in the witch's house

and now of course you want to know what had happened to edmund. he had eaten his share of the dinner, but he hadn't really enjoyed it because he was thinking all the time about turkish delight - and there's nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food. and he had heard the conversation, and hadn't enjoyed it much either, because he kept on thinking that the others were taking no notice of him and trying to give him the cold shoulder. they weren't, but he imagined it. and then he had listened until mr beaver told them about aslan and until he had heard the whole arrangement for meeting aslan at the stone table. it was then that he began very quietly to edge himself under the curtain which hung over the door. for the mention of aslan gave him a mysterious and horrible feeling just as it gave the others a mysterious and lovely feeling.

just as mr beaver had been repeating the rhyme about adam's flesh and adam's bone edmund had been very quietly turning the doorhandle; and just before mr beaver had begun telling them that the white witch wasn't really human at all but half a jinn and half a giantess, edmund had got outside into the snow and cautiously closed the door behind him.

you mustn't think that even now edmund was quite so bad that he actually wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone. he did want turkish delight and to be a prince (and later a king) and to pay peter out for calling him a beast. as for what the witch would do with the others, he didn't want her to be particularly nice to them - certainly not to put them on the same level as himself; but he managed to believe, or to pretend he believed, that she wouldn't do anything very bad to them, "because," he said to himself, "all these people who say nasty things about her are her enemies and probably half of it isn't true. she was jolly nice to me, anyway, much nicer than they are. i expect she is the rightful queen really. anyway, she'll be better than that awful aslan!" at least, that was the excuse he made in his own mind for what he was doing. it wasn't a very good excuse, however, for deep down inside him he really knew that the white witch was bad and cruel.

the first thing he realized when he got outside and found the snow falling all round him, was that he had left his coat behind in the beavers' house. and of course there was no chance of going back to get it now. the next thing he realized was that the daylight was almost gone, for it had been nearly three o'clock when they sat down to dinner and the winter days were short. he hadn't reckoned on this; but he had to make the best of it. so he turned up his collar and shuffled across the top of the dam (luckily it wasn't so slippery since the snow had fallen) to the far side of the river.

it was pretty bad when he reached the far side. it was growing darker every minute and what with that and the snowflakes swirling all round him he could hardly see three feet ahead. and then too there was no road. he kept slipping into deep drifts of snow, and skidding on frozen puddles, and tripping over fallen tree-trunks, and sliding down steep banks, and barking his shins against rocks, till he was wet and cold and bruised all over. the silence and the loneliness were dreadful. in fact i really think he might have given up the whole plan and gone back and owned up and made friends with the others, if he hadn't happened to say to himself, "when i'm king of narnia the first thing i shall do will be to make some decent roads." and of course that set him off thinking about being a king and all the other things he would do and this cheered him up a good deal. he had just settled in his mind what sort of palace he would have and how many cars and all about his private cinema and where the principal railways would run and what laws he would make against beavers and dams and was putting the finishing touches to some schemes for keeping peter in his place, when the weather changed. first the snow stopped. then a wind sprang up and it became freezing cold. finally, the clouds rolled away and the moon came out. it was a full moon and, shining on all that snow, it made everything almost as bright as day - only the shadows were rather confusing.

he would never have found his way if the moon hadn't come out by the time he got to the other river you remember he had seen (when they first arrived at the beavers') a smaller river flowing into the great one lower down. he now reached this and turned to follow it up. but the little valley down which it came was much steeper and rockier than the one he had just left and much overgrown with bushes, so that he could not have managed it at all in the dark. even as it was, he got wet through for he had to stoop under branches and great loads of snow came sliding off on to his back. and every time this happened he thought more and more how he hated peter - just as if all this had been peter's fault.

but at last he came to a part where it was more level and the valley opened out. and there, on the other side of the river, quite close to him, in the middle of a little plain between two hills, he saw what must be the white witch's house. and the moon was shining brighter than ever. the house was really a small castle. it seemed to be all towers; little towers with long pointed spires on them, sharp as needles. they looked like huge dunce's caps or sorcerer's caps. and they shone in the moonlight and their long shadows looked strange on the snow. edmund began to be afraid of the house.

