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Chapter Two The Ancient Treasure House
第二章 尘封的宝库
“THIS wasn’t a garden，” said Susan presently. “It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard.”
“I see what you mean，” said Peter. “Yes. That is the remains of a tower. And there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls. And look at those other steps—the broad， shallow ones—going up to that doorway. It must have been the door into the great hall.”
“Ages ago， by the look of it，” said Edmund.
“Yes， ages ago，” said Peter. “I wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle; and how long ago.”
“It gives me a queer feeling，” said Lucy.
“Does it， Lu？” said Peter， turning and looking hard at her. “Because it does the same to me. It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day. I wonder where we are and what it all means？”
While they were talking they had crossed the courtyard and gone through the other doorway into what had once been the hall. This was now very like the courtyard， for the roof had long since disappeared and it was merely another space of grass and daisies， except that it was shorter and narrower and the walls were higher. Across the far end there was a kind of terrace about three feet higher than the rest.
“I wonder， was it really the hall？” said Susan. “What is that terrace kind of thing？”
“Why， you silly，” said Peter （who had become strangely excited）， “don’t you see？ That was the dais where the High Table was， where the King and the great lords sat. Anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that， in our great hall.”
“In our castle of Cair Paravel，” continued Susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice， “at the mouth of the great river of Narnia. How could I forget？”
“How it all comes back！” said Lucy. “We could pretend we were in Cair Paravel now. This hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in.”
“这不像是个花园。”苏珊想了想说，“这更像是个城堡，如果没错的话，我们现在所在的位置应该是城堡的某个院落。”
“还真别说，是有那么点像。”彼得说，“看，那是残存的塔楼，可是只剩下一小段楼梯了，本来沿着那楼梯可以直接通往塔顶的。你们再看那些又宽又平缓的台阶，一直通往门廊，那门准是通往大厅去的。”
“看上去可真有些年头了。”爱德蒙感慨道。
“是啊，这是很久以前的城堡。”彼得接着说，“真希望我们能弄明白当年是什么人住在这里，这地方到底是多久以前留下来的。”
“可是我总觉得这里怪怪的。”露茜说。
“是吗，露茜？”彼得转过身来，眼睛瞪得老大，“我也有种奇怪的感觉，我真的觉得这是今天这个奇怪的日子里发生的最奇怪的事情。我们至少得弄明白我们自己在哪里，到底发生了什么事。”
就在大家你一言、我一語地表达着自己的感觉的时候，他们已经穿过院子，走进另一道门廊。门里边应该是一个大厅，可是就目前看来与外面的院子没什么两样，因为屋顶早就消失得无影无踪，只见一片荒草和雏菊丛生的荒地。不过此处与外面的院子相比，宽度比较窄，纵深比较短，四周的墙也明显要高出许多。横穿过整个大厅后，有一个平台。这平台比其他地方高出了约一米。 “我简直不敢相信这里会是一个大厅，”苏珊说，“谁会在大厅里筑一个那么奇怪的平台呢？”
“哎，你这傻瓜。”彼得突然显得莫名地兴奋起来，“你还没看出来吗？那平台是王公贵族的宝座。难道你忘记了吗，我们自己就曾经是国王和女王，在我们自己的宫殿里，我们不是也坐在那么一个高高的台子上吗？”
“凯尔帕拉维尔城堡，我们自己的宫殿！”苏珊陷入如梦般的遐想中，一字一调、唱诵般地说道，“它永远矗立在纳尼亚大河的入海口。我怎能忘记呢？”
“可是我们如何才能回到从前呢？”露茜说，“干脆我们把这儿当作凯尔帕拉维尔，我们所在的这座大厅就是我们过去宴请宾朋的王宫。”
“But unfortunately without the feast，” said Edmund. “It’s getting late， you know. Look how long the shadows are. And have you noticed that it isn’t so hot？”
“We shall need a campfire if we’ve got to spend the night here，” said Peter. “I’ve got matches. Let’s go and see if we can collect some dry wood.”
Everyone saw the sense of this， and for the next half-hour they were busy. The orchard through which they had first come into the ruins turned out not to be a good place for firewood. They tried the other side of the castle， passing out of the hall by a little side door into a maze of stony humps and hollows which must once have been passages and smaller rooms but was now all nettles and wild roses. Beyond this they found a wide gap in the castle wall and stepped through it into a wood of darker and bigger trees where they found dead branches and rotten wood and sticks and dry leaves and fir-cones in plenty. They went to and fro with bundles until they had a good pile on the dais. At the fifth journey they found the well， just outside the hall， hidden in weeds， but clean and fresh and deep when they had cleared these away.
The remains of a stone pavement ran half-way round it. Then the girls went out to pick some more apples and the boys built the fire， on the dais and fairly close to the corner between two walls， which they thought would be the snuggest and warmest place. They had great difficulty in lighting it and used a lot of matches， but they succeeded in the end. Finally， all four sat down with their backs to the wall and their faces to the fire. They tried roasting some of the apples on the ends of sticks. But roast apples are not much good without sugar， and they are too hot to eat with your fingers till they are too cold to be worth eating. So they had to content themselves with raw apples， which， as Edmund said， made one realize that school suppers weren’t so bad after all—“I shouldn’t mind a good thick slice of bread and margarine this minute，” he added. But the spirit of adventure was rising in them all， and no one really wanted to be back at school.
“只可惜沒有宴会。”爱德蒙说，“你们看，影子这么长，看来天色不早了，而且天气也没那么热了。”
“要是我们不得已在这儿过夜的话，必须生一堆篝火。”彼得说，“我有火柴，现在大家行动起来，看能不能找些枯树枝来。” 每個人立即认识到行动起来的紧迫性。接下来的半小时，大家都热火朝天地忙碌起来。他们首先去了这座废弃城堡前面的那片果园，然而事实证明那里很难找到生火的材料。他们穿过大厅，从一扇小侧门来到城堡的另一端去碰碰运气。这儿像一座迷宫，高高低低的石堆和洼地杂乱无章地散布其间。他们猜想，这里曾经是门廊，通往一排小房间。然而现在只剩些荨麻和野玫瑰长在那里。再往前走，他们看见围墙上有一个大豁口。他们穿过豁口，来到一片树林。这片树林里林木高大，硕大的枝叶遮天蔽日，林子里显得尤其黑暗、阴森。他们在这里找到大量的干枝、朽木、枯叶和冷杉树的球果。他们来来回回，一捆一捆地往回抱，终于在城堡平台上堆起了一座小山似的柴火堆。他们在第五次搬运的时候在大厅外面发现了一口井，井口早湮没在杂草丛里。他们把井边的杂草清理干净，发现那井水清凉、甘甜，水也很深。
一条石头小径绕过这口井。随后，女孩子们又跑去摘一些苹果，男孩子们则负责在十分靠近两面墙的角落的平台上燃起篝火。他们相信这是世界上最舒适、最温暖的地方了。说起生篝火，那可不是件容易的事。他们用了好多根火柴，篝火终于燃了起来。最后，大家背靠在墙壁上，脸对着火苗。他们试着把苹果用小棍子插起来，放在火苗上烤着吃。可是，没有白糖，烤苹果的味道肯定好不了。太烫时没法儿用手拿着吃，等可以用手去拿时，它又凉得一点儿都不好吃了。结果，他们只好吃生苹果充饥。爱德蒙说得不错，学校餐厅里的晚餐其实并不那么糟——“要是现在给我来上一片厚厚的奶油面包，那该多美妙啊！”他补充道。但是，一种探险的精神正在大家体内升腾，谁也没有真的想回到学校去。
Word Study
queer /kw??（r）/ adj.奇怪的;反常的
merely /'m??li/ adv.仅仅;只不过
He said nothing， merely smiled and watched her.
dais /'de??s/ n.（尤指房间一端的）高台
maze /me?z/ n.迷宫
bundle /'b?ndl/ n.捆，把
content /k?n'tent/ v.满足
Martina contented herself with a bowl of soup.
