edmund and the wardrobe

lucy ran out of the empty room into the passage and found the other three.

"it's all right," she repeated, "i've comeback."

"what on earth are you talking about, lucy?" asked susan.

"why? said lucy in amazement, "haven't you all been wondering where i was?"

"so you've been hiding, have you?" said peter. "poor old lu, hiding and nobody noticed! you'll have to hide longer than that if you want people to start looking for you."

"but i've been away for hours and hours," said lucy.

the others all stared at one another.

"batty!" said edmund, tapping his head. "quite batty."

"what do you mean, lu?" asked peter.

"what i said," answered lucy. "it was just after breakfast when i went into the wardrobe, and i've been away for hours and hours, and had tea, and all sorts of things have happened."

"don't be silly, lucy," said susan. "we've only just come out of that room a moment ago, and you were there then."

"she's not being silly at all," said peter, "she's just making up a story for fun, aren't you, lu? and why shouldn't she?"

"no, peter, i'm not," she said. "it's - it's a magic wardrobe. there's a wood inside it, and it's snowing, and there's a faun and a witch and it's called narnia; come and see."

the others did not know what to think, but lucy was so excited that they all went back with her into the room. she rushed ahead of them, flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried, "now! go in and see for yourselves."

"why, you goose," said susan, putting her head inside and pulling the fur coats apart, "it's just an ordinary wardrobe; look! there's the back of it."

then everyone looked in and pulled the coats apart; and they all saw - lucy herself saw - a perfectly ordinary wardrobe. there was no wood and no snow, only the back of the wardrobe, with hooks on it. peter went in and rapped his knuckles on it to make sure that it was solid.

"a jolly good hoax, lu," he said as he came out again; "you have really taken us in, i must admit. we half believed you."

"but it wasn't a hoax at all," said lucy, "really and truly. it was all different a moment ago. honestly it was. i promise."

"come, lu," said peter, "that's going a bit far. you've had your joke. hadn't you better drop it now?"

lucy grew very red in the face and tried to say something, though she hardly knew what she was trying to say, and burst into tears.

for the next few days she was very miserable. she could have made it up with the others quite easily at any moment if she could have brought herself to say that the whole thing was only a story made up for fun. but lucy was a very truthful girl and she knew that she was really in the right; and she could not bring herself to say this. the others who thought she was telling a lie, and a silly lie too, made her very unhappy. the two elder ones did this without meaning to do it, but edmund could be spiteful, and on this occasion he was spiteful. he sneered and jeered at lucy and kept on asking her if she'd found any other new countries in other cupboards all over the house. what made it worse was that these days ought to have been delightful. the weather was fine and they were out of doors from morning to night, bathing, fishing, climbing trees, and lying in the heather. but lucy could not properly enjoy any of it. and so things went on until the next wet day.

that day, when it came to the afternoon and there was still no sign of a break in the weather, they decided to play hide-and-seek. susan was "it" and as soon as the others scattered to hide, lucy went to the room where the wardrobe was. she did not mean to hide in the wardrobe, because she knew that would only set the others talking again about the whole wretched business. but she did want to have one more look inside it; for by this time she was beginning to wonder herself whether narnia and the faun had not been a dream. the house was so large and complicated and full of hiding-places that she thought she would have time to have one look into the wardrobe and then hide somewhere else. but as soon as she reached it she heard steps in the passage outside, and then there was nothing for it but to jump into the wardrobe and hold the door closed behind her. she did not shut it properly because she knew that it is very silly to shut oneself into a wardrobe, even if it is not a magic one.

now the steps she had heard were those of edmund; and he came into the room just in time to see lucy vanishing into the wardrobe. he at once decided to get into it himself - not because he thought it a particularly good place to hide but because he wanted to go on teasing her about her imaginary country. he opened the door. there were the coats hanging up as usual, and a smell of mothballs, and darkness and silence, and no sign of lucy. "she thinks i'm susan come to catch her," said edmund to himself, "and so she's keeping very quiet in at the back." he jumped in and shut the door, forgetting what a very foolish thing this is to do. then he began feeling about for lucy in the dark. he had expected to find her in a few seconds and was very surprised when he did not. he decided to open the door again and let in some light. but he could not find the door either. he didn't like this at all and began groping wildly in every direction; he even shouted out, "lucy! lu! where are you? i know you're here."

there was no answer and edmund noticed that his own voice had a curious sound - not the sound you expect in a cupboard, but a kind of open-air sound. he also noticed that he was unexpectedly cold; and then he saw a light.

