凱斯賓王子

Chapter Two ?The Ancient Treasure House

第二章 塵封的寶庫

“THIS wasnt a garden，” said Susan presently. “It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard.”

“I see what you mean，” said Peter. “Yes. That is the remains of a tower. And there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls. And look at those other steps—the broad， shallow ones—going up to that doorway. It must have been the door into the great hall.”

“Ages ago， by the look of it，” said Edmund.

“Yes， ages ago，” said Peter. “I wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle; and how long ago.”

“It gives me a queer feeling，” said Lucy.

“Does it， Lu？” said Peter， turning and looking hard at her. “Because it does the same to me. It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day. I wonder where we are and what it all means？”

While they were talking they had crossed the courtyard and gone through the other doorway into what had once been the hall. This was now very like the courtyard， for the roof had long since disappeared and it was merely another space of grass and daisies， except that it was shorter and narrower and the walls were higher. Across the far end there was a kind of terrace about three feet higher than the rest.

“I wonder， was it really the hall？” said Susan. “What is that terrace kind of thing？”

“Why， you silly，” said Peter （who had become strangely excited）， “dont you see？ That was the dais where the High Table was， where the King and the great lords sat. Anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that， in our great hall.”

“In our castle of Cair Paravel，” continued Susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice， “at the mouth of the great river of Narnia. How could I forget？”

“How it all comes back！” said Lucy. “We could pretend we were in Cair Paravel now. This hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in.”

“這不像是個花園?！碧K珊想了想說，“這更像是個城堡，如果沒錯的話，我們現(xiàn)在所在的位置應(yīng)該是城堡的某個院落?！?/p>

“還真別說，是有那么點(diǎn)像?！北说谜f，“看，那是殘存的塔樓，可是只剩下一小段樓梯了，本來沿著那樓梯可以直接通往塔頂?shù)摹Ｄ銈冊倏茨切┯謱捰制骄彽呐_階，一直通往門廊，那門準(zhǔn)是通往大廳去的。”

“看上去可真有些年頭了?！睈鄣旅筛锌馈?/p>

“是啊，這是很久以前的城堡?！北说媒又f，“真希望我們能弄明白當(dāng)年是什么人住在這里，這地方到底是多久以前留下來的?！?/p>

“可是我總覺得這里怪怪的?！甭盾缯f。

“是嗎，露茜？”彼得轉(zhuǎn)過身來，眼睛瞪得老大，“我也有種奇怪的感覺，我真的覺得這是今天這個奇怪的日子里發(fā)生的最奇怪的事情。我們至少得弄明白我們自己在哪里，到底發(fā)生了什么事。”

就在大家你一言、我一語地表達(dá)著自己的感覺的時候，他們已經(jīng)穿過院子，走進(jìn)另一道門廊。門里邊應(yīng)該是一個大廳，可是就目前看來與外面的院子沒什么兩樣，因?yàn)槲蓓斣缇拖У脽o影無蹤，只見一片荒草和雛菊叢生的荒地。不過此處與外面的院子相比，寬度比較窄，縱深比較短，四周的墻也明顯要高出許多。橫穿過整個大廳后，有一個平臺。這平臺比其他地方高出了約一米。

“我簡直不敢相信這里會是一個大廳，”蘇珊說，“誰會在大廳里筑一個那么奇怪的平臺呢？”

“哎，你這傻瓜?！北说猛蝗伙@得莫名地興奮起來，“你還沒看出來嗎？那平臺是王公貴族的寶座。難道你忘記了嗎，我們自己就曾經(jīng)是國王和女王，在我們自己的宮殿里，我們不是也坐在那么一個高高的臺子上嗎？”

“凱爾帕拉維爾城堡，我們自己的宮殿！”蘇珊陷入如夢般的遐想中，一字一調(diào)、唱誦般地說道，“它永遠(yuǎn)矗立在納尼亞大河的入?？?。我怎能忘記呢？”

“可是我們?nèi)绾尾拍芑氐綇那澳?？”露茜說，“干脆我們把這兒當(dāng)作凱爾帕拉維爾，我們所在的這座大廳就是我們過去宴請賓朋的王宮?！?/p>

“But unfortunately without the feast，” said Edmund. “Its getting late， you know. Look how long the shadows are. And have you noticed that it isnt so hot？”

“We shall need a campfire if weve got to spend the night here，” said Peter. “Ive got matches. Lets go and see if we can collect some dry wood.”

