C. S. 劉易斯 （萬潔譯）

“Logic！” said the Professor half to himself. “Why dont they teach logic at these schools？ There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies， or she is mad， or she is telling the truth. You know she doesnt tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up， we must assume that she is telling the truth.”

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them.

“But how could it be true， sir？” said Peter.

“Why do you say that？” asked the Professor.

“Well， for one thing，” said Peter， “if it was true why doesnt everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe？ I mean， there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didnt pretend there was.”

“What has that to do with it？” said the Professor.

“Well， sir， if things are real， theyre there all the time.”

“Are they？” said the Professor; and Peter didnt know quite what to say.

“But there was no time，” said Susan. “Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere， even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than a minute， and she pretended to have been away for hours.”

“邏輯！”教授半是自言自語，“現(xiàn)在這些學(xué)校怎么不教你們一點(diǎn)邏輯學(xué)呢？這件事只有三種可能：一是你們的妹妹說了謊，二是她精神不正常，第三種可能就是她講的是真話。你們都說她一向不說謊，她的精神又明顯沒什么問題。要是沒有更充分的證據(jù)，就目前的狀況來講，我們就只能推斷出她講的是事實(shí)。”

蘇珊緊盯著他，從他臉上的表情，她可以確定他不是在和他們開玩笑。

“可這怎么可能呢，先生？”彼得問。

“為什么就不可能呢？”教授反問道。

“因?yàn)?，首先，”彼得說，“如果是真的，為什么不是每個人每次到衣櫥里都能發(fā)現(xiàn)那個國家呢？我的意思是，我們?nèi)ヒ聶焕锟吹臅r候，什么都沒發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)時露茜也在場，她自己也沒假裝看到了什么國家?！?/p>

“這有什么關(guān)系呢？”教授說。

“有關(guān)系，先生。如果是真的，那些東西就應(yīng)該始終都在那里?！?/p>

“真是這樣嗎？”教授問道，彼得不知如何應(yīng)答了。

“可時間不對啊，”蘇珊說，“即使衣櫥里真有這么一個地方，她也沒時間去呀。我們剛從空屋里出來，她就跟在我們后面跑出來了，前后還不到一分鐘，她卻非說離開了好幾個鐘頭?！?/p>

“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true，” said the Professor. “If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world （and I should warn you that this is a very strange house， and even I know very little about it）—if， I say， she had got into another world， I should not be at all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand， I dont think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending， she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story.”

“But do you really mean， sir，” said Peter， “that there could be other worlds—all over the place， just round the corner—like that？”

“Nothing is more probable，” said the Professor， taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them， while he muttered to himself， “I wonder what they do teach them at these schools.”

“But what are we to do？” said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

“My dear young lady，” said the Professor， suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them， “there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying.”

“Whats that？” said Susan.

“We might all try minding our own business，” said he. And that was the end of that conversation.

“正因?yàn)槿绱耍f的故事才更像真的?！苯淌谡f，“如果這間屋里真的有一個門通向某一個別的世界（我得提醒你們，這是一棟非常神秘的房屋，即使是我，對它也了解很少）——我是說，如果她真的到了另一個世界，那個世界一定有它自己的一套時間規(guī)則，對此我一點(diǎn)也不吃驚。所以不管你在那兒逗留了多久，也不會占去我們這個世界的任何一點(diǎn)時間。另外我還認(rèn)為，像她這樣年齡的女孩子，一般不會自己編造出那樣的故事來。假如她想說謊，她就會在里面多藏一段時間，然后再出來講這么個故事。”

“先生，你是說，”彼得問道，“在這棟房屋里，邊邊角角，比如這周圍，都有可能存在著別的世界嗎？”

“這是非?？赡艿?，”教授一邊說，一邊摘下眼鏡擦擦干凈，還自言自語，“我真不懂，這些孩子在學(xué)校里到底學(xué)了些什么東西。”

“這叫我們怎么辦？”蘇珊說，她感到這場談話已經(jīng)開始跑題了。

“我親愛的孩子，”教授突然抬起頭來，用一種非常嚴(yán)肅的神情看著他倆說，“有一個計(jì)劃值得一試，但你們誰也沒有提起過?！?/p>

“什么計(jì)劃？”蘇珊問。

“那就是你們干脆別管這件事情了?！彼f。那次談話就這樣結(jié)束了。

Word Study

assume /?'sju?m/ v. 假定，認(rèn)為

Let us assume for a moment that the plan succeeds.

polish /'p?l??/ v. 擦光;磨光

He polished his glasses with a handkerchief.

mutter /'m?t?（r）/ v. 嘀咕;嘟囔

After this， things were a good deal better for Lucy. Peter saw to it that Edmund stopped jeering at her， and neither she nor anyone else felt inclined to talk about the wardrobe at all. It had become a rather alarming subject. And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not to be.

