Chapter 17 Seventeen, witch

Lyra moaned and shivered uncontrollably, as if she had just been pulled out of the water, which was so cold that her heart was almost frozen.Pantalaimon got under her clothes and lay against her skin, happy that Lyra was whole again.But he knew that Mrs. Coulter had been busy preparing some kind of drink; he also knew that most of the time, the sturdy little finger of the golden monkey had been running quickly over Lyra, and only Pan Tremont could notice.The monkey also touched the oilskin bag around Laila's waist to see what was inside. "Sit up, honey, and drink this," Mrs. Coulter said, putting her arm gently around Lyra's back and helping her to her feet.

Every muscle in Lyra's body tensed, but relaxed almost immediately, as Pantalaimon told her silently: We're only safe if we're disguised.When she opened her eyes she found them filled with tears; to her surprise and shame she burst into sobs. Mrs. Coulter made some sympathetic noises, put the drink in the monkey's hand, and wiped Lyra's eyes with a perfumed handkerchief. "Cry out, dear," said the soft voice.As soon as she could control herself, Laila decided not to cry.She tried to hold back her tears, pursed her lips tightly, and suppressed sobs, but her chest was still heaving.

Pantalaimon did what he always did: deceive them, deceive them.Transformed into a mouse, he crawled aside from Lyra's grasp and sniffed timidly the glass of drink the monkey was clutching. It was not poisonous: it had chamomile in it and nothing else.He climbed back on Lyra's shoulders and whispered, "Drink it." Lyra sat up, took the hot cup in both hands, sipped and blew on it to cool it down.Her eyes never looked up—this time the disguise was harder than she had ever done before. "Lila, dear," whispered Mrs. Coulter, stroking her hair, "I thought we'd never find you! What happened? Have you lost your way? Someone Get you out of the apartment?"

"Yes," Lyra whispered. "Who is it, dear?" "A man and a woman." "A guest at the party?" "I think so. They said you need something and it's downstairs and I'll go get it and they just grab me and take me to a place and put me in a car. But when they stop At that time, I ran out quickly and avoided them, and they could no longer catch me. But, I don't know where I am..." She sobbed again quickly, but much weaker than before.She could pretend that the sob was caused by the experience she was telling. "I was walking around trying to find my way back when the gluttons caught me... They put me in a caravan with some other kids and took me to a place that was a It's a big house, I don't know where it is."

With every second that passed, every word she uttered herself, Lyra felt a little stronger coming back.Now that she was doing a difficult and familiar thing that had never been predictable—namely, lying, Laila regained the sense of control that the alethiometer had allowed her to gain. Manipulative feeling.She was careful not to say anything obviously out of the question; in some places she had to be vague, and in others she had to invent plausible details.In short, she had to be an artist. "How long have they got you here?" asked Mrs. Coulter. The trip on the canal and the time with the gypsies was two weeks: she had to count it.So, she made up an experience of going to Trollsand with Taotie, telling how she escaped, and detailing the details of the town she saw; He was a servant, doing everything, and then worked for a period of time in a farmer's house in the interior, and then he was caught by the Samoyeds and taken to Birvangar.

"They're going to—cut—" "Shh, honey. I'll find out what's going on." "But why would they do that? I've never done anything wrong! All the kids are terrified of what's going on there, and no one knows how. But it's horrific, more than anything else. Oops... why did they do that, Mrs. Coulter? Why were they so cruel?" "Well, well...you're safe now, dear. They'll never do that to you again, and now I know you're here, and you're safe now, and there's no more danger. Dear Lay La, no one will hurt you, never will hurt you..."

"But they treat other children that way! Why?" "Ah, dear—" "It's because of the dust, isn't it?" "Did they tell you? Did the doctor say so?" "Even the kids know about it, and all the kids talk about it, but no one knows about it! Besides, they almost did that to me—you gotta tell me! You have no right to keep it a secret, No more!" "Laila... Lyla, Lyla, dear, these are very important, difficult concepts, like dust and so on, which is not something that children should worry about. But, dear, the doctor did it for Hello children. Dust is a bad thing, abnormal, harmful and evil. Adults and their elves are too infected by dust, there is no way to remedy it, so there is nothing we can do about them . . . but operating on the children in time means that they are safe from the dust, so that the dust never clings to them, and they are safe and happy, and -"

Lyra thought of little Tony Marcorios, and suddenly leaned forward and threw up.Mrs. Coulter stepped back and let go. "Honey, are you all right? Go to the bathroom—" Lyra fought back and wiped her eyes. "You don't need to operate on us," she said, "just leave us alone. I'm sure Lord Asriel would not have allowed anyone to do it if he knew what was going on here. There's dust, and you have dust, and Dean of Jordan and all the other grown-ups have dust, so it must be no big deal. When I get out, I'm going to tell the kids all over the world. Anyway, if the operation It’s so good, why do you stop them from doing it for me? If the operation is so good, you should let them do it, you should be happy.”

