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魔法师的外甥
THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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CHAPTER TWO DIGORY AND HIS UNCLE

2、迪格雷和他的舅舅

IT was so sudden, and so horribly unlike anything that had ever happened to Digory even in a nightmare, that he let out a scream. Instantly Uncle Andrew's hand was over his mouth. "None of that!" he hissed in Digory's ear. "If you start making a noise your Mother'll hear it. And you know what a fright might do to her."

即使在梦中．迪格雷也从未见过如此突然如此恐怖的事情，他尖叫了一声。安德鲁舅舅赶紧用手捂住他的嘴。“别叫！”他在迪格雷的耳边悄悄说，“你知道，要是你母亲听到了，她可能会受惊的。”

As Digory said afterwards, the horrible meanness of getting at a chap in that way, almost made him sick. But of course he didn't scream again.

正如迪格雷后来说的，这种引人上钩的卑鄙手段实在使他感到厌恶。当然，他也没有再叫。

"That's better," said Uncle Andrew. "Perhaps you couldn't help it. It is a shock when you first see someone vanish. Why, it gave even me a turn when the guinea-pig did it the other night."

“好吧，”安德鲁舅舅说，“也许你是控制不住才叫的。第一次看见一个人消失是会吃惊的。昨天夜里，那只豚鼠的消失甚至把我也吓了一跳。”

"Was that when you yelled?" asked Digory.

“就在那时，你叫了一声吗？”迪格雷说。

"Oh, you heard that, did you? I hope you haven't been spying on me?"

“噢，你听见了。我希望你没有跟踪我吧，

"No, I haven't," said Digory indignantly. "But what's happened to Polly?"

“没有，”迪格雷愤愤地说，”但波莉到底出了什么事？”

"Congratulate me, my dear boy," said Uncle Andrew, rubbing his hands. "My experiment has succeeded. The little girl's gone - vanished - right out of the world."

“祝贺我吧，亲爱的孩子，”安德鲁搓着手说，“我的试验成功了。那小女孩已经走了——从这个世界消失了。”“你把她怎么村了？"

"What have you done to her?"

“送她到——啊——另一个地方去了。”

"Sent her to - well - to another place."

“你这是什么意思？”迪格雷问。

"What do you mean?" asked Digory.

安德鲁舅舅坐下说，“好，我把一切都告诉你吧。你听说过老莱菲夫人吗，”

Uncle Andrew sat down and said, "Well, I'll tell you all about it. Have you ever heard of old Mrs Lefay?"

“她不是姨婆或其他什么亲戚吗？”迪格雷说。

"Wasn't she a great-aunt or something?" said Digory.

“不完全是，”安德鲁舅舅说，“她是我的教母。那边墙上就是她。”

"Not exactly," said Uncle Andrew. "She was my godmother. That's her, there, on the wall."

迪格雷望过去，着见一幅褪色的头像：一位头戴无边有带女式帽的老太太。他想起，在乡下家中的一个旧抽屉里也见过她的一张头像。他曾经问过妈妈她是谁，但妈妈好像不大愿意谈这个话题。迪格雷想，虽然不能单凭那些旧照片来分辨美丑：但那张脸的确一点儿也不好看。

Digory looked and saw a faded photograph: it showed the face of an old woman in a bonnet. And he could now remember that he had once seen a photo of the same face in an old drawer, at home, in the country. He had asked his Mother who it was and Mother had not seemed to want to talk about the subject much. It was not at all a nice face, Digory thought, though of course with those early photographs one could never really tell.

“她有——她没什么错吧，安德鲁舅舅？”

"Was there - wasn't there - something wrong about her, Uncle Andrew?" he asked.

他问。“哦，”安德鲁舅舅抿嘴一笑，说道．“这要看你把什么当作错。人们都太心胸狭窄了。她到了晚年的确非常古怪，做事也很不谨镇。所以，他们把她关了起来。”

"Well," said Uncle Andrew with a chuckle, "it depends what you call wrong. People are so narrow-minded. She certainly got very queer in later life. Did very unwise things. That was why they shut her up."

“你是说，关在疯人院？”

"In an asylum, do you mean?"

“啊不，不是，不是。”安德鲁舅舅吃惊地说．“根本不是那种地方，只是监禁起来。”

"Oh no, no, no," said Uncle Andrew in a shocked voice. "Nothing of that sort. Only in prison."

