《魔法師的外甥》第64期:不期而遇(3)

"And it just shows," said Digory afterwards when he was telling the story to the others, "that you can't be too careful in these magical places. You never know what may be watching you." But I think Digory would not have taken an apple for himself in any case. Things like Do Not Steal were, I think, hammered into boys' heads a good deal harder in those days than they are now. Still, we can never be certain.

Digory was just turning to go back to the gates when he stopped to have one last look around. He got a terrible shock. He was not alone. There, only a few yards away from him, stood the Witch. She was just throwing away the core of an apple which she had eaten. The juice was darker than you would expect and had made a horrid stain round her mouth. Digory guessed at once that she must have climbed in over the wall. And he began to see that there might be some sense in that last line about getting your heart's desire and getting despair along with it. For the Witch looked stronger and prouder than ever, and even, in a way, triumphant; but her face was deadly white, white as salt.

All this flashed through Digory's mind in a second; then he took to his heels and ran for the gates as hard as he could pelt; the Witch after him. As soon as he was out, the gates closed behind him of their own accord. That gave him the lead but not for long. By the time he had reached the others and was shouting out "Quick, get on, Polly! Get up, Fledge", the Witch had climbed the wall, or vaulted over it, and was close behind him again.

"Stay where you are," cried Digory, turning round to face her, "or we'll all vanish. Don't come an inch nearer."

"Foolish boy," said the Witch. "Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to me now, you will miss some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life."

"Well I don't want to hear it, thanks," said Digory. But he did.

"I know what errand you have come on," continued the Witch. "For it was I who was close beside you in the woods last night and heard all your counsels. You have plucked fruit in the garden yonder. You have it in your pocket now. And you are going to carry it back, untasted, to the Lion; for him to eat, for him to use. You simpleton! Do you know what that fruit is? I will tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life. I know, for I have tasted it; and I feel already such changes in myself that I know I shall never grow old or die. Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and be king and queen of this whole world - or of your world, if we decide to go back there."

"No thanks," said Digory, "I don't know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is dead. I'd rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven."

"But what about this Mother of yours whom you pretend to love so?"

"What's she got to do with it?" said Digory.

"Do you not see, Fool, that one bite of that apple would heal her? You have it in your pocket. We are here by ourselves and the Lion is far away. Use your Magic and go back to your own world. A minute later you can be at your Mother's bedside, giving her the fruit. Five minutes later you will see the colour coming back to her face. She will tell you the pain is gone. Soon she will tell you she feels stronger. Then she will fall asleep - think of that; hours of sweet natural sleep, without pain, without drugs. Next day everyone will be saying how wonderfully she has recovered. Soon she will be quite well again. All will be well again. Your home will be happy again. You will be like other boys."

“這恰恰說明，”迪格雷後來對別人講起這個故事時說，“在這種有魔法的地方，你無論如何仔細都不過分。你無法知道什麼東西正監視着你。”但我想，不管怎樣，迪格雷是不會爲自己摘蘋果的。那時候，在男孩們的心目中，“不偷竊”之類的觀念比現在牢固得多。但我們仍然沒有十分的把握。

迪格雷轉身向大門走去時，停下來最後朝四下裏看了一眼。他嚇了一大跳，原來不光他一個人在這兒，幾步開外，站着那個女巫。她正在扔掉她吃剩的蘋果核。那蘋果汁的顏色比你想像的要深些，她的嘴邊留下一圈令人厭惡的痕跡。迪格雷馬上就猜到，她是翻牆過來的。而且，他開始明白最後一行“會如願以償，也會喪氣絕望”可能是有含義的。因爲女巫看上去比以前強壯、傲慢，甚至在某種程度上更加得意揚揚，但她的臉蒼白得像鹽一樣。

迪格雷心中很快閃過這些念頭後，便擡起腳，儘快地朝大門跑去。女巫在後面緊迫。他一出來，門就自動合上了。這使他領先一步，但不一會兒，當他喊着“快，波莉，上馬!快飛，弗蘭奇!”衝到他同伴身邊時，女巫已爬過牆或者跳過牆追了過來，又緊跟在他身後了。

“站住，別動!”迪格雷大聲說道，轉身對着她，“否則，我們就全部消失了。一步也不準靠近。”

“傻孩子，”女巫說，“你幹嗎逃呀?我又不會傷害你。如果你不停下來聽我說，你會漏掉一些能使你終身幸福的知識。”

“我不想聽，謝謝。”迪格雷說。但他是想聽的。

“我知道你是來幹什麼的，”女巫繼續說道，“因爲昨天夜裏在樹林中就是我藏在你們身邊，聽到了你們的議論。你已經從那邊花園裏摘下蘋果，裝在口袋裏了。你將一口也不嘗就帶回去給獅子，給它吃，給它用，你這個傻瓜!你知道這是什麼果嗎?我告訴你，這是青春果，生命果。我懂，因爲我已經吃了。我已感到我自己身上發生了變化，我知道我不會老也不會死。吃吧，孩子，吃了它，你和我都會長生不老，做這個世界的國王和王后，或者我們決定回去的話，也可以去你們的世界稱王。”

“不，謝謝，”迪格雷說，“我不知道自己是不是在每一個認識的人都死了以後還想長久地活下去。我寧肯活到一般的年齡就死去，然後進天堂。”

“可你的媽媽怎麼辦呢?你裝得那麼愛她。”

“她跟這事兒有什麼關係?”迪格雷說。

“你還不明白?傻瓜!她只要吃上一口那種蘋果就會好。你的口袋裏有。我們自己在這兒，獅子離得很遠，運用魔法回到你自己的世界去。一分鐘後你就把蘋果送到你媽媽的牀邊了。五分鐘後，你就會看到她的臉上有了血色。她將告訴你疼痛消失了。很快，她又會說感到強壯多了。然後，便能睡着了——想想吧，不痛也不吃藥地酣睡上幾個小時。第二天，誰都會說她恢復得多麼神奇。她很快就完全好了。一切都會變好，你和其他孩子一樣，又會有一個幸福的家庭。”