"thank goodness," said edmund, "the door must have swung open of its own accord." he forgot all about lucy and went towards the light, which he thought was the open door of the wardrobe. but instead of finding himself stepping out into the spare room he found himself stepping out from the shadow of some thick dark fir trees into an open place in the middle of a wood.

there was crisp, dry snow under his feet and more snow lying on the branches of the trees. overhead there was pale blue sky, the sort of sky one sees on a fine winter day in the morning. straight ahead of him he saw between the tree-trunks the sun, just rising, very red and clear. everything was perfectly still, as if he were the only living creature in that country. there was not even a robin or a squirrel among the trees, and the wood stretched as far as he could see in every direction. he shivered.

he now remembered that he had been looking for lucy; and also how unpleasant he had been to her about her "imaginary country" which now turned out not to have been imaginary at all. he thought that she must be somewhere quite close and so he shouted, "lucy! lucy! i'm here too-edmund."

there was no answer.

"she's angry about all the things i've been saying lately," thought edmund. and though he did not like to admit that he had been wrong, he also did not much like being alone in this strange, cold, quiet place; so he shouted again.

"i say, lu! i'm sorry i didn't believe you. i see now you were right all along. do come out. make it pax."

still there was no answer.

"just like a girl," said edmund to himself, "sulking somewhere, and won't accept an apology." he looked round him again and decided he did not much like this place, and had almost made up his mind to go home, when he heard, very far off in the wood, a sound of bells. he listened and the sound came nearer and nearer and at last there swept into sight a sledge drawn by two reindeer.

the reindeer were about the size of shetland ponies and their hair was so white that even the snow hardly looked white compared with them; their branching horns were gilded and shone like something on fire when the sunrise caught them. their harness was of scarlet leather and covered with bells. on the sledge, driving the reindeer, sat a fat dwarf who would have been about three feet high if he had been standing. he was dressed in polar bear's fur and on his head he wore a red hood with a long gold tassel hanging down from its point; his huge beard covered his knees and served him instead of a rug. but behind him, on a much higher seat in the middle of the sledge sat a very different person - a great lady, taller than any woman that edmund had ever seen. she also was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head. her face was white - not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. it was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern.

the sledge was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards edmund with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip and the snow flying up on each side of it.

"stop!" said the lady, and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up so sharp that they almost sat down. then they recovered themselves and stood champing their bits and blowing. in the frosty air the breath coming out of their nostrils looked like smoke.

"and what, pray, are you?" said the lady, looking hard at edmund.

"i'm-i'm-my name's edmund," said edmund rather awkwardly. he did not like the way she looked at him.

the lady frowned, "is that how you address a queen?" she asked, looking sterner than ever.

"i beg your pardon, your majesty, i didn't know," said edmund:

"not know the queen of narnia?" cried she. "ha! you shall know us better hereafter. but i repeat-what are you?"

"please, your majesty," said edmund, "i don't know what you mean. i'm at school - at least i was it's the holidays now."

第三章　爱德蒙和衣橱

露茜从空屋里奔出来，一口气跑到走廊里，找到了另外三个人。

“好啦，好啦。”她连声说，“我可回来啦！”

“露茜，你大惊小怪些什么？”苏珊问。

“啊？”露茜感到很惊异，“你们干吗不问问我到哪里去过？”

“你躲起来了，是不是？”彼得说，“可怜的璐啊，你就躲这么一会儿，谁也不会理你。如果你想要别人来找你，你就得躲上更长的时间。”

“但是我已到那里去了好几个钟头啦！”露茜说。

三个人都惊讶地瞪起了眼睛，我看看你，你看看我。

“发疯啦！”爱德蒙拍着他的脑袋瓜说，“真是发疯啦！”

“我是说，“露茜回答道，“吃了早点以后，我走进了衣橱，我在里边呆了好几个钟头，人家请我吃了茶点，我还遇到了许多奇怪的事。”

“别说傻话，露茜，”苏珊说，“我们刚从空屋里出来，你躲在哪里就这么一会儿工夫。”

