《魔法師的外甥》第19期:滅絕咒(1)
Chapter 5 The Deplorable Word
THE children were facing one another across the pillar where the bell hung, still trembling, though it no longer gave out any note. Suddenly they heard a soft noise from the end of the room which was still undamaged. They turned quick as lightning to see what it was. One of the robed figures, the furthest-off one of all, the woman whom Digory thought so beautiful, was rising from its chair. When she stood up they realized that she was even taller than they had thought. And you could see at once, not only from her crown and robes, but from the flash of her eyes and the curve of her lips, that she was a great queen. She looked round the room and saw the damage and saw the children, but you could not guess from her face what she thought of either or whether she was surprised. She came forward with long, swift strides.
"Who has awaked me? Who has broken the spell?" she asked.
"I think it must have been me," said Digory.
"You!" said the Queen, laying her hand on his shoulder - a white, beautiful hand, but Digory could feel that it was strong as steel pincers. "You? But you are only a child, a common child. Anyone can see at a glance that you have no drop of royal or noble blood in your veins. How did such as you dare to enter this house?"
"We've come from another world; by Magic," said Polly, who thought it was high time the Queen took some notice of her as well as of Digory.
"Is this true?" said the Queen, still looking at Digory and not giving Polly even a glance.
"Yes, it is," said he.
The Queen put her other hand under his chin and forced it up so that she could see his face better. Digory tried to stare back but he soon had to let his eyes drop. There was something about hers that overpowered him.
After she had studied him for well over a minute, she let go of his chin and said:
"You are no magician. The mark of it is not on you. You must be only the servant of a magician. It is on another's Magic that you have travelled here."
"It was my Uncle Andrew," said Digory.
At the moment, not in the room itself but from somewhere very close, there came, first a rumbling, then a creaking, and then a roar of falling masonry, and the floor shook.
"There is great peril here," said the Queen. "The whole palace is breaking up. If we are not out of it in a few minutes we shall be buried under the ruin." She spoke as calmly as if she had been merely mentioning the time of day. "Come," she added, and held out a hand to each of the children. Polly, who was disliking the Queen and feeling rather sulky, would not have let her hand be taken if she could have helped it. But though the Queen spoke so calmly, her movements were as quick as thought. Before Polly knew what was happening her left hand had been caught in a hand so much larger and stronger than her own that she could do nothing about it.
雖然鐘聲停止了，但鍾仍然顫抖着；兩個孩子隔普掛鐘的柱子面面相覷。忽然，從還沒有毀壞的屋子一角傳來一陣輕柔的聲音。他們立即轉身看去。所有穿長袍的塑像中最遠的那個，即迪格雷認爲非常美麗的女人，正從椅子上站起來。當她站起來後，他們意識到，她比他們原來想像的還要高。而且，從她的王冠、長袍、眼神和嘴脣的線條上，你馬上便能看出，她是一位了不起的女王。她環視屋子當中毀壞的場面，也看見了孩子們，但你無法從她臉上的表情判斷她是否感到驚訝。她大步流星地走了過來。
“是誰喚醒了我，是誰破了魔咒，”她問。
“我想，肯定是我。”迪格雷說。
“你？”女王說着，把手搭在迪格雷肩上——那是一隻白皙而漂亮的手，但迪格雷卻感到鐵鉗般的沉重。“你？你只是個孩子，一個普通孩子。任何人只要看一眼，就知道你的血管裏連一滴皇家或貴族的血也沒有。像你這樣的人怎麼敢走進這間屋子？"
“我們是靠魔法從另一個世界來的。”波莉說，她認爲應該抓住時機，讓那女王像注意迪格雷一樣地注意她。“真的嗎？”女王說，眼睛仍然看若迪格雷，瞟都不瞟波莉一眼。
“是的。”他說。
女王一隻手托起迪格雷的下巴，仔細端詳他的臉。迪格雷想用目光反抗她，但很快就不得不俯下眼皮，她眼中的某種東西制服了他。她將迪格雷認真地研究了一分多鐘，然後，鬆開他的下巴，說：
“你不是魔法師，你臉上沒有標記。你一定只是魔法師的僕人。你是靠別人的魔法到這兒來的。”
“是我的安德魯舅舅。”迪格雷說。
這時，不是從屋子裏面，而是從身旁極近的地方，傳來轟降隆繼而是劈里啪啦的響聲，過後是磚石坍塌的咣啷聲，地板晃動起來。
“災禍來了，”女王說，“整個宮殿就要塌掉。如果我們不在幾分鐘內出去，就會被埋在廢墟里。”她說得平平靜靜，好像只是在談論一天的時辰。“來。”她說着，向兩個孩子各伸出一隻手。波莉討厭這個女王並且仍在生氣，如果可能的話，她決不會讓她抓住自己的手。女王雖然說話時顯得不慌不忙，但行動卻像思維一樣敏捷。波莉還未反應過來，她的左於就被一隻長得多、有力得多的大手抓住了，她根本無法掙脫。
