《魔法師的外甥》第47期:第一個笑柄及其他(3)

A Panther, which had been washing its face, stopped for a moment to say, "Well, if they are, they're nothing like so good as the first one. At least, 1 don't see anything very funny about them." It yawned and went on with its wash.

"Oh, please," said Digory. "I'm in such a hurry. I want to see the Lion."

All this time the Cabby had been trying to catch Strawberry's eye. Now he did. "Now, Strawberry, old boy," he said. "You know me. You ain't going to stand there and say as you don't know me."

"What's the Thing talking about, Horse?" said several voices.

"Well," said Strawberry very slowly, "I don't exactly know, I think most of us don't know much about any thing yet. But I've a sort of idea I've seen a thing like this before. I've a feeling I lived somewhere else - or was something else - before Aslan woke us all up a few minutes ago. It's all very muddled. Like a dream. But there were things like these three in the dream."

"What?" said the Cabby. "Not know me? Me what used to bring you a hot mash of an evening when you was out of sorts? Me what rubbed you down proper? Me what never forgot to put your cloth on you if you was standing in the _ cold? I wouldn't 'ave thought it of you, Strawberry."

"It does begin to come back," said the Horse thoughtfully. "Yes. Let me think now, let me think. Yes, you used to tie a horrid black thing behind me and then hit me to make me run, and however far I ran this black thing would always be coming rattle-rattle behind me."

"We 'ad our living to earn, see," said the Cabby. "Yours the same as mine. And if there 'adn't been no work and no whip there'd 'ave been no stable, no hay, no mash, and no oats. For you did get a taste of oats when I could afford 'em, which no one can deny."

"Oats?" said the Horse, pricking up his ears. "Yes, I remember something about that. Yes, I remember more and more. You were always sitting up somewhere behind, and I was always running in front, pulling you and the black thing. I know I did all the work."

"Summer, I grant you," said the Cabby. " 'Ot work for you and a cool seat for me. But what about winter, old boy, when you was keeping yourself warm and I was sitting up there with my feet like ice and my nose fair pinched off me with the wind, and my 'ands that numb I couldn't 'ardly 'old the reins?"

"It was a hard, cruel country," said Strawberry. "There was no grass. All hard stones."

一頭一直在洗臉的黑豹躊躇了一下，說道，“嗯，如果是的話，也沒有第一個好笑。至少，我看不出他們有什麼可笑之處。”它打了一個呵欠，又繼續洗臉。

“噢，對不起，”迪格雷說，“我很着急。我想見見獅子。

馬車伕一直存試着吸引草莓的目光。終子，它看見他了。“草莓，好朋友，”他說，“你認識我。你不會往那兒一站就說不認識我吧，”

“那玩意兒在說什麼，馬？”幾個聲音問道。

“嗯，”草莓慢吞吞地說，“我不太清楚。我認爲我們中的大多數都還不知道多少事情。但我覺得，我以前見過類似的這種玩意兒。我有種感覺，我過去住存別的什麼地方——或者說，是另外一種東兩——在阿斯蘭幾分鐘前喚醒我們之前。一切都混混沌沌的，像一個夢，但夢裏有很像他們三個的玩意兒。”

“什麼？”馬車伕說，“你不認識我，就是我，在你不舒服時拿谷糖給你當晚餐，就是我給你梳理鬃毛，你居然不認識我？你站在冷地方我從沒忘記給你蓋點兒什麼，沒想到你會說出這種話，草莓。”

“真的想起來了。”馬沉思着，“是的。讓我想想，想想。對了，你過去老是把一個可怕的黑東西綁在我後面，然後打着我往前跑。不管我跑多遠，那黑東西都一直在我後面哐啷哐啷地拖着。”

“我們不得不掙錢過日子，”馬車伕說，“你我是一根藤上的苦瓜。要是不幹活兒不挨鞭子，就不會有馬廄和乾草，不會有谷糖和燕麥。我買得起燕麥的時候，你就能嚐到一點兒。這一點誰也不能否認。”

“燕麥？”馬豎起耳朵說，“對，我記得有那種東西。是的，我記得的事兒越來越多了。你以前總是坐在我後面的一個地方，而我總在前面跑，拉着你和那黑東西。我知道，所有的活兒都是我在幹。”

“夏天，我承認，”馬車伕說，“你幹活兒很熱，我坐在涼快的地方。可冬天呢，好朋友。你能一直讓自己暖和，我卻坐在那兒，腳凍得像冰棍似的，鼻子都快讓風給刮掉了，手也二東僵了，差點兒抓不住繮繩。”

“那是個難以忍受的殘酷的國家，”草莓說，“那兒沒有草，全是硬硬的石頭。”