《魔法師的外甥》第14期:鍾與錘(1)
Chapter 4 The Bell and the Hammer
THERE was no doubt about the Magic this time. Down and down they rushed, first through darkness and then through a mass of vague and whirling shapes which might have been almost
anything. It grew lighter. Then suddenly they felt that they were standing on something solid. A moment later everything came into focus and they were able to look about them.
"What a queer place!" said Digory.
"I don't like it," said Polly with something like a shudder.
What they noticed first was the light. It wasn't like sunlight, and it wasn't like electric light, or lamps, or candles, or any other light they had ever seen. It was a dull,
rather red light, not at all cheerful. It was steady and did not flicker. They were standing on a flat paved surface and buildings rose all around them. There was no roof
overhead; they were in a sort of courtyard. The sky was extraordinarily dark - a blue that was almost black. When you had seen that sky you wondered that there should be any
light at all.
"It's very funny weather here," said Digory. "I wonder if we've arrived just in time for a thunderstorm; or an eclipse."
"I don't like it," said Polly.
Both of them, without quite knowing why, were talking in whispers. And though there was no reason why they should still go on holding hands after their jump, they didn't let go.
The walls rose very high all round that courtyard. They had many great windows in them, windows without glass, through which you saw nothing but black darkness. Lower down there
were great pillared arches, yawning blackly like the mouths of railway tunnels. It was rather cold.
The stone of which everything was built seemed to be red, but that might only be because of the curious light. It was obviously very old. Many of the flat stones that paved the
courtyard had cracks across them. None of them fitted closely together and the sharp corners were all worn off. One of the arched doorways was half filled up with rubble. The
two children kept on turning round and round to look at the different sides of the courtyard. One reason was that they were afraid of somebody - or something - looking out of
those windows at them when their backs were turned.
"Do you think anyone lives here?" said Digory at last, still in a whisper.
"No," said Polly. "It's all in ruins. We haven't heard a sound since we came."
"Let's stand still and listen for a bit," suggested Digory.
這下，魔法毫無疑問地起作用了。他們裁了下去．先是一片黑暗，然後是一團說不清是什麼的模糊和旋轉的形象，眼前越來越亮，突然，他們感到自己站在堅實的東西上。一會兒，他們便能看見周圍的
事物，可以向四下裏觀望了，
“多麼奇怪的地方！ ”迪格雷說。
“我不喜歡。”波莉頗抖了一下。
他們最先注意到的是光線，既不像日光，也不像電燈、煤油燈、蠟燭或他們見過的任何一種光。那是一種近似紅色的慘淡的光，絲毫不讓人感到愉快。光線凝固着，沒有閃動。他們正站在一個平地上，
四面八方都聳立着建築物。上面沒有屋頂，顯然是一個院落。天空極爲暗淡。
一種近乎黑色的藍。你看到這樣的天空，準會想，這裏是不是沒有任何光線。”這兒的天氣直怪，”迪格雷說，“我想我們是不是趕上了一場暴風雨或者日食。”
“我不喜歡。”波莉說。
不知爲什麼，他們兩人都悄聲說話。雖然跳水以後沒有理由再拉着手，他們還是沒有鬆開。
院子四周的圍牆非常高，上面有許多大窗子，窗子上沒有玻璃，裏面一團漆黑。稍往下，有一些巨大的拱門，像鐵路隧道一樣張着黑洞洞的大口。天氣相當寒冷。
所有的建築都是用一種像是紅色的石頭築成的，但這可能是那種奇怪的光照射的結果。院中，用來鋪地的許多石板都裂了縫。石板與石板之問排列得參差個齊，棱角磨掉了，其中一個拱門讓碎石鎮了一
半。兩個孩子不停地轉身，觀察院子四周，因爲他們害怕有人或什麼東西，趁他們背過身時從窗戶裏窺視他們。
“你認爲這兒有人住嗎，”迪格雷終於開口了，但仍然悄悄的。
“沒有。”波莉說，“這是一個廢墟。自從我們來了以後，還沒有聽到一點兒聲音呢。”
“那我們站好來聽一會兒。”迪格雷建議。
