《獅子女巫與魔衣櫥》第9章:妖婆的房子
AND now of course you want to know what had happened to Edmund. He had eaten his share of the dinner, but he hadn't really enjoyed it because he was thinking all the time about Turkish Delight - and there's nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food. And he had heard the conversation, and hadn't enjoyed it much either, because he kept on thinking that the others were taking no notice of him and trying to give him the cold shoulder. They weren't, but he imagined it. And then he had listened until Mr Beaver told them about Aslan and until he had heard the whole arrangement for meeting Aslan at the Stone Table. It was then that he began very quietly to edge himself under the curtain which hung over the door. For the mention of Aslan gave him a mysterious and horrible feeling just as it gave the others a mysterious and lovely feeling.
Just as Mr Beaver had been repeating the rhyme about Adam's flesh and Adam's bone Edmund had been very quietly turning the doorhandle; and just before Mr Beaver had begun telling them that the White Witch wasn't really human at all but half a Jinn and half a giantess, Edmund had got outside into the snow and cautiously closed the door behind him.
You mustn't think that even now Edmund was quite so bad that he actually wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone. He did want Turkish Delight and to be a Prince (and later a King) and to pay Peter out for calling him a beast. As for what the Witch would do with the others, he didn't want her to be particularly nice to them - certainly not to put them on the same level as himself; but he managed to believe, or to pretend he believed, that she wouldn't do anything very bad to them, "Because," he said to himself, "all these people who say nasty things about her are her enemies and probably half of it isn't true. She was jolly nice to me, anyway, much nicer than they are. I expect she is the rightful Queen really. Anyway, she'll be better than that awful Aslan!" At least, that was the excuse he made in his own mind for what he was doing. It wasn't a very good excuse, however, for deep down inside him he really knew that the White Witch was bad and cruel.
The first thing he realized when he got outside and found the snow falling all round him, was that he had left his coat behind in the Beavers' house. And of course there was no chance of going back to get it now. The next thing he realized was that the daylight was almost gone, for it had been nearly three o'clock when they sat down to dinner and the winter days were short. He hadn't reckoned on this; but he had to make the best of it. So he turned up his collar and shuffled across the top of the dam (luckily it wasn't so slippery since the snow had fallen) to the far side of the river.
It was pretty bad when he reached the far side. It was growing darker every minute and what with that and the snowflakes swirling all round him he could hardly see three feet ahead. And then too there was no road. He kept slipping into deep drifts of snow, and skidding on frozen puddles, and tripping over fallen tree-trunks, and sliding down steep banks, and barking his shins against rocks, till he was wet and cold and bruised all over. The silence and the loneliness were dreadful. In fact I really think he might have given up the whole plan and gone back and owned up and made friends with the others, if he hadn't happened to say to himself, "When I'm King of Narnia the first thing I shall do will be to make some decent roads." And of course that set him off thinking about being a King and all the other things he would do and this cheered him up a good deal. He had just settled in his mind what sort of palace he would have and how many cars and all about his private cinema and where the principal railways would run and what laws he would make against beavers and dams and was putting the finishing touches to some schemes for keeping Peter in his place, when the weather changed. First the snow stopped. Then a wind sprang up and it became freezing cold. Finally, the clouds rolled away and the moon came out. It was a full moon and, shining on all that snow, it made everything almost as bright as day - only the shadows were rather confusing.
He would never have found his way if the moon hadn't come out by the time he got to the other river you remember he had seen (when they first arrived at the Beavers') a smaller river flowing into the great one lower down. He now reached this and turned to follow it up. But the little valley down which it came was much steeper and rockier than the one he had just left and much overgrown with bushes, so that he could not have managed it at all in the dark. Even as it was, he got wet through for he had to stoop under branches and great loads of snow came sliding off on to his back. And every time this happened he thought more and more how he hated Peter - just as if all this had been Peter's fault.
But at last he came to a part where it was more level and the valley opened out. And there, on the other side of the river, quite close to him, in the middle of a little plain between two hills, he saw what must be the White Witch's House. And the moon was shining brighter than ever. The House was really a small castle. It seemed to be all towers; little towers with long pointed spires on them, sharp as needles. They looked like huge dunce's caps or sorcerer's caps. And they shone in the moonlight and their long shadows looked strange on the snow. Edmund began to be afraid of the House.
