CHAPTER SIXTEEN FAREWELL TO SHADOWLANDS IF one could run without getting tired, I don't think one would often want to do anything else. But there might be special reasons for stopping, and it was a special reason which made Eustace presently shout: "I say! Steady! Look what we're coming to!" And well he might. For now they saw before them Caldron Pool and beyond the Pool the high unclimbable cliffs and, pouring down the cliffs, thousands of tons of water every second, flashing like diamonds in some places and dark, glassy green in others, the Great Waterfall; and already the thunder of it was in their ears. "Don't stop! Further up and further in," called Farsight, tilting his flight a little upwards. "It's all very well for him," said Eustace, but Jewel also cried out: "Don't stop. Further up and further in! Take it in your stride." His voice could only just be heard above the roar of the water but next moment everyone saw that he had plunged into the Pool. And helter-skelter behind him, with splash after splash, all the others did the same. The water was not biting cold as all of them (and especially Puzzle) expected, but of a delicious foamy coolness. They all found they were swimming straight for the Waterfall itself. "This is absolutely crazy," said Eustace to Edmund. "I know. And yet -" said Edmund. "Isn't it wonderful?" said Lucy. "Have you noticed one can't feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it." "By Jove, neither one can," said Eustace after he had tried. Jewel reached the foot of the Waterfall first, but Tirian was only just behind him. Jill was last, so she could see the whole thing better than the others. She saw something white moving steadily up the face of the Waterfall. That white thing was the Unicorn. You couldn't tell whether he was swimming or climbing, but he moved on, higher and higher. The point of his horn divided the water just above his head, and it cascaded out in two rainbow-coloured streams all round his shoulders. Just behind him came King Tirian. He moved his legs and arms as if he were swimming but he moved straight upwards: as if one could swim up the wall of a house. What looked funniest was the Dogs. During the gallop they had not been at all out of breath, but now, as they swarmed and wriggled upwards, there was plenty of spluttering and sneezing among them; that was because they would keep on barking, and every time they barked they got their mouths and noses full of water. But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully, she was going up the Waterfall herself. It was the sort of thing that would have been quite impossible in our world. Even if you hadn't been drowned, you would have been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight of water against the countless