“她一点儿也不傻，”彼得说，“她是在编造一个很有趣的故事，是吗，露茜？这有什么不好呢？”

“不，彼得，我不是编故事。”她辩解说，“这是一个非常神秘的衣橱，里面有一座森林，正在下着雪，那里有一个农牧之神和一个女巫，那个国家叫那尼亚，你们来看吧。”

她这么一说，其余的人更加莫名其妙了，但露茜越说越激动，他们就都跟她一起回到了屋里。她急匆匆地抢先推开了橱门说：“喏，你们自己进去看吧。”

“你这个笨蛋，”苏珊把头伸进橱里，把皮衣向两边拨开说，“这只不过是一个普通的衣橱，瞧，那儿不是衣橱的后壁吗！”

大家都朝衣橱里仔细地观察了一番，把皮衣拨开以后，他们都看见——露茜自己也看见——这完全是一只普通的衣橱。里面没有树林，也没有雪，只有衣橱的后壁，上面钉着一些衣钩。彼得跨进衣橱里，用手指头轻轻地敲了敲，证实这确实是衣橱的后壁。

“你真会说谎啊，璐。”他一边走出来，一边说，“我得承认，我们真的被你骗了，我们几乎听信你说的话。”

“我一点儿也没说谎，”露茜说，“的的确确是真的，刚才的情况不是这样。我敢发誓，这是真的。”

“你过来，璐，”彼得说，“这样就更不对了，你说了谎，还不想改正。”

露茜急得满脸通红，她想争辩，但又不知说什么好，忽然，她大声哭了起来。

以后接连好几天，露茜一直闷闷不乐。如果她不顾事实随口承认这个故事只是编出来让大家开开心的，那她就很容易随时与大家和好。但露茜是一个非常诚实的小姑娘，她坚信自己是对的，她不肯随便乱说。可是别人呢，都认为她在说谎，而且是说了一个非常愚蠢的谎，这使她感到非常的委屈。彼得和苏姗批评她说谎并不是有意奚落她，但爱德蒙却是有点故意找茬，这次，他抓住了把柄似的不断取笑露茜，一次又一次地问她是不是在屋内别的橱里又发现了别的国家。那几天本该是非常令人愉快的日子，天气很好，他们从早到晚都在外边，洗澡啦，钓鱼啦，爬树啦，掏鸟窝啦，躲在石楠树丛中玩啦，但露茜对这些却一点也不感兴趣。这样的情况一直延续到以后的又一个阴雨天。

那一天，直到下午，雨还没有停，一点也没有转晴的迹象。他们决定做捉迷藏的游戏，其他三个人躲，由苏珊负责“捉”。大家刚散开，露茜就走进了放衣橱的那间空屋。她并不想躲到橱里去，因为她知道，如果那样做的话，就只会使旁人再次谈论起那件令人难堪的事来。但她很想到橱里去看一看，因为这些天来，她开始怀疑那尼亚和农牧之神只不过是个梦罢了。她想，房子这样大，结构又是这样复杂，可躲藏的地方多得很，先到橱里看一看，再躲到旁的地方，时间总是来得及的。但她一走进衣橱，就听见外边走廊里有脚步声，她没有别的办法，只好跳了进去，并顺手带上了橱门。她没有将门关严，因为她知道，即使这不是一个神秘的衣橱，一个人把自己关在衣橱里也是非常愚蠢的。

原来是爱德蒙跑进来了，他走进屋内，刚好看见露茜的身影消失在衣橱中。他急忙追上去，这倒不是他把衣橱看做是躲藏的好地方，而是因为他想继续嘲笑她编造的那个国家的故事。他拉开橱门，里边像平常一样挂着外套，还有樟脑丸的气味，黑糊糊，静悄悄的，不见露茜的人影。“她以为我是苏珊来找她的，”爱德蒙自言自语地说，“所以她一直躲在衣橱里不吱声。”于是，他一步跨进去，关上了门，也忘记了这样做有多傻。他随即在暗中摸索起来，他原以为不消几秒钟就能摸到她，但使他吃惊的是，他怎么也摸不到。他想去开门，让亮光透一点进来，可他没能找到橱门。他气得四下乱摸，还高声喊着：

“露茜，璐！你躲在哪里呀？还不出来，我知道，你就在这儿。”

