经过两年多不懈的努力，“纳尼亚”系列经典的译文终于杀青了！这时，我既感到完成任务的轻松与喜悦，又隐隐感到一丝不舍。以前，也曾经读过“纳尼亚”系列，但那时是一目十行，不求甚解。翻译则不同，不仅要对作者的思想和时代背景有较深入的了解，而且要尽量将其语言风格表达出来。这大概就是翻译所谓的“神似”与“形似”吧。
C·S·刘易斯可以称得上是一代宗师，被誉为“最伟大的牛津人”。他博学多才，著述颇丰。有人说，“纳尼亚”系列是“儿童的圣经”。要想读懂这套传奇故事，我们就必须对作者的信仰历程有所了解。
刘易斯的父母都是虔诚的新教徒。刘易斯出生后不久，就在爱尔兰的教会受洗。由于青少年时期的叛逆，他曾一度远离了自己的信仰。后来，在《魔戒》的作者、好友托尔金和其他朋友的影响下，32岁时他又回到了上帝的怀抱。回归信仰之后，刘易斯创作出了许多不朽的传世之作。
在“纳尼亚”的奇幻世界中，那位无所不在的狮子阿斯兰正是耶稣的化身。狮子是百兽之王，而圣经启示录则称耶稣为“犹大支派中的狮子”、“万王之王”。刘易斯藉着一系列的故事，轻松地阐释了上帝创造宇宙、魔鬼诱使人类犯罪、耶稣为罪人赎罪舍命、然后从死里复活等基督教教义。
刘易斯曾广泛涉猎欧洲的神话，因此“纳尼亚”系列经典中也出现了小矮人、半人马、潘恩、树精和狼人等形象。大师的想象力异常丰富，不受时空的限制，可谓天马行空，驰骛八极。套用刘勰的话来说，就是“思接千载，视通万里”。加上他的词汇量丰富，时常用诗一般的语言来描绘高山、峡谷、密林、瀑布和清泉等自然景观。因此，尽管译者自诩中英文功底都比较深厚，但不时也会感到“词穷”。有时，为了一句话、一个词，我会多方求教于英、美的朋友，真正体会到了译事之难。
在第一本《魔法师的外甥》中，作者展开想象的翅膀，带领我们“上天”，亲眼目睹了纳尼亚被创造的过程：随着狮子跌宕起伏的歌声，从土壤中接连冒出了树木、花草、动物和飞鸟。狮子赐给一部分动物和飞鸟说话的能力，使他们成为自己的“选民”。
除了“上天”，刘易斯还带着我们“入地”。在《银椅子》中，我们跟随作者来到了黑暗的地下王国，经历了一场惊心动魄的属灵争战。
“七”在《圣经》中是一个完全的数字，因为上帝在七天中创造了宇宙万物。故此，“纳尼亚”系列经典一共有七册书。这个系列中人物众多，场景变幻莫测。在《“黎明”号的远航》中，卡斯宾王等在海上的历险和奇遇扣人心弦；在《马儿与少年》中，我们又体验到了异国情调和大漠风光。而《最后的决战》栩栩如生地描绘了善与恶两个阵营，恶神塔西和白女巫、绿女巫一样，都象征着魔鬼撒旦，它们都逃脱不了失败与灭亡的命运。
何光沪老师在《从岁首到年终》的序言中说过，同刘易斯交上一年的朋友，会使你变得更好。两年多来，与刘大师朝夕相处，虽然不敢说自己变得更好了，但在这个过程中的确获益匪浅，虽苦也甜。
向和平2013年12月第1章在体育馆的后边
Behind The Gym
在体育馆的后边
It was a dull autumn day and Jill Pole was crying behind the gym.
She was crying because they had been bullying her. This is not going to be a school story， so I shall say as little as possible about Jill‘s school， which is not a pleasant subject. It was Co-educational， a school for both boys and girls， what used to be called a “mixed” school； some said it was not nearly so mixed as the minds of the people who ran it. These people had the idea that boys and girls should be allowed to do what they liked. And unfortunately what ten or fifteen of the biggest boys and girls liked best was bullying the others. All sorts of things， horrid things， went on which at an ordinary school would have been found out and stopped in half a term； but at this school they weren’t. Or even if they were， the people who did them were not expelled or punished. The Head said they were interesting psychological cases and sent for them and talked to them for hours. And if you knew the right sort of things to say to the Head， the main result was that you became rather a favourite than otherwise.
