《銀椅》第1章:在體育館後面
IT was a dull autumn day and Jill Pole was crying behind the gym.
She was crying because they had been bullying her. This is not going to be a school story, so I shall say as little as possible about Jill's school, which is not a pleasant subject. It was "Co-educational," a school for both boys and girls, what used to be called a "mixed" school; some said it was not nearly so mixed as the minds of the people who ran it. These people had the idea that boys and girls should be allowed to do what they liked. And unfortunately what ten or fifteen of the biggest boys and girls liked best was bullying the others. All sorts of things, horrid things, went on which at an ordinary school would have been found out and stopped in half a term; but at this school they weren't. Or even if they were, the people who did them were not expelled or punished. The Head said they were interesting psychological cases and sent for them and talked to them for hours. And if you knew the right sort of things to say to the Head, the main result was that you became rather a favourite than otherwise.
她哭的原因是他們一直欺侮她。由於本書寫的不是學校生活的故事，所以我將盡量少談吉爾學校裏的事，那可不是個愉快的話題。她這學校是一所”男女同校”，一所男女生兼收的學校，通常稱之爲”男女混合”學校，有人說學校還不如學校管理人腦子裏的所想那麼”混”。這些人有種想法，認爲應該允許男生和女生喜歡幹什麼就幹什麼。不幸的是有那麼十個到十五個大齡男女生最喜歡乾的就是欺侮同學。各種各樣的事，各種各樣可怕的事，要出在一所普通學校裏，不消半學期就會查出來，加以制止，可在這所學校裏卻沒這麼辦。或者，即使這些事被查出了，幹這些事的人也沒被開除或受處分。校長說他們是些有趣的心理學方面的實例，派人去找他們，跟他們談上幾個小時。如果你懂得跟校長說些投合他心意的話，其結果是你就此成了個寵兒。That was why Jill Pole was crying on that dull autumn day on the damp little path which runs between the back of the gym and the shrubbery. And she hadn't nearly finished her cry when a boy came round the corner of the gym whistling, with his hands in his pockets. He nearly ran into her.
這就是吉爾;波爾在那個陰沉的秋日，在體育館後面和灌木叢之間那條溼漉漉的小路上哭的原因。她還沒哭完，就有一個男生雙手插在口袋裏，繞過體育館牆角，吹着口哨走來幾乎撞上了她。
"Can't you look where you're going?" said Jill Pole.
“你走道就不能看看嗎?”吉爾;波爾說。"All right," said the boy, "you needn't start -" and then he noticed her face. "I say, Pole," he said, "what's up?"
“好了，”男孩說，”你不用嚇……”說到這裏他才注意到她的臉。”喂，波爾，”他說，”出什麼事了?”Jill only made faces; the sort you make when you're trying to say something but find that if you speak you'll start crying again.
吉爾只是做了幾個怪臉;當你想說些什麼，可又覺得要是說了，又會哭起來時才做那種怪臉。"It's Them, I suppose - as usual," said the boy grimly, digging his hands farther into his pockets.
“我看，照例——又是他們吧?”這男生臉色嚴峻地說，兩手在口袋裏插得更深了。Jill nodded. There was no need for her to say anything, even if she could have said it. They both knew.
吉爾點點頭。即使她說得出口，她也不必再說什麼。他們倆都明白。"Now, look here," said the boy, "there's no good us all -"
“行了，瞧，”這男生說，”我們大家這樣可沒用……”He meant well, but he did talk rather like someone beginning a lecture. Jill suddenly flew into a temper (which is quite a likely thing to happen if you have been interrupted in a cry).
他的用意固然不壞，可他說話的確像人家開講大道理一樣。吉爾突然發起脾氣來(如果你哭的時候被人打斷，八成也會出現這種情況)。"Oh, go away and mind your own business," she said. "Nobody asked you to come barging in, did they? And you're a nice person to start telling us what we all ought to do, aren't you? I suppose you mean we ought tospend all our time sucking up to Them, and currying favour, and dancing attendance on Them like you do."
“啊呀，走開，少管閒事，”她說，”沒人請你來亂插嘴吧?你倒真是個好人，居然開口教我們大家應該怎麼着，對嗎?我猜你意思是我們應該用所有的時間討好他們，像你一樣拍馬屁，奉承他們。”"Oh, Lor!" said the boy, sitting down on the grassy bank at the edge of the shrubbery and very quickly getting up again because the grass was soaking wet. His name unfortunately was Eustace Scrubb, but he wasn't a bad sort.
