《能言馬與男孩》第65期:不受歡迎的同路人(6)

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.

沙斯塔不再害怕這聲音來自要吞吃他的大蟲了，不再害怕這是鬼魂的聲音了。但一種嶄新的截然不同的戰戰兢兢之情，傳遍了他的身心。而且他覺得非常愉快。

The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now, the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; his eyes began to blink. Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.

霧靄由墨黑變爲淺灰，再有淺灰轉爲雪白。這個變化必定是好些時候以前就已經開始的。但在他和龐然大物交談之際，他一直未留意其他任何東西。現在，他周圍的一片白色，變成一種熠熠生光的白色了。他開始眨巴着眼睛。他聽得見前邊兒什麼地方鳥兒在啁啾。他知道黑夜終於過去了。現在他能十分容易地瞧見馬兒的腦袋、耳朵和鬃毛了。一道金光從左邊落在他們身上。他以爲這是太陽。

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

他轉過頭來，看見在身旁行走着一頭獅子，比馬兒還大。馬兒似乎並不怕它，要不就是看不見它。原來金光發自獅子身上。沒有人看到過比這更可怕或更美麗的東西了。

Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

幸虧沙斯塔一直生活在卡樂門南方邊遠地區，沒聽到過塔什班城裏竊竊私語的傳聞：一個可怕的納尼亞魔鬼化身爲一頭獅子。關於阿斯蘭的真正故事，關於偉大的獅子，海外皇帝之子、納尼亞國諸大國王之最高國王的真正的故事，沙斯塔當然是一點兒也不知道的。但他對獅子的臉兒瞧了一眼以後，就翻身下馬，跪倒在獅子的腳邊。他說不出什麼話來，但那是他也不想說什麼話，而且他心裏明白他無需說什麼話。

The High King above all kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all round him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with the horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky. And there were birds singing.

諸大國王之最高國王向他俯下頭來。他的鬃毛散發出奇怪而莊嚴的香氣，下垂在沙斯塔的周圍。他用舌頭舔舐他的前額。他仰起臉來。他們相對而視。接着，霧靄的蒼白光芒和獅子如火的光芒立刻混在一起，化作一片光華的漩渦，集攏收縮，終於消失無存了。沙斯塔獨自在藍天下芳草萋萋的山坡上。鳥兒在鳴唱。