But it was too late to think of turning back now.
He crossed the river on the ice and walked up to the House. There was nothing stirring; not the slightest sound anywhere. Even his own feet made no noise on the deep newly fallen snow. He walked on and on, past corner after corner of the House, and past turret after turret to find the door. He had to go right round to the far side before he found it. It was a huge arch but the great iron gates stood wide open.
Edmund crept up to the arch and looked inside into the courtyard, and there he saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop beating. Just inside the gate, with the moonlight shining on it, stood an enormous lion crouched as if it was ready to spring. And Edmund stood in the shadow of the arch, afraid to go on and afraid to go back, with his knees knocking together. He stood there so long that his teeth would have been chattering with cold even if they had not been chattering with fear. How long this really lasted I don't know, but it seemed to Edmund to last for hours.
Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been looking at him at all. ("But supposing it turns its head?" thought Edmund.) In fact it was staring at something else namely a little: dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away. "Aha!" thought Edmund. "When it springs at the dwarf then will be my chance to escape." But still the lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund remembered what the others had said about the White Witch turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with snow. Of course it must be only a statue! No living animal would have let itself get covered with snow. Then very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst, Edmund ventured to go up to the lion. Even now he hardly dared to touch it, but at last he put out his hand, very quickly, and did. It was cold stone. He had been frightened of a mere statue!
The relief which Edmund felt was so great that in spite of the cold he suddenly got warm all over right down to his toes, and at the same time there came into his head what seemed a perfectly lovely idea. "Probably," he thought, "this is the great Lion Aslan that they were all talking about. She's caught him already and turned him into stone. So that's the end of all their fine ideas about him! Pooh! Who's afraid of Aslan?"
And he stood there gloating over the stone lion, and presently he did something very silly and childish. He took a stump of lead pencil out of his pocket and scribbled a moustache on the lion's upper lip and then a pair of spectacles on its eyes. Then he said, "Yah! Silly old Aslan! How do you like being a stone? You thought yourself mighty fine, didn't you?" But in spite of the scribbles on it the face of the great stone beast still looked so terrible, and sad, and noble, staring up in the moonlight, that Edmund didn't really get any fun out of jeering at it. He turned away and began to cross the courtyard.
As he got into the middle of it he saw that there were dozens of statues all about - standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chess-board when it is half-way through the game. There were stone satyrs, and stone wolves, and bears and foxes and cat-amountains of stone. There were lovely stone shapes that looked like women but who were really the spirits of trees. There was the great shape of a centaur and a winged horse and a long lithe creature that Edmund took to be a dragon. They all looked so strange standing there perfectly life-like and also perfectly still, in the bright cold moonlight, that it was eerie work crossing the courtyard. Right in the very middle stood a huge shape like a man, but as tall as a tree, with a fierce face and a shaggy beard and a great club in its right hand. Even though he knew that it was only a stone giant and not a live one, Edmund did not like going past it.
He now saw that there was a dim light showing from a doorway on the far side of the courtyard. He went to it; there was a flight of stone steps going up to an open door. Edmund went up them. Across the threshold lay a great wolf.
"It's all right, it's all right," he kept saying to himself; "it's only a stone wolf. It can't hurt me", and he raised his leg to step over it. Instantly the huge creature rose, with all the hair bristling along its back, opened a great, red mouth and said in a growling voice:
"Who's there? Who's there? Stand still, stranger, and tell me who you are."
"If you please, sir," said Edmund, trembling so that he could hardly speak, "my name is Edmund, and I'm the Son of Adam that Her Majesty met in the wood the other day and I've come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in Narnia - quite close, in the Beavers' house. She - she wanted to see them."
"I will tell Her Majesty," said the Wolf. "Meanwhile, stand still on the threshold, as you value your life." Then it vanished into the house.
Edmund stood and waited, his fingers aching with cold and his heart pounding in his chest, and presently the grey wolf, Maugrim, the Chief of the Witch's Secret Police, came bounding back and said, "Come in! Come in! Fortunate favourite of the Queen - or else not so fortunate."