“哦，老天啊!”這男生說着在灌木叢邊的草坡上坐下，又趕緊站起來，因爲草是透溼的。不幸的是他的名字就叫尤斯塔斯;斯克羅布，不過他人倒不壞。"Pole!" he said. "Is that fair? Have I been doing anything of the sort this term? Didn't I stand up to Carter about the rabbit? And didn't I keep the secret about Spivvins - under torture too? And didn't I -"
“波爾!”他說，”你這樣說公平嗎?這學期我幹過那種事沒有。我不是爲了兔子跟卡特頂過嗎?我不是保守了斯皮文的祕密嗎——還受到折磨呢!我不是……”"I d-don't know and I don't care," sobbed Jill.
“我不——不知道，我也不關心。”吉爾抽抽搭搭地說。Scrubb saw that she wasn't quite herself yet and very sensibly offered her a peppermint. He had one too. Presently Jill began to see things in a clearer light.
斯克羅布看出她不大對勁兒，就十分乖巧地遞給她一塊薄荷糖。他自己也吃了一塊。不一會兒，吉爾頭腦就清醒一點了。"I'm sorry, Scrubb," she said presently. "I wasn't fair. You have done all that - this term."
“對不起，斯克羅布，”不久她說，”我是不公平。這學期——你是做了好多事。”"Then wash out last term if you can," said Eustace. "I was a different chap then. I was - gosh! what a little tick I was."
“要是你忘得了，就忘掉上學期的事吧。”尤斯塔斯說，”當時我還是另外一種傢伙。我——唉l我當時是個多壞的討厭鬼啊。”"Well, honestly, you were," said Jill.
“嗯，老實說，你當時確實很壞。”吉爾說。”那麼你看我已經變了嗎?”尤斯塔斯說。"You think there has been a change, then?" said Eustace.
“不單是我，”吉爾說，”大家都這麼說。他們已經注意到了。"It's not only me," said Jill. "Everyone's been saying so. They've noticed it. Eleanor Blakiston heard Adela Pennyfather talking about it in our changing room yesterday. She said, `Someone's got hold of that Scrubb kid. He's quite unmanageable this term. We shall have to attend to him next.'"
埃莉諾;布萊基斯頓昨天在更衣室裏聽見阿黛拉;潘尼法瑟說起這事。她說，‘有什麼人在左右斯克羅布那小子。這學期他相當不聽話。下一步你們得照應他了。Eustace gave a shudder. Everyone at Experiment House knew what it was like being "attended to" by Them.
尤斯塔斯一陣哆嗦。實驗學校裏的每一個人都懂得被他們”照應”是怎麼回事。Both children were quiet for a moment. The drops dripped off the laurel leaves.
兩個孩子都沉默了片刻。月桂葉上的水珠一滴滴往下滴。"Why were you so different last term?" said Jill presently.
“上學期你怎麼會跟現在大不相同呢?”過了一會吉爾問道。"A lot of queer things happened to me in the hols," said Eustace mysteriously.
叫段期裏我碰上了好多怪事。”尤斯塔斯神祕地說。"What sort of things?" asked Jill.
“哪種事?”吉爾問。Eustace didn't say anything for quite a long time. Then he said:
尤斯塔斯久久沒吭聲。後來他說"Look here, Pole, you and I hate this place about as much as anybody can hate anything, don't we?"
“聽着，波爾，你我都恨這個地方，要多恨有多恨吧?”"I know I do," said Jill.
“我知道自己很恨。”吉爾說。"Then I really think I can trust you."
“那麼我真的認爲自己完全信得過你了。”"Dam' good of you," said Jill.
“你這人真好。”吉爾說。"Yes, but this is a really terrific secret. Pole, I say, are you good at believing things? I mean things that everyone here would laugh at?"
“是啊，不過這件事真是天大的祕密。波爾，我說，你對神怪的事會相信嗎?我是說這兒的人聽了都會取笑的事?”"I've never had the chance," said Jill, "but I think I would be."
“我根本沒有機會聽。”吉爾說，”不過我想我會相信的。”"Could you believe me if I said I'd been right out of the world - outside this world - last hols?"
