《能言馬與男孩》第11期:道旁遇險(6)
"All right then," said Aravis. "You've guessed it. Hwin and I are running away. We are trying to get to Narnia. And now, what about it?"
"Why, in that case, what is to prevent us all going together?" said Bree. "I trust, Madam Hwin, you will accept such assistance and protection as I may be able to give you on the journey?"
"Why do you keep talking to my horse instead of to me?" asked the girl.
"Excuse me, Tarkheena," said Bree (with just the slightest backward tilt of his ears), "but that's Calormene talk. We're free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you're running away to Narnia, you want to be one too. In that case Hwin isn't your horse any longer. One might just as well say you're her human."
The girl opened her mouth to speak and then stopped. Obviously she had not quite seen it in that light before.
"Still," she said after a moment's pause, "I don't know that there's so much point in all going together. Aren't we more likely to be noticed?"
"Less," said Bree; and the mare said, "Oh do let's. I should feel much more comfortable. We're not even certain of the way. I'm sure a great charger like this knows far more than we do."
"Oh come on, Bree," said Shasta, "and let them go their own way. Can't you see they don't want us?"
"We do," said Hwin.
"Look here," said the girl. "I don't mind going with you, Mr War-Horse, but what about this boy? How do I know he's not a spy?"
"Why don't you say at once that you think I'm not good enough for you?" said Shasta.
"Be quiet, Shasta," said Bree. "The Tarkheena's question is quite reasonable. I'll vouch for the boy, Tarkheena. He's been true to me and a good friend. And he's certainly either a Narnian or an Archenlander."
"All right, then. Let's go together." But she didn't say anything to Shasta and it was obvious that she wanted Bree, not him.
"Splendid!" said Bree. "And now that we've got the water between us and those dreadful animals, what about you two humans taking off our saddles and our all having a rest and hearing one another's stories."
Both the children unsaddled their horses and the horses had a little grass and Aravis produced rather nice things to eat from her saddle-bag?But Shasta sulked and said No thanks, and that he wasn't hungry. And he tried to put on what he thought very grand and stiff manners, but as a fisherman's but is not usually a good place for learning grand manners, the result was dreadful. And he half knew that it wasn't a success and then became sulkier and more awkward than ever. Meanwhile the two horses were getting on splendidly. They remembered the very same places in Narnia - "the grasslands up above Beaversdam" and found that they were some sort of second cousins once removed. This made things more and more uncomfortable for the humans until at last Bree said, "And now, Tarkheena, tell us your story. And don't hurry it - I'm feeling comfortable now."
Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.
“呀，既然如此，咱們何妨一起走呢？”布里說，”赫溫女士，我深信你會接受我在旅途中也許能爲你提供的幫助和保護！”
“爲什麼你老是跟我的馬兒說話，卻不向我說話呢？”小姑娘問道。
“請原諒我，泰克希娜，”布里說(它把雙耳稍稍向後翹起一點兒)，”不過那是卡樂門式的對話。赫溫和我，我們是納尼亞的自由的馬兒，依我的猜想，如果你到了納尼亞，你也想做個自由民的。在那種情況下，赫溫就不再是屬於你的馬兒了。人家倒可能說你是屬於它的人了。’
小姑娘要開口說話，卻又閉嘴不說了。很明顯，她過去從來沒有用這種觀點看問題。
“我還是不明白，”小姑娘沉默了一會兒又說道，”在大家起趕路這件事情上，竟有那麼多的論點。咱們一起走，是否更可能招人注意？’
“更不可能招人注意。”布里說，而母馬道：”噢，讓我們一起走吧。我會感到更舒服。我們甚至對路徑還沒有把握。像它這樣的一匹戰馬，懂得的東西遠比我們多啊。”
“走吧，布里，”沙斯塔說道，”讓她們走她們的路吧。你看不出她們不需要我們嗎？
“我們需要你們。”赫溫說。
“喂，”小姑娘說，”戰馬先生，我和你一起走倒並不介意，可是這孩子怎麼辦呢？我怎麼知道他不是個密探呢？”
“你爲什麼不幹乾脆脆說我高攀不上你呢？”
“安靜點兒，沙斯塔，”布里說道，”泰克希娜的問題是很合情理的。泰克希娜，我願爲這孩子擔保。他對我一向忠誠，是個好朋友。他肯定不是納尼亞人便是阿欽蘭人。”
“那就行了，讓咱們一起走吧。”但她什麼話也沒跟沙斯塔說。十分明顯，她要的是布里，不是他。
“好極了！”布里說，”現在我們和那些可怕的野獸之間隔着片大水，你們兩個人把我們的鞍子卸下來，我們大家休息一下，聽聽彼此的經歷，可好？”
兩個孩子都給馬兒卸下了鞍子，兩匹馬兒吃了點青草，阿拉維斯從鞍囊裏拿出頗爲精美的食物來吃。但沙斯塔慪氣，他說不，謝謝，他肚子不餓。他竭力要擺出他認爲是十分崇高十分剛強的態度來，可漁夫的小屋往往不是學習崇高風度的好地方，其後果因而十分可怕。他半兒知道自己並未獲得成功，這就變得比往常更加氣惱更加尷尬。與此同時，兩匹馬兒倒相處得極好。它們記起了納尼亞的同一個地方：”海狸水壩上邊兒的大草地”，並且發現它們原來還是第二代的表兄妹哩。這就搞得兩個人之間的關係越發不舒暢了，布里終於說道：”泰克希娜，現在把你的故事講給我們聽吧。可也不必匆匆忙忙——我現在正感覺輕鬆自在哩。”
阿拉維斯立刻講起來了，她一動也不動地坐着，用的是跟下常截然不同的聲調和風格。因爲在卡樂門王國，講故事(不論是真實的還是編造卅來的故事)是教出來的，就像英國男孩女孩寫散文是教出來的一樣。不同之處是：人們要聽故事，而我從來沒聽說過有什麼人要聽散文哩。
