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"I really think Reep is in the right this time, "said Edmund.
"我认为雷佩这次说得很对。"爱德蒙说。
"Surely, "said Lucy, "if Rhince and the others on the Dawn Treader see us fighting on the shore they'll be able to do something. "
"那是当然, "露茜说, "如果赖因斯和黎明踏浪号上的人看见我们在岸上打仗, 肯定会采取行动。"
"But they won't see us fighting if they can't see any enemy, "said Eustace miserably.
"万一他们看不见敌人, 就看不出来我们在打仗。"尤斯塔斯发愁地说,
"They'll think we're just swinging our swords in the air for fun. "
"他们会以为我们对着空气舞剑呢。"
There was an uncomfortable pause.
大家都沉默了好久。
"Well, "said Caspian at last, "let's get on with it. We must go and face them.
"算了, "凯斯宾最后说, "豁出去了, 我们必须要面对他们。
Shake hands all round--arrow on the string, Lucy--swords out, everyone else--and now for it. Perhaps they'll parley. "
大家把手握在一起----露茜, 箭上弦……其余人都把剑出鞘……准备好。没准, 他们愿意谈判。"
It was strange to see the lawns and the great trees looking so peaceful as they marched back to the beach.
说来奇怪, 他们齐步回到海滩的时候, 竟然是一片太平景象。
And when they arrived there, and saw the boat lying where they had left her, and the smooth sand with no one to be seen on it, more than one doubted whether Lucy had not merely imagined all she had told them.
小船还停在之前扔下的地方, 光溜溜的沙地上一个人也没有。大家都开始怀疑露茜说的事是不是她想象出来的,
But before they reached the sand, a voice spoke out of the air.
不料他们还没走到沙地, 半空中就有个声音说话了。
"No further, masters, no further now, "it said.
"别走了, 伙计, 别走了, "那个声音说,
"We've got to talk with you first. There's fifty of us and more here with weapons in our fists. "
"我们先谈谈, 我们有五十多人, 而且手里都有武器。"
"Hear him, hear him, "came the chorus. "That's our Chief. You can depend on what he says. He's telling you the truth, he is. "
"听他的, 听他的, "众人齐声说, "他是我们老大, 他说话算话。他说的是实话, 真的。"
"I do not see these fifty warriors, "observed Reepicheep.
"我看不见你们的五十个勇士。"雷佩契普说。
"That's right, that's right, "said the Chief Voice. "You don't see us. And why not ? Because we're invisible. "
"没错, 当然没错。"他们老大的声音说, "你们看不见我们的。为什么呢?因为我们是隐形人。"
"Keep it up, Chief, keep it up, "said the Other Voices. "You're talking like a book. They couldn't ask for a better answer than that. "
"继续说, 老大, "其他声音说, "你说得很对, 再也没有更好的回答了。"
"Be quiet, Reep, "said Caspian, and then added in a louder voice, "You invisible people, what do you want with us ?And what have we done to earn your enmity ?"
"安静, 雷佩契普, "凯斯宾说, 接着又提高声音说, "你们隐形人找我们干什么?我们做了什么得罪你们了?"
"We want something that little girl can do for us, "said the Chief Voice. (The others explained that this was just what they would have said themselves. )
"我们需要你们的小姑娘为我们办件事。"那个为首的人说。( 其他人就说, 这话正是他们都要说的。)
"Little girl !"said Reepicheep. "The lady is a queen. "
"小姑娘!"雷佩契普说, "这位小姐是女王陛下。"
"We don't know about queens, "said the Chief Voice. ("No more we do, no more we do, "chimed in the others. )"But we want something she can do. "
"我们可没听过什么女王, "那个为首的声音说, ( "我们没听说过, 我们没听说过。"其他人随声附和, "我们没听说过什么女王。")"不过我们要做的事她能完成。"
"What is it ?"said Lucy.
"要我做什么事呢?"露茜问。
"And if it is anything against her Majesty's honour or safety, "added Reepicheep, "you will wonder to see how many we can kill before we die. "
"如果是有损女王陛下荣誉或安全的事, "雷佩契普又说, "在我们临死之前, 我们会奋力一战, 看你们有多少人会被我们杀掉。"
"Well, "said the Chief Voice. "It's a long story. Suppose we all sit down ?",
"好吧, "那个为首的声音说, "说来话长, 我们都坐下吧。"
The proposal was warmly approved by the other voices but the Narnians remained standing.
其他声音都非常热情地附和这个建议, 可是所有的纳尼亚人都还站着。
"Well, "said the Chief Voice. "It's like this. This island has been the property of a great magician time out of mind.
"说起来, "那个为首的声音说, "事情是这样的。很多年以前, 这个岛本来属于一个大魔法师。
And we all are-or perhaps in a manner of speaking, I might say, we were-his servants.
我们都是……或者说, 我们以前都是他的奴仆。
Well, to cut a long story short, this magician that I was speaking about, he told us to do something we didn't like.
总的说起来, 这个魔法师, 一直让我们做我们不喜欢做的事。
And why not ? Because we didn't want to.
为什么不喜欢?因为我们不愿做。
Well, then, this same magician he fell into a great rage;for I ought to tell you he owned the island and he wasn't used to being crossed.
唉, 这样一来, 这个魔法师就大发雷霆。还有, 要知道, 他是这个岛的主人, 不喜欢别人跟他抬杠。
He was terribly downright, you know. But let me see, where am I ?
要知道, 他这人其实直爽得不得了。我想想我说到哪儿了?
Oh yes, this magician then, he goes upstairs(for you must know he kept all his magic things up there and we all lived down below), I say he goes upstairs and puts a spell on us. An uglifying spell.
啊, 对了, 说到这个魔法师, 他当时上了楼。他把所有的魔法玩意全放在楼上, 我们都住在楼下。我的意思是, 他上了楼, 对我们施了一种丑化的魔法。
If you saw us now, which in my opinion you may thank your stars you can't, you wouldn't believe what we looked like before we were uglified.
依我看, 你们看不见我们应该谢天谢地, 如果你们现在看见我们这模样, 根本没法想象我们以前长什么样呢。
You wouldn't really. So there we all were so ugly we couldn't bear to look at one another.
你们真的不会相信, 我们现在丑得彼此都受不了。
So then what did we do ? Well, I'll tell you what we did.
那我们该怎么办呢?好吧, 我告诉你我们怎么办。
We waited till we thought this same magician would be asleep in the afternoon and we creep upstairs and go to his magic book, as bold as brass, to see if we can do anything about this uglification.
等到这个魔法师睡午觉了, 我们就壮着胆子偷偷上楼去找他的魔法书, 看看有什么办法能破解这个丑化魔法。