And Edmund went in, taking great care not to tread on the Wolf's paws.
He found himself in a long gloomy hall with many pillars, full, as the courtyard had been, of statues. The one nearest the door was a little faun with a very sad expression on its face, and Edmund couldn't help wondering if this might be Lucy's friend. The only light came from a single lamp and close beside this sat the White Witch.
"I'm come, your Majesty," said Edmund, rushing eagerly forward.
"How dare you come alone?" said the Witch in a terrible voice. "Did I not tell you to bring the others with you?"
"Please, your Majesty," said Edmund, "I've done the best I can. I've brought them quite close. They're in the little house on top of the dam just up the riverwith Mr and Mrs Beaver."
A slow cruel smile came over the Witch's face.
"Is this all your news?" she asked.
"No, your Majesty," said Edmund, and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the Beavers' house.
"What! Aslan?" cried the Queen, "Aslan! Is this true? If I find you have lied to me -"
"Please, I'm only repeating what they said," stammered Edmund.
But the Queen, who was no longer attending to him, clapped her hands. Instantly the same dwarf whom Edmund had seen with her before appeared.
"Make ready our sledge," ordered the Witch, "and use the harness without bells."
就在海狸先生背誦“亞當的骨肉”那首詩時，愛德蒙已經悄悄擰動了門把手；在海狸先生告訴他們白妖婆根本不是真的人，而是一半精靈一半巨人以前，愛德蒙已經走到外面雪地裏，還小心地隨手把門帶上。
即使到了這會兒，你們也千萬別認爲愛德蒙壞得真正想讓他的兄弟姐妹被妖婆變成石頭。他的確想吃土耳其軟糖，而且想當王子(日後當個國王)，還想出出彼得罵他壞蛋這口惡氣。至於妖婆會怎麼對待其他人，他雖不希望她對他們特別好——當然不能給他們和他同等待遇——但他竟然相信，或者是自以爲相信，她不會對他們幹出什麼壞事。“因爲，”他暗自說，“凡是說她壞話的人都是她的敵人，也許這些壞話裏面有一半都是假的。不管怎麼說，她對我挺好的、比他們待我要好多了。我當她真正是合法的女王。無論如何，她總比可惡的阿斯蘭要好吧！”至少，這就是他腦子裏爲自己所幹的事找的藉口。不過這個藉口並不高明，因爲在他內心深處，他也真正知道白妖婆又兇狠又殘酷。