Mrs. Coulter shook her head with a sad, knowing smile. "Honey," she said, "something that is good for us hurts us a little bit, and, if you're upset, it's only natural that it upsets someone else too. . . but , this operation is not meant to take your elf away from you, he is still there! By the way, many adults here have also had this operation. Those nurses look happy, don't they? " Lyra blinked, suddenly understanding why they were so blank and indifferent, why their trotting elves looked like they were sleepwalking. don't say anything.Thinking of this, Laila tightly shut her mouth.

"Honey, no one would do such a thing in a dream to perform an operation on a child without conducting an experiment first, and no one in a thousand years would want to deprive a child of the elf at once! The whole process is nothing more than One small cut and then nothing, forever! You see, your elf was a wonderful friend and companion as a child, but honey, when you hit what we call puberty— You're going to be that age soon--the elves bring in all kinds of troubling thoughts and emotions, and that's where the dust gets in. A quick minor surgery before then will You won't have any troubles anymore, and your elf is still with you, it's just... just not connected, like... like a very good pet - if you like Best pet in the world if you think about it! Don't you like that?"

Oh, wicked lies; oh, shameless lies she tells!Even if Lyra hadn't known in advance that she was telling a lie (Tony Macorios and the imprisoned elves had shown that), she would be angry, and she would feel an intense disgust at it all.Cut off your dear soul, your brave partner in spirit, and reduce it to a little running pet?Lyra was on fire with hatred, and Pantalaimon turned into a polecat in her arms, snarling—the ugliest, most malevolent form he could be. But they didn't say anything.Lyra held Pantalaimon tightly, letting Mrs. Coulter stroke her hair. "Drink your chamomile," said Mrs. Coulter softly. "I asked them to make you a bed here, and now that my little assistant is back, there's no need to go back with another girl." Sleeping in a dormitory. You are my favorite assistant, the most capable assistant in the world! You know, dear, we searched all over London for you. Oh, I miss you so much! Again I am so happy to have found you..." During the whole process, the golden monkey has been swimming around restlessly, standing on the table and wagging its tail for a while, leaning against Mrs. Coulter and chirping softly in her ear for a while, and poking its tail again for a while. Walking on the ground.Of course, his appearance showed that Mrs. Coulter was impatient.Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "Lila, dear," she said, "I think the dean of Jordan gave you something before you left, didn't he? He gave you an alethiometer. The thing is, it wasn't his, He can't give it to anyone else, he just keeps it with him. This thing is too precious to carry with you-you know? There are only two or three of this thing in the world! I think the dean gave it to you , in the hope that it will end up in the hands of Lord Asriel. He told you not to tell me about it, did he?" Lyra curled her lips. "Yes, he did, I can see. Well... darling, you didn't tell me, did you? You needn't worry about that. That said, you didn't break your word, but listen, darling, This thing should indeed be kept safe, it is so rare and delicate, I am afraid we can no longer let it have any risk." "Why shouldn't it belong to Lord Asriel?" Lyra asked without moving. "That's because of what he did. You know he was exiled because he had some dangerous, evil thoughts in his head. He needed the alethiometer in order to carry out his plans, but trust me, my dear, whoever The last thing that should have been done was for Lord Asriel to have the alethiometer. Sadly, the Head of Jordan College got it wrong. But now that you know, then really - better let me hold it, yes No? That way you don't have to bother