《魔法師的外甥》第42期:納尼亞的誕生(3)

"Do what you're told this minute, sir," said Uncle Andrew. "You're an extremely disobedient, ill-behaved little boy."

"No fear," said Digory. "We want to stay and see what happens. I thought you wanted to know about other worlds. Don't you like it now you're here?"

"Like it!" exclaimed Uncle Andrew. "Just look at the state I'm in. And it was my best coat and waistcoat, too." He certainly was a dreadful sight by now: for of course, the more dressed up you were to begin with, the worse you look after you've crawled out of a smashed hansoncab and fallen into a muddy brook. "I'm not saying," he added, "that this is not a most interesting place. If I were a younger man, now - perhaps I could get some lively young fellow to come here first. One of those big-game hunters. Something might be made of this country. The climate is delightful. I never felt such air. I believe it would have done me good if - if circumstances had been more favourable. If only we'd had a gun."

"Guns be blowed," said the Cabby. "I think I'll go and see if I can give Strawberry a rub down. That horse 'as more sense than some 'umans as I could mention." He walked back to Strawberry and began making the hissing noises that grooms make.

"Do you still think that Lion could be killed by a gun?" asked Digory. "He didn't mind the iron bar much."

"With all her faults," said Uncle Andrew, "that's a plucky gel, my boy. It was a spirited thing to do." He rubbed his hands and cracked his knuckles, as if he were once more forgetting how the Witch frightened him whenever she was really there.

"It was a wicked thing to do," said Polly. "What harm had he done her?"

"Hullo! What's that?" said Digory. He had darted forward to examine something only a few yards away. "I say, Polly," he called back. "Do come and look."

Uncle Andrew came with her; not because he wanted to see but because he wanted to keep close to the children there might be a chance of stealing their rings. But when he saw what Digory was looking at, even he began to take an interest. It was a perfect little model of a lamp-post, about three feet high but lengthening, and thickening in proportion, as they watched it; in fact growing just as the trees had grown.

"It's alive too - I mean, it's lit," said Digory. And so it was; though of course, the brightness of the sun made the little flame in the lantern hard to see unless your shadow fell on it.

"Remarkable, most remarkable," muttered Uncle Andrew. "Even I never dreamt of Magic like this. We're in a world where everything, even a lamp-post, comes to life and grows. Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamppost grows from?"

“立刻照我說的做，老兄，“安德魯舅舅說，”你這孩子太調皮搗蛋，表現很不好。”

“不走，”迪格雷說，“我們要呆在這兒看會發生什麼事。我原來以爲你想了解別的世界。現在到了這兒，你不喜歡這地方嗎？”

“喜歡”，安德魯舅舅大叫，“看看我落到了什麼地步！這還是我最好的外套和背心呢。”他現在看上去的確很狼狽。當然，你開始時打扮得越漂亮，從撞爛的馬車下鑽出來再掉進一條泥濘的小溪，模樣就越慘不忍睹。“我不是說，”他接着說道，“這個地方沒有意思。如果我年輕一些，現在……我或許可以先去找一個精力充沛的青年到這兒來。找一個專獵大動物的獵手。這個地方有些好處可以利用。這兒天氣宜人。我過去從來沒有感受過這樣的空氣。我相信，這對我是有好處的，如果…… 如果條件比較有利。要是我們有枝槍就好了。”

“槍也沒用，”馬車伕說，“我想我要去看看是不是該給‘草莓’梳理一下了。那匹馬比有些人還有靈性。”他走到‘草莓’身邊，嘴裏發出馬車伕特有的那種噓噓聲。

“你還認爲那頭獅子能被槍打死嗎，”迪格雷說，“它對那根鐵棒不怎麼在乎。”

“這全是她的錯，”安德魯舅舅說，“那膽大包天的姑娘，我的孩子。她太粗暴了。”他的指關節捏得噼啪作晌，似乎又忘了只要女巫在場自己是如何害怕的。

“這麼做實在太壞了，”波莉說，“獅子哪一點傷害她了？”

“悔！那是什麼？”迪格雷說完往前走，去查看幾步外的一樣東西。“我說，波莉，”他向後喊道，“過來看看。”

安德魯舅舅也跟着過來了，他不是好奇，而是想緊跟孩了們一這樣就有可能偷到戒指。但是，當他看見迪格雷正在看的東西時，也開始感興趣了。那是一個小巧而完美的燈柱模型．在他們看的時候，它正在按比例變高變寬。實際上，它像樹木一樣存生長。

“它是活的…… 我是說，它亮着。”迪格雷說。不過，當然哆，在陽光下，除非你遮住它，燈上徽弱的光線幾乎是看不見的。

“了不起，太了不起了，”安德魯舅舅喃喃地說，“我連做夢也不會想會有這樣的魔法。這個世界，所有的東西甚至一個燈杜，都是有生命的，可以生長。我覺得奇怪的是，什麼種子可以長成一個燈柱？”