Shortly after the last apple had been eaten， Susan went out to the well to get another drink. When she came back she was carrying something in her hand.
“Look，” she said in a rather choking kind of voice. “I found it by the well.” She handed it to Peter and sat down. The others thought she looked and sounded as if she might be going to cry. Edmund and Lucy eagerly bent forward to see what was in Peter’s hand—a little， bright thing that gleamed in the firelight.
“Well， I’m—I’m jiggered，” said Peter， and his voice also sounded queer. Then he handed it to the others.
All now saw what it was—a little chess-knight， ordinary in size but extraordinarily heavy because it was made of pure gold; and the eyes in the horse’s head were two tiny little rubies or rather one was， for the other had been knocked out.
“Why！” said Lucy， “it’s exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel.”
“Cheer up， Su，” said Peter to his other sister.
“I can’t help it，” said Susan. “It brought back—oh， such lovely times. And I remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants， and the mer-people singing in the sea， and my beautiful horse—and—and—”
“Now，” said Peter in a quite different voice， “it’s about time we four started using our brains.”
“What about？” asked Edmund.
“Have none of you guessed where we are？” said Peter.
“Go on， go on，” said Lucy. “I’ve felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place.” “Fire ahead， Peter，” said Edmund. “We’re all listening.”
“We are in the ruins of Cair Paravel itself，” said Peter.
“But， I say，” replied Edmund. “I mean， how do you make that out？ This place has been ruined for ages. Look at all those big trees growing right up to the gates. Look at the very stones. Anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years.”
“I know，” said Peter. “That is the difficulty. But let’s leave that out for the moment. I want to take the points one by one. First point： this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at Cair Paravel. Just picture a roof on this， and a coloured pavement instead of grass， and tapestries on the walls， and you get our royal banqueting hall.”
No one said anything.
就在吃完最后一個苹果后，苏珊又跑到井边去喝水，回来的时候她手里拿着一个什么东西。
“看！”苏珊因为过于激动，几乎说不出话来，“我在井边捡到的。”她把那东西交给彼得，然后坐了下来。从刚才她的声音和表情来看，大家都以为她就要哭出来了。爱德蒙和露茜好奇地弯下腰来，向彼得手里望去——那是个小小的、亮晶晶的东西，在篝火的映照下闪闪发光。
“怎么会有这种事！”彼得的声音听起来怪怪的。他把那东西递给其他几个。
现在，大家都看得很分明，那是一枚象棋里的马，外形与普通棋子差不多，然而却格外沉，因为它通体都是用纯金锻造的。只有马头上的小眼睛镶嵌着两颗小宝石，其实只剩下一只眼睛，另一只眼睛的宝石不知什么时候掉了。
“怎么可能？”露茜吃了一惊，“这分明是我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡常常玩的那副国际象棋中的一枚，那时候我们还是国王和女王呢！”
“振作点儿，苏珊。”彼得对苏珊说。
“我实在无法控制自己的情绪……”苏珊说，“这枚小小的棋子让我的思绪飞回了……哦，那是多么快乐的时光啊！我脑海里浮现的是和小矮人以及那些善良忠义的巨人一起下象棋时的情景，还有水精灵们在大海里欢歌，还有我那匹俊美的小马，还有……还有……”
“现在，”彼得一改平时的语调，显得严肃而镇定，“是时候好好开动我们的脑筋了。”
“可是这会儿有什么好思考的呢？”爱德蒙问。
“你们难道从来没有好好猜想一下，我们现在到底在什么地方？”彼得说。
“快说呀，你快告诉大家啊！”露茜急切地喊道，“自从来到这里，我一直觉得这个地方被一种神秘的气息笼罩着。这气息简直无法言表，完全是个解不开的谜。”
“快揭开谜底吧，彼得，”爱德蒙说，“我们都等着呢。”
“我们此刻就站在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的废墟上。”彼得说。
“可是，我说，”爱德蒙不停地眨巴眼睛，“这完全解释不通啊！这个地方被荒废太久了，看看那些大树就知道了。它们都紧挨着大门长得这么粗壮了，再看看这些石头。谁都看得出来，这个地方至少几百年没人住过了。”
“这个我也想过，”彼得说，“问题就在这里，我们把这一点暂时搁置，我想把我的根据一条条地列出来。首先，这个大厅的形状和大小与凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的几乎完全一样。大家设想一下，我们的头顶上方是个穹顶，再假设我们不是站在草地上，而是彩色的地面，四周的墙壁全部挂上鲜艳的壁毯。好了，我们已经站在城堡的宴会大厅里了。”
谁也没有讲话。
“Second point，” continued Peter. “The castle well is exactly where our well was， a little to the south of the great hall; and it is exactly the same size and shape.”
Again there was no reply.
“Third point： Susan has just found one of our old chessmen—or something as like one of them as two peas.”
Still nobody answered.
“Fourth point. Don’t you remember—it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the King of Calormen—don’t you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of Cair Paravel？ The greatest of all the wood-people， Pomona herself， came to put good spells on it. It was those very decent little chaps the moles who did the actual digging. Can you have forgotten that funny old Lilygloves， the chief mole， leaning on his spade and saying， ‘Believe me， your Majesty， you’ll be glad of these fruit trees one day.’？ And by Jove he was right.” “I do！ I do！” said Lucy， and clapped her hands.
“But look here， Peter，” said Edmund. “This must be all rot. To begin with， we didn’t plant the orchard slap up against the gate. We wouldn’t have been such fools.”
“No， of course not，” said Peter. “But it has grown up to the gate since.”
“And for another thing，” said Edmund， “Cair Paravel wasn’t on an island.”
“Yes， I’ve been wondering about that. But it was a what-do-you-call-it， a peninsula. Jolly nearly an island. Couldn’t it have been made an island since our time？ Somebody has dug a channel.”
“But half a moment！” said Edmund. “You keep on saying since our time. But it’s only a year ago since we came back from Narnia. And you want to make out that in one year castles have fallen down， and great forests have grown up， and little trees we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard， and goodness knows what else. It’s all impossible.”
“There’s one thing，” said Lucy. “If this is Cair Paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais. In fact we ought to be sitting with our backs against it at this moment. You know—the door that led down to the treasure chamber.”
“I suppose there isn’t a door，” said Peter， getting up.
The wall behind them was a mass of ivy.
“第二點，”彼得继续说，“我们找到的水井与原来城堡中的水井位置完全相同，都在大厅偏南一点儿，而且，连大小和形状也没有两样。”
大家仍然不置可否，一言不发。
“第三点，苏珊刚刚发现的棋子与我们过去玩的棋子一模一样。”
还是没人搭腔。
“第四点，你们还记得吗——就在卡乐门国王的大使到来的前一天——我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的北门外种了很多果树。森林里尊贵的精灵——果树女神波莫娜亲自为这片新开辟的果园做了祈祷。衣着光鲜亮丽、打扮得体的小鼹鼠们为果树刨坑。大家肯定还记得它们的首领，那个风趣幽默、上了年纪的哩哩格拉唔吧？它靠在铁锹上说：‘请相信我，陛下，总有一天，这些果树将给您带来意外的惊喜。’瞧，真被它说中了。”
“我记起来了，我记起来了！”露茜拍起手来。
“可是你看这儿，彼得，”爱德蒙犹豫地说，“这一切都站不住脚啊。首先，我们怎么可能紧挨着大门种果树呢——那也太傻了吧。”
“当然不会故意挨着大门种果树。”彼得说，“可是果树会越长越大，慢慢地就可能延伸到大门口了呀。”
“另外，”爱德蒙说，“凯尔帕拉维尔并不是一座孤岛啊。”
“对，这也是我一直百思不得其解的问题，它过去也的确如你所说的不是一座孤岛，而是座半岛，很像一座孤岛。但是，难道自我们离开以后，这里就完全不可能变成一座孤岛吗？也许有人挖了一道海峡呢。”
“你等一等！”爱德蒙说，“你一直强调我们离开后的漫长年代，可是我们离开纳尼亚总共才不过一年时间啊。你想向我们证明的，就是说一年内城堡坍塌荒废了，巨大的森林包围了那里，那些去年才由我们亲自种下的小树苗，现在都长成了参天大树。天知道还有什么不可思议的事情发生，所有这一切都是不可能的。”
“我们还忽略了一件事情！”露茜说，“假如这就是凯尔帕拉维尔，那么在高台的后端墙壁上应该有一扇门。实际上，我们现在倚靠的墙面就是这扇门的位置。你们都知道——它通向我们的宝库。”
“我倒没看出来。”彼得一边说一边站起身来。
那墙早被大叶子的野藤爬满。
Word Study
eagerly /'i?ɡ?（r）li/ adv.急切地;渴望地
They’re eagerly awaiting the big day.
