Chapter 3 3. Leila's Jordan Academy

Among the colleges of Oxford University, Jordan College is the most magnificent and richest.Maybe it's still the biggest college, though that's anyone's guess.The college's buildings are organized around three irregular quadrangles, with buildings from various periods from the early Middle Ages to the mid-eighteenth century.The College was never planned, but developed bit by bit, with ancient and contemporary buildings overlapping everywhere, and the end result in doing so was a sprawling, squalid splendor.In places that kept looking like they were going to collapse, the Parslows had been employed by Jordan College for five generations, both as stonemasons and as scaffolders.Now Mr. Parslow is teaching his son this craft; father and son and their three helpers are like industrious ants, struggling to climb on the scaffolding they erected in the corner of the library, on the roof of the church, and up Dragging chunks of shiny new stone, coils of shiny wire, or beams.

Jordan College has farms and estates throughout England.It is said that even if you walk from Oxford to Bristol in one direction and London in the other direction, you can't get out of Jordan College's territory.In every corner of the kingdom, there are dyeing factories, brick kilns, forests, and atomic device factories everywhere that pay rent to Jordan College; every six hours, the college accountant and his staff will make a summary, report the total to the college committee, and Ordered two swans for the banquet.Some of these funds were set aside for reinvestment—in this case the Faculty Board had just approved the purchase of an office building in Manchester; salaries (including the Parslows and a dozen other families of artisans and merchants who served the college), stocked the wine cellars, bought books and portraits of priests for the library - a library so vast that it occupied It covered the entire side of the Melrose Quadrangle, and extended several floors underground like a burrow. Of course, the most important use of this fund was to purchase the latest natural science instruments to equip the church.

It is very important that the college chapel be equipped with the latest equipment, because as a center of experimental theology, Jordan College has no rivals, whether in Europe or in New France.At least Lyra knew that, and she was proud of her illustrious college, bragging about it to the wild and shabby kids who played with her on the canals or clay riverbeds; Visiting scholars and well-known professors in other places, because they are not from Jordan College, so their knowledge is not as much as that of the humblest associate academicians in Jordan, and what they know is only insignificant things.

As for experimental theology, Laila knew no more than the wild boys.In her own imagination, experimental theology had to do with magic, with the motion of the stars and planets, with the tiny molecules of matter, but in fact it was just her guess.Perhaps the stars, like humans, have spirits, and experimental theology is the study of how to talk to them.Lyra imagined the priest speaking dignifiedly, listening to the star spirits, nodding wisely, or shaking his head regretfully.But what they might be talking about, Laila couldn't imagine. She wasn't particularly interested in it either.In many ways, she was a wild child.What she likes most is climbing on the roof of the college with her best friend and little kitchen apprentice Roger, spitting plum pits on the heads of passing academicians, and studying outside the window of the classroom where the tutoring class is being held. Owls hoot, chase each other down the narrow streets, steal apples in the market, or fight.Just as she was unaware of the political undercurrents lurking beneath the surface of everything at the Academy, so the Academicians were unaware of the rich and constant alliances, feuds, feuds, and compromises in the lives of Oxford children.They just thought, how nice it is for the kids to play together!Could anything be more innocent, more intoxicating?

In fact, Leila and her peers are also involved in irreconcilable struggles without exception.There were several battles going on at the same time.The children of one house (the young servant, the servant's children, and Lyra) were fighting with the children of another house.Leila was once taken by Gabriel College, another fictional Oxford college.With her child captured, Roger and their friends Hugh Lovat and Simon Parslow raid the place where she is being held to rescue Lyla.They crept in from Father the Choirmaster's garden, gathered hard plums in great abundance, and went to beat the children who had kidnapped her.There are twenty-four colleges in Oxford, so there is no end to capricious alliances and betrayals.However, once the children of Oxford Town attack the children of a certain college, they will forget the hostility between the colleges, and the children of various colleges will unite to deal with those people in the town.This confrontation has existed for hundreds of years, and the rancor is deep, but also very satisfying.

But even such struggles were brushed aside when other enemies posed a threat.There is one enemy that is always there all year round, and that is the children of the brick-burners.They lived near the clay riverbed, and the boys in the college and the town hated them very much.Last year, Leila made a temporary truce with some of the town's children, and together they launched raids on the clay riverbed, throwing heavy clay clods at the children of the brick-burners, kicking down the half-baked castle they had built, and then Throw them to the ground and roll around near the clay they live in.In the end, both the victors and the vanquished are a bunch of screaming clay figurines.

Another of their regular enemies is seasonal.Gypsy families lived in boats in the canals, they came and went to the spring and autumn fairs, and they were always good at fighting.There was a family of gypsies in particular who used to come back to a dock they had in town called Jericho.Lyra had been fighting with them from the time she could throw the first stone.The last time they were in Oxford, she and Roger and a few kitchen apprentices from Jordan's and St. They were dispatched and chased them away-taking this opportunity, Lyra's reserve team rushed to the boat, untied the cable, sailed away from the shore, and drifted down the canal, blocking all water traffic.Meanwhile, Lyra's commandos scoured the boat from bow to stern, looking for the bottom bung.Lyra firmly believed that there was such a plug on the ship, and she swore to her crew that if the plug was pulled out, the ship would sink immediately.But they failed to find them, and when the gypsies came after them, they abandoned their boats and fled, screaming and dripping with triumph, down the narrow alleys of Jericho, wet and gloating.

This is Leila's world and her fun.For the most part, she's a savage, rapacious little savage.But she had always felt that this was not the whole of her world; part of her belonged to the splendor and decorum of Jordan College, and at one point in her life she was joined by the high political circles represented by Lord Asriel. get in touch.All she'd done with these instincts was get herself cocky and domineering over the wild kids; she never thought about exploring more. In this way, she spent her childhood like a wild cat.Only when Lord Asriel visits the Academy now and then does her life change.Having such a rich and powerful uncle was enough for her to boast, but the price of such boasting was to be caught by the most agile Academician, taken to the housekeeper, forced to bathe, put on A clean dress, and she was then led (and continually threatened) into the faculty room to have tea with Lord Asriel and a group of invited Senior Fellows.She was terribly afraid of being seen by Roger.Roger had seen her once on such an occasion, and laughed aloud at her sash and pink ruffles.She responded with high-pitched curses, to the horror of the poor Academician who accompanied her.In the teacher's activity room, she fell down on the teacher's chair in protest, and finally, the dean had to sternly tell her to sit up; at this time, she glared at everyone, and finally even the priest couldn't help laughing .

