《魔法師的外甥》第59期:草莓遠征(3)

"There they are, Strawberry - Fledge, I should say. This is a rum go."

"Do not fly too high," said Aslan. "Do not try to go over the tops of the great ice-mountains. Look out for the valleys, the green places, and fly through them. There will always be a way through. And now, begone with my blessing."

"Oh Fledge!" said Digory, leaning forward to pat the Horse's glossy neck. "This is fun. Hold on to me tight, Polly."

Next moment the country dropped away beneath them, and whirled round as Fledge, like a huge pigeon, circled once or twice before setting off on his long westward flight. Looking down, Polly could hardly see the King and the Queen, and even Aslan himself was only a bright yellow spot on the green grass. Soon the wind was in their faces and Fledges wings settled down to a steady beat.

All Narnia, many-coloured with lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it like a ribbon of quicksilver. They could already see over the tops of the low hills which lay northward on their right; beyond those hills a great moorland sloped gently up and up to the horizon. On their left the mountains were much higher, but every now and then there was a gap when you could see, between steep pine woods, a glimpse of the southern lands that lay beyond them, looking blue and far away.

"That'll be where Archenland is," said Polly.

"Yes, but look ahead!" said Digory.

For now a great barrier of cliffs rose before them and they were almost dazzled by the sunlight dancing on the great waterfall by which the river roars and sparkles down into Narnia itself from the high western lands in which it rises. They were flying so high already that the thunder of those falls could only just be heard as a small, thin sound, but they were not yet high enough to fly over the top of the cliffs.

"We'll have to do a bit of zig-zagging here," said Fledge. "Hold on tight."

He began flying to and fro, getting higher at each turn. The air grew colder, and they heard the call of eagles far below them.

"I say, look back! Look behind," said Polly.

There they could see the whole valley of Narnia stretched out to where, just before the eastern horizon, there was a gleam of the sea. And now they were so high that they could see tiny-looking jagged mountains appearing beyond the northwest moors, and plains of what looked like sand far in the south.

"I wish we had someone to tell us what all those places are," said Digory.

"I don't suppose they're anywhere yet," said Polly. "I mean, there's no one there, and nothing happening. The world only began today."

"No, but people will get there," said Digory. "And then they'll have histories, you know."

"Well, it's a jolly good thing they haven't now," said Polly. "Because nobody can be made to learn it. Battles and dates and all that rot."

“他們坐好了，草莓——我該說弗蘭奇。這一趟可不簡單哦。”

“別飛得太高，”阿斯蘭說，“不要想飛過那些高大的冰山。穿越河谷那綠色地帶，總會找到一條路的。好了，祝你們一路平安。”

“噢，弗蘭奇！”迪格雷彎下腰，拍打着毛茸茸的馬脖子。“太好玩了。抓緊我，波莉。”

很快，那片國土就被他們遠遠地拋在了下面。隨着弗蘭奇像鴿子般一圈兩圈地轉着，大地也跟着旋轉起來。然後，弗蘭奇轉向西方，開始了漫長的飛行。波莉低頭俯視，幾乎看不見國王和王后了，連阿斯蘭也只是綠草中一個亮亮的黃點。馬上便有風颳在他們臉上。弗蘭奇的翅膀有節奏地扇動起來。

整個納尼亞展開在他們腳下，草地、岩石、石南屬植物和千姿百態的樹木將大地染得五彩繽紛，蜿蜒的河流像一條水銀的帶子。右望北方，小山的那一邊，是一片緩緩斜升至地平線的沼地。左邊的山高得多，但不時可見一個個峽谷。從那兒望過去，透過挺拔的松林，能瞥見南方蔚藍的土地，遠遠地綿延伸展。

“那兒就是阿欽蘭吧。”波莉說。

“是的，看前邊！”迪格雷說。

懸崖峭壁在他們眼前豎起一道巨大的屏障，陽光在大瀑布上閃爍，令人目眩。來自西邊高地的河水咆哮着，水花飛濺地流進納尼亞境內。他們已經飛得很高，瀑布雷鳴般的巨響已變得很輕。但他們飛行的高度還不能越過峭壁。

“我們要在這裏作一陣之字形飛行，”弗蘭奇說，“抓牢。”

它開始來來回回地飛，每盤旋一次都飛得更高。空氣越來越冷，腳下遠處傳來一陣鷹啼。

“喂，朝後看！看後面！”波莉說。

他們看見，納尼亞向東伸延到地平線的盡頭，有一片大海的閃光。他們現在的高度已能看見參差不齊的羣山逶迤在北方沼澤地後面，顯得很小。遙遠的南方，伸展着一片沙地一樣的平原。

“我希望有人告訴我們那是些什麼地方。”迪格雷說。

“我不認爲那是什麼特殊的地方，”波莉說，“我是說，那兒沒有人，也沒發生過什麼事，這個世界今天才開始。”

“不，人終究要去的，”迪格雷說，“然後就會有歷史，你知道。”

“幸好還沒有，”波莉說，“因爲誰也無法去學那些事。戰爭，各種日期，以及所有那些廢話。”