gleam /ɡli?m/ v.发微光;隐约闪光;闪烁
The moonlight gleamed on the water.
banqueting /'b??kw?t??/ adj.宴会的
lean /li?n/ v.倚靠;靠在 She walked slowly， leaning on her son’s arm.
chamber /'t?e?mb?（r）/ n.（作特定用途的）房間，室
“We can soon find out，” said Edmund， taking up one of the sticks that they had laid ready for putting on the fire. He began beating the ivied wall. Tap-tap went the stick against the stone; and again， tap-tap; and then， all at once， boom boom， with a quite different sound， a hollow， wooden sound.
“Great Scott！” said Edmund.
“We must clear this ivy away，” said Peter.
“Oh， do let’s leave it alone，” said Susan. “We can try it in the morning. If we’ve got to spend the night here I don’t want an open door at my back and a great big black hole that anything might come out of， besides the draught and the damp. And it’ll soon be dark.”
“Susan！ How can you？” said Lucy with a reproachful glance. But both the boys were too much excited to take any notice of Susan’s advice. They worked at the ivy with their hands and with Peter’s pocket-knife till the knife broke. After that they used Edmund’s. Soon the whole place where they had been sitting was covered with ivy; and at last they had the door cleared.
“Locked， of course，” said Peter.
“But the wood’s all rotten，” said Edmund. “We can pull it to bits in no time， and it will make extra firewood. Come on.”
It took them longer than they expected and， before they had done， the great hall had grown dusky and the first star or two had come out overhead. Susan was not the only one who felt a slight shudder as the boys stood above the pile of splintered wood， rubbing the dirt off their hands and staring into the cold， dark opening they had made.
“Now for a torch，” said Peter.
“Oh， what is the good？” said Susan. “And as Edmund said—”
“I’m not saying it now，” Edmund interrupted. “I still don’t understand， but we can settle that later. I suppose you’re coming down， Peter？”
“We must，” said Peter. “Cheer up， Susan. It’s no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia. You’re a Queen here. And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds.”
They tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success. If you held them with the lighted end up they went out， and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes. In the end they had to use Edmund’s electric torch; luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new. He went first， with the light. Then came Lucy， then Susan， and Peter brought up the rear. “我們马上就能搞清楚。”爱德蒙一边说，一边抄起一截准备用来生火的粗树枝，开始敲打那爬满青藤的墙壁。嗒，嗒，树枝打在墙上发出沉闷的响声，再打下去，仍然是嗒，嗒，嗒。突然，通，通，通，敲打声变了，这分明是打在木板上的声音，而且木板背后应该是空的。
“天哪！”爱德蒙惊呆了。
“我们必须先清除这些藤蔓。”彼得说。
“噢，先别动它。”苏珊说，“咱们明天早晨再想办法打开那扇门吧。如果我们今晚要在这里过夜的话，我可不愿意身后有扇敞开着的大门，黑漆漆、阴森森的，不时还吹来阵阵阴风，夹杂着凉冷寒潮的湿气。别再有什么可怕的东西从里面跑出来！再说，天马上就要黑了。”
“苏珊！你怎么能这样？”露茜责备地瞥了她一眼。两个男孩子则太兴奋了，根本就没有在意苏珊讲了些什么。他们开始用手去清理藤叶，用彼得随身携带的小刀去切断藤蔓，小刀割坏了，他们又拿爱德蒙的小刀继续割。很快，他们刚才坐过的地上堆满了青藤的根茎枝蔓和叶子，然后一扇门暴露出来了。
“糟糕，门肯定上了锁。”彼得说。
“没关系，木头恐怕早已经腐朽了，”爱德蒙说，“咱们可以轻而易举地把它砸成碎片，这样我们还可以多些烧火的干柴。来吧！”
说起来容易做起来难。他们花的时间比之前预计的要多得多。不知不觉地，茫茫的天际为暮色所笼罩，天上出现了几颗星星。大家站在一堆剥落下来的碎木片上，擦去手上的灰尘，放眼朝黑漆漆的洞里望去，多少有些胆寒。
“现在我们需要一个火把。”彼得打破了沉默。
“我说，还是先别下去吧！”苏珊说，“爱德蒙不也是这个意思吗……”
“我现在可什么都没说，”爱德蒙打断了她的话，“现在我还一头雾水，不过下去之后一切都会水落石出的。彼得，你也下去吧？”
“大家都下去吧，”彼得说，“勇敢些，苏珊。我们现在又回到了纳尼亚，像小孩子那样是没有用的。你在这里是女王。况且，大家心里装着那么多谜团，怎么能睡得着呢？”
他们本想用燃烧的树枝照亮前行的道路，但这样行不通。燃烧的那一头朝上的话，火会熄灭;倒过来拿的话，手会被火苗灼伤，眼睛也会被烟熏到。最后他们不得不用爱德蒙的电筒，一星期前爱德蒙在他生日时得到这个小东西，里面的电池几乎是全新的。对于孩子们来说，这真是太幸运了。爱德蒙打着手电第一个走了下去，露茜和苏珊紧随其后，彼得走在最后。
“I’ve come to the top of the steps，” said Edmund.
“Count them，” said Peter.
“One—two—three，” said Edmund， as he went cautiously down， and so up to sixteen. “And this is the bottom，” he shouted back.
“Then it really must be Cair Paravel，” said Lucy. “There were sixteen.” Nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the foot of the stairway. Then Edmund flashed his torch slowly round.
“O—o—o—oh！！” said all the children at once.