with it, and you don't have to look at it with trepidation--and, honestly, you must have been wondering what could happen to such a stupid, worn-out thing. usefulness……" Laila really didn't understand that she had found this woman so attractive and intelligent in the first place. "So, dear, if you're carrying it now, you really better let me keep it. It's in that sash around your waist, isn't it? Yeah, it's smart to do that." , put it like this..." She got her hand up Laila's skirt, then went to undo the stiff oilskin bag, and Laila tensed up.The golden monkey squatted at the end of the bed, trembling, ready to take precautions, with two small black hands around its mouth.Mrs. Coulter pulled the belt from Lyra's waist and unbuttoned the bag, and her breathing became labored.She took out the black velvet cloth, unfolded it, and saw the tin box made by Iorek Bernison. Pantalaimon was a cat again, muscles tensed, ready to spring.Lyra pulled her legs away from Mrs. Coulter, then turned and put them on the ground so that when the time came, she too could run. "What's this?" asked Mrs. Coulter, as if amused. "What a funny old-fashioned tinplate! You put it here for fear of breaking it, didn't you, my dear? And so Mossy... You're careful, aren't you? And there's a tin box inside the first one! It's welded together! My dear, who did it?" She didn't wait for Lyra's answer because all her energy was focused on opening the thing.She had a small knife in her purse that had various functions on it, and she pulled out a blade and slipped it under the cover. Immediately, the room was filled with an angry hum. Lyra and Pantalaimon remained motionless.Mrs. Coulter felt confused and curious, and reached out to remove the cover. The golden monkey also bent down and took a closer look. At this moment, the dark spy fly flew out of the jar with a "swish" like lightning, and hit the monkey's face hard. He screamed and jerked back.Of course, this hit also hurt Mrs. Coulter, and the pain and fear made her scream along with the monkey.Then the little wind-up devil was crawling up on top of her, up her chest, then her throat, and down her face. Lila didn't hesitate.Pantalaimon jumped to the door with a bang, and she immediately followed, opened the door, and ran away at the fastest speed in her life. "Turn on the fire alarm!" Pantalaimon screamed as he flew ahead of her. Lyra saw a button in the front corner and, desperately, smashed the glass with her fist.She ran on, sprinting toward the dormitory, turning on one siren after another.At this point, people started running into the hallway, looking around to see what was on fire. By this time Lyra was near the kitchen, and Pantalaimon flashed an idea into her mind, and she ran into the kitchen quickly.A moment later she turned on all the gas switches and hurled a match onto the nearest stove.Then she dragged a sack of flour from a shelf and hurled it over the edge of a table, and the sack burst and the air was filled with white flour, for she had heard that if you put When the flour is made like this, the flour will explode. Then, she rushed out and continued to run desperately to her dormitory.By this time the hallway was full of people: children were running around, obviously agitated, for the word of escape had already spread.The oldest children were beckoning to the younger ones, and they rushed with them to the clothes closet.The adults tried to control the situation, but none of them knew what was going on.People were shouting, pushing, crying, crowding, people everywhere. Laila and Pantalaimon slid through the chaos like fish, still running towards the dormitory.Just as they were approaching the dormitory, there was a dull explosion behind them, shaking the whole house. The other girls had already left: there was no one in the room.Lyra dragged the cabinet to the corner, jumped onto it, yanked her fur coat off the ceiling, and reached for the alethiometer—it was still there.She quickly pulled the