总目录

第一册 狮子女巫和魔衣柜

第二册 凯斯宾王子

第三册 黎明踏浪号

第四册 银椅

第五册 能言马与男孩

第六册 魔法师的外甥

第七册 最后一战

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

狮子、女巫和魔衣柜/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；陈良廷，刘文澜译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Lion，the Witch and the Wardrobe

ISBN 978-7-5447-4718-9

Ⅰ.① 狮…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 陈… ③ 刘… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290520号

The Lion，the Witch and the Wardrobe copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1950

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1950 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 狮子、女巫和魔衣柜

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 陈良廷　刘文澜

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

字　数 86千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4718-9

第一册 狮子女巫和魔衣柜

目录

中文版

献给露茜·巴菲尔德

1 露茜初探魔衣柜

2 柜中天地

3 爱德蒙和魔衣柜

4 土耳其软糖

5 回到柜门这边

6 深入森林

7 跟海狸夫妇共度的一天

8 午饭后发生的事

9 女巫的房子

10 魔法开始破了

11 阿斯兰快到了

12 彼得初战告捷

13 远古时代的高深魔法

14 女巫的胜利

15 太古时代更加高深的魔法

16 石像的遭遇

17 追猎白鹿

英文版

To Lucy Barfield

CHAPTER 1 Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe

CHAPTER 2 What Lucy Found There

CHAPTER 3 Edmund and the Wardrobe

CHAPTER 4 Turkish Delight

CHAPTER 5 Back on This Side of the Door

CHAPTER 6 Into the Forest

CHAPTER 7 A Day with the Beavers

CHAPTER 8 What Happened After Dinner

CHAPTER 9 In the Witch’s House

CHAPTER 10 The Spell Begins to Break

CHAPTER 11 Aslan is Nearer

CHAPTER 12 Peter’s First Battle

CHAPTER 13 Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time

CHAPTER 14 The Triumph of the Witch

CHAPTER 15 Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time

CHAPTER 16 What Happened about the Statues

CHAPTER 17 The Hunting of the White Stag

献给露茜·巴菲尔德

亲爱的露茜，

这个故事是写给你的，不过我动笔时，就意识到小女孩比书长得要快。现在你已经长大到过了读童话的年纪。等到这个故事印出来再装订好，你会长得更大了。不过有一天，你会长大到要再读童话。到那时，你就可以从书架上层把它取下来，擦掉上面的灰尘，然后跟我说说你的读后感。我大概会耳朵聋得听不见，也老得不明白你说的，一个字也不能，可我永远都会是——

深爱你的教父

C.S.刘易斯

1

露茜初探魔衣柜

从前有四个孩子，名字叫彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。这个故事说的是大战期间他们躲避空袭，离开伦敦，被送走时发生的事情。他们被送往一个老教授的家，教授住在偏僻的乡下，离最近的火车站有十英里，离最近的邮局也有两英里。他没有妻子，跟一个管家麦克里迪太太以及三个仆人住在一座很大的房子里，这三个仆人名叫艾维、玛格丽特和贝蒂，不过这个故事里不大提到他们。教授本人年纪很老了，不但长着满头蓬松的白发，而且大半个脸上也长满了蓬松的白毛，孩子们一见到他几乎顿时就喜欢他了；不过头天晚上他到前门来接他们的时候，见到他这副怪模样，年龄最小的露茜倒有点怕，老三爱德蒙却想笑，只好假装一直在擤鼻涕来掩饰过去。

头天晚上他们刚向教授道了晚安上楼，两个男孩就来到女孩子的房间，大家一下子谈开了。

“我们真走运，”彼得说，“这儿真太好了。我们爱怎么干，那个老家伙就会让我们怎么干。”

“我认为他是个老可爱。”苏珊说。

“哦，别胡扯了！”爱德蒙说，他明明累了，偏要装作不累，总是弄得脾气很坏。“别老像那样说话。”

“像什么啊？”苏珊说，“不管怎么说，现在是你上床的时候了。”

“你就想学妈妈那样说话。”爱德蒙说，“你算老几，轮到你来说我什么时候该上床？你自己上床去吧。”

“我们大家最好都上床去吧！”露茜说，“要是有人听见我们在这儿说话，准会骂人的。”

“不，不会的，”彼得说，“我告诉你们，这种房子里可没人会管我们在干什么。反正他们也听不见我们。从这儿下去到餐厅大概要走十分钟呢熏当中还有那么多楼梯和走廊。”

“什么声音？”露茜突然说。这屋子比她以前住过的大得多，想到那么些长长的过道，一扇扇房门通向一间间空荡荡的房间，她不由得有点浑身发毛。

“只是一只鸟罢了，傻瓜。”爱德蒙说。

“是只猫头鹰，”彼得说，“这儿将成为鸟的好天地啦。现在我要去睡了。听着，让我们明天就去探险吧。在这样的地方你什么东西都可能发现。我们一路上来的时候你们都看到那些高山了吧？还有树林？那儿可能有鹰。可能有牡鹿。还会有秃鹰。”

“有獾！”露茜说。

“有狐狸！”爱德蒙说。

“有兔子！”苏珊说。

谁知到了第二天早晨，雨却下个不停，雨点密密麻麻，往窗外望去，既看不见高山，也看不见树林，连花园里的小溪也看不见了。

“天总归要下雨的！”爱德蒙说。他们刚和教授一起用完早餐，上楼来到他给他们留出的房间——一间又长又矮的房间，两边各有一扇向外开的窗子。

“别抱怨了，爱德，”苏珊说，“再过一小时左右，八成就会天晴的。现在我们也够舒服的了，又有无线电，又有很多书。”

“我才不希罕呢，”彼得说，“我要在房子里探险。”

大家都赞成这个主意，这次探险也就这么开始了。这房子就是你好像永远也走不到头的那种，到处都是意想不到的地方。他们开头闯进几扇门，里面只是几间空的卧室，一点也不出乎意料；但不久他们就来到一间长长的房间，里面挂满了画，他们还在那儿发现了一套盔甲；此后又来到一间房间，里面挂满了青枝绿叶，角落里还有一架竖琴；然后走下三级楼梯，再走上五级楼梯，来到楼上一个小穿堂，有扇门通向一个阳台；再后来就来到一连串彼此相通的房间，里面堆满了书——大部分都是很旧的书，有的书比教堂里的《圣经》还大。不久以后他们又走进一间房间，里面空空荡荡的，只有一口大衣柜；衣柜就是门上有面镜子的那种。这屋里除了窗台上有一盆枯萎的矢车菊以外，什么也没有。

“那儿没什么！”彼得说，他们就又匆匆走了出来——除了露茜。她待在后面是因为她心里想，打开衣柜门来看看也好，尽管她觉得柜门准保是锁着的。没想到柜门竟一下子打开了，还有两个樟脑球滚了出来。

她往衣柜里看看，只见里面挂着几件大衣——大部分都是长皮大衣。露茜最喜欢闻皮大衣的味儿和触摸皮大衣的感觉了。她马上走进衣柜，钻到大衣中间，脸蛋在皮大衣上摩几下，当然，她让柜门大开着，因为她知道把自己关在大衣柜里是非常愚蠢的。不久她就朝里走了，发现第一排大衣后面还挂着第二排大衣。衣柜里好黑，她向前伸出两臂，免得一头撞到柜子的背板上。她往里走了一步熏又走了两三步熏老以为手指尖就会摸到木板，但摸来摸去摸不到。

“这口衣柜一定大得要命。”露茜想着，一面还在往里走，一面推开层层叠叠软绵绵的大衣，好空出点地方。后来她注意到脚下有东西在咯吱咯吱响。“不知那是不是樟脑球？”她想，一面弯下身子用手摸。但她没摸到柜底那又硬又光的木板，却摸到软乎乎、冷冰冰、像粉末似的东西。“这可真怪。”她说着又往里走了两步。

过了一会儿，她发现擦在她脸上和手上的不再是软软的毛皮，而是又硬又粗甚至有点刺人的东西了。“咦，这简直像树枝了！”露茜叫道。说罢她看见前面有一点亮光，这光竟不是从几英寸以外原该是那衣柜后背的地方来的，却是从很远的地方来的。有什么凉飕飕、软绵绵的东西不停地落在她身上。又过了一会儿，她才发现自己站在一片树林中间，这儿是晚上，脚下全是雪，雪花在空中飞舞。

露茜感到有点害怕，但她同时也觉得好奇和激动。她回头看看，在黑咕隆咚的树干中间，她仍然看得见衣柜开着的门，甚至还看见她刚才走进来的那间空房间。（当然，她让衣柜门大开着，因为她知道把自己关在一口衣柜里是件蠢事。）屋子里看来还是白天。“要是出了什么事，我总可以回去的。”露茜心想。她开始朝前走了，咯吱咯吱地踩在雪地上，穿过树林，往那点亮光走去。

大约走了十分钟，才走到那儿，一看，这亮光原来是一根路灯柱。她站在那儿瞧着路灯柱，不知道树林中间为什么有根路灯柱，也不知道下一步该怎么办。她听见一阵噼里啪嗒的脚步声朝她走来。不久她就看见一个十分奇怪的人从树丛中出来，走进路灯光下。

这人只比露茜高一点儿，撑着一把伞，伞上全是雪。他上半身样子像个男人，但他的腿却像山羊腿（腿上还有油光光的黑毛），脚上竟是山羊蹄子。他也有条尾巴，不过露茜开头倒没注意，因为尾巴整整齐齐提起来搭在撑伞的那条胳膊上，免得拖在雪地里。他脖子上围了条红围巾，皮肤也红通通的。他那张小脸长得怪怪的，但很愉快，留着一部又短又尖的胡子，鬈发里矗出两只角，长在前额上，一边一只。我刚才说过，他一只手打着伞，另一条胳膊下夹着几个棕色纸包。从纸包和雪看来，仿佛他刚刚是在为圣诞节采购东西。他是一只羊怪。当他看见露茜时，他奇怪得不得了，连手里的纸包都掉在地上了。

“我的天哪！”羊怪叫道。

2

柜中天地

“晚上好。”露茜说。不过羊怪忙着捡他的纸包，开头并没有回答。等他捡完了，才对她稍稍鞠了一躬。

“晚上好，晚上好，”羊怪说，“对不起——我不想刨根问底——不过要是我没弄错，你就是一个夏娃的女儿吧？”

“我叫露茜。”她弄不大懂他的意思。

“但你是——请原谅——你是所谓的小姑娘吧？”羊怪问道。

“我当然是个小姑娘。”露茜说。

“你真的是人？”

“我当然是人。”露茜说，她还是有点弄不明白。

“一点不错，一点不错，”羊怪说，“我多笨啊！不过我以前从来没见过亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿。我很高兴。换句话说——”话到嘴边又住口了，仿佛他刚才要说什么原来不打算说的话，而及时想起来了似的。“很高兴，很高兴，”他接着说下去，“允许我自我介绍一下。我叫图姆纳斯。”

“很高兴认识你，图姆纳斯先生。”露茜说。

“哦，露茜，夏娃的女儿，”图姆纳斯先生说，“请问你是怎么到纳尼亚来的？”

“纳尼亚？纳尼亚是什么呀？”露茜说。

“我们现在就在纳尼亚的国土上，”羊怪说，“从路灯柱起直到东海的凯尔帕拉维尔大城堡，当中所有的土地都是纳尼亚的土地。而你——你是从西面那片野林子里来的吧？”

“我——我是从空房间里穿过大衣柜进来的。”露茜说。

“啊！”图姆纳斯先生的声音相当忧郁，“我小的时候要是能多在地理上用点工夫就好了，那样我就能知道所有那些奇怪的国家。现在已经太晚啦。”

“可那根本不是国家，”露茜说着几乎要笑出来了，“只不过是在后面那儿——至少——我不太确定。那儿正是夏天。”

图姆纳斯先生说，“纳尼亚现在是冬天，而且进入冬天已经很久了，要是我们只顾站在雪地里说话，我们俩都会着凉的。夏娃的女儿啊，你来自远方的空房间国，永恒的夏天统治着明亮的大衣柜城，你愿意来跟我一起喝杯茶吗？”

“非常感谢，图姆纳斯先生，”露茜说，“不过我不知道是否应该回去了。”

“就在拐角上，”羊怪说，“我屋里有旺旺的炉火——还有烤面包——还有沙丁鱼——还有蛋糕。”

“好吧，你真客气，”露茜说，“可我不能待得太久。”

“夏娃的女儿，要是你拉着我的胳膊，”图姆纳斯先生说，“一把伞就能遮住我们两个人。就是那条路。好了——我们走吧。”

就这样，露茜不知不觉地跟这个奇怪的动物手挽手穿过树林走去，仿佛他们已经相识了一辈子。

他们没走多远就来到一个地势高低不平，到处都是岩石，山峦起伏的地方。在一个小山谷谷底，图姆纳斯先生突然拐到边上，好像他要笔直冲进一块大得出奇的岩石里去，最后露茜才发现原来他正领着她走进一个石窟口。他们一进去，露茜就发现自己被柴火光照得睁不开眼。这时图姆纳斯先生弯下腰，拿了一把小巧的火钳，从火堆里夹起一块木柴把灯点上。“好了，用不了多久。”他说着立刻放上一把茶壶。

露茜心想，自己从来也没到过比这更好的地方了。这是个又干燥又干净的红石头凿的小石窟，地上铺着条地毯，两把小椅子（“一把给我坐，还有一把给朋友坐。”图姆纳斯先生说），还有一张桌子，一个食具柜，火堆上面有个壁炉台，那上头是一幅有白胡子的老羊怪画像。石窟的一个角落里有一扇门，露茜想那一定是图姆纳斯先生卧室的门，一面墙上还有个放满了书的书架。羊怪在摆茶具的时候，露茜就看着这些书。书名有《塞利努斯[1]传记和书信集》、《宁芙[2]和她们的手段》、《人、僧侣和猎场看守人》、《民间传说研究》和《人是神话吗？》。

“来吧，夏娃的女儿！”羊怪说。

这的确是一顿美味可口的茶点。每人一个煎得嫩嫩的、焦黄的蛋，沙丁鱼加烤面包片，接着是抹黄油的烤面包，抹蜂蜜的烤面包，然后是一只糖面蛋糕。等露茜吃不下了，羊怪就开始聊天。他肚子里有好多森林生活的奇妙故事。他谈起半夜里的舞会，住在泉水里的宁芙和住在树上的树精[3]出来跟羊怪一起跳舞的趣事；谈起长长的打猎队追逐着那头奶白色牡鹿，如果你能抓住那头鹿，它就能让你实现愿望；谈起跟野蛮的红矮人在深深的矿井里和森林地下深处的大山洞里一起尽情吃喝和觅宝的事；后来又说到了夏天，树林都绿油油的，老塞利努斯骑着他的肥驴来探望他们，有时候酒神也来，到那时小溪里流的就都是酒，不是水了，整个森林会连续几个星期沉浸在欢乐中。“这并非说现在不是终年都是冬天。”他阴郁地加了一句。接着为了让自己高兴起来，他从食具柜上的笛盒里拿出一支奇怪的小笛子吹了起来，这笛子看上去像稻草秆做的。他吹的调子使露茜听了一时又想哭又想笑，又想跳舞又想睡觉。约莫过了几个小时，她才打起精神说：

“哦，图姆纳斯先生——真对不起，打断你一下，我真喜欢那支曲子——不过说真的，我必须回家去了。我本来只打算待几分钟的。”

“要知道，现在可不行了。”羊怪说着放下笛子，一面十分伤心地对她摇摇头。

“不行？”露茜说着跳了起来，感到有点儿害怕了。“你这是什么意思？我得马上回家去。别人还以为我出了什么事呢。”过了一会儿她又问道，“图姆纳斯先生，到底是怎么回事啊？”因为羊怪棕色的眼睛里已经饱含泪水，随后，眼泪一滴滴淌在脸上，不久就从鼻尖上顺流而下，最后他竟双手掩面，嚎啕大哭起来。

“图姆纳斯先生！图姆纳斯先生！”露茜十分苦恼地说，“别哭呀！别哭呀！怎么回事？你不舒服了吗？亲爱的图姆纳斯先生，千万告诉我出了什么事。”但羊怪继续抽抽搭搭，仿佛心都碎了似的。甚至露茜走过去，双臂搂着他，还把自己的手绢借给他，他也止不住。他只是接过手绢一直擦啊擦的，手绢太湿没法用了，他就双手把它拧干，弄得露茜眼下站的那一小块地方都湿了。

“图姆纳斯先生！”露茜在他耳边大声叫道，还摇摇他，“别哭了。马上停止！像你这么大的羊怪，真该为自己害臊。你到底为什么哭呀？”

“呜——呜——呜！”图姆纳斯先生呜咽道，“我哭的是自己是一只很坏很坏的羊怪。”

“我一点也不认为你是只坏羊怪，”露茜说，“我认为你是只很好的羊怪。你是我看见过的最好的羊怪。”

“呜——呜，如果你知道了真相，你就不会那么说了。”图姆纳斯先生边哭边说，“不，我是一只坏羊怪。我看，开天辟地以来，没有比我更坏的了。”

“可是你干了什么呢？”露茜问。

“瞧，我的老爹，”图姆纳斯先生说，“壁炉台上面就是他的画像。他就永远也干不出这种事来。”

“哪种事啊？”露茜问。

“像我干过的事呗。”羊怪说，“在白女巫手下干活。我就是这种人。我是受白女巫雇用的。”

“白女巫？她是什么人？”

“咦，把整个纳尼亚抓在手心里的就是她呀。使这儿一年到头都是冬天的也是她。老是冬天，还从来不过圣诞节，你想想看！”

“多可恶！”露茜说，“可她雇用你干什么呢？”

“糟就糟在这儿，”图姆纳斯先生长叹了一声说，“我是她的一个拐子，那就是我的真面目。瞧瞧我，夏娃的女儿。我在树林里碰到一个可怜无辜的孩子，这孩子从来没伤害过我，我假装对她很友好，请她上我的山洞来，就为了哄她睡着，然后把她交给白女巫，你相信我就是那号羊怪吗？”

“不，”露茜说，“我肯定你不会做那种事的。”

“可我已经干了。”羊怪说。

“这个嘛，”露茜慢慢地说（因为她既想说真话，又不想对他太凶），“这个嘛，就很不好了。不过你为这事这么难过，我相信你决不会再干这种事了。”

“夏娃的女儿，难道你还不明白？”羊怪说，“这不是我干过的事。这是我眼前正在干的事，就在此时此刻。”

“你这话是什么意思？”露茜叫道，脸也发白了。

“你就是那孩子，”图姆纳斯先生说，“我奉白女巫的命令，如果在树林里看见一个亚当的儿子或夏娃的女儿，我就要把他们抓起来交给她。而你就是我第一个遇到的。我装成你的朋友，请你来吃茶点，可这段时间我一直有意在等你睡着，然后去报告她。”

“哦，可你不会去的，图姆纳斯先生。”露茜说，“你不会去的吧？真的，真的，你千万不能去。”

“我如果不去的话，”他说着又哭了起来，“她准会查出来的。那她就会割掉我的尾巴，锯掉我的角，她会在我漂亮的偶蹄[4]上挥动魔杖，把它们变成那种难看的奇蹄[5]，就跟倒霉的马蹄一样。还有，要是她特别生气，她会把我变成石头，我就将成为她那阴森森房子里的一个羊怪塑像，直到凯尔帕拉维尔的四个宝座都坐满了的时候——天知道要等到哪年哪月，也不知到底会不会有这种事。”

“我很抱歉，图姆纳斯先生，”露茜说，“不过请你让我回家去吧。”

“我当然会让你回家去，”羊怪说，“我当然得让你回去。现在我明白这一点了。认识你之前我从来不知道人是什么样子。我当然不能把你交给女巫；既然现在我认识你了，就不能把你交出去。不过我们得马上动身。我会送你回到路灯柱那儿。我想你到了那儿熏就能找到回空房间和大衣柜的路了吧？”

“我准能找到。”露茜说。

“我们一定要尽可能悄悄地去，”图姆纳斯先生说，“整个树林都布满了她的探子。甚至有些树也站在她一边。”

他俩站起来，把茶具留在桌上，图姆纳斯先生又一次撑起了伞，让露茜挽住他的胳膊，他们就走出山洞到雪地里去了。回去的路完全不像到羊怪石窟去的那条路；他们一句话也不说，偷偷摸摸赶快走着，图姆纳斯先生还一直挑那些最暗的地方走。他们走到路灯柱那里，露茜才松了口气。

“夏娃的女儿，从这儿走你认得路吗？”图姆纳斯先生问。

露茜拼命在树缝间张望，只见远处有一小块亮光，像是白天的光。“认得，”她说，“我看得见大衣柜的门了。”

“那么你尽快回家去，”羊怪说，“还有——你——能原谅我本来打算干的事吗？”

“哦，我当然能原谅啦。”露茜说着热情地跟羊怪握手，“我真希望你别为了我惹出什么可怕的麻烦才好。”

“永别了，夏娃的女儿，”他说，“也许我能留下这块手绢吧？”

“当然！”露茜说，接着她撒腿拼命向远处那片白天的光奔去。不一会儿她就感觉到掠过她身边的不是粗糙的树枝，而是大衣，脚下不是咯吱咯吱的雪而是木板。突然间她不知不觉就跳出了大衣柜，回到原来那个空房间——整个探险就是从这儿开始的。她把身后的衣柜门牢牢关好，气喘吁吁，四下张望。天还在下雨，她听得见过道上其他人的声音。

“我来了，”她嚷道，“我来了。我回来了。我没事儿。”

【注释】

[1] 希腊神话中森林神的首领。

[2] 希腊及罗马神话中住在山林和水边的仙女。

[3] 原指希腊神话中的森林女神，精灵附于树体，树一旦枯死，树精就不存在了。

[4] 哺乳动物中，牛羊属偶蹄目，四脚各有四趾，趾端有蹄，中间两个最发达。

[5] 马的四足都只有一个蹄，故称奇蹄。

3

爱德蒙和魔衣柜

露茜奔出空房间，来到过道里，找到另外三个孩子。

“没事了，”她又说了一遍熏“我回来了。”

“你究竟在说些什么呀，露茜？”苏珊问。

“咦？”露茜惊讶地说，“难道你们大家不觉得奇怪，我究竟上哪儿去了吗？”

“原来你躲起来了？”彼得说，“可怜的露，躲起来偏偏没人注意！如果你想要人家找你，就该多躲一会儿才对。”

“可我已经去了好几个小时了。”露茜说。

其他人都面面相觑。

“怪事！”爱德蒙说着拍拍脑袋，“真怪。”

“你这是什么意思，露？”彼得问。

“我要说的就是，”露茜答道，“我进衣柜的时候刚吃过早饭，我去了好几个小时，还吃了茶点，还发生了各种各样的事情。”

“别犯傻了，露茜，”苏珊说，“我们刚从那间房里出来一会儿，你就来了。”

“她一点也不傻，”彼得说，“她只是编个故事好玩罢了，对吗，露？她何乐而不为呢？”

“不，彼得，我没编，”她说，“这是——这是一个有魔法的衣柜。里面有片树林，那儿在下雪。还有一只羊怪和一个女巫，那地方叫纳尼亚。来看看吧。”

那三个都不知怎么是好，可是露茜很激动，他们只好跟着她一起回到房间里。她冲在前头，猛地打开衣柜门，叫道，“好了！你们自己进去看吧。”

“咦，你这个笨蛋，”苏珊说着，头伸进去，一面把皮大衣拉开，“这只是一个普普通通的衣柜罢了，瞧！这儿就是背板了。”

接着每个人都往里看，把大衣拉开，他们都看见了——露茜本人也看见了——一只十分普通的衣柜。里面没有树林，没有雪，只有背板，上面还有一只只衣钩。彼得走进去，还用指关节在板上敲敲，看看这板是否结实。

“开了个好大的玩笑，露。”他说着又走了出来，“我得承认，你真把我们骗了。我们都有点相信你了。”

“可这根本不是玩笑，”露茜说，“千真万确。刚才完全不是这样的。我向你们保证，真的是这么回事。”

“好了，露，”彼得说，“这样就有点过分了。你已经开过玩笑了。现在就别提它了好吗？”

露茜脸涨得通红，想说点什么，可又不知道说什么好，不由哭了起来。

接下来几天她可惨了。要是她能让自己开口说一声这完全是为了好玩而编出来的一个故事，她本倒可以毫不费力地跟其他三个孩子和好。但露茜是一个非常诚实的女孩子，而且她知道自己真的有理熏因此她不能说这种话。其他三个认为她在说谎，而且还是一个无聊的谎话，使她非常不快。两个大孩子这么做并不是有意的，但爱德蒙就可能是恶意的。他对露茜冷嘲热讽，不断问她在这幢房子别的柜子里有没有发现新的国家。按说这些日子本该过得快快活活的。那几天天气好，他们从早到晚都在户外活动，洗澡啊、钓鱼啊、爬树啊、掏鸟窝啊、躺在树丛里啊。可是露茜对任何活动都不觉得好玩。就这样一天天过下去，直到又碰上下雨天。

那一天，到了下午，天还没有放晴的迹象，他们决定玩捉迷藏。由苏珊来捉；大家刚散开，露茜就来到那个有衣柜的房间。她并没打算藏到衣柜里，因为她知道那样只会引得别人又谈起那件倒霉的事。不过她的确想再到里面去看看，因为这会儿连她自己都怀疑纳尼亚和羊怪的事是不是一场梦。这幢房子这么大，这么复杂，到处都是躲藏的地方，因此她想她有时间再去探一探衣柜，然后再躲到别的地方去。但她刚走到衣柜前就听见外面过道里有脚步声，她没有别的办法，只好跳进衣柜随手关上了门。她并没有把门完全关上，因为她知道即使这衣柜不是魔柜，把自己关在里面总是件大蠢事。

这会儿她听见的脚步声原来是爱德蒙的；他走进来的时候正好看见露茜消失在衣柜里。他立刻决定自己也要进去——这倒不是因为他觉得这是个特别好的藏身之地，而是因为他要继续取笑她那个想像出来的国家。他开了门。里面照例挂着几件大衣，还有一股樟脑球的气味，黑乎乎、静悄悄，没有露茜的踪影。爱德蒙自言自语道，“她当我是苏珊来抓她了，所以悄悄地躲在后面呢。”他跳了进去，把门关上，忘记了这样干可是一件大蠢事。接着他就在黑暗中开始摸索着找露茜。他原以为用不了一会工夫就可以找到她，没料到竟找不到。他决定再把门打开，放点亮光进来。可他连门也找不到了。他一点也不喜欢这种情况，就开始四面八方乱摸一气，甚至还大声叫唤：“露茜！露！你在哪儿？我知道你在这儿。”

没人回答。爱德蒙注意到他自己的声音有点怪——这不是在柜子里说话的那种声音，而是在露天的声音了。他还注意到自己觉得出乎意外的冷；接着他看见一点亮光。

“谢天谢地，”爱德蒙说，“那扇门一定是自动开了。”他完全忘了露茜，只顾往他认为是衣柜门的那点亮光走去。但他发现自己并没走到空房间里，而是从一些大黑冷杉树的阴影中走出来，来到树林当中的一块空地上。

他脚下是松脆的干雪，树枝上的雪更多。头顶上是一片淡蓝的天空，这种天色就像人们在晴朗的冬天早晨看到的一样。正前方，他从树干之间看见太阳刚刚升起，红通通的，十分明亮。一切都是静悄悄的，仿佛他是那地方惟一的生物。森林里甚至连一只知更鸟或一只松鼠都没有，无论他朝哪个方向看，都只有望不到头的树。他发抖了。

这会儿他才记起自己是在寻找露茜；也记起自己原来听她说起“想像中的国家”时，对她是多么刻薄，而现在证明这一切完全不是想像出来的。他想她一定就在附近，因此就大声叫道，“露茜！露茜！我也在这儿——我是爱德蒙。”

没有回答。

“她还在为我最近说的那些话生气呢。”爱德蒙想。虽然他不喜欢承认自己错了，他也不喜欢孤零零地待在这个又陌生、又寒冷、又寂静的地方，因此他又大声叫喊道：

“喂，露！对不起，我没相信你的话。我现在才明白你一直是对的。快出来吧。讲和吧。”

“真是个小女孩，”爱德蒙自言自语道，“躲在哪儿生闷气，不肯听人家赔不是。”他又朝四下望望，认定自己不大喜欢这个地方，就在他几乎打定主意回家去的时候，远处树林里传来一阵铃声。他听着，那铃声越来越近，最后他看见两只驯鹿拉着一辆雪橇过来了。

驯鹿的个儿跟雪德兰小马驹[1]一般大小，毛色很白，相比之下，连地上的积雪都不算白了；分杈的鹿角在朝阳照射下镀上了一层金，像着火了一般闪闪发光。雪橇的挽具是鲜红的皮做的，缀满了铃铛。雪橇上坐着一个胖胖的小矮人赶车，要是他站着，可能有三英尺高。他身穿白熊皮衣服，头上戴一顶红色风帽，帽尖上垂下一绺长长的金流苏；他那把大胡子像条毯子，拖在膝盖上。可是在他后面，雪橇中间有个高得多的座位，却坐着一个与众不同的人——一位贵夫人，比爱德蒙见过的任何女人都高。她浑身上下也盖着白色毛皮，一直遮到脖子，右手拿了根又长又直的金魔杖，头上戴了一顶金王冠。她的脸很白——不只是苍白，而是白得像雪、像纸，或者像糖霜，只有她的嘴唇血红。从其他方面来看，这张脸长得很美，但又傲慢又冷酷又严厉。

雪橇铃铛丁当响着，向爱德蒙飞驶而来，小矮人劈劈啪啪地挥动鞭子，雪橇两面的雪都飞溅起来，这情景可真好看。

“停！”那位夫人说。小矮人猛地收缰，勒得几头驯鹿差点都要蹲下了；随后鹿儿才恢复过来，站着格勒勒地咬嚼子，喷着气。在严寒的空气里，驯鹿鼻孔里喷出来的气就像一缕缕白烟。

“请问你是什么东西？”那位夫人严厉地瞧着爱德蒙说。

“我是——我是——我名叫爱德蒙。”爱德蒙有点尴尬地说。他可不喜欢她看着他的这副模样。

夫人皱起了眉头。“你就这么对一位女王说话？”她问道，看上去比刚才更严厉了。

“请原谅，陛下，我不知道。”爱德蒙说。

“不知道纳尼亚的女王？”她叫道，“嘿！今后会叫你更了解我们的。我再说一遍——你是什么东西？”

“对不起，陛下，”爱德蒙说，“我不知道你是什么意思。我在学校念书——至少以前是这样——现在放假了。”

【注释】

[1] 雪德兰小马驹是产于苏格兰北部雪德兰群岛上的小马，毛粗，体小，耐劳。

4

土耳其软糖

“可你是什么东西呢？”女王又说，“你难道是一个长过了头的大矮人，把胡子都刮掉了？”

不是的，陛下，”爱德蒙说，“我从来没有胡子，我是个男孩。”

“男孩！”她说，“你是说你是亚当的儿子？”

爱德蒙站在那儿一动也不动，一声不吭。这时他已经糊涂了，听不懂这话的意思。

“不管你是什么东西，我看你是个傻瓜。”女王说，“你一定要干脆地回答我，否则我就要发脾气了。你是人吗？”

“是的，陛下。”爱德蒙说。

“那么请问，你怎么到我的领土上来的？”

“对不起，陛下，我是从一口大衣柜里走进来的。”

“大衣柜？你这是什么意思？”

“我——我开了一扇门，就发现自己在这儿了，陛下。”爱德蒙说。

“嘿！”女王说，她的口气像自言自语，不大像对他说话。“一扇门。一扇人世间的门。我听说过这种事。这会把事情全搞糟的。不过他只是一个人，很容易对付。”她说这些话的时候，身子从座位上站起来，直盯着爱德蒙，两眼闪闪发光，同时还举起了魔杖。爱德蒙感到她一定要干什么可怕的事了，但他似乎动弹不得。后来，正当他认为自己只有死路一条时，她似乎改了主意。

“可怜的孩子，”她换了一副完全不同的口气，“你看上去多冷啊！来吧，跟我一起坐在雪橇上。我会把我的围巾给你围上，我们来说说话。”

爱德蒙一点也不喜欢这种安排，但他不敢违抗；他踏上雪橇，站在她脚边，她拿起皮毛围巾的一角裹着他，还把围巾塞塞好。

“也许你要喝点什么热的吧？”女王问道，“你要吗？”

“好的，陛下。”爱德蒙说，他的牙齿都在打战了。

女王从她盖的东西中拿出一个很小的瓶子，看上去好像是个铜瓶。接着，她伸出手臂，让瓶子里的东西滴一滴在雪橇旁的雪地上。爱德蒙看见那滴东西在半空中亮得像颗钻石，但一碰到雪地就有一阵嘶嘶的声音，顿时出现了一只镶有宝石的杯子，盛满了热气腾腾的东西。小矮人立刻拿起这只杯子，对爱德蒙鞠了一躬，含笑把杯子递给他——那笑容可不大友好。爱德蒙开始喝这杯热饮料时，就觉得好多了。他从来没尝过这种饮料，非常甜，有好多泡沫，还有奶油，喝下肚他从头到脚都暖和了。

“亚当的儿子，光有喝的，没有吃的，多乏味呀。”不一会儿女王说，“你最喜欢吃什么？”

“请给我来点土耳其软糖[1]，陛下。”爱德蒙说。

女王从瓶子里又滴了一滴东西在雪地上，那儿立刻出现了一只用绿丝带扎起来的圆盒子，打开盒子一看，里面有几磅上等土耳其软糖，每一块糖吃到中间都还是香甜松软的，爱德蒙还从来没吃过这么可口的东西呢。这会儿他挺暖和，也很舒服。

他吃糖的时候，女王不断问他各种问题。开头爱德蒙还尽力记住吃东西时讲话不礼貌，但他不久就忘了这一点，只想着拼命把土耳其软糖往嘴里塞，他越吃越想吃，根本就没问过自己女王为什么这么爱刨根问底。她从他嘴里套出他有一个哥哥、一个姐姐、一个妹妹，妹妹已经来过纳尼亚，还遇到了一个羊怪，还套出除了他本人和他的哥哥、姐妹外，谁也不知道纳尼亚的事。女王似乎对他们一共是四个人这事特别感兴趣，老是把话题转回到这一点上。“你肯定只有你们四个？”她问，“两个亚当的儿子，两个夏娃的女儿，不多也不少？”爱德蒙满嘴土耳其软糖，只顾说“是啊，我早告诉过你了”，却忘了称她“陛下”，但眼下她似乎不在意了。

最后，土耳其软糖全吃光了，爱德蒙使劲盯着空盒子，希望她会问他是否还想来一点。也许女王十分明白他的心思，因为她知道这是一种施了魔法的土耳其软糖，任何人吃过一回，就会想再吃、再吃，如果听任他们吃的话，吃得命都会送掉。然而爱德蒙却不知道这一点。不过她可再也不给他吃了，而是对他说：

“亚当的儿子，我真想见见你的哥哥和你的姐妹。你带他们到我这儿来好吗？”

“我试试看吧。”爱德蒙说道，仍然望着那只空盒子。

“因为，如果你真的再来的话——当然你要带他们一起来——我就能再给你一些土耳其软糖。现在我不能给了，魔法只施一回才灵。在我自己家里那就是另外一回事了。”

“那我们干吗不能现在就上你家去呢？”爱德蒙说。他刚坐上雪橇时本来害怕她可能带他到什么没听说过的地方去，会回不来，如今他已经忘记了那份担心。

“我家是个可爱的地方，”女王说，“你准会喜欢的。那儿有整间整间的屋子都堆满了土耳其软糖。而且，我自己没有孩子。我想要一个好孩子，能抚养他成为一个王子，等我归天后就可以当纳尼亚的国王。等他成了王子，就会戴上金王冠，整天吃土耳其软糖；而你正是我看到的年轻人当中最聪明也是最英俊的。我想我愿意把你立为王子——有朝一日，等你把其余三个都带来看我的时候。”

“为什么不是现在呢？”爱德蒙问。他的脸变得非常非常红，嘴巴和手指都黏糊糊的。不论女王怎么说，他看上去可既不聪明也不英俊。

“哦，要是我现在就带你上那儿去，”她说，“我就看不见你的兄弟姐妹了。我非常想见见你几个可爱的家人。你将要成为王子——此后——成为国王；这是不用说的了。但你一定得有大臣和贵族。我会封你哥哥当个公爵，你的姐妹当女公爵。”

“他们可没什么特别的，”爱德蒙说，“不管怎么说，我迟早会带他们来的。”

“啊，不过你一旦到了我家，”女王说，“兴许你就把他们全忘了。你会过得非常快活，不愿意多费事去把他们带来了。不行，你一定得现在就回自己的国家去，改天跟他们一起上我这儿来。你明白吗，不跟他们一起来可不行。”

“可我连回去的路都不认识了。”爱德蒙恳求道。

“那容易，”女王回答说，“你看见那盏灯吗？”她用魔杖一指，爱德蒙转过身看见了那根路灯柱，露茜就是在那儿遇见羊怪的。“一直走过去，那一边就是通往人的世界的路。现在瞧瞧另一条路，”——说着她朝相反的方向一指——“告诉我，你看得见耸立在树顶上的两座小山吗？”

“我想我看得见吧。”爱德蒙说。

“好吧，我的家就在那两座小山中间。因此你下次来的时候，只要找到路灯柱，再找那两座小山，穿过树林，一直走到我家就是了。你来的时候最好在右边沿着河走。不过记住——你一定得带其他三个一起来。要是你一个人来，我可要大大生气了。”

“我尽力去办。”爱德蒙说。

“顺便说说，”女王说，“你不必对他们提起我。这件事只有我们俩知道，不是很好玩吗？让他们大吃一惊。你只要把他们带到两座小山那儿——像你这么聪明的孩子，要找个什么借口这样做还不容易吗——等你到了我家，你只要说一声‘让我们瞧瞧谁住在这儿’，或者跟这差不多的话就行了。我相信那样办最好。要是你妹妹遇见过一只羊怪，她可能听到过关于我的奇谈怪论——听到一些恶毒的传说，可能会使她害怕到我这儿来。你知道，羊怪什么话都说得出来的，现在呢——”

爱德蒙突然说，“对不起，请问我回家的路上可以给我一块土耳其软糖吗，行不行？”

“不行，不行，”女王哈哈一笑说，“你一定得等到下回再吃。”她说话时对小矮人发了个动身的信号，雪橇就此飞驶而去，不过快看不见的时候，女王又对爱德蒙挥挥手，喊道，“下回，下回！别忘了，快来啊。”

就在爱德蒙仍然目不转睛望着雪橇时，他听见有人喊他的名字，他看看四周，只见露茜从树林另一面向他走来。

“哦，爱德蒙！”她叫道，“原来你也进来了！这有多妙啊，现在——”

“行了，”爱德蒙说，“我明白你没错，这是一个魔柜。要是你愿意，我就说一声对不起吧。不过，你这段时间到底上哪儿去了？我正到处找你呢。”

“要是我知道你已经进来了，我会等你的。”露茜说，她太高兴，太激动了，竟没注意到爱德蒙说话那么急躁，脸色红得那么古怪。“我跟可爱的图姆纳斯先生一起吃午饭来着，就是那只羊怪，他真好，他放走我，白女巫倒没对他怎么样，所以他认为她查不出这事，说不定一切终究会好起来的。”

“白女巫？”爱德蒙说，“她是谁？”

“她是个非常可怕的人，”露茜说，“她自称纳尼亚的女王，虽然她根本就没权利做女王，而且所有的羊怪、树精、水仙女、小矮人和动物——至少是一切善良的东西——都恨她。她能把人变成石头，能干出种种可怕的坏事。她还施了一种魔法，因此纳尼亚一年到头老是冬天——老是冬天，而且从来不过圣诞节。她还乘着一辆雪橇四处乱闯，雪橇由驯鹿拉着，她手里拿着魔杖，头上戴着王冠。”

爱德蒙糖吃得太多，本来已经感到不舒服，听到跟他交朋友的夫人竟是个危险的女巫，心里就更不舒服了。不过他仍然一心想再尝尝那土耳其软糖的滋味，别的什么都不想。

“这些白女巫的事是谁告诉你的？”他问道。

“羊怪，图姆纳斯先生。”露茜说。

“你不能老相信羊怪说的话。”爱德蒙说，他想法装出一副似乎比露茜懂事得多的腔调。

“谁说的？”露茜问。

“大家都知道，”爱德蒙说，“随便你问什么人都行。不过站在这雪地里可不好玩。我们回家去吧。”

“好啊，我们回去。”露茜说，“哦，爱德蒙，我真高兴你也进来了。现在我们俩都到过这儿，他们两个一定会相信有纳尼亚了。这该多有趣啊。”

不过爱德蒙暗自觉得这事对他可不像对露茜那么好玩。他得当着其他两个孩子的面承认露茜说的话没错，而且他深信其他两个孩子都会站在羊怪和那些动物一边；可他已经大半站在女巫这一边了。他不知道自己要怎么说，也不知道一旦他们大家谈起纳尼亚，他怎么保守自己的秘密。

这时他们已经走了一程。接着他们突然又感到周围不是树枝而全是大衣，一会儿他们俩就站在大衣柜外面的空房间里了。

“喂，”露茜说，“你脸色真可怕，爱德蒙。你不舒服吗？”

“我没事儿。”爱德蒙说；不过这不是真话，其实他感到非常不舒服。

“那么来吧，”露茜说，“让我们找他们去。我们有好多话要对他们说呢！既然我们一起去过了，我们将有多么美妙的奇遇啊。”

【注释】

[1] 土耳其软糖是一种外面包有一层巧克力或糖粉，中间是奶白色果冻状的软糖。

5

回到柜门这边

因为捉迷藏的游戏还没结束，爱德蒙和露茜花了好多时间才找到另外两个。最后等到他们大家都在一起了（这时正好是在那间放盔甲的长房间里），露茜就叫了起来：

“彼得！苏珊！全是真的，爱德蒙也看到了。你们从衣柜里是可以进入一个国家的。我和爱德蒙都进去过了，我们在树林里碰头了。说啊，爱德蒙，把这事全告诉他们。”

“这是怎么回事，爱德？”彼得问。

现在我们就讲到这个故事里最叫人厌恶的一件事了。到那时为止，爱德蒙一直觉得不舒服，闷闷不乐，心里为露茜是对的感到气恼，但他并没打定主意该怎么办。彼得突然问他这话，他才一下子决定，要做件他想得到的最卑鄙、最恶毒的事。他决定要让露茜下不了台。

“跟我们说说，爱德。”苏珊说。

于是爱德蒙装出一副高傲的神情，好像他比露茜大多了（其实他只大她一岁），随后又噗哧一笑，这才说，“哦，是啊，我跟露茜一直在玩——假装她那个衣柜里有个国家的故事全都是真的。这当然只是闹着玩罢了。其实那儿什么也没有。”

可怜的露茜看了爱德蒙一眼就冲出屋子去了。

爱德蒙现在越变越可恶，他以为自己的计划很成功，立刻接着说下去，“她又走掉了。她这是怎么回事啊？那就是小孩子最不好的地方，老是——”

“听着，”彼得怒气冲冲地对他说，“闭嘴，自从露扯起这个衣柜的鬼话，你一直对她很恶毒，如今你又拿这事跟她捣鬼，让她发脾气。我相信你这么干完全出于恶意。”

“可这事完全是胡说八道。”爱德蒙吓了一大跳说。

“这当然全是胡说八道，”彼得说，“关键就在这儿。我们离开家的时候，露还是好好的，可自从我们来到这儿，她不是头脑有点儿失常，就是变成了一个说谎大王。不过无论是哪种情况，你想想看，你一会儿嘲笑挖苦她，一会儿又怂恿她，这有什么好处？”

“我想——我想——”爱德蒙说，不过他想不出什么可说的。

“你根本什么也没想过，”彼得说，“只是恶意罢了。你老是喜欢对比你小的人穷凶极恶，我们以前在学校里也见过你这样。”

“别说了，”苏珊说，“你们吵架对事情也没什么好处。我们还是去找露茜吧。”

找了好长时间，他们才找到露茜，大家都看得出她哭过，这也并不奇怪。他们对她说什么都没用。她坚持自己的那套说法道：

“你们怎么想我都不在乎，你们怎么说我也不在乎。你们可以告诉教授，或者可以写信给妈妈，或者喜欢怎么干就怎么干。我知道我在那边遇见过一只羊怪，而且——但愿我就待在那儿，你们全是畜生，畜生。”

这一晚大家过得都不痛快。露茜很痛苦，爱德蒙也开始觉得他这个计划进行得并没有他预料的那么顺利。两个大孩子当真开始认为露茜精神错乱了。他们站在过道里小声说着话，直到露茜上床以后还谈了很久。

结果是第二天早上他们决定真的要去把全部事情告诉教授。“如果他认为露真的有什么不对头，他会写信给爸爸的，”彼得说，“这种事我们解决不了。”因此他们就去敲书房的门，教授说了声“进来”，就站起身来替他们找来椅子，并说愿为他们效劳。接着他就叉着双手，十指相抵，坐着静听他们说话，直到他们说完整个故事。听完后他久久一言不发，后来才清清喉咙，说了句他们根本没想到的话。

“你们怎么知道你妹妹的故事不是真的？”他问道。

“哦，可是——”苏珊开口说，后来又住了口。任何人都能从老人的脸上看出，他是十分严肃的。接着苏珊冷静下来说，“可爱德蒙说他们只不过是假装的。”

“那倒是一个关键，”教授说，“这的确值得考虑；仔仔细细地考虑。举个例子——请原谅我问这个问题——凭你们的经验来说，你们认为你们的弟弟妹妹哪一个更靠得住呢？我的意思是谁更诚实？”

“有趣的是，先生，”彼得说，“到现在为止，我每次都说露茜诚实。”

“你怎么想，亲爱的？”教授回过头对苏珊说。

“嗯，”苏珊说，“一般说来，我跟彼得的说法是一样的，但所有那些树林和羊怪的事不可能是真的。”

“那我就不知道了，”教授说，“而指责一个你一向认为十分诚实的人说谎确实是件十分严重的事；确实是一件十分严重的事。”

“我们就怕这不是说谎，”苏珊说，“我们认为露茜可能有点不对头。”

“你是说她疯了？”教授很冷静地说，“哦，这一点你们可以放心。只要看看她，跟她说说话，就看得出她没疯。”

“但是……”苏珊说说又停下了。她做梦也没想到一个大人会像教授这么说话，一时不知怎么想才好。

“逻辑！”教授似乎自言自语地说，“那些学校干吗不教教逻辑学呢？只有三个可能性。你妹妹不是说谎，就是疯了，或者是说了实话。你们知道她不说谎，而她显然并没疯。那么在目前，我们就必须假定她说的是实话，除非再找到任何证据。”

苏珊紧紧盯着他，从教授脸上的表情，她肯定他没跟他们开玩笑。

“可这怎么可能是真的呢，先生？”彼得说。

“你为什么这样说呢？”教授问。

“好吧，举例说，”彼得说，“如果这事是真的，为什么大家不是每次到衣柜去的时候都发现这个国家呢？我的意思是，我们去看的时候，那儿什么也没有；连露茜也没假装说有啊。”

“那跟这事又有什么关系？”教授说。

“好吧，先生，如果事情是真的，那地方就该一直存在。”

“是吗？”教授说；彼得也不知道该说什么才好了。

“可是时间也不够，”苏珊说，“露茜没时间到任何地方去，即使有这么个地方也罢。我们走出房间不一会儿，她就追上我们了，还不到一分钟呢；可她假装说已经去了几个小时了。”

“那正是令她的故事看起来真实的地方，”教授说，“如果这房子里真有一扇门通往什么另一世界（我应该警告你们，这是一幢非常奇怪的房子，甚至我对它也不大了解）——我说，如果她进入了另一个世界，那我对那个世界有自己不同的时间也完全不会感到惊奇；因此你在那儿无论待多久，都决不会耗费我们这儿的时间。另一方面，我认为像她这种年龄的女孩子能自己想像出这种念头的可不多。如果她是假装的，她就会躲上相当长的一段时间，再出来讲她的故事。”

“先生，你真的认为，”彼得说，“就在墙角上，在所有地方，都可能有那样的另一世界吗？”

“大有可能，”教授说着摘下眼镜，开始擦眼镜，同时还喃喃自语说，“我不知道这些学校究竟教了他们些什么！”

“可我们怎么办呢？”苏珊说。她觉得这次谈话开始离开主题了。

“亲爱的小姐，”教授说，他突然抬头，用一种非常敏锐的眼光看着他们，“有一个办法至今还没人提出过，这办法很值得一试。”

“什么办法？”苏珊说。

“我们大家不妨少管人家的闲事。”他说。这次谈话就到此为止。

从此露茜的日子就好过多了。彼得想法让爱德蒙不再嘲笑她，不论她还是别人都完全不想再提大衣柜的事。这事已经成了一个令人相当惊恐的话题。因此有一段时间，看来似乎所有的探险活动都已告结束；但实际上并未结束。

教授的这幢房子——连他自己也不大了解——很古老，也很有名，英国各地的人经常上这儿来要求允许他们进来参观。这是一幢导游手册上提到的房子，连历史书上也提到过；这房子好倒是好，因为它有各式各样的传说，其中有些传说甚至比我现在讲给你们听的更加离奇呢。每当一批批观光者到达，要求参观房子时，教授总是有求必应，让管家麦克里迪太太带他们四处观看，给他们讲解藏画和盔甲，讲解藏书室里那些珍本书。麦克里迪太太不喜欢孩子，而且她向来客说起自己知道的一切时不喜欢有人插嘴。她几乎在第一天早上就对苏珊和彼得说了（还说了好多其他指示），“千万要记住，凡是我带着一伙人在屋子里转时，你们都得让开。”

“仿佛我们有谁愿意泡掉半个早上，跟在一大帮子古里古怪的大人后面到处转悠似的！”爱德蒙说，另外三个孩子也有同感。第三次探险就是因此而起的。

过了几天，有一天早上，彼得和爱德蒙正瞧着那套盔甲，想着他们能不能把盔甲拆成一小片一小片，这时两个女孩子冲进屋里说，“注意！麦克里迪太太来了，还带了一大帮子人呢。”

“赶快。”彼得说。他们四个赶紧从屋子尽头那扇门逃了出去。但等他们走出绿屋，进了后面的藏书室，忽然听见声音就在他们前面，这才明白麦克里迪太太一定是带着那批观光客上了后楼梯，而不是像他们预料的那样走前面的楼梯。此后——不知是他们昏了头，还是麦克里迪太太想抓住他们，要不就是屋里有什么魔法显灵了，要把他们赶进纳尼亚去——他们似乎发现到处都有人跟着，直到最后苏珊说，“哦，那些游客真讨厌！来吧——让我们到大衣柜那间屋子里去吧，等他们走过去再说。没人会跟我们到那儿去的。”谁知他们刚到屋里就听见过道里有声音——接着还有人在门上摸索——后来他们看见门把手在转动。

“快！”彼得说，“没别的地方可去了。”说着使劲拉开了衣柜门。他们四个人全都挤了进去，坐在那儿，在暗处直喘气。彼得关上了门，但并没关严，因为他当然记得，每个聪明人都明白，你决不能把自己关在一只大衣柜里。

6

深入森林

但愿麦克里迪太太快点把这些人统统带走，”不一会儿苏珊说，“我都要挤死了。”

“而且樟脑的气味多难闻哪！”爱德蒙说。

“我想这些大衣口袋里都装满了樟脑球，”苏珊说，“以防蛀虫。”

“有什么东西刺进我背上了。”彼得说。

“不冷吗？”苏珊说。

“你说起冷，这儿倒是真冷，”彼得说，“见鬼，还是湿的呢。这地方怎么回事？我正坐在什么湿的东西上，而且越来越湿了。”他挣扎着站起身来。

“我们出去吧，”爱德蒙说，“他们已经走了。”

“哦——！”苏珊突然说道。大家都问她怎么了。

“我靠着一棵树坐着，”苏珊说，“瞧！那边——一点点亮起来了。”

“天哪，你说得对，”彼得说，“瞧那儿——还有那儿，周围全是树。这湿的东西是雪。咦，我真的相信我们终于走进露茜说的树林了。”

现在可错不了啦，四个孩子站在冬天的阳光下直眨眼睛，他们身后是挂在钩子上的大衣，熏前面是白雪覆盖的树林。

彼得立刻回过头来找露茜。

“我起先不相信你，现在向你道歉，”他说，“对不起。跟我握握手好吗？”

“当然。”露茜说着跟他握了手。

“现在，”苏珊说，“我们下一步干什么？”

“干什么芽”彼得说，“啊，当然是去树林里探险啦。”

“啊！”苏珊不住地顿脚，“真冷。我们穿上几件大衣好吗？”

“大衣可不是我们的。”彼得疑惑地说。

“我相信没人会在意的，”苏珊说，“并不是我们要把这些大衣拿出屋子；我们连大衣柜都没出。”

“这点我倒从来没想过，苏，”彼得说，“当然，经你这么一说，我明白了。只要你把大衣留在原来的大衣柜里，就没人能说你偷大衣了。我想，这整个国家都在大衣柜里呢。”

他们立即实行苏珊那非常聪明的计划。这些大衣他们穿上实在太大了，衣摆一直拖到脚跟，他们穿上这些大衣倒更像穿上了王袍。不过他们大家都觉得暖和多了，个个都觉得别人穿上这身新装更好看，也更适合这儿的雪景。

“我们可以假装是北极探险者。”露茜说。

“不用假装，这事就够令人兴奋的了。”彼得说着，开始带领大家向前往树林中走去。天空中全是黑压压的云团，看上去天黑前还要下雪。

“我说，”爱德蒙马上就开口道，“我们是不是该往左转，就是说，如果我们是朝路灯柱走的话。”这时，他早已忘记了他必须假装以前从没到这片树林里来过。这话刚一出口，他就明白他已经露出了马脚。大家都停下来，全都盯着他。彼得吹了声口哨。

“原来你真的到过这儿，”他说，“那回露说她在这儿碰见你——你还硬说她是在说谎呢。”

一片沉默。“好吧，在所有恶毒的小坏蛋当中——”彼得耸了耸肩就不说了。的确，也没什么可说的了。不一会儿，这四个孩子又继续上路，只有爱德蒙暗暗自语，“回头我就要向你们算清这笔账，你们这批自高自大、自鸣得意的讨厌鬼。”

“不管怎么说，我们上哪儿去呢？”苏珊说，她主要是想换个话题。

“我认为露应该做领队，”彼得说，“老天作证她应该当领队。你带我们上哪儿去，露？”

“去看看图姆纳斯先生好吗？”露茜说，“他就是我告诉过你们的那个好心的羊怪。”

大家都赞成这主意，便上路了。他们一面轻快地走着，一面顿着脚。露茜确实是一个好领队。开头她不知自己能不能找到那条路，不过她在个地方认出了一棵外形奇特的树，在另一个地方又认出了一个树桩，并把他们带到了崎岖不平的地方，进了小山谷，终于来到图姆纳斯先生石窟的门口，不料那儿却有一件可怕的意外事等着他们。

那扇门已经从铰链上给拧了下来，成了碎片。石窟里又黑又冷，那股潮湿的感觉和气味说明这地方已有好几天没人住了。雪花从门口飘进来，堆在地上跟黑糊糊的东西混在一起，原来那是烧焦的树枝和炉灰。显然有人把树枝和炉灰撒了一地，再把这些东西踩熄了。陶器也砸碎了扔在地上，羊怪父亲的画像被人用刀割得稀烂。

“这下子可就惨了，”爱德蒙说，“上这儿来可不大妙啊！”

“这是什么？”彼得说着弯下腰。他刚注意到有一张纸钉在地毯上。

“上面写着什么吗？”苏珊问。

“是啊，我想写着的，”彼得回答说，“但这儿光线暗，我看不清，我们上外面去吧。”

他们都走到外面白天的亮光下，围在彼得身边，听他念出以下内容：

该屋原居民羊怪图姆纳斯，已被逮捕，并将听候审讯，罪状为背叛纳尼亚女王，凯尔帕拉维尔城堡主人，孤独群岛女王简蒂丝陛下，帮助陛下的敌人，窝藏奸细及私通人类。

秘密警察队长 芬瑞斯·乌尔夫

女王万岁！

孩子们面面相觑。

“我不知道到底会不会喜欢这个地方。”苏姗说。

“女王是谁，露？”彼得说，“你知道她的情况吗？”

“她根本不是真正的女王，”露茜回答说，“她是个可恶的女巫，白女巫。大家——森林里所有的人——都恨她。她对整个国家施了魔法，因此这儿一直是冬天，而且从来不过圣诞节。”

“我——我不知道再继续下去有什么意义。”苏珊说，“我是说，这儿看来不太安全，而且看来也不大好玩。而且越来越冷，我们又没带什么吃的。现在就回家，好吗？”

“哦，可我们不能，我们不能回家，”露茜突然说，“你们不明白吗？出了这事以后，我们不能就此回家。可怜的羊怪全是为了我才惹下这场祸的。他让我躲过女巫，还指点我回家的路。帮助女王的敌人和私通人类指的就是这件事。我们一定得想法救救他。”

爱德蒙说，“我们连吃的也没有，要做的事可多着呢！”

“你住嘴！”彼得说，他仍然很生爱德蒙的气，“你看怎么样，苏珊？”

“我有个可怕的感觉，露是对的。”苏珊说，“我不想再前进一步，而且我但愿我们根本没来过这儿。不过我想我们必须想法为那个叫什么来着的先生尽点力——我是说那个羊怪。”

“我也这么想，”彼得说，“我担心我们没带吃的。我主张回去从贮藏室里拿点东西来，只是一旦你走出这国家，恐怕不一定能回到这儿来。我想我们只好走下去了。”

“我们也这么想。”两个女孩都说。

“要是我们知道那可怜的家伙关在哪儿就好了！”彼得说。

他们大家都一动不动，不知道下一步该怎么办，露茜说，“瞧，那儿有只知更鸟，胸脯那么红。这可是我在这儿看到的第一只鸟。我说！——不知道纳尼亚的鸟儿会不会说话？它看上去好像要对我们说什么呢。”接着她就回过头去跟知更鸟说，“请问，你能告诉我们羊怪图姆纳斯给带到哪儿去了吗？”她这么说着，就向鸟儿走近了一步。它立刻飞开了，但只是飞到邻近一棵树上。它站在那儿，紧紧盯着他们，仿佛他们说的话它全明白。这四个孩子几乎没注意他们已经跟着鸟走了，他们向鸟儿走近一点，鸟儿就又飞到邻近一棵树上，再次紧紧盯着他们。（你们可找不到哪只知更鸟比它胸脯更红、眼睛更亮了。）

“你们知道吗，”露茜说，“我真的相信它的意思是叫我们跟着它呢。”

“我也觉得它要我们跟着它，”苏珊说，“彼得，你怎么看？”

“好吧，我们不妨试试看。”彼得回答说。

知更鸟好像完全明白这些话。它不断地从一棵树飞到另一棵树，老是在他们前面几步路的地方，他们很容易就能跟上它。它带他们走的这条路有点像下坡路。无论知更鸟停在哪儿，树枝上都会飘落一小阵雪花。不一会儿当空的云层散开，冬天的太阳又出来了，他们周围的雪花变得闪亮耀眼。他们就这样走了大约半小时，两个女孩子走在前面，这时爱德蒙对彼得说，“要是你跟我说话不再神气活现，我有点事要说，你最好听一下。”

“什么事？”彼得说。

“嘘，别那么响，”爱德蒙说，“吓着姑娘们可不好。可你明白我们在干什 么吗？”

“什么？”彼得压低了声音悄悄说。

“我们正跟着一个我们一点也不了解的向导。我们怎么知道这鸟站在哪一边？它为什么不会把我们引进陷阱呢？”

“这想法真可恶。但是——要知道这是一只知更鸟。在我看过的所有故事书里，知更鸟都是好鸟。我相信知更鸟决不会站在不义的一边。”

“要是事情真到了这一步的话，哪一边才算正义的呢？我们怎么知道羊怪是正义的一方，而女王（是啊，我们听说她是个女巫）是不义的一方呢？我们对两方面都一点也不了解呀。”

“羊怪救了露茜。”

“她说他救了。可我们怎么知道呢？还有一件事，有谁认识从这儿回家的路吗？”

“老天哪！”彼得说，“我就没想到这一点。”

“也没机会吃午饭了。”爱德蒙说。

7

跟海狸夫妇共度的一天

两个男孩在后面说悄悄话的时候，两个女孩突然叫了声“哦！”就停下了。“知更鸟！”露茜叫道，“知更鸟飞走了。”它就这样飞走了——飞得无影无踪了。

“现在我们该怎么办呢？”爱德蒙说着看了彼得一眼，意思是：“我跟你说什么来着？”

“嘘！瞧！”苏珊说。

“什么？”彼得说。

“有什么东西在树木间走动——就在左边。”

他们全都瞪大眼睛，紧紧盯着。大家都觉得很不舒服。

不一会儿苏珊说，“瞧，它又来了。”

“这回我也看见了，”彼得说，“它还在那儿。它刚到那棵大树后面去了。”

“是什么呢？”露茜问，她拼命使声音不显得紧张。

“不管是什么，”彼得说，“它是在躲着我们，它不想让人看见它。”

“我们回家吧。”苏珊说。接着，虽然没人大声说出来，大家一下子都意识到了一个事实，也就是上一章末尾爱德蒙悄悄对彼得说的：他们迷路了。

“它什么模样？”露茜说。

“它是——它是一种动物，”苏珊说，接着又喊道，“瞧！瞧！快！就在那儿。”

这回他们全瞧见它了，一张毛茸茸的脸，胡子拉碴的，从一棵树后面向他们张望。不过这一次这小动物没有立刻缩回去，反而举起一只爪子按在嘴上，就像人们把手指放在嘴唇上示意你别出声那样。后来它又不见了。孩子们全都站在那儿屏住气。

过了一会儿，这个陌生的小动物从树后出来，往四周扫了一眼，仿佛生怕有人看见，说了声“嘘”，就做手势叫他们到它站着的那片更茂密的树林里去，接着它又不见了。

“我知道它是什么了，”彼得说，“它是海狸。我看见尾巴了。”

“它要我们上它那儿去，”苏珊说，“还警告我们别出声。”

“我知道，”彼得说，“问题是我们要不要上它那儿去？你看呢，露？”

“我看它是只好海狸。”露茜说。

“是啊，可我们怎么知道呢？”爱德蒙说。

“我们是不是一定得冒险啊？”苏珊说，“我的意思是，光站在这儿可不好，而且我觉得我要吃点午饭了。”

这时海狸又从树后探出头来，真诚地向他们招手。

“来吧，”彼得说，“我们试试看，大家靠拢点，如果发现它是敌人，我们四个人应该对付得了它。”

于是，四个孩子就紧紧挨着，走向那棵树，在树后他们果然看到了那只海狸；不过它仍然往后退，还用嘶哑的喉音悄声对他们说，“再往前，再往前，到这儿来。我们在空地上不安全！”它把他们带到一块黑沉沉的地方，那儿有四棵树长得很近，树枝都挨着，脚下看得见棕色的土地和松枝，因为那儿落不到雪，它这才开始跟他们说话。

“你们是亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿吧？”它说。

“我们是的。”彼得说。

“嘘，”海狸说，“请别那么大声，即使在这儿我们也不安全。”

“哎呀，你怕谁呀？”彼得说，“这儿除了我们没别人。”

“有树，”海狸说，“它们总是在听。大多数树是在我们一边的，但有的树也会把我们出卖给她；你们知道我指的是谁。”它点了好几次头。

“如果说到站在哪一边的问题，”爱德蒙说，“我们又怎么知道你是一个朋友呢？”

“我们不是有意无礼，海狸先生，”彼得加上一句，“不过你要知道，我们是生人。”

“不错，不错，”海狸说，“这是我的信物。”说着它就对他们举起一件小小的白东西。他们都惊讶地望着这件东西，直到露茜突然说，“哦，当然啦。这是我的手绢——就是我送给可怜的图姆纳斯先生的。”

“对了，”海狸说，“可怜的家伙，他事先得到要逮捕他的风声，就把这个交给我。他说要是他出了什么事，我一定得在这儿跟你们见面，并带你们去——”说到这儿海狸的声音低得听不见了，还十分神秘地点了两三次头。接着它示意孩子们尽量靠拢它站着，他们的脸蛋都被它的胡子弄得怪痒痒的，它才悄悄加了一句：

“据说阿斯兰在行动了——也许已经到了。”

这时怪事发生了。孩子们都跟你们一样，没人知道阿斯兰是谁；不过在海狸说这句话的时候，每个人的感觉是不一样的。也许你们在梦里有时也碰到过这种事，某个人说了句什么话，你虽然不懂这话，可总觉得这话有很重要的意思——要么是一种可怕的意思，能使整个梦变成恶梦；要么是一种可爱的意思，可爱得没法形容，能使你的梦变成美梦，叫你一辈子都忘不了，而且老是希望能再次进入那个梦境。现在的情况正是这样。听到阿斯兰的名字，每个孩子都觉得自己心里怦然一动。爱德蒙感到有股神秘的恐惧。彼得感到突然勇敢起来，敢冲敢闯。苏珊感到好像有股香味或悦耳的音乐旋律刚刚飘过她身边。而露茜的感觉就跟你们早上一觉醒来，忽然明白今天是假日的开始，或夏天的开始一样。

“图姆纳斯先生怎么了？”露茜问，“他在哪儿？”

“嘘，”海狸说，“不在这儿。我一定得带你们到个能真正谈谈的地方去，还有午饭。”

除了爱德蒙，如今大家都感到不难信任海狸了，而且包括爱德蒙在内，大家听到“午饭”这个词都很高兴。因此他们都跟着新朋友匆匆走去，它的步子大得惊人，而且总是在树林最茂密的地方走。这样走了一个多小时，大家都感到又累又饿，这时前面的树木突然变得稀疏了，脚下是陡峭的山坡。转眼工夫他们就走到露天（阳光仍然照耀着），发现自己正俯瞰一幅美景。

他们都站在一个陡峭、狭窄的山谷边上，谷底是一条大河，河水在奔流——至少，要不是结冰的话，这河水是会奔流的——就在他们下面有条堤坝横跨在河上。他们看到水坝时，忽然记起海狸总是在筑堤坝的，并深信这条坝就是海狸先生筑的。他们也注意到这会儿它脸上有种谦虚的表情——这种神情跟你在参观人家自己造的花园，或在读人家写的书时看到的神情一样。因此，当苏珊出于礼貌说了声“好一条可爱的堤坝！”时，海狸先生没说“嘘！”却说：“算不了什么！算不了什么！堤坝还没真正完工呢！”

堤坝上游那儿原来应该有个深深的蓄水池，目前当然只有一层暗绿色的冰。堤坝下游，水位就低多了，这儿也有好多冰，不过这儿的冰不是光溜溜的，而是冻成泡沫状或波纹状，这就是严寒到来时，河水冲下来时的形状。河水穿过堤坝慢慢淌下来或喷出来的地方如今形成了一道闪闪发光的冰柱墙，仿佛堤坝的这一边缀满了用最纯净白糖做的花朵、花环和花串。堤坝当中，有所好玩的小房子，部分搭在堤坝顶上，形状像只大蜂箱，屋顶上有个洞升起缕缕炊烟，因此当你看见那房子（尤其是在你肚子饿的时候），你立刻就想到做饭，并且变得比原来更饿了。

这就是另外三个孩子注意到的事，爱德蒙却注意到另外一些事。在这条河的下游，还有一条小河，从另一个小山谷里流出，汇入这条河中。爱德蒙仰望那个山谷，看得见两座小山，他几乎肯定那就是前几天他跟白女巫在路灯柱那儿分手时，她指给他看的。他想，在两座山之间一定是她的王宫，离此只有一英里左右。他还想起了土耳其软糖和做国王的事，（他暗自问道，“不知道彼得对这事会怎么想？”）于是他脑子里想出了坏主意。

“我们到了，”海狸先生说，“看来海狸太太好像正在盼着我们呢。我来领路。小心点，别滑倒。”

堤坝顶上走路倒是够宽的，然而（对人类来说）并不是一个走路的好地方，因为堤坝上全是冰，虽然那蓄水池结的冰跟堤坝边一样平，下游临河的那边却有一个很大的落差。海狸先生带着他们排成单行，往堤坝当中走去，在那儿他们可以看到上下游很远的地方。等他们到了堤坝当中，也就到了屋子门口。

“我们到了，海狸太太，”海狸先生说，“我找到他们了。这就是亚当和夏娃的儿女。”——他们全都走了进去。

露茜进屋首先注意到的是一种嘎嘎的声音，她看到一只面貌和善、上了年纪的母海狸坐在角落里，嘴里咬着一根线，正在缝纫机上忙活，声音就是从那儿来的。孩子们一进来它就放下活计站了起来。

“你们终于来了！”它说着伸出两只皱巴巴的老爪子，“终于来了！想想看我居然活到今天看到了这一切！土豆已经煮熟了，水壶也开了，我想，海狸先生，你去给我们弄点鱼来吧。”

“我会的。”海狸先生说，随后它就走了出去（彼得跟它一起去），走过深深的蓄水池的冰层，到它打了一个小洞的地方——它每天都用小斧子把洞口凿开。他们随身带了一个桶，海狸先生悄悄在洞口边上坐下（它似乎不在乎天气那么冷），紧紧盯着洞里，接着它突然把爪子伸进去，说时迟那时快，已经抓出了一条漂亮的鳟鱼。然后它再来一次，直到抓了满满一桶鱼为止。

两个女孩也趁此帮着海狸太太灌满水壶，摆上餐具，切好面包，又把一盘盘菜放到炉子上加热，从屋角一只酒桶里为海狸先生灌了一大罐啤酒，放上煎锅，把油汁热得火烫。露茜觉得这儿虽然跟图姆纳斯先生的石窟完全不同，海狸夫妇倒也有一个舒适温暖的小家庭。这儿没有书也没有画，没有床，只有造在墙里的铺位，就跟在船上一样。还有火腿和一串串洋葱头从屋顶上挂下来；靠墙是高统套鞋，油布，小斧子和一把把大剪刀，铁锹，小铲子和种种装灰泥的东西，还有鱼竿、鱼网和麻袋。桌上的台布虽然十分干净却非常粗糙。

正当煎锅美妙地嗞嗞作响时，彼得和海狸先生拿着剖洗好的鱼进来了，原来海狸先生已经在外头用刀把鱼肚剖开，收拾干净了。你们想像得出刚抓来的鱼煎的时候闻起来味道有多美，饿着肚子的孩子们多么希望鱼快点煎好啊！在海狸太太说“我们这就快好了”之前，他们变得越发饥饿。苏珊把土豆的水分沥干，放进炉灶边上的空锅里烘焙时，露茜就帮着海狸太太把鳟鱼装盘，因此片刻间，大家就都把凳子拉过来（海狸家除了火炉边海狸太太那张特制的摇椅外，全都是三条腿的凳子），准备好好享用一顿。有一大罐浓浓的牛奶是给孩子们的（海狸先生专喝啤酒），桌子中央有很大一块深黄色的奶油，每个人都可以随意尽量拿，跟土豆一块儿吃，所有的孩子都认为——我也同意他们的看法——要是你吃的鱼是半个钟头前刚活杀的，出锅还不到半分钟，那味道可真是鲜美无比。他们吃完了鱼，海狸太太从炉子里出人意料地取出一个又大又漂亮的黏糊糊的果酱卷，热气腾腾的，同时把水壶放在火炉上，这样他们吃完果酱卷，茶也煮好了。等到大家都拿到了自己那杯茶，人人都把凳子往后推，靠在墙上，满足地长长地吁口气。

“好了，”海狸先生把它那只喝空的大酒杯推开，把茶杯拉到面前，“只要你们肯等到我点上烟斗，好好抽上两口——嗨，我们这就可以谈正事了。天又下雪了。”它加了一句，还朝窗口挤挤眼睛。“这样更好，因为这样一来我们就不会再有什么客人；而且谁打算跟踪你们的话，他也找不到什么脚印了。”

8

午饭后发生的事

“现在，”露茜说，“请告诉我们图姆纳斯先生出什么事了？”

“啊，真糟糕，”海狸先生摇着头说，“这是件非常非常糟糕的事。毫无疑问他是被警察抓走了。我是从看见这事的小鸟那里知道的。”

“可是他给带到哪儿去了呢？”露茜问道。

“嗯，人家最后看见他们时，他们是往北面走，我们大家都知道那是怎么一回事。”

“不，我们可不知道。”苏珊说。可是海狸先生十分悲观地摇摇头。

“恐怕这就是说他们把他带到她的房子里去了。”海狸先生说。

“但他们会怎么对付他呢，海狸先生？”露茜喘着气问。

“我说啊，”海狸先生说，“这可说不准了。不过抓到那儿去能再出来的可不多。石像，他们说那儿全是石像——院子里、楼上和走廊里都有。她把大伙儿变成了——”（它顿了一下，打着哆嗦）“变成了石头。”

“可是，海狸先生，”露茜说，“我们能不能——我是说，我们一定得想什么办法去救他。这太可怕了，而且全是为了我。”

“如果你救得了的话，我深信你会去救他的，小宝贝。”海狸太太说，“但你没机会违反她的意愿，进入那房子而活着出来。”

“我们不能用什么计策吗？”彼得说，“我意思是我们能不能打扮成什么，或者假装成——哦，小贩啊，什么都行——或者守到她出来的时候——或者——哦，该死，一定有什么办法。这个羊怪自己冒风险救了我妹妹，海狸先生，我们不能就此撇下他，让他遭到——遭到那种事。”

“不行啊，亚当的儿子，”海狸先生说，“偏偏就是你想的办法行不通。不过既然阿斯兰在行动了——”

“哦，对了，跟我们说说阿斯兰吧！”几个声音立刻叫道，因为那股奇怪的感觉又来了——仿佛感到春天最初的信息，像大喜讯。

“阿斯兰是谁？”苏珊问道。

“阿斯兰？”海狸先生说，“你们怎么不知道？它是国王。它是整个森林之王，不过不常在这儿，你们明白吗？我这辈子和我父亲那辈子都从来没来过。不过我们已经听到消息说它已经回来了。此时此刻它就在纳尼亚。它会好好治治白女巫的。日后救出图姆纳斯先生的不是你们，而是它。”

“她不会把它也变成石头吗？”爱德蒙说。

“老天爷保佑，亚当的儿子，怎么说出这么糊涂的话！”海狸先生哈哈大笑着回答，“把它变成石头？她至多只能站住脚，看着它的脸了。我看她还没这么大能耐呢。不，不，它会治理一切，一首古诗中有这么几句：

阿斯兰雄威显，有错必能纠，

阿斯兰怒声吼，消愁又解忧，

阿斯兰利牙露，冬天赶紧溜。

阿斯兰刚鬃抖，春天重新留。

等你们看见它，你们就明白了。”

“但我们要见它吗？”苏珊问。

“啊呀，夏娃的女儿，我就是为这事才带你们上这儿来的呢。我要带你们到跟它会面的地方去。”海狸先生说。

“它——它是个人吗？”露茜问。

“阿斯兰是人！”海狸先生严厉地说，“当然不是。我告诉你它是森林之王，是伟大的海外皇帝的儿子。你们不知道谁是百兽之王吗？阿斯兰是一只狮子——狮王，伟大的狮王。”

“哦！”苏珊说，“我还以为它是个人呢。它——不伤人吧？跟狮子见面我会感到紧张的。”

“你会紧张的，小宝贝，没错，”海狸太太说，“谁当着阿斯兰的面膝盖不打哆嗦，那他们不是勇敢过人，就是傻瓜。”

“那么它有伤人的危险？”露茜问。

“伤人的危险？”海狸先生说，“你没听见海狸太太跟你们说的话吗？谁说过没危险的话了？它当然危险。告诉你，不过它很善良。它是王。”

“我希望见见它，”彼得说，“到了节骨眼上，即使我真感到害怕，也要见见。”

“那就对了，亚当的儿子。”海狸先生的爪子在桌上啪的一捶，震得杯盘统统喀啦啦响起来。“那么你们就见见它吧。已经传话来了，你们要去见它，如果你们能去的话，明天在石桌那儿见。”

“哪儿呀？”露茜说。

“我会指给你们看的，”海狸先生说，“在河下游，离这儿有好多路呢。我会带你们到那儿去的！”

“可是现在，可怜的图姆纳斯先生怎么办呢？”露茜说。

“你们能帮他的最快办法就是去见阿斯兰。”海狸先生说，“一旦它跟我们在一起，我们就能动手干起来了。不是说我们不需要你们。因为另一首古诗提到：

有朝一日亚当的骨肉

坐上凯尔帕拉维尔的宝座，

厄运就将一去不复返。

现在它来了，你们也来了，因此事情一定快到头了。我们听说过阿斯兰以前到这一带来的事——很久以前了，没有谁说得上是什么时候。可是你们人类从来没到这儿来过。”

“这我就弄不懂了，海狸先生，”彼得说，“我是说女巫自己是不是人呢？”

“她想让我们相信她是人，”海狸先生说，“因此她才自称为女王。但她不是夏娃的女儿。她是你们的父亲亚当的——”（说到这儿海狸先生鞠了一躬）“你们的父亲亚当的第一个妻子生的，人家叫她莉莉思[1]。而她是一个精灵；就是说她的出身一半是精灵，一半是巨人。不，不，女巫身上没有一滴真正人类的血。”

“因此她坏透了，海狸先生。”海狸太太说。

“一点不假，海狸太太。”它回答说，“对于人类可能有两种看法（我不是想冒犯眼前这几位），不过对那些看上去像人又不是人的东西可没有两种看法。”

“我认识一些好矮人。”海狸太太说。

“说到矮人，我倒也认识。”它丈夫说，“但少得可怜，而且他们一点也不像人类。但一般说来，凡是你们遇见什么东西将要变成人，而还没变成，或者过去是人，现在不是了，或者应该是人，却不是，听听我的劝告吧，你们应该一直监视他，并找好你们的斧子。正因为如此，女巫才老是在注意任何到纳尼亚来的人类。这么多年来她一直在守候你们，如果她知道你们是四个人的话，那她对你们就更危险了。”

“那跟这事有什么关系？”彼得问。

“因为还有一个预言，”海狸先生说，“在凯尔帕拉维尔——那是这条河入海口边的一座城堡，如果一切都是本来的样子，那儿应该是全国的京城——在凯尔帕拉维尔有四个宝座，不记得什么时候起纳尼亚就有个传说，等到两个亚当的儿子和两个夏娃的女儿坐上那四个宝座，那时不仅是白女巫统治的结束，而且是她生命的末日，这就是我们一路走来为什么得那么小心的缘故，因为她要是知道了你们四个，你们的生命就一钱不值了。”

孩子们一直在全神贯注地听着海狸先生的话，好久没留神别的事。海狸先生说完最后一句话，随之而来是一片沉默，这时露茜突然说：

“我说——爱德蒙在哪儿？”

这段间歇很可怕，随后大家开始问：“谁最后看见他的？他不见了多长时间？他在外面吗？”说着他们全都冲到门口往外看。只见大雪纷飞，密密麻麻，蓄水池那片绿色的冰层不见了，盖上了一条厚厚的白毯子，从堤坝中央那座小房子望去，连两边堤岸都难以看见。他们走到外面，刚落下的软软的雪花就没过了他们的脚踝，他们绕着房子朝四面八方叫着“爱德蒙！爱德蒙！”叫得嗓子都嘶哑了。可是这默默下着的雪似乎捂住了他们的声音，连个回声都没有。

“多么可怕！”他们终于失望地回到屋里，苏珊说：“哦，但愿我们没上这儿来就好了。”

“我们究竟该怎么办，海狸先生？”彼得说。

“怎么办？”海狸先生说，它已经穿上了雪地靴，“怎么办？我们必须马上走。一点时间也没有了！”

“我们最好分四路搜寻，”彼得说，“朝各个不同的方向去找，不论谁找到他，必须立刻回到这儿来，而且——”

“分头搜寻，亚当的儿子？”海狸先生说，“为什么？”

“咦，当然是去找爱德蒙呀！”

“找他也没用。”海狸先生说。

“你这是什么意思？”苏珊说，“他还没走远。我们一定得找到他。你说找他也没用是什么意思？”

“说找他也没用的理由是，”海狸先生说，“我们已经知道他上哪儿去了！”人人都惊讶地盯着它。“你们还不明白？”海狸先生说，“他上她那儿去了，上白女巫那儿去了。他背叛了我们大家。”

“哦，不至于的——哦，不至于的！”苏珊说，“他不会那么干的。”

“不会吗？”海狸先生说，紧紧盯着这三个孩子，他们想说的一切都说不出口了，因为每个人心里忽然都很肯定，这正是爱德蒙会干的勾当。

“可他认识路吗？”彼得说。

“他以前到过这儿吗？”海狸先生问，“他单独到这儿来过吗？”

“没错，”露茜几乎是耳语着说，“恐怕他来过了。”

“他告诉你们他干了些什么，或者见到过谁吗？”

“嗯，没有，他没说。”彼得说。

“那么你们记住我的话，”海狸先生说，“他已经见过白女巫，投奔到她那一边了，而且知道她住在哪儿。我刚才不愿提起这事（他是你们的兄弟），不过从我看到你们那个兄弟的那一刻起，我就暗自说‘靠不住’。他那神情一看就知道曾经跟女巫在一起，还吃过她的东西。如果你在纳尼亚住久了，往往能从眼神里看出真面目。”

“反正，”彼得说话的声音也有点哽住了，“我们还是得去找他。即使他是只小畜生，他毕竟还是我们的兄弟，而且他只是个孩子。”

“上女巫老窝里去？”海狸太太说，“难道你们看不出来，要救他或救你们自己的惟一机会就是躲开她吗？”

“什么意思？”露茜说。

“她只要抓到你们四个（她一直念念不忘凯尔帕拉维尔那四个宝座），一旦你们四个全在她的老窝里，她就大功告成了——你还来不及开口说话，她的收藏品中就会有四个新的石像。不过要是她只抓到他一个，她就会让他活着，因为她要用他做圈套，当作抓住你们其他人的诱饵。”

“哦，就没人能帮助我们吗？”露茜哭道。

“只有阿斯兰，”海狸先生说，“我们一定得去见它。目前这是我们惟一的机会了。”

“在我看来，亲爱的，”海狸太太说，“要紧的是弄清楚他几时溜走的。他能告诉她多少全看他听到了多少。比如说，他溜走前，我们有没有开始谈论阿斯兰？如果没有，我们就可能进展顺利，因为她不知道阿斯兰已经来到纳尼亚，也不知道我们将去见它，在这一点上她就不会防备。”

“我不记得我们谈论阿斯兰的时候他在场——”彼得开口说道，但露茜打断了他。

“哦，是的，他在场，”她痛苦地说，“你不记得了吗？是他问女巫能不能把阿斯兰也变成石头的。”

“天哪，他问过这话，”彼得说，“这正是只有他才会问的事！”

“越来越糟了，”海狸先生说，“还有，我告诉你们跟阿斯兰见面的地方是石桌那儿时，他还在这儿吗？”

当然，这个问题就没人能回答了。

“因为，如果他在这儿，”海狸先生接着说，“那么她就会乘雪橇赶往那个方向，守在我们到石桌的半路上，抓住我们。我们跟阿斯兰的联系实际上就会给切断。”

“但那还不是她首先要做的，”海狸太太说，“据我所知她不会。爱德蒙一告诉她我们全都在这儿，她今天晚上就要出发来抓我们，如果他已经走了半小时的话，再有二十分钟左右她就要到这儿了。”

“你说得对，海狸太太，”它丈夫说，“我们必须全都离开这儿。一刻也不能耽搁。”

【注释】

[1] 据犹太法典中的传说，莉莉思是亚当的第一个妻子，一个女魔。

9

女巫的房子

说到这里你们当然都想知道爱德蒙出了什么事。他吃完了他那份午餐，不过他并没有吃得津津有味，因为他一直想着土耳其软糖——回味起施过魔法的食品，吃再好的普通食品也倒胃口。而且他听到这番谈话也觉得不是滋味，因为他老是想着别人都不理他、冷落他。其实并非如此，都是他想像出来的。后来他一直听到海狸先生告诉他们有关阿斯兰的事，还听到在石桌跟阿斯兰见面的整个安排。于是他开始悄悄挪到挂在门上的帘子下。因为提到阿斯兰，他就有一种神秘而恐怖的感觉，正如其他人听了这个名字就有一种神秘而可爱的感觉一样。

就在海狸先生背诵“亚当的骨肉”那首诗时，爱德蒙已经悄悄拧动了门把手；在海狸先生告诉他们白女巫根本不是真的人，而是一半精灵一半巨人以前，爱德蒙已经走到外面雪地里，还小心地随手把门带上。

即使到了这会儿，你们也千万别认为爱德蒙坏得真正想让他的兄弟姐妹被女巫变成石头。他的确想吃土耳其软糖，而且想当王子（日后当个国王），还想出出彼得骂他坏蛋这口恶气。至于女巫会怎么对待其他人，他虽不希望她对他们特别好——当然不能给他们和他同等待遇——但他竟然相信，或者是自以为相信，她不会对他们干出什么坏事。“因为，”他暗自说，“凡是说她坏话的人都是她的敌人，也许这些坏话里面有一半都是假的。不管怎么说，她对我挺好的，比他们待我要好多了。我当她真正是合法的女王。无论如何，她总比可恶的阿斯兰要好吧！”至少，这就是他脑子里为自己所干的事找的借口。不过这个借口并不高明，因为在他内心深处，他也真正知道白女巫又凶狠又残酷。

他出来后看到外面正在下雪，首先明白过来的是他把自己的大衣扔在海狸夫妇家里了。眼下当然没有机会回去拿大衣。其次明白过来的是天几乎黑了，因为他们坐下来吃午饭时已经快三点了，而且冬天的白昼短。他原先没估计到这一点，但他得充分利用这一点。所以他竖起衣领，拖着脚步，穿过堤坝顶部（幸亏下了雪，上面才没那么滑），向远处河边走去。

等他到了远处的河边，情况就不大妙了。天一点点变黑，再加上雪花围着他打转，他连三英尺以外都看不清。再说，那儿没有路。他老是滑到深深的雪堆里，滚到结了冰的水潭里，绊在倒下的树干上，从陡峭的河岸上滑下去，小腿在岩石上擦破了皮，弄得浑身又湿又冷，到处是伤。寂静和孤独是可怕的。其实，要不是他偶尔对自己说，“等我当上纳尼亚国王，我首先要干的事就是修几条像样的路。”我真以为他可能会放弃整个计划，回去认个错，跟其他人和好呢。当然这句话使他想到当国王以及他要干的一切事情，这就大大鼓舞了他。他在脑子里拿定主意要有什么样的王宫，有多少汽车，以及种种有关私人电影院的事，主要的铁路往哪儿开，他要针对海狸和堤坝制定什么法律加以限制，还把不准彼得乱说乱动的计划作了最后修改；这时天变了。先是雪停了，接着突然刮起一阵风，冷得要命；最后，云散了，月亮出来了。一轮明月照在一片白雪上，几乎跟白天一样亮——只是那些阴影把他搞得糊里糊涂。

要不是在他到达另一条河的时候月亮出来了，他根本就找不到路——你们记得，他们刚到海狸夫妇家时，他已经看到了一条小一点的河在下游汇入这条大河。如今他走到这条小河边，就转身沿着这河往上游走。不过小河源头的那个小山谷比他刚刚离开的那个山谷更陡峭，岩石更多，而且满地都是枝叶丛生的灌木，因此他在黑暗中根本没法过去。尽管这样，他也弄得浑身透湿，因为他得弯着腰在树枝下走，大块大块的雪就都滑到他背上了。碰上这种倒霉事，他就格外想自己多么恨彼得——好像这一切都是彼得的错。

但他终于走到一块比较平坦的地方，山谷也开阔起来。就在离他很近的地方，小河的另一边，两座小山当中一块小平原的中央，他看见了那幢想必属于白女巫的房子。而且月亮也比任何时候都更明亮。那幢房子其实是一座小城堡，看上去全是塔楼。小小的塔楼上面是又长又尖的顶，像针尖，又像笨蛋学生或巫师戴的尖角帽。在月光照耀下，塔楼长长的影子在雪地上显得古里古怪的！爱德蒙对这幢房子开始感到害怕了。

不过这会儿想转身回去也太晚了。他踏在冰上走过了河，一直走向这幢房子。没有一点动静，连他自己两只脚踩在刚下的深深的雪里也没有声音。他走啊走啊，走过一个又一个墙角、一个又一个塔楼去找门。他绕了一大圈才找到门。原来是座大拱门，不过大铁门是敞开的。

爱德蒙蹑手蹑脚走进拱门，朝院子里张望，看见的那副情景差点使他的心都停止跳动了。就在大门里面，月光照耀下，有一只大狮子蹲在那儿，好像准备跳起来似的。爱德蒙就站在拱门的阴影里，两膝直打哆嗦，又怕走过去，又怕走回来。他站在那儿好久好久，牙齿即使不是怕得打战也早已冷得打战了。我不知道他在那儿真正站了多久，不过爱德蒙似乎觉得过了好几个小时。

后来他终于想知道那狮子干吗蹲着一动也不动——因为自从他看见它以来，它就纹丝儿没动过。这会儿爱德蒙放大胆走近点，一边仍然尽量躲在拱门的阴影里。他现在从狮子站的架势看出，它根本不可能看见他。（“但假如它转过头来呢？”爱德蒙想道。）事实上它正盯着另外什么东西——就是一个小矮人，他背对狮子站在大约四英尺以外的地方。“啊哈！”爱德蒙想，“等它扑向那小矮人，那时就是我逃命的机会了。”但狮子仍然一动也不动，小矮人也一样。爱德蒙这时终于想起其他人说过的白女巫把人变成石头的事。也许这只是一只石狮吧。他一想到这点就注意到狮子背上和头顶上都积满了雪。它当然一定只是个石像！活生生的动物决不会让自己身上积满雪的。于是，爱德蒙慢慢大着胆向狮子走去，一颗心好像要跳出来似的。即使现在他也不大敢摸它，但他终于伸出手来很快地摸了一下。原来是冰冷的石头。只不过是个石像，竟然就把他吓住了！

爱德蒙感到如释重负，因此尽管天那么冷，他突然从头到脚都暖和了。同时他脑子里有了个似乎十分称心的念头。“也许，”他想，“这就是大家都在谈论的伟大的狮王阿斯兰吧。她已经抓住它把它变成石头了。这么一来他们在它身上打的如意算盘也就落空了！呸！谁怕阿斯兰呀？”

他就这么站在那儿幸灾乐祸地看着石狮子，不一会儿他干了一件孩子气的蠢事。他从口袋里掏出一个铅笔头，在狮子上唇涂上两撇胡子，还给它加上了一副眼镜。涂罢他说，“可笑的老阿斯兰！成了石头你有什么想法啊？你自以为很了不起吧？”不过尽管他在狮子脸上乱涂，大石兽看上去仍然很可怕，又伤心，又高贵，目光仰望着月亮。爱德蒙戏弄石狮，却并没因此真正感到好玩。他掉转身子，穿过院子走进去。

他刚走到院子当中就看见四周有好多石像——到处都是，倒有点像下到一半时棋盘上的棋子。有石头的森林神[1]，石头的狼啊、熊啊、狐狸啊、山猫啊。还有些可爱的石头看上去像女人，其实是树精。有一个大石像形状像人头马[2]，还有一匹有翅膀的马，还有一条长长的软体动物爱德蒙当它是龙。这些石像看上去都那么古怪，在明晃晃、冷冰冰的月光下栩栩如生，而且完全静止不动，使人穿过院子时感到非常可怕。在院子正中央站着一个巨大的人体，足有一棵树那么高，面相凶猛，长着一部蓬松的大胡子，右手拿着根大棒。虽然爱德蒙知道这只是一个石头巨人，不是活的，他仍然不愿意走过巨人身边。

这会儿他瞧见院子那头有个入口透出一点暗淡的光。他走到那儿，那儿有几级石阶通向一扇开着的门。爱德蒙走上石阶，只见门槛上躺着一匹大狼。

“没关系，没关系，”他不停地自言自语道，“那只是一只石狼而已。它不会伤害我的。”他抬起脚要跨过它。那只巨兽立刻站起来，背上的毛根根竖起，张开血盆大嘴，吼着说：

“谁在那儿？谁在那儿？站着别动，陌生人，告诉我你是谁。”

“劳驾通报一下，先生，”爱德蒙哆哆嗦嗦，都快说不出话了，“我名叫爱德蒙，我就是女王陛下前几天在森林里遇见过的亚当的儿子，我到这儿来报信，我们兄弟姐妹现在都在纳尼亚——很近，就在海狸夫妇家。她——她想见见他们。”

“我会禀报女王陛下的，”那匹狼说，“同时，要是你珍惜你这条命，就站在门槛上别动。”说着它就走进去不见了。

爱德蒙站在那儿等着，他的手指冻得好疼，心头怦怦直跳。不一会儿那只灰狼，芬瑞斯·乌尔夫，女巫的秘密警察头子跳着回来了，说道，“进来吧！进来吧！幸运的女王宠儿——否则就没那么幸运了。”

爱德蒙就此走了进去，一路小心翼翼别踩在狼爪子上。

他发现自己来到一间有许多柱子的长长的阴暗的大厅，跟院子里一样满是石像。离门最近的石像是一只小羊怪，神情十分伤心，爱德蒙不禁想知道这会不会是露茜的朋友。大厅里只点了一盏灯，白女巫就紧挨在这盏灯后面坐着。

“我来了，陛下。”爱德蒙说着，心急慌忙地冲上前去。

“你竟敢一个人来？”女巫用可怕的声音说，“我不是吩咐你把其他几个一起带来吗？”

“请别见怪，陛下，”爱德蒙说，“我已尽了最大努力。我已把他们带到附近。他们就在河上堤坝顶上那座小房子里——跟海狸先生、海狸太太在一起。”

女巫脸上慢慢露出一丝冷酷的微笑。

“你的消息就这么些吗？”她问。

“不，陛下。”爱德蒙说，并开始把离开海狸夫妇家以前他听到的事全部告诉了她。

“什么！阿斯兰！”女王叫道，“阿斯兰！这是真的吗？要是我发现你对我说谎——”

“请别见怪，我只是重复他们说的话而已。”爱德蒙结结巴巴地说。

不过女王已经不再注意他，她拍了拍手。爱德蒙上回看见跟着女王的那个小矮人立刻出现了。

“备好雪橇，”女巫命令说，“用没有铃铛的挽具。”

【注释】

[1] 希腊神话中传说的半人半兽的神，人形，有马或山羊般的耳朵和尾巴。

[2] 希腊神话中传说的半人半马的怪物，人头马身。

10

魔法开始破了

话分两头，这会儿我们得回到海狸夫妇和另外三个孩子身上来了。海狸先生刚说完“一刻也不能耽搁”，大伙儿都开始匆匆忙忙穿上大衣，只有海狸太太开始拿起一些口袋放在桌上，说：“好了，海狸先生，把那块火腿拿下来。这是一包茶叶，还有糖，一些火柴。谁到角落的瓦罐里拿两三个面包出来。”

“你在干什么呀，海狸太太？”苏珊叫道。

“给我们每个人收拾一份东西，小宝贝，”海狸太太十分冷静地说，“你们不想上路时没东西吃吧？”

“可我们没时间了！”苏珊说着扣上大衣领上的扣子，“她随时都可能到这儿的。”

“我就是这么说的。”海狸先生插嘴说。

“你们别胡说，”它妻子说，“好好想想，海狸先生。她至少要在一刻钟以后才能到。”

“如果我们要赶在她前头先到石桌那儿，”彼得说，“我们不是要尽可能抢先一步吗？”

“你得记住一点，海狸太太，”苏珊说，“她到这儿一看，发现我们走了，就会飞速离开的。”

“她会的，”海狸太太说，“不过我们无论如何也赶不到她前面，因为她乘着雪橇，我们是走着去的。”

“那么——我们就没希望了？”苏珊说。

“好了，你们乖，别大惊小怪，”海狸太太说，“请从那个抽屉里拿出六条干净手绢吧。我们当然还有一线希望。我们赶不到她前面，不过我们可以隐蔽起来，走一条她意想不到的路，也许能成功。”

“对极了，海狸太太，”它丈夫说，“不过该是我们动身的时候了。”

“你也别大惊小怪的，海狸先生，”它妻子说，“瞧，这样就好些了。这儿有四份东西，最小的一份就给我们当中最小的一个：那就是你，宝贝儿。”她看着露茜加了一句。

“哦，求你快点吧。”露茜说。

“好吧，现在我差不多都准备好了。”海狸太太终于回答说，一面让丈夫帮它穿上雪地靴，“我想，缝纫机太重，带不了吧？”

“是啊，太重了，”海狸先生说，“重得不得了。我看我们赶路你总不见得能用上缝纫机吧？”

“想到女巫乱动我的缝纫机我就受不了，”海狸太太说，“她八成会把缝纫机弄坏或偷走。”

“哦，请快点吧！请快点吧！”三个孩子说。就这样他们才终于出了门，海狸先生锁上门。（“这会耽误她一点时间。”它说。）他们就此出发了，大家都把自己的一份行李扛在肩上。

他们上路时雪已经停了，月亮也出来了。他们排成单行走着——海狸先生走在头里，随后是露茜，再后是彼得、苏珊，海狸太太走在末尾。海狸先生带他们穿过堤坝，走到河的右岸，然后走到河岸下面树丛里一条崎岖不平的小路上。月光照耀下，山谷两边的峭坡高耸入云。“最好尽可能在下面走，”海狸先生说，“她只能从上面走，因为不能把雪橇赶到下面来。”

如果是坐在安逸的扶手椅里，往窗外眺望，看到的也许算得上是一幅美景；尽管事情到了这个地步，露茜开头对这儿还是很欣赏的。不过随着他们走啊走的，她背上的口袋也越来越重了，她开始怀疑自己怎么坚持得下去。河面以及水帘子都结了冰，她不再去看那条亮得耀眼的冰河，也不去看树顶上大团大团的雪，以及那光芒四射的大月亮和数不清的星星，只看着前面海狸先生那短小的腿在雪地里啪哒啪哒地走，仿佛永远也停不下来似的。接着月亮不见了，雪又开始下了。最后露茜累得几乎是边走边睡了。突然，她发现海狸先生离开河岸往右走，领着他们奋力爬上陡峭的山坡，走进密集的灌木丛中。等到她完全清醒过来，她发现海狸先生钻进山坡上的一个小洞里，那个洞几乎完全被灌木丛遮住，一直走到洞口才看得见。事实上等她明白是怎么回事，已经只看得见它那扁扁的短尾巴了。

露茜赶紧弯下腰跟着它爬了进去。接着她听到身后急急忙忙爬行的声音和喘气声，不一会儿，他们五个都进了洞。

“这到底是哪儿呀？”彼得说，黑暗中他的声音听上去又疲倦又乏力。（我希望你们知道我说的声音乏力是什么意思。）

“这是海狸遇难时一个老的藏身处，”海狸先生说，“是一大秘密。地方虽不怎么样，不过我们一定得睡上几小时。”

“要不是你们动身时都那么手忙脚乱，我本来可以带几个枕头来的。”海狸太太说。

这儿跟图姆纳斯先生的石窟可相差太远了，露茜想着——只是一个洞，不过洞里还算干燥，而且是泥土地。洞非常小，因此当他们全都躺下时，就成了一大堆皮毛和衣服。这样躺着，再加上他们长途跋涉身上也暖和了，他们果真觉得相当舒服。要是这洞里的地稍微平整一点就更好了。随后海狸太太在黑暗中传过来一个小小的长颈瓶子，每个人都就着瓶子喝了一口——喝了这东西叫人直呛，嗓子眼火辣辣的，不过咽下肚去以后倒使人感到暖和得舒心——大家立刻就睡着了。

露茜觉得似乎只过了片刻（虽然实际上已是好几小时以后了），她一觉醒来感到身子有点冷，而且僵硬得可怕，心想能洗个热水澡该有多好。随后她就觉得有一束长胡子撩在脸蛋上怪痒痒的，又看到洞口有冰凉的阳光照进来。这一来她当然立刻完全清醒了，而且大家也都醒了。事实上他们全都坐了起来，眼睛嘴巴都张得大大的，倾听着他们昨晚走路时一直想着的声音（有时他们还想像着听到了呢）。那就是铃铛的声音。

海狸先生一听见声音顿时就钻出洞去。也许你会像露茜当时所想的那样，觉得它这么做是犯傻了。其实这么做倒是很聪明的。它知道自己能躲在山坡顶上的灌木丛中不让人看见；最主要的是它想看看女巫的雪橇往哪条路走。其他几个都坐在山洞里等着，满腹疑虑。他们大概等了五分钟。接着听见了什么动静，吓得他们要命。他们听见了说话声。“哦，”露茜想，“它被发现了。她逮住它了！”

出乎意外的是，过了一会儿，他们竟听见海狸先生的声音在洞口叫他们了。

“没事儿，”它大声叫道，“出来吧，海狸太太。出来吧，亚当和夏娃的儿女们。没事儿，原来它不是她！”这句话当然有点不通，不过海狸激动起来就是那么说话的；我是说在纳尼亚——在我们的世界里海狸通常是根本不说话的。

于是海狸太太和孩子们就匆匆忙忙走出洞来，大家在阳光下直眨眼睛，身上全是土，看上去脏兮兮的，又没梳洗过，个个都睡眼惺忪。

“来吧！”海狸先生叫道，它高兴得几乎要跳舞了，“来看哪，这对女巫是个沉重的打击！看来她的权力已经完蛋了。”

“你到底什么意思，海狸先生？”他们大家一齐爬上了陡峭的山坡时，彼得喘着气问。

“我不是告诉过你们吗？”海狸先生回答说，“她把这儿变得一年到头都是冬天，而且从来不过圣诞节。我不是告诉过你们吗？好吧，你们来看哪！”

于是他们全都站在山坡顶上，放眼望去。

只见一辆雪橇，有几只驯鹿，挽具上挂着铃铛。不过这些驯鹿比女巫的驯鹿大多了，它们也不是白鹿，而是棕色的鹿。雪橇上坐着一个人，大家一见这人就认识了。他个头高大，身穿一件鲜红的袍子（像冬青果那么红），戴一顶里面有皮毛的风帽，一部白色的大胡子像满是泡沫的水帘子垂在胸前。人人都认识他，尽管只是在纳尼亚才见到他这种人，但甚至在我们的世界里——就是在衣柜门这一边的世界里——我们也见过他们的画像，听人谈起过他们。不过一旦你在纳尼亚真正看到他们，这就不大一样了。在我们的世界里，有些圣诞老人的画片把他画得只是外貌有趣、逗人而已。不过现在孩子们真正站在他面前瞧着他，就觉得并不完全是这样。他是那么魁梧，那么高兴，那么真实，他们全都静了下来。他们感到非常高兴，但也非常严肃。

“我终于来了，”他说，“她把我赶走多年了，但我终于进来了。阿斯兰在行动，女巫的魔法在减弱。”

露茜只觉得浑身上下快活得颤抖起来，这种感觉只有在你心情庄严而宁静时才会有。

“好了，”圣诞老人说，“给你们礼物吧。海狸太太，给你一台更好的新缝纫机，我路过你们家时会把缝纫机送去的。”

“请别见怪，先生，”海狸太太说着行了个屈膝礼，“房子锁上了。”

“锁和门闩对我没什么关系。”圣诞老人说，“至于你嘛，海狸先生，等你回到家，就会看到你的堤坝完工了，修好了，所有裂缝都不漏了，还配上了一道新的水闸门。”

海狸先生高兴得嘴巴张得老大，什么话也说不出来。

“彼得，亚当的儿子。”圣诞老人说。

“在，先生。”彼得说。

“这些是你的礼物，”圣诞老人说，“是工具，而不是玩具。用上这些东西的时候也许就快到了，好好带着吧。”说着他递给彼得一把剑和一面盾。盾是银色的，当中有一只扑腾的红狮，就像刚摘下的熟草莓那么红。剑柄是金铸的，还配有剑鞘和佩剑用的腰带，以及一切用剑必备的东西，而且剑的尺寸和重量对彼得也正合适。彼得接过这些礼物时默默无言，态度严肃，因为他觉得这是一份十分庄严的礼物。

“苏珊，夏娃的女儿，”圣诞老人说，“这些是给你的。”他递给她一张弓、一只装满箭的箭袋和一只小小的象牙号角。“你必须在紧急时才能使用这弓箭，”他说，“因为我无意让你去打仗。这弓箭百发百中。一旦你拿起这只号角，吹响了，不管你在哪儿，我想你都会得到帮助。”

最后他才说，“露茜，夏娃的女儿。”露茜走上前去。他给她一只小瓶子，看上去好像是玻璃的（不过事后人们说那瓶子是钻石做的），和一把小匕首。“在这个瓶子里，”他说，“有一种妙药，是用长在太阳之山上的一种火花的汁提炼的。如果你或是你哪个朋友受了伤，洒上几滴就能治好。这把匕首是给你在紧急时自卫的。因为你也用不着打仗。”

“怎么，先生，”露茜说，“我想——我不知道——不过我想，我会够勇敢的。”

“不是那个意思，”他说，“让女人打仗是丑陋的。现在呢，”——说到这儿他突然看上去不那么严肃了——“还有一些东西是眼下给你们大家的！”他拿出（我猜是从他背上那只大口袋里拿出来的，不过没人看见他怎么拿的）一只大托盘，上面有五套杯碟，一钵方糖，一罐奶油，一只嘶嘶直响的滚烫大茶壶。接着他叫道：“圣诞快乐！真命国王万岁！”说着一扬鞭子，他们还没看清他已经动身了，他就驾着驯鹿拉的雪橇走得没影了。

彼得刚从剑鞘里抽出剑给海狸先生看，海狸太太就说：“好了，好了，别站在那儿说话，说得茶凉了。像个男人的样子。来帮帮忙把托盘搬下去，我们就要吃早餐了。幸亏我想到把面包刀带来了。”

于是他们走下陡峭的山坡，回到洞里，海狸先生切了点面包和火腿，做成夹肉面包，海狸太太斟茶，大家吃得津津有味。不过没等他们好好享用多久，海狸先生就说，“现在是行动的时候了。”

11

阿斯兰快到了

爱德蒙在这段时间里却过得大失所望。小矮人去准备雪橇时，他本来希望女巫会好好款待他，就像他们上次见面时那样。谁知她什么也没说。最后当爱德蒙鼓起勇气说，“请别见怪，陛下，能给我一些土耳其软糖吗？你——你——说——”她回答说，“安静，笨蛋！”后来她又像改变主意了，仿佛自言自语地说，“让这个小崽子昏倒在路上总是不行的。”说着她又一次拍拍手，又来了一个小矮人。

“给这个人拿点吃喝的东西来。”她说。

小矮人走开了，不一会儿就拿来一只铁碗，里面盛了点水，还有一只铁盘子，上面放了一大块干面包。他把东西放在爱德蒙身边的地板上，还咧嘴一笑，那副神情实在令人厌恶，他说：

“小王子的土耳其软糖来了。哈！哈！哈！”

“把它拿走，”爱德蒙生气地说，“我不要吃干面包。”不料女巫突然向他扑来，脸上的神情那么可怕，他只好赔个不是，一点点啃起那块面包来，可是面包太干，他简直咽不下去。

“在你再吃到面包之前，有这个吃你该高兴。”女巫说。

他还在那儿咬啊嚼啊，第一个小矮人已回来报告雪橇准备好了。白女巫站起来就走，同时命令爱德蒙跟她一块儿去。他们走到院子里时，雪又下起来了，但她对此并不在意，还叫爱德蒙到雪橇上坐在她身边。临出发前她又招呼芬瑞斯·乌尔夫，它就像条大狗似的跳到雪橇旁边。

“你带上跑得最快的狼，马上到海狸家里去。”女巫说，“你们在那儿不管找到什么，统统都杀掉。如果他们已经走了，那就全速赶到石桌去，但别给人看见。你们躲在那儿等着我。我得向西走好多英里，才找得到一个能驾雪橇过河的地方。你可以趁那些人没到达石桌前先赶上他们。要是找到了他们，你总知道该怎么干！”

“遵命，女王。”那只狼吼道，说着立刻飞奔到黑暗的雪地里，就像骏马腾空那么快。转眼工夫它又叫来一只狼，一起奔向堤坝，在海狸夫妇的房子里四处嗅闻。不过房子当然是空的。要是那天晚上天气一直很好，对海狸夫妇和孩子们倒是祸害了，因为狼会跟踪他们的足迹——十之八九在他们进洞以前就会赶上他们。但这会儿又开始下雪了，气味也淡了，连脚印也都给淹没了。

同时小矮人赶着驯鹿，跟女巫和爱德蒙出了拱门，然后一路向黑暗的冰天雪地里驶去。对爱德蒙来说这可真是一次可怕的旅程，因为他没有大衣。他们走了还不到一刻钟，他面前就积满了雪——一会儿他就不再掸雪花了，因为尽管他掸得快，刚掸掉就又积起一堆来，而且他很累。不一会儿他就浑身湿透了。哦，他多惨啊。目前看来女巫并不打算给他当国王了！他为了让自己相信她是好人，善心人，她这一边才是真正正义的一边，而对自己说过的种种话，如今听起来都是些蠢话了。他愿意放弃一切，这会儿就去找大家——甚至彼得！如今惟一能安慰他自己的办法就是尽量相信这整个事件是场梦，他随时会醒过来。他们走啊走啊，过了一个小时又一个小时，似乎真成为一场梦了。

这一路上花的时间长得很，哪怕我再写上多少页也写不完。不过我就跳过这一段，先说说这时雪停了，天亮了，他们在阳光下飞驶着。他们还在继续赶路，除了雪地上不断的嗖嗖声，驯鹿挽具的嘎吱声，什么声音也没有。最后，女巫终于说：“我们看看这儿有什么？停下！”他们这才停下了。

爱德蒙多么希望她开口说说吃早饭的事！可是她停下来的理由却完全不同。离雪橇不远的一棵树下坐着快快乐乐的一伙：松鼠夫妇和孩子，还有两个森林神，一个小矮人，一只老雄狐，全都围着桌子坐在矮凳上。爱德蒙看不清他们在吃什么，不过味道闻起来真香，而且似乎还用了冬青做装饰，他简直不敢相信自己看见了葡萄干布丁之类的东西。雪橇停下时，那只狐狸，显然是在场年纪最老的，刚刚站起身来，右爪举起一只杯子，似乎要说些什么。但等这一伙看到雪橇停下，是谁乘在上头时，大家脸上的欢乐神情就全部消失了。松鼠爸爸的叉子举到嘴边，半途就停下不吃了。还有一个森林神嘴里含着叉子就停下了，松鼠娃娃都吓得吱吱叫。

“这是什么意思？”巫婆女王问道。没人回答。

“说呀，坏蛋，”她又说，“难道你们想要我的小矮人用鞭子叫你们开口吗？你们大吃大喝，铺张浪费，纵情欢乐，是什么意思？这一切东西你们究竟从哪儿弄来的？”

“你别见怪，陛下，”狐狸说，“这些都是给我们的。请恕我冒昧，让我为陛下的健康干杯——”

“这些东西是谁给你们的？”女巫问。

“圣诞老——老——老人。”狐狸结结巴巴地说。

“什么？”女巫吼道，从雪橇上一跃而起，向那些受惊的动物走近几大步。“他没到这儿来过，他决不会到这儿来！你们竟敢——可是不。说你们是在说谎，那么就可以宽恕 你们。”

这时一只小松鼠竟然完全昏了头。

“他来过了——他来过了——他来过了！”它一面吱吱叫着，一面用小匙敲桌子。

爱德蒙看见女巫咬咬嘴唇，雪白的脸蛋上沁出一滴血。接着她举起了魔杖。

“哦，别，别，请不要。”爱德蒙叫道，但就在他大声喊叫时，她已经挥动了魔杖，刚才一群动物欢宴的地方，立刻出现了一个个动物的石像（其中一只就永远举着石叉凝固在离嘴一半的地方），围坐在一张石桌前，桌上是石盘和石头的葡萄干布丁。

“至于你，”女巫说，重新坐上雪橇时给了他一下耳光，打得他昏头昏脑，“这就是你替奸细和叛徒求情的教训。上路！”在这个故事中爱德蒙还是第一次为别人感到难过呢。想到那些小小的石像就此坐在那儿度过寂静的白天、黑暗的夜晚，日复一日，年复一年，直到身上长满苔藓，最后甚至脸部也会分解，这似乎太可怜了。

这会儿他们又稳稳地飞驶向前。不久爱德蒙就注意到他们冲过去时溅起的雪比昨晚湿多了。同时他也注意到自己已经不大觉得冷了。天变得雾蒙蒙的。事实上，雾气越来越浓，天也越来越暖和。雪橇也远远没有原来行驶得那么快了。开头，他以为这是因为拉雪橇的驯鹿累了，但不久他就看出这不是真正的原因。雪橇猛地一动，朝边上滑去，还不断颠簸，就像撞上了石头。尽管小矮人鞭打可怜的驯鹿，雪橇还是越来越慢。他们周围似乎还有种怪异的声音，但雪橇行驶和颠簸的声音，加上小矮人吆喝驯鹿的声音，响得爱德蒙没法听清楚，直到后来雪橇突然困住了，寸步不能动弹。

出了这事以后，一时四下寂静。爱德蒙总算能好好听一听那声音了。原来那是一种又奇特又可爱的沙沙声、潺潺声——但毕竟也不算太奇特，因为他知道自己以前听见过这种声音——要是他想得起在哪儿听见的就好了！接着他突然想起来了。那是流水声。虽然看不见，但就在他们周围，那是小溪潺潺欢唱，水流淙淙，噗噗冒泡，水花四溅，甚至（远处）激流咆哮。等他明白严冬已过，他心头也猛地一跳（虽然他压根不知道为什么）。离他们更近的树的枝干上都在滴滴答答地滴水。随后，当他看着一棵树时，他看见一大块积雪从树上滑落下来，这是他进入纳尼亚以来第一次看见一棵冷杉树的深绿色。但他没时间多听多看，因为女巫说话了。

“别坐在那儿干瞪眼，笨蛋！出来帮个忙。”

爱德蒙当然只好服从。他踩到雪地里——不过目前这儿都是成雪水了——开始帮小矮人把雪橇从陷进去的泥潭里拉出来。他们终于把雪橇拉了出来，小矮人对驯鹿十分凶狠，雪橇总算又动了，他们又走了一小段路。这会儿雪真的完全融化了，四面八方都出现了一小块一小块的绿草地。除非你也像爱德蒙那样长时间看着一片冰雪世界，否则很难想像看了无穷无尽的白雪之后，看到那一片片绿地，心情有多么欣慰。此时雪橇又停下了。

“不行啊，陛下，”小矮人说，“我们在融雪中没法驾雪橇。”

“那我们就得走。”女巫说。

“走着去我们永远也赶不上他们，”小矮人咕哝道，“他们先走一步。”

“你是我的顾问还是我的奴隶啊！”女巫说，“照我说的办。把这个人的手绑在身后，拉住绳子一头。再带上你的鞭子。把驯鹿的挽具割断，它们自己会找到路回家。”

小矮人服从命令，不一会儿爱德蒙就被反绑着双手，被迫尽快赶路。他不断滑倒在雪水中、泥浆里和湿草地上，每次他一滑倒，小矮人就骂他，有时还给他一鞭子。女巫走在小矮人后面，嘴里不停地说：“快点！快点！”

块块绿地随时随刻都在变大，块块雪地都在缩小。随时随刻都有更多的树木脱下雪袍。不久，你无论朝哪儿看，白色都不见了，只见深绿的冷杉树，光秃秃的橡树那黑色多刺的树枝，以及山毛榉和榆树。接着薄雾由白色转为金色，一会儿就完全消失了。道道美妙的阳光射向森林的地面，从头上的树杈之间可以看到一片蓝天。

不久发生了更奇妙的事情。他们突然绕过一个拐角，来到一片银白色的白桦树林中的空地，爱德蒙看见空地上四面八方都开满了黄色的小花——白苣菜。水声更响了。不一会儿他们果真穿过了一条小河。他们还发现河边长出了雪莲花。

“少管闲事！”小矮人说，他看见爱德蒙扭头看花，就恶毒地用力拉拉绳子。

不过这当然阻止不了爱德蒙观看。只过了五分钟他就注意到一棵老树脚下长着十几朵藏红花——有金色的、紫色的和白色的。接着又传来了一种比水声更美妙的声音。在他们走的那条小路附近，一只鸟突然在树枝上吱吱叫了起来。不远处另一只鸟儿喳喳叫着回答。此后，仿佛听到信号似的，四面八方都唧唧喳喳叫个不停。一时间满耳都是鸟鸣声。不到五分钟，鸟的音乐响彻了整个树林，爱德蒙不论往哪儿看，都看得见一只只鸟儿或落在树枝上，或在空中飞翔，或喧闹不休。

“快点！快点！”女巫说。

这会儿雾已经消失得无影无踪，天空变得越来越蓝，不时还有几片白云匆匆掠过。宽阔的林间空地上开着朵朵樱草花。一阵微风吹过，摇曳的树枝上露珠纷纷洒落，拂来清凉、美妙的香味。树木都开始活过来了。落叶松和白桦树披上了绿装，金链花金光灿灿。不久山毛榉就长出了娇嫩、透明的叶子。行人在树下走过，光线也变成绿色的了。一只蜜蜂嗡嗡叫着穿过他们走的那条小径。

“这不是融雪，”小矮人说着突然停下，“这是春天。我们怎么办？说真的，你的冬天已经给赶跑了。这是阿斯兰干的。”

“如果你们有谁再提起那个名字，”女巫说，“就叫他立刻送命。”

12

彼得初战告捷

小矮人和女巫正在说这些话时，好几英里之外的海狸和孩子们正在走啊走的，恍如进入一个美妙的梦境。他们早就把大衣扔下了。如今他们相互间不再说什么“瞧，有只翠鸟！”或“嗨，风信子！”也不再说“那股可爱的香味是什么？”或“听听那只画眉！”他们默默走着，深深陶醉其中，从暖和的太阳地里走进阴凉、碧绿的灌木丛中，又走到宽阔、长满苔藓的林间空地，空地上高高的榆树当头搭起枝叶茂密的绿荫，然后他们又走进密密麻麻一大片开着花的红醋栗中，走到山楂丛中，那儿的香味几乎能醉倒人。

他们眼看冬天消失，整个森林在几小时内就从一月到了五月，也跟爱德蒙一样感到惊奇。他们甚至没有像女巫那样肯定这是阿斯兰到了纳尼亚才会出现的事，但他们都知道是女巫的咒语变出了没完没了的冬天；因此他们全知道这个不可思议的春天一开始，女巫的阴谋诡计就失败了，而且大大失败了。融雪持续了一段时间，他们大家都明白女巫再也不能用雪橇了。此后他们就不再匆匆忙忙赶路，也容许自己多休息几回，休息时间更长一些。他们眼下当然很疲劳；但不是那种所谓筋疲力尽——只是没精打采，觉得恍恍惚惚的，而且心里很平静，就像在户外待了漫长一天，终于到头时的感觉。苏珊一只脚后跟磨起了一个小水泡。

他们早就离开了那条大河的河道，因为必需稍稍往右转（就是说稍稍向南）才能到达石桌那儿。即使这条路不是他们该走的路，一旦融雪开始，他们也不能老沿着河谷走，因为有了那么多融雪，河里很快就发大水了——一股来势惊人、咆哮轰鸣的黄浊洪水——他们走的小路就会淹在水里了。

这会儿太阳快下山了，天色更红，影子也拉长了，花儿也开始要收拢了。

“现在不远了。”海狸先生说着开始带领他们上山，穿过一段深深的、松软的青苔（他们疲劳的双脚踩在上面倒觉得很舒服），那地方只稀稀拉拉长着一些高大的树木。在漫长的白天结束时爬山，大家都喘不过气来。露茜心里正在想，不好好休息一阵子，自己能不能爬上山顶；但突然间，他们就到山顶上了。

他们站在一片绿油油的空地上，在那儿你可以俯瞰森林，除了正前方，目光所及都是绵延不绝的森林。东边远处，有什么东西闪闪发亮，还在晃动。“天哪！”彼得悄声对苏珊说，“大海！”山顶这块空地的正中就是石桌。那是一块很大的灰色石板，下面撑着四块笔直的石头。石桌看上去年代悠久，上面刻满了奇怪的线条和符号，可能是一种无名语言的字母吧。你看着这些符号，一种好奇的感觉就会油然而生。他们看到的第二件东西是空地一边搭起的一个帐篷，那是一个奇妙的帐篷——尤其是这会儿落日的余晖正照在帐篷上——帐篷面子看上去像杏黄缎子，深红的绳索，象牙色的帐篷桩；帐篷的支柱上，高高挂着一面绣着一只腾跃的红色狮子的旗子，正迎风飘扬，这阵从远处海面吹来的微风也轻拂着他们的脸。他们正看着这帐篷，只听见右面传来一阵音乐，便不由向那边转过身去，这才看见了他们特地来看的东西。

阿斯兰站在一群生物中间，它们围着它形成一个半月形。有树精和水精（在我们的世界里称为森林女神和水仙女），她们都有弦乐器；音乐就是她们演奏的。有四匹巨大的人头马，身体像英国饲养场里的骏马，头部像严厉而俊美的巨人。还有一只独角兽，一头人头牛，一只鹈鹕，一只鹰和一条大狗。阿斯兰身边站着两头豹，一头拿着它的王冠，另一头举着它的旗帜。

说到阿斯兰，海狸夫妇和孩子们都不知道看见它时该怎么办、怎么说。没有到过纳尼亚的人往往认为决不会有好人让人见了害怕的。如果孩子们以前这么认为，眼下他们已经纠正了这种想法。因为当他们想看看阿斯兰的脸时，只看了一眼金色的鬃毛和那双威武、高贵、庄严、慑人的眼睛，他们就觉得自己不能正眼看它了，大家都不禁在发抖。

“去吧。”海狸先生悄声说。

“不，”彼得悄声说，“你先走。”

“不，亚当的儿子走在动物前面。”海狸先生又悄悄回了他一句。

“苏珊，”彼得悄声说，“你怎么样？女士先走嘛。”

“不，你年龄最大。”苏珊悄声说。当然他们这样拖得越长，就越感到尴尬。后来彼得才终于明白这事全靠他了。他抽出剑来，举剑致敬，匆匆对其他几个人说：“快来吧，你们定下神来。”他向狮王走去，说道：

“我们来了——阿斯兰。”

“欢迎，彼得，亚当的儿子，”阿斯兰说，“欢迎，苏珊和露茜，夏娃的女儿。欢迎，公海狸和母海狸。”

它的声音深沉、圆润，不知怎么竟消除了他们的不安。他们如今只觉得又高兴又平静，站在那儿不说话也不觉得尴尬了。

“可是第四个在哪儿呢？”阿斯兰问。

“他想要出卖他们，投靠白女巫，哦，阿斯兰。”海狸先生说。于是彼得只好说：

“这事多少得怪我，阿斯兰。我对他发脾气，我想那反而促使他变坏了。”

阿斯兰不吭声，既没说原谅彼得，也没责怪他，只是站在那儿，金色的大眼睛直望着他。大伙觉得似乎没什么可说的了。

“请问——阿斯兰，”露茜说，“有什么办法救救爱德蒙吗？”

“要想尽办法，”阿斯兰说，“不过这事可能比你们想像的更困难。”接着它又沉默了一会。直到那一刻，露茜还始终认为它的脸看上去多么高贵、刚毅、宁静；如今她突然发觉它看上去也很忧伤。不过这种神情一会儿就过去了。狮王摇摇鬃毛，两只爪子一拍，（露茜想，“要是它不知道刚中带柔，这对爪子可吓人呢。”）开口说道：

“现在准备好宴席，女士们，把夏娃的女儿带到帐篷里去，照顾好她们。”

女孩子走了以后，阿斯兰伸出一只爪子搁在彼得肩膀上——虽然动作轻柔，却十分有力——说道，“来吧，亚当的儿子，我将指给你看你将来当国王的那座城堡的远景。”

彼得仍然一手握剑，跟着狮王一起来到山顶的东边。一幅美景出现在他们眼前。太阳已经落在他们背后。他们下面的整个国土都笼罩在暮色中——森林和小山，山谷，以及像条银蛇般蜿蜒流过的大河的下游。那边几英里以外是大海，大海以外是天空，落日映照下满是玫瑰色的云层。但就在纳尼亚国土近海的地方——其实就是那条大河的入海口——有什么东西屹立在一座小山上闪闪发光。因为这是一座城堡，朝彼得这边的窗户当然都映出落日的余晖；不过彼得觉得城堡就像海岸上的一颗大星星。

“男子汉啊，”阿斯兰说，“那就是有四个宝座的凯尔帕拉维尔，你必须以国王的身份坐上其中一个宝座。我指给你看是因为你是老大，你要当个地位高于其他人的至尊王。”

彼得又一次什么也没说，因为这时一种奇怪的声音突然打破了这片沉默。像一只军号，不过声音更圆润。

“这是你妹妹的号角，”阿斯兰低声对彼得说，如果说狮子咕噜咕噜叫不算大不敬的话，那么这声音低得简直就是咕噜咕噜的。

彼得一时不明白。后来，他看见所有的生物都拥上前来，只听得阿斯兰挥挥爪子说：“退下！让王子立个头功吧。”他才明白，于是他飞快地奔向帐篷。在那儿，他看见了一幕可怕的情景。

水仙女和森林女神正四下奔逃。露茜脸色苍白，撒开两条短腿朝他跑来。接着他看见苏珊向一棵树冲去，纵身爬上了树，后面有一头灰色的巨兽在追她。开头彼得以为那是一只熊。后来他看出这头野兽很像一条德国狼狗，然而又比狗大多了。后来他才想到这是一匹狼——一匹狼后腿站着，前爪扑在树干上又咬又吼，背上的毛根根竖起。苏珊只攀上第二根大树枝，再也没法爬高。她一条腿吊在下面，这只脚离开乱咬的狼牙只有一两英寸。彼得不知道她为什么不爬得高一点，至少也要抓牢些嘛；后来他才明白她快晕过去了，如果她晕过去，那就会摔下来。

彼得并不觉得自己十分勇敢；说真的，他感到自己快要呕吐了。不过这并不影响他的使命。他笔直冲向那头猛兽，瞄准它肋间猛刺一剑。这一下子并没刺中那匹狼。它闪电般转过身来，眼睛凶焰灼人，嘴巴张得老大，狂嚎一阵。要不是它怒气冲冲，非得嚎叫一通才痛快，它就会立刻咬住彼得的喉咙了。事实上——尽管这一切都太快，彼得根本来不及想——他只来得及弯下身子，使尽浑身力气，把剑刺进那猛兽前腿之间，刺中了心脏。接下来一段工夫又可怕又混乱，就像恶梦中的情景。他用力拖啊，拉啊，那匹狼既不像死了，也不像活着，露出一口利牙磕在他的额头上，一切都沾满了血、热气和皮毛。又过了一会，他才发现那头巨兽已经倒地死去。他拔出剑，挺直腰板，擦去满头满脸的汗。他觉得累坏了。

过了一会儿，苏珊才从树上下来。她见到彼得时两人都觉得有点摇摇晃晃。不用说，双方见了不免又是亲吻又是哭泣。不过在纳尼亚，没人会为这事而把你往坏处想的。

“快！快！”只听得阿斯兰的声音在大声喊叫，“人头马！雄鹰！我看见灌木丛中还有一匹狼。瞧——在你们后面！它要到它的女主人那儿去了。现在正是你们找到女巫和救出第四个亚当的儿子的好机会。”话音刚落，顿时响起一阵雷鸣般的马蹄声和翅膀扑棱声，约有十几只动作最迅速的动物消失在暮色中。

彼得还没喘过气来，转过身，看见阿斯兰就在他身边。

“你忘了把剑擦干净。”阿斯兰说。

这话不错，彼得看到那把光亮的剑已经被狼的毛和血弄污了，不由涨红了脸。他弯下腰，在草地上把剑擦干净，再在自己衣服上把剑擦干。

“把剑递给我，跪下，亚当的儿子。”阿斯兰说。彼得遵命跪下以后，它用剑的平面拍了他一下，说道，“起来吧，彼得·芬瑞斯－贝恩阁下。不管出了什么事，永远别忘记擦干净你的剑。”

13

远古时代的高深魔法

现在我们得回头交代爱德蒙的事了。他被迫走啊走的，走了老远老远，就他所知，谁也走不了比这更远的路，女巫这才终于在一个覆盖着冷杉和紫杉的暗谷里停了下来。爱德蒙什么也不干，只是扑倒在地上，如果他们就让他一动不动地躺着，他连下面会出什么事都不在乎。他太累了，连自己多饿多渴也顾不上了。女巫和小矮人就在他身边低声说着话。

“不，”小矮人说，“现在没用了，女王啊。他们这会儿一定已经赶到石桌了。”

“也许狼会闻到我们的行踪，给我们送信来。”女巫说。“如果来，也不见得是好消息。”小矮人说。

“凯尔帕拉维尔有四个宝座，”女巫说，“如果只有三个有人坐呢？那预言就实现不了。”

“既然它在这儿，那又有什么关系呢？”小矮人说。即使事到如今，他仍然不敢在女主人面前提阿斯兰的名字。

“也许它待不长。那时——我们就可以抓到凯尔的那三个。”

“话说回来，还是留着这一个”——小矮人说到这儿踢了爱德蒙一下——“做交易的好。”

“是啊！饶他一条活命。”女巫不屑一顾地说。

“那么，”小矮人说，“我们最好马上就干我们该干的事。”

“我宁愿在石桌那儿干，”女巫说，“那是最合适的地方。以前干这种事总在那儿。”

“要过很长一段时间石桌才能再派上原有的用场呢。”小矮人说。

“不错，”女巫说，接着又说，“好吧，我就要开始了。”

正在这时，一匹狼急匆匆咆哮着冲到他们面前。

“我看见他们了。他们全在石桌那儿，跟它在一起。他们把我的队长芬瑞斯·乌尔夫杀了。我躲在灌木丛里全看见了。是一个亚当的儿子杀了它。快逃！快逃！”

“不，”女巫说，“不必逃。你快去，召集所有人马尽快赶到这儿来跟我会合。动员巨人、狼人，还有站在我们这一边的树精。动员食尸鬼、妖怪、吃人魔鬼、牛头怪。动员冷面怪、巫婆、幽灵，以及毒菌怪。我们要战斗。什么？我不是还有魔杖吗？即使他们来了，不也会变成石头吗？快走吧，趁你走的这段时间，我还有点小事要完成呢。”

那头巨兽鞠个躬，转过身就一溜烟走了。

“好了！”她说，“我们没桌子——让我想想。我们最好把他绑在树干上。”

爱德蒙只觉得自己被粗暴地拉了起来。接着小矮人让他背靠着一棵树，把他紧紧绑上。他看见女巫脱下了外面的披风，露出里面两条光胳膊，白得吓人。因为胳膊那么白，在漆黑的树下，这个山谷里又那么黑，他没法看见另外的东西。

“把祭品准备好。”女巫说。小矮人解开爱德蒙的领子，把领口往里折，露出脖子。随后他抓着爱德蒙的头发，把头往后拉，使他只好抬起下巴。此后爱德蒙听见一种怪声：飕——飕——飕——他一时想不出这是什么声音。后来才明白，那原来是磨刀声！

就在这个时候，他听见四面八方喊声震天响——一阵阵蹄声，一阵阵翅膀扑棱声——女巫一声尖叫——周围一片混乱。于是他发现被松了绑。好几条有力的胳膊扶着他，只听见几个和气的大嗓门在说，“让他躺下——给他点酒——喝了这个——沉住气——你一会儿就没事了。”

接着他又听见好多声音，它们不是在对他说话，是相互间在说话。它们说什么“谁抓到女巫了？”——“我以为你抓到她了呢。”——“我把她手里的刀打下了就没见到了。”——“我在追小矮人。”——“你意思是说她逃走了吗？”——“一个人不能面面俱到啊。”——“那是什么？哦，可惜，那只是一截老树桩！”不过听到这儿，爱德蒙就晕了过去，什么也不知道了。

不久，那些人头马、独角兽、鹿和鸟（它们当然是上一章里说的阿斯兰派出去的救兵）就带着爱德蒙一起出发回石桌那儿去。不过它们如果能看见它们走后山谷里发生的事，我想它们准会大吃一惊的。

山谷里一片寂静，不久月光更明亮了，如果你在场，就会看到月亮照在一截老树桩和一块不大不小的鹅卵石上。但如果你继续观察，就会逐渐想到这树桩和石头有点怪。下一步你会觉得那个树桩其实很像一个小胖子趴在地上。如果你观察的时间够长的话，就会看见那个树桩走到石头身边，石头坐起来，开始跟树桩讲话；因为事实上树桩和石头就是女巫和小矮人。变形术，这就是女巫魔法中的一项伎俩，就在她的刀被打下来那一刹那，她就不慌不忙地施出了这一招。她一直是魔杖不离手，因此魔杖也还是好好的。

第二天早上，另外那三个孩子醒来以后（他们就睡在帐篷里一堆堆垫子上），首先就听到海狸太太对他们说：他们的兄弟已经得救，昨天深夜已经带回营地，这会儿正在阿斯兰那儿。他们刚吃完早饭就一起上外面去，只见阿斯兰和爱德蒙撇开在场的其他人，在挂满露珠的草地上一起散步。不用告诉你阿斯兰说了些什么（也没人听说过），不过这次谈话是爱德蒙终身难忘的。三个孩子走近时，阿斯兰带着爱德蒙一起转身来见他们。

“你们的兄弟来了，”它说，“过去的事就不必再跟他提了。”

爱德蒙跟大家一一握手，挨个儿说了声“对不起”，大家都回了声“没关系”。随后，大家都想说点什么能表明他们大家跟他重新友好的话——说点寻常而自然的话——当然谁也想不出说什么才好。不过他们还没来得及感到尴尬，一头豹就来到阿斯兰跟前说：

“陛下，敌方来了一个信使请求晋见。”

“让他进来。”阿斯兰说。

豹子走开了，不一会就领着女巫的小矮人回来。

“你带来什么口信，大地的儿子？”阿斯兰问。

“纳尼亚女王兼孤独群岛女皇陛下要求给予安全保证，前来跟你会谈，”小矮人说，“商谈双方互利的事项。”

“纳尼亚女王，岂有此理！”海狸先生说，“竟有这样的厚脸皮——”

“安静，海狸，”阿斯兰说，“恶有恶名，善有善名，不久个个都将正名。现在我们也不要争吵。告诉你的女主人，我，大地的儿子，保证她的安全，条件是她得将魔杖留在那棵大橡树下。”

小矮人同意了这一点，两头豹跟小矮人一起回去监视对方是否履行条件。“但假如她把两头豹变成石头可怎么办呢？”露茜悄声对彼得说。我认为豹子自己也有同样的想法；总之，它们走去时背上的毛一根根全都竖起，尾巴也翘得笔直——像猫见到陌生的狗那样。

“没事儿，”彼得悄声回答说，“如果有事儿它就不会派它们去。”

几分钟以后，女巫本人走上小山顶，一直走过去，站在阿斯兰面前。三个孩子以前都没见过她，一看她那张脸就觉得背上一阵发毛；在场的所有动物也都低声咆哮。虽然这时阳光明媚，可每个人都突然感到一阵寒意。现场只有阿斯兰和女巫两个看来仍然从容自若。看见一张金黄色的脸和一张惨白的脸，两张脸凑得这么近，真是件天大的怪事。怪的倒不是女巫竟然正视阿斯兰的眼睛，海狸太太特别留心到这一点。

“你身边有一个叛徒，阿斯兰。”女巫说。当然在场的人都知道她指的是爱德蒙。但爱德蒙经过了这一事件，早上又谈了一次话，已经不再只考虑自己了。此刻他只是一直望着阿斯兰。女巫说什么他似乎并不在意。

“得了，”阿斯兰说，“他又不是跟你过不去。”

“难道你忘了高深魔法呢？”女巫问道。

“就算我已经忘了，”阿斯兰庄重地回答说，“给我们讲讲这高深的魔法吧。”

“讲给你听？”女巫说，她的声音突然变得更尖厉了，“讲给你听我们身边那张石桌上写了些什么？讲给你听在梣树王的树干上早就深深镌刻着什么吗？讲给你听海外皇帝的宝杖上刻着什么？至少你知道皇帝最初在纳尼亚施展的魔法吧。你知道每个叛徒都归我，当作合法的祭品，凡是有谁背叛，我都有权杀了他。”

“哦，”海狸先生说，“原来你就这样自以为是个女王——因为你是皇帝的刽子手。我懂了。”

“安静，海狸。”阿斯兰说着低低咆哮了一声。

“所以说，”女巫继续说，“那个人归我。他的生命全在我手里，他的血也归我所有。”

“那你来拿拿看吧。”人头马大声怒吼着说。

“笨蛋，”女巫凶残地笑着说，几乎是在吼叫，“你当真认为你的主人单用武力就可以抢走我的权力吗？它懂得高深魔法，决不会这么糊涂。它知道除非我依法得到血，否则纳尼亚就将在烈火洪水之中覆灭。”

“一点不错，”阿斯兰说，“我不否认这一点。”

“哦，阿斯兰！”苏珊悄悄在狮王耳边说，“我们能不能——我的意思是，行不行——我们能不能在高深魔法上想点什么办法？你有办法对付高深魔法吗？”

“对付皇帝的魔法？”阿斯兰说着脸上露出不大高兴的样子。于是再也没人向它提出那种建议了。

爱德蒙站在阿斯兰的另一边，一直望着阿斯兰的脸。他有一种透不过气来的感觉，不知道自己该不该说点什么；但过了一会儿，他觉得自己除了等待，按照人家的吩咐去做之外，什么也干不了。

“你们大家全都退下，”阿斯兰说，“我要跟女巫单独谈谈。”

大家全都遵命。这段时间可真难熬——当狮王和女巫低声诚恳会谈时，大家就等啊等的，满心疑虑。露茜说了声“哦，爱德蒙”就哭了起来。彼得背对着大家，看着远处的大海。海狸夫妇相互拉着爪子，低头站着。人头马不安地直跺脚。不过大家最后都寂静无声，静得连野蜂飞过的细微声音，或是山下林子里小鸟的动静，或是风吹树叶沙沙响的声音都能听见。阿斯兰和白女巫仍在继续会谈。

最后他们听见了阿斯兰的声音。“你们大家可以回来了，”他说，“我把这事解决了。她放弃了要你们兄弟的血的权力。”这时整个山头都有了声音，仿佛大家刚才一直屏息以待，现在才又开始呼吸了；随后就是一阵喃喃的说话声。他们都开始回到阿斯兰的宝座边来。

女巫脸上露出一股狂喜的神情，正要转过身去，却又停下来说：

“但我怎么知道你能守信呢？”

“啊呜！”阿斯兰半身离开宝座怒吼起来，只见它那张大嘴越来越大，吼声也越来越响，而女巫呢，也张大了嘴巴，盯着狮王看了一会儿以后，就拉起裙子，老老实实逃命去了。

14

女巫的胜利

女巫刚走，阿斯兰就说，“我们得马上离开这个地方，这儿要派别的用场。我们今晚得到贝鲁那浅滩去安营。”

大家当然都很想问问它，它是怎么跟女巫商定这件事的，但阿斯兰面如铁板，而且大家耳边依然回荡着它的怒吼声，因此谁也不敢开口。

在山顶露天下吃了一顿饭后（因为阳光这会儿已经很强，把草地都晒干了），他们忙了一阵子，拆掉帐篷，收拾东西。不到两点，他们就开始行程，向西北方向出发，大家从从容容地走着，因为要去的地方并不很远。

旅途中开头一段时间，阿斯兰向彼得说明它的作战计划。“女巫一旦完成她在这一带的活动，”它说，“她同那一伙几乎肯定要退回她的老窝准备一次围攻。你有可能切断她的路，不让她回到老窝，也有可能切不断。”随后它继续提出两种作战方案——一种是跟女巫及其一伙在树林里作战，另一种是袭击她的城堡。在这段时间里它一直指点彼得怎么指挥战斗，说什么“你必须把你的人头马布置在某某地方”，或者说“你必须派侦察员去看好她，不要让她怎么怎么的”，彼得最后问：

“但你自己不也在场吗，阿斯兰？”

“那我可不能保证。”狮王回答说，同时它继续给彼得指示。

到了旅途的最后一个阶段，苏珊和露茜看阿斯兰的时间最多。它不大说话，而且她们似乎觉得它有点忧伤。

天还没黑，他们到了一个地方，这儿河谷豁然开阔，河面又宽又浅。这就是贝鲁那浅滩，阿斯兰下令大家停在水的这一边。但彼得说：

“把营地驻扎在那一边岂不更好——因为就怕她会来一次夜间偷袭什么的。”

阿斯兰似乎正在想着另外的事情，只见它那身漂亮的鬃毛一抖，这才回过神来，说道，“啊，什么？”彼得又说了一遍。

“不会。”阿斯兰声音低沉地说，似乎这事没什么关系。“不会，她今夜不会发动进攻的。”接着它深深叹了口气。但一会儿它又加了一句，“想得周到还是好的，军人就应该这样考虑。不过这其实没什么关系。”于是他们就动手搭帐篷了。

那天傍晚，阿斯兰的情绪影响了大家。彼得想到要由他来打这一仗，心里觉得很不安，阿斯兰可能不在场的消息对他是一大打击。那天晚上一顿饭大家吃得鸦雀无声。大家都觉得这天晚上跟昨天晚上甚至当天早上大不一样。仿佛好时光刚刚开头，却已经快结束了。

这种感觉对苏珊也大有影响，她上床后一直睡不着。她躺在那儿数数，又不停地翻来覆去，后来只听见露茜长叹一声，在暗中翻到她身边。

“你也睡不着吗？”苏珊问。

“是啊，”露茜说，“我还以为你睡着了呢。我说，苏珊！”

“什么事？”

“我有一个最可怕的预感——好像有什么大事要临头了呢。”

“是吗？因为，事实上，我也有这种感觉。”

“事情跟阿斯兰有关，”露茜说，“不是它要出什么可怕的事，就是它要干什么可怕的事。”

“整个下午它都不大对劲，”苏珊说，“露茜！它说打仗时不跟我们在一起是什么意思？你看它今晚不会离开我们、偷偷溜走吧？”

“它现在在哪儿？”露茜说，“它在这儿帐篷里吗？”

“不见得。”

“苏珊，让我们出去，到处看看。也许看得见它。”

“好，走吧，”苏珊说，“醒着躺在这儿还不如出去看看呢。”

两个女孩悄没声儿，在其他睡着的人中摸索出一条路，偷偷出了帐篷。月光皎洁，除了河水潺潺流过石头的声音，一切都十分寂静。这时苏珊突然抓住露茜的胳膊说，“瞧！”她们看见营地的那一边，就在树林边上，狮王正慢慢离开大家，走进树林里去。她俩一句话也没说，就跟着它走去。

它领着她们爬上河谷的陡坡，然后稍微向左走去——显然这是当天下午她们从石桌山下来时走的路线。它领着她们走啊走啊，走进黑咕隆咚的阴影里，又走到苍白的月光下，走得她们的脚都被浓密的露水弄湿了。不知怎么的，它看上去和她们认识的阿斯兰不一样了。它的尾巴和脑袋都搭拉下来，慢吞吞地走着，仿佛它非常、非常累了。后来，她们在穿过一片开阔的空地时，那儿没什么阴影让她们躲蔽，它停下了，四面张望着。这时再逃走可就不好了，因此她们就朝它走去。她们走近时它说：

“哦，孩子们，孩子们，你们干吗跟着我呀？”

“我们睡不着。”露茜说。她深信自己不用多说，她们一直在想什么，阿斯兰全都知道。

“我们跟你一起去好吗——不论你上哪儿？”苏珊说。

“这个嘛——”阿斯兰说，它似乎在考虑；后来它说，“今晚我很高兴有人陪伴。好吧，如果你们答应我叫你们停下就停下，然后让我一个人去，那你们就可以跟我来。”

“哦，谢谢你，谢谢你，我们答应。”两个女孩子说。

他们又往前走了，两个女孩子分别走在狮王两侧。可是它走得多慢哪！它那庄严、高贵的脑袋低垂着，鼻子都快挨到草地了。不久它一个踉跄，发出一声低低的呻吟。

“阿斯兰！亲爱的阿斯兰！”露茜说，“怎么了？你能告诉我们吗？”

“你病了吗，亲爱的阿斯兰？”苏珊问道。

“没有，”阿斯兰说，“我感到悲伤和孤独。你们把手搁在我的鬃毛上，好让我感觉到你们在这儿，我们就这样走吧。”

于是两个女孩子照它的话做了。这可是从她们第一次看到它就想做而不经他许可永远也不敢做的事呀——她们真的把冰凉的手伸进它那一大片美丽的鬃毛里，抚摩着它，一面跟它一起走着。不一会儿她们就看出她们跟着它已经爬上了石桌山的山坡。她们爬到树林边缘那儿，等她们走到最后一棵树旁（就是周围还有几丛灌木的那棵），阿斯兰就停下说：

“哦，孩子们，孩子们，你们得在这儿停下了。不论发生什么事，可别让人家看见你们。永别了。”

于是两个女孩子都放声痛哭（虽然她们自己也不知道为什么要哭），她们搂着狮王，亲亲它的鬃毛，它的鼻子，它的爪子，以及它那庄重、悲哀的眼睛。这时它才转过身去，走向山顶。露茜和苏珊蹲在灌木丛中目送着它，以下就是她们看到的情景。

石桌周围站着好大一堆人，尽管是在月光下，仍然有好多人手里拿着火把，火把燃烧时吐出一团邪气的红焰和黑烟。可那是些什么人啊！长着怪牙的吃人恶魔、豺狼、牛头怪、恶树精和毒树精；其他动物我就不一一描写了，因为如果我再描写下去，大人可能就不让你们看这本书了——其中有冷面怪、巫婆、恶梦魔鬼、阴魂、恐怖魔鬼、小妖精、大头鬼和小头鬼等等。事实上凡是站在女巫这一边、听到狼传下女巫命令的都来了。站在中间，靠着石桌的就是女巫本人。

这些畜生起先看见伟大的狮王向它们走去时，都发出一阵阵惊慌的嚎叫，就连女巫自己一时也害怕起来。随后她就镇定了，发出一阵粗野的狂笑。

“那笨蛋！”她叫道，“那笨蛋来了。把它紧紧捆上！”

露茜和苏珊连大气也不敢出，只等阿斯兰一声怒吼，向它的敌人扑去。可是它竟没吼。四个巫婆龇牙咧嘴，斜眼看着阿斯兰，她们走近它身边时，开头也犹豫不前，对要做的事有点害怕。“我说，把它捆上！”白女巫又说了一遍。四个巫婆向它冲去，当她们发现它毫不抵抗时，才发出胜利的尖叫。随后凶恶的小矮人和猿猴们都一拥而上，前来帮助她们，它们把体形庞大的狮王掀翻在地，把它四个爪子绑在一起，叫喊欢呼，仿佛它们做了什么勇敢的事，虽然只要狮王愿意，一只爪子就可以要了它们大家的命；但它却一声不吭，甚至敌人又拉又拖，绳子拉得那么紧，都勒进肉里去了，它也不吭声。接着它们开始把它拖向石桌。

“停下，”女巫说，“先把它的毛剃了！”

一个吃人恶魔拿着一把大剪刀走上前来，蹲在阿斯兰脑袋旁边，女巫的爪牙们发出一阵恶毒的狂笑。大剪刀喀嚓喀嚓，一堆堆鬈曲的金色鬃毛纷纷掉在地上。剪完后吃人恶魔退后一步站着，两个女孩子从她们隐蔽的地方看得见阿斯兰的脸没有了鬃毛显得那么小，那么异样。敌人也看到了这一差别。

“咦，到头来，只不过是一只大猫啊！”一个爪牙叫道。

“我们过去怕的就是那东西吗？”另一个爪牙说。

它们全都拥向阿斯兰身边嘲笑它。说什么“咪咪，咪咪，可怜的猫咪”，还有“你今天抓了几只老鼠，猫儿？”又说“你要一碟牛奶吗，小猫咪？”

“哦，它们怎么能这样？”露茜说道，脸蛋上泪珠滚滚而下。“畜生！畜生！”因为此刻一开头感到的震惊过去了，她觉得阿斯兰剪掉毛的脸看上去比以前显得更勇敢、更美丽、更坚忍。

“把它的嘴套上！”女巫说。即使现在，它们在给它套嘴套的时候，它只要张嘴一咬，就会咬掉它们两三只手。但它一动也不动。这群乌合之众似乎红了眼，如今大伙儿都来欺侮它了。那些连它被绑起来以后仍然怕靠近它的，竟也鼓起勇气来。过了片刻，两个女孩子连看也看不见它了——它被整群动物密密麻麻地包围着，大家踢它，打它，向它吐唾沫，嘲笑它。

最后这伙暴徒闹够了。大家开始把五花大绑、戴着嘴套的狮王拖向石桌，推的推，拉的拉。阿斯兰那么魁梧，即使它们把它拖到石桌边，也得用尽全部力气才能把它抬到石桌面上。后来它又被紧紧捆上了很多道绳子。

“胆小鬼！胆小鬼！”苏珊呜咽着说，“事到如今，它们还在害怕它吗？”

等到阿斯兰被捆在那块平坦的石头上（而且捆得简直成了一大堆绳子），这群暴徒才静了下来。四个母夜叉拿着四支火把，站在石桌四角。女巫捋起袖子，就跟前一个晚上她对付爱德蒙时一样。接着她磨刀霍霍。在两个女孩子看来，那刀给火把光一照，似乎不是钢刀而是石刀，而且形状又古怪又可恶。

最后她走近了。她站在阿斯兰头边。她激动得脸也抽搐扭曲起来，但它却仰着脸望着天空，仍然很平静，既不生气，也不害怕，只有一点忧伤。这时，就在她要砍下去的时候，她弯下腰，用颤抖的声音说：

“现在，是谁赢了？笨蛋！你以为这样一来就救了那个人类的叛徒吗？按照我们的条约，现在我要把你杀了来代替它，这一来高深魔法才会应验。但等你死了，谁还能阻止我把他也杀了呢？而且到了那时，谁又来从我手里把他救出去呢？你要明白，你已经把纳尼亚永远给我了，你送了自己的命，还没救出他。知道了这一点也太晚了，没指望了，死吧！”

姐妹俩没看到杀头的那一时刻。她们不忍心看，都蒙住了自己的眼睛。

15

太古时代更加高深的魔法

两个女孩子还蹲在灌木丛中，双手掩面的时候，听见女巫大声叫喊：

“好了！大家都跟着我，我们要去收拾这些残兵败将了！既然这个大笨蛋，这只大猫死了，我们不久就可以打垮这些人渣和叛徒。”

这时姐妹俩有一阵倒是非常危险了，因为只听见阵阵野蛮的叫喊，尖锐的风笛声、号角声响成一片，那帮恶劣的暴徒从山顶上一哄而下，正好经过她们藏身的地方。她们只觉得幽灵像一阵阴风从身边掠过，大地在牛头怪奔驰的蹄声中颤抖了，头顶上一阵猛禽扑翅的腥风，只见黑压压一片都是兀鹰和大蝙蝠。换了别的时候，她们早就害怕得浑身发抖了，但如今阿斯兰一死，她们满脑子悲哀、羞辱和恐怖，简直没想到害怕。

树林里刚刚静下来，苏珊和露茜就爬到空旷的山顶上。月亮虽快落下，又有片片浮云遮掩，但她们仍然看得出狮王五花大绑横尸那儿的模样。她俩跪在湿漉漉的草地上，亲着它冰凉的脸，抚摸它美丽的毛——剩下来的那点毛——哭到哭不出来为止。随后她们彼此对望着，由于感到凄凉，两人手拉手又哭了起来，接着又一次沉默。最后露茜说：

“我受不了那只可怕的嘴套的样子。不知我们能不能把嘴套拿掉？”

于是她们就试试看。弄了好一阵子之后（因为她们的手指都冰凉，而且这时正是夜里最黑暗的时候），她们终于拿掉了。等她们看到它脸上没有嘴套了，她们又大哭起来，又是亲吻，又是抚摸，还尽可能把上面的鲜血和泡沫擦掉。这种凄凉、绝望、可怕的情景我真不知怎么描写才好。

“不知我们能不能把它身上的绳子也解开？”不一会儿苏珊说。但敌人出于怨恨把绳子拉得很紧很紧，两个女孩怎么也解不开这些结。

我希望本书读者没人像苏珊和露茜那天晚上那么痛苦过；不过如果你曾经有过——如果你整夜没睡，哭得再也哭不出眼泪——你就知道到头来，心境就会有一种平静。你觉得似乎再也不会出什么事了。不管怎么说，这两个女孩子当时的感觉就是这样。时间似乎就在这种麻木的平静中过去了好几个小时，她们简直没注意到自己越来越冷了。但最后露茜总算注意到两件事情。第一点，小山东面的天空比一小时前亮了一点。第二点，她脚边的草地上有些小小的动静。开头她对此毫无兴趣。这又有什么关系呢？现在什么都无所谓了。但她终于看出这不知名的东西开始爬上石桌那四条笔直的腿了。这会儿，那些东西正在阿斯兰身上爬来爬去呢。她凑近仔细看看，原来是些灰不溜秋的小东西。

“嗨！”苏珊在石桌对面说，“多讨厌！爬在它身上的是些讨厌的小老鼠。走开，你们这些小畜生。”她举起手想把它们吓跑。

“等等！”露茜仍然在近处一直看着它们，“你看不出它们在干什么吗？”

两个女孩子都弯下腰，目不转睛地盯着。

“真的，我信了！”苏珊说，“多怪啊，它们正在咬断绳子呢！”

“我也这么想，”露茜说，“我看它们是友好的老鼠。可怜的小东西——它们不知道阿斯兰死了。它们以为把绳子解开会对它有点好处。”

这会儿天亮多了，两个女孩子这才第一次注意到彼此的脸多么苍白。她们看得见那些小老鼠，几十只几十只的，甚至有成百上千只，一口口咬着，最后，那些绳子全被咬断了。

这会儿东方的天空已经发白，星星渐渐隐没——只有地平线上还有一颗很大的星星。这时她们觉得比晚上更冷了。那些小老鼠也都爬开了。

姐妹俩把咬断的绳子残屑都清除掉。没有这些绳子，阿斯兰就恢复了原来的模样。天色越来越亮，她们也更看得清，它那张没有生气的脸看上去越来越高贵了。

她们背后的林子里有只鸟儿唧喳叫了一声。因为好几个小时以来这里都是一片寂静，这声音把她们吓了一跳。接着另一只鸟儿应和了。不一会儿到处都是鸟儿在歌唱。

这会儿肯定是清晨不是深夜了。

“我真冷。”露茜说。

“我也是，”苏珊说，“我们走走吧。”

她们走到小山的东崖边往下看去。那颗大星星几乎消失了。田野看上去全是深灰色一片，不过在田野外天边的那片大海倒是一片灰白。天空开始转红了。她们在死去的阿斯兰和东面山脊之间来回走了无数次，想法取暖；啊呀，她们的腿有多累啊。于是，她们站了一会儿，眺望大海和凯尔帕拉维尔（这会儿她们才看得出城堡的轮廓），在海天相连的地平线上，红红的天色终于变成了金黄，太阳冉冉升起来了。就在这时，她们听见背后一声巨响——一声震耳欲聋的巨响，仿佛一个巨人绷裂了铠甲。

“那是什么声音？”露茜说着一把揪住苏珊的胳膊。

“我——我害怕回过头去，”苏珊说，“出了什么可怕的事了。”

“它们对它下毒手啦，”露茜说，“快来吧！”她拉着苏珊一起转过身来。

太阳一升起，这儿一切看上去就大不相同了——所有的色彩和阴影都变了——因此一时间她们并没有看出那件大事。后来她们才看见，原来那张石桌在一声巨响中从头到尾裂成两半；而阿斯兰不见了。

“哦，哦，哦！”两个女孩子哭着奔回石桌。

“哦，这太糟糕了，”露茜呜咽着说，“它们该留下尸体的。”

“这是谁干的呢？”苏珊叫道，“这是什么意思？这又是魔法吗？”

“是的，”她们身后有一个洪亮的声音说，“这又是魔法。”她们回头一看。只见阳光下，站着的正是阿斯兰，个头比她们先前看到更大的，一面还在抖动鬃毛的（显然鬃毛又长出来了）。

“哦，阿斯兰！”姐妹俩都叫了起来。她们目不转睛地看着它，心里又高兴又害怕。

“原来你没死，亲爱的阿斯兰？”露茜说。

“这会儿没死。”阿斯兰说。

“你不是一个——不是一个——？”苏珊声音颤抖地问。她不忍心说出那个“鬼”字。

阿斯兰俯下金色的脑袋，舔舔她的额头。它呼出的气是暖烘烘的，鬃毛里似乎发出一股浓浓的香味笼罩着她。

“我像吗？”它说。

“哦，你是真的，你是真的！哦，阿斯兰！”露茜叫着，两个女孩子都扑上前去，把它吻个遍。

“可是这一切都是什么意思呢？”等大家稍微平静了一点，苏珊问道。

“意思是，”阿斯兰说，“虽然女巫懂得高深魔法，可她不懂得还有更高深一层的魔法。她懂的那一套只到远古时代为止。但如果她能看得更远一点，看到太古时代的寂静和黑暗深处，她就会看到还有一条不同的咒语。她就会知道一个自愿送死的牺牲者，本身没有背叛行为，却被当作一个叛徒而杀害，石桌就要崩裂，死亡就会起反作用。而现在——”

“哦，是啊，现在呢？”露茜跳起来拍着手说。

“哦，孩子们，”狮王说，“我觉得自己的力量又恢复了。哦，孩子们，看看你们能抓住我吗？”它站了一会儿没动，眼睛闪闪发亮，四肢抖个不停，尾巴用力甩啊甩的。接着它一跃而起，跳过她们头顶，落在石桌对面。露茜哈哈大笑，虽然她自己也不知道为什么笑；她赶紧爬过石桌去抓他。阿斯兰又是一跳。一场疯狂的追逐就此开始。它带领她们在山顶上转啊转啊，一会儿让她们够也够不着，一会儿让她们差点抓到它的尾巴，一会儿从她们中间冲过去，一会儿用它美丽而柔软的大爪子把她们抛向半空又接住，一会儿又冷不防停下来，弄得三个嘻嘻哈哈滚成一团，只看见一堆皮毛啊、胳膊啊、腿啊什么的。这场嬉闹除了在纳尼亚，可没人玩过；而且露茜怎么也拿不准，她们究竟是在跟雷雨玩呢，还是在跟小猫玩。有趣的是等他们三个最后一起躺在太阳下喘气的时候，两个女孩子却再也不感到疲劳、饥饿和口渴了。

“好了，”阿斯兰不一会儿就说，“干正经事吧。我觉得我要吼了，你们最好把耳朵堵上。”

她们照办了。阿斯兰站起来，等它张开嘴怒吼时，它的脸变得那么可怕，她们都不敢正眼看它了。而且她们还看见它面前的树随着吼声全部弯下了腰，草也随风弯曲成了一片草场。随后它说：

“我们要走的路长着呢，你们一定得骑在我身上。”于是它趴下了，姐妹俩就爬到它温暖的金色的背上，苏珊坐在前面，紧紧抓住它的鬃毛，露茜坐在后面，紧紧抓住苏珊。它猛一挺身，站起来就飞奔而去，比任何骏马都快，下了小山，进入密林。

这次骑狮也许是她们到纳尼亚以来最美妙的事了。你曾经骑马奔驰过吗？想想吧，然后去掉沉重的马蹄得得声和鞍具的丁当声，只想着那四只大爪子，着地几乎无声无息。再想想黑的、灰的或栗色的马背换成了柔软的金黄色皮毛，鬃毛在风中飞舞。再想想，你比跑得最快的赛马还要快两倍。而且这次骑行既不需要带路的，也决不会疲劳。阿斯兰往前冲啊冲的，从不失足，从不犹豫，它熟练地在树干之间穿过，跳过灌木丛，跳过荆棘丛，跳过小溪，蹚过小河，游过大河。而且你不是在路上骑行，也不是在公园里，甚至也不是在草原上，而是横穿整个纳尼亚，在春天里，走过条条幽暗的山毛榉林阴路，穿过橡树林间块块向阳的空地，穿过片片有雪白樱树的野生果园，路过水声轰鸣的瀑布、青苔覆盖的岩石、回声不绝的山洞，爬上金雀花丛映照的多风的山坡，穿过有茂密石南的山肩，沿着令人眩晕的山脊，跑下去，跑下去，又一次跑进开阔的山谷，跑进大片的兰花地。

快到中午的时候，他们发现自己正在一片陡峭的山坡上，俯看一座城堡——从他们站的地方望去就像一个小小的玩具城堡——看上去似乎全是尖尖的塔楼。不过狮王正全速冲向城堡，因此城堡也就越来越大，她们还来不及问自己这是哪儿，就已迎面来到城堡前。此刻已不再像玩具城堡，而是阴森森地耸立在她们面前了。城垛上看不见人影，城堡大门也紧紧闭着。阿斯兰却一点没有放慢步子，像一颗子弹似的，笔直朝城堡冲去。

“女巫的老窝到了！”它叫道，“好了，孩子们，抓紧啊！”

一眨眼，天翻地覆，姐妹俩只觉得五脏六腑都翻了出来，因为狮王振作精神，又跳了一大跳，这一次比它以往任何一次都跳得更高——不妨说它不是跳，而是一直飞过了城堡的墙头。两个女孩子气都喘不过来，但丝毫没受伤，不知不觉中已从狮背上滚了下来，落在一个宽阔的石头院子里，里面全是石像。

16

石像的遭遇

“多怪的地方！”露茜叫道，“所有那些石头动物——还有石人！就像——就像一个博物馆。”

“嘘！”苏珊说，“阿斯兰在施什么法了。”

它果然在施法。它跳到石狮面前，对石狮吹了口气。接着突然转过身去——几乎像猫在追自己的尾巴——对那个石头小矮人也吹了口气，你们大概还记得，这小矮人正背对着石狮，站在相隔一两英尺的地方。然后它又突然扑向站在小矮人那边的一个高大石头树精，又赶快转到另一边去对付它右面的一只石兔，再冲到两个人头马身边。但就在这时露茜说：

“哦，苏珊，瞧！瞧那只狮子。”

我想你们都见过人家点上一根火柴，凑到壁炉架里一团没点燃的报纸前那种情况。开头的一刹那似乎毫无动静，接着你们就看到一丝小小的火焰在报纸的边缘蔓延。此时的情况正是如此。阿斯兰对石狮吹了口气以后，有一刹那，那只石狮看上去并没什么两样。后来它那白色大理石的背上开始掠过一小缕金色——然后金色蔓延开了——后来金色似乎在它全身掠过，就像火焰吞没了那一团报纸一样——然后，尽管它的后腿是石头，这只狮子却用力抖动鬃毛，所有那些沉甸甸的石头褶痕都飘动起来，成了活生生的鬃毛。它这才张开血盆大嘴，呼出生气和热气，打了一个大大的呵欠。这会儿它的后腿也活过来了。它抬起一条后腿在身上搔搔。接着，它看见阿斯兰，就跳到狮王后面，在阿斯兰身边又蹦又跳，高兴得哭了起来，还跳起来舔舔阿斯兰的脸。

两个女孩子的眼睛当然都跟着狮子转；不过她们看到的景象那么奇妙，因此很快就把它忘了。到处都是活过来的石像。这院子不再像一个博物馆，倒像一个动物园了。动物们都跟着阿斯兰跑，围着它跳舞，到后来它几乎被大伙儿遮住看不见了。院子里本来是一片惨白，如今却是色彩斑斓；人头马栗色的马身，独角兽深蓝色的角，百鸟绚烂的羽毛，红棕色的狐狸，狗和森林神，穿黄袜子戴红风帽的小矮人，一身银装的白桦姑娘，晶莹碧绿的山毛榉姑娘，还有落叶松姑娘，一身苍翠的衣装鲜艳得都快发黄了。这地方原来死气沉沉，一片寂静，如今整个院子里都回荡着欢乐的喧闹声：狮吼，虎啸，驴叫，狗吠，鸽咕，马嘶，还有尖叫声、顿脚声、呐喊声、欢呼声、歌声和笑声。

“哦，”苏珊说话的声音都变了，“瞧！不知道——我是说，不会伤人吗？”

露茜一看，只见阿斯兰朝一个石头巨人的两脚吹了口气。

“没事儿！”阿斯兰兴冲冲地大声喊叫，“只要这双脚治好了，其余的部位就会跟着好起来。”

“我不完全是这个意思。”苏珊悄声对露茜说。不过即使阿斯兰听到她的话，这会儿也来不及了。巨人两腿已经渐渐有了起色。目前他正挪动双脚，过了一会他拿下肩膀上那根大棒，揉揉眼睛说：

“天哪！我一定睡着了。嗨！那个在地上跑来跑去的该死的小女巫上哪儿去了？刚才她还在我脚边什么地方呢。”当大伙儿都抬头对他大声喊着解释这儿真正出了什么事时，巨人把手放在耳边让他们再说一遍，最后才算听明白了。接着他深深低头一躬，脑袋低得只有干草堆的顶那么高，还不断摸着帽檐向阿斯兰致意，他那张诚实而丑陋的脸满面笑容。（如今在英国无论哪种巨人都难得一见，而脾气好的巨人更少见，你们十之八九就从来没见过一个满面笑容的巨人。这情景倒很值得一看。）

“现在该上屋里去了！”阿斯兰说，“大家赶快。楼上，楼下，还有女巫的房间！每个角落都要搜。你们根本不知道那些可怜的囚犯会给藏在哪儿。”

于是他们全都冲了进去。片刻工夫，那整座黑暗、恐怖、霉臭的旧城堡里响起了开窗户和大伙儿喊叫的声音：“别忘了地牢——帮我们打开这扇门！——这儿还有一条弯曲的楼梯——哦，我说，这儿有一只可怜的小袋鼠。叫阿斯兰来——嘘！这儿多难闻——小心那些暗门——到这儿来！楼梯平台上还有好多呢！”不过最好的事要数露茜冲上楼去，嘴里大叫着：

“阿斯兰！阿斯兰！我找到图姆纳斯先生啦。哦，快来吧！”

过了一会儿，露茜和那只小羊怪就手拉手跳着舞，高兴地转了一圈又一圈。这小家伙虽然给变成了石像，但并没受伤，因此对她告诉他的一切当然都十分感兴趣。

对女巫堡垒的彻底搜查终于结束了。整个城堡都空了，门窗全都大开，阳光和芳香的春天气息涌进了所有那些黑暗而邪恶的地方，那些地方多么需要阳光和新鲜空气啊。这一大群重新获得生命的石像又拥回院子里。到了这时才有人（我想，是图姆纳斯吧）首先开口说：“可我们怎么出去呢？”

因为阿斯兰是跳进来的，院子大门仍然锁着呢。

“那没关系，”阿斯兰说，随即后腿直立起来，对巨人大声喊叫。“嗨，你，上边的，”它吼道，“你叫什么名字？”

“报告大人，我是巨人伦波布芬。”巨人说着，摸摸帽子以示敬意。

“那好吧，巨人伦波布芬，”阿斯兰说，“让我们从这儿出去，好吗？”

“当然可以，大人。乐意效劳。”巨人伦波布芬说，“你们这些小家伙都离大门远点！”接着他大步走到门口，抡起大棒，砰——砰——砰。第一下，大门吱吱嘎嘎响了，第二下，大门裂开了，第三下，大门成了碎片啦。随后他又去对付大门两边的塔楼，又捶又捣，几下子工夫，两边的塔楼和旁边大部分高墙都轰隆隆倒下了，成了一大堆碎砖烂瓦；等到尘土散去，站在这个光秃秃、阴森森的石头院子里看着豁口外那些草地，摇曳的树木，森林中波光粼粼的溪流，以及溪流外的青山和山外的碧空，可真是别有风味。

“我要不是浑身臭汗才怪呢，”巨人说话时像大火车头似的直喘，“由于条件差，我想你们这些年轻小姐身上都没带手绢吧？”

“有，我有。”露茜说着踮起脚尖，尽量把她的手绢高高举起。

“谢谢你，小姐。”巨人伦波布芬说着弯下了腰。转眼间露茜吓了一大跳，因为她不知不觉中竟被巨人两个指头捏住提到半空中了。不过就在她凑近他脸的时候，他突然一惊，随即把她轻轻放回地上，嘴里还喃喃说，“老天爷，我竟把小姑娘拎起来了。对不起，小姐，我还以为你就是那块手绢呢。”

“不，不，”露茜笑着说，“手绢在这儿呢！”这一回他总算设法拿到了，不过对巨人来说手绢的大小就像你们的糖精片那么大，因此她看见他一本正经地用这块手绢在他那张又大又红的脸上来回擦着，不由说，“伦波布芬先生，恐怖这块手绢对你没多大用处吧。”

“哪儿的话，哪儿的话，”巨人有礼貌地说，“从来没见过比这更好的手绢。这么精致，这么方便。所以——我都不知怎么形容了。”

“他是个多么好的巨人啊！”露茜对图姆纳斯先生说。

“哦，是啊，”羊怪回答说，“布芬家的人全是那样的。他们是纳尼亚最受人尊敬的巨人家族之一。也许不太聪明（我从来就不知道有聪明的巨人），但他们是一个古老的家族。你知道，这是有传统的。如果他是另外一种人，她也根本不会把他变成石头了。”

这时阿斯兰拍拍爪子，叫大家安静下来。

“我们今天的工作还没完呢，”它说，“如果要在睡觉前打败女巫，我们必须立刻找她们打一仗。”

“希望算我一个，先生。”那最大的人头马加了一句。

“当然，”阿斯兰说，“现在呢，那些跟不上的——就是说，孩子们、小矮人和小动物们——必须骑在那些跟得上的动物背上——就是说，狮子、人头马、独角兽、马、巨人和鹰。那些鼻子灵的必须跟我们狮子一起走在前头，好闻出哪儿在打仗。赶快，你们自己分分类吧。”

接着就是一阵忙乱，一阵欢呼，它们都分好了。这里头最高兴的要算另外那头狮子了，它一直东跑西颠装做忙忙碌碌的样子，其实是为了对它见到的每一个人说，“你听见它说什么了吗？我们狮子。那意思就是它和我呀。我们狮子。我就喜欢阿斯兰这点。没有架子，不盛气凌人。我们狮子。那意思就是它和我呀。”它一直说来说去，至少说到阿斯兰把三个小矮人、一个树精、两只兔子和一只刺猬放到它背上，这才把它稳住了。

一切都准备好以后（原来竟是一条大牧羊犬帮着阿斯兰让大家各就各位的），他们就从城堡高墙的豁口处动身了。开头狮子和狗四处乱嗅。可是接着有条大猎狗忽然闻到了气味，叫了起来。此后大家就抓紧时间。全部狗啊，狮啊，狼啊，还有其他参加追捕的动物都把鼻子贴近地面，全速前进，其他的都在它们后面大约半英里处尽快跟着飞跑。这声音倒像英国人在猎狐狸，因为大家不时听见猎犬的吠声，夹杂着另一只狮子的吼声，有时还有更深沉、更可怕的阿斯兰自己的吼声。气味变得越来越容易跟踪，他们也就跑得越来越快了。他们刚刚来到峡谷的最后一个转弯处，露茜就听出在所有这些声音之外，又有另一种声音——那是一种不同的声音，她一听心里就有一种怪异的感觉。那是些呐喊声、尖叫声和金属撞击声。

等她们走出峡谷，露茜立刻就明白其中的原因了。彼得和爱德蒙带了阿斯兰其余的军队正拼命跟她昨晚看见过的那群可怕的动物战斗，只不过如今在日光下，那些动物看上去更怪、更恶、更丑，头数也似乎多得多。阿斯兰的军队——它们是背对着露茜的——看上去少得可怜。而且有好多石像散布在战场上，显然这是女巫使过她的魔杖了。但这会儿她似乎没使魔杖，她是用石刀在打仗。她在跟彼得作战——双方打得十分激烈，露茜简直看不清是怎么回事；她只看出刀光剑影飞闪，叫人眼花缭乱，看上去倒像有三把刀和三把剑了。这一对在中间厮杀，两边都排成一条战线。不论她朝哪边看，都是一片可怕的情景。

“孩子们，快下来。”阿斯兰叫道。她们俩就此翻滚下来。随后一声怒吼，震撼了西起路灯柱东到海边的纳尼亚整个土地，这只巨兽亲自向白女巫扑去。露茜看见刹那间女巫抬起头来看着它，脸上充满了恐怖和惊讶。接着狮王和女巫就滚成一团了，但女巫被压在下面；这时阿斯兰从女巫老窝里带来参战的全部动物都狂热地朝敌阵中冲去，小矮人用战斧，猎狗用牙齿，巨人用大棒（他的双脚也踩死了好多敌人），独角兽用角，人头马用剑和蹄子。彼得那支累坏了的军队立时士气大振，新上阵的动物们怒吼着，敌人叽里呱啦，尖声喊叫，闹得树林里杀声震天。

17

追猎白鹿

这场战斗在他们赶到后片刻间就全部结束了。大部分敌人在阿斯兰和它的伙伴第一次猛攻时就已送了命，那些还活着的看见女巫死了，不是投降就是逃走了。接下来露茜只知道彼得跟阿斯兰在握手了。她觉得彼得这会儿看上去很怪——他的脸那么苍白，神情严峻，而且他老成多了。

“这都是爱德蒙的功劳，阿斯兰，”彼得说道，“要不是他，我们就要被她们打败了。女巫把我们的军队都变成石头排在两边。可什么也挡不住他。他一路打倒了三个吃人恶魔，一直打到她刚把你的一头豹变成石像的地方。等他靠近她时，他很理智，先用剑劈了她的魔杖，而不是鲁莽地直接向她进攻，害得自己反而被变成一个石像。而所有其他的人正是犯了这个错误。要是我们原先损失没那么严重的话，她的魔杖一断，我们就开始有转机了。他受了重伤。我们必须去看看他。”

他们发现爱德蒙就在离战线不远的后方，由海狸太太负责照看着。他浑身是血，张着嘴，脸色惨白。

“快，露茜。”阿斯兰说。

到了那时，露茜才头一回记起作为圣诞礼物送给她的那瓶珍贵的妙药。她两手抖得厉害，怎么也打不开瓶塞，不过末了她总算打开了，而且在她哥哥嘴里倒了几滴。

“还有别的伤员呢。”阿斯兰说。她却仍然焦急地望着爱德蒙苍白的脸，不知妙药有没有什么效果。

“是啊，我知道，”露茜生气地说，“等一下。”

“夏娃的女儿，”阿斯兰的声音严肃起来了，“别人也在生死关头，难道一定要更多的人为爱德蒙而死吗？”

“对不起，阿斯兰。”露茜说着站起来跟它一起走去。接下来半小时里她们忙得不可开交——她忙着照顾伤员，它忙着把那些变成石头的动物变回原样。等她终于抽出身子回到爱德蒙那儿时，她发现他已经一个人站在那儿了，不仅伤口长好了，而且看上去比以前还要好；事实上，自从他上了那个讨厌的学校，第一学期他就开始变坏了。如今他已经恢复本来面目，敢于正视你的脸了。阿斯兰就在战场上封他为骑士。

“他知道，”露茜悄悄对苏珊说，“阿斯兰为他作出什么牺牲吗？他知道狮王和女巫的真正协议吗？”

“嘘！不，当然不知道。”苏珊说。

“难道不应该告诉他吗？”露茜说。

“哦，当然不应该，”苏珊说，“那对他太可怕了。如果你是他，想想看你有什么感想？”

“尽管如此，我认为他应该知道。”露茜说。不过这时有人打断了她们的谈话。

那天晚上他们就在原地睡觉。阿斯兰怎么供大家吃饭我可不知道；不过不管怎么说，大伙儿在八点钟左右全都坐在草地上吃了一顿美美的正式茶点。第二天他们开始沿着那条大河往东进发。第三天，大约在吃茶点的时候，他们果然来到了入海口。坐落在小山上的凯尔帕拉维尔城堡高高屹立在他们上面；在他们前方是沙滩、岩石、一个个小小的咸水坑、海草、大海的气息，还有青绿色的万里波涛永远不停地冲击着海滩。哦，还有海鸥的叫声！你们听见过吗？你们还能记得吗？

那天傍晚吃过茶点，四个孩子全都想方设法再到海滩上去，他们脱下鞋袜，光脚在沙滩上玩。不过第二天就严肃得多了。原来那时，在凯尔帕拉维尔的大厅里，在那象牙屋顶的精美大厅里（西门全都挂满了孔雀毛，东门直通大海），阿斯兰当着他们的各位好友，听到号声齐鸣，就庄严地为他们加冕。“彼得国王万岁！苏珊女王万岁！爱德蒙国王万岁！露茜女王万岁！”在震耳欲聋的欢呼声中，阿斯兰领他们坐到四个宝座上。

“在纳尼亚一朝为王，就终身为王。好好记住，亚当的儿子！好好记住，夏娃的女儿！”阿斯兰说。

同时从敞开的东门外传来了雄人鱼和雌人鱼的声音，它们游到靠近城堡台阶的地方，欢唱着向它们的国王和女王致敬。

于是四个孩子坐在宝座上，接受了权杖，他们对所有好友分别犒赏，表示敬意，包括羊怪图姆纳斯、海狸夫妇、巨人伦波布芬、豹、善良的人头马和小矮人，以及另一头狮子。那天晚上在凯尔帕拉维尔举行了一个盛大的宴会，纵情歌舞狂欢，金光闪闪，美酒汩汩，和城堡里的音乐相呼应的是海上传来的那种更奇妙、更甜美、更扣人心弦的仙乐。

但就在这场欢庆中，阿斯兰悄悄地溜走了。两位国王和两位女王注意到它不在了，倒也没说什么。因为海狸先生曾经对他们有言在先。“它是来去自由的，”它说，“你们今天看见它，改天就看不见了。它不喜欢被拴住——当然还有别的国家要它去操心。这没关系。它会常常来的。只是你们不能逼它。要知道它性子野，不像驯化了的狮子。”

现在呢，你们也看得出，这故事就快讲完了（不过还没完呢）。话说这两位国王和两位女王管理纳尼亚，倒也搞得长治久安，快快活活。一开头他们大部分时间都花在搜寻白女巫军队的残余并消灭他们上。长期以来确实也有潜伏在森林中偏僻地带的坏蛋作恶的消息——到处捣乱，杀人，这个月看见一个狼人，下个月又谣传出现巫婆。不过到头来所有的祸害都被消灭了。他们制定了完善的法律，维持社会治安，保护好树木不受滥砍滥伐，不让年轻的小矮人和树精被强迫上学，严禁人家多嘴多舌、爱管闲事，鼓励愿意安居乐业的普通百姓安定下来。他们赶走了胆敢越过纳尼亚北部边境的凶猛巨人（这些巨人跟伦波布芬大不相同）。他们跟海外一些国家结成友好同盟，对那些国家进行国事访问，并接待对方的访问。岁月流逝，他们自己也都长大成人，起了变化。彼得变成一个身材高大、胸脯厚实的男人，一个伟大的武士，人称至尊王彼得。苏珊长成一个身材颀长，举止文雅的女人，一头黑发几乎拖到脚跟，海外一些国王开始纷纷派大使来向她求婚，人称温柔女王苏珊。爱德蒙比起彼得来显得更严肃、更沉默，善于掌握议会和主持审判，人称公正王爱德蒙。至于露茜，她一向无忧无虑，而且是满头金发，那一带所有的王子都想娶她为王后，国内人民称之为英勇女王露茜。

于是他们就这样过着欢欢喜喜的日子，如果他们想到过他们在人世间的生活，也只是像人们想起一个梦似的。有一年，图姆纳斯（如今这只羊怪也到了中年，身子也开始发胖了）顺河下来给他们带信说，白鹿又出现在他这一带了——如果你抓到白鹿，白鹿就可以让你实现愿望。于是两位国王和两位女王带上他们宫廷里的文武百官，还带着号角、猎犬，骑着马到西部森林去追踪白鹿了。他们去了不久就看到了白鹿的身影，白鹿领着他们飞快地翻山越岭，历尽艰险，折腾得所有大臣的马都累倒了，只有这四个国王仍然紧追不舍。他们看见那只鹿钻进一片灌木丛中，坐骑进不去。于是彼得国王说（如今他们在朝执政已经多年，所以说话的口气也大不一样了），“各位王弟王妹，现在让我们下马，跟随那畜生进入灌木丛吧；因为我生平从未打到过一只比这更高贵的猎物了。”

“王兄，”其余三个说，“既然如此，我们就走吧。”

于是他们都下了马，把马拴在树上，继续向密林中走去。他们刚走进树林，苏珊女王就说：

“各位，这儿有一大奇迹，我似乎看见了一棵铁树。”

“王姐，”爱德蒙国王说，“如果你好好看一看，就会看出这是一根铁柱，顶上装了一盏灯。”

“真是的，想得倒怪，”彼得国王说，“把灯装在周围树木这么密、这么高的地方，就是灯亮着也照不见人。”

“王兄，”露茜女王说，“很可能这根柱子和这盏灯装在这儿的时候，这地方只有小树，也可能树木稀，也可能没树。因为这里是幼林，而铁柱是老的。”于是他们都站在那儿望着铁柱。后来爱德蒙国王说：

“不知道怎么回事，但柱子上的这盏灯对我有种奇怪的影响。在我脑子里闪过，以前我好像见过类似的东西，似乎是个梦，或者是梦中梦。”

“王弟，”他们大家都回答说，“我们也这样想。”

“而且，”露茜女王说，“我脑子里老在想，只要我们走过这根柱子和灯，我们就会有种种奇遇，或者命运就要发生大大变化。”

“王妹，”爱德蒙国王说，“我心里也有类似的预感。”

“我也是，王弟。”彼得国王说。

“我也这么想，”苏珊女王说，“因此依我之见，我们还是悄悄地回到我们拴马的地方，不要再追踪这只白鹿了。”

“王妹，”彼得国王说，“这一点我要请你原谅。因为我们四个自从在纳尼亚当了国王和女王以来，我们不论着手进行什么大事，诸如战争、审讯、比武、执法之类，都没有半途而废过；我们一向总是一旦着手，就必定贯彻到底的。”

“王姐，”露茜女王说，“王兄说得对。而且我觉得，要是我们为了任何恐惧或预感就回去，不再追捕一只那么高贵的野兽，似乎太不像话了。”

“我也这么想，”爱德蒙国王说，“我一心想发现这东西的意义，就是拿整个纳尼亚最珍贵的珠宝和所有的岛屿来换，我也决不回去。”

“那么以阿斯兰的名义起誓，”苏珊女王说，“如果你们都要这样做，那就让我们走下去，不管将遇上什么奇事都听之任之吧。”

于是两位国王和两位女王走进了灌木丛，他们刚走了几步就全想起来了，他们看见的那东西叫作路灯柱，再走了不到二十步，他们发现不是在树枝间摸索着走路，而是在大衣堆里走路。不一会儿他们全都从大衣柜的一扇门里滚到空房间里了，而且他们也不再是穿着猎装的国王和女王，而是穿着过去的衣服的彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。时间还是他们躲进大衣柜的同一天，同一个时辰。麦克里迪太太和参观的客人还在过道里谈话；不过幸好他们没到这空房间里来，因此孩子们也没被他们发现。

要不是他们觉得真的必须对教授说清他大衣柜里丢失四件大衣的原因，这个故事本来也就结束了。而教授呢，他是一个非常了不起的人，他并没教训他们别瞎说，或者别说谎，而是相信了整个故事。“不，”他说，“我认为想再从衣柜里去拿回那些大衣没什么好处。你们不要从那条路再回纳尼亚去了。即使拿回来，那些大衣也没多大用处。啊？什么？是啊，有一天你们当然会回纳尼亚去。在纳尼亚一朝为王，就终身为王嘛。不过你们不要再走同一条路线。真的，千万别想方设法上那儿去。你们不去找它，它自会出现。而且，即使在你们自己之间也别多谈这件事。也别对任何外人说起，除非你们发现他们也有过类似的奇遇。什么？你们怎么会知道？哦，你们准会知道的。碰上怪事，他们说的话——甚至他们的神情——会露出马脚的。你们留心好了。天哪，他们那些学校是怎么教他们的啊？”

这就是大衣柜奇遇的结尾了。不过如果教授说得对的话，这只是纳尼亚奇遇的开始。

To Lucy Barfield

MY DEAR LUCY,

I wrote this story for you,but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow quicker than books.As a result you are already too old for fairy tales,and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still.But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.You can then take it down from some upper shelf,dust it,and tell me what you think of it.I shall probably be too deaf to hear,and too old to understand,a word you say,but I shall still be

your affectionate Godfather,

C.S.LEWIS

CHAPTER 1

Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe

Once there were four children whose names were Peter,Susan,Edmund and Lucy.This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.They were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country,ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post office.He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a housekeeper called Mrs Macready and three servants.(Their names were Ivy,Margaret and Betty,but they do not come into the story much.)He himself was a very old man with shaggy white hair which grew over most of his face as well as on his head,and they liked him almost at once；but on the first evening when he came out to meet them at the front door he was so odd-looking that Lucy(who was the youngest)was a little afraid of him,and Edmund(who was the next youngest)wanted to laugh and had to keep on pretending he was blowing his nose to hide it.

As soon as they had said goodnight to the Professor and gone upstairs on the first night,the boys came into the girls' room and they all talked it over.

“We've fallen on our feet and no mistake,” said Peter.“This is going to be perfectly splendid.That old chap will let us do anything we like.”

“I think he's an old dear,” said Susan.

“Oh,come off it!” said Edmund,who was tired and pretending not to be tired,which always made him bad-tempered.“Don't go on talking like that.”

“Like what?” said Susan；“and anyway,it's time you were in bed.”

“Trying to talk like Mother,” said Edmund.“And who are you to say when I'm to go to bed?Go to bed yourself.”

“Hadn't we all better go to bed?” said Lucy.“There's sure to be a row if we're heard talking here.”

“No there won't,” said Peter.“I tell you this is the sort of house where no one's going to mind what we do.Anyway,they won't hear us.It's about ten minutes' walk from here down to that dining-room,and any amount of stairs and passages in between.”

“What's that noise?” said Lucy suddenly.It was a far larger house than she had ever been in before and the thought of all those long passages and rows of doors leading into empty rooms was beginning to make her feel a little creepy.

“It's only a bird,silly,” said Edmund.

“It's an owl,” said Peter.“This is going to be a wonderful place for birds.I shall go to bed now.I say,let's go and explore tomorrow.You might find anything in a place like this.Did you see those mountains as we came along?And the woods?There might be eagles.There might be stags.There'll be hawks.”

“Badgers!” said Lucy.

“Foxes!” said Edmund.

“Rabbits!” said Susan.

But when the next morning came there was a steady rain falling,so thick that when you looked out of the window you could see neither the mountains nor the woods nor even the stream in the garden.

“Of course it would be raining!” said Edmund.They had just finished their breakfast with the Professor and were upstairs in the room he had set apart for them – a long,low room with two windows looking out in one direction and two in another.

“Do stop grumbling,Ed,” said Susan.“Ten to one it'll clear up in an hour or so.And in the meantime we're pretty well off.There's a wireless and lots of books.”

“Not for me,” said Peter；“I'm going to explore in the house.”

Everyone agreed to this and that was how the adventures began.It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of,and it was full of unexpected places.The first few doors they tried led only into spare bedrooms,as everyone had expected that they would；but soon they came to a very long room full of pictures,and there they found a suit of armour；and after that was a room all hung with green,with a harp in one corner；and then came three steps down and five steps up,and then a kind of little upstairs hall and a door that led out on to a balcony,and then a whole series of rooms that led into each other and were lined with books – most of them very old books and some bigger than a Bible in a church.And shortly after that they looked into a room that was quite empty except for one big wardrobe；the sort that has a looking-glass in the door.There was nothing else in the room at all except a dead bluebottle on the window-sill.

“Nothing there!” said Peter,and they all trooped out again – all except Lucy.She stayed behind because she thought it would be worthwhile trying the door of the wardrobe,even though she felt almost sure that it would be locked.To her surprise it opened quite easily,and two mothballs dropped out.

Looking into the inside,she saw several coats hanging up – mostly long fur coats.There was nothing Lucy liked so much as the smell and feel of fur.She immediately stepped into the wardrobe and got in among the coats and rubbed her face against them,leaving the door open,of course,because she knew that it is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe.Soon she went further in and found that there was a second row of coats hanging up behind the first one.It was almost quite dark in there and she kept her arms stretched out in front of her so as not to bump her face into the back of the wardrobe.She took a step further in – then two or three steps –always expecting to feel woodwork against the tips of her fingers.But she could not feel it.

“This must be a simply enormous wardrobe!”thought Lucy,going still further in and pushing the soft folds of the coats aside to make room for her.Then she noticed that there was something crunching under her feet.“I wonder is that more mothballs?”she thought,stooping down to feel it with her hand.But instead of feeling the hard,smooth wood of the floor of the wardrobe,she felt something soft and powdery and extremely cold.“This is very queer,”she said,and went on a step or two further.

Next moment she found that what was rubbing against her face and hands was no longer soft fur but something hard and rough and even prickly.“Why,it is just like branches of trees!” exclaimed Lucy.And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her；not a few inches away where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been,but a long way off.Something cold and soft was falling on her.A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air.

Lucy felt a little frightened,but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well.She looked back over her shoulder and there,between the dark tree-trunks,she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out.(She had,of course,left the door open,for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe.)It seemed to be still daylight there.“I can always get back if anything goes wrong,”thought Lucy.She began to walk forward,crunchcrunch over the snow and through the wood towards the other light.In about ten minutes she reached it and found it was a lamp-post.As she stood looking at it,wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next,she heard a pitter patter of feet coming towards her.And soon after that a very strange person stepped out from among the trees into the light of the lamp-post.

He was only a little taller than Lucy herself and he carried over his head an umbrella,white with snow.From the waist upwards he was like a man,but his legs were shaped like a goat's(the hair on them was glossy black)and instead of feet he had goat's hoofs.He also had a tail,but Lucy did not notice this at first because it was neatly caught up over the arm that held the umbrella so as to keep it from trailing in the snow.He had a red woollen muffler round his neck,and his skin was rather reddish too.He had a strange,but pleasant little face,with a short pointed beard and curly hair,and out of the hair there stuck two horns,one on each side of his forehead.One of his hands,as I have said,held the umbrella；in the other arm he carried several brown-paper parcels.What with the parcels and the snow it looked just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping.He was a Faun.And when he saw Lucy he gave such a start of surprise that he dropped all his parcels.

“Goodness gracious me!” exclaimed the Faun.

CHAPTER 2

What Lucy Found There

“Good evening,” said Lucy.But the Faun was so busy picking up its parcels that at first it did not reply.When it had finished,it made her a little bow.

“Good evening,good evening,” said the Faun.“Excuse me – I don't want to be inquisitive – but should I be right in thinking that you are a Daughter of Eve?”

“My name's Lucy,” said she,not quite understanding him.

“But you are – forgive me – you are what they call a girl?” said the Faun.

“Of course I'm a girl,” said Lucy.

“You are in fact Human?”

“Of course I'm human,” said Lucy,still a little puzzled.

“To be sure,to be sure,” said the Faun.“How stupid of me!But I've never seen a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve before.I am delighted.That is to say—” and then it stopped as if it had been going to say something it had not intended but had remembered in time.“Delighted,delighted,” he went on.“Allow me to introduce myself.My name is Tumnus.”

“I am very pleased to meet you,Mr Tumnus,”said Lucy.

“And may I ask,O Lucy Daughter of Eve,” said Mr Tumnus,“how you have come into Narnia?”

“Narnia?What's that?” said Lucy.

“This is the land of Narnia,” said the Faun,“where we are now；all that lies between the lamppost and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea.And you – you have come from the Wild Woods of the West?”

“I – I got in through the wardrobe in the spare room,” said Lucy.

“Ah!” said Mr Tumnus in a rather melancholy voice.“If only I had worked harder at geography when I was a little Faun,I should no doubt know all about those strange countries.It is too late now.”

“But they aren't countries at all,” said Lucy,almost laughing.“It's only just back there – at least– I'm not sure.It is summer there.”

“Meanwhile,” said Mr Tumnus,“it is winter in Narnia,and has been for ever so long,and we shall both catch cold if we stand here talking in the snow.Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe,how would it be if you came and had tea with me?”

“Thank you very much,Mr Tumnus,” said Lucy.“But I was wondering whether I ought to be getting back.”

“It's only just round the corner,” said the Faun,“and there'll be a roaring fire – and toast – and sardines – and cake.”

“Well,it's very kind of you,” said Lucy.“But I shan't be able to stay long.”

“If you will take my arm,Daughter of Eve,” said Mr Tumnus,“I shall be able to hold the umbrella over both of us.That's the way.Now – off we go.”

And so Lucy found herself walking through the wood arm in arm with this strange creature as if they had known one another all their lives.

They had not gone far before they came to a place where the ground became rough and there were rocks all about and little hills up and little hills down.At the bottom of one small valley Mr Tumnus turned suddenly aside as if he were going to walk straight into an unusually large rock,but at the last moment Lucy found he was leading her into the entrance of a cave.As soon as they were inside she found herself blinking in the light of a wood fire.Then Mr Tumnus stooped and took a flaming piece of wood out of the fire with a neat little pair of tongs,and lit a lamp.“Now we shan't be long,” he said,and immediately put a kettle on.

Lucy thought she had never been in a nicer place.It was a little,dry,clean cave of reddish stone with a carpet on the floor and two little chairs(“One for me and one for a friend,” said Mr Tumnus)and a table and a dresser and a mantelpiece over the fire and above that a picture of an old faun with a grey beard.

In one corner there was a door which Lucy thought must lead to Mr Tumnus's bedroom,and on one wall was a shelf full of books.Lucy looked at these while he was setting out the tea things.They had titles like The Life and Letters of Silenus or Nymphs and Their Ways or Men,Monks and Gamekeepers；A Study in Popular Legend or Is Man a Myth?

“Now,Daughter of Eve!” said the Faun.

And really it was a wonderful tea.There was a nice brown egg,lightly boiled,for each of them,and then sardines on toast,and then buttered toast,and then toast with honey,and then a sugar-topped cake.And when Lucy was tired of eating,the Faun began to talk.He had wonderful tales to tell of life in the forest.He told about the midnight dances and how the Nymphs who lived in the wells and the Dryads who lived in the trees came out to dance with the Fauns；about long hunting parties after the milkwhite stag who could give you wishes if you caught him；about feasting and treasure-seeking with the wild Red Dwarfs in deep mines and caverns far beneath the forest floor；and then about summer when the woods were green and old Silenus on his fat donkey would come to visit them,and sometimes Bacchus himself,and then the streams would run with wine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to jollification for weeks on end.“Not that it isn't always winter now,” he added gloomily.Then to cheer himself up he took out from its case on the dresser a strange little flute that looked as if it were made of straw,and began to play.And the tune he played made Lucy want to cry and laugh and dance and go to sleep all at the same time.It must have been hours later when she shook herself and said：

“Oh,Mr Tumnus – I'm so sorry to stop you,and I do love that tune – but really,I must go home.I only meant to stay for a few minutes.”

“It's no good now,you know,” said the Faun,laying down its flute and shaking its head at her very sorrowfully.

“No good?” said Lucy,jumping up and feeling rather frightened.“What do you mean?I've got to go home at once.The others will be wondering what has happened to me.” But a moment later she asked,“Mr Tumnus!Whatever is the matter?” for the Faun's brown eyes had filled with tears and then the tears began trickling down its cheeks,and soon they were running off the end of its nose；and at last it covered its face with its hands and began to howl.

“Mr Tumnus!Mr Tumnus!” said Lucy in great distress.“Don't!Don't!What is the matter?Aren't you well?Dear Mr Tumnus,do tell me what is wrong.”

But the Faun continued sobbing as if its heart would break.And even when Lucy went over and put her arms round him and lent him her handkerchief,he did not stop.He merely took the handkerchief and kept on using it,wringing it out with both hands whenever it got too wet to be any more use,so that presently Lucy was standing in a damp patch.

“Mr Tumnus!” bawled Lucy in his ear,shaking him.“Do stop.Stop it at once!You ought to be ashamed of yourself,a great big Faun like you.What on earth are you crying about?”

“Oh – oh – oh!” sobbed Mr Tumnus.“I'm crying because I'm such a bad Faun.”

“I don't think you're a bad Faun at all,” said Lucy.“I think you are a very good Faun.You are the nicest faun I've ever met.”

“Oh – oh – you wouldn't say that if you knew,”replied Mr Tumnus between his sobs.“No,I'm a bad Faun.I don't suppose there ever was a worse Faun since the beginning of the world.”

“But what have you done?” asked Lucy.

“My old father,now,” said Mr Tumnus；“that's his picture over the mantelpiece.He would never have done a thing like this.”

“A thing like what?” said Lucy.

“Like what I've done,” said the Faun.“Taken service under the White Witch.That's what I am.I'm in the pay of the White Witch.”

“The White Witch?Who is she?”

“Why,it is she who has got all Narnia under her thumb.It's she who makes it always winter.Always winter and never Christmas；think of that!”

“How awful!” said Lucy.“But what does she pay you for?”

“That's the worst of it,” said Mr Tumnus with a deep groan.“I'm a kidnapper for her,that's what I am.Look at me,Daughter of Eve.Would you believe that I'm the sort of Faun to meet a poor innocent child in the wood,one that had never done me any harm,and pretend to be friendly with it,and invite it home to my cave,all for the sake of lulling it asleep and then handing it over to the White Witch?”

“No,” said Lucy.“I'm sure you wouldn't do anything of the sort.”

“But I have,” said the Faun.

“Well,” said Lucy rather slowly(for she wanted to be truthful and yet not be too hard on him),“well,that was pretty bad.But you're so sorry for it that I'm sure you will never do it again.”

“Daughter of Eve,don't you understand?” said the Faun.“It isn't something I have done.I'm doing it now,this very moment.”

“What do you mean?” cried Lucy,turning very white.

“You are the child,” said Tumnus.“I had orders from the White Witch that if ever I saw a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve in the wood,I was to catch them and hand them over to her.And you are the first I have ever met.And I've pretended to be your friend and asked you to tea,and all the time I've been meaning to wait till you were asleep and then go and tell Her.”

“Oh,but you won't,Mr Tumnus,” said Lucy.“You won't,will you?Indeed,indeed you really mustn't.”

“And if I don't,” said he,beginning to cry again,“she's sure to find out.And she'll have my tail cut off,and my horns sawn off,and my beard plucked out,and she'll wave her wand over my beautiful cloven hoofs and turn them into horrid solid hoofs like a wretched horse's.And if she is extra and specially angry she'll turn me into stone and I shall be only a statue of a Faun in her horrible house until the four thrones at Cair Paravel are filled – and goodness knows when that will happen,or whether it will ever happen at all.”

“I'm very sorry,Mr Tumnus,” said Lucy.“But please let me go home.”

“Of course I will,” said the Faun.“Of course I've got to.I see that now.I hadn't known what Humans were like before I met you.Of course I can't give you up to the Witch；not now that I know you.But we must be off at once.I'll see you back to the lamppost.I suppose you can find your own way from there back to Spare Oom and War Drobe?”

“I'm sure I can,” said Lucy.

“We must go as quietly as we can,” said Mr Tumnus.“The whole wood is full of her spies.Even some of the trees are on her side.”

They both got up and left the tea things on the table,and Mr Tumnus once more put up his umbrella and gave Lucy his arm,and they went out into the snow.The journey back was not at all like the journey to the Faun's cave；they stole along as quickly as they could,without speaking a word,and Mr Tumnus kept to the darkest places.Lucy was relieved when they reached the lamp-post again.

“Do you know your way from here,Daughter of Eve?” said Mr Tumnus.

Lucy looked very hard between the trees and could just see in the distance a patch of light that looked like daylight.“Yes,” she said,“I can see the wardrobe door.”

“Then be off home as quick as you can,” said the Faun,“and – c-can you ever forgive me for what I meant to do?”

“Why,of course I can,” said Lucy,shaking him heartily by the hand.“And I do hope you won't get into dreadful trouble on my account.”

“Farewell,Daughter of Eve,” said he.“Perhaps I may keep the handkerchief?”

“Rather!” said Lucy,and then ran towards the faroff patch of daylight as quickly as her legs would carry her.And presently instead of rough branches brushing past her she felt coats,and instead of crunching snow under her feet she felt wooden boards,and all at once she found herself jumping out of the wardrobe into the same empty room from which the whole adventure had started.She shut the wardrobe door tightly behind her and looked around,panting for breath.It was still raining and she could hear the voices of the others in the passage.

“I'm here,” she shouted.“I'm here.I've come back,I'm all right.”

CHAPTER 3

Edmund and the Wardrobe

Lucy ran out of the empty room into the passage and found the other three.

“It's all right,” she repeated,“I've come back.”

“What on earth are you talking about,Lucy?”asked Susan.

“Why,” said Lucy in amazement,“haven't you all been wondering where I was?”

“So you've been hiding,have you?” said Peter.“Poor old Lu,hiding and nobody noticed!You'll have to hide longer than that if you want people to start looking for you.”

“But I've been away for hours and hours,”said Lucy.

The others all stared at one another.

“Batty!” said Edmund,tapping his head.“Quite batty.”

“What do you mean,Lu?” asked Peter.

“What I said,” answered Lucy.“It was just after breakfast when I went into the wardrobe,and I've been away for hours and hours,and had tea,and all sorts of things have happened.”

“Don't be silly,Lucy,” said Susan.“We've only just come out of that room a moment ago,and you were there then.”

“She's not being silly at all,” said Peter,“she's just making up a story for fun,aren't you,Lu?And why shouldn't she?”

“No,Peter,I'm not,” she said.“It's – it's a magic wardrobe.There's a wood inside it,and it's snowing,and there's a Faun and a Witch and it's called Narnia；come and see.”

The others did not know what to think,but Lucy was so excited that they all went back with her into the room.She rushed ahead of them,flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried,“Now!Go in and see for yourselves.”

“Why,you goose,” said Susan,putting her head inside and pulling the fur coats apart,“it's just an ordinary wardrobe；look!There's the back of it.”

Then everyone looked in and pulled the coats apart；and they all saw – Lucy herself saw – a perfectly ordinary wardrobe.There was no wood and no snow,only the back of the wardrobe,with hooks on it.Peter went in and rapped his knuckles on it to make sure that it was solid.

“A jolly good hoax,Lu,” he said as he came out again；“you have really taken us in,I must admit.We half believed you.”

“But it wasn't a hoax at all,” said Lucy,“really and truly.It was all different a moment ago.Honestly it was.I promise.”

“Come,Lu,” said Peter,“that's going a bit far.You've had your joke.Hadn't you better drop it now?”

Lucy grew very red in the face and tried to say something,though she hardly knew what she was trying to say,and burst into tears.

For the next few days she was very miserable.She could have made it up with the others quite easily at any moment if she could have brought herself to say that the whole thing was only a story made up for fun.But Lucy was a very truthful girl and she knew that she was really in the right；and she could not bring herself to say this.The others who thought she was telling a lie,and a silly lie too,made her very unhappy.The two elder ones did this without meaning to do it,but Edmund could be spiteful,and on this occasion he was spiteful.He sneered and jeered at Lucy and kept on asking her if she'd found any other new countries in other cupboards all over the house.What made it worse was that these days ought to have been delightful.The weather was fine and they were out of doors from morning to night,bathing,fishing,climbing trees,and lying in the heather.But Lucy could not properly enjoy any of it.And so things went on until the next wet day.

That day,when it came to the afternoon and there was still no sign of a break in the weather,they decided to play hide-and-seek.Susan was “It” and as soon as the others scattered to hide,Lucy went to the room where the wardrobe was.She did not mean to hide in the wardrobe,because she knew that would only set the others talking again about the whole wretched business.But she did want to have one more look inside it；for by this time she was beginning to wonder herself whether Narnia and the Faun had not been a dream.The house was so large and complicated and full of hiding-places that she thought she would have time to have one look into the wardrobe and then hide somewhere else.But as soon as she reached it she heard steps in the passage outside,and then there was nothing for it but to jump into the wardrobe and hold the door closed behind her.She did not shut it properly because she knew that it is very silly to shut oneself into a wardrobe,even if it is not a magic one.

Now the steps she had heard were those of Edmund；and he came into the room just in time to see Lucy vanishing into the wardrobe.He at once decided to get into it himself – not because he thought it a particularly good place to hide but because he wanted to go on teasing her about her imaginary country.He opened the door.There were the coats hanging up as usual,and a smell of mothballs,and darkness and silence,and no sign of Lucy.“She thinks I'm Susan come to catch her,”said Edmund to himself,“and so she's keeping very quiet at the back.” He jumped in and shut the door,forgetting what a very foolish thing this is to do.Then he began feeling about for Lucy in the dark.He had expected to find her in a few seconds and was very surprised when he did not.He decided to open the door again and let in some light.But he could not find the door either.He didn't like this at all and began groping wildly in every direction；he even shouted out,“Lucy!Lu!Where are you?I know you're here.”

There was no answer and Edmund noticed that his own voice had a curious sound – not the sound you expect in a cupboard,but a kind of open-air sound.He also noticed that he was unexpectedly cold；and then he saw a light.

“Thank goodness,” said Edmund,“the door must have swung open of its own accord.” He forgot all about Lucy and went towards the light,which he thought was the open door of the wardrobe.But instead of finding himself stepping out into the spare room he found himself stepping out from the shadow of some thick dark fir trees into an open place in the middle of a wood.

There was crisp,dry snow under his feet and more snow lying on the branches of the trees.Overhead there was pale blue sky,the sort of sky one sees on a fine winter day in the morning.

Straight ahead of him he saw between the tree trunks the sun,just rising,very red and clear.Everything was perfectly still,as if he were the only living creature in that country.There was not even a robin or a squirrel among the trees,and the wood stretched as far as he could see in every direction.He shivered.

He now remembered that he had been looking for Lucy：and also how unpleasant he had been to her about her “imaginary country” which now turned out not to have been imaginary at all.He thought that she must be somewhere quite close and so he shouted,“Lucy!Lucy!I'm here too – Edmund.”

There was no answer.

“She's angry about all the things I've been saying lately,” thought Edmund.And though he did not like to admit that he had been wrong,he also did not much like being alone in this strange,cold,quiet place；so he shouted again：

“I say,Lu!I'm sorry I didn't believe you.I see now you were right all along.Do come out.Make it Pax.”

Still there was no answer.

“Just like a girl,” said Edmund to himself,“sulking 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 drawn by two reindeer.

The reindeer were about the size of Shetland ponies and their hair was so white that even the snow hardly looked white compared with them；their branching horns were gilded 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 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.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 and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head.Her face was white – not merely 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.

The sledge was a fine sight as it came sweeping towards Edmund with the bells jingling and the dwarf cracking his whip and the snow flying up on each side of it.

“Stop!” said the Lady,and the dwarf pulled the reindeer up so sharply that they almost sat down.Then they recovered themselves and stood champing their bits and blowing.In the frosty air the breath coming out of their nostrils looked like smoke.

“And what,pray,are you?” said the Lady,looking hard at Edmund.

“I'm – I'm – my name's Edmund,” said Edmund rather awkwardly.He did not like the way she looked at him.

The Lady frowned.“Is that how you address a queen?” she asked,looking sterner than ever.

“I beg your pardon,your Majesty,I didn't know,”said Edmund.

“Not know the Queen of Narnia?” cried she.“Ha!You shall know us better hereafter.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.”

CHAPTER 4

Turkish Delight

“But what are you?” said the Queen again.“Are you a great overgrown 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 by this time to understand what the question meant.

“I see you are an idiot,whatever else you may be,”said the Queen.“Answer me,once and for all,or I shall lose my patience.Are you human?”

“Yes,your Majesty,” said Edmund.

“And how,pray,did you come to enter my dominions?”

“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 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 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 round you and we will talk.”

Edmund did not like this arrangement at all but he dared not disobey；he stepped onto the sledge and sat at her feet,and she put a fold of her fur mantle round him and tucked 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.

The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as if it were made of copper.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.But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing sound and there stood a jewelled 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 the hot drink.It was something he had never tasted before,very sweet and foamy 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,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,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.

While he was eating,the Queen kept asking him questions.At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one's mouth full,but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could,and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat,and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive.She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters,and that one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there,and that no one except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia.She seemed especially interested in the fact that there were four of them,and kept on coming back to it.“You are sure there are just four of you?” she asked.“Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve,neither more nor less?” and Edmund,with his mouth full of Turkish Delight,kept on saying,“Yes,I told you that before,” and forgetting to call her “Your Majesty”,but she didn't seem to mind now.

At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more.Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking,for she knew,though Edmund did not,that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it,and would even,if they were allowed,go on eating it till they killed themselves.But she did not offer him any more.Instead,she said to him；

“Son of Adam,I should so much like to see your brother and your two sisters.Will you bring them to see me?”

“I'll try,” said Edmund,still looking at the empty box.

“Because,if you did come again – bringing them with you of course – I'd be able to give you some more Turkish Delight.I can't do it now,the magic will only work once.In my own house it would be another matter.”

“Why can't we go to your house now?” said Edmund.When he had first got on to the sledge he had been afraid that she might drive away with him to some unknown place from which he would not be able to get back；but he had forgotten about that fear now.

“It is a lovely place,my house,” said the Queen.“I am sure you would like it.There are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight,and what's more,I have no children of my own.I want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone.While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long；and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I've ever met.I think I would like to make you the Prince – some day,when you bring the others to visit me.”

“Why not now?” said Edmund.His face had become very red and his mouth and fingers were sticky.He did not look either clever or handsome,whatever the Queen might say.

“Oh,but if I took you there now,” said she,“I shouldn't see your brother and your sisters.I very much want to know your charming relations.You are to be the Prince and – later on – the King；that is understood.But you must have courtiers and nobles.I will make your brother a duke and your sisters duchesses.”

“There's nothing special about them,” said Edmund,“and anyway,I could always bring them some other time.”

“Ah,but once you were in my house,” said the Queen,“you might forget all about them.You would be enjoying yourself so much that you wouldn't want the bother of going to fetch them.No.You must go back to your own country now and come to me another day,with them,you understand.It is no good coming without them.”

“But I don't even know the way back to my own country,” pleaded Edmund.

“That's easy,” answered the Queen.“Do you see that lamp?” She pointed with her wand and Edmund turned and saw the same lamp-post under which Lucy had met the Faun.“Straight on,beyond that,is the way to the World of Men.And now look the other way” – here she pointed in the opposite direction – “and tell me if you can see two little hills rising above the trees.”

“I think I can,” said Edmund.

“Well,my house is between those two hills.So next time you come you have only to find the lamppost and look for those two hills and walk through the wood till you reach my house.But remember –you must bring the others with you.I might have to be very angry with you if you came alone.”

“I'll do my best,” said Edmund.

“And,by the way,” said the Queen,“you needn't tell them about me.It would be fun to keep it a secret between us two,wouldn't it?Make it a surprise for them.Just bring them along to the two hills – a clever boy like you will easily think of some excuse for doing that – and when you come to my house you could just say,'Let's see who lives here',or something like that.I am sure that would be best.If your sister has met one of the fauns,she may have heard strange stories about me – nasty stories that might make her afraid to come to me.Fauns will say anything,you know,and now—”

“Please,please,” said Edmund suddenly,“please couldn't I have just one piece of Turkish Delight to eat on the way home?”

“No,no,” said the Queen with a laugh,“you must wait till next time.” While she spoke,she signalled to the dwarf to drive on,but as the sledge swept away out of sight,the Queen waved to Edmund,calling out,“Next time!Next time!Don't forget.Come soon.”

Edmund was still staring after the sledge when he heard someone calling his own name,and looking round he saw Lucy coming towards him from another part of the wood.

“Oh,Edmund!” she cried.“So you've got in too!Isn't it wonderful,and now—”

“All right,” said Edmund,“I see you were right and it is a magic wardrobe after all.I'll say I'm sorry if you like.But where on earth have you been all this time?I've been looking for you everywhere.”

“If I'd known you had got in I'd have waited for you,” said Lucy,who was too happy and excited to notice how snappishly Edmund spoke or how flushed and strange his face was.“I've been having lunch with dear Mr Tumnus,the Faun,and he's very well and the White Witch has done nothing to him for letting me go,so he thinks she can't have found out and perhaps everything is going to be all right after all.”

“The White Witch?” said Edmund；“who's she?”

“She is a perfectly terrible person,” said Lucy.“She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all,and all the Fauns and Dryads and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals – at least all the good ones – simply hate her.And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things.And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia – always winter,but it never gets to Christmas.And she drives about on a sledge,drawn by reindeer,with her wand in her hand and a crown on her head.”

Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets,and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable.But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else.

“Who told you all that stuff about the White Witch?” he asked.

“Mr Tumnus,the Faun,” said Lucy.

“You can't always believe what Fauns say,” said Edmund,trying to sound as if he knew far more about them than Lucy.

“Who said so?” asked Lucy.

“Everyone knows it,” said Edmund；“ask anybody you like.But it's pretty poor sport standing here in the snow.Let's go home.”

“Yes,let's,” said Lucy.“Oh,Edmund,I am glad you've got in too.The others will have to believe in Narnia now that both of us have been there.What fun it will be!”

But Edmund secretly thought that it would not be as good fun for him as for her.He would have to admit that Lucy had been right,before all the others,and he felt sure the others would all be on the side of the Fauns and the animals；but he was already more than half on the side of the Witch.He did not know what he would say,or how he would keep his secret once they were all talking about Narnia.

By this time they had walked a good way.Then suddenly they felt coats around them instead of branches and the next moment they were both standing outside the wardrobe in the empty room.

“I say,” said Lucy,“you do look awful,Edmund.Don't you feel well?”

“I'm all right,” said Edmund,but this was not true.He was feeling very sick.

“Come on,then,” said Lucy,“let's find the others.What a lot we shall have to tell them.And what a lot of adventures we shall have now that we're all in it together.”

CHAPTER 5

Back on This Side of the Door

Because the game of hide-and-seek was still going on,it took Edmund and Lucy some time to find the others.But when at last they were all together(which happened in the long room,where the suit of armour was)Lucy burst out：

“Peter!Susan!It's all true.Edmund has seen it too.There is a country you can get to through the wardrobe.Edmund and I both got in.We met one another in there,in the wood.Go on,Edmund；tell them all about it.”

“What's all this about,Ed?” said Peter.

And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story.Up to that moment Edmund had been feeling sick,and sulky,and annoyed with Lucy for being right,but he hadn't made up his mind what to do.When Peter suddenly asked him the question he decided all at once to do the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of.He decided to let Lucy down.

“Tell us,Ed,” said Susan.

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy(there was really only a year's difference)and then a little snigger and said,“Oh,yes,Lucy and I have been playing – pretending that all her story about a country in the wardrobe is true.Just for fun,of course.There's nothing there really.”

Poor Lucy gave Edmund one look and rushed out of the room.

Edmund,who was becoming a nastier person every minute,thought that he had scored a great success,and went on at once to say,“There she goes again.What's the matter with her?That's the worst of young kids,they always—”

“Look here,” said Peter,turning on him savagely,“shut up!You've been perfectly beastly to Lu ever since she started this nonsense about the wardrobe,and now you go playing games with her about it and setting her off again.I believe you did it simply out of spite.”

“But it's all nonsense,” said Edmund,very taken aback.

“Of course it's all nonsense,” said Peter,“that's just the point.Lu was perfectly all right when we left home,but since we've been down here she seems to be either going queer in the head or else turning into a most frightful liar.But whichever it is,what good do you think you'll do by jeering and nagging at her one day and encouraging her the next?”

“I thought – I thought—” said Edmund；but he couldn't think of anything to say.

“You didn't think anything at all,” said Peter；“it's just spite.You've always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself；we've seen that at school before now.”

“Do stop it,” said Susan；“it won't make things any better having a row between you two.Let's go and find Lucy.”

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy,a good deal later,everyone could see that she had been crying.Nothing they could say to her made any difference.She stuck to her story and said：

“I don't care what you think,and I don't care what you say.You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like.I know I've met a Faun in there and – I wish I'd stayed there and you are all beasts,beasts.”

It was an unpleasant evening.Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasn't working as well as he had expected.The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind.They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor.“He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu,” said Peter；“it's getting beyond us.” So they went and knocked at the study door,and the Professor said,“Come in,” and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal.Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting,till they had finished the whole story.After that he said nothing for quite a long time.Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected：“How do you know,” he asked,“that your sister's story is not true?”

“Oh,but—” began Susan,and then stopped.Anyone could see from the old man's face that he was perfectly serious.Then Susan pulled herself together and said,“But Edmund said they had only been pretending.”

“That is a point,” said the Professor,“which certainly deserves consideration；very careful consideration.For instance – if you will excuse me for asking the question – does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable?I mean,which is the more truthful?”

“That's just the funny thing about it,sir,” said Peter.“Up till now,I'd have said Lucy every time.”

“And what do you think,my dear?” said the Professor,turning to Susan.

“Well,” said Susan,“in general,I'd say the same as Peter,but this couldn't be true – all this about the wood and the faun.”

“That is more than I know,” said the Professor,“and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing；a very serious thing indeed.”

“We were afraid it mightn't even be lying,” said Susan；“we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy.”

“Madness,you mean?” said the Professor quite coolly.“Oh,you can make your minds easy about that.One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad.”

“But then,” said Susan,and stopped.She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the professor and didn't know what to think.

“Logic!” said the Professor half to himself.“Why don't they teach logic at these schools?There are only three possibilities.Either your sister is telling lies,or she is mad,or she is telling the truth.You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad.For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up,we must assume that she is telling the truth.”

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was not making fun of them.

“But how could it be true,sir?” said Peter.

“Why do you say that?” asked the Professor.

“Well,for one thing,” said Peter,“if it was real why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe?I mean,there was nothing there when we looked；even Lucy didn't pretend there was.”

“What has that to do with it?” said the Professor.

“Well,sir,if things are real,they're there all the time.”

“Are they?” said the Professor；and Peter did not know quite what to say.

“But there was no time,” said Susan.“Lucy had had no time to have gone anywhere,even if there was such a place.She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room.It was less than a minute,and she pretended to have been away for hours.”

“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true,” said the Professor.“If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world(and I should warn you that this is a very strange house,and even I know very little about it)– if,I say,she had got into another world,I should not be at all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own；so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time.On the other hand,I don't think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves.If she had been pretending,she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story.”

“But do you really mean,sir,” said Peter,“that there could be other worlds – all over the place,just round the corner – like that?”

“Nothing is more probable,” said the Professor,taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them,while he muttered to himself,“I wonder what they do teach them at these schools.”

“But what are we to do?” said Susan.She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

“My dear young lady,” said the Professor,suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them,“there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying.”

“What's that?” said Susan.

“We might all try minding our own business,” said he.And that was the end of that conversation.

After this,things were a good deal better for Lucy.Peter saw to it that Edmund stopped jeering at her,and neither she nor anyone else felt inclined to talk about the wardrobe at all.It had become a rather alarming subject.And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end；but that was not to be.

This house of the Professor's – which even he knew so little about – was so old and famous that people from all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it.It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories；and well it might be,for all manner of stories were told about it,some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now.And when parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house,the Professor always gave them permission,and Mrs Macready,the housekeeper,showed them round,telling them about the pictures and the armour,and the rare books in the library.Mrs Macready was not fond of children,and did not like to be interrupted when she was telling visitors all the things she knew.She had said to Susan and Peter almost on the first morning(along with a good many other instructions),“And please remember you're to keep out of the way whenever I'm taking a party over the house.”

“Just as if any of us would want to waste half the morning trailing round with a crowd of strange grown-ups!” said Edmund,and the other three thought the same.That was how the adventures began for the third time.

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said,“Look out!Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her.”

“Sharp's the word,” and Peter,and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room.But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it,into the Library,they suddenly heard voices ahead of them,and realized that Mrs Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs– instead of up the front stairs as they had expected.And after that – whether it was that they lost their heads,or that Mrs Macready was trying to catch them,or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia – they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere,until at last Susan said,“Oh,bother those trippers!Here –let's go into the Wardrobe Room till they've passed.No one will follow us in there.” But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage – and then someone fumbling at the door – and then they saw the handle turning.

“Quick!” said Peter.“There's nowhere else,” and flung open the wardrobe.All four of them bundled inside it and sat there,panting,in the dark.Peter held the door closed but did not shut it；for,of course,he remembered,as every sensible person does,that you should never,never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

CHAPTER 6

Into the Forest

“Iwish the Macready would hurry up and take all these people away,” said Susan presently.“I'm getting horribly cramped.”

“And what a filthy smell of camphor!” said Edmund.

“I expect the pockets of these coats are full of it,”said Susan,“to keep away the moths.”

“There's something sticking into my back,”said Peter.

“And isn't it cold?” said Susan.

“Now that you mention it,it is cold,” said Peter,“and hang it all,it's wet too.What's the matter with this place?I'm sitting on something wet.It's getting wetter every minute.” He struggled to his feet.

“Let's get out,” said Edmund.“They've gone.”

“O-o-oh!” said Susan suddenly,and everyone asked her what was the matter.

“I'm sitting against a tree,” said Susan,“and look!It's getting light – over there.”

“By jove,you're right,” said Peter,“and look there– and there.It's trees all round.And this wet stuff is snow.Why,I do believe we've got into Lucy's wood after all.”

And now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day.Behind them were coats hanging on pegs,in front of them were snow-covered trees.

Peter turned at once to Lucy.

“I apologize for not believing you,” he said.“I'm sorry.Will you shake hands?”

“Of course,” said Lucy,and did.

“And now,” said Susan,“what do we do next?”

“Do?” said Peter.“Why,go and explore the wood,of course.”

“Ugh!” said Susan,stamping her feet.“It's pretty cold.What about putting on some of these coats?”

“They're not ours,” said Peter doubtfully.

“I am sure nobody would mind,” said Susan；“it isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house；we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe.”

“I never thought of that,Su,” said Peter.“Of course,now you put it that way,I see.No one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in the wardrobe where you found it.And I suppose this whole country is in the wardrobe.”

They immediately carried out Susan's very sensible plan.The coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on.But they all felt a good deal warmer and each thought the others looked better in their new get-up and more suitable to the landscape.

“We can pretend we are Arctic explorers,”said Lucy.

“This is going to be exciting enough without pretending,” said Peter,as he began leading the way forward into the forest.There were heavy,darkish clouds overhead and it looked as if there might be more snow before night.

“I say,” began Edmund presently,“oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left,that is,if we are aiming for the lamp-post?” He had forgotten for the moment that he must pretend never to have been in the wood before.The moment the words were out of his mouth he realized that he had given himself away.Everyone stopped；everyone stared at him.Peter whistled.

“So you really were here,” he said,“that time Lu said she'd met you in here – and you made out she was telling lies.”

There was a dead silence.“Well,of all the poisonous little beasts—” said Peter,and shrugged his shoulders and said no more.There seemed,indeed,no more to say,and presently the four resumed their journey；but Edmund was saying to himself,“I'll pay you all out for this,you pack of stuck-up,self-satisfied prigs.”

“Where are we going anyway?” said Susan,chiefly for the sake of changing the subject.

“I think Lu ought to be the leader,” said Peter；“goodness knows she deserves it.Where will you take us,Lu?”

“What about going to see Mr Tumnus?” said Lucy.“He's the nice Faun I told you about.”

Everyone agreed to this and off they went,walking briskly and stamping their feet.Lucy proved a good leader.At first she wondered whether she would be able to find the way,but she recognized an oddlooking tree in one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of Mr Tumnus's cave.But there a terrible surprise awaited them.

The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits.Inside,the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days.Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor,mixed with something black,which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire.Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out.The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Faun's father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.

“This is a pretty good wash-out,” said Edmund；“not much good coming here.”

“What is this?” said Peter,stooping down.He had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.

“Is there anything written on it?” asked Susan.

“Yes,I think there is,” answered Peter,“but I can't read it in this light.Let's get out into the open air.”

They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words：

The former occupant of these premises,the Faun Tumnus,is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis,Queen of Narnia,Chatelaine of Cair Paravel,Empress of the Lone Islands,etc.,also of comforting her said Majesty's enemies,harbouring spies and fraternizing with Humans.

signed MAUGRIM,Captain of the Secret Police,

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!

The children stared at each other.

“I don't know that I'm going to like this place after all,” said Susan.

“Who is this Queen,Lu?” said Peter.“Do you know anything about her?”

“She isn't a real queen at all,” answered Lucy；“she's a horrible witch,the White Witch.Everyone –all the wood people – hate her.She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas.”

“I – I wonder if there's any point in going on,”said Susan.“I mean,it doesn't seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won't be much fun either.And it's getting colder every minute,and we've brought nothing to eat.What about just going home?”

“Oh,but we can't,we can't,” said Lucy suddenly；“don't you see?We can't just go home,not after this.It is all on my account that the poor Faun has got into this trouble.He hid me from the Witch and showed me the way back.That's what it means by comforting the Queen's enemies and fraternizing with Humans.We simply must try to rescue him.”

“A lot we could do!” said Edmund,“when we haven't even got anything to eat!”

“Shut up – you!” said Peter,who was still very angry with Edmund.“What do you think,Susan?”

“I've a horrid feeling that Lu is right,” said Susan.“I don't want to go a step further and I wish we'd never come.But I think we must try to do something for Mr Whatever-his-name is – I mean the Faun.”

“That's what I feel too,” said Peter.“I'm worried about having no food with us.I'd vote for going back and getting something from the larder,only there doesn't seem to be any certainty of getting into this country again when once you've got out of it.I think we'll have to go on.”

“So do I,” said both the girls.

“If only we knew where the poor chap was imprisoned!” said Peter.

They were all still wondering what to do next,when Lucy said,“Look!There's a robin,with such a red breast.It's the first bird I've seen here.I say!–I wonder,can birds talk in Narnia?

It almost looks as if it wanted to say something to us.” Then she turned to the Robin and said,“Please,can you tell us where Tumnus the Faun has been taken to?” As she said this she took a step towards the bird.It at once flew away but only as far as to the next tree.There it perched and looked at them very hard as if it understood all they had been saying.Almost without noticing that they had done so,the four children went a step or two nearer to it.At this the Robin flew away again to the next tree and once more looked at them very hard.(You couldn't have found a robin with a redder chest or a brighter eye.)

“Do you know,” said Lucy,“I really believe he means us to follow him.”

“I've an idea he does,” said Susan.“What do you think,Peter?”

“Well,we might as well try it,” answered Peter.

The Robin appeared to understand the matter thoroughly.It kept going from tree to tree,always a few yards ahead of them,but always so near that they could easily follow it.In this way it led them on,slightly downhill.Wherever the Robin alighted a little shower of snow would fall off the branch.Presently the clouds parted overhead and the winter sun came out and the snow all around them grew dazzlingly bright.They had been travelling in this way for about half an hour,with the two girls in front,when Edmund said to Peter,“If you're not still too high and mighty to talk to me,I've something to say which you'd better listen to.”

“What is it?” asked Peter.

“Hush!Not so loud,” said Edmund；“there's no good frightening the girls.But have you realized what we're doing?”

“What?” said Peter,lowering his voice to a whisper.

“We're following a guide we know nothing about.How do we know which side that bird is on?Why shouldn't it be leading us into a trap?”

“That's a nasty idea.Still – a robin,you know.They're good birds in all the stories I've ever read.I'm sure a robin wouldn't be on the wrong side.”

“If it comes to that,which is the right side?How do we know that the fauns are in the right and the Queen(yes,I know we've been told she's a witch)is in the wrong?We don't really know anything about either.”

“The Faun saved Lucy.”

“He said he did.But how do we know?And there's another thing too.Has anyone the least idea of the way home from here?”

“Great Scott!” said Peter.“I hadn't thought of that.”

“And no chance of dinner either,” said Edmund.

CHAPTER 7

A Day with the Beavers

While the two boys were whispering behind,both the girls suddenly cried “Oh!” and stopped.

“The robin!” cried Lucy.“The robin.It's flown away.” And so it had – right out of sight.

“And now what are we to do?” said Edmund,giving Peter a look which was as much as to say,“What did I tell you?”

“Sh!Look!” said Susan.

“What?” said Peter.

“There's something moving among the trees over there to the left.”

They all stared as hard as they could,and no one felt very comfortable.

“There it goes again,” said Susan presently.

“I saw it that time too,” said Peter.“It's still there.It's just gone behind that big tree.”

“What is it?” asked Lucy,trying very hard not to sound nervous.

“Whatever it is,” said Peter,“it's dodging us.It's something that doesn't want to be seen.”

“Let's go home,” said Susan.And then,though nobody said it out loud,everyone suddenly realized the same fact that Edmund had whispered to Peter at the end of the last chapter.They were lost.

“What's it like?” said Lucy.

“It's – it's a kind of animal,” said Susan；and then,“Look!Look!Quick!There it is.”

They all saw it this time,a whiskered furry face which had looked out at them from behind a tree.But this time it didn't immediately draw back.Instead,the animal put its paw against its mouth just as humans put their finger on their lips when they are signalling to you to be quiet.Then it disappeared again.The children all stood holding their breath.

A moment later the stranger came out from behind the tree,glanced all round as if it were afraid someone was watching,said,“Hush”,made signs to them to join it in the thicker bit of wood where it was standing,and then once more disappeared.

“I know what it is,” said Peter；“it's a beaver.I saw the tail.”

“It wants us to go to it,” said Susan,“and it is warning us not to make a noise.”

“I know,” said Peter.“The question is,are we to go to it or not?What do you think,Lu?”

“I think it's a nice beaver,”said Lucy.

“Yes,but how do we know?” said Edmund.

“Shan't we have to risk it?” said Susan.“I mean,it's no good just standing here and I feel I want some dinner.”

At this moment the Beaver again popped its head out from behind the tree and beckoned earnestly to them.

“Come on,” said Peter,“let's give it a try.All keep close together.We ought to be a match for one beaver if it turns out to be an enemy.”

So the children all got close together and walked up to the tree and in behind it,and there,sure enough,they found the Beaver；but it still drew back,saying to them in a hoarse throaty whisper,“Further in,come further in.Right in here.We're not safe in the open!” Only when it had led them into a dark spot where four trees grew so close together that their boughs met and the brown earth and pine needles could be seen underfoot because no snow had been able to fall there,did it begin to talk to them.

“Are you the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve?” it said.

“We're some of them,” said Peter.

“S-s-s-sh!” said the Beaver.“Not so loud,please.We're not safe even here.”

“Why,who are you afraid of?” said Peter.“There's no one here but ourselves.”

“There are the trees,” said the Beaver.“They're always listening.Most of them are on our side,but there are trees that would betray us to her；you know who I mean,” and it nodded its head several times.

“If it comes to talking about sides,” said Edmund,“how do we know you're a friend?”

“Not meaning to be rude,Mr Beaver,” added Peter,“but you see,we're strangers.”

“Quite right,quite right,” said the Beaver.“Here is my token.” With these words it held up to them a little white object.They all looked at it in surprise,till suddenly Lucy said,“Oh,of course.It's my handkerchief – the one I gave to poor Mr Tumnus.”

“That's right,” said the Beaver.“Poor fellow,he got wind of the arrest before it actually happened and handed this over to me.He said that if anything happened to him I must meet you here and take you on to—” Here the Beaver's voice sank into silence and it gave one or two very mysterious nods.Then,signalling to the children to stand as close around it as they possibly could,so that their faces were actually tickled by its whiskers,it added in a low whisper –

“They say Aslan is on the move – perhaps has already landed.”

And now a very curious thing happened.None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do；but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different.Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don't understand but in the dream it feels as if it has some enormous meaning– either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words,which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.It was like that now.At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside.Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror.Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous.Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her.And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.

“And what about Mr Tumnus,” said Lucy；“where is he?”

“S-s-s-sh,” said the Beaver,“not here.I must bring you where we can have a real talk and also dinner.”

No one except Edmund felt any difficulty about trusting the Beaver now,and everyone,including Edmund,was very glad to hear the word “dinner”.They therefore all hurried along behind their new friend who led them at a surprisingly quick pace,and always in the thickest parts of the forest,for over an hour.Everyone was feeling very tired and very hungry when suddenly the trees began to get thinner in front of them and the ground to fall steeply downhill.A minute later they came out under the open sky(the sun was still shining)and found themselves looking down on a fine sight.

They were standing on the edge of a steep,narrow valley at the bottom of which ran – at least it would have been running if it hadn't been frozen – a fairly large river.Just below them a dam had been built across this river,and when they saw it everyone suddenly remembered that of course beavers are always making dams and felt quite sure that Mr Beaver had made this one.They also noticed that he now had a sort of modest expression on his face – the sort of look people have when you are visiting a garden they've made or reading a story they've written.So it was only common politeness when Susan said,“What a lovely dam!” And Mr Beaver didn't say,“Hush” this time but,“Merely a trifle!Merely a trifle!And it isn't really finished!”

Above the dam there was what ought to have been a deep pool but was now,of course,a level floor of dark green ice.And below the dam,much lower down,was more ice,but instead of being smooth this was all frozen into the foamy and wavy shapes in which the water had been rushing along at the very moment when the frost came.And where the water had been trickling over and spurting through the dam there was now a glittering wall of icicles,as if the side of the dam had been covered all over with flowers and wreaths and festoons of the purest sugar.And out in the middle,and partly on top of the dam was a funny little house shaped rather like an enormous beehive,and from a hole in the roof smoke was going up,so that when you saw it(especially if you were hungry)you at once thought of cooking and became hungrier than you were before.