For now all knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of Cair Paravel where they had once reigned as Kings and Queens of Narnia. There was a kind of path up the middle （as it might be in a greenhouse）， and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armour， like knights guarding the treasures. In between the suits of armour， and on each side of the path， were shelves covered with precious things—necklaces and arm rings and finger rings and golden bowls and dishes and long tusks of ivory， brooches and coronets and chains of gold， and heaps of unset stones lying piled anyhow as if they were marbles or potatoes—diamonds， rubies， carbuncles， emeralds， topazes， and amethysts. Under the shelves stood great chests of oak strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked. And it was bitterly cold， and so still that they could hear themselves breathing， and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things， they would hardly have known they were treasures. There was something sad and a little frightening about the place， because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago. That was why nobody said anything for at least a minute. Then， of course， they began walking about and picking things up to look at. It was like meeting very old friends. If you had been there you would have heard them saying things like， “Oh look！ Our coronation rings—do you remember first wearing this？—Why， this is the little brooch we all thought was lost—I say， isn’t that the armour you wore in the great tournament in the Lone Islands？—do you remember the dwarf making that for me？—do you remember drinking out of that horn？—do you remember， do you remember？”
But suddenly Edmund said， “Look here. We mustn’t waste the battery： goodness knows how often we shall need it. Hadn’t we better take what we want and get out again？”
“We must take the gifts，” said Peter. For long ago at a Christmas in Narnia he and Susan and Lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom. Edmund had had no gift， because he was not with them at the time. （This was his own fault， and you can read about it in the other book.）
“我已经来到臺阶跟前。”爱德蒙说。
“数一下，看有多少级台阶。”彼得说。
“一、二、三……”爱德蒙一边嘴里数着，一边小心翼翼地往下走，一直数到第十六级台阶。“到底了。”他朝身后喊道。
“那么这里真的是凯尔帕拉维尔。”露茜说，“凯尔帕拉维尔宝库的台阶就是十六级。”谁也没搭话，直到他们走下最后一级台阶才停下来，大家紧紧靠在一起。爱德蒙揿亮手电筒，光柱缓缓地扫视着周围。
“哇！”孩子们欢呼雀跃起来。
不必再怀疑了，这里就是凯尔帕拉维尔那古老的宝库。作为纳尼亚曾经的国王和女王，他们是这里的旧主人。房子正中是一条甬道（就像温室里一样），两边每隔几米就竖立着一套曾经闪闪发亮的盔甲，就像卫士在守护着这些宝藏。在甬道两旁的架子上，“卫士”之间，摆放着奇珍异宝——项链、手镯、戒指、纯金做的碗碟、长长的象牙、 胸针、冠冕以及金链子，还有成堆尚未镶嵌的宝石，像石子或土豆一样散乱地堆在那里——钻石、红宝石、绿宝石、黄玉，还有紫水晶。架子下面放着一个个镶着金属边的橡木箱子，上着大锁。这里冷得要命，又静得出奇，孩子们扑通扑通的心跳是唯一能够清晰识别的声音。厚厚的尘土将珍宝掩藏其下，要不是他们知道这座宝库，并且按照记忆中的宝库结构去对所见的情景加以还原，谁肯相信那些东西竟然是珠宝呢？然而短暂的兴奋、欣喜与新奇过后，一丝伤感与惆怅却袭上心头，而且逐渐加深，直至化为一种莫名的恐惧与悲哀了。毕竟这里是一个被荒废太久的城堡，一切都显得古旧而阴森。因此大家好几分钟相对无言，一片沉寂。
孩子们缓缓朝前走去，一面随手拿起身边的宝物细细端详。对于他们而言，这里的一草一木，都像一位位久违的老友。如果你在场，你会听到他们说：“噢，看！咱们的加冕戒指——你还记得头一次戴上它时的情景吗？——咦，这不是那枚我们都认为丢失了的胸针吗？——瞧，这不是你在孤独岛那次比武大会上穿的盔甲吗？——你记不记得那是小矮人为我特制的？——你记不记得我们曾经用那只号来喝酒？——你还记不记得……”
突然，爱德蒙说：“听我说，我们不能白白耗费电池了，或许它还要派上更大的用场呢。要不咱们拿上最想要的宝物，赶紧出去吧。”
“我们得拿上那些礼物！”彼得说。很久很久以前，在一个纳尼亚的圣诞之夜，他、苏珊和露茜都得了一些礼物，这些礼物在他们看来，简直比整个王国都珍贵。只有爱德蒙没有礼物，因为当时他没有和大家在一起（这都怪他自己，关于这一点，你可以在另一个故事里读到）。
Word Study
draught /drɑ?ft/ n. 穿堂风;通风气流;通风
A cold draught of air blew in from the open window.
damp /d?mp/ n. 潮湿;湿气
shudder /'??d?（r）/ n. （因寒冷、害怕等引起的）发抖，战栗
scorch /sk??t?/ v. 烫，烫伤
The hot sand scorched our feet.
tournament /'t??n?m?nt/ n. （中世纪的）骑士比武;锦标赛
They all agreed with Peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber， and there， sure enough， the gifts were still hanging. Lucy’s was the smallest for it was only a little bottle. But the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass， and it was still more than half full of the magical cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness. Lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side where it used to hang in the old days. Susan’s gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. The bow was still there， and the ivory quiver， full of well-feathered arrows， but— “Oh， Susan，” said Lucy. “Where’s the horn？”
“Oh bother， bother， bother，” said Susan after she had thought for a moment. “I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all， the day we went hunting the White Stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place—England， I mean.”
Edmund whistled. It was indeed a shattering loss; for this was an enchanted horn and， whenever you blew it， help was certain to come to you， wherever you were.
“Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this，” said Edmund.
“Never mind，” said Susan， “I’ve still got the bow.” And she took it.
“Won’t the string be perished， Su？” said Peter.
But whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not， the bow was still in working order. Archery and swimming were the things Susan was good at. In a moment she had bent the bow and then she gave one little pluck to the string. It twanged： a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room. And that one small noise brought back the old days to the children’s minds more than anything that had happened yet. All the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together.
Then she unstrung the bow again and slung the quiver at her side.
Next， Peter took down his gift—the shield with the great red lion on it， and the royal sword. He blew， and rapped them on the floor， to get off the dust. He fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side. He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. But it was not so. With one swift motion he drew it and held it up， shining in the torchlight.
“It is my sword Rhindon，” he said; “with it I killed the Wolf.” There was a new tone in his voice， and the others all felt that he was really Peter the High King again. Then， after a little pause， everyone remembered that they must save the battery.
They climbed the stair again and made up a good fire and lay down close together for warmth. The ground was very hard and uncomfortable， but they fell asleep in the end.
大家都表示贊同，于是顺着甬道径直朝宝库的另一端走去。和预料的一样，礼物都在那里挂着。露茜的礼物最小了，是一个宝石小瓶而非玻璃小瓶，里面还剩半瓶多神水，这神水几乎可以治愈所有的创伤和疾病。露茜十分庄重地、默默地把它取下来，和以前一样用背带把它斜持在肩上，再一次体会宝石小瓶在身边的感觉。苏珊的礼物是一张弓、一壶箭和一把号。那张弓依然完好无损，旁边是那只盛满了羽翎箭的象牙箭壶。可是——
“喂，苏珊，”露茜问，“你的号在哪里？”
“啊，该死！”苏珊想了想说，“我想起来了，在我们离开纳尼亚的那天，我正带着它，就是我们去围猎白色牡鹿的那一天。我想，那把号肯定是在那之后掉了，或者掉在了人类世界也不一定。”
爱德蒙有些唏嘘，并且表示了惋惜和同情。这可是一把无比神奇的号。无论何时何地，只要吹响它就会得到所需要的帮助。
“此时此地，我们正需要这种宝贝。”爱德蒙说。
“别担心，我还有弓箭呢。”苏珊说着从墙上把弓箭取下来。
“弓弦不会因为老化失去弹性而断掉吧，苏珊？”彼得问。
可能是因为宝库里特殊的空气氛围和气流运动，那张弓仍然很好用。苏珊在学校里是射箭和游泳的好手。她立即娴熟地拉开弓，轻轻地弹开，嗡的一声，清脆而有力的声音在屋子里久久回荡。比起之前发生的那些事，这微弱的弦声更能把孩子们带到甜蜜的回忆中，战斗、狩猎、欢宴……一幕一幕像电影一般回放。
苏珊放好了弓箭，随后背上了一壶箭。
接着，彼得取下了一只盾牌，那是他的礼物，上面镶着一只红色巨狮;同时他还取下一柄宝剑，轻轻拂去剑鞘上的灰尘，在地毯上擦拭了一下。彼得把那盾牌拿在手里试一试，然后又把宝剑佩挂起来。开始彼得还担心宝剑会锈在剑鞘里拔不出来。但是令他惊异而欣喜不已的是，轻轻一拔，宝剑便嗖的一声出鞘，剑锋在黑暗中射出一道寒光来。
“当年我正是用这把宝剑刺死了巨狼。”彼得语气颇为骄傲，声音充满自信与勇气。大家顿时觉得站在眼前的可不再是个小男孩了，而分明是一位威严、肃穆的君王。随后，大家猛地意识到，必须节约电池，马上离开。
孩子们摸索着登上台阶，出了宝库，重新燃起一堆篝火，然后依偎在一起，使身体尽快暖和起来。地面太硬，睡在上面很不舒服，然而，大家太疲惫了，很快就呼呼入睡了。
Word Study
solemn /'s?l?m/ adj. 庄严的;郑重的
sling /sl??/ v.挂;吊
Her bag was slung over her shoulder.
shattering /'??t?r??/ adj. 令人极度悲痛的
enchanted /?n't?ɑ?nt?d/ adj. 被施魔法的;有魔法的
perish /'per??/ v. 老化，脆裂
第二章 尘封的宝库
“THIS wasn’t a garden，” said Susan presently. “It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard.”