The content of those embarrassing official visits has never changed.After drinking tea, the dean and the few other invited academicians left, leaving only Laila and her uncle.At this time, he would order her to stand before him and report to him what she had learned since his last visit to the Academy.So Laila grunted and uttered every bit of geometry, Arabic, history, or theology that came to her mind, while the Lord sat back in his chair, legs crossed, watching her inscrutablely. , until she couldn't tell. Last year, before his expedition north, he asked her, "What do you do with the rest of your time, aside from studying hard?"

She murmured: "I didn't do anything else, just play. Just play in the academy, just play...really." He said, "Show me your hands, boy." Laila held out her hands for him to examine.The lord took her hand and turned it over to look at her nails.Next to him, his elf resembles the winged sphinx in Greek mythology of the Sphinx. It is said that she often asks passers-by to guess riddles, and those who cannot guess will be killed.Lying on the carpet as if, occasionally flicking its tail a few times, staring at Laila without blinking. "Dirty," said Lord Asriel, pushing her hand away, "don't they let you wash your hands here?"

"Yes," Lyra replied, "but the priest's nails are always dirty, even dirtier than mine." "He is learned. What excuse do you have?" "I must have gotten dirty after washing." "Where did you play and get so dirty?" Laila looked at him suspiciously.Although no one had actually said it, she had a feeling that going up to the roof was definitely not allowed. "In some old houses," she finally said. "anything else?" "Clay bed, go sometimes." "anything else?" "Jericho and Port Mead." "Nothing else?" "there is none left." "You lied, I saw you on the roof yesterday." Lyra bit her lip, unable to speak a word.The lord looked at her mockingly. "That means you still play on the roof," he continued. "Have you ever been to the library?" "No, but I found a crow on the library roof," Lyra went on. "Really? You got it?" "He had a wounded foot, and I wanted to kill him and roast him. But Roger said we had to help him get better. So we got him some rice scraps and wine, and then It was fine and flew away." "Who is Roger?" "My friend, the apprentice in the kitchen." "I see. That means you're on the whole roof—" "Not all. You can't go up the Sheldon Tower, because you have to jump up from the Pilgrimage Tower, which is some distance away. There's a skylight there, and you can go up to the roof, but I'm short and can't reach it." .” "You've been on every roof except the Sheldon Building. What about the underground?" "underground?" "There's as much underground as there is in the college. I'm surprised you didn't see that. Well... I'll be leaving in a minute. You still look healthy. Here." He fumbled in his pocket, took out a handful of coins, and gave her five gold pieces from it. "Didn't they teach you to say thank you?" he said. "Thanks," she murmured. "Did you listen to the dean?" "Oh, listen." "Do you respect the academicians?" "respect." Lord Asriel's elf smiled slightly.It was the first noise she made, and Lyra blushed. "Go and play, then," said Lord Asriel. Lila breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and rushed to the door, not forgetting to turn around and yell "goodbye" mechanically. This was Lyra's life before she decided to hide in the break room and hear about the dust for the first time. The librarian told the dean that she would not be interested, which of course was not accurate.Now, if anyone could tell her about dust, she would be eager to listen.She's going to hear a lot about Dust over the next few months, and by the end, she's going to know more about Dust than anyone in the world.But for now, surrounded by her is still the rich and colorful life of Jordan College. Anyway, there is one other thing for people to consider.For weeks, a rumor slowly spread in the streets;No one knows why, some children started disappearing. Here's the thing. In the upper reaches of the Thames River in the Isis River, England, located in south-central England, flows near Oxford.The eastward channel is lined with slow-moving barges laden with bricks, river boats carrying asphalt and pot boats laden with corn as they travel downriver as far as Henley and Maidenhead , to reach Teddington, washed by the North Sea tide; then continue south: to Mertlake, past