《魔法師的外甥》第44期:納尼亞的誕生(5)

Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot? For that is really the best description of what was happening. In all directions it was swelling into humps. They were of very different sizes, some no bigger than Mole-hills, some as big as wheel-barrows, two the size of cottages. And the humps moved and swelled till they burst, and the crumbled earth poured out of them, and from each hump there came out an animal. The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England. The dogs came out, barking the moment their heads were free, and struggling as you've seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge. The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at first Digory thought they were trees. The frogs, who all came up near the river, went straight into it with a plop-plop and a loud croaking. The panthers, leopards and things of that sort, sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hind quarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws. Showers of birds came out of the trees. Butterflies fluttered. Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn't a second to lose. But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back, the large, wise head, and the four baggy-trousered legs of an elephant. And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion; there was so much cawing, cooing, crowing, braying, neighing, baying, barking, lowing, bleating, and trumpeting.

But though Digory could no longer hear the Lion, he could see it. It was so big and so bright that he could not take his eyes off it. The other animals did not appear to be afraid of it. Indeed, at that very moment, Digory heard the sound of hoofs from behind; a second later the old cab-horse trotted past him and joined the other beasts. (The air had apparently suited him as well as it had suited Uncle Andrew. He no longer looked like the poor, old slave he had been in London; he was picking up his feet and holding his head erect.) And now, for the first time, the Lion was quite silent. He was going to and fro among the animals. And every now and then he would go up to two of them (always two at a time) and touch their noses with his. He would touch two beavers among all the beavers, two leopards among all the leopards, one stag and one deer among all the deer, and leave the rest. Some sorts of animal he passed over altogether. But the pairs which he had touched instantly left their own kinds and followed him. At last he stood still and all the creatures whom he had touched came and stood in a wide circle around him. The others whom he had not touched began to wander away. Their noises faded gradually into the distance. The chosen beasts who remained were now utterly silent, all with their eyes fixed intently upon the Lion. The cat-like ones gave an occasional twitch of the tail but otherwise all were still. For the first time that day there was complete silence, except for the noise of running water. Digory's heart beat wildly; he knew something very solemn was going to be done. He had not forgotten about his Mother; but he knew jolly well that, even for her, he couldn't interrupt a thing like this.

The Lion, whose eyes never blinked, stared at the animals as hard as if he was going to burn them up with his mere stare. And gradually a change came over them. The smaller ones - the rabbits, moles and such-like grew a good deal larger. The very big ones - you noticed it most with the elephants - grew a little smaller. Many animals sat up on their hind legs. Most put their heads on one side as if they were trying very hard to understand. The Lion opened his mouth, but no sound came from it; he was breathing out, a long, warm breath; it seemed to sway all the beasts as the wind sways a line of trees. Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children's bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying:

"Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters."

你能想像一塊草地像壺裏的水一樣沸騰嗎，但這樣描述正存發生的事是最最恰當的。周圍的草地膨脹成個個大小不同的圓丘，有的只有鼴鼠丘那麼大，有的和獨輪小車相差無幾，其中兩個與小棚屋一般大小。這些圓丘移動着，膨脹着，直到泥土四濺地炸開後，每個圓丘裏都鑽出一樣動物。鼴鼠出來時與你在英國見的鼴鼠出洞一模一樣。狗一伸出腦袋就汪汪地叫，像從籬笆的窄縫裏鑽過時那樣掙扎着。雄鹿是最有趣的，因爲它們的角比只他部分先出來很長時間，所以，一開始迪格雷以爲是樹。青蛙從河岸邊鑽出來後，就呱呱地叫着，一蹦一蹦地跳到河裏去了。花豹、黑豹一類的動物馬上坐下來，將後腿上沾的鬆土抖掉，然後站起身，在樹上磨前爪。林中傳來陣陣鳥鳴。蜜蜂一秒鐘也不願耽誤就在花上忙開了。但最壯觀的時刻是當最大的圓丘像輕度地震一樣炸裂開時，從裏而隆起大象斜坡般的脊背、聰明的大腦袋和四條像穿着寬鬆褲子一般的大腿。現在，你幾乎聽不見獅子的歌唱了，四面八方，滿耳的牛叫、馬嘶、犬吠、鳥鳴…

雖然迪格雷聽不見獅子唱歌了，但仍然能看見它。它那麼高大，那麼明亮，將他牢牢地吸引住了。其他動物似乎也不怕它。就在這時，他聽見陣馬蹄聲，那匹拉車的老馬小跑右從他身邊過去，和其他動物站到一起了（空氣適合安德魯舅舅也適合它，它看上去不再像倫敦街頭可憐的老奴隸，它正揚起腿，高昂着頭。）這時，獅子第一次安靜下來。它在動物中巡視一番，時不時走到其中的兩個面前（每次總是兩個），用它的鼻子吻它們的鼻子：在花豹中挑出兩頭，在鹿羣中挑出一頭雄鹿和一頭雌鹿，將其他的撇在一邊。對有些種類的動物，它只是走過而已；但它吻過的動物成雙成對地離開白己的羣體，跟在它後面。最後，它站住了，它挑出來的動物也走過來，圍着它站成一圈。它沒有吻過的動物開始四下散開，叫聲逐漸消失在遠方。它選出來的那些動物靜靜地站着，所有的眼睛都緊緊地盯着獅子。貓類動物偶爾搖搖尾巴，其他的動物全都一動也不動。那天，第一次這麼寂靜，只聽見淙淙的流水聲。迪格雷的心在猛烈地跳動，他知道神聖而莊嚴的事情就要發生了。他已經忘了媽媽。但他非常清楚，即使爲了她，他也不能打擾這樣的大事。

不曾眨過眼的獅子用它那灼人的目光凝視着動物們。逐漸，那些動物起了變化。小動物一如兔子、睡鼠等……大了許多。龐大的動物——這一點從大象身上最能看出來一——小了一些。許多動物用後腿坐着，其中大多數都偏着頭，似乎在努力地試着理解什麼。獅子張着嘴，卻沒有發聲。像風颳起一排樹一樣，它呼出的綿長而溫暖的氣息可以將所有的動物都席捲而去。頭上，遙遠的空中，躲在藍色天幕後面的星星又開始了新的歌唱。那是一種純潔、清冷而難以理解的音樂。接着，從天上或獅子身上閃出一股火光。孩子們的每一滴血都沸騰起來。一個從未聽到過的最低沉最粗獷的聲音說道：

“納尼亞，納尼亞，納尼亞，醒來吧。去愛，去想，去說話。讓樹能走動，讓野獸說話，還有神聖的水。”