“I see what you mean，” said Peter. “Yes. That is the remains of a tower. And there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls. And look at those other steps—the broad， shallow ones—going up to that doorway. It must have been the door into the great hall.”
“Ages ago， by the look of it，” said Edmund.
“Yes， ages ago，” said Peter. “I wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle; and how long ago.”
“It gives me a queer feeling，” said Lucy.
“Does it， Lu？” said Peter， turning and looking hard at her. “Because it does the same to me. It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day. I wonder where we are and what it all means？”
While they were talking they had crossed the courtyard and gone through the other doorway into what had once been the hall. This was now very like the courtyard， for the roof had long since disappeared and it was merely another space of grass and daisies， except that it was shorter and narrower and the walls were higher. Across the far end there was a kind of terrace about three feet higher than the rest.
“I wonder， was it really the hall？” said Susan. “What is that terrace kind of thing？”
“Why， you silly，” said Peter （who had become strangely excited）， “don’t you see？ That was the dais where the High Table was， where the King and the great lords sat. Anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that， in our great hall.”
“In our castle of Cair Paravel，” continued Susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice， “at the mouth of the great river of Narnia. How could I forget？”
“How it all comes back！” said Lucy. “We could pretend we were in Cair Paravel now. This hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in.”
“这不像是个花园。”苏珊想了想说，“这更像是个城堡，如果没错的话，我们现在所在的位置应该是城堡的某个院落。”
“还真别说，是有那么点像。”彼得说，“看，那是残存的塔楼，可是只剩下一小段楼梯了，本来沿着那楼梯可以直接通往塔顶的。你们再看那些又宽又平缓的台阶，一直通往门廊，那门准是通往大厅去的。”
“看上去可真有些年头了。”爱德蒙感慨道。
“是啊，这是很久以前的城堡。”彼得接着说，“真希望我们能弄明白当年是什么人住在这里，这地方到底是多久以前留下来的。”
“可是我总觉得这里怪怪的。”露茜说。
“是吗，露茜？”彼得转过身来，眼睛瞪得老大，“我也有种奇怪的感觉，我真的觉得这是今天这个奇怪的日子里发生的最奇怪的事情。我们至少得弄明白我们自己在哪里，到底发生了什么事。”
就在大家你一言、我一語地表达着自己的感觉的时候，他们已经穿过院子，走进另一道门廊。门里边应该是一个大厅，可是就目前看来与外面的院子没什么两样，因为屋顶早就消失得无影无踪，只见一片荒草和雏菊丛生的荒地。不过此处与外面的院子相比，宽度比较窄，纵深比较短，四周的墙也明显要高出许多。横穿过整个大厅后，有一个平台。这平台比其他地方高出了约一米。 “我简直不敢相信这里会是一个大厅，”苏珊说，“谁会在大厅里筑一个那么奇怪的平台呢？”
“哎，你这傻瓜。”彼得突然显得莫名地兴奋起来，“你还没看出来吗？那平台是王公贵族的宝座。难道你忘记了吗，我们自己就曾经是国王和女王，在我们自己的宫殿里，我们不是也坐在那么一个高高的台子上吗？”
“凯尔帕拉维尔城堡，我们自己的宫殿！”苏珊陷入如梦般的遐想中，一字一调、唱诵般地说道，“它永远矗立在纳尼亚大河的入海口。我怎能忘记呢？”
“可是我们如何才能回到从前呢？”露茜说，“干脆我们把这儿当作凯尔帕拉维尔，我们所在的这座大厅就是我们过去宴请宾朋的王宫。”
“But unfortunately without the feast，” said Edmund. “It’s getting late， you know. Look how long the shadows are. And have you noticed that it isn’t so hot？”
“We shall need a campfire if we’ve got to spend the night here，” said Peter. “I’ve got matches. Let’s go and see if we can collect some dry wood.”
Everyone saw the sense of this， and for the next half-hour they were busy. The orchard through which they had first come into the ruins turned out not to be a good place for firewood. They tried the other side of the castle， passing out of the hall by a little side door into a maze of stony humps and hollows which must once have been passages and smaller rooms but was now all nettles and wild roses. Beyond this they found a wide gap in the castle wall and stepped through it into a wood of darker and bigger trees where they found dead branches and rotten wood and sticks and dry leaves and fir-cones in plenty. They went to and fro with bundles until they had a good pile on the dais. At the fifth journey they found the well， just outside the hall， hidden in weeds， but clean and fresh and deep when they had cleared these away.
The remains of a stone pavement ran half-way round it. Then the girls went out to pick some more apples and the boys built the fire， on the dais and fairly close to the corner between two walls， which they thought would be the snuggest and warmest place. They had great difficulty in lighting it and used a lot of matches， but they succeeded in the end. Finally， all four sat down with their backs to the wall and their faces to the fire. They tried roasting some of the apples on the ends of sticks. But roast apples are not much good without sugar， and they are too hot to eat with your fingers till they are too cold to be worth eating. So they had to content themselves with raw apples， which， as Edmund said， made one realize that school suppers weren’t so bad after all—“I shouldn’t mind a good thick slice of bread and margarine this minute，” he added. But the spirit of adventure was rising in them all， and no one really wanted to be back at school.
“只可惜沒有宴会。”爱德蒙说，“你们看，影子这么长，看来天色不早了，而且天气也没那么热了。”
“要是我们不得已在这儿过夜的话，必须生一堆篝火。”彼得说，“我有火柴，现在大家行动起来，看能不能找些枯树枝来。” 每個人立即认识到行动起来的紧迫性。接下来的半小时，大家都热火朝天地忙碌起来。他们首先去了这座废弃城堡前面的那片果园，然而事实证明那里很难找到生火的材料。他们穿过大厅，从一扇小侧门来到城堡的另一端去碰碰运气。这儿像一座迷宫，高高低低的石堆和洼地杂乱无章地散布其间。他们猜想，这里曾经是门廊，通往一排小房间。然而现在只剩些荨麻和野玫瑰长在那里。再往前走，他们看见围墙上有一个大豁口。他们穿过豁口，来到一片树林。这片树林里林木高大，硕大的枝叶遮天蔽日，林子里显得尤其黑暗、阴森。他们在这里找到大量的干枝、朽木、枯叶和冷杉树的球果。他们来来回回，一捆一捆地往回抱，终于在城堡平台上堆起了一座小山似的柴火堆。他们在第五次搬运的时候在大厅外面发现了一口井，井口早湮没在杂草丛里。他们把井边的杂草清理干净，发现那井水清凉、甘甜，水也很深。
一条石头小径绕过这口井。随后，女孩子们又跑去摘一些苹果，男孩子们则负责在十分靠近两面墙的角落的平台上燃起篝火。他们相信这是世界上最舒适、最温暖的地方了。说起生篝火，那可不是件容易的事。他们用了好多根火柴，篝火终于燃了起来。最后，大家背靠在墙壁上，脸对着火苗。他们试着把苹果用小棍子插起来，放在火苗上烤着吃。可是，没有白糖，烤苹果的味道肯定好不了。太烫时没法儿用手拿着吃，等可以用手去拿时，它又凉得一点儿都不好吃了。结果，他们只好吃生苹果充饥。爱德蒙说得不错，学校餐厅里的晚餐其实并不那么糟——“要是现在给我来上一片厚厚的奶油面包，那该多美妙啊！”他补充道。但是，一种探险的精神正在大家体内升腾，谁也没有真的想回到学校去。
Word Study
queer /kw??（r）/ adj.奇怪的;反常的
merely /'m??li/ adv.仅仅;只不过
He said nothing， merely smiled and watched her.
dais /'de??s/ n.（尤指房间一端的）高台
maze /me?z/ n.迷宫
bundle /'b?ndl/ n.捆，把
content /k?n'tent/ v.满足
Martina contented herself with a bowl of soup.
Shortly after the last apple had been eaten， Susan went out to the well to get another drink. When she came back she was carrying something in her hand.