the mansion of the great magician Dr Dee; Tree lights and fireworks; past Whitehall, where the King holds his weekly council of state; past the Lead Shot Tower where the pellets used to be made. —drops lead water continuously into buckets of dirty water; then continues downstream—by this time the river has grown wide and dirty, and draws a wide arc to the south go. This is a district of Limehouse London. , the child who will be lost lives here. His name is Tony Macorios.His mother thought he was nine, but drinking had ruined her memory so she had a bad memory; he might have been eight or ten, and Markorios was a Greek name, but like his age, this It was only guesswork from his mother, for he looked more Chinese than Greek; and from his mother he was also Irish, Skrelin, and Indian sailor.Tony wasn't very bright, but he had an awkward tenderness, and sometimes he would clumsily hug Mom and kiss her deeply on the cheek.The poor woman was usually too drunk to initiate such an affair herself; but she could respond enthusiastically enough once she realized what was going on. At this point, Tony was wandering the market on Pie Street, and he felt hungry.It is just dusk now, and there is nothing to eat when I go home.He had a shilling in his pocket, and the soldier gave him a shilling when Tony had sent a message to his best girlfriend.But Tony wasn't going to waste it on food, because you could get a lot of food for nothing. So he strolled through the market, passing between the old cloth stalls and the fortune-tellers, the paper stalls, the fruit sellers and the fried fish sellers, with his elf on his shoulder, a A sparrow, looking around.While a stall owner and her elf were looking away, the bird chirped lightly, and Tony stretched out his hand quickly, and when he retracted into the baggy shirt, his hand was already Grab an apple, or a few nuts, and finally, a pie. The stall owner found out and yelled, and her cat elf jumped up, but Tony's sparrow elf had already flown to a high place, and he himself was almost running to the other side of the street.Cursing and cursing came from behind, but was lost for a moment.He stopped at the steps of St. Catherine's Church, sat down on the steps, and took out the steaming, crumbling booty, leaving a greasy stain on his shirt. At this moment, someone was watching him carefully.On the sixth step above him, a lady in a long orange-red fox fur coat was standing at the door of the church.It was a young and pretty lady, with black hair flowing gracefully from a fur-trimmed turban.Perhaps a mass had just ended in the church, for the lights were shining from the entrance behind her, the organ was playing music, and the lady held a jeweled hymn in her hand. Tony didn't notice any of this, he was content to eat his pie, toes turned in, bare soles pressed together.He sat there, chewing and gobbling.At this time, his elf changed into a mouse and was combing his beard. The elf of the young lady came out from the side of the fox fur coat. It was a monkey, but it was not an ordinary monkey: the hair on his body was very long, and it shone with a thick golden luster like silk.He wobbled along the steps towards the little boy bit by bit, and sat on the step above him. At this moment, the little mouse sensed something, turned into a sparrow again, turned its head sideways, and hopped a step or two on the stone. The monkey stared intently at the sparrow, and the sparrow also stared intently at the monkey. The monkey slowly stretched out his hand.His little hands were black, with perfectly manicured nails and shiny claws, and his movements were soft and charming.Unable to resist the temptation, the sparrow jumped forward, then jumped again, and then flapped its wings lightly, and jumped onto the monkey's hand. The monkey lifted her up, looked at her closely, then stood up, turned to his master with the sparrow spirit in his hand.The lady bowed her perfumed head and said something in a low voice. At this moment, Tony turned around—turned around involuntarily. "Ratt!" he cried, half out of fear.His mouth was still full. The sparrow chirped—she must be in no danger.So Tony swallowed the contents of his mouth in one gulp, staring with his eyes wide open. "Hello," said the pretty lady, "what's your name?" "Tony." "Where do you live, Tony?" "Clarice Street." "What's the filling in that pie?" "steak." "Do you like chocolate sauce?" "certainly!" "Coincidentally, I have too much