他出來後看到外面正在下雪，首先明白過來的是他把自己的大衣扔在海狸夫婦家裏了。眼下當然沒有機會回去拿大衣。其次明白過來的是天幾乎黑了，因爲他們坐下來吃午飯時已經快三點了，而且冬天的白晝短。他原先沒估計到這一點，但他得充分利用這一點。所以他豎起衣領，拖着腳步，穿過堤壩頂部(幸虧下了雪，上面纔沒那麼滑)，向遠處河邊走去。
等他到了遠處的河邊，情況就不大妙了。天一點點變黑，再加上雪花圍着他打轉，他連三英尺以外都看不清。再說，那兒沒有路。他老是滑到深深的雪堆裏，滾到結了冰的水潭裏，絆在倒下的樹幹上，從陡峭的河岸上滑下去，小腿在岩石上擦破了皮，弄得渾身又溼又冷，到處是傷。寂靜和孤獨是可怕的。其實，要不是他偶爾對自己說，“等我當上納尼亞國王，我首先要乾的事就是修幾條像樣的路。”我真以爲他可能會放棄整個計劃，回去認個錯，跟其他人和好呢。當然這句話使他想到當國王以及他要乾的一切事情，這就大大鼓舞了他。他在腦子裏拿定主意要有什麼樣的王宮，有多少汽車，以及種種有關私人電影院的事，主要的鐵路往哪兒開，他要針對海狸和堤壩制定什麼法律加以限制，還把不準彼得亂說亂動的計劃作了最後修改；這時天變了。先是雪停了，接着突然颳起一陣風，冷得要命；最後，雲散了，月亮出來了。一輪明月照在一片白雪上，幾乎跟白天一樣亮——
只是那些陰影把他搞得糊里糊塗。
要不是在他到達另一條河的時候月亮出來了，他根本就找不到路——你們記得，他們剛到海狸夫婦家時，他已經看到了一條小一點的河在下游匯入這條大河。如今他走到這條小河邊，就轉身沿着這河往上游走。不過小河源頭的那個小山谷比他剛剛離開的那個山谷更陡峭，岩石更多，而且滿地都是枝葉叢生的灌木，因此他在黑暗中根本沒法過去。儘管這樣，他也弄得渾身透溼，因爲他得彎着腰在樹枝下走，大塊大塊的雪就都滑到他背上了。碰上這種倒黴事，他就格外想自己多麼恨彼得——好像這一切都是彼得的錯。
但他終於走到一塊比較平坦的地方，山谷也開闊起來。就在離他很近的地方，小河的另一邊，兩座小山當中一塊小平原的中央，他看見了那幢想必屬於白妖婆的房子。而且月亮也比任何時候都更明亮。那幢房子其實是一座小城堡，看上去全是塔樓。小小的塔樓上面是又長又尖的頂，像針尖,
又像笨蛋學生或巫師戴的尖角帽。在月光照耀下，塔樓長長的影子在雪地上顯得古里古怪的！愛德蒙對這幢房子開始感到害怕了。
不過這會兒想轉身回去也太晚了。他踏在冰上走過了河，一直走向這幢房子。沒有一點動靜，連他自己兩隻腳踩在剛下的深深的雪裏也沒有聲音。他走啊走啊，走過一個又一個牆角、一個又一個塔樓去找門。他繞了一大圈才找到門。原來是座大拱門，不過大鐵門是敞開的。
愛德蒙躡手躡腳走進拱門，朝院子裏張望，看見的那副情景差點使他的心都停止跳動了。就在大門裏面，月光照耀下，有一隻大獅子蹲在那兒，好像準備跳起來似的。愛德蒙就站在拱門的陰影裏，兩膝直打哆嗦，又怕走過去，又怕走回來。他站在那兒好久好久，牙齒即使不是怕得打戰也早巳冷得打戰了。我不知道他在那兒真正站了多久，不過愛德蒙似乎覺得過了好幾個小時。
後來他終於想知道那獅子幹嗎蹲着一動也不動——因爲自從他看見它以來，它就紋絲兒沒動過。這會兒愛德蒙放大膽走近點，一邊仍然儘量躲在拱門的陰影裏。他現在從獅子站的架勢看出，它根本不可能看見他。(“但假如它轉過頭來呢？”愛德蒙想道。)事實上它正盯着另外什麼東西——就是一個小矮人，他背對獅子站在大約四英尺以外的地方。
“啊哈！”愛德蒙想，“等它撲向那小矮人，那時就是我逃命的機會了。”但獅子仍然一動也不動，小矮人也一樣。愛德蒙這時終於想起其他人說過的白妖婆把人變成石頭的事。也許這只是一隻石獅吧。他一想到這點就注意到獅子背上和頭頂上都積滿了雪。它當然一定只是個石像！活生生的動物決不會讓自己身上積滿雪的。於是，愛德蒙慢慢大着膽向獅子走去，一顆心好像要跳出來似的。即使現在他也不大敢摸它，但他終於伸出手來很快地摸了一下。原來是冰冷的石頭。只不過是個石像，竟然就把他嚇住了！