“如果我說上回假期裏我曾走出過世界——走出過這個世界——你能相信嗎?”"I wouldn't know what you meant."
“我不知道你是什麼意思。”"Well, don't let's bother about that then. Supposing I told you I'd been in a place where animals can talk and where there are - er - enchantments and dragons - and well, all the sorts of things you have in fairy-tales." Scrubb felt terribly awkward as he said this and got red in the face.
“得了，那就別管世界不世界了。假定說我告訴你，我到過一個地方，那裏的動物都會說話，那裏還有——呃——魔法和龍——還有——這個，凡是你在童話裏碰到的東西都有。”斯克羅布說這些話的時候覺得狼狽不堪，臉也紅了。"How did you get there?" said Jill. She also felt curiously shy.
“你怎麼上那兒去的?”吉爾說。她也覺得怪不好意思的。"The only way you can - by Magic," said Eustace almost in a whisper. "I was with two cousins of mine. We were just - whisked away. They'd been there before."
“你只有一個辦法好去——就是靠魔法，”尤斯塔斯幾乎像在說悄悄話，”我是跟我兩個表兄妹去的。我們就那麼——下子走掉了。他們以前去過那兒。”Now that they were talking in whispers Jill somehow felt it easier to believe. Then suddenly a horrible suspicion came over her and she said (so fiercely that for the moment she looked like a tigress):
由於他們是在說悄悄話，吉爾不知怎麼就覺得這事比較容易相信。接着她心裏突然又大爲懷疑，她說(氣勢洶洶，看上去真像只母老虎):"If I find you've been pulling my leg I'll never speak to you again; never, never, never."
“要是我發現你是在捉弄我，我就永遠不再跟你說話，決不，決不，決不。”"I'm not," said Eustace. "I swear I'm not. I swear by everything."
“我沒有，”尤斯塔斯說，”我發誓我沒捉弄你。我憑——憑一切起誓。”(When I was at school one would have said, "I swear by the Bible." But Bibles were not encouraged at Experiment House.)
我念書那時，人家會說”我憑<聖經〉起誓。”但實驗學校裏是不提倡念<聖經〉的。"All right," said Jill, "I'll believe you."
“好吧，”吉爾說，”我就相信你。”"And tell nobody?"
“不告訴任何人?”"What do you take me for?"
“你把我當成什麼入了?”They were very excited as they said this. But when they had said it and Jill looked round and saw the dull autumn sky and heard the drip off the leaves and thought of all the hopelessness of Experiment House (it was a thirteen-week term and there were still eleven weeks to come) she said:
他們說這些話的時候都很激動。可等他們說完了，吉爾往四下一看，只見陰沉沉的秋日天空，又聽得樹葉上的滴水聲，不由想到在實驗學校毫無出頭之日(他們一學期有十三個星期，還有十一個星期要過呢)，她說:"But after all, what's the good? We're not there: we're here. And we jolly well can't get there. Or can we?"
“可到頭來，又有什麼好處呢?我們又不在那兒，我們在這兒口而且我們根本不能上那兒去，你說我們能去嗎?”"That's what I've been wondering," said Eustace. "When we came back from That Place, Someone said that the two Pevensie kids (that's my two cousins) could never go there again. It was their third time, you see. I suppose they've had their share. But he never said I couldn't. Surely he would have said so, unless he meant that I was to get back? And I can't help wondering, can we - could we -?"
“我一直都在想這事，”尤斯塔斯說，”我們從那個地方回來的時候，有人說佩文西家那兩個孩子(就是我那兩個表兄妹)永遠不能再上那兒去了。要知道，那回是他們第三回去了。我看，他們已經去夠了。但他根本沒說我不能去。如果他的意思是說我不能回去，他包管早就那麼說了。因此我不禁納悶，我們能不能——能不能……”"Do you mean, do something to make it happen?"
“你的意思是想個辦法實現這想法?”Eustace nodded.
尤斯塔斯點點頭。"You mean we might draw a circle on the ground - and write in queer letters in it - and stand inside it - and recite charms and spells?"
“你的意思是我們可以在地上畫一個圈——在圈裏用希奇古怪的文字寫點什麼——然後站在圈子裏——再念上幾段咒語?”"Well," said Eustace after he had thought hard for a bit. "I believe that was the sort of thing I was thinking of, though I never did it. But now that it comes to the point, I've an idea that all those circles and things are rather rot. I don't think he'd like them. It would look as if we thought we could make him do things. But really, we can only ask him."
