书城童书纳尼亚传奇系列(套装共7册)
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第418章 鹰带来的消息(3)

“So think I,” said the King. “But is it a friend, or a spy of the Ape‘s?” “To me, Sire,” said the Dwarf, “it has a look of Farsight the Eagle.” “Ought we to hide under the trees?” said Eustace.

“Nay,” said Tirian, “best stand still as rocks. He would see us for certain if we moved.”

“Look! He wheels, he has seen us already,” said Jewel. “He is coming down in wide circles.”

“Arrow on string, Lady,” said Tirian to Jill. “But by no means shoot till I bid you. He may be a friend.”

If one had known what was going to happen next it would have been a treat to watch the grace and ease with which the huge bird glided down. He alighted on a rocky crag a few feet from Tirian, bowed his crested head, and said in his strange eagle’s voice, “Hail, King.”

“Hail, Farsight,” said Tirian. “And since you call me King, I may well believe you are not a follower of the Ape and his false Aslan. I am right glad of your coming.”

“Sire,” said the Eagle, “when you have heard my news you will be sorrier of my coming than of the greatest woe that ever befell you.”

Tirian‘s heart seemed to stop beating at these words, but he set his teeth and said, “Tell on.”

“Two sights have I seen,” said Farsight. “One was Cair Paravel filled with dead Narnians and living Calormenes: The Tisroc’s banner advanced upon your royal battlements: and your subjects flying from the city-this way and that, into the woods. Cair Paravel was taken from the sea. Twenty great ships of Calormen put in there in the dark of the night before last night.”

No one could speak.

“And the other sight, five leagues nearer than Cair Paravel, was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead with a Calormene arrow in his side. I was with him in his last hour and he gave me this message to your Majesty: to remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy.”

“So,” said the King, after a long silence, “Narnia is no more.”

中文阅读

在空地那边的树荫下,有个东西正在移动。它慢慢地向北滑行。第一眼看去,你没准儿会把它当成烟雾,因为它是灰色而透明的。但它发出来的不是烟味,而是死亡的气息。再者,这个东西的外形保持不变,不像烟雾那样盘旋缭绕。它的外形有几分像人,但却长着一个鸟头。这是一种有着凶狠鹰钩嘴的猛禽。它将四只手臂高举在头的上方,向北伸出,仿佛想要将整个纳尼亚一把抓住。它的手指——总共有二十个——都像它的喙一样是钩状的,上面长的不是指甲,而是长而尖的鸟爪子。它不是在行走,而是在草地上滑行,所到之处,青草立即枯萎。

刚瞧了它一眼,帕叟就凄厉地嘶叫了一声,一头冲进了塔楼。吉尔(你知道,她不是个胆小鬼)用双手捂住脸,再也不敢看它。其他人则盯着它看了大约有一分钟,直到它滑进右边更加浓密的树林中,消失了踪迹。随后,太阳再次露出脸来,鸟儿又重新开始歌唱。

众人这才恢复了正常呼吸,开始活动。刚才看到那个东西时,他们一个个都像泥塑木雕一般,动弹不得。

“那是个什么东西呀?”尤斯塔斯小声问道。“我以前见过一次,”提里安说,“但那是用石头雕塑成的,上面镀了一层金,两只眼睛是用钻石做成的。那时我跟你差不多大,去塔希班的提斯洛克宫中做客。他带我进入塔西的大殿。我就是在那里看到的,它的雕像设在祭坛之上。”

“那么那个——那个东西——就是塔西?”尤斯塔斯问道。提里安没有回答,而是伸手搂住了吉尔的肩膀,问道:“女士,你感觉怎么样?”

“还-还好,”吉尔说着,拿开双手,露出苍白的面孔,竭力想要微笑,“我挺好的。只是有一会儿,它让我感到有些恶心。”

“那么,”独角兽说,“看来是有一个真的塔西。”“是的,”矮人说,“那个傻瓜猿猴不相信有塔西,它会受到应有的报应!它呼唤塔西,塔西就来了。”

“它——他——那个东西——去哪儿啦?”吉尔问。“向北进入纳尼亚的中心地带,”提里安答道,“它要来深入到我们中间。他们召唤它,它就应声而来。”

“呵,呵,呵!”矮人咯咯地笑了起来,把两只多毛的手掌互相摩擦着,“这下子猿猴可要吓坏了。人们若不是真心相信,就不应该召唤恶魔。”

“塔西会不会向猿猴现出原形?”珠宝说。“帕叟跑哪儿去了?”尤斯塔斯问道。他们大声呼叫帕叟的名字,吉尔则绕到塔楼的另一边,看它是否跑到那儿去了。

他们找来找去,全都找累了的时候,帕叟终于将灰色的大脑袋小心翼翼地从门道里探了出来,问道,“它走了吗?”他们费劲儿地说服了它,它这才浑身颤抖着走了出来,就像一条狗遇到雷暴时那样抖个不停。

“我终于明白了,”帕叟说,“我真是一头坏驴子。我不应该听席福特的话。我从来没有想到会发生这样的事情。”

“如果你少花些时间说自己不够聪明,多用些时间努力变聪明——”尤斯塔斯刚说到这里,吉尔就打断了他的话。

“噢,不要再说可怜的老帕叟了,”她说,“这不是你的过错,是吧,亲爱的帕叟?”说着,她在它的鼻子上吻了一下。

尽管大家都为自己所见到的怪物深感震惊,他们还是坐了下来,继续着他们的谈话。

珠宝没有多少事情可以告诉他们。在囚禁期间,它一直被拴在马棚后面,因此对敌人的计划一无所知。有人曾经踢它(它也回赠了他几脚),打它,用死来威胁它,逼它承认那个每天夜里出来、在火光下向他们显现的就是阿斯兰。事实上,如果没有被及时解救的话,这个早上它就会被处决。

他们必须做出决定,当天夜晚他们是返回马棚山,让纳尼亚人看到帕叟,明白自己是如何上当受骗的;还是悄悄往东潜行,去与半人马卢恩维特从凯尔帕拉维尔带来的援兵会合,然后回来与猿猴和卡罗门人交战。