“Look，” she said in a rather choking kind of voice. “I found it by the well.” She handed it to Peter and sat down. The others thought she looked and sounded as if she might be going to cry. Edmund and Lucy eagerly bent forward to see what was in Peter’s hand—a little， bright thing that gleamed in the firelight.
“Well， I’m—I’m jiggered，” said Peter， and his voice also sounded queer. Then he handed it to the others.
All now saw what it was—a little chess-knight， ordinary in size but extraordinarily heavy because it was made of pure gold; and the eyes in the horse’s head were two tiny little rubies or rather one was， for the other had been knocked out.
“Why！” said Lucy， “it’s exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel.”
“Cheer up， Su，” said Peter to his other sister.
“I can’t help it，” said Susan. “It brought back—oh， such lovely times. And I remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants， and the mer-people singing in the sea， and my beautiful horse—and—and—”
“Now，” said Peter in a quite different voice， “it’s about time we four started using our brains.”
“What about？” asked Edmund.
“Have none of you guessed where we are？” said Peter.
“Go on， go on，” said Lucy. “I’ve felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place.” “Fire ahead， Peter，” said Edmund. “We’re all listening.”
“We are in the ruins of Cair Paravel itself，” said Peter.
“But， I say，” replied Edmund. “I mean， how do you make that out？ This place has been ruined for ages. Look at all those big trees growing right up to the gates. Look at the very stones. Anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years.”
“I know，” said Peter. “That is the difficulty. But let’s leave that out for the moment. I want to take the points one by one. First point： this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at Cair Paravel. Just picture a roof on this， and a coloured pavement instead of grass， and tapestries on the walls， and you get our royal banqueting hall.”
No one said anything.
就在吃完最后一個苹果后，苏珊又跑到井边去喝水，回来的时候她手里拿着一个什么东西。
“看！”苏珊因为过于激动，几乎说不出话来，“我在井边捡到的。”她把那东西交给彼得，然后坐了下来。从刚才她的声音和表情来看，大家都以为她就要哭出来了。爱德蒙和露茜好奇地弯下腰来，向彼得手里望去——那是个小小的、亮晶晶的东西，在篝火的映照下闪闪发光。
“怎么会有这种事！”彼得的声音听起来怪怪的。他把那东西递给其他几个。
现在，大家都看得很分明，那是一枚象棋里的马，外形与普通棋子差不多，然而却格外沉，因为它通体都是用纯金锻造的。只有马头上的小眼睛镶嵌着两颗小宝石，其实只剩下一只眼睛，另一只眼睛的宝石不知什么时候掉了。
“怎么可能？”露茜吃了一惊，“这分明是我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡常常玩的那副国际象棋中的一枚，那时候我们还是国王和女王呢！”
“振作点儿，苏珊。”彼得对苏珊说。
“我实在无法控制自己的情绪……”苏珊说，“这枚小小的棋子让我的思绪飞回了……哦，那是多么快乐的时光啊！我脑海里浮现的是和小矮人以及那些善良忠义的巨人一起下象棋时的情景，还有水精灵们在大海里欢歌，还有我那匹俊美的小马，还有……还有……”
“现在，”彼得一改平时的语调，显得严肃而镇定，“是时候好好开动我们的脑筋了。”
“可是这会儿有什么好思考的呢？”爱德蒙问。
“你们难道从来没有好好猜想一下，我们现在到底在什么地方？”彼得说。
“快说呀，你快告诉大家啊！”露茜急切地喊道，“自从来到这里，我一直觉得这个地方被一种神秘的气息笼罩着。这气息简直无法言表，完全是个解不开的谜。”
“快揭开谜底吧，彼得，”爱德蒙说，“我们都等着呢。”
“我们此刻就站在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的废墟上。”彼得说。
“可是，我说，”爱德蒙不停地眨巴眼睛，“这完全解释不通啊！这个地方被荒废太久了，看看那些大树就知道了。它们都紧挨着大门长得这么粗壮了，再看看这些石头。谁都看得出来，这个地方至少几百年没人住过了。”
“这个我也想过，”彼得说，“问题就在这里，我们把这一点暂时搁置，我想把我的根据一条条地列出来。首先，这个大厅的形状和大小与凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的几乎完全一样。大家设想一下，我们的头顶上方是个穹顶，再假设我们不是站在草地上，而是彩色的地面，四周的墙壁全部挂上鲜艳的壁毯。好了，我们已经站在城堡的宴会大厅里了。”
谁也没有讲话。
“Second point，” continued Peter. “The castle well is exactly where our well was， a little to the south of the great hall; and it is exactly the same size and shape.”
Again there was no reply.
“Third point： Susan has just found one of our old chessmen—or something as like one of them as two peas.”
Still nobody answered.
“Fourth point. Don’t you remember—it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the King of Calormen—don’t you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of Cair Paravel？ The greatest of all the wood-people， Pomona herself， came to put good spells on it. It was those very decent little chaps the moles who did the actual digging. Can you have forgotten that funny old Lilygloves， the chief mole， leaning on his spade and saying， ‘Believe me， your Majesty， you’ll be glad of these fruit trees one day.’？ And by Jove he was right.” “I do！ I do！” said Lucy， and clapped her hands.
“But look here， Peter，” said Edmund. “This must be all rot. To begin with， we didn’t plant the orchard slap up against the gate. We wouldn’t have been such fools.”
“No， of course not，” said Peter. “But it has grown up to the gate since.”
“And for another thing，” said Edmund， “Cair Paravel wasn’t on an island.”
“Yes， I’ve been wondering about that. But it was a what-do-you-call-it， a peninsula. Jolly nearly an island. Couldn’t it have been made an island since our time？ Somebody has dug a channel.”
“But half a moment！” said Edmund. “You keep on saying since our time. But it’s only a year ago since we came back from Narnia. And you want to make out that in one year castles have fallen down， and great forests have grown up， and little trees we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard， and goodness knows what else. It’s all impossible.”
“There’s one thing，” said Lucy. “If this is Cair Paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais. In fact we ought to be sitting with our backs against it at this moment. You know—the door that led down to the treasure chamber.”
“I suppose there isn’t a door，” said Peter， getting up.
The wall behind them was a mass of ivy.
“第二點，”彼得继续说，“我们找到的水井与原来城堡中的水井位置完全相同，都在大厅偏南一点儿，而且，连大小和形状也没有两样。”
大家仍然不置可否，一言不发。
“第三点，苏珊刚刚发现的棋子与我们过去玩的棋子一模一样。”
还是没人搭腔。
“第四点，你们还记得吗——就在卡乐门国王的大使到来的前一天——我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的北门外种了很多果树。森林里尊贵的精灵——果树女神波莫娜亲自为这片新开辟的果园做了祈祷。衣着光鲜亮丽、打扮得体的小鼹鼠们为果树刨坑。大家肯定还记得它们的首领，那个风趣幽默、上了年纪的哩哩格拉唔吧？它靠在铁锹上说：‘请相信我，陛下，总有一天，这些果树将给您带来意外的惊喜。’瞧，真被它说中了。”
“我记起来了，我记起来了！”露茜拍起手来。
“可是你看这儿，彼得，”爱德蒙犹豫地说，“这一切都站不住脚啊。首先，我们怎么可能紧挨着大门种果树呢——那也太傻了吧。”
“当然不会故意挨着大门种果树。”彼得说，“可是果树会越长越大，慢慢地就可能延伸到大门口了呀。”
“另外，”爱德蒙说，“凯尔帕拉维尔并不是一座孤岛啊。”
“对，这也是我一直百思不得其解的问题，它过去也的确如你所说的不是一座孤岛，而是座半岛，很像一座孤岛。但是，难道自我们离开以后，这里就完全不可能变成一座孤岛吗？也许有人挖了一道海峡呢。”
“你等一等！”爱德蒙说，“你一直强调我们离开后的漫长年代，可是我们离开纳尼亚总共才不过一年时间啊。你想向我们证明的，就是说一年内城堡坍塌荒废了，巨大的森林包围了那里，那些去年才由我们亲自种下的小树苗，现在都长成了参天大树。天知道还有什么不可思议的事情发生，所有这一切都是不可能的。”
“我们还忽略了一件事情！”露茜说，“假如这就是凯尔帕拉维尔，那么在高台的后端墙壁上应该有一扇门。实际上，我们现在倚靠的墙面就是这扇门的位置。你们都知道——它通向我们的宝库。”
“我倒没看出来。”彼得一边说一边站起身来。
那墙早被大叶子的野藤爬满。
Word Study
eagerly /'i?ɡ?（r）li/ adv.急切地;渴望地
They’re eagerly awaiting the big day.