but it was too late to think of turning back now.

he crossed the river on the ice and walked up to the house. there was nothing stirring; not the slightest sound anywhere. even his own feet made no noise on the deep newly fallen snow. he walked on and on, past corner after corner of the house, and past turret after turret to find the door. he had to go right round to the far side before he found it. it was a huge arch but the great iron gates stood wide open.

edmund crept up to the arch and looked inside into the courtyard, and there he saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop beating. just inside the gate, with the moonlight shining on it, stood an enormous lion crouched as if it was ready to spring. and edmund stood in the shadow of the arch, afraid to go on and afraid to go back, with his knees knocking together. he stood there so long that his teeth would have been chattering with cold even if they had not been chattering with fear. how long this really lasted i don't know, but it seemed to edmund to last for hours.

then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes on it. edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could. he now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been looking at him at all. ("but supposing it turns its head?" thought edmund.) in fact it was staring at something else namely a little: dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away. "aha!" thought edmund. "when it springs at the dwarf then will be my chance to escape." but still the lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. and now at last edmund remembered what the others had said about the white witch turning people into stone. perhaps this was only a stone lion. and as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with snow. of course it must be only a statue! no living animal would have let itself get covered with snow. then very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst, edmund ventured to go up to the lion. even now he hardly dared to touch it, but at last he put out his hand, very quickly, and did. it was cold stone. he had been frightened of a mere statue!

the relief which edmund felt was so great that in spite of the cold he suddenly got warm all over right down to his toes, and at the same time there came into his head what seemed a perfectly lovely idea. "probably," he thought, "this is the great lion aslan that they were all talking about. she's caught him already and turned him into stone. so that's the end of all their fine ideas about him! pooh! who's afraid of aslan?"

and he stood there gloating over the stone lion, and presently he did something very silly and childish. he took a stump of lead pencil out of his pocket and scribbled a moustache on the lion's upper lip and then a pair of spectacles on its eyes. then he said, "yah! silly old aslan! how do you like being a stone? you thought yourself mighty fine, didn't you?" but in spite of the scribbles on it the face of the great stone beast still looked so terrible, and sad, and noble, staring up in the moonlight, that edmund didn't really get any fun out of jeering at it. he turned away and began to cross the courtyard.

as he got into the middle of it he saw that there were dozens of statues all about - standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chess-board when it is half-way through the game. there were stone satyrs, and stone wolves, and bears and foxes and cat-amountains of stone. there were lovely stone shapes that looked like women but who were really the spirits of trees. there was the great shape of a centaur and a winged horse and a long lithe creature that edmund took to be a dragon. they all looked so strange standing there perfectly life-like and also perfectly still, in the bright cold moonlight, that it was eerie work crossing the courtyard. right in the very middle stood a huge shape like a man, but as tall as a tree, with a fierce face and a shaggy beard and a great club in its right hand. even though he knew that it was only a stone giant and not a live one, edmund did not like going past it.

he now saw that there was a dim light showing from a doorway on the far side of the courtyard. he went to it; there was a flight of stone steps going up to an open door. edmund went up them. across the threshold lay a great wolf.

"it's all right, it's all right," he kept saying to himself; "it's only a stone wolf. it can't hurt me", and he raised his leg to step over it. instantly the huge creature rose, with all the hair bristling along its back, opened a great, red mouth and said in a growling voice:

"who's there? who's there? stand still, stranger, and tell me who you are."

"if you please, sir," said edmund, trembling so that he could hardly speak, "my name is edmund, and i'm the son of adam that her majesty met in the wood the other day and i've come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in narnia - quite close, in the beavers' house. she - she wanted to see them."

"i will tell her majesty," said the wolf. "meanwhile, stand still on the threshold, as you value your life." then it vanished into the house.

edmund stood and waited, his fingers aching with cold and his heart pounding in his chest, and presently the grey wolf, maugrim, the chief of the witch's secret police, came bounding back and said, "come in! come in! fortunate favourite of the queen - or else not so fortunate."

and edmund went in, taking great care not to tread on the wolf's paws.

he found himself in a long gloomy hall with many pillars, full, as the courtyard had been, of statues. the one nearest the door was a little faun with a very sad expression on its face, and edmund couldn't help wondering if this might be lucy's friend. the only light came from a single lamp and close beside this sat the white witch.