That was what the others chiefly noticed,but Edmund noticed something else.A little lower down the river there was another small river which came down another small valley to join it.And looking up that valley,Edmund could see two small hills,and he was almost sure they were the two hills which the White Witch had pointed out to him when he parted from her at the lamp-post that other day.And then between them,he thought,must be her palace,only a mile off or less.And he thought about Turkish Delight and about being a King(“And I wonder how Peter will like that?” he asked himself)and horrible ideas came into his head.

“Here we are,” said Mr Beaver,“and it looks as if Mrs Beaver is expecting us.I'll lead the way.But be careful and don't slip.”

The top of the dam was wide enough to walk on,though not(for humans)a very nice place to walk because it was covered with ice,and though the frozen pool was level with it on one side,there was a nasty drop to the lower river on the other.Along this route Mr Beaver led them in single file right out to the middle where they could look a long way up the river and a long way down it.And when they had reached the middle they were at the door of the house.

“Here we are,Mrs Beaver,” said Mr Beaver,“I've found them.Here are the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve” – and they all went in.

The first thing Lucy noticed as she went in was a burring sound,and the first thing she saw was a kind-looking old shebeaver sitting in the corner with a thread in her mouth working busily at her sewing machine,and it was from it that the sound came.She stopped her work and got up as soon as the children came in.

“So you've come at last!” she said,holding out both her wrinkled old paws.“At last!To think that ever I should live to see this day!The potatoes are boiling and the kettle's singing and I daresay,Mr Beaver,you'll get us some fish.”

“That I will,” said Mr Beaver,and he went out of the house(Peter went with him),and across the ice of the deep pool to where he had a little hole in the ice which he kept open every day with his hatchet.They took a pail with them.Mr Beaver sat down quietly at the edge of the hole(he didn't seem to mind it being so chilly),looked hard into it,then suddenly shot in his paw,and before you could say Jack Robinson had whisked out a beautiful trout.Then he did it all over again until they had a fine catch of fish.

Meanwhile the girls were helping Mrs Beaver to fill the kettle and lay the table and cut the bread and put the plates in the oven to heat and draw a huge jug of beer for Mr Beaver from a barrel which stood in one corner of the house,and to put on the fryingpan and get the dripping hot.Lucy thought the Beavers had a very snug little home though it was not at all like Mr Tumnus's cave.There were no books or pictures,and instead of beds there were bunks,like on board ship,built into the wall.And there were hams and strings of onions hanging from the roof,and against the walls were gumboots and oilskins and hatchets and pairs of shears and spades and trowels and things for carrying mortar in and fishing-rods and fishing-nets and sacks.And the cloth on the table,though very clean,was very rough.

Just as the frying-pan was nicely hissing,Peter and Mr Beaver came in with the fish which Mr Beaver had already opened with his knife and cleaned out in the open air.You can think how good the newcaught fish smelled while they were frying and how the hungry children longed for them to be done and how very much hungrier still they had become before Mr Beaver said,“Now we're nearly ready.” Susan drained the potatoes and then put them all back in the empty pot to dry on the side of the range while Lucy was helping Mrs Beaver to dish up the trout,so that in a very few minutes everyone was drawing up their stools(it was all three-legged stools in the Beavers' house except for Mrs Beaver's own special rocking-chair beside the fire)and preparing to enjoy themselves.There was a jug of creamy milk for the children(Mr Beaver stuck to beer)and a great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes,and all the children thought –and I agree with them – that there's nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and has come out of the pan half a minute ago.And when they had finished the fish Mrs Beaver brought unexpectedly out of the oven a great and gloriously sticky marmalade roll,steaming hot,and at the same time moved the kettle onto the fire,so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured out.And when each person had got his(or her)cup of tea,each person shoved back his(or her)stool so as to be able to lean against the wall,and gave a long sigh of contentment.

“And now,” said Mr Beaver,pushing away his empty beer mug and pulling his cup of tea towards him,“if you'll just wait till I've got my pipe lit up and going nicely – why,now we can get to business.It's snowing again,” he added,cocking his eye at the window.“That's all the better,because it means we shan't have any visitors；and if anyone should have been trying to follow you,why he won't find any tracks.”

CHAPTER 8

What Happened After Dinner

“And now,” said Lucy,“do please tell us what's happened to Mr Tumnus.”

“Ah,that's bad,” said Mr Beaver,shaking his head.“That's a very,very bad business.There's no doubt he was taken off by the police.I got that from a bird who saw it done.”

“But where's he been taken to?” asked Lucy.

“Well,they were heading northwards when they were last seen,and we all know what that means.”

“No,we don't,” said Susan.Mr Beaver shook his head in a very gloomy fashion.

“I'm afraid it means they were taking him to her House,” he said.

“But what'll they do to him,Mr Beaver?”gasped Lucy.

“Well,” said Mr Beaver,“you can't exactly say for sure.But there's not many taken in there that ever comes out again.Statues.All full of statues they say it is – in the courtyard and up the stairs and in the hall.People she's turned” – he paused and shuddered– “turned into stone.”

“But,Mr Beaver,” said Lucy,“can't we – I mean,we must do something to save him.It's too dreadful and it's all on my account.”

“I don't doubt you'd save him if you could,dearie,” said Mrs Beaver,“but you've no chance of getting into that House against her will and ever coming out alive.”

“Couldn't we have some stratagem?” said Peter.“I mean,couldn't we dress up as something,or pretend to be – oh,pedlars or anything – or watch till she was gone out – or – oh,hang it all,there must be some way.This Faun saved my sister at his own risk,Mr Beaver.We can't just leave him to be – to be – to have that done to him.”

“It's no good,Son of Adam,” said Mr Beaver,“no good your trying,of all people.But now that Aslan is on the move—”

“Oh,yes!Tell us about Aslan!” said several voices at once；for once again that strange feeling – like the first signs of spring,like good news –had come over them.

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.

“Aslan?” said Mr Beaver.“Why,don't you know?He's the King.He's the Lord of the whole wood,but not often here,you understand.Never in my time or my father's time.But the word has reached us that he has come back.He is in Narnia at this moment.He'll settle the White Witch all right.It is he,not you,who will save Mr Tumnus.”

“She won't turn him into stone too?” said Edmund.

“Lord love you,Son of Adam,what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr Beaver with a great laugh.“Turn him into stone?If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it'll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her.No,no.He'll put all to rights as it says in an old rhyme in these parts：

Wrong will be right,when Aslan comes in sight,At the sound of his roar,sorrows will be no more,When he bares his teeth,winter meets its death,And when he shakes his mane,we shall have spring again.

You'll understand when you see him.”

“But shall we see him?” asked Susan.

“Why,Daughter of Eve,that's what I brought you here for.I'm to lead you where you shall meet him,”said Mr Beaver.

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man!” said Mr Beaver sternly.“Certainly not.I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea.Don't you know who is the King of Beasts?Aslan is a lion – the Lion,the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan.“I'd thought he was a man.Is he – quite safe?I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will,dearie,and no mistake,” said Mrs Beaver；“if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking,they're either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn't safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr Beaver；“don't you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you?Who said anything about safe?'Course he isn't safe.But he's good.He's the King,I tell you.”

“I'm longing to see him,” said Peter,“even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.”

“That's right,Son of Adam,” said Mr Beaver,bringing his paw down on the table with a crash that made all the cups and saucers rattle.“And so you shall.Word has been sent that you are to meet him,tomorrow if you can,at the Stone Table.”

“Where's that?” said Lucy.

“I'll show you,” said Mr Beaver.“It's down the river,a good step from here.I'll take you to it!”

“But meanwhile what about poor Mr Tumnus?”said Lucy.

“The quickest way you can help him is by going to meet Aslan,” said Mr Beaver.“Once he's with us,then we can begin doing things.Not that we don't need you too.For that's another of the old rhymes：

When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone

Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,

The evil time will be over and done.

So things must be drawing near their end now he's come and you've come.We've heard of Aslan coming into these parts before – long ago,nobody can say when.But there's never been any of your race here before.”

“That's what I don't understand,Mr Beaver,” said Peter.“I mean isn't the Witch herself human?”

“She'd like us to believe it,” said Mr Beaver,“and it's on that that she bases her claim to be Queen.But she's no Daughter of Eve.She comes of your father Adam's” – here Mr Beaver bowed – “your father Adam's first wife,her they called Lilith.And she was one of the Jinn.That's what she comes from on one side.And on the other she comes of the giants.No,no,there isn't a drop of real human blood in the Witch.”

“That's why she's bad all through,Mr Beaver,”said Mrs Beaver.

“True enough,Mrs Beaver,” replied he.“There may be two views about humans(meaning no offence to the present company),but there's no two views about things that look like humans and aren't.”

“I've known good Dwarfs,” said Mrs Beaver.

“So've I,now you come to speak of it,” said her husband,“but precious few,and they were the ones least like men.But in general,take my advice,when you meet anything that's going to be human and isn't yet,or used to be human once and isn't now,or ought to be human and isn't,you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.And that's why the Witch is always on the lookout for any humans in Narnia.She's been watching for you this many a year,and if she knew there were four of you she'd be more dangerous still.”

“What's that to do with it?” asked Peter.

“Because of another prophecy,” said Mr Beaver.“Down at Cair Paravel – that's the castle on the sea coast down at the mouth of this river which ought to be the capital of the whole country if all was as it should be – down at Cair Paravel there are four thrones and it's a saying in Narnia time out of mind that when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on those four thrones,then it will be the end not only of the White Witch's reign but of her life,and that is why we had to be so cautious as we came along,for if she knew about you four,your lives wouldn't be worth a shake of my whiskers!”

All the children had been attending so hard to what Mr Beaver was telling them that they had noticed nothing else for a long time.Then during the moment of silence that followed his last remark,Lucy suddenly said：

“I say – where's Edmund?”

There was a dreadful pause,and then everyone began asking,“Who saw him last?How long has he been missing?Is he outside?” and then all rushed to the door and looked out.The snow was falling thickly and steadily,the green ice of the pool had vanished under a thick white blanket,and from where the little house stood in the centre of the dam you could hardly see either bank.Out they went,plunging well over their ankles into the soft new snow,and went round the house in every direction.“Edmund!Edmund!” they called till they were hoarse.But the silently falling snow seemed to muffle their voices and there was not even an echo in answer.

“How perfectly dreadful!” said Susan as they at last came back in despair.“Oh,how I wish we'd never come.”

“What on earth are we to do,Mr Beaver?”said Peter.

“Do?” said Mr Beaver,who was already putting on his snow-boots.“Do?We must be off at once.We haven't a moment to spare!”

“We'd better divide into four search parties,” said Peter,“and all go in different directions.Whoever finds him must come back here at once and—”

“Search parties,Son of Adam?” said Mr Beaver；“what for?”

“Why,to look for Edmund,of course!”

“There's no point in looking for him,” said Mr Beaver.

“What do you mean?” said Susan.“He can't be far away yet.And we've got to find him.What do you mean when you say there's no use looking for him?”

“The reason there's no use looking,” said Mr Beaver,“is that we know already where he's gone!”Everyone stared in amazement.“Don't you understand?” said Mr Beaver.“He's gone to her,to the White Witch.He has betrayed us all.”

“Oh,surely – oh,really!” said Susan.“He can't have done that.”

“Can't he?” said Mr Beaver,looking very hard at the three children,and everything they wanted to say died on their lips,for each felt suddenly quite certain inside that this was exactly what Edmund had done.

“But will he know the way?” said Peter.

“Has he been in this country before?” asked Mr Beaver.“Has he ever been here alone?”

“Yes,” said Lucy,almost in a whisper.“I'm afraid he has.”

“And did he tell you what he'd done or who he'd met?”

“Well,no,he didn't,” said Lucy.

“Then mark my words,” said Mr Beaver,“he has already met the White Witch and joined her side,and been told where she lives.I didn't like to mention it before(he being your brother and all)but the moment I set eyes on that brother of yours I said to myself 'Treacherous'.He had the look of one who has been with the Witch and eaten her food.You can always tell them if you've lived long in Narnia；something about their eyes.”

“All the same,” said Peter in a rather choking sort of voice,“we'll still have to go and look for him.He is our brother after all,even if he is rather a little beast.And he's only a kid.”

“Go to the Witch's House?” said Mrs Beaver.“Don't you see that the only chance of saving either him or yourselves is to keep away from her?”

“How do you mean?” said Lucy.

“Why,all she wants is to get all four of you(she's thinking all the time of those four thrones at Cair Paravel).Once you were all four inside her House her job would be done – and there'd be four new statues in her collection before you'd had time to speak.But she'll keep him alive as long as he's the only one she's got,because she'll want to use him as a decoy；as bait to catch the rest of you with.”

“Oh,can no one help us?” wailed Lucy.

“Only Aslan,” said Mr Beaver.“We must go on and meet him.That's our only chance now.”

“It seems to me,my dears,” said Mrs Beaver,“that it is very important to know just when he slipped away.How much he can tell her depends on how much he heard.For instance,had we started talking of Aslan before he left?If not,then we may do very well,for she won't know that Aslan has come to Narnia,or that we are meeting him,and will be quite off her guard as far as that is concerned.”

“I don't remember his being here when we were talking about Aslan—” began Peter,but Lucy interrupted him.

“Oh yes,he was,” she said miserably；“don't you remember,it was he who asked whether the Witch couldn't turn Aslan into stone too?”

“So he did,by Jove,” said Peter；“just the sort of thing he would say,too!”

“Worse and worse,” said Mr Beaver,“and the next thing is this.Was he still here when I told you that the place for meeting Aslan was the Stone Table?”

And of course no one knew the answer to this question.

“Because,if he was,” continued Mr Beaver,“then she'll simply sledge down in that direction and get between us and the Stone Table and catch us on our way down.In fact we shall be cut off from Aslan.”

“But that isn't what she'll do first,” said Mrs Beaver,“not if I know her.The moment that Edmund tells her that we're all here she'll set out to catch us this very night,and if he's been gone about half an hour,she'll be here in about another twenty minutes.”

“You're right,Mrs Beaver,” said her husband,“we must all get away from here.There's not a moment to lose.”

CHAPTER 9

In the Witch's House

And now of course you want to know what had happened to Edmund.He had eaten his share of the dinner,but he hadn't really enjoyed it because he was thinking all the time about Turkish Delight –and there's nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food.And he had heard the conversation,and hadn't enjoyed it much either,because he kept on thinking that the others were taking no notice of him and trying to give him the cold shoulder.They weren't,but he imagined it.And then he had listened until Mr Beaver told them about Aslan and until he had heard the whole arrangement for meeting Aslan at the Stone Table.It was then that he began very quietly to edge himself under the curtain which hung over the door.For the mention of Aslan gave him a mysterious and horrible feeling just as it gave the others a mysterious and lovely feeling.

Just as Mr Beaver had been repeating the rhyme about Adam's flesh and Adam's bone Edmund had been very quietly turning the door-handle；and just before Mr Beaver had begun telling them that the White Witch wasn't really human at all but half a Jinn and half a giantess,Edmund had got outside into the snow and cautiously closed the door behind him.

You mustn't think that even now Edmund was quite so bad that he actually wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone.He did want Turkish Delight and to be a Prince(and later a King)and to pay Peter back for calling him a beast.As for what the Witch would do with the others,he didn't want her to be particularly nice to them – certainly not to put them on the same level as himself；but he managed to believe,or to pretend he believed,that she wouldn't do anything very bad to them.“Because,” he said to himself,“all these people who say nasty things about her are her enemies and probably half of it isn't true.She was jolly nice to me,anyway,much nicer than they are.I expect she is the rightful Queen really.Anyway,she'll be better than that awful Aslan!” At least,that was the excuse he made in his own mind for what he was doing.It wasn't a very good excuse,however,for deep down inside him he really knew that the White Witch was bad and cruel.

The first thing he realized,when he got outside and found the snow falling all round him,was that he had left his coat behind in the Beavers' house.And of course there was no chance of going back to get it now.The next thing he realized was that the daylight was almost gone,for it had been nearly three o'clock when they sat down to dinner and the winter days were short.He hadn't reckoned on this；but he had to make the best of it.So he turned up his collar and shuffled across the top of the dam(luckily it wasn't so slippery since the snow had fallen)to the far side of the river.

It was pretty bad when he reached the far side.It was growing darker every minute and what with that and the snowflakes swirling all round him he could hardly see three feet ahead.And then too there was no road.He kept slipping into deep drifts of snow,and skidding on frozen puddles,and tripping over fallen tree-trunks,and sliding down steep banks,and barking his shins against rocks,till he was wet and cold and bruised all over.The silence and the loneliness were dreadful.In fact I really think he might have given up the whole plan and gone back and owned up and made friends with the others,if he hadn't happened to say to himself,“When I'm King of Narnia the first thing I shall do will be to make some decent roads.” And of course that set him off thinking about being a King and all the other things he would do and this cheered him up a good deal.He had just settled in his mind what sort of palace he would have and how many cars and all about his private cinema and where the principal railways would run and what laws he would make against beavers and dams and was putting the finishing touches to some schemes for keeping Peter in his place,when the weather changed.First the snow stopped.Then a wind sprang up and it became freezing cold.Finally,the clouds rolled away and the moon came out.It was a full moon and,shining on all that snow,it made everything almost as bright as day – only the shadows were rather confusing.

He would never have found his way if the moon hadn't come out by the time he got to the other river– you remember he had seen(when they first arrived at the Beavers')a smaller river flowing into the great one lower down.He now reached this and turned to follow it up.But the little valley down which it came was much steeper and rockier than the one he had just left and much overgrown with bushes,so that he could not have managed it at all in the dark.Even as it was,he got wet through for he had to stoop under branches,and great loads of snow came sliding off on to his back.And every time this happened he thought more and more how he hated Peter – just as if all this had been Peter's fault.

But at last he came to a part where it was more level and the valley opened out.And there,on the other side of the river,quite close to him,in the middle of a little plain between two hills,he saw what must be the White Witch's House.And the moon was shining brighter than ever.The House was really a small castle.It seemed to be all towers；little towers with long pointed spires on them,sharp as needles.They looked like huge dunces' caps or sorcerers' caps.And they shone in the moonlight and their long shadows looked strange on the snow.Edmund began to be afraid of the House.

But it was too late to think of turning back now.He crossed the river on the ice and walked up to the House.There was nothing stirring；not the slightest sound anywhere.Even his own feet made no noise on the deep newly-fallen snow.He walked on and on,past corner after corner of the House,and past turret after turret to find the door.He had to go right round to the far side before he found it.It was a huge arch but the great iron gates stood wide open.

Edmund crept up to the arch and looked inside into the courtyard,and there he saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop beating.Just inside the gate,with the moonlight shining on it,stood an enormous lion crouched as if it were ready to spring.And Edmund stood in the shadow of the arch,afraid to go on and afraid to go back,with his knees knocking together.He stood there so long that his teeth would have been chattering with cold even if they had not been chattering with fear.How long this really lasted I don't know,but it seemed to Edmund to last for hours.

Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so still –for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes on it.Edmund now ventured a little nearer,still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could.He now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been looking at him at all.(“But supposing it turns its head?” thought Edmund.)In fact it was staring at something else – namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away.“Aha!” thought Edmund.“When it springs at the dwarf then will be my chance to escape.” But still the lion never moved,nor did the dwarf.And now at last Edmund remembered what the others had said about the White Witch turning people into stone.Perhaps this was only a stone lion.And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with snow.Of course it must be only a statue!No living animal would have let itself get covered with snow.Then very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst,Edmund ventured to go up to the lion.Even now he hardly dared touch it,but at last he put out his hand,very quickly,and did.It was cold stone.He had been frightened of a mere statue!

The relief which Edmund felt was so great that in spite of the cold he suddenly got warm all over right down to his toes,and at the same time there came into his head what seemed a perfectly lovely idea.“Probably,” he thought,“this is the great lion Aslan that they were all talking about.She's caught him already and turned him into stone.So that's the end of all their fine ideas about him!Pooh!Who's afraid of Aslan?”

And he stood there gloating over the stone lion,and presently he did something very silly and childish.He took a stump of lead pencil out of his pocket and scribbled a moustache on the lion's upper lip and then a pair of spectacles on its eyes.Then he said,“Yah!Silly old Aslan!How do you like being a stone?You thought yourself mighty fine,didn't you?” But in spite of the scribbles on it the face of the great stone beast still looked so terrible,and sad,and noble,staring up in the moonlight,that Edmund didn't really get any fun out of jeering at it.He turned away and began to cross the courtyard.

As he got into the middle of it he saw that there were dozens of statues all about – standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chess-board when it is halfway through the game.There were stone satyrs,and stone wolves,and bears and foxes and cat-a-mountains of stone.There were lovely stone shapes that looked like women but who were really the spirits of trees.There was the great shape of a centaur and a winged horse and a long lithe creature that Edmund took to be a dragon.They all looked so strange standing there perfectly life-like and also perfectly still,in the bright cold moonlight,that it was eerie work crossing the courtyard.Right in the very middle stood a huge shape like a man,but as tall as a tree,with a fierce face and a shaggy beard and a great club in its right hand.Even though he knew that it was only a stone giant and not a live one,Edmund did not like going past it.

He now saw that there was a dim light showing from a doorway on the far side of the courtyard.He went to it；there was a flight of stone steps going up to an open door.Edmund went up them.Across the threshold lay a great wolf.

“It's all right,it's all right,” he kept saying to himself；“it's only a stone wolf.It can't hurt me,” and he raised his leg to step over it.Instantly the huge creature rose,with all the hair bristling along its back,opened a great,red mouth and said in a growling voice：

“Who's there?Who's there?Stand still,stranger,and tell me who you are.”

“If you please,sir,” said Edmund,trembling so that he could hardly speak,“my name is Edmund,and I'm the Son of Adam that her Majesty met in the wood the other day,and I've come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in Narnia – quite close,in the Beavers' house.She – she wanted to see them.”

“I will tell her Majesty,” said the Wolf.“Meanwhile,stand still on the threshold,as you value your life.” Then it vanished into the house.

Edmund stood and waited,his fingers aching with cold and his heart pounding in his chest,and presently the great wolf,Maugrim,the Chief of the Witch's Secret Police,came bounding back and said,“Come in!Come in!Fortunate favourite of the Queen – or else not so fortunate.”

And Edmund went in,taking great care not to tread on the Wolf's paws.

He found himself in a long gloomy hall with many pillars,full,as the courtyard had been,of statues.The one nearest the door was a little faun with a very sad expression on its face,and Edmund couldn't help wondering if this might be Lucy's friend.The only light came from a single lamp and close beside this sat the White Witch.

“I'm come,your Majesty,” said Edmund,rushing eagerly forward.

“How dare you come alone?” said the Witch in a terrible voice.“Did I not tell you to bring the others with you?”

“Please,your Majesty,” said Edmund,“I've done the best I can.I've brought them quite close.They're in the little house on top of the dam just up the river– with Mr and Mrs Beaver.”

A slow cruel smile came over the Witch's face.

“Is this all your news?” she asked.

“No,your Majesty,” said Edmund,and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the Beavers' house.

“What!Aslan?” cried the Queen.“Aslan!Is this true?If I find you have lied to me—”

“Please,I'm only repeating what they said,”stammered Edmund.

But the Queen,who was no longer attending to him,clapped her hands.Instantly the same dwarf whom Edmund had seen with her before appeared.

“Make ready our sledge,” ordered the Witch,“and use the harness without bells.”

CHAPTER 10

The Spell Begins to Break

Now we must go back to Mr and Mrs Beaver and the three other children.As soon as Mr Beaver said,“There's no time to lose,” everyone began bundling themselves into coats,except Mrs Beaver,who started picking up sacks and laying them on the table and said：“Now,Mr Beaver,just reach down that ham.And here's a packet of tea,and there's sugar,and some matches.And if someone will get two or three loaves out of the crock over there in the corner.”

“What are you doing,Mrs Beaver?” exclaimed Susan.

“Packing a load for each of us,dearie,” said Mrs Beaver very coolly.“You didn't think we'd set out on a journey with nothing to eat,did you?”

“But we haven't time!” said Susan,buttoning the collar of her coat.“She may be here any minute.”

“That's what I say,” chimed in Mr Beaver.

“Get along with you all,” said his wife.“Think it over,Mr Beaver.She can't be here for quarter of an hour at least.”

“But don't we want as big a start as we can possibly get,” said Peter,“if we're to reach the Stone Table before her?”

“You've got to remember that,Mrs Beaver,” said Susan.“As soon as she has looked in here and finds we're gone she'll be off at top speed.”

“That she will,” said Mrs Beaver.“But we can't get there before her whatever we do,for she'll be on a sledge and we'll be walking.”

“Then – have we no hope?” said Susan.

“Now don't you get fussing,there's a dear,” said Mrs Beaver,“but just get half a dozen clean handkerchiefs out of the drawer.'Course we've got a hope.We can't get there before her but we can keep under cover and go by ways she won't expect and perhaps we'll get through.”

“That's true enough,Mrs Beaver,” said her husband.“But it's time we were out of this.”

“And don't you start fussing either,Mr Beaver,”said his wife.“There.That's better.There's five loads and the smallest for the smallest of us：that's you,my dear,” she added,looking at Lucy.

“Oh,do please come on,” said Lucy.“Well,I'm nearly ready now,” answered Mrs Beaver at last,allowing her husband to help her into her snow-boots.“I suppose the sewing machine's too heavy to bring?”

“Yes.It is,”said Mr Beaver.“A great deal too heavy.And you don't think you'll be able to use it while we're on the run,I suppose?”

“I can't abide the thought of that Witch fiddling with it,” said Mrs Beaver,“and breaking it or stealing it,as likely as not.”

“Oh,please,please,please,do hurry!” said the three children.And so at last they all got outside and Mr Beaver locked the door(“It'll delay her a bit,” he said)and they set off,all carrying their loads over their shoulders.

The snow had stopped and the moon had come out when they began their journey.They went in single file – first Mr Beaver,then Lucy,then Peter,then Susan,and Mrs Beaver last of all.Mr Beaver led them across the dam and on to the right bank of the river and then along a very rough sort of path among the trees right down by the river-bank.The sides of the valley,shining in the moonlight,towered up far above them on either side.“Best keep down here as much as possible,” he said.“She'll have to keep to the top,for you couldn't bring a sledge down here.”

It would have been a pretty enough scene to look at it through a window from a comfortable armchair；and even as things were,Lucy enjoyed it at first.But as they went on walking and walking – and walking – and as the sack she was carrying felt heavier and heavier,she began to wonder how she was going to keep up at all.And she stopped looking at the dazzling brightness of the frozen river with all its waterfalls of ice and at the white masses of the tree-tops and the great glaring moon and the countless stars and could only watch the little short legs of Mr Beaver going pad-pad-pad-pad through the snow in front of her as if they were never going to stop.Then the moon disappeared and the snow began to fall once more.And at last Lucy was so tired that she was almost asleep and walking at the same time when suddenly she found that Mr Beaver had turned away from the river-bank to the right and was leading them steeply uphill into the very thickest bushes.And then as she came fully awake she found that Mr Beaver was just vanishing into a little hole in the bank which had been almost hidden under the bushes until you were quite on top of it.In fact,by the time she realized what was happening,only his short flat tail was showing.

Lucy immediately stooped down and crawled in after him.Then she heard noises of scrambling and puffing and panting behind her and in a moment all five of them were inside.

“Wherever is this?” said Peter's voice,sounding tired and pale in the darkness.(I hope you know what I mean by a voice sounding pale.)

“It's an old hiding-place for beavers in bad times,”said Mr Beaver,“and a great secret.It's not much of a place but we must get a few hours' sleep.”

“If you hadn't all been in such a plaguey fuss when we were starting,I'd have brought some pillows,”said Mrs Beaver.

It wasn't nearly such a nice cave as Mr Tumnus's,Lucy thought – just a hole in the ground but dry and earthy.It was very small so that when they all lay down they were all a bundle of clothes together,and what with that and being warmed up by their long walk they were really rather snug.If only the floor of the cave had been a little smoother!Then Mrs Beaver handed round in the dark a little flask out of which everyone drank something – it made one cough and splutter a little and stung the throat,but it also made you feel deliciously warm after you'd swallowed it –and everyone went straight to sleep.

It seemed to Lucy only the next minute(though really it was hours and hours later)when she woke up feeling a little cold and dreadfully stiff and thinking how she would like a hot bath.Then she felt a set of long whiskers tickling her cheek and saw the cold daylight coming in through the mouth of the cave.But immediately after that she was very wide awake indeed,and so was everyone else.In fact they were all sitting up with their mouths and eyes wide open listening to a sound which was the very sound they'd all been thinking of(and sometimes imagining they heard)during their walk last night.It was a sound of jingling bells.

Mr Beaver was out of the cave like a flash the moment he heard it.Perhaps you think,as Lucy thought for a moment,that this was a very silly thing to do?But it was really a very sensible one.He knew he could scramble to the top of the bank among bushes and brambles without being seen；and he wanted above all things to see which way the Witch's sledge went.The others all sat in the cave waiting and wondering.They waited nearly five minutes.Then they heard something that frightened them very much.They heard voices.“Oh,” thought Lucy,“he's been seen.She's caught him!” Great was their surprise when a little later,they heard Mr Beaver's voice calling to them from just outside the cave.

“It's all right,” he was shouting.“Come out,Mrs Beaver.Come out,Sons and Daughters of Adam.It's all right!It isn't Her!” This was bad grammar of course,but that is how beavers talk when they are excited；I mean,in Narnia – in our world they usually don't talk at all.

So Mrs Beaver and the children came bundling out of the cave,all blinking in the daylight,and with earth all over them,and looking very frowsty and unbrushed and uncombed and with the sleep in their eyes.

“Come on!” cried Mr Beaver,who was almost dancing with delight.“Come and see!This is a nasty knock for the Witch!It looks as if her power is already crumbling.”

“What do you mean,Mr Beaver?” panted Peter as they all scrambled up the steep bank of the valley together.

“Didn't I tell you,” answered Mr Beaver,“that she'd made it always winter and never Christmas?Didn't I tell you?Well,just come and see!”

And then they were all at the top and did see.

It was a sledge,and it was reindeer with bells on their harness.But they were far bigger than the Witch's reindeer,and they were not white but brown.And on the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him.He was a huge man in a bright red robe(bright as hollyberries)with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest.Everyone knew him because,though you see people of his sort only in Narnia,you see pictures of them and hear them talked about even in our world – the world on this side of the wardrobe door.But when you really see them in Narnia it is rather different.Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly.But now that the children actually stood looking at him they didn't find it quite like that.He was so big,and so glad,and so real,that they all became quite still.They felt very glad,but also solemn.

“I've come at last,” said he.“She has kept me out for a long time,but I have got in at last.Aslan is on the move.The Witch's magic is weakening.”

And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.

“And now,” said Father Christmas,“for your presents.There is a new and better sewing machine for you,Mrs Beaver.I will drop it in your house as I pass.”

“If you please,sir,” said Mrs Beaver,making a curtsey.“It's locked up.”

“Locks and bolts make no difference to me,” said Father Christmas.“And as for you,Mr Beaver,when you get home you will find your dam finished and mended and all the leaks stopped and a new sluicegate fitted.”

Mr Beaver was so pleased that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn't say anything at all.

“Peter,Adam's Son,” said Father Christmas.

“Here,sir,” said Peter.

“These are your presents,” was the answer,“and they are tools,not toys.The time to use them is perhaps near at hand.Bear them well.” With these words he handed to Peter a shield and a sword.The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion,as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it.The hilt of the sword was of gold and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed,and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use.Peter was silent and solemn as he received these gifts,for he felt they were a very serious kind of present.

“Susan,Eve's Daughter,” said Father Christmas.“These are for you,” and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn.“You must use the bow only in great need,” he said,“for I do not mean you to fight in the battle.It does not easily miss.And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it,then,wherever you are,I think help of some kind will come to you.”

Last of all he said,“Lucy,Eve's Daughter,” and Lucy came forward.He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass(but people said afterwards that it was made of diamond)and a small dagger.“In this bottle,” he said,“there is a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun.If you or any of your friends is hurt,a few drops of this will restore them.And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need.For you also are not to be in the battle.”

“Why,sir?” said Lucy.“I think – I don't know –but I think I could be brave enough.”

“That is not the point,” he said.“But battles are ugly when women fight.And now” – here he suddenly looked less grave – “here is something for the moment for you all!” and he brought out(I suppose from the big bag at his back,but nobody quite saw him do it)a large tray containing five cups and saucers,a bowl of lump sugar,a jug of cream,and a great big teapot all sizzling and piping hot.Then he cried out,“Merry Christmas!Long live the true King!” and cracked his whip,and he and the reindeer and the sledge and all were out of sight before anyone realized that they had started.

Peter had just drawn his sword out of its sheath and was showing it to Mr Beaver,when Mrs Beaver said：

“Now then,now then!Don't stand talking there till the tea's got cold.Just like men.Come and help to carry the tray down and we'll have breakfast.What a mercy I thought of bringing the bread-knife.”

So down the steep bank they went and back to the cave,and Mr Beaver cut some of the bread and ham into sandwiches and Mrs Beaver poured out the tea and everyone enjoyed themselves.But long before they had finished enjoying themselves Mr Beaver said,“Time to be moving on now.”

CHAPTER 11

Aslan is Nearer

Edmund meanwhile had been having a most disappointing time.When the Dwarf had gone to get the sledge ready he expected that the Witch would start being nice to him,as she had been at their last meeting.But she said nothing at all.And when at last Edmund plucked up his courage to say,“Please,your Majesty,could I have some Turkish Delight?You – you – said—” she answered,“Silence,fool!” Then she appeared to change her mind and said,as if to herself,“And yet it will not do to have the brat fainting on the way,” and once more clapped her hands.Another dwarf appeared.

“Bring the human creature food and drink,”she said.

The dwarf went away and presently returned bringing an iron bowl with some water in it and an iron plate with a hunk of dry bread on it.He grinned in a repulsive manner as he set them down on the floor beside Edmund and said：

“Turkish Delight for the little Prince.Ha!Ha!Ha!”

“Take it away,”said Edmund sulkily.“I don't want dry bread.” But the Witch suddenly turned on him with such a terrible expression on her face that he apologized and began to nibble at the bread,though it was so stale he could hardly get it down.

“You may be glad enough of it before you taste bread again,” said the Witch.

While he was still chewing away,the first dwarf came back and announced that the sledge was ready.The White Witch rose and went out,ordering Edmund to go with her.The snow was again falling as they came into the courtyard,but she took no notice of that and made Edmund sit beside her on the sledge.But before they drove off she called Maugrim and he came bounding like an enormous dog to the side of the sledge.

“Take with you the swiftest of your wolves and go at once to the house of the Beavers,” said the Witch,“and kill whatever you find there.If they are already gone,then make all speed to the Stone Table,but do not be seen.Wait for me there in hiding.I meanwhile must go many miles to the West before I find a place where I can drive across the river.You may overtake these humans before they reach the Stone Table.You will know what to do if you find them!”

“I hear and obey,O Queen,” growled the Wolf,and immediately he shot away into the snow and darkness,as quickly as a horse can gallop.In a few minutes he had called another wolf and was with him down on the dam sniffing at the Beavers' house.But of course they found it empty.It would have been a dreadful thing for the Beavers and the children if the night had remained fine,for the wolves would then have been able to follow their trail – and ten to one would have overtaken them before they had got to the cave.But now that the snow had begun again the scent was cold and even the footprints were covered up.

Meanwhile the dwarf whipped up the reindeer,and the Witch and Edmund drove out under the archway and on and away into the darkness and the cold.This was a terrible journey for Edmund,who had no coat.Before they had been going quarter of an hour all the front of him was covered with snow– he soon stopped trying to shake it off because,as quickly as he did that,a new lot gathered,and he was so tired.Soon he was wet to the skin.And oh,how miserable he was!It didn't look now as if the Witch intended to make him a King.All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded silly to him now.He would have given anything to meet the others at this moment – even Peter!The only way to comfort himself now was to try to believe that the whole thing was a dream and that he might wake up at any moment.And as they went on,hour after hour,it did come to seem like a dream.

This lasted longer than I could describe even if I wrote pages and pages about it.But I will skip on to the time when the snow had stopped and the morning had come and they were racing along in the daylight.And still they went on and on,with no sound but the everlasting swish of the snow and the creaking of the reindeer's harness.And then at last the Witch said,“What have we here?Stop!” and they did.

How Edmund hoped she was going to say something about breakfast!But she had stopped for quite a different reason.A little way off at the foot of a tree sat a merry party,a squirrel and his wife with their children and two satyrs and a dwarf and an old dog-fox,all on stools round a table.Edmund couldn't quite see what they were eating,but it smelled lovely and there seemed to be decorations of holly and he wasn't at all sure that he didn't see something like a plum pudding.At the moment when the sledge stopped,the Fox,who was obviously the oldest person present,had just risen to its feet,holding a glass in its right paw as if it was going to say something.But when the whole party saw the sledge stopping and who was in it,all the gaiety went out of their faces.The father squirrel stopped eating with his fork halfway to his mouth and one of the satyrs stopped with its fork actually in its mouth,and the baby squirrels squeaked with terror.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked the Witch Queen.Nobody answered.

“Speak,vermin!” she said again.“Or do you want my dwarf to find you a tongue with his whip?What is the meaning of all this gluttony,this waste,this self-indulgence?Where did you get all these things?”

“Please,your Majesty,” said the Fox,“we were given them.And if I might make so bold as to drink your Majesty's very good health—”

“Who gave them to you?” said the Witch.

“F-F-F-Father Christmas,” stammered the Fox.

“What?” roared the Witch,springing from the sledge and taking a few strides nearer to the terrified animals.“He has not been here!He cannot have been here!How dare you – but no.Say you have been lying and you shall even now be forgiven.”

At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely.

“He has – he has – he has!” it squeaked,beating its little spoon on the table.

Edmund saw the Witch bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek.Then she raised her wand.

“Oh,don't,don't,please don't,” shouted Edmund,but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand and instantly where the merry party had been there were only statues of creatures(one with its stone fork fixed for ever halfway to its stone mouth)seated around a stone table on which there were stone plates and a stone plum pudding.

“As for you,” said the Witch,giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge,“let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors.Drive on!” And Edmund,for the first time in this story,felt sorry for someone besides himself.It seemed so pitiful to think of those little stone figures sitting there all the silent days and all the dark nights,year after year,till the moss grew on them and at last even their faces crumbled away.

Now they were steadily racing on again.And soon Edmund noticed that the snow which splashed against them as they rushed through it was much wetter than it had been all last night.At the same time he noticed that he was feeling much less cold.It was also becoming foggy.In fact every minute it grew foggier and warmer.And the sledge was not running nearly as well as it had been running up till now.At first he thought this was because the reindeer were tired,but soon he saw that that couldn't be the real reason.The sledge jerked,and skidded and kept on jolting as if it had struck against stones.And however the dwarf whipped the poor reindeer the sledge went slower and slower.There also seemed to be a curious noise all round them,but the noise of their driving and jolting and the dwarf's shouting at the reindeer prevented Edmund from hearing what it was,until suddenly the sledge stuck so fast that it wouldn't go on at all.When that happened there was a moment's silence.And in that silence Edmund could at last listen to the other noise properly.A strange,sweet,rustling,chattering noise – and yet not so strange,for he'd heard it before – if only he could remember where!Then all at once he did remember.It was the noise of running water.All round them though out of sight,there were streams,chattering,murmuring,bubbling,splashing and even(in the distance)roaring.And his heart gave a great leap(though he hardly knew why)when he realized that the frost was over.And much nearer there was a drip-drip-drip from the branches of all the trees.And then,as he looked at one tree he saw a great load of snow slide off it and for the first time since he had entered Narnia he saw the dark green of a fir tree.But he hadn't time to listen or watch any longer,for the Witch said：

“Don't sit staring,fool!Get out and help.”

And of course Edmund had to obey.He stepped out into the snow – but it was really only slush by now – and began helping the dwarf to get the sledge out of the muddy hole it had got into.They got it out in the end,and by being very cruel to the reindeer the dwarf managed to get it on the move again,and they drove a little further.And now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction.Unless you have looked at a world of snow as long as Edmund had been looking at it,you will hardly be able to imagine what a relief those green patches were after the endless white.Then the sledge stopped again.

“It's no good,your Majesty,” said the dwarf.“We can't sledge in this thaw.”

“Then we must walk,” said the Witch.

“We shall never overtake them walking,” growled the dwarf.“Not with the start they've got.”

“Are you my councillor or my slave?” said the Witch.“Do as you're told.Tie the hands of the human creature behind it and keep hold of the end of the rope.And take your whip.And cut the harness of the reindeer；they'll find their own way home.”

The dwarf obeyed,and in a few minutes Edmund found himself being forced to walk as fast as he could with his hands tied behind him.He kept on slipping in the slush and mud and wet grass,and every time he slipped,the dwarf gave him a curse and sometimes a flick with the whip.The Witch walked behind the dwarf and kept on saying,“Faster!Faster!”

Every moment the patches of green grew bigger and the patches of snow grew smaller.Every moment more and more of the trees shook off their robes of snow.Soon,wherever you looked,instead of white shapes you saw the dark green of firs or the black prickly branches of bare oaks and beeches and elms.Then the mist turned from white to gold and presently cleared away altogether.Shafts of delicious sunlight struck down on to the forest floor and overhead you could see a blue sky between the tree tops.

Soon there were more wonderful things happening.Coming suddenly round a corner into a glade of silver birch trees Edmund saw the ground covered in all directions with little yellow flowers –celandines.The noise of water grew louder.Presently they actually crossed a stream.Beyond it they found snowdrops growing.

“Mind your own business!” said the dwarf when he saw that Edmund had turned his head to look at them；and he gave the rope a vicious jerk.

But of course this didn't prevent Edmund from seeing.Only five minutes later he noticed a dozen crocuses growing round the foot of an old tree – gold and purple and white.Then came a sound even more delicious than the sound of the water.Close beside the path they were following,a bird suddenly chirped from the branch of a tree.It was answered by the chuckle of another bird a little further off.And then,as if that had been a signal,there was chattering and chirruping in every direction,and then a moment of full song,and within five minutes the whole wood was ringing with birds' music,and wherever Edmund's eyes turned he saw birds alighting on branches,or sailing overhead or chasing one another or having their little quarrels or tidying up their feathers with their beaks.

“Faster!Faster!” said the Witch.

There was no trace of the fog now.The sky became bluer and bluer,and now there were white clouds hurrying across it from time to time.In the wide glades there were primroses.A light breeze sprang up which scattered drops of moisture from the swaying branches and carried cool,delicious scents against the faces of the travellers.The trees began to come fully alive.The larches and birches were covered with green,the laburnums with gold.Soon the beech trees had put forth their delicate,transparent leaves.As the travellers walked under them the light also became green.A bee buzzed across their path.

“This is no thaw,” said the dwarf,suddenly stopping.“This is Spring.What are we to do?Your winter has been destroyed,I tell you!This is Aslan's doing.”

“If either of you mention that name again,” said the Witch,“he shall instantly be killed.”

CHAPTER 12

Peter's First Battle

While the dwarf and the White Witch were saying this,miles away the Beavers and the children were walking on hour after hour into what seemed a delicious dream.Long ago they had left the coats behind them.And by now they had even stopped saying to one another,“Look!There's a kingfisher,” or,“I say,bluebells!” or,“What was that lovely smell?” or,“Just listen to that thrush!” They walked on in silence drinking it all in,passing through patches of warm sunlight into cool,green thickets and out again into wide mossy glades where tall elms raised the leafy roof far overhead,and then into dense masses of flowering currant and among hawthorn bushes where the sweet smell was almost overpowering.

They had been just as surprised as Edmund when they saw the winter vanishing and the whole wood passing in a few hours or so from January to May.They hadn't even known for certain(as the Witch did)that this was what would happen when Aslan came to Narnia.But they all knew that it was her spells which had produced the endless winter；and therefore they all knew when this magic spring began that something had gone wrong,and badly wrong,with the Witch's schemes.And after the thaw had been going on for some time they all realized that the Witch would no longer be able to use her sledge.After that they didn't hurry so much and they allowed themselves more rests and longer ones.They were pretty tired by now of course；but not what I'd call bitterly tired – only slow and feeling very dreamy and quiet inside as one does when one is coming to the end of a long day in the open.Susan had a slight blister on one heel.

They had left the course of the big river some time ago；for one had to turn a little to the right(that meant a little to the south)to reach the place of the Stone Table.Even if this had not been their way they couldn't have kept to the river valley once the thaw began,for with all that melting snow the river was soon in flood– a wonderful,roaring,thundering yellow flood – and their path would have been under water.

And now the sun got low and the light got redder and the shadows got longer and the flowers began to think about closing.

“Not long now,” said Mr Beaver,and began leading them uphill across some very deep,springy moss(it felt nice under their tired feet)in a place where only tall trees grew,very wide apart.The climb,coming at the end of the long day,made them all pant and blow.And just as Lucy was wondering whether she could really get to the top without another long rest,suddenly they were at the top.And this is what they saw.

They were on a green open space from which you could look down on the forest spreading as far as one could see in every direction – except right ahead.There,far to the East,was something twinkling and moving.“By gum!” whispered Peter to Susan.“The sea!” In the very middle of this open hill-top was the Stone Table.It was a great grim slab of grey stone supported on four upright stones.It looked very old；and it was cut all over with strange lines and figures that might be the letters of an unknown language.They gave you a curious feeling when you looked at them.The next thing they saw was a pavilion pitched on one side of the open place.A wonderful pavilion it was – and especially now when the light of the setting sun fell upon it – with sides of what looked like yellow silk and cords of crimson and tent-pegs of ivory；and high above it on a pole a banner which bore a red rampant lion fluttering in the breeze which was blowing in their faces from the far-off sea.While they were looking at this they heard a sound of music on their right；and turning in that direction they saw what they had come to see.

Aslan stood in the centre of a crowd of creatures who had grouped themselves round him in the shape of a half-moon.There were Tree-Women there and Well-Women(Dryads and Naiads as they used to be called in our world)who had stringed instruments；it was they who had made the music.There were four great centaurs.The horse part of them was like huge English farm horses,and the man part was like stern but beautiful giants.There was also a unicorn,and a bull with the head of a man,and a pelican,and an eagle,and a great Dog.And next to Aslan stood two leopards of whom one carried his crown and the other his standard.

But as for Aslan himself,the Beavers and the children didn't know what to do or say when they saw him.People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time.If the children had ever thought so,they were cured of it now.For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great,royal,solemn,overwhelming eyes；and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly.

“Go on,” whispered Mr Beaver.

“No,” whispered Peter,“you first.”

“No,Sons of Adam before animals,” whispered Mr Beaver back again.

“Susan,” whispered Peter.“What about you?Ladies first.”

“No,you're the eldest,” whispered Susan.And of course the longer they went on doing this the more awkward they felt.Then at last Peter realized that it was up to him.He drew his sword and raised it to the salute and,hastily saying to the others,“Come on.Pull yourselves together,” he advanced to the Lion and said：

“We have come – Aslan.”

“Welcome,Peter,Son of Adam,” said Aslan.“Welcome,Susan and Lucy,Daughters of Eve.Welcome,He-Beaver and She-Beaver.”

His voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets out of them.They now felt glad and quiet and it didn't seem awkward to them to stand and say nothing.

“But where is the fourth?” asked Aslan.

“He has tried to betray them and joined the White Witch,O Aslan,” said Mr Beaver.And then something made Peter say,

“That was partly my fault,Aslan.I was angry with him and I think that helped him to go wrong.”

And Aslan said nothing either to excuse Peter or to blame him but merely stood looking at him with his great unchanging eyes.And it seemed to all of them that there was nothing to be said.

“Please – Aslan,” said Lucy,“can anything be done to save Edmund?”

“All shall be done,” said Aslan.“But it may be harder than you think.” And then he was silent again for some time.Up to that moment Lucy had been thinking how royal and strong and peaceful his face looked；now it suddenly came into her head that he looked sad as well.But in the next minute that expression was quite gone.The Lion shook his mane and clapped his paws together(“Terrible paws,”thought Lucy,“if he didn't know how to velvet them!”)and said,“Meanwhile,let the feast be prepared.Ladies,take these Daughters of Eve to the pavilion and minister to them.”

When the girls had gone Aslan laid his paw – and though it was velveted it was very heavy – on Peter's shoulder and said,“Come,Son of Adam,and I will show you a far-off sight of the castle where you are to be King.”

And Peter with his sword still drawn in his hand went with the Lion to the eastern edge of the hilltop.There a beautiful sight met their eyes.The sun was setting behind their backs.That meant that the whole country below them lay in the evening light – forest and hills and valleys and,winding away like a silver snake,the lower part of the great river.And beyond all this,miles away,was the sea,and beyond the sea the sky,full of clouds which were just turning rose colour with the reflection of the sunset.But just where the land of Narnia met the sea – in fact,at the mouth of the great river – there was something on a little hill,shining.It was shining because it was a castle and of course the sunlight was reflected from all the windows which looked towards Peter and the sunset；but to Peter it looked like a great star resting on the seashore.

“That,O Man,” said Aslan,“is Cair Paravel of the four thrones,in one of which you must sit as King.I show it to you because you are the first-born and you will be High King over all the rest.”

And once more Peter said nothing,for at that moment a strange noise woke the silence suddenly.It was like a bugle,but richer.

“It is your sister's horn,” said Aslan to Peter in a low voice；so low as to be almost a purr,if it is not disrespectful to think of a Lion purring.

For a moment Peter did not understand.Then,when he saw all the other creatures start forward and heard Aslan say with a wave of his paw,“Back!Let the Prince win his spurs,” he did understand,and set off running as hard as he could to the pavilion.And there he saw a dreadful sight.

The Naiads and Dryads were scattering in every direction.Lucy was running towards him as fast as her short legs would carry her and her face was as white as paper.Then he saw Susan make a dash for a tree,and swing herself up,followed by a huge grey beast.At first Peter thought it was a bear.Then he saw that it looked like an Alsatian,though it was far too big to be a dog.Then he realized that it was a wolf – a wolf standing on its hind legs,with its front paws against the tree-trunk,snapping and snarling.All the hair on its back stood up on end.Susan had not been able to get higher than the second big branch.One of her legs hung down so that her foot was only an inch or two above the snapping teeth.Peter wondered why she did not get higher or at least take a better grip；then he realized that she was just going to faint and that if she fainted she would fall off.

Peter did not feel very brave；indeed,he felt he was going to be sick.But that made no difference to what he had to do.He rushed straight up to the monster and aimed a slash of his sword at its side.That stroke never reached the Wolf.Quick as lightning it turned round,its eyes flaming,and its mouth wide open in a howl of anger.If it had not been so angry that it simply had to howl it would have got him by the throat at once.As it was – though all this happened too quickly for Peter to think at all – he had just time to duck down and plunge his sword,as hard as he could,between the brute's forelegs into its heart.Then came a horrible,confused moment like something in a nightmare.He was tugging and pulling and the Wolf seemed neither alive nor dead,and its bared teeth knocked against his forehead,and everything was blood and heat and hair.A moment later he found that the monster lay dead and he had drawn his sword out of it and was straightening his back and rubbing the sweat off his face and out of his eyes.He felt tired all over.

Then,after a bit,Susan came down the tree.She and Peter felt pretty shaky when they met and I won't say there wasn't kissing and crying on both sides.But in Narnia no one thinks any the worse of you for that.

“Quick!Quick!” shouted the voice of Aslan.“Centaurs!Eagles!I see another wolf in the thickets.There – behind you.He has just darted away.After him,all of you.He will be going to his mistress.Now is your chance to find the Witch and rescue the fourth Son of Adam.” And instantly with a thunder of hoofs and beating of wings a dozen or so of the swiftest creatures disappeared into the gathering darkness.

Peter,still out of breath,turned and saw Aslan close at hand.

“You have forgotten to clean your sword,”said Aslan.

It was true.Peter blushed when he looked at the bright blade and saw it all smeared with the Wolf's hair and blood.He stooped down and wiped it quite clean on the grass,and then wiped it quite dry on his coat.

“Hand it to me and kneel,Son of Adam,” said Aslan.And when Peter had done so he struck him with the flat of the blade and said,“Rise up,Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane.And,whatever happens,never forget to wipe your sword.”

CHAPTER 13

Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time

Now we must get back to Edmund.When he had been made to walk far further than he had ever known that anybody could walk,the Witch at last halted in a dark valley all overshadowed with fir trees and yew trees.Edmund simply sank down and lay on his face doing nothing at all and not even caring what was going to happen next provided they would let him lie still.He was too tired even to notice how hungry and thirsty he was.The Witch and the dwarf were talking close beside him in low tones.

“No,” said the dwarf,“it is no use now,O Queen.They must have reached the Stone Table by now.”

“Perhaps the Wolf will smell us out and bring us news,” said the Witch.

“It cannot be good news if he does,” said the dwarf.

“Four thrones in Cair Paravel,” said the Witch.“How if only three were filled?That would not fulfil the prophecy.”

“What difference would that make now that He is here?” said the dwarf.He did not dare,even now,to mention the name of Aslan to his mistress.

“He may not stay long.And then – we would fall upon the three at Cair.”

“Yet it might be better,” said the dwarf,“to keep this one”(here he kicked Edmund)“for bargaining with.”

“Yes!And have him rescued,” said the Witch scornfully.

“Then,” said the dwarf,“we had better do what we have to do at once.”

“I would like to have it done on the Stone Table itself,” said the Witch.“That is the proper place.That is where it has always been done before.”

“It will be a long time now before the Stone Table can again be put to its proper use,” said the dwarf.

“True,” said the Witch；and then,“Well,I will begin.”

At that moment with a rush and a snarl a Wolf rushed up to them.

“I have seen them.They are all at the Stone Table,with Him.They have killed my captain,Maugrim.I was hidden in the thickets and saw it all.One of the Sons of Adam killed him.Fly!Fly!”

“No,” said the Witch.“There need be no flying.Go quickly.Summon all our people to meet me here as speedily as they can.Call out the giants and the werewolves and the spirits of those trees who are on our side.Call the Ghouls,and the Boggles,the Ogres and the Minotaurs.Call the Cruels,the Hags,the Spectres,and the people of the Toadstools.We will fight.What?Have I not still my wand?Will not their ranks turn into stone even as they come on?Be off quickly,I have a little thing to finish here while you are away.”

The great brute bowed its head,turned,and galloped away.

“Now!” she said.“We have no table – let me see.We had better put it against the trunk of a tree.”

Edmund found himself being roughly forced to his feet.Then the dwarf set him with his back against a tree and bound him fast.He saw the Witch take off her outer mantle.Her arms were bare underneath it and terribly white.Because they were so very white he could see them,but he could not see much else,it was so dark in this valley under the dark trees.

“Prepare the victim,” said the Witch.And the dwarf undid Edmund's collar and folded back his shirt at the neck.Then he took Edmund's hair and pulled his head back so that he had to raise his chin.After that Edmund heard a strange noise – whizz – whizz – whizz.For a moment he couldn't think what it was.Then he realized.It was the sound of a knife being sharpened.

At that very moment he heard loud shouts from every direction – a drumming of hoofs and a beating of wings – a scream from the Witch – confusion all round him.And then he found he was being untied.Strong arms were round him and he heard big,kind voices saying things like –

“Let him lie down – give him some wine – drink this – steady now – you'll be all right in a minute.”

Then he heard the voices of people who were not talking to him but to one another.And they were saying things like,“Who's got the Witch?”– “I thought you had her.” “I didn't see her after I knocked the knife out of her hand – I was after the dwarf – do you mean to say she's escaped?” “A chap can't mind everything at once – what's that?Oh,sorry,it's only an old stump!” But just at this point Edmund went off in a dead faint.

Presently the centaurs and unicorns and deer and birds(they were of course the rescue party which Aslan had sent in the last chapter)all set off to go back to the Stone Table,carrying Edmund with them.But if they could have seen what happened in that valley after they had gone,I think they might have been surprised.

It was perfectly still and presently the moon grew bright；if you had been there you would have seen the moonlight shining on an old tree-stump and on a fairsized boulder.But if you had gone on looking you would gradually have begun to think there was something odd about both the stump and the boulder.And next you would have thought that the stump did look really remarkably like a little fat man crouching on the ground.And if you had watched long enough you would have seen the stump walk across to the boulder and the boulder sit up and begin talking to the stump；for in reality the stump and the boulder were simply the Witch and the dwarf.For it was part of her magic that she could make things look like what they aren't,and she had the presence of mind to do so at the very moment when the knife was knocked out of her hand.She had kept hold of her wand,so it had been kept safe,too.

When the other children woke up the next morning(they had been sleeping on piles of cushions in the pavilion)the first thing they heard – from Mrs Beaver – was that their brother had been rescued and brought into camp late last night；and was at that moment with Aslan.As soon as they had breakfasted they all went out,and there they saw Aslan and Edmund walking together in the dewy grass,apart from the rest of the court.There is no need to tell you(and no one ever heard)what Aslan was saying,but it was a conversation which Edmund never forgot.As the others drew nearer Aslan turned to meet them,bringing Edmund with him.

“Here is your brother,” he said,“and – there is no need to talk to him about what is past.”

Edmund shook hands with each of the others and said to each of them in turn,“I'm sorry,” and everyone said,“That's all right.” And then everyone wanted very hard to say something which would make it quite clear that they were all friends with him again – something ordinary and natural – and of course no one could think of anything in the world to say.But before they had time to feel really awkward one of the leopards approached Aslan and said,

“Sire,there is a messenger from the enemy who craves audience.”

“Let him approach,” said Aslan.

The leopard went away and soon returned leading the Witch's dwarf.

“What is your message,Son of Earth?” asked Aslan.

“The Queen of Narnia and Empress of the Lone Islands desires a safe conduct to come and speak with you,” said the dwarf,“on a matter which is as much to your advantage as to hers.”

“Queen of Narnia,indeed!” said Mr Beaver.“Of all the cheek—”

“Peace,Beaver,” said Aslan.“All names will soon be restored to their proper owners.In the meantime we will not dispute about them.Tell your mistress,Son of Earth,that I grant her safe conduct on condition that she leaves her wand behind her at that great oak.”

This was agreed to and two leopards went back with the dwarf to see that the conditions were properly carried out.“But supposing she turns the two leopards into stone?” whispered Lucy to Peter.I think the same idea had occurred to the leopards themselves；at any rate,as they walked off their fur was all standing up on their backs and their tails were bristling – like a cat's when it sees a strange dog.

“It'll be all right,” whispered Peter in reply.“He wouldn't send them if it weren't.”

A few minutes later the Witch herself walked out on to the top of the hill and came straight across and stood before Aslan.The three children who had not seen her before felt shudders running down their backs at the sight of her face；and there were low growls among all the animals present.Though it was bright sunshine everyone felt suddenly cold.The only two people present who seemed to be quite at their ease were Aslan and the Witch herself.It was the oddest thing to see those two faces – the golden face and the dead-white face – so close together.Not that the Witch looked Aslan exactly in his eyes；Mrs Beaver particularly noticed this.

“You have a traitor there,Aslan,” said the Witch.Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund.But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning.He just went on looking at Aslan.It didn't seem to matter what the Witch said.

“Well,” said Aslan.“His offence was not against you.”

“Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?” asked the Witch.

“Let us say I have forgotten it,” answered Aslan gravely.“Tell us of this Deep Magic.”

“Tell you?” said the Witch,her voice growing suddenly shriller.“Tell you what is written on the very Table of Stone which stands beside us?Tell you what is written in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill?Tell you what is engraved on the sceptre of the Emperor-beyond-theSea?You at least know the Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning.You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill.”

“Oh,” said Mr Beaver.“So that's how you came to imagine yourself a queen – because you were the Emperor's hangman.I see.”

“Peace,Beaver,” said Aslan,with a very low growl.

“And so,” continued the Witch,“that human creature is mine.His life is forfeit to me.His blood is my property.”

“Come and take it then,” said the Bull with the man's head,in a great bellowing voice.

“Fool,” said the Witch with a savage smile that was almost a snarl,“do you really think your master can rob me of my rights by mere force?He knows the Deep Magic better than that.He knows that unless I have blood as the Law says,all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water.”

“It is very true,” said Aslan.“I do not deny it.”

“Oh,Aslan!” whispered Susan in the Lion's ear.“Can't we – I mean,you won't,will you?Can't we do something about the Deep Magic?Isn't there something you can work against it?”

“Work against the Emperor's Magic?” said Aslan,turning to her with something like a frown on his face.And nobody ever made that suggestion to him again.

Edmund was on the other side of Aslan,looking all the time at Aslan's face.He felt a choking feeling and wondered if he ought to say something；but a moment later he felt that he was not expected to do anything except to wait,and do what he was told.

“Fall back,all of you,” said Aslan,“and I will talk to the Witch alone.”

They all obeyed.It was a terrible time this –waiting and wondering while the Lion and the Witch talked earnestly together in low voices.Lucy said,“Oh,Edmund!” and began to cry.Peter stood with his back to the others looking out at the distant sea.The Beavers stood holding each other's paws with their heads bowed.The centaurs stamped uneasily with their hoofs.But everyone became perfectly still in the end,so that you noticed even small sounds like a bumble-bee flying past,or the birds in the forest down below them,or the wind rustling the leaves.And still the talk between Aslan and the White Witch went on.

At last they heard Aslan's voice.“You can all come back,” he said.“I have settled the matter.She has renounced the claim on your brother's blood.” And all over the hill there was a noise as if everyone had been holding their breath and had now begun breathing again,and then a murmur of talk.

The Witch was just turning away with a look of fierce joy on her face when she stopped and said,

“But how do I know this promise will be kept?”

“Haa-a-arrh!” roared Aslan,half rising from his throne；and his great mouth opened wider and wider and the roar grew louder and louder,and the Witch,after staring for a moment with her lips wide apart,picked up her skirts and fairly ran for her life.

CHAPTER 14

The Triumph of the Witch

As soon as the Witch had gone Aslan said,“We must move from this place at once,it will be wanted for other purposes.We shall encamp tonight at the Fords of Beruna.”

Of course everyone was dying to ask him how he had arranged matters with the Witch；but his face was stern and everyone's ears were still ringing with the sound of his roar and so nobody dared.

After a meal,which was taken in the open air on the hill-top(for the sun had got strong by now and dried the grass),they were busy for a while taking the pavilion down and packing things up.Before two o'clock they were on the march and set off in a north-easterly direction,walking at an easy pace,for they had not far to go.

During the first part of the journey Aslan explained to Peter his plan of campaign.“As soon as she has finished her business in these parts,” he said,“the Witch and her crew will almost certainly fall back to her House and prepare for a siege.You may or may not be able to cut her off and prevent her from reaching it.” He then went on to outline two plans of battle – one for fighting the Witch and her people in the wood and another for assaulting her castle.And all the time he was advising Peter how to conduct the operations,saying things like,“You must put your Centaurs in such and such a place” or“You must post scouts to see that she doesn't do soand-so,” till at last Peter said,

“But you will be there yourself,Aslan.”

“I can give you no promise of that,” answered the Lion.And he continued giving Peter his instructions.

For the last part of the journey it was Susan and Lucy who saw most of him.He did not talk very much and seemed to them to be sad.

It was still afternoon when they came down to a place where the river valley had widened out and the river was broad and shallow.This was the Fords of Beruna and Aslan gave orders to halt on this side of the water.But Peter said,

“Wouldn't it be better to camp on the far side –for fear she should try a night attack or anything?”

Aslan,who seemed to have been thinking about something else,roused himself with a shake of his magnificent mane and said,“Eh?What's that?” Peter said it all over again.

“No,” said Aslan in a dull voice,as if it didn't matter.“No.She will not make an attack tonight.”And then he sighed deeply.But presently he added,“All the same it was well thought of.That is how a soldier ought to think.But it doesn't really matter.”So they proceeded to pitch their camp.

Aslan's mood affected everyone that evening.Peter was feeling uncomfortable too at the idea of fighting the battle on his own；the news that Aslan might not be there had come as a great shock to him.Supper that evening was a quiet meal.Everyone felt how different it had been the previous night or even that morning.It was as if the good times,having just begun,were already drawing to their end.

This feeling affected Susan so much that she couldn't get to sleep when she went to bed.And after she had lain counting sheep and turning over and over she heard Lucy give a long sigh and turn over just beside her in the darkness.

“Can't you get to sleep either?” said Susan.

“No,” said Lucy.“I thought you were asleep.I say,Susan!”

“What?”

“I've a most horrible feeling – as if something were hanging over us.”

“Have you?Because,as a matter of fact,so have I.”

“Something about Aslan,” said Lucy.“Either some dreadful thing is going to happen to him,or something dreadful that he's going to do.”

“There's been something wrong with him all afternoon,” said Susan.“Lucy!What was that he said about not being with us at the battle?You don't think he could be stealing away and leaving us tonight,do you?”

“Where is he now?” said Lucy.“Is he here in the pavilion?”

“I don't think so.”

“Susan!Let's go outside and have a look round.We might see him.”

“All right.Let's,” said Susan；“we might just as well be doing that as lying awake here.”

Very quietly the two girls groped their way among the other sleepers and crept out of the tent.The moonlight was bright and everything was quite still except for the noise of the river chattering over the stones.Then Susan suddenly caught Lucy's arm and said,“Look!” On the far side of the camping ground,just where the trees began,they saw the Lion slowly walking away from them into the wood.Without a word they both followed him.

He led them up the steep slope out of the river valley and then slightly to the right – apparently by the very same route which they had used that afternoon in coming from the Hill of the Stone Table.On and on he led them,into dark shadows and out into pale moonlight,getting their feet wet with the heavy dew.He looked somehow different from the Aslan they knew.His tail and his head hung low and he walked slowly as if he were very,very tired.Then,when they were crossing a wide open place where there were no shadows for them to hide in,he stopped and looked round.It was no good trying to run away so they came towards him.When they were closer he said,

“Oh,children,children,why are you following me?”

“We couldn't sleep,” said Lucy – and then felt sure that she need say no more and that Aslan knew all they had been thinking.

“Please,may we come with you – wherever you're going?” asked Susan.

“Well –” said Aslan,and seemed to be thinking.Then he said,“I should be glad of company tonight.Yes,you may come,if you will promise to stop when I tell you,and after that leave me to go on alone.”

“Oh,thank you,thank you.And we will,” said the two girls.

Forward they went again and one of the girls walked on each side of the Lion.But how slowly he walked!And his great,royal head drooped so that his nose nearly touched the grass.Presently he stumbled and gave a low moan.

“Aslan!Dear Aslan!” said Lucy.“What is wrong?Can't you tell us?”

“Are you ill,dear Aslan?” asked Susan.

“No,” said Aslan.“I am sad and lonely.Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that.”

And so the girls did what they would never have dared to do without his permission,but what they had longed to do ever since they first saw him –buried their cold hands in the beautiful sea of fur and stroked it and,so doing,walked with him.And presently they saw that they were going with him up the slope of the hill on which the Stone Table stood.They went up at the side where the trees came furthest up,and when they got to the last tree(it was one that had some bushes about it)Aslan stopped and said,

“Oh,children,children.Here you must stop.And whatever happens,do not let yourselves be seen.Farewell.”

And both the girls cried bitterly(though they hardly knew why)and clung to the Lion and kissed his mane and his nose and his paws and his great,sad eyes.Then he turned from them and walked out on to the top of the hill.And Lucy and Susan,crouching in the bushes,looked after him,and this is what they saw.

A great crowd of people were standing all round the Stone Table and though the moon was shining many of them carried torches which burned with evil-looking red flames and black smoke.But such people!Ogres with monstrous teeth,and wolves,and bull-headed men；spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants；and other creatures whom I won't describe because if I did the grown-ups would probably not let you read this book – Cruels and Hags and Incubuses,Wraiths,Horrors,Efreets,Sprites,Orknies,Wooses,and Ettins.In fact here were all those who were on the Witch's side and whom the Wolf had summoned at her command.And right in the middle,standing by the Table,was the Witch herself.

A howl and a gibber of dismay went up from the creatures when they first saw the great Lion pacing towards them,and for a moment even the Witch seemed to be struck with fear.Then she recovered herself and gave a wild fierce laugh.

“The fool!” she cried.“The fool has come.Bind him fast.”

Lucy and Susan held their breaths waiting for Aslan's roar and his spring upon his enemies.But it never came.Four Hags,grinning and leering,yet also(at first)hanging back and half afraid of what they had to do,had approached him.“Bind him,I say!”repeated the White Witch.The Hags made a dart at him and shrieked with triumph when they found that he made no resistance at all.Then others – evil dwarfs and apes – rushed in to help them,and between them they rolled the huge Lion over on his back and tied all his four paws together,shouting and cheering as if they had done something brave,though,had the Lion chosen,one of those paws could have been the death of them all.But he made no noise,even when the enemies,straining and tugging,pulled the cords so tight that they cut into his flesh.Then they began to drag him towards the Stone Table.

“Stop!” said the Witch.“Let him first be shaved.”

Another roar of mean laughter went up from her followers as an ogre with a pair of shears came forward and squatted down by Aslan's head.Snipsnip-snip went the shears and masses of curling gold began to fall to the ground.Then the ogre stood back and the children,watching from their hiding-place,could see the face of Aslan looking all small and different without its mane.The enemies also saw the difference.

“Why,he's only a great cat after all!” cried one.

“Is that what we were afraid of?” said another.

And they surged round Aslan,jeering at him,saying things like,“Puss,Puss!Poor Pussy,” and,“How many mice have you caught today,Cat?” and,“Would you like a saucer of milk,Pussums?”

“Oh,how can they?” said Lucy,tears streaming down her cheeks.“The brutes,the brutes!” For now that the first shock was over,the shorn face of Aslan looked to her braver,and more beautiful,and more patient than ever.

“Muzzle him!” said the Witch.And even now,as they worked about his face putting on the muzzle,one bite from his jaws would have cost two or three of them their hands.But he never moved.And this seemed to enrage all that rabble.Everyone was at him now.Those who had been afraid to come near him even after he was bound began to find their courage,and for a few minutes the two girls could not even see him – so thickly was he surrounded by the whole crowd of creatures kicking him,hitting him,spitting on him,jeering at him.

At last the rabble had had enough of this.They began to drag the bound and muzzled Lion to the Stone Table,some pulling and some pushing.He was so huge that even when they got him there it took all their efforts to hoist him on to the surface of it.Then there was more tying and tightening of cords.

“The cowards!The cowards!” sobbed Susan.“Are they still afraid of him,even now?”

When once Aslan had been tied(and tied so that he was really a mass of cords)on the flat stone,a hush fell on the crowd.Four Hags,holding four torches,stood at the corners of the Table.The Witch bared her arms as she had bared them the previous night when it had been Edmund instead of Aslan.Then she began to whet her knife.It looked to the children,when the gleam of the torchlight fell on it,as if the knife were made of stone,not of steel,and it was of a strange and evil shape.

At last she drew near.She stood by Aslan's head.Her face was working and twitching with passion,but his looked up at the sky,still quiet,neither angry nor afraid,but a little sad.Then,just before she gave the blow,she stooped down and said in a quivering voice,

“And now,who has won?Fool,did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor?Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the Deep Magic will be appeased.But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well?And who will take him out of my hand then?Understand that you have given me Narnia for ever,you have lost your own life and you have not saved his.In that knowledge,despair and die.”

The children did not see the actual moment of the killing.They couldn't bear to look and had covered their eyes.

CHAPTER 15

Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time

While the two girls still crouched in the bushes with their hands over their faces,they heard the voice of the Witch calling out,

“Now!Follow me all and we will set about what remains of this war!It will not take us long to crush the human vermin and the traitors now that the great Fool,the great Cat,lies dead.”

At this moment the children were for a few seconds in very great danger.For with wild cries and a noise of skirling pipes and shrill horns blowing,the whole of that vile rabble came sweeping off the hilltop and down the slope right past their hiding-place.They felt the Spectres go by them like a cold wind and they felt the ground shake beneath them under the galloping feet of the Minotaurs；and overhead there went a flurry of foul wings and a blackness of vultures and giant bats.At any other time they would have trembled with fear；but now the sadness and shame and horror of Aslan's death so filled their minds that they hardly thought of it.

As soon as the wood was silent again Susan and Lucy crept out onto the open hill-top.The moon was getting low and thin clouds were passing across her,but still they could see the shape of the Lion lying dead in his bonds.And down they both knelt in the wet grass and kissed his cold face and stroked his beautiful fur – what was left of it – and cried till they could cry no more.And then they looked at each other and held each other's hands for mere loneliness and cried again；and then again were silent.At last Lucy said,

“I can't bear to look at that horrible muzzle.I wonder,could we take it off?”

So they tried.And after a lot of working at it(for their fingers were cold and it was now the darkest part of the night)they succeeded.And when they saw his face without it they burst out crying again and kissed it and fondled it and wiped away the blood and the foam as well as they could.And it was all more lonely and hopeless and horrid than I know how to describe.

“I wonder,could we untie him as well?” said Susan presently.But the enemies,out of pure spitefulness,had drawn the cords so tight that the girls could make nothing of the knots.

I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night；but if you have been – if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you – you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness.You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again.At any rate that was how it felt to these two.Hours and hours seemed to go by in this dead calm,and they hardly noticed that they were getting colder and colder.But at last Lucy noticed two other things.One was that the sky on the east side of the hill was a little less dark than it had been an hour ago.The other was some tiny movement going on in the grass at her feet.At first she took no interest in this.What did it matter?Nothing mattered now!But at last she saw that whatever-it-was had begun to move up the upright stones of the Stone Table.And now whatever-they-were were moving about on Aslan's body.She peered closer.They were little grey things.

“Ugh!” said Susan from the other side of the Table.“How beastly!There are horrid little mice crawling over him.Go away,you little beasts.” And she raised her hand to frighten them away.

“Wait!” said Lucy,who had been looking at them more closely still.“Can you see what they're doing?”

Both girls bent down and stared.

“I do believe—” said Susan.“But how queer!They're nibbling away at the cords!”

“That's what I thought,” said Lucy.“I think they're friendly mice.Poor little things – they don't realize he's dead.They think it'll do some good untying him.”

It was quite definitely lighter by now.Each of the girls noticed for the first time the white face of the other.They could see the mice nibbling away；dozens and dozens,even hundreds,of little field mice.And at last,one by one,the ropes were all gnawed through.

The sky in the east was whitish by now and the stars were getting fainter – all except one very big one low down on the eastern horizon.They felt colder than they had been all night.The mice crept away again.

The girls cleared away the remains of the gnawed ropes.Aslan looked more like himself without them.Every moment his dead face looked nobler,as the light grew and they could see it better.

In the wood behind them a bird gave a chuckling sound.It had been so still for hours and hours that it startled them.Then another bird answered it.Soon there were birds singing all over the place.

It was quite definitely early morning now,not late night.

“I'm so cold,” said Lucy.

“So am I,” said Susan.“Let's walk about a bit.”

They walked to the eastern edge of the hill and looked down.The one big star had almost disappeared.The country all looked dark grey,but beyond,at the very end of the world,the sea showed pale.The sky began to turn red.They walked to and fro more times than they could count between the dead Aslan and the eastern ridge,trying to keep warm；and oh,how tired their legs felt.Then at last,as they stood for a moment looking out towards the sea and Cair Paravel(which they could now just make out)the red turned to gold along the line where the sea and the sky met and very slowly up came the edge of the sun.At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise – a great cracking,deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.

“What's that?” said Lucy,clutching Susan's arm.

“I – I feel afraid to turn round,” said Susan；“something awful is happening.”

“They're doing something worse to Him,” said Lucy.“Come on!” And she turned,pulling Susan round with her.

The rising of the sun had made everything look so different – all colours and shadows were changed –that for a moment they didn't see the important thing.Then they did.The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end；and there was no Aslan.

“Oh,oh,oh!” cried the two girls,rushing back to the Table.

“Oh,it's too bad,” sobbed Lucy；“they might have left the body alone.”

“Who's done it?” cried Susan.“What does it mean?Is it magic?”

“Yes!” said a great voice behind their backs.“It is more magic.” They looked round.There,shining in the sunrise,larger than they had seen him before,shaking his mane(for it had apparently grown again)stood Aslan himself.

“Oh,Aslan!” cried both the children,staring up at him,almost as much frightened as they were glad.

“Aren't you dead then,dear Aslan?” said Lucy.

“Not now,” said Aslan.

“You're not – not a—?” asked Susan in a shaky voice.She couldn't bring herself to say the word ghost.Aslan stooped his golden head and licked her forehead.The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her.

“Do I look it?” he said.

“Oh,you're real,you're real!Oh,Aslan!” cried Lucy,and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses.

“But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

“It means,” said Aslan,“that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic,there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time.But if she could have looked a little further back,into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned,she would have read there a different incantation.She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead,the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.And now—”

“Oh yes.Now?” said Lucy,jumping up and clapping her hands.

“Oh,children,” said the Lion,“I feel my strength coming back to me.Oh,children,catch me if you can!” He stood for a second,his eyes very bright,his limbs quivering,lashing himself with his tail.Then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table.Laughing,though she didn't know why,Lucy scrambled over it to reach him.Aslan leaped again.A mad chase began.Round and round the hill-top he led them,now hopelessly out of their reach,now letting them almost catch his tail,now diving between them,now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again,and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs.It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia；and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind.And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun,the girls no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty.

“And now,” said Aslan presently,“to business.I feel I am going to roar.You had better put your fingers in your ears.”

And they did.And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it.And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind.Then he said,

“We have a long journey to go.You must ride on me.” And he crouched down and the children climbed on to his warm,golden back,and Susan sat first,holding on tightly to his mane and Lucy sat behind holding on tightly to Susan.And with a great heave he rose underneath them and then shot off,faster than any horse could go,downhill and into the thick of the forest.

That ride was perhaps the most wonderful thing that happened to them in Narnia.Have you ever had a gallop on a horse?Think of that；and then take away the heavy noise of the hoofs and the jingle of the bit and imagine instead the almost noiseless padding of the great paws.Then imagine instead of the black or grey or chestnut back of the horse the soft roughness of golden fur,and the mane flying back in the wind.And then imagine you are going about twice as fast as the fastest racehorse.But this is a mount that doesn't need to be guided and never grows tired.He rushes on and on,never missing his footing,never hesitating,threading his way with perfect skill between tree trunks,jumping over bush and briar and the smaller streams,wading the larger,swimming the largest of all.And you are riding not on a road nor in a park nor even on the downs,but right across Narnia,in spring,down solemn avenues of beech and across sunny glades of oak,through wild orchards of snow-white cherry trees,past roaring waterfalls and mossy rocks and echoing caverns,up windy slopes alight with gorse bushes,and across the shoulders of heathery mountains and along giddy ridges and down,down,down again into wild valleys and out into acres of blue flowers.

It was nearly midday when they found themselves looking down a steep hillside at a castle – a little toy castle it looked from where they stood – which seemed to be all pointed towers.But the Lion was rushing down at such a speed that it grew larger every moment and before they had time even to ask themselves what it was they were already on a level with it.And now it no longer looked like a toy castle but rose frowning in front of them.No face looked over the battlements and the gates were fast shut.And Aslan,not at all slacking his pace,rushed straight as a bullet towards it.

“The Witch's home!” he cried.“Now,children,hold tight.”

Next moment the whole world seemed to turn upside down,and the children felt as if they had left their insides behind them；for the Lion had gathered himself together for a greater leap than any he had yet made and jumped – or you may call it flying rather than jumping – right over the castle wall.The two girls,breathless but unhurt,found themselves tumbling off his back in the middle of a wide stone courtyard full of statues.

CHAPTER 16

What Happened about the Statues

“What an extraordinary place!” cried Lucy.“All those stone animals – and people too!It's – like a museum.”

“Hush,” said Susan,“Aslan's doing something.”

He was indeed.He had bounded up to the stone lion and breathed on him.Then without waiting a moment he whisked round – almost as if he had been a cat chasing its tail – and breathed also on the stone dwarf,which(as you remember)was standing a few feet from the lion with his back to it.Then he pounced on a tall stone dryad which stood beyond the dwarf,turned rapidly aside to deal with a stone rabbit on his right,and rushed on to two centaurs.But at that moment Lucy said,“Oh,Susan!Look!Look at the lion.”

I expect you've seen someone put a lighted match to a bit of newspaper which is propped up in a grate against an unlit fire.And for a second nothing seems to have happened,and then you notice a tiny streak of flame creeping along the edge of the newspaper.It was like that now.For a second after Aslan had breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same.Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back – then it spread – then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licks all over a bit of paper – then,while his hindquarters were still obviously stone,the lion shook his mane and all the heavy,stone folds rippled into living hair.Then he opened a great red mouth,warm and living,and gave a prodigious yawn.And now his hind legs had come to life.He lifted one of them and scratched himself.Then,having caught sight of Aslan,he went bounding after him and frisked around him,whimpering with delight and jumping up to lick his face.

Of course the children's eyes turned to follow the lion；but the sight they saw was so wonderful that they soon forgot about him.Everywhere the statues were coming to life.The courtyard looked no longer like a museum；it looked more like a zoo.Creatures were running after Aslan and dancing round him till he was almost hidden in the crowd.Instead of all that deadly white the courtyard was now a blaze of colours；glossy chestnut sides of centaurs,indigo horns of unicorns,dazzling plumage of birds,reddy-brown of foxes,dogs and satyrs,yellow stockings and crimson hoods of dwarfs；and the birch-girls in silver,and the beech-girls in fresh,transparent green,and the larch-girls in green so bright that it was almost yellow.And instead of the deadly silence the whole place rang with the sound of happy roarings,brayings,yelpings,barkings,squealings,cooings,neighings,stampings,shouts,hurrahs,songs and laughter.

“Oh!” said Susan in a different tone.“Look!I wonder – I mean,is it safe?”

Lucy looked and saw that Aslan had just breathed on the feet of the stone giant.

“It's all right!” shouted Aslan joyously.“Once the feet are put right,all the rest of him will follow.”

“That wasn't exactly what I meant,” whispered Susan to Lucy.But it was too late to do anything about it now even if Aslan would have listened to her.The change was already creeping up the Giant's legs.Now he was moving his feet.A moment later he lifted his club off his shoulder,rubbed his eyes and said,

“Bless me!I must have been asleep.Now!Where's that dratted little Witch that was running about on the ground?Somewhere just by my feet it was.” But when everyone had shouted up to him to explain what had really happened,and when the Giant had put his hand to his ear and got them to repeat it all again so that at last he understood,then he bowed down till his head was no further off than the top of a haystack and touched his cap repeatedly to Aslan,beaming all over his honest ugly face.(Giants of any sort are now so rare in England and so few giants are good-tempered that ten to one you have never seen a giant when his face is beaming.It's a sight well worth looking at.)

“Now for the inside of this house!” said Aslan.“Look alive,everyone.Up stairs and down stairs and in my lady's chamber!Leave no corner unsearched.You never know where some poor prisoner may be concealed.”

And into the interior they all rushed and for several minutes the whole of that dark,horrible,fusty old castle echoed with the opening of windows and with everyone's voices crying out at once,“Don't forget the dungeons – Give us a hand with this door!– Here's another little winding stair – Oh!I say.Here's a poor kangaroo.Call Aslan – Phew!How it smells in here – Look out for trap-doors – Up here!There are a whole lot more on the landing!” But the best of all was when Lucy came rushing upstairs shouting out,

“Aslan!Aslan!I've found Mr Tumnus.Oh,do come quick.”

A moment later Lucy and the little Faun were holding each other by both hands and dancing round and round for joy.The little chap was none the worse for having been a statue and was of course very interested in all she had to tell him.

But at last the ransacking of the Witch's fortress was ended.The whole castle stood empty with every door and window open and the light and the sweet spring air flooding into all the dark and evil places which needed them so badly.The whole crowd of liberated statues surged back into the courtyard.And it was then that someone(Tumnus,I think)first said,

“But how are we going to get out?” for Aslan had got in by a jump and the gates were still locked.

“That'll be all right,” said Aslan；and then,rising on his hind legs,he bawled up at the Giant.“Hi!You up there,” he roared.“What's your name?”

“Giant Rumblebuffin,if it please your honour,”said the Giant,once more touching his cap.

“Well then,Giant Rumblebuffin,” said Aslan,“just let us out of this,will you?”

“Certainly,your honour.It will be a pleasure,”said Giant Rumblebuffin.“Stand well away from the gates,all you little 'uns.” Then he strode to the gate himself and bang – bang – bang – went his huge club.The gates creaked at the first blow,cracked at the second,and shivered at the third.Then he tackled the towers on each side of them and after a few minutes of crashing and thudding both the towers and a good bit of the wall on each side went thundering down in a mass of hopeless rubble；and when the dust cleared it was odd,standing in that dry,grim,stony yard,to see through the gap all the grass and waving trees and sparkling streams of the forest,and the blue hills beyond that and beyond them the sky.

“Blowed if I ain't all in a muck sweat,” said the Giant,puffing like the largest railway engine.“Comes of being out of condition.I suppose neither of you young ladies has such a thing as a pockethandkerchee about you?”

“Yes,I have,” said Lucy,standing on tiptoe and holding her handkerchief up as far as she could reach.

“Thank you,Missie,” said Giant Rumblebuffin,stooping down.Next moment Lucy got rather a fright for she found herself caught up in mid-air between the Giant's finger and thumb.But just as she was getting near his face he suddenly started and then put her gently back on the ground muttering,“Bless me!I've picked up the little girl instead.I beg your pardon,Missie,I thought you was the handkerchee!”

“No,no,” said Lucy,laughing,“here it is!” This time he managed to get it but it was only about the same size to him that a saccharine tablet would be to you,so that when she saw him solemnly rubbing it to and fro across his great red face,she said,“I'm afraid it's not much use to you,Mr Rumblebuffin.”

“Not at all.Not at all,” said the giant politely.“Never met a nicer handkerchee.So fine,so handy.So – I don't know how to describe it.”

“What a nice giant he is!” said Lucy to Mr Tumnus.

“Oh,yes,” replied the Faun.“All the buffins always were.One of the most respected of all the giant families in Narnia.Not very clever,perhaps(I never knew a giant that was),but an old family.With traditions,you know.If he'd been the other sort she'd never have turned him into stone.”

At this point Aslan clapped his paws together and called for silence.

“Our day's work is not yet over,” he said,“and if the Witch is to be finally defeated before bedtime we must find the battle at once.”

“And join in,I hope,sir!” added the largest of the Centaurs.

“Of course,” said Aslan.“And now!Those who can't keep up – that is,children,dwarfs,and small animals – must ride on the backs of those who can –that is,lions,centaurs,unicorns,horses,giants and eagles.Those who are good with their noses must come in front with us lions to smell out where the battle is.Look lively and sort yourselves.”

And with a great deal of bustle and cheering they did.The most pleased of the lot was the other Lion who kept running about everywhere pretending to be very busy but really in order to say to everyone he met.“Did you hear what he said?Us Lions.That means him and me.Us Lions.That's what I like about Aslan.No side,no stand-off-ishness.Us Lions.That meant him and me.” At least he went on saying this till Aslan had loaded him up with three dwarfs,one dryad,two rabbits,and a hedgehog.That steadied him a bit.

When all were ready(it was a big sheep-dog who actually helped Aslan most in getting them sorted into their proper order)they set out through the gap in the castle wall.At first the lions and dogs went nosing about in all directions.But then suddenly one great hound picked up the scent and gave a bay.There was no time lost after that.Soon all the dogs and lions and wolves and other hunting animals were going at full speed with their noses to the ground,and all the others,streaked out for about half a mile behind them,were following as fast as they could.The noise was like an English fox-hunt only better because every now and then with the music of the hounds was mixed the roar of the other lion and sometimes the far deeper and more awful roar of Aslan himself.Faster and faster they went as the scent became easier and easier to follow.And then,just as they came to the last curve in a narrow,winding valley,Lucy heard above all these noises another noise – a different one,which gave her a queer feeling inside.It was a noise of shouts and shrieks and of the clashing of metal against metal.

Then they came out of the narrow valley and at once she saw the reason.There stood Peter and Edmund and all the rest of Aslan's army fighting desperately against the crowd of horrible creatures whom she had seen last night；only now,in the daylight,they looked even stranger and more evil and more deformed.There also seemed to be far more of them.Peter's army – which had their backs to her – looked terribly few.And there were statues dotted all over the battlefield,so apparently the Witch had been using her wand.But she did not seem to be using it now.She was fighting with her stone knife.It was Peter she was fighting – both of them going at it so hard that Lucy could hardly make out what was happening – she only saw the stone knife and Peter's sword flashing so quickly that they looked like three knives and three swords.That pair were in the centre.On each side the line stretched out.Horrible things were happening wherever she looked.

“Off my back,children,” shouted Aslan.And they both tumbled off.Then with a roar that shook all Narnia from the western lamp-post to the shores of the eastern sea the great beast flung himself upon the White Witch.Lucy saw her face lifted towards him for one second with an expression of terror and amazement.Then Lion and Witch had rolled over together but with the Witch underneath；and at the same moment all war-like creatures whom Aslan had led from the Witch's house rushed madly on the enemy lines,dwarfs with their battleaxes,dogs with teeth,the Giant with his club(and his feet also crushed dozens of the foe),unicorns with their horns,centaurs with swords and hoofs.And Peter's tired army cheered,and the newcomers roared,and the enemy squealed and gibbered till the wood re-echoed with the din of that onset.

CHAPTER 17

The Hunting of the White Stag

The battle was all over a few minutes after their arrival.Most of the enemy had been killed in the first charge of Aslan and his companions；and when those who were still living saw that the Witch was dead they either gave themselves up or took flight.The next thing that Lucy knew was that Peter and Aslan were shaking hands.It was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now – his face was so pale and stern and he seemed so much older.

“It was all Edmund's doing,Aslan,” Peter was saying.“We'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him.The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left.But nothing would stop him.He fought his way through three ogres to where she was just turning one of your leopards into a statue.And when he reached her he had the sense to bring his sword smashing down on her wand instead of trying to go for her directly and simply getting made a statue himself for his pains.That was the mistake all the rest were making.Once her wand was broken we began to have some chance – if we hadn't lost so many already.He was terribly wounded.We must go and see him.”

They found Edmund in the charge of Mrs Beaver a little way back from the fighting line.He was covered with blood,his mouth was open,and his face a nasty green colour.

“Quick,Lucy,” said Aslan.

And then,almost for the first time,Lucy remembered the precious cordial that had been given her for a Christmas present.Her hands trembled so much that she could hardly undo the stopper,but she managed it in the end and poured a few drops into her brother's mouth.

“There are other people wounded,” said Aslan while she was still looking eagerly into Edmund's pale face and wondering if the cordial would have any result.

“Yes,I know,” said Lucy crossly.“Wait a minute.”

“Daughter of Eve,” said Aslan in a graver voice,“others also are at the point of death.Must more people die for Edmund?”

“I'm sorry,Aslan,” said Lucy,getting up and going with him.And for the next half-hour they were busy– she attending to the wounded while he restored those who had been turned into stone.When at last she was free to come back to Edmund she found him standing on his feet and not only healed of his wounds but looking better than she had seen him look – oh,for ages；in fact ever since his first term at that horrid school which was where he had begun to go wrong.He had become his real old self again and could look you in the face.And there on the field of battle Aslan made him a knight.

“Does he know,” whispered Lucy to Susan,“what Aslan did for him?Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was?”

“Hush!No,of course not,” said Susan.

“Oughtn't he to be told?” said Lucy.

“Oh,surely not,” said Susan.“It would be too awful for him.Think how you'd feel if you were he.”

“All the same I think he ought to know,” said Lucy.But at that moment they were interrupted.

That night they slept where they were.How Aslan provided food for them all I don't know；but somehow or other they found themselves all sitting down on the grass to a fine high tea at about eight o'clock.The next day they began marching eastward down the side of the great river.And the next day after that,at about teatime,they actually reached the mouth.The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them；before them were the sands,with rocks and little pools of salt water,and seaweed,and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluishgreen waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach.And oh,the cry of the seagulls!Have you heard it?Can you remember?

That evening after tea the four children all managed to get down to the beach again and get their shoes and stockings off and feel the sand between their toes.But the next day was more solemn.For then,in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel –that wonderful hall with the ivory roof and the west wall hung with peacocks' feathers and the eastern door which looks towards the sea,in the presence of all their friends and to the sound of trumpets,Aslan solemnly crowned them and led them to the four thrones amid deafening shouts of,“Long Live King Peter!Long Live Queen Susan!Long Live King Edmund!Long Live Queen Lucy!”

“Once a king or queen in Narnia,always a king or queen.Bear it well,Sons of Adam!Bear it well,Daughters of Eve!” said Aslan.

And through the eastern door,which was wide open,came the voices of the mermen and the mermaids swimming close to the shore and singing in honour of their new Kings and Queens.

So the children sat on their thrones,and sceptres were put into their hands and they gave rewards and honours to all their friends,to Tumnus the Faun,and to the Beavers,and Giant Rumblebuffin,to the leopards,and the good centaurs,and the good dwarfs,and to the Lion.And that night there was a great feast in Cair Paravel,and revelry and dancing,and gold flashed and wine flowed,and answering to the music inside,but stranger,sweeter,and more piercing,came the music of the sea people.

But amidst all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away.And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn't there they said nothing about it.For Mr Beaver had warned them.“He'll be coming and going,” he had said.“One day you'll see him and another you won't.He doesn't like being tied down – and of course he has other countries to attend to.It's quite all right.He'll often drop in.Only you mustn't press him.He's wild,you know.Not like a tame lion.”

And now,as you see,this story is nearly(but not quite)at an end.These two Kings and two Queens governed Narnia well,and long and happy was their reign.At first much of their time was spent in seeking out the remnants of the White Witch's army and destroying them,and indeed for a long time there would be news of evil things lurking in the wilder parts of the forest – a haunting here and a killing there,a glimpse of a werewolf one month and a rumour of a hag the next.But in the end all that foul brood was stamped out.And they made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from being unnecessarily cut down,and liberated young dwarfs and young satyrs from being sent to school,and generally stopped busybodies and interferers and encouraged ordinary people who wanted to live and let live.And they drove back the fierce giants(quite a different sort from Giant Rumblebuffin)in the north of Narnia when these ventured across the frontier.And they entered into friendship and alliance with countries beyond the sea and paid them visits of state and received visits of state from them.And they themselves grew and changed as the years passed over them.And Peter became a tall and deepchested man and a great warrior,and he was called King Peter the Magnificent.And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage.And she was called Queen Susan the Gentle.Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter,and great in council and judgement.He was called King Edmund the Just.But as for Lucy,she was always gay and golden-haired,and all princes in those parts desired her to be their Queen,and her own people called her Queen Lucy the Valiant.

So they lived in great joy and if ever they remembered their life in this world it was only as one remembers a dream.And one year it fell out that Tumnus(who was a middle-aged Faun by now and beginning to be stout)came down river and brought them news that the White Stag had once more appeared in his parts – the White Stag who would give you wishes if you caught him.So these two Kings and two Queens with the principal members of their court,rode a-hunting with horns and hounds in the Western Woods to follow the White Stag.And they had not hunted long before they had a sight of him.And he led them a great pace over rough and smooth and through thick and thin,till the horses of all the courtiers were tired out and these four were still following.And they saw the stag enter into a thicket where their horses could not follow.Then said King Peter(for they talked in quite a different style now,having been Kings and Queens for so long),“Fair Consorts,let us now alight from our horses and follow this beast into the thicket；for in all my days I never hunted a nobler quarry.”

“Sir,” said the others,“even so let us do.”

So they alighted and tied their horses to trees and went on into the thick wood on foot.And as soon as they had entered it Queen Susan said,

“Fair friends,here is a great marvel,for I seem to see a tree of iron.”

“Madam,” said King Edmund,“if you look well upon it you shall see it is a pillar of iron with a lantern set on the top thereof.”

“By the Lion's Mane,a strange device,” said King Peter,“to set a lantern here where the trees cluster so thick about it and so high above it that if it were lit it should give light to no man!”

“Sir,” said Queen Lucy.“By likelihood when this post and this lamp were set here there were smaller trees in the place,or fewer,or none.For this is a young wood and the iron post is old.” And they stood looking upon it.Then said King Edmund,

“I know not how it is,but this lamp on the post worketh upon me strangely.It runs in my mind that I have seen the like before；as it were in a dream,or in the dream of a dream.”

“Sir,” answered they all,“it is even so with us also.”

“And more,” said Queen Lucy,“for it will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern either we shall find strange adventures or else some great change of our fortunes.”

“Madam,” said King Edmund,“the like foreboding stirreth in my heart also.”

“And in mine,fair brother,” said King Peter.

“And in mine too,” said Queen Susan.“Wherefore by my counsel we shall lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stag no further.”

“Madam,” said King Peter,“therein I pray thee to have me excused.For never since we four were Kings and Queens in Narnia have we set our hands to any high matter,as battles,quests,feats of arms,acts of justice,and the like,and then given over；but always what we have taken in hand,the same we have achieved.”

“Sister,” said Queen Lucy,“my royal brother speaks rightly.And it seems to me we should be shamed if for any fearing or foreboding we turned back from following so noble a beast as now we have in chase.”

“And so say I,” said King Edmund.“And I have such desire to find the signification of this thing that I would not by my good will turn back for the richest jewel in all Narnia and all the islands.”

“Then in the name of Aslan,” said Queen Susan,“if ye will all have it so,let us go on and take the adventure that shall fall to us.”

So these Kings and Queens entered the thicket,and before they had gone a score of paces they all remembered that the thing they had seen was called a lamp-post,and before they had gone twenty more they noticed that they were making their way not through branches but through coats.And the next moment they all came tumbling out of a wardrobe door into the empty room,and they were no longer Kings and Queens in their hunting array but just Peter,Susan,Edmund and Lucy in their old clothes.

It was the same day and the same hour of the day on which they had all gone into the wardrobe to hide.Mrs Macready and the visitors were still talking in the passage；but luckily they never came into the empty room and so the children weren't caught.

And that would have been the very end of the story if it hadn't been that they felt they really must explain to the Professor why four of the coats out of his wardrobe were missing.And the Professor,who was a very remarkable man,didn't tell them not to be silly or not to tell lies,but believed the whole story.“No,” he said,“I don't think it will be any good trying to go back through the wardrobe door to get the coats.You won't get into Narnia again by that route.Nor would the coats be much use by now if you did!Eh?What's that?Yes,of course you'll get back to Narnia again some day.Once a King in Narnia,always a King in Narnia.But don't go trying to use the same route twice.Indeed,don't try to get there at all.It'll happen when you're not looking for it.And don't talk too much about it even among yourselves.And don't mention it to anyone else unless you find that they've had adventures of the same sort themselves.What's that?How will you know?Oh,you'll know all right.Odd things they say – even their looks – will let the secret out.Keep your eyes open.Bless me,what do they teach them at these schools?”

And that is the very end of the adventure of the wardrobe.But if the Professor was right,it was only the beginning of the adventures of Narnia.

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

凯斯宾王子/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；吴力新,徐海燕译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：Prince Caspian

ISBN 978-7-5447-4716-5

Ⅰ.① 凯…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 吴… ③ 徐… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290510号

Prince Caspian copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1951

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1951 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 凯斯宾王子

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 吴力新　徐海燕

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

字　数 109千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4716-5

第二册 凯斯宾王子

目录

中文版

1 小岛

2 古老的宝库

3 小矮人

4 凯斯宾王子的故事

5 凯斯宾深山探险

6 隐居者

7 危险笼罩着古老的纳尼亚

8 号角的魔力

9 露茜看到了什么

10 狮王归来

11 雄狮长啸

12 反叛

13 决斗

14 解放

15 阿斯兰打开一道天门

英文版

CHAPTER 1 The Island

CHAPTER 2 The Ancient Treasure House

CHAPTER 3 The Dwarf

CHAPTER 4 The Dwarf Tells of Prince Caspian

CHAPTER 5 Caspian’s Adventure in the Mountains

CHAPTER 6 The People that Lived in Hiding

CHAPTER 7 Old Narnia in Danger

CHAPTER 8 How They Left the Island

CHAPTER 9 What Lucy Saw

CHAPTER 10 The Return of the Lion

CHAPTER 11 The Lion Roars

CHAPTER 12 Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance

CHAPTER 13 The High King in Command

CHAPTER 14 How All Were Very Busy

CHAPTER 15 Aslan Makes a Door in the Air

献词

献给玛丽·克莱尔·哈佛

1

小岛

从前有四个孩子：彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。在另一本叫做《狮子、女巫和魔衣柜》的书里，我们曾经讲述过他们的一次精彩历险。他们钻进一个神秘的大衣柜，发现自己来到一个与我们这里全然不同的世界——纳尼亚王国。在那里，他们成为国王和女王，并且统治了好多好多年。可是，当他们穿过那扇柜门，重新回到我们的世界来时，这场历险似乎只是瞬间发生的事情——至少没人发现他们曾经离开过。而他们除了告诉过一位非常博学的老人之外，对谁也没有提起过这件事。

那是一年前发生的事情了。现在，这四个孩子都坐在火车站的长椅上，身边堆放着大衣箱和用品箱。这是在回学校的路上，他们将在这里分手。女孩子们准备乘坐很快就要进站的一列火车返回自己的学校，而大约半个小时以后，两个男孩将乘另一列火车返回他们的学校。这一路上大家热热闹闹在一起，总觉得仍然是在度假，可是现在，马上就要握手告别，这使每个人都意识到，假期的确已经结束，天天上课的日子又要开始了。孩子们不由得都情绪低落，谁也想不出该说些什么才好。露茜将是第一次上寄宿学校。

这是个空荡、沉寂的小镇车站，月台上除了他们，几乎再没别人。突然，露茜轻声尖叫了一下，仿佛被马蜂蜇了一下似的。

“什么事，露？”爱德蒙问。可是话音未落，他也“哎哟”一声叫了起来。

“真见鬼……”彼得话说了一半，突然也改变了原先想说的话，“苏珊，放手！你干什么？你拉我上哪儿去？”

“谁碰你了！”苏珊说，“倒是有人在拉我，哎……哎……哎……别拉我呀！”

孩子们一个个脸色变得煞白。

“我也是，”爱德蒙气都喘不过来了，“好像有人把我拉向什么地方。这太可怕了——唷，又来了！”

“我也一样，”露茜喊道，“哦，我支持不住了。”

“快！”爱德蒙喊道，“大家快拉起手来，不要松开！这是一种魔力——我的感觉没错，快！”

“对，”苏珊急急地说，“拉起手来。噢，恐怕一时还停不了，噢……”

接着是一阵天旋地转，行李、长椅、月台和车站转眼间都消失不见了。四个孩子手拉着手，气喘吁吁，发现自己站在一片树林之中——这里的树木是那么稠密，树枝顶在他们身上，几乎连一点活动的余地都没有。孩子们揉揉眼睛，深深舒了一口气。

“喂，彼得！”露茜大声说，“你看咱们会不会是又回到纳尼亚了？”

“什么地方都有可能，”彼得答道，“这么多的树，一米之外我就什么都看不见了。咱们得想法找一找，看看外面有没有空地。”

费了九牛二虎之力，身上多处被树枝划破，他们终于走出了树木最稠密的地区。外面的光线强多了，再往前走几步，他们突然惊奇地发现自己已站在树林的边缘，眼前是一片海滩。离他们不远处，温和的海水轻轻地涌上滩头，激起层层细浪，几乎一点儿声响都没有。这里看不到田野，天上也没有云，眼前只有大海那令人目眩的一片蔚蓝。根据太阳的位置判断，现在大约是上午十点钟。几个孩子悄然肃立，沐浴在海洋气息之中。

“哇！”彼得不禁感叹道，“这儿风景真好啊！”

五分钟之后，大家都脱掉鞋子走进那清凉透澈的海水之中。

“比起坐在那闷热的车厢里回学校去上那些拉丁文、法文和代数课来，这可真是强多了！”爱德蒙说。这以后有老半天，大家都默不作声，只是踩着水往前走，一边寻找水中的虾蟹。

“尽管如此，”过了一会儿苏珊说，“咱们该认真计划一下，要不然我们很快就会饿肚子了。”

“不是有妈妈给我们带在路上吃的三明治吗？”爱德蒙说，“至少我的一份在这里。”

“我的没了，”露茜说，“我把它放在小包里了。”

“我的也放在那儿。”苏珊说。

“我的在衣服口袋里，喏，就在海滩上，”彼得说，“四个人两份午餐，准不够吃！”

“我现在并不饿，就是有点渴。”露茜说。

这一说，大家都感到口渴起来。当然啦，在烈日下的海水中玩一会儿之后，谁都要口渴的。

“我们现在的情形就好像船在海上遇了险，”爱德蒙一本正经地说，“书中的遇难者们总是能在荒岛上找到清凉甘甜的泉水。咱们也该去找找看。”

“你是说，我们还得到那茂密的林子中去？”苏珊问。

“用不着，”彼得说，“只要有小溪，它们肯定会潺潺而下，流入大海。我们沿着海岸走，准能找得到。”

于是，他们开始趟水往回走。在松软的沙滩上，他们穿起鞋袜。爱德蒙和露茜曾异想天开地要把鞋袜都丢掉，光着脚去探险，幸亏苏珊及时阻止了他们，说那样做简直是发疯。“那样就再也找不回它们了，可如果晚上我们还要待在这里，天又冷起来，你们穿什么？”

他们穿好后，沿着海岸向前走去，左边是大海，右边是森林。这里非常恬静，只是间或传来海鸥的叫声。树林十分茂密，枝叶缠结在一起，根本看不到里面；而且，林子深处一片寂静——没有鸟儿，甚至连昆虫的动静也没有。

贝壳、海藻、海葵和那岩石缝里的小螃蟹，都非常好玩。可是，在口渴难当的时候，你就对它们不感兴趣了。更糟的是，从凉凉的海水中出来以后，他们不久便感到两条腿又热又沉甸甸的。苏珊和露茜有各自的雨衣要拿，爱德蒙的外衣丢在了车站的长椅上，所以现在他和彼得轮流着拿彼得的大衣。

不久，海岸开始向右延伸。大约一刻钟之后，他们绕过一个石崖。这石崖在前面一个急转弯，把刚才那片海域抛在了身后。举目望去，他们看到海峡对面的一片陆地上树木茂密，与脚下这片土地十分相像。

“那是一个岛吗？或者，没准儿两边很快就连在一起了。”露茜说。

“不知道。”彼得懒懒地答道。大家拖着疲惫的步子往前走，谁也不说话。

两边海岸越来越靠近。每走过一个岬角，他们就期待着看到两岸相交，可结果总是使他们失望。终于，他们来到一片岩石跟前。爬上岩顶，只见一条小路伸向远方。“真糟糕！”爱德蒙懊恼地说，“白费了半天劲儿！咱们根本无法到达那边的树林——这儿是一个小岛！”

千真万确，从这里看去，两岸之间的海峡只不过三十来米，显然是最狭窄的地方。再往前，脚下的海岸继续向右延伸，他们可以看到岛与大陆之间开阔的海面。看来，他们已经沿着岛走了大半圈了。

“看，那是什么？”露茜突然说，手指着横卧在海滩上的一条银色的、长蛇般的东西。

“小溪，一条小溪！”其他几个齐声欢呼起来。尽管已经十分疲倦，他们还是毫不迟疑地跳下岩石，向那淡水小溪跑过去。他们知道，上游的溪水才最好喝，便沿着小溪朝上游走去。树林仍然是那么茂密，好在天长日久，那小溪冲出了一条通道；弯下身来，在枝叶搭起的天然隧道里，就能顺水而上。他们在第一个水潭边跪下来，尽情地喝了个够。然后把脸浸在水里，再把胳膊也伸进去，一直浸到臂弯处。

“好极了！”爱德蒙长长地舒了一口气，“现在，让我们来点儿三明治怎么样？”

“喂，我们是不是该省着点儿吃？”苏珊犹豫地说，“也许我们以后更需要它们。”

“现在我们已经不觉得口渴了，”露茜说，“我真希望，仍然像刚才口渴时那样一点儿都不觉得饿。”

“可那些三明治怎么办呢？”爱德蒙仍不甘心，“我们可别省着不吃，结果却把它们放坏了。你们别忘了，这儿气温很高，我们把它们装在口袋里已经走了很久。”于是他们把那两包三明治取出来，分成四份。说实在的，谁都没有吃饱，但这总比什么都不吃强多了。可下一餐怎么办呢？露茜提议回到海边去捕捉海虾；可是没有网。爱德蒙认为最好是去岩石缝里搜集海鸥蛋，可谁也想不起来曾在哪里看到过海鸥蛋，再说即使找到，也无法把它们做熟。彼得心想，除非碰上好运气，否则不用多久，能有生蛋吃就不错了。当然，他明白没有必要把这话讲出来。苏珊开始懊悔不该这么早早地就把三明治一下子吃个精光。孩子们有些沉不住气了。最后，还是爱德蒙开口说道：

“听我说，现在我们只能去森林里面碰碰运气。探险家、云游四海的骑士、侠客以及许多诸如此类的古人，在这种情况下总是想办法活下来的。他们吃根茎、野果和任何可以充饥的东西。”

“什么根茎？”苏珊好奇地问。

“我一向以为那是指树根。”露茜说。

“出发吧，”彼得鼓励大家，“爱德蒙是对的。我们必须去闯闯看，这总比傻站在阳光下要强。”

于是，他们站起身来，顺着小溪向森林深处走去。行程十分艰难，茂密的枝叶拦在面前，他们不得不弯腰前进，或者从枝干上面爬过去。他们跌跌撞撞地穿过大片大片杜鹃之类的灌木丛。衣服扯破了，鞋也在小溪里搞湿了。此时此地，除了小溪流水和他们自己发出的声响之外，林子里依然是一片寂静。正当他们开始感到有些厌倦的时候，突然注意到从什么地方飘来一股清香。接着，他们看到右上方有一种十分鲜亮的色彩。

“看呀！”露茜叫道，“我说那一定是一棵苹果树。”

果然是一棵苹果树。他们一鼓作气爬上陡坡，从荆棘中踩出一条路，来到这棵老树前。树上沉甸甸地挂满了金黄色的、坚实多汁的大苹果。

“还不止一棵呢。”爱德蒙嘴里塞满了苹果，吐字含糊不清。“看那儿，还有那儿。”

“可不是，瞧，这里足有好几十棵果树！”苏珊说着，扔掉了手里的果核，一边又摘下一个大苹果。“很久很久以前，这儿一定是个果园。那时候这儿肯定不像现在这样没人照看，那些树木也还没有长起来。”

“也就是说，这是一个曾经有人居住过的小岛。”彼得沉思道。

“那是什么？”露茜指着前面。

“天哪！那儿有一堵墙！”彼得吃了一惊，“一堵古老的石墙！”

他们推开果实累累的树枝，走到了墙的跟前。这墙的年代已经很久了，有些地方已经塌下来。墙上覆盖着苔藓和那种总是长在墙上的小黄花。墙上有一个高大的门拱，这儿肯定有过一扇大门，可现在门拱几乎被一棵最高的苹果树堵塞住了。孩子们折断一些树枝，爬了进去。墙那边的光线显然明亮得多，他们惊愕地发现自己来到一片开阔地。这里没有树，只有平坦的草坪，野花盛开。四周是灰色的围墙，覆盖着常春藤。这是一个明亮、宁静而又神秘的地方，但令人感到有些阴郁。四个孩子迈步来到院子中间，心里十分高兴。现在他们可以伸伸腰，自由自在地活动一下四肢了。

2

古老的宝库

“这不像是个花园，”苏珊想了想说，“这准是个城堡，我们站的这个地方就是城堡的院子。”

“我明白你的意思了，”彼得说，“对，那是塔楼的废墟，那是楼梯，直通顶层。你们再看这些又宽又浅的台阶，一直通往门廊，那门准是通往大厅去的。”

“看上去可真有些年头了。”爱德蒙说。

“不错，”彼得接着说，“但愿咱们能发现当年住在这里的是些什么人，以及那是多久以前的事情。”

“我觉得这一切都十分稀奇古怪。”露茜说。

“是吗，露？”彼得转过身来，眼睛盯着她，“我也有同样的感觉。这是今天这个奇怪的日子里所发生的最奇怪的事情。我真想知道咱们是在什么地方，到底发生了什么事情。”

他们一边交谈，一边穿过院子，走进另一个门道。这里曾经是个大厅，可是现在，与外面的院子几乎没什么两样，屋顶早就没有了，只见一片荒草和雏菊丛生的空地，不过比较窄，比较短，墙比院墙高一些。在另一端有个平台，比别处大约高三英尺。

“奇怪，这儿以前真是个大厅吗？”苏珊说，“那平台是做什么用的？”

“哎，你这傻瓜，”彼得突然莫名其妙地激动起来，“你还看不出来，那是国王和贵族们坐的地方。你是不是忘记了，我们自己就曾经是国王和女王，坐在王宫的高台上，那台子跟这个都差不多的。”

“我们的凯尔帕拉维尔城堡，”提起往事，苏珊心驰神往，如在梦中，“它就坐落在纳尼亚大河的入口处。我怎能忘记呢？”

“这一切若能重现，那该多么好哇！”露茜说，“干脆咱们把这儿当做凯尔帕拉维尔。这座大厅和我们过去举行宴会的王宫十分相似。”

“只可惜没有宴会。”爱德蒙总是很实际，“天色晚了，你们看，影子这么长，而且天气也没那么热了。”

“要是我们不得已在这儿过夜的话，就必须准备一堆篝火，”彼得说，“我有火柴，咱们分头去找，看能不能搜集些干树枝来。”

大家都意识到这是明智的，便立即行动起来。果园里枯枝并不多，他们只好穿过大厅，从一扇小小的侧门来到城堡的另一端去碰碰运气。这儿像一个迷宫，有许多石堆和空地。他们猜想，以前这些都是连在一起的小房间，可现在早已是杂草丛生，满目荒凉。再往前去，他们看见围墙上有一个大豁口。穿过豁口，来到一个小树林，这儿的树颜色很深，也很高大。在这里他们找到了大量的干枝、朽木、枯叶和冷杉树的球果。他们来回搬运，抱了一捆又一捆，在城堡平台上堆起了好大一堆。幸运的是他们还在大厅外面找到了一口井，这口井被埋没在草丛里。他们把井边的杂草清理干净，发现那井水清凉、甘甜，水也很深。随后，女孩子们又跑去摘来一些苹果，两个男孩子则弄好篝火。他们用了好多根火柴，篝火终于燃起来。这时候，他们相信世上简直找不出更舒适温暖的地方了。接着，他们把苹果插在小棍尖儿上，试着烤苹果吃，可是，没有白糖，烤苹果的味道实在谈不上如何美妙。太烫时没法儿用手拿着吃，等你可以用手去拿时，它又凉得一点儿都不好吃了。结果，他们只好吃生苹果充饥。爱德蒙说得不错，学校食堂里的晚餐其实并不那么糟糕——“要是这会儿来一片厚厚的奶油面包，我倒是没什么不乐意。”他加上一句。但是，一股冒险的热情在激动着大家，谁也没有真的就想回学校去。

吃完了最后一只苹果，苏珊又跑到井边去喝水，回来的时候她手里拿着什么东西。

“看，”她的声音有些异样，“我在井边捡到的。”她把那东西交给彼得，然后坐了下来。从她的表情和声音里，其他几个都以为她就要哭出来了。爱德蒙和露茜极感兴趣地弯下身来，向彼得手里望去——那是个小小的、亮晶晶的东西，在篝火的映照下闪闪发光。

“唷，我……我……真是怪事！”彼得的声音听起来也有些异样了。他随手把那东西递给其他几个。

现在，大家都看清楚了，那是一个象棋里的马，它的大小与普通棋子没什么两样，只是分量特别重，因为它是用纯金制成的。那马头上的小眼睛是两颗小宝石，说准确些是一只眼睛，因为另外一只已经掉了。

“咦？！”露茜吃了一惊，“这像是我们在凯尔帕拉维尔做国王和女王时常玩的！”

“你怎么啦，苏？”彼得注意到苏珊在那儿发愣。

“不知怎么搞的，”苏珊喃喃地说道，“这棋子把我带回了……哦，多么迷人的日子。我还记得和小矮人以及那些善良的巨人们一起下象棋时的情景，还有水族的朋友们在海里歌唱，还有我那匹骏美的小马，还有……还有……”

“现在，”彼得的声音有些激动，“咱们该认真思考一下了。”

“思考什么？”爱德蒙问。

“难道你们就没有想想我们是在什么地方？”彼得说。

“你说呢，你说呀！”露茜急切地喊道，“几个小时以来，我一直感到这是个神秘的地方。”

“你接着说，彼得，”爱德蒙说，“我们都听着呢。”

“我们就在凯尔帕拉维尔的废墟上。”彼得很有把握地宣称。

“可是，我说，”爱德蒙不停地眨巴眼睛，“你怎么解释这一切呢？这个地方在很久以前就给毁坏了。看看那些大树，它们沿着大门一直长了上去，再看看这些石头。随便什么人都看得出来，这个地方几百年都没人住过了。”

“我想过了，”彼得说，“问题就在这里，我们先把这个搁在一边，我想把我的根据一条条地摆出来。首先，这个大厅的形状和大小与凯尔帕拉维尔的那个完全一样。你们只要想像一下，上方是个穹顶，再把那些草地改成彩色的路面，墙上挂起壁毯。好了，现在咱们已经在宫廷宴会大厅里了。是不是？”

谁也没有讲话。

“第二点，”彼得继续说，“这城堡的水井与我们的水井位置完全相同，在大殿偏南一点儿，而且，大小和形状也没有两样。”

其他几个仍然一言不发。

“第三点：苏珊刚刚发现的棋子，与我们过去玩的棋子一模一样。”

还是没人答话。

“第四点。你们还记得么——就在卡乐门国王的大使到来的前一天——我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的北门外种了很多果树。森林里所有精灵中最高贵的果树女神波莫娜亲自前来，为我们的果园做了祈祷，而动手刨坑的正是那些打扮得十分体面的小鼹鼠。你们还记得不记得它们的首领，那个上了年纪的哩哩格拉唔？它靠在铁锨上说：‘请相信我，陛下，总有一天，这些果树将给你带来快乐。’瞧，真给它说中了。”

“这一切我全记得，全记得呀！”露茜拍起手来。

“可是你看这儿，彼得，”爱德蒙犹豫地说，“我们不可能紧挨着大门种植果树——我们不会这么傻的。”

“那当然，”彼得说，“可能是后来果园慢慢延伸到大门跟前来了。”

“另外，”爱德蒙说，“凯尔帕拉维尔原来并不是一个小岛。”

“对，我对这一点也一直感到奇怪，但那要看你怎么称呼它。这里可能是一个半岛，很像一个小岛。也许在我们以后的年代，有什么人挖了一道海峡，使它变成了现在的样子。”

“等一等！”爱德蒙说，“你说在我们以后的年代，可是我们从纳尼亚回来才不过一年时间。怎么会在短短的一年里，城堡就倒塌了，巨大的森林形成了，而我们亲眼看着栽种的小树苗都变成了古老高大的果树？天晓得还有其他什么奇迹。可这全是不可能的！”

“我想起一件事，足以证明这儿是不是我们的城堡。”露茜激动地说，“假如这就是凯尔帕拉维尔，那么在高台的这一端应该有一扇门。实际上，这扇门应该就在我们的身后。你们都知道——它通向我们的宝库。”

“看不出来。”彼得一边说一边站起身来。

他们身后的墙上垂下大片的藤叶。

“我们马上就能搞清楚。”爱德蒙说着拿起一根准备用来生火的粗树枝，开始敲打那爬满青藤的墙壁。嗒，嗒，棍子打在墙上发出坚实的响声；再打下去，仍然是嗒，嗒，嗒。突然，通，通，通，敲打声变了，这是一种打在木头上的声音。

“听！”爱德蒙惊呆了。

“我们必须先清除这些藤。”彼得说。

“哦，千万别去动它，”苏珊说，“咱们明天早晨再开这门吧。如果我们今晚要在这里过夜，我可不愿意在身后有一扇敞开的大门，里面黑咕隆咚，往外散发着凉风和潮气，什么可怕的东西都可能从洞里跑出来！再说，天马上就要黑了。”

“苏珊！你怎么说这种泄气的话？”露茜责备地瞥了她一眼。两个男孩子则太激动了，根本就没有注意到苏珊讲了些什么。他们开始用小刀割去青藤。转眼间，他们刚才的“安乐窝”被搞得一片凌乱。一阵忙碌过后，那扇门完全暴露出来了。

“肯定上了锁。”彼得说。

“没关系，木头已经腐朽了，”爱德蒙信心十足，“咱们可以毫不费事地把它砸成碎片，这样我们还可以多些劈柴。来吧。”

事情可没有他们想像的那么容易。这时，沉沉暮色已笼罩大地，天上出现了几颗星星。孩子们站在一堆劈得乱七八糟的木片上，向那刚刚打开的阴森漆黑的洞里望去，不禁一阵微微的颤栗。

“行了，拿个火把来。”彼得吩咐妹妹。

“哎呀，现在别下去，”苏珊急忙阻拦，“爱德蒙说……”

“我现在可没那么说，”爱德蒙打断了她的话，“现在我还没有弄懂，不过我们会搞清楚是怎么回事情的。彼得，你也下来吧？”

“我们大家都下去，”彼得说，“勇敢些，苏珊。我们现在又回到了纳尼亚，像小孩子那样是没有用的。你在这里是女王。而且，不管怎么说，心里装着这样的秘密，谁也睡不着的。”

他们用树枝燃起火把照亮，但这办法不行。燃烧的那一头朝上的话，火就会熄灭；换一头的话，火苗就会灼痛手，烟会熏着眼睛。最后他们不得不用爱德蒙的电筒。幸好一个礼拜前爱德蒙生日时得到一只电筒，电池几乎还是新的。他拿着电筒第一个走了下去，接着是露茜和苏珊，彼得走在最后。

“我已经来到台阶跟前。”爱德蒙大声报告。

“数一下，看有多少级。”彼得说。

“一——二——三——”爱德蒙嘴里数着，一边小心翼翼地往下走。一直数到第十六级台阶。“到底了。”他朝身后喊道。

“那么这里真的是凯尔帕拉维尔，”露茜说，“以前的台阶就是十六级。”再没有谁讲一句话。直到他们走下最后一级台阶，紧靠着站在一起。爱德蒙打开手电筒，光柱缓缓地移动着。

“哇！”孩子们立即发出了一阵欢呼。

现在无可怀疑了，这儿就是凯尔帕拉维尔那古老的宝库。作为纳尼亚的国王和女王，他们曾是这里的主人。房子正中有一条甬道（就像暖房里一样），两边每隔不远就竖立着一套辉煌的盔甲，犹如卫士在守护着那些宝藏。在甬道两旁的架子上，盔甲之间，摆满了奇珍异宝——项链、手镯、戒指以及纯金餐具和长长的象牙，还有成堆尚未镶嵌的宝石，像石子或者土豆一样散乱地堆在那里——钻石、红宝石、绿宝石、红玉、黄玉，还有紫水晶。架子下面放着一个个钢片镶边的栎木箱子，上着大锁。这里冷得要命，又静得出奇，孩子们几乎能听得见自己的心跳。那些宝贝上面盖着厚厚的尘土，要不是他们都知道这是什么地方，并且又回想起过去所发生的一切，他们简直无法相信那些是珠宝。渐渐地孩子们由新奇而产生的兴奋消失了，取而代之的是一丝伤感与惆怅，甚至有些恐怖，因为这里完全像是一个很久很久以前就被遗弃的地方。因此足足有几分钟，谁也没有讲话。

他们慢慢朝前走去，不时把手边的东西拿起来仔细看看，就像遇到久违的老朋友，一边发出阵阵感叹：“噢，看！咱们的加冕戒指——你还记得头一次戴上它时的情景吗？——咦，这不是那枚我们都认为丢失了的胸针吗？——瞧，这不是你在孤独岛那次比武大会上穿的盔甲吗？——那还是小矮人们为我特制的呢！——你记不记得我们曾经用那只号来喝酒？——你还记不记得？……”

突然，爱德蒙停住了脚步：“听我说，不能再浪费电池了，也许以后会更需要它。咱们是不是拿上需要的东西，然后赶紧出去？”

“我们首先得拿上那些礼物。”彼得说。很久很久以前，在一个纳尼亚的圣诞夜，他、苏珊和露茜都得了一些礼物，他们把这些礼物看得比整个王国都珍贵。爱德蒙没有礼物，因为当时他没有和大家在一起。（这是他自己的过错，你在另一个故事里可以读到。）

大家都同意彼得的话，于是顺着甬道径直朝宝库的另一端走去。不出所料，那些东西依然挂在墙上。露茜的礼物最小了，是一个宝石小瓶子，里面还剩有半瓶多神水；这神水可以瞬间治愈所有的创伤和疾病。露茜十分庄重地、默默地把它从墙上取下来，用背带斜挎在肩上。苏珊的礼物是一张弓、一壶箭和一只号。那张弓依然完好无损，旁边是那只盛满了羽翎箭的象牙箭壶。可是，号却不在。

“喂！苏珊，”露茜问，“你的号在哪里？”

“唉，真糟糕！”苏珊想了想说，“我想起来了，我在最后一天带着它，就是我们去围猎白色牡鹿的那一天。它肯定是在我们回人类世界时给弄丢了。”

爱德蒙吹了声口哨，深表惋惜。这是一只神奇的号。无论何时何地，只要吹响它就会及时得到帮助。

“在这样的地方，我们正需要这种宝贝。”他说。

“别担心，我还有弓箭呢。”苏珊说着从墙上把弓箭取下来。

“弓弦不会已失去弹性了吧，苏？”彼得问。

可能是宝库里的空气有些奇异之处，那张弓仍然很好用。苏珊在学校里是射箭和游泳的好手，她立即拉开弓，轻轻弹了一下弓弦。嗡的一声。弓弦那震撼人心的声响，在整个屋子里回荡。这轻轻的响声，把孩子们带回往日那美好的时光。战斗、狩猎、欢宴……一幕一幕又都浮现在他们的脑海之中。

随后，她放松了弓弦，把箭壶挎在身边。

接着，彼得取下了他的礼物——镶着一只红色巨狮的盾牌，和那柄神圣的宝剑。他吹掉剑鞘上的灰尘，在地毯上擦了擦，佩在身旁。然后把那盾牌拿在手里试一试。开始他担心宝剑会锈在剑鞘里拔不出来。可令他欣喜不已的是，那把宝剑轻轻一拉便出了鞘，在黑暗中发出一道寒光。

“这是我的宝剑，我用它杀死了那只豺狼。”他自豪地说，声音里充满了自信与勇气。其他几个这时都觉得面前站着的已不是个普通的男孩子，而是威严的彼得国王。大家突然想起，他们必须节约电池了。

他们沿着台阶回到地面，重新燃起熊熊的篝火，然后紧紧地靠在一起，以便互相取暖。地面很硬，很不舒服，可他们太疲倦了，不久便沉沉睡去。

3

小矮人

露宿最糟糕的是一大清早你就醒过来了，而且一旦醒来就非得起身不可，因为地面太硬，你觉得很不舒服。可是，早餐除了苹果之外什么也没有，在前一天的晚餐也只是苹果的情况下，这就更糟。当露茜说这是个灿烂的早晨时（她的话完全正确），似乎没有什么别的恰当的话可说了。还是爱德蒙说出了大伙儿的心里话：“我们必须尽快离开这个小岛。”

他们在井边喝足了水，草草地洗了把脸，然后便顺着小溪走向下游。他们来到海岸边，久久地凝视着海峡，正是这海峡把他们与大陆分开了。

“我们只有游过去。”爱德蒙说。

“苏没有问题。”彼得说。（她在学校时就曾获得游泳奖牌。）“可是，我不知道咱们几个怎么样。”他说的“咱们几个”其实是指爱德蒙和露茜。爱德蒙至今在学校的游泳池里游不了一个来回，而露茜简直就不会游。

苏珊说：“海里也许有漩涡。爸爸说在一个不熟悉的地方游泳是危险的。”

“可是，彼得，”露茜说，“在家里我的确不会游泳，可是在纳尼亚我们不是都已学会了吗？——那时我们还会骑马，还学会了做其他的事情。你不认为……？”

“啊，那时我们都是成年人。”彼得说，“我们治理国家许多年，的确学会了做很多事情。可现在已经时过境迁了。”

“嘿！”爱德蒙的声音使得其他的人都不由得停止讲话，转而听他说。

“现在我才算明白过来了。”

“明白什么了？”彼得问。

“当然是明白所发生的这一切啦。”爱德蒙激动地说，“你们说昨天晚上最使我感到迷惑不解的是什么？我们离开纳尼亚才不过一年，凯尔帕拉维尔却好像已经有几百年没人住过了。怎么，还没明白过来？你们知道，无论在纳尼亚住多么久，对我们自己那个世界来说，都不过是一瞬间的事。”

“说下去，”苏珊说，“我想我已经开始明白了。”

“这就是说，”爱德蒙继续说道，“一旦你离开了纳尼亚，你就失去了那里的时间概念。我们在英国过了一年，而在纳尼亚就可能已经过了几百年呢！”

“好家伙，爱德，”彼得兴奋起来，“我相信你说得对。这么说来，我们住在凯尔帕拉维尔竟是几百年以前的事情了！现在我们重返纳尼亚，就像是十字军的战士，或者盎格鲁－撒克逊人，或者古代的英国人重返现代的英国一样！”

“要是过去的朋友看到我们，该会多么激动，多么——”露茜话没说完，就被打断了。“嘘！”“看！”三个伙伴说，因为这时发生了一件事情。

海峡对面，在他们现在的位置稍微向右一点儿，有一片树林，他们都确信河口就在那片林子的另一侧。这时，从树林后面划出一条小船，顺着海峡朝他们这个方向驶来。船上有两个人，一个划桨，另一个坐在船尾，用手使劲抓着一个什么东西，那东西一个劲地扭动着，好像是活的。那两个人看样子是大兵；他们身穿盔甲，满脸胡须，相貌凶悍冷酷。孩子们从海岸上退回到树林中，紧张地注视着他们。

“这儿就行。”坐在船尾的那个人说。这时候小船正好停在孩子们对面。

“在他脚上捆一块石头怎么样，头儿？”另一个停下了手中的桨。

“混蛋，”船尾那人粗鲁地怪声说，“用不着。再说咱们也没带石头来。没问题，只要咱们把绳子绑紧些，不用石头也能淹死他。”说着，他站起身来，提起了那捆东西。彼得这时看清了，那是一个小矮人，他的手脚都被捆住了，但仍在不停地奋力挣扎。突然，彼得听到耳边嗡的一声响，只见那领头的扬起双臂，把小矮人摔在小船的底板上，他自己却翻身落入水中，挣扎着朝对岸游去。彼得清楚地看到，苏珊一箭正射在他的头盔上。他转过身来，只见苏珊脸色苍白，已经把第二支箭搭在弦上了，可这支箭没有射出去。另一个士兵看到自己的同伴遭到袭击，立即惊叫一声，从小船的另一端跳下水去，没命地一口气游到对岸，一会儿便消失在树林之中。

“快！别让小船顺水漂走了！”彼得喊道。他和苏珊顾不得脱下衣服便一齐跳进水里，没费多大劲儿，他们便把那小船拖到岸边，把小矮人从船里抬了出来。爱德蒙忙着用小刀割断他身上的绳索。（彼得的剑应该说比小刀锋利，但是长剑在这种情况下很不方便，因为在剑柄以下的部位没有抓手的地方。）小矮人松了绑之后，立即坐起身来，活动一下四肢，然后大声说：“你们是……不管他们怎么说，我看你们并不像是妖魔鬼怪。”

和绝大多数小矮人一样，他矮胖、鸡胸，身高不足一米，又粗又红的大胡子，使他的脸显得很小，只剩下一只山峰一般的高鼻子，和那双闪闪发光的黑眼睛。

“不管是不是鬼，”他继续说，“你们救了我的命，我感激万分。”

“我们怎么会是鬼呢？”露茜好奇地问。

“这话我可听了一辈子了，”小矮人说，“都说海岸这边树林里的鬼就和树叶一样多。大家一直是这么传说的。所以当他们想干掉谁的时候，就把他送到这个地方来（正像他们对付我一样），说是把他留给那些鬼怪去‘处理’。可是，那些鬼怪真会把人活活淹死，或者割断他的喉咙吗？人们对此一直将信将疑。我并不怎么相信鬼神，可是刚才那两个胆小鬼却深信不疑，他们送我去死，而面对死亡时，却比我更感到害怕！”

“真有意思，”苏珊笑着说，“难怪他俩逃命时跑得飞快。”

“什么？他们逃走了？”小矮人有些紧张起来。

“是的，”爱德蒙说，“逃到大陆上去了。”

“我射他们，但并不打算伤害他们，你知道。”苏珊解释说。她怕别人误以为她在这么近的距离还射不中。

“嗯，”小矮人说，“那可不太妙，那意味着今后将会有麻烦，除非他们为了自己的利益而守口如瓶。”

“他们为什么要淹死你？”彼得问。

“我是一个危险的罪犯，真的！”小矮人不无自豪地说，“那可是说来话长了。不过，我现在脑子里想的是……也许你们会邀请我共进早餐？你们简直想像不出来，一个人死里逃生之后，他的胃口是多么好。”

“可是，这儿只有苹果。”露茜泄气地说。

“总比什么都没有强。当然，能有几条鲜鱼做早餐就更好了，”小矮人咂咂嘴，“看来我只好反客为主，请你们吃早餐啰。我看见那船上有些钓鱼用具。可是无论如何，我们必须先把小船弄到岛的另一边去，不能让对面大陆上的任何人看到它。”

“这一点我本该先想到的。”彼得有些惭愧地说。

四个孩子和小矮人一道来到水边，费了好大力气才把小船推进水里，然后一个个爬了上去。小矮人立即老练地指挥起来。船桨对他来说显然太大了。于是他来掌舵，彼得划桨，小船缓缓朝北驶去。一会儿，他们便绕过小岛的拐角，转向东方。从这里，孩子们举目望去，看到了整个海湾和对面海岸的土地。他们原以为旧日的纳尼亚总要留下些什么痕迹的，但那些树林，那些自他们的时代往后生长起来的树林，使得一切都面目全非了。

在小岛东边的海面上，小矮人开始钓鱼。他们钓到了许多鳟鱼，这是一种像彩虹一样美丽的鱼。这使孩子们又回想起在凯尔帕拉维尔的那些日子，那时他们也吃这种鱼。当他们认为钓到的鱼已经足够吃了，便把小船逆水划进一条小溪，拴在一棵树上。那小矮人十分能干（尽管小矮人里有坏蛋，可他们个个都很聪明），他麻利地把鱼剖开、洗净，然后说：

“好了，现在需要的是一堆篝火。”

“我们已经在城堡里架起了火堆。”爱德蒙说。

小矮人轻轻地吹了一声口哨，“果然有一个城堡！”

“只不过是一堆废墟。”露茜并没有介意。

小矮人满脸疑虑，仔细地依次打量着他们。“那你们究竟是……”他嗫嚅着说，但马上又改口道，“没事儿，没事儿，咱们先吃早饭。可是，让我们先来做一件事：请你们把手放在心口上，然后对我连说三遍‘你现在的确还活着’。你们真的有把握，我没有淹死，而你们不是一群鬼？”

他们一齐向他保证，直到这小家伙放心为止。下面一个问题是，怎么拿走这些鱼。既没有铁丝把它们穿成一串，也没有笼子，最后，他们只好用爱德蒙的帽子，这是他们惟一的一顶帽子，要不是他实在饿得发慌，他是决不会同意的。

在城堡里，小矮人起先好像浑身都不自在，他不停地东张西望，使劲用鼻子嗅来嗅去，嘴里不停地嘟囔着，“真奇怪，真奇怪。这味道好像是从鬼穴里发出来的。”可是当篝火点燃时，他精神来了，指手画脚地教几个孩子如何用炭火烤新鲜鳟鱼。鱼很烫手，没有叉子，惟一的一把小刀要供五个人用，饭还没有吃完，几个人的手指都烫伤了。可是，孩子们早已饥饿难忍，所以对这点儿小小的烫伤并不十分在意。最后，大家喝了些井水，再吃一个苹果，就结束了这顿美餐。

小矮人不知在什么时候做成了一根足有他胳膊那么粗的大烟斗，装满烟丝，凑在篝火上把烟点着，惬意地吐出了一口清香的灰色烟雾，心满意足地说：“好了。”

“给我们讲讲你的故事好吗？”彼得说，“然后我们给你讲我们的故事。”

“好吧，”小矮人说，“既然你们救了我的命，当然应该满足你们的要求，才算是公平合理。从哪儿说起呢？首先我该告诉你们，我是凯斯宾国王的信使。”

“谁是凯斯宾？”四个声音同时问道。

“凯斯宾十世，纳尼亚的国王，祝他统治长久！”小矮人极其虔诚而庄严地祈祷着，“我是说，他应该是整个纳尼亚的统治者，这是我们的希望。可是眼下他还只是我们纳尼亚旧臣的国王。”

“请问，‘纳尼亚旧臣’是指哪些人？”露茜插了一句。

“哦，那就是指我们，”小矮人说，“我们这些被称为‘叛逆’的土生土长的纳尼亚人。”

“你是说，”彼得猜测道，“凯斯宾是过去的纳尼亚的首领？”

“对了，可以这么说，”小矮人用手搔搔头，“可他自己却是个新纳尼亚人，一个台尔马人。你们能够听明白我的意思吗？”

“我不明白。”爱德蒙说。

“我简直都糊涂了。”露茜说。

“哦，亲爱的，”小矮人抱歉地说，“我讲得很不好，我想最好还是从头讲起吧——从凯斯宾是怎样在他叔父的王宫里成长起来，以后又是怎样完全站在了我们一边。可这是个很长的故事。”

“长些更好，”露茜高兴极了，“我们都喜欢听故事。”

于是，那小矮人坐下来，讲了下面的故事。我不准备照他的原话把这故事复述给你们听，因为，那就要把孩子们在听故事过程中的提问和插话也都写出来，篇幅就会太长，情节就会太复杂，而且仍然不得不舍去孩子们只是在后来才听说的一些内容。不过，故事的要点，与孩子们最终所了解的完全一致，是下面这样的。

4

凯斯宾王子的故事

凯斯宾王子从小住在纳尼亚中部地区一座巨大的城堡里，跟着他的叔父和婶婶——纳尼亚的国王弥若兹，和那个满头红发的普鲁娜普瑞丝弥尔王后。凯斯宾王子的双亲早去世了，保姆成了他最亲近的人。作为王子，他虽然有许多除了不会讲话之外几乎什么都会做的非常精致奇妙的玩具，但是最使他神往的却还是每天睡觉前的那段时间，每到这时，慈祥的保姆便来给他讲故事。

叔父对凯斯宾的成长似乎并不十分在意，不过每周两次唤他去阳台上散半个钟头的步。一天，当叔侄俩散步闲谈时，叔父突然对他说：

“孩子，我打算派人教你骑马和击剑。你知道，我和你的婶婶没有孩子。看来，我过世以后，多半要由你继承王位。你一定非常开心吧！嗯？”

“不知道，叔父。”凯斯宾回答说。

“不知道？”弥若兹感到很意外，“那么，我倒要问问看，一个人除此之外，还想要些什么？”

“叔父，我的确有一个希望。”凯斯宾认真地说。

“什么希望？”

“我希望……我希望……我希望生活在过去的日子里。”（别忘了，小王子这时还只是个年幼的孩子。）

到现在为止，国王一直是用一种成年人的令人讨厌的腔调跟他谈话，这表明他对谈话并无兴趣，然而这时他突然向凯斯宾投来非常锐利的一瞥。

“嗯？怎么回事？”他说，“什么过去的日子？”

“咦，你不知道，叔父？”凯斯宾睁大了眼睛，“那时候，所有一切与现在全不一样——动物都会讲话，有善良的水族仙女和林中仙女；小矮人和那些非常可爱的小羊怪；还有……”

“那全是胡说八道，是哄小孩的！”国王严厉地呵斥道，“只能讲给小娃娃听，你听见没有？你已经长大了，不该再信这些胡言乱语。在你这样的年龄，你应该对战斗和探险感兴趣，而不是这类无稽之谈。”

“哦，可是那古老的年代里，也有战斗和探险呀！”凯斯宾不服气地说，“那是多么奇妙的经历！那时候，曾经有一个白女巫，她自封为纳尼亚国的女王，用魔法使整个纳尼亚只有寒冷的冬天，没有明媚的春天。后来，从什么地方来了两个男孩和两个女孩，他们杀了那女巫，成为纳尼亚的国王和女王，他们叫彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。他们统治多年，人民过着非常幸福的生活，而这一切又全都离不开阿斯兰……”

“它是谁？”弥若兹厉声问道。假如凯斯宾的年龄再稍微大一点儿，他无疑会从叔父的语调中有所警觉，马上识相地闭上嘴巴。可是，他继续讲了下去。

“怎么，难道你不知道？阿斯兰是只狮子，伟大的神灵，正义的化身。”

“你从谁那里听来这些鬼话的？”国王怒气冲冲地说，并抓起凯斯宾的手。凯斯宾有些害怕了，闭着嘴没有回答。

“尊贵的王子陛下，”国王弥若兹放开了凯斯宾的手，“你必须回答我！看着我的脸：是谁在向你讲这些谎话？”

“保……保姆。”凯斯宾十分踌躇地说，眼泪一下涌了出来。

“听着！”叔父紧紧抓住他的肩头，使劲摇了一下，“不许哭！再也不要让我听到你谈论那些愚蠢的故事，连想都不许想！那些什么国王和女王，根本就不存在！怎么可能同时有两个国王、两个女王？而且根本就没有狮子阿斯兰之类的东西，更不会有什么说话的动物。你听见没有？”

“是的，叔父。”凯斯宾抽泣着说。

“好了，我们别谈这些了。”国王打个手势，恭候在阳台另一端的侍从快步走过来。国王威严地吩咐道：“把王子殿下送回他的房间去，再把他的保姆给我带来。”

第二天，凯斯宾才发现自己做了一件多么可怕的事情，保姆被送走了，连向王子说一声“再见”都不准。他还听说，他马上会有一位家庭教师。

凯斯宾非常怀念慈祥的保姆，为此他还哭过好多次。不知为什么，古老纳尼亚的故事反而更为频繁地出现在他的脑海中。他每天夜里都梦到小矮人和林中仙女，还有那些会说话的动物，白天便想方设法要让城堡里的猫狗们开口和他说话。可是，那些狗只会摇尾巴，猫也只会冲着他咪咪叫。

凯斯宾深信未来的家庭教师一定非常讨厌。出乎意料的是，一个礼拜后，当那家庭教师出现在他面前时，凯斯宾发现他竟然非常讨人喜欢。他是凯斯宾见过的最矮也最肥胖的人，长长的胡子一直垂到肚子上。他那张棕色的脸上布满了皱纹，虽然长得很丑，但和善的眼睛里充满了智慧。他的声音十分庄重，他的眼睛却时常闪烁着诙谐的笑意，所以在对他十分熟悉之前，你很难判断出他什么时候是在开玩笑，什么时候却是顶认真的。他叫克奈尔斯博士。

在克奈尔斯博士讲授的所有课程中，凯斯宾最喜欢的莫过于历史课了。迄今为止，除了保姆的那些故事以外，他对纳尼亚的历史一无所知。当教授讲到皇族是如何迁移到纳尼亚并成为统治者的时候，他感到惊讶万分。

“那是殿下的祖先，凯斯宾一世，”克奈尔斯博士缓缓地说，“他第一个征服了纳尼亚，并成为那里的国王。把你们整个民族带到纳尼亚来的就是他。你们并不是真正的纳尼亚人，你们都是台尔马人，来自西部大山那边十分遥远的台尔马国。正是为了这个缘故，凯斯宾一世被称为征服者凯斯宾。”

“请问，博士，”有一天凯斯宾问，“我们从台尔马国来到这儿以前，什么人住在纳尼亚？”

“没有人类，或者说极少有人在台尔马人之前来过纳尼亚。”克奈尔斯博士说。

“那么我的祖先征服的是谁呢？”

“王子殿下，”克奈尔斯博士有意换了个话题，“好像我们该结束历史课，开始学习语法了。”

“噢，求求你，再等一会儿！”凯斯宾恳求道，“请告诉我，难道没有经历战争吗？要是这里没人和他打仗，为什么称他为征服者凯斯宾？”

“我刚才说了，那时在纳尼亚很少有人类。”博士说着，透过眼镜用一种奇怪的眼神望着这个小男孩。

开始凯斯宾感到有些迷惑不解，但他的心马上剧烈地跳了起来。“这么说，”他急切地问，“还有其他的生灵？就像故事里讲的那样？有……”

“嘘！”克奈尔斯博士把头凑向凯斯宾，“不要再说了，你难道不知道，你的保姆就是因为给你讲了古代纳尼亚的故事而被打发走了？国王不喜欢这个。假如他发现我对你讲这些秘密，你会受到鞭笞，而我就会被杀头。”

“那为什么？”凯斯宾问。

“咱们真的该开始学习语法了，”克奈尔斯博士高声说，“请王子殿下翻开《语法解析》第四页，语法园地或趣味语法点滴及语言的结构和妙用。”

打这以后，直到吃午饭，老师讲的全是名词呀、动词呀等等。可我们的小凯斯宾并没有听进去多少。他太激动了。他深信克奈尔斯博士要对他讲的并不止这些，他迟早会告诉自己更多的事情。

王子没有失望。几天以后，他的家庭教师对他说：“今天晚上我要给你上天文课，在深夜时分，两颗神圣的行星塔瓦和阿拉姆毕尔将在相距一度左右的位置上相遇而过。这种现象已经两百年没有发生过了，王子殿下今生也不会再见到了，最好你今晚早些上床，两星相遇之前我会来叫醒你的。”

这和古代纳尼亚似乎并没有什么关系，凯斯宾真正想要知道的并不是这个。可不管怎么说，半夜起床总是件新鲜事，他感到十分高兴。他原以为会兴奋得睡不着觉，可实际上很快就进入了梦乡。不过，好像才睡了不过几分钟，便感到有人轻轻地在推他。

他从床上坐起来，看到屋子里洒满了银色的月光，克奈尔斯博士身上裹着一件带头罩的大斗篷，手里提着一盏灯，站在床边。凯斯宾马上清醒过来，他一骨碌爬起身，开始穿衣服。尽管这是夏天，他仍感到出乎意料的凉意。博士给他披上一件同样的斗篷，又帮他穿上一双温暖轻便的高筒靴。有了斗篷和靴子，在黑暗的过道里就不容易被人看见，而且走起来一点儿声音都没有。就这样，他们俩离开了房间。

也不知穿过了多少走廊，爬了多少楼梯，最后经过塔楼的一扇小门，他们终于来到外面的平台上。从这里朝下看，是幽暗的城堡花园；抬头望去，是一轮明月和满天的星斗。他们快步走向另一扇门，这门通向城堡中心巨大的高塔。克奈尔斯博士打开锁，领着凯斯宾沿塔内的旋转楼梯向上爬去。凯斯宾开始兴奋起来，以前是从来不许他爬这楼梯的。

楼梯很长，也很陡。爬到塔顶时，凯斯宾已是气喘吁吁。但他马上发现再累些也值得。向右边极目望去，山峦重重，依稀可见；左边则有一条大河，蜿蜒而去。此时万籁俱寂，凯斯宾甚至听得见一英里外海狸大坝的水声。分辨那两颗他们想看的星星似乎并非难事：它们低垂在南方，明亮得就像小小的月亮，而且相距非常近。

“它们会撞在一起吗？”凯斯宾对那无垠的宇宙感到神奇莫测，于是不安地问。

“不会的，亲爱的王子，”博士轻声地说，“苍天那些伟大的星宿太熟悉它们的舞步了，怎么会相撞呢。你好好地看着吧，它们的聚会是吉祥的，会给苦难的纳尼亚带来巨大的幸福。看啊，胜利之神塔瓦在向和平女神阿拉姆毕尔致敬了，看——它们就要到相距最近的位置了！”

足有两分钟克奈尔斯博士一言不发，像一尊雕像矗立在那里，凝视着塔瓦和阿拉姆毕尔。然后，他深深吐了一口气，转向凯斯宾。

“极少有人看到这一奇景，王子殿下是幸运的。现在，我想说的是，我带你到这里来，还有另外一个原因。”

凯斯宾扬起头来望着他，可是博士的斗篷帽子把他的脸遮住了一大半。

“我之所以选择这个地方，”克奈尔斯博士说，“是因为我们下面有六间空房子，还有一个长长的楼梯，而且楼梯底下的小门已经上了锁，没有人能偷听我们讲话。”

“你是不是要告诉我那天你不肯讲的事情？”凯斯宾一下子激动起来。

“是的，”博士说，“可是记住，我们绝不可以随便谈论这类事情——除非在这里。”

“好的，就这么说定了。”凯斯宾使劲儿点点头，“你快接着往下说呀！”

“听着，”博士说，“你所听到有关纳尼亚的每一个传说都是真实的，纳尼亚原本不是人类的领土，它属于伟大的阿斯兰。在这个国家里，有神志清醒的大树，有机灵活泼的水中仙女，有羊怪，有森林之神、小矮人和巨人，有海狸和人头马，还有许多其他会讲话的动物。与凯斯宾一世战斗的就是它们。正是你们台尔马人，使得所有这些生灵、树木和流水都变得沉默不语；是你们屠杀并赶走了小矮人和羊怪，现在甚至想把这一切永远地从人们的记忆中抹掉。想想看，国王为什么不允许人们提起这些往事？”

“噢，我多么希望我的祖先没有做过那些伤天害理的事情啊！”凯斯宾说，“但使我高兴的是所有那些传说都是真的，尽管它们都已经成为过去。”

“你的同胞们同样在暗地里反对你们祖先所做过的那些事情。”克奈尔斯博士说。

“可是，博士，”凯斯宾问，“你为什么说‘我的同胞’？你自己不也是台尔马人吗？”

“我像吗？”

“不管怎样，咱们是同类呀！”

“是吗？”博士用更加深沉的声音重复着，同时把他斗篷上的帽子掀到脑后。于是，凯斯宾借着月光清楚地看到了他的脸。

凯斯宾恍然大悟——怎么没能早些发现这个事实呢！克奈尔斯博士身材那么矮小，又那么胖，还有那么又长又密的胡子。他的脑子里一下闪出两个念头。“眼前的这个克奈尔斯博士是个小矮人，他把我带到这里来，是想要杀掉我。”想到这里，他禁不住有点害怕。另一个念头倒很令人高兴：“果然有小矮人活了下来，我终于亲眼见到了一个。”

“我想你终于已经明白是怎么回事了吧，”克奈尔斯博士说，“或者，你猜着了。我不是纯种小矮人，我身上也有人类的血液。许多小矮人战后幸存了下来，为了继续生存，他们剃掉胡须，穿上高底靴子，装成人的模样，与你们台尔马人混在一起，我就是其中的一个，只是个半小矮人。假如我的同胞——纯种小矮人——还活在世上的话，他们一定会看不起我的，他们会叫我‘叛徒’。可是，这么多年来，我一刻也没有忘记我的同胞，以及纳尼亚那些愉快的生灵，还有那自由自在的生活。”

“我……我很抱歉，博士，”凯斯宾说，“可那不是我的过错，你知道。”

“我讲这些并没有责备你的意思，亲爱的王子，”博士答道，“你倒是应该问一问，我为什么要对你讲这些？我有两个理由。第一，我这颗衰老的心把这些秘密藏得实在太久了，久得使它隐隐作痛，我要是不悄悄地对你讲出来，我就要憋死了！第二，我希望当你成为国王时，你能帮助我们，因为我深信你虽然是一个台尔马人，但你同样热爱过去的一切。”

“当然，当然啦，”凯斯宾连连点头，“可是我能做些什么呢？”

“你可以仁慈地对待小矮人家族那些可怜的幸存者；你可以召集那些有学问的魔法师，想办法找到一个重新唤醒树神的秘诀；你可以找遍这块国土上的每一个角落，看是不是还有羊怪、会讲话的动物和小矮人。他们可能藏在什么地方默默地生存着。”

“你真的以为在这世上还能找到他们的踪迹吗？”凯斯宾热切地问。

“我不知道……不知道，”博士深深地叹了一口气，“有时候我也怀疑他们是否还存在，我一生都在寻找他们的踪迹。有时我好像听到了山中小矮人们的鼓声；有时，在夜里，在森林中，我好像看到了羊怪和林中仙女在远远的地方跳舞。可是，当我走过去时，那儿却空空荡荡，什么也没有了。我总是感到失望，可随后又不断有类似的事情发生，燃起我心中的希望之火。我也不知道究竟这世上还有没有他们存在，可是至少你可以努力做一位像古代彼得国王那样的贤明君主，可不要学你的叔父。”

“这么说，关于国王和女王的传说也是真的啦？还有那白女巫的故事？”凯斯宾问。

“当然，那都是真的，”克奈尔斯说，“那是纳尼亚的黄金时代，这块土地永远不会忘记他们。”

“那时他们就住在这座城堡里吗，博士？”

“不，我亲爱的孩子，”老人说，“这座城堡只是近些年你曾祖父修建的。当阿斯兰加封亚当的两个儿子和夏娃的两个女儿为国王和女王之后，他们就一直住在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡，没人见过那神圣的地方，或许就连它的废墟现在也找不到了。可是，我们相信那地方离这儿十分遥远，在大河入海之处。”

“啊！”凯斯宾吃了一惊，“你是说在那‘黑树林’里？那个到处都住着鬼的地方？”

“王子殿下，看来有人曾经向你讲过一些谎话，”博士说，“那里根本就没有鬼，那是台尔马人编出来的一派胡言。你们的国王们对那大海怕得要命，因为他们总也忘不掉有关过去的传说中，都少不了阿斯兰会从海外归来，惩处邪恶，伸张正义。他们自己不敢走近大海，也不希望其他任何人走近它。因此，他们任那里长起茂密的森林，好把他们的人民与海岸隔开。由于和树神的冲突，他们害怕森林，所以他们想像出那里到处都是鬼魂。历代国王和那些大臣们，由于仇视、惧怕大海和森林，就编造了这些谎言，如果谁都不敢到海边去看大海，去遥望阿斯兰的土地和东方初升的太阳，他们就会感到安全一些。”

他俩在寂静中默默地站了好一会儿，还是克奈尔斯博士先说话：“哦，咱们在这儿待的时间不短了，该下去睡觉了。”

“一定要走吗？”凯斯宾有些依依不舍，“我真想多谈一会儿。”

“天快亮了，当心别人发现并四处寻找我们。”克奈尔斯博士说。

5

凯斯宾深山探险

从这以后，凯斯宾和他的老师在塔顶上又有过好多次这样的密谈，每一次都使得凯斯宾对古代纳尼亚有更多的了解，结果他脑子里几乎装满了对那奇妙世界的憧憬和向往，以及对好时光重返纳尼亚的渴望。可是，他并没有多少空余的时间。因为这时他已开始接受正规的教育了，他学会了击剑、骑马、游泳和潜水，以及如何使用弓箭，如何狩猎，还学会了宇宙结构学、修辞学、纹章学、诗体韵律，当然还有历史、法律、物理、炼金术和天文学；关于占星术，他只学了一些基础理论，因为博士说实际操作不宜教授给王子。“而我自己，”他补充道，“也只是一个很不成熟的占星家，只能做最简单的试验。”他没有上航海课，（“这是一门高尚而又富有英雄色彩的学问。”博士说。）这是因为国王弥若兹反对提到船舶和大海。

他凭着自己的聪慧敏锐与细心的观察，还学会了不少其他知识。当他还是个孩子的时候，他就不喜欢自己的婶婶——普鲁娜普瑞丝弥尔王后，现在他明白了，那是因为她不喜欢他。同时他渐渐发现，纳尼亚是一个不幸福的国家，税收过重，法律严酷，而弥若兹更是一个极其残忍的君王。

岁月如梭，一晃几年过去了。有一段时间里，王后好像是害了什么病，整个城堡都为她忙碌和不安，医生们往返如梭，全国上下都在议论纷纷。这时已是初夏，一天夜里，凯斯宾躺下不过几个钟头，便意外地被克奈尔斯博士摇醒了。

“我们要讲一点儿天文学吗，博士？”凯斯宾问。

“嘘！”博士低声说，“别说话，你要相信我，按照我的吩咐去做。穿上衣服，你就要进行一次长途跋涉了。”

凯斯宾感到十分诧异，可现在他已完全信任自己的老师，便立刻照他的吩咐做了。穿好衣服之后，博士递给他一件什么东西：“我这儿给你准备了一个旅行袋，我们马上到隔壁房间，从餐桌上取些吃的，把袋子装满。”

“那儿有我的仆人，他们总是寸步不离的。”

“他们都睡着了，放心好了，”博士说，“我虽是个微不足道的魔法师，但要使人昏睡还是办得到的。”

他们一齐来到隔壁。果然，两个仆人仰靠在椅子上，鼾声如雷。克奈尔斯博士迅速地收拾起剩下的凉鸡和几片鹿肉，连同面包、一只苹果等其他的食物，以及一小瓶好酒一齐放进那旅行袋里，让王子背在身上。

“宝剑带上了吗？”博士问。

“带着呢。”

“那就快披上这件斗篷，把宝剑和旅行袋都遮住。嗯，好。咱们现在到塔顶上去，我有几句话对你讲。”

这时已是深夜，塔顶上漆黑一片，寒气袭人，仿佛笼罩在不祥的恐怖之中，一点儿也不像他们一起来看塔瓦星和阿拉姆毕尔星相会那天晚上的样子。克奈尔斯博士说：

“亲爱的王子，马上离开这个城堡，到广大的世界里去寻求你的幸福吧。在这里你随时都会有生命危险。”

“为什么？”凯斯宾惊愕地问。

“因为你是纳尼亚真正的国王：凯斯宾十世——凯斯宾九世的亲生儿子和继承人。陛下万岁——”说着，这小人儿突然跪下一条腿来，吻了一下他的手，这使凯斯宾大吃一惊。

“博士，你怎么啦？我都糊涂了。”

“你好像从来没有想过，”博士说，“为什么作为凯斯宾国王的儿子、法定的继承人，你却不是纳尼亚的国王。除了你以外，人人都知道弥若兹是个篡位夺权的小人。他开始统治的时候，并没有以国王的身分出现，他称自己是君王的保护人。后来，你的母后去世了。她是一位贤慧的王后，也是惟一一位待我仁慈的台尔马人。接着，所有那些刚正的大臣，那些对你父亲忠心耿耿的人，也一个个相继死去，或者失踪了，而且都死得很奇怪，没有一个是正常死亡。无疑是心狠手辣的弥若兹把他们都干掉了。比如，伯力沙和犹威拉思在一场狩猎中被箭射死了，说是失手误伤；他还把所有伯萨瑞德的望族都派到北边战场上，与巨人作战，直到他们一个个战死疆场；阿康和艾瑞蒙还有其他的十几个人，被他以莫须有的叛国罪处决了；海狸大坝的两兄弟也被他作为疯子关了起来。最后，他说服了台尔马人中惟独不怕大海的七位爵爷，航行到东海彼岸去寻找新大陆，正如他所希望的那样，他们一去便再也没有回来。终于，能够替你说话的人一个都不剩了，在他的指使下，那些阿谀奉承之辈便出面请求他做纳尼亚的国王。当然，他欣然接受了这请求。”

“你的意思是他现在又想除掉我吗？”

“毫无疑问。”

“可是为什么要等到现在？要是他想这么干，早就可以下手的。我做了什么伤害他的事情？”

“两个小时前发生的一件事彻底改变了你的命运——王后生了个儿子。”

“我不明白那与我有什么关系。”凯斯宾迷惑不解地说。

“还不明白！”博士叫道，“我给你上的那些历史课和政治课，就没有让你更加聪明一些吗？听着，在他还没有自己的儿子时，只好由你来继承王位，虽然他并不爱你，但他宁可把王位传给你，而不愿传给一个外人。现在他有了儿子，自然希望自己的儿子来继承王位。这时你就变得碍事了，是吧？他当然要把你这障碍除掉。”

“他真的那么坏吗？”凯斯宾感到震惊，“他真的会谋害我？”

“他已经谋杀了你的父亲！”克奈尔斯博士回答。

凯斯宾心里十分难受，半天没开口。

“我可以把整个事情的经过告诉你，”博士说，“但不是现在，时间来不及了，你必须赶紧离开这里。”

“你和我一起走吗？”

“不行，那会使你的处境更加危险。两个人比一个人的目标更大。亲爱的王子，亲爱的凯斯宾国王，勇敢些！你必须一个人走，马上就走。设法越过南部边境，找到阿钦兰国的国王奈恩。他会仁慈地接待你的。”

“我再也见不着你了吗？”凯斯宾的声音有些颤抖。

“我衷心希望我们还有再见的那天，亲爱的国王。”博士也有些神色黯然，“在这苍茫大地上，除了陛下你，我已没有其他朋友！我会一些小小的法术，可是现在速度就是一切。你走以前，请收下我这两件微不足道的礼物。这是一小袋金子——啊，这个城堡里所有的财宝都理应是你的财产。这儿有一件比金子珍贵百倍的东西。”

说着，他把一件东西放在凯斯宾的手上。凯斯宾看不清楚那是什么，但凭触觉他知道那是一只号。

“这是纳尼亚最宝贵、最神圣的一件东西，为了找到它，我忍受了种种的恐怖，念了无数遍的咒语，那时候我还很年轻。这是苏珊女王的一只神号，是在纳尼亚消失之前她留在这里的。据说，无论是谁吹响了它，这号角都会带来神灵的帮助——谁也说不出那将是怎样的帮助，也许它能把女王露茜、国王爱德蒙、女王苏珊和至尊王彼得召唤回来。他们将为我们这片苦难的土地伸张正义。也许这只号甚至能把阿斯兰唤回来。带着它吧，凯斯宾国王！但是，记住！不到最紧急的关头不要使用它。赶快走吧，快！高塔底层那扇通往花园的小门没有锁，在那里我们就必须分手了。”

“可以带着我的马戴思特里尔吗？”凯斯宾有些茫然不知所措。

“全都准备好了，它正在果园边上等着你呢。”

一边走下那长长的旋转楼梯，克奈尔斯一边又轻声讲了许多指示和建议的话。凯斯宾心乱如麻，可是他努力把这些话全都记在心里。不久，他们呼吸到了花园里新鲜的空气，小道上传来戴思特里尔的蹄声和亲热的嘶叫声，老少两人终于依依不舍地告别。就这样，凯斯宾十世离开了他父亲的城堡。当他回过身来时，他看到天上升起无数的礼花，那是在庆祝新王子的诞生。

在他所熟悉的土地上，他整夜马不停蹄地奔向南方。开始他只敢走小路或便道，后来，当他确信没有伏兵时，索性纵马在大路上飞奔起来。戴思特里尔对这不寻常的旅行同样激动万分，而凯斯宾尽管在同克奈尔斯博士告别时眼泪汪汪，现在则勇气十足，甚至感到有些快乐，因为他获得了真正的自由，并且将像传说中的那些游侠骑士一样，在探险的路上披荆斩棘，一往无前。黎明时分，天上落下一阵毛毛细雨，凯斯宾勒住马，四下望去，只见周围都是陌生的森林、茂密的野菊和青色的群山。看到这世界是这样的辽阔壮观，他感到自己是这样的渺小，心里不禁有些紧张。

天光大亮后，凯斯宾离开大路，在森林中找到一片草地，打算在这里好好休息一下。他卸下戴思特里尔身上的鞍子，让它在一旁吃草，自己则坐下来，吃些冷鸡，喝点儿酒，然后舒舒服服地躺在草地上，很快就进入了梦乡——他实在累极了。一觉醒来，天色已近黄昏，他草草吃了点儿东西，便又上路，依然是朝着南方。穿过大片荒芜的原野，不久便来到一片山地。这儿道路崎岖，时上时下，而且仿佛上山的路比下山的路要多。每登上一个山脊，他便注意到前面那些山峦显得越来越近，色调也越来越深。当夜幕降临时，他已经走在那座大山的山坡上了。突然，天上刮起了大风，接着便是雷声隆隆，暴雨如注。戴思特里尔变得焦躁不安起来。这时，他们走进一个漆黑一团、似乎没有尽头的松树林。凯斯宾一下子想起了他曾听过的那些故事。故事里的树林对人类总是很不友善。他的家族曾经到处砍伐树木，还和所有山林家族打仗，滥杀无辜。虽然他本人和那些台尔马人不同，可树木哪里知道这个？

它们的确不知道。风越刮越猛，狂风暴雨摇撼着整个树林，发出一阵阵呼啸。突然一声巨响，一棵大树倒在他身后的路上。“安静些，戴思特里尔，安静些！”凯斯宾拍拍马的脖子，可自己却难以克制地哆嗦起来。他庆幸自己从死神手里逃了出来——因为只差那么一点儿，那棵大树就会把他们都砸死。天上的闪电令人目眩，一声巨大的响雷好像要把天空劈成两半，戴思特里尔拼命地奔跑起来，凯斯宾是个很不错的骑手，但此时他却无法拉住缰绳。他紧紧地贴在马背上，心里明白这样疯狂地奔跑对他是多么危险。黑暗中，一棵接一棵的大树向他迎面扑来，又从身边一闪而过。突然，他感到前额被什么东西猛击了一下，以后便什么也不知道了。

醒来之后，他发现自己躺在明亮温暖的篝火旁，胳膊和腿上伤痕累累，而且头痛得厉害。这时，身边传来低低的讲话声。

“现在，”一个声音说，“在他醒来之前，我们必须商定一个处置他的办法。”

“干掉他！”另一个声音说，“咱们不能让他活着，他会出卖我们的。”

“咱们本来就该当场下手干掉他的，或者是放他过去。”这是第三个声音，“可是我们把他带了回来，给他包扎好头上的伤口，并细心地照料他，现在却要杀他，这算怎么一回事啊。”

“先生们，”凯斯宾说，声音很微弱，“你们怎样对待我都可以，只希望你们能仁慈地对待我那匹可怜的马。”

惊愕中一阵长时间的沉默。

“我们发现你的时候，那匹马早就跑掉了。”第一个声音说——这声音沙哑而憨厚，听起来有些古怪。

“别听他对你甜言蜜语，”这是第二个声音，“我还是坚持……”

“尼克布瑞克！”第三个声音高声说，“咱们决不能杀掉他，真可耻！特鲁佛汉特，你说我们该怎么办？”

“先给他喝点儿水。”又是第一个声音，也许是特鲁佛汉特。一个黑影朝床边走来，凯斯宾感到有一条胳膊轻轻滑到他的肩上——但愿这是一条人的胳膊，但不完全像。俯向他的那张脸似乎也不对劲；那是一张毛茸茸的脸，正中一只长长的鼻子，两颊上还有古怪的白斑。“这准是一种特殊的口罩，”凯斯宾思忖，“要不然就是我发烧产生的幻觉。”一杯又甜又热的东西放到他的嘴边，他一口气喝了下去。这时，篝火被拨得更旺了一些，凯斯宾几乎失声叫起来，因为他借着篝火的光亮，一下子看清了正对着他的那张脸。那不是一个人！那是一只獾。尽管它远比他以前见过的任何一只獾都大，却更加友善，也更加聪明。而且可以肯定，刚才一直在讲话的就是它。他还看出，自己是在一个山洞里，正躺在用石南草铺成的床上。在火堆旁边，坐着两个长着长胡须的小个子，他们比克奈尔斯博士更显得粗胖矮小，毛发也更浓密粗硬。他立即断定他们是小矮人——真正的纯种小矮人。凯斯宾意识到，他终于发现了古老的纳尼亚。激动之中，他又感到一阵眩晕。

以后的几天里，凯斯宾渐渐熟悉了他们的名字：那獾叫特鲁佛汉特，年纪最大，也最忠厚；主张杀掉他的，是一个脾气很坏的黑小矮人，他的头发和胡须都是黑色的，像马鬃一样，又粗又硬，他叫尼克布瑞克；另一位是个红小矮人，长着狐狸般火红的头发，他的名字叫杜鲁普金。

“无论如何，”在凯斯宾能够坐起来说话的第一天晚上，尼克布瑞克对他的同伴们说，“我们要商定一个办法来处置这个人。你们两个拦着不让我杀他，还以为是做了一件大好事。我看，这件事情的最终结局，是我们不得不把他囚禁终身。我决不让他活着离开这里——回到他的同类那里，把我们的秘密都泄露出去。”

“嘿，嘿，嘿！尼克布瑞克！”杜鲁普金皱了皱眉头说，“你为什么讲话这么粗野？这家伙的头撞在了我们洞外的树上，但这并不是他的过错。我看他不像是个奸细。”

“在决定放不放我之前，”凯斯宾说，“你们首先应该搞清楚，我是不是想走。说实话，我并不打算离开这里。假如你们允许的话，我想和你们在一起。这些年来，我一直都在寻找你们。”

“说得好听！”尼克布瑞克咆哮起来，“你是一个台尔马人，人类的一分子，对不对？你怎么会不想回到你的同类那里去呢？！”

“可是，即使想回去，我也回不去了，”凯斯宾忧郁地说，“我是因为逃命才撞在了你们的树上。国王想杀掉我，假如你们把我杀了，那正是帮他做了件好事。”

“在我们这里，”特鲁佛汉特安慰道，“你不必害怕！”

“嗯？”杜鲁普金很感兴趣地问：“你说什么？你做了什么错事，小小年纪就成了弥若兹的对头？”

“他是我的叔父。”凯斯宾话音未落，尼克布瑞克已经跳了起来，右手握住了他的宝剑。

“好哇！”他叫道，“不仅仅是一个台尔马人，而且是我们最大敌人的侄子和继承人。你们现在还发傻吗？还想留这家伙一条活命吗？”多亏獾和杜鲁普金及时挡住了他，使劲把他推回到他的座位上去，否则，凯斯宾也许当场就被刺死了。

“我最后一次警告你，尼克布瑞克，”杜鲁普金咬牙切齿地说，“你要是再不老实，我和特鲁佛汉特就要一齐惩罚你了！”

尼克布瑞克悻悻地坐了下去。于是，另外两个开始要求凯斯宾把他的经历全部讲出来。当凯斯宾讲完了他的故事，山洞里出现了一刻寂静。

“我从来没有听到过这样的怪事儿。”杜鲁普金说。

“我不喜欢这故事，”尼克布瑞克说，“想不到在人类中，还有那么多关于我们的传说。其实，他们知道得越少越好，那个多嘴的老保姆，应该绑住她的舌头！而那个什么博士更是把事情都搞得乱七八糟，该死的混血小矮人！我憎恨他们！我恨他们胜过恨那些人类！你们记着我的话，这些人将给我们带来无穷的后患！”

“你不要再不懂装懂了，尼克布瑞克，”特鲁佛汉特说，“你们这些小矮人和人类一样健忘，让人捉摸不透。我是个动物，一只獾而已。我们从不朝三暮四，总是一如既往。我认为事情发展下去，将对我们大有好处。在我们前面的是纳尼亚真正的君主，一位真正的国王。他回到了真正的纳尼亚，尽管你们小矮人已经忘记了，可我们动物们却依然记得：只有亚当的儿子做国王，纳尼亚才能得安宁。”

“喂，特鲁佛汉特！”杜鲁普金冷笑道，“你是想把这个国家拱手送给人类吧？”

“我并不是那个意思，”獾回答说，“这不是人类的国家（这一点我比谁都知道得更清楚），但这是一个要由人来统治的国家。我们獾有足够的记性来记住这一点，不是吗？上苍保佑，那至尊王彼得不就是个人吗？”

“难道你真的相信那些古老的传说？”杜鲁普金问。

“告诉你，我们动物坚信不移，我们动物！”特鲁佛汉特提高声音，“我们没有忘记过去，我们相信曾经在凯尔帕拉维尔治理纳尼亚的至尊王彼得和其他几个人，正如我们相信阿斯兰一样，决不动摇！”

“恕我冒昧，”杜鲁普金尖刻地说，“恐怕当今世上相信阿斯兰的只有你一个了吧！”

“我也相信，”凯斯宾激动地插嘴道，“也许从前我只是半信半疑，但现在我相信了。那些嘲笑阿斯兰的人同样也从来不相信关于会讲话的动物和小矮人的传说。有时候，我的确也感到迷惑，世上到底有没有这么个阿斯兰，有没有你们这样的生灵。瞧！你们就在这里。”

“说得对，”特鲁佛汉特说，“千真万确，凯斯宾国王，只要你忠实于古老的纳尼亚，你就是我的国王，不管别人说什么，国王陛下万岁！”

“你真让我觉得肉麻，獾。”尼克布瑞克哼哼说，“不错，至尊王彼得和他的弟妹是人，可他们是不同种类的人，我们面前的却是一个该诅咒的台尔马人。他们曾经把围猎屠杀我们当做游戏。老实说，你有没有过？”他猛地把身子转向凯斯宾。

“好吧，说实话，我是那么做过，”凯斯宾诚实地说，“可那些完全是普通的不会讲话的动物。”

“反正全一样。”尼克布瑞克说。

“不，不，不，”特鲁佛汉特争辩说，“那可不一样，你明明知道，先生！如今生活在纳尼亚的动物与我们是不同的，那不过是些可怜的哑巴，毫无理性的生灵。这样的动物在卡乐门和台尔马，以及在世界各个地方都不难找到。它们个子比较小，长相、颜色也不相同，与我们之间的差距，比起混血小矮人与你们的差距真是大多了。”

他们就这样争论了很久，最后一致决定让凯斯宾留下来。他们甚至还答应，一旦他完全康复，便马上领他去见其他那些“自己人”。显然，在这荒山野林之中，纳尼亚的老住户们至今还躲躲藏藏地生活着。

6

隐居者

凯斯宾最快乐的日子开始了。夏日清晨，青草上还挂着露珠，他已经同獾和两个小矮人一道，穿过树林，越过高高的山脊，来到阳光明媚的南山坡上。在这里，你居高临下，可以把阿钦兰那绿色的世界尽收眼底。

“咱们先去找那三个胖子大熊。”杜鲁普金说。

他们来到一片林中空地，这儿最醒目的是一棵四周长满了青苔的空心栎树。特鲁佛汉特用爪子在树干上敲了三下。半天也没有回答。于是它又使劲地敲，就听见从树里传来一阵模糊不清的抱怨：“走开，天还早着呢。”特鲁佛汉特只好又敲第三遍。终于，一阵响动之后，树干上的一扇门被打开了，从里面慢吞吞地走出三头肥胖无比的大棕熊，一边不停地眨巴着它们的小眼睛。不出特鲁佛汉特所料，听完了客人的故事，它们异口同声地表示，赞成亚当的儿子做纳尼亚的统治者，并且亲吻了凯斯宾——一种湿乎乎的抽鼻子式的接吻——以表示敬意。它们取出贮藏的蜂蜜来款待贵宾。凯斯宾并不喜欢在早上这时候不吃面包光吃蜂蜜，但出于礼节他还是客气地伸手接下了。后来他花了老半天才把那黏糊糊的蜂蜜擦干净。

告辞了大熊，他们继续往前走，不久又来到一片山毛榉树林中，特鲁佛汉特高声叫道：

“佩蒂威格！佩蒂威格！”转眼间，一只漂亮得惊人的红色松鼠从树梢上一级一级十分灵巧地跳下来，停在离他们最近的树枝上。它比凯斯宾偶尔在城堡花园里见到的那些普通的、不会讲话的松鼠要大得多，你一看见它那张聪明、懂事的脸，马上就能判断出它会讲话。果然，佩蒂威格十分健谈。很快他们就发现要想让它住嘴可真是件难事。它当即表示欢迎凯斯宾国王的到来，并殷勤地问他是否愿意吃点坚果。凯斯宾谢谢它并表示十分乐意吃一点儿。就在佩蒂威格蹦蹦跳跳去取果子的时候，特鲁佛汉特在凯斯宾的耳边低声说：“别盯着看，把脸转过去。对于松鼠来说，假如你注意看它去仓库，或者东张西望，好像你想要知道那仓库的秘密，那是很不礼貌的。”一会儿，佩蒂威格带着果子回来了，等凯斯宾吃完之后，佩蒂威格又问要不要它给朋友们捎个信。“我可以到任何地方去，脚都不沾地的。”它骄傲地说。特鲁佛汉特和小矮人们都认为这个主意不错，于是写了好多张便条给许多名字听起来稀奇古怪的动物，邀请它们三天之后的午夜来跳舞草坪参加盛宴和政务会。“别忘了通知那三只大棕熊，刚才我们忘记提这事儿了。”杜鲁普金补充说。

告别松鼠后，他们又走访了萨德森林七兄弟。杜鲁普金领着大家翻过山脊，顺着北山坡朝东边走，最后来到岩石和松树之间一个肃穆庄严却有些昏暗的地方。凯斯宾突然感到大地在颤动，好像有人在地下用锤子不停地敲打。杜鲁普金走上一块扁扁的大石头，用脚跺了几下，然后站在一边，显然是在等待什么。过了老半天，那石头被什么人从下面移到了一边，露出一个洞口，随着一股热气和一缕青烟，洞口里冒出一个小矮人的脑袋，很像杜鲁普金。他们在洞口谈了很久，那小矮人似乎比松鼠和大熊的疑心大多了，可最后还是邀请大家“进屋里说话”。凯斯宾沿着漆黑的台阶往地下走去，也不知走了多远，突然眼前一亮，他看到了火光。那是炼铁炉发出的光亮。原来，这里是小矮人的铁匠工场。两个小矮人在风箱旁卖力地干着，另一个用钳子夹住砧子上一块烧红的铁块，第四个小矮人正在上面丁丁当当地敲打着，还有两个在一块油腻的布上擦擦那满是老茧的手，走上前来迎接客人。特鲁佛汉特费了不少口舌，才使他俩相信凯斯宾是朋友而不是敌人。一旦明白了这一点，他们便齐声高呼：“国王万岁！”一边捧来他们的礼物：三套富丽堂皇的盔甲和三柄宝剑。凯斯宾、杜鲁普金和尼克布瑞克各自得到了一套，而那獾本来也可以有一套的，可是它说，它是个动物，假如它的爪子和牙齿无法保护自己，给它再好的装备也是白搭。毫不夸张地说，那些军械的做工比凯斯宾见过的任何军械都强到不知哪里去了。相比之下，他原来的那把剑简直单薄得像个玩具，粗糙得像根棍子。所以他很高兴地收下了这些礼物。同时，七兄弟（他们都是红小矮人）也高兴地接受了去跳舞场赴宴的邀请。

往前不远，在一个干燥而遍布岩石的沟壑里，他们找到一个山洞，那里住着五个黑小矮人。初见面时，他们望着凯斯宾，目光里充满着戒备和疑虑。可是后来那位老大说：“假如他反对弥若兹，那我们就拥立他为王。”老二也友好地问道：“要不要我们送你一段路？那边的山崖下住着几个食人怪，还有一个巫婆。我们可以把它们介绍给你，喏，就在那儿。”

“不必了。”凯斯宾说。

“我看也大可不必，”特鲁佛汉特说，“我们不要那些家伙混入我们的阵营。”尼克布瑞克不同意这话，但杜鲁普金和獾驳倒了他。凯斯宾听说故事里那些牛鬼蛇神也有后代活在世上，不由感到十分震惊。

“要是我们收容了这些坏蛋，阿斯兰就不会做我们的朋友了。”当他们从黑小矮人的山洞里走出来的时候，特鲁佛汉特说。

“哼，阿斯兰！”尼克布瑞克似乎很不服气，“你们要是没有我这个朋友，那才不得了哩！”

“你不相信阿斯兰吗？”凯斯宾问尼克布瑞克。

“哈！我相信随便什么人，随便什么东西，”尼克布瑞克高声说，“只要他能打垮那些可恶的台尔马暴徒，把他们赶出纳尼亚，随便什么人还是什么东西，不管他叫阿斯兰，还是叫白女巫，我都奉若神明！你明白了吗？”

“你给我住嘴！”特鲁佛汉特听到这里不由得火冒三丈，“简直是胡说八道。白女巫是比弥若兹及其同类更加危险的敌人，你知道吗？”

“对我们小矮人来讲，她不是。”尼克布瑞克说。

下一站的访问比较令人愉快。他们顺着山坡往下走，来到一个宽阔的幽谷，谷底流过一条湍急的河，河边的空地上是大片的毛地黄和野玫瑰，蜜蜂嗡嗡地往返奔忙。特鲁佛汉特高声喊道：“格兰斯托姆！格兰斯托姆！”一会儿工夫，凯斯宾听到一阵马蹄声，越来越近，连河谷都颤动起来。突然，他们看到几个动物冲开灌木丛跑了出来。这是凯斯宾平生见到的最珍奇、最高贵的动物了——人头马格兰斯托姆，后面跟着它的三个儿子。它那强健的马身发出栗色的光泽，高贵的人头潇洒地扬起，一绺金红色的胡子在宽阔的胸前飘扬。它是位预言家，又是位占星家，完全了解客人来访的目的。

“国王万岁！”它呼啸而来，声如洪钟，“我和我的儿子们随时准备参加战斗。咱们什么时候开始？”

直到现在，凯斯宾和其他几个都还没有认真想过打仗的事儿，他们只有一些仍然是模糊不清的设想。比方说，袭击农夫和猎人——假如他们胆敢到这片野树林中来骚扰的话。他们只希望隐居在森林中、洞穴里，建立起一个隐蔽的、传统的纳尼亚，别无奢望。格兰斯托姆的这句话，使大家茅塞顿开。

“你是说，发动一场正义的战争，把弥若兹彻底赶出纳尼亚？”凯斯宾问。

“对！”人头马说，“陛下身穿盔甲，佩挂宝剑，难道不是为了这个？”

“能成功吗？”獾将信将疑。

“时机已经成熟，”格兰斯托姆说，“我们看过了星相，獾老弟，观察星相是我的本行，正如牢记历史是你的本行一样。塔瓦和阿拉姆毕尔两颗行星在天空的大殿里相会了，而在大地上，亚当的儿子将重整旗鼓，召集并指挥纳尼亚人民，为自由而战。听啊，时钟敲响了，我们在跳舞场举行的会议，就是这场战争的动员大会。”它的话里充满了信心和勇气，使凯斯宾和其他的朋友都跃跃欲试。他们意识到，这将是一场不可避免的正义战争，而且胜利一定属于他们！

已是中午，于是他们坐下来与人头马父子共进午餐，人头马请大家吃的是燕麦饼、香草和乳酪。

下午去拜访的地方虽然不远，但他们不得不绕一个大弯，以避开有人类居住的地区。他们来到河岸附近一个洞口前，特鲁佛汉特又呼喊起来。喊声未落，从洞里突地一声跳出个什么东西来。凯斯宾怎么也料想不到，原来那是只会说话的老鼠。毫无疑问，它比普通的老鼠要大得多，后腿一站，足有一尺多高，两只大耳朵和兔子的一样长（可是更宽一些），它叫雷佩契普，是个快活而又英勇的小家伙。只见他腰间佩着一柄小巧锋利的宝剑，不时捻动着它那寥寥可数的几根长胡须，神气十足。“我们一共十二员鼠将，陛下，”它毕恭毕敬，迅速而优美地鞠了一躬，“我的全军人马将无条件地听候陛下调遣，赴汤蹈火，在所不辞！”凯斯宾看它那一本正经的样子，忍不住直想笑，雷佩契普和它的全军人马，可以毫不费劲地给放在一只菜篮子里，让随便什么人拎回家去。

那天他们会见了许许多多的朋友，要把这些朋友一一加以描述，那可就太费时间了——有打洞专家鼹鼠，钢口利牙的獾家族，野兔卡梅罗，还有刺猬豪格尔斯道克等等。最后他们来到一口井边，决定休息一下。井旁是一片柔软的草坪，四周都是榆树。这时，投在地上的树影已经很长，太阳已开始落山。雏菊花合拢了，白嘴鸟也要飞回家睡觉去了。他们坐在草坪上取出带来的食物，准备进晚餐。杜鲁普金则点燃了他的大烟斗，一副怡然自得的样子。

“现在，”特鲁佛汉特说，“咱们要是能唤醒这里的树神就好了，那样我们这一天可就真是功德圆满啦。”

“咱们办不到吗？”凯斯宾说。

“办不到，”獾叹了一口气说，“咱们无能为力，自从人类迁移到这块土地上之后，他们砍伐树木，污染河流，使树神和水神引退很久了，谁也不知道他们还会不会显灵。这对我们来说是个很大的损失呢！那些台尔马人最怕这树林，一旦大树们愤怒起来，他们就会发疯似的四处逃窜，飞快地逃出纳尼亚。”

“你们动物的想像力简直太丰富啦！”杜鲁普金根本不相信这话，“可是你为什么只讲到树和水，就不往下说了？假如石头全都能够自己飞起来，砸向老弥若兹，那不是更妙吗？”

獾对这话只是哼了一声，表示不屑回答。这以后是很长时间的沉默，凯斯宾倒在软软的草地上，渐渐进入梦乡——走了一天，他真有些疲倦了。

忽然，他仿佛听到身后的树林深处传来了一阵低沉奇妙的音乐，开始他以为这是幻觉，翻个身打算继续睡，可是当他耳朵刚一靠近地面，他马上听到，或者说感觉到一阵微弱的敲打声。他抬起头来，那打击声马上弱下去，可音乐声又响起来，而且这一次更加清楚，好像是笛子的声音。他看见特鲁佛汉特坐起身来，两眼盯着树林。这时夜幕已经降临。天上一轮明月，发出皎洁柔和的光。凯斯宾似乎已经睡了一大觉。他使劲摇摇头，侧耳倾听——音乐声越来越近了，那是一种粗犷而又令人精神恍惚的旋律。终于，伴随着轻捷的脚步声，一群翩翩舞动着的身影从树林里来到月光下——这些年来一直萦绕在凯斯宾心头的正是这些身影。他们不比小矮人高多少，可身材苗条，体态也优美得多。他们拳曲的头发上伸出两只角来，淡淡的月光映出他们赤裸的上身，可他们的腿和脚都与山羊的一模一样。

“羊怪。”凯斯宾跳起身，叫出声来。羊怪们立刻友好地把他围在当中。他们的心似乎是相通的！几乎没说多少话，彼此便产生了理解和信任。他们当即郑重宣告，承认凯斯宾为他们的领袖，说完又继续跳舞。他们跳得那么专心，那么热烈，不由得吸引了凯斯宾和他的同伴。杜鲁普金步履沉重，摇摇摆摆，也随着跳了起来，连特鲁佛汉特都使出浑身解数，不停地蹦着，扭摆着。只有尼克布瑞克一动不动地待在一边，沉默地看着。羊怪们用他们纤细的脚围着凯斯宾跳呀跳。他们那古怪的面容，一会儿显得悲哀，一会儿又显得十分快乐。与他们为邻的还有几十个小矮人，曼蒂犹斯、奥本蒂纳斯、达姆纳斯，这时都被喊了来，向新国王致敬。

第二天早晨，凯斯宾一觉醒来，对夜里发生的事记忆犹新。他简直不相信这一切都是真的，可是草地上分明布满了羊的足迹。

7

危险笼罩着古老的纳尼亚

他们遇见羊怪的草坪，正是著名的跳舞场。经过商量，凯斯宾和他的朋友们决定留下，等待那盛大集会的来临。他们喝井水止渴，吃野果充饥，晚上就露宿在满天星斗之下。这一切对凯斯宾来说真是新鲜极了。虽然早已习惯了挂满壁毯的卧室，温暖柔软的被褥，以及山珍海味、奴仆成群的王宫生活，王子从来没有像现在这样快活，晚上从来不曾睡得这么香甜，胃口也从来没有这么好。他已经变得坚强起来，不论气质还是仪表都俨然是一国之君的样子。

那辉煌的夜晚终于来临了。明月当空，洒下一片皎洁的光芒，凯斯宾的那些形形色色、奇形怪状的臣民们三五成群地陆续来到跳舞场。看到这么多朋友，听着他们的欢歌笑语，凯斯宾不禁心花怒放。与他见过面的朋友全都来了，大棕熊、红小矮人和黑小矮人，还有鼹鼠、獾、兔子和刺猬，另外还有一些没见过面的朋友，如五个毛发火红的大猩猩，猫头鹰，甚至还有一群渡鸦。老鼠大军全副武装，踏着尖厉的喇叭声列队走来，真是威风凛凛。走在最后面的是和人头马一道来的巨人韦姆布威热。他巨大的身材使凯斯宾惊得目瞪口呆。巨人身后背着满满一筐子易晕船的小矮人，他们接受了他好心的提议，由他背了来。可是现在，他们一个个被颠得晕头转向，都后悔说，这一路还不如自己走的好。

大狗熊们最关心的是举行宴会，它们提出把政务会延迟一两天；雷佩契普和它的老鼠大军则建议暂缓举行盛宴和会议，当天夜里就直捣城堡，袭击弥若兹，打他个猝不及防；以佩蒂威格为首的松鼠们说，边吃边谈最省时间，为什么不能同时开始？鼹鼠们郑重提议先在跳舞场四周挖出一道防御壕沟，以防不测，然后再做其他事情；羊怪们认为最好先隆重地跳一次集体舞；老渡鸦却表示同意狗熊们的意见，说要把整个会议开完了再吃饭（忙乱中它把程序说反了！），同时它还请求允许它先向全体朋友简短致辞。可是凯斯宾、人头马和小矮人们不同意所有这些提议，坚持立即召开一次关于战争的会议。

大家终于被他们说服，围成一圈坐了下来。然后他们又费了好大劲儿，才使佩蒂威格闭上嘴——它来回不停地奔跑，嘴里叫着：“静一静，静一静！请诸位安静，国王要演说了。”凯斯宾站起身来，心里有点儿紧张。“纳尼亚的臣民们！”他开始讲话了。可是当他刚要往下说时，兔子卡梅罗突然竖起耳朵，警觉地做了个手势：“嘘！有人来了！”

这些树林里的动物早已习惯了猎人的追捕，所以，它们立即都把鼻子转向卡梅罗示意的那个方向，一个个像雕塑一样，一动也不动。

“闻起来好像是个人，可又不像是纯种的人类。”特鲁佛汉特悄声说。

“他走过来了。”卡梅罗撒腿就想跑，被身边的小矮人及时拉住了。

“两只獾和你们三个小矮人把弓箭准备好，轻轻地走过去，看看究竟是什么人。”凯斯宾果断地命令道。

“我们去把他干掉！”黑小矮人说着，把一支利箭搭上了弓弦。

“如果只有一个，就不要射他，”凯斯宾说，“抓活的。”

“为什么？”小矮人问。

“执行命令。”格兰斯托姆瞪了他一眼。

三个小矮人和两只獾猫着腰，快步向跳舞场西北部的那片树林走去，其他人则静静地等候在草坪上。没多久，那边响起了小矮人尖声的叫喊：“站住，不许动！”接着是一阵急步。过了一会儿，传来一个凯斯宾很熟悉的声音：“别！别那么凶！我没带武器。你咬住我的手腕好了，可敬的獾老弟。不过别把我的手咬破啦。我要和国王说话。”

“克奈尔斯博士！”凯斯宾高兴地叫了起来。他快步迎上前去，抱住他那上了岁数的老师，大家把他们团团围了起来。

“呸！”尼克布瑞克说，“一个变节的小矮人，四分之一的血统！要不要我一剑刺穿他的喉咙？”

“别多嘴，尼克布瑞克，”杜鲁普金说，“没有谁能选择自己的血统。”

“这是我最忠实的朋友，也是我的救命恩人，”凯斯宾郑重地说，“谁要是不喜欢他，那么，就请离开我的部队，马上离开。”说完又转向老师：“最亲爱的博士，我真高兴又见到你。你是怎么找来的？”

“不过施了一点小小的法术，陛下。”博士说。由于走得太快，他现在还呼哧呼哧地喘个不停。“可是，现在没空说这个啦，你们得马上离开这里，有人出卖了你们，弥若兹已经率领大军扑过来了，午夜之前这里就会被包围的。”

“出卖？”凯斯宾说，“是谁出卖了我们？”

“准又是一个变节的小矮人，没错。”尼克布瑞克对混血博士仍然耿耿于怀，马上插嘴说。

“是你的马，”克奈尔斯博士说，“那可怜的畜生别无选择。在你被摔下来之后，它只好回到城堡中自己的马厩里去了。后来，你逃走的消息传了出去。我当然不想被弥若兹抓住，于是也逃了出来。我观察星相，算出你们大致的方位。可是，就在这时我看到弥若兹的搜索大队正从城堡出发，进入了森林。昨天，我又听说他的军队也出动了。我发现你的部下，那些……嗯……那些纯种小矮人，没有多少森林知识，到处都留下了痕迹，太粗心大意了！就是那些痕迹使弥若兹发现，古老的纳尼亚并没有像他所希望的那样彻底灭亡。于是，他开始行动了。”

“哼！”一个尖细的声音在博士脚边响起来，“让他们来好了。我请求国王把我和我的勇士们派到前线去！”

“这是谁的声音？”克奈尔斯博士问道，“陛下怎么把蚂蚱——要不就是蚊子——也收编到你的队伍里来了？”说着，他弯下腰，透过眼镜，仔细地端详了一会儿，然后哈哈大笑起来。

“凭阿斯兰的名义起誓，”他发誓说，“这肯定是只老鼠。老鼠先生，我希望能和你交个朋友，我很荣幸遇到你这样一位英勇侠义的朋友。”

“我们会成为朋友的，博士先生。”听到这样的称赞，雷佩契普十分满意，立即尖声答道，“今后，在我们的队伍里，如果有谁胆敢对你不礼貌，我就用这把剑来教训他。”

“还有时间说这些蠢话吗？”尼克布瑞克说，“我们打算怎么办？战斗，还是各自逃命去？”

“如果有必要，那就战斗。”杜鲁普金说，“可我们现在还没有做好战斗的准备，而且这里的地形对我们也不利。”

“我不同意逃跑的主张。”凯斯宾说。

“不同意，坚决不同意！”三只大狗熊齐声响应，“不管怎样，我们不能跑，尤其是在吃饭之前，刚吃完饭也不行。”

“主动撤离和逃跑，完全是两码事。”人头马说，“为什么我们不主动选择地形和时机呢？我们一定要争取主动，伺机与敌人决一死战，陛下以为如何？”

“这是明智的，陛下。”特鲁佛汉特立即表示支持。

“可是我们到哪儿去呢？”几个声音同时问道。

“陛下，”克奈尔斯博士说，“还有各位朋友，我认为我们必须向东转移，沿着河流往下游走，到那大森林里去，台尔马人最仇恨那个地区，他们一向害怕大海，害怕大海对面的那块土地。因此，他们让那树林成长起来，作为一道屏障，自以为这样就安全一些。那个地区有许多朋友，对我们非常有利。更重要的是阿斯兰堡垒就在那里。”

“阿斯兰堡垒？”几个声音一齐问，“什么是阿斯兰堡垒？”

“在大森林边缘一个神秘的地方，有一个大土丘，土丘上曾经有一块被称为大石桌的巨石。后来，我们的祖先在那土丘上挖了许多甬道和洞穴，那块巨石就放在土丘中心那个洞穴里，那儿足以容纳我们所有的人员与储备。我们当中那些最需要隐蔽和习惯于地下生活的伙伴，都可以住进去，其他人则可以住在森林里。在紧要关头，我们全体（除了巨人阁下）都可以撤到土丘里面去，在那里只要有充足的粮食储备，我们就算摆脱了所有的危险。”

“有这么一个博学的人在我们中间，这真好。”特鲁佛汉特满意地说。可它听见杜鲁普金私下嘟哝着：“鬼老头儿！我希望大伙儿少去想这些老婆婆的故事，多想想粮食和武器方面的问题。”最后商议的结果是，克奈尔斯的建议被采纳了。半小时后，他们就出发了。日出之前，他们全部来到了阿斯兰堡垒。

这是个僻静的地方，一个馒头状的绿色土丘，坐落在小山顶上。在大树的浓阴下，有一条蜿蜒的小道，直通土丘的中心。堡垒里面结构复杂，对不熟悉它的人来说，简直是个迷宫。里面四壁全是用光滑的石头砌起来的。借着昏暗的光线，凯斯宾看到石壁上刻着一些奇形怪状的文字和蛇形花纹，还有许多有关狮子的图画。这一切都在向他表明那个古老而又神秘的纳尼亚确实存在着。

他们在堡垒安顿了下来，没想到弥若兹的探子很快就发现了他们的踪迹。于是，大批军队跟踪而来。敌人的兵力比他们估计的要强得多，看到敌军一队接着一队开过来，凯斯宾的心直往下沉。尽管弥若兹的士兵惧怕这大森林，但他们更怕弥若兹的淫威。在他的指挥下，士兵们开进森林深处作战，有时甚至打到堡垒的大门前。凯斯宾和他的部将们也曾向平原发动了几次反攻，但被动挨打的时候较多。战斗多半是在白天，有时晚上也打。总的形势对凯斯宾一方很不利。

大雨下了整整一天，傍晚时分总算停了下来，但气温骤降，寒冷袭击着每一个人。次日清晨，凯斯宾部署了最猛烈的一次攻击，他把所有希望都寄托在这场战斗上了。他率领大部分小矮人在黎明时分扑向弥若兹的右翼，当右翼阵地上双方殊死拼杀的时候，巨人韦姆布威热、人头马和一部分最凶猛的动物从隐蔽的地方冲杀出来，奋力切断敌人的增援部队。可是这一仗又打败了。凯斯宾不知道巨人秉性憨厚，却并不聪明。尽管可怜的韦姆布威热像狮子一般勇猛（在这一点上他不愧是一个真正的巨人），可因为他进攻的时机、地点都不合适，结果使得他的队伍乃至凯斯宾的队伍都吃了败仗，而敌人却没有受到什么损失。最有战斗力的一只熊挂了彩，人头马伤势严重，凯斯宾的部下大多数都受了伤。战斗结束时已是黄昏时分，他们挤在大树下面，分食那少得可怜的晚餐。冰凉的雨水穿过浓密的树叶滴在身上。饥寒交迫的战士们一个个垂头丧气，士气低沉。

最伤心的是巨人韦姆布威热，他知道这都怪自己粗心大意，考虑不周。他一声不响地坐在那里，大滴大滴的眼泪汇聚在鼻子尖上，然后溅落在老鼠们的营地上——它们刚刚觉得暖和一点，正在昏昏欲睡。老鼠们一下子全都跳了起来，一边抖掉身上的水，使劲拧干它们的小毯子，一边用尖锐而愤怒的语调质问巨人：“你还嫌我们湿得不够，是不是？”它们的叫喊声把别人都给吵醒了，纷纷责备鼠勇士们：“你们到军队里来是当侦察兵的，不是来当合唱队的！”并强烈要求它们立即安静下来。韦姆布威热蹑手蹑脚地离开大家，想去找一个能够安安静静独自悲伤反省的地方。可是它不留神又踩着了谁的尾巴，惹得那家伙转身咬了它一口，原来那是只狐狸。结果，又是一阵争吵，大家都发脾气了。

这时，在堡垒中心那个最为隐蔽而又富有传奇色彩的洞穴里，国王凯斯宾、克奈尔斯、獾、尼克布瑞克和杜鲁普金正在开会。几根年代久远的大柱子支撑着洞穴的屋顶，屋子正中央摆着那块石头——一张石桌。石桌从中间断为两截，上面刻满了谁也不认识的文字。在那石桌被搬进洞穴之前，由于长年的风吹雨淋，上面的字迹都已模糊不清，难以辨认了。他们没有在那石桌旁开会，因为他们认为这张石桌是个神圣的物品，不可随便使用。他们坐在离石桌不远的木头上，围着一张粗糙的木制桌子，桌上放着一盏简陋的泥灯，灯光照着他们苍白的脸，并在墙壁上留下了他们长长的身影。

“假如陛下想要使用那只神奇的号，”特鲁佛汉特说，“我想应该是时候了。”凯斯宾几天以前曾向他们讲起这个宝贝，所以大家对它都寄予很大的希望。

“我们的确非常需要援助，”凯斯宾说，“可是很难确定我们是不是已到了最困难的关头。假如还有更糟的情况出现，而我们已经用过了那号，又该怎么办呢？”

“要是这么说，”尼克布瑞克说，“陛下，那就一直别用它，直到形势坏得不可收拾时再用。”

“我同意这个想法。”克奈尔斯博士说。

“你怎么想，杜鲁普金？”凯斯宾问。

“噢，要让我说，”红小矮人一直以一种漠不关心的神情听着，“陛下知道，我认为那号角和那块断裂了的大石头，还有你们伟大的先王彼得，以及所谓的雄狮阿斯兰，全是海市蜃楼，或者是水里的月亮——看得见，摸不着，是些顶靠不住的东西。陛下什么时候吹那号，我都无所谓，因为我觉得吹不吹都一样。我只请求陛下对我们的部队不要讲起这件事情，免得大家对那些虚幻的东西抱有希望，结果却大失所望，这样一点儿好处都没有。”

“那么，以阿斯兰的名义，我们就吹响苏珊女王的号角，看看会发生什么奇迹。”凯斯宾说。

“有一件事情，陛下，”克奈尔斯博士说，“或许应该先办。我们谁都不清楚号声将给我们带来什么样的援助，也许那号角声能唤来海外的阿斯兰，可是我以为，更可能的是唤来纳尼亚的先王彼得和他的鼎力相助。然而，无论是哪种情况，我想我们都不能指望这援助会直接降临到我们的眼前。”

“这才是句实在话。”杜鲁普金插嘴说。

“我以为，”这位知识渊博的人继续说，“他们有可能先回到纳尼亚某个圣地，比如说，咱们脚下的这个地方便是其中之一，而且最富魔力。所以我想，那援助有可能会在这儿出现。可是还有其他两处地方。一个是灯柱野林，在河的上游，海狸大坝的西边。据传说，王室的孩子们就是从那儿来到纳尼亚国土上的。另一个圣地在下游，河的出口处，是当年王宫凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的所在地。假如阿斯兰亲自来，那是迎接它的最好地方。因为根据传说，它是伟大的海外皇帝，它将横渡大海而来。我提议向这两个地方——灯柱野林和河口——派出使臣去迎接我们的救星。”

“我以为，”杜鲁普金嘟哝说，“这愚蠢的行为不仅不会给我们带来任何好处，反而会使我们失掉两个战士。”

“你打算派谁去，克奈尔斯博士？”凯斯宾问。

“要穿过敌人的封锁区，又不会被擒，松鼠最合适不过了。”特鲁佛汉特说。

“我们的这些松鼠（虽然为数并不很多），”尼克布瑞克说，“大多十分轻浮，多嘴多舌。我以为，此次行动关系重大，我们惟一可以信托的是佩蒂威格。”

“那么就派佩蒂威格去，”国王凯斯宾说，“可谁来做我们的第二个使臣呢？我知道你会去的，特鲁佛汉特，可是你的速度不够快。你也不行，克奈尔斯博士。”

“我可不去，”尼克布瑞克说，“有这么多人和动物在这里，我要留下来，保护其他的小矮人不受欺侮。”

“混账东西！”杜鲁普金勃然大怒，“你就这么对国王讲话吗？派我去吧，陛下，我去！”

“你不是不相信那号吗，杜鲁普金？”凯斯宾说。

“我现在也不相信，陛下。可那有什么关系？死在徒劳无益的行动中和死在这里，结果是一样的。你是我们的国王，提出忠告是我的本分，而执行命令却是我义不容辞的责任。你已经听到了我的忠告，现在该是我执行命令的时候了。”

“我将永远忘不了你的这番话，好杜鲁普金。”凯斯宾感动地说，“那么，我们什么时候吹号？”

“我主张等到黎明，陛下，”克奈尔斯博士说，“这是号角发生效力的最佳时刻。”

几分钟之后，佩蒂威格应召而来。凯斯宾简单扼要地给它布置了任务。佩蒂威格一如既往，浑身充满了勇气和活力，国王的话音未落，它就急于出发了。凯斯宾派它去灯柱野林，而杜鲁普金的旅程近一些，到河口去。两个随身带了点吃的，还带着朋友们的感谢、祝福和期望，同时上路了。

8

号角的魔力

“就这样，”杜鲁普金说（读到这里，你该知道了吧，坐在荒芜的凯尔帕拉维尔大殿的草地上给四个孩子讲故事的，正是小矮人杜鲁普金）——“就这样，我往口袋里塞了两片面包，卸下身上的武器，只带一柄短剑，便踏着朦胧的暮色，向林子深处走去。我低头向前走了很久，突然听到一种从来没有听见过的声音。那令人难忘的声音，响彻天空，经久不息。它明快优美，像拂过水面的春风，但又强烈得足以震撼森林。我对自己说：‘假如这不是那号角的话，就叫我变成一只兔子！’我纳闷，他为什么不早点儿吹……”

“那是什么时候？”爱德蒙问。

“大约在九点到十点之间。”杜鲁普金说。

“那时候我们刚好在火车站里！”孩子们异口同声地说，眼睛里闪烁着激动的光。

“请讲下去！”露茜对小矮人说。

“好吧，听到号声，我立即感到信心倍增，便继续奋力向前走，整整走了一天一夜。后来，在破晓时分，我做了件蠢事——我为了不去绕那条河道，冒险抄近路穿过一片开阔地，结果被他们捉住了。抓住我的不是军队，而是一个高傲的老傻瓜。他驻守在一个小城堡里面，那是弥若兹在通往海岸的路上设下的最后一个关卡。我不必表白自己，但他们的确从我嘴里一句实话也没有得到。可是，我是个小矮人，这已经足够给我判罪了。哈，感谢上帝！那个管事儿的老傻瓜真不错，换了别人一定当场就把我干掉了。可是，他认为只有把我送到‘鬼’那儿去，才是最解恨的惩罚。结果，承蒙这位年轻的小姐救了我（他冲苏珊点了点头）。遗憾的是我身上的盔甲都没有了，被他们拿走了。”他磕一磕手里的烟斗，又装上一斗烟。

“好家伙，”彼得说，“这么说，是那号角——你的那只神号，苏——昨天早上把我们大家从站台的座位上给拽到这儿来的！我简直不敢相信，可这一切都确确实实地发生了。”

“不相信！为什么不相信？”露茜说，“好多故事都讲到，魔力能使人们离开某一个地方，或者离开某一个世界，到另一个世界去。比方说，《一千零一夜》故事中的法师一念秘诀，魔鬼马上便会出现在他的面前。我们突然回到纳尼亚，也正是这个原因。”

“不错，”彼得说，“奇怪的是故事里喊‘魔鬼快来’的总是我们世界里的什么人，谁也没有认真想过，‘魔鬼’究竟是从哪儿来的。”

“现在我们知道了，这和‘魔鬼快来’是同一道理。”爱德蒙笑了起来，“天啊！拿起号角就那么一吹，我们便不由自主地被呼来唤去，这真让人觉得有点儿不自在。”

“好在我们都愿意到这儿来，不是吗？”露茜说，“要是阿斯兰想要我们来呢？”

“可是我们现在怎么办？”小矮人说，“我想我应该马上返回，向国王回禀，告诉他并无援助可指望，必须另谋良策。”

“没有援助？”苏珊说，“可那号角不是已经把我们召来了吗？”

“这个……这个……是的，当然啰，我已经看出来了。”小矮人吞吞吐吐地说；他的烟斗好像给堵住了，他低下头，似乎忙着清理那烟斗。“可是……好吧……我是说……”

“你现在还不知道我们是谁吗？”露茜叫道，“你真笨。”

“我猜你们一定是古老传说中的四个孩子，”杜鲁普金说，“当然，我很高兴见到你们。当然这也是很有意思的事。可是……你们不生气吧？”——他又犹豫起来。

“快说吧，干脆些！”爱德蒙有点儿不耐烦了。

“好吧，那么……你们可别生气啊，”杜鲁普金不安地说，“你们知道，国王、特鲁佛汉特和克奈尔斯博士都在期待……嗯，你们知道我指的是什么——他们在期待着强有力的帮助，换句话说，我想他们一直把你们想像成高大健壮、能征善战的勇士。可是，你们都是些孩子，在这样的时刻，在战斗中……你们又能干什么呢？我相信你们是能理解的。”

“你的意思是说，我们全无用处？”爱德蒙脸红了。

“请千万别生气，”小矮人打断了他的话，“我向你们保证，我亲爱的小朋友……”

“‘小朋友’！这，这简直太小看我们了！”爱德蒙跳了起来，“我想你不会相信是我们打赢了柏卢纳战役的吧？好吧，你想说什么就说什么好啦，我知道……”

“现在发脾气有什么用？”彼得打断了他的话，“咱们先给他配备一套盔甲，我们也必须立刻武装起来，别的话以后再说。”

“是不是先商量一下……”爱德蒙没有动。可是露茜在他耳边悄悄地说，“咱们先按彼得说的去做。你知道，他是咱们的首领。我想他心中有数。”爱德蒙点点头，拿起手电筒，领着大家，包括杜鲁普金，又一次沿着台阶来到那漆黑寒冷而又布满灰尘的宝库。

看到架子上那些宝贝，小矮人的眼睛直放光（尽管只有踮起脚尖才能看得到），嘴里喃喃自语道：“千万可别让尼克布瑞克看到这些，千万！”孩子们很快就为他找到了一套合身的锁子甲、一顶头盔、一把宝剑、一块盾牌、一张弓和满满的一壶箭，这些都是专为小矮人们制造的，不仅大小合适，而且做工精良，材料也属上乘。那头盔是铜制的，镶嵌着宝石，剑柄则是纯金铸成。杜鲁普金一辈子没见过，更不曾拥有过这么贵重的东西，一时高兴得不知说什么才好。孩子们也穿上了盔甲。爱德蒙挑选了一柄锋利的宝剑，一块皮制的、灵巧的盾牌；露茜挑选了一张弓；彼得和苏珊早已佩挂好了他们各自的宝物。当他们顺着台阶走出宝库时，身上的锁子甲丁丁当当地响着，看上去全然是纳尼亚的勇士，再不是只知道读书玩耍的小学生了。两个男孩走在后面，很快就制定出一套行动方案。露茜听爱德蒙说：“不，让我来，要是我胜了，他的失败显得更惨。万一我输了，我们也不至于太丢脸。”

“那么好吧，爱德。”彼得答道。

他们重新回到阳光下。这时，爱德蒙彬彬有礼地把身子转向小矮人，对他说：“我有个请求，希望你不要拒绝。你知道，我们这样的小朋友并不常有机会遇到你这样伟大的勇士，你愿意和我比试比试剑术吗？这样才合乎礼仪。”

“可是，年轻人，”杜鲁普金说，“这些宝剑都很锋利，碰在身上可不是闹着玩的！”

“我知道，”爱德蒙说，“我绝不可能碰到你一点儿，而你却可以轻而易举地解除我的武装，又不伤我一根汗毛。”

“这可是个危险的游戏，”杜鲁普金说，“既然你已经提出来了，我就陪你一两个回合吧。”

霎时间，两把宝剑都抽了出来，另外三个孩子一齐跳下台来，站在一旁观战。这是一场真刀真枪的较量，绝不像戏台上用木头道具打给人看的花架子，甚至运动会上的击剑比赛也无法与之相比。这是战士间的格斗。最精彩的就是用宝剑去劈对方的腿和脚，因为这部分没有盔甲防护。当对方用剑劈来的一刹那，你就必须迅速跳起来，他这一击便从你脚下一掠而过。这当然对小矮人有利，因为爱德蒙个子高得多，只好不时地蹲下身子进攻对手。如果是在二十四小时以前和杜鲁普金比赛，爱德蒙就很难获胜了。可自从他们来到小岛上之后，纳尼亚的一切对他起了潜移默化的作用，使他回想起从前的战斗，他的胳膊和手指也恢复了从前的力量和技艺。他现在又是当年的国王爱德蒙了。两个斗士打了几个回合，苏珊（她怎么也没法喜欢这种事情）不停地高声喊着：“噢！千万当心！”突然，爱德蒙翻腕使了一个花剑，把小矮人的剑打飞了。只见杜鲁普金望着那只空空的右手，不知所措地眨着眼睛。

“没有受伤吧，我亲爱的小朋友？”爱德蒙微微喘着气，把自己的宝剑插进剑鞘。

“我知道是怎么回事了，”杜鲁普金干巴巴地说，“你会的这个花招我没学过。”

“太对了，”彼得插了进来，“世上最好的击剑手都可能被一个他所不熟悉的绝招给解除武装。再给你一次机会，咱们换一种武器再比试一下，那才算是公平合理，是不是，朋友？你乐意和我妹妹比赛射箭吗？射箭是没有花招可耍的，这你清楚。”

“哈，你真会开玩笑，你！”小矮人说，“从她今天早上救了我以后，我就知道她的箭术有多高明了。不过，那也没关系，我可以试一试。”他装出不高兴的样子，但眼睛里却发出欣慰的光来，因为他开始意识到自己的阵营里来了不可小看的生力军。

他们五个一齐来到院子里。

“拿什么做靶子呢？”彼得问。

“我看树枝上挂的那只苹果就行。”苏珊说。

“行，”杜鲁普金痛快地说，“你指的是靠近树杈的那只黄苹果吗？”

“不，不是那只，是上面那只红的——在高处的那只。”

小矮人的脸色沉了下来，嘴里嘟囔着，“看上去简直像颗樱桃嘛，这苹果是怎么长的！”

他们投钱币来决定由谁先射（杜鲁普金大感兴趣，他从来没有玩过这种把戏），结果是杜鲁普金先射。从大殿到花园有一段台阶，他们必须选好角度，才能射中苹果。从小矮人选择位置和拉弓的姿势，大家都看出来他是个内行。

只听嗖的一声，箭射出去了。这一箭射得很漂亮。箭到之处，小苹果摆了一摆，旁边的一片树叶飘然而落。下面轮到苏珊。她走到台阶上，拉开了弓。她对这场比赛并不感兴趣，这倒不是因为她对射中那只苹果没有信心，而是因为她心地善良，不愿意再去伤害一颗已经受到伤害的心。小矮人仔细观察着她如何把箭杆拉向耳边。刹那间，一声轻响，那苹果掉落在草地上，苏珊的箭插在正中间。

“好哇！射得漂亮，苏！”其他几个孩子欢呼起来。

“我并非真比你射得好，”苏珊安慰小矮人说，“你射的时候我觉得好像有一阵风。”

“不，没有风，”杜鲁普金诚实地说，“你不必安慰我，我明白我已经被你们彻底打败了。可我对你们不好明说，刚才我肩膀上的伤很痛……”

“怎么，你受伤了？”露茜问，“快让我看看。”

“小姑娘，你看也没用。”杜鲁普金话一出口，立刻感到不妥当，赶紧检讨说，“对不起，我又像个傻瓜一样讲话了。你的哥哥是一名出色的击剑家，你的姐姐是一名了不起的射手，我猜你可能是位伟大的医生。”他坐在台阶上，解开身上的锁子甲，脱掉贴身的小衬衫，露出那水手一般多毛而又肌肉发达的胳膊。他肩膀上有一块包扎得十分马虎的绷带。解开一看，只见绷带下面有一条很深的刀伤，伤口已经发炎了，周围红肿得很厉害。“啧啧，可怜的杜鲁普金，”露茜同情地说，“太吓人了。”说着，她细心地从手中的小瓶里倒出一滴神水，滴在那伤口上。

“喂，你干什么呢？”杜鲁普金说。可当他转过头来，不由得大吃一惊，“咦，我的伤怎么没了？”只见他摆动着小胡子，斜着眼看来看去，然后又把那条胳膊上上下下摸了个遍。最后，他舒展几下胳膊，活动活动肌肉，跳起来大声叫道：“嗨！伤口治好喽！我的胳膊像新的一样！”接着他大笑起来，说：“唉！我怎么这么蠢，真是有眼不识泰山！你们都别生我的气，我向各位陛下致敬——虽然是微不足道的敬意。感谢你们救了我的命，治好了我的伤，以及那丰盛的早餐——还有使我了解了你们。”

四个孩子一齐说，那都不算什么，不值得一提。

“现在，”彼得说，“假如你已经信任我们……”

“当然。”小矮人说。

“我们必须马上起身，尽快与凯斯宾国王会合。”

“而且越快越好，”杜鲁普金说，“由于我的愚蠢，已经耽误了将近一个钟头。”

“从你来的路走，大约要花两天时间，”彼得说，“因为我们不能像你们小矮人那样，日夜兼程。”说着，他转向他的弟弟妹妹，“杜鲁普金说的阿斯兰堡垒显然就是那个大石桌。你们还记得吧，从那儿往下走到柏卢纳渡口大约要走半天时间。”

“柏卢纳大桥，我们都这么叫它。”杜鲁普金说。

“在我们的时代，那儿没有桥，”彼得说，“那时候从柏卢纳到这儿大约要一天时间，我们通常在第二天吃晚饭时就能到家。要是走快点，也许我们一天半能赶到那儿。”

“可是你别忘了，现在到处是森林，”杜鲁普金说，“而且还要避开敌人。”

“听我说，”爱德蒙讲话了，“我们只能选择我们亲爱的小朋友来时走的那条路吗？”

“别叫我小朋友啦，陛下，给我留点面子吧。”小矮人脸又红了。

“那么好吧，”爱德蒙说，“我可以管你叫我们的DLF[1]吗？”

“喂，爱德蒙，”苏珊说，“别这样，干吗老抓住人家不放。”

“没有什么，小姑娘——我是说，陛下，”杜鲁普金笑着说，“开开玩笑，不要紧的。”（从那以后，他们常亲切地叫他DLF，到后来，这戏称的真正含义几乎都被忘掉了。）

“我刚才是想说，”爱德蒙继续说，“咱们不必走那条道，我们可以乘船向南，先到清水湾，然后逆流而上，这么走可直达大石桌的后山。我们在水上会比较安全一些。要是马上出发，在天黑之前就可以到达清水湾的入口，然后睡几个小时，明天一大早就可以和凯斯宾见面了。”

“问题是我们必须知道沿岸的情况，”杜鲁普金说，“我们不清楚一路上的地形和敌情。”

“食品问题怎么解决？”苏珊问。

“哦，我们可以吃苹果充饥，”露茜说，“咱们快点走吧，两天过去了，我们什么事儿还没做呢。”

他们用一件雨衣做成一只袋子，装了不少苹果，又一齐来到井边喝足了水，因为在到达清水湾之前很可能再也找不到淡水了。然后，大家登上小船，望着将要离开的凯尔帕拉维尔，孩子们心里不禁一阵惆怅。尽管那儿已成为一堆废墟，可他们还是觉得十分亲切，仿佛那就是他们的第二故乡。

“DLF，你来掌舵，”彼得说，“我和爱德蒙划桨。虽然路不远，咱们最好还是脱掉这身锁子甲，免得划不了多久，就热得受不了。你们两个女孩子坐在船首，给DLF指示方向，因为他不知道路。”

不久，那被密林覆盖的绿色小岛就被他们远远地抛在了身后，小船随着海浪上下颠簸着。周围的海域越来越辽阔，向远处望去，蓝蓝的海水一望无边，近处是小船荡起的碧绿的波浪，浪花在船边翻滚。空气中充满了海水的咸味。海上安静极了，只听到海水撞击船舷和船桨拍打水面的哗哗声，以及桨架发出的嘎吱声。天气开始热了起来。

露茜和苏珊坐在船首，开心极了。她们从船边弯下身，试着把手伸到海水里去，可总是够不着。但她们能清楚地看见海底那极纯净的月白色沙子，有时候还可以看到一块块紫红色的海藻。

“真好像又回到了过去，”露茜说，“你们还记不记得我们航行到特里宾西亚……还有卡尔马……还有七群岛……还有孤独群岛？”

“当然记得，”苏珊说，“还有我们的大船‘辉煌海尔兰’号，船头上镶着一只天鹅头，那雕刻的天鹅翅膀直达船的中部。”

“还有绸子做的风帆和船尾巨大的灯笼。”

“还有甲板上的盛宴和那些乐师。”

“你们还记不记得，有位乐师爬到帆缆上吹笛子，那乐声听起来就像来自天边。”

就这样，他们一边走一边回忆着。当苏珊换下爱德蒙时，他们已经走了一大半路程。前面的海岸不远了——他们想起当年这里曾是一片开阔的平原，是许多好朋友聚会的地方，现在却长满了野树杂草，显得十分荒凉。触景生情，孩子们心中不由生出许多感慨。

“嘘！这还真是个累人的活儿。”彼得已是汗流浃背。

“我来划一会儿吧？”露茜说。

“不行，你太小。”彼得简短地回答；这并不是他光火了，而是因为他没有精神说话了。

【注释】

[1] DLF是英语DearLittleFriend的缩略语，意思即“亲爱的小朋友”。

9

露茜看到了什么

绕过最后一个海岬，开始向清水湾逆流而上的时候，苏珊和两个男孩都已经筋疲力尽了。露茜也由于海水反光对眼睛的刺激感到有些头疼。连杜鲁普金都感到疲惫不堪，盼望这航行快些结束。船尾他一直坐着的那个座位原不是为小矮人准备的，所以他的两只脚悬空在那里，一点儿也使不上劲，不难想像那是多么不舒服。随着疲劳感的增加，大家的情绪也渐渐低落下去。开始，他们一心想的是如何尽快找到凯斯宾，而现在他们开始怀疑，即使找到了他，就凭这么几个小不点儿的小矮人和森林里的动物，怎么能够打败一支成年人组成的军队。

当他们慢慢划过清水湾的时候，夜幕已经降临——随着海岸一点点靠近，暮色也越来越浓，河岸上伸出来的树枝不时碰到头上。大海的声音在他们身后渐渐消失了，这里非常安静，甚至能听见潺潺的小溪从森林里流向清水湾。

他们终于登陆了。谁也没有力气去拾柴点火，更谈不上去捕猎充饥，他们宁愿再吃一顿苹果，尽管苹果已经吃得太多，丝毫不能引起他们的食欲。他们默默地嚼了一阵苹果，便缩作一团，躺倒在四棵高大栎树下面那层厚厚的枯叶上。

除了露茜以外，其他人倒下便睡着了。露茜没有那么累，所以翻来覆去，怎么躺都觉得不舒服。更糟糕的是，杜鲁普金鼾声大作，简直像在打雷。她知道，在这种情况下，最好的办法就是不要勉强去睡。于是，她睁开双眼，漫无目标地朝前望去。透过树枝的空隙，她刚好看见河里的一道清水。翻过身来，她又看见了一片星空，不由得激起她对往事的回想。她曾经是多么熟悉纳尼亚的星星，因为作为纳尼亚的女王，晚上何时睡觉，从来不受别人管束。这时，从她躺着的地方，至少可以看到三个夏日星座：轮船星座、铁锤星座和豹子星座。“亲爱的老豹子。”她轻声呼唤着，好像与老朋友久别重逢。

这么一来，她不仅全无睡意，反而更精神了——那是一种奇怪的、只有夜间才有的梦幻般的清醒。海湾亮如白昼，她知道月亮已经升起了，尽管看不见它。忽然，她感到整个森林都像她自己一样苏醒了过来。出于一种莫名的冲动，她迅速站起身，悄悄离开了宿营地。

夜晚的空气凉爽、清新，带着幽微的花香。不远处有一只夜莺在歌唱，它时唱时停，悠然自得。前面的光线比较明亮，露茜信步走过去，来到一个树木稀疏的地方。恬静的月光与树木的阴影交织在一起，使人辨不清周围的景物。这时，那夜莺终于定准了调子，开始引吭高歌起来。

露茜的眼睛渐渐适应了这里的光线，她便仔细打量起身边的一草一木来，因为她心里充满了对过去那些岁月的怀念。那时，纳尼亚的树木不仅会讲话，简直是能说会道。她深信这些树木都有灵性，而且能化作人形。看那棵银桦，它应该有清脆圆润的嗓子，长得像一位苗条的姑娘，肩上披散着棕色的长发，舞姿极其优美。再看那棵老栎树，它该是一位慈祥并充满智慧的老人，须发苍苍，由于上了年纪，手上的青筋都鼓起来了。还有身边这棵山毛榉，美丽、端庄、高贵、安详。啊，你这森林的女神！

“哦，树神，我的老朋友们！”露茜不由自主地轻声呼唤起来，“你们醒醒，醒醒啊！你们真的睡熟了吗？你们把我忘记了吗？林中仙女，水族仙女，出来吧，到我这儿来吧！”

虽然林子里一丝风也没有，那些树却在她身旁一齐摆动起来，树叶沙沙地响，仿佛在低声诉说着什么。说来奇怪，那只夜莺这时也静了下来，好像也在侧耳倾听。露茜觉得她随时都可能听懂树木在说什么，结果她失望了。沙沙声渐渐消失，夜莺又重新开始了它的歌唱，这使露茜感到茫然若有所失。是自己来得不合时宜，还是做错了什么事，或者说错了什么话？她百思不得其解。

突然，她感到有些累，于是转身走向营地，依偎在苏珊和彼得当中，几分钟之后便进入了梦乡。

清晨，凉气袭人。一觉醒来，大家都感到浑身乏力，打不起精神。森林里透过一缕灰蒙蒙的晨曦（这时太阳还没升起），到处都显得潮湿、脏乱。

“来呀，吃苹果，又香又脆的大苹果！”杜鲁普金怪腔怪调地喊着，一边拿起一只苹果，皱着眉头看了看，又把它放下了。

孩子们懒懒地站起身来，使劲摇摇头，使自己清醒起来，然后向四周望去。树林很茂密，朝哪个方向都望不出很远。

“我猜各位一定很熟悉道路吧？”小矮人问。

“我不熟悉，”苏珊说，“从来没见过这些树林。实际上我一直在想，我们应该顺河而上的。”

“你当时怎么不说？”由于心情不好，彼得的话有些 尖刻。

“喂，别听她的，”爱德蒙说，“她总是让人扫兴。彼得，你带着那个袖珍指南针了吧？好，那我们就不怕了，我们只要一直朝西北方向走，穿过那条小河，你们叫它什么来着，拉什河？”

“柏卢纳渡口，是那条小河与大河汇合的地方，”彼得说，“或者按DLF的叫法，柏卢纳大桥。”

“对，我们走过桥去，一直往山上爬，九点钟以前就能到达石桌，也就是阿斯兰堡垒。我相信凯斯宾国王将款待我们一顿丰盛的早餐！”

“但愿如此，”苏珊说，“我怎么对这里的地形一点儿印象都没有呢？”

“女孩子最糟的就是这个了，”爱德蒙对彼得和小矮人说，“她们的脑袋瓜里根本没有放地图的地方。”

“那是因为我们的脑袋瓜里装着别的东西。”露茜反驳道。

开始，似乎一切都还顺利，他们相信走的是正确的路线。可是，假如你对森林有些起码的常识，那你就会知道走在森林里的人们常常会被想像出来的道路所迷惑。因为，过不了几分钟，脚下的路便消失了。于是，你的眼睛马上转向另一条路，希望这是刚才那条路的延续。走不多远，这条路又不见了。你最后将发现，原来脚下根本就不是路。好在两个男孩子和那小矮人都在森林里走惯了，所以也没有绕多少弯路。

他们吃力而缓慢地向前走了大约有半个钟头（他们中间有三个由于昨天划船，直到现在还浑身酸痛），突然，杜鲁普金悄声说：“停！”大家立刻紧张地停下脚步。“有什么东西在跟踪我们，”小矮人把声音压得很低，“或者说它在与我们平行前进——就在左边那儿。”孩子们紧张地站在原地，眼睛盯着小矮人手指的地方，半天也不见有什么动静。“我们俩最好在弓上搭一支箭。”苏珊对杜鲁普金说。小矮人点点头，表示赞成。当两张弓都箭在弦上后，大家才多了些安全感，又继续向前走。

他们十分警觉地在一片较为开阔的林子里又走了几十米，然后来到一个灌木茂密的地方。猛然间，随着一声呼啸，一只什么野兽从灌木后面猛扑过来。露茜猝不及防，一下被扑倒在地上，打了几个滚儿。她在跌倒的一刹那，听见嗒的一声弓弦响。当她清醒过来时，看到一只面目狰狞的大灰熊，躺在地上，已经气绝身亡。熊的大脑袋上还插着杜鲁普金的一支箭。

“在这场射箭比赛中，DLF可是把你打败啦，苏。”彼得勉强笑了一下，试图缓和这场虚惊造成的紧张。

“我……箭放得太迟了，”苏珊说，那样子很窘，“我真怕那会是一只，你们知道——一只有灵性的熊，一只会讲话的熊。”还有一句没有说出口的话，那就是她不愿意伤害任何一条生命。

“这就麻烦了。”杜鲁普金说，“不错，有些纳尼亚的后代至今仍活在世上，可大部分动物都是哑巴，都是敌人，你很难分辨出来。”

“我想到了老布鲁恩，”苏珊说，“你当时就没有想到会是布鲁恩吗？”

“不是，”那小矮人说，“我看到了那张脸，也听到了那声呼啸，它只不过是想要这小姑娘做早餐。刚才你说，你指望凯斯宾国王能款待你们一顿丰盛的早餐，我真不想扫你们的兴。说实话，营地里的肉少得可怜。听我说，朋友们，熊肉的味道肯定不错。我们要是不带上点儿熊肉，那可太遗憾了。怎么样，咱们顶多耽误半个钟头。我敢说，你们两个小伙子——对不起，我该说国王陛下——该知道怎么剥熊皮的吧？”

“咱们到别的什么地方坐一会儿，”苏珊对露茜说，“我知道那活儿有多么脏，多么恶心。”露茜打了个哆嗦，立即站起来随姐姐走开，一边说，“苏，我脑子里闪过一个非常可怕的念头。”

“什么？”

“要是有一天，在我们自己的世界里，有人野蛮地向你冲过来，就像这儿的野兽，可样子却仍然是人，你也搞不清他是人是兽是敌是友，那不是很可怕吗？”

“我们在纳尼亚麻烦已经够多的了，”苏珊非常现实地说，“你不要幻想那样的事情了。”

剥熊皮的工作进行得很顺利，马上又要出发了。他们尽可能多地带上切割下来的熊肉。口袋不好装，他们便仔细地把肉包在新鲜的树叶里面。经验告诉他们，待会儿走累了，肚子饿了的时候，这些又湿又软、令人反感的小包包会有大用处的。

他们继续艰难地向前走。直到旭日东升，小鸟又开始歌唱，他们在一条小溪旁停了下来，仔细洗干净了三双沾满熊血的手。不知不觉中，昨天划船引起的浑身酸痛完全消失了，大家的情绪又振奋起来。

“咱们的方向没错吧？”一个钟头之后爱德蒙问道。

“我们并没有向左边去得太多，我还看不出来现在的方向会有什么不对。”彼得说，“要是咱们走得太靠右边，充其量不过是浪费一点时间；因为那样我们就会过早地靠近河边，从那里到河湾的路会难走一些。”

于是，他们继续往前走，谁也不说话，只有他们的脚步声和衣服的窸窣声。

“这可恨的河口在什么地方？”过了老半天爱德蒙说。

“我刚才满以为这会儿就该到了，”彼得说，“可现在只有继续向前走，别无选择。”他俩都发觉那小矮人正忧心忡忡地望着他们，便没有再说什么。

他们不停地走呀走，身上的盔甲开始变得沉重起来，使他们感到十分闷热。

“这是怎么回事？”彼得突然停下脚步。

不知不觉中他们来到一个悬崖的边缘，从这儿居高临下，可以看到一条峡谷，以及谷底的河流。对面的峭壁要高得多。除了爱德蒙以外（也许还有杜鲁普金），谁也不曾在岩石上攀登过。

“真糟糕，”彼得说，“我们迷路了，以前从来没有见到过这个地方。对不起，这都怪我。”

小矮人轻轻吹了声口哨。

“唉，要不咱们返回去，从另一条路走吧，”苏珊苦着脸说，“我早就知道在这些树林里我们要迷路的。”

“苏珊！”露茜责备地看了她一眼，“别那么说，彼得已经尽了最大的努力。”

“你也别这样对苏珊讲话，”爱德蒙在一边打抱不平，“我想她的话是对的。”

“啧啧啧！”杜鲁普金抱怨道，“要是我们迷了路，怎样才能摸回去呢？况且，即便咱们又回到岛上，一切从头开始——假设那是可能的话——咱们可就把什么事都给耽误啦。因为那样的话，不等我们到达那里，弥若兹就已经把凯斯宾打垮了。”

“你认为我们应该继续往前走？”露茜问。

“不知道，”杜鲁普金耸耸肩膀，“陛下，你肯定咱们已误入歧途？你能断定这里不是河口吗？”

“因为河口不在峡谷里。”彼得说，竭力忍住没有发火。

“陛下，是不是应该说：‘过去不在峡谷里’？”小矮人仍不死心，“你所熟悉的是几百年甚至几千年以前的纳尼亚。这么多年过去了，难道它就不会改变？一次大塌方，就完全可能把那座山削去一面，留下光秃秃的岩石，成为峡谷那边的峭壁。以后，年复一年，湍急的河流不断地冲击河槽，结果在这一面又形成了我们脚下的悬崖。我们还可以设想，这里曾经发生过地震之类的事情。”

“我从来没有想到过这些。”彼得说。

“无论如何，”杜鲁普金接着说，“即便这不是河口，可它湍湍流向北方，势将汇入那条大河。来的路上我似乎曾经走过这个地方。因此，假如我们朝下游走，再往右拐……”

“看！快看！你们快看！”露茜突然叫了起来。

“哪里？什么？”大家顺着她手指的方向望去。

“狮子，”露茜激动不已，两只大眼睛闪闪发光，“就是阿斯兰，你们没有看见吗？”

“你是说——阿斯兰？”彼得顿时睁大了双眼。

“你以为它在什么地方？”苏珊不大相信。

“不是以为，”露茜使劲跺着脚，“千真万确，我真的看到了阿斯兰！”

“在哪儿，露？”彼得问。

“就在山顶上，那些桉树之间。不，在峡谷的这一边，往上看——它想要我们到它那儿去，与你选择的方向正好相反。”

