黎明踏浪號(hào)

C. S.劉易斯（任顯楷　譯）

Chapter Four ?What Caspian Did There （Ⅱ）

第四章 凱斯賓隨后做的事情（中）

The captain gaped but Bern immediately cried， “Three cheers for the King，” and the soldiers， who had understood about the cask of wine even if they understood nothing else， joined in. Caspian then ordered most of his own men to remain in the courtyard. He， with Bern and Drinian and four others， went into the hall.

Behind a table at the far end with various secretaries about him sat his Sufficiency， the Governor of the Lone Islands. Gumpas was a bilious-looking man with hair that had once been red and was now mostly grey. He glanced up as the strangers entered and then looked down at his papers saying automatically， “No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten pm on second Saturdays.”

Caspian nodded to Bern and then stood aside. Bern and Drinian took a step forward and each seized one end of the table. They lifted it， and flung it on one side of the hall where it rolled over， scattering a cascade of letters， dossiers， ink-pots， pens， sealing-wax and documents. Then， not roughly but as firmly as if their hands were pincers of steel， they plucked Gumpas out of his chair and deposited him， facing it， about four feet away. Caspian at once sat down in the chair and laid his naked sword across his knees.

“My Lord，” said he， fixing his eyes on Gumpas， “you have not given us quite the welcome we expected. I am the King of Narnia.”

“Nothing about it in the correspondence，” said the governor. “Nothing in the minutes. We have not been notified of any such thing. All irregular. Happy to consider any applications—”

“And we are come to enquire into your Sufficiencys conduct of your office，” continued Caspian. “There are two points especially on which I require an explanation. Firstly I find no record that the tribute due from these Islands to the crown of Narnia has been received for about a hundred and fifty years.”

衛(wèi)隊(duì)長(zhǎng)打呵欠之際，波恩爵士立馬高聲喊道：“為國(guó)王陛下三呼‘萬(wàn)歲！”那些衛(wèi)兵，除了記得“美酒一桶”，別的什么也沒(méi)鬧明白。不過(guò)既然有酒喝，他們自然也就加入了歡呼的人群。凱斯賓隨后命令自己帶來(lái)的人待在內(nèi)院里，只挑了四名最得力的隨從，加上波恩爵士和德瑞尼亞，走進(jìn)城堡的大廳。

在大廳里遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的一端，一張桌子后面坐著孤島群島的總督大人，很多謀臣秘書(shū)環(huán)伺在他周?chē)??？偠綅徟了沟南嗝部雌饋?lái)就很兇惡，他的頭發(fā)以前是紅色的，現(xiàn)在差不多已經(jīng)完全變成了灰色。他只抬眼掃了一下進(jìn)來(lái)的這幾個(gè)陌生人，就又低下了頭，看著他面前的文件，用機(jī)械的腔調(diào)說(shuō)：“除了每個(gè)月的第二個(gè)星期六晚上九點(diǎn)到十點(diǎn)之外，其他時(shí)候沒(méi)有預(yù)約一律不見(jiàn)。”

凱斯賓沖波恩爵士點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，然后站到一邊。伯恩爵士和德瑞尼亞往前一大步，走到崗帕斯的桌邊。他們一人握住桌子的一角，把桌子舉起來(lái)，狠狠地?cái)S向大廳的一角。桌子翻倒在地上，桌上的信函、檔案、墨水瓶、筆、蠟封和各種文件散落了一地。接著波恩爵士和德瑞尼亞二人又走上前去，動(dòng)作并不粗暴，但他們兩人的雙臂如同鐵鉗一般，把崗帕斯從座位上提了起來(lái)，把他放到離座位四五英尺開(kāi)外，讓他面對(duì)著自己的座椅站好。凱斯賓走過(guò)去，在總督的椅子上坐了下來(lái)。他拔出寶劍，把劍放在雙腿之間。

凱斯賓目光盯在崗帕斯身上，開(kāi)口說(shuō)：“我的大人，我們所希望的禮遇，你可沒(méi)有給我們啊。我，是納尼亞的國(guó)王。”

崗帕斯總督說(shuō)道：“王國(guó)的通告中可沒(méi)有提到您要駕臨，也沒(méi)有開(kāi)會(huì)說(shuō)到此事啊。我們也沒(méi)有接到任何通知，這一切都來(lái)得太不尋常了。不過(guò)，我很榮幸為您提供任何服務(wù)……”

凱斯賓繼續(xù)說(shuō)道：“本王此次前來(lái)，就是要考察一下總督大人你是如何履行你的職責(zé)的。有兩點(diǎn)我特別需要你做出說(shuō)明。首先，我發(fā)現(xiàn)大約有一百五十年，沒(méi)有任何記錄證明你的島在向納尼亞朝貢?！?/p>

“That would be a question to raise at the Council next month，” said Gumpas. “If anyone moves that a commission of enquiry be set up to report on the financial history of the islands at the first meeting next year， why then...”

