穿过风 《能言马与男孩》第50期:穿过大沙漠(4)

《能言马与男孩》第50期:穿过大沙漠(4)  

This seemed to last for hours. Then there came a time when there was no longer any moon. They seemed to ride in the dead darkness for hours and hours. And after that there came a moment when Shasta noticed that he could see Bree's neck and head in front of him a little more clearly than before; and slowly
very slowly
he began to notice the vast grey flatness on every side. It looked absolutely dead
like something in a dead world; and Shasta felt quite terribly tired and noticed that he was getting cold and that his lips were dry. And all the time the squeak of the leather
the jingle of the bits
and the noise of the hoofs-not Propputtypropputty as it would be on a hard road
but Thubbudythubbudy on the dry sand.
At last
after hours of riding
far away on his right there came a single long streak of paler grey
low down on the horizon. Then a streak of red. It was the morning at last
but without a single bird to sing about it. He was glad of the walking bits now
for he was colder than ever.
Then suddenly the sun rose and everything changed in a moment. The grey sand turned yellow and inkled as if it was strewn with diamonds. On their left the shadows of Shasta and Hwin and Bree and Aravis
enormously long
raced beside them. The double peak of Mount Pire
far ahead
flashed in the sunlight and Shasta saw they were a little out of the course. "A bit left
a bit left
" he sang out. Best of all
when you looked back
Tashbaan was already small and remote. The Tombs were quite invisible: swallowed up in that single
jagged-edged hump which was the city of the Tisroc. Everyone felt better.
But not for long. Though Tashbaan looked very far away when they first saw it
it refused to look any further away as they went on. Shasta gave up looking back at it
for it only gave him the feeling that they were not moving at all. Then the light became a nuisance. The glare of the sand made his eyes ache: but he knew he mustn't shut them. He must screw them up and keep on looking ahead at Mount Pire and shouting out directions. Then came the heat. He noticed it for the first time when he had to dismount and walk: as he slipped down to the sand the heat from it struck up into his face as if from the opening of an oven door. Next time it was worse. But the third time
as his bare feet touched the sand he screamed with pain and got one foot back in the stirrup and the other half over Bree's back before you could have said knife.
"Sorry
Bree
" he gasped. "I can't walk. It burns my feet."
"Of course!" panted Bree. "Should have thought of that myself. Stay on. Can't be helped."
"It's all right for you
" said Shasta to Aravis who was walking beside Hwin. "You've got shoes on."
Aravis said nothing and looked prim. Let's hope she didn't mean to
but she did.
On again
trot and walk and trot
jingle-jingle-jingle
squeak-squeak-squeak
smell of hot horse
smell of hot self
blinding glare
headache. And nothing at all different for mile after mile. Tashbaan would never look any further away. The mountains would never look any nearer. You felt this had been going on for always - jingle-jingle-jingle
squeaksqueak-squeak
smell of hot horse
smell of hot self.
这种情况似乎持续了几个钟头。接下来一段时间，不再见到明月。他们仿佛是在死一般的黑暗中一个钟头又一个钟头地奔驰着。这之后，有一会儿，沙斯塔注意到他能看见前面布里的脖子和脑袋，比先前看得清楚一点儿；于是，慢慢地，十分缓慢地，他开始看到前后左右辽阔而平坦的灰茫茫的大漠。看上去绝对没有生命，像是阴间地府的什么东西似的；而沙斯塔感到疲倦得可怕，注意到自己在发冷，嘴唇是干燥的。自始至终，但听得皮带吱嘎作响，马嚼子丁丁当当，马蹄声不断——不是踩在坚硬道路上的唱唱声，而是踏在干燥沙子上的沙沙声。
骑马走了几个钟头以后，终于在他右边的远方出现了一道淡灰色，低低地镶在天边上。随后是一道红色。终于是早晨了，但没有一只鸟来歌唱早晨。现在他倒高兴散散步了，因为他比先前更觉得冷。
然后太阳突然升起来了，片刻之间一切都变了。灰色的沙漠变成黄色，闪闪烁烁，仿佛里边撒满了钻石。沙斯塔、赫温、布里、阿拉维斯的影子又长又大，在他们的左边竞逐。皮尔峯的双峯在前边儿的远方，在阳光中熠熠生辉。沙斯塔看出他们走得稍微有点儿偏。”靠左边一点儿，靠左边一点儿。”他叫道。最妙的是，当你回头望时，塔什班城已经又小又遥远了。坟场完全看不见了，被吞没在边缘参差不齐的驼峯里了，那驼峯就是蒂斯罗克的城市。大家都觉得比刚才好多了。"
然而好景不长。他们第一次回头望塔什班城时，虽然看上去已经距离很远了，可他们继续前进时，这城却不见得更远些。沙斯塔不再回头望，因为遥望之际，给了他压根儿滞留原地未动的感觉。于是光芒也变成了讨厌的东西。沙漠炫目的反光使他眼睛发痛，但他知道不能闭上眼睛。他必须使劲儿眯起眼睛，不断地瞅着前边的皮尔峯，大声喊出前进的方向来。随之而来的是炙热。他不得不下马散步时，第一次感觉到了炙热；他从马身上滑到沙地上，沙地上腾起的热气往他的脸上直冲过来，就像从炉灶门口冲出来的。第二次下马时更糟。第三次，他的光脚丫子刚碰到沙子就痛得叫喊起来，说时迟那时快，他一只脚缩回马镫上，另一只脚半己跨到了布里的脊背上。
“对不起，布里，”他气喘吁吁地说道，“我没法儿走路。沙子烫脚。”
“当然囉！”布里喘息着说道，“我自己应该想到这一层的。待在背上吧，没有法子。”
“你倒还行，”沙斯塔对正在赫温身旁步行的阿拉维斯说道，”你穿着鞋啊。”
阿拉维斯啥也不说，一本正经地绷着脸。让我们希望她不是故意的吧，但她确实有意如此。
重新赶路小跑、行走、小跑，丁当、丁当、丁当，吱嘎、吱嘎、吱嘎，马儿热得出汗的气味，炎热本身的气味，炫目的反光，头痛脑涨。一英里又一英里的老样子，压根儿没有什么不同。塔什班城看上去永远不会离得更远。大山大岭看上去永远不会变得更近。你觉得始终在周而复始——丁当、丁当、丁当，吱嘎、吱嘎、吱嘎，马儿热得出汗的气味，炎热本身的气味。