“你怎么知道它想要我们去？”爱德蒙问。

“它……我……反正我知道，”露茜说，“从它的脸上可以看出来。”

大家迷惑不解地互相望一望，谁也不讲话。

“露茜女王陛下很可能真的看到了一头狮子，”杜鲁普金插嘴说，“这些树林里当然有狮子，而且肯定不止一头，这我太知道了。但它未必是一头友好的、会讲话的狮子，就像刚才那头熊一样。”

“噢，别傻了，”露茜说，“你以为我看见了阿斯兰会认不出来吗？”

“它现在该是一头老态龙钟的狮子了，”杜鲁普金说，“假如它就是你们的那位老相识，老朋友！再说，如果是它，谁又能够担保这么多年之后，它不会像许多其他的动物一样，变野变蠢呢？”

露茜一下子脸色通红，要不是彼得把一只手放在她肩膀上，她简直会扑向杜鲁普金。

“DLF是不明白的，他怎么会呢？”彼得一边安慰露茜，一边转向小矮人，“你记住，杜鲁普金，我们才真正了解阿斯兰，你不可以再那样谈论它了。现在必须搞清楚阿斯兰是否真的在那里。”

“我发誓，刚才就是在那儿的。”露茜说，眼睛里充满了泪水。

“或许是的，露。可是只有你看见了它，我们都没有看见。”

“我们没有别的办法了，大家表决吧。”爱德蒙说。

“好吧，”彼得回答道，“你年纪最大，DLF，你投什么票？往上走，还是往下？”

“往下，”小矮人毫不迟疑地说，“我对阿斯兰一无所知，可我确实知道倘若咱们向左拐，再顺着峡谷往上走，那可能得走一天才能找到一个可以过河的地方；可是如果往下游去，再往右拐，咱们肯定能在两个小时之内到达大河。再说，要是附近真的有狮子的话，咱们应该避开它们，而不要走近它们。”

“你怎么说，苏珊？”

“你别生气，露，”苏珊说，“我真的认为我们应该朝下游走，我累极了，咱们赶紧离开这可恶的森林，到露天的空地去吧。我和大家一样，希望看到阿斯兰。可是，除了你一个人之外，我们大家什么都没看见。”

“爱德蒙？”彼得说。

“嗯，是这样，”爱德蒙讲得很快，脸色微微发红，“一年以前，咱们第一次发现纳尼亚的时候——也许是一千年以前，这个不去管它——是露茜首先发现了这个奇妙的国度，而我们都不相信她。我表现最糟了，这我知道。可事实证明她是对的，这一次我要支持她，也算向露茜表示歉意。我投票赞成向上游走。”

“噢，爱德蒙！”露茜紧紧抓住他的手。

“现在轮到你了，彼得，”苏珊说，“我真希望——”

“嘿，别说！让人家自己思考，”彼得打断了她的话，“我想我最好不参加投票。”

“你是至尊王。”杜鲁普金庄重地提醒道。

“向下。”沉默许久，彼得终于说，“我知道露茜很可能还是对的，但是……我没有别的办法，两者之中我们必须选择其一。”

就这样，他们沿着右边的悬崖，朝下游出发了，露茜走在最后面，哭得好伤心。

10

狮王归来

沿着峡谷在悬崖边上行进并不轻松。没走多远，这一行人便被茂密的小杉树丛挡住了去路，只好弯下身来，拨开树叶，缓慢地向前移动。他们很快意识到，照这样走下去，一个小时也走不了半里路。于是他们向后转，退出丛林，并作出新的决定：绕道而行。他们向右边绕得很远很远，看不见峭壁，也听不到水声了。大家开始担心是不是整个路线都搞错了。谁也不知道确切的时间，但气温已经是一天中最高的了。

他们终于绕回到峡谷边上时（差不多已经是在他们出发地点下面一英里处），发现脚下的峭壁低下去许多，塌裂也更加严重。不久，他们找到一条通向下游峡谷去的路，就继续往前走，没人再提起和凯斯宾共进早餐甚至共进晚餐的话了。

这是一片古老的、没有人迹的森林，里面没有一条直路。大丛大丛根本进不去的荆棘，倒了的大树，沼泽地，以及茂密的低矮林丛，不时在前面挡住他们的去路。这地方真可谓路途艰难，更何况他们又是些匆忙赶路的人；如果是漫步郊游，走累了在这里野餐，那么倒是不错。这里的景致应有尽有：轰鸣的大瀑布、银光闪闪的小瀑布、深深的琥珀色水潭、覆盖着青苔的岩石，还有岸边厚厚的泥沼，不小心走上去，会一下子陷到脚踝。此外，各种蕨类植物和宝石般的蜻蜓举目可见；头顶上时而掠过一只隼，甚至偶尔可以看到雄鹰在空中翱翔。当然啰，他们此时想要尽快看到的，是前面的大河口，是柏卢纳，是通向阿斯兰堡垒的道路。

下面的路越来越陡，他们行进得也越来越艰难，越来越慢——有时甚至要冒险在滑溜的岩石上攀行，身下是可怕的黑暗深渊，湍急的河水汹涌澎湃。

就这样，他们紧盯着脚下的峭壁，一边努力搜寻着任何一个缝隙，任何一个可攀爬的地方。险道无情，令人恼火，可是大家咬紧牙关继续向前走，相信一旦走出峡谷，再穿过一段平缓的山坡，就会到达凯斯宾的指挥部了。

这时，男孩子们和小矮人主张找个平坦些的地方，架起篝火，烤些熊肉充饥。苏珊却不同意，她坚持要“走下去，走到底，走出这可憎的地方”。露茜这时已经疲惫不堪，什么意见也不想提了。其实，这一路上，根本看不到平地和干柴，所以主意再好也是白搭。两个男孩肚子里咕咕直叫，开始怀疑生肉是否真如想像中的那样脏，那样难以下咽。

“哇！总算走出来了！”苏珊如释重负地说。

“哦，太好了！”彼得也喊道。

峡谷到了尽头，河水在这里转了个弯。从崖顶望去，展现在他们面前的是一片崭新的天地——开阔的平原一直向前延伸，仿佛与天空浑为一体。横在大平原与他们之间的河水，就像一条宽宽的银色缎带，缓缓流过。有一处河面格外宽，河水也格外浅，孩子们一下子都认出来那就是柏卢纳渡口，惟一不同的是现在那里架起了一座长长的多孔桥。再向前望去，桥的另一端通向一个小村落。

“天哪，”爱德蒙说，“我们就是在那个地方打赢了柏卢纳战役！”

没有什么更能使男孩子们振奋、昂扬的了。当你故地重游，回到你曾经取得辉煌胜利获得巨大光荣的战场，你就会不由自主地感到非常骄傲，勇气倍增。回想往事，彼得和爱德蒙津津乐道，忘记了一路上的劳累和浑身的酸痛，也忘记了身上盔甲的沉重。小矮人更是听得睁大了眼睛，脸上显出无限的钦佩和神往。

休息片刻后，这一行人继续往前走，大家加快脚步。道路也好走了一些。虽然左边还有峭壁悬崖，右边的平地却渐渐开阔起来，不久，他们进入了一片茂密的丛林。

突然，“嗖——”什么东西从他们头顶飞过，然后打在树干上，那声音就像啄木鸟在树上啄了一下。孩子们还在纳闷曾经在什么地方听到过类似的使人感到不舒服的声音，就听杜鲁普金喊了一声“卧倒！”同时使劲把身边的露茜按倒在灌木丛中。彼得本来正朝上面看，想瞧瞧有没有松鼠，结果却看到一支锐利无情的箭，刚好掠过头顶深深扎进身旁的树干。他急忙拉了苏珊一把，让她卧倒。自己刚刚弯下身，另一支箭已经射了过来，擦着他的肩头，扎在身边的地上。

“快！快！向后撤！趴到地上！”杜鲁普金喘着粗气说。

他们转过身，在灌木丛的掩护下，在成群苍蝇令人厌恶的嗡嗡声中，往山上爬去。一支箭射在苏珊的头盔上，迸出了火星。他们加快爬行的速度，片刻间便一个个大汗淋漓，气喘吁吁。过了一会儿，他们索性站起身，猫着腰跑起来。男孩子们跑在后面，手里紧握着宝剑，以防敌人追上来。

这奔跑太累人了——全是上坡，沿着他们刚才走过的路。终于，他们感到实在跑不动了，便一下子瘫倒在瀑布旁一块大石头后边，呼哧呼哧喘个不停。当他们渐渐平静下来，四下一望，才发现自己居然已经跑到这么高的地方，不由感到十分惊奇。

杜鲁普金侧耳听了半天，没有跟踪者的动静。

“这下不要紧了，”他长长地舒了一口气，“他们没有搜索森林，看样子是些哨兵。但这至少表明，弥若兹在那里设有一个前哨基地，真是可恨！”

“我真该死，把大家带到这条路上来。”彼得内疚地说。

“陛下，你说错了，”小矮人眨巴眨巴眼睛，“那不是你，而是你尊贵的弟弟，爱德蒙国王。他提议我们顺着清水河走的。”

“DLF记得不错。”爱德蒙说；起先他忘记了这一点，现在想了起来。

“可话又说回来，”杜鲁普金继续说，“要是走我来的那条路，我们很可能会直接走进敌人新设的前哨阵地，或者在试图绕开时遇到类似的麻烦。其实我认为，我们选择的仍然是一条最有利的路。”

“这样看来刚才的事情不是祸，反而是幸运。”苏珊说。

“表面上不是，实际上是。”爱德蒙说。

“也许我们只好沿着峡谷重新往上游方向走了。”露茜说。

“露，你真了不起！”彼得说，“你本来完全可以指责我们当初没有听你的忠告。好，咱们立即动身，往上游方向走。”

“我们一到上面森林里，”杜鲁普金坚定地说，“不管你们说什么，我都要点起火堆做饭了。当然，我们必须先离开这里。”

虽然他们在返回的路上吃了许多苦头，可说来也怪，大家反而情绪高涨起来，身上仿佛又充满了活力。“过一会儿就有饭吃”这个念头起了奇妙的作用。

来到杉树林的时候，天色还早，他们在一块空地前停下来，准备在这儿露营。拣枯枝是个单调的活儿，可是当篝火熊熊燃起的时候，那真是令人高兴。他们开始动手收拾那些湿乎乎油腻腻的熊肉。对那些足不出户、饱食终日的人们来说，这肉的样子真让人倒胃口。小矮人在烹调上有很多高招，他把苹果切成小块，然后用肉裹起来——就像苹果馅饺子，只是个儿大得多，而且是用熊肉不是用面粉来做饺子皮儿——然后插在一根削尖的树枝上，用火来烤。苹果汁渗出来，沾满了熊肉，仿佛涂了一层苹果酱。有一种食肉的熊，它的肉很粗，一点儿也不好吃；另一种以蜂蜜、水果为主食，它的肉则细嫩可口，味道好极了。眼前的熊肉就属于后者。这简直是一顿极其精美的晚餐，而且饭后用不着洗碗——大家各自选个舒适的位置，往树上一靠，伸开疲劳的双腿，漫不经心地望着杜鲁普金烟斗里冒出的缕缕白烟，随便聊了起来。每个人都觉得，明天就能找到凯斯宾国王，并且在几天之内准能打败弥若兹，谁也说不出这信心来自哪里，可的确都有这种感觉。

没有多久，他们便一个个进入了梦乡。

突然露茜从香甜的沉睡中惊醒过来，她仿佛听到一个十分亲切的声音在呼唤她的名字。开始她以为那是爸爸的声音，可不太像；接着她想到那是彼得，仔细再一听，似乎也不是。她不愿费心去猜想了，这并不是因为她感到很累——相反她休息得非常好，浑身酸痛全都消失了——而是因为她感到极度的幸福和舒适。他们露营的地方比较开阔，她抬头朝天上望去，那轮纳尼亚的明月比我们世界的月亮要大，繁星点点令人陶醉。

“露茜。”那声音又一次在呼唤她，不是爸爸，也不是彼得。她坐了起来，激动得微微发抖，但丝毫也不感到害怕。月光亮极了，四周森林的景象清晰可见，像在白天一般，尽管看上去显得十分荒芜。她身后是杉树林，右边远远的地方耸立着峡谷对面的峭壁险峰，正前方大约三十米开外，开阔的草地伸向树林中的一片空地，露茜的目光突然停了下来。

“咦，那些树在移动？”她惊讶地自言自语道，“它们好像在走路。”

她站起身来，心怦怦地跳着，慢慢朝那个方向走去。在那片空地上似乎有什么响动，虽然这时一点儿风都没有，可是树木却发出了沙沙声。当然，这绝对不是树林通常发出来的那种声音。露茜感到那沙沙声隐隐伴着一种旋律，可她辨不出那是怎样的旋律，正如前天夜里她听不清那些树的窃窃私语一样。可至少她听得出有一定的节奏，再往前走近一些，她觉得自己的双脚随着那节奏不由自主地竟想要跳舞了。这时，已经不必怀疑，那些树真的是在动——往来交错，像是一场挺复杂的民间舞蹈。这时她几乎是置身于它们之间了。

她遇到的第一棵树看上去像是个巨人，长着粗乱的胡子和蓬松的头发。她一点儿不害怕，反而感到老友重逢的喜悦。那巨人在笨拙地摆动着，你看不到它的脚，或者说树根，因为它移动的时候，不是踩在地面上，而是在土里蹚来蹚去，就像我们走在水里一样。她望望别的树，全是这样。它们时而呈现出友善、可爱的巨人形状，像被施了魔法，时而又恢复了树的本来面目。当它们现出树的形状时，看上去是非常奇特的人形树；而当它们现出人形时，那样子又很像奇特的生着枝叶的树形人。那奇异的节奏和欢快的沙沙声一直在响着。

“它们快要苏醒过来了。”露茜喃喃地说。她明白自己此刻是完全清醒的，比任何人都清醒。

她毫无惧色地走到它们中间，一边不停地跳来跳去，免得被这些高大的伙伴碰倒。露茜此时并不想跳舞，她匆匆走过婆娑多姿的树群，去寻找别的什么——正是从树林的另一边，传来那亲切的声音，一声声把她呼唤。

她很快就穿过树林（搞不清她是用手臂把树枝推开的呢，还是拉住了那些高大的向她弯下腰来的舞蹈家的手），从那可爱的光和影的不断交替所造成的迷惑中走了出来。

在她的眼前是一片平整的草坪，周围是深颜色的大树在舞蹈。啊，阿斯兰！它在那儿！那威风凛凛的巨狮在月光下巍然不动，地上投下它一大片黑黑的身影。

要不是它的尾巴摆了一下，你简直看不出那是一个有灵性的血肉之躯。露茜毫不迟疑地向它跑去，根本就没有停下来想一想，这会不会是一只凶恶的、吃人的狮子。她激动万分，只觉得稍一放慢脚步，那颗火热的心就会从胸腔里跳出来。在一片兴奋的迷茫中，她记得自己用双臂紧紧地搂住阿斯兰的脖子，不停地呼唤它，亲吻它，并且把自己的脸埋进它那美丽而有光泽，像缎子般柔软光滑的鬣毛里面。

“阿斯兰，阿斯兰，亲爱的阿斯兰，”露茜哽咽着，“终于见到你了。”

这只巨兽侧身躺下来，露茜也随着俯下身去，半靠在它两条前腿之间。阿斯兰把头伸过来，用舌头轻轻舔舔她的鼻子，它那温暖的气息立刻遍布了她的全身。她抬起头来，眼望着那巨大的、充满智慧的脸。

“欢迎你，孩子。”它说。

“阿斯兰，”露茜说，“你又长大了。”

“那是因为你的年龄增长了，小家伙。”它回答道。

“你没有增长吗？”

“我没有，但是你一年年长大，你也会发现我的个子越来越大。”

露茜高兴得简直不知说什么好了。还是阿斯兰打破了沉默。

“露茜，”它说，“我们不能在这里呆很久，有许多事情等着我们去做呢。今天已经浪费掉不少时间了。”

“是的，浪费了那么多时间，真急人！”露茜说，想起白天那一幕来。“我看见你在山顶上示意我们上去，可他们都不相信我的话，他们都那么——”

阿斯兰微微皱了一下眉头。

“对不起，”露茜马上明白了雄狮的意思，“我并不想说别人的不好，可那不是我的错，对吗？”

狮子直视着她的眼睛。

“噢，阿斯兰，”露茜说，“你不认为那是我的错吧？我怎么能——我不能离开别人，独自一人爬上山来找你，我怎么能够呢？别那么看着我……噢，好吧，假设我能够，是的，跟你在一起，我不会感到孤单，可那又有什么用呢？”

阿斯兰没有说话。

“你的意思是，”露茜的声音低了下去，“那样形势就会有所不同——多少好一些？告诉我，阿斯兰！那会发生什么事情？”

“想要知道可能发生却未能发生的事情吗，孩子？”阿斯兰深沉地说，“告诉你又有什么用？还是让我们想一想将会发生什么事情吧。立即回到伙伴们的身边去，唤醒他们，告诉他们你又见到了我，然后立刻起身跟我走——以后会发生什么事情，我想你能猜得出来。”

“你是说，要我马上去做这些事情？”

“是的，小家伙。”

“我这就带他们来见你？”

“暂时还不要，”阿斯兰想一想说，“晚一些吧，时机还不成熟。”

“可他们不会相信我！”

“不必担心。”

“噢，亲爱的阿斯兰！找到你，我真高兴，我原来以为你会让我留在你身边的；我还以为你会大吼一声，把敌人都赶走的——就像上次那样。可是现在，我感到有些害怕！”

“对你来说，这的确很困难，我的朋友，”阿斯兰说，“可事情永远不会以同样的方式发生两次，在这以前，我们大家在纳尼亚都吃了苦头。”

露茜把她的头埋在巨狮的鬣毛里，不去看它的脸。阿斯兰的身上一定有什么魔力，她清楚地感到，狮子的力量渐渐传到她自己的身上。她突地一下坐了起来。

“请原谅我一时的软弱，阿斯兰，”她勇敢地说，“现在，我一切都准备好了。”

“孩子，你已具有狮子的勇气和力量了，”阿斯兰说，“从现在起，整个纳尼亚将要恢复它往日的尊严。来吧，我们不能浪费时间了。”

它站起身来，迈开庄严、有力的步伐，无声无息地向舞蹈着的树林走去。露茜稳步走在它的身边。大树为她们闪开一条路来，而且有一秒钟，完全显示出它们人的模样。露茜瞥见了高大、可爱的森林仙子和仙女们。她们一齐向阿斯兰鞠躬致敬。转眼之间，她们又恢复了树的形状，可依然在鞠躬，树枝和树干优雅地摆动着。她们的敬礼实在也就是一种舞蹈。

“好了，孩子，”她们走过树林后阿斯兰说，“我等在这里，你去唤醒他们几个，一齐跟着我。假如他们不相信，那么，至少你自己要跟着我。”

把四个熟睡的人从梦中唤醒真不是件容易的事，况且他们都比你年长，又都十分疲劳。尤其困难的是，你只不过为了要告诉他们一些他们很可能不相信的话，要让他们去做一件他们肯定不情愿做的事情。“我不能想那么多，我一定要努力做好这件事。”露茜暗自下定了决心。

她先走到彼得身边，摇摇他的肩膀。“彼得，”她在他耳边小声叫道，“醒醒，快，阿斯兰在这儿。它让我们大家马上跟它离开这儿。”

“好吧，露，这就走。”彼得回答得很痛快，真是出人意料，这使露茜很受鼓舞。没想到彼得翻了个身，一眨眼工夫又睡着了。第一次努力毫无结果。

接着她又去喊苏珊。苏珊倒的确是醒过来了，却只是用她那令人讨厌的大人腔说：“你又说梦话了，露茜，快躺下来接着睡吧！”

露茜只好又去摇爱德蒙。叫醒他真难。好一会儿，爱德蒙才坐起身来。

“嗯？”他不高兴地问，“你说什么呢？”

她又重复了一遍。这真是她使命中最艰难的一部分。刚才发生的事情，连她自己都有些不相信了。

“什么？”爱德蒙跳了起来，“阿斯兰！在哪儿？”

露茜转过身来，她看得见阿斯兰等在那里。“在那儿。”她用手指着。

“哪儿？”爱德蒙瞪着眼望了半天，又问。

“那儿，那不是？你还没看见？就在树林的这一边。”

爱德蒙又使劲盯着看了一会儿，然后说，“没有，那儿什么也没有。你肯定是在月光下看花了眼，给弄糊涂了。有时候人就是这样的，你知道。有那么一瞬间我也觉得仿佛看到了什么，结果，那不过是一种幻觉。”

“我一直都能看到它，”露茜说，“它一直在看着我们呢。”

“那为什么我就看不到它？”

“它说了，你们也许看不到它。”

“为什么？”

“我也不知道，那是它说的。”

“哎，真是的，”爱德蒙说，“我真希望你这不是得了什么毛病。不过我想，最好还是把他们几个都叫起来。”

11

雄狮长啸

终于，其他四个人都醒了过来。露茜不得不第四遍重复要讲的话。随之而来的长时间沉默，使她感到很沮丧。

彼得盯着前面的树林，把眼睛都看酸了。“我什么都没看见。你呢，苏珊？”

“没有，当然什么也看不见。”苏珊说，听上去她有些不高兴。“因为那儿根本什么都没有，她是在说梦话。露，快躺下睡觉，听话。”

“我真希望你们大家和我一起去，”露茜的声音有些颤抖，“因为——因为不论你们来或不来，我必须随它而去。”

“别胡扯，露茜，”苏珊说，“毫无疑问，你不可以独自离开。彼得，别让她去，她故意胡闹！”

“假如她执意要去，我将跟她一块儿去，”爱德蒙说，“她一直是对的。”

“这我知道，”彼得说，“而且很可能她现在还是正确的。显而易见，从下游走出峡谷这条路行不通，更何况在夜里这个时候。再说，阿斯兰为什么不让我们看到它呢？它过去从来不是这样，这不像它的为人。DLF，你怎么想？”

“我没什么说的，”小矮人回答道，“要是你们都去，当然，我也一起去。要是你们分成两路，我将跟随至尊王尊敬的彼得陛下，因为这是我的本分。然而，假如你问我个人的意见，这个嘛——我不过是个头脑简单的小矮人，我以为在白天都找不着路，夜里找到它的希望更小。况且，对那法力无边的狮子，我也不喜欢——它会讲话却不肯讲话，非常友好却不给我们以帮助，战无不胜却又没人能看到它。这就是我想说的话，不起作用，请大家不要见笑。”

“瞧，它用爪子拍打着草地，是在催我们了。”露茜望着前面焦急地说，“咱们必须马上动身。你们不走，我可要走了。”

“你没有权利这样勉强我们大家听你的胡话。现在是四比一，你又年龄最小。”苏珊说。

“嗨，快些行动吧，”爱德蒙有些不耐烦了，“我们只有去一趟，别无选择，呆在这里将会是无休止的争吵。”他有心全力支持露茜，却又因为被打搅了美梦而不很高兴，结果表现得似乎在与大伙儿怄气。

“那么走吧。”彼得一边说一边懒懒地穿上盔甲。如果换个其他场合，他都会对露茜说些鼓励或安慰的话，因为她毕竟是他最喜爱的小妹妹。他心里清楚，此时露茜一定十分难过，而且不论刚才发生了什么，都不是她的过错。然而，他也不由自主地对她有点儿恼火。

最不高兴的要数苏珊了。“我要是像露茜那么蛮不讲理，我现在就赖在这里不走，不管你们上哪儿去！我真想这么做！”

“请服从至尊王，尊敬的女王陛下，”杜鲁普金说，“我们这就上路吧。如果不能继续睡觉，我宁愿少讲话，多走路。”

一行人终于出发了。露茜走在最前面，她咬紧嘴唇，把一肚子想对苏珊说的话咽了下去。说也奇怪，她抬眼看到阿斯兰，便一下子把那些抱怨的话忘到九霄云外去了，阿斯兰在他们前面大约二十米开外，不慌不忙地领路。其他人只有跟着露茜。他们不仅看不到阿斯兰，也听不到它的声音。它那猫爪一样的巨爪落在草地上，悄然无声。

孩子们在阿斯兰的引导下，从舞蹈树林的右侧走过。谁也不知道那些树神是否仍在翩翩起舞，因为露茜紧盯着阿斯兰，其他人又紧盯着露茜，加上峡谷近在咫尺，谁也不敢大意。“上帝保佑，上帝保佑！”杜鲁普金嘴里不停地嘟哝着，“但愿这疯狂的举动不要以跌下悬崖粉身碎骨而告结束！”

阿斯兰领他们沿着悬崖峭壁走了很长一段路，然后来到一个地方。崖边长着一些小树。它转个弯，消失在小树丛中。露茜一下屏住了呼吸。怎么，要从这悬崖跳下去？可是她必须跟紧阿斯兰，不能失去它的踪迹。来不及停下来细想，她加快脚步，一下子也消失在小树丛中。朝下望去，她看到一条陡直的羊肠小道，通向那夹在黑压压巨大岩石之间的峡谷底部，阿斯兰正沿着小路往下走。它忽然转过身来，用满意和鼓励的目光看着她。露茜拍拍手，随它而下。这时身后传来其他人的喊声：“喂，露茜，当心！上帝呀！你就在悬崖的边缘！快回来——”可是紧接着又传来爱德蒙的声音：“不，她没错，这儿是有一条往下去的小路。”

爱德蒙在半道追上了露茜。他激动地大声说：“看！在咱们前面的那个黑影是谁？”

“那就是它的身影。”

“我们相信你是正确的，露。可奇怪的是，原先我怎么就看不见那身影呢？现在它在什么地方？”

“当然和影子在一起啰。你还看不见它？”

“我想刚才是看见了一下。光线太暗了。”

“快走哇，爱德蒙国王，快走。”身后传来杜鲁普金的催促声。接着，再往后，在靠近崖顶的地方，传来彼得的声音：“苏珊，勇敢些，把手伸给我。瞧你，小娃娃也能走到这里来，别吓成那个样子。”

没有多久，他们便都来到了峡谷的底部，湍急的河水发出很大的响声。阿斯兰在露出水面的大石头上猫一般灵巧地跳跃着，几下便跳到小河中部。它停住脚步，低头喝水。当它昂起那粗毛蓬松的头时，又转过脸来看一看孩子们。这下爱德蒙看见它了。“噢，阿斯兰！”他一边大声叫着，一边向前扑去。可阿斯兰倏地转过身，纵身跃到彼岸，沿着河开始向上游走去。

“彼得，彼得，”爱德蒙喊道，“你看到了吗？”

“我看见了什么？”彼得说，“在月光下，什么也看不清楚。继续走吧，我这会儿并不感到怎么累。现在，让我们向露茜欢呼致敬。多亏了她。”

阿斯兰毫不迟疑地领他们向左边上游的方向走去。一路上大家都有种奇怪的感觉，仿佛在做梦——那奔流的河水、湿润的草地、隐约的峭壁，还有走在前面那威严却一直默默无语的雄狮。此刻，除了苏珊和小矮人，别人都可以清楚地看到阿斯兰了。

不久，他们来到另一条陡峭的小路前。这条小路一直通向崖顶。与刚刚走下来的河对岸的山崖相比，这边高多了，也险多了。值得庆幸的是，这时月亮恰好悬挂在峡谷的上方，把两岸山崖都照得雪亮。

当阿斯兰的身影在崖顶上消失之后，露茜差点儿泄了气。她鼓足最后的勇气，奋力登上崖顶。这时她已是两腿发颤，上气不接下气了。自从离开清水湾以来，他们历尽了千辛万苦。这时她狂喜地看到，目的地就在眼前。一段不陡的坡地从容地向前延伸，直到数百米以外的一个小山丘，山丘上覆盖着绿色的树。露茜知道，那就是石桌所在地。

随着盔甲的丁当声，其他人一个接一个登上了崖顶。阿斯兰仍然默默地走在前面，领大家向小山丘走去。

“露茜。”苏珊轻声唤道。

“哎，什么事？”

“我现在看见它了。我向你道歉。”

“没关系。”

“你不知道，我比你想像的更糟。昨天，就在你第一次提醒大家，说阿斯兰警告我们不要到下游杉树林去的时候，我就相信你准是见到阿斯兰了。而且今天夜里你把我们唤醒时，我内心深处也是相信你的。可我一心想尽快离开树林，而且……唉，我也说不清楚是怎么搞的。现在，让我怎么向阿斯兰说呢？”

“你不必说这么许多。”露茜建议道。

不久，他们便来到树林跟前。透过树木的间隙，孩子们看到了阿斯兰堡垒，那是在他们统治的时代之后建筑在石桌上方的。

“我们的人警戒并不十分严密，”小矮人低声说，“否则早就该向我们进攻了。”

“嘘！”孩子们立刻制止了他。他们看到阿斯兰停下脚步，转过身来，默默地望着他们。那目光仿佛有种强大的魔力，使他们又高兴，又有些胆怯。两个男孩率先向它走去，露茜紧随其后，苏珊和小矮人走在最后面。

“阿斯兰！”国王彼得第一次走到雄狮面前，单腿下跪，拿起一只巨大的狮爪在脸颊上亲了一下，“见到你我高兴万分。我很抱歉，领大家走了这么多弯路，耽误了很多时间——尤其是从昨天早晨以来。”

“我亲爱的儿子，”阿斯兰亲切地说道，转身迎向爱德蒙，“你干得不错。”它夸奖道；沉默了一会，它又用那深沉的声音呼唤道：“苏珊。”苏珊没有回答，别的孩子都感觉到她在哭泣。“你几乎被恐惧所征服，孩子。过来，让我帮助你。”阿斯兰说着，向走近身边的苏珊吹了口气。“忘记过去吧。现在，你是否又恢复了勇气？”

“有一些了，阿斯兰。”苏珊答道。

“现在！”阿斯兰转而提高了声音，尾巴拍打着自己的身体，“现在，请你们告诉我，那位矮小的小矮人，著名的剑手和骑士，那位不相信我阿斯兰的朋友，他在哪里？到这儿来，大地的儿子，过来！”最后两个字简直就是吼出来的，带着撼人的威力。

“上帝保佑，上帝保佑，唷嗬嗬……”由于极度的敬畏和紧张，那小矮人叽里咕噜，嘴里不停地念叨着什么。孩子们都很熟悉阿斯兰，看得出它十分喜欢杜鲁普金，所以都让到一边，饶有兴趣地看着。杜鲁普金此刻的心情却大不一样。他从未见过狮子，更不曾单独与一头狮子呆在一起。好在他没有慌忙逃走，而是战战兢兢地向狮子挪过去，这倒是明智的。

阿斯兰猛地一扑，一口把他咬住，翻身又是一跃。你可曾见过猫妈妈衔着小宝宝跳跃的情景？现在就是那样的场面。

杜鲁普金被阿斯兰衔在嘴里，吓得缩作一团，一副可怜的样子。阿斯兰把头一摆，小矮人身上的盔甲便发出丁丁当当的响声，十分悦耳。接着，只听狮子嘿的一声，眨眼间小矮人已被抛到空中。大家都明白小矮人像躺在家里一样安全，惟独他本人在心里说：“完了！”当他从空中落下来时，阿斯兰用它巨大柔软的爪子轻轻地一接，再稳稳当当地把他放在地上。

“大地的儿子，让我们做个朋友，好吗？”阿斯兰问。

“好……好吧。”小矮人大口喘着气，惊魂未定。

“孩子们，”阿斯兰说，“月亮就要下去了，看看身后，东方已经露出晨曦。我们不能浪费时间了。你们三个，亚当和大地的儿子们，立即进入堡垒，看看那里面是怎样的情形。”

小矮人仍然一言不发，两个男孩谁也不敢开口问阿斯兰是否随后就来。三个人抽出宝剑，一齐向阿斯兰行个礼，然后转过身去，很快便消失在夜色中。露茜注意到他们脸上毫无倦意，只有男子汉一往直前的坚毅和果敢。

两个女孩紧靠在阿斯兰身边，默默地注视着他们三个人的背影。这时光线起了变化，在低垂的东方，阿罗维尔，那颗纳尼亚的晨星像一轮小小的月亮，发出明亮、柔和的光芒。星光下的阿斯兰显得特别高大。它昂起头，摆动着鬣毛，放声长啸起来。

那声音深沉、有力，仿佛风琴从低音奏起，音调越来越高，音量越来越大，直到大地和空气都随之震颤。那吼声从他们脚下的小山上发出，很快向四面八方传去，震撼了整个纳尼亚。弥若兹的军队被惊醒了，士兵们一个个面无血色，茫然不知所措，老半天才想起去抓自己的武器；大河的下游，在这清晨最寒冷的时刻，树神扬起了头，水神也从河里探起身来。更远的地方，在每一块田野上，每一片树林里，窝里的兔子竖起了耳朵，熟睡的小鸟儿也把脑袋从翅膀下面伸了出来；各种动物的叫声汇成一支奇妙的交响乐。在城镇，在乡村，母亲们把孩子更紧地抱在怀里，睁大了眼睛聆听着。男人们则跳下床来，伸手去抓猎枪。连院子里的狗也忍不住汪汪叫个不停。在北部边陲的山上，巨人们揉着惺忪的睡眼，走出黑黑的山洞，想看看究竟发生了什么事。

露茜和苏珊看到大片黑乎乎的什么东西从四面八方向她们拥来。猛一看像是掠过地面的黑影，再看又像风暴中的黑色海浪，一浪压过一浪，滚滚而来，势不可挡。眨眼再去看时，又好像整片的树林在朝她们移动，似乎全世界的树都朝阿斯兰拥来。可是当它们来到跟前，树形居然渐渐消失，那些摆臂欢腾的，竟都是些人！秀美白皙的白桦姑娘高高扬起了头；杨柳姑娘们把长发束在脑后，以便更清楚地看到阿斯兰；有着皇后般尊严的山毛榉姑娘亭亭玉立，向阿斯兰行注目礼；须发丛生的栎树老人也用它们的最高礼节，俯首以示敬意。所有树神都高声呼唤着“阿斯兰！阿斯兰！”喊声此起彼伏，像大海的波涛，久久不息。

聚集在阿斯兰身边的人越来越多，欢乐的舞蹈也更加热烈，这使露茜感到有点儿不可理解。她从未经历过如此激动人心的场面。一个年轻人，身穿树皮，鬈发之上戴着一只树叶编织的草环，要不是脸上充满了野性，就会漂亮得简直不像个男孩了。你从这张脸上可以看出，正如爱德蒙几天后见到他时说的那样：“这个人什么事都干得出来。”他身边有许多女孩子，和他一样充满了野性的活力。每个人都在欢呼，在雀跃。最出人意料也最引人注目的是位极其肥胖的矮个子老人。他骑着一头毛驴。那毛驴确信这是大显身手的最好时机，决定给大家表演后腿行走。结果胖老人一次又一次给摔下来，马上又被身边快乐的人们扶上去。老人高兴地在驴背上扭摆着，嘴里不停地喊：“来点儿喝的！来点儿点心！”不知谁送来许多好吃的东西，大家也顾不得礼仪，下手就抓。一边吃，一边跳，一边嬉笑，一边高声喊叫着：“呜依——呜，呜依……依……依呜！”

突然，大家同时意识到狂欢和宴会该结束了。于是纷纷坐到草地上，仰望着阿斯兰，听它将要说些什么。

这时太阳刚刚升起。露茜忽然眼睛一亮，悄悄地对苏珊说：

“听我说，苏，我知道他们是什么人了。”

“谁？”

“一脸野性的那个青年人是巴库斯，骑毛驴的老人就是塞利努斯。你记不记得，图姆纳斯先生很久以前给我们讲过他们的故事。”

“当然记得。可是，露——”

“什么？”

“要不是有阿斯兰在，我会觉得和巴库斯以及他的那些野性姑娘们在一起是不安全的。”

“我并不这么想。”露茜回答道。

12

反叛

这时候，杜鲁普金和两个男孩已经来到了通往堡垒内部的那个黑暗、狭窄的门廊。两只负责守卫的獾跳起来，一边露出雪白锋利的牙齿尖声问道：“谁在那里？”

“杜鲁普金，”小矮人回答，“我把纳尼亚的先王们从遥远的过去带到这里来了。”

獾卫士低下头来闻一闻孩子们的手。“终于来了，谢天谢地！”

“给点儿光亮，伙计们！”小矮人亲切地招呼着。

那身材比较高大的獾从门后取出一支火把。彼得将火把点燃后交给杜鲁普金。“请DLF在前面领路，”他说，“我们不熟悉这里的地形。”

杜鲁普金接过火把，领头向黑暗的通道走去。这是个阴冷、黑暗、潮湿的地方，到处都是蜘蛛网，偶尔还会飞过一只蝙蝠。孩子们自火车站的那个早晨起就一直在室外，这时不由感到好像正走入一个陷阱或者监狱。

“彼得，”爱德蒙小声说，“你看石墙上那些壁画，是不是好多年以前的？可咱们的年龄比它还大！咱们上次来的时候，这儿连石墙都还没有呢！”

“不错，”彼得说，“这使人想起了许多往事。”

小矮人继续往前走，然后向右拐，又向左拐，下几级台阶，走一段又向左拐。这时，他们看到了前面有一线光亮——门下透出的微光。同时，他们听到有说话的声音。小矮人告诉他们，堡垒的中心到了，屋里传出的讲话声好像十分愤怒，由于声音太高，屋里的人没有注意到外面有人走来。

“我不喜欢那样高声讲话，”杜鲁普金轻声对彼得说，“咱们停一下，听他们在说些什么。”于是，他们三个人一动不动地在门外停了下来。

“你知道得很清楚，”一个声音说，（“这是国王。”小矮人轻声说。）“你问为什么那天早晨太阳升起时没有吹响号角，难道你已经忘记，杜鲁普金刚刚动身，弥若兹的军队就向我们扑来了？为了生存，我们浴血奋战，连续三个多小时。刚有喘息的机会，我就吹响了那支神奇的号。”

“这个我当然没有忘记。”这是那愤怒的声音，“那时我的部下战斗在最危险的地方，每五个小矮人中就有一个倒下去了。”（“这是尼克布瑞克。”杜鲁普金小声说。）

“真不害臊，矮子！”一个粗哑的声音说，（“这是特鲁佛汉特。”）“我们大家和小矮人们同样卖力，而谁都比不上凯斯宾国王陛下。”

“你爱怎么说就怎么说好了，”尼克布瑞克忿忿地说，“问题是，那号吹得太迟了。要不然就是它根本没有什么魔力。反正至今我们没有得到丝毫的帮助。你，你这伟大的教士，万能的术士，你这无所不知的家伙！你现在还指望我们对阿斯兰、对彼得国王和其他的一切抱什么希望？”

“我必须承认——我无法否认——我对那神号的效力深感失望。”有人回答道。（“那是克奈尔斯博士。”小矮人说。）

“说穿了，你的宝贝没用，你的预言失灵，你现在已是山穷水尽、无计可施了。”尼克布瑞克尖刻地挖苦忠厚的博士，“那么，你最好站到一边去，看别人怎么干。这就是为什么我要——”

“凭阿斯兰的名义起誓！我们一定能够得到神灵的帮助。”特鲁佛汉特说，“耐心些，学学我们的样子。那帮助会来的，没准已经在门口了。”

“呸！”尼克布瑞克根本听不进去，“你们这些獾就知道让我们等待，等待，耐心等待，一直等到天塌下来，大家同归于尽。我告诉你们，我们不再等了。食物眼看就要吃光了。每次战斗我们都付出沉重的代价，我们的军队开始有人开小差了。”

“为什么？”特鲁佛汉特说，“我来告诉你原因吧：这是因为战士们纷纷传言，说我们已经召唤古代君王请他帮助却毫无结果。杜鲁普金临行前说（那可能就是他的遗言了），假如你们不得已吹响那只号角，不要让部队知道其中的原委，也不要让大家知道我们的期望。结果怎样呢？就在当天晚上，一切秘密已尽人皆知。”

“闭上你的臭嘴！”尼克布瑞克恼羞成怒了，“你胆敢暗示我泄露了机密！把话收回去，否则——”

“你们两个听着，别吵了！”凯斯宾国王打断小矮人的话，“我倒想要知道，尼克布瑞克一直在暗示的是什么。你认为我们现在该怎么办，尼克布瑞克？不过在你发表高见之前，请你先告诉大家，你带到我们指挥部来的，一直竖起耳朵却紧闭嘴巴的这两个陌生人是干什么的。”

“他们是我的朋友，”尼克布瑞克说，“你本人若不是杜鲁普金和獾的朋友，又有什么资格站在这里？还有那个穿着黑袍子的混血老家伙，要不是你的朋友，他又有什么资格站在这儿？为什么惟独我不可以带自己的朋友来呢？”

“陛下是一国之君，别忘了你发过誓要效忠于他。”特鲁佛汉特严肃地提醒他。

“对，对对，君臣之礼不可逾越嘛。”尼克布瑞克嘲笑道，“可是在这个暗无天日的山洞里，我们的谈话还是坦率些好。你知道——当然，他也很清楚——如果我们一周内再不设法帮助他逃出这个险境，那么这台尔马小子还想当谁的国王？哼！那时候，他将什么也不是！”

“或许，你的新朋友们愿意自己说些什么。”克奈尔斯说着，转向那两个陌生人，“喂，你们是谁？干什么的？”

“尊敬的博士，”这是一个尖细的、哭腔哭调的声音，“我是个可怜的老妇人，我对可敬的小矮人阁下以及他的真诚友谊感激万分。国王陛下，赞美上苍赐予你这张英俊的面孔。你完全可以不必提防我这样一个因患严重风湿病身子已缩成一团、必须借助拐杖才能行走的老妇人。我会几样微不足道的小法术——当然无法与您相比，尊敬的博士——如果在座各位允许的话，我很乐意念几段咒语，以抗击我们的敌人。因为我恨他们，相信我，没有谁比我恨得更加厉害了。”

“非常有趣，而且——呃——很令人满意。”克奈尔斯博士说，“我想现在我知道你是谁了，夫人。尼克布瑞克，也许你的另一位朋友也乐意做一番自我介绍吧？”

一个呆板的声音响了起来，彼得身上立刻起了一层鸡皮疙瘩。“我饥饿，我口渴，一旦咬住了敌人，我死也不松口。即便我那样英勇战死，也只有把我嘴里那块肉从敌人的身上割下来，与我一同埋入坟墓。一百年不吃不喝，我也死不了；在冰面上躺一百个通宵，我也冻不坏。我还能一口气饮下血水汇成的河流，肚子也撑不破。告诉我，你们的仇人在哪里。”

“你特地带这两个人来宣布你的计划，是这样吗？”凯斯宾问。

“不错，”尼克布瑞克说，“我想在他们的帮助下实施这个计划。”

下面的一两分钟里，杜鲁普金和两个男孩只听到凯斯宾和他的朋友们低声商量什么，具体内容却听不清楚。又过了一会，凯斯宾大声说道：

“好吧，尼克布瑞克，我们就来听听你的计划。”

接着是很长一段时间的沉默，直到孩子们开始怀疑那小矮人是否还打算讲话。这时，尼克布瑞克开口了，他把声音压得很低，似乎连他自己都不太喜欢将要说出来的一席话。

“该说的都说了，该做的也都做了。我们大家谁都不知道古老纳尼亚究竟是真是假。杜鲁普金根本不相信那些传说，我当初倒想试一试。于是我们吹响了那只神奇的号角，结果怎样呢？假设这世上真有国王彼得与他的弟妹，那他们要么听不到我们的求援，要么无法前来，要么已经变成了我们的敌人——”

“没准他们正在路上呢？”特鲁佛汉特打断他的话。

“这话你可以一直说下去，直到弥若兹把我们大家都捉去喂他的狗。正如我方才所说，我们已经用古老传说中的一件宝物做了试验，结果全无用处。情况就是这样。俗话说，宝剑折了，还有匕首；古老传说中除了国王和女王，还有别的势力存在。我们为什么不试着求助于别的势力呢？”

“假如你是指阿斯兰，”特鲁佛汉特说，“它和古代君王们是连在一起的。他们是它的奴仆。如果它不肯派他们来——我相信它会的——它会不会亲自来呢？”

“阿斯兰和诸王是连在一起的，这一点你说对了，”尼克布瑞克说，“他们一同行动。那么，阿斯兰要么已经死了，要么不站在我们一边，或者，某种更强大的力量使它无法前来。就算它真的来了，我们又怎么知道，它肯定会是我们的朋友呢？在许多古老的传说中，它与我们小矮人的交往并不是十分友好，对有些动物来说也同样如此，不信问问野狼。话又说回来，据我所知，阿斯兰到纳尼亚只来过一次，而且呆的时间很短。我们可以不必考虑阿斯兰。我想到了另一个人。”

没人回答，足有好几分钟屋里没有一点声音，爱德蒙几乎可以听到獾的呼吸。

“你说的是谁？”凯斯宾终于问道。

“我是说那个比阿斯兰威力大得多的人物。假如古老传说都是真的，那么她这个人物曾经统治了纳尼亚许多许多年。”

“白女巫！”几个声音同时惊呼道。根据屋里的响声，彼得判断有三个人忽地跳了起来。

“不错，”尼克布瑞克缓慢地、一字一顿地说，“我说的这个人就是女巫。坐下来，别像小孩一样，听到这个名字就给吓坏了。我们需要有能耐、有本事的人帮助，而这个人又必须站在我们这一边。说到能耐，古老传说不是早已告诉过我们，女巫曾经打败阿斯兰，把它捆作一团，就在这块大石头上把它杀掉了吗？”

“可传说又告诉我们，阿斯兰为了解救爱德蒙甘愿受缚，而且后来又复活了。”獾尖锐地说。

“不错，是这么说的，”尼克布瑞克答道，“可是你有没有注意到，从那以后就很少有关它的消息了。它销声匿迹、不知去向了。这点你作何解释？是不是很可能它根本不曾复活？以后的传说不再提起它，那是因为已经无话可说了，是不是这样？”

“是它给国王和女王戴上了王冠。”凯斯宾说。

“一个取得了辉煌胜利的英雄完全可以自立为王，用不着别人帮忙。”尼克布瑞克说。这时特鲁佛汉特发出一阵被激怒了的低沉的咆哮。

“再说，国王及其统治的结果又怎么样呢？”尼克布瑞克接着说，“他们也消失了。女巫的情况则大不一样了。传说她统治了上百年——上百个严冬。可以说，那就是能耐！那就是她与众不同之处。”

“可是，天地可以作证，传说中她从来是我们最凶恶、最危险的敌人。”凯斯宾说，“难道她不是比弥若兹可怕、可憎十倍的暴君吗？”

“也许是的，”尼克布瑞克冷冷地说，“对你们人类来讲，或许她是的，假如那个时代有你们人类的话；对一些动物来说，多半也是如此——我相信，她把海狸家族打翻在地，又踏上一只脚，至少今天的纳尼亚你是见不到一只海狸了。可是，她与我们小矮人关系一直不错。我是个小矮人，我当然站在自己人的立场上说话。我们不害怕女巫。”

“但是你已经加入了我们的阵营。”特鲁佛汉特说。

“不错，可这对我的人有什么好处？谁被派遣去执行最危险的任务？我们小矮人。粮食不够吃，谁的身材变得越来越矮小？还是我们小矮人！谁……”

“胡说！全是胡说！”獾大叫起来。

“因此，”尼克布瑞克毫不理会，他把声音提到最高，“假如你们无法帮助我的人民，我就将投奔一个有这种本事的人。”

“你这是公然反叛！”凯斯宾说着抽出了宝剑。

“收起你的宝剑，凯斯宾，”尼克布瑞克毫不示弱，“想在开会的时候搞谋杀，嗯？我警告你别干蠢事！你以为我怕你？你们有三个，我们也是三个。”

“那就来吧！”特鲁佛汉特狂怒地咆哮起来，可他的话立即被打断了。

“慢着，慢着，”克奈尔斯博士说，“你讲得太快了。女巫已经死了，所有的传说都证实了这一点。尼克布瑞克还在打算向女巫求救，这是什么意思？”

那个呆板而令人毛骨悚然的声音又响了起来：“哦！真是这样？”

那尖细、哭腔哭调的声音接着说：“哇！上天保佑那颗小小的心吧，小陛下别为白夫人的生死而担忧——我们都尊称她为白夫人。可敬的博士说那话时，一定是在和我这可怜的老太婆开玩笑吧？我亲爱的博士，学识渊博的博士，女巫难道会死吗？她随时都可能出现在我们的面前。”

“呼唤她吧，我们已准备好了，”呆板的声音说，“划一个圆圈，再准备一堆蓝色的火。”

随着獾那越来越响的怒吼，随着博士大声喊出的“什么！”屋内响起了凯斯宾雷鸣般的声音：

“这就是你的计划，尼克布瑞克！用黑色的魔法去召唤那受世人诅咒的魔鬼！现在我认清你的同伴了——一个巫婆，一只人狼！”

门外的三个人接着听到里面一阵混乱，有尖声的嗥叫，还有金属的撞击。孩子们和杜鲁普金破门而入。彼得一眼看见一只面目狰狞的灰色庞然大物，一半儿是人，一半儿是狼，正疯狂地扑向一个年纪与自己差不多的少年；爱德蒙看见一只獾和一个小矮人厮打着，在地板上滚作一团；杜鲁普金则一下来到巫婆的面前。巫婆尖尖的鼻子和下巴难看地伸出面部许多，活像一把钳子，她肮脏的头发散乱地披在脸前，双手刚刚扼住了博士的脖子。杜鲁普金扬手就是一剑，巫婆的丑脑袋应声滚落在地。接着灯也被打翻了，屋里一片漆黑，只听见一阵剑击声、咬牙声、拳打声、脚踢声，大约持续了六秒钟，然后是死一样的沉寂。

“你没事吧，爱德？”

“我——我想没事，”爱德蒙松了一口气，“我逮住了那个混蛋尼克布瑞克，他还活着。”

“上帝保佑，上帝保佑！”这是杜鲁普金生气的声音，“你怎么坐在我的身上，你！还不快点起来，你简直重得像一头大象！”

“唷，是DLF？对不起，这样好些了？”

“哎，哎哎……你把靴子伸到我嘴里了！一边去吧，你！”身下的杜鲁普金使劲地蠕动着。

“凯斯宾国王在哪里？”彼得问道。

“我在这儿，”一个微弱的声音答道，“我被咬了一口。”

这时，大家听到有划火柴的声音，是爱德蒙。小小的火焰照亮了他的脸，苍白而且很脏。他四下摸索着，找到一支蜡烛（这儿早就不用油灯了，因为点灯的油都被吃了个精光）。爱德蒙把蜡烛点燃，放在桌子上，屋里顿时明亮起来。地上的人们歪歪斜斜地站起身来。六个人在烛光下互相打量着。

“看来敌人一个也没跑掉，”彼得看看地上说，“那是巫婆，死了（他赶快把目光掉向一边）。这是尼克布瑞克，也给干掉了。哈，我猜这家伙就是人狼吧。很久没看到这东西了。狼头人身，这意味着它曾是个犯下杀头之罪的囚犯，在行刑的一刹那，超生变成了狼，结果就成了这样的一个怪物。而你，如果我猜得不错，便是凯斯宾国王？”

“是的，”对面的少年回答道，“但我却不知道你是谁。”

“他就是至尊王彼得陛下。”杜鲁普金赶忙介绍说。

“欢迎你，陛下。”凯斯宾诚恳地说。

“也同样欢迎你，陛下，”彼得微笑道，“你知道，我不是来取代你的王位，而是来帮助你取得王位的。”

“陛下。”彼得身边响起一个毕恭毕敬的声音。他转过身去，看到面前正是那只勇敢忠诚的獾。彼得伸出手，拥抱了它一下，又亲了亲它那毛茸茸的面颊。彼得这个举动丝毫没有女孩子的娇柔，因为他是至尊王。

“你是好样的！在最困难的时刻也不曾失去信心。”

“陛下过奖了，”特鲁佛汉特谦虚地说，“我们动物是不会变心的，何况我还是只獾。我们一如既往。”

“对尼克布瑞克，我感到十分惋惜，”凯斯宾说，“尽管第一次见面他就仇视我。长时间的苦难和仇恨扭曲了他的心灵。假如我们在短时间内就取得决定性的胜利，那么在和平时期他会变成一个很好的小矮人。”

“你在流血。”彼得望着他说。

“是的，我被那狼咬伤了。”

清洗包扎伤口花了不少时间。这一切都做完了之后，杜鲁普金说，“好啦。先不要干别的事，咱们先吃早点吧。”

“别在这儿吃。”彼得赶紧说。

“对，不能在这儿吃。”凯斯宾望着地上的尸体，不由一阵恶心，“我们必须叫人来把这些尸体搬出去。”

“把那两个家伙随便扔在一个坑里埋掉，”彼得说，“把小矮人的尸体交给他的部下，让他们按自己的习惯来埋葬他。”

半小时之后，他们总算在隔壁房间里坐下来开始用早餐。面前的食物并不诱人：每人一小块冰凉的熊肉、一小条坚硬的乳酪、一只洋葱，还有一缸子白开水。可是，从他们那狼吞虎咽的样子来看，谁都会以为他们吃的是千载难逢的美味佳肴呢。

13

决斗

吃过早餐，彼得开口说话了：

“朋友们，阿斯兰和两个女孩子，也就是苏珊女王和露茜女王，就在附近。我们不知道它什么时候开始行动。自然，它深知如何把握战机，但与此同时，它希望我们也能看准时机，有所作为。凯斯宾，你看我们有没有足够的力量与弥若兹的部队进行决战？”

“恐怕我们的力量不够，陛下。”凯斯宾答道。他非常喜欢彼得，可与他在一起时，又总觉得自己笨嘴拙舌。两个年代相差很远的国王坐在一起，凯斯宾尤其感到陌生和新奇。

“那么好吧，我向他挑战，一对一与他较量。”彼得从容地说。这主意，在场各位还没有人想到过。

“让我来吧，”凯斯宾说，“我要为父亲报仇。”

“不行，你负伤了。再说，他不会介意你的挑战，或者他会嘲笑你的。我的意思是说，我们大家都亲眼目睹了你作为国王和勇士的丰采。可是在他的眼里，你不过是个孩子而已。”

“可是陛下，他会接受你的挑战吗？他很清楚自己拥有一支强大的军队。”说话的是獾，它紧挨彼得坐着，一直默默地注视着他。

“是的，他很可能拒绝我。但可能性还是有的，即便他真的拒绝应战，我们也将照样派出使臣与他周旋，这时阿斯兰就会不失时机，给敌人以致命的打击。我们也可乘这个时机检查部队，加固工事。我一定要发出挑战，我这就写。博士先生，你这里有没有纸笔？”

“一个学者从来不缺这类东西，陛下。”克奈尔斯博士答道。

“好极了，我来口述。”

博士忙着铺开纸，削尖了笔。与此同时，彼得靠在椅子上，微闭双眼，回想着在遥远过去纳尼亚的黄金时代，他下令写这类战书的措词。

“就这样写。”他终于睁开眼睛，转向克奈尔斯，“你准备好了没有，博士？”

博士提起笔，俯身在纸上，默默地一字一句记下了彼得口述的战书：

“彼得，凭着阿斯兰的赋予，凭着人民的选举，凭着古老的传统，凭着赫赫的战功，谨以如下名义——纳尼亚的至尊王，孤独岛与凯尔帕拉维尔的统治者，阿斯兰帐下的无畏骑士，向凯斯宾八世之子，一度为纳尼亚的护国公，现自封为纳尼亚国王的弥若兹阁下，致意。博士，你记下来没有？”

“弥若兹阁下，逗号，致意，”博士口中喃喃地重复着，一边挥笔疾书，“好了，陛下。”

“下面另起一段。”彼得吩咐道，“我受众人爱戴的阿斯兰的派遣，游历到此，现已证实：第一，凯斯宾王子是纳尼亚王位的法定继承人。第二，阁下犯有双重大罪——谋杀亲兄凯斯宾九世，篡夺王位并实行恐怖统治。为此，我代表纳尼亚的正义势力向阁下宣战。为了避免不必要的流血，为了避免这场战争可能引起的太多伤亡及种种不幸，我本人向阁下发出挑战。如阁下愿意同我刀枪相见、一决雌雄，本人将不胜荣幸。

“递交战书者是我尊敬的兄弟爱德蒙，纳尼亚历史上的国王，石桌大骑士。对阁下就决斗所提出的各种条件，他有权代表我作出全部决定。此战书写于阿斯兰堡垒，凯斯宾十世元年元月十二日。”

“这样就行了，”彼得长长地吐了一口气，“现在，我们要挑选两名卫士与爱德蒙同行。我想巨人可以算一个。”

“他？你知道，他并不十分聪明。”凯斯宾说。

“那倒是，”彼得说，“可是任何一个巨人，只要闭上嘴巴保持沉默别人就得注意他。再说，委之以重任，会增加他的荣誉感和责任感。另一个派谁去？”

“依我的看法，”杜鲁普金说，“假如要找一个用目光就能杀人的勇士，那么老鼠将军雷佩契普最合适不过了。”

“从有关它的那些故事来判断，它的确能做到这一点。”彼得说着笑了一笑，“要是它身材再高大一点儿就好了，敌人还没有走到它眼前就得完蛋了。”

“派人头马格兰斯托姆去，”特鲁佛汉特建议说，“从来没有谁取笑过它。”

一个小时之后，在敌人的防线上，弥若兹的两个贵族军官哥洛和索皮正在阵前，一边溜达，一边用火柴棍儿剔着牙齿，看来早餐吃得十分惬意。他们无意中抬起头来，一眼发现人头马和巨人从树林里向他们走来，不由吃了一惊。战斗中他们早已领教过这两个庞然大物的厉害，可走在中间的那个人是谁，却一时难以分辨。的确，爱德蒙在与阿斯兰相会并受它仙气点化之后，从外表到气质都变了许多，变得更加成熟，更加英俊，浑身洋溢出一股活力，一股凛然正气。就是他的同学们此时见到他，恐怕也不能一下子认出他来。

“他们干什么来了？”哥洛说，“想搞突然袭击？”

“我看像是使节，”索皮揣度着，“你看，他们手持绿色的树枝，很可能是来投降的。”

“走在巨人和人头马中间的那人脸上，看不出要投降的意思。他是谁？不像是凯斯宾那孩子。”

“当然不是他，”索皮说，“我敢说，那是个凶猛的斗士。不知叛贼们从哪儿把他找来的。咱哥儿俩在这儿说说，这人比弥若兹可气派多了。瞧他那身盔甲！咱们的铁匠哪有这个手艺！”

“我敢打赌，他是来下战书的，绝不可能是来投降的。”哥洛说。

“怎么？”索皮大惑不解，“我们已经把敌军攥在手心里了，弥若兹不会愚蠢地放弃我们的优势，去和一个不知底细的人决斗。”

“或许是他们引诱他，或者迫使他这么做。”哥洛压低了声音说。

“小声点，”索皮警觉地四下望了一望，“咱们往一边挪挪，别让那些放哨的听见……现在，你能不能把话说得更明白些？”

“假如国王接受挑战，和敌人首领单独决斗，结果会怎样？”哥洛向同伴耳语道，“要么他把对方杀掉，要么被对方所杀，对不对？”

“不错。”索皮点点头。

“如果他干掉了对手，我们就打赢了这场战争。”

“那当然。可是如果……”

“如果国王被干掉了，没有他咱们照样可以战胜敌人。这就不必多说了，大家心里都清楚，弥若兹并非一个顶天立地的英明君主。到那个时候，我们打了胜仗，却没有了国王……”

“阁下的意思是说，没有国王，我们可以更方便地统治这片国土？”

哥洛的面孔变得十分丑恶起来。“别忘了，把他推上国王宝座的正是我们。这么多年来，他享尽荣华富贵，而我们得到了什么好处？他向我们表示过多少感激之情？”

“别往下说了，”索皮打断他的话，“你瞧，有人来传我们到国王的帐篷里去。”

他们两人来到国王帐前，看见爱德蒙和两个卫士正坐在帐篷的外面享用由奴仆们端上来的美酒糕点。显然，他们已经把战书递了上去，国王正在考虑如何答复。这两个贵族军官在这么近的距离细细打量对手，不由感到一阵心悸。

在帐篷里他们当然也看见了弥若兹。只见他眉头紧锁，脸色通红，显然动怒了。

“喏！看看这是什么！”他咬牙切齿地说，一边从桌子的另一端向他们扔过那份战书来。“看看我的宝贝侄儿给我送来了什么！”

“启禀王上，”哥洛说，“假如我们在帐外见到的那个青年就是信中提到的爱德蒙国王的话，我认为这是个危险的骑士，万万不可轻视。”

“爱德蒙国王？呸！阁下是否也相信老太婆嘴里那些有关彼得、爱德蒙之类的无稽之谈？”

“我只相信自己的眼睛，陛下。”哥洛回答道。

“哼，你这话毫无意义，”弥若兹不满地说，“至于如何答复这个挑战，或许我们持有相同的意见？”

“我的确认为是这样，陛下。”

“你说说看。”

“断然拒绝。我想这是最为明智之举，”哥洛说，“因为尽管从来没有人称我作懦夫，但坦白地讲，在一场生死搏斗中与那样一个青年人交手，我的内心是不会平静的。假如，而且十分可能，他的哥哥，那个至尊王，比他更加勇猛危险，那么，为了您宝贵的性命，还是别惹他为妙。”

“放肆！”弥若兹叫了起来，“这不是我想听到的忠告，不是的！你以为我在问你，我是不是应该惧怕这个叫彼得的人（而且有没有这么个人还很难说）？你以为我怕他？我不过想听听你们的意见，在目前我们处于优势的情况下有没有决斗的必要。”

“陛下，我惟一的忠告，便是拒绝挑战，”哥洛说，“那陌生骑士的脸上有一股杀气。”

“你又来了！”这时，弥若兹已完全被激怒了，“你是不是想让我表现出与你同样的怯懦？”

“任凭陛下怎么说。”哥洛谦卑地退在一边。

“哥洛，你讲话简直像个没见识的乡下老太太！”弥若兹说着把身子转向索皮，“爱臣索皮，对这件事你有何高见？我们该如何答复这封战书？”

“不予答复，陛下。”一直默默地站在一边的索皮开口了，“这就是最好的策略，不予答复！既然陛下没有明确拒绝敌人的挑战，别人也不会对陛下的荣誉和勇气表示任何怀疑。”

“活见鬼！”弥若兹一边大声叫嚷，一边从椅子上跳了起来，“你今天也中了邪吗？你以为我在为拒绝挑战而寻找借口吗？你还不如当面叫我懦夫。”

眼看达到了目的，两个大臣装做恭恭敬敬的样子，不再吭声了。

“我明白了，”瞪着眼盯了他们半晌，弥若兹终于说道，“你们是两个胆小如鼠的家伙，却把我也当成与你们一样无用的东西！找拒绝的理由，找不战的借口。好哇，你们还是不是军人？你们还是不是台尔马人的子孙？你们还算是男子汉吗？假如我拒绝挑战（尽管我有充分的理由这么做，而且我的经验、我的感觉都告诉我应该这么做），你们就会认为，并且使别人相信，我是由于胆怯才拒绝挑战，对不对？”

“以陛下这般年纪，拒绝一个血气方刚的青年斗士的挑战，没有人会称之为怯懦的。”

“这么说，我已经半截入土、行将就木了，是吗？”弥若兹咆哮起来，“我要让你们亲眼看一看，我的阁下！你们这种婆娘式的劝告，结果适得其反！我原打算拒绝这挑战，可现在我宣布，我正式接受它。你们听清楚没有，我接受了！应该感到羞耻的是你们！”

“我们为陛下的安全深表……”哥洛的话还没有说完，弥若兹早已疾步走出帐篷。他们听到他大声对爱德蒙宣布应战的决定，互相挤挤眼睛，无声地笑了起来。

“我知道，只要把他激怒起来，他就准会接受挑战。”哥洛说，“可是我不会忘记，他把我叫做懦夫！他将为此付出代价的！”

使者带回的消息不胫而走，在阿斯兰堡垒引起一阵激动。爱德蒙和弥若兹手下的一个队长共同划出了决斗的场地，并打下界桩，用绳子圈了起来。双方将各派三个人站立在决斗场的两端，作为决斗的助手和公证人。这时候，彼得正忙着给凯斯宾鼓气，使他相信自己绝非孤军作战，因为他们进行的是一场正义的战争。突然，他们身边响起了一个带点儿睡意的粗嗓子：“陛下，能听我说一句话吗？”彼得转过身来，看清那是一只年长的大棕熊。“陛下，是我大棕熊，陛下。”

“我认得你，而且知道你是好样儿的，对此我深信不疑。”彼得友好地对它说。

“不错，我是一只善良的熊，”大棕熊顿了一下，继续说，“我想提醒陛下，决斗的助手向来是由我们家族来担任的，想必你早有安排了吧？”

“别派它去当助手，”杜鲁普金小声对彼得说，“不错，它秉性善良，但是派去当公证人，它会给我们丢脸的。它会在决斗还没有结束的时候呼呼睡大觉。它还会吮它的爪子——当着敌人的面这么做！”

“哈！真没办法，”彼得说，“可是它的话一点儿不错——熊家族是有这个特权。也不知道为什么，我对此印象很深，而对过去其他许多事情早都记不得了。”

“请陛下恩准。”棕熊又说。

“这是你们的权利，”彼得说，“就委任你做助手吧。不过你要记住，不可以在那种场合吮爪子。”

“当然不。”棕熊美滋滋地答应着走开了。

“瞧，它又吮上了！”杜鲁普金指着棕熊的背影对彼得说。棕熊赶忙把爪子从嘴里抽出来，装出一副若无其事的样子，去看它在决斗场上的位置。

“陛下！”一个尖尖的声音从附近什么地方传来。彼得四下看了半天，才发现地上仰头站着鼠将军。

“啊——是雷佩契普，有事吗？”

“陛下，我的生命可以随你支配，但我的荣誉只属于我自己。”雷佩契普讲到这里，眼里流露出一丝忧伤。“陛下，我的部下中有我们大军惟一的吹鼓手。本来我以为会被挑选去下战书的，结果我失望了，我的部队也因此而士气大落。如果这次你能选我做决斗的助手，我的部下想必会安下心来。”

这时，在他们上方突然响起一阵雷鸣般的声音，这是巨人韦姆布威热那傻乎乎的笑声。直到雷佩契普狠狠地瞪了他一眼，他才意识到自己的失态，立即闭上嘴，憋出一脸苦相。彼得皱着眉头回答鼠将军说：

“这恐怕不行，有些人害怕老鼠……”

“这我注意到了，陛下。”

“这样对弥若兹不大公平，”彼得继续说，“我们不能在决斗场上故意安排一名可能影响他情绪和勇气的助手。”

“陛下真是诚实的化身。”鼠将军姿势优美地鞠了一躬，“在这件事情上，我的考虑有欠周全……刚才我听到有人在笑。假如在场诸位中有谁想拿我开心，那么我随时恭候——我这把剑可不是吃素的。”

雷佩契普这充满火药味的宣言，带来了一阵沉默。最后，还是彼得先开口：“巨人韦姆布威热、棕熊和人头马格兰斯托姆将作为助手随我参加决斗。决斗下午两点开始，十二点准时开饭。”

14

解放

两点钟不到，杜鲁普金、獾和整个部队坐到树林的边缘，远远地望着几十米以外弥若兹的军队。两军中间有一块平坦的草地，已经圈了起来，准备用作决斗的战场。一边的两个角上站着手持宝剑的哥洛和索皮，站在另外两个角上的是巨人韦姆布威热和大棕熊。尽管同伴们再三警告，那大熊还是不停地吮爪子，那傻乎乎的样子十分可笑。彼得已经向爱德蒙和博士握手告别，此时正朝决斗场走去。场上气氛顿时紧张起来。

“阿斯兰怎么还不来呢？”杜鲁普金担心地自言自语道。

“我也这么想，”特鲁佛汉特说，“可你往身后看。”

小矮人转身一看，不由大吃一惊：“我的老天！那是些什么人？巨人、仙女——哇！成千上万地从后面拥了过来……她们是谁？”

“她们是林中仙子、水族女神……阿斯兰把她们全召来了！”

“嘘！”小矮人做了个手势，“这下可不怕敌人玩什么鬼花招了。可是，万一在决斗中弥若兹技高一筹，那么援兵也无法把国王从困境中解救出来。”

獾没有再讲话，因为这时彼得和弥若兹已从两端步入场中，都是披盔戴甲，全副武装。只见他们彼此行礼，还说了几句话，只是距离太远，听不清说的是什么。转眼间，两把宝剑同时拔出了鞘，在阳光下闪闪发光。决斗开始了。击剑声开始还清晰可辨，但很快便被淹没在鼎沸的人声之中。两军的呐喊助威声此起彼伏，震耳欲聋，简直像世界足球大赛中的拉拉队那么热闹。

“打得好，哈，彼得，打得好！”看到弥若兹连连后退，爱德蒙不禁大声喝起彩来，“继续攻击，攻击呀！”

彼得果然乘胜进攻，有一刻简直就要打赢了。不想弥若兹抢得一个喘息的机会，马上抖擞精神，卷土重来。他充分发挥自己身高体重的优势，步步紧逼。“弥若兹，加油！国王，加油！”敌军疯狂地呼喊着，战场上的形势转而开始对彼得不利了。一直紧张观望的凯斯宾和爱德蒙头上冒出了冷汗，脸色也变了。

“彼得下杀招了！”爱德蒙说。

“快说，现在怎么样了？”雷佩契普个儿小看不清楚，不停地打听着战况。

“双方退到边线，想喘口气。”爱德蒙说，“看，他们又开始了。现在双方都比较谨慎，绕场，僵持，守住门户以免被攻破。”

“我看那弥若兹剑术精湛。”博士小声嘀咕着。他话音刚落，突然听到身边响起一阵震耳欲聋的掌声、叫声、跺脚声。“发生了什么事情？我老眼昏花，看不清楚了。”

“彼得刺中了他的臂弯！”凯斯宾一边拍手，一边说道，“剑从锁子甲关节处的空隙里扎了进去，弥若兹流血了。”

“不好！”爱德蒙突然紧张地说，“彼得使盾牌的手看起来很不灵便，他的左臂一定受伤了。”

果然，大家都注意到彼得手里的盾牌歪歪斜斜，有些拿不稳。台尔马阵营中的加油声一下增强了一倍。

“你经历的战斗比我多，”凯斯宾小声问爱德蒙，“我们还有希望吗？”

“还有一线希望。我看彼得正在寻找时机，这要看运气了。”

“唉，这场决斗完全可以避免的！”

双方阵营里的喊叫声突然一齐停了下来。爱德蒙愣了一下，马上明白过来：

“看样子，交战双方已同意暂停，休息片刻。跟我来，博士，咱们去看看能为彼得做些什么。”

说着，他俩朝决斗场走去。彼得跨过绳索，朝他们迎了过来。他脸色通红，汗流满面，胸脯急骤地上下起伏着。

“你的左臂是不是负伤了？”爱德蒙焦急地问。

“不能真正算负伤。他把整个肩膀的重量都压在我的盾牌上——简直像一堆砖头那么沉重——而盾把手的边缘紧卡着我的手腕……我相信手腕没有折，但肯定是扭伤了。只要用手绢紧紧地扎起来就可以了。”

爱德蒙一边给他包扎，一边担心地问：

“你有把握吗，彼得？”

“这家伙不大好对付，”彼得说着，擦擦脸上的汗水，“如果我能使他不停地移动，把他压在我身上的重量转移为他自己的负担，我就能够取胜。不然的话，老实说，十分危险。爱德，假若他把我打倒，请告诉家里每一个人，我爱他们。瞧，他上场了。再见，老朋友。再见，博士！记着，爱德，好好安慰杜鲁普金，他一直是可信赖的朋友。”

爱德蒙一句话也讲不出来。他心情沉重地和博士一起回到自己的阵营里。

令人振奋的是，第二个回合形势有所好转。彼得已经能够比较灵活地使用盾牌，脚步显然也灵活多了。只见他不停地在场上移动着，一边进攻，一边使自己与对手保持一定的距离。这样弥若兹便不得不跟着他满场转。

“懦夫！”台尔马的士兵开始起哄了，“你怎么不停下来和他打？害怕了吗，呃？原以为你是来决斗的，原来你是来跳舞的呀，哈哈哈……”

“千万别听他们的！”凯斯宾连忙喊。

“放心吧，他不会的，”爱德蒙安慰他说，“你不了解他——哎呀！”

弥若兹终于得手，在彼得的头盔上猛击了一下。彼得一个踉跄，单腿跪在地上。台尔马人顿时如潮水汹涌般叫起来：“好哇，弥若兹！再来一下，快，干掉他！”那阴谋篡位者不需别人提醒，已经扑向地上的彼得。眼看着剑闪寒光向彼得刺去，爱德蒙把嘴唇都咬破了——弥若兹这一剑凶狠毒辣，看样子他决心要彼得的命。感谢上帝！那一剑劈在彼得的右臂上，万幸那锁子甲非常坚固，没有被劈开。

“好样的！”爱德蒙大叫起来，“看——他又站起来了！彼得，杀死他！”

“我看不清楚，”博士连声催问，“他怎么样了？”

“弥若兹的胳膊落下来时，被彼得抓住了。”杜鲁普金一边讲，一边兴奋得跳起来，“彼得！彼得！为古老的纳尼亚，站起来吧！”

“你们看，”特鲁佛汉特说，“弥若兹失去耐性了。这是好兆头。”

战斗这时已经到了白热化的阶段。每一击都那么沉重，仿佛打到身上便能置人于死地。阵前观战的双方军队随着激动和紧张感的增加，呐喊声反而渐渐消失了——大家都屏住了呼吸，那场面既可怕又壮观。

古老纳尼亚的军中突然一阵沸腾，原来弥若兹绊在一簇丛生草上，脸朝下重重地摔了一跤。彼得向后退去，等他爬起来。

“嘿！真是多此一举！”爱德蒙气恼地跺一下脚，“这节骨眼上还讲什么绅士风度！那个凶残的家伙站起身来，就会——”

然而，那凶残的家伙再也没能站起来了。他的宠臣哥洛和索皮早有阴谋。他们看到弥若兹摔倒在地上，马上跳入场内，大声叫嚷着：“阴谋！阴谋！我们尊敬的国王无助地躺在地上时被纳尼亚的阴谋家杀死啦！台尔马的勇士们，准备战斗！”

彼得简直无法相信眼前发生的事情。他看到弥若兹那两个身材高大的助手持剑扑来，接着，第三个台尔马人也从左边跳入决斗场。“纳尼亚，准备战斗！这是阴谋！”彼得终于喊起来。假如那三个台尔马人一齐向他进攻，也许他就不会有发号施令的机会了。哥洛径直冲到弥若兹的身边，一剑置他于死地，嘴里还狠狠地说：“这一剑为了你早上对我的侮辱！”彼得转身对付索皮。他一剑劈在索皮腿上，紧接着又是一剑，麻利地结果了他。爱德蒙此时已飞奔到哥哥的身旁，嘴里大声喊着：“纳尼亚，纳尼亚！伟大的雄狮！”这时候，整个台尔马军队向他们扑来，而这边的巨人已及时赶了过来，低低地弯下身子，用他手中的大棒扫向敌人。人头马奋勇出击，杜鲁普金则率领一群小矮人跟在它左边杀了过来——霎时间一片刀光剑影，杀声震天，两军打作一团。

“雷佩契普，到后面去，你这小傻瓜！”彼得喊道，“这不是你们老鼠呆的地方，你们会被踩死的！”可那些发了疯似的小家伙根本不听命令。它们挥动着手中的短剑，在两军之中上蹿下跳，奋力拼杀。那天真有不少台尔马士兵突然感到脚上一阵钻心的疼痛，不得不一边大声诅咒着一边单脚跳着往后撤，不少人跌倒在地。在乱军中一旦摔倒在地上，那就没命了。不是老鼠便是其他的纳尼亚人会赶上来，一剑结果了他。

古老纳尼亚的战士们正杀在兴头上，却发现敌军士兵突然间失去了抵抗，脸色煞白，惊怒万状地盯着他们的身后，然后纷纷扔下武器，尖叫着：“树林！看那树林！世界末日来临啦！”

片刻之间，敌人的惊叫声和武器的撞击声便被一阵强烈的、海啸般的树声给淹没了。不计其数的被阿斯兰唤醒的树神绕过彼得的军队，以排山倒海之势向台尔马士兵扑了过去。你可曾在深秋的夜晚站在树林旁的山崖上感受那强劲的西南风？那劲风掠过树林，呼啸着，毫无遮拦地向你刮来。想像一下那声音！再想像一下那树林突然间变成了无数巨人扑向你。那些台尔马士兵当时的感觉就是这样。甚至在古老纳尼亚的军队看来，这情景也触目惊心。

几分钟之后，弥若兹手下幸存的士兵便所剩无几，他们顺着通往大河的那条路仓皇逃命去了。他们打算越过柏卢纳大桥，占领那里的小村镇，然后坚守不出。

逃兵们来到河边，却找不到柏卢纳大桥！原来那桥昨天就神秘地消失了。在极度的恐惧和绝望中，他们只好缴械投降。

大桥是怎么回事呢？

那天凌晨，露茜和苏珊经过几小时酣睡之后醒了过来。她们睁眼看到阿斯兰正站在她们身边，对她们说：“起来吧，孩子们。今天将是我们的节日。”她们揉揉眼睛，看看四周。树神们已经离去，不过依然看得见它们黑压压的一片，朝阿斯兰堡垒的方向移动。巴库斯带着他那群充满野性的姑娘留了下来，塞利努斯也和他们在一起。露茜感到精力充沛，一下子跳起身来，大家也顿时清醒过来，空中立即又响起了歌声、笑声、口笛声和打闹声。各种各样的动物——都是些不会说话的动物——被这欢快的场面吸引，纷纷从四面八方向他们围拢过来。

“过来，孩子们！”阿斯兰高声叫道，“上来，坐到我的身上来。”

“哇！太棒了！”两个女孩欢呼着，像很多很多年以前那次一样，爬到阿斯兰温暖的、金黄色的背上。在阿斯兰的带领下，他们这一行人出发了。巴库斯和他的野姑娘们一路上不停地奔跑、跳跃、翻跟头；塞利努斯骑着毛驴跟在后面。

他们向右转个弯，冲下一个陡坡，来到柏卢纳大桥跟前。他们正要过河，突然水中冒出一个水淋淋的、须发丛生的大脑袋，上面戴着一顶乱蓬蓬的草环。它望着阿斯兰，用非常低沉的声音说道：

“大王，请松开我身上的锁链。”

“这是谁？”苏珊小声问。

“我猜它是河神，别讲话。”露茜说。

“巴库斯，”阿斯兰吩咐道，“给它解开锁链。”

“可能是指那座大桥。”露茜暗忖。果然，巴库斯和他的部下溅着水花来到一片浅水区。一分钟之后，非常奇妙的事情发生了。硕大、坚实的常春藤缠绕着桥墩飞快地长了起来，卷着每一块桥石。转眼间桥身变成了山楂树篱笆，迅速地分裂、瓦解，然后整个儿垮了下来，在河面上溅起了冲天的水花。野姑娘们使劲儿拍打着水面，尖声叫着，高声笑着，有的嬉水，有的游泳，还有的索性在河崖上跳起舞来。“啊，这又是当年的柏卢纳渡口了！”女孩们激动地回想起往事。

过了河，大家朝小镇走去。

大街上的行人见到他们都吓得纷纷逃散。他们首先来到一所女子学校。这里的女孩子一个个扎着僵直、难看的小辫儿，竖起的衣领紧紧地卡在脖子上，既不美观，又不舒服。这里正在上历史课，内容是弥若兹统治下的纳尼亚，净是些胡说八道，枯燥无味极了。

“格温多伦！假如你再不注意听讲，继续往窗外看的话，我将记下你的名字，扣你的分数！”严厉的女教师威胁一个女学生。

“可是，老师……”格温多伦想开口申辩。

“你没有听见我的话吗，格温多伦小姐？”

“可是，普蕾莱夫人……外面有一头狮子！”

“胡言乱语，扰乱课堂，扣两分！”夫人威严地宣称，“下面，让我们——”她的话被一声狮吼打断了。常春藤从窗外爬了进来，转眼间布满了墙壁和屋顶，给教室带来了勃勃生机。普蕾莱夫人突然发现自己站在林中的草地上，不由大吃一惊，连忙去扶桌子，以免摔倒。不料那桌子一下子变成了一簇玫瑰。一群她怎么也想像不出来的野姑娘正向她团团围过来。接着她又看到阿斯兰，立刻尖叫着逃开了。她那一班又矮又胖、一本正经的小姑娘也随之一哄而散，惟独格温多伦犹豫着没走开。

“可爱的小姑娘，愿意和我们在一起吗？”阿斯兰问她。

“我可以吗？谢谢你，太谢谢你了！”格温多伦脸上绽出开心的微笑，马上和身边两个野姑娘拉起手来。她们毫不迟疑地帮她脱下那身既不舒服又不好看的校服，教她跳起欢快的舞蹈。

他们走到哪里，类似的情况就发生在哪里。多数居民逃开了，有一小部分加入了他们的行列。离开柏卢纳镇时，他们的队伍扩大了不少，也更显得兴高采烈。

他们越过平原，沿着河的北岸走去。每过一处农庄，就有不少家畜跑来入伙。从未有过欢乐的忧伤老驴突然变得年轻；看家狗第一次摆脱了束缚它们的锁链；马儿踢碎了套在身上的大车，尥着蹶子在队伍旁边来回奔跑着。

在一座院落的井旁，他们看到一个男人正在使劲抽打一个男孩。他手里的棍子突然变成了一支花。惶惑中他想扔掉那花，却怎么也丢不掉。渐渐地，他的胳膊变成了树枝，他的躯体变成了树干，他的脚在地上扎了根。刚才还在流泪求饶的孩子破涕为笑，蹦蹦跳跳地和他们一齐向前走去。

通往海狸大坝的路上有个小镇，这里是两条河交汇处。他们走进另一所学校，教室里一位满面倦容的姑娘正给一群男孩上数学课。那些男孩子一个个呆头呆脑，愚蠢得像猪一样，一点儿灵气也没有。那姑娘从窗户望出去，看见一个野姑娘边唱边跳地沿街走来。她的心情一下子愉快起来。阿斯兰来到窗前，直直地望着她。

“噢，不，不！”姑娘说，“我想和你们去，可我不能。我不能离开岗位。再说孩子们看见你会被吓坏的。”

“吓坏我们？”一个蠢孩子说，“她在和窗外什么人讲话？我们去报告校长，说她在教我们读书的时候与窗外的人说话。”

“我们去看看那是谁。”另一个孩子说。于是大家一齐拥到窗子跟前。他们那迟钝呆板的小脸刚从窗户上露出来，便听到巴库斯一声大叫，吓得他们掉头就跑，互相推搡着，践踏着，一时间哭声喊声乱成一片。据说打那以后（不知是真是假），再没有人见过那帮蠢小子，而那一地区却出现了一些十分听话的小猪。

“没问题了，亲爱的姑娘？”阿斯兰微笑着向教室里望去。那姑娘欢快地跳出窗户，加入了他们的行列。

他们在海狸大坝再次渡河，然后沿南崖往东走。不久，他们来到一座农舍跟前，门外一个小孩正在啼哭。阿斯兰上前问道：“你为什么哭呀，小朋友？”那孩子显然不知道狮子为何物，所以并不惧怕。

“姨妈病得十分厉害，她就要死了。”他哽咽道。

阿斯兰想要走进那小屋，无奈房子太小，进不去，他只好把头伸进门去，这下子露茜和苏珊都从它身上掉了下来。只见阿斯兰肩膀一抬就把那房子掮了起来，再一抖，房子稀里哗啦顿时变成一堆废墟。大家看到，露天的床上躺着一个弱小的老妇人（她显然是小矮人的后代），已经奄奄一息。当她虚弱地睁开双眼，看到阿斯兰那毛茸茸的、硕大的头颅时，并不感到惊讶和恐惧。她说：“啊，阿斯兰！我知道这是真的。我一生都在等待。你是来接我的吧？”

“是的，可怜的好人，”阿斯兰轻声答道，“这是一次长途跋涉。”说话间，好似云开日出，一片红晕浮上了老妇人那苍白的面颊，她的目光也明亮起来。只见她坐起身说：“我感觉好多了，我觉得今天可以吃些东西了。”

“吃点儿东西吧，母亲，”巴库斯说，然后从附近的井里提来一桶水，递给了她，奇怪的是桶里的水已经变成了最香醇的美酒，像草莓那么鲜红，像蜂蜜那么甘甜，像牛肉那么耐饥，像晨露那么清凉。

“这井水怎么这么好喝？哦——准是你在水里施了法术，真是太好了！”老妇人喝了几口后诧异地说，一边翻身跳下床来。

“骑到我身上来吧。”阿斯兰对她说。然后它转向两个女孩，“两位女王只好自己走了。”

“我们十分愿意下来活动活动。”苏珊说。于是，大家继续赶路。

就这样，一路唱着，跳着，她们终于来到河边，正好看到弥若兹的败兵纷纷丢下武器举手投降。彼得的部队站在一边，手持武器，脸上洋溢着胜利的喜悦。突然，老妇人从阿斯兰的背上跳下来，朝凯斯宾奔去。两人见面抱在一起，激动得说不出话来。原来她正是凯斯宾的老保姆。

15

阿斯兰打开一道天门

看到阿斯兰，台尔马士兵们顿时吓得面色如土，魂不附体，不少人瘫倒在地上。他们从不相信狮子的传说，于是，在毫无思想准备的情况下，恐惧感一下子占据了他们的心灵。虽然红发小矮人们知道阿斯兰是自己的朋友，这时也惊讶得张大嘴巴，一句话都说不出来。尼克布瑞克部下那些黑小矮人，不知什么时候已经悄悄退到一边去了。丝毫不感到惊慌和恐惧的倒是纳尼亚的老居民，那些会讲话的动物。它们把阿斯兰团团围住，欢乐地叫着、跳着，或冲着它摇头摆尾，或亲热地在它身上摩擦，或用鼻子轻轻地拱它亲它，或在它的身下、腿间钻来钻去。这时，彼得领着凯斯宾挤进重围，来到阿斯兰的面前。

“这是凯斯宾王子，伟大的阿斯兰。”他介绍说。凯斯宾单腿跪下，亲吻了雄狮的巨爪。

“欢迎你，王子！”阿斯兰说，“你有足够的信心治理好纳尼亚王国吗？”

“我——没有十分把握，陛下。我还太年轻，没有经验。”

“好，”阿斯兰满意地点点头，“假如你自以为很有把握，那其实只能证明你的不成熟。现在，你就要继我们之后成为纳尼亚的国王、凯尔帕拉维尔的统治者、孤独群岛的君主。只要你的人民仍在这片土地上繁衍生息，你和你的继承人便将对他们负起责任。你将戴起王——哈！让我们看看，那边抬过来的是什么——”

就在这时，一支小小的队伍缓缓走了过来——那是十一只老鼠。其中六只抬着一个树枝编的担架，看不清上面放着什么。鼠勇士们身上全是泥浆和血迹，一个个愁眉苦脸，耷拉着耳朵，低垂的胡子失去了往日的神采，连尾巴也无精打采地拖在草地上。它们的领队用短笛吹奏着一支忧伤的曲子。队伍来到近前，大家这才看清担架上有一小堆湿漉漉的东西，那便是雷佩契普。它身上伤痕累累，一只爪子被踩得粉碎，尾巴也不见了，眼看已经奄奄一息。

“露茜，该看你的了。”阿斯兰说。

露茜马上取出她的钻石小瓶子。虽然每个伤口只需一滴药水，但是，在一片焦急的期待中，她用了很长的时间才给雷佩契普上完药，因为它身上的伤口实在太多了。最后一滴药水刚刚点上，老鼠将军便翻身从担架上跳下地来。只见它一手放在剑柄上，一手捻一捻胡须，风度翩翩地向阿斯兰鞠了一躬。

“你好，阿斯兰！”场地上又响起它尖细的声音，“我非常荣幸地——”说到这里，它突然停了下来，似乎有什么惊人的发现。

事实上，虽然伤口都已经痊愈，它现在仍然没有尾巴——也许是露茜忘了治疗这一部分，要不然就是她的药水虽然可以治愈伤口却无法使身体失去的部分重新长出来。雷佩契普鞠躬时突然发现自己身上的变化，不由失去了平时的镇定。它越过右肩向身后望去，没有看到自己的尾巴。于是，它又把脖子使劲向后伸去，直到整个身子和臀部都跟着扭动起来，结果仍然看不到自己的尾巴。就这样，它反复看了好几次，终于确信了那可怕的事实。

“我真该死，”雷佩契普对阿斯兰说，“在你面前表现得如此不冷静。伟大的阿斯兰，我这副不体面的样子出现在你面前，请你千万原谅我。”

“小家伙，你这样子没什么不好。”

“我的尾巴……如果能想想办法，让它再长出来才好。”雷佩契普突然对露茜行了个礼，“也许女王陛下……”

“可是你要尾巴有什么用呢？”阿斯兰问道。

“陛下，”鼠将军说，“没有尾巴，我可以照样吃，照样睡，照样为你去战斗，去牺牲。然而，尾巴是一只老鼠的荣誉和骄傲。”

“朋友，有时我不禁想，你对你的荣誉是否考虑得过多了？”阿斯兰打趣说。

“至高无上的君主，请允许我提醒你，命运赋予我们老鼠这样小的体形，假如我们不努力保护自己的尊严，那么有一些以身材来衡量价值的家伙，就会不恰当地寻我们的开心。这就是为什么我要不厌其烦地告诫人们，如果不想尝尝宝剑的滋味，就别在我面前说‘老鼠夹子’、‘老鼠药’、‘上灯台、下不来’这一类的话。无论他是谁！个子再大也不行！”雷佩契普说到这里，狠狠地瞪了韦姆布威热一眼。可是，像屏障般挡在大家身后的巨人此时并没有注意到脚下的朋友在谈论什么，自然也没有在意鼠将军话里的含沙射影。

“你的部下为什么都把宝剑抽出鞘来？”阿斯兰诧异地问。

“禀报至高无上的君主，”名叫雷佩希克的老鼠副统帅回答说，“假如我们的头儿无法恢复它的尾巴，我们将集体割去自己的尾巴，以分担它的不幸。”

“哈！”阿斯兰高声叫道，“你们用高尚的心灵说服了我！雷佩契普，你将重新得到你的尾巴，不是为了你的尊严，而是为了你与同伴之间的友爱，更为了你们对我的帮助。还记得吗，是你们在大石桌咬断了绑在我身上的绳索，也就是从那时起，你们学会了讲话。”

阿斯兰话音未落，雷佩契普就长出了一条新尾巴。接着，按阿斯兰的指示，彼得授予凯斯宾雄狮骑士封号。凯斯宾当即封特鲁佛汉特、杜鲁普金和雷佩契普为护国将军，封克奈尔斯博士为大法官，并且确定棕熊为决斗公证所所长。这些任命引起了一阵阵热烈的掌声。

那些被俘的台尔马士兵被押解过河，囚禁在柏卢纳，每天发给他们牛肉、啤酒，以维持他们的生命。过河费了很大的劲儿，因为那些士兵就像害怕森林一样，也特别仇视、害怕奔流的河水。所以在蹚水过河时他们一个个大呼小叫，惊恐万状。不管怎样，该做的事情都做过了。于是，大家开始了这一天中最美好的一段时光。

露茜坐在阿斯兰身边，感到说不出的愉快。突然她注意到那些树神，不知它们在那儿干什么。开始她以为它们是在舞蹈。只见它们围成两个圆圈，缓慢地移动着；一个圈从左往右，另一个圈从右往左。这时露茜注意到，它们不停地往圆圈的中心抛掷着什么。那些东西刚一落地，马上就变成了干柴。这时，三四个红发小矮人拿着火柴走上前去，点燃了地上的干柴。先是点点火星，很快燃成了熊熊火焰，大家纷纷在火旁围坐下来。

这时候，巴库斯、野姑娘和塞利努斯开始翩翩起舞。那是十分奇特的舞蹈，不仅舞姿优美，而且简直是在变魔术——他们的手足所及之处，立即冒出各式各样的美味佳肴：一盘盘烤肉散发出令人馋涎欲滴的香味；各式各样的蛋糕、馅饼和五光十色的糖果更是令人眼花缭乱、目不暇接，还有奶油、蜂蜜、鸭梨、葡萄、草莓、蜜桃、哈蜜瓜……接着，每人面前的草地上出现了一个巨大的木杯或木碗，里面醇香的美酒不时变换着颜色和味道，而且总是喝不完。

阿斯兰就以这样的盛宴款待着纳尼亚的臣民，直到夜幕降临，天上星星眨起了眼睛。巨大的篝火像一座灯塔照亮了黑暗的山林。宴会还在继续，但喧闹声渐渐低了下去，大家一个接一个垂下脑袋，或躺在草地上，依偎在好朋友中间，沉沉地进入了梦乡。终于，篝火旁一片安静，只有不远处传来柏卢纳渡口潺潺的水声。此时，只有一个身影清醒地伏在草地上，默默地仰望着天空皎洁的月亮。那是阿斯兰。

第二天，信使们（主要是松鼠和小鸟儿）被派往全国各地，向逃散的台尔马人——当然包括柏卢纳的那些俘虏——宣告：凯斯宾已经成为纳尼亚的国王，因此这个国家不仅属于人类，它从此也同样属于所有会讲话的动物、小矮人和巨人。任何乐意在这块土地上继续生活下去的人都可以留下来，但绝不勉强。阿斯兰将把那些持不同意见者送往他们新的家园，但这些人务必在第五天中午前到柏卢纳渡口集合。不难想像，新法令使许多台尔马人大伤脑筋。他们当中有许多人，主要是年轻人，像凯斯宾一样自小听到过许多关于古代纳尼亚的传说，他们为那美好时光的来临而高兴，并且已经开始和动物们交朋友了。这些人无一例外，都决定留在纳尼亚。可多数上了年纪的人，尤其是那些在弥若兹统治下有权有势的人却闷闷不乐。他们无法想像，一旦失去了权势，生活还会有什么意义。他们说：“和那些无知的动物生活在一起！还有小矮人、巨人、人头马之类的幽灵鬼怪！吓死人了，我们可不干！”还有人持怀疑态度：“我无法信任那狮子和它的属下，它不会让我们过安稳日子的，等着瞧吧！”他们同样不相信阿斯兰会给他们新的家园：“它很可能会把我们带回山洞，一个个吃掉！”类似的交谈使他们更加忧心忡忡，疑虑不安。可是在指定的那一天，半数以上的人还是来了。

在一片林中空地上，阿斯兰已经让部下竖起两根一人多高的木棍，间隔一米左右，又把另一根比较轻一些的木棍横绑在那两根木棍的顶端，看来就像个门框。阿斯兰站在离这门框不远处，左边是彼得，右边是凯斯宾，环绕他们站着爱德蒙、苏珊、露茜和其他众人。孩子们和小矮人们穿上了贵族的盛装。这些华丽的衣服来自弥若兹城堡，当然，现在它已经成为凯斯宾城堡了。连动物们也戴上了名贵的首饰。可是，没有谁顾得上去注意和欣赏这些。阿斯兰那充满活力并发出金色光芒的鬣毛令他们目眩。还有许多纳尼亚臣民分立在空地两旁。远处站着那些台尔马人。这时阳光明媚，旌旗在微风中飘扬。

“台尔马的百姓们，”阿斯兰庄严地开始说话了，“愿去新的土地上重建家园的人们，请听我说。我将把你们统统送回你们自己的国家，只有我知道那个地方。”

“我们不记得哪儿有这个国家！”“谁知道那里是什么样子……”台尔马人七嘴八舌地咕哝着。

“你们从台尔马来到纳尼亚，但你们并非祖祖辈辈都居住在台尔马。你们自己的国家根本不属于这个世界。几百年前，你们属于另一个世界，也就是至尊王彼得的那个世界。”

听到这儿，许多台尔马人开始坐不住了。“看看，我说得不错吧！他就要把我们统统杀死，把我们从这个世界上消灭掉！”但是，另外一些人则挺起了胸，高兴地拍拍彼此的肩膀，小声说：“怎么样！我们早该猜出来，实际上我们根本不属于这片土地，不该与这些奇形怪状的家伙为伍。我们有着高贵的血统，等着瞧吧！”这时候，甚至凯斯宾、克奈尔斯和孩子们也都吃惊地向阿斯兰望去。

“静一静！”阿斯兰用一种低沉的、近乎吼叫的声音说。大地似乎轻轻颤抖了一下，在场的每一个人都一下子闭上了嘴巴。

“凯斯宾国王，”阿斯兰说，“你应该知道，只有像纳尼亚的历代君王一样，身为亚当的儿子，并来自亚当的儿子们的国家，才有资格成为纳尼亚的真正国王。你正是亚当的儿子。很久以前，就在那世界上被称为南海的地方，一船海盗被风暴吹上一座小岛。他们以海盗特有的方式，杀尽了当地的男人，强迫当地的妇女为妻。岛上有自制的椰子酒，他们便终日狂饮，常常喝得酩酊大醉，睡倒在椰子树下，醒来后便互相争吵，甚至自相残杀。一次，其中六个人受到同伴的追杀，带着他们的女人逃到小岛中部的山顶上，躲进一个山洞藏身。没想到那是个魔力山洞，是两个世界之间的通道。古时候曾经有许多类似的通道把两个世界连接起来，可惜如今绝大多数已自动封闭了。他们恰巧钻进了其中的一个。结果，他们飞快地往下沉，或者往上升去。再睁开眼时，他们发现自己已置身于一个陌生的国度——台尔马国。当时这片土地还没有人类的踪迹。这六对男女从此在台尔马定居下来，生儿育女，世代相传，渐渐形成一个凶猛而又骄傲的民族。许多年过去了。有一年，台尔马发生了饥荒，他们便去侵略纳尼亚，占领并统治这个国家直到昨天。凯斯宾国王，这些话你都记下了吗？”

“我将牢记在心，陛下，”凯斯宾说，“我一直以为自己出身于一个更体面的家族。”

“你的祖先是亚当和夏娃，这足以令最贫困的乞丐骄傲地挺起胸膛，也足以令最伟大异邦的君主自愧不如。青年人，可以知足了。”

凯斯宾深深鞠了一躬，表示回答。阿斯兰转过身去，说：

“那么现在，你们这些台尔马的男人和女人们，你们愿意重返你们祖先世代生活的那个人类世界吗？那是个很好的地方。原来那个岛上的海盗家族早死光了，那儿一直没人居住。你们会有水源旺盛、水质甘甜的水井；肥沃的土地可以耕种，充足的木材可以造房，还有环礁水域中捕不尽的鱼虾。人类至今仍然没有发现那个小岛，世界通道也依然为你们开放。可是，我必须提醒你们，一旦你们从那通道返回人类世界，天门将永远关闭起来。”

一阵沉默。随后，台尔马士兵中一个粗壮、体面的人走上前来，说：

“那么好吧，我愿意接受这个安排。”

“明智的选择，”阿斯兰说，“你敢于第一个做出决定，将得到神灵更多的帮助，你的命运会比别人更好。现在，请你往前走。”

那人脸色微微发白，迈步朝前走去。阿斯兰和它的人往两旁退去，闪出一条路来，一直通往木棍架起的那个孤零零的门框。

“走过去，我的孩子。”阿斯兰说着探起身子，用鼻子在那人的鼻子上轻轻碰了一下。接触到阿斯兰的气息，那人的神色随之一变，仿佛一下子增添了无穷的勇气。只见他耸耸肩，从容地走向那门框。

在场的人都紧紧盯着他。同时，人们清楚地看到那三根木棍和木棍那边的草地、树林和纳尼亚的天空。他们看着那人一条腿跨过门框，然后——眨眼之间，他消失不见了。

空地的另一端，其余的台尔马人齐声惊叫起来：“天哪！他怎么了？难道你想谋杀我们吗？我们不去！”

这时，一个聪明的台尔马人站出来说：“从这门框望过去，我们根本看不到另外一个世界。如果要我们相信它的存在，除非派你的部下先走过去。为什么你的朋友们一个个都远远地避开那门框呢？”

那人话音刚落，雷佩契普挺身而出，向阿斯兰鞠了一躬。“假如我的榜样能说服他们，尊敬的阿斯兰，你一声令下，我将带着我的十一名兄弟，毫不迟疑地走过去。”

“不，小家伙，”阿斯兰把毛茸茸的爪子轻轻放在鼠将军的头上，“在那个世界里，他们会虐待你们的。让别人去吧。”

“快，该我们上了。”彼得突然对爱德蒙和露茜叫道。

“你要干什么？”爱德蒙迷惑不解地问。

“从这条路回家呀！”苏珊抢着回答，似乎对将要发生的事一清二楚。“但我们必须先换下这身衣服。”

“为什么？”露茜问。

“要是穿这身衣服出现在火车站里，那还不惹得别人都来看我们呀！”

“可是我们所有的行李都放在凯斯宾城堡里了。”爱德蒙说。

“没有。行李都在这里——今天早晨送来的。这早已安排好了。”彼得说。

两个年纪小的孩子更加惊奇了。露茜忍不住问道：

“今天早晨阿斯兰对你和苏珊谈的就是这个吗？”

“是的——还有一件事，”彼得说着脸色变得庄重起来，“我无法全部讲给你听。有些事情它只想要我和苏珊明白，因为我们将不会重返纳尼亚了。”

“永不回来？”爱德蒙和露茜一齐叫起来。

“哦，你们俩还会回来的，”彼得回答说，“至少从它的话里，我相信你们俩总有一天会回到这里来。可我与苏珊却不会了。它说我俩都长大了。”

“彼得，这真是不幸！”露茜忧伤地望着哥哥，“你怎么能接受这样的事实！”

“我想我能够的，”彼得说，“我的思想已经有了许多改变，总有一天你也会这样的。好了，让我们行动起来，行李送来了。”

孩子们很不情愿地脱下华丽的贵族服装，穿上原先那身学生服，就听见有几个台尔马人在吃吃地笑。而所有的朋友们都起立欢呼，向至尊王彼得、神号女王苏珊、爱德蒙国王和露茜女王致敬。大家恋恋不舍地互相道别——小动物们的亲吻、大棕熊的拥抱，以及与杜鲁普金长时间的握手。凯斯宾要把神号还给苏珊。苏珊犹豫了一下，然后郑重地把号送回凯斯宾的手上，以作纪念。最后，他们以非常复杂的心情向阿斯兰告了别。然后，四个孩子在前面领路，后面跟着一长队台尔马人，依次向门框走去。随之而来的是一阵天旋地转，孩子们似乎同时看到三幅图画：第一幅是一个山洞口，看出去是太平洋上一个无名岛屿。台尔马人将从门框直接来到这里，开始他们新的生活；第二幅是纳尼亚，他们在瞬间看到了小矮人和动物们的笑脸，看到了阿斯兰深邃的目光；第三幅图画很快取代了前面的两幅，那是乡间火车站那个灰蒙蒙、阴沉沉的站台和站台上那条长凳，周围堆放着箱子和玩具盒。孩子们很快站稳并清醒过来，面对周围熟悉的一切，想到即将开始的校园生活，不由产生一种非常亲切的感觉。

“怎么样，”彼得说，“我们度过了一段非常美好的时光。”

“糟糕，”爱德蒙突然叫道，“我的手电筒丢在纳尼亚了。”

Dedication

To Mary Clare Havard

CHAPTER 1

The Island

Once there were four children whose names were Peter,Susan,Edmund and Lucy,and it has been told in another book called The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure.They had opened the door of a magic wardrobe and found themselves in a quite different world from ours,and in that different world they had become Kings and Queens in a country called Narnia.While they were in Narnia they seemed to reign for years and years；but when they came back through the door and found themselves in England again,it all seemed to have taken no time at all.At any rate,no one noticed that they had ever been away,and they never told anyone except one very wise grown-up.

That had all happened a year ago,and now all four of them were sitting on a seat at a railway station with trunks and playboxes piled up round them.They were,in fact,on their way back to school.They had travelled together as far as this station,which was a junction；and here,in a few minutes,one train would arrive and take the girls away to one school,and in about half an hour another train would arrive and the boys would go off to another school.The first part of the journey,when they were all together,always seemed to be part of the holidays；but now when they would be saying goodbye and going different ways so soon,everyone felt that the holidays were really over and everyone felt their term-time feelings beginning again,and they were all rather gloomy and no one could think of anything to say.Lucy was going to boarding school for the first time.

It was an empty,sleepy,country station and there was hardly anyone on the platform except themselves.Suddenly Lucy gave a sharp little cry,like someone who has been stung by a wasp.

“What's up,Lu?” said Edmund – and then suddenly broke off and made a noise like “Ow!”

“What on earth—” began Peter,and then he too suddenly changed what he had been going to say.Instead,he said,“Susan,let go!What are you doing?Where are you dragging me to?”

“I'm not touching you,” said Susan.“Someone is pulling me.Oh – oh – oh – stop it!”

Everyone noticed that all the others' faces had gone very white.

“I felt just the same,” said Edmund in a breathless voice.“As if I were being dragged along.A most frightful pulling – ugh!It's beginning again.”

“Me too,” said Lucy.“Oh,I can't bear it.”

“Look sharp!” shouted Edmund.“All catch hands and keep together.This is magic – I can tell by the feeling.Quick!”

“Yes,” said Susan.“Hold hands.Oh,I do wish it would stop – oh!”

Next moment the luggage,the seat,the platform,and the station had completely vanished.The four children,holding hands and panting,found themselves standing in a woody place – such a woody place that branches were sticking into them and there was hardly room to move.They all rubbed their eyes and took a deep breath.

“Oh,Peter!” exclaimed Lucy.“Do you think we can possibly have got back to Narnia?”

“It might be anywhere,” said Peter.“I can't see a yard in all these trees.Let's try to get into the open– if there is any open.”

With some difficulty,and with some stings from nettles and pricks from thorns,they struggled out of the thicket.Then they had another surprise.Everything became much brighter,and after a few steps they found themselves at the edge of the wood,looking down on a sandy beach.A few yards away a very calm sea was falling on the sand with such tiny ripples that it made hardly any sound.There was no land in sight and no clouds in the sky.The sun was about where it ought to be at ten o'clock in the morning,and the sea was a dazzling blue.They stood sniffing in the sea-smell.

“By Jove!” said Peter.“This is good enough.”

Five minutes later everyone was barefooted and wading in the cool clear water.

“This is better than being in a stuffy train on the way back to Latin and French and Algebra!” said Edmund.And then for quite a long time there was no more talking,only splashing and looking for shrimps and crabs.

“All the same,” said Susan presently,“I suppose we'll have to make some plans.We shall want something to eat before long.”

“We've got the sandwiches Mother gave us for the journey,” said Edmund.“At least I've got mine.”

“Not me,” said Lucy.“Mine were in my little bag.”

“So were mine,” said Susan.

“Mine are in my coat pocket,there on the beach,”said Peter.“That'll be two lunches among four.This isn't going to be such fun.”

“At present,” said Lucy,“I want something to drink more than something to eat.”

Everyone else now felt thirsty,as one usually is after wading in salt water under a hot sun.

“It's like being shipwrecked,” remarked Edmund.“In the books they always find springs of clear,fresh water on the island.We'd better go and look for them.”

“Does that mean we have to go back into all that thick wood?” said Susan.

“Not a bit of it,” said Peter.“If there are streams they're bound to come down to the sea,and if we walk along the beach we're bound to come to them.”

They all now waded back and went first across the smooth,wet sand and then up to the dry,crumbly sand that sticks to one's toes,and began putting on their shoes and socks.Edmund and Lucy wanted to leave them behind and do their exploring with bare feet,but Susan said this would be a mad thing to do.“We might never find them again,” she pointed out,“and we shall want them if we're still here when night comes and it begins to be cold.”

When they were dressed again they set out along the shore with the sea on their left hand and the wood on their right.Except for an occasional seagull it was a very quiet place.The wood was so thick and tangled that they could hardly see into it at all；and nothing in it moved – not a bird,not even an insect.

Shells and seaweed and anemones,or tiny crabs in rock-pools,are all very well,but you soon get tired of them if you are thirsty.The children's feet,after the change from the cool water,felt hot and heavy.Susan and Lucy had raincoats to carry.Edmund had put down his coat on the station seat just before the magic overtook them,and he and Peter took it in turns to carry Peter's great-coat.

Presently the shore began to curve round to the right.About quarter of an hour later,after they had crossed a rocky ridge which ran out into a point,it made quite a sharp turn.Their backs were now to the part of the sea which had met them when they first came out of the wood,and now,looking ahead,they could see across the water another shore,thickly wooded like the one they were exploring.

“I wonder,is that an island or do we join on to it presently?” said Lucy.

“Don't know,” said Peter and they all plodded on in silence.

The shore that they were walking on drew nearer and nearer to the opposite shore,and as they came round each promontory the children expected to find the place where the two joined.But in this they were disappointed.They came to some rocks which they had to climb and from the top they could see a fair way ahead and – “Oh,bother!” said Edmund.“It's no good.We shan't be able to get to those other woods at all.We're on an island!”

It was true.At this point the channel between them and the opposite coast was only about thirty or forty yards wide,but they could now see that this was its narrowest place.After that,their own coast bent round to the right again and they could see open sea between it and the mainland.It was obvious that they had already come much more than halfway round the island.

“Look!” said Lucy suddenly.“What's that?” She pointed to a long,silvery,snake-like thing that lay across the beach.

“A stream!A stream!” shouted the others,and,tired as they were,they lost no time in clattering down the rocks and racing to the fresh water.They knew that the stream would be better to drink farther up,away from the beach,so they went at once to the spot where it came out of the wood.The trees were as thick as ever,but the stream had made itself a deep course between high mossy banks so that by stooping you could follow it up in a sort of tunnel of leaves.They dropped on their knees by the first brown,dimply pool and drank and drank,and dipped their faces in the water,and then dipped their arms in up to the elbow.

“Now,” said Edmund,“what about those sandwiches?”

“Oh,hadn't we better save them?” said Susan.“We may need them far worse later on.”

“I do wish,” said Lucy,“now that we're not thirsty,we could go on feeling as not-hungry as we did when we were thirsty.”

“But what about those sandwiches?” repeated Edmund.“There's no good saving them till they go bad.You've got to remember it's a good deal hotter here than in England and we've been carrying them about in pockets for hours.” So they got out the two packets and divided them into four portions,and nobody had quite enough,but it was a great deal better than nothing.Then they talked about their plans for the next meal.Lucy wanted to go back to the sea and catch shrimps,until someone pointed out that they had no nets.Edmund said they must gather gulls' eggs from the rocks,but when they came to think of it they couldn't remember having seen any gulls' eggs and wouldn't be able to cook them if they found any.Peter thought to himself that unless they had some stroke of luck they would soon be glad to eat eggs raw,but he didn't see any point in saying this out loud.Susan said it was a pity they had eaten the sandwiches so soon.One or two tempers very nearly got lost at this stage.Finally Edmund said：

“Look here.There's only one thing to be done.We must explore the wood.Hermits and knightserrant and people like that always manage to live somehow if they're in a forest.They find roots and berries and things.”

“What sort of roots?” asked Susan.

“I always thought it meant roots of trees,” said Lucy.

“Come on,” said Peter,“Ed is right.And we must try to do something.And it'll be better than going out into the glare and the sun again.”

So they all got up and began to follow the stream.It was very hard work.They had to stoop under branches and climb over branches,and they blundered through great masses of stuff like rhododendrons and tore their clothes and got their feet wet in the stream；and still there was no noise at all except the noise of the stream and the noises they were making themselves.They were beginning to get very tired of it when they noticed a delicious smell,and then a flash of bright colour high above them at the top of the right bank.

“I say!” exclaimed Lucy.“I do believe that's an apple tree.”

It was.They panted up the steep bank,forced their way through some brambles,and found themselves standing round an old tree that was heavy with large yellowish-golden apples as firm and juicy as you could wish to see.

“And this is not the only tree,” said Edmund with his mouth full of apple.“Look there – and there.”

“Why,there are dozens of them,” said Susan,throwing away the core of her first apple and picking her second.“This must have been an orchard – long,long ago,before the place went wild and the wood grew up.”

“Then this was once an inhabited island,” said Peter.

“And what's that?” said Lucy,pointing ahead.

“By Jove,it's a wall,” said Peter.“An old stone wall.”

Pressing their way between the laden branches they reached the wall.It was very old,and broken down in places,with moss and wallflowers growing on it,but it was higher than all but the tallest trees.And when they came quite close to it they found a great arch which must once have had a gate in it but was now almost filled up with the largest of all the apple trees.They had to break some of the branches to get past,and when they had done so they all blinked because the daylight became suddenly much brighter.They found themselves in a wide open place with walls all round it.In here there were no trees,only level grass and daisies,and ivy,and grey walls.It was a bright,secret,quiet place,and rather sad；and all four stepped out into the middle of it,glad to be able to straighten their backs and move their limbs freely.

CHAPTER 2

The Ancient Treasure House

“This wasn't a garden,” said Susan presently.“It was a castle and this must have been the courtyard.”

“I see what you mean,” said Peter.“Yes.That is the remains of a tower.And there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls.And look at those other steps – the broad,shallow ones – going up to that doorway.It must have been the door into the great hall.”

“Ages ago,by the look of it,” said Edmund.

“Yes,ages ago,” said Peter.“I wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle；and how long ago.”

“It gives me a queer feeling,” said Lucy.

“Does it,Lu?” said Peter,turning and looking hard at her.“Because it does the same to me.It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day.I wonder where we are and what it all means?”

While they were talking they had crossed the courtyard and gone through the other doorway into what had once been the hall.This was now very like the courtyard,for the roof had long since disappeared and it was merely another space of grass and daisies,except that it was shorter and narrower and the walls were higher.Across the far end there was a kind of terrace about three feet higher than the rest.

“I wonder,was it really the hall?” said Susan.“What is that terrace kind of thing?”

“Why,you silly,” said Peter(who had become strangely excited),“don't you see?That was the dais where the High Table was,where the King and the great lords sat.Anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once Kings and Queens and sat on a dais just like that,in our great hall.”

“In our castle of Cair Paravel,” continued Susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice,“at the mouth of the great river of Narnia.How could I forget?”

“How it all comes back!” said Lucy.“We could pretend we were in Cair Paravel now.This hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in.”

“But unfortunately without the feast,” said Edmund.“It's getting late,you know.Look how long the shadows are.And have you noticed that it isn't so hot?”

“We shall need a camp-fire if we've got to spend the night here,” said Peter.“I've got matches.Let's go and see if we can collect some dry wood.”

Everyone saw the sense of this,and for the next half-hour they were busy.The orchard through which they had first come into the ruins turned out not to be a good place for firewood.They tried the other side of the castle,passing out of the hall by a little side door into a maze of stony humps and hollows which must once have been passages and smaller rooms but was now all nettles and wild roses.Beyond this they found a wide gap in the castle wall and stepped through it into a wood of darker and bigger trees where they found dead branches and rotten wood and sticks and dry leaves and fir-cones in plenty.They went to and fro with bundles until they had a good pile on the dais.At the fifth journey they found the well,just outside the hall,hidden in weeds,but clean and fresh and deep when they had cleared these away.The remains of a stone pavement ran halfway round it.Then the girls went out to pick some more apples and the boys built the fire,on the dais and fairly close to the corner between two walls,which they thought would be the snuggest and warmest place.They had great difficulty in lighting it and used a lot of matches,but they succeeded in the end.Finally,all four sat down with their backs to the wall and their faces to the fire.They tried roasting some of the apples on the ends of sticks.But roast apples are not much good without sugar,and they are too hot to eat with your fingers till they are too cold to be worth eating.So they had to content themselves with raw apples,which,as Edmund said,made one realize that school suppers weren't so bad after all – “I shouldn't mind a good thick slice of bread and margarine this minute,” he added.But the spirit of adventure was rising in them all,and no one really wanted to be back at school.

Shortly after the last apple had been eaten,Susan went out to the well to get another drink.When she came back she was carrying something in her hand.

“Look,” she said in a rather choking kind of voice.“I found it by the well.” She handed it to Peter and sat down.The others thought she looked and sounded as if she might be going to cry.Edmund and Lucy eagerly bent forward to see what was in Peter's hand – a little,bright thing that gleamed in the firelight.

“Well,I'm – I'm jiggered,” said Peter,and his voice also sounded queer.Then he handed it to the others.

All now saw what it was – a little chess-knight,ordinary in size but extraordinarily heavy because it was made of pure gold；and the eyes in the horse's head were two tiny little rubies – or rather one was,for the other had been knocked out.

“Why!” said Lucy.“It's exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel.”

“Cheer up,Su,” said Peter to his other sister.

“I can't help it,” said Susan.“It brought back –oh,such lovely times.And I remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants,and the merpeople singing in the sea,and my beautiful horse –and – and—”

“Now,” said Peter in a quite different voice,“it's about time we four started using our brains.”

“What about?” asked Edmund.

“Have none of you guessed where we are?” said Peter.

“Go on,go on,” said Lucy.“I've felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place.”

“Fire ahead,Peter,” said Edmund.“We're all listening.”

“We are in the ruins of Cair Paravel itself,” said Peter.

“But,I say,” replied Edmund.“I mean,how do you make that out?This place has been ruined for ages.Look at all those big trees growing right up to the gates.Look at the very stones.Anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years.”

“I know,” said Peter.“That is the difficulty.But let's leave that out for the moment.I want to take the points one by one.First point：this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at Cair Paravel.Just picture a roof on this,and a coloured pavement instead of grass,and tapestries on the walls,and you get our royal banqueting hall.”

No one said anything.

“Second point,” continued Peter.“The castle well is exactly where our well was,a little to the south of the great hall；and it is exactly the same size and shape.”

Again there was no reply.

“Third point：Susan has just found one of our old chessmen – or something as like one of them as two peas.”

Still nobody answered.

“Fourth point.Don't you remember – it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the King of Calormen – don't you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of Cair Paravel?The greatest of all the wood-people,Pomona herself,came to put good spells on it.It was those very decent little chaps,the moles,who did the actual digging.Can you have forgotten that funny old Lilygloves,the chief mole,leaning on his spade and saying,'Believe me,your Majesty,you'll be glad of these fruit trees one day.' And by Jove he was right.”

“I do!I do!” said Lucy,and clapped her hands.

“But look here,Peter,” said Edmund.“This must be all rot.To begin with,we didn't plant the orchard slap up against the gate.We wouldn't have been such fools.”

“No,of course not,” said Peter.“But it has grown up to the gate since.”

“And for another thing,” said Edmund,“Cair Paravel wasn't on an island.”

“Yes,I've been wondering about that.But it was a what-do-you-call-it,a peninsula.Jolly nearly an island.Couldn't it have been made an island since our time?Somebody has dug a channel.”

“But half a moment!” said Edmund.“You keep on saying since our time.But it's only a year ago since we came back from Narnia.And you want to make out that in one year,castles have fallen down,and great forests have grown up,and little trees we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard,and goodness knows what else.It's all impossible.”

“There's one thing,” said Lucy.“If this is Cair Paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais.In fact we ought to be sitting with our backs against it at this moment.You know – the door that led down to the treasure chamber.”

“I suppose there isn't a door,” said Peter,getting up.

The wall behind them was a mass of ivy.

“We can soon find out,” said Edmund,taking up one of the sticks that they had laid ready for putting on the fire.He began beating the ivied wall.Taptap went the stick against the stone；and again,taptap；and then,all at once,boom-boom,with a quite different sound,a hollow,wooden sound.

“Great Scott!” said Edmund.

“We must clear this ivy away,” said Peter.

“Oh,do let's leave it alone,” said Susan.“We can try it in the morning.If we've got to spend the night here I don't want an open door at my back and a great big black hole that anything might come out of,besides the draught and the damp.And it'll soon be dark.”

“Susan!How can you?” said Lucy with a reproachful glance.But both the boys were too much excited to take any notice of Susan's advice.They worked at the ivy with their hands and with Peter's pocket-knife till the knife broke.After that they used Edmund's.Soon the whole place where they had been sitting was covered with ivy；and at last they had the door cleared.

“Locked,of course,” said Peter.

“But the wood's all rotten,” said Edmund.“We can pull it to bits in no time,and it will make extra firewood.Come on.”

It took them longer than they expected and,before they had done,the great hall had grown dusky and the first star or two had come out overhead.Susan was not the only one who felt a slight shudder as the boys stood above the pile of splintered wood,rubbing the dirt off their hands and staring into the cold,dark opening they had made.

“Now for a torch,” said Peter.

“Oh,what is the good?” said Susan.“And as Edmund said—”

“I'm not saying it now,” Edmund interrupted.“I still don't understand,but we can settle that later.I suppose you're coming down,Peter?”

“We must,” said Peter.“Cheer up,Susan.It's no good behaving like kids now that we are back in Narnia.You're a Queen here.And anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds.”

They tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success.If you held them with the lighted end up they went out,and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes.In the end they had to use Edmund's electric torch；luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new.He went first,with the light.Then came Lucy,then Susan,and Peter brought up the rear.

“I've come to the top of the steps,” said Edmund.

“Count them,” said Peter.

“One – two – three,” said Edmund,as he went cautiously down,and so up to sixteen.“And this is the bottom,” he shouted back.

“Then it really must be Cair Paravel,” said Lucy.“There were sixteen.” Nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the foot of the stairway.Then Edmund flashed his torch slowly round.

“O – o – o – oh!!” said all the children at once.

For now all knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of Cair Paravel where they had once reigned as Kings and Queens of Narnia.There was a kind of path up the middle(as it might be in a greenhouse),and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armour,like knights guarding the treasures.In between the suits of armour,and on each side of the path,were shelves covered with precious things – necklaces and arm rings and finger rings and golden bowls and dishes and long tusks of ivory,brooches and coronets and chains of gold,and heaps of unset stones lying piled anyhow as if they were marbles or potatoes – diamonds,rubies,carbuncles,emeralds,topazes,and amethysts.Under the shelves stood great chests of oak strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked.And it was bitterly cold,and so still that they could hear themselves breathing,and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things,they would hardly have known they were treasures.There was something sad and a little frightening about the place,because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago.That was why nobody said anything for at least a minute.

Then,of course,they began walking about and picking things up to look at.It was like meeting very old friends.If you had been there you would have heard them saying things like,“Oh,look!Our coronation rings – do you remember first wearing this?– Why,this is the little brooch we all thought was lost – I say,isn't that the armour you wore in the great tournament in the Lone Islands?– Do you remember the Dwarf making that for me?– Do you remember drinking out of that horn?– Do you remember,do you remember?”

But suddenly Edmund said,“Look here.We mustn't waste the battery；goodness knows how often we shall need it.Hadn't we better take what we want and get out again?”

“We must take the gifts,” said Peter.For long ago at a Christmas in Narnia he and Susan and Lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom.Edmund had had no gift,because he was not with them at the time.(This was his own fault,and you can read about it in the other book.)

They all agreed with Peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber,and there,sure enough,the gifts were still hanging.Lucy's was the smallest for it was only a little bottle.But the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass,and it was still more than half full of the magical cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness.Lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side where it used to hang in the old days.Susan's gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn.The bow was still there,and the ivory quiver,full of well-feathered arrows,but – “Oh,Susan,” said Lucy.“Where's the horn?”

“Oh,bother,bother,bother,” said Susan after she had thought for a moment.“I remember now.I took it with me the last day of all,the day we went hunting the White Stag.It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place – England,I mean.”

Edmund whistled.It was indeed a shattering loss；for this was an enchanted horn and,whenever you blew it,help was certain to come to you,wherever you were.

“Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this,” said Edmund.

“Never mind,” said Susan,“I've still got the bow.”And she took it.

“Won't the string be perished,Su?” said Peter.

But whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not,the bow was still in working order.Archery and swimming were the things Susan was good at.In a moment she had bent the bow and then she gave one little pluck to the string.It twanged：a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room.And that one small noise brought back the old days to the children's minds more than anything that had happened yet.All the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together.

Then she unstrung the bow again and slung the quiver at her side.

Next,Peter took down his gift – the shield with the great red lion on it,and the royal sword.He blew,and rapped them on the floor,to get off the dust.He fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side.He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath.But it was not so.With one swift motion he drew it and held it up,shining in the torchlight.

“It is my sword Rhindon,” he said；“with it I killed the Wolf.” There was a new tone in his voice,and the others all felt that he was really Peter the High King again.Then,after a little pause,everyone remembered that they must save the battery.

They climbed the stairs again and made up a good fire and lay down close together for warmth.The ground was very hard and uncomfortable,but they fell asleep in the end.

CHAPTER 3

The Dwarf

The worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early.And when you wake you have to get up because the ground is so hard that you are uncomfortable.And it makes matters worse if there is nothing but apples for breakfast and you have had nothing but apples for supper the night before.When Lucy had said –truly enough – that it was a glorious morning,there did not seem to be anything else nice to be said.Edmund said what everyone was feeling,“We've simply got to get off this island.”

When they had drunk from the well and splashed their faces they all went down the stream again to the shore and stared at the channel which divided them from the mainland.

“We'll have to swim,” said Edmund.

“It would be all right for Su,” said Peter(Susan had won prizes for swimming at school).“But I don't know about the rest of us.” By “the rest of us”he really meant Edmund who couldn't yet do two lengths at the school baths,and Lucy,who could hardly swim at all.

“Anyway,” said Susan,“there may be currents.Father says it's never wise to bathe in a place you don't know.”

“But,Peter,” said Lucy,“look here.I know I can't swim for nuts at home – in England,I mean.But couldn't we all swim long ago – if it was long ago– when we were Kings and Queens in Narnia?We could ride then too,and do all sorts of things.Don't you think—?”

“Ah,but we were sort of grown-up then,” said Peter.“We reigned for years and years and learned to do things.Aren't we just back at our proper ages again now?”

“Oh!” said Edmund in a voice which made everyone stop talking and listen to him.

“I've just seen it all,” he said.

“Seen what?” asked Peter.

“Why,the whole thing,” said Edmund.“You know what we were puzzling about last night,that it was only a year ago since we left Narnia but everything looks as if no one had lived in Cair Paravel for hundreds of years?Well,don't you see?You know that,however long we seemed to have lived in Narnia,when we got back through the wardrobe it seemed to have taken no time at all?”

“Go on,” said Susan.“I think I'm beginning to understand.”

“And that means,” continued Edmund,“that,once you're out of Narnia,you have no idea how Narnian time is going.Why shouldn't hundreds of years have gone past in Narnia while only one year has passed for us in England?”

“By Jove,Ed,” said Peter.“I believe you've got it.In that sense it really was hundreds of years ago that we lived in Cair Paravel.And now we're coming back to Narnia just as if we were Crusaders or Anglo-Saxons or Ancient Britons or someone coming back to modern England!”

“How excited they'll be to see us—” began Lucy,but at the same moment everyone else said,“Hush!”or,“Look!” For now something was happening.

There was a wooded point on the mainland a little to their right,and they all felt sure that just beyond that point must be the mouth of the river.And now,round that point there came into sight a boat.When it had cleared the point,it turned and began coming along the channel towards them.There were two people on board；one rowing,the other sitting in the stern and holding a bundle that twitched and moved as if it were alive.Both these people seemed to be soldiers.They had steel caps on their heads and light shirts of chain-mail.Their faces were bearded and hard.The children drew back from the beach into the wood and watched without moving a finger.

“This'll do,” said the soldier in the stern when the boat had come about opposite to them.

“What about tying a stone to his feet,Corporal?”said the other,resting on his oars.

“Garn!” growled the other.“We don't need that,and we haven't brought one.He'll drown sure enough without a stone,as long as we've tied the cords right.” With these words he rose and lifted his bundle.Peter now saw that it was really alive and was in fact a Dwarf,bound hand and foot but struggling as hard as he could.Next moment he heard a twang just beside his ear,and all at once the soldier threw up his arms,dropping the Dwarf into the bottom of the boat,and fell over into the water.He floundered away to the far bank and Peter knew that Susan's arrow had struck his helmet.He turned and saw that she was very pale but was already fitting a second arrow to the string.But it was never used.As soon as he saw his companion fall,the other soldier,with a loud cry,jumped out of the boat on the far side,and he also floundered through the water(which was apparently just in his depth)and disappeared into the woods of the mainland.

“Quick!Before she drifts!” shouted Peter.He and Susan,fully dressed as they were,plunged in,and before the water was up to their shoulders,their hands were on the side of the boat.In a few seconds they had hauled her to the bank and lifted the Dwarf out,and Edmund was busily engaged in cutting his bonds with the pocket knife.(Peter's sword would have been sharper,but a sword is very inconvenient for this sort of work because you can't hold it anywhere lower than the hilt.)When at last the Dwarf was free,he sat up,rubbed his arms and legs,and exclaimed：

“Well,whatever they say,you don't feel like ghosts.”

Like most dwarfs he was very stocky and deepchested.He would have been about three feet high if he had been standing up,and an immense beard and whiskers of coarse red hair left little of his face to be seen except a beak-like nose and twinkling black eyes.

“Anyway,” he continued,“ghosts or not,you've saved my life and I'm extremely obliged to you.”

“But why should we be ghosts?” asked Lucy.

“I've been told all my life,” said the Dwarf,“that these woods along the shore were as full of ghosts as they were of trees.That's what the story is.And that's why,when they want to get rid of anyone,they usually bring him down here(like they were doing with me)and say they'll leave him to the ghosts.But I always wondered if they didn't really drown 'em or cut their throats.I never quite believed in the ghosts.But those two cowards you've just shot believed all right.They were more frightened of taking me to my death than I was of going!”

“Oh,” said Susan.“So that's why they both ran away.”

“Eh?What's that?” said the Dwarf.

“They got away,” said Edmund.“To the mainland.”

“I wasn't shooting to kill,you know,” said Susan.She would not have liked anyone to think she could miss at such a short range.

“Hm,” said the Dwarf.“That's not so good.That may mean trouble later on.Unless they hold their tongues for their own sake.”

“What were they going to drown you for?” asked Peter.

“Oh,I'm a dangerous criminal,I am,” said the Dwarf cheerfully.“But that's a long story.Meantime,I was wondering if perhaps you were going to ask me to breakfast?You've no idea what an appetite it gives one,being executed.”

“There's only apples,” said Lucy dolefully.

“Better than nothing,but not so good as fresh fish,” said the Dwarf.“It looks as if I'll have to ask you to breakfast instead.I saw some fishing tackle in that boat.And anyway,we must take her round to the other side of the island.We don't want anyone from the mainland coming down and seeing her.”

“I ought to have thought of that myself,” said Peter.

The four children and the Dwarf went down to the water's edge,pushed off the boat with some difficulty,and scrambled aboard.The Dwarf at once took charge.The oars were of course too big for him to use,so Peter rowed and the Dwarf steered them north along the channel and presently eastward round the tip of the island.From here the children could see right up the river,and all the bays and headlands of the coast beyond it.They thought they could recognize bits of it,but the woods,which had grown up since their time,made everything look very different.

When they had come round into open sea on the east of the island,the Dwarf took to fishing.They had an excellent catch of pavenders,a beautiful rainbow-coloured fish which they all remembered eating in Cair Paravel in the old days.When they had caught enough they ran the boat up into a little creek and moored her to a tree.The Dwarf,who was a most capable person(and,indeed,though one meets bad Dwarfs,I never heard of a Dwarf who was a fool),cut the fish open,cleaned them,and said：

“Now,what we want next is some firewood.”

“We've got some up at the castle,” said Edmund.

The Dwarf gave a low whistle.“Beards and bedsteads!” he said.“So there really is a castle,after all?”

“It's only a ruin,” said Lucy.

The Dwarf stared round at all four of them with a very curious expression on his face.“And who on earth—?” he began,but then broke off and said,“No matter.Breakfast first.But one thing before we go on.Can you lay your hand on your hearts and tell me I'm really alive?Are you sure I wasn't drowned and we're not all ghosts together?”

When they had all reassured him,the next question was how to carry the fish.They had nothing to string them on and no basket.They had to use Edmund's hat in the end because no one else had a hat.He would have made much more fuss about this if he had not by now been so ravenously hungry.

At first the Dwarf did not seem very comfortable in the castle.He kept looking round and sniffing and saying,“Hm.Looks a bit spooky after all.Smells like ghosts,too.” But he cheered up when it came to lighting the fire and showing them how to roast the fresh pavenders in the embers.Eating hot fish with no forks,and one pocket knife between five people,is a messy business and there were several burnt fingers before the meal was ended；but,as it was now nine o'clock and they had been up since five,nobody minded the burns so much as you might have expected.When everyone had finished off with a drink from the well and an apple or so,the Dwarf produced a pipe about the size of his own arm,filled it,lit it,blew a great cloud of fragrant smoke,and said,“Now.”

“You tell us your story first,” said Peter.“And then we'll tell you ours.”

“Well,” said the Dwarf,“as you've saved my life it is only fair you should have your own way.But I hardly know where to begin.First of all I'm a messenger of King Caspian's.”

“Who's he?” asked four voices all at once.

“Caspian the Tenth,King of Narnia,and long may he reign!” answered the Dwarf.“That is to say,he ought to be King of Narnia and we hope he will be.At present he is only King of us Old Narnians—”

“What do you mean by old Narnians,please?”asked Lucy.

“Why,that's us,” said the Dwarf.“We're a kind of rebellion,I suppose.”

“I see,” said Peter.“And Caspian is the chief Old Narnian.”

“Well,in a manner of speaking,” said the Dwarf,scratching his head.“But he's really a New Narnian himself,a Telmarine,if you follow me.”

“I don't,” said Edmund.

“It's worse than the Wars of the Roses,” said Lucy.

“Oh dear,” said the Dwarf.“I'm doing this very badly.Look here：I think I'll have to go right back to the beginning and tell you how Caspian grew up in his uncle's court and how he came to be on our side at all.But it'll be a long story.”

“All the better,” said Lucy.“We love stories.”

So the Dwarf settled down and told his tale.I shall not give it to you in his words,putting in all the children's questions and interruptions,because it would take too long and be confusing and,even so,it would leave out some points that the children only heard later.But the gist of the story,as they knew it in the end,was as follows.

CHAPTER 4

The Dwarf Tells of Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian lived in a great castle in the centre of Narnia with his uncle,Miraz,the King of Narnia,and his aunt,who had red hair and was called Queen Prunaprismia.His father and mother were dead and the person whom Caspian loved best was his nurse,and though(being a prince)he had wonderful toys which would do almost anything but talk,he liked best the last hour of the day when the toys had all been put back in their cupboards and Nurse would tell him stories.

He did not care much for his uncle and aunt,but about twice a week his uncle would send for him and they would walk up and down together for half an hour on the terrace at the south side of the castle.One day,while they were doing this,the King said to him,

“Well,boy,we must soon teach you to ride and use a sword.You know that your aunt and I have no children,so it looks as if you might have to be King when I'm gone.How shall you like that,eh?”“I don't know,Uncle,” said Caspian.

“Don't know,eh?” said Miraz.“Why,I should like to know what more anyone could wish for!”

“All the same,I do wish,” said Caspian.

“What do you wish?” asked the King.

“I wish – I wish – I wish I could have lived in the Old Days,” said Caspian.(He was only a very little boy at the time.)

Up till now King Miraz had been talking in the tiresome way that some grown-ups have,which makes it quite clear that they are not really interested in what you are saying,but now he suddenly gave Caspian a very sharp look.

“Eh?What's that?” he said.“What old days do you mean?”

“Oh,don't you know,Uncle?” said Caspian.“When everything was quite different.When all the animals could talk,and there were nice people who lived in the streams and the trees.Naiads and Dryads,they were called.And there were Dwarfs.And there were lovely little Fauns in all the woods.They had feet like goats.And—”

“That's all nonsense,for babies,” said the King sternly.“Only fit for babies,do you hear?You're getting too old for that sort of stuff.At your age you ought to be thinking of battles and adventures,not fairy tales.”

“Oh,but there were battles and adventures in those days,” said Caspian.“Wonderful adventures.Once there was a White Witch and she made herself Queen of the whole country.And she made it so that it was always winter.And then two boys and two girls came from somewhere and so they killed the Witch and they were made Kings and Queens of Narnia,and their names were Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy.And so they reigned for ever so long and everyone had a lovely time,and it was all because of Aslan—”

“Who's he?” said Miraz.And if Caspian had been a very little older,the tone of his uncle's voice would have warned him that it would be wiser to shut up.But he babbled on：

“Oh,don't you know?” he said.“Aslan is the great Lion who comes from over the sea.”

“Who has been telling you all this nonsense?”said the King in a voice of thunder.Caspian was frightened and said nothing.

“Your Royal Highness,” said King Miraz,letting go of Caspian's hand,which he had been holding till now,“I insist upon being answered.Look me in the face.Who has been telling you this pack of lies?”

“N – Nurse,” faltered Caspian,and burst into tears.

“Stop that noise,” said his uncle,taking Caspian by the shoulders and giving him a shake.“Stop it.And never let me catch you talking – or thinking either – about all those silly stories again.There never were those Kings and Queens.How could there be two Kings at the same time?And there's no such person as Aslan.And there are no such things as lions.And there never was a time when animals could talk.Do you hear?”

“Yes,Uncle,” sobbed Caspian.

“Then let's have no more of it,” said the King.Then he called to one of the gentlemen-in-waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrace and said in a cold voice,“Conduct His Royal Highness to his apartments and send His Royal Highness's nurse to me AT ONCE.”

Next day Caspian found what a terrible thing he had done,for Nurse had been sent away without even being allowed to say goodbye to him,and he was told he was to have a Tutor.

Caspian missed his nurse very much and shed many tears；and because he was so miserable,he thought about the old stories of Narnia far more than before.He dreamed of Dwarfs and Dryads every night and tried very hard to make the dogs and cats in the castle talk to him.But the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred.

Caspian felt sure that he would hate the new Tutor,but when the new Tutor arrived about a week later he turned out to be the sort of person it is almost impossible not to like.He was the smallest,and also the fattest,man Caspian had ever seen.He had a long,silvery,pointed beard which came down to his waist,and his face,which was brown and covered with wrinkles,looked very wise,very ugly,and very kind.His voice was grave and his eyes were merry so that,until you got to know him really well,it was hard to know when he was joking and when he was serious.His name was Doctor Cornelius.

Of all his lessons with Doctor Cornelius the one that Caspian liked best was History.Up till now,except for Nurse's stories,he had known nothing about the History of Narnia,and he was very surprised to learn that the royal family were newcomers in the country.

“It was your Highness's ancestor,Caspian the First,” said Doctor Cornelius,“who first conquered Narnia and made it his kingdom.It was he who brought all your nation into the country.You are not native Narnians at all.You are all Telmarines –that is,you all came from the Land of Telmar,far beyond the Western Mountains.That is why Caspian the First is called Caspian the Conqueror.”

“Please,Doctor,” asked Caspian one day,“who lived in Narnia before we all came here out of Telmar?”

“No men – or very few – lived in Narnia before the Telmarines took it,” said Doctor Cornelius.

“Then who did my great-great-grandcesters conquer?”

“Whom,not who,your Highness,” said Doctor Cornelius.“Perhaps it is time to turn from History to Grammar.”

“Oh,please,not yet,” said Caspian.“I mean,wasn't there a battle?Why is he called Caspian the Conqueror if there was nobody to fight with him?”

“I said there were very few men in Narnia,” said the Doctor,looking at the little boy very strangely through his great spectacles.

For a moment Caspian was puzzled and then suddenly his heart gave a leap.“Do you mean,” he gasped,“that there were other things?Do you mean it was like in the stories?Were there—?”

“Hush!” said Doctor Cornelius,laying his head very close to Caspian's.“Not a word more.Don't you know your Nurse was sent away for telling you about Old Narnia?The King doesn't like it.If he found me telling you secrets,you'd be whipped and I should have my head cut off.”

“But why?” asked Caspian.

“It is high time we turned to Grammar now,”said Doctor Cornelius in a loud voice.“Will your Royal Highness be pleased to open Pulverulentus Siccus at the fourth page of his Grammatical Garden or the Arbour of Accidence pleasantlie open'd to Tender Wits?”

After that it was all nouns and verbs till lunchtime,but I don't think Caspian learned much.He was too excited.He felt sure that Doctor Cornelius would not have said so much unless he meant to tell him more sooner or later.

In this he was not disappointed.A few days later his Tutor said,“Tonight I am going to give you a lesson in Astronomy.At the dead of night two noble planets,Tarva and Alambil,will pass within one degree of each other.Such a conjunction has not occurred for two hundred years,and your Highness will not live to see it again.It will be best if you go to bed a little earlier than usual.When the time of the conjunction draws near I will come and wake you.”

This didn't seem to have anything to do with Old Narnia,which was what Caspian really wanted to hear about,but getting up in the middle of the night is always interesting and he was moderately pleased.When he went to bed that night,he thought at first that he would not be able to sleep；but he soon dropped off and it seemed only a few minutes before he felt someone gently shaking him.

He sat up in bed and saw that the room was full of moonlight.Doctor Cornelius,muffled in a hooded robe and holding a small lamp in his hand,stood by the bedside.Caspian remembered at once what they were going to do.He got up and put on some clothes.Although it was a summer night he felt colder than he had expected and was quite glad when the Doctor wrapped him in a robe like his own and gave him a pair of warm,soft buskins for his feet.A moment later,both muffled so that they could hardly be seen in the dark corridors,and both shod so that they made almost no noise,master and pupil left the room.

Caspian followed the Doctor through many passages and up several staircases,and at last,through a little door in a turret,they came out upon the leads.On one side were the battlements,on the other a steep roof；below them,all shadowy and shimmery,the castle gardens；above them,stars and moon.Presently they came to another door which led into the great central tower of the whole castle；Doctor Cornelius unlocked it and they began to climb the dark winding stair of the tower.Caspian was becoming excited；he had never been allowed up this stair before.

It was long and steep,but when they came out on the roof of the tower and Caspian had got his breath,he felt that it had been well worth it.Away on his right he could see,rather indistinctly,the Western Mountains.On his left was the gleam of the Great River,and everything was so quiet that he could hear the sound of the waterfall at Beaversdam,a mile away.There was no difficulty in picking out the two stars they had come to see.They hung rather low in the southern sky,almost as bright as two little moons and very close together.

“Are they going to have a collision?” he asked in an awestruck voice.

“Nay,dear Prince,” said the Doctor(and he too spoke in a whisper).“The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance too well for that.Look well upon them.Their meeting is fortunate and means some great good for the sad realm of Narnia.Tarva,the Lord of Victory,salutes Alambil,the Lady of Peace.They are just coming to their nearest.”

“It's a pity that tree gets in the way,” said Caspian.“We'd really see better from the West Tower,though it is not so high.”

Doctor Cornelius said nothing for about two minutes,but stood still with his eyes fixed on Tarva and Alambil.Then he drew a deep breath and turned to Caspian.

“There,” he said.“You have seen what no man now alive has seen,nor will see again.And you are right.We should have seen it even better from the smaller tower.I brought you here for another reason.”

Caspian looked up at him,but the Doctor's hood concealed most of his face.

“The virtue of this tower,” said Doctor Cornelius,“is that we have six empty rooms beneath us,and a long stair,and the door at the bottom of the stair is locked.We cannot be overheard.”

“Are you going to tell me what you wouldn't tell me the other day?” said Caspian.

“I am,” said the Doctor.“But remember.You and I must never talk about these things except here –on the very top of the Great Tower.”

“No.That's a promise,” said Caspian.“But do go on,please.”

“Listen,” said the Doctor.“All you have heard about Old Narnia is true.It is not the land of Men.It is the country of Aslan,the country of the Waking Trees and Visible Naiads,of Fauns and Satyrs,of Dwarfs and Giants,of the gods and the Centaurs,of Talking Beasts.It was against these that the first Caspian fought.It is you Telmarines who silenced the beasts and the trees and the fountains,and who killed and drove away the Dwarfs and Fauns,and are now trying to cover up even the memory of them.The King does not allow them to be spoken of.”

“Oh,I do wish we hadn't,” said Caspian.“And I am glad it was all true,even if it is all over.”

“Many of your race wish that in secret,” said Doctor Cornelius.

“But,Doctor,” said Caspian,“why do you say my race?After all,I suppose you're a Telmarine too.”

“Am I?” said the Doctor.

“Well,you're a Man anyway,” said Caspian.

“Am I?” repeated the Doctor in a deeper voice,at the same moment throwing back his hood so that Caspian could see his face clearly in the moonlight.

All at once Caspian realized the truth and felt that he ought to have realized it long before.Doctor Cornelius was so small and so fat,and had such a very long beard.Two thoughts came into his head at the same moment.One was a thought of terror – “He's not a real man,not a man at all,he's a Dwarf,and he's brought me up here to kill me.”The other was sheer delight – “There are real Dwarfs still,and I've seen one at last.”

“So you've guessed it in the end,” said Doctor Cornelius.“Or guessed it nearly right.I'm not a pure Dwarf.I have human blood in me too.Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lived on,shaving their beards and wearing high-heeled shoes and pretending to be men.They have mixed with your Telmarines.I am one of those,only a halfDwarf,and if any of my kindred,the true Dwarfs,are still alive anywhere in the world,doubtless they would despise me and call me a traitor.But never in all these years have we forgotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia,and the long-lost days of freedom.”

“I'm – I'm sorry,Doctor,” said Caspian.“It wasn't my fault,you know.”

“I am not saying these things in blame of you,dear Prince,” answered the Doctor.“You may well ask why I say them at all.But I have two reasons.Firstly,because my old heart has carried these secret memories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you.But secondly,for this：that when you become King you may help us,for I know that you also,Telmarine though you are,love the Old Things.”

“I do,I do,” said Caspian.“But how can I help?”

“You can be kind to the poor remnants of the Dwarf people,like myself.You can gather learned magicians and try to find a way of awakening the trees once more.You can search through all the nooks and wild places of the land to see if any Fauns or Talking Beasts or Dwarfs are perhaps still alive in hiding.”

“Do you think there are any?” asked Caspian eagerly.

“I don't know – I don't know,” said the Doctor with a deep sigh.“Sometimes I am afraid there can't be.I have been looking for traces of them all my life.Sometimes I have thought I heard a Dwarfdrum in the mountains.Sometimes at night,in the woods,I thought I had caught a glimpse of Fauns and Satyrs dancing a long way off；but when I came to the place,there was never anything there.I have often despaired；but something always happens to start me hoping again.I don't know.But at least you can try to be a King like the High King Peter of old,and not like your uncle.”

“Then it's true about the Kings and Queens too,and about the White Witch?” said Caspian.

“Certainly it is true,” said Cornelius.“Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the land has never forgotten them.”

“Did they live in this castle,Doctor?”

“Nay,my dear,” said the old man.“This castle is a thing of yesterday.Your great-great-grandfather built it.But when the two Sons of Adam and the two Daughters of Eve were made Kings and Queens of Narnia by Aslan himself,they lived in the castle of Cair Paravel.No man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the ruins of it have now vanished.But we believe it was far from here,down at the mouth of the Great River,on the very shore of the sea.”

“Ugh!” said Caspian with a shudder.“Do you mean in the Black Woods?Where all the – the –you know,the ghosts live?”

“Your Highness speaks as you have been taught,”said the Doctor.“But it is all lies.There are no ghosts there.That is a story invented by the Telmarines.Your Kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all stories Aslan comes from over the sea.They don't want to go near it and they don't want anyone else to go near it.So they have let great woods grow up to cut their people off from the coast.But because they have quarrelled with the trees,they are afraid of the woods.And because they are afraid of the woods they imagine that they are full of ghosts.And the Kings and great men,hating both the sea and the wood,partly believe these stories,and partly encourage them.They feel safer if no one in Narnia dares to go down to the coast and look out to sea – towards Aslan's land and the morning and the eastern end of the world.”

There was a deep silence between them for a few minutes.Then Doctor Cornelius said,“Come.We have been here long enough.It is time to go down and to bed.”

“Must we?” said Caspian.“I'd like to go on talking about these things for hours and hours and hours.”

“Someone might begin looking for us,if we did that,” said Doctor Cornelius.

CHAPTER 5

Caspian's Adventure in the Mountains

After this,Caspian and his Tutor had many more secret conversations on the top of the Great Tower,and at each conversation Caspian learned more about Old Narnia,so that thinking and dreaming about the old days,and longing that they might come back,filled nearly all his spare hours.But of course he had not many hours to spare,for now his education was beginning in earnest.He learned sword-fighting and riding,swimming and diving,how to shoot with the bow and play on the recorder and the theorbo,how to hunt the stag and cut him up when he was dead,besides Cosmography,Rhetoric,Heraldry,Versification,and of course History,with a little Law,Physics,Alchemy,and Astronomy.Of Magic he learned only the theory,for Doctor Cornelius said the practical part was not proper study for princes.“And I myself,” he added,“am only a very imperfect magician and can do only the smallest experiments.” Of Navigation(“Which is a noble and heroical art,” said the Doctor)he was taught nothing,because King Miraz disapproved of ships and the sea.

He also learned a great deal by using his own eyes and ears.As a little boy he had often wondered why he disliked his aunt,Queen Prunaprismia；he now saw that it was because she disliked him.He also began to see that Narnia was an unhappy country.The taxes were high and the laws were stern and Miraz was a cruel man.

After some years there came a time when the Queen seemed to be ill and there was a great deal of bustle and pother about her in the castle and doctors came and the courtiers whispered.This was in early summertime.And one night,while all this fuss was going on,Caspian was unexpectedly wakened by Doctor Cornelius after he had been only a few hours in bed.

“Are we going to do a little Astronomy,Doctor?”said Caspian.

“Hush!” said the Doctor.“Trust me and do exactly as I tell you.Put on all your clothes；you have a long journey before you.”

Caspian was very surprised,but he had learned to have confidence in his Tutor and he began doing what he was told at once.When he was dressed,the Doctor said,“I have a wallet for you.We must go into the next room and fill it with victuals from your Highness's supper table.”

“My gentlemen-in-waiting will be there,” said Caspian.

“They are fast asleep and will not wake,” said the doctor.“I am a very minor magician but I can at least contrive a charmed sleep.”

They went into the antechamber and there,sure enough,the two gentlemen-in-waiting were,sprawling on chairs and snoring hard.Doctor Cornelius quickly cut up the remains of a cold chicken and some slices of venison and put them,with bread and an apple or so and a little flask of good wine,into the wallet which he then gave to Caspian.It fitted on by a strap over Caspian's shoulder,like a satchel you would use for taking books to school.

“Have you your sword?” asked the Doctor.

“Yes,” said Caspian.

“Then put this mantle over all to hide the sword and the wallet.That's right.And now we must go to the Great Tower and talk.”

When they had reached the top of the Tower(it was a cloudy night,not at all like the night when they had seen the conjunction of Tarva and Alambil),Doctor Cornelius said,

“Dear Prince,you must leave this castle at once and go to seek your fortune in the wide world.Your life is in danger here.”

“Why?” asked Caspian.

“Because you are the true King of Narnia：Caspian the Tenth,the true son and heir of Caspian the Ninth.Long life to your Majesty” – and suddenly,to Caspian's great surprise,the little man dropped down on one knee and kissed his hand.

“What does it all mean?I don't understand,”said Caspian.

“I wonder you have never asked me before,” said the Doctor,“why,being the son of King Caspian,you are not King Caspian yourself.Everyone except your Majesty knows that Miraz is a usurper.When he first began to rule he did not even pretend to be the King：he called himself Lord Protector.But then your royal mother died,the good Queen and the only Telmarine who was ever kind to me.And then,one by one,all the great lords,who had known your father,died or disappeared.Not by accident,either.Miraz weeded them out.Belisar and Uvilas were shot with arrows on a hunting party：by chance,it was pretended.All the great house of the Passarids he sent to fight giants on the northern frontier till one by one they fell.Arlian and Erimon and a dozen more he executed for treason on a false charge.The two brothers of Beaversdam he shut up as madmen.And finally he persuaded the seven noble lords,who alone among all the Telmarines did not fear the sea,to sail away and look for new lands beyond the Eastern Ocean and,as he intended,they never came back.And when there was no one left who could speak a word for you,then his flatterers(as he had instructed them)begged him to become King.And of course he did.”

“Do you mean he now wants to kill me too?”said Caspian.

“That is almost certain,” said Doctor Cornelius.

“But why now?” said Caspian.“I mean,why didn't he do it long ago if he wanted to?And what harm have I done him?”

“He has changed his mind about you because of something that happened only two hours ago.The Queen has had a son.”

“I don't see what that's got to do with it,” said Caspian.

“Don't see!” exclaimed the Doctor.“Have all my lessons in History and Politics taught you no more than that?Listen.As long as he had no children of his own,he was willing enough that you should be King after he died.He may not have cared much about you,but he would rather you should have the throne than a stranger.Now that he has a son of his own he will want his own son to be the next King.You are in the way.He'll clear you out of the way.”

“Is he really as bad as that?” said Caspian.“Would he really murder me?”

“He murdered your Father,” said Doctor Cornelius.

Caspian felt very queer and said nothing.

“I can tell you the whole story,” said the Doctor.“But not now.There is no time.You must fly at once.”

“You'll come with me?” said Caspian.

“I dare not,” said the Doctor.“It would make your danger greater.Two are more easily tracked than one.Dear Prince,dear King Caspian,you must be very brave.You must go alone and at once.Try to get across the southern border to the court of King Nain of Archenland.He will be good to you.”

“Shall I never see you again?” said Caspian in a quavering voice.

“I hope so,dear King,” said the doctor.“What friend have I in the wide world except your Majesty?And I have a little magic.But in the meantime,speed is everything.Here are two gifts before you go.This is a little purse of gold – alas,all the treasure in this castle should be your own by rights.And here is something far better.”

He put in Caspian's hands something which he could hardly see but which he knew by the feel to be a horn.

“That,” said Doctor Cornelius,“is the greatest and most sacred treasure of Narnia.Many terrors I endured,many spells did I utter,to find it,when I was still young.It is the magic horn of Queen Susan herself which she left behind her when she vanished from Narnia at the end of the Golden Age.It is said that whoever blows it shall have strange help – no one can say how strange.It may have the power to call Queen Lucy and King Edmund and Queen Susan and High King Peter back from the past,and they will set all to rights.It may be that it will call up Aslan himself.Take it,King Caspian,but do not use it except at your greatest need.And now,haste,haste,haste.The little door at the very bottom of the Tower,the door into the garden,is unlocked.There we must part.”

“Can't I get my horse,Destrier?” said Caspian.

“He is already saddled and waiting for you just at the corner of the orchard.”

During the long climb down the winding staircase Cornelius whispered many more words of direction and advice.Caspian's heart was sinking,but he tried to take it all in.Then came the fresh air in the garden,a fervent handclasp with the Doctor,a run across the lawn,a welcoming whinny from Destrier,and so King Caspian the Tenth left the castle of his fathers.Looking back,he saw fireworks going up to celebrate the birth of the new prince.

All night he rode southward,choosing by-ways and bridle paths through woods as long as he was in country that he knew；but afterwards he kept to the high road.Destrier was as excited as his master at this unusual journey,and Caspian,though tears had come into his eyes at saying goodbye to Doctor Cornelius,felt brave and,in a way,happy,to think that he was King Caspian riding to seek adventures,with his sword on his left hip and Queen Susan's magic horn on his right.But when day came,with a sprinkle of rain,and he looked about him and saw on every side unknown woods,wild heaths,and blue mountains,he thought how large and strange the world was and felt frightened and small.

As soon as it was full daylight he left the road and found an open grassy place amid a wood where he could rest.He took off Destrier's bridle and let him graze,ate some cold chicken and drank a little wine,and presently fell asleep.It was late afternoon when he awoke.He ate a morsel and continued his journey,still southward,by many unfrequented lanes.He was now in a land of hills,going up and down,but always more up than down.From every ridge he could see the mountains growing bigger and blacker ahead.As the evening closed in,he was riding their lower slopes.The wind rose.Soon rain fell in torrents.Destrier became uneasy；there was thunder in the air.And now they entered a dark and seemingly endless pine forest,and all the stories Caspian had ever heard of trees being unfriendly to Man crowded into his mind.He remembered that he was,after all,a Telmarine,one of the race who cut down trees wherever they could and were at war with all wild things；and though he himself might be unlike other Telmarines,the trees could not be expected to know this.

Nor did they.The wind became a tempest,the woods roared and creaked all round them.There came a crash.A tree fell right across the road just behind him.“Quiet,Destrier,quiet!” said Caspian,patting his horse's neck；but he was trembling himself and knew that he had escaped death by an inch.Lightning flashed and a great crack of thunder seemed to break the sky in two just overhead.Destrier bolted in good earnest.Caspian was a good rider,but he had not the strength to hold him back.

He kept his seat,but he knew that his life hung by a thread during the wild career that followed.Tree after tree rose up before them in the dusk and was only just avoided.Then,almost too suddenly to hurt(and yet it did hurt him too)something struck Caspian on the forehead and he knew no more.When he came to himself he was lying in a firelit place with bruised limbs and a bad headache.Low voices were speaking close at hand.

“And now,” said one,“before it wakes up we must decide what to do with it.”

“Kill it,” said another.“We can't let it live.It would betray us.”

“We ought to have killed it at once,or else let it alone,” said a third voice.“We can't kill it now.Not after we've taken it in and bandaged its head and all.It would be murdering a guest.”

“Gentlemen,” said Caspian in a feeble voice,“whatever you do to me,I hope you will be kind to my poor horse.”

“Your horse had taken flight long before we found you,” said the first voice – a curiously husky,earthy voice,as Caspian now noticed.

“Now don't let it talk you round with its pretty words,” said the second voice.“I still say—”

“Horns and halibuts!” exclaimed the third voice.“Of course we're not going to murder it.For shame,Nikabrik.What do you say,Trufflehunter?What shall we do with it?”

“I shall give it a drink,” said the first voice,presumably Trufflehunter's.A dark shape approached the bed.Caspian felt an arm slipped gently under his shoulders – if it was exactly an arm.The shape somehow seemed wrong.The face that bent towards him seemed wrong too.He got the impression that it was very hairy and very long nosed,and there were odd white patches on each side of it.“It's a mask of some sort,” thought Caspian.“Or perhaps I'm in a fever and imagining it all.” A cupful of something sweet and hot was set to his lips and he drank.At that moment one of the others poked the fire.A blaze sprang up and Caspian almost screamed with the shock as the sudden light revealed the face that was looking into his own.It was not a man's face but a badger's,though larger and friendlier and more intelligent than the face of any badger he had seen before.And it had certainly been talking.He saw,too,that he was on a bed of heather,in a cave.By the fire sat two little bearded men,so much wilder and shorter and hairier and thicker than Doctor Cornelius that he knew them at once for real Dwarfs,ancient Dwarfs with not a drop of human blood in their veins.And Caspian knew that he had found the Old Narnians at last.Then his head began to swim again.

In the next few days he learned to know them by names.The Badger was called Trufflehunter；he was the oldest and kindest of the three.The Dwarf who had wanted to kill Caspian was a sour Black Dwarf(that is,his hair and beard were black and thick and hard like horsehair).His name was Nikabrik.The other Dwarf was a Red Dwarf with hair rather like a Fox's and he was called Trumpkin.

“And now,” said Nikabrik on the first evening when Caspian was well enough to sit up and talk,“we still have to decide what to do with this Human.You two think you've done it a great kindness by not letting me kill it.But I suppose the upshot is that we have to keep it a prisoner for life.I'm certainly not going to let it go alive – to go back to its own kind and betray us all.”

“Bulbs and bolsters,Nikabrik!” said Trumpkin.“Why need you talk so unhandsomely?It isn't the creature's fault that it bashed its head against a tree outside our hole.And I don't think it looks like a traitor.”

“I say,” said Caspian,“you haven't yet found out whether I want to go back.I don't.I want to stay with you – if you'll let me.I've been looking for people like you all my life.”

“That's a likely story,” growled Nikabrik.“You're a Telmarine and a Human,aren't you?Of course you want to go back to your own kind.”

“Well,even if I did,I couldn't,” said Caspian.“I was flying for my life when I had my accident.The King wants to kill me.If you'd killed me,you'd have done the very thing to please him.”

“Well,now,” said Trufflehunter,“you don't say so!”

“Eh?” said Trumpkin.“What's that?What have you been doing,Human,to fall foul of Miraz at your age?”

“He's my uncle,” began Caspian,when Nikabrik jumped up with his hand on his dagger.

“There you are!” he cried.“Not only a Telmarine but close kin and heir to our greatest enemy.Are you still mad enough to let this creature live?” He would have stabbed Caspian then and there,if the Badger and Trumpkin had not got in the way and forced him back to his seat and held him down.

“Now,once and for all,Nikabrik,” said Trumpkin.“Will you contain yourself,or must Trufflehunter and I sit on your head?”

Nikabrik sulkily promised to behave,and the other two asked Caspian to tell his whole story.When he had done so there was a moment's silence.

“This is the queerest thing I ever heard,” said Trumpkin.

“I don't like it,” said Nikabrik.“I didn't know there were stories about us still told among the Humans.The less they know about us the better.That old nurse,now.She'd better have held her tongue.And it's all mixed up with that Tutor：a renegade Dwarf.I hate 'em.I hate 'em worse than the Humans.You mark my words – no good will come of it.”

“Don't you go talking about things you don't understand,Nikabrik,” said Trufflehunter.“You Dwarfs are as forgetful and changeable as the Humans themselves.I'm a beast,I am,and a Badger what's more.We don't change.We hold on.I say great good will come of it.This is the true King of Narnia.And we beasts remember,even if Dwarfs forget,that Narnia was never right except when a Son of Adam was King.”

“Whistles and whirligigs,Trufflehunter!” said Trumpkin.“You don't mean you want to give the country to Humans?”

“I said nothing about that,” answered the Badger.“It's not Men's country(who should know that better than me?)but it's a country for a man to be King of.We Badgers have long enough memories to know that.Why,bless us all,wasn't the High King Peter a Man?”

“Do you believe all those old stories?” asked Trumpkin.

“I tell you,we don't change,we beasts,” said Trufflehunter.“We don't forget.I believe in the High King Peter and the rest that reigned at Cair Paravel,as firmly as I believe in Aslan himself.”

“As firmly as that,I dare say,” said Trumpkin.“But who believes in Aslan nowadays?”

“I do,” said Caspian.“And if I hadn't believed in him before,I would now.Back there among the Humans,the people who laughed at Aslan would have laughed at stories about Talking Beasts and Dwarfs.Sometimes I did wonder if there really was such a person as Aslan：but then sometimes I wondered if there were really people like you.Yet there you are.”

“That's right,” said Trufflehunter.“You're right,King Caspian.And as long as you will be true to Old Narnia you shall be my King,whatever they say.Long life to your Majesty.”

“You make me sick,Badger,” growled Nikabrik.“The High King Peter and the rest may have been Men,but they were a different sort of Men.This is one of the cursed Telmarines.He has hunted beasts for sport.Haven't you,now?” he added,rounding suddenly on Caspian.

“Well,to tell you the truth,I have,” said Caspian.“But they weren't Talking Beasts.”

“It's all the same thing,” said Nikabrik.

“No,no,no,” said Trufflehunter.“You know it isn't.You know very well that the beasts in Narnia nowadays are different and are no more than the poor dumb,witless creatures you'd find in Calormen or Telmar.They're smaller too.They're far more different from us than the half-Dwarfs are from you.”

There was a great deal more talk,but it all ended with the agreement that Caspian should stay and even the promise that,as soon as he was able to go out,he should be taken to see what Trumpkin called “the Others”；for apparently in these wild parts all sorts of creatures from the Old Days of Narnia still lived on in hiding.

CHAPTER 6

The People that Lived in Hiding

Now began the happiest times that Caspian had ever known.On a fine summer morning when the dew lay on the grass he set off with the Badger and the two Dwarfs,up through the forest to a high saddle in the mountains and down on to their sunny southern slopes where one looked across the green wolds of Archenland.

“We will go first to the Three Bulgy Bears,”said Trumpkin.

They came in a glade to an old hollow oak tree covered with moss,and Trufflehunter tapped with his paw three times on the trunk and there was no answer.Then he tapped again and a woolly sort of voice from inside said,“Go away.It's not time to get up yet.” But when he tapped the third time there was a noise like a small earthquake from inside and a sort of door opened and out came three brown bears,very bulgy indeed and blinking their little eyes.And when everything had been explained to them(which took a long time because they were so sleepy)they said,just as Trufflehunter had said,that a Son of Adam ought to be King of Narnia and all kissed Caspian – very wet,snuffly kisses they were – and offered him some honey.Caspian did not really want honey,without bread,at that time in the morning,but he thought it polite to accept.It took him a long time afterwards to get unsticky.

After that they went on till they came among tall beech trees,and Trufflehunter called out,“Pattertwig!Pattertwig!Pattertwig!” and almost at once,bounding down from branch to branch till he was just above their heads,came the most magnificent red Squirrel that Caspian had ever seen.He was far bigger than the ordinary dumb squirrels which he had sometimes seen in the castle gardens；indeed he was nearly the size of a terrier and the moment you looked in his face you saw that he could talk.Indeed the difficulty was to get him to stop talking,for,like all squirrels,he was a chatterer.He welcomed Caspian at once and asked if he would like a nut and Caspian said thanks,he would.But as Pattertwig went bounding away to fetch it,Trufflehunter whispered in Caspian's ear,“Don't look.Look the other way.It's very bad manners among squirrels to watch anyone going to his store or to look as if you wanted to know where it was.” Then Pattertwig came back with the nut and Caspian ate it and after that Pattertwig asked if he could take any messages to other friends.“For I can go nearly everywhere without setting foot to ground,” he said.Trufflehunter and the Dwarfs thought this a very good idea and gave Pattertwig messages to all sorts of people with queer names telling them all to come to a feast and council on Dancing Lawn at midnight three nights ahead.“And you'd better tell the three Bulgies too,” added Trumpkin.“We forgot to mention it to them.”

Their next visit was to the Seven Brothers of Shuddering Wood.Trumpkin led the way back to the saddle and then down eastward on the northern slope of the mountains till they came to a very solemn place among rocks and fir trees.They went very quietly and presently Caspian could feel the ground shake under his feet as if someone were hammering down below.Trumpkin went to a flat stone about the size of the top of a water-butt,and stamped on it with his foot.After a long pause it was moved away by someone or something underneath,and there was a dark,round hole with a good deal of heat and steam coming out of it and in the middle of the hole the head of a Dwarf very like Trumpkin himself.There was a long talk here and the Dwarf seemed more suspicious than the Squirrel or the Bulgy Bears had been,but in the end the whole party was invited to come down.Caspian found himself descending a dark stairway into the earth,but when he came to the bottom he saw firelight.It was the light of a furnace.The whole place was a smithy.A subterranean stream ran past on one side of it.Two Dwarfs were at the bellows,another was holding a piece of red-hot metal on the anvil with a pair of tongs,a fourth was hammering it,and two,wiping their horny little hands on a greasy cloth,were coming forward to meet the visitors.It took some time to satisfy them that Caspian was a friend and not an enemy,but when they did,they all cried,“Long live the King,” and their gifts were noble – mail shirts and helmets and swords for Caspian and Trumpkin and Nikabrik.The Badger could have had the same if he had liked,but he said he was a beast,he was,and if his claws and teeth could not keep his skin whole,it wasn't worth keeping.The workmanship of the arms was far finer than any Caspian had ever seen,and he gladly accepted the Dwarf-made sword instead of his own,which looked,in comparison,as feeble as a toy and as clumsy as a stick.The seven brothers(who were all Red Dwarfs)promised to come to the feast at Dancing Lawn.

A little farther on,in a dry,rocky ravine,they reached the cave of five Black Dwarfs.They looked suspiciously at Caspian,but in the end the eldest of them said,“If he is against Miraz,we'll have him for King.” And the next oldest said,“Shall we go farther up for you,up to the crags?There's an Ogre or two and a Hag that we could introduce you to,up there.”

“Certainly not,” said Caspian.

“I should think not,indeed,” said Trufflehunter.“We want none of that sort on our side.” Nikabrik disagreed with this,but Trumpkin and the Badger overruled him.It gave Caspian a shock to realize that the horrible creatures out of the old stories,as well as the nice ones,had some descendants in Narnia still.

“We should not have Aslan for a friend if we brought in that rabble,” said Trufflehunter as they came away from the cave of the Black Dwarfs.

“Oh,Aslan!” said Trumpkin,cheerily but contemptuously.“What matters much more is that you wouldn't have me.”

“Do you believe in Aslan?” said Caspian to Nikabrik.

“I'll believe in anyone or anything,” said Nikabrik,“that'll batter these cursed Telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of Narnia.Anyone or anything,Aslan or the White Witch,do you understand?”

“Silence,silence,” said Trufflehunter.“You do not know what you are saying.She was a worse enemy than Miraz and all his race.”

“Not to Dwarfs,she wasn't,” said Nikabrik.

Their next visit was a pleasanter one.As they came lower down,the mountains opened out into a great glen or wooded forge with a swift river running at the bottom.The open places near the river's edge were a mass of foxgloves and wild roses and the air was buzzing with bees.Here Trufflehunter called again,“Glenstorm!Glenstorm!”and after a pause Caspian heard the sound of hoofs.It grew louder till the valley trembled and at last,breaking and trampling the thickets,there came in sight the noblest creatures that Caspian had yet seen,the great Centaur Glenstorm and his three sons.His flanks were glossy chestnut and the beard that covered his broad chest was golden-red.He was a prophet and a star-gazer and knew what they had come about.

“Long live the King,” he cried.“I and my sons are ready for war.When is the battle to be joined?”

Up till now neither Caspian nor the others had really been thinking of a war.They had some vague idea,perhaps,of an occasional raid on some Human farmstead or of attacking a party of hunters,if it ventured too far into these southern wilds.But,in the main,they had thought only of living to themselves in woods and caves and building up an attempt at Old Narnia in hiding.As soon as Glenstorm had spoken everyone felt much more serious.

“Do you mean a real war to drive Miraz out of Narnia?” asked Caspian.

“What else?” said the Centaur.“Why else does your Majesty go clad in mail and girt with sword?”

“Is it possible,Glenstorm?” said the Badger.

“The time is ripe,” said Glenstorm.“I watch the skies,Badger,for it is mine to watch,as it is yours to remember.Tarva and Alambil have met in the halls of high heaven,and on earth a Son of Adam has once more arisen to rule and name the creatures.The hour has struck.Our council at the Dancing Lawn must be a council of war.” He spoke in such a voice that neither Caspian nor the others hesitated for a moment：it now seemed to them quite possible that they might win a war and quite certain that they must wage one.

As it was now past the middle of the day,they rested with the Centaurs and ate such food as the Centaurs provided – cakes of oaten meal,and apples,and herbs,and wine,and cheese.

The next place they were to visit was quite near at hand,but they had to go a long way round in order to avoid a region in which Men lived.It was well into the afternoon before they found themselves in level fields,warm between hedgerows.There Trufflehunter called at the mouth of a little hole in a green bank and out popped the last thing Caspian expected – a Talking Mouse.He was of course bigger than a common mouse,well over a foot high when he stood on his hind legs,and with ears nearly as long as(though broader than)a rabbit's.His name was Reepicheep and he was a gay and martial mouse.He wore a tiny little rapier at his side and twirled his long whiskers as if they were a moustache.“There are twelve of us,Sire,” he said with a dashing and graceful bow,“and I place all the resources of my people unreservedly at your Majesty's disposal.”

Caspian tried hard(and successfully)not to laugh,but he couldn't help thinking that Reepicheep and all his people could very easily be put in a washing basket and carried home on one's back.

It would take too long to mention all the creatures whom Caspian met that day – Clodsley Shovel the Mole,the three Hardbiters(who were badgers like Trufflehunter),Camillo the Hare,and Hogglestock the Hedgehog.They rested at last beside a well at the edge of a wide and level circle of grass,bordered with tall elms which now threw long shadows across it,for the sun was setting,the daisies closing,and the rooks flying home to bed.Here they supped on food they had brought with them and Trumpkin lit his pipe(Nikabrik was not a smoker).

“Now,” said the Badger,“if only we could wake the spirits of these trees and this well,we should have done a good day's work.”

“Can't we?” said Caspian.

“No,” said Trufflehunter.“We have no power over them.Since the Humans came into the land,felling forests and defiling streams,the Dryads and Naiads have sunk into a deep sleep.Who knows if ever they will stir again?And that is a great loss to our side.The Telmarines are horribly afraid of the woods,and once the Trees moved in anger,our enemies would go mad with fright and be chased out of Narnia as quick as their legs could carry them.”

“What imaginations you Animals have!” said Trumpkin,who didn't believe in such things.“But why stop at Trees and Waters?Wouldn't it be even nicer if the stones started throwing themselves at old Miraz?”

The Badger only grunted at this,and after that there was such a silence that Caspian had nearly dropped off to sleep when he thought he heard a faint musical sound from the depth of the woods at his back.Then he thought it was only a dream and turned over again,but as soon as his ear touched the ground he felt or heard(it was hard to tell which)a faint beating or drumming.He raised his head.The beating noise at once became fainter,but the music returned,clearer this time.It was like flutes.He saw that Trufflehunter was sitting up staring into the wood.The moon was bright；Caspian had been asleep longer than he thought.Nearer and nearer came the music,a tune wild and yet dreamy,and the noise of many light feet,till at last,out from the wood into the moonlight,came dancing shapes such as Caspian had been thinking of all his life.They were not much taller than Dwarfs,but far slighter and more graceful.Their curly heads had little horns,the upper part of their bodies gleamed naked in the pale light,but their legs and feet were those of goats.

“Fauns!” cried Caspian,jumping up,and in a moment they were all round him.It took next to no time to explain the whole situation to them and they accepted Caspian at once.Before he knew what he was doing he found himself joining in the dance.Trumpkin,with heavier and jerkier movements,did likewise and even Trufflehunter hopped and lumbered about as best he could.Only Nikabrik stayed where he was,looking on in silence.The Fauns footed it all round Caspian to their reedy pipes.Their strange faces,which seemed mournful and merry all at once,looked into his；dozens of Fauns,Mentius and Obentinus and Dumnus,Voluns,Voltinus,Girbius,Nimienus,Nausus,and Oscuns.Pattertwig had sent them all.

When Caspian awoke next morning he could hardly believe that it had not all been a dream；but the grass was covered with little cloven hoof-marks.

CHAPTER 7

Old Narnia in Danger

The place where they had met the Fauns was,of course,Dancing Lawn itself,and here Caspian and his friends remained till the night of the Great Council.To sleep under the stars,to drink nothing but well water and to live chiefly on nuts and wild fruit,was a strange experience for Caspian after his bed with silken sheets in a tapestried chamber at the castle,with meals laid out on gold and silver dishes in the anteroom,and attendants ready at his call.But he had never enjoyed himself more.Never had sleep been more refreshing nor food tasted more savoury,and he began already to harden and his face wore a kinglier look.

When the great night came,and his various strange subjects came stealing into the lawn by ones and twos and threes or by sixes and sevens – the moon then shining almost at her full – his heart swelled as he saw their numbers and heard their greetings.All whom he had met were there：Bulgy Bears and Red Dwarfs and Black Dwarfs,Moles and Badgers,Hares and Hedgehogs,and others whom he had not yet seen – five Satyrs as red as foxes,the whole contingent of Talking Mice,armed to the teeth and following a shrill trumpet,some Owls,the Old Raven of Ravenscaur.Last of all(and this took Caspian's breath away),with the Centaurs came a small but genuine Giant,Wimbleweather of Deadman's Hill,carrying on his back a basketful of rather sea-sick Dwarfs who had accepted his offer of a lift and were now wishing they had walked instead.

The Bulgy Bears were very anxious to have the feast first and leave the council till afterwards；perhaps till tomorrow.Reepicheep and his Mice said that councils and feasts could both wait,and proposed storming Miraz in his own castle that very night.Pattertwig and the other Squirrels said they could talk and eat at the same time,so why not have the council and feast all at once?The Moles proposed throwing up entrenchments round the Lawn before they did anything else.The Fauns thought it would be better to begin with a solemn dance.The Old Raven,while agreeing with the Bears that it would take too long to have a full council before supper,begged to be allowed to give a brief address to the whole company.But Caspian and the Centaurs and the Dwarfs overruled all these suggestions and insisted on holding a real council of war at once.

When all the other creatures had been persuaded to sit down quietly in a great circle,and when(with more difficulty)they had got Pattertwig to stop running to and fro and saying,“Silence!Silence,everyone,for the King's speech”,Caspian,feeling a little nervous,got up.“Narnians!” he began,but he never got any further,for at that very moment Camillo the Hare said,“Hush!There's a Man somewhere near.”

They were all creatures of the wild,accustomed to being hunted,and they all became still as statues.The beasts all turned their noses in the direction which Camillo had indicated.

“Smells like Man and yet not quite like Man,”whispered Trufflehunter.

“It's getting steadily nearer,” said Camillo.

“Two Badgers and you three Dwarfs,with your bows at the ready,go softly off to meet it,” said Caspian.

“We'll settle 'un,” said a Black Dwarf grimly,fitting a shaft to his bowstring.

“Don't shoot if it is alone,” said Caspian.“Catch it.”

“Why?” asked the Dwarf.

“Do as you're told,” said Glenstorm the Centaur.

Everyone waited in silence while the three Dwarfs and two Badgers trotted stealthily across to the trees on the north-west side of the Lawn.Then came a sharp dwarfish cry,“Stop!Who goes there?” and a sudden spring.A moment later a voice,which Caspian knew well,could be heard saying,“All right,all right,I'm unarmed.Take my wrists if you like,worthy Badgers,but don't bite right through them.I want to speak to the King.”

“Doctor Cornelius!” cried Caspian with joy,and rushed forward to greet his old tutor.Everyone else crowded round.

“Pah!” said Nikabrik.“A renegade Dwarf.A halfand-halfer!Shall I pass my sword through its throat?”

“Be quiet,Nikabrik,” said Trumpkin.“The creature can't help its ancestry.”

“This is my greatest friend and the saviour of my life,” said Caspian.“And anyone who doesn't like his company may leave my army：at once.Dearest Doctor,I am glad to see you again.How ever did you find us out?”

“By a little use of simple magic,your Majesty,”said the Doctor,who was still puffing and blowing from having walked so fast.“But there's no time to go into that now.We must all fly from this place at once.You are already betrayed and Miraz is on the move.Before midday tomorrow you will be surrounded.”

“Betrayed!” said Caspian.“And by whom?”

“Another renegade Dwarf,no doubt,” said Nikabrik.

“By your horse Destrier,” said Doctor Cornelius.“The poor brute knew no better.When you were knocked off,of course,he went dawdling back to his stable in the castle.Then the secret of your flight was known.I made myself scarce,having no wish to be questioned about it in Miraz's torture chamber.I had a pretty good guess from my crystal as to where I should find you.But all day – that was the day before yesterday – I saw Miraz's tracking parties out in the woods.Yesterday I learned that his army is out.I don't think some of your – um – pure-blooded Dwarfs have as much woodcraft as might be expected.You've left tracks all over the place.Great carelessness.At any rate something has warned Miraz that Old Narnia is not so dead as he had hoped,and he is on the move.”

“Hurray!” said a very shrill and small voice from somewhere at the Doctor's feet.“Let them come!All I ask is that the King will put me and my people in the front.”

“What on earth?” said Doctor Cornelius.“Has your Majesty got grasshoppers – or mosquitoes –in your army?” Then after stooping down and peering carefully through his spectacles,he broke into a laugh.

“By the Lion,” he swore,“it's a mouse.Signior Mouse,I desire your better acquaintance.I am honoured by meeting so valiant a beast.”

“My friendship you shall have,learned Man,”piped Reepicheep.“And any Dwarf – or Giant – in the army who does not give you good language shall have my sword to reckon with.”

“Is there time for this foolery?” asked Nikabrik.“What are our plans?Battle or flight?”

“Battle if need be,” said Trumpkin.“But we are hardly ready for it yet,and this is no very defensible place.”

“I don't like the idea of running away,” said Caspian.

“Hear him!Hear him!” said the Bulgy Bears.“Whatever we do,don't let's have any running.Especially not before supper；and not too soon after it neither.”

“Those who run first do not always run last,” said the Centaur.“And why should we let the enemy choose our position instead of choosing it ourselves?Let us find a strong place.”

“That's wise,your Majesty,that's wise,” said Trufflehunter.

“But where are we to go?” asked several voices.

“Your Majesty,” said Doctor Cornelius,“and all you variety of creatures,I think we must fly east and down the river to the great woods.The Telmarines hate that region.They have always been afraid of the sea and of something that may come over the sea.That is why they have let the great woods grow up.If traditions speak true,the ancient Cair Paravel was at the river-mouth.All that part is friendly to us and hateful to our enemies.We must go to Aslan's How.”

“Aslan's How?” said several voices.“We do not know what it is.”

“It lies within the skirts of the Great Woods and it is a huge mound which Narnians raised in very ancient times over a very magical place,where there stood – and perhaps still stands – a very magical Stone.The Mound is all hollowed out within into galleries and caves,and the Stone is in the central cave of all.There is room in the mound for all our stores,and those of us who have most need of cover and are most accustomed to underground life can be lodged in the caves.The rest of us can lie in the wood.At a pinch all of us(except this worthy Giant)could retreat into the Mound itself,and there we should be beyond the reach of every danger except famine.”

“It is a good thing we have a learned man among us,” said Trufflehunter；but Trumpkin muttered under his breath,“Soup and celery!I wish our leaders would think less about these old wives' tales and more about victuals and arms.” But all approved of Cornelius's proposal and that very night,half an hour later,they were on the march.Before sunrise they arrived at Aslan's How.

It was certainly an awesome place,a round green hill on top of another hill,long since grown over with trees,and one little,low doorway leading into it.The tunnels inside were a perfect maze till you got to know them,and they were lined and roofed with smooth stones,and on the stones,peering in the twilight,Caspian saw strange characters and snaky patterns,and pictures in which the form of a Lion was repeated again and again.It all seemed to belong to an even older Narnia than the Narnia of which his nurse had told him.

It was after they had taken up their quarters in and around the How that fortune began to turn against them.King Miraz's scouts soon found their new lair,and he and his army arrived on the edge of the woods.And as so often happens,the enemy turned out stronger than they had reckoned.Caspian's heart sank as he saw company after company arriving.And though Miraz's men may have been afraid of going into the wood,they were even more afraid of Miraz,and with him in command they carried battle deeply into it and sometimes almost to the How itself.Caspian and other captains of course made many sorties into the open country.Thus there was fighting on most days and sometimes by night as well；but Caspian's party had on the whole the worst of it.

At last there came a night when everything had gone as badly as possible,and the rain which had been falling heavily all day had ceased at nightfall only to give place to raw cold.That morning Caspian had arranged what was his biggest battle yet,and all had hung their hopes on it.He,with most of the Dwarfs,was to have fallen on the King's right wing at daybreak,and then,when they were heavily engaged,Giant Wimbleweather,with the Centaurs and some of the fiercest beasts,was to have broken out from another place and endeavoured to cut the King's right off from the rest of the army.But it had all failed.No one had warned Caspian(because no one in these later days of Narnia remembered)that Giants are not at all clever.Poor Wimbleweather,though as brave as a lion,was a true Giant in that respect.He had broken out at the wrong time and from the wrong place,and both his party and Caspian's had suffered badly and done the enemy little harm.The best of the Bears had been hurt,a Centaur terribly wounded,and there were few in Caspian's party who had not lost blood.It was a gloomy company that huddled under the dripping trees to eat their scanty supper.

The gloomiest of all was Giant Wimbleweather.He knew it was all his fault.He sat in silence shedding big tears which collected on the end of his nose and then fell off with a huge splash on the whole bivouac of the Mice,who had just been beginning to get warm and drowsy.

They all jumped up,shaking the water out of their ears and wringing their little blankets,and asked the Giant in shrill but forcible voices whether he thought they weren't wet enough without this sort of thing.And then other people woke up and told the Mice they had been enrolled as scouts and not as a concert party,and asked why they couldn't keep quiet.And Wimbleweather tiptoed away to find some place where he could be miserable in peace,and stepped on somebody's tail and somebody(they said afterwards it was a fox)bit him.And so everyone was out of temper.

But in the secret and magical chamber at the heart of the How,King Caspian,with Cornelius and the Badger and Nikabrik and Trumpkin,were at council.Thick pillars of ancient workmanship supported the roof.In the centre was the Stone itself – a stone table,split right down the centre,and covered with what had once been writing of some kind：but ages of wind and rain and snow had almost worn it away in old times when the Stone Table had stood on the hilltop,and the Mound had not yet been built above it.They were not using the Table nor sitting round it：it was too magic a thing for any common use.They sat on logs a little way from it,and between them was a rough wooden table,on which stood a rude clay lamp lighting up their pale faces and throwing big shadows on the walls.

“If your Majesty is ever to use the Horn,” said Trufflehunter,“I think the time has now come.”Caspian had of course told them of his treasure several days ago.

“We are certainly in great need,” answered Caspian.“But it is hard to be sure we are at our greatest.Supposing there came an even worse need and we had already used it?”

“By that argument,” said Nikabrik,“your Majesty will never use it until it is too late.”

“I agree with that,” said Doctor Cornelius.

“And what do you think,Trumpkin?” asked Caspian.

“Oh,as for me,” said the Red Dwarf,who had been listening with complete indifference,“your Majesty knows I think the Horn – and that bit of broken stone over there – and your great King Peter – and your Lion Aslan – are all eggs in moonshine.It's all one to me when your Majesty blows the Horn.All I insist on is that the army is told nothing about it.There's no good raising hopes of magical help which(as I think)are sure to be disappointed.”

“Then in the name of Aslan we will wind Queen Susan's Horn,” said Caspian.

“There is one thing,Sire,” said Doctor Cornelius,“that should perhaps be done first.We do not know what form the help will take.It might call Aslan himself from oversea.But I think it is more likely to call Peter the High King and his mighty consorts down from the high past.But in either case,I do not think we can be sure that the help will come to this very spot—”

“You never said a truer word,” put in Trumpkin.

“I think,” went on the learned man,“that they –or he – will come back to one or other of the Ancient Places of Narnia.This,where we now sit,is the most ancient and most deeply magical of all,and here,I think,the answer is likeliest to come.But there are two others.One is Lantern Waste,up-river,west of Beaversdam,where the Royal Children first appeared in Narnia,as the records tell.The other is down at the river-mouth,where their castle of Cair Paravel once stood.And if Aslan himself comes,that would be the best place for meeting him too,for every story says that he is the son of the great Emperor-over-Sea,and over the sea he will pass.I should like very much to send messengers to both places,to Lantern Waste and the river-mouth,to receive them – or him – or it.”

“Just as I thought,” muttered Trumpkin.“The first result of all this foolery is not to bring us help but to lose us two fighters.”

“Who would you think of sending,Doctor Cornelius?” asked Caspian.

“Squirrels are best for getting through enemy country without being caught,” said Trufflehunter.

“All our squirrels(and we haven't many),” said Nikabrik,“are rather flighty.The only one I'd trust on a job like that would be Pattertwig.”

“Let it be Pattertwig,then,” said King Caspian.“And who for our other messenger?I know you'd go,Trufflehunter,but you haven't the speed.Nor you,Doctor Cornelius.”

“I won't go,” said Nikabrik.“With all these Humans and beasts about,there must be a Dwarf here to see that the Dwarfs are fairly treated.”

“Thimbles and thunderstorms!” cried Trumpkin in a rage.“Is that how you speak to the King?Send me,Sire,I'll go.”

“But I thought you didn't believe in the Horn,Trumpkin,” said Caspian.

“No more I do,your Majesty.But what's that got to do with it?I might as well die on a wild goose chase as die here.You are my King.I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders.You've had my advice,and now it's the time for orders.”

“I will never forget this,Trumpkin,” said Caspian.“Send for Pattertwig,one of you.And when shall I blow the Horn?”

“I would wait for sunrise,your Majesty,” said Doctor Cornelius.“That sometimes has an effect in operations of White Magic.”

A few minutes later Pattertwig arrived and had his task explained to him.As he was,like many squirrels,full of courage and dash and energy and excitement and mischief(not to say conceit),he no sooner heard it than he was eager to be off.It was arranged that he should run for Lantern Waste while Trumpkin made the shorter journey to the river-mouth.After a hasty meal they both set off with fervent thanks and good wishes of the King,the Badger,and Cornelius.

CHAPTER 8

How They Left the Island

“And so,” said Trumpkin(for,as you have realized,it was he who had been telling all this story to the four children,sitting on the grass in the ruined hall of Cair Paravel)– “and so I put a crust or two in my pocket,left behind all weapons but my dagger,and took to the woods in the grey of the morning.I'd been plugging away for many hours when there came a sound that I'd never heard the like of in my born days.Eh,I won't forget that.The whole air was full of it,loud as thunder but far longer,cool and sweet as music over water,but strong enough to shake the woods.And I said to myself,'If that's not the Horn,call me a rabbit.'And a moment later I wondered why he hadn't blown it sooner—”

“What time was it?” asked Edmund.

“Between nine and ten of the clock,” said Trumpkin.

“Just when we were at the railway station!” said all the children,and looked at one another with shining eyes.

“Please go on,” said Lucy to the Dwarf.

“Well,as I was saying,I wondered,but I went on as hard as I could pelt.I kept on all night – and then,when it was half light this morning,as if I'd no more sense than a Giant,I risked a short cut across open country to cut off a big loop of the river,and was caught.Not by the army,but by a pompous old fool who has charge of a little castle which is Miraz's last stronghold towards the coast.I needn't tell you they got no true tale out of me,but I was a Dwarf and that was enough.But,lobsters and lollipops!It is a good thing the seneschal was a pompous fool.Anyone else would have run me through there and then.But nothing would do for him short of a grand execution：sending me down 'to the ghosts' in the full ceremonial way.And then this young lady”(he nodded at Susan)“does her bit of archery – and it was pretty shooting,let me tell you– and here we are.And without my armour,for of course they took that.” He knocked out and refilled his pipe.

“Great Scott!” said Peter.“So it was the horn –your own horn,Su – that dragged us all off that seat on the platform yesterday morning!I can hardly believe it；yet it all fits in.”

“I don't know why you shouldn't believe it,” said Lucy,“if you believe in magic at all.Aren't there lots of stories about magic forcing people out of one place – out of one world – into another?I mean,when a magician in The Arabian Nights calls up a Jinn,it has to come.We had to come,just like that.”

“Yes,” said Peter,“I suppose what makes it feel so queer is that in the stories it's always someone in our world who does the calling.One doesn't really think about where the Jinn's coming from.”

“And now we know what it feels like for the Jinn,” said Edmund with a chuckle.“Golly!It's a bit uncomfortable to know that we can be whistled for like that.It's worse than what Father says about living at the mercy of the telephone.”

“But we want to be here,don't we,” said Lucy,“if Aslan wants us?”

“Meanwhile,” said the Dwarf,“what are we to do?I suppose I'd better go back to King Caspian and tell him no help has come.”

“No help?” said Susan.“But it has worked.And here we are.”

“Um – um – yes,to be sure.I see that,” said the Dwarf,whose pipe seemed to be blocked(at any rate he made himself very busy cleaning it).“But –well – I mean—”

“But don't you yet see who we are?” shouted Lucy.“You are stupid.”

“I suppose you are the four children out of the old stories,” said Trumpkin.“And I'm very glad to meet you of course.And it's very interesting,no doubt.But – no offence?” – and he hesitated again.

“Do get on and say whatever you're going to say,” said Edmund.

“Well,then – no offence,” said Trumpkin.“But,you know,the King and Trufflehunter and Doctor Cornelius were expecting – well,if you see what I mean,help.To put it in another way,I think they'd been imagining you as great warriors.As it is –we're awfully fond of children and all that,but just at the moment,in the middle of a war – but I'm sure you understand.”

“You mean you think we're no good,” said Edmund,getting red in the face.

“Now pray don't be offended,” interrupted the Dwarf.“I assure you,my dear little friends—”

“Little from you is really a bit too much,” said Edmund,jumping up.“I suppose you don't believe we won the Battle of Beruna?Well,you can say what you like about me because I know—”

“There's no good losing our tempers,” said Peter.“Let's fit him out with fresh armour and fit ourselves out from the treasure chamber,and have a talk after that.”

“I don't quite see the point—” began Edmund,but Lucy whispered in his ear,“Hadn't we better do what Peter says?He is the High King,you know.And I think he has an idea.” So Edmund agreed and by the aid of his torch they all,including Trumpkin,went down the steps again into the dark coldness and dusty splendour of the treasure house.

The Dwarf's eyes glistened as he saw the wealth that lay on the shelves(though he had to stand on tiptoes to do so)and he muttered to himself,“It would never do to let Nikabrik see this；never.”They found easily enough a mail shirt for him,a sword,a helmet,a shield,a bow and quiverful of arrows,all of dwarfish size.The helmet was of copper,set with rubies,and there was gold on the hilt of the sword：Trumpkin had never seen,much less carried,so much wealth in all his life.The children also put on mail shirts and helmets；a sword and shield were found for Edmund and a bow for Lucy – Peter and Susan were of course already carrying their gifts.As they came back up the stairway,jingling in their mail,and already looking and feeling more like Narnians and less like schoolchildren,the two boys were behind,apparently making some plan.Lucy heard Edmund say,“No,let me do it.It will be more of a sucks for him if I win,and less of a let-down for us all if I fail.”

“All right,Ed,” said Peter.

When they came out into the daylight Edmund turned to the Dwarf very politely and said,“I've got something to ask you.Kids like us don't often have the chance of meeting a great warrior like you.Would you have a little fencing match with me?It would be frightfully decent.”

“But,lad,” said Trumpkin,“these swords are sharp.”

“I know,” said Edmund.“But I'll never get anywhere near you and you'll be quite clever enough to disarm me without doing me any damage.”

“It's a dangerous game,” said Trumpkin.“But since you make such a point of it,I'll try a pass or two.”

Both swords were out in a moment and the three others jumped off the dais and stood watching.It was well worth it.It was not like the silly fighting you see with broadswords on the stage.It was not even like the rapier fighting which you sometimes see rather better done.This was real broadsword fighting.The great thing is to slash at your enemy's legs and feet because they are the part that have no armour.And when he slashes at yours you jump with both feet off the ground so that his blow goes under them.This gave the Dwarf an advantage because Edmund,being much taller,had to be always stooping.I don't think Edmund would have had a chance if he had fought Trumpkin twenty-four hours earlier.But the air of Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island,and all his old battles came back to him,and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill.He was King Edmund once more.Round and round the two combatants circled,stroke after stroke they gave,and Susan(who never could learn to like this sort of thing)shouted out,“Oh,do be careful.” And then,so quickly that no one(unless they knew,as Peter did)could quite see how it happened,Edmund flashed his sword round with a peculiar twist,the Dwarf's sword flew out of his grip,and Trumpkin was wringing his empty hand as you do after a“sting” from a cricket bat.

“Not hurt,I hope,my dear little friend?” said Edmund,panting a little and returning his own sword to its sheath.

“I see the point,” said Trumpkin drily.“You know a trick I never learned.”

“That's quite true,” put in Peter.“The best swordsman in the world may be disarmed by a trick that's new to him.I think it's only fair to give Trumpkin a chance at something else.Will you have a shooting match with my sister?There are no tricks in archery,you know.”

“Ah,you're jokers,you,” said the Dwarf.“I begin to see.As if I didn't know how she can shoot,after what happened this morning.All the same,I'll have a try.” He spoke gruffly,but his eyes brightened,for he was a famous bowman among his own people.

All five of them came out into the courtyard.

“What's to be the target?” asked Peter.

“I think that apple hanging over the wall on the branch there would do,” said Susan.

“That'll do nicely,lass,” said Trumpkin.“You mean the yellow one near the middle of the arch?”

“No,not that,” said Susan.“The red one up above– over the battlement.”

The Dwarf's face fell.“Looks more like a cherry than an apple,” he muttered,but he said nothing out loud.

They tossed up for the first shot(greatly to the interest of Trumpkin,who had never seen a coin tossed before)and Susan lost.They were to shoot from the top of the steps that led from the hall into the courtyard.Everyone could see from the way the Dwarf took his position and handled his bow that he knew what he was about.

Twang went the string.It was an excellent shot.The tiny apple shook as the arrow passed,and a leaf came fluttering down.Then Susan went to the top of the steps and strung her bow.She was not enjoying her match half so much as Edmund had enjoyed his；not because she had any doubt about hitting the apple but because Susan was so tender-hearted that she almost hated to beat someone who had been beaten already.The Dwarf watched her keenly as she drew the shaft to her ear.A moment later,with a little soft thump which they could all hear in that quiet place,the apple fell to the grass with Susan's arrow in it.

“Oh,well done,Su,” shouted the other children.

“It wasn't really any better than yours,” said Susan to the Dwarf.“I think there was a tiny breath of wind as you shot.”

“No,there wasn't,” said Trumpkin.“Don't tell me.I know when I am fairly beaten.I won't even say that the scar of my last wound catches me a bit when I get my arm well back—”

“Oh,are you wounded?” asked Lucy.“Do let me look.”

“It's not a sight for little girls,” began Trumpkin,but then he suddenly checked himself.“There I go talking like a fool again,” he said.“I suppose you're as likely to be a great surgeon as your brother was to be a great swordsman or your sister to be a great archer.” He sat down on the steps and took off his hauberk and slipped down his little shirt,showing an arm as hairy and muscular(in proportion)as a sailor's though not much bigger than a child's.There was a clumsy bandage on the shoulder which Lucy proceeded to unroll.Underneath,the cut looked very nasty and there was a good deal of swelling.“Oh,poor Trumpkin,” said Lucy.“How horrid.” Then she carefully dripped on to it one single drop of the cordial from her flask.

“Hullo.Eh?What have you done?” said Trumpkin.But however he turned his head and squinted and whisked his beard to and fro,he couldn't quite see his own shoulder.Then he felt it as well as he could,getting his arms and fingers into very difficult positions as you do when you're trying to scratch a place that is just out of reach.Then he swung his arm and raised it and tried the muscles,and finally jumped to his feet crying,“Giants and junipers!It's cured!It's as good as new.” After that he burst into a great laugh and said,“Well,I've made as big a fool of myself as ever a Dwarf did.No offence,I hope?My humble duty to your Majesties all – humble duty.And thanks for my life,my cure,my breakfast – and my lesson.”

The children all said it was quite all right and not to mention it.

“And now,” said Peter,“if you've really decided to believe in us—”

“I have,” said the Dwarf.

“It's quite clear what we have to do.We must join King Caspian at once.”

“The sooner the better,” said Trumpkin.“My being such a fool has already wasted about an hour.”

“It's about two days' journey,the way you came,”said Peter.“For us,I mean.We can't walk all day and night like you Dwarfs.” Then he turned to the others.“What Trumpkin calls Aslan's How is obviously the Stone Table itself.You remember it was about half a day's march,or a little less,from there down to the Fords of Beruna—”

“Beruna's Bridge,we call it,” said Trumpkin.

“There was no bridge in our time,” said Peter.“And then from Beruna down to here was another day and a bit.We used to get home about teatime on the second day,going easily.Going hard,we could do the whole thing in a day and a half perhaps.”

“But remember it's all woods now,” said Trumpkin,“and there are enemies to dodge.”

“Look here,” said Edmund,“need we go by the same way that Our Dear Little Friend came?”

“No more of that,your Majesty,if you love me,”said the Dwarf.

“Very well,” said Edmund.“May I say our DLF?”

“Oh,Edmund,” said Susan.“Don't keep on at him like that.”

“That's all right,lass – I mean your Majesty,”said Trumpkin with a chuckle.“A jibe won't raise a blister.”(And after that they often called him the DLF till they'd almost forgotten what it meant.)

“As I was saying,” continued Edmund,“we needn't go that way.Why shouldn't we row a little south till we come to Glasswater Creek and row up it?That brings us up behind the Hill of the Stone Table,and we'll be safe while we're at sea.If we start at once,we can be at the head of Glasswater before dark,get a few hours' sleep,and be with Caspian pretty early tomorrow.”

“What a thing it is to know the coast,” said Trumpkin.“None of us knows anything about Glasswater.”

“What about food?” asked Susan.

“Oh,we'll have to do with apples,” said Lucy.“Do let's get on.We've done nothing yet,and we've been here nearly two days.”

“And anyway,no one's going to have my hat for a fish-basket again,” said Edmund.

They used one of the raincoats as a kind of bag and put a good many apples in it.Then they all had a good long drink at the well(for they would meet no more fresh water till they landed at the head of the creek)and went down to the boat.The children were sorry to leave Cair Paravel which,even in ruins,had begun to feel like home again.

“The DLF had better steer,” said Peter,“and Ed and I will take an oar each.Half a moment,though.We'd better take off our mail：we're going to be pretty warm before we're done.The girls had better be in the bows and shout directions to the DLF because he doesn't know the way.You'd better get us a fair way out to sea till we've passed the island.”

And soon the green,wooded coast of the island was falling away behind them,and its little bays and headlands were beginning to look flatter,and the boat was rising and falling in the gentle swell.The sea began to grow bigger around them and,in the distance,bluer,but close round the boat it was green and bubbly.Everything smelled salty and there was no noise except the swishing of water and the clop-clop of water against the sides and the splash of the oars and the jolting noise of the rowlocks.The sun grew hot.

It was delightful for Lucy and Susan in the bows,bending over the edge and trying to get their hands in the sea which they could never quite reach.The bottom,mostly pure,pale sand but with occasional patches of purple seaweed,could be seen beneath them.

“It's like old times,” said Lucy.“Do you remember our voyage to Terebinthia – and Galma– and Seven Isles – and the Lone Islands?”

“Yes,” said Susan,“and our great ship the Splendour Hyaline,with the swan's head at her prow and the carved swan's wings coming back almost to her waist?”

“And the silken sails,and the great stern lanterns?”

“And the feasts on the poop and the musicians.”

“Do you remember when we had the musicians up in the rigging playing flutes so that it sounded like music out of the sky?”

Presently Susan took over Edmund's oar and he came forward to join Lucy.They had passed the island now and stood closer in to the shore – all wooded and deserted.They would have thought it very pretty if they had not remembered the time when it was open and breezy and full of merry friends.

“Phew!This is pretty gruelling work,” said Peter.

“Can't I row for a bit?” said Lucy.

“The oars are too big for you,” said Peter shortly,not because he was cross but because he had no strength to spare for talking.

CHAPTER 9

What Lucy Saw

Susan and the two boys were bitterly tired with rowing before they rounded the last headland and began the final pull up Glasswater itself,and Lucy's head ached from the long hours of sun and the glare on the water.Even Trumpkin longed for the voyage to be over.The seat on which he sat to steer had been made for men,not Dwarfs,and his feet did not reach the floorboards；and everyone knows how uncomfortable that is even for ten minutes.And as they all grew more tired,their spirits fell.Up till now the children had only been thinking of how to get to Caspian.Now they wondered what they would do when they found him,and how a handful of Dwarfs and woodland creatures could defeat an army of grown-up Humans.

Twilight was coming on as they rowed slowly up the windings of Glasswater Creek – a twilight which deepened as the banks drew closer together and the overhanging trees began almost to meet overhead.It was very quiet in here as the sound of the sea died away behind them；they could even hear the trickle of the little streams that poured down from the forest into Glasswater.

They went ashore at last,far too tired to attempt lighting a fire,and even a supper of apples(though most of them felt that they never wanted to see an apple again)seemed better than trying to catch or shoot anything.After a little silent munching they all huddled down together in the moss and dead leaves between four large beech trees.

Everyone except Lucy went to sleep at once.Lucy,being far less tired,found it hard to get comfortable.Also,she had forgotten till now that all Dwarfs snore.She knew that one of the best ways of getting to sleep is to stop trying,so she opened her eyes.Through a gap in the bracken and branches she could just see a patch of water in the Creek and the sky above it.Then,with a thrill of memory,she saw again,after all those years,the bright Narnian stars.She had once known them better than the stars of our own world,because as a Queen in Narnia she had gone to bed much later than as a child in England.And there they were –at least,three of the summer constellations could be seen from where she lay：the Ship,the Hammer,and the Leopard.“Dear old Leopard,” she murmured happily to herself.

Instead of getting drowsier she was getting more awake – with an odd,night-time,dreamish kind of wakefulness.The Creek was growing brighter.She knew now that the moon was on it,though she couldn't see the moon.And now she began to feel that the whole forest was coming awake like herself.Hardly knowing why she did it,she got up quickly and walked a little distance away from their bivouac.

“This is lovely,” said Lucy to herself.It was cool and fresh；delicious smells were floating everywhere.Somewhere close by she heard the twitter of a nightingale beginning to sing,then stopping,then beginning again.It was a little lighter ahead.She went towards the light and came to a place where there were fewer trees,and whole patches or pools of moonlight,but the moonlight and the shadows so mixed that you could hardly be sure where anything was or what it was.At the same moment the nightingale,satisfied at last with his tuning up,burst into full song.

Lucy's eyes began to grow accustomed to the light,and she saw the trees that were nearest her more distinctly.A great longing for the old days when the trees could talk in Narnia came over her.She knew exactly how each of these trees would talk if only she could wake them,and what sort of human form it would put on.She looked at a silver birch：it would have a soft,showery voice and would look like a slender girl,with hair blown all about her face,and fond of dancing.She looked at the oak：he would be a wizened,but hearty old man with a frizzled beard and warts on his face and hands,and hair growing out of the warts.She looked at the beech under which she was standing.Ah!– she would be the best of all.She would be a gracious goddess,smooth and stately,the lady of the wood.

“Oh,Trees,Trees,Trees,” said Lucy(though she had not been intending to speak at all).“Oh,Trees,wake,wake,wake.Don't you remember it?Don't you remember me?Dryads and Hamadryads,come out,come to me.”

Though there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her.The rustling noise of the leaves was almost like words.The nightingale stopped singing as if to listen to it.Lucy felt that at any moment she would begin to understand what the trees were trying to say.But the moment did not come.The rustling died away.The nightingale resumed its song.Even in the moonlight the wood looked more ordinary again.Yet Lucy had the feeling(as you sometimes have when you are trying to remember a name or a date and almost get it,but it vanishes before you really do)that she had just missed something：as if she had spoken to the trees a split second too soon or a split second too late,or used all the right words except one,or put in one word that was just wrong.

Quite suddenly she began to feel tired.She went back to the bivouac,snuggled down between Susan and Peter,and was asleep in a few minutes.

It was a cold and cheerless waking for them all next morning,with a grey twilight in the wood(for the sun had not yet risen)and everything damp and dirty.

“Apples,heigh-ho,” said Trumpkin with a rueful grin.“I must say,you ancient kings and queens don't overfeed your courtiers!”

They stood up and shook themselves and looked about.The trees were thick and they could see no more than a few yards in any direction.

“I suppose your Majesties know the way all right?” said the Dwarf.

“I don't,” said Susan.“I've never seen these woods in my life before.In fact I thought all along that we ought to have gone by the river.”

“Then I think you might have said so at the time,” answered Peter,with pardonable sharpness.

“Oh,don't take any notice of her,” said Edmund.“She always is a wet blanket.You've got that pocket compass of yours,Peter,haven't you?Well,then,we're as right as rain.We've only got to keep on going northwest – cross that little river,the whatdo-you-call-it?– the Rush—”

“I know,” said Peter.“The one that joins the big river at the Fords of Beruna,or Beruna's Bridge,as the DLF calls it.”

“That's right.Cross it and strike uphill,and we'll be at the Stone Table(Aslan's How,I mean)by eight or nine o'clock.I hope King Caspian will give us a good breakfast!”

“I hope you're right,” said Susan.“I can't remember all that at all.”

“That's the worst of girls,” said Edmund to Peter and the Dwarf.“They never carry a map in their heads.”

“That's because our heads have something inside them,” said Lucy.

At first,things seemed to be going pretty well.They even thought they had struck an old path,but if you know anything about woods,you will know that one is always finding imaginary paths.They disappear after about five minutes and then you think you have found another(and hope it is not another but more of the same one)and it also disappears,and after you have been well lured out of your right direction you realize that none of them were paths at all.The boys and the Dwarf,however,were used to woods and were not taken in for more than a few seconds.

They had plodded on for about half an hour(three of them very stiff from yesterday's rowing)when Trumpkin suddenly whispered,“Stop”.They all stopped.“There's something following us,” he said in a low voice.“Or rather,something keeping up with us：over there on the left.” They all stood still,listening and staring till their ears and eyes ached.“You and I'd better each have an arrow on the string,” said Susan to Trumpkin.The Dwarf nodded,and when both bows were ready for action the party went on again.

They went a few dozen yards through fairly open woodland,keeping a sharp look-out.Then they came to a place where the undergrowth thickened and they had to pass nearer to it.Just as they were passing the place,there came a sudden something that snarled and flashed,rising out from the breaking twigs like a thunderbolt.Lucy was knocked down and winded,hearing the twang of a bowstring as she fell.When she was able to take notice of things again,she saw a great grim-looking grey bear lying dead with Trumpkin's arrow in its side.

“The DLF beat you in that shooting match,Su,”said Peter,with a slightly forced smile.Even he had been shaken by this adventure.

“I – I left it too late,” said Susan,in an embarrassed voice.“I was so afraid it might be,you know – one of our kind of bears,a talking bear.” She hated killing things.

“That's the trouble of it,” said Trumpkin,“when most of the beasts have gone enemy and gone dumb,but there are still some of the other kind left.You never know,and you daren't wait to see.”

“Poor old Bruin,” said Susan.“You don't think he was?”

“Not he,” said the Dwarf.“I saw the face and I heard the snarl.He only wanted Little Girl for his breakfast.And talking of breakfast,I didn't want to discourage your Majesties when you said you hoped King Caspian would give you a good one：but meat's precious scarce in camp.And there's good eating on a bear.It would be a shame to leave the carcass without taking a bit,and it won't delay us more than half an hour.I dare say you two youngsters – Kings,I should say – know how to skin a bear?”

“Let's go and sit down a fair way off,” said Susan to Lucy.“I know what a horrid messy business that will be.”

Lucy shuddered and nodded.When they had sat down she said：“Such a horrible idea has come into my head,Su.”

“What's that?”

“Wouldn't it be dreadful if some day,in our own world,at home,men started going wild inside,like the animals here,and still looked like men,so that you'd never know which were which?”

“We've got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia,” said the practical Susan,“without imagining things like that.”

When they rejoined the boys and the Dwarf,as much as they thought they could carry of the best meat had been cut off.Raw meat is not a nice thing to fill one's pockets with,but they folded it up in fresh leaves and made the best of it.They were all experienced enough to know that they would feel quite differently about these squashy and unpleasant parcels when they had walked long enough to be really hungry.

On they trudged again(stopping to wash three pairs of hands that needed it in the first stream they passed)until the sun rose and the birds began to sing,and more flies than they wanted were buzzing in the bracken.The stiffness from yesterday's rowing began to wear off.Everybody's spirits rose.The sun grew warmer and they took their helmets off and carried them.

“I suppose we are going right?” said Edmund about an hour later.

“I don't see how we can go wrong as long as we don't bear too much to the left,” said Peter.“If we bear too much to the right,the worst that can happen is wasting a little time by striking the Great River too soon and not cutting off the corner.”

And again they trudged on with no sound except the thud of their feet and the jingle of their chain shirts.

“Where's this bally Rush got to?” said Edmund a good deal later.

“I certainly thought we'd have struck it by now,”said Peter.“But there's nothing to do but keep on.”They both knew that the Dwarf was looking anxiously at them,but he said nothing.

And still they trudged on and their mail shirts began to feel very hot and heavy.

“What on earth?” said Peter suddenly.

They had come,without seeing it,almost to the edge of a small precipice from which they looked down into a gorge with a river at the bottom.On the far side the cliffs rose much higher.None of the party except Edmund(and perhaps Trumpkin)was a rock climber.

“I'm sorry,” said Peter.“It's my fault for coming this way.We're lost.I've never seen this place in my life before.”

The Dwarf gave a low whistle between his teeth.

“Oh,do let's go back and go the other way,” said Susan.“I knew all along we'd get lost in these woods.”

“Susan!” said Lucy,reproachfully,“don't nag at Peter like that.It's so rotten,and he's doing all he can.”

“And don't you snap at Su like that,either,” said Edmund.“I think she's quite right.”

“Tubs and tortoiseshells!” exclaimed Trumpkin.“If we've got lost coming,what chance have we of finding our way back?And if we're to go back to the Island and begin all over again – even supposing we could – we might as well give the whole thing up.Miraz will have finished with Caspian before we get there at that rate.”

“You think we ought to go on?” said Lucy.

“I'm not sure the High King is lost,” said Trumpkin.“What's to hinder this river being the Rush?”

“Because the Rush is not in a gorge,” said Peter,keeping his temper with some difficulty.

“Your Majesty says is,” replied the Dwarf,“but oughtn't you to say was?You knew this country hundreds – it may be a thousand – years ago.Mayn't it have changed?A landslide might have pulled off half the side of that hill,leaving bare rock,and there are your precipices beyond the gorge.Then the Rush might go on deepening its course year after year till you get the little precipices this side.Or there might have been an earthquake,or anything.”

“I never thought of that,” said Peter.

“And anyway,” continued Trumpkin,“even if this is not the Rush,it's flowing roughly north and so it must fall into the Great River anyway.I think I passed something that might have been it,on my way down.So if we go downstream,to our right,we'll hit the Great River.Perhaps not so high as we'd hoped,but at least we'll be no worse off than if you'd come my way.”

“Trumpkin,you're a brick,” said Peter.“Come on,then.Down this side of the gorge.”

“Look!Look!Look!” cried Lucy.

“Where?What?” said everyone.

“The Lion,” said Lucy.“Aslan himself.Didn't you see?” Her face had changed completely and her eyes shone.

“Do you really mean—?” began Peter.

“Where did you think you saw him?” asked Susan.

“Don't talk like a grown-up,” said Lucy,stamping her foot.“I didn't think I saw him.I saw him.”

“Where,Lu?” asked Peter.

“Right up there between those mountain ashes.No,this side of the gorge.And up,not down.Just the opposite of the way you want to go.And he wanted us to go where he was – up there.”

“How do you know that was what he wanted?”asked Edmund.

“He – I – I just know,” said Lucy,“by his face.”

The others all looked at each other in puzzled silence.

“Her Majesty may well have seen a lion,” put in Trumpkin.“There are lions in these woods,I've been told.But it needn't have been a friendly and talking lion any more than the bear was a friendly and talking bear.”

“Oh,don't be so stupid,” said Lucy.“Do you think I don't know Aslan when I see him?”

“He'd be a pretty elderly lion by now,” said Trumpkin,“if he's one you knew when you were here before!And if it could be the same one,what's to prevent him having gone wild and witless like so many others?”

Lucy turned crimson and I think she would have flown at Trumpkin,if Peter had not laid his hand on her arm.“The DLF doesn't understand.How could he?You must just take it,Trumpkin,that we do really know about Aslan；a little bit about him,I mean.And you mustn't talk about him like that again.It isn't lucky for one thing：and it's all nonsense for another.The only question is whether Aslan was really there.”

“But I know he was,” said Lucy,her eyes filling with tears.

“Yes,Lu,but we don't,you see,” said Peter.

“There's nothing for it but a vote,” said Edmund.

“All right,” replied Peter.“You're the eldest,DLF.What do you vote for?Up or down?”

“Down,” said the Dwarf.“I know nothing about Aslan.But I do know that if we turn left and follow the gorge up,it might lead us all day before we found a place where we could cross it.Whereas if we turn right and go down,we're bound to reach the Great River in about a couple of hours.And if there are any real lions about,we want to go away from them,not towards them.”

“What do you say,Susan?”

“Don't be angry,Lu,” said Susan,“but I do think we should go down.I'm dead tired.Do let's get out of this wretched wood into the open as quick as we can.And none of us except you saw anything.”

“Edmund?” said Peter.

“Well,there's just this,” said Edmund,speaking quickly and turning a little red.“When we first discovered Narnia a year ago – or a thousand years ago,whichever it is – it was Lucy who discovered it first and none of us would believe her.I was the worst of the lot,I know.Yet she was right after all.Wouldn't it be fair to believe her this time?I vote for going up.”

“Oh,Ed!” said Lucy and seized his hand.

“And now it's your turn,Peter,” said Susan,“and I do hope—”

“Oh,shut up,shut up and let a chap think,”interrupted Peter.“I'd much rather not have to vote.”

“You're the High King,” said Trumpkin sternly.

“Down,” said Peter after a long pause.“I know Lucy may be right after all,but I can't help it.We must do one or the other.”

So they set off to their right along the edge,downstream.And Lucy came last of the party,crying bitterly.

CHAPTER 10

The Return of the Lion

To keep along the edge of the gorge was not so easy as it had looked.Before they had gone many yards they were confronted with young fir woods growing on the very edge,and after they had tried to go through these,stooping and pushing for about ten minutes,they realized that,in there,it would take them an hour to do half a mile.So they came back and out again and decided to go round the fir wood.This took them much farther to their right than they wanted to go,far out of sight of the cliffs and out of sound of the river,till they began to be afraid they had lost it altogether.Nobody knew the time,but it was getting to the hottest part of the day.

When they were able at last to go back to the edge of the gorge(nearly a mile below the point from which they had started)they found the cliffs on their side of it a good deal lower and more broken.Soon they found a way down into the gorge and continued the journey at the river's edge.But first they had a rest and a long drink.No one was talking any more about breakfast,or even dinner,with Caspian.

They may have been wise to stick to the Rush instead of going along the top.It kept them sure of their direction：and ever since the fir wood they had all been afraid of being forced too far out of their course and losing themselves in the wood.It was an old and pathless forest,and you could not keep anything like a straight course in it.Patches of hopeless brambles,fallen trees,boggy places and dense undergrowth would be always getting in your way.But the gorge of the Rush was not at all a nice place for travelling either.I mean,it was not a nice place for people in a hurry.For an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful.It had everything you could want on an occasion of that sort – rumbling waterfalls,silver cascades,deep,amber-coloured pools,mossy rocks,and deep moss on the banks in which you could sink over your ankles,every kind of fern,jewel-like dragonflies,sometimes a hawk overhead and once(Peter and Trumpkin both thought)an eagle.But of course what the children and the Dwarf wanted to see as soon as possible was the Great River below them,and Beruna,and the way to Aslan's How.

As they went on,the Rush began to fall more and more steeply.Their journey became more and more of a climb and less and less of a walk – in places even a dangerous climb over slippery rock with a nasty drop into dark chasms,and the river roaring angrily at the bottom.

You may be sure they watched the cliffs on their left eagerly for any sign of a break or any place where they could climb them；but those cliffs remained cruel.It was maddening,because everyone knew that if once they were out of the gorge on that side,they would have only a smooth slope and a fairly short walk to Caspian's headquarters.

The boys and the Dwarf were now in favour of lighting a fire and cooking their bear-meat.Susan didn't want this；she only wanted,as she said,“to get on and finish it and get out of these beastly woods”.Lucy was far too tired and miserable to have any opinion about anything.But as there was no dry wood to be had,it mattered very little what anyone thought.The boys began to wonder if raw meat was really as nasty as they had always been told.Trumpkin assured them it was.

Of course,if the children had attempted a journey like this a few days ago in England,they would have been knocked up.I think I have explained before how Narnia was altering them.Even Lucy was by now,so to speak,only one-third of a little girl going to boarding school for the first time,and two-thirds of Queen Lucy of Narnia.

“At last!” said Susan.

“Oh,hurray!” said Peter.

The river gorge had just made a bend and the whole view spread out beneath them.They could see open country stretching before them to the horizon and,between it and them,the broad silver ribbon of the Great River.They could see the specially broad and shallow place which had once been the Fords of Beruna but was now spanned by a long,many-arched bridge.There was a little town at the far end of it.

“By Jove,” said Edmund.“We fought the Battle of Beruna just where that town is!”

This cheered the boys more than anything.You can't help feeling stronger when you look at a place where you won a glorious victory not to mention a kingdom,hundreds of years ago.Peter and Edmund were soon so busy talking about the battle that they forgot their sore feet and the heavy drag of their mail shirts on their shoulders.The Dwarf was interested too.

They were all getting on at a quicker pace now.The going became easier.Though there were still sheer cliffs on their left,the ground was becoming lower on their right.Soon it was no longer a gorge at all,only a valley.There were no more waterfalls and presently they were in fairly thick woods again.

Then – all at once – whizz,and a sound rather like the stroke of a woodpecker.The children were still wondering where(ages ago)they had heard a sound just like that and why they disliked it so,when Trumpkin shouted,“Down”,at the same moment forcing Lucy(who happened to be next to him)flat down into the bracken.Peter,who had been looking up to see if he could spot a squirrel,had seen what it was – a long cruel arrow had sunk into a tree-trunk just above his head.As he pulled Susan down and dropped himself,another came rasping over his shoulder and struck the ground at his side.

“Quick!Quick!Get back!Crawl!” panted Trumpkin.

They turned and wriggled along uphill,under the bracken amid clouds of horribly buzzing flies.Arrows whizzed round them.One struck Susan's helmet with a sharp ping and glanced off.They crawled quicker.Sweat poured off them.Then they ran,stooping nearly double.The boys held their swords in their hands for fear they would trip them up.

It was heartbreaking work – all uphill again,back over the ground they had already travelled.When they felt that they really couldn't run any more,even to save their lives,they all dropped down in the damp moss beside a waterfall and behind a big boulder,panting.They were surprised to see how high they had already got.

They listened intently and heard no sound of pursuit.

“So that's all right,” said Trumpkin,drawing a deep breath.“They're not searching the wood.Only sentries,I expect.But it means that Miraz has an outpost down there.Bottles and battledores,though,it was a near thing.”

“I ought to have my head smacked for bringing us this way at all,” said Peter.

“On the contrary,your Majesty,” said the Dwarf.“For one thing it wasn't you,it was your royal brother,King Edmund,who first suggested going by Glasswater.”

“I'm afraid the DLF's right,” said Edmund,who had quite honestly forgotten this ever since things began going wrong.

“And for another,” continued Trumpkin,“if we'd gone my way,we'd have walked straight into that new outpost,most likely,or at least had just the same trouble avoiding it.I think this Glasswater route has turned out for the best.”

“A blessing in disguise,” said Susan.

“Some disguise!” said Edmund.

“I suppose we'll have to go right up the gorge again now,” said Lucy.

“Lu,you're a hero,” said Peter.“That's the nearest you've got today to saying I told you so.Let's get on.”

“And as soon as we're well up into the forest,”said Trumpkin,“whatever anyone says,I'm going to light a fire and cook supper.But we must get well away from here.”

There is no need to describe how they toiled back up the gorge.It was pretty hard work,but oddly enough everyone felt more cheerful.They were getting their second wind；and the word supper had had a wonderful effect.

They reached the fir wood which had caused them so much trouble while it was still daylight,and bivouacked in a hollow just above it.It was tedious gathering the firewood；but it was grand when the fire blazed up and they began producing the damp and smeary parcels of bear-meat which would have been so very unattractive to anyone who had spent the day indoors.The Dwarf had splendid ideas about cookery.Each apple(they still had a few of these)was wrapped up in bear's meat – as if it was to be apple dumpling with meat instead of pastry,only much thicker –and spiked on a sharp stick and then roasted.And the juice of the apple worked all through the meat,like apple sauce with roast pork.Bear that has lived too much on other animals is not very nice,but bear that has had plenty of honey and fruit is excellent,and this turned out to be that sort of bear.It was a truly glorious meal.And,of course,no washing up – only lying back and watching the smoke from Trumpkin's pipe and stretching one's tired legs and chatting.Everyone felt quite hopeful now about finding King Caspian tomorrow and defeating Miraz in a few days.It may not have been sensible of them to feel like this,but they did.

They dropped off to sleep one by one,but all pretty quickly.

Lucy woke out of the deepest sleep you can imagine,with the feeling that the voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name.She thought at first it was her father's voice,but that did not seem quite right.Then she thought it was Peter's voice,but that did not seem to fit either.She did not want to get up；not because she was still tired – on the contrary she was wonderfully rested and all the aches had gone from her bones – but because she felt so extremely happy and comfortable.She was looking straight up at the Narnian moon,which is larger than ours,and at the starry sky,for the place where they had bivouacked was comparatively open.

“Lucy,” came the call again,neither her father's voice nor Peter's.She sat up,trembling with excitement but not with fear.The moon was so bright that the whole forest landscape around her was almost as clear as day,though it looked wilder.Behind her was the fir wood；away to her right the jagged cliff-tops on the far side of the gorge；straight ahead,open grass to where a glade of trees began about a bow-shot away.Lucy looked very hard at the trees of that glade.

“Why,I do believe they're moving,” she said to herself.“They're walking about.”

She got up,her heart beating wildly,and walked towards them.There was certainly a noise in the glade,a noise such as trees make in a high wind,though there was no wind tonight.Yet it was not exactly an ordinary tree-noise either.Lucy felt there was a tune in it,but she could not catch the tune any more than she had been able to catch the words when the trees had so nearly talked to her the night before.But there was,at least,a lilt；she felt her own feet wanting to dance as she got nearer.And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving – moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance.(“And I suppose,” thought Lucy,“when trees dance,it must be a very,very country dance indeed.”)She was almost among them now.

The first tree she looked at seemed at first glance to be not a tree at all but a huge man with a shaggy beard and great bushes of hair.She was not frightened：she had seen such things before.But when she looked again he was only a tree,though he was still moving.You couldn't see whether he had feet or roots,of course,because when trees move they don't walk on the surface of the earth；they wade in it as we do in water.The same thing happened with every tree she looked at.At one moment they seemed to be the friendly,lovely giant and giantess forms which the tree-people put on when some good magic has called them into full life：next moment they all looked like trees again.But when they looked like trees,it was like strangely human trees,and when they looked like people,it was like strangely branchy and leafy people – and all the time that queer lilting,rustling,cool,merry noise.

“They are almost awake,not quite,” said Lucy.She knew she herself was wide awake,wider than anyone usually is.

She went fearlessly in among them,dancing herself as she leapt this way and that to avoid being run into by these huge partners.But she was only half interested in them.She wanted to get beyond them to something else；it was from beyond them that the dear voice had called.

She soon got through them(half wondering whether she had been using her arms to push branches aside,or to take hands in a Great Chain with big dancers who stooped to reach her)for they were really a ring of trees round a central open place.She stepped out from among their shifting confusion of lovely lights and shadows.

A circle of grass,smooth as a lawn,met her eyes,with dark trees dancing all round it.And then – oh joy!For he was there：the huge Lion,shining white in the moonlight,with his huge black shadow underneath him.

But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion,but Lucy never thought of that.She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not.She rushed to him.She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment.And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.

“Aslan,Aslan.Dear Aslan,” sobbed Lucy.“At last.”

The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell,half sitting and half lying between his front paws.He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue.His warm breath came all round her.She gazed up into the large wise face.

“Welcome,child,” he said.

“Aslan,” said Lucy,“you're bigger.”

“That is because you are older,little one,”answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not.But every year you grow,you will find me bigger.”

For a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak.But Aslan spoke.

“Lucy,” he said,“we must not lie here for long.You have work in hand,and much time has been lost today.”

“Yes,wasn't it a shame?” said Lucy.“I saw you all right.They wouldn't believe me.They're all so—”

From somewhere deep inside Aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.

“I'm sorry,” said Lucy,who understood some of his moods.“I didn't mean to start slanging the others.But it wasn't my fault anyway,was it?”

The Lion looked straight into her eyes.

“Oh,Aslan,” said Lucy.“You don't mean it was?How could I – I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone,how could I?Don't look at me like that… oh well,I suppose I could.Yes,and it wouldn't have been alone,I know,not if I was with you.But what would have been the good?”

Aslan said nothing.

“You mean,” said Lucy rather faintly,“that it would have turned out all right – somehow?But how?Please,Aslan!Am I not to know?”

“To know what would have happened,child?” said Aslan.“No.Nobody is ever told that.”

“Oh dear,” said Lucy.

“But anyone can find out what will happen,” said Aslan.“If you go back to the others now,and wake them up,and tell them you have seen me again,and that you must all get up at once and follow me –what will happen?There is only one way of finding out.”

“Do you mean that is what you want me to do?”gasped Lucy.

“Yes,little one,” said Aslan.

“Will the others see you too?” asked Lucy.

“Certainly not at first,” said Aslan.“Later on,it depends.”

“But they won't believe me!” said Lucy.

“It doesn't matter,” said Aslan.

“Oh dear,oh dear,” said Lucy.“And I was so pleased at finding you again.And I thought you'd let me stay.And I thought you'd come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away – like last time.And now everything is going to be horrid.”

“It is hard for you,little one,” said Aslan.“But things never happen the same way twice.It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now.”

Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face.But there must have been magic in his mane.She could feel lion-strength going into her.Quite suddenly she sat up.“I'm sorry,Aslan,” she said.“I'm ready now.”

“Now you are a lioness,” said Aslan.“And now all Narnia will be renewed.But come.We have no time to lose.”

He got up and walked with stately,noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come：and Lucy went with him,laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane.The trees parted to let them through and for one second assumed their human forms completely.Lucy had a glimpse of tall and lovely wood-gods and woodgoddesses all bowing to the Lion；the next moment they were trees again,but still bowing,with such graceful sweeps of branch and trunk that their bowing was itself a kind of dance.

“Now,child,” said Aslan,when they had left the trees behind them,“I will wait here.Go and wake the others and tell them to follow.If they will not,then you at least must follow me alone.”

It is a terrible thing to have to wake four people,all older than yourself and all very tired,for the purpose of telling them something they probably won't believe and making them do something they certainly won't like.“I mustn't think about it,I must just do it,” thought Lucy.

She went to Peter first and shook him.“Peter,”she whispered in his ear,“wake up.Quick!Aslan is here.He says we've got to follow him at once.”

“Certainly,Lu.Whatever you like,” said Peter unexpectedly.This was encouraging,but as Peter instantly rolled round and went to sleep again it wasn't much use.

Then she tried Susan.Susan did really wake up,but only to say in her most annoying grown-up voice,“You've been dreaming,Lucy.Go to sleep again.”

She tackled Edmund next.It was very difficult to wake him,but when at last she had done it he was really awake and sat up.

“Eh?” he said in a grumpy voice.“What are you talking about?”

She said it all over again.This was one of the worst parts of her job,for each time she said it,it sounded less convincing.

“Aslan!” said Edmund,jumping up.“Hurray!Where?”

Lucy turned back to where she could see the Lion waiting,his patient eyes fixed upon her.“There,”she said,pointing.

“Where?” asked Edmund again.

“There.There.Don't you see?Just this side of the trees.”

Edmund stared hard for a while and then said,“No.There's nothing there.You've got dazzled and muddled with the moonlight.One does,you know.I thought I saw something for a moment myself.It's only an optical what-do-you-call-it.”

“I can see him all the time,” said Lucy.“He's looking straight at us.”

“Then why can't I see him?”

“He said you mightn't be able to.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.That's what he said.”

“Oh,bother it all,” said Edmund.“I do wish you wouldn't keep on seeing things.But I suppose we'll have to wake the others.”

CHAPTER 11

The Lion Roars

When the whole party was finally awake Lucy had to tell her story for the fourth time.The blank silence which followed it was as discouraging as anything could be.

“I can't see anything,” said Peter after he had stared his eyes sore.“Can you,Susan?”

“No,of course I can't,” snapped Susan.“Because there isn't anything to see.She's been dreaming.Do lie down and go to sleep,Lucy.”

“And I do hope,” said Lucy in a tremulous voice,“that you will all come with me.Because – because I'll have to go with him whether anyone else does or not.”

“Don't talk nonsense,Lucy,” said Susan.“Of course you can't go off on your own.Don't let her,Peter.She's being downright naughty.”

“I'll go with her,if she must go,” said Edmund.“She's been right before.”

“I know she has,” said Peter.“And she may have been right this morning.We certainly had no luck going down the gorge.Still – at this hour of the night.And why should Aslan be invisible to us?He never used to be.It's not like him.What does the DLF say?”

“Oh,I say nothing at all,” answered the Dwarf.“If you all go,of course,I'll go with you；and if your party splits up,I'll go with the High King.That's my duty to him and King Caspian.But,if you ask my private opinion,I'm a plain dwarf who doesn't think there's much chance of finding a road by night where you couldn't find one by day.And I have no use for magic lions which are talking lions and don't talk,and friendly lions though they don't do us any good,and whopping big lions though nobody can see them.It's all bilge and beanstalks as far as I can see.”

“He's beating his paw on the ground for us to hurry,” said Lucy.“We must go now.At least I must.”

“You've no right to try to force the rest of us like that.It's four to one and you're the youngest,” said Susan.

“Oh,come on,” growled Edmund.“We've got to go.There'll be no peace till we do.” He fully intended to back Lucy up,but he was annoyed at losing his night's sleep and was making up for it by doing everything as sulkily as possible.

“On the march,then,” said Peter,wearily fitting his arm into his shield-strap and putting his helmet on.At any other time he would have said something nice to Lucy,who was his favourite sister,for he knew how wretched she must be feeling,and he knew that,whatever had happened,it was not her fault.But he couldn't help being a little annoyed with her all the same.

Susan was the worst.“Supposing I started behaving like Lucy,” she said.“I might threaten to stay here whether the rest of you went on or not.I jolly well think I shall.”

“Obey the High King,your Majesty,” said Trumpkin,“and let's be off.If I'm not to be allowed to sleep,I'd as soon march as stand here talking.”

And so at last they got on the move.Lucy went first,biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan.But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan.He turned and walked at a slow pace about thirty yards ahead of them.The others had only Lucy's directions to guide them,for Aslan was not only invisible to them but silent as well.His big cat-like paws made no noise on the grass.

He led them to the right of the dancing trees –whether they were still dancing nobody knew,for Lucy had her eyes on the Lion and the rest had their eyes on Lucy – and nearer the edge of the gorge.“Cobbles and kettledrums!” thought Trumpkin.“I hope this madness isn't going to end in a moonlight climb and broken necks.”