“嗯，”尤斯塔斯苦苦思索了一會兒才說，”我相信我就是在想這種事兒，但我從來沒試過。既然談到這個節骨眼上，我倒覺得所有那些圓圈之類都是荒唐事。我認爲他不見得會喜歡。那樣做看上去就像是我們以爲自己能叫他做事似的。不過說真的，我們只能問問他。”"Who is this person you keep on talking about?"
“你一直在念叨的這人是誰啊?”"They call him Aslan in That Place," said Eustace.
“在那個地方，人家叫他阿斯蘭。”尤斯塔斯說。"What a curious name!"
”多古怪的名字!”"Not half so curious as himself," said Eustace solemnly. "But let's get on. It can't do any harm, just asking. Let's stand side by side, like this. And we'll hold out our arms in front of us with the palms down: like they did in Ramandu's island -"
“才比不上他本人怪呢，”尤斯塔斯一本正經地說，”不過我們接着說下去吧。問問也不妨。讓我們就這麼並肩站着。伸出雙臂，掌心向下:就像他們在拉曼杜的島上那樣——”"Whose island?"
“誰的島?”"I'll tell you about that another time. And he might like us to face the east. Let's see, where is the east?"
“那個我下回再告訴你。而且他可能喜歡我們面向東方站着。我們看看，哪一面是東面?”"I don't know," said Jill.
“我不知道。”吉爾說。"It's an extraordinary thing about girls that they never know the points of the compass," said Eustace.
“姑娘們就這點特別，她們根本不識指南針的方位點。”尤斯塔斯說。"You don't know either," said Jill indignantly.
“你也不識，”吉爾憤憤不平地說。"Yes I do, if only you didn't keep on interrupting. I've got it now. That's the east, facing up into the laurels. Now, will you say the words after me?''
“不，我認識，只要你別老打斷我就行了。現在我認出來了。面對月桂，那邊就是東面。嗨，你肯跟着我念詞兒嗎?”"What words?" asked Jill.
“念什麼?”吉爾問。"The words I'm going to say, of course," answered Eustace. "Now -"
“當然是我就要念的詞兒日羅，”尤斯塔斯答道，”來吧……'And he began, "Aslan, Aslan, Aslan!"
然後他開始唸了”阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭!"Aslan, Aslan, Aslan," repeated Jill.
“阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭，阿斯蘭。”吉爾跟着他念一遍。"Please let us two go into -"
”請讓我們倆進入……”At that moment a voice from the other side of the gym was heard shouting out, "Pole? Yes. I know where she is. She's blubbing behind the gym. Shall I fetch her out?"
就在這時，體育館另一邊傳來呼喊聲”波爾?對了，我知道她在哪兒口她正在體育館後面哭鼻子呢。要我把她拉出來嗎?”Jill and Eustace gave one glance at each other, dived under the laurels, and began scrambling up the steep, earthy slope of the shrubbery at a speed which did them great credit. (Owing to the curious methods of teaching at Experiment House, one did not learn much French or Maths or Latin or things of that sort; but one did learn a lot about getting away quickly and quietly when They were looking for one.)
吉爾和尤斯塔斯相互看了一眼，就趕緊衝到月桂樹下，開始爬上陡峭的灌木叢的泥坡，速度之快真爲他們大大增光。(由於實驗學校的古怪教學法，學生並沒學到多少法文、數學、拉丁文一類的課程，可是倒真學到了一旦他們在找他時迅速悄悄脫身的好多辦法。After about a minute's scramble they stopped to listen, and knew by the noises they heard that they were being followed.
大約爬了一分鐘，他們停下來留神細聽，從種種聲音聽出他們給人釘上了。"If only the door was open again!" said Scrubb as they went on, and Jill nodded. For at the top of the shrubbery was a high stone wall and in that wall a door by which you could get out on to open moor. This door was nearly always locked. But there had been times when people had found it open; or perhaps there had been only one time. But you may imagine how the memory of even one time kept people hoping, and trying the door; for if it should happen to be unlocked it would be a splendid way of getting outside the school grounds without being seen.
