"Just like a girl," said Edmund to himself, "sulking (生气) somewhere, and won't accept an apology."
He looked round him again and decided he did not much like this place, and had almost made up his mind to go home, when he heard, very far off in the wood, a sound of bells.
He listened and the sound came nearer and nearer and at last there swept into sight a sledge (雪橇) drawn by two reindeer (驯鹿).
The reindeer were about the size of Shetland ponies (设得兰矮种马) and their hair was so white that even the snow hardly looked white compared with them; their branching horns (角) were gilded (镀金) and shone like something on fire when the sunrise caught them. Their harness was of scarlet leather and covered with bells.
On the sledge, driving the reindeer, sat a fat dwarf (侏儒) who would have been about three feet high if he had been standing. He was dressed in polar bear's fur and on his head he wore a red hood with a long gold tassel hanging down from its point; his huge beard covered his knees and served him instead of a rug.{1}
But behind him, on a much higher seat in the middle of the sledge sat a very different person - a great lady, taller than any woman that Edmund had ever seen. She also was covered in white fur up to her throat (喉咙) and held a long straight golden wand (魔杖) in her right hand and wore a golden crown (王冠) on her head.
Her face was white - not merely (仅仅) pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern (严厉的).
The sledge was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards Edmund with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip (鞭子) and the snow flying up on each side of it.
"Stop!" said the Lady, and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up so sharp that they almost sat down. Then they recovered themselves and stood champing (咬)their bits and blowing. In the frosty (严寒的) air the breath coming out of their nostrils looked like smoke.{2}
"And what, pray, are you?" said the Lady, looking hard at Edmund.
"I'm-I'm-my name's Edmund," said Edmund rather awkwardly (笨拙地). He did not like the way she looked at him.
The Lady frowned (皱眉), "Is that how you address a Queen?" she asked, looking sterner than ever.
"I beg your pardon, your Majesty (女王), I didn't know," said Edmund.
"Not know the Queen of Narnia?" cried she. "Ha! You shall know us better hereafter (从今以后). But I repeat-what are you?"
"Please, your Majesty," said Edmund, "I don't know what you mean. I'm at school - at least I was it's the holidays now."
"But what are you?" said the Queen again. "Are you a great overgrown (过度生长的) dwarf that has cut off its beard?"
"No, your Majesty," said Edmund, "I never had a beard, I'm a boy."
"A boy!" said she. "Do you mean you are a Son of Adam?"
Edmund stood still, saying nothing. He was too confused (困惑的) by this time to understand what the question meant.
"I see you are an idiot (白痴), whatever else you may be," said the Queen. "Answer me, once and for all, or I shall lose my patience. Are you human?"{3}
"Yes, your Majesty," said Edmund.
"And how, pray, did you come to enter my dominions (领土)?"
"Please, your Majesty, I came in through a wardrobe."
"A wardrobe? What do you mean?"
"I - I opened a door and just found myself here, your Majesty," said Edmund.
"Ha!" said the Queen, speaking more to herself than to him. "A door. A door from the world of men! I have heard of such things. This may wreck (破坏) all. But he is only one, and he is easily dealt with."
As she spoke these words she rose from her seat and looked Edmund full in the face, her eyes flaming; at the same moment she raised her wand. Edmund felt sure that she was going to do something dreadful (可怕的) but he seemed unable to move. Then, just as he gave himself up for lost, she appeared to change her mind.
"My poor child," she said in quite a different voice, "how cold you look! Come and sit with me here on the sledge and I will put my mantle (斗篷) round you and we will talk."
Edmund did not like this arrangement at all but he dared not disobey; he stepped on to the sledge and sat at her feet, and she put a fold of her fur mantle round him and tucked (裹住) it well in.
"Perhaps something hot to drink?" said the Queen. "Should you like that?"
"Yes please, your Majesty," said Edmund, whose teeth were chattering (打颤).
The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as if it were made of copper (铜). Then, holding out her arm, she let one drop fall from it on the snow beside the sledge.
Edmund saw the drop for a second in mid-air, shining like a diamond (钻石). But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing (发嘶嘶声) sound and there stood a jewelled (镶有宝石的) cup full of something that steamed.
The dwarf immediately took this and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile; not a very nice smile. Edmund felt much better as he began to sip (小口喝) the hot drink. It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy (泡沫的) and creamy, and it warmed him right down to his toes.
"It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating," said the Queen presently. "What would you like best to eat?"
"Turkish Delight (土耳其软糖), please, your Majesty," said Edmund.
The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon (缎带), which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight.
Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious. He was quite warm now, and very comfortable.