jags of rock. But in that world you could do it. You went on, up and up, with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of coloured stones flashing through it, till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself - and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but later it was only gloriously exciting. And then at last one came to the lovely, smooth green curve in which the water poured over the top and found that one was out on the level river above the Waterfall. The current was racing away behind you, but you were such a wonderful swimmer that you could make headway against it. Soon they were all on the bank, dripping buthappy. A long valley opened ahead and great snow-mountains, now much nearer, stood up against the sky. "Further up and further in," cried Jewel and instantly they were off again. They were out of Narnia now and up into the Western Wild which neither Tirian nor Peter nor even the Eagle had ever seen before. But the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly had. "Do you remember? Do you remember?" they said - and said it in steady voices too, without panting, though the whole party was now running faster than an arrow flies. "What, Lord?" said Tirian. "Is it then true, as stories tell, that you two journeyed here on the very day the world was made?" "Yes," said Digory, "and it seems to me as if it were only yesterday." "And on a flying horse?" asked Tirian. "Is that part true?" "Certainly," said Digory. But the Dogs barked, "Faster, faster!" So they ran faster and faster till it was more like flying than running, and even the Eagle overhead was going no faster than they. And they went through winding valley after winding valley and up the steep sides of hills and, faster than ever, down the other side, following the river and sometimes crossing it and skimming across mountainlakes as if they were living speed-boats, till at last at the far end of one long lake which looked as blue as a turquoise, they saw a smooth green hill. Its sides were as steep as the sides of a pyramid and round the very top of it ran a green wall: but above the wall rose the branches of trees whose leaves looked like silver and their fruit like gold. "Further up and further in!" roared the Unicorn, and no one held back. They charged straight at the foot of the hill and then found themselves running up it almost as water from a broken wave runs up a rock out at the point of some bay. Though the slope was nearly as steep as the roof of a house and the grass was smooth as a bowling green, no one slipped. Only when they had reached the very top did they slow up; that was because they found themselves facing great golden gates. And for a moment none of them was bold enough to try if the gates would open. They all