《能言馬與男孩》 第六章 沙斯塔在墳場

CHAPTER SIX SHASTA AMONG THE TOMBS

第六章　沙斯塔在墳場

SHASTA ran lightly along the roof on tiptoes. It felt hot to his bare feet. He was only a few seconds scrambling up the wall at the far end and when he got to the corner he found himself looking down into a narrow, smelly street, and there was a rubbish heap against the outside of the wall just as Corin had told him. Before jumping down he took a rapid glance round him to get his bearings. Apparently he had now come over the crown of the island-hill on which Tashbaan is built. Everything sloped away before him, flat roofs below flat roofs, down to the towers and battlements of the city' s Northern wall. Beyond that was the river and beyond the river a short slope covered with gardens. But beyond that again there was something he had never seen the like of—a great yellowish—grey thing, flat as a calm sea, and stretching for miles. On the far side of it were huge blue things, lumpy but with jagged edges, and some of them with white tops. "The desert ! the mountains !"thought Shasta.

沙斯塔踮起腳尖沿著屋頂輕輕地跑去，赤裸的雙腳感覺發(fā)燙。一會兒的工夫他就攀爬到了墻的另一端，拐進(jìn)墻角，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一條狹窄、發(fā)臭的小街，就像科林告訴他的一樣，墻外有一堆垃圾，在跳下墻前，沙斯塔瞥了一眼四周以確認(rèn)自己的方位，顯然，他已經(jīng)到了塔什班島的頂端了。一切都在他面前鋪展開來，屋頂層層疊疊，一直延伸到北城墻的塔和城垛。城墻外是河流，河流外是一個(gè)遍布花園的短坡。在更遠(yuǎn)的地方，有一些他從未見過的景象——一大片灰黃色的景物，平靜如海，綿延數(shù)里。遙遠(yuǎn)的邊緣處，有一些巨大的藍(lán)色的物體，很粗糙但是棱角分明，其中一些的頂部是雪白的。“大沙漠!大山!”沙斯塔想到。

He jumped down on to the rubbish and began trotting along downhill as fast as he could in the narrow lane, which soon brought him into a wider street where there were more people. No one bothered to look at a little ragged boy running along on bare feet. Still, he was anxious and uneasy till he turned a corner and there saw the city gate in front of him. Here he was pressed and jostled a bit, for a good many other people were also going out; and on the bridge beyond the gate the crowd became quite a slow procession, more like a queue than a crowd. Out there, with clear running water on each side, it was deliciously fresh after the smell and heat and noise of Tashbaan.

他跳到了垃圾堆上，在路上飛速奔跑，很快就到了一條更寬的街上，行人也變多了。沒有人去留意一個(gè)赤腳奔跑的衣衫襤褸的小孩。直到他穿過一個(gè)街角，看到了城門，緊張不安的心情才逐漸放松下來。城門處因?yàn)樾腥撕芏喽鴵頂D不堪，城門外大橋上的人群緩慢地移動，與其說是人群倒不如說是一支隊(duì)伍。經(jīng)歷了塔什班城的臭味、燥熱和喧鬧，沙斯塔愈加覺得橋兩邊的水流清澈無比，空氣清新宜人。

When once Shasta had reached the far end of the bridge he found the crowd melting away;everyone seemed to be going either to the left or right along the river bank. He went straight ahead up a road that did not appear to be much used, between gardens. In a few paces he was alone, and a few more brought him to the top of the slope. There he stood and stared. It was like coming to the end of the world for all the grass stopped quite suddenly a few feet before him and the sand began: endless level sand like on a sea shore but a bit rougher because it was never wet. The mountains, which now looked further off than before, loomed ahead. Greatly to his relief he saw, about five minutes' walk away on his left, what must certainly be the Tombs, just as Bree had described them;great masses of mouldering stone shaped like gigantic bee-hive, but a little narrower. They looked very black and grim, for the sun was now setting right behind them.