Everyone saw the sense of this， and for the next half-hour they were busy. The orchard through which they had first come into the ruins turned out not to be a good place for firewood. They tried the other side of the castle， passing out of the hall by a little side door into a maze of stony humps and hollows which must once have been passages and smaller rooms but was now all nettles and wild roses. Beyond this they found a wide gap in the castle wall and stepped through it into a wood of darker and bigger trees where they found dead branches and rotten wood and sticks and dry leaves and fir-cones in plenty. They went to and fro with bundles until they had a good pile on the dais. At the fifth journey they found the well， just outside the hall， hidden in weeds， but clean and fresh and deep when they had cleared these away.

The remains of a stone pavement ran half-way round it. Then the girls went out to pick some more apples and the boys built the fire， on the dais and fairly close to the corner between two walls， which they thought would be the snuggest and warmest place. They had great difficulty in lighting it and used a lot of matches， but they succeeded in the end. Finally， all four sat down with their backs to the wall and their faces to the fire. They tried roasting some of the apples on the ends of sticks. But roast apples are not much good without sugar， and they are too hot to eat with your fingers till they are too cold to be worth eating. So they had to content themselves with raw apples， which， as Edmund said， made one realize that school suppers werent so bad after all—“I shouldnt mind a good thick slice of bread and margarine this minute，” he added. But the spirit of adventure was rising in them all， and no one really wanted to be back at school.

“只可惜沒有宴會?！睈鄣旅烧f，“你們看，影子這么長，看來天色不早了，而且天氣也沒那么熱了?！?/p>

“要是我們不得已在這兒過夜的話，必須生一堆篝火?！北说谜f，“我有火柴，現(xiàn)在大家行動起來，看能不能找些枯樹枝來。”

每個人立即認(rèn)識到行動起來的緊迫性。接下來的半小時，大家都熱火朝天地忙碌起來。他們首先去了這座廢棄城堡前面的那片果園，然而事實(shí)證明那里很難找到生火的材料。他們穿過大廳，從一扇小側(cè)門來到城堡的另一端去碰碰運(yùn)氣。這兒像一座迷宮，高高低低的石堆和洼地雜亂無章地散布其間。他們猜想，這里曾經(jīng)是門廊，通往一排小房間。然而現(xiàn)在只剩些蕁麻和野玫瑰長在那里。再往前走，他們看見圍墻上有一個大豁口。他們穿過豁口，來到一片樹林。這片樹林里林木高大，碩大的枝葉遮天蔽日，林子里顯得尤其黑暗、陰森。他們在這里找到大量的干枝、朽木、枯葉和冷杉樹的球果。他們來來回回，一捆一捆地往回抱，終于在城堡平臺上堆起了一座小山似的柴火堆。他們在第五次搬運(yùn)的時候在大廳外面發(fā)現(xiàn)了一口井，井口早湮沒在雜草叢里。他們把井邊的雜草清理干凈，發(fā)現(xiàn)那井水清涼、甘甜，水也很深。

一條石頭小徑繞過這口井。隨后，女孩子們又跑去摘一些蘋果，男孩子們則負(fù)責(zé)在十分靠近兩面墻的角落的平臺上燃起篝火。他們相信這是世界上最舒適、最溫暖的地方了。說起生篝火，那可不是件容易的事。他們用了好多根火柴，篝火終于燃了起來。最后，大家背靠在墻壁上，臉對著火苗。他們試著把蘋果用小棍子插起來，放在火苗上烤著吃?？墒牵瑳]有白糖，烤蘋果的味道肯定好不了。太燙時沒法兒用手拿著吃，等可以用手去拿時，它又涼得一點(diǎn)兒都不好吃了。結(jié)果，他們只好吃生蘋果充饑。愛德蒙說得不錯，學(xué)校餐廳里的晚餐其實(shí)并不那么糟——“要是現(xiàn)在給我來上一片厚厚的奶油面包，那該多美妙?。　彼a(bǔ)充道。但是，一種探險的精神正在大家體內(nèi)升騰，誰也沒有真的想回到學(xué)校去。

Word Study

queer /kw??（r）/ adj.奇怪的;反常的

merely /'m??li/ adv.僅僅;只不過

He said nothing， merely smiled and watched her.

dais /'de??s/ n.（尤指房間一端的）高臺

maze /me?z/ n.迷宮

bundle /'b?ndl/ n.捆，把

content /k?n'tent/ v.滿足

Martina contented herself with a bowl of soup.