That was why Jill Pole was crying on that dull autumn day on the damp little path which runs between the back of the gym and the shrubbery. And she hadn‘t nearly finished her cry when a boy came round the corner of the gym whistling， with his hands in his pockets. He nearly ran into her.
“Can’t you look where you‘re going？” said Jill Pole.
“All right，” said the boy， “you needn’t start-” and then he noticed her face. “I say， Pole，” he said， “what‘s up？”
Jill only made faces； the sort you make when you’re trying to say something but find that if you speak you‘ll start crying again.
“It’s Them， I suppose-as usual，” said the boy grimly， digging his hands further into his pockets.
Jill nodded. There was no need for her to say any-thing， even if she could have said it. They both knew.
“Now， look here，” said the boy， “there‘s no good us all-”
He meant well， but he did talk rather like someone beginning a lecture. Jill suddenly flew into a temper （which is quite a likely thing to happen if you have been interrupted in a cry）.
“Oh， go away and mind your own business，” she said. “Nobody asked you to come barging in， did they？ And you’re a nice person to start telling us what we all ought to do， aren‘t you？ I suppose you mean we ought to spend all our time sucking up to Them， and currying favour， and dancing attendance on Them like you do.”
“Oh， Lor！” said the boy， sitting down on the grassy bank at the edge of the shrubbery and very quickly getting up again because the grass was soaking wet. His name unfortunately was Eustace Scrubb， but he wasn’t a bad sort.
“Pole！” he said. “Is that fair？ Have I been doing anything of the sort this term？ Didn‘t I stand up to Carter about the rabbit？ And didn’t I keep the secret about Spivvins-under torture too？ And didn‘t I-”
“I d-don’t know and I don‘t care，” sobbed Jill.
Scrubb saw that she wasn’t quite herself yet and very sensibly offered her a peppermint. He had one too. Presently Jill began to see things in a clearer light.
“I‘m sorry， Scrubb，” she said presently. “I wasn’t fair. You have done all that-this term.”
“Then wash out last term if you can，” said Eustace. “I was a differentchap then. I was-gosh！ what a little tick I was.” “Well， honestly， you were，” said Jill.
“You think there has been a change， then？” said Eustace.
“It‘s not only me，” said Jill. “Everyone’s been saying so. They‘ve noticed it. Eleanor Blakiston heard Adela Pennyfather talking about it in our changing room yesterday. She said， ’Someone‘s got hold of that Scrubb kid. He’s quite unmanageable this term. We shall have to attend to him next.‘ “
Eustace gave a shudder. Everyone at Experiment House knew what it was like being “attended to” by Them.
Both children were quiet for a moment. The drops dripped off the laurel leaves.
“Why were you so different last term？” said Jill presently.
“A lot of queer things happened to me in the hols，” said Eustace mysteriously.
“What sort of things？” asked Jill.
Eustace didn’t say anything for quite a long time. Then he said： “Look here， Pole， you and I hate this place about as much as anybody can hate anything， don‘t we？”
“I know I do，” said Jill.
“Then I really think I can trust you.” “Dam’ good of you，” said Jill.
“Yes， but this is a really terrific secret. Pole， I say， are you good at believing things？ I mean things that everyone here would laugh at？”
“I‘ve never had the chance，” said Jill， “but I think I would be.” “Could you believe me if I said I’d been right out of the world-outside this world-last hols？”
“I wouldn‘t know what you meant.”
“Well， don’t let‘s bother about that then. Supposing I told you I’d been in a place where animals can talk and where there are-er- enchantments and dragons-and-well， all the sorts of things you have in fairy tales.” Scrubb felt terribly awkward as he said this and got red in the face.
“How did you get there？” said Jill. She also felt curiously shy.
“The only way you can-by Magic，” said Eustace almost in a whisper. “I was with two cousins of mine. We were just-whisked away. They‘d been there before.”
