《獅子女巫與魔衣櫥》第6章:進入森林
"I wish the Macready would hurry up and take all these people away," said Susan presently, "I'm getting horribly cramped."
"And what a filthy smell of camphor!" said Edmund.
"I expect the pockets of these coats are full of it," said Susan, "to keep away the moths."
"There's something sticking into my back," said Peter.
"And isn't it cold?" said Susan.
"Now that you mention it, it is cold," said Peter, "and hang it all, it's wet too. What's the matter with this place? I'm sitting on something wet. It's getting wetter every minute." He struggled to his feet.
"Let's get out," said Edmund, "they've gone."
"O-o-oh!" said Susan suddenly, and everyone asked her what was the matter.
"I'm sitting against a tree," said Susan, "and look! It's getting light - over there."
"By Jove, you're right," said Peter, "and look there - and there. It's trees all round. And this wet stuff is snow. Why, I do believe we've got into Lucy's wood after all."
And now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day. Behind them were coats hanging on pegs, in front of them were snow-covered trees.
Peter turned at once to Lucy.
"I apologize for not believing you," he said, "I'm sorry. Will you shake hands?"
"Of course," said Lucy, and did.
"And now," said Susan, "what do we do next?"
"Do?" said Peter, "why, go and explore the wood, of course."
"Ugh!" said Susan, stamping her feet, "it's pretty cold. What about putting on some of these coats?"
"They're not ours," said Peter doubtfully.
"I am sure nobody would mind," said Susan; "it isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe."
"I never thought of that, Su," said Peter. "Of course, now you put it that way, I see. No one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in the wardrobe where you found it. And I suppose this whole country is in the wardrobe."
They immediately carried out Susan's very sensible plan. The coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on. But they all felt a good deal warmer and each thought the others looked better in their new get-up and more suitable to the landscape.
"We can pretend we are Arctic explorers," said Lucy.
"This is going to be exciting enough without pretending," said Peter, as he began leading the way forward into the forest. There were heavy darkish clouds overhead and it looked as if there might be more snow before night.
"I say," began Edmund presently, "oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post?" He had forgotten for the moment that he must pretend never to have been in the wood before. The moment the words were out of his mouth he realized that he had given himself away. Everyone stopped; everyone stared at him. Peter whistled.
"So you really were here," he said, "that time Lu said she'd met you in here - and you made out she was telling lies."
There was a dead silence. "Well, of all the poisonous little beasts -" said Peter, and shrugged his shoulders and said no more. There seemed, indeed, no more to say, and presently the four resumed their journey; but Edmund was saying to himself, "I'll pay you all out for this, you pack of stuck-up, selfsatisfied prigs."
"Where are we going anyway?" said Susan, chiefly for the sake of changing the subject.
"I think Lu ought to be the leader," said Peter; "goodness knows she deserves it. Where will you take us, Lu?"
"What about going to see Mr Tumnus?" said Lucy. "He's the nice Faun I told you about."
Everyone agreed to this and off they went walking briskly and stamping their feet. Lucy proved a good leader. At first she wondered whether she would be able to find the way, but she recognized an oddlooking tree on one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of Mr Tumnus's cave. But there a terrible surprise awaited them.
The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Inside, the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor, mixed with something black, which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Faun's father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.
"This is a pretty good wash-out," said Edmund; "not much good coming here."
"What is this?" said Peter, stooping down. He had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.
"Is there anything written on it?" asked Susan.
"Yes, I think there is," answered Peter, "but I can't read it in this light. Let's get out into the open air."
They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words:
The former occupant of these premises, the Faun Tumnus, is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Chatelaine of Cair Paravel, Empress of the Lone Islands, etc., also of comforting her said Majesty's enemies, harbouring spies and fraternizing with Humans.
signed MAUGRIM, Captain of the Secret Police, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN
The children stared at each other.
"I don't know that I'm going to like this place after all," said Susan.
"Who is this Queen, Lu?" said Peter. "Do you know anything about her?"
"She isn't a real queen at all," answered Lucy; "she's a horrible witch, the White Witch. Everyone all the wood people - hate her. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas."
"I - I wonder if there's any point in going on," said Susan. "I mean, it doesn't seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won't be much fun either. And it's getting colder every minute, and we've brought nothing to eat. What about just going home?"
"Oh, but we can't, we can't," said Lucy suddenly; "don't you see? We can't just go home, not after this. It is all on my account that the poor Faun has got into this trouble. He hid me from the Witch and showed me the way back. That's what it means by comforting the Queen's enemies and fraternizing with Humans. We simply must try to rescue him."
