into the forest

"i wish the macready would hurry up and take all these people away," said susan presently, "i'm getting horribly cramped."

"and what a filthy smell of camphor!" said edmund.

"i expect the pockets of these coats are full of it," said susan, "to keep away the moths."

"there's something sticking into my back," said peter.

"and isn't it cold?" said susan.

"now that you mention it, it is cold," said peter, "and hang it all, it's wet too. what's the matter with this place? i'm sitting on something wet. it's getting wetter every minute." he struggled to his feet.

"let's get out," said edmund, "they've gone."

"o-o-oh!" said susan suddenly, and everyone asked her what was the matter.

"i'm sitting against a tree," said susan, "and look! it's getting light - over there."

"by jove, you're right," said peter, "and look there - and there. it's trees all round. and this wet stuff is snow. why, i do believe we've got into lucy's wood after all."

and now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day. behind them were coats hanging on pegs, in front of them were snow-covered trees.

peter turned at once to lucy.

"i apologize for not believing you," he said, "i'm sorry. will you shake hands?"

"of course," said lucy, and did.

"and now," said susan, "what do we do next?"

"do?" said peter, "why, go and explore the wood, of course."

"ugh!" said susan, stamping her feet, "it's pretty cold. what about putting on some of these coats?"

"they're not ours," said peter doubtfully.

"i am sure nobody would mind," said susan; "it isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe."

"i never thought of that, su," said peter. "of course, now you put it that way, i see. no one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in the wardrobe where you found it. and i suppose this whole country is in the wardrobe."

they immediately carried out susan's very sensible plan. the coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on. but they all felt a good deal warmer and each thought the others looked better in their new get-up and more suitable to the landscape.

"we can pretend we are arctic explorers," said lucy.

"this is going to be exciting enough without pretending," said peter, as he began leading the way forward into the forest. there were heavy darkish clouds overhead and it looked as if there might be more snow before night.

"i say," began edmund presently, "oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post?" he had forgotten for the moment that he must pretend never to have been in the wood before. the moment the words were out of his mouth he realized that he had given himself away. everyone stopped; everyone stared at him. peter whistled.

"so you really were here," he said, "that time lu said she'd met you in here - and you made out she was telling lies."

there was a dead silence. "well, of all the poisonous little beasts -" said peter, and shrugged his shoulders and said no more. there seemed, indeed, no more to say, and presently the four resumed their journey; but edmund was saying to himself, "i'll pay you all out for this, you pack of stuck-up, selfsatisfied prigs."

"where are we going anyway?" said susan, chiefly for the sake of changing the subject.

"i think lu ought to be the leader," said peter; "goodness knows she deserves it. where will you take us, lu?"

"what about going to see mr tumnus?" said lucy. "he's the nice faun i told you about."

everyone agreed to this and off they went walking briskly and stamping their feet. lucy proved a good leader. at first she wondered whether she would be able to find the way, but she recognized an oddlooking tree on one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of mr tumnus's cave. but there a terrible surprise awaited them.

the door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. inside, the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor, mixed with something black, which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. the crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the faun's father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.

"this is a pretty good wash-out," said edmund; "not much good coming here."

"what is this?" said peter, stooping down. he had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.

"is there anything written on it?" asked susan.

"yes, i think there is," answered peter, "but i can't read it in this light. let's get out into the open air."

they all went out in the daylight and crowded round peter as he read out the following words:

the former occupant of these premises, the faun tumnus, is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of high treason against her imperial majesty jadis, queen of narnia, chatelaine of cair paravel, empress of the lone islands, etc., also of comforting her said majesty's enemies, harbouring spies and fraternizing with humans.

signed maugrim, captain of the secret police, long live the queen

the children stared at each other.

"i don't know that i'm going to like this place after all," said susan.

"who is this queen, lu?" said peter. "do you know anything about her?"

"she isn't a real queen at all," answered lucy; "she's a horrible witch, the white witch. everyone all the wood people - hate her. she has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never christmas."

"i - i wonder if there's any point in going on," said susan. "i mean, it doesn't seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won't be much fun either. and it's getting colder every minute, and we've brought nothing to eat. what about just going home?"

"oh, but we can't, we can't," said lucy suddenly; "don't you see? we can't just go home, not after this. it is all on my account that the poor faun has got into this trouble. he hid me from the witch and showed me the way back. that's what it means by comforting the queen's enemies and fraternizing with humans. we simply must try to rescue him."