leather jacket on and pulled the hood forward on her head.Then Pantalaimon, transformed into a sparrow, flew to the door, and cried out: "Run!" She ran out.Lyra joined a group of children who had luckily found their winter clothing and were running down the corridor toward the gate.She was dripping with sweat and her heart was pounding.She knew that she had to run away, or else she would die. The road ahead is blocked.The fire in the kitchen had caught fire quickly, and a piece of the roof had fallen off. I don't know whether it was due to the explosion of flour or the explosion of gas.People struggled to climb the deformed pillars and beams to breathe the cold air, because the smell of gas was strong inside.At this moment, there was another explosion, louder and closer than the first.Several people were knocked down, and the air was filled with cries of fear and pain. Laila struggled to her feet.Amid the cries and confusion of the elves, Pantalaimon yelled, "This way! This way!" Lyra scrambled up the rubble.The air to inhale is bitterly cold, I hope the children have found clothes to wear outside, it's really bad luck to be frozen to death after escaping from the experiment station. At this time, the fire was already raging.Lyra climbed up to the roof under the night sky and saw a huge hole in the wall of the house, with flames licking the opening.There was a group of children and adults gathered at the gate of the house, but now the adults seemed more restless, and the children more panicked: panicked indeed. "Roger! Roger!" Lyra cried.Pantalaimon turned into an owl, with piercing eyes, and howled that he saw him. After a while, they met. "Tell them all to follow me!" Lyra yelled in his ear. "They won't—they're all terrified—" "Tell them what those people do to those missing children! They cut off their elves with machetes! Tell them what you saw this afternoon—we set them all free! Tell them if If they don't run away, they will!" Roger, mouth gaping, was stupefied with terror, but soon regained his senses and ran to the group of hesitant children closest to him.Laila followed his example and ran to another group of children.As the news spread, some of the children cried and clung to their daemons in terror. "Come with me!" Lyra yelled. "Somebody's coming to save us! We've got to get out of the lab station! Come on, run!" The children heard her and followed her like a tide across the yard toward the lighted street.Their boots slapped against the hard snow, creaking and creaking. Behind them, the grown-ups were yelling, and another part of the house came crashing down.Sparks rushed into the air, and the flames rolled upwards, making a sound like cracking silk.However, through these, another voice came, very close and very violent.Lyra had never heard such a sound before, but she knew immediately what it was: the howling of the wolf spirits of the Tartar guards.She felt powerless from head to toe, and many children turned around in fright and staggered to a stop.Amidst the sound of low footsteps, the first Tatar guard rushed over energetically and striding forward.He was holding a rifle, and the gray figure jumping around him was his ferocious elf. Then another guard came, and then they all came running up one by one.They were all in armor, and they had no eyes—or at least you couldn't see them behind the snow-covered chink in their helmets.The only holes you can see are the black muzzles of their guns and the glowing yellow eyes of their wolf spirits' drooling jaws. Lyra hesitated.She had never dreamed how scary these wolves were, but now she knew that the people of Birvangar had broken the great taboo against contact with other people's elves with such indifference, so when she thought of those who kept The drooling teeth retreated unconsciously... The Tartars came at a run, and stood in a line at the junction of the lighted road, with the elves beside them as disciplined and trained as they were.After a while, there will be a second