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"I look nothing of the sort," said Bree. But then suddenly he rolled round on his side, raised his head and looked hard at Shasta,blowing a little.
“才不会，”布里说。但接着他就突然翻过来，抬起头，轻轻喘着气，紧紧盯着沙斯塔。
"Does it really look funny?" he asked in an anxious voice. "Yes, it does," replied Shasta. "But what does it matter?"
“这样看起来真的很滑稽吗？”他的语气显得相当不安。“是啊，滑稽死了，”沙斯塔答道，“但这有什么关系呢？”
"You don't think, do you," said Bree, "that it might be a thing talking horses never do—a silly, clownish trick I've learned from the dumb ones?
“你有没有想过，”布里说，“会说话的马儿说不定从来都不做这种事，这会不会是我跟那些哑巴笨马学来的愚蠢把戏？
It would be dreadful to find, when I get back to Narnia, that I've picked up a lot of low, bad habits. What do you think, Shasta? Honestly, now. Don't spare my feelings. Should you think the real, free horses—the talking kind—do roll?"
要是等我回到纳尼亚王国，结果却发现自己染上了许多低级的坏习惯，那不是很糟糕吗？你觉得怎么样，沙斯塔？跟我说实话。别怕伤害我的感情。你觉得那些真正自由的马儿──那些会说话的马儿──会在地上打滚吗？”
"How should I know? Anyway I don't think I should bother about it if I were you. We ve got to get there first. Do you know the way?"
“这我怎么会知道？再说，我要是你的话，我才没空去担心这些事呢。我们得先赶到那儿才行呀。你到底知不知道路啊？”
"I know my way to Tashbaan. After that comes the desert. Oh, we'll manage the desert somehow, never fear. Why, we ll be in sight of the Northern mountains then. Think of it!
“我知道怎么去塔什班。在那后面就是一片沙漠。喔，我们会有办法穿越沙漠的，不用担心。为什么呢，因为那时候我们就可以看到北方的山峦了啊。你想想看！
To Narnia and the North! Nothing will stop us then. But I'd be glad to be past Tashbaan. You and I are safer away from cities." "Can't we avoid it?"
我们就要去纳尼亚和北方了！没有任何事物能挡得了我们。要是能够顺利通过塔什班，我可就大大松一口气了。我们两个还是离城市远一点比较安全。”“我们不能避开它吗？”
"Not without going a long way inland, and that would take us into cultivated land and main roads; and I wouldn't know the way. No, we'll just have to creep along the coast.
“可以是可以，但那得往内陆的方向绕很大一段路，这样我们就会经过繁华的地区和主要大道；而且我也不熟悉那边的路。不，我们只能沿着海岸偷偷溜过去。
Up here on the downs we'll meet nothing but sheep and rabbits and gulls and a few shepherds. And by the way, what about starting?"
待在这片高原上，除了绵羊、兔子、海鸥和几个牧羊人之外，什么人也不会碰到。好了，现在可以上路了吧？”
Shasta's legs ached terribly as he saddled Bree and climbed into the saddle, but the Horse was kindly to him and went at a soft pace all afternoon.
沙斯塔替布里套上鞍具，然后再爬到马鞍上，他的双腿痛得要命，但马儿很体贴，整个下午都刻意放轻了脚步。
When evening twilight came they dropped by steep tracks into a valley and found a village.
黄昏来临时，他们沿着一条陡峭的下坡路走到一个山谷，在那儿找到了一个村庄。
Before they got into it Shasta dismounted and entered it on foot to buy a loaf and some onions and radishes.
进村前，沙斯塔就先下马，独自步行走进村子里，买了一条面包和一些洋葱跟萝卜。
The Horse trotted round by the fields in the dusk and met Shasta at the far side. This became their regular plan every second night.
马儿在暮色中从田野绕过去，在村庄另一头跟沙斯塔会合。此后，这成了他们每隔两天的固定行程。
These were great days for Shasta, and every day better than the last as his muscles hardened and he fell less often.
