《能言馬與男孩》第20期:在塔什班城門口(2)
And they were. They had come to the river's edge and the road ahead of them ran along a many-arched bridge. The water danced brightly in the early sunlight; away to the right nearer the river's mouth, they caught a glimpse ships' masts. Several other travellers were before them on the bridge, mostly peasants driving laden donkeys and mules or carrying baskets on their heads. The children and horses joined the crowd.
"Is anything wrong?" whispered Shasta to Aravis, who had an odd look on her face.
"Oh it's all very well for you," whispered Aravis rather savagely. "What would you care about Tashbaan? But I ought to be riding in on a litter with soldiers before me and slaves behind, and perhaps going to a feast in the Tisroc's palace (may he live for ever) - not sneaking in like this. It's different for you."
Shasta thought all this very silly.
At the far end of the bridge the walls of the city towered high above them and the brazen gates stood open in the gateway which was really wide but looked narrow because it was so very high. Half a dozen soldiers, leaning on their spears, stood on each side. Aravis couldn't help thinking, "They'd all jump to attention and salute me if they knew whose daughter I am." But the others were only thinking of how they'd get through and hoping the soldiers would not ask any questions. Fortunately they did not. But one of them picked a carrot out of a peasant's basket and threw it at Shasta with a rough laugh, saying:
"Hey! Horse-boy! You'll catch it if your master finds you've been using his saddle-horse for pack work."
This frightened him badly for of course it showed that no one who knew anything about horses would mistake Bree for anything but a charger.
"It's my master's orders, so there!" said Shasta. But it would have been better if he had held his tongue for the soldier gave him a box on the side of his face that nearly knocked him down and said, "Take that, you young filth, to teach you how to talk to freemen." But they all slunk into the city without being stopped. Shasta cried only a very little; he was used to hard knocks.
Inside the gates Tashbaan did not at first seem so splendid as it had looked from a distance. The first street was narrow and there were hardly any windows in the walls on each side. It was much more crowded than Shasta had expected: crowded partly by the peasants (on their way to market) who had come in with them, but also with watersellers, sweetmeat sellers, porters, soldiers, beggars, ragged children, hens, stray dogs, and bare-footed slaves. What you would chiefly have noticed if you had been there was the smells, which came from unwashed people, unwashed dogs, scent, garlic, onions, and the piles of refuse which lay everywhere.
Shasta was pretending to lead but it was really Bree, who knew the way and kept guiding him by little nudges with his nose. They soon turned to the left and began going up a steep hill. It was much fresher and pleasanter, for the road was bordered by trees and there were houses only on the right side; on the other they looked out over the roofs of houses in the lower town and could see some way up the river. Then they went round a hairpin bend to their right and continued rising. They were zigzagging up to the centre of Tashbaan. Soon they came to finer streets. Great statues of the gods and heroes of Calormen - who are mostly impressive rather than agreeable to look at- rose on shining pedestals. Palm trees and pillared arcades cast shadows over the burning pavements. And through the arched gateways of many a palace Shasta caught sight of green branches, cool fountains, and smooth lawns. It must be nice inside, he thought.
“有什麼不對勁嗎7”沙斯塔低聲問阿拉維斯，她的臉上有一種古怪的神色。
“啊，在你看來，一切都很好，”阿拉維斯粗暴無禮地低聲說道，”你對塔什班有什麼可計較的呢，我可是應該坐在轎子裏前呼後擁地飛馳，前面是士兵，後面是奴隸，也許我是到蒂斯羅克(願他萬壽無疆)的王宮裏去赴宴呢——而不是像現在這樣偷偷摸摸地溜進城去。但對你就不一樣了。”
沙斯塔認爲這切全是十分愚蠢糊塗的。
大橋另一頭的橋堍上，高高矗立着城牆，城門洞裏的黃銅城門打開着，城門洞確實很大很闊，但岡爲它很高，倒顯得狹窄了。六個十兵，倚若長矛，站在城門洞的兩邊。阿拉維斯心中禁不住想道”如果他們知道我是誰的女兒，他們大家會跳起來立正，向我敬禮呢。”但其他的人馬只是想着他們怎樣穿過城門，並且希望士兵們不會盤問什麼問題。幸虧士兵們並不盤問。但有一個士兵從農民的籃子裏拿起一根胡蘿蔔，粗魯地哈哈大笑着擲到了沙斯塔身上，他說：
“嗨！小馬伕，如果你的主人發現你用他的坐騎來馱運貨物，你就要吃苦頭了。”
這事嚇得他夠嗆，因爲它當然表明了點：稍微懂得點兒馬的人，是決不會把布里錯當做其他什麼烏，竟認不出它是匹戰馬的！
“我主人吩咐我這麼辦的，就是這麼回事！”沙斯塔說。如果他閉口不說話，反倒好得多，因爲那士兵在他的一邊臉上給了他重重的一拳，幾乎把他打下馬來。”骯髒的小子，挨這一拳吧，教訓教訓你該怎樣同自由人說話”但他們大家都溜進了城去，未受阻攔。沙斯塔只哭了一會兒，他對於捱揍已經習以爲常了。
進了城門，塔什班就彷彿不像最初遠遠望去時那麼富麗堂皇了。第條街是狹狹的，兩邊的牆上也沒有什麼窗子。街上遠比沙斯塔想像的要擁擠得多，部分是由於擠滿了跟他們一起進城、要到市場上去的農民，也由於到處是賣水的人、賣甜食的人、腳伕、士兵、乞丐、衣衫襤褸的兒童、母雞、謎失的狗、赤腳的奴隸。如果你在那街上待過就知道，主要引起你注意的是那種烏七八糟的氣味，它們來自沒有洗過澡的人們、沒有洗過澡的狗兒、牲畜的遺臭、大蒜、洋蔥以及堆得到處都是的垃圾。
沙斯塔假裝在帶路，其實直是由布早悄悄挪動鼻子來引導他的，布里纔是認識道路的。他們不久就向左轉彎，開始走上個陡峭的小山。這兒空氣新鮮得多，也賞心悅目得多，因爲大路兩邊種着樹木，只有右邊蓋着房子；左邊兒，他們的目光越過下邊城鎮的屋頂，能夠望到河流的上游。接着，他們向右轉了個U字形急彎，繼續登山。他們正在曲曲折折地往上走向塔什班城的中心區。不久他們便踏上了較好的街道。神祗和卡樂門英雄的巨大雕像聳立在閃閃發光的基座上，大部分看起來令人印象深刻，卻並不怎麼悅人。棕櫚樹和圓柱連環拱廊的陰影投在發燙的人行道上。穿過許多王宮的拱形大門，沙斯塔看見蒼翠的樹枝、清涼的泉水和柔軟的草坪。裏邊兒必定舒適漂亮極了，他想。
