《魔法師的外甥》第33期:發生在前門的事(4)

"Hullo! What's that?" thought Digory. "Fire-engine? I wonder what house is on fire. Great Scott, it's coming here. Why, it's Her."

I needn't tell you who he meant by Her.

First came the hansom. There was no one in the driver's seat. On the roof - not sitting, but standing on the roof swaying with superb balance as it came at full speed round the corner with one wheel in the air - was Jadis the Queen of Queens and the Terror of Charn. Her teeth were bared, her eyes shone like fire, and her long hair streamed out behind her like a comet's tail. She was flogging the horse without mercy. Its nostrils were wide and red and its sides were spotted with foam. It galloped madly up to the front door, missing the lamp-post by an inch, and then reared up on its hind legs. The hansom crashed into the lamp-post and shattered into several pieces. The Witch, with a magnificent jump, had sprung clear just in time and landed on the horse's back. She settled herself astride and leaned forward, whispering things in its ear. They must have been things meant not to quiet it but to madden it. It was on its hind legs again in a moment, and its neigh was like a scream; it was all hoofs and teeth and eyes and tossing mane. Only a splendid rider could have stayed on its back.

Before Digory had recovered his breath a good many other things began to happen. A second hansom dashed up close behind the first: out of it there jumped a fat man in a frock-coat and a policeman. Then came a third hansom with two more policemen in it. After it, came about twenty people (mostly errand boys) on bicycles, all ringing their bells and letting out cheers and cat-calls. Last of all came a crowd of people on foot: all very hot with running, but obviously enjoying themselves. Windows shot up in all the houses of that street and a housemaid or a butler appeared at every front door. They wanted to see the fun.

Meanwhile an old gentleman had begun to struggle shakily out of the ruins of the first hansom. Several people rushed forward to help him; but as one pulled him one way and another another, perhaps he would have got out quite as quickly on his own. Digory guessed that the old gentleman must be Uncle Andrew but you couldn't see his face; his tall hat had been bashed down over it.

Digory rushed out and joined the crowd.

"That's the woman, that's the woman," cried the fat man, pointing at Jadis. "Do your duty, Constable. Hundreds and thousands of pounds' worth she's taken out of my shop. Look at that rope of pearls round her neck. That's mine. And she's given me a black eye too, what's more."

"That she 'as, guv'nor," said one of the crowd. "And as lovely a black eye as I'd wish to see. Beautiful bit of work that must 'ave been. Gor! ain't she strong then!"

"You ought to put a nice raw beefsteak on it, Mister, that's what it wants," said a butcher's boy.

"Now then," said the most important of the policemen, "what's all this 'ere?"

"I tell you she -" began the fat man, when someone else called out:

"Don't let the old cove in the cab get away. 'E put 'er up to it."

“晦！那是什麼？”迪格雷想，“救火車嗎？不知道哪家起火了。天哪，來了，啊，是她。”

我不用告訴你他說的“她”是誰。

先是一輛雙輪馬車。車伕座上空無一人，一隻輪子懸在空中，整個馬車以令人難以置信的平衡飛快地轉過彎來。車頂上——不是坐着，而是站着——女王之王，恰思的死神簡蒂絲。只見她齜牙咧嘴，目光火一般地閃動着，長髮像彗星尾巴似的拖在腦後。她毫不留情地鞭笛着駕車的馬。馬的鼻子漲得灑紅，兩脅沾滿了泡沫。它瘋狂地衝向前門，在燈柱邊一擦而過，然後，兩條後腿着地站立起來。馬車在燈柱上撞碎。女巫優美地一跳，恰到好處地落在了馬背上。她分腿坐好，俯下身去，對馬耳語了幾句。那些話顯然只會讓它狂躁而不會使它安靜。馬立刻再次擡起前腿，尖厲地嘶叫了一聲，馬蹄、牙齒、眼睛和飛舞的鬃毛便晃作一團。只有出色的騎手纔有可能坐在它的背上。

迪格雷還來不及鬆口氣，就又開始發生很多事情了。第二輛馬車緊接着第一輛飛馳而來，車上跳下一個穿禮服的胖子和一名警察。然後，第三輛馬車載着兩名警察也快速過來。隨着一陣噓聲、喝彩聲，大約二十個人（大多數是童僕）騎着自行車，一路響着鈴跟了上來。最後是一羣步行者，雖然一個個跑得很熱，但顯然十分開心。所有臨街的窗戶都迅速地打開了。每一幢房子的前門都有一個看熱鬧的女傭或男僕。

這時，一位老紳士掙扎着從馬車的殘骸裏往外面爬，幾個人跑過去幫他，但這個扯腿那個拽胳膊，用力的方向不一致，也許，如果沒人幫忙，他也已經出來了。迪格雷猜想那老紳士一定是安德魯舅舅，但他的臉被塌下來的高筒禮帽住了，你看不見。

迪格雷衝到人羣中去。

“就是這個女人！就是她！”那胖子指着簡蒂絲大聲喊，“警察，該你管啦！她從我的店裏偷了值幾百、幾千磅的東西。看着她脖子上的珍珠項鍊吧，那是我的。而且她還把我的眼睛打青了。”

“那是因爲有人給她撐腰，”有個人對大家說，“我喜歡看這樣一隻青眼睛。她一定乾得很漂亮。啊哈！她多強壯！”

“你該在青眼睛上放一塊好吃的生牛排，先生，那才妙呢。”一個肉店的小夥計說。

“喂，”最管事的那個警察說，“這裏發生了什麼事啊？”

“我告訴你，她……”胖了剛開了頭就有人叫起來：

“別讓馬車裏那老傢伙跑了，是他唆使她乾的。”