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Chapter Ten The Magician's Book
第十章 魔法书
The invisible people feasted their guests royally.
隐形人隆重地宴请了自己的客人。
It was very funny to see the plates and dishes coming to the table and not to see anyone carrying them.
只看到大盘小盘的饭菜端到桌上, 却看不到人, 真有意思。
It would have been funny even if they had moved along level with the floor, as you would expect things to do in invisible hands.
即使只看到盘子沿着地面移动已经很奇妙了, 但是你想啊, 隐形人的手搬东西也只能是这样子。
But they didn't. They progressed up the long dining-hall in a series of bounds or jumps.
可是事实不是这样子, 事实上这些饭是连蹦带跳一路上朝餐厅前进。
At the highest point of each jump a dish would be about fifteen feet up in the air;then it would come down and stop quite suddenly about three feet from the floor.
有的餐盘可以跳到十五英尺高, 然后落到离地三英尺的地方停下。
When the dish contained anything like soup or stew the result was rather disastrous.
要是里面装的是汤或者炖菜, 恐怕就危险了。
"I'm beginning to feel very inquisitive about these people, "whispered Eustace to Edmund.
"我现在对这些人越来越好奇了, "尤斯塔斯跟爱德蒙咬耳朵说,
"Do you think they're human at all ? More like huge grasshoppers or giant frogs, I should say. "
"你觉得他们到底是不是人?也许他们是大蚱蜢或大青蛙呢。"
"It does look like it, "said Edmund. "But don't put the idea of the grasshoppers into Lucy's head. She's not too keen on insects;especially big ones. "
"看起来确实像, "爱德蒙说, "可是别让露茜想起蚱蜢。她不喜欢昆虫, 尤其是个子大的。"
The meal would have been pleasanter if it had not been so exceedingly messy, and also if the conversation had not consisted entirely of agreements.
这顿饭要是不弄得乱七八糟, 那些隐形人如果不总是随声附和肯定会更尽兴。
The invisible people agreed about everything.
隐形人对什么事情都意见一致。
Indeed most of their remarks were the sort it would not be easy to disagree with:
他们的意见恐怕很难有不一致的时候, 老是说,
"What I always say is, when a chap's hungry, he likes some victuals," or "Getting dark now;always does at night, "or even"Ah, you've come over the water. Powerful wet stuff, ain't it ?"
"我从来就说, 人饿了就喜欢找点吃的, " 或者"天黑了, 一到晚上天总是要黑的, "甚至还有"哎呀, 你们是漂洋过海来的啊, 海很潮湿吧?"
And Lucy could not help looking at the dark yawning entrance to the foot of the staircase-she could see it from where she sat-and wondering what she would find when she went up those stairs next morning.
露茜在座位上正好看得见那黑洞洞的楼梯口, 不禁朝那里看着, 心里很想知道明天早晨走上楼梯会有什么发现。
But it was a good meal otherwise, with mushroom soup and boiled chickens and hot boiled ham and gooseberries, redcurrants, curds, cream, milk, and mead.
不过总的来说, 这顿饭菜还算不错了, 有蘑菇汤、煮熟的鸡、煮熟的热火腿、鹅莓、红醋栗、奶酪、奶油、牛奶和蜂蜜酒。
The others liked the mead but Eustace was sorry afterwards that he had drunk any.
他们几个都很喜欢蜂蜜酒, 不过饭后尤斯塔斯后悔喝得有点多了。
When Lucy woke up next morning it was like waking up on the day of an examination or a day when you are going to the dentist.
第二天早上, 露茜醒来时的心情就像去考试, 或去牙医那儿一样。
It was a lovely morning with bees buzzing in and out of her open window and the lawn outside looking very like somewhere in England.
这是个明媚的早晨, 蜜蜂嗡嗡叫, 在窗口飞出飞进, 窗外的草地非常像英国的什么地方。
She got up and dressed and tried to talk and eat ordinarily at breakfast.
她起身梳妆, 早餐时尽量像平常一样若无其事。
Then, after being instructed by the Chief Voice about what she was to do upstairs, she bid goodbye to the others, said nothing, walked to the bottom of the stairs, and began going up them without once looking back.
吃完早餐, 那个为首的隐形人就吩咐她上楼并且告诉她如何行事, 然后她就和其他人告别, 一言不发地朝楼上走去, 头也不回。
It was quite light, that was one good thing. There was, indeed, a window straight ahead of her at the top of the first flight.
光线很亮, 第一段楼梯上面有一扇窗对着她。
As long as she was on that flight she could hear the tick-tock-tick-tock of a grandfather clock in the hall below.
她走在那段楼梯上, 一直听见下面过道上那只大时钟滴答滴答走着。
Then she came to the landing and had to turn to her left up the next flight;after that she couldn't hear the clock any more.
等她走到楼梯平台, 往左拐到第二段楼梯时, 就再也听不见钟声了。
Now she had come to the top of the stairs.
露茜到了楼上,
Lucy looked and saw a long, wide passage with a large window at the far end.
只见一条又长又宽的走廊, 走廊尽头有扇大窗子。
Apparently the passage ran the whole length of the house.
这条走廊分明跟整幢房子一样长。
It was carved and panelled and carpeted and very many doors opened off it on each side.
走廊上面有雕花, 并镶嵌着木板, 铺着地毯, 两边还开着好多扇窗。
She stood still and couldn't hear the squeak of a mouse, or the buzzing of a fly, or the swaying of a curtain, or anything-except the beating of her own heart.
她站着一动不动, 听不见老鼠乱叫, 听不见苍蝇的嗡嗡声, 也听不见窗帘轻轻飘动, 什么都听不见, 只听见自己的心跳。
"The last doorway on the left, "she said to herself. It did seem a bit hard that it should be the last.
"左边最后一个门口。"她自言自语。
To reach it she would have to walk past room after room.
走到最后一个门口有点难, 要走到那儿就得经过一间间屋子。
And in any room there might be the magician-asleep, or awake, or invisible, or even dead. But it wouldn't do to think about that.
那位魔法师可能在任何一间屋子里, 他有可能睡着了, 或是醒着, 或是隐形, 甚至已经死了。不过心里想着这些也不是办法。
