C. S.刘易斯（任显楷　译）

Chapter Four  What Caspian Did There （Ⅱ）

第四章 凱斯宾随后做的事情（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.”

卫队长打呵欠之际，波恩爵士立马高声喊道：“为国王陛下三呼‘万岁！”那些卫兵，除了记得“美酒一桶”，别的什么也没闹明白。不过既然有酒喝，他们自然也就加入了欢呼的人群。凯斯宾随后命令自己带来的人待在内院里，只挑了四名最得力的随从，加上波恩爵士和德瑞尼亚，走进城堡的大厅。

在大厅里远远的一端，一张桌子后面坐着孤岛群岛的总督大人，很多谋臣秘书环伺在他周围。总督岗帕斯的相貌看起来就很凶恶，他的头发以前是红色的，现在差不多已经完全变成了灰色。他只抬眼扫了一下进来的这几个陌生人，就又低下了头，看着他面前的文件，用机械的腔调说：“除了每个月的第二个星期六晚上九点到十点之外，其他时候没有预约一律不见。”

凯斯宾冲波恩爵士点点头，然后站到一边。伯恩爵士和德瑞尼亚往前一大步，走到岗帕斯的桌边。他们一人握住桌子的一角，把桌子举起来，狠狠地掷向大厅的一角。桌子翻倒在地上，桌上的信函、档案、墨水瓶、笔、蜡封和各种文件散落了一地。接着波恩爵士和德瑞尼亚二人又走上前去，动作并不粗暴，但他们两人的双臂如同铁钳一般，把岗帕斯从座位上提了起来，把他放到离座位四五英尺开外，让他面对着自己的座椅站好。凯斯宾走过去，在总督的椅子上坐了下来。他拔出宝剑，把剑放在双腿之间。

凯斯宾目光盯在岗帕斯身上，开口说：“我的大人，我们所希望的礼遇，你可没有给我们啊。我，是纳尼亚的国王。”

岗帕斯总督说道：“王国的通告中可没有提到您要驾临，也没有开会说到此事啊。我们也没有接到任何通知，这一切都来得太不寻常了。不过，我很荣幸为您提供任何服务……”

凯斯宾继续说道：“本王此次前来，就是要考察一下总督大人你是如何履行你的职责的。有两点我特别需要你做出说明。首先，我发现大约有一百五十年，没有任何记录证明你的岛在向纳尼亚朝贡。”

“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.”

“這正是我们议会下个月将要讨论的问题。”岗帕斯说，“如果在明年的第一次会议上，有任何一个人提出动议，认为需要成立一个调查委员会就孤岛群岛的财务情况提交一份报告的话，那么……”

凯斯宾打断岗帕斯的话继续说道：“我还在我们的法律中很清楚地发现这样一条规定，如果某个辖地没有缴纳贡赋的话，那么所欠的全部贡赋，都要由该地的总督从自己口袋里拿出钱来全部偿清。”

此话一说，岗帕斯开始意识到事态的严重了。他说：“哦，这……这不现实。这在经济上是行不通的。呃，陛下您一定是在开玩笑。”

在内心中，岗帕斯暗暗盘算，有没有什么办法可以把这几个不受欢迎的来访者给打发走。假如岗帕斯知道凯斯宾只有一艘船和有限的兵力随船而来，他一定会在此时此刻说点软话，争取首先脱身，然后利用夜晚的掩护，将凯斯宾等人包围起来杀掉。可是他昨天看到了一艘战船驶入海峡，也看到了船上放出的信号。他相信这信号是这艘战船发给跟随着它的整支舰队的。在当时，他没有意识到这是国王的船。因为昨天黎明踏浪号进入海峡的时候海面上没有风，船上绣有金色狮子的王旗没有展开来。所以岗帕斯就没有采取任何行动，只是等待着事态的进一步发展。而现在，他确信国王带了一整支舰队前来，舰队现在就驻守在波恩斯泰德。对岗帕斯来说，一个人只带了不到五十个士兵，就进入窄港并拿下整个孤岛群岛，这完全是不可能发生的事情。这样的事情，在他心中根本不可想象。

“第二件事，”凯斯宾继续说道，“我很想知道，你为什么允许丑恶的、不人道的奴隶贸易在此地发展？要知道这和我们古老的传统相违背，更是对纳尼亚主权的滥用。”

“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：“奴隶贸易非常必要，不能废除。我敢向您保证，这是让群岛的经济得以发展的重要一环。我们目前的繁荣昌盛都建立在奴隶贸易的基础之上。”

“你要奴隶来做什么？”

“用来出口啊，我的陛下！大部分奴隶都卖到卡罗门去了。除此之外我们还有别的一些市场。孤岛群岛是奴隶贩运的中心集散地。”

凯斯宾道：“这样说来，其实你自己并不需要奴隶。那么你告诉我，贩卖奴隶除了能让像帕格这样的家伙赚个盆溢钵满，还有什么益处？”

“陛下年事尚轻，”岗帕斯带着一副慈父般的笑容说道，“很难弄清这其中涉及的经济问题。我有统计数据，我有图表，我还有……”

“我固然还年轻，”凯斯宾打断了岗帕斯的话说，“但我相信我对奴隶贸易有同大人你一样的深刻理解，我没有从奴隶贸易中看到它给孤岛群岛带来任何好处。奴隶贸易没有给这里带来肉或面包，也没有啤酒或葡萄酒，更没有木材、卷心菜、书籍、乐器、马匹、盔甲以及任何一切人们值得拥有的东西。可是，不论奴隶贸易是否能够给人们带来什么，我都认为，奴隶贸易一定要终止！”

岗帕斯气喘吁吁地说：“可这样会让孤岛群岛的发展倒退回去的。难道您不考虑此地未来的发展与进步吗？”

“我看到过进步和发展的萌芽状态。”凯斯宾说，“在纳尼亚，我们管这叫作‘腐败。无论如何，奴隶贸易一定要终止。”

岗帕斯说：“我不能负责采取任何这类措施。”

Word Study

scatter /'sk?t?（r）/ v. 撒;四散;散开

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. 令人憎恶的

essential /?'sen?l/ adj. 完全必要的;极其重要的

Experience is essential for this job.