Shortly after the last apple had been eaten， Susan went out to the well to get another drink. When she came back she was carrying something in her hand.

“Look，” she said in a rather choking kind of voice. “I found it by the well.” She handed it to Peter and sat down. The others thought she looked and sounded as if she might be going to cry. Edmund and Lucy eagerly bent forward to see what was in Peters hand—a little， bright thing that gleamed in the firelight.

“Well， Im—Im jiggered，” said Peter， and his voice also sounded queer. Then he handed it to the others.

All now saw what it was—a little chess-knight， ordinary in size but extraordinarily heavy because it was made of pure gold; and the eyes in the horses head were two tiny little rubies or rather one was， for the other had been knocked out.

“Why！” said Lucy， “its exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel.”

“Cheer up， Su，” said Peter to his other sister.

“I cant help it，” said Susan. “It brought back—oh， such lovely times. And I remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants， and the mer-people singing in the sea， and my beautiful horse—and—and—”

“Now，” said Peter in a quite different voice， “its about time we four started using our brains.”

“What about？” asked Edmund.

“Have none of you guessed where we are？” said Peter.

“Go on， go on，” said Lucy. “Ive felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place.”

“Fire ahead， Peter，” said Edmund. “Were all listening.”

“We are in the ruins of Cair Paravel itself，” said Peter.

“But， I say，” replied Edmund. “I mean， how do you make that out？ This place has been ruined for ages. Look at all those big trees growing right up to the gates. Look at the very stones. Anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years.”

“I know，” said Peter. “That is the difficulty. But lets leave that out for the moment. I want to take the points one by one. First point： this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at Cair Paravel. Just picture a roof on this， and a coloured pavement instead of grass， and tapestries on the walls， and you get our royal banqueting hall.”

No one said anything.

就在吃完最后一個蘋果后，蘇珊又跑到井邊去喝水，回來的時候她手里拿著一個什么東西。

“看！”蘇珊因?yàn)檫^于激動，幾乎說不出話來，“我在井邊撿到的?！彼涯菛|西交給彼得，然后坐了下來。從剛才她的聲音和表情來看，大家都以為她就要哭出來了。愛德蒙和露茜好奇地彎下腰來，向彼得手里望去——那是個小小的、亮晶晶的東西，在篝火的映照下閃閃發(fā)光。

“怎么會有這種事！”彼得的聲音聽起來怪怪的。他把那東西遞給其他幾個。

現(xiàn)在，大家都看得很分明，那是一枚象棋里的馬，外形與普通棋子差不多，然而卻格外沉，因?yàn)樗w都是用純金鍛造的。只有馬頭上的小眼睛鑲嵌著兩顆小寶石，其實(shí)只剩下一只眼睛，另一只眼睛的寶石不知什么時候掉了。

“怎么可能？”露茜吃了一驚，“這分明是我們在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡常常玩的那副國際象棋中的一枚，那時候我們還是國王和女王呢！”

“振作點(diǎn)兒，蘇珊?！北说脤μK珊說。

“我實(shí)在無法控制自己的情緒……”蘇珊說，“這枚小小的棋子讓我的思緒飛回了……哦，那是多么快樂的時光啊！我腦海里浮現(xiàn)的是和小矮人以及那些善良忠義的巨人一起下象棋時的情景，還有水精靈們在大海里歡歌，還有我那匹俊美的小馬，還有……還有……”

“現(xiàn)在，”彼得一改平時的語調(diào)，顯得嚴(yán)肅而鎮(zhèn)定，“是時候好好開動我們的腦筋了?！?/p>

“可是這會兒有什么好思考的呢？”愛德蒙問。

“你們難道從來沒有好好猜想一下，我們現(xiàn)在到底在什么地方？”彼得說。

“快說呀，你快告訴大家??！”露茜急切地喊道，“自從來到這里，我一直覺得這個地方被一種神秘的氣息籠罩著。這氣息簡直無法言表，完全是個解不開的謎?！?/p>

“快揭開謎底吧，彼得，”愛德蒙說，“我們都等著呢?！?/p>

“我們此刻就站在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡的廢墟上。”彼得說。

“可是，我說，”愛德蒙不停地眨巴眼睛，“這完全解釋不通??！這個地方被荒廢太久了，看看那些大樹就知道了。它們都緊挨著大門長得這么粗壯了，再看看這些石頭。誰都看得出來，這個地方至少幾百年沒人住過了。”

