《能言马与男孩》第11期:道旁遇险(6)
"All right then," said Aravis. "You've guessed it. Hwin and I are running away. We are trying to get to Narnia. And now, what about it?"
"Why, in that case, what is to prevent us all going together?" said Bree. "I trust, Madam Hwin, you will accept such assistance and protection as I may be able to give you on the journey?"
"Why do you keep talking to my horse instead of to me?" asked the girl.
"Excuse me, Tarkheena," said Bree (with just the slightest backward tilt of his ears), "but that's Calormene talk. We're free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you're running away to Narnia, you want to be one too. In that case Hwin isn't your horse any longer. One might just as well say you're her human."
The girl opened her mouth to speak and then stopped. Obviously she had not quite seen it in that light before.
"Still," she said after a moment's pause, "I don't know that there's so much point in all going together. Aren't we more likely to be noticed?"
"Less," said Bree; and the mare said, "Oh do let's. I should feel much more comfortable. We're not even certain of the way. I'm sure a great charger like this knows far more than we do."
"Oh come on, Bree," said Shasta, "and let them go their own way. Can't you see they don't want us?"
"We do," said Hwin.
"Look here," said the girl. "I don't mind going with you, Mr War-Horse, but what about this boy? How do I know he's not a spy?"
"Why don't you say at once that you think I'm not good enough for you?" said Shasta.
"Be quiet, Shasta," said Bree. "The Tarkheena's question is quite reasonable. I'll vouch for the boy, Tarkheena. He's been true to me and a good friend. And he's certainly either a Narnian or an Archenlander."
"All right, then. Let's go together." But she didn't say anything to Shasta and it was obvious that she wanted Bree, not him.
"Splendid!" said Bree. "And now that we've got the water between us and those dreadful animals, what about you two humans taking off our saddles and our all having a rest and hearing one another's stories."
Both the children unsaddled their horses and the horses had a little grass and Aravis produced rather nice things to eat from her saddle-bag?But Shasta sulked and said No thanks, and that he wasn't hungry. And he tried to put on what he thought very grand and stiff manners, but as a fisherman's but is not usually a good place for learning grand manners, the result was dreadful. And he half knew that it wasn't a success and then became sulkier and more awkward than ever. Meanwhile the two horses were getting on splendidly. They remembered the very same places in Narnia - "the grasslands up above Beaversdam" and found that they were some sort of second cousins once removed. This made things more and more uncomfortable for the humans until at last Bree said, "And now, Tarkheena, tell us your story. And don't hurry it - I'm feeling comfortable now."
Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.
“呀，既然如此，咱们何妨一起走呢？”布里说，”赫温女士，我深信你会接受我在旅途中也许能为你提供的帮助和保护！”
“为什么你老是跟我的马儿说话，却不向我说话呢？”小姑娘问道。
“请原谅我，泰克希娜，”布里说(它把双耳稍稍向后翘起一点儿)，”不过那是卡乐门式的对话。赫温和我，我们是纳尼亚的自由的马儿，依我的猜想，如果你到了纳尼亚，你也想做个自由民的。在那种情况下，赫温就不再是属于你的马儿了。人家倒可能说你是属于它的人了。’
小姑娘要开口说话，却又闭嘴不说了。很明显，她过去从来没有用这种观点看问题。
“我还是不明白，”小姑娘沉默了一会儿又说道，”在大家起赶路这件事情上，竟有那么多的论点。咱们一起走，是否更可能招人注意？’
“更不可能招人注意。”布里说，而母马道：”噢，让我们一起走吧。我会感到更舒服。我们甚至对路径还没有把握。像它这样的一匹战马，懂得的东西远比我们多啊。”
“走吧，布里，”沙斯塔说道，”让她们走她们的路吧。你看不出她们不需要我们吗？
“我们需要你们。”赫温说。
“喂，”小姑娘说，”战马先生，我和你一起走倒并不介意，可是这孩子怎么办呢？我怎么知道他不是个密探呢？”
“你为什么不干干脆脆说我高攀不上你呢？”
“安静点儿，沙斯塔，”布里说道，”泰克希娜的问题是很合情理的。泰克希娜，我愿为这孩子担保。他对我一向忠诚，是个好朋友。他肯定不是纳尼亚人便是阿钦兰人。”
“那就行了，让咱们一起走吧。”但她什么话也没跟沙斯塔说。十分明显，她要的是布里，不是他。
“好极了！”布里说，”现在我们和那些可怕的野兽之间隔着片大水，你们两个人把我们的鞍子卸下来，我们大家休息一下，听听彼此的经历，可好？”
两个孩子都给马儿卸下了鞍子，两匹马儿吃了点青草，阿拉维斯从鞍囊里拿出颇为精美的食物来吃。但沙斯塔怄气，他说不，谢谢，他肚子不饿。他竭力要摆出他认为是十分崇高十分刚强的态度来，可渔夫的小屋往往不是学习崇高风度的好地方，其后果因而十分可怕。他半儿知道自己并未获得成功，这就变得比往常更加气恼更加尴尬。与此同时，两匹马儿倒相处得极好。它们记起了纳尼亚的同一个地方：”海狸水坝上边儿的大草地”，并且发现它们原来还是第二代的表兄妹哩。这就搞得两个人之间的关系越发不舒畅了，布里终于说道：”泰克希娜，现在把你的故事讲给我们听吧。可也不必匆匆忙忙——我现在正感觉轻松自在哩。”
阿拉维斯立刻讲起来了，她一动也不动地坐着，用的是跟下常截然不同的声调和风格。因为在卡乐门王国，讲故事(不论是真实的还是编造卅来的故事)是教出来的，就像英国男孩女孩写散文是教出来的一样。不同之处是：人们要听故事，而我从来没听说过有什么人要听散文哩。
