《魔法師的外甥》第69期:栽樹(3)

He bowed his great head rather sadly, and breathed into the Magician's terrified face. "Sleep," he said. "Sleep and be separated for some few hours from all the torments you have devised for yourself." Uncle Andrew immediately rolled over with closed eyes and began breathing peacefully.

"Carry him aside and lay him down," said Aslan. "Now, dwarfs! Show your smith-craft. Let me see you make two crowns for your King and Queen."

More Dwarfs than you could dream of rushed forward to the Golden Tree. They had all its leaves stripped off, and some of its branches torn off too, before you could say Jack Robinson. And now the children could see that it did not merely look golden but was of real, soft gold. It had of course sprung up from the half-sovereigns which had fallen out of Uncle Andrew's pocket when he was turned upside down; just as the silver had grown up from the half-crowns. From nowhere, as it seemed, piles of dry brushwood for fuel, a little anvil, hammers, tongs, and bellows were produced. Next moment (how those dwarfs loved their work!) the fire was blazing, the bellows were roaring, the gold was melting, the hammers were clinking. Two Moles, whom Aslan had set to dig (which was what they liked best) earlier in the day, poured out a pile of precious stones at the dwarfs' feet. Under the clever fingers of the little smiths two crowns took shape - not ugly, heavy things like modern European crowns, but light, delicate, beautifully shaped circles that you could really wear and look nicer by wearing. The King's was set with rubies and the Queen's with emeralds.

When the crowns had been cooled in the river Aslan made Frank and Helen kneel before him and he placed the crowns on their heads. Then he said, "Rise up King and Queen of Narnia, father and mother of many kings that shall be in Narnia and the Isles and Archenland. Be just and merciful and brave. The blessing is upon you."

Then everyone cheered or bayed or neighed or trumpeted or clapped its wings and the royal pair stood looking solemn and a little shy, but all the nobler for their shyness. And while Digory was still cheering he heard the deep voice of Aslan beside him, saying:

"Look!"

Everyone in that crowd turned its head, and then everyone drew a long breath of wonder and delight. A little way off, towering over their heads, they saw a tree which had certainly not been there before. It must have grown up silently, yet swiftly as a flag rises when you pull it up on a flagstaff, while they were all busied about the coronation. Its spreading branches seemed to cast a light rather than a shade, and silver apples peeped out like stars from under every leaf. But it was the smell which came from it, even more than the sight, that had made everyone draw in their breath. For a moment one could hardly think about anything else.

它神情悲慼地低下巨大的頭，朝魔法師受驚的臉上吹了一口氣。“睡，”它說，“睡吧，把你自找的煩惱丟開幾小時吧。”安德魯舅舅立即合上眼皮，倒在地上，開始安詳地呼吸起來。

“把他弄到一邊，讓他躺着。”阿斯蘭說，“好吧，小矮人，施展你們的鐵匠手藝。讓我看着你們給國王和王后做兩個王冠。”

做夢也想不到的許許多多小矮人朝那棵金樹奔去，眨眼問，就把樹上的全部葉子和一些枝椏摘了下來。孩子們現在知道，那棵樹不光是金色的，而且的確是柔軟的金子。它當然是從安德魯舅舅被倒立時口袋裏金幣落地的地方長出來的，就像銀幣落地會長成銀樹一樣。小矮人不知從哪兒弄來一堆做燃料的幹灌木，還有一個小鐵砧，幾把鐵錘，鉗子和風箱。不一會兒(小矮人們很喜歡自己的工作)，火就燒旺了，風箱呼呼地拉響，金子熔化了，鐵錘丁丁當當地敲打起來。剛纔被阿斯蘭派去掘地的兩隻鼴鼠(它們最喜歡掘地)把一堆珍貴的寶石倒在小矮人腳下。小鐵匠們靈巧的雙手做成了兩頂王冠——不像現在歐洲的王冠那樣笨重、醜陋，而是兩個輕巧、精緻、造型優美的圓環，你真的可以戴上而且戴上後會更漂亮。國王的王冠上鑲着紅寶石，王后的王冠上鑲着綠寶石。

王冠在河水中冷卻後，阿斯蘭要弗蘭克和海倫跪在它面前，它將王冠給他們戴上，然後說：“站起來，納尼亞的國王和王后，你們將是納尼亞、各個島嶼及阿欽蘭許多國王的父母。要公正、仁慈、勇敢。祝福你們。”

大家全都歡呼、狂吠、嘶嗚，或拍打翅膀，或發出喇叭一樣的聲音。國王夫婦站起來，表情莊嚴，略帶羞澀，但羞澀使他們看上去更加高貴。迪格雷正在歡呼，耳邊響起阿斯蘭低沉的聲音：

“看!”

每個人或動物都轉過頭去，十分驚喜地深吸了一口氣。一棵顯然是才生出來的樹挺立在幾步開外的地方，枝椏已覆蓋到他們頭上。那棵樹一定是當他們忙着給國王和王后加冕時靜悄悄地長起來的，就像掛在旗杆上的旗子升上去時那麼迅捷。它伸出的樹枝投下了一片光，而不是一片陰影。每一片葉子下，隱約看見猶如星星般的銀色蘋果。然而，是它發出的氣味而不是它的形象使他們深吸了一口氣。一瞬間，你很難再想別的事了。