row of soldiers, because there are still soldiers running, and there are more behind them.Laila thought desperately: Children cannot beat soldiers.It's not like fighting on a clay riverbed in Oxford and throwing mud at a brick maker's children. But maybe it really is the same thing!She remembered throwing a handful of clay into the broad face of a brick-burner's kid who was rushing at her, and the kid stopped to pick the dirt out of his eyes, and the town kids jumped at him and threw him down . Then she stood in the mud, now she stands in the snow. Lyra was just as she had been that afternoon, but this time she was serious—she grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at the nearest soldier. "Hit them in the eyes!" she cried, throwing another handful of snow. The other children also threw the snowball, and who knows whose elf came up with an idea, turned into a swift, flew beside the snowball, pushed it lightly, and stuffed it straight onto the helmet exposed In the slit of the eyes——Then, the children all joined the ranks.A moment later, the Tartar staggered, spitting and cursing, trying to wipe the snow jammed in the narrow gap before him. "Run!" Lila screamed, rushing down the street lit by street lights. All the children swarmed after her, avoiding the rattling jaws of the wolf elves, and ran desperately down the street toward the vast darkness that called them far away. At this moment, piercing shouts came from behind them, an officer shouted an order, and immediately the bolts of dozens of rifles were pulled back.Then there was another scream, and then a tense silence, broken only by the pattering and wheezing of the fleeing children. They are taking aim.They cannot be missed. But before they could fire, one Tatar gasped and another screamed. Lyra stopped, turned around, and saw a man lying in the snow with a gray feathered arrow stuck in his back, writhing, twitching, coughing blood.The other soldiers searched around to find out who shot the arrow, but there was no sign of the shooter. At this time, another arrow flew straight down from the sky and hit the back of the head of another person, who fell in response to the string.The officer shouted loudly, and everyone looked up at the dark sky. "Witch!" cried Pantalaimon. This is what they were: elegant, irregular black figures flitting high in the air, the pine needles of the cloud pine branches they used to fly hissing in the air.While Lyra was watching, one of the witches swooped low and shot an arrow, knocking another down. Then all the Tartars raised their rifles upwards and fired violently into the darkness, but they hit nothing but shadows, clouds, and more and more arrows rained down on them. . But at this moment the officer in charge, seeing that the children were about to flee, ordered a company of soldiers to pursue them.Some children screamed, then more screamed, and they stopped running, and in their panic they turned and ran back, because in the darkness at the end of the row of street lights a huge The figure rushed towards them quickly, and they were terrified. "Iorek Bernison!" cried Lyra, with joy in her heart. The armored bear charging forward seemed to be as light as a swallow and as powerful as a bamboo, leaping past Lyra.Before Lyra could see clearly, he had broken in among the Tartars, scattering soldiers, elves, and rifles.Then, he stopped, turned around abruptly, gathered his strength gracefully, and punched twice, splitting the guards closest to him. A wolf spirit flew at him, and before she could touch the ground, the armored bear punched her hard, knocking her down on the snow.A bright flame sprang from the elf, hissed, howled, and disappeared, and her master died instantly. Facing the flank attack in front of him, the Tatar officer didn't hesitate at all.After a shriek of orders, they split into two groups: one against the witches, the largest against the armored bears.His men were valiant, in groups of four, kneeling on the ground