"A lot we could do! said Edmund, "when we haven't even got anything to eat!"
"Shut up - you!" said Peter, who was still very angry with Edmund. "What do you think, Susan?"
"I've a horrid feeling that Lu is right," said Susan. "I don't want to go a step further and I wish we'd never come. But I think we must try to do something for Mr Whatever-his-name is - I mean the Faun."
"That's what I feel too," said Peter. "I'm worried about having no food with us. I'd vote for going back and getting something from the larder, only there doesn't seem to be any certainty of getting into this country again when once you've got out of it. I think we'll have to go on."
"So do I," said both the girls.
"If only we knew where the poor chap was imprisoned!" said Peter.
They were all still wondering what to do next, when Lucy said, "Look! There's a robin, with such a red breast. It's the first bird I've seen here. I say! - I wonder can birds talk in Narnia? It almost looks as if it wanted to say something to us." Then she turned to the Robin and said, "Please, can you tell us where Tumnus the Faun has been taken to?" As she said this she took a step towards the bird. It at once flew away but only as far as to the next tree. There it perched and looked at them very hard as if it understood all they had been saying. Almost without noticing that they had done so, the four children went a step or two nearer to it. At this the Robin flew away again to the next tree and once more looked at them very hard. (You couldn't have found a robin with a redder chest or a brighter eye.)
"Do you know," said Lucy, "I really believe he means us to follow him."
"I've an idea he does," said Susan. "What do you think, Peter?"
"Well, we might as well try it," answered Peter.
The Robin appeared to understand the matter thoroughly. It kept going from tree to tree, always a few yards ahead of them, but always so near that they could easily follow it. In this way it led them on, slightly downhill. Wherever the Robin alighted a little shower of snow would fall off the branch. Presently the clouds parted overhead and the winter sun came out and the snow all around them grew dazzlingly bright. They had been travelling in this way for about half an hour, with the two girls in front, when Edmund said to Peter, "if you're not still too high and mighty to talk to me, I've something to say which you'd better listen to."