沙斯塔走到大橋另一端，發(fā)現(xiàn)人群疏散開來，每個(gè)人沿著河岸不是向左就是向右走去。他徑直走上一條掩于花園之間的小路，這條小路看起來鮮有人經(jīng)過。孤身一人走了幾步之后，就到了坡頂。他站在坡頂凝視遠(yuǎn)方，在他面前幾英尺的地方，大片綿延的黃沙取代了草地，好像那兒是世界盡頭一樣。相比于沙灘，這兒的黃沙更加粗糙，因?yàn)檫@里永遠(yuǎn)也得不到水的浸潤。山峰在前面隱隱約約地浮現(xiàn)，似乎比之前更遠(yuǎn)了。讓他大為寬慰的是，沿著左邊的路再走五分鐘，就是布里曾經(jīng)描述過的墳場。大量的碑石被風(fēng)化成了巨大的蜂房形狀，但是要略微狹窄些。太陽已經(jīng)落下，碑石看起來黑暗陰森。

He turned his face West and trotted towards the Tombs. He could not help looking out very hard for any sign of his friends, though the setting sun shone in his face so that he could see hardly anything."And anyway," he thought,"of course they'll be round on the far side of the farthest Tomb, not this side where anyone might see them from the city."

沙斯塔朝著西面的墳場小步跑去，雖然夕陽迎面照在臉上讓他目眩，但是他還是禁不住努力地東張西望，想找到他的朋友的一些痕跡。“無論如何，”他想，“他們會在墳場的另一端等候，而不是人人都能看到的這一端。”

There were about twelve Tombs, each with a low arched doorway that opened into absolute blackness. They were dotted about in no kind of order, so that it took a long time, going round this one and going round that one, before you could be sure that you had looked round every side of every tomb. This was what Shasta had to do.There was nobody there.

墳場共有十二個(gè)墳?zāi)梗骨岸加幸粋€(gè)通向絕對黑暗的低矮拱廊。墳?zāi)狗植茧s亂無章，必須花很長時(shí)間在墳?zāi)归g轉(zhuǎn)來轉(zhuǎn)去，才能確信每個(gè)墳?zāi)苟歼M(jìn)行了仔細(xì)的檢查。這是沙塔斯要做的事。墳場了無人煙。

It was very quiet here out on the edge of the desert;and now the sun had really set.

這兒位于沙漠邊緣，十分安靜，太陽也的確落山了。

Suddenly from somewhere behind him there came a terrible sound. Shasta' s heart gave a great jump and he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from screaming. Next moment he realized what it was: the horns of Tashbaan blowing for the closing of the gates."Don't be a silly little coward," said Shasta to himself.

突然從背后傳來了一個(gè)可怕的聲音。沙斯塔的心都跳到了嗓子眼，咬住舌頭才勉強(qiáng)控制住不讓自己發(fā)出尖叫。很快他就明白了這是什么聲音：塔什班城的閉城號角。“不要做個(gè)愚蠢的小懦夫，”

"Why, it's only the same noise you heard this morning. " But there is a great difference between a noise heard letting you in with your friends in the morning, and a noise heard alone at nightfall, shutting you out. And now that the gates were shut he knew there was no chance of the others joining him that evening. "Either they're shut up in Tashbaan for the night,"thought Shasta, "or else they' ve gone on without me. It' s just the sort of thing that Aravis would do.But Bree wouldn't.Oh,he wouldn't. —now, would he ?"

沙斯塔對自己說。“這只不過是早上聽過的號角聲。”但是這兩種號角聲截然不同，一種讓你和你的朋友進(jìn)城，但是另一種卻把你關(guān)在門外。既然城門已關(guān)，他就知道自己今晚必須孤身一人了。“他們不是被關(guān)在城里過夜，”沙斯塔想，“就是拋下我獨(dú)自走了。但是這種事只有阿拉維斯才能做得出來。布里肯定不會，他不會……哦，現(xiàn)在他會嗎?”

In this idea about Aravis Shasta was once more quite wrong. She was proud and could be hard enough but she was as true as steel and would never have deserted a companion,whether she liked him or not.

沙斯塔對阿拉維斯的猜想又一次大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。她驕傲并且堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，但也像鋼鐵一樣忠誠，不論她是否喜歡同伴，都不會拋棄。

Now that Shasta knew he would have to spend the night alone (it was getting darker every minute),he began to like the look of the place less and less. There was something very uncomfortable about those great, silent shapes of stone. He had been trying his hardest for a long time not to think of ghouls: but he couldn' t keep it up any longer.

