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《能言马与男孩》第84期:可笑的拉巴达什(3)

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They couldn't help it. Rabadash had been wagging his ears all the time and as soon as Aslan said, "The hour has struck!" the ears began to change. They grew longer and more pointed and soon were covered with grey hair. And while everyone was wondering where they had seen ears like that before, Rabadash's face began to change too. It grew longer, and thicker at the top and larger eyed, and the nose sank back into the face (or else the face swelled out and became all nose) and there was hair all over it. And his arms grew longer and came down in front of him till his hands were resting on the ground: only they weren't hands, now, they were hoofs. And he was standing on all fours, and his clothes disappeared, and everyone laughed louder and louder (because they couldn't help it) for now what had been Rabadash was, simply and unmistakably, a donkey. The terrible thing was that his human speech lasted just a moment longer than his human shape, so that when he realized the change that was coming over him, he screamed out:

他们没法儿不笑。拉巴达什一直在上下摆动着耳朵,阿斯兰刚说”时辰到了”,那双耳朵便开始变化。耳朵愈变愈长、愈尖,不久耳朵上又长满了灰色的毛。大伙正琢磨着以前在什么地方见过这样的耳朵时,拉巴达什的脸也开始变化了。脸变得长了,顶上变厚了,眼睛变大了,鼻子陷进脸蛋里去了(不然的话,就是脸鼓出来了,变成全是鼻子了),脸上到处都是毛。他的胳膊变长,在前边儿垂了下来,直至双手碰到地面:不过现在不是手了,而是蹄子了。他四脚落地站在那儿,他身上的衣服也消失了,人人哈哈大笑,愈笑愈响(他们不由自主地要笑),因为当初的拉巴达什如今干干脆脆地变成一头驴子。可怕的是,他那人的语言比他那人的形体仅仅多保留了一会儿时间,当他认识到他身上所发生的变化时,他叫喊道:
"Oh, not a Donkey! Mercy! If it were even a horse - e'en - a hor - eeh - auh, eeh-auh." And so the words died away into a donkey's bray.
“啊,不要变成一头驴子!可怜可怜吧。哪怕是变成一匹马——哪怕是——匹马——嗯—啊—霍—伊赫—奥赫,伊赫—奥赫。”语言便消失在驴叫声里了。
"Now hear me, Rabadash," said Aslan. "Justice shall be mixed with mercy. You shall not always be an Ass."
“拉巴达什,你听着。”阿斯兰说道,”公正的审判里将包含着大慈大悲。你将来不会永远是头驴子的。”
At this of course the Donkey twitched its ears forward and that also was so funny that everybody laughed all the more. They tried not to, but they tried in vain.
阿斯兰说这话的过程中,驴子把它的耳朵向前扭过来静听——这副形状也十分可笑,大家越发哈哈大笑了。他们竭力克制,可是克制不了。
"You have appealed to Tash," said Aslan. "And in the temple of Tash you shall be healed. You must stand before the altar of Tash in Tashbaan at the great Autumn Feast this year and there, in the sight of all Tashbaan, your ass's shape will fall from you and all men will know you for Prince Rabadash. But as long as you live, if ever you go more than ten miles away from the great temple in Tashbaan you shall instantly become again as you now are. And from that second change there will be no return."
“你曾诉之于塔什神,”阿斯兰说道,”你将在塔什神的神庙里得到康复。今年伟大的秋节里,你必须站在塔什班城塔什神的祭台跟前,当着全部塔什班人的面,你那驴子的形体将从你身上脱落,大家都将认出你就是王子拉巴达什。然而,在你活着的时候,如果你走到离塔什班城伟大神庙十英里之外的地方,你就会立刻重新变成你现在那副模样。若你第二次变成驴子,那就万劫不复了。”
There was a short silence and then they all stirred and looked at one another as if they were waking from sleep. Aslan was gone. But there was a brightness in the air and on the grass, and a joy in their hearts, which assured them that he had been no dream: and anyway, there was the donkey in front of them.
短短的一阵寂静,然后他们都动弹起来了,你看我我看你,倒像刚从睡梦中醒来似的。阿斯兰走了。但空中草上留有一道光华,他们的心里留有一股欢欣,凡此都向他们保证阿斯兰可不是梦幻;而且,无论如何,他们眼前就有一头驴子。
King Lune was the kindest-hearted of men and on seeing his enemy in this regrettable condition he forgot all his anger.
国王伦恩是男子汉中最为慈悲心肠的,眼见他的敌人处于这种懊悔不迭的境地,他把愤怒全都忘记了。
"Your royal Highness," he said. "I am most truly sorry that things have come to this extremity. Your Highness will bear witness that it was none of our doing. And of course we shall be delighted to provide your Highness with shipping back to Tashbaan for the - er - treatment which Aslan has prescribed. You shall have every comfort which your Highness's situation allows: the best of the cattleboats - the freshest carrots and thistles -"
“殿下,”他说道,”事情弄到这般极端的地步,我确实深感遗憾。殿下亲眼目睹,这一点儿也不是我们搞出来的。我们当然乐于提供船只,送殿下回塔什班去,按照阿斯兰的处方,求得康复。殿下将得到眼前你的处境所容许的各种舒舒服服的招待:最好的装载牲口的船——最新鲜的胡萝卜和野蓟……”
But a deafening bray from the Donkey and a well-aimed kick at one of the guards made it clear that these kindly offers were ungratefully received.
但震耳欲聋的一声驴叫,以及瞄准警卫的狠狠一脚,清清楚楚地证明:这些好心的优待,对方可毫不领情。’