"a lot we could do! said edmund, "when we haven't even got anything to eat!"

"shut up - you!" said peter, who was still very angry with edmund. "what do you think, susan?"

"i've a horrid feeling that lu is right," said susan. "i don't want to go a step further and i wish we'd never come. but i think we must try to do something for mr whatever-his-name is - i mean the faun."

"that's what i feel too," said peter. "i'm worried about having no food with us. i'd vote for going back and getting something from the larder, only there doesn't seem to be any certainty of getting into this country again when once you've got out of it. i think we'll have to go on."

"so do i," said both the girls.

"if only we knew where the poor chap was imprisoned!" said peter.

they were all still wondering what to do next, when lucy said, "look! there's a robin, with such a red breast. it's the first bird i've seen here. i say! - i wonder can birds talk in narnia? it almost looks as if it wanted to say something to us." then she turned to the robin and said, "please, can you tell us where tumnus the faun has been taken to?" as she said this she took a step towards the bird. it at once flew away but only as far as to the next tree. there it perched and looked at them very hard as if it understood all they had been saying. almost without noticing that they had done so, the four children went a step or two nearer to it. at this the robin flew away again to the next tree and once more looked at them very hard. (you couldn't have found a robin with a redder chest or a brighter eye.)

"do you know," said lucy, "i really believe he means us to follow him."

"i've an idea he does," said susan. "what do you think, peter?"

"well, we might as well try it," answered peter.

the robin appeared to understand the matter thoroughly. it kept going from tree to tree, always a few yards ahead of them, but always so near that they could easily follow it. in this way it led them on, slightly downhill. wherever the robin alighted a little shower of snow would fall off the branch. presently the clouds parted overhead and the winter sun came out and the snow all around them grew dazzlingly bright. they had been travelling in this way for about half an hour, with the two girls in front, when edmund said to peter, "if you're not still too high and mighty to talk to me, i've something to say which you'd better listen to."

"what is it?" asked peter.

"hush! not so loud," said edmund; "there's no good frightening the girls. but have you realized what we're doing?"

"what?" said peter, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"we're following a guide we know nothing about. how do we know which side that bird is on? why shouldn't it be leading us into a trap?"

"that's a nasty idea. still - a robin, you know. they're good birds in all the stories i've ever read. i'm sure a robin wouldn't be on the wrong side."

"it if comes to that, which is the right side? how do we know that the fauns are in the right and the queen (yes, i know we've been told she's a witch) is in the wrong? we don't really know anything about either."

"the faun saved lucy."

"he said he did. but how do we know? and there's another thing too. has anyone the least idea of the way home from here?"

"great scott!" said peter, "i hadn't thought of that."

"and no chance of dinner either," said edmund.

第六章　进入森林

“玛卡蕾蒂，快点把这些人带走吧。”不一会儿，苏珊忍不住说，“我抽起筋来了，多难受啊。”

“樟脑的气味太难闻了！”爱德蒙接着说。

“我到希望这些外衣的口袋里多放些樟脑丸，”苏珊说，“这样就不会有蛾子了。”

“有什么东西戳到我背上了。”彼得说。

“你们感到冷吗？”苏珊问。

“你这么一说，我倒真的冷起来了。”彼得说，“真该死，这里还潮呼呼的呢。这到底是怎么啦?我坐的地方一下子变得湿漉漉的了。”他一下子跳了起来。

“我们还是出去吧。”爱德蒙说，“他们已经走啦。”

“哟！”苏珊突然尖叫一声，大家都问她是怎么一回事。

“我靠着一棵树坐在这儿。”苏珊说，“看，那边有亮光了。”

“啊，真的，”彼得说，“瞧那儿，到处都是树。潮呼呼的东西是雪。啊，我现在真的相信我们也到了露茜来过的森林里了。”

彼得的话一点也不错。四个孩子全站在那儿，在冬天阳光的照耀下，他们眨巴着眼睛。在他们后面是挂在衣钩上的外套，在他们面前是覆盖着雪的树木。

彼得转过身朝着露茜说：“我以前不相信你说的话，现在我向你道歉。真对不起，让我们握手，好吗？”