felt just as they had felt about the fruit "Dare we? Is it right? Can it be meant for us?" But while they were standing thus a great horn, wonderfully loud and sweet, blew from somewhere inside that walled garden and the gates swung open. Tirian stood holding his breath and wondering who would come out. And what came was the last thing he had expected: a little, sleek, bright-eyed Talking Mouse with a red feather stuck in a circlet on its head and its left paw resting on a long sword. It bowed, a most beautiful bow, and said in its shrill voice: "Welcome, in the Lion's name. Come further up and further in." Then Tirian saw King Peter and King Edmund and Queen Lucy rush forward to kneel down and greet the Mouse and they all cried out "Reepicheep!" And Tirian breathed fast with the sheer wonder of it, for now he knew that he was looking at one of the great heroes of Narnia, Reepicheep the Mouse who had fought at the great Battle of Beruna and afterwards sailed to the World's end with King Caspian the Seafarer. But before he had had much time to think of this he felt two strong arms thrown about him and felt a bearded kiss on his cheeks and heard a well remembered voice saying: "What, lad? Art thicker and taller since I last touched thee!" It was his own father, the good King Erlian: but not as Tirian had seen him last when they brought him home pale and wounded from his fight with the giant, nor even as Tirian remembered him in his later years when he was a grey-headed warrior. This was his father, young and merry, as he could just remember him from very early days when he himself had been a little boy playing games with his father in the castle garden at Cair Paravel, just before bedtime on summer evenings. The very smell of the bread-and-milk he used to have for supper came back to him. Jewel thought to himself, "I will leave them to talk for a little and then I will go and greet the good King Erlian. Many a bright apple has he given me when I was but a colt." But next moment he had something else to think of, for out of the gateway there came a horse so mighty and noble that even a Unicorn might feel shy in its presence: a great winged horse. It looked a moment at the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly and neighed out "What, cousins!" and they both shouted "Fledge! Good old Fledge!" and rushed to kiss it. But by now the Mouse was again urging them to come in. So all of them passed in through the golden gates, into the delicious smell that blew towards them out of that garden and into the cool mixture of sunlight and shadow under the trees, walking on springy turf that was all dotted with white flowers. The very first thing which struck everyone was that the place was far larger than it had seemed from outside. But no one