《能言馬與男孩》第22期:在塔什班城門口(4)

Of course his first impulse was to say that he was only poor Arsheesh the fisherman's son and that the foreign lord must have mistaken him for someone else. But then, the very last thing he wanted to do in that crowded place was to start explaining who he was and what he was doing. If he started on that, he would soon be asked where he had got his horse from, and who Aravis was - and then, goodbye to any chance of getting through Tashbaan. His next impulse was to look at Bree for help. But Bree had no intention of letting all the crowd know that he could talk, and stood looking just as stupid as a horse can. As for Aravis, Shasta did not even dare to look at her for fear of drawing attention. And there was no time to think, for the leader of the Narnians said at once:
"Take one of his little lordship's hands, Peridan, of your courtesy, and I'll take the other. And now, on. Our royal sister's mind will be greatly eased when she sees our young scapegrace safe in our lodging."
And so, before they were half-way through Tashbaan, all their plans were ruined, and without even a chance to say good-bye to the others Shasta found himself being marched off among strangers and quite unable to guess what might be going to happen next. The Narnian King - for Shasta began to see by the way the rest spoke to him that he must be a king - kept on asking him questions; where he had been, how he had got out, what he had done with his clothes, and didn't he know that he had been very naughty. Only the king called it "naught" instead of naughty.
And Shasta said nothing in answer, because he couldn't think of anything to say that would not be dangerous.

"What! All mum?" asked the king. "I must plainly tell you, prince, that this hangdog silence becomes one of your blood even less than the scape itself. To run away might pass for a boy's frolic with some spirit in it. But the king's son of Archenland should avouch his deed; not hang his head like a Calormene slave."

This was very unpleasant, for Shasta felt all the time that this young king was the very nicest kind of grown-up and would have liked to make a good impression on him.

The strangers led him-held tightly by both hands-along a narrow street and down a flight of shallow stairs and then up another to a wide doorway in a white wall with two tall, dark cypress trees, one on each side of it. Once through the arch, Shasta found himself in a courtyard which was also a garden. A marble basin of clear water in the centre was kept continually rippling by the fountain that fell into it. Orange trees grew round it out of smooth grass, and the four white walls which surrounded the lawn were covered with climbing roses. The noise and dust and crowding of the streets seemed suddenly fad away. He was led rapidly across the garden and then into a dark doorway. The crier remained outside. After that they took him along a corridor, where the stone floor felt beautifully cool to his hot feet, and up some stairs. A moment later he found himself blinking in the light of a big, airy room with wide open windows, all looking North so that no sun came in. There was a carpet on the floor more wonderfully coloured than anything he had ever seen and his feet sank down into it as if he were treading in thick moss. All round the walls there were low sofas with rich cushions on them, and the room seemed to be full of people; very queer people some of them, thought Shasta. But he had no time to think of that before the most beautiful lady he had ever seen rose from her place and threw her arms round him and kissed him, saying:

當然，他第一個衝動是想對他們申明：他不過是貧窮的漁夫阿什伊什的兒子，外國國王們必定是把他錯認爲別人了。然而，在這人頭攢動的地方，他最不願意做的事就是向大家解釋，他是什麼人，他正在幹什麼事情。如果他開始觸及這個問題，人家就會問他他從哪兒搞到馬兒的，阿拉維斯又是什麼人——這樣來，穿過塔什班城而去的任何機會就都完蛋了。他的第二個衝動是瞧瞧布里，向它求援。但布里無意讓所有的人都知道它能說人話，它站在那兒，看上去愚蠢得像匹最愚蠢的馬兒。至於阿拉維斯，沙斯塔甚至看也不敢看她，因爲他怕引起注意。而且也沒有時間思考了，因爲納尼亞人的領袖立刻說道：
“珀裏丹，你要謙恭有禮地攙住小王爺的一隻手，我來攙住他另一隻手。現在走吧。我們的王妹看到年輕的淘氣鬼安然無恙地落在我們的手裏，她一定會大大的放心了。”

就這樣，他們在塔什班城還沒有走到一半路，所有的計劃便全毀了，甚至連向其他人道別一聲的機會也沒有了。沙斯塔發覺自己被迫在陌生人之間大步走着，卻毫無辦法去猜測下一步會發生刊麼事惰。納尼亞國王——從其餘的人跟他說話的方式看來，沙斯塔開始斷定他僻定是個國王——問他許多問題：他到哪兒去了？他怎麼跑出來的？他的衣服又弄到哪兒去了？他是否認識到他一直十分頑皮？只是國王不說他頑皮，只說他”皮”。
沙斯塔啥也沒有回答，因爲他想不出什麼不會惹出禍殃的答案。

“怎麼'裝聾作啞嗎？”國王問道，”我必須明明白白地告訴你，王子，這種卑鄙的沉默，對於你這種血統和地位的人，較之對於淘氣搗蛋的傢伙，叫是更加不相稱不合適了。平白無故地溜掉，可以看做是一個孩子暈頭暈腦地鬧着玩兒。但阿欽蘭國王的兒子應該公開承認事實，可不應耷拉着腦袋像個卡樂門國的奴隸啊。”
這話聽起來十分不愉快，因爲沙斯塔始終覺得這位年輕的國王是大人之中最和善的，他很想給對方個好印象。

陌生人帶着他——緊緊地揪住他的雙手——沿一條狹窄的街道走去，走下一列小臺階，再從另一列臺階向上走去，到了一道雪白牆垣單一個寬闊的大門口，大門左右兩邊各有一棵黑蒼蒼的高大柏樹。踏進拱門，沙斯塔發覺自己進了一個院子，那也是個花園。中央是個人理石清水盆，泉水涓滴不絕地落入盆內。水盆周圍，平整的草坪上長着橘子樹。圍着草坪的四垛雪白牆垣上爬滿了薔薇花。街道上的塵土和擁擠似乎突然消失了。他被人迅速地帶過花園，然後進入個黑暗的門口。傳呼員待在門外。這之後，他們帶着他走過一道走廊(走廊裏的石頭地面使他感到股涼意舒適地直透他炎熱的雙足)，走上一道樓梯。不一會兒，他便在一個巨大、軒敞的房間的亮光裏眨巴着眼睛了。房間裏的窗子大開着，都是朝北的，所以沒有陽光照進房間裏來。地板上鋪着一條地毯，色彩之豔麗，是他從來沒有見過的，他的雙腳窩進了地毯裏去，彷彿踩在厚實的替苔上。繞着牆壁擺滿了低矮的沙發，沙發上又擺了許多靠墊，房間裏似乎都是人，沙斯塔覺得有幾個人很古怪。但他無暇考慮這個問題，一位他從未見過的最最美麗的女士從座位上站了起來，伸出手臂抱住他，親吻他，口中說道，