the island
once there were four children whose names were peter, susan, edmund, and lucy, and it has been told in another book called the lion, the witch and the wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure. they had opened the door of a magic wardrobe and found themselves in a quite different world from ours, and in that different world they had become kings and queens in a country called narnia. while they were in narnia they seemed to reign for years and years; but when they came back through the door and found themselves in england again, it all seemed to have taken no time at all. at any rate, no one noticed that they had ever been away, and they never told anyone except one very wise grown-up.
that had all happened a year ago, and now all four of them were sitting on a seat at a railway station with trunks and playboxes piled up round them. they were, in fact, on their way back to school. they had travelled together as far as this station, which was a junction; and here, in a few minutes, one train would arrive and take the girls away to one school, and in about half an hour another train would arrive and the boys would go off to another school. the first part of the journey, when they were all together, always seemed to be part of the holidays; but now when they would be saying good-bye and going different ways so soon, everyone felt that the holidays were really over and everyone felt their term-time feelings beginning again, and they were all rather gloomy and no one could think of anything to say. lucy was going to boarding school for the first time.
it was an empty, sleepy, country station and there was hardly anyone on the platform except themselves. suddenly lucy gave a sharp little cry, like someone who has been stung by a wasp.
"what's up, lu?" said edmund - and then suddenly broke off and made a noise like "ow!"
"what on earth-",began peter, and then he too suddenly changed what he had been going to say. instead, he said, "susan, let go! what are you doing? where are you dragging me to?"
"i'm not touching you," said susan. "someone is pulling me. oh - oh -oh -stop it!"
everyone noticed that all the others' faces had gone very white.
"i felt just the same," said edmund in a breathless voice. "as if i were being dragged along. a most frightful pulling-ugh! it's beginning again."
"me too," said lucy. "oh, i can't bear it."
"look sharp!" shouted edmund. "all catch hands and keep together. this is magic - i can tell by the feeling. quick!"
"yes," said susan. "hold hands. oh, i do wish it would stop-oh!"
next moment the luggage, the seat, the platform, and the station had completely vanished. the four children, holding hands and panting, found themselves standing in a woody place - such a woody place that branches were sticking into them and there was hardly room to move. they all rubbed their eyes and took a deep breath.
"oh, peter!" exclaimed lucy. "do you think we can possibly have got back to narnia?"
"it might be anywhere," said peter. "i can't see a yard in all these trees. let's try to get into the open - if there is any open."
with some difficulty, and with some stings from nettles and pricks from thorns, they struggled out of the thicket. then they had another surprise. everything became much brighter, and after a few steps they found themselves at the edge of the wood, looking down on a sandy beach. a few yards away a very calm sea was falling on the sand with such tiny ripples that it made hardly any sound. there was no land in sight and no clouds in the sky. the sun was about where it ought to be at ten o'clock in the morning, and the sea was a dazzling blue. they stood sniffing in the sea-smell.
"by jove!" said peter. "this is good enough."
five minutes later everyone was barefooted and wading in the cool clear water.
"this is better than being in a stuffy train on the way back to latin and french and algebra!" said edmund. and then for quite a long time there was no more talking, only splashing and looking for shrimps and crabs.
"all the same," said susan presently, "i suppose we'll have to make some plans. we shall want something to eat before long."
"we've got the sandwiches mother gave us for the journey," said edmund. "at least i've got mine."
"not me," said lucy. "mine were in my little bag."
"so were mine," said susan.
"mine are in my coat-pocket, there on the beach," said peter. "that'll be two lunches among four. this isn't going to be such fun."
"at present," said lucy, "i want something to drink more than something to eat."
everyone else now felt thirsty, as one usually is after wading in salt water under a hot sun.
"it's like being shipwrecked," remarked edmund. "in the books they always find springs of clear, fresh water on the island. we'd better go and look for them."
"does that mean we have to go back into all that thick wood?" said susan.