“天哪！”迪格雷说，“她干了什么？"

"I say!" said Digory. "What had she done?"

“唉，可怜的女人．”安德鲁舅舅说，“她太不谨慎，做了许多不一般的事。不必细说了。她一直待我很好。”

"Ah, poor woman," said Uncle Andrew. "She had been very unwise. There were a good many different things. We needn't go into all that. She was always very kind to me."

“可是，这些事跟波莉有什么关系呢？我真希望你……”

"But look here, what has all this got to do with Polly? I do wish you'd -"

“别着急，我的孩子，还没到时候。”安德鲁舅舅说，“临死之前，莱菲夫人被放了出来。弥留之际，她只想让为数极少的几个人去看她，我是其中之一。你知道，她不喜欢无知的普通的人。我也不喜欢。而且，她和我兴趣相同。就在她去世的前几天，她让我去她家中，找到一张旧书桌上的一个秘密抽屉，将里面一个小盒子取出来交给她。刚拿起盒子，我的手指就感到刺痛，我明白，我正握着一个很大的秘密。她把盒子交给我，并要我发誓，她一死，我就以某些仪式将盒子原封不动地烧掉。结果我没有听她的话。”

"All in good time, my boy," said Uncle Andrew. "They let old Mrs Lefay out before she died and I was one of the very few people whom she would allow to see her in her last illness. She had got to dislike ordinary, ignorant people, you understand. I do myself. But she and I were interested in the same sort of things. It was only a few days before her death that she told me to go to an old bureau in her house and open a secret drawer and bring her a little box that I would find there. The moment I picked up that box I could tell by the pricking in my fingers that I held some great secret in my hands. She gave it me and made me promise that as soon as she was dead I would burn it, unopened, with certain ceremonies. That promise I did not keep."

“唉呀，你这人真糟糕。”迪格雷说。

"Well, then, it was jolly rotten of you," said Digory.

“糟糕？”安德鲁舅舅的脸上露出迷惑不解的神色。“哦，我知道了，你是说，小男孩应该遵守诺言。确实如此，我相信，这是最正确、最高尚的道理，我很高兴你学会了这样做。然而你必须懂得，这些规矩，好，都可能不适合于渊博的学者、伟大的思想家和圣人。不适合，迪格雷。像我这样有神秘智慧的人不受普通规矩的约束，正如我们跟普通人的乐趣无缘一样。孩子，我们命定是高贵而孤独的。”

"Rotten?" said Uncle Andrew with a puzzled look.

他边说边叹气，看上去那么一本正经，那么高尚，那么神秘．以至有一秒钟，迪格雷真的以为他在高谈阔论美好的事情。但他想起波莉失踪以前从他脸上看到的丑恶神态，马上就明白了他那些大话的真实含义。“他的意思就是，”他对自己说，“可以不择手段地得到他想要的任何东西。”“当然，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我好长时间没敢打开盒子，我知道，里面可能装着非常危险的东西，因为我的教母太与众不同了。享实上，她是这个国家有神仙血统的最后几个凡人之一

"Oh, I see. You mean that little boys ought to keep their promises. Very true: most right and proper, I'm sure, and I'm very glad you have been taught to do it. But of course you must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be for little boys - and servants - and women - and even people in general, can't possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages. No, Digory. Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures. Ours, my boy, is a high and lonely destiny."

（据她讲，与她同时代的还有两位，一位是公爵夫人，一位是女魔法师。）其实，迪格雷，你正在跟也许是最后一个有过神仙教母的人谈话。啊，有些事留给你自己老了再回忆吧。”

As he said this he sighed and looked so grave and noble and mysterious that for a second Digory really thought he was saying something rather fine. But then he remembered the ugly look he had seen on his Uncle's face the moment before Polly had vanished: and all at once he saw through Uncle Andrew's grand words. "All it means," he said to himself, "Is that he thinks he can do anything he likes to get anything he wants."

“我敢扫赌她是个鳌脚的神仙。”迪格雷想：接着高声说，“那么波莉呢？”

"Of course," said Uncle Andrew, "I didn't dare to open the box for a long time, for I knew it might contain something highly dangerous. For my godmother was a very remarkable woman. The truth is, she was one of the last mortals in this country who had fairy blood in her. (She said there had been two others in her time. One was a duchess and the other was a charwoman.) In fact, Digory, you are now talking to the last man (possibly) who really had a fairy godmother. There! That'll be something for you to remember when you are an old man yourself."

