"I will not wait the tenth part of a second," said the King. "But while Jewel and I go forward, do you gallop as hard as you may to Cair Paravel. Here is my ring for your token. Get me a score of men-at-arms, all well mounted, and a score of Talking Dogs, and ten Dwarfs (let them all be fell archers), and a Leopard or so, and Stonefoot the Giant. Bring all these after us as quickly as may be."
“我十分之一秒钟也不愿等待,”国王说,“但,我和珍宝朝前赶去时,你就尽快直奔凯尔帕拉维尔。我这戒指给你作个凭证。给我调来二十个全副武装的、个个善于骑马的武士,二十头会说人话的狗儿,十个小矮人(须得个个是百发百中的弓箭手),一两只豹子,还有石足巨人。尽可能迅速地把这支队伍调来支援我们。”
"With a good will, Sire," said Roonwit. And at once he turned and galloped Eastward down the valley.
“陛下,衷心祝愿成功。”龙威特说,立刻转过身体,朝东跑下山谷去了。
The King strode on at a great pace, sometimes muttering to himself and sometimes clenching his fists. Jewel walked beside him, saying nothing; so there was no sound between them but the faint jingle of a rich gold chain that hung round the Unicorn's neck and the noise of two feet and four hoofs.
国王大踏步前进,有时喃喃自语,有时握紧拳头。珍宝在国王身旁行走,默默无言;因而他们之间没有什么别的声音,只有那挂在独角兽颈子里的粗大金链条的微弱的丁当声,人的两足踏步声,独角兽的四蹄唱唱声。
They soon reached the River and turned up it where there was a grassy road: they had the water on their left and the forest on their right. Soon after that they came to the place where the ground grew rougher and thick wood came down to the water's edge. The road, what there was of it, now ran on the Southern bank and they had to ford the River to reach it. It was up to Tirian's arm-pits, but Jewel (who had four legs and was therefore steadier) kept on his right so as to break the force of the current, and Tirian put his strong arm round the Unicorn's strong neck and they both got safely over. The King was still so angry that he hardly noticed the cold of the water. But of course he dried his sword very carefully on the shoulder of his cloak, which was the only dry part of him, as soon as they came to shore.
他们不久就来到河流边上,他们经由一条芳草萋萋而上:现在他们的左边是河水,右边是树林。不久以后,他们走到一个地方,地面愈来愈高低不平,浓密的树林往下绵延到河水之滨。道路断了,道路的走向,现在跳到河水的南岸去了,他们不得不涉水渡河,才能走上对岸的道路。河水很深,漫到蒂莲的腋窝边,但珍宝有四条腿,因而比蒂莲站得稳,它在国王的右边坚持着,挡住了激流的冲击力量,蒂莲伸出他强壮的胳膊抱住独角兽强壮的脖子,他们俩安全渡过了河流。国王仍旧十分愤怒,没注意河水很冷。不过,他们刚登上南岸时,他当然十分仔细地在他外套的肩膀上擦干他的剑,这是他身上惟一没有浸湿的地方了。
They were now going Westward with the River on their right and Lantern Waste straight ahead of them. They had not gone more than a mile when they both stopped and both spoke at the same moment. The King said "What have we here?" and Jewel said "Look!"
他们现在朝西走去,河流在他们的右边,灯柱野林笔直地在他们的前边。他们还没有走上一英里多的路,他俩就同时站定,开口说话了。国王说“这儿是什么东西?”珍宝说“瞧!”
"It is a raft," said King Tirian.
“是个木排啊。”国王蒂莲说道。
And so it was. Half a dozen splendid tree-trunks, all newly cut and newly lopped of their branches, had been lashed together to make a raft, and were gliding swiftly down the river. On the front of the raft there was a water rat with a pole to steer it.
确实是个木排。六根漂亮的树干,全是新伐倒的、新砍掉枝丫的,捆绑在一起,做成一个木排,正迅速地顺流而下。木排的前端有个水客,拿根竹篱驾御着木排。
"Hey! Water-Rat! What are you about?" cried the King.
“嗨!你在干吗呀?”国王大声问道。
"Taking logs down to sell to the Calormenes, Sire," said the Rat, touching his ear as he might have touched his cap if he had had one.
“把木头运到下游,卖给卡乐门人,陛下。”水客答道,举手伸到耳朵上向国王致敬,如果他戴帽子的话,他就会举手到帽子边上致敬。
"Calormenes!" thundered Tirian. "What do you mean? Who gave order for these trees to be felled?"
“卡乐门人!”莲大发雷霆地吼道,“你这话是什么意思?谁砍倒这些树木的?”
The River flows so swiftly at that time of the year that the raft had already glided past the King and Jewel. But the Water-Rat looked back over its shoulder and shouted out:
一年之中,这时节的河水奔流得很快,木排已经在国王和珍宝的身边滑过去了。但水客从肩上回过头来叫喊道:
"The Lion's orders, Sire. Aslan himself." He added something more but they couldn't hear it.
“奉狮王的命令,陛下。阿斯兰亲自下的命令。”他还补充了几句话,可是国王他们听不见了。
The King and the Unicorn stared at one another and both looked more frightened than they had ever been in any battle.
国王和独角兽面面相觑,他俩的脸色,看上去都比过去参加任何战争时更加惶恐。
"Aslan," said the King at last, in a very low voice. "Aslan. Could it be true? Could he be felling the holy trees and murdering the Dryads?"
“阿斯兰,”国王终于用十分低沉的声音说道,“阿斯兰。能是真的吗?阿斯兰能砍伐神圣的树木、谋害树精的性命吗?”
"Unless the Dryads have all done something dreadfully wrong-" murmured Jewel.
“除非树精都犯了可怕的错误——”珍宝喃喃说道。
"But selling them to Calormenes!" said the King. "Is it possible?"
“可是竟把树木卖给卡乐门人!”国王说,“这样的事,可能吗?”
"I don't know," said Jewel miserably. "He's not a tame lion."
“我不知道,”珍宝悲惨地说道,“他并不是一头驯服的狮子。”
"Well," said the King at last, "we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us."
“好吧,”国王终于说道,“我们必须继续前进,冒着面临的风险。”