《能言马与男孩》第6期:道旁遇险(1)

Chapter 2 A Wayside Adventure
IT was nearly noon on the following day when Shasta was wakened by something warm and soft moving over his face. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the long face of a horse; its nose and lips were almost touching his. He remembered the exciting events of the previous night and sat up. But as he did so he groaned.
"Ow, Bree," he gasped. "I'm so sore. All over. I can hardly move."
"Good morning, small one," said Bree. "I was afraid you might feel a bit stiff. It can't be the falls. You didn't have more than a dozen or so, and it was all lovely, soft springy turf that must have been almost a pleasure to fall on. And the only one that might have been nasty was broken by that gorse bush. No: it's the riding itself that comes hard at first. What about breakfast? I've had mine."
"Oh bother breakfast. Bother everything," said Shasta. "I tell you I can't move." But the horse nuzzled at him with its nose and pawed him gently with a hoof till he had to get up. And then he looked about him and saw where they were. Behind them lay a little copse. Before them the turf, dotted with white flowers, sloped down to the brow of a cliff. Far below them, so that the sound of the breaking waves was very faint, lay the sea. Shasta had never seen it from such a height and never seen so much of it before, nor dreamed how many colours it had. On either hand the coast stretched away, headland after headland, and at the points you could see the white foam running up the rocks but making no noise because it was so far off. There were gulls flying overhead and the heat shivered on the ground; it was a blazing day. But what Shasta chiefly noticed was the air. He couldn't think what was missing, until at last he realized that there was no smell of fish in it. For of course, neither in the cottage nor among the nets, had he ever been away from that smell in his life. And this new air was so delicious, and all his old life seemed so far away, that he forgot for a moment about his bruises and his aching muscles and said:
"I say, Bree, didn't you say something about breakfast?"
"Yes, I did," answered Bree. "I think you'll find something in the saddle-bags. They're over there on that tree where you hung them up last night - or early this morning, rather."
They investigated the saddle-bags and the results were cheering- a meat pasty, only slightly stale, a lump of dried figs and another lump of green cheese, a little flask of wine, and some money; about forty crescents in all, which was more than Shasta had ever seen.
While Shasta sat down - painfully and cautiously - with his back against a tree and started on the pasty, Bree had a few more mouthfuls of grass to keep him company.
"Won't it be stealing to use the money?" asked Shasta.
"Oh," said the Horse, looking up with its mouth full of grass, "I never thought of that. A free horse and a talking horse mustn't steal, of course. But I think it's all right. We're prisoners and captives in enemy country. That money is booty, spoil. Besides, how are we to get any food for you without it? I suppose, like all humans, you won't eat natural food like grass and oats."

第2章 道旁遇险
第二天靠近中午时分，沙斯塔被他脸蛋上方移动着的某种温暖而柔软的东西弄醒了。他睁开眼睛，发现自己正凝望着一张长长的马脸：马的鼻子和嘴唇几乎碰到了他的鼻子和嘴唇。他记起上一夜激动人心的事件，便坐了起来。但他坐起来时便呻吟开了
“唷，布里，”他气喘吁吁地说，”我痛得厉害。浑身疼痛。我动弹不了啦。”
“早上好，小家伙，”布里说，”我但心你会觉得有点儿手脚僵硬。不可能是跌跤跌的。你不过跌了十二三回罢了，全都是在美丽可爱、柔软而有弹性的草皮上，跌在这种草皮上几乎是种赏心乐事。只有一回可能是别扭的，被荆棘的尖刺划破了。不，首先是骑马本身把你累垮了。你早餐吃什么呢，我可已经吃过早餐了。”
“呀，讨厌的早餐，讨厌的切一切，”沙斯塔说，”我告诉你我动弹不了啦。”但马儿用它的鼻子擦他，用它的蹄子温柔地搔他，他终于只好起来了。接着他向四周瞧瞧，看看他们是在什么地方。他们的后边是一个小灌木林，他们的前面是缀着白花的草皮，往下绵延到一个悬崖的顶。在他们的下方远处，躺着大海，海涛的冲击声十分微弱。沙斯塔以前从来没有在那么高的地方看过大海，他既没有看到过那么辽阔的大海，连做梦也没梦见过大海竟有那么多色彩。海岸从两边伸展开去，海岬紧接着海岬，你看得见海岬尖端海浪冲在岩石上溅起的白色泡沫，声音可听不到了，因为距离太远了。海鸥在头上飞翔，热气在地上哆嗦，这是一个烈日炎炎的日子。但沙斯塔主要注意的是空气，他想不起来缺少点儿什么，最后才恍然大悟，空气中没有鱼腥味了。因为在他的生活里，不论待在房屋里还是待在渔网之间，当然都离不开鱼腥味儿。这儿清新的空气是那么美妙，他的一切旧生活便仿佛是那么遥远了，因而他暂时忘掉了他的伤痕和疼痛的肌肉。他说道：”喂，布里，你没提起过吃早餐的事吧？”
“是的，我提起过，”布里答道，”我想你在鞍囊里会找到东西的。鞍囊就在那边树上，你昨天夜里——还不如说是今儿早晨——挂上去的。”
他们查看了鞍囊，结果令人很是高兴一块肉馅饼，只是稍稍有点儿干瘪走味，一大堆无花果干，大块发绿的干酪，小瓶酒：还有一些钱，总共大约四十个克利申光景，沙斯塔迹从来没有见过这么多的钱呢。
沙斯塔痛苦而又小心翼翼地坐下来，背靠在树上，开始吃那肉馅饼，这时布里便吃几口青草陪伴着他。
“花掉这笔钱，岂不是偷窃行为吗？”沙斯塔问。
“噢，”马儿满口青草，抬起头来，”我从来没考虑这个问题。一匹自由的马，匹能说话的马，当然绝不应偷窃。但我认为我们花掉这钱也是对的。我们是在敌国做囚徒和俘虏。这笔钱是缴获品，战利品。再说呢，没有这笔钱，我们怎么去搞到你吃的东西呢7我想，你像所有的人一样，是不肯吃草和燕麦之类的天然食物的。”