and firing as if in a shooting range; the strong, gigantic form of Iorek Bernison swooped down upon them , they did not back down.In a moment, they were all dead. Iorek rushed forward again, twisting his body sideways, punching fiercely, roaring loudly, sweeping across everything, bullets flying like locusts flew around him, but they couldn't hurt him at all.Lyra urged the children to run on, into the darkness at the end of the streetlight.They must flee, for though the Tartars were dangerous, so were the lords of Birvangar. So, yelling and gesticulating, she pushed the children and made them run.The lights behind cast their long shadows on the snow, and Lyra found her heart had flown into the darkness and coldness of the polar night, leaping forward with joy like Pantalaimon—he now It has turned into a hare, jumping forward happily. "Where are we going?" someone asked. "There's nothing there but snow!" "We've been rescued," Lyra told them. "It's more than fifty gypsies. I'm sure some of them must be related to you. All the gypsies who lost their children, every family sent gone." "I'm not a gypsy," said a boy. "It's okay, they will take you away too." "Where are you going?" Someone asked dissatisfied. "Go home," Lyra said, "that's what I came here to get you out of, and I brought the gypsies here to bring you home. We just have to go a little further, and then we'll find They're gone. The bear was with them, so they're not far from here." "Look at that bear!" said a boy. "When he tore that elf to pieces, the man died as if his heart had been taken out of him, really!" "I never knew elves could be killed," said another child. They were all talking now; excitement and relief made everyone's tongues loose.As long as they don't stop, it doesn't matter what they talk about. "Is that really what they did there?" asked one girl. "Yes," Lyra said, "I never thought I'd meet people without elves. But on the way here, we found this boy, all alone, without elves. He always asks us for his elves , asked where she was, and if she could still find him. His name is Tony Macorios." "I know him!" someone said, and the others interrupted. "Yes, they took him about a week ago..." "Well...they cut his elves off," Lyra said, knowing how it affected them. "He died shortly after we found him. The elves they cut off, all Shut it up in a hood and put it in a square house in the back." "That's right," Roger said, "During the fire drill, Lyra let them go." "Yeah, I saw them!" said Billy Costa. "I didn't know what it was at first, but I saw them fly off with the goose." "But why do they do that?" asked a boy eagerly. "Why do they cut off the human spirit? It's torture! Why do they do it?" "For the dust," someone reminded skeptically. The boy, however, laughed contemptuously. "Dust!" he said, "there's no such thing! They just made it up! I don't believe it." "Look," said another kid, "what do you see about that Zeppelin?" They all turned to look back.At the other end of the blinding light the battle was still going on, the long airship tethered to the pole was no longer free in the air, the untethered end was drooping downwards, and on the other side One side is rising a spherical— "Lee Scoresby's balloon!" cried Lyra, clapping her cotton-gloved hands happily. The other children were puzzled.Lyra wondered how the balloonist managed to fly the balloon so far, Lyra wondered, urging them on.What he's doing now—that's pretty clear, and it's a really good idea: he's using gas from those guys' launchboats to inflate his own balloons, a way to get away and keep them from chasing him ! "Quick! Don't stop, or you'll be frozen," she said, for some of the children were shivering and moaning, and their daemons were crying too, high-pitched and thin. Pantalaimon found this infuriating, and he turned into a wolverine and snapped at a girl's squirrel sprite.The elf just lay on the girl's shoulder, sobbing feebly. "Get under her coat! Get bigger and keep her warm!" he