《魔法师的外甥》第21期:灭绝咒(3)
Low down and near the horizon hung a great, red sun, far bigger than our sun. Digory felt at once that it was also older than ours: a sun near the end of its life, weary of looking down upon that world. To the left of the sun, and higher up, there was a single star, big and bright. Those were the only two things to be seen in the dark sky; they made a dismal group. And on the earth, in every direction, as far as the eye could reach, there spread a vast city in which there was no living thing to be seen. And all the temples, towers, palaces, pyramids, and bridges cast long, disastrous-looking shadows in the light of that withered sun. Once a great river had flowed through the city, but the water had long since vanished, and it was now only a wide ditch of grey dust.
"Look well on that which no eyes will ever see again," said the Queen. "Such was Charn, that great city, the city of the King of Kings, the wonder of the world, perhaps of all worlds. Does your uncle rule any city as great as this, boy?"
"No," said Digory. He was going to explain that Uncle Andrew didn't rule any cities, but the Queen went on:
"It is silent now. But I have stood here when the whole air was full of the noises of Charn; the trampling of feet, the creaking of wheels, the cracking of the whips and the groaning of slaves, the thunder of chariots, and the sacrificial drums beating in the temples. I have stood here (but that was near the end) when the roar of battle went up from every street and the river of Charn ran red." She paused and added, "All in one moment one woman blotted it out for ever."
"Who?" said Digory in a faint voice; but he had already guessed the answer.
"I," said the Queen. "I, Jadis the last Queen, but the Queen of the World."
The two children stood silent, shivering in the cold wind.
"It was my sister's fault," said the Queen. "She drove me to it. May the curse of all the Powers rest upon her forever! At any moment I was ready to make peace - yes and to spare her life too, if only she would yield me the throne. But she would not. Her pride has destroyed the whole world. Even after the war had begun, there was a solemn promise that neither side would use Magic. But when she broke her promise, what could I do? Fool! As if she did not know that I had more Magic than she! She even knew that I had the secret of the Deplorable Word. Did she think - she was always a weakling - that I would not use it?"
"What was it?" said Digory.
"That was the secret of secrets," said the Queen Jadis. "It had long been known to the great kings of our race that there was a word which, if spoken with the proper ceremonies, would destroy all living things except the one who spoke it. But the ancient kings were weak and softhearted and bound themselves and all who should come after them with great oaths never even to seek after the knowledge of that word. But I learned it in a secret place and paid a terrible price to learn it. I did not use it until she forced me to it. I fought to overcome her by every other means. I poured out the blood of my armies like water "
“好好看，以后再也看不到了。”女王说，“这就是恰恩，伟大的城市，王中王之都，是这个世界，也许是所有世界的奇迹。孩子．你的舅舅是否统治着跟恰恩一样伟大的城市？”
”没有。”迪格雷说。他想解释安德鲁舅舅并没有统治任何城市。但女王接着说：
“现在很安静。但是当空中充斥着恰恩的各种声音那会儿，我曾站在这里。脚步声、车轮声、鞭子的抽打声和奴隶的呻吟，还有马车的轰响以及寺庙里献祭的鼓声。当战斗开始，每条街道上杀声四起，恰恩河水被鲜血染红的时候，我也曾站在这儿（但那时一切都快完了）。”停了一下，她又说，“一个女人顷刻间便将这一切永远地抹去了。”
“谁，”迪格雷低声问道，但他已经猜到了答案。
“我，”女王说，“我，简蒂丝，最后的女王，但也就是世界女王。”
两个孩子静静地站着，在寒风中瑟瑟发抖。
“是我姐姐的错，”女王说，“她逼我干的。让所有的神都永远地诅咒她吧！那时，我随时都准备讲和——是的，只要她让位给我，我就饶她不死。但她不干，她的傲慢毁了整个世界。甚至在战争开始以后，双方都郑重地保证不使用魔法，但她不守信用，我怎么办呢？傻瓜：好像她不知道我的魔法比她的大似的。她还知道我握了灭绝咒的秘密。她以为——她始终是个弱者——她以为我不会使用这个秘咒吗？”
“这秘咒是什么呢？”迪格雷问。
“那是秘密中的秘密，”简蒂丝女王说，“很久以来，我们这个民族的高贵的国王们就知道这个只有一个字的秘咒，只要在恰当的仪式中说出这个字，除了说话人自己外，所有的活物都会灭绝。但是，古代的国王们心肠太软，自己约束自己，而且，还约束他们的后人，让他们宣誓永远不探究那个字的秘密。然而，我在一个秘密的地方付出沉重的代价才学到手。她逼得我走投无路我才用了。为了征服她，我想尽其他一切办法与她作战。我的将士血流成河……”
