《魔法師的外甥》第15期:鍾與錘(2)
They stood still and listened, but All they could hear was the thump-thump of their own hearts. This place was at least as quiet as the Wood between the Worlds. But it was a different kind of quietness. The silence of the Wood had been rich and warm (you could almost hear the trees growing) and full of life: this was a dead, cold, empty silence. You couldn't imagine anything growing in it.
"Let's go home," said Polly.
"But we haven't seen anything yet," said Digory. "Now we're here, we simply must have a look round."
"I'm sure there's nothing at all interesting here."
"There's not much point in finding a magic ring that lets you into other worlds if you're afraid to look at them when you've got there."
"Who's talking about being afraid?" said Polly, letting go of Digory's hand.
"I only thought you didn't seem very keen on exploring this place."
"I'll go anywhere you go."
"We can get away the moment we want to," said Digory. "Let's take off our green rings and put them in our right-hand pockets. All we've got to do is to remember that our yellow are in our left-hand pockets. You can keep your hand as near your pocket as you like, but don't put it in or you'll touch your yellow and vanish."
They did this and went quietly up to one of the big arched doorways which led into the inside of the building. And when they stood on the threshold and could look in, they saw it was not so dark inside as they had thought at first. It led into a vast, shadowy hall which appeared to be empty; but on the far side there was a row of pillars with arches between them and through those arches there streamed in some more of the same tired-looking light. They crossed the hall, walking very carefully for fear of holes in the floor or of anything lying about that they might trip over. It seemed a long walk. When they had reached the other side they came out through the arches and found themselves in another and larger courtyard.
"That doesn't look very safe," said Polly, pointing at a place where the wall bulged outward and looked as if it were ready to fall over into the courtyard. In one place a pillar was missing between two arches and the bit that came down to where the top of the pillar ought to have been hung there with nothing to support it. Clearly, the place had been deserted for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.
"If it's lasted till now, I suppose it'll last a bit longer," said Digory. "But we must be very quiet. You know a noise sometimes brings things down - like an avalanche in the Alps."
‘我們回家吧。”波莉說。
”可我們什麼也沒看見呢，”迪格雷說，“既然來了，就要到處走走。”
“我敢肯定，這兒不好玩。”
“要是你來了都不敢看，那麼，找一枚有魔法的戒指把你帶到‘另外的世界’有什麼意義呢？”
“誰說不敢了，”波莉說着．甩開了迪格雷的手。
“我剛纔只是想．你對探索這個地方不太熱心。”
“隨便你去哪兒，我都去。”
我們想離開的時候就能離開。”迪格雷說，“取下綠戒指，放進右邊的口袋裏。只需要記住，左邊是黃的，右邊是綠的。你可以把手放在離口袋比較近的地方，但不要伸進去，否則，你一碰到黃戒指就會消失。”
安排好後，他們悄悄地朝通向建築內部的一個巨大拱門走去。當他們站在門檻上朝裏看時，發現早面並非他們原先所想的那麼黑，能看見一個幽暗的空蕩蕩的大廳．大廳的遠端有一排拱門柱，空隙露出更多那種疲憊的光線。他們小心翼翼地穿過大廳，怕地上有洞或其他東西將他們絆倒。當他們走過去，穿過柱子之間的拱門時，發現自己又到了另一個更大的院子裏。
“好像不太安全。”波莉說，她指着一面似乎隨時都可能倒向院中的凸出的牆。有一處地方缺了一根柱子，柱頂原來所在的部位只留下一點兒殘跡，豪無支撐地懸在空中。那地方顯然已荒蕪了幾百年甚至上千年了。
“既然能保留到今天，我想一定還會保留得更長。”迪格雷說，‘但我們必須保持安靜。你知道，聲音有時會使東西塌下來― 就像阿爾卑斯山的雪崩一樣。”