This house of the Professors—which even he knew so little about—was so old and famous that people from all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it. It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories; and well it might be， for all manner of stories were told about it， some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now. And when parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house， the Professor always gave them permission， and Mrs Macready， the housekeeper， showed them round， telling them about the pictures and the armour， and the rare books in the library. Mrs Macready was not fond of children， and did not like to be interrupted when she was telling visitors all the things she knew. She had said to Susan and Peter almost on the first morning （along with a good many other instructions）， “And please remember youre to keep out of the way whenever Im taking a party over the house.”

“Just as if any of us would want to waste half the morning trailing round with a crowd of strange grown-ups！” said Edmund， and the other three thought the same. That was how the adventures began for the third time.

事情告一段落，露茜也輕松很多。彼得努力不讓愛德蒙再嘲諷露茜，而且露茜以及其他人都不想再談衣櫥的事了，因?yàn)檫@已成了使人不快的話題。所以，在相當(dāng)長的一段時間里，所有歷險看上去都已經(jīng)終結(jié)了，但事實(shí)卻并非如此。

這棟房屋是這樣古老，就連教授自己對這棟房屋也知之甚少;它又是這樣聞名，英國各地的人都常常要求來此參觀。旅游指南甚至是歷史書上，都對它有所記載，各式各樣的故事中都提到過它，其中有些故事比我現(xiàn)在講的這個故事還要離奇。每當(dāng)觀光的人要求進(jìn)屋看看的時候，教授總是滿口答應(yīng)，女管家麥克雷迪太太就帶領(lǐng)著他們到各處轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，給他們介紹畫兒啦、盔甲啦、圖書館里稀有的書籍啦。麥克雷迪太太不太喜歡孩子，她給客人們講述她所知道的各種掌故時，不喜歡別人插嘴。幾乎在孩子們來的第一天早上，她就向蘇珊和彼得交代說：“你們要記住，我領(lǐng)客人參觀的時候，你們要躲遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)兒?！碑?dāng)然，她還交代了許多別的規(guī)矩。

“就好像我們當(dāng)中會有人愿意跟著一群陌生的大人浪費(fèi)半天時間似的！”愛德蒙說。另外三人也是這樣想的。第三次探險就是因此而起的。

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said， “Look out！ Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her.”

“Sharps the word，” said Peter， and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room. But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it， into the Library， they suddenly heard voices ahead of them， and realized that Mrs Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs—instead of up the front stairs as they had expected. And after that—whether it was that they lost their heads， or that Mrs Macready was trying to catch them， or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia—they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere， until at last Susan said， “Oh， bother those trippers！ Here—lets get into the Wardrobe Room till theyve passed. No one will follow us in there.” But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage—and then someone fumbling at the door—and then they saw the handle turning.

“Quick！” said Peter， “theres nowhere else，” and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there， panting， in the dark. Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for， of course， he remembered， as every sensible person does， that you should never， never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

幾天以后，彼得和愛德蒙正望著那副盔甲出神，想試試能否把它拆下來，兩個女孩忽然奔進(jìn)屋里說：“不好啦，麥克雷迪太太帶著一群人來了！”

“趕快撤！”彼得說。四個人很快就從另外一頭的門溜掉了。他們溜出來以后先進(jìn)了那間綠色的房間，后來又跑到了圖書館，這時他們突然聽到前面有說話聲，他們都以為麥克雷迪太太帶著觀光的人們到后樓去了，而沒有像他們預(yù)期的那樣到前樓來。后來，不知是他們自己昏了頭，還是麥克雷迪太太要來驅(qū)趕他們，抑或是這所老宅的魔力再次顯現(xiàn)，要把他們趕往納尼亞，他們似乎感到每到一處都有人跟蹤。最后，蘇珊說：“啊，這些游客真夠討厭的！喂，我們躲到放衣櫥的那間空屋里去吧，等他們走了以后再說，誰也不會跟我們到那兒去的?！钡麄儎傔M(jìn)空屋，就聽見走廊里有人在講話，接著又是推門的聲音，一看，門把手已在轉(zhuǎn)動了。

“趕快！”彼得說，“沒有別的地方可躲了！”他猛地一下推開了衣櫥門。四個人蜷縮在黑咕隆咚的衣櫥里邊，不停地喘氣。彼得帶上了櫥門，但并沒有關(guān)緊，因?yàn)?，每個有理智的人都懂得，決不能把自己關(guān)在衣櫥里面。

Word Study

inclined /?n'kla?nd/ adj. 想（做某事）

Nobody felt inclined to argue with Smith.

trail /tre?l/ v.（尤指跟在他人后面）疲憊地走，沒精打采地慢走

The kids trailed around after us while we shopped for clothes.

bundle /'b?ndl/ v. 推搡;塞