沙斯塔既然知道了自己必須獨(dú)自過夜，他就越來越不喜歡墳場的氛圍。夜色愈來愈濃，這些寂靜的、巨大的石頭中，隱藏著一種讓人不舒服的東西。他竭盡全力不讓自己去想傳說中會出現(xiàn)的孤魂野鬼——但還是失敗了。

"Ow ! Ow ! Help !" he shouted suddenly, for at that very moment he felt something touch his leg. I don' t think anyone can be blamed for shouting if something comes up from behind and touches him;not in such a place and at such a time, when he is frightened already. Shasta at any rate was too frightened to run. Anything would be better than being chased round and round the burial places of the Ancient Kings with something he dared not look at behind him. Instead, he did what was really the most sensible thing he could do. He looked round,and his heart almost burst with relief.What had touched him was only a cat.

“啊!啊!救命!”他突然叫出來，因?yàn)榫驮谀莻€(gè)時(shí)候，他感覺到某種東西碰到了他的腿。我想任何一個(gè)人因?yàn)楸簧砗笄那倪^來的東西碰一下而發(fā)出尖叫，都是合情合理的;更別說是在這種已經(jīng)讓他驚悚萬分的地方和時(shí)刻。沙斯塔無論如何是嚇得不敢動了。被身后一個(gè)他不敢回頭看的什么東西追逐著，繞著古代國王的墳?zāi)苟等ψ?，那可是最糟糕的事情了。他沒跑，而是做出了一個(gè)他能做出的最理智的舉動：他環(huán)顧四周，當(dāng)他發(fā)現(xiàn)碰自己的只是一只貓時(shí)，心里的一塊石頭落了地。

The light was too bad now for Shasta to see much of the cat except that it was big and very solemn. It looked as if it might have lived for long, long years among the Tombs, alone. Its eyes made you think it knew secrets it would not tell."Puss,puss," said Shasta."I suppose you're not a talking cat."

光線太差，沙斯塔只看到貓又大又嚴(yán)肅，它看起來好像已經(jīng)獨(dú)自在墳場生活了很長時(shí)間。它的眼睛讓你覺得飽藏秘密。“貓咪，貓咪，”沙斯塔說，“我猜你是一只不會說話的貓。”

The cat stared at him harder than ever. Then it started walking away, and of course Shasta followed it. It led him right through the tombs and out on the desert side of them. There it sat down bolt upright with its tail curled round its feet and its face set towards the desert and towards Narnia and the North, as still as if it were watching for some enemy. Shasta lay down beside it with his back against the cat and his face towards the Tombs, because if one is nervous there' s nothing like having your face towards the danger and having something warm and solid at your back. The sand wouldn' t have seemed very comfortable to you, but Shasta had been sleeping on the ground for weeks and hardly noticed it. Very soon he fell asleep, though even in his dreams he went on wondering what had happened to Bree and Aravis and Hwin.

貓只是緊緊盯著他，目光越來越銳利，然后起身走開了，毫無選擇，沙斯塔只能跟著它。貓帶著他穿過墳場，到了沙漠的另一邊。貓?jiān)谀莾汗P挺地坐下來，將尾巴繞在腳上，臉朝向沙漠、納尼亞王國和北方，一動不動的像在守望敵人。沙斯塔臉朝墳場背朝貓，在它身邊躺了下來，如果一個(gè)人緊張不安，就會想要面朝危險(xiǎn)，將溫暖堅(jiān)實(shí)的東西靠在背后。也許對你來說，沙子看起來并不舒服，但是對于已經(jīng)在地上睡了幾個(gè)星期的沙斯塔，對此并不在意。不久便睡熟了，即使在夢里，他仍在擔(dān)心布里、阿拉維斯和赫溫是否平安。

He was wakened suddenly by a noise he had never heard before. "Perhaps it was only a nightmare, " said Shasta to himself. At the same moment he noticed that the cat had gone from his back, and he wished it hadn' t. But he lay quite still without even opening his eyes because he felt sure he would be more frightened if he sat up and looked round at the Tombs and the loneliness: just as you or I might lie still with the clothes over our heads. But then the noise came again-a harsh, piercing cry from behind him out of the desert.Then of course he had to open his eyes and sit up.