“這個我也想過，”彼得說，“問題就在這里，我們把這一點(diǎn)暫時擱置，我想把我的根據(jù)一條條地列出來。首先，這個大廳的形狀和大小與凱爾帕拉維爾城堡的幾乎完全一樣。大家設(shè)想一下，我們的頭頂上方是個穹頂，再假設(shè)我們不是站在草地上，而是彩色的地面，四周的墻壁全部掛上鮮艷的壁毯。好了，我們已經(jīng)站在城堡的宴會大廳里了。”

誰也沒有講話。

“Second point，” continued Peter. “The castle well is exactly where our well was， a little to the south of the great hall; and it is exactly the same size and shape.”

Again there was no reply.

“Third point： Susan has just found one of our old chessmen—or something as like one of them as two peas.”

Still nobody answered.

“Fourth point. Dont you remember—it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the King of Calormen—dont you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of Cair Paravel？ The greatest of all the wood-people， Pomona herself， came to put good spells on it. It was those very decent little chaps the moles who did the actual digging. Can you have forgotten that funny old Lilygloves， the chief mole， leaning on his spade and saying， ‘Believe me， your Majesty， youll be glad of these fruit trees one day.？ And by Jove he was right.”

“I do！ I do！” said Lucy， and clapped her hands.

“But look here， Peter，” said Edmund. “This must be all rot. To begin with， we didnt plant the orchard slap up against the gate. We wouldnt have been such fools.”

“No， of course not，” said Peter. “But it has grown up to the gate since.”

“And for another thing，” said Edmund， “Cair Paravel wasnt on an island.”

“Yes， Ive been wondering about that. But it was a what-do-you-call-it， a peninsula. Jolly nearly an island. Couldnt it have been made an island since our time？ Somebody has dug a channel.”

“But half a moment！” said Edmund. “You keep on saying since our time. But its only a year ago since we came back from Narnia. And you want to make out that in one year castles have fallen down， and great forests have grown up， and little trees we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard， and goodness knows what else. Its all impossible.”

“Theres one thing，” said Lucy. “If this is Cair Paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais. In fact we ought to be sitting with our backs against it at this moment. You know—the door that led down to the treasure chamber.”

“I suppose there isnt a door，” said Peter， getting up.

The wall behind them was a mass of ivy.

“第二點(diǎn)，”彼得繼續(xù)說，“我們找到的水井與原來城堡中的水井位置完全相同，都在大廳偏南一點(diǎn)兒，而且，連大小和形狀也沒有兩樣?！?/p>

大家仍然不置可否，一言不發(fā)。

“第三點(diǎn)，蘇珊剛剛發(fā)現(xiàn)的棋子與我們過去玩的棋子一模一樣?！?/p>

還是沒人搭腔。

“第四點(diǎn)，你們還記得嗎——就在卡樂門國王的大使到來的前一天——我們在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡的北門外種了很多果樹。森林里尊貴的精靈——果樹女神波莫娜親自為這片新開辟的果園做了祈禱。衣著光鮮亮麗、打扮得體的小鼴鼠們?yōu)楣麡渑倏?。大家肯定還記得它們的首領(lǐng)，那個風(fēng)趣幽默、上了年紀(jì)的哩哩格拉唔吧？它靠在鐵鍬上說：‘請相信我，陛下，總有一天，這些果樹將給您帶來意外的驚喜。瞧，真被它說中了。”

“我記起來了，我記起來了！”露茜拍起手來。

“可是你看這兒，彼得，”愛德蒙猶豫地說，“這一切都站不住腳啊。首先，我們怎么可能緊挨著大門種果樹呢——那也太傻了吧?！?/p>

“當(dāng)然不會故意挨著大門種果樹?！北说谜f，“可是果樹會越長越大，慢慢地就可能延伸到大門口了呀?！?/p>

“另外，”愛德蒙說，“凱爾帕拉維爾并不是一座孤島啊?！?/p>

“對，這也是我一直百思不得其解的問題，它過去也的確如你所說的不是一座孤島，而是座半島，很像一座孤島。但是，難道自我們離開以后，這里就完全不可能變成一座孤島嗎？也許有人挖了一道海峽呢。”