For a long way Aslan went along the top of the precipices.Then they came to a place where some little trees grew right on the edge.He turned and disappeared among them.Lucy held her breath,for it looked as if he had plunged over the cliff；but she was too busy keeping him in sight to stop and think about this.She quickened her pace and was soon among the trees herself.Looking down,she could see a steep and narrow path going slantwise down into the gorge between rocks,and Aslan descending it.He turned and looked at her with his happy eyes.Lucy clapped her hands and began to scramble down after him.From behind her she heard the voices of the others shouting,“Hi!Lucy!Look out,for goodness' sake.You're right on the edge of the gorge.Come back—”and then,a moment later,Edmund's voice saying,“No,she's right.There is a way down.”

Halfway down the path Edmund caught up with her.

“Look!” he said in great excitement.“Look!What's that shadow crawling down in front of us?”

“It's his shadow,” said Lucy.

“I do believe you're right,Lu,” said Edmund.“I can't think how I didn't see it before.But where is he?”

“With his shadow,of course.Can't you see him?”

“Well,I almost thought I did – for a moment.It's such a rum light.”

“Get on,King Edmund,get on,” came Trumpkin's voice from behind and above：and then,farther behind and still nearly at the top,Peter's voice saying,“Oh,buck up,Susan.Give me your hand.Why,a baby could get down here.And do stop grousing.”

In a few minutes they were at the bottom,and the roaring of water filled their ears.Treading delicately,like a cat,Aslan stepped from stone to stone across the stream.In the middle he stopped,bent down to drink,and as he raised his shaggy head,dripping from the water,he turned to face them again.This time Edmund saw him.“Oh,Aslan!” he cried,darting forward.But the Lion whisked round and began padding up the slope on the far side of the Rush.

“Peter,Peter,” cried Edmund.“Did you see?”

“I saw something,” said Peter.“But it's so tricky in this moonlight.On we go,though,and three cheers for Lucy.I don't feel half so tired now,either.”

Aslan without hesitation led them to their left,farther up the gorge.The whole journey was odd and dream-like – the roaring stream,the wet grey grass,the glimmering cliffs which they were approaching,and always the glorious,silently pacing Beast ahead.Everyone except Susan and the Dwarf could see him now.

Presently they came to another steep path,up the face of the farther precipices.These were far higher than the ones they had just descended,and the journey up them was a long and tedious zigzag.Fortunately the Moon shone right above the gorge so that neither side was in shadow.

Lucy was nearly blown when the tail and hind legs of Aslan disappeared over the top：but with one last effort she scrambled after him and came out,rather shaky-legged and breathless,on the hill they had been trying to reach ever since they left Glasswater.The long gentle slope(heather and grass and a few very big rocks that shone white in the moonlight)stretched up to where it vanished in a glimmer of trees about half a mile away.She knew it.It was the hill of the Stone Table.

With a jingling of mail the others climbed up behind her.Aslan glided on before them and they walked after him.

“Lucy,” said Susan in a very small voice.

“Yes?” said Lucy.

“I see him now.I'm sorry.”

“That's all right.”

“But I've been far worse than you know.I really believed it was him – he,I mean – yesterday.When he warned us not to go down to the fir wood.And I really believed it was him tonight,when you woke us up.I mean,deep down inside.Or I could have,if I'd let myself.But I just wanted to get out of the woods and – and – oh,I don't know.And whatever am I to say to him?”

“Perhaps you won't need to say much,” suggested Lucy.

Soon they reached the trees and through them the children could see the Great Mound,Aslan's How,which had been raised over the Table since their days.

“Our side don't keep very good watch,” muttered Trumpkin.“We ought to have been challenged before now—”

“Hush!” said the other four,for now Aslan had stopped and turned and stood facing them,looking so majestic that they felt as glad as anyone can who feels afraid,and as afraid as anyone can who feels glad.The boys strode forward：Lucy made way for them：and Susan and the Dwarf shrank back.

“Oh,Aslan,” said King Peter,dropping on one knee and raising the Lion's heavy paw to his face,“I'm so glad.And I'm so sorry.I've been leading them wrong ever since we started and especially yesterday morning.”

“My dear son,” said Aslan.

Then he turned and welcomed Edmund.“Well done,” were his words.

Then,after an awful pause,the deep voice said,“Susan”.Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying.“You have listened to fears,child,” said Aslan.“Come,let me breathe on you.Forget them.Are you brave again?”

“A little,Aslan,” said Susan.

“And now!” said Aslan in a much louder voice with just a hint of roar in it,while his tail lashed his flanks.“And now,where is this little Dwarf,this famous swordsman and archer,who doesn't believe in lions?Come here,Son of Earth,come HERE!” –and the last word was no longer the hint of a roar but almost the real thing.

“Wraiths and wreckage!” gasped Trumpkin in the ghost of a voice.The children,who knew Aslan well enough to see that he liked the Dwarf very much,were not disturbed,but it was quite another thing for Trumpkin,who had never seen a lion before,let alone this Lion.He did the only sensible thing he could have done；that is,instead of bolting,he tottered towards Aslan.

Aslan pounced.Have you ever seen a very young kitten being carried in the mother cat's mouth?It was like that.The Dwarf,hunched up in a little,miserable ball,hung from Aslan's mouth.The Lion gave him one shake and all his armour rattled like a tinker's pack and then – hey-presto – the Dwarf flew up in the air.He was as safe as if he had been in bed,though he did not feel so.As he came down the huge velvety paws caught him as gently as a mother's arms and set him(right way up,too)on the ground.

“Son of Earth,shall we be friends?” asked Aslan.

“Ye – he – he – hes,” panted the Dwarf,for he had not yet got his breath back.

“Now,” said Aslan.“The Moon is setting.Look behind you：there is the dawn beginning.We have no time to lose.You three,you Sons of Adam and Son of Earth,hasten into the Mound and deal with what you will find there.”

The Dwarf was still speechless and neither of the boys dared to ask if Aslan would follow them.All three drew their swords and saluted,then turned and jingled away into the dusk.Lucy noticed that there was no sign of weariness in their faces：both the High King and King Edmund looked more like men than boys.

The girls watched them out of sight,standing close beside Aslan.The light was changing.Low down in the east,Aravir,the morning star of Narnia,gleamed like a little moon.Aslan,who seemed larger than before,lifted his head,shook his mane,and roared.

The sound,deep and throbbing at first like an organ beginning on a low note,rose and became louder,and then far louder again,till the earth and air were shaking with it.It rose up from that hill and floated across all Narnia.Down in Miraz's camp men woke,stared palely in one another's faces,and grasped their weapons.Down below that in the Great River,now at its coldest hour,the heads and shoulders of the nymphs,and the great weedy-bearded head of the river-god,rose from the water.Beyond it,in every field and wood,the alert ears of rabbits rose from their holes,the sleepy heads of birds came out from under wings,owls hooted,vixens barked,hedgehogs grunted,the trees stirred.In towns and villages mothers pressed babies close to their breasts,staring with wild eyes,dogs whimpered,and men leapt up groping for lights.Far away on the northern frontier the mountain giants peered from the dark gateways of their castles.

What Lucy and Susan saw was a dark something coming to them from almost every direction across the hills.It looked first like a black mist creeping on the ground,then like the stormy waves of a black sea rising higher and higher as it came on,and then,at last,like what it was – woods on the move.All the trees of the world appeared to be rushing towards Aslan.But as they drew nearer they looked less like trees,and when the whole crowd,bowing and curtsying and waving thin long arms to Aslan,were all around Lucy,she saw that it was a crowd of human shapes.Pale birch-girls were tossing their heads,willow-women pushed back their hair from their brooding faces to gaze on Aslan,the queenly beeches stood still and adored him,shaggy oak-men,lean and melancholy elms,shock-headed hollies(dark themselves,but their wives all bright with berries)and gay rowans,all bowed and rose again,shouting,“Aslan,Aslan!” in their various husky or creaking or wave-like voices.

The crowd and the dance round Aslan(for it had become a dance once more)grew so thick and rapid that Lucy was confused.She never saw where certain other people came from who were soon capering about among the trees.One was a youth,dressed only in a fawn-skin,with vine-leaves wreathed in his curly hair.His face would have been almost too pretty for a boy's,if it had not looked so extremely wild.You felt,as Edmund said when he saw him a few days later,“There's a chap who might do anything – absolutely anything.” He seemed to have a great many names – Bromios,Bassareus,and the Ram were three of them.There were a lot of girls with him,as wild as he.There was even,unexpectedly,someone on a donkey.And everybody was laughing：and everybody was shouting out,“Euan,euan,eu-oi-oi-oi.”

“Is it a Romp,Aslan?” cried the youth.And apparently it was.But nearly everyone seemed to have a different idea as to what they were playing.It may have been Tig,but Lucy never discovered who was It.It was rather like Blind Man's Buff,only everyone behaved as if they were blindfolded.It was not unlike Hunt the Slipper,but the slipper was never found.What made it more complicated was that the man on the donkey,who was old and enormously fat,began calling out at once,“Refreshments!Time for refreshments,” and falling off his donkey and being bundled on to it again by the others,while the donkey was under the impression that the whole thing was a circus and tried to give a display of walking on its hind legs.And all the time there were more and more vine leaves everywhere.And soon not only leaves but vines.They were climbing up everything.They were running up the legs of the tree people and circling round their necks.Lucy put up her hands to push back her hair and found she was pushing back vine branches.The donkey was a mass of them.His tail was completely entangled and something dark was nodding between his ears.Lucy looked again and saw it was a bunch of grapes.After that it was mostly grapes – overhead and underfoot and all around.

“Refreshments!Refreshments,” roared the old man.Everyone began eating,and whatever hothouses your people may have,you have never tasted such grapes.Really good grapes,firm and tight on the outside,but bursting into cool sweetness when you put them into your mouth,were one of the things the girls had never had quite enough of before.Here,there were more than anyone could possibly want,and no table-manners at all.One saw sticky and stained fingers everywhere and,though mouths were full,the laughter never ceased nor the yodelling cries of Euan,euan,eu-oi-oi-oi-oi,till all of a sudden everyone felt at the same moment that the game(whatever it was),and the feast,ought to be over,and everyone flopped down breathless on the ground and turned their faces to Aslan to hear what he would say next.

At that moment the sun was just rising and Lucy remembered something and whispered to Susan,

“I say,Su,I know who they are.”

“Who?”

“The boy with the wild face is Bacchus and the old one on the donkey is Silenus.Don't you remember Mr Tumnus telling us about them long ago?”

“Yes,of course.But I say,Lu—”

“What?”

“I wouldn't have felt safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met them without Aslan.”

“I should think not,” said Lucy.

CHAPTER 12

Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance

Meanwhile Trumpkin and the two boys arrived at the dark little stone archway which led into the inside of the Mound,and two sentinel badgers(the white patches on their cheeks were all Edmund could see of them)leapt up with bared teeth and asked them in snarling voices,“Who goes there?”

“Trumpkin,” said the Dwarf.“Bringing the High King of Narnia out of the far past.”

The badgers nosed at the boys' hands.“At last,”they said.“At last.”

“Give us a light,friends,” said Trumpkin.

The Badgers found a torch just inside the arch and Peter lit it and handed it to Trumpkin.“The DLF had better lead,” he said.“We don't know our way about this place.”

Trumpkin took the torch and went ahead into the dark tunnel.It was a cold,black,musty place,with an occasional bat fluttering in the torchlight,and plenty of cobwebs.The boys,who had been mostly in the open air since that morning at the railway station,felt as if they were going into a trap or a prison.

“I say,Peter,” whispered Edmund.“Look at those carvings on the walls.Don't they look old?And yet we're older than that.When we were last here,they hadn't been made.”

“Yes,” said Peter.“That makes one think.”

The Dwarf went on ahead and then turned to the right,and then to the left,and then down some steps,and then to the left again.Then at last they saw a light ahead – light from under a door.And now for the first time they heard voices,for they had come to the door of the central chamber.The voices inside were angry ones.Someone was talking so loudly that the approach of the boys and the Dwarf had not been heard.

“Don't like the sound of that,” whispered Trumpkin to Peter.“Let's listen for a moment.” All three stood perfectly still on the outside of the door.

“You know well enough,” said a voice(“That's the King,” whispered Trumpkin),“why the Horn was not blown at sunrise this morning.Have you forgotten that Miraz fell upon us almost before Trumpkin had gone,and we were fighting for our lives for the space of three hours and more?I blew it when first I had a breathing space.”

“I'm not likely to forget it,” came the angry voice,“when my Dwarfs bore the brunt of the attack and one in five of them fell.”(“That's Nikabrik,”whispered Trumpkin.)

“For shame,Dwarf,” came a thick voice(“Trufflehunter's,” said Trumpkin).“We all did as much as the Dwarfs and none more than the King.”

“Tell that tale your own way for all I care,”answered Nikabrik.“But whether it was that the Horn was blown too late,or whether there was no magic in it,no help has come.You,you great clerk,you master magician,you know-all；are you still asking us to hang our hopes on Aslan and King Peter and all the rest of it?”

“I must confess – I cannot deny it – that I am deeply disappointed in the result of the operation,”came the answer.(“That'll be Doctor Cornelius,”said Trumpkin.)

“To speak plainly,” said Nikabrik,“your wallet's empty,your eggs addled,your fish uncaught,your promises broken.Stand aside then and let others work.And that is why—”

“The help will come,” said Trufflehunter.“I stand by Aslan.Have patience,like us beasts.The help will come.It may be even now at the door.”

“Pah!” snarled Nikabrik.“You badgers would have us wait till the sky falls and we can all catch larks.I tell you we can't wait.Food is running short；we lose more than we can afford at every encounter；our followers are slipping away.”

“And why?” asked Trufflehunter.“I'll tell you why.Because it is noised among them that we have called on the Kings of old and the Kings of old have not answered.The last words Trumpkin spoke before he went(and went,most likely,to his death)were,'If you must blow the Horn,do not let the army know why you blow it or what you hope from it.' But that same evening everyone seemed to know.”

“You'd better have shoved your grey snout in a hornets' nest,Badger,than suggest that I am the blab,” said Nikabrik.“Take it back,or—”

“Oh,stop it,both of you,” said King Caspian.“I want to know what it is that Nikabrik keeps on hinting we should do.But before that,I want to know who those two strangers are whom he has brought into our council and who stand there with their ears open and their mouths shut.”

“They are friends of mine,” said Nikabrik.“And what better right have you yourself to be here than that you are a friend of Trumpkin's and the Badger's?And what right has that old dotard in the black gown to be here except that he is your friend?Why am I to be the only one who can't bring in his friends?”

“His Majesty is the King to whom you have sworn allegiance,” said Trufflehunter sternly.

“Court manners,court manners,” sneered Nikabrik.“But in this hole we may talk plainly.You know – and he knows – that this Telmarine boy will be king of nowhere and nobody in a week unless we can help him out of the trap in which he sits.”

“Perhaps,” said Cornelius,“your new friends would like to speak for themselves?You there,who and what are you?”

“Worshipful Master Doctor,” came a thin,whining voice.“So please you,I'm only a poor old woman,I am,and very obliged to his Worshipful Dwarfship for his friendship,I'm sure.His Majesty,bless his handsome face,has no need to be afraid of an old woman that's nearly doubled up with the rheumatics and hasn't two sticks to put under her kettle.I have some poor little skill – not like yours,Master Doctor,of course – in small spells and cantrips that I'd be glad to use against our enemies if it was agreeable to all concerned.For I hate 'em.Oh,yes.No one hates better than me.”

“That is all most interesting and – er –satisfactory,” said Doctor Cornelius.“I think I now know what you are,Madam.Perhaps your other friend,Nikabrik,would give some account of himself?”

A dull,grey voice at which Peter's flesh crept replied,“I'm hunger.I'm thirst.Where I bite,I hold till I die,and even after death they must cut out my mouthful from my enemy's body and bury it with me.I can fast a hundred years and not die.I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze.I can drink a river of blood and not burst.Show me your enemies.”

“And it is in the presence of these two that you wish to disclose your plan?” said Caspian.

“Yes,” said Nikabrik.“And by their help that I mean to execute it.”

There was a minute or two during which Trumpkin and the boys could hear Caspian and his two friends speaking in low voices but could not make out what they were saying.Then Caspian spoke aloud.

“Well,Nikabrik,” he said,“we will hear your plan.”

There was a pause so long that the boys began to wonder if Nikabrik was ever going to begin；when he did,it was in a lower voice,as if he himself did not much like what he was saying.

“All said and done,” he muttered,“none of us knows the truth about the ancient days in Narnia.Trumpkin believed none of the stories.I was ready to put them to the trial.We tried first the Horn and it has failed.If there ever was a High King Peter and a Queen Susan and a King Edmund and a Queen Lucy,then either they have not heard us,or they cannot come,or they are our enemies—”

“Or they are on the way,” put in Trufflehunter.

“You can go on saying that till Miraz has fed us all to his dogs.As I was saying,we have tried one link in the chain of old legends,and it has done us no good.Well.But when your sword breaks,you draw your dagger.The stories tell of other powers beside the ancient Kings and Queens.Now if we could call them up?”

“If you mean Aslan,” said Trufflehunter,“it's all one calling on him and on the Kings.They were his servants.If he will not send them(but I make no doubt he will),is he more likely to come himself?”

“No.You're right there,” said Nikabrik.“Aslan and the Kings go together.Either Aslan is dead,or he is not on our side.Or else something stronger than himself keeps him back.And if he did come –how do we know he'd be our friend?He was not always a good friend to Dwarfs by all that's told.Not even to all beasts.Ask the Wolves.And anyway,he was in Narnia only once that I ever heard of,and he didn't stay long.You may drop Aslan out of the reckoning.I was thinking of someone else.”

There was no answer,and for a few minutes it was so still that Edmund could hear the wheezy and snuffling breath of the Badger.

“Who do you mean?” said Caspian at last.

“I mean a power so much greater than Aslan's that it held Narnia spellbound for years and years,if the stories are true.”

“The White Witch!” cried three voices all at once,and from the noise Peter guessed that three people had leapt to their feet.

“Yes,” said Nikabrik very slowly and distinctly,“I mean the Witch.Sit down again.Don't all take fright at a name as if you were children.We want power：and we want a power that will be on our side.As for power,do not the stories say that the Witch defeated Aslan,and bound him,and killed him on that very Stone which is over there,just beyond the light?”

“But they also say that he came to life again,” said the Badger sharply.

“Yes,they say,” answered Nikabrik,“but you'll notice that we hear precious little about anything he did afterwards.He just fades out of the story.How do you explain that,if he really came to life?Isn't it much more likely that he didn't,and that the stories say nothing more about him because there was nothing more to say?”

“He established the Kings and Queens,” said Caspian.

“A King who has just won a great battle can usually establish himself without the help of a performing lion,” said Nikabrik.There was a fierce growl,probably from Trufflehunter.

“And anyway,” Nikabrik continued,“what came of the Kings and their reign?They faded too.But it's very different with the Witch.They say she ruled for a hundred years：a hundred years of winter.There's power,if you like.There's something practical.”

“But,heaven and earth!” said the King.“Haven't we always been told that she was the worst enemy of all?Wasn't she a tyrant ten times worse than Miraz?”

“Perhaps,” said Nikabrik in a cold voice.“Perhaps she was for you humans,if there were any of you in those days.Perhaps she was for some of the beasts.She stamped out the Beavers,I dare say；at least there are none of them in Narnia now.But she got on all right with us Dwarfs.I'm a Dwarf and I stand by my own people.We're not afraid of the Witch.”

“But you've joined with us,” said Trufflehunter.

“Yes,and a lot of good it has done my people,so far,” snapped Nikabrik.“Who is sent on all the dangerous raids?The Dwarfs.Who goes short when the rations fail?The Dwarfs.Who—?”

“Lies!All lies!” said the Badger.

“And so,” said Nikabrik,whose voice now rose to a scream,“if you can't help my people,I'll go to someone who can.”

“Is this open treason,Dwarf?” asked the King.

“Put that sword back in its sheath,Caspian,” said Nikabrik.“Murder at council,eh?Is that your game?Don't be fool enough to try it.Do you think I'm afraid of you?There's three on my side,and three on yours.”

“Come on,then,” snarled Trufflehunter,but he was immediately interrupted.

“Stop,stop,stop,” said Doctor Cornelius.“You go on too fast.The Witch is dead.All the stories agree on that.What does Nikabrik mean by calling on the Witch?”

That grey and terrible voice which had spoken only once before said,“Oh,is she?”

And then the shrill,whining voice began,“Oh,bless his heart,his dear little Majesty needn't mind about the White Lady – that's what we call her –being dead.The Worshipful Master Doctor is only making game of a poor old woman like me when he says that.Sweet Master Doctor,learned Master Doctor,who ever heard of a witch that really died?You can always get them back.”

“Call her up,” said the grey voice.“We are all ready.Draw the circle.Prepare the blue fire.”

Above the steadily increasing growl of the Badger,and Cornelius's sharp,“What?” rose the voice of King Caspian like thunder.

“So that is your plan,Nikabrik!Black sorcery and the calling up of an accursed ghost.And I see who your companions are – a Hag and a Wer-Wolf!”

The next minute or so was very confused.There was an animal roaring,a clash of steel；and the boys and Trumpkin rushed in；Peter had a glimpse of a horrible,grey,gaunt creature,half man and half wolf,in the very act of leaping upon a boy about his own age,and Edmund saw a badger and a Dwarf rolling on the floor in a sort of cat fight.Trumpkin found himself face to face with the Hag.Her nose and chin stuck out like a pair of nut-crackers,her dirty grey hair was flying about her face and she had just got Doctor Cornelius by the throat.At one slash of Trumpkin's sword her head rolled on the floor.Then the light was knocked over and it was all swords,teeth,claws,fists,and boots for about sixty seconds.Then silence.

“Are you all right,Ed?”

“I – I think so,” panted Edmund.“I've got that brute Nikabrik,but he's still alive.”

“Weights and water-bottles!” came an angry voice.“It's me you're sitting on.Get off.You're like a young elephant.”

“Sorry,DLF,” said Edmund.“Is that better?”

“Ow!No!” bellowed Trumpkin.“You're putting your boot in my mouth.Go away.”

“Is King Caspian anywhere?” asked Peter.

“I'm here,” said a rather faint voice.“Something bit me.”

They all heard the noise of someone striking a match.It was Edmund.The little flame showed his face,looking pale and dirty.He blundered about for a little,found the candle(they were no longer using the lamp,for they had run out of oil),set it on the table,and lit it.When the flame rose clear,several people scrambled to their feet.Six faces blinked at one another in the candlelight.

“We don't seem to have any enemies left,” said Peter.“There's the Hag,dead.”(He turned his eyes quickly away from her.)“And Nikabrik,dead too.And I suppose this thing is a Wer-Wolf.It's so long since I've seen one.Wolf's head and man's body.That means he was just turning from man into wolf at the moment he was killed.And you,I suppose,are King Caspian?”

“Yes,” said the other boy.“But I've no idea who you are.”

“It's the High King,King Peter,” said Trumpkin.

“Your Majesty is very welcome,” said Caspian.

“And so is your Majesty,” said Peter.“I haven't come to take your place,you know,but to put you into it.”

“Your Majesty,” said another voice at Peter's elbow.He turned and found himself face to face with the Badger.Peter leaned forward,put his arms round the beast and kissed the furry head：it wasn't a girlish thing for him to do,because he was the High King.

“Best of badgers,” he said.“You never doubted us all through.”

“No credit to me,your Majesty,” said Trufflehunter.“I'm a beast and we don't change.I'm a badger,what's more,and we hold on.”

“I am sorry for Nikabrik,” said Caspian,“though he hated me from the first moment he saw me.He had gone sour inside from long suffering and hating.If we had won quickly he might have become a good Dwarf in the days of peace.I don't know which of us killed him.I'm glad of that.”

“You're bleeding,” said Peter.

“Yes,I'm bitten,” said Caspian.“It was that – that wolf thing.” Cleaning and bandaging the wound took a long time,and when it was done Trumpkin said,“Now.Before everything else we want some breakfast.”

“But not here,” said Peter.

“No,” said Caspian with a shudder.“And we must send someone to take away the bodies.”

“Let the vermin be flung into a pit,” said Peter.“But the Dwarf we will give to his people to be buried in their own fashion.”

They breakfasted at last in another of the dark cellars of Aslan's How.It was not such a breakfast as they would have chosen,for Caspian and Cornelius were thinking of venison pasties,and Peter and Edmund of buttered eggs and hot coffee,but what everyone got was a little bit of cold bearmeat(out of the boys' pockets),a lump of hard cheese,an onion,and a mug of water.But,from the way they fell to,anyone would have supposed it was delicious.

CHAPTER 13

The High King in Command

“Now,” said Peter,as they finished their meal,“Aslan and the girls(that's Queen Susan and Queen Lucy,Caspian)are somewhere close.We don't know when he will act.In his time,no doubt,not ours.In the meantime he would like us to do what we can on our own.You say,Caspian,we are not strong enough to meet Miraz in pitched battle.”

“I'm afraid not,High King,” said Caspian.He was liking Peter very much,but was rather tongue-tied.It was much stranger for him to meet the great Kings out of the old stories than it was for them to meet him.

“Very well,then,” said Peter,“I'll send him a challenge to a single combat.” No one had thought of this before.

“Please,” said Caspian,“could it not be me?I want to avenge my father.”

“You're wounded,” said Peter.“And anyway,wouldn't he just laugh at a challenge from you?I mean,we have seen that you are a king and a warrior but he thinks of you as a kid.”

“But,Sire,” said the Badger,who sat very close to Peter and never took his eyes off him.“Will he accept a challenge even from you?He knows he has the stronger army.”

“Very likely he won't,” said Peter,“but there's always the chance.And even if he doesn't,we shall spend the best part of the day sending heralds to and fro and all that.By then Aslan may have done something.And at least I can inspect the army and strengthen the position.I will send the challenge.In fact I will write it at once.Have you pen and ink,Master Doctor?”

“A scholar is never without them,your Majesty,”answered Doctor Cornelius.

“Very well,I will dictate,” said Peter.And while the Doctor spread out a parchment and opened his ink-horn and sharpened his pen,Peter leant back with half-closed eyes and recalled to his mind the language in which he had written such things long ago in Narnia's golden age.

“Right,” he said at last.“And now,if you are ready,Doctor?”

Doctor Cornelius dipped his pen and waited.Peter dictated as follows：

“Peter,by the gift of Aslan,by election,by prescription,and by conquest,High King over all Kings in Narnia,Emperor of the Lone Islands and Lord of Cair Paravel,Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion,to Miraz,Son of Caspian the Eighth,sometime Lord Protector of Narnia and now styling himself King of Narnia,Greeting.Have you got that?”

“Narnia,comma,greeting,” muttered the Doctor.“Yes,Sire.”

“Then begin a new paragraph,” said Peter.“For to prevent the effusion of blood,and for the avoiding of all other inconveniences likely to grow from the wars now levied in our realm of Narnia,it is our pleasure to adventure our royal person on behalf of our trusty and well-beloved Caspian in clean wager of battle to prove upon your Lordship's body that the said Caspian is lawful King under us in Narnia both by our gift and by the laws of the Telmarines,and your Lordship twice guilty of treachery both in withholding the dominion of Narnia from the said Caspian and in the most abhominable,– don't forget to spell it with an H,Doctor – bloody,and unnatural murder of your kindly lord and brother King Caspian Ninth of that name.Wherefore we most heartily provoke,challenge,and defy your Lordship to the said combat and monomachy,and have sent these letters by the hand of our well-beloved and royal brother Edmund,sometime King under us in Narnia,Duke of Lantern Waste and Count of the Western March,Knight of the Noble Order of the Table,to whom we have given full power of determining with your Lordship all the conditions of the said battle.Given at our lodging in Aslan's How this XII day of the month Greenroof in the first year of Caspian Tenth of Narnia.

“That ought to do,” said Peter,drawing a deep breath.“And now we must send two others with King Edmund.I think the Giant ought to be one.”

“He's – he's not very clever,you know,” said Caspian.

“Of course not,” said Peter.“But any giant looks impressive if only he will keep quiet.And it will cheer him up.But who for the other?”

“Upon my word,” said Trumpkin,“if you want someone who can kill with looks,Reepicheep would be the best.”

“He would indeed,from all I hear,” said Peter with a laugh.“If only he wasn't so small.They wouldn't even see him till he was close!”

“Send Glenstorm,Sire,” said Trufflehunter.“No one ever laughed at a Centaur.”

An hour later two great lords in the army of Miraz,the Lord Glozelle and the Lord Sopespian,strolling along their lines and picking their teeth after breakfast,looked up and saw coming down to them from the wood the Centaur and Giant Wimbleweather,whom they had seen before in battle,and between them a figure they could not recognize.Nor indeed would the other boys at Edmund's school have recognized him if they could have seen him at that moment.For Aslan had breathed on him at their meeting and a kind of greatness hung about him.

“What's to do?” said the Lord Glozelle.“An attack?”

“A parley,rather,” said Sopespian.“See,they carry green branches.They are coming to surrender most likely.”

“He that is walking between the Centaur and the Giant has no look of surrender in his face,” said Glozelle.“Who can he be?It is not the boy Caspian.”

“No indeed,” said Sopespian.“This is a fell warrior,I warrant you,wherever the rebels have got him from.He is(in your Lordship's private ear)a kinglier man than ever Miraz was.And what mail he wears!None of our smiths can make the like.”

“I'll wager my dappled Pomely he brings a challenge,not a surrender,” said Glozelle.

“How then?” said Sopespian.“We hold the enemy in our fist here.Miraz would never be so harebrained as to throw away his advantage on a combat.”

“He might be brought to it,” said Glozelle in a much lower voice.

“Softly,” said Sopespian.“Step a little aside here out of earshot of those sentries.Now.Have I taken your Lordship's meaning aright?”

“If the King undertook wager of battle,”whispered Glozelle,“why,either he would kill or be killed.”

“So,” said Sopespian,nodding his head.

“And if he killed we should have won this war.”

“Certainly.And if not?”

“Why,if not,we should be as able to win it without the King's grace as with him.For I need not tell your Lordship that Miraz is no very great captain.And after that,we should be both victorious and kingless.”

“And it is your meaning,my Lord,that you and I could hold this land quite as conveniently without a King as with one?”

Glozelle's face grew ugly.“Not forgetting,” said he,“that it was we who first put him on the throne.And in all the years that he has enjoyed it,what fruits have come our way?What gratitude has he shown us?”

“Say no more,” answered Sopespian.“But look –here comes one to fetch us to the King's tent.”

When they reached Miraz's tent they saw Edmund and his two companions seated outside it and being entertained with cakes and wine,having already delivered the challenge,and withdrawn while the King was considering it.When they saw them thus at close quarters the two Telmarine lords thought all three of them very alarming.

Inside,they found Miraz,unarmed and finishing his breakfast.His face was flushed and there was a scowl on his brow.

“There!” he growled,flinging the parchment across the table to them.“See what a pack of nursery tales our jackanapes of a nephew has sent us.”

“By your leave,Sire,” said Glozelle.“If the young warrior whom we have just seen outside is the King Edmund mentioned in the writing,then I would not call him a nursery tale but a very dangerous knight.”

“King Edmund,pah!” said Miraz.“Does your Lordship believe those old wives' fables about Peter and Edmund and the rest?”

“I believe my eyes,your Majesty,” said Glozelle.

“Well,this is to no purpose,” said Miraz,“but as to touching the challenge,I suppose there is only one opinion between us?”

“I suppose so,indeed,Sire,” said Glozelle.

“And what is that?” asked the King.

“Most infallibly to refuse it,” said Glozelle.“For though I have never been called a coward,I must plainly say that to meet that young man in battle is more than my heart would serve me for.And if(as is likely)his brother,the High King,is more dangerous than he – why,on your life,my Lord King,have nothing to do with him.”

“Plague on you!” cried Miraz.“It was not that sort of counsel I wanted.Do you think I am asking you if I should be afraid to meet this Peter(if there is such a man)?Do you think I fear him?I wanted your counsel of the policy of the matter；whether we,having the advantage,should hazard it on a wager of battle.”

“To which I can only answer,your Majesty,” said Glozelle,“that for all reasons the challenge should be refused.There is death in the strange knight's face.”

“There you are again!” said Miraz,now thoroughly angry.“Are you trying to make it appear that I am as great a coward as your Lordship?”

“Your Majesty may say your pleasure,” said Glozelle sulkily.

“You talk like an old woman,Glozelle,” said the King.“What say you,my Lord Sopespian?”

“Do not touch it,Sire,” was the reply.“And what your Majesty says of the policy of the thing comes in very happily.It gives your Majesty excellent grounds for a refusal without any cause for questioning your Majesty's honour or courage.”

“Great Heaven!” exclaimed Miraz,jumping to his feet.“Are you also bewitched today?Do you think I am looking for grounds to refuse it?You might as well call me coward to my face.”

The conversation was going exactly as the two lords wished,so they said nothing.

“I see what it is,” said Miraz,after staring at them as if his eyes would start out of his head,“you are as lily-livered as hares yourselves and have the effrontery to imagine my heart after the likeness of yours!Grounds for a refusal,indeed!Excuses for not fighting!Are you soldiers?Are you Telmarines?Are you men?And if I do refuse it(as all good reasons of captaincy and martial policy urge me to do)you will think,and teach others to think,I was afraid.Is it not so?”

“No man of your Majesty's age,” said Glozelle,“would be called coward by any wise soldier for refusing the combat with a great warrior in the flower of his youth.”

“So I'm to be a dotard with one foot in the grave,as well as a dastard,” roared Miraz.“I'll tell you what it is,my Lords.With your womanish counsels(ever shying from the true point,which is one of policy)you have done the very opposite of your intent.I had meant to refuse it.But I'll accept it.Do you hear,accept it!I'll not be shamed because some witchcraft or treason has frozen both your bloods.”

“We beseech your Majesty—” said Glozelle,but Miraz had flung out of the tent and they could hear him bawling out his acceptance to Edmund.

The two lords looked at one another and chuckled quietly.

“I knew he'd do it if he were properly chafed,”said Glozelle.“But I'll not forget he called me coward.It shall be paid for.”

There was a great stirring at Aslan's How when the news came back and was communicated to the various creatures.Edmund,with one of Miraz's captains,had already marked out the place for the combat,and ropes and stakes had been put round it.Two Telmarines were to stand at two of the corners,and one in the middle of one side,as marshals of the lists.Three marshals for the other two corners and the other side were to be furnished by the High King.Peter was just explaining to Caspian that he could not be one,because his right to the throne was what they were fighting about,when suddenly a thick,sleepy voice said,“Your Majesty,please.” Peter turned and there stood the eldest of the Bulgy Bears.“If you please,your Majesty,” he said,“I'm a bear,I am.”

“To be sure,so you are,and a good bear too,I don't doubt,” said Peter.

“Yes,” said the Bear.“But it was always a right of the bears to supply one marshal of the lists.”

“Don't let him,” whispered Trumpkin to Peter.“He's a good creature,but he'll shame us all.He'll go to sleep and he will suck his paws.In front of the enemy too.”

“I can't help that,” said Peter.“Because he's quite right.The Bears had that privilege.I can't imagine how it has been remembered all these years,when so many other things have been forgotten.”

“Please,your Majesty,” said the Bear.

“It is your right,” said Peter.“And you shall be one of the marshals.But you must remember not to suck your paws.”

“Of course not,” said the Bear in a very shocked voice.

“Why,you're doing it this minute!” bellowed Trumpkin.

The Bear whipped his paw out of his mouth and pretended he hadn't heard.

“Sire!” came a shrill voice from near the ground.

“Ah – Reepicheep!” said Peter,after looking up and down and round as people usually did when addressed by the Mouse.

“Sire,” said Reepicheep.“My life is ever at your command,but my honour is my own.Sire,I have among my people the only trumpeter in your Majesty's army.I had thought,perhaps,we might have been sent with the challenge.Sire,my people are grieved.Perhaps if it were your pleasure that I should be a marshal of the lists,it would content them.”

A noise not unlike thunder broke out from somewhere overhead at this point,as Giant Wimbleweather burst into one of those not very intelligent laughs to which the nicer sorts of Giant are so liable.He checked himself at once and looked as grave as a turnip by the time Reepicheep discovered where the noise came from.

“I am afraid it would not do,” said Peter very gravely.“Some humans are afraid of mice—”

“I had observed it,Sire,” said Reepicheep.

“And it would not be quite fair to Miraz,” Peter continued,“to have in sight anything that might abate the edge of his courage.”

“Your Majesty is the mirror of honour,” said the Mouse with one of his admirable bows.“And on this matter we have but a single mind… I thought I heard someone laughing just now.If anyone present wishes to make me the subject of his wit,I am very much at his service – with my sword – whenever he has leisure.”

An awful silence followed this remark,which was broken by Peter saying,“Giant Wimbleweather and the Bear and the Centaur Glenstorm shall be our marshals.The combat will be at two hours after noon.Dinner at noon precisely.”

“I say,” said Edmund as they walked away,“I suppose it is all right.I mean,I suppose you can beat him?”

“That's what I'm fighting him to find out,” said Peter.

CHAPTER 14

How All Were Very Busy

Alittle before two o'clock,Trumpkin and the Badger sat with the rest of the creatures at the wood's edge looking across at the gleaming line of Miraz's army which was about two arrowshots away.In between,a square space of level grass had been staked for the combat.At the two far corners stood Glozelle and Sopespian with drawn swords.At the near corners were Giant Wimbleweather and the Bulgy Bear,who in spite of all their warnings was sucking his paws and looking,to tell the truth,uncommonly silly.To make up for this,Glenstorm on the right of the lists,stock-still except when he stamped a hind hoof occasionally on the turf,looked much more imposing than the Telmarine baron who faced him on the left.Peter had just shaken hands with Edmund and the Doctor,and was now walking down to the combat.It was like the moment before the pistol goes at an important race,but very much worse.

“I wish Aslan had turned up before it came to this,” said Trumpkin.

“So do I,” said Trufflehunter.“But look behind you.”

“Crows and crockery!” muttered the Dwarf as soon as he had done so.“What are they?Huge people – beautiful people – like gods and goddesses and giants.Hundreds and thousands of them,closing in behind us.What are they?”

“It's the Dryads and Hamadryads and Silvans,”said Trufflehunter.“Aslan has wakened them.”

“Humph!” said the Dwarf.“That'll be very useful if the enemy try any treachery.But it won't help the High King very much if Miraz proves handier with his sword.”

The Badger said nothing,for now Peter and Miraz were entering the lists from opposite ends,both on foot,both in chain shirts,with helmets and shields.They advanced till they were close together.Both bowed and seemed to speak,but it was impossible to hear what they said.Next moment the two swords flashed in the sunlight.For a second the clash could be heard but it was immediately drowned because both armies began shouting like crowds at a football match.

“Well done,Peter,oh,well done!” shouted Edmund as he saw Miraz reel back a whole pace and a half.“Follow it up,quick!” And Peter did,and for a few seconds it looked as if the fight might be won.But then Miraz pulled himself together – began to make real use of his height and weight.“Miraz!Miraz!The King!The King!” came the roar of the Telmarines.Caspian and Edmund grew white with sickening anxiety.

“Peter is taking some dreadful knocks,” said Edmund.

“Hullo!” said Caspian.“What's happening now?”

“Both falling apart,” said Edmund.“A bit blown,I expect.Watch.Ah,now they're beginning again,more scientifically this time.Circling round and round,feeling each other's defences.”

“I'm afraid this Miraz knows his work,” muttered the Doctor.But hardly had he said this when there was such a clapping and baying and throwing up of hoods among the Old Narnians that it was nearly deafening.

“What was it?What was it?” asked the Doctor.“My old eyes missed it.”

“The High King has pricked him in the armpit,”said Caspian,still clapping.“Just where the armhole of the hauberk let the point through.First blood.”

“It's looking ugly again,now,though,” said Edmund.“Peter's not using his shield properly.He must be hurt in the left arm.”

It was only too true.Everyone could see that Peter's shield hung limp.The shouting of the Telmarines redoubled.

“You've seen more battles than I,” said Caspian.“Is there any chance now?”

“Precious little,” said Edmund.“I suppose he might just do it.With luck.”

“Oh,why did we let it happen at all?” said Caspian.

Suddenly all the shouting on both sides died down.Edmund was puzzled for a moment.Then he said,“Oh,I see.They've both agreed to a rest.Come on,Doctor.You and I may be able to do something for the High King.” They ran down to the lists and Peter came outside the ropes to meet them,his face red and sweaty,his chest heaving.

“Is your left arm wounded?” asked Edmund.

“It's not exactly a wound,” Peter said.“I got the full weight of his shoulder on my shield – like a load of bricks – and the rim of the shield drove into my wrist.I don't think it's broken,but it might be a sprain.If you could tie it up very tight I think I could manage.”

While they were doing this,Edmund asked anxiously,“What do you think of him,Peter?”

“Tough,” said Peter.“Very tough.I have a chance if I can keep him on the hop till his weight and short wind come against him – in this hot sun too.To tell the truth,I haven't much chance else.Give my love to – to everyone at home,Ed,if he gets me.Here he comes into the lists again.So long,old chap.Goodbye,Doctor.And I say,Ed,say something specially nice to Trumpkin.He's been a brick.”

Edmund couldn't speak.He walked back with the Doctor to his own lines with a sick feeling in his stomach.

But the new bout went well.Peter now seemed to be able to make some use of his shield,and he certainly made good use of his feet.He was almost playing Tig with Miraz now,keeping out of range,shifting his ground,making the enemy work.

“Coward!” booed the Telmarines.“Why don't you stand up to him?Don't you like it,eh?Thought you'd come to fight,not dance.Yah!”

“Oh,I do hope he won't listen to them,” said Caspian.

“Not he,” said Edmund.“You don't know him –Oh!” – for Miraz had got in a blow at last,on Peter's helmet.Peter staggered,slipped sideways,and fell on one knee.The roar of the Telmarines rose like the noise of the sea.“Now,Miraz,” they yelled.“Now.Quick!Quick!Kill him.” But indeed there was no need to egg the usurper on.He was on top of Peter already.Edmund bit his lips till the blood came,as the sword flashed down on Peter.It looked as if it would slash off his head.Thank heavens!It had glanced down his right shoulder.The Dwarf-wrought mail was sound and did not break.

“Great Scott!” cried Edmund.“He's up again.Peter,go it,Peter!”

“I couldn't see what happened,” said the Doctor.“How did he do it?”

“Grabbed Miraz's arm as it came down,” said Trumpkin,dancing with delight.“There's a man for you!Uses his enemy's arm as a ladder.The High King!The High King!Up,Old Narnia!”

“Look,” said Trufflehunter.“Miraz is angry.It is good.”

They were certainly at it hammer and tongs now：such a flurry of blows that it seemed impossible for either not to be killed.As the excitement grew,the shouting almost died away.The spectators were holding their breath.It was most horrible and most magnificent.

A great shout arose from the Old Narnians.Miraz was down – not struck by Peter,but face downwards,having tripped on a tussock.Peter stepped back,waiting for him to rise.

“Oh,bother,bother,bother,” said Edmund to himself.“Need he be as gentlemanly as all that?I suppose he must.Comes of being a Knight and a High King.I suppose it is what Aslan would like.But that brute will be up again in a minute and then—”

But “that brute” never rose.The Lords Glozelle and Sopespian had their own plans ready.As soon as they saw their King down they leapt into the lists crying,“Treachery!Treachery!The Narnian traitor has stabbed him in the back while he lay helpless.To arms!To arms,Telmar!”

Peter hardly understood what was happening.He saw two big men running towards him with drawn swords.Then the third Telmarine had leapt over the ropes on his left.

“To arms,Narnia!Treachery!” Peter shouted.If all three had set upon him at once he would never have spoken again.But Glozelle stopped to stab his own King dead where he lay：“That's for your insult,this morning,” he whispered as the blade went home.Peter swung to face Sopespian,slashed his legs from under him and,with the back-cut of the same stroke,walloped off his head.Edmund was now at his side crying,“Narnia,Narnia!The Lion!”The whole Telmarine army was rushing towards them.But now the Giant was stamping forward,stooping low and swinging his club.The Centaurs charged.Twang,twang behind and hiss,hiss overhead came the archery of Dwarfs.Trumpkin was fighting at his left.Full battle was joined.

“Come back,Reepicheep,you little ass!” shouted Peter.“You'll only be killed.This is no place for mice.” But the ridiculous little creatures were dancing in and out among the feet of both armies,jabbing with their swords.Many a Telmarine warrior that day felt his foot suddenly pierced as if by a dozen skewers,hopped on one leg cursing the pain,and fell as often as not.If he fell,the mice finished him off；if he did not,someone else did.

But almost before the Old Narnians were really warmed to their work they found the enemy giving way.Tough-looking warriors turned white,gazed in terror not on the Old Narnians but on something behind them,and then flung down their weapons,shrieking,“The Wood!The Wood!The end of the world!”

But soon neither their cries nor the sound of weapons could be heard any more,for both were drowned in the ocean-like roar of the Awakened Trees as they plunged through the ranks of Peter's army,and then on,in pursuit of the Telmarines.Have you ever stood at the edge of a great wood on a high ridge when a wild south-wester broke over it in full fury on an autumn evening?Imagine that sound.And then imagine that the wood,instead of being fixed to one place,was rushing at you；and was no longer trees but huge people；yet still like trees because their long arms waved like branches and their heads tossed and leaves fell round them in showers.It was like that for the Telmarines.It was a little alarming even for the Narnians.In a few minutes all Miraz's followers were running down to the Great River in the hope of crossing the bridge to the town of Beruna and there defending themselves behind ramparts and closed gates.

They reached the river,but there was no bridge.It had disappeared since yesterday.Then utter panic and horror fell upon them and they all surrendered.

But what had happened to the bridge?

Early that morning,after a few hours' sleep,the girls had woken,to see Aslan standing over them and to hear his voice saying,“We will make holiday.” They rubbed their eyes and looked round them.The trees had all gone but could still be seen moving away towards Aslan's How in a dark mass.Bacchus and the Maenads – his fierce,madcap girls– and Silenus were still with them.Lucy,fully rested,jumped up.Everyone was awake,everyone was laughing,flutes were playing,cymbals clashing.Animals,not Talking Animals,were crowding in upon them from every direction.

“What is it,Aslan?” said Lucy,her eyes dancing and her feet wanting to dance.

“Come,children,” said he.“Ride on my back again today.”

“Oh,lovely!” cried Lucy,and both girls climbed on to the warm golden back as they had done no one knew how many years before.Then the whole party moved off – Aslan leading,Bacchus and his Maenads leaping,rushing,and turning somersaults,the beasts frisking round them,and Silenus and his donkey bringing up the rear.

They turned a little to the right,raced down a steep hill,and found the long Bridge of Beruna in front of them.Before they had begun to cross it,however,up out of the water came a great wet,bearded head,larger than a man's,crowned with rushes.It looked at Aslan and out of its mouth a deep voice came.

“Hail,Lord,” it said.“Loose my chains.”

“Who on earth is that?” whispered Susan.

“I think it's the river-god,but hush,” said Lucy.

“Bacchus,” said Aslan.“Deliver him from his chains.”

“That means the bridge,I expect,” thought Lucy.And so it did.Bacchus and his people splashed forward into the shallow water,and a minute later the most curious things began happening.Great,strong trunks of ivy came curling up all the piers of the bridge,growing as quickly as a fire grows,wrapping the stones round,splitting,breaking,separating them.The walls of the bridge turned into hedges gay with hawthorn for a moment and then disappeared as the whole thing with a rush and a rumble collapsed into the swirling water.With much splashing,screaming,and laughter the revellers waded or swam or danced across the ford(“Hurray!It's the Ford of Beruna again now!” cried the girls)and up the bank on the far side and into the town.

Everyone in the streets fled before their faces.The first house they came to was a school：a girls'school,where a lot of Narnian girls,with their hair done very tight and ugly tight collars round their necks and thick tickly stockings on their legs,were having a History lesson.The sort of “History” that was taught in Narnia under Miraz's rule was duller than the truest History you ever read and less true than the most exciting adventure story.

“If you don't attend,Gwendolen,” said the mistress,“and stop looking out of the window,I shall have to give you an order-mark.”

“But please,Miss Prizzle—” began Gwendolen.

“Did you hear what I said,Gwendolen?” asked Miss Prizzle.

“But please,Miss Prizzle,” said Gwendolen,“there's a LION!”

“Take two order-marks for talking nonsense,”said Miss Prizzle.“And now—” A roar interrupted her.Ivy came curling in at the windows of the classroom.The walls became a mass of shimmering green,and leafy branches arched overhead where the ceiling had been.Miss Prizzle found she was standing on grass in a forest glade.She clutched at her desk to steady herself,and found that the desk was a rose-bush.Wild people such as she had never even imagined were crowding round her.Then she saw the Lion,screamed and fled,and with her fled her class,who were mostly dumpy,prim little girls with fat legs.Gwendolen hesitated.

“You'll stay with us,sweetheart?” said Aslan.

“Oh,may I?Thank you,thank you,” said Gwendolen.Instantly she joined hands with two of the Maenads,who whirled her round in a merry dance and helped her take off some of the unnecessary and uncomfortable clothes that she was wearing.

Wherever they went in the little town of Beruna it was the same.Most of the people fled,a few joined them.When they left the town they were a larger and a merrier company.

They swept on across the level fields on the north bank,or left bank,of the river.At every farm,animals came out to join them.Sad old donkeys who had never known joy grew suddenly young again；chained dogs broke their chains；horses kicked their carts to pieces and came trotting along with them – clop-clop – kicking up the mud and whinnying.

At a well in a yard they met a man who was beating a boy.The stick burst into flower in the man's hand.He tried to drop it,but it stuck to his hand.His arm became a branch,his body the trunk of a tree,his feet took root.The boy,who had been crying a moment before,burst out laughing and joined them.

At a little town halfway to Beaversdam,where two rivers met,they came to another school,where a tired-looking girl was teaching arithmetic to a number of boys who looked very like pigs.She looked out of the window and saw the divine revellers singing up the street and a stab of joy went through her heart.Aslan stopped right under the window and looked up at her.

“Oh,don't,don't,” she said.“I'd love to.But I mustn't.I must stick to my work.And the children would be frightened if they saw you.”

“Frightened?” said the most pig-like of the boys.“Who's she talking to out of the window?Let's tell the inspector she talks to people out of the window when she ought to be teaching us.”

“Let's go and see who it is,” said another boy,and they all came crowding to the window.But as soon as their mean little faces looked out,Bacchus gave a great cry of Euan,euoi-oi-oi-oi and the boys all began howling with fright and trampling one another down to get out of the door and jumping out of the windows.And it was said afterwards(whether truly or not)that those particular little boys were never seen again,but that there were a lot of very fine little pigs in that part of the country which had never been there before.

“Now,Dear Heart,” said Aslan to the Mistress；and she jumped down and joined them.

At Beaversdam they re-crossed the river and came east again along the southern bank.They came to a little cottage where a child stood in the doorway crying.

“Why are you crying,my love?” asked Aslan.The child,who had never seen a picture of a lion,was not afraid of him.

“Auntie's very ill,” she said.“She's going to die.”

Then Aslan went to go in at the door of the cottage,but it was too small for him.So,when he had got his head through,he pushed with his shoulders(Lucy and Susan fell off when he did this)and lifted the whole house up and it fell backwards and apart.And there,still in her bed,though the bed was now in the open air,lay a little old woman who looked as if she had Dwarf blood in her.She was at death's door,but when she opened her eyes and saw the bright,hairy head of the lion staring into her face,she did not scream or faint.She said,“Oh,Aslan!I knew it was true.I've been waiting for this all my life.Have you come to take me away?”

“Yes,Dearest,” said Aslan.“But not the long journey yet.” And as he spoke,like the flush creeping along the underside of a cloud at sunrise,the colour came back to her white face and her eyes grew bright and she sat up and said,“Why,I do declare I feel that better.I think I could take a little breakfast this morning.”

“Here you are,mother,” said Bacchus,dipping a pitcher in the cottage well and handing it to her.But what was in it now was not water but the richest wine,red as redcurrant jelly,smooth as oil,strong as beef,warming as tea,cool as dew.

“Eh,you've done something to our well,” said the old woman.“That makes a nice change,that does.”And she jumped out of bed.

“Ride on me,” said Aslan,and added to Susan and Lucy,“You two queens will have to run now.”

“But we'd like that just as well,” said Susan.And off they went again.

And so at last,with leaping and dancing and singing,with music and laughter and roaring and barking and neighing,they all came to the place where Miraz's army stood flinging down their swords and holding up their hands,and Peter's army,still holding their weapons and breathing hard,stood round them with stern and glad faces.And the first thing that happened was that the old woman slipped off Aslan's back and ran across to Caspian and they embraced one another；for she was his old nurse.

CHAPTER 15

Aslan Makes a Door in the Air

At the sight of Aslan the cheeks of the Telmarine soldiers became the colour of cold gravy,their knees knocked together,and many fell on their faces.They had not believed in lions and this made their fear greater.Even the Red Dwarfs,who knew that he came as a friend,stood with open mouths and could not speak.Some of the Black Dwarfs,who had been of Nikabrik's party,began to edge away.But all the Talking Beasts surged round the Lion,with purrs and grunts and squeaks and whinnies of delight,fawning on him with their tails,rubbing against him,touching him reverently with their noses and going to and fro under his body and between his legs.If you have ever seen a little cat loving a big dog whom it knows and trusts,you will have a pretty good picture of their behaviour.Then Peter,leading Caspian,forced his way through the crowd of animals.

“This is Caspian,Sir,” he said.And Caspian knelt and kissed the Lion's paw.

“Welcome,Prince,” said Aslan.“Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?”

“I – I don't think I do,Sir,” said Caspian.“I'm only a kid.”

“Good,” said Aslan.“If you had felt yourself sufficient,it would have been a proof that you were not.Therefore,under us and under the High King,you shall be King of Narnia,Lord of Cair Paravel,and Emperor of the Lone Islands.You and your heirs while your race lasts.And your coronation –but what have we here?” For at that moment a curious little procession was approaching – eleven Mice,six of whom carried between them something on a litter made of branches,but the litter was no bigger than a large atlas.No one has ever seen mice more woebegone than these.They were plastered with mud – some with blood too – and their ears were down and their whiskers drooped and their tails dragged in the grass,and their leader piped on his slender pipe a melancholy tune.On the litter lay what seemed little better than a damp heap of fur；all that was left of Reepicheep.He was still breathing,but more dead than alive,gashed with innumerable wounds,one paw crushed and,where his tail had been,a bandaged stump.

“Now,Lucy,” said Aslan.

Lucy had her diamond bottle out in a moment.Though only a drop was needed on each of Reepicheep's wounds,the wounds were so many that there was a long and anxious silence before she had finished and the Mouse sprang from the litter.His hand went at once to his sword hilt,with the other he twirled his whiskers.He bowed.

“Hail,Aslan!” came his shrill voice.“I have the honour—” But then he suddenly stopped.

The fact was that he still had no tail – whether that Lucy had forgotten it or that her cordial,though it could heal wounds,could not make things grow again.Reepicheep became aware of his loss as he made his bow；perhaps it altered something in his balance.He looked over his right shoulder.

Failing to see his tail,he strained his neck further till he had to turn his shoulders and his whole body followed.But by that time his hindquarters had turned too and were out of sight.Then he strained his neck looking over his shoulder again,with the same result.Only after he had turned completely round three times did he realize the dreadful truth.

“I am confounded,” said Reepicheep to Aslan.“I am completely out of countenance.I must crave your indulgence for appearing in this unseemly fashion.”

“It becomes you very well,Small One,” said Aslan.

“All the same,” replied Reepicheep,“if anything could be done… Perhaps her Majesty?” and here he bowed to Lucy.

“But what do you want with a tail?” asked Aslan.

“Sir,” said the Mouse,“I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one.But a tail is the honour and glory of a Mouse.”

“I have sometimes wondered,friend,” said Aslan,“whether you do not think too much about your honour.”

“Highest of all High Kings,” said Reepicheep,“permit me to remind you that a very small size has been bestowed on us Mice,and if we did not guard our dignity,some(who weigh worth by inches)would allow themselves very unsuitable pleasantries at our expense.That is why I have been at some pains to make it known that no one who does not wish to feel this sword as near his heart as I can reach shall talk in my presence about Traps or Toasted Cheese or Candles：no,sir – not the tallest fool in Narnia!” Here he glared very fiercely up at Wimbleweather,but the Giant,who was always a stage behind everyone else,had not yet discovered what was being talked about down at his feet,and so missed the point.

“Why have your followers all drawn their swords,may I ask?” said Aslan.

“May it please your High Majesty,” said the second Mouse,whose name was Peepiceek,“we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his.We will not bear the shame of wearing an honour which is denied to the High Mouse.”

“Ah!” roared Aslan.“You have conquered me.You have great hearts.Not for the sake of your dignity,Reepicheep,but for the love that is between you and your people,and still more for the kindness your people showed me long ago when you ate away the cords that bound me on the Stone Table(and it was then,though you have long forgotten it,that you began to be Talking Mice),you shall have your tail again.”

Before Aslan had finished speaking the new tail was in its place.Then,at Aslan's command,Peter bestowed the Knighthood of the Order of the Lion on Caspian,and Caspian,as soon as he was knighted,himself bestowed it on Trufflehunter and Trumpkin and Reepicheep,and made Doctor Cornelius his Lord Chancellor,and confirmed the Bulgy Bear in his hereditary office of Marshal of the Lists.And there was great applause.

After this the Telmarine soldiers,firmly but without taunts or blows,were taken across the ford and all put under lock and key in the town of Beruna and given beef and beer.They made a great fuss about wading in the river,for they all hated and feared running water just as much as they hated and feared woods and animals.But in the end the nuisance was over,and then the nicest parts of that long day began.

Lucy,sitting close to Aslan and divinely comfortable,wondered what the trees were doing.At first she thought they were merely dancing；they were certainly going round slowly in two circles,one from left to right and the other from right to left.Then she noticed that they kept throwing something down in the centre of both circles.Sometimes she thought they were cutting off long strands of their hair；at other times it looked as if they were breaking off bits of their fingers – but,if so,they had plenty of fingers to spare and it did not hurt them.But whatever they were throwing down,when it reached the ground,it became brushwood or dry sticks.Then three or four of the Red Dwarfs came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile,which first crackled,and then blazed,and finally roared as a woodland bonfire on midsummer night ought to do.And everyone sat down in a wide circle round it.

Then Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began a dance,far wilder than the dance of the trees；not merely a dance for fun and beauty(though it was that too)but a magic dance of plenty,and where their hands touched,and where their feet fell,the feast came into existence – sides of roasted meat that filled the grove with delicious smells,and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes,honey and many-coloured sugars and cream as thick as porridge and as smooth as still water,peaches,nectarines,pomegranates,pears,grapes,strawberries,raspberries – pyramids and cataracts of fruit.Then,in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers,wreathed with ivy,came the wines；dark,thick ones like syrups of mulberry juice,and clear red ones like red jellies liquefied,and yellow wines and green wines and yellow-green and greenishyellow.

But for the tree people different fare was provided.When Lucy saw Clodsley Shovel and his moles scuffling up the turf in various places(which Bacchus had pointed out to them)and realized that the trees were going to eat earth it gave her rather a shudder.But when she saw the earths that were actually brought to them she felt quite different.

They began with a rich brown loam that looked almost exactly like chocolate；so like chocolate,in fact,that Edmund tried a piece of it,but he did not find it at all nice.When the rich loam had taken the edge off their hunger,the trees turned to an earth of the kind you see in Somerset,which is almost pink.They said it was lighter and sweeter.At the cheese stage they had a chalky soil,and then went on to delicate confections of the finest gravels powdered with choice silver sand.They drank very little wine,and it made the Hollies very talkative：for the most part they quenched their thirst with deep draughts of mingled dew and rain,flavoured with forest flowers and the airy taste of the thinnest clouds.

Thus Aslan feasted the Narnians till long after the sunset had died away,and the stars had come out；and the great fire,now hotter but less noisy,shone like a beacon in the dark woods,and the frightened Telmarines saw it from far away and wondered what it might mean.The best thing of all about this feast was that there was no breaking up or going away,but as the talk grew quieter and slower,one after another would begin to nod and finally drop off to sleep with feet towards the fire and good friends on either side,till at last there was silence all round the circle,and the chattering of water over stone at the Ford of Beruna could be heard once more.But all night Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.

Next day,messengers(who were chiefly squirrels and birds)were sent all over the country with a proclamation to the scattered Telmarines –including,of course,the prisoners in Beruna.They were told that Caspian was now King and that Narnia would henceforth belong to the Talking Beasts and the Dwarfs and Dryads and Fauns and other creatures quite as much as to the men.Any who chose to stay under the new conditions might do so；but for those who did not like the idea,Aslan would provide another home.Anyone who wished to go there must come to Aslan and the Kings at the Ford of Beruna by noon on the fifth day.You may imagine that this caused plenty of headscratching among the Telmarines.Some of them,chiefly the young ones,had,like Caspian,heard stories of the Old Days and were delighted that they had come back.They were already making friends with the creatures.These all decided to stay in Narnia.But most of the older men,especially those who had been important under Miraz,were sulky and had no wish to live in a country where they could not rule the roost.“Live here with a lot of blooming performing animals!No fear,” they said.“And ghosts too,” some added with a shudder.“That's what those there Dryads really are.It's not canny.” They were also suspicious.“I don't trust'em,” they said.“Not with that awful Lion and all.He won't keep his claws off us long,you'll see.” But then they were equally suspicious of his offer to give them a new home.“Take us off to his den and eat us one by one most likely,” they muttered.And the more they talked to one another the sulkier and more suspicious they became.But on the appointed day more than half of them turned up.

At one end of the glade Aslan had caused to be set up two stakes of wood,higher than a man's head and about three feet apart.A third,and lighter,piece of wood was bound across them at the top,uniting them,so that the whole thing looked like a doorway from nowhere into nowhere.In front of this stood Aslan himself with Peter on his right and Caspian on his left.Grouped round them were Susan,Edmund and Lucy,Trumpkin and Trufflehunter,the Lord Cornelius,Glenstorm,Reepicheep,and others.The children and the Dwarfs had made good use of the royal wardrobes in what had been the castle of Miraz and was now the castle of Caspian,and what with silk and cloth of gold,with snowy linen glancing through slashed sleeves,with silver mail shirts and jewelled swordhilts,with gilt helmets and feathered bonnets,they were almost too bright to look at.Even the beasts wore rich chains about their necks.Yet nobody's eyes were on them or the children.The living and strokable gold of Aslan's mane outshone them all.The rest of the Old Narnians stood down each side of the glade.At the far end stood the Telmarines.The sun shone brightly and pennants fluttered in the light wind.

“Men of Telmar,” said Aslan,“you who seek a new land,hear my words.I will send you all to your own country,which I know and you do not.”

“We don't remember Telmar.We don't know where it is.We don't know what it is like,”grumbled the Telmarines.

“You came into Narnia out of Telmar,” said Aslan.“But you came into Telmar from another place.You do not belong to this world at all.You came hither,certain generations ago,out of that same world to which the High King Peter belongs.”

At this,half the Telmarines began whimpering,“There you are.Told you so.He's going to kill us all,send us right out of the world,” and the other half began throwing out their chests and slapping one another on the back and whispering,“There you are.Might have guessed we didn't belong to this place with all its queer,nasty,unnatural creatures.We're of royal blood,you'll see.” And even Caspian and Cornelius and the children turned to Aslan with looks of amazement on their faces.

“Peace,” said Aslan in the low voice which was nearest to his growl.The earth seemed to shake a little and every living thing in the grove became still as stone.

“You,Sir Caspian,” said Aslan,“might have known that you could be no true King of Narnia unless,like the Kings of old,you were a Son of Adam and came from the world of Adam's sons.And so you are.Many years ago in that world,in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea,a shipload of pirates were driven by storm on an island.And there they did as pirates would：killed the natives and took the native women for wives,and made palm wine,and drank and were drunk,and lay in the shade of the palm trees,and woke up and quarrelled,and sometimes killed one another.And in one of these frays six were put to flight by the rest and fled with their women into the centre of the island and up a mountain and went,as they thought,into a cave to hide.But it was one of the magical places of that world,one of the chinks or chasms between worlds in old times,but they have grown rarer.This was one of the last：I do not say the last.And so they fell,or rose,or blundered,or dropped right through,and found themselves in this world,in the Land of Telmar which was then unpeopled.But why it was unpeopled is a long story：I will not tell it now.And in Telmar their descendants lived and became a fierce and proud people；and after many generations there was a famine in Telmar and they invaded Narnia,which was then in some disorder(but that also would be a long story),and conquered it and ruled it.Do you mark all this well,King Caspian?”

“I do indeed,Sir,” said Caspian.“I was wishing that I came of a more honourable lineage.”

“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,”said Aslan.“And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar,and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.Be content.”

Caspian bowed.

“And now,” said Aslan,“you men and women of Telmar,will you go back to that island in the world of men from which your fathers first came?It is no bad place.The race of those pirates who first found it has died out,and it is without inhabitants.There are good wells of fresh water,and fruitful soil,and timber for building,and fish in the lagoons；and the other men of that world have not yet discovered it.The chasm is open for your return；but this I must warn you,that once you have gone through,it will close behind you for ever.There will be no more commerce between the worlds by that door.”

There was silence for a moment.Then a burly,decent-looking fellow among the Telmarine soldiers pushed forward and said：

“Well,I'll take the offer.”

“It is well chosen,” said Aslan.“And because you have spoken first,strong magic is upon you.Your future in that world shall be good.Come forth.”

The man,now a little pale,came forward.Aslan and his court drew aside,leaving him free access to the empty doorway of the stakes.

“Go through it,my son,” said Aslan,bending towards him and touching the man's nose with his own.As soon as the Lion's breath came about him,a new look came into the man's eyes – startled,but not unhappy – as if he were trying to remember something.Then he squared his shoulders and walked through the Door.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on him.They saw the three pieces of wood,and through them the trees and grass and sky of Narnia.They saw the man between the doorposts：then,in one second,he had vanished utterly.

From the other end of the glade the remaining Telmarines set up a wailing.“Ugh!What's happened to him?Do you mean to murder us?We won't go that way.” And then one of the clever Telmarines said：

“We don't see any other world through those sticks.If you want us to believe in it,why doesn't one of you go?All your own friends are keeping well away from the sticks.”

Instantly Reepicheep stood forward and bowed.“If my example can be of any service,Aslan,” he said,“I will take eleven mice through that arch at your bidding without a moment's delay.”

“Nay,little one,” said Aslan,laying his velvety paw ever so lightly on Reepicheep's head.“They would do dreadful things to you in that world.They would show you at fairs.It is others who must lead.”

“Come on,” said Peter suddenly to Edmund and Lucy.“Our time's up.”

“What do you mean?” said Edmund.

“This way,” said Susan,who seemed to know all about it.“Back into the trees.We've got to change.”

“Change what?” asked Lucy.

“Our clothes,of course,” said Susan.“Nice fools we'd look on the platform of an English station in these.”

“But our other things are at Caspian's castle,”said Edmund.

“No,they're not,” said Peter,still leading the way into the thickest wood.“They're all here.They were brought down in bundles this morning.It's all arranged.”

“Was that what Aslan was talking to you and Susan about this morning?” asked Lucy.

“Yes – that and other things,” said Peter,his face very solemn.“I can't tell it all to you.There were things he wanted to say to Su and me because we're not coming back to Narnia.”

“Never?” cried Edmund and Lucy in dismay.

“Oh,you two are,” answered Peter.“At least,from what he said,I'm pretty sure he means you to get back some day.But not Su and me.He says we're getting too old.”

“Oh,Peter,” said Lucy.“What awful bad luck.Can you bear it?”

“Well,I think I can,” said Peter.“It's all rather different from what I thought.You'll understand when it comes to your last time.But,quick,here are our things.”

It was odd,and not very nice,to take off their royal clothes and to come back in their school things(not very fresh now)into that great assembly.One or two of the nastier Telmarines jeered.But the other creatures all cheered and rose up in honour of Peter the High King,and Queen Susan of the Horn,and King Edmund,and Queen Lucy.There were affectionate and(on Lucy's part)tearful farewells with all their old friends – animal kisses,and hugs from Bulgy Bears,and hands wrung by Trumpkin,and a last tickly,whiskerish embrace with Trufflehunter.And of course Caspian offered the Horn back to Susan and of course Susan told him to keep it.And then,wonderfully and terribly,it was farewell to Aslan himself,and Peter took his place with Susan's hands on his shoulders and Edmund's on hers and Lucy's on his and the first of the Telmarines' on Lucy's,and so in a long line they moved forward to the Door.After that came a moment which is hard to describe,for the children seemed to be seeing three things at once.One was the mouth of a cave opening into the glaring green and blue of an island in the Pacific,where all the Telmarines would find themselves the moment they were through the Door.The second was a glade in Narnia,the faces of Dwarfs and Beasts,the deep eyes of Aslan,and the white patches on the Badger's cheeks.But the third(which rapidly swallowed up the other two)was the grey,gravelly surface of a platform in a country station,and a seat with luggage round it,where they were all sitting as if they had never moved from it – a little flat and dreary for a moment after all they had been through,but also,unexpectedly,nice in its own way,what with the familiar railway smell and the English sky and the summer term before them.

“Well!” said Peter.“We have had a time.”

“Bother!” said Edmund.“I've left my new torch in Narnia.”

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

黎明踏浪号/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；陈良廷，刘文澜译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

ISBN 978-7-5447-4715-8

Ⅰ.① 黎…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 陈… ③ 刘… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290512号

The Voyage of the Dawn Treadercopyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1952

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1952 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 黎明踏浪号

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 陈良廷　刘文澜

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

书　号 114千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4715-8

第三册 黎明踏浪号

目录

中文版

1 卧室里的画

2 在黎明踏浪号上

3 孤独群岛

4 凯斯宾巧施奇计

5 风暴和余波

6 尤斯塔斯的历险

7 脱险

8 两次死里逃生

9 声音岛

10 魔法书

11 笨蛋瓜皆大欢喜

12 黑暗岛

13 三个沉睡的人

14 世界尽头的起点

15 最后一片大海的奇观

16 真正的世界尽头

英文版

CHAPTER 1 The Picture in the Bedroom

CHAPTER 2 On Board the Dawn Treader

CHAPTER 3 The Lone Islands

CHAPTER 4 What Caspian Did There

CHAPTER 5 The Storm and What Came of It

CHAPTER 6 The Adventures of Eustace

CHAPTER 7 How the Adventure Ended

CHAPTER 8 Two Narrow Escapes

CHAPTER 9 The Island of the Voices

CHAPTER 10 The Magician's Book

CHAPTER 11 The Dufflepuds Made Happy

CHAPTER 12 The Dark Island

CHAPTER 13 The Three Sleepers

CHAPTER 14 The Beginning of the End of the World

CHAPTER 15 The Wonders of the Last Sea

CHAPTER 16 The Very End of the World

献词

献给杰弗里·巴菲尔德

1

卧室里的画

有个男孩名叫尤斯塔斯·克拉伦斯·斯克罗布，他几乎是名副其实[1]。他父母叫他尤斯塔斯·克拉伦斯，老师叫他斯克罗布。我不知道他朋友怎么跟他说话，因为他一个朋友也没有。他对自己父母不叫“父亲”和“母亲”，却管他们叫哈罗德和艾贝塔。他们都是非常新潮和先进的人。他们不吃荤腥，不抽烟，滴酒不沾，穿一种特别的内衣裤。他们家里没几样家具，床上也没多少被褥，而且窗子老是敞开。

尤斯塔斯喜欢动物，尤其喜欢甲虫，喜欢死掉而钉在厚纸板上的甲虫。他喜欢看书，喜欢看知识性的书，书里有插图，画着谷仓，或胖胖的外国孩子在模范学校里做体操。

尤斯塔斯·克拉伦斯不喜欢他的表兄弟姐妹，佩文西家四个孩子——彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。可是他听说爱德蒙和露茜要来住一阵子倒也十分高兴。因为他内心深处就喜欢发号施令，恃强欺弱；虽然他身子弱小，打起架来连露茜也对付不了，更别提爱德蒙了，但他知道如果在自己家里，人家只是客人，那就有几十种法子让人家吃苦头。

爱德蒙和露茜原来根本不想来哈罗德舅舅和艾贝塔舅妈家住。可是实在没办法。那年夏天，父亲要到美国去讲学，为期十六个星期，母亲要陪他去，因为她有十年没过上真正的假期了。彼得正在拚命用功准备考试，假期里他要让柯克老教授辅导。很久以前在大战年代里，这四个孩子曾经住在柯克家，有过一段奇遇[2]。如果柯克仍然住在那幢房子里，他准会让他们全住下。不过，不知怎的，他到了老年就穷了，如今住在一所小屋里，只匀得出一间卧室。要把那三个孩子都带到美国去可花费太大，所以就只带了苏珊去。大人们认为她是子女中长得漂亮的一个，她的功课又不好（尽管就年纪来说她也老大不小了），母亲说她“到美国去可以比两个小的学到更多东西”。虽然爱德蒙和露茜尽力不去妒忌苏珊那份运气，可是要他们到舅妈家去过暑假倒真要命。“不过，我更倒霉，”爱德蒙说，“因为至少你自己还有一间屋子，我可得跟那个前所未有的讨厌鬼尤斯塔斯合住一间卧室了。”

本书故事开头说的是，有一天下午，爱德蒙和露茜偷偷单独在一起过上宝贵的片刻工夫。他们谈的当然是纳尼亚了，这是他们专有的秘密地方的名字。我看，我们多半人都有一个秘密的地方，不过，就我们来说，那只不过是个想像中的地方罢了。这一点上，爱德蒙和露茜可比别人幸运。他们的秘密地方是真的。他们已经去过两回了；不是在游戏中去的，也不是在睡梦中去的，而是在现实中去的。他们到那里去当然是靠魔法，因为这是到纳尼亚去的惟一办法。他们在纳尼亚时就有约在先，或者近乎约定，今后总有一天他们要回去。读者可以想像，他们一有机会自然就大谈特谈纳尼亚了。

他们在露茜屋里，坐在她床边，瞧着对面墙上一幅画。这是屋里他们惟一喜欢的一幅画。艾贝塔舅妈根本不喜欢这幅画（所以才把这画放到楼上一间小后房里），可是她又没法扔掉这幅画，因为这是她不想得罪的某人送给她的一份结婚礼物。

这幅画画的是一条船——一条几乎笔直向你迎面驶来的船。船头是镀金的，像个张大嘴巴的龙头。船上只有一根桅杆，张着一面很大的方帆，帆布是一片艳丽的紫色。从镀金的龙翼两端处看得出两边舷侧是绿色的。这船正冲到一阵绚丽的碧浪顶峰上，近处那面浪坡挟着串串海水和星星泡沫向你直泻而来。分明这条船正乘风破浪，快速行进，左舷略为倾斜。（顺便说一下，要是你打算把这个故事好好看到底，而你还弄不明白，那你最好先在脑子里有个概念，你朝前看时，船身左面叫左舷，右面叫右舷。）阳光全从那一面照在船身上，所以那一面的海水一片碧绿和紫色。另一面海水给船身阴影遮住了，所以是深蓝色。

“问题是，”爱德蒙说，“眼巴巴瞧着一条纳尼亚的船，可又上不去，事情是否反而更糟糕。”

“哪怕瞧瞧也好啊，”露茜说，“这条船是地地道道的纳尼亚船呢。”

“还在玩你们的老把戏啊？”尤斯塔斯说，原来他一直在门外偷听，这会儿正咧嘴笑着进屋。去年，他在佩文西家住过一阵子，那时他竟然听到他们都在谈论纳尼亚的事，就爱拿这事取笑他们。他当然以为他们全都是编造出来的；因为他自己什么都编造不出来，所以他不以为然。

“这里不欢迎你。”爱德蒙粗鲁地说。

“我正在动脑筋诌一首打油诗，”尤斯塔斯说，“大致是这样：

有些玩着纳尼亚游戏的孩子

变得越来越愚蠢，越来越愚蠢……

“哼，首先，孩子和愚蠢两个词就并不押韵。”露茜说。

“这是首押元音的诗。”尤斯塔斯说。

“别去问他押元音狗屁是什么东西，”爱德蒙说，“他就巴不得人家问他呢。什么也别说，不定他就会走掉。”

多半孩子碰到这么一鼻子灰，不是一走了之就是一跳八丈高。尤斯塔斯偏偏不是这样。他就是嬉皮笑脸赖着不走，不一会儿又开口说话了。

“你们喜欢那幅画吗？”他问。

“天哪，别让他扯上艺术啊什么的那一套。”爱德蒙急忙说。可是露茜为人非常真诚，她已经说话了：“是啊，我喜欢。我非常喜欢这幅画。”

“这是幅烂画。”尤斯塔斯说。

“你到门外去就看不见这幅画了。”爱德蒙说。

“你为什么喜欢这幅画？”尤斯塔斯对露茜说。

“说起来，我喜欢这幅画，”露茜说，“一来嘛，因为这条船看上去真的像在开动，海水看上去真的像湿的。而且海浪看上去真的像在一起一伏。”

尤斯塔斯当然知道不少话来回答，可是他一言不发。原因是就在他望着海浪的这工夫，他看到海浪确确实实很像在一起一伏。他只乘过一次船（而且只乘到怀特岛[3]），还晕了船，闹得可惨呢。一看到画上海浪的样子他又晕了。他脸色发青，想再看一眼。于是三个孩子都看得目瞪口呆。

你们看到白纸黑字印着的故事时，也许很难相信他们看到的情景，不过你们亲眼看到这事时，几乎也同样很难相信。画上的景物竟在活动呢。看上去也根本不像电影；色彩过于逼真，过于明净，简直在露天下，电影没这么着的。船头冲进浪里，激起一大片浪花，然后又冲上来，把海浪甩在船后，这时才头一回看见船尾和甲板，可第二个浪头迎面打过来时，船头又翘上来，船尾和甲板又看不见了。就在这时，原来一直放在床上爱德蒙身边的一本练习本啪喇喇翻动，飘了起来，在他身后凭空飞向墙边，露茜觉得满头发丝都飘拂到脸上，就跟刮风天时一样。而且这会儿就是刮风天，不过这风正从画上向他们刮来。忽然一下子这阵风还刮来了种种声响——海浪沙沙冲刷，海水哗哗拍打船舷，船身嘎嘎呻吟，还有空中和海水那压倒一切的、有规律的高声怒号。不过，真正让露茜相信她不是在做梦的倒是那股味儿，那股强烈的咸涩的海水味。

“住手，”传来尤斯塔斯的声音，声音尖锐刺耳，透着害怕和暴躁，“你们两个又在玩什么荒唐的把戏了。快住手。我要告诉艾贝塔去了——哎唷！”

那两兄妹对冒险的事可习惯得多，谁知，就在尤斯塔斯叫“哎唷”的时刻，他们也一齐叫“哎唷”了。因为一大片又凉又咸的海水已经从画面上破框而出，打得他们浑身透湿不算，而且连气也透不过来。

“我要把这幅烂画砸了。”尤斯塔斯大声叫道；就在这会儿，好几件事都凑在一起了。尤斯塔斯冲到画前。爱德蒙对魔法的厉害早已领教过一二，赶紧跳起来追他，警告他留神，别干傻事。露茜从另一边抓住他，却被拽着向前冲。这时刻，不是他们的身子变得越来越小，就是画变得越来越大了。尤斯塔斯跳起身，想把画从墙上扯下来，不知不觉间竟站到画框上了；在他面前的不是镜面，而是真正的大海，海风和海浪向画框迎面冲来，势如冲拍岩石。他吓昏了头，抓住身边那两个跳起身来的人。他们又是挣扎，又是喊叫，闹了一会儿，正以为身体已经保持平衡，一个蓝蓝的巨浪在他们四下涌起，把他们拖到海里。海水灌进尤斯塔斯的嘴巴，他那绝望的喊叫顿时中止了。

露茜暗自谢天谢地，幸亏去年夏天她拚命学游泳。说真的，如果她用慢一些的划水动作，的确会游得好得多，而且海水比起只在画面上看到的确要凉得多。不过，她还是按照任何穿着衣服掉进深水里的人应该采取的做法，保持镇定，踢掉鞋子。她甚至还闭紧嘴巴，睁开眼睛。他们离开船身很近了，她看见绿色的舷侧高耸在他们上面，船上人从甲板上看着她。这时，不出所料，尤斯塔斯慌乱中竟一把抓住她，两人就此一起沉下去了。

他们重新浮上水面时，她看见一个白色的人影从舷侧跳入水中。眼下爱德蒙紧靠着她，踩着水，揪住还在号叫的尤斯塔斯两条胳膊。接着，又有个人从另一边悄悄伸出胳膊托住她，这人的脸隐隐有些面熟。船上好多人七嘴八舌地叫喊着，舷墙上人头挤动，上面抛下了缆绳。爱德蒙和那陌生人把缆绳在她身上绕紧。绕好后似乎耽搁了好久好久，她都急得脸色发青，牙齿喀嗒喀嗒打架了。实际上可没耽搁多长时间；他们是在等待缆绳稳当，把她吊上船去时身体不致跟舷侧磕碰。尽管他们费尽心机，但等她终于浑身湿淋淋，簌簌抖地站到甲板上，一只膝盖还是磕得青肿了。接着，爱德蒙也给吊上船来，然后，可怜的尤斯塔斯也上来了。最后上来的是那陌生人——一个比她大几岁的金发男孩。

“凯——凯——凯斯宾！”露茜一缓过气来，马上气喘吁吁地叫道。原来是凯斯宾；他们上回到纳尼亚去时出过力扶上王位的纳尼亚小国王凯斯宾。爱德蒙也立刻认出他了。三个人都欢天喜地，握手拍肩。

“可你们这位朋友是什么人啊？”凯斯宾笑容满面地回头对着尤斯塔斯，同时问道。谁知尤斯塔斯哭得更厉害了，任何跟他同年的男孩碰上大不了是浑身湿透这种事，有权利哭一场，可也没哭得这么厉害的，他只是一味干号道：“让我走。让我回去。我不喜欢这种事。”

“让你走？”凯斯宾说，“可是上哪儿去呢？”

尤斯塔斯冲到舷侧，仿佛想看看挂在海面上的画框似的，或者看一眼露茜的卧室也好。可他看到的是泛着星星泡沫的碧浪，浅蓝色的天空，海天都一望无际。他吓得魂不附体，也许我们倒不大好怪他。他顿时感到不舒服了。

“嗨！赖尼夫，”凯斯宾对一个水手说，“给两位陛下送上香料酒。你们在水里浸了一会以后，需要点东西暖暖身子。”他称爱德蒙和露茜为两位陛下，因为他们同彼得和苏珊早在他即位之前好久就当上纳尼亚的国王和女王了。纳尼亚的时间过得跟我们这里不一样。如果你在纳尼亚过上一百年，你回到我们这世界里还是你离开的那一天的同一时辰。如果你在我们这世界里过上一星期，或者只过上一天，或者只过上一会儿，再回到纳尼亚去，你兴许发现纳尼亚已经过了一千年呢。你不到那儿就不知道。因此，佩文西家两兄妹自从上回第二回到纳尼亚去过以后，这回回来（在纳尼亚人看来）就仿佛传说中所说，总有一天会重返英国的亚瑟王[4]终于重返了一样。我说越快越好。

赖尼夫端来一瓶冒着气的香料酒和四个银杯。这酒来得正好，露茜和爱德蒙呷上一口顿时感到一股暖流直贯脚趾。可是尤斯塔斯却苦着脸，吐啊啐啊，又呕了起来，又放声大哭，还问人家有没有丰树牌加维生素的营养食品，能不能用蒸馏水来调制，他还死乞白赖硬要人家到下一站就把他送上岸去。

“这位可是你们给我们带来的可爱的伙伴，王兄。”凯斯宾格格笑着对爱德蒙咬着耳朵说，可是他还来不及再说什么，尤斯塔斯又发作了。

“啊呀！呸！那到底是什么啊！快把这讨厌的东西带走。”

原来这一回他感到有点吃惊倒是真有理由了。船尾楼的房舱里果然出来了一个非常古怪的东西，向他们慢慢走来。你不妨管这叫作老鼠——的确是只老鼠。可这只老鼠竟然两条后腿站着，约莫有两英尺高。一条细细的金箍箍着脑袋，戴在一只耳朵下面，另一只耳朵上面，箍里还插着一根长长的深红色羽毛。（因为老鼠皮毛的颜色很深，几乎是黑的，所以这样打扮的效果非常醒目。）老鼠的左爪搁在一把几乎跟尾巴一样长的宝剑的柄上。它在晃荡的甲板上庄严地慢慢走来，居然四平八稳，态度也很优雅。露茜和爱德蒙一下子就认出它来了——雷佩契普，纳尼亚王国会说话的兽类中最英勇善战的老鼠大军的头头。在柏卢纳的第二次战役中，它赢得了不朽的殊荣。露茜巴不得把雷佩契普搂在怀里，抱抱它。过去她一直都想这样做。可是她也很清楚，这种乐趣她可休想享受得到，因为这样做会深深得罪它的。所以她就单腿跪下跟它说话。

雷佩契普伸出左腿，缩回右腿，鞠了一躬，吻吻她的手，再挺直身子，捻着胡须，嗓子尖厉刺耳地说：

“臣谨向女王陛下致敬，并向爱德蒙国王陛下致敬。”（说到这儿它又鞠了一躬。）“承蒙两位陛下光临，这次辉煌的远航可说十全十美了。”

“啊唷，把它带走，”尤斯塔斯哭叫道，“我恨老鼠。我一向受不了动物表演。又无聊，又粗俗——而且自作多情。”

“敢情这位特别无礼的人是受你陛下保护的吧？”雷佩契普对尤斯塔斯盯了好一会儿才说，“因为，要不是——”

这时露茜和爱德蒙两人都打喷嚏了。

“我多胡涂，竟让你们浑身透湿的老站在这儿。”凯斯宾说，“快到下面去，换换衣服。露茜，我当然会把自己的房舱让给你，不过，恐怕船上没有女人穿的衣服。你只好将就一下穿我的了。雷佩契普，好好带路。”

“看在女王的分上，”雷佩契普说。“即使是荣誉的问题也只好放弃了，至少暂时只好如此。”说到这儿它向尤斯塔斯狠狠盯了一眼。可是凯斯宾催他们走，转眼工夫，露茜就不知不觉穿过舱门，走进船尾舱了。她立刻就喜欢上这间房舱——三扇方窗，面临船尾外打旋的碧蓝海水，桌子三边摆着软垫矮凳，当头吊着一盏摇摇晃晃的银灯（她看了精巧的做工就知道这是小矮人的手艺），还有门上方墙壁上狮王阿斯兰的平面金像。房舱里的这一切她刚才一眼就全看清了，因为凯斯宾一下子打开右舷一扇门，说道：“这就是你的房间，露茜。我自己先拿几件干爽的衣物。”他说着就在一个贮藏箱里翻找着，“找好了就让你换衣服。如果你把湿衣物扔到门外，我就叫人拿到伙房里去烘干。”

露茜觉得悠闲自在，仿佛她在凯斯宾房舱里已经住了好几个星期似的，船身摇动她可一点不在乎，因为当初她在纳尼亚当女王那时，曾多次出海航行呢。这间房舱虽然很小，但很明亮，并有一幅幅镶版画（画的都是飞禽走兽，朱红色的龙和藤蔓），而且纤尘不染。凯斯宾的衣服给她穿太大了，可她好歹能凑合着穿。他的鞋子、拖鞋和长统靴都太大，但光着脚在甲板上走她倒不在乎。她穿戴整齐后就眺望窗外冲刷而过的海水，并深深吸了口气。她深信他们赶上一个好时光了。

【注释】

[1] 尤斯塔斯在英语中和“没用的”一词音相近，详见下文。

[2] 详见《狮子、女巫和魔衣柜》。

[3] 怀特岛：英国南部岛屿，靠近英吉利海峡，与不列颠岛隔索伦特峡。

[4] 亚瑟王是英国传说中公元六世纪前后的国王，圆桌骑士的首领，传说中认为他没有死，活在仙界，总有一天会回来拯救人民。

2

在黎明踏浪号上

“啊，你可来了，露茜，”凯斯宾说，“我们正在等你呢。这位是我们的船长德里宁爵爷。”

一个黑发的男人单腿跪下，吻吻她的手。另外在场的只有雷佩契普和爱德蒙。

“尤斯塔斯呢？”露茜问。

“在床上，”爱德蒙说，“我想我们帮不了他什么忙。要是你想待他好，只有害得他更惨。”

“同时，”凯斯宾说，“我们想要叙叙。”

“哎呀，我们真要叙叙呢。”爱德蒙说，“首先，得谈谈时间。上回你加冕典礼前夕我们分手以来，按我们的时间是过了一年。你们纳尼亚过了多长时间啊？”

“正好三年。”凯斯宾说。

“一切太平无事吧？”爱德蒙问。

“你想，要不是国内太平无事，我会出国航海吗？”国王答，“不能再好了。现在台尔马人、小矮人、会说话的兽类、羊怪和其他百姓之间都没有什么麻烦。我们去年夏天给边境上那些惹是生非的巨人一顿好打，现在他们向我们进贡了。我不在朝的时候，有一个了不起的人当摄政王——就是小矮人杜鲁普金。你们还记得他吗？”

“亲爱的杜鲁普金吗？”露茜说，“我当然记得。你选这个人真是再好不过的了。”

“女王陛下，他像獾一样忠诚，像——老鼠一样勇敢。”德里宁说。他本来打算说“像狮子一样”，但看到雷佩契普的眼睛直盯着他，才改了口。

“我们要开到哪儿去啊？”爱德蒙问。

“这个嘛，”凯斯宾说，“说来话可长了。也许你们还记得我小时候，我那个篡夺王位的叔叔弥若兹要除掉原本支持我的那七位父王的朋友，把他们派到孤独群岛那边去开发东大洋的无名荒地吧？”

“是啊，”露茜说，“从此一个都没回来。”

“对。说起来，就在我加冕典礼那天，在狮王阿斯兰同意下，我发了誓，一旦我在纳尼亚确立了太平盛世，我就亲自航海到东部去，花一年时间寻找我父王的朋友，打听他们的死活，办得到的话就替他们报仇。这七个人的名字是——雷维廉爵爷、伯恩爵爷、阿尔戈兹爵爷、马夫拉蒙爵爷、奥克特西安爵爷、雷斯蒂玛爵爷，还有——啊呀，另外一个可记不住了。”

“陛下，是罗普爵爷。”德里宁说。

“罗普，罗普，当然了，”凯斯宾说，“那就是我的主要目的。可是这位雷佩契普还有个更高的抱负。”大家的目光都转向那老鼠身上。

“尽管我身材也许矮小，”它说，“可是我心比天高。我们何不航行到世界的最东头？我们在那里会找到什么呢？我希望找到阿斯兰的国土。狮王总是从东方，漂洋过海来找我们的。”

“哎呀，这倒是个好主意。”爱德蒙用肃然起敬的声音说。

“你看，”露茜说，“阿斯兰的国土是那种——我意思是说，乘船能找到的国土吗？”

“我不知道，女王陛下，”雷佩契普说，“不过有这么一首诗。我吃奶的时候，有个森林女神，一个树精念过这段提到我的诗句：

海天相接的地方，

海水变得甜又香，

雷佩契普把心放，

包你找到要找的地方，

那里就是极东方。

“我不知道这诗句是什么意思。不过这诗在我一生中都有股魔力。”

沉默了一会儿，露茜问：“凯斯宾，我们眼下在什么地方？”

“船长可以跟你讲得比我清楚。”凯斯宾说。德里宁就拿出海图，摊开在桌上。

“这就是我们的方位，”他指点着海图说，“也就是今天正午的方位。我们从凯尔帕拉维尔出发一路顺风，方向稍稍偏北，驶往加尔马，第二天就到了。我们在港口停泊了一星期，因为加尔马公爵为陛下举行一次比武大赛，陛下把许多骑士打下马来——”

“德里宁，我自己也狼狈地摔下来几回。身上几块青肿还没消呢。”凯斯宾插嘴说。

“还把许多骑士打下马来，”德里宁咧嘴笑着再说一遍，“我们原以为要是国王陛下娶了公爵小姐，公爵会高兴的，可是结果没那回事——”

“斜视眼，脸上还有雀斑。”凯斯宾说。

“啊呀，可怜的姑娘。”露茜说。

“后来我们从加尔马启航，”德里宁继续说，“整整两天碰上风平浪静，只好划桨了。后来又起风了，离开加尔马后第四天才到达特里宾西亚。特里宾西亚国王发出警告说不准在当地登陆，因为当地闹瘟疫，我们就绕过岬角，驶进远离京城的一个小海湾里，加水。后来又不得不歇了三天才遇上一阵东南风，就开往七群岛。第三天，一条海盗船追上我们，看装备是条特里宾西亚的船，不过那条船看见我们船上全副武装，朝两边射了几箭以后就开走了……”

“我们应当追赶那条船，上船去，把他们那些鬼孙子一个个都绞死。”雷佩契普说。

“……又过了五天以后，我们就看见了米尔岛，你也知道，就是七群岛最西端的一个小岛。于是我们划过海峡，傍晚时分来到布伦岛上的红港，我们在当地受到盛情宴请，随意装足了食物，还加了水。六天前我们离开红港，航速快得出奇，所以我希望后天就能看到孤独群岛。目前我们总计已经出海将近三十天了，航程离开纳尼亚有四百多海里了。”

“到了孤独群岛之后呢？”露茜说。

“陛下，没人知道，”德里宁答，“除非孤独群岛上的人能告诉我们。”

“当年他们可没法告诉我们。”爱德蒙说。

“那么说来，”雷佩契普说，“到了孤独群岛后才真正开始探险呢。”

这时凯斯宾提议他们不妨先在船上到处参观一下再吃晚饭，可是露茜心里过意不去，她说：“我想，我真得去看看尤斯塔斯了。不瞒你说，晕船可要命呢。要是我身边带着我过去那个药瓶，就可以治好它。”

“这药还在，”凯斯宾说，“我倒完全忘了。因为你留下这药，我寻思着不妨把这药当成一件王室宝贝，所以我就带着了——如果你认为在晕船这种毛病上应当白白用掉一点药的话，就去用吧。”

“我只要用一滴。”露茜说。

凯斯宾打开凳子下一个贮藏箱，取出露茜清清楚楚记得的那个美丽的小钻石药瓶。“收回你的宝贝吧，女王。”他说。于是他们离开房舱出来，走到阳光下。

甲板上桅杆前后有两个又大又长的舱口盖，两个都敞开着，碰上好天他们都这样做，让阳光和空气都通进船舱。凯斯宾带领他们走下梯子，进入后舱口。他们在舱里才发现，原来这地方左右两边都有划桨的长凳，亮光透过桨孔照进来，在舱顶上晃动。凯斯宾的船当然不是由奴隶划桨的单层甲板大帆船那种可怕东西。船桨只是在没风的时候，或进出港口的时候才用，而且除了腿太短的雷佩契普之外，人人都经常轮流划桨的。船里两边长凳下都有空地方让划船的人搁脚，只有中间部位有个窖似的，一直通到龙骨处，窖里堆满各种各样东西——一袋袋面粉、一桶桶水和啤酒、一桶桶猪肉、一罐罐蜂蜜、一皮囊一皮囊的酒，还有苹果、干果仁、奶酪、饼干、大头菜、一爿爿牛肉。舱顶——也就是甲板下面——挂着火腿和一串串葱。还有下班后躺在吊床里的值班人员。凯斯宾带领他们到船尾，从这边长凳跨到那边长凳，至少说来，在他是跨，露茜嘛，有点连跳带跨，而在雷佩契普就是真正的大跳跃了。他们就这样走到一块有门的隔板前。凯斯宾打开门，带他们走进一间船舱，这间房舱正好在船尾楼几间甲板舱下面的船尾部分。这间房舱当然没那么好。房间很低，四壁倾斜，凑在一起，他们一路走进去，舱里连一点空隙都没有了；虽然舱里有厚厚的玻璃窗，可是开不了，因为这些部位都在水下。总之，在这时刻，随着船身前后颠簸，舱里一会儿阳光金灿灿，一会儿水光绿幽幽。

“你我必须睡在这儿了，爱德蒙。”凯斯宾说。

“我们要让你们这个亲戚睡床铺，我们自己睡吊床。”

“恳求陛下……”德里宁说。

“不，不，伙伴，”凯斯宾说，“我们已经讨论好了。你和赖因斯（赖因斯是大副）要驾驶船，有好多天晚上要担心操劳，而我们倒只是唱唱歌，聊聊天，所以你和他必须住在甲板上左舷的房舱。我同爱德蒙国王在下面这儿可以睡得舒舒服服。不过这个陌生人怎么样啦？”

尤斯塔斯脸色很青，愁眉苦脸，打听风浪有没有平息的迹象。可是凯斯宾说：“什么风浪啊？”德里宁不由放声大笑。

“少爷，风浪吗？”他呵呵大笑道，“这天气好得不能再好了。”

“这是谁？”尤斯塔斯烦躁不安说，“叫他走。他的声音把我脑袋也胀死了。”

“我给你拿来点药，吃了你就会好受些的，尤斯塔斯。”露茜说。

“啊呀，走开，别来烦我。”尤斯塔斯咆哮道。她一打开药瓶，房舱里就闻到一股清香味儿，尽管他说这是要命的毒药，但他还是喝了她瓶里的一滴药。等他咽下肚去，一会儿脸色就正常了，想必他感到好些了，因为他不再哭闹风浪啊头胀啊什么的了，他开始要求把他送上岸去，还说他一踏上第一个港口，就向英国领事馆提请对他们全体作出裁决。雷佩契普还以为这是安排单独决斗的新方式，就问他裁决是怎么回事，怎么提请，尤斯塔斯只能回答：“怪不怪，连这个也不知道。”到最后，他们终于说得尤斯塔斯相信，他们已经尽快朝他们知道的最近的陆地驶去，而且正如他们没能耐送他上月球去一样，他们也没有能耐送他回到哈罗德舅舅住的剑桥去。他听了才愁眉苦脸地同意换上已经拿出来给他穿的干净衣服，到甲板上去。

于是凯斯宾就领他们参观全船，虽然实际上他们已经参观过一大半了。他们登上船首楼，看见守望员站在镀金龙颈旁一个小木架上，从张开的龙口向外张望。船首楼里是厨房（也就是船上的伙房），还有水手长、木匠、厨子和弓箭手头头这些人的住处。如果你觉得船头上竟然有厨房真怪，以为烟囱里的烟都是朝后飘的，那是因为你心目中的船是经常顶风行驶的轮船。而帆船却是靠后面来的风推动的，所以什么臭味都尽往前面吹。他们还给带到桅顶的观测台上，开头在上面前后晃动，往下看见甲板很小，在底下很远很远，倒相当惊心动魄。你心里明白，万一掉下去，绝不会无缘无故偏巧掉在甲板上，而不掉在海里。后来他们又给带到船尾楼去，赖因斯和另一个人在值班掌大舵，舵后龙尾翘起来，镀满金粉，半圆形的船尾内圈有一溜小坐板。船名是黎明踏浪号。这条船跟我们这里的一条船比起来，只是小巫见大巫，甚至还比不上彼得当至尊王、露茜和爱德蒙统治纳尼亚王国那时代的各种船，当时王国曾经拥有不少方帆帆船、快速帆船、宽体帆船和两用大帆船，而在凯斯宾历代国王在位期间，几乎全部航海事业都绝迹了。当初凯斯宾的叔父，那个篡夺王位的弥若兹把七位爵爷派去出海时，他们曾经不得不买进一艘加尔马的船，还雇了加尔马水手。不过现在凯斯宾又开始教纳尼亚人再次做海员了。黎明踏浪号是他迄今所建造的最优良的船只。这条船非常小巧，桅杆前，一边是大船上的救生艇；另一边是鸡棚（露茜喂那些母鸡），这两边和当中舱口盖之间简直就容不下甲板舱了。不过这条船倒是同类船中一个“美人儿”，照水手说是一位“小姐”，船的外形美极了，颜色纯正，每根桅桁、缆绳、圆钉都做工精美。尤斯塔斯当然对什么都毫无兴趣，不断吹嘘什么大客轮、汽艇、飞机和潜水艇（爱德蒙嘀咕说，“仿佛他对此样样精通似的”），可是那两位对黎明踏浪号却很喜欢，当他们折向船尾到舱里吃晚饭时，看见西边整片天空照耀着一大片殷红的夕阳，感到船身在颤动，唇边尝到咸味，想到东边无名的土地，露茜不由觉得自己快乐得几乎说不出话来了。

尤斯塔斯心里是什么想法最好用他自己的话来说，因为第二天早上，他们全取回自己的干衣服后，他马上掏出一本黑色的小笔记本，一枝铅笔，动手记起日记来了。他身上一直带着这本笔记本，里面记着他的分数，因为虽然他对任何功课的本身都不大在乎，可他对分数却非常在乎，甚至到人家跟前说：“我得了好多分。你得几分？”可是，在黎明踏浪号上，他看来是不大可能得多少分的了，所以现在他开始记日记。第一段是这么写的：

八月七日。如果不是做梦的话，在这条鬼船上至今已经二十四小时了。吓人的风浪一直在肆虐（幸好我没有晕船）。巨浪不断迎头打来，我看见船身几乎沉没过无数次了。其他人全都装做对此毫不理会，这不是出于虚张声势，就是哈罗德所说的，凡人最怯懦的行为就是对事实视而不见。乘坐这样一条小破船出海来就是发疯。比救生艇大不了多少。而且，船内原始之极。没有正式的酒吧间，没有无线电，没有浴室，甲板上没有躺椅。昨天晚上我被硬拖去到处跑，凯斯宾卖弄他这条可笑的玩具小船，仿佛它是“玛丽王后”号邮船似的。我企图告诉他真正的船只是什么样子，可是他太愚钝。爱和露当然不支持我。我看，像露这么个毛孩子不知道什么危险。而爱又拼命巴结凯，这里人人都这样做。他们称他为国王。我说我是个共和主义者，可他听了只得问我共和是什么意思！看来他根本什么都不懂。不消说，我被安排在船上最恶劣的房舱里，一间十足的地牢，露茜倒安排在甲板上单独住一整间，跟这地方其他房舱比起来，几乎称得上一间好房间。凯说那是因为她是个女孩子。我企图让他明白艾贝塔说的话，说这种事实际上完全是贬低女孩子，可是他太愚钝了。然而他可能明白如果我再住在那个洞里，将会生病。爱说我们不该抱怨，因为凯让出房来给露睡，自己也跟我们合住。好像这一来不是变得更挤了，更糟了似的。差点忘了说，还有一种鼠类的东西竟敢如此讨厌，对人人都大胆无礼。虽然别人愿意的话尽可以容忍，可是如果它敢对我如此，我一定立刻扭断它的尾巴。饭菜也讨厌。

尤斯塔斯同雷佩契普之间的麻烦闹得竟比预料中更早。第二天吃午饭前，其他人正围桌坐等（因为在海上航行，人们的胃口特好），尤斯塔斯一头冲进来，搓着手，大喊大叫说：

“那小畜生差点要了我的命。我坚持必须对它严加看管。我可以对你提出控告，凯斯宾。我可以命令把它消灭掉。”

正在这时，雷佩契普来了。它的剑已出鞘，胡须怒张，一副凶相，可是它还是很斯文。

“请诸位原谅，”它说，“特别是请女王陛下原谅。如果我知道他要在这里避难，就可以再等一段相当时间，让他改正。”

“到底怎么啦？”爱德蒙问。

原来是这么回事。雷佩契普丝毫也不觉得这船开得够快，总爱远远坐在前面龙头旁边的舷墙上，一面凝视东方地平线，一面吱吱喳喳细声唱着树精为它作的歌曲。它一点也不抓住什么东西，可是不管船身怎么颠簸，它总能稳坐不动，姿态优雅；也许是它的长尾巴拖在舷墙里侧的甲板上才容易坐稳吧。船上人人都熟悉它这种习惯，水手们可喜欢呢。因为有一个在值班瞭望，另外一个就有人可以谈天了。尤斯塔斯在船上还是晕船，究竟为什么溜出来，一路上摇摇摆摆，磕磕绊绊，摸到船首楼去，我可没听说。也许他巴望看见陆地吧，或许他想在伙房四下逛逛，讨点东西吃吃。反正，他一看见那长尾巴拖下地——也许这相当诱人——他马上就想，要能一把抓住尾巴，把雷佩契普颠倒转上一两圈，然后逃走，哈哈大笑，一定有趣。开头这计划进行顺利。那老鼠不比一只大猫重多少。转眼间尤斯塔斯已经把它扔到栏杆外，瞧它细小的四脚摊开，嘴巴张大，尤斯塔斯觉得它丑相出足。不巧的是，雷佩契普多次拚死奋战，可一刻也没惊惶失措过，也没丢掉过一身武艺。照说尾巴被人揪住，身子在空中转动，要拔出剑来是不大容易的，可是它却办到了。尤斯塔斯不知不觉间，手上就中了两剑，痛得他只好松开尾巴；接下来，那老鼠就像一个球似的在甲板上打个滚弹开，又爬了起来，当场面对着他，一枝长挑挑、亮晃晃，像烤肉叉般尖利的可怕家伙，就在他肚子前一两英寸的地方来回挥舞。（这对纳尼亚的老鼠来说，不能看成击对方腰带以下的犯规行为，因为老鼠够不到更高的部位。）

“住手，”尤斯塔斯唾沫四溅地说，“走开。把那家伙收起来。这不安全。我说，住手。我要告诉凯斯宾。我要把你嘴巴套上，把你手脚捆住。”

“胆小鬼！你干吗不拔出你的剑来啊？”老鼠吱吱叫道，“拔出剑来斗一场，要不我就用剑面把你打得青一块紫一块。”

“我一把家伙也没有，”尤斯塔斯说，“我是个爱好和平的人。我不赞成打斗。”

“那么你是说，”雷佩契普暂时抽回剑去，非常严厉地说，“你不打算答应同我决斗吗？”

“我不知道你是什么意思，”尤斯塔斯舔舔手说，“如果你不懂得怎么接受人家跟你开的玩笑，那我也不屑替你伤脑筋。”

“那就受我这一剑，”雷佩契普说，“还有这一剑——教训教训你懂礼貌——懂得应该怎样尊敬一位骑士——一位老鼠将军——和老鼠将军的尾巴——”他说一句，就给尤斯塔斯来一下，每一下都是用剑面，这剑是用小矮人冶炼的优质薄钢片锻造的，像白桦木棍一样软巧柔韧。尤斯塔斯念书的学校当然没有体罚，所以这种惊心动魄的经历对他来说完全是新奇的。因此，尽管他还晕船，竟然转眼工夫就逃出船首楼，奔过甲板，突然闯进舱门来——雷佩契普还在后面紧追不舍呢。对尤斯塔斯来说，当然不仅追得火热，那把剑也火热。说不定那股感觉也是火辣辣的吧。

但等尤斯塔斯明白大家对决斗的事都看得十分认真，听到凯斯宾提出借给他一把剑，德里宁和爱德蒙争论着是不是该用什么法子给他规定个不利条件，以抵消他在身材上比雷佩契普高大得多所占的便宜，这时这件事也就迎刃而解了。他愁眉苦脸地赔礼道歉，就跟着露茜走掉了，去洗手，包扎，然后回到铺位，小心翼翼地侧身躺下。

3

孤独群岛

“看得见陆地了！”船头上瞭望的人喊道。

露茜一直在船尾楼上跟赖因斯说话，一听赶紧啪嗒啪嗒走下梯子，奔上前来。一路上碰到爱德蒙也来了，他们看见凯斯宾、德里宁和雷佩契普已经在船首楼上了。这天早上天气凉飕飕的，天空灰蒙蒙，海水是深蓝色，泛着白色的小浪花，在右舷船头外不远处，就是孤独群岛最近的一个小岛费利梅斯岛，就像海里一座低矮的青山，小岛后面，再远处是它的姐妹岛多恩岛那灰蒙蒙的斜坡。

“费利梅斯还是老样子！多恩还是老样子！”露茜拍手说，“唉，爱德蒙，我跟你有多久没见到这些岛了？”

“我一点也不明白这些岛怎么会属于纳尼亚的，”凯斯宾说，“难道是至尊王彼得攻打下来的吗？”

“哦，不是，”爱德蒙说，“在我们执政时代之前就是纳尼亚的了——那还是白女巫的时代呢。”

（顺便交代一下，我至今还没听说这些遥远的岛屿是如何属于纳尼亚王国的；如果我听说这事，而这事果然有趣，我会写进别的什么书里的。）

“我们要在这里靠岸吗，陛下？”德里宁问。

“我看费利梅斯不见得有什么好码头，”爱德蒙说，“我们那时候这里几乎没人住，看来现在仍然如此。人们多半住在多恩岛，还有一些住在阿芙拉岛——那是第三个小岛；你们现在还看不见。人们只是在费利梅斯岛上放放羊罢了。”

“我看，我们只得绕过那岬角了，”德里宁说，“到多恩岛去靠岸。那么说就得划桨了。”

“可惜我们不在费利梅斯岛靠岸，”露茜说，“我倒愿意再在那儿走走。那是很冷清的——一种微妙的冷清，四处都是野草和三叶草，还有柔和的海风。”

“我也喜欢活动活动双腿，”凯斯宾说，“我来告诉你。我们何不划小船上岸，再让小船划回大船，那我们就可以走过费利梅斯岛，让黎明踏浪号在另一边接我们？”

如果凯斯宾当时就像这次远航后那样老练，那他就不会这样提出来了，但在那时，这主意似乎最妙了。“啊呀，那就去吧。”露茜说。

“你要去吗？”凯斯宾对已经包扎着手来到甲板上的尤斯塔斯说。

“只要离开这条该死的船，什么都行。”尤斯塔斯说。

“该死的？”德里宁说，“你什么意思？”

“在我来的那种文明国家里，”尤斯塔斯说，“船都是很大的，你一到船里根本就不知道自己在海上。”

“那样的话，你还不如在岸上待着，”凯斯宾说，“请你叫他们放下救生艇吧，德里宁。”

国王、老鼠、佩文西兄妹和尤斯塔斯一行五人上了救生艇，划到费利梅斯岛的海滩边。救生艇把他们留在岸上后又划回大船那儿去，他们都回过头去看看。只见黎明踏浪号看上去这么小，不禁感到诧异。

露茜在掉下水游泳时已经踢掉了鞋子，当然光着脚，不过你要是打算在毛茸茸的草皮上走路，那也没什么苦。能再次上岸，闻到土地和野草的香味，真叫人心里高兴，哪怕开头踏在土地上好像还在船里那样上下颠簸也高兴啊，如果你在海上，往往有一阵子会有这种感觉。这里比起船上要暖和得多了，他们走过沙地时，露茜觉得沙地很舒服。有一只云雀在歌唱。

他们到了内陆，登上一座虽然低矮却很陡峭的小山。在山顶上，他们少不得回头眺望，只见黎明踏浪号像一只亮晃晃的大甲虫在闪光，划着桨，慢慢朝西北方向爬行。然后，他们翻过山岭，就再也看不见这船了。

此刻多恩岛就在眼前了，同费利梅斯岛相隔一条一英里宽的海峡；多恩岛后面的左边就是阿芙拉岛。一眼就看出多恩岛上那个白色的小镇狭港。

“喂，这是什么啊？”爱德蒙突然说。

在他们往下走的那个绿色山谷里，有六七个一副粗相的人全副武装，守在树边。

“别跟他们说我们是什么人。”凯斯宾说。

“请问陛下，为什么别说？”同意骑在露茜肩膀上的雷佩契普说。

“我刚好想起，”凯斯宾说，“这里有好久没人听到纳尼亚的消息了。很有可能，他们也许还没承认我们的君主地位。在这种情况下，给人知道是国王可不大安全。”

“我们有剑呢，陛下。”雷佩契普说。

“是啊，雷普，我知道我们有剑，”凯斯宾说，“不过如果这是重新征服这三个小岛的问题，我情愿带一支相当强大的军队再回来。”

这时，他们同几个陌生人隔得很近了，其中一个黑发大汉喊道：“你们早。”

“你们早，”凯斯宾说，“孤独群岛上还有总督吗？”

“不错，”那人说，“有个冈帕斯总督。他大人在狭港。不过你们可以留下同我们一起喝酒。”

凯斯宾就谢谢他，虽然他不大喜欢这些新结识的人的长相，另外四个也不喜欢，但是大伙儿还是坐下了。谁知他们还没把酒杯举到唇边，那个黑发大汉就对同伙点点头，说时迟，那时快，五位来客不知不觉中全都给几条铁臂揪住了。他们挣扎了一会儿，但是势单力薄，一下子个个都被对方解除了武装，两手都被绑在背后——只有雷佩契普还在对方手里折腾，拼命乱咬。

“留神那只畜生，塔克斯，”那头头说，“别伤害它。我相信，它能卖个好价钱。”

“唷！”奴隶贩子吹了一声口哨（这人果然是奴隶贩子），“它会说话！真没听说过。我拿它卖不到两百月牙才怪呢。”月牙是那些地方主要通用的卡乐门货币，大约值三分之一英镑。

“原来你是这么个货色，”凯斯宾说，“拐子，奴隶贩子。希望你感到得意。”

“喂，喂，喂，喂，”奴隶贩子说，“别再开口唠叨了。你越是悠着点儿，越是处处舒服。我干这行可不是闹着玩。我跟任何人一样，也得谋生。”

“你要把我们带到哪儿去？”露茜好不容易才说出这句话来。

“带到狭港去。”奴隶贩子说，“明天开市。”

“那儿有英国领事馆吗？”尤斯塔斯问。

“有什么？”那人说。

谁知没等尤斯塔斯不厌其烦地想法解释清楚，奴隶贩子干脆就说：“得了，这套莫明其妙的话我听够了。这老鼠倒是令人十分满意，可是这一个却说得烦死人了。我们走吧，伙计们。”

于是四个被抓住的人都绑在一起，虽然没往死里绑，却很严实，就这样押着向岸边走去。雷佩契普给抱着。他们吓唬它说要捆上嘴巴，它就不再乱咬了。可是它倒有一大堆话说，露茜真弄不懂，老鼠说给奴隶贩子听的这些话，说给人家听人家怎么受得了。可是奴隶贩子一点也没嫌烦，只是说，“说下去”，每当雷佩契普歇口气时，他偶尔还加上一句说，“真像做戏”，或者说：“啊呀，你真差点就以为它说的都是亲身经历呢！”或者说：“这又是人家教会你说的吗？”雷佩契普一听这话顿时火冒三丈，到最后，它原来想说的许许多多事几乎一下子都把它憋住了，这才一言不发。

当他们来到同多恩岛隔海相望的岸边，看见海滨有个小村子和一条长划子，过去一点，还停着一条肮脏不堪的大船。

“好了，小伙子们，”奴隶贩子说，“我们不要吵了，你们没什么好哭闹的。全上船吧。”

这时，一个好看的大胡子从一所屋子（我看，是个客栈）出来，说道：

“嘿，普格。又来通常那种货了？”

这个似乎名叫普格的奴隶贩子深深鞠了一躬，讨好地说：“是啊，请大人过目。”

“那孩子你要价多少？”对方指指凯斯宾问。

“啊呀，”普格说，“我知道您大人会挑顶儿尖儿的。什么次货都骗不过您大人。呃，那孩子嘛，我自己看上了。我有点喜欢他。我生来软心肠，根本不应当干这一行买卖。不过，对一位像您这样的顾客……”

“告诉我价钱，吃人不吐骨头的，”那位大人严厉地说，“你当我想要听你那肮脏勾当的废话吗？”

“大人，冲着您尊敬的大人嘛，就算三百个月牙吧，要是别的什么人……”

“我给你一百五十。”

“啊呀，求求你，”露茜插嘴说，“不管怎么办，千万别拆散我们。你不知道……”可是她住口了，因为她明白凯斯宾即使到了这地步还是不想让人知道身份。

“那就算一百五十了，”那位大人说，“至于你嘛，小姐，我很抱歉，不能把你们全买下来。普格，给那孩子松绑。留神——另外几个还在你手里，你可得好生对待他们，要不叫你倒霉。”

“好吧！”普格说，“究竟谁听说过有哪一个做我这行当的体面人对待货物有我这样优厚的？呃？我对待他们就像对待亲生儿女一样。”

“那听来倒还像真话呢。”对方严厉地说。

可怕的时刻就到了。凯斯宾松了绑，他的新主人说：“这儿走，孩子。”露茜一听就放声大哭，爱德蒙则目光茫然。凯斯宾却回过头来说：“打起精神来。我相信到头来一切都会好的。再见吧。”

“嗨，小姐，”普格说，“你可别伤心了，哭破了相，明天还要上市呢。乖乖的，没什么好哭的，明白吗？”

于是这些人被划到奴隶船上，把他们带到船下面一长条挺黑的地方，一点也不干净，他们在那儿看见还有不少倒霉的人被关着，因为普格当然是个海盗，出没在附近各岛屿一带，肆意抓人，才刚回来。这几个孩子没碰到哪个认识的人，被抓的多半是加尔马人和特里宾西亚人。他们就地坐在稻草堆上，暗暗纳闷，不知凯斯宾有什么好歹，还想法阻止尤斯塔斯说怪话，仿佛除了他自己，别人个个都不好似的。

这时，凯斯宾倒过得比他们愉快得多。买下他的那人带着他朝村里两排房子中间一条小巷走去，就这样走到村后一块空地。于是那人回过头来，面对着他。

“你用不着害怕，孩子，”他说，“我会好好待你的。我是看了你的长相才买下你的。你使我想起了某个人。”

“请问是什么人，大人？”凯斯宾说。

“你使我想起我的主子，纳尼亚的凯斯宾国王。”

于是凯斯宾决计豁出去了。

“大人，”他说，“我就是您的主子。我是纳尼亚的凯斯宾国王。”

“你说说倒很随便，”对方说，“我怎么知道是真的呢？”

“首先，看我的长相，”凯斯宾说。“其次，因为我猜六回就能猜中你是谁。你准是我叔叔弥若兹派到海外的七位爵爷中的一位，我这次出来就是寻找他们的——阿尔戈兹、伯恩、奥克特西安、雷斯蒂玛、马夫拉蒙，还有，还有——另外两个人忘了。最后一点，如果您大人肯给我一把剑，我就可以在光明正大的决斗中，在任何人身上证明我是凯斯宾，孤独群岛的皇帝、凯尔帕拉维尔的君主、纳尼亚的合法国王老凯斯宾的儿子。”

“天哪，”那人失声叫道，“真是他父亲说话的声音，说话的习惯。王上——陛下。”他说着当场跪在地上，吻国王的手。

“爵爷在我们身上花的钱可以从我们国库里支付。”凯斯宾说。

“这笔钱还没落到普格的腰包里呢，陛下，”伯恩爵爷说，他果然是七位爵爷之一，“而且我相信，决不会落到他腰包里去。我劝过总督好多次，要他取缔这项邪恶的人肉买卖。”

“伯恩爵爷，”凯斯宾说，“我们得谈谈这些岛屿的现状。不过首先谈谈您自己的事怎么样？”

“陛下，我的故事很短，”伯恩说，“我跟六个伙伴大老远跑来，爱上了岛上一个姑娘，觉得航海的滋味尝够了。只要您陛下的叔叔还在执政，我回纳尼亚去也没意思。所以我就结了婚，从此就住在这里。”

“那么这个总督，这个冈帕斯，为人怎么样？他还承认纳尼亚国王为他的君主吗？”

“口头上说起来是的。一切行动都以国王的名义进行。可是如果他看见一位活生生的真正纳尼亚国王出现在他面前，他会不大高兴。如果陛下赤手空拳单独去见他——他固然不会不承认自己的归顺，可是他会装作不相信您。那陛下的性命就难保了。陛下在这一带海面还有什么部属没有？”

“我的船正绕过海岬开来，”凯斯宾说，“如果要打的话，我们约有三十把剑。我们要不要把船开过来，攻打普格，把被他关起来的几个朋友救出来？”

“依我之见，这不行，”伯恩说，“一旦打起来，狭港方面就会开来两三条船来救普格。陛下必须摆出一副比实际上强大的架势，靠国王名义的威慑力量。千万不要真打。冈帕斯是个胆小鬼，一吓就吓住了。”

再谈了一会儿，凯斯宾和伯恩就走到村子稍北一点的海岸边，凯斯宾当场吹起了号角。（这不是苏珊女王用过的纳尼亚那支魔法无边的号角：他把那支号角留在国内给摄政王杜鲁普金使用，以防国王不在期间，万一有什么急需。）德里宁原来就在瞭望，等着信号，他立即听出这是国王的号角，黎明踏浪号就开始驶向海岸了。然后又派出救生艇，不一会儿，凯斯宾和伯恩爵爷就在甲板上向德里宁说明了情况。他同凯斯宾一样，也想立刻把黎明踏浪号靠到那条奴隶船边上，登上船去，但伯恩还是照样不同意。

“船长，一直顺着这条海峡开，”伯恩说，“再绕到阿芙拉岛，我自己的领地就在那里。可是首先要打上国王的旗号，挂出所有的盾形纹徽，尽量把人手派到桅顶的观测台去。等到左舷船头对着公海，离岸大约五箭之地[1]后，就发出几下信号。”

“信号？发给谁？”德里宁说。

“唉，发给其他几条根本不存在的船啊，冈帕斯很可能以为咱们还有船呢。”

“哦，我明白了，”德里宁搓搓双手说，“他们就会来辨认我们的信号。我在信号中说什么呢？就说全体舰队包围阿芙拉南面，集合在……”

“伯恩斯丹，”伯恩爵爷说，“那就行了。如果真有什么船的话——在狭港也看不见这些船的整个航程。”

凯斯宾虽然为其他三个还落在普格奴隶船上的人难受，但在那一天余下的时间里，他却禁不住感到十分愉快。那天晚上（因为他们只得全靠划桨），黎明踏浪号转向右舷，绕过多恩岛的东北端，又转向左舷，绕过阿芙拉的岬角，终于开进阿芙拉南岸一个良港，伯恩那些好的地势就从这里向海边倾斜。他们看见伯恩手下的百姓多半在地里干活，他们都是自由民，这里倒是一片幸福富饶的封地。他们全体在此上岸，就在俯临海湾的一座有柱廊的矮房子里举行王家宴会。伯恩和他那位雍容华贵的夫人，还有几个兴高采烈的女儿，款待得大家高高兴兴。天黑以后，伯恩派了个信使划小船到多恩岛去，吩咐为第二天做些准备。（他没说明是什么准备。）

【注释】

[1] 一箭之地约200至400英尺。

4

凯斯宾巧施奇计

第二天早上伯恩爵爷一早就来拜客。早餐后他要求凯斯宾下令所有的手下都披胄挂甲。“最重要的是，”他加上一句说，“把一切都弄得整整齐齐，擦得干干净净，仿佛今天早上是尊贵的国王之间当着天下人的面进行大战的头一场战役似的。”这事办好后，凯斯宾和他的手下，伯恩和他几个手下就分成三船，向狭港进发。国王的旗帜在船尾飘扬，他还随带号手。

他们到达狭港码头时，凯斯宾看见有一大批群众聚集在那儿欢迎他们。“这就是我昨晚传话吩咐准备的，”伯恩说，“他们全是我的朋友，本分人。”凯斯宾一上岸，群众就高声欢呼：“纳尼亚！纳尼亚！国王万岁！”同时——这也全靠伯恩的信使的安排——镇上许多地方都钟声齐鸣。于是凯斯宾传令旗手开道，号角吹响，人人都刀剑出鞘，摆出一副欣喜的严肃神情。他们在街上齐步行进，街面都震动了，因为这天早上阳光普照，甲胄都闪闪发亮，亮得人们简直没法一直盯着。

开头欢呼的只是伯恩的信使预先告知的人，他们都知道眼前情况，也巴不得有这么一天。可后来所有的儿童都加入了游行队伍，因为他们喜欢游行，这种场面又很少见过。再后来所有的学生也加入了，因为他们也喜欢游行，而且觉得那天早上外面越闹越乱，学校里越不见得会上课。再后来，老大娘都从门窗口探出头来，开始唠唠叨叨，高声欢呼了，因为这究竟是国王呢，总督哪儿比得上啊？接着所有的年轻妇女出于同样原因，也来凑热闹了，再一个原因是凯斯宾和德里宁及其他人都非常英俊。到后来所有的年轻男人也都来看看年轻妇女到底在看些什么，所以凯斯宾到达城堡大门时，几乎全城的人都在大声欢呼；冈帕斯坐在城堡里，正胡乱摆弄着一串账目、表格和条条杠杠，听到了闹声。

凯斯宾的号手在城堡大门口吹响号角，大声叫道：“为纳尼亚国王打开城门吧，国王来看望他忠诚可靠而受人尊敬的臣仆，孤独群岛总督了。”那年月岛上一切事物都是邋邋遢遢，懒懒散散，城门只打开小暗门，出来一个蓬头乱发，没戴头盔，只戴顶肮脏的旧帽子的家伙，手里还拿着一根生锈的旧长矛。他对着面前这些浑身金光闪闪的人直眨眼。“带——轮——八——箭，”他咕咕哝哝说（这就是他说“大人不见”的腔调），“没约好一律不见，只有每个月第二个星期六晚上九点到十点才接见。”

“你这走狗，当着纳尼亚国王的面，还不快脱帽！”伯恩爵爷声如响雷吼道熏一边用戴着铁护手的手打了他一巴掌熏把他头上帽子也打飞了。

“呃？这是咋回事？”看门人开口说，可是没人理会他。凯斯宾手下两个人跨过暗门，因为样样东西都生锈了，花了好一番手脚对付门闩才把两扇大门打开。于是国王和随从就大踏步走进院内。总督有不少警卫在院内闲逛，还有一些人跌跌冲冲从各个门口出来，大多数人还一边擦着嘴。虽然他们的盔甲丢人现眼，假如有人带领他们，或者知道眼前情况，倒兴许会打一仗，所以这是个危险时刻。凯斯宾不让他们有工夫多想。

“队长在哪儿？”他问。

“我多少算一个，要是你知道我意思的话。”一个没精打采的年轻人说。他打扮得花里胡哨，身上根本没有盔甲。

“我们希望，”凯斯宾说，“这次御驾亲临我们孤独群岛国土，如有可能，应当成为万民欢庆的节日，不是百姓恐怖的场合。如果不是这个缘故，我对你们兵士盔甲和武器的状况就得批评几句了。但实际上，我赦免你们了。来一桶酒，打开桶让弟兄们为我们祝酒。不过到明天中午，我希望在院内看到他们像战士，而不像流浪汉。违令者一律以触犯王上论罪。”

队长张口结舌，可是伯恩立刻喊道：“三呼国王万岁。”那些兵士虽然别的什么都闹不明白，对酒桶是明白的，就一起欢呼了。于是凯斯宾命令手下大部分都留在院子里。他，带着伯恩、德里宁和其他四个走进大厅。

大厅那一头的一张桌子后面，坐着孤独群岛总督冈帕斯，周围有各种秘书。冈帕斯看上去是个坏脾气的人，头发原是红的，现在多半灰白了。一行陌生人进去时，他抬眼一看，就又埋头看着文件了，随口不假思索地说：“没约好一律不见，只有每个月第二个星期六晚上九点到十点才接见。”

凯斯宾对伯恩点点头就站到一边。伯恩和德里宁上前一步，各自抓住桌子一头。他们抬起桌子一扔，桌子就滚到大厅一边了，把信件、档案、墨水缸、笔、封口蜡和公文撒得一地。于是，他们伸出手去，虽然动作不粗野，却牢如钢钳，一把将冈帕斯从椅子里揪出来，把他揪到椅子前四英尺开外的地方。凯斯宾马上在椅子里坐下，把出鞘的剑横搁在双膝上。

“阁下，”他两眼盯着冈帕斯说，“你没有像我们预期中那样隆重欢迎我们。我们是纳尼亚的国王。”

“信函中没提到这事，”总督说，“会议记录里也没有。我们没接到任何这类事的通知。完全不符合法律。凡有任何请求倒乐于考虑……”

“我们前来调查阁下的职责行为，”凯斯宾继续说，“有两点我特别要求作出解释。首先，我在档案中查出纳尼亚国王已有一百五十年没收到这些岛屿的进贡了。”

“这个问题得在下个月提交议事会讨论，”冈帕斯说，“如果有谁提议成立一个调查委员会，在明年第一次会议上做本岛败政历史的报告，说明为什么当时……”

“我还在本国法律上看到里面写得清清楚楚，”凯斯宾接着说，“如果贡品没有及时送到，全部积欠得由孤独群岛总督的私人腰包中支付。”

冈帕斯听了这话才真正留起神来。“啊，那可万万办不到，”他说，“经济上负担不起——呃——陛下一定在开玩笑吧。”

其实他心里倒在盘算，不知有什么法子摆脱这些不受欢迎的来客。假如他知道凯斯宾只有一条船，只带了一船人，他早就嘴上暂时先说些软话，暗地里一心想趁夜里把他们全部包围杀光了。不过昨天他看见一条战船顺着海峡开来，还看见船上打信号，他猜想是打给跟从的船的。当时他不知道这就是国王的船，因为风力不够大，旗帜飘不起来，上面的金狮像看不出，所以他就等待事情进一步发展。此刻他想像凯斯宾在伯恩斯丹有整整一支舰队。冈帕斯万万没料到居然有人带了不足五十个人就拿下了这些岛屿；当然这种事根本也不是他能想像自己动手干的。

“其次，”凯斯宾说，“我想要知道，为什么你容许贩卖奴隶这种伤天害理的恶劣勾当在本地滋长，这违背本国领地古时的风俗习惯。”

“那是出于需要，不能废除的，”总督说，“我向你保证，这是本岛经济发展的命脉。本岛目前的兴衰全靠这买卖。”

“你们需要奴隶干什么？”

“陛下，出口啊。大部分卖给卡乐门；我们还有别的市场，我们是这买卖的一大中心。”

“换句话说，”凯斯宾说，“你不需要他们。你说说看，这些奴隶除了养肥普格这种人之外，还有什么用处？”

“陛下还年轻，”冈帕斯摆出一副父辈的笑容说，“简直无法弄清有关的经济问题。我有统计数字，我有图表，我有……”

“我固然还年轻，”凯斯宾说，“可是我相信，我对奴隶买卖实质的了解同阁下一样清楚。我看这项买卖不见得给本岛带来肉类、面包、啤酒、葡萄酒、木材、白菜、书本、乐器、马匹、盔甲或任何值得一有的东西。不过，不管是否如此，这买卖必须制止。”

“不过，那一来就倒退了，”总督气喘吁吁说，“你不了解什么是进步，什么是发展吗？”

“我看到过进步和发展的萌芽状态，”凯斯宾说，“在纳尼亚我们称这为腐败。这项买卖必须制止。”

“我不能负责采取任何这类措施。”冈帕斯说。

“那很好，”凯斯宾答，“我们就免你的职。伯恩爵爷，来。”冈帕斯还闹不清是怎么回事，伯恩已经跪下，双手放在国王双手间，宣誓要根据纳尼亚古时的风俗习惯、权利和法律来统治孤独群岛。凯斯宾说：“我看，我们无法容忍总督了。”于是当场封伯恩为公爵，孤独群岛公爵。

“至于你嘛，阁下，”他对冈帕斯说，“我原谅你拖欠进贡。不过明天中午前，你和你的全家都必须搬出城堡，这里现在是公爵府了。”

“听我说，”冈帕斯的一个秘书说，“这件事好倒是好，不过如果你们诸位别再装腔作势，我们就来做笔小小的交易。我们面前的问题真是——”

“问题是，”公爵说，“你和你的余党是不是愿意就此一走了之，还是愿意挨顿鞭打再走。你们可以随意选择。”

等到这一切都圆满解决，凯斯宾就下令备马，城堡里倒有几匹马，虽然喂养得不好，可是他和伯恩、德里宁，还有三两个人骑上马就进城，直奔奴隶市场。市场是港口附近一排长长的矮房子，他们看到里面的情景跟其他拍卖行都差不多；就是说，里面有一大批人，普格在平台上，沙哑的嗓子大声吼道：

“喂，诸位爷们，二十三号货。特里宾西亚的庄稼好手，适合开矿或船上划桨。不到二十五岁。没一只坏牙。这家伙身体健康，肌肉结实。脱掉他衬衫，塔克斯，让诸位爷们看看。好一身肌肉！瞧他胸膛。角落那位爷们出十个月牙。你一定是在开玩笑吧，老爷。十五！十八！出价十八买二十三号。还有谁加价？二十一。谢谢你，老爷。出二十一……”

普格一看见披着铠甲的人咣当咣当走向平台，顿时打住，张口结舌。

“你们大家个个都向纳尼亚国王跪下。”公爵说。大家都听到外面马辔丁当，蹄声嘚嘚，不少人还听到登陆的传说和城堡里出的大事。多数人都听从了。那些不肯听从的都给身边的人拖住跪下了。有几个还欢呼了。

“普格，为了昨天你抓了我们王室成员，你要偿命，”凯斯宾说，“不过姑且原谅你无知。一刻钟前，本国所有领地禁止奴隶买卖。我宣布本奴隶市场的每一个奴隶都自由了。”

他举起手制止奴隶的欢呼，接着问：“我的朋友们在哪儿？”

“那个可爱的小妞儿和那个漂亮的小少爷吗？”普格赔着讨好的笑脸说，“哎呀，他们一下子就给人抢着买去了……”

“我们在这儿呢，我们在这儿呢，凯斯宾！”露茜和爱德蒙一齐叫道。“听候你吩咐，陛下！”雷佩契普从另一个角落里尖声叫道。原来他们都卖掉了，因为买主留下来还想开价再买几个奴隶，所以他们还没给带走。人群分开一条路，让他们三个走出来，他们同凯斯宾顿时紧紧握手，相互问候。两个卡乐门商人立刻上前。卡乐门人长着黑脸膛，留着长胡子。他们穿着飘拂的长袍，扎着橙红色头巾，他们是聪明、富裕、谦恭而残忍的古老民族。他们极其恭敬地向凯斯宾鞠躬，对他说了长长一篇恭维话，说的全是什么繁荣昌盛的源泉灌溉贤明和德行的花园——还有类似的话——不过他们的目的当然是想收回付出的那笔钱。

“那才公平，先生们，”凯斯宾说，“今天买下奴隶的人个个都必须收回钱。普格，把你捞到手的钱都拿出来，一滴滴都不留。”（四十个滴滴合一个月牙。）

“好心的陛下存心要我变成穷光蛋吗？”普格哭诉道。

“你一辈子都靠伤天害理过日子，”凯斯宾说，“如果你成了穷光蛋的话，那也比做个奴隶强。我另外一个朋友在哪儿？”

“哦，他呀？”普格说，“唉，欢迎把他领回去。巴不得把他脱手呢。我有生以来，在市场里从没见过这么个卖不掉的货。最后把他定价五个月牙，这么低的价还是没人要。把他跟其他的货搭配白送，还是没人要。看都不愿看他。塔克斯，把哭丧脸带来。”

尤斯塔斯就这样亮了相，果然哭丧着脸；因为虽然没人愿意给人当奴隶卖掉，不过给当成没人愿意买的粗使奴隶，也许更令人恼怒。他走近凯斯宾说：“原来如此。老一套了。我们其他人当俘虏，你自己倒在什么地方逍遥自在。我看，你没打听到英国领事馆吧。当然没有。”

那天晚上，他们在狭港城堡里举行盛大宴会，宴会结束后，雷佩契普向大家鞠躬行礼，说道：“明天就要开始我们真正的冒险生活了！”说完就去睡觉了。可是明天根本走不成，谈都谈不上。因为他们现在正准备离开已经探明的陆地和海面，一定得做好充分准备。黎明踏浪号出空了，搁在滚轴上，由八匹马拖上陆地，每个细小的部分都由最熟练的修船工检修。然后再下水，尽量贮足粮食和饮用水——就是说要准备用上二十八天。爱德蒙注意到尽管这样备足一切，他们也只有十四天时间可用于向东航行，此后就不得不放弃搜寻计划了，不禁大为扫兴。

做好这一切准备工作的同时，凯斯宾又不失时机地把凡是狭港找得到的最老的船长都找来，向他们打听是否知道再往东边远航还有什么陆地，甚至道听途说也行。他把城堡里不少瓶麦酒倒出来，招待那些长着灰白短须，清澈蓝眼珠，饱经风霜的水手，听到不少海外奇谈。不过那些看上去最像说实话的水手也说不清楚孤独群岛外有陆地，许多人认为，假如你东航得太远，就会撞进一个茫茫不见陆地，波涛汹涌的大海，这些波涛不断围绕世界的边缘打转——“我看，那里就是陛下几个朋友卷进海底的地方。”其余的都是无稽之谈了，什么无头人居住的岛屿啊，漂浮的岛屿啊，龙卷风卷起的水柱啊，沿着海面燃烧的大火等等。只有一个人的说法使雷佩契普大为高兴，他说：“在那外面就是阿斯兰的国土了。不过，那是在世界尽头的外面，你们到不了。”大家再盘问他时，他就只能说自己是从父亲那儿听来的。

伯恩只能告诉他们，当初他看见他六个伙伴向东航行，此后再也没听到他们的下落。他说这话时正和凯斯宾一起站在俯临东大洋的阿芙拉岛的最高处。“我早晨经常上这儿来，”公爵说，“看太阳从海面上升起，有时看上去仿佛只隔开两三英里。我也很想知道我朋友的下落，想知道那天边外究竟是什么地方。看来多半是什么都没有，但是我对自己留下来始终感到很不好意思。不过我希望陛下不要去。我们这里还需要你的帮助。这次取缔奴隶市场可能打开一个新天地；我预见要同卡乐门打一仗。陛下，请三思吧。”

“公爵阁下，我发过誓了，”凯斯宾说，“不管怎么说，我对雷佩契普有什么话好说呢？”

5

风暴和余波

他们登陆了将近三星期，黎明踏浪号才给拖出了狭港港口。大家说了非常隆重的告别辞，一大群人围着送行。凯斯宾向孤独群岛岛民发表告别讲话，跟公爵和他全家分手时大家又是欢呼，又是掉泪；但等这条船启碇，紫红色的风帆依然懒懒地飘动，船给拖得离岸越来越远，船尾楼上凯斯宾的号声隔着海面传来，越来越弱，这时大家都默不作声。接着船遇上风了。风帆鼓了出来，拖船解缆，划回去了。黎明踏浪号的船头下初次涌起了真正的海浪，顿时又成了一艘生气勃勃的船。不值班的水手都下舱去了，德里宁在船尾楼值第一班，把船头掉向东，绕过阿芙拉岛南面驶去。

接着几天过得很愉快。露茜认为自己是天下最幸运的女孩。她每天一早醒来，就看见水面阳光的倒影在天花板上荡漾，环顾四周都是她在孤独群岛上得到的精美的新东西——高统防水靴、半统靴、披风、皮夹克和披巾。于是她就走上甲板，在船首楼上眺望大海，每天早上碧蓝的海面都是一片灿烂，她呼吸到的空气一天比一天暖和。然后就吃早餐，这么好的胃口只有在海上旅行的人才有。

她有好多时间坐在船尾的小凳上，同雷佩契普下棋。棋子太大，它拿不动，如果它要把棋子走到棋盘中间，就两爪举着棋子，踮起脚尖，瞧那模样真逗。它棋艺不错，当它记住自己是在下棋时，往往取胜。不过露茜偶尔也取胜，因为老鼠下了几着可笑的棋子，把马送到由车[1]护驾的王后面前。发生这种事是因为它一时忘了自己是在下棋，想起了真正的打仗，就按战场上骑士应该采取的行动做了。因为它满脑想的都是绝望、死亡或光荣的冲锋陷阵和死守阵地。

不过这种快乐时光不长。有天傍晚，露茜懒洋洋地在船尾盯着船身开过时海面留下的深沟（又称尾波），看见西边一大片浮云速度惊人地越积越厚。于是云层间裂了一个口子，黄澄澄的夕阳穿过云层豁口，喷射而出。船后的波涛奇形怪状，海面一片淡褐，一片土黄，像肮脏的风帆。空气转冷了。船身似乎动荡不安，仿佛感觉到船后面有危险。船帆一会儿瘪掉，绵软无力，一会儿又鼓得满满的。她正在注意这些情况，对风声中传来的不祥的变化感到纳闷，德里宁就大声喊叫了：“全体船员准备。”一会儿人人都忙得没命。舱口盖钉上扣板封死了，厨房里的火也灭了，水手爬到桅杆高处去收缩帆篷。他们还没完事，风暴就袭击他们了。露茜似乎觉得海就在他们船头前开出一个大峡谷，他们就一头扎进去，深得出乎她意料。一个灰压压大山似的海浪，远比桅杆还要高，迎面涌来；看来准是死路一条了，不料船身却被抛到浪峰顶上。这时船身似乎打转了。一阵瀑布似的海水泻在甲板上；船首楼和船尾楼像两个孤岛，当中隔着一片汹涌的大海。桅杆高处的水手把身子躺在帆桁上，拼命想稳住船帆。一根绷断的缆绳从斜里挺出，在风中像根拨火棍一样又直又硬。

“下面去，女王陛下。”德里宁吼道。露茜知道陆地上的人，无论男女，对水手来说是一大麻烦，所以听从了。可这不容易办到。黎明踏浪号向右舷倾斜得很厉害，甲板像屋顶般倾斜。她只得四处爬着，爬到梯子上边，一把抓住栏杆，这时有两个水手爬上梯子，她就站在一边，然后尽快爬下梯子。幸好第二个浪头呼啸着打过甲板，漫到她肩膀时，她已经在梯脚处紧紧抓住了。虽然她早已给浪花和暴雨打得几乎浑身透湿，但是这个浪头更凉。后来她就奔向舱门，走了进去，把飞快冲进黑暗里的大浪那吓人景象挡在门外片刻，但是当然挡不住一片可怕的混乱声，在下面，这片吱吱嘎嘎、哼哼唧唧、噼噼啪啪、咔嗒咔嗒、呼噜呼噜、轰隆轰隆的大合唱，反而比在船尾楼上听上去更惊心动魄。

第二天，第三天，接连好几天都是整天这样闹下去，闹得你简直记不住闹了几天啦。船上掌舵一直得有三个人，有三个人才能保持一种航向。而且一直得有人用水泵抽水。大家简直都没法休息，没东西好煮，没东西好烘，一个水手落水失踪了，大家一点也看不见太阳。

等到风暴过后，尤斯塔斯才在日记中记下这么几条：

九月三日　多天来我头一天能写字。我们顺着十二级大风开船，足足有十三个昼夜。我知道日子，因为我有本细账，虽然大家都说只有十二个昼夜。上船跟一批连数字都数不准的人一起冒着危险航海可真妙！我吃了不少苦头，连续几小时在巨浪上颠簸，往往浑身湿透，连好好吃顿热饭都休想。更不用说没有无线电报，连火箭都没有，所以没有向任何船只发信号求救的机会。这一切都证明我不断告诫他们的话一点不错，乘坐这么一条小破船出海真是发疯。即使是跟正人君子出海，不是跟披着人皮的恶鬼出海也够糟的了。凯斯宾和爱德蒙对我真粗暴极了。我们桅杆折断的那天晚上（现在只剩下一个木头橛子了），虽然我身体根本不行，他们还是逼我上甲板，像奴隶似的干活。露茜还多管闲事说雷佩契普正巴不得去干活呢，只是它个子太小了。我感到奇怪，她竟看不出那小畜生的所作所为都是为了显露自己。即使她那样的年纪也应当有那么多的心眼。今天这条该死的船终于平稳了，太阳出来了，我们一直都在扯着该干些什么。我们的粮食还够吃十六天，大部分都是相当难吃的东西。（家禽都给冲下海去了。即使没落水，风暴这一刮也会使它们不下蛋的。）真正麻烦的是淡水。两个水桶看来给撞了道裂缝，水都流光了。（又是纳尼亚人办事的效率。）配给量缩减，每天只有半品脱，我们的水只够喝十二天。甜酒和葡萄酒倒是还有不少，不过连他们都知道酒可越喝越渴。

如果可能，最明智的办法当然是马上掉头往西，开往孤独群岛去。不过开到这里已经十八天了，后面又有大风推送，船开得像发疯。即使我们遇上东风，要开回去也要花更长的时间——事实上，根本没有风。至于划桨回去吧，花的时间就更长了，凯斯宾说水手一天喝半品脱水划不动桨。这话肯定不对。我竭力解释，出汗真正能降低体温，所以如果水手在工作，需要的水就不多。他一点也不理会这话，碰到他想不出话来回答总是这样。其他人都一致赞成继续向前开，盼望能找到陆地。我感到自己有责任指出，我们并不知道前面有没有什么陆地，我竭力让他们明白一相情愿的危险。他们不但不提出一个更好的计划，反而厚着脸皮问我有何见教。于是我非常冷静沉着地说明，我是给拐骗来的，未经我同意就给带上船来做这次白痴的航行，所以帮他们摆脱困境跟我也没多大关系。

九月四日　依然风平浪静。午饭配给量很少，我比谁都分得少。凯斯宾在分菜时很精明，以为我看不出！不知什么原因露茜竟想把她的份额分点给我，可是那个多管闲事的讨厌鬼爱德蒙偏不让她分。太阳真毒辣。整个晚上口渴难忍。

九月五日　依然风平浪静，天很热。全天感到身体很难受，肯定有热度。他们当然不懂得在船上备一个体温表。

九月六日　可怕的一天。夜里醒来，明知身体发烧，必须喝水。任何医生都会这么说。天知道，我这人最不会设法去占任何非法的便宜，不过我做梦也决没想到配给水的规定竟对病人也适用。其实我原来可以叫醒别人，要点水喝，只是我想吵醒人家未免自私。所以我就起身，拿了我的杯子，踮着脚尖走出我们睡觉的黑洞，小心翼翼，不要打扰凯斯宾和爱德蒙，因为他们自从天热和缺水以来，一直睡不好。不管人家对我是好是坏，我总是尽量为别人着想。我顺利走进那大房间，如果你能把它称做房间的话，那儿都是划桨坐的长凳和行李。水那东西就在这一头。一切都顺顺当当，可是我还没斟满一杯，就被逮住了，要不是碰上那小探子雷普可没人抓我。我想法解释说我上甲板去吸吸新鲜空气（水的问题管它屁事），它却问我拿个杯子干吗。它大声吵闹，吵得全船的人都醒了。他们待我那态度令人反感之极。我问，为什么雷佩契普半夜三更偷偷摸到水桶那儿，我想任何人都会这样问的。它说，因为它个子太小，甲板上派不了用处，它就每夜值班看水，这样就可以多一个人去睡觉。瞧，他们那套混账的不公平做法又来了：他们全都相信它，真是岂有此理！

我只得赔礼道歉，不然险恶的小畜生又要拿剑对着我了。这时凯斯宾露出他蛮横暴君的真面目，大声说给每个人听，说将来凡是发现有人“偷”水，就“罚两打”。爱德蒙跟我解释了我才明白这话是什么意思。原来这话是出于佩文西家孩子看的那种书里的。

凯斯宾这样虚张声势地威胁一通后，又改变语调，俨然以恩人自居，说他对我是爱莫能助，因为人人都跟我一样感到发烧，我们大家都必须尽力克服等等等等。装腔作势、自以为是的讨厌鬼。今天全天赖在床上。

九月七日　今天有点风，不过仍然是西风。靠支在德里宁所谓的应急桅杆上的部分船帆向东行驶了几英里——就是将第一斜桅竖直，绑（他们称做‘捆’）在真正桅杆的橛子上。仍感到口渴难忍。

九月八日　依然向东行驶。现在我整天待在铺位上，除了露茜，什么人都看不见，直到两个恶鬼上铺睡觉。露茜给我一些她的配给水。她说女孩不像男孩那样口渴。我常想着这点，可是这点应当让航海的人普遍知道。

九月九日　看见陆地了。东南方向远处有一座很高的大山。

九月十日　山越来越大，越来越清晰，可是仍隔着很长一段路程。不知多久没见海鸥了，今天第一次又见到。

九月十一日　捕到些鱼做中饭。晚上七点在这山岛一个海湾三英寻深的水里抛锚。凯斯宾那个白痴不让我们上岸，因为天黑了，他怕野人和野兽。今晚额外配给水。

在这岛上等待他们的将关系到尤斯塔斯的命运，这关系比对任何人都重大，可是这些事不能用他自己的话来交代，因为九月十一日以后，他有很长一段时期忘了记日记了。

到了早上，天空低垂灰沉，但很热，这些探险的人只见自己身在一个周围都是断岩峭壁的海湾，很像挪威海岸的峡湾。在他们面前，海湾滩头上有些平地，密密麻麻长满树木，看上去是雪松，林间流出一条激流。激流那头是个陡峭的山坡，坡顶是巉岩林立的山脊，后面是莽莽苍苍的群山，耸立在黑沉沉的云堆中，所以看不见山顶。海湾每一边近一点的峭壁，都有一道道白练，大家都知道这是瀑布，虽然隔着那么段距离不见动静，也听不见什么响声。整个地方确实非常幽静，海湾水面平滑如镜，巨细无遗地倒映出峭壁来。这景色在画面里虽然很好看，可是在实际生活中却相当压抑。这里不是一个欢迎外人的地方。

全船人分坐两条小船上岸，人人都到河里喝水，美美洗了个澡，还吃了顿饭，休息了一下，凯斯宾才派四个人回去照管大船，白天的工作就开始了。要做的工作千头万绪。水桶必须搬上岸来，损坏的能修则修，全得灌满；必须砍下一棵树——找得到松树最好——再做成一根新桅杆；船帆必须修理；组织一支狩猎队去打猎，岛上出产什么野物就打什么野物；衣物必须洗洗补补；船上无数破损的地方都得修好。因为乍一看简直认不出黎明踏浪号就是离开狭港时那艘雄伟的大船了，这回他们在远处看去更加明显。这条船看来像条开动不了、污染褪色的废船，任何人都会把它当成一堆破烂。船员上上下下都好不了多少——骨瘦如柴，脸色苍白，缺少睡眠，眼睛熬得通红，衣服破破烂烂。

尤斯塔斯正躺在树下，听到大家在讨论这一切计划，心不由沉了下来。难道回头不休息了吗？看样子他们到达盼望已久的陆地的头一天就打算像在海上一样干一天苦活。这时他计上心头。没人看着他——他们都七嘴八舌在扯船的事，仿佛他们真的喜欢这种讨厌事似的。他何不干脆溜掉呢？他不妨到内陆溜达溜达，在山上找一个凉快的地方，好好睡上一觉，等到大家干完一天的活才去找他们。他觉得这样对他大有好处。不过他要好好留神，待在看得见海湾和船的地方，这样就可以确定回来的路线。他才不愿意流落在这种地方呢。

他当即实施自己这条妙计。悄悄起身，在树丛间走掉，一边小心慢慢走，装做漫无目标的模样，这样任何人看见他都会当他只是在散步而已。没想到一下子身后的说话声就消失了，林子里变得非常幽静、温暖，一片深绿。不久他就感到自己可以把步子跨得快些、果断些了。

他三脚两步一下子就走出树林。眼前的地面开始成了陡峭的斜坡。野草干燥而溜滑，要是手脚并用倒还能凑合，虽然他气喘吁吁，拼命擦脑门的汗水，但还是不断拼命爬着。顺便说一句，尽管他自己不大觉察到，这表明他的新生活已经对他有些好处了；过去的尤斯塔斯可是爹娘的宝贝，爬上十分钟早就罢手了。

歇了几回，他慢慢爬上山脊。他原以为在这儿可以看看岛屿中心，谁知云层越来越低，越来越近，一片雾海迎面滚滚而来。他坐下，回头看看。现在他爬得那么高，下面的海湾看上去很小，还看得见好几英里长的海面。随后山上的迷雾从四面八方向他逼近，浓虽浓，倒还不冷，他索性躺下，这里翻翻，那里翻翻，以便找个最舒服的姿势享受一下。

可是他并没享受到，或者说没享受多久。他就开始感到孤独了，这几乎是他生平头一回感到孤独。开头这股感觉是一步步来的。接着他开始担心时间。一点声音都听不到。他忽然一下子想到他可能已经躺了好几个小时了。也许其他人早走了！也许他们存心让他走开，干脆就为了把他扔下！他慌慌张张跳起来，开始爬下山去。

开头他操之过急，在陡峭的草坡上滑倒了，而且滑了好几步。接着他觉得这一滑太偏向左面了——因为他爬上山时看见过那一面有悬崖。所以他重新爬上去，尽量靠近他猜想中的原先出发的地方，再重新开始下山，靠右边走。后来似乎顺利些了。他非常谨慎地爬着，因为前面一码以外的地方就什么也看不见，而且四下依然一片死寂。如果内心一直有个声音在催着说，“赶快，赶快，赶快”，却不得不谨慎行事，这是很不舒服的。因为被抛弃的可怕念头时时刻刻都在，而且变得越来越强烈。假如他真了解凯斯宾和佩文西兄妹的话，他当然就会知道他们是决不会做任何这类事的。不过他心里却在说服自己，他们都是披着人皮的恶鬼。

“终于到了！”尤斯塔斯顺着一条石子松散的滑坡（他们称作碎石堆）滑下去，不觉落到平地上，不由说。“唉，那些树到哪儿去了？前面有些黑糊糊的。啊，我相信雾在散了。”

果然如此，光线越来越亮，亮得他直眨眼睛。雾消失了。他落在一个完全不知所在的山谷里，根本看不见大海。

【注释】

[1] 在国际象棋中马的英文名称为knight，此字原义是骑士；车的英文名称为castle，原义是城堡，所以下文说雷佩契普把象棋中的“马”同战场上的“骑士”混为一谈了。

6

尤斯塔斯的历险

就在那时刻，其他人都在河里洗手洗脸，纷纷准备吃饭休息。三个最强的弓箭手到了海湾北面山里，扛回来一对野山羊，这时野山羊正架在火上烤呢。凯斯宾已下令搬一桶酒上岸，那是阿钦兰生产的烈酒，得掺上水才能喝，供大伙儿喝绰绰有余。到目前为止，工作进展顺利，大家吃得欢天喜地。再添一份羊肉以后，爱德蒙才说：“尤斯塔斯那讨厌鬼上哪儿去了？”

这时候，尤斯塔斯瞪着眼睛朝这陌生的山谷四下张望。山谷又狭又深，周围的悬崖十分陡峭，谷里就像个大坑或壕沟。底部虽然遍地岩石却长满了草，尤斯塔斯看见到处有烧焦的黑斑痕，像干旱的夏天铁路路堤两边所见的焦痕一样。离他十五码以外，是个清澈平滑的水塘。开头，山谷里其他什么东西都没有；没有走兽，没有飞禽，没有昆虫。太阳直晒下来，狰狞的峰峦俯临谷边。

尤斯塔斯当然明白自己原来是在雾中爬到山脊另一边去了。所以他马上回头看看回去的路。可是他一看便不禁浑身发抖。明摆着他是万分侥幸才摸到这惟一一条下来的路的——长长一条绿色的暗道，陡峭狭窄，两岸悬崖耸峙。没有别的路好回去了。他既然看到了实际情况，还能不能上去呢？他一想到这念头，头也晕了。

他再掉过头去，心想无论如何最好还是先在水塘里喝个痛快。谁知他刚掉过头，还没向山谷里迈前一步，就听见背后有声音。声音虽小，但是在那无比寂静中听上去也够响的。他吓得在原地僵立了一会儿，才回过头去看。

在崖底，他左手不远的地方有个低矮的黑洞——也许是一个山洞的入口。洞口冒出两缕细烟。就在黑洞下面那堆松散的石块在动（他听见的就是这声音），恰如有什么东西在后面暗处爬着。

果然有什么东西在爬。更糟糕的是，竟然爬出来了。要是爱德蒙和露茜，一看准认得出，你也认得出，可是尤斯塔斯没看过一本对路的书。爬出来那东西他连想像都没想像到过——铅灰色的长鼻子，暗红色的眼睛，身上没羽毛，也没皮毛，长长一条柔软的身子，在地面上爬行，腿弯部分抬起来比背部还要高，像蜘蛛腿，凶残的爪子，蝙蝠翼在石头上发出刺耳的嘎嘎声，尾巴老长老长。那两道烟是从它两个鼻孔里冒出来的。他心里从来没想到龙这个词儿，就是想到了，事情也好不了多少。

不过，他要是知道一些龙的知识，也许他对这条龙的举动就不会那么吃惊了。这条龙没有坐起来拍拍翅膀，也没从嘴里喷出一道火焰。它鼻孔里冒出来的烟就像火烟，没多久就消失了。它似乎没注意到尤斯塔斯，只顾很慢很慢地向水塘爬去，爬爬还歇了好多回。尤斯塔斯尽管心里害怕，也觉得这是个衰老凄惨的怪物。他不知自己是不是敢冲过去爬上坡。不过如果他弄出声音来，它就可能回过头来，也可能会苏醒过来。也许它只不过装装样子，不管怎样，想爬上去，从会飞的怪物身边逃走有什么用呢？

它爬到水塘，把长满可怕鳞甲的下巴滑到砂砾层上，但它还没喝上水，就发出嘎嘎一大声，像是飞鹤的尖唳，扭曲挣扎了几下后，它就翻了个身，侧身躺着，一动不动，一只爪子还翘在半空。张大的嘴里涌出一点乌黑的血。鼻孔里的烟一时也变黑了，接着又飘走了。就此再也没动静了。

尤斯塔斯好长时间不敢动弹。也许这是那怪物的诡计，诱骗外来人送死的花招。可是你也不能老等下去。他走近一步，再走两步又停下。那条龙还是一动也不动。他还注意到它眼睛里的红火也消失了。他终于走到它跟前。这回他绝对肯定它死了。他打了个寒噤，摸了它一下；什么事也没有。

这下可大大放心了，尤斯塔斯差点大声笑出来。他不由开始感到自己不是眼看这条龙死去，而是打了一仗，亲手把它杀死似的。他跨过龙身，走到水塘边喝水，因为这里热得受不了。他听到隆隆一阵雷声，倒也并不吃惊。雷声响过，顿时就不见太阳，他还没喝完，大滴大滴的雨点就下来了。

这岛上的天气真是非常讨厌。转眼工夫尤斯塔斯就浑身湿透，眼睛也看不清，这么大的雨在欧洲可从没见过。只要这场大雨不停，想爬出山谷也没用。他冲进惟一看得见的龙洞去避雨。接着他就地躺下，拚命缓过气来。

我们多半人都知道在龙洞里会看到什么，可是我上文已经说过，尤斯塔斯只看过些不相干的书，书上尽说些进口、出口啊、政府啊、耗费啊这一类词儿，就缺谈龙这方面的事。所以他对身子躺着的地面感到这么莫名其妙。有的地面太刺人但不像石头，而且太硬也不像荆棘，看来似乎有一大堆又圆又扁的东西，他一动这些东西就丁当响。洞口光线正好可以让他看个仔细。不消说，尤斯塔斯看到的正是我们任何人事先都可以告诉他的——财宝。有好些王冠（就是那刺人的东西），钱币、戒指、手镯、金锭、酒杯、餐盘和珍宝。

尤斯塔斯不像多半孩子那样，他对财富从来没看重过，可是他一看就明白，在他糊里糊涂一头从家里露茜卧房那幅画上闯进去的新天地中，这笔财宝会派多大用处。“这里什么捐税都不收，”他说，“你用不着把财宝交给政府。有了这些财宝，我在这儿——也许在卡乐门吧——可以过得逍遥自在了。这国名听上去一点不像假的。不知我带得了多少呢？马上拿那手镯——上面镶嵌的那些东西大概是钻石——我要把手镯戴在自己手腕上。太大了，但我要是把这一直撸到肘拐儿上面就不嫌大了。然后再在口袋里装满钻石——那比装金子容易。就不知这场该死的雨几时才停？”他坐到这堆财宝上一个比较舒服的地方安心等候，那地方大都是些钱币。不过，受了一场大惊，特别是走了山路再受一场大惊，惊魂才定，人就感到很疲倦。尤斯塔斯竟睡着了。

在他进入梦乡，呼呼大睡的时候，其他人已经吃完饭，对他的下落当真着起急来。他们大声喊着，“尤斯塔斯！尤斯塔斯！喂，喂，喂！”喊得大家嗓子嘶哑，凯斯宾还吹起 号角。

“他不在附近，不然早听到了。”露茜急白了脸说。

“这家伙真该死，”爱德蒙说，“他这样偷偷摸摸地溜走，到底要干什么？”

“可是我们必须想些办法，”露茜说，“他可能迷了路，或者掉进洞里，或者被野人抓去。”

“或者碰上野兽送了命。”德里宁说。

“啊呀，假如真送了命倒好了。”赖因斯嘀咕说。

“赖因斯先生，”雷佩契普说，“你从没说过一句有失身份的话。这家伙虽然不是我朋友，可他是女王的亲属，只要他是我们一条船上的伙伴，那就要找到他，他死了就要为他报仇，这事关我们的荣誉。”

“我们当然得去找他（如果找得到的话），”凯斯宾有气无力地说，“讨厌就讨厌在这点上。这要组织一支搜山队，没完没了的麻烦。尤斯塔斯真讨厌！”

这时候，尤斯塔斯正睡啊睡啊睡的，睡到手臂痛才醒来。月亮正照在洞口，满地财宝似乎也变得更加舒服了。其实他简直一点都没感到舒服。开头手臂痛得他莫名其妙，可是不久就想起，他刚才撸到肘拐儿上面的手镯竟变得出奇的紧。他睡着那会儿手臂一定是肿起来了（是他的左臂）。

他挪动右臂，想去摸摸左臂，可是他还没挪动一英寸就住手了，吓得直咬嘴唇。因为就在他前面不远，稍稍偏右一点的地方，月光照在洞里一清二楚，他看见一个可怕的形状在移动。他知道那形状：是龙瓜。他挪动他的手，它也在动，他一住手，它也一动不动了。

“啊呀，我真是糊涂蛋，”尤斯塔斯心想，“那怪物当然有个伙伴，它就躺在我身边呢。”

一时间他丝毫不敢动弹。他看见眼前冒起两缕细烟，衬着月光，烟是黑的；正如刚才那条龙临死前鼻子里喷出来的烟一样。这真令人惊慌，他不由屏住气。两缕烟就此消失了。他屏不住多久，一口气悄悄溜了出来；两道黑烟顿时又出现在眼前。不过事到如今，他还是不明真相。

不久他决定小心翼翼地斜着身子摸到左边，想法偷偷溜出洞去。也许这怪物睡着了——不管怎样，这是他惟一的出路。可是他还没斜着身子摸到左边去以前，他当然免不了先朝左边看看。啊呀，真吓人！那边也有一只龙爪子。

假如这时有谁看见尤斯塔斯掉眼泪，决不会怪他。他看见自己的泪水竟在面前的财宝上溅了一大片，不由吃了一惊。这泪水似乎也烫得出奇；上面还直冒热气。

但是哭也没用。他必须想法从两条龙中间爬出去才行。他开始伸展右臂。他右边那条龙的前肢和爪子的动作也完全一模一样。于是他心想，试试左臂吧。那边那条龙的前肢的动作竟也一模一样。

一边一条，不管他做什么，两条龙都学着他做！他受不了啦，干脆赶快逃走。

他冲出洞口时，只听得丁丁当当，喀嚓喀嚓，金子铿铿锵锵，石头嘎吱嘎吱，他还以为两条龙都跟着他呢。他看也不敢回头看，冲到水塘边。那条躺在月光下的死龙扭曲的形状足以吓死任何人，可是这会儿他简直顾不上了。他一心只想走到水里。

谁知正当他走到水塘边，发生了两件事。头一件，对他来说无异一个晴天霹雳，原来他一直是四肢着地在跑——他到底为什么一直这样干呢？第二件，他趴向水面时还以为水塘里又有一条龙在抬眼盯着他。不过他一下子就明白真相了。水塘里的龙脸原来是他自己的倒影。这是毫无疑问的。他动它也动，他张嘴它也张嘴，他闭嘴它也闭嘴。

他睡着的时候竟变成了一条龙。睡在龙的宝窖里，心里怀着贪婪的龙一样的念头，他自己竟变成一条龙了。

那一来什么都清楚了。原来洞里他身边没有两条龙。左右两只爪子原来是他自己左右两只手。两缕烟原来是他自己鼻孔里冒出来的。至于他左臂（或者说他过去的左臂）的疼痛，现在他眯着左眼也看得出是怎么回事了。原来正好戴在孩子上臂的手镯，勒在龙那条粗短的前肢上未免太小太小了。手镯深深嵌在有鳞片的肉里，勒得两边肉都鼓起来，卜卜直跳。他用龙牙去咬那地方，可咬不掉。

尽管还痛，他头一个感觉倒是放下心来，现在没有什么可害怕的了。如今他自己就是令人恐怖的怪物，天底下除了骑士以外（而且也不是所有的骑士都如此），什么都不敢攻击他。如今他甚至可以跟凯斯宾和爱德蒙算账了……

可是他在想这件事的时候，心里倒明白自己并不想算账。他想要交朋友。他想要回到人类中间去，跟大家谈天说笑，分享一切。他明白自己成了同整个人类隔绝的怪物。一股可怕的孤独感涌上心头。他开始明白其他人根本不是什么恶魔。不由纳闷自己究竟是不是他一贯自以为的好人。他巴不得听到他们的声音。哪怕听到雷佩契普一句好话他都会感激不尽。

这条前身是尤斯塔斯的可怜的龙，一想到这点竟放声痛哭了。一条强大的龙，竟在月下一个荒凉的山谷里哭得死去活来，这情景，这声音简直难以想像。

最后他决定要想方设法寻找回到海岸去的路。他现在才明白凯斯宾决不会把船开走，扔下他不管。他深信自己总有办法让人们明白他是什么人。

他痛痛快快喝了一通，然后把那条死龙几乎全吃下肚去。（我知道这听上去吓人，可是你仔细想想就不吓人了。）他吃了一半才明白自己在干什么；因为，不瞒你说，虽然他的头脑还是尤斯塔斯的头脑，可是他的口味和消化力却是龙的。而龙所喜欢的食物莫过于新鲜龙肉了。这就是你在同一地方难以找到第二条龙的缘故。

于是他转身爬出山谷。他开始爬时身子一跳，谁知刚一跳就不觉飞起来了。他完全忘了自己的翅膀了，这对他是一大惊喜发现——他有好长时间没享受到惊喜了。他就此高飞上天，看见月光中身下铺展着无数山顶。他看得见像一块银板似的海湾，黎明踏浪号停泊着，海滩边林子里篝火闪闪发光。他从高处一个滑翔，朝他们直冲下去。

露茜正睡得很沉，因为她一直盼着搜山队带来好消息，等到他们回来才去睡。搜山队由凯斯宾亲自率领，很晚才回来，都累坏了。他们带来的消息令人不安。他们找不到尤斯塔斯的踪影，却在一个山谷里看见一条死龙。他们都尽了最大努力寻找，人人都向别人保证看来附近再也找不到别的龙了，那条龙是在那天下午三点钟左右死的（就是他们看见它的时候），看来不大会在短短几小时前刚吃过人。

“除非它是吃了那小鬼就此送了命的，他对什么都有毒。”赖因斯说。不过这话是压低嗓子说的，没人听见。

可是那天深夜露茜被人轻轻叫醒，看见全体人员都紧紧凑在一起，悄声说着话。

“怎么回事？”露茜说。

“我们大家必须坚定不移，”凯斯宾正说着，“刚才一条龙飞过树梢，降落在海滩上。是啊，恐怕就停在我们和大船之间。用箭对付龙是没用的。龙根本不怕火。”

“陛下恩准的话——”雷佩契普开口说。

“不，雷佩契普，”国王非常坚决地说，“你决不能单独跟它决战。除非你答应这件事听从我，否则我就把你绑起来。我们只须密切监视它，等天一亮，就到海湾去跟它开战。我带头。爱德蒙国王在我右翼，德里宁爵爷在我左翼。没有其他部署。再过一两个小时天就要亮了。一小时内先开饭，剩下的酒也端来。还有，一切事情都得悄悄进行。”

“也许它会走开的。”露茜说。

“要是它走开那反而更糟，”爱德蒙说，“因为那一来我们就不知道它在哪儿。假如屋子里有只黄蜂，我倒愿意看得见它。”

那天夜里余下的时间可难熬了，开饭时虽然大家都知道应当吃一点，可是很多人都发觉自己毫无胃口。时间过得似乎没完没了，好容易等到漆黑的天色渐渐亮起来，小鸟开始到处唧唧喳喳，四下反而比整个夜里更冷更湿，凯斯宾说：“朋友们，好动手了。”

他们一拥而上，个个刀剑出鞘，紧紧挤成一团，露茜居中，雷佩契普在她肩头。这总比干等着要好些，人人都觉得旁人比平时更可亲。一会儿工夫他们就向前推进了。他们来到林子边上，天色又亮了些。在那儿沙地上就躺着那条龙，像条大蜥蜴，又像一条柔韧的鳄鱼，又像一条四脚大蟒蛇，身体庞大，外形可怕，背部隆起。

谁知那条龙看见他们不但没有抬起身，口喷火烟，反而后退了——几乎可以说是摇摇摆摆地缩回浅滩上去了。

“它干吗那样摇头？”爱德蒙说。

“这回它在点头了。”凯斯宾说。

“它眼睛里淌出什么东西呢。”德里宁说。

“啊呀，你们看不出来啊，”露茜说，“它在哭。那是眼泪呢。”

“我可决不轻信，女王陛下，”德里宁说，“鳄鱼就是那样的，想要消除你的戒心。”

“你说这话时它听了在摇头呢，”爱德蒙说，“意思好像在说不。瞧，它又摇头了。”

“你想，它懂得我们在说什么吗？”露茜问。

那条龙拼命点头。

雷佩契普溜下露茜肩头，站到前面去。

“龙啊，”它尖声说，“你听得懂话吗？”

那条龙点点头。

“你会说话吗？”

它摇摇头。

“这么说，”雷佩契普说，“问你事情也是白费口舌。不过假如你愿意跟我们保证友好，就把左前腿高举头上。”

那条龙照做了，可是举止笨拙，因为那腿上勒着金镯，又痛又肿。

“啊呀，腿，”露茜说，“它腿出毛病了。可怜的东西——大概它是为了这个才哭吧。也许它来向我们求医，就像在安德罗格尔斯那回一样，还有那头狮子。”

“留神，露茜，”凯斯宾说，“这条龙非常聪明，不过也许它是在骗人。”

然而，露茜已经跑上前去了，雷佩契普赶快撒开两条短腿紧紧跟上，几个小伙子和德里宁当然也跟了上去。

“把可怜的爪子给我看看，”露茜说，“我兴许能治好。”

那条前身是尤斯塔斯的龙喜不自胜地伸出了痛腿，心里还记得他没变成龙的时候，露茜好意治好他晕船的事。可是他失望了，魔药只是略为消肿止痛，却不能化掉金镯。

这时大家都围着看她治伤，凯斯宾突然失声叫道：“瞧！”他盯着那金镯。

7

脱险

“瞧什么？”爱德蒙说。

“瞧金镯上的纹章。”凯斯宾说。

“一把小锤子，上面有颗星状的钻石，”德里宁说，“哎呀，这个我见过的。”

“见过！”凯斯宾说，“哎呀，你当然见过。这是纳尼亚一个贵族府的标志。这是奥克特西安爵爷的手镯。”

“坏蛋，”雷佩契普对龙说，“你把一个纳尼亚的爵爷吃掉了？”那条龙却拼命摇头。

“你们要知道，或许，”露茜说，“这是奥克特西安爵爷中了魔法变成的龙吧。”

“这也未必见得，”爱德蒙说，“凡是龙都爱收藏金子。不过我想，奥克特西安准保不出这个小岛。”

“你是奥克特西安爵爷吗？”露茜对龙说，看到它伤心地摇头，又说，“那你是中了魔法的人——我意思是说是个人吧？”

它听了拼命点头。

于是有人说——事后大家争着议论是露茜先说，还是爱德蒙先说——“你不——不会是尤斯塔斯吧？”

尤斯塔斯听了把那颗怕人的龙头直点，还把龙尾在海里直拍，大家都纷纷后退，避开他眼睛里流出来的滚滚热泪。有几个水手还骂骂咧咧，这些话我就不写进书里了。

露茜想尽办法安慰他，甚至鼓起勇气去吻他生满鳞甲的脸，几乎人人都说“倒霉”，还有几个人叫尤斯塔斯放心并说，他们都支持他，不少人说准有法子给他解除魔法，一两天内他们就可以完全正常地跟他在一起了。他们当然都急于听听他的经历，可是他不会说话。接下来几天，他多次打算在沙地上把事情写出来，可是一次也没写成。首先，尤斯塔斯从来没看过一本对路的书，根本不知道怎么直接讲故事。再则，他不得不借助的龙爪的肌肉和神经从来就没学过写字，反正生来也不是写字的料。结果，他根本来不及写完，潮汐就来了，把他写好的字统统冲刷掉，只留下一些他已经踩住的，或尾巴偶尔扫出来的片言只语。所以大家看得到的就像下文——虚点部分是他弄模糊而无法辨认的——

我去垂……尤我是说龙洞因它死了金很紧……醒来不……去掉手上啊讨厌……

可是大家都明白，尤斯塔斯变成龙以后性格倒有相当长进了。他巴不得出点力。他飞遍全岛，发现岛上全是高山，只有野山羊和成群野猪。他就带回好多死羊死猪给船上补充给养。他也是一个非常讲人道的猎手，因为他只消尾巴一甩就可以把野物弄死，野物不知不觉（大概还不知道）就送了命。他自己当然也吃掉一点，但总是独自吃，因为他既然是条龙了，就喜欢吃生的，可他绝对受不了人家看见他吃着血糊糊的东西。有一天，他虽然飞得又慢又吃力，但是得意扬扬，原来他把一棵高大的松树带回了营地，这是他在远处一个山谷里连根拔起来的，可以用来做一根主桅。到了晚上，如果天气变冷，大雨过后时常这样，他就成了大家的火炉，因为全体人员都跑来，背靠着他热呼呼的两侧，焐得身子暖暖的，烘得身子干干的；他一喷出火似的气来，就能把最难着的柴火点燃。有时他还挑上几个人，骑在他背上飞行，让他们能看见在身子底下旋转而过的绿山坡，岩石嶙峋的高地，狭窄如坑的山谷，朝东的海面远处，天际有一个深蓝色的斑点，可能那就是陆地了。

尤斯塔斯觉得受人喜欢，更可贵的是觉得喜欢人家，这分乐趣对他是破天荒的，有了这分乐趣才让他不感到绝望。因为变成龙是非常乏味的。每逢他飞过一个山湖，看见自己的倒影，总不免打个寒噤。他痛恨那对巨大的蝙蝠翼，锯齿形的背脊，凶相的弯爪。他几乎害怕独自待着，但他又不好意思同别人在一起。晚上碰到没人把他当成热水袋时，他就偷偷从营地溜走，像条蛇似的蜷起身子，躺在林子和大海中间。碰到这种情况，大大出乎他意料的，倒是雷佩契普经常来安慰他。高尚的老鼠会从围着篝火的欢乐人堆里偷偷跑掉，靠着龙头边坐下，看准风向，避开他冒烟的鼻息。于是它就解释说，尤斯塔斯的遭遇是造化弄人的一个明显事例，假如尤斯塔斯在纳尼亚它自己家作客（其实是个洞，不是屋子，龙头也容不下，别提身子了），它倒可以举出百来个例子说明，什么皇帝啊，国王啊，公爵啊，骑士啊，诗人啊，情人啊，天文学家啊，哲学家啊，还有魔法师啊，他们原先都富贵荣华，一下子跌到极其悲惨的境地，后来他们不少人都恢复过来，从此日子过得美美的。也许当时这话听来还不大令人宽慰，不过也是一片好意，尤斯塔斯对此终身难忘。

不过，像朵乌云般笼罩在大家头上的倒是那个难题：他们准备启航之际，拿这条龙怎么办。他在场的时候，大家都尽量避而不谈，可是他还是不免偷听到一些话，诸如“把他安顿在整个甲板的一边合适吗？那我们就得把全部贮藏搬到下面另一侧才能让船身平衡”。还有，“拖着他走好不好？”还有，“他能一直飞下去吗？”还有，最常听到的是“可是我们拿什么给他吃啊？”可怜的尤斯塔斯心里越来越清楚，自从他踏上甲板的头一天以来，就成了一个十足的讨厌包袱，如今他变成更大的包袱了。这想法深深腐蚀他的心，正如那手镯深深腐蚀他的前腿一样。他知道靠大牙咬手镯反而更糟，可是他忍不住还是时时去咬，尤其是在炎热的 夜晚。

他们在龙岛上岸后，大约过了六天，有天爱德蒙恰巧大清早就醒了。天色刚灰蒙蒙，所以看得见身边和海滩之间的树干，不过别的方向看不见。他醒来时觉得听到什么动静，所以撑起一个肘拐儿，朝四下看看：不一会儿就觉得看见一个黑影在林子靠海那头走动。他脑子里顿时生出一个念头，“我们还那么肯定这岛上根本没有土人？”继而一想，这人是凯斯宾吧——个子差不多——可他知道凯斯宾一直睡在他身边，看得出他没动弹过。爱德蒙弄明白他的剑还在原处，就跳起身去查看了。

他轻手轻脚来到林子边，那黑影还在。这时他看出黑影说是凯斯宾嫌小，说是露茜又嫌大。那黑影没逃走。爱德蒙拔出剑来，打算向那黑影挑战，这时那黑影低声说：

“是你吗，爱德蒙？”

“对。你是谁？”他说。

“你不认识我？”对方说，“是我啊——尤斯塔斯。”

“天哪，”爱德蒙说，“原来如此。老伙伴——”

“嘘——”尤斯塔斯说着身子东倒西歪，仿佛要摔下来。

“嗨！”爱德蒙扶稳他说，“怎么回事？你病了？”

尤斯塔斯沉默了老半天，爱德蒙还以为他昏过去了；最后才说：“这事真可怕。你不知道……不过现在太平无事了。我们能找个地方去谈谈吧。眼下我还不想见别人。”

“那好啊，你爱上哪儿都行，”爱德蒙说，“我们可以上那边，坐在岩石上。哎呀，看见你——呃——又是老样子，心里真高兴。你一定吃了不少苦吧？”

他们走到岩石那儿，坐下来，眺望着海湾对面，这时天色越来越亮，除了一颗很亮的星，一颗低得接近地平线的星以外，其他的星星都看不见了。

“等我能对别人说了，这事全过去了，我才对你说我是怎么变成——一条龙的，”尤斯塔斯说，“顺便说一句，我那天早上在这儿出现，听到你们说起龙这个词儿，我才知道自己是龙。我要对你说说自己怎么不再是龙了。”

“说吧。”爱德蒙说。

“好吧，昨晚我比往常更难受。那个混账手镯勒得我痛死了……”

“现在没事了？”

尤斯塔斯笑了——爱德蒙以前可没听到他这么笑过——轻而易举就把手镯从臂上退下来。“瞧，”他说，“就我来说谁喜欢谁就拿去吧。唉，我说啊，当时我正醒着躺在那儿，不知自己结果到底会怎么样。这时——不过，听着，这也许完全是个梦。我不知道。”

“说下去。”爱德蒙相当耐心地说。

“唉，反正，我抬眼一看，只见一头大狮子慢慢向我走来，这是我最料想不到的事。怪就怪在昨晚没有月亮，可是狮子走到哪儿，哪儿就有月亮。它越走越近，我害怕极了。你也许会这么想，既然我是条龙，要打倒狮子还不容易吗？可是这不是那种害怕。我不是怕它吃我，我只是怕它——如果你能理解的话。唉，它向我逼近了，还一直盯着我眼睛看。我紧紧闭上眼睛，可是一点也没用，因为它叫我跟着它。”

“你意思是说它说话了？”

“我不知道。既然你提起了，我看它未必说过。不过反正它吩咐过我就是了。我知道我不得不照它吩咐我的去做，所以我就起身跟它走了。它带我走了好长一段路，进了山。不管我们走到哪儿，月光始终笼罩着狮子周围。我们就这样终于来到一座我从未见过的山顶，在这座山顶上，有个花园——里面有树有果啊什么的。花园当中有口井。

“我知道这是口井，因为可以看见井水汩汩从井底冒出来。不过这口井比大部分井要大得多——像一个圆圆的大浴池，有大理石梯级通进池里。井水清澈极了，我心想，假如我能下水洗洗澡，腿痛就会减轻。可是狮子吩咐我必须先剥衣服。听着，我不知道他是不是大声说了这些话。

“我正想说我不能剥衣服，因为我身上没穿什么衣服，这时我忽然想起，龙是像蛇一类的东西，蛇能蜕去身上的皮。我想，啊呀，狮子当然就是这个意思。所以我就动手在身上乱抓，鳞甲就开始纷纷掉满一地。我再抓得深一点，一抓身上鳞甲倒不是处处脱落，而是整张皮都完整地剥掉了，就像大病一场以后一样，仿佛自己是只香蕉。转眼间我就脱壳而出，我看得见这身皮就落在我身边，看上去相当恶心。这感觉愉快极了。因此我就下井去洗澡。

“谁知正当我要把脚伸进水里，往下一看，又看见自己全身像刚才那样又粗又硬又皱，长满了鳞甲。唷，对了，我说，这无非说明我在第一层外衣下面还有一身小些的内衣，我也得脱去才行。所以我重新又抓又扯，里面这身皮也完整地剥下来了，我脱壳而出，让这身皮落在刚才那身皮旁边，就走到井边去洗澡了。

“没想到又是一模一样的事发生了。我暗自寻思，哎呀，我到底得蜕下多少层皮啊？因为我一心只想洗洗腿，所以我又抓了第三回，蜕下第三层皮，跟前两回一样，我就脱壳而出。谁知我朝水里一看自己的倒影，就知道又不妙了。

“于是狮子说——可我不知道他是否真开口说了——一定得让我替你剥衣服。我可以实话告诉你，我怕他的爪子，可这回我实在是走投无路了。所以我就此仰天平躺，让他来干。

“他头一下撕拉就很深，我都以为深入心窝了。他开始把皮扯下来时，我痛得不得了。惟一使我能够忍受下来的就是感到蜕下壳来那股高兴劲儿。你剥过创口的痂就知道那种滋味。虽然痛得厉害，可是看到它脱落，心里真有说不出的高兴。”

“我完全明白你的意思。”爱德蒙说。

“好了，他把那层该死的皮当场扯掉了——正如我原以为前三回自己已经亲手扯掉过一样，只是前几回不痛——这层皮就落在草地上；只是要厚得多，黑得多，而且看上去比前几层皮更多疙瘩。这一来我就像一根剥掉皮的细树枝一样光滑柔软，个子比过去也小了些。于是他抓住我——我不大喜欢他这样做，因为我身上没有皮了，肉还很嫩——他把我扔到水里。真痛死了，幸亏只有一会儿工夫。过后就舒服极了，等我开始游泳拍水，手臂已经一点也不痛了。于是我才明白这是怎么回事。我又变回一个孩子了。我告诉你，我摸摸自己手臂的那分心情，你准会当我骗人。我知道手臂上没有肌肉，比起凯斯宾的手臂差劲多了，可是看见自己的手臂，心里别提有多高兴了。

“过了一会儿，狮子把我拉出来，替我穿上衣服……”

“替你穿衣服，用他的爪子？”

“这个嘛，我倒记不大清了。不过他好歹给我换上了新衣服——事实上，就是我现在穿着的。然后一下子我就到这儿了。因此我才认为一定是做了场梦。”

“不，这不是梦。”爱德蒙说。

“为什么不是？”

“说起来，一则，身上有衣服；而且，二则，你已经——不是龙了。”

“那你看这是怎么回事？”尤斯塔斯问。

“我看你见到阿斯兰了。”爱德蒙说。

“阿斯兰！”尤斯塔斯说，“自从我们乘上黎明踏浪号以来，我已经听到好几回提起那名字了。可我感到——我不知道为什么——我恨这名字。不过我当时对什么都痛恨。顺便说一下，我愿意道歉。恐怕过去我非常惹人讨厌吧？”

“那没什么，”爱德蒙说，“我们私下说说，你还没我头一回到纳尼亚来时那么坏呢。你只不过是个笨蛋，而我是个叛徒。”

“嘿，那就别跟我提这事了，”尤斯塔斯说，“可阿斯兰是谁啊？你认识他吗？”

“说起来——他认识我，”爱德蒙说，“他是狮王，海外皇帝的儿子，他救过我，救过纳尼亚王国。我们都见过他，露茜看见他次数最多。也许我们正要开去的地方就是阿斯兰的国土呢。”

一时间两人都没说什么。最后一颗明亮的星也消失了，虽然他们看不见日出，因为他们右面有大山挡住，可是他们知道太阳正在升起，因为他们上面的天空和面前的海湾都已变成玫瑰红颜色了。这时他们后面的林子里传来鹦鹉之类的鸟鸣声，他们听到树丛间有动静，最后，响起一阵凯斯宾的号角。营地里开始活动了。

当爱德蒙和变回人样的尤斯塔斯走进围着营火在吃早餐的人堆中，大家都兴高采烈。这会儿当然人人都听到他叙述的前半部分经历了。大家很想知道另外一条龙是不是在几年前杀害了奥克特西安爵爷，或者奥克特西安是不是就是那条老龙。尤斯塔斯在洞里硬往口袋里塞的珠宝随着他当时穿的那身衣服一起丢失了，不过大家丝毫没有回到山谷多找些财宝的欲望，至少尤斯塔斯本人就没这欲望。

不到两三天工夫，黎明踏浪号就重新安上桅杆，重新油漆一新，贮备充足，准备启航了。临上船前，凯斯宾叫人在一座面对海湾的断崖上刻出这些字句：

龙岛

纳尼亚国王凯斯宾十世于执政第四年率众发现。

据推测，奥克特西安爵爷

在此去世

现在说“从那时起尤斯塔斯变了”可恰到好处，而且几乎非常接近真实。严格地说，他开始变好了。他也有过反复。仍然有不少日子他还是非常叫人讨厌的。不过那些事情我大多不会提起。他开始有治了。

奥克特西安爵爷的手镯倒有一段希奇的结局。尤斯塔斯不愿要它，交给凯斯宾，凯斯宾给了露茜。她对此并不稀罕。“那好极了，随它去吧。”凯斯宾说着就把它抛到空中。这时大家都站着观看崖上字迹。只见那手镯凌空飞起，在阳光中闪闪发亮，像个正中目标的铁环一样，套中了岩石的一个小犄角，就此挂在上面了。没人能从下面爬上去摘掉它，也没人能从上面爬下去摘掉它。据我所知，至今它还挂在那儿，可能要挂到世界末日呢。

8

两次死里逃生

黎明踏浪号开出龙岛，人人都欢天喜地。他们一出海湾就遇上顺风，第二天一早就到了那个无名地。尤斯塔斯还是条龙的时候，有些人骑在他身上飞过群山曾见过这地方。这是一块地势低的绿岛，上面只有一些兔子和几只山羊，不过根据石屋的残址和火烧过发黑的地方看来，他们断定这里不久前还住过人。岛上还有一些骨头和破烂武器。

“海盗干的好事。”凯斯宾说。

“要不就是龙干的。”爱德蒙说。

他们在岛上另外找到的惟一东西是沙滩上一只小皮艇，又叫皮筏子。那是用生皮绷在一个柳条框架上做成的，是条小小的船，只有四英尺长，船上的桨还搁在那儿，倒也大小相称。他们心想，要么这船是造给孩子的，要么那地方的人是小矮人。雷佩契普决定留着这条船，因为这船的大小同它正合适，所以就把小船带上大船去了。他们把这地方称做火烧岛，中午前就开走了。

他们顺着东南偏南的风向航行了五天光景，看不见一块陆地，也见不到鱼，见不到海鸥。后来，有一天下了一场大雨，到午后才停。尤斯塔斯输给雷佩契普两盘棋，不免又露出讨厌的老样子。爱德蒙说他真希望他们能跟苏珊一起到美国去。这时露茜往船尾窗外一看说：

“嗨！我相信雨真停了。那是什么呀？”

他们全都跌跌撞撞登上船尾楼去看，只见雨已停了，值班的德里宁也正拼命盯着船尾外的什么东西。说得确切些是好几样东西。那些东西看上去有点像光溜溜的圆石块，每块中间相隔大约四十英尺，形成整整一长列。

“可那些不会是岩石，”德里宁正说着，“因为五分钟前那儿还没有那些东西呢。”

“有一块刚才不见了。”露茜说。

“是啊，还有一块冒出来了。”爱德蒙说。

“靠近了。”尤斯塔斯说。

“见鬼！”凯斯宾说，“整个东西都朝这儿移动了。”

“而且动得比我们的船开得快多了，陛下，”德里宁说，“转眼间就会追上我们的。”

他们都屏住气，因为在陆地上也好，海上也好，受到不明真相的东西追逐可一点也不妙。谁知那东西一露头竟比任何人猜疑中还要可怕得多。忽然间，离他们左舷只有一个投球的距离处，一个吓人的脑袋冒出海面。脑袋上除了贝壳类动物寄生的地方外，一片碧绿和朱红，还长着紫红色的疙瘩——形状很像马头，只是没有耳朵。脑袋上长着很大的眼睛，这样的眼睛生来是透视海洋深处的，还有一张咧开的大嘴，上下长满两排尖利的牙齿。这脑袋长在他们乍看以为是巨大的脖子上，它越露越长，大家才知道这不是脖子，而是身子，最后他们总算看见了有不少人荒唐地想要见识的——大海蛇。老远就能看见它巨大的尾巴上的皱褶，不时升出水面。此刻它正昂起脑袋，高耸在桅杆上面。

人人都奔去拿武器，可是毫无办法，这怪物高不可攀。“射！射！”弓箭手的头头叫道。有几个人听命射了，可是箭在海蛇皮上一擦而过，仿佛射在铁甲上似的。这时，大家都一动不动，抬眼盯着海蛇的眼睛和大嘴，提心吊胆了一阵子，不知它会向哪儿扑来。

不料它竟没扑来。它把脑袋沿着桅杆的帆桁探过船身。眼下它的脑袋就在桅顶观测台旁边了。可是它还不断伸长，一直把脑袋伸到右舷的舷墙上。接着又开始往下伸——不是伸向挤满人的甲板，而是伸向水里，这一来，整条船就在蛇身的弧圈下了。这个弧圈几乎一下子就缩小了些；右舷方面的海蛇身子这时几乎碰到了舷侧。

尤斯塔斯倒一直拼命想学好，后来天下雨了，他同别人下棋，又退步了，这时他居然作出平生从未做过的第一件壮举。他随身带着凯斯宾借给他的一把剑，正当蛇身快接近右舷舷侧，他身上向舷墙猛扑过去，使出浑身力量开始对它猛刺一下。他固然除了使凯斯宾那第二把好剑折成碎片之外，毫无收获，可是对一个初出茅庐的人来说，倒是件好事。

要不是那时雷佩契普大声喊道，“别打！推！”别人早就跟他一起动手了。即使到了那个危急关头，老鼠居然劝大家别打，这倒非同寻常，所以大家眼光都转向它。当它猛地扑向舷墙，挡在海蛇前面，用它那毛茸茸的细小身子挡住海蛇那长满鳞甲、滑腻腻的巨大身子，尽量使劲往外推；好多人这才明白它的用意，纷纷冲到船舷两侧，照样往外推。过了一会儿，海蛇的脑袋又出现了，这回是在左舷，而且这回是背对着大家，于是大家都明白了。

这怪物竟把身子绕成个圈，套着黎明踏浪号，并开始把圈套收紧。要等这个圈套收得相当紧了，啪的一下子，原来的大船就会变成一堆漂浮的碎片，它就可以在水里把他们一一收拾掉。他们的惟一生路是把这个圈套往船后推，推得它滑过船尾；不然就把圈套朝另一个方向推，让船身前进，脱出圈套。

雷佩契普势单力薄，当然休想办到，这无异蚍蜉撼大树，到别人把它推到一边时它已用尽力气，差点送了命。一会儿工夫全船人员，除了露茜和晕倒的老鼠之外，都沿着两边舷墙，排成两条长队，个个前胸贴后背，这样整列队伍的重量都落在队尾一个人身上，大家拼命推。推了几秒钟，难受得像推了好几个小时，看看还是毫无结果。大伙儿关节散了架，汗珠往下淌，哼哼嘿嘿，直喘大气。这时他们觉得船在动了。他们看见蛇圈离桅杆比先前更远了。不过他们也看到蛇圈收小了。这下子真正的危险就迫在眉睫了。他们能不能让船尾楼穿过这个圈套？这个圈套是不是已经太紧了？是啊，这个圈套正好绕着，贴着船尾楼的栏杆。十几个人跳上船尾楼去。这样就好得多了。这会儿海蛇的身体很低，他们可以在船尾楼对面排成一排，并肩一齐推。大家满怀希望，后来忽然又想起黎明踏浪号高耸的雕花船尾：那个龙尾。要让龙尾摆脱那个圈套可万万办不到了。

“拿把斧子，”凯斯宾声嘶力竭喊道，“照旧用力推。”露茜对什么东西放在哪儿都一清二楚，她正站在主甲板上抬眼望着船尾楼，听到他这话，一下子就走下舱，拿了斧子，奔上梯子，赶到船尾楼。谁知正当她到了顶上，只听见喀嚓一声，就像树木倒下似的一声巨响，船身摇摇摆摆往前冲去。因为就在那千钧一发之际，不管是因为海蛇被人使劲猛推也好，海蛇愚蠢地决定抽紧圈套也好，整个雕花船尾都折断了，大船也就自由了。

大伙儿都筋疲力尽，顾不上去看露茜见到的情景。原来在船尾后几码外，海蛇身体的圈套一下子越收越小，扑通一下不见了。露茜老是说她看见那怪物脸上有种白痴的满足样子（可是她那时当然非常激动，这可能只是想像而已）。不过有一点是肯定的，这条海蛇非常蠢，因为它没有追这条船，而是掉过头去，开始在自己全身上下嗅探，仿佛以为能找到船的残骸似的。可是，黎明踏浪号已经安然脱身，顺着轻风航行，大家全在甲板上躺着、坐着，喘气的喘气，呻吟的呻吟，过了一会儿才能开口谈论、取笑这事。但等端上了一些甜酒，他们居然还举杯祝贺；大家都夸尤斯塔斯勇敢（虽然无济于事）和雷佩契普勇敢。

这次脱险后，他们又航行了三天，只看见大海和天空。第四天，转了北风，海面开始升高；到中午，几乎转为大风了。可就在这时，他们看见左舷船头那边有陆地。

“陛下，请恩准，”德里宁说，“让我们划桨，停靠在港口里，设法在那地方避避风，等风过了再说。”凯斯宾同意了，不过顶着大风划桨，划到傍晚才到那儿。靠着白天最后一点光线，他们开进一个天然港口，抛下了锚，不过当晚没人上岸。到了早上，他们只见身在一个绿色的海湾，那里崎岖不平，冷冷清清，斜坡通上一个岩石嶙峋的山顶。山顶那边，乌云从大风逞威的北边迅猛地滚滚而来。他们放下小船，还把已经吃空的水桶统统装在船上。

“我们到哪条河去打水啊，德里宁？”凯斯宾一边在小船尾座板上坐下，一边说，“看上去有两条河流进海湾里呢。”

“这没什么关系，陛下，”德里宁说，“不过我看，划到右舷那边——东面那条，路程短些。”

“下雨了。”露茜说。

“我想是下了！”爱德蒙说，因为这时已经下起倾盆大雨，“我说，我们还是到另一条河去吧。那儿有树，可以避雨。”

“是啊，去吧，”尤斯塔斯说，“白白淋湿可没意思。”

谁知德里宁一直稳稳地把小船朝右舷驶去，就像讨厌的家伙开车，你向他说明他开错路了，他还是以一小时四十英里的速度继续往前开。

“他们说得对，德里宁，”凯斯宾说，“你干吗不掉转船头，划到西边那条河去？”

“随陛下的便。”德里宁有点不快地说。他昨天为天气担心了一天，他不喜欢陆上的人指点他。可他还是改变了航向；事后证明他倒做了件好事。

等他们装满了水，雨倒停了，凯斯宾决定带着尤斯塔斯、佩文西家兄妹和雷佩契普走上山顶去看看有什么发现。爬这条遍地粗硬野草和石南的山坡很费劲，路上既看不见人，也看不见野兽，只看见海鸥。他们爬到山顶才看到原来这是个很小的岛，还不到二十英亩；从这高处望去，海面比从甲板上，甚至黎明踏浪号的桅顶观测台上望出去更大，更荒凉。

“知道吗，发疯了，”尤斯塔斯瞧着东方地平线，低声对露茜说，“要到哪儿去，心里也没个谱，就那么开啊开啊，开到那种地方。”不过他只是出于习惯才说这话，并非像从前那样存心抬杠。

山上太冷，不能久待，因为北边依然有阵阵冷风刮来。

“我们回去别走老路，”回程时露茜说，“我们走一段，下去到另一条河那边，就是德里宁想要去的那条。”

大家都同意这么走，走了十五分钟，他们就到了另一条河的源头。这地方比他们预想中还要引人入胜：一个深深的山中小湖，周围都是悬崖峭壁，只有朝海那边有一条狭窄的水道，湖水就从那里流到海里去。他们在这里终于吹不到风，大家在悬崖上石南树丛里坐下休息。

大家都坐下，只有一个人又很快跳起身来，原来是爱德蒙。

“这岛上原来尽是尖石头，”他在石南丛里摸索着说，“那混账石头在哪儿？……啊，我找到了……嗨！这根本不是一块石头，是剑柄。不，天哪，是一把完整的剑；上面生了多厚一层锈。一定落在这儿有好多年了。”

“看样子，也是纳尼亚的剑。”大家都围上去看，凯斯宾说。

“我也坐在什么东西上了，”露茜说，“有点硬邦邦的。”一看原来是一副铠甲的残片。这时大家都跪在地上用手在密密麻麻的石南丛里四处摸索。他们先后搜出了一个头盔、一把匕首、几枚钱币；不是卡乐门国的月牙，而是真正的纳尼亚国的“狮子”和“树”，你在海狸大坝和柏卢纳的市场上随时都可以见到这种货币。

“看样子这可能是我们那七位爵爷中的一位留下的全部物品了。”爱德蒙说。

“我也正在这么想，”凯斯宾说，“不知是哪一位。匕首上看不出什么。不知他是怎么死的。”

“也不知怎么替他报仇。”雷佩契普加上一句说。

爱德蒙是这伙人中惟一看过几本侦探小说的人，这时一直在动脑筋。

“瞧，”他说，“这件事非常蹊跷。他不会是在决斗中送命的。”

“为什么不会？”凯斯宾问。

“没有尸骨，”爱德蒙说，“要是敌人，就会拿走铠甲，扔下尸体。可是谁听说过打胜了的家伙会带走尸体，扔下铠甲的？”

“也许他是被野兽吃掉的。”露茜提出说。

“只有聪明的野兽才会把人的铠甲脱掉呢。”爱德蒙说。

“也许是条龙吧？”凯斯宾说。

“不行，”尤斯塔斯说，“龙可办不到。我应当知道。”

“好吧，不管怎样，我们离开这地方吧。”露茜说。听到爱德蒙提起尸骨的问题，她可不想再坐了。

“随你便，”凯斯宾站起身说，“我认为这些东西一件也不值得带走。”

他们下了山，绕到从小湖流出来的那条河的小空地上站着，看着周围悬崖环立的那潭深水。假如天热，准保有人情不自禁去洗澡，大家也都会喝上一通。说真的，尽管天不热，恰恰在尤斯塔斯弯下腰来，想用双手舀些水喝的那一刻，忽听得雷佩契普和露茜同时喊道，“瞧！”他听了顿时忘了喝水，望着水里。

潭底是青灰色的大石块砌成的，潭水非常清澈，潭底躺着一个同真人一般大小，分明是金子铸成的人像。脸朝下，两臂高举过头。正当他们看着它的时候，乌云散开，太阳出来。金像从头到脚都照得通亮。露茜觉得这真是她所见过的人像中最美的一尊。

“好啊！”凯斯宾吹声口哨说，“那倒值得来看看！不知道能不能把它打捞出来？”

“我们可以潜水去打捞，陛下。”雷佩契普说。

“根本没用，”爱德蒙说，“至少，要是真金，纯金的话那就太沉了，打捞不起。而且那水潭少说也足有十二到十五英尺那么深。话说回来，等一下。幸亏我身边带着一枝鱼叉。让我们来看看水有多深。凯斯宾，我身子探向水面的时候，抓住我的手。”凯斯宾就抓住他的手，爱德蒙探出身子，开始把鱼叉沉下水去。

还没沉到一半，露茜就说：“我根本不信这人像是金的。这只是光线的关系。你的鱼叉看上去也是这颜色。”

“怎么啦？”几个人异口同声问；因为爱德蒙忽然失手把鱼叉掉下去了。

“我拿不住了，”爱德蒙气喘吁吁说，“似乎很沉呢。”

“这会儿沉到底了，”凯斯宾说，“露茜说得对。这看上去就跟人像一样颜色。”

看来爱德蒙靴子上出了点问题，至少他正弯下腰去，可是他忽然一下子挺直身子，尖声叫嚷起来，大家听了简直不敢不从。

“往后退！从水边后退。你们大伙儿。马上！”

他们都向后退去，目不转睛看着他。

“瞧，”爱德蒙说，“瞧我的靴尖。”

“看上去有点发黄。”尤斯塔斯开了个头。

“是金的，纯金的，”爱德蒙插嘴说，“瞧瞧。摸摸看。皮子已经从靴尖上脱开了。像铅一样沉。”

“阿斯兰在上，”凯斯宾说，“你的意思不见得是说……”

“是的，我是这意思，”爱德蒙说，“那潭水把一切都变成金子了。它把鱼叉变成金的，所以才那么沉。潭水刚溅到我脚上，幸亏我没光着脚，倒把靴尖变成了金子。潭底那个可怜的家伙——怎么，明白了吧。”

“原来那根本不是一座雕像。”露茜低声说。

“不。现在全部真相大白了。他在一个大热天来到这儿。他在我们刚坐着的悬崖顶上脱掉衣服。衣服不是烂掉了就是让鸟儿叼去铺在窝里了；铠甲还在那儿。于是他潜下水就——”

“别，”露茜说，“这事多吓人哪。”

“我们好险啊。”爱德蒙说。

“的确好险啊，”雷佩契普说，“无论哪个的手指，哪个的脚，哪个的胡须，哪个的尾巴，随时都可能滑进水里。”

“虽然如此，”凯斯宾说，“我们还是不妨试验一下。”他弯下腰，折了一枝石南花枝。于是他小心翼翼，跪在水边，把花枝浸在水里。他浸的是石南花；抽出来的却是纯金做的石南花模型，跟铅一般沉、一般软。

“拥有这个岛的国王，”凯斯宾慢条斯理说，说时满脸通红，“马上就会成为世界上最富有的国王。我声明这块土地今后就成为纳尼亚的属地，将命名为金水岛。而且我要求你们大家保密。这事千万别让外人知道。甚至连德里宁也不让知道——违者处死，你们听见没有？”

“你对谁说话啊？”爱德蒙说，“我可不是你的臣民。要说嘛，这话应该倒过来说。我是纳尼亚王国古代四位君主的一位。你应效忠于我哥哥至尊王才对。”

“果真如此吗，爱德蒙国王？”凯斯宾一手按在剑柄上说。

“啊呀，你们两个，赶快住口，”露茜说，“跟男孩子打交道就是这点最要不得。你们都是这么狂妄自大，恃强欺弱的白痴——啊呀！……”她说说没声了，屏住了气。大家都看到了她看见的情景。

在他们对面那灰蒙蒙的山坡高处——因为石南还没开花，所以看上去灰蒙蒙——那头人类肉眼所见最雄伟的狮子慢步走过，无声无息，也没朝他们看，虽然事实上太阳被云层遮住了，可是他浑身金光灿灿，就像沐浴在明亮的阳光下似的。事后露茜描述这幕情景时说：“他个头就跟大象那么大，”然而另一回她只是说：“个头跟拉车的马那样大。”不过，个头大小倒无所谓。没人敢于打听这是什么。大家都知道这就是阿斯兰。

然而没人看到他怎么走掉，走到哪儿去了。他们就像刚睡醒似的，大家面面相觑。

“我们在谈些什么啊？”凯斯宾说，“我刚才大出洋相了吗？”

“陛下，”雷佩契普说，“这地方是遭到诅咒的。我们还是马上回船上去吧。假如我有幸为这个岛命名，我就叫它做死水岛。”

“我觉得这名字起得很好，雷普，”凯斯宾说，“虽然我现在才想起来，可是不知道为什么。不过天气似乎稳定了，我想，德里宁大概愿意启航了。我们有多少话要跟他说啊。”

可是事实上他们没跟他说什么，因为刚才那一小时里的一些事都记不清、搞混了。

“这几位王上回到船上时，好像都有点儿中邪了。”几小时后，黎明踏浪号再次扬帆启航，死水岛已经落在地平线下，这时德里宁对赖因斯说，“他们在那地方碰到什么事了。我只弄得明白一件事，就是他们以为已经找到我们在寻找的那些爵爷中间一个人的尸体。”

“真的吗？船长，”赖因斯答，“这一来，找到三个了。只剩下四个。按这个速度，我们过了新年马上就可以回家了。这倒也是件好事。我的烟草快抽得差不多了。明天见，船长。”

9

声音岛

刮了好多天西北风，如今开始转西风了，每天早晨太阳升出海面，黎明踏浪号的雕花船头就恰好对着太阳正中昂然耸立。有人觉得太阳看上去比在纳尼亚看起来要大，可是也有人不同意。他们就这样航行，顺着轻风航行，风虽小，风向倒也不变，既看不见鱼，也看不见海鸥，又看不见船，也看不见海岸。贮藏又开始减少了，大家心里偷偷地想，也许他们开到一个永远到不了头的大海。谁知就在最后一天，他们认为还可以冒险继续东航的那一天，天刚破晓，就看见前面有一片云层似的低地，横亘在船和日出的地方之间。

下午三点左右，他们停泊在一个宽阔的海湾里，上了岸。这里跟他们见识过的地方都大不相同。因为当他们走过沙滩时，发现四下一片寂静，空空荡荡，似乎是个没人住的岛屿，可是在他们面前却是平坦的草地，上面的草又短又柔滑，恰如英国名门大户有十个园丁侍弄的园地一样。上面还有好多树木，一棵棵都距离匀称，地上不见断枝残叶。不时有鸽子咕咕叫，但听不到别的声音。

不一会儿他们来到一条又长又直的沙子铺的小路，路面上没长一棵野草，两边都栽着树。在这条小路远处的另一头，他们看见一座房子——长长一排，灰色的房子，在午后阳光下显得一派宁静。

几乎就在他们走上这条小路时，露茜感觉到鞋里有颗小石头。在那种陌生地方，她原该叫别人等着她取出石头才是上策。可是她偏没有；只是悄悄落在后面，坐下来脱鞋。她的鞋带打结了。

她还没解开鞋带，别人已走到前面老远了。等她掏出石头，重新穿上鞋，她已经听不见他们的动静。不过她几乎立刻就听到了别的动静。这声音不是从房子那边传来的。

她听到的是一阵砰砰声。听上去像是十几个身强力壮的工人抡着大木槌拼命在捶打地面。很快就越来越近。这时她已经背靠一棵树坐着，因为爬不上树，她实在没办法，只能一动不动坐着，身子紧紧贴着树，但愿人家看不见她。

砰，砰，砰……不管这是什么声音，反正这会儿很近了，她都感觉得到地面在震动了。可是她什么也看不见。她以为那东西——或那些东西——一定就在她身后。不料就在她面前的小路上传来砰的一声。她不仅听到那一下响声，而且还看见路面沙土飞扬，仿佛受到一下猛击似的，就知道那东西在小路上了。可是她看不见是什么东西猛击地面。接着所有的砰砰声都凑在一起，大约离她二十英尺远，突然一下子都停了。于是传来说话声。

这真是非常可怕，因为她根本一个人都看不见。那整个公园般的地方依然像他们刚才登陆时那样寂静空旷。尽管如此，离她三两步的地方却有一个声音在说话。说的是：

“伙计们，我们的机会可来了。”

顿时，其他人齐声回答说：“听哪，听哪，他说了，我们的机会可来了。说得好，头儿。你说得太对了。”

“我说的是，”先前那声音继续说，“到岸边去，拦住他们，别让他们上小船，大家都拿好武器。他们想要到海上去的话就抓住他们。”

“啊，这样做就对了，”其他声音一致嚷着说，“你这办法太妙了，头儿。说下去，头儿。你这办法想得再妙也没有了。”

“伙计们，那就赶紧加油吧，加油啊，”先前那声音说，“我们走吧。”

“对极了，头儿，”其他声音说，“这命令再好也没有了。我们自己也正想这么说呢。我们走吧。”

砰砰声立刻又响起了——开头很响，不久就越来越弱，越来越弱，直到最后在靠海的那边消失了。

露茜知道没工夫再坐着猜测这些看不见的怪物是些什么东西。那阵砰砰声刚消失，她就起身，顺着小路，撒开两腿，赶快奔去追大家。无论如何得警告他们一下。

就在发生这事的时刻，大家已走到那座房子。这是座矮房子——只有两层——用漂亮光滑的石块建造，有不少窗子，墙上常春藤半遮半掩。一切都那么宁静。尤斯塔斯就说：“我看这是空房。”可是凯斯宾一声不吭，指着烟囱里冒出来的烟。

他们看到大门洞开，就穿过大门，走进一个铺着石板地面的院子。院子当中有个水泵，水泵下有个水桶。那倒也没什么希奇。希奇的是看上去没人在摇动水泵把手，把手竟在上下摇动。

“这里有魔法在起作用。”凯斯宾说。

“机器！”尤斯塔斯说，“我相信我们终于到了一个文明国家。”

这时，露茜风风火火，气喘吁吁地随后奔进院子。她压低嗓门，向他们说明她听到的消息。等到他们听明白了几分，连最勇敢的人都脸色不妙了。

“看不见的敌人，”凯斯宾嘀咕说，“切断我们上船的去路。这一关可难闯了。”

“你不知道他们是哪一类怪物吗，露？”爱德蒙问。

“爱德，我又看不见他们，怎么知道呢？”

“听他们脚步声像人类吗？”

“我没听到脚步声——只听到这种咚咚咚、砰砰砰的吓人声音——就像木槌在捶打。”

“我倒想知道，”雷佩契普说，“你拿把剑刺进他们身子，他们显不显原形？”

“看来我们一定要弄明白，”凯斯宾说，“不过我们还是先走出这大门吧。那水泵旁有一个家伙在听我们说话呢。”

他们出了大门，回进那条小路，路边有树可以隐蔽。“其实想躲开你看不见的人，一点也没用。他们可能就在我们周围呢。”尤斯塔斯说。

“嗨，德里宁，”凯斯宾说，“如果我们认定回小船没希望了，那就走到海湾的另一边，发信号叫黎明踏浪号开向海岸，接我们上船，你看怎么样？”

“吃水不够深，陛下。”德里宁说。

“我们可以游过去。”露茜说。

“三位王上听我说，”雷佩契普说，“企图偷偷摸摸，躲躲闪闪，避开看不见的敌人，那是妄想。假如这些怪物存心找我们打仗，准会得逞。不管结果怎么样，与其让他们揪住尾巴，还不如面对面交锋。”

“我真认为雷普这回说得对。”爱德蒙说。

“一点不错，”露茜说，“如果赖因斯和黎明踏浪号上的其他人员看见我们在岸上打仗，他们就能采取某种行动。”

“要是他们看不见任何敌人，就不会明白我们在打仗。”尤斯塔斯发愁说，“他们会以为我们只是对空舞剑呢。”

大家都不安地沉默半晌。

“得了，”凯斯宾终于说，“我们索性豁出去了。我们必须去面对他们。大家互相握握手——露茜，箭上弦——其余人都剑出鞘——准备好。也许他们愿意会谈。”

说也奇怪，他们齐步前进回到海滩，竟看见草地和参天大树一派太平景象。他们到了海滩，只见小船还停在先前扔下那地方，光溜溜的沙地上一个人也看不见。不止一个人在怀疑露茜说给他们听的事是不是仅仅出于想像。不料他们还没走到沙地，半空中就有个声音说话了。

“别再走了，爷们，别再走了，”这声音说，“我们先得跟他们谈谈。我们这儿有五十多人，手里都有武器。”

“听哪，听哪，”众人齐声说，“这是我们的头儿。他说的话完全靠得住。他跟你们说的是实话，真的。”

“我看不见这五十位勇士。”雷佩契普说。

“不错，不错。”头儿的声音说。

“你看不见我们。为什么看不见呢？因为我们是隐身人。”

“说下去，头儿，说下去，”其他声音说，“你说得完全正确。这回答再好也没有了。”

“别响，雷普，”凯斯宾说，接着又大声再说一句，“你们隐身人，要找我们干什么？我们干了哪些事得罪你们了？”

“我们要找你们办件事，这小姑娘能替我们办到。”头儿声音说。（其他人就说这话正是他们本人都要说的。）

“小姑娘！”雷佩契普说，“这位小姐是女王呢。”

“我们没听说过什么女王，”头儿声音说，（“我们没听说过，我们没听说过。”其他人随声附和说。）“不过我们要求的事她能办到。”

“什么事啊？”露茜说。

“假如是什么对女王陛下荣誉或安全不利的事，”雷佩契普又说，“你们看到我们临死还可以杀掉多少人，准会感到奇怪。”

“好吧，”头儿声音说，“说来话长，我们都坐下吧。”

其他声音都一致热情附和这个建议，可是纳尼亚人依然站着。

“说起来，”头儿声音说，“事情是这样的。不知多少年以前，这个岛原是一个魔法大师的地产。我们全是——或许不妨说，我们全是——他的奴仆。好吧，长话短说，我说起的这个魔法师，他叫我们干我们不喜欢的事。为什么不？因为我们不愿干。唉，这一来，这个魔法师就大发雷霆。因为我应当告诉你们，他是这个岛的主子，他不习惯人家跟他抬杠。你们要知道，他这人真直爽得不得了。可是让我看看，我说到哪儿了？啊，对了，说到这个魔法师，他上了楼，因为你们必须知道他把所有的魔法玩意儿全放在楼上，我们都住在楼下。我说，他上了楼，对我们施了魔法。一种丑化的魔法。依我看，你们看不见我们还真该谢天谢地，如果你们现在看见我们这模样，才不会相信我们变丑以前长得什么模样呢。你们真不会相信。我们竟丑得大家彼此见了都受不了。那我们怎么办呢？好吧，我告诉你，我们怎么办。我们等到这个魔法师大概睡午觉了，就厚着脸皮偷偷上楼去找他的魔法书，看看有什么办法破这个丑化的魔法。可是我们全都浑身大汗，直打哆嗦，我决不骗你。不过，信不信由你，我们的的确确找不到什么去除丑相的魔法。时间过得很快，生怕这位老先生随时都会醒来——我浑身臭汗，决不骗你——好吧，长话短说，不管我们做得对也好，做得错也好，临了我们看到一种隐身魔法。我们心想，与其这么一副丑相，不如隐身为妙。为什么呢？因为我们情愿这样。于是我的小姑娘，她跟你们的小姑娘年龄差不多，她没变丑以前是个可爱的孩子，虽然如今——啊，还是少说为妙——啊呀，我的小姑娘念了咒语，因为一定得由个小姑娘来念，或者魔法师本人，你们明白我意思吧，否则的话就不灵验。为什么不灵验呢？因为什么都变不了。于是我的小姑娘克莉普西念了咒语，我应当告诉你们，她念得真棒，咒语念好，我们就都遂了心愿，变成隐身人了。不骗你，大家彼此看不见脸倒真轻松了。不管怎样，开头是很轻松的。可是后来我们对隐身却大大厌烦了。不过，还有一件事。我们决没料到这个魔法师，就是我先前跟你们说起的那个人，居然也成了隐身人。我们从此就没看见过他。所以我们不知他是死了呢，还是走掉了。或者是否就坐在楼上却看不见他，也许下楼来了，只是楼下看不见他。真的，听动静根本一点也听不出来，因为他老是光着脚走来走去，像只大猫一般无声无息。我对诸位直说了吧，这使我们的神经更受不了。”

以上就是头儿声音说的事情经过，不过已简化了，因为我把其他声音说的话都略去了。实际上他说不满六七句话，他们就少不了要插嘴，表示同意啊，怂恿他说下去啊，纳尼亚人听了真不耐烦，差点发疯。好容易说完了，大家都沉默了老半天。

“不过，”露茜终于开口说，“这一切跟我们有什么关系呢？我不明白。”

“哎呀，老天保佑，我没糊里糊涂把整个要点漏了说吧？”头儿声音说。

“你漏了，你漏了，”其他声音十分起劲地说，“谁都会说漏，说得越清楚，越明白越好。说下去，头儿，说下去。”

“好吧，我用不着把全部事情经过再讲一遍。”头儿声音开腔说。

“不，当然用不着。”凯斯宾和爱德蒙说。

“好吧，那就干脆千句并一句，”头儿声音说，“我们一直在等外边来个漂亮的小姑娘，等了好久好久，小姐，就像你这样的姑娘——愿意上楼去找那本魔法书，找到破除隐身法的咒语，念一遍。我们都发过誓，碰到踏上本岛的第一批生人，决不放他们生还，除非他们替我们办到这件该办的大事。我意思是说，如果他们有漂亮的小姑娘的话，如果没有，那就是另一码事了。诸位，正因为如此，所以如果你们的小姑娘干不成，我们就要忍痛把你们宰了。不妨说，仅仅是作为交易而已，希望别见怪。”

“我看不见你们所有的武器，”雷佩契普说，“那些武器也是看不见的吗？”它话音未落，大家就听见嗖的一声，转眼工夫就见一枝长矛颤巍巍地刺进他们身后一棵树上。

“对啦，那是枝长矛。”头儿声音说。

“对啦，头儿，对啦，”其他声音说，“你说得太对了。”

“这枝长矛是从我手里扔出去的，”头儿声音继续说，“一脱手就看得见了。”

“可是你们为什么要我做这事呢？”露茜问，“为什么不能让你们自己的人去干？你们一个姑娘都没有吗？”

“我们不干，我们不干，”众声一致说，“我们再也不上楼去了。”

“换句话说，”凯斯宾说，“你们要这位小姐去面对危险，可你们就不敢要自己的姐妹女儿去面对这危险。”

“说得对，说得对，”众声一齐欢呼说，“你说得太对了。啊，你受过些教育，不错。谁都看得出来。”

“嘿，竟然如此无法无天……”爱德蒙开口说，可是露茜打断了他。

“我是晚上到楼上去呢？还是白天去？”

“啊，当然是白天，白天，”头儿声音说，“不是晚上。谁也没叫你晚上去。摸黑上楼？呃？”

“那好吧，我来干，”露茜说，“不，”她转过身来对其他几个说，“别来阻拦我。难道你们不明白这没用吗？他们有几十个人。我们不能跟他们硬拼。相反，那倒是条生路。”

“可是有个魔法师。”凯斯宾说。

“我知道，”露茜说，“不过他可能不像他们说的那么坏。难道你们不知道这些人并不是很勇敢吗？”

“他们肯定不是很聪明。”尤斯塔斯说。

“喂，听我说，露，”爱德蒙说，“我们真的不能让你干这事。问问雷普，相信它也会说这话。”

“可是这才救得了你们的命，又救了我自己的命，”露茜说，“我跟大家一样，不愿给看不见的刀剑剁成泥。”

“女王陛下说得对，”雷佩契普说，“如果我们有一点把握能靠打仗救她，那我们的责任就非常清楚了。依我看来，我们一点也没有把握。而他们要求女王陛下办的事根本也不违背女王的尊严，倒是一个高尚英勇的行动。如果女王好心，愿意冒险见见魔法师，我决不会有二话。”

大家都知道雷佩契普素来天不怕地不怕，这话它说得出口，一点都不感到尴尬，可是这些经常前怕狼后怕虎的小伙子却弄得脸色通红。但是，道理明摆着，他们也就只好让步了。隐身人听到宣布事情就这么定了，顿时大声欢呼，头儿就请纳尼亚人共进晚餐，玩上一夜，其他声音都一致热烈拥护。尤斯塔斯不愿接受，可是露茜说：“我相信他们不是阴险的坏人。他们根本不像坏人。”别人听了都同意。就这样，他们在一大片砰砰砰的声音陪同下，回到那所房子里去。他们走到那个铺着石板，发出回声的院子时，这片声音更响了。

10

魔法书

隐身人隆重宴请他们的客人。眼看大盘小盘送到桌上，却又看不见有人搬送，倒非常有趣。即使只见大盘小盘沿着地面一路往前移动也够有趣的了，照你料想隐形手搬运东西想必就是这模样。可是偏偏不是这样。这些餐盘竟然是连蹦带跳，一路朝长长的餐厅行进。一只餐盘一跳最高竟达十五英尺，一下子又突然落到离地三英尺的地方停下。要是餐盘里盛着汤水或炖菜什么的，那结果就够惨了。

“我对这些人倒感到非常好奇起来了，”尤斯塔斯跟爱德蒙咬耳朵说，“你看他们究竟是不是人？我看倒更像大蚱蜢或大青蛙呢。”

“看起来倒像，”爱德蒙说，“可别让露茜想起什么蚱蜢。她不大喜欢昆虫，尤其是大个的。”

这顿饭要不是弄得乱七八糟，而且话题不总是意见一致那一套，倒还要尽兴些。隐身人对什么事情都意见一致。他们的说法多半是那种难以不同意的一套：“我总是说，人饿了就喜欢找点吃的，”或者“天黑了，一到晚上天总要黑，”甚至还有“啊呀，你们是漂洋过海来的啊，海是很湿很湿的吧？”露茜在座位上正好看得见楼梯脚下那黑洞洞的楼梯口，不禁朝那里看着，心里很想知道明天早晨走上楼梯会有什么发现。不过其他方面说来这顿饭菜还不坏，有蘑菇汤、煮熟的鸡、煮熟的热火腿、鹅莓、红醋栗、奶酪、奶油、牛奶和蜂蜜酒。另外几个都喜欢蜂蜜酒，不过饭后尤斯塔斯后悔有点喝醉了。

第二天早晨露茜醒来，那心情就像在考试那天或上牙医生那儿去的早晨醒来一样。晨光明媚，蜜蜂嗡嗡叫，在开着的窗口飞出飞进，窗外草地看上去非常像英国什么地方。她起身梳妆，早餐时尽量和平常一样边谈边吃。吃完早餐，头儿声音吩咐她在楼上该如何行事后，她就同其他几个告别，一言不发，径自走到楼梯脚边，头也不回，开始上楼。

幸亏光线很亮，可不，第一段楼梯头上就有一扇窗笔直对着他。她走在那段楼梯上，一直听见下面过道上那只高背大时钟滴答滴答走着。待她走到楼梯台，得往左拐到第二段楼梯，此后就再也听不见钟声了。

这时露茜来到了楼上，一看只见一条又长又宽的走廊，走廊尽头有扇大窗子。这条走廊分明跟整幢房子一样长。走廊上有雕花和镶嵌木板，还铺着地毯，两边有好多扇门都开着。她站着一动也不动，听不见老鼠吱吱叫，也听不见苍蝇嗡嗡叫，听不见窗帘飒飒飘，什么都听不见——只听见自己的心在怦怦跳。

“左边最后一个门口。”她自言自语说。得走到最后一个门口倒有点难。要走到那儿就得一间间屋子走过去。任何一间屋子都可能有魔法师——睡着了，或是醒着，或是隐身，甚至可能死了。不过心里想着这种事可不行。她开始她的艰苦历程了。地毯好厚，她的脚踩上去无声无息。

“还没有什么事情好害怕的呢。”露茜暗自说。这条走廊的确安静，一片阳光；也许太安静了。要是那些门上没漆着猩红的古怪符号本来还会更好些——这些符号歪歪扭扭，图形复杂，显然含有什么意义，可能也不是什么很好的意义吧。要是墙上没挂着那些面具就更好了。倒不是说那些面具丑陋不堪——或者说不是很丑——而是面具上一个个空洞的眼窝看上去真是怪怪的，如果你由着自己瞎想，马上就会想到自己一转身，面具就会下手呢。

走到第六扇门之后，她才真正吓了一跳。刹那间她几乎认定有一张长着胡子，邪气十足的小脸冲出墙壁，对她做个鬼脸。她勉强站住，望着鬼脸。原来这根本不是一张脸，而是一面小镜子，大小形状跟她的脸恰好一样，镜子上边有头发，下端挂着一把胡子，所以你朝镜子里一看，你的脸就正好配上头发和胡子，看上去像长在你头上似的。“我只是走过时眼角一扫，看见自己的影子了，”露茜暗自说，“原来是这么回事。一点也不碍事。”不过她并不喜欢自己的脸长着那种头发和胡子，就径自往前走。（因为我不是魔法师，所以不知道长胡子的镜子派什么用处。）

露茜还没走到左面最后一扇门，心里不禁纳闷起来，从她开始这段历程以来，这条走廊是不是越来越长了，这是不是房子的魔法的一部分。可是她终究走到了。门开着。

这是间大房间，有三扇大窗，一排排的书从地板上一直堆到天花板；露茜从来没见过这么多书，有的小书小巧玲珑，有的大书笨重厚实，有的书比你见过的任何教堂的《圣经》还要大，全是皮面精装的，一股陈旧的书卷气，透着魔法味儿。不过已经有人吩咐过她了，她知道用不着为哪一本书操心。因为那本书，魔法书，就放在房间正中一张书桌上。她明白自己得站着看了（反正没有椅子），而且她看书时得背对着门站着，于是她马上转身去关门。

门关不上。

有人会不赞成露茜这么做，可我认为她做得完全对。她说能关上门就不用担心了，可是要你站在这种地方，背后直对着洞开的门，心里总不好受。要是我一定也会有这种感觉。可是又没有什么办法。

有一件使她大伤脑筋的事是书这么大。头儿没法告诉她现形的咒语在魔法书上哪一段。他听到她问起甚至还大为惊讶呢。他想让她从头看起，查到才罢休；显然他就没想过还有别的法子好在书里查到这一段。“只是这样看兴许要化上我好几天、好几星期的工夫呢！”露茜看着那本厚厚的大书说，“而且我觉得就像已经在这地方待了好几个小时了。”

她走到书桌前，手搁在书上；手指刚摸到书就不由震颤一下，仿佛书里充电似的。她竭力打开书，可是起初打不开；不过这只是因为书给两个铅扣子夹住了。等她解开扣子，就一下子打开了书。这是本多怪的书啊！

这是手写本，不是印刷本；字迹清晰，笔法匀称，向下捺的笔划粗，向上挑的笔划细，字体很大，看起来比印刷体舒服，写得极美，露茜盯着看了整整一分钟，忘了念了。纸张又脆又滑，有股好闻的味儿；在空白处和每段咒语开头的大写字母周围，还有插图。

这本书没有扉页，也没有书名；开门见山就是咒语，开头几条没什么大不了的。有治疗疣子的土法（在月光下用银盆洗手），有治牙痛的，有治抽筋的，还有一种捕捉蜂群的咒语。牙痛病人那幅插图画得很生动，要是你对着画看得太久了，牙齿也会发痛呢。第四条咒语周围密密麻麻画着金黄色蜜蜂，要是你对着画多看一会儿，它们就仿佛真在飞舞。

露茜看了第一页就舍不得离开，但等翻过一页，下页还是同样有趣。“可我必须翻下去，”她暗自说。她一路往下翻了三十页，如果她记得住上面内容的话，就可以学会怎样去找寻宝藏，怎样记住忘掉的事物，怎样忘掉想要忘掉的事物，怎样呼风，怎样唤雨，怎样求雪，怎样变雾，怎样招雨夹雪，以及怎样招之即来，挥之即去。她看得越久，插图就越奇妙，越逼真。

接下来她翻到一页，上面的插图光彩夺目，叫你简直没法注意写的字。简直没法——可她还是注意到开头一行字句，这样写道：美貌超群绝伦灵方。露茜脸蛋凑到书页上盯着看插图，虽然刚才图画似乎挤成一团，模糊不清，可是现在她看起来十分清楚了。第一幅画的是一个姑娘站在书桌前看本大书。那姑娘的穿着跟露茜一模一样。第二幅画上露茜（因为画中人就是露茜）站着，张大嘴巴念念有词，脸色相当可怕。第三幅画上那个美人向她走来了。怪的是想想这些画开头看上去多么小，现在画中露茜看上去竟跟露茜真人一般大小了；两人对视了片刻，真露茜就移开眼光，因为她被画中露茜的美貌弄得眼花缭乱；但她还能从那张美丽的脸蛋中看出跟她本人的相像之处。现在这些画面迅速向她蜂拥而来。她看见自己在卡乐门国一次大比武中高踞宝座，世界各国的国王为她的美貌而拼杀。后来从比武中的拼杀演变为真正的战争，由于各国国王、公爵和大贵族疯狂争夺她的青睐，纳尼亚、阿钦兰、台尔马、卡乐门、加尔马和特里宾西亚各国都弄得生灵涂炭，一片荒芜。后来，画面一变，依然是绝色美人的露茜，回到英国。原来一直是家里的美人儿苏珊从美国回来了。画中的苏珊活像苏珊本人，只是难看些，一副生气的神情。苏珊妒忌露茜那份令人眼花缭乱的美貌，不过这一点也没关系，因为现在谁也不把苏珊放在心上了。

“我一定要念这条咒语，”露茜说，“我不管。我一定要念。”她说我不管，因为她心里一股劲地觉得她念不得。

谁知正当她回头再去看那条咒语开头的字句时，原先她完全肯定没有画面的字里行间，却发现有只狮子，狮王阿斯兰的大脸正深深盯着她的脸。画面色彩金光灿灿，那狮子仿佛走出画面，向她迎面而来。事后她当然也不敢十分肯定画上狮子真的不曾有过一点活动。总而言之，她十分清楚狮子脸上的表情。他正在咆哮，你都看得见他大半口牙了。她害怕得不得了，就马上翻过这一页。

过一会儿她又翻到一条咒语，可以让你知道你朋友对你的看法。其实这时露茜心里很想试试刚才那条咒语，那条使你变得美貌超群绝伦的咒语。所以她感到为了弥补没念刚才那条咒语的损失，倒真愿意念念这条看。她生怕自己改变主意，就匆匆忙忙念了咒语（我是决不会告诉你们这些咒语的）。念完她就等着看结果。

一看毫无结果，她就看起插图了。突然一下子她看见自己最意想不到的一幕——一节火车的三等车厢，里面坐着两个女学生。她马上就认出她们。一个是玛乔丽·普雷斯顿，一个是安妮·费瑟斯通。不过现在这不仅是一幅画了。这幅画是活动的。她看得见火车窗外电线杆飞驰而过。她看得见两个姑娘有说有笑。接着就像“打开”收音机似的，她渐渐听得见她们说的话。

“这学期我能见你一两面吗？”安妮说，“你还是打算一直跟露茜·佩文西鬼混？”

“不知道你说的鬼混是什么意思？”玛乔丽说。

“唷，你知道的，”安妮说，“你上学期对她可痴心呢。”

“不，我没有，”玛乔丽说，“我很有头脑，不会这么做的。说起来她还不算坏孩子。但学期还没结束我就对她厌透了。”

“得了，你哪一学期都决不会有这机会了！”露茜大叫道，“两面三刀的小畜生。”可是听到自己的嗓门这么大，又顿时想起她是在对着一幅画说话，真正的玛乔丽远在另外一个世界里呢。

“得了，”露茜自言自语说，“我过去对她的看法倒真不坏。上学期我替她做了各种各样的事，别的姑娘不大有人多理她，我偏守着她。这点她也有数。偏偏去找安妮·费瑟斯通！我真想知道我所有的朋友是不是都一样？还有不少图呢。不，我决不再看了。我决不看了，我决不看了。”——她费了好大劲儿才翻过这页，可是不久，一大滴愤怒的眼泪就溅在上面了。

在下一页她看到一条“提神法”的咒语。这一页插图虽少，不过很美。露茜不知不觉看的竟不是咒语，倒更像一篇故事。这篇故事有三页，她还没看到这一页末了，就完全忘了自己是在看书。她生活在这故事中，好像这是真事似的，而且所有的画面也是真的。当她翻到第三页，看到末了一行，她说：“这是我所看过的最可爱的故事，今后这辈子可看不到这么可爱的故事了。啊呀，我真希望我能一直看上十年。至少我要再看一遍。”

谁知这本书的魔法到此有些起作用了。你不能再倒翻过去，只有右手一边的书页，后面的书页才翻得过去，左手一边的，前面的书页就翻不过来了。

“啊呀，真糟糕！”露茜说，“我真想再看一遍呢。好吧，至少，我一定得记住它。让我看看……写的是……是……天哪，图文又全消失了。连末了一页也一片空白。这是本非常古怪的书。我怎么能忘记呢？这故事讲的是一只酒杯、一把宝剑、一棵树，还有一座青山，我只知道这么多。可我记不住，我怎么办啊？”

而且她永远也记不起来了；从那一天起，露茜心目中认为的好故事，指的就是使她想起魔法书中忘掉了的故事的一个故事。

她再翻过去，不料翻到一页根本没有插图；不过开头的字句倒写着：隐形事物现形法。她先从头到尾看一遍，把全部生字认认准，再大声念出来。一念她就立刻知道咒语起作用了，因为她一念出声，书页上部的大写字母就现出颜色来，空白处也开始现出图画来。正像你把用隐显墨水写的字放在火上烤，字迹就渐渐现出来一样；只是用的不是柠檬汁（最简易的隐显墨水）那种暗黑色，而是纯金的、碧蓝的和猩红的颜色。这些画都很怪，其中有不少人物的样子露茜可不大喜欢。于是她心里想，“我不仅把砰砰砰的东西现了原形，而且大概把一切东西都现形了。这么个地方准有不少其他隐形的东西在闲逛呢，我可说不准要不要都见见。”