突然，他被一個(gè)從未聽過的聲音驚醒了。“也許只是夢魘罷了，”沙斯塔安慰自己。就在這時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)背后的貓已經(jīng)走掉了，他希望貓沒有走掉。但是他仍然平靜地躺在那里，連眼睛也不愿睜開，因?yàn)樗溃绻饋肀还录藕蛪瀳霏h(huán)繞，自己會更加害怕。 如果換作我們，也寧愿用衣服蒙住頭躺在那里一樣。但是那種聲音又來了——粗糙刺耳的尖叫。他只得睜開眼睛坐起來。

The moon was shining brightly. The Tombs-far bigger and nearer than he had thought they would be-looked grey in the moonlight. In fact, they looked horribly like huge people, draped in grey robes that covered their heads and faces. They were not at all nice things to have near you when spending a night alone in a strange place. But the noise had come from the opposite side, from the desert. Shasta had to turn his back on the Tombs (he didn' t like that much) and stare out across the level sand. The wild cry rang out again.

皎月如水，墳?zāi)乖谠鹿庀嘛@得更大更近，一片蒼白。事實(shí)上，它們像用蒼白長袍蒙住頭臉的巨人一樣可怕。當(dāng)你在一個(gè)奇怪的地方過夜時(shí)，它們近在身旁壓根兒不是什么好事。但是，聲音是從另一邊沙漠那邊傳來的。沙斯塔不得不轉(zhuǎn)過身，他可不大喜歡這樣，向著平坦的沙漠望去，粗野的尖叫又一次響起。

"I hope it's not more lions," thought Shasta. It was in fact not very like the lion' s roars he had heard on the night when they met Hwin and Aravis, and was really the cry of a jackal. But of course Shasta did not know this. Even if he had known, he would not have wanted very much to meet a jackal.

“我希望不要再碰到獅子了。”沙斯塔想。這叫聲與碰到赫溫和阿拉維斯那一夜聽到的獅吼不同，事實(shí)上，這是胡狼的叫聲。沙斯塔當(dāng)然不知道，即使他知道了，他也不情愿碰到一頭胡狼。

The cries rang out again and again."There's more than one of them, whatever they are," thought Shasta."And they're coming nearer."

叫聲一陣陣傳來。“不論是什么野獸，都不止一只。”沙斯塔想，“它們越來越近了。”

I suppose that if he had been an entirely sensible boy he would have gone back through the Tombs nearer to the river where there were houses, and wild beasts would be less likely to come. But then there were (or he thought there were) the ghouls. To go back through the Tombs would mean going past those dark openings in the Tombs;and what might come out of them ? It may have been silly, but Shasta felt he would rather risk the wild beasts. Then, as the cries came nearer and nearer, he began to change his mind.

我想，如果沙斯塔是一個(gè)思維縝密的孩子，就會穿過墳場回到有房子的河邊去，野獸不大可能靠近那兒。但是墳場會有孤魂野鬼，也許只是他自己的想象。如果要回去，就意味著要經(jīng)過墳場中那些漆黑的洞穴，說不準(zhǔn)會有什么鬼怪冒出來。雖然可能有點(diǎn)愚蠢，但是沙斯塔還是更愿意冒著遇到野獸的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。但是隨著叫聲越來越近，沙斯塔開始轉(zhuǎn)變主意了。

He was just going to run for it when suddenly, between him and the desert, a huge animal bounded into view. As the moon was behind it,it looked quite black,and Shasta did not know what it was, except that it had a very big, shaggy head and went on four legs. It did not seem to have noticed Shasta, for it suddenly stopped, turned its head towards the desert and let out a roar which re-echoed through the Tombs and seemed to shake the sand under Shasta' s feet. The cries of the other creatures suddenly stoppd and he thought he could hear feet scampering away. Then the great beast turned to examine Shasta.

