《魔法師的外甥》第43期:納尼亞的誕生(4)

"Don't you see?" said Digory. "This is where the bar fell - the bar she tore off the lamp-post at home. It sank into the ground and now it's coming up as a young lamppost." (But not so very young now; it was as tall as Digory while he said this.)

"That's it! Stupendous, stupendous," said Uncle Andrew, rubbing his hands harder than ever. "Ho, ho! They laughed at my Magic. That fool of a sister of mine thinks I'm a lunatic. I wonder what they'll say now? I have discovered a world where everything is bursting with life and growth. Columbus, now, they talk about Columbus. But what was America to this? The commercial possibilities of this country are unbounded. Bring a few old bits of scrap iron here, bury 'em, and up they come as brand new railway engines, battleships, anything you please. They'll cost nothing, and I can sell 'em at full prices in England. I shall be a millionaire. And then the climate! I feel years younger already. I can run it as a health resort. A good sanatorium here might be worth twenty thousand a year. Of course I shall have to let a few people into the secret. The first thing is to get that brute shot."

"You're just like the Witch," said Polly. "All you think of is killing things."

"And then as regards oneself," Uncle Andrew continued, in a happy dream. "There's no knowing how long I might live if I settled here. And that's a big consideration when a fellow has turned sixty. I shouldn't be surprised if I never grew a day older in this country! Stupendous! The land of youth!"

"Oh!" cried Digory. "The land of youth! Do you think it really is?" For of course he remembered what Aunt Letty had said to the lady who brought the grapes, and that sweet hope rushed back upon him. "Uncle Andrew", he said, "do you think there's anything here that would cure Mother?"

"What are you talking about?" said Uncle Andrew. "This isn't a chemist's shop. But as I was saying -"

"You don't care twopence about her," said Digory savagely. "I thought you might; after all, she's your sister as well as my Mother. Well, no matter. I'm jolly well going to ask the Lion himself if he can help me." And he turned and walked briskly away. Polly waited for a moment and then went after him.

"Here! Stop! Come back! The boy's gone mad," said Uncle Andrew. He followed the children at a cautious distance behind; for he didn't want to get too far away from the green rings or too near the Lion.

In a few minutes Digory came to the edge of the wood and there he stopped. The Lion was singing still. But now the song had once more changed. It was more like what we should call a tune, but it was also far wilder. It made you want to run and jump and climb. It made you want to shout. It made you want to rush at other people and either hug them or fight them. It made Digory hot and red in the face. It had some effect on Uncle Andrew, for Digory could hear him saying, "A spirited gel, sir. It's a pity about her temper, but a dem fine woman all the same, a dem fine woman." But what the song did to the two humans was nothing compared with what it was doing to the country.

“你還不明白？”迪格雷說，“這是鐵棒掉下去的地方一一她從我們家門前那根燈柱上扭下的鐵棒。它掉進土裏就長成了一個小燈柱。”但此刻已經不算小了，迪格雷說這話時，燈柱已和他一樣高了。

“是的，了不起，了不起！”安德魯舅舅比剛纔更加起勁地捍着手指，“哦！哦！他們嘲笑我的魔法。我那傻瓜妹妹以爲我是個瘋子。這下，看他們還說什麼？我已經發現一個充滿生機、任何東西都可以生長的世界。哥倫布，他們現在談論哥倫布。但與這裏相比，美洲算什麼，這個國家商業上的潛力是不可限量的。帶一些舊鋼條到這兒來，埋下去，就會長出嶄新的火車頭、軍艦，或者任何你想要的東西。用不着花任何代價，我就能以高價在英國賣掉。這樣我將會成爲一個百萬富翁。還有這天氣！我已經感到自己年輕了二十歲，我可以在這裏經營一個療養勝地，弄好了，一年就可以掙兩萬。當然，我只會讓極少數人知道這個祕密。首先要打死那頭畜生。”

“你和女巫一樣，”波莉說．“滿腦子都是屠殺。”

“然後，再說自己，”安德每舅舅繼續做着美夢，“如果我定居在這兒，天知道能活多久。對一個年過花甲的人來說，這是值得考慮的頭等大事。在這裏，我當然永遠不會老。實是太美了！年輕的土地啊！”

“哦！”迪格雷大喊，“年輕的土地！你認爲真的是嗚？”他自然記得，蕾蒂姨媽對那個送葡萄的女人說過的話。共好的願望在他的腦海中閃現出來。“安德魯舅舅，”他說，“你認爲這兒有什麼可以治好媽媽的病嗎? ”

“你在說什麼？”安德魯舅舅說，“這兒不是藥店。但就像我說的… … ”

“你一點兒也不關心她，”迪格雷氣憤地說，“我還以爲你會的；畢競她是我的母親，是你的妹妹。不過沒關係。我去問獅子看它能不能幫忙。”然後他轉過身，輕快地走了。波莉遲疑一下也跟着去了。

“晦！停下！回來！這孩子瘋了。” 安德魯舅舅說。他小心翼翼地跟在孩子們後面，保持着一段距離。因爲他既不想遠離綠戒指，也不想靠近獅子。

幾分鐘後，迪格雷走到樹林邊上，站住了。獅子仍在歌唱。但歌聲又變了。這次的歌聲與我們所說的“調子”更爲相似，但依然狂放不羈，使你想跳，想跑，想攀登，想大喊大叫，想衝向他人，擁抱他們或與他們搏鬥。迪格雷聽得臉上通紅髮熱。安德魯舅舅似乎也受了影晌，因爲迪格雷聽見他說：“一個活潑的姑娘，老兄。她的脾氣令人遺憾，但總的來說，是個漂亮的女人，一個漂亮的女人。”然而，歌聲對這兩個人產生的效果根本無法與它對這片上地產生的效果相比。