“你等一等！”愛德蒙說，“你一直強(qiáng)調(diào)我們離開后的漫長年代，可是我們離開納尼亞總共才不過一年時間啊。你想向我們證明的，就是說一年內(nèi)城堡坍塌荒廢了，巨大的森林包圍了那里，那些去年才由我們親自種下的小樹苗，現(xiàn)在都長成了參天大樹。天知道還有什么不可思議的事情發(fā)生，所有這一切都是不可能的。”

“我們還忽略了一件事情！”露茜說，“假如這就是凱爾帕拉維爾，那么在高臺的后端墻壁上應(yīng)該有一扇門。實(shí)際上，我們現(xiàn)在倚靠的墻面就是這扇門的位置。你們都知道——它通向我們的寶庫?！?/p>

“我倒沒看出來?！北说靡贿呎f一邊站起身來。

那墻早被大葉子的野藤爬滿。

Word Study

eagerly /'i?ɡ?（r）li/ adv.急切地;渴望地

Theyre eagerly awaiting the big day.

gleam /ɡli?m/ v.發(fā)微光;隱約閃光;閃爍

The moonlight gleamed on the water.

banqueting /'b??kw?t??/ adj.宴會的

lean /li?n/ v.倚靠;靠在

She walked slowly， leaning on her sons arm.

chamber /'t?e?mb?（r）/ n.（作特定用途的）房間，室

“We can soon find out，” said Edmund， taking up one of the sticks that they had laid ready for putting on the fire. He began beating the ivied wall. Tap-tap went the stick against the stone; and again， tap-tap; and then， all at once， boom boom， with a quite different sound， a hollow， wooden sound.

“Great Scott！” said Edmund.

“We must clear this ivy away，” said Peter.

“Oh， do lets leave it alone，” said Susan. “We can try it in the morning. If weve got to spend the night here I dont want an open door at my back and a great big black hole that anything might come out of， besides the draught and the damp. And itll soon be dark.”

“Susan！ How can you？” said Lucy with a reproachful glance. But both the boys were too much excited to take any notice of Susans advice. They worked at the ivy with their hands and with Peters pocket-knife till the knife broke. After that they used Edmunds. Soon the whole place where they had been sitting was covered with ivy; and at last they had the door cleared.

“Locked， of course，” said Peter.

“But the woods all rotten，” said Edmund. “We can pull it to bits in no time， and it will make extra firewood. Come on.”

It took them longer than they expected and， before they had done， the great hall had grown dusky and the first star or two had come out overhead. Susan was not the only one who felt a slight shudder as the boys stood above the pile of splintered wood， rubbing the dirt off their hands and staring into the cold， dark opening they had made.

“Now for a torch，” said Peter.

“Oh， what is the good？” said Susan. “And as Edmund said—”

“Im not saying it now，” Edmund interrupted. “I still dont understand， but we can settle that later. I suppose youre coming down， Peter？”

“We must，” said Peter. “Cheer up， Susan. Its no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia. Youre a Queen here. And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds.”

They tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success. If you held them with the lighted end up they went out， and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes. In the end they had to use Edmunds electric torch; luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new. He went first， with the light. Then came Lucy， then Susan， and Peter brought up the rear.

“我們馬上就能搞清楚?！睈鄣旅梢贿呎f，一邊抄起一截準(zhǔn)備用來生火的粗樹枝，開始敲打那爬滿青藤的墻壁。嗒，嗒，樹枝打在墻上發(fā)出沉悶的響聲，再打下去，仍然是嗒，嗒，嗒。突然，通，通，通，敲打聲變了，這分明是打在木板上的聲音，而且木板背后應(yīng)該是空的。

“天哪！”愛德蒙驚呆了。

“我們必須先清除這些藤蔓?！北说谜f。

“噢，先別動它?！碧K珊說，“咱們明天早晨再想辦法打開那扇門吧。如果我們今晚要在這里過夜的話，我可不愿意身后有扇敞開著的大門，黑漆漆、陰森森的，不時還吹來陣陣陰風(fēng)，夾雜著涼冷寒潮的濕氣。別再有什么可怕的東西從里面跑出來！再說，天馬上就要黑了?！?/p>

“蘇珊！你怎么能這樣？”露茜責(zé)備地瞥了她一眼。兩個男孩子則太興奮了，根本就沒有在意蘇珊講了些什么。他們開始用手去清理藤葉，用彼得隨身攜帶的小刀去切斷藤蔓，小刀割壞了，他們又拿愛德蒙的小刀繼續(xù)割。很快，他們剛才坐過的地上堆滿了青藤的根莖枝蔓和葉子，然后一扇門暴露出來了。