growled.The girl's spirit got into her coal wool coat immediately in fright. Here's the problem: No matter how many layers of hollow coal fibers they wrap around their coal wool coats, they're still not as warm as fur.Some children looked so bloated like walking balls, but their suits were made in factories and laboratories far from the severe cold regions, and they could not cope with the climate here.Laila's leather jacket, tattered and smelly, kept her warm. "If we don't find the gypsies soon, they won't last long," Lyra whispered to Pantalaimon. "Then don't make them stop," he whispered back. "If they lie down, they're finished. You know what Farder Colum said..." Fadell Colum had told her many stories of her own trips to the North Pole, and Mrs. Coulter had told her too—always assuming she had been there, too.But one thing, they both made it quite clear, is that you must not stop. "How far do we have to go?" asked a little boy. "She just brought us here to freeze us to death," one girl said. "I'd rather be here than go back there," someone said. "I don't want to! It's warm in the experiment station, and there's food, hot drinks, everything." "But now it's all on fire!" "What are we doing out here? I'm sure we'll starve to death..." Lyra's mind was full of cryptic questions, flitting here and there like a witch, elusive; somewhere, somewhere out of reach, there was a flash of light that she couldn't understand at all. glory and trembling. But it made her feel alive all of a sudden.She dragged a girl out of a snowdrift and pushed a dangling boy forward, shouting at all the children, "Don't stop! Follow the bear's footprints! He's with the gypsies." Come together, so his footprints will lead us to the gypsies! Don't stop, go on!" Large flakes of snow began to fall, and soon the footprints of Iorek Bernison would be completely covered.They could no longer see the lights of Baelvangar, and the flames there were little lights.Now there was only a dim, single light on the snow-covered ground.Thick clouds hid the sky, and there was neither moon nor aurora; but, when the children looked closely, they could still make out the trail of Iorek Bernisson trudging through the snow.Whenever necessary, Laila cheered them up, or threatened them, or punched them, or turned their backs on them, or cursed them, or pushed them, or tugged them hard, or gently hugged them, and Pantalaimon (judging by the condition of each child's elf) told her what to do in each case. She kept saying to herself, I must bring them there, I am here to save them, I must get them out. Following her example, Roger is also urging the children to move forward.Billy Costa led the way because he had sharper eyes than most.The snow fell heavily quickly, and they had to hold on to each other so as not to get lost.Maybe, Lyra thought, all of us lying next to each other to be warm, like that... digging holes in the snow... At this time, she heard something.不知道从什么地方传来阵阵发动机的声音，不像齐柏林飞艇上的发动机响得那么沉重，但比大黄蜂的嗡嗡声大，声音若有若无。 还有嚎叫的声音……是狗？拉雪橇的狗？这声音也非常遥远，令人难以确定；这声音被数不清的雪片遮盖着，被突然刮起的阵阵狂风吹得若隐若现。也许是吉卜赛人拉雪橇的狗，也可能是苔原上的野鬼，甚至是那些获得自由的精灵在呼唤他们迷失了的主人。 她看到了什么……雪地上是没有任何灯光的，难道不是吗？映入眼帘的光也一定是鬼魂了……除非他们刚才绕了一圈之后，又稀里糊涂地回到了伯尔凡加。 可是，映在雪地上的是灯笼发出的细细的黄色光柱，不是电灯发出的那种白色的耀眼的光。而且，这些光柱还在移动，嚎叫声离他们也更近了。没等她弄清楚自己是否在做梦，莱拉便徜徉在熟悉的身影之中了——身穿皮衣的男人正把她举了起来：约翰?法阿有力的胳膊把她悬空举了起来，法德尔?科拉姆高兴地大笑着；透过大雪，她看见吉卜赛人正把孩子们抱到雪橇上，给他们盖上皮衣，给他们海豹肉吃。托尼?科斯塔也在，他拥抱着比利，接着又轻轻捶了他一拳，然后又抱着他，兴奋地摇晃着他。还有罗杰…… “罗杰也跟我们一起走，”莱拉对法德尔?科拉姆说，“我第一个要救的就是他，最后我们都要回乔丹学院。这是什么声音——” 又是那个轰鸣，像发动机的那个声音，如同一万个发了疯的间谍飞虫。 突然，莱拉被什么东西一下子击倒在地上，潘特莱蒙保护不了她了，因为金猴—— 是库尔特夫人—— 那只金猴正摔打着潘特莱蒙，咬他，挠他。潘特莱蒙身子抖动着，不断变换着样子，让人目不暇接。他拼命地抵抗着：一会儿去螫，一会儿抽打，一会儿撕扯。与此同时，库尔特夫人的脸裹着毛皮，冰冷的目光中透着怒气，正把莱拉往一个摩托雪橇的后面拖。莱拉跟自己的精灵一样，拼命挣扎着。雪大极了，似乎他们周围就有一团暴风雪，将他们同别人隔离开来；雪橇前面的电灯也仅仅照亮了眼前几英寸远飞舞的密集的雪片。 “救命！”莱拉冲吉卜赛人叫道，但他们虽然就在附近，却被大雪挡住了视线，什么也看不见。“救救我！法德尔?科拉姆！法阿国王！哦，上帝，救命啊！” 库尔特夫人用北极地区鞑靼语尖声吆喝了一句。大雪飞舞着向两边分开，一队鞑靼人出现了，端着来复枪，狼精灵在他们身边咆哮着。鞑靼士兵的头儿看见库尔特夫人正在跟莱拉搏斗，便伸出一只手，像提个玩具娃娃似的把莱拉提了起来，扔到雪橇上，把她摔得头昏眼花。 这时，有人开了一枪，然后又是一枪——吉卜赛人意识到发生了什么事。但是，当你看不清自己周围的情况的时候，对你看不见的目标开枪是十分危险的。