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Chapter Two Jill Is Given a Task
第二章 吉尔的任务
Without a glance at Jill the lion rose to its feet and gave one last blow. Then, as if satisfied with its work, it turned and stalked slowly away, back into the forest.
瞅都没瞅吉尔一眼，狮子站起来又吹了最后一口气。看起来它对自己的所作所为非常满意，于是转过身慢慢走回森林去了。
"It must be a dream, it must, it must," said Jill to herself. "I'll wake up in a moment."But it wasn't, and she didn't.
“这一定是场梦，一定，一定。”吉尔自言自语，“一会儿我就会从梦中醒来。”但这并非梦境，她也没有醒来。
"I do wish we'd never come to this dreadful place," said Jill. "I don't believe Scrubb knew any more about it than I do.
“我真希望从没来过这鬼地方。”吉尔想，“斯库波一定和我一样，一点儿不了解这儿。
Or if he did, he had no business to bring me here without warning me what it was like. It's not my fault he fell over that cliff. If he'd left me alone we should both be all right."
如果他了解的话，根本不可能不事先告诉我这里是什么样的。他掉下悬崖可不是我的错。如果他不来体育馆打搅我，我俩都会好好的。”
Then she remembered again the scream that Scrubb had given when he fell, and burst into tears.
吉尔想起斯库波栽下悬崖时的悲惨叫声，不禁泪流满面。
Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.
虽然哭起来谁也挡不住，但早晚得停止哭泣，决定下一步该干什么。
When Jill stopped, she found she was dreadfully thirsty. She had been lying face downward, and now she sat up.
吉尔冷静下来后，发觉自己都快渴死了。她一直脸冲下趴在地上，现在坐了起来。
The birds had ceased singing and there was perfect silence except for one small, persistent sound, which seemed to come from a good distance away.
鸟儿不再歌唱，四周出奇地静，只有远处传来阵阵细小的声音。
She listened carefully, and felt almost sure it was the sound of running water. Jill got up and looked round her very carefully.
吉尔仔细聆听，她确信那是流水声。吉尔坐起来，小心翼翼地朝四周张望。
There was no sign of the lion; but there were so many trees about that it might easily be quite close without her seeing it. For all she knew, there might be several lions.
这里没发现狮子的踪迹，但周围树木茂盛，狮子可能就藏在很近的植物后面，人却看不到它。后来吉尔得知这一带不止一只狮子。
But her thirst was very bad now, and she plucked up her courage to go and look for that running water.
但吉尔实在太渴了，于是她鼓起勇气，走进森林深处找水。
She went on tiptoes, stealing cautiously from tree to tree, and stopping to peer round her at every step. The wood was so still that it was not difficult to decide where the sound was coming from.
吉尔踮起脚，偷偷在树木间穿行，每走一步都会停下来，紧张地四下查看。森林里非常静谧，循声而去，寻找水源并不费劲。
It grew clearer every moment and, sooner than she expected, she came to an open glade and saw the stream, bright as glass, running across the turf a stone's throw away from her.
水声越来越近，走了不久吉尔就来到一块空地，那里小溪涓涓，溪水流过草坪。吉尔离小溪很近，捡块石头都能扔进溪里。
But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn't rush forward and drink.
虽然看到小溪让她更加口渴，但她不敢上前饮水。
She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.
吉尔呆呆地站着，嘴张得大大的，那样子仿佛被石化了。她被吓成这样也情有可原：小溪边趴着一只狮子。
It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it, like the lions in Trafalgar Square.
只见它高昂着头，两只前爪搭在前面，那姿势和特拉法加广场上的狮子雕像一模一样。
She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away—as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.
吉尔立刻就意识到这只狮子已经见过她了，因为它只盯了她一会儿就扭过头去，好像吉尔对它来说已经是老熟人了，不需要特别关注。
"If I run away, it'll be after me in a moment," thought Jill. "And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth."
“如果拔腿就跑，它一定会追过来。”吉尔想，“但如果过去喝水的话，那就是羊入虎口。”
Anyway, she couldn't have moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it. How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours.
不管怎样，她试了半天，还是既无法移动脚步也无法把目光从狮子身上移开。这样僵持了多久，吉尔无法确定，大概有好几个小时吧。
And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first. "If you're thirsty, you may drink."
但她实在渴得不行了，吉尔甚至决定哪怕冒着葬身狮口的危险，自己也要冲上去先喝口水再说。“渴了就过来喝吧。”
They were the first words she had heard since Scrubb had spoken to her on the edge of the cliff. For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken.
自从斯库波在悬崖边和她说话以来，这还是吉尔第一次听到人类的语言。她愣了一秒钟，思量着刚才说话的是谁。
Then the voice said again, "If you are thirsty, come and drink," and of course she remembered what Scrubb had said about animals talking in that other world, and realized that it was the lion speaking.
突然，这声音又出现了，“渴了的话就过来喝吧。”当然，吉尔记得斯库波说过，这里的动物会说人话，所以说话的一定就是这只狮子。
Anyway, she had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice.
总之，她这回看到狮子的嘴唇动了，细听声音还真不像人类发出的。它更深沉，更粗犷，也更强硬，既沉重又圆润。
It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way. "Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion. "I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
这声音并没使吉尔的恐惧感消失，但现在的这种恐惧感和以前的却大不相同。“你不是渴了吗？”狮子说。“我快渴死了。”吉尔说。
"Then drink," said the Lion. "May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill. The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.
“那就喝吧。”狮子说。“你能……请问我喝水时你介意躲开一下吗？”吉尔说。狮子看了她一眼，跟着又低吼了一声，根本没有离开的意思。
And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
吉尔瞪着它，心想，叫这座山挪开都比叫狮子挪开简单。
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. "Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill. "I make no promise," said the Lion.
溪水潺潺地流着，吉尔都快渴疯了。“如果我走过去，你保证……保证……不会伤害我？”吉尔问。“我从不保证什么。”狮子说。
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. "Do you eat girls?" she said.
吉尔实在忍不住了，她没注意狮子说什么，往前迈了一步。“你吃小女孩儿吗？”她问道。