"not a bit of it," said peter. "if there are streams they're bound to come down to the sea, and if we walk along the beach we're bound to come to them."
they all now waded back and went first across the smooth, wet sand and then up to the dry, crumbly sand that sticks to one's toes, and began putting on their shoes and socks. edmund and lucy wanted to leave them behind and do their exploring with bare feet, but susan said this would be a mad thing to do. "we might never find them again," she pointed out, "and we shall want them if we're still here when night comes and it begins to be cold."
when they were dressed again they set out along the shore with the sea on their left hand and the wood on their right. except for an occasional seagull it was a very quiet place. the wood was so thick and tangled that they could hardly see into it at all; and nothing in it moved - not a bird, not even an insect.
shells and seaweed and anemones, or tiny crabs in rockpools, are all very well, but you soon get tired of them if you are thirsty. the children's feet, after the change from the cool water, felt hot and heavy. susan and lucy had raincoats to carry. edmund had put down his coat on the station seat just before the magic overtook them, and he and peter took it in turns to carry peter's great-coat.
presently the shore began to curve round to the right. about quarter of an hour later, after they had crossed a rocky ridge which ran out into a point, it made quite a sharp turn. their backs were now to the part of the sea which had met them when they first came out of the wood, and now, looking ahead, they could see across the water another shore, thickly wooded like the one they were exploring.
"i wonder, is that an island or do we join on to it presently?" said lucy.
"don't know," said peter and they all plodded on in silence.
the shore that they were walking on drew nearer and nearer to the opposite shore, and as they came round each promontory the children expected to find the place where the two joined. but in this they were disappointed. they came to some rocks which they had to climb and from the top they could see a fairway ahead and - "oh bother!" said edmund, "it's no good. we shan't be able to get to those other woods at all. we're on an island!"
it was true. at this point the channel between them and the opposite coast was only about thirty or forty yards wide; but they could now see that this was its narrowest place. after that, their own coast bent round to the right again and they could see open sea between it and the mainland. it was obvious that they had already come much more than halfway round the island.
"look!" said lucy suddenly. "what's that?" she pointed to a long, silvery, snake-like thing that lay across the beach.
"a stream! a stream!" shouted the others, and, tired as they were, they lost no time in clattering down the rocks and racing to the fresh water. they knew that the stream would be better to drink farther up, away from the beach, so they went at once to the spot where it came out of the wood. the trees were as thick as ever, but the stream had made itself a deep course between high mossy banks so that by stooping you could follow it up in a sort of tunnel of leaves. they dropped on their knees by the first brown, dimply pool and drank and drank, and dipped their faces in the water, and then dipped their arms in up to the elbow.
"now," said edmund, "what about those sandwiches?"
"oh, hadn't we better have them?" said susan. "we may need them far worse later on."
"i do wish," said lucy, "now that we're not thirsty, we could go on feeling as not-hungry as we did when we were thirsty."
"but what about those sandwiches?" repeated edmund. "there's no good saving them till they go bad. you've got to remember it's a good deal hotter here than in england and we've been carrying them about in pockets for hours." so they got out the two packets and divided them into four portions, and nobody had quite enough, but it was a great deal better than nothing. then they talked about their plans for the next meal. lucy wanted to go back to the sea and catch shrimps, until someone pointed out that they had no nets. edmund said they must gather gulls' eggs from the rocks, but when they came to think of it they couldn't remember having seen any gulls' eggs and wouldn't be able to cook them if they found any. peter thought to himself that unless they had some stroke of luck they would soon be glad to eat eggs raw, but he didn't see any point in saying this out loud. susan said it was a pity they had eaten the sandwiches so soon. one or two tempers very nearly got lost at this stage. finally edmund said:
"look here. there's only one thing to be done. we must explore the wood. hermits and knights-errant and people like that always manage to live somehow if they're in a forest. they find roots and berries and things."
"what sort of roots?" asked susan.
"i always thought it meant roots of trees," said lucy.
"come on," said peter, "ed is right. and we must try to do something. and it'll be better than going out into the glare and the sun again."
so they all got up and began to follow the stream. it was very hard work. they had to stoop under branches and climb over branches, and they blundered through great masses of stuff like rhododendrons and tore their clothes and got their feet wet in the stream; and still there was no noise at all except the noise of the stream and the noises they were making themselves. they were beginning to get very tired of it when they noticed a delicious smell, and then a flash of bright colour high above them at the top of the right bank.