他正要逃跑，突然在他和沙漠之間冒出了一頭巨獸。由于背著月光，巨獸看起來一片漆黑，沙斯塔不知道巨獸到底是什么，除了能夠看到它毛發(fā)蓬松、腦袋巨大，用四條腿走路之外。它似乎沒有注意到沙斯塔，因?yàn)樗蝗煌Ｏ聛?，向沙漠發(fā)出一聲怒吼，聲音在墳場回蕩，沙斯塔腳下的沙漠仿佛都在震動。其他野獸的叫聲都戛然而止，沙斯塔覺得自己聽到了他們逃跑的聲音。巨獸突然轉(zhuǎn)過身，仔細(xì)打量沙斯塔。

"It's a lion, I know it's a lion," thought Shasta."I'm done. I wonder will it hurt much.I wish it was over. I wonder does anything happen to people after they' re dead. O-o-oh ! Here it comes !"And he shut his eyes and his teeth tight.

“這是一頭獅子，我知道是一頭獅子，”沙斯塔想，“我完了。我不知道會不會很疼。我情愿快點(diǎn)結(jié)束。我不知道人死后還會發(fā)生些什么。哦哦哦!它來了!”沙斯塔閉上眼睛牙關(guān)緊咬。

But instead of teeth and claws he only felt something warm lying down at his feet. And when he opened his eyes he said,"Why, it' s not nearly as big as I thought !It' s only half the size. No, it isn' t even quarter the size.I do declare it' s only the cat ! I must have dreamed all that about its being as big as a horse."

但是，并沒有想象中的牙齒和爪子的撕咬，只覺得有個(gè)溫暖的東西躺在了腳邊。沙斯塔睜開眼睛說：“咦，他并沒有我想象的大!只有一半大。不，四分之一也沒有。我敢說這只是一只貓!什么跟馬一樣大，都是我自己做夢想出來的吧。”

And whether he really had been dreaming or not, what was now lying at his feet, and staring him out of countenance with its big, green, unwinking eyes, was the cat;though certainly one of the largest cats he had ever seen.

不論沙斯塔剛才是否在做夢，現(xiàn)在躺在他腳邊，用它那大大的、綠綠的、毫不眨巴的眼睛，瞧得他局促不安的，是一只貓，也是他所見過的最大的貓。

"Oh, Puss," gasped Shasta."I am so glad to see you again. I' ve been having such horrible dreams."And he at once lay down again, back to back with the cat as they had been at the beginning of the night.The warmth from it spread all over him.

“貓咪啊，”沙斯塔上氣不接下氣地說道，“重新看見你，我真是高興。我一直在做噩夢。”他隨即重新躺下，跟貓咪背靠背，就像黑夜初臨時(shí)那樣。貓的溫暖瞬間傳遍了他的全身。

"I'll never do anything nasty to a cat again as long as I live," said Shasta,half to the cat and half to himself."! did once, you know. I threw stones at a half-starved mangy old stray. Hey ! Stop that. " For the cat had turned round and given him a scratch. "None of that," said Shasta."It isn't as if you could understand what I' m saying."Then he dozed off.

“我今后再也不會對貓做什么卑劣的事情了，”沙斯塔說，一半是說給貓聽，一半是說給自己聽。“我干過一次，知道嗎。我朝一只饑餓不堪、生著瘡的走失貓咪扔石頭。哎!住手。”因?yàn)槟侵回堔D(zhuǎn)過身撓了他一下。“別這樣，”沙斯塔說，“好像你能聽懂我在說什么似的。”接著他就打起了瞌睡。

Next morning when he woke, the cat was gone, the sun was already up, and the sand hot. Shasta, very thirsty, sat up and rubbed his eyes. The desert was blindingly white and, though there was a murmur of noises from the city behind him, where he sat everything was perfectly still. When he looked a little left and west, so that the sun was not in his eyes, he could see the mountains on the far side of the desert, so sharp and clear that they looked only a stone' s throw away. He particularly noticed one blue height that divided into two peaks at the top and decided that it must be Mount Pire."That's our direction, judging by what the Raven said," he thought, "so I'll just make sure of it, so as not to waste any time when the others turn up."So he made a good, deep straight furrow with his foot pointing exactly to Mount Pire.