就在那工夫，她听到身后一阵轻柔而有力的脚步声，沿着走廊过来，她当然记得他们跟她说过魔法师光着脚，像猫似的走路不出声的事。回过头去看看清楚总比有什么偷偷摸到你背后要好些。露茜回过头去看了。

于是她脸上露出笑容，一时间（但她当然不知道），她看上去几乎就同画中的露茜一样美丽了，她高兴得轻轻叫了一声，伸出双臂，奔上前去。站在门口的原来就是所有至尊王中最至高无上的狮王阿斯兰本人。他是真的，结结实实，暖暖和和，他听任她亲吻，把脸埋在闪闪发亮的狮鬣里。他身子里发出犹如地震的低沉声音，露茜甚至敢于想像他是在咕噜呢。

“啊呀，阿斯兰，”她说，“谢谢你还特地来一次。”

“我一直在这里，”他说，“只是你让我现了形罢了。”

“阿斯兰！”露茜稍带责怪的口气说，“别拿我开玩笑了。好像我真有什么办法让你现形似的！”

“真的，”阿斯兰说，“你认为我会违背自己的规则吗？”

沉默了片刻，他又说话了。

“孩子啊，”他说，“我看你刚才一直在偷听。”

“偷听？”

“你听两个同学背后在说你。”

“啊呀，那个吗？我根本没想到那是偷听呢，阿斯兰。那不是魔法吗？”

“用魔法暗中监视人家跟用任何其他办法监视是一回事。你错看你的朋友了。她虽然为人软弱，可是她爱你。她害怕那年龄大的姑娘，才说了违心的话。”

“我想，我再也忘不了我听到她说的那番话。”

“不，你不能这样。”

“啊呀，”露茜说，“我把一切都搞糟了吗？你意思是说，如果没有这么回事，我们原来会一直是朋友——成为真正的好朋友——说不定是终身朋友——可现在我们就不行了吧？”

“孩子啊，”阿斯兰说，“以前我没跟你说清楚，谁也无法预知将来发生的事吗？”

“不错，阿斯兰，你说过，”露茜说，“对不起。可是请……”

“心肝儿，说啊。”

“我还能再看一遍那故事吗？就是我记不起来的那一个。你愿意跟我讲那故事吗，阿斯兰？唉，讲吧，讲吧，讲吧。”

“好，一定讲，我要对你讲好多好多年。可是现在，快来吧。我们该去见见这屋子的主人了。”

11

笨蛋瓜皆大欢喜

露茜跟着狮王出来，走进走廊，顿时看见迎面来了一个老人，光着脚，穿着一件红袍。他白发上戴着一顶橡树叶编的花冠，胡须垂到腰带，撑着一根雕工奇妙的手杖。他看见阿斯兰就深深鞠躬说：

“欢迎阁下光临。”

“科里亚金，我把这么一批笨东西交给你管，你是不是管得厌烦了？”

“不，”魔法师说，“他们虽然很笨，倒没有真正的坏心眼。我对这批怪物慢慢喜欢起来了。我一直在等待有那么一天可以靠智慧，不靠这种粗暴的魔法，来治理他们，有时候，也许等得有点不耐烦了。”

“到时候就好了，科里亚金。”阿斯兰说。

“是啊，到时候就好了，阁下，”他回答道，“你打算在他们面前露露面吗？”

“不，”狮子说，略带几分咆哮，露茜心想这跟笑大概是一个意思吧，“我会把他们吓破胆的。就是等到许多星辰老了，在岛上退休了，你手下的人还没长进到那个程度呢。今天太阳落山前我还必须去看看小矮人杜鲁普金，他正坐在凯尔帕拉维尔的城堡里数着他主人凯斯宾回家的日子呢。我会把你们的经历全告诉他的。露茜，别那么愁眉苦脸。我们不久就会再见面的。”

“请问，阿斯兰，”露茜说，“你说的不久算多久？”

“随时都可以算不久。”阿斯兰说，霎时间他就没影了，只剩下露茜一个人和魔法师在一起。

“走了！”他说，“你我都很失望。一向都是这样，你留不住他；他不像是头温驯的狮子。我那本书怎么样？”

“书里有些地方的确很有趣，”露茜说，“你一直知道我在那儿吗？”

“这个嘛，当然知道，我让这批笨蛋变成隐身人的时候就知道你不久就会来破除魔法。就是拿不准日子。今天早晨，我倒不特意提防。你瞧，这魔法把我也变成隐身人了，隐了身以后弄得我老是想睡。嗨——嗬——瞧我又打呵欠了。你饿了吗？”

“说起来，也许真有点儿饿了，”露茜说，“我不知道现在几点了。”

“来吧，”魔法师说，“对阿斯兰来说，随时都可以算不久；可在我家里肚子随时饿了都算一点钟。”

他带她在走廊上走了一小段路，打开一扇门。进了门，露茜就见自己到了一间满是阳光和鲜花的房间。桌上是空的，可那当然是一张魔桌啦，老魔法师念了一句咒语，桌布、银器、餐盘、酒杯和食物就都出现了。

“希望这正是你喜欢吃的，”他说，“我想方设法给你弄来更合乎你本乡本土的食物，不是你最近也许吃过的那种食物。”

“真可爱。”露茜说，可不是吗；一份滚烫的煎蛋卷、冷羊肉、绿豌豆、一份草莓冰淇淋、柠檬汽水作佐餐饮料，随后还有一杯巧克力。可是魔法师本人只喝酒，只吃面包。他一点也不让人觉得惊恐不安，露茜跟他很快就像老朋友似的闲聊开了。

“这咒语几时起作用？”露茜问，“那些笨蛋是不是立刻就现形了？”

“是啊，他们这会儿就现形了。不过他们大概都还睡着；他们在晌午总要休息一下。”

“既然他们都现了形，你打算去掉他们的丑样儿吗？你要不要使他们恢复以前的模样？”

“这个嘛，倒是个相当微妙的问题，”魔法师说，“要知道，只有他们才以为自己从前多么好看。他们说他们给变丑了，可我并不这么说。好多人完全可以说变得反而好看了呢。”

“他们都非常自以为了不起吗？”

“他们就是这样。至少笨蛋头儿是这样，他把其他人都教得这样。他们一贯对他说的话句句都信。”

“这点我们都看出来了。”露茜说。

“是啊——可以说，没有他的话我们日子会更好过些。当然，我能把他变成别的东西，或者对他念一种咒语，使他们对他一句话都不信。可是我不愿意这么做。还是让他们钦佩他吧，总比对谁都不钦佩好。”

“难道他们不钦佩你吗？”露茜问。

“啊呀，才轮不到我呢，”魔法师说，“他们不愿钦佩我。”

“你为什么把他们变丑——我意思是说，他们所谓的变丑？”

“说起来，他们不愿干我叫他们干的活儿。他们的活儿就是照料照料花园，种种粮食——不是像他们想像的为我，而是为他们自己。如果我不逼他们干，他们根本就不愿干。照料花园当然少不了水。山上约莫半英里外有个美丽的山泉，有条小溪从那山泉一直流过花园。我只要他们从这条小溪里取水就行了，用不着他们一天两三回提着水桶，辛辛苦苦爬上山泉去打水，筋疲力尽回来，还不说路上洒掉了一半。可是他们死也不明白，到末了他们干脆拒绝不干了。”

“他们就笨到那种地步吗？”露茜问。

魔法师叹了口气：“他们给我惹的麻烦，说了你也不会相信。两三个月前，饭前他们就都去洗餐盘和刀子，他们说这可以节约时间，免得饭后再洗。有一回他们在刨地，我碰见他们在种煮熟的土豆，说是免得吃时再煮。有一天猫溜进了牛奶房，他们就出动二十个人把牛奶搬出来；竟没人想到把猫赶出来。啊，我看你吃完了。我们就去看看这些笨蛋现在的模样吧。”

他们走进另外一间房间，里面全是叫人搞不明白的仪表器具，擦得铮亮——比如测定天体位置的星盘、太阳系仪、测量速度的瞬时计、诗行计算表、诗律计算表，经纬仪等等——他们走到窗口，魔法师说：“瞧，这就是你要看的笨蛋。”

“我什么人都看不见啊，”露茜说，“那些蘑菇般的东西是什么？”

她指的是铺满平坦的草地的东西。的确很像蘑菇，可是要大得多——蘑菇柄约三英尺高，蘑菇盖直径也有这么长。她仔细一看，才看出蘑菇的柄和盖不是在当中连接，而是偏在一边，看上去不对称。每根蘑菇柄根部都有什么东西——一种小包袱似的——躺在草地上。其实这些东西越看越不像蘑菇。正如她开头所想的，盖子部分并不真是圆的，直里比横里长，一头宽。有好多个呢。大约有五十多个。

时钟敲了三下。

顿时出现了一件离奇透顶的事。每一只“蘑菇”忽然一下子都颠倒过来了。连在根部的那小包袱原来是脑袋和身子，柄原来是腿，但不是每个身子长着两条腿。每个身子下面只长着一条粗腿，而且不像一条腿的人那样长在一边，腿下端是一只其大无比的脚——一只粗脚趾的脚，脚趾略为翘起，看上去活像一只小小的独木舟。她一会儿就明白他们为什么看上去像蘑菇了。他们一直仰天平躺在地上，每个人都把那条独腿直挺挺朝天伸着，大脚正好在身子上面伸开。事后她才知道这是他们通常休息的方式；因为这只脚又遮雨又遮太阳，独脚怪躺在自己脚下面几乎跟躺在帐篷里一样。

“啊哟，有趣死了，有趣死了，”露茜放声大笑道，“是你让他们变成这样的吗？”

“是啊，是啊，我把这些笨蛋变成了独脚怪。”魔法师说，他也哈哈大笑，笑得脸上眼泪直淌。“可是你看哪。”他又说。

这倒是值得一看。这些独脚小人当然不能跟我们一样走啊跑的。他们就像跳蚤或青蛙般跳来跳去。他们蹦得多有劲啊！——仿佛每只大脚都是一大团弹簧。他们跳下来也够有劲的；那声音正是昨天搞得露茜莫名其妙的砰砰声。这会儿他们正在四面八方蹦蹦跳跳，彼此大喊大叫：“嗨，伙计！我们又现形了。”

“我们现形了，”一个头戴缀着流苏的红帽子的人说，显然他就是独脚怪的头儿，“我说的是，伙计们现形了，所以我们才互相看得见。”

“啊，说得对，说得对，头儿，”其他的人齐声喊道，“说得一针见血。谁的头脑也比不上你清醒。你说得不能再明白了。”

“那小姑娘弄得老头措手不及，她真行。”独脚怪头儿说，“这回我们骗过他了。”

“我们也正打算这么说呢，”大家齐声唱道，“你今天比往日强多了，头儿。说下去，说下去。”

“可他们竟敢这样说你吗？”露茜说，“他们昨天似乎还很怕你。难道他们不知道你可能听见他们说话吗？”

“这又是那些笨蛋一件可笑事，”魔法师说，“他们一会儿把我说得好像统管一切，偷听一切，危险之至。过一会儿又以为他们凭奶娃娃一看也能识破的花招就能骗我上当——天哪！”

“他们非得变回老样子不可吗？”露茜问，“啊呀，希望让他们就这个模样不至于不近人情吧。他们当真非常在乎吗？他们似乎相当快乐。哎呀——瞧那种跳跳蹦蹦的样子。他们以前是什么模样？”

“普通的小矮人呗，”他说，“比你们纳尼亚那种小矮人差得多了。”

“把他们变回老样子真太可惜了，”露茜说，“他们很滑稽，而且相当好。你看如果我跟他们说了会有什么影响吗？”

“如果你能使他们彻底明白——我相信会有影响的。”

“你愿意陪我去试试吗？”

“不，不，我不在场你说了效果反而好得多。”

“多谢你请我吃饭。”露茜说着赶快转身就走。她跑下楼梯，那天早晨她走上这条楼梯时心里还七上八下的呢，在楼下撞上爱德蒙，其他几个都在那儿跟他一起等候，露茜看见大家脸色焦急，明白自己把他们忘掉了好久，不由于心不安。

“没事啦，”她大声叫道，“什么事都没啦。魔法师是个好心人。我还看见他——阿斯兰。”

说完她像阵风似的，走到花园里。花园里地面给独脚怪跳得直震动，四下只听见他们一片叫喊。他们一看见她，更是跳得加倍厉害，叫得也加倍起劲。

“她来啦，她来啦，”他们叫道，“为小姑娘三呼万岁。啊呀！她把老先生完全瞒过了，瞒过了。”

“我们非常遗憾，”独脚怪头儿说，“没法让你看到我们没变丑时的模样。因为你不会相信这差别，那是实话，用不着否认，我们现在真是丑极了，所以我们决不会骗你。”

“啊，说得对，头儿，说得对，”其他人随声附和道，一面像好多玩具气球似的蹦得老高，“你说得真对，你说得真对。”

“可是我一点也不觉得你们丑，”露茜扯着嗓门叫着，好让大家听见，“我觉得你们非常好看。”

“她说得对，她说得对，”独脚怪说，“小姐，你说得一点不错。我们非常好看。你找不到更漂亮的人了。”他们毫无惊讶之意地说，似乎并没注意到他们已经改变主意了。

“她说的是，”独脚怪头儿说，“我们大家变丑以前有多么好看。”

“说得不错，头儿，说得不错，”其他人一再喊道，“她是这么说的。我们亲耳听到的。”

“我没那么说，”露茜大声喊着，“我是说你们现在非常好看。”

“她那么说的，她那么说的，”独脚怪头儿说，“说我们当时非常好看。”

“他们两个都说得对，他们两个都说得对，”独脚怪说，“你们瞧，真是一对。一贯正确。他们说得再好也没有了。”

“可是我们两个说的话正好相反。”露茜不耐烦地顿脚说。

“一点不假，她就是这意思，她就是这意思。”独脚怪说，“一点不像相反。你们两个都说下去。”

“你们真会缠，把人都缠疯了。”露茜说着就干脆不说了。可是独脚怪似乎都心满意足，她当下得出结论，这次谈话基本上是成功的。

那天晚上大家临睡前又出了些事，使他们对自己的独脚现状更加满足了。凯斯宾和全体纳尼亚人尽快回到岸边，向赖因斯和黎明踏浪号上的其他人通报消息，当时他们都急坏了。不消说，那些独脚怪当然也跟他们一起去，一面像足球似的蹦蹦跳跳，一面互相大声一唱一和，直到尤斯塔斯说了句：“我真希望魔法师不是把他们变成隐身人，而是变成无声人。”（他说完马上就后悔了，因为这时他不得不向他们说明无声就是听不见声音，尽管他费了不少唇舌，他还是一点也拿不准独脚怪是不是真听明白了，尤其使他恼火的是他们临了竟说：“呃，他不能像我们的头儿那样要怎样就怎样。不过你会知道的，年轻人。听听头儿说话吧。他会教你怎么说话。你瞧，多会说话的人呀！”）当大家来到海滩边，雷佩契普想到一个绝妙的主意。它早已放下自己的小筏子，还坐在里面亲自划桨，独脚怪看得大感兴趣。于是它在筏子里站起来说押“尊敬而聪明的独脚先生，你们用不着小船。你们每个人都有一只脚可以当船用。只要尽量轻巧地在水面上跳，再瞧瞧怎么着就是了。”

独脚怪头儿缩在后面，警告其他人说他们会看到水是透湿透湿的，可是一两个年轻些的几乎马上就去试试看了，接着又有几个跟着做，最后全体都到水里去了。独脚怪那只大脚完全可以当一只天然筏子或小船，雷佩契普教他们为自己砍根粗糙的木桨，他们大家就在海湾一带，绕着黎明踏浪号划过来划过去，看上去活像一支小划子组成的船队，每条小划子的船尾都站着一个胖胖的小矮人。他们还举行比赛，大船上放下一瓶瓶酒给他们当奖品，水手们趴在大船舷侧看他们，笑得肚子都痛了。

那些笨蛋对自己有了独脚怪的新名称也非常高兴，虽然他们根本念不准音，可是在他们心目中这似乎是个了不起的名称。“我们就叫这个，”他们大吼大叫道，“独角怪，怪独角，角怪独。我们称呼自己的叫法就在舌尖上。”可是转眼工夫他们就把这叫法跟老叫法“笨蛋”搞混了，叫着叫着最后竟叫定了，自称为“笨蛋瓜”；这名称大概还要叫上好几百年吧。

那天晚上，全体纳尼亚客人都在楼上同魔法师共进晚餐，露茜注意到整个楼上大变样了，现在她不再害怕了。门上的神秘符号还是怪神秘的，可是现在看上去好像也是善意可亲，甚至长胡子的镜子现在看上去也不吓人，而是滑稽有趣了。席间，大家都靠魔法的法力，尝到自己最喜爱的食品和饮料。饭后，魔法师又使出一件非常实用而精彩的魔法。他在桌上铺了两张空白的羊皮纸，要求德里宁向他精确讲述直到目前的全部航程：德里宁一边讲，纸上一边就线条清晰地显出他讲的一切细节，最后每张纸都成了一幅绝妙的东洋地图，标出了加尔马、特里宾西亚、七群岛、孤独群岛、龙岛、火烧岛、死水岛和笨蛋居住的地方，尺寸大小、位置方向都丝毫不差。这是那片海域破天荒第一次制作的地图，比此后不施魔法制作的好得多。因为这两张地图上面标着的城镇和山脉虽然初看之下和普通地图一模一样，可是魔法师借给他们一个放大镜后，看出来就是活灵活现的真实原物的雏型了，所以你能看见狭港那个城堡和奴隶市场，还有街道，虽然很远，却很清晰，就跟用望远镜另一头望出来的事物一样。惟一缺陷是大部分岛屿的海岸线都是不完整的，因为地图只能根据德里宁亲眼看到的来标明。等到地图完成，魔法师就自己留下一幅，把另一幅送给凯斯宾，这幅地图至今仍然挂在凯尔帕拉维尔仪器馆里。不过魔法师也无法告诉他们再往东去那里海洋和陆地的情况。然而，他倒告诉他们，七年前有一艘纳尼亚船开进他这里的海面，船上有雷维廉、阿尔戈兹、马夫拉蒙、罗普几位爵爷，所以他们推断他们看见躺在死水里的金人一定是雷斯蒂玛爵爷。

第二天魔法师用魔法修理好黎明踏浪号上被海蛇破坏的船尾，还给船上装满有用的礼物。分别时大家极为友好，下午两点启航时，所有的笨蛋瓜都划着桨跟着船到港口，一直欢呼到船上听不到他们的欢呼才罢。

12

黑暗岛

这番奇遇结束之后，他们顺着和风，向南和略为偏东的方向航行了十二天，天空基本晴朗，空气温暖，看不见鸟，也看不见鱼，只在右舷外远处出现过一次鲸鱼在喷水。这段时间露茜和雷佩契普下了不少回棋。到了第十三天，爱德蒙在桅顶观测台上看到左舷船头海面上矗立黑乎乎的一团，看上去像座大山。

他们改变航向，开向这片陆地，主要是靠划桨，因为风力不足，不能向东北行驶。夜幕降临时，他们同那里还隔着老远一段，足足划了一整夜。第二天早晨，天气很好，只是海面上风平浪静。那座黑乎乎的庞然大物就横亘在他们前面，虽然近得多，大得多，不过还是非常模糊，有些人看了还以为它还离得老远呢，另一些人则以为他们闯进一团迷雾中了。

那天早晨九点光景，突然一下子，他们隔得很近才看出这根本不是陆地，甚至也不是通常意义上所说的迷雾。原来是一片黑暗。这种情况挺难描写，如果你能设想自己朝一条铁路隧道的入口望进去——一条很长很长或弯弯曲曲，望不到远处尽头光线的隧道——那就会明白是什么样子了。你知道过隧道是怎么回事。先是在几英尺外看见大白天下的铁轨、枕木和碎石；然后就来到一个幽暗的地方；再后来，突然一下子，当然也没有一个明显的分界线，一切就都在浑然一体的黑暗中无影无踪。这里的情况正是如此。在船头前几英尺外，他们看得见碧绿的海水滔滔。再往外，只见海水变成灰蒙蒙的，像在傍晚时分看上去那样。可是再往远看，就只见一片乌漆墨黑，仿佛他们快来到无星无月的黑夜里。

凯斯宾大声对水手长下令把船往后划，船上人员除了划桨的之外，都奔上前来，从船头处往外眺望。可是看来看去看不出什么东西。他们后面是大海和太阳，前面是一片黑暗。

“我们开进去吗？”凯斯宾终于问道。

“依我之见还是不进去为妙。”德里宁说。

“船长说得对。”好几个水手说。

“我几乎认为他说得很对。”爱德蒙说。

露茜和尤斯塔斯虽然没说话，可是在事情似乎快定下来的关键时刻，他们心里都很高兴，不料雷佩契普清楚的嗓音马上打破沉默。

“为什么不进去？”它说，“有什么人愿意对我解释一下为什么吗？”

没人急于解释，所以雷佩契普又说下去：

“假如我是在对庄稼人或奴隶讲话，”它说，“我可能认为这个建议是出于怯懦才提出的。可是我希望今后纳尼亚决不要有人传说一行高贵的王室人员，年富力强的，却因为怕黑暗而掉转屁股逃跑。”

“可是辛辛苦苦开进那片黑暗里到底有什么用处呢？”德里宁问。

“用处？”雷佩契普答，“用处吗，船长？如果你所说的用处是指填饱我们的肚子或腰包，我承认一点用处也没有。据我所知，我们扬帆远航并不是去找寻有用的东西，而是寻求荣誉和奇遇。眼看就有一场我闻所未闻的了不起的奇遇，如果我们往回走，那我们的荣誉就要受到不少指责。”

好几个水手压低嗓子说话，听上去像说：“屁个荣誉。”可是凯斯宾说：

“啊呀，你真讨厌，雷佩契普。我真希望当初把你留在国内。得了！如果你那样说的话，那我看我们只好往前走了。除非露茜不愿意去吧？”

露茜原来感到很不愿意去，可是嘴里却大声说道：“我愿意去。”

“陛下至少要下令点灯吧？”德里宁说。

“那还用说，”凯斯宾说，“千万要点上，船长。”

于是，船尾、船头、桅顶三处的灯都点亮了，德里宁还下令在船的中部点上两个火把。这些灯火在阳光下看上去暗淡无光。于是所有人员，除了几个在下面划桨的人之外，都奉命到甲板上去，全副武装，刀剑出鞘，守在战斗岗位上。露茜和两个弓箭手都奉派到桅顶观测台上，弓拉满，箭上弦。水手赖尼夫在船头，拿着测绳准备探测水深。雷佩契普、爱德蒙、尤斯塔斯和凯斯宾都披甲挂胄，身上亮闪闪的，陪着他。德里宁掌大舵。

“好了，以阿斯兰的名义，前进，”凯斯宾喊道，“桨要划得慢而稳。大家都别出声，静心听候命令。”

随着船员开始划桨，黎明踏浪号发出吱吱嘎嘎，嗯嗯啊啊的声音，悄悄前进了。就在这船开进那片黑暗中那会儿工夫，露茜在桅顶观测台上看到了那片刻的奇观。阳光还照着船尾，船头已经看不见影儿了。她看着它不见的。这会儿镀金的船尾，碧蓝的大海和天空，还都在光天化日之下，过一会儿海天都消失了，刚才还简直一点也看不出的船尾灯，竟成了船尾的惟一标记。她能看出灯前德里宁弯着腰在掌舵的黑影。她下面，那两支火把在甲板上照出两小块亮处，火光在刀剑和头盔上闪烁，往前看，船首楼上也有一块地方亮着。除此之外，恰好在她脑袋上方点着那盏桅顶灯照亮的观测台，似乎自成一个发亮的小天地，漂浮在沉寂的黑暗中。正如你在白天不该点灯的时间只好点灯一样，灯光看上去总是阴森森，不自然的，这些灯光就是这样。她还注意到自己很冷。

这次到黑暗中去的航程要持续多久谁也不知道。除了桨架吱吱嘎嘎，桨板哗啦哗啦的声音之外，一点也看不出船身在行动。爱德蒙从船头上往外张望，除了身前水面上灯光的倒影之外，其他什么也看不见。这倒影看上去有点黏糊糊，船头前进时激起的涟漪看上去凝重、细小、没有生气。时间一分钟一分钟地过去，除了划桨的人之外，人人都冻得浑身哆嗦起来。

眼下谁也辨不大清方向，忽然间，不知从哪儿传来一声喊叫，听上去不是人类的声音，要不就是哪个吓破了胆，差点弄得不像人的家伙的声音。

凯斯宾的嘴巴太干了，但他还是拼命想开口说话，这时只听见雷佩契普那尖厉的嗓音，在那片寂静中，这声音听上去格外响亮。

“谁在叫？”他尖声说，“假如你是敌人，我们可不怕你，假如你是朋友，你的仇敌就将领教我们的厉害。”

“行行好吧，”那声音叫道，“行行好吧！即使你们只不过又是一个梦，也请行行好吧。让我上船。收留我吧，哪怕你们把我打死也罢。可是，千万行行好，不要再消失，把我扔在这个可怕的鬼地方。”

“你在哪儿？”凯斯宾大声叫道，“上船吧，欢迎！”

又听得一声喊叫，不知这声叫是出于喜还是出于怕，于是他们知道有人正向他们游来。

“伙计们，站在船边把他拉上来。”凯斯宾说。

“是，是，陛下。”水手们说。几个人拿着缆绳，挤到左舷舷墙，一个人举着火把，身子远远探出舷侧外面。只见一张疯狂的白脸从漆黑的水里冒出来，经过一番攀登和拉扯，十几只友好的手总算把这陌生人拉上了船。

爱德蒙觉得自己从没见过长相这么狂乱的人。虽然他看上去年纪并不很老，头发却乱蓬蓬，一团雪白，他的脸庞瘦削，紧紧绷着，身上衣着嘛，只有一些湿淋淋的破布条挂着。不过人家主要还是注意他的眼睛，张得很大，看来根本没有眼皮，死死盯着，吓得没命似的。他两脚刚踏上甲板就说：

“飞啊！飞啊！连船带人快飞啊！划啊，划啊，拼命划啊，赶快离开这个倒霉的海岸。”

“镇静一下，”雷佩契普说，“告诉我们有什么危险，我们一向不飞的。”

陌生人听到老鼠的嗓音吓坏了，他刚才没注意老鼠在那儿。

“尽管如此，你们一定要从这里飞走，”他气喘吁吁说，“这里是梦假成真的岛。”

“这个岛正是我多年一直在寻求的。”一个水手说。

“我想，如果我们在这里上岸，我就可以发现自己跟南茜结婚了。”

“我就可以发现汤姆又活着了。”另一个水手说。

“笨蛋！”那人怒气冲冲地顿脚说，“我正是听信这一派胡言才到这岛上来的，我真恨不得淹死，或是没出世的好。你们听见我说的话吗？这里是梦——你们明白吗，是梦——变成真的，变成现实的地方。不是白日梦，而是梦。”

大家沉默了半分钟，于是只听得盔甲一片铿铿锵锵，全体船员赶快滚下主舱口，急急忙忙拿起桨就划，就像从没划过桨似的；德里宁把舵柄来个大转弯，水手长使出航海史上空前快速的划法。因为就在那半分钟里，人人都想起了自己做过的梦——使你吓得不敢再入睡的梦——明白一踏上那片梦假成真的地方有什么恶果。

只有雷佩契普依然一动不动。

“陛下，陛下，”它说，“你打算容忍这种造反，这种临阵脱逃行为吗？这是惊慌失措，是溃不成军。”

“划啊，划啊，”凯斯宾大吼道，“拼命划啊。船头方向对吗，德里宁？你爱怎么说就怎么说，雷佩契普。有些事情是没人对付得了的。”

“那么说来，幸亏我不是一个人了。”雷佩契普僵硬地鞠了一躬说。

露茜在桅杆高处听到了这一切对话。她自己竭尽全力想法忘掉的一个梦，顿时栩栩如生，重现在眼前，仿佛刚从那个梦中醒来似的。原来在他们后面，那岛上，黑暗中是那么回事！霎时间她想要下去，到甲板上跟爱德蒙和凯斯宾在一起。可是有什么用处呢？如果梦假成真的话，等她走到他们面前，他们自己也可能变成可怕的怪物的。她抓住观测台的栏杆，想法稳住身子。他们正竭尽全力，倒划到亮处：再过一小会儿就没事了。啊呀，只要现在没事就好了！

虽然划桨发出很大的声音，可是掩饰不了包围船身那片死寂。人人都知道最好别听，最好别竖起耳朵倾听黑暗中的任何动静：可是谁都情不自禁地听着。不久大家就听到动静了，每个人听见的都不一样。

“你听到那儿有种声音像……像把大剪刀在喀嚓喀嚓响吗？”尤斯塔斯问赖因斯。

“嘘！”赖因斯说，“我听得见他们爬上船身舷侧了。”

“就要歇落在桅杆上了。”凯斯宾说。

“嘿！”一个水手说，“开始鸣锣了。我知道会鸣锣的。”

凯斯宾竭力目不旁视，尤其是不回头看，径自朝船尾德里宁那儿走去。

“德里宁，”他把嗓音压得很低说，“我们刚才进去时划了多久——我意思是划到救起陌生人的地方。”

“也许，五分钟吧，”德里宁悄声说，“干吗？”

“因为我们想法出来已经不止五分钟了。”

德里宁掌舵那只手哆嗦了，一行冷汗从脸上流下。船上的人个个都冒出同样的念头。“我们出不去了，我们出不去了，”划桨的人悲叹道，“他把我们领错航线了。我们尽在绕圈子呢。我们永远出不去了。”那陌生人本来一直蜷成一团躺在甲板上，现在坐起身，尖声怪气地发出一阵恐怖的大笑。

“出不去了！”他大声喊道，“一点不错。当然啦。我们永远出不去了。我多蠢啊，竟然以为他们会那样轻易地让我走掉。不，不，我们永远出不去了。”

露茜把脑袋靠在观测台边上，悄声说：“阿斯兰啊，阿斯兰，如果你当真爱我们，马上来救救我们吧。”那片黑暗虽然并未减少丝毫，可是她开始感到有一点儿——很小很小的一点儿——好转了。“说到头来，我们还没真正出过什么事呢。”她暗暗想道。

“瞧！”赖尼夫从船头那儿嘶哑地喊道。前头有一小点光，他们仔细看着，那一点光竟发出一大束光来照在船身上。虽然并没改变周围一片漆黑的环境，可是整条船就像给探照灯照亮似的。凯斯宾眨眨眼，朝四下盯着看，只见伙伴们脸上个个都带着狂热而专注的神情。大家都目不转睛地望着同一方向：每个人的身后都横着轮廓分明的黑影。

露茜顺着光束看去，不一会儿就看见光束里有什么东西。开头看上去像个十字架，后来看上去像架飞机，再后来看上去像个风筝，最后翅膀呼呼地旋转，就飞到头顶上空，原来是只信天翁。信天翁绕着桅杆飞了三圈，接着在船头金龙的颈脊上歇了片刻。它发出一串有力的悦耳声音，似乎在说什么，可没人听得懂。之后它就张开双翅飞了起来，开头在前面飞得很慢，稍微偏向右舷。德里宁对它的导航深信不疑，就跟着它驾驶。可是除了露茜，谁也不知道它绕着桅杆飞时悄悄对她说过：“放勇敢些，心肝儿。”她相信这是阿斯兰的声音，话音未落，还有一股美妙的香味散发到她脸上。

一会儿工夫，前面那片黑暗就变成一片灰暗，接着，他们心里几乎还不敢开始抱有希望，这条船就穿进阳光中，重新投入温暖的蓝色天地。正如有些时候，你光是躺在床上，看见日光泻进窗户，听到窗下早班邮差和送奶人的欢笑声，醒悟到这原来只不过是个梦，这不是真的，这种时刻真是妙不可言，为了体会到醒来的乐趣，做了噩梦也几乎非常值得。当他们冲出黑暗时，大家就都有这份体会。船身的鲜艳明亮使他们大为惊讶，他们原来还以为黑暗会缠住不放，在雪白、碧绿、金黄的船身上留下污垢和残渣呢。

露茜赶紧下来，走到甲板上，只见大家都围着那个陌生人。他高兴得久久说不出话来，只会眼望着大海和太阳，摸着舷墙和缆绳，仿佛要使自己相信他的确醒着，脸上泪水滚滚直流。

“谢谢你们，”他终于说，“你们把我救出了……可是我不愿谈那事。现在我向你们说说自己是什么人吧。我是纳尼亚的一个台尔马人，当年我还有些身价时，人称罗普爵爷。”

“我就是纳尼亚国国王凯斯宾，”凯斯宾说，“我出海远航就是来找你和你的伙伴们，你们都是我父亲的朋友。”

罗普爵爷当即跪下，吻着国王的手。“陛下，”他说，“您是世上我最希望见到的人。请陛下开恩。”

“什么事？”凯斯宾问。

“千万别问我，也别让任何人问我这些年来在黑暗岛上的所见所闻。”

“这容易，爵爷，”凯斯宾答，又打了个寒噤道，“我认为不该问你。我愿意拿出全部财宝，也决不愿听到这种事。”

“陛下，”德里宁说，“这会儿朝东南去正是顺风。要不要我叫我们可怜的伙伴起来准备开船？开船后，每一个抽得出身的都去吊床睡觉。”

“不错，”凯斯宾说，“让大家痛饮一顿。嗨嗬，我觉得自己能整整睡上一天一夜呢。”

于是整个下午大家欢天喜地，顺风向东南行驶，船后那一团漆黑越来越小，越来越小。不过谁也没注意那信天翁几时不见的。

13

三个沉睡的人

风虽没停过，却一天比一天小，到最后浪花变成了涟漪那么大小，船一个小时接着一个小时悄悄行驶着，仿佛行驶在湖面上似的。每夜他们都看见东方升起新的星辰，在纳尼亚可没人见过这种星辰，正如露茜心里惊喜交加地琢磨着的，也许任何人的肉眼都根本没见过吧。那些新星又大又亮，夜间天气暖和，他们大半人睡在甲板上，有的一直谈到深更半夜，有的在船舷徘徊，观看船头激起的灿烂泡沫翩然起舞。

一天黄昏，美景惊人，只见船后面的夕阳血红血红，漫天红霞，天空更见空旷，他们忽然看见右舷船头那边有陆地。陆地慢慢接近，他们后面的霞光照得这个新地方的所有岬角都着了火似的。但不久他们就沿着它的海岸行驶了，这时它的西部岬角在他们船尾方向升起，黑乎乎的，衬着红彤彤的天，轮廓分明，犹如硬纸板剪影一般，这下子他们才看得清这地方是什么样子。陆上没有大山，只有许多不很陡的小山，山坡像枕头。陆上飘来一股诱人的味儿——露茜说是“一股暗淡的紫红色的味儿”，爱德蒙说这是胡说（赖因斯也这么想），可是凯斯宾却说：“我知道你的意思。”

他们开了好长一段路程，开过一个小岬又一个小岬，只指望找一个深水良港，可是末了只得在一个又宽又浅的海滩将就一下。虽然外边海面上风平浪静，可是不消说，沙滩上还是有拍岸碎浪，他们没法把黎明踏浪号按照心意中那样深入开进去，只好在离开海滩老远处抛锚，再坐小船，弄得身上透湿，跌跌撞撞地上了岸。罗普爵爷依然留在黎明踏浪号上。他不希望再看见什么岛屿了。他们留在这岛上的时候，耳边一直听到长长的碎浪拍岸的声音。

凯斯宾留下两个人看守小船，自己带领其他人到内陆去，但没走远，因为天太晚了，无法探测，而且天色很快就暗了。不过也用不着走远去探险。滩头处那一片平地既看不见道路，也看不见足迹，更看不见任何人烟。脚下到处都点缀着细软湿润的草皮，还有一种低矮的丛生植物，爱德蒙和露茜认为是石南。尤斯塔斯对植物学的确相当精通，他说不是石南，大概说对了；不过这东西多少跟石南一类大同小异。

他们走到离岸不到一箭之遥的地方，德里宁说：“瞧，那是什么？”大家听了都站住了。

“是大树吗？”凯斯宾说。

“我想是塔。”尤斯塔斯说。

“可能是巨人吧。”爱德蒙放低嗓音说。

“要知道真相只有一直闯进去看一看。”雷佩契普拔出剑来，啪嗒啪嗒地走在大家前头。

“我想是座废墟吧。”他们走得更近时，露茜说，她的猜测到目前为止可以说是最正确的了。他们眼前看到的是一个宽阔的长方形空地，地面铺着光滑的石块，四下都是灰色的柱子，不过没有屋顶。从这一端到那一端有一张长长的桌子，桌上铺着大红桌布，几乎拖到石板地上。桌子两边有许多精工细雕的石椅，座位上铺着绸缎垫子。而且上面还摆了一桌从未见过的丰盛宴席，连至尊王彼得在凯尔帕拉维尔执政时也未见过这么丰盛的宴席。席上有火鸡、鹅和孔雀，有野猪头、鹿脯，有馅饼，有的形状像满帆的大船，有的像巨龙，有的像大象，有冰镇布丁，有鲜艳的龙虾、闪亮的鲑鱼，有果仁、葡萄、菠萝，有桃子、石榴、蜜瓜和番茄。还有金酒壶、银酒壶、制作奇巧的玻璃酒杯；水果和美酒的香味向他们迎面扑来，像有喜庆活动。

“哎呀！”露茜说。

他们越走越近，越走越近，大家悄无声息。

“可是客人在哪儿呢？”尤斯塔斯问。

“我们可以来凑个数，阁下。”赖因斯说。

“瞧！”爱德蒙厉声说。眼下他们已走在柱子之间，站在石板地上了。大家都朝爱德蒙所指的地方看去。原来椅子不全是空座。在桌子首席和左右两边座位上有什么东西——可能有三个。

“那些是什么？”露茜悄声问，“看上去像三个坐在席上的海狸。”

“是个大鸟窠吧。”爱德蒙说。

“照我看来更像个干草堆。”凯斯宾说。

雷佩契普奔上前去，跳到椅子上，再跳到桌上，顺着桌子跑过去，一面像个舞蹈家那么灵活地穿行在镶珠嵌宝的酒杯和堆得山高的水果和象牙盐瓶间。它一直跑到桌子尽头那堆灰不溜秋的神秘东西旁边；东张西望，碰几下，随即叫道：

“我想，这些东西不会打架。”

这时大家走近一看，只见那三个座位上坐着的原来是三个人，可是不凑近看就看不出是人。他们的头发都已灰白，长得盖过眼睛，几乎遮住了脸，他们的胡子长得盖住桌子，沿着桌子攀缘，像荆棘盘绕篱笆似的盘绕着杯盘，缠到后来成了一大簇毛，飘拂过桌沿，拖到地面。他们头上的发丝还披散到椅背上，把身子全遮住了。实际上这三个人几乎浑身是毛发。

“死了吗？”凯斯宾说。

“我看没死，陛下。”雷佩契普说，它两爪撩起那簇乱毛发，举起他们其中一个人的一只手，“这只手是温热的，脉搏还在跳。”

“这只手也是，还有这只。”德里宁说。

“哎呀，他们只是睡着罢了。”尤斯塔斯说。

“可是，让头发长到这副模样，真是长眠不醒啊。”爱德蒙说。

“这样睡必定是中了魔法。”露茜说，“我们一踏上这个岛的时刻，我就感到岛上充满魔力。哦！你们看，我们到这儿来，不定就是来破这魔法的吧？”

“我们可以试试。”凯斯宾说，一面开始摇醒三个沉睡的人中最靠近他的一个。有一会儿大家以为他就要成功了，因为那人拼命吸着气，咕哝道：“我再也不往东去了，准备划船到纳尼亚去。”可是说完几乎一下子又陷入沉睡，而且睡得比先前还要沉；就是说，他那个沉沉的脑袋朝桌子冲下几英寸，任你怎么想方设法把他吵醒都没用。第二个人也差不多一样。“我们不是生来就得过牛马生活的。趁你有个机会快到东方去吧——到太阳后面的陆地上去。”说着就不省人事了。第三个人只说了一句：“请递给我芥末。”说完呼呼大睡。

“准备划船到纳尼亚去，呃？”德里宁说。

“是啊，”凯斯宾说，“你说得不错，德里宁。我想，我们的寻访结束了。我们来瞧瞧他们的戒指吧。是的，这些就是他们的纹章。这位是雷维廉爵爷。这位是阿尔戈兹爵爷。这位是马夫拉蒙爵爷。”

“可是我们叫不醒他们啊，”露茜说，“我们该怎么办？”

“请各位陛下原谅，”赖因斯说，“可我们何不趁你们讨论的时候先开始用餐呢？这么样的美餐我们可不是天天看到的啊。”

“千万吃不得。”凯斯宾说。

“说得对，说得对，”几个水手说，“这里的魔法多得不得了。我们还是趁早回船为妙。”

“的确，”雷佩契普说，“这三位爵爷就是吃了这酒菜才睡了七年之久。”

“为了保命，我才不愿碰这些酒菜呢。”德里宁说。

“天色很快就暗下来了。”赖尼夫说。

“回船吧，回船吧。”其他的人嘀咕说。

“我倒真的认为，”爱德蒙说，“他们说得对。我们可以到明天再决定拿这三个沉睡的人怎么办。我们又不敢吃这顿酒菜，待在这里过夜就没意思了。这里整个地方都有魔法——和危险的味儿。”

“就船上全体人员来说，我完全赞同爱德蒙国王的意见，”雷佩契普说，“不过我个人倒愿意在这桌上坐到天亮。”

“到底为什么？”尤斯塔斯说。

“因为，”老鼠说，“这是一件很了不起的奇遇，对我来说，任何危险都算不了什么，要是回到纳尼亚去，心里明白由于害怕，扔下一个谜没解开，那才不得了呢。”

“我留下陪你，雷普。”爱德蒙说。

“我也留下。”凯斯宾说。

“我也留下。”露茜说。于是尤斯塔斯也自告奋勇留下。这在他是非常勇敢的行为，因为在他没登上黎明踏浪号的时候，从来没在书上看到过这种事，甚至连听也没听到过，所以这对他来说比对其他人更难受。

“恳求陛下——”德里宁开口说。

“不，爵爷，”凯斯宾说，“你的岗位在船上，你已经工作了一天，而我们五个闲着没事干。”争论这件事花了不少口舌，到末了还是凯斯宾说了算。暮色苍茫中，船员出发到海岸去，五个留下守夜的人，也许雷佩契普除外，不免都感到肚子里冷冰冰的。

他们花了老半天工夫才在这张危机四伏的桌上挑好座位，恐怕每个人都出于同样的原因，但是没人说出口而已。因为这的确是件相当讨厌的选择。要你整夜坐在三个浑身长着吓人长毛的怪物旁边，可不大受得了，这三个即使不是死人，按常理来说，确实也不是活人。但另一方面呢，坐在那一头，天色越来越黑，就越是看不见他们，不会知道他们是不是有动静，也许到半夜两点钟光景就一点也看不见他们了——不，不该想这事。于是他们就绕着桌子走了一圈又一圈，嘴里一面说：“这儿怎么样？”一会儿说：“或许还是坐得远一点儿吧，”一会儿又说：“为什么不坐在这一边呢？”到末了终于决定坐在中间，不过离三个沉睡的人比离另一头更近些。这时大约十点钟，天几乎黑了。那些陌生的新星座在东方发光。如果这是豹子星座和船星座，以及纳尼亚上空看到过的老朋友，露茜会更喜欢。

他们身上裹着航海外套，端坐不动，静静等着。开头他们也几次试图谈谈，可是谈不出什么大名堂。于是大家就那么坐着，耳边一直听到海滩上碎浪拍岸的声音。

过了几个小时，倒仿佛过了好几个世纪似的，有一阵子他们都明白刚才已经打过一会儿盹，突然一下子又全都清醒了。那些星座的方向都跟刚才看见的大不相同了。天空很黑，只有东方隐隐约约有点灰白。他们虽然口渴，而且身上又冷又僵，却没一个人开口说话，因为终于出现了奇事。

在他们前面，柱子外有座低矮的小山的斜坡。这时坡上有扇门打开了，门口露出了亮光，一个人走了出来，背后的门又关上了。那人手里拿着灯火，这灯火其实就是他们惟一能看得清的东西。灯火慢慢越来越近，越来越近，最后就正好对着他们，放在桌子对面。他们这才看见来人是个高个儿姑娘，身穿一件蓝色露臂长袍。她没戴帽子，一头金发披散在背后。他们瞧着她的时候心里就想，活到这么大才知道什么叫美人儿呢。

她刚才拿着的灯火原来是枝插在银烛台上的长烛，现在她把烛台搁在桌上。如果上半夜刮过什么海风的话，这会儿一定早就停了，因为烛火笔直不动，就像是搁在一间关紧窗户，拉上窗帘的屋里似的。桌上的金银餐具在烛光下闪闪发亮。

这时露茜注意到桌子另一头放着一件东西，原先她没留意。这是把石刀，锋利如钢，是件样子古老、杀气腾腾的东西。

到现在还没人开口说过一句话。那时雷佩契普和凯斯宾一先一后站了起来——大家也都站了起来，因为他们感到她是位贵妇人。

“远道来到阿斯兰餐桌的旅客们，”那姑娘说，“你们为什么不吃不喝啊？”

“小姐，”凯斯宾说，“我们不敢吃，因为我们想，我们的朋友就是吃了这些酒菜才中了魔法睡不醒了。”

“他们根本没尝过这些东西。”她说。

“请问，”露茜说，“他们是怎么回事？”

“七年前，”那姑娘说，“他们乘了一条船来到这儿，船帆都成了碎布条，船骨也快散架了。他们还带着几个水手，他们走到这张餐桌前，一个人说，‘这儿是个好地方。我们就解开帆篷，不再划桨，坐着安享天年吧！’第二个人说，‘不，我们还是重新上船，开到纳尼亚去，开到西方去，说不定弥若兹死了呢。’但第三个人非常专横，他跳起来说，‘不，老天在上！我们是男子汉大丈夫，是台尔马人，不是畜生。我们除了不断探险猎奇还该干什么呢？反正我们也活不长了。让我们利用余生去探索太阳后面那个无人世界吧。’说着他们就争吵起来，他操起放在桌上的那把石刀，想跟伙伴打架。谁知那把刀他是动不得的。他手指刚攥住刀把，这三个人就都陷入沉睡。一直要睡到魔法破除才会醒来呢。”

“这把石刀是什么东西？”尤斯塔斯问。

“你们谁也不知道吗？”那姑娘说。

“我——我想，”露茜说，“我以前见过这样的东西。这把刀像很久以前白女巫用来在石桌上杀死阿斯兰的那把刀。”

“就是这把，”那姑娘说，“带到这里永远保存起来作为纪念。”

爱德蒙刚才几分钟里神色越来越不安，这时开口了。

“听着，”他说，“但愿我不是个胆小鬼——我是说，吃这些酒菜——我的确不是存心冒犯。不过我们这次远航一路上经历了不少希奇古怪的险情，而且事情并不尽是表面上那样。当我看着你脸时，我不得不相信你说的一切；可是碰到女巫，也可能会相信她。我们怎么才知道你是朋友呢？”

“你们没法知道，”那姑娘说，“只能信不信由你了。”

歇了片刻，只听得雷佩契普小声说话。

“陛下，”它对凯斯宾说，“劳驾您从那个酒壶里替我斟杯酒：这壶太大，我拿不了。我要为这位小姐干杯。”

凯斯宾照做了，老鼠站在餐桌上，两个小爪子捧着金杯说：“小姐，祝您健康。”说罢它就吃起冷孔雀肉来。一会儿工夫大家都跟着它又吃又喝了。大家都很饿，这顿酒菜即使不是你心目中想要的早早餐，作为一顿宵夜可是再好也没有了。

“为什么称这是阿斯兰的餐桌？”不一会儿露茜问。

“餐桌是按照他的嘱咐摆在这里的，”那姑娘说，“专门招待那些远道来这里的人。有人叫这岛做世界尽头，因为你虽然还可以再往远处开，但是这里就是尽头的开端。”

“那么这些酒菜是怎么保鲜的？”讲究实际的尤斯塔斯问。

“每天吃掉了再重新做呗，”那姑娘说，“你回头就明白了。”

“那我们拿这几个沉睡的人怎么办？”凯斯宾问，“在我这几位朋友来的那个世界里，”（说到这里他朝尤斯塔斯和佩文西兄妹点点头）“流传着一个故事，有个王子或国王来到一个城堡，城堡里的人全都中了魔法沉睡不醒。在那故事里，他要吻了公主才能解除魔法。”

“可是这儿的情况不同，”姑娘说，“在这儿他要解除了魔法才能吻公主。”

“那么说，”凯斯宾说，“以阿斯兰的名义，告诉我怎么立即着手这工作。”

“我父亲会指点你的。”姑娘说。

“你父亲！”大家说，“他是什么人？在哪儿？”

“瞧。”姑娘回过头，指着山坡上那扇门说。此刻他们看起来格外方便了，因为他们谈话那会儿，星星都已暗淡了，灰蒙蒙的东方天空正露出了大片白色曙光。

14

世界尽头的起点

那扇门慢慢又打开了，走出一个人，跟那个姑娘一样又高又挺，不过没那么细长。也没带着灯火，不过仿佛全身都发着光。但等此人走近，露茜才看出像是个老人。他的银须飘垂到身前的光脚上，银发则飘垂到背后的脚跟，一袭银袍看上去像是银羊毛纺制的。他神情非常慈祥庄严，这一行人不由再次默默起立。

可是老人并没跟这一行人说话，只是站在桌子另一边，面对他女儿。他们两个都向前举起双臂，脸朝东。他们就用那种姿势唱起歌来。但愿我能够把这歌写下来，可是在场的没一个人记得住。事后露茜说，这支歌声调很高，近乎尖厉，不过很好听。“是一种冷调的歌，一种清晨的歌”。他们唱歌时，东方天际的灰色云堆就散开了，一块块白云越来越大，最后成了一片雪白，海面呈现闪闪银光。过了好久（父女俩还一直唱着）东方才开始发红，最后，云散天晴，太阳跃出海面，长长的光束笔直照在桌上，照在金银餐具和石刀上。

这几个纳尼亚人以前有一两回心里总想知道这一带海面上升起的太阳看上去是不是跟国内一样大。这回他们肯定了。一点没错。照在露水和桌上的阳光远比他们所曾见过的任何早晨的曙光更亮得多。正如事后爱德蒙所说的：“虽然那次旅程一路上碰到过不少听起来更激动人心的事，那一时刻倒的确是最最激动人心的。”因为现在他们知道他们确实到了世界尽头的起点。

于是，那轮朝阳的中心似乎有什么东西向他们飞来：不过你眼睛当然没法一眨也不眨地看清楚。然而不久空中就都是声音——应和父女俩唱的那支歌的声音，只是声调古怪些，而且唱的语言没人懂。不一会儿就看得见这些歌声是谁的了。原来是鸟，又大又白，成千上万飞来，停在一切上面：草地上、石板地上、桌上、你的肩上、你的头上、你的手上，看上去真像下了场大雪。说是像雪，因为这些鸟不仅把一切都变成白的了，而且把一切东西的形状弄得模模糊糊，看不清楚。可是露茜从遮住她身子的鸟翼间看出去，只见其中一只鸟飞到老人身边，喙里含着什么东西，要不是一块燃烧着的火炭的话，看起来倒像个小果子，八成是火炭，因为亮得你没法正眼看着。那只鸟把这东西放在老人嘴里。

随后那些鸟停止唱歌，在餐桌上显得非常忙碌的样子。但等它们从餐桌上再飞起来的时候，桌上凡是可以吃的、可以喝的都一扫而光了。这些鸟成千上万地吃完又飞走，还把一切吃不得喝不得的东西，比如骨头啊、皮啊、壳啊之类的，统统都带走，飞回朝阳那边。不过，现在因为它们不是在唱歌，所以千万对鸟翼似乎把整个空气都扑腾得直震颤。而桌面上却已被啄食一空，干干净净，三位纳尼亚老爵爷则依然沉睡不醒。

此刻那老人才终于向这一行人转过身来，表示欢迎。

“阁下，”凯斯宾说，“请你告诉我们怎么破除使这三位纳尼亚爵爷沉睡的魔法吧。”

“孩子啊，我很乐意告诉你这个法子，”老人说，“要破这个魔法，你们必须把船开到世界尽头，或者尽可能靠近那里，同时至少把你们的一个伙伴留在那里。”

“留下的那一个怎么办呢？”雷佩契普问。

“他必须继续深入极东地区，永不回到这个世界。”

“这正是我衷心的愿望。”雷佩契普说。

“阁下，我们现在靠近世界尽头了吗？”凯斯宾问，“你了解再往东去的海陆情况吗？”

“我好久以前看到过的，”老人说，“不过是从高空中看到的。水手们需要了解的情况我可无法奉告。”

“你意思是说你是在天上飞？”尤斯塔斯脱口而出道。

“小伙子，我是远在高空中，”老人答，“我是拉曼杜。不过我看你们大眼瞪小眼，没听说过这名字。这也难怪，因为早在你们任何人出世懂事的很久以前，我就不再是一颗星辰了，一切星座都改变了。”

“天哪，”爱德蒙低声说，“他是颗退隐的星辰。”

“你不再是颗星辰了？”露茜问。

“小姑娘，我是颗退休的星辰，”拉曼杜答，“上回我落下来时都衰老得没法想像了。我被送到这岛上来。现在我已经不像当时那样老了。每天早晨都有一只鸟从太阳的山谷里带给我一枚火果，每吃一枚火果都使我年轻一点。等我像新生儿那样年轻时，就重新升上天（因为我们是在东边地角），又可以遨游太空了。”

“在我们的世界里，”尤斯塔斯说，“星是一大团火焰熊熊的气体。”

“小伙子，即使在你们的世界里，那也不是星的真相，而是它的成分。在我们这个世界里，你们已经遇到一颗星辰了，因为你们大概碰见过科里亚金了吧。”

“他也是一颗退隐的星辰吗？”露茜说。

“说起来，情况并不完全相同，”拉曼杜说，“他被谪来管理笨蛋并不完全算退休。不妨称做惩罚。如果一切太平无事的话，他原可以在冬天的南方上空照耀千万年。”

“他干了什么啊，阁下？”凯斯宾问。

“小伙子，”拉曼杜说，“作为亚当的儿子，你是不配知道星辰犯什么过错的。不过算了，我们谈这种事是浪费时间。你们现在拿定主意了吗？你们要不要继续往东开，把一个人留下不再回来，然后你们再回来破除这魔法？或者要往西开？”

“陛下，”雷佩契普说，“那点想必没问题吧？把这三位爵爷从魔法中解救出来分明是我们寻求的部分目标。”

“我也是这么想的，雷佩契普，”凯斯宾答，“哪怕不是这么着，如果黎明踏浪号可以带我们到世界尽头附近，而我们不去，我也会伤心的。不过我替水手们着想一下。他们订约是来寻找七位爵爷的，不是到天涯海角。如果我们从这里往东开，就要开去找天涯，极东地区。谁也不知道路程有多远。他们是勇敢的弟兄，不过我看得出有迹象表明有些人对航海厌倦了，一心盼望我们的船头重新掉向纳尼亚。我想，不通知他们，不征得他们同意，我是万万不能带他们再走远的。而且还有那个可怜的罗普爵爷。他是个万念皆灰的人。”

“小伙子，”拉曼杜说，“带着不愿去的人或受骗上当的人开到世界尽头去是没有用的，尽管你许了愿也没用。这样破除魔法可万万不成。他们必须知道自己上哪儿去，为什么去。不过你说的那个万念皆灰的人是谁啊？”

凯斯宾就把罗普爵爷的经历告诉了拉曼杜。

“我可以把他最需要的给他，”拉曼杜说，“在这个岛上可以大睡特睡毫无限制，梦中一点点脚步声都听不到。就让他坐在这三位旁边，喝得忘却一切，等到你们回来吧。”

“啊呀，那就这样办吧，凯斯宾，”露茜说，“我敢说这正是他喜爱的。”

正在这工夫，不少脚步声和说话声打断了他们的话，原来是德里宁和船上其他人员都来了。他们看见拉曼杜和他女儿不禁吃了一惊，停顿下来；后来他们看到这两个人显然不是凡人，纷纷脱帽致敬。有些水手看到桌上的空盘和空壶，眼睛里都充满遗憾的神情。

“爵爷，”国王对德里宁说，“请派两个人回船去给罗普爵爷捎个口信，告诉他说他那几位同船老伙伴都在这里睡觉——没有梦的沉睡——他也可以来睡。”

凯斯宾办完这事，就吩咐其余的人坐下，把全部情况摊给大家。他说完以后，大家沉默了老半天，有几个在悄声说话，不久弓箭手头头起立说：

“陛下，我们有些人一直想问的就是，一旦我们掉转航向，不管是在这里掉转，还是在什么地方掉转，我们究竟怎么回家去。除了偶尔风平浪静之外，这一路上都是西风和西北风。假如风向不变，我真想知道我们有没有希望重见纳尼亚。我们一路划桨回去，给养也没多大把握维持得了。”

“真是陆地人的论调，”德里宁说，“这片海域整个夏末总是刮西风，总要过了新年才转风呢。我们今后要往西开的话，会遇上不少顺风的，根据各方面估计，多得我们受不了呢。”

“说得一点不错，船长，”一个原是加尔马人的老水手说，“一二月里，东边的坏天气总是不断的。船长大人，恕我直言，要是让我指挥这条船的话，我就在这里过冬，到三月里开始起程回家。”

“你们在这里过冬的话，那你们吃什么呢？”尤斯塔 斯问。

“这张餐桌到了每天太阳下山时就会摆满国王的盛宴。”拉曼杜说。

“这才像话！”几个水手说。

“各位陛下，诸位先生，诸位女士，”赖尼夫说，“我只想说一件事。这次出海我们弟兄中没有一个是被逼着来的。我们都是自告奋勇来的。这里有几个人正一面拼命盯着那张餐桌，一面琢磨着国王的盛宴，当初我们从凯尔帕拉维尔启程那天，他们一面大声谈着什么冒险，一面发誓找不到世界尽头，他们就决不回家。还有些人站在码头上，情愿抛弃所有一切跟我们一起来。当初人们都情愿要黎明踏浪号一个船舱服务员的铺位，也不愿要骑士的腰带。我不知道你们是不是明白我说的意思。不过我想说的意思是，我认为像我们这样出发远航的弟兄要是回到家里，说我们到了世界尽头的起点，却没有勇气再走远，那我们看上去就跟那些笨蛋瓜一样蠢了。”

有几个水手为这番话叫好，同时也有几个说这话倒是不错。

“情况看来不大妙，”爱德蒙悄声对凯斯宾说，“如果那些家伙有一半退缩，那我们怎么办？”

“等一下，”凯斯宾悄声答，“我还有一张牌好打。”

“你不打算说什么吗，雷普？”露茜悄声说。

“不，陛下为什么偏要我说呢，”雷佩契普用大多数人都听得见的声音说，“我自己的计划已定。只要我办得到，我就随黎明踏浪号往东边去。这船不带我去，我就乘我的小筏子划到东边去。小筏子沉了，我就用四只爪子游到东边去。万一我游不动了，游不到阿斯兰的国土，或者万一在世界边缘给什么特大瀑布冲掉了，那我就是沉下水也要鼻子对着日出的地方，那时就让佩比西克当纳尼亚会说话的老鼠首领。”

“说得好，说得好，”一个水手说，“我也会说这番话的，只是小筏子那段话除外，因为我坐不下。”他又低声说了一句，“我不打算让一只老鼠比下去。”

就在这关口，凯斯宾忽然站起来，“朋友们，”他说，“我想你们并不十分理解我们的用意。你们说话的口气好像我们是手里托着帽子来找你们，恳求你们做同船水手似的。根本不是这么回事。我们和我们的王兄王姐，还有他们的亲属，还有好骑士雷佩契普爵士以及德里宁爵爷都奉有到世界边缘的使命。我们很乐意在你们这些自愿参加的人当中，物色我们认为配从事如此崇高冒险事业的人选。我们并没有说任何人都能要求参加。所以我们现在指派德里宁船长和赖因斯大副慎重考虑一下，你们当中什么人在战斗中最顽强，什么人是最熟练的海员，什么人血统最纯正，什么人对我们最忠诚，什么人的身世和作风最清白；把这些开张名单给我们。”他顿了一下，又用较快的声音说，“阿斯兰在上！”他大声叫道，“你们以为亲眼看到最后大局的特权是白白到手的吗？当然，每一个跟随我们的人都将把黎明踏浪号的称号传给子孙后代，一旦我们返航踏上凯尔帕拉维尔，他将分得黄金或土地，足够使他终身享受富贵。现在，你们大家在岛上散开。半小时后我就要德里宁爵爷把名单交到我手里。”

大家听了顿时乖乖默不作声，水手们鞠了躬就走开了，一个朝东，一个往西，不过多半人都三三两两的说着话。

“现在要谈到罗普爵爷了。”凯斯宾说。

不料他刚朝餐桌首席转过身去，就看见罗普已经坐在那儿了。原来大家在讨论时，他已不声不响，默默无声地来到这里，就坐在阿尔戈兹爵爷身边。拉曼杜的女儿站在他旁边，好像她刚才扶他坐下似的；拉曼杜站在他后面，双手搁在他的白头发上。即使在白天，这个曾是星辰的老人双手还是发出朦胧的银光。罗普憔悴的脸上露出一丝笑容。他伸出一只手给露茜，一只手给凯斯宾。一时间似乎打算说点什么。接着他笑得更欢了，仿佛他体会到一阵美妙的兴奋感，唇边发出一声心满意足的长叹，脑袋往前一冲，就睡着了。

“可怜的罗普啊，”露茜说，“我真高兴。他一定有过好多可怕的经历。”

“我们还是别去想这事吧。”尤斯塔斯说。

这时，凯斯宾那番话刚好起到他预期中的作用，也许是岛上什么魔法的帮助吧。有不少人刚才还迫不及待想脱离这次远航，现在对被淘汰的感受竟大不相同了。当然每逢哪个水手宣称他打定主意要求批准出海，那些还没说出口的水手就感到他们人数越来越少，心里滋味也越来越不好受。因此，半小时还不到，几个人就积极向德里宁和赖因斯大献殷勤（至少在我学校里人们是这么个说法），以便获得一个好评价。不久就只剩下三个人千方百计想说服人家跟他们一起留下。不一会儿就只剩下一个人。到末了，他对留下他一个人感到害怕起来，也改变了主意。

半小时结束，大家全列队回到阿斯兰餐桌前，在一头肃立，德里宁和赖因斯就去跟凯斯宾坐在一起，作了汇报；凯斯宾照单全收，只有那个在最后时刻才改变主意的人没接受。他名叫皮顿克林，大家都出发寻找世界尽头的时候，他就一直待在星岛上，心里巴不得跟他们一起去。他不是那种喜欢跟拉曼杜父女谈天的人，人家也不喜欢跟他谈，而且下了不少场雨，虽然餐桌上夜夜都有美味佳肴，可是他不大爱吃。他说孤零零坐在那儿，陪着睡在餐桌那头的四位爵爷，而且晴雨无阻，真不由浑身发毛。当其他人回去时，他感到自己处处孤立，返航途中他就在孤独群岛开了小差，去住在卡乐门国，他在那里大讲自己在世界尽头的种种奇遇，到最后连自己也信以为真了。所以，在某种意义上来说，他从此日子过得倒也愉快。不过他见了老鼠就受不了。

那天晚上，他们全在柱子之间那张大餐桌上一起吃喝，桌上的盛宴已用魔法换上新鲜的了。第二天早晨，黎明踏浪号就在大鸟飞来又飞去那会儿再次扬帆启程。

“小姐，”凯斯宾说，“等我破了魔法后，希望再跟你谈谈。”拉曼杜的女儿瞧着他，微微一笑。

15

最后一片大海的奇观

他们离开拉曼杜那地方以后，一下子就感到自己已把船开到了世界外面。一切都变样了。一是他们全都觉得不大需要睡觉了。大家都不想上床，也不想多吃，连话也不多，要说也是细声细气的。二是亮光。真是太亮太亮了。每天早晨太阳出来看上去即使没有通常三倍那么大，也有两倍那么大。而且每天早晨（这点给露茜的感受最奇特）那些大白鸟用人类的声音唱着歌，谁也听不懂唱的是什么语言，它们川流不息地飞过头顶，飞去阿斯兰的餐桌吃早餐，飞到船尾处就不见踪影了。不一会儿，它们又飞回来，飞到东边又不见了。

“海水清澈得多美啊！”第二天刚到午后，露茜就趴在左舷侧自言自语道。

果然如此，她注意到的第一样东西是个小小的黑物件，像一只鞋那么大小，同船速一样快地跟着船一路过来。一时间她还以为那东西是漂在水面上的。可是这时厨子刚从厨房里扔出一块陈面包，面包在水面上漂过，看起来好像要跟那东西相撞了，谁知竟没撞上。面包在那东西上面掠过了，露茜这才明白那黑东西不可能在水面上。然后那黑东西一下子大得不得了，过一会儿又闪回原来的大小。

露茜马上知道自己在别处也看见过同样的情景——只要她记得在哪儿就好了。她一手撑着头，板着脸，伸出舌头，拼命地想。终于想出来了。不用说！就像你在阳光明媚的好天，乘在火车里看出来的情景一样。你看见的是自己那列客车的黑影同车速一样快地在田野上一路奔驰。等到火车开进路堑，那影子顿时就一闪贴近火车，变大，顺着路堑的草坡一路飞跑。再等到开出路堑——一下子！——那黑影又变回原来的大小，在田野间一路飞驰。

“原来是我们这条船的影子！——黎明踏浪号的影子，”露茜说，“我们的船影在海底奔驰。开过海底的山顶时船影就大了。这样的话，海水一定比我想像中还要清！老天哪，我一定看见好深好深的海底了。”

她说完这句话，心里已明白自己不知不觉一直看了好一阵子的那一大片粼粼银光实际上是海底的沙滩，各种深一片淡一片的不是海面上的光影，而是水底的实物。比如说，眼下他们的船开过一大丛软软的绿中带紫的东西，当中还有一条弯弯绕绕的淡灰色阔带子。不过既然她知道这是在海底下，她看起来就更清楚了。她能看见那一小片黑乎乎的东西比另一片高，而且轻轻在飘动。“正像风中树木一样，”露茜说，“我相信这些是树。是海底森林。”

他们开过了这片森林上面，不一会儿那条灰带子就和另一条灰带子汇合了。“假如我在下面，”露茜心里想，“那条带子就像林间一条路。两条带子的汇合点就是十字路口了。啊呀，我真希望在下面啊。嗨！森林到头啦。我相信那带子真是一条路！我还能看见它一直穿过空旷的沙滩呢。颜色也不同了。边上还画着什么——虚线。也许是石头吧。现在变宽了。”

不过这并不是真的宽了，而是近了。她知道这点，因为船影经过时，这条路朝船身冲过来了。而这条路——她拿准这是条路了——开始弯弯曲曲了。显然这条路是爬上一座陡峭小山的路。当她侧着头，回头看时，觉得很像在山顶俯看一条弯弯曲曲的道路那样。她甚至看得见阳光一直透过深水，照在树木繁茂的山谷上；而在最远处，一切景物都融入模模糊糊一片绿色中。但有些地方——据她看，是照着阳光的地方——倒是深蓝色的。

但是，她不能多花时间回头看；前方映入眼帘的景观太令人激动了。现在那条路分明通到山顶，笔直向前了。上面还有小小的斑点在动来动去。眼下，幸亏阳光充足——阳光照进深深的海底能有多亮就有多亮——有样最奇妙的东西闪现在眼前。这东西是小圆丘形，参差不齐，颜色像珍珠，或者说像象牙。开头她几乎恰的正在这东西上面，所以简直分辨不出是什么。但等她看到这东西的影子才一清二楚。阳光正照过露茜的肩膀，所以那东西的影子直躺在它后面的沙地上。看形状她才明白那原来是高塔、尖塔、叫拜楼和圆顶的影子。

“哎呀！——原来是座城市，要不就是座大城堡。”露茜自言自语说，“可是不知道为什么他们要把这造在高山 顶上？”

她回到英国很久以后，跟爱德蒙谈起这一切奇遇，他们想出一条理由，我相信这理由一点不错。在海里，越深越黑，越深越冷，危险的怪物——大乌贼啊、大海蛇啊、海怪啊，就住在下面又黑又冷的地方。山谷都是荒野凶险的地方。海人对他们山谷的看法就跟我们对高山的看法一样，对他们高山的看法又跟我们对山谷的看法一样。在高处（或者，按我们的说法是“在浅处”）才又暖和又宁静。海底那些鲁莽的猎人和勇敢的骑士到深处去探险猎奇，然后回到高处家里安心休息，跟别人礼尚往来，开会议事，娱乐玩耍，唱歌跳舞。

他们这条船开过城市，海底不断在升高。现在海底离船下只有几百英尺了。那条路也不见了。他们这条船现在正在一片公园般空旷的地方上面航行，地上点缀着一簇簇色彩鲜艳的草木。于是——露茜差点兴奋得高声尖叫起来——她看见人了。

一共有十五个到二十个左右，全骑在海马上——不是你在博物馆里看到的那种小海马，而是比他们身材高大得多的海马。露茜心想，他们一定是些王公贵族，因为她能一眼看见水里有些人的脑门上金光闪闪，翠绿色的飘带或橙红色的织物在他们肩上飘动。

忽然间，露茜说：“啊呀，这些鱼真讨厌！”因为一群肥肥的小鱼正游得贴近水面，挡在她和海人之间。可是虽然这一来使她大为扫兴，却让她看到一幕最有趣的事。有一条她从来没见过的凶狠的小鱼冷不防从水底跳起来，猛地张口咬住一条肥鱼不放，衔在嘴里迅速沉到水下。海人都骑在海马上，抬眼看着这一幕。他们似乎有说有笑。那条猎鱼还没带着捕获物回到他们身边，另一条同样的猎鱼又从海人身边跳上水面。露茜几乎肯定就是这一伙中间那个骑着海马的大个子把猎鱼放出去的；似乎刚才他一直把猎鱼抓在手里或架在手腕上。

“哎呀，那可真怪，”露茜说，“这是一支狩猎队啊。不过倒更像一支放鹰打猎队。对了，准是的。他们手腕上架着这些凶猛的小鱼，骑海马出来，正如我们很久以前在凯尔帕拉维尔当国王和女王那阵子，经常手腕上架着猎鹰，骑马出去一样。见到猎物就放猎鱼飞——我看，该说放猎鱼游——向猎物。怎么……”

她突然住口了，因为景象变了。海人看到了黎明踏浪号。那群鱼向四处逃窜，海人也亲自冒出来查看这个挡在太阳和他们之间的黑乎乎的庞然大物是什么玩意儿。眼下他们快贴近水面了，如果他们在露天，不是在水里，露茜倒会跟他们说话呢。他们有男有女，头上都戴着某种王冠，许多人还戴着珍珠项链。他们没穿别的衣服。身体是陈年象牙的颜色，头发是深紫红色。国王在当中（没人会认错他）高傲而凶狠地注视着露茜的脸，手里挥舞一枝长矛。手下的骑士也跟他一致行动。几位女的脸上满是惊讶的神色。露茜相信他们以前根本没见过船或人——他们身处世界尽头外边的海洋里，从来没有船到过那儿，怎么见识得到呢？

“你在盯着看什么啊，露？”身边有个声音说。

露茜原来一心看着，听到声音吓了一跳，她回过头来，才发现因为全身重心压在栏杆一边，一条手臂早发麻了。德里宁和爱德蒙在她身边。

“瞧。”她说。

他们两个都瞧了，可是德里宁几乎马上低声说：

“两位陛下，马上掉过头来——对了，背对着大海。别像在谈论什么重要大事似的。”

“啊呀，怎么回事啊？”露茜听从他的话后说道。

“水手是绝对不该看这一切的，”德里宁说，“看了以后，我们就有人会爱上海女，或者爱上海底世界，跳下水去。我听说过以前在陌生的海域里出过这种事。看见这些人总是倒霉的。”

“可是我们过去在凯尔帕拉维尔那年月认识他们，”露茜说，“当时我哥哥彼得正当上至尊王，他们来到水面上，唱歌祝贺我们加冕。”

“我看那一定是另外一种海人，露，”爱德蒙说，“他们又可以在水下生活，又可以在露天生活。我倒认为这些人无法在露天里生活。看他们样子，如果办得到的话，早就冒出水面攻击我们了。他们样子似乎很凶狠。”

“总而言之——”德里宁开口说。谁知正在这时，忽然听到两种声响。一是扑通一声。二是观测台上传来一声吼，“有人落水了！”于是人人都忙着了。有些水手匆匆爬上去落篷，有些水手匆匆跑下去划桨；在船尾楼值班的赖因斯开始拼命转舵，把船掉过头来开回那人落水的地方。可是这时大家都知道落水的根本不是人，而是雷佩契普。

“那老鼠真该死！”德里宁说，“船上其余人加在一起也没它那么多的麻烦。如果有什么倒霉事，准有它一份！应当把它戴上脚镣手铐——用绳子把它绑在船的龙骨底下拖——把它放逐到荒岛上去——把它的胡子剃掉。谁看得见这个小混蛋？”

说了这么一大套话并不意味着德里宁当真不喜欢雷佩契普。恰恰相反，他很喜欢它，因此害怕它出事，而由于害怕，德里宁才发脾气——正如你母亲为了你跑出去在路上迎面碰到了汽车而大为生气，而一个陌生人就决不会这样。当然，雷佩契普掉进水里，谁也不怕，因为它是个游泳好手；可是知道水下将有什么事发生的三个人却害怕海人手中那些杀气腾腾的长矛。

一会儿，黎明踏浪号绕过弯来了，大家都看得见水里那个黑乎乎的东西就是雷佩契普。它正兴高采烈地吱吱喳喳说话，可是嘴里灌满了水，所以没人听得懂它在说什么。

“如果我们不让它闭上嘴，它可要把什么事情都捅出去了。”德里宁叫道。为了阻止它，他奔向舷侧，亲自放下一根缆绳，对水手们喊着说：“行了，行了。回到你们的岗位上去。希望我不要人帮忙就能把一只老鼠拉上来。”雷佩契普从缆绳上爬上来了——行动不是很利索，因为浑身皮毛都湿透，身子也沉了——德里宁弯下腰，对它悄声说：

“别说。一句话也别说。”

谁知湿淋淋的老鼠踏上甲板后，原来对海人竟丝毫不感兴趣。

“甜啊！”它吱吱叫道，“甜啊，甜啊！”

“你在说些什么啊？”德里宁生气地问，“你也用不着把水全抖在我身上。”

“水真的是甜的，”老鼠说，“甜美、新鲜，不是咸的。”

一时间，没人完全领会这番话的重要意义。可是这时雷佩契普又重复那段老预言了：

海水变得甜又香，

雷佩契普，把心放，

那里就是极东方。

大家一听才终于明白过来。

“给我一个水桶，赖尼夫。”德里宁说。

水桶递到他手里，他就把水桶放下去，再吊上来。那水果然像玻璃一样闪闪发光。

“也许陛下愿意先尝一口吧？”德里宁对凯斯宾说。

国王双手捧住水桶，举到唇边，浅浅啜了一口，又深深喝了一大口，再抬起头。他的脸色变了。不仅眼睛似乎更亮，而且精神焕发。

“是啊，”他说，“果然甜。这才是真正的水啊。我不敢肯定喝了这水不会送命。不过如果现在才知道这水的味道，我倒愿意这样死掉。”

“你这是什么意思？”爱德蒙问。

“这——这比任何东西更像光。”凯斯宾说。

“说得一点不错，”雷佩契普说，“可以喝的光。我们现在一定贴近世界尽头了。”

大家沉默了片刻，于是露茜在甲板上跪下，就着水桶喝水。

“我生来还从没尝到这么香的东西呢。”她喘着气说，“不过，啊呀——真有劲。我们现在什么都不需要吃了。”

船上的人一个个都喝了一通，全都久久默不作声。他们都感到这水简直太妙了，太有劲了，未免受不了；不一会儿，他们又开始看出另一种效果。我前文说过，自从他们离开拉曼杜的岛以来，光线很强——太阳很大（虽然还不太热），海面很亮，天空很灿烂。这时，亮光不见减弱——要说吗，反而增强了——可是他们倒受得了啦。他们可以一眼也不眨地笔直仰望着太阳，他们能看着比以前见过的更强烈的亮光。甲板上、船帆上、他们自己的脸上、身体上都变得越来越明亮，越来越明亮，每根缆绳都闪闪发光。第二天早晨，太阳升起时比平时大了五六倍，他们使劲盯着太阳，看得见从太阳上飞起的鸟的羽毛。

那天整整一天，船上简直没人说过一句话。直到午餐时间（谁也不想进餐，喝了这水大家就够受用的了），德里 宁说：

“这点我弄不明白，一丝风都没有，船帆挂着不动。海面平静得像小池塘。可是我们的船还是开得一帆风顺。”

“我也一直在琢磨这事，”凯斯宾说，“我们一定是碰上什么强大的水流了。”

“嗯，”爱德蒙说，“如果世界真有个边缘的话，我们这条船又正在接近边缘，那可不妙啊。”

“你是说，”凯斯宾说，“我们这条船可能会——呃，就这样从边上流出去？”

“是啊，是啊，”雷佩契普拍着两个爪子说，“我就是始终这么想像的——世界像个大圆桌，各大洋的水无穷无尽地从边上流下去。这条船会翻倒，来个倒栽葱——一会儿工夫我们翻过边缘就明白了——接着就往下扎，往下飞速猛冲——”

“呃，你看底下有什么在等着我们呢？”德里宁说。

“也许是阿斯兰的国土吧，”雷佩契普眼睛闪闪发光说，“或许没什么底。也许一直冲下去，冲下去，没个头。可是不管是什么，只要看一会儿世界尽头外边是什么景象，岂不是也值得吗？”

“不过听我说，”尤斯塔斯说，“这简直是荒唐！世界是圆的——我是说，圆得像个球，不是像张桌子。”

“我们的世界是圆的，”爱德蒙说，“可这个世界是不是圆的呢？”

“你们意思是说，”凯斯宾问，“你们三位都来自一个圆圆的世界（圆得像个球），而你们从来没跟我说起过！你们真是太不像话了。因为我们的童话里就有圆圆的世界，我一直很喜欢这种世界。我根本不相信有什么真正的圆世界。不过我总是希望有这种世界，而且总是向往在一个这种世界里生活。啊呀，我愿意拿一切来换——我不知你们为什么可以进入我们的世界，而我们就根本不能进入你们的世界？只要有这么个机会就好了！生活在一个球上一定够刺激的。你们到过人们颠倒走路的地方吗？”

爱德蒙摇摇头，“事情并不是这样的，”他又加了一句。“一旦你到了那儿，圆圆的世界就没什么特别刺激了。”

16

真正的世界尽头

除了德里宁和佩文西家兄妹之外，船上只有雷佩契普一个看到过海人。它一看见海王挥舞长矛，就马上潜入水中，因为它把这当作是威胁或挑衅，所以当场就想一决雌雄。发现海水香甜那股兴奋劲儿分散了它的注意力，趁它还没再想起海人，露茜和德里宁就把它拉到一边，警告它别再提起看见的事。

结果他们倒不怎么要伤脑筋了，因为这时黎明踏浪号正在一片看来没有人的海域里悄悄行驶。除了露茜之外，谁也没再看见海人，即使她也只是匆匆一瞥。第二天整个早晨，他们这条船都在很浅的水里行驶，海底长满水草。晌午前露茜看见一大群鱼在水草上游过。这群鱼都在不断吃食，全都朝一个方向游动。“就跟羊群似的，”露茜心里想。冷不防在鱼群中看见一个小海女，年纪跟她差不多。这是一个举止文静，神情孤独的姑娘，手里拿着一根钩子似的东西。露茜相信这姑娘一定是个牧羊女——也许该说是牧鱼女——那群鱼真像在草原上吃草似的。鱼群和那姑娘都贴近水面。那姑娘在浅水里滑行的时候，露茜正好趴在舷墙上，两个人打了个照面，那姑娘抬眼看着，恰好盯着露茜的脸。谁也不能跟对方说话，因为一会儿工夫那姑娘就落在船尾后了。可是露茜永远忘不了她的脸。这张脸看上去并不像其他海人脸色那么害怕和愤怒。露茜喜欢那姑娘，她感到那姑娘肯定也喜欢她。在那短短一瞬间，不知怎的，她们竟成了朋友。看来在这个世界里或任何其他世界里，她们是没多大机会再见面的了。不过万一见了面，她们准会一齐迫不及待地伸出手去。

之后，有好多天支桅索上没有风，船头处没有泡沫，黎明踏浪号平平稳稳地朝东行驶，驶过一片平静无波的海面。每天每时光线都变得更加耀眼，但他们竟受得了。没人吃，没人睡，也没人想吃想睡，大家就把水桶往海里汲些耀眼的水，这水比酒更醇，总之比一般水更湿润，更清澈，他们就互相默默干杯，一饮而尽。有一两个水手在开始远航时已经老态龙钟，现在是一天比一天年轻。船上人人都喜气洋洋，兴奋万状，但并没兴奋得想要说话。他们越往远处航行，话说得越少，后来几乎像在说悄悄话了。最后那一片大海的宁静深深抓住了他们。

“爵爷，”有一天凯斯宾对德里宁说，“你看前面是什么？”

“陛下，”德里宁说，“我看见一片白茫茫。就我肉眼所能看到的，从北到南的地平线上全是白茫茫的。”

“这个我也看到了，”凯斯宾说，“我想像不出是什么东西。”

“陛下，如果我们在纬度较高的地方，”德里宁说，“倒可以说这是冰。可是这不可能是冰，这里没冰。话虽这么说，我们最好还是派人划桨，别让船随着水流漂行。不管那是什么玩意儿，我们万万不能以这种速度一头撞进去。”

大家按德里宁的吩咐去做，船才越来越慢，越来越慢。等他们靠近了，那片白茫茫的神秘色彩还是没有减退。要说这是一片陆地吧，一定是非常奇特的土地，因为它看上去同水一样滑，而且同水面一样高。当他们离这很近的时候，德里宁使劲转舵，把船身转向南面，这样舷侧就对着水流，再沿着那片白茫茫的边缘往南划一段路。正在这么忙的时候，他们偶然有个重大发现，原来这股水流只有四十英尺宽，而其他海面还是跟池塘一样宁静。这对船员无疑是个喜讯，他们已经开始担心重返拉曼杜的岛上那段路程，一路上逆流划桨的话，可要吃苦头了。（这点也说明那个牧鱼姑娘为什么那么快就落在船尾后了。因为她不在那股水流里。如果她当时在水流里，早就跟船的漂流速度一样快地向东漂流了。）

不过，还是没人弄得明白那白茫茫的东西是什么。于是就放下小船，划去侦察。留在大船上的人都看得到小船笔直划进那片白茫茫的东西当中。后来他们都听得到从一汪止水那边传来小船上那些人大惊小怪的说话声。赖尼夫在小船船头测量水深时，大家稍停片刻；事成之后，小船划回来时，船里似乎有不少那种白的东西。人人都挤到舷侧听消息。

“陛下，是百合花！”赖尼夫站在小船船头大声喊道。

“你说什么？”凯斯宾问。

“陛下，盛开的百合花，”赖尼夫说，“跟国内花园里的一模一样。”

“瞧！”露茜在小船船尾上说。她举起湿漉漉的双臂，捧满雪白的花瓣和宽阔扁平的叶子。

“水深多少，赖尼夫？”德里宁问。

“船长，真是怪事，”赖尼夫说，“水还是很深。整整三英寻半。”

“这不可能是真正的百合花——不是我们所说的百合花。”尤斯塔斯说。

这恐怕不是百合花，但非常相像。经过一番商量，黎明踏浪号又掉转船头开进水流中，开始往东行驶，穿越百合湖，或称银海（这两个名称他们都试过，不过银海沿用至今，现在凯斯宾的地图上就用这名称），这时他们这次远航最希奇的部分开始了。他们离开的那片开阔的海面一下子就只是西边地平线上一条细细的蓝边。他们周围四面八方都是白茫茫一片，隐隐闪着黄金色，只有船身排开百合花，在船尾处留出一条水面通道，像深绿色的玻璃那样闪闪发光。最后这一片大海看上去很像北冰洋，如果他们的眼睛现在没变得像鹰眼那样厉害，那白茫茫一大片上面的阳光准使他们受不了，尤其是清晨太阳最大的时候。每天傍晚那白茫茫一大片使白天更长了。百合花似乎无边无际。连绵千里的白花天天都散发出一股香味，露茜觉得这味儿很难形容；香虽香——但不是香得使人昏昏欲睡，无法忍受，而是一股清新、强劲、幽雅的味儿，似乎钻进你的脑子，使你觉得自己能跑上高山，或同大象搏斗。她同凯斯宾互相说押“我觉得我再也受不了这股味儿了，可我又不愿闻不到这股味儿。”

他们经常不断测量水深，但过了好几天以后海水才变浅，此后就越来越浅。有一天他们不得不靠划桨划出水流，像蜗牛爬似的一步步划啊划的，摸索着前进。不久就明白黎明踏浪号已没法再往东开了。真是亏得指挥非常巧妙才免得搁浅。

“放下小船，”凯斯宾叫道，“吩咐大家到船尾来。我必须对大家说一说。”

“他打算干什么呀？”尤斯塔斯对爱德蒙悄声说，“他眼神好怪呢。”

“我想，我们的脸色大概都差不多。”爱德蒙说。

他们到船尾楼去找凯斯宾，一下子全体人员都一起挤在梯脚处聆听国王讲话。

“朋友们，”凯斯宾说，“我们现在已经完成了你们从事的探险事业。七位爵爷都有了下落，既然雷佩契普爵士发誓绝不回去，等你们大家回到拉曼杜的岛上准会发现雷维廉、阿尔戈兹和马夫拉蒙三位爵爷都醒了。德里宁爵爷，我把这条船托付给你，命令你竭尽全速开回纳尼亚去，最重要的是别在死水岛那儿上岸。再通知我的摄政王小矮人杜鲁普金，把我答应赐给所有这些同船伙伴的奖赏，统统照发不误。他们都理该受奖。如果我不再回来，我的遗嘱就是要摄政王和科内留斯，以及海狸特鲁佛汉特和德里宁爵爷一致选举一位纳尼亚国王……”

“可是陛下，”德里宁打断他道，“你是不是退位了？”

“我要跟雷佩契普去看看世界尽头。”凯斯宾说。

水手们惊愕得低声嘀咕起来。

“我们将坐小船，”凯斯宾说，“在这一带风平浪静的海面上，你们用不着小船了，你们到了拉曼杜的岛上就必须再做一条小船。可现在……”

“凯斯宾，”爱德蒙突然严厉地说，“你万万不能这样做。”

“千真万确，”雷佩契普说，“陛下不能这样。”

“确实不能。”德里宁说。

“不能？”凯斯宾厉声说，一时间看上去倒跟他叔父弥若兹没什么两样。

“请陛下恕罪，”赖尼夫在下面甲板上说，“可是如果我们当中有人这样做，那就要称做临阵脱逃。”

“赖尼夫，你虽为我效劳多年，也未免太放肆了。”凯斯宾说。

“不，陛下！他说得完全对。”德里宁说。

“阿斯兰在上，”凯斯宾说，“我原以为你们都是我的臣民，不是我的老师。”

“我不是你的臣民，”爱德蒙说，“我就说你不能这样做。’

“又是不能，”凯斯宾说，“你这是什么意思？”

“陛下容禀，我们意思是说不该，”雷佩契普深深鞠了一躬，“您是纳尼亚国王。如果您不回去的话，就是对您的全体臣民失了信，特别是对杜鲁普金。您不该对这些探险活动沾沾自喜，仿佛您是平民百姓似的。如果陛下不听信说理，那船上每个人只有随我解除您的武装，把您绑起来，直到您恢复理智，这才是对您真正的效忠。”

“说得很对，”爱德蒙说，“就像当初尤利西斯[1]要去接近水妖时，人家对待他那样。”

凯斯宾的手早已去摸剑把，这时露茜说：“而且你几乎答应过拉曼杜的女儿说要回去的。”

凯斯宾顿了一下。“哦，是的。是有这么回事。”他说。他一时站在那儿拿不定主意，随即对全船人员大声叫着：

“得了，依了你们吧。探险行动结束了。我们统统回去。把小船再吊上来。”

“陛下，”雷佩契普说，“我们并不是统统都回去。我，我以前说明过……”

“静一静！”凯斯宾怒喝道，“我受过教训了，可我不愿受作弄。难道没人让那老鼠安静下来吗？”

“陛下保证过，”雷佩契普说，“要当纳尼亚会说话的兽类的好君主。”

“会说话的兽类，对，”凯斯宾说，“可我没说过不停说话的兽类。”说着他怒气冲冲地下了梯子，走进舱里，使劲碰上了门。

但是稍过一会儿，大家进舱找他，发现他竟变了；他脸色煞白，眼睛里噙着泪水。

“没用了，”他说，“尽管我做事爱使性子，摆架子，可是我原该举止得体的。阿斯兰对我说过了。不——我不是说他真的在这里。首先，舱里太小，容不下他。不过墙上那只金狮头活过来对我说话了。他的眼睛——真可怕，不是说他对我粗暴——只是开头有点严厉。不过反正真可怕就是了。他说——他说——啊呀，我真受不了。这是他说出来的最最可怕的事了。你们——雷普、爱德蒙、露茜，还有尤斯塔斯——倒都要继续往前走了；而我却要回去，孤零零的，立刻回去。一切还有什么用呢？”

“亲爱的凯斯宾，”露茜说，“你知道我们早晚总得回到自己的世界里去。”

“是啊，”凯斯宾抽抽噎噎说，“可未免早了些。”

“你回到拉曼杜的岛上去后就会感到好受些的。”露茜说。

稍过一会儿他才高兴起来，不过分手对双方都是痛苦的，我也不细说了。下午两点左右，他们备足了粮食和饮用水（虽然他们原以为自己既不需要吃，也不需要喝），再把雷佩契普的小筏子放在小船上，小船就离开黎明踏浪号，一直划过那片无边无际的百合花。黎明踏浪号飘起所有旗帜，挂出盾形纹章，为他们隆重送行。他们在下边，周围都是百合花，往上看这条大船又高大又亲切。他们目送大船掉头，开始慢慢向西划去，走得不见影儿了。露茜虽然掉了几滴眼泪，可是她并不像你所想的那么难受。那种亮光，那份宁静，银海那种扣人心弦的味儿，说来也怪，甚至连那份孤独都太令人激动了。

用不着再划桨，因为那股水流不断把他们的小船漂向东面。他们没一个人睡觉，也不吃饭。整整那一夜，第二天整整一天，他们的小船都朝东漂流，到了第三天拂晓——天色那么明亮，你我就算戴上墨镜也受不了——他们看见前面有一大奇观。仿佛是一堵墙挡立在他们和天空之间，一堵青灰色、颤巍巍、亮闪闪的墙。随后出太阳了，初升起时他们是透过这堵墙看见的，太阳幻出奇异的彩虹。他们这才知道那实际上是一道又长又高的波浪——一道永远固定在一处的波浪，恰如瀑布边上经常可以看到的水帘似的。看来有三十英尺高，那股水流正飞速把他们的小船漂向那道波浪。你可能以为他们会想到处境危险吧。他们才不呢。我想，任何人在他们这种处境中都不会想到危险。因为他们现在不仅看到波浪后面的景象，而且看到太阳后面的景象。如果他们的眼力没经受过最后一片大海那水的锻炼，他们连太阳也不能看。可是他们现在竟能看着太阳升起，看得清清楚楚，还看见太阳外面的景象。他们朝东边看，只见太阳后面有一列山脉。山很高很高，他们不是望不到山顶就是忘了。谁也不记得看到那个方向有天空。那山脉一定确实就在这世界的外面。因为任何山峰，即使只及那山的几十分之一那么高，山上也应当有冰雪。但这些山尽管看上去高，却是暖洋洋、绿油油，到处是森林和瀑布。突然间，东方吹来一阵微风，把浪峰吹成泡沫状，把他们周围平滑的水面吹皱。这只有一眨眼工夫，可是这三个孩子对那一眨眼工夫却终身不忘。这阵风带来了一股香味和一种声音，是一阵音乐的声音。事后爱德蒙和尤斯塔斯都对此事绝口不谈。露茜只说得出，“真叫你心都碎了。”“啊呀，”我说，“真那么难过吗？”“难过？不。”露茜说。

那小船里的人都深信自己正看到世界尽头的外边阿斯兰的国土了。

这时，咔嚓一响，小船搁浅了。这会儿水太浅了，连小船都浮不起。“这就是我单独上路的地方了。”雷佩契普说。

他们连拦都不想拦它，因为现在似乎一切都是命中注定的，或者以前发生过的。他们帮它把小筏子放下水。于是他卸下剑，一下子把剑远远扔到百合花盛开的海面那边。“我再也用不着这剑了。”它说。那剑落下水，就笔直插在那儿，只有剑把露在水面上。于是它跟他们告别，竭力装作为他们难过的样子；可是暗地里却高兴得直哆嗦。露茜头一回，也是最后一回，做了她一直想要做的事，把它搂在怀里，爱抚了一通。于是它匆匆上了小筏子，划起桨，卷进水流就顺流漂走了，在百合花的衬托下显得黑黑的。不过波浪上没长百合花，那是一片滑溜溜、绿茵茵的坡面，小筏子越走越快，冲过波浪那一侧时可真壮观。就在那一刹那间他们看到小筏子的轮廓和站在上面的雷佩契普的轮廓。后来就不见踪影了，从此以后谁也不能真正自称看见过老鼠雷佩契普。不过我相信它平安到达了阿斯兰的国土，到今天还健在呢。

太阳一出来，世界外边那些高山就渐渐消失。那道波浪还在，可是波浪后面只见蓝天了。

三个孩子走下小船，蹚着水——不是朝波浪走去，而是朝南走，那道水墙在他们左面。他们没法告诉你为什么这样做；这是他们的命运。虽然他们在黎明踏浪号时感到自己长得很大了，而且也是长大了，可是眼下他们的感觉却恰恰相反，他们蹚过那片百合花时大家手拉着手。他们丝毫不感到疲倦。海水暖洋洋，而且一直越来越浅。终于走到干燥的沙地上，接着又走到草地上——好大一片草原，长着细细短短的草，几乎同银海一样高，向四面八方铺展开去，连个鼹鼠窠都没有。

当然，不长树木的平地总是如此，看上去天空和草地就在他们眼前相接。但等他们走上前去，却有个最离奇的印象，就是这里的天终于真正同地相接了——一堵蓝墙，非常明亮，但结结实实，特别像玻璃。他们很快就确定了。现在非常近了。

不过在他们和天边之间，青草上有样东西白得连他们那种鹰眼都难以正视。他们上前一看，原来是只小羊。

“来吃早餐吧。”小羊说，声音亲切而柔和。

这时他们才头一回看到草地上有个火堆，上面烤着鱼。他们坐下来吃着鱼，多天来还是头一回感到肚子饿呢。这是他们所尝到过的最美味的一顿饭菜了。

“小羊，请问这条路是到阿斯兰国土去的吧？”露茜问。

“这条路不是你们走的，”小羊说，“你们到阿斯兰国土去的门在你们自己的世界里。”

“什么！”爱德蒙说，“我们的世界里也有一条路通到阿斯兰的国土吗？”

“所有的世界都有一条路通到我的国土。”小羊说；话音刚落，一身雪白的毛就变成亮闪闪的金褐色，个子也变大了，原来它就是阿斯兰，高高居上，鬣毛散发出金光。

“啊呀，阿斯兰，”露茜说，“请告诉我们怎么才能从我们的世界走进你的国土呢？”

“我将不断告诉你，”阿斯兰说，“可是我不会告诉你这条路有多长多短；只是这条路要过一条河。但不用害怕，因为我是个了不起的造桥专家。好，来吧，我要打开天门，送你们回自己的地方去。”

“阿斯兰，”露茜说，“我们临走前，请你告诉我们，我们几时再能回到纳尼亚来？请你千万，千万，千万让这一天早点来，好吗？”

“亲爱的，”阿斯兰非常温和地说，“你和你哥哥今后不会再回到纳尼亚来了。”

“啊呀，阿斯兰！”爱德蒙和露茜两人都大失所望地齐声说。

“孩子们，你们年龄太大了，”阿斯兰说，“你们现在必须开始接近自己的世界了。”

“你知道，不是纳尼亚，”露茜啜泣说，“是你。我们不会在那儿见到你了。今后永远也见不到你，叫我们怎么活啊？”

“亲爱的孩子，可你们会见到我的。”阿斯兰说。

“难道——你也在那儿，阁下？”爱德蒙说。

“我在，”阿斯兰说，“不过在那儿我用的是别的名字。你们必须学会知道我的名字。正是这个缘故，所以才把你们带到纳尼亚来，你们在这儿认识我一段时间，在那儿就可以对我更了解。”

“那么尤斯塔斯也永远不能回到这里来了？”露茜说。

“孩子啊，”阿斯兰说，“你当真需要知道那点吗？来，我在天上开一扇门。”说着蓝墙上顿时出现一个裂口（像窗帘撕开了），一道可怕的白光从天外照进来，他们觉得挨到阿斯兰的鬣毛，脑门上印着狮王的亲吻，于是——又回到剑桥艾贝塔舅妈家的里屋了。

另外只剩两件事还需要交代一下。一件是凯斯宾和他手下全都安全回到拉曼杜的岛上。三位爵爷都从沉睡中醒来。凯斯宾娶了拉曼杜的女儿为妻，最后他们都到达纳尼亚，她成了一个了不起的王后，和几个了不起的国王的母亲和祖母。另一件事是在我们自己的世界里，不久人人都开始说尤斯塔斯如何长进：“你决不会知道他就是从前那个孩子。”只有艾贝塔舅妈却说他变得非常平凡，而且讨厌，一定是受了佩文西家那几个孩子的影响。

【注释】

[1] 尤利西斯即希腊神话中的奥德修斯，曾参加围攻特洛伊。

Dedication

To Geoffrey Barfield

CHAPTER 1

The Picture in the Bedroom

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb,and he almost deserved it.His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb.I can't tell you how his friends spoke to him for he had none.He didn't call his Father and Mother "Father" and "Mother",but Harold and Alberta.They were very up-to-date and advanced people.They were vegetarians,non-smokers and tee-totallers,and wore a special kind of underclothes.In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.

Eustace Clarence liked animals,especially beetles,if they were dead and pinned on a card.He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.

Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins,the four Pevensies-Peter,Susan,Edmund and Lucy.But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay.For deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying and,though he was a puny little person who couldn't have stood up even to Lucy,let alone Edmund,in a fight,he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.

Edmund and Lucy did not at all want to come and stay with Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta.But it really couldn't be helped.Father had got a job lecturing in America for sixteen weeks that summer,and Mother was to go with him because she hadn't had a real holiday for ten years.Peter was working very hard for an exam and he was to spend the holidays being coached by old Professor Kirke in whose house these four children had had wonderful adventures long ago in the war years.If he had still been in that house he would have had them all to stay.But he had somehow become poor since the old days and was living in a small cottage with only one bedroom to spare.It would have cost too much money to take the other three all to America,and so only Susan had gone.

Grown-ups thought her the pretty one of the family and she was no good at school work(though otherwise very old for her age)and Mother said she"would get far more out of a trip to America than the youngsters".Edmund and Lucy tried not to grudge Susan her luck,but it was dreadful having to spend the summer holidays at their Aunt's."But it's far worse for me," said Edmund,"because you'll at least have a room of your own and I shall have to share a bedroom with that record stinker,Eustace."

The story begins on an afternoon when Edmund and Lucy were stealing a few precious minutes alone together.And of course they were talking about Narnia,which was the name of their own private and secret country.Most of us,I suppose,have a secret country,but for most of us it is only an imaginary country.Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in that respect.Their secret country was real.They had already visited it twice — not in a game or a dream but in reality.They had got there of course by Magic,which is the only way of getting to Narnia.And a promise,or very nearly a promise,had been made them in Narnia itself that they would some day get back.You may imagine that they talked about it a good deal,when they got the chance.

They were in Lucy's room,sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at a picture on the opposite wall.It was the only picture in the house that they liked.Aunt Alberta didn't like it at all(that was why it was put away in a little back room upstairs),but she couldn't get rid of it because it had been a wedding present from someone she did not want to offend.

It was a picture of a ship-a ship sailing straight towards you.Her prow was gilded and shaped like the head of a dragon with a wide-open mouth.She had only one mast and one large,square sail which was a rich purple.The sides of the ship-what you could see of them where the gilded wings of the dragon ended — were green.She had just run up to the top of one glorious blue wave,and the nearer slope of that wave came down towards you,with streaks and bubbles on it.She was obviously running fast before a gay wind,listing over a little on her port side.(By the way,if you are going to read this story at all,and if you don't know already,you had better get it into your head that the left of a ship when you are looking ahead is port,and the right is starboard.)All the sunlight fell on her from that side,and the water on that side was full of greens and purples.On the other,it was darker blue from the shadow of the ship.

"The question is," said Edmund,"whether it doesn't make things worse,looking at a Narnian ship when you can't get there."

"Even looking is better than nothing," said Lucy."And she is such a very Narnian ship."

"Still playing your old game?" said Eustace Clarence,who had been listening outside the door and now came grinning into the room.Last year,when he had been staying with the Pevensies,he had managed to hear them all talking of Narnia and he loved teasing them about it.He thought of course that they were making it all up；and as he was far too stupid to make anything up himself,he did not approve of that.

"You're not wanted here," said Edmund curtly.

"I'm trying to think of a limerick," said Eustace."Something like this：

Some kids who played games about Narnia

Got gradually balmier and balmier—"

"Well,Narnia and balmier don't rhyme,to begin with," said Lucy.

"It's an assonance," said Eustace.

"Don't ask him what an assy-thingummy is," said Edmund."He's only longing to be asked.Say nothing and perhaps he'll go away."

Most boys,on meeting a reception like this,would either have cleared out or flared up.Eustace did neither.He just hung about grinning,and presently began talking again.

"Do you like that picture?" he asked.

"For heaven's sake don't let him get started about Art and all that," said Edmund hurriedly,but Lucy,who was very truthful,had already said,"Yes,I do.I like it very much."

"It's a rotten picture," said Eustace.

"You won't see it if you step outside," said Edmund.

"Why do you like it?" said Eustace to Lucy.

"Well,for one thing," said Lucy,"I like it because the ship looks as if it were really moving.And the water looks as if it were really wet.And the waves look as if they were really going up and down."

Of course Eustace knew lots of answers to this,but he didn't say anything.The reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down.He had only once been in a ship(and then only as far as the Isle of Wight)and had been horribly seasick.The look of the waves in the picture made him feel sick again.He turned rather green and tried another look.And then all three children were staring with open mouths.

What they were seeing may be hard to believe when you read it in print,but it was almost as hard to believe when you saw it happening.The things in the picture were moving.It didn't look at all like a cinema either；the colours were too real and clean and out-of-doors for that.Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray.And then up went the wave behind her,and her stern and her deck became visible for the first time,and then disappeared as the next wave came to meet her and her bows went up again.At the same moment an exercise book which had been lying beside Edmund on the bed flapped,rose and sailed through the air to the wall behind him,and Lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day.And this was a windy day；but the wind was blowing out of the picture towards them.And suddenly with the wind came the noises-the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship's sides and the creaking and the overall high steady roar of air and water.But it was the smell,the wild,briny smell,which really convinced Lucy that she was not dreaming.

"Stop it," came Eustace's voice,squeaky with fright and bad temper."It's some silly trick you two are playing.Stop it.I'll tell Alberta-Ow!"

The other two were much more accustomed to adventures but,just exactly as Eustace Clarence said,"Ow," they both said,"Ow" too.The reason was that a great cold,salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it,besides being wet through.

"I'll smash the rotten thing," cried Eustace；and then several things happened at the same time.Eustace rushed towards the picture.Edmund,who knew something about magic,sprang after him,warning him to look out and not to be a fool.Lucy grabbed at him from the other side and was dragged forward.And by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger.Eustace jumped to try to pull it off the wall and found himself standing on the frame；in front of him was not glass but real sea,and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock.He lost his head and clutched at the other two who had jumped up beside him.There was a second of struggling and shouting,and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them,swept them off their feet,and drew them down into the sea.Eustace's despairing cry suddenly ended as the water got into his mouth.

Lucy thanked her stars that she had worked hard at her swimming in the summer term.It is true that she would have got on much better if she had used a slower stroke,and also that the water felt a great deal colder than it had looked while it was only a picture.Still,she kept her head and kicked her shoes off,as everyone ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes.She even kept her mouth shut and her eyes open.They were still quite near the ship；she saw its green side towering high above them,and people looking at her from the deck.Then,as one might have expected,Eustace clutched at her in a panic and down they both went.

When they came up again she saw a white figure diving off the ship's side.Edmund was close beside her now,treading water,and had caught the arms of the howling Eustace.Then someone else,whose face was vaguely familiar,slipped an arm under her from the other side.There was a lot of shouting going on from the ship,heads crowding together above the bulwarks,ropes being thrown.Edmund and the stranger were fastening ropes round her.After that followed what seemed a very long delay during which her face got blue and her teeth began chattering.In reality the delay was not very long；they were waiting till the moment when she could be got on board ship without being dashed against its side.Even with all their best endeavours she had a bruised knee when she finally stood,dripping and shivering,on the deck.After her Edmund was heaved up,and then the miserable Eustace.Last of all came the stranger-a golden-headed boy some years older than herself.

"Ca-Ca-Caspian!" gasped Lucy as soon as she had breath enough.For Caspian it was；Caspian,the boy king of Narnia whom they had helped to set on the throne during their last visit.Immediately Edmund recognized him too.All three shook hands and clapped one another on the back with great delight.

"But who is your friend?" said Caspian almost at once,turning to Eustace with his cheerful smile.But Eustace was crying much harder than any boy of his age has a right to cry when nothing worse than a wetting has happened to him,and would only yell out,"Let me go.Let me go back.I don't like it."

"Let you go?" said Caspian."But where?"

Eustace rushed to the ship's side,as if he expected to see the picture frame hanging above the sea,and perhaps a glimpse of Lucy's bedroom.What he saw was blue waves flecked with foam,and paler blue sky,both spreading without a break to the horizon.Perhaps we can hardly blame him if his heart sank.He was promptly sick.

"Hey!Rynelf," said Caspian to one of the sailors."Bring spiced wine for their Majesties.You'll need something to warm you after that dip." He called Edmund and Lucy their Majesties because they and Peter and Susan had all been Kings and Queens of Narnia long before his time.Narnian time flows differently from ours.If you spent a hundred years in Narnia,you would still come back to our world at the very same hour of the very same day on which you left.And then,if you went back to Narnia after spending a week here,you might find that a thousand Narnian years had passed,or only a day,or no time at all.You never know till you get there.Consequently,when the Pevensie children had returned to Narnia last time for their second visit,it was(for the Narnians)as if King Arthur came back to Britain,as some people say he will.And I say the sooner the better.

Rynelf returned with the spiced wine steaming in a flagon,and four silver cups.It was just what one wanted,and as Lucy and Edmund sipped it they could feel the warmth going right down to their toes.But Eustace made faces and spluttered and spat it out and was sick again and began to cry again and asked if they hadn't any Plumptree's Vitaminized Nerve Food and could it be made with distilled water and anyway he insisted on being put ashore at the next station.

"This is a merry shipmate you've brought us,Brother," whispered Caspian to Edmund with a chuckle；but before he could say anything more,Eustace burst out again.

"Oh!Ugh!What on earth's that?Take it away,the horrid thing."

He really had some excuse this time for feeling a little surprised.Something very curious indeed had come out of the cabin in the poop and was slowly approaching them.You might call it-and indeed it was-a Mouse.But then it was a Mouse on its hind legs and stood about two feet high.A thin band of gold passed round its head under one ear and over the other and in this was stuck a long crimson feather.(As the Mouse's fur was very dark,almost black,the effect was bold and striking.)Its left paw rested on the hilt of a sword very nearly as long as its tail.Its balance,as it paced gravely along the swaying deck,was perfect,and its manners courtly.Lucy and Edmund recognized it at once-Reepicheep,the most valiant of all the Talking Beasts of Narnia,and the Chief Mouse.It had won undying glory in the second Battle of Beruna.Lucy longed,as she had always done,to take Reepicheep up in her arms and cuddle him.But this,as she well knew,was a pleasure she could never have：it would have offended him deeply.Instead,she went down on one knee to talk to him.

Reepicheep put forward his left leg,drew back his right,bowed,kissed her hand,straightened himself,twirled his whiskers,and said in his shrill,piping voice：

"My humble duty to your Majesty.And to King Edmund,too."(Here he bowed again.)"Nothing except your Majesties' presence was lacking to this glorious venture."

"Ugh,take it away," wailed Eustace."I hate mice.And I never could bear performing animals.They're silly and vulgar and-and sentimental."

"Am I to understand," said Reepicheep to Lucy after a long stare at Eustace,"that this singularly discourteous person is under your Majesty's protection?Because,if not—"

At this moment Lucy and Edmund both sneezed.

"What a fool I am to keep you all standing here in your wet things," said Caspian."Come on below and get changed.I'll give you my cabin of course,Lucy,but I'm afraid we have no women's clothes on board.You'll have to make do with some of mine.Lead the way,Reepicheep,like a good fellow."

"To the convenience of a lady," said Reepicheep,"even a question of honour must give way-at least for the moment—" and here he looked very hard at Eustace.But Caspian hustled them on and in a few minutes Lucy found herself passing through the door into the stern cabin.She fell in love with it at once-the three square windows that looked out on the blue,swirling water astern,the low cushioned benches round three sides of the table,the swinging silver lamp overhead(Dwarfs' work,she knew at once by its exquisite delicacy)and the flat gold image of Asian the Lion on the forward wall above the door.All this she took in in a flash,for Caspian immediately opened a door on the starboard side,and said,"This'll be your room,Lucy.I'll just get some dry things for myself-he was rummaging in one of the lockers while he spoke-"and then leave you to change.If you'll fling your wet things outside the door I'll get them taken to the galley to be dried."

Lucy found herself as much at home as if she had been in Caspian's cabin for weeks,and the motion of the ship did not worry her,for in the old days when she had been a queen in Narnia she had done a good deal of voyaging.The cabin was very tiny but bright with painted panels(all birds and beasts and crimson dragons and vines)and spotlessly clean.Caspian's clothes were too big for her,but she could manage.His shoes,sandals and sea-boots were hopelessly big but she did not mind going barefoot on board ship.When she had finished dressing she looked out of her window at the water rushing past and took a long deep breath.She felt quite sure they were in for a lovely time.

CHAPTER 2

On Board the Dawn Treader

"Ah,there you are,Lucy," said Caspian.

"We were just waiting for you.This is my captain,the Lord Drinian."

A dark-haired man went down on one knee and kissed her hand.The only others present were Reepicheep and Edmund.

"Where is Eustace?" asked Lucy.

"In bed," said Edmund,"and I don't think we can do anything for him.It only makes him worse if you try to be nice to him."

"Meanwhile," said Caspian,"we want to talk."

"By Jove,we do," said Edmund."And first,about time.It's a year ago by our time since we left you just before your coronation.How long has it been in Narnia?"

"Exactly three years," said Caspian.

"All going well?" asked Edmund.

"You don't suppose I'd have left my kingdom and put to sea unless all was well," answered the King."It couldn't be better.There's no trouble at all now between Telmarines,Dwarfs,Talking Beasts,Fauns and the rest.And we gave those troublesome giants on the frontier such a good beating last summer that they pay us tribute now.And I had an excellent person to leave as Regent while I'm away-Trumpkin,the Dwarf.You remember him?"

"Dear Trumpkin," said Lucy,"of course I do.You couldn't have made a better choice."

"Loyal as a badger,Ma'am,and valiant as — as a Mouse," said Drinian.He had been going to say "as a lion" but had noticed Reepicheep's eyes fixed on him.

"And where are we heading for?" asked Edmund.

"Well," said Caspian,"that's rather a long story.Perhaps you remember that when I was a child my usurping uncle Miraz got rid of seven friends of my father's(who might have taken my part)by sending them off to explore the unknown Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands."

"Yes," said Lucy,"and none of them ever came back."

"Right.Well,on my coronation day,with Asian's approval,I swore an oath that,if once I established peace in Narnia,I would sail east myself for a year and a day to find my father's friends or to learn of their deaths and avenge them if I could.These were their names — the Lord Revilian,the Lord Bern,the Lord Argoz,the Lord Mavramorn,the Lord Octesian,the Lord Restimar,and-oh,that other one who's so hard to remember."

'The Lord Rhoop,Sire," said Drinian.

"Rhoop,Rhoop,of course," said Caspian."That is my main intention.But Reepicheep here has an even higher hope." Everyone's eyes turned to the Mouse.

"As high as my spirit," it said."Though perhaps as small as my stature.Why should we not come to the very eastern end of the world?And what might we find there?I expect to find Asian's own country.It is always from the east,across the sea,that the great Lion comes to us."

"I say,that is an idea," said Edmund in an awed voice.

"But do you think," said Lucy,"Asian's country would be that sort of country-I mean,the sort you could ever sail to?"

"I do not know,Madam," said Reepicheep."But there is this.When I was in my cradle,a wood woman,a Dryad,spoke this verse over me：

Where sky and water meet,

Where the waves grow sweet,

Doubt not,Reepicheep,

To find all you seek,

There is the utter East.

"I do not know what it means.But the spell of it has been on me all my life."

After a short silence Lucy asked,"And where are we now,Caspian?"

"The Captain can tell you better than I," said Caspian,so Drinian got out his chart and spread it on the table.

'That's our position," he said,laying his finger on it."Or was at noon today.We had a fair wind from Cair Paravel and stood a little north for Galma,which we made on the next day.We were in port for a week,for the Duke of Galma made a great tournament for His Majesty and there he unhorsed many knights—"

"And got a few nasty falls myself,Drinian.Some of the bruises are there still," put in Caspian.

"—and unhorsed many knights," repeated Drinian with a grin."We thought the Duke would have been pleased if the King's Majesty would have married his daughter,but nothing came of that—"

"Squints,and has freckles," said Caspian.

"Oh,poor girl," said Lucy.

"And we sailed from Galma," continued Drinian,"and ran into a calm for the best part of two days and had to row,and then had wind again and did not make Terebinthia till the fourth day from Galma.And there their King sent out a warning not to land for there was sickness in Terebinthia,but we doubled the cape and put in at a little creek far from the city and watered.Then we had to lie off for three days before we got a south-east wind and stood out for Seven Isles.The third day out a pirate(Terebinthian by her rig)overhauled us,but when she saw us well armed she stood off after some shooting of arrows on either part—"

"And we ought to have given her chase and boarded her and hanged every mother's son of them," said Reepicheep.

"—And in five days more we were in sight of Muil which,as you know,is the westernmost of the Seven Isles.Then we rowed through the straits and came about sundown into Redhaven on the isle of Brenn,where we were very lovingly feasted and had victuals and water at will.We left Redhaven six days ago and have made marvellously good speed,so that I hope to see the Lone Islands the day after tomorrow.The sum is,we are now nearly thirty days at sea and have sailed more than four hundred leagues from Narnia."

"And after the Lone Islands?" said Lucy.

"No one knows,your Majesty," answered Drinian."Unless the Lone Islanders themselves can tell us."

"They couldn't in our days," said Edmund.

"Then," said Reepicheep,"it is after the Lone Islands that the adventure really begins."

Caspian now suggested that they might like to be shown over the ship before supper,but Lucy's conscience smote her and she said,"I think I really must go and see Eustace.Seasickness is horrid,you know.If I had my old cordial with me I could cure him."

"But you have," said Caspian."I'd quite forgotten about it.As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it-if you think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness."

"It'll only take a drop," said Lucy.

Caspian opened one of the lockers beneath the bench and brought out the beautiful little diamond flask which Lucy remembered so well."Take back your own,Queen," he said.They then left the cabin and went out into the sunshine.

In the deck there were two large,long hatches,fore and aft of the mast,and both open,as they always were in fair weather,to let light and air into the belly of the ship.Caspian led them down a ladder into the after hatch.Here they found themselves in a place where benches for rowing ran from side to side and the light came in through the oar-holes and danced on the roof.Of course Caspian's ship was not that horrible thing,a galley rowed by slaves.Oars were used only when wind failed or for getting in and out of harbour and everyone(except Reepicheep whose legs were too short)had often taken a turn.At each side of the ship the space under the benches was left clear for the rowers' feet,but all down the centre there was a kind of pit which went down to the very keel and this was filled with all kinds of things-sacks of flour,casks of water and beer,barrels of pork,jars of honey,skin bottles of wine,apples,nuts,cheeses,biscuits,turnips,sides of bacon.From the roof-that is,from the under side of the deck-hung hams and strings of onions,and also the men of the watch off-duty in their hammocks.Caspian led them aft,stepping from bench to bench；at least,it was stepping for him,and something between a step and a jump for Lucy,and a real long jump for Reepicheep.In this way they came to a partition with a door in it.Caspian opened the door and led them into a cabin which filled the stern underneath the deck cabins in the poop.It was of course not so nice.It was very low and the sides sloped together as they went down so that there was hardly any floor；and though it had windows of thick glass,they were not made to open because they were under water.In fact at this very moment,as the ship pitched,they were alternately golden with sunlight and dim green with the sea.

"You and I must lodge here,Edmund," said Caspian."We'll leave your kinsman the bunk and sling hammocks for ourselves."

"I beseech your Majesty—" said Drinian.

"No,no,shipmate," said Caspian,"we have argued all that out already.You and Rhince"(Rhince was the mate)"are sailing the ship and will have cares and labours many a night when we are singing catches or telling stories,so you and he must have the port cabin above.King Edmund and I can lie very snug here below.But how is the stranger?"

Eustace,very green in the face,scowled and asked whether there was any sign of the storm getting less.But Caspian said,"What storm?" and Drinian burst out laughing.

"Storm,young master!" he roared."This is as fair weather as a man could ask for."

"Who's that?" said Eustace irritably."Send him away.His voice goes through my head."

"I've brought you something that will make you feel better,Eustace," said Lucy.

"Oh,go away and leave me alone," growled Eustace.But he took a drop from her flask,and though he said it was beastly stuff(the smell in the cabin when she opened it was delicious),it is certain that his face came the right colour a few moments after he had swallowed it,and he must have felt better because,instead of wailing about the storm and his head,he began demanding to be put ashore and said that at the first port he would "lodge a disposition" against them all with the British Consul.But when Reepicheep asked what a disposition was and how you lodged it(Reepicheep thought it was some new way of arranging a single combat)Eustace could only reply,"Fancy not knowing that." In the end they succeeded in convincing Eustace that they were already sailing as fast as they could towards the nearest land they knew,and that they had no more power of sending him back to Cambridge-which was where Uncle Harold lived-than of sending him to the moon.After that he sulkily agreed to put on the fresh clothes which had been put out for him and come on deck.

Caspian now showed them over the ship,though indeed they had seen most of it already.They went up on the forecastle and saw the look-out man standing on a little shelf inside the gilded dragon's neck and peering through its open mouth.Inside the forecastle was the galley(or ship's kitchen)and quarters for such people as the boatswain,the carpenter,the cook and the master archer.If you think it odd to have the galley in the bows and imagine the smoke from its chimney streaming back over the ship,that is because you are thinking of steamships where there is always a headwind.On a sailing ship the wind is coming from behind,and anything smelly is put as far forward as possible.They were taken up to the fighting top,and at first it was rather alarming to rock to and fro there and see the deck looking small and far away beneath.You realized that if you fell there was no particular reason why you should fall on board rather than in the sea.Then they were taken to the poop,where Rhince was on duty with another man at the great tiller,and behind that the dragon's tail rose up,covered with gilding,and round inside it ran a little bench.The name of the ship was Dawn Treader.She was only a little bit of a thing compared with one of our ships,or even with the cogs,dromonds,carracks and galleons which Narnia had owned when Lucy and Edmund had reigned there under Peter as the High King,for nearly all navigation had died out in the reigns of Caspian's ancestors.When his uncle,Miraz the usurper,had sent the seven lords to sea,they had had to buy a Galmian ship and man it with hired Galmian sailors.But now Caspian had begun to teach the Narnians to be sea-faring folk once more,and the Dawn Treader was the finest ship he had built yet.She was so small that,forward of the mast,there was hardly any deck room between the central hatch and the ship's boat on one side and the hen-coop(Lucy fed the hens)on the other.But she was a beauty of her kind,a "lady",as sailors say,her lines perfect,her colours pure,and every spar and rope and pin lovingly made.Eustace of course would be pleased with nothing,and kept on boasting about liners and motor-boats and aeroplanes and submarines("As if he knew anything about them," muttered Edmund),but the other two were delighted with the Dawn Treader,and when they returned aft to the cabin and supper,and saw the whole western sky lit up with an immense crimson sunset,and felt the quiver of the ship,and tasted the salt on their lips,and thought of unknown lands on the Eastern rim of the world,Lucy felt that she was almost too happy to speak.

What Eustace thought had best be told in his own words,for when they all got their clothes back,dried,next morning,he at once got out a little black notebook and a pencil and started to keep a diary.He always had this notebook with him and kept a record of his marks in it,for though he didn't care much about any subject for its own sake,he cared a great deal about marks and would even go to people and say,"I got so much.What did you get?" But as he didn't seem likely to get many marks on the Dawn Treader he now started a diary.This was the first entry：

August 7.Have now been twenty-four hours on this ghastly boat if it isn't a dream.All the time a frightful storm has been raging(it's a good thing I'm not seasick).Huge waves keep coming in over the front and I have seen the boat nearly go under any number of times.All the others pretend to take no notice of this,either from swank or because Harold says one of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to Facts.It's madness to come out into the sea in a rotten little thing like this.Not much bigger than a lifeboat.And,of course,absolutely primitive indoors.No proper saloon,no radio,no bathrooms,no deck-chairs.I was dragged all over it yesterday evening and it would make anyone sick to hear Caspian showing off his funny little toy boat as if it was the Queen Mary.I tried to tell him what real ships are like,but he's too dense.E.and L.,of course,didn't back me up.I suppose a kid like L.doesn't realize the danger and E.is buttering up C.as everyone does here.They call him a king.I said I was a republican but he had to ask me what that meant!He doesn't seem to know anything at all.Needless to say I've been put in the worst cabin of the boat,a perfect dungeon,and Lucy has been given a whole room on deck to herself,almost a nice room compared with the rest of this place.C.says that's because she's a girl.I tried to make him see what Alberta says,that all that sort of thing is really lowering girls,but he was too dense.Still,he might see that I shall be ill if I'm kept in that hole any longer.E.says we mustn't grumble because C.is sharing it with us himself to make room for L.As if that didn't make it more crowded and far worse.Nearly forgot to say that there is also a kind of Mouse thing that gives everyone the most frightful cheek.The others can put up with it if they like but I shall twist his tail pretty soon if he tries it on me.The food is frightful too.

The trouble between Eustace and Reepicheep arrived even sooner than might have been expected.Before dinner the next day,when the others were sitting round the table waiting(being at sea gives one a magnificent appetite),Eustace came rushing in,wringing his hands and shouting out：

'That little brute has half killed me.I insist on it being kept under control.I could bring an action against you,Caspian.I could order you to have it destroyed."

At the same moment Reepicheep appeared.His sword was drawn and his whiskers looked very fierce but he was as polite as ever.

"I ask your pardons all," he said,"and especially her Majesty's.If I had known that he would take refuge here I would have awaited a more reasonable time for his correction."

"What on earth's up?" asked Edmund.

What had really happened was this.Reepicheep,who never felt that the ship was getting on fast enough,loved to sit on the bulwarks far forward just beside the dragon's head,gazing out at the eastern horizon and singing softly in his little chirruping voice the song the Dryad had made for him.He never held on to anything,however the ship pitched,and kept his balance with perfect ease；perhaps his long tail,hanging down to the deck inside the bulwarks,made this easier.Everyone on board was familiar with this habit,and the sailors liked it because when one was on look-out duty it gave one somebody to talk to.Why exactly Eustace had slipped and reeled and stumbled all the way forward to the forecastle(he had not yet got his sea-legs)I never heard.Perhaps he hoped he would see land,or perhaps he wanted to hang about the galley and scrounge something.Anyway,as soon as he saw that long tail hanging down-and perhaps it was rather tempting-he thought it would be delightful to catch hold of it,swing Reepicheep round by it once or twice upside-down,then run away and laugh.At first the plan seemed to work beautifully.The Mouse was not much heavier than a very large cat.Eustace had him off the rail in a trice and very silly he looked(thought Eustace)with his little limbs all splayed out and his mouth open.But unfortunately Reepicheep,who had fought for his life many a time,never lost his head even for a moment.Nor his skill.It is not very easy to draw one's sword when one is swinging round in the air by one's tail,but he did.And the next thing Eustace knew was two agonizing jabs in his hand which made him let go of the tail；and the next thing after that was that the Mouse had picked itself up again as if it were a ball bouncing off the deck,and there it was facing him,and a horrid long,bright,sharp thing like a skewer was waving to and fro within an inch of his stomach.(This doesn't count as below the belt for mice in Narnia because they can hardly be expected to reach higher.)

"Stop it," spluttered Eustace,"go away.Put that thing away.It's not safe.Stop it,I say.I'll tell Caspian.I'll have you muzzled and tied up."

"Why do you not draw your own sword,poltroon?" cheeped the Mouse."Draw and fight or I'll beat you black and blue with the flat."

"I haven't got one," said Eustace."I'm a pacifist.I don't believe in fighting."

"Do I understand," said Reepicheep,withdrawing his sword for a moment and speaking very sternly,"that you do not intend to give me satisfaction?"

"I don't know what you mean," said Eustace,nursing his hand."If you don't know how to take a joke I shan't bother my head about you."

"Then take that," said Reepicheep,"and that-to teach you manners-and the respect due to a knight-and a Mouse-and a Mouse's tail—" and at each word he gave Eustace a blow with the side of his rapier,which was thin,fine,dwarf-tempered steel,and as supple and effective as a birch rod.Eustace(of course)was at a school where they didn't have corporal punishment,so the sensation was quite new to him.That was why,in spite of having no sea-legs,it took him less than a minute to get off that forecastle and cover the whole length of the deck and burst in at the cabin door-still hotly pursued by Reepicheep.Indeed it seemed to Eustace that the rapier as well as the pursuit was hot.It might have been red-hot by the feel.

There was not much difficulty in settling the matter once Eustace realized that everyone took the idea of a duel seriously and heard Caspian offering to lend him a sword,and Drinian and Edmund discussing whether he ought to be handicapped in some way to make up for his being so much bigger than Reepicheep.He apologized sulkily and went off with Lucy to have his hand bathed and bandaged and then went to his bunk.He was careful to lie on his side.

CHAPTER 3

The Lone Islands

Land in sight," shouted the man in the bows.Lucy,who had been talking to Rhince on the poop,came pattering down the ladder and raced forward.As she went she was joined by Edmund,and they found Caspian,Drinian and Reepicheep already on the forecastle.It was a coldish morning,the sky very pale and the sea very dark blue with little white caps of foam,and there,a little way off on the starboard bow,was the nearest of the Lone Islands,Felimath,like a low green hill in the sea,and behind it,further off,the grey slopes of its sister Doom.

"Same old Felimath!Same old Doom," said Lucy,clapping her hands."Oh-Edmund,how long it is since you and I saw them last!"

"I've never understood why they belong to Narnia," said Caspian."Did Peter the High King conquer them?"

"Oh,no," said Edmund."They were Narnian before our time-in the days of the White Witch."

(By the way,I have never yet heard how these remote islands became attached to the crown of Narnia；if I ever do,and if the story is at all interesting,I may put it in some other book.)

"Are we to put in here,Sire?" asked Drinian.

"I shouldn't think it would be much good landing on Felimath," said Edmund."It was almost uninhabited in our days and it looks as if it is the same still.The people lived mostly on Doom and a little on Avra-that's the third one；you can't see it yet.They only kept sheep on Felimath."

'Then we'll have to double that cape,I suppose," said Drinian,"and land on Doom.That'll mean rowing."

"I'm sorry we're not landing on Felimath," said Lucy."I'd like to walk there again.It was so lonely-a nice kind of loneliness,and all grass and clover and soft sea air."

"I'd love to stretch my legs now too," said Caspian."I tell you what.Why shouldn't we go ashore in the boat and send it back,and then we could walk across Felimath and let the Dawn Treader pick us up on the other side?"

If Caspian had been as experienced then as he became later on in this voyage he would not have made this suggestion；but at the moment it seemed an excellent one."Oh,do let's," said Lucy.

"You'll come,will you?" said Caspian to Eustace,who had come on deck with his hand bandaged.

"Anything to get off this blasted boat," said Eustace.

"Blasted?" said Drinian."How do you mean?"

"In a civilized country like where I come from," said Eustace,"the ships are so big that when you're inside you wouldn't know you were at sea at all."

"In that case you might just as well stay ashore," said Caspian."Will you tell them to lower the boat,Drinian?"

The King,the Mouse,the two Pevensies,and Eustace all got into the boat and were pulled to the beach of Felimath.When the boat had left them and was being rowed back they all turned and looked round.They were surprised at how small the Dawn Treader looked.

Lucy was of course barefoot,having kicked off her shoes while swimming,but that is no hardship if one is going to walk on downy turf.It was delightful to be ashore again and to smell the earth and grass,even if at first the ground seemed to be pitching up and down like a ship,as it usually does for a while if one has been at sea.It was much warmer here than it had been on board and Lucy found the sand pleasant to her feet as they crossed it.There was a lark singing.

They struck inland and up a fairly steep,though low,hill.At the top of course they looked back,and there was the Dawn Treader shining like a great bright insect and crawling slowly northwestward with her oars.Then they went over the ridge and could see her no longer.

Doom now lay before them,divided from Felimath by a channel about a mile wide；behind it and to the left lay Avra.The little white town of Narrowhaven on Doom was easily seen.

"Hullo!What's this?" said Edmund suddenly.

In the green valley to which they were descending,six or seven rough-looking men,all armed,were sitting by a tree.

"Don't tell them who we are," said Caspian.

"And pray,your Majesty,why not?" said Reepicheep,who had consented to ride on Lucy's shoulder.

"It just occurred to me," replied Caspian,"that no one here can have heard from Narnia for a long time.It's just possible they may not still acknowledge our over-lordship.In which case it might not be quite safe to be known as the King."

"We have our swords,Sire," said Reepicheep.

"Yes,Reep,I know we have," said Caspian."But if it is a question of re-conquering the three islands,I'd prefer to come back with a rather larger army."

By this time they were quite close to the strangers,one of whom-a big black-haired fellow— shouted out,"A good morning to you."

"And a good morning to you," said Caspian."Is there still a Governor of the Lone Islands?"

'To be sure there is," said the man,"Governor Gumpas.His Sufficiency is at Narrowhaven.But you'll stay and drink with us."

Caspian thanked him,though neither he nor the others much liked the look of their new acquaintance,and all of them sat down.But hardly had they raised their cups to their lips when the black-haired man nodded to his companions and,as quick as lightning,all the five visitors found themselves wrapped in strong arms.There was a moment's struggle but all the advantages were on one side,and soon everyone was disarmed and had their hands tied behind their backs-except Reepicheep,writhing in his captor's grip and biting furiously.

"Careful with that beast,Tacks," said the Leader."Don't damage him.He'll fetch the best price of the lot,I shouldn't wonder."

"Coward!Poltroon!" squeaked Reepicheep."Give me my sword and free my paws if you dare."

"Whew!" whistled the slave merchant(for that is what he was)."It can talk!Well,I never did.Blowed if I take less than two hundred crescents for him." The Calormen crescent,which is the chief coin in those parts,is worth about a third of a pound.

"So that's what you are," said Caspian."A kidnapper and slaver.I hope you're proud of it."

"Now,now,now,now," said the slaver."Don't you start any jaw.The easier you take it,the pleasanter all round,see?I don't do this for fun.I've got my living to make same as anyone else."

"Where will you take us?" asked Lucy,getting the words out with some difficulty.

"Over to Narrowhaven," said the slaver."For market day tomorrow."

"Is there a British Consul there?" asked Eustace.

"Is there a which?" said the man.

But long before Eustace was tired of trying to explain,the slaver simply said,"Well,I've had enough of this jabber.The Mouse is a fair treat but this one would talk the hind leg off a donkey.Off we go,mates."

Then the four human prisoners were roped together,not cruelly but securely,and made to march down to the shore.Reepicheep was carried.He had stopped biting on a threat of having his mouth tied up,but he had a great deal to say,and Lucy really wondered how any man could bear to have the things said to him which were said to the slave dealer by the Mouse.But the slave dealer,far from objecting,only said,"Go on" whenever Reepicheep paused for breath,occasionally adding,"It's as good as a play," or,"Blimey,you can't help almost thinking it knows what it's saying!" or,"Was it one of you what trained it?" This so infuriated Reepicheep that in the end the number of things he thought of saying all at once nearly suffocated him and he became silent.

When they got down to the shore that looked towards Doom they found a little village and a longboat on the beach and,lying a little further out,a dirty,bedraggled-looking ship.

"Now,youngsters," said the slave dealer,'let's have no fuss and then you'll have nothing to cry about.All aboard."

At that moment a fine-looking bearded man came out of one of the houses(an inn,I think)and said：

"Well,Pug.More of your usual wares?"

The slaver,whose name seemed to be Pug,bowed very low,and said in a wheedling kind of voice,"Yes,if it please your Lordship."

"How much do you want for that boy?" asked the other,pointing to Caspian.

"Ah," said Pug,"I knew your Lordship would pick on the best.No deceiving your Lordship with anything second-rate.That boy,now,I've taken a fancy to him myself.Got kind of fond of him,I have.I'm that tender-hearted I didn't ever ought to have taken up this job.Still,to a customer like your Lordship—"

"Tell me your price,carrion," said the Lord sternly."Do you think I want to listen to the rigmarole of your filthy trade?"

"Three hundred crescents,my Lord,to your honourable Lordship,but to anyone else—"

"I'll give you a hundred and fifty."

"Oh,please,please," broke in Lucy."Don't separate us,whatever you do.You don't know—" But then she stopped for she saw that Caspian didn't even now want to be known.

"A hundred and fifty,then," said the Lord."As for you,little maiden,I am sorry I cannot buy you all.Unrope my boy,Pug.And look-treat these others well while they are in your hands or it'll be the worse for you."

"Well!" said Pug."Now who ever heard of a gentleman in my way of business who treated his stock better than what I do?Well?Why,I treat'em like my own children."

"That's likely enough to be true," said the other grimly.

The dreadful moment had now come.Caspian was untied and his new master said,'This way,lad," and Lucy burst into tears and Edmund looked very blank.But Caspian looked over his shoulder and said,"Cheer up.I'm sure it will come all right in the end.So long."

"Now,missie," said Pug."Don't you start taking on and spoiling your looks for the market tomorrow.You be a good girl and then you won't have nothing to cry about,see?"

Then they were rowed out to the slave-ship and taken below into a long,rather dark place,none too clean,where they found many other unfortunate prisoners；for Pug was of course a pirate and had just returned from cruising among the islands and capturing what he could.The children didn't meet anyone whom they knew；the prisoners were mostly Galmians and Terebinthians.And there they sat in the straw and wondered what was happening to Caspian,and tried to stop Eustace talking as if everyone except himself was to blame.

Meanwhile Caspian was having a much more interesting time.The man who had bought him led him down a little lane between two of the village houses and so out into an open place behind the village.Then he turned and faced him.

"You needn't be afraid of me,boy," he said."I'll treat you well.I bought you for your face.You reminded me of someone."

"May I ask of whom,my Lord?" said Caspian.

"You remind me of my master,King Caspian of Narnia."

Then Caspian decided to risk everything on one stroke.

"My Lord," he said,"I am your master.I am Caspian,King of Narnia."

"You make very free," said the other."How shall I know this is true?"

"Firstly by my face," said Caspian."Secondly because I know within six guesses who you are.You are one of those seven lords of Narnia whom my Uncle Miraz sent to sea and whom I have come out to look for-Argoz,Bern,Octesian,Restimar,Mavramorn,or-or — I have forgotten the others.And finally,if your Lordship will give me a sword I will prove on any man's body in clean battle that I am Caspian,the son of Caspian,lawful King of Narnia,Lord of Cair Paravel,and Emperor of the Lone Islands."

"By heaven," exclaimed the man,"it is his father's very voice and trick of speech.My liege-your Majesty—" And there in the field he knelt and kissed the King's hand.

"The moneys your Lordship disbursed for our person will be made good from our own treasury," said Caspian.

'They're not in Pug's purse yet,Sire," said the Lord Bern,for he it was."And never will be,I trust.I have moved his Sufficiency the Governor a hundred times to crush this vile traffic in man's flesh."

"My Lord Bern," said Caspian,"we must talk of the state of these Islands.But first,what is your Lordship's own story?"

"Short enough,Sire," said Bern."I came thus far with my six fellows,loved a girl of the islands,and felt I had had enough of the sea.And there was no purpose in returning to Narnia while your Majesty's uncle held the reins.So I married and have lived here ever since."

"And what is this Governor,this Gumpas,like?Does he still acknowledge the King of Narnia for his lord?"

"In words,yes.All is done in the King's name.But he would not be best pleased to find a real,live King of Narnia coming in upon him.And if your Majesty came before him alone and unarmed-well,he would not deny his allegiance,but he would pretend to disbelieve you.Your Grace's life would be in danger.What following has your Majesty in these waters?"

"There is my ship just rounding the point," said Caspian."We are about thirty swords if it came to fighting.Shall we not have my ship in and fall upon Pug and free my friends whom he holds captive?"

"Not by my counsel," said Bern."As soon as there was a fight,two or three ships would put out from Narrowhaven to rescue Pug.Your Majesty must work by a show of more power than you really have,and by the terror of the King's name.It must not come to plain battle.Gumpas is a chickenhearted man and can be overawed."

After a little more conversation Caspian and Bern walked down to the coast a little west of the village,and there Caspian winded his horn.(This was not the great magic horn of Narnia,Queen Susan's Horn：he had left that at home for his regent Trumpkin to use if any great need fell upon the land in the King's absence.)Drinian,who was on the look-out for a signal,recognized the royal horn at once and the Dawn Treader began standing in to shore.Then the boat put off again and in a few moments Caspian and the Lord Bern were on deck explaining the situation to Drinian.He,just like Caspian,wanted to lay the Dawn Treader alongside the slaveship at once and board her,but Bern made the same objection.

"Steer straight down this channel,Captain," said Bern,"and then round to Avra where my own estates are.But first run up the King's banner,hang out all the shields,and send as many men to the fighting top as you can.And about five bowshots hence,when you get open sea on your port bow,run up a few signals."

"Signals?To whom?" said Drinian.

"Why,to all the other ships we haven't got but which it might be well that Gumpas thinks we have."

"Oh,I see," said Drinian,rubbing his hands."And they'll read our signals.What shall I say?Whole fleet round the South of Avra and assemble at—?"

"Bemstead," said the Lord Bern."That'll do excellently.Their whole journey-if there were any ships-would be out of sight from Narrowhaven."

Caspian was sorry for the others languishing in the hold of Pug's slave-ship,but he could not help finding the rest of that day enjoyable.Late in the afternoon(for they had to do all by oar),having turned to starboard round the northeast end of Doorn and port again round the point of Avra,they entered into a good harbour on Avra's southern shore where Bern's pleasant lands sloped down to the water's edge.Bern's people,many of whom they saw working in the fields,were all freemen and it was a happy and prosperous fief.Here they all went ashore and were royally feasted in a low,pillared house overlooking the bay.Bern and his gracious wife and merry daughters made them good cheer.But after dark Bern sent a messenger over by boat to Doom to order some preparations(he did not say exactly what)for the following day.

CHAPTER 4

What Caspian Did There

Next morning the Lord Bern called his guests early,and after breakfast he asked Caspian to order every man he had into full armour."And above all," he added,"let everything be as trim and scoured as if it were the morning of the first battle in a great war between noble kings with all the world looking on." This was done；and then in three boatloads Caspian and his people,and Bern with a few of his,put out for Narrowhaven.The king's flag flew in the stern of his boat and his trumpeter was with him.

When they reached the jetty at Narrowhaven,Caspian found a considerable crowd assembled to meet them."This is what I sent word about last night," said Bern."They are all friends of mine and honest people." And as soon as Caspian stepped ashore the crowd broke out into hurrahs and shouts of,"Narnia!Narnia!Long live the King." At the same moment-and this was also due to Bern's messengers-bells began ringing from many parts of the town.Then Caspian caused his banner to be advanced and his trumpet to be blown,and every man drew his sword and set his face into a joyful sternness,and they marched up the street so that the street shook,and their armour shone(for it was a sunny morning)so that one could hardly look at it steadily.

At first,the only people who cheered were those who had been warned by Bern's messenger and knew what was happening and wanted it to happen.But then all the children joined in because they liked a procession and had seen very few.And then all the schoolboys joined in because they also liked processions and felt that the more noise and disturbance there was,the less likely they would be to have any school that morning.And then all the old women put their heads out of doors and windows and began chattering and cheering because it was a king,and what is a governor compared with that?And all the young women joined in for the same reason and also because Caspian and Drinian and the rest were so handsome.And then all the young men came to see what the young women were looking at,so that by the time Caspian reached the castle gates,nearly the whole town was shouting；and where Gumpas sat in the castle,muddling and messing about with accounts and forms and rules and regulations,he heard the noise.

At the castle gate Caspian's trumpeter blew a blast and cried,"Open for the King of Narnia,come to visit his trusty and well-beloved servant the governor of the Lone Islands." In those days everything in the islands was done in a slovenly,slouching manner.Only the little postern opened,and out came a tousled fellow with a dirty old hat on his head instead of a helmet,and a rusty old pike in his hand.He blinked at the flashing figures before him."Cam-seez-fishansy," he mumbled(which was his way of saying,"You can't see his Sufficiency")."No interviews without 'pointments'cept 'tween nine 'n' ten p.m.second Saturday every month."

"Uncover before Narnia,you dog," thundered the Lord Bern,and dealt him a rap with his gauntleted hand which sent his hat flying from his head.

"'Ere?Wot's it all about?" began the door-keeper,but no one took any notice of him.Two of Caspian's men stepped through the postern and after some struggling with bars and bolts(for everything was rusty),flung both wings of the gate wide open.Then the King and his followers strode into the courtyard.Here a number of the governor's guards were lounging about and several more(they were mostly wiping their mouths)came tumbling out of various doorways.Though their armour was in a disgraceful condition,these were fellows who might have fought if they had been led or had known what was happening；so this was the dangerous moment.Caspian gave them no time to think.

"Where is the captain?" he asked.

"I am,more or less,if you know what I mean," said a languid and rather dandified young person without any armour at all.

"It is our wish," said Caspian,"that our royal visitation to our realm of the Lone Islands should,if possible,be an occasion of joy and not of terror to our loyal subjects.If it were not for that,I should have something to say about the state of your men's armour and weapons.As it is,you are pardoned.Command a cask of wine to be opened that your men may drink our health.But at noon tomorrow I wish to see them here in this courtyard looking like men-at-arms and not like vagabonds.See to it on pain of our extreme displeasure."

The captain gaped but Bern immediately cried,'Three cheers for the King," and the soldiers,who had understood about the cask of wine even if they understood nothing else,joined in.Caspian then ordered most of his own men to remain in the courtyard.He,with Bern and Drinian and four others,went into the hall.

Behind a table at the far end with various secretaries about him sat his Sufficiency,the Governor of the Lone Islands.Gumpas was a biliouslooking man with hair that had once been red and was now mostly grey.He glanced up as the strangers entered and then looked down at his papers saying automatically,"No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten p.m.on second Saturdays."

Caspian nodded to Bern and then stood aside.Bern and Drinian took a step forward and each seized one end of the table.They lifted it,and flung it on one side of the hall where it rolled over,scattering a cascade of letters,dossiers,ink-pots,pens,sealing-wax and documents.Then,not roughly but as firmly as if their hands were pincers of steel,they plucked Gumpas out of his chair and deposited him,facing it,about four feet away.Caspian at once sat down in the chair and laid his naked sword across his knees.

"My Lord," said he,fixing his eyes on Gumpas,"you have not given us quite the welcome we expected.I am the King of Narnia."

"Nothing about it in the correspondence," said the governor."Nothing in the minutes.We have not been notified of any such thing.All irregular.Happy to consider any applications—"

"And we are come to enquire into your Sufficiency's conduct of your office," continued Caspian."There are two points especially on which I require an explanation.Firstly I find no record that the tribute due from these Islands to the crown of Narnia has been received for about a hundred and fifty years."

'That would be a question to raise at the Council next month," said Gumpas."If anyone moves that a commission of enquiry be set up to report on the financial history of the islands at the first meeting next year,why then..."

"I also find it very clearly written in our laws," Caspian went on,"that if the tribute is not delivered,the whole debt has to be paid by the Governor of the Lone Islands out of his private purse."

At this Gumpas began to pay real attention."Oh,that's quite out of the question," he said."It is an economic impossibility-er-your Majesty must be joking."

Inside,he was wondering if there were any way of getting rid of these unwelcome visitors.Had he known that Caspian had only one ship and one ship's company with him,he would have spoken soft words for the moment,and hoped to have them all surrounded and killed during the night.But he had seen a ship of war sail down the straits yesterday and seen it signalling,as he supposed,to its consorts.He had not then known it was the King's ship for there was not wind enough to spread the flag out and make the golden lion visible,so he had waited further developments.Now he imagined that Caspian had a whole fleet at Bernstead.It would never have occurred to Gumpas that anyone would walk into Narrowhaven to take the islands with fewer than fifty men；it was certainly not at all the kind of thing he could imagine doing himself.

"Secondly," said Caspian,"I want to know why you have permitted this abominable and unnatural traffic in slaves to grow up here,contrary to the ancient custom and usage of our dominions."

"Necessary,unavoidable," said his Sufficiency."An essential part of the economic development of the islands,I assure you.Our present burst of prosperity depends on it."

"What need have you of slaves?"

"For export,your Majesty.Sell 'em to Calormen mostly；and we have other markets.We are a great centre of the trade."

"In other words," said Caspian,"you don't need them.Tell me what purpose they serve except to put money into the pockets of such as Pug?"

"Your Majesty's tender years," said Gumpas,with what was meant to be a fatherly smile,"hardly make it possible that you should understand the economic problem involved.I have statistics,I have graphs,I have—"

"Tender as my years may be," said Caspian,"I believe I understand the slave trade from within quite as well as your Sufficiency.And I do not see that it brings into the islands meat or bread or beer or wine or timber or cabbages or books or instruments of music or horses or armour or anything else worth having.But whether it does or not,it must be stopped."

"But that would be putting the clock back," gasped the Governor."Have you no idea of progress,of development?"

"I have seen them both in an egg," said Caspian."We call it 'Going Bad' in Narnia.This trade must stop."

"I can take no responsibility for any such measure," said Gumpas.

"Very well,then," answered Caspian,"we relieve you of your office.My Lord Bern,come here." And before Gumpas quite realized what was happening,Bern was kneeling with his hands between the King's hands and taking the oath to govern the Lone Islands in accordance with the old customs,rights,usages and laws of Narnia.And Caspian said,"I think we have had enough of governors," and made Bern a Duke,the Duke of the Lone Islands.

"As for you,my Lord," he said to Gumpas,"I forgive you your debt for the tribute.But before noon tomorrow you and yours must be out of the castle,which is now the Duke's residence."

"Look here,this is all very well," said one of Gumpas's secretaries,"but suppose all you gentlemen stop playacting and we do a little business.The question before us really is—"

"The question is," said the Duke,"whether you and the rest of the rabble will leave without a flogging or with one.You may choose which you prefer."

When all this had been pleasantly settled,Caspian ordered horses,of which there were a few in the castle,though very ill-groomed,and he,with Bern and Drinian and a few others,rode out into the town and made for the slave market.It was a long low building near the harbour and the scene which they found going on inside was very much like any other auction；that is to say,there was a great crowd and Pug,on a platform,was roaring out in a raucous voice：

"Now,gentlemen,lot twenty-three.Fine Terebinthian agricultural labourer,suitable for the mines or the galleys.Under twenty-five years of age.Not a bad tooth in his head.Good,brawny fellow.Take off his shirt,Tacks,and let the gentlemen see.There's muscle for you!Look at the chest on him.Ten crescents from the gentleman in the corner.You must be joking,sir.Fifteen!Eighteen!Eighteen is bid for lot twenty-three.Any advance on eighteen?Twenty-one.Thank you,sir.Twenty-one is bid—"

But Pug stopped and gaped when he saw the mail-clad figures who had clanked up to the platform.

"On your knees,every man of you,to the King of Narnia," said the Duke.Everyone heard the horses jingling and stamping outside and many had heard some rumour of the landing and the events at the castle.Most obeyed.Those who did not were pulled down by their neighbours.Some cheered.

"Your life is forfeit,Pug,for laying hands on our royal person yesterday," said Caspian."But your ignorance is pardoned.The slave trade was forbidden in all our dominions quarter of an hour ago.I declare every slave in this market free."

He held up his hand to check the cheering of the slaves and went on,"Where are my friends?"

"That dear little gel and the nice young gentleman?" said Pug with an ingratiating smile."Why,they were snapped up at once—"

"We're here,we're here,Caspian," cried Lucy and Edmund together and,"At your service,Sire," piped Reepicheep from another corner.They had all been sold but the men who had bought them were staying to bid for other slaves and so they had not yet been taken away.The crowd parted to let the three of them out and there was great handclasping and greeting between them and Caspian.Two merchants of Calormen at once approached.The Calormen have dark faces and long beards.They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans,and they are a wise,wealthy,courteous,cruel and ancient people.They bowed most politely to Caspian and paid him long compliments,all about the fountains of prosperity irrigating the gardens of prudence and virtue — and things like that-but of course what they wanted was the money they had paid.

"That is only fair,sirs," said Caspian."Every man who has bought a slave today must have his money back.Pug,bring out your takings to the last minim."(A minim is the fortieth part of a crescent.)

"Does your good Majesty mean to beggar me?" whined Pug.

"You have lived on broken hearts all your life," said Caspian,"and if you are beggared,it is better to be a beggar than a slave.But where is my other friend?"

"Oh,him?" said Pug."Oh,take him and welcome.Glad to have him off my hands.I've never seen such a drug in the market in all my born days.Priced him at five crescents in the end and even so nobody'd have him.Threw him in free with other lots and still no one would have him.Wouldn't touch him.Wouldn't look at him.Tacks,bring out Sulky."

Thus Eustace was produced,and sulky he certainly looked；for though no one would want to be sold as a slave,it is perhaps even more galling to be a sort of utility slave whom no one will buy.He walked up to Caspian and said,"I see.As usual.Been enjoying yourself somewhere while the rest of us were prisoners.I suppose you haven't even found out about the British Consul.Of course not."

That night they had a great feast in the castle of Narrowhaven and then,"Tomorrow for the beginning of our real adventures!" said Reepicheep when he had made his bows to everyone and went to bed.But it could not really be tomorrow or anything like it.For now they were preparing to leave all known lands and seas behind them,and the fullest preparations had to be made.The Dawn Treader was emptied and drawn on land by eight horses over rollers and every bit of her was gone over by the most skilled shipwrights.Then she was launched again and victualled and watered as full as she could hold-that is to say,for twenty-eight days.Even this,as Edmund noticed with disappointment,only gave them a fortnight's eastward sailing before they had to abandon their quest.

While all this was being done Caspian missed no chance of questioning all the oldest sea captains whom he could find in Narrowhaven to learn if they had any knowledge or even any rumours of land further to the east.He poured out many a flagon of the castle ale to weather-beaten men with short grey beards and clear blue eyes,and many a tall yarn he heard in return.But those who seemed the most truthful could tell of no lands beyond the Lone Islands,and many thought that if you sailed too far east you would come into the surges of a sea without lands that swirled perpetually round the rim of the world-"And that,I reckon,is where your Majesty's friends went to the bottom." The rest had only wild stories of islands inhabited by headless men,floating islands,waterspouts,and a fire that burned along the water.Only one,to Reepicheep's delight,said,"And beyond that,Asian country.But that's beyond the end of the world and you can't get there." But when they questioned him he could only say that he'd heard it from his father.

Bern could only tell them that he had seen his six companions sail away eastward and that nothing had ever been heard of them again.He said this when he and Caspian were standing on the highest point of Avra looking down on the Eastern Ocean."I've often been up here of a morning," said the Duke,"and seen the sun come up out of the sea,and sometimes it looked as if it were only a couple of miles away.And I've wondered about my friends and wondered what there really is behind that horizon.Nothing,most likely,yet I am always half ashamed that I stayed behind.But I wish your Majesty wouldn't go.We may need your help here.This closing the slave market might make a new world；war with Calormen is what I foresee.My liege,think again."

"I have an oath,my lord Duke," said Caspian."And anyway,what could I say to Reepicheep?"

CHAPTER 5

The Storm and What Came of It

It was nearly three weeks after their landing that the Dawn Treader was towed out of Narrowhaven harbour.Very solemn farewells had been spoken and a great crowd had assembled to see her departure.There had been cheers,and tears too,when Caspian made his last speech to the Lone Islanders and parted from the Duke and his family,but as the ship,her purple sail still flapping idly,drew further from the shore,and the sound of Caspian's trumpet from the poop came fainter across the water,everyone became silent.Then she came into the wind.The sail swelled out,the tug cast off and began rowing back,the first real wave ran up under the Dawn Treader's prow,and she was a live ship again.The men off duty went below,Drinian took the first watch on the poop,and she turned her head eastward round the south of Avra.

The next few days were delightful.Lucy thought she was the most fortunate girl in the world as she woke each morning to see the reflections of the sunlit water dancing on the ceiling of her cabin,and looked round on all the nice new things she had got in the Lone Islands-seaboots and buskins and cloaks and jerkins and scarves.And then she would go on deck and take a look from the forecastle at a sea which was a brighter blue each morning and drink in an air that was a little warmer day by day.After that came breakfast and such an appetite as one only has at sea.

She spent a good deal of time sitting on the little bench in the stern playing chess with Reepicheep.It was amusing to see him lifting the pieces,which were far too big for him,with both paws and standing on tiptoe if he made a move near the centre of the board.He was a good player and when he remembered what he was doing he usually won.But every now and then Lucy won because the Mouse did something quite ridiculous like sending a knight into the danger of a queen and castle combined.This happened because he had momentarily forgotten it was a game of chess and was thinking of a real battle and making the knight do what he would certainly have done in its place.For his mind was full of forlorn hopes,death-or-glory charges,and last stands.

But this pleasant time did not last.There came an evening when Lucy,gazing idly astern at the long furrow or wake they were leaving behind them,saw a great rack of clouds building itself up in the west with amazing speed.Then a gap was torn in it and a yellow sunset poured through the gap.All the waves behind them seemed to take on unusual shapes and the sea was a drab or yellowish colour like dirty canvas.The air grew cold.The ship seemed to move uneasily as if she felt danger behind her.The sail would be flat and limp one minute and wildly full the next.While she was noting these things and wondering at a sinister change which had come over the very noise of the wind,Drinian cried,"All hands on deck." In a moment everyone became frantically busy.The hatches were battened down,the galley fire was put out,men went aloft to reef the sail.Before they had finished,the storm struck them.It seemed to Lucy that a great valley in the sea opened just before their bows,and they rushed down into it,deeper down than she would have believed possible.A great grey hill of water,far higher than the mast,rushed to meet them；it looked like certain death but they were tossed to the top of it.Then the ship seemed to spin round.A cataract of water poured over the deck；the poop and forecastle were like two islands with a fierce sea between them.Up aloft the sailors were lying out along the yard desperately trying to get control of the sail.A broken rope stood out sideways in the wind as straight and stiff as if it were a poker.

"Get below,Ma'am," bawled Drinian.And Lucy,knowing that landsmen-and landswomen-are a nuisance to the crew,began to obey.It was not easy.The Dawn Treader was listing terribly to starboard and the deck sloped like the roof of a house.She had to clamber round to the top of the ladder,holding on to the rail,and then stand by while two men climbed up it,and then get down it as best she could.It was as well she was already holding on tight for at the foot of the ladder another wave roared across the deck,up to her shoulders.She was already almost wet through with spray and rain but this was colder.

Then she made a dash for the cabin door and got in and shut out for a moment the appalling sight of the speed with which they were rushing into the dark,but not of course the horrible confusion of creakings,groanings,snappings,clatterings,roarings and boomings which only sounded more alarming below than they had done on the poop.

And all the next day and all the next it went on.It went on till one could hardly even remember a time before it had begun.And there always had to be three men at the tiller and it was as much as three could do to keep any kind of a course.And there always had to be men at the pump.And there was hardly any rest for anyone,and nothing could be cooked and nothing could be dried,and one man was lost overboard,and they never saw the sun.

When it was over,Eustace made the following entry in his diary：

September 3. The first day for ages when I have been able to write.We had been driven before a hurricane for thirteen days and nights.I know that because I kept a careful count,though the others all say it was only twelve.Pleasant to be embarked on a dangerous voyage with people who can't even count right!I have had a ghastly time,up and down enormous waves hour after hour,usually wet to the skin,and not even an attempt at giving us proper meals.Needless to say there's no wireless or even a rocket,so no chance of signalling anyone for help.It all proves what I keep on telling them,the madness of setting out in a rotten little tub like this.It would be bad enough even if one was with decent people instead of fiends in human form.Caspian and Edmund are simply brutal to me.The night we lost our mast(there's only a stump left now),though I was not at all well,they forced me to come on deck and work like a slave.Lucy shoved her oar in by saying that Reepicheep was longing to go only he was too small.I wonder she doesn't see that everything that little beast does is all for the sake of showing off Even at her age she ought to have that amount of sense.Today the beastly boat is level at last and the sun's out and we have all been jawing about what to do.We have food enough,pretty beastly stuff most of it,to last for sixteen days.(The poultry were all washed overboard.Even if they hadn't been,the storm would have stopped them laying.)The real trouble is water.Two casks seem to have got a leak knocked in them and are empty.(Narnian efficiency again.)On short rations,half a pint a day each,we've got enough for twelve days.(There's still lots of rum and wine but even they realize that would only make them thirstier.)

"If we could,of course,the sensible thing would be to turn west at once and make for the Lone Islands.But it took us eighteen days to get where we are,running like mad with a gale behind us.Even if we got an east wind it might take us far longer to get back.And at present there's no sign of an east wind-in fact there's no wind at all.As for rowing back,it would take far too long and Caspian says the men couldn't row on half a pint of water a day.I'm pretty sure this is wrong.I tried to explain that perspiration really cools people down,so the men would need less water if they were working.He didn't take any notice of this,which is always his way when he can't think of an answer.The others all voted for going on in the hope of finding land.I felt it my duty to point out that we didn't know there was any land ahead and tried to get them to see the dangers of wishful thinking.Instead of producing a better plan they had the cheek to ask me what I proposed.So I just explained coolly and quietly that I had been kidnapped and brought away on this idiotic voyage without my consent,and it was hardly my business to get them out of their scrape.

September 4. Still becalmed.Very short rations for dinner and I got less than anyone.Caspian is very clever at helping and thinks I don't see!Lucy for some reason tried to make up to me by offering me some of hers but that interfering prig Edmund wouldn't let her.Pretty hot sun.Terribly thirsty all evening.

September 5. Still becalmed and very hot.Feeling rotten all day and sure I've got a temperature.Of course they haven't the sense to keep a thermometer on board.

September 6. A horrible day.Woke up in the night knowing I was feverish and must have a drink of water.Any doctor would have said so.Heaven knows I'm the last person to try to get any unfair advantage but I never dreamed that this water-rationing would be meant to apply to a sick man.In fact I would have woken the others up and asked for some only I thought it would be selfish to wake them.So I got up and took my cup and tiptoed out of the Black Hole we sleep in,taking great care not to disturb Caspian and Edmund,for they've been sleeping badly since the heat and the short water began.I always try to consider others whether they are nice to me or not.I got out all right into the big room,if you can call it a room,where the rowing benches and the luggage are.The thing of water is at this end.All was going beautifully,but before I'd drawn a cupful who should catch me but that little spy,Reep.I tried to explain that I was going on deck for a breath of air(the business about the water had nothing to do with him)and he asked me why I had a cup.He made such a noise that the whole ship was roused.They treated me scandalously.I asked,as I think anyone would have,why Reepicheep was sneaking about the water cask in the middle of the night.He said that as he was too small to be any use on deck,he did sentry over the water every night so that one more man could go to sleep.Now comes their rotten unfairness：they all believed him.Can you beat it?

I had to apologize or the dangerous little brute would have been at me with his sword.And then Caspian showed up in his true colours as a brutal tyrant and said out loud for everyone to hear that anyone found 'stealing' water in future would 'get two dozen'.I didn't know what this meant till Edmund explained to me.It comes in the sort of books those Pevensie kids read.

After this cowardly threat Caspian changed his tune and started being patronizing.Said he was sorry for me and that everyone felt just as feverish as I did and we must all make the best of it,etc.,etc.Odious,stuck-up prig.Stayed in bed all day today.

September 7. A little wind today but still from the west.Made a few miles eastward with part of the sail,set on what Drinian calls the jury-mast-that means the bowsprit set upright and tied(they call it 'lashed')to the stump of the real mast.Still terribly thirsty.

September 8. Still sailing east.I stay in my bunk all day now and see no one except Lucy till the two fiends come to bed.Lucy gives me a little of her water ration.She says girls don't get as thirsty as boys.I had often thought this but it ought to be more generally known at sea.

September 9. Land in sight-a very high mountain a long way off to the south-east.

September 10. The mountain is bigger and clearer but still a long way off.Gulls again today for the first time since I don't know how long.

September 11. Caught some fish and had them for dinner.Dropped anchor at about 7p.m.in three fathoms of water in a bay of this mountainous island.That idiot Caspian wouldn't let us go ashore because it was getting dark and he was afraid of savages and wild beasts.Extra water ration tonight.

What awaited them on this island was going to concern Eustace more than anyone else,but it cannot be told in his words because after September 11he forgot about keeping his diary for a long time.

When morning came,with a low,grey sky but very hot,the adventurers found they were in a bay encircled by such cliffs and crags that it was like a Norwegian fjord.In front of them,at the head of the bay,there was some level land heavily overgrown with trees that appeared to be cedars,through which a rapid stream came out.Beyond that was a steep ascent ending in a jagged ridge and behind that a vague darkness of mountains which ran into dull-coloured clouds so that you could not see their tops.The nearer cliffs,at each side of the bay,were streaked here and there with lines of white which everyone knew to be waterfalls,though at that distance they did not show any movement or make any noise.Indeed the whole place was very silent and the water of the bay as smooth as glass.It reflected every detail of the cliffs.The scene would have been pretty in a picture but was rather oppressive in real life.It was not a country that welcomed visitors.

The whole ship's company went ashore in two boatloads and everyone drank and washed deliciously in the river and had a meal and a rest before Caspian sent four men back to keep the ship,and the day's work began.There was everything to be done.The casks must be brought ashore and the faulty ones mended if possible and all refilled；a tree-a pine if they could get it-must be felled and made into a new mast；sails must be repaired；a hunting party organized to shoot any game the land might yield；clothes to be washed and mended；and countless small breakages on board to be set right.For the Damn Treader herself-and this was more obvious now that they saw her at a distance-could hardly be recognized as the same gallant ship which had left Narrowhaven.She looked a crippled,discoloured hulk which anyone might have taken for a wreck.And her officers and crew were no better-lean,pale,red-eyed from lack of sleep,and dressed in rags.

As Eustace lay under a tree and heard all these plans being discussed,his heart sank.Was there going to be no rest?It looked as if their first day on the longed-for land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea.Then a delightful idea occurred to him.Nobody was looking-they were all chattering about their ship as if they actually liked the beastly thing.Why shouldn't he simply slip away?He would take a stroll inland,find a cool,airy place up in the mountains,have a good long sleep,and not rejoin the others till the day's work was over.He felt it would do him good.But he would take great care to keep the bay and the ship in sight so as to be sure of his way back.He wouldn't like to be left behind in this country.

He at once put his plan into action.He rose quietly from his place and walked away among the trees,taking care to go slowly and in an aimless manner so that anyone who saw him would think he was merely stretching his legs.He was surprised to find how quickly the noise of conversation died away behind him and how very silent and warm and dark green the wood became.Soon he felt he could venture on a quicker and more determined stride.

This soon brought him out of the wood.The ground began sloping steeply up in front of him.The grass was dry and slippery but manageable if he used his hands as well as his feet,and though he panted and mopped his forehead a good deal,he plugged away steadily.This showed,by the way,that his new life,little as he suspected it,had already done him some good；the old Eustace,Harold and Alberta's Eustace,would have given up the climb after about ten minutes.

Slowly,and with several rests,he reached the ridge.Here he had expected to have a view into the heart of the island,but the clouds had now come lower and nearer and a sea of fog was rolling to meet him.He sat down and looked back.He was now so high that the bay looked small beneath him and miles of sea were visible.Then the fog from the mountains closed in all round him,thick but not cold,and he lay down and turned this way and that to find the most comfortable position to enjoy himself.

But he didn't enjoy himself,or not for very long.He began,almost for the first time in his life,to feel lonely.At first this feeling grew very gradually.And then he began to worry about the time.There was not the slightest sound.Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have been lying there for hours.Perhaps the others had gone!Perhaps they had let him wander away on purpose simply in order to leave him behind!He leapt up in a panic and began the descent.

At first he tried to do it too quickly,slipped on the steep grass,and slid for several feet.Then he thought this had carried him too far to the left-and as he came up he had seen precipices on that side.So he clambered up again,as near as he could guess to the place he had started from,and began the descent afresh,bearing to his right.After that things seemed to be going better.He went very cautiously,for he could not see more than a yard ahead,and there was still perfect silence all around him.It is very unpleasant to have to go cautiously when there is a voice inside you saying all the time,"Hurry,hurry,hurry." For every moment the terrible idea of being left behind grew stronger.If he had understood Caspian and the Pevensies at all he would have known,of course,that there was not the least chance of their doing any such thing.But he had persuaded himself that they were all fiends in human form.

"At last!" said Eustace as he came slithering down a slide of loose stones(scree,they call it)and found himself on the level."And now,where are those trees?There is something dark ahead.Why,I do believe the fog is clearing."

It was.The light increased every moment and made him blink.The fog lifted.He was in an utterly unknown valley and the sea was nowhere in sight.

CHAPTER 6

The Adventures of Eustace

At that very moment the others were washing hands and faces in the river and generally getting ready for dinner and a rest.The three best archers had gone up into the hills north of the bay and returned laden with a pair of wild goats which were now roasting over a fire.Caspian had ordered a cask of wine ashore,strong wine of Archenland which had to be mixed with water before you drank it,so there would be plenty for all.The work had gone well so far and it was a merry meal.Only after the second helping of goat did Edmund say,"Where's that blighter Eustace?"

Meanwhile Eustace stared round the unknown valley.It was so narrow and deep,and the precipices which surrounded it so sheer,that it was like a huge pit or trench.The floor was grassy though strewn with rocks,and here and there Eustace saw black burnt patches like those you see on the sides of a railway embankment in a dry summer.About fifteen yards away from him was a pool of clear smooth water.There was,at first,nothing else at all in the valley；not an animal,not a bird,not an insect.The sun beat down,and grim peaks and horns of mountains peered over the valley's edge.

Eustace realized of course that in the fog he had come down the wrong side of the ridge,so he turned at once to see about getting back.But as soon as he had looked he shuddered.Apparently he had by amazing luck found the only possible way down-a long green spit of land,horribly steep and narrow,with precipices on either side.There was no other possible way of getting back.But could he do it,now that he saw what it was really like?His head swam at the very thought of it.

He turned round again,thinking that at any rate he'd better have a good drink from the pool first.But as soon as he had turned and before he had taken a step forward into the valley he heard a noise behind him.It was only a small noise but it sounded loud in that immense silence.It froze him dead-still where he stood for a second.Then he slewed round his neck and looked.

At the bottom of the cliff a little on his left hand was a low,dark hole-the entrance to a cave perhaps.And out of this two thin wisps of smoke were coming.And the loose stones just beneath the dark hollow were moving(that was the noise he had heard)just as if something were crawling in the dark behind them.

Something was crawling.Worse still,something was coming out.Edmund or Lucy or you would have recognized it at once,but Eustace had read none of the right books.The thing that came out of the cave was something he had never even imagined-a long,lead-coloured snout,dull red eyes,no feathers or fur,a long,lithe body that trailed on the ground,legs whose elbows went up higher than its back like a spider's,cruel claws,bat's wings that made a rasping noise on the stone,yards of tail.And the lines of smoke were coming from its two nostrils.He never said the word Dragon to himself.Nor would it have made things any better if he had.

But perhaps if he had known something about dragons he would have been a little surprised at this dragon's behaviour.It did not sit up and clap its wings,nor did it shoot out a stream of flame from its mouth.The smoke from its nostrils was like the smoke of a fire that will not last much longer.Nor did it seem to have noticed Eustace.It moved very slowly towards the pool-slowly and with many pauses.Even in his fear Eustace felt that it was an old,sad creature.He wondered if he dared make a dash for the ascent.But it might look round if he made any noise.It might come more to life.Perhaps it was only shamming.Anyway,what was the use of trying to escape by climbing from a creature that could fly?

It reached the pool and slid its horrible scaly chin down over the gravel to drink：but before it had drunk there came from it a great croaking or clanging cry and after a few twitches and convulsions it rolled round on its side and lay perfectly still with one claw in the air.A little dark blood gushed from its wide-opened mouth.The smoke from its nostrils turned black for a moment and then floated away.No more came.

For a long time Eustace did not dare to move.Perhaps this was the brute's trick,the way it lured travellers to their doom.But one couldn't wait for ever.He took a step nearer,then two steps,and halted again.The dragon remained motionless；he noticed too that the red fire had gone out of its eyes.At last he came up to it.He was quite sure now that it was dead.With a shudder he touched it；nothing happened.

The relief was so great that Eustace almost laughed out loud.He began to feel as if he had fought and killed the dragon instead of merely seeing it die.He stepped over it and went to the pool for his drink,for the heat was getting unbearable.He was not surprised when he heard a peal of thunder.Almost immediately afterwards,the sun disappeared and before he had finished his drink big drops of rain were falling.

The climate of this island was a very unpleasant one.In less than a minute Eustace was wet to the skin and half blinded with such rain as one never sees in Europe.There was no use trying to climb out of the valley as long as this lasted.He bolted for the only shelter in sight-the dragon's cave.There he lay down and tried to get his breath.

Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon's lair but,as I said before,Eustace had read only the wrong books.They had a lot to say about exports and imports and governments and drains,but they were weak on dragons.That is why he was so puzzled at the surface on which he was lying.Parts of it were too prickly to be stones and too hard to be thorns,and there seemed to be a great many round,flat things,and it all clinked when he moved.There was light enough at the cave's mouth to examine it by.And of course Eustace found it to be what any of us could have told him in advance-treasure.There were crowns(those were the prickly things),coins,rings,bracelets,ingots,cups,plates and gems.

Eustace(unlike most boys)had never thought much of treasure but he saw at once the use it would be in this new world which he had so foolishly stumbled into through the picture in Lucy's bedroom at home."They don't have any tax here," he said."And you don't have to give treasure to the government.With some of this stuff I could have quite a decent time here-perhaps in Calormen.It sounds the least phoney of these countries.I wonder how much I can carry?That bracelet now-those things in it are probably diamonds-I'll slip that on my own wrist.Too big,but not if I push it right up here above my elbow.Then fill my pockets with diamonds-that's easier than gold.I wonder when this infernal rain's going to let up?" He got into a less uncomfortable part of the pile,where it was mostly coins,and settled down to wait.But a bad fright,when once it is over,and especially a bad fright following a mountain walk,leaves you very tired.Eustace fell asleep.

By the time he was sound asleep and snoring the others had finished dinner and became seriously alarmed about him.They shouted,"Eustace!Eustace!Coo-ee!" till they were hoarse,and Caspian blew his horn.

"He's nowhere near or he'd have heard that," said Lucy with a white face.

"Confound the fellow," said Edmund."What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?"

"But we must do something," said Lucy."He may have got lost,or fallen into a hole,or been captured by savages."

"Or killed by wild beasts," said Drinian.

"And a good riddance if he has,I say," muttered Rhince.

"Master Rhince," said Reepicheep,"you never spoke a word that became you less.The creature is no friend of mine but he is of the Queen's blood,and while he is one of our fellowship it concerns our honour to find him and to avenge him if he is dead."

"Of course we've got to find him(if we can)," said Caspian wearily."That's the nuisance of it.It means a search party and endless trouble.Bother Eustace."

Meanwhile Eustace slept and slept-and slept.What woke him was a pain in his arm.The moon was shining in at the mouth of the cave,and the bed of treasures seemed to have grown much more comfortable：in fact he could hardly feel it at all.He was puzzled by the pain in his arm at first,but presently it occurred to him that the bracelet which he had shoved up above his elbow had become strangely tight.His arm must have swollen while he was asleep(it was his left arm).

He moved his right arm in order to feel his left,but stopped before he had moved it an inch and bit his lip in terror.For just in front of him,and a little on his right,where the moonlight fell clear on the floor of the cave,he saw a hideous shape moving.He knew that shape：it was a dragon's claw.It had moved as he moved his hand and became still when he stopped moving his hand.

"Oh,what a fool I've been," thought Eustace."Of course,the brute had a mate and it's lying beside me."

For several minutes he did not dare to move a muscle.He saw two thin columns of smoke going up before his eyes,black against the moonlight；just as there had been smoke coming from the other dragon's nose before it died.This was so alarming that he held his breath.The two columns of smoke vanished.When he could hold his breath no longer he let it out stealthily；instantly two jets of smoke appeared again.But even yet he had no idea of the truth.

Presently he decided that he would edge very cautiously to his left and try to creep out of the cave.Perhaps the creature was asleep-and anyway it was his only chance.But of course before he edged to the left he looked to the left.Oh,horror!There was a dragon's claw on that side too.

No one will blame Eustace if at this moment he shed tears.He was surprised at the size of his own tears as he saw them splashing on to the treasure in front of him.They also seemed strangely hot；steam went up from them.

But there was no good crying.He must try to crawl out from between the two dragons.He began extending his right arm.The dragon's fore-leg and claw on his right went through exactly the same motion.Then he thought he would try his left.The dragon limb on that side moved too.

Two dragons,one on each side,mimicking whatever he did!His nerve broke and he simply made a bolt for it.

There was such a clatter and rasping,and clinking of gold,and grinding of stones,as he rushed out of the cave that he thought they were both following him.He daren't look back.He rushed to the pool.The twisted shape of the dead dragon lying in the moonlight would have been enough to frighten anyone but now he hardly noticed it.His idea was to get into the water.

But just as he reached the edge of the pool two things happened.First of all it came over him like a thunder-clap that he had been running on all fours-and why on earth had he been doing that?And secondly,as he bent towards the water,he thought for a second that yet another dragon was staring up at him out of the pool.But in an instant he realized the truth.The dragon face in the pool was his own reflection.There was no doubt of it.It moved as he moved：it opened and shut its mouth as he opened and shut his.

He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep.Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy,dragonish thoughts in his heart,he had become a dragon himself.

That explained everything.There had been no two dragons beside him in the cave.The claws to right and left had been his own right and left claw.The two columns of smoke had been coming from his own nostrils.As for the pain in his left arm(or what had been his left arm)he could now see what had happened by squinting with his left eye.The bracelet which had fitted very nicely on the upper arm of a boy was far too small for the thick,stumpy foreleg of a dragon.It had sunk deeply into his scaly flesh and there was a throbbing bulge on each side of it.He tore at the place with his dragon's teeth but could not get it off.

In spite of the pain,his first feeling was one of relief.There was nothing to be afraid of any more.He was a terror himself and nothing in the world but a knight(and not all of those)would dare to attack him.He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now —

But the moment he thought this he realized that he didn't want to.He wanted to be friends.He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things.He realized that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race.An appalling loneliness came over him.He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all.He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed.He longed for their voices.He would have been grateful for a kind word even from Reepicheep.

When he thought of this the poor dragon that had been Eustace lifted up its voice and wept.A powerful dragon crying its eyes out under the moon in a deserted valley is a sight and a sound hardly to be imagined.

At last he decided he would try to find his way back to the shore.He realized now that Caspian would never have sailed away and left him.And he felt sure that somehow or other he would be able to make people understand who he was.

He took a long drink and then(I know this sounds shocking,but it isn't if you think it over)he ate nearly all the dead dragon.He was halfway through it before he realized what he was doing；for,you see,though his mind was the mind of Eustace,his tastes and his digestion were dragonish.And there is nothing a dragon likes so well as fresh dragon.That is why you so seldom find more than one dragon in the same county.

Then he turned to climb out of the valley.He began the climb with a jump and as soon as he jumped he found that he was flying.He had quite forgotten about his wings and it was a great surprise to him-the first pleasant surprise he had had for a long time.He rose high into the air and saw innumerable mountain-tops spread out beneath him in the moonlight.He could see the bay like a silver slab and the Dawn Treader lying at anchor,and camp fires twinkling in the woods beside the beach.From a great height he launched himself down towards them in a single glide.

Lucy was sleeping very soundly for she had sat up till the return of the search party in the hope of good news about Eustace.It had been led by Caspian and had come back late and weary.Their news was disquieting.They had found no trace of Eustace but had seen a dead dragon in a valley.They tried to make the best of it and everyone assured everyone else that there were not likely to be more dragons about,and that one which was dead at about three o'clock that afternoon(which was when they had seen it)would hardly have been killing people a very few hours before.

"Unless it ate the little brat and died of him：he'd poison anything," said Rhince.But he said this under his breath and no one heard it.

But later in the night Lucy was wakened,very softly,and found the whole company gathered close together and talking in whispers.

"What is it?" said Lucy.

"We must all show great constancy," Caspian was saying."A dragon has just flown over the tree-tops and lighted on the beach.Yes,I am afraid it is between us and the ship.And arrows are no use against dragons.And they're not at all afraid of fire."

"With your Majesty's leave—" began Reepicheep.

"No,Reepicheep," said the King very firmly,"you are not to attempt a single combat with it.And unless you promise to obey me in this matter I'll have you tied up.We must just keep close watch and,as soon as it is light,go down to the beach and give it battle.I will lead.King Edmund will be on my right and the Lord Drinian on my left.There are no other arrangements to be made.It will be light in a couple of hours.In an hour's time let a meal be served out and what is left of the wine.And let everything be done silently."

"Perhaps it will go away," said Lucy.

"It'll be worse if it does," said Edmund,"because then we shan't know where it is.If there's a wasp in the room I like to be able to see it."

The rest of the night was dreadful,and when the meal came,though they knew they ought to eat,many found that they had very poor appetites.And endless hours seemed to pass before the darkness thinned and birds began chirping here and there and the world got colder and wetter than it had been all night and Caspian said,"Now for it,friends."

They got up,all with swords drawn,and formed themselves into a solid mass with Lucy in the middle and Reepicheep on her shoulder.It was nicer man the waiting about and everyone felt fonder of everyone else than at ordinary times.A moment later they were marching.It grew lighter as they came to the edge of the wood.And there on the sand,like a giant lizard,or a flexible crocodile,or a serpent with legs,huge and horrible and humpy,lay the dragon.

But when it saw them,instead of rising up and blowing fire and smoke,the dragon retreated-you could almost say it waddled-back into the shallows of the bay.

"What's it wagging its head like that for?" said Edmund.

"And now it's nodding," said Caspian.

"And there's something coming from its eyes," said Drinian.

"Oh,can't you see?" said Lucy."It's crying.Those are tears."

"I shouldn't trust to that,Ma'am," said Drinian."That's what crocodiles do,to put you off your guard."

"It wagged its head when you said that," remarked Edmund."Just as if it meant 'No'.Look,there it goes again."

"Do you think it understands what we're saying?" asked Lucy.

The dragon nodded its head violently.

Reepicheep slipped off Lucy's shoulder and stepped to the front.

"Dragon," came his shrill voice,"can you understand speech?"

The dragon nodded.

"Can you speak?"

It shook its head.

'Then," said Reepicheep,"it is idle to ask you your business.But if you will swear friendship with us raise your left foreleg above your head."

It did so,but clumsily because that leg was sore and swollen with the golden bracelet.

"Oh,look," said Lucy,"there's something wrong with its leg.The poor thing-that's probably what it was crying about.Perhaps it came to us to be cured like in Androcles and the Lion."

"Be careful,Lucy," said Caspian."It's a very clever dragon but it may be a liar."

Lucy had,however,already run forward,followed by Reepicheep,as fast as his short legs could carry him,and then of course the boys and Drinian came too.

"Show me your poor paw," said Lucy."I might be able to cure it."

The dragon-that-had-been-Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough,remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of sea-sickness before he became a dragon.But he was disappointed.The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little but it could not dissolve the gold.

Everyone had now crowded round to watch the treatment,and Caspian suddenly exclaimed,"Look!" He was staring at the bracelet.

CHAPTER 7

How the Adventure Ended

Look at what?" said Edmund.

"Look at the device on the gold," said Caspian.

"A little hammer with a diamond above it like a star," said Drinian."Why,I've seen that before."

"Seen it!" said Caspian."Why,of course you have.It is the sign of a great Narnian house.This is the Lord Octesian's arm-ring."

"Villain," said Reepicheep to the dragon,"have you devoured a Narnian lord?" But the dragon shook his head violently.

"Or perhaps," said Lucy,"this is the Lord Octesian,turned into a dragon-under an enchantment,you know."

"It needn't be either," said Edmund."All dragons collect gold.But I think it's a safe guess that Octesian got no further than this island."

"Are you the Lord Octesian?" said Lucy to the dragon,and then,when it sadly shook its head,"Are you someone enchanted-someone human,I mean?"

It nodded violently.

And then someone said-people disputed afterwards whether Lucy or Edmund said it first —"You're not-not Eustace by any chance?"

And Eustace nodded his terrible dragon head and thumped his tail in the sea and everyone skipped back(some of the sailors with ejaculations I will not put down in writing)to avoid the enormous and boiling tears which flowed from his eyes.

Lucy tried hard to console him and even screwed up her courage to kiss the scaly face,and nearly everyone said,"Hard luck" and several assured Eustace that they would all stand by him and many said there was sure to be some way of disenchanting him and they'd have him as right as rain in a day or two.And of course they were all very anxious to hear his story,but he couldn't speak.More than once in the days that followed he attempted to write it for them on the sand.But this never succeeded.In the first place Eustace(never having read the right books)had no idea how to tell a story straight.And for another thing,the muscles and nerves of the dragon-claws that he had to use had never learned to write and were not built for writing anyway.As a result he never got nearly to the end before the tide came in and washed away all the writing except the bits he had already trodden on or accidentally swished out with his tail.And all that anyone had seen would be something like this-the dots are for the bits he had smudged out-

I WNET TO SLEE...RGOS AGRONS I MEAN DRANGONS CAVE CAUSE ITWAS DEAD AND AINING SO HAR...WOKE UP AND COU...GET OFFF MI ARM OH BOTHER...

It was,however,clear to everyone that Eustace's character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon.He was anxious to help.He flew over the whole island and found it was all mountainous and inhabited only by wild goats and droves of wild swine.Of these he brought back many carcases as provisions for the ship.He was a very humane killer too,for he could dispatch a beast with one blow of his tail so that it didn't know(and presumably still doesn't know)it had been killed.He ate a few himself,of course,but always alone,for now that he was a dragon he liked his food raw but he could never bear to let others see him at his messy meals.And one day,flying slowly and wearily but in great triumph,he bore back to camp a great tall pine tree which he had torn up by the roots in a distant valley and which could be made into a capital mast.And in the evening if it turned chilly,as it sometimes did after the heavy rains,he was a comfort to everyone,for the whole party would come and sit with their backs against his hot sides and get well warmed and dried；and one puff of his fiery breath would light the most obstinate fire.Sometimes he would take a select party for a fly on his back,so that they could see wheeling below them the green slopes,the rocky heights,the narrow,pit-like valleys and far out over the sea to the eastward a spot of darker blue on the blue horizon which might be land.

The pleasure(quite new to him)of being liked and,still more,of liking other people,was what kept Eustace from despair.For it was very dreary being a dragon.He shuddered whenever he caught sight of his own reflection as he flew over a mountain lake.He hated the huge,batlike wings,the saw-edged ridge on his back,and the cruel,curved claws.He was almost afraid to be alone with himself and yet he was ashamed to be with the others.On the evenings when he was not being used as a hot-water bottle he would slink away from the camp and lie curled up like a snake between the wood and the water.On such occasions,greatly to his surprise,Reepicheep was his most constant comforter.The noble Mouse would creep away from the merry circle at the camp fire and sit down by the dragon's head,well to the windward to be out of the way of his smoky breath.There he would explain that what had happened to Eustace was a striking illustration of the turn of Fortune's wheel,and that if he had Eustace at his own house in Narnia(it was really a hole not a house and the dragon's head,let alone his body,would not have fitted in)he could show him more than a hundred examples of emperors,kings,dukes,knights,poets,lovers,astronomers,philosophers,and magicians,who had fallen from prosperity into the most distressing circumstances,and of whom many had recovered and lived happily ever afterwards.It did not,perhaps,seem so very comforting at the time,but it was kindly meant and Eustace never forgot it.

But of course what hung over everyone like a cloud was the problem of what to do with their dragon when they were ready to sail.They tried not to talk of it when he was there,but he couldn't help overhearing things like,"Would he fit all along one side of the deck?And we'd have to shift all the stores to the other side down below so as to balance," or,"Would towing him be any good?" or,"Would he be able to keep up by flying?" and(most often of all),"But how are we to feed him?" And poor Eustace realized more and more that since the first day he came on board he had been an unmitigated nuisance and that he was now a greater nuisance still.And this ate into his mind,just as that bracelet ate into his foreleg.He knew that it only made it worse to tear at it with his great teeth,but he couldn't help tearing now and then,especially on hot nights.

About six days after they had landed on Dragon Island,Edmund happened to wake up very early one morning.It was just getting grey so that you could see the tree-trunks if they were between you and the bay but not in the other direction.As he woke he thought he heard something moving,so he raised himself on one elbow and looked about him：and presently he thought he saw a dark figure moving on the seaward side of the wood.The idea that at once occurred to his mind was,"Are we so sure there are no natives on this island after all?" Then he thought it was Caspian-it was about the right size-but he knew that Caspian had been sleeping next to him and could see that he hadn't moved.Edmund made sure that his sword was in its place and then rose to investigate.

He came down softly to the edge of the wood and the dark figure was still there.He saw now that it was too small for Caspian and too big for Lucy.It did not run away.Edmund drew his sword and was about to challenge the stranger when the stranger said in a low voice,"Is that you,Edmund?"

"Yes.Who are you?" said he.

"Don't you know me?" said the other."It's me-Eustace."

"By Jove," said Edmund,"so it is.My dear chap—"

"Hush," said Eustace,and lurched as if he were going to fall.

"Hello!" said Edmund,steadying him."What's up?Are you ill?"

Eustace was silent for so long that Edmund thought he was fainting；but at last he said,"It's been ghastly.You don't know...but it's all right now.Could we go and talk somewhere?I don't want to meet the others just yet."

"Yes,rather,anywhere you like," said Edmund."We can go and sit on the rocks over there.I say,I am glad to see you-er-looking yourself again.You must have had a pretty beastly time."

They went to the rocks and sat down looking out across the bay while the sky got paler and paler and the stars disappeared except for one very bright one low down and near the horizon.

"I won't tell you how I became a-a dragon till I can tell the others and get it all over," said Eustace."By the way,I didn't even know it was a dragon till I heard you all using the word when I turned up here the other morning.I want to tell you how I stopped being one."

"Fire ahead," said Edmund.

"Well,last night I was more miserable than ever.And that beastly arm-ring was hurting like anything—"

"Is that all right now?"

Eustace laughed-a different laugh from any Edmund had heard him give before-and slipped the bracelet easily off his arm."There it is," he said,"and anyone who likes can have it as far as I'm concerned.Well,as I say,I was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me.And then — but,mind you,it may have been all a dream.I don't know."

"Go on," said Edmund,with considerable patience.

"Well,anyway,I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected：a huge lion coming slowly towards me.And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night,but there was moonlight where the lion was.So it came nearer and nearer.I was terribly afraid of it.You may think that,being a dragon,I could have knocked any lion out easily enough.But it wasn't that kind of fear.I wasn't afraid of it eating me,I was just afraid of it — if you can understand.Well,it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes.And I shut my eyes tight.But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it."

"You mean it spoke?"

"I don't know.Now that you mention it,I don't think it did.But it told me all the same.And I knew I'd have to do what it told me,so I got up and followed it.And it led me a long way into the mountains.And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went.So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden-trees and fruit and everything.In the middle of it there was a well.

"I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it：but it was a lot bigger than most wells — like a very big,round bath with marble steps going down into it.The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe,it would ease the pain in my leg.But the lion told me I must undress first.Mind you,I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.

"I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins.Oh,of course,thought I,that's what the lion means.So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place.And then I scratched a little deeper and,instead of just scales coming off here and there,my whole skin started peeling off beautifully,like it does after an illness,or as if I was a banana.In a minute or two I just stepped out of it.I could see it lying there beside me,looking rather nasty.It was a most lovely feeling.So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.

"But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before.Oh,that's all right,said I,it only means I had another,smaller suit on underneath the first one,and I'll have to get out of it too.So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

"Well,exactly the same thing happened again.And I thought to myself,oh dear,how ever many skins have I got to take off?For I was longing to bathe my leg.So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin,just like the two others,and stepped out of it.But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.

"Then the lion said-but I don't know if it spoke-'You will have to let me undress you.' I was afraid of his claws,I can tell you,but I was pretty nearly desperate now.So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.And when he began pulling the skin off,it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.You know-if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place.It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."

"I know exactly what you mean," said Edmund.

"Well,he peeled the beastly stuff right off-just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times,only they hadn't hurt-and there it was,lying on the grass,only ever so much thicker,and darker,and more knobbly-looking than the others had been.And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been.Then he caught hold of me-I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on-and threw me into the water.It smarted like anything but only for a moment.After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm.And then I saw why.I'd turned into a boy again.You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms.I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's,but I was so glad to see them.

"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me—"

"Dressed you?With his paws?"

"Well,I don't exactly remember that bit.But he did somehow or other：in new clothes-the same I've got on now,as a matter of fact.And then suddenly I was back here.Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."

"No.It wasn't a dream," said Edmund.

"Why not?"

"Well,there are the clothes,for one thing.And you have been-well,un-dragoned,for another."

"What do you think it was,then?" asked Eustace.

"I think you've seen Asian," said Edmund.

"Asian!" said Eustace."I've heard that name mentioned several times since we joined the Dawn Treader.And I felt-I don't know what-I hated it.But I was hating everything then.And by the way,I'd like to apologize.I'm afraid I've been pretty beastly."

"That's all right," said Edmund."Between ourselves,you haven't been as bad as I was on my first trip to Narnia.You were only an ass,but I was a traitor."

"Well,don't tell me about it,then," said Eustace."But who is Asian?Do you know him?"

"Well-he knows me," said Edmund."He is the great Lion,the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea,who saved me and saved Narnia.We've all seen him.Lucy sees him most often.And it may be Asian's country we are sailing to."

Neither said anything for a while.The last bright star had vanished and though they could not see the sunrise because of the mountains on their right,they knew it was going on because the sky above them and the bay before them turned the colour of roses.Then some bird of the parrot kind screamed in the wood behind them,and they heard movements among the trees,and finally a blast on Caspian's horn.The camp was astir.

Great was the rejoicing when Edmund and the restored Eustace walked into the breakfast circle round the camp fire.And now of course everyone heard the earlier part of his story.People wondered whether the other dragon had killed the Lord Octesian several years ago or whether Octesian himself had been the old dragon.The jewels with which Eustace had crammed his pockets in the cave had disappeared along with the clothes he had then been wearing：but no one,least of all Eustace himself,felt any desire to go back to that valley for more treasure.

In a few days now the Dawn Treader,remasted,re-painted,and well stored,was ready to sail.Before they embarked,Caspian caused to be cut on a smooth cliff facing the bay the words：

DRAGON ISLAND

DISCOVERED BY CASPIAN X,

KING OF NARNIA,ETC.

IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN.

HERE,AS WE SUPPOSE,

THE LORD OCTESIAN

HAD HIS DEATH.

It would be nice,and fairly true,to say that "from that time forth Eustace was a different boy".To be strictly accurate,he began to be a different boy.He had relapses.There were still many days when he could be very tiresome.But most of those I shall not notice.The cure had begun.

The Lord Octesian's arm-ring had a curious fate.Eustace did not want it and offered it to Caspian,and Caspian offered it to Lucy.She did not care about having it."Very well,then,catch as catch can," said Caspian and flung it up in the air.This was when they were all standing looking at the inscription.Up went the ring,flashing in the sunlight,and caught,and hung,as neatly as a wellthrown quoit,on a little projection on the rock.No one could climb up to get it from below and no one could climb down to get it from above.And there,for all I know,it is hanging still and may hang till that world ends.

CHAPTER 8

Two Narrow Escapes

Everyone was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed from Dragon Island.They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early the next morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon.It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats,but from the ruins of stone huts,and from blackened places where fires had been,they judged that it had been peopled not long before.There were also some bones and broken weapons.

"Pirates' work," said Caspian.

"Or the dragon's," said Edmund.

The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat,or coracle,on the sands.It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework.It was a tiny boat,barely four feet long,and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion.They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been dwarfs.Reepicheep decided to keep it,as it was just the right size for him；so it was taken on board.They called that land Burnt Island,and sailed away before the noon.

For some five days they ran before a south-southeast wind,out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull.Then they had a day when it rained hard till the afternoon.Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again,and Edmund said he wished they could have gone to America with Susan.Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said：

"Hullo!I do believe it's stopping.And what's that?"

They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian,who was on watch,was also staring hard at something astern.Or rather,at several things.They looked a little like smooth,rounded rocks,a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.

"But they can't be rocks," Drinian was saying,"because they weren't there five minutes ago."

"And one's just disappeared," said Lucy.

"Yes,and there's another one coming up," said Edmund.

"And nearer," said Eustace.

"Hang it!" said Caspian."The whole thing is moving this way."

"And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail,Sire," said Drinian."It'll be up with us in a minute."

They all held their breath,for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea.But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected.Suddenly,only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side,an appalling head reared itself out of the sea.It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches-except where shellfish clung to it-and shaped rather like a horse's,though without ears.It had enormous eyes,eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean,and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp,fish-like teeth.It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck,but as more and more of it emerged,everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see-the great Sea Serpent.The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away,rising at intervals from the surface.And now its head was towering up higher than the mast.

Every man rushed to his weapon,but there was nothing to be done,the monster was out of reach."Shoot!Shoot!" cried the Master Bowman,and several obeyed,but the arrows glanced off the Sea Serpent's hide as if it were iron-plated.Then,for a dreadful minute,everyone was still,staring up at its eyes and mouth and wondering where it would pounce.

But it didn't pounce.It shot its head forward across the ship on a level with the yard of the mast.Now its head was just beside the fighting top.Still it stretched and stretched till its head was over the starboard bulwark.Then down it began to come-not onto the crowded deck but into the water,so that the whole ship was under an arch of serpent.And almost at once that arch began to get smaller-indeed on the starboard the Sea Serpent was now almost touching the Dawn Treader's side.

Eustace(who had really been trying very hard to behave well,till the rain and the chess put him back)now did the first brave thing he had ever done.He was wearing a sword that Caspian had lent him.As soon as the serpent's body was near enough on the starboard side he jumped onto the bulwark and began hacking at it with all his might.It is true that he accomplished nothing beyond breaking Caspian's second-best sword into bits,but it was a fine thing for a beginner to have done.

Others would have joined him if at that moment Reepicheep had not called out,"Don't fight!Push!" It was so unusual for the Mouse to advise anyone not to fight that,even in that terrible moment,every eye turned to him.And when he jumped up onto the bulwark,forward of the snake,and set his little furry back against its huge,scaly,slimy back,and began pushing as hard as he could,quite a number of people saw what he meant and rushed to both sides of the ship to do the same.And when,a moment later,the Sea Serpent's head appeared again,this time on the port side,and this time with its back to them,then everyone understood.

The brute had made a loop of itself round the Dawn Treader and was beginning to draw the loop tight.When it got quite tight-snap!-there would be floating matchwood where the ship had been and it could pick them out of the water one by one.Their only chance was to push the loop backward till it slid over the stern；or else(to put the same thing another way)to push the ship forward out of the loop.

Reepicheep alone had,of course,no more chance of doing this than of lifting up a cathedral,but he had nearly killed himself with trying before others shoved him aside.Very soon the whole ship's company except Lucy and the Mouse(who was fainting)was in two long lines along the two bulwarks,each man's chest to the back of the man in front,so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man,pushing for their lives.For a few sickening seconds(which seemed like hours)nothing appeared to happen.Joints cracked,sweat dropped,breath came in grunts and gasps.Then they felt that the ship was moving.They saw that the snake-loop was further from the mast than it had been.But they also saw that it was smaller.And now the real danger was at hand.Could they get it over the poop,or was it already too tight?Yes.It would just fit.It was resting on the poop rails.A dozen or more sprang up on the poop.This was far better.The Sea Serpent's body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side.Hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern,the dragon tail,of the Dawn Treader.It would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.

"An axe," cried Caspian hoarsely,"and still shove."

Lucy,who knew where everything was,heard him where she was standing on the main deck staring up at the poop.In a few seconds she had been below,got the axe,and was rushing up the ladder to the poop.But just as she reached the top there came a great crashing noise like a tree coming down and the ship rocked and darted forward.For at that very moment,whether because the Sea Serpent was being pushed so hard,or because it foolishly decided to draw the noose tight,the whole of the carved stern broke off and the ship was free.

The others were too exhausted to see what Lucy saw.There,a few yards behind them,the loop of Sea Serpent's body got rapidly smaller and disappeared into a splash.Lucy always said(but of course she was very excited at the moment,and it may have been only imagination)that she saw a look of idiotic satisfaction on the creature's face.What is certain is that it was a very stupid animal,for instead of pursuing the ship it turned its head round and began nosing all along its own body as if it expected to find the wreckage of the Dawn Treader there.But the Dawn Treader was already well away,running before a fresh breeze,and the men lay and sat panting and groaning all about the deck,till presently they were able to talk about it,and then to laugh about it.And when some rum had been served out they even raised a cheer；and everyone praised the valour of Eustace(though it hadn't done any good)and of Reepicheep.

After this they sailed for three days more and saw nothing but sea and sky.On the fourth day the wind changed to the north and the seas began to rise；by the afternoon it had nearly become a gale.But at the same time they sighted land on their port bow.

"By your leave,Sire," said Drinian,"we will try to get under the lee of that country by rowing and lie in harbour,maybe till this is over." Caspian agreed,but a long row against the gale did not bring them to the land before evening.By the last light of that day they steered into a natural harbour and anchored,but no one went ashore that night.In the morning they found themselves in the green bay of a rugged,lonely-looking country which sloped up to a rocky summit.From the windy north beyond that summit,clouds came streaming rapidly.They lowered the boat and loaded her with any of the water casks which were now empty.

"Which stream shall we water at,Drinian?" said Caspian as he took his seat in the stern-sheets of the boat."There seem to be two coming down into the bay."

"It makes little odds,Sire," said Drinian."But I think it's a shorter pull to that on the starboard-the eastern one."

"Here comes the rain," said Lucy.

"I should think it does!" said Edmund,for it was already pelting hard."I say,let's go to the other stream.There are trees there and we'll have some shelter."

"Yes,let's," said Eustace."No point in getting wetter than we need."

But all the time Drinian was steadily steering to the starboard,like tiresome people in cars who continue at forty miles an hour while you are explaining to them that they are on the wrong road.

'They're right,Drinian," said Caspian."Why don't you bring her head round and make for the western stream?"

"As your Majesty pleases," said Drinian a little shortly.He had had an anxious day with the weather yesterday,and he didn't like advice from landsmen.But he altered course；and it turned out afterwards that it was a good thing he did.

By the time they had finished watering,the rain was over and Caspian,with Eustace,the Pevensies,and Reepicheep decided to walk up to the top of the hill and see what could be seen.It was a stiffish climb through coarse grass and heather and they saw neither man nor beast,except seagulls.When they reached the top they saw that it was a very small island,not more than twenty acres；and from this height the sea looked larger and more desolate than it did from the deck,or even the fighting top,of the Dawn Treader.

"Crazy,you know," said Eustace to Lucy in a low voice,looking at the eastern horizon."Sailing on and on into that with no idea what we may get to." But he only said it out of habit,not really nastily as he would have done at one time.

It was too cold to stay long on the ridge for the wind still blew freshly from the north.

"Don't let's go back the same way," said Lucy as they turned."Let's go along a bit and come down by the other stream,the one Drinian wanted to go to."

Everyone agreed to this and after about fifteen minutes they were at the source of the second river.It was a more interesting place than they had expected；a deep little mountain lake,surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed.Here at last they were out of the wind,and all sat down in the heather above the cliff for a rest.

All sat down,but one(it was Edmund)jumped up again very quickly.

'They go in for sharp stones on this island," he said,groping about in the heather."Where is the wretched thing?...Ah,now I've got it...Hullo!It wasn't a stone at all,it's a sword-hilt.No,by Jove,it's a whole sword；what the rust has left of it.It must have lain here for ages."

"Narnian,too,by the look of it," said Caspian,as they all crowded round.

"I'm sitting on something too," said Lucy."Something hard." It turned out to be the remains of a mail-shirt.By this time everyone was on hands and knees,feeling in the thick heather in every direction.Their search revealed,one by one,a helmet,a dagger,and a few coins；not Calormen crescents but genuine Narnian "Lions" and 'Trees" such as you might see any day in the market place of Beaversdam or Beruna.

"Looks as if this might be all that's left of one of our seven lords," said Edmund.

"Just what I was thinking," said Caspian."I wonder which it was.There's nothing on the dagger to show.And I wonder how he died."

"And how we are to avenge him," added Reepicheep.

Edmund,the only one of the party who had read several detective stories,had meanwhile been thinking.

"Look here," he said,"there's something very fishy about this.He can't have been killed in a fight."

"Why not?" asked Caspian.

"No bones," said Edmund."An enemy might take the armour and leave the body.But who ever heard of a chap who'd won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armour?"

"Perhaps he was killed by a wild animal," Lucy suggested.

"It'd be a clever animal," said Edmund,"that would take a man's mail-shirt off."

"Perhaps a dragon?" said Caspian.

"Nothing doing," said Eustace."A dragon couldn't do it.I ought to know."

"Well,let's get away from the place,anyway," said Lucy.She had not felt like sitting down again since Edmund had raised the question of bones.

"If you like," said Caspian,getting up."I don't think any of this stuff is worth taking away."

They came down and round to the little opening where the stream came out of the lake,and stood looking at the deep water within the circle of cliffs.If it had been a hot day,no doubt some would have been tempted to bathe and everyone would have had a drink.Indeed,even as it was,Eustace was on the very point of stooping down and scooping up some water in his hands when Reepicheep and Lucy both at the same moment cried,"Look," so he forgot about his drink and looked.

The bottom of the pool was made of large greyish-blue stones and the water was perfectly clear,and on the bottom lay a life-size figure of a man,made apparently of gold.It lay face downwards with its arms stretched out above its head.And it so happened that as they looked at it,the clouds parted and the sun shone out.The golden shape was lit up from end to end.Lucy thought it was the most beautiful statue she had ever seen.

"Well!" whistled Caspian."That was worth coming to see!I wonder,can we get it out?"

"We can dive for it,Sire," said Reepicheep.

"No good at all," said Edmund."At least,if it's really gold-solid gold-it'll be far too heavy to bring up.And that pool's twelve or fifteen feet deep if it's an inch.Half a moment,though.It's a good thing I've brought a hunting spear with me.Let's see what the depth is like.Hold on to my hand,Caspian,while I lean out over the water a bit." Caspian took his hand and Edmund,leaning forward,began to lower his spear into the water.

Before it was halfway in Lucy said,"I don't believe the statue is gold at all.It's only the light.Your spear looks just the same colour."

"What's wrong?" asked several voices at once；for Edmund had suddenly let go of the spear.

"I couldn't hold it," gasped Edmund,"it seemed so heavy."

"And there it is on the bottom now," said Caspian,"and Lucy is right.It looks just the same colour as the statue."

But Edmund,who appeared to be having some trouble with his boots-at least he was bending down and looking at them-straightened himself all at once and shouted out in the sharp voice which people hardly ever disobey：

"Get back!Back from the water.All of you.At once!!"

They all did and stared at him.

"Look," said Edmund,'look at the toes of my boots."

"They look a bit yellow," began Eustace.

'They're gold,solid gold," interrupted Edmund."Look at them.Feel them.The leather's pulled away from it already.And they're as heavy as lead."

"By Asian!" said Caspian."You don't mean to say—?"

"Yes,I do," said Edmund."That water turns things into gold.It turned the spear into gold,that's why it got so heavy.And it was just lapping against my feet(it's a good thing I wasn't barefoot)and it turned the toe-caps into gold.And that poor fellow on the bottom-well,you see."

"So it isn't a statue at all," said Lucy in a low voice.

"No.The whole thing is plain now.He was here on a hot day.He undressed on top of the cliff-where we were sitting.The clothes have rotted away or been taken by birds to line nests with；the armour's still there.Then he dived and—"

"Don't," said Lucy."What a horrible thing."

"And what a narrow shave we've had," said Edmund.

"Narrow indeed," said Reepicheep."Anyone's finger,anyone's foot,anyone's whisker,or anyone's tail,might have slipped into the water at any moment."

"All the same," said Caspian,"we may as well test it." He stooped down and wrenched up a spray of heather.Then,very cautiously,he knelt beside the pool and dipped it in.It was heather that he dipped；what he drew out was a perfect model of heather made of the purest gold,heavy and soft as lead.

"The King who owned this island," said Caspian slowly,and his face flushed as he spoke,"would soon be the richest of all the kings of the world.I claim this land for ever as a Narnian possession.It shall be called Goldwater Island.And I bind all of you to secrecy.No one must know of this.Not even Drinian-on pain of death,do you hear?"

"Who are you talking to?" said Edmund."I'm no subject of yours.If anything it's the other way round.I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under allegiance to the High King,my brother."

"So it has come to that,King Edmund,has it?" said Caspian,laying his hand on his sword-hilt.

"Oh,stop it,both of you," said Lucy."That's the worst of doing anything with boys.You're all such swaggering,bullying idiots-oooh!—" Her voice died away into a gasp.And everyone else saw what she had seen.

Across the grey hillside above them-grey,for the heather was not yet in bloom-without noise,and without looking at them,and shining as if he were in bright sunlight though the sun had in fact gone in,passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen.In describing the scene Lucy said afterwards,"He was the size of an elephant," though at another time she only said,"The size of a cart-horse." But it was not the size that mattered.Nobody dared to ask what it was.They knew it was Asian.

And nobody ever saw how or where he went.They looked at one another like people waking from sleep.

"What were we talking about?" said Caspian."Have I been making rather an ass of myself?"

"Sire," said Reepicheep,"this is a place with a curse on it.Let us get back on board at once.And if I might have the honour of naming this island,I should call it Deathwater."

"That strikes me as a very good name,Reep," said Caspian,"though now that I come to think of it,I don't know why.But the weather seems to be settling and I dare say Drinian would like to be off.What a lot we shall have to tell him."

But in fact they had not much to tell for the memory of the last hour had all become confused.

"Their Majesties all seemed a bit bewitched when they came aboard," said Drinian to Rhince some hours later when the Dawn Treader was once more under sail and Deathwater Island already below the horizon."Something happened to them in that place.The only thing I could get clear was that they think they've found the body of one of these lords we're looking for."

"You don't say so,Captain," answered Rhince."Well,that's three.Only four more.At this rate we might be home soon after the New Year.And a good thing too.My baccy's running a bit low.Good night,Sir."

CHAPTER 9

The Island of the Voices

And now the winds which had so long been from the north-west began to blow from the west itself and every morning when the sun rose out of the sea the curved prow of the Dawn Treader stood up right across the middle of the sun.Some thought that the sun looked larger than it looked from Narnia,but others disagreed.And they sailed and sailed before a gentle yet steady breeze and saw neither fish nor gull nor ship nor shore.And stores began to get low again,and it crept into their hearts that perhaps they might have come to a sea which went on for ever.But when the very last day on which they thought they could risk continuing their eastward voyage dawned,it showed,right ahead between them and the sunrise,a low land lying like a cloud.

They made harbour in a wide bay about the middle of the afternoon and landed.It was a very different country from any they had yet seen.For when they had crossed the sandy beach they found all silent and empty as if it were an uninhabited land,but before them there were level lawns in which the grass was as smooth and short as it used to be in the grounds of a great English house where ten gardeners were kept.The trees,of which there were many,all stood well apart from one another,and there were no broken branches and no leaves lying on the ground.Pigeons sometimes cooed but there was no other noise.

Presently they came to a long,straight,sanded path with not a weed growing on it and trees on either hand.Far off at the other end of this avenue they now caught sight of a house-very long and grey and quiet-looking in the afternoon sun.

Almost as soon as they entered this path Lucy noticed that she had a little stone in her shoe.In that unknown place it might have been wiser for her to ask the others to wait while she took it out.But she didn't；she just dropped quietly behind and sat down to take off her shoe.Her lace had got into a knot.

Before she had undone the knot the others were a fair distance ahead.By the time she had got the stone out and was putting the shoe on again she could no longer hear them.But almost at once she heard something else.It was not coming from the direction of the house.

What she heard was a thumping.It sounded as if dozens of strong workmen were hitting the ground as hard as they could with great wooden mallets.And it was very quickly coming nearer.She was already sitting with her back to a tree,and as the tree was not one she could climb,there was really nothing to do but to sit dead still and press herself against the tree and hope she wouldn't be seen.

Thump,thump,thump...and whatever it was must be very close now for she could feel the ground shaking.But she could see nothing.She thought the thing-or things-must be just behind her.But then there came a thump on the path right in front of her.She knew it was on the path not only by the sound but because she saw the sand scatter as if it had been struck a heavy blow.But she could see nothing that had struck it.Then all the thumping noises drew together about twenty feet away from her and suddenly ceased.Then came the Voice.

It was really very dreadful because she could still see nobody at all.The whole of that park-like country still looked as quiet and empty as it had looked when they first landed.Nevertheless,only a few feet away from her,a voice spoke.And what it said was：

"Mates,now's our chance."

Instantly a whole chorus of other voices replied,"Hear him.Hear him.'Now's our chance,' he said.Well done,Chief.You never said a truer word."

"What I say," continued the first voice,"is,get down to the shore between them and their boat,and let every mother's son look to his weapons.Catch 'em when they try to put to sea."

"Eh,that's the way," shouted all the other voices."You never made a better plan,Chief.Keep it up,Chief.You couldn't have a better plan than that."

"Lively,then,mates,lively," said the first voice."Off we go."

"Right again,Chief," said the others."Couldn't have a better order.Just what we were going to say ourselves.Off we go."

Immediately the thumping began again-very loud at first but soon fainter and fainter,till it died out in the direction of the sea.

Lucy knew there was no time to sit puzzling as to what these invisible creatures might be.As soon as the thumping noise had died away she got up and ran along the path after the others as quickly as her legs would carry her.They must at all costs be warned.

While this had been happening the others had reached the house.It was a low building-only two storeys high-made of a beautiful mellow stone,many-windowed,and partially covered with ivy.Everything was so still that Eustace said,"I think it's empty," but Caspian silently pointed to the column of smoke which rose from one chimney.

They found a wide gateway open and passed through it into a paved courtyard.And it was here that they had their first indication that there was something odd about this island.In the middle of the courtyard stood a pump,and beneath the pump a bucket.There was nothing odd about that.But the pump handle was moving up and down,though there seemed to be no one moving it.

'There's some magic at work here," said Caspian.

"Machinery!" said Eustace."I do believe we've come to a civilized country at last."

At that moment Lucy,hot and breathless,rushed into the courtyard behind them.In a low voice she tried to make them understand what she had overheard.And when they had partly understood it even the bravest of them did not look very happy.

"Invisible enemies," muttered Caspian."And cutting us off from the boat.This is an ugly furrow to plough."

"You've no idea what sort of creatures they are,Lu?" asked Edmund.

"How can I,Ed,when I couldn't see them?"

"Did they sound like humans from their footsteps?"

"I didn't hear any noise of feet-only voices and this frightful thudding and thumping-like a mallet."

"I wonder," said Reepicheep,"do they become visible when you drive a sword into them?"

"It looks as if we shall find out," said Caspian."But let's get out of this gateway.There's one of these gentry at that pump listening to all we say."

They came out and went back on to the path where the trees might possibly make them less conspicuous."Not that it's any good really," said Eustace,"trying to hide from people you can't see.They may be all round us."

"Now,Drinian," said Caspian."How would it be if we gave up the boat for lost,went down to another part of the bay,and signalled to the Dawn Treader to stand in and take us aboard?"

"Not depth for her,Sire," said Drinian.

"We could swim," said Lucy.

"Your Majesties all," said Reepicheep,"hear me.It is folly to think of avoiding an invisible enemy by any amount of creeping and skulking.If these creatures mean to bring us to battle,be sure they will succeed.And whatever comes of it I'd sooner meet them face to face than be caught by the tail."

"I really think Reep is in the right this time," said Edmund.

"Surely," said Lucy,"if Rhince and the others on the Dawn Treader see us fighting on the shore they'll be able to do something."

"But they won't see us fighting if they can't see any enemy," said Eustace miserably.'They'll think we're just swinging our swords in the air for fun."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Well," said Caspian at last,'let's get on with it.We must go and face them.Shake hands all round-arrow on the string,Lucy-swords out,everyone else-and now for it.Perhaps they'll parley."

It was strange to see the lawns and the great trees looking so peaceful as they marched back to the beach.And when they arrived there,and saw the boat lying where they had left her,and the smooth sand with no one to be seen on it,more than one doubted whether Lucy had not merely imagined all she had told them.But before they reached the sand,a voice spoke out of the air.

"No further,masters,no further now," it said."We've got to talk with you first.There's fifty of us and more here with weapons in our fists."

"Hear him,hear him," came the chorus."That's our Chief.You can depend on what he says.He's telling you the truth,he is."

"I do not see these fifty warriors," observed Reepicheep.

'That's right,that's right," said the Chief Voice."You don't see us.And why not?Because we're invisible."

"Keep it up,Chief,keep it up," said the Other Voices."You're talking like a book.They couldn't ask for a better answer than that."

"Be quiet,Reep," said Caspian,and then added in a louder voice,"You invisible people,what do you want with us?And what have we done to earn your enmity?"

"We want something that little girl can do for us," said the Chief Voice.(The others explained that this was just what they would have said themselves.)

"Little girl!" said Reepicheep.'The lady is a queen."

"We don't know about queens," said the Chief Voice.("No more we do,no more we do," chimed in the others.)"But we want something she can do."

"What is it?" said Lucy.

"And if it is anything against her Majesty's honour or safety," added Reepicheep,"you will wonder to see how many we can kill before we die."

"Well," said the Chief Voice."It's a long story.Suppose we all sit down?"

The proposal was warmly approved by the other voices but the Narnians remained standing.

"Well," said the Chief Voice."It's like this.This island has been the property of a great magician time out of mind.And we all are-or perhaps in a manner of speaking,I might say,we were-his servants.Well,to cut a long story short,this magician that I was speaking about,he told us to do something we didn't like.And why not?Because we didn't want to.Well,then,this same magician he fell into a great rage；for I ought to tell you he owned the island and he wasn't used to being crossed.He was terribly downright,you know.But let me see,where am I?Oh,yes,this magician then,he goes upstairs(for you must know he kept all his magic things up there and we all lived down below),I say he goes upstairs and puts a spell on us.An uglifying spell.If you saw us now,which in my opinion you may thank your stars you can't,you wouldn't believe what we looked like before we were uglified.You wouldn't,really.So there we all were so ugly we couldn't bear to look at one another.So then what did we do?Well,I'll tell you what we did.We waited till we thought this same magician would be asleep in the afternoon and we creep upstairs and go to his magic book,as bold as brass,to see if we can do anything about this uglification.But we were all of a sweat and a tremble,so I won't deceive you.But,believe me or believe me not,I do assure you that we couldn't find anything in the way of a spell for taking off the ugliness.And what with time getting on and being afraid that the old gentleman might wake up any minute-I was all of a muck sweat,so I won't deceive you-well,to cut a long story short,whether we did right or whether we did wrong,in the end we see a spell for making people invisible.And we thought we'd rather be invisible than go on being as ugly as all that.And why?Because we'd like it better.So my little girl,who's just about your little girl's age,and a sweet child she was before she was uglified,though now-but least said soonest mended-I say,my little girl she says the spell,for it's got to be a little girl or else the magician himself,if you see my meaning,for otherwise it won't work.And why not?Because nothing happens.So my Clipsie says the spell,for I ought to have told you she reads beautifully,and there we all were as invisible as you could wish to see.And I do assure you it was a relief not to see one another's faces.At first,anyway.But the long and the short of it is we're mortal tired of being invisible.And there's another thing.We never reckoned on this magician(the one I was telling you about before)going invisible too.But we haven't ever seen him since.So we don't know if he's dead,or gone away,or whether he's just sitting upstairs being invisible,and perhaps coming down and being invisible there.And,believe me,it's no manner of use listening because he always did go about with his bare feet on,making no more noise than a great big cat.And I'll tell all you gentlemen straight,it's getting more than what our nerves can stand."

Such was the Chief Voice's story,but very much shortened,because I have left out what the Other Voices said.Actually he never got out more than six or seven words without being interrupted by their agreements and encouragements,which drove the Narnians nearly out of their minds with impatience.When it was over there was a very long silence.

"But," said Lucy at last,"what's all this got to do with us?I don't understand."

"Why,bless me,if I haven't gone and left out the whole point," said the Chief Voice.

"That you have,that you have," roared the Other Voices with great enthusiasm."No one couldn't have left it out cleaner and better.Keep it up,Chief,keep it up."

"Well,I needn't go over the whole story again," began the Chief Voice.

"No.Certainly not," said Caspian and Edmund.

"Well,then,to put it in a nutshell," said the Chief Voice,"we've been waiting for ever so long for a nice little girl from foreign parts,like it might be you,Missie — that would go upstairs and go to the magic book and find the spell that takes off the invisibleness,and say it.And we all swore that the first strangers as landed on this island(having a nice little girl with them,I mean,for if they hadn't it'd be another matter)we wouldn't let them go away alive unless they'd done the needful for us.And that's why,gentlemen,if your little girl doesn't come up to scratch,it will be our painful duty to cut all your throats.Merely in the way of business,as you might say,and no offence,I hope."

"I don't see all your weapons," said Reepicheep."Are they invisible too?" The words were scarcely out of his mouth before they heard a whizzing sound and next moment a spear had stuck,quivering,in one of the trees behind them.

'That's a spear,that is," said the Chief Voice.

'That it is,Chief,that it is," said the others."You couldn't have put it better."

"And it came from my hand," the Chief Voice continued.'They get visible when they leave us."

"But why do you want me to do this?" asked Lucy."Why can't one of your own people?Haven't you got any girls?"

"We dursen't,we dursen't," said all the Voices."We're not going upstairs again."

"In other words," said Caspian,"you are asking this lady to face some danger which you daren't ask your own sisters and daughters to face!"

"That's right,that's right," said all the Voices cheerfully."You couldn't have said it better.Eh,you've had some education,you have.Anyone can see that."

"Well,of all the outrageous—" began Edmund,but Lucy interrupted.

"Would I have to go upstairs at night,or would it do in the daylight?"

"Oh,daylight,daylight,to be sure," said the Chief Voice."Not at night.No one's asking you to do that.Go upstairs in the dark?Ugh."

"All right,then,I'll do it," said Lucy."No," she said,turning to the others,"don't try to stop me.Can't you see it's no use?There are dozens of them there.We can't fight them.And the other way there is a chance."

"But a magician!" said Caspian.

"I know," said Lucy."But he mayn't be as bad as they make out.Don't you get the idea that these people are not very brave?"

"They're certainly not very clever," said Eustace.

"Look here,Lu," said Edmund."We really can't let you do a thing like this.Ask Reep,I'm sure he'll say just the same."

"But it's to save my own life as well as yours," said Lucy."I don't want to be cut to bits with invisible swords any more than anyone else."

"Her Majesty is in the right," said Reepicheep."If we had any assurance of saving her by battle,our duty would be very plain.It appears to me that we have none.And the service they ask of her is in no way contrary to her Majesty's honour,but a noble and heroical act.If the Queen's heart moves her to risk the magician,I will not speak against it."

As no one had ever known Reepicheep to be afraid of anything,he could say this without feeling at all awkward.But the boys,who had all been afraid quite often,grew very red.None the less,it was such obvious sense that they had to give in.Loud cheers broke from the invisible people when their decision was announced,and the Chief Voice(warmly supported by all the others)invited the Narnians to come to supper and spend the night.Eustace didn't want to accept,but Lucy said,"I'm sure they're not treacherous.They're not like that at all," and the others agreed.And so,accompanied by an enormous noise of thumpings(which became louder when they reached the flagged and echoing courtyard)they all went back to the house.

CHAPTER 10

The Magician's Book

The invisible people feasted their guests royally.It was very funny to see the plates and dishes coming to the table and not to see anyone carrying them.It would have been funny even if they had moved along level with the floor,as you would expect things to do in invisible hands.But they didn't.They progressed up the long dining-hall in a series of bounds or jumps.At the highest point of each jump a dish would be about fifteen feet up in the air；then it would come down and stop quite suddenly about three feet from the floor.When the dish contained anything like soup or stew the result was rather disastrous.

"I'm beginning to feel very inquisitive about these people," whispered Eustace to Edmund."Do you think they're human at all?More like huge grasshoppers or giant frogs,I should say."

"It does look like it," said Edmund."But don't put the idea of the grasshoppers into Lucy's head.She's not too keen on insects,especially big ones."

The meal would have been pleasanter if it had not been so exceedingly messy,and also if the conversation had not consisted entirely of agreements.The invisible people agreed about everything.Indeed most of their remarks were the sort it would not be easy to disagree with："What I always say is,when a chap's hungry,he likes some victuals," or,"Getting dark now；always does at night," or even,"Ah,you've come over the water.Powerful wet stuff,ain't it?" And Lucy could not help looking at the dark yawning entrance to the foot of the staircase-she could see it from where she sat-and wondering what she would find when she went up those stairs the next morning.But it was a good meal otherwise,with mushroom soup and boiled chickens and hot boiled ham and gooseberries,redcurrants,curds,cream,milk,and mead.The others liked the mead but Eustace was sorry afterwards that he had drunk any.

When Lucy woke up the next morning it was like waking up on the day of an examination or a day when you are going to the dentist.It was a lovely morning with bees buzzing in and out of her open window and the lawn outside looking very like somewhere in England.She got up and dressed and tried to talk and eat ordinarily at breakfast.Then,after being instructed by the Chief Voice about what she was to do upstairs,she bid goodbye to the others,said nothing,walked to the bottom of the stairs,and began going up them without once looking back.

It was quite light,that was one good thing.There was,indeed,a window straight ahead of her at the top of the first flight.As long as she was on that flight she could hear the tick-tock-tick-tock of a grandfather clock in the hall below.Then she came to the landing and had to turn to her left up the next flight；after that she couldn't hear the clock any more.

Now she had come to the top of the stairs.Lucy looked and saw a long,wide passage with a large window at the far end.Apparently the passage ran the whole length of the house.It was carved and panelled and carpeted and very many doors opened off it on each side.She stood still and couldn't hear the squeak of a mouse,or the buzzing of a fly,or the swaying of a curtain,or anything-except the beating of her own heart.

"The last doorway on the left," she said to herself.It did seem a bit hard that it should be the last.To reach it she would have to walk past room after room.And in any room there might be the magician-asleep,or awake,or invisible,or even dead.But it wouldn't do to think about that.She set out on her journey.The carpet was so thick that her feet made no noise.

'There's nothing whatever to be afraid of yet," Lucy told herself.And certainly it was a quiet,sunlit passage；perhaps a bit too quiet.It would have been nicer if there had not been strange signs painted in scarlet on the doors-twisty,complicated things which obviously had a meaning and it mightn't be a very nice meaning either.It would have been nicer still if there weren't those masks hanging on the wall.Not that they were exactly ugly-or not so very ugly — but the empty eye-holes did look queer,and if you let yourself you would soon start imagining that the masks were doing things as soon as your back was turned to them.

After about the sixth door she got her first real fright.For one second she felt almost certain that a wicked little bearded face had popped out of the wall and made a grimace at her.She forced herself to stop and look at it.And it was not a face at all.It was a little mirror just the size and shape of her own face,with hair on the top of it and a beard hanging down from it,so that when you looked in the mirror your own face fitted into the hair and beard and it looked as if they belonged to you."I just caught my own reflection with the tail of my eye as I went past," said Lucy to herself."That was all it was.It's quite harmless." But she didn't like the look of her own face with that hair and beard,and went on.(I don't know what the Bearded Glass was for because I am not a magician.)

Before she reached the last door on the left,Lucy was beginning to wonder whether the corridor had grown longer since she began her journey and whether this was part of the magic of the house.But she got to it at last.And the door was open.

It was a large room with three big windows,and it was lined from floor to ceiling with books；more books than Lucy had ever seen before,tiny little books,fat and dumpy books,and books bigger than any church Bible you have ever seen,all bound in leather and smelling old and learned and magical.But she knew from her instructions that she need not bother about any of these.For the Book,the Magic Book,was lying on a reading-desk in the very middle of the room.She saw she would have to read it standing(and anyway there were no chairs)and also that she would have to stand with her back to the door while she read it.So at once she turned to shut the door.

It wouldn't shut.

Some people may disagree with Lucy about this,but I think she was quite right.She said she wouldn't have minded if she could have shut the door,but that it was unpleasant to have to stand in a place like that with an open doorway right behind your back.I should have felt just the same.But there was nothing else to be done.

One thing that worried her a good deal was the size of the Book.The Chief Voice had not been able to give her any idea whereabouts in the Book the spell for making things visible came.He even seemed rather surprised at her asking.He expected her to begin at the beginning and go on till she came to it；obviously he had never thought that there was any other way of finding a place in a book."But it might take me days and weeks!" said Lucy,looking at the huge volume."And I feel already as if I've been in this place for hours."

She went up to the desk and laid her hand on the book；her fingers tingled when she touched it as if it were full of electricity.She tried to open it but couldn't at first；this,however,was only because it was fastened by two leaden clasps,and when she had undone these it opened easily enough.And what a book it was!

It was written,not printed；written in a clear,even hand,with thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes,very large,easier than print,and so beautiful that Lucy stared at it for a whole minute and forgot about reading it.The paper was crisp and smooth and a nice smell came from it；and in the margins,and round the big coloured capital letters at the beginning of each spell,there were pictures.

There was no title page or title；the spells began straight away,and at first there was nothing very important in them.There were cures for warts(by washing your hands in moonlight in a silver basin)and toothache and cramp,and a spell for taking a swarm of bees.The picture of the man with toothache was so lifelike that it would have set your own teeth aching if you looked at it too long,and the golden bees which were dotted all round the fourth spell looked for a moment as if they were really flying.

Lucy could hardly tear herself away from that first page,but when she turned over,the next was just as interesting."But I must get on," she told herself.And on she went for about thirty pages which,if she could have remembered them,would have taught her how to find buried treasure,how to remember things forgotten,how to forget things you wanted to forget,how to tell whether anyone was speaking the truth,how to call up(or prevent)wind,fog,snow,sleet or rain,how to produce enchanted sleeps and how to give a man an ass's head(as they did to poor Bottom).And the longer she read the more wonderful and more real the pictures became.

Then she came to a page which was such a blaze of pictures that one hardly noticed the writing.Hardly-but she did notice the first words.They were,An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals.Lucy peered at the pictures with her face close to the page,and though they had seemed crowded and muddlesome before,she found she could now see them quite clearly.The first was a picture of a girl standing at a reading-desk reading in a huge book.And the girl was dressed exactly like Lucy.In the next picture Lucy(for the girl in the picture was Lucy herself)was standing up with her mouth open and a rather terrible expression on her face,chanting or reciting something.In the third picture the beauty beyond the lot of mortals had come to her.It was strange,considering how small the pictures had looked at first,that the Lucy in the picture now seemed quite as big as the real Lucy；and they looked into each other's eyes and the real Lucy looked away after a few minutes because she was dazzled by the beauty of the other Lucy；though she could still see a sort of likeness to herself in that beautiful face.And now the pictures came crowding on her thick and fast.She saw herself throned on high at a great tournament in Calormen and all the Kings of the world fought because of her beauty.After that it turned from tournaments to real wars,and all Narnia and Archenland,Telmar and Calormen,Galma and Terebinthia,were laid waste with the fury of the kings and dukes and great lords who fought for her favour.Then it changed and Lucy,still beautiful beyond the lot of mortals,was back in England.And Susan(who had always been the beauty of the family)came home from America.The Susan in the picture looked exactly like the real Susan only plainer and with a nasty expression.And Susan was jealous of the dazzling beauty of Lucy,but that didn't matter a bit because no one cared anything about Susan now.

"I will say the spell," said Lucy."I don't care.I will." She said I don't care because she had a strong feeling that she mustn't.

But when she looked back at the opening words of the spell,there in the middle of the writing,where she felt quite sure there had been no picture before,she found the great face of a lion,of The Lion,Asian himself,staring into hers.It was painted such a bright gold that it seemed to be coming towards her out of the page；and indeed she never was quite sure afterwards that it hadn't really moved a little.At any rate she knew the expression on his face quite well.He was growling and you could see most of his teeth.She became horribly afraid and turned over the page at once.

A little later she came to a spell which would let you know what your friends thought about you.Now Lucy had wanted very badly to try the other spell,the one that made you beautiful beyond the lot of mortals.So she felt that to make up for not having said it,she really would say this one.And all in a hurry,for fear her mind would change,she said the words(nothing will induce me to tell you what they were).Then she waited for something to happen.

As nothing happened she began looking at the pictures.And all at once she saw the very last thing she expected-a picture of a third-class carriage in a train,with two schoolgirls sitting in it.She knew them at once.They were Marjorie Preston and Anne Featherstone.Only now it was much more than a picture.It was alive.She could see the telegraph posts flicking past outside the window.Then gradually(like when the radio is "coming on")she could hear what they were saying.

"Shall I see anything of you this term?" said Anne,"or are you still going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie?"

"Don't know what you mean by taken up" said Marjorie.

"Oh yes,you do," said Anne."You were crazy about her last term."

"No,I wasn't," said Marjorie."I've got more sense than that.Not a bad little kid in her way.But I was getting pretty tired of her before the end of term."

"Well,you jolly well won't have the chance any other term!" shouted Lucy."Two-faced little beast." But the sound of her own voice at once reminded her that she was talking to a picture and that the real Marjorie was far away in another world.

"Well," said Lucy to herself,"I did think better of her than that.And I did all sorts of things for her last term,and I stuck to her when not many other girls would.And she knows it too.And to Anne Featherstone of all people!I wonder,are all my friends the same?There are lots of other pictures.No.I won't look at any more.I won't,I won't"-and with a great effort she turned over the page,but not before a large,angry tear had splashed on it.

On the next page she came to a spell "for the refreshment of the spirit".The pictures were fewer here but very beautiful.And what Lucy found herself reading was more like a story than a spell.It went on for three pages and before she had read to the bottom of the page she had forgotten that she was reading at all.She was living in the story as if it were real,and all the pictures were real too.When she had got to the third page and come to the end,she said,"That is the loveliest story I've ever read or ever shall read in my whole life.Oh,I wish I could have gone on reading it for ten years.At least I'll read it over again."

But here part of the magic of the Book came into play.You couldn't turn back.The right-hand pages,the ones ahead,could be turned；the left-hand pages could not.

"Oh,what a shame!" said Lucy."I did so want to read it again.Well,at least I must remember it.Let's see...it was about...about...oh dear,it's all fading away again.And even this last page is going blank.This is a very queer book.How can I have forgotten?It was about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill,I know that much.But I can't remember,and what shall I do?"

And she never could remember；and ever since that day,what Lucy means by a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magician's Book.

She turned on and found to her surprise a page with no pictures at all；but the first words were A Spell to make hidden things visible.She read it through to make sure of all the hard words and then said it out loud.And she knew at once that it was working because as she spoke,the colours came into the capital letters at the top of the page and the pictures began appearing in the margins.It was like when you hold to the fire something written in Invisible Ink and the writing gradually shows up；only instead of the dingy colour of lemon juice(which is the easiest Invisible Ink)this was all gold and blue and scarlet.They were odd pictures and contained many figures that Lucy did not much like the look of.And then she thought,"I suppose I've made everything visible,and not only the Thumpers.There might be lots of other invisible things hanging about a place like this.I'm not sure that I want to see them all."

At that moment she heard soft,heavy footfalls coming along the corridor behind her；and of course she remembered what she had been told about the Magician walking in his bare feet and making no more noise than a cat.It is always better to turn round than to have anything creeping up behind your back.Lucy did so.

