《能言馬與男孩》第2期:沙斯塔出奔(4)

"Yes, if you'll come with me," answered the Horse. "This is the chance for both of us. You see if I run away without a rider, everyone who sees me will say "Stray horse" and be after me as quick as he can. With a rider I've a chance to get through. That's where you can help me. On the other hand, you can't get very far on those two silly legs of yours (what absurd legs humans have!) without being overtaken. But on me you can outdistance any other horse in this country. That's where I can help you. By the way, I suppose you know how to ride?"

“是的，如果你願意跟我一起走的話。”馬兒答道，“對咱們倆，這都是個機會。你瞧，如果我自己跑出去，卻沒有個騎馬的人，每個看見我的人都會說我是一頭‘走失的馬’，就會拼命來追我了。有個騎馬的人，我才能通行無阻。那就是你可以幫我忙的地方。另一方面，靠你那愚蠢可笑的兩腿，(人的腿真是荒唐可笑！)你是沒法兒走遠的，總要被追上來逮住的。然而騎在我身上，你就可以把這個國家裏其他任何馬兒都遠遠地拋在後面。那就是我可以幫你忙的地方。順便問一句，你大概懂得怎樣騎馬吧?”

"Oh yes, of course," said Shasta. "At least, I've ridden the donkey."

“是啊，當然會騎的呀。”沙斯塔說，“至少我騎過驢子。”

"Ridden the what?" retorted the Horse with extreme contempt. (At least, that is what he meant. Actually it came out in a sort of neigh — "Ridden the wha—ha—ha—ha—ha." Talking horses always become more horsy in accent when they are angry.)

“騎過什麼?”馬兒十分鄙夷地反脣相譏道。(至少，馬兒是這個意思。實際上它發出了一種嘶鳴的聲音：“騎過哇——哈——哈——哈。”會說話的馬兒，當它們憤怒的時候，馬腔馬調就更加濃重了。

"In other words," it continued, "you can't ride. That's a drawback. I'll have to teach you as we go along. If you can't ride, can you fall?"

“換句話說，”馬兒繼續說道，“你不會騎馬。那倒是個麻煩。一路上我得教你騎馬。如果你不會騎馬，你會跌跤嗎?”

"I suppose anyone can fall," said Shasta.

“我想誰都會跌跤的吧。”沙斯塔說。

"1 mean can you fall and get up again without crying and mount again and fall again and yet not be afraid of falling?"

“我的意思是，你有沒有這個能耐：從馬上摔下來了，就一聲不吭地從地上爬起來，重新爬到馬背上，再一次從馬背上摔下來，然而依舊不害怕跌跤?”

"I — I'll try," said Shasta.

“我——我試試吧。”沙斯塔說。

"Poor little beast," said the Horse in a gentler tone. "I forget you're only a foal. We'll make a fine rider of you in time. And now — we mustn't start until those two in the but are asleep. Meantime we can make our plans. My Tarkaan is on his way North to the great city, to Tashbaan itself and the court of the Tisroc —"

“可憐的小牲口，”馬兒用比較溫和的語調說道，“我忘了你不過是頭小駒子。我要及時地把你訓練成一個好騎手。眼下——屋子裏那兩個人睡熟之前，我們千萬不要動身。在這段時間裏，我們可以把計劃商量好。我那泰坎是在往北到大城市去的途中，他要到塔什班城，要到蒂斯羅克的宮廷——”

"I say," put in Shasta in rather a shocked voice, "oughtn't you to say `May he live for ever'?"

“我說，”沙斯塔用嚇了一跳的聲音插嘴道，“你應該說‘願他萬壽無疆’吧?”

"Why?" asked the Horse. "I'm a free Narnian. And why should I talk slaves' and fools' talk? I don't want him to live for ever, and I know that he's not going to live for ever whether I want him to or not. And I can see you're from the free North too. No more of this Southern jargon between you and me! And now, back to our plans. As I said, my human was on his way North to Tashbaan."