“你总是唠唠叨叨的，”安德鲁舅舅说，“好像那件事有什么要紧似的。我的首要任务当然是研究盒子木身。那是个古老的盒子。那时，我就清楚，它不是希腊的、古埃及的、巴比伦的、赫梯注的或中国的，它的年代比那些民族还要久远。啊——我最终弄明白事实的那一天是多么了不起。这盒子是阿特兰蒂斯②的，出自消失了的岛国阿特兰蒂斯。这表明，这比欧洲出土的石器时代的文物要古老几百年；而且也不像那些文物粗糙原始。因为阿特兰蒂斯很早就是个伟大的城市，有宫殿、寺庙和学者。”-

"I bet she was a bad fairy," thought Digory; and added out loud. "But what about Polly?"

他停了一下，似乎等着迪格雷开口。但每过一分钟，迪格雷就更加讨厌他的安德鲁舅舅，所以，他沉默着。“同时，”安德鲁舅舅继续说，“我靠其他手段学到不少魔法常识（对一个孩子解说那性手段是不合适的）。这样，对盒子里装的东西我就有了一个合理的估计。通过各种试验，我缩小了范围。我不得不结识了一些极端古怪的人，做了一些很难受的试验，我的头发也就这样变白了。一个人不付出代价是不可能成为魔法师的。到后来，我的身体完全垮了，但我有了进步，最后，我真的懂了。”

"How you do harp on that!" said Uncle Andrew. "As if that was what mattered! My first task was of course to study the box itself. It was very ancient. And I knew enough even then to know that it wasn't Greek, or Old Egyptian, or Babylonian, or Hittite, or Chinese. It was older than any of those nations. Ah - that was a great day when I at last found out the truth. The box was Atlantean; it came from the lost island of Atlantis. That meant it was centuries older than any of the stone-age things they dig up in Europe. And it wasn't a rough, crude thing like them either. For in the very dawn of time Atlantis was already a great city with palaces and temples and learned men."

虽然根本不可能有人偷听．他还是斜着身子，几乎耳语一般地说：

He paused for a moment as if he expected Digory to say something. But Digory was disliking his Uncle more every minute, so he said nothing.

①由公元前十七世纪左右在小亚细亚及叙利亚建立的强大古国，后被亚述人征服。

"Meanwhile," continued Uncle Andrew, "I was learning a good deal in other ways (it wouldn't be proper to explain them to a child) about Magic in general. That meant that I came to have a fair idea what sort of things might be in the box. By various tests I narrowed down the possibilities. I had to get to know some - well, some devilish queer people, and go through some very disagreeable experiences. That was what turned my head grey. One doesn't become a magician for nothing. My health broke down in the end. But I got better. And at last I actually knew."

②传说中的岛屿．据说位于大西洋直布罗陀海映以西，后沉于海底。

Although there was not really the least chance of anyone overhearing them, he leaned forward and almost whispered as he said:

“阿特兰蒂斯盒子甲装着来自另一个世界的东西，那时，我们的份界才混沌初开。”

"The Atlantean box contained something that had been brought from another world when our world was only just beginning."

”什么。”迪格雷问，他这下不由自主地有了兴趣。“只是土，”安德各舅舅说，“细腻、纯净、干燥的土。没什么好看的，你可能会说，辛苦一辈子就得到这些土，实在不值得。然而，当我看着这些士时（我尽量小心，不去碰它），我想，每一粒土都来自另一世界——我不是说另一星球，你知道，而是我们这个星球的一部分，你走得够远就能到达——但的确是另一个世界——另一种大自然——另一个字宙——你即使在这个宇宙的空间不停地走下去也无法到达——是只能郑魔法才去得了的世界——啊！”说到这里，安德鲁舅舅把手关节弄得木柴似的劈啪作响。

"What?" asked Digory, who was now interested in spite of himself.

“我明白，”他继续道，”如果找到正确的方法，这些土就会把你带往它的世界。但正确方法却很难找。我以前的试验全失败了。我用豚鼠来做试验，有些死了，有些像小炸弹一样爆炸了……”

"Only dust," said Uncle Andrew. "Fine, dry dust. Nothing much to look at. Not much to show for a lifetime of toil, you might say. Ah, but when I looked at that dust (I took jolly good care not to touch it) and thought that every grain had once been in another world - I don't mean another planet, you know; they're part of our world and you could get to them if you went far enough - but a really Other World - another Nature another universe - somewhere you would never reach even if you travelled through the space of this universe for ever and ever - a world that could be reached only by Magic - well!" Here Uncle Andrew rubbed his hands till his knuckles cracked like fireworks.