“I also find it very clearly written in our laws，” Caspian went on， “that if the tribute is not delivered the whole debt has to be paid by the Governor of the Lone Islands out of his private purse.”

At this Gumpas began to pay real attention. “Oh， thats quite out of the question，” he said. “It is an economic impossibility—er—your Majesty must be joking.”

Inside， he was wondering if there were any way of getting rid of these unwelcome visitors. Had he known that Caspian had only one ship and one ships company with him， he would have spoken soft words for the moment， and hoped to have them all surrounded and killed during the night. But he had seen a ship of war sail down the straits yesterday and seen it signalling， as he supposed， to its consorts. He had not then known it was the Kings ship for there was not wind enough to spread the flag out and make the golden lion visible， so he had waited further developments. Now he imagined that Caspian had a whole fleet at Bernstead. It would never have occurred to Gumpas that anyone would walk into Narrowhaven to take the islands with less than fifty men; it was certainly not at all the kind of thing he could imagine doing himself.

“Secondly，” said Caspian， “I want to know why you have permitted this abominable and unnatural traffic in slaves to grow up here， contrary to the ancient custom and usage of our dominions.”

“這正是我們議會(huì)下個(gè)月將要討論的問(wèn)題?！睄徟了拐f(shuō)，“如果在明年的第一次會(huì)議上，有任何一個(gè)人提出動(dòng)議，認(rèn)為需要成立一個(gè)調(diào)查委員會(huì)就孤島群島的財(cái)務(wù)情況提交一份報(bào)告的話，那么……”

凱斯賓打斷崗帕斯的話繼續(xù)說(shuō)道：“我還在我們的法律中很清楚地發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣一條規(guī)定，如果某個(gè)轄地沒(méi)有繳納貢賦的話，那么所欠的全部貢賦，都要由該地的總督從自己口袋里拿出錢(qián)來(lái)全部?jī)斍?。?/p>

此話一說(shuō)，崗帕斯開(kāi)始意識(shí)到事態(tài)的嚴(yán)重了。他說(shuō)：“哦，這……這不現(xiàn)實(shí)。這在經(jīng)濟(jì)上是行不通的。呃，陛下您一定是在開(kāi)玩笑?！?/p>

在內(nèi)心中，崗帕斯暗暗盤(pán)算，有沒(méi)有什么辦法可以把這幾個(gè)不受歡迎的來(lái)訪者給打發(fā)走。假如崗帕斯知道凱斯賓只有一艘船和有限的兵力隨船而來(lái)，他一定會(huì)在此時(shí)此刻說(shuō)點(diǎn)軟話，爭(zhēng)取首先脫身，然后利用夜晚的掩護(hù)，將凱斯賓等人包圍起來(lái)殺掉?？墒撬蛱炜吹搅艘凰覒?zhàn)船駛?cè)牒{，也看到了船上放出的信號(hào)。他相信這信號(hào)是這艘戰(zhàn)船發(fā)給跟隨著它的整支艦隊(duì)的。在當(dāng)時(shí)，他沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這是國(guó)王的船。因?yàn)樽蛱炖杳魈だ颂?hào)進(jìn)入海峽的時(shí)候海面上沒(méi)有風(fēng)，船上繡有金色獅子的王旗沒(méi)有展開(kāi)來(lái)。所以崗帕斯就沒(méi)有采取任何行動(dòng)，只是等待著事態(tài)的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展。而現(xiàn)在，他確信國(guó)王帶了一整支艦隊(duì)前來(lái)，艦隊(duì)現(xiàn)在就駐守在波恩斯泰德。對(duì)崗帕斯來(lái)說(shuō)，一個(gè)人只帶了不到五十個(gè)士兵，就進(jìn)入窄港并拿下整個(gè)孤島群島，這完全是不可能發(fā)生的事情。這樣的事情，在他心中根本不可想象。

“第二件事，”凱斯賓繼續(xù)說(shuō)道，“我很想知道，你為什么允許丑惡的、不人道的奴隸貿(mào)易在此地發(fā)展？要知道這和我們古老的傳統(tǒng)相違背，更是對(duì)納尼亞主權(quán)的濫用?！?/p>

“Necessary， unavoidable，” said his Sufficiency. “An essential part of the economic development of the islands， I assure you. Our present burst of prosperity depends on it.”