"i'm come, your majesty," said edmund, rushing eagerly forward.

"how dare you come alone?" said the witch in a terrible voice. "did i not tell you to bring the others with you?"

"please, your majesty," said edmund, "i've done the best i can. i've brought them quite close. they're in the little house on top of the dam just up the riverwith mr and mrs beaver."

a slow cruel smile came over the witch's face.

"is this all your news?" she asked.

"no, your majesty," said edmund, and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the beavers' house.

"what! aslan?" cried the queen, "aslan! is this true? if i find you have lied to me -"

"please, i'm only repeating what they said," stammered edmund.

but the queen, who was no longer attending to him, clapped her hands. instantly the same dwarf whom edmund had seen with her before appeared.

"make ready our sledge," ordered the witch, "and use the harness without bells."

第九章 妖婆的房子 （女巫的房子）"

说到这里你们当然都想知道爱德蒙出了什么事。他吃完了他那份午餐，不过他并没有吃得津津有味，因为他一直想着土耳其软糖——回味起施过魔法的食品，吃再好的普通食品也倒胃口。而且他听到这番谈话也觉得不是滋味，因为他老是想着别人都不理他、冷落他。其实并非如此，都是他想象出来的。后来他一直听到海狸先生告诉他们有关阿斯兰的事，还听到在石桌跟阿斯兰见面的整个安排。于是他开始悄悄挪到挂在门上的帘子下。因为提到阿斯兰，他就有一种神秘而恐怖的感觉，正如其他人听了这个名字就有一种神秘而可爱的感觉一样。

就在海狸先生背诵“亚当的骨肉”那首诗时，爱德蒙已经悄悄拧动了门把手；在海狸先生告诉他们白妖婆根本不是真的人，而是一半精灵一半巨人以前，爱德蒙已经走到外面雪地里，还小心地随手把门带上。

即使到了这会儿，你们也千万别认为爱德蒙坏得真正想让他的兄弟姐妹被妖婆变成石头。他的确想吃土耳其软糖，而且想当王子(日后当个国王)，还想出出彼得骂他坏蛋这口恶气。至于妖婆会怎么对待其他人，他虽不希望她对他们特别好——当然不能给他们和他同等待遇——但他竟然相信，或者是自以为相信，她不会对他们干出什么坏事。“因为，”他暗自说，“凡是说她坏话的人都是她的敌人，也许这些坏话里面有一半都是假的。不管怎么说，她对我挺好的、比他们待我要好多了。我当她真正是合法的女王。无论如何，她总比可恶的阿斯兰要好吧！”至少，这就是他脑子里为自己所干的事找的借口。不过这个借口并不高明，因为在他内心深处，他也真正知道白妖婆又凶狠又残酷。

他出来后看到外面正在下雪，首先明白过来的是他把自己的大衣扔在海狸夫妇家里了。眼下当然没有机会回去拿大衣。其次明白过来的是天几乎黑了，因为他们坐下来吃午饭时已经快三点了，而且冬天的白昼短。他原先没估计到这一点，但他得充分利用这一点。所以他竖起衣领，拖着脚步，穿过堤坝顶部(幸亏下了雪，上面才没那么滑)，向远处河边走去。

等他到了远处的河边，情况就不大妙了。天一点点变黑，再加上雪花围着他打转，他连三英尺以外都看不清。再说，那儿没有路。他老是滑到深深的雪堆里，滚到结了冰的水潭里，绊在倒下的树干上，从陡峭的河岸上滑下去，小腿在岩石上擦破了皮，弄得浑身又湿又冷，到处是伤。寂静和孤独是可怕的。其实，要不是他偶尔对自己说，“等我当上纳尼亚国王，我首先要干的事就是修几条像样的路。”我真以为他可能会放弃整个计划，回去认个错，跟其他人和好呢。当然这句话使他想到当国王以及他要干的一切事情，这就大大鼓舞了他。他在脑子里拿定主意要有什么样的王宫，有多少汽车，以及种种有关私人电影院的事，主要的铁路往哪儿开，他要针对海狸和堤坝制定什么法律加以限制，还把不准彼得乱说乱动的计划作了最后修改；这时天变了。先是雪停了，接着突然刮起一阵风，冷得要命；最后，云散了，月亮出来了。一轮明月照在一片白雪上，几乎跟白天一样亮——