“实在是太残酷了。”迪格雷说，因为他以前养过一只豚鼠。

"I knew," he went on, "that if only you could get it into the right form, that dust would draw you back to the place it had come from. But the difficulty was to get it into the right form. My earlier experiments were all failures. I tried them on guinea-pigs. Some of them only died. Some exploded like little bombs -"

“你为什么总要打岔！”安德鲁舅舅说，“这些动物就是用来做试验的。我自己买的。我想想——说到哪儿了？啊对了，最后，我成功地做好了戒指：黄戒指。但现在，新的困难又来了。我敢肯定黄戒指可以将任何接触到它的动物送到另一世界。但如果我不能让它们回来向我汇报那边的情形，又有什么用呢？”

"It was a jolly cruel thing to do," said Digory who had once had a guinea-pig of his own.

“它们怎么办呢？”迪格雷说，“要是它们没法儿回来就会陷入困境！”

"How you do keep getting off the point!" said Uncle Andrew. "That's what the creatures were for. I'd bought them myself. Let me see - where was I? Ah yes. At last I succeeded in making the rings: the yellow rings. But now a new difficulty arose. I was pretty sure, now, that a yellow ring would send any creature that touched it into the Other Pace. But what would be the good of that if I couldn't get them back to tell me what they had found there?"

“你总是从错误的角度看问题，”安德各舅匆不耐烦地说，“难道你不明白这是项伟大的试验吗？我把任何动物送入另一世界都是为了了解那儿是个什么地方。”

"And what about them?" said Digory. "A nice mess they'd be in if they couldn't get back!"

“你为什么不自己去？”

"You will keep on looking at everything from the wrong point of view," said Uncle Andrew with a look of impatience. "Can't you understand that the thing is a great experiment? The whole point of sending anyone into the Other Place is that I want to find out what it's like."

迪格雷从未见过谁像他的舅舅听到这个简单问题时那么惊讶，那么生气。“我？我呜？”他大声说，“这孩子一定是疯了！我这把年纪，这种身体，要是突然被抛到另一个世界，能经受得仕那种震动和危险吗，我这辈子还没听说过如此荒谬的事情！你知道你在说什么吗？想一想，另一个世界意味着什么——你可能会遇到任何事——任何事。”

"Well why didn't you go yourself then?"

“我猜你一定把波莉送到那儿去了。”迪格雷说。他气得满脸缘红。他接着说，“就算你是我舅舅，我也要说，你简直像个胆小鬼，把一个女孩送到你自己都不敢去的地方。”“住嘴，先生！”安德色舅舅把手放在桌上．说道，“一个脏兮兮的小男孩怎么能这样对我说话。你不会明白的。我是一位伟大的学者、魔法师和行家，正在做这项试验，当然需要试验品。天哪，接下来你会告诉我，应该在用豚鼠做试验以前得到它们的同意。没有牺牲是不可能获得大智慧的。但要我自己去却十分可笑，就像要求一个将军像普通士兵那样打仗，假如我被杀了，我毕生的大事怎么办呢？"

Digory had hardly ever seen anyone so surprised and offended as his Uncle did at this simple question. "Me? Me?" he exclaimed. "The boy must be mad! A man at my time of life, and in my state of health, to risk the shock and the dangers of being flung suddenly into a different universe? I never heard anything so preposterous in my life! Do you realize what you're saying? Think what Another World means - you might meet anything anything."

“好了，别哆里哆嗦地训人了，”迪格雷说，“你准备让波莉回来吗？”

"And I suppose you've sent Polly into it then," said Digory. His cheeks were flaming with anger now. "And all I can say," he added, "even if you are my Uncle - is that you've behaved like a coward, sending a girl to a place you're afraid to go to yourself."

