《能言馬與男孩》第58期:南征隱士(5)

When Aravis came to herself she found that she was lying on her face on a low bed of extraordinary softness in a cool, bare room with walls of undressed stone. She couldn't understand why she had been laid on her face; but when she tried to turn and felt the hot, burning pains all over her back, she remembered, and realized why. She couldn't understand what delightfully springy stuff the bed was made of, because it was made of heather (which is the best bedding) and heather was a thing she had never seen or heard of.

The door opened and the Hermit entered, carrying a large wooden bowl in his hand. After carefully setting this down, he came to the bedside, and asked:

"How do you find yourself, my daughter?"

"My back is very sore, father," said Aravis, "but there is nothing else wrong with me."

He knelt beside her, laid his hand on her forehead, and felt her pulse.

"There is no fever," he said. "You will do well. Indeed there is no reason why you should not get up tomorrow. But now, drink this."

He fetched the wooden bowl and held it to her lips. Aravis couldn't help making a face when she tasted it, for goats' milk is rather a shock when you are not used to it. But she was very thirsty and managed to drink it all and felt better when she had finished.

"Now, my daughter, you may sleep when you wish," said the Hermit. "For your wounds are washed and dressed and though they smart they are no more serious than if they had been the cuts of a whip. It must have been a very strange lion; for instead-of catching you out of the saddle and getting his teeth into you, he has only drawn his claws across your back. Ten scratches: sore, but not deep or dangerous."

"I say!" said Aravis. "I have had Luck."

"Daughter," said the Hermit, "I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as Luck. Them is something about all this that I do not understand: but if ever we need to know it, you may be sure that we shall."

"And what about Rabadash and his two hundred horse?" asked Aravis.

"They will not pass this way, I think," said the Hermit. "They must have found a ford by now well to the east of us. From there they will try to ride straight to Anvard."

"Poor Shasta!" said Aravis. "Has he far to go? Will he get there first?"

"There is good hope of it," said the old man.

Aravis lay down again (on her side this time) and said, "Have I been asleep for a long time? It seems to be getting dark."

The Hermit was looking out of the only window, which faced north. "This is not the darkness of night," he said presently. "The clouds are falling down from Stormness Head. Our foul weather always comes from there in these parts. There will be thick fog tonight."

阿拉維斯甦醒過來時，發覺她正俯臥在一張特別柔軟的牀上，房間內什麼陳設也沒有，石頭牆也是未經雕琢的、粗糙的。她不明白爲什麼安排她俯臥；但當她要想翻身而感覺到整個背部灼熱發燙、十分疼痛時，她記起來了，明白了非得俯臥不可的緣故。她不明白這牀是用什麼舒適而有彈性的材料做的，因爲這牀是用石南荒原草(最好的墊褥)做成的，而她從未見過或聽說過這種草。

門打開了，隱士進來了，手裏拿着一隻大木碗。小心翼翼地把碗放下後，他來到牀邊，問道:

“我的女兒，你自己覺得怎樣？”

“父親，我的背上很痛，”阿拉維斯說道，”但沒有其他的毛病。”

他跪在牀邊，把手按在她的額上，還給她號脈。

“沒有發燒，”他說，”你就會痊癒的。事實上，明兒個你就該起牀了。但是現在要喝這個。”

他拿起木碗，送到她的脣邊。她喝下去時不由得做了個鬼臉，因爲羊奶還沒有喝慣時總是叫人害怕的。她很口渴，設法把那碗羊奶都喝下去了，喝完時，覺得好多了。

“聽着，女兒，你想睡時不妨睡睡，”隱士說道，”因爲你的傷口洗過了，敷了藥，包裹好了，傷口雖然疼痛，可不比鞭打後的傷痕嚴重。這必定是一頭十分奇怪的獅子，它並沒有用牙齒咬到你的肉裏，把你從馬鞍子上叼下來，只是用爪子在你背上撓了一下。十道傷痕，痛，可是不深，不危險。”

“嗨！”阿拉維斯說，”我運氣好！”

“女兒啊，”隱士說道，”我在這個世界上活了一百零九個春秋了，可從來不曾碰到過什麼類似運氣的東西。在這一切裏，有些東西我不理解，但如果我們確實需要弄明白的話，你不妨深信不疑，我們一定會弄明白的。”

“拉巴達什和他的二百人馬情況怎麼樣了呢？”阿拉維斯問道。

“他們不會走這條路，我想。”隱士說，”此刻他們必定已經找到一個可以涉水而過的地方，遠在我們的東邊兒。他們將試圖從那兒直奔安瓦德。”

“可憐的沙斯塔！”阿拉維斯說道，”他得跑很遠的路吧？他會先到達安瓦德嗎？”

“大有希望。”老人說道。

阿拉維斯重新躺下(這回是側臥了)，她說”我睡了好長時間嗎？天色好像在暗下來了。”

隱士從那惟一的窗子——朝北的窗子——望出去。”這不是夜間的黑暗，”他立刻說道，”雲霾是從暴風雨峯洶涌而下的，我們這些個地方的惡劣天氣都是從那兒發端的。今夜將有濃重的大霧了。”