| And while everyone was wondering where they had seen ears like that before, Rabadash's face began to change too. It grew longer, and thicker at the top and larger eyed, and the nose sank back into the face (or else the face swelled out and became all nose) and there was hair all over it. And his arms grew longer and came down in front of him till his hands were resting on the ground: only they weren't hands, now, they were hoofs. | Пока все думали, где же они видели такие уши, у него уже были копыта и на ногах, и на руках, а вскоре появился и хвост. Глаза стали больше, лицо - уже, оно как бы все превратилось в нос. |
| And he was standing on all fours, and his clothes disappeared, and everyone laughed louder and louder (because they couldn't help it) for now what had been Rabadash was, simply and unmistakably, a donkey. The terrible thing was that his human speech lasted just a moment longer than his human shape, so that when he realized the change that was coming over him, he screamed out: | Он опустился на четвереньки, одежда исчезла, а смешней (и страшнее) всего было, что последним он утратил дар слова, и успел отчаянно прокричать: |
| "Oh, not a Donkey! Mercy! | - Только не в осла! |
| If it were even a horse - e'en - a hor - eeh - auh, eeh-auh." And so the words died away into a donkey's bray. | Хоть в коня... в коня-а-э-а-ио-о-о! |
| "Now hear me, Rabadash," said Aslan. | - Слушай меня, Рабадаш, - сказал Аслан. |
| "Justice shall be mixed with mercy. | - Справедливость смягчится милостью. |
| You shall not always be an Ass." | Ты не всегда будешь ослом. |
| At this of course the Donkey twitched its ears forward and that also was so funny that everybody laughed all the more. They tried not to, but they tried in vain. | Осел задвигал ушами, и все, как ни старались, захохотали снова. |
| "You have appealed to Tash," said Aslan. | - Ты поминал богиню Таш, - продолжал Аслан. |
| "And in the temple of Tash you shall be healed. | - В ее храме ты обретешь человеческий облик. |
| You must stand before the altar of Tash in Tashbaan at the great Autumn Feast this year and there, in the sight of all Tashbaan, your ass's shape will fall from you and all men will know you for Prince Rabadash. | На осеннем празднике, в этом году, ты встанешь пред ее алтарем, и, при всем народе, с тебя спадет ослиное обличье. |
| But as long as you live, if ever you go more than ten miles away from the great temple in Tashbaan you shall instantly become again as you now are. And from that second change there will be no return." There was a short silence and then they all stirred and looked at one another as if they were waking from sleep. | Но если ты когда-нибудь удалишься от этого храма больше, чем на десять миль, ты опять станешь ослом, уже навсегда. |
| Aslan was gone. | Сказав это, Аслан тихо ушел. |
| But there was a brightness in the air and on the grass, and a joy in their hearts, which assured them that he had been no dream: and anyway, there was the donkey in front of them. | Все как бы очнулись, но сиянье зелени, и свежесть воздуха, и радость в сердце доказывали, что это не был сон. Кроме того, осел стоял перед ними. |
| King Lune was the kindest-hearted of men and on seeing his enemy in this regrettable condition he forgot all his anger. | Король Лум был очень добрым, и, увидев врага в столь плачевном положении, сразу забыл свой гнев. |