"i say!" exclaimed lucy. "i do believe that's an apple tree."
it was. they panted up the steep bank, forced their way through some brambles, and found themselves standing round an old tree that was heavy with large yellowishgolden apples as firm and juicy as you could wish to see.
"and this is not the only tree," said edmund with his mouth full of apple. "look there-and there."
"why, there are dozens of them," said susan, throwing away the core of her first apple and picking her second. "this must have been an orchard - long, long ago, before the place went wild and the wood grew up."
"then this was once an inhabited island," said peter.
"and what's that?" said lucy, pointing ahead.
"by jove, it's a wall," said peter. "an old stone wall."
pressing their way between the laden branches they reached the wall. it was very old, and broken down in places, with moss and wallflowers growing on it, but it was higher than all but the tallest trees. and when they came quite close to it they found a great arch which must once have had a gate in it but was now almost filled up with the largest of all the apple trees. they had to break some of the branches to get past, and when they had done so they all blinked because the daylight became suddenly much brighter. they found themselves in a wide open place with walls all round it. in here there were no trees, only level grass and daisies, and ivy, and grey walls. it was a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad; and all four stepped out into the middle of it, glad to be able to straighten their backs and move their limbs freely.
1小岛
以前有四个孩子彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。在另一本叫做《狮子、女巫和魔衣柜》的书里，我们曾经讲述过他们的一次精彩历险。他们钻进一个神秘的大衣柜，发现自己来到一个与我们这里全然不同的世界——纳尼亚王国。在那里，他们成为国王和女王，并且统治了好多好多年。可是，当他们穿过那扇柜门，重新回到我们的世界来时，这场历险似乎只是瞬间发生的事情——至少没人发现他们曾经离开过。而他们除了告诉过一位非常博学的老人之外，对谁也没有提起过这件事。(
那是一年前发生的事情了。现在，这四个孩子都坐在火车站的长椅上，身边堆放着大衣箱和用品箱。这是在回学校的路上，他们将在这里分手。女孩子们准备乘坐很快就要进站的一列火车返回自己的学校，而大约半个小时以后，两个男孩将乘另一列火车返回他们的学校。这一路上大家热热闹闹在一起，总觉得仍然是在度假，可是现在，马上就要握手告别，这使每个人都意识到，假期的确已经结束，天天上课的日子又要开始了。孩子们不由得都情绪低落，谁也想不出该说些什么才好。露茜将是第一次上寄宿学校。
这是个空荡、沉寂的小镇车站，月台上除了他们，几乎再没别人。突然，露茜轻声尖叫了一下，仿佛被马蜂蛰了一下似的。
什么事，露？"爱德蒙问。可是话音未落，他也"哎哟"声叫了起来。
"真见鬼…"彼得话说了一半，突然也改变了原先想说的话，"苏珊，放手！你干什么？你拉我上哪儿去？"
谁碰你了！"苏珊说，"倒是有人在拉我，哎……哎……哎……别拉我呀！"
孩子们一个个脸色变得煞白。
"我也是，"爱德蒙气都喘不过来了，"好像有人把我拉向什么地方。这太可怕了——唷，又来了！”
"我也一样，"露茜喊道，"哦，我支持不住了。"
"快！"爱德蒙喊道，"大家快拉起手来，不要松开！这是一种魔力——我的感觉没错，快！”
"对，"苏珊急急地说，"拉起手来。噢，恐怕一时还停不了，噢……”
接着是一阵天旋地转，行李、长楠、月台和车站转眼间都消失不见了。四个孩子手拉着手，气喘吁吁，发现自己站在一片树林之中——这里的树木是那么稠密，树枝顶在他们身上，几乎连一点活动的余地都没有。孩子们揉揉眼睛，深深舒了一口气。
"喂，彼得！"露茜大声说，"你看咱们会不会是又回到纳尼亚了？"
"什么地方都有可能，"彼得答道，"这么多的树，一米之外我就什么都看不见了。咱们得想法找一找，看看外面有没有空地。
费了九牛二虎之力，身上多处被树枝划破，他们终于走出了树木最稠密的地区。外面的光线强多了，再往前走几步，他们突然惊奇地发现自己已站在树林的边缘，眼前是一片海滩。离他们不远处，温和的海水轻轻地涌上滩头，激起层层细浪，几乎一点儿声响都没有。这里看不到田野，天上也没有云，眼前只有大海那令人目眩的一片蔚蓝。根据太阳的位置判断，现在大约是上午十点钟。几个孩子悄然肃立，沐浴在海洋气息之中。.