“糟糕，門肯定上了鎖?！北说谜f。

“沒關(guān)系，木頭恐怕早已經(jīng)腐朽了，”愛德蒙說，“咱們可以輕而易舉地把它砸成碎片，這樣我們還可以多些燒火的干柴。來吧！”

說起來容易做起來難。他們花的時間比之前預(yù)計的要多得多。不知不覺地，茫茫的天際為暮色所籠罩，天上出現(xiàn)了幾顆星星。大家站在一堆剝落下來的碎木片上，擦去手上的灰塵，放眼朝黑漆漆的洞里望去，多少有些膽寒。

“現(xiàn)在我們需要一個火把?！北说么蚱屏顺聊?。

“我說，還是先別下去吧！”蘇珊說，“愛德蒙不也是這個意思嗎……”

“我現(xiàn)在可什么都沒說，”愛德蒙打斷了她的話，“現(xiàn)在我還一頭霧水，不過下去之后一切都會水落石出的。彼得，你也下去吧？”

“大家都下去吧，”彼得說，“勇敢些，蘇珊。我們現(xiàn)在又回到了納尼亞，像小孩子那樣是沒有用的。你在這里是女王。況且，大家心里裝著那么多謎團(tuán)，怎么能睡得著呢？”

他們本想用燃燒的樹枝照亮前行的道路，但這樣行不通。燃燒的那一頭朝上的話，火會熄滅;倒過來拿的話，手會被火苗灼傷，眼睛也會被煙熏到。最后他們不得不用愛德蒙的電筒，一星期前愛德蒙在他生日時得到這個小東西，里面的電池幾乎是全新的。對于孩子們來說，這真是太幸運(yùn)了。愛德蒙打著手電第一個走了下去，露茜和蘇珊緊隨其后，彼得走在最后。

“Ive come to the top of the steps，” said Edmund.

“Count them，” said Peter.

“One—two—three，” said Edmund， as he went cautiously down， and so up to sixteen. “And this is the bottom，” he shouted back.

“Then it really must be Cair Paravel，” said Lucy. “There were sixteen.” Nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the foot of the stairway. Then Edmund flashed his torch slowly round.

“O—o—o—oh?。　?said all the children at once.

For now all knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of Cair Paravel where they had once reigned as Kings and Queens of Narnia. There was a kind of path up the middle （as it might be in a greenhouse）， and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armour， like knights guarding the treasures. In between the suits of armour， and on each side of the path， were shelves covered with precious things—necklaces and arm rings and finger rings and golden bowls and dishes and long tusks of ivory， brooches and coronets and chains of gold， and heaps of unset stones lying piled anyhow as if they were marbles or potatoes—diamonds， rubies， carbuncles， emeralds， topazes， and amethysts. Under the shelves stood great chests of oak strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked. And it was bitterly cold， and so still that they could hear themselves breathing， and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things， they would hardly have known they were treasures. There was something sad and a little frightening about the place， because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago. That was why nobody said anything for at least a minute.

Then， of course， they began walking about and picking things up to look at. It was like meeting very old friends. If you had been there you would have heard them saying things like， “Oh look！ Our coronation rings—do you remember first wearing this？—Why， this is the little brooch we all thought was lost—I say， isnt that the armour you wore in the great tournament in the Lone Islands？—do you remember the dwarf making that for me？—do you remember drinking out of that horn？—do you remember， do you remember？”

But suddenly Edmund said， “Look here. We mustnt waste the battery： goodness knows how often we shall need it. Hadnt we better take what we want and get out again？”

“We must take the gifts，” said Peter. For long ago at a Christmas in Narnia he and Susan and Lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom. Edmund had had no gift， because he was not with them at the time. （This was his own fault， and you can read about it in the other book.）

“我已經(jīng)來到臺階跟前?！睈鄣旅烧f。

“數(shù)一下，看有多少級臺階?！北说谜f。

“一、二、三……”愛德蒙一邊嘴里數(shù)著，一邊小心翼翼地往下走，一直數(shù)到第十六級臺階。“到底了?！彼砗蠛暗馈?/p>

“那么這里真的是凱爾帕拉維爾?！甭盾缯f，“凱爾帕拉維爾寶庫的臺階就是十六級?！闭l也沒搭話，直到他們走下最后一級臺階才停下來，大家緊緊靠在一起。愛德蒙撳亮手電筒，光柱緩緩地掃視著周圍。