chocolate sauce for me to finish myself. Can you come help me drink it?" Tony has lost himself.From the moment his dull genie leapt onto the monkey's hand, he was lost.He followed the pretty young lady and the golden monkey through Denmark Street, along Hanman's Quay, down the King George Steps, and came to a tall warehouse with a small green door at the side.The lady knocked, and the door opened, and they went in, and the door closed again.Tony never came out again—at least not through this door, and he never saw his mother again.And his mother, the poor drunk, thought he had run away; when she thought about Tony, she felt it was all her fault and she cried. Little Tony Macorios isn't the only kid imprisoned by the lady with the golden monkey.In the basement of that warehouse he found twelve other children, boys and girls.None of them were probably over twelve years old, although they had gone through the same experience as him, and none of them were quite sure how old they were.Of course, what Tony didn't notice was that they all had one thing in common: In that steamy basement, none of the kids had reached the age of adolescence. The good lady watched him sit on the bench against the wall, while a maid silently brought him a glass of chocolate sauce from the saucepan on the iron stove.Tony ate the rest of the pie and drank the sweet hot juice, not paying much attention to his surroundings.The people around didn't pay much attention to him.He was too young to pose much of a threat, and too unresponsive for bullying him to be enjoyable. It was another boy who asked the obvious question. "Hey, ma'am! What did you get us all here for?" The hapless man looked strong, with black chocolate sauce still smeared on his upper lip, and his elf was a bony black mouse.The lady was standing near the door, talking like a captain to a large man.When she turned back to answer the boy's question, she looked so angelic in the light of the hissing naphtha lamp that the children fell silent. "We need your help," she said. "You want to help us, don't you?" None of them could say a word, they all stared at her, and suddenly became shy.They had never seen such a lady, so graceful, lovely, and kind, that they felt that they were not worthy of such good fortune.Whatever she asked, they were willing to say yes to just a little more in her presence. She told them they were going to sail.They would be well fed and warmly clothed, and those who wanted to send home a message could write to the family to let them know they were safe.Captain Magnuson would soon take them aboard, and when the tide was favorable, they would head out to sea, sailing north. Soon, the few children who really wanted to write to their family—not sure what kind of family they had—were sitting around the pretty lady.As they talked, she memorized a few lines, and then asked them to draw a crooked "X" at the bottom of the letter paper, then folded the paper, put it in a scented envelope, and wrote the address they told her on above.Tony was going to take a letter to his mother, too, but it was clear to him whether she would understand it or not.He tugged on the lady's fox fur sleeves and whispered that he wanted her to tell his mother where he had gone, nothing else.She lowered her head kindly, leaned close to his small body emitting an unpleasant smell, so that she could hear clearly, then patted his head and said that she would definitely deliver this message. Later, the children gathered around her to bid her farewell.The golden monkey patted all the elves, and they all patted the fox fur, wishing themselves good luck, but perhaps seeking strength, hope, or mercy from the lady.She said good-bye to each of them and watched them board a motorboat from the jetty, under the care of their brave captain.At this time, the sky had already darkened, and lights were constantly shaking on the river.The lady stood on the jetty, waving until their faces could no longer be seen. Then, she went back to the house, and the golden monkey was nestled in her arms.She threw the little bundle of letters into the stove, and went off the way she had come. Slum kids are easily seduced, but people finally figured out that something was wrong, and the police were reluctantly forced to act.For a while, there were no more stories of children being cheated away, but the rumors had grown and changed little by little, getting bigger and bigger and spreading.After a while, first