“好。”露茜一边说，一边和他握手。

“那么，”苏珊说，“我们下一步该怎么办？”

“怎么办？”彼得说，“还用说吗，当然到森林里去探险罗。”

“哦，”苏姗跺着脚说，“多冷呀，拿几件外套先穿上，你们说好吗？”

“这怎么行，衣服不是我们的。”彼得犹豫不决地说。

“我相信谁也不会有什么意见，”苏珊说，“我们又不想把它们带到屋外去，我们甚至不会把它们带出衣橱。”

“我倒没考虑到这一点，苏，”彼得说，“经你这么一说，我看当然可以。只要你们在橱里什么地方拿的，还放在什么地方，就不会有谁说你们是小偷了。据我猜测，这整个国家就在衣橱里边。”

于是，他们就立即执行了苏珊的这个合情合理的计划。衣服太大，他们套在身上，一直拖到脚后跟，就像是穿了龙袍似的。但他们都感到暖和多了，相互一打量，也都觉得这样打扮显得更好看了，与冰天雪地的风光也更相配了。

“我们可以装扮成北极探险家。”露茜说。

“就这样，不用什么打扮，也够威风的了。”彼得一边说，一边领着大家朝森林前进。头上乌云密布，似乎在傍晚前还要下一场大雪。

“喂，”走了一会儿以后爱德蒙说，“如果我们要到灯柱那边去的话，我们就应该向左边靠一点儿。”他一时忘记了，他必须装得像是他以前没来过这儿。话刚说出口，他就意识到自己露了马脚。大家停了下来，都盯住他看。彼得吹了一声口哨。

“你原来到过这儿，”他说，“那次露茜说在这儿碰见你，你却一口咬定她说谎。”接着是死一般的沉寂。“唉，各种各样难对付的人都有……”彼得说着，耸了耸肩膀，就没有往下再说什么。看来，也确实没有更多的话可说了，过了一会儿，四个人又重新开始他们的旅程。只有爱德蒙心里暗暗在想：我总有一天要惩罚你们一下，你们这一伙自命不凡的伪君子。

“我们到底往哪里走啊？”苏珊问道，她这样说，主要是为了岔开刚才的话题。

“我看，应当让露茜做向导，”彼得说，“也只有她配做向导。璐，你打算带我们上哪儿去？”

“去看看图姆纳斯先生，好不好？”露茜答道，“他就是我对你们讲过的那个善良的农牧之神。”

大家一致同意这个建议，于是就立即出发。他们一边轻快地跑着，一边跺着脚。事实证明，露茜是个好向导。起初，她担心自己找不到路，但她在一个地方认出了一棵长得古里古怪的树，后来又认出了一个树桩，终于把大家带到了一个崎岖不平的地方，然后进了那个小山谷，没多久就到了图姆纳斯先生的洞口，但他们所看到的却是一幅十分可怕的景象，他们都大吃一惊。

门已被扭脱了下来，断成了好几截，洞内又黑又冷，又潮湿，满是霉味。看来，这个地方已有好些日子没有人住了。雪从洞口吹进来，堆积在门口，里面还混杂着一些黑糊糊的东西，再一看，是烧剩下来的木炭屑和炭灰。很明显，是有人把烧着的柴火扔到了洞内，然后又把它们踩灭了。陶罐打碎在地上，羊怪父亲的画像被人用刀子砍成了碎片。

“这地方糟蹋的简直不成样子。”爱德蒙说，“到这儿来有啥意思呢？”

“这是什么呀？”彼得一边蹲下身子一边说。他发现地毯上钉有一张纸。

“上面写些什么？”苏珊问。

“上面好象有字，”彼得回答，“但在这儿看不清楚，我们还是拿到外面去看吧。”他们都跑到了洞外，围着彼得听他念道：

本处原主农牧神图姆纳斯，因反对那尼亚女王、凯尔·巴拉维尔城堡的女主人、孤岛女皇杰蒂丝陛下，庇护女王陛下的敌人，窝藏奸细，与人类友好，罪行严重，现已被捕，即将受审。

女王陛下万岁！

保安局长封列士·尤尔夫

（签名）

孩子们互相瞪着眼睛。

“我说不上我到底是否喜欢这个地方。”苏珊说。

“这个女王是谁，璐？”彼得问，“你知道她的情况吗？”

