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Chapter Nine How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing
第九章 他们是怎么发现那些线索的
The others admitted afterwards that Jill had been wonderful that day.
其他两个人后来承认，吉尔那天确实表现不错。
As soon as the King and the rest of the hunting party had set off, she began making a tour of the whole castle and asking questions, but all in such an innocent, babyish way that no one could suspect her of any secret design.
国王和侍臣们前脚出发，吉尔后脚就逛遍了整个城堡，她到处提问题，满脸天真无邪的表情，没人怀疑她其实另有目的。
Though her tongue was never still, you could hardly say she talked: she prattled and giggled.
虽然她一直在动舌头，但你几乎听不见她说话，总是咿咿呀呀，咯咯地笑着。
She made love to everyone—the grooms, the porters, the housemaids, the ladies-in-waiting, and the elderly giant lords whose hunting days were past.
她令所有人都喜欢上了她——马夫，看门的，女佣，宫廷女官，以及晚上打猎归来的王后。
She submitted to being kissed and pawed about by any number of giantesses, many of whom seemed sorry for her and called her "a poor little thing" though none of them explained why.
许多女巨人都喜欢亲亲她，摸摸她，貌似很多人都对她感到怜惜，称她为“可怜的小女孩”，但没人告诉她原因。
She made especial friends with the cook and discovered the all-important fact there was a scullery door which let you out through the outer wall, so that you did not have to cross the courtyard or pass the great gatehouse.
吉尔和厨师的关系尤其好，她发现一个重大秘密：在碗碟洗涤处有一个门可以直接通向围墙外，不用经过庭院或城堡大门。
In the kitchen she pretended to be greedy, and ate all sorts of scraps which the cook and scullions delighted to give her.
吉尔在厨房中装做十分好吃的样子，把厨师和洗碗工给她的零食全部吃光光。
But upstairs among the ladies she asked questions about how she would be dressed for the great feast, and how long she would be allowed to sit up, and whether she would dance with some very, very small giant.
在楼上时，她问那些女士自己在秋宴中要穿什么，需要坐多久，是否得和小小巨人们跳舞。
And then (it made her hot all over when she remembered it afterwards) she would put her head on one side in an idiotic fashion which grown-ups, giant and otherwise, thought very fetching, and shake her curls, and fidget, and say,
那时（吉尔回忆起当时的情景都觉得脸红）她故意把头歪到一边，装成傻傻的模样，那些成年巨人都觉得她十分可爱。吉尔故意晃晃鬈发，坐立不安地说：
"Oh, I do wish it was tomorrow night, don't you? Do you think the time will go quickly till then?"
“哦，我真希望现在就是明天晚上，你们呢？你认为今天会很快过去吗？”
And all the giantesses said she was a perfect little darling; and some of them dabbed their eyes with enormous handkerchiefs as if they were going to cry.
女巨人们说她是小可爱；有些人甚至开始用大手帕擦眼睛，好像感动得要哭出来一样。
"They're dear little things at that age," said one giantess to another. "It seems almost a pity..."
“这个年纪的小孩真可爱。”一个女巨人对另一个说，“看来真是太遗憾了……”
Scrubb and Puddleglum both did their best, but girls do that kind of thing better than boys. Even boys do it better than Marsh-wiggles.
斯库波和帕德格莱姆也使出浑身解数装可爱，但女生在这方面就是比男生有优势，而男生又要比沼泽人擅长一些。
At lunchtime something happened which made all three of them more anxious than ever to leave the castle of the Gentle Giants.
午饭时发生的一件事让他们三个更急切地想要离开巨人城堡。
They had lunch in the great hall at a little table of their own, near the fireplace. At a bigger table, about twenty yards away, half a dozen old giants were lunching.
他们在一个大厅里吃饭，他们有专属的桌椅，更加靠近壁炉。大约离他们20码远的地方，是一张更大的桌子，五六个巨人挤在一起吃饭。
Their conversation was so noisy, and so high up in the air, that the children soon took no more notice of it than you would of hooters outside the window or traffic noises in the street.
他们说话很大声，声音飘浮于空气中，把窗外或街道上的声音都盖住了。
They were eating cold venison, a kind of food which Jill had never tasted before, and she was liking it.
他们在吃冷鹿肉，吉尔从没吃过这种东西，她觉得味道还不错。
Suddenly Puddleglum turned to them, and his face had gone so pale that you could see the paleness under the natural muddiness of his complexion.
突然，帕德格莱姆向他俩转过身来，脸色苍白不堪。
He said: "Don't eat another bite." "What's wrong?" asked the other two in a whisper.
他说：“快别吃了。”“怎么了？”两个孩子轻声问道。
"Didn't you hear what those giants were saying? 'That's a nice tender haunch of venison,' said one of them. 'Then that stag was a liar,' said another. 'Why?' said the first one. 'Oh,' said the other. 'They say that when he was caught he said, Don't kill me, I'm tough. You won't like me.''
“你没听见那些巨人在说什么吗？‘这些鹿腰部的肉真鲜嫩。’一个说。‘那头母鹿说谎了。’另一个说。‘为什么？’第一个人说。‘哦。’另一个说，‘他们说这头鹿被捕时，告饶说别杀我，我的肉很硬。你们不喜欢吃的。’”
For a moment Jill did not realize the full meaning of this. But she did when Scrubb's eyes opened wide with horror and he said: "So we've been eating a Talking stag."
吉尔一时没明白过来其中的意思。当她醒过味时，斯库波已经恐惧地瞪大眼睛说道：“原来我们吃的是一头会说话的鹿。”
This discovery didn't have exactly the same effect on all of them. Jill, who was new to that world, was sorry for the poor stag and thought it rotten of the giants to have killed him.
这个发现并没对所有人产生同样的效果。吉尔是新来的，她只是感到那头鹿非常可怜，憎恨巨人们把它杀了。
Scrubb, who had been in that world before and had at least one Talking beast as his dear friend, felt horrified; as you might feel about a murder.
但斯库波却十分恐惧，因为他曾来过这儿，并且还交过至少一个会说话的动物朋友。在他看来，这简直就是谋杀。
But Puddleglum, who was Narnian born, was sick and faint, and felt as you would feel if you found you had eaten a baby.
帕德格莱姆则差点晕了过去，他感觉恶心极了。在纳尼亚土生土长，吃会说话的动物简直和吃婴儿没什么区别。
"We've brought the anger of Aslan on us," he said. "That's what comes of not attending to the signs. We're under a curse, I expect. If it was allowed, it would be the best thing we could do, to take these knives and drive them into our own hearts."
“我们肯定惹阿斯兰动怒了。”帕德格莱姆说，“这就是为什么没能注意暗示的原因。我觉得我们被诅咒了。如果可以的话，我真想拿这把刀捅进他们的胸口，这么做绝对没错。”
And gradually even Jill came to see it from his point of view. At any rate, none of them wanted any more lunch. And as soon as they thought it safe they crept quietly out of the hall.
渐渐地，吉尔也同意了沼泽人的看法。总之，他们一点胃口都没有了，于是挑了个安全的时候，偷偷爬出了大厅。
