《魔法師的外甥》第51期:迪格雷和他的舅舅又陷困境(1)

Chapter 11 Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble

You may think the animals were very stupid not to see at once that Uncle Andrew was the same kind of creature as the two children and the Cabby. But you must Remember that the animals knew nothing about clothes. They thought that Polly's frock and Digory's Norfolk suit and the Cabby's howlet hat were as much parts of them as their own fur and feathers. They wouldn't have known even that those three were all of the same kind if they hadn't spoken to them and if Strawberry had not seemed to think so. And Uncle Andrew was a great deal taller than the children and a good deal thinner than the Cabby. He was all in black except for his white waistcoat (not very white by now), and the great grey mop of his hair (now very wild indeed) didn't look to them like anything they had seen in the three other humans. So it was only natural that they should be puzzled. Worst of all, he didn't seem to be able to talk.

He had tried to. When the Bulldog spoke to him (or, as he thought, first snarled and then growled at him) he held out his shaking hand and gasped "Good Doggie, then, poor old fellow." But the beasts could not understand him any more than he could understand them. They didn't hear any words: only a vague sizzling noise. Perhaps it was just as well they didn't, for no dog that I ever knew, least of all a Talking Dog of Narnia, likes being called a Good Doggie then; any more than you would like being called My Little Man.

Then Uncle Andrew dropped down in a dead faint.

"There!" said a Warthog, "it's only a tree. I always thought so." (Remember, they had never yet seen a faint or even a fall.)

The Bulldog, who had been sniffing Uncle Andrew all over, raised its head and said, "It's an animal. Certainly an animal. And probably the same kind as those other ones."

"I don't see that," said one of the Bears. "An animal wouldn't just roll over like that. We're animals and we don't roll over. We stand up. Like this." He rose to his hind legs, took a step backwards, tripped over a low branch and fell flat on his back.

"The Third Joke, the Third Joke, the Third joke!" said the Jackdaw in great excitement.

"I still think it's a sort of tree," said the Warthog.

"If it's a tree," said the other Bear, "there might be a bees' nest in it."

"I'm sure it's not a tree," said the Badger. "I had a sort of idea it was trying to speak before it toppled over."

"That was only the wind in its branches," said the Warthog.

"You surely don't mean," said the Jackdaw to the Badger, "that you think its a talking animal! It didn't say any words."

第11章 迪格雷和他的舅舅又陷困境

你可能會認爲，這些動物非常愚蠢，沒能一眼就看出安德魯舅舅和那兩個孩子以及馬車伕是同類。但你必須記住，動物們對衣服一無所知。它們覺得，波莉的外衣、迪格雷的諾福克套裝以及馬車伕的圓頂帽是他們身體的一部分，就像它們自己的皮毛和羽翼一樣。如果它們不與他們交談，如果“草莓”也不那樣想，它們就不會知道這三人是同類。而且安德魯舅舅比孩子們高得多，又比馬車伕瘦得多。除了白背心外(現在也已經不很白了)，他全身都是黑的。在動物們眼裏，安德魯舅舅的灰髮(現在很凌亂)與那三人身上的任何東西都不相似。它們自然感到迷惑。最糟糕的是，他似乎不會說話。

他曾經試過。當公狗對他說話時(或者，按照他的想法，先是咆哮，後是對他咕噥)，他舉起發抖的手，上氣不接下氣地說：“好小狗，嗯，可憐的老朋友。”但動物們根本聽不懂，正如他也聽不懂它們的話一樣。除了含混不清的噝噝聲外，它們什麼也沒聽見。也許還是聽不懂的好，因爲我從未見過哪條狗願意被人喊作“好小狗”，就像你不願被叫成“我的小鬼”一樣，更不用說納尼亞的會說話的狗了。

安德魯舅舅一下昏倒在地。

“啊！”一頭野豬說，“它不過是棵樹。我剛纔就這麼想。”(記住，它們還從未見過昏厥，甚至連倒下也沒有見過。

那公狗將安德魯舅舅全身嗅了個遍，擡頭說道：“是動物，肯定是動物，而且很可能是那幾個的同類。”

“我不同意，”一頭熊說，“動物不會像那樣倒在地上的。我們是動物，我們就不會倒下去。我們站着，像這樣。”它後腿立起，向後走了一步，絆倒在一根矮樹枝上，仰面朝天跌倒在地上。

“第三個笑柄，第三個笑柄，第三個笑柄。”那隻寒鴉無比激動地說。

“我仍然認爲是樹。”野豬說。

“是樹的話，”另一頭熊說，“上面就會有蜂巢。”

“我敢肯定不是樹，”一頭獾說，“我覺得它倒下之前想說什麼。”

“那只是樹枝間的風聲。”野豬說。

“你肯定不是說，”寒鴉對獾說道，“你認爲它是一個會說話的動物吧！它什麼也沒說。”