Norwich, then Sheffield, and then Manchester, children also disappeared; The rumors became more and more credible. Hence the legend that a group of mysterious wizards abducted the children.Some said their leader was a beautiful lady, others a tall man with red eyes, a third a young man who laughed and sang to his victims, and they Follow him like a flock. There is no consensus as to where the missing children were taken.Some said they were taken to hell, underground, or to fairyland.Some said they went to a farm where the children were locked up and eaten when they grew fat.Others say that the children were locked up first and then sold to rich Tatars...blah, blah, blah. But on one point, people's opinions are completely unanimous, that is, what are the names of these invisible kidnappers.They've got to have a name, or you can't call them; and talking about them—especially when you're safe and warm and cozy at home, or at Jordan—is a lot of fun .No one knows what the reason is, it seems that the name that finally fell on them became "Glutton". "Don't stay out too late, or Taotie will take you away!" "I have a cousin in Northampton. She knew a woman whose little boy was kidnapped by gluttons..." "Gao Tie has been to Stratford, I heard they are going south!" In the end, the inevitable scenario: "Let's play the game of children and gluttons!" Lyra said this to Roger.It was a rainy afternoon, and the two of them were alone in the dusty attic.At this time, Roger became her loyal servant, even if he went to the ends of the world, he would follow her. "How to play?" "You hid, I found you, and then cut you open with a knife, yes, just like Taotie." "You don't know how they are, maybe they don't do that at all." "You're afraid of them," Lyra said. "I can see that." "No. I don't believe in gluttony at all." "I'm sure," she said decisively, "but I'm not afraid. I'm going to do what my uncle did the last time he came to the academy. I saw him in the lounge and there was a rude visitor, and my uncle I gave him a hard look, and the man fell to the ground, dead on the spot, with foam all over his mouth." "Impossible," said Roger suspiciously. "The people in the kitchen never mentioned it. Besides, they won't let you into the lounge." "No, but they don't tell the servants about it. I've been in the common room, really. Believe it or not, my uncle was always like that. Once the Tatars caught he did the same to them. They tied him up and were going to disembowel him. When the first Tatar came up with a knife, my uncle just looked at him, and he fell died on the ground. Then another man came, and my uncle did the same to him, and at last there was only one Tartar left, and my uncle said that if he would untie him, he would spare him. That man gave him The tie was loosened, and my uncle killed him anyway, just to teach him a lesson." Roger didn't believe in gluttony, much less Lyra's words, but the story was so dangerous that it was a pity to just listen to it.So they took turns playing Lord Asriel and the dying Tartar, and dipped in sherbet instead of foam. But that's not the business, Laila still wants to play the gluttonous game.She coaxed Roger to go to the wine cellar below, and entered the wine cellar with the butler's spare key.Together they tiptoed through the vast cellars, where the Academy's Tokay, Canary, Burgundy, and brandy were stored beneath years of cobwebs.The ancient vaulted ceiling swells high above them, supported by ten pillars as thick as trees, and irregular stone slabs are laid under the feet, and there are stacks of wine bottles and barrels neatly arranged around them. , very attractive.The two children forgot about Taotie, walked carefully from one end of the wine cellar to the other, holding candles with trembling hands, staring at every dark corner.As the minutes ticked by, one question became more and more urgent in Lyra's mind: what did the wine taste like? The way to answer this question is very simple.Over Roger's strenuous objections, Lyra picked the oldest, oddest-shaped, greenest bottle she could find.Without a tool to remove the cork, they smashed the bottle from the neck.The two of them huddled in the farthest corner, sipping crimson spirits, wondering when they would be drunk and how they would know they were drunk.Lyra didn't really like the taste of it, but she had to admit it was very strong and had everything.The funniest thing was their elves, who seemed to