没有回答，爱德蒙发现他的声音非常奇怪，不像你所想象的在橱里的那种声音，而像是在旷野里发出来的。他感到冷的出奇。正在这时，他看见前面有一线亮光。

“谢天谢地。”爱德蒙说，“一定是橱门自己荡开了。”他已经将露茜忘的一干二净，只顾朝着那亮光走去，他还以为那里就是开着的橱门呢。但他马上发现，他并没有走出衣橱返回空屋，而是从浓密的枞树荫里走进了林中的一片空地。

他的脚下踩着又干又脆的雪，树林上也堆着一簇一簇的积雪，头顶上空是一片蔚蓝的天，这就像人们在冬天晴朗的早晨看到的那种天上的颜色。太阳刚从正前方的树干间升起，鲜红鲜红的。四周一片寂静，好像在那个国家，除了他以外，什么生灵也不存在了。在树林中间，连一只知更鸟和松鼠也没有，森林向四面八方伸展开去，一望无际。他不禁打起了寒战。

这时他忽然想起，他是来寻找露茜的，他也想到，他对她讲的故事是多么反感，而现在周围的一切证明她讲的情况原是真的。他想露茜一定就在附近什么地方，所以他高声喊叫着：“露茜！露茜！我是爱德蒙，我也来了。”

没有回答。

“她是因为我最近错怪了她而生我的气吧。”爱德蒙想。虽然他不愿意承认自己错了，但也不想一个人孤零零地站在这个陌生、寒冷而又孤寂的地方，于是他又喊了起来：

“喂，露茜，以前我不相信你说的话，请你原谅。现在我已明白，你说的是对的。赶快出来，我们和好吧。”

仍然没有回答。

“真是女孩子气，”爱德蒙自言自语地说，“一个劲地闹别扭，人家向她赔礼道歉了，她还是不睬人。”他又看了看四周，感到实在没有必要在这里逗留。他正要准备回家的时候，听见遥远的树林里传来了铃儿的响声。他仔细倾听着。铃声越来越近，最后他看见，一辆雪橇由两匹驯鹿拉着疾驰而来。

这两匹驯鹿和谢德兰群岛的矮种马差不多大小，它们身上的毛比雪还要白，它们头上的叉角在朝阳的映照下闪烁着红光。它们脖子上的套具是用深红色的皮革制成的，上面带着铃铛。坐在雪橇上赶鹿的是个肥胖的小妖，如果他站直了的话，大约只有三英尺高。他穿着北极熊皮做的衣服，头上围着一条红色的头巾，长长的金黄色的穗子从它的顶上垂下来；他的大胡子一直垂到两膝，简直可以当作一条围巾来使用。在他后面，在雪橇中间一个高得多的座位上，坐着一个与众不同的女人，她比爱德蒙以前见过的任何一个女人都要高大。她也全身穿着雪白的毛皮衣服，右手握着一根又长又直的金棍，头上戴着一顶金冠。除了她那血红的嘴以外，她的脸就像雪、纸或冰糖一样白。她的脸孔还算漂亮，但却显得十分骄横和冷酷。

雪橇向爱德蒙疾驰而来，铃儿“叮当”“顶当”地响着，小妖“噼噼啪啪”地挥着鞭子，雪向雪橇的四边飞溅，看上去真像一幅美丽的图画。

“停！”坐在雪橇上的那个女人说，小妖猛地拉了一下驯鹿，驯鹿几乎都坐了起来。它们很快恢复了原状，立在那儿，“格格”地咬着嘴里的嚼子，呼呼直喘气。在这种严寒的天气里，它们鼻孔里呼出来的热气看起来就像烟雾一般。

“喂，你是干什么的？”那个女人问，两眼紧盯着爱德蒙。

“我，我，我的名字叫爱德蒙。”爱德蒙局促不安地说。他很不满意她打量他时的那种神情。

那女人皱起了双眉，“你就这样对女王讲话吗？”她说，样子显得更加严厉了。

“请原谅，陛下，我不知道你是女王。”爱德蒙说。

“不认识那尼亚的女王？”她尖声喊道，“哈，很快你就会认得的。回我的话：你到底是干什么的？”

“陛下，”爱德蒙说，“我不懂你的意思，我在上学——确实是这样，陛下——这几天学校放假。”