《魔法师的外甥》第51期:迪格雷和他的舅舅又陷困境(1)

Chapter 11 Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble

You may think the animals were very stupid not to see at once that Uncle Andrew was the same kind of creature as the two children and the Cabby. But you must remember that the animals knew nothing about clothes. They thought that Polly's frock and Digory's Norfolk suit and the Cabby's howlet hat were as much parts of them as their own fur and feathers. They wouldn't have known even that those three were all of the same kind if they hadn't spoken to them and if Strawberry had not seemed to think so. And Uncle Andrew was a great deal taller than the children and a good deal thinner than the Cabby. He was all in black except for his white waistcoat (not very white by now), and the great grey mop of his hair (now very wild indeed) didn't look to them like anything they had seen in the three other humans. So it was only natural that they should be puzzled. Worst of all, he didn't seem to be able to talk.

He had tried to. When the Bulldog spoke to him (or, as he thought, first snarled and then growled at him) he held out his shaking hand and gasped "Good Doggie, then, poor old fellow." But the beasts could not understand him any more than he could understand them. They didn't hear any words: only a vague sizzling noise. Perhaps it was just as well they didn't, for no dog that I ever knew, least of all a Talking Dog of Narnia, likes being called a Good Doggie then; any more than you would like being called My Little Man.

Then Uncle Andrew dropped down in a dead faint.

"There!" said a warthog, "it's only a tree. I always thought so." (Remember, they had never yet seen a faint or even a fall.)

The Bulldog, who had been sniffing Uncle Andrew all over, raised its head and said, "It's an animal. Certainly an animal. And probably the same kind as those other ones."

"I don't see that," said one of the Bears. "An animal wouldn't just roll over like that. We're animals and we don't roll over. We stand up. Like this." He rose to his hind legs, took a step backwards, tripped over a low branch and fell flat on his back.

"The Third Joke, the Third Joke, the Third joke!" said the Jackdaw in great excitement.

"I still think it's a sort of tree," said the Warthog.

"If it's a tree," said the other Bear, "there might be a bees' nest in it."

"I'm sure it's not a tree," said the Badger. "I had a sort of idea it was trying to speak before it toppled over."

"That was only the wind in its branches," said the Warthog.

"You surely don't mean," said the Jackdaw to the Badger, "that you think its a talking animal! It didn't say any words."

第11章 迪格雷和他的舅舅又陷困境

你可能会认为，这些动物非常愚蠢，没能一眼就看出安德鲁舅舅和那两个孩子以及马车夫是同类。但你必须记住，动物们对衣服一无所知。它们觉得，波莉的外衣、迪格雷的诺福克套装以及马车夫的圆顶帽是他们身体的一部分，就像它们自己的皮毛和羽翼一样。如果它们不与他们交谈，如果“草莓”也不那样想，它们就不会知道这三人是同类。而且安德鲁舅舅比孩子们高得多，又比马车夫瘦得多。除了白背心外(现在也已经不很白了)，他全身都是黑的。在动物们眼里，安德鲁舅舅的灰发(现在很凌乱)与那三人身上的任何东西都不相似。它们自然感到迷惑。最糟糕的是，他似乎不会说话。

他曾经试过。当公狗对他说话时(或者，按照他的想法，先是咆哮，后是对他咕哝)，他举起发抖的手，上气不接下气地说：“好小狗，嗯，可怜的老朋友。”但动物们根本听不懂，正如他也听不懂它们的话一样。除了含混不清的咝咝声外，它们什么也没听见。也许还是听不懂的好，因为我从未见过哪条狗愿意被人喊作“好小狗”，就像你不愿被叫成“我的小鬼”一样，更不用说纳尼亚的会说话的狗了。

安德鲁舅舅一下昏倒在地。

“啊！”一头野猪说，“它不过是棵树。我刚才就这么想。”(记住，它们还从未见过昏厥，甚至连倒下也没有见过。

那公狗将安德鲁舅舅全身嗅了个遍，抬头说道：“是动物，肯定是动物，而且很可能是那几个的同类。”

“我不同意，”一头熊说，“动物不会像那样倒在地上的。我们是动物，我们就不会倒下去。我们站着，像这样。”它后腿立起，向后走了一步，绊倒在一根矮树枝上，仰面朝天跌倒在地上。

“第三个笑柄，第三个笑柄，第三个笑柄。”那只寒鸦无比激动地说。

“我仍然认为是树。”野猪说。

“是树的话，”另一头熊说，“上面就会有蜂巢。”

“我敢肯定不是树，”一头獾说，“我觉得它倒下之前想说什么。”

“那只是树枝间的风声。”野猪说。

“你肯定不是说，”寒鸦对獾说道，“你认为它是一个会说话的动物吧！它什么也没说。”