gleam /ɡli?m/ v.发微光;隐约闪光;闪烁
The moonlight gleamed on the water.
banqueting /'b??kw?t??/ adj.宴会的
lean /li?n/ v.倚靠;靠在 She walked slowly， leaning on her son’s arm.
chamber /'t?e?mb?（r）/ n.（作特定用途的）房間，室
“We can soon find out，” said Edmund， taking up one of the sticks that they had laid ready for putting on the fire. He began beating the ivied wall. Tap-tap went the stick against the stone; and again， tap-tap; and then， all at once， boom boom， with a quite different sound， a hollow， wooden sound.
“Great Scott！” said Edmund.
“We must clear this ivy away，” said Peter.
“Oh， do let’s leave it alone，” said Susan. “We can try it in the morning. If we’ve got to spend the night here I don’t want an open door at my back and a great big black hole that anything might come out of， besides the draught and the damp. And it’ll soon be dark.”
“Susan！ How can you？” said Lucy with a reproachful glance. But both the boys were too much excited to take any notice of Susan’s advice. They worked at the ivy with their hands and with Peter’s pocket-knife till the knife broke. After that they used Edmund’s. Soon the whole place where they had been sitting was covered with ivy; and at last they had the door cleared.
“Locked， of course，” said Peter.
“But the wood’s all rotten，” said Edmund. “We can pull it to bits in no time， and it will make extra firewood. Come on.”
It took them longer than they expected and， before they had done， the great hall had grown dusky and the first star or two had come out overhead. Susan was not the only one who felt a slight shudder as the boys stood above the pile of splintered wood， rubbing the dirt off their hands and staring into the cold， dark opening they had made.
“Now for a torch，” said Peter.
“Oh， what is the good？” said Susan. “And as Edmund said—”
“I’m not saying it now，” Edmund interrupted. “I still don’t understand， but we can settle that later. I suppose you’re coming down， Peter？”
“We must，” said Peter. “Cheer up， Susan. It’s no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia. You’re a Queen here. And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds.”
They tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success. If you held them with the lighted end up they went out， and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes. In the end they had to use Edmund’s electric torch; luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new. He went first， with the light. Then came Lucy， then Susan， and Peter brought up the rear. “我們马上就能搞清楚。”爱德蒙一边说，一边抄起一截准备用来生火的粗树枝，开始敲打那爬满青藤的墙壁。嗒，嗒，树枝打在墙上发出沉闷的响声，再打下去，仍然是嗒，嗒，嗒。突然，通，通，通，敲打声变了，这分明是打在木板上的声音，而且木板背后应该是空的。
“天哪！”爱德蒙惊呆了。
“我们必须先清除这些藤蔓。”彼得说。
“噢，先别动它。”苏珊说，“咱们明天早晨再想办法打开那扇门吧。如果我们今晚要在这里过夜的话，我可不愿意身后有扇敞开着的大门，黑漆漆、阴森森的，不时还吹来阵阵阴风，夹杂着凉冷寒潮的湿气。别再有什么可怕的东西从里面跑出来！再说，天马上就要黑了。”
“苏珊！你怎么能这样？”露茜责备地瞥了她一眼。两个男孩子则太兴奋了，根本就没有在意苏珊讲了些什么。他们开始用手去清理藤叶，用彼得随身携带的小刀去切断藤蔓，小刀割坏了，他们又拿爱德蒙的小刀继续割。很快，他们刚才坐过的地上堆满了青藤的根茎枝蔓和叶子，然后一扇门暴露出来了。
“糟糕，门肯定上了锁。”彼得说。
“没关系，木头恐怕早已经腐朽了，”爱德蒙说，“咱们可以轻而易举地把它砸成碎片，这样我们还可以多些烧火的干柴。来吧！”
说起来容易做起来难。他们花的时间比之前预计的要多得多。不知不觉地，茫茫的天际为暮色所笼罩，天上出现了几颗星星。大家站在一堆剥落下来的碎木片上，擦去手上的灰尘，放眼朝黑漆漆的洞里望去，多少有些胆寒。
“现在我们需要一个火把。”彼得打破了沉默。
“我说，还是先别下去吧！”苏珊说，“爱德蒙不也是这个意思吗……”
“我现在可什么都没说，”爱德蒙打断了她的话，“现在我还一头雾水，不过下去之后一切都会水落石出的。彼得，你也下去吧？”
“大家都下去吧，”彼得说，“勇敢些，苏珊。我们现在又回到了纳尼亚，像小孩子那样是没有用的。你在这里是女王。况且，大家心里装着那么多谜团，怎么能睡得着呢？”
他们本想用燃烧的树枝照亮前行的道路，但这样行不通。燃烧的那一头朝上的话，火会熄灭;倒过来拿的话，手会被火苗灼伤，眼睛也会被烟熏到。最后他们不得不用爱德蒙的电筒，一星期前爱德蒙在他生日时得到这个小东西，里面的电池几乎是全新的。对于孩子们来说，这真是太幸运了。爱德蒙打着手电第一个走了下去，露茜和苏珊紧随其后，彼得走在最后。
“I’ve come to the top of the steps，” said Edmund.
“Count them，” said Peter.
“One—two—three，” said Edmund， as he went cautiously down， and so up to sixteen. “And this is the bottom，” he shouted back.
“Then it really must be Cair Paravel，” said Lucy. “There were sixteen.” Nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the foot of the stairway. Then Edmund flashed his torch slowly round.
“O—o—o—oh！！” said all the children at once.