“她哪里是什么女王，”露茜回答说，“她是个可怕的女巫，就是那个白女巫。森林里所有的人都恨她。她对全国都施行了一种妖术，所以这里一年到头都是冬天，始终没有圣诞节。”

“我，我怀疑继续走下去是不是有什么意义，”苏珊说，“我是说，这里似乎不十分安全，也没有多少有趣的地方。天气越来越冷，我们又没带吃的东西。不如现在就回家吧。”

“哦，不能，不能，”露茜马上说，“难道你们还不清楚吗？既然清楚了，我们就不能这样回家。都是为了我，可怜的羊怪才闯下了这样大的祸。靠了他的掩护，我才没有遭到女巫的毒手，他告诉了我回去的路。这张纸上说他庇护女王的敌人、与人类友好就是指这些。我们必须赶快想办法救他。”

“我们连吃的东西也没有，还能做旁的事吗？”爱德蒙说。

“你，住嘴！”彼得说，他还在对爱德蒙生气，“你的意见呢，苏珊？”

“露茜说得不错。”苏珊说，“我一步也不想走了，唉，如果我们不到这儿来，多好啊。但我想，我们必须替那个先生——他叫什么名字？我记不清楚了——我说的是那个农牧之神，想想办法。”

“我也这样想，”彼得说，“我也担心我们身上没带吃的东西，我同意回去拿点儿食品再来。但是，我们一出去以后，恐怕就不能再到这个国家来。我看，我们得继续前进。”

“我也这样想。”两个女孩子异口同声地说。

“要是我们知道这个可怜的人被囚禁在什么地方就好了。”彼得说。

大家默不作声，考虑着下一步该怎么办。突然，露茜对大家说：“你们看，那里有一只知更鸟，它的胸脯是多么的红啊。它是我在这儿看到的第一只鸟。哎呀，难道那尼亚的鸟儿会讲话吗？它看来好像有什么话要对我们说似的。”说着，她就转过身对知更鸟说：“请问，你知道图姆纳斯先生被押送到什么地方去了吗？”她说着，又朝着鸟儿走近了一步。那知更鸟立即就跳着飞走了，不过它就落在紧紧相邻的一棵树上。它停在那儿，紧紧地盯着他们，好像它完全懂得他们说的话似的。四个孩子几乎把什么都忘了，一起向它靠近了一两步。看到他们走近了，那鸟儿又飞到了另外一棵树上，仍然紧盯着他们。（你肯定没看到过胸脯比它还要红、眼睛比它还要亮的知更鸟）

“我说呀，”露茜说，“我真的相信它是要我们跟着它走呢。”

“我看也是这样。”苏珊说，“彼得，你看呢？”

“嗯，我们可以试试。”彼得说。

那知更鸟好像完全懂事似的，它不断地从一棵树飞到另一棵树，总是飞落在他们前面仅仅几码远的地方，使他们很容易跟上它。它就这样引着他们慢慢地走下山坡。它每停一处，那儿的树枝上就掉下一阵雪来。没过多久，头上的乌云散开了，太阳出来了，茫茫雪原变得更加耀眼晶莹。他们就这样一直走了大约半个小时，两个女孩子一直走在前面。这时，爱德蒙对彼得说：“如果你们不再这样高傲自大、目中无人，我有话要对你们说，你们最好听听。”

“你要说什么？”彼得问。

“嗬，小声点，”爱德蒙说，“别吓了女孩子。你有没有意识到我们是在干什么吗？”

“什么？”彼得压低了声音问。

“我们跟随的这个向导，它的情况我们一点也不清楚。我们怎么知道那鸟儿站在哪一边呢？难道它就不会把我们带到危险的地方去吗？”

“这是一种荒唐的想法。在我读过的所有的故事中，知更鸟都是善良的鸟儿。我敢肯定，知更鸟不会站在错误的一边。”

“就算是这样吧，哪一边是正确的呢？我们又怎么知道农牧之神是正确的，而女王（是的，我知道人家告诉我们她是女巫）是错误的呢？他们两边的情况我们的确一点也不知道。”

“羊怪救了露茜的命。”

“这是羊怪自己这样说的，我们又哪里知道呢？另外，又有谁知道回家去的路呢？”

“天哪！”彼得说，“这些问题我事先还没有认真考虑过呢！”

“而且，饭也吃不上！”爱德蒙说。