"哇！"彼得不禁感叹道，"这儿风景真好啊！"
五分钟之后，大家都脱掉鞋子走进那清凉透澈的海水之中。
"比起坐在那闷热的车厢里回学校去上那些拉丁文、法文和代数课来，这可真是强多了！"爱德蒙说。这以后有老半天，大家都默不作声，只是踩着水往前走，一边寻找水中的虾蟹。
"尽管如此，"过了一会儿苏珊说，"咱们该认真计划一下，要不然我们很快就会饿肚子了。"
"不是有妈妈给我们带在路上吃的三明治吗？"爱德蒙说，"至少我的一份在这里。
"我的没了，"露茜说，"我把它放在小包里了。""我的也放在那儿。"苏珊说。
"我的在衣服口袋里，睹，就在海滩上，"彼得说，"四个人两份午餐，准不够吃！”
"我现在并不饿，就是有点渴。"露茜说。
这一说，大家都感到口渴起来。当然啦，在烈日下的海水中玩一会儿之后，谁都要口渴的。
"我们现在的情形就好像船在海上遇了险，"爱德蒙一本正经地说，"书中的遇难者们总是能在荒岛上找到清凉甘甜的泉水。咱们也该去找找看口
"你是说，我们还得到那茂密的林子中去？"苏珊问。
"用不着，"彼得说，"只要有小溪，它们肯定会潺潺而下，流入大海。我们沿着海岸走，！佳能找得到。
于是，他们开始趟水往回走。在松软的沙滩上，他们穿起鞋袜。爱德蒙和露茜曾异想、天开地要把鞋袜都丢掉，光着脚去探险，幸亏苏珊及时阻止了他们，说那样做简直是发疯。"那样就再也找不回它们了，可如果晚上我们还要待在这里，天又冷起来，你们穿什么？"
他们穿好后，沿着海岸向前走去，左边是大海，右边是森林。这里非常恬静，只是间或传来海鸥的叫声。树林十分茂密，枝叶缠结在一起，根本看不到里面，而且，林子深处一片寂静——没有鸟儿，甚至连昆虫的动静也没有。,
贝壳、海藻、海葵和那岩石缝里的小螃蟹，都非常好玩。
可是，在口渴难当的时候，你就对它们不感兴趣了。更糟的是，从凉凉的海水中出来以后，他们不久便感到两条腿又热又沉甸甸的。苏珊和露茜有各自的雨衣要拿，爱德蒙的外衣丢在了车站的长椅上，所以现在他和彼得轮流着拿彼得的大衣。
不久，海岸开始向右延伸。大约一刻钟之后，他们绕过一个石崖。这石崖在前面一个急转弯，把刚才那片海域抛在了身后。举目望去，他们看到海峡对面的一片陆地上树木茂密，与脚下这片土地十分相像。
"那是一个岛吗？或者，没准儿两边很快就连在起了。"露茜说。
"不知道。"彼得懒懒地答道。大家拖着疲惫的步子往前走，谁也不说话。
两边海岸越来越靠近。每走过一个岬角，他们就期待着看到两岸相交，可结果总是使他们失望。终于，他们来到片岩石跟前。爬上岩顶，只见一条小路伸向远方。"真糟糕！"爱德蒙懊恼地说，"白费了半天劲儿|咱们根本无法到达那边的树林——这儿是一个小岛！"
千真万确，从这里看去，两岸之间的海峡只不过三十来米，显然是最狭窄的地方。再往前，脚下的海岸继续向右延伸，他们可以看到岛与大陆之间开阔的海面。看来，他们已经沿着岛走了大半圈了。
"看，那是什么？"露茜突然说，手指着横卧在海滩上的一条银色的、长蛇般的东西。
["小溪，一条小溪！”其他几个齐声欢呼起来。尽管已经十分疲倦，他们还是毫不迟疑地跳下岩石，向那淡水小溪跑过去。他们知道，上游的溪水才最好喝，便沿着小溪朝上游走去。树林仍然是那么茂密，好在天长日久，那小溪冲出了一条通道：弯下身来，在枝叶搭起的天然隧道里，就能顺水而上。他们在第一个水潭边跪下来，尽情地喝了个够。然后把脸浸在水里，再把胳膊也伸进去，一直浸到臂弯处。