“哇！”孩子們歡呼雀躍起來。

不必再懷疑了，這里就是凱爾帕拉維爾那古老的寶庫。作為納尼亞曾經(jīng)的國王和女王，他們是這里的舊主人。房子正中是一條甬道（就像溫室里一樣），兩邊每隔幾米就豎立著一套曾經(jīng)閃閃發(fā)亮的盔甲，就像衛(wèi)士在守護(hù)著這些寶藏。在甬道兩旁的架子上，“衛(wèi)士”之間，擺放著奇珍異寶——項(xiàng)鏈、手鐲、戒指、純金做的碗碟、長長的象牙、 胸針、冠冕以及金鏈子，還有成堆尚未鑲嵌的寶石，像石子或土豆一樣散亂地堆在那里——鉆石、紅寶石、綠寶石、黃玉，還有紫水晶。架子下面放著一個個鑲著金屬邊的橡木箱子，上著大鎖。這里冷得要命，又靜得出奇，孩子們撲通撲通的心跳是唯一能夠清晰識別的聲音。厚厚的塵土將珍寶掩藏其下，要不是他們知道這座寶庫，并且按照記憶中的寶庫結(jié)構(gòu)去對所見的情景加以還原，誰肯相信那些東西竟然是珠寶呢？然而短暫的興奮、欣喜與新奇過后，一絲傷感與惆悵卻襲上心頭，而且逐漸加深，直至化為一種莫名的恐懼與悲哀了。畢竟這里是一個被荒廢太久的城堡，一切都顯得古舊而陰森。因此大家好幾分鐘相對無言，一片沉寂。

孩子們緩緩朝前走去，一面隨手拿起身邊的寶物細(xì)細(xì)端詳。對于他們而言，這里的一草一木，都像一位位久違的老友。如果你在場，你會聽到他們說：“噢，看！咱們的加冕戒指——你還記得頭一次戴上它時的情景嗎？——咦，這不是那枚我們都認(rèn)為丟失了的胸針嗎？——瞧，這不是你在孤獨(dú)島那次比武大會上穿的盔甲嗎？——你記不記得那是小矮人為我特制的？——你記不記得我們曾經(jīng)用那只號來喝酒？——你還記不記得……”

突然，愛德蒙說：“聽我說，我們不能白白耗費(fèi)電池了，或許它還要派上更大的用場呢。要不咱們拿上最想要的寶物，趕緊出去吧?！?/p>

“我們得拿上那些禮物！”彼得說。很久很久以前，在一個納尼亞的圣誕之夜，他、蘇珊和露茜都得了一些禮物，這些禮物在他們看來，簡直比整個王國都珍貴。只有愛德蒙沒有禮物，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時他沒有和大家在一起（這都怪他自己，關(guān)于這一點(diǎn)，你可以在另一個故事里讀到）。

Word Study

draught /drɑ?ft/ n. 穿堂風(fēng);通風(fēng)氣流;通風(fēng)

A cold draught of air blew in from the open window.

damp /d?mp/ n. 潮濕;濕氣

shudder /'??d?（r）/ n. （因寒冷、害怕等引起的）發(fā)抖，戰(zhàn)栗

scorch /sk??t?/ v. 燙，燙傷

The hot sand scorched our feet.

tournament /'t??n?m?nt/ n. （中世紀(jì)的）騎士比武;錦標(biāo)賽

They all agreed with Peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber， and there， sure enough， the gifts were still hanging. Lucys was the smallest for it was only a little bottle. But the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass， and it was still more than half full of the magical cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness. Lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side where it used to hang in the old days. Susans gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. The bow was still there， and the ivory quiver， full of well-feathered arrows， but—

“Oh， Susan，” said Lucy. “Wheres the horn？”

“Oh bother， bother， bother，” said Susan after she had thought for a moment. “I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all， the day we went hunting the White Stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place—England， I mean.”

Edmund whistled. It was indeed a shattering loss; for this was an enchanted horn and， whenever you blew it， help was certain to come to you， wherever you were.

“Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this，” said Edmund.

“Never mind，” said Susan， “Ive still got the bow.” And she took it.

“Wont the string be perished， Su？” said Peter.

But whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not， the bow was still in working order. Archery and swimming were the things Susan was good at. In a moment she had bent the bow and then she gave one little pluck to the string. It twanged： a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room. And that one small noise brought back the old days to the childrens minds more than anything that had happened yet. All the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together.

Then she unstrung the bow again and slung the quiver at her side.

Next， Peter took down his gift—the shield with the great red lion on it， and the royal sword. He blew， and rapped them on the floor， to get off the dust. He fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side. He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. But it was not so. With one swift motion he drew it and held it up， shining in the torchlight.

“It is my sword Rhindon，” he said; “with it I killed the Wolf.” There was a new tone in his voice， and the others all felt that he was really Peter the High King again. Then， after a little pause， everyone remembered that they must save the battery.

They climbed the stair again and made up a good fire and lay down close together for warmth. The ground was very hard and uncomfortable， but they fell asleep in the end.

大家都表示贊同，于是順著甬道徑直朝寶庫的另一端走去。和預(yù)料的一樣，禮物都在那里掛著。露茜的禮物最小了，是一個寶石小瓶而非玻璃小瓶，里面還剩半瓶多神水，這神水幾乎可以治愈所有的創(chuàng)傷和疾病。露茜十分莊重地、默默地把它取下來，和以前一樣用背帶把它斜持在肩上，再一次體會寶石小瓶在身邊的感覺。蘇珊的禮物是一張弓、一壺箭和一把號。那張弓依然完好無損，旁邊是那只盛滿了羽翎箭的象牙箭壺。可是——

“喂，蘇珊，”露茜問，“你的號在哪里？”

“啊，該死！”蘇珊想了想說，“我想起來了，在我們離開納尼亞的那天，我正帶著它，就是我們?nèi)C白色牡鹿的那一天。我想，那把號肯定是在那之后掉了，或者掉在了人類世界也不一定?！?/p>

愛德蒙有些唏噓，并且表示了惋惜和同情。這可是一把無比神奇的號。無論何時何地，只要吹響它就會得到所需要的幫助。

“此時此地，我們正需要這種寶貝。”愛德蒙說。

“別擔(dān)心，我還有弓箭呢。”蘇珊說著從墻上把弓箭取下來。

“弓弦不會因?yàn)槔匣椥远鴶嗟舭桑K珊？”彼得問。

可能是因?yàn)閷殠炖锾厥獾目諝夥諊蜌饬鬟\(yùn)動，那張弓仍然很好用。蘇珊在學(xué)校里是射箭和游泳的好手。她立即嫻熟地拉開弓，輕輕地彈開，嗡的一聲，清脆而有力的聲音在屋子里久久回蕩。比起之前發(fā)生的那些事，這微弱的弦聲更能把孩子們帶到甜蜜的回憶中，戰(zhàn)斗、狩獵、歡宴……一幕一幕像電影一般回放。

蘇珊放好了弓箭，隨后背上了一壺箭。

接著，彼得取下了一只盾牌，那是他的禮物，上面鑲著一只紅色巨獅;同時他還取下一柄寶劍，輕輕拂去劍鞘上的灰塵，在地毯上擦拭了一下。彼得把那盾牌拿在手里試一試，然后又把寶劍佩掛起來。開始彼得還擔(dān)心寶劍會銹在劍鞘里拔不出來。但是令他驚異而欣喜不已的是，輕輕一拔，寶劍便嗖的一聲出鞘，劍鋒在黑暗中射出一道寒光來。

“當(dāng)年我正是用這把寶劍刺死了巨狼?！北说谜Z氣頗為驕傲，聲音充滿自信與勇氣。大家頓時覺得站在眼前的可不再是個小男孩了，而分明是一位威嚴(yán)、肅穆的君王。隨后，大家猛地意識到，必須節(jié)約電池，馬上離開。

孩子們摸索著登上臺階，出了寶庫，重新燃起一堆篝火，然后依偎在一起，使身體盡快暖和起來。地面太硬，睡在上面很不舒服，然而，大家太疲憊了，很快就呼呼入睡了。

Word Study

solemn /'s?l?m/ adj. 莊嚴(yán)的;鄭重的

sling /sl??/ v.掛;吊

Her bag was slung over her shoulder.

shattering /'??t?r??/ adj. 令人極度悲痛的

enchanted /?n't?ɑ?nt?d/ adj. 被施魔法的;有魔法的

perish /'per??/ v. 老化，脆裂