第二天早上沙斯塔醒時(shí)，貓已經(jīng)走了，艷陽高照，沙土發(fā)燙。沙斯塔坐起來擦擦眼睛，感覺十分口渴。沙漠反射著耀眼的白光，盡管背后傳來隱隱約約的人聲喧嘩，但是他坐的地方依然寂靜如故。當(dāng)他稍微朝著右邊和西邊的方向看的時(shí)候，因?yàn)樘栆呀?jīng)不能直射眼睛，他能夠看到沙漠那邊的山峰，像石頭一樣清晰，棱角分明。他被一個(gè)高高的、被分成兩個(gè)的山峰吸引了注意力，然后斷定那兒是皮爾峰。“根據(jù)烏鴉說的，那就是我們的方向，”他想，“我要搞清楚，這樣別人來的時(shí)候就不用再浪費(fèi)時(shí)間了。”他用腳在沙地上踩出一個(gè)筆直的深溝，直指皮爾峰。

The next job, clearly, was to get something to eat and drink. Shasta trotted back through the Tombs—they looked quite ordinary now and he wondered how he could ever have been afraid of them-and down into the cultivated land by the river' s side. There were a few people about but not very many, for the city gates had been open several hours and the early morning crowds had already gone in. So he had no diffculty in doing a little"raiding" (as Bree called it). It involved a climb over a garden wall and the results were three oranges,a melon,a fig or two, and a pomegranate. After that, he went down to the river bank, but not too near the bridge, and had a drink. The water was so nice that he took off his hot, dirty clothes and had a dip;for of course Shasta, having lived on the shore all his life, had learned to swim almost as soon as he had learned to walk. When he came out he lay on the grass looking across the water at Tashbaan-all the splendour and strength and glory of it. But that made him remember the dangers of it too. He suddenly realized that the others might have reached the Tombs while he was bathing ("and gone on without me, as likely as not"), so he dressed in a fright and tore back at such a speed that he was all hot and thirsty when he arrived and so the good of his bathe was gone.

接下來很明確的就是要弄點(diǎn)吃的和喝的。沙斯塔小步穿過墳場?，F(xiàn)在墳?zāi)箍雌饋砗芷匠＃芷婀肿蛲碜约簽槭裁春ε滤鼈?。他跑到了河邊的耕地里，有一些人但是不多，因?yàn)槌情T已經(jīng)開了幾個(gè)小時(shí)，大批的人已經(jīng)進(jìn)去了。所以沙斯塔搞點(diǎn)兒“偷襲”( 布里說的) 毫無困難。這次“偷襲”包括爬過一道墻頭，收獲了三個(gè)橙子、一個(gè)西瓜、一兩個(gè)無花果和一個(gè)石榴。然后他走到河岸在離大橋不遠(yuǎn)的地方喝了點(diǎn)河水。水好喝極了，他脫掉又臭又臟的衣服，在河里洗了個(gè)澡。因?yàn)樯乘顾恢弊≡诤＿?，幾乎是在剛剛學(xué)會走路的時(shí)候就學(xué)會了游泳。從河里出來后，他躺在草地上，目光越過河流，望向塔什班城的壯觀、力量和榮光，同時(shí)也忘記了塔什班城的危險(xiǎn)。他突然意識到，其他人很可能在他洗澡的時(shí)候就已經(jīng)到達(dá)了墳場“很可能不等他就走了”，他這么想到。他驚慌地穿好衣服，用很快的速度奔跑，以至于到達(dá)墳場時(shí)又累又渴，洗完澡的良好感覺已經(jīng)完全消失。

Like most days when you are alone and waiting for something this day seemed about a hundred hours long. He had plenty to think of, of course, but sitting alone, just thinking, is pretty slow. He thought a good deal about the Narnians and especially about Corin. He wondered what had happened when they discovered that the boy who had been lying on the sofa and hearing all their secret plans wasn' t really Corin at all. It was very unpleasant to think of all those nice people imagining him a traitor.