had time to think about that for people were coming up to meet the newcomers from every direction. Everyone you had ever heard of (if you knew the history of these countries) seemed to be there. There was Glimfeather the Owl and Puddleglum the Marshwiggle, and King Rilian the Disenchanted, and his mother the Star's daughter and his great father Caspian himself. And close beside him were the Lord Drinian and the Lord Berne and Trumpkin the Dwarf and Truffle-hunter the good Badger with Glenstorm the Centaur and a hundred other heroes of the great War of Deliverance. And then from another side came Cor the King of Archenland with King Lune his father and his wife Queen Aravis and the brave prince Corin Thunder-Fist, his brother, and Bree the Horse and Hwin the Mare. And then - which was a wonder beyond all wonders to Tirian - there came from further away in the past, the two good Beavers and Tumnus the Faun. And there was greeting and kissing and hand-shaking and old jokes revived, (you've no idea how good an old joke sounds when you take it out again after a rest of five or six hundred years) and the whole company moved forward to the centre of the orchard where the Phoenix sat in a tree and looked down upon them all, and at the foot of that tree were two thrones and in those two thrones a King and Queen so great and beautiful that everyone bowed down before them. And well they might, for these two were King Frank and Queen Helen from whom all the most ancient Kings of Narnia and Archenland are descended. And Tirian felt as you would feel if you were brought before Adam and Eve in all their glory. About half an hour later - or it might have been half a hundred years later, for time there is not like time here - Lucy stood with her dear friend, her oldest Narnian friend, the Faun Tumnus, looking down over the wall of that garden, and seeing all Narnia spread out below. But when you looked down you found that this hill was much higher than you had thought: it sank down with shining cliffs, thousands of feet below them and trees in that lower world looked no bigger than grains of green salt. Then she turned inward again and stood with her back to the wall and looked at the garden. "I see," she said at last, thoughtfully. "I see now. This garden is like the stable. It is far bigger inside than it was outside." "Of course, Daughter of Eve," said the Faun. "The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside." Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden but a whole world, with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains. But they were not strange: she knew them all. "I see," she said. "This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful then the Narnia down below, just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the stable door! I see... world within world, Narnia within Narnia..." "Yes," said Mr Tumnus, "like an onion: except that as you go in and in, each circle is larger than the last." And Lucy looked this way and that and soon found that a new and beautiful thing had happened to her. Whatever she looked at, however far away it might be, once she had fixed her eyes steadily on it, became quite clear and close as if she were looking through a telescope. She could see the whole Southern desert and beyond it the great city of Tashbaan: to Eastward she could see Cair Paravel on the edge of the sea and the very window of the room that had once been her own. And far out to sea she could discover the islands, islands after islands to the end of the world, and, beyond the end, the huge mountain which they had called Aslan's country. But now she saw that it was part of a great chain of mountains which ringed round the whole world. In front of her it seemed to come quite close. Then she looked to her left and saw what she took to be a great bank of brightly-coloured cloud, cut off from them by a gap. But she looked harder and saw that it was not a cloud at all but a real land. And when she had fixed her eyes on one particular spot of it, she at once cried out, "Peter! Edmund! Come and look! Come quickly." And they came and looked, for their eyes also had become like hers. "Whys" exclaimed Peter. "It's England. And that's the house itself - Professor Kirk's old home in the country where all our adventures began!" "I thought that house had been destroyed," said Edmund. "So it was," said the Faun. "But you are now looking at the England within England, the real England just as this is the real Narnia. And in that inner England no good thing is destroyed." Suddenly they shifted their eyes to another spot, and then Peter and Edmund and Lucy gasped with amazement and shouted out and began waving: for there they saw their own father and mother, waving back at them across the great, deep valley. It was like when you see people waving at you from the deck of a big ship when you are waiting on the quay to meet them. "How can we get at them?" said Lucy. "That is easy," said Mr Tumnus. "That country and this country - all the real countries - are only spurs jutting out from the great mountains of Aslan. We have only to walk along the ridge, upward and inward, till it joins on. And listen! There is King Frank's horn: we must all go up." And soon they found themselves all walking together and a great, bright procession it was - up towards mountains higher than you could see in this world even if they were there to be seen. But there was no snow on those mountains: there were forests and green slopes and sweet orchards and flashing waterfalls, one above the