“只要那扇門再開開就好了I”他們一路爬着，斯克羅布說，吉爾點點頭。因爲灌木叢上方有一道高高的石牆，牆上有扇門，穿過這扇門你就可以出去，到開闊的荒野去。這扇門幾乎老是鎖着。不過人們有時也發現門開着;也許只有過那麼一次。不過你可以想像，即使記得只有一次，也就讓人們抱有希望，打算試試那扇門;因爲要是那扇門正巧沒鎖，那倒是一個神不知鬼不覺走出校園的絕妙辦法。Jill and Eustace, now both very hot and very grubby from going along bent almost double under the laurels, panted up to the wall. And there was the door, shut as usual.
這會兒吉爾和尤斯塔斯兩人因爲在月桂樹下彎下腰一路走來，弄得渾身又熱又髒，氣喘吁吁，爬到牆邊。那扇門照常關着。"It's sure to be no good," said Eustace with his hand on the handle; and then, "O-o-oh. By Gum!!" For the handle turned and the door opened.
“準沒用，”尤斯塔斯一手拉着門把手，說着說着，”哦——哦，老天爺在上I”因爲門把手轉動了，門開了。A moment before, both of them had meant to get through that doorway in double quick time, if by any chance the door was not locked. But when the door actually opened, they both stood stock still. For what they saw was quite different from what they had expected.
剛纔那會兒，他們倆心裏還想着，要是那扇門萬一沒鎖上，就飛快地跑出去。但等這門真正開了，他倆卻都站着一動也不動。因爲他們看見的跟他們料想中的景象可大不一樣。They had expected to see the grey, heathery slope of the moor going up and up to join the dull autumn sky. Instead, a blaze of sunshine met them. It poured through the doorway as the light of a June day pours into a garage when you open the door. It made the drops of water on the grass glitter like beads and showed up the dirtiness of Jill's tear-stained face. And the sunlight was coming from what certainly did look like a different world - what they could see of it. They saw smooth turf, smoother and brighter than Jill had ever seen before, and blue sky, and, darting to and fro, things so bright that they might have been jewels or huge butterflies. Although she had been longing for something like this, Jill felt frightened. She looked at Scrubb's face and saw that he was frightened too.
他們原以爲會看見荒原上灰不溜秋、長滿石南的山坡越來越高，一直通向陰沉沉的秋日的天空，沒料到迎面卻看見了一片強烈的陽光。陽光照進門口，就像你打開汽車間門，六月裏大白天的太陽照進來一樣。陽光照得草地上的水珠像珍珠一樣閃閃發亮，也使吉爾滿是淚痕的臉顯得一副髒相。而且據他們判斷這陽光一定來自一個不同的世界。他們看見柔嫩的草地，比吉爾以前所見過的更柔嫩，更明亮，還有藍藍的天，還有一些發亮的東西在空中飛來飛去，很可能是珠寶或是大蝴蝶。 雖然吉爾一直渴望見到這一類東西，她還是感到驚恐不已。她看看斯克羅布的臉，看出他也害怕了。"Come on, Pole," he said in a breathless voice.
“來吧，波爾。”他說話時氣都喘不過來了。”"Can we get back? Is it safe?" asked Jill.
我們能回來嗎?安全嗎?吉爾問道。At that moment a voice shouted from behind, a mean, spiteful little voice. "Now then, Pole," it squeaked. "Everyone knows you're there. Down you come." It was the voice of Edith Jackle, not one of Them herself but one of their hangers-on and tale-bearers.
正在這時，後面有個聲音在叫喊，是個卑鄙、惡毒的小嗓門，嘰嘰喳喳叫道”行了，波爾，大家都知道你在那兒。你下來吧。”這是伊迪絲;傑克爾的聲音，她本人還不算是他們一夥的，不過是個跟班和愛搬弄是非的小人而已。"Quick!" said Scrubb. "Here. Hold hands. We mustn't get separated." And before she quite knew what was happening, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door, out of the school grounds, out of England, out of our whole world into That Place.
“快！”斯克羅布說，”喂，拉住手。我們千萬不能分開。她還沒弄明白怎麼回事，他就抓着她的手，拉着她出了門，出了校園，出了英國，出了我們這整個世界，到了那個地方。The sound of Edith Jackle's voice stopped as suddenly as the voice on the radio when it is switched off. Instantly there was a quite different sound all about them. It came from those bright things overhead, which now turned out to be birds. They were making a riotous noise, but it was much more like music - rather advanced music which you don't quite take in at the first hearing - than birds' songs ever are in our world. Yet, in spite of the singing, there was a sort of background of immense silence. That silence, combined with the freshness of the air, made Jill think they must be on the top of a very high mountain.