鞑靼人围着雪橇，紧靠在一起；他们可以随心所欲地朝雪中开火，但是吉卜赛人因为担心伤着莱拉，却不敢还击。 哦，她是这么苦！又是这么无力！ 莱拉挣扎着爬起来，依然头昏眼花，脑子里嗡嗡直响。她看见潘特莱蒙还在不顾一切地跟那只猴子搏斗，他的狼獾嘴巴紧紧咬着猴子的一只金色胳膊，虽然起不了什么作用，但还是紧咬着不放。who's that person? 没错，是罗杰。他正冲着库尔特夫人拳打脚踢，用自己的头猛撞她的头，却被一个鞑靼士兵像赶苍蝇似的一下子击倒在地。此时，眼前的一切犹如飘忽不定的幻象：她的眼前忽而雪白，忽而漆黑，忽而是一只雨燕绿色的翅膀，忽而是奇形怪状的影子，忽而是急速飞奔着的灯光—— 猛地，地上的雪如旋风般地向两边飞散开来，伴随着金属的撞击声和磨擦声，埃欧雷克?伯尔尼松纵身跳到了那块空地上。片刻之间，鞑靼人精灵的巨大的狼嘴便被打得东倒西歪，埃欧雷克的一只巨掌撕裂了一个穿着锁子甲的人的胸膛，空中立刻飞舞起白色的牙齿、黑色的甲胄、红色湿漉漉的毛—— 突然，有什么东西把莱拉往上拉了起来，力量大极了。莱拉伸手也抓住了罗杰，把他从库尔特夫人的手里夺了过来。两个孩子的精灵变成小鸟，尖声叫着，惊奇地扇动着翅膀。在他们周围，一股更大的气流在扑楞楞地鼓动着。这时，莱拉看见自己已经到了空中，旁边是一个女巫，正是她见过的高空中优雅的、不规则的黑色影子，但这一次却是伸手可及；女巫没有戴手套的手中拿着一张弓，赤裸的双臂（在这样严寒的空气中！）用力拉开弓弦，一松手，箭便飞向距他们只有三英尺的一个身穿锁子甲的鞑靼人，直奔他那模糊不清的头盔上的那道露着眼睛的缝隙而去—— 这支箭“嗖”地一声射了进去，射穿了那个人的脑袋，他那只本已跃起的狼精灵还没等落地，便在半空中消失了。 继续上升！莱拉和罗杰被迅速地带到半空中。他们发现自己无力的手指正抓着一个云松枝，一个年轻的女巫稳稳地坐在上面，显得和谐优雅。接着，她朝左下方倾下身子，一个巨大的物体便呈现在眼前，他们降到了地面上。 他们跌倒在雪地里，李?斯科尔斯比气球上的吊篮就在旁边。 “跳进来，”得克萨斯人说，“还有你的朋友，别忘了。看见披甲熊没有？” 莱拉看见三个女巫正抓着一根绳子，那根绳子绕在一块岩石上，拴着浮力巨大的气囊，不让它飞走。 “快上去！”她冲罗杰喊，然后趴着吊篮的皮革边缘，跳了进去，摔在里面的一个雪堆上。片刻之后，罗杰也进来了，摔在她身上。接着，传来一声震天动地的声音，半是怒吼，半是咆哮。 “快来，埃欧雷克！快上来，老朋友！”李?斯科尔斯比喊道。随着一阵柳条和弯曲的木头发出令人恐惧的咯吱声，披甲熊出现在吊篮边上。 气球驾驶员马上把手臂往下一挥，作了个手势，那几个女巫便放开了绳索。 气球立刻飞了起来，朝着飘满雪花的空中疾速升了上去，速度快得令莱拉简直难以想像。过了一会儿，地面便在雾气中消失了。他们继续爬升，速度愈来愈快。莱拉想，火箭也不会比他们现在的离地速度更快了。加速让她紧贴着罗杰，躺在吊篮底上。 李?斯科尔斯比欢快地又叫又笑，发出得克萨斯人特有的快活的叫声。埃欧雷克?伯尔尼松在平静地解开甲胄，他用一只爪子灵巧地钩着所有的联结点，一扭，便全都解了下来，然后把一片一片的甲胄堆成一堆。吊篮外面，云松针和女巫的衣服在空气中穿过，发出的啪啪声和嗖嗖声，这表明女巫们陪着他们一起升到了空中。 渐渐地，莱拉恢复了气定神宁的状态。她坐起身，环顾四周。 吊篮比她想像的大多了。四周摆满了科学仪器，吊篮里放着几堆皮衣和瓶装气体，还有各种各样别的东西，在他们上升的过程中，在厚重云雾中，它们要么太小，要么太容易混淆，说不清楚是什么东西。 “这是云彩吗？”莱拉问。 “当然。给你朋友加几件皮衣，别让他变成冰柱。这儿很冷，还会更冷。” “你们是怎么找到我们的？” “女巫帮的忙。有位女巫要跟你谈谈。等飞出这片云彩之后，我们就能辨认出方向，然后我们可以坐下来，好好聊聊。” “埃欧雷克，”莱拉说，“谢谢你来了。” 披甲熊喉咙里咕哝了一声，坐下来，去舔沾在自己身上的血。他的体重使吊篮向一边倾斜着，但这没什么关系。罗杰对他显得十分警觉，但埃欧雷克?伯尔尼松对他的注意一点儿也不比对一片雪花多。莱拉仗着胆子，趴在吊篮的边上——她站起来的时候，吊篮的边正好到她的下巴——瞪大眼睛看着盘旋飞转的云彩。仅仅几秒钟后，气球便完全钻出了云层，依然飞快地上升，高高地向空中飞去。 多么美妙的景致啊！ 在他们正上方，气球鼓胀着，形成一个巨大的曲线。前方的高空中，极光在熠熠闪光，莱拉从来没见过它如此灿烂辉煌、如此蔚为壮观。它呈圆形，或者说近似圆形，好像他们自己也成了极光的一部分。巨大耀眼的光带摆动着，向两侧张开，像是天使的翅膀；层层叠叠的光辉顺着看不见的峭壁翻滚下来，犹如飞转的漩涡，又好像宽大的瀑布悬挂在空中。 莱拉惊讶地凝视着这一切。然后她又俯身向下望去，她看到了一幅几乎更加令人惊叹的景色。 放眼望去，直到四周的天边，翻滚着连绵不绝的白色的海洋。到处是耸立着的柔软的山峰和裂开的冒着蒸汽的缝隙，但总的来看，却像是一个巨大的冰块。 在这个冰块之中，不时地也会浮现出小巧的黑色的影子，时而三三两两，时而成群结队，那是优雅的不规则的影子，是骑着云松枝飞翔的女巫的影子。 她们向上朝着气球毫不费力地轻快地飞着，一会儿向这边倾斜一下，一会儿又向另一边倾斜，为气球掌握着方向。其中一个女巫正好在吊篮的旁边飞着，她就是那个把莱拉从库尔特夫人手里救出来的射手。莱拉第一次看清了她的样子。 她很年轻——比库尔特夫人还年轻；她长得很漂亮，有着一双明亮的绿色的眼睛；跟所有女巫一样，她身上披的是一根根黑色的丝带，没有穿皮衣，没有戴风帽，也没有戴棉手套，她似乎根本就感觉不到寒冷。她的额头上缠绕着一串素雅的小红花。她骑在云松枝上，似乎那是一匹战马。在莱拉惊奇的目光注视下，她似乎稍稍放慢了一点儿速度。 “你是莱拉？” “是啊！你是塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉？” "yes." 莱拉明白了，为什么法德尔?科拉姆爱上了她，为什么这让他心碎，尽管这两件事她就在刚才还一件也不知道。法德尔?科拉姆渐渐衰老了，成了一个身体虚弱的老头儿，而塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉却会年轻很多很多年。 “那个符号阅读器带来了吗？”女巫问道，声音如同极光那高亢、无拘无束的歌声，甜美得令莱拉几乎听不懂她在说什么。 “带了，我把它放在口袋里，安全着呢。” 这时，一对巨大的翅膀扑楞了一下，又有什么东西飞了过来。紧接着，他滑到她身边：是那只灰色的鹅精灵。他简短地说了句什么，然后一个盘旋飞走了，绕着不断爬升的气球飞了很大的一圈。 “吉卜赛人已经捣毁了伯尔凡加，”塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉说，“他们打死了二十二名士兵和九名工作人员，每一处没有倒塌的东西全都被他们放了一把火。他们要彻底把那个地方摧毁。” “库尔特夫人呢？” “没看到她。” “那些小孩呢？吉卜赛人把他们全都安全救出来了吗？” “对，一个都没落下，他们全都平安无事。” 塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉发出一声高呼，别的女巫便围成一圈，朝气球飞来。 “斯科尔斯比先生，”她说，“你要是愿意，请把缆绳给我。” “万分感激，夫人。我们还在爬升，我猜还要再继续爬升一段时间。要把我们带到北极去得需要多少女巫？” 她只说了一句“我们体力很好”。 李?斯科尔斯比把一卷结实的绳子绑到包着皮革的铁环上，拴着气囊的绳子全都系在这个铁环上，吊篮也悬挂在上面。绳子绑牢之后，他把绳子空着的那头甩出来，六个女巫立刻抢身奔过来，抓住绳子头，开始拽动着绳子，调整云松枝，朝北极星方向飞去。 等气球开始朝着这个方向飞行的时候，潘特莱蒙变成一只燕鸥，落在吊篮的边缘上。罗杰的精灵出来看了看，但很快又爬了进去，因为罗杰睡得正熟，埃欧雷克?伯尔尼松也在呼呼大睡。只有李?斯科尔斯比醒着，不慌不忙地嚼着一小支雪茄，注视着他的那些仪器。 “哦，莱拉，”塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉说，“你知道你为什么要去找阿斯里尔勋爵吗？” 莱拉显得很惊讶。“是要把真理仪交给他啊，这还用问嘛！”她说。 这个问题她从来也没考虑过，因为它太显而易见了。这时，她想起了自己的第一个目的——过了这么长时间，她差点儿把它给忘了。 “或者……帮他逃走，就是这个目的。我们要帮助他逃走。” 然而这句话刚一出口，便显得荒谬可笑了。从斯瓦尔巴特群岛逃出去？不可能的事！ “不管怎么说，尽力帮他，”她坚定地补充了一句，“怎么啦？” “我觉得，有些事情我得告诉你了，”塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉说。 “跟尘埃有关？” 这是莱拉最想知道的事情。 “是的，这是最重要的一件。不过现在你累了，我们还得飞很长时间，等你睡醒后我们再谈。” 莱拉打了个呵欠——这个呵欠打得似乎嘴都要被撕裂、肺都要被炸开了似的，持续了差不多有一分钟，至少感觉上足有这么长。虽然莱拉使劲挺着，但却无法抵抗猛烈袭来的困意。塞拉芬娜?佩卡拉把一只手从吊篮的边缘上方伸过来，摸了摸她的眼睛。莱拉在吊篮底上躺了下来，潘特莱蒙翅膀一动，飞下来，变成一只貂，爬到莱拉的脖子旁边——他睡觉的地方。 吊篮旁，女巫把云松枝调整到一个稳定的速度。他们继续向北，朝着斯瓦尔巴特群岛飞去。