愛德蒙感到如釋重負，因此儘管天那麼冷，他突然從頭到腳都暖和了。同時他腦子裏有了個似乎十分稱心的念頭。
“也許，”他想，“這就是大家都在談論的偉大的獅王阿斯蘭吧。她已經抓住它把它變成石頭了。這麼一來他們在它身上打的如意算盤也就落空了！呸！誰怕阿斯蘭呀？”
他就這麼站在那兒幸災樂禍地看着石獅子，不一會兒他幹了一件孩子氣的蠢事。他從口袋裏掏出一個鉛筆頭，在獅子上脣塗上兩撇鬍子，還給它加上了一副眼鏡。塗罷他說，“可笑的老阿斯蘭！成了石頭你有什麼想法啊？你自以爲很了不起吧？”不過儘管他在獅子臉上亂塗，大石獸看上去仍然很可怕，又傷心，又高貴，目光仰望着月亮。愛德蒙戲弄石獅，卻並沒因此真正感到好玩。他掉轉身子，穿過院子走進去。
他剛走到院子當中就看見四周有好多石像——到處都是，倒有點像下到一半時棋盤上的棋子。有石頭的森林神(希臘神話中傳說的半人半獸的神，人行，有馬或山羊般的耳朵和尾巴),
石頭的狼啊、熊啊、狐狸啊、山貓啊。還有些可愛的石頭看上去像女人，其實是樹精。有一個大石像形狀像人頭馬（希臘神話中傳說的半人半馬的怪物，人頭馬身），還有一匹有翅膀的馬，還有一條長長的軟體動物，愛德蒙當它是龍。這些石像看上去都那麼古怪，在明晃晃、冷冰冰的月光下栩栩如生，而且完全靜止不動，使人穿過院子時感到非常可怕。在院子正中央站着一個巨大的人體，足有一棵樹那麼高，面相兇猛，長着一部蓬鬆的大鬍子，右手拿着根大棒。雖然愛德蒙知道這只是一個石頭巨人，不是活的，他仍然不願意走過巨人身邊。
這會兒他瞧見院子那頭有個入口透出一點暗淡的光。他走到那兒，那兒有幾級石階通向一扇開着的門。愛德蒙走上石階，只見門檻上躺着一匹大狼。
“沒關係，沒關係，”他不停地自言自語道，“那只是一隻石狼而已。它不會傷害我的。”他擡起腳要跨過它。那隻巨獸立刻站起來，背上的毛根根豎起，張開血盆大嘴，吼着說：
“誰在那兒？誰在那兒？站着別動，陌生人，告訴我你是誰。”
“勞駕通報一下，先生，”愛德蒙哆哆嗦嗦，都快說不出話了，“我名叫愛德蒙，我就是女王陛下前幾天在森林裏遇見過的亞當的兒子，我到這兒來報信，我們兄弟姐妹現在都在納尼亞——很近，就在海狸夫婦家。她——她想見見他們。”
“我會稟報女王陛下的，”那匹狼說，“同時，要是你珍惜你這條命，就站在門檻上別動。”說着它就走進去不見了。
愛德蒙站在那兒等着，他的手指凍得好疼，心頭怦怦直跳。不一會兒那隻灰狼，芬瑞斯·烏爾夫，妖婆的祕密警察頭子跳着回來了，說道，“進來吧！進來吧！幸運的女王寵兒——否則就沒那麼幸運了。”
愛德蒙就此走了進去，一路小心翼翼別踩在狼爪子上。
他發現自己來到一間有許多柱子的長長的陰暗的大廳，跟院子裏一樣滿是石像。離門最近的石像是一隻小羊怪，神情十分傷心，愛德蒙不禁想知道這會不會是露茜的朋友。大廳裏只點了一盞燈，白妖婆就緊挨在這盞燈後面坐着。
“我來了，陛下。”愛德蒙說着，心急慌忙地衝上前去。
“你竟敢一個人來？”妖婆用可怕的聲音說，“我不是吩咐你把其他幾個一起帶來嗎？”
“請別見怪，陛下，”愛德蒙說，“我已盡了最大努力。我已把他們帶到附近。他們就在河上堤壩頂上那座小房子裏——跟海狸先生、海狸太太在一起。”
妖婆臉上慢慢露出一絲冷酷的微笑。
“你的消息就這麼些嗎？”她問。 “不，陛下。”愛德蒙說，並開始把離開海狸夫婦家以前他聽到的事全部告訴廠她。
“什麼！阿斯蘭！”女王叫道，“阿斯蘭！這是真的嗎？要是我發現你對我說謊——”
“請別見怪，我只是重複他們說的話而已。”愛德蒙結結巴巴地說。
不過女王已經不再注意他，她拍了拍手。愛德蒙上回看見跟着女王的那個小矮人立刻出現了。
“備好雪橇，”妖婆命令說，“用沒有鈴擋的挽具。”