become more and more clumsy, kept falling, giggling, changing their appearance into monsters, and competing to see who was uglier than the other. Finally, almost at the same time, the two children understood what it was to be drunk. "Do they like it?" Roger gasped after throwing up for a while. "Like it," replied Lyra, who looked just like Roger now, "me too," she added, tongue stiff. Laila had learned nothing from the incident except that playing Gluttony had taken her to a very interesting place.She remembered what he said when she met her uncle last time, so she began to explore underground, because the buildings on the ground were only a small part of Jordan College.Like some giant mushroom whose root system stretches over acres, at some point in the Middle Ages Jordan College began to expand underground (as it found itself above ground with St. Gabriel College, the university library at the rear vying for space).Tunnels, shafts, cellars, cellars, and staircases hollowed out Jordan College, so that for a few hundred yards there was almost as much space above and below ground; Since Lila liked underground exploration, she abandoned the roofs of the different high and low colleges she frequented, and devoted herself to this underground world with Roger.She had switched from playing the gluttonous game to finding the gluttonous, because they were most likely hiding underground—could there be a greater possibility than that? So one day, she and Roger came to the basement of the church.The deans are buried here, each in an oak coffin lined with lead, placed in a niche along the stone wall.In front of each person was a stone tablet with their names written on it: Simon Le Clark, Dean 1765-1789 Seri Barton may the soul rest in peace "What was written?" asked Roger. "The first part is his name, the last part is Roman, and the middle part is the year when he was the abbot. The other name must be his elf name." They walked down the silent basement and found more carved texts: Francis Lyall, Dean 1748-1765 Johariel may the soul rest in peace Ignatius Cole, Dean 1745-1748 Masca may the soul rest in peace Lyra was curious to see that each coffin had a brass plate, each with a different animal painted on it: some lizards, some poisonous snakes, some monkeys.She understood that these were the portraits of those dead elves.When people become adults, their elves lose the ability to change their bodies, and after they become an animal, they remain unchanged forever. "These coffins are full of skeletons!" Roger whispered. "The flesh is rotting," Lyra whispered, "and the worms and maggots are crawling in their eye sockets." "There must be ghosts here," said Roger, his voice trembling with excitement. After walking through the first basement, they found a passage lined with stone shelves, each of which was divided into four squares, and each square contained a skull. Roger's elf, with its tail tucked tightly between its legs, approached him tremblingly, whining softly. "Keep quiet," said Roger. Lyra couldn't see Pantalaimon, but she knew the moth was perched on her shoulder, probably trembling too. She reached out and lifted a skull from its stand. "What are you doing?" said Roger. "You shouldn't touch them!" Lyra ignored him and turned the skull over and over.Suddenly, something fell out of the hole under the skull, slipped through her fingers, and fell to the ground with a crisp sound, which scared her almost to throw the skull on the ground. "Coins!" said Roger, reaching for them. "Gold or silver, perhaps!" He lifted the thing up and moved it close to the candle, and the two of them stared at it with wide eyes.It was not a coin, but a small round bronze plaque with the image of a cat crudely carved on it. "It's like the ones on the coffin," Lyra said. "It's the man's spirit, for sure." "Better put it back," said Roger, a little worried.莱拉把头盖骨翻过来，把小圆牌子放回到它那古老的栖身之处，然后把头盖骨放回到架子上。他们发现，其他所有的头盖骨都有各自的精灵牌子，说明在主人死后，陪伴他们终生的精灵依然离他们很近。 “你觉得他们活着的时候都是些什么人？”莱拉问，“我猜也许是院士。只有院长才有棺材，好几百年中，也许院士太多了，没有那么大的地方埋他们，所以只好把他们的头砍掉，保存起来，不管怎么说，这是他们身上最重要的部分了。” 他们没有找到饕餮，但教堂下面的这个地下墓穴也让莱拉和罗杰忙活了好几天。有一次，她想捉弄一下这几个去世的院士，她把他们头盖骨中的小圆牌子调换了一下，这样他们就跟各自的精灵对不上号了。潘特莱蒙对此反应很激烈，变成一只蝙蝠，忽上忽下地飞来飞去，尖声地叫着，用翅膀去扑打她的脸。可是莱拉并不理会，因为这个恶作剧太有意思了，不能不做。不过，后来她还是为此受到了惩罚。她自己的小房间位于十二号楼梯的上方，当她躺在床上的时候，梦见了恐怖的鬼魂，她醒后尖声大叫起来，因为她看见床边站着三个穿长袍的身影，正用瘦骨嶙峋的手指指着她。他们把风帽往后一掀，露出血淋淋的脖腔——他们的头原来就长在那儿。直到潘特莱蒙变成一只狮子，冲着他们咆哮的时候，他们才开始后退，退到了墙里面，只能看见胳膊，后来是长着老茧的黄灰色的手，然后是抽搐着的手指，然后便什么也看不见了。