《最後一戰》第61期:小矮人的拒絕(4)

Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

"Look out!" said one of them in a surly voice. "Mind where you're going. Don't walk into our faces!"

"All right!" said Eustace indignantly. "We're not blind. We've got eyes in our heads."

"They must be darn good ones if you can see in here," said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.

"In where?" asked Edmund.

"Why you bone-head, in here of course," said Diggle. "In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable."

"Are you blind?" said Tirian.

"Ain't we all blind in the dark!" said Diggle.

"But it isn't dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?"

"How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain't there? And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?"

"But I can see you," said Lucy. "I'll prove I can see you. You've got a pipe in your mouth."

"Anyone that knows the smell of baccy could tell that," said Diggle.

"Oh the poor things! This is dreadful," said Lucy. Then she had an idea. She stopped and picked some wild violets. "Listen, Dwarf," she said. "Even if your eyes are wrong, perhaps your nose is all right: can you smell that?" She leaned across and held the fresh, damp flowers to Diggle's ugly nose. But she had to jump back quickly in order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist.

"None of that!" he shouted. "How dare you! What do you mean by shoving a lot of filthy stable-litter in my face? There was a thistle in it too. It's like your sauce! And who are you anyway?"

"Earth-man," said Tirian, "she is the Queen Lucy, sent hither by Aslan out of the deep past. And it is for her sake alone that I, Tirian your lawful King, do not cut all your heads from your shoulders, proved and twice-proved traitors that you are."

"Well if that doesn't beat everything!" exclaimed Diggle. "How can you go on talking all that rot? Your wonderful Lion didn't come and help you, did he? Thought not. And now - even now - when you've been beaten and shoved into this black hole, just the same as the rest of us, you're still at your old game. Starting a new lie! Trying to make us believe we're none of us shut up, and it ain't dark, and heaven knows what."

露茜帶路，他們大家不久就都看見小矮人們了。小矮人們有一種非常古怪的神情。他們既不在散步或是玩得很開心(雖然把他們捆綁起來的繩索似乎已經消失了)，又不是在躺下休息。他們正十分密集地面對面地坐成一個小圈。他們從不向四周看看，直至露茜和蒂蓮走得夠近了，幾乎要碰到他們了，他們才注意到有人走來了。這時小矮人們才都昂起頭來，彷彿他們不能看到什麼人，只好拼命地諦聽，力圖從聲音上猜測正在發生什麼事情。

“留神！”有個小矮人用粗暴的聲音說道，“注意你們是在往哪兒走。可別走到我們的臉上來啊。”

“行！”尤斯塔斯憤憤地說道，“我們不是瞎子。我們自己長着眼睛。”

“如果你們在這裏邊能看得見，那麼，眼睛必定是非常好的了。”還是那個小矮人在說話，他的名字叫迪格爾。

“在什麼地方的裏邊？”愛德蒙說。

“呀，你這笨蛋，當然是在這裏邊啊，”迪格爾道，“在一個馬廄的這個漆黑、狹窄、發臭的小洞裏。”

“你們是瞎子嗎？”蒂蓮說。

“在黑暗中，豈非大家都是瞎子嗎？”迪格爾道。

“但，並不黑暗啊，你們這些可憐的愚蠢的小矮人呀！”露茜說，“你們看不見嗎？往上瞧瞧！向四周瞧瞧！難道你們看不見天空、樹木和花朵嗎？難道你們看不見我嗎？”

“以一切謊言的名義起誓，我怎麼能看得見並不存在的東西呢？在這漆黑一團之中，你們看不見我，我怎麼能看得見你們呢？”

“但我能看見你，”露茜說，“我將證明我能看見你。你嘴裏銜着個菸斗。”

“任何聞得出菸草氣味的人都可以這麼說的。”迪格爾說。

“啊，可憐的傢伙！這真是可怕。”露茜說道。接着她想出了個主意。她俯下身去，採了些野紫羅蘭。“聽着，小矮人。”她說，“即使你的眼睛有毛病，也許你的鼻子是健康的：你能聞得出來。”她偏過身子，把那新鮮而潮潤的紫羅蘭花湊到小矮人迪格爾醜陋的鼻子上。然而她不得不迅速跳了回來，以免捱到那堅硬小拳頭的一擊。"

“我一點也不要那玩意兒！”他嚷嚷道，“你真是膽大妄爲！竟把骯骯髒髒的馬廄草荐硬塞到我臉上來，你安的是什麼心？裏邊還夾着薊刺哩。氣味就像你們的醬油一樣！你究竟是什麼人？”

“泥土人啊，”蒂蓮說，“她是女王露茜，阿斯蘭把她從深遠的過去送到這兒來的。我是蒂蓮，你們的合法的國王。僅僅是爲了她的緣故，我纔沒有把你們的腦袋從肩膀上砍下來，事實一再證明你們都是背信棄義之徒。”

“真是荒唐透頂，聞所未聞！”迪格爾嚷道，“你怎麼能繼續講那一套胡言亂語？你們的了不得的獅子並沒有來幫助你們，難道他來了嗎？你想想嘛。現在——甚至到了現在這種地步——你們已經被打敗，被硬塞進這個黑洞裏來了，就像我們其餘的人一樣，你可仍舊在耍你的老把戲哩。開始捏造一個新的謊話！竭力使我們相信：我們哪一個也沒有被關起來，這兒並不黑暗，以及其他只有天知道的事情。”"