other, going up forever. And the land they were walking on grew narrower all the time, with a deep valley on each side: and across that valley the land which was the real England grew nearer and nearer. The light ahead was growing stronger. Lucy saw that a great series of many-coloured cliffs led up in front of them like a giant's staircase. And then she forgot everything else, because Aslan himself was coming, leaping down from cliff to cliff like a living cataract of power and beauty. And the very first person whom Aslan called to him was Puzzle the Donkey. You never saw a donkey look feebler and sillier than Puzzle did as he walked up to Aslan, and he looked, beside Aslan, as small as a kitten looks beside a St Bernard. The Lion bowed down his head and whispered something to Puzzle at which his long ears went down, but then he said something else at which the ears perked up again. The humans couldn't hear what he had said either time. Then Aslan turned to them and said: "You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be." Lucy said, "We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often." "No fear of that," said Aslan. "Have you not guessed?" Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. "There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are - as you used to call it in the Shadowlands - dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. 16、告別幻影世界 一個(gè)人，如果能夠飛跑而不感到疲倦，我想他就不會(huì)想到做別的事情了。但，說不定會(huì)有停下步來的特別緣故，而這就是使尤斯塔斯大叫的緣故：“聽我說!別急!瞧瞧我們來到什么地方了!” 他很可能停下來了。因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在他們看到了大鍋淵、大鍋淵背后高不可攀的懸崖，以及每秒鐘從懸崖上傾瀉而下幾千噸水的大瀑布，它在某些地方閃爍如金剛鉆，在另外一些地方呈玻璃似的暗綠色；而雷鳴似的瀑布聲已經(jīng)響徹他們的耳中。 “別停下來!朝更高更深處前進(jìn)!”老鷹一面呼喚，一面斜斜地稍稍往上飛翔。 “對于它，一切都很方便。”尤斯塔斯說道，但獨(dú)角獸珍寶也呼喚道：“別停止。朝更高更深處前進(jìn)!你大步前進(jìn)時(shí)要心領(lǐng)神會(huì)這種精神�！� 大瀑布轟隆聲中，獨(dú)角獸的呼聲勉強(qiáng)能夠聽得到，但片刻之后就看見它深入到大鍋淵里去了。手忙腳亂，濺水潑水，其他的人和獸也都下去了。水并不像他們大家(特別是驢子迷惑)所料想的冰冷徹骨，倒是冒著泡沫，涼快宜人。 他們大家都發(fā)現(xiàn)：他們正筆直地向大瀑布游去。 “簡直是完全瘋了�！庇人顾箤鄣旅烧f道。 “這豈不神奇嗎?”露茜說，“你有沒有注意到，人沒法兒感到害怕，即使想要害怕也辦不到?你試試�！� “天哪，真是沒法兒害怕。”尤斯塔斯試試后說道。 獨(dú)角獸珍寶第一個(gè)到達(dá)大瀑布底下，但蒂蓮就跟在它后面。吉爾最后一個(gè)到達(dá)，所以她比其他的人看得清楚。她看見有個(gè)白色的東西在大瀑布的水面上穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地移動(dòng)。白色的東西就是獨(dú)角獸。你沒法兒說它是在游泳還是在攀登，但它是在前進(jìn)，愈進(jìn)愈高。它那獨(dú)角的尖端把那正好在它頭頂之上的水分開，水分成兩股七彩溪流繞著它的肩膀淌下來。 就在獨(dú)角獸的后面，國王蒂蓮也趕到了。他揮動(dòng)著他的兩腿和兩臂，仿佛是在游泳，但他是在筆直地向上移動(dòng)：仿佛他能游上墻壁似的。 看起來最可笑的是狗兒們。一路奔馳時(shí)它們壓根兒不曾透不過氣來，可現(xiàn)在擠在一起，往上扭動(dòng)，彼此雜亂地談了許多話，卻打了許多噴嚏；那是因?yàn)樗鼈兝鲜遣粩嗟胤徒�，而每次吠叫都弄得滿嘴滿鼻子都是水。但，吉爾來不及把這些事情充分看仔細(xì)，她自己也爬進(jìn)大瀑布里。這是一種在我們的世界里完全不可能辦到的事情。瀑布以那么可怕的重量沖在石頭尖上，即使你沒有被淹死，也被沖得粉身碎骨了。但是在那個(gè)世界里，你倒能辦到的。你繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，上升再上升，各種來自瀑布的反光照耀在你身上，各式各樣的彩色石子又從水中折射出光芒來，這樣，看來好像是你正在光芒的本體上往上攀登哩——而且總是愈登愈高，甚至高的感覺會(huì)叫你大吃一驚，如果嚇得著你的話，但在這兒不過是光榮的興奮罷了。