz and all his race。鈥

〃not to dwarfs; she wasnt;〃 said nikabrik。

their next visit was a pleasanter one。 as they came lower down; the  mountains opened out into a great glen or wooded gorge with a swift river running at the  bottom。 the open places near the rivers edge were a mass of foxgloves and wild roses and  the air was buzzing with bees。 here trufflehunter called again; 〃glenstorm! glenstorm!〃  and after a pause caspian heard the sound of hoofs。 it grew louder till the valley  trembled and at last; breaking and trampling the thickets; there came in sight the noblest  creatures that caspian had yet seen; the great centaur glenstorm and his three sons。 his flanks  were glossy chestnut and the beard that covered his broad chest was goldenred。 he was a  prophet and a star…gazer and knew what they had e about。

〃long live the king;〃 he cried。 〃i and my sons are ready for war。 when is  the battle to be joined?鈥

up till now neither caspian nor the others had really been thinking of a  war。 they had some vague idea; perhaps; of an occasional raid on some human farmstead or  of attacking a party of hunters; if it ventured too far into these southern  wilds。 but; in the main; they had thought only of living to themselves in woods and caves and  building up an attempt at old narnia in hiding。 as soon as glenstorm had spoken  everyone felt much more serious。

〃do you mean a real war to drive miraz out of narnia?〃 asked caspian。

〃what else?〃 said the centaur。 〃why else does your majesty go clad in mail  and girt with sword?鈥

〃is it possible; glenstorm?〃 said the badger。

〃the time is ripe;〃 said glenstorm。 〃i watch the skies; badger; for it is  mine to watch; as it is yours to remember。 tarva and alambil have met in the halls of high  heaven; and on earth a son of adam has once more arisen to rule and name the creatures。  the hour has struck。 our council at the dancing lawn must be a council of war。〃 he spoke  in such a voice that neither caspian nor the others hesitated for a moment: it now  seemed to them quite possible that they might win a war and quite certain that they must  wage one。

as it was now past the middle of the day; they rested with the centaurs and  ate such food as the centaurs provided cakes of oaten meal; and apples; and herbs; and  wine; and cheese。

the next place they were to visit was quite near at hand; but they had to  go a long way round in order to avoid a region in which men lived。 it was well into the  afternoo

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