"好极了！"爱德蒙长长地舒了一口气，"现在，让我们来点儿三明治怎么样？"
"喂，我们是不是该省着点儿吃？"苏珊犹豫地说，"也许我们以后更需要它们。"
"现在我们已经不觉得口渴了，"露茜说，"我真希望，仍然像刚才口渴时那样一点儿都不觉得饿。"
"可那些三明治怎么办呢？"爱德蒙仍不甘心，"我们可别省着不吃，结果却把它们放坏了。你们别忘了，这儿气温很高，我们把它们装在口袋里已经走了很久。"于是他们把那两包三明治取出来，分成四份。说实在的，谁都没有吃饱，但这总比什么都不吃强多了。可下一餐怎么办呢？露茜提议回到海边去捕捉海虾，可是没有网。爱德蒙认为最好是去岩石缝里搜集海鸥蛋，可谁也想不起来曾在哪里看到过海鸥蛋，再说即使找到，也无法把它们做熟。彼得心想，除非碰上好运气，否则不用多久，能有生蛋吃就不错了。当然，他明白没有必要把这话讲出来。苏珊开始懊悔不该这么早早地就把三明治一下子吃个精光。孩子们有些沉不住气了。
最后，还是爱德蒙开口说道
"听我说，现在我们只能去森林里面碰碰运气。探险家、云游四海的骑士、侠客以及许多诸如此类的古人，在这种情况下总是想办法活下来的。他们吃根茎、野果和任何可以充饥的东西。":
"什么根茎？"苏珊好奇地问。
"我一向以为那是指树根。"露茜说。
"出发吧，"彼得鼓励大家，"爱德蒙是对的。我们必须去闯闯看，这总比傻站在阳光下要强。""
于是，他们站起身来，顺着小溪向森林深处走去。行程十分艰难，茂密的枝叶拦在面前，他们不得不弯腰前进，或者从枝干上面爬过去。他们跌跌撞撞地穿过大片大片杜鹊之类的灌木丛。衣服扯破了，鞋也在小溪里搞湿了。此时此地，除了小溪流水和他们自己发出的声响之外，林子里依然是一片寂静。正当他们开始感到有些厌倦的时候，突然注意到从什么地方飘来一股清香。接着，他们看到右上方有一种十分鲜亮的色彩。
"看呀！"露茜叫道，"我说那一定是一棵苹果树。"
果然是一棵苹果树。他们一鼓作气爬上陡坡，从荆棘中踩出一条路，来到这棵老树前。树上沉甸甸地挂满了金黄色的、坚实多汁的大苹果。
"还不止一棵呢。"爱德蒙嘴里塞满了苹果，吐字含糊不清。"看那儿，还有那儿。"
"可不是，瞧，这里足有好几十棵果树！"苏珊说着，扔掉了于里的果核，一边又摘下一个大苹果。"很久很久以前，这儿一定是个果园。那时候这儿肯定不像现在这样没人照看，那些树木也还没有长起来口"5
"也就是说，这是一个曾经有人居住过的小岛。"彼得沉思道。
"那是什么？"露茜指着前面。
"天哪！那儿有一堵墙！"彼得吃了一惊，"一堵古老的石墙！"
他们推开果实累累的树枝，走到了墙的跟前。这墙的年代已经很久了，有些地方已经塌下来。墙上覆盖着苔藓和那种总是长在墙上的小黄花。墙上有个高大的门拱，这儿肯定有过一扇大门，可现在门拱几乎被一棵最高的苹果树堵1
塞住了。孩子们折断一些树枝，爬了进去。墙那边的光线显然明亮得多，他们惊愕地发现自己来到一片开阔地。这里没有树，只有平坦的草坪，野花盛开。四周是灰色的围墙，覆盖着常春藤。这是一个明亮、宁静而又神秘的地方，但令人感到有些阴郁。四个孩子迈步来到院子中间，心里十分高兴。现在他们可以伸伸腰，自由自在地活动一下四肢了。