只是那些阴影把他搞得糊里糊涂。

要不是在他到达另一条河的时候月亮出来了，他根本就找不到路——你们记得，他们刚到海狸夫妇家时，他已经看到了一条小一点的河在下游汇入这条大河。如今他走到这条小河边，就转身沿着这河往上游走。不过小河源头的那个小山谷比他刚刚离开的那个山谷更陡峭，岩石更多，而且满地都是枝叶丛生的灌木，因此他在黑暗中根本没法过去。尽管这样，他也弄得浑身透湿，因为他得弯着腰在树枝下走，大块大块的雪就都滑到他背上了。碰上这种倒霉事，他就格外想自己多么恨彼得——好像这一切都是彼得的错。

但他终于走到一块比较平坦的地方，山谷也开阔起来。就在离他很近的地方，小河的另一边，两座小山当中一块小平原的中央，他看见了那幢想必属于白妖婆的房子。而且月亮也比任何时候都更明亮。那幢房子其实是一座小城堡，看上去全是塔楼。小小的塔楼上面是又长又尖的顶，像针尖,

又像笨蛋学生或巫师戴的尖角帽。在月光照耀下，塔楼长长的影子在雪地上显得古里古怪的！爱德蒙对这幢房子开始感到害怕了。

不过这会儿想转身回去也太晚了。他踏在冰上走过了河，一直走向这幢房子。没有一点动静，连他自己两只脚踩在刚下的深深的雪里也没有声音。他走啊走啊，走过一个又一个墙角、一个又一个塔楼去找门。他绕了一大圈才找到门。原来是座大拱门，不过大铁门是敞开的。

爱德蒙蹑手蹑脚走进拱门，朝院子里张望，看见的那副情景差点使他的心都停止跳动了。就在大门里面，月光照耀下，有一只大狮子蹲在那儿，好像准备跳起来似的。爱德蒙就站在拱门的阴影里，两膝直打哆嗦，又怕走过去，又怕走回来。他站在那儿好久好久，牙齿即使不是怕得打战也早巳冷得打战了。我不知道他在那儿真正站了多久，不过爱德蒙似乎觉得过了好几个小时。

后来他终于想知道那狮子干吗蹲着一动也不动——因为自从他看见它以来，它就纹丝儿没动过。这会儿爱德蒙放大胆走近点，一边仍然尽量躲在拱门的阴影里。他现在从狮子站的架势看出，它根本不可能看见他。(“但假如它转过头来呢？”爱德蒙想道。)事实上它正盯着另外什么东西——就是一个小矮人，他背对狮子站在大约四英尺以外的地方。

“啊哈！”爱德蒙想，“等它扑向那小矮人，那时就是我逃命的机会了。”但狮子仍然一动也不动，小矮人也一样。爱德蒙这时终于想起其他人说过的白妖婆把人变成石头的事。也许这只是一只石狮吧。他一想到这点就注意到狮子背上和头顶上都积满了雪。它当然一定只是个石像！活生生的动物决不会让自己身上积满雪的。于是，爱德蒙慢慢大着胆向狮子走去，一颗心好像要跳出来似的。即使现在他也不大敢摸它，但他终于伸出手来很快地摸了一下。原来是冰冷的石头。只不过是个石像，竟然就把他吓住了！

爱德蒙感到如释重负，因此尽管天那么冷，他突然从头到脚都暖和了。同时他脑子里有了个似乎十分称心的念头。

“也许，”他想，“这就是大家都在谈论的伟大的狮王阿斯兰吧。她已经抓住它把它变成石头了。这么一来他们在它身上打的如意算盘也就落空了！呸！谁怕阿斯兰呀？”