沙斯塔觉得这种生活非常快乐，随着他的肌肉日渐强壮，摔跤的次数越来越少，这段行程也就变得越来越愉快了。
Even at the end of his training Bree still said he sat like a bag of flour in the saddle. "And even if it was safe, young'un, I'd be ashamed to be seen with you on the main road."
即使在沙斯塔从布里的骑术训练课程毕业之后，布里仍常爱数落他，说他软趴趴地瘫在马鞍上，活像个面粉袋似的。“就算不用考虑安全问题，小鬼头呀，我也不敢载着你在大路上走，要是被人看到的话，那我不是丢脸丢到家了。”
But in spite of his rude words Bree was a patient teacher. No one can teach riding so well as a horse.
布里嘴巴虽然犀利，却是个有耐心的老师。绝对不会有人比马儿更加在行骑术教学了。
Shasta learned to trot, to canter, to jump, and to keep his seat even when Bree pulled up suddenly or swung unexpectedly to the left or the right-which, as Bree told him, was a thing you might have to do at any moment in a battle.
沙斯塔学会了骑马小跑、慢跑、蹦跳，甚至在布里突然停下来，或是毫无预警地猛然转向时，他也能稳稳坐在马鞍上不掉下来──布里告诉他，这些全都是在战场上应对突发状况所必备的技巧。
And then of course Shasta begged to be told of the battles and wars in which Bree had carried the Tarkaan.
然后沙斯塔自然就哀求布里说一些他载着泰坎上战场打仗的事情。
And Bree would tell of forced marches and the fording of swift rivers, of charges and of fierce fights between cavalry and cavalry when the war horses fought as well as the men,
于是布里开始述说艰苦的行军旅途与涉过激流的危险行动，述说骑兵队两兵交战的惨烈战况，在激战中马儿也像人类一样参与战役，
being all fierce stallions, trained to bite and kick, and to rear at the right moment so that the horse's weight as well as the rider's would come down on a enemy s crest in the stroke of sword or battleaxe.
这些凶猛的种马受过严格的训练，善于撕咬踢蹬，并会在适当的时刻像人一样站立起来。这样，当骑士用宝剑或战斧发动攻击时，就可以借着马儿和他本身的重量，以雷霆万钧之势劈向敌人的头颅。
But Bree did not want to talk about the wars as often as Shasta wanted to hear about them.
沙斯塔虽然很爱听，但布里却不太喜欢谈到打仗的事。
"Don't speak of them, youngster," he would say." They were only the Tisroc's wars and I fought in them as a slave and a dumb beast.
“别再提这些事了，小伙子，”他会说，“这全都是太洛帝的战争，而我只是以一个奴隶，一头哑巴笨马的身份参战。
Give me the Narnian wars where I shall fight as a free Horse among my own people! Those will be wars worth talking about. Narnia and the North! Bra-ha-ha! Broo hoo!"
我更愿意在纳尼亚王国参与战争，以一匹自由马儿的身份，站在我自己的同胞之中上战场作战！这样的战役才真正值得一提。前往纳尼亚，前往北方！布拉……哈……哈！布噜……呵！”
Shasta soon learned,when he heard Bree talking like that, to prepare for a gallop.
沙斯塔很快就懂得，每当布里这么说的时候，就表示他要开始放足狂奔了。
After they had travelled on for weeks and weeks past more bays and headlands and rivers and villages than Shasta could remember, there came a moonlit night when they started their journey at evening, having slept during the day.
他们就这样走了好几个礼拜，经过许多海湾、海岬、河流和村庄，数量多得让沙斯塔都无法记得清。一天，在一个月光皎洁的夜晚，他们白天睡饱了觉，傍晚踏上了旅程。
They had left the downs behind them and were crossing a wide plain with a forest about half a mile away on their left.
他们已离开高地，踏上一片宽广的平原，在距离他们左边半里前后的地方，有座森林。
The sea, hidden by low sandhills, was about the same distance on their right.
在他们右边大约同样的距离，则是一片隐藏在低矮沙丘后方的浩瀚汪洋。