第二天早上，莱拉做的第一件事就是匆忙下到地下墓穴里，把精灵牌子放回到各自正确的位置，嘴里还对着那些头盖骨小声地说着“对不起！对不起！”。 这个地下墓穴虽然比酒窖大多了，但空间也同样有限。当莱拉和罗杰转遍了其中的每一个角落，肯定那里不会有什么饕餮了的时候，他们就把注意力转向了别的地方。但是在此之前，他们在离开地下室的时候被代理主教发现了。他把他们叫到了教堂里。 代理主教是一个长得圆滚滚的老人，人们都叫他海斯特神父。他的工作是主持学院所有的宗教仪式，进行布道、祈祷，并倾听忏悔。莱拉小的时候，代理主教还对她的宗教精神生活表现出兴趣，但结果却只是得到她暗藏着的冷漠和伪装的忏悔。于是，他得出结论，莱拉在宗教精神生活上是没什么指望的了。 莱拉和罗杰听到他叫他们之后，不情愿地转过身，慢腾腾地走进散发着霉味的暗淡的教堂里。一盏盏蜡烛在圣徒们的画像前摇曳着，风琴房那儿远远传来轻微的格格声，有人正在修理风琴；一个仆人正在擦黄铜做的诵经台。海斯特神父在圣衣室门口招呼他们过去。 “你们去哪儿了？”他问他们，“我已经看见你们到这里来过两三次了，你们在干什么呢？” 他的语气里并没有责怪的意思，听起来好像他真的很感兴趣。他的精灵在神父的肩膀上冲着他们飞快地吐着那个蜥蜴舌头。 莱拉说：“我们想到下面的地下室里看看。” “究竟要看什么？” “那……那些棺材，我们想看看那些棺材，”她说。 "But why?" 莱拉耸了耸肩。有人逼问她的时候，她经常用这个来应付。 “还有你，”神父转向罗杰，接着说。罗杰的精灵不安地摆动着狗尾巴，向神父讨好。 "what's your name?" “罗杰，神父。” “你是个仆人吧，你在哪儿干活？” “在厨房，神父。” “这个时候你是不是应该在厨房里？” "Yes, Father." "then you go." 罗杰转过身，一溜烟地跑了。莱拉把脚在地面上蹭来蹭去。 “至于你，莱拉，”海斯特神父说，“我很高兴看到你对教堂里面的东西感兴趣。你这个孩子很幸运，因为这些历史就在你身边。” “嗯，”莱拉说。 “但是你选择的伙伴让我感到惊讶。你是不是感到寂寞？” "No," she said. “你是不是……想跟别的孩子来往？” "No." “我不是说厨房里的学徒罗杰，我说的是像你这样出身高贵的孩子。你想不想找几个这样的伙伴？” "No." “但是别的女孩子，也会……” "No." “你看，我们谁都不想让你错过儿童正常的快乐和游戏。莱拉，有时候我想，你在这儿陪着上了年纪的院士，生活一定很寂寞无聊。你说是不是？” "No." 神父两手手指交织在一起，两个拇指相互轻轻地碰着。他想不出还有什么问题可以问这个冥顽不化的孩子。 “要是有什么烦心的事，”他终于开口道，“你知道，你可以到这里来告诉我，我希望你知道自己随时可以这样做。” "yes." “你做祈祷吗？” "yes." “好孩子。好了，去吧。” 莱拉几乎不加任何掩饰地松了口气，转身离开了。既然在地下没有找到饕餮，莱拉便又回到了大街上，这对她来说是再熟悉不过的地方了。 这时候，差不多就在她对饕餮失去兴趣的时候，饕餮在牛津出现了。 莱拉最先听到的是一个小男孩失踪了，那个小男孩来自她认识的一个吉卜赛人的家庭。 快到举行马市的时候了，运河里挤满了小河船和监工船、商人和旅客，杰里科附近河边的码头上热闹非凡，到处是闪闪发光的马嚼子、得得的马蹄声和讨价还价的喧闹声。莱拉一直就非常喜欢马市，也喜欢可以趁人不备的时候偷偷地骑上马过一回瘾，在马市上挑起纷争的机会比比皆是。 今年，莱拉想出了一个庞大的计划。受到前一年夺取小河船的鼓舞，她打算这次在被人撵出去之前把船先航行一段距离。要是她和学院厨房里的那帮朋友能把船开到阿宾登那么远的话，他们就可以把鱼梁在河流中用来捕获或拦截鱼的栅栏等物。弄个乱七八糟…… 然而今年他们却打不了架了，因为发生了一件别的事情。一天，在清晨的阳光里，莱拉沿着米德港小船厂的边缘闲逛着，这一次罗杰不在场（他被分配了一项任务，清洗储藏酒的那个房间的地板），她跟休?洛瓦特和西蒙?帕斯洛在一起。他们轮流抽着一根偷来的香烟，炫耀似地往外吐着烟。突然，莱拉听到有人大叫起来，她听出了这是谁的声音。 “啊，你这个蠢猪，你到底把他怎么了？” 声音很大，是一个女人的声音，一个粗声大气的女人的声音。莱拉马上四处张望去找她，因为这个人是玛?科斯塔，她曾两次把莱拉打得晕头转向，但也曾三次给过她热姜饼吃。她家里的船富丽堂皇，这使得她家颇有名气，他们是吉卜赛人中的王子。莱拉对玛?科斯塔敬佩得不得了，但她打算这一段时间还是对她小心一些的好，因为她上次劫走的就是他们家的船。 跟莱拉一起的一个小愣头青一听到喧哗，马上机械地捡起一块石头，但是莱拉说：“把石头放下，她正在气头上，她会把你的脊梁骨像树枝似的咔嚓一声扭断。” 实际上，玛?科斯塔的焦虑看上去比火气还要大。跟她说话的那个人是个贩马的，正耸着肩膀，两手一摊。 “哦，我不知道，”他说，“他刚才还在这儿来着，可是转眼就不见了，我根本没看见他去哪儿了……” “他在给你帮忙啊！他在给你看着你那些该死的马！” “嗯……那他应该待在这儿啊，是不是？活儿没干完就跑了——” 没等他把话说完，玛?科斯塔便突然朝他一边脑袋重重地一击，接着便是一阵疯狂的咒骂和拳打脚踢，吓得马贩子大叫着转身逃走了。附近其他马贩子哄笑起来，一匹没见过什么世面的小马驹被吓得直尥蹶子。 “怎么回事？”莱拉问一个一直张着嘴看的吉卜赛孩子，“她生什么气？” “因为她的小孩，”那个孩子说，“就是比利。她可能觉得饕餮把他拐走了，也许是真的，我上次见到比利的时候是……” “饕餮？那就是说他们来牛津了？” 吉卜赛男孩转身去喊他的朋友们，他们正在看玛?科斯塔。 “她竟然不知道是怎么回事！她不知道饕餮到这儿来了！” 六个愣头青转过身，脸上带着嘲弄的表情。莱拉知道这是要打架的信号，便把烟头往地上一摔。所有的孩子的精灵马上变得好斗起来：陪伴在孩子们周围的全都是獠牙、利爪或立起来的鬃毛。潘特莱蒙瞧不起吉卜赛精灵有限的想像力，于是变成了一条龙，足有猎鹿犬那么大。 但是没等他们动手，玛?科斯塔亲自插了进来。她挥手把两个吉卜赛小孩打到一边，像个职业拳手似的站在莱拉面前。 “你见到他了？”她质问莱拉，“你见到比利没有？” “没有，”莱拉说，“我们刚到这儿，我有好几个月没看见比利了。” 玛?科斯塔的精灵是一只鹰，在她头顶上方晴朗的天空中盘旋，凶猛的黄眼睛一眨不眨地扫来扫去。莱拉害怕了。如果小孩只是几个小时不见了踪影，那谁也不会担心，但这当然不包括吉卜赛人：在吉卜赛人连接紧密的船上世界里，所有的孩子都是宝贝，受到溺爱；要是小孩不见了，他妈妈知道一定会有人照顾他，会本能地保护他。 但是现在，吉卜赛人中的女王玛?科斯塔对孩子的失踪竟然有这么大的恐惧，这到底是怎么回事？ 玛?科斯塔眯缝着眼睛，在这几个孩子中间找寻着，然后转身踉踉跄跄穿过码头上的人群，大声呼叫着她的孩子。这边的孩子们马上转回身来。面对着玛?科斯塔的痛苦，他们抛弃了相互之间的冤仇。 “饕餮是怎么回事？”莱拉的伙伴西蒙?帕斯洛问道。 最前面的那个吉卜赛男孩说：“你知道，他们在全国到处偷小孩儿，是些海盗——” “不是海盗，”另一个吉卜赛孩子纠正道，“他们是吃人的怪物，所以人们才把他们叫做饕餮。” “他们吃小孩吗？”莱拉的另一个伙伴、圣?麦克尔学院厨房的学徒休?洛瓦特问。 “没有人知道，”第一个吉卜赛孩子说，“他们把小孩带走，然后就再也见不到这些小孩了。” “这些我们都知道，”莱拉说，“我们玩小孩和饕餮的游戏已经有好几个月了，肯定比你们早。我敢肯定谁都没见过他们。” “他们见过，”一个男孩说。 “谁？”莱拉刨根问底地说，“你见过他们？你怎么知道那是饕餮、不是人呢？” “查理在班伯里见过他们，”一个吉卜赛小女孩说，“他们过来跟一个女人说话，另一个男的就从花园里把她的小男孩带走了。” “对，”那个名叫查理的吉卜赛男孩尖声说，“我看见他们是这么干的。” “他们长什么样儿？”莱拉问。 “嗯……可能我没看见他们，”查理说，“可我看见他们的卡车了。”他补充道，“他们开着一辆白色的卡车来的，把那个小男孩放进卡车后，很快就开走了。” “可为什么人们叫他们饕餮呢？”莱拉问。 “因为他们吃小孩，”第一个吉卜赛男孩说，“是北安普敦的人告诉我们的。饕餮一直就在那儿，都在那儿。北安普敦一个女孩的弟弟被抓走了，她说那些人抓她弟弟的时候告诉她，他们要把他吃了。这个大家都知道，他们把那些小孩都吃了。” 站在附近的一个吉卜赛小女孩大声哭了起来。 “她是比利的表妹，”查理说。 莱拉问：“谁最后看见比利的？” “我，”六个声音同时说，“我看见他牵着约翰尼?费奥雷利的那匹老马——我看见他在卖太妃糖和苹果的人旁边——我看见他在起重机上打秋千——” 莱拉整理了一下这些线索之后，得出的结论是，不到两个小时前，肯定有人看见了比利。 “所以，”她说，“过去的两个小时里，饕餮一定来过这儿……” 他们全都向四周张望着，尽管有着温暖的阳光、人来人往的码头以及熟悉的柏油、马匹和烟草的味道，他们还是打了个寒噤。问题是由于谁都不知道饕餮长什么样，所以任何人都可能是饕餮。莱拉把这一点向这群惊慌失措的孩子讲明了，不管是学院的还是吉卜赛孩子，都已经完全听从她的指挥了。 “他们长得一定跟普通人很像，要不马上就会被人发现，”她解释道，“要是他们夜里出现的话，他们长什么样子都没关系。但是如果白天出现，他们就必须得跟普通人一样。所以，这些人谁都有可能是饕餮……” “不会吧，”一个吉卜赛人半信半疑地说，“这些人我全都认识。” “好吧，不是这些人，那就是别的什么人，”莱拉说，“咱们去找找他们！还有他们的白色卡车！” 这句话一下子招来了一大群孩子。其他到处寻找比利的人也都加入到他们当中，很快就聚齐了三十多个吉卜赛孩子。他们从码头的这头跑到那头，从一个马厩出来又进到另一个马厩，爬上船厂的起重机和起重塔，跳过篱笆来到开阔的牧场，在绿色水面上那座古老的平旋桥上大幅度地荡来荡去，在杰里科狭窄的街道上飞快地跑过，穿过两旁的梯形小砖房，跑到药剂师圣?巴纳巴斯的方塔大教堂里。他们当中有一半人并不知道在找什么，只是觉得好玩儿。但是，离莱拉最近的那些人一瞥见一个孤独的身影在胡同里走过或是在教堂前的阴影里停留，心头便感到一种切实的恐惧和担心：那是不是一个饕餮？ 那当然不是饕餮。最终，他们一无所获，比利真的失踪了，这像阴影一样笼罩在每个人的心头。这时，这样找来找去的乐趣便逐渐消失了。快到晚饭时间了，莱拉和学院的两个男孩离开杰里科的时候，看见吉卜赛人聚集在科斯塔的船停靠的码头附近。有几个女人在大声地哭着，男人们愤怒地一群一群聚在一起，他们的精灵全都躁动不安起来，有的紧张地飞来飞去，有的冲着阴影凶猛地咆哮。 “我敢打赌，饕餮肯定不敢到这儿来，”莱拉对西蒙?帕斯洛说。