伊迪絲;傑克爾的聲音突然沒了，正如你一關上收音機，裏面的聲音就突然消失一樣。他們周圍頓時響起一種完全不同的聲音。聲音是從他們頭頂上那些發亮的東西發出來的，他們馬上看出原來是鳥。它們正發出喧鬧的聲音，不過這種聲音比起我們世界裏鳥兒的歌聲更像音樂——相當先進的音樂，乍一聽你還不大領會得了。然而，儘管有歌聲，背景卻是無比寂靜。那份寂靜，加上空氣新鮮，使吉爾想到他們一定是在一座很高的山頂上。Scrubb still had her by the hand and they were walking forward, staring about them on every side. Jill saw that huge trees, rather like cedars but bigger, grew in every direction. But as they did not grow close together, and as there was no undergrowth, this did not prevent one from seeing a long way into the forest to leftnd right. And as far as Jill's eye could reach, it was all the same - level turf, darting birds with yellow, or dragonfly blue, or rainbow plumage, blue shadows, and emptiness. There was not a breath of wind in that cool, bright air. It was a very lonely forest.
斯克羅布仍然拉着她的手，他們向前走着，一面朝四周張望。吉爾看見四面八方都長着那種參天大樹，很像雪松，但更大些口不過這些樹木長得並不密，樹下也沒有矮樹叢，無遮無攔，樹林左右老遠老遠都看得清。吉爾放眼望去，看到的景色全是一樣的——平坦的草地，五顏六色的鳥兒飛來飛去，有黃的，有蜻蜓藍的，有彩虹色的，藍森森的陰影，一片空蕩蕩。那涼爽清新的空氣中連一絲風也沒有。真是一座非常冷清的森林。Right ahead there were no trees: only blue sky. They went straight on without speaking till suddenly Jill heard Scrubb say, "Look out!" and felt herself jerked back. They were at the very edge of a cliff.
正前方那邊沒有樹木，只有藍天。他們一言不發，筆直地朝前走，走啊走的，突然間吉爾聽見斯克羅布說”小心！”接着就覺得自己猛地朝後收住腳步。他們正站在懸崖邊上呢。Jill was one of those lucky people who have a good head for heights. She didn't mind in the least standing on the edge of a precipice. She was rather annoyed with Scrubb for pulling her back - "just as if I was a kid", she said and she wrenched her hand out of his. When she saw how very white he had turned, she despised him.
碰巧吉爾對高地很有頭腦。站在懸崖邊上，她竟毫不在意。她對斯克羅布把她拉回來相當惱火——”就當我是個小娃娃似的。”她說——說着猛地掙脫了他的手。她看見他臉色變得非常蒼白，就瞧不起他了。"What's the matter?" she said. And to show that she was not afraid, she stood very near the edge indeed; in fact, a good deal nearer than even she liked. Then she looked down.
“怎麼啦?”她說。接着爲了顯示她並不害怕，居然真的站得離懸崖邊很近;事實上，比她心裏想站的地方近多了。然後她朝下面望望。She now realized that Scrubb had some excuse for looking white, for no cliff in our world is to be compared with this. Imagine yourself at the top of the very highest cliff you know. And imagine yourself looking down to the very bottom. And then imagine that the precipice goes on below that, as far again, ten times as far, twenty times as far. And when you've looked down all that distance imagine little white things that might, at first glance, be mistaken for sheep, but presently you realize that they are clouds - not little wreaths of mist but the enormous white, puffy clouds which are themselves as big as most mountains. And at last, in between those clouds, you get your first glimpse of the real bottom, so far away that you can't make out whether it's field or wood, or land or water: farther below those clouds than you are above them.