“刚才你粗鲁地打断我时，我就要告诉你，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我最后终于找到了回来的办法。绿戒指能带你回来。”

"Silence, sir!" said Uncle Andrew, bringing his hand down on the table. "I will not be talked to like that by a little, dirty, schoolboy. You don't understand. I am the great scholar, the magician, the adept, who is doing the experiment. Of course I need subjects to do it on. Bless my soul, you'll be telling me next that I ought to have asked the guinea-pigs' permission before I used them! No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice. But the idea of my going myself is ridiculous. It's like asking a general to fight as a common soldier. Supposing I got killed, what would become of my life's work?"

“但波莉没有绿戒指。”

"Oh, do stop jawing," said Digory. "Are you going to bring Polly back?"

“没有。”安德香舅舅残忍地一笑。

"I was going to tell you, when you so rudely interrupted me," said Uncle Andrew, "that I did at last find out a way of doing the return journey. The green rings draw you back."

“这么说，她不能回来了，”迪格雷高声喊着，“这跟谋害没什么两样。”

"But Polly hasn't got a green ring."

“她可以回来，”安德鲁舅舅说，”如果有人肯去找她，戴上一枚黄戒指，再带上两枚绿戒指，一枚给自己，一枚给她。”

"No " said Uncle Andrew with a

这时，迪格雷明白自己上了当，他大张着嘴，无声地旬若安德鲁舅舅。他的脸变得苍白。

cruel smile.

“我希望，”安德鲁舅舅用劲大声说遂，好像他是个大方而正派的舅舅，给过谁一笔可观的赏钱或者善意的忠告似的，“我希望，迪格雷，你不盲欢示弱。想到我们家没有人有足够的责任心和侠义精神去解救苦难中的女士，我就感到十分遗憾。”

"Then she can't get back," shouted Digory. "And it's exactly the same as if you'd murdered her.

“住嘴吧！”迪格雷说，“要是你有点儿责任心和侠义精神，你自己就会去，但我知道你是不会去的。好，我明白，我必须去，但你的确是个狼心狗肺的家伙。我想，这全是你一手策划的，计她糊里糊涂地消失了，然后，我就不得不跟若去。”

"She can get back," said Uncle Andrew, "if someone else will go after her, wearing a yellow ring himself and taking two green rings, one to bring himself back and one to bring her back."

“当然。”安德鲁舅舅奸笑着说。

And now of course Digory saw the trap in which he was caught: and he stared at Uncle Andrew, saying nothing, with his mouth wide open. His cheeks had gone very pale.

“好，我去。但有件事，我一定要说在前头。我过去不相信魔法，直到今天，我才知道是真的。那么，我想，那些古老的神话故事多多少少都是真的。你就是故事里写的那种那恶、残忍的魔法师。我还从来没有读过这样的人能逃脱惩罚的故事。我敢打赌，你也会有这一天的。那是报应。”迪格雷说了那么多，这番话才最切中要害。安德鲁舅舅吃了一惊。虽然他缺乏人性，但他脸上露出的恐惧神态几乎让人感到怜悯。可是，这种神色很快消失了，接着是响亮的笑声。他说“唉唉，对一个像你这样在女人堆里长大的孩子来说，这么想是很自然的。老太太们讲的故事，对吗？我认为你不必为我担忧，迪格雷。为你的小朋友担忱不是更好吗？她走了好一阵了，要是那边有什么危险——迟去一秒钟都会遗憾的。”

"I hope," said Uncle Andrew presently in a very high and mighty voice, just as if he were a perfect Uncle who had given one a handsome tip and some good advice, "I hope, Digory, you are not given to showing the white feather. I should be very sorry to think that anyone of our family had not enough honour and chivalry to go to the aid of - er - a lady in distress."

“你想得很周到，”迪格雷愤怒地说，“但我已经听烦了。我该怎么做，"

"Oh shut up!" said Digory. "If you had any honour and all that, you'd be going yourself. But I know you won't. Alright. I see I've got to go. But you are a beast. I suppose you planned the whole thing, so that she'd go without knowing it and then I'd have to go after her."

“你实在该学学怎样控制你的脾气，我的孩子，”安德鲁舅软平静地说，”否则，你长大了，就会跟你的蕾蒂姨妈样一。好，现在听我的。’

"Of course," said Uncle Andrew with his hateful smile.