"What is it?" asked Peter.
"Hush! Not so loud," said Edmund; "there's no good frightening the girls. But have you realized what we're doing?"
"What?" said Peter, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"We're following a guide we know nothing about. How do we know which side that bird is on? Why shouldn't it be leading us into a trap?"
"That's a nasty idea. Still - a robin, you know. They're good birds in all the stories I've ever read. I'm sure a robin wouldn't be on the wrong side."
"It if comes to that, which is the right side? How do we know that the Fauns are in the right and the Queen (yes, I know we've been told she's a witch) is in the wrong? We don't really know anything about either."
"The Faun saved Lucy."
"He said he did. But how do we know? And there's another thing too. Has anyone the least idea of the way home from here?"
"Great Scott!" said Peter, "I hadn't thought of that."
"And no chance of dinner either," said Edmund.
“樟腦的氣味太難聞了！”愛德蒙接着說。
“我到希望這些外衣的口袋裏多放些樟腦丸，”蘇珊說，“這樣就不會有蛾子了。”
“有什麼東西戳到我背上了。”彼得說。
“你們感到冷嗎？”蘇珊問。
“你這麼一說，我倒真的冷起來了。”彼得說，“真該死，這裏還潮呼呼的呢。這到底是怎麼啦?我坐的地方一下子變得溼漉漉的了。”他一下子跳了起來。
“我們還是出去吧。”愛德蒙說，“他們已經走啦。”
“喲！”蘇珊突然尖叫一聲，大家都問她是怎麼一回事。
“我靠着一棵樹坐在這兒。”蘇珊說，“看，那邊有亮光了。”
“啊，真的，”彼得說，“瞧那兒，到處都是樹。潮呼呼的東西是雪。啊，我現在真的相信我們也到了露茜來過的森林裏了。”
彼得的話一點也不錯。四個孩子全站在那兒，在冬天陽光的照耀下，他們眨巴着眼睛。在他們後面是掛在衣鉤上的外套，在他們面前是覆蓋着雪的樹木。
彼得轉過身朝着露茜說：“我以前不相信你說的話，現在我向你道歉。真對不起，讓我們握手，好嗎？”
“好。”露茜一邊說，一邊和他握手。
“那麼，”蘇珊說，“我們下一步該怎麼辦？”
“怎麼辦？”彼得說，“還用說嗎，當然到森林裏去探險羅。”
“哦，”蘇姍跺着腳說，“多冷呀，拿幾件外套先穿上，你們說好嗎？”
“這怎麼行，衣服不是我們的。”彼得猶豫不決地說。
“我相信誰也不會有什麼意見，”蘇珊說，“我們又不想把它們帶到屋外去，我們甚至不會把它們帶出衣櫥。”
“我倒沒考慮到這一點，蘇，”彼得說，“經你這麼一說，我看當然可以。只要你們在櫥裏什麼地方拿的，還放在什麼地方，就不會有誰說你們是小偷了。據我猜測，這整個國家就在衣櫥裏邊。”
於是，他們就立即執行了蘇珊的這個合情合理的計劃。衣服太大，他們套在身上，一直拖到腳後跟，就像是穿了龍袍似的。但他們都感到暖和多了，相互一打量，也都覺得這樣打扮顯得更好看了，與冰天雪地的風光也更相配了。
“我們可以裝扮成北極探險家。”露茜說。
“就這樣，不用什麼打扮，也夠威風的了。”彼得一邊說，一邊領着大家朝森林前進。頭上烏雲密佈，似乎在傍晚前還要下一場大雪。
“喂，”走了一會兒以後愛德蒙說，“如果我們要到燈柱那邊去的話，我們就應該向左邊靠一點兒。”他一時忘記了，他必須裝得像是他以前沒來過這兒。話剛說出口，他就意識到自己露了馬腳。大家停了下來，都盯住他看。彼得吹了一聲口哨。
“你原來到過這兒，”他說，“那次露茜說在這兒碰見你，你卻一口咬定她說謊。”接着是死一般的沉寂。“唉，各種各樣難對付的人都有……”彼得說着，聳了聳肩膀，就沒有往下再說什麼。看來，也確實沒有更多的話可說了，過了一會兒，四個人又重新開始他們的旅程。只有愛德蒙心裏暗暗在想：我總有一天要懲罰你們一下，你們這一夥自命不凡的僞君子。