他就这么站在那儿幸灾乐祸地看着石狮子，不一会儿他干了一件孩子气的蠢事。他从口袋里掏出一个铅笔头，在狮子上唇涂上两撇胡子，还给它加上了一副眼镜。涂罢他说，“可笑的老阿斯兰！成了石头你有什么想法啊？你自以为很了不起吧？”不过尽管他在狮子脸上乱涂，大石兽看上去仍然很可怕，又伤心，又高贵，目光仰望着月亮。爱德蒙戏弄石狮，却并没因此真正感到好玩。他掉转身子，穿过院子走进去。

他刚走到院子当中就看见四周有好多石像——到处都是，倒有点像下到一半时棋盘上的棋子。有石头的森林神(希腊神话中传说的半人半兽的神，人行，有马或山羊般的耳朵和尾巴),

石头的狼啊、熊啊、狐狸啊、山猫啊。还有些可爱的石头看上去像女人，其实是树精。有一个大石像形状像人头马（希腊神话中传说的半人半马的怪物，人头马身），还有一匹有翅膀的马，还有一条长长的软体动物，爱德蒙当它是龙。这些石像看上去都那么古怪，在明晃晃、冷冰冰的月光下栩栩如生，而且完全静止不动，使人穿过院子时感到非常可怕。在院子正中央站着一个巨大的人体，足有一棵树那么高，面相凶猛，长着一部蓬松的大胡子，右手拿着根大棒。虽然爱德蒙知道这只是一个石头巨人，不是活的，他仍然不愿意走过巨人身边。

这会儿他瞧见院子那头有个入口透出一点暗淡的光。他走到那儿，那儿有几级石阶通向一扇开着的门。爱德蒙走上石阶，只见门槛上躺着一匹大狼。

“没关系，没关系，”他不停地自言自语道，“那只是一只石狼而已。它不会伤害我的。”他抬起脚要跨过它。那只巨兽立刻站起来，背上的毛根根竖起，张开血盆大嘴，吼着说：

“谁在那儿？谁在那儿？站着别动，陌生人，告诉我你是谁。”

“劳驾通报一下，先生，”爱德蒙哆哆嗦嗦，都快说不出话了，“我名叫爱德蒙，我就是女王陛下前几天在森林里遇见过的亚当的儿子，我到这儿来报信，我们兄弟姐妹现在都在纳尼亚——很近，就在海狸夫妇家。她——她想见见他们。”

“我会禀报女王陛下的，”那匹狼说，“同时，要是你珍惜你这条命，就站在门槛上别动。”说着它就走进去不见了。

爱德蒙站在那儿等着，他的手指冻得好疼，心头怦怦直跳。不一会儿那只灰狼，芬瑞斯·乌尔夫，妖婆的秘密警察头子跳着回来了，说道，“进来吧！进来吧！幸运的女王宠儿——否则就没那么幸运了。”

爱德蒙就此走了进去，一路小心翼翼别踩在狼爪子上。

他发现自己来到一间有许多柱子的长长的阴暗的大厅，跟院子里一样满是石像。离门最近的石像是一只小羊怪，神情十分伤心，爱德蒙不禁想知道这会不会是露茜的朋友。大厅里只点了一盏灯，白妖婆就紧挨在这盏灯后面坐着。

“我来了，陛下。”爱德蒙说着，心急慌忙地冲上前去。

“你竟敢一个人来？”妖婆用可怕的声音说，“我不是吩咐你把其他几个一起带来吗？”

“请别见怪，陛下，”爱德蒙说，“我已尽了最大努力。我已把他们带到附近。他们就在河上堤坝顶上那座小房子里——跟海狸先生、海狸太太在一起。”

妖婆脸上慢慢露出一丝冷酷的微笑。

“你的消息就这么些吗？”她问。 “不，陛下。”爱德蒙说，并开始把离开海狸夫妇家以前他听到的事全部告诉厂她。

“什么！阿斯兰！”女王叫道，“阿斯兰！这是真的吗？要是我发现你对我说谎——”

“请别见怪，我只是重复他们说的话而已。”爱德蒙结结巴巴地说。

不过女王已经不再注意他，她拍了拍手。爱德蒙上回看见跟着女王的那个小矮人立刻出现了。

“备好雪橇，”妖婆命令说，“用没有铃挡的挽具。”