最后，來到大水由此涌向山頂?shù)哪敲利惪蓯�、光滑蒼翠的彎道，便發(fā)覺自己已身在瀑布上方平坦的河上了。激流在你背后奔騰而去，但你倒是個(gè)神奇的游泳健將，竟能逆流而上。不久，他們大家都上了岸，渾身濕淋淋的，可是快快樂樂的。 前面展開著一個(gè)長長的河谷和巨大的積雪高山，高山映襯著天空，巍然矗立，近得多了。 “朝更高更深處前進(jìn)。”獨(dú)角獸珍寶大聲叫道，于是他們立刻又出發(fā)了。 現(xiàn)在他們出了納尼亞，往高處進(jìn)入西部荒原，那可是蒂蓮、彼得，甚至老鷹以前都沒見過的地方。但迪格雷勛爵和波莉夫人倒見過。“你記得嗎?你記得嗎？”他們說——而且還是用平平穩(wěn)穩(wěn)的聲調(diào)說的，一點(diǎn)也沒有氣喘吁吁，盡管這一行人獸正飛跑得比箭還快哩。 “啊，勛爵，”蒂蓮說道，“故事里說，你們兩人在世界初創(chuàng)之日就到這兒來旅行過，那么是確有其事的啦?” “是的，”迪格雷勛爵說道，“我覺得仿佛不過是昨天的事�！� “騎了一匹飛馬嗎?”蒂蓮問道，“這情節(jié)是真實(shí)的嗎?” “然是真的�！钡细窭渍f。但狗兒們吠叫了“快，快!” 所以他們便愈跑愈快，直跑得不像跑而更像飛了，天空的老鷹也不比他們快了。他們穿過一個(gè)彎曲的河谷又穿過一個(gè)彎曲的河谷，走上群山的陡坡，比以前更加快速地又走下另一邊的陡坡，循著河流走過去，有時(shí)渡過河去，漂過高山湖泊去，仿佛他們自己就是有生命的快艇。最后他們到了一個(gè)長湖的盡頭，湖水藍(lán)得像土耳其玉。于是他們看到了一個(gè)光滑的綠色小山。小山的兩側(cè)陡得像金字塔的邊，環(huán)繞山頂四周筑有一道綠色的墻垣，墻上伸展出樹枝，樹葉看上去像銀的，果實(shí)像金的。 “朝更高更深處前進(jìn)!”獨(dú)角獸大聲吼道，沒有一個(gè)人退縮。他們筆直地朝山麓沖去，這就發(fā)現(xiàn)他們自己已經(jīng)奔上山去，幾乎就像一個(gè)給攔斷的波浪，沖上了海灣尖端突出的一塊大石頭一樣。雖然山坡幾乎陡得像屋頂，草地光滑得像玩滾木球游戲的草坪，沒有一個(gè)失足滑倒的。只是他們在到達(dá)山頂時(shí)放慢了腳步，那是因?yàn)樗麄儼l(fā)現(xiàn)自己面對著巨大的金門。有那么一會(huì)兒，誰也不夠大膽，不敢去試試金門是否會(huì)打開。他們大家的感覺，就像他們對那神奇果實(shí)的感覺一模一樣——“我們敢嗎?對頭嗎?難道這門能為我們而打開嗎?” 但，當(dāng)他們這么站在門外的時(shí)候，一只巨大的號角，聲音響亮甜潤，在墻內(nèi)花園里什么地方嗚嗚地吹著，金門便打開了。 蒂蓮屏息靜氣地站著，心中猜測誰會(huì)走出門來。但出來的是他完全沒料到的角色：一頭小小的、毛發(fā)柔軟發(fā)光、眼睛明亮的、會(huì)說人話的老鼠，頭上一個(gè)圈里插著一根紅羽毛，左腳爪按在一把長劍上。它鞠躬，鞠了一個(gè)最最漂亮的躬，尖聲說道： “以獅王的名義，歡迎。往更高更深處前進(jìn)�！� 接著蒂蓮便看到王彼得和國王愛德蒙和女王露茜跑上前去，跪下向老鼠致敬，大家齊聲喊道：“雷佩契普!” 事情神奇之至，蒂蓮連呼吸也急促了，因?yàn)樗F(xiàn)在知道，他正親眼目睹納尼亞的大英雄老鼠雷佩契普，當(dāng)年它曾打過伯龍納大戰(zhàn)，后來跟著航海者凱斯賓國王一直到了天涯海角。但，他還來不及思考這件事情，便覺得有兩條強(qiáng)壯的胳膊抱住他，感到有把胡子在吻他的面頰，聽到一個(gè)挺熟悉的聲音說道： “怎么樣，孩子?比我上次吻你時(shí)胡子更密更長了吧?” 說這話的是他自己的父親，善良的國王厄蓮：但既不是蒂蓮曾看見過的與巨人作戰(zhàn)受傷、臉色蒼白、人家送他回家來時(shí)的父親，甚至也不是蒂蓮所記得的晚年是個(gè)白發(fā)蒼蒼的老戰(zhàn)士的父親。眼前可是個(gè)年輕而又開心的父親，蒂蓮?fù)陼r(shí)期所能記得的父親，當(dāng)年他自己是個(gè)小男孩，在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡花園里同父親一起做游戲，時(shí)間就在夏天黃昏上床之前。晚餐時(shí)他常吃的牛奶面包的味道又回來了。 獨(dú)角獸珍寶心里跟自己說道：“我要讓他們談一會(huì)兒，然后我再向國王厄蓮致敬。我是個(gè)小不點(diǎn)兒的時(shí)候，他給我吃過許多光亮的蘋果�！钡乱豢趟钟袆e的事情要想了，因?yàn)榇箝T里又出來一匹馬兒，強(qiáng)壯有力，高貴壯麗，甚至獨(dú)角獸在它面前也自慚形*。它是一匹長著翅膀的大馬。它對迪格雷勛爵和波莉夫人瞧了一會(huì)兒，便嘶鳴道：“呀，表兄!”他們倆一同大口叫：“飛羽!善良的老飛羽！”跑過去吻它。 這時(shí)候，老鼠重新催促他們進(jìn)門去。所以他們大家都穿過金門進(jìn)去，從花園里向他們吹來了宜人的芳香。進(jìn)入陽光與樹陰的涼快混合體里，走在綴著星星點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的白花的、有彈性的草皮上。第一件使大家印象十分深刻的事實(shí)是：這花園的里邊遠(yuǎn)比外邊看起來要大得多。但誰也沒有時(shí)間思考這個(gè)問題，因?yàn)槿藗冋龔乃拿姘朔节s來同新到的人見面。你聽到過的(如果你知道這些國家的歷史)每一個(gè)人，似乎都在那兒。有貓頭鷹格里姆費(fèi)瑟、沼澤怪普德格倫、解魔醒迷的國王瑞廉、瑞廉的母親那位明星的女兒、瑞廉的了不起的父親凱斯賓國王本人。緊挨著凱斯賓的，是德林尼安勛爵和伯尼勛爵、小矮人特魯普金、獵戶特魯夫爾、善良的獾、人頭馬格倫斯通姆，以及拯救大戰(zhàn)中的其他上百個(gè)英雄。從另一邊又來了阿欽蘭國王科奧、他的父親國王倫恩、他的王后阿拉維斯、他的兄弟勇敢的王子霹靂拳擊手科林、戰(zhàn)馬布里和母馬赫溫。接著——在蒂蓮看來，這是一切奇跡之上的奇跡——竟從遙遠(yuǎn)的往昔來了兩頭善良的海貍和羊怪圖姆納斯�；ハ鄦柡颍游�，握手，老的笑話也復(fù)活了(你完全不了解一個(gè)老的笑話聽起來多么有趣，當(dāng)你把它擱了五六百年又重新端出來的時(shí)候)，整個(gè)隊(duì)伍向前移動(dòng)，向果園的中心走去；果園里，長生鳥坐在一棵樹上，俯瞰著他們大家，而樹底下有兩個(gè)御座，御座上分別坐著國王和王后，偉大而美麗，大家都拜倒在他們面前。