他俩迈步走进了乔丹学院那处很大的宿舍。 “是的，”西蒙半信半疑，“可是我知道市场上丢了个小孩儿。” “是谁？”莱拉问。市场上玩的孩子大部分她都认识，但这事儿她还没听说。 “杰西?雷诺兹，就是造马鞍子的那家的。昨天他们关门的时候她还没回来，她只不过是出去弄点儿鱼，给她爸爸做茶点。她再也没回来过，也没人见过她。他们找遍了市场，到处都找了。” “我怎么不知道！”莱拉怒气冲冲地说。她觉得自己的属下没把所有的事情都及时告诉她，这是他们犯下的一个错误，应该予以严厉的批评。 “嗯……这事儿是昨天刚刚发生的，现在可能已经找到她了。” “我去问问，”莱拉说着，转身就要离开宿舍。 但是，没等她走出大门，看门人便叫住了她。 “莱拉，过来！今天晚上你不能再出去了，这是院长的命令。” "why?" “我告诉你了，这是院长的命令。他说，你要是来了，就留在这儿。” “那你来抓我吧，”莱拉说。没等看门人从门口走出来，她已经“噌”的一声蹿了出去。 她穿过狭窄的街道，跑进一个胡同——几辆大篷车正在这里给地下市场卸货。现在正是打烊的时间，只有很少的几辆大篷车，但是有几个年轻人站在圣?麦克尔学院高大的石墙对面的正门旁，正在抽烟、聊天。莱拉认识其中一个十六岁的男孩，她很敬佩这个人，因为在她听说过的所有的人当中，他能把痰吐得最远。莱拉走过去，低声下气地等着他注意到自己。 “什么事？你要干什么？”那个男孩终于说话了。 “杰西?雷诺兹失踪了吗？” "Yes what's the matter?" “因为一个吉卜赛小孩今天失踪了，真的。” “他们这些吉卜赛人总是失踪，每次马市一完，他们总是要丢几个人。” “还丢马，”他的一个朋友说。 “这次不一样，”莱拉说，“这次是个小孩。我们找了他一下午，别的小孩说是饕餮把他抓走了。” "what?" “饕餮，”她说，“你们没听说过饕餮？” 别的男孩也是第一次听说，他们大大咧咧地瞎说了几句之后，便认真地听莱拉给他们讲。 “饕餮，”莱拉认识的那个男孩说——他叫迪克，“真傻。这些吉卜赛人总是随便就弄些各种各样的傻念头。” “他们说，饕餮几个星期前到了班伯里，”莱拉坚持道，“抓走了五个小孩。现在他们可能到了牛津，来抓我们当中的人了。抓走杰西的一定是他们。” “考利路那儿是丢了个小孩，”另一个男孩说，“我想起来了，我姨妈昨天去那儿了，因为她在大篷车上卖鱼和薯条，她听说了这件事……是一个小男孩，可是我不知道饕餮是怎么回事。饕餮……不可能是真的，只是人们编的故事而已。” “是真的！”莱拉说，“吉卜赛人看见他们了，他们认为饕餮把抓到的小孩都吃了，而且……” 话说了一半她就停住了，因为她脑子里忽然一下子想起了一件事。在那个奇怪的晚上，当她藏在休息室里的时候，阿斯里尔勋爵放了一张幻灯片，上面是一个男子，他的手上放射着光芒，他旁边还有一个小小的身影，周围的光没有那么多；勋爵说那是一个孩子；当时有人问那是不是被切割了的孩子，她叔叔说不是，就是这样。莱拉记得切割的意思就是“切开”。 就在这时，另一个念头闯入了她的脑子里：罗杰在哪儿？ 从早晨到现在，她一直就没见到他…… 她突然感到了一种恐惧。变成了一只小狮子的潘特莱蒙纵身跳到她怀里，低声吼叫起来。莱拉跟门口的年轻人说了声再见，不声不响地走到特尔街，然后便撒腿拼命地向乔丹学院的宿舍跑去，比变成了猎豹的精灵还早先一步撞进了大门。 看门人一脸的伪善。 “我不得不给院长打了电话，向他报告，”他说，“他非常不高兴。我可不想像你那样，给钱也不想。” “罗杰在哪儿？”莱拉急切地问。 “没看见。他也会受到惩罚的。哎呀呀，等考森先生抓到他的时候——” 莱拉跑到厨房，冲进炙热、叮当作响、热气腾腾的忙碌的人群之中。 “罗杰在哪儿？”她大声喊。 “走开，莱拉！我们正忙着呢！” “可是罗杰在哪儿？他有没有来过？” 人们对她的问题似乎都不感兴趣。 “但是他在哪儿？你们肯定听见我的话了！”莱拉冲着厨师大声喊道，那个厨师打了她一记耳光，打得她踉跄着退了好几步。 面点师伯尼想让她冷静下来，但是莱拉不接受别人的安慰。 “他们把他抓走了！那些该死的饕餮，应该把他们抓住，把该死的全都杀了！我恨他们！你们也不关心罗杰——” “莱拉，我们全都关心罗杰——” “你们不关心！要不你们就会停下活儿，现在就去找他了！我恨你们！” “罗杰为什么没来，那理由多啦！要理智点儿！我们要在不到一小时内把晚宴做好，端上去。院长在住处招待客人，他要在那里进行晚餐，这就是说，厨师关心的是让人把饭菜快点儿端过去，别让它凉了。莱拉，不管有什么事，生活总是有它自己的轨道。我敢肯定，罗杰会出现的……” 莱拉转身往外跑，撞翻了一堆银质餐具。她没有理会随之而来的怒骂，跑出了厨房。她飞快地跑下台阶，穿过四方庭院，从教堂和帕尔默塔楼之间穿过去，来到雅克斯里四方庭院。乔丹学院最古老的建筑就坐落在这里。 潘特莱蒙轻快地跑在她前面，顺着楼梯一直上到顶层，莱拉的卧室就在这儿。莱拉撞开门，把她的那把破椅子拖到窗前，猛地大推开窗户，爬了出去。窗子下面有一条一英寸宽、铺着铅的石头水槽。一站到那上面，莱拉便转过身来，顺着粗糙的瓦片向上爬，一直爬到了房顶最高的屋脊上。到了这里，她便张开嘴，尖叫起来。潘特莱蒙一到房顶上就变成一只鸟，此时，他不断地盘旋着，乌鸦似的跟着莱拉大叫起来。 夜空如洗，飘浮着状如桃子、杏子和奶油的云彩：橘黄色的广阔的天空上，到处都是柔软、小巧的冰激凌一样的云彩。牛津的尖顶和塔尖跟它们持平，分布在它们周围，没有超过云层的高度；福特城堡和白汉姆的绿色森林分别矗立在东西两个方向。乌鸦在什么地方沙哑地叫着，钟声在四处回荡，码头上不断传来内燃机的轰鸣声，告诉人们皇家邮局前往伦敦的晚班齐柏林飞艇一种由内部气囊支持的硬式飞艇，因其发明者为德国人费迪南德?冯?齐柏林（1838—1917），故名。正在升空。莱拉看着它爬升起来，越过圣?麦克尔教堂的尖顶；一开始，有她伸直手臂时的小手指尖那么大，然后便一点儿一点儿地变小，最后在珍珠色的天空中变成了一个小点。 她转回头，俯视着阴影中的四方庭院。院士们穿着黑袍的身影已经开始三三两两、悠闲地朝饮食店走去，他们的精灵跟在一旁，或昂首挺胸地走着，或翩翩起舞，或静静地坐在他们肩头。餐厅里正在上灯；一个仆人走到一张张桌子前，把石脑油灯点亮。她看见那些彩色玻璃窗户渐渐地透出了亮光。管家的钟开始敲响了，说明离晚宴还有半个小时。 这是她的世界，她希望这个世界能够保持这样，永远不变。然而，在她的周围，世界正在发生着变化，因为有人在那里拐骗儿童。莱拉坐在屋脊上，两手托着腮。 “我们最好去救他，潘特莱蒙，”她说。 他从烟囱那儿回答她，一口的乌鸦声。 “会有危险的，”他说。 “当然！这我知道。” “你还记得他们在休息室里说的话吗？” "What words?" “说的是关于北极的一个小孩，就是那个对尘埃没有引力的那个小孩。” “他们说那是一个完整的孩子……怎么了？” “他们可能就是要那样对待罗杰、吉卜赛人和别的小孩。” "what?" “嗯……完整的……是什么意思？” “不知道。也许……他们把他们切成两半。我猜他们是要他们做奴隶，这样用处更大。也许他们在北边有矿山，有用来制造原子器械的铀矿。我敢打赌肯定是这样的。要是让大人下矿井，他们就会丧命，所以他们就用小孩，因为小孩的成本低。他们就是这样对待那个小孩的。” "I think--" 然而就在这时，有人在下面大声叫起来，潘特莱蒙的想法不得不等一等了。 “莱拉！莱拉！马上过来！” 有人在重重地敲打着窗框。莱拉非常熟悉这个声音和这份急躁：是女管家朗斯代尔太太。在她面前是无处可藏的。 莱拉紧绷着脸，从房顶往下出溜到水槽上，然后又从窗户上爬了进去。随着水管子发出的巨大的呻吟和撞击声，朗斯代尔太太正在往那个破了口的盆子里面放水。 “跟你说了多少次了，不要到那里去……你看看你！看看你这裙子——脏得要死！马上脱了，洗个澡，我去给你找件体面点儿的没破的衣服来。你怎么就不能干净点儿、整洁点儿呢……” 莱拉非常气闷，甚至都懒得去问为什么非要洗澡、打扮，大人们从来也不主动告诉她为什么。她把裙子拽到头顶上脱了下来，扔到那张窄窄的床上，漫不经心地开始洗澡。潘特莱蒙这时变成一只金丝雀，蹦蹦跳跳地一点一点靠近朗斯代尔太太的那只壮实的猎狗精灵，想逗他生气，可是没有成功。 “瞧瞧这衣柜里都什么样了！都挂了几个星期了！瞧瞧这件皱巴巴的——” 瞧瞧这个，瞧瞧那个……莱拉才不想瞧呢。她闭上眼睛，用一块小毛巾擦着脸。 “只好就这样子穿了，来不及熨了。天啊，丫头，你的膝盖——看看都成什么样子了……” “我什么都不想看，”莱拉嘴里咕哝道。 朗斯代尔太太啪地拍了一下她的腿，恶狠狠地说：“洗，把那些灰全都洗掉。” “为什么？”莱拉终于忍不住问道，“一般我从来不洗膝盖，谁也不会去注意它们。这是让我干什么？你跟那些厨师一样，也不关心罗杰。只有我——” 又是啪的一声，这次打在另一条腿上。 “不许胡说。我娘家就姓帕斯罗，跟罗杰的父亲一个姓，他还是我的远方堂兄。我敢肯定你并不知道这个，因为我敢肯定你从来就没问过，莱拉小姐，我敢肯定你也从来就没想到过。别冲我嚷嚷说我不关心罗杰。上帝知道，虽然你没什么特别的地方，你也从来不谢我，可我还是连你都关心。” 她一把夺过面巾，用力去擦莱拉的膝盖，把皮肤擦得又红又疼，但也终于擦干净了。 “这样做的原因是因为今天晚上，你要和院长以及他的客人们一起吃晚饭。看在上帝的分上，但愿你能注意自己的行为举止。有人跟你说话的时候你再说话，不要乱嚷，要有礼貌，要恰到好处地微笑。有人问你问题的时候，不许咕噜着舌头说'不知道'。” 她连拉带拽地把最好的一件衣服套在莱拉瘦小的身躯上，用力扯平，又从乱七八糟的抽屉里摸出一小截红布条，然后用一把破梳子给莱拉梳头。 “他们要是早点儿告诉我，我就可以好好给你洗洗头。唉，真是糟透了。希望他们别凑得太近……好了。现在站直了。那双最好的黑皮鞋呢？” 五分钟后，莱拉便在敲院长家的门了。他的房子很大，稍微有点儿阴暗，前门是雅克斯里斯方庭院，后门是图书馆的花园。潘特莱蒙出于礼貌，现在变成了一只貂，在她腿边蹭来蹭去。院长的贴身男仆卡曾斯打开了门；他是莱拉的老对头了，但他们俩都知道现在不是开战的时候。 “是朗斯代尔太太让我来的，”莱拉说。 “我知道，”卡曾斯说着，往旁边一站，“院长在会客厅。” 他把她领到那间俯视图书馆花园的大厅。最后一缕阳光从图书馆和帕尔默塔楼之间的空隙照射进来，照亮了院长收集的那些色调沉闷的油画和失去了光泽的银器，也照亮了那几位客人。莱拉明白他们为什么不去学院餐厅吃饭了：三个客人都是女士。 “哦，莱拉，”院长说，“我非常高兴你能来。卡曾斯，请弄些不带酒精的饮料好吗？汉纳夫人，我想您还没有见过阿斯里尔勋爵的侄女……莱拉吧？” 汉纳?雷尔弗夫人是牛津一个女子学院的院长，是一位上了年纪、头发花白的女士，她的精灵是一