“我們到底往哪裏走啊？”蘇珊問道，她這樣說，主要是爲了岔開剛纔的話題。
“我看，應當讓露茜做嚮導，”彼得說，“也只有她配做嚮導。璐，你打算帶我們上哪兒去？”
“去看看圖姆納斯先生，好不好？”露茜答道，“他就是我對你們講過的那個善良的農牧之神。”
大家一致同意這個建議，於是就立即出發。他們一邊輕快地跑着，一邊跺着腳。事實證明，露茜是個好向導。起初，她擔心自己找不到路，但她在一個地方認出了一棵長得古里古怪的樹，後來又認出了一個樹樁，終於把大家帶到了一個崎嶇不平的地方，然後進了那個小山谷，沒多久就到了圖姆納斯先生的洞口，但他們所看到的卻是一幅十分可怕的景象，他們都大吃一驚。
門已被扭脫了下來，斷成了好幾截，洞內又黑又冷，又潮溼，滿是黴味。看來，這個地方已有好些日子沒有人住了。雪從洞口吹進來，堆積在門口，裏面還混雜着一些黑糊糊的東西，再一看，是燒剩下來的木炭屑和炭灰。很明顯，是有人把燒着的柴火扔到了洞內，然後又把它們踩滅了。陶罐打碎在地上，羊怪父親的畫像被人用刀子砍成了碎片。
“這地方糟蹋的簡直不成樣子。”愛德蒙說，“到這兒來有啥意思呢？”
“這是什麼呀？”彼得一邊蹲下身子一邊說。他發現地毯上釘有一張紙。
“上面寫些什麼？”蘇珊問。
“上面好象有字，”彼得回答，“但在這兒看不清楚，我們還是拿到外面去看吧。”他們都跑到了洞外，圍着彼得聽他念道：
本處原主農牧神圖姆納斯，因反對那尼亞女王、凱爾·巴拉維爾城堡的女主人、孤島女皇傑蒂絲陛下，庇護女王陛下的敵人，窩藏奸細，與人類友好，罪行嚴重，現已被捕，即將受審。
女王陛下萬歲！
保安局長封列士·尤爾夫
（簽名）
孩子們互相瞪着眼睛。
“我說不上我到底是否喜歡這個地方。”蘇珊說。
“這個女王是誰，璐？”彼得問，“你知道她的情況嗎？”
“她哪裏是什麼女王，”露茜回答說，“她是個可怕的女巫，就是那個白女巫。森林裏所有的人都恨她。她對全國都施行了一種妖術，所以這裏一年到頭都是冬天，始終沒有聖誕節。”
“我，我懷疑繼續走下去是不是有什麼意義，”蘇珊說，“我是說，這裏似乎不十分安全，也沒有多少有趣的地方。天氣越來越冷，我們又沒帶吃的東西。不如現在就回家吧。”
“哦，不能，不能，”露茜馬上說，“難道你們還不清楚嗎？既然清楚了，我們就不能這樣回家。都是爲了我，可憐的羊怪才闖下了這樣大的禍。靠了他的掩護，我纔沒有遭到女巫的毒手，他告訴了我回去的路。這張紙上說他庇護女王的敵人、與人類友好就是指這些。我們必須趕快想辦法救他。”
“我們連吃的東西也沒有，還能做旁的事嗎？”愛德蒙說。
“你，住嘴！”彼得說，他還在對愛德蒙生氣，“你的意見呢，蘇珊？”
“露茜說得不錯。”蘇珊說，“我一步也不想走了，唉，如果我們不到這兒來，多好啊。但我想，我們必須替那個先生——他叫什麼名字？我記不清楚了——我說的是那個農牧之神，想想辦法。”
“我也這樣想，”彼得說，“我也擔心我們身上沒帶吃的東西，我同意回去拿點兒食品再來。但是，我們一出去以後，恐怕就不能再到這個國家來。我看，我們得繼續前進。”
“我也這樣想。”兩個女孩子異口同聲地說。
“要是我們知道這個可憐的人被囚禁在什麼地方就好了。”彼得說。
大家默不作聲，考慮着下一步該怎麼辦。突然，露茜對大家說：“你們看，那裏有一隻知更鳥，它的胸脯是多麼的紅啊。它是我在這兒看到的第一隻鳥。哎呀，難道那尼亞的鳥兒會講話嗎？它看來好像有什麼話要對我們說似的。”說着，她就轉過身對知更鳥說：“請問，你知道圖姆納斯先生被押送到什麼地方去了嗎？”她說着，又朝着鳥兒走近了一步。那知更鳥立即就跳着飛走了，不過它就落在緊緊相鄰的一棵樹上。它停在那兒，緊緊地盯着他們，好像它完全懂得他們說的話似的。四個孩子幾乎把什麼都忘了，一起向它靠近了一兩步。看到他們走近了，那鳥兒又飛到了另外一棵樹上，仍然緊盯着他們。（你肯定沒看到過胸脯比它還要紅、眼睛比它還要亮的知更鳥）
“我說呀，”露茜說，“我真的相信它是要我們跟着它走呢。”
“我看也是這樣。”蘇珊說，“彼得，你看呢？”
“嗯，我們可以試試。”彼得說。
那知更鳥好像完全懂事似的，它不斷地從一棵樹飛到另一棵樹，總是飛落在他們前面僅僅幾碼遠的地方，使他們很容易跟上它。它就這樣引着他們慢慢地走下山坡。它每停一處，那兒的樹枝上就掉下一陣雪來。沒過多久，頭上的烏雲散開了，太陽出來了，茫茫雪原變得更加耀眼晶瑩。他們就這樣一直走了大約半個小時，兩個女孩子一直走在前面。這時，愛德蒙對彼得說：“如果你們不再這樣高傲自大、目中無人，我有話要對你們說，你們最好聽聽。”
“你要說什麼？”彼得問。
“嗬，小聲點，”愛德蒙說，“別嚇了女孩子。你有沒有意識到我們是在幹什麼嗎？”
“什麼？”彼得壓低了聲音問。
“我們跟隨的這個嚮導，它的情況我們一點也不清楚。我們怎麼知道那鳥兒站在哪一邊呢？難道它就不會把我們帶到危險的地方去嗎？”
“這是一種荒唐的想法。在我讀過的所有的故事中，知更鳥都是善良的鳥兒。我敢肯定，知更鳥不會站在錯誤的一邊。”
“就算是這樣吧，哪一邊是正確的呢？我們又怎麼知道農牧之神是正確的，而女王（是的，我知道人家告訴我們她是女巫）是錯誤的呢？他們兩邊的情況我們的確一點也不知道。”
“羊怪救了露茜的命。”
“這是羊怪自己這樣說的，我們又哪裏知道呢？另外，又有誰知道回家去的路呢？”
“天哪！”彼得說，“這些問題我事先還沒有認真考慮過呢！”
“而且，飯也吃不上！”愛德蒙說。