“What need have you of slaves？”

“For export， your Majesty. Sell them to Calormen mostly; and we have other markets. We are a great centre of the trade.”

“In other words，” said Caspian， “you dont need them. Tell me what purpose they serve except to put money into the pockets of such as Pug？”

“Your Majestys tender years，” said Gumpas， with what was meant to be a fatherly smile， “hardly make it possible that you should understand the economic problem involved. I have statistics， I have graphs， I have—”

“Tender as my years be，” said Caspian， “I believe I understand the slave trade from within quite as well as your Sufficiency. And I do not see that it brings into the islands meat or bread or beer or wine or timber or cabbages or books or instruments of music or horses or armour or anything else worth having. But whether it does or not， it must be stopped.”

“But that would be putting the clock back，” gasped the governor. “Have you no idea of progress， of development？”

“I have seen them both in an egg，” said Caspian. “We call it ‘Going Bad in Narnia. This trade must stop.”

“I can take no responsibility for any such measure，” said Gumpas.

崗帕斯答道：“奴隸貿(mào)易非常必要，不能廢除。我敢向您保證，這是讓群島的經(jīng)濟(jì)得以發(fā)展的重要一環(huán)。我們目前的繁榮昌盛都建立在奴隸貿(mào)易的基礎(chǔ)之上。”

“你要奴隸來(lái)做什么？”

“用來(lái)出口啊，我的陛下！大部分奴隸都賣(mài)到卡羅門(mén)去了。除此之外我們還有別的一些市場(chǎng)。孤島群島是奴隸販運(yùn)的中心集散地?！?/p>

凱斯賓道：“這樣說(shuō)來(lái)，其實(shí)你自己并不需要奴隸。那么你告訴我，販賣(mài)奴隸除了能讓像帕格這樣的家伙賺個(gè)盆溢缽滿(mǎn)，還有什么益處？”

“陛下年事尚輕，”崗帕斯帶著一副慈父般的笑容說(shuō)道，“很難弄清這其中涉及的經(jīng)濟(jì)問(wèn)題。我有統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，我有圖表，我還有……”

“我固然還年輕，”凱斯賓打斷了崗帕斯的話說(shuō)，“但我相信我對(duì)奴隸貿(mào)易有同大人你一樣的深刻理解，我沒(méi)有從奴隸貿(mào)易中看到它給孤島群島帶來(lái)任何好處。奴隸貿(mào)易沒(méi)有給這里帶來(lái)肉或面包，也沒(méi)有啤酒或葡萄酒，更沒(méi)有木材、卷心菜、書(shū)籍、樂(lè)器、馬匹、盔甲以及任何一切人們值得擁有的東西?？墒牵徽撆`貿(mào)易是否能夠給人們帶來(lái)什么，我都認(rèn)為，奴隸貿(mào)易一定要終止！”

崗帕斯氣喘吁吁地說(shuō)：“可這樣會(huì)讓孤島群島的發(fā)展倒退回去的。難道您不考慮此地未來(lái)的發(fā)展與進(jìn)步嗎？”

“我看到過(guò)進(jìn)步和發(fā)展的萌芽狀態(tài)?！眲P斯賓說(shuō)，“在納尼亞，我們管這叫作‘腐敗。無(wú)論如何，奴隸貿(mào)易一定要終止?！?/p>

崗帕斯說(shuō)：“我不能負(fù)責(zé)采取任何這類(lèi)措施?！?/p>

Word Study

scatter /'sk?t?（r）/ v. 撒;四散;散開(kāi)

The flowers fell and scattered on the ground.

pluck /pl?k/ v. 拔，拉，抽，扯

deposit /d?'p?z?t/ v. 放下

abominable /?'b?m?n?bl/ adj. 令人憎惡的

essential /?'sen?l/ adj. 完全必要的;極其重要的

Experience is essential for this job.