For now all knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of Cair Paravel where they had once reigned as Kings and Queens of Narnia. There was a kind of path up the middle （as it might be in a greenhouse）， and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armour， like knights guarding the treasures. In between the suits of armour， and on each side of the path， were shelves covered with precious things—necklaces and arm rings and finger rings and golden bowls and dishes and long tusks of ivory， brooches and coronets and chains of gold， and heaps of unset stones lying piled anyhow as if they were marbles or potatoes—diamonds， rubies， carbuncles， emeralds， topazes， and amethysts. Under the shelves stood great chests of oak strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked. And it was bitterly cold， and so still that they could hear themselves breathing， and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things， they would hardly have known they were treasures. There was something sad and a little frightening about the place， because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago. That was why nobody said anything for at least a minute. Then， of course， they began walking about and picking things up to look at. It was like meeting very old friends. If you had been there you would have heard them saying things like， “Oh look！ Our coronation rings—do you remember first wearing this？—Why， this is the little brooch we all thought was lost—I say， isn’t that the armour you wore in the great tournament in the Lone Islands？—do you remember the dwarf making that for me？—do you remember drinking out of that horn？—do you remember， do you remember？”
But suddenly Edmund said， “Look here. We mustn’t waste the battery： goodness knows how often we shall need it. Hadn’t we better take what we want and get out again？”
“We must take the gifts，” said Peter. For long ago at a Christmas in Narnia he and Susan and Lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom. Edmund had had no gift， because he was not with them at the time. （This was his own fault， and you can read about it in the other book.）
“我已经来到臺阶跟前。”爱德蒙说。
“数一下，看有多少级台阶。”彼得说。
“一、二、三……”爱德蒙一边嘴里数着，一边小心翼翼地往下走，一直数到第十六级台阶。“到底了。”他朝身后喊道。
“那么这里真的是凯尔帕拉维尔。”露茜说，“凯尔帕拉维尔宝库的台阶就是十六级。”谁也没搭话，直到他们走下最后一级台阶才停下来，大家紧紧靠在一起。爱德蒙揿亮手电筒，光柱缓缓地扫视着周围。
“哇！”孩子们欢呼雀跃起来。
不必再怀疑了，这里就是凯尔帕拉维尔那古老的宝库。作为纳尼亚曾经的国王和女王，他们是这里的旧主人。房子正中是一条甬道（就像温室里一样），两边每隔几米就竖立着一套曾经闪闪发亮的盔甲，就像卫士在守护着这些宝藏。在甬道两旁的架子上，“卫士”之间，摆放着奇珍异宝——项链、手镯、戒指、纯金做的碗碟、长长的象牙、 胸针、冠冕以及金链子，还有成堆尚未镶嵌的宝石，像石子或土豆一样散乱地堆在那里——钻石、红宝石、绿宝石、黄玉，还有紫水晶。架子下面放着一个个镶着金属边的橡木箱子，上着大锁。这里冷得要命，又静得出奇，孩子们扑通扑通的心跳是唯一能够清晰识别的声音。厚厚的尘土将珍宝掩藏其下，要不是他们知道这座宝库，并且按照记忆中的宝库结构去对所见的情景加以还原，谁肯相信那些东西竟然是珠宝呢？然而短暂的兴奋、欣喜与新奇过后，一丝伤感与惆怅却袭上心头，而且逐渐加深，直至化为一种莫名的恐惧与悲哀了。毕竟这里是一个被荒废太久的城堡，一切都显得古旧而阴森。因此大家好几分钟相对无言，一片沉寂。
孩子们缓缓朝前走去，一面随手拿起身边的宝物细细端详。对于他们而言，这里的一草一木，都像一位位久违的老友。如果你在场，你会听到他们说：“噢，看！咱们的加冕戒指——你还记得头一次戴上它时的情景吗？——咦，这不是那枚我们都认为丢失了的胸针吗？——瞧，这不是你在孤独岛那次比武大会上穿的盔甲吗？——你记不记得那是小矮人为我特制的？——你记不记得我们曾经用那只号来喝酒？——你还记不记得……”
突然，爱德蒙说：“听我说，我们不能白白耗费电池了，或许它还要派上更大的用场呢。要不咱们拿上最想要的宝物，赶紧出去吧。”
“我们得拿上那些礼物！”彼得说。很久很久以前，在一个纳尼亚的圣诞之夜，他、苏珊和露茜都得了一些礼物，这些礼物在他们看来，简直比整个王国都珍贵。只有爱德蒙没有礼物，因为当时他没有和大家在一起（这都怪他自己，关于这一点，你可以在另一个故事里读到）。
Word Study
draught /drɑ?ft/ n. 穿堂风;通风气流;通风
A cold draught of air blew in from the open window.
damp /d?mp/ n. 潮湿;湿气
shudder /'??d?（r）/ n. （因寒冷、害怕等引起的）发抖，战栗
scorch /sk??t?/ v. 烫，烫伤
The hot sand scorched our feet.
tournament /'t??n?m?nt/ n. （中世纪的）骑士比武;锦标赛
They all agreed with Peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber， and there， sure enough， the gifts were still hanging. Lucy’s was the smallest for it was only a little bottle. But the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass， and it was still more than half full of the magical cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness. Lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side where it used to hang in the old days. Susan’s gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. The bow was still there， and the ivory quiver， full of well-feathered arrows， but— “Oh， Susan，” said Lucy. “Where’s the horn？”
“Oh bother， bother， bother，” said Susan after she had thought for a moment. “I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all， the day we went hunting the White Stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place—England， I mean.”
Edmund whistled. It was indeed a shattering loss; for this was an enchanted horn and， whenever you blew it， help was certain to come to you， wherever you were.
“Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this，” said Edmund.
“Never mind，” said Susan， “I’ve still got the bow.” And she took it.
“Won’t the string be perished， Su？” said Peter.
But whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not， the bow was still in working order. Archery and swimming were the things Susan was good at. In a moment she had bent the bow and then she gave one little pluck to the string. It twanged： a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room. And that one small noise brought back the old days to the children’s minds more than anything that had happened yet. All the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together.
Then she unstrung the bow again and slung the quiver at her side.
Next， Peter took down his gift—the shield with the great red lion on it， and the royal sword. He blew， and rapped them on the floor， to get off the dust. He fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side. He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. But it was not so. With one swift motion he drew it and held it up， shining in the torchlight.
“It is my sword Rhindon，” he said; “with it I killed the Wolf.” There was a new tone in his voice， and the others all felt that he was really Peter the High King again. Then， after a little pause， everyone remembered that they must save the battery.
They climbed the stair again and made up a good fire and lay down close together for warmth. The ground was very hard and uncomfortable， but they fell asleep in the end.
大家都表示贊同，于是顺着甬道径直朝宝库的另一端走去。和预料的一样，礼物都在那里挂着。露茜的礼物最小了，是一个宝石小瓶而非玻璃小瓶，里面还剩半瓶多神水，这神水几乎可以治愈所有的创伤和疾病。露茜十分庄重地、默默地把它取下来，和以前一样用背带把它斜持在肩上，再一次体会宝石小瓶在身边的感觉。苏珊的礼物是一张弓、一壶箭和一把号。那张弓依然完好无损，旁边是那只盛满了羽翎箭的象牙箭壶。可是——
“喂，苏珊，”露茜问，“你的号在哪里？”
“啊，该死！”苏珊想了想说，“我想起来了，在我们离开纳尼亚的那天，我正带着它，就是我们去围猎白色牡鹿的那一天。我想，那把号肯定是在那之后掉了，或者掉在了人类世界也不一定。”
爱德蒙有些唏嘘，并且表示了惋惜和同情。这可是一把无比神奇的号。无论何时何地，只要吹响它就会得到所需要的帮助。
“此时此地，我们正需要这种宝贝。”爱德蒙说。
“别担心，我还有弓箭呢。”苏珊说着从墙上把弓箭取下来。
“弓弦不会因为老化失去弹性而断掉吧，苏珊？”彼得问。
可能是因为宝库里特殊的空气氛围和气流运动，那张弓仍然很好用。苏珊在学校里是射箭和游泳的好手。她立即娴熟地拉开弓，轻轻地弹开，嗡的一声，清脆而有力的声音在屋子里久久回荡。比起之前发生的那些事，这微弱的弦声更能把孩子们带到甜蜜的回忆中，战斗、狩猎、欢宴……一幕一幕像电影一般回放。
苏珊放好了弓箭，随后背上了一壶箭。
接着，彼得取下了一只盾牌，那是他的礼物，上面镶着一只红色巨狮;同时他还取下一柄宝剑，轻轻拂去剑鞘上的灰尘，在地毯上擦拭了一下。彼得把那盾牌拿在手里试一试，然后又把宝剑佩挂起来。开始彼得还担心宝剑会锈在剑鞘里拔不出来。但是令他惊异而欣喜不已的是，轻轻一拔，宝剑便嗖的一声出鞘，剑锋在黑暗中射出一道寒光来。
“当年我正是用这把宝剑刺死了巨狼。”彼得语气颇为骄傲，声音充满自信与勇气。大家顿时觉得站在眼前的可不再是个小男孩了，而分明是一位威严、肃穆的君王。随后，大家猛地意识到，必须节约电池，马上离开。
孩子们摸索着登上台阶，出了宝库，重新燃起一堆篝火，然后依偎在一起，使身体尽快暖和起来。地面太硬，睡在上面很不舒服，然而，大家太疲惫了，很快就呼呼入睡了。
Word Study
solemn /'s?l?m/ adj. 庄严的;郑重的
sling /sl??/ v.挂;吊
Her bag was slung over her shoulder.
shattering /'??t?r??/ adj. 令人极度悲痛的
enchanted /?n't?ɑ?nt?d/ adj. 被施魔法的;有魔法的
perish /'per??/ v. 老化，脆裂