Then her face lit up till,for a moment(but of course she didn't know it),she looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy in the picture,and she ran forward with a little cry of delight and with her arms stretched out.For what stood in the doorway was Asian himself,The Lion,the highest of all High Kings.And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in his shining mane.And from the low,earthquake-like sound that came from inside him,Lucy even dared to think that he was purring.

"Oh,Asian," said she,"it was kind of you to come."

"I have been here all the time," said he,"but you have just made me visible."

"Asian!" said Lucy almost a little reproachfully."Don't make fun of me.As if anything I could do would make you visible!"

"It did," said Asian."Do you think I wouldn't obey my own rules?"

After a little pause he spoke again.

"Child," he said,"I think you have been eavesdropping."

"Eavesdropping?"

"You listened to what your two schoolfellows were saying about you."

"Oh,that?I never thought that was eavesdropping,Asian.Wasn't it magic?"

"Spying on people by magic is the same as spying on them in any other way.And you have misjudged your friend.She is weak,but she loves you.She was afraid of the older girl and said what she does not mean."

"I don't think I'd ever be able to forget what I heard her say."

"No,you won't."

"Oh dear," said Lucy."Have I spoiled everything?Do you mean we would have gone on being friends if it hadn't been for this-and been really great friends-all our lives perhaps-and now we never shall?"

"Child," said Asian,"did I not explain to you once before that no one is ever told what would have happened?"

"Yes,Asian,you did," said Lucy."I'm sorry.But please—"

"Speak on,dear heart."

"Shall I ever be able to read that story again；the one I couldn't remember?Will you tell it to me,Asian?Oh do,do,do."

"Indeed,yes,I will tell it to you for years and years.But now,come.We must meet the master of this house."

CHAPTER 11

The Dufflepuds Made Happy

Lucy followed the great Lion out into the passage and at once she saw coming towards them an old man,barefoot,dressed in a red robe.His white hair was crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves,his beard fell to his girdle,and he supported himself with a curiously carved staff.When he saw Asian he bowed low and said,

"Welcome,Sir,to the least of your houses."

"Do you grow weary,Coriakin,of ruling such foolish subjects as I have given you here?"

"No," said the Magician,"they are very stupid but there is no real harm in them.I begin to grow rather fond of the creatures.Sometimes,perhaps,I am a little impatient,waiting for the day when they can be governed by wisdom instead of this rough magic."

"All in good time,Coriakin," said Asian.

"Yes,all in very good time,Sir," was the answer."Do you intend to show yourself to them?"

"Nay," said the Lion,with a little half-growl that meant(Lucy thought)the same as a laugh."I should frighten them out of their senses.Many stars will grow old ana come to take their rest in islands before your people are ripe for that.And today before sunset I must visit Trumpkin the Dwarf where he sits in the castle of Cair Paravel counting the days till his master Caspian comes home.I will tell him all your story,Lucy.Do not look so sad.We shall meet soon again."

"Please,Asian," said Lucy,"what do you call soon?"

"I call all times soon," said Asian；and instantly he was vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.

"Gone!" said he."And you and I quite crestfallen.It's always like that,you can't keep him；it's not as if he were a tame lion.And how did you enjoy my book?"

"Parts of it very much indeed," said Lucy."Did you know I was there all the time?"

"Well,of course I knew when I let the Duffers make themselves invisible that you would be coming along presently to take the spell off.I wasn't quite sure of the exact day.And I wasn't especially on the watch this morning.You see they had made me invisible too and being invisible always makes me so sleepy.Heigh-ho-there,I'm yawning again.Are you hungry?"

"Well,perhaps I am a little," said Lucy."I've no idea what the time is."

"Come," said the Magician."All times may be soon to Asian；but in my home all hungry times are one o'clock."

He led her a little way down the passage and opened a door.Passing in,Lucy found herself in a pleasant room full of sunlight and flowers.The table was bare when they entered,but it was of course a magic table,and at a word from the old man the tablecloth,silver,plates,glasses and food appeared.

"I hope that is what you would like," said he."I have tried to give you food more like the food of your own land than perhaps you have had lately."

"It's lovely," said Lucy,and so it was：an omelette,piping hot,cold lamb and green peas,a strawberry ice,lemon squash to drink with the meal and a cup of chocolate to follow.But the magician himself drank only wine and ate only bread.There was nothing alarming about him,and Lucy and he were soon chatting away like old friends.

"When will the spell work?" asked Lucy."Will the Duffers be visible again at once?"

"Oh yes,they're visible now.But they're probably all asleep still；they always take a rest in the middle of the day."

"And now that they're visible,are you going to let them off being ugly?Will you make them as they were before?"

"Well,that's rather a delicate question," said the Magician."You see,it's only they who think they were so nice to look at before.They say they've been uglified,but that isn't what I called it.Many people might say the change was for the better."

"Are they awfully conceited?"

"They are.Or at least the Chief Duffer is,and he's taught all the rest to be.They always believe every word he says."

"We'd noticed that," said Lucy.

"Yes-we'd get on better without him,in a way.Of course I could turn him into something else,or even put a spell on him which would make them not believe a word he said.But I don't like to do that.It's better for them to admire him than to admire nobody."

"Don't they admire you?" asked Lucy.

"Oh,not me" said the Magician."They wouldn't admire me."

"What was it you uglified them for-I mean,what they call uglified?"

"Well,they wouldn't do what they were told.Their work is to mind the garden and raise food-not for me,as they imagine,but for themselves.They wouldn't do it at all if I didn't make them.And of course,for a garden you want water.There is a beautiful spring about half a mile away up the hill.And from that spring there flows a stream which comes right past the garden.All I asked them to do was to take their water from the stream instead of trudging up to the spring with their buckets two or three times a day and tiring themselves out besides spilling half of it on the way back.But they wouldn't see it.In the end they refused point blank."

"Are they as stupid as all that?" asked Lucy.

The Magician sighed."You wouldn't believe the troubles I've had with them.A few months ago they were all for washing up the plates and knives before dinner：they said it saved time afterwards.I've caught them planting boiled potatoes to save cooking them when they were dug up.One day the cat got into the dairy and twenty of them were at work moving all the milk out；no one thought of moving the cat.But I see you've finished.Let's go and look at the Duffers now they can be looked at."

They went into another room which was full of polished instruments hard to understand-such as Astrolabes,Orreries,Chronoscopes,Poesimeters,Choriambuses and Theodolinds-and here,when they had come to the window,the Magician said,"There.There are your Duffers."

"I don't see anybody," said Lucy."And what are those mushroom things?"

The things she pointed at were dotted all over the level grass.They were certainly very like mushrooms,but far too big-the stalks about three feet high and the umbrellas about the same length from edge to edge.When she looked carefully she noticed too that the stalks joined the umbrellas not in the middle but at one side which gave an unbalanced look to them.And there was something-a sort of little bundle-lying on the grass at the foot of each stalk.In fact the longer she gazed at them the less like mushrooms they appeared.The umbrella part was not really round as she had thought at first.It was longer than it was broad,and it widened at one end.There were a great many of them,fifty or more.

The clock struck three.

Instantly a most extraordinary thing happened.Each of the "mushrooms" suddenly turned upsidedown.The little bundles which had lain at the bottom of the stalks were heads and bodies.The stalks themselves were legs.But not two legs to each body.Each body had a single thick leg right under it(not to one side like the leg of a one-legged man)and at the end of it,a single enormous foot-a broad-toed foot with the toes curling up a little so that it looked rather like a small canoe.She saw in a moment why they had looked like mushrooms.They had been lying flat on their backs each with its single leg straight up in the air and its enormous foot spread out above it.She learned afterwards that this was their ordinary way of resting；for the foot kept off both rain and sun,and for a Monopod to lie under its own foot is almost as good as being in a tent.

"Oh,the funnies,the funnies," cried Lucy,bursting into laughter."Did you make them like that?"

"Yes,yes.I made the Duffers into Monopods," said the Magician.He too was laughing till the tears ran down his cheeks."But watch," he added.

It was worth watching.Of course these little onefooted men couldn't walk or run as we do.They got about by jumping,like fleas or frogs.And what jumps they made!-as if each big foot were a mass of springs.And with what a bounce they came down；that was what made the thumping noise which had so puzzled Lucy yesterday.For now they were jumping in all directions and calling out to one another,"Hey,lads!We're visible again."

"Visible we are," said one in a tasselled red cap who was obviously the Chief Monopod."And what I say is,when chaps are visible,why,they can see one another."

"Ah,there it is,there it is,Chief," cried all the others."There's the point.No one's got a clearer head than you.You couldn't have made it plainer."

"She caught the old man napping,that little girl did," said the Chief Monopod."We've beaten him this time."

"Just what we were going to say ourselves," chimed the chorus."You're going stronger than ever today,Chief.Keep it up,keep it up."

"But do they dare to talk about you like that?" said Lucy."They seemed to be so afraid of you yesterday.Don't they know you might be listening?"

'That's one of the funny things about the Duffers," said the Magician."One minute they talk as if I ran everything and overheard everything and was extremely dangerous.The next moment they think they can take me in by tricks that a baby would see through-bless them!"

"Will they have to be turned back into their proper shapes?" asked Lucy."Oh,I do hope it wouldn't be unkind to leave them as they are.Do they really mind very much?They seem pretty happy.I say-look at that jump.What were they like before?"

"Common little dwarfs," said he."Nothing like so nice as the sort you have in Narnia."

"It would be a pity to change them back," said Lucy."They're so funny：and they're rather nice.Do you think it would make any difference if I told them that?"

"I'm sure it would-if you could get it into their heads."

"Will you come with me and try?"

"No,no.You'll get on far better without me."

"Thanks awfully for the lunch," said Lucy and turned quickly away.She ran down the stairs which she had come up so nervously that morning and cannoned into Edmund at the bottom.All the others were there with him waiting,and Lucy's conscience smote her when she saw their anxious faces and realized how long she had forgotten them.

"It's all right," she shouted."Everything's all right.The Magician's a brick-and I've seen him-Asian."

After that she went from them like the wind and out into the garden.Here the earth was shaking with the jumps,and the air ringing with the shouts of the Monopods.Both were redoubled when they caught sight of her.

"Here she comes,here she comes," they cried."Three cheers for the little girl.Ah!She put it across the old gentleman properly,she did."

"And we're extremely regrettable," said the Chief Monopod,"that we can't give you the pleasure of seeing us as we were before we were uglified,for you wouldn't believe the difference,and that's the truth,for there's no denying we're mortal ugly now,so we won't deceive you."

"Eh,that we are,Chief,that we are," echoed the others,bouncing like so many toy balloons."You've said it,you've said it."

"But I don't think you are at all," said Lucy,shouting to make herself heard."I think you look very nice."

"Hear her,hear her," said the Monopods.'True for you,Missie.Very nice we look.You couldn't find a handsomer lot." They said this without any surprise and did not seem to notice that they had changed their minds.

"She's a-saying," remarked the Chief Monopod,"as how we looked very nice before we were uglified."

'True for you,Chief,true for you," chanted the others.'That's what she says.We heard her ourselves."

"I did not," bawled Lucy."I said you're very nice now."

"So she did,so she did," said the Chief Monopod,"said we were very nice then."

"Hear 'em both,hear 'em both," said the Monopods.'There's a pair for you.Always right.They couldn't have put it better."

"But we're saying just the opposite," said Lucy,stamping her foot with impatience.

"So you are,to be sure,so you are," said the Monopods."Nothing like an opposite.Keep it up,both of you."

"You're enough to drive anyone mad," said Lucy,and gave it up.But the Monopods seemed perfectly contented,and she decided that on the whole the conversation had been a success.

And before everyone went to bed that evening something else happened which made them even more satisfied with their one-legged condition.Caspian and all the Narnians went back as soon as possible to the shore to give their news to Rhince and the others on board the Dawn Treader,who were by now very anxious.And,of course,the Monopods went with them,bouncing like footballs and agreeing with one another in loud voices till Eustace said,"I wish the Magician would make them inaudible instead of invisible."(He was soon sorry he had spoken because then he had to explain that an inaudible thing is something you can't hear,and though he took a lot of trouble he never felt sure that the Monopods had really understood,and what especially annoyed him was that they said in the end,"Eh,he can't put things the way our Chief does.But you'll learn,young man.Hark to him.He'll show you how to say things.There's a speaker for you!")When they reached the bay,Reepicheep had a brilliant idea.He had his little coracle lowered and paddled himself about in it till the Monopods were thoroughly interested.He then stood up in it and said,"Worthy and intelligent Monopods,you do not need boats.Each of you has a foot that will do instead.Just jump as lightly as you can on the water and see what happens."

The Chief Monopod hung back and warned the others that they'd find the water powerful wet,but one or two of the younger ones tried it almost at once；and then a few others followed their example,and at last the whole lot did the same.It worked perfectly.The huge single foot of a Monopod acted as a natural raft or boat,and when Reepicheep had taught them how to cut rude paddles for themselves,they all paddled about the bay and round the Dawn Treader,looking for all the world like a fleet of little canoes with a fat dwarf standing up in the extreme stern of each.And they had races,and bottles of wine were lowered down to them from the ship as prizes,and the sailors stood leaning over the ship's sides and laughed till their own sides ached.

The Duffers were also very pleased with their new name of Monopods,which seemed to them a magnificent name though they never got it right."That's what we are," they bellowed,"Moneypuds,Pomonods,Poddymons.Just what it was on the tips of our tongues to call ourselves." But they soon got it mixed up with their old name of Duffers and finally settled down to calling themselves the Dufflepuds；and that is what they will probably be called for centuries.

That evening all the Narnians dined upstairs with the Magician,and Lucy noticed how different the whole top floor looked now that she was no longer afraid of it.The mysterious signs on the doors were still mysterious but now looked as if they had kind and cheerful meanings,and even the bearded mirror now seemed funny rather than frightening.At dinner everyone had by magic what everyone liked best to eat and drink,and after dinner the Magician did a very useful and beautiful piece of magic.He laid two blank sheets of parchment on the table and asked Drinian to give him an exact account of their voyage up to date：and as Drinian spoke,everything he described came out on the parchment in fine clear lines till at last each sheet was a splendid map of the Eastern Ocean,showing Galma,Terebinthia,the Seven Isles,the Lone Islands,Dragon Island,Burnt Island,Deathwater,and the land of the Duffers itself,all exactly the right sizes and in the right positions.They were the first maps ever made of those seas and better than any that have been made since without Magic.For on these,though the towns and mountains looked at first just as they would on an ordinary map,when the Magician lent them a magnifying glass you saw that they were perfect little pictures of the real things,so that you could see the very castle and slave market and streets in Narrowhaven,all very clear though very distant,like things seen through the wrong end of a telescope.The only drawback was that the coastline of most of the islands was incomplete,for the map showed only what Drinian had seen with his own eyes.When they were finished the Magician kept one himself and presented the other to Caspian：it still hangs in his Chamber of Instruments at Cair Paravel.But the Magician could tell them nothing about seas or lands further east.He did,however,tell them that about seven years before a Narnian ship had put in at his waters and that she had on board the Lords Revilian,Argoz,Mavramorn and Rhoop：so they judged that the golden man they had seen lying in Deathwater must be the Lord Restimar.

Next day,the Magician magically mended the stern of the Dawn Treader where it had been damaged by the Sea Serpent and loaded her with useful gifts.There was a most friendly parting,and when she sailed,two hours after noon,all the Dufflepuds paddled out with her to the harbour mouth,and cheered until she was out of sound of their cheering.

CHAPTER 12

The Dark Island

After this adventure they sailed on south and a little east for twelve days with a gentle wind,the skies being mostly clear and the air warm,and saw no bird or fish,except that once there were whales spouting a long way to starboard.Lucy and Reepicheep played a good deal of chess at this time.Then on the thirteenth day,Edmund,from the fighting top,sighted what looked like a great dark mountain rising out of the sea on their port bow.

They altered course and made for this land,mostly by oar,for the wind would not serve them to sail north-east.When evening fell they were still a long way from it and rowed all night.The next morning the weather was fair but a flat calm prevailed.The dark mass lay ahead,much nearer and larger,but still very dim,so that some thought it was still a long way off and others thought they were running into a mist.

About nine that morning,very suddenly,it was so close that they could see that it was not land at all,nor even,in an ordinary sense,a mist.It was a Darkness.It is rather hard to describe,but you will see what it was like if you imagine yourself looking into the mouth of a railway tunnel-a tunnel either so long or so twisty that you cannot see the light at the far end.And you know what it would be like.For a few feet you would see the rails and sleepers and gravel in broad daylight；then there would come a place where they were in twilight；and then,pretty suddenly,but of course without a sharp dividing line,they would vanish altogether into smooth,solid blackness.It was just so here.For a few feet in front of their bows they could see the swell of the bright greenish-blue water.Beyond that,they could see the water looking pale and grey as it would look late in the evening.But beyond that again,utter blackness as if they had come to the edge of moonless and starless night.

Caspian shouted to the boatswain to keep her back,and all except the rowers rushed forward and gazed from the bows.But there was nothing to be seen by gazing.Behind them was the sea and the sun,before them the Darkness.

"Do we go into this?" asked Caspian at length.

"Not by my advice," said Drinian.

"The Captain's right," said several sailors.

"I almost think he is," said Edmund.

Lucy and Eustace didn't speak but they felt very glad inside at the turn things seemed to be taking.But all at once the clear voice of Reepicheep broke in upon the silence.

"And why not?" he said."Will someone explain to me why not?"

No one was anxious to explain,so Reepicheep continued：

"If I were addressing peasants or slaves," he said,"I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice.But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark."

"But what manner of use would it be ploughing through that blackness?" asked Drinian.

"Use?" replied Reepicheep."Use,Captain?If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses,I confess it will be no use at all.So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventure.And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of,and here,if we turn back,no little impeachment of all our honours."

Several of the sailors said things under their breath that sounded like,"Honour be blowed",but Caspian said：

"Oh,bother you,Reepicheep.I almost wish we'd left you at home.All right!If you put it that way,I suppose we shall have to go on.Unless Lucy would rather not?"

Lucy felt that she would very much rather not,but what she said out loud was,"I'm game."

"Your Majesty will at least order lights?" said Drinian.

"By all means," said Caspian."See to it,Captain."

So the three lanterns,at the stern,and the prow and the masthead,were all lit,and Drinian ordered two torches amidships.Pale and feeble they looked in the sunshine.Then all the men except some who were left below at the oars were ordered on deck and fully armed and posted in their battle stations with swords drawn.Lucy and two archers were posted on the fighting top with bows bent and arrows on the string.Rynelf was in the bows with his line ready to take soundings.Reepicheep,Edmund,Eustace and Caspian,glittering in mail,were with him.Drinian took the tiller.

"And now,in Asian's name,forward!" cried Caspian."A slow,steady stroke.And let every man be silent and keep his ears open for orders."

With a creak and a groan the Dawn Treader started to creep forward as the men began to row.Lucy,up in the fighting top,had a wonderful view of the exact moment at which they entered the darkness.The bows had already disappeared before the sunlight had left the stern.She saw it go.At one minute the gilded stern,the blue sea,and the sky,were all in broad daylight：next minute the sea and sky had vanished,the stern lantern-which had been hardly noticeable before-was the only thing to show where the ship ended.In front of the lantern she could see the black shape of Drinian crouching at the tiller.Down below her the two torches made visible two small patches of deck,and gleamed on swords and helmets,and forward there was another island of light on the forecastle.Apart from that,the fighting top,lit by the masthead light which was only just above her,seemed to be a little lighted world of its own floating in lonely darkness.And the lights themselves,as always happens with lights when you have to have them at the wrong time of day,looked lurid and unnatural.She also noticed that she was very cold.

How long this voyage into the darkness lasted,nobody knew.Except for the creak of the rowlocks and the splash of the oars there was nothing to show that they were moving at all.Edmund,peering from the bows,could see nothing except the reflection of the lantern in the water before him.It looked a greasy sort of reflection,and the ripple made by their advancing prow appeared to be heavy,small,and lifeless.As time went on everyone except the rowers began to shiver with cold.

Suddenly,from somewhere — no one's sense of direction was very clear by now-there came a cry,either of some inhuman voice or else a voice of one in such extremity of terror that he had almost lost his humanity.

Caspian was still trying to speak-his mouth was too dry-when the shrill voice of Reepicheep,which sounded louder than usual in that silence,was heard.

"Who calls?" it piped."If you are a foe we do not fear you,and if you are a friend your enemies shall be taught the fear of us."

"Mercy!" cried the voice."Mercy!Even if you are only one more dream,have mercy.Take me on board.Take me,even if you strike me dead.But in the name of all mercies do not fade away and leave me in this horrible land."

"Where are you?" shouted Caspian."Come aboard and welcome."

There came another cry,whether of joy or terror,and then they knew that someone was swimming towards them.

"Stand by to heave him up,men," said Caspian.

"Aye,aye,your Majesty," said the sailors.Several crowded to the port bulwark with ropes and one,leaning far out over the side,held the torch.A wild,white face appeared in the blackness of the water,and then,after some scrambling and pulling,a dozen friendly hands had heaved the stranger on board.

Edmund thought he had never seen a wilderlooking man.Though he did not otherwise look very old,his hair was an untidy mop of white,his face was thin and drawn and,for clothing,only a few wet rags hung about him.But what one mainly noticed were his eyes,which were so widely opened that he seemed to have no eyelids at all,and stared as if in an agony of pure fear.The moment his feet reached the deck he said：

"Fly!Fly!About with your ship and fly!Row,row,row for your lives away from this accursed shore."

"Compose yourself," said Reepicheep,"and tell us what the danger is.We are not used to flying."

The stranger started horribly at the voice of the Mouse,which he had not noticed before.

"Nevertheless you will fly from here," he gasped."This is the Island where Dreams come true."

'That's the island I've been looking for this long time," said one of the sailors."I reckoned I'd find I was married to Nancy if we landed here."

"And I'd find Tom alive again," said another.

"Fools!" said the man,stamping his foot with rage."That is the sort of talk that brought me here,and I'd better have been drowned or never born.Do you hear what I say?This is where dreams-dreams,do you understand-come to life,come real.Not daydreams：dreams."

There was about half a minute's silence and then,with a great clatter of armour,the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before；and Drinian was swinging round the tiller,and the boatswain was giving out the quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea.For it had taken everyone just that half-minute to remember certain dreams they had had-dreams that make you afraid of going to sleep again-and to realize what it would mean to land on a country where dreams come true.

Only Reepicheep remained unmoved.

"Your Majesty,your Majesty," he said,"are you going to tolerate this mutiny,this poltroonery?This is a panic,this is a rout."

"Row,row," bellowed Caspian."Pull for all our lives.Is her head right,Drinian?You can say what you like,Reepicheep.There are some things no man can face."

"It is,then,my good fortune not to be a man," replied Reepicheep with a very stiff bow.

Lucy from up aloft had heard it all.In an instant that one of her own dreams which she had tried hardest to forget came back to her as vividly as if she had only just woken from it.So that was what was behind them,on the island,in the darkness!For a second she wanted to go down to the deck and be with Edmund and Caspian.But what was the use?If dreams began coming true,Edmund and Caspian themselves might turn into something horrible just as she reached them.She gripped the rail of the fighting top and tried to steady herself.They were rowing back to the light as hard as they could：it would be all right in a few seconds.But oh,if only it could be all right now!

Though the rowing made a good deal of noise it did not quite conceal the total silence which surrounded the ship.Everyone knew it would be better not to listen,not to strain his ears for any sound from the darkness.But no one could help listening.And soon everyone was hearing things.Each one heard something different.

"Do you hear a noise like...like a huge pair of scissors opening and shutting...over there?" Eustace asked Rynelf.

"Hush!" said Rynelf."I can hear them crawling up the sides of the ship."

"It's just going to settle on the mast," said Caspian.

"Ugh!" said a sailor."There are the gongs beginning.I knew they would."

Caspian,trying not to look at anything(especially not to keep looking behind him),went aft to Drinian.

"Drinian," he said in a very low voice."How long did we take rowing in?-I mean rowing to where we picked up the stranger?"

"Five minutes,perhaps," whispered Drinian."Why?"

"Because we've been more than that already trying to get out."

Drinian's hand shook on the tiller and a line of cold sweat ran down his face.The same idea was occurring to everyone on board."We shall never get out,never get out," moaned the rowers."He's steering us wrong.We're going round and round in circles.We shall never get out." The stranger,who had been lying in a huddled heap on the deck,sat up and burst out into a horrible screaming laugh.

"Never get out!" he yelled."That's it.Of course.We shall never get out.What a fool I was to have thought they would let me go as easily as that.No,no,we shall never get out."

Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered,"Asian,Asian,if ever you loved us at all,send us help now." The darkness did not grow any less,but she began to feel a little-a very,very little-better."After all,nothing has really happened to us yet," she thought.

"Look!" cried Rynelfs voice hoarsely from the bows.There was a tiny speck of light ahead,and while they watched,a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship.It did not alter the surrounding darkness,but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight.Caspian blinked,stared round,saw the faces of his companions all with wild,fixed expressions.Everyone was staring in the same direction：behind everyone lay his black,sharplyedged shadow.

Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it.At first it looked like a cross,then it looked like an aeroplane,then it looked like a kite,and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross.It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow.It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them.After that it spread its wings,rose,and began to fly slowly ahead,bearing a little to starboard.Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance.But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her,"Courage,dear heart," and the voice,she felt sure,was Asian's,and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.

In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead,and then,almost before they dared to begin hoping,they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm,blue world again.And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been.They blinked their eyes and looked about them.The brightness of the ship herself astonished them：they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum.And then first one,and then another,began laughing.

"I reckon we've made pretty good fools of ourselves," said Rynelf.

Lucy lost no time in coming down to the deck,where she found the others all gathered round the newcomer.For a long time he was too happy to speak,and could only gaze at the sea and the sun and feel the bulwarks and the ropes,as if to make sure he was really awake,while tears rolled down his cheeks.

'Thank you," he said at last."You have saved me from...but I won't talk of that.And now let me know who you are.I am a Telmarine of Narnia,and when I was worth anything men called me the Lord Rhoop."

"And I," said Caspian,"am Caspian,King of Narnia,and I sail to find you and your companions who were my father's friends."

Lord Rhoop fell on his knees and kissed the King's hand."Sire," he said,"you are the man in all the world I most wished to see.Grant me a boon."

"What is it?" asked Caspian.

"Never to bring me back there," he said.He pointed astern.They all looked.But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky.The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.

"Why!" cried Lord Rhoop."You have destroyed it!"

"I don't think it was us," said Lucy.

"Sire," said Drinian,"this wind is fair for the south-east.Shall I have our poor fellows up and set sail?And after that,every man who can be spared,to his hammock."

"Yes," said Caspian,"and let there be grog all round.Heigh-ho,I feel I could sleep the clock round myself."

So all afternoon with great joy they sailed southeast with a fair wind.But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.

CHAPTER 13

The Three Sleepers

The wind never failed but it grew gentler every day till at length the waves were little more than ripples,and the ship glided on hour after hour almost as if they were sailing on a lake.And every night they saw that there rose in the east new constellations which no one had ever seen in Narnia and perhaps,as Lucy thought with a mixture of joy and fear,no living eye had seen at all.Those new stars were big and bright and the nights were warm.Most of them slept on deck and talked far into the night or hung over the ship's side watching the luminous dance of the foam thrown up by their bows.

On an evening of startling beauty,when the sunset behind them was so crimson and purple and widely spread that the very sky itself seemed to have grown larger,they came in sight of land on their starboard bow.It came slowly nearer and the light behind them made it look as if the capes and headlands of this new country were all on fire.But presently they were sailing along its coast and its western cape now rose up astern of them,black against the red sky and sharp as if it was cut out of cardboard,and then they could see better what this country was like.It had no mountains but many gentle hills with slopes like pillows.An attractive smell came from it-what Lucy called "a dim,purple kind of smell",which Edmund said(and Rhince thought)was rot,but Caspian said,"I know what you mean."

They sailed on a good way,past point after point,hoping to find a nice deep harbour,but had to content themselves in the end with a wide and shallow bay.Though it had seemed calm out at sea there was of course surf breaking on the sand and they could not bring the Dawn Treader as far in as they would have liked.They dropped anchor a good way from the beach and had a wet and tumbling landing in the boat.The Lord Rhoop remained on board the Dawn Treader.He wished to see no more islands.All the time that they remained in this country the sound of the long breakers was in their ears.

Two men were left to guard the boat and Caspian led the others inland,but not far because it was too late for exploring and the light would soon go.But there was no need to go far to find an adventure.The level valley which lay at the head of the bay showed no road or track or other sign of habitation.Underfoot was fine springy turf dotted here and there with a low bushy growth which Edmund and Lucy took for heather.Eustace,who was really rather good at botany,said it wasn't,and he was probably right；but it was something of very much the same kind.

When they had gone less than a bowshot from the shore,Drinian said,"Look!What's that?" and everyone stopped.

"Are they great trees?" said Caspian.

"Towers,I think," said Eustace.

"It might be giants," said Edmund in a lower voice.

"The way to find out is to go right in among them," said Reepicheep,drawing his sword and pattering off ahead of everyone else.

"I think it's a ruin," said Lucy when they had got a good deal nearer,and her guess was the best so far.What they now saw was a wide oblong space flagged with smooth stones and surrounded by grey pillars but unroofed.And from end to end of it ran a long table laid with a rich crimson cloth that came down nearly to the pavement.At either side of it were many chairs of stone,richly carved and with silken cushions upon the seats.But on the table itself there was set out such a banquet as had never been seen,not even when Peter the High King kept his court at Cair Paravel.There were turkeys and geese and peacocks,there were boars' heads and sides of venison,there were pies shaped like ships under full sail or like dragons and elephants,there were ice puddings and bright lobsters and gleaming salmon,there were nuts and grapes,pineapples and peaches,pomegranates and melons and tomatoes.There were flagons of gold and silver and curiouslywrought glass；and the smell of the fruit and the wine blew towards them like a promise of all happiness.

"I say." said Lucy.

They came nearer and nearer,all very quietly.

"But where are the guests?" asked Eustace.

"We can provide that,Sir," said Rhince.

"Look!" said Edmund sharply.They were actually within the pillars now and standing on the pavement.Everyone looked where Edmund had pointed.The chairs were not all empty.At the head of the table and in the two places beside it there was something-or possibly three somethings.

"What are those?" asked Lucy in a whisper."It looks like three beavers sitting on the table."

"Or a huge bird's nest," said Edmund.

"It looks more like a haystack to me," said Caspian.

Reepicheep ran forward,jumped on a chair and thence onto the table,and ran along it,threading his way as nimbly as a dancer between jewelled cups and pyramids of fruit and ivory salt-cellars.He ran right up to the mysterious grey mass at the end：peered,touched,and then called out：

"These will not fight,I think."

Everyone now came close and saw that what sat in those three chairs was three men,though hard to recognize as men till you looked closely.Their hair,which was grey,had grown over their eyes till it almost concealed their faces,and their beards had grown over the table,climbing round and entwining plates and goblets as brambles entwine a fence until,all mixed in one great mat of hair,they flowed over the edge and down to the floor.And from their heads the hair hung over the backs of their chairs so that they were wholly hidden.In fact the three men were nearly all hair.

"Dead?" said Caspian.

"I think not,Sire," said Reepicheep,lifting one of their hands out of its tangle of hair in his two paws."This one is warm and his pulse beats."

"This one,too,and this," said Drinian.

"Why,they're only asleep," said Eustace.

"It's been a long sleep,though," said Edmund,"to let their hair grow like this."

"It must be an enchanted sleep," said Lucy."I felt the moment we landed on this island that it was full of magic.Oh!Do you think we have perhaps come here to break it?"

"We can try," said Caspian,and began shaking the nearest of the three sleepers.For a moment everyone thought he was going to be successful,for the man breathed hard and muttered,"I'll go eastward no more.Out oars for Narnia." But he sank back almost at once into a yet deeper sleep than before：that is,his heavy head sagged a few inches lower towards the table and all efforts to rouse him again were useless.

With the second it was much the same："Weren't born to live like animals.Get to the east while you've a chance-lands behind the sun," and sank down.And the third only said,"Mustard,please," and slept hard.

"Out oars for Narnia,eh?" said Drinian.

"Yes," said Caspian,"you are right,Drinian.I think our quest is at an end.Let's look at their rings.Yes,these are their devices.This is the Lord Revilian.This is the Lord Argoz；and this,the Lord Mavramorn."

"But we can't wake them," said Lucy."What are we to do?"

"Begging your Majesties' pardons all," said Rhince,"but why not fall to while you're discussing it?We don't see a dinner like this every day."

"Not for your life!" said Caspian.

"That's right,that's right," said several of the sailors."Too much magic about here.The sooner we're back on board the better."

"Depend upon it," said Reepicheep,"it was from eating this food that these three lords came by a seven years' sleep."

"I wouldn't touch it to save my life," said Drinian.

"The light's going uncommon quick," said Rynelf.

"Back to ship,back to ship," muttered the men.

"I really think," said Edmund,"they're right.We can decide what to do with the three sleepers tomorrow.We daren't eat the food and there's no point in staying here for the night.The whole place smells of magic-and danger."

"I am entirely of King Edmund's opinion," said Reepicheep,"as far as concerns the ship's company in general.But I myself will sit at this table till sunrise."

"Why on earth?" said Eustace.

"Because," said the Mouse,"this is a very great adventure,and no danger seems to me so great as that of knowing when I get back to Narnia that I left a mystery behind me through fear."

"I'll stay with you,Reep," said Edmund.

"And I too," said Caspian.

"And me," said Lucy.And then Eustace volunteered also.This was very brave of him because never having read of such things or even heard of them till he joined the Dawn Treader made it worse for him than for the others.

"I beseech your Majesty—" began Drinian.

"No,my Lord," said Caspian."Your place is with the ship,and you have had a day's work while we five have idled." There was a lot of argument about this but in the end Caspian had his way.As the crew marched off to the shore in the gathering dusk none of the five watchers,except perhaps Reepicheep,could avoid a cold feeling in the stomach.

They took some time choosing their seats at the perilous table.Probably everyone had the same reason but no one said it out loud.For it was really a rather nasty choice.One could hardly bear to sit all night next to those three terrible hairy objects which,if not dead,were certainly not alive in the ordinary sense.On the other hand,to sit at the far end,so that you would see them less and less as the night grew darker,and wouldn't know if they were moving,and perhaps wouldn't see them at all by about two o'clock-no,it was not to be thought of.So they sauntered round and round the table saying,"What about here?" and,"Or perhaps a bit further on," or,"Why not on this side?" till at last they settled down somewhere about the middle but nearer to the sleepers than to the other end.It was about ten by now and almost dark.Those strange new constellations burned in the east.Lucy would have liked it better if they had been the Leopard and the Ship and other old friends of the Narnian sky.

They wrapped themselves in their sea cloaks and sat still and waited.At first there was some attempt at talk but it didn't come to much.And they sat and sat.And all the time they heard the waves breaking on the beach.

After hours that seemed like ages there came a moment when they all knew they had been dozing a moment before but were all suddenly wide awake.The stars were all in quite different positions from those they had last noticed.The sky was very black except for the faintest possible greyness in the east.They were cold,though thirsty,and stiff,and none of them spoke because now at last something was happening.

Before them,beyond the pillars,there was the slope of a low hill.And now a door opened in the hillside,and light appeared in the doorway,and a figure came out,and the door shut behind it.The figure carried a light,and this light was really all that they could see distinctly.It came slowly nearer and nearer till at last it stood right at the table opposite to them.Now they could see that it was a tall girl,dressed in a single long garment of clear blue which left her arms bare.She was bareheaded and her yellow hair hung down her back.And when they looked at her they thought they had never before known what beauty meant.

The light which she had been carrying was a tall candle in a silver candlestick which she now set upon the table.If there had been any wind off the sea earlier in the night it must have died down by now,for the flame of the candle burned as straight and still as if it were in a room with the windows shut and the curtains drawn.Gold and silver on the table shone in its light.

Lucy now noticed something lying lengthwise on the table which had escaped her attention before.It was a knife of stone,sharp as steel,a cruel-looking,ancient-looking thing.

No one had yet spoken a word.Then-Reepicheep first,and Caspian next-they all rose to their feet,because they felt that she was a great lady.

"Travellers who have come from far to Asian's table," said the girl."Why do you not eat and drink?"

"Madam," said Caspian,"we feared the food because we thought it had cast our friends into an enchanted sleep."

"They have never tasted it," she said.

"Please," said Lucy,"what happened to them?"

"Seven years ago," said the girl,"they came here in a ship whose sails were rags and her timbers ready to fall apart.There were a few others with them,sailors,and when they came to this table one said,'Here is the good place.Let us set sail and reef sail and row no longer but sit down and end our days in peace!' And the second said,'No,let us reembark and sail for Narnia and the west；it may be that Miraz is dead.' But the third,who was a very masterful man,leapt up and said,'No,by heaven.We are men and Telmarines,not brutes.What should we do but seek adventure after adventure?We have not long to live in any event.Let us spend what is left in seeking the unpeopled world behind the sunrise.' And as they quarrelled he caught up the Knife of Stone which lies there on the table and would have fought with his comrades.But it is a thing not right for him to touch.And as his fingers closed upon the hilt,deep sleep fell upon all the three.And till the enchantment is undone they will never wake."

"What is this Knife of Stone?" asked Eustace.

"Do none of you know it?" said the girl.

"I-I think," said Lucy,"I've seen something like it before.It was a knife like it that the White Witch used when she killed Asian at the Stone Table long ago."

"It was the same," said the girl,"and it was brought here to be kept in honour while the world lasts."

Edmund,who had been looking more and more uncomfortable for the last few minutes,now spoke.

"Look here," he said,"I hope I'm not a coward-about eating this food,I mean-and I'm sure I don't mean to be rude.But we have had a lot of queer adventures on this voyage of ours and things aren't always what they seem.When I look in your face I can't help believing all you say；but then that's just what might happen with a witch too.How are we to know you're a friend?"

"You can't know," said the girl."You can only believe-or not."

After a moment's pause Reepicheep's small voice was heard.

"Sire," he said to Caspian,"of your courtesy fill my cup with wine from that flagon：it is too big for me to lift.I will drink to the lady."

Caspian obeyed and the Mouse,standing on the table,held up a golden cup between its tiny paws and said,"Lady,I pledge you." Then it fell to on cold peacock,and in a short while everyone else followed its example.All were very hungry and the meal,if not quite what you wanted for a very early breakfast,was excellent as a very late supper.

"Why is it called Asian's table?" asked Lucy presently.

"It is set here by his bidding," said the girl,"for those who come so far.Some call this island the World's End,for though you can sail further,this is the beginning of the end."

"But how does the food keep?" asked the practical Eustace.

"It is eaten,and renewed every day," said the girl."This you will see."

"And what are we to do about the Sleepers?" asked Caspian."In the world from which my friends come"(here he nodded at Eustace and the Pevensies)"they have a story of a prince or a king coming to a castle where all the people lay in an enchanted sleep.In that story he could not dissolve the enchantment until he had kissed the Princess."

"But here," said the girl,"it is different.Here he cannot kiss the Princess till he has dissolved the enchantment."

"Then," said Caspian,"in the name of Asian,show me how to set about that work at once."

"My father will teach you that," said the girl.

"Your father!" said everyone."Who is he?And where?"

"Look," said the girl,turning round and pointing at the door in the hillside.They could see it more easily now,for while they had been talking the stars had grown fainter and great gaps of white light were appearing in the greyness of the eastern sky.

CHAPTER 14

The Beginning of the End of the World

Slowly the door opened again and out there came a figure as tall and straight as the girl's but not so slender.It carried no light but light seemed to come from it.As it came nearer,Lucy saw that it was like an old man.His silver beard came down to his bare feet in front and his silver hair hung down to his heels behind and his robe appeared to be made from the fleece of silver sheep.He looked so mild and grave that once more all the travellers rose to their feet and stood in silence.

But the Old Man came on without speaking to the travellers and stood on the other side of the table opposite to his daughter.Then both of them held up their arms before them and turned to face the east.In that position they began to sing.I wish I could write down the song,but no one who was present could remember it.Lucy said afterwards that it was high,almost shrill,but very beautiful-"A cold kind of song,an early morning kind of song." And as they sang,the grey clouds lifted from the eastern sky and the white patches grew bigger and bigger till it was all white,and the sea began to shine like silver.And long afterwards(but those two sang all the time)the east began to turn red and at last,unclouded,the sun came up out of the sea and its long level ray shot down the length of the table on the gold and silver and on the Stone Knife.

Once or twice before,the Narnians had wondered whether the sun at its rising did not look bigger in these seas than it had looked at home.This time they were certain.There was no mistaking it.And the brightness of its rays on the dew and on the table was far beyond any morning brightness they had ever seen.And as Edmund said afterwards,'Though lots of things happened on that trip which sound more exciting,that moment was really the most exciting." For now they knew that they had truly come to the beginning of the End of the World.

Then something seemed to be flying at them out of the very centre of the rising sun：but of course one couldn't look steadily in that direction to make sure.But presently the air became full of voices-voices which took up the same song that the Lady and her Father were singing,but in far wilder tones and in a language which no one knew.And soon after that the owners of these voices could be seen.They were birds,large and white,and they came by hundreds and thousands and alighted on everything；on the grass,and the pavement,on the table,on your shoulders,your hands,and your head,till it looked as if heavy snow had fallen.For,like snow,they not only made everything white,but blurred and blunted all shapes.But Lucy,looking out from between the wings of the birds that covered her,saw one bird fly to the Old Man with something in its beak that looked like a little fruit,unless it was a little live coal,which it might have been,for it was too bright to look at.And the bird laid it in the Old Man's mouth.

Then the birds stopped their singing and appeared to be very busy about the table.When they rose from it again everything on the table that could be eaten or drunk had disappeared.These birds rose from their meal in their thousands and hundreds and carried away all the things that could not be eaten or drunk,such as bones,rinds,and shells,and took their flight back to the rising sun.But now,because they were not singing,the whirr of their wings seemed to set the whole air atremble.And there was the table pecked clean and empty,and the three old Lords of Narnia still fast asleep.

Now at last the Old Man turned to the travellers and bade them welcome.

"Sir," said Caspian,"will you tell us how to undo the enchantment which holds these three Narnian Lords asleep?"

"I will gladly tell you that,my son," said the Old Man."To break this enchantment you must sail to the World's End,or as near as you can come to it,and you must come back having left at least one of your company behind."

"And what must happen to that one?" asked Reepicheep.

"He must go on into the utter east and never return into the world."

"That is my heart's desire," said Reepicheep.

"And are we near the World's End now,Sir?" asked Caspian."Have you any knowledge of the seas and lands further east than this?"

"I saw them long ago," said the Old Man,"but it was from a great height.I cannot tell you such things as sailors need to know."

"Do you mean you were flying in the air?" Eustace blurted out.

"I was a long way above the air,my son," replied the Old Man."I am Ramandu.But I see that you stare at one another and have not heard this name.And no wonder,for the days when I was a star had ceased long before any of you knew this world,and all the constellations have changed."

"Golly," said Edmund under his breath."He's a retired star."

"Aren't you a star any longer?" asked Lucy.

"I am a star at rest,my daughter," answered Ramandu."When I set for the last time,decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon,I was carried to this island.I am not so old now as I was then.Every morning a bird brings me a fire-berry from the valleys in the Sun,and each fire-berry takes away a little of my age.And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday,then I shall take my rising again(for we are at earth's eastern rim)and once more tread the great dance."

"In our world," said Eustace,"a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."

"Even in your world,my son,that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.And in this world you have already met a star：for I think you have been with Coriakin."

"Is he a retired star,too?" said Lucy.

"Well,not quite the same," said Ramandu."It was not quite as a rest that he was set to govern the Duffers.You might call it a punishment.He might have shone for thousands of years more in the southern winter sky if all had gone well."

"What did he do,Sir?" asked Caspian.

"My son," said Ramandu,"it is not for you,a Son of Adam,to know what faults a star can commit.But come,we waste time in such talk.Are you yet resolved?Will you sail further east and come again,leaving one to return no more,and so break the enchantment?Or will you sail westward?"

"Surely,Sire," said Reepicheep,"there is no question about that?It is very plainly part of our quest to rescue these three lords from enchantment."

"I think the same,Reepicheep," replied Caspian."And even if it were not so,it would break my heart not to go as near the World's End as the Dawn Treader will take us.But I am thinking of the crew.They signed on to seek the seven lords,not to reach the rim of the Earth.If we sail east from here we sail to find the edge,the utter east.And no one knows how far it is.They're brave fellows,but I see signs that some of them are weary of the voyage and long to have our prow pointing to Narnia again.I don't think I should take them further without their knowledge and consent.And then there's the poor Lord Rhoop.He's a broken man."

"My son," said the star,"it would be no use,even though you wished it,to sail for the World's End with men unwilling or men deceived.That is not how great unenchantments are achieved.They must know where they go and why.But who is this broken man you speak of?"

Caspian told Ramandu the story of Rhoop.

"I can give him what he needs most," said Ramandu."In this island there is sleep without stint or measure,and sleep in which no faintest footfall of a dream was ever heard.Let him sit beside these other three and drink oblivion till your return."

"Oh,do let's do that,Caspian," said Lucy."I'm sure it's just what he would love."

At that moment they were interrupted by the sound of many feet and voices：Drinian and the rest of the ship's company were approaching.They halted in surprise when they saw Ramandu and his daughter；and then,because these were obviously great people,every man uncovered his head.Some sailors eyed the empty dishes and flagons on the table with regret.

"My lord," said the King to Drinian,"pray send two men back to the Damn Treader with a message to the Lord Rhoop.Tell him that the last of his old shipmates are here asleep-a sleep without dreams-and that he can share it."

When this had been done,Caspian told the rest to sit down and laid the whole situation before them.When he had finished there was a long silence and some whispering until presently the Master Bowman got to his feet,and said：

"What some of us have been wanting to ask for a long time,your Majesty,is how we're ever to get home when we do turn,whether we turn here or somewhere else.It's been west and north-west winds all the way,barring an occasional calm.And if that doesn't change,I'd like to know what hopes we have of seeing Narnia again.There's not much chance of supplies lasting while we row all that way."

"That's landsman's talk," said Drinian."There's always a prevailing west wind in these seas all through the late summer,and it always changes after the New Year.We'll have plenty of wind for sailing westward；more than we shall like,from all accounts."

"That's true,Master," said an old sailor who was a Galmian by birth."You get some ugly weather rolling up from the east in January and February.And by your leave,Sire,if I was in command of this ship I'd say to winter here and begin the voyage home in March."

"What'd you eat while you were wintering here?" asked Eustace.

"This table," said Ramandu,"will be filled with a king's feast every day at sunset."

"Now you're talking!" said several sailors.

"Your Majesties and gentlemen and ladies all," said Rynelf,"there's just one thing I want to say.There's not one of us chaps as was pressed on this journey.We're volunteers.And there's some here that are looking very hard at that table and thinking about king's feasts who were talking very loud about adventures on the day we sailed from Cair Paravel,and swearing they wouldn't come home till we'd found the end of the world.And there were some standing on the quay who would have given all they had to come with us.It was thought a finer thing then to have a cabin-boy's berth on the Dawn Treader than to wear a knight's belt.I don't know if you get the hang of what I'm saying.But what I mean is that I think chaps who set out like us will look as silly as-as those Dufflepuds-if we come home and say we got to the beginning of the world's end and hadn't the heart to go further."

Some of the sailors cheered at this but some said that that was all very well.

"This isn't going to be much fun," whispered Edmund to Caspian."What are we to do if half those fellows hang back?"

"Wait," Caspian whispered back."I've still a card to play."

"Aren't you going to say anything,Reep?" whispered Lucy.

"No.Why should your Majesty expect it?" answered Reepicheep in a voice that most people heard."My own plans are made.While I can,I sail east in the Dawn Treader.When she fails me,I paddle east in my coracle.When she sinks,I shall swim east with my four paws.And when I can swim no longer,if I have not reached Asian's country,or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract,I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice in Narnia."

"Hear,hear," said a sailor,"I'll say the same,barring the bit about the coracle,which wouldn't bear me." He added in a lower voice,"I'm not going to be outdone by a mouse."

At this point Caspian jumped to his feet."Friends," he said,"I think you have not quite understood our purpose.You talk as if we had come to you with our hat in our hand,begging for shipmates.It isn't like that at all.We and our royal brother and sister and their kinsman and Sir Reepicheep,the good knight,and the Lord Drinian have an errand to the world's edge.It is our pleasure to choose from among such of you as are willing,those whom we deem worthy of so high an enterprise.We have not said that any can come for the asking.That is why we shall now command the Lord Drinian and Master Rhince to consider carefully what men among you are the hardest in battle,the most skilled seamen,the purest in blood,the most loyal to our person,and the cleanest of life and manners；and to give their names to us in a schedule." He paused and went on in a quicker voice："Asian's mane!" he exclaimed."Do you think that the privilege of seeing the last things is to be bought for a song?Why,every man that comes with us shall bequeath the title of Dawn Treader to all his descendants,and when we land at Cair Paravel on the homeward voyage he shall have either gold or land enough to make him rich all his life.Now-scatter over the island,all of you.In half an hour's time I shall receive the names that Lord Drinian brings me."

There was rather a sheepish silence and then the crew made their bows and moved away,one in this direction and one in that,but mostly in little knots or bunches,talking.

"And now for the Lord Rhoop," said Caspian.

But turning to the head of the table he saw that Rhoop was already there.He had arrived,silent and unnoticed,while the discussion was going on,and was seated beside the Lord Argoz.The daughter of Ramandu stood beside him as if she had just helped him into his chair；Ramandu stood behind him and laid both his hands on Rhoop's grey head.Even in daylight a faint silver light came from the hands of the star.There was a smile on Rhoop's haggard face.He held out one of his hands to Lucy and the other to Caspian.For a moment it looked as if he were going to say something.Then his smile brightened as if he were feeling some delicious sensation,a long sigh of contentment came from his lips,his head fell forward,and he slept.

"Poor Rhoop," said Lucy."I am glad.He must have had terrible times."

"Don't let's even think of it," said Eustace.

Meanwhile Caspian's speech,helped perhaps by some magic of the island,was having just the effect he intended.A good many who had been anxious enough to get out of the voyage felt quite differently about being left out of it.And of course whenever any one sailor announced that he had made up his mind to ask for permission to sail,the ones who hadn't said this felt that they were getting fewer and more uncomfortable.So that before the halfhour was nearly over several people were positively"sucking up" to Drinian and Rhince(at least that was what they called it at my school)to get a good report.And soon there were only three left who didn't want to go,and those three were trying very hard to persuade others to stay with them.And very shortly after that there was only one left.And in the end he began to be afraid of being left behind all on his own and changed his mind.

At the end of the half-hour they all came trooping back to Asian's Table and stood at one end while Drinian and Rhince went and sat down with Caspian and made their report；and Caspian accepted all the men but that one who had changed his mind at the last moment.His name was Pittencream and he stayed on the Island of the Star all the time the others were away looking for the World's End,and he very much wished he had gone with them.He wasn't the sort of man who could enjoy talking to Ramandu and Ramandu's daughter(nor they to him),and it rained a good deal,and though there was a wonderful feast on the Table every night,he didn't very much enjoy it.He said it gave him the creeps sitting there alone(and in the rain as likely as not)with those four lords asleep at the end of the Table.And when the others returned he felt so out of things that he deserted on the voyage home at the Lone Islands,and went and lived in Calormen,where he told wonderful stories about his adventures at the end of the World,until at last he came to believe them himself.So you may say,in a sense,that he lived happily ever after.But he could never bear mice.

That night they all ate and drank together at the great Table between the pillars where the feast was magically renewed：and the next morning the Dawn Treader set sail once more just when the great birds had come and gone again.

"Lady," said Caspian,"I hope to speak with you again when I have broken the enchantments." And Ramandu's daughter looked at him and smiled.

CHAPTER 15

The Wonders of the Last Sea

Very soon after they had left Ramandu's country they began to feel that they had already sailed beyond the world.All was different.For one thing they all found that they were needing less sleep.One did not want to go to bed,nor to eat much,nor even to talk except in low voices.Another thing was the light.There was too much of it.The sun when it came up each morning looked twice,if not three times its usual size.And every morning(which gave Lucy the strangest feeling of all)the huge white birds,singing their song with human voices in a language no one knew,streamed overhead and vanished astern on their way to their breakfast at Asian's Table.A little later they came flying back and vanished into the east.

"How beautifully clear the water is!" said Lucy to herself,as she leant over the port side early in the afternoon of the second day.

And it was.The first thing that she noticed was a little black object,about the size of a shoe,travelling along at the same speed as the ship.For a moment she thought it was something floating on the surface.But then there came floating past a bit of stale bread which the cook had just thrown out of the galley.And the bit of bread looked as if it were going to collide with the black thing,but it didn't.It passed above it,and Lucy now saw that the black thing could not be on the surface.Then the black thing suddenly got very much bigger and flicked back to normal size a moment later.

Now Lucy knew she had seen something just like that happen somewhere else-if only she could remember where.She held her hand to her head and screwed up her face and put out her tongue in the effort to remember.At last she did.Of course!It was like what you saw from a train on a bright sunny day.You saw the black shadow of your own coach running along the fields at the same pace as the train.Then you went into a cutting；and immediately the same shadow flicked close up to you and got big,racing along the grass of the cutting-bank.Then you came out of the cutting and-flick!-once more the black shadow had gone back to its normal size and was running along the fields.

"It's our shadow!The shadow of the Dawn Treader," said Lucy."Our shadow running along on the bottom of the sea.That time when it got bigger it went over a hill.But in that case the water must be clearer than I thought!Good gracious,I must be seeing the bottom of the sea；fathoms and fathoms down."

As soon as she had said this she realized that the great silvery expanse which she had been seeing(without noticing)for some time was really the sand on the sea-bed and that all sorts of darker or brighter patches were not lights and shadows on the surface but real things on the bottom.At present,for instance,they were passing over a mass of soft purply green with a broad,winding strip of pale grey in the middle of it.But now that she knew it was on the bottom she saw it much better.She could see that bits of the dark stuff were much higher than other bits and were waving gently."Just like trees in a wind," said Lucy."And I do believe that's what they are.It's a submarine forest."

They passed on above it and presently the pale streak was joined by another pale streak."If I was down there," thought Lucy,"that streak would be just like a road through the wood.And that place where it joins the other would be a crossroads.Oh,I do wish I was.Hullo!The forest is coming to an end.And I do believe the streak really was a road!I can still see it going on across the open sand.It's a different colour.And it's marked out with something at the edges-dotted lines.Perhaps they are stones.And now it's getting wider."

But it was not really getting wider,it was getting nearer.She realized this because of the way in which the shadow of the ship came rushing up towards her.And the road-she felt sure it was a road now-began to go in zigzags.Obviously it was climbing up a steep hill.And when she held her head sideways and looked back,what she saw was very like what you see when you look down a winding road from the top of a hill.She could even see the shafts of sunlight falling through the deep water onto the wooded valley-and,in the extreme distance,everything melting away into a dim greenness.But some places-the sunny ones,she thought-were ultramarine blue.

She could not,however,spend much time looking back；what was coming into view in the forward direction was too exciting.The road had apparently now reached the top of the hill and ran straight forward.Little specks were moving to and fro on it.And now something most wonderful,fortunately in full sunlight-or as full as it can be when it falls through fathoms of water-flashed into sight.It was knobbly and jagged and of a pearly,or perhaps an ivory,colour.She was so nearly straight above it that at first she could hardly make out what it was.But everything became plain when she noticed its shadow.The sunlight was falling across Lucy's shoulders,so the shadow of the thing lay stretched out on the sand behind it.And by its shape she saw clearly that it was a shadow of towers and pinnacles,minarets and domes.

"Why!-It's a city or a huge castle," said Lucy to herself."But I wonder why they've built it on top of a high mountain?"

Long afterwards when she was back in England and talked all these adventures over with Edmund,they thought of a reason and I am pretty sure it is the true one.In the sea,the deeper you go,the darker and colder it gets,and it is down there,in the dark and cold,that dangerous things live-the squid and the Sea Serpent and the Kraken.The valleys are the wild,unfriendly places.The seapeople feel about their valleys as we do about the mountains,and feel about their mountains as we feel about valleys.It is on the heights(or,as we would say,"in the shallows")that there is warmth and peace.The reckless hunters and brave knights of the sea go down into the depths on quests and adventures,but return home to the heights for rest and peace,courtesy and council,the sports,the dances and the songs.

They had passed the city and the sea-bed was still rising.It was only a few hundred feet below the ship now.The road had disappeared.They were sailing above an open,park-like country,dotted with little groves of brightly-coloured vegetation.And then-Lucy nearly squealed aloud with excitement-she had seen People.

There were between fifteen and twenty of them,and all mounted on sea-horses-not the tiny little sea-horses which you may have seen in museums but horses rather bigger than themselves.They must be noble and lordly people,Lucy thought,for she could catch the gleam of gold on some of their foreheads,and streamers of emerald-or orangecoloured stuff fluttered from their shoulders in the current.Then：

"Oh,bother these fish!" said Lucy,for a whole shoal of small fat fish,swimming quite close to the surface,had come between her and the Sea People.But though this spoiled her view it led to the most interesting thing of all.Suddenly a fierce little fish of a kind she had never seen before came darting up from below,snapped,grabbed,and sank rapidly with one of the fat fish in its mouth.And all the Sea People were sitting on their horses staring up at what had happened.They seemed to be talking and laughing.And before the hunting fish had got back to them with its prey,another of the same kind came up from the Sea People.And Lucy was almost certain that one big Sea Man who sat on his seahorse in the middle of the party had sent it or released it；as if he had been holding it back till then in his hand or on his wrist.

"Why,I do declare," said Lucy,"it's a hunting party.Or more like a hawking party.Yes,that's it.They ride out with these little fierce fish on their wrists just as we used to ride out with falcons on our wrists when we were Kings and Queens at Cair Paravel long ago.And then they fly them-or I suppose I should say swim them-at the others.How—"

She stopped suddenly because the scene was changing.The Sea People had noticed the Dawn Treader.The shoal of fish had scattered in every direction：the People themselves were coming up to find out the meaning of this big,black thing which had come between them and the sun.And now they were so close to the surface that if they had been in air,instead of water,Lucy could have spoken to them.There were men and women both.All wore coronets of some kind and many had chains of pearls.They wore no other clothes.Their bodies were the colour of old ivory,their hair dark purple.The King in the centre(no one could mistake him for anything but the King)looked proudly and fiercely into Lucy's face and shook a spear in his hand.His knights did the same.The faces of the ladies were filled with astonishment.Lucy felt sure they had never seen a ship or a human before-and how should they,in seas beyond the world's end where no ship ever came?

"What are you staring at,Lu?" said a voice close beside her.

Lucy had been so absorbed in what she was seeing that she started at the sound,and when she turned she found that her arm had gone "dead" from leaning so long on the rail in one position.Drinian and Edmund were beside her.

"Look," she said.

They both looked,but almost at once Drinian said in a low voice：

'Turn round at once,your Majesties-that's right,with your backs to the sea.And don't look as if we were talking about anything important."

"Why,what's the matter?" said Lucy as she obeyed.

"It'll never do for the sailors to see all that," said Drinian."We'll have men falling in love with a seawoman,or falling in love with the under-sea country itself,and jumping overboard.I've heard of that kind of thing happening before in strange seas.It's always unlucky to see these people."

"But we used to know them," said Lucy."In the old days at Cair Paravel when my brother Peter was High King.They came to the surface and sang at our coronation."

"I think that must have been a different kind,Lu," said Edmund."They could live in the air as well as under water.I rather think these can't.By the look of them they'd have surfaced and started attacking us long ago if they could.They seem very fierce."

"At any rate," said Drinian,but at that moment two sounds were heard.One was a plop.The other was a voice from the fighting top shouting,"Man overboard!" Then everyone was busy.Some of the sailors hurried aloft to take in the sail；others hurried below to get out the oars；and Rhince,who was on duty on the poop,began to put the helm hard over so as to come round and back to the man who had gone overboard.But by now everyone knew that it wasn't strictly a man.It was Reepicheep.

"Drat that Mouse!" said Drinian."It's more trouble than all the rest of the ship's company put together.If there is any scrape to be got into,in it will get!It ought to be put in irons — keel-hauled-marooned-have its whiskers cut off.Can anyone see the little blighter?"

All this didn't mean that Drinian really disliked Reepicheep.On the contrary he liked him very much and was therefore frightened about him,and being frightened put him in a bad temper-just as your mother is much angrier with you for running out into the road in front of a car than a stranger would be.No one,of course,was afraid of Reepicheep's drowning,for he was an excellent swimmer；but the three who knew what was going on below the water were afraid of those long,cruel spears in the hands of the Sea People.

In a few minutes the Dawn Treader had come round and everyone could see the black blob in the water which was Reepicheep.He was chattering with the greatest excitement but as his mouth kept on getting filled with water nobody could understand what he was saying.

"He'll blurt the whole thing out if we don't shut him up," cried Drinian.To prevent this he rushed to the side and lowered a rope himself,shouting to the sailors,"All right,all right.Back to your places.I hope I can heave a mouse up without help." And as Reepicheep began climbing up the rope-not very nimbly because his wet fur made him heavy-Drinian leant over and whispered to him,"Don't tell.Not a word."

But when the dripping Mouse had reached the deck he turned out not to be at all interested in the Sea People.

"Sweet!" he cheeped."Sweet,sweet!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Drinian crossly."And you needn't shake yourself all over me,either."

"I tell you the water's sweet," said the Mouse."Sweet,fresh.It isn't salt."

For a moment no one quite took in the importance of this.But then Reepicheep once more repeated the old prophecy：

"Where the waves grow sweet,

Doubt not,Reepicheep,

There is the utter East."

Then at last everyone understood.

"Let me have a bucket,Rynelf," said Drinian.

It was handed him and he lowered it and up it came again.The water shone in it like glass.

"Perhaps your Majesty would like to taste it first?" said Drinian to Caspian.

The King took the bucket in both hands,raised it to his lips,sipped,then drank deeply and raised his head.His face was changed.Not only his eyes but everything about him seemed to be brighter.

"Yes," he said,"it is sweet.That's real water,that.I'm not sure that it isn't going to kill me.But it is the death I would have chosen-if I'd known about it till now."

"What do you mean?" asked Edmund.

"It-it's like light more than anything else," said Caspian.

"That is what it is," said Reepicheep."Drinkable light.We must be very near the end of the world now."

There was a moment's silence and then Lucy knelt down on the deck and drank from the bucket.

"It's the loveliest thing I have ever tasted," she said with a kind of gasp."But oh-it's strong.We shan't need to eat anything now."

And one by one everybody on board drank.And for a long time they were all silent.They felt almost too well and strong to bear it；and presently they began to notice another result.As I have said before,there had been too much light ever since they left the island of Ramandu-the sun too large(though not too hot),the sea too bright,the air too shining.Now,the light grew no less-if anything,it increased-but they could bear it.They could look straight up at the sun without blinking.They could see more light than they had ever seen before.And the deck and the sail and their own faces and bodies became brighter and brighter and every rope shone.And the next morning,when the sun rose,now five or six times its old size,they stared hard into it and could see the very feathers of the birds that came flying from it.

Hardly a word was spoken on board all that day,till about dinner-time(no one wanted any dinner,the water was enough for them),when Drinian said：

"I can't understand this.There is not a breath of wind.The sail hangs dead.The sea is as flat as a pond.And yet we drive on as fast as if there were a gale behind us."

"I've been thinking that,too," said Caspian."We must be caught in some strong current."

"H'm," said Edmund."That's not so nice if the World really has an edge and we're getting near it."

"You mean," said Caspian,"that we might be just-well,poured over it?"

"Yes,yes," cried Reepicheep,clapping his paws together."That's how I've always imagined it-the World like a great round table and the waters of all the oceans endlessly pouring over the edge.The ship will tip up-stand on her head-for one moment we shall see over the edge-and then,down,down,the rush,the speed—"

"And what do you think will be waiting for us at the bottom,eh?" said Drinian.

"Asian's country perhaps," said the Mouse,its eyes shining."Or perhaps there isn't any bottom.Perhaps it goes down for ever and ever.But whatever it is,won't it be worth anything just to have looked for one moment beyond the edge of the world?"

"But look here," said Eustace,"this is all rot.The world's round-I mean,round like a ball,not like a table."

"Our world is," said Edmund."But is this?"

"Do you mean to say," asked Caspian,"that you three come from a round world(round like a ball)and you've never told me!It's really too bad of you.Because we have fairy-tales in which there are round worlds and I always loved them.I never believed there were any real ones.But I've always wished there were and I've always longed to live in one.Oh,I'd give anything-I wonder why you can get into our world and we never get into yours?If only I had the chance!It must be exciting to live on a thing like a ball.Have you ever been to the parts where people walk about upside-down?"

Edmund shook his head."And it isn't like that," he added."There's nothing particularly exciting about a round world when you're there."

CHAPTER 16

The Very End of the World

Reepicheep was the only person on board besides Drinian and the two Pevensies who had noticed the Sea People.He had dived in at once when he saw the Sea King shaking his spear,for he regarded this as a sort of threat or challenge and wanted to have the matter out there and then.The excitement of discovering that the water was now fresh had distracted his attention,and before he remembered the Sea People again,Lucy and Drinian had taken him aside and warned him not to mention what he had seen.

As things turned out they need hardly have bothered,for by this time the Dawn Treader was gliding over a part of the sea which seemed to be uninhabited.No one except Lucy saw anything more of the People,and even she had only one short glimpse.All morning on the following day they sailed in fairly shallow water and the bottom was weedy.Just before midday Lucy saw a large shoal of fishes grazing on the weed.They were all eating steadily and all moving in the same direction."Just like a flock of sheep," thought Lucy.Suddenly she saw a little Sea Girl of about her own age in the middle of them-a quiet,lonely-looking girl with a sort of crook in her hand.Lucy felt sure that this girl must be a shepherdess-or perhaps a fishherdess-and that the shoal was really a flock at pasture.Both the fishes and the girl were quite close to the surface.And just as the girl,gliding in the shallow water,and Lucy,leaning over the bulwark,came opposite to one another,the girl looked up and stared straight into Lucy's face.Neither could speak to the other and in a moment the Sea Girl dropped astern.But Lucy will never forget her face.It did not look frightened or angry like those of the other Sea People.Lucy had liked that girl and she felt certain the girl had liked her.In that one moment they had somehow become friends.There does not seem to be much chance of their meeting again in that world or any other.But if ever they do they will rush together with their hands held out.

After that,for many days,without wind in her shrouds or foam at her bows,across a waveless sea,the Dawn Treader glided smoothly east.Every day and every hour the light became more brilliant and still they could bear it.No one ate or slept and no one wanted to,but they drew buckets of dazzling water from the sea,stronger than wine and somehow wetter,more liquid,than ordinary water,and pledged one another silently in deep draughts of it.And one or two of the sailors who had been oldish men when the voyage began now grew younger every day.Everyone on board was filled with joy and excitement,but not an excitement that made one talk.The further they sailed the less they spoke,and then almost in a whisper.The stillness of that last sea laid hold on them.

"My Lord," said Caspian to Drinian one day,"what do you see ahead?"

"Sire," said Drinian,"I see whiteness.All along the horizon from north to south,as far as my eyes can reach."

"That is what I see too," said Caspian,"and I cannot imagine what it is."

"If we were in higher latitudes,your Majesty," said Drinian,"I would say it was ice.But it can't be that；not here.All the same,we'd better get men to the oars and hold the ship back against the current.Whatever the stuff is,we don't want to crash into it at this speed!"

They did as Drinian said,and so continued to go slower and slower.The whiteness did not get any less mysterious as they approached it.If it was land it must be a very strange land,for it seemed just as smooth as the water and on the same level with it.When they got very close to it Drinian put the helm hard over and turned the Dawn Treader south so that she was broadside on to the current and rowed a little way southward along the edge of the whiteness.In so doing they accidentally made the important discovery that the current was only about forty feet wide and the rest of the sea as still as a pond.This was good news for the crew,who had already begun to think that the return journey to Ramandu's land,rowing against stream all the way,would be pretty poor sport.(It also explained why the shepherd girl had dropped so quickly astern.She was not in the current.If she had been she would have been moving east at the same speed as the ship.)

And still no one could make out what the white stuff was.Then the boat was lowered and it put off to investigate.Those who remained on the Dawn Treader could see that the boat pushed right in amidst the whiteness.Then they could hear the voices of the party in the boat(clear across the still water)talking in a shrill and surprised way.Then there was a pause while Rynelf in the bows of the boat took a sounding；and when,after that,the boat came rowing back there seemed to be plenty of the white stuff inside her.Everyone crowded to the side to hear the news.

"Lilies,your Majesty!" shouted Rynelf,standing up in the bows.

"What did you say?" asked Caspian.

"Blooming lilies,your Majesty," said Rynelf."Same as in a pool or in a garden at home."

"Look!" said Lucy,who was in the stern of the boat.She held up her wet arms full of white petals and broad flat leaves.

"What's the depth,Rynelf?" asked Drinian.

'That's the funny thing,Captain," said Rynelf."It's still deep.Three and a half fathoms clear."

"They can't be real lilies-not what we call lilies,"said Eustace.

Probably they were not,but they were very like them.And when,after some consultation,the Dawn Treader turned back into the current and began to glide eastward through the Lily Lake or the Silver Sea(they tried both these names but it was the Silver Sea that stuck and is now on Caspian's map)the strangest part of their travels began.Very soon the open sea which they were leaving was only a thin rim of blue on the western horizon.Whiteness,shot with faintest colour of gold,spread round them on every side,except just astern where their passage had thrust the lilies apart and left an open lane of water that shone like dark green glass.To look at,this last sea was very like the Arctic；and if their eyes had not by now grown as strong as eagles',the sun on all that whiteness-especially at early morning when the sun was hugest — would have been unbearable.And every evening the same whiteness made the daylight last longer.There seemed no end to the lilies.Day after day from all those miles and leagues of flowers there rose a smell which Lucy found very hard to describe：sweet-yes,but not at all sleepy or overpowering,a fresh,wild,lonely smell that seemed to get into your brain and make you feel that you could go up mountains at a run or wrestle with an elephant.She and Caspian said to one another,"I feel that I can't stand much more of this,yet I don't want it to stop."

They took soundings very often but it was only several days later that the water became shallower.After that it went on getting shallower.There came a day when they had to row out of the current and feel their way forward at a snail's pace,rowing.And soon it was clear that the Dawn Treader could sail no further east.Indeed it was only by very clever handling that they saved her from grounding.

"Lower the boat," cried Caspian,"and then call the men aft.I must speak to them."

"What's he going to do?" whispered Eustace to Edmund."There's a queer look in his eyes."

"I think we probably all look the same," said Edmund.

They joined Caspian on the poop and soon all the men were crowded together at the foot of the ladder to hear the King's speech.

"Friends," said Caspian,"we have now fulfilled the quest on which you embarked.The seven lords are all accounted for,and as Sir Reepicheep has sworn never to return,when you reach Ramandu's Land you will doubtless find the Lords Revilian and Argoz and Mavramorn awake.To you,my Lord Drinian,I entrust this ship,bidding you sail to Narnia with all the speed you may,and above all not to land on the Island of Deathwater.And instruct my regent,the Dwarf Trumpkin,to give to all these,my shipmates,the rewards I promised them.They have been earned well.And if I come not again it is my will that the Regent,and Master Cornelius,and Trufflehunter the Badger,and the Lord Drinian choose a King of Narnia with the consent—"

"But,Sire," interrupted Drinian,"are you abdicating?"

"I am going with Reepicheep to see the World's End," said Caspian.

A low murmur of dismay ran through the sailors.

"We will take the boat," said Caspian."You will have no need of it in these gentle seas and you must build a new one in Ramandu's Island.And now—"

"Caspian," said Edmund suddenly and sternly,"you can't do this."

"Most certainly," said Reepicheep,"his Majesty cannot."

"No,indeed," said Drinian.

"Can't?" said Caspian sharply,looking for a moment not unlike his uncle Miraz.

"Begging your Majesty's pardon," said Rynelf from the deck below,"but if one of us did the same it would be called deserting."

"You presume too much on your long service,Rynelf," said Caspian.

"No,Sire!He's perfectly right," said Drinian.

"By the Mane of Asian," said Caspian,"I had thought you were all my subjects here,not my schoolmasters."

"I'm not," said Edmund,"and I say you can not do this."

"Can't again," said Caspian."What do you mean?"

"If it please your Majesty,we mean shall not," said Reepicheep with a very low bow."You are the King of Narnia.You break faith with all your subjects,and especially Trumpkin,if you do not return.You shall not please yourself with adventures as if you were a private person.And if your Majesty will not hear reason it will be the truest loyalty of every man on board to follow me in disarming and binding you till you come to your senses."

"Quite right," said Edmund."Like they did with Ulysses when he wanted to go near the Sirens."

Caspian's hand had gone to his sword hilt,when Lucy said,"And you've almost promised Ramandu's daughter to go back."

Caspian paused."Well,yes.There is that," he said.He stood irresolute for a moment and then shouted out to the ship in general：

"Well,have your way.The quest is ended.We all return.Get the boat up again."

"Sire," said Reepicheep,"we do not all return.I,as I explained before—"

"Silence!" thundered Caspian."I've been lessoned but I'll not be baited.Will no one silence that Mouse?"

"Your Majesty promised," said Reepicheep,"to be a good lord to the Talking Beasts of Narnia."

"Talking beasts,yes," said Caspian."I said nothing about beasts that never stop talking." And he flung down the ladder in a temper and went into the cabin,slamming the door.

But when the others rejoined him a little later they found him changed；he was white and there were tears in his eyes.

"It's no good," he said."I might as well have behaved decently for all the good I did with my temper and swagger.Asian has spoken to me.No-I don't mean he was actually here.He wouldn't fit into the cabin,for one thing.But that gold lion's head on the wall came to life and spoke to me.It was terrible-his eyes.Not that he was at all rough with me-only a bit stern at first.But it was terrible all the same.And he said-he said-oh,I can't bear it.The worst thing he could have said.You're to go on-Reep and Edmund,and Lucy,and Eustace；and I'm to go back.Alone.And at once.And what is the good of anything?"

"Caspian,dear," said Lucy."You knew we'd have to go back to our own world sooner or later."

"Yes," said Caspian with a sob,"but this is sooner."

"You'll feel better when you get back to Ramandu's Island," said Lucy.

He cheered up a little later on,but it was a grievous parting on both sides and I will not dwell on it.About two o'clock in the afternoon,well victualled and watered(though they thought they would need neither food nor drink)and with Reepicheep's coracle on board,the boat pulled away from the Dawn Treader to row through the endless carpet of lilies.The Dawn Treader flew all her flags and hung out her shields to honour their departure.Tall and big and homelike she looked from their low position with the lilies all round them.And before she was out of sight they saw her turn and begin rowing slowly westward.Yet though Lucy shed a few tears,she could not feel it as much as you might have expected.The light,the silence,the tingling smell of the Silver Sea,even(in some odd way)the loneliness itself,were too exciting.

There was no need to row,for the current drifted them steadily to the east.None of them slept or ate.All that night and all next day they glided eastward,and when the third day dawned-with a brightness you or I could not bear even if we had dark glasses on-they saw a wonder ahead.It was as if a wall stood up between them and the sky,a greenish-grey,trembling,shimmering wall.Then up came the sun,and at its first rising they saw it through the wall and it turned into wonderful rainbow colours.Then they knew that the wall was really a long,tall wave— a wave endlessly fixed in one place as you may often see at the edge of a waterfall.It seemed to be about thirty feet high,and the current was gliding them swiftly towards it.You might have supposed they would have thought of their danger.They didn't.I don't think anyone could have in their position.For now they saw something not only behind the wave but behind the sun.They could not have seen even the sun if their eyes had not been strengthened by the water of the Last Sea.But now they could look at the rising sun and see it clearly and see things beyond it.What they saw-eastward,beyond the sun-was a range of mountains.It was so high that either they never saw the top of it or they forgot it.None of them remembers seeing any sky in that direction.And the mountains must really have been outside the world.For any mountains even a quarter of a twentieth of that height ought to have had ice and snow on them.But these were warm and green and full of forests and waterfalls however high you looked.And suddenly there came a breeze from the east,tossing the top of the wave into foamy shapes and ruffling the smooth water all round them.It lasted only a second or so but what it brought them in that second none of those three children will ever forget.It brought both a smell and a sound,a musical sound.Edmund and Eustace would never talk about it afterwards.Lucy could only say,"It would break your heart." "Why," said I,"was it so sad?" "Sad!!No," said Lucy.

No one in that boat doubted that they were seeing beyond the End of the World into Asian's country.

At that moment,with a crunch,the boat ran aground.The water was too shallow now for it."This," said Reepicheep,"is where I go on alone."

They did not even try to stop him,for everything now felt as if it had been fated or had happened before.They helped him to lower his little coracle.Then he took off his sword("I shall need it no more," he said)and flung it far away across the lilied sea.Where it fell it stood upright with the hilt above the surface.Then he bade them goodbye,trying to be sad for their sakes；but he was quivering with happiness.Lucy,for the first and last time,did what she had always wanted to do,taking him in her arms and caressing him.Then hastily he got into his coracle and took his paddle,and the current caught it and away he went,very black against the lilies.But no lilies grew on the wave；it was a smooth green slope.The coracle went more and more quickly,and beautifully it rushed up the wave's side.For one split second they saw its shape and Reepicheep's on the very top.Then it vanished,and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse.But my belief is that he came safe to Asian's country and is alive there to this day.

As the sun rose,the sight of those mountains outside the world faded away.The wave remained but there was only blue sky behind it.

The children got out of the boat and waded-not towards the wave but southward with the wall of water on their left.They could not have told you why they did this；it was their fate.And though they had felt-and been-very grown-up on the Davm Treader,they now felt just the opposite and held hands as they waded through the lilies.They never felt tired.The water was warm and all the time it got shallower.At last they were on dry sand,and then on grass-a huge plain of very fine short grass,almost level with the Silver Sea and spreading in every direction without so much as a molehill.

And of course,as it always does in a perfectly flat place without trees,it looked as if the sky came down to meet the grass in front of them.But as they went on they got the strangest impression that here at last the sky did really come down and join the earth-a blue wall,very bright,but real and solid：more like glass than anything else.And soon they were quite sure of it.It was very near now.

But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles' eyes they could hardly look at it.They came on and saw that it was a Lamb.

"Come and have breakfast," said the Lamb in its sweet,milky voice.

Then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it.They sat down and ate the fish,hungry now for the first time for many days.And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.

"Please,Lamb," said Lucy,"is this the way to Asian's country?"

"Not for you," said the Lamb."For you the door into Asian's country is from your own world."

"What!" said Edmund."Is there a way into Asian's country from our world too?"

'There is a way into my country from all the worlds," said the Lamb,but as he spoke,his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Asian himself,towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

"Oh,Asian," said Lucy."Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?"

"I shall be telling you all the time," said Asian."But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be；only that it lies across a river.But do not fear that,for I am the great Bridge Builder.And now come；I will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land."

"Please,Asian," said Lucy."Before we go,will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again?Please.And oh,do,do,do make it soon."

"Dearest," said Asian very gently,"you and your brother will never come back to Narnia."

"Oh,AslanW" said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.

"You are too old,children," said Asian,"and you must begin to come close to your own world now."

"It isn't Narnia,you know," sobbed Lucy."It's you.We shan't meet you there.And how can we live,never meeting you?"

"But you shall meet me,dear one," said Asian.

"Are-are you there too,Sir?" said Edmund.

"I am," said Asian."But there I have another name.You must learn to know me by that name.This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia,that by knowing me here for a little,you may know me better there."

"And is Eustace never to come back here either?" said Lucy.

"Child," said Asian,"do you really need to know that?Come,I am opening the door in the sky." Then all in one moment there was a rending of the blue wall(like a curtain being torn)and a terrible white light from beyond the sky,and the feel of Asian's mane and a Lion's kiss on their foreheads and then-the back bedroom in Aunt Alberta's home in Cambridge.

Only two more things need to be told.One is that Caspian and his men all came safely back to Ramandu's Island.And the three lords woke from their sleep.Caspian married Ramandu's daughter and they all reached Narnia in the end,and she became a great queen and the mother and grandmother of great kings.The other is that back in our own world everyone soon started saying how Eustace had improved,and how "You'd never know him for the same boy"；everyone except Aunt Alberta,who said he had become very commonplace and tiresome and it must have been the influence of those Pevensie children.

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

银椅/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；陈良廷，刘文澜译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Silver Chair

ISBN 978-7-5447-4714-1

Ⅰ.① 银…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 陈… ③ 刘… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290514号

The Silver Chair copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1953

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1953 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 银椅

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 陈良廷　刘文澜

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

书　号 117千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4714-1

第四册 银椅

目录

中文版

1 在体育馆后面

2 吉尔接受任务

3 国王启航

4 猫头鹰的会议

5 普德格伦

6 北方的荒原

7 小山上奇怪的壕沟

8 哈方宫

9 真相大白

10 不见太阳的旅行

11 在黑暗的城堡里

12 地下世界的女王

13 没有女王的地下世界

14 世界底层

15 吉尔不见了

16 皆大欢喜

英文版

CHAPTER 1 Behind the Gym

CHAPTER 2 Jill is Given a Task

CHAPTER 3 The Sailing of the King

CHAPTER 4 A Parliament of Owls

CHAPTER 5 Puddleglum

CHAPTER 6 The Wild Wastelands of the North

CHAPTER 7 The Hill of the Strange Trenches

CHAPTER 8 The House of Harfang

CHAPTER 9 How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing

CHAPTER 10 Travels without the Sun

CHAPTER 11 In the Dark Castle

CHAPTER 12 The Queen of Underland

CHAPTER 13 Underland without the Queen

CHAPTER 14 The Bottom of the World

CHAPTER 15 The Disappearance of Jill

CHAPTER 16 The Healing of Harms

献词

献给尼古拉斯·哈迪

1

在体育馆后面

那天是个阴沉的秋日，吉尔·波尔在体育馆后面哭泣。她哭的原因是他们一直欺侮她。由于本书写的不是学校生活的故事，所以我将尽量少谈吉尔学校里的事，那可不是个愉快的话题。她这学校是一所“男女同校”，一所男女生兼收的学校，通常称之为“男女混合”学校；有人说学校还不如学校管理人脑子里的所想那么“混”。这些人有种想法，认为应该允许男生和女生喜欢干什么就干什么。不幸的是有那么十个到十五个大龄男女生最喜欢干的就是欺侮同学。各种各样的事，各种各样可怕的事，要出在一所普通学校里，不消半学期就会查出来，加以制止，可在这所学校里却没这么办。或者，即使这些事被查出了，干这些事的人也没被开除或受处分。校长说他们是些有趣的心理学方面的实例，派人去找他们，跟他们谈上几个小时。如果你懂得跟校长说些投合他心意的话，其结果是你就此成了个宠儿。

这就是吉尔·波尔在那个阴沉的秋日，在体育馆后面和灌木丛之间那条湿漉漉的小路上哭的原因。她还没哭完，就有一个男生双手插在口袋里，绕过体育馆墙角，吹着口哨走来几乎撞上了她。

“你走道就不能看看吗？”吉尔·波尔说。

“好了，”男孩说，“你不用吓……”说到这里他才注意到她的脸。“喂，波尔，”他说，“出什么事了？”

吉尔只是做了几个怪脸；当你想说些什么，可又觉得要是说了，又会哭起来时才做那种怪脸。

“我看，照例——又是他们吧？”这男生脸色严峻地说，两手在口袋里插得更深了。

吉尔点点头。即使她说得出口，她也不必再说什么。他们俩都明白。

“行了，瞧，”这男生说，“我们大家这样可没用……”

他的用意固然不坏，可他说话的确像人家开讲大道理一样。吉尔突然发起脾气来（如果你哭的时候被人打断，八成也会出现这种情况）。

“啊呀，走开，少管闲事，”她说，“没人请你来乱插嘴吧？你倒真是个好人，居然开口教我们大家应该怎么着，对吗？我猜你意思是我们应该用所有的时间讨好他们，像你一样拍马屁，奉承他们。”

“哦，老天啊！”这男生说着在灌木丛边的草坡上坐下，又赶紧站起来，因为草是透湿的。不幸的是他的名字就叫尤斯塔斯·斯克罗布[1]，不过他人倒不坏。

“波尔！”他说，“你这样说公平吗？这学期我干过那种事没有？我不是为了兔子跟卡特顶过吗？我不是保守了斯皮文的秘密吗——还受到折磨呢！我不是……”

“我不——不知道，我也不关心。”吉尔抽抽搭搭地说。

斯克罗布看出她不大对劲儿，就十分乖巧地递给她一块薄荷糖。他自己也吃了一块。不一会儿，吉尔头脑就清醒一点了。

“对不起，斯克罗布，”不久她说，“我是不公平。这学期——你是做了好多事。”

“要是你忘得了，就忘掉上学期的事吧。”尤斯塔斯说，“当时我还是另外一种家伙。我——唉！我当时是个多坏的讨厌鬼啊。”

“嗯，老实说，你当时确实很坏。”吉尔说。

“那么你看我已经变了吗？”尤斯塔斯说。

“不单是我，”吉尔说，“大家都这么说。他们已经注意到了。埃莉诺·布莱基斯顿昨天在更衣室里听见阿黛拉·潘尼法瑟说起这事。她说，‘有什么人在左右斯克罗布那小子。这学期他相当不听话。下一步你们得照应他了。’”

尤斯塔斯一阵哆嗦。实验学校里的每一个人都懂得被他们“照应”是怎么回事。

两个孩子都沉默了片刻。月桂叶上的水珠一滴滴往下滴。

“上学期你怎么会跟现在大不相同呢？”过了一会吉尔问道。

“假期里我碰上了好多怪事。”尤斯塔斯神秘地说。

“哪种事？”吉尔问。

尤斯塔斯久久没吭声。后来他说：

“听着，波尔，你我都恨这个地方，要多恨有多恨吧？”

“我知道自己很恨。”吉尔说。

“那么我真的认为自己完全信得过你了。”

“你这人真好。”吉尔说。

“是啊，不过这件事真是天大的秘密。波尔，我说，你对神怪的事会相信吗？我是说这儿的人听了都会取笑的事？”

“我根本没有机会听。”吉尔说，“不过我想我会相信的。”

“如果我说上回假期里我曾走出过世界——走出过这个世界——你能相信吗？”

“我不知道你是什么意思。”

“得了，那就别管世界不世界了。假定说我告诉你，我到过一个地方，那里的动物都会说话，那里还有——呃——魔法和龙——还有——这个，凡是你在童话里碰到的东西都有。”斯克罗布说这些话的时候觉得狼狈不堪，脸也红了。

“你怎么上那儿去的？”吉尔说。她也觉得怪不好意 思的。

“你只有一个办法好去——就是靠魔法，”尤斯塔斯几乎像在说悄悄话，“我是跟我两个表兄妹去的。我们就那么——一下子走掉了。他们以前去过那儿。”

由于他们是在说悄悄话，吉尔不知怎么就觉得这事比较容易相信。接着她心里突然又大为怀疑，她说（气势汹汹，看上去真像只母老虎）：

“要是我发现你是在捉弄我，我就永远不再跟你说话，决不，决不，决不。”

“我没有，”尤斯塔斯说，“我发誓我没捉弄你。我凭——凭一切起誓。”

（我念书那时，人家会说：“我凭《圣经》起誓。”但实验学校里是不提倡念《圣经》的。）

“好吧，”吉尔说，“我就相信你。”

“不告诉任何人？”

“你把我当成什么人了？”

他们说这些话的时候都很激动。可等他们说完了，吉尔往四下一看，只见阴沉沉的秋日天空，又听得树叶上的滴水声，不由想到在实验学校毫无出头之日（他们一学期有十三个星期，还有十一个星期要过呢），她说：

“可到头来，又有什么好处呢？我们又不在那儿，我们在这儿。而且我们根本不能上那儿去，你说我们能去吗？”

“我一直都在想这事，”尤斯塔斯说，“我们从那个地方回来的时候，有人说佩文西家那两个孩子（就是我那两个表兄妹）永远不能再上那儿去了。要知道，那回是他们第三回去了。我看，他们已经去够了。但他根本没说我不能去。如果他的意思是说我不能回去，他包管早就那么说了。因此我不禁纳闷，我们能不能——能不能……”

“你的意思是想个办法实现这想法？”

尤斯塔斯点点头。

“你的意思是我们可以在地上画一个圈——在圈里用希奇古怪的文字写点什么——然后站在圈子里——再念上几段咒语？”

“嗯，”尤斯塔斯苦苦思索了一会儿才说，“我相信我就是在想这种事儿，但我从来没试过。既然谈到这个节骨眼上，我倒觉得所有那些圆圈之类都是荒唐事。我认为他不见得会喜欢。那样做看上去就像是我们以为自己能叫他做事似的。不过说真的，我们只能问问他。”

“你一直在念叨的这人是谁啊？”

“在那个地方，人家叫他阿斯兰。”尤斯塔斯说。

“多古怪的名字！”

“才比不上他本人怪呢，”尤斯塔斯一本正经地说，“不过我们接着说下去吧。问问也不妨。让我们就这么并肩站着。伸出双臂，掌心向下：就像他们在拉曼杜的岛上那样——”

“谁的岛？”

“那个我下回再告诉你。而且他可能喜欢我们面向东方站着。我们看看，哪一面是东面？”

“我不知道。”吉尔说。

“姑娘们就这点特别，她们根本不识指南针的方位点。”尤斯塔斯说。

“你也不识，”吉尔愤愤不平地说。

“不，我认识，只要你别老打断我就行了。现在我认出来了。面对月桂，那边就是东面。嗨，你肯跟着我念词儿吗？”

“念什么？”吉尔问。

“当然是我就要念的词儿啰，”尤斯塔斯答道，“来吧……”

然后他开始念了：“阿斯兰，阿斯兰，阿斯兰！”

“阿斯兰，阿斯兰，阿斯兰。”吉尔跟着他念一遍。

“请让我们俩进入……”

就在这时，体育馆另一边传来呼喊声：“波尔？对了，我知道她在哪儿。她正在体育馆后面哭鼻子呢。要我把她拉出来吗？”

吉尔和尤斯塔斯相互看了一眼，就赶紧冲到月桂树下，开始爬上陡峭的灌木丛的泥坡，速度之快真为他们大大增光。（由于实验学校的古怪教学法，学生并没学到多少法文、数学、拉丁文一类的课程，可是倒真学到了一旦他们在找他时迅速悄悄脱身的好多办法。）

大约爬了一分钟，他们停下来留神细听，从种种声音听出他们给人钉上了。

“只要那扇门再开开就好了！”他们一路爬着，斯克罗布说，吉尔点点头。因为灌木丛上方有一道高高的石墙，墙上有扇门，穿过这扇门你就可以出去，到开阔的荒野去。这扇门几乎老是锁着。不过人们有时也发现门开着；也许只有过那么一次。不过你可以想像，即使记得只有一次，也就让人们抱有希望，打算试试那扇门；因为要是那扇门正巧没锁，那倒是一个神不知鬼不觉走出校园的绝妙办法。

这会儿吉尔和尤斯塔斯两人因为在月桂树下弯下腰一路走来，弄得浑身又热又脏，气喘吁吁，爬到墙边。那扇门照常关着。

“准没用，”尤斯塔斯一手拉着门把手，说着说着，“哦——哦，老天爷在上！”因为门把手转动了，门开了。

刚才那会儿，他们俩心里还想着，要是那扇门万一没锁上，就飞快地跑出去。但等这门真正开了，他俩却都站着一动也不动。因为他们看见的跟他们料想中的景象可大不一样。

他们原以为会看见荒原上灰不溜秋、长满石南的山坡越来越高，一直通向阴沉沉的秋日的天空，没料到迎面却看见了一片强烈的阳光。阳光照进门口，就像你打开汽车间门，六月里大白天的太阳照进来一样。阳光照得草地上的水珠像珍珠一样闪闪发亮，也使吉尔满是泪痕的脸显得一副脏相。而且据他们判断这阳光一定来自一个不同的世界。他们看见柔嫩的草地，比吉尔以前所见过的更柔嫩，更明亮，还有蓝蓝的天，还有一些发亮的东西在空中飞来飞去，很可能是珠宝或是大蝴蝶。

虽然吉尔一直渴望见到这一类东西，她还是感到惊恐不已。她看看斯克罗布的脸，看出他也害怕了。

“来吧，波尔。”他说话时气都喘不过来了。

“我们能回来吗？安全吗？”吉尔问道。

正在这时，后面有个声音在叫喊，是个卑鄙、恶毒的小嗓门，叽叽喳喳叫道：“行了，波尔，大家都知道你在那儿。你下来吧。”这是伊迪丝·杰克尔的声音，她本人还不算是他们一伙的，不过是个跟班和爱搬弄是非的小人而已。

“快！”斯克罗布说，“喂，拉住手。我们千万不能分开。”她还没弄明白怎么回事，他就抓着她的手，拉着她出了门，出了校园，出了英国，出了我们这整个世界，到了那个地方。

伊迪丝·杰克尔的声音突然没了，正如你一关上收音机，里面的声音就突然消失一样。他们周围顿时响起一种完全不同的声音。声音是从他们头顶上那些发亮的东西发出来的，他们马上看出原来是鸟。它们正发出喧闹的声音，不过这种声音比起我们世界里鸟儿的歌声更像音乐——相当先进的音乐，乍一听你还不大领会得了。然而，尽管有歌声，背景却是无比寂静。那份寂静，加上空气新鲜，使吉尔想到他们一定是在一座很高的山顶上。

斯克罗布仍然拉着她的手，他们向前走着，一面朝四周张望。吉尔看见四面八方都长着那种参天大树，很像雪松，但更大些。不过这些树木长得并不密，树下也没有矮树丛，无遮无拦，树林左右老远老远都看得清。吉尔放眼望去，看到的景色全是一样的——平坦的草地，五颜六色的鸟儿飞来飞去，有黄的，有蜻蜓蓝的，有彩虹色的，蓝森森的阴影，一片空荡荡。那凉爽清新的空气中连一丝风也没有。真是一座非常冷清的森林。

正前方那边没有树木，只有蓝天。他们一言不发，笔直地朝前走，走啊走的，突然间吉尔听见斯克罗布说：“小心！”接着就觉得自己猛地朝后收住脚步。他们正站在悬崖边上呢。

碰巧吉尔对高地很有头脑。站在悬崖边上，她竟毫不在意。她对斯克罗布把她拉回来相当恼火——“就当我是个小娃娃似的。”她说——说着猛地挣脱了他的手。她看见他脸色变得非常苍白，就瞧不起他了。

“怎么啦？”她说。接着为了显示她并不害怕，居然真的站得离悬崖边很近；事实上，比她心里想站的地方近多了。然后她朝下面望望。

如今她才明白斯克罗布脸色发白是有道理的，因为在我们世界里没有一座悬崖能与这座相比。想像一下你自己站在据你所知是最高的一座悬崖顶上。再想像一下你自己正朝崖底看。再想像一下悬崖继续一直往下，往下，十倍于此，二十倍于此。而当你朝那么远的下面看去，第一眼你可能在想像中把那些小白点错认为羊群吧，但不久你就知道那是白云——不是雾气形成的小云卷，而是又大又白，蓬蓬松松的云层，一片片大得像群山一样。透过这些云层之间，你才终于第一眼看到了那真正的崖底，那么远，那么远，远得你都看不出下面究竟是田野还是树林，是陆地还是水面。你在崖顶上离云层上面还不算远，崖底离云层下面更远。

吉尔目不转睛地望着下面。她这才想到也许自己毕竟该从悬崖边上往后退一两步的；可她生怕斯克罗布会怎么想，又不愿退。后来她突然决定，不管他怎么想，她巴不得赶快离开这可怕的崖边，再也不取笑任何不喜欢高地的人了。但等到她想动弹的时候，却发现自己动不了啦。她两条腿似乎都被捆住了。眼前一切都在旋转。

“你在干什么呀，波尔？回来——头号小傻瓜！”斯克罗布大声喊道。可他的声音似乎来自很远很远的地方。她感到他在拉她。可这会儿她已经控制不了自己的手脚。在悬崖边上挣扎了一会儿。吉尔心里太害怕了，头太晕了，都不大记得自己干了什么，不过有两件事是她这辈子都忘不了的（她还经常梦见这两件事呢）。一件是她挣脱了斯克罗布的手；另一件事是与此同时，斯克罗布本人惊恐地尖叫一声，失去平衡，一头滚下深渊。

幸亏她还来不及想想自己干了些什么。一只颜色鲜艳的巨兽已经冲到悬崖边上。它躺下，探出身子，吹着气（这可真是怪事）。不是怒吼，也不是喷鼻息，而是张大嘴巴吹气；悠悠地不断吹啊吹啊，就像吸尘器在吸一样。吉尔躺着的地方离这只动物那么近，都感觉得到这股气在它身体里沉稳的震动。她躺着一动不动是因为起不来。她差点晕过去了：其实，她但愿自己真的晕过去，不过不是想晕倒就能晕倒的。后来她终于看见了，在她下面很远的地方，一个小黑点正从悬崖飘开，而且稍微往上飘了一点。黑点一升起，就飘远了。等到黑点升到和悬崖差不多高的时候，已经飘得远远的，她就此看不见了。显然这个黑点已飞快地离开了他们。吉尔不禁认为就是她身边这动物把那个黑点吹走的。

于是她回过头来看看这动物。原来是一头狮子。

【注释】

[1] 在英语中，尤斯塔斯谐音为“没用的”，斯克罗布谐音为“卑鄙的”。

2

吉尔接受任务

狮子看也不朝吉尔看一眼，就站起身来，再吹了最后一口气。于是，它好像很满意自己的工作似的，转身昂首慢步走开，回到树林里去了。

“一定是个梦，一定是的，一定是的，”吉尔自言自语说，“我一会儿就会醒过来了。”但这不是梦，她也没醒过来。

“我们要是没到这个可怕的地方来就好了，”吉尔说，“我相信斯克罗布跟我一样，对这个地方也不了解。要是他了解的话，事先不告诫我这是个什么鬼地方，就不该把我带到这儿来。他摔下悬崖可不是我的错。要是他别管我，我们俩就都没事了。”后来她又想起斯克罗布摔下去时尖声叫喊，不由哇的一声大哭起来。

大哭一场固然痛快。不过你早晚还得停下来，然后还得决定怎么办。等吉尔不哭了，她觉得自己渴得要命。她原来一直脸朝下趴着，现在就坐了起来。鸟儿都不唱歌了，四下一片寂静，只有远处似乎传来一种连续不断的小声音。她仔细倾听，几乎肯定这就是流水的声音。

吉尔站起来，小心翼翼地朝四周张望。狮子早没影了；不过周围有那么多树，它很可能就待在附近，只是她看不见罢了。说不定那儿可能有好几头狮子呢。但她这会儿实在是口干舌燥，于是她鼓起勇气去寻找流水。她踮起脚，小心地偷偷从一棵树溜到另一棵树，每走一步都停下四处张望。

森林里一片寂静，要肯定声音从哪儿来并不困难。水声越来越清晰，没想到一下子就来到一片林间空地，看到了那条小溪，像玻璃似的亮晶晶，就在离她不远的地方流过草地。虽然看到了水反而比刚才更渴上十倍，但她并没有冲上前去喝上一口。她就站在那儿，张大嘴巴，一动也不动，像变成了石头人似的。而且她还有充分理由：那头狮子就躺在小溪的这一边。

狮子昂起头，两只前爪伸在前面，躺着的姿势就像特拉法尔加广场[1]的狮像。她立刻就知道它已经看见她了，因为它眼睛直勾勾地盯着她眼睛看了一会儿，这才掉转眼光——它似乎已经相当了解她，不大看重她了。

“如果我跑开呢，它马上就会来追我，”吉尔想道，“如果我继续往前走呢，我就会一直走到它嘴里去。”不管怎么说，要是她想动，她也动不了，而且她眼光也离不开它。这样僵持了多久，她可无法确定；似乎有好几个小时吧。再说，口越来越渴，渴得她几乎感到只要能保证先喝上一口水，即使被狮子吃了也不在乎。

“要是你渴了，尽管喝吧。”

自从斯克罗布在悬崖边上跟她说话以来，这可是她听到的第一句话。一时间她睁大眼睛到处张望，不知是谁在说话。接着那声音又说了：“要是你渴了，过来喝吧。”她当然想起斯克罗布说过另外那个世界的动物会说话的事，心里明白就是那头狮子在说话。不管怎么说，这回她看见狮子的嘴唇在动，而且这声音也不像是男人的声音。这声音更加深沉，更加粗野，更加有力；是一种凝重、洪亮的声音。这声音并没有使她比刚才少害怕一点，只是害怕的程度不同罢了。

“你不渴吗？”狮子说。

“我渴得要命。”吉尔说。

“那就喝吧。”狮子说。

“我可不可以——我能不能——我喝的时候能不能请你走开一下？”吉尔说。

狮子只看了她一眼，低低吼了一声，算是回答。吉尔久久望着它那一动不动的巨大躯体，明白自己还不如要求整座大山为了她的方便挪到一边去呢。

溪水淙淙，听得她差点发疯。

“如果我真的来了，你能答应不——对我怎么样吗？”吉尔说。

“我什么也不答应。”狮子说。

吉尔很渴，竟然不知不觉就走近了一步。

“你吃女孩吗？”她说。

“我吞没过女孩和男孩，女人和男人，国王和皇帝，城市和王国。”狮子说。它说话的样子既不像是吹牛皮，也不像感到遗憾，也不像感到愤怒。它只是这么说说罢了。

“我不敢过来喝。”吉尔说。

“那你就会渴死。”狮子说。

“啊呀，天哪！”吉尔说，一边又走近了一步，“我看那就一定得去另找一条小溪了。”

“没有别的小溪了。”狮子说。

吉尔根本没想过不相信这只狮子——看见过它那张神色严峻的脸的人，没一个能不相信它——于是她突然下了决心。她虽从来没铤而走险过，但她还是向前走到溪边，跪下，用手舀起水来。她从来没喝过这么凉爽、这么提神的水。你用不着多喝，因为喝了这水立刻就解渴了。没喝水以前，她一直打算一喝完就飞快地从狮子身边奔开。这会儿，她看出这样做是件最最危险的事。她刚喝过水，嘴唇还是湿的，就那么直起身子，站在那儿。

“过来。”狮子说。她只好去了。如今她几乎走到它那两只前爪当中了，一面直望着它的脸。但她望不了多久就垂下了眼睛。

“人类的孩子，”狮子说，“那个男孩上哪儿去了？”

“他从悬崖上摔下去了，”吉尔说，又加了一句，“阁下。”她不知道此外还有什么可以称呼它，要是不加称呼又显得没礼貌。

“他怎么会摔下去的，人类的孩子？”

“他想法不让我掉下去，阁下。”

“你为什么要那么靠近悬崖边缘呢，人类的孩子？”

“我在卖弄呢，阁下。”

“回答得好，人类的孩子。可别再卖弄了。好了，”（说到这儿，狮子的脸色才头一回变得略为缓和一点。）“那个男孩安然无事。我已经把他吹到纳尼亚去了。但由于你刚才的行为，你的任务要比他难一些。”

“请问是什么任务，阁下？”吉尔说。

“就是我把你们从你们自己的世界召到这儿来，叫你们办的任务。”

这下吉尔可搞得稀里糊涂了。“它把我错当成另外什么人了。”她想。她不敢对狮子说这事，虽然她觉得除非她说出来，否则事情将会弄得一团糟。

“把你的想法说出来，人类的孩子。”狮子说。

“我想——我的意思是——会不会搞错了？要知道，因为没人叫过我和斯克罗布。是我们要求上这儿来的。斯克罗布说我们要呼唤——向某某呼唤——那名字我不记得了——也许某某就会让我们来。于是我们就呼唤了，后来我们就发现门开了。”

“要是我没有向你们呼唤，你们是不会向我呼唤的。”狮子说。

“那么说你就是某某了，阁下？”吉尔说。

“我就是。现在听好你的任务。离开这儿很远的纳尼亚国，有一个上了年纪的国王，他很伤心，因为他没有亲生的王子来继承他的王位。他之所以没有继承人，就因为他的独生子多年前就被人从他身边偷走了，在纳尼亚没人知道王子上哪儿去了，也没人知道他是否还活着。不过他还活着。我给你下这道命令，你去寻找这个失踪的王子，找到他就把他带回他父王王宫，找不到就在半路上送掉命，再不然就回到你自己的世界里去。”

“请问，怎么找呢？”吉尔说。

“我会告诉你的，孩子，”狮子说，“这几点就是我指点你们寻找王子的指示。第一，尤斯塔斯那孩子一踏进纳尼亚，他就会遇见一位要好的老朋友。他一定得马上去跟那个朋友打招呼，如果他打了招呼，对你们俩就大有帮助。第二，你们必须出了纳尼亚就朝北方走，一直走到古代巨人那个已成废墟的城市。第三，在那个已成废墟的城市里你们会找到一块石头，上有文字，一定得照石头上的文字去做。第四，你们会由此认识那个失踪的王子（如果你们找到他的话），因为他是你们这一路上遇见的第一个要求你们以我的名义、以阿斯兰的名义去干一件事的人。”

看来狮子的话似乎说完了，吉尔心想她也应该说点什么。因此就说：“非常感谢，我懂了。”

“孩子，”阿斯兰说，口气比以前温和多了，“也许你并不像自己所想的那么懂。不过第一步是要记住。你把那四点按顺序再说给我听听。”

吉尔试了一下，但说得不大对。狮子就纠正她，让她说了一遍又一遍，直到说得全对为止。他教得非常耐心，因此，学完以后，吉尔就鼓起勇气问道：

“请问，我怎么上纳尼亚去呢？”

“我吹口气送你，”狮子说，“我会像吹尤斯塔斯一样，把你吹到这世界的西面去。”

“我来得及赶上他，告诉他第一点指示吗？不过我看这没什么关系。要是他看见一个老朋友，他准会过去跟那人打招呼的吧？”

“你已经没有闲工夫了，”狮子说，“所以我必须马上把你送去。来吧，走在我前面，到悬崖边上去。”

吉尔记得清清楚楚，要是说没有工夫，那都是她自己不好。“要是我没干蠢事，我和斯克罗布早就一起去了。而且他还可以跟我一起听到全部指示。”她想。所以她就按照吩咐做了。走回悬崖边是非常令人惊慌的，尤其是狮子不走在她身边，而走在她后面——他那柔软的爪子一点声音也没有。

但她还没走近悬崖边，后面的声音就说道：“站着别动，我一会儿就要吹了。但首先你要牢记，牢记，牢记那些指示。每天早上醒来要自言自语地背指示，晚上睡下时，半夜醒来时也要背。不管你碰到什么希奇古怪的事，也别让任何事分心，忘了遵照指示办事。其次，我要警告你，在这儿高山上，我已经对你说得很清楚了：在纳尼亚我可不会经常这么说了。在这儿高山上，空气清新，你脑子也清楚；等你落到下边纳尼亚去了，空气就浑浊了。你要多加小心，别就此脑子迷迷糊糊。你在这儿学过的指示，等你在那儿碰到具体情况时，看上去会跟你想像中完全不一样。所以心里牢牢记住指示，别看事物的外表，这才至关重要。牢记指示，相信指示。其他什么都无关紧要。好了，夏娃的女儿，别了……”

这番话说到末了，声音越来越柔和，这会儿已经完全消失了。吉尔往身后看看。令她大吃一惊的是，只见那座悬崖已经在她后面一百多码以外了，狮子已成了悬崖上金光闪闪的一小点。她本来一直咬紧牙关，握紧拳头，准备承受狮子那口气的可怕威力，但这口气其实十分柔和，她甚至没注意到自己离开地面的那一时刻。眼前，只有身子下的万丈高空而已。

她只有一瞬间觉得害怕，一来在她下面的世界是那么遥远，似乎跟她没有关系；二来，在狮子吹的气上飘浮真是舒服极了。她发觉自己可以仰卧，也可以俯卧，爱怎么转身都行，就像你能在水中随意活动一样（如果你的浮水功夫学得很好的话）。而且因为她转动的速度跟狮子呼的气同步，天上没有风，空气也似乎暖和极了。这完全不像乘在飞机上，因为既没有声音也没有振动。要是吉尔乘过气球，她可能会觉得这更像乘气球，不过更妙。

这时她回头一看，才头一回看清刚才离开的那座山头的真正规模。不知为什么像这么雄伟的一座大山竟没有冰雪覆盖——“不过我想在这个世界里一切事物都不一样了。”吉尔想道。接着她朝下面望望；但她飘得太高了，所以她弄不清自己是在陆地还是在海洋上飘，也弄不清自己的飘行速度。

“天哪，指示！”吉尔突然说，“我最好还是再背背吧。”她一时惊慌失措，但她发现自己竟还能一字不差地全都背出来。“这就没事了。”她说。她像躺在沙发上一样仰卧在空中，满意地叹了口气。

“嘿，真怪！”过了几小时，吉尔自言自语说，“我睡着了。想想真怪，在空中睡觉。我真想知道以前有没有人睡过。我想没人睡过。唉，讨厌——斯克罗布也许睡过！他跟我走的是同一条路，比我早一点。让我瞧瞧下面是什么样子。”

下面是一片其大无比的深蓝色平原。看不见山丘，只有一些又大又白的东西慢慢穿过上面。“那些一定是云，”她想，“但比我们在悬崖上看到的大多了。我想，云变大了，就是离得近了。我一定是飘得低些了。太阳真讨厌。”

她开始上路时太阳是当头照的，如今已照进她眼睛了。这就意味着太阳已经在她前面，要下山了。斯克罗布说得不错，他说吉尔（我不了解一般女孩子）不大重视指南针的方位。否则她就该知道，当太阳照进她眼睛时，她就大致是朝正西方向飘行。

她凝视着下面那片蓝色的平原，不久就注意到其中到处都是色彩淡些亮些的小点。“原来是海，”吉尔想，“我相信那些是岛屿。”事实上果然如此。要是她知道斯克罗布曾经在一艘船的甲板上看到过其中几个岛，甚至还到岛上去过，她早就妒忌死了，但她并不知道。后来，又过了一会儿，她才开始看出那一片蓝色中有些小小的皱纹：要是你在下面身历其境，这些小小的皱纹一定是很大的海浪了。这会儿，天边出现了一道粗粗的黑线，这道线很快就变得更粗，更黑，快得你都看得见那道线在变化。这是她正飞速行进的第一个迹象。她知道这越来越粗的线一定就是陆地了。

突然间，从她的左面（因为风是南面来的）一大朵白云直向她冲来，这次跟她在同一高度。她还不知道自己身在何方，就一下子钻到冷冰冰、湿漉漉、雾蒙蒙的云中去了。这使她大吃一惊，但她在云层里只待了一会儿。出来时她对着阳光直眨眼睛，而且身上衣服都湿了。（她穿着运动衣、羊毛衫、短裤、长袜和很厚的鞋；英国那时节正是泥泞天。）她出云层时比进去时飘得更低一些；她一出来就注意到有动静，我看这应该是她一直在盼望的，然而竟使她大为惊讶和震动。原来是声音。迄今为止，她是在完全寂静中飘行的。如今，她第一次听见了海浪声和海鸥叫。同时她也闻到了海洋的气息。如今她飘行速度之快是绝对错不了的。她刚看见两股海浪啪的一下汇合在一起，中间冒起一股泡沫；但她还没看清，这些已落在她身后一百码的地方了。陆地正高速离她越来越近。她看得见远在内陆的山峦，以及近在她左面的其他山头。她看得见海湾和海岬，树林和田野，绵延不断的海滨沙滩。海浪扑打岸边的声音越来越响，淹没了海洋其他的声音。

突然间，陆地展现在她的正前方。她来到了一个河口。这会儿她飘得很低，离水面只有几英尺高了。一股浪峰溅到她脚趾上，溅起一大片泡沫，几乎把她腰以下都打得湿透了。这会儿她速度慢下来了，她没有被送到河面上，而是滑翔到她左面的河岸上。那儿要看的景物有好多好多，她简直都看不过来了；一片柔嫩的绿草地，一艘船，色彩鲜艳，看上去就像一大块珠宝，高塔和城墙，旗帜迎风招展，一大群人，衣着华丽，盔甲，金饰，刀剑，还有音乐声。但这些全都乱成一团。她首先清楚地知道的是她已经降落了，正站在靠近河边的一片灌木丛下，离她只有几英尺的地方就是斯克罗布。

她首先想到的就是他看上去非常邋遢，衣冠不整，而且丝毫不起眼。其次才想到“我身上多么湿啊！”

【注释】

[1] 特拉法尔加广场：在英国伦敦的威斯敏斯特。

3

国王启航

斯克罗布看上去那么邋遢的原因（吉尔也一样，只要她能看见自己这副模样就好了）是他们周围的景象雄伟。我最好立刻把这一切描绘一下。

吉尔快到陆地时，曾经从那些山峰的一条裂缝中看到过遥远的内地，夕阳的余辉正泻在一片平坦的草地上。草地尽头，风向标在夕阳下闪闪发光，矗立着一幢有很多尖塔和很多角楼的城堡，吉尔从没见过这么美丽的城堡。近处是一个大理石砌的码头，停泊在这儿的是一艘船；一艘高高的船，有高高的船首楼和高高的船尾楼，漆成金色和深红色，桅杆顶上有一面大旗，甲板上旗帜迎风招展，沿着舷墙是一排银光闪闪的盾形纹徽。一条跳板通向船上，就在跳板脚下，有一个很老很老的人站在那儿，正准备走上跳板。他身披一件贵重的猩红色斗篷，前面敞着，露出里面银色的铠甲。头上有一条细细的金环。他的胡子白得像羊毛一样，一直垂到近腰部。他站得笔直，一只手搁在一个衣着华丽的贵族肩上，那人似乎比他年轻一点，但你能看出他也很老了，而且身体虚弱。看上去一阵风就能把这人吹走，他两眼泪汪汪的。

国王这时趁着还没上船，转身向他的百姓讲话——紧挨着国王前面是一只小小的轮椅，前面套着一匹小小的驴子，比一只大猎狗大不了多少的驴子。这把椅子上坐着一个胖胖的小矮人，他的衣服和国王一样华贵，但因为他是胖子，又弓起身子坐在软垫堆上，结果看上去竟大不一样，他看上去就像乱糟糟一小堆毛皮、丝绸和丝绒。小矮人和国王一样老，但更健壮，目光锐利。他没戴帽子，脑袋都秃了，而且其大无比，在夕阳下就像一颗特大台球似的发亮。

再往后，一溜儿站成半圆形的，吉尔一看就知道是大臣们。如果光看他们的衣服和盔甲，那倒是值得一看的。实际上他们看上去更像一个花坛，而不像一群人。但真正使吉尔目瞪口呆的是那些百姓。就是说，如果用“百姓”这个字眼合适的话。因为其中只有五分之一是人类。其他都是你在我们的世界里从来没见过的。有羊怪、树精、人头马，吉尔叫得出这些名字，因为她看见过这些怪物的图画。还有小矮人。还有很多动物她也认识：有熊、獾、鼹鼠、豹、老鼠以及各种鸟儿。不过这些动物比起英国的同类动物可大不相同。好多动物都大得多——比方说老鼠吧，它们用后腿站着，就不止两英尺高。而除了这点以外，它们看上去全都不一样。你从它们脸上的表情就看得出，它们能说话，也能想，就像你能说能想一样。

“天哪！”吉尔想道，“原来这竟是真的。”但过了一会她又说，“不知它们对人是不是友好？”因为她刚刚注意到在人群外围还有一两个巨人，以及她完全叫不出名字的百姓呢。

正在此时，阿斯兰和他的指示又突然回到她脑海里。这半个小时她本来已经忘记得干干净净了。

“斯克罗布！”她悄悄说，一面抓住他的胳臂，“斯克罗布，快！你看见哪个认识的人没有？”

“原来你又钻出来了啊？”斯克罗布不高兴地说（他这样也有道理），“行了，安静点，好吗？我要听听。”

“别犯傻了，”吉尔说，“没时间耽搁了。你看见这儿有什么老朋友吗？因为你得马上去跟他说话。”

“你在说些什么呀？”斯克罗布说。

“阿斯兰——狮王——说你一定得去的，”吉尔绝望地说，“我见过他了。”

“啊呀，你见过他了吗？他说什么了？”

“他说你在纳尼亚看见的第一个人就是一个老朋友，你一定得马上去跟他说话。”

“唉，这儿可没有一个人是我以前见过的；再有呢，不管怎么说，我还不知道这究竟是不是纳尼亚。”

“我想你说过你以前到过这儿的。”吉尔说。

“哼，那么你想错了。”

“亏你说得出口，你告诉过我……”

“看在老天的分上，快住口，我们听听他们在说什么。”

国王正在跟那个小矮人说话，但吉尔听不出他在说什么。她只弄明白那小矮人虽然一个劲儿地点头或摇头，却没回答国王的话。接着国王扯开嗓门对全场的人讲话，但他的声音苍老嘶哑，她听得懂的话实在太少了——尤其是这番话全都是关于她从来没听见过的百姓和地方的。讲完以后，国王弯下腰吻了小矮人两颊，再站直身子，举起右手，似乎是在祝福，然后拖着有气无力的步子慢慢地走上跳板，上了船。那些大臣似乎都为他的起程深受感动。好多人拿出了手帕，四面八方都是哭声。跳板撤掉了，船尾楼响起了喇叭声，船离开了码头。（船是由一条划艇拖走的，不过吉尔没看见那划艇。）

“好了……”斯克罗布说，不过他没说下去，因为就在这时一个又大又白的东西——吉尔一时还以为那是只风筝呢——从空中滑过来，停在他脚边。原来是一只白猫头鹰，不过个儿真大，站在那儿竟有一个大个儿小矮人那么高。

它眼睛眨巴眨巴，像近视眼似的盯着他们看，脑袋歪在一边，以一种柔和的唬唬叫声说：

“喔嗬，喔嗬！你们俩是什么人啊？”

“我叫斯克罗布，这一位是波尔，”尤斯塔斯说，“你能告诉我们，我们在哪儿吗？”

“在纳尼亚的土地上，在凯尔帕拉维尔国王的城堡。”

“那个刚刚上船的就是国王吗？”

“太对了，太对了，”猫头鹰晃着大脑袋伤心地说，“可你们是谁呢？你们两个身上有魔法。我看见你们到的：你们是飞来的。大家都忙着为国王送行，没人知道。只有我。我正好注意到你们，你们飞过来了。”

“我们是阿斯兰派到这儿来的。”尤斯塔斯低声说。

“喔嗬，喔嗬，”猫头鹰说着，一边竖起了羽毛，“天色还很早，我可受不了。太阳下山前我总是不大自在。”

“我们是派来寻找失踪的王子的。”吉尔说，她一直巴不得插进来谈谈。

“这事我可是第一回听到，”尤斯塔斯说，“什么王子？”

“你们最好马上就去跟摄政王谈谈，”它说，“那个就是，就在那边的驴车里，小矮人杜鲁普金。”猫头鹰转身开始领路，一面喃喃自语，“嗬！喔嗬！乱哄哄的！我还不能好好想一想呢。天太早了。”

“国王叫什么名字？”尤斯塔斯问。

“凯斯宾十世。”猫头鹰说。吉尔不知斯克罗布走着走着干吗突然停下，脸色也异常了。她心想自己还从来没见过他看上去对任何事那么难过呢。但她还来不及问什么，他们就已经走到小矮人身边，他正好收起驴子的缰绳，准备驾车回城堡去。那群大臣也散开了，三五成群，往同一个方向走去，就像人们看完运动会或比赛散场一样。

“喔嗬！嗯哼！摄政王。”猫头鹰弯下身子，嘴巴凑近小矮人耳朵说。

“嗨！什么事？”小矮人说。

“两个陌生人，大人。”猫头鹰说。

“守林人[1]？你什么意思？”小矮人说，“我看见两个非常邋遢的野小子。他们要什么？”

“我叫吉尔。”吉尔说着挤到前面。她急于要说明他们来此办理的那件重要大事。

“姑娘名叫吉尔，”猫头鹰尽量大声说道。

“什么？”小矮人说，“姑娘都被杀了[2]！我一点也不相信。什么姑娘？谁杀了她们？”

“只有一个姑娘，大人，”猫头鹰说，“她叫吉尔。”

“大声讲，大声讲，”小矮人说，“别站在那儿，对着我耳朵叽叽喳喳的。谁被杀了？”

“没人被杀。”猫头鹰叫道。

“谁？”

“没人。”

“好了，好了。你用不着嚷嚷。我还没聋到那个地步。你到这儿来告诉我没人被杀是什么意思？为什么该有人被杀呢？”

“你最好告诉他我是尤斯塔斯。”斯克罗布说。

“这个男孩是尤斯塔斯，大人。”猫头鹰尽量大声叫道。

“没用处？”小矮人性急地说，“我敢说他是没用处的。你有什么理由把他带到宫里来呢？嗯？”

“不是没用处，”猫头鹰说，“是尤斯塔斯。”

“有事没事吗？说真的，我不知道你在说些什么。格里姆费瑟大师，我来告诉你是怎么回事吧，我年轻时，这个国家就有了会说话的兽类和鸟类，那才是真正会说话的。完全不是这种咕咕哝哝，叽叽喳喳，悄声细气。这种说话一刻都不能容忍。一刻都不行。乌纳斯，请拿我的助听器。”

一直悄悄站在小矮人身边的一只小羊怪就递给他一只银制的助听器，这东西做得就像一种蛇形的乐器，因此那管子就盘在小矮人的脖子上。他正在戴助听器时，猫头鹰格里姆费瑟突然悄悄对两个孩子说：

“我脑子现在清楚一点了。别提任何有关失踪的王子的事。回头我再解释。那样不行的，不行的，喔嗬！哦，乱哄哄的！”

“行了，”小矮人说，“如果你有什么合情合理的话要说，格里姆费瑟大师，那就说说看吧。先深深吸口气，别企图说得太快了。”

在两个孩子的帮助下，尽管小矮人一阵阵咳嗽，格里姆费瑟总算解释说这两个陌生人是阿斯兰派来访问纳尼亚宫廷的。小矮人换上一种眼神迅速看了他们一眼。

“是狮王亲自派来的，嗯？”他说，“而且是从——呣——呣——从另一个地方，从世界尽头以外来的，嗯？”

“是的，爵爷。”尤斯塔斯对准助听器大声叫道。

“是亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿吧，嗯？”小矮人说。但实验学校的人们都没听说过亚当和夏娃，因此吉尔和尤斯塔斯对此没法回答。不过小矮人似乎并不在意。

“好了，亲爱的，”他说着拉起第一个的手，接着又拉起第二个的手，稍微点了点头，“衷心欢迎你们。要是我可怜的主人，善良的国王此时此刻没乘船去七群岛的话，他准会对你们来到表示高兴的。这会把他暂时带回他的青年时代——暂时。而现在呢，该是吃晚饭的时候了。明天早上你们可以把你们的事在全体会议上告诉我。格里姆费瑟大师，务必要以最隆重的规格为这两个贵宾提供卧室和合身的衣服以及其他一切。还有——格里姆费瑟——你耳朵凑过来……”

说到这儿，小矮人嘴巴凑到猫头鹰脑袋旁边，毫无疑问，他是打算悄悄说话的：但正像其他聋子一样，他对自己的声音估计不足，两个孩子都听见他说：“务必让他们好好洗洗干净。”

说罢，小矮人用鞭轻轻打了一下小驴子，驴子就向城堡出发了，步子不快不慢，摇摇摆摆（拉车的是一头很胖的小驴子），而羊怪、猫头鹰和两个孩子就放慢步子跟着。这时太阳已经下山了，空气也变得凉爽了。

他们穿过草地，接着穿过果园，来到凯尔帕拉维尔的北门，大门敞开着。里面是一个长满青草的院子，在他们右面的大厅窗户里已经透出了灯光，正前方一大片更复杂的楼房里也有灯光。猫头鹰领他们走了进去。在那儿叫了一个很讨人喜欢的人来照顾吉尔。她跟吉尔个子差不多，却苗条得多，而且显然是个成人，她像杨柳一样文雅，头发也像杨柳，里面好像还有青苔呢。她把吉尔带到一座塔楼上的一间圆形的房间，那里地面上嵌着一只小浴缸，壁炉里生着火，木柴香气扑鼻，拱形屋顶垂下一条银链吊着一盏灯。从朝西的窗户里可以看见纳尼亚陌生的国土，吉尔看见落日的余辉仍然在远处的群山后发着红光。这使她渴望更多的奇遇，而且确信这还只是个开头。

她洗完澡，梳了梳头，穿上已经给她放好的衣服——这些衣服不仅摸上去舒服，看上去也好看，还有股香味，走动时还发出好听的声音——她本想再回去细看窗外令人兴奋的景色，不料门砰的一响打断了她的思绪。

“进来。”吉尔说。于是斯克罗布走了进来，他也洗了澡，穿着华丽的纳尼亚服装。但他脸上并没有高兴的神情。

“哦，总算看见你了。”他发着脾气说，一面一屁股坐在椅子上，“我老早就在想法找你了。”

“得，你现在找到啦，”吉尔说，“哎呀，斯克罗布，这儿的一切太令人激动了，好得没法说。”这时她已经把指示和失踪的王子忘得一干二净。

“哦，那是你的想法吧？”斯克罗布说，接着，他停了一下，“我倒但愿我们根本没来过。”

“究竟怎么啦？”

“我受不了，”斯克罗布说，“看到国王——凯斯宾——成了那样一个老态龙钟的老头儿。这真——这真可怕。”

“为什么，那碍你什么事？”

“哦，你不明白。现在我想起来了。你没法想像的。我没告诉你这个世界的时间跟我们的时间是不一样的。”

“什么意思？”

“你在这儿度过的时间并没花掉一丁点儿我们的时间。你懂吗？我意思是说，无论我们在这儿过多久，我们将来回到实验学校仍然是我们离开的那会儿……”

“那就不怎么有趣了……”

“哦，快住口，别老打断我。一旦你回到英国——在我们的世界里——你就说不出这儿的时间是怎么过的。我们在国内过上一年，这儿就可能是不知多少年了。佩文西家兄妹对我解释过这一切，可我竟像个傻瓜似的忘了。自从我上回到这儿来算起，按纳尼亚的年份来说——如今显然已经有七十年了。现在你懂了吧？我回来一看凯斯宾竟是个老老头了。”

“那么说国王原来是你的一个老朋友啰？”吉尔说。她突然有了一个可怕的想法。

“我真该认为他是的，”斯克罗布痛苦地说，“这位朋友要多好有多好。上回来的时候，他只比我大几岁，看看那个白胡子老头，再想想我们占领孤独群岛的那天早上的凯斯宾，还有大战海蛇那时的凯斯宾——哦，这真可怕，比我回来发现他死了更糟。”

“哦，住口，”吉尔不耐烦地说，“事情比你想的糟得多，我们已经把第一点指示错过了。”斯克罗布当然听不懂这句话，于是吉尔把自己和阿斯兰之间的谈话，以及四点指示，还有交给他们寻找失踪的王子的任务一一告诉了他。

“因此你明白了吧，”她结束道，“正像阿斯兰所说的，你的确看到了一个老朋友，你本来应该立刻上去跟他说话的。而现在你没去，刚开头一切就都乱了套。”

“可我怎么会知道呢？”斯克罗布说。

“我想方设法告诉你的时候，你只要听我说，我们就没事了。”吉尔说。

“是啊，只要你不在悬崖边上胡闹，差点送了我的命——对了，我是说送命，我随时高兴还要再说，以便让你保持镇静——我们早就可以一起上这儿来，那么两个人都知道该干什么了。”

“我看，他就是你看见的第一个人吧？”吉尔说，“你一定比我早到了好几小时。你肯定没有先看见别人吗？”

“我只比你早到一分钟，”斯克罗布说，“他一定把你吹得比我快。补上耽搁的时间：你耽搁的时间。”

“别那么坏，斯克罗布，”吉尔说，“喂，什么事啊？”

原来是城堡里响起晚餐钟声，这样一来一场唇枪舌剑就此皆大欢喜地中断了。两个人这时候胃口都特别好。

在城堡大厅里用晚餐，可是他们两个人从未见识过的豪华大场面。因为尤斯塔斯虽然以前到过这个世界，可是他来访的整个时期都是在海上度过的，对纳尼亚人在自己国土上的排场和礼节一无所知。屋顶上垂下一面面旗帜，每道菜上来时都要吹号击鼓。一道道汤叫你一想到就要垂涎欲滴。那种叫帕文德的好吃的鱼，还有鹿肉、孔雀肉和馅饼，雪糕和果冻，水果和果仁，以及各种各样的美酒和果汁。就连尤斯塔斯也高兴起来，承认这顿饭“像样”。等到一本正经的吃喝全部结束，一个盲诗人就走上前来，开始演唱美妙的老故事：《能言马与男孩》，讲的是科奥王子和阿拉维斯以及一匹叫布里的马，那是彼得在凯尔帕拉维尔当至尊王的黄金时代，发生在纳尼亚和卡乐门以及其交界土地上的一次奇遇。（尽管这故事很值得一听，可我现在没时间说了。）

等到他们拖着脚步慢吞吞上楼去睡觉，两个人都呵欠连天。吉尔说：“我敢说我们今晚都会睡得好。”因为这一天已经过得满满当当了，而这仅仅说明没人知道下一步他们还将碰到什么事。

【注释】

[1] 英语中陌生人与守林人发音相似。

[2] 英语中吉尔与被杀一词音相近，小矮人耳聋，听错了。

4

猫头鹰的会议

说来有趣，你越是困，你准备上床的时间就越长，尤其是如果你房间里侥幸还生着火的时候。吉尔就觉得她要不先在火边坐一会儿，甚至不能动手脱衣服。可她一坐下，就不愿再站起来。她大约已经对自己说了五回“我得上床了”，这时响起了轻轻的敲窗声，把她吓了一跳。

她起来拉开窗帘，开头除了一片黑暗，什么也看不见。接着她跳起来，开始朝后退，因为有样庞然大物冲到窗子上，在玻璃上猛地敲了一下。她脑子里出现了一个很不愉快的念头——“是不是他们这个国家有巨型蛾子呢？啊！”谁知这东西又回来了，这一回她几乎肯定自己看见了一只尖尖的嘴，就是这只尖嘴在敲窗子。“这是什么大鸟？”吉尔想，“会不会是鹰呢？”她可不大希望一只鹰上门来找她，不过她还是开了窗，往外看看。顿时间，只听得呼呼声响，那只鸟就停在窗台上，而且站在那儿把整个窗户都堵住了，吉尔只好后退几步让它。原来是那只猫头鹰。

“嘘，嘘！喔嗬，喔嗬，”猫头鹰说，“别出声。好了，你们俩是真心诚意要去干你们一定得干的事吗？”

“你是说，那失踪的王子的事？”吉尔说，“是啊，我们一定得干。”因为这时她想起了狮王的声音和面容，这事在大厅赴宴和听故事时她几乎全忘了。

“好，”猫头鹰说，“那么没时间可浪费了。你必须立刻离开这儿。我去叫醒另外那个人。然后我再回来接你。你最好把这些宫廷的衣服换掉，穿上几件能在路上穿的。我马上就回来。喔嗬！”它不等吉尔回话就飞走了。

要是吉尔一向冒险惯了，她也许会怀疑猫头鹰的话，但她从来没这么想过；半夜逃走这个令人激动的主意，让她就此忘了自己的困倦。她重新换上羊毛衫和短裤——短裤裤带上有一把向导用的刀，可能用得上——又加了几样东西，是那个有垂柳似的头发的姑娘留在房间里给她用的。她选了一件长到膝盖的连风帽的短斗篷（“要是下雨，正好用得着。”她想道），几块手帕和一把梳子。于是她坐下等着。

等猫头鹰回来时，她已经又困了。

“我们准备好了。”它说。

“你最好带带路，”吉尔说，“我还不熟悉这些走廊。”

“喔嗬，”猫头鹰说，“我们不穿过城堡。那是绝对不行的。你得骑在我身上。我们要飞。”

“哦！”吉尔说着，嘴巴张得老大，她不大喜欢这个主意，“你不嫌我太重吗？”

“喔嗬，喔嗬！你别犯傻了。我已经送走了另外一个。得了。可我们先得把灯灭了。”

灯一灭，从窗子里望出去看到的那一小块夜空就不那么黑了——不再是黑色，而是灰色。猫头鹰站在窗台上，背朝里，抬起双翅。吉尔只好爬上它那又胖又矮的身体，膝盖抵着翅膀下面，紧紧夹住。它的羽毛非常暖和柔软，就是没个抓处。“我真想知道斯克罗布觉得这次飞行怎么样！”吉尔想道。她正想着，他们猛地向前一冲，就离开了窗台，那对翅膀在她耳边振起一阵疾风，晚上的空气凉飕飕、湿润润，扑面而来。

这次飞行比她预想中轻松得多，尽管天空阴云密布，一片水汪汪的银光，显示月亮就躲在云层上面。她下面的田野看上去灰蒙蒙，树林黑沉沉。这时有一股大风——沙沙沙、呼呼呼的直响，说明就要下雨了。

猫头鹰改变了方向，因此城堡这会儿就在他们前方了。只有很少几扇窗户露出灯光。他们飞过城堡，向北，飞过河。空气变得更冷了，吉尔感到自己能看见猫头鹰在她下面水中白色的倒影。但不一会儿他们就飞到这条河的北岸，飞在林区上空。

猫头鹰猛地咬住了吉尔没看见的什么东西。

“哦，请你别那样！”吉尔说，“你别那么猛地一动。差点把我摔下去了。”

“请原谅，”猫头鹰说，“我只是抓了一只蝙蝠，吃得省些，没有比一只胖胖的小蝙蝠更耐饥的东西了。要我给你抓一只吗？”

“不，谢谢。”吉尔说着打了个哆嗦。

猫头鹰这会儿飞得低些了。一个黑乎乎的庞然大物隐隐出现在他们眼前。吉尔刚好看出这是一座塔，一座已经部分倾圮的塔，上面有好多常春藤，她心里想。猫头鹰带着她挤进满是常春藤、蛛网密布的空隙，从清新、灰色的夜空钻进塔顶的一个黑咕隆咚的地方，这时她不知不觉地急忙弯下身子，免得撞上窗户的拱洞。里头尽是一股霉湿味儿，从她打猫头鹰背上溜下来那一刻起，她就知道（人家一般总会知道的）这地方很挤。她听见黑暗中四面八方都有声音开始说话，“喔嗬，喔嗬！”这才知道挤在这儿的都是猫头鹰。听到一个与众不同的声音在说话，她顿时轻松多了。

“是你吗，波尔？”

“是你吗，斯克罗布？”吉尔说。

“行了，”格里姆费瑟说，“我想我们全到齐了。让我们举行一次猫头鹰会议吧。”

“喔嗬，喔嗬！你说得不错。这么做是对的。”好几个声音都这么说。

“等一下，”斯克罗布的声音说，“我有点事要先说说。”

“说吧，说吧。”猫头鹰都说；吉尔也说：“说下去。”

“我猜你们大伙儿——我意思是猫头鹰们，”斯克罗布说，“我猜你们都知道国王凯斯宾十世年轻的时候，航海到过世界东部的尽头。说起来，那次旅程我就跟他在一起：跟他、雷佩契普老鼠将军，还有德里宁勋爵以及所有的人。我知道听起来这不大可信，但人们在我们的世界里变老的速度跟你们在你们的世界里不一样。而我要说的就是，我是国王的人；要是这次猫头鹰会议有任何反对国王的阴谋，那可跟我无关。”

“喔嗬，喔嗬，我们也都是国王的猫头鹰啊。”那些猫头鹰说。

“那么这是怎么回事呢？”斯克罗布说。

“是这样的，”格里姆费瑟说，“要是摄政王，小矮人杜鲁普金听到你们要去找失踪的王子，他决不会让你们动身的，宁可把你们关起来。”

“老天爷！”斯克罗布说，“你意思不是说杜鲁普金是个卖国贼吧？以前，在海上的时候，我听到过好多关于他的事。凯斯宾——我意思是说国王——绝对信任他。”

“哦，不，”一个声音说，“杜鲁普金不是卖国贼。但已有三十几个勇士（骑士、人头马、善良的巨人等等）先后出发去寻找失踪的王子，他们没有一个回来的。最后国王说他不打算为寻找他的儿子而毁了纳尼亚所有的勇士。如今，什么人也不准去了。”

“但等他知道了我是谁，以及谁派我们来的时候，肯定会让我们去的。”斯克罗布说。

“派我们俩来的。”吉尔插话说。

“是啊，”格里姆费瑟说，“我想，他很可能会的。但国王不在。而杜鲁普金总是照章办事。他非常忠实，但他耳朵完全聋了，而且脾气又很暴躁。你根本没法让他明白这回该破例办理了。”

“你可能认为他多少会理会我们，因为我们是猫头鹰，大家都知道猫头鹰有多么聪明。”另一只猫头鹰说，“可他现在已经那么老了，他只会说，‘你只是只小鸟儿罢了，我还记得你是鸟蛋的时候呢。别想来教训我，先生。多嘴多舌！’”

这只猫头鹰模仿杜鲁普金的声调，学得惟妙惟肖，四周响起了猫头鹰那种笑声。孩子们开始明白纳尼亚人对杜鲁普金的心情就像人们在学校对一个爱发脾气的老师一样，人人都有点怕他，人人都取笑他，但没人真的不喜欢他。

“国王要去多长时间呢？”斯克罗布问。

“我们知道就好了！”格里姆费瑟说，“你们知道，最近有个谣言说有人看见阿斯兰本人就在群岛上——在特里宾西亚岛，我想是这个地方吧。国王说他临死前要再试一回，再跟阿斯兰见见面，请教他谁来继承王位。但我们都生怕一旦他在特里宾西亚没见到阿斯兰，他就要上东边去，到七群岛和孤独群岛去——一直往前。虽然他从来没提起过，但我们都知道他从来没忘记过那次到世界尽头的航行。我肯定在他内心深处，他想再上那儿去。”

“那么说等他回来就没用了？”吉尔说。

“是没用了，”猫头鹰说，“哦，乱哄哄的！如果你们俩认出他，马上跟他说话就好了。他会安排一切——也许会拨给你们一支军队，跟你们一起去寻找王子呢。”

吉尔听了一言不发，她希望斯克罗布够男子汉气派，别把真相告诉所有的猫头鹰。他的确有这份气派，或者说差不多有吧。就是说，他只是小声嘀咕着，“嗯，那可不是我的错。”然后才大声说：

“好极了。我们只好在没有军队的情况下想办法了。但还有一件事我想知道。要是你们所说的这个猫头鹰会议是完全公正，光明磊落，毫无恶意的，那干吗要这么保密——而且，还要深更半夜在废墟里开呢？”

“喔嗬！喔嗬！”几只猫头鹰叫了起来，“我们该上哪儿去碰头呢？除了晚上还有什么时候碰头呢？”

“你瞧，”格里姆费瑟解释说，“在纳尼亚，大多数动物都有那种不合自然规律的习惯。他们办事都在白天，在耀眼的太阳光下办事，哼！这时大家应该是在睡觉的呀。而结果呢，到了晚上，他们就又瞎又笨，你别想听他们说一句话。因此我们猫头鹰才养成在合情合理的时间开会的习惯，当我们要议论什么事的时候，我们就自己开会。”

“原来如此，”斯克罗布说，“好吧，大家继续开会。跟我们谈谈失踪王子的全部情况。”于是一只老猫头鹰（不是格里姆费瑟），讲述了这个故事。

大约十年以前，那时凯斯宾的儿子瑞廉还是一个很年轻的骑士。五月里一天早晨，他陪母后一起骑马去纳尼亚北部。他们一行中还有好多乡绅和贵妇人，大家头上都戴着用新鲜树叶编的花环，身边都带着号角，但没带猎狗，因为他们是在采花，不是打猎。白天天气暖和的时候，他们来到一片舒适的林中空地，那儿还有一股凉爽的喷泉从地上喷涌而出。他们在那儿下马，又吃又喝，十分高兴。过了一段时间，王后觉得困了，他们就把斗篷铺在草地上，瑞廉王子跟同行的其他人都走开一点，免得他们谈天说笑的声音吵醒她。就这样，不一会儿，密林里出来了一条大毒蛇，在王后手上咬了一口。大家都听见她叫起来，就朝她身边赶去，瑞廉第一个赶到她身边，他看见那条蛇正从王后身边溜走，就拔出剑追了过去。那是一条又大又亮，青绿色的蛇。他看得很清楚；但它溜到密密的灌木丛中去了，他进不去。因此他回到母亲身边，发现大家都在为她忙个不停。但他们白白忙了一阵，因为瑞廉一眼看见她脸色，就知道世界上什么医药都对她没用了。她临死前似乎拼命要告诉他什么事。但她已经口齿不清，不管她想留下什么话，可没说出来就死了。这时离他们初次听见她喊叫还不到十分钟。

他们把死去的王后运回凯尔帕拉维尔，瑞廉和国王，以及纳尼亚全国上下都沉痛悼念她。她是一位伟大的王后，聪明、文雅、无忧无虑，就是凯斯宾当初从世界东部尽头带回家的那个新娘。人们说她血管里流的是星星的血。王子对他母亲的死非常悲伤。从那以后，他常骑马出没在纳尼亚北部沼泽地区，寻找那条毒蛇，要杀了它报仇。尽管王子漫游归来，总是神色疲劳，忧心忡忡，但大家对此倒不以为意。王后死后大约一个月，人家说他们看得出，王子变了。他的眼神就像一个人看见了绝色美女那样失魂落魄，尽管他整天在外面，他的马却并没有跑得筋疲力尽的样子。在那些年长的大臣中，王子最主要的朋友就是德里宁勋爵，勋爵曾在他父亲到世界东部去的那次伟大远航中担任船长。

一天傍晚，德里宁对王子说，“殿下一定得赶快放弃寻找那条毒蛇的念头。对一条无知的野兽，不比对一个人，谈不上真正的报仇。你白白把自己累坏了。”王子回答说，“爵爷，这星期以来，我几乎已忘掉那条毒蛇了。”德里宁问要是这样他为什么还不断骑马到北部树林里去呢。“爵爷，我在那儿看见了天下最美的东西。”王子说。“王子殿下，”德里宁说，“请恩准，让我明天陪你骑马一起去，让我也瞧瞧这美丽的东西。”“我很乐意。”瑞廉说。

于是第二天他们立刻套上马，飞驰到北部森林，停在王后遇难的那个喷泉附近。德里宁觉得很奇怪，王子为什么偏偏挑中这个地方停留。他们在那儿休息，一直歇到正午：到了正午，德里宁抬头一看，就看到了他生平见过的最美丽的女人；她就站在喷泉北面，一言不发，只对王子招手，好像要叫王子到她那儿去。她个子高高的，长得很美，光彩照人，裹着一件薄薄的青绿色长外套。王子失魂落魄地盯着她。没想到那女人突然不见了，德里宁不知道她上哪儿去了。他们俩就此回到凯尔帕拉维尔。德里宁心头总觉得这光彩照人的绿衣女人是魔鬼。

德里宁拿不准自己是否应该把这次奇遇报告国王，但又不想做个乱说乱讲、搬弄是非的人，因此他对此事闭口不谈。可是事后他倒但愿自己说了就好了。因为瑞廉王子第二天一个人骑马外出，晚上竟没回来，从那时起不管是在纳尼亚，或是任何邻近地区都没发现他的踪影，连他的马、帽子、斗篷，或任何别的东西也没发现。当时德里宁心里十分痛苦，就去见凯斯宾，说道，“陛下，赶紧把我当做一个大叛徒杀了吧，因为都怪我一声不吭，我害了你的儿子。”于是他把这事告诉国王。凯斯宾听罢抓起一把战斧，对准德里宁勋爵冲过来要杀了他，德里宁就像根木头，一动也不动，等着他一斧砍下来。但国王刚举起斧子，又突然把斧子扔开，叫道，“我已经失去了我的王后和儿子，难道我还要失去我的朋友吗？”他搂着德里宁的脖子，拥抱他，两人都哭了，他们的友谊没有破裂。

这就是瑞廉的故事。故事说完以后，吉尔说：“我敢说那毒蛇和那个女人就是一个人。”

“不错，不错，我们的想法跟你一样。”猫头鹰都叫着说。

“但我们认为她没杀王子，”格里姆费瑟说，“因为没有骨头……”

“我们知道她不杀，”斯克罗布说，“阿斯兰告诉波尔，他仍然活着待在什么地方。”

“那样更糟，”那最老的猫头鹰说，“那就是说他对她还有点用，她有个反对纳尼亚的险恶阴谋。很久很久以前，北方来了个白女巫，把我们这里都冻成冰天雪地，足有一百年。我们认为这个也是一路货。”

“那么好吧，”斯克罗布说，“我和波尔必须去找这位王子。你们能帮助我们吗？”

“你们俩有什么线索吗？”格里姆费瑟问。

“有，”斯克罗布说，“我们知道自己得上北方去。还有我们得到一个巨人城的废墟去。”

一听到这句话，那些猫头鹰喔嗬喔嗬地叫得更响，还发出换脚、竖起羽毛的声音，接着所有的猫头鹰立刻七嘴八舌地说起话来。它们都解释说，它们为不能陪这两个孩子去寻找失踪的王子是多么遗憾。“你们要在白天赶路，而我们要在晚上。”它们说，“这不行，这不行。”还有一两只猫头鹰又说，连这儿这个倾圮的塔里，也没有刚才开会时那么黑了，而且这次会也开得够长的了。其实只不过提到要去巨人城废墟，那些猫头鹰似乎就泄气了。但格里姆费瑟说：

“要是他们想走那条路——到艾丁斯荒原去——我们一定得把他们带到一个沼泽怪那儿去。沼泽怪是惟一能帮这两个孩子大忙的人。”

“不错，不错，去吧。”猫头鹰们说。

“那么来吧，”格里姆费瑟说，“我带一个。另一个谁来带？这事一定得在今晚办好。”

“我愿意去，就到沼泽怪那儿为止。”另一只猫头鹰说。

“你准备好了吗？”格里姆费瑟问吉尔。

“我想波尔睡着了。”斯克罗布说。

5

普德格伦

吉尔睡着了。从猫头鹰会议一开始，她就呵欠连天，这会儿她早已睡熟了。她再次被叫醒，心里很不乐意，而且她还发现自己竟在一片漆黑、满是灰尘的钟塔一类的地方的光秃秃的木板上躺着，周围几乎挤满了猫头鹰。当她听到他们还得骑着猫头鹰出发到另外什么地方去——而且，显然不是去睡觉的——心里就更不高兴了。

“哦，来吧，波尔，打起精神来。”斯克罗布的声音说，“这毕竟是一次冒险呀。”

“我就讨厌冒险。”吉尔发脾气道。

不过，她还是答应爬到格里姆费瑟的背上，当它带着她飞进夜空，空气中那股出乎意料的寒意竟使她完全清醒过来（只有一会儿）。月亮已经不见了，也没有星星。在她后面远处，她能看见地面上有一扇亮着灯的窗户，毫无疑问，那窗户就在凯尔帕拉维尔的一座塔楼里。灯光使她渴望回到那间令人愉快的卧室，蜷在床上，望着墙上映着的火光。她把手放在斗篷下，用斗篷紧紧裹住身子。听着黑沉沉的夜空不远处传来两个声音真有点不可思议。斯克罗布和他那只猫头鹰正在说话呢。“听上去他倒不累。”吉尔想。她不明白斯克罗布以前在这个世界里参加过几场轰轰烈烈的冒险活动，纳尼亚的空气已经使他恢复了当初跟随凯斯宾国王去东部海域航海时获得的力量。

吉尔只好掐自己身子来保持清醒，因为她知道如果她在格里姆费瑟背上打瞌睡，恐怕就会掉下去。等到两只猫头鹰终于结束了它们的飞行，她手脚僵硬地从格里姆费瑟身上爬下来，站到平地上。一股凉飕飕的风迎面吹来，看来他们是在一个没有树木的地方。“喔嗬，喔嗬！”格里姆费瑟在呼唤，“醒醒吧，普德格伦，醒醒。狮王有要事。”

叫了半天没有回音。后来，远处出现了一圈暗淡的灯光，渐渐靠近。随即传来一个声音。

“喂，是猫头鹰吗？”它说，“怎么回事？是国王死了？敌人在纳尼亚登陆了？还是发大水了？龙来了？”

灯光来到他们身边，这才知道那原来是只大灯笼。她看不清那个拿着灯笼的人。它似乎浑身全是胳臂和腿。两只猫头鹰跟它说话，解释一切，但她太累了，没听他们说什么。当她明白它们在跟自己说再见，就尽量想让自己清醒一点。但事后，除此以外，她再也想不起更多的事了，不久，她和斯克罗布就弯腰走进一个低矮的门口，接着（啊呀，谢天谢地）就躺到又柔软又暖和的什么东西上。一个声音说：

“到了，我们尽了最大努力了。你们躺着会又冷又硬，又潮湿，这我不奇怪。很可能一点也睡不着；即使这儿没有雷雨、洪水，这棚屋没倒在我们大家身上，我以前就碰到过这种事。必须随遇而安……”不过话还没说完，她早已熟睡了。

第二天早上两个孩子醒得很晚，他们发现自己在一个阴暗的角落里两只又干燥又暖和的草铺上躺着。阳光从一块三角形的口子照进来。

“我们到底在哪儿呀？”吉尔问。

“在一个沼泽怪的棚屋里。”尤斯塔斯说。

“一个什么？”

“一个沼泽怪。别问我它是什么。昨晚我看不见它。我要起来了。我们去看看它吧。”

“一个人穿着随身衣服睡觉，醒来感到多别扭呀。”吉尔说着坐了起来。

“我正在想起床时不用忙着穿衣服有多妙呢。”尤斯塔斯说。

“我看还不用洗脸吧。”吉尔轻蔑地说。但斯克罗布已经起床了，打着呵欠，抖擞精神，爬出了棚屋。吉尔也跟他一模一样。

他们在外面看到这儿和他们昨天看见的那一小块纳尼亚大不相同。他们是在一大片平原上，无数水沟把平原分割为无数小岛。这些小岛都覆盖着粗糙的草，四周都是芦苇和灯心草。有的地方是一片片有一英亩大的灯心草草圃。成群的鸟儿不断地在其中起降——有鸭子、鹬、苍鹭。周围还看得见许多棚屋星罗棋布的，就像他们昨晚过夜住的一个样儿，不过所有的棚屋之间都拉开相当距离；因为沼泽怪都喜欢单独居住，不受打扰。除了西面和南面几英里以外的森林边缘外，这地方看不见一棵树。往东面看，平坦的沼泽地伸展到地平线附近低矮的沙丘，从那个方向刮来的风带有一股强烈的咸味，你就知道那边是海了。北面是灰白色的低矮的山丘，处处筑有石头堡垒。其他地方都是平坦的沼泽地。碰到潮湿的晚上，这地方可真闷得慌。如今在朝阳下看看，还有清新的风吹拂着，空中鸟鸣不绝。这儿虽然荒凉却相当美好、清新、干净。孩子们觉得兴致又高了。

“不知道那个叫什么来着的东西上哪儿去了？”吉尔说。

“沼泽怪。”斯克罗布说，他知道这个叫法似乎相当得意，“我希望——嗨，那个一定就是它。”这时他们俩都看见它了，在约五十码以外，背对他们坐着钓鱼。起初他们看不清，因为它浑身几乎和沼泽一样颜色，而且它坐着一动也不动。

“我看我们最好去跟它谈一谈。”吉尔说。斯克罗布点点头。他俩都觉得有点儿紧张。

他们走近时，那个身影扭过头来，露出一张瘦长脸，面颊凹陷，尖鼻子，嘴唇紧闭，没有胡子。它戴着一顶又高又尖的帽子，就像一座尖塔，还有圈其宽无比的帽檐。披在大耳朵上的头发，要是算得上头发的话，是绿灰色的。而且每根头发都是扁的，而不是圆的，因此更像小芦苇。它的表情很庄重，肤色跟泥巴一样。你立刻就能看出它对生活的态度是很严肃的。

“早上好，客人们，”它说，“可是我说‘好’，意思并不是说也许不会下雨，或可能下雪啊，有雾啊，打雷啊。我敢说你们一直没睡着吧。”

“可我们倒真睡着了。”吉尔说，“我们这一晚过得很好。”

“啊，”沼泽怪摇摇头说，“我明白你们能随遇而安。那是对的。你们有教养。学会了对事情要采取乐观态度。”

“对不起，我们还不知道你的大名。”斯克罗布说。

“我叫普德格伦。不过要是你们忘记了也没关系。我可以再告诉你们。”

两个孩子一边一个在它身边坐下。他们这会儿才看见它的胳臂和腿都很长很长，因此尽管它的身体并不比小矮人大，站起来却比多数人高。它的手指有蹼，像青蛙的爪子，两只在泥浆水里晃荡的脚也有蹼。它穿着土黄色的宽松衣服。

“我正想抓几条鳗鱼来做个炖鳗鱼当午饭，”普德格伦说，“可要是我一条也抓不到，也不奇怪。再说你们也不大会像我这样喜欢吃鳗鱼。”

“为什么不喜欢？”斯克罗布问。

“为什么，虽然我毫不怀疑你们会装得对此毫不在乎的样子，可是要你们喜欢我们这种食品是不合情理的。反正没关系，我在捉鱼的时候，如果你们俩能想法把火生起来——不妨试试看——木柴就在棚屋后面。可能是湿的。你们可以在棚屋里生火，那么所有的烟都会熏到我们眼睛里。你们也可以在外头生火，那么要是下雨，就会把火淋灭了。这是我的引火盒，我想你们不会知道怎么用吧？”

但斯克罗布在上回探险时已经学过这一类事了。两个孩子一起奔回棚屋，找到了木柴（那完全是干的），没费什么事就生起一堆火。于是斯克罗布坐下照顾火堆，吉尔到最近的水沟去洗洗脸——洗得不怎么痛快。洗好后她来照顾火堆，斯克罗布也去洗了一下。两个人都觉得清醒多了，但肚子都很饿了。

不一会儿，沼泽怪来了。虽然它估计过一条鳗鱼也捉不到，居然已经捉了十多条，而且已经把鱼皮剥了，洗干净了。它在火上搁了一只大锅，添了柴火，点上了烟斗。沼泽怪抽的是一种十分奇怪、味儿浓的烟草（有人说它们在烟草里搀了泥巴）。两个孩子还注意到普德格伦烟斗里的烟几乎不大往上升，而是从烟斗里一缕缕出来，往下飘，顺着地面像一层薄雾似的飘啊飘的。而且这烟很黑，熏得斯克罗布直咳嗽。

“好了，”普德格伦说，“那些鳗鱼要烧很长时间，没烧好你们哪个就会饿昏的。我认识一个小姑娘——不过我还是别告诉你们那个故事的好。你们听了会扫兴的，那种事我绝对不干。因此，为了让你们脑子别尽想肚子饿，我们还是先谈谈我们的计划吧。”

“是啊，我们谈谈吧。”吉尔说，“你能帮助我们找到瑞廉王子吗？”

沼泽怪使劲咂着烟斗，咂得两颊都凹下去，凹成那副样子你怎么也想像不出来。“嗯，我不知道你们称这为帮助。”它说，“我不知道哪个正好能帮这个忙。原因是一年中在这个季节，冬天很快就要到了，我们往北走不大可能走得很远。而且看趋势，今年冬天来得早。不过你们不必为此垂头丧气。由于会碰到敌人，又要爬山，又要过河，又是迷路，又是几乎没东西可吃，又是脚痛，我们多半不大会注意天气。而且要是我们走不远，成不了什么事，我们也用不着急于回来，不妨再走得远些。”

两个孩子都注意到它说“我们”而不是“你们”，两人都同时欢呼起来：“你跟我们一起去吗？”

“哦，是啊，我当然去啦。干脆一起去，你们懂吗？既然国王已经动身出国了，我看我们再也见不到国王回到纳尼亚了；而且他走的时候咳嗽得很厉害。再说杜鲁普金呢，他老得很快。你们会看见这个夏季大旱之后遇上歉收。要是有什么敌人向我们进攻，我是不会奇怪的。记住我的话好了。”

“我们怎么着手呢？”斯克罗布说。

“嗯，”沼泽怪慢吞吞地说，“所有那些去寻找瑞廉王子的人都是从德里宁勋爵看见那个女人的喷泉出发的。他们大多朝北走。因为他们一个也没回来过。我们也说不准他们到底有什么进展。”

“我们开头得找到一座巨人城的废墟，”吉尔说，“阿斯兰这么说的。”

“我们开头就得找到它吧？”普德格伦说，“我看，不允许只是找找看了？”

“当然啦，我就是这个意思，”吉尔说，“然后，等我们找到以后……”

“是啊，几时才找到呢！”普德格伦冷冰冰地说。

“有谁认识这地方在哪儿吗？”斯克罗布问。

“我不知道有谁认识，”普德格伦说，“可我决不会说我没听说过那个废墟城。话说回来，你们不必从喷泉出发。你们得穿过艾丁斯荒原。要有的话，那个废墟城就在那儿。但我也朝那个方向走过，跟大多数人走得一样远，可我从来也没到过什么废墟，所以我决不会欺骗你们。”

“艾丁斯荒原在哪儿呢？”斯克罗布说。

“从这儿往北边那儿看，”普德格伦说着用烟斗一指，“看见那些小山和悬崖吗？那儿就是艾丁斯荒原开始的地方。不过和我们这儿还隔着一条河，叫斯力布河。当然，没有桥。”

“话虽这么说，我看我们可以蹚水过去。”斯克罗布说。

“得，已经有人蹚水去过了。”沼泽怪承认了。

“也许我们会在艾丁斯荒原遇见什么人能给我们指路。”吉尔说。

“遇见人，你算说对了。”普德格伦说。

“那儿住的是什么样的人呢？”她问。

“要是你们喜欢他们那一套的话，我也不能说他们按自己那一套过日子有什么不好。”普德格伦回答说。

“是啊。但他们是什么呢？”吉尔追问道，“这个地方有这么多奇禽怪兽。我意思是他们是走兽还是飞禽，还是小矮人，还是什么？”

沼泽怪吹了一声长长的口哨。“嘘！”它说，“你们不知道吗？我还以为猫头鹰已经告诉你们了呢。他们是巨人呀。”

吉尔畏缩了，即使是书本里的巨人，她也从来没喜欢过，而且她有一次做噩梦还看见过一个巨人呢。这时她看见斯克罗布的脸也已经发青了，她暗自想道：“我敢说他比我还要害怕呢。”这一想她就觉得自己勇敢些了。

“国王很久以前告诉过我，”斯克罗布说，“那时我跟他一起在海上，他说他在战争中把巨人打得大败而归，而且逼得他们向他进贡。”

“那倒一点不假，”普德格伦说，“他们跟我们相安无事没错。只要我们待在斯力布河自己这边，他们就不会伤害我们。不过，在他们那边呢，在荒原上——总有个万一。要是我们不接近任何巨人，要是他们没人忘乎所以，而我们又没被他们看见，那很可能走上一大段路。”

“听着，”斯克罗布说，他突然发脾气了，人们受了惊很容易发脾气，“我就不相信这件事有你说的一半那么吓人，跟你说的棚屋里的床是硬的、柴是湿的一样没什么可怕。要是这事真的那么希望渺茫，我认为阿斯兰就不会派我们来。”

他原以为沼泽怪也会怒气冲冲地回答他，但它只是说：“这种精神很好，斯克罗布。应该这样说话。摆出满不在乎的样子。不过我们对自己的脾气都要十分小心，要看到我们得一起度过所有的困难时刻。吵架是不行的，你知道吗？不管怎么说，别一开头就吵架。我知道这些探险队通常都是那样结束的：事情还没办成，就互相动刀子，我是不会奇怪的。不过我们避免这一点的时间要能长一点……”

“得了，要是你认为这事那么没希望，”斯克罗布插嘴说，“我想你还是待在后面的好。我和波尔可以自己去，对不对，波尔？”

“闭嘴，别犯傻了，斯克罗布。”吉尔赶紧说，生怕沼泽怪把他的话当真了。

“你别觉得扫兴，波尔，”普德格伦说，“我绝对肯定去的。我可不打算失掉这样一个机会。这对我有好处。人家都说——我是说，其他的沼泽怪都说——我太轻浮，对生活不够严肃。一旦他们说了一遍，就不止说上几千遍。‘普德格伦，’他们说，‘你实在太爱夸夸其谈，精力过剩。你得懂得生活并不全是油煎青蛙和鳗鱼馅饼。你需要有点事让你清醒一下，我们这么说都是为你好，普德格伦。’他们就是这样说的。眼下就在冬天快开始的时候，上北方走一趟，去找一个大概不在那儿的王子，取道一个谁也没见过的废墟城——这样一项差使正是我需要的。如果这种事还不能使一个家伙稳定下来，那我就不知道还有什么办法了。”说着它搓搓那双像青蛙爪子似的大手，仿佛它是在谈起去参加舞会或看哑剧似的。“现在呢，”它加上一句说，“我们看看那些鳗鱼煮得怎样了。”

那道菜端上来时，味道真美极了，两个孩子都吃了双份儿。起初沼泽怪不相信他们真的喜欢吃，后来看他们吃了那么多，它只好相信了。它退而说这些东西可能大大不合他们口味。“对沼泽怪来说是食物，对人类也许就是毒药，我不会奇怪的。”它说。吃完午饭以后他们又喝茶，茶装在铁皮罐里（就像你们看见那些在路上干活的人喝的一样），普德格伦从一个方的黑瓶子里喝了好多口。他请两个孩子喝一点这种饮料，但他们觉得那东西非常难喝。

饭后半天时间就都用来准备第二天一早出发的事。普德格伦比起他们来算是最大的，说它将带上三条毯子，里面还包上一大块熏肉。吉尔把吃剩的鳗鱼带上，还有一些饼干和引火盒。斯克罗布就把他和吉尔不穿的斗篷带上。斯克罗布上次跟凯斯宾往东方航行时曾学过一点射箭，所以又带上普德格伦第二把好弓，普德格伦则带着自己最好的那把，可它又说，有风，加上弓弦潮湿，光线不好，手指冰凉，他们俩射中目标的可能性只有百分之一。它和斯克罗布都带上剑——斯克罗布把凯尔帕拉维尔宫在他房里专门为他准备的那把剑带来了。可吉尔只能将就带上那把刀算数。他们本来为此还吵了一架，但刚开始吵，沼泽怪就搓着手说，“啊，又来了吧。我就想到了。去探险往往有这种情况。”这么一说他们俩就都住口了。

他们三个都早早在棚屋里上了床。这一晚上两个孩子倒真的没睡好。那是因为普德格伦说：“你们俩最好想法睡一会儿，我不是说我们大家今晚都睡不着。”说完它立刻鼾声如雷，接连不断，到吉尔终于睡着后，整晚都梦见路面钻孔机、瀑布，以及隧道里的特别快车。

6

北方的荒原

第二天早上九点左右，只见三个孤零零的身影专拣浅滩的地方，踩着踏脚石头过河。斯力布河是一条浅浅的、喧闹的小河，他们到达北岸时，连吉尔也只湿到膝盖以下。前面大约五十码的地方，地面就升高了，荒原就从那里开始，到处地势都陡峭险峻，还有不少峭壁。

“我看我们该走那条道？”斯克罗布说着指指左面朝西的地方，那儿有一条小河从荒原穿过一座浅浅的峡谷顺流而下。但沼泽怪摇摇头。

“巨人们主要就住在沿着那峡谷边上一带，”它说，“你可以说峡谷就像是他们的一条街。我们最好是一直往前走，即使这地方比较陡一点也没办法。”

他们找到一个可以爬上去的地方，大约十分钟以后，大家就站在山坡顶上喘气了。他们回头向纳尼亚的谷地怀念地瞧了一眼，就转身面向北方。放眼望去，只见渺无人迹的广阔荒原绵延不绝。他们左边的地面岩石重叠。吉尔想那一定是巨人的峡谷边上，她不大想往那边看。他们就此出发了。

这儿的土地走起路来很舒服，又松又软，整天都有淡淡的冬天的阳光。他们越深入荒原，那份荒凉感越厉害：听得见红嘴鸥鸣叫，偶尔也看得见一只鹰。中午前他们停下来休息，在一条小河边的一个小水坑里喝了点水。吉尔开始觉得她终究还是喜欢探险的，就这样说了出来。

“我们还没有经历什么险情呢。”沼泽怪说。

第一次休息以后——就像学校里早上休息过后，或是铁路旅行中换车后那样——走起路来跟以前就大不一样了。他们重新上路时，吉尔注意到峡谷的岩边越来越近。而且比起刚才那些岩石，这些岩石高高低低，更加垂直。事实上，这些岩石就像一座座小小的岩塔。这些形状多有趣啊。

“我确信，”吉尔想道，“凡是写巨人的故事都可能来源于那些有趣的岩石。要是你在天快黑的时候上这儿来，很容易把那些一堆堆的石头当做巨人。瞧瞧那一块，嗨！你几乎可以想像那顶上的一块就是一个脑袋。虽然这脑袋太大了些，跟身体不相称，但是对丑陋的巨人来说就够好的了。还有那些浓密的东西——我猜实际上那些是石南和鸟窝吧——就当成头发和胡子也不错。还有一边高出一块的很像是耳朵。这耳朵大得吓人，不过我敢说巨人和象一样都会有大耳朵。还有——哦——哦！”

她的血冻结了。那东西动起来了。原来是个真正的巨人。一点没错；她已经看见他扭过头来了。她看见那张又大又蠢、鼓起腮帮子的脸。所有这些东西都是巨人，不是岩石。他们大约有四五十个，排成一排，显然是站在峡谷底层，手拐儿搁在峡谷边上，就像人们靠墙站着一样——像懒洋洋的男人早晨吃完早饭时那副模样。

“一直往前走。”普德格伦悄声说。它也注意到他们了。“别朝他们看。不管你做什么，别跑。他们马上会来追我 们的。”

他们就这样继续往前走，装作没看见那些巨人。正像走过一幢有恶狗的屋子的大门那样，只是更吓人。那儿有好几十个这种巨人。他们看来既不生气也不和气，也不对什么流露出一点兴趣。没有迹象表明他们看见了这些行人。

接着——飕——飕——飕——有什么沉甸甸的东西投向空中，一声巨响，一块大石头掉在他们前面大约二十步的地方。再接着——咚！——第二块掉在他们身后二十英尺的地方。

“他们是对准我们扔的吗？”斯克罗布问。

“不，要是他们对准我们，我们反而安全多了。他们是想掷那个——右边那个石堆。他们掷不中的，你们知道吗？那儿够安全的，因为他们个个都是其糟无比的投手。天好时他们大多玩掷石头打靶，凭他们那点聪明只懂这种游戏。”

那段时间真可怕，那排巨人似乎长得没完没了，他们一直不停地掷石头，有几块落在很近的地方。除了真正的危险，看看他们的脸，听听他们的声音也够吓人的。吉尔尽量不去看他们。

过了大约二十五分钟，巨人们显然吵起来了。掷石头这才结束，但吵架的巨人离他们还不到一英里，这件事可不愉快。他们大发雷霆，互相嘲笑，用的都是没意思的字眼，一个字足足有二十来个音节。他们发脾气时唾沫四溅，叽里咕噜，一跳八丈高，跳一跳就像扔炸弹似的震撼着大地。他们彼此用笨重的大石槌敲打对方的头，但因为他们的脑壳实在太硬，石槌敲下去就再弹开，这时那敲槌子的怪物会扔下槌子，痛得大吼大叫，因为槌子弄痛了他的手指。不过他实在太笨，一分钟以后他又干起同样的事了。这最终倒是件好事，因为玩了一小时，所有的巨人都痛得坐下哭了起来。等他们坐下后，他们的脑袋就在峡谷边缘以下，就看不见他们了。但吉尔还听得见他们像大娃娃似的哇啦哇啦，大哭大叫，即使那地方已在他们后面一英里以外，也还是听得见。

那天晚上，他们就在光秃秃的荒原上露营，普德格伦做给两个孩子看，怎样背靠背睡，充分利用毯子（背靠背睡，彼此都暖和，而且那样身子上面就可以有两条毯子盖着）。但即使如此仍然是寒气逼人，而且地面硬邦邦，粗糙不平。沼泽怪告诉他们只要他们想想今后再往北走还要冷得多，他们就会感到舒服一点，不过这话一点也没让他们振作起来。

他们在艾丁斯荒原走了好多天，省下熏肉，主要以荒原上野禽为生（当然不是会说话的鸟禽），那都是尤斯塔斯和沼泽怪打来的。吉尔挺妒忌尤斯塔斯会射箭，他当初跟凯斯宾国王航行途中学到了这一手。因为荒原上有数不清的小溪，他们倒一点也不缺水喝。吉尔心想，书里写人们靠打野物为生，从来就没告诉你，把那些死鸟拔毛，洗净是件多臭多脏，多耗时费力的活儿，而且弄得你手指冰冷。但值得庆幸的是他们不大碰见巨人。有一个巨人看见他们了，但他只是大笑了一阵，就噔噔噔地走开，去忙自己的事了。

大约第十天，他们到了一个地形变化的地方。他们来到荒原北部边缘，俯临一片陡峭的长坡，一直通向一片不同的、更可怕的土地。山坡底下就是悬崖，只见那边高山重叠，茫茫一片，黑沉沉的峭壁，乱石丛生的山谷，幽谷又深又狭，看不见底。几条河从回声隆隆的峡谷里倾泻而出，冲入漆黑的深渊。不用说，还是普德格伦，指出更远的山坡上有点儿雪。

“不过山坡北面的雪会更多，这我不会奇怪。”它又加了一句。

他们费了好长时间才到达山坡脚下，他们到了那里就从悬崖上往下看，只见有条河从西向东奔流而过。河流两岸远近都是峭壁，河水碧绿，没有太阳，到处是险滩、瀑布。咆哮的河水震撼着大地，连他们站的地方也在震动。

“值得高兴的是，”普德格伦说，“要是我们下悬崖摔断了脖子，那我们就不至于淹死在河里。”

“那个怎么样？”斯克罗布突然说，一面指着他们左面河的上流。于是大家都往那边看，瞧见了他们决没有料想到的东西——一座桥。这座桥真是鬼斧神工！是一座其大无比的单拱桥，横跨峡谷，从那边悬崖顶上通往这边的悬崖顶上，而且桥拱顶端耸立在两边悬崖顶部上空，就像圣保罗教堂的圆屋顶耸立在街道上空一样。

“咦，这一定是座巨人桥吧！”吉尔说。

“或者说八成是座巫师桥，”普德格伦说，“我们在这种地方得留神有没有魔法。我认为这是个陷阱。等我们走到桥当中，桥就会成为雾，化掉。”

“啊呀，看在老天分上，别那么煞风景了。”斯克罗布说。“这桥干吗不该是一座正儿八经的桥呢？”

“你想想，我们见到的那些巨人有头脑造这么个东西吗？”普德格伦说。

“但这桥会不会是别种巨人造的呢？”吉尔说，“我意思是说，生活在几百年前的巨人们造的，那些巨人比现代这种聪明得多。可能就是建造我们正在寻找的巨人城的那种巨人造的。而那样一来就说明我们这一路走对了——老桥通往老城嘛。”

“你倒真是神机妙算，波尔，”斯克罗布说，“一定是那么回事。来吧。”

于是他们转身向桥走去。他们走到桥边，只见那座桥的确够结实的。那一块块石头都有史前巨石群[1]的石头那么大，而且当初一定是由能工巧匠切割成方块的，然而现在都已裂痕累累了。桥栏上以前显然满是富丽的雕刻，如今还留有一些痕迹，残破的脸部和形态，有巨人，有牛头怪，有大乌贼鱼，有蜈蚣，还有一些可怕的神像。普德格伦虽然对这座桥还不放心，但他答应跟两个孩子一起过桥。

爬上桥顶的路又长又难走。好多地方的大石块都掉了，留下一道道吓人的裂口，从裂口往下看，只见几千英尺以下的河里浪花四溅。他们看见一只鹰从他们脚下飞过。而且他们越往上走就越冷，风吹得他们几乎站也站不稳，似乎桥都在摇晃。

他们到了桥顶，才能往下看远处的桥坡，只见有条看上去像是古代巨人的大路的遗迹从他们面前伸展开去，直至群山腹地。路面好多石头都没有了，残留的石头之间是大片大片的野草。在这条古道上有两个正常身材的成人正骑马向他们驰来。

“走啊。往他们那儿走，”普德格伦说，“凡是在这种地方遇到的人都可能不是敌人，但我们千万不能让他们认为我们害怕了。”

他们刚下桥，踏在草地上，那两个陌生人已经近在眼前。一个是骑士，穿着全副盔甲，面罩也拉下来。他的盔甲和马都是黑色的。他的盾上没有纹章，矛上也没有小旗[2]。另一个是位夫人，骑着匹白马，那马真可爱，你恨不得马上就去亲亲它鼻子，给它一块糖吃。而那位夫人骑的是女鞍，侧坐在马上，穿了一件绿得耀眼的长衣服，就更可爱了。

“你们好，旅——旅——客们。”她说话的声音就像最可爱的鸟儿在唱歌，拖长的颤音听了让人高兴，“你们当中有人是特地来这片荒原的小旅客吧。”

“那倒不一定，夫人。”普德格伦生硬地说，留神提防着。

“我们在找巨人城的废墟。”吉尔说。

“城的废——废墟？”那夫人说，“你们要找的倒是一个古怪的地方。找到了又怎么样呢？”

“我们得……”吉尔开口说，但普德格伦打断了她。

“请原谅，夫人。但我们不认识你和你这位朋友——他是个不爱说话的家伙吧？——而你也不认识我们。要是你不介意的话，我们宁可在陌生人前面不谈自己的事情。你看很快就要下雨了吧？”

夫人笑了，笑声要多圆润有多圆润，要多动听有多动听。“好了，孩子们，”她说，“你们有一个聪明、庄重的老向导陪着，虽然他守口如瓶，我还是不怪他，但我倒愿意随便谈谈我的看法。我经常听到巨人城废墟这个名字，但从来没遇见过任何人告诉我上那儿去的路。这条路是通往哈方镇和城堡的，那儿住着斯文的巨人。他们性格温和，举止文明，处世谨慎，待人有礼，而艾丁斯荒原那些巨人却是愚蠢、凶残、野蛮，而且兽性十足。虽然你们在哈方能不能打听到城市废墟的消息还不一定，但你们肯定会找到舒服的住处和好客的主人。你们聪明的话可以在那儿过冬，要不然，至少住上一段日子，放松一下，恢复体力。那儿可以洗蒸气澡，可以睡软和的床，过得心情愉快；还有烘的烤的，甜的辣的，一天供应四顿。”

“哇！”斯克罗布叫道，“那太棒了。想想看，又有床睡了！”

“是啊，而且还可以洗热水澡，”吉尔说，“你想他们会留我们住下吗？你瞧，我们可不认识他们。”

“只要对他们说，”那夫人回答说，“绿衣夫人派你们代为向他们致敬，而且给秋季盛宴送来两个白嫩的南方孩子。”

“哦，谢谢你，多谢了。”吉尔和斯克罗布说。

“但得留心，”夫人说，“无论你们哪天到达哈方，上门可别太晚。因为他们中午过后几小时就关大门。那是城堡的风俗，一旦他们上了门闩，别人怎么敲门他们也不开的。”

两个孩子眼睛发亮，再次谢了她，那夫人向他们挥挥手。沼泽怪脱下尖帽子，姿势僵硬地鞠了个躬。于是那一声不吭的骑士和夫人就骑着马走上桥坡，扬起一阵嘚嘚蹄声。

“好吧，”普德格伦说，“我真想知道她从哪儿来，上哪儿去。巨人国荒原上决不会遇到她这种人吧？我敢肯定，她不怀好意。”

“哎，胡说，”斯克罗布说，“我认为她这人好极了。一想起热饭热菜，还有暖和的房间。我真希望到哈方这条路不远。”

“我也这么想，”吉尔说，“而且她还穿了件极美的衣服。还有那匹马！”

“虽然这样，”普德格伦说，“可我还是希望对她了解得多一点。”

“我正打算问问她自己的事，”吉尔说，“但你不肯告诉她我们的事，我又怎么能问她呢？”

“是啊，”斯克罗布说，“还有你干吗那么生硬，大煞风景，难道你不喜欢他们？”

“他们？”沼泽怪说，“他们是谁？我可只看见一个。”

“你没看见那骑士？”吉尔问。

“我看见一套盔甲，”普德格伦说，“他干吗不说话？”

“我想他是害羞吧，”吉尔说，“或许他只想看着她，听着她可爱的声音。我敢说我要是他，也会那样的。”

“我真想知道，”普德格伦说，“你们抬起那头盔的面罩会真正看到什么。”

“见鬼，”斯克罗布说，“想想那盔甲的形状！除了人以外还能有什么呀？”

“是骷髅该怎么说呢？”沼泽怪装出一副幸灾乐祸的讨厌相问。“要不然，”它又加了一句说，“什么都没有。我意思是你们什么也看不见。是个隐身人。”

“说真的，普德格伦，”吉尔说着打了个哆嗦，“你心里真有这么可怕的想法？你对他们怎么想的啊？”

“啊呀，去他的想法吧！”斯克罗布说，“它老是往坏里想，结果总是错的。我们还是想想那些斯文的巨人，赶快去哈方吧。我要知道那条路有多远就好了。”

这下子普德格伦预见到的争吵几乎头一回闹开了。倒不是说吉尔和斯克罗布之间以前没有吵闹、斗嘴什么的，但这回可是头一回当真谈不到一块儿了。普德格伦根本不愿意大家上哈方去。它说它不知道巨人所谓的举止斯文是怎么回事，不管怎么说，阿斯兰的指示里也没提起到巨人那儿去，斯文不斯文都没提。另一方面，两个孩子已经厌倦了风里来，雨里去，在篝火上烤皮包骨的野禽，睡在又冷又硬的地上这种生活，下定决心要去寻找斯文的巨人。最后，普德格伦只好同意去了，但有一个条件。他们必须绝对保证，没有它的准许，不得告诉斯文的巨人，他们是从纳尼亚来的，也不能说他们在找寻瑞廉王子。他们向它作出保证后，才继续往前走。

跟那位夫人谈过话后，有两个方面的情况变得更糟糕了。第一，走的地方更难走，那条路直通望不见尽头的峡谷，山谷下面老有凛冽的北风刮在他们脸上。不像以前在荒原时那样，没有木柴可以用来烧火，也没有好好的小洞穴可以宿营，而且地上全是石头，白天走路使你脚痛，晚上睡觉使你全身都痛。

第二，不管那夫人告诉两个孩子哈方的事出于什么用意，实际上对他们反而起了坏作用。他们一心只想到床铺、洗澡和热饭热菜，想到屋里该有多舒服，别的什么都不想。如今，他们从来不谈起阿斯兰，甚至对失踪的王子也绝口不提。吉尔也放弃了她每天早晚暗自背诵指示的习惯。开头，她对自己说，我太累了，可是她很快就把这事完全抛在脑后。你可能以为他们想到在哈方可以过得愉快，心里就会高兴一点，其实这反而使他们更为自己难过，他们彼此之间也好，对普德格伦也好，都变得更暴躁，容易上火。

最后，有一天下午，他们一路走过的峡谷到了一个地方豁然开阔，两边还出现了暗沉沉的枞树林。他们往前看，只见自己已经穿过了群山。前面是一片满目荒凉、岩石丛生的平原，平原外，远处的群山山顶上都有积雪。但就在他们和远处的群山之间有一座小山头，山顶虽然参差不齐，地势还比较平坦。

“看哪！看哪！”吉尔叫道，指着平原对面。暮色苍茫中，在那座平坦的小山的另一边，大家看见了灯光。灯光！不是月光，不是火光，而是一排亮着灯光的窗户，普普通通，令人宽慰。如果你从来没去过荒野，不曾几个星期日日夜夜待在荒野里，你就难以了解他们的心情。

“哈方！”斯克罗布和吉尔叫了起来，声音又高兴又激动。“哈方！”普德格伦也说了一遍，声音单调，阴郁。但它又说，“嗨！野鹅！”并立刻拿起了弓。它打中了一只大肥鹅。当天想要到达哈方，已经太晚了。但他们吃了一顿热的，还生了一堆火。这天晚上开头倒比以往这一个多星期都暖和得多。火灭了以后，夜里变得寒意刺骨，等他们第二天早上醒来，毯子全都是霜，冻得硬邦邦的。

“没关系！”吉尔一面说着一面顿脚，“今晚就洗上热水澡啦！”

【注释】

[1] 在英国索尔兹伯里平原上。

[2] 英国古代骑士盾牌上应有贵族家庭的纹章，矛上有小旗也是一种爵位的象征。

7

小山上奇怪的壕沟

无可否认，天气真够恶劣的。头顶上，天空没有太阳，乌云密布，像要下雪；脚下，一层黑霜，一阵风吹来，让人觉得身上的皮都刮掉了。等他们下来，走到平原上，才发现那条古道的这一段比他们以前所见过的毁损得更厉害。他们不得不在断裂的大石头上和卵石之间，以及碎石堆上挑着道儿走。脚痛，路更难走。而且，不管他们有多累，因为天太冷都不能停下歇会儿。

大约十点左右，第一阵小雪花慢慢飘下来了，正落在吉尔的手臂上。十分钟以后，雪就密密麻麻漫天飞舞。过了二十分钟，大地明显成了银白世界。过了半小时，来了一场持续不断的暴风雪，看样子要下个一整天，暴风雪扑面而来，他们几乎什么也看不见。

为了弄清接下来发生的事，你们一定要记住，他们几乎什么也看不见了。当他们走近低矮的小山时，那座小山把昨天晚上窗户亮着灯的那地方挡住了，所以他们一点也看不见。只看得见前面几步路的地方，即使这么着，也还得眯起眼睛。不用说，他们大家都不说话。

等他们到达山脚下，他们往两边那些可能是岩石的东西看了一眼——仔细瞧瞧的话，就知道这是近似方形的岩石，但谁也没好好看。大家更关心的是正前方挡住他们路的那块突出的石头。约有四英尺高。沼泽怪腿长，毫不费力就跳了上去，接着就帮另外两个上来。对他们两个来说，爬上去弄得湿漉漉可真够呛，因为那块石头上的积雪已经很深了，不过沼泽怪倒不当一回事。后来他们又在崎岖不平的地上往上爬了大约一百码——吉尔还摔下来一回——才爬上第二块突出的石头。一共有四块这种石头，距离都不相等。

他们好不容易才爬上了第四块石头，事实摆明他们这会儿已经在这扁平的小山顶上了。到现在为止，那山坡总算给了他们个避风的地方；在这儿，他们可领教了暴风的威力。说也奇怪，这座小山顶上居然相当平坦，就跟在远处看时一样。暴风就在这一大片高地上无遮无拦地呼啸而过。多半地方仍然不大有积雪，因为风不断把雪卷离地面，成片成团地抛到他们脸上。还有一股股风雪交加的小旋涡在他们脚边打转转，就像有时候看到暴风雪刮过冰上那样。而且好多地方的表面确实也像冰一样光溜溜。但更糟的是，这地方还布满了纵横交错、奇奇怪怪的堤坝，把这地方分割成一块块正方形和长方形。所有这些堤坝当然都要爬上去，高度从二英尺到五英尺不等，厚度也有两三码。每道堤坝的北侧都已积起厚厚的雪；每爬过一道堤坝，就陷到积雪里，弄得浑身湿漉漉。

吉尔拉起风帽，低着头，麻木的双手藏在斗篷里，一路挣扎着向前，她在这可怕的高地上还看见了其他一些古怪的东西。她右边那些东西看上去隐约像是工厂的烟囱，她左边有一大块悬崖比任何悬崖都陡直。但她丝毫不感兴趣，没把这些放在心上。她只想一件事，就是她那双冰凉的手（还有冰凉的鼻子、下巴和耳朵），还想到哈方的热水澡和床。

突然她脚下一滑，就此滑出去约有五英尺，她发现自己滑进了一个又黑又狭的坑，不由吓得半死。这坑似乎刚刚出现在她眼前，转眼间，她已滑到底了。她似乎是掉在沟沟槽槽之类的里边了，只有三英尺宽。虽然这次摔倒使她大为震惊，但她首先注意到的就是吹不到风了，总算松了口气，因为沟壁比她高出一截。其次她注意到的，自然是斯克罗布和普德格伦那两张焦急的脸正从沟边上往下望着她。

“你受伤了吗，波尔？”斯克罗布大声道。

“两条腿全摔断我都不奇怪。”普德格伦大声道。

吉尔站起来说明她没事儿，但他们得帮她出去。

“你掉进去的是个什么地方？”斯克罗布问。

“是一种沟吧，也可能是一种暗巷之类，”吉尔说，“是笔直的。”

“是啊，天哪，”斯克罗布说，“而且通往正北。不知道这是不是一种路？要是的话，我们在下面就吹不到该死的风了。底下有雪吗？”

“几乎没有。我看雪全从顶上吹过去了。”

“再往里头还有什么？”

“等一下，我去看看。”吉尔说。她站起来，沿着沟走去；但没走出多远，沟就向右来了个急转弯。她把这情况大声告诉另外两个。

“拐角上有什么？”斯克罗布问。

恰巧这会儿吉尔对地下，或者说近乎地下的这些转弯抹角的通道和那些黑咕隆咚的地方的感想和斯克罗布对悬崖边上的感想是一样的。她可不打算一个人拐过那个角去，尤其是她听见普德格伦在后面大声叫道：

“小心点，波尔。这正是那种可能通往龙洞的地方。在巨人国里，还可能有巨大的蚯蚓和巨大的甲虫呢。”

“我想这儿到哪儿也不通。”吉尔说着，赶紧往回走。

“我最好去看一看，”斯克罗布说，“我倒想知道哪儿也不通是什么意思？”于是他坐在沟边上（如今大家都浑身透湿，再湿一点也无所谓了），接着就落在沟里。他从吉尔身边挤过去，尽管他嘴上没说什么，她心里确信他知道她是因为害怕才不去的。因此她就紧紧跟着他，只是小心翼翼别走在他头里。

然而，这次探险结果真令人失望。他们往右拐弯后朝前只走了几步，就碰到有两条路可走，要么再往前一直走，要么朝右急转弯。“不行，”斯克罗布看了右转弯那条路一眼说，“那样又走回去——到南面了。”他就一直往前走，但只走了几步，他们又一次发现了第二条往右拐的路，但这回没有其他路好走了，因为他们走的这条沟到这儿就到头了。

“不行。”斯克罗布咕哝说。吉尔立刻转身带路回去。等他们回到吉尔掉下来的地方，沼泽怪的长胳膊毫不费力就把他们拉了出来。

但回到上面实在太可怕了。在下面那些狭长的沟里，他们的耳朵几乎都开始回暖了。他们眼睛也看得清，呼吸也轻松，对方说话不用嚷嚷也听得清。回到这刺骨的寒冷中简直是活受罪。令人难堪的是，普德格伦竟挑了这么个时候说：

“你仍然确信那些指示吗，波尔？现在我们该照哪一条办呢？”

“啊呀，行了，去他的指示吧，”波尔说，“我想是什么人提到阿斯兰名字的什么事吧。不过我决不在这儿背诵指示。”

你们大概看得出，她已经把指示的次序搞错了。那是因为她已经放弃了每天晚上把指示背一遍的习惯。要是她肯费心想一想，她其实还是知道的，但她对自己的功课已不再背得滚瓜烂熟，遇到人家一问，未能不假思索一字不差地背出来。普德格伦这一问惹恼了她，因为在她内心深处，她已经对自己不那么熟悉狮王的功课很恼火了，她觉得自己本来应该熟悉的。心里恼火，加上又冷又累，痛苦不堪，她竟说出了“去他的指示”。也许她并不是有意的。

“哦，那是下一句吧？”普德格伦说，“现在我真想知道你是不是对？你把指示弄混了，我也不会奇怪的。在我看来，这小山，我们待的这块平地似乎值得我们停下来看一看。你们有没有注意……”

“哦，天哪，”斯克罗布说，“难道这是停下来欣赏风景的时候吗？看在老天的分上，我们走吧。”

“哦，瞧，瞧，瞧！”吉尔叫着，用手一指。大家都回过身来，都看见了。朝北再过去一点，比他们站着的这块高地还要高得多的地方，已经出现了一排灯。这一回，比这三个旅客昨晚看见的甚至更明显了。那些都是窗户：小点儿的窗户使人美美地想起卧室，大点儿的窗户使人想起壁炉里火光熊熊的柴堆，餐桌上热汤和油汪汪的牛腰肉正冒着热气。

“哈方！”斯克罗布欢呼道。

“好极了，”普德格伦说，“但我刚才说的是……”

“哦，住口，”吉尔发着脾气说，“我们没时间了。你不记得那夫人说过他们很早就锁上门吗？我们一定得及时赶到那儿，我们一定得去，一定得去。要是我们在这种晚上给关在门外，我们会死的。”

“得了，这还不是晚上，还没到呢。”普德格伦开口说，但两个孩子都说“来吧”，就开始在滑溜溜的高地上跌跌冲冲，尽快向前奔去。沼泽怪跟着他们，嘴里还在说话，不过这会儿他们已经再次冲进风里，即使他们想听它说话也听不见了。而且他们也不想听。他们想的是洗澡和床铺以及热饮料；想起赶到哈方太晚，被关在门外就叫人受不了。

尽管他们急忙赶路，要穿过那小山的平顶却花了他们很长时间。即使他们已经穿过了山顶，远处也还有几块突出的石头要爬下去。最后他们终于到了山下，这才看得见哈方是什么样子。

城堡矗立在高高的巉崖上，尽管有好多尖塔，看上去只是大宅，而不像一座城堡。显然斯文的巨人是不怕攻击的。房子外墙上就有好多离地面很近的窗——在正儿八经的堡垒里就不会有这种事。到处还有一扇扇奇特的小门，这样进出城堡就不用穿过院子，十分方便。吉尔和斯克罗布一看，又来了劲儿。这下子整个城堡看上去也更友好了，不那么阴森可怕了。

开始时，巉崖的高峻让他们害怕，但不久他们就注意到左面有一条比较容易上去的路，而那条路就朝这城堡盘旋而上。他们已经走了那么远的路再要爬上去可真够呛。吉尔差点要放弃了。斯克罗布和普德格伦在最后几百码时只好帮她一把。不过他们到底还是站在城堡大门口了。城堡的吊闸吊上去了，大门开着。

不管你有多么疲倦，要走到一个巨人的大门口总是需要一点勇气的。尽管普德格伦以前多次警告他们别来哈方，结果还是它显得最勇敢。

“好了，步子放稳点，”它说，“不管你干什么，别露出惊慌失措的样子。我们到这儿来就是干了一件头号大傻事。但既然我们已经到了这儿，最好还是装出一副满不在乎的样子。”

说了这些话，它就大步走到大门口，一动不动地站在拱门下，然后尽量大声叫喊，那儿的回声可以给它壮壮声势。

“嗬，看门的！有客想借宿！”

它在等着听回音的时候，就脱下帽子，扑打那宽宽的帽檐上的大片积雪。

“啊呀，”斯克罗布悄悄对吉尔说，“虽然它也许专爱扫人家兴，但它勇气倒不小，脸皮也厚。”

一扇门开了，漏出一抹诱人的炉火火光，看门的出来了。吉尔吓得咬住嘴唇生怕自己尖叫起来。他并不完全是个大个子巨人；就是说他比一棵苹果树高些，但还没有一根电线杆那么高。他长着一头又短又硬的头发，一件无袖短皮上衣，上面钉着好多金属片，像是要把上衣变成一件铠甲；双膝光着（当然上面有好多汗毛），腿上像是打着绑腿。他弯下腰，瞪大眼望着普德格伦。

“你说说看，你自己是哪种动物。”他说。

吉尔鼓起勇气。“对不起，”她对巨人大声嚷道，“绿衣夫人向斯文的巨人国王致敬，她派我们两个南方孩子和这个沼泽怪（它名叫普德格伦）参加你们的秋季盛宴——当然，要是方便的话。”她又加了一句。

“哦嗬，”看门人说，“那就是另一回事了。进来吧，小不点儿，进来吧。我传话给陛下的时候，你们最好到门房里来。”他好奇地瞧瞧两个孩子。“青面孔，”他说，“我不知道他们竟是这种颜色。我本人对此倒不在乎。但我敢说，你们彼此间看看都挺好的。人家都说物以类聚嘛。”

“我们的脸只是冻得发青的，”吉尔说，“其实我们不是这种颜色。”

“那么进来取取暖吧。进来，小虾米。”看门人说。他们跟着他进了门房。尽管听见那么大一扇门在他们身后砰地关上，挺吓人的，但他们一看见从昨天晚饭时就一直想望的东西——一堆火，也就把这事忘了。多旺的一堆火啊！看上去似乎有四五棵树在熊熊燃烧，火堆那么热，他们在好几码以外就不能走近。不过他们全都扑通一下坐在砖地上，尽量靠近到受得了热气的地方，发出声声宽慰的叹息。

“好了，小子。”看门人对另一个巨人说，这人一直坐在房间后半部，眼睛瞪得像要掉下来似的，直盯着这些客人看。“跑去把这个信息报给王上。”他把吉尔对他说的话又重说了一遍。那个年轻点的巨人，临走还盯了他们一眼，嗬嗬大笑一阵，才离开了房间。

“嗨，青蛙儿，”看门人对普德格伦说，“看上去你需要点提神的。”他拿了一个黑瓶子，样子很像普德格伦自己那个，但比那个约大二十倍。“让我瞧瞧，让我瞧瞧。”看门人说，“我不能给你杯子，否则你会淹死。让我瞧瞧，那个盐瓶大概正合适。你到了王上那儿可不必提到这事。银器今后还会继续弄到这儿来的，而这可不是我的错。”

那个盐瓶不大像我们的盐瓶，它比较窄，比较直，巨人把盐瓶放在普德格伦身边地上，竟成了它一个挺合适的酒杯。两个孩子以为普德格伦原来就不信任斯文的巨人，会不肯喝，谁知它喃喃自语说：“既然我们已经进来了，门也关上了，再想提防也来不及了。”接着它闻闻那酒。“味儿不错，”它说，“不过那也不足为凭，最好尝个明白。”于是它喝了一小口。“口味也不错，”它说，“不过初次上口可能不错。再喝下去又怎么样呢？”它喝了一大口。“啊！”它说，“但是不是全都一个味儿呢？”又喝了一大口。“要是底下有什么叫人恶心的东西，我是不会奇怪的。”它说着就把酒喝完了，舔舔嘴唇对两个孩子说：“这是试验，你们懂吗？要是我倒下来，或是发作了，或是变成一条蜥蜴什么的，那么你们就知道凡是他们给你们的东西都别碰。”不过那个巨人高高在上，听不见普德格伦一直在悄声说什么，却哈哈大笑说：“喂，青蛙儿，你真是个男子汉。瞧瞧它把酒都喝光了！”

“不是男子汉……沼泽怪，”普德格伦回答时声音含含糊糊的，“也不是青蛙，是沼泽怪。”

正在这时，他们身后的门开了，那个年轻的巨人进来说：“要他们立刻到觐见室去。”

两个孩子站了起来，但普德格伦仍然坐着，嘴里说着：“沼泽怪，沼泽怪。值得尊敬的沼泽怪，尊敬的怪。”

“给他们带路，小子，”看门的巨人说，“你最好带上青蛙儿。它喝多了一点。”

“我没事儿，”普德格伦说，“不是青蛙。我不是青蛙。我是个尊敬的乖。”

但那个年轻的巨人拦腰把它一把抓起，再做个手势叫两个孩子跟着走。他们就这样不成体统地穿过院子。抓在巨人手里的普德格伦神志不清地在空中蹬着腿，看上去倒确实像只青蛙了。不过他们也没工夫注意这事，因为他们一下子就走进了主城堡的大门口——他俩的心都比平时跳得更快了——为了赶上巨人的步伐，他们一路小跑，嘚嘚地跑过好几条走廊，不知不觉中就到了一间宏伟的屋子，给里面的亮光照得直眨眼睛，屋里灯火辉煌，炉火熊熊，灯火炉火都反射在镀金的屋顶和飞檐上。数不清的巨人都穿着华丽的袍子分站在左右两边。屋子尽头有两个宝座，坐着两个庞然大物，看来是国王和王后了。

走到离宝座约二十英尺的地方，他们就停下了。斯克罗布和吉尔尴尬地试着鞠了一躬（实验学校里没教过女孩子怎样行屈膝礼），那年轻的巨人小心地把普德格伦放在地板上，它就瘫坐在那儿。说老实话，看着它长长的四肢，非常像只大蜘蛛。

8

哈方宫

“继续吧，波尔，显显你的本事吧。”斯克罗布悄声说。吉尔觉得自己口干得厉害，一句话也说不出来。她拼命朝斯克罗布点头。

斯克罗布暗想他永远也不会原谅她（也不会原谅普德格伦），舔了舔嘴唇，对着巨人国王大声说道：

“请陛下容我说，绿衣夫人派我们代她向你致敬，她说你们会乐意让我们参加你们的秋季盛宴。”

巨人国王和王后互相望望，彼此点点头，微微一笑。吉尔可不大喜欢他们笑的样子。她比较喜欢国王。他有一部好看的拳曲的胡子，一个笔直的鹰钩鼻，就巨人来说，算是相当漂亮的了。王后胖得吓人，双下巴，一张搽着粉的胖脸——即使在最好的情况下，这都不是件好事，而这张脸又大了十倍，当然看上去就更糟了。这时国王伸出舌头，舔了舔嘴唇。虽然任何人都会伸舌头，但他的舌头又大又红，而且是出其不意地伸出来，真把吉尔吓了一跳。

“哦，多好的孩子啊！”王后说。（“说不定到头来她竟是个好人呢。”吉尔想。）

“是啊，一点不错，”国王说，“好得没说的。我们欢迎你们到我们宫里来。把你们的手给我。”

他伸出他那只巨大的右手——非常干净，手指上还戴了不知多少戒指，不过指甲可尖得可怕。他的手实在太大了，没法跟两个孩子一一伸出来的手握，他只好握握他们的胳膊。

“那是什么？”国王问，一面指着普德格伦。

“正敬的乖。”普德格伦说。

“哦！”王后尖叫一声，一面收拢裙子，围住脚脖子，“怪物！还是活的呢。”

“它相当不错，陛下，真的，相当不错，”斯克罗布赶紧说，“等你跟它熟了，就会更喜欢它的。包你们会喜欢。”

要是我告诉你就在这时吉尔哭了起来，希望你们看到下文不要对吉尔失去兴趣。她哭的理由可多着呢。她的手、脚、耳、鼻还只刚开始变软；融化的雪正慢慢从她衣服上淌下；当天她简直还没吃过，也没喝过什么东西；她的腿又痛得再也站不住了。不管怎么说，她这个时候哭比做出任何举动都来得好，因为王后说：

“啊呀，可怜的孩子！陛下，我们尽让我们的客人站着可不对啊。快，来人哪！把他们带下去。给他们吃点东西，喝点酒，让他们洗洗澡。安慰安慰那个小女孩。给她棒糖，给她娃娃，给她吃药，凡是你们想得到的统统给她——牛奶甜酒[1]、蜜饯、催眠曲和玩具。别哭了，小姑娘，否则你在盛宴上就一点也没用了。”

吉尔跟你我一样，一听到提起什么玩具和娃娃，就感到气不打一处来；虽然按他们的规矩糖果和蜜饯也许不错，可是她却非常希望来点更实惠的东西。不过王后这篇蠢话倒产生了极好的结果，因为普德格伦和斯克罗布立刻被几个巨人男侍从抱起，吉尔也被一个女侍从抱走，送到各自的房间里去了。

吉尔的房间有一个教堂那么大，要是壁炉里没有旺旺的火，地上没铺着厚厚的红地毯，屋里看上去就相当阴暗可怕。在这儿她开始遇上一些令人高兴的事。吉尔被人交给了王后的老保姆，从巨人的观点看，她是个上了年纪，弯腰屈背的小老太婆，从人类的观点来看，她仍算是个女巨人，只是身材矮小得可以走进一间普通房间，脑袋不至于碰到天花板罢了。老保姆非常能干，然而吉尔真希望她不要老是喋喋不休，说什么，“哦，啦啦，抱抱就好了”，“真是小宝贝儿”，“好，我们就好了，小乖乖”。她在一只巨人的洗脚盆里倒上热水，帮吉尔爬进去。要是你会游泳（吉尔就会游泳），在巨人盆里洗次澡可真妙。还有巨人的毛巾，虽然有点粗糙，也很可爱，因为那毛巾足有几英亩那么大，事实上你完全不用擦干，只要在毛巾上滚过去，滚到炉火前，痛痛快快玩就行了。洗完澡以后，吉尔穿上了干净、鲜艳、暖和的衣服。衣服十分华丽，就是大了一点，但看得出这衣服是为人做的，而不是为女巨人做的。“我猜要是那个绿衣女人上这儿来，这些衣服就用来给我们这种身材的客人穿。”吉尔想道。

她很快就看出她猜对了，因为一副给普通成人用的桌椅已经为她放好了，还有刀、叉、匙也都是正常的规格。终于能够暖暖和和、干干净净地坐下来，真叫人高兴。她还光着两只脚，踩在巨人的地毯上可真舒服。她的脚在里面一直陷到足踝，对痛脚来说正需要这样的东西。那顿饭——我想我们得称之为午饭，虽然那时已将近用茶点的时间了——是韭菜鸡肉汤、热的烤火鸡，还有一道蒸布丁、烤栗子以及尽够吃的水果。

惟一讨厌的事是老保姆出出进进，每次进来，都带来一个巨型玩具——一个大娃娃，比吉尔本人还要大，一匹有四个轮子的木马，大约有一只象那么大，一只鼓大得像只小煤气罐，还有一只毛茸茸的小羊羔。这些东西都是粗制滥造，涂着十分鲜艳的颜色，吉尔看见这些东西就不喜欢。她不断跟保姆说她不要这些东西，但保姆说：

“啧，啧，啧。你休息一会儿以后准会要的，我知道！嘻，嘻，嘻，好了，上床吧，可爱的小宝贝！”

那张床不是一张巨人床，只是一张有四个柱子的大床，像老式旅馆里看得见的那种，在这间其大无比的屋子里看上去很小很小。她非常高兴地爬上了床。

“外面还在下雪吗，嬷嬷？”她睡眼惺忪地问。

“不。现在下雨了，宝宝！”老保姆说，“雨会把讨厌的大雪统统冲洗掉。小宝贝明天就能上外面去玩了！”她给吉尔盖好了被子，并道了晚安。

我不知道还有什么比让一个女巨人亲亲更讨厌的事，吉尔也有同样想法，但她不到五分钟就睡着了。

那天傍晚的雨一直不停地下了整整一夜，雨点溅在城堡的窗户上，但吉尔完全没听见，只是沉沉熟睡，睡过了晚饭时刻，睡过了午夜。到了夜阑人静的时刻，在这座巨人的屋子里，除了老鼠，什么动静也没有。就在这时吉尔做了一个梦。梦中她似乎就在这间屋里醒来，看见那堆火，火力已经减弱，发红了，火光中是那匹大木马。木马轮子自动转起来，滚过地毯，停在她床头。这会儿那不是马，而是一只像马那么大的狮子了。接着它又不是玩具狮子，而是一头真正的狮子了。真正的狮王，就像她曾经在世界尽头外的高山上看见过的一样。屋里充满了各种各样的香味儿。但吉尔脑子里出了点麻烦，尽管她想不出是怎么回事，眼泪还是刷刷地流下她脸蛋，把枕头都弄湿了。狮王叫她背一下指示，而她竟发现自己已经把指示全忘光了。因此，她吓得要命。后来阿斯兰把她衔起来（她感觉到他的嘴唇和呼吸，但感觉不到牙齿），带她来到窗前，叫她往外看。外面月光明亮，在天上或地上（她不知道是哪儿）是几个大大的字“在我下面”。此后，梦就消失了，第二天早上她很晚才醒来，这时她已完全不记得做过梦了。

她起来穿上衣服，在炉火前吃完早餐，这时保姆开开门说：

“漂亮宝贝的小朋友来跟她玩了。”

斯克罗布和沼泽怪走了进来。

“嗨，早上好，”吉尔说，“这多有趣？我相信自己已睡了十五个小时了。我真觉得好多了，你们呢？”

“我也好多了，”斯克罗布说，“不过普德格伦说它头痛。嗨，你这儿的窗户有窗座。要是我们站在上面，就能看看外面。”他们立刻都站了上去。吉尔刚看了一眼就说：“哦，糟糕透了！”

外面阳光普照，除了几堆残雪以外，几乎全被雨冲掉了。在他们下面，像一张地图似的展开着的正是他们昨天下午拼命爬过来的那平坦的山顶；从城堡望去，分明是一座巨人城的废墟，决不会看错成任何东西。吉尔现在才看出，说山顶是平的，是因为那儿基本上还铺着路面，虽然有好多地方路面已经裂开了。那些纵横交错的堤岸原来是那些庞大的建筑留下的残垣断壁，这里可能一度是巨人的宫殿和庙宇吧。有一面墙，大约有五百英尺高，仍然屹立不动，她就是把这堵墙当成是悬崖的。那些看来像工厂烟囱的是巨大的柱子，断裂成高低不一的残桩；断裂的碎片就堆在柱子底座旁边，像是倒下的大石头树。他们从山北坡往下爬的那些突出的石头——毫无疑问，还有他们从南面往上爬的另外那些石头——原来是巨型楼梯残留下来的梯级。更糟糕的是，在路面中央，有黑色大字这么写着：在我下面。

他们三个都惊愕地面面相觑，斯克罗布嘘的一下吹了声口哨，说出了他们大家心里想的。“第二点和第三点指示错过了。”这时吉尔才回想起她的梦。

“都怪我不好，”她说，声音充满绝望，“我——我放弃了每晚背诵那些指示。要是我一直想着那些指示，即使在那么大的雪里，我本来也看得出那是个城市的。”

“我更不好，”普德格伦说，“我的确看见了，或者说差不多看见了。我还认为那地方看上去非常像一座废墟城呢。”

“只有你不该受到责怪，”斯克罗布说，“你的确尽力想拉住我们。”

“可是还不够尽力，”沼泽怪说，“而且我也不必要尽力想着，我本来应该动手干的。我一手拉着一个，还拉不住你们吗？”

“实际情况是，”斯克罗布说，“我们都一心向往着这个地方，别的事就不肯操心了。至少我知道我是这样的。自从我们遇见那个女人和那个不说话的骑士，就一直没想过别的事，几乎已经忘了瑞廉王子了。”

“如果那正是她的目的，”普德格伦说，“我也不会奇怪。”

“我不大懂的是，”吉尔说，“我们怎么会没看见那些字呢？要不，这字是不是昨天晚上才出现的？是不是他——阿斯兰——晚上写在那儿的？我做了个怪梦。”她把那个梦一五一十全告诉他们。

“咦，你这个笨蛋！”斯克罗布说，“我们的确见过的。我们走到字里面去了，你还不明白？我们走到ME字后一个字母E里去了[2]，那就是你掉下去的那条沟。我们走在E字最下面一划里，正北——转到我们右边，顺着竖的一笔——来到另一个右转弯——那是当中的一划——然后再继续到左上角拐角，或者说（也许）这字母的东北角，再回来。我们都是些大笨瓜。”他粗鲁地踢了窗座一脚，再说下去：“所以这事不妙，波尔，我知道你在想什么，因为我跟你有同样想法。你在想，要是阿斯兰是在我们走过这个废墟城之后再把这些指示写在石头上的该有多好呀。那就是他的错，不是我们的错了。很可能，对吗？不行。我们一定得坦白承认。我们只有第四点指示可以照办，而前面三点都已经错过了。”

“你意思是说我错过了，”吉尔说，“这话不假。从你带我上这儿来以后，我就把一切都弄糟了。反正都一样——说我非常抱歉什么的——反正都一样。那指示是什么？在我下面好像没什么意思吧。”

“可是，那的确有意思，”普德格伦说，“意思是我们得到那个城市下面去寻找王子。”

“但我们怎么能去呢？”吉尔问。

“问题就在这儿，”普德格伦说着，一面搓搓那双像青蛙爪子般的大手，“现在我们有什么办法呢？毫无疑问，要是我们在废墟城的时候，就一心一意放在要干的事上面，早就有人来指点我们怎么办了——发现一扇小门啊，或者一个山洞啊，或者一条地道啊，遇见什么人帮助我们啊，也许是阿斯兰本人（事情很难说）。我们总有办法钻到那些铺路石下面去的。阿斯兰的指示一向管用，毫无例外。但现在怎么办——那是另一回事了。”

“得了，我想我们只好回去。”吉尔说。

“说来容易吧？”普德格伦说，“开头我们不妨想法打开那扇门。”于是他们都看着那扇门，只见谁也够不着门把，即使够得着也几乎肯定没人转得动那门把。

“你们看，要是我们要求出去，他们会不让我们出去吗？”吉尔说。大家都不吭声，但每个人都在想：“假如他们不肯呢？”

这主意可不妙。普德格伦坚决反对把他们真正的任务告诉巨人和干脆要求出去这样的主意。当然两个孩子没有它的许可也不能说，因为他们已经保证过了。他们三个都知道要在晚上逃出城堡是万万不可能的。一旦他们待在自己的房间里，房门关上了，他们就得一直关到早上为止。他们当然可以请求让房门开着，但那样会引起怀疑。

“我们惟一的机会是，”斯克罗布说，“想法在白天偷偷溜走。下午会不会有个把小时大多数巨人都睡着了呢？——要是我们能偷偷到厨房里去，会不会有一扇后门开着？”

“这也说不上是一个机会，”沼泽怪说，“但我们很可能只有这么个机会了。”事实上，斯克罗布的计划并不像你们认为那么希望渺茫。如果你要走出一所房子而不让人看见，从某些方面看来，在下午这段时间试试看，倒比半夜里更好，门窗很可能都开着，万一被抓住，你总是可以装出并不是有意要走远，而且也没什么特别的打算。（要是半夜一点钟给人发现你正从卧室窗户往外爬，就很难叫巨人或成人相信这一点了。）

“可是，我们一定要趁他们不提防，”斯克罗布说，“我们得装出喜欢待在这儿，一心盼望着这次秋季盛宴。”

“那就在明天晚上，”普德格伦说，“我听他们中间有人这么说。”

“明白了，”吉尔说，“我们得装出对秋季盛宴非常起劲儿，问这问那，问个没完。反正他们当我们完全是小娃娃，这样事情也好办一些。”

“高高兴兴，”普德格伦说着深深叹了口气，“我们一定得这样，高高兴兴的。仿佛我们一点心事也没有，就爱闹着玩儿。我注意到了，你们两个孩子没有经常保持兴高采烈的样子。你们得看着我，照我做的去做。我会高高兴兴的。就像这样——”它龇牙咧嘴，装出一副可怕的笑容，“还爱闹着玩儿——”说到这儿它又苦中作乐地蹦蹦跳跳，“要是你们一直看着我，很快就学会了。你们瞧，他们已经把我当成有趣的家伙了。我敢说，你们俩都认为昨晚我有点喝醉了吧，但我请你们放心，那是——嗯，大部分是——装出来的。我有个想法，这样做总会派上用处的。”

“行啊，就高高兴兴吧，”斯克罗布说，“好了，只要我们能让什么人打开这扇门就行。我们在四处闲逛，装得高高兴兴的时候，还得尽量摸清这座城堡的情况。”

幸亏就在这时，门开了，那个巨人保姆急忙奔进来说：“喂，我的宝贝儿。想来看看国王和满朝上下出发去打猎吗？那场面真好看啊！”

他们立刻奔过她身边，爬下他们走到的第一段阶梯。猎狗、号角和巨人的声音为他们指路，因此不到几分钟他们就来到院子里。巨人们全都步行，因为在世界那一边还没有巨型马，所以巨人打猎是走着去的；就像在英国打兔子那样。而且猎狗也是正常大小的狗。吉尔看见没有马，开头她感到非常失望，因为她确信那个大胖王后是绝对不会跟在猎狗后面走的，而让王后整天都待在宫里也是绝对不行的。不料后来她看见王后原来坐在一种轿子里，由六个年轻的巨人抬着。那个老蠢货穿着一身绿，身边还放着一只号角。二三十个巨人，包括国王，集合起来准备去打猎，大家说说笑笑，把你耳朵都要震聋了。底下，同吉尔差不多高的，尽是一条条摇摆的尾巴，汪汪叫的、松开的、潮乎乎的狗嘴和狗鼻子硬挨到你手里。普德格伦正开始装出一种它认为是高高兴兴、好玩的态度（要是有谁注意到它，可能就把一切都毁了），这时吉尔就装出她最动人的孩子气的笑容，冲到王后轿边，大声朝王后嚷道：

“哦，求求你了！你不走吧？你要回来吗？”

“是啊，亲爱的，”王后说，“我今天晚上就回来。”

“哦，好啊。多妙啊！”吉尔说，“我们能参加明天的盛宴吧？我们都盼望着明天晚上呢！我们真喜欢待在这儿。你们出去的时候我们能在城堡里跑来跑去看看，行吗？请说声行吧。”

王后果真说了声行，但所有大臣都哈哈大笑，笑声几乎把她的声音淹没了。

【注释】

[1] 热牛奶加酒，常用以治感冒。

[2] 英文中的ME意思是“我”。

9

真相大白

另外两位事后承认，那天吉尔的表演真是妙极了。国王和其余那些参加打猎的人刚出发，她就开始游览整个城堡，还问了好多问题，但全都用那副天真烂漫、孩子气的腔调，所以没人能怀疑她有什么密谋。虽然她嘴巴一直没闲着，你却很难说她在说话，她唠唠叨叨，格格痴笑。她讨好每一个人——男仆、看门人、女仆、女侍官，还有那些过了打猎时代的老年巨人贵族。她忍受好多女巨人的亲吻和抚摸，好多人似乎为她难过，叫她“可怜的小东西”，然而谁也没说明为什么。她跟厨子成了特别要好的朋友，并发现了最重要的实际情况。厨房洗碗间有一扇门，可以让你从外墙出去，因此你就不必穿过院子，或经过门房。她在厨房里装出一副馋相，吃了厨子和厨房帮工乐于给她的各种各样碎屑。而到了楼上那些夫人当中，她就问，在盛宴上她得怎么穿衣服啊，准许她坐多长时间啊，她是否能跟一个最小最小的巨人跳舞啊。然后（事后她回想起这些事，只觉得浑身发烫），她就一副傻样儿，把脑袋歪在一边，好多巨人啊什么的大人看了都觉得十分迷人，她还抖动自己的鬈发，坐立不安地说，“哦，我真希望现在就是明天晚上，你们说呢？你们认为时间会过得快些吗？”所有的女巨人都说她是个十全十美的小宝贝；有些人还拿出一块好大的手绢轻轻擦眼睛，好像快要哭了。

“她们这个年纪的都是些可爱的小东西，”一个女巨人对另一个说，“这似乎有点可怜……”

斯克罗布和普德格伦也都使出浑身解数，但女孩子做这种事总比男孩子强，甚至连男孩子做这种事也比沼泽怪强。

午饭时又出了件事，使他们三个格外急着要离开斯文巨人的城堡了。他们在大厅里靠近火炉的地方一张小桌上用餐。大约二十码以外，在一张大桌子旁边，坐着六个老巨人也在用餐。他们说话声音那么吵，那么响，两个孩子一下子就不去注意这些话了，正像你对窗外的汽笛声和街上交通往来的声音也不注意一样。他们正在吃冷的鹿肉，这是吉尔以前从来没吃过的食品，她倒很喜欢吃。

突然间普德格伦向他们转过身来，它的脸色变得那么苍白，你能从它那天然泥土色的皮肤上也看得出这份苍白。它说：

“一口也别吃了！”

“怎么啦？”另外两个悄悄地问。

“你们没听见那些巨人说的话吗？一个说，‘那是一大块嫩鹿腿肉。’另一个说，‘那么说那只鹿在说谎了。’一个又说，‘为什么？’‘哦，’另外那个说，‘他们说抓住这只鹿的时候，它说：“别杀我，我的肉很老，你们不会喜欢我的”。’”

吉尔一时没领会这句话的全部意义。但看到斯克罗布吓得眼睛睁得大大的，她就明白了。他说：

“原来我们正在吃一只会说话的鹿。”

这个发现对他们三个来说，其影响并不完全一样。吉尔是刚到这个世界的，心里为这只可怜的鹿感到难过，并认为杀了它的那些巨人很坏。斯克罗布以前来过这个世界，他的好朋友中至少有一只是会说话的兽类，心里感到不寒而栗，就像你对谋杀案的感受一样。而普德格伦，它生长在纳尼亚，觉得恶心，要昏过去，它的感觉就像发现自己吃下了一个娃娃似的。

“我们惹阿斯兰动怒了，”它说，“那是我们不照指示做的结果。我想，我们正受到诅咒。要是允许的话，我们最好拿起这些刀，对着自己的心脏刺进去。”

甚至吉尔也渐渐理解了它的观点。总之，他们大家一点也不想吃了。一等到他们认为比较安全的时候，他们就悄悄溜出了大厅。

现在决定他们逃跑希望成败的时间快到了，大家都变得很紧张。他们在过道里闲逛，等着周围静下来。大厅里的巨人吃完饭还坐了很长时间。一个秃顶巨人正在讲故事。等故事讲完，他们三个又混到厨房里。但那儿仍然有好多巨人，至少在洗碗间里有好多人，洗洗涮涮，收拾东西。等着这些人干完活，一个一个擦擦手走开，真是件极其痛苦的事。最后厨房里只留下一个上了年纪的女巨人了。她东走走，西逛逛，他们三个终于厌恶地明白她根本就没打算走。

“好了，宝贝儿，”她对他们说，“那些活儿都差不多干完了。我们放上一只水壶。一会儿就可以煮上一杯好茶。这会儿我要休息一下。做个好宝宝，去看看洗碗间里头，告诉我那扇后门开着吗？”

“开着。”斯克罗布说。

“对了，我总是让门开着，那么猫咪就能出出进进了，可怜的小东西。”

接着她在一只椅子上坐下，把双脚搁在另一只椅子上。

“不知道我能不能打个盹儿，”那女巨人说，“只要那伙混蛋打猎的别那么快回来就好了。”

他们听到她提起打盹儿，顿时情绪高涨，再听到她提起打猎那伙人回头又垂头丧气了。

“他们通常什么时候回来？”吉尔问。

“从来就没个准，”女巨人说，“不过，得了，宝贝儿，你们去安静一会儿吧。”

他们退到厨房尽头，要不是那女巨人坐起来，张开眼睛，挥开一只苍蝇，他们早就溜进洗碗间去了。“到确定她真的睡着了再溜，”斯克罗布小声说，“否则一切都完蛋。”于是他们全都蜷缩在厨房尽头等啊，看啊。想到那些打猎的随时都可能回来不免心惊肉跳。而那个女巨人又睡得不安生。每当他们认为她真睡着了，她又动了。

“这样我可受不了。”吉尔想道。为了分散注意力，她就东张西望。面前正好有一张干净的大桌子，上面有两只放馅饼的干净盘子，还有一本打开的书。那当然是巨人的盘子，吉尔想她可以舒舒服服躺在盘子里。随后她就爬到桌边的长凳上，去看看那本书。她看到：

野鸭：这种美味的野禽可以用多种方式烹调。

“是本烹调书。”吉尔不大感兴趣地想，又回头望了一眼。女巨人眼睛闭着，但看上去她似乎没睡熟。吉尔又回头看这本书。书是按字母排列的，看到下一条，她的心似乎都停止跳动了。

人：这种文雅的两足小动物很久以来一直被珍视为美味佳肴，也形成了秋季盛宴的一道传统菜。上菜应在鱼和带骨腿肉之间。每个人……

但她再也看不下去了。她转过身去。女巨人已经醒来，正咳嗽不止。吉尔轻轻推推另外两个，并指指那本书。他们也爬上长凳，弯腰看着那巨大的书页。斯克罗布还在看人的烹调法时，普德格伦指着下面一条。上面这样写着：

沼泽怪：某些权威不吃这种动物，因为其肉多筋坚韧，有泥土味，认为其不适合巨人食用，不过此味可以大大减少，只要……

吉尔轻轻碰碰普德格伦和斯克罗布的脚。大家都回头看看女巨人。只见她嘴巴微微张开，鼻子里响起一种那时对他们来说比任何音乐更中听的声音：她在打呼噜呢。这会儿只是踮着脚走路的问题了，他们不敢走得太快，也不大敢呼吸，就这么走出了洗碗间（巨人的洗碗间味道可难闻呢），终于来到冬日[1]下午淡淡的阳光下。

他们走在一条崎岖不平的小路上，小路下坡十分陡峭。感谢老天爷，就在城堡右面，已经看得见那废墟城了。一会儿工夫，他们就回到城堡大门通下来那条宽阔、陡峭的大路上。城堡那边的每扇窗户也都看得见他们。要是那边只有一两扇，或五扇窗户，倒还可能碰巧没人往外看。可那儿有将近五十扇窗户，而不是五扇。这时他们才明白他们走的这条路，以及他们和废墟城之间那段地面，连一只狐狸躲藏的地方都没有。这儿全是粗糙的野草和鹅卵石，以及平坦的石块。更糟糕的是他们现在都穿着昨晚巨人给他们的衣服，除了普德格伦，因为没有适合它穿的。吉尔穿了件嫩绿色袍子，袍子又太长，外面罩了一件镶着白色毛皮的猩红色披风。斯克罗布穿着猩红色长袜子，蓝色紧身短上衣和斗篷，带着一把金柄的剑，还戴了一顶插着羽毛的帽子。

“你们俩的颜色真好，”普德格伦喃喃说，“在冬日里显得真漂亮。要是你们在射程以内，最糟的弓箭手也射得中你们俩。说起弓箭手，我们不久就要为自己没带弓箭而遗憾了，我不会奇怪的。你们那些衣服也有点薄吧？”

“是啊，我已经冷极了。”吉尔说。

刚才那会儿他们在厨房里的时候，她曾想过只要他们一逃出城堡，就差不多大功告成了。现在她才明白最危险的时刻还没到呢。

“沉住气，沉住气，”普德格伦说，“别往后看。别走得太快。随便你怎么走，别跑。看上去我们似乎正在散步，那么，要是有人看见我们，他可能，只是可能，不来打扰。我们看上去像是逃走的人，那就完了。”

到废墟城那段路似乎比吉尔心目中认为的更长。但他们还是一点一点走过去。这时传来了一种声音，另外两个气也透不过来了。吉尔不知道那是什么，问道：“那是什么呀？”

“打猎的号角声。”斯克罗布悄声说。

“不过即使到了这时刻也别跑，”普德格伦说，“等我下了命令再跑。”

这回吉尔忍不住回头望了一眼。那边，大约半英里以外，打猎的从他们左后方回来了。

他们继续往前走，突然间响起好多巨人吵吵嚷嚷的声音，接着是大喊大叫。

“他们看见我们了，跑啊。”普德格伦说。

吉尔提起她的长裙就跑，穿着这长裙跑起来真讨厌。现在确实有危险了。她听得见猎狗的叫声。听得见国王在咆哮：“抓住他们，抓住他们，否则我们明天就没有人肉馅饼了。”

这会儿她已经落在最后一个了，衣服绊手绊脚，滑倒在松散的石头上，头发披散到嘴里，胸口跑得发疼。猎狗更近了。现在她得往山上跑，跑到通往底下一级大石阶的那个斜坡。她不知道他们跑到那儿之后怎么办，也不知道即使到了顶上他们情况会不会好一些。但她不想那些事。目前她像一只被追捕的动物；只要那群狗在追她，她就得跑到倒下为止。

沼泽怪跑在前面。它刚到底下一级石阶就停下了，朝稍右一点地方看看，突然冲进石阶底部的一个小洞或是裂缝里去了。它的长腿一下就看不见了，看上去真像一只蜘蛛。斯克罗布犹疑了一下，接着跟在它后头也不见人影了。吉尔气喘吁吁，摇摇晃晃，过一会儿也到了这个地方。这洞一点也不起眼——只是泥地和石头之间的一条裂缝罢了。大约有三英尺长，不到一英尺高。你得扑在地上爬进去。你也不能爬得最快。她确信自己还没爬到洞里，狗就会来咬住她了。

“快，快，石头，把口子堵上。”普德格伦的声音从她身边暗处传来。除了他们爬进来的那条裂缝有点灰蒙蒙的光，里面是一片漆黑。另外两个正在大忙特忙。她看得见斯克罗布那双小手和沼泽怪那双像青蛙爪子的大手，背着光看上去黑乎乎的，正在拼命堆石头。这时她才明白这有多么重要，自己也开始摸着找大石头，递给另外两个。他们总算赶在猎狗到洞口狂吠之前把洞堵得严严实实。眼前，他们当然一点也没亮光了。

“再往里走，快。”普德格伦的声音说。

“我们大家手拉手吧。”吉尔说。

“好主意。”斯克罗布说。但黑暗中要寻找彼此的手也费了好长时间。猎狗这会儿正在石垒那一边嗅气味呢。

“试试看能不能站起来？”斯克罗布建议道。他们试了，发现他们能站起来。接着，普德格伦伸出一只手从后面拉着斯克罗布，斯克罗布伸出一只手从后面拉着吉尔（她真希望她站在他俩中间而不是最后），他们开始用脚探着路，在黑暗中跌跌撞撞往前走。脚下全是松散的石头。后来普德格伦走到一堵石墙前面。他们稍稍往右拐，继续走下去。那儿有好多弯道和拐角。吉尔已经根本不辨方向，也不知道洞口在什么地方了。

“问题是，”普德格伦的声音从前面黑暗中传来，“总的看来，要是我们能回去的话，回去让巨人在他们的盛宴上请客，比起在小山沟里迷路也不见得好，这里十之八九有龙，有深洞，有沼气，还有水，还有——哎呀！放手！保住你们自己。我……”

说时迟，那时快，一下子只听得一声狂叫，一阵沙喇喇、哗嚓嚓的声音，石头骨碌碌滚动。吉尔只觉得自己在滑下去，滑下去，毫无希望地滑下去，每滑下一个越来越陡的斜坡，就滑得更快。这不是一种光滑、结实的斜坡，而是小石子和碎屑的斜坡。即使你能站起来也没用。你踩住斜坡任何一片地方，都会从脚下滑掉把你拖下去。但吉尔与其说是站着，不如说是躺着。他们滑得越远，越是把所有的石头和泥土都搅乱了，搅得一切都一齐往下冲（也包括他们自己），冲势越来越快，越来越响，越来越尘土飞扬，越来越脏。从另外两个的尖声叫喊和骂声里，吉尔知道她踩掉的石头有好多重重砸在斯克罗布和普德格伦身上。目前她正以飞快速度滑下去，她确信自己掉到底下时准会粉身碎骨。

然而不知怎么的，他们并没粉身碎骨。他们摔得全都青一块，紫一块的，她脸上那又湿又黏的东西好像是血。那么大一堆碎土、砂石和大石块都堆在她周围（有些还高过她），使她没法站起来。这儿黑咕隆咚，睁着眼闭着眼都一样。一点声音也没有。这真是吉尔一生中最最糟糕的时刻。假定只有她一个人，假定别人……这时她听见身边有动静。不久，他们三个，声音哆嗦地都在说看来他们谁也没有摔断骨头。

“我们再也上不去了。”斯克罗布的声音说。

“你们注意到这儿多么暖和吗？”普德格伦的声音说。“那就是说我们已经滑下很长一段路了。可能有一英里左右吧。”

谁也不说话。过了一会儿，普德格伦又加了一句：

“我的引火盒不见了。”

又歇了很长一段时间，吉尔说：“我口渴极了。”

没人提出干什么。明摆着这儿没什么可干的。目前他们并不像预料中感到那么糟，那是因为他们都很累了。

很久很久以后，冷不防，一个完全陌生的声音说话了。他们立刻就知道这可不是大家暗暗盼望的声音，不是阿斯兰的声音。那是一种阴沉单调的声音——要是你明白那是什么意思，几乎可以说是一种漆黑的声音。它说：

“上面世界的人，你们怎么到这儿来了？”

【注释】

[1] 上文写的是巨人准备举行秋季盛宴，此处又说他们“来到冬日下午淡淡的阳光下”，恐系作者疏误。

10

不见太阳的旅行

“谁在那儿？”他们三个大声喊道。“我是地下世界边境看守，跟我站在一起的有一百个全副武装的地下人，”回答说，“赶快告诉我，你们是什么人，到幽深王国来有什么事？”

“我们是不小心掉下来的。”普德格伦老老实实地说。

“掉下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。”那声音说，“现在准备跟我走，到幽深王国女王那儿去。”

“她要我们干什么？”斯克罗布小心地问。

“我不知道，”那声音说，“她的意愿可问不得，只能服从。”

他说这些话的时候，有个声音像是轻柔的爆炸声，大岩洞里顿时有一片冷光，灰沉沉中带点蓝幽幽的光。大家都希望那个一直在瞎吹牛，提到有一百个武装的随从的人马上死掉。吉尔却不知不觉对着密密麻麻一群人眨眨眼睛，还盯着他们看。这些人个子高矮不一，有不到一英尺高的小精灵，也有比常人高的威武的大个子。手里全都拿着三叉长矛，个个都苍白得要命，全都一动不动站着，活像雕像。除此之外，他们就大不相同了；有的有尾巴，有的没有，有的留着大胡子，另外的人脸蛋圆滚滚，光溜溜，像只大南瓜。有的是长长的尖鼻子，有的是软绵绵的长鼻子，像小象鼻似的，还有胖乎乎肉疙瘩似的大鼻子。还有几个前额正中长了只独角。但有一点他们却很相像：在这百来张脸上每张都有无比伤心的神情。他们是那么伤心，吉尔看了一眼后，几乎忘了害怕他们。她感到她很想让他们高兴起来。

“得，”普德格伦搓搓手说，“这正是我需要的。如果这些家伙教不会我对待生活要严肃，我不知道什么会教我了。看看那个长着海象胡子的家伙——或者那个有……”

“起来。”地下人的头头说。

没办法，他们三个只好赶紧站起来，手拉着手。一个人在这种时候就需要摸着一个朋友的手。那些地下人全都围在他们身边，一双双又大又软的脚慢慢走着，有的长着十个脚趾，有的长着十二个，另外一些一个也没有。

“开步走。”看守说。他们就走了。

那团冷光是从一根长杆顶上的一个大球里发出来的。一个最高的小精灵举着这根长杆，走在队伍前面。在惨淡的光线下，他们看得出自己正在一个天然的大岩洞里；洞壁和洞顶都疙疙瘩瘩，歪歪扭扭，裂成千奇百怪的形状。他们走的石头地往下倾斜。这对吉尔比对别人更糟，因为她最讨厌黑暗的地下场所。他们走下去时，那山洞变得越来越低，越来越窄，最后拿灯的那个站在一边，小精灵一个一个弯下腰（只有最小的几个不用弯腰），踏进一条又小又黑的裂缝里就不见了，她觉得自己再也受不了啦。

“我不能进去，我不能！我不能！我不去。”她气喘吁吁地说。地下人不说话，只是全都把矛放低，用矛头对着她。

“沉住气，波尔，”普德格伦说，“要是这个洞回头不变宽些，那些大个子家伙就不会爬进去。而且这地下世界有一件事倒好，淋不到雨。”

“哦，你不懂的，我不能去。”吉尔哭叫着。

“想想我在那悬崖上是什么感觉吧，波尔，”斯克罗布说，“你先走，普德格伦，我跟在她后面。”

“好吧，”沼泽怪说着两手两膝着地，“你抓着我的脚后跟，波尔，斯克罗布再抓住你的，那我们大家就都舒服了。”

“舒服！”吉尔说。不过她还是跪下了，他们都用手拐儿撑着爬了进去。洞里是个让人恶心的地方，你得趴在地上，似乎爬上半小时光景，其实可能只有五分钟。里面很热，吉尔觉得自己要闷死了。不过前面终于露出一点朦胧的光，地道也变得更宽更高了。他们走出来时又热又脏，浑身发抖，来到一个山洞里，这山洞很大，简直完全不像一个山洞。

洞里充满朦朦胧胧、昏昏沉沉的光，因此他们不需要地下人那奇怪的灯笼了。地上软软的，长着一种青苔，青苔上长着好多奇形怪状、分枝的、像树那么高像蘑菇那么松软的东西。这些东西离得太远，形不成树林，倒更像个公园。那种光（一种绿灰色的光）似乎就是从这些东西和青苔上发出来的，不过还不够亮，照不到洞顶，想必离头顶还有一大段距离吧。穿过这个不冷不热，令人困倦的柔软地方，他们被迫往前走。这真叫人非常伤心，只是像柔和的音乐那样，伤心中又带点恬静的味儿。

他们在这儿又经过许许多多躺在草地上的奇怪动物，吉尔说不清它们究竟是死了还是睡着了。这些动物大部分像是龙，或是蝙蝠一类，普德格伦一样也不认识。

“它们都是生长在这儿的吗？”斯克罗布问那个看守。他对有人对他说话似乎十分惊讶，但回答说，“不，它们全是从裂缝和山洞钻下来的动物，从上面的世界钻到幽深王国。下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。据说到了世界末日，它们才会醒过来。”

说了这些话以后，他的嘴就紧紧闭上，在山洞的一片寂静中，两个孩子觉得自己也不敢再说话了。小精灵的一双双光脚走在深深的青苔上，一点声音也没有。没有风，没有鸟，没有水声。那些奇怪的动物连呼吸的声音也没有。

