《能言馬與男孩》第69期:沙斯塔在納尼亞(4)
"Mind your head, lad," said Duffle a moment too late, for Shasta had already bashed his forehead against the low lintel of the door. "Now," continued the Dwarf, "sit you down. The table's a bit low for you, but then the stool's low too. That's right. And here's porridge - and here's a jug of cream - and here's a spoon."
By the time Shasta had finished his porridge, the Dwarf's two brothers (whose names were Rogin and Bricklethumb) were putting the dish of bacon and eggs and mushrooms, and the coffee pot and the hot milk, and the toast, on the table.
沙斯塔喝完粥時，小矮人的兩個兄弟(他們叫羅金和布里克爾森姆)正在把鹹豬肉、雞蛋和蘑菇，以及咖啡壺、熱牛奶和吐司放到桌子上。It was all new and wonderful to Shasta for Calormene food is quite different. He didn't even know what the slices of brown stuff were, for he had never seen toast before. He didn't know what the yellow soft thing they smeared on the toast was, because in Calormen you nearly always get oil instead of butter. And the house itself was quite different from the dark, frowsty, fish-smelling but of Arsheesh and from the pillared and carpeted halls in the palaces of Tashbaan. The roof was very low, and everything was made of wood, and there was a cuckoo-clock and a red-and-white checked table-cloth and a bowl of wild flowers and little curtains on the thick-paned windows. It was also rather troublesome having to use dwarf cups and plates and knives and forks. This meant that helpings were very small, but then there were a great many helpings, so that Shasta's plate or cup was being filled every moment, and every moment the Dwarfs themselves were saying, "Butter please", or "Another cup of coffee," or "I'd like a fewmore mushrooms," or "What about frying another egg or so?" And when at last they had all eaten as much as they possibly could the three Dwarfs drew lots for who would do the washing-up, and Rogin was the unlucky one. Then Duffle and Bricklethumb took Shasta outside to a bench which ran against the cottage wall, and they all stretched out their legs and gave a great sigh of contentment and the two Dwarfs lit their pipes. The dew was off the grass now and the sun was warm; indeed, if there hadn't been a light breeze, it would have been too hot.
對沙斯塔來說，這頓早餐全然是新奇的、了不起的，因爲卡樂門的食物是完全不同的。他甚至不知道這一片片棕色的東西是什麼玩意兒，因爲他以前從未見過吐司。他不知道塗在吐司上的黃色柔軟的東西是什麼玩意兒，因爲在卡樂門幾乎總是用油來代替白脫的。而這屋子本身也跟阿什伊什黑暗、黴臭、魚腥的小屋不同，跟塔什班城王宮裏圓柱聳立、毯子鋪地的大廳截然不同。屋頂很低，一切都是木頭做的，有一隻以杜鵑叫聲報時的鐘，一塊紅白格子檯布，一碗野花，厚玻璃窗上還掛着小小的白色窗簾。不得不用小矮人的杯子、盤子、刀叉，也是很麻煩的事。這意味着每份食品都很少，卻又有許多份，所以沙斯塔的盤子或是杯子，時時刻刻都在重新添盛，而小矮人們自己也時時刻刻在說：”請來點兒白脫”，”再來一杯咖啡”，或是”我再要些蘑菇”，或是”再來一份煎雞蛋好嗎?”最後，當大家儘量吃飽以後，三個小矮人便拈鬮決定由誰洗盤子，結果是羅金倒黴。於是德夫爾和布里克爾森姆便領沙斯塔到屋子外的一條長凳上坐下，那長凳靠着小屋的牆垣；於是他們大家都伸直了腿，心滿意足地籲出一口氣來，兩個小矮人還點上了菸斗。現在青草上的露水不見了，太陽是溫暖的，確實，如果沒有一陣陣清風的話，天氣就會顯得太熱了。"
"Now, Stranger," said Duffle, "I'll show you the lie of the land. You can see nearly all South Narnia from here, and we're rather proud of the view. Right away on your left, beyond those near hills, you can just see the Western Mountains. And that round hill away on your right is called the Hill of the Stone Table. Just beyond -"
“陌生人啊，”德夫爾說，”我來把地形地勢指給你看。你從這兒幾乎可以看見整個兒南部納尼亞，我們是很以這景色自豪的。向你的左邊望過去，越過那些附近的小山，你正好能望見西部羣山。在你右邊那個圓圓的小山，叫做石桌山。就在它外邊兒……”But at that moment he was interrupted by a snore from Shasta who, what with his night's journey and his excellent breakfast, had gone fast asleep. The kindly Dwarfs, as soon as they noticed this, began making signs to each other not to wake him, and indeed did so much whispering and nodding and getting up and -tiptoeing away that they certainly would have waked him if he had been less tired.
但這時候他被沙斯塔的鼾聲打斷了，沙斯塔經過一夜奔波，吃了一頓美美的早餐，很快就睡熟了。好心的小矮人們一發現他睡着了，就立刻互相做手勢：不要去驚醒他：事實上，他們彼此竊竊私語，點頭會意，站起身來，踮着腳尖走動，好不熱鬧，若不是沙斯塔十分睏倦，他倒是一定會被驚醒的。He slept pretty well -nearly all day but woke up in time for supper. The beds in that house were all too small for him but they made him a fine bed of heather on the floor, and he never stirred nor dreamed all night. Next morning they had just finished breakfast when they heard a shrill, exciting sound from outside.
沙斯塔幾乎睡了整整一天，醒來時剛趕上吃晚飯。屋子裏的牀給他睡是太小了，但他們在地上給他鋪了一個極好的石南牀，他睡在那牀上，整夜沒有動彈，整夜沒有做夢。第二天早晨他們剛吃完早餐，便聽到從屋子外傳來一個尖銳而激動的聲音。
