《最後一戰》第72期:更高更深路(5)

"The Eagle is right," said the Lord Digory. "Listen, Peter. When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. But that was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been here and always will be here: just as our world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan's real world. You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream." His voice stirred everyone like a trumpet as he spoke these words: but when he added under his breath "It's all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!" the older ones laughed. It was so exactly like the sort of thing they had heard him say long ago in that other world where his beard was grey instead of golden. He knew why they were laughing and joined in the laugh himself. But very quickly they all became grave again: for, as you know, there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes.

It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a lookingglass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different - deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that: if ever you get there you will know what I mean.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!"

He shook his mane and sprang forward into a great gallop - a Unicorn's gallop, which, in our world, would have carried him out of sight in a few moments. But now a most strange thing happened. Everyone else began to run, and they found, to their astonishment, that they could keep up with him: not only the Dogs and the humans but even fat little Puzzle and short-legged Poggin the Dwarf. The air flew in their faces as if they were driving fast in a car without a windscreen. The country flew past as if they were seeing it from the windows of an express train. faster and faster they raced, but no one got hot or tired or out of breath.

“老鷹的話是正確的，”迪格雷勳爵說道，“聽着，彼得。阿斯蘭說你永遠回不了納尼亞時，他指的是你腦子裏正想着的那個納尼亞。但那不是真正的納尼亞。那有一個開端也有一個結局。那隻不過是真正的納尼亞的一個影子或是摹本，過去和將來，莫不總是如此，正如我們自己的世界，英國和世界各國，只不過是在阿斯蘭的世界裏的某些東西的一個影子或摹本。露茜，你無需爲納尼亞哀悼。老納尼亞中一切重要的東西，一切可愛的動物，都已經由那個門進入了真正的納尼亞。當然啦，這是不同的，就像一件真的東西跟它的影子是不同的。或者就像醒着的生活跟一個夢是不同的那樣。”當他說這些話時，他的聲音像喇叭一樣使大家爲之激動：但，當他低聲補充道：“這意思都寫在柏拉圖的書裏了，都寫在柏拉圖的書裏了：我的天哪，他們在那些學校裏教些什麼呀！”年紀較大的人都哈哈大笑。這一席話跟他們好久以前在另一個世界裏聽他講的那種話完全一模一樣，不過在那個世界裏他的鬍子不是金色的，而是灰白色的。他知道他們爲什麼哈哈大笑，他自己也就參加這場大笑。但是，他們很快又變得嚴肅了，因爲，正如你所知道的，有一種幸福與神奇之感使你認真對待。這境界實在太好了，使你捨不得浪費在笑話上。

很難解釋這陽光普照的國土跟老的納尼亞王國有什麼不同，就像沒法兒跟你說清楚這國土上的果實滋味如何與衆不同一樣。如果你這樣想一想，也許會得到一些啓發。你也許曾經在這樣一個房間裏待過：房間的窗子面臨一個美麗可愛的海灣或是蜿蜒於羣山之間的蒼翠溪谷。房間裏對着窗子的牆上也許掛着一面鏡子。當你從窗口轉過身來時，你突然從鏡子裏看到了海灣或溪谷，重新都看了一遍。而鏡子裏的大海，或鏡子裏的溪谷，在某種意義上，是跟真的大海或溪谷是一模一樣的。然而同時不知怎麼的又有所不同：真的更深，更神奇，更像一個故事裏的地方——一個你從未聽到過、卻很想知道的故事。舊的納尼亞和新的納尼亞之間的區別就像這樣。新的納尼亞是個更深湛的國土，每塊石頭，每朵花，每片草葉，看上去彷彿都更加意味深長。我沒法兒描摹得更具體了，如果你上那兒去，你就會懂得我的意思。

把大家的感受概括起來的，是獨角獸。它在地上蹬着前蹄，曼聲長嘶，然後大聲叫道：“我終於到家了！這是我的真正的國土！我屬於這兒。這是我生平一直在尋找的國土，儘管我直到現在才知道它。爲什麼我們愛老的納尼亞呢？理由是它有時候看上去有點兒像這個新的納尼亞。布里一嘻一嘻！到更高更深處去吧！”

獨角獸搖晃鬃毛，向前躥去，隨即四蹄凌空疾馬也飛跑——在我們的世界裏，一頭獨角獸這樣的馳騁，那就一忽兒便跑得看不見影蹤了。卻說這時出現一樁非常奇怪的事情。其他的人和獸也都開始奔跑了，使他們自己大吃一驚的是，他們都能趕得上獨角獸：不僅狗兒和人，而且連胖胖的小驢子和矮腿小矮人波金也都趕得上哩。風猛吹在他們的臉上，彷彿他們是在一輛沒有擋風玻璃的、疾馳如飛的汽車裏。鄉村在他們的身旁飛快地掠過，就像他們在特別快車的車窗裏望見的一樣。他們愈跑愈快，但沒有一個感到熱不可耐、疲倦或喘不過氣來。