他们这样走了好几英里，来到一堵石墙面前，墙上有一道低低的拱门，通往另一个山洞。不过这个拱门不像上次那个入口那么糟，吉尔走过去时不用低头。走过拱门，他们就进入一个小一点的山洞，又长又窄，形状大小就像个大教堂。有一个其大无比的人躺在那儿呼呼大睡，从山洞这头到那头几乎都给他身子塞满了。他个子比任何巨人都大得多，而脸却不像巨人，显得高贵而美丽。胸脯在垂到腰部的雪白胡子下轻轻起伏。一股纯银色的光照在他身上（谁也没看见这光是哪儿来的）。

“那是谁？”普德格伦问。隔了那么久没人说话，吉尔真想知道它怎么有那股勇气。

“那是时间老人，他从前是地上世界的一个国王，”看守说，“如今他掉进幽深王国，躺在那儿梦见在上面世界做过的一切事情。掉下来的多，回到阳光下的大地上去的少。据说到世界末日他才会醒来。”

出了那个山洞，他们又经过另一个山洞，接着再走进一个又一个，走啊走的，走得吉尔都数不清走过几个山洞了，但他们一直是在下山，每个山洞都比前一个低，你一想起上面的土地有多重有多深就不由憋住气。最后他们来到一个地方，看守命令再点上那只惨淡的灯笼。于是他们走进了一个又宽又黑的山洞，里面什么都看不见，只见一股灰白的沙子正泻入静止的水面。在一个小小的码头旁边，停着一条船，没有桅杆也没有帆，只有很多桨。他们被赶上船，带到船头，在划船手的长凳前面，有一块空间，沿舷墙内侧还装着一排座位。

“有件事我想打听一下，”普德格伦说，“以前有没有从我们世界来的人——我意思是从上面来的——到这儿来过？”

“在灰白沙滩乘船的多，”看守回答说，“而……”

“是啊，我知道了，”普德格伦打断他说，“而回到阳光下的大地上去的少。你不必再说了。你真是个死心眼儿，对吗？”

两个孩子紧紧缩在普德格伦两旁。在地面上的时候他们认为它是个扫兴的家伙，在下面这儿它倒似乎成了他们惟一的安慰。接着那盏惨白的灯笼挂在船的中部，地下人坐下来划桨，船就动起来了。灯笼的光只能照亮一小段路，往前看，他们什么也看不见，只有平滑的黑水消失在一片漆黑中。

“哦，我们究竟会遇上什么事啊？”吉尔绝望地说。

“嗨，不要弄得垂头丧气，波尔，”沼泽怪说，“有一件事你一定得记住。我们已回到正确路线上来了。我们要到废墟城下面去，而我们已经在城下面了。我们又按照指示做了。”

不久，他们分到了一点食物——一种又淡又松，几乎吃不出什么味道的饼。此后他们就慢慢睡着了。但等他们醒来时，一切还是一样；小精灵依然在划桨，船依然在悄悄前进，前面依然是一团漆黑。他们醒了又睡，吃了又睡有多少次，大家都记不得了。最糟糕的就是你开始觉得自己似乎一直生活在这艘船上，生活在那片黑暗中，心里闹不清什么太阳、蓝天、风和鸟，到底是否只是一场梦。

他们几乎已经不抱希望，也不再害怕什么的时候，终于看见前面有灯光：像船上那盏灯笼一样阴森森的光。随后，突然有一盏灯靠近了，一看只见是另一条船经过他们面前。此后他们又遇见了好几条船。接着他们一直望穿了眼睛才看出前头有些灯光照着的看来像是码头，墙壁，塔或来往的人群。但那边仍然不大有声音。

“天哪，”斯克罗布说，“一座城市！”他们一下子就明白他说得对。

但这是座奇怪的城市。灯光那么少，距离又那么远，在我们的世界里还比不上分散的农舍呢。但从灯光下你看得见的这一小块地方很像是一个大海港。你看得出有一个地方有好多船正在装卸货物；另一个地方，有一包包货物和一个个仓库，第三个地方，有墙和柱子，使人想起大宫殿或庙宇；而且，无论哪儿有灯，总有没完没了的人群——成千上万的地下人，一个个挨挨挤挤，在狭窄的街道上，宽阔的广场上，或者在巨大的石阶上，轻轻走动，忙着自己的事儿。船越来越近，他们不停的动作形成一种轻轻的沙沙声；但到处都听不到歌声、吆喝声或是钟声，或是车轮声。这个城市是静悄悄的，而且几乎像一座蚁山内部那么漆黑。

最后他们这条船给拖到码头边拴牢。他们三个被带上岸，走进城去。成群的地下人，面貌各不相同，在拥挤的街头跟他们擦肩而过，暗淡的光照在许许多多悲哀、古怪的脸上。但没人对陌生人表现出一点兴趣。每个小精灵似乎都是又忙碌又悲哀，虽然吉尔根本看不出他们那么忙忙碌碌在干什么。只是没完没了的走啊走、推推搡搡，匆匆忙忙，轻轻的脚步声叭嗒叭嗒响个不停。

他们终于来到了一座似乎是大城堡的前面，可是里面只有几扇窗户亮着灯。他们被押进去，穿过一个院子，爬上好多级楼梯，终于给带进了一间灯光暗淡的大房间。不料就在这房间的一角——哦，开心啊——那儿有座拱门，竟洋溢着一片大不相同的灯光；那是人类用的灯那种淡黄的真正暖光。这光照着拱门里面的楼梯脚，楼梯是在石墙间盘旋而上的。灯光似乎从楼上照下来。拱门两边各站着一个地下人，像是卫兵或是仆人。

看守走到这两个人身边，说了一句口令似的话道：

“掉进地下世界的多。”

“回到阳光下大地上的少。”他们回答说，像是在应答暗号。于是三个人脑袋凑在一起说话。最后其中一个侍从小精灵说，“我告诉你，女王陛下有要事从这儿出去了。我们最好把这些上面的人关在暗牢里等她回来。回到阳光下大地上的少。”

这时这段谈话被一个声音打断了。吉尔觉得那是天下最可爱的声音，声音是从上面楼梯顶上来的；清脆、响亮，十足是人类的声音，一个年轻男人的声音。

“你们下面乱哄哄的吵什么呀，穆鲁古瑟伦？”那声音大声说道，“上面世界的人，哈！带到我这儿来，马上来。”

“请殿下记住。”穆鲁古瑟伦开口说，但那声音立刻打断了他。

“要让殿下我高兴，主要就是要服从，老贫嘴。把他们带上来。”

穆鲁古瑟伦摇摇头，对这三个做做手势，让他们跟着开始上楼。每上一级楼梯，灯光就更亮。墙上挂着富丽的挂毯。在楼梯头有薄薄的帘子透出的金色灯光。地下人拉开帘子，站在一边。他们三个就走了进去。那是一间十分漂亮的房间，挂满了挂毯，干净的壁炉里炉光明亮，桌上的刻花玻璃杯和红酒闪闪发光。一个年轻的金发男人起身向他们问好。他长得一表人材，看上去为人勇敢又和气，然而脸上似乎有一种不大对头的神情。他全身都穿黑，看上去有点像哈姆莱特[1]。

“欢迎，上面世界的人们，”他叫道，“可是等一下！请原谅！我见过你们这两个漂亮的孩子，还有这位，你们古怪的老师。你们三个不是在艾丁斯荒原边界的桥上遇见过我的吗？我当时骑着马跟在夫人旁边。”

“哦……你就是那个一声不吭的黑骑士？”吉尔失声喊道。

“那位夫人就是地下王国的女王吧？”普德格伦很不客气，没好声气地问。斯克罗布也抱有同样想法，脱口而出说：“因为要是这么回事的话，我认为她完全是有意把我们打发到一个想吃掉我们的巨人城堡去的。我倒想知道我们哪儿得罪她了？”

“怎么？”那黑骑士皱皱眉说，“如果你不是那么年轻的一个武士，小子，你我就必须为这场争吵决一死战。我听不得任何有损夫人荣誉的话。但这一点你们可以放心，不论她对你们说什么，她的用意都是好的。你们不了解她。她是集所有美德于一体的花束：如忠诚、仁慈、坚定、温柔、勇敢，等等。我是知道什么说什么。单说她对我的好处，我就没法报答她，可以写成一部令人赞叹的书。不过你们今后会知道而且喜欢她的。另一方面，你们到幽深王国来干什么？”

普德格伦还来不及阻止吉尔，她已经脱口而出说：“对不起，我们是在想法寻找纳尼亚的瑞廉王子。”说罢她才明白自己冒了一次多大的风险；这些人可能是敌人哪。谁知那骑士竟毫无兴趣。

“瑞廉？纳尼亚？”他漫不经心地说，“纳尼亚？那是什么地方？我从来没听说过这个名字。据我所知，那一定是在上面的世界几千海里之外的地方了。但这真是异想天开，你们竟会相信而到这儿来找这个——人家叫他什么来着？——比廉？特里廉？据我所知，在夫人的王国里，确实没有这么个人。”他说完哈哈大笑，吉尔暗暗想道：“真奇怪，他脸上是不是有什么不对头的？他有点儿傻吧？”

“我们奉命来找废墟城石头上的一个信息，”斯克罗布说，“而且我们看见了那些字：在我下面。”

那骑士笑得格外欢了。“你们又受骗了，”他说，“那些字对你们此行目的毫无意义。你们只要问问夫人，她可能给你们出更好的主意。因为那些字是古时候一句长句的残迹，她记得很清楚，原来写的是这句诗：

尽管如今我在地下，没有王位，

然而，当我活着的时候，整个大地都在我下面。

从这些诗句看来，显然是古代巨人中某个伟大的国王葬在那里，才会因此把这段自吹自擂的话刻在他墓地的石头上，然而一些石头已经断裂，另外一些被拿走去盖新房子，缺口填上些碎石，只留下这几个字仍然看得出来。你们原来以为这些字是写给你们看的，岂不是天大的笑话？”

斯克罗布和吉尔一听这话无异凉水浇背；因为对他们来说，很可能这些话与他们的寻找完全无关，那么他们仅仅是偶然被带到这儿来的了。

“你们别在意，”普德格伦说，“这不是偶然的，我们的向导是阿斯兰，巨人国王叫人刻这些字的时候他就在场，他已经知道一切会由此引起的事情：也包括这件事。”

“你们这个向导一定是个长命的人，朋友。”骑士说完又是一阵大笑。

吉尔开始觉得这笑声有点让人烦躁了。

“阁下，我似乎觉得，”普德格伦回答说，“要是这位夫人记得起最初他们刻在石头上的诗句，她一定也是个长命的人。”

“你很机灵，青蛙脸，”骑士说着拍拍普德格伦肩膀，又一阵哈哈大笑，“而且你说中了。她出身神族，长生不老。她对我这么个不幸的可怜虫表示的无比慷慨，我是感激不尽的。因为你们必须知道，诸位，我是一个忍受最最奇特折磨的人，除了女王陛下，没人会对我有耐心。我说了耐心，是吗？但还远远不止于此。她已经答应给我上面世界的一个大王国，等我做了国王，就同她结婚。不过你们饿着肚子，站着听这个故事可太长了。喂，来人哪，拿酒和上界居民的食物给我的客人吃。请坐，诸位。小姐，你坐这张椅子吧。回头我就把全部经过说给你们听。”

【注释】

[1] 莎士比亚著名悲剧《哈姆莱特》中的主人公，是一位丹麦王子。

11

在黑暗的城堡里

等到上了饭菜（鸽肉馅饼、冷火腿、凉拌菜和糕饼），大家都把椅子拉到桌边吃了起来，骑士就继续说道：

“你们一定得明白，朋友们，我并不知道自己是谁，什么时候来到这黑暗世界。我不记得住进这位简直举世无双的女王王宫之前的一切；但我的想法是她把我从邪恶的魔法里救出来，非常慷慨地把我带到这儿。（可敬的青蛙脚，你的酒杯空了，允许我替你斟满吧。）我觉得，这点似乎可能性大些，因为即使到现在，我还是受魔法的约束，只有夫人能使我解脱。每天晚上都有一小时，我头脑里会起可怕的变化，先是头脑，后是身体。开头我会暴跳如雷，拼命撒野，如果不把我绑起来，我会冲到我最亲爱的朋友身边杀了他们。过后不久，我就变成类似一条大毒蛇的东西，又饿，又凶，又厉害。（阁下，请你再吃一块鸽胸肉吧。）他们这么告诉我，他们当然说的是真话，因为夫人也这么说。我本人则对此一无所知，因为过了这一个小时，我醒来时已经忘记了那一切恶性发作，而且恢复了原形，脑子也清楚了——只是有点儿累。（小姐，吃一块这种蜜糕吧，这是从世界上很远的南方什么蛮荒地方带来给我的。）现在女王陛下凭法术知道，一旦她让我成为上面世界一个国家的国王，为我加冕，我就从魔法里解脱出来了。那个国家已经选好了。还有我们破土而出的那个地方。她的地下人日日夜夜都在干活，在那个地方下面挖一条路，这条路已经挖得很远很高，离那个国家的上界居民走路的草地已不到二十英尺了。不久上界人的命运就要突变。女王本人今晚也亲自去挖了，我希望给她送个信。到那时把我和我的王国隔开的地面这层薄薄的顶层就要打通，前面有她为我带路，后面有一千地下人撑腰，我就要全副武装，骑马上阵，出其不意扑到我们的敌人身上，把他们的首领杀掉，扫平他们的据点，毫无疑义，在二十四小时之内就加冕做他们的国王。”

“那他们就有点倒霉了吧？”斯克罗布说。

“你这孩子头脑非常敏捷，”骑士失声喊道，“因为，凭良心说，我以前就从来没想到这点，我明白你的意思。”一时他看上去有一点点烦恼的样子；但他脸色很快就开朗了，又响亮地哈哈大笑起来。“呸，别一本正经了！想想看，他们全都在忙着自己的事，做梦也没想到在他们那宁静的田野和地板下面，只有六英尺以下，就有一支大军，准备着像喷泉一样冲出来打他们，这岂不是世界上最滑稽可笑的事吗？而且他们根本不会怀疑！嗨，他们吃过第一个大败仗的苦头之后就只好对这个妙计付之一笑了。”

“我认为这一点儿都不可笑，”吉尔说，“我认为你会当个恶毒的暴君。”

“什么？”骑士说着，一边还是笑个不停，一边激怒地拍拍她脑袋，“我们这位小姐竟是个深谋远虑的政治家？不过别害怕，宝贝儿。在统治那个国家时，我一切都要跟夫人商量，那时她也是我的王后了。她的话就是我的法律，甚至就像我的话将成为我们征服的人民的法律一样。”

“我来的那个地方，”吉尔说，她越来越不喜欢他了，“他们可看不起被自己老婆指挥的男人。”

“等你有了你自己的男人，包管你就不会那样想了。”骑士说，显然认为这话十分有趣，“不过跟夫人在一起，那是另一回事。我甘心情愿根据她的命令生活，她已经把我从无数次危险中拯救出来。没有一个母亲像女王陛下对我那样亲切地为孩子尽力。咳，听着，尽管她操劳的事这么多，还是常常陪我骑马到上面世界去，让我眼睛习惯阳光。那时我必须披甲挂胄，拉下面罩，这样就没人能看见我的脸，而且我千万不能跟任何人说话。因为她凭法术看出这样会妨碍我从可恶的魔法下解脱出来。难道那么一位夫人不值得男人全心全意崇拜吗？”

“听上去确实是一位非常好的夫人。”普德格伦说话的嗓音意味着他说的全是反话。

他们还没吃完晚饭就对骑士的话厌烦透了。普德格伦心想，“我真想知道那个女巫究竟在这个小傻瓜身上搞了什么鬼把戏。”斯克罗布心想，“他真是一个大活宝：被那个女人牵着鼻子走；他是个笨蛋。”吉尔心想，“我好久没见过他这么愚蠢，这么自负，这么自私的粗坯了。”但等吃过饭以后，骑士的态度就改变了，再也听不见他笑了。

“朋友们，”他说，“我的时辰已经很近了，让你们看见我那副模样，我真羞愧，然而我又怕一个人待着。他们很快就要来把我手脚绑在那边的椅子上。唉，一定得那样干：因为他们告诉我，我发起火来会把够得到的一切都毁掉。”

“听着，”斯克罗布说，“我对你中了魔法当然感到非常遗憾，但那些家伙来绑你的时候又会怎样对待我们呢？他们说过要把我们关到牢里。我们可不大喜欢那种黑暗的地方。如果可以的话，我们宁可待在这儿，直到你……好转。”

“考虑得很周到，”骑士说，“习惯上，在我不幸发作的时刻里只有女王留在我身边。她对我的名誉如此关心体贴，除了她本人，她不愿让任何人听见我在昏乱中说的那些话。但我不容易说服那些小精灵随从让你们留在这儿陪我。而且我想我现在已经听见楼梯上有他们轻柔的脚步声了。你们从那边的门出去，门通向我另外的房间。你们或者在那儿等到他们给我松绑以后我过来；或者，你们愿意的话，在我说胡话的时候回到这儿来坐下陪着我。”

他们按照他的指点，从一扇没看见开过的门里走出房间。他们看到这扇门不是通向黑暗，而是通向一条有灯的走廊，心里很高兴。他们试着打开各扇门，找到了他们迫切需要用来洗洗脸的水，甚至还有一面镜子。“晚饭前他根本没请我们来洗一洗，”吉尔说着把脸擦干，“真是自私自利的粗坯。”

“我们回去看魔法吗？还是待在这儿？”斯克罗布说。

“我主张待在这儿，”吉尔说，“我情愿不看见这种事情。”但她心里还是觉得有点儿好奇。

“不，回去，”普德格伦说，“我们可能会打听到一些消息，而我们需要一切能得到的消息。我肯定那女王是个女巫，是敌人。而那些地下人一看见我们就会把我们打死。这地方充满了危险、谎言、魔法和反叛的气味，比我以前闻到的更强烈。我们需要多提防着点儿。”

他们从走廊走回去，轻轻推开门，“好了。”斯克罗布说，意思是那里没有地下人了。于是他们全都回到他们吃晚饭的那间房间里。

那扇大门这会儿已经关上了，遮住了他们最初进来时走过的门帘。骑士坐在一张古怪的银椅上，脚踝、膝部、肘部、手腕和腰部都绑在椅子上。他前额上全是汗，脸上神情非常痛苦。

“进来，朋友们，”他说，一边赶快看了他们一眼，“我还没开始发作。你们别出声，因为我告诉那爱打听的侍从你们已经睡觉去了。现在……我能感觉到就要发作了。快，趁我还作得了自己的主，听我说。当我发作时，我很可能会哀求你们，恳求你们给我松绑，又是软磨又是恐吓。他们说我会这样做。我会用一切最可爱和最可怕的话请求你们。但你们别听我的话。硬起心肠，堵起耳朵。因为我被绑着的时候你们就安全。但要是我一旦站起来，离开了这张椅子，那么我首先就要狂怒，过后”——他浑身发抖——“就变成一条可恶的毒蛇。”

“不用害怕我们放了你，”普德格伦说，“我们不希望遇见疯子，也不希望遇见毒蛇。”

“我也不想。”斯克罗布和吉尔异口同声说。

普德格伦悄悄说：“我们还是别太相信。要多留神。你们知道我们已经把别的一切都错过了。一旦他发作起来，他会很狡猾，这我不会奇怪。我们彼此信得过吗？我们大家不是都保证过无论他说什么，我们都不碰那些绳子吗？无论他说什么？”

“当然啦！”斯克罗布说。

“无论他说什么干什么都不能让我改变主意。”吉尔说。

“嘘，发生什么事了？”普德格伦说。

那骑士正在呻吟。他脸如死灰，身子在五花大绑中扭动。吉尔不知是不是为他难过，还是别的原因，竟觉得他比先前看上去更像个好点的人了。

“啊，”他呻吟道，“魔法，魔法……沉重，混乱，又冷又湿，邪恶的魔法网。活埋了。拖到地下，拖到黑暗里……有多少年了……我在这地狱里住了十年还是一千年？周围全是怪物。哦，可怜可怜吧。让我出去，让我回去。让我感受到风吹，看看天空……那儿以前有一个小水塘。你往水塘里看，就能看见所有的树在水中的倒影，一片绿色，树下面深处是蓝蓝的天。”

他一直在低声说话；这会儿他抬起头来，眼睛盯着他们，响亮而清楚地说：

“快！我现在神志清醒了。每天晚上我都是清醒的。只要我能从这把有魔法的骑子上起来，我就会一直清醒。我就又成了一个男子汉。但他们每天晚上都把我绑起来，因此每天晚上我的机会都消失了。但你们不是敌人。我不是你们的囚犯。快！砍掉这些绳子。”

“站好！沉住气。”普德格伦对两个孩子说。

“我恳求你们听我说，”骑士说，他强自镇定地说话，“他们有没有告诉你们，要是把我从这把椅子上放开，我就要杀掉你们，而且变成一条毒蛇？我从你们脸上就看出他们已经告诉你们了。这是谎言。实际上只有这一小时里我脑子才是清醒的：其余时间我都在魔法的迷惑下。你们不是地下人也不是女巫。你们干吗要站在他们一边？你们就行行好，给我松了绑吧。”

“沉住气！沉住气！沉住气！”他们三个相互提醒说。

“哦，你们真是铁石心肠，”骑士说，“相信我，你们面对一个不幸的人，他经受的折磨几乎是任何临死的人也忍受不了的。我有什么对不起你们的，你们竟站在我的敌人一边，让我经受这种痛苦？一分钟又一分钟过去了，现在只有你们能救我；等这一个小时过去了，我又要糊涂了——成为设计陷害男人的最毒辣的女巫的玩具，叭儿狗，不，十之八九是狗腿子和工具。惟独只有今天晚上，趁她不在的时候，你们才碰上一个千载难逢的机会。”

“这太可怕了。我真希望我们待在别的地方，等到他发作过后。”吉尔说。

“沉住气！”普德格伦说。

那个被绑着的人的声音这会儿变成尖叫了。“我说让我走。把我的剑给我。我的剑！一旦我自由了，我就要向地下人报仇，地下世界将千年万载议论我的复仇！”

“现在开始狂乱了，”斯克罗布说，“我希望那些绳结都牢靠。”

“是啊，”普德格伦说，“要是现在放开他，他会比原来的力量大上一倍。我的剑术不大好。他会杀死我们两个，这我不奇怪；这一来波尔就得独自对付那条蛇了。”

那个被绑住的人这会儿拼命使劲挣脱勒进他手腕和脚踝的绳索。“注意，”他说，“注意。有天晚上，我真的把绳子挣断了。但那时女巫在场。今晚你们可没有她帮你们。现在把我放了，我就是你们的朋友。否则我就是你们不共戴天的敌人。”

“他有多狡猾呀！”普德格伦说。

“我要求你们把我放了，”被绑住的人说，“爽快点。以全部的恐惧和全部的爱的名义，以上面世界明亮的天的名义，以伟大的狮王，以阿斯兰本人的名义，我命令你们——”

“啊呀！”他们三个像受了伤似的大叫起来。“这是指示，”普德格伦说，“这是指示里的话呀。”斯克罗布格外小心地说。“哦，我们怎么办呢？”吉尔说。

这问题倒难办了。要是他第一次偶然提起一个他们真正关心的名字，他们就把骑士放开，那么刚才彼此保证在任何情况下都不放开他又有什么用？反过来说，要是他们不打算遵照指示行事，那学指示还有什么用？不过，阿斯兰是否可能真的要他们给以他的名义提出松绑要求的任何人松绑呢——哪怕那人是个疯子？这会不会仅仅出于偶然呢？如果地下世界的女王知道有关指示的一切，就迫使骑士学说这个名字，就为了让他们落入圈套，那又怎么办呢？但是，假定这是真正的指示呢？……他们已经错过了三点，可不敢错过第四点了。

“哦，只要我们知道就好了！”吉尔说。

“我认为我们的确知道。”普德格伦说。

“你意思是说假如我们真的救了他，你认为一切都会好起来？”斯克罗布说。

“那个我不知道，”普德格伦说，“你瞧，阿斯兰并没告诉波尔会出什么事，他只告诉她干什么。那家伙一旦站起来，我们就死定了，这我不会奇怪。但放了他我们就不违背指示了。”

他们全都眼睛发亮，站在那儿你看看我，我看看你。这段时间可真难受。“好吧，”吉尔突然说，“让我们了结这件事吧。大家再见了……”他们互相握握手。骑士这会儿正在尖声喊叫，满脸全是汗。

“来吧，斯克罗布。”普德格伦说。它和斯克罗布抽出剑走到那个被绑住的人身边。

“以阿斯兰的名义，”他们说着开始井井有条地割断绳子。那人刚刚获得自由，就跳到房间那边，抓起他自己那把剑（那剑从他身上解下后就放在桌上），抽出剑来。

“首先是你！”他叫着对准银椅劈下去。那一定是把好剑，银椅碰到剑锋就像绳子一样碎了，一会儿工夫，地板上就只剩下几块弯弯曲曲的碎片在发亮。不过椅子碎裂的时候，里面亮晃晃的一闪，有一种像打雷的声音，片刻间还有一种叫人恶心的味儿。

“可恶的魔法工具，你就躺在那儿吧，”他说，“免得你的女主人把你再用在另一个受害人身上。”说着他转身打量他的救命恩人；脸上那种不知怎么总有点不对头的神情已经消失了。

“什么？”他转过身对普德格伦叫道，“难道我面前不是一个沼泽怪吗？——不是一个地地道道、活蹦乱跳的纳尼亚沼泽怪吗？”

“哦，原来你毕竟还是听说过纳尼亚的？”吉尔说。

“我中邪的时候忘记了纳尼亚吗？”骑士问，“好了，那一点和一切其他困扰都过去了。你们完全可以相信我知道纳尼亚，因为我就是纳尼亚的王子瑞廉，伟大的凯斯宾国王就是我父亲。”

“殿下，”普德格伦说着单腿跪下（两个孩子也照做），“我们到这儿来的目的就是来找你的。”

“我的另两位救命恩人，你们是什么人啊？”王子问斯克罗布和吉尔。

“我们是阿斯兰本人从世界尽头以外派来寻找殿下的，”斯克罗布说，“我叫尤斯塔斯，曾经跟他一起航海到拉曼杜岛去。”

“我欠你们三个的情是我还也还不清的。”瑞廉王子说，“可我父亲呢？他还活着吗？”

“我们离开纳尼亚之前，他又乘船往东面去了，殿下，”普德格伦说，“但殿下必须考虑国王已经很老了。十有八九陛下必定死在半路上。”

“你说他老了。那我落到女巫手里有多久了呢？”

“自从殿下在纳尼亚北边的森林里失踪以来，已经十年多了。”

“十年！”王子说，一手在脸上擦了一把，像是要擦去往事。“是啊，我相信你。因为现在我清醒了，我能记起那段中了邪的生活，虽然我中邪时我记不得自己本来面貌。行啦，好朋友——可等一下！我听见楼梯上他们的脚步声了，（那种轻轻的，模模糊糊的脚步声，不是让人听了作呕吗？）呸！把门锁上，孩子。要不，还是待着吧。我有个比那更好的主意。要是阿斯兰给了我智慧，我就来骗骗这些地下人。你们看我的暗示行事。”

他果断地走到门口，把门打开。

12

地下世界的女王

两个地下人进了门，但他们没有再走进房间里面，而是在门口一边一个站好，然后深深鞠躬。紧跟在他们后面的正是他们任何人最不愿意见到的人：那个绿衣夫人，地下世界的女王。她站在门口一动不动，他们看得出她眼珠转来转去，想了解一下整个局面——三个陌生人，银椅毁了，王子自由了，手上还拿着剑。

她脸色发白，但吉尔认为这种白不是有些人受惊时那种白，而是愤怒时的那种白。女巫盯着王子看了一会儿，眼神杀气腾腾，随后她似乎改了主意。

“下去吧，”她对两个地下人说。“不准让人来打扰我们，违反命令一律处死。”小精灵乖乖地轻轻走掉了，巫婆女王把门关上，锁好。

“怎么回事，王子殿下，”她说，“你每晚都要发作，现在还没发作吗？还是一下子发过就好了？你怎么没绑上就站在这儿？这些外人是谁呀？是他们把你惟一的救命椅子毁了吗？”

她跟瑞廉王子说话的时候，他打了个哆嗦。这也难怪，要在半小时之内摆脱一种使人当了十年奴隶的魔法可不容易。因此，他费了好大的劲才说：

“夫人，那把椅子已经用不着了。你曾经千百次告诉过我，你是多么深切地怜悯我受到魔法禁锢，你听到这魔法如今已经永远完蛋，无疑也会高兴的。看来，夫人对待这消息的方式似乎有点不大对头。是我这些真诚的朋友解救了我。我现在头脑清醒了，有两件事我要告诉你。首先——说到夫人设计的让我率领一支地下人的军队，以便破土而出到上面世界去，全靠武力让我在一个从来没有对不起我的国家里当国王——杀害他们原来的贵族，像个残忍的外国暴君那样霸占他们的王位——如今我清醒了，我绝对憎恶和放弃这种十足的罪恶勾当。其次，我是纳尼亚国王的儿子，瑞廉，人称航海家凯斯宾，凯斯宾十世的独子。夫人，因此，突然离开陛下的宫廷回到我自己的国家是我的目的，也是我的责任。请你授予我和我的朋友安全通行证，并派一个向导领我们通过你的黑暗王国。”

这会儿女巫一言不发，只是轻轻穿过房间，脸和眼睛始终牢牢对着王子。她来到火炉边不远，墙上一套小柜子旁边，打开柜子，拿出一把绿色的粉末，把粉末撒在火上。那粉末不大发光，只发出一股让人昏昏欲睡的香味。接下来大家谈话时，那股气味一直越来越浓，弥漫在整个房间里，使人动不了脑筋。其次，她拿出一件类似曼陀林[1]的乐器。开始用手指弹着乐器——一种没有变化、单调的噔噔声，开头一会儿你并不在意，但你越不去注意这声音，这声音却越钻到你脑子里和血液里。这也使你动不了脑筋。她这么弹了一阵子（那股香味儿也更浓了），就开始用一副甜蜜、沉着的嗓音说话。

“纳尼亚？”她说，“纳尼亚？我常常听见殿下说胡话时提到那个名字。亲爱的王子，你病重了。根本没有叫纳尼亚的地方。”

“可是，夫人，有这块地方，”普德格伦说，“你瞧，我恰巧一辈子都住在那儿。”

“真的啊，”女巫说，“那么请你告诉我，那个国家在什么地方？”

“在上面，”普德格伦说着顽强地指着头顶上，“我——我不知道究竟在哪儿。”

“怎么？”女王说着发出一串亲切、柔和、美妙动听的笑声，“在上面的石头和屋顶的灰泥当中有个国家？”

“不，”普德格伦挣扎了一阵才恢复正常，“是在上面世界。”

“那么请告诉我……你怎么叫它上面世界，是怎么回事，在哪儿？”

“哦，别犯傻了，”斯克罗布说，他一直在拼命跟那股香味和噔噔声的魔法斗，“好像你不知道似的！那世界在上面，在你能看得见天，看得见太阳和星星的地方。咦，你自己也到上面去过，我们在那儿遇见过你。”

“请原谅，小兄弟，”女巫笑了（你从来没听到过比这更可爱的笑声），“我可记不得这次见面。但我们做梦时常常在希奇古怪的地方遇见我们的朋友。除非所有的梦全都一样，你不能要求人家记住梦。”

“夫人，”王子坚定地说，“我已经告诉你了，我就是纳尼亚国王的儿子。”

“将来会的，亲爱的朋友，”女巫用安慰的声音说话，像是在哄孩子，“在你幻想中会成为很多想像中地方的国王。”

“我们也到过那儿。”吉尔厉声说。她能感觉到魔法正逐渐在控制她，所以很生气。但从她还能感觉到这事实来看，当然说明魔法还没有完全起作用。

“那么我确信你也是纳尼亚的女王了，小美人。”女巫用同样哄骗、半带嘲弄的口气说。

“我可不是那种人，”吉尔顿着脚说，“我们是另一个世界的人。”

“咦，这个游戏比另一个游戏更有趣了，”女巫说，“告诉我们，小姑娘，另一个世界在哪儿？你们的世界和我们的世界之间来往乘什么船和车？”

吉尔脑子里当然立刻就出现了好多东西：实验学校、阿黛拉·潘尼法瑟、她自己的家、收音机、电影院、汽车、飞机、配给供应车、排队。但这些事都模模糊糊，在很远很远的地方（噔——噔——噔，那女巫的乐器一直响个不停），吉尔想不起我们世界里那些东西的名字了。这回她没想到自己中了魔法，因为魔法已经充分发挥作用。当然，你入魔越深，你就根本感觉不到自己中了魔法。她不知不觉中竟说（当时那么说了，倒松了一口气）：

“不。我猜想那另外的世界一定完全是个梦。”

“是啊。那完全是个梦。”女巫说着手里一直噔噔地弹着。

“是啊，完全是个梦。”吉尔说。

“从来没有那么个世界。”女巫说。

“对，”吉尔和斯克罗布说，“从来没有那么个世界。”

“除了我的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”女巫说。

“除了你的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”他们说。

普德格伦仍然在苦苦搏斗。“我不大明白你们大家说的只有一个世界是什么意思，”它说，说话那模样就像一个人得不到充足的空气一样，“但你尽管把那琴弹到手指掉下来，还是不能让我忘记纳尼亚和整个的上面世界。我们再也看不见这些了，这我不奇怪。你不妨把这些一笔抹杀，让这些都变得这么黑，谁知道呢。很有可能吧。但我知道我曾经到过那儿。我看到过满是星星的天空。我看到过早上太阳从海上升起，晚上在群山后面落下。我还看见过正午天空的太阳，亮得我不敢正眼看着它。”

普德格伦的话起到令人十分振奋的效果。另外三个人全都重新呼吸，彼此对望着，就像人们刚刚醒来一样。

“咦，是啊，”王子叫道，“阿斯兰保佑这个正直的沼泽怪。刚才这几分钟，我们全在做梦。我们怎么能忘记呢？当然我们全见过太阳。”

“天哪，我们都见过的，”斯克罗布说，“好样的，普德格伦！我真的相信你是我们当中惟一有点头脑的。”

接着女巫开口了，声音很柔，同寂静的夏日下午三点钟，从老花园里高高的榆树上发出的野鸽子叫声一样低柔；她说：

“你们大家说到的太阳是什么呀？你们那个字眼是有什么意思的吧？”

“是啊，完全有的。”斯克罗布说。

“你能告诉我那是什么样子的吗？”女巫问道（噔，噔，噔，琴弦还在响）。

“遵命，陛下，”王子十分冷淡而有礼貌地说，“你看看那盏灯。灯是圆的，黄色的，给整个房间带来了光。而且是在屋顶上挂着。这会儿我们称之为太阳的东西正像这盏灯，只是太阳大得多，也亮得多。它照亮整个上面世界，而且在天上挂着。”

“在什么地方挂着，殿下？”女巫问道，随后，在他们大家还在想着怎么回答她的时候，她又发出一阵银铃似的柔和笑声，加了一句，“瞧，你们都在拼命想弄明白这个太阳该是个什么东西，可你们却说不出来。你们只能告诉我太阳就像灯。你们的太阳是个梦；梦里的东西没一样不是模仿这灯的。灯是件真正的东西；太阳只是个故事，是童话。”

“是啊，现在我明白了，”吉尔说话声调沉重，绝望，“一定是这么回事。”她这么说的时候，似乎这话对她还是很有道理的。

女巫沉着地慢慢重复说道：“没有太阳。”他们都一声不吭。她声音更柔和更深沉地重复着。“没有太阳。”歇了一会儿，他们四个心里挣扎了一番之后一起说道，“你说得对，没有太阳。”他们屈服了，说了这句话好像松了一口气。

“从来就没有过太阳。”女巫说。

“对，从来就没有太阳。”王子、沼泽怪和两个孩子说道。

刚才这几分钟里吉尔一直觉得有什么事她无论如何得想出来。如今她想起来了。但要说出口可真难哪。她只觉得嘴唇上好沉好沉。她终于用尽全身力量说道：

“有阿斯兰。”

“阿斯兰？”女巫说着稍稍加快了噔噔噔的拍子，“多好听的名字！那是什么意思？”

“他是伟大的狮王，他把我们从我们自己的世界里叫出来，”斯克罗布说，“派我们到这儿来找瑞廉王子。”

“狮子是什么？”女巫问。

“啊呀，见鬼！”斯克罗布说，“难道你不知道？我们怎么才能对她形容狮子呢？你见过猫吗？”

“当然，”女王说，“我喜欢猫。”

“好吧，一只狮子就有点——听着，只有一点儿——像一只大猫——还有鬃毛。至少，它不像马鬃，你知道，更像法官的假发。鬃毛是黄的。而且非常强壮。”

女巫摇摇头。“我明白了，”她说，“我们看你们称之为狮子跟你们的太阳都是一回事。你们看见过灯，于是你们想像出一个更大更好的灯，把它叫做太阳。你们见过猫，现在你们想要一只更大更好的猫，你们就叫它做狮子。好了，这都是有趣的想像。不过，老实说，要是你们年纪小一点，这样说说会更合适些。瞧你们不从我这个真正的世界里偷学些什么，你们又怎么能想像得出呢，我这个世界才是惟一的世界。但即使是你们两个孩子玩这套游戏也太大了。至于你，王子殿下，你是个成年人了，真亏你做得出！你玩这种玩意儿就不害臊吗？来吧，你们大伙儿。把这套孩子气的把戏收起来。在真正的世界里，我有活儿给你们大家干。没有什么纳尼亚，没有上面的世界，没有天空，没有太阳，没有阿斯兰。现在大家都上床去吧。让我们明天开始过得更懂事吧。但首先是上床、睡觉，睡得熟熟的，软软的枕头，好好睡一觉，不做荒唐的梦。”

王子和两个孩子站在那儿，搭拉着脑袋，脸蛋红红的，眼睛半开半闭；他们浑身无力，魔法几乎就大功告成了。不料普德格伦拼命鼓起全身力量，走到火炉边。接着它干了一件非常勇敢的事。它知道火会烧伤它，但不会像烧伤人那么严重。因为它光着的脚像鸭子一样有蹼，又硬，而且又是冷血的。但它知道火也会把它烧得够呛；果然如此。它光着脚就去踩火，把浅浅的炉床里的大部分火都碾成了灰。这一来立刻就发生了三件事。

第一，那股又香又浓的味道大为减少。因为尽管火还没完全扑灭，也已经灭了一大半，而且留下了沼泽怪烧伤的浓烈焦臭味，那就完全不是魔法的气味了。这一下顿时使每个人的脑子都清醒多了。王子和两个孩子又抬起头，睁开了眼睛。

第二，女巫一反刚才一直用的甜言蜜语声调，扯起嗓门，怪吓人地大声叫道，“你干什么？再敢碰碰我的火，脏泥巴，我要把你血管里的血烧起来。”

第三，疼痛使普德格伦的头脑一时完全清醒了，它完全知道自己真正的想法。要解除一种魔法，没有比疼痛的强烈刺激更管用的了。

“再说一句，夫人，”它说着从火炉边走回来，因为脚痛，走路一瘸一拐，“再说一句。你刚才说的一切都很对，这我不奇怪。但我这家伙一向喜欢知道最坏的情况，然后尽量往好处想。因此我不否认你说的一切。但即使如此，也还得再说上一句。假定我们只是梦见，或者说捏造出了那一切——树木啊，草地啊，太阳啊，月亮啊，星星啊，还有阿斯兰本身。假定这都是我们梦见的。那么我能说的一切就是，既然那样，那捏造出来的东西似乎比真正的东西重要得多。假定你这个王国的黑洞就是惟一世界的话。咳，那我可觉得是一个挺可怜的世界。想起这点来倒也有趣。要是你说得对，我们只是些小娃娃，凑起来玩游戏。但四个小娃娃玩的游戏能成为一个游戏世界，把你那真正的世界打得落花流水。那就是我忠于游戏世界的原因。即使没有阿斯兰来领导这个世界，我也站在阿斯兰一边。即使没有纳尼亚这个地方，我也要尽量像一个纳尼亚人那样生活。所以，感谢你好意招待我们吃晚饭，要是这两位先生和小姐准备好了，我们立刻就离开你的王宫，在黑暗中出发，去为寻找上面的世界奉献一生。我想，这并不是说我们的一生会过得很长，但要是这个世界就像你说的这样沉闷，那么这也不是什么大损失。”

“哦，好哇，普德格伦真是好样的！”斯克罗布和吉尔大声叫道。但王子突然嚷起来：“小心！看那女巫！”

大家一看顿时毛骨悚然。

那个乐器已经从她手里掉了下来。她两条胳臂似乎紧紧贴在身体两侧。两条腿缠在一起，脚已经不见了。长长的绿裙裙摆变厚，变成了实心的，似乎跟两根连在一起的腿拧成一根蠕动的绿柱子。而那根蠕动的绿柱子正歪歪扭扭，摇摇摆摆，仿佛浑身没有关节，要不然就是浑身都是关节。她的脑袋远远朝后仰着，鼻子变得越来越长，脸上除了眼睛以外，其他部分似乎都不见了。这会儿只见两只火红的大眼睛，没有眉毛也没有睫毛。所有这一切写下来虽很费时间，但事情发生得那么快，差点看都来不及看。他们还没工夫动手干什么，女巫早就变成了一条大毒蛇，像毒药一样绿幽幽，有吉尔的腰那么粗，已经把它那令人恶心的身体在王子腿上绕了两三圈。另外一大圈也像闪电般冲上来，打算把王子拿剑的那条胳臂贴身捆住。但王子正好及时举起了双臂，没给缠上。那活结只缠到他胸脯——准备收紧后把王子的肋骨当木柴般弄断。

王子左手抓住蛇颈，拼命想把它掐闷。这一下抓得蛇脸（要是能称作脸的话）离他的脸大约只有五英寸了。那根开叉的舌头吓人地不停吐出缩进，但够不着王子。他又举起右手，抽出剑，使劲劈下去。同时普德格伦和斯克罗布也都抽出武器，冲上去帮助他。一下子就向蛇刺了三下。斯克罗布那一下刺在王子手下面的蛇身上（他连蛇鳞也没刺穿，毫无用处），不过王子本人和普德格伦那一下都刺中了蛇颈。即使如此，也还没有杀死它，可是绕在瑞廉腿上和胸脯上的蛇身却开始松动了。他们接连又刺了好多下，才把蛇头砍掉。那可怕的怪物死后还在继续盘绕扭动，就像一根电线一样。你们也不难想像地板上已经弄得一团糟了。

但等王子缓过气来，才说：“感谢诸位。”于是这三个胜利者站在那儿，面面相觑，喘着粗气，久久说不出一句话。吉尔已经很聪明地坐下了，一声不吭。她心里正在嘀咕：“我真希望自己别昏过去——也别哭——别干什么傻事。”

“我母后的仇报了，”一会儿瑞廉说，“这条蛇无疑就是我多年前在纳尼亚森林喷泉边白白追捕的那条。这些年来我竟成了杀害我母亲的凶手的奴隶。可是我很高兴，诸位，这恶毒的女巫终于现出了她毒蛇的原形。否则杀掉一个女人跟我的良心或荣誉都不大相称。不过照料一下这位小姐吧。”他指的是吉尔。

“我没事儿，谢谢。”她说。

“小姐，”王子说着对她鞠了一躬，“你非常勇敢，因此，我深信你出身于你们自己的世界里的高贵门第。啊，来吧，朋友们，这儿还剩下一点酒，我们喝一点，为大伙儿干杯。过后我们再想想办法。”

“好主意，殿下。”斯克罗布说。

【注释】

[1] 曼陀林：一种拨弦乐器，有四对金属弦。

13

没有女王的地下世界

大家都觉得他们已经获得了斯克罗布所说的“片刻休息”。女巫刚才已经锁上了门，而且吩咐地下人别来打扰她。因此目前没有被人打扰的危险。他们的第一件事当然是照料普德格伦烧伤的那只脚。他们从王子卧室里拿来了两三件干净的衬衣，撕成一条条，里面涂上晚饭桌上的黄油和色拉油，就成了绝妙的敷料。敷好伤以后，他们都坐下吃了一些茶点，讨论逃出地下世界的计划。

瑞廉解释说这儿有很多通到地面的出口，他以前多次被带领着走过其中大部分出口。但他从来没有单独出去过，只跟着女巫去过；而且他到这些出口总要乘船，穿过暗无天日海。假如他到港口去，身边没有女巫，却是四个陌生人，开口就要一条船，那些地下人会怎么说可没人猜得出。不过他们十之八九会问一些难以回答的问题。另一方面，那个新的出口，那个为侵略上面世界而挖的出口，倒在海的这边，而且只有几英里路。王子知道那个出口已经快完工了，掘的地方跟外面的空间只相隔几英尺土层了。甚至可能现在就已完工了。也许女巫回来就是告诉他这件事，准备发动进攻。即使还没完工，只要他们能不受阻挡，到得了那儿，只要他们发现挖掘的地方没人看守着，他们自己顺着那条路线在几小时之内大概也能挖出去。但那两点都是难关。

“依我说呀……”普德格伦刚开口说，斯克罗布就打断了它。

“喂，”他问，“那是什么声音？”

“我心里纳闷了好一阵子了！”吉尔说。

事实上他们全都一直听到这种声音，但这声音是逐步响起来的，因此他们不知道自己几时初次注意到这声音。有一段时间，那只是一种隐隐约约的骚动，像轻轻的风声，或是远处的人来车往声。随后就增强为海涛般的沙沙声。接着又传来了隆隆声和哗啦啦声。这会儿似乎还有说话声，还夹杂着一种不是说话声的连续吼声。

“狮王在上，”瑞廉王子说，“看来这片沉默的土地终于能开口了。”他站起来，走向窗边，拉开窗帘，其他几个都围在他身边往外看。

他们注意到的第一件事就是一大片红光。红光在他们上面几千英尺高处地下世界顶部反射出一片红色，因此他们能看见一片岩石天花板，也许天花板从这个世界造好以来一直就隐蔽在黑暗中。那片红光来自城市的另一边，因此好多阴森森的大房子在红光衬托下黑压压地矗立着。但红光也照到很多从那儿通向城堡的街道，那些街道上正出了些怪事。那些挨挨挤挤、一声不吭的地下人群已经消失了。只见三三两两的人影到处冲来冲去。他们显得像人们不希望让人看见一样：偷偷潜伏在扶壁后的阴影里，或者门口，然后很快穿过空地，到新的隐蔽处去。但对任何了解这些小精灵的人来说，最奇怪的事就是声音。四面八方都传来吵吵嚷嚷的声音。不过从港口方面却传来一种低沉的隆隆吼声，逐渐变得更响，而且已经震撼了整个城市。

“地下人出什么事了？”斯克罗布说，“是他们在喊叫吗？”

“这不大可能，”王子说，“在我被监禁的漫长岁月里，从来没听见过哪个无赖大声说话。你看，这是什么新魔法。”

“那边那片红光是什么呢？”吉尔说，“是着火了吧？”

“依我说呀，”普德格伦说，“那是地心的火喷出来形成一个新的火山。我们就在火山的中央，这我不奇怪。”

“瞧那条船哪！”斯克罗布说，“为什么船走得那么快？没人在船上划桨呀。”

“瞧，瞧！”王子说，“船已经开到港口这一边来了——船开到街上来了。瞧，所有的船都开进城来了！啊呀，海水上涨了。要发洪水了。赞美阿斯兰，这个城堡造在高地上。但海水涨起来快得要命。”

“哎呀，会出什么事呢？”吉尔叫道，“又是水，又是火，还有那些人在街上躲躲闪闪的。”

“我告诉你是怎么回事吧。”普德格伦说，“那个女巫已经设下了一连串魔法咒语，因此无论什么时候她被杀了，她的王国同时也就崩溃了。要是她知道杀掉她的人五分钟以后就要被烧死，或活埋，或淹死，她那种坏蛋就是死也不在乎。”

“说得对，沼泽怪朋友，”王子说，“当我们的剑砍下了女巫的脑袋，那一下就把她的一切魔法都结束了，如今幽深王国正在崩溃。我们正眼看着地下世界的末日呢。”

“就是这么回事，殿下，”普德格伦说，“除非这恰好也是整个世界的末日。”

“可我们就这么待在这儿——等着？”吉尔气喘吁吁地说。

“依我之见这不成，”王子说，“我要去救我的马黑炭，还有女巫的马雪花（那是一匹好马，值得找一个更好的女主人），这两匹马都在院子里的马厩里。过后，我们赶快骑着马到高地上去，但愿我们能找到一个出口。必要时一匹马可以骑两个人，要是我们骑着马，马也可以越过洪水。”

“殿下不披上盔甲吗？”普德格伦问道，“我不喜欢那些东西的样子——”他朝街下指指，大家都朝下看。好多人（现在他们走近了，显然是地下人）正从港口方向走过来。他们不像是没有目的走动的人群，他们的举止就像发动攻击的现代士兵，一边向前冲，一边找隐蔽，急于不让城堡窗户里的人看见。

“我不敢再看那副盔甲里面，”王子说，“我披上那副盔甲骑马就像关在一个活动的土牢里，盔甲里有一股魔法和奴役的恶臭。不过我要带上那面盾。”

他离开了房间，过了一会儿他回来了，眼睛里发出奇异的光。

“瞧，朋友们，”他说着把盾举起来对着他们，“一小时以前盾还是黑的，没有纹章；现在啊，瞧这个。”那盾已经变得银光闪闪，上面还有比血、比樱桃更红的狮王图像。

“无疑，”王子说，“这就表明阿斯兰将成为我们的好主宰，不论他叫我们死还是活。其实，反正都一样。现在我劝大家都跪下，亲亲阿斯兰的像，然后彼此握握手，就像好朋友可能马上就要分别一样。接着让我们下去，到城里去经受降临到我们头上的风险。”

他们全都照王子所说的办了。不过斯克罗布跟吉尔握手时，他说，“别了，吉尔，很抱歉，我过去是个胆小鬼，而且十分讨厌。希望你能平安回家去。”吉尔说，“别了，尤斯塔斯，很抱歉，我过去那么蠢。”这是他们第一次彼此称呼名字，因为在学校里大家都不叫名字的。

王子打开了门，他们都走下楼去：三个拿着出鞘的剑，吉尔手里拿着出鞘的刀。那些随从都不见了，王子楼梯脚下那间大房间里空空荡荡。那些灰沉沉、阴森森的灯仍然亮着，借着灯光他们毫不费力地走过一条条走廊，走下一段又一段楼梯。城堡外面的声音在这儿倒不如他们在上面房间听得清楚。屋里寂静如死，空无一人。他们转了一个弯来到底层大厅时才遇到了第一个地下人——一个苍白的胖子，长着一张猪样的脸，正大口大口吃着桌上的残羹剩饭。它尖叫一声（叫声也很像猪叫），就冲到一条长凳下，长尾巴一挥，正好没让普德格伦抓住。随后它飞快地从另一边门冲了出去，追也追不上了。

他们从门厅来到院子。吉尔在假日里上过骑马学校，恰好闻到一股马厩的味儿（在地下世界这种地方闻到这种味儿，可真好闻，又纯正又亲切）。这时尤斯塔斯说，“天哪！看那边！”城堡墙后的什么地方升起了一股壮丽的焰火，碎裂成很多绿星星。

“焰火！”吉尔迷惑不解地说。

“是啊，”尤斯塔斯说，“但你不能以为那些地下人是放着玩的！那一定是个信号。”

“我敢说，对我们可不妙。”普德格伦说。

“朋友们，”王子说，“一旦一个人开始冒这么大的风险，就必须把希望和恐惧置之度外，否则死神或解脱都来不及保全他的荣誉和理智。嗬，我的美人儿（他打开了马厩门）。嗨，老朋友！黑炭，稳住。别出声，雪花！没有忘记你。”

两匹马都被那些奇怪的亮光和闹声吓坏了。吉尔穿过山洞之间的黑洞时胆子那么小，现在却毫无畏惧地走到两匹又顿脚又喷鼻的牲口当中，她和王子一会儿就把马装好鞍子和笼头。两匹马牵出来时仰着头，看来十分神气。吉尔骑上雪花，普德格伦坐在她后面，尤斯塔斯跨上黑炭，坐在王子后面。然后只听得蹄声嘚嘚，他们就骑着马出了大门，向街上驰去。

“幸亏烧伤没什么大的危险。”普德格伦说，一面指着他们右面。那边，不到一百码以外，就有海水在拍打着屋子的墙壁了。

“鼓起勇气！”王子说，“那边的下坡路陡，海水只升到城里最大一座山的半山腰。开头半小时海水离我们可能很近，接下来两小时就不会更近。我更担心的倒是……”他用剑指着一个身高七英尺的大个子地下人，那人长着一口獠牙，后面跟着另外六个各种形状、高矮不一的地下人，他们刚从一条小街里冲出来，躲进人们看不见的屋子的阴影里。

王子带领大家直奔那片红光的方向，但稍稍偏左一点，他的计划是绕过那片火（如果那是火的话），登上高地，希望能找到路通往新挖的出口。他跟其他三个人不同，似乎有点自得其乐。骑马时还吹着口哨，还唱起歌颂阿钦兰王国的霹雳拳击手柯林的一首老歌的片断。事实上他因为长期受魔法幽禁，一旦解脱出来感到十分高兴，相比之下，一切危险似乎只是儿戏了。但其他人都觉得这段路程阴森可怕。

他们后面传来船只互相碰撞、缠绕的声音，建筑物倒下的轰隆隆声。头顶是地下世界顶部那一大片火红的光。前面就是那神秘的红光，那光似乎并没有变得大些。从同一方向还不断传来吵闹、呼喊、尖叫、口哨、哄笑、惨叫、怒吼，闹成一片；黑夜中还升起各种各样的焰火。谁也猜不出这是什么意思。离他们近一点的地方，城市有部分地方被那片红光照亮，部分地方被那些大不相同的阴森森的小精灵的灯照亮。不过还有很多地方两种光都照不到，仍然一片漆黑。地下人的身影就在那些地方不断地冲进去，溜出来，眼睛一直盯着这一行人，始终尽量避开他们的视线。那些人中有的是大脸，有的是小脸，有的长着鱼眼般的大眼睛，有的长着熊眼般的小眼睛，有长着羽毛的，有长着鬃毛的，有长角的，有长獠牙的，有的鼻子长得像鞭绳，有的下巴长得像胡子。有时遇上一群人人数太多，或者靠得太近。王子就挥舞宝剑，装出要打他们的架势。这些家伙就发出各种叫声，有的唬唬叫，有的叽叽叫，有的吱吱叫，然后蹿到黑暗中去。

但等他们爬上一条又一条的陡峭街道，离洪水很远了，而且几乎出了城到内陆一边，事态变得更严重了。这会儿他们已经靠近这片红光，几乎和红光处在同一高度，可是他们仍然看不出这光是怎么回事。不过在这片光照下，他们能把敌人看得更清楚。成百个，也许有几千个小精灵都在朝红光走去。但他们走起路来蜂拥而上，一旦停下，他们就转身面对着这一行人。

普德格伦说：“依我说呀，这些家伙是打算从正面把我们截住。”

“我也是这么想，普德格伦，”王子说，“我们休想从那么多人中杀出一条路来。你们听好！我们往前骑到靠那边房子跟前。我们刚走到，你就溜到阴影里。我和小姐就再往前走几步。我相信有些妖怪就会跟着我们；他们密密麻麻都躲在我们后面呢。你的手臂长，要是可能的话，碰到哪个经过你埋伏的地方，就抓一个活的。我们可以从它嘴里打听到真相，了解他们究竟跟我们有什么过不去的事。”

“可其他的人会不会全都朝我们冲过来抢救那个给我们抓住的呢？”吉尔说话的嗓音不像她竭力装出来那么镇静。

“那么，小姐，”王子说，“你就将看见我们在你身边血战至死，而你必须给狮王以好印象。来吧，好普德格伦。”

沼泽怪像只猫似的迅速溜到阴影里去。其余的人熬过了一两分钟，又继续往前走。接着他们身后忽然传来一连串令人心惊胆战的尖叫声，夹杂着普德格伦那熟悉的声音在说，“行了，别叫了，免得伤着，不然你就真要伤着了，懂吗？人家听了还以为要杀猪呢。”

“抓得好。”王子喝彩道，一面马上把黑炭调转身子，回到屋角上。“尤斯塔斯，”他说，“请你拉住黑炭的头。”随后他下了马，三个人都默默注视着普德格伦把抓住的东西拉到亮处。一看原来是个可怜透顶的小精灵，大约只有三英尺高。头顶上有个像鸡冠似的脊（只是硬邦邦的），粉红的小眼睛，嘴和下巴又大又圆，那张脸看上去就像只小河马。如果他们不是处在这么一种困境中，看见这副模样准会捧腹大笑。

“好了，地下人，”王子说，一面监视着它，一面把手里的剑直指它的脖子，“老老实实说出来，就放你自由。跟我们耍花招，你就死定了。普德格伦，你紧紧抓住它的嘴，它怎么能说话呢？”

“对，而且它也不能咬人，”普德格伦说，“如果我也长了一双你们人类那样可笑的软绵绵的手（尊贵的殿下除外），这会儿我早就浑身是血了。不过连沼泽怪也不喜欢老被它嚼啊。”

“小子！”王子对小精灵说，“再咬一口，就叫你死。让它张嘴，普德格伦。”

“咦——咦——咦，”那地下人尖声叫喊，“让我走，让我走。不是我。我没干。”

“没干什么？”普德格伦问。

“凡是各位大人说我干的，我都没干。”那家伙答道。

“告诉我，你叫什么名字，”王子说，“还有你们地下人今天都在干什么？”

“哦，求求你们各位大人，求求你们，好心的老爷们，”那小精灵哭着说，“答应我，可别把我说的任何事告诉女王陛下。”

“你所称呼的女王陛下，”王子严厉地说，“已经死了，我亲手杀了她。”

“什么？”那小精灵叫道，那张可笑的嘴巴惊奇地张得越来越大。“死了？女巫死了？而且是大人亲手杀的？”它放心地大大松了口气，又加了一句，“咦，那么说大人是朋友了！”

王子把剑抽回了一两英寸。普德格伦让这家伙坐起来。它那发亮的红眼睛在大家脸上一一看着，嘻嘻笑了两声，这才开始说话。

14

世界底层

“我名叫戈尔格，”小精灵说，“我要把我所知道的全告诉各位大人。大约一小时以前，我们都在干着自己的活——我该说是她的活——大家又伤心又沉默，跟我们多少年来其他任何一天干活一模一样。接着传来了轰隆隆一声巨响。他们一听见这个声音，每个人都对自己说我已经很久没唱一支歌，没跳一支舞，没放一只爆竹了；那是为什么呢？每个人心里都在想，咦，我一定是被魔法迷住了。接着每个人还对自己说，要是我知道自己为什么要搬这么重的东西就好了，我就再也不打算搬下去了。就那么回事。于是我们把口袋、包裹和工具都扔下。随后大家就转身去看那边一大片红光。每个人都对自己说，那是什么啊？大家都自问自答说，原来有条裂缝或缺口豁开了，从几千英寻以下，真正的深层地底照上来一股好暖和的光哟。”

“老天爷，”尤斯塔斯惊叫道，“还有另外的地方比这儿更低吗？”

“哦，有的，大人，”戈尔格说。“可爱的地方。我们管它叫比斯姆国。我们现在所在的国家是女巫的国家，我们管它叫浅地。对我们来说，这儿离地面太近，不适合我们居住。呃！你还不如住在外面，住到地面上去呢。你瞧，我们都是从比斯姆国来的可怜的小精灵，是女巫用魔法把我们招到这儿来为她干活的。可是我们把这些事全忘了，直到传来轰隆一响，魔法破了才想起来。我们不知道自己是什么人，从哪儿来。我们除了她灌到我们头脑里的东西，什么也不能干，什么也不能想。这么多年来她灌到我们头脑里全是些阴郁、愁闷的东西。我几乎已经忘掉了怎么说笑话，怎么跳快步舞了。不料轰隆一响，裂缝豁开了，海水开始涨起来了，一切才又想了起来。当然，我们大家都赶快出发，从裂缝下去，回到我们自己的地方去。而且你们能看见他们在那边放焰火，竖蜻蜓，闹着玩儿。要是你们能马上让我走，跟大家一道回去，我将十分感激各位大人。”

“我认为这简直太好了，”吉尔说，“我真高兴我们砍下女巫的头既解救了自己也解救了小精灵！而且我也很高兴他们其实并不那么可怕和忧郁，正如王子其实也并不是——嗯，看上去这副模样。”

“这固然很好，波尔，”普德格伦谨慎地说，“但那些小精灵在我看来并不像只是在逃跑。依我说呀，它们更像一些军事队形。看着我的脸，戈尔格先生，告诉我，你们不是在准备打仗吗？”

“我们当然准备打仗，大人，”戈尔格说，“不瞒你说，我们并不知道女巫死了。我们还以为她会从城堡里看着。我们正想法溜掉，不让她看见呢。后来你们四个出来了，拿着剑，骑着马，大家当然不免都在暗自说，这下可来了。我们不知道大人不是女巫一边的。我们决定宁可拼命战斗，也决不放弃回比斯姆的希望。”

“我敢说它是个诚实的小精灵，”王子说，“放开它，普德格伦朋友。至于我，好戈尔格，我也像你和你的同胞一样被魔法迷住过，也是刚刚想起我自己的本来面目。现在我再问一个问题。你知道那条到新挖坑道的路吗？就是女巫要领一支军队去打上面世界的那条地道？”

“咦——咦——咦，”戈尔格尖叫道，“是啊，我知道那条可怕的路。我可以指给你们看那条路从哪儿开头。但大人要叫我陪你们上那儿去，那可绝对不行，我情愿死。”

“为什么？”尤斯塔斯急切地问，“那儿有什么可怕的？”

“离上面、外面太近了，”戈尔格哆哆嗦嗦地说，“这是女巫对我们下的最毒的一手。我们就要被带出去——带到世界外面。听说，那儿根本没有顶层，只有可怕的一大块空白叫做天空。坑道已经挖得很远，只要再挖几锹就可以到外面去了。我可不敢走近那儿。”

“好哇，你这才谈得有点儿门了。”尤斯塔斯喊着说。吉尔说：“不过上面并不那么恐怖。我们喜欢那儿。我们就住在那儿。”

“我知道你们上面世界的人住在那儿，”戈尔格说，“但我认为这是因为你们找不到往地底下的路。你们不会真正喜欢那儿——像苍蝇似的在世界顶上爬来爬去。”

“你马上给我们指指路好吗？”普德格伦说。

“赶得早不如赶得巧。”王子叫道。他们这一伙就此出发。王子重新骑上了马，普德格伦爬到吉尔后面，戈尔格在前头带路。它一面走一面叫喊好消息，说女巫已经死了，这四个上面世界的人并不危险。听见它喊叫的，又把消息传给另外的小精灵，所以一会儿工夫，整个地下世界都响起了欢呼声。成千上万的小精灵跳啊，翻筋斗啊，竖蜻蜓啊，玩跳背游戏啊，放大爆竹啊，还过来围着黑炭和雪花。王子只好把他自己中了魔法以及解脱苦难的经历讲了又讲，少说也讲了十遍。

他们就这样来到了缺口的边缘。这条缺口大约有一千英尺长，两百英尺宽。他们下了马，来到缺口边缘往下看。一股强烈的热浪扑面而来，还夹杂着一种他们从来没闻到过的气味。这气味又浓又辣，又刺激，使人要打喷嚏。缺口深处很亮，开头他们的眼睛都发花了，什么也看不见。等他们习惯了这么亮的光，才觉得自己能分辨出一条火河，河的两岸似乎是田野和一种发出难以忍受、热辣辣的光的小树林——可是比起那条河来就黯然失色了。那儿五颜六色，蓝的、红的、绿的和白的全都混在一起；一面优美的彩色玻璃窗在正午时分热带阳光直射下，效果可能跟这儿差不多。在那火红的光照下，成千的地下人看上去就像黑压压一片苍蝇正顺着凹凸不平的裂缝边往下爬去。

“各位大人，”戈尔格说，（他们回头看它时，一时只见一片漆黑，什么都看不见，他们的眼睛都发花了。）“各位大人，你们干吗不到比斯姆去呢？你们在那儿要比在上面那个冷冰冰、光秃秃、没遮没盖的国家快活多了。要不至少下去作一次短期访问也行呀。”

吉尔理所当然地认为决不会有谁听从这么个馊主意，谁知大吃一惊的是竟听到王子在说：

“说真的，戈尔格朋友，我也很想跟你一起下去。因为这是一次极好的探险，也许凡人从来还没有看到过比斯姆，今后也不会再有这种机会。而一年一年过去，将来怎堪回首当年自己一度有能力去探索地球最深的深渊却避而不去啊？但一个人能在那儿生活吗？你们不在那条火河里游泳吧？”

“哦，不，大人。我们不游。只有火蛇才生活在火里。”

“你说的火蛇是什么样的动物？”王子问。

“很难说它是哪一种，大人。”戈尔格说，“因为它们太热太热了，看也看不得。不过它们大多像小龙。在火焰外跟我们说话。它们的口才特别好，能说会道，滔滔不绝。”

吉尔匆匆看了尤斯塔斯一眼。她原来深信他对爬下裂缝的主意甚至比她还要不喜欢。当她看见他的脸色已经大不相同，心里不禁一沉。看上去他更像王子而不像实验学校里过去那个斯克罗布了。因为他正回想起自己的一切奇遇，和跟凯斯宾国王一起航海的日子。

“殿下，”他说，“要是我的老朋友老鼠雷佩契普在这儿，他就会说眼下我们要是不去比斯姆冒险，我们的荣誉就免不了要大受指责。”

“在下面，”戈尔格说，“我可以让你们看看真正的金子、银子和钻石。”

“胡说八道，”吉尔粗鲁地说，“难道我们不知道我们即使在这儿，就已经在最深的矿下面？”

“是啊，”戈尔格说，“我听说过地壳上那些小小的擦痕，你们上界居民管它叫做矿。那就是你们得到死的金银珠宝的地方。在比斯姆，我们的金银珠宝都是活的，而且还在生长。在那儿我可以给你摘一束束能吃的红宝石，给你挤满满一杯钻石汁。你尝过比斯姆这种活的金银珠宝，就不屑于抚摸浅矿里那些冷冰冰的、死的金银珠宝了。”

“我父亲到世界尽头去了，”瑞廉沉思地说，“要是他的儿子到世界底层去，倒是一件妙事。”

“要是殿下想趁你父亲活着的时候见他，我想他可是求之不得呢，”普德格伦说，“现在我们该上路去坑道了。”

“说什么我也不愿到那个洞里去。”吉尔又说。

“哎呀，要是各位大人真的要动身回上面世界去，”戈尔格说，“有一段路比这还低呢，说不定，要是洪水还在涨的话……”

“哦，快来吧，请你们千万快来吧！”吉尔恳求道。

“恐怕必须走了，”王子深深叹了口气，“不过我的半颗心都留在比斯姆了。”

“求求你了。”吉尔恳求着。

“路在哪儿？”普德格伦问道。

“那儿一路上都有灯，”戈尔格说，“大人在裂缝尽头就看得见路的起点。”

“那些灯能点多少时间？”普德格伦问。

正在这时，从比斯姆最深处一种嘶嘶响、火辣辣的声音呼啸而起。（事后他们真想知道那是不是火蛇的声音。）

“快，快，快，到悬崖去，到悬崖去，到悬崖去！”它说，“裂缝关了。关了。关了。快！快！快！”与此同时，岩石在震耳欲聋的哗啦啦响声中移动了。等他们看时，裂缝已经变窄了。掉队的小精灵纷纷从两边朝里面冲去。他们来不及爬下岩石，就倒栽葱似的跳下去，要么是由于底层冒上来的那股热浪太强，要么是什么其他原因，只见他们都像树叶一样朝下飘。飘浮的小精灵变得越来越密，直到黑压压的一片几乎把那条火红的河和活宝石的小树林都遮暗了。“各位大人再见。我走了。”戈尔格大声嚷着，跳了进去，只有少数几个留下的跟着它跳进去。裂缝一会儿就没有一条小溪那么宽了，一会儿就像邮筒的投信口那么窄，一会儿只剩下一条极亮的线了。随后，砰的一声，就像千百节货车撞上了千百对缓冲器，岩石两边合拢了。那股灼热，让人发疯的气味也消失了。他们四个孤零零地待在地下世界里，这儿现在看上去比以前更黑。只有那些苍白、暗淡、阴森森的灯标志着路的方向。

“好了，”普德格伦说，“十有八九我们已经待得太久了。不过我们还不妨试一下。那些灯不到五分钟就要灭了，这我不会奇怪的。”

他们催着马一溜小跑，神气十足地在昏暗的路上蹄声隆隆而去。但几乎立刻就开始走下坡路了，要不是他们看见山谷的另一边还有灯，而且放眼望去，灯都是往上面方向的，他们原来还以为戈尔格指错了路呢。不过到了谷底，灯光照到的就是流水了。

“赶快！”王子叫道。他们沿着斜坡飞驰而下。再晚五分钟，情况就够严重的了，因为潮水正像水车沟里的水似的滚滚流入山谷，要是弄得要游过去的话，两匹马恐怕就不大行了。不过这时潮水还只有一两英尺深，尽管在马腿边发出可怕的哗哗声，他们还是安全地到了对面山坡。

接着就开始又慢又累地爬山，前面除了通向上面那一眼望不到头的苍白灯光，什么都看不见。他们回头望望，看得出潮水已经蔓延开了。所有地下世界的山头这时都变成了岛屿，只有那些岛上的灯还亮着。每时每刻远处都有一盏盏灯灭了。不久除了他们走的这条路，到处都会变得一片漆黑，即使是他们身后的较低的那一段路，虽然灯还没灭，灯光却照在水面上。

尽管他们有充分理由得赶路，马却不能没有休息而一直走下去。他们就停下了，沉默中只听见水的拍打声。

“我真想知道那个叫什么名字的——时间老人——现在是不是被大水冲出来了？”吉尔说，“还有那么多奇怪的睡着的动物？”

“我认为我们还没到那么高，”尤斯塔斯说，“难道你不记得我们怎么下山到那个暗无天日海的吗？我认为大水还没涌到时间老人那个洞呢。”

“那也可能，”普德格伦说，“我更感兴趣的是这条路上的灯。看上去有点暗淡吧？”

“这些灯一直很暗淡。”吉尔说。

“啊，”普德格伦说，“不过这会儿灯更暗得发绿了。”

“你意思不是说你认为灯要灭了吧？”尤斯塔斯叫道。

“嗯，不管这些灯是怎么亮的，要知道，你总不能希望灯永远亮下去啊，”沼泽怪回答说，“不过你也别垂头丧气，斯克罗布。我也留意着水呢，我认为水没有刚才涨得那么快了。”

“小小的安慰，朋友，”王子说，“要是我们找不到出路，我要请大家原谅。都怪我自尊心强和异想天开，害得大家在比斯姆国入口耽搁了。好了，我们继续前进吧。”

此后的一个多小时里，吉尔有时觉得普德格伦关于灯的看法是对的，有时觉得这只是她的想像。同时地上也起了变化。地下世界的顶层已经很近了，即使在暗淡的灯光下，他们也能看得清清楚楚。还有地下世界两边大片凹凸不平的岩壁也看得出正在靠拢。事实上，这条路正把他们引进一条陡峭的地道。他们走过的路上开始出现铁镐、铁锹和手推车，以及其他等等，说明挖坑道的刚刚还在干活。只要你肯定出得去，这一切倒是非常令人鼓舞的。但想到自己正走进一个变得越来越窄的洞，而且窄得难以转身，这却是非常不愉快的。

最后，顶层变得很低，普德格伦和王子脑袋都撞在顶上了。他们都下来牵着马走。这儿的路面高低不平，走路也要小心翼翼。吉尔就是这样才注意到周围越来越黑了。这点目前已经毫无疑问。其他人的脸在绿荧荧的光下看上去又古怪又可怕。随后，突然吉尔情不自禁地尖叫了一声。一盏灯，就是前面的那盏完全灭了。接着他们后面的一盏也灭了。于是他们就完全在黑暗中了。

“鼓起勇气，朋友们，”传来了瑞廉王子的声音，“不论我们是死是活，阿斯兰都是我们的好主宰。”

“说得对，殿下，”普德格伦的声音说，“而且你必须始终记住掉在这儿的陷阱里还有一个好处：丧葬费也省下了。”

吉尔不吭声。（要是你不想让别人知道你有多惊慌，这一向是个聪明办法；否则一出声就露馅了。）

“我们站在这儿还不如向前走的好。”尤斯塔斯说。当她听见他嗓音在颤抖，吉尔就知道她不敢吭声有多聪明了。

普德格伦和尤斯塔斯生怕碰上什么东西，伸出两手，走在头里。吉尔和王子拉着马跟着。

“嗨，”过了好一会儿，尤斯塔斯的声音说，“是我的眼睛作怪，还是那上面有片光？”

大家还来不及回答，普德格伦就叫了起来。“停下，我走到头了。而且这是泥土，不是岩石。你说什么来着，斯克罗布？”

“狮王在上，”王子说，“尤斯塔斯是对的。是有一种……”

“话说回来，有光总比没光好，”尤斯塔斯说，“我们能上去吗？”

“那光并不在我们头顶上，”普德格伦说，“是在我们上面，不过就在我撞进来的这堵墙里。波尔，你爬到我肩膀上，看看能不能爬到那儿，怎么样？”

15

吉尔不见了

那片光并没照亮他们站着的那片黑暗中的任何东西。其他人只听得见吉尔竭力爬到沼泽怪的背上，可是看不见。就是说，他们听见它一会儿说，“你不必把手指塞到我眼睛里。”一会儿说，“也别把脚塞到我嘴里。”一会儿说，“这样才像话。”一会儿说，“行了，我要抓住你的腿。那样你两条胳臂就可以腾出来撑着泥地，稳住身子。”

接着，他们往上看，马上就看见吉尔脑袋在那片光里的黑色轮廓。

“怎么样？”他们都急切地嚷道。

“原来是个洞，”吉尔的声音叫道，“要是我再高一点，我就能爬出去。”

“你从洞口看见什么了？”尤斯塔斯问。

“还没看见什么呢，”吉尔说，“嗨，普德格伦，放开我的腿，那样我就能站在你肩膀上而不是坐着。我自己会靠着洞边稳住身子的。”

他们听得见她在动，随后就看见吉尔的大部分身子在洞口灰暗的亮光下，事实上她上半身都在外面了。

“嗨……”吉尔开口说，但突然叫了一声，声音并不尖厉，就中断了。听上去像是她的嘴被人蒙住了，要不就是塞进了什么东西。过后她的声音又恢复了，似乎在拼命地大声喊叫，但他们听不出她在叫什么。于是同时出了两件事。一是有一会儿那片光完全被堵上了；二是他们都听见一阵扭打、挣扎的声音，还听见沼泽怪喘着气说：“快，帮帮忙，抓住她腿，有人在拉她。那儿！不对，这儿。太晚了！”

那个洞和洞口那片冷光又完全露了出来。吉尔却已经不见了。

“吉尔，吉尔。”他们发疯似的大喊大叫，可是没人回答。

“你究竟为什么不抓住她脚呢？”尤斯塔斯说。

“我不知道，斯克罗布，”普德格伦哼哼着说，“生来就时运不济，这我不奇怪。命里注定的。命里注定了波尔的死。就像我命中注定了在哈方吃了会说话的鹿。当然不是说我就没错了。”

“这是我们遇到的奇耻大辱和最大的痛苦，”王子说，“我们把一位勇敢的小姐送到敌人手里，自己却安全地待在后面。”

“别尽往坏里说了，殿下，”普德格伦说，“我们也不是很安全的，只有饿死在这个洞里。”

“我不知道自己的身体是否小得能钻过吉尔出去的那个洞？”尤斯塔斯说。

吉尔真正遇到的事是这样的。她刚把脑袋伸出洞外，就发现自己是在往下看，正像从楼上一扇窗户往下看似的，而不是像从活板门里往上看。她在黑暗中待了很久，开头眼睛一下子看不出眼前的东西，只知道她眼睛不是望着她想要看见的大白天有阳光的世界。空气似乎冷得要命，光线灰暗发青。还有不少声音，许多白晃晃的东西在空中飞来飞去。她就是在这一瞬间对下面的普德格伦叫喊，叫它让她站在它肩膀上。

她站起来以后，看也看得更清楚，听也听得更清楚。她听见的声音原来有两种，一是有节奏的顿脚，二是四把小提琴、三支笛子和一只鼓演奏的乐声。她也把自己的境地弄清楚了。她正从一片陡峭的山坡上的一个洞往外看，山坡向下倾斜，她离下面平地大约十四英尺。一切景物都是白茫茫一片。好多人在那里不停走动。她看得气也透不过来了。那些人原来是些穿得整整齐齐的小羊怪，以及戴着花冠的头发在身后飘拂的树精。有一会儿它们看上去好像是在走来走去，随后她看出它们实际上是在跳舞——一种有很多复杂的步子和身段的舞蹈，你得看上一会儿才能看懂。再一看突然发现那灰暗发青的光是真正的月光，地上那些白的东西是真正的雪，顿时大吃一惊。当然！头顶上还有星星在黑沉沉的寒夜中凝视着。而那些跳舞的人后面又高又黑的东西原来是树木。他们不仅是终于回到了上面世界，而且是来到了纳尼亚的中心。吉尔觉得她乐得要昏过去了。还有音乐——粗犷的音乐，欢快热烈，然而也带一点怪诞，充满了正道的魔法，正如女巫弹奏的噔噔声充满了邪恶的魔法一样——使她感到更乐了。

这一切说起来要花很长时间，但看上去当然只花了一小会儿工夫。吉尔几乎立刻转身打算往下对其他人叫道，“嗨，好啦。我们出来啦，我们到家啦。”但她只说出“嗨”，就没再说下去，原因是这样的。在那群跳舞的人外面有一圈小矮人在打转，全都穿着节日盛装，多数是猩红的，镶皮风帽，金色流苏和镶皮高统靴。他们转圈子时还一个劲地扔雪球（这就是吉尔刚才看到在空中飞来飞去的白晃晃的东西）。他们并不像英国有些傻小子那样对准跳舞的人扔。他们扔雪球是在整个舞蹈中，跟音乐合节合拍，分毫不差，对准目标，分毫不差扔过去，要是所有的舞蹈者都恰好在算准的时刻站在算准的位子上，那么谁也不会被打中。这就叫做大雪舞，在纳尼亚每年地上积雪以后第一个有月光的夜晚都跳这种舞。当然这既是一种舞蹈也是一种游戏，因为不时会有哪个跳舞的出点小差错，脸上就挨上一个雪球，大家就都大笑一场。不过一队舞蹈者、小矮人和乐师配合得当能保持几个小时挨不到雪球。碰到天气好的晚上，寒气阵阵，鼓声咚咚，猫头鹰唬唬啼叫，还有月光，这些都跟它们那种林地人的狂野气质一拍即合，使它们变得更加狂热，它们会一直跳到天亮。但愿你们能亲眼看到这种场面。

吉尔刚刚说出“嗨”，就住了口，其原因当然只是小矮人扔的一只大雪球从另一边穿过舞蹈者，正好打在她的嘴里。她可一点也不在乎。那时就是扔来二十个雪球也扫不了她的兴。但无论你感到多么高兴，满口都是雪你也说不了话。等她吐掉几口雪，又能说话了，却激动得忘记了其余的人还待在她身后下面的暗处，还不知道这个好消息呢。她干脆从洞里尽量探出身子，向跳舞的人大声叫喊。

“救命！救命！我们被埋在这小山里，快把我们挖出来。”

那些纳尼亚人连山坡上有个小洞都没有注意到，当然十分惊讶，东张张，西望望，才发现声音是从哪儿来的。但等他们看见吉尔，就全都朝她跑来；凡是爬得上山坡的都跑上去了，大约有十几双手伸出来帮助她。吉尔抓住他们的手，到了洞外，倒头从坡上滑下去，随后爬起来说：

“哦，去把别人挖出来吧。除了马，还有三个。其中之一就是瑞廉王子。”

她说这些话的时候已经给一大群人围在当中了，因为除了跳舞的，还有各种各样的动物在场观看跳舞，她开头没看到，现在它们也跑了上来。小松鼠像阵雨似的纷纷从树上下来，猫头鹰也纷纷飞来。刺猬摇摇摆摆，撒开短腿赶快跑来。熊和獾跟在后面，步子比较慢。最后赶来的是一只大豹，兴奋得直摇尾巴。

但等它们听明白吉尔说的话，大家全都变得积极了。“铁镐和铁锹，孩子们，铁镐和铁锹。去拿工具来！”小矮人说着飞快冲进树林。“把鼹鼠叫醒，它们才是挖洞的能手，跟小矮人一样能干，”一个声音说，“她说瑞廉王子怎么了？”另一个问。“嘘，”豹说，“可怜的孩子疯了，在山里迷了路，难怪她都不知道自己在说些什么了。”“是啊，”老熊说，“咦，她还说瑞廉王子是一匹马呢！”“不，她没说。”一只松鼠冒冒失失地说。“是的，她说了。”另一只松鼠说话更冒失。

“这完全是真——真——真的，别——别——别犯傻了。”吉尔说。她说话这个调儿是因为这会儿她正冷得牙齿直打架。

一个树精立刻替她披上一件皮斗篷，那是一个小矮人奔去取他的挖掘工具时掉下的，一只热心助人的羊怪匆匆跑到树林中的一个地方去给她弄点热的喝，吉尔看得见那儿一个山洞口有火光。不过它还没回来，所有的小矮人都带着铲子和铁镐回来了，大家往山上冲去。接着吉尔听见七嘴八舌的喊声，有的喊道，“嗨，你要干什么？把剑放下。”有的喊道，“好了，小伙子，别那样。”还有的喊道，“好啊，他是个恶毒的家伙吧？”吉尔急忙赶过去，正好看见尤斯塔斯的脸色又苍白又肮脏，从黑洞中冒出来，右手还挥舞着一把剑，要猛刺任何敢于接近他的人，一时真是哭笑不得。

尤斯塔斯在刚才这片刻间的经历和吉尔当然大不相同。他听见吉尔喊叫，看见她就此不知钻到什么地方不见了。他跟王子和普德格伦一样，也以为是什么敌人把她抓去了。从下面往上看，他又看不清那灰暗发青的光是月光。他还以为这个洞只通向另一个洞，那洞里亮着鬼火磷光，而且挤满了天知道是哪一种地下世界的妖魔鬼怪。因此当他说服普德格伦让他爬到它背上，并抽出剑，再伸出头来，在他已经干了一件非常勇敢的事了。其余两个要是能先上去的话早就去了，但那个洞太小，他们爬不出去。尤斯塔斯个子比吉尔大一点点，但却比她笨拙得多，他往外张望时，脑袋撞在洞口顶上，撞得积雪崩落下来，掉在他脸上。因此当他又能看时，只见好多人影拼命向他奔来，怪不得他拼命想抵挡了。

“住手，尤斯塔斯，住手，”吉尔叫道，“他们都是朋友。难道你看不出来吗？我们已经来到纳尼亚，太平无事了。”

这一说，尤斯塔斯才真的看清楚了，就向小矮人道歉（小矮人说没关系），十几双小矮人的粗壮多毛的手帮他出了洞，就像他们刚才帮助吉尔那样。接着吉尔趴在山坡上，脑袋凑到那个黑洞口，大声把好消息报告给陷在里面的人。她转身时听见普德格伦喃喃地说，“啊呀，可怜的波尔，刚才这一会儿实在难为她了。她昏了头，这我不奇怪。她在活见鬼了。”

吉尔重新跟尤斯塔斯在一起了，两人都双手拉着对方，大口呼吸半夜里的空气。他们给尤斯塔斯带来一件暖和的斗篷，还给他俩端来了热的饮料。他们慢慢喝着饮料时，小矮人已经把山坡上原来那个洞周围的雪和草皮铲掉了一大片。他们欢快地挥舞铲子和铁镐，就像十分钟以前羊怪和树精的脚欢快地跳舞一样。只有十分钟哪！然而对吉尔和尤斯塔斯来说，他们已经觉得刚才在黑暗中的种种危险、炙热，和地底下那种窒息环境一定只是一个梦罢了。在这儿外面，天气寒冷，月亮和大星星当头照着（纳尼亚的星星比我们的世界的星星离得近些），周围全是和蔼愉快的脸，就不大相信有地下世界了。

他们还没喝完热饮料，就来了十多只鼹鼠，刚刚被叫醒，仍然睡眼惺忪，而且不大高兴。但等它们了解到这是怎么回事，它们就起劲地一起干了。就连羊怪也用小车子推走挖出来的土，松鼠兴奋得来回跳啊蹦的，而吉尔想来想去想不出它们认为在干什么。熊和猫头鹰出出主意就算了，还不断问两个孩子要不要进山洞（就是吉尔看见有火光的那个山洞）去取暖和吃晚饭。不过两个孩子没看到他们的朋友获得自由不忍心走。

在我们的世界里干那种活的，没一个赶得上纳尼亚的小矮人和会说话的鼹鼠，不过，鼹鼠和小矮人当然也没把这看做干活。他们就喜欢挖洞。所以没过多久他们就在山坡上打开一个黑洞洞的大缺口。他们从黑暗中走到月光下——要是人家不知道这两个是谁，那可怪吓人的——第一个出来的是细长腿、戴尖帽子的沼泽怪的身影，随后拉着两匹大马的是瑞廉王子本人。

普德格伦出来时，四面八方都叫起来了。“咦，是个怪——咦，原来是老普德格伦呀——东部沼泽地的老普德格伦——你一直在干什么呀，普德格伦——有好几批搜寻队去找你了——杜鲁普金爵爷出过告示——还出了赏金呢！”不过这些吵闹声一下子都消失了，变成一片沉默。一个吵吵闹闹的宿舍里，要是校长推开了门，那些吵闹声就是这么一下子消失的。因为他们这会儿看见王子了。

谁也没有怀疑他是谁，好多动物、树精、小矮人和羊怪都记得他中魔法以前那些日子的模样。有一些上了年纪的还记得凯斯宾国王年轻时的面容，看出了相像的地方。但我认为他们不管怎样都会认识他的。尽管他由于长期被监禁在幽深王国而脸色苍白，又穿着黑衣服，灰头土脸，衣冠不整，精神萎靡，但他脸上有种神情和仪态是错不了的。那神情是所有纳尼亚真正的国王都有的，凡是按照阿斯兰意愿统治这个国家，坐在凯尔帕拉维尔至尊王彼得的宝座上的国王都有这种神情。

大家顿时都脱下帽子跪下，过了一会儿就响起了欢呼声和喊叫声，大家互相握手、亲吻、拥抱，如此热烈的场面使吉尔不由流下了热泪。他们的追求是值得付出千辛万苦代价的。

“请用餐，殿下，”最老的那个小矮人说，“那边山洞正开始在做饭，准备大雪舞结束后吃的……”

“我很乐意，老爹，”王子说，“因为任何王子、骑士、绅士或熊都比不上我们四个迷路人今晚吃起东西来的胃口好。”

大伙儿开始退场，穿过树林，走向山洞。吉尔听见普德格伦对那些挤在它周围的动物说：“不，不，我的事可以等等再说。关于我的遭遇不值一谈。我想要听听消息。可别一点一点儿透露给我，我情愿一口气都听完。国王的船有没有失事？有没有森林火灾？卡乐门边境没打过仗吗？有没有来过三两条龙？这我不奇怪。”所有的动物都哈哈大笑着说：“这不活脱是个沼泽怪吗？”

两个孩子又累又饿，差点快倒下了，但山洞里暖洋洋，加上看见火光在墙上、食具柜上、杯子上、碟子上、盘子上和光滑的石头地板上跳跃，正如农家厨房里的情景一样，心里倒也振奋了一会儿。但等晚饭准备好的时候他们还是睡着了。他们睡觉的时候瑞廉王子就跟那些老一些、聪明一些的动物和小矮人谈论全部冒险经历。如今他们全明白这是怎么一回事了。一个恶毒的女巫（无疑跟很久以前给纳尼亚带来漫长的冬天的那个白女巫是一路货色）策划了这整个事件，先是杀了瑞廉的母亲，再让瑞廉本人中了魔法。他们还明白她在纳尼亚下面挖洞，准备破土而出，借瑞廉的名义来统治这个国家。而他万万也想不到她要让他做国王（名义上的国王，实际上是她的奴隶）的那个国家竟然就是他自己的国家。而从两个孩子说的经历中他们明白女巫和哈方那些危险的巨人是相互勾结支持的。“殿下，这件事得出的教训是，”最老的那个小矮人说，“那些北部的女巫始终存着一个心眼儿，不过每个不同的时期，他们都有不同的计划来达到目的。”

16

皆大欢喜

第二天早上吉尔醒来发现自己在一个山洞里，一时吓坏了，竟以为又回到地下世界去了。不过等她注意到自己正躺在一张石南铺成的床上，盖着一件皮斗篷，看见石头壁炉里的火正劈劈啪啪响得欢（像是刚刚生好的），在那一边，早上的阳光正从山洞口照进来，她这才想起了一切快乐的现实。尽管晚餐还没正式结束，她就困得要命，可是他们总算美美吃了一顿晚餐，大家都挤进那个山洞里，她模模糊糊地记得好多小矮人围在炉火边，拿着比他们自己还大的煎锅，还有煎得嘶嘶响的、美味可口的香肠，有好多，好多，好多香肠呢。不是那种里面一半塞满面包和黄豆的劣质香肠，而是肉多味辣、肥壮滚烫、煎得裂开、略微焦黄的真正香肠。还有一大杯一大杯满是泡沫的巧克力、烤土豆、烤栗子、挖掉心子里面塞满葡萄干的烘苹果。随后还有雪糕，让你吃了那么多热的以后提提神。

吉尔坐起来看看周围，普德格伦和尤斯塔斯就睡在离她不远的地方，两个都睡得很熟。

“嗨，你们两个！”吉尔大声叫道，“你们还不打算起来吗？”

“嘘，嘘，”她上面有个睡意蒙眬的声音说，“是安静下来的时候了。好好睡一觉。睡吧，睡吧。别吵。喔嗬！”

“咦，我就相信，”吉尔说着，朝山洞一角那只落地大钟顶上雪白一团蓬蓬松松的羽毛看了一眼，“我就相信那准是格里姆费瑟！”

“不错，不错，”猫头鹰呼噜呼噜说，脑袋从翅膀下伸出来，张开一只眼睛，“我在两点钟左右给王子送了个信。是松鼠带来的好消息。给王子的信。他走了。你们也要跟着去。再见……”脑袋又不见了。

看来没希望从猫头鹰那儿再打听到什么消息了，吉尔起来开始到处看看有没有机会洗漱一下，吃点早饭。不料一只小羊怪几乎一下子就一溜小跑进了山洞，羊蹄子踩着石板地发出清脆的咔哒咔哒声。

“啊呀，你总算醒了，夏娃的女儿，”它说，“也许你最好叫醒亚当的儿子，你们一会儿工夫就要走了，两匹人头马恭请你们骑上它们去凯尔帕拉维尔。”它放低声音又说，“当然，你们要明白，骑人头马这可是一种闻所未闻的特殊荣誉。我就从来没听见过以前有谁骑过。让它们等着可不好。”

尤斯塔斯和普德格伦一被叫醒首先就问：“王子到哪儿去了？”

“他到凯尔帕拉维尔去见他父王了，”那只名叫沃伦斯的羊怪回答说，“陛下的船随时都会进港。看来好像是国王还没走远就遇见了阿斯兰——我不知道是在梦里看见，还是当面碰到——阿斯兰就叫他回来，还告诉他，他到达纳尼亚的时候，就会看到失踪已久的儿子在等着他。”

尤斯塔斯已经起来了，他和吉尔动手帮沃伦斯准备早餐。普德格伦按吩咐躺在床上。有匹名叫克劳德伯斯的人头马是有名的郎中，或者说（沃伦斯那么称呼它）“医师”，要来治疗它那只烧伤的脚。

“啊！”普德格伦说话的声调几乎是心满意足的了，“它会把我的腿齐膝截掉，这我不奇怪。它不截掉才怪呢。”不过它倒很高兴躺在床上。

早餐是炒蛋和烤面包片，尤斯塔斯那副吃相就像他半夜里并没吃过一顿丰富的晚餐似的。

“嗨，亚当的儿子，”羊怪说，看着尤斯塔斯大口大口地吃，不免有点害怕，“用不着那么急急忙忙，吃得那么快。我想人头马这会儿还没吃好早餐呢。”

“那么它们一定起来得很晚，”尤斯塔斯说，“我敢说现在已经有十点多了。”

“哦，不，”沃伦斯说，“它们天不亮就起来了。”

“那么它们一定是在等开早餐的时间。”尤斯塔斯说。

“不，它们没等，”沃伦斯说，“它们一醒来就开始吃。”

“天哪，”尤斯塔斯说，“他们要吃一大份早餐吗？”

“怎么，亚当的儿子，难道你不明白？一匹人头马有一个人的胃和一个马的胃。当然两个胃都要填上早餐。因此它先吃点粥和帕文德鱼、腰子、熏肉、煎蛋卷、冷火腿、烤面包片、果酱、咖啡和啤酒。吃过后再照顾自己身上马的那一部分，吃上一个多小时的青草，临了再来点热面糊，一点燕麦和一袋糖。这就是为什么说邀请人头马来度周末是件大事。的确是件天大的事。”

那时山洞口传达了马蹄叩击石头的声音，两个孩子抬头望去。两匹人头马，一匹是黑胡子，一匹是金黄色胡子，胡子飘拂在它们健壮的光胸脯上，正站着等他们。人头马还把头低下来，往山洞里看。于是两个孩子变得很有礼貌，快快地吃完了早餐。看见人头马时谁也不会觉得它可笑。人头马是庄重而威严的动物，一肚子古代学问，那是跟星星学来的，它们轻易不流露喜怒，但它们发起火来就像海啸一样可怕。

“再见，亲爱的普德格伦，”吉尔走到沼泽怪床边说，“很抱歉我们叫你扫兴鬼。”

“我也是，”尤斯塔斯说，“你是世界上最好的朋友。”

“我真希望我们能再见。”吉尔又加了一句。

“我得说，这种机会不多，”普德格伦说，“我想我很可能再也见不到自己的旧棚屋了。还有那个王子——他是个好人——但你们认为他很强壮吗？地下生活把他的身子骨毁了，这我不奇怪。看来他随时都会送命的。”

“普德格伦！”吉尔说，“你真是个一成不变的鬼话大王。听上去你口气伤心得像在出席葬礼，而我相信你心里十分快活。你说话像是样样事都害怕，其实你勇敢得就像一头狮子。”

“好了，说起葬礼……”普德格伦开始说，但吉尔听见人头马在她后面一个劲儿顿蹄子，就出其不意伸出双臂搂住它的细脖子，亲亲它那泥土色的脸，尤斯塔斯也趁此和它紧紧握手。接着他们都奔向人头马去了，沼泽怪倒在床上，自言自语道：“啊，即使我是个漂亮的家伙，我做梦也没想到她会来这一手。”

骑上一匹人头马，虽然无疑是一份极大的光荣（除了吉尔和尤斯塔斯，今天在世的人大概没一个有过这份光荣），不过骑在上面十分不舒服。因为爱惜自己生命的人没一个会提出在人头马身上放个马鞍子，而骑光背马可不是闹着玩的，尤其是像尤斯塔斯那种根本没学过骑马的人。人头马非常有礼貌，可以说又庄重又高雅，一副成年人的态度，它们慢慢跑过纳尼亚的树林时，头也不回就说开了，告诉两个孩子草药和根茎的性质、行星的影响、阿斯兰九个名字的意思，等等等等。但不管这两个人当时一路上多颠多痛，如今他们却愿意不惜一切代价再来一趟：看看那些林间空地和山坡在隔夜雪后闪闪发亮，遇上一些兔子、松鼠和鸟儿向你道早安，再呼吸一下纳尼亚的空气，再听听纳尼亚树木的声音。

他们来到河的下游，河水在冬天的阳光下流淌，晶莹碧蓝，在最后一座桥下面（桥在舒适的红屋顶的小镇柏卢纳），乘上一艘大平底船，由渡船工把他们送到对岸，或者说，由渡船怪送过去，因为在纳尼亚，大多数拖泥带水或沾点鱼腥的活儿都由沼泽怪干。过河以后他们就沿着南岸飞驰，一会儿就到了凯尔帕拉维尔。他们刚到就看见他们第一次踏上纳尼亚时看见过的那条颜色鲜艳的船，正像大鸟似的在河里轻轻驶来。满朝上下又一次聚集在城堡和码头之间的草坪上，欢迎凯斯宾国王再次归来。瑞廉王子已经换掉了黑衣服，现在在银铠甲上披了一件深红的斗篷，没戴帽子，站在靠近河边的地方迎接他的父亲。小矮人杜鲁普金就在他旁边，坐在那辆小驴车里。两个孩子看出他们没法穿过这么多人群到王子身边去，至少，这会儿他们感到有点不敢上去。因此他们请求人头马，是否可以在它们背上多坐一会儿，好看到给那些大臣挡住的一切。人头马说尽坐不妨。

水面传来船甲板上一阵响亮的银号声，水手们扔过一根缆绳，老鼠（当然是会说话的老鼠）和沼泽怪把船紧紧拴在岸上；船就给拖进来了。躲在人群中的乐师开始奏起庄重的凯旋音乐。国王的大帆船刚靠岸，老鼠就把跳板架上。

吉尔原想会看见老国王走下跳板。但那边似乎有什么事耽搁了。一位爵爷脸色苍白，走上岸，对王子和杜鲁普金跪拜行礼。过后三个人头凑在一起谈了一会儿，但没人听得出他们在谈什么。音乐还在演奏，不过你能感到大家都变得不安了。接着是四位骑士，抬着什么东西，出现在甲板上，缓缓走来。当他们要走下跳板时你才看得见他们抬的是什么：原来是老国王躺在床上，脸色灰白，一动不动。他们把他放下。王子跪在他身边拥抱他。他们看得见凯斯宾国王举起手祝福他的儿子。大家都欢呼起来，不过这种欢呼无精打采，因为大家全都感到大事不妙。随后国王脑袋突然倒在枕头上，乐师们停下了，四下一片寂静。王子跪在国王床前，头挨着床，哭了起来。

周围一片悄悄说话声，人们来回走动。后来吉尔注意到所有戴帽子的，软帽啊，头盔啊，风帽啊，都脱下了——尤斯塔斯也脱了。随后她又听见城堡上方一阵窸窸窣窣、啪啦啪啦的声音；她抬眼望去，只见那面有金色狮王的大旗正降成半旗。此后，又慢慢无情地奏起乐来，弦乐器在哭泣，号角忧伤地哀号，这一次演奏的是一首令人心碎的曲调。

他们俩都从人头马身上溜了下来（但它们并没注意他们）。

“但愿我在家里就好了。”吉尔说。

尤斯塔斯点点头，咬着嘴唇一声不吭。

“我来了。”一个深沉的声音在他们身后说。他们转过身来，看见了狮王本人，浑身闪光，真实不假，威武雄壮，其他的一切跟他相比顿时显得黯然失色。转眼工夫，吉尔就忘掉了纳尼亚国王死了，只记得自己害得尤斯塔斯摔下悬崖，自己把所有的指示几乎都错过了，还记得谩骂和吵架。她想说声“对不起”，但她说不出来。于是狮王用眼神把他们招到身边，弯下身子，用舌头舔舔他们苍白的脸，说道：

“别再想那些了。我不会老是责怪你们。你们已经完成了我和你们到纳尼亚办的事。”

“阿斯兰，请问你，”吉尔说，“我们现在是不是可以回家了？”

“是啊，我就是来带你们回家的，”阿斯兰说。接着他又张大了嘴，吹啊吹。不过这一次他们可不觉得自己在空中飞；相反，他们似乎留在原地不动，阿斯兰那口猛烈的气吹走了那艘船、死去的国王、城堡以及雪和冬日的天空。这一切都像一团团烟圈那样在空中飘走了，突然间，他们站在一大片明亮的仲夏阳光下，站在柔滑的草地上，周围有好多大树，旁边是一条清澈的小溪。这时他们才看出自己又来到了阿斯兰大山，高高耸立在纳尼亚那个世界的尽头之上和之外。奇怪的是凯斯宾国王的哀乐仍然连续不断，然而没人说得出音乐是从哪儿来的。他们在小溪边走着，狮王走在他们前面。他变得那么美，那音乐却是那么令人悲观绝望，吉尔不知道自己为了哪一点才眼泪汪汪。

后来阿斯兰停下了，两个孩子看看那条小溪。在小溪底层的金色碎石上，躺着死去的凯斯宾国王，溪水像透明的玻璃般流过他身上。他那把长长的白胡子在水中像水草一样摇摇摆摆。他们三个都站在那儿哭了。连狮王也哭了，伟大的狮王的眼泪，每颗泪珠如果是一颗纯净钻石的话，那比尘世间什么都珍贵。吉尔注意到尤斯塔斯既不像一个小孩儿哭，也不像一个男孩子哭时要躲躲闪闪，而是像个大人似的哭着。至少这点是她认为最接近事实的看法。不过实际上，正像她说过的一样，在那座山上人们似乎没有什么具体年龄。

“亚当的儿子，”阿斯兰说，“到那边灌木丛里去，看到有刺就拔一根来给我。”

尤斯塔斯遵命去办。那根刺有一英尺长，像把双刃剑那么锐利。

“把刺扎进我爪子里，亚当的儿子。”阿斯兰说，一面伸出他的右前爪，向尤斯塔斯露出那一大块肉趾。

“我非扎不可？”尤斯塔斯说。

“对。”阿斯兰说。

于是尤斯塔斯咬紧牙齿，把刺扎进狮王的肉趾。肉趾上就流出了一大滴血，比你见过的或想像中的所有红色更红。这滴血溅到小溪里国王的尸体上。同时，哀乐停止了，国王的尸体开始有了变化。白胡子变成了灰胡子，灰胡子又变为黄胡子，越变越短，直到完全消失。凹陷的双颊变成圆滚滚的，脸色也好起来，皱纹都变光滑了，他睁开眼睛，笑容满面，突然一下子跳起来站在他们面前——一个很年轻的男人，或者说是一个男孩子。（不过吉尔说不出他是哪一种，因为在阿斯兰的国家里人们没有具体年龄。当然，即使在这个世界里，最孩子气的才是最笨的孩子，最成人气的是最笨的成人。）他冲向阿斯兰，张开双臂尽量想搂住狮王那粗大的脖子；他给了阿斯兰一个国王的有力的吻，而阿斯兰给了他一个狮王的野性的吻。

最后凯斯宾转身对着那两个孩子。他又惊又喜地哈哈大笑。

“啊呀，尤斯塔斯！”他说，“尤斯塔斯！你到底还是到世界尽头来了！你在海蛇身上砍断的我那第二把好剑[1]怎么样了？”

尤斯塔斯伸出双手向他迎上一步，但又吃惊地缩回来。

“瞧，嗨，”他结结巴巴地说，“好倒是好，不过你不是——我是说你没有？……”

“哦，别傻了。”凯斯宾说。

“但是，”尤斯塔斯看着阿斯兰说，“他不是——呃——死了吗？”

“是啊，”狮王十分平静地说，（吉尔觉得）他几乎是在笑，“他已经死了。你们也知道，大多数人都死过。甚至我也死过。没死过的人很少很少。”

“哦，”凯斯宾说，“我明白你为什么伤脑筋了。你当我是鬼，或什么歪门邪道的东西。不过难道你不明白吗？要是我眼下出现在纳尼亚，我就会是鬼，因为我再也不属于那儿了。但一个人不能在自己的国家里做鬼啊。要是我到了你们的世界，我就可以做鬼了。我不知道。但我想那边也不是你们的世界了，你们现在是在这儿。”

两个孩子心里抱着很大的希望。谁知阿斯兰却摇摇蓬蓬松松的脑袋。“不，亲爱的，”他说，“你们再在这儿遇到我时，你们就得来住下了。不过现在不行。你们必须回到你们自己的世界去过些日子。”

“大人，”凯斯宾说，“我一直想要看一眼他们的世界。这要求错了吗？”

“我的儿子，你既然已经死了，想要的东西就再也不会错了。”阿斯兰说，“而且你将去看看他们的世界——按他们那里的时间是五分钟。你把那儿的事情纠正过来要不了更多时间。”接着阿斯兰向凯斯宾解释吉尔和尤斯塔斯是回到什么地方去，还有实验学校的一切事情。他似乎跟他们一样了解那里的情况。

“女儿啊，”阿斯兰对吉尔说，“到那边灌木林去摘一根树枝。”树枝刚到她手里就变成了一根新的马鞭。

“好了，亚当的儿子，抽出你们的剑。”阿斯兰说，“但你们只能用剑的平面，因为我派你们去对付的是胆小鬼和孩子们，不是武士。”

“你跟我们一起去吗，阿斯兰？”吉尔说。

“他们只能看见我的背。”阿斯兰说。

他带他们迅速穿过树林，没走几步，实验学校的墙就出现在他们眼前。于是阿斯兰怒吼起来，吼得天上的太阳抖抖颤颤，他们眼前的墙也倒塌了三十英尺。他们从豁口往里看，看到学校的灌木丛，看到体育馆的屋顶，依然都在他们开始冒险之前看到的阴沉沉的秋日天空下。阿斯兰转身对着吉尔和尤斯塔斯，朝他们吹了口气，用舌头舔舔他们的前额。接着他躺在自己震塌的豁口上，他那金色的背部对着英格兰，高贵的脸对着自己的地方。同时，吉尔看见几个十分熟悉的身影正穿过月桂树向他们跑来。那一帮人大部分都来了——阿黛拉·潘尼法瑟，乔蒙德利·梅杰，伊迪丝·温特布洛特，“雀斑”索纳，大个子班尼斯特，还有加勒特家两个讨厌的双胞胎。不料他们突然都停下了，脸色也变了，所有那些卑鄙、自负、残酷、诡诈的神情几乎都不见了，统统变成一种恐怖神情。因为他们看到了倒塌的墙，一只像小象那么大的狮子躺在豁口上，三个衣着华丽的身影手持武器正向他们冲来。因为有了阿斯兰赋予他们的力量，吉尔用马鞭抽打着女孩子，凯斯宾和尤斯塔斯则得心应手地使劲挥舞着剑，用平面对付男孩子，不到两分钟那些小恶霸都疯也似的逃命去了，一面还大喊大叫：“杀人了！法西斯！狮子！这不公平！”接着校长（顺便说说，校长是个女的）跑出来看出了什么事。等她看到狮子和断墙、凯斯宾、吉尔和尤斯塔斯（她没认出他们），就大发歇斯底里，回到屋里打电话给警察，编造出狮子逃出马戏团，以及逃犯砸倒了墙，还带着出鞘的剑等一套鬼话。吉尔和尤斯塔斯趁着一片混乱，悄悄溜进屋去，换掉鲜艳的衣服，穿上普通的服装，凯斯宾也回到他自己的世界去了。那堵墙按照阿斯兰的旨意也恢复了原状。等警察到达时，发现没有狮子，也没有断墙，也没有罪犯，而校长那副模样却像个疯子，就对整个事件做了调查。调查中实验学校的种种事情都暴露了，大约有十个人被开除出校。此后校长的朋友看出校长当一校之长不行，就让她当个督学去干涉其他校长。当他们发现她连这个工作也不大行，就把她送进议会，从此她就在议会里过得逍遥自在。

有一天晚上，尤斯塔斯把他的好看衣服偷偷埋在校园里，但吉尔却偷偷把她的衣服带回家去，在接下来几个节日里的化装舞会上穿。从那天以后，实验学校的情况好转了，成了一所挺不错的学校。吉尔和尤斯塔斯一直是朋友。

但在遥远的纳尼亚，瑞廉国王埋葬了他的父亲，航海家凯斯宾十世，并为他哀悼。瑞廉把纳尼亚治理得很好，在他那个时代可以说是国泰民安。尽管普德格伦（它的脚在三个星期后就完全好了）经常指出天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福，你不能指望好日子能一直过下去。山坡上那个裂口就一直开着，纳尼亚人常在炎热的夏天带着船和灯笼到里面去，在水面上来回航行，在阴凉黑暗的地下世界的海上唱歌，互相讲述在好多英寻下面深处的那些城市的故事。如果你有幸亲自到纳尼亚去，可别忘了去看看那些山洞啊。

【注释】

[1] 见《凯斯宾王子》。

Dedication

To Nicholas Hardie

CHAPTER 1

Behind the Gym

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 Coeducational,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 different chap 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 worlds,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.”

Now that they were talking in whispers Jill somehow felt it easier to believe.Then suddenly a horrible suspicion came over her and she said(so fiercely that for the moment she looked like a tigress)：

“If I find you've been pulling my leg I'll never speak to you again；never,never,never.”

“I'm not,” said Eustace.“I swear I'm not.I swear by – by everything.”

(When I was at school one would have said,“I swear by the Bible.” But Bibles were not encouraged at Experiment House.)

“All right,” said Jill,“I'll believe you.”

“And tell nobody?”

“What do you take me for?”

They were very excited as they said this.But when they had said it and Jill looked round and saw the dull autumn sky and heard the drip off the leaves and thought of all the hopelessness of Experiment House(it was a thirteen-week term and there were still eleven weeks to come)she said：

“But after all,what's the good?We're not there：we're here.And we jolly well can't get there.Or can we?”

“That's what I've been wondering,” said Eustace.“When we came back from That Place,Someone said that the two Pevensie kids(that's my two cousins)could never go there again.It was their third time,you see.I suppose they've had their share.But he never said I couldn't.Surely he would have said so,unless he meant that I was to get back?And I can't help wondering,can we – could we—?”

“Do you mean,do something to make it happen?”

Eustace nodded.

“You mean we might draw a circle on the ground– and write things in queer letters in it – and stand inside it – and recite charms and spells?”

“Well,” said Eustace after he had thought hard for a bit.“I believe that was the sort of thing I was thinking of,though I never did it.But now that it comes to the point,I've an idea that all those circles and things are rather rot.I don't think he'd like them.It would look as if we thought we could make him do things.But really,we can only ask him.”

“Who is this person you keep on talking about?”

“They call him Aslan in That Place,” said Eustace.

“What a curious name!”

“Not half so curious as himself,” said Eustace solemnly.“But let's get on.It can't do any harm,just asking.Let's stand side by side,like this.And we'll hold out our arms in front of us with the palms down：like they did in Ramandu's Island—”

“Whose island?”

“I'll tell you about that another time.And he might like us to face the east.Let's see,where is the east?”

“I don't know,” said Jill.

“It's an extraordinary thing about girls that they never know the points of the compass,” said Eustace.

“You don't know either,” said Jill indignantly.

“Yes I do,if only you didn't keep on interrupting.I've got it now.That's the east,facing up into the laurels.Now,will you say the words after me?”

“What words?” asked Jill.

“The words I'm going to say,of course,”answered Eustace.“Now—”

And he began,“Aslan,Aslan,Aslan!”

“Aslan,Aslan,Aslan,” repeated Jill.

“Please let us two go into—”

At that moment a voice from the other side of the gym was heard shouting out,“Pole?Yes,I know where she is.She's blubbing behind the gym.Shall I fetch her out?”

Jill and Eustace gave one glance at each other,dived under the laurels,and began scrambling up the steep,earthy slope of the shrubbery at a speed which did them great credit.(Owing to the curious methods of teaching at Experiment House,one did not learn much French or Maths or Latin or things of that sort；but one did learn a lot about getting away quickly and quietly when They were looking for one.)

After about a minute's scramble they stopped to listen,and knew by the noises they heard that they were being followed.

“If only the door was open again!” said Scrubb as they went on,and Jill nodded.For at the top of the shrubbery was a high stone wall and in that wall a door by which you could get out on to open moor.This door was nearly always locked.But there had been times when people had found it open；or perhaps there had been only one time.But you may imagine how the memory of even one time kept people hoping,and trying the door；for if it should happen to be unlocked it would be a splendid way of getting outside the school grounds without being seen.

Jill and Eustace,now both very hot and very grubby from going along bent almost double under the laurels,panted up to the wall.And there was the door,shut as usual.

“It's sure to be no good,” said Eustace with his hand on the handle；and then,“O-o-oh,by Gum!!”For the handle turned and the door opened.

A moment before,both of them had meant to get through that doorway in double quick time,if by any chance the door was not locked.But when the door actually opened,they both stood stock still.For what they saw was quite different from what they had expected.

They had expected to see the grey,heathery slope of the moor going up and up to join the dull autumn sky.Instead,a blaze of sunshine met them.It poured through the doorway as the light of a June day pours into a garage when you open the door.It made the drops of water on the grass glitter like beads and showed up the dirtiness of Jill's tear-stained face.And the sunlight was coming from what certainly did look like a different world– what they could see of it.They saw smooth turf,smoother and brighter than Jill had ever seen before,and blue sky and,darting to and fro,things so bright that they might have been jewels or huge butterflies.

Although she had been longing for something like this,Jill felt frightened.She looked at Scrubb's face and saw that he was frightened too.

“Come on,Pole,” he said in a breathless voice.

“Can we get back?Is it safe?” asked Jill.

At that moment a voice shouted from behind,a mean,spiteful little voice.“Now then,Pole,” it squeaked.“Everyone knows you're there.Down you come.” It was the voice of Edith Jackle,not one of Them herself but one of their hangers-on and talebearers.

“Quick!” said Scrubb.“Here.Hold hands.We mustn't get separated.” And before she quite knew what was happening,he had grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door,out of the school grounds,out of England,out of our whole world into That Place.

The sound of Edith Jackle's voice stopped as suddenly as the voice on the radio when it is switched off.Instantly there was a quite different sound all about them.It came from those bright things overhead,which now turned out to be birds.They were making a riotous noise,but it was much more like music – rather advanced music which you don't quite take in at the first hearing – than birds'songs ever are in our world.Yet,in spite of the singing,there was a sort of background of immense silence.That silence,combined with the freshness of the air,made Jill think they must be on the top of a very high mountain.

Scrubb still had her by the hand and they were walking forward,staring about them on every side.Jill saw that huge trees,rather like cedars but bigger,grew in every direction.But as they did not grow close together,and as there was no undergrowth,this did not prevent one from seeing a long way into the forest to left and right.And as far as Jill's eye could reach,it was all the same – level turf,darting birds with yellow,or dragonfly blue,or rainbow plumage,blue shadows,and emptiness.There was not a breath of wind in that cool,bright air.It was a very lonely forest.

Right ahead there were no trees；only blue sky.They went straight on without speaking till suddenly Jill heard Scrubb say,“Look out!” and felt herself jerked back.They were at the very edge of a cliff.

Jill was one of those lucky people who have a good head for heights.She didn't mind in the least standing on the edge of a precipice.She was rather annoyed with Scrubb for pulling her back – “just as if I was a kid”,she said – and she wrenched her hand out of his.When she saw how very white he had turned,she despised him.

“What's the matter?” she said.And to show that she was not afraid,she stood very near the edge indeed；in fact,a good deal nearer than even she liked.Then she looked down.

She now realised that Scrubb had some excuse for looking white,for no cliff in our world is to be compared with this.Imagine yourself at the top of the very highest cliff you know.And imagine yourself looking down to the very bottom.And then imagine that the precipice goes on below that,as far again,ten times as far,twenty times as far.And when you've looked down all that distance imagine little white things that might,at first glance,be mistaken for sheep,but presently you realise that they are clouds – not little wreaths of mist but the enormous white,puffy clouds which are themselves as big as most mountains.And at last,in between those clouds,you get your first glimpse of the real bottom,so far away that you can't make out whether it's field or wood,or land or water：further below those clouds than you are above them.

Jill stared at it.Then she thought that perhaps,after all,she would step back a foot or so from the edge,but she didn't like to for fear of what Scrubb would think.Then she suddenly decided that she didn't care what he thought,and that she would jolly well get away from that horrible edge and never laugh at anyone for not liking heights again.But when she tried to move,she found she couldn't.Her legs seemed to have turned into putty.Everything was swimming before her eyes.

“What are you doing,Pole?Come back –blithering little idiot!” shouted Scrubb.But his voice seemed to be coming from a long way off.She felt him grabbing at her.But by now she had no control over her own arms and legs.There was a moment's struggling on the cliff edge.Jill was too frightened and dizzy to know quite what she was doing,but two things she remembered as long as she lived(they often came back to her in dreams).One was that she had wrenched herself free of Scrubb's clutches；the other was that,at the same moment,Eustace himself,with a terrified scream,had lost his balance and gone hurtling to the depths.

Fortunately,she was given no time to think over what she had done.Some huge,brightly-coloured animal had rushed to the edge of the cliff.It was lying down,leaning over,and(this was the odd thing)blowing.Not roaring or snorting,but just blowing from its wide-opened mouth；blowing out as steadily as a vacuum cleaner sucks in.Jill was lying so close to the creature that she could feel the breath vibrating steadily through its body.She was lying still because she couldn't get up.She was nearly fainting；indeed,she wished she could really faint,but faints don't come for the asking.At last she saw,far away below her,a tiny black speck floating away from the cliff and slightly upwards.As it rose,it also got further away.By the time it was nearly on a level with the cliff-top it was so far off that she lost sight of it.It was obviously moving away from them at a great speed.Jill couldn't help thinking that the creature at her side was blowing it away.

So she turned and looked at the creature.It was a lion.

CHAPTER 2

Jill is Given a Task

Without a glance at Jill,the lion rose to its feet and gave one last blow.Then,as if satisfied with its work,it turned and stalked slowly away,back into the forest.

“It must be a dream,it must,it must,” said Jill to herself.“I'll wake up in a moment.” But it wasn't,and she didn't.

“I do wish we'd never come to this dreadful place,” said Jill.“I don't believe Scrubb knew any more about it than I do.Or if he did,he had no business to bring me here without warning me what it was like.It's not my fault he fell over that cliff.If he'd left me alone we should both be all right.” Then she remembered again the scream that Scrubb had given when he fell,and burst into tears.

Crying is all right in its way while it lasts.But you have to stop sooner or later,and then you still have to decide what to do.When Jill stopped,she found she was dreadfully thirsty.She had been lying face downward,and now she sat up.The birds had ceased singing and there was perfect silence except for one small,persistent sound,which seemed to come from a good distance away.She listened carefully,and felt almost sure it was the sound of running water.

Jill got up and looked round her very carefully.There was no sign of the lion；but there were so many trees about that it might easily be quite close without her seeing it.For all she knew,there might be several lions.But her thirst was very bad now,and she plucked up her courage to go and look for that running water.She went on tiptoes,stealing cautiously from tree to tree,and stopping to peer round her at every step.

The wood was so still that it was not difficult to decide where the sound was coming from.It grew clearer every moment and,sooner than she expected,she came to an open glade and saw the stream,bright as glass,running across the turf a stone's throw away from her.But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before,she didn't rush forward and drink.She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone,with her mouth wide open.And she had a very good reason；just on this side of the stream lay the Lion.

It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it,like the lions in Trafalgar Square.She knew at once that it had seen her,for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away – as if it knew her quite well and didn't think much of her.

“If I run away,it'll be after me in a moment,”thought Jill.“And if I go on,I shall run straight into its mouth.” Anyway,she couldn't have moved if she had tried,and she couldn't take her eyes off it.How long this lasted,she could not be sure；it seemed like hours.And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the Lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.

“If you're thirsty,you may drink.”

They were the first words she had heard since Scrubb had spoken to her on the edge of the cliff.For a second she stared here and there,wondering who had spoken.Then the voice said again,“If you are thirsty,come and drink,” and of course she remembered what Scrubb had said about animals talking in that other world,and realised that it was the lion speaking.Anyway,she had seen its lips move this time,and the voice was not like a man's.It was deeper,wilder,and stronger；a sort of heavy,golden voice.It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before,but it made her frightened in rather a different way.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I'm dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl.And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk,she realised that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to – do anything to me,if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that,without noticing it,she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys,women and men,kings and emperors,cities and realms,” said the Lion.It didn't say this as if it were boasting,nor as if it were sorry,nor as if it were angry.It just said it.

“I daren't come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill,coming another step nearer.“I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion –no one who had seen his stern face could do that –and her mind suddenly made itself up.It was the worst thing she had ever had to do,but she went forward to the stream,knelt down,and began scooping up water in her hand.It was the coldest,most refreshing water she had ever tasted.You didn't need to drink much of it,for it quenched your thirst at once.Before she tasted it she had been intending to make a dash away from the Lion the moment she had finished.Now,she realised that this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of all.She got up and stood there with her lips still wet from drinking.

“Come here,” said the Lion.And she had to.She was almost between its front paws now,looking straight into its face.But she couldn't stand that for long；she dropped her eyes.

“Human Child,” said the Lion.“Where is the Boy?”

“He fell over the cliff,” said Jill,and added,“Sir”.She didn't know what else to call him,and it sounded cheeky to call him nothing.

“How did he come to do that,Human Child?”

“He was trying to stop me from falling,Sir.”

“Why were you so near the edge,Human Child?”

“I was showing off,Sir.”

“That is a very good answer,Human Child.Do so no more.And now”(here for the first time the Lion's face became a little less stern)“the Boy is safe.I have blown him to Narnia.But your task will be the harder because of what you have done.”

“Please,what task,Sir?” said Jill.

“The task for which I called you and him here out of your own world.”

This puzzled Jill very much.“It's mistaking me for someone else,” she thought.She didn't dare to tell the Lion this,though she felt things would get into a dreadful muddle unless she did.

“Speak your thought,Human Child,” said the Lion.

“I was wondering – I mean – could there be some mistake?Because nobody called me and Scrubb,you know.It was we who asked to come here.Scrubb said we were to call to – to Somebody – it was a name I wouldn't know – and perhaps the Somebody would let us in.And we did,and then we found the door open.”

“You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,” said the Lion.

“Then you are Somebody,sir?” said Jill.

“I am.And now hear your task.Far from here in the land of Narnia there lives an aged king who is sad because he has no prince of his blood to be king after him.He has no heir because his only son was stolen from him many years ago,and no one in Narnia knows where that Prince went or whether he is still alive.But he is.I lay on you this command,that you seek this lost prince until either you have found him and brought him to his father's house,or else died in the attempt,or else gone back into your own world.”

“How,please?” said Jill.

“I will tell you,Child,” said the Lion.“These are the signs by which I will guide you in your quest.First；as soon as the Boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia,he will meet an old and dear friend.He must greet that friend at once；if he does,you will both have good help.Second；you must journey out of Narnia to the north till you come to the ruined city of the ancient giants.Third；you shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city,and you must do what the writing tells you.Fourth；you will know the lost prince(if you find him)by this,that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name,in the name of Aslan.”

As the Lion seemed to have finished,Jill thought she should say something.So she said,“Thank you very much.I see.”

“Child,” said Aslan,in a gentler voice than he had yet used,“perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think.But the first step is to remember.Repeat to me,in order,the four signs.”

Jill tried,and didn't get them quite right.So the Lion corrected her,and made her repeat them again and again till she could say them perfectly.He was very patient over this,so that when it was done,Jill plucked up courage to ask：

“Please,how am I to get to Narnia?”

“On my breath,” said the Lion.“I will blow you into the west of the world as I blew Eustace.”

“Shall I catch him in time to tell him the first sign?But I suppose it won't matter.If he sees an old friend,he's sure to go and speak to him,isn't he?”

“You will have no time to spare,” said the Lion.“That is why I must send you at once.Come.Walk before me to the edge of the cliff.”

Jill remembered very well that if there was no time to spare,that was her own fault.“If I hadn't made such a fool of myself,Scrubb and I would have been going together.And he'd have heard all the instructions as well as me,” she thought.So she did as she was told.It was very alarming walking back to the edge of the cliff,especially as the Lion did not walk with her but behind her – making no noise on his soft paws.

But long before she had got anywhere near the edge,the voice behind her said,“Stand still.In a moment I will blow.But first,remember,remember,remember the signs.Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night,and when you wake in the middle of the night.And whatever strange things may happen to you,let nothing turn your mind from following the signs.And secondly,I give you a warning.Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly：I will not often do so down in Narnia.Here on the mountain,the air is clear and your mind is clear；as you drop down into Narnia,the air will thicken.Take great care that it does not confuse your mind.And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look,when you meet them there.That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances.Remember the signs and believe the signs.Nothing else matters.And now,Daughter of Eve,farewell—”

The voice had been growing softer towards the end of this speech and now it faded away altogether.Jill looked behind her.To her astonishment she saw the cliff already more than a hundred yards behind her,and the Lion himself a speck of bright gold on the edge of it.She had been setting her teeth and clenching her fists for a terrible blast of lion's breath；but the breath had really been so gentle that she had not even noticed the moment at which she left the earth.And now,there was nothing but air for thousands upon thousands of feet below her.

She felt frightened only for a second.For one thing,the world beneath her was so very far away that it seemed to have nothing to do with her.For another,floating on the breath of the Lion was so extremely comfortable.She found she could lie on her back or on her face and twist any way she pleased,just as you can in water(if you've learned to float really well).And because she was moving at the same pace as the breath,there was no wind,and the air seemed beautifully warm.It was not in the least like being in an aeroplane,because there was no noise and no vibration.If Jill had ever been in a balloon she might have thought it more like that；only better.

When she looked back now she could take in for the first time the real size of the mountain she was leaving.She wondered why a mountain so huge as that was not covered with snow and ice – “but I suppose all that sort of thing is different in this world,” thought Jill.Then she looked below her；but she was so high that she couldn't make out whether she was floating over land or sea,nor what speed she was going at.

“By Jove!The signs!” said Jill suddenly.“I'd better repeat them.” She was in a panic for a second or two,but she found she could still say them all correctly.“So that's all right,” she said,and lay back on the air as if it was a sofa,with a sigh of contentment.

“Well,I do declare,” said Jill to herself some hours later,“I've been asleep.Fancy sleeping on air.I wonder if anyone's done it before.I don't suppose they have.Oh,bother – Scrubb probably has!On this same journey,a little bit before me.Let's see what it looks like down below.”

What it looked like was an enormous,very dark blue plain.There were no hills to be seen,but there were biggish white things moving slowly across it.“Those must be clouds,” she thought.“But far bigger than the ones we saw from the cliff.I suppose they're bigger because they're nearer.I must be getting lower.Bother this sun.”

The sun which had been high overhead when she began her journey was now getting in her eyes.This meant that it was getting lower,ahead of her.Scrubb was quite right in saying that Jill(I don't know about girls in general)didn't think much about points of the compass.Otherwise she would have known,when the sun began getting in her eyes,that she was travelling pretty nearly due west.

Staring at the blue plain below her,she presently noticed that there were little dots of brighter,paler colour in it here and there.“It's the sea!” thought Jill.“I do believe those are islands.”And so they were.She might have felt rather jealous if she had known that some of them were islands which Scrubb had seen from a ship's deck and even landed on；but she didn't know this.Then,later on,she began to see that there were little wrinkles on the blue flatness：little wrinkles which must be quite big ocean waves if you were down among them.And now,all along the horizon there was a thick dark line which grew thicker and darker so quickly that you could see it growing.That was the first sign she had had of the great speed at which she was travelling.And she knew that the thickening line must be land.

Suddenly from her left(for the wind was in the south)a great white cloud came rushing towards her,this time on the same level as herself.And before she knew where she was,she had shot right into the middle of its cold,wet fogginess.That took her breath away,but she was in it only for a moment.She came out blinking in the sunlight and found her clothes wet.(She had on a blazer and sweater and shorts and stockings and pretty thick shoes；it had been a muddy sort of day in England.)She came out lower than she had gone in；and as soon as she did so she noticed something which,I suppose,she ought to have been expecting,but which came as a surprise and a shock.It was Noises.Up till then she had travelled in total silence.Now,for the first time,she heard the noise of waves and the crying of seagulls.And now,too,she smelled the smell of the sea.There was no mistake about her speed now.She saw two waves meet with a smack and a spout of foam go up between them；but she had hardly seen it before it was a hundred yards behind her.

The land was getting nearer at a great pace.She could see mountains far inland,and other nearer mountains on her left.She could see bays and headlands,woods and fields,stretches of sandy beach.The sound of waves breaking on the shore was growing louder every second and drowning the other sea noises.

Suddenly the land opened right ahead of her.She was coming to the mouth of a river.She was very low now,only a few feet above the water.A wavetop came against her toe and a great splash of foam spurted up,drenching her nearly to the waist.Now she was losing speed.Instead of being carried up the river she was gliding in to the river bank on her left.There were so many things to notice that she could hardly take them all in；a smooth,green lawn,a ship so brightly coloured that it looked like an enormous piece of jewellery,towers and battlements,banners fluttering in the air,a crowd,gay clothes,armour,gold,swords,a sound of music.But this was all jumbled.The first thing that she knew clearly was that she had alighted and was standing under a thicket of trees close by the river side,and there,only a few feet away from her,was Scrubb.

The first thing she thought was how very grubby and untidy and generally unimpressive he looked.And the second was “How wet I am!”

CHAPTER 3

The Sailing of the King

What made Scrubb look so dingy(and Jill too,if she could only have seen herself)was the splendour of their surroundings.I had better describe them at once.

Through a cleft in those mountains which Jill had seen far inland as she approached the land,the sunset light was pouring over a level lawn.On the far side of the lawn,its weather-vanes glittering in the light,rose a many-towered and many-turreted castle；the most beautiful castle Jill had ever seen.On the near side was a quay of white marble and,moored to this,the ship：a tall ship with high forecastle and high poop,gilded and crimson,with a great flag at the mast-head,and many banners waving from the decks,and a row of shields,bright as silver,along the bulwarks.The gangplank was laid to her,and at the foot of it,just ready to go on board,stood an old,old man.He wore a rich mantle of scarlet which opened in front to show his silver mail shirt.There was a thin circlet of gold on his head.His beard,white as wool,fell nearly to his waist.He stood straight enough,leaning one hand on the shoulder of a richly dressed lord who seemed younger than himself：but you could see he was very old and frail.He looked as if a puff of wind could blow him away,and his eyes were watery.

Immediately in front of the King – who had turned round to speak to his people before going on board the ship – there was a little chair on wheels and,harnessed to it,a little donkey：not much bigger than a big retriever.In this chair sat a fat little dwarf.He was as richly dressed as the King,but because of his fatness and because he was sitting hunched up among cushions,the effect was quite different：it made him look like a shapeless little bundle of fur and silk and velvet.He was as old as the King,but more hale and hearty,with very keen eyes.His bare head,which was bald and extremely large,shone like a gigantic billiard ball in the sunset light.

Further back,in a half-circle,stood what Jill at once knew to be the courtiers.They were well worth looking at for their clothes and armour alone.As far as that went,they looked more like a flower-bed than a crowd.But what really made Jill open her eyes and mouth as wide as they would go,was the people themselves.If “people” was the right word.For only about one in every five was human.The rest were things you never see in our world.Fauns,satyrs,centaurs：Jill could give a name to these,for she had seen pictures of them.Dwarfs,too.And there were a lot of animals she knew as well；bears,badgers,moles,leopards,mice and various birds.But then they were so very different from the animals which one called by the same names in England.Some of them were much bigger – the mice,for instance,stood on their hind legs and were over two feet high.But quite apart from that,they all looked different.You could see by the expression in their faces that they could talk and think just as well as you could.

“Golly!” thought Jill.“So it's true after all.” But next moment she added,“I wonder,are they friendly?” For she had just noticed,on the outskirts of the crowd,one or two giants and some people whom she couldn't give a name to at all.

At that moment Aslan and the signs rushed back into her mind.She had forgotten all about them for the last half-hour.

“Scrubb!” she whispered,grabbing his arm.“Scrubb,quick!Do you see anyone you know?”

“So you've turned up again,have you?” said Scrubb disagreeably(for which he had some reason).“Well,keep quiet,can't you?I want to listen.”

“Don't be a fool,” said Jill.“There isn't a moment to lose.Don't you see some old friend here?Because you've got to go and speak to him at once.”

“What are you talking about?” said Scrubb.

“It's Aslan – the Lion – says you've got to,” said Jill despairingly.“I've seen him.”

“Oh,you have,have you?What did he say?”

“He said the very first person you saw in Narnia would be an old friend,and you'd got to speak to him at once.”

“Well,there's nobody here I've ever seen in my life before；and anyway,I don't know whether this is Narnia.”

“Thought you said you'd been here before,” said Jill.

“Well,you thought wrong then.”

“Well,I like that!You told me—”

“For heaven's sake dry up and let's hear what they're saying.”

The King was speaking to the Dwarf,but Jill couldn't hear what he said.And,as far as she could make out,the Dwarf made no answer,though he nodded and wagged his head a great deal.Then the King raised his voice and addressed the whole court：but his voice was so old and cracked that she could understand very little of his speech –especially since it was all about people and places she had never heard of.

When the speech was over,the King stooped down and kissed the Dwarf on both cheeks,straightened himself,raised his right hand as if in blessing,and went,slowly and with feeble steps,up the gangway and on board the ship.The courtiers appeared to be greatly moved by his departure.Handkerchiefs were got out,sounds of sobbing were heard in every direction.The gangway was cast off,trumpets sounded from the poop,and the ship moved away from the quay.(It was being towed by a rowing-boat,but Jill didn't see that.)

“Now—” said Scrubb,but he didn't get any further,because at that moment a large white object– Jill thought for a second that it was a kite – came gliding through the air and alighted at his feet.It was a white owl,but so big that it stood as high as a good-sized dwarf.

It blinked and peered as if it were short-sighted,and put its head a little on one side,and said in a soft,hooting kind of voice：

“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo!Who are you two?”

“My name's Scrubb,and this is Pole,” said Eustace.“Would you mind telling us where we are?”

“In the land of Narnia,at the King's castle of Cair Paravel.”

“Is that the King who's just taken ship?”

“Too true,too true,” said the Owl sadly,shaking its big head.“But who are you?There's something magic about you two.I saw you arrive：you flew.Everyone else was so busy seeing the King off that nobody knew.Except me.I happened to notice you,you flew.”

“We were sent here by Aslan,” said Eustace in a low voice.

“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo!” said the Owl,ruffling out its feathers.“This is almost too much for me,so early in the evening.I'm not quite myself till the sun's down.”

“And we've been sent to find the lost Prince,” said Jill,who had been anxiously waiting to get into the conversation.

“It's the first I've heard about it,” said Eustace.“What prince?”

“You had better come and speak to the Lord Regent at once,” it said.“That's him,over there in the donkey carriage；Trumpkin the Dwarf.” The bird turned and began leading the way,muttering to itself,“Whoo!Tu-whoo!What a to-do!I can't think clearly yet.It's too early.”

“What is the King's name?” asked Eustace.

“Caspian the Tenth,” said the Owl.And Jill wondered why Eustace had suddenly pulled up short in his walk and turned an extraordinary colour.She thought she had never seen him look so sick about anything.But before she had time to ask any questions they had reached the Dwarf,who was just gathering up the reins of his donkey and preparing to drive back to the castle.The crowd of courtiers had broken up and were going in the same direction,by ones and twos and little knots,like people coming away from watching a game or a race.

“Tu-whoo!Ahem!Lord Regent,” said the Owl,stooping down a little and holding its beak near the Dwarf's ear.

“Heh?What's that?” said the Dwarf.

“Two strangers,my lord,” said the Owl.

“Rangers!What d'ye mean?” said the Dwarf.“I see two uncommonly grubby man-cubs.What do they want?”

“My name's Jill,” said Jill,pressing forward.She was very eager to explain the important business on which they had come.

“The girl's called Jill,” said the Owl,as loud as it could.

“What's that?” said the Dwarf.“The girls are all killed!I don't believe a word of it.What girls?Who killed 'em?”

“Only one girl,my lord,” said the Owl.“Her name is Jill.”

“Speak up,speak up,” said the Dwarf.“Don't stand there buzzing and twittering in my ear.Who's been killed?”

“Nobody's been killed,” hooted the Owl.

“Who?”

“NOBODY.”

“All right,all right.You needn't shout.I'm not so deaf as all that.What do you mean by coming here to tell me that nobody's been killed?Why should anyone have been killed?”

“Better tell him I'm Eustace,” said Scrubb.

“The boy's Eustace,my lord,” hooted the Owl as loud as it could.

“Useless?” said the Dwarf irritably.“I dare say he is.Is that any reason for bringing him to court?Hey?”

“Not useless,” said the Owl.“EUSTACE.”

“Used to it,is he?I don't know what you're talking about,I'm sure.I tell you what it is,Master Glimfeather：when I was a young Dwarf there used to be talking beasts and birds in this country who really could talk.There wasn't all this mumbling and muttering and whispering.It wouldn't have been tolerated for a moment.Not for a moment,sir.Urnus,my trumpet please—”

A little Faun who had been standing quietly beside the Dwarf's elbow all this time now handed him a silver ear-trumpet.It was made like the musical instrument called a serpent,so that the tube curled right round the Dwarf's neck.While he was getting it settled,the Owl,Glimfeather,suddenly said to the children in a whisper：

“My brain's a bit clearer now.Don't say anything about the lost Prince.I'll explain later.It wouldn't do,wouldn't do,tu-whoo!Oh,what a to-do!”

“Now,” said the Dwarf,“if you have anything sensible to say,Master Glimfeather,try and say it.Take a deep breath and don't attempt to speak too quickly.”

With help from the children,and in spite of a fit of coughing on the part of the Dwarf,Glimfeather explained that the strangers had been sent by Aslan to visit the court of Narnia.The Dwarf glanced quickly up at them with a new expression in his eyes.

“Sent by the Lion Himself,hey?” he said.“And from– m'm – from that other Place – beyond the world's end,hey?”

“Yes,my lord,” bawled Eustace into the trumpet.

“Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve,hey?” said the Dwarf.But people at Experiment House haven't heard of Adam and Eve,so Jill and Eustace couldn't answer this.But the Dwarf didn't seem to notice.

“Well,my dears,” he said,taking first one and then the other by the hand and bowing his head a little.“You are very heartily welcome.If the good King,my poor Master,had not this very hour set sail for Seven Isles,he would have been glad of your coming.It would have brought back his youth to him for a moment – for a moment.And now,it is high time for supper.You shall tell me your business in full council tomorrow morning.Master Glimfeather,see that bedchambers and suitable clothes and all else are provided for these guests in the most honourable fashion.And – Glimfeather –in your ear—”

Here the Dwarf put his mouth close to the Owl's head and,no doubt,intended to whisper：but,like other deaf people,he wasn't a very good judge of his own voice,and both children heard him say,“See that they're properly washed.”

After that,the Dwarf touched up his donkey and it set off towards the castle at something between a trot and a waddle(it was a very fat little beast),while the Faun,the Owl,and the children followed at a rather slower pace.The sun had set and the air was growing cool.

They went across the lawn and then through an orchard and so to the North Gate of Cair Paravel,which stood wide open.Inside,they found a grassy courtyard.Lights were already showing from the windows of the great hall on their right and from a more complicated mass of buildings straight ahead.Into these the Owl led them,and there a most delightful person was called to look after Jill.She was not much taller than Jill herself,and a good deal slenderer,but obviously full grown,graceful as a willow,and her hair was willowy too,and there seemed to be moss in it.

She brought Jill to a round room in one of the turrets,where there was a little bath sunk in the floor and a fire of sweet-smelling woods burning on the flat hearth and a lamp hanging by a silver chain from the vaulted roof.The window looked west into the strange land of Narnia,and Jill saw the red remains of the sunset still glowing behind distant mountains.It made her long for more adventures and feel sure that this was only the beginning.

When she had had her bath,and brushed her hair,and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her – they were the kind that not only felt nice,but looked nice and smelt nice and made nice sounds when you moved as well – she would have gone back to gaze out of that exciting window,but she was interrupted by a bang on the door.

“Come in,” said Jill.And in came Scrubb,also bathed and splendidly dressed in Narnian clothes.But his face didn't look as if he were enjoying it.

“Oh,here you are at last,” he said crossly,flinging himself into a chair.“I've been trying to find you for ever so long.”

“Well,now you have,” said Jill.“I say,Scrubb,isn't it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words?” She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.

“Oh!That's what you think,is it?” said Scrubb：and then,after a pause,“I wish to goodness we'd never come.”

“Why on earth?”

“I can't bear it,” said Scrubb.“Seeing the King –Caspian– a doddering old man like that.It's – it's frightful.”

“Why,what harm does it do you?”

“Oh,you don't understand.Now that I come to think of it,you couldn't.I didn't tell you that this world has a different time from ours.”

“How do you mean?”

“The time you spend here doesn't take up any of our time.Do you see?I mean,however long we spend here,we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it—”

“That won't be much fun—”

“Oh,dry up!Don't keep interrupting.And when you're back in England – in our world – you can't tell how time is going here.It might be any number of years in Narnia while we're having one year at home.The Pevensies explained it all to me,but,like a fool,I forgot about it.And now apparently it's been about seventy years – Narnian years – since I was here last.Do you see now?And I come back and find Caspian an old,old man.”

“Then the King was an old friend of yours!” said Jill.A horrid thought had struck her.

“I should jolly well think he was,” said Scrubb miserably.“About as good a friend as a chap could have.And last time he was only a few years older than me.And to see that old man with a white beard,and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands,or in the fight with the Sea Serpent – oh,it's frightful.It's worse than coming back and finding him dead.”

“Oh,shut up,” said Jill impatiently.“It's far worse than you think.We've muffed the first Sign.” Of course Scrubb did not understand this.Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.

“So you see,” she wound up,“you did see an old friend,just as Aslan said,and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once.And now you haven't,and everything is going wrong from the very beginning.”

“But how was I to know?” said Scrubb.

“If you'd only listened to me when I tried to tell you,we'd be all right,” said Jill.

“Yes,and if you hadn't played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me – all right,I said murder,and I'll say it again as often as I like,so keep your hair on – we'd have come together and both known what to do.”

“I suppose he was the very first person you saw?”said Jill.“You must have been here hours before me.Are you sure you didn't see anyone else first?”

“I was only here about a minute before you,” said Scrubb.“He must have blown you quicker than me.Making up for lost time：the time you lost.”

“Don't be a perfect beast,Scrubb,” said Jill.“Hullo!What's that?”

It was the castle bell ringing for supper,and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short.Both had a good appetite by this time.

Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen；for though Eustace had been in that world before,he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land.

The banners hung from the roof,and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums.There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of,and the lovely fishes called pavenders,and venison and peacock and pies,and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts,and all manner of wines and fruit drinks.Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was “something like”.And when all the serious eating and drinking was over,a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree,which is called The Horse and His Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between,in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel.(I haven't time to tell it now,though it is well worth hearing.)

When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed,yawning their heads off,Jill said,“I bet we sleep well,tonight”；for it had been a full day.Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.

CHAPTER 4

A Parliament of Owls

It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are,the longer you take about getting to bed；especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room.Jill felt she couldn't even start undressing unless she sat down in front of the fire for a bit first.And once she had sat down,she didn't want to get up again.She had already said to herself about five times,“I must go to bed”,when she was startled by a tap on the window.

She got up,pulled the curtain,and at first saw nothing but darkness.Then she jumped and started backwards,for something very large had dashed itself against the window,giving a sharp tap on the glass as it did so.A very unpleasant idea came into her head – “Suppose they have giant moths in this country!Ugh!” But then the thing came back,and this time she was almost sure she saw a beak,and that the beak had made the tapping noise.“It's some huge bird,” thought Jill.“Could it be an eagle?” She didn't very much want a visit even from an eagle,but she opened the window and looked out.Instantly,with a great whirring noise,the creature alighted on the window-sill and stood there filling up the whole window,so that Jill had to step back to make room for it.It was the Owl.

“Hush,hush!Tu-whoo,tu-whoo,” said the Owl.“Don't make a noise.Now,are you two really in earnest about what you've got to do?”

“About the lost Prince,you mean?” said Jill.“Yes,we've got to be.” For now she remembered the Lion's voice and face,which she had nearly forgotten during the feasting and storytelling in the hall.

“Good!” said the Owl.“Then there's no time to waste.You must get away from here at once.I'll go and wake the other human.Then I'll come back for you.You'd better change those court clothes and put on something you can travel in.I'll be back in two twos.Tu-whoo!” And without waiting for an answer,he was gone.

If Jill had been more used to adventures,she might have doubted the Owl's word,but this never occurred to her：and in the exciting idea of a midnight escape she forgot her sleepiness.She changed back into sweater and shorts – there was a guide's knife on the belt of the shorts which might come in useful – and added a few of the things that had been left in the room for her by the girl with the willowy hair.She chose a short cloak that came down to her knees and had a hood(“just the thing,if it rains,” she thought),a few handkerchiefs and a comb.Then she sat down and waited.

She was getting sleepy again when the Owl returned.

“Now we're ready,” it said.

“You'd better lead the way,” said Jill.“I don't know all these passages yet.”

“Tu-whoo!” said the Owl.“We're not going through the castle.That would never do.You must ride on me.We shall fly.”

“Oh!” said Jill,and stood with her mouth open,not much liking the idea.“Shan't I be far too heavy for you?”

“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo!Don't you be a fool.I've already carried the other one.Now.But we'll put out that lamp first.”

As soon as the lamp was out,the bit of the night which you saw through the window looked less dark – no longer black,but grey.The Owl stood on the window-sill with his back to the room and raised his wings.Jill had to climb on to his short fat body and get her knees under the wings and grip tight.The feathers felt beautifully warm and soft but there was nothing to hold on by.“I wonder how Scrubb liked his ride!” thought Jill.And just as she was thinking this,with a horrid plunge they had left the window-sill,and the wings were making a flurry round her ears,and the night air,rather cool and damp,was flying in her face.

It was much lighter than she expected,and though the sky was overcast,one patch of watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds.The fields beneath her looked grey,and the trees black.There was a certain amount of wind –a hushing,ruffling sort of wind which meant that rain was coming soon.

The Owl wheeled round so that the castle was now ahead of them.Very few of the windows showed lights.They flew right over it,northwards,crossing the river：the air grew colder,and Jill thought she could see the white reflection of the Owl in the water beneath her.But soon they were on the north bank of the river,flying above wooded country.

The Owl snapped at something which Jill couldn't see.

“Oh,don't,please!” said Jill.“Don't jerk like that.You nearly threw me off.”

“I beg your pardon,” said the Owl.“I was just nabbing a bat.There's nothing so sustaining,in a small way,as a nice plump little bat.Shall I catch you one?”

“No,thanks,” said Jill with a shudder.

He was flying a little lower now and a large,black-looking object was looming up towards them.Jill had just time to see that it was a tower – a partly ruinous tower,with a lot of ivy on it,she thought – when she found herself ducking to avoid the archway of a window,as the Owl squeezed with her through the ivied and cobwebby opening,out of the fresh,grey night into a dark place inside the top of the tower.

It was rather fusty inside and,the moment she slipped off the Owl's back,she knew(as one usually does somehow)that it was quite crowded.And when voices began saying out of the darkness from every direction “Tu-whoo!Tu-whoo!” she knew it was crowded with owls.She was rather relieved when a very different voice said：“Is that you,Pole?”

“Is that you,Scrubb?” said Jill.

“Now,” said Glimfeather,“I think we're all here.Let us hold a parliament of owls.”

“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo.True for you.That's the right thing to do,” said several voices.

“Half a moment,” said Scrubb's voice.“There's something I want to say first.”

“Do,do,do,” said the owls；and Jill said,“Fire ahead.”

“I suppose all you chaps – owls,I mean,” said Scrubb,“I suppose you all know that King Caspian the Tenth,in his young days,sailed to the eastern end of the world.Well,I was with him on that journey；with him and Reepicheep the Mouse,and the Lord Drinian and all of them.I know it sounds hard to believe,but people don't grow older in our world at the same speed as they do in yours.And what I want to say is this,that I'm the King's man；and if this parliament of owls is any sort of plot against the King,I'm having nothing to do with it.”

“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo,we're all the King's owls too,” said the owls.

“What's it all about then?” said Scrubb.

“It's only this,” said Glimfeather.“That if the Lord Regent,the Dwarf Trumpkin,hears you are going to look for the lost Prince,he won't let you start.He'd keep you under lock and key sooner.”

“Great Scott!” said Scrubb.“You don't mean that Trumpkin is a traitor?I used to hear a lot about him in the old days,at sea.Caspian – the King,I mean – trusted him absolutely.”

“Oh,no,” said a voice.“Trumpkin's no traitor.But more than thirty champions(knights,centaurs,good giants,and all sorts)have at one time or another set out to look for the lost Prince,and none of them have ever come back.And at last the King said he was not going to have all the bravest Narnians destroyed in the search for his son.And now nobody is allowed to go.”

“But surely he'd let us go,” said Scrubb.“When he knew who I was and who had sent me.”

(“Sent both of us,” put in Jill.)

“Yes,” said Glimfeather,“I think,very likely,he would.But the King's away.And Trumpkin will stick to the rules.He's as true as steel,but he's deaf as a post and very peppery.You could never make him see that this might be the time for making an exception to the rule.”

“You might think he'd take some notice of us,because we're owls and everyone knows how wise owls are,” said someone else.“But he's so old now he'd only say,'You're a mere chick.I remember you when you were an egg.Don't come trying to teach me,Sir.Crabs and crumpets!'”

This owl imitated Trumpkin's voice rather well,and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round.The children began to see that the Narnians all felt about Trumpkin as people feel at school about some crusty teacher,whom everyone is a little afraid of and everyone makes fun of and nobody really dislikes.

“How long is the King going to be away?” asked Scrubb.

“If only we knew!” said Glimfeather.“You see,there has been a rumour lately that Aslan himself has been seen in the islands – in Terebinthia,I think it was.And the King said he would make one more attempt before he died to see Aslan face to face again,and ask his advice about who is to be King after him.But we're all afraid that,if he doesn't meet Aslan in Terebinthia,he'll go on east,to Seven Isles and the Lone Islands – and on and on.He never talks about it,but we all know he has never forgotten that voyage to the world's end.I'm sure in his heart of hearts he wants to go there again.”

“Then there's no good waiting for him to come back?” said Jill.

“No,no good,” said the Owl.“Oh,what a to-do!If only you two had known and spoken to him at once!He'd have arranged everything – probably given you an army to go with you in search of the Prince.”

Jill kept quiet at this and hoped Scrubb would be sporting enough not to tell all the owls why this hadn't happened.He was,or very nearly.That is,he only muttered under his breath,“Well,it wasn't my fault,” before saying out loud：

“Very well.We'll have to manage without it.But there's just one thing more I want to know.If this owls' parliament,as you call it,is all fair and above board and means no mischief,why does it have to be so jolly secret – meeting in a ruin at the dead of night,and all that?”

“Tu-whoo!Tu-whoo!” hooted several owls.“Where should we meet?When would anyone meet except at night?”

“You see,” explained Glimfeather,“most of the creatures in Narnia have such unnatural habits.They do things by day,in broad blazing sunlight(ugh!)when everyone ought to be asleep.And,as a result,at night they're so blind and stupid that you can't get a word out of them.So we owls have got into the habit of meeting at sensible hours,on our own,when we want to talk about things.”

“I see,” said Scrubb.“Well now,let's get on.Tell us all about the lost Prince.” Then an old owl,not Glimfeather,related the story.

About ten years ago,it appeared,when Rilian,the son of Caspian,was a very young knight,he rode with the Queen his mother on a May morning in the north parts of Narnia.They had many squires and ladies with them and all wore garlands of fresh leaves on their heads,and horns at their sides；but they had no hounds with them,for they were maying,not hunting.

In the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly out of the earth,and there they dismounted and ate and drank and were merry.After a time the Queen felt sleepy,and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank,and Prince Rilian with the rest of the party went a little way from her,that their tales and laughter might not wake her.

And so,presently,a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the Queen in her hand.All heard her cry out and rushed towards her,and Rilian was first at her side.He saw the worm gliding away from her and made after it with his sword drawn.It was great,shining,and as green as poison,so that he could see it well：but it glided away into thick bushes and he could not come at it.So he returned to his mother,and found them all busy about her.But they were busy in vain,for at the first glance of her face Rilian knew that no physic in the world would do her good.As long as the life was in her she seemed to be trying hard to tell him something.But she could not speak clearly and,whatever her message was,she died without delivering it.It was then hardly ten minutes since they had heard her cry.

They carried the dead Queen back to Cair Paravel,and she was bitterly mourned by Rilian and by the King,and by all Narnia.She had been a great lady,wise and gracious and happy,King Caspian's bride whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world.And men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins.

The Prince took his mother's death very hardly,as well he might.After that,he was always riding on the northern marches of Narnia,hunting for that venomous worm,to kill it and be avenged.No one remarked much on this,though the Prince came home from these wanderings looking tired and distraught.But about a month after the Queen's death,some said they could see a change in him.There was a look in his eyes as of a man who has seen visions,and though he would be out all day,his horse did not bear the signs of hard riding.His chief friend among the older courtiers was the Lord Drinian,he who had been his father's captain on that great voyage to the east parts of the earth.

One evening Drinian said to the Prince,“Your Highness must soon give over seeking the worm.There is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man.You weary yourself in vain.” The Prince answered him,“My Lord,I have almost forgotten the worm this seven days.”Drinian asked him why,if that were so,he rode so continually in the northern woods.“My lord,” said the Prince,“I have seen there the most beautiful thing that was ever made.” “Fair Prince,” said Drinian,“of your courtesy let me ride with you tomorrow,that I also may see this fair thing.”“With a good will,” said Rilian.

Then in good time on the next day they saddled their horses and rode a great gallop into the northern woods and alighted at that same fountain where the Queen got her death.Drinian thought it strange that the Prince should choose that place of all places,to linger in.And there they rested till it came to high noon：and at noon Drinian looked up and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen；and she stood at the north side of the fountain and said no word but beckoned to the Prince with her hand as if she bade him come to her.And she was tall and great,shining,and wrapped in a thin garment as green as poison.And the Prince stared at her like a man out of his wits.But suddenly the lady was gone,Drinian knew not where；and the two returned to Cair Paravel.It stuck in Drinian's mind that this shining green woman was evil.

Drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the King,but he had little wish to be a blab and a tale-bearer and so he held his tongue.But afterwards he wished he had spoken.For next day Prince Rilian rode out alone.That night he came not back,and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in Narnia nor any neighbouring land,and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything else was ever found.

Then Drinian in the bitterness of his heart went to Caspian and said,“Lord King,slay me speedily as a great traitor：for by my silence I have destroyed your son.” And he told him the story.

Then Caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the Lord Drinian to kill him,and Drinian stood still as a stock for the death blow.But when the axe was raised,Caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out,“I have lost my queen and my son：shall I lose my friend also?” And he fell upon the Lord Drinian's neck and embraced him and both wept,and their friendship was not broken.

Such was the story of Rilian.And when it was over,Jill said,“I bet that serpent and that woman were the same person.”

“True,true,we think the same as you,” hooted the owls.

“But we don't think she killed the Prince,” said Glimfeather,“because no bones—”

“We know she didn't,” said Scrubb.“Aslan told Pole he was still alive somewhere.”

“That almost makes it worse,” said the oldest owl.“It means she has some use for him,and some deep scheme against Narnia.Long,long ago,at the very beginning,a White Witch came out of the North and bound our land in snow and ice for a hundred years.And we think this may be one of the same crew.”

“Very well,then,” said Scrubb.“Pole and I have got to find this Prince.Can you help us?”

“Have you any clue,you two?” asked Glimfeather.

“Yes,” said Scrubb.“We know we've got to go north.And we know we've got to reach the ruins of a giant city.”

At this there was a greater tu-whooing than ever,and noises of birds shifting their feet and ruffling their feathers,and then all the owls started speaking at once.They all explained how very sorry they were that they themselves could not go with the children on their search for the lost Prince.

“You'd want to travel by day,and we'd want to travel by night,” they said.“It wouldn't do,wouldn't do.” One or two owls added that even here in the ruined tower it wasn't nearly so dark as it had been when they began,and that the parliament had been going on quite long enough.In fact,the mere mention of a journey to the ruined city of giants seemed to have damped the spirits of those birds.

But Glimfeather said：“If they want to go that way – into Ettinsmoor – we must take them to one of the Marsh-wiggles.They're the only people who can help them much.”

“True,true.Do,” said the owls.

“Come on,then,” said Glimfeather.“I'll take one.Who'll take the other?It must be done tonight.”

“I will；as far as the Marsh-wiggles,” said another owl.

“Are you ready?” said Glimfeather to Jill.

“I think Pole's asleep,” said Scrubb.

CHAPTER 5

Puddleglum

Jill was asleep.Ever since the owls' parliament began she had been yawning terribly and now she had dropped off.She was not at all pleased at being waked again,and at finding herself lying on bare boards in a dusty belfry sort of place,completely dark,and almost completely full of owls.She was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else – and not,apparently,for bed – on the Owl's back.

“Oh,come on,Pole,buck up,” said Scrubb's voice.“After all,it is an adventure.”

“I'm sick of adventures,” said Jill crossly.

She did,however,consent to climb on to Glimfeather's back,and was thoroughly waked up(for a while)by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night.The moon had disappeared and there were no stars.Far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground；doubtless,in one of the towers of Cair Paravel.It made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom,snug in bed,watching the firelight on the walls.

She put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her.It was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away；Scrubb and his owl were talking to one another.“He doesn't sound tired,” thought Jill.She did not realise that he had been on great adventures in that world before and that the Narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the Eastern Seas with King Caspian.

Jill had to pinch herself to keep awake,for she knew that if she dozed on Glimfeather's back she would probably fall off.When at last the two owls ended their flight,she climbed stiffly off Glimfeather and found herself on flat ground.A chilly wind was blowing and they appeared to be in a place without trees.“Tu-whoo,tu-whoo!”Glimfeather was calling.“Wake up,Puddleglum.Wake up.It is on the Lion's business.”

For a long time there was no reply.Then,a long way off,a dim light appeared and began to come nearer.With it came a voice.

“Owls ahoy!” it said.“What is it?Is the King dead?Has an enemy landed in Narnia?Is it a flood?Or dragons?”

When the light reached them,it turned out to be that of a large lantern.Jill could see very little of the person who held it.He seemed to be all legs and arms.The owls were talking to him,explaining everything,but she was too tired to listen.She tried to wake herself up a bit when she realised that they were saying goodbye to her.But she could never afterwards remember much except that,sooner or later,she and Scrubb were stooping to enter a low doorway and then(oh,thank heavens)were lying down on something soft and warm,and a voice was saying：

“There you are.Best we can do.You'll lie cold and hard.Damp too,I shouldn't wonder.Won't sleep a wink,most likely；even if there isn't a thunderstorm or a flood or the wigwam doesn't fall down on top of us all,as I've known them do.Must make the best of it—” But she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.

When the children woke late the next morning they found that they were lying,very dry and warm,on beds of straw in a dark place.A triangular opening let in the daylight.

“Where on earth are we?” asked Jill.

“In the wigwam of a Marsh-wiggle,” said Eustace.

“A what?”

“A Marsh-wiggle.Don't ask me what it is.I couldn't see it last night.I'm getting up.Let's go and look for it.”

“How beastly one feels after sleeping in one's clothes,” said Jill,sitting up.

“I was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress,” said Eustace.

“Or wash either,I suppose,” said Jill scornfully.But Scrubb had already got up,yawned,shaken himself,and crawled out of the wigwam.Jill did the same.

What they found outside was quite unlike the bit of Narnia they had seen on the day before.They were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless channels of water.The islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes.Sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent.Clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again – duck,snipe,bitterns,herons.Many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about,but all at a good distance from one another；for Marshwiggles are people who like privacy.

Except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them,there was not a tree in sight.Eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon,and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there.To the North there were low pale-coloured hills,in places bastioned with rock.The rest was all flat marsh.It would have been a depressing place on a wet evening.Seen under a morning sun,with a fresh wind blowing,and the air filled with the crying of birds,there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness.The children felt their spirits rise.

“Where has the thingummy got to,I wonder?”said Jill.

“The Marsh-wiggle,” said Scrubb,as if he were rather proud of knowing the word.“I expect –hullo,that must be him.” And then they both saw him,sitting with his back to them,fishing,about fifty yards away.He had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.

“I suppose we'd better go and speak to him,” said Jill.Scrubb nodded.They both felt a little nervous.

As they drew nearer,the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks,a tightly shut mouth,a sharp nose,and no beard.He was wearing a high,pointed hat like a steeple,with an enormously wide flat brim.The hair,if it could be called hair,which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey,and each lock was flat rather than round,so that they were like tiny reeds.His expression was solemn,his complexion muddy,and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.

“Good morning,Guests,” he said.“Though when I say good I don't mean it won't probably turn to rain or it might be snow,or fog,or thunder.You didn't get any sleep,I dare say.”

“Yes we did,though,” said Jill.“We had a lovely night.”

“Ah,” said the Marsh-wiggle,shaking his head.“I see you're making the best of a bad job.That's right.You've been well brought up,you have.You've learned to put a good face on things.”

“Please,we don't know your name,” said Scrubb.

“Puddleglum's my name.But it doesn't matter if you forget it.I can always tell you again.”

The children sat down on each side of him.They now saw that he had very long legs and arms,so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's,he would be taller than most men when he stood up.The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's,and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water.He was dressed in earth-coloured clothes that hung loose about him.

“I'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner,” said Puddleglum.“Though I shouldn't wonder if I didn't get any.And you won't like them much if I do.”

“Why not?” asked Scrubb.

“Why,it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals,though I've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it.All the same,while I am a-catching of them,if you two could try to light the fire – no harm in trying!The wood's behind the wigwam.It may be wet.You could light it inside the wigwam,and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes.Or you could light it outside,and then the rain would come and put it out.Here's my tinder-box.You won't know how to use it,I expect.”

But Scrubb had learnt that sort of thing on his last adventure.The children ran back together to the wigwam,found the wood(which was perfectly dry)and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty.Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash– not a very nice one – in the nearest channel.After that she saw to the fire and he had a wash.Both felt a good deal fresher,but very hungry.

Presently the Marsh-wiggle joined them.In spite of his expectation of catching no eels,he had a dozen or so,which he had already skinned and cleaned.He put a big pot on,mended the fire,and lit his pipe.Marsh-wiggles smoke a very strange,heavy sort of tobacco(some people say they mix it with mud)and the children noticed the smoke from Puddleglum's pipe hardly rose in the air at all.It trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist.It was very black and set Scrubb coughing.

“Now,” said Puddleglum.“Those eels will take a mortal long time to cook,and either of you might faint with hunger before they're done.I knew a little girl – but I'd better not tell you that story.It might lower your spirits,and that's a thing I never do.So,to keep your minds off your hunger,we may as well talk about our plans.”

“Yes,do let's,” said Jill.“Can you help us to find Prince Rilian?”

The Marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible.

“Well,I don't know that you'd call it help,” he said.“I don't know that anyone can exactly help.It stands to reason we're not likely to get very far on a journey to the North,not at this time of the year,with the winter coming on soon and all.And an early winter too,by the look of things.But you mustn't let that make you down-hearted.Very likely,what with enemies,and mountains,and rivers to cross,and losing our way,and next to nothing to eat,and sore feet,we'll hardly notice the weather.And if we don't get far enough to do any good,we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry.”

Both children noticed that he said “we”,not“you”,and both exclaimed at the same moment,“Are you coming with us?”

“Oh yes,I'm coming of course.Might as well,you see.I don't suppose we shall ever see the King back in Narnia,now that he's once set off for foreign parts；and he had a nasty cough when he left.Then there's Trumpkin.He's failing fast.And you'll find there'll have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer.And I shouldn't wonder if some enemy attacked us.Mark my words.”

“And how shall we start?” said Scrubb.

“Well,” said the Marsh-wiggle very slowly,“all the others who ever went looking for Prince Rilian started from that same fountain where the Lord Drinian saw the lady.They went north,mostly.And as none of them ever came back,we can't exactly say how they got on.”

“We've got to start by finding a ruined city of giants,” said Jill.“Aslan said so.”

“Got to start by finding it,have we?” answered Puddleglum.“Not allowed to start by looking for it,I suppose?”

“That's what I meant,of course,” said Jill.“And then,when we've found it—”

“Yes,when!” said Puddleglum very drily.

“Doesn't anyone know where it is?” asked Scrubb.

“I don't know about Anyone,” said Puddleglum.“And I won't say I haven't heard of that Ruined City.You wouldn't start from the fountain,though.You'd have to go across Ettinsmoor.That's where the Ruined City is,if it's anywhere.But I've been as far in that direction as most people and I never got to any ruins,so I won't deceive you.”

“Where's Ettinsmoor?” said Scrubb.

“Look over there northward,” said Puddleglum,pointing with his pipe.“See those hills and bits of cliff?That's the beginning of Ettinsmoor.But there's a river between it and us；the river Shribble.No bridges,of course.”

“I suppose we can ford it,though,” said Scrubb.

“Well,it has been forded,” admitted the Marshwiggle.

“Perhaps we shall meet people on Ettinsmoor who can tell us the way,” said Jill.

“You're right about meeting people,” said Puddleglum.

“What sort of people live there?” she asked.

“It's not for me to say they aren't all right in their own way,” answered Puddleglum.“If you like their way.”

“Yes,but what are they?” pressed Jill.“There are so many queer creatures in this country.I mean,are they animals,or birds,or dwarfs,or what?”

The Marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle.“Phew!”he said.“Don't you know?I thought the owls had told you.They're giants.”

Jill winced.She had never liked giants even in books,and she had once met one in a nightmare.Then she saw Scrubb's face,which had turned rather green,and thought to herself,“I bet he's in a worse funk than I am.” That made her feel braver.

“The King told me long ago,” said Scrubb – “that time when I was with him at sea – that he'd jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute.”

“That's true enough,” said Puddleglum.“They're at peace with us all right.As long as we stay on our own side of the Shribble,they won't do us any harm.Over on their side,on the Moor – Still,there's always a chance.If we don't get near any of them,and if none of them forget themselves,and if we're not seen,it's just possible we might get a long way.”

“Look here!” said Scrubb,suddenly losing his temper,as people so easily do when they have been frightened.“I don't believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you're making out；any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet.I don't think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that.”

He quite expected the Marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply,but he only said,“That's the spirit,Scrubb.That's the way to talk.Put a good face on it.But we all need to be very careful about our tempers,seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together.Won't do to quarrel,you know.At any rate,don't begin it too soon.I know these expeditions usually end that way：knifing one another,I shouldn't wonder,before all's done.But the longer we can keep off it—”

“Well,if you feel it's so hopeless,” interrupted Scrubb,“I think you'd better stay behind.Pole and I can go on alone,can't we,Pole?”

“Shut up and don't be an ass,Scrubb,” said Jill hastily,terrified lest the Marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.

“Don't you lose heart,Pole,” said Puddleglum.“I'm coming,sure and certain.I'm not going to lose an opportunity like this.It will do me good.They all say – I mean,the other wiggles all say – that I'm too flighty；don't take life seriously enough.If they've said it once,they've said it a thousand times.'Puddleglum,' they've said,'you're altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits.You've got to learn that life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie.You want something to sober you down a bit.We're only saying it for your own good,Puddleglum.' That's what they say.Now a job like this – a journey up north just as winter's beginning,looking for a Prince who probably isn't there,by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen – will be just the thing.If that doesn't steady a chap,I don't know what will.” And he rubbed his big froglike hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime.“And now,” he added,“let's see how those eels are getting on.”

When the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each.At first the Marsh-wiggle wouldn't believe that they really liked it,and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them,he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly.“What's food for wiggles may be poison for humans,I shouldn't wonder,” he said.After the meal they had tea,in tins(as you've seen men having it who are working on the road),and Puddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle.He offered the children some of it,but they thought it very nasty.

The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start the next morning.Puddleglum,being far the biggest,said he would carry three blankets,with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them.Jill was to carry the remains of the eels,some biscuit,and the tinder-box.Scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and Jill's when they didn't want to wear them.Scrubb(who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the East under Caspian)had Puddleglum's second-best bow,and Puddleglum had his best one；though he said that what with winds,and damp bowstrings,and bad light,and cold fingers,it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything.He and Scrubb both had swords – Scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Cair Paravel –but Jill had to be content with her knife.There would have been a quarrel about this,but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said,“Ah,there you are.I thought as much.That's what usually happens on adventures.”This made them both shut up.

All three went to bed early in the wigwam.This time the children really had a rather bad night.That was because Puddleglum,after saying,“You'd better try for some sleep,you two；not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight,”instantly went off into such a loud,continuous snore that,when Jill at last got to sleep,she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.

CHAPTER 6

The Wild Wastelands of the North

At about nine o'clock the next morning three lonely figures might have been seen picking their way across the Shribble by the shoals and stepping-stones.It was a shallow,noisy stream,and even Jill was not wet above her knees when they reached the northern bank.About fifty yards ahead,the land rose up to the beginning of the moor,everywhere steeply,and often in cliffs.

“I suppose that's our way!” said Scrubb,pointing left and west to where a stream flowed down from the moor through a shallow gorge.But the Marshwiggle shook his head.

“The giants mainly live along the side of that gorge,” he said.“You might say the gorge was like a street to them.We'll do better straight ahead,even though it's a bit steep.”

They found a place where they could scramble up,and in about ten minutes stood panting at the top.They cast a longing look back at the valleyland of Narnia and then turned their faces to the North.The vast,lonely moor stretched on and up as far as they could see.On their left was rockier ground.Jill thought that must be the edge of the giants' gorge and did not much care about looking in that direction.They set out.

It was good,springy ground for walking,and a day of pale winter sunlight.As they got deeper into the moor,the loneliness increased：one could hear peewits and see an occasional hawk.When they halted in the middle of the morning for a rest and a drink in a little hollow by a stream,Jill was beginning to feel that she might enjoy adventures after all,and said so.

“We haven't had any yet,” said the Marsh-wiggle.

Walks after the first halt – like school mornings after break or railway journeys after changing trains – never go on as they were before.When they set out again,Jill noticed that the rocky edge of the gorge had drawn nearer.And the rocks were less flat,more upright,than they had been.In fact they were like little towers of rock.And what funny shapes they were!

“I do believe,” thought Jill,“that all the stories about giants might have come from those funny rocks.If you were coming along here when it was half dark,you could easily think those piles of rock were giants.Look at that one,now!You could almost imagine that the lump on top was a head.It would be rather too big for the body,but it would do well enough for an ugly giant.And all that bushy stuff – I suppose it's heather and birds' nests,really – would do quite well for hair and beard.And the things sticking out on each side are quite like ears.They'd be horribly big,but then I dare say giants would have big ears,like elephants.And – oo-oh!—”

Her blood froze.The thing moved.It was a real giant.There was no mistaking it；she had seen it turn its head.She had caught a glimpse of the great,stupid,puff-cheeked face.All the things were giants,not rocks.There were forty or fifty of them,all in a row；obviously standing with their feet on the bottom of the gorge and their elbows resting on the edge of the gorge,just as men might stand leaning on a wall – lazy men,on a fine morning after breakfast.

“Keep straight on,” whispered Puddleglum,who had noticed them too.“Don't look at them.And whatever you do,don't run.They'd all be after us in a moment.”

So they kept on,pretending not to have seen the giants.It was like walking past the gate of a house where there is a fierce dog,only far worse.There were dozens and dozens of these giants.They didn't look angry – or kind – or interested at all.There was no sign that they had seen the travellers.

Then – whizz-whizz-whizz – some heavy object came hurtling through the air,and with a crash a big boulder fell about twenty paces ahead of them.And then – thud!– another fell twenty feet behind.

“Are they aiming at us?” asked Scrubb.

“No,” said Puddleglum.“We'd be a good deal safer if they were.They're trying to hit that – that cairn over there to the right.They won't hit it,you know.It's safe enough；they're such very bad shots.They play cock-shies most fine mornings.About the only game they're clever enough to understand.”

It was a horrible time.There seemed no end to the line of giants,and they never ceased hurling stones,some of which fell extremely close.Quite apart from the real danger,the very sight and sound of their faces and voices were enough to scare anyone.Jill tried not to look at them.

After about twenty-five minutes the giants apparently had a quarrel.This put an end to the cock-shies,but it is not pleasant to be within a mile of quarrelling giants.They stormed and jeered at one another in long,meaningless words of about twenty syllables each.They foamed and gibbered and jumped in their rage,and each jump shook the earth like a bomb.They lammed each other on the head with great,clumsy stone hammers；but their skulls were so hard that the hammers bounced off again,and then the monster who had given the blow would drop his hammer and howl with pain because it had stung his fingers.But he was so stupid that he would do exactly the same thing a minute later.This was a good thing in the long run,for by the end of an hour all the giants were so hurt that they sat down and began to cry.When they sat down,their heads were below the edge of the gorge,so that you saw them no more.But Jill could hear them howling and blubbering and boo-hooing like great babies even after the place was a mile behind.

That night they bivouacked on the bare moor,and Puddleglum showed the children how to make the best of their blankets by sleeping back to back.(The backs keep each other warm and you can then have both blankets on top.)But it was chilly even so,and the ground was hard and lumpy.The Marsh-wiggle told them they would feel more comfortable if only they thought how very much colder it would be later on and further north；but this didn't cheer them up at all.

They travelled across Ettinsmoor for many days,saving the bacon and living chiefly on the moorfowl(they were not,of course,talking birds)which Eustace and the wiggle shot.Jill rather envied Eustace for being able to shoot；he had learned it on his voyage with King Caspian.As there were countless streams on the moor,they were never short of water.Jill thought that when,in books,people live on what they shoot,it never tells you what a long,smelly,messy job it is plucking and cleaning dead birds,and how cold it makes your fingers.But the great thing was that they met hardly any giants.One giant saw them,but he only roared with laughter and stumped away about his own business.

About the tenth day,they reached a place where the country changed.They came to the northern edge of the moor and looked down a long,steep slope into a different,and grimmer,land.At the bottom of the slope were cliffs：beyond these,a country of high mountains,dark precipices,stony valleys,ravines so deep and narrow that one could not see far into them,and rivers that poured out of echoing gorges to plunge sullenly into black depths.Needless to say,it was Puddleglum who pointed out a sprinkling of snow on the more distant slopes.

“But there'll be more on the north side of them,I shouldn't wonder,” he added.

It took them some time to reach the foot of the slope and,when they did,they looked down from the top of the cliffs at a river running below them from west to east.It was walled in by precipices on the far side as well as on their own,and it was green and sunless,full of rapids and waterfalls.The roar of it shook the earth even where they stood.

“The bright side of it is,” said Puddleglum,“that if we break our necks getting down the cliff,then we're safe from being drowned in the river.”

“What about that?” said Scrubb suddenly,pointing upstream to their left.Then they all looked and saw the last thing they were expecting– a bridge.And what a bridge,too!It was a huge,single arch that spanned the gorge from cliff-top to cliff-top；and the crown of that arch was as high above the cliff-tops as the dome of St Paul's is above the street.

“Why,it must be a giants' bridge!” said Jill.

“Or a sorcerer's,more likely,” said Puddleglum.“We've got to look out for enchantments in a place like this.I think it's a trap.I think it'll turn into mist and melt away just when we're out on the middle of it.”

“Oh,for goodness' sake,don't be such a wet blanket,” said Scrubb.“Why on earth shouldn't it be a proper bridge?”

“Do you think any of the giants we've seen would have sense to build a thing like that?” said Puddleglum.

“But mightn't it have been built by other giants?”said Jill.“I mean,by giants who lived hundreds of years ago,and were far cleverer than the modern kind?It might have been built by the same ones who built the giant city we're looking for.And that would mean we were on the right track – the old bridge leading to the old city!”

“That's a real brainwave,Pole,” said Scrubb.“It must be that.Come on.”

So they turned and went to the bridge.And when they reached it,it certainly seemed solid enough.The single stones were as big as those at Stonehenge and must have been squared by good masons once,though now they were cracked and crumbled.The balustrade had apparently been covered with rich carvings,of which some traces remained；mouldering faces and forms of giants,minotaurs,squids,centipedes,and dreadful gods.Puddleglum still didn't trust it,but he consented to cross it with the children.

The climb up to the crown of the arch was long and heavy.In many places the great stones had dropped out,leaving horrible gaps through which you looked down on the river foaming thousands of feet below.They saw an eagle fly through under their feet.And the higher they went,the colder it grew,and the wind blew so that they could hardly keep their footing.It seemed to shake the bridge.

When they reached the top and could look down the further slope of the bridge,they saw what looked like the remains of an ancient giant road stretching away before them into the heart of the mountains.Many stones of its pavement were missing and there were wide patches of grass between those that remained.And riding towards them on that ancient road were two people of normal grown-up human size.

“Keep on.Move towards them,” said Puddleglum.“Anyone you meet in a place like this is as likely as not to be an enemy,but we mustn't let them think we're afraid.”

By the time they had stepped off the end of the bridge on to the grass,the two strangers were quite close.One was a knight in complete armour with his visor down.His armour and his horse were black；there was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear.The other was a lady on a white horse,a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give it a lump of sugar at once.But the lady,who rode side-saddle and wore a long,fluttering dress of dazzling green,was lovelier still.

“Good day,t-r-r-avellers,” she cried out in a voice as sweet as the sweetest bird's song,trilling her R's delightfully.“Some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste.”

“That's as may be,Ma'am,” said Puddleglum very stiffly and on his guard.

“We're looking for the ruined city of the giants,”said Jill.

“The r-r-ruined city?” said the Lady.“That is a strange place to be seeking.What will you do if you find it?”

“We've got to—” began Jill,but Puddleglum interrupted.

“Begging your pardon,Ma'am.But we don't know you or your friend – a silent chap,isn't he?–and you don't know us.And we'd as soon not talk to strangers about our business,if you don't mind.Shall we have a little rain soon,do you think?”

The Lady laughed：the richest,most musical laugh you can imagine.“Well,children,” she said,“you have a wise,solemn old guide with you.I think none the worse of him for keeping his own counsel,but I'll be free with mine.I have often heard the name of the giantish City Ruinous,but never met any who would tell me the way thither.This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang,where dwell the gentle giants.They are as mild,civil,prudent,and courteous as those of Ettinsmoor are foolish,fierce,savage,and given to all beastliness.And in Harfang you may or may not hear tidings of the City Ruinous,but certainly you shall find good lodgings and merry hosts.You would be wise to winter there or,at the least,to tarry certain days for your ease and refreshment.There you shall have steaming baths,soft beds,and bright hearths；and the roast and the baked and the sweet and the strong will be on the table four times in a day.”

“I say!” exclaimed Scrubb.“That's something like!Think of sleeping in a bed again.”

“Yes,and having a hot bath,” said Jill.“Do you think they'll ask us to stay?We don't know them,you see.”

“Only tell them,” answered the Lady,“that She of the Green Kirtle salutes them by you,and has sent them two fair Southern children for the Autumn Feast.”

“Oh,thank you,thank you ever so much,” said Jill and Scrubb.

“But have a care,” said the Lady.“On whatever day you reach Harfang,that you come not to the door too late.For they shut their gates a few hours after noon,and it is the custom of the castle that they open to none when once they have drawn bolt,how hard so ever he knock.”

The children thanked her again,with shining eyes,and the Lady waved to them.The Marshwiggle took off his steeple-hat and bowed very stiffly.Then the silent Knight and the Lady started walking their horses up the slope of the bridge with a great clatter of hoofs.

“Well!” said Puddleglum.“I'd give a good deal to know where she's coming from and where she's going.Not the sort you expect to meet in the wilds of Giantland,is she?Up to no good,I'll be bound.”

“Oh,rot!” said Scrubb.“I thought she was simply super.And think of hot meals and warm rooms.I do hope Harfang isn't a long way off.”

“Same here,” said Jill.“And hadn't she a scrumptious dress?And the horse!”

“All the same,” said Puddleglum,“I wish we knew a bit more about her.”

“I was going to ask her all about herself,” said Jill.“But how could I when you wouldn't tell her anything about us?”

“Yes,” said Scrubb.“And why were you so stiff and unpleasant?Didn't you like them?”

“Them?” said the Wiggle.“Who's them?I only saw one.”

“Didn't you see the Knight?” asked Jill.

“I saw a suit of armour,” said Puddleglum.“Why didn't he speak?”

“I expect he was shy,” said Jill.“Or perhaps he just wants to look at her and listen to her lovely voice.I'm sure I would if I was him.”

“I was wondering,” remarked Puddleglum,“what you'd really see if you lifted up the visor of that helmet and looked inside.”

“Hang it all,” said Scrubb.“Think of the shape of the armour!What could be inside it except a man?”

“How about a skeleton?” asked the Marsh-wiggle with ghastly cheerfulness.“Or perhaps,” he added as an afterthought,“nothing at all.I mean,nothing you could see.Someone invisible.”

“Really,Puddleglum,” said Jill with a shudder,“you do have the most horrible ideas.How do you think of them all?”

“Oh,bother his ideas!” said Scrubb.“He's always expecting the worst,and he's always wrong.Let's think about those Gentle Giants and get on to Harfang as quickly as we can.I wish I knew how far it is.”

And now they nearly had the first of those quarrels which Puddleglum had foretold：not that Jill and Scrubb hadn't been sparring and snapping at each other a good deal before,but this was the first really serious disagreement.Puddleglum didn't want them to go to Harfang at all.He said that he didn't know what a giant's idea of being “gentle”might be,and that,anyway,Aslan's signs had said nothing about staying with giants,gentle or otherwise.

The children,on the other hand,who were sick of wind and rain,and skinny fowl roasted over campfires,and hard,cold earth to sleep on,were absolutely dead set to visit the Gentle Giants.In the end,Puddleglum agreed to do so,but only on one condition.The others must give an absolute promise that,unless he gave them leave,they would not tell the Gentle Giants that they came from Narnia or that they were looking for Prince Rilian.And they gave him this promise,and went on.

After that talk with the Lady things got worse in two different ways.In the first place the country was much harder.The road led through endless,narrow valleys down which a cruel north wind was always blowing in their faces.There was nothing that could be used for firewood,and there were no nice little hollows to camp in,as there had been on the moor.And the ground was all stony,and made your feet sore by day and every bit of you sore by night.

In the second place,whatever the Lady had intended by telling them about Harfang,the actual effect on the children was a bad one.They could think about nothing but beds and baths and hot meals and how lovely it would be to get indoors.They never talked about Aslan,or even about the lost prince,now.And Jill gave up her habit of repeating the signs over to herself every night and morning.She said to herself,at first,that she was too tired,but she soon forgot all about it.And though you might have expected that the idea of having a good time at Harfang would have made them more cheerful,it really made them more sorry for themselves and more grumpy and snappy with each other and with Puddleglum.

At last they came one afternoon to a place where the gorge in which they were travelling widened out,and dark fir woods rose on either side.They looked ahead and saw that they had come through the mountains.Before them lay a desolate,rocky plain：beyond it,further mountains capped with snow.But between them and those further mountains rose a low hill with an irregular flattish top.

“Look!Look!” cried Jill,and pointed across the plain；and there,through the gathering dusk,from beyond the flat hill,everyone saw lights.Lights!Not moonlight,nor fires,but a homely cheering row of lighted windows.If you have never been in the wild wilderness,day and night,for weeks,you will hardly understand how they felt.

“Harfang!” cried Scrubb and Jill in glad,excited voices；and,“Harfang,” repeated Puddleglum in a dull,gloomy voice.But he added,“Hullo!Wild geese!” and had the bow off his shoulder in a second.He brought down a good fat goose.It was far too late to think of reaching Harfang that day.But they had a hot meal and a fire,and started the night warmer than they had been for over a week.After the fire had gone out,the night grew bitterly cold,and when they woke next morning,their blankets were stiff with frost.

“Never mind!” said Jill,stamping her feet.“Hot baths tonight!”

CHAPTER 7

The Hill of the Strange Trenches

There is no denying it was a beast of a day.Overhead was a sunless sky,muffled in clouds that were heavy with snow；underfoot,a black frost；blowing over it,a wind that felt as if it would take your skin off.When they got down into the plain they found that this part of the ancient road was much more ruinous than any they had yet seen.They had to pick their way over great broken stones and between boulders and across rubble：hard going for sore feet.And,however tired they got,it was far too cold for a halt.

At about ten o'clock the first tiny snowflakes came loitering down and settled on Jill's arm.Ten minutes later they were falling quite thickly.In twenty minutes the ground was noticeably white.And by the end of half an hour a good steady snowstorm,which looked as if it meant to last all day,was driving in their faces so that they could hardly see.

In order to understand what followed,you must keep on remembering how little they could see.As they drew near the low hill which separated them from the place where the lighted windows had appeared,they had no general view of it at all.It was a question of seeing the next few paces ahead,and,even for that,you had to screw up your eyes.Needless to say,they were not talking.

When they reached the foot of the hill they caught a glimpse of what might be rocks on each side – squarish rocks,if you looked at them carefully,but no one did.All were more concerned with the ledge right in front of them which barred their way.It was about four feet high.The Marshwiggle,with his long legs,had no difficulty in jumping onto the top of it,and he then helped the others up.It was a nasty wet business for them,though not for him,because the snow now lay quite deep on the ledge.They then had a stiff climb – Jill fell once – up very rough ground for about a hundred yards,and came to a second ledge.There were four of these ledges altogether,at quite irregular intervals.

As they struggled on to the fourth ledge,there was no mistaking the fact that they were now at the top of the flat hill.Up till now the slope had given them some shelter；here,they got the full fury of the wind.For the hill,oddly enough,was quite as flat on top as it had looked from a distance：a great level tableland which the storm tore across without resistance.In most places the snow was still hardly lying at all,for the wind kept catching it up off the ground in sheets and clouds,and hurling it in their faces.And round their feet little eddies of snow ran about as you sometimes see them doing over ice.And,indeed,in many places,the surface was almost as smooth as ice.But to make matters worse it was crossed and criss-crossed with curious banks or dykes,which sometimes divided it up into squares and oblongs.All these of course had to be climbed；they varied from two to five feet in height and were about a couple of yards thick.On the north side of each bank the snow already lay in deep drifts；and after each climb you came down into a drift and got wet.

Fighting her way forward with hood up and head down and numb hands inside her cloak,Jill had glimpses of other odd things on that horrible tableland – things on her right that looked vaguely like factory chimneys,and,on her left,a huge cliff,straighter than any cliff ought to be.But she wasn't at all interested and didn't give them a thought.The only things she thought about were her cold hands(and nose and chin and ears)and hot baths and beds at Harfang.

Suddenly she skidded,slid about five feet,and found herself to her horror sliding down into a dark,narrow chasm which seemed that moment to have appeared in front of her.Half a second later she had reached the bottom.She appeared to be in a kind of trench or groove,only about three feet wide.And though she was shaken by the fall,almost the first thing she noticed was the relief of being out of the wind；for the walls of the trench rose high above her.The next thing she noticed was,naturally,the anxious faces of Scrubb and Puddleglum looking down at her from the edge.

“Are you hurt,Pole?” shouted Scrubb.

“Both legs broken,I shouldn't wonder,” shouted Puddleglum.

Jill stood up and explained that she was all right,but they'd have to help her out.

“What is it you've fallen into?” asked Scrubb.

“It's a kind of trench,or it might be a kind of sunken lane or something,” said Jill.“It runs quite straight.”

“Yes,by Jove,” said Scrubb.“And it runs due north!I wonder,is it a sort of road?If it was,we'd be out of this infernal wind down there.Is there a lot of snow at the bottom?”

“Hardly any.It all blows over the top,I suppose.”

“What happens further on?”

“Half a sec.I'll go and see,” said Jill.She got up and walked along the trench；but before she had gone far,it turned sharply to the right.She shouted this information back to the others.

“What's round the corner?” asked Scrubb.

Now it happened that Jill had the same feeling about twisty passages and dark places underground,or even nearly underground,that Scrubb had about the edges of cliffs.She had no intention of going round that corner alone；especially when she heard Puddleglum bawling out from behind her：

“Be careful,Pole.It's just the sort of place that might lead to a dragon's cave.And in a giant country,there might be giant earthworms or giant beetles.”

“I don't think it goes anywhere much,” said Jill,coming hastily back.

“I'm jolly well going to have a look,” said Scrubb.“What do you mean by anywhere much,I should like to know?” So he sat down on the edge of the trench(everyone was too wet by now to bother about being a bit wetter)and then dropped in.He pushed past Jill and,though he didn't say anything,she felt sure that he knew she had funked it.So she followed him closely,but took care not to get in front of him.

It proved,however,a disappointing exploration.They went round the right-hand turn and straight on for a few paces.Here there was a choice of ways：straight on again,or sharp to the right.“That's no good,” said Scrubb,glancing down the right-hand turn,“that would be taking us back – south.” He went straight on,but once more,in a few steps,they found a second turn to the right.But this time there was no choice of ways,for the trench they had been following here came to a dead end.

“No good,” grunted Scrubb.Jill lost no time in turning and leading the way back.When they returned to the place where Jill had first fallen in,the Marsh-wiggle with his long arms had no difficulty in pulling them out.

But it was dreadful to be out on top again.Down in those narrow slits of trenches,their ears had almost begun to thaw.They had been able to see clearly and breathe easily and hear each other speak without shouting.It was absolute misery to come back into the withering coldness.And it did seem hard when Puddleglum chose that moment for saying：

“Are you still sure of those signs,Pole?What's the one we ought to be after,now?”

“Oh,come on!Bother the signs,” said Pole.“Something about someone mentioning Aslan's name,I think.But I'm jolly well not going to give a recitation here.”

As you see,she had got the order wrong.That was because she had given up saying the signs over every night.She still really knew them,if she troubled to think；but she was no longer so “pat” in her lesson as to be sure of reeling them off in the right order at a moment's notice and without thinking.Puddleglum's question annoyed her because,deep down inside her,she was already annoyed with herself for not knowing the Lion's lesson quite so well as she felt she ought to have known it.This annoyance,added to the misery of being very cold and tired,made her say,“Bother the signs.” She didn't perhaps quite mean it.

“Oh,that was next,was it?” said Puddleglum.“Now I wonder,are you right?Got 'em mixed,I shouldn't wonder.It seems to me,this hill,this flat place we're on,is worth stopping to have a look at.Have you noticed—”

“Oh,Lor!” said Scrubb.“Is this a time for stopping to admire the view?For goodness' sake let's get on.”

“Oh,look,look,look,” cried Jill and pointed.Everyone turned,and everyone saw.Some way off to the north,and a good deal higher up than the tableland on which they stood,a line of lights had appeared.This time,even more obviously than when the travellers had seen them the night before,they were windows：smaller windows that made one think deliciously of bedrooms,and larger windows that made one think of great halls with fires roaring on the hearth and hot soup or juicy sirloins smoking on the table.

“Harfang!” exclaimed Scrubb.

“That's all very well,” said Puddleglum.“But what I was saying was—”

“Oh,shut up,” said Jill crossly.“We haven't a moment to lose.Don't you remember what the Lady said about their locking up so early?We must get there in time,we must,we must.We'll die if we're shut out on a night like this.”

“Well,it isn't exactly a night,not yet,” began Puddleglum；but the two children both said,“Come on,” and began stumbling forward on the slippery tableland as quickly as their legs would carry them.The Marsh-wiggle followed them；still talking,but now that they were forcing their way into the wind again,they could not have heard him even if they had wanted to.And they didn't want.They were thinking of baths and beds and hot drinks；and the idea of coming to Harfang too late and being shut out was almost unbearable.

In spite of their haste,it took them a long time to cross the flat top of that hill.And even when they had crossed it,there were still several ledges to climb down on the far side.But at last they reached the bottom and could see what Harfang was like.

It stood on a high crag,and in spite of its many towers was more a huge house than a castle.Obviously,the Gentle Giants feared no attack.There were windows in the outside wall quite close to the ground – a thing no one would have in a serious fortress.There were even odd little doors here and there,so that it would be quite easy to get in and out of the castle without going through the courtyard.This raised the spirits of Jill and Scrubb.It made the whole place look more friendly and less forbidding.

At first the height and steepness of the crag frightened them,but presently they noticed that there was an easier way up on the left and that the road wound up towards it.It was a terrible climb,after the journey they had already had,and Jill nearly gave up.Scrubb and Puddleglum had to help her for the last hundred yards.But in the end they stood before the castle gate.The portcullis was up and the gate open.

However tired you are,it takes some nerve to walk up to a giant's front door.In spite of all his previous warnings against Harfang,it was Puddleglum who showed most courage.

“Steady pace,now,” he said.“Don't look frightened,whatever you do.We've done the silliest thing in the world by coming at all；but now that we are here,we'd best put a bold face on it.”

With these words he strode forward into the gateway,stood still under the arch where the echo would help his voice,and called out as loud as he could.

“Ho!Porter!Guests who seek lodging.”

And while he was waiting for something to happen,he took off his hat and knocked off the heavy mass of snow which had gathered on its wide brim.

“I say,” whispered Scrubb to Jill.“He may be a wet blanket,but he has plenty of pluck – and cheek.”

A door opened,letting out a delicious glow of firelight,and the Porter appeared.Jill bit her lips for fear she should scream.He was not a perfectly enormous giant；that is to say,he was rather taller than an apple tree but nothing like so tall as a telegraph pole.He had bristly red hair,a leather jerkin with metal plates fastened all over it so as to make a kind of mail shirt,bare knees(very hairy indeed)and things like puttees on his legs.He stooped down and goggled at Puddleglum.

“And what sort of creature do you call yourself?”he said.

Jill took her courage in both hands.“Please,” she said,shouting up at the Giant.“The Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes the King of the Gentle Giants,and has sent us two Southern children and this Marsh-wiggle(his name's Puddleglum)to your Autumn Feast.– If it's quite convenient,of course,”she added.

“O-ho!” said the Porter.“That's quite a different story.Come in,little people,come in.You'd best come into the lodge while I'm sending word to his Majesty.” He looked at the children with curiosity.“Blue faces,” he said.“I didn't know they were that colour.Don't care about it myself.But I dare say you look quite nice to one another.Beetles fancy other beetles,they do say.”

“Our faces are only blue with cold,” said Jill.“We're not this colour really.”

“Then come in and get warm.Come in,little shrimps,” said the Porter.They followed him into the lodge.And though it was rather terrible to hear such a big door clang shut behind them,they forgot about it as soon as they saw the thing they had been longing for ever since supper time the previous night – a fire.And such a fire!It looked as if four or five whole trees were blazing on it,and it was so hot they couldn't go within yards of it.But they all flopped down on the brick floor,as near as they could bear the heat,and heaved great sighs of relief.

“Now,youngster,” said the Porter to another giant who had been sitting in the back of the room,staring at the visitors till it looked as if his eyes would start out of his head,“run across with this message to the House.” And he repeated what Jill had said to him.The younger Giant,after a final stare,and a great guffaw,left the room.

“Now,Froggy,” said the Porter to Puddleglum,“you look as if you wanted some cheering up.” He produced a black bottle very like Puddleglum's own,but about twenty times larger.“Let me see,let me see,” said the Porter.“I can't give you a cup or you'll drown yourself.Let me see.This salt-cellar will be just the thing.You needn't mention it over at the House.The silver will keep on getting over here,and it's not my fault.”

The salt-cellar was not very like one of ours,being narrower and more upright,and made quite a good cup for Puddleglum,when the giant set it down on the floor beside him.

The children expected Puddleglum to refuse it,distrusting the Gentle Giants as he did.But he muttered,“It's rather late to be thinking of precautions now that we're inside and the door shut behind us.” Then he sniffed at the liquor.“Smells all right,” he said.“But that's nothing to go by.Better make sure,” and took a sip.“Tastes all right,too,”he said.“But it might do that at the first sip.How does it go on?” He took a larger sip.“Ah!” he said.“But is it the same all the way down?” and took another.“There'll be something nasty at the bottom,I shouldn't wonder,” he said,and finished the drink.He licked his lips and remarked to the children,“This'll be a test,you see.If I curl up,or burst,or turn into a lizard,or something,then you'll know not to take anything they offer you.”

But the giant,who was too far up to hear the things Puddleglum had been saying under his breath,roared with laughter and said,“Why,Froggy,you're a man.See him put it away!”

“Not a man… Marsh-wiggle,” replied Puddleglum in a somewhat indistinct voice.“Not frog either：Marsh-wiggle.”

At that moment the door opened behind them and the younger giant came in saying,“They're to go to the throne-room at once.”

The children stood up but Puddleglum remained sitting and said,“Marsh-wiggle.Marsh-wiggle.Very respectable Marsh-wiggle.Respectowiggle.”

“Show them the way,young 'un,” said the giant Porter.“You'd better carry Froggy.He's had a drop more than's good for him.”

“Nothing wrong with me,” said Puddleglum.“Not a frog.Nothing frog with me.I'm a respectabiggle.”

But the young giant caught him up by the waist and signed to the children to follow.In this undignified way they crossed the courtyard.Puddleglum,held in the giant's fist,and vaguely kicking the air,did certainly look very like a frog.But they had little time to notice this,for they soon entered the great doorway of the main castle – both their hearts were beating faster than usual – and,after pattering along several corridors at a trot to keep up with the giant's paces,found themselves blinking in the light of an enormous room,where lamps glowed and a fire roared on the hearth and both were reflected from the gilding of roof and cornice.More giants than they could count stood on their left and right,all in magnificent robes；and on two thrones at the far end sat two huge shapes that appeared to be the King and Queen.

About twenty feet from the thrones,they stopped.Scrubb and Jill made an awkward attempt at a bow(girls are not taught how to curtsey at Experiment House)and the young Giant carefully put Puddleglum down on the floor,where he collapsed into a sort of sitting position.With his long limbs he looked,to tell the truth,uncommonly like a large spider.

CHAPTER 8

The House of Harfang

“Go on,Pole,do your stuff,” whispered Scrubb.Jill found that her mouth was so dry that she couldn't speak a word.She nodded savagely at Scrubb.

Thinking to himself that he would never forgive her(or Puddleglum either),Scrubb licked his lips and shouted up to the King giant.

“If you please,Sire,the Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes you by us and said you'd like to have us for your Autumn Feast.”

The giant King and Queen looked at each other,nodded to each other,and smiled in a way that Jill didn't exactly like.She liked the King better than the Queen.He had a fine,curled beard and a straight eagle-like nose,and was really rather goodlooking as giants go.The Queen was dreadfully fat and had a double chin and a fat,powdered face –which isn't a very nice thing at the best of times,and of course looks much worse when it is ten times too big.Then the King put out his tongue and licked his lips.Anyone might do that：but his tongue was so very large and red,and came out so unexpectedly,that it gave Jill quite a shock.

“Oh,what good children!” said the Queen.(“Perhaps she's the nice one after all,” thought Jill.)

“Yes indeed,” said the King.“Quite excellent children.We welcome you to our court.Give me your hands.”

He stretched down his great right hand – very clean and with any number of rings on the fingers,but also with terrible pointed nails.He was much too big to shake the hands which the children,in turn,held up to him；but he shook the arms.

“And what's that?” asked the King,pointing to Puddleglum.

“Reshpeckobiggle,” said Puddleglum.

“Oh!” screamed the Queen,gathering her skirts close about her ankles.“The horrid thing!It's alive.”

“He's quite all right,your Majesty,really,he is,”said Scrubb hastily.“You'll like him much better when you get to know him.I'm sure you will.”

I hope you won't lose all interest in Jill for the rest of the book if I tell you that at this moment she began to cry.There was a good deal of excuse for her.Her feet and hands and ears and nose were still only just beginning to thaw；melted snow was trickling off her clothes；she had had hardly anything to eat or drink that day；and her legs were aching so that she felt she could not go on standing much longer.Anyway,it did more good at the moment than anything else would have done,for the Queen said：

“Ah,the poor child!My lord,we do wrong to keep our guests standing.Quick,some of you!Take them away.Give them food and wine and baths.Comfort the little girl.Give her lollipops,give her dolls,give her physics,give her all you can think of– possets and comfits and caraways and lullabies and toys.Don't cry,little girl,or you won't be good for anything when the feast comes.”

Jill was just as indignant as you and I would have been at the mention of toys and dolls；and,though lollipops and comfits might be all very well in their way,she very much hoped that something more solid would be provided.The Queen's foolish speech,however,produced excellent results,for Puddleglum and Scrubb were at once picked up by gigantic gentlemen-in-waiting,and Jill by a gigantic maid of honour,and carried off to their rooms.

Jill's room was about the size of a church,and would have been rather grim if it had not had a roaring fire on the hearth and a very thick crimson carpet on the floor.And here delightful things began to happen to her.She was handed over to the Queen's old Nurse,who was,from the giants' point of view,a little old woman almost bent double with age,and,from the human point of view,a giantess small enough to go about an ordinary room without knocking her head on the ceiling.She was very capable,though Jill did wish she wouldn't keep on clicking her tongue and saying things like “Oh la,la!Ups-a-daisy” and “There's a duck” and “Now we'll be all right,my poppet”.

She filled a giant foot-bath with hot water and helped Jill into it.If you can swim(as Jill could)a giant bath is a lovely thing.And giant towels,though a bit rough and coarse,are lovely too,because there are acres of them.In fact you don't need to dry at all,you just roll about on them in front of the fire and enjoy yourself.And when that was over,clean,fresh,warmed clothes were put on Jill：very splendid clothes and a little too big for her,but clearly made for humans not giantesses.“I suppose if that woman in the green kirtle comes here,they must be used to guests of our size,”thought Jill.

She soon saw that she was right about this,for a table and chair of the right height for an ordinary grown-up human were placed for her,and the knives and forks and spoons were the proper size too.It was delightful to sit down,feeling warm and clean at last.Her feet were still bare and it was lovely to tread on the giant carpet.She sank in it well over her ankles and it was just the thing for sore feet.The meal – which I suppose we must call dinner,though it was nearer tea time – was cock-aleekie soup,and hot roast turkey,and a steamed pudding,and roast chestnuts,and as much fruit as you could eat.

The only annoying thing was that the Nurse kept coming in and out,and every time she came in,she brought a gigantic toy with her – a huge doll,bigger than Jill herself,a wooden horse on wheels,about the size of an elephant,a drum that looked like a young gasometer,and a woolly lamb.They were crude,badly made things,painted in very bright colours,and Jill hated the sight of them.She kept on telling the Nurse she didn't want them,but the Nurse said：

“Tut-tut-tut-tut.You'll want 'em all right when you've had a bit of a rest,I know!Te-he-he!Beddy bye,now.A precious poppet!”

The bed was not a giant bed but only a big fourposter,like what you might see in an old-fashioned hotel；and very small it looked in that enormous room.She was very glad to tumble into it.

“Is it still snowing,Nurse?” she asked sleepily.

“No.Raining now,ducky!” said the giantess.“Rain'll wash away all the nasty snow.Precious poppet will be able to go out and play tomorrow!”And she tucked Jill up and said good night.

I know nothing so disagreeable as being kissed by a giantess.Jill thought the same,but was asleep in five minutes.

The rain fell steadily all the evening and all the night,dashing against the windows of the castle,and Jill never heard it but slept deeply,past supper time and past midnight.And then came the deadest hour of the night and nothing stirred but mice in the house of the giants.At that hour there came to Jill a dream.

It seemed to her that she awoke in the same room and saw the fire,sunk low and red,and in the firelight the great wooden horse.And the horse came of its own will,rolling on its wheels across the carpet,and stood at her head.And now it was no longer a horse,but a lion as big as the horse.And then it was not a toy lion,but a real lion,The Real Lion,just as she had seen him on the mountain beyond the World's End.And a smell of all sweetsmelling things there are filled the room.But there was some trouble in Jill's mind,though she could not think what it was,and the tears streamed down her face and wet the pillow.The Lion told her to repeat the signs,and she found that she had forgotten them all.At that,a great horror came over her.And Aslan took her up in his jaws(she could feel his lips and his breath but not his teeth)and carried her to the window and made her look out.The moon shone bright；and written in great letters across the world or the sky(she did not know which)were the words UNDER ME.After that,the dream faded away,and when she woke,very late next morning,she did not remember that she had dreamed at all.

She was up and dressed and had finished breakfast in front of the fire when the Nurse opened the door and said：“Here's pretty poppet's little friends come to play with her.”

In came Scrubb and the Marsh-wiggle.

“Hullo!Good morning,” said Jill.“Isn't this fun?I've slept about fifteen hours,I believe.I do feel better,don't you?”

“I do,” said Scrubb,“but Puddleglum says he has a headache.Hullo!– your window has a window seat.If we got up on that,we could see out.” And at once they all did so：and at the first glance Jill said,“Oh,how perfectly dreadful!”

The sun was shining and,except for a few drifts,the snow had been almost completely washed away by the rain.Down below them,spread out like a map,lay the flat hill-top which they had struggled over yesterday afternoon；seen from the castle,it could not be mistaken for anything but the ruins of a gigantic city.It had been flat,as Jill now saw,because it was still,on the whole,paved,though in places the pavement was broken.The criss-cross banks were what was left of the walls of huge buildings which might once have been giants'palaces and temples.One bit of wall,about five hundred feet high,was still standing；it was that which she had thought was a cliff.The things that had looked like factory chimneys were enormous pillars,broken off at unequal heights；their fragments lay at their bases like felled trees of monstrous stone.The ledges which they had climbed down on the north side of the hill – and also,no doubt the other ledges which they had climbed up on the south side – were the remaining steps of giant stairs.To crown all,in large,dark lettering across the centre of the pavement,ran the words UNDER ME.

The three travellers looked at each other in dismay and,after a short whistle,Scrubb said what they were all thinking,“The second and third signs muffed”.And at that moment Jill's dream rushed back into her mind.

“It's my fault,” she said in despairing tones.“I –I'd given up repeating the signs every night.If I'd been thinking about them I could have seen it was the city,even in all that snow.”

“I'm worse,” said Puddleglum.“I did see,or nearly.I thought it looked uncommonly like a ruined city.”

“You're the only one who isn't to blame,” said Scrubb.“You did try to make us stop.”

“Didn't try hard enough,though,”said the Marshwiggle.“And I'd no call to be trying.I ought to have done it.As if I couldn't have stopped you two with one hand each!”

“The truth is,” said Scrubb,“we were so jolly keen on getting to this place that we weren't bothering about anything else.At least I know I was.Ever since we met that woman with the knight who didn't talk,we've been thinking of nothing else.We'd nearly forgotten about Prince Rilian.”

“I shouldn't wonder,” said Puddleglum,“if that wasn't exactly what she intended.”

“What I don't quite understand,” said Jill,“is how we didn't see the lettering?Or could it have come there since last night.Could he – Aslan – have put it there in the night?I had such a queer dream.” And she told them all about it.

“Why,you chump!” said Scrubb.“We did see it.We got into the lettering.Don't you see?We got into the letter E in ME.That was your sunk lane.We walked along the bottom stroke of the E,due north – turned to our right along the upright –came to another turn to the right – that's the middle stroke – and then went on to the top left-hand corner,or(if you like)the north-eastern corner of the letter,and came back.Like the bally idiots we are.” He kicked the window seat savagely,and went on,“So it's no good,Pole.I know what you were thinking because I was thinking the same.You were thinking how nice it would have been if Aslan hadn't put the instructions on the stones of the ruined city till after we'd passed it.And then it would have been his fault,not ours.So likely,isn't it?No.We must just own up.We've only four signs to go by,and we've muffed the first three.”

“You mean I have,” said Jill.“It's quite true.I've spoilt everything ever since you brought me here.All the same – I'm frightfully sorry and all that –all the same,what are the instructions?UNDER ME doesn't seem to make much sense.”

“Yes it does,though,” said Puddleglum.“It means we've got to look for the Prince under that city.”

“But how can we?” asked Jill.

“That's the question,” said Puddleglum,rubbing his big,frog-like hands together.“How can we now?No doubt,if we'd had our minds on our job when we were at the Ruinous City,we'd have been shown how – found a little door,or a cave,or a tunnel,met someone to help us.Might have been(you never know)Aslan himself.We'd have got down under those paving-stones somehow or other.Aslan's instructions always work：there are no exceptions.But how to do it now– that's another matter.”

“Well,we shall just have to go back,I suppose,”said Jill.

“Easy,isn't it?” said Puddleglum.“We might try opening that door to begin with.” And they all looked at the door and saw that none of them could reach the handle,and that almost certainly no one could turn it if they did.

“Do you think they won't let us out if we ask?”said Jill.And nobody said,but everyone thought,“Supposing they don't.”

It was not a pleasant idea.Puddleglum was dead against any idea of telling the giants their real business and simply asking to be let out；and of course the children couldn't tell without his permission,because they had promised.And all three felt pretty sure that there would be no chance of escaping from the castle by night.Once they were in their rooms with the doors shut,they would be prisoners till morning.They might,of course,ask to have their doors left open,but that would rouse suspicions.

“Our only chance,” said Scrubb,“is to try to sneak away by daylight.Mightn't there be an hour in the afternoon when most of the giants are asleep?– and if we could steal down into the kitchen,mightn't there be a back door open?”

“It's hardly what I call a Chance,” said the Marsh-wiggle.“But it's all the chance we're likely to get.” As a matter of fact,Scrubb's plan was not quite so hopeless as you might think.If you want to get out of a house without being seen,the middle of the afternoon is in some ways a better time to try it than the middle of the night.Doors and windows are more likely to be open；and if you are caught,you can always pretend you weren't meaning to go far and had no particular plans.(It is very hard to make either giants or grown-ups believe this if you're found climbing out of a bedroom window at one o'clock in the morning.)

“We must put them off their guard,though,” said Scrubb.“We must pretend we love being here and are longing for this Autumn Feast.”

“That's tomorrow night,” said Puddleglum.“I heard one of them say so.”

“I see,” said Jill.“We must pretend to be awfully excited about it,and keep on asking questions.They think we're absolute infants anyway,which will make it easier.”

“Gay,” said Puddleglum with a deep sigh.“That's what we've got to be.Gay.As if we hadn't a care in the world.Frolicsome.You two youngsters haven't always got very high spirits,I've noticed.You must watch me,and do as I do.I'll be gay.Like this” – and he assumed a ghastly grin.“And frolicsome” – here he cut a most mournful caper.“You'll soon get into it,if you keep your eyes on me.They think I'm a funny fellow already,you see.I dare say you two thought I was a trifle tipsy last night,but I do assure you it was – well,most of it was – put on.I had an idea it would come in useful,somehow.”

The children,when they talked over their adventures afterwards,could never feel sure whether this last statement was quite strictly true；but they were sure that Puddleglum thought it was true when he made it.

“All right.Gay's the word,” said Scrubb.“Now,if we could only get someone to open this door.While we're fooling about and being gay,we've got to find out all we can about this castle.”

Luckily,at that very moment the door opened,and the giant Nurse bustled in saying,“Now,my poppets.Like to come and see the King and all the court setting out on the hunting?Such a pretty sight!”

They lost no time in rushing out past her and climbing down the first staircase they came to.The noise of hounds and horns and giant voices guided them,so that in a few minutes they reached the courtyard.The giants were all on foot,for there are no giant horses in that part of the world,and the giants' hunting is done on foot；like beagling in England.The hounds also were of normal size.

When Jill saw that there were no horses she was at first dreadfully disappointed,for she felt sure that the great fat Queen would never go after hounds on foot；and it would never do to have her about the house all day.But then she saw the Queen in a kind of litter supported on the shoulders of six young giants.The silly old creature was all got up in green and had a horn at her side.Twenty or thirty giants,including the King,were assembled,ready for the sport,all talking and laughing fit to deafen you：and down below,nearer Jill's level,there were wagging tails,and barking,and loose,slobbery mouths and noses of dogs thrust into your hand.

Puddleglum was just beginning to strike what he thought a gay and gamesome attitude(which might have spoiled everything if it had been noticed)when Jill put on her most attractively childish smile,rushed across to the Queen's litter and shouted up to the Queen.

“Oh,please!You're not going away,are you?You will come back?”

“Yes,my dear,” said the Queen.“I'll be back tonight.”

“Oh,good.How lovely!” said Jill.“And we may come to the feast tomorrow night,mayn't we?We're so longing for tomorrow night!And we do love being here.And while you're out,we may run over the whole castle and see everything,mayn't we?Do say yes.”

The Queen did say yes,but the laughter of all the courtiers nearly drowned her voice.

CHAPTER 9

How They Discovered

Something Worth Knowing

The others admitted afterwards that Jill had been wonderful that day.As soon as the King and the rest of the hunting party had set off,she began making a tour of the whole castle and asking questions,but all in such an innocent,babyish way that no one could suspect her of any secret design.Though her tongue was never still,you could hardly say she talked：she prattled and giggled.She made love to everyone – the grooms,the porters,the housemaids,the ladies-in-waiting,and the elderly giant lords whose hunting days were past.She submitted to being kissed and pawed about by any number of giantesses,many of whom seemed sorry for her and called her “a poor little thing”though none of them explained why.She made especial friends with the cook and discovered the all-important fact there was a scullery door which let you out through the outer wall,so that you did not have to cross the courtyard or pass the great gatehouse.In the kitchen she pretended to be greedy,and ate all sorts of scraps which the cook and scullions delighted to give her.But upstairs among the ladies she asked questions about how she would be dressed for the great feast,and how long she would be allowed to sit up,and whether she would dance with some very,very small giant.And then(it made her hot all over when she remembered it afterwards)she would put her head on one side in an idiotic fashion which grown-ups,giant and otherwise,thought very fetching,and shake her curls,and fidget,and say,“Oh,I do wish it was tomorrow night,don't you?Do you think the time will go quickly till then?” And all the giantesses said she was a perfect little darling；and some of them dabbed their eyes with enormous handkerchiefs as if they were going to cry.

“They're dear little things at that age,” said one giantess to another.“It seems almost a pity…”

Scrubb and Puddleglum both did their best,but girls do that kind of thing better than boys.Even boys do it better than Marsh-wiggles.

At lunchtime something happened which made all three of them more anxious than ever to leave the castle of the Gentle Giants.They had lunch in the great hall at a little table of their own,near the fireplace.At a bigger table,about twenty yards away,half a dozen old giants were lunching.Their conversation was so noisy,and so high up in the air,that the children soon took no more notice of it than you would of hooters outside the window or traffic noises in the street.They were eating cold venison,a kind of food which Jill had never tasted before,and she was liking it.

Suddenly Puddleglum turned to them,and his face had gone so pale that you could see the paleness under the natural muddiness of his complexion.He said：

“Don't eat another bite.”

“What's wrong?” asked the other two in a whisper.

“Didn't you hear what those giants were saying?'That's a nice tender haunch of venison,' said one of them.'Then that stag was a liar,' said another.'Why?' said the first one.'Oh,' said the other.'They say that when he was caught he said,“Don't kill me,I'm tough.You won't like me.”'”

For a moment Jill did not realise the full meaning of this.But she did when Scrubb's eyes opened wide with horror and he said,“So we've been eating a Talking stag.”

This discovery didn't have exactly the same effect on all of them.Jill,who was new to that world,was sorry for the poor stag and thought it rotten of the giants to have killed him.Scrubb,who had been in that world before and had at least one Talking beast as his dear friend,felt horrified；as you might feel about a murder.But Puddleglum,who was Narnian born,was sick and faint,and felt as you would feel if you found you had eaten a baby.

“We've brought the anger of Aslan on us,” he said.“That's what comes of not attending to the signs.We're under a curse,I expect.If it was allowed,it would be the best thing we could do,to take these knives and drive them into our own hearts.”

And gradually even Jill came to see it from his point of view.At any rate,none of them wanted any more lunch.And as soon as they thought it safe they crept quietly out of the hall.

It was now drawing near to that time of the day on which their hopes of escape depended,and all became nervous.They hung about in passages and waited for things to become quiet.The giants in the hall sat on a dreadfully long time after the meal was over.The bald one was telling a story.When that was over,the three travellers dawdled down to the kitchen.But there were still plenty of giants there,or at least in the scullery,washing up and putting things away.It was agonising,waiting till these finished their jobs and,one by one,wiped their hands and went away.At last only one old giantess was left in the room.She pottered about,and pottered about,and at last the three travellers realised with horror that she did not intend to go away at all.

“Well,dearies,” she said to them.“That job's about through.Let's put the kettle there.That'll make a nice cup of tea presently.Now I can have a little bit of a rest.Just look into the scullery,like good poppets,and tell me if the back door is open.”

“Yes,it is,” said Scrubb.

“That's right.I always leave it open so as Puss can get in and out,the poor thing.”

Then she sat down on one chair and put her feet up on another.

“I don't know as I mightn't have forty winks,”said the giantess.“If only that blamey hunting party doesn't come back too soon.”

All their spirits leapt up when she mentioned forty winks,and flopped down again when she mentioned the return of the hunting party.

“When do they usually come back?” asked Jill.

“You never can tell,” said the giantess.“But there；go and be quiet for a bit,my dearies.”

They retreated to the far end of the kitchen,and would have slipped out into the scullery there and then if the giantess had not sat up,opened her eyes,and brushed away a fly.

“Don't try it till we're sure she's really asleep,”whispered Scrubb.“Or it'll spoil everything.”

So they all huddled at the kitchen end,waiting and watching.The thought that the hunters might come back at any moment was terrible.And the giantess was fidgety.Whenever they thought she had really gone to sleep,she moved.

“I can't bear this,” thought Jill.To distract her mind,she began looking about her.Just in front of her was a clean wide table with two clean pie-dishes on it,and an open book.They were giant pie-dishes of course.Jill thought that she could lie down just comfortably in one of them.Then she climbed up on the bench beside the table to look at the book.She read：

MALLARD.This delicious bird can be cooked in a variety of ways.

“It's a cookery book,” thought Jill without much interest,and glanced over her shoulder.The giantess's eyes were shut but she didn't look as if she were properly asleep.Jill glanced back at the book.It was arranged alphabetically：and at the very next entry her heart seemed to stop beating；it ran –

MAN.This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy.It forms a traditional part of the Autumn Feast,and is served between the fish and the joint.Each Man—

but she could not bear to read any more.She turned round.The giantess had woken up and was having a fit of coughing.Jill nudged the other two and pointed to the book.They also mounted the bench and bent over the huge pages.Scrubb was still reading about how to cook Men when Puddleglum pointed to the next entry below it.It was like this：MARSH-WIGGLE.Some authorities reject this animal altogether as unfit for giants' consumption because of its stringy consistency and muddy flavour.The flavour can,however,be greatly reduced if—

Jill touched his feet,and Scrubb's,gently.All three looked back at the giantess.Her mouth was slightly open and from her nose there came a sound which at that moment was more welcome to them than any music；she snored.And now it was a question of tiptoe work,not daring to go too fast,hardly daring to breathe,out through the scullery(giant sculleries smell horrid),out at last into the pale sunlight of a winter afternoon.

They were at the top of a rough little path which ran steeply down.And,thank heavens,on the right side of the castle；the City Ruinous was in sight.In a few minutes they were back on the broad,steep road which led down from the main gate of the castle.They were also in full view from every single window on that side.If it had been one,or two,or five windows there'd be a reasonable chance that no one might be looking out.But there were nearer fifty than five.They now realised,too,that the road on which they were,and indeed all the ground between them and the City Ruinous,didn't offer as much cover as would hide a fox；it was all coarse grass and pebbles and flat stones.To make matters worse,they were now in the clothes that the giants had provided for them the previous night：except Puddleglum,whom nothing would fit.Jill wore a vivid green robe,rather too long for her,and over that a scarlet mantle fringed with white fur.Scrubb had scarlet stockings,blue tunic and cloak,a goldhilted sword,and a feathered bonnet.

“Nice bits of colour,you two are,” muttered Puddleglum.“Show up very prettily on a winter day.The worst archer in the world couldn't miss either of you if you were in range.And talking of archers,we'll be sorry not to have our own bows before long,I shouldn't wonder.Bit thin,too,those clothes of yours,are they?”

“Yes,I'm freezing already,” said Jill.

A few minutes ago when they had been in the kitchen,she had thought that if only they could once get out of the castle,their escape would be almost complete.She now realised that the most dangerous part of it was still to come.

“Steady,steady,” said Puddleglum.“Don't look back.Don't walk too quickly.Whatever you do,don't run.Look as if we were just taking a stroll,and then,if anyone sees us,he might,just possibly,not bother.The moment we look like people running away,we're done.”

The distance to the City Ruinous seemed longer than Jill would have believed possible.But bit by bit they were covering it.Then came a noise.The other two gasped.Jill,who didn't know what it was,said,“What's that?”

“Hunting horn,” whispered Scrubb.

“But don't run even now,” said Puddleglum.“Not till I give the word.”

This time Jill couldn't help glancing over her shoulder.There,about half a mile away,was the hunt returning from behind them on the left.

They walked on.Suddenly a great clamour of giant voices arose：then shouts and hollers.

“They've seen us.Run,” said Puddleglum.

Jill gathered up her long skirts – horrible things for running in – and ran.There was no mistaking the danger now.She could hear the music of the hounds.She could hear the King's voice roaring out,“After them,after them,or we'll have no man-pies tomorrow.”

She was last of the three now,cumbered with her dress,slipping on loose stones,her hair getting in her mouth,running-pains across her chest.The hounds were much nearer.Now she had to run uphill,up the stony slope which led to the lowest step of the giant stairway.She had no idea what they would do when they got there,or how they would be any better off even if they reached the top.But she didn't think about that.She was like a hunted animal now；as long as the pack was after her,she must run till she dropped.

The Marsh-wiggle was ahead.As he came to the lowest step he stopped,looked a little to his right,and all of a sudden darted into a little hole or crevice at the bottom of it.His long legs,disappearing into it,looked very like those of a spider.Scrubb hesitated and then vanished after him.Jill,breathless and reeling,came to the place about a minute later.It was an unattractive hole –a crack between the earth and the stone about three feet long and hardly more than a foot high.You had to fling yourself flat on your face and crawl in.You couldn't do it so very quickly either.She felt sure that a dog's teeth would close on her heel before she had got inside.

“Quick,quick.Stones.Fill up the opening,” came Puddleglum's voice in the darkness beside her.It was pitch black in there,except for the grey light in the opening by which they had crawled in.The other two were working hard.She could see Scrubb's small hands and the Marsh-wiggle's big,frog-like hands black against the light,working desperately to pile up stones.Then she realised how important this was and began groping for large stones herself,and handing them to the others.Before the dogs were baying and yelping at the cave mouth,they had it pretty well filled；and now,of course,there was no light at all.

“Further in,quick,” said Puddleglum's voice.

“Let's all hold hands,” said Jill.

“Good idea,” said Scrubb.But it took them quite a long time to find one another's hands in the darkness.The dogs were sniffing at the other side of the barrier now.

“Try if we can stand up,” suggested Scrubb.They did and found that they could.Then,Puddleglum holding out a hand behind him to Scrubb,and Scrubb holding a hand out behind him to Jill(who wished very much that she was the middle one of the party and not the last),they began groping with their feet and stumbling forwards into the blackness.It was all loose stones underfoot.Then Puddleglum came up to a wall of rock.They turned a little to their right and went on.There were a good many more twists and turns.Jill had now no sense of direction at all,and no idea where the mouth of the cave lay.

“The question is,” came Puddleglum's voice out of the darkness ahead,“whether,taking one thing with another,it wouldn't be better to go back(if we can)and give the giants a treat at that feast of theirs,instead of losing our way in the guts of a hill where,ten to one,there's dragons and deep holes and gases and water and— Ow!Let go!Save yourselves.I'm—”

After that all happened quickly.There was a wild cry,a swishing,dusty,gravelly noise,a rattle of stones,and Jill found herself sliding,sliding,hopelessly sliding,and sliding quicker every moment down a slope that grew steeper every moment.It was not a smooth,firm slope,but a slope of small stones and rubbish.Even if you could have stood up,it would have been no use.Any bit of that slope you had put your foot on would have slid away from under you and carried you down with it.But Jill was more lying than standing.And the further they all slid,the more they disturbed all the stones and earth,so that the general downward rush of everything(including themselves)got faster and louder and dustier and dirtier.From the sharp cries and swearing of the other two,Jill got the idea that many of the stones which she was dislodging were hitting Scrubb and Puddleglum pretty hard.And now she was going at a furious rate and felt sure she would be broken to bits at the bottom.

Yet somehow they weren't.They were a mass of bruises,and the wet sticky stuff on her face appeared to be blood.And such a mass of loose earth,shingle,and larger stones was piled up round her(and partly over her)that she couldn't get up.The darkness was so complete that it made no difference at all whether you had your eyes open or shut.There was no noise.And that was the very worst moment Jill had ever known in her life.Supposing she was alone：supposing the others… Then she heard movements around her.And presently all three,in shaken voices,were explaining that none of them seemed to have any broken bones.

“We can never get up that again,” said Scrubb's voice.

“And have you noticed how warm it is?” said the voice of Puddleglum.“That means we're a long way down.Might be nearly a mile.”

No one said anything.Some time later Puddleglum added,“My tinder-box has gone.”

After another long pause Jill said,“I'm terribly thirsty.”

No one suggested doing anything.There was so obviously nothing to be done.For the moment,they did not feel it quite so badly as one might have expected；that was because they were so tired.

Long,long afterwards,without the slightest warning,an utterly strange voice spoke.They knew at once that it was not the one voice in the whole world for which each had secretly been hoping；the voice of Aslan.It was a dark,flat voice – almost,if you know what that means,a pitch-black voice.It said：

“What make you here,creatures of the Overworld?”

CHAPTER 10

Travels without the Sun

“Who's there?” shouted the three travellers.“I am the Warden of the Marches of Underland,and with me stand a hundred Earthmen in arms,” came the reply.“Tell me quickly who you are and what is your errand in the Deep Realm?”

“We fell down by accident,” said Puddleglum,truthfully enough.

“Many fall down,and few return to the sunlit lands,” said the voice.“Make ready now to come with me to the Queen of the Deep Realm.”

“What does she want with us?” asked Scrubb cautiously.

“I do not know,” said the voice.“Her will is not to be questioned but obeyed.”

While he said these words there was a noise like a soft explosion and immediately a cold light,grey with a little blue in it,flooded the cavern.All hope that the speaker had been idly boasting when he spoke of his hundred armed followers died at once.Jill found herself blinking and staring at a dense crowd.They were of all sizes,from little gnomes barely a foot high to stately figures taller than men.All carried three-pronged spears in their hands,and all were dreadfully pale,and all stood as still as statues.Apart from that,they were very different；some had tails and others not,some wore great beards and others had very round,smooth faces,big as pumpkins.There were long,pointed noses,and long,soft noses like small trunks,and great blobby noses.Several had single horns in the middle of their foreheads.But in one respect they were all alike：every face in the whole hundred was as sad as a face could be.They were so sad that,after the first glance,Jill almost forgot to be afraid of them.She felt she would like to cheer them up.

“Well!” said Puddleglum,rubbing his hands.“This is just what I needed.If these chaps don't teach me to take a serious view of life,I don't know what will.Look at that fellow with the walrus moustache – or that one with the—”

“Get up,” said the leader of the Earthmen.

There was nothing else to be done.The three travellers scrambled to their feet and joined hands.One wanted the touch of a friend's hand at a moment like that.And the Earthmen came all round them,padding on large,soft feet,on which some had ten toes,some twelve,and others none.

“March,” said the Warden；and march they did.

The cold light came from a large ball on the top of a long pole,and the tallest of the gnomes carried this at the head of the procession.By its cheerless rays they could see that they were in a natural cavern；the walls and roof were knobbed,twisted,and gashed into a thousand fantastic shapes,and the stony floor sloped downward as they proceeded.It was worse for Jill than for the others,because she hated dark,underground places.And when,as they went on,the cave got lower and narrower,and when,at last,the light-bearer stood aside,and the gnomes,one by one,stooped down(all except the very smallest ones)and stepped into a little dark crack and disappeared,she felt she could bear it no longer.

“I can't go in there,I can't!I can't!I won't!” she panted.The Earthmen said nothing but they all lowered their spears and pointed them at her.

“Steady,Pole,” said Puddleglum.“Those big fellows wouldn't be crawling in there if it didn't get wider later on.And there's one thing about this underground work,we shan't get any rain.”

“Oh,you don't understand.I can't,” wailed Jill.

“Think how I felt on that cliff,Pole,” said Scrubb.“You go first,Puddleglum,and I'll come after her.”

“That's right,” said the Marsh-wiggle,getting down on his hands and knees.“You keep a grip of my heels,Pole,and Scrubb will hold on to yours.Then we'll all be comfortable.”

“Comfortable!” said Jill.But she got down and they crawled in on their elbows.It was a nasty place.You had to go flat on your face for what seemed like half an hour,though it may really have been only five minutes.It was hot.Jill felt she was being smothered.But at last a dim light showed ahead,the tunnel grew wider and higher,and they came out,hot,dirty,and shaken,into a cave so large that it scarcely seemed like a cave at all.

It was full of a dim,drowsy radiance,so that here they had no need of the Earthmen's strange lantern.The floor was soft with some kind of moss and out of this grew many strange shapes,branched and tall like trees,but flabby like mushrooms.They stood too far apart to make a forest；it was more like a park.The light(a greenish grey)seemed to come both from them and from the moss,and it was not strong enough to reach the roof of the cave,which must have been a long way overhead.Across the mild,soft,sleepy place they were now made to march.It was very sad,but with a quiet sort of sadness like soft music.

Here they passed dozens of strange animals lying on the turf,either dead or asleep,Jill could not tell which.These were mostly of a dragonish or bat-like sort；Puddleglum did not know what any of them were.

“Do they grow here?” Scrubb asked the Warden.He seemed very surprised at being spoken to,but replied,“No.They are all beasts that have found their way down by chasms and caves,out of Overland into the Deep Realm.Many come down,and few return to the sunlit lands.It is said that they will all wake at the end of the world.”

His mouth shut like a box when he had said this,and in the great silence of that cave the children felt that they would not dare to speak again.The bare feet of the gnomes,padding on the deep moss,made no sound.There was no wind,there were no birds,there was no sound of water.There was no sound of breathing from the strange beasts.

When they had walked for several miles,they came to a wall of rock,and in it a low archway leading into another cavern.It was not,however,so bad as the last entrance and Jill could go through it without bending her head.It brought them into a smaller cave,long and narrow,about the shape and size of a cathedral.And here,filling almost the whole length of it,lay an enormous man fast asleep.He was far bigger than any of the giants,and his face was not like a giant's,but noble and beautiful.His breast rose and fell gently under the snowy beard which covered him to the waist.A pure,silver light(no one saw where it came from)rested upon him.

“Who's that?” asked Puddleglum.And it was so long since anyone had spoken,that Jill wondered how he had the nerve.

“That is old Father Time,who once was a King in Overland,” said the Warden.“And now he has sunk down into the Deep Realm and lies dreaming of all the things that are done in the upper world.Many sink down,and few return to the sunlit lands.They say he will wake at the end of the world.”

And out of that cave they passed into another,and then into another and another,and so on till Jill lost count,but always they were going downhill and each cave was lower than the last,till the very thought of the weight and depth of earth above you was suffocating.At last they came to a place where the Warden commanded his cheerless lantern to be lit again.Then they passed into a cave so wide and dark that they could see nothing of it except that right in front of them a strip of pale sand ran down into still water.And there,beside a little jetty,lay a ship without mast or sail but with many oars.They were made to go on board her and led forward to the bows where there was a clear space in front of the rowers' benches and a seat running round inside the bulwarks.

“One thing I'd like to know,” said Puddleglum,“is whether anyone from our world – from up-a-top,I mean – has ever done this trip before?”

“Many have taken ship at the pale beaches,”replied the Warden,“and—”

“Yes,I know,” interrupted Puddleglum.“And few return to the sunlit lands.You needn't say it again.You are a chap of one idea,aren't you?”

The children huddled close together on each side of Puddleglum.They had thought him a wet blanket while they were still above ground,but down here he seemed the only comforting thing they had.Then the pale lantern was hung up amidships,the Earthmen sat to the oars,and the ship began to move.The lantern cast its light only a very short way.Looking ahead,they could see nothing but smooth,dark water,fading into absolute blackness.

“Oh,whatever will become of us?” said Jill despairingly.

“Now,don't you let your spirits down,Pole,” said the Marsh-wiggle.“There's one thing you've got to remember.We're back on the right lines.We were to go under the Ruined City,and we are under it.We're following the instructions again.”

Presently they were given food – flat,flabby cakes of some sort which had hardly any taste.And after that,they gradually fell asleep.But when they woke,everything was just the same；the gnomes still rowing,the ship still gliding on,still dead blackness ahead.How often they woke and slept and ate and slept again,none of them could ever remember.And the worst thing about it was that you began to feel as if you had always lived on that ship,in that darkness,and to wonder whether sun and blue skies and wind and birds had not been only a dream.

They had almost given up hoping or being afraid about anything when at last they saw lights ahead：dreary lights,like that of their own lantern.Then,quite suddenly,one of these lights came close and they saw that they were passing another ship.After that they met several ships.Then,staring till their eyes hurt,they saw that some of the lights ahead were shining on what looked like wharfs,walls,towers,and moving crowds.But still there was hardly any noise.

“By Jove,” said Scrubb.“A city!” and soon they all saw that he was right.

But it was a queer city.The lights were so few and far apart that they would hardly have done for scattered cottages in our world.But the little bits of the place which you could see by the lights were like glimpses of a great seaport.You could make out in one place a whole crowd of ships loading or unloading；in another,bales of stuff and warehouses；in a third,walls and pillars that suggested great palaces or temples；and always,wherever the light fell,endless crowds – hundreds of Earthmen,jostling one another as they padded softly about their business in narrow streets,broad squares,or up great flights of steps.Their continued movement made a sort of soft,murmuring noise as the ship drew nearer and nearer；but there was not a song or a shout or a bell or the rattle of a wheel anywhere.The City was as quiet,and nearly as dark,as the inside of an ant-hill.

At last their ship was brought alongside a quay and made fast.The three travellers were taken ashore and marched up into the City.Crowds of Earthmen,no two alike,rubbed shoulders with them in the crowded streets,and the sad light fell on many sad and grotesque faces.But no one showed any interest in the strangers.Every gnome seemed to be as busy as it was sad,though Jill never found what they were so busy about.But the endless moving,shoving,hurrying,and the soft pad-pad-pad went on.