當(dāng)你獨(dú)自一人在等待什么的時(shí)候，那真是度日如年。他有很多要想的，當(dāng)然了，只是獨(dú)自坐在那兒想著，時(shí)間流動得無比緩慢。他想到了很多關(guān)于納尼亞人的事，特別是科林的。他很想知道，當(dāng)那幫人發(fā)現(xiàn)躺在沙發(fā)上聆聽他們秘密計(jì)劃的壓根就不是科林的時(shí)候，會發(fā)生什么。當(dāng)想到這些好人會把他當(dāng)作奸細(xì)的時(shí)候，沙斯塔就很不快。

But as the sun slowly, slowly climbed up to the top of the sky and then slowly, slowly began going downwards to the West, and no one came and nothing at all happened, he began to get more and more anxious. And of course he now realized that when they arranged to wait for one another at the Tombs no one had said anything about How Long.He couldn' t wait here for the rest of his life!And soon it would be dark again, and he would have another night just like last night. A dozen different plans went through his head, all wretched ones, and at last he fixed on the worst plan of all. He decided to wait till it was dark and then go back to the river and steal as many melons as he could carry and set out for Mount Pire alone, trusting for his direction to the line he had drawn that morning in the sand. It was a crazy idea and if he had read as many books as you have about journeys over deserts he would never have dreamed of it.But Shasta had read no books at all.

太陽慢慢升上中天后又慢慢在西方落下，根本沒有人來也沒有任何事發(fā)生，沙斯塔越來越焦慮。當(dāng)然，他現(xiàn)在明白了，雖然當(dāng)初約定在墳場等待，可并沒有說要等待多久。他不可能在這兒等一輩子的!不久就會天黑，他還要像昨晚那樣過一夜。很多不同的計(jì)劃在腦海里翻來覆去，全是不值一提的計(jì)劃，但是他最后確定的卻是最可怕的計(jì)劃。他決定天黑的時(shí)候到河邊偷西瓜，能偷多少就偷多少，然后獨(dú)自一人，沿著早上在沙漠中踩出的深溝方向，向皮爾峰進(jìn)發(fā)。如果你讀過很多關(guān)于沙漠旅行的書，絕對不會做出這種計(jì)劃。但沙斯塔壓根沒有讀過書。

Before the sun set something did happen. Shasta was sitting in the shadow of one of the Tombs when he looked up and saw two horses coming towards him. Then his heart gave a great leap, for he recognized them as Bree and Hwin. But the next moment his heart went down into his toes again. There was no sign of Aravis. The Horses were being led by a strange man, an armed man pretty handsomely dressed like an upper slave in a great family. Bree and Hwin were no longer got up like pack-horses,but saddled and bridled.And what could it all mean ?

不過在太陽落山前發(fā)生了一件事情。沙斯塔正坐在一個(gè)墳?zāi)沟年幱袄?，抬起頭卻發(fā)現(xiàn)有兩匹馬向他跑來。當(dāng)他認(rèn)識到這是布里和赫溫的時(shí)候，他的心猛跳了一下。但是隨后，他的心又沉了下去，因?yàn)樗麤]有發(fā)現(xiàn)阿拉維斯的身影。馬是一個(gè)陌生人牽著的，這個(gè)人衣著華麗，長相英俊，像是貴族家里的高級奴仆。布里和赫溫不再像運(yùn)貨的馱馬而是配上了鞍座轡頭，這一切意味著什么?

"It's a trap," thought Shasta."Somebody has caught Aravis and perhaps they' ve tortured her and she' s given the whole thing away. They want me to jump out and run up and speak to Bree and then I' ll be caught too ! And yet if I don' t, I may be losing my only chance to meet the others. Oh I do wish I knew what had happened."And he skulked behind the Tomb, looking out every few minutes, and wondering which was the least dangerous thing to do.

“這是個(gè)圈套，”沙斯塔想，“有人抓住了阿拉維斯，折磨她，阿拉維斯交代了一切事情。他們想要我跳出來同布里說話，這樣他們就能趁機(jī)抓住我了!但是如果我放棄，我就會丟掉和其他人見面的機(jī)會。哦，我真希望知道到底發(fā)生了什么。”他偷偷藏在墳?zāi)贡澈螅魩追昼娤蛲饪匆幌?，琢磨著采取哪種行動的危險(xiǎn)性最小。