And here, to get him out of the way, I'd better finish off the story of Rabadash. He (or it) was duly sent back by boat to Tashbaan and brought into the temple of Tash at the great Autumn Festival, and then he became a man again. But of course four or five thousand people had seen the transformation and the affair could not possibly be hushed up. And after the old Tisroc's death when Rabadash became Tisroc in his place he turned out the most peaceable Tisroc Calormen had ever known. This was because, not daring to go more than ten miles from Tashbaan, he could never go on a war himself: and he didn't want his Tarkaans to win fame in the wars at his expense, for that is the way Tisrocs get overthrown. But though his reasons were selfish, it made things much more comfortable for all the smaller countries round Calormen. His own people never forgot that he had been a donkey. During his reign, and to his face, he was called Rabadash the Peacemaker, but after his death and behind his back he was called Rabadash the Ridiculous, and if you look him up in a good History of Calormen (try the local library) you will find him under that name. And to this day in Calormene schools, if you do anything unusually stupid, you are very likely to be called "a second Rabadash".
这儿,为了不再提到他,我还是把拉巴达什的故事讲完为好。他(或是它)被及时用船送回塔什班城,并在伟大的秋节被送进塔什神的神庙,于是重新变成了一个人。当然有四五千人亲眼目睹了他的这一变化,这件事就没法儿秘而不宣了。老蒂斯罗克去世了,拉巴达什便代替他做了蒂斯罗克,他变成了有史以来卡乐门最和平的蒂斯罗克。这是因为他不敢跑到离塔什班城十英里以外的地方;他就没法儿亲自参加战争,而他又不愿意让他手下的泰坎们在损害他权势的条件下从战争中获得声誉,因为蒂斯罗克们都是这样被推翻的。但尽管他的动机是自私自利的,却使卡乐门周围的小国家日子过得舒服多了。他自己的老百姓可从来没有忘记他曾经是一头驴子。在他统治期间,当着他的面,人们称他为”和平缔造者”,但在他死后以及在他背后,人们称他为”可笑的拉巴达什”,如果你在一本优秀的《卡乐门史》里(不妨到地方图书馆去找一下)查找他的事迹,你就会发现他是被列在”可笑的拉巴达什”那个条目下的。直到今天,在卡乐门的学校里,如果你做了什么异乎寻常地愚蠢的事情,你就很可能被称为”第二个拉巴达什”。
Meanwhile at Anvard everyone was very glad that he had been disposed of before the real fun began, which was a grand feast held that evening on the lawn before the castle, with dozens of lanterns to help the moonlight. And the wine flowed and tales were told and jokes were cracked, and then silence was made and the King's poet with two fiddlers stepped out into the middle of the circle. Aravis and Cor prepared themselves to be bored, for the only poetry they knew was the Calormene kind, and you know now what that was like. But at the very first scrape of the fiddles a rocket seemed to go up inside their heads, and the poet sang the great old lay of Fair Olvin and how he fought the Giant Pire and turned him into stone (and that is the origin of Mount Pire - it was a two-headed Giant) and won the Lady Liln for his bride; and when it was over they wished it was going to begin again. And though Bree couldn't sing he told the story of the fight at Zalindreh. And Lucy told again (they had all, except Aravis and Cor, heard it many times but they all wanted it again) the tale of the Wardrobe and how she and King Edmund and Queen Susan and Peter the High King had first come into Narnia.
在此期间,在安瓦德城里人人都十分高兴,拉巴达什已经遣送回去了,城里真正的赏心乐事便开始了。那是个盛大的宴会,当天晚上在城堡前的草坪上举行,张着几十盏灯,灯光同月光互相映辉。酒像水一样流淌。人们讲着故事,说着笑话,然后是一片寂静,国王的诗人带着两个提琴手走进人们围成的圈子中央。阿拉维斯和科奥原是准备忍受沉闷无聊的,因为他们懂得的诗篇不过是卡乐门的那种诗歌,而现在才知道诗歌是什么玩艺儿了。但提琴刚演奏开头的曲调,就仿佛有个火箭飞进了他们的头脑里,诗人唱着伟大的古老歌谣,关于漂亮的奥尔文的歌谣,关于他怎样和巨人皮尔作战,把巨人变成了石头(这就是皮尔峰的来历——一个生着两个脑袋的巨人),并且赢得莉尔恩小姐做他的新娘。歌谣唱完时,他们真希望诗人重新再唱一遍。布里虽然不会唱,却讲了扎林德雷之战的故事。露茜又讲了大衣柜以及她和国王爱德蒙、女王苏珊以及至尊王彼得最初进入纳尼亚的故事。除开阿拉维斯和科奥,他们大家都听她讲过好几遍了,但他们都想再听一遍。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
vain [vein]

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adj. 徒劳的,无效的,自负的,虚荣的

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witness ['witnis]

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n. 目击者,证人
vt. 目击,见证,出席,

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assured [ə'ʃuəd]

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adj. 确实的,保障的,有自信的 动词assure的过

 
except [ik'sept]

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vt. 除,除外
prep. & conj.

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mercy ['mə:si]

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n. 怜悯,宽恕,仁慈,恩惠
adj.

 
circle ['sə:kl]

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n. 圈子,圆周,循环
v. 环绕,盘旋,包围

 
ridiculous [ri'dikjuləs]

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adj. 荒谬的,可笑的

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wardrobe ['wɔ:drəub]

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n. 衣柜,衣橱
n. 全部服装

 
disposed [di'spəuzd]

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adj. 愿意的,想干的,有 ... 倾向的 动词dis

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transformation [.trænsfə'meiʃən]

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n. 转型,转化,改造

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