《能言馬與男孩》第61期:不受歡迎的同路人(2)
For answer Shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which had been led towards him and a moment later he was in the saddle. He had done it a hundred times with Bree in the last few weeks, and his mounting was very different now from what it had been on that first night when Bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were climbing a haystack.
He was pleased to hear the Lord Darrin say to the King, "The boy has a true horseman's seat, Sire. I'll warrant there's noble blood in him."
他很高興地聽到達蘭爵士對國王說道”這孩子騎馬的姿勢有真正的騎士風度，陛下。我保證他身上有貴族血統。”"His blood, aye, there's the point," said the King. And he stared hard at Shasta again with that curious expression, almost a hungry expression, in his steady, grey eyes.
“他的血統，是呀，這就是關鍵。”國王說。他重新曰不轉睛地瞧着沙斯塔，沉着的灰色眼睛裏露出一種探詢的神色，一種幾乎如飢似渴的神色。
But by now -the whole party was moving off at a brisk canter. Shasta's seat was excellent but he was sadly puzzled what to do with his reins, for he had never touched the reins while he was on Bree's back. But he looked very carefully out of the corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing (as some of us have done at parties when we weren't quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use) and tried to get his fingers right. But he didn't dare to try really directing the horse; he trusted it would follow the rest. The horse was of course an ordinary horse, not a Talking Horse; but it had quite wits enough to realize that the strange boy on its back had no whip and no spurs and was not really master of the situation. That was why Shasta soon found himself at the tail end of the procession.
但現在這一羣紳士以輕快的慢跑統統行動起來了。沙斯塔坐的馬鞍子極好，但他苦惱地不知道怎樣運用繮繩，因爲他騎在布里背上時是從來不去碰那繮繩的。但他小心翼翼地從眼角里瞧着別人的動作(就像我們有些人在宴會上對於該用刀或叉沒多大把握時那樣)，竭力使自己的手指姿勢正確。但他不敢真的利用繮繩去指揮馬兒，他深信馬兒會跟着其餘的人馬行動。這馬兒當然是一匹普普通通的馬兒，不是一匹會說人話的馬兒；但它的智慧也足以認識到：這個騎在它背上的陌生孩子，既沒有鞭子，又沒有馬刺，並非真正控制局面的主人。這就是爲什麼沙斯塔不久便發現自己落在整個隊伍末尾的緣故。Even so, he was going pretty fast. There were no flies now and the air in his face was delicious. He had got his breath back too. And his errand had succeeded. For the first time since the arrival at Tashbaan (how long ago it seemed!) he was beginning to enjoy himself.
即使如此，他跑得還挺快。現在沒有蒼蠅了，拂面的空氣是清新的。他也恢復正常的呼吸了，而且他報信的使命已經完成。自從到達塔什班城以來(彷彿已經是很久很久以前的事情了！)，他第一次感到自得其樂。He looked up to see how much nearer the mountain tops had come. To his disappointment he could not see them at all: only a vague greyness, rolling down towards them. He had never been in mountain country before and was surprised. "It's a cloud," he said to himself, "a cloud coming down. I see. Up here in the hills one is really in the sky. I shall see what the inside of a cloud is like. What fun! I've often wondered." Far away on his left and a little behind him, the sun was getting ready to set.
他擡頭仰望，瞧瞧已經離山頂多近了。使他失望的是，他壓根兒看不到山頂，但見一大片模糊的灰色向他傾瀉而下。以前他從未在山野待過，眼前的景色使他詫異。”這是一大片雲，”他跟自己說道，”一片正在下降的雲。待在這兒羣山之中，人確實是在天空中了。我就要看到雲裏邊是怎麼樣的了。多有趣！我曾時常想弄個明白。”在他左邊的遠方，稍稍在他背後一點兒的地方，太陽開始落山了。They had come to a rough kind of road by now and were making very good speed. But Shasta's horse was still the last of the lot. Once or twice when the road made a bend (there was now continuous forest on each side of it) he lost sight of the others for a second or two.
現在他們來到崎嶇的道路上，正在加快馳騁的速度。但沙斯塔的馬兒仍舊落在最後。有一兩次，逢到大路轉彎時(現在大路兩旁都是綿延不斷的森林了)，有那麼一兩秒鐘，他望不見前邊的人馬。Then they plunged into the fog, or else the fog rolled over them. The world became grey. Shasta had not realized how cold and wet the inside of a cloud would be; nor how dark. The grey turned to black with alarming speed.
接着他們進入了大霧，或者說大霧滾滾，把他們吞沒了。世界變成灰濛濛的。沙斯塔不曾認識到處在雲霧之中竟會這麼寒冷、這麼潮溼，也不知道竟會那麼黑暗。灰色以驚人的速度變成黑色了。Someone at the head of the column winded the horn every now and then, and each time the sound came from a little farther off. He couldn't see any of the others now, but of course he'd be able to as soon as he got round the next bend. But when he rounded it he still couldn't see them. In fact he could see nothing at all. His horse was walking now. "Get on, Horse, get on," said Shasta. Then came the horn, very faint. Bree had always told him that he must keep his heels well turned out, and Shasta had got the idea that something very terrible would happen if he dug his heels into a horse's sides. This seemed to him an occasion for trying it. "Look here, Horse," he said, "if you don't buck up, do you know what I'll do? I'll dig my heels into you. I really will." The horse, however, took no notice of this threat. So Shasta settled himself firmly in the saddle, gripped with his knees, clenched his teeth, and punched both the horse's sides with his heels as hard as he could.
縱隊的前頭有人不時吹響號角，每次號角聲傳來時，都比上一次遠了一點兒。現在他沒法兒看到別的人馬，但只要他再轉過彎去，他就立刻可以看到他們。但當他轉過彎來時，卻仍舊看不見他們。事實上，他壓根兒什麼也看不見。現在他的馬兒是在散步了。”趕上去，馬兒，趕上去。”沙斯塔說。然後傳來了號角聲，可是十分輕微。布里總是囑咐他，必須使腳跟朝着外邊兒，沙斯塔由此養成一種概念如果他讓腳跟戳到馬兒的兩脅上，就會發生可怕的事情。他覺得此刻倒可以試試。”聽着，馬兒，”他說，”如果你再不快跑，你可知道我要幹什麼?我要用腳跟戳到你的兩脅裏。我真的幹得出來的。”然而，這馬兒不理睬他的威脅。所以，沙斯塔便穩穩地坐牢在馬鞍子上，牙齒咬緊，雙膝夾緊，盡力用兩個腳跟狠狠刺馬兒的兩脅。
