《魔法師的外甥》第46期:第一個笑柄及其他(2)

"No, little friend," said the Lion. "You have not made the first joke; you have only been the first joke." Then everyone laughed More than ever; but the Jackdaw didn't mind and laughed just as loud till the horse shook its head and the Jackdaw lost its balance and fell off, but remembered its wings (they were still new to it) before it reached the ground.

"And now," said Aslan, "Narnia is established. We must next take thought for keeping it safe. I will call some of you to my council. Come hither to me, you the chief Dwarf, and you the River-god, and you Oak and the Owl, and both the Ravens and the Bull-Elephant. We must talk together. For though the world is not five hours old an evil has already entered it."

The creatures he had named came forward and he turned away eastward with them. The others all began talking, saying things like "What did he say had entered the world? - A Neevil - What's a Neevil? - No, he didn't say a Neevil, he said a weevil - Well, what's that?"

"Look here," said Digory to Polly, "I've got to go after him - Aslan, I mean, the Lion. I must speak to him."

"Do you think we can?" said Polly. "I wouldn't dare."

"I've got to," said Digory. "It's about Mother. If anyone could give me something that would do her good, it would be him."

"I'll come along with you," said the Cabby. "I liked the looks of 'im. And I don't reckon these other beasts will go for us. And I want a word with old Strawberry."

So all three of them stepped out boldly - or as boldly as they could - towards the assembly of animals. The creatures were so busy talking to one another and making friends that they didn't notice the three humans until they were very close; nor did they hear Uncle Andrew, who was standing trembling in his buttoned boots a good way off and shouting (but by no means at the top of his voice).

"Digory! Come back! Come back at once when you're told. I forbid you to go a step further."

When at last they were right in among the animals, the animals all stopped talking and stared at them.

"Well?" said the He-Beaver at last, "what, in the name of Aslan, are these?"

"Please," began Digory in rather a breathless voice, when a Rabbit said, "They're a kind of large lettuce, that's my belief."

"No, we're not, honestly we're not," said Polly hastily. "We're not at all nice to eat."

"There!" said the Mole. "They can talk. Who ever heard of a talking lettuce?"

"Perhaps they're the Second joke," suggested the Jackdaw.

“不，小朋友，”獅子說，“你沒有開第一個玩笑，你成了第一個笑柄。”其他的動物比剛纔笑得更厲害了。但寒鴉滿不在乎，也跟着大聲地笑，直到馬一搖頭，它站立不穩掉了下來。但在落地之前想起了翅膀，便飛了起來（對它來說，翅膀還沒用過呢）。

“現在，”阿斯蘭說，“納尼亞建立了。下一步，我們就要想方設法保衛它的安全。我將從你們中挑選一些組成我的顧問班子。過來，你，小矮人頭領。你，河神，你，橡樹神和雄貓頭鷹，你們兩隻渡鴉，還有公象。我們必須一起議事。雖然這個世界的成立還沒有五小時，一個惡魔已經進來了。”

它選出的動物走上前來，隨着它向東走去。其餘的則開始議論：“它說什麼已經進入我們這個世界了？什麼‘鏌’？到底是啥？——不，它沒說什麼‘鏌’。它說的是什麼‘果’。到底是什麼？”

“唉呀，”迪格雷對波莉說，“我得跟着去——阿斯蘭，就是那獅子。我必須和它談談。”

“你認爲我們能去嗎？”波莉說，“我不敢。”

“我不能不去，”迪格雷說，“爲了媽媽。如果誰能提供給她治病的東西，那麼肯定是它。”

“我和你們一起去吧，”馬車伕說，“我很喜歡它的樣子。我想和老草莓說句話。我不指望別的那些動物會來邀請我們。”

他們三人大膽地——或者說，壯着膽子——向動物羣中走去。動物們正忙着互相談話和交朋友，直到這三人走近才發現。它們當然也沒有聽見安德魯舅舅；他穿着扣得緊緊的鞋子在發抖，站在遠處大叫（但並沒有使出最大的勁）。

“迪格雷！回來，聽我的話立即回來。我不許你再往前走一步。”

當他們最後走到動物中時，動物們全都停止說話，注視着他們：

“唔，”雄河狸終於說，“以阿斯蘭的名義，這些是什麼？”

“對不起。”迪格雷呼吸急促地剛想說下去，一隻兔子接嘴道，“他們是一種大籬昔，我相信。”

“不，我們不是，確實不是。”波莉急忙說，“我們不是可以吃的東西。”

“哈！”鼴鼠說，”“他們能說話！誰聽說過萵苣能說話？”

“也許他們是第二個笑柄。”寒鴉說。