狮子·女巫·魔衣橱

C. S.刘易斯（万洁　译）

C. S. 劉易斯（1898—1963），英国著名文学家。所著儿童故事集《纳尼亚传奇》七部曲，情节动人，妙趣横生。本文选自《纳尼亚传奇》第一部《狮子·女巫·魔衣橱》。

“Where are we going anyway？” said Susan， chiefly for the sake of changing the subject.

“I think Lu ought to be the leader，” said Peter， “goodness knows she deserves it. Where will you take us， Lu？”

“What about going to see Mr Tumnus？” said Lucy. “Hes the nice Faun I told you about.”

Everyone agreed to this and off they went walking briskly and stamping their feet. Lucy proved a good leader. At first she wondered whether she would be able to find the way， but she recognized an oddlooking tree on one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of Mr Tumnuss cave. But there a terrible surprise awaited them.

The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Inside， the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor， mixed with something black， which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Fauns father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.

“我们到底往哪里走啊？”苏珊问道，她这样说，主要是为了岔开刚才的话题。

“我看，应当让露茜做向导，”彼得说，“也只有她配做向导。露茜，你打算带我们上哪儿去？”

“去看看图姆纳斯先生，好不好？”露茜答道，“他就是我对你们讲过的那个善良的半人羊。”

大家一致同意这个建议，于是立即出发。他们一边轻快地跑着，一边跺着脚。事实证明，露茜是个好向导。起初，她担心自己找不到路，但她在一个地方认出了一棵长得古里古怪的树，后来又认出了一个树桩，终于把大家带到了一个崎岖不平的地方，然后进了那个小山谷，没多久就到了图姆纳斯先生家的洞口。可他们所看到的却是一幅十分可怕的景象，他们都大吃一惊。

门已被扭了下来，断成了好几截，洞内又黑又冷，不仅潮湿，还满是霉味儿。看来，这个地方已经好些日子没有人住了。雪从洞口吹进来，在门口积成一堆，里面还混杂着一些黑乎乎的东西，再一看，原来是烧剩的木炭屑和炭灰。很明显，有人把烧着的柴火扔到了洞内，然后又把它们踩灭了。陶罐被打碎在地上，半人羊父亲的画像被人用刀子划成了碎片。

“This is a pretty good wash-out，” said Edmund; “not much good coming here.”

“What is this？” said Peter， stooping down. He had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.

“Is there anything written on it？” asked Susan.

“Yes， I think there is，” answered Peter， “but I cant read it in this light. Lets get out into the open air.”

They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words：

The former occupant of these premises， the Faun Tumnus， is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis， Queen of Narnia， Chatelaine of Cair Paravel， Empress of the Lone Islands， etc.， also of comforting her said Majestys enemies， harbouring spies and fraternizing with Humans.

signed MAUGRIM， Captain of the Secret Police， LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

The children stared at each other.

“I dont know that Im going to like this place after all，” said Susan.

“Who is this Queen， Lu？” said Peter. “Do you know anything about her？”

“She isnt a real queen at all，” answered Lucy; “shes a horrible witch， the White Witch. Everyone all the wood people—hate her. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas.”

“這地方简直被糟蹋得不成样子。”爱德蒙说，“到这儿可真没劲。”

“这是什么？”彼得蹲下身子说。他发现地毯上钉有一张纸。

“上面有没有写字？”苏珊问。

“好像写了，”彼得回答，“但在这儿看不清，我们还是拿到外面去看吧。……