“爲什麼?”馬兒問道、“我是頭自由的納尼亞馬，爲什麼我該像奴隸和傻瓜一樣說話?我並不要他萬壽無疆，而且我也知道，不論我要不要，他是不會萬壽無疆的。你和我之間別再說這種南方的屁話了I現在回到我們的計劃上來吧。就像我說過的，我的那個人正往北方走，要到塔什班去。”

"Does that mean we'd better go to the South?"

“你的意思是說，我們還是往南方去的好?”

"I think not," said the Horse. "You see, he thinks I'm dumb and witless like his other horses. Now if I really were, the moment I got loose I'd go back home to my stable and paddock; back to his palace which is two days' journey South. That's where he'll look for me. He'd never dream of my going on North on my own. And anyway he will probably think that someone in the last village who saw him ride through has followed us to here and stolen me."

“我不是這個意思。”馬兒道，“你瞧，他認爲我不會說話，毫不聰明，就跟他其他的馬兒一樣。這樣的話，他認爲我走散後會回到家裏。走進我的馬廄和圍場。回他的王府要向南走兩天的路程，他會在那兒尋找我。他做夢也想不到我會按照自己的意思往北走的。再說，他很可能認爲有人看見他騎馬走過最後一個村子時，釘上了我們的梢，到這兒便把我偷走了。”

"Oh hurrah!" said Shasta. "Then we'll go North. I've been longing to go to the North all my life."

“啊，好極了！”沙斯塔說道，“那麼我們就決定往北走。我一生都渴望着要到北方去啊。”

"Of course you have," said the Horse. "That's because of the blood that's in you. I'm sure you're true Northern stock. But not too loud. I should think they'd be asleep soon now."

“當然你曾經渴望過的，”馬兒說，“那是由於你身體裏的血統的緣故。我確信你是真正的北方種。可是說話別太響了。我倒認爲現在他們快要睡熟了。”

"I'd better creep back and see," suggested Shasta.

“我還是爬回去瞧瞧的好。”沙斯塔建議。

"That's a good idea," said the Horse. "But take care you're not caught."

“那是個好主意，”馬兒說，“不過你要留神別給逮住。”

It was a good deal darker now and very silent except for the sound of the waves on the beach, which Shasta hardly noticed because he had been hearing it day and night as long as he could remember. The cottage, as he approached it, showed no light. When he listened at the front there was no noise. When he went round to the only window, he could hear, after a second or two, the familiar noise of the old fisherman's squeaky snore. It was funny to think that if all went well he would never hear it again. Holding his breath and feeling a little bit sorry, but much less sorry than he was glad, Shasta glided away over the grass and went to the donkey's stable, groped along to a place he knew where the key was hidden, opened the door and found the Horse's saddle and bridle which had been locked up there for the night. He bent forward and kissed the donkey's nose. "I'm sorry we can't take you," he said.

現在天黑得多了，也十分寂靜，只聽見海灘上的濤聲；沙斯塔可毫不注意濤聲，因爲就他能記事的歲月以來，他日日夜夜聽到的就是濤聲。他走近時，屋子裏沒露出燈光來。他在前門側耳靜聽，沒有聲音。他繞到惟一的一個窗子下面，過了一兩秒鐘，他能聽到熟悉的老漁夫的呼呼鼾聲了。想起來也好笑，如果一切順利，他就會從此不再聽到達鼾聲了。他屏息靜氣，稍稍感到有點兒遺憾，但畢竟是快樂多於遺憾。沙斯塔悄悄走過草地，走到驢棚去。他摸索着走到一個他知道是藏鑰匙的地方，打開門，找到了馬鞍子和馬籠頭(那是擱在那兒過夜的)。他俯下身來吻吻驢子的鼻子。“我很抱歉，不能帶你一起走。”他說。

"There you are at last," said the Horse when he got back to it. "I was beginning to wonder what had become of you."

“你終於來了，”他回去時馬兒說道，“我正琢磨你到哪兒去了呢。”