他站起身，截上一副手套，向装戒指的托盘走去。“它们只有在触到你的皮肤时才起作用，”他说，“像这样，戴上手套去拿，平安无事。如果你装一个在口袋里，会很安全的。可是，你一定要小心，不能无意中把手伸进口袋碰到它。一旦你接触到一枚黄戒指，你就从这个世界消失了。当你到了那个世界，我想——当然这还没经过试验证明，但我想——一旦你触到一枚绿戒指，你就离开了那个世界——我想——

"Very well. I'll go. But there's one thing I jolly well mean to say first. I didn't believe in Magic till today. I see now it's real. Well if it is, I suppose all the old fairy tales are more or less true. And you're simply a wicked, cruel magician like the ones in the stories. Well, I've never read a story in which people of that sort weren't paid out in the end, and I bet you will be. And serve you right."

又会回到这里来。看好，我把这两枚绿的放进你右边的口袋。记清楚绿戒指在哪个口袋。G 代表绿色，R 代表右边。你知道，G 和R

Of all the things Digory had said this was the first that really went home. Uncle Andrew started and there came over his face a look of such horror that, beast though he was, you could almost feel sorry for him. But a second later he smoothed it all away and said with a rather forced laugh, "Well, well, I suppose that is a natural thing for a child to think - brought up among women, as you have been. Old wives' tales, eh? I don't think you need worry about my danger, Digory. Wouldn't it be better to worry about the danger of your little friend? She's been gone some time. If there are any dangers Over There - well, it would be a pity to arrive a moment too late."

恰好是绿色一词的头两个宁母。一个给你，另一个给那小女孩。现在，你给自己拿一枚黄戒指吧。如果我是你，就会把它套在手指上，这样不容易掉。”

"A lot you care," said Digory fiercely. "But I'm sick of this jaw. What have I got to do?"

迪格雷正要去拿，又突然停住了。

"You really must learn to control that temper of yours, my boy," said Uncle Andrew coolly. "Otherwise you'll grow up like your Aunt Letty. Now. Attend to me."

“唉呀，”他说，“妈妈怎么办呢？要是她问我到哪儿去了呢？”

He got up, put on a pair of gloves, and walked over to the tray that contained the rings.

“早点儿走，早点儿回来。”安德鲁舅舅得意地说。

"They only work," he said, "if they're actually touching your skin. Wearing gloves, I can pick them up - like this - and nothing happens. If you carried one in your pocket nothing would happen: but of course you'd have to be careful not to put your hand in your pocket and touch it by accident. The moment you touch a yellow ring, you vanish out of this world. When you are in the Other Place I expect - of course this hasn't been tested yet, but I expect - that the moment you touch a green ring you vanish out of that world and - I expect - reappear in this. Now. I take these two greens and drop them into your right-hand pocket. Remember very carefully which pocket the greens are in. G for green and R for right. G.R. you see: which are the first two letters of green. One for you and one for the little girl. And now you pick up a yellow one for yourself. I should put it on on your finger - if I were you. There'll be less chance of dropping it."

“但你并不敢肯定我是否能问来。”

Digory had almost picked up the yellow ring when he suddenly checked himself.

安德鲁舅舅耸耸肩，走过去打开门，说：

"Look here," he said. "What about Mother? Supposing she asks where I am?"

”那好，请便吧，下去吃饭。要是你乐意，就让那小女孩在那个世界里被野兽吃掉，或淹死，或饿死，或永远留在那儿吧。对我来说都是一样的。也许，存喝茶以前，你最好去看看普卢默夫人，告诉她再也见不到她的女儿了；就因为你害怕戴上一枚戒指。”

"The sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back," said Uncle Andrew cheerfully.

“老天在上，”迪格雷说，“我真希望有足够的力气来捶扁你的脑袋！”

"But you don't really know whether I can get back."

然后，他扣上外衣，深深地吸了一口气，拿起了戒指。他想，正如他后来常常想的，他从没有这么休面正派地做过其他任何事了。

Uncle Andrew shrugged his shoulders, walked across to the door, unlocked it, threw it open, and said:

"Oh very' well then. Just as you please. Go down and have your dinner. Leave the little girl to be eaten by wild animals or drowned or starved in Otherworld or lost there for good, if that's what you prefer. It's all one to me. Perhaps before tea time you'd better drop in on Mrs Plummer and explain that she'll never see her daughter again; because you were afraid to put on a ring."

"By gum," said Digory, "don't I just wish I was big enough to punch your head!"

Then he buttoned up his coat, took a deep breath, and picked up the ring. And he thought then, as he always thought afterwards too, that he could not decently have done anything else.