At last they came to what appeared to be a great castle,though few of the windows in it were lighted.Here they were taken in and made to cross a courtyard,and to climb many staircases.This brought them in the end to a great murkily lit room.But in one corner of it – oh joy!– there was an archway filled with a quite different sort of light；the honest,yellowish,warm light of such a lamp as humans use.What showed by this light inside the archway was the foot of a staircase which wound upward between walls of stone.The light seemed to come from the top.Two Earthmen stood one on each side of the arch like sentries,or footmen.

The Warden went up to these two,and said,as if it were a password：

“Many sink down to the Underworld.”

“And few return to the sunlit lands,” they answered,as if it were the countersign.Then all three put their heads together and talked.At last one of the two gnomes-in-waiting said,“I tell you,the Queen's grace is gone from hence on her great affair.We had best keep these topdwellers in strait prison till her homecoming.Few return to the sunlit lands.”

At that moment the conversation was interrupted by what seemed to Jill the most delightful noise in the world.It came from above,from the top of the staircase；and it was a clear,ringing,perfectly human voice,the voice of a young man.

“What coil are you keeping down there,Mullugutherum?” it shouted.“Overworlders,ha!Bring them up to me,and that presently.”

“Please it your Highness to remember,” began Mullugutherum,but the voice cut him short.

“It pleases my Highness principally to be obeyed,old mutterer.Bring them up,” it called.

Mullugutherum shook his head,motioned to the travellers to follow and began going up the staircase.At every step the light increased.There were rich tapestries hanging on the walls.The lamplight shone golden through thin curtains at the staircase-head.

The Earthmen parted the curtains and stood aside.The three passed in.They were in a beautiful room,richly tapestried,with a bright fire on a clean hearth,and red wine and cut glass sparkling on the table.A young man with fair hair rose to greet them.He was handsome and looked both bold and kind,though there was something about his face that didn't seem quite right.He was dressed in black and altogether looked a little bit like Hamlet.

“Welcome,Overworlders,” he cried.“But stay a moment!I cry you mercy!I have seen you two fair children,and this,your strange governor,before.Was it not you three that met me by the bridge on the borders of Ettinsmoor when I rode there by my Lady's side?”

“Oh… you were the Black Knight who never spoke?” exclaimed Jill.

“And was that lady the Queen of Underland?”asked Puddleglum,in no very friendly voice.And Scrubb,who was thinking the same,burst out,“Because if it was,I think she was jolly mean to send us off to a castle of giants who intended to eat us.What harm had we ever done her,I should like to know?”

“How?” said the Black Knight with a frown.“If you were not so young a warrior,Boy,you and I must have fought to the death on this quarrel.I can hear no words against my Lady's honour.But of this you may be assured,that whatever she said to you,she said of a good intent.You do not know her.She is a nosegay of all virtues,as truth,mercy,constancy,gentleness,courage,and the rest.I say what I know.Her kindness to me alone,who can in no way reward her,would make an admirable history.But you shall know and love her hereafter.Meanwhile,what is your errand in the Deep Lands?”

And before Puddleglum could stop her,Jill blurted out,“Please,we are trying to find Prince Rilian of Narnia.” And then she realised what a frightful risk she had taken：these people might be enemies.But the Knight showed no interest.

“Rilian?Narnia?” he said carelessly.“Narnia?What land is that?I have never heard the name.It must be a thousand leagues from those parts of the Overworld that I know.But it was a strange fantasy that brought you seeking this – how do you call him?– Billian?Trillian?in my Lady's realm.Indeed,to my certain knowledge,there is no such man here.” He laughed very loudly at this,and Jill thought to herself,“I wonder is that what's wrong with his face?Is he a bit silly?”

“We had been told to look for a message on the stones of the City Ruinous,” said Scrubb.“And we saw the words UNDER ME.”

The Knight laughed even more heartily than before.“You were the more deceived,” he said.“Those words meant nothing to your purpose.Had you but asked my Lady,she could have given you better counsel.For those words are all that is left of a longer script,which in ancient times,as she well remembers,expressed this verse：

Though under Earth and throneless now I be,

Yet,while I lived,all Earth was under me.

From which it is plain that some great king of the ancient giants,who lies buried there,caused this boast to be cut in the stone over his sepulchre；though the breaking up of some stones,and the carrying away of others for new buildings,and the filling up of the cuts with rubble,has left only two words that can still be read.Is it not the merriest jest in the world that you should have thought they were written to you?”

This was like cold water down the back to Scrubb and Jill；for it seemed to them very likely that the words had nothing to do with their quest at all,and that they had been taken in by a mere accident.

“Don't you mind him,” said Puddleglum.“There are no accidents.Our guide is Aslan；and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut,and he knew already all things that would come of them；including this.”

“This guide of yours must be a long liver,friend,”said the Knight with another of his laughs.

Jill began to find them a little irritating.

“And it seems to me,Sir,” answered Puddleglum,“that this Lady of yours must be a long liver too,if she remembers the verse as it was when they first cut it.”

“Very shrewd,Frog-face,” said the Knight,clapping Puddleglum on the shoulder and laughing again.“And you have hit the truth.She is of divine race,and knows neither age nor death.I am the more thankful to her for all her infinite bounty to such a poor mortal wretch as I.For you must know,Sirs,I am a man under most strange afflictions,and none but the Queen's grace would have had patience with me.Patience,said I?But it goes far beyond that.She has promised me a great kingdom in Overland and,when I am king,her own most gracious hand in marriage.But the tale is too long for you to hear fasting and standing.Hi there,some of you!Bring wine and Updwellers' food for my guests.Please you,be seated,gentlemen.Little maiden,sit in this chair.You shall hear it all.”

CHAPTER 11

In the Dark Castle

When the meal(which was pigeon pie,cold ham,salad,and cakes)had been brought,and all had drawn their chairs up to the table and begun,the Knight continued：

“You must understand,friends,that I know nothing of who I was and whence I came into this Dark World.I remember no time when I was not dwelling,as now,at the court of this all but heavenly Queen；but my thought is that she saved me from some evil enchantment and brought me hither of her exceeding bounty.(Honest Frogfoot,your cup is empty.Suffer me to refill it.)And this seems to me the likelier because even now I am bound by a spell,from which my Lady alone can free me.

“Every night there comes an hour when my mind is most horribly changed and,after my mind,my body.For first I become furious and wild and would rush upon my dearest friends to kill them,if I were not bound.And soon after that,I turn into the likeness of a great serpent,hungry,fierce,and deadly.(Sir,be pleased to take another breast of pigeon,I entreat you.)So they tell me,and they certainly speak truth,for my Lady says the same.I myself know nothing of it,for when my hour is past I awake forgetful of all that vile fit and in my proper shape and sound mind – saving that I am somewhat wearied.(Little lady,eat one of these honey cakes,which are brought for me from some barbarous land in the far south of the world.)

“Now the Queen's majesty knows by her art that I shall be freed from this enchantment when once she has made me king of a land in the Overworld and set its crown upon my head.The land is already chosen and the very place of our breaking out.Her Earthmen have worked day and night digging a way beneath it,and have now gone so far and so high that they tunnel not a score of feet beneath the very grass on which the Updwellers of that country walk.It will be very soon now that those Uplanders' fate will come upon them.She herself is at the diggings tonight,and I expect a message to go to her.Then the thin roof of earth which still keeps me from my kingdom will be broken through,and with her to guide me and a thousand Earthmen at my back,I shall ride forth in arms,fall suddenly on our enemies,slay their chief men,cast down their strong places,and doubtless be their crowned king within four and twenty hours.”

“It's a bit rough luck on them,isn't it?” said Scrubb.

“Thou art a lad of a wondrous,quick-working wit!” exclaimed the Knight.“For,on my honour,I had never thought of it so before.I see your meaning.”

He looked slightly,very slightly troubled for a moment or two；but his face soon cleared and he broke out,with another of his loud laughs,“But fie on gravity!Is it not the most comical and ridiculous thing in the world to think of them all going about their business and never dreaming that under their peaceful fields and floors,only a fathom down,there is a great army ready to break out upon them like a fountain!And they never to have suspected!Why,they themselves,when once the first smart of their defeat is over,can hardly choose but laugh at the thought!”

“I don't think it's funny at all,” said Jill.“I think you'll be a wicked tyrant.”

“What?” said the Knight,still laughing and patting her head in a quite infuriating fashion.“Is our little maid a deep politician?But never fear,sweetheart.In ruling that land,I shall do all by the counsel of my Lady,who will then be my Queen too.Her word shall be my law,even as my word will be law to the people we have conquered.”

“Where I come from,” said Jill,who was disliking him more every minute,“they don't think much of men who are bossed about by their wives.”

“Shalt think otherwise when thou hast a man of thine own,I warrant you,” said the Knight,apparently thinking this very funny.“But with my Lady,it is another matter.I am well content to live by her word,who has already saved me from a thousand dangers.No mother has taken pains more tenderly for her child,than the Queen's grace has for me.Why,look you,amid all her cares and business,she rideth out with me in the Overworld many a time and oft to accustom my eyes to the sunlight.And then I must go fully armed and with visor down,so that no man may see my face,and I must speak to no one.For she has found out by art magical that this would hinder my deliverance from the grievous enchantment I lie under.Is not that a lady worthy of a man's whole worship?”

“Sounds a very nice lady indeed,” said Puddleglum in a voice which meant exactly the opposite.

They were thoroughly tired of the Knight's talk before they had finished supper.Puddleglum was thinking,“I wonder what game that witch is really playing with this young fool.” Scrubb was thinking,“He's a great baby,really：tied to that woman's apron strings：he's a sap.” And Jill was thinking,“He's the silliest,most conceited,selfish pig I've met for a long time.” But when the meal was over,the knight's mood had changed.There was no more laughter about him.

“Friends,” he said,“my hour is now very near.I am ashamed that you should see me yet I dread being left alone.They will come in presently and bind me hand and foot to yonder chair.Alas,so it must be：for in my fury,they tell me,I would destroy all that I could reach.”

“I say,” said Scrubb,“I'm awfully sorry about your enchantment of course,but what will those fellows do to us when they come to bind you?They talked of putting us in prison.And we don't like all those dark places very much.We'd much rather stay here till you're… better… if we may.”

“It is well thought of,” said the Knight.“By custom none but the Queen herself remains with me in my evil hour.Such is her tender care for my honour that she would not willingly suffer any ears but her own to hear the words I utter in that frenzy.But I could not easily persuade my attendant gnomes that you should be left with me.And I think I hear their soft feet even now upon the stairs.Go through yonder door：it leads into my other apartments.And there,either await my coming when they have unbound me；or,if you will,return and sit with me in my ravings.”

They followed his directions and passed out of the room by a door which they had not yet seen opened.It brought them,they were pleased to see,not into darkness but into a lighted corridor.They tried various doors and found(what they very badly needed)water for washing and even a looking glass.“He never offered us a wash before supper,” said Jill,drying her face.“Selfish,self-centred pig.”

“Are we going back to watch the enchantment,or shall we stay here?” said Scrubb.

“Stay here,I vote,” said Jill.“I'd much rather not see it.” But she felt a little inquisitive all the same.

“No,go back,” said Puddleglum.“We may pick up some information,and we need all we can get.I am sure that Queen is a witch and an enemy.And those Earthmen would knock us on the head as soon as look at us.There's a stronger smell of danger and lies and magic and treason about this land than I've ever smelled before.We need to keep our eyes and ears open.”

They went back down the corridor and gently pushed the door open.“It's all right,” said Scrubb,meaning that there were no Earthmen about.Then they all came back into the room where they had supped.

The main door was now shut,concealing the curtain between which they had first entered.The Knight was seated in a curious silver chair,to which he was bound by his ankles,his knees,his elbows,his wrists,and his waist.There was sweat on his forehead and his face was filled with anguish.

“Come in,friends,” he said,glancing quickly up.“The fit is not yet upon me.Make no noise,for I told that prying chamberlain that you were in bed.Now… I can feel it coming.Quick!Listen while I am master of myself.When the fit is upon me,it well may be that I shall beg and implore you,with entreaties and threatenings,to loosen my bonds.They say I do.I shall call upon you by all that is most dear and most dreadful.But do not listen to me.Harden your hearts and stop your ears.For while I am bound you are safe.But if once I were up and out of this chair,then first would come my fury,and after that” – he shuddered – “the change into a loathsome serpent.”

“There's no fear of our loosing you,” said Puddleglum.“We've no wish to meet wild men；or serpents either.”

“I should think not,” said Scrubb and Jill together.

“All the same,” added Puddleglum in a whisper.“Don't let's be too sure.Let's be on our guard.We've muffed everything else,you know.He'll be cunning,I shouldn't wonder,once he gets started.Can we trust one another?Do we all promise that whatever he says we don't touch those cords?Whatever he says,mind you?”

“Rather!” said Scrubb.

“There's nothing in the world he can say or do that'll make me change my mind,” said Jill.

“Hush!Something's happening,” said Puddleglum.

The Knight was moaning.His face was as pale as putty,and he writhed in his bonds.And whether because she was sorry for him,or for some other reason,Jill thought that he looked a nicer sort of man than he had looked before.

“Ah,” he groaned.“Enchantments,enchantments… the heavy,tangled,cold,clammy web of evil magic.Buried alive.Dragged down under the earth,down into the sooty blackness… how many years is it?… Have I lived ten years,or a thousand years,in the pit?Maggotmen all around me.Oh,have mercy.Let me out,let me go back.Let me feel the wind and see the sky… There used to be a little pool.When you looked down into it you could see all the trees growing upside-down in the water,all green,and below them,deep,very deep,the blue sky.”

He had been speaking in a low voice；now he looked up,fixed his eyes upon them,and said loud and clear：

“Quick!I am sane now.Every night I am sane.If only I could get out of this enchanted chair,it would last.I should be a man again.But every night they bind me,and so every night my chance is gone.But you are not enemies.I am not your prisoner.Quick!Cut these cords.”

“Stand fast!Steady,” said Puddleglum to the two children.

“I beseech you to hear me,” said the Knight,forcing himself to speak calmly.“Have they told you that if I am released from this chair I shall kill you and become a serpent?I see by your faces that they have.It is a lie.It is at this hour that I am in my right mind：it is all the rest of the day that I am enchanted.You are not Earthmen nor witches.Why should you be on their side?Of your courtesy,cut my bonds.”

“Steady!Steady!Steady!” said the three travellers to one another.

“Oh,you have hearts of stone,” said the Knight.“Believe me,you look upon a wretch who has suffered almost more than any mortal heart can bear.What wrong have I ever done you,that you should side with my enemies to keep me in such miseries?And the minutes are slipping past.Now you can save me；when this hour has passed,I shall be witless again – the toy and lap-dog,nay,more likely the pawn and tool,of the most devilish sorceress that ever planned the woe of men.And this night,of all nights,when she is away!You take from me a chance that may never come again.”

“This is dreadful.I do wish we'd stayed away till it was over,” said Jill.

“Steady!” said Puddleglum.

The prisoner's voice was now rising into a shriek.“Let me go,I say.Give me my sword.My sword!Once I am free I shall take such revenge on Earthmen that Underland will talk of it for a thousand years!”

“Now the frenzy is beginning,” said Scrubb.“I hope those knots are all right.”

“Yes,” said Puddleglum.“He'd have twice his natural strength if he got free now.And I'm not clever with my sword.He'd get us both,I shouldn't wonder；and then Pole on her own would be left to tackle the snake.”

The prisoner was now so straining at his bonds that they cut into his wrists and ankles.“Beware,” he said.“Beware.One night I did break them.But the witch was there that time.You will not have her to help you tonight.Free me now,and I am your friend.I'm your mortal enemy else.”

“Cunning,isn't he?” said Puddleglum.

“Once and for all,” said the prisoner,“I adjure you to set me free.By all fears and all loves,by the bright skies of Overland,by the great Lion,by Aslan himself,I charge you—”

“Oh!” cried the three travellers as though they had been hurt.

“It's the sign,” said Puddleglum.

“It was the words of the sign,” said Scrubb more cautiously.

“Oh,what are we to do?” said Jill.

It was a dreadful question.What had been the use of promising one another that they would not on any account set the Knight free,if they were now to do so the first time he happened to call upon a name they really cared about?On the other hand,what had been the use of learning the signs if they weren't going to obey them?Yet could Aslan have really meant them to unbind anyone – even a lunatic – who asked it in his name?Could it be a mere accident?Or how if the Queen of the Underworld knew all about the signs and had made the Knight learn this name simply in order to entrap them?But then,supposing this was the real sign?They had muffed three already；they daren't muff the fourth.

“Oh,if only we knew!” said Jill.

“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.

“Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.

“I don't know about that,” said Puddleglum.“You see,Aslan didn't tell Pole what would happen.He only told her what to do.That fellow will be the death of us once he's up,I shouldn't wonder.But that doesn't let us off following the sign.”

They all stood looking at one another with bright eyes.It was a sickening moment.“All right!”said Jill suddenly.“Let's get it over.Goodbye,everyone!” They all shook hands.The Knight was screaming by now；there was foam on his cheeks.

“Come on,Scrubb,” said Puddleglum.He and Scrubb drew their swords and went over to the captive.

“In the name of Aslan,” they said and began methodically cutting the cords.The instant the prisoner was free,he crossed the room in a single bound,seized his own sword(which had been taken from him and laid on the table),and drew it.

“You first!” he cried and fell upon the silver chair.That must have been a good sword.The silver gave way before its edge like string,and in a moment a few twisted fragments,shining on the floor,were all that was left.But as the chair broke,there came from it a bright flash,a sound like small thunder,and(for one moment)a loathsome smell.

“Lie there,vile engine of sorcery,” he said,“lest your mistress should ever use you for another victim.” Then he turned and surveyed his rescuers；and the something wrong,whatever it was,had vanished from his face.

“What?” he cried,turning to Puddleglum.“Do I see before me a Marsh-wiggle – a real,live,honest,Narnian Marsh-wiggle?”

“Oh,so you have heard of Narnia after all?” said Jill.

“Had I forgotten it when I was under the spell?” asked the Knight.“Well,that and all other bedevilments are now over.You may well believe that I know Narnia,for I am Rilian,Prince of Narnia,and Caspian the great King is my father.”

“Your Royal Highness,” said Puddleglum,sinking on one knee(and the children did the same),“we have come hither for no other end than to seek you.”

“And who are you,my other deliverers?” said the Prince to Scrubb and Jill.

“We were sent by Aslan himself from beyond the world's end to seek your Highness,” said Scrubb.“I am Eustace who sailed with him to the island of Ramandu.”

“I owe all three of you a greater debt than I can ever pay,” said Prince Rilian.“But my father?Is he yet alive?”

“He sailed east again before we left Narnia,my lord,” said Puddleglum.“But your Highness must consider that the King is very old.It is ten to one his Majesty must die on the voyage.”

“He is old,you say.How long then have I been in the power of the witch?”

“It is more than ten years since your Highness was lost in the woods at the north side of Narnia.”

“Ten years!” said the Prince,drawing his hand across his face as if to rub away the past.“Yes,I believe you.For now that I am myself I can remember that enchanted life,though while I was enchanted I could not remember my true self.And now,fair friends – but wait!I hear their feet(does it not sicken a man,that padding woolly tread!Faugh!)on the stairs.Lock the door,boy.Or stay.I have a better thought than that.I will fool these Earthmen,if Aslan gives me the wit.Take your cue from me.”

He walked resolutely to the door and flung it wide open.

CHAPTER 12

The Queen of Underland

Two Earthmen entered,but instead of advancing into the room,they placed themselves one on each side of the door,and bowed deeply.They were followed immediately by the last person whom anyone had expected or wished to see：the Lady of the Green Kirtle,the Queen of Underland.She stood dead still in the doorway,and they could see her eyes moving as she took in the whole situation – the three strangers,the silver chair destroyed,and the Prince free,with his sword in his hand.

She turned very white；but Jill thought it was the sort of whiteness that comes over some people's faces not when they are frightened but when they are angry.For a moment the Witch fixed her eyes on the Prince,and there was murder in them.Then she seemed to change her mind.

“Leave us,” she said to the two Earthmen.“And let none disturb us till I call,on pain of death.” The gnomes padded away obediently,and the Witchqueen shut and locked the door.

“How now,my lord Prince,” she said.“Has your nightly fit not yet come upon you,or is it over so soon?Why stand you here unbound?Who are these aliens?And is it they who have destroyed the chair which was your only safety?”

Prince Rilian shivered as she spoke to him.And no wonder：it is not easy to throw off in half an hour an enchantment which has made one a slave for ten years.Then,speaking with a great effort,he said：

“Madam,there will be no more need of that chair.And you,who have told me a hundred times how deeply you pitied me for the sorceries by which I was bound,will doubtless hear with joy that they are now ended for ever.There was,it seems,some small error in your Ladyship's way of treating them.These,my true friends,have delivered me.I am now in my right mind,and there are two things I will say to you.First – as for your Ladyship's design of putting me at the head of an army of Earthmen so that I may break out into the Overworld and there,by main force,make myself king over some nation that never did me wrong –murdering their natural lords and holding their throne as a bloody and foreign tyrant – now that I know myself,I do utterly abhor and renounce it as plain villainy.And second：I am the King's son of Narnia,Rilian,the only child of Caspian,Tenth of that name,whom some call Caspian the Seafarer.Therefore,Madam,it is my purpose,as it is also my duty,to depart suddenly from your Highness's court into my own country.Please it you to grant me and my friends safe conduct and a guide through your dark realm.”

Now the Witch said nothing at all,but moved gently across the room,always keeping her face and eyes very steadily towards the Prince.When she had come to a little ark set in the wall not far from the fireplace,she opened it,and took out first a handful of a green powder.This she threw on the fire.It did not blaze much,but a very sweet and drowsy smell came from it.And all through the conversation which followed,that smell grew stronger,and filled the room,and made it harder to think.Secondly,she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin.She began to play it with her fingers – a steady,monotonous thrumming that you didn't notice after a few minutes.But the less you noticed it,the more it got into your brain and your blood.This also made it hard to think.After she had thrummed for a time(and the sweet smell was now strong)she began speaking in a sweet,quiet voice.

“Narnia?” she said.“Narnia?I have often heard your Lordship utter that name in your ravings.Dear Prince,you are very sick.There is no land called Narnia.”

“Yes,there is,though,Ma'am,” said Puddleglum.“You see,I happen to have lived there all my life.”

“Indeed,” said the Witch.“Tell me,I pray you,where that country is?”

“Up there,” said Puddleglum,stoutly,pointing overhead.“I – I don't know exactly where.”

“How?” said the Queen,with a kind,soft,musical laugh.“Is there a country up among the stones and mortar of the roof?”

“No,” said Puddleglum,struggling a little to get his breath.“It's in the Overworld.”

“And what,or where,pray is this… how do you call it… Overworld?”

“Oh,don't be so silly,” said Scrubb,who was fighting hard against the enchantment of the sweet smell and the thrumming.“As if you didn't know!It's up above,up where you can see the sky and the sun and the stars.Why,you've been there yourself.We met you there.”

“I cry you mercy,little brother,” laughed the Witch(you couldn't have heard a lovelier laugh).“I have no memory of that meeting.But we often meet our friends in strange places when we dream.And unless all dreamed alike,you must not ask them to remember it.”

“Madam,” said the Prince sternly,“I have already told your Grace that I am the King's son of Narnia.”

“And shalt be,dear friend,” said the Witch in a soothing voice,as if she were humouring a child,“shalt be king of many imagined lands in thy fancies.”

“We've been there,too,” snapped Jill.She was very angry because she could feel enchantment getting hold of her every moment.But of course the very fact that she could still feel it,showed that it had not yet fully worked.

“And thou art Queen of Narnia too,I doubt not,pretty one,” said the Witch in the same coaxing,half-mocking tone.

“I'm nothing of the sort,” said Jill,stamping her foot.“We come from another world.”

“Why,this is a prettier game than the other,”said the Witch.“Tell us,little maid,where is this other world?What ships and chariots go between it and ours?”

Of course a lot of things darted into Jill's head at once：Experiment House,Adela Pennyfather,her own home,radio-sets,cinemas,cars,aeroplanes,ration-books,queues.But they seemed dim and far away.(Thrum– thrum– thrum– went the strings of the Witch's instrument.)Jill couldn't remember the names of the things in our world.And this time it didn't come into her head that she was being enchanted,for now the magic was in its full strength；and of course,the more enchanted you get,the more certain you feel that you are not enchanted at all.

She found herself saying(and at the moment it was a relief to say)：“No.I suppose that other world must be all a dream.”

“Yes.It is all a dream,” said the Witch,always thrumming.

“Yes,all a dream,” said Jill.

“There never was such a world,” said the Witch.

“No,” said Jill and Scrubb,“never was such a world.”

“There never was any world but mine,” said the Witch.

“There never was any world but yours,” said they.

Puddleglum was still fighting hard.“I don't know rightly what you all mean by a world,” he said,talking like a man who hasn't enough air.“But you can play that fiddle till your fingers drop off,and still you won't make me forget Narnia；and the whole Overworld too.We'll never see it again,I shouldn't wonder.You may have blotted it out and turned it dark like this,for all I know.Nothing more likely.But I know I was there once.I've seen the sky full of stars.I've seen the sun coming up out of the sea of a morning and sinking behind the mountains at night.And I've seen him up in the midday sky when I couldn't look at him for brightness.”

Puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect.The other three all breathed again and looked at one another like people newly awaked.

“Why,there it is!” cried the Prince.“Of course!The blessing of Aslan upon this honest marshwiggle.We have all been dreaming,these last few minutes.How could we have forgotten it?Of course we've all seen the sun.”

“By Jove,so we have!” said Scrubb.“Good for you,Puddleglum!You're the only one of us with any sense,I do believe.”

Then came the Witch's voice,cooing softly like the voice of a wood-pigeon from the high elms in an old garden at three o'clock in the middle of a sleepy,summer afternoon；and it said：

“What is this sun that you all speak of?Do you mean anything by the word?”

“Yes,we jolly well do,” said Scrubb.

“Can you tell me what it's like?” asked the Witch(thrum,thrum,thrum,went the strings).

“Please it your Grace,” said the Prince,very coldly and politely.“You see that lamp.It is round and yellow and gives light to the whole room；and hangeth moreover from the roof.Now that thing which we call the sun is like the lamp,only far greater and brighter.It giveth light to the whole Overworld and hangeth in the sky.”

“Hangeth from what,my lord?” asked the Witch；and then,while they were all still thinking how to answer her,she added,with another of her soft,silver laughs：“You see?When you try to think out clearly what this sun must be,you cannot tell me.You can only tell me it is like the lamp.Your sun is a dream；and there is nothing in that dream that was not copied from the lamp.The lamp is the real thing；the sun is but a tale,a children's story.”

“Yes,I see now,” said Jill in a heavy,hopeless tone.“It must be so.” And while she said this,it seemed to her to be very good sense.

Slowly and gravely the Witch repeated,“There is no sun.” And they all said nothing.She repeated,in a softer and deeper voice.“There is no sun.” After a pause,and after a struggle in their minds,all four of them said together,“You are right.There is no sun.” It was such a relief to give in and say it.

“There never was a sun,” said the Witch.

“No.There never was a sun,” said the Prince,and the Marsh-wiggle,and the children.

For the last few minutes Jill had been feeling that there was something she must remember at all costs.And now she did.But it was dreadfully hard to say it.She felt as if huge weights were laid on her lips.At last,with an effort that seemed to take all the good out of her,she said：

“There's Aslan.”

“Aslan?” said the Witch,quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming.“What a pretty name!What does it mean?”

“He is the great Lion who called us out of our own world,” said Scrubb,“and sent us into this to find Prince Rilian.”

“What is a lion?” asked the Witch.

“Oh,hang it all!” said Scrubb.“Don't you know?How can we describe it to her?Have you ever seen a cat?”

“Surely,” said the Queen.“I love cats.”

“Well,a lion is a little bit – only a little bit,mind you – like a huge cat – with a mane.At least,it's not like a horse's mane,you know,it's more like a judge's wig.And it's yellow.And terrifically strong.”

The Witch shook her head.“I see,” she said,“that we should do no better with your lion,as you call it,than we did with your sun.You have seen lamps,and so you imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun.You've seen cats,and now you want a bigger and better cat,and it's to be called a lion.Well,'tis a pretty make-believe,though,to say truth,it would suit you all better if you were younger.And look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without copying it from the real world of mine,which is the only world.But even you children are too old for such play.As for you,my lord Prince,that art a man full grown,fie upon you!Are you not ashamed of such toys?Come,all of you.Put away these childish tricks.I have work for you all in the real world.There is no Narnia,no Overworld,no sky,no sun,no Aslan.And now,to bed all.And let us begin a wiser life tomorrow.But,first,to bed；to sleep；deep sleep,soft pillows,sleep without foolish dreams.”

The Prince and the two children were standing with their heads hung down,their cheeks flushed,their eyes half closed；the strength all gone from them；the enchantment almost complete.But Puddleglum,desperately gathering all his strength,walked over to the fire.Then he did a very brave thing.He knew it wouldn't hurt him quite as much as it would hurt a human；for his feet(which were bare)were webbed and hard and cold-blooded like a duck's.But he knew it would hurt him badly enough；and so it did.With his bare foot he stamped on the fire,grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth.And three things happened at once.

First,the sweet heavy smell grew very much less.For though the whole fire had not been put out,a good bit of it had,and what remained smelled very largely of burnt marsh-wiggle,which is not at all an enchanting smell.This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer.The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.

Secondly,the witch,in a loud,terrible voice,utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now,called out,“What are you doing?Dare to touch my fire again,mud-filth,and I'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins.”

Thirdly,the pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought.There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.

“One word,Ma'am,” he said,coming back from the fire；limping because of the pain.“One word.All you've been saying is quite right,I shouldn't wonder.I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it.So I won't deny any of what you said.But there's one thing more to be said,even so.Suppose we have only dreamed,or made up,all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself.Suppose we have.Then all I can say is that,in that case,the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones.Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world.Well,it strikes me as a pretty poor one.And that's a funny thing,when you come to think of it.We're just babies making up a game,if you're right.But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow.That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world.I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it.I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia.So,thanking you kindly for our supper,if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready,we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for the Overland.Not that our lives will be very long,I should think；but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.”

“Oh,hurray!Good old Puddleglum!” cried Scrubb and Jill.

But the Prince shouted suddenly,“'Ware!Look to the Witch.”

When they did look their hair nearly stood on end.

The instrument dropped from her hands.Her arms appeared to be fastened to her sides.Her legs were intertwined with each other,and her feet had disappeared.The long green train of her skirt thickened and grew solid,and seemed to be all one piece with the writhing green pillar of her interlocked legs.And that writhing green pillar was curving and swaying as if it had no joints,or else were all joints.Her head was thrown far back and while her nose grew longer and longer,every other part of her face seemed to disappear,except her eyes.Huge flaming eyes they were now,without brows or lashes.All this takes time to write down；it happened so quickly that there was only just time to see it.Long before there was time to do anything,the change was complete,and the great serpent which the Witch had become,green as poison,thick as Jill's waist,had flung two or three coils of its loathsome body round the Prince's legs.Quick as lightning another great loop darted round,intending to pinion his sword-arm to his side.But the Prince was just in time.He raised his arms and got them clear：the living knot closed only round his chest – ready to crack his ribs like firewood when it drew tight.

The Prince caught the creature's neck in his left hand,trying to squeeze it till it choked.This held its face(if you could call it a face)about five inches from his own.The forked tongue flickered horribly in and out,but could not reach him.With his right hand he drew back his sword for the strongest blow he could give.Meanwhile Scrubb and Puddleglum had drawn their weapons and rushed to his aid.All three blows fell at once：Scrubb's(which did not even pierce the scales and did no good)on the body of the snake below the Prince's hand,but the Prince's own blow and Puddleglum's both on its neck.Even that did not quite kill it,though it began to loosen its hold on Rilian's legs and chest.With repeated blows they hacked off its head.The horrible thing went on coiling and moving like a bit of wire long after it had died；and the floor,as you may imagine,was a nasty mess.

The Prince,when he had breath,said,“Gentlemen,I thank you.” Then the three conquerors stood staring at one another and panting,without another word,for a long time.Jill had very wisely sat down and was keeping quiet；she was saying to herself,“I do hope I don't faint –or blub – or do anything idiotic.”

“My royal mother is avenged,” said Rilian presently.“This is undoubtedly the same worm that I pursued in vain by the fountain in the forest of Narnia,so many years ago.All these years I have been the slave of my mother's slayer.Yet I am glad,gentlemen,that the foul Witch took to her serpent form at the last.It would not have suited well either with my heart or with my honour to have slain a woman.But look to the lady.” He meant Jill.

“I'm all right,thanks,” said she.

“Damsel,” said the Prince,bowing to her.“You are of a high courage,and therefore,I doubt not,you come of a noble blood in your own world.But come,friends.Here is some wine left.Let us refresh ourselves and each pledge his fellows.After that,to our plans.”

“A jolly good idea,Sir,” said Scrubb.

CHAPTER 13

Underland without the Queen

All felt that they had earned what Scrubb called a“breather”.The Witch had locked the door and told the Earthmen not to disturb her,so there was no danger of interruption for the present.Their first business was,of course,Puddleglum's burnt foot.A couple of clean shirts from the Prince's bedroom,torn into strips,and well greased on the inside with butter and salad oil off the supper table,made a fairly good dressing.When this had been applied,they all sat down and had a little refreshment,and discussed plans for escaping from the Underworld.

Rilian explained that there were quite a lot of outlets by which one could get to the surface – he had been taken out through most of them at one time or another.But he had never gone out alone,only with the Witch；and he had always reached these outlets by going in a ship across the Sunless Sea.What the Earthmen would say if he went down to the harbour without the Witch,and with four strangers,and simply ordered a ship,no one could guess.But most likely they would ask awkward questions.On the other hand the new outlet,the one for the invasion of Overworld,was on this side of the sea,and only a few miles away.The Prince knew that it was nearly finished；only a few feet of earth divided the diggings from the outer air.It was even possible that it had now been quite finished.Perhaps the Witch had come back to tell him this and to start the attack.Even if it was not,they could probably dig themselves out by that route in a few hours – if they could only get there without being stopped,and if only they found the diggings unguarded.But those were the difficulties.

“If you ask me—” began Puddleglum,when Scrubb interrupted.

“I say,” he asked,“what's that noise?”

“I've been wondering that for some time!” said Jill.

They had all,in fact,been hearing the noise but it had begun and increased so gradually that they did not know when they had first noticed it.For a time it had been only a vague disquiet like gentle winds,or traffic very far away.Then it swelled to a murmur like the sea.Then came rumblings and rushings.Now there seemed to be voices as well and also a steady roaring that was not voices.

“By the Lion,” said Prince Rilian,“it seems this silent land has found a tongue at last.” He rose,walked to the window,and drew aside the curtains.The others crowded round him to look out.

The very first thing they noticed was a great red glow.Its reflection made a red patch on the roof of the Underworld thousands of feet above them,so that they could see a rocky ceiling which had perhaps been hidden in darkness ever since the world was made.The glow itself came from the far side of the city so that many buildings,grim and great,stood up blackly against it.But it also cast its light down many streets that ran from it towards the castle.And in those streets something very strange was going on.The closely-packed,silent crowds of Earthmen had vanished.Instead,there were figures darting about by ones,or twos,or threes.They behaved like people who do not want to be seen：lurking in shadow behind buttresses or in doorways,and then moving quickly across the open into fresh places of hiding.But the strangest thing of all,to anyone who knew the gnomes,was the noise.Shouts and cries came from all directions.But from the harbour there came a low,rumbling roar which grew steadily louder and was already shaking the whole city.

“What's happened to the Earthmen?” said Scrubb.“Is it them shouting?”

“'Tis hardly possible,” said the Prince.“I never heard one of the rascals so much as speak with a loud voice in all the weary years of my bondage.Some new devilry,I don't doubt.”

“And what is that red light over there?” asked Jill.“Is something on fire?”

“If you ask me,” said Puddleglum,“I should say that was the central fires of the Earth breaking out to make a new volcano.We'll be in the middle of it,I shouldn't wonder.”

“Look at that ship!” said Scrubb.“Why's it coming on so quickly?No one's rowing it.”

“Look,look!” said the Prince.“The ship is already far this side of the harbour – it is in the street.Look!All the ships are driving into the city!By my head,the sea's rising.The flood is upon us.Aslan be praised,this castle stands on high ground.But the water comes on grimly fast.”

“Oh,what can be happening?” cried Jill.“Fire and water and all those people dodging about the streets.”

“I'll tell you what it is,” said Puddleglum.“That Witch has laid a train of magic spells so that whenever she was killed,at that same moment her whole kingdom would fall to pieces.She's the sort that wouldn't so much mind dying herself if she knew that the chap who killed her was going to be burned,or buried,or drowned five minutes later.”

“Hast hit it,friend wiggle,” said the Prince.“When our swords hacked off the Witch's head,that stroke ended all her magic works,and now the Deep Lands are falling to pieces.We are looking on the end of the Underworld.”

“That's it,Sir,” said Puddleglum.“Unless it should happen to be the end of the whole world.”

“But are we just going to stay here and – wait?”gasped Jill.

“Not by my counsel,” said the Prince.“I would save my horse,Coalblack,and the Witch's Snowflake(a noble beast and worthy of a better mistress)which are both stabled in the courtyard.After that,let us make shift to get out to high ground and pray that we shall find an outlet.The horses can carry two each at need,and if we put them to it they may outstrip the flood.”

“Will your Highness not put on armour?” asked Puddleglum.“I don't like the look of those” – and he pointed down to the street.Everyone looked down.Dozens of creatures(and now that they were close,they obviously were Earthmen)were coming up from the direction of the harbour.But they were not moving like an aimless crowd.They behaved like modern soldiers in an attack,making rushes and taking cover,anxious not to be seen from the castle windows.

“I dare not see the inside of that armour again,”said the Prince.“I rode in it as in a movable dungeon,and it stinks of magic and slavery.But I will take the shield.”

He left the room and returned with a strange light in his eyes a moment later.

“Look,friends,” he said,holding out the shield towards them.“An hour ago it was black and without device；and now,this.” The shield had turned bright as silver,and on it,redder than blood or cherries,was the figure of the Lion.

“Doubtless,” said the Prince,“this signifies that Aslan will be our good lord,whether he means us to live or die.And all's one,for that.Now,by my counsel,we shall all kneel and kiss his likeness,and then all shake hands one with another,as true friends that may shortly be parted.And then,let us descend into the city and take the adventure that is sent us.”

And they all did as the Prince had said.But when Scrubb shook hands with Jill,he said,“So long,Jill.Sorry I've been a funk and so ratty.I hope you get safe home,” and Jill said,“So long,Eustace.And I'm sorry I've been such a pig.” And this was the first time they had ever used Christian names,because one didn't do it at school.

The Prince unlocked the door and they all went down the stairs：three of them with drawn swords,and Jill with drawn knife.The attendants had vanished and the great room at the foot of the Prince's stairs was empty.The grey,doleful lamps were still burning and by their light they had no difficulty in passing gallery after gallery and descending stairway after stairway.The noises from outside the castle were not so easily heard here as they had been in the room above.Inside the house all was still as death,and deserted.It was as they turned a corner into the great hall on the ground floor that they met their first Earthman – a fat,whitish creature with a very pig-like face who was gobbling up all the remains of food on the tables.It squealed(the squeal also was very like a pig's)and darted under a bench,whisking its long tail out of Puddleglum's reach in the nick of time.Then it rushed away through the far door too quickly to be followed.

From the hall they came out into the courtyard.Jill,who went to a riding school in the holidays,had just noticed the smell of a stable(a very nice,honest,homely smell it is to meet in a place like Underland)when Eustace said,“Great Scott!Look at that!” A magnificent rocket had risen from somewhere beyond the castle walls and broken into green stars.

“Fireworks!” said Jill in a puzzled voice.

“Yes,” said Eustace,“but you can't imagine those Earth people letting them off for fun!It must be a signal.”

“And means no good to us,I'll be bound,”said Puddleglum.

“Friends,” said the Prince,“when once a man is launched on such an adventure as this,he must bid farewell to hopes and fears,otherwise death or deliverance will both come too late to save his honour and his reason.Ho,my beauties”(he was now opening the stable door).“Hey,cousins!Steady,Coalblack!Softly now,Snowflake!You are not forgotten.”

The horses were both frightened by the strange lights and the noises.Jill,who had been so cowardly about going through a black hole between one cave and another,went in without fear between the stamping and snorting beasts,and she and the Prince had them saddled and bridled in a few minutes.Very fine they looked as they came out into the courtyard,tossing their heads.Jill mounted Snowflake,and Puddleglum got up behind her.Eustace got up behind the Prince on Coalblack.Then,with a great echo of hooves,they rode out of the main gateway into the street.

“Not much danger of being burnt.That's the bright side of it,” observed Puddleglum,pointing to their right.There,hardly a hundred yards away,lapping against the walls of the houses,was water.

“Courage!” said the Prince.“The road there goes down steeply.That water has climbed only half up the greatest hill in the city.It might come so near in the first half-hour and come no nearer in the next two.My fear is more of that—” and he pointed with his sword to a great tall Earthman with boar's tusks,followed by six others of assorted shapes and sizes who had just dashed out of a side street and stepped into the shadow of the houses where no one could see them.

The Prince led them,aiming always in the direction of the glowing red light but a little to the left of it.His plan was to get round the fire(if it was a fire)on to high ground,in hope that they might find their way to the new diggings.Unlike the other three,he seemed to be almost enjoying himself.He whistled as he rode,and sang snatches of an old song about Corin Thunder-fist of Archenland.The truth is,he was so glad at being free from his long enchantment that all dangers seemed a game in comparison.But the rest found it an eerie journey.

Behind them was the sound of clashing and entangled ships,and the rumble of collapsing buildings.Overhead was the great patch of lurid light on the roof of the Underworld.Ahead was the mysterious glow,which did not seem to grow any bigger.From the same direction came a continual hubbub of shouts,screams,cat-calls,laughter,squeals,and bellowings；and fireworks of all sorts rose in the dark air.No one could guess what they meant.Nearer to them,the city was partly lit up by the red glow,and partly by the very different light of the dreary gnome lamps.But there were many places where neither of these lights fell,and those places were jet black.And in and out of those places the shapes of Earthmen were darting and slipping all the time,always with their eyes fixed on the travellers,always trying to keep out of sight themselves.There were big faces and little faces,huge eyes like fishes' eyes and little eyes like bears'.There were feathers and bristles,horns and tusks,noses like whipcord,and chins so long that they looked like beards.Every now and then a group of them would get too big or come too near.Then the Prince would brandish his sword and make a show of charging them.And the creatures,with all manner of hootings,squeakings,and cluckings,would dive away into the darkness.

But when they had climbed many steep streets and were far away from the flood,and almost out of the town on the inland side,it began to be more serious.They were now close to the red glow and nearly on a level with it,though they still could not see what it really was.But by its light they could see their enemies more clearly.Hundreds – perhaps a few thousands – of gnomes were all moving towards it.But they were doing so in short rushes,and whenever they stopped,they turned and faced the travellers.

“If your Highness asked me,” said Puddleglum,“I'd say those fellows were meaning to cut us off in front.”

“That was my thought too,Puddleglum,” said the Prince.“And we can never fight our way through so many.Hark you!Let us ride forth close by the edge of yonder house.And even as we reach it,do you slip off into its shadow.The Lady and I will go forward a few paces.Some of these devils will follow us,I doubt not；they are thick behind us.Do you,who have long arms,take one alive if you may,as it passes your ambush.We may get a true tale of it or learn what is their quarrel against us.”

“But won't the others all come rushing at us to rescue the one we catch?” said Jill in a voice not so steady as she tried to make it.

“Then,Madam,” said the Prince,“you shall see us die fighting around you,and you must commend yourself to the Lion.Now,good Puddleglum.”

The Marsh-wiggle slipped off into the shadow as quickly as a cat.The others,for a sickening minute or so,went forward at a walk.Then suddenly from behind them there broke out a series of bloodcurdling screams,mixed with the familiar voice of Puddleglum,saying,“Now then!Don't cry out before you're hurt,or you will be hurt,see?Anyone would think it was a pig being killed.”

“That was good hunting,” exclaimed the Prince,immediately turning Coalblack and coming back to the corner of the house.“Eustace,” he said,“of your courtesy,take Coalblack's head.” Then he dismounted,and all three gazed in silence while Puddleglum pulled his catch out into the light.It was a most miserable little gnome,only about three feet long.It had a sort of ridge,like a cock's comb(only hard),on the top of its head,little pink eyes,and a mouth and chin so large and round that its face looked like that of a pigmy hippopotamus.If they had not been in such a tight place,they would have burst into laughter at the sight of it.

“Now,Earthman,” said the Prince,standing over it and holding his sword point very near the prisoner's neck,“speak up,like an honest gnome,and you shall go free.Play the knave with us,and you are but a dead Earthman.Good Puddleglum,how can it speak while you hold its mouth tight shut?”

“No,and it can't bite either,” said Puddleglum.“If I had the silly soft hands that you humans have(saving your Highness's reverence)I'd have been all over blood by now.Yet even a Marsh-wiggle gets tired of being chewed.”

“Sirrah,” said the Prince to the gnome,“one bite and you die.Let its mouth open,Puddleglum.”

“Oo-ee-ee,” squealed the Earthman.“Let me go,let me go.It isn't me.I didn't do it.”

“Didn't do what?” asked Puddleglum.

“Whatever your Honours say I did do,” answered the creature.

“Tell me your name,” said the Prince,“and what you Earthmen are all about today.”

“Oh please,your Honours,please,kind gentlemen,” whimpered the gnome.“Promise you will not tell the Queen's grace anything I say.”

“The Queen's grace,as you call her,” said the Prince sternly,“is dead.I killed her myself.”

“What!” cried the gnome,opening its ridiculous mouth wider and wider in astonishment.“Dead?The Witch dead?And by your Honour's hand?” It gave a huge sigh of relief and added,“Why,then your Honour is a friend!”

The Prince withdrew his sword an inch or so.Puddleglum let the creature sit up.It looked round on the four travellers with its twinkling,red eyes,chuckled once or twice,and began.

CHAPTER 14

The Bottom of the World

“My name is Golg,” said the gnome.“And I'll tell your Honours all I know.About an hour ago we were all going about our work – her work,I should say – sad and silent,same as we've done any other day for years and years.Then there came a great crash and bang.As soon as they heard it,everyone says to himself,I haven't had a song or a dance or let off a squib for a long time；why's that?And everyone thinks to himself,Why,I must have been enchanted.And then everyone says to himself,I'm blessed if I know why I'm carrying this load,and I'm not going to carry it any further：that's that.And down we all throw our sacks and bundles and tools.Then everyone turns and sees the great red glow over yonder.And everyone says to himself,What's that?And everyone answers himself and says,There's a crack or chasm split open and a nice warm glow coming up through it from the Really Deep Land,a thousand fathoms under us.”

“Great Scott,” exclaimed Eustace,“are there other lands still lower down?”

“Oh yes,your Honour,” said Golg.“Lovely places；what we call the Land of Bism.This country where we are now,the Witch's country,is what we call the Shallow Lands.It's a good deal too near the surface to suit us.Ugh!You might almost as well be living outside,on the surface itself.You see,we're all poor gnomes from Bism whom the Witch has called up here by magic to work for her.But we'd forgotten all about it till that crash came and the spell broke.We didn't know who we were or where we belonged.We couldn't do anything,or think anything,except what she put into our heads.And it was glum and gloomy things she put there all those years.I've nearly forgotten how to make a joke or dance a jig.But the moment the bang came and the chasm opened and the sea began rising,it all came back.And of course we all set off as quick as we could to get down the crack and home to our own place.And you can see them over there all letting off rockets and standing on their heads for joy.And I'll be very obliged to your Honours if you'll soon let me go and join in.”

“I think this is simply splendid,” said Jill.“I'm so glad we freed the gnomes as well as ourselves when we cut off the Witch's head!And I'm so glad they aren't really horrid and gloomy any more than the Prince really was – well,what he seemed like.”

“That's all very well,Pole,” said Puddleglum cautiously.“But those gnomes didn't look to me like chaps who were just running away.It looked more like military formations,if you ask me.Do you look me in the face,Mr Golg,and tell me you weren't preparing for battle?”

“Of course we were,your Honour,” said Golg.“You see,we didn't know the Witch was dead.We thought she'd be watching from the castle.We were trying to slip away without being seen.And then when you four came out with swords and horses,of course everyone says to himself,Here it comes：not knowing that his Honour wasn't on the Witch's side.And we were determined to fight like anything rather than give up the hope of going back to Bism.”

“I'll be sworn 'tis an honest gnome,” said the Prince.“Let go of it,friend Puddleglum.As for me,good Golg,I have been enchanted like you and your fellows,and have but newly remembered myself.And now,one question more.Do you know the way to those new diggings,by which the sorceress meant to lead out an army against Overland?”

“Ee-ee-ee!” squeaked Golg.“Yes,I know that terrible road.I will show you where it begins.But it is no manner of use your Honour asking me to go with you on it.I'll die rather.”

“Why?” asked Eustace anxiously.“What's so dreadful about it?”

“Too near the top,the outside,” said Golg,shuddering.“That was the worst thing the Witch did to us.We were going to be led out into the open – on to the outside of the world.They say there's no roof at all there；only a horrible great emptiness called the sky.And the diggings have gone so far that a few strokes of the pick would bring you out to it.I wouldn't dare go near them.”

“Hurray!Now you're talking!” cried Eustace,and Jill said,“But it's not horrid at all up there.We like it.We live there.”

“I know you Overlanders live there,” said Golg.“But I thought it was because you couldn't find your way down inside.You can't really like it –crawling about like flies on the top of the world!”

“What about showing us the road at once?”said Puddleglum.

“In a good hour,” cried the Prince.The whole party set out.The Prince remounted his charger,Puddleglum climbed up behind Jill,and Golg led the way.As he went,he kept shouting out the good news that the Witch was dead and that the four Overlanders were not dangerous.And those who heard him shouted it on to others,so that in a few minutes the whole of Underland was ringing with shouts and cheers,and gnomes by hundreds and thousands,leaping,turning cartwheels,standing on their heads,playing leapfrog,and letting off huge crackers,came pressing round Coalblack and Snowflake.And the Prince had to tell the story of his own enchantment and deliverance at least ten times.

In this way they came to the edge of the chasm.It was about a thousand feet long and perhaps two hundred wide.They dismounted from their horses and came to the edge,and looked down into it.A strong heat smote up into their faces,mixed with a smell which was quite unlike any they had ever smelled.It was rich,sharp,exciting,and made you sneeze.The depth of the chasm was so bright that at first it dazzled their eyes and they could see nothing.When they got used to it they thought they could make out a river of fire,and,on the banks of that river,what seemed to be fields and groves of an unbearable,hot brilliance – though they were dim compared with the river.There were blues,reds,greens,and whites all jumbled together：a very good stained-glass window with the tropical sun staring straight through it at midday might have something of the same effect.Down the rugged sides of the chasm,looking black like flies against all that fiery light,hundreds of Earthmen were climbing.

“Your honours,” said Golg(and when they turned to look at him they could see nothing but blackness for a few minutes,their eyes were so dazzled).“Your honours,why don't you come down to Bism?You'd be happier there than in that cold,unprotected,naked country out on top.Or at least come down for a short visit.”

Jill took it for granted that none of the others would listen to such an idea for a moment.To her horror she heard the Prince saying：

“Truly,friend Golg,I have half a mind to come down with you.For this is a marvellous adventure,and it may be no mortal man has ever looked into Bism before or will ever have the chance again.And I know not how,as the years pass,I shall bear to remember that it was once in my power to have probed the uttermost pit of Earth and that I forbore.But could a man live there?You do not swim in the fire-river itself?”

“Oh no,your Honour.Not we.It's only salamanders live in the fire itself.”

“What kind of beast is your salamander?” asked the Prince.

“It is hard to tell their kind,your Honour,” said Golg.“For they are too white-hot to look at but they are most like small dragons.They speak to us out of the fire.They are wonderfully clever with their tongues：very witty and eloquent.”

Jill glanced hastily at Eustace.She had felt sure that he would like the idea of climbing down that chasm even less than she did.Her heart sank as she saw that his face was quite changed.He looked much more like the Prince than like the old Scrubb at Experiment House.For all his adventures,and the days when he had sailed with King Caspian,were coming back to him.

“Your Highness,” he said.“If my old friend Reepicheep the Mouse were here,he would say we could not now refuse the adventures of Bism without a great impeachment to our honour.”

“Down there,” said Golg,“I could show you real gold,real silver,real diamonds.”

“Bosh!” said Jill rudely.“As if we didn't know that we're below the deepest mines even here.”

“Yes,” said Golg.“I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call mines.But that's where you get dead gold,dead silver,dead gems.Down in Bism we have them alive and growing.There I'll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond-juice.You won't care much about fingering the cold,dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the live ones of Bism.”

“My father went to the world's end,” said Rilian thoughtfully.“It would be a marvellous thing if his son went to the bottom of the world.”

“If your Highness wants to see your father while he's still alive,which I think he'd prefer,” said Puddleglum,“it's about time we were getting on to that road to the diggings.”

“And I won't go down that hole,whatever anyone says,” added Jill.

“Why,if your Honours are really set to go back to the Overworld,” said Golg,“there is one bit of the road that's rather lower than this.And perhaps,if that flood's still rising—”

“Oh,do,do,do come on!” begged Jill.

“I fear it must be so,” said the Prince with a deep sigh.“But I have left half of my heart in the land of Bism.”

“Please!” begged Jill.

“Where is the road?” asked Puddleglum.

“There are lamps all the way,” said Golg.“Your Honour can see the beginning of the road on the far side of the chasm.”

“How long will the lamps burn for?” asked Puddleglum.

At that moment a hissing,scorching voice like the voice of Fire itself(they wondered afterwards if it could have been a salamander's)came whistling up out of the very depths of Bism.

“Quick!Quick!Quick!To the cliffs,to the cliffs,to the cliffs!” it said.“The rift closes.It closes.It closes.Quick!Quick!” And at the same time,with ear-shattering cracks and creaks,the rocks moved.Already,while they looked,the chasm was narrower.From every side belated gnomes were rushing into it.They would not wait to climb down the rocks.They flung themselves headlong and,either because so strong a blast of hot air was beating up from the bottom,or for some other reason,they could be seen floating downwards like leaves.Thicker and thicker they floated,till their blackness almost blotted out the fiery river and the groves of live gems.

“Goodbye to your Honours.I'm off,” shouted Golg,and dived.Only a few were left to follow him.The chasm was now no broader than a stream.Now it was narrow as the slit in a pillarbox.Now it was only an intensely bright thread.Then,with a shock like a thousand goods trains crashing into a thousand pairs of buffers,the lips of rock closed.The hot,maddening smell vanished.The travellers were alone in an Underworld which now looked far blacker than before.Pale,dim,and dreary,the lamps marked the direction of the road.

“Now,” said Puddleglum,“it's ten to one we've already stayed too long,but we may as well make a try.Those lamps will give out in five minutes,I shouldn't wonder.”

They urged the horses to a canter and thundered along the dusky road in fine style.But almost at once it began going downhill.They would have thought Golg had sent them the wrong way if they had not seen,on the other side of the valley,the lamps going on and upwards as far as the eye could reach.But at the bottom of the valley the lamps shone on moving water.

“Haste,” cried the Prince.They galloped down the slope.It would have been nasty enough at the bottom even five minutes later for the tide was running up the valley like a millrace,and if it had come to swimming,the horses could hardly have won over.But it was still only a foot or two deep,and though it swished terribly round the horses'legs,they reached the far side in safety.

Then began the slow,weary march uphill with nothing ahead to look at but the pale lamps which went up and up as far as the eye could reach.When they looked back they could see the water spreading.All the hills of Underland were now islands,and it was only on those islands that the lamps remained.Every moment some distant light vanished.Soon there would be total darkness everywhere except on the road they were following；and even on the lower part of it behind them,though no lamps had yet gone out,the lamplight shone on water.

Although they had good reason for hurrying,the horses could not go on for ever without a rest.They halted；and in silence they could hear the lapping of water.

“I wonder,is what's his name – Father Time –flooded out now,” said Jill.“And all those strange sleeping animals.”

“I don't think we're as high as that,” said Eustace.“Don't you remember how we had to go downhill to reach the Sunless Sea?I shouldn't think the water has reached Father Time's cave yet.”

“That's as may be,” said Puddleglum.“I'm more interested in the lamps on this road.Look a bit sickly,don't they?”

“They always did,” said Jill.

“Ah,” said Puddleglum.“But they're greener now.”

“You don't mean to say you think they're going out?” cried Eustace.

“Well,however they work,you can't expect them to last for ever,you know,” replied the Marshwiggle.“But don't let your spirits down,Scrubb.I've got my eye on the water too,and I don't think it's rising so fast as it did.”

“Small comfort,friend,” said the Prince,“if we cannot find our way out.I cry you mercy,all.I am to blame for my pride and fantasy which delayed us by the mouth of the land of Bism.Now,let us ride on.”

During the hour or so that followed Jill sometimes thought that Puddleglum was right about the lamps,and sometimes thought it was only her imagination.Meanwhile the land was changing.The roof of Underland was so near that even by that dull light they could now see it quite distinctly.And the great,rugged walls of Underland could be seen drawing closer on each side.The road,in fact,was leading them up into a steep tunnel.They began to pass picks and shovels and barrows and other signs that the diggers had recently been at work.If only one could be sure of getting out,all this was very cheering.But the thought of going on into a hole that would get narrower and narrower,and harder to turn back in,was very unpleasant.

At last the roof was so low that Puddleglum and the Prince knocked their heads against it.The party dismounted and led the horses.The road was uneven here and one had to pick one's steps with some care.That was how Jill noticed the growing darkness.There was no doubt about it now.The faces of the others looked strange and ghastly in the green glow.Then all at once(she couldn't help it)Jill gave a little scream.One light,the next one ahead,went out altogether.The one behind them did the same.Then they were in absolute darkness.

“Courage,friends,” came Prince Rilian's voice.“Whether we live or die Aslan will be our good lord.”

“That's right,Sir,” said Puddleglum's voice.“And you must always remember there's one good thing about being trapped down here：it'll save funeral expenses.”

Jill held her tongue.(If you don't want other people to know how frightened you are,this is always a wise thing to do；it's your voice that gives you away.)

“We might as well go on as stand here,” said Eustace,and when she heard the tremble in his voice,Jill knew how wise she'd been not to trust her own.

Puddleglum and Eustace went first with their arms stretched out in front of them,for fear of blundering into anything；Jill and the Prince followed,leading the horses.

“I say,” came Eustace's voice much later,“are my eyes going queer,or is there a patch of light up there?”

Before anyone could answer him,Puddleglum called out：“Stop.I'm up against a dead end.And it's earth,not rock.What were you saying,Scrubb?”

“By the Lion,” said the Prince,“Eustace is right.There is a sort of—”

“But it's not daylight,” said Jill.“It's only a cold blue sort of light.”

“Better than nothing,though,” said Eustace.“Can we get up to it?”

“It's not right overhead,” said Puddleglum.“It's above us,but it's in this wall that I've run into.How would it be,Pole,if you got on my shoulders and saw whether you could get up to it?”

CHAPTER 15

The Disappearance of Jill

The patch of light did not show up anything down in the darkness where they were standing.The others could only hear,not see,Jill's efforts to get on to the Marsh-wiggle's back.That is,they heard him saying,“You needn't put your finger in my eye,” and,“Nor your foot in my mouth either,” and,“That's more like it,” and,“Now,I'll hold on to your legs.That'll leave your arms free to steady yourself against the earth.”

Then they looked up and soon they saw the black shape of Jill's head against the patch of light.

“Well?” they all shouted up anxiously.

“It's a hole,” called Jill's voice.“I could get through it if I was a little bit higher.”

“What do you see through it?” asked Eustace.

“Nothing much yet,” said Jill.“I say,Puddleglum,let go my legs so that I can stand on your shoulders instead of sitting on them.I can steady myself all right against the edge.”

They could hear her moving and then much more of her came into sight against the greyness of the opening；in fact all of her down to the waist.

“I say—” began Jill,but suddenly broke off with a cry：not a sharp cry.It sounded more as if her mouth had been muffled up or had something pushed into it.After that she found her voice and seemed to be shouting out as loud as she could,but they couldn't hear the words.Two things then happened at the same moment.The patch of light was completely blocked up for a second or so；and they heard both a scuffling,struggling sound and the voice of the Marsh-wiggle gasping：“Quick!Help!Hold on to her legs.Someone's pulling her.There!No,here.Too late!”

The opening,and the cold light which filled it,were now perfectly clear again.Jill had vanished.

“Jill!Jill!” they shouted frantically,but there was no answer.

“Why the dickens couldn't you have held her feet?” said Eustace.

“I don't know,Scrubb,” groaned Puddleglum.“Born to be a misfit,I shouldn't wonder.Fated.Fated to be Pole's death,just as I was fated to eat Talking Stag at Harfang.Not that it isn't my own fault as well,of course.”

“This is the greatest shame and sorrow that could have fallen on us,” said the Prince.“We have sent a brave lady into the hands of enemies and stayed behind in safety.”

“Don't paint it too black,Sir,” said Puddleglum.“We're not very safe except for death by starvation in this hole.”

“I wonder,am I small enough to get through where Jill did?” said Eustace.

What had really happened to Jill was this.As soon as she got her head out of the hole she found that she was looking down as if from an upstairs window,not up as if through a trap-door.She had been so long in the dark that her eyes couldn't at first take in what they were seeing：except that she was not looking at the daylit,sunny world which she so wanted to see.The air seemed to be deadly cold,and the light was pale and blue.There was also a good deal of noise going on and a lot of white objects flying about in the air.It was at that moment that she had shouted down to Puddleglum to let her stand up on his shoulders.

When she had done this,she could see and hear a good deal better.The noises she had been hearing turned out to be of two kinds：the rhythmical thump of several feet,and the music of four fiddles,three flutes,and a drum.She also got her own position clear.She was looking out of a hole in a steep bank which sloped down and reached the level about fourteen feet below her.Everything was very white.A lot of people were moving about.Then she gasped!The people were trim little Fauns,and Dryads with leaf-crowned hair floating behind them.For a second they looked as if they were moving anyhow；then she saw that they were really doing a dance – a dance with so many complicated steps and figures that it took you some time to understand it.Then it came over her like a thunderclap that the pale,blue light was really moonlight,and the white stuff on the ground was really snow.And of course!There were the stars staring in a black frosty sky overhead.And the tall black things behind the dancers were trees.They had not only got out into the upper world at last,but had come out in the heart of Narnia.Jill felt she could have fainted with delight；and the music – the wild music,intensely sweet and yet just the least bit eerie too,and full of good magic as the Witch's thrumming had been full of bad magic – made her feel it all the more.

All this takes a long time to tell,but of course it took a very short time to see.Jill turned almost at once to shout down to the others,“I say!It's all right.We're out,and we're home.” But the reason she never got further than “I say” was this.Circling round and round the dancers was a ring of Dwarfs,all dressed in their finest clothes；mostly scarlet with fur-lined hoods and golden tassels and big furry top-boots.As they circled round they were all diligently throwing snowballs.(Those were the white things that Jill had seen flying through the air.)They weren't throwing them at the dancers as silly boys might have been doing in England.They were throwing them through the dance in such perfect time with the music and with such perfect aim that if all the dancers were in exactly the right places at exactly the right moments,no one would be hit.This is called the Great Snow Dance and it is done every year in Narnia on the first moonlit night when there is snow on the ground.Of course it is a kind of game as well as a dance,because every now and then some dancer will be the least little bit wrong and get a snowball in the face,and then everyone laughs.But a good team of dancers,Dwarfs,and musicians will keep it up for hours without a single hit.On fine nights when the cold and the drum-taps,and the hooting of the owls,and the moonlight,have got into their wild,woodland blood and made it even wilder,they will dance till daybreak.I wish you could see it for yourselves.

What had stopped Jill when she got as far as the say of “I say” was of course simply a fine big snowball that came sailing through the dance from a Dwarf on the far side and got her fair and square in the mouth.She didn't in the least mind；twenty snowballs would not have damped her spirits at that moment.But however happy you are feeling,you can't talk with your mouth full of snow.And when,after considerable spluttering,she could speak again,she quite forgot in her excitement that the others,down in the dark,behind her,still didn't know the good news.She simply leaned as far out of the hole as she could,and yelled to the dancers.

“Help!Help!We're buried in the hill.Come and dig us out.”

The Narnians,who had not even noticed the little hole in the hillside,were of course very surprised,and looked about in several wrong directions before they found out where the voice was coming from.But when they caught sight of Jill they all came running towards her,and as many as could scrambled up the bank,and a dozen or more hands were stretched up to help her.And Jill caught hold of them and thus got out of the hole and came slithering down the bank head first,and then picked herself up and said：

“Oh,do go and dig the others out.There are three others,besides the horses.And one of them is Prince Rilian.”

She was already in the middle of a crowd when she said this,for besides the dancers all sorts of people who had been watching the dance,and whom she had not seen at first,came running up.Squirrels came out of the trees in showers,and so did owls.Hedgehogs came waddling as fast as their short legs would carry them.Bears and Badgers followed at a slower pace.A great Panther,twitching its tail in excitement,was the last to join the party.

But as soon as they understood what Jill was saying,they all became active.“Pick and shovel,boys,pick and shovel.Off for our tools!” said the Dwarfs,and dashed away into the woods at top speed.“Wake up some Moles,they're the chaps for digging.They're quite as good as Dwarfs,” said a voice.“What was that she said about Prince Rilian?” said another.“Hush!” said the Panther.“The poor child's crazed,and no wonder after being lost inside the hill.She doesn't know what she's saying.” “That's right,” said an old Bear.“Why,she said Prince Rilian was a horse!” “No,she didn't,”said a Squirrel,very pert.– “Yes,she did,” said another Squirrel,even perter.

“It's quite t-t-t-true.D-d-don't be so silly,” said Jill.She spoke like that because her teeth were now chattering with the cold.

Immediately one of the Dryads flung round her a furry cloak which some Dwarf had dropped when he rushed to fetch his mining tools,and an obliging Faun trotted off among the trees to a place where Jill could see firelight in the mouth of a cave,to get her a hot drink.But before it came,all the Dwarfs reappeared with spades and pick-axes and charged at the hillside.Then Jill heard cries of “Hi!What are you doing?Put that sword down,” and “Now,young 'un；none of that,” and,“He's a vicious one,now,isn't he?” Jill hurried to the spot and didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she saw Eustace's face,very pale and dirty,projecting from the blackness of the hole,and Eustace's right hand brandishing a sword with which he made lunges at anyone who came near him.

For of course Eustace had been having a very different time from Jill during the last few minutes.He had heard Jill cry out and seen her disappear into the unknown.Like the Prince and Puddleglum,he thought that some enemies had caught her.And from down below he didn't see that the pale,blueish light was moonlight.He thought the hole would lead only into some other cave,lit by some ghostly phosphorescence and filled with goodness-knowswhat evil creatures of the Underworld.So that when he had persuaded Puddleglum to give him a back,and drawn his sword,and poked out his head,he had really been doing a very brave thing.The others would have done it first if they could,but the hole was too small for them to climb through.Eustace was a little bigger,and a lot clumsier,than Jill,so that when he looked out he bumped his head against the top of the hole and brought a small avalanche of snow down on his face.And so,when he could see again,and saw dozens of figures coming at him as hard as they could run,it is not surprising that he tried to ward them off.

“Stop,Eustace,stop!” cried Jill.“They're all friends.Can't you see?We've come up in Narnia.Everything's all right.”

Then Eustace did see,and apologised to the Dwarfs(and the Dwarfs said not to mention it),and dozens of thick,hairy,dwarfish hands helped him out just as they had helped Jill out a few minutes before.Then Jill scrambled up the bank and put her head in at the dark opening and shouted the good news in to the prisoners.As she turned away she heard Puddleglum mutter,“Ah,poor Pole.It's been too much for her,this last bit.Turned her head,I shouldn't wonder.She's beginning to see things.”

Jill rejoined Eustace and they shook one another by both hands and took in great deep breaths of the free midnight air.And a warm cloak was brought for Eustace and hot drinks for both.While they were sipping it,the Dwarfs had already got all the snow and all the sods off a large strip of the hillside round the original hole,and the pickaxes and spades were now going as merrily as the feet of Fauns and Dryads had been going in the dance ten minutes before.Only ten minutes!Yet already it felt to Jill and Eustace as if all their dangers in the dark and heat and general smotheriness of the earth must have been only a dream.Out here,in the cold,with the moon and the huge stars overhead(Narnian stars are nearer than stars in our world)and with kind,merry faces all round them,one couldn't quite believe in Underland.

Before they had finished their hot drinks,a dozen or so Moles,newly waked and still very sleepy,and not well pleased,had arrived.But as soon as they understood what it was all about,they joined in with a will.Even the Fauns made themselves useful by carting away the earth in little barrows,and the Squirrels danced and leaped to and fro in great excitement,though Jill never found out exactly what they thought they were doing.The bears and Owls contented themselves with giving advice,and kept on asking the children if they wouldn't like to come into the cave(that was where Jill had seen the firelight)and get warm and have supper.But the children couldn't bear to go without seeing their friends set free.

No one in our world can work at a job of that sort as Dwarfs and Talking Moles work in Narnia；but then,of course,Moles and Dwarfs don't look on it as work.They like digging.It was therefore not really long before they had opened a great black chasm in the hillside.And out from the blackness into the moonlight – this would have been rather dreadful if one hadn't known who they were – came,first,the long,leggy,steeple-hatted figure of the Marsh-wiggle,and then,leading two great horses,Rilian the Prince himself.

As Puddleglum appeared shouts broke out on every side：“Why,it's a Wiggle – why,it's old Puddleglum – old Puddleglum from the Eastern Marshes – what ever have you been doing,Puddleglum?– there've been search parties out for you – the Lord Trumpkin has been putting up notices – there's a reward offered!” But all this died away,all in one moment,into dead silence,as quickly as the noise dies away in a rowdy dormitory if the headmaster opens the door.For now they saw the Prince.

No one doubted for a moment who he was.There were plenty of Beasts and Dryads and Dwarfs and Fauns who remembered him from the days before his enchanting.There were some old ones who could just remember how his father,King Caspian,had looked when he was a young man,and saw the likeness.But I think they would have known him anyway.Pale though he was from long imprisonment in the Deep Lands,dressed in black,dusty,dishevelled,and weary,there was something in his face and air which no one could mistake.That look is in the face of all true kings of Narnia,who rule by the will of Aslan and sit at Cair Paravel on the throne of Peter the High King.Instantly every head was bared and every knee was bent；a moment later,such cheering and shouting,such jumps and reels of joy,such hand-shakings and kissings and embracings of everybody by everybody else broke out that the tears came into Jill's eyes.Their quest had been worth all the pains it cost.

“Please it your Highness,” said the oldest of the Dwarfs,“there is some attempt at a supper in the cave yonder,prepared against the ending of the snow-dance—”

“With a good will,Father,” said the Prince.“For never had any Prince,Knight,Gentleman,or Bear so good a stomach to his victuals as we four wanderers have tonight.”

The whole crowd began to move away through the trees towards the cave.Jill heard Puddleglum saying to those who pressed round him,“No,no,my story can wait.Nothing worth talking about has happened to me.I want to hear the news.Don't try breaking it to me gently,for I'd rather have it all at once.Has the King been shipwrecked?Any forest fires?No wars on the Calormen border?Or a few dragons,I shouldn't wonder?” And all the creatures laughed aloud and said,“Isn't that just like a Marsh-wiggle?”

The two children were nearly dropping with tiredness and hunger,but the warmth of the cave,and the very sight of it,with the firelight dancing on the walls and dressers and cups and saucers and plates and on the smooth stone floor,just as it does in a farmhouse kitchen,revived them a little.All the same they went fast asleep while supper was being got ready.And while they slept Prince Rilian was talking over the whole adventure with the older and wiser beasts and dwarfs.And now they all saw what it meant；how a wicked witch(doubtless the same kind as that White Witch who had brought the Great Winter on Narnia long ago)had contrived the whole thing,first killing Rilian's mother and enchanting Rilian himself.And they saw how she had dug right under Narnia and was going to break out and rule it through Rilian：and how he had never dreamed that the country of which she would make him king(king in name,but really her slave)was his own country.And from the children's part of the story they saw how she was in league and friendship with the dangerous giants of Harfang.

“And the lesson of it all is,your Highness,” said the oldest Dwarf,“that those Northern Witches always mean the same thing,but in every age they have a different plan for getting it.”

CHAPTER 16

The Healing of Harms

When Jill woke the next morning and found herself in a cave,she thought for one horrid moment that she was back in the Underworld.But when she noticed that she was lying on a bed of heather with a furry mantle over her,and saw a cheery fire crackling(as if newly lit)on a stone hearth and,further off,morning sunlight coming in through the cave's mouth,she remembered all the happy truth.They had had a delightful supper,all crowded into that cave,in spite of being so sleepy before it was properly over.She had a vague impression of Dwarfs crowding round the fire with frying-pans rather bigger than themselves,and the hissing,and delicious smell of sausages,and more,and more,and more sausages.And not wretched sausages half full of bread and soya bean either,but real meaty,spicy ones,fat and piping hot and burst and just the tiniest bit burnt.And great mugs of frothy chocolate,and roast potatoes and roast chestnuts,and baked apples with raisins stuck in where the cores had been,and then ices just to freshen you up after all the hot things.

Jill sat up and looked around.Puddleglum and Eustace were lying not far away,both fast asleep.

“Hi,you two!” shouted Jill in a loud voice.“Aren't you ever going to get up?”

“Shoo,shoo!” said a sleepy voice somewhere above her.“Time to be settling down.Have a good snooze,do,do.Don't make a to-do.Tu-whoo!”

“Why,I do believe,” said Jill,glancing up at a white bundle of fluffy feathers which was perched on top of a grandfather clock in one corner of the cave,“I do believe it's Glimfeather!”

“True,true,” whirred the Owl,lifting its head out from under its wing and opening one eye.“I came up with a message for the Prince at about two.The squirrels brought us the good news.Message for the Prince.He's gone.You're to follow too.Goodday—” and the head disappeared again.

As there seemed no further hope of getting any information from the Owl,Jill got up and began looking round for any chance of a wash and some breakfast.But almost at once a little Faun came trotting into the cave with a sharp click-clack of his goaty hoofs on the stone floor.

“Ah!You've woken up at last,Daughter of Eve,”he said.“Perhaps you'd better wake the Son of Adam.You've got to be off in a few minutes and two Centaurs have very kindly offered to let you ride on their backs down to Cair Paravel.” He added in a lower voice,“Of course,you realise it is a most special and unheard-of honour to be allowed to ride a Centaur.I don't know that I ever heard of anyone doing it before.It wouldn't do to keep them waiting.”

“Where's the Prince?” was the first question of Eustace and Puddleglum as soon as they had been wakened.

“He's gone down to meet the King,his father,at Cair Paravel,” answered the Faun,whose name was Orruns.“His Majesty's ship is expected in harbour any moment.It seems that the King met Aslan – I don't know whether it was in a vision or face to face– before he had sailed far,and Aslan turned him back and told him he would find his long-lost son awaiting him when he reached Narnia.”

Eustace was now up and he and Jill set about helping Orruns to get the breakfast.Puddleglum was told to stay in bed.A Centaur called Cloudbirth,a famous healer,or(as Orruns called it)a “leech”,was coming to see to his burnt foot.

“Ah!” said Puddleglum in a tone almost of contentment,“he'll want to have the leg off at the knee,I shouldn't wonder.You see if he doesn't.” But he was quite glad to stay in bed.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast and Eustace tackled it just as if he had not had a very large supper in the middle of the night.

“I say,Son of Adam,” said the Faun,looking with a certain awe at Eustace's mouthfuls.“There's no need to hurry quite so dreadfully as that.I don't think the Centaurs have quite finished their breakfasts yet.”

“Then they must have got up very late,” said Eustace.“I bet it's after ten o'clock.”

“Oh no,” said Orruns.“They got up before it was light.”

“Then they must have waited the dickens of a time for breakfast,” said Eustace.

“No,they didn't,” said Orruns.“They began eating the minute they woke.”

“Golly!” said Eustace.“Do they eat a very big breakfast?”

“Why,Son of Adam,don't you understand?A Centaur has a man-stomach and a horse-stomach.And of course both want breakfast.So first of all he has porridge and pavenders and kidneys and bacon and omelette and cold ham and toast and marmalade and coffee and beer.And after that he attends to the horse part of himself by grazing for an hour or so and finishing up with a hot mash,some oats,and a bag of sugar.That's why it's such a serious thing to ask a Centaur to stay for the weekend.A very serious thing indeed.”

At that moment there was a sound of horsehooves tapping on rock from the mouth of the cave,and the children looked up.The two Centaurs,one with a black and one with a golden beard flowing over their magnificent bare chests,stood waiting for them,bending their heads a little so as to look into the cave.Then the children became very polite and finished their breakfast very quickly.No one thinks a Centaur funny when he sees it.They are solemn,majestic people,full of ancient wisdom which they learn from the stars,not easily made either merry or angry；but their anger is terrible as a tidal wave when it comes.

“Goodbye,dear Puddleglum,” said Jill,going over to the Marsh-wiggle's bed.“I'm sorry we called you a wet blanket.”

“So'm I,” said Eustace.“You've been the best friend in the world.”

“And I do hope we'll meet again,” added Jill.

“Not much chance of that,I should say,” replied Puddleglum.“I don't reckon I'm very likely to see my old wigwam again either.And that Prince – he's a nice chap – but do you think he's very strong?Constitution ruined with living underground,I shouldn't wonder.Looks the sort that might go off any day.”

“Puddleglum!” said Jill.“You're a regular old humbug.You sound as doleful as a funeral and I believe you're perfectly happy.And you talk as if you were afraid of everything,when you're really as brave as – as a lion.”

“Now,speaking of funerals,” began Puddleglum,but Jill,who heard the Centaurs tapping with their hooves behind her,surprised him very much by flinging her arms round his thin neck and kissing his muddy-looking face,while Eustace wrung his hand.Then they both rushed away to the Centaurs,and the Marsh-wiggle,sinking back on his bed,remarked to himself,“Well,I wouldn't have dreamt of her doing that.Even though I am a good-looking chap.”

To ride on a Centaur is,no doubt,a great honour(and except Jill and Eustace there is probably no one alive in the world today who has had it)but it is very uncomfortable.For no one who valued his life would suggest putting a saddle on a Centaur,and riding bareback is no fun；especially if,like Eustace,you have never learned to ride at all.The Centaurs were very polite in a grave,gracious,grown-up kind of way,and as they cantered through the Narnian woods they spoke,without turning their heads,telling the children about the properties of herbs and roots,the influences of the planets,the nine names of Aslan with their meanings,and things of that sort.But however sore and jolted the two humans were,they would now give anything to have that journey over again：to see those glades and slopes sparkling with the previous night's snow,to be met by rabbits and squirrels and birds that wished you good morning,to breathe again the air of Narnia and hear the voices of the Narnian trees.

They came down to the river,flowing bright and blue in winter sunshine,far below the last bridge(which is at the snug,red-roofed little town of Beruna)and were ferried across in a flat barge by the ferryman；or rather,by the ferry-wiggle,for it is Marsh-wiggles who do most of the watery and fishy kinds of work in Narnia.And when they had crossed they rode along the south bank of the river and presently came to Cair Paravel itself.And at the very moment of their arrival they saw that same bright ship which they had seen when they first set foot in Narnia,gliding up the river like a huge bird.All the court were once more assembled on the green between the castle and the quay to welcome King Caspian home again.Rilian,who had changed his black clothes and was now dressed in a scarlet cloak over silver mail,stood close to the water's edge,bare-headed,to receive his father；and the Dwarf Trumpkin sat beside him in his little donkey-chair.The children saw there would be no chance of reaching the Prince through all that crowd,and,anyway,they now felt rather shy.So they asked the Centaurs if they might go on sitting on their backs a little longer and thus see everything over the heads of the courtiers.And the Centaurs said they might.

A flourish of silver trumpets came over the water from the ship's deck：the sailors threw a rope；rats(Talking Rats,of course)and Marsh-wiggles made it fast ashore；and the ship was warped in.Musicians,hidden somewhere in the crowd,began to play solemn,triumphal music.And soon the King's galleon was alongside and the Rats ran the gangway on board her.

Jill expected to see the old King come down it.But there appeared to be some hitch.A Lord with a pale face came ashore and knelt to the Prince and to Trumpkin.The three were talking with their heads close together for a few minutes,but no one could hear what they said.The music played on,but you could feel that everyone was becoming uneasy.Then four Knights,carrying something and going very slowly,appeared on deck.When they started to come down the gangway you could see what they were carrying：it was the old King on a bed,very pale and still.They set him down.The Prince knelt beside him and embraced him.They could see King Caspian raising his hand to bless his son.And everyone cheered,but it was a half-hearted cheer,for they all felt that something was going wrong.Then suddenly the King's head fell back upon his pillows,the musicians stopped and there was a dead silence.The Prince,kneeling by the King's bed,laid down his head upon it and wept.

There were whisperings and goings to and fro.Then Jill noticed that all who wore hats,bonnets,helmets,or hoods were taking them off – Eustace included.Then she heard a rustling and flapping noise up above the castle；when she looked she saw that the great banner with the golden Lion on it was being brought down to half-mast.And after that,slowly,mercilessly,with wailing strings and disconsolate blowing of horns,the music began again：this time,a tune to break your heart.

They both slipped off their Centaurs(who took no notice of them).

“I wish I was at home,” said Jill.

Eustace nodded,saying nothing,and bit his lip.

“I have come,” said a deep voice behind them.They turned and saw the Lion himself,so bright and real and strong that everything else began at once to look pale and shadowy compared with him.And in less time than it takes to breathe Jill forgot about the dead King of Narnia and remembered only how she had made Eustace fall over the cliff,and how she had helped to muff nearly all the signs,and about all the snappings and quarrellings.And she wanted to say,“I'm sorry” but she could not speak.Then the Lion drew them towards him with his eyes,and bent down and touched their pale faces with his tongue,and said：

“Think of that no more.I will not always be scolding.You have done the work for which I sent you into Narnia.”

“Please,Aslan,” said Jill,“may we go home now?”

“Yes.I have come to bring you Home,” said Aslan.Then he opened his mouth wide and blew.But this time they had no sense of flying through the air：instead,it seemed that they remained still,and the wild breath of Aslan blew away the ship and the dead King and the castle and the snow and the winter sky.For all these things floated off into the air like wreaths of smoke,and suddenly they were standing in a great brightness of mid-summer sunshine,on smooth turf,among mighty trees,and beside a fair,fresh stream.Then they saw that they were once more on the Mountain of Aslan,high up above and beyond the end of that world in which Narnia lies.But the strange thing was that the funeral music for King Caspian still went on,though no one could tell where it came from.They were walking beside the stream and the Lion went before them：and he became so beautiful,and the music so despairing,that Jill did not know which of them it was that filled her eyes with tears.

Then Aslan stopped,and the children looked into the stream.And there,on the golden gravel of the bed of the stream,lay King Caspian,dead,with the water flowing over him like liquid glass.His long white beard swayed in it like water-weed.And all three stood and wept.Even the Lion wept：great Lion-tears,each tear more precious than the Earth would be if it was a single solid diamond.And Jill noticed that Eustace looked neither like a child crying,nor like a boy crying and wanting to hide it,but like a grown-up crying.At least,that is the nearest she could get to it；but really,as she said,people don't seem to have any particular ages on that mountain.

“Son of Adam,” said Aslan,“go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there,and bring it to me.”

Eustace obeyed.The thorn was a foot long and sharp as a rapier.

“Drive it into my paw,Son of Adam,” said Aslan,holding up his right fore-paw and spreading out the great pad towards Eustace.

“Must I?” said Eustace.

“Yes,” said Aslan.

Then Eustace set his teeth and drove the thorn into the Lion's pad.And there came out a great drop of blood,redder than all redness that you have ever seen or imagined.And it splashed into the stream over the dead body of the King.At the same moment the doleful music stopped.And the dead King began to be changed.His white beard turned to grey,and from grey to yellow,and got shorter and vanished altogether；and his sunken cheeks grew round and fresh,and the wrinkles were smoothed,and his eyes opened,and his eyes and lips both laughed,and suddenly he leaped up and stood before them – a very young man,or a boy.(But Jill couldn't say which,because of people having no particular ages in Aslan's country.Even in this world,of course,it is the stupidest children who are most childish and the stupidest grown-ups who are most grown-up.)And he rushed to Aslan and flung his arms as far as they would go round the huge neck；and he gave Aslan the strong kisses of a king,and Aslan gave him the wild kisses of a lion.

At last Caspian turned to the others.He gave a great laugh of astonished joy.

“Why!Eustace!” he said.“Eustace!So you did reach the End of the World after all.What about my second-best sword that you broke on the sea serpent?”

Eustace made a step towards him with both hands held out,but then drew back with a somewhat startled expression.

“Look here!I say,” he stammered.“It's all very well.But aren't you—?I mean,didn't you—?”

“Oh,don't be such an ass,” said Caspian.

“But,” said Eustace,looking at Aslan.“Hasn't he– er – died?”

“Yes,” said the Lion in a very quiet voice,almost(Jill thought)as if he were laughing.“He has died.Most people have,you know.Even I have.There are very few who haven't.”

“Oh,” said Caspian.“I see what's bothering you.You think I'm a ghost,or some nonsense.But don't you see?I would be that if I appeared in Narnia now；because I don't belong there any more.But one can't be a ghost in one's own country.I might be a ghost if I got into your world.I don't know.But I suppose it isn't yours either,now you're here.”

A great hope rose in the children's hearts.But Aslan shook his shaggy head.“No,my dears,” he said.“When you meet me here again,you will have come to stay.But not now.You must go back to your own world for a while.”

“Sir,” said Caspian,“I've always wanted to have just one glimpse of their world.Is that wrong?”

“You cannot want wrong things any more,now that you have died,my son,” said Aslan.“And you shall see their world – for five minutes of their time.It will take no longer for you to set things right there.” Then Aslan explained to Caspian what Jill and Eustace were going back to and all about Experiment House：he seemed to know it quite as well as they did.

“Daughter,” said Aslan to Jill,“pluck a switch off that bush.” She did；and as soon as it was in her hand it turned into a fine new riding crop.

“Now,Sons of Adam,draw your swords,” said Aslan.“But use only the flat,for it is cowards and children,not warriors,against whom I send you.”

“Are you coming with us,Aslan?” said Jill.

“They shall see only my back,” said Aslan.

He led them rapidly through the wood,and before they had gone many paces,the wall of Experiment House appeared before them.Then Aslan roared so that the sun shook in the sky and thirty feet of the wall fell down before them.They looked through the gap,down into the school shrubbery and on to the roof of the gym,all under the same dull autumn sky which they had seen before their adventures began.Aslan turned to Jill and Eustace and breathed upon them and touched their foreheads with his tongue.Then he lay down amid the gap he had made in the wall and turned his golden back to England,and his lordly face towards his own lands.At the same moment Jill saw figures whom she knew only too well running up through the laurels towards them.

Most of the gang were there – Adela Pennyfather and Cholmondely Major,Edith Winterblott,'Spotty' Sorner,big Bannister,and the two loathsome Garrett twins.But suddenly they stopped.Their faces changed,and all the meanness,conceit,cruelty,and sneakishness almost disappeared in one single expression of terror.For they saw the wall fallen down,and a lion as large as a young elephant lying in the gap,and three figures in glittering clothes with weapons in their hands rushing down upon them.For,with the strength of Aslan in them,Jill plied her crop on the girls and Caspian and Eustace plied the flats of their swords on the boys so well that in two minutes all the bullies were running like mad,crying out,“Murder!Fascists!Lions!It isn't fair.” And then the Head(who was,by the way,a woman)came running out to see what was happening.And when she saw the lion and the broken wall and Caspian and Jill and Eustace(whom she quite failed to recognise)she had hysterics and went back to the house and began ringing up the police with stories about a lion escaped from a circus,and escaped convicts who broke down walls and carried drawn swords.In the midst of all this fuss Jill and Eustace slipped quietly indoors and changed out of their bright clothes into ordinary things,and Caspian went back into his own world.And the wall,at Aslan's word,was made whole again.When the police arrived and found no lion,no broken wall,and no convicts,and the Head behaving like a lunatic,there was an inquiry into the whole thing.And in the inquiry all sorts of things about Experiment House came out,and about ten people got expelled.After that,the Head's friends saw that the Head was no use as a Head,so they got her made an Inspector to interfere with other Heads.And when they found she wasn't much good even at that,they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after.

Eustace buried his fine clothes secretly one night in the school grounds,but Jill smuggled hers home and wore them at a fancy-dress ball the next holidays.And from that day forth things changed for the better at Experiment House,and it became quite a good school.And Jill and Eustace were always friends.

But far off in Narnia,King Rilian buried his father,Caspian the Navigator,Tenth of that name,and mourned for him.He himself ruled Narnia well and the land was happy in his days,though Puddleglum(whose foot was as good as new in three weeks)often pointed out that bright mornings brought on wet afternoons,and that you couldn't expect good times to last.The opening into the hillside was left open,and often in hot summer days the Narnians go in there with ships and lanterns and down to the water and sail to and fro,singing,on the cool,dark underground sea,telling each other stories of the cities that lie fathoms deep below.If ever you have the luck to go to Narnia yourself,do not forget to have a look at those caves.

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

能言马与男孩/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；吴岩译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Horse and His Boy

ISBN 978-7-5447-4713-4

Ⅰ.① 狮…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 吴… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290506号

The Horse and His Boy copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1954

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1954 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 能言马与男孩

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 吴　岩

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

书　号 107千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4713-4

第五册 能言马与男孩

目录

中文版

1 沙斯塔出奔

2 道旁遇险

3 在塔什班城门口

4 沙斯塔碰上了纳尼亚人

5 科林王子

6 沙斯塔在坟场里

7 阿拉维斯在塔什班城

8 在蒂斯罗克的密室里

9 穿过大沙漠

10 南征隐士

11 不受欢迎的同路人

12 沙斯塔在纳尼亚

13 安瓦德之战

14 布里怎样变成一匹聪明的马儿

15 可笑的拉巴达什

英文版

CHAPTER 1 How Shasta Set Out on his Travels

CHAPTER 2 A Wayside Adventure

CHAPTER 3 At the Gates of Tashbaan

CHAPTER 4 Shasta Falls in with the Narnians

CHAPTER 5 Prince Corin

CHAPTER 6 Shasta among the Tombs

CHAPTER 7 Aravis in Tashbaan

CHAPTER 8 In the House of the Tisroc

CHAPTER 9 Across the Desert

CHAPTER 10 The Hermit of the Southern March

CHAPTER 11 The Unwelcome Fellow Traveller

CHAPTER 12 Shasta in Narnia

CHAPTER 13 The Fight at Anvard

CHAPTER 14 How Bree Became a Wiser Horse

CHAPTER 15 Rabadash the Ridiculous

献词

献给戴维及道格拉斯·格雷沙姆

1

沙斯塔出奔

这是个惊险故事，发生在黄金时代的纳尼亚王国和卡乐门王国，以及两国之间的地方。当年彼得是纳尼亚王国的至尊王，他的弟弟和两个妹妹，都是在他领导下的国王和女王。

在那些岁月里，在卡乐门王国遥远的南方，大海之滨的一个小港湾里，住着一个穷苦的渔夫叫做阿什伊什，有个孩子跟他一起住在那儿，管他叫爸爸。这孩子的名字叫沙斯塔。在大部分日子里，阿什伊什早晨坐船出去打鱼，下午把他的驴子套上一辆货车，把鱼装在车子里，走上一英里光景的路，到南边的村子里去出售。如果鱼卖得顺利，他回家时脾气就比较温和，对沙斯塔也不噜苏；然而，如果卖鱼的生意不好，他就会找沙斯塔的错儿，或者打他一顿。总是可以找到沙斯塔的错的，因为沙斯塔得干许许多多的活儿：修网洗网啰，做晚饭啰，打扫他们俩合住的房屋啰。

沙斯塔对他家南边的任何东西压根儿都不感兴趣，因为他跟阿什伊什到村子里去过一两次，知道那儿没什么有趣的事物。他在村子里只遇见跟他父亲一模一样的人们——穿着肮脏的长袍，脚蹬足尖翘起的木头鞋子，头戴缠头巾，满脸胡子，慢吞吞地讲些听起来单调乏味的话。但他对北边的一切东西都很感兴趣，因为没有人往北边去过，也从来不许他到北边去。他独自一人坐在屋子外补网时，时常充满渴望地朝北方眺望。望出去可只能见到一个青草茂盛的山坡，往上延伸到一个平坦的山脊，山脊外便是天空了，也许空中有几只飞鸟。

有时候，如果阿什伊什在他身边，沙斯塔会说：“我的父亲啊，小山外是什么地方？”如果渔夫心情不好，他就要打沙斯塔的耳光，叫他专心干好他的活儿。或者，如果他碰巧心平气和，他就会教诲他道：“我的儿子啊，别让不相干的问题分了你的心。有位诗人说过：心思用在生意上，乃是发财致富的根本；凡是打听与此无关的问题的人，便是正在把愚蠢的船向贫穷的礁石撞去。”

沙斯塔认为：小山外必定有些令人愉快的秘密，他的爸爸却希望瞒过他，不让他知道。然而，事实上，渔夫之所以这样说，是因为他自己也不知道北方是什么地方。他并不关心这种问题。他的头脑是十分讲究实际的。

有一天，从南方来了一个陌生人，他跟沙斯塔以前见过的任何人都截然不同。他骑一匹强壮的花斑马，鬃毛和尾巴飘扬摇晃，马镫和马笼头都是镶银的。头盔的尖端从他那丝绸缠头巾中间突了出来，他上身穿一件锁子甲。他的身边挂一把弯弯的短刀，背后插一个圆圆的嵌着铜块的盾牌，右手握一柄长矛。他的脸是黧黑的，但沙斯塔对此并不感到奇怪，因为所有卡乐门王国的人都是这个样子的；使他诧异的是：那个人的胡子染得血红，拳曲而闪闪发光，还散发出阵阵油香。但阿什伊什凭着陌生人赤裸胳膊上的金环，认出他是个“泰坎”，或大王爷，他弯腰跪在泰坎的面前，直至胡子碰到了地面，他还做手势叫沙斯塔也跪下来。

陌生人要求招待他住一宿，渔夫当然不敢拒绝。他们把最好的食物都摆在泰坎面前，作为他的晚餐（他可都瞧不上眼）；至于沙斯塔呢，就像以往渔夫有客人时那样，给了他一大块面包就把他打发出屋子去了。遇到这种情况，沙斯塔总是跟驴子一起睡在它小小的茅草棚里。然而，睡觉还太早，沙斯塔坐下来，把耳朵凑在屋子木板墙的一条裂缝上，听大人们正在进行的谈话。沙斯塔从来不懂得，在门外窃听是错误的。下面便是他听到的谈话。

“哦，我的主人啊，”泰坎说道，“我有意买下你那个孩子。”

“啊，我的王爷，”渔夫答道（沙斯塔从那阿谀谄媚的声调就想像得出他说话时可能在脸上露出来的贪婪神色），“你的仆人尽管很穷，你出多大的价可以促使他把他的独生子、亲骨肉出卖为奴呢？不是有一位诗人说过吗：‘天生的慈爱比浓汤强烈，子孙比红宝玉更有价值’？”

“尽管如此，”客人冷冰冰地答道，“另一位诗人说过这样的话：‘企图欺骗明智审慎者的人，已经暴露出他的背脊，快要挨鞭笞了。’你年迈的嘴巴可别谎话连篇。这孩子显然不是你的亲生儿子，因为你的面颊跟我的面颊一样漆黑，而这孩子的面颊生得漂亮雪白，就像住在遥远北方的、受到指责却很美丽的野蛮人一样。”

“有句话说得真好，”渔夫答道，“刀剑可以用盾牌抵挡，智慧的眼睛却洞穿一切防御。我的令人生畏的客人啊，因为我穷得厉害，我从来没有结过婚，更没有儿子。但就在蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆）开始他威严而造福的统治那一年里，一天晚上，月亮圆圆的，众神一时高兴，使我睡不成觉。所以我就在这小屋里起了床，走出家门，到海滩上去，看看海水和月亮，呼吸呼吸凉快的空气，给自己提神醒脑。不一会儿我便听见一个声音，像是桨在水面上向我划过来的声音，接着，我又听见了一种仿佛是微弱的哭泣的声音。不久，潮水把一条小船冲上岸来，船里别无他物，只有一个因极端饥渴而瘦弱的男子（他似乎是几分钟以前才死去的，因为他的身体依旧是温暖的），一只空空的贮水皮囊，以及一个还活着的孩子。‘毫无疑问，’我说，‘这两个不幸的人是从一艘失事大船中逃出来的，但由于神祇的令人钦佩的设计，年长的那一位自己不吃不喝，使孩子得以活了下来，他自己在见到陆地时便死了。’所以，牢记着神祇从来不会不嘉奖同赤贫者友好的人，受怜悯之心的推动（因为你的仆人是个软心肠的人）——”

“撇开你所有这些自我称赞的废话吧，”泰坎打断他的话，说道，“你收下了这个孩子，我知道这一点就足够了——随便什么人都看得出来，你从这孩子的劳动中获得的利益，其价值十倍于他日常吃的面包。你对这孩子要价多少，现在就立刻告诉我吧，我对你那滔滔不绝的说话，已经感到厌倦了。”

“你自己已经明智地说过了，”阿什伊什回答道，“这孩子的劳动对我有无法估计的价值。因为，如果我把这孩子卖掉，毫无疑问，我就得另外买一个或租一个孩子，来干他所干的活儿。”

“我愿意出十五个克利申买这孩子。”泰坎说。

“十五个！”阿什伊什叫了起来，那声调介于呜咽和尖叫之间。“十五个克利申！出这点钱就想弄走我老年的依靠和心中的喜悦！别嘲弄我这把白胡子了，尽管你是位泰坎。我定的价格是七十个克利申。”

沙斯塔听到这儿便站起身来，踮着脚走开了。他已经听见了他要听到的一切，因为他时常听见大人们在村子里讨价还价，知道交易是怎么做成的。他心里已经十分肯定，阿什伊什末了儿会以大大超过十五个克利申又大大低于七十个克利申的价格把他卖出去的，但阿什伊什和泰坎还要磨上好几个钟头才能达成协议哩。

你可千万别认为，沙斯塔会像我们一样感到难过——如果我们偷听到我们的父母谈论把我们卖身为奴的话。他压根儿不难受，一则是他的生活已经比奴隶生活好不了多少，说不定那位骑着大马的王爷似的陌生人，会比阿什伊什待他仁慈一点也未可知哩；二则是那个说是在小船里发现了他的故事，使他心中十分激动，而且还有一种安慰之感。他曾经时常于心不安：无论他怎么努力，他可从来没有爱过这渔夫，而他心里是明白的，一个孩子应该爱他的父亲。可现在，事情明明白白，他压根儿跟阿什伊什毫无血缘关系。这就把他心上的沉重负担卸掉了。“呀，我可能是随便什么人！”他想，“我可能就是一个泰坎的亲生儿子——或者是蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆）的儿子——或者是一个神祇的儿子！”

他心中想着这些事情时，正站在屋子外的草地上。暮色迅速降临，有一两颗星星已经出现了，而西方夕照的余霞依稀可见。不远处，陌生人的马儿正在吃草，它被松松地系在驴棚墙上的一个铁圈里。沙斯塔踅过去，拍拍马儿的颈子。马儿继续把青草扯起来咬嚼，没注意沙斯塔。

接着，沙斯塔又想到了一个念头。“我不知道这泰坎是哪一种人，”他大声说道，“如果他是仁慈和蔼的，那就好极了。在大王爷的王府里，有些奴隶几乎是不干什么活儿的。他们穿上漂亮的衣服，天天吃肉。也许他会带我去打仗，我又在一场战斗中救了他的命，他就会解除我的奴隶身份，收我做他的义子，赐给我一个王宫，一辆战车，一套盔甲。不过他也可能是个可怕的残酷的人。他会叫我戴上锁链到田里去干活，我希望我知道他是个怎样的人。我怎么才能知道呢？我敢打赌，这马儿是知道的，如果它能告诉我就好了。”

马儿抬起头来。沙斯塔抚摩着它那光滑得像缎子一样的鼻子，说道：“老人家，我但愿你能说话啊。”

接着，他一时间认为他是在做梦，因为，尽管声音低沉，马儿十分清晰地开口道：“我是能够说话的。”

沙斯塔盯住马儿的大眼睛直瞧，他自己的眼睛也惊讶得睁大了，几乎跟马眼一般大。

“你究竟怎么学会说话的呀？”他问。

“别嚷嚷！嗓门儿不用这么大，”马儿回答道，“我原来住的地方，几乎所有的动物都说话。”

“那个地方究竟在哪儿？”沙斯塔问。

“在纳尼亚，”马儿答道，“纳尼亚乐土——纳尼亚有着石南茂盛的山岭和百里香遍地的丘陵。纳尼亚河流众多，峡谷水声潺潺，山洞长满苍苔，幽深的树林里响彻小矮人的锤声。纳尼亚的空气多么芬芳啊！在纳尼亚生活一小时胜过在卡乐门生活一千年。”结尾是一声马嘶，听上去很像一声长叹。

“你怎么上这儿来的？”沙斯塔问。

“给绑架来的，”马儿说道，“也可以说是给偷来或俘虏来的——你爱怎么说都行。我那时不过是一匹小马驹。我的母亲警告过我，叫我别逛到南边的山坡去，别闯进阿钦兰或阿钦兰之外的地方去，可是我不肯听它的话。天哪，我为我的愚蠢付出了代价。所有这些年月，我一直是人的奴隶，隐藏我真正的本性，假装哑巴，假装愚蠢，假装就像他们的马儿那样。”

“为什么你不告诉他们你是谁呢？”

“我才不是那种傻瓜呢。一旦他们发现了我是谁，他们就会送我到市场上去展览，比过去更加小心地看管我。我逃走的最后机会也就完蛋了。”

“那又为什么——”沙斯塔开始说道，可是马儿打断了他的话。

“注意啰，”马儿说，“我们千万不要把时间浪费在不相干的问题上了。你要打听我的主人泰坎安拉丁？哦，他是个坏人，他对待我可不太坏，因为过分亏待一匹战马，后果就太严重了。然而，你与其明天到他王府里去做一个奴隶，还不如今天夜里躺下去死掉的好。”

“那么我还是逃跑的好。”沙斯塔说道，脸色都急得煞白了。

“是的，你还是逃跑的好，”马儿说，“可你为什么不跟我一起逃跑呢？”

“你也要逃跑吗？”沙斯塔说。

“是的，如果你愿意跟我一起走的话。”马儿答道，“对咱们俩，这都是个机会。你瞧，如果我自己跑出去，却没有个骑马的人，每个看见我的人都会说我是一头‘走失的马’，就会拼命来追我了。有个骑马的人，我才能通行无阻。那就是你可以帮我忙的地方。另一方面，靠你那愚蠢可笑的两腿，（人的腿真是荒唐可笑！）你是没法儿走远的，总要被追上来逮住的。然而，骑在我身上，你就可以把这个国家里其他任何马儿都远远地抛在后面。那就是我可以帮你忙的地方。顺便问一句，你大概懂得怎样骑马吧？”

“是啊，当然会骑的呀。”沙斯塔说，“至少我骑过驴子。”

“骑过什么？”马儿十分鄙夷地反唇相讥道。（至少，马儿是这个意思。实际上它发出了一种嘶鸣的声音：“骑过哇——哈——哈——哈。”会说话的马儿，当它们愤怒的时候，马腔马调就更加浓重了。）

“换句话说，”马儿继续说道，“你不会骑马。那倒是个麻烦。一路上我得教你骑马。如果你不会骑马，你会跌跤吗？”

“我想谁都会跌跤的吧。”沙斯塔说。

“我的意思是，你有没有这个能耐：从马上摔下来了，就一声不吭地从地上爬起来，重新爬到马背上，再一次从马背上摔下来，然而依旧不害怕跌跤？”

“我——我试试吧。”沙斯塔说。

“可怜的小牲口，”马儿用比较温和的语调说道，“我忘了你不过是头小驹子。我要及时地把你训练成一个好骑手。眼下——屋子里那两个人睡熟之前，我们千万不要动身。在这段时间里，我们可以把计划商量好。我那泰坎是在往北到大城市去的途中，他要到塔什班城，要到蒂斯罗克的宫廷——”

“我说，”沙斯塔用吓了一跳的声音插嘴道，“你应该说‘愿他万寿无疆’吧？”

“为什么？”马儿问道，“我是匹自由的纳尼亚马，为什么我该像奴隶和傻瓜一样说话？我并不要他万寿无疆，而且我也知道，不论我要不要，他是不会万寿无疆的。你和我之间别再说这种南方的屁话了！现在回到我们的计划上来吧。就像我说过的，我的那个人正往北方走，要到塔什班去。”

“你的意思是说，我们还是往南方去的好？”

“我不是这个意思。”马儿道，“你瞧，他认为我不会说话，毫不聪明，就跟他其他的马儿一样。这样的话，他认为我走散后会回到家里，走进我的马厩和围场。回他的王府要向南走两天的路程，他会在那儿寻找我。他做梦也想不到我会按照自己的意思往北走的。再说，他很可能认为有人看见他骑马走过最后一个村子时，盯上了我们的梢，到这儿便把我偷走了。”

“啊，好极了！”沙斯塔说道，“那么我们就决定往北走。我一生都渴望着要到北方去啊。”

“当然你曾经渴望过的，”马儿说，“那是由于你身体里的血统的缘故。我确信你是真正的北方种。可是说话别太响了。我倒认为现在他们快要睡熟了。”

“我还是爬回去瞧瞧的好。”沙斯塔建议。

“那是个好主意，”马儿说，“不过你要留神别给逮住了。”

现在天黑得多了，也十分寂静，只听见海滩上的涛声；沙斯塔可毫不注意涛声，因为就他能记事的岁月以来，他日日夜夜听到的就是涛声。他走近时，屋子里没露出灯光来。他在前门侧耳静听，没有声音。他绕到惟一的一个窗子下面，过了一两秒钟，他能听到熟悉的老渔夫的呼呼鼾声了。想起来也好笑，如果一切顺利，他就会从此不再听到这鼾声了。他屏息静气，稍稍感到有点儿遗憾，但毕竟是快乐多于遗憾。沙斯塔悄悄走过草地，走到驴棚去。他摸索着走到一个他知道是藏钥匙的地方，打开门，找到了马鞍子和马笼头（那是搁在那儿过夜的）。他俯下身来吻吻驴子的鼻子。“我很抱歉，不能带你一起走。”他说。

“你终于来了，”他回去时马儿说道，“我正琢磨你到哪儿去了呢。”

“我从驴棚里把你的东西拿了出来，”沙斯塔答道，“你能告诉我怎样把它们放到你身上去吗？”

接下来的几分钟沙斯塔就忙着干活了，小心翼翼地避免发出丁丁当当的声音，马儿则说些类似这样的话：“把肚带收紧一点儿”，或是“再往下一点你就找到带扣了”，或是“你必须把马镫缩短一点才行”。当一切都装配好了，马儿说道：

“好了，为了装门面，咱们得配上缰绳，但你可用不着缰绳。缚在鞍子的前穹上好了；要缚得十分宽松，让我的脑袋可以自由活动。而且记住了——你可别去碰那缰绳。”

“那么缰绳有什么用处呢？”沙斯塔问道。

“寻常是用来给我指引方向的，”马儿道，“然而这次旅行我要由我自己来指引方向，所以就请你袖手旁观吧。还有一件事，我可不要你揪住我的鬃毛。”

“可是，请问，”沙斯塔恳求道，“如果我不抓住缰绳也不揪住你的鬃毛，我怎么能坐稳身体呢？”

“用你的双膝夹住我，”马儿道，“那才是骑马骑得高明的诀窍。用你的双膝把我的身体夹住，你爱夹多紧就夹多紧；你要坐得笔直，像根拨火棒，肘拐儿要收拢。顺便问一句，你怎么处理马刺呢？”

“当然装在我的脚后跟上啦，”沙斯塔说，“我就知道这么点儿。”

“那你不妨把马刺卸下来，搁在鞍囊里。我们到达塔什班时，也许能把马刺卖了。准备好了？那么我想现在你可以跳上来了。”

“啊！你高大得好可怕啊！”第一次试图跳上马去，却没有成功，他气喘吁吁地说道。

“我是一匹马，不过是一匹马罢了。”这是马儿的回答，“从你竭力爬到我背上来的模样儿看来，随便什么人都会认为我是个高高的干草堆了。行，这回好多了。身体坐直，牢记我讲过的夹紧双膝的话。我当年在骑兵队冲锋时一马当先，在赛马时获得胜利，如今却在背上驮了个像袋土豆似的你，想想也觉得好笑！不管怎么样，咱们还是出发吧。”马儿并无恶意地偷偷暗笑。

马儿确实十分小心翼翼地开始了夜间跋涉。它首先朝渔夫屋子的南边走去，一直走到小河边，（小河在那儿奔流入海，）故意在泥沙上留下一些十分明显的往南而去的蹄痕。但当他们到了小河中可以涉水而过的地方时，便转过身来逆流而上，涉水走去，走得比渔夫的屋子还要深入内陆一百码光景，然后选定一小块适宜的、不会留下足迹的砾石河岸，登上了河流的北岸。接着，仍旧慢步向北走去，一直走到那渔夫的屋子，那一棵树，那驴棚，那河流——事实上，沙斯塔熟悉的一切——都融入夏夜苍茫的黑暗之中，看也看不见了。他们走的是上坡路，现在他们来到山脊的顶上了——就是这个山脊，曾经是沙斯塔所知道的世界的边界。沙斯塔看不清前边是什么，只看见这地方十分开阔，青草萋萋。这地方一望无际；荒野、寂寞、自由自在。

“啊！”马儿评论道，“好一个放马驰骋的地方！可不是吗？”

“啊，可别跑快了，”沙斯塔说，“还不能飞跑，我不知道怎样——请你告诉我，马儿，我不知道你的名字。”

“布里海——希尼——布林尼——霍海——哈。”马儿说。

“我永远说不了那么长长的名字，”沙斯塔说，“我能管你叫布里吗？”

“行，如果你竭尽全力也只能叫我布里的话。”马儿说，“那么我叫你什么呢？”

“我叫沙斯塔。”

“嗯，”布里说道，“啊，那倒是个真正难以发音的名字。可是，谈谈驰骋飞跑吧。那可比你所知道的小跑容易得多哩，因为你用不到起伏颠簸。你用双膝夹住，眼睛从我两耳之间笔直望着前方。别看地面。如果你觉得你快要摔下来了，你就夹得更紧、坐得更直。准备好了？现在直奔纳尼亚，直奔北方。”

2

道旁遇险

第二天靠近中午时分，沙斯塔被他脸蛋上方移动着的某种温暖而柔软的东西弄醒了。他睁开眼睛，发现自己正凝望着一张长长的马脸；马的鼻子和嘴唇几乎碰到了他的鼻子和嘴唇。他记起上一夜激动人心的事件，便坐了起来。但他坐起来时便呻吟开了。

“唷，布里，”他气喘吁吁地说，“我痛得厉害。浑身疼痛。我动弹不了啦。”

“早上好，小家伙，”布里说，“我担心你会觉得有点儿手脚僵硬。不可能是跌跤跌的。你不过跌了十二三回罢了，全都是在美丽可爱、柔软而有弹性的草皮上，跌在这种草皮上几乎是一种赏心乐事。只有一回可能是别扭的，被荆豆的尖刺划破了。不，首先是骑马本身把你累垮了。你早餐吃什么呢？我可已经吃过早餐了。”

“呀，讨厌的早餐，讨厌的一切，”沙斯塔说，“我告诉你我动弹不了啦。”但马儿用它的鼻子擦他，用它的蹄子温柔地搔他，他终于只好起来了。接着他向四周瞧瞧，看看他们是在什么地方。他们的后边是一个小灌木林；他们的前面是缀着白花的草皮，往下绵延到一个悬崖的顶上。在他们的下方远处，躺着大海，海涛的冲击声十分微弱。沙斯塔以前从来没有在那么高的地方看过大海，他既没有看到过那么辽阔的大海，连做梦也没梦见过大海竟有那么多色彩。海岸从两边伸展开去，海岬紧接着海岬，你看得见海岬尖端海浪冲在岩石上溅起的白色泡沫；声音可听不到了，因为距离太远了。海鸥在头上飞翔，热气在地上哆嗦；这是一个烈日炎炎的日子。但沙斯塔主要注意的是空气，他想不起来缺少点儿什么，最后才恍然大悟：空气中没有鱼腥味了。因为在他的生活里，不论待在房屋里还是待在渔网之间，当然都离不开鱼腥味儿。这儿清新的空气是那么美妙，他的一切旧生活便仿佛是那么遥远了，因而他暂时忘掉了他的伤痕和疼痛的肌肉。他说道：

“喂，布里，你没提起过吃早餐的事吧？”

“是的，我提起过，”布里答道，“我想你在鞍囊里会找到东西的。鞍囊就在那边树上，你昨天夜里——还不如说是今儿早晨——挂上去的。”

他们查看了鞍囊，结果令人很是高兴——一块肉馅饼，只是稍稍有点儿干瘪走味；一大堆无花果干；一大块发绿的干酪；一小瓶酒；还有一些钱，总共大约四十个克利申光景，沙斯塔还从来没有见过这么多的钱呢。

沙斯塔痛苦而又小心翼翼地坐下来，背靠在树上，开始吃那肉馅饼，这时布里便吃几口青草陪伴着他。

“花掉这笔钱，岂不是偷窃行为吗？”沙斯塔问。

“噢，”马儿满口青草，抬起头来，“我从来没考虑这个问题。一匹自由的马，一匹能说话的马，当然绝不应偷窃。但我认为我们花掉这钱也是对的。我们是在敌国做囚徒和俘虏。这笔钱是缴获品，战利品。再说呢，没有这笔钱，我们怎么去搞到你吃的东西呢？我想，你像所有的人一样，是不肯吃草和燕麦之类的天然食物的。”

“我吃不了。”

“从前试过吗？”

“是的，试过。我压根儿咽不下去。如果你是我，你也咽不下去的。”

“你们是离奇古怪的小动物，你们人类。”布里评论道。

沙斯塔吃完了他的早餐（这是他所吃过的早餐中最最精美的一餐），布里说道：“在重新装上马鞍子以前，我想我要美美地打个滚。”它说罢就开始打滚。“舒服，舒服极了。”它说，一面在草皮上摩擦它的背脊，四脚朝天在空中晃动。“你应该也来打个滚儿，沙斯塔，”它喷着鼻息，“这是最最振作精神的了。”

但沙斯塔哈哈大笑道，“你四脚朝天时，瞧上去可笑极了。”

“我看起来丝毫也不可笑。”布里说道。但这当儿它却突然翻身侧卧，抬起头来，紧瞅着沙斯塔，还稍稍有点儿气喘。

“真的看上去可笑吗？”它用急躁的声音问道。

“是的，可笑。”沙斯塔答道，“但那又有什么大不了呢？”

“你是否认为，”布里说，“说话的马儿可能从来不干这种事情，那是我跟哑巴马儿们学来的愚蠢粗鲁的把戏？回到纳尼亚时，如果发现我沾染了许多下贱的坏习惯，那就很可怕了。沙斯塔，你怎么想呢？老老实实说吧，别照顾我的感情。你究竟认为真正的自由的马儿——说话的那种马儿——打滚吗？”

“我怎么会知道呢？无论如何，假如我就是你，我想我是不会为此烦恼的。我们首先要到达纳尼亚。你认得路吗？”

“我认识到塔什班去的路。这之后就是大沙漠。啊，我们无论如何会想办法穿过沙漠的，别害怕。唔，然后我们就会望见北方的崇山峻岭。想想吧！到纳尼亚去，到北方去！那时，什么也阻挡不了我们。但绕过塔什班我是高兴的。我和你远离城市都是比较安全的。”

“我们能避开城市吗？”

“那就非得朝内陆走一段路不可，那就要走进耕地走上大路；而我不认识路。不，我们还是要沿着海岸悄悄走过去。从这儿往前走，在丘陵地带上我们碰不到什么，只会遇见羊、野兔、海鸥和几个牧羊人。顺便说一句，咱们这就出发，好不好？”

沙斯塔给马儿装上马鞍并攀上去时，两腿痛得厉害，但马儿对他很照顾，整个下午它走的都是一种柔和的步子。当暮色降临时，他们经由陡峭的小道进入一个山谷，在那儿找到一个村庄。进山谷之前，沙斯塔先下了马，步行到村庄里去买一个面包，买些洋葱和小萝卜。马儿在田地附近的黑暗中溜达，在远离村庄的一边和沙斯塔相会。这种办法变成了接下来几夜的定规。

对沙斯塔说来，这几天真是了不得的日子，而且一天好似一天，因为他的肌肉都比较结实了，摔下马来的次数也少了。甚至训练已经结束了，布里还是说他坐在马鞍子上像一袋面粉。“哪怕你是坐稳了，小家伙，在大路上被人看见你坐在我身上，我还是感到羞耻。”尽管布里言语粗鲁生硬，它还是个有耐心的教练。没有人教授骑马术能像一匹马儿那样教得地道了。沙斯塔学会了骑马小跑、骑马慢跑和骑马跳跃，即使布里突然停下或出乎意外地左右摇晃——布里告诉他，在一场战斗中，随时都可能非做出这种动作不可——他仍能稳如泰山地坐在鞍座上。当然啦，沙斯塔这就恳求布里讲讲那些它驮着泰坎所参加的战斗和战争。布里便讲起急行军、涉水强渡激流、骑兵和骑兵之间的冲锋与恶战，这当儿战马跟士兵一样拼命战斗，它们都是凶猛的公马，训练得能咬善踢，并且在恰当的时刻用后腿站将起来，使得剑或斧向敌人猛斫过去时，马和骑兵的全部重量都压在对手的头盔上。但布里不肯像沙斯塔希望的那样时常讲起打仗的事。“别提那些了，小家伙。”它总是说，“那都是蒂斯罗克的战争，我只是作为一个奴隶和一匹哑巴牲口参加战争的。让我参加纳尼亚的战争，我就将在我自己的人民中间，作为一匹自由的马儿去作战。这些才是值得谈论的战争。纳尼亚和北方！布拉——哈——哈！布鲁——胡！”

沙斯塔不久就明白了，他听到布里这样呼叫时，就该准备驰骋了。

他们一个星期又一个星期地往前跋涉，经过的海湾、海岬、河流和村庄沙斯塔记也记不清。这之后的一个月夜，他们正赶路——他们是白天睡觉，黄昏时上路的。他们把丘陵地带甩在后面了，正在穿过一个辽阔的平原，平原左边半里之遥有一个树林。大海在他们的右边差不多远，被低低的沙丘挡住了，他们已经慢吞吞地走了大约半个钟头光景，有时小跑，有时溜达。布里突然站住了。

“出了什么事？”沙斯塔问。

“嘘——嘘。”布里说道，它伸长着脖子张望，扇动着耳朵。“你可听到什么声音？仔细听听。”

“那像是另一匹马儿的声音——就在咱们和那树林之间。”沙斯塔静听了一会儿后说道。

“那是另外一匹马儿，”布里说，“那可是我不喜欢的局面。”

“说不定是个农民刚好骑马晚归。”沙斯塔打了个呵欠说道。

“不会吧！”布里说，“那可不是农民骑马的声音。也不是农民的马儿的脚步声。你能辨别声音吗？那马儿的脚步声挺帅，而且骑马的是一个真正的骑手。我告诉你真相吧，沙斯塔。有个泰坎在树林边缘。他骑的不是战马——战马的脚步声重得多，这声音太轻飘了。他骑的是一匹纯种好马，我敢说。”

“哦，现在它停步了，不管它是什么马儿。”沙斯塔说。

“你说得对，”布里说，“为什么我们刚停步它也就停步了呢？沙斯塔，我的孩子，我深信有人终于像影子一样盯上我们了。”

“我们怎么办呢？”沙斯塔低语道，声音比以前更低了，“你认为他能听见我们、看见我们吗？”

“在这种光线里，只要我们悄没声儿地待着，他就看不见我们。”布里答道，“瞧！有一大块云上来了。等到那块云遮住了月亮，我们就赶快逃到右边去，逃到下面的海岸上去。万一发生最糟糕的情况，我们就可以在沙丘之间藏身。”

他们等到那云遮住了月亮，就奔海岸而去，开头是不紧不慢的步子，后来就改为小跑了。

云块比最初看去时更大更厚实，夜晚很快就变得十分黑暗。正当沙斯塔在心里跟自己说“现在我们必定快要到达那些沙丘了”时，他的心跳到他的嘴巴里来了，因为突然之间从前面的黑暗中发出一个令人丧胆的声音；那是一声长长的咆哮，忧郁而又十分野蛮。布里立刻转过身来，开始重新向内陆奔驰，尽其所能地迅速奔驰。

“这是什么？”沙斯塔气喘吁吁地问道。

“狮子！”布里说道，既不放慢脚步，也不转过头来。

这之后，就只有彻头彻尾的奔驰了，奔驰了好一阵子。最后，他们水花四溅地横渡一条宽阔而不深的溪流，到了对岸布里这才站住了。沙斯塔注意到他自己浑身发抖，全身都在冒冷汗。

“那水，也许会使那野兽嗅不到我们的气味，”布里略微缓过气来时，喘息着说道，“现在我们可以放慢步子走一会儿了。”

他们慢步行走时，布里说道：“沙斯塔，我为我自己感到羞耻。我竟吓得像一匹卡乐门的平平常常的哑巴马儿一样。我确实如此。我的感觉压根儿不像一匹说话的马儿。对于剑呀矛呀箭呀，我都满不在乎，但我受不了——这些动物。我想我又要小跑一会儿了。”

然而，一分钟以后，它又开始奔驰起来了；那也没有什么可奇怪的，因为咆哮声又响起来了，这回是从他们左边树林那个方向传来的。

“两头狮子哩。”布里哀叹道。

他们奔驰了好几分钟，不复有狮子的声音传来时，沙斯塔说道，“喂！另一匹马儿现在在我们的旁边奔驰了。”

“那就更好了，”布里气喘吁吁地说道，“泰坎骑在马上——必定有一把剑——保护我们大家。”

“可是，布里啊！”沙斯塔说，“我们若是被人逮住，倒不如被狮子杀死的好。要是被逮住，他们会把我吊起来绞死，因为我偷马。”他不像布里那么害怕狮子，因为他从来没有遇见过狮子；布里可遇见过。

布里只是喷着气，没有回答，但它的确向右转了。很奇怪，另一匹马似乎也向左转了。因此不一会儿，它们之间的距离就增大了。但就在这时，紧接着又传来两声狮吼，一声在右一声在左。两匹马开始靠拢。显然，狮子们也在靠拢。两边猛兽的吼声近得可怕，似乎它们很容易就可以赶上飞驰的马儿。随后云散了，亮得出奇的月光把一切照得如同白昼。两匹马和两个骑手几乎是肩并肩腿碰腿地在飞驰，就好像他们是在比赛。布里后来的确说，在卡乐门从未见过这么好的比赛。

沙斯塔此时不知所措，他开始想道，狮子是很快把你杀死呢，还是会像猫戏弄老鼠一样戏弄你，他还在想狮子伤起人来有多厉害。与此同时，他注意着一切（一个人在极度恐惧时有时会这样）。他看见另一位骑手是个小而瘦削的人，穿着铠甲（月光照在铠甲上），骑马的样子很威严。他没有胡子。

有个平坦发亮的东西铺开在他们的面前。沙斯塔还来不及想是什么，哗啦啦一阵子泼将过来，他发觉半个嘴巴里都是咸水了。原来这发亮的东西是大海的一个长长的港湾。两匹马儿都在游泳，海水漫到沙斯塔的膝盖上。他们的背后是一阵愤怒的狮吼，沙斯塔回头一望，但见一个毛发蓬松的可怕的巨大形体蹲伏在水滨；然而只有一头狮子。“我们必定把另一头狮子甩掉了。”他心里想。

这狮子显然认为不值得涉水捕食猎物；无论如何，它不想在追逐他们时喝几口咸海水。两匹马儿并肩而行，现在已经进入港湾的中流，对岸已经清晰地看得见了。那泰坎一声也没吭过。“但他必定会开口的，”沙斯塔心中想道，“我们一登上陆地他就要说话了。我该说什么呢？我必须开始编造一个故事。”

接着，突然之间，他身边两个声音说起话来了。

“啊，我真是疲倦极了。”一个声音说。

“住口，赫温，别做傻瓜。”另一个声音说道。

“我在做梦，”沙斯塔心中想道，“我能对天发誓，另一匹马儿在说话哩。”

两匹马儿不久就不再游泳，而是踏步行走起来。伴着海水从它们身体两侧和尾巴上哗啦哗啦泻将下来的声音，和八只蹄子踩在卵石上嘎啦嘎啦的声音，他们出了港湾，踏上了远在另一头的海滩。使沙斯塔惊异的是，那泰坎毫无想提出问题的表示。他甚至连瞧也不瞧沙斯塔，却仿佛急于要策马趱奔。然而，布里立刻用自己的肩胛挡住了另一匹马的路。

“布鲁——霍——哈！”它喷着气，“慢着！我听到了，我听到你说话了。女士，假装是没有好处的。我听到你说话了。你是一匹说话的马儿。一匹像我一样的纳尼亚马儿。”

“如果它是纳尼亚马儿，跟你又有什么相干？”奇怪的骑手凶狠地说道，手都按在剑柄上了。但说出这些话的声音已经向沙斯塔泄露了一些真相。

“呀，她不过是个小姑娘！”他大声嚷道。

“如果我是个小姑娘，跟你又有什么相干？”陌生人厉声说道，“你不过是个男孩子：一个粗鲁无礼、平平凡凡的小男孩儿——可能是一个奴隶，偷了他主人的马儿。”

“你知道的就是这么一点儿。”沙斯塔说。

“他不是贼，小泰克希娜，”布里说道，“至少，如果有什么偷窃行为，你倒不妨说是我偷了他。但这事与我不相干。你总不会指望我在这个奇怪的国家里，遇到我自己种族的一位女士而不跟它说说话吧。我跟它说说话倒是十分自然的。”

“我也认为这是十分自然的。”母马说。

“我希望你闭嘴，赫温，”小姑娘说道，“瞧你替我们招来麻烦了。”

“我可不知道什么麻烦，”沙斯塔说，“你高兴快走就快走吧。我们不会留你。”

“不，你们留不住我。”小姑娘说。

“这些人类多么喜欢吵嘴。”布里对母马说，“他们糟糕得像驴子一样。让我们谈点儿有道理的。女士，我认为你的身世大概跟我的身世是一个样儿的：少年时代被俘——在卡乐门人中间度过了多年的奴隶生活。”

“千真万确，先生。”母马用忧郁的嘶声说道。

“而现在呢，也许是——逃走？”

“赫温，叫他管他自己的事情，别管闲事。”小姑娘说。

“不，我不愿这样，阿拉维斯，”母马收拢耳朵，说道，“这是我的出逃，就跟你一样。我深信一匹像你这样高贵的战马是不会出卖我们的。我们都是在设法逃走，逃到纳尼亚去。”

“我们当然是这么一回事，”布里说，“你当然一猜就猜到了。一个小男孩，穿得破破烂烂的，深更半夜，骑着——或者是勉强骑着一匹战马，这种情况只能意味着是逃走之类。同时，如果我可以这么说，一位出身高贵的泰克希娜，深夜里单人匹马，身穿她哥哥的盔甲——急于要人人只管他自己的事情，可别向她提什么问题——哦，如果不是其中有鬼，你们管我叫傻瓜蛋就是了。”

“行了，”阿拉维斯说，“你已经猜对了。赫温和我是在逃跑。我们试图到纳尼亚去。哦，这又怎么样？”

“呀，既然如此，咱们何妨一起走呢？”布里说，“赫温女士，我深信你会接受我在旅途中也许能为你提供的帮助和保护！”

“为什么你老是跟我的马儿说话，却不同我说话呢？”小姑娘问道。

“请原谅我，泰克希娜，”布里说（它把双耳稍稍向后翘起一点儿），“不过那是卡乐门式的对话。赫温和我，我们是纳尼亚的自由的马儿，依我的猜想，如果你到了纳尼亚，你也想做个自由民的。在那种情况下，赫温就不再是属于你的马儿了。人家倒可能说你是属于它的人了。”

小姑娘要开口说话，却又闭嘴不说了。很明显，她过去从来没有用这种观点看问题。

“我还是不明白，”小姑娘沉默了一会儿又说道，“在大家一起赶路这件事情上，竟有那么多的论点。咱们一起走，是否更可能招人注意？”

“更不可能招人注意。”布里说；而母马道：“噢，让我们一起走吧。我会感到更舒服。我们甚至对路径还没有把握。像它这样的一匹战马，懂得的东西远比我们多啊。”

“走吧，布里，”沙斯塔说道，“让她们走她们的路吧。你看不出她们不需要我们吗？”

“我们需要你们。”赫温说。

“喂，”小姑娘说，“战马先生，我和你一起走倒并不介意，可是这孩子怎么办呢？我怎么知道他不是个密探呢？”

“你为什么不干干脆脆说我高攀不上你呢？”

“安静点儿，沙斯塔，”布里说道，“泰克希娜的问题是很合情理的。泰克希娜，我愿为这孩子担保。他对我一向忠诚，是个好朋友。他肯定不是纳尼亚人便是阿钦兰人。”

“那就行了，让咱们一起走吧。”但她什么话也没跟沙斯塔说。十分明显，她要的是布里，不是他。

“好极了！”布里说，“现在我们和那些可怕的野兽之间隔着一片大水，你们两个人把我们的鞍子卸下来，我们大家休息一下，听听彼此的经历，可好？”

两个孩子都给马儿卸下了鞍子，两匹马儿吃了点青草，阿拉维斯从鞍囊里拿出颇为精美的食物来吃。但沙斯塔怄气，他说：不，谢谢，他肚子不饿。他竭力要摆出他认为是十分崇高十分刚强的态度来，可渔夫的小屋往往不是学习崇高风度的好地方，其后果因而十分可怕。他一半儿知道自己并未获得成功，这就变得比往常更加气恼更加尴尬。与此同时，两匹马儿倒相处得极好。它们记起了纳尼亚的同一个地方：“海狸水坝上边儿的大草地”，并且发现它们原来还是第二代的表兄妹哩。这就搞得两个人之间的关系越发不舒畅了，布里终于说道：“泰克希娜，现在把你的故事讲给我们听吧。可也不必匆匆忙忙——我现在正感觉轻松自在哩。”

阿拉维斯立刻讲起来了，她一动也不动地坐着，用的是跟平常截然不同的声调和风格。因为在卡乐门王国，讲故事（不论是真实的还是编造出来的故事）是教出来的，就像英国男孩女孩写散文是教出来的一样。不同之处是：人们要听故事，而我从来没听说过有什么人要听散文哩。

3

在塔什班城门口

“我是泰克希娜阿拉维斯，”小姑娘立刻说道，“我是泰坎基特拉什的独生女儿。基特拉什是泰坎里什蒂的儿子，里什蒂是泰坎老基特拉什的儿子，老基特拉什是蒂斯罗克伊尔松布勒的儿子，伊尔松布勒是蒂斯罗克阿尔地布的儿子，都是从塔什神一脉相承地繁衍下来的。我的父亲是卡拉瓦尔省的省长，是个有权利穿着靴子站在蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆）本人面前的官儿。我的母亲死了（愿众神赐给她平安），我的父亲娶了另一个妻子。我的哥哥在遥远的西方讨伐叛乱的战争中牺牲了，我的弟弟还是个小娃娃。却说我父亲的妻子，我那位后母，憎恶我，只要我住在我父亲的家里，她就觉得太阳也变得黑暗了。所以她就劝我的父亲把我许给泰坎阿霍什塔为妻。而这位阿霍什塔出身贫贱，这几年他凭着谄媚阿谀和出坏主意，赢得了蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆）的宠爱，现在被封为泰坎，做了好几个城市的父母官，将来现任大臣死了，他就很可能被选中为大臣。而且，他至少已有六十岁了，还是个驼背，脸长得像无尾猿。尽管如此，一则由于这位阿霍什塔有财有势，二则我后母竭力劝说，我的父亲便派媒人去说亲。一说即合，阿霍什塔叫人捎信来，说今年盛夏就要娶亲成婚。

“这个消息传到我耳朵里时，我心目中的太阳变得漆黑了，我躺在床上，哭了一天。但第二天我起了床，洗了脸，关照人给母马赫温上了鞍子，我随身带了一把锋利的匕首（我哥哥在西部战争中带在身边的），便独自骑马出去了。走得已经看不见我父亲的府邸时，我来到一个森林中的一片绿色空地上，那儿没有人住家。我从母马赫温身上跨将下来，抽出匕首。我解开衣服，露出我认为最便于刺中心脏的地方，我向众神祷告，但求我一死便可同我哥哥聚会。这之后，我就闭上眼睛，咬紧牙齿，准备把匕首刺进心脏。但我还没有刺下去，这马儿就用人类的女孩儿声音说道：‘我的女主人啊，无论如何不要毁灭你自己，因为如果你活着，你还会有好运气，但死人同样都是死人。’”

“我说得还没有这话一半巧妙啊。”母马喃喃自语。

“莫作声，女士，莫作声。”布里说道，它正在全身心地欣赏着这故事。“她正用卡乐门崇高的风格讲故事，蒂斯罗克宫廷里没有人能讲得比她更好的了。请你讲下去吧，泰克希娜。”

“当我听到我的母马口出人言，”阿拉维斯继续讲道，“我对我自己说：死的恐惧已经使我理智混乱，受幻觉支配了。我变得十分羞愧，因为我的家族里没有一个人应该怕死超过怕被虫子咬的。于是我再一次举手要自杀，但赫温跑进来了，把它的脑袋挡在我和匕首之间，用最最透彻的道理同我谈话，像一个母亲训斥她的女儿一般训斥我。却说我心里奇怪极了，我忘了自杀，忘了阿霍什塔，问道：我的母马啊，你怎样学会像人类的女儿一样说话的？赫温便把在座各位都知道的情况告诉我：在纳尼亚王国里有的是会说人话的野兽，而它自己还是匹小驹子时便被人从纳尼亚盗走了。它也跟我讲起纳尼亚王国的森林和河流、堡垒和大船，直讲得我这样起誓道：‘我以塔什神和阿扎罗斯神之名，以黑夜女神扎迪娜之名起誓，我有一个最大的愿望，就是要生活在纳尼亚王国里。’‘我的女主人啊，’母马答道，‘如果你生活在纳尼亚王国里，你就会十分幸福，因为在那个王国里，决不会强迫哪一个姑娘违背自己的心愿出嫁成亲的。’

“我们一起谈了好久，我重新看到了希望，我为没有自杀而庆幸。此外，我和赫温还秘密约定，我们要一起偷偷逃跑，而且如此这般地定下了计划。我们回到我父亲的府邸里，我穿上我鲜艳的衣服，在我父亲面前唱歌跳舞，假装对他为我安排的婚姻很是乐意。我还跟父亲说：‘我的父亲啊，我心目中的快乐啊，给我发个许可证，允许我带上个姑娘独自到森林里去，向黑夜和处女之神扎迪娜做秘密献祭，当少女们必须告别对扎迪娜的侍奉、准备出嫁成亲时，做这样的献祭是恰当的，符合习俗的。’于是父亲答道：‘我的女儿，我心目中的快乐啊，你可以这么办。’

“我从父亲那儿出来以后，立刻就去找他的最老的奴隶，也就是他的秘书，在我是个婴儿的时候，他曾在他膝头上播弄我逗我，他爱我甚于爱空气和阳光。我叫他起誓保守秘密，并且求他替我写了封信。他哭泣，求我改变主意，但他最后终于说道：‘听到下令，就遵命照办。’并且按照我的一切愿望把事情办了。我封好了信，藏在怀中。”

“信里说些什么呢？”沙斯塔问。

“别插嘴，小家伙，”布里说，“你打断了故事。她会在恰当的地方把信上的一切都告诉我们的。讲下去吧，泰克希娜。”

“于是我叫唤那跟我一起到森林里去献祭扎迪娜的丫头，关照她大清早就要叫醒我。我跟她谈得很开心，我给她酒喝；但我在她的酒杯里掺了点儿东西，我知道她必定要睡上一夜再加一天。我父亲府邸里的人都上床睡觉后，我穿上了我哥哥的盔甲，那是我一直留在房间里做纪念的。我把我所有的钱和一些珠宝精品都放进我的腰带里，也给自己准备好了食物，我亲手给母马上了鞍子，二更时分，我就骑马出奔了。我走的路不是我父亲所料想的向森林而去，而是朝塔什班的东北方而去。

“我知道，父亲被我跟他所说的话欺骗了，三四天内是不会寻找我的。我在第四天到达了阿齐姆·巴尔达城。却说阿齐姆·巴尔达城坐落在许多道路的交汇处，蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）的邮差骑着快马奔向王国的四面八方：高级泰坎们有权利和特许，可以叫邮差们送信。所以我就到阿齐姆·巴尔达城的帝国邮政大厦去找邮政局长，说道：‘传递讯息的官儿啊，这儿是一封信，是我伯父泰坎阿霍什塔寄给卡拉瓦尔省长泰坎基特拉什的。拿着这五个克利申，把这信给他送去吧。’邮政局长说道：‘听到命令就遵命照办。’

“这封信冒充是阿霍什塔写的，它的大意是：泰坎阿霍什塔向泰坎基特拉什致敬问安。以不可抗拒的、不屈不挠的塔什神的名义，敬启者，我在去府上订定我和令嫒泰克希娜阿拉维斯的婚约的途中，托众神和命运的福，在森林里与她不期而遇，那时她已按照少女的习俗，完成了向扎迪娜献祭的仪式。当我获悉她是什么人时，由于欣赏她的美貌和慎重周到，我变得热情如焚，心里觉得如果我不立刻同她结婚成亲，太阳就会漆黑一团了。我相应地准备了必要的祭品，就在我遇到你女儿的时刻同她结了婚，而且带她回到我自己的家里来了。我俩都祈求和要求你尽可能赶紧到这儿来，让我们可以开心地见到你，听到你的谈笑；也指望你会带来我妻子的嫁妆，由于我巨大的开销花费，我要毫不耽误地得到嫁妆。因为你和我像兄弟一样，我确信你不会因我的匆促结婚而生气，我之所以如此，完全是由于我对你女儿的巨大爱情造成的。我求众神保佑你。’

“我办完了这件事，就急急忙忙骑马从阿齐姆·巴尔达赶出来了，我倒不怕被人追逐，而是希望我父亲接到这封信，便会寄信给阿霍什塔，或者亲自到他那儿去，这样一来，及至事情被拆穿，我早已过了塔什班城了。在我被狮子追逐、在海水里游泳而遇到你们的那一夜之前，那一段便是我故事里最精彩的了。”

“那个丫头后来如何呢——你给她吃了蒙汗药的那个？”沙斯塔问。

“毫无疑问，她因为醒得太晚便挨打了。”阿拉维斯冷冷地答道，“不过，她是我后母的一个工具，一个密探。他们要是打了她，我才高兴哩。”

“我说，那可不大公平。”沙斯塔说。

“我做的这些事情，哪一件也不是为了取悦于你才做的。”阿拉维斯道。

“故事里还有件事情我不大明白，”沙斯塔说，“你还没有长大成人，我不相信你的年龄会比我大。我不相信你有我一般大。以你这种年龄，你怎么能结婚呢？”

阿拉维斯啥也不说，但布里立刻回答道，“沙斯塔，别卖弄你的愚蠢了。在大泰坎家族里，他们总是在这种年龄结婚的。”

沙斯塔脸变得通红通红（尽管光线太暗淡了，其他的人看不大见），觉得自己被怠慢了。阿拉维斯请布里讲它的故事，布里讲了。沙斯塔认为它无需在跌跤和骑术拙劣方面添油加醋地说上一大堆。布里显然觉得这很有趣，但阿拉维斯并没有哈哈大笑。布里讲完故事，他们大家都去睡觉了。

第二天，他们四位，两匹马和两个人，一起继续赶路。沙斯塔认为光是他和布里一起走时要愉快得多，因为现在是布里和阿拉维斯几乎包揽了全部谈话。布里在卡乐门生活了好长一段时间，而且总是同泰坎及他们的马儿在一起，所以它当然知道阿拉维斯所知道的人和地方。她总是提起类似这样的事情：“如果你参加过齐尤林德雷之战，你就会看见过我的堂兄阿里马什了。”于是布里答道：“噢，是的，阿里马什，他是战车队惟一的上尉，不是吗？我不大赞成战车或是拉战车的那种马儿。那可不是真正的骑兵。不过阿里马什是一位可尊敬的贵族。攻克蒂贝思之后，他在我草料袋里放满了糖。”此外布里还会说：“那年夏天我到了米兹里尔湖。”于是阿拉维斯便接口道，“噢，米兹里尔湖！我在那儿有个朋友，泰克希娜拉沙拉里恩。好一个赏心悦目的地方。那些花园，还有那千香幽谷！”布里决不想把沙斯塔丢在一边，尽管沙斯塔有时差不多认为自己是被丢在一边了。见识过许许多多同样的事物的人们，情不自禁地要讲起这些事物，如果你也在场，你就不由得感到自己被丢在一边了。

母马赫温在布里这样一匹了不得的战马面前怯生生的，它很少说话。而阿拉维斯呢，如果她能避免的话，她就压根儿不跟沙斯塔说话。

然而，不久他们就有更加重大的事情要考虑了。他们正在走近塔什班城，一路上有更多更大的村庄，和为数更多的人们。如今他们差不多都是在夜间赶路，到了白天就尽可能地躲藏起来。每次暂时歇脚，他们总是再三讨论：到达塔什班时他们该怎么办？大家都把这个困难问题往下拖延，如今不能再拖下去了。在这些讨论中，阿拉维斯对待沙斯塔的不友好态度，倒是一点儿一点儿地减少了，人在商量计划时往往比闲谈聊天时相处得好些。

布里说，第一桩要办的事情就是先确定一个地方，要是运气不好，穿过城市时走散了，大家也要约定在塔什班城另一边集合起来。它说最好的地方是古代国王的坟场，就在大沙漠的边缘。“就像巨大的石头蜂房似的东西，”它说，“你不可能错过的。最大的优点是：没有一个卡乐门人会走近这古坟场，因为他们认为那个地方是食尸鬼出没之处，他们害怕它。”阿拉维斯问：是否真的有食尸鬼出没？布里说，它是一匹自由的纳尼亚马儿，不相信这些卡乐门的传说。接着，沙斯塔说，他也不是个卡乐门人，对于这些个老掉了牙的食尸鬼传说，他可丝毫不怕。这话可并不十分确实，但这话给阿拉维斯的印象倒很深（虽然当时也很叫她恼火）。当然啦，她说，有多少食尸鬼她也不怕。所以，事情就这么决定下来了，古坟场应是他们在塔什班城那一边集合的地点，大家都觉得他们的讨论进步很大，后来才由赫温谦逊地指出：真正的问题不在于他们穿过了塔什班城应该到什么地方去集合，而在于如何穿过塔什班城。

“女士，我们明天会安排好的，”布里说，“现在该睡一会儿了。”

然而，要安排好并不容易。阿拉维斯第一个建议是：他们应该在夜间游泳横渡城外的河流，而根本不进入塔什班城。但布里反对，理由有两条。一是河口很阔，赫温要游过去的话，路程可太长了，特别是它背上还骑着一个人。（它认为，对它自己说来，路程也太长，但对此它说得很少。）另一条理由是：河上往来船只繁多，当然啰，坐在甲板上的任何人，看到两匹马儿游泳渡河，一定会问长问短的。

沙斯塔主张到塔什班以北的上游去，那儿的河流比较狭窄，容易横渡。但布里解释道，那儿好几里长的河流两岸，都有花园和游乐场所，泰坎和泰克希娜们很可能就住在那儿的屋子里面，并且在大路上骑马，在河上举行社交聚会。事实上，这很可能是世界上最容易遇到熟人，把阿拉维斯或布里认出来的地方。

“我们只好乔装改扮了。”沙斯塔说。

赫温说，据它看来，最安全的办法是干脆从城门到城门直接穿过这个城市，因为在人群之中是比较不容易被人注意的。不过，它同时也赞成乔装改扮的办法。它说：“两个人都得穿上破烂衣衫，看上去像农民或奴隶。阿拉维斯的全部盔甲、我们的马鞍子以及其他东西，必须卷成一捆，放在我们的背上，孩子们必须假装鞭打我们，人们就会认为我们不过是两匹驮马罢了。”

“我亲爱的赫温，”阿拉维斯鄙夷地说道，“不论你怎样把布里乔装改扮，别人也未必看不出它是匹战马啊。”

“确确实实，我也这么想。”布里说道，它喷着鼻息，让双耳稍稍往后靠拢。

“我知道这不是一个很好的计划，”赫温说，“但我想这是我们惟一的机会了。而且我们已经好久好久没梳理修饰了，看上去不大像原来的样子了（至少，我确信我是不像从前的模样了）。我真的认为：如果我们身上恰到好处地涂上烂泥，耷拉着脑袋一路走去，仿佛又疲倦又懒惰——压根儿难得抬起我们的马蹄来——人家就可能不注意我们了。还有，我们的尾巴应该割得短一点儿：不是整洁光滑，而是毛发蓬乱。”

“我亲爱的女士啊，”布里说道，“你自己可曾设想过，弄成这副模样，我们回到纳尼亚时，将是多么别扭啊？”

“唔，”赫温谦和地说（它是一匹十分敏感的母马），“可主要的问题是要到得了纳尼亚啊。”

虽然没有人喜欢赫温的计划，可末了儿大家不得不接受的，还是这个计划。这是个很麻烦的计划，而且包括一定数量的沙斯塔称之为“偷窃”、布里称之为“袭击”的事情。那天晚上，有个农场丢失了几只麻袋，第二天晚上另一个农场又丢失了一圈绳子；不过一些给阿拉维斯穿的、破破烂烂的男孩旧衣服，倒是在一个村庄里用现金规规矩矩地买来的。暮色四合时，沙斯塔拿着旧衣服凯旋归来了。其他的人马，正在小山脚下的树木之间等着他哩。小山坐落在他们要走的道路上。大家感到心情激动，因为这是最后的小山了；当他们到达山顶上时，他们就可以俯瞰塔什班城。“我但愿我们安全通过山脊。”沙斯塔对赫温说。“啊，我也但愿如此，但愿如此。”赫温热情地答道。

那天夜里他们经由伐木者的小径，曲曲折折穿过森林，到达山脊。当他们从山顶上森林里钻出来时，他们能望见下面山谷里千万点灯光。沙斯塔对大城市的风光毫无概念，眼前的光景叫他吓了一跳。他们吃了夜餐，孩子们睡了一些时候。但马儿们大清早就把孩子们叫醒了。

繁星还没有隐去，青草冷得可怕，也湿得可怕，曙光刚开始出现，向他们右边儿远远伸展开去，越过了大海。阿拉维斯走开几步，进入树林，回来时看上去挺古怪：她穿着新买的破烂衣衫，还挟了一卷她本来穿的衣服。这一卷衣服，再加上她的盔甲、盾牌、短弯刀，以及两副马鞍子和马儿的其余精美设备，都装在几只麻袋里。布里和赫温已经把它们自己弄脏，浑身都是污泥，只剩下尾巴尚待割短。要干这事，惟一的工具便是阿拉维斯的短弯刀。为了把刀取出来，其中一只麻袋只得重新打开。割尾巴的时间相当长久，对马儿伤害甚大。

“好家伙！”布里说，“如果我不是一匹说话的马，我会狠狠地踢你脸上一脚！我原以为你要割断它，而不是把它拔掉。我当时的感觉就是在硬拔。”

尽管天色昏暗、手指冰冷，终于一切都办妥了，大包大袋缚在马身上，缰绳（现在它们不用辔头和皮带，只用绳子）拿在孩子们手里，他们便开始踏上征程。

“记住了，”布里嘱咐道，“如果办得到，我们就要经常待在一起。如果办不到，就在古代国王的坟场里集合，谁先到，必须等候其他的人马。”

“还要记住，”沙斯塔说，“不论发生什么事情，你们两个可别忘了自己的身份，说起人话来了。”

4

沙斯塔碰上了纳尼亚人

起初，沙斯塔看不清下面山谷里的景物，但见一个雾霭的海洋，从中矗出一些圆屋顶和小尖塔；但光芒增强、雾霭廓清时，他看到的景物就越来越多了。一条宽阔的大河分成两条支流，支流之间的岛上耸立着塔什班城——世界上有名的奇观之一。环绕着岛屿的四周，筑有一系列高大的城墙，中间夹着许多堡垒塔楼，以资拱卫。流水拍打着石头城，堡垒又那么多，沙斯塔不久就不想去一一点清数目了。城墙里边，岛屿上隆起一个小山，山上每一块土地，从山麓直到山顶上蒂斯罗克的王宫和塔什神的庙宇，都布满了建筑物——重重叠叠，台地之上还有台地，街道之上还有街道，曲曲折折的路或是巨大的台阶，两边都种上了橘子树和柠檬树；处处是屋顶花园、阳台、深邃的拱廊、柱廊、塔尖、雉堞墙、寺院尖塔、哥特式建筑的尖顶。太阳终于从海上升起来时，寺院巨大的镀银圆屋顶把阳光反射出来，耀得他眼花缭乱。

“向前走，沙斯塔。”布里不断地说道。

山谷两边河岸上花园那么多，乍看简直就像个森林，直至走近了，看到树木下露出无数房屋的雪白墙垣，才明白了真相。不久以后，沙斯塔便觉得有一阵阵芬芳的花果香气。大约十五分钟以后他们便到了花园之间；他们走在一条平坦的道路上，两边都是雪白的墙垣，下垂的花木枝条伸出墙来。

“啊！”沙斯塔用敬畏的声音说道，“这真是个了不得的好地方！”

“敢情是这样。”布里说，“但我巴望我们安全穿过城市，在另一头安全走出城去，直奔纳尼亚和北方！”

这时候，响起了一个低沉而颤动的声音，这声音逐渐响亮，仿佛整个山谷都被它震动了似的。这是一种乐声，但是强烈而庄严，因此有点儿令人害怕。

“这是打开城门的号角声，”布里说道，“咱们一会儿就到那儿了。注意啰，阿拉维斯，你的肩膀要下垂一点儿，走路的步子要更加沉重一些，要竭力装得看上去不像个公主。你要尽量设想你一生挨过脚踢，挨过巴掌，还挨过臭骂。”

“说到这一点，”阿拉维斯说，“你要把脑袋再往下耷拉一点儿，脖子少拱起一点儿，竭力装得看上去不像匹战马，好吗？”

“莫作声，”布里说，“咱们到了。”

他们是到了。他们来到了河边，他们前面的道路循着一座多孔大桥延伸过去。河水在早晨的阳光里明晃晃地奔腾跳跃；在右边远处靠近河口的地方，他们望见一些帆船桅杆的影踪。有几个旅客在他们前边的大桥上，大部分都是农民，赶着驮运货物的驴子和骡子，再不然就是脑袋上顶着篮子。孩子们和马儿们便混到这伙人中去了。

“有什么不对劲吗？”沙斯塔低声问阿拉维斯，她的脸上有一种古怪的神色。

“啊，在你看来，一切都很好，”阿拉维斯粗暴无礼地低声说道，“你对塔什班有什么可计较的呢？我可是应该坐在轿子里前呼后拥地飞驰，前面是士兵，后面是奴隶，也许我是到蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆）的王宫里去赴宴呢——而不是像现在这样偷偷摸摸地溜进城去。但对你就不一样了。”

沙斯塔认为这一切全是十分愚蠢糊涂的。

大桥另一头的桥堍上，高高矗立着城墙，城门洞里的黄铜城门打开着；城门洞确实很大很阔，但因为它很高，倒显得狭窄了。六个士兵，倚着长矛，站在城门洞的两边。阿拉维斯心中禁不住想道：“如果他们知道我是谁的女儿，他们大家会跳起来立正，向我敬礼呢。”但其他的人马只是想着他们怎样穿过城门，并且希望士兵们不会盘问什么问题。幸亏士兵们并不盘问。但有一个士兵从农民的篮子里拿起一根胡萝卜，粗鲁地哈哈大笑着掷到了沙斯塔身上，他说：

“嗨！小马夫，如果你的主人发现你用他的坐骑来驮运货物，你就要吃苦头了。”

这事吓得他够呛，因为它当然表明了一点：稍微懂得点儿马的人，是决不会把布里错当做其他什么马，竟认不出它是匹战马的！

“我主人吩咐我这么办的，就是这么回事！”沙斯塔说。如果他闭口不说话，反倒好得多，因为那士兵在他的一边脸上给了他重重的一拳，几乎把他打下马来。“肮脏的小子，挨这一拳吧，教训教训你该怎样同自由人说话！”但他们大家都溜进了城去，未受阻拦。沙斯塔只哭了一会儿，他对于挨揍已经习以为常了。

进了城门，塔什班就仿佛不像最初远远望去时那么富丽堂皇了。第一条街是狭狭的，两边的墙上也没有什么窗子。街上远比沙斯塔想像的要拥挤得多，部分是由于挤满了跟他们一起进城、要到市场上去的农民，也由于到处是卖水的人、卖甜食的人、脚夫、士兵、乞丐、衣衫褴褛的儿童、母鸡、迷失的狗、赤脚的奴隶。如果你在那街上待过就知道，主要引起你注意的是那种乌七八糟的气味，它们来自没有洗过澡的人们、没有洗过澡的狗儿、牲畜的遗臭、大蒜、洋葱以及堆得到处都是的垃圾。

沙斯塔假装在带路，其实一直是由布里悄悄挪动鼻子来引导他的，布里才是认识道路的。他们不久就向左转弯，开始走上一个陡峭的小山。这儿空气新鲜得多，也赏心悦目得多，因为大路两边种着树木，只有右边盖着房子；左边儿，他们的目光越过下边城镇的屋顶，能够望到河流的上游。接着，他们向右转了一个U字形急弯，继续登山。他们正在曲曲折折地往上走向塔什班城的中心区。不久他们便踏上了较好的街道。神祇和卡乐门英雄的巨大雕像耸立在闪闪发光的基座上，大部分看起来令人印象深刻，却并不怎么悦人。棕榈树和圆柱连环拱廊的阴影投在发烫的人行道上。穿过许多王宫的拱形大门，沙斯塔看见苍翠的树枝、清凉的泉水和柔软的草坪。里边儿必定舒适漂亮极了，他想。

每次拐弯，沙斯塔都希望他们正在从拥挤的人群中走出去，但他们总是挤不出去。这就使他们的速度很慢，时不时还得停下步来。这种停顿往往是由于有个响亮的声音在喊道：“闪开，闪开，闪开，给泰坎让路”，或是“给泰克希娜让路”，或是“给第十五代大臣让路”，或是“给大使让路”，于是人群中的每一个人都给逼到了墙脚边；沙斯塔的目光越过人群的脑袋，有时看到大王爷或夫人懒洋洋地坐在轿子里，由四个甚或六个魁梧的奴隶抬在赤裸裸的肩膀上走过。因为在塔什班城，只有一条交通规则，即：每个身份不及对方高贵的人，必须给对方让路，除非你想挨一下鞭子，或是被长矛柄戳一下。

在离山顶很近的一条华丽的街上（惟一胜过这条街的，便是蒂斯罗克的王宫了），最倒霉的事发生了。

“闪开！闪开！闪开！”传来了喊声。“给白皮肤的外邦人国王，蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）的贵宾让路，给纳尼亚君主们让路。”

沙斯塔想让开，叫布里退回去。但不论哪一匹马，哪怕是纳尼亚来的会说话的马，要退回去可不容易。一个妇人手里拿着只尖角的篮子，正好站在沙斯塔的后面，把篮子死劲儿推到沙斯塔的肩膀上，说道：“喂！你在推谁啊！”接着又有人从旁边向他挤将过来，他在混乱中一时撒手放开了布里。随后他背后的整个人群紧密地挤成一团，硬如磐石，弄得他压根儿无法挪动了。他终于发觉自己不由自主地给推到了最前列，清楚地看得见正从大街上走过来的那一群人物。

这群人物可跟他们那天见到的其他人马截然不同。在前边喊着“闪开，闪开”的是其中惟一的卡乐门人。没有轿子，人人都在徒步行走。他们总共有五六个人，沙斯塔以前从来没有见过任何人跟他们相像的。第一，他们都像他一样皮肤雪白，而且大部分都是金色头发。他们也穿得不像卡乐门人。他们大多数膝盖以下都是光着的。他们的束腰外衣的色彩都是美丽、明亮、耐久的——或是林地的青翠，或是怡人的嫩黄，或是鲜明的蔚蓝。他们不裹头巾，却戴上钢帽或银帽，有些帽子还镶嵌着珠宝，还有一顶帽子两边缀着小翅膀。少数人光着脑袋不戴帽子。他们佩在腰间的剑长长的笔直的，并不像卡乐门弯刀。他们也不像大部分卡乐门人那样庄严神秘，走路摇摇摆摆，双肩放松自在，且谈且笑。有个人还吹着口哨。你看得出来，他们准备同任何友好的人做朋友，对任何不友好的人也毫不介意。沙斯塔觉得他生平从没有见过这样可爱的场面。

然而，来不及欣赏了，因为立刻发生了一件确实可怕的事情。金发男子中的领袖突然指着沙斯塔喊了起来：“他就在那儿！我们那逃跑的人就在那儿！”而且抓住了他的肩膀。接下来便给了他一巴掌——不是打得让你哭出来的狠狠一巴掌，而是响亮的一巴掌，叫你明白你是丢脸出丑了——而且摇晃着他的身体说道：

“天哪，你好不羞耻！你真可耻！苏珊女王为你哭红了眼睛。还了得！闲荡了整整一夜！你到哪儿去了？”

如果有点儿机会的话，沙斯塔真想蹿到布里的肚子底下，悄悄溜走；然而，现在金发男子们把他团团围住，他被他们牢牢地揪住了。

当然，他第一个冲动是想对他们申明：他不过是贫穷的渔夫阿什伊什的儿子，外国国王们必定是把他错认为别人了。然而，在这人头攒动的地方，他最不愿意做的事就是向大家解释：他是什么人，他正在干什么事情。如果他开始触及这个问题，人家就会问他：他从哪儿搞到马儿的，阿拉维斯又是什么人——这样一来，穿过塔什班城而去的任何机会就都完蛋了。他的第二个冲动是瞧瞧布里，向它求援。但布里无意让所有的人都知道它能说人话，它站在那儿，看上去愚蠢得像一匹最愚蠢的马儿。至于阿拉维斯，沙斯塔甚至看也不敢看她，因为他怕引起注意。而且也没有时间思考了，因为纳尼亚人的领袖立刻说道：

“珀里丹，你要谦恭有礼地搀住小王爷的一只手，我来搀住他另一只手。现在走吧。我们的王妹看到年轻的淘气鬼安然无恙地落在我们的手里，她一定会大大的放心了。”

就这样，他们在塔什班城还没有走到一半路，所有的计划便全毁了，甚至连向其他人道别一声的机会也没有了。沙斯塔发觉自己被迫在陌生人之间大步走着，却毫无办法去猜测下一步会发生什么事情。纳尼亚国王——从其余的人跟他说话的方式看来，沙斯塔开始断定他必定是个国王——问他许多问题：他到哪儿去了？他怎么跑出来的？他的衣服又弄到哪儿去了？他是否认识到他一直十分顽皮？只是国王不说他顽皮，只说他“皮”。

沙斯塔啥也没有回答，因为他想不出什么不会惹出祸殃的答案。

“怎么？装聋作哑吗？”国王问道，“我必须明明白白地告诉你，王子，这种卑鄙的沉默，对于你这种血统和地位的人，较之对于淘气捣蛋的家伙，可是更加不相称不合适了。平白无故地溜掉，可以看做是一个孩子晕头晕脑地闹着玩儿。但阿钦兰国王的儿子应该公开承认事实，可不应耷拉着脑袋像个卡乐门国的奴隶啊。”

这话听起来十分不愉快，因为沙斯塔始终觉得这位年轻的国王是大人之中最和善的，他很想给对方一个好印象。

陌生人带着他——紧紧地揪住他的双手——沿一条狭窄的街道走去，走下一列小台阶，再从另一列台阶向上走去，到了一道雪白墙垣里一个宽阔的大门口，大门左右两边各有一棵黑苍苍的高大柏树。踏进拱门，沙斯塔发觉自己进了一个院子，那也是个花园。中央是个大理石清水盆，泉水涓滴不绝地落入盆内。水盆周围，平整的草坪上长着橘子树。围着草坪的四垛雪白墙垣上爬满了蔷薇花。街道上的尘土和拥挤似乎突然消失了。他被人迅速地带过花园，然后进入一个黑暗的门口。传呼员待在门外。这之后，他们带着他走过一道走廊（走廊里的石头地面使他感到一股凉意舒适地直透他炎热的双足），走上一道楼梯。不一会儿，他便在一个巨大、轩敞的房间的亮光里眨巴着眼睛了。房间里的窗子大开着，都是朝北的，所以没有阳光照进房间里来。地板上铺着一条地毯，色彩之艳丽，是他从来没有见过的，他的双脚窝进了地毯里去，仿佛踩在厚实的苍苔上。绕着墙壁摆满了低矮的沙发，沙发上又摆了许多靠垫，房间里似乎都是人，沙斯塔觉得有几个人很古怪。但他无暇考虑这个问题，一位他从未见过的最最美丽的女士从座位上站了起来，伸出手臂抱住他，亲吻他，口中说道：

“啊，科林，科林，你怎么能这样呢？自从你的母亲去世以来，你和我是那么亲密的朋友。如果我回家时却没有带你回去，我怎么向你的父王交代呢？阿钦兰和纳尼亚自古以来就是友好邻邦，这件事会不会成为两国开战的原因？啊，一起玩儿的伙伴，你这样对待我们，真是太皮了，皮极了。”

“显而易见，”沙斯塔心中想道，“我被误认为阿钦兰的一个王子了，不论阿钦兰是在哪儿。这些人必定是纳尼亚人。我不知道那真正的科林在什么地方。”但这些想法也不能帮他大声作出任何回答来。

“你上哪儿去了，科林？”女士说道，她的双手还按在沙斯塔的肩膀上。

“我——我不知道。”沙斯塔结结巴巴地说道。

“真是毫无办法，苏珊，”国王说，“真话也好，假话也好，我都没有办法叫他讲出来。”

“国王陛下！女王苏珊！国王爱德蒙！”有个声音说道；沙斯塔转过身来看那说话的人时，诧异得心惊肉跳。因为说这话的人，便是他刚走进房间时从眼角里瞅见的那些古怪人物之一。他跟沙斯塔一般儿高，腰部以上像个人，但腿上多毛，像只羊，他还长着羊蹄和一条羊尾巴。他的皮肤相当红，他生着拳曲的头发，一把短而尖的胡子，两只羊角。事实上他是个羊怪，沙斯塔从未见过这样一个家伙的画像，甚至听也没听人讲起过。如果你读过一本书，叫做《狮子、女巫和魔衣柜》，你倒会高兴地知道他就是那个叫图姆纳斯的羊怪，女王苏珊的妹妹露茜找到途径进入纳尼亚王国时，第一天碰到的就是他。不过，现在他比当初老得多了；这时候彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜都已经做了好几年的纳尼亚国王和女王了。

“陛下，”羊怪说道，“小王爷有点儿中暑。你瞧瞧！他迷迷糊糊的。他不知道他是在什么地方。”

于是，大家当然不再责备他，也不再盘问他了，大家郑重其事地对待他，把他安置在沙发上，用靠枕垫在他的脑袋后面，用金杯盛了冰冻果汁给他喝，还嘱咐他要保持十分的安静。

沙斯塔以前的生活中从来不曾发生过这样的事。他甚至没有梦想过躺在像那样舒适的沙发上，没有梦想过喝那样美味的果汁哩。他仍旧在想另外三个碰到了什么事，他自己究竟要怎样脱身，到古老坟场上去和他们相会，以及如果真正的科林重新出现，情况又会怎样变化。但如今他是舒舒服服的，这些个焦虑似乎没有一件是很迫切的了。也许，不久就会有好东西可吃呢。

当时在那凉爽、轩敞的房间里的人，都是十分有趣的。在羊怪之外，还有两个小矮人（他以前从未见过的一种人物），和一只很大的渡鸦。其余的都是人，成年人，可都很年轻；他们大家，不论男女，都比大部分卡乐门人面容漂亮、声音好听。沙斯塔不久就发现自己对他们的谈话很感兴趣。

“唔，女士，”国王对女王苏珊（就是亲吻沙斯塔的那一位）说道，“你怎么考虑的？我们在这城里呆了足足三个星期了。你心里还没有打定主意是否嫁给你的这位黑脸爱慕者，这位拉巴达什王子吗？”

女王摇摇头。“不，弟弟，”她说，“把塔什班城里所有的珠宝全给我，我也不嫁给他。”（“啊！”沙斯塔心中想道，“虽然他们是国王和女王，他们却是姐弟，并不是夫妻。”）

“确确实实，姐姐，”国王说道，“如果你看中了他，我就会不怎么爱你了。我告诉你吧，蒂斯罗克的大使最初到纳尼亚来说合这门亲事时，以及后来王子在我们凯尔帕拉维尔做客时，你竟会从心里表露出那么多对他的宠爱，我真觉得奇怪。”

“那是由于我愚蠢无知，爱德蒙，”女王苏珊说道，“我为此求你宽容。然而，这位王子到纳尼亚来我们家做客时，跟他如今在塔什班城里作风确实是截然不同的。我请大家作证，在至尊王为他举行的骑马比武和长矛较量上，他表现了多么神奇的技艺，在做客七天之中，他又是多么温顺、多么彬彬有礼地陪伴着我们。然而，在这儿，在他自己的城市里，他已经露出另外一副面目来了。”

“哇！”渡鸦叫道，“古老的谚语说道：先看看熊在它自己窝里的情况，再对它的素质作出判断。”

“这谚语是千真万确的，萨罗帕德，”小矮人之一说道，“另一个谚语说：来吧，跟我一起生活，你就了解我了。”

“是的，”国王说道，“现在我们已经看到了他的真面目：一个最最骄傲、血腥、奢侈、残酷和自我欣赏的暴君！”

“那么，以阿斯兰之名起誓，”苏珊说道，“让我们今天就离开塔什班城吧。”

“姐姐，难就难在这里。现在我必须把我在这最后两天多的时间里逐渐酝酿成熟的种种想法都告诉你。珀里丹，谢谢你留心门户，别让密探闯进来。一切都好？行。因为我们现在必须严守秘密。”

大家开始显得很严肃。女王苏珊跳起来，奔向她的弟弟。“啊，爱德蒙，”她喊道，“怎么一回事？你脸上有一种可怕的神情。”

5

科林王子

“我亲爱的姐姐，十分善良的女士，”国王爱德蒙说道，“现在你必须拿出勇气来。因为，我要直率地告诉你：我们的处境十分危险。”

“究竟怎么回事，爱德蒙？”女王问道。

“事情是这样的，”爱德蒙说，“我并不认为离开塔什班城是轻而易举的。王子希望你会看中他时，我们是他的贵宾；然而，凭狮王的鬃毛起誓，一旦他遭到你干脆的拒绝，我想我们的处境就不会比囚徒好了。”

一个小矮人发出一声轻微的口哨。

“陛下，我警告你，警告你，”渡鸦萨罗帕德说道，“正如龙虾在捕虾篓里所说的：进来容易出去难啊！”

“今天上午我曾同王子在一起。尤为遗憾的是，”爱德蒙继续说道，“他是不习惯于自己的意愿受到拂逆的。对你的长期拖延和含糊其辞的答复，他是十分焦躁恼怒的。今天上午他咄咄逼人地要知道你的心意。我把这问题撇在一边——同时也想削弱他的希望——只说些关于女人的幻想之类轻松平常的笑话，暗示他的求婚大概要冷下来了。他就变得愤怒而有所威胁了。他说的每一句话，尽管仍旧蒙着彬彬有礼的面纱，却都包含着恐吓的意味。”

“是的，”图姆纳斯说道，“昨夜我和大臣共进晚餐时，情况也差不多。他问我可喜欢塔什班城。而我（因为我无法告诉他我憎恨城里每一块石头，却又不肯说谎）告诉他，如今盛夏来临，我的心便向往着纳尼亚的清凉树林和露珠晶莹的山坡。他不怀好意地微微一笑，说道，‘小小羊脚啊，没有东西会阻止你重新在纳尼亚跳舞；你永远可以那么做，作为交换条件，只要你给我们的王子留下一个新娘就行了。’”

“你的意思是说：他会强迫我做他的妻子？”苏珊大声叫道。

“苏珊，我担心的是，”爱德蒙说，“不做妻子就得做奴隶，那就更糟了。”

“可是他怎么能这样呢？难道蒂斯罗克认为我们的哥哥至尊王会容忍这种凌辱人的暴行吗？”

“陛下，”珀里丹对国王说道，“他们不会那么疯狂。难道他们认为纳尼亚王国没有剑和长矛吗？”

“唉，”爱德蒙说，“我的猜想是蒂斯罗克对纳尼亚王国没有什么畏惧。我们的国土小。而小邦小国位于大帝国的边缘，对大帝国的君主总是憎恨的。蒂斯罗克一心要把它们抹掉，要把它们吞并掉。他最初让他的王子作为你的爱慕者到凯尔帕拉维尔来，也许只是想找个机会借端反对我们。很可能他指望一口就把纳尼亚和阿钦兰两个国家都吞并掉。”

“让他试试吧，”第二个小矮人说道，“我们在海上跟他一般儿强大。如果他从陆地进攻，他就得穿过大沙漠。”

“的确，朋友，”爱德蒙说，“但大沙漠是个可靠的屏障吗？萨罗帕德你怎么看？”

“我很了解这个大沙漠，”渡鸦说道，“在我年轻的岁月里，我曾在大沙漠上空飞翔得又远又广。”（你一定深信沙斯塔听到这里时竖起了耳朵。）“有一点是无可置疑的：如果蒂斯罗克从大绿洲进军，他永远不可能率领一支庞大的军队进入阿钦兰。因为，尽管他们在第一天急行军之后可以到达绿洲，但那儿的泉水太少了，不足以给所有的士兵和牲口解渴。但还有另外一条路径。”

沙斯塔一动也不动，更加注意地静听着。

“要找到这条路径的人，”渡鸦说道，“必须从古代国王的坟场出发，骑马朝西北驰去，皮尔峰的双峰便始终在他的正前方。如此骑马走上一天或稍稍再多一点儿时间，他就来到一个石头山谷的入口处，那个地方是那么狭窄，以致一个人可以上千次离它二百米光景，却不知道它就在那儿。向山谷里望下去，他既看不到青草或水，也看不到任何好东西。但如果他继续骑马前进，跑下山谷去，他就会来到一条河流边上，他可以沿着河流驰去，一路直达阿钦兰境内。”

“卡乐门人可知道这朝西去的路径？”女王问。

“朋友们，朋友们，”爱德蒙说，“这一切讨论有什么用处？我们不是在问：如果纳尼亚王国和卡乐门王国之间发生战争，哪一个国家会获得胜利。我们要问的是：如何挽救女王的荣誉，以及如何从这魔鬼的城市里救出我们自己的生命？因为，就算我的哥哥至尊王彼得会把蒂斯罗克打败十多次，然而早在这一天之前，我们的脖子已经被砍断了，而女王却成了这位王子的妻子，或者更可能是成了他的奴隶。”

“国王，咱们有武器啊，”第一个小矮人说道，“而且这是幢完全可以防御的房屋。”

“至于这一点，”国王说，“我毫不怀疑，我们每一个人都会在门口拼命，叫敌人付出沉重的代价，除非从我们的尸体上跨过去，他们休想侵犯女王。然而我们毕竟不过是老鼠在陷阱里搏斗罢了。”

“千真万确，”渡鸦哇哇地说道，“在房子里坚守到最后的人，传为美谈，但一向毫无效果。在他开头几次打退敌人之后，敌人总是放火焚烧房屋的。”

“我是这一切的祸根，”苏珊说，她泪水都流下来了，“啊，如果我从未离开凯尔帕拉维尔就好了。卡乐门的大使到来之前，是我们最后的快乐日子。摩尔人正在为我们种植一个花园……啊……啊。”她双手掩着脸呜咽。

“勇气，苏，要有勇气，”爱德蒙说，“记住啰——可是图姆纳斯师傅，你怎么啦？”因为那羊怪正用双手握住他的两只角，仿佛要借此保住他的脑袋，而且左右扭动着身体，仿佛他五脏六腑在疼痛哩。

“别跟我说话，别跟我说话，”图姆纳斯说道，“我正在思索。我思索得气也透不过来了。等一下，等一下，请等一下。”

令人迷惑不解的缄默持续了一会儿，接着，那羊怪抬起头来，长长地吸了口气，抹抹前额，说道：

“惟一的困难是要到我们的船上——还带些备用的东西——不被人看见，也不被人阻止。”

“是啊，”一个小矮人干巴巴地说道，“就像乞丐要骑马，惟一的困难是没有马儿。”

“等一下，等一下，”图姆纳斯先生不耐烦地说道，“我们所需要的只是找个借口今天就上船去，并且带些东西到船上去。”

“哦，哦。”国王爱德蒙怀疑地说道。

“啊，行了，”羊怪说，“不知这样好不好，陛下吩咐王子明天夜间出席我们的大帆船‘灿烂晶莹’号上的盛大筵席，而且这信息要传达得合情合理，以便给王子一个希望：女王的态度正在软化；而她也不必压上自己的荣誉就可以把事情对付过去了。”

“陛下，这是个很好的主意。”渡鸦嚷道。

“于是，”图姆纳斯兴奋地继续说道，“大家就会希望我们整天都呆在船上，准备迎接我们的客人。让我们派些人到市场上去，倾尽所有，买水果，买糖果，买酒，仿佛我们真的要开筵请客一样。让我们去约请魔术师、杂耍演员、跳舞姑娘和吹长笛的乐师，请他们明天夜间都到船上来。”

“我明白了，我明白了。”爱德蒙搓着双手，说道。

“接下来，”图姆纳斯说，“咱们大家今儿个夜里就上船。天色刚黑，就——”

“就扯起篷帆，划起桨来——”国王说。

“于是就到了海上。”图姆纳斯大声说道，蹦蹦跳跳的，开始跳起舞来了。

“我们的鼻子面向北方。”第一个小矮人说。

“奔往家园！万岁，奔往纳尼亚，奔往北方！”另一个小矮人说道。

“那王子第二天早晨醒来，却发现他的鸟儿全飞了。”珀里丹拍着双手说道。

“图姆纳斯师傅啊，亲爱的图姆纳斯师傅啊，”女王说道，搀住他的手，摇晃着身体，同他一起跳舞，“你救了我们大家了。”

“王子会追我们的。”另一个王爷说道，他的名字沙斯塔还没有听说过。

“那倒是我最不担心的事了，”爱德蒙说，“我观察过河上所有的船只，既没有一艘高大的战舰，也没有一条快速的大帆船。我但愿他追赶我们！因为‘灿烂晶莹’号有能力击沉追上来的船只——万一我们被追上的话。”

“陛下，”渡鸦说道，“我们虽然坐下来商量了七天，你不会听到比羊怪的计策更高明的了。唔，我们鸟儿说得好，先筑巢，后生蛋。这就是说：让我们大家先吃饭，然后立刻动手办事去。”

听到这话，每个人都站了起来，房门打开了，王爷和其他随从站在一边，让国王和女王先走出门去。沙斯塔不知道他该怎么办。但图姆纳斯先生说，“殿下，你躺在这儿，过一会儿我就替你送点儿佳肴来。在我们大家准备好要上船之前，你就无需行动了。”沙斯塔把脑袋重新搁在枕头上，不久就剩下他一个人在房间里了。

“这情况万分可怕。”沙斯塔心中想道。他脑子里从来没有想过要把全部真相告诉纳尼亚人，要求他们的帮助。他从小是由一个像阿什伊什那样心肠硬、拳头大的人带大的，养成了一个固定不变的习惯：如果他想得出办法，他就什么也不告诉成年人；他认为成年人总是破坏或阻挠他正在试图干的事情的。而且他认为：即使纳尼亚国王会友好对待两匹马儿，因为它们是纳尼亚的说人话的牲口，他也会憎恨阿拉维斯，因为她是个卡乐门人，他若不把她当做奴隶卖掉，也会把她送回她父亲那儿去。至于他自己呢，“我现在简直不敢告诉他们：我并不是王子科林。”沙斯塔想道，“我已经听到了他们的全部计划，如果他们知道我并不是纳尼亚王族一员，他们就决不会让我活着走出这个房间。他们会担心我把他们出卖给蒂斯罗克的。如果真正的科林出现了，事情就拆穿了，他们就一定会把我宰了！”你瞧，他对于高尚而天生自由的人们如何立身行事，脑子里是毫无概念的。

“我怎么办呢？我怎么办呢？”他不断地跟自己说道，“怎么——呀，羊一般的小家伙又来了。”

羊怪半是跳着舞，小跑着走进房间，他双手捧着个盘子，几乎跟他的身体一般儿大。他把盘子放在沙斯塔沙发旁边一张镶嵌螺钿的桌子上。他自己交叉着羊腿坐在铺着地毯的地板上。

“喂，小王子，”他说，“好好地吃一顿正餐。这是你在塔什班吃的最后一餐了。”

这是一顿卡乐门风味的美餐。我不知道你喜不喜欢，可沙斯塔喜欢。有龙虾，有色拉，有肚子里塞了块菌和杏仁的鹬，有鸡肝、米粒、葡萄干、果仁等的炒什锦，还有冰凉的瓜、奶油醋栗、奶油桑椹以及一切能与米饭一起煮来吃的好东西。另有一小壶被称为“白酒”其实是黄色的酒。

沙斯塔吃饭时，善良的小羊怪认为他中暑尚未痊愈，便不断地讲给他听：他们大家一起回到家乡后，他就会过好日子了；讲起他的善良的老父亲，阿钦兰的国王伦恩，以及要隘南坡国王所住的堡垒。“你可别忘了，”图姆纳斯先生说道，“在你下次的生日里，会答应给你第一套盔甲和第一匹战马的。于是殿下就要开始学习骑马持矛冲刺和比武了。几年以后，如果一切顺利，国王彼得已经答允你的父王，他要亲自封你为凯尔帕拉维尔的骑士。在此期间，纳尼亚和阿钦兰穿过群山之间的狭地会有许多来往。当然你记得你曾答允要来和我一起呆上一个星期，过盛夏节，那时会有大篝火，在森林的中心会有羊怪和树精的通宵跳舞，而且，谁知道呢？——说不定我们会看到阿斯兰本人呢！”

吃完饭，羊怪嘱咐沙斯塔静静地待在原来的地方休息。“你稍稍睡一觉也无妨，”他补充道，“我要过好久才来叫你上船呢。上了船，就还乡。直奔纳尼亚和北方！”

正餐和图姆纳斯告诉他的一切事情，沙斯塔都十分欣赏，留下他一个人在房间里时，他的思想发生了截然不同的转向和变化。他现在只是希望真正的王子科林迟迟不会到来，这样他就可以坐在船上被带到纳尼亚去了。恐怕他压根儿没想一想：真正的科林给丢在塔什班城会碰到什么危险。他稍稍有点儿为在坟场上等候他的阿拉维斯和布里担心。但他接着又跟自己说道，“哎，我又有什么办法呢？”以及，“无论如何，那个阿拉维斯认为她跟我混在一起是太抬举我了，现在她可以高高兴兴地一个人走了。”同时，他又禁不住想道：辛辛苦苦穿过大沙漠，远不如从海上坐船到纳尼亚去舒服哩。

沙斯塔想着这一切时，不觉睡着了。如果你曾大清早起身，走了长长的路，经历了极大的紧张激动，然后又美美地吃了一顿饭，躺在凉快房间里的一张沙发上，四周寂静无声，只有一只从大开着的窗子里飞进来的蜜蜂嗡嗡叫着，你也会睡觉的。

响亮的啪啦一声把他惊醒了。他从沙发上跳起身来，瞪着眼睛直瞧。仅仅从房间里的情形——光和影截然不同了——看来，他立刻明白他必定已经睡了好几个钟头。他也弄明白了是什么弄出啪啦声来的：原来放在窗台上的一个珍贵瓷瓶，在地板上碎成了三十片光景。但他没注意这些事情。他注意的是两只从外边抓住窗台的手。双手愈抓愈紧（指关节都发白了），接着就冒出来一个脑袋和一副肩膀。一会儿以后，便有一个年龄同沙斯塔相仿的孩子跨在窗台上了，一条腿已经伸在房间里面了。

沙斯塔从未在镜子里看见过他自己的脸。即使他看见过，他也看不出（在平常时候）这个孩子几乎长得跟他自己一模一样。而此时此刻，这孩子可并不特别像其他任何人，因为他长着你见过的最美丽的黑眼睛，掉了一个牙齿，而他的衣服（他穿上身时是挺华丽的）破破烂烂、肮肮脏脏，他脸上既有血又有污泥。

“你是什么人？”那孩子低声问道。

“你是王子科林吗？”沙斯塔说。

“是啊，当然是王子科林啰！”那孩子说道，“可你是什么人呢？”

“我是小东西，我的意思是，我不过是个无名小卒。”沙斯塔说道，“国王爱德蒙在街上逮住了我，错把我当做你了。我猜想我们必定长得很相像。我可以从你进来的地方出去吗？”

“行，如果你会攀登的话，”科林说，“可你为什么那么急急忙忙的呢？你听我说，我们应该就人家把我们误认开点儿玩笑啊。”

“不，不，”沙斯塔说，“我们必须立刻调个位置。如果图姆纳斯回来，发现我们俩在这儿，那就简直叫人害怕了。我曾被迫假装是你。你今天夜里就得出发——秘密地。这段时间你上哪儿去了？”

“街上有个孩子拿女王苏珊开了个粗野的玩笑，”王子科林说道，“所以我就把他打倒在地。他号啕大哭着跑进了一幢房子，他的哥哥从房子里赶出来。我就把那哥哥也打倒在地。接着他们全来追我，直至我们撞见了三个叫做警卫的持矛老汉。我就和警卫搏斗，警卫把我打倒在地。这时天色暗了。警卫把我带走，要把我关在什么地方。所以我就问他们：喝上一壶酒怎么样？他们说，喝喝也不妨。于是我带他们上了一家酒馆，给他们要了些酒，他们便都坐下来喝酒，一直喝到都睡熟了。我想，此时不走，更待何时？我悄悄地走出酒馆，我发现那第一个孩子——引起这场麻烦的小家伙——竟然仍在附近闲荡，所以我就再把他打倒在地。这之后，我攀着一个水管爬到了一幢房子的屋顶上，我在屋顶上静静地躺着，一直躺到今儿早晨天明的时候，早晨起我一直在找路回家。哦，可有什么喝的？”

“没酒，我把酒喝了。”沙斯塔说，“现在你告诉我，你是怎么进来的。一分钟也不能耽误了。你最好还是躺在沙发上，假装——可是我忘了，你脸上青一块紫一块的，眼眶都发黑了，假装是毫无用处的了。我安全离开以后，你就得把真相统统告诉他们。”

“你认为我会告诉他们别的什么吗？”王子带着相当愤怒的神色问道，“你究竟是什么人啊？”

“来不及讲了，”沙斯塔用激动得要发疯的低语说道，“我相信，我是个纳尼亚人；无论如何是在北方出生的。但我是在卡乐门长大的。我正在逃跑，要穿过大沙漠，跟一匹叫做布里的说人话的马儿一起走。呀，快！我怎样出去？”

“你瞧，”科林说，“从窗口下去，到游廊的屋顶上。但你必须轻轻地走，踮起脚尖走，要不别人就会听见的。然后一路向左走去，你就可以爬到墙头上去，如果你是个爬墙能手的话。然后沿着墙头走到角落里。你会看到墙外有堆垃圾，你就跳下去，这就成了。”

“谢谢。”沙斯塔说。他已经坐在窗台上了。这两个孩子互相凝视着对方的脸，突然发觉他们成为好朋友了。

“再见了，”科林说，“祝你好运，我真希望你安全地走出去。”

“再见了，”沙斯塔说，“嗨，你已经历过危险，但危险还没有过去哩！”

“跟你的危险比起来，那就算不了什么。”王子说道，“现在往下跳吧；轻轻地跳——喂，”沙斯塔跳下去时，王子补充道，“我希望我们在阿钦兰见面。你去见我的父王伦恩，告诉他：你是我的朋友。小心啊！我听到有人来了。”

6

沙斯塔在坟场里

沙斯塔踮起脚尖沿着屋顶轻轻地跑去，觉得他的光脚丫子发烫。不到几秒钟他就爬到了墙垣的另一头，他到了墙角，俯瞰一条狭窄、发臭的小街，正如科林告诉他的，墙外有个垃圾堆。跳下去之前，他先向周围迅速地扫了一眼，以便认清方位。显而易见，他已经来到塔什班岛城的山顶上了。一切都在他面前迤逦而下，平坦屋顶下方又有平坦屋顶，一直接连到北城城墙及其塔楼和雉堞。城墙外是河流，河流外是一个遍布花园的短坡。再过去便是他从来没看见过有什么跟它类似的景象——灰黄色，平坦得像个平静的海，绵亘好多英里。它的遥远边缘上是大块大块蓝色，凹凹凸凸，参差不齐，有些顶上是雪白的。“大沙漠！大山大岭！”沙斯塔心里想道。

他往下跳到了垃圾堆上。他开始在小巷里尽可能快地跑下山去：小巷不久便把他带到了更加宽阔的街道上，那儿的行人就更多了。没有人留意一个衣衫褴褛的孩子光着脚丫子跑过，但他仍旧焦急不安，直至他在一个角落上转弯过去，看到了他面前的城门。城门口就有点儿推推搡搡的，因为好多人也在出城去；城门外大桥上的人群变成了一个慢慢前进的行列，与其说它是人群，倒更像是支队伍。经历了塔什班城的臭味、炎热和喧闹，来到城外，桥的两边清澈的流水奔腾，就觉得空气新鲜宜人了。

沙斯塔走到大桥桥堍，发觉人群分流疏散了；仿佛大家下了桥，不是向左便是向右，分别沿着河岸走去。他笔直地向前走上了一条大路，大路介于花园之间，看来不大有人马走过。他走了几步便只剩下他一个人了，再走几步便到了山坡的顶上。他站在坡顶上凝望。他仿佛来到了世界的尽头，因为所有的萋萋芳草突然在前面几步路的地方消失了，大片黄沙开始了；无穷无尽的平坦的黄沙，就像海滨沙滩一样，只是比较粗糙一些，因为它可是永远干燥的。大山大岭隐约出现在前方，现在看起来反而比先前更远了。使他大为宽慰的是：他看到左边儿，大约走上五分钟的路程，必定就是布里描绘过的那个古代国王的坟场。大块大块正在风化的石头，建成巨大蜂房似的形状，不过稍为狭了一点儿。看上去黑暗而冷森，因为太阳现在已经在坟墓后面落下去了。

沙斯塔把脸转向西方，朝坟场快步走去。他禁不住费力地东张西望，看看可有他的朋友们的踪迹，夕阳照在他的脸上，他什么也看不清楚。“无论如何，”他心中想道，“他们总会绕到坟场那一边去等候的，决不会在城里任何人都看得到他们的这一边等。”

坟场共计十二个墓，每个墓前有个低矮拱廊通向绝对的黑暗。坟墓星罗棋布，却不是井然有序，所以得花费很长时间，这儿绕一圈，那儿绕一圈，才能使你心中确信，你已经把每个墓的每一边都找遍了。这就是沙斯塔要办的事。坟场里一个人也没有。

这儿位于大沙漠的边缘，十分安静，现在太阳确实已经落山了。

突然从他的背后传来一个可怕的声音。沙斯塔的心猛烈地一跳，他咬住舌头才没有叫出声来。一会儿以后他明白这是什么声音了。这是塔什班城宣告关闭城门的号角声。“别做一个愚蠢的小懦夫，”沙斯塔跟他自己说，“这不过是你今儿早晨听到过的同样的号角声啊。”但在早晨听到的、放你和你的朋友进城的号角声，跟在傍晚独自听到的、把你关在城外的号角声，是截然不同的。如今城门已经关闭，他知道今晚他们和他会合的机会是没有了。“或者是他们给关在塔什班城里过夜了，”沙斯塔想，“要不就是他们丢下我走掉了。这样的事情阿拉维斯是做得出来的，但布里是不会干的。啊，它不会干——哦，它会干吗？”

沙斯塔关于阿拉维斯的这个推想，又一次错了。她是骄傲的，也够厉害的，但她像钢铁一样忠诚，从不抛弃伙伴，不论她是否喜欢他。

沙斯塔既然知道他不得不独自过夜了（天色愈来愈黑），他也就愈来愈不喜欢坟场的气氛。在那些缄默无声的各种形状的巨大石头里自有一种令人不舒畅的东西。他一直在竭尽全力不去想食尸鬼，但他没法儿再坚持下去。

“啊唷！啊唷！救命！”他突然叫喊了起来，因为就在这个时刻，他感觉有个东西碰了碰他的腿。随便什么人，如果有个东西从背后过来碰碰他，他因而叫喊了起来，我想谁也不会责备他的；特别是在这样的地方，在这样的时间里，在他本来已经很害怕的时候。沙斯塔无论如何是吓得不敢跑动了。被背后一个他不敢回头看的什么东西追逐着，绕着古代国王的坟墓兜圈子，那可是最糟糕的事情了。他没跑，他作出了确实是他能作出的最理智的举动。他向四周打量；他的心几乎宽慰得要跳出来了。原来碰他腿的不过是一只猫。

光线太糟，沙斯塔没看清楚那只猫，只看到它又大又严肃。看起来那猫独自在坟场里已经生活了好多好多年。它的眼睛使你觉得它知道许多秘密，可不愿告诉你。

“猫咪，猫咪，”沙斯塔说，“我猜你是一只说人话的猫。”

猫只是越发盯住他直瞧。接着，猫开始走动了，沙斯塔当然跟着它走。猫带着他穿过坟场，把他带到了坟场外大沙漠一边。猫在那儿笔挺地坐了下来，尾巴绕在脚上，脸向着大沙漠，向着纳尼亚和北方，身体一动也不动，仿佛在守望着什么敌人似的。沙斯塔在猫的身边躺下，他的背靠着猫，他的脸朝着坟场，因为如果心里紧张不安，最好还是脸朝着危险，背靠着温暖而结实的东西。你会觉得沙土不舒服，但沙斯塔在地上睡过好几个星期，对沙土没有在意。他不久就睡熟了，尽管他在睡梦中还在继续想着布里、阿拉维斯、赫温碰到了什么事情。

他突然被一个他从未听到过的声音吵醒了。“也许只是梦魇罢了。”沙斯塔跟自己说。就在这个时候，他发现猫已经从他背后走掉了，他但愿猫不曾走掉。但他仍旧十分安静地躺在那儿，连眼睛也不肯睁开，因为他深信，如果他坐起来，环顾坟场和孤寂，他就会更加害怕；他的情况，就像你或我宁可用衣服蒙着脑袋一动也不动地躺在那儿一样。然而，这时又传来了声音——从他背后的大沙漠里传来了粗糙刺耳的叫声。当然啦，他这就不得不睁开眼睛坐起来了。

明月雪亮地照耀着。坟墓——远比他想像中的还要大还要近——在月光中呈苍白色。事实上，坟墓看上去极为可怕，像是穿着遮住脑袋和脸蛋的苍白长袍的巨人。当你在一个奇怪的地方过夜时，它们近在你身边，压根儿不是什么好事。但叫声来自对面，来自大沙漠。沙斯塔不得不转过身子背朝着坟场（他可不大喜欢这样），瞪着眼睛，越过平坦的沙漠望去。粗野的叫声重新响起来了。

“我希望不是又碰到狮子了。”沙斯塔想道。这叫声倒不大像遇到赫温和阿拉维斯那一夜听到的狮吼，实际上，这是一头胡狼的叫声。但沙斯塔当然不知道。即使他知道了，他也不情愿碰到一头胡狼。

叫声一阵阵地传来。“不论是什么野兽，可不止一头哩。”沙斯塔想，“野兽在逼近了。”

我想，如果沙斯塔是个完全有头脑的孩子，就会穿过坟场回到靠近河流的地方，那儿有房屋，野兽就不大可能来了。不过，那个地方会有（或者是他认为会有）食尸鬼。穿过坟场回去，就意味着要经过坟墓那些漆黑的洞穴；洞穴里说不定会冒出什么鬼怪来呢？这也许是愚蠢可笑的，但沙斯塔觉得他宁可冒野兽的风险。接下来，由于叫声愈来愈逼近，他才开始改变主意了。

他正要逃跑时，突然，在他和沙漠之间，有一头巨兽跳进了视野。月光照在巨兽的后面，使它看上去浑身漆黑；沙斯塔不认得它是什么野兽，只见它长着一个毛发蓬松的很大的脑袋，用四条腿走路。它似乎没注意到沙斯塔，因为它突然停下步来，回头朝向大沙漠，发出一声怒吼，吼声在坟场里回荡，仿佛把沙斯塔脚下的沙地都震动了。其他动物的叫声随之突然停止，沙斯塔觉得他听见了惊惶奔跑的脚步声。然后，那巨兽转过身来仔细打量着沙斯塔。

“这是一头狮子，我知道这是一头狮子，”沙斯塔心中想道，“我没命了。不知道是不是会痛得厉害。我但愿赶快完蛋。我不知道人死了以后还会发生什么事情？啊呀呀！它扑上来了！”于是他闭上眼睛咬紧牙齿。

然而，却没有牙齿和脚爪的抓咬，只觉得有个温暖的东西躺在他脚边。他睁开眼睛时说道：“咦，它并不是同我所想的那般大！只不过一半儿大。不，甚至连四分之一还不到。我敢说它不过是只猫！什么它跟马儿一般大小，都是我做梦想出来的。”

不论沙斯塔是否确实做过梦，现在躺在他脚边，用它那大大的、绿绿的、毫不眨巴的眼睛，瞧得他局促不安的，是一只猫，尽管是他所见过的最大的猫。

“猫咪啊，”沙斯塔上气不接下气地说道，“重新看见你，我真是高兴。我一直在做着可怕的梦。”他立刻重新躺下，跟猫咪背靠背，就像黑夜初临时那样。猫身上的温暖传遍了他的全身。

“只要我活着，我今后决不再对猫儿做什么促狭的事情了。”沙斯塔一半儿对猫咪一半儿对自己说道，“我干过一次，你知道吗。我用石子掷过一只走失的、半饥半饱的、生疥疮的老猫。嗨，住手。”因为那猫转过身来抓了他一下。“别来这一手，”沙斯塔说，“这就不像是你听得懂我说的话了。”接着他就打起瞌睡来了。

第二天早晨沙斯塔醒来时，猫走了，太阳已经出来了，沙土发烫了。沙斯塔十分口渴，坐起来擦擦眼睛。大沙漠白得令人目眩，虽然他背后传来隐隐约约的人声喧哗，但他所坐的地方，却是寂静无声的。当他稍稍向左向西看时，阳光并不直射他的眼睛，他便看得见大沙漠远处边缘上的大山大岭，轮廓分明，形象清晰，看上去似乎相距不过一箭之遥。他特别注意到一个蓝色高崮，顶上分为两个山峰，便断定它必是皮尔峰无疑。“根据渡鸦所说的话看来，这就是我们要走的方向，”他心中想道，“所以我一定要把它搞个确实，以便别人来时就不必浪费时间了。”所以他用双脚在地上挖了一条笔直的深沟，确切地指向皮尔峰。

十分清楚，第二桩事情就是要搞点吃的喝的东西。沙斯塔小步穿过坟场跑回去——现在坟墓看上去平平常常，他想想自己竟害怕它们也觉得奇怪——跑到河边的耕地里。附近有一些人，但不多，因为城门已经开了好几个钟头，大清早拥挤的人群已经进城去了。所以沙斯塔搞点儿（布里所说的）“袭击”毫无困难。这次“袭击”包括爬过一道墙头，收获是三只橘子、一个西瓜、一两个无花果和一只石榴。然后他走到河岸上，在离大桥不太近的地方，喝了点儿河水。水好极了，他脱掉又热又脏的衣服，下去洗了个澡；当然，因为沙斯塔一直住在水边，几乎在他刚学习走路时就学会了游泳。从河里出来，他躺在青草上，眼睛越过河流，眺望着塔什班城——城里的一切壮观、力量和光荣。但眺望也使他记起塔什班城的危险。他突然认识到，说不定正在他洗澡的时候，其他的人马已经到达坟场（“很可能不等我就走掉了”），所以他惊惶地穿好衣服，用极大的速度赶回去，他到达坟场时又热又渴，洗澡后的凉快感觉完全没有了。

就像大部分独自等待什么事物的日子一样，这一天仿佛有一百个钟头那么长。当然啦，他有许多事情要想，但独自坐在那儿，只是一个劲儿地想着，时间是过得够慢的。他想得很多的是纳尼亚人，特别是科林。他很想知道，当他们发现那躺在沙发上听到他们全部秘密计划的孩子压根儿不是科林时，会发生什么事情。想到这些个好人会把他当做奸细，心里十分不愉快。

但当太阳慢慢地慢慢地升上中天，然后又慢慢地慢慢地向西方沉落下去的时候，沙斯塔心里愈来愈焦急不安了。当然，他现在明白了，当初他们互相约定在坟场等待，可谁也没说要等待多久。他可不能在那儿等待一辈子！不久天又要黑了，他又要像昨夜那样过一夜了！十多个不同的计划在他头脑里翻腾，全都是微不足道的计划，而他最后确定的，却是个最糟糕的计划。他决定等到天黑时跑到河边去偷西瓜，拿得了多少就偷多少，然后独自出发，凭着他早晨在沙上所挖的深沟的指示，向皮尔峰而去。这是个疯狂的主意，如果他像你一样读过沙漠旅行的书，决不会做这种梦想的。但沙斯塔压根儿没读过书。

可是，太阳落山之前，有件事情发生了。沙斯塔正坐在一个坟墓的阴影里，他抬起头来，看到两匹马正向他跑来。随后他的心猛地一跳，因为他认出这两匹马儿正是布里和赫温。但接下来的刹那间他的心又沉到脚指头上去了。没有阿拉维斯的踪影。马儿是由一个陌生人率领着的，一个衣服相当漂亮的军人，好像是一个高贵家庭里的一个高级奴隶。布里和赫温不再装扮得像是运货的驮马了，却配上了鞍座和辔头。这一切意味着什么呢？“这是个圈套，”沙斯塔心里想道，“有人逮住了阿拉维斯，也许他们折磨过她，她把整个儿事情都放弃了。他们要我跳出来，跑过去同布里说话，这就把我逮住！不过，如果我不跳出去，也许我就丧失了同其他人马聚首的惟一机会了。啊，我真希望我能知道已经发生了什么事情。”他偷偷地藏在坟墓背后，时时刻刻向外张望，心中琢磨着采取哪种行动危险最少。

7

阿拉维斯在塔什班城

实际发生的事情是这样的。当阿拉维斯看见沙斯塔被纳尼亚人匆匆带走，发觉自己单独和（十分聪明地）不肯说人话的两匹马儿在一起时，她片刻也没有丧失理智。她抓住布里的缰绳，一动不动地站在那儿，控制着那两匹马儿；尽管她的心怦怦跳动像锤子敲打，她可没有露出声色来。纳尼亚国王们走过去了，她便试图重新前进。但她还没有迈步，却听得另一个喝道的（“这些人真讨厌，”阿拉维斯心中想道）正在大声叫喊：“闪开，闪开，闪开！给泰克希娜拉斯阿拉莉恩让路！”紧跟着那喝道的，立刻走过来四个武装奴隶，以及抬着一顶轿子的四个轿夫，轿子上四面飘扬着丝绸轿帘，银铃丁当，芳香和花气弥漫着整条街道。跟在轿子后面的，有四个穿华丽衣裳的女奴，几个侍从、跑腿的小厮、小听差等等。这当儿阿拉维斯犯了她的第一个错误。

她跟拉斯阿拉莉恩十分熟稔——几乎像是一起上过学似的——因为她们时常在同一家人家小住，参加同一个社交聚会。如今拉斯阿拉莉恩结婚了，事实上成了十分阔气的人物，所以阿拉维斯禁不住抬起头来，瞧瞧拉斯阿拉莉恩的模样儿。

这下可糟啦。两个少女的眼光碰到一起，拉斯阿拉莉恩立刻从轿子里坐了起来，拉开嗓门儿大声叫道：

“阿拉维斯！你究竟在这儿干什么呀？你父亲……”

片刻也放松不得。一秒钟也没有耽搁，阿拉维斯放开了马儿，抓住轿子的边缘，身体腾空，蹿到了拉斯阿拉莉恩的身边，愤怒地凑到她耳朵边低声说道：

“别嚷嚷！你听到吗？别嚷嚷。你必须把我藏起来。嘱咐你的仆从……”

“可是宝贝……”拉斯阿拉莉恩用同先前一样响亮的声音说起话来。（这弄得路人目不转睛地瞧她，她可一点也不介意；事实上，她倒是喜欢人家这样瞧她的。）

“照我嘱咐你的话办，不然我就永远不同你说话了。”阿拉维斯嘶嘶地说道，“请，请你赶快，拉斯。事情严重得可怕。叫你的侍从带着这两匹马儿，把你轿子上的所有帘子都放下来，跑到一个人家找不着我的地方。赶快！”

“行啊，宝贝儿，”拉斯阿拉莉恩用懒洋洋的声调答道，“喂，你们两个带着泰克希娜的马儿。”（这句话是对奴隶说的。）“现在，回家。听我说，宝贝儿，在这样晴朗的日子里，我们当真要把帘子都放下来吗？我的意思是说……”

但阿拉维斯已经把帘子放下来了，把拉斯阿拉莉恩和她自己封闭在一个富丽芳香却又相当闷热、类似篷帐的东西里了。

“我必须不让人看见，”她说道，“我的父亲不知道我在这儿。我正在逃跑啊。”

“啊，我的亲爱的，真够刺激的。”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我真想听听全部故事。亲爱的，你坐在我的衣服上了，挪一挪，行吗？现在好多了。这是件新衣服，你喜欢吗？我买到它是在……”

“噢，拉斯，请你别开玩笑，”阿拉维斯说，“我父亲在什么地方？”

“你不知道吗？”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“他当然是在这儿啊。他昨天到城里来的，到处打听你的下落。你倒想想看，你和我一起在这儿，他却啥也不知道。这是我所听到的最可笑的事情了。”她的话变成了格格格的笑声。阿拉维斯现在记起来了，她始终是个令人可怕的格格笑个不停的女人。

“这压根儿不可笑，”她说，“这事严重得可怕。你能把我藏在什么地方啊？”

“这可毫无困难，我亲爱的姑娘，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我要带你到我家里去。我的丈夫出门了，没有人会看见你的。唷，轿帘都拉下来了，就没什么趣了。我要看看老百姓。如果一个人非要这样封闭起来上街不可，那么穿上新衣服也就毫无意思了。”

“我希望你这样拉大嗓门儿跟我说话时，没有人听见你的话。”阿拉维斯说。

“没有，没有人听见，当然啦。”拉斯阿拉莉恩心不在焉地说道，“但你觉得这件新衣服怎么样，你至今也还没有告诉我哩。”

“还有一件事，”阿拉维斯说道，“你必须嘱咐你的仆从要恭而敬之地对待这两匹马儿。它们是这个秘密的一部分。它们确确实实是来自纳尼亚的说人话的马儿。”

“好不奇怪！”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“多么激动人心！唷，亲爱的，你看见过来自纳尼亚的野蛮的女王吗？现在她待在塔什班城里。据说王子拉巴达什疯狂地爱上了她。最近这两星期来，一直都在举行最最豪华的社交盛会，打猎，以及其他活动。我自己可看不出她有多美。但有几个纳尼亚男子汉倒很漂亮。前天我被带去参加河滨舞会，我穿上了我的……”

“我们怎样才能阻止你的仆从告诉别人：有一个客人——穿得像个乞丐的小崽子——进了你的家。这消息说不定十分容易传到我父亲那儿。”

“别老是大惊小怪的，你要听话，才是乖宝宝哩。”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我们一会儿就给你找些合适的衣服。我们到家了。”

轿夫停下步来，放下轿子。轿帘拉开时，阿拉维斯发现自己已在一个庭院里了，就跟几分钟前在城市的另一个地方沙斯塔被带进去的那个院子差不多。拉斯阿拉莉恩本来立刻就要走进门去，但阿拉维斯用疯疯癫癫的低语提醒她：要对奴隶们嘱咐几句，别跟任何人提起女主人的怪客。

“对不起，宝贝儿，我完全忘记了。”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“听着，你们大家，还有你，门房。不论谁讲起这位年轻女士，如果被我逮住了，首先就要打得半死不活，其次就要活活焚烧，然后是接连六个星期不给面包吃，不给水喝。就这样。”

虽然拉斯阿拉莉恩说过，她很想听阿拉维斯的不幸故事，却压根儿没有表露出确实想听的迹象。事实上，听和说相比，她说起来要胜任愉快得多。她坚持要阿拉维斯洗个漫长而奢侈的澡（卡乐门的洗澡是世界闻名的），用最好的衣服把她打扮起来，然后才容许她解释点儿什么事情。在选择衣服上的小题大做，几乎把阿拉维斯搞得恼火了。这时她记起来了，拉斯阿拉莉恩始终是这个样子的：对衣着打扮、社交聚会和闲谈聊天感兴趣。阿拉维斯始终对弓、箭、犬、马和游泳更感兴趣。但当她们吃过饭（主要是掼奶油、果子冻、冰水果之类），两个人一起坐在美丽的圆柱房间里（如果被拉斯阿拉莉恩宠坏了的猴子不是始终在爬来爬去，阿拉维斯会更加喜欢这房间的），拉斯阿拉莉恩终于问她为什么从家里逃出来了。

阿拉维斯讲完她的故事，拉斯阿拉莉恩说道：“可是，宝贝儿，你干吗不嫁给泰坎阿霍什塔呢？谁都在为他发疯着迷哩。我的丈夫说，他将成为卡乐门最伟大的人物。如今老阿克萨沙死了，他刚刚荣升首相，你知道吗？”

“我可不在乎。我看到他就受不了。”阿拉维斯说道。

“可是，宝贝儿，你倒考虑考虑！三个府邸，其中一个美丽极了，就在伊尔基茵的湖滨。我听人家说，确实是珍珠大串大串的。用驴乳洗澡。而且你可以经常遇见我。”

“他不妨留着他的珍珠和府邸吧，这些东西跟我可不相干。”阿拉维斯说。

“阿拉维斯，你始终是个古怪的姑娘，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“你还要求什么东西呢？”

可是，说到后来，阿拉维斯还是设法使她的朋友相信她是认真的，甚至讨论起计划来了。现在两匹马儿要出北城城门赶到坟场去，是不会有什么困难的了。没有人会阻挡或盘问一个衣服华丽的侍从带着一匹战马和一位女士的坐骑到河滨去的，拉斯阿拉莉恩家有许多侍从可以随意差遣。不容易决定的事情是阿拉维斯本人该怎么办。她提议她可以坐在轿子里，拉下轿帘，让人抬出城去。但拉斯阿拉莉恩告诉她，轿子只在城里使用，看到一顶轿子出城门而去，一定会引起人们的疑问。

她们已经讨论了好长一段时间——阿拉维斯发觉很难使她的朋友不要离题太远，所以时间就拖得格外长了——拉斯阿拉莉恩终于拍手说道，“呀，我想到一个主意了。有一个办法可以不穿过城门而走出塔什班城去。蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）的花园从山上绵延而下，直达河流，那儿有个水门。当然，仅仅供王宫里的人使用——不过，你要知道，亲爱的（说到这儿她哧哧地笑了一下），我们几乎是王宫里的人物了。我说，你来找我，是你运道好。亲爱的蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）是那么和蔼可亲，几乎每天都召我们进宫去，王宫就像是我们第二个家。我敬爱所有亲爱的王子和公主，我十分崇拜王子拉巴达什。不论白天黑夜，不论哪一个时辰，我都可以跑去见王宫里不论哪一位夫人。天黑以后，为什么我不带着你溜进宫去，然后从水门把你放出城去？水门外总是有些平底船之类系在那儿。而且，哪怕我们被逮住了……”

“那就一切都完了。”阿拉维斯说。

“宝贝儿，别那么激动啊，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我要说的是：如果我们被逮住了，人人都会说，这不过是我开的一个疯狂的玩笑罢了。我的开玩笑正在变得十分出名。就在几天之前——亲爱的，你听呀，真是有趣得可怕——”

“我的意思是说：对我说来，就一切都完了。”阿拉维斯有点生气地说道。

“唷——啊——是呀——我听明白你的意思了，宝贝儿。喂，你可想得出其他好计划吗？”

阿拉维斯想不出好办法，答道，“我没有办法。我们不得不冒险了。我们能在什么时候开始行动呢？”

“啊，今夜不行，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“今夜当然不行。今夜要举行一个盛大宴会（我必须在几分钟之内做好头发去赴宴），整个王宫将是一片灯火辉煌。而且还有那么一大群人。只好改到明天夜里了。”

对于阿拉维斯，这是个坏消息，但她不得不充分利用这个机会。那天下午过得很慢，而拉斯阿拉莉恩出去赴宴的时候倒是个解脱，因为阿拉维斯十分厌倦她那格格的笑声，她那关于服装、舞会、结婚、订婚和丑闻的闲谈。她很早就上床了，有一点她倒很欣赏：重新睡在枕头和被单上毕竟是十分舒适的。

但第二天过得十分缓慢。拉斯阿拉莉恩想要取消原来的整个安排，不断地告诉阿拉维斯，纳尼亚是个永远下雪结冰的国家，住着恶魔和巫师，她要到那儿去简直是发疯。“而且和一个乡下孩子同去！”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“宝贝儿，你倒考虑考虑！那可不妙。”阿拉维斯考虑过很多，但如今她对拉斯阿拉莉恩的糊涂无知实在感觉厌倦了，她第一次开始想到：同沙斯塔一起旅行赶路，确实比塔什班城里时髦的上流社会生活要有趣得多。所以她只是答道：“你忘记了一点：我们到达纳尼亚时，我便将是个无名小卒了，就像他一样。而且，无论如何，原是我答允了一起去的。”

“你倒想想看，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说，几乎是在嚷嚷了，“只要你自己有头脑，你就可以做大臣的妻子了！”阿拉维斯跑了出去，和两匹马儿说些悄悄话。

“你们必须跟一个侍从赶在日落之前的那会儿到达坟场，”她说，“不再背这些个驮包了。重新给你们配上鞍子和辔头。但赫温的鞍囊里得放些食品，布里，你背上得装满满一皮袋水。侍从奉命让你们在远离大桥的岸边花点时间美美地把水喝足。”

“喝足了水，直奔纳尼亚和北方！”布里低声说道，“但如果沙斯塔不在坟场里怎么办呢？”

“当然要等他啦，”阿拉维斯说，“我想你在这儿过得挺舒服吧。”

“我生平从来没待过比这更好的马厩，”布里说道，“但你那位朋友，吃吃笑的泰克希娜，如果她的丈夫付给侍从头儿的是买最好的燕麦的钱，那么，我认为那侍从头儿是在欺骗主人了。”

阿拉维斯和拉斯阿拉莉恩在圆柱房间里吃晚饭。

两个钟头以后，她们准备出发了。阿拉维斯穿戴得像个大户人家的高级女奴，脸上还戴了一个面纱。她们已经商量妥当，如果有人问起，拉斯阿拉莉恩就装模作样地说：阿拉维斯是个女奴，她要把这女奴作为礼物献给某一位公主。

两个姑娘光着脚走出门去。没有几分钟就到了王宫大门口。门口当然有士兵警卫，但军官对拉斯阿拉莉恩十分熟稔，他叫他的士兵立正、敬礼。她们立刻走进了黑大理石大厅。好多廷臣、奴隶和其他人等仍在厅里走动，这倒使这两个姑娘更加不引人注目了。她们继续前行，进入圆柱大厅，然后又进入雕像大厅，沿着柱廊行去，经过了觐见室的铜箔大门。她们在朦胧灯光中所能见到的一切，全都是富丽堂皇，非言语所能形容。

不久她们就出了宫殿，进入御花园，花园依着山势经过许多台地迤逦而下。她们在花园另一边来到旧王宫。天色已经变得十分昏暗了，现在她们发觉自己置身于回廊的迷宫之中，墙上偶尔有个托架插着火炬照明。拉斯阿拉莉恩在一个岔路口停步不前了：非此即彼，你要么往左走，要么往右走。

“往前走啊，往前走啊。”阿拉维斯低声催促道，她的心怦怦地跳得可怕，她仍旧觉得她的父亲很可能在任何一个角落里撞见她们。

“我正在琢磨……”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我们从这儿出去，该从哪一条路走，我没有绝对的把握。我想是左边那一条。是的，我几乎确信是左边那一条了。这多么有趣！”

她们走上了左边的那条路，发觉置身在一条压根儿没有什么亮光的通道里，这通道不久就变成了一级又一级向下延伸的台阶。

“对了，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“我有把握我们现在是走对了。我记得这一级级的台阶。”但就在这当儿，前面出现一个移动的亮光。一秒钟后，从一个遥远的角落里出现了两个人的黑影，他们手执高大的蜡烛，正在往后倒退着走哩。当然啰，只有在国王和王族面前，人们才倒退着走的。阿拉维斯觉得拉斯阿拉莉恩抓住她的手臂——这种突然一抓，几乎是拧了一把，意味着那伸手抓的人实际上十分惶恐。阿拉维斯认为这事很奇怪，拉斯阿拉莉恩竟会那么害怕蒂斯罗克，如果蒂斯罗克确实是她的朋友；但阿拉维斯也没有时间继续思考这个问题。拉斯阿拉莉恩正催促她赶紧返回台阶的顶上，发疯似的沿着墙垣摸索前进。

“这儿是门，”她悄悄说道，“快。”

她们走进门去，轻轻地把身后的门关上，发觉自己置身在一团漆黑之中。阿拉维斯能从拉斯阿拉莉恩的呼吸声里听出她是诚惶诚恐的。

“塔什神救命啊！”拉斯阿拉莉恩低声说道，“如果他走进这儿，我们怎么办呢？我们能躲藏起来吗？”

她们的脚下有一块地毯。她们摸索着进入房间，慌慌张张撞在一张沙发上。

“让我们在沙发背后躺下来，”拉斯阿拉莉恩呜呜咽咽地说道，“啊，我但愿我们没有来。”

沙发与幕墙之间恰好有地方给这两个姑娘躺下。拉斯阿拉莉恩设法占据较好的位置，把自己的身体完全遮住了。阿拉维斯上半个脸在沙发背后露了出来，所以，如果有什么人手中拿着个灯走进房间，碰巧朝这个角落一望，就会看见她了。当然，由于她戴着面纱，乍一看倒不会像是一个前额和一双眼睛。阿拉维斯拼命推搡，竭力使拉斯阿拉莉恩腾一点儿地方给她。但拉斯阿拉莉恩如今在惊慌失措中十分自私，她把对方挤回去，还拧她的脚。她们绝望了，一动也不动地躺着，稍微有点儿气喘。她们的呼吸似乎响得可怕，但室内没有其他声音。

“这儿安全吗？”阿拉维斯终于尽可能低声地说道。

“我——我——我想是安全的，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“但我那可怜的神经……”于是传来了此时此刻她们所能听到的最最可怕的声音：开门的声音。然后是灯光。因为阿拉维斯在沙发背后可以伸长脖子，她什么都看在眼里。

首先进来两个奴隶（又聋又哑，正如阿拉维斯所猜到的，以便开最秘密的会议），手持蜡烛，倒退着走进来。他们站定在沙发的两头。这倒是件好事，因为一旦阿拉维斯的前面站了个奴隶，当然任何人就更难看到她了，而她却可以在奴隶的两个脚跟之间向外张望。接着进来的是一个老头儿，很胖，戴一顶稀奇古怪的尖顶帽子，凭着这帽子，她立刻知道他就是蒂斯罗克了。他浑身上下都是珠宝首饰，其价值至少也要超过纳尼亚王族所有衣服和武器加起来的总价值；但他是那么胖，还有那么一大堆饰边、皱褶、小羊毛球、纽扣、流苏、辟邪物，阿拉维斯禁不住想到纳尼亚的时装（无论如何是给人穿的）看上去要雅致得多了。蒂斯罗克之后，来了个高大的年轻人，头上裹着一个插羽毛、镶珠宝的头巾，身边佩一把象牙鞘的弯刀。他似乎很激动，他的眼睛和牙齿凶狠地在烛光里闪烁。最后，进来一个驼背、枯槁的小老头儿，她浑身不寒而栗，认出小老头儿就是新首相，自己新订婚的丈夫，泰坎阿霍什塔本人。

这三个人一进房间，门就关上了，蒂斯罗克在长沙发上落座，嘘了一口心满意足的气，年轻人也就了位，站在蒂斯罗克的面前，首相双膝跪了下来，两肘撑着，俯首把脸伏在地毯上。

8

在蒂斯罗克的密室里

“啊——我的父亲，我——眼睛——中——的——喜悦，”年轻人开言道，咕咕哝哝，吐字很快，很不开心，压根儿不像他所说的蒂斯罗克是他眼中的喜悦。“愿你万寿无疆，但你已经把我完全毁了。如果你在日出时给了我最快的单层甲板大帆船，如果我最初看见那该死的外邦人的船开出去时就追的话，说不定已经追上他们了。可是你劝我先送行，瞧瞧他们是否只是绕着海岬找个更好的碇泊所。如今整整一天已经浪费了。而他们走掉了——走掉了——走得我们追不上了！那个虚假的女人，那个……”他在这儿还加了许多对女王苏珊的形容词，如果印出来，就压根儿不雅观了。因为，这个年轻人当然是王子拉巴达什，那个虚假的女人当然是纳尼亚的苏珊。

“我的儿子啊，把你的情绪镇静下来，”蒂斯罗克说道，“因为，客人的离去所造成的创伤，在一个明智的主人的心里是容易治好的。”

“可是我要她，”王子大声嚷嚷道，“我必须占有她。如果我弄不到她，我就要死了。她是一只老狗的虚伪的、骄傲的、黑心肠的女儿。我没法睡觉，我吃东西不香，没有滋味，由于她的美丽，我的眼睛都发黑了。我一定要把这外邦的女王弄到手。”

“一位天才诗人说得好，”首相说道，从地毯上抬起他那满是灰尘的脸，“为了消灭年轻的爱情之火，从理智的泉水深饮几口是合乎需要的。”

这话似乎激怒了王子。“狗东西，”他吼道，一连几脚对准首相的屁股踢去，“别对我放肆引证诗人的话。整天都有格言和诗句向我扔过来，我再也忍受不了啦！”我想，阿拉维斯恐怕压根儿不为大臣感到难过。

蒂斯罗克显然陷入了沉思，但过了半晌，当他注意到正发生什么事情时，他平静地答道：

“我的儿子，无论如何，别再踢年高德劭和博学开明的大臣了：正如昂贵的珠宝，即使藏在粪堆里，也仍旧保持它的价值，所以老年和谨慎都是该尊敬的，即使它们存在于我们臣民中微不足道的人身上。因此，别再踢了，把你的愿望和建议告诉我们吧。”

“我的父亲啊，我的愿望和建议是，”拉巴达什说，“你立刻召集你那战无不胜的军队，入侵纳尼亚这万分该死的土地，用火和剑扫荡这个国家，把它吞并到你无限的帝国里来，杀掉它的至尊王以及他的王族，只放过女王苏珊一人。因为我一定要娶她做我的妻子，尽管她得先领教一下辛辣的教训。”

“我的儿子啊，明白了，”蒂斯罗克说道，“你说的话怂恿不了我公开同纳尼亚作战。”

“万寿无疆的蒂斯罗克啊，如果你不是我的父亲，”王子咬牙切齿地说道，“我就会说这是懦夫的言语。”

“最容易激动的拉巴达什啊，如果你不是我的儿子，”他的父亲答道，“当你说这话时，你就会短寿促命，而你的死亡将会是缓慢的。”（他说这些话时所用的冷冰冰的平静声调使阿拉维斯毛骨悚然。）

“我的父亲啊，可是为什么，”王子说道，这回用的是尊敬得多的声调了，“为什么关于惩罚纳尼亚王国的事，我们要再三考虑呢？这件事跟绞死一个游手好闲的奴隶或是把筋疲力尽的老马送去充作狗食一样不必多加思考。这个国家还赶不上你最小的省四分之一的面积。上千枝长矛，不出五个星期，就能把它征服了。这是你帝国边境上的一个不相宜的污点。”

“毫无疑问之至，”蒂斯罗克说道，“这些个小小的外邦国家自称是自由的（这等于说，游手好闲，目无秩序，无利无益），嫌恶神灵和一切明眼人。”

“那么我们为什么容忍像纳尼亚这样一个国家继续存在下去，长期不去征服它呢？”

“开明的王子啊，要知道，”首相说，“在你高贵的父亲开始他有效而永恒的统治那一年之前，纳尼亚的国土上到处都是冰雪，而且是由一个最强有力的女巫统治着的。”

“饶舌的首相啊，这个我知道得很清楚了，”王子答道，“可我也知道女巫死了，冰雪消失了，所以纳尼亚王国现在清新健康，水果遍地，美味可口。”

“最有学问的王子啊，这个变化，无疑是那些坏人强有力的魔法造成的，他们还自称为纳尼亚的国王和女王哩。”

“我倒是有这样的看法，”拉巴达什说道，“这种变化是由于星宿的改变和自然界的作用造成的。”

“这一切，”蒂斯罗克说道，“是个由有学问的人们来争论的问题。我永远不会相信，这样大的变化，杀死老女巫等等，没有强大魔法的帮助，就会马到成功。这样的魔术妖法，在那个国土上是可以指望得到的，那儿主要住着魔鬼（外形是野兽，却像人一样说话），还有半人半兽的妖怪。通常的报告都说，纳尼亚的至尊王（愿众神都抛弃他）是由一个恶魔给他撑腰的。那恶魔外貌丑陋，其罪恶行径不可抗拒，出现时化身为一头狮子。因此，攻打纳尼亚是一种凶险而可疑的冒险举动，我决心不要弄到手伸了出去却缩不回来的地步。”

“卡乐门王国真是有福气，”首相重新抬起头来，说道，“神灵乐于将谨慎小心和周密思虑赋予它的国王！然而，正如无可辩驳、足智多谋的蒂斯罗克已经说过的，被迫对纳尼亚这样的美餐迟迟不下手，倒是十分令人痛惜的。天才诗人说……”但讲到这儿时，阿霍什塔注意到了王子的脚趾不耐烦的动作，他就突然默不作声了。

“这是十分令人痛惜的，”蒂斯罗克用他那深沉而平静的声调说道，“每天早晨，太阳在我的眼睛里是发黑的，每天夜间，我的睡眠总是不大能使我醒来时神清气爽，因为我总是念念不忘纳尼亚王国仍旧是自由的。”

“我的父亲啊，”拉巴达什说道，“我给你想个办法怎么样？凭着这办法，你可以伸出手去攫取纳尼亚，万一不顺利，还可以不受伤害地把手缩回来。”

“啊，拉巴达什，如果能替我想出这个办法来，”蒂斯罗克说道，“你就是我最好的儿子了。”

“父亲啊，你听着。就在今天夜里，眼前这个时辰里，我要率领仅仅二百人马穿过沙漠。事情要做得大家都认为你压根儿不知道我的行动。第二天早晨，我就到了阿钦兰的安瓦德，国王伦恩的堡垒的大门口。他们是同我们和平共处的，也是毫无准备的，我在他们有所动作以前，就把安瓦德占领了。然后我要放马驰过安瓦德上边的关隘，长驱直入纳尼亚，到达凯尔帕拉维尔。至尊王不会在那儿；我离开他们时，他已经在准备袭击北方边界上的巨人。很可能我会看到凯尔帕拉维尔城门大开，我将纵马入城，我将谨慎从事，彬彬有礼，尽我所能叫纳尼亚人少流点儿血。剩下来的事只不过是坐待‘灿烂晶莹’号进港了，而女王苏珊就在船上，当她的脚一踏上陆地，我就立刻逮住我那走失的鸟儿，把她甩到马鞍上，然后我就纵马奔驰，奔驰，奔回安瓦德。”

“然而，我的儿子啊，很有可能，”蒂斯罗克说，“在抢走这女人时，不是国王爱德蒙，便是你，要丢掉性命，不是吗？”

“他们是个小小连队，”拉巴达什说道，“我会命令我手下的十个士兵解除他的武装，把他捆绑起来：我会克制暴烈的想叫他流血的欲望，这样，你和至尊王之间就不会有不共戴天的非战不可的因由了。”

“如果‘灿烂晶莹’号比你先到达凯尔帕拉维尔，那又怎么办呢？”

“父亲啊，按照风的情况，我看这船早到不了。”

“我的足智多谋的儿子啊，最后一个问题是，”蒂斯罗克说：“你已经讲清楚了，这一切行动将如何给你搞到那个女人，可如何帮助我战胜纳尼亚王国，你并没有讲清楚啊。”

“我的父亲啊，这可逃不过你的眼睛：尽管我和我的人马，像一支从弓上射出的箭，在纳尼亚境内飞速来去，然而我们将永远占领安瓦德。占领了安瓦德，你就是稳坐在纳尼亚的大门口了，你的守卫部队可以逐渐增加，形成巨大的优势。”

“说得很有眼光和见地。然而，如果这一切都失算和失败了，我怎样缩回我那伸出去的手臂呢？”

“你可以说是我擅自干的，你毫不知情，也违背了你的心愿，并没有得到你的批准，是强烈的爱情和年少气盛把我逼到这个地步的。”

“如果至尊王那时要求我们把那个外邦女人，他的嫡亲妹妹送回去，又怎么办呢？”

“我的父亲啊，管保他不会提这种要求的。虽然女人的幻想曾拒绝这桩婚姻，但至尊王彼得是个谨慎而又明白事理的人，他是无论如何不肯丧失同我们这种王室联姻的光荣和利益的，他还要看到他的外甥和外孙坐上卡乐门的王位哩。”

“如果我真的万寿无疆（正如你毫无疑问地愿望的那样），他就看不到这种局面了。”蒂斯罗克用一种甚至比平常还要干巴巴的语调说道。

“我的父亲，我眼中的喜悦，还有，”经过了片刻尴尬的沉默以后，王子说道，“我们要写信去：仿佛是女王说她爱我，不想回纳尼亚了。因为，大家都知道的，女人善变，像风信鸡随风变换方向一样。哪怕他们并不完全相信这些信件，他们也不敢武装来到塔什班城，夺她回去。”

“开明多智的首相啊，”蒂斯罗克说道，“对于这个新奇的建议，请发表高见指教吧。”

“蒂斯罗克万万岁，”阿霍什塔答道，“舐犊情深的力量，我不是不知道的，我时常听说，儿子在父亲的眼睛里看来，比红宝石还要珍贵。对于这件也许会危害这位意气风发的王子的生命的大事，我怎么敢放肆地向你陈述我的愚见呢？”

“毫无疑问你会敢于陈述的，”蒂斯罗克答道，“因为，你会发现：不这么干危险至少是同样巨大的。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”为难的首相呜呜咽咽地说道，“最最通情达理的蒂斯罗克啊，那么，第一，须知王子的危险并不像看起来那么大。因为神灵没有赐给外邦人谨慎小心之光，他们的诗歌不像我们的诗歌那样充满精美的箴言和有用的格言，却全是讴歌爱情和战争的。因此，在他们看来，啥也不及像这样疯狂的冒险更加崇高更加令人钦佩的了——唷！”因为王子听到疯狂两字时又踢他了。

“我的儿子啊，别踢，”蒂斯罗克说，“而你，值得尊重的首相，不论他踢不踢你，无论如何也不要中断你滔滔不绝的议论。因为，对于庄严而彬彬有礼的人，以坚定不变的态度忍受小小的不方便，是再合适也没有的了。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”首相说道；他扭动着，把自己的身体缩得圆一点儿，使屁股离拉巴达什的脚趾远一点儿。“像这样的冒险行动，特别是为了对一个女人的爱情而采取这样的行动，在他们的眼睛里看来，如果不是值得尊敬的，也似乎是可以原谅的。所以，如果王子不幸落到他们手里，管保他们不会杀死他的。不，说不定甚至会出现这种情况：尽管他想抢走女王是失败了，然而看到了他伟大的英勇气概和登峰造极的热情，女王可能倾心于他。”

“这倒是个好观点，你这唠唠叨叨的老头儿，”拉巴达什说道，“十分高明的观点毕竟进入了你那丑陋的头脑。”

“明主的称赞就是眼睛里的光明，”阿霍什塔说道，“蒂斯罗克啊，你的统治是没有止境的，其次，得到众神的帮助，安瓦德落到王子手中是十分可能的。果然如此的话，我们就扼住了纳尼亚的咽喉。”

讨论出现了长时间的停顿，房间里变得那么寂静，以致两个姑娘都不敢呼吸了。最后蒂斯罗克终于说话了。

“去吧，我的儿子，”他说道，“按照你所说的计划去干吧。然而，别指望我给你支援和鼓励。如果你被杀害了，我不会替你报仇雪恨，如果外邦人把你关进监狱，我也不会营救你。而且，不论成败，如果你超过必要性而多流了一滴纳尼亚人的血，因此引起两国公开的战争，我的宠爱将永远不再落到你的身上，你的大弟弟将取代你在卡乐门的地位。现在你去吧。要干得迅速、秘密、顺利。愿坚定不屈、不可抗拒的塔什神的力量，附在你的刀剑和长矛上。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”拉巴达什大声说道，他跪下来吻一会儿他父亲的双手，之后便冲出房间去了。阿拉维斯现在是被可怕地束缚住了，使她大为失望的是，蒂斯罗克和大臣竟留下不走。

“大臣啊，”蒂斯罗克问道，“今夜我们三个人在这里举行的会议，你可以肯定没有一个活人知道吗？”

“我的圣上啊，”阿霍什塔答道，“不可能有什么人会知道的。出于这个理由，我建议，并且由一贯正确的圣上批准，我们应在老王宫这个房间里开会，以前这儿从未开过会，家庭里也没有任何人有什么机会来过这儿。”

“这就妥了，”蒂斯罗克说，“如果有什么人知道了，务必叫他在一个钟头之内死去。谨慎的大臣啊，你也得把它忘掉。我从我的心里，也从你的心里，把我们所知道的王子的计划，统统消灭干净了。他去了，可我不知道，也没有得到我的同意，我也不知道他到哪儿去了，这都是由于他年少气盛，狂暴，鲁莽，不听话。至于听说安瓦德落到了他手里，没有人将比你和我更感到惊讶。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”阿霍什塔说道。

“那就是为什么你（即使在你最秘密的内心）也永远不会想到我是父亲中心肠最硬的，竟派我的长子去完成一个几乎等于叫他去送死的使命，我这么做必定使你感到高兴，你可并不爱王子啊。因为我看到了你的内心深处。”

“毫无瑕疵的蒂斯罗克啊，”大臣说道，“同圣上相比，我既不爱王子，也不爱我自己的生命，也不爱面包、水和阳光。”

“你的情操，”蒂斯罗克说道，“是高尚而正确的。同王位的光荣和威力相比，这些个东西我也一点儿不爱。如果王子成功了，我们就占领了阿钦兰，也许以后还要占领纳尼亚。如果他失败了，我还有十八个儿子；而拉巴达什呢，为人处世依照国王长子的老作风，正在开始变得危险起来了。塔什班城里有五个以上的蒂斯罗克，都已早死，未能享受他们的天年，因为他们的长子，开明的王子，都变得对王位迫不及待了。他在国外使自己的血液冷静下来，较之在国内无所事事而弄得血液沸腾要好得多。啊，杰出的首相，作为父亲，过分的焦虑使我累得想睡觉了。请嘱咐乐师们到我的寝宫里来吧。但躺下之前，要把我们写给第三个厨子的赦罪书追回来。我感觉到我肚子里有明显的消化不良症候。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”首相说道。他双手双足着地，倒退着爬行到房门口，这才站起身来，鞠躬如也，退出去了。即使在这个时候，蒂斯罗克也仍旧默默地坐在长沙发上，一直坐到阿拉维斯开始担心他说不定已经沉沉入睡。但最后，随着一阵吱吱嘎嘎的声音和一声叹息，他抬起他庞大的躯体，做手势叫奴隶掌着烛火走在他前面。然后他就走出去了。房门在他背后砰地关上，房间里再一次漆黑一团，两个姑娘倒能够重新自由呼吸了。

9

穿过大沙漠

“多么可怕啊！真是可怕之至啊！”拉斯阿拉莉恩呜呜咽咽地说道，“啊，宝贝儿，我真吓坏了。我浑身都在发抖。你摸摸我。”

“走吧，”阿拉维斯说，她自己也在发抖，“他们回到新王宫去了。我们出了这个房间就安全了。但已经浪费了不少时间。你要尽你所能，赶快把我带到山下的水门去。”

“宝贝儿，你怎么能这样逼我呢？”拉斯阿拉莉恩尖声叫道，“我啥也干不了——现在不行。我那可怜的神经！不