他們也要拜下去，因?yàn)檫@兩位就是國王法蘭克和王后海倫，納尼亞和阿欽蘭的大部分古代國王都是他們的后裔。而蒂蓮當(dāng)時(shí)的感覺就像帶你去見風(fēng)華正茂的亞當(dāng)和夏娃時(shí)的感受一樣。 大約半個(gè)鐘頭以后——或者也可能是五十年以后，因?yàn)槟莾旱臅r(shí)間，跟咱們這兒的時(shí)間不一樣——露茜和她的親愛的朋友，她的納尼亞老朋友羊怪圖姆納斯站在一起，越過花園的墻頭俯瞰，看到整個(gè)納尼亞展現(xiàn)在下面。但，當(dāng)你俯瞰時(shí)，你發(fā)覺這山比你所認(rèn)為的要大得多，它挾著閃閃發(fā)亮的懸崖下沉數(shù)千英尺，在底層，樹木看上去只有綠色的鹽粒那么大。然后她轉(zhuǎn)而向內(nèi)，背靠著墻，瞧著花園。 “我明白了，”她終于沉思地說道，“現(xiàn)在我明白了。這花園就像那馬廄。里邊遠(yuǎn)比外邊大得多�！� “當(dāng)然啦，夏娃的女兒，”羊怪說道，“你愈是往高處深處走去，一切東西就變得愈大。里邊比外邊大。” 露茜仔細(xì)打量著花園，發(fā)覺它確實(shí)壓根兒不是一個(gè)花園，而是一個(gè)完全的世界，有它自己的江湖、森林、海洋和山嶺。但它們并不陌生：她一一都認(rèn)識它們。 “我明白了，”她說道，“這仍舊是納尼亞，比下面的納尼亞更真實(shí)更美麗，就像它比馬廄門外的納尼亞更真實(shí)更美麗一模一樣!我明白了，世界中的世界，納尼亞里的納尼亞……” “是的，”圖姆納斯先生說，“像個(gè)洋蔥頭，除非你不斷地往里邊兒剝，每一圈總比上一圈大�！� 露茜東張西望，不久便發(fā)現(xiàn)她眼睛發(fā)生了新的美麗的變化。不論她瞧什么，不論她瞧的景物多遠(yuǎn)，一旦她的眼睛穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地盯住它直瞧，它就顯得很清晰很近，仿佛她是在用望遠(yuǎn)鏡觀看。她能看到南方整個(gè)兒大沙漠，沙漠后的塔什班城，向東她能望見海濱的凱爾帕拉維爾城，望見一度屬于她的那個(gè)房間的窗子。遠(yuǎn)至大海之上，她能發(fā)現(xiàn)島嶼，一個(gè)島接著一個(gè)島的，直至天涯海角，而天涯的后面便是人們稱之為阿斯蘭的國土的崇山峻嶺。但現(xiàn)在她看清楚了，這崇山峻嶺不過是環(huán)繞整個(gè)世界的、連綿不斷的大山脈的一部分。它就在她的前面，仿佛很近似的。然后她向左邊望去，她看到了一大堆她認(rèn)為是色彩鮮明的云，跟他們之間隔著一條溝。但她更仔細(xì)地看時(shí)便看出它壓根兒不是云，而是一塊真正的陸地。當(dāng)她的眼睛盯住某一點(diǎn)打量時(shí)，她立刻大聲叫了起來：“彼得!愛德蒙!來瞧瞧!快來�！彼麄儽銇砬屏�，因?yàn)樗麄兊难垡沧兊酶盾绲难劬σ粯恿恕?“呀！”彼得叫道，“這是英國埃這就是那座房屋——柯克教授在鄉(xiāng)下的老家，我們的一切奇遇都是從那兒開始的!” “我以為那屋子已經(jīng)坍毀了呢�！睈鄣旅烧f。 “屋子是坍掉了，”羊怪說道，“但你現(xiàn)在正望見的是英國里的英國，真正的英國，正如這兒是真正的納尼亞一樣。而在那個(gè)內(nèi)部英國里，沒有一件好的東西是毀掉的�！� 突然，他們把眼睛轉(zhuǎn)到了另一個(gè)地點(diǎn)，彼得、愛德蒙和露茜這就驚訝得連氣也透不過來，他們口中叫了出來，雙手也開始揮動(dòng)起來，因?yàn)樗麄兛吹搅怂麄兊母改福改敢哺糁怯执笥稚畹南认蛩麄儞]手致意。這就像你看到人們在一條大船的甲板上向你揮手致意，而你正在碼頭上迎接他們。 “我們怎么能和他們團(tuán)聚呢?”露茜問道。 “那倒容易，”圖姆納斯說道，“那個(gè)國家和這個(gè)國家——都是真正的國家——都不過是從阿斯蘭的崇山峻嶺上突出來的山鼻子罷了。我們只要沿著山脊走去，向上向內(nèi)走去，直到兩處連接的地方。聽呀，國王法蘭克的號角響了，我們大家都必須往上走了�！� 不久他們就發(fā)現(xiàn)大家都走在一起了——好一個(gè)偉大而輝煌的行列——都在向上走向比你在這個(gè)世界里能看到的高山還要高的崇山峻嶺，如果看得到高山的話。但這些崇山峻嶺上可沒有積雪：有的是森森林木、蒼翠山坡、芳香果園和閃爍瀑布，一個(gè)接著一個(gè)，永遠(yuǎn)往高處綿延。而他們正在走著的土地始終在愈變愈窄，兩邊各有一個(gè)深谷，深谷那一邊的土地，便是真正的英國，愈走愈近啦。 前邊的光芒愈來愈強(qiáng)烈了。露茜看到一系列彩色的懸崖峭壁重重疊疊，像是巨人的磴道。接著她把其他種種都忘掉了，因?yàn)榘⑺固m自己來了，從懸崖峭壁到懸崖峭壁往下奔騰，像是充滿力量和美麗的生動(dòng)活潑的瀑布。 阿斯蘭首先呼喚的對象是驢子迷惑。驢子向阿斯蘭走去，你從未看見過一頭驢子像迷惑當(dāng)時(shí)那樣虛弱和愚蠢的了：它站在阿斯蘭身邊，看上去小得就像站在圣·貝爾納身邊的小貓一樣。獅王俯下腦袋，在迷惑的耳邊低聲說了些話，聽到這話，迷惑的長耳朵垂下來了；但獅王隨即又說了些別的話，聽到這話，迷惑的耳朵又豎起來了，幾個(gè)人都沒法兒聽到獅王先后兩次所說的話。接著，阿斯蘭轉(zhuǎn)向人們說道： “看來你們還不像我原來指望的那么快樂�！� 露茜說：“阿斯蘭，我們擔(dān)心你要把我們送走。你好幾次都把我們送回我們自己的世界去的�！� “不用擔(dān)心，”阿斯蘭說道，“你們沒猜到嗎?” 他們的心怦怦直跳，內(nèi)心里升起了瘋狂的希望。 “確實(shí)發(fā)生過一次火車事故，”阿斯蘭低聲說道，“你們的父親和母親以及你們大家都死了——正如你們慣常所說的，到影子國土去了。學(xué)期結(jié)束了，假期開始了。夢做完了：現(xiàn)在是早晨了�！� 阿斯蘭說話時(shí)，他不再像一頭獅子那樣對著他們直瞧；但以后開始發(fā)生的事情是那么偉大和美麗，所以我無法描寫。對我們說來，這就是所有故事的結(jié)局，我們能最最真實(shí)地說，從此以后，他們大家幸福地生活下去了。但對他們說來，這僅僅是真正故事的開端。他們在這個(gè)世界里的一切生活以及他們在納尼亞的一切奇遇，僅僅是一本書的封面和扉頁：現(xiàn)在他們終于把這偉大故事的第一章開了個(gè)頭。這偉大的故事，世界上的人不曾讀過，這偉大的故事會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)繼續(xù)下去：每一章都比前一章更精彩。