如今她才明白斯克羅布臉色發白是有道理的，因爲在我們世界裏沒有一座懸崖能與這座相比。想像一下你自己站在據你所知是最高的一座懸崖頂上。再想像一下你自己正朝崖底看。再想像一下懸崖繼續一直往下，往下，十倍於此，二十倍於此。而當你朝那麼遠的下面看去，第一眼你可能在想像中把那些小白點錯認爲羊羣吧，但不久你就知道那是白雲——不是霧氣形成的小云卷，而是又大又白，蓬蓬鬆鬆的雲層，一片片大得像羣山一樣。透過這些雲層之間，你才終於第一眼看到了那真正的崖底，那麼遠，那麼遠，遠得你都看不出下面究竟是田野還是樹林，是陸地還是水面。你在崖頂上離雲層上面還不算遠，崖底離雲層下面更遠。Jill stared at it. Then she thought that perhaps, after all, she would step back afoot or so from the edge; but she didn't like to for fear of what Scrubb would think. Then she suddenly decided that she didn't care what he thought, and that she would jolly well get away from that horrible edge and never laugh at anyone for not liking heights again. But when she tried to move, she found she couldn't. Her legs seemed to have turned into putty. Everything was swimming before her eyes.
吉爾目不轉睛地望着下面。她這纔想到也許自己畢竟該從懸崖邊上往後退一兩步的，可她生怕斯克羅布會怎麼想，又不願退。後來她突然決定，不管他怎麼想，她巴不得趕快離開這可怕的崖邊，再也不取笑任何不喜歡高地的人了。但等到她想動彈的時候，卻發現自己動不了啦。她兩條腿似乎都被捆住了口眼前一切都在旋轉。"What are you doing, Pole? Come back-blithering little idiot!" shouted Scrubb. But his voice seemed to he coming from a long way off. She felt him grabbing at her. But by now she had no control over her own arms and legs. There was a moment's struggling on the cliff edge. Jill was too frightened and dizzy to know quite what she was doing, but two things she remembered as long as she lived (they often came back to her in dreams). One was that she had wrenched herself free of Scrubb's clutches; the other was that, at the same moment, Scrubb himself, with a terrified scream, had lost his balance and gone hurtling to the depths.
“你在幹什麼呀，波爾?回來——頭號小傻瓜I”斯克羅布大聲喊道。可他的聲音似乎來自很遠很遠的地方。她感到他在拉她。可這會兒她已經控制不了自己的手腳。在懸崖邊上掙扎了一會兒。吉爾心裏太害怕了，頭太暈了，都不大記得自己幹了什麼，不過有兩件事是她這輩子都忘不了的(她還經常夢見這兩件事呢)。一件是她掙脫了斯克羅布的手;另一件事是與此同時，斯克羅布本人驚恐地尖叫一聲，失去平衡，一頭滾下深淵。Fortunately, she was given no time to think over what she had done. Some huge, brightly coloured animal had rushed to the edge of the cliff. It was lying down, leaning over, and (this was the odd thing) blowing. Not roaring or snorting, but just blowing from its wide-opened mouth; blowing out as steadily as a vacuum cleaner sucks in. Jill was lying so close to the creature that she could feel the breath vibrating steadily through its body. She was lying still because she couldn't get up. She was nearly fainting: indeed, she wished she could really faint, but faints don't come for the asking. At last she saw, far away below her, a tiny black speck floating away from the cliff and slightly upwards. As it rose, it also got farther away. By the time it was nearly on a level with the cliff-top it was so far off that she lost sight of it. It was obviously moving away from them at a great speed. Jill couldn't help thinking that the creature at her side was blowing it away.
幸虧她還來不及想想自己幹了些什麼。一隻顏色鮮豔的巨獸已經衝到懸崖邊上。它躺下，探出身子，吹着氣(這可真是怪事)。不是怒吼，也不是噴鼻息，而是張大嘴巴吹氣;悠悠地不斷吹啊吹啊，就像吸塵器在吸一樣。吉爾躺着的地方離這隻動物那麼近，都感覺得到這股氣在它身體裏沉穩的震動。她躺着一動不動是因爲起不來口她差點暈過去了:其實，她但願自己真的暈過去，不過不是想暈倒就能暈倒的。後來她終於看見了，在她下面很遠的地方，一個小黑點正從懸崖飄開，而且稍微往上飄了一點。黑點一升起，就飄遠了。等到黑點升到和懸崖差不多高的時候，已經飄得遠遠的，她就此看不見了。顯然這個黑點已飛快地離開了他們。吉爾不禁認爲就是她身邊這動物把那個黑點吹走的。&
So she turned and looked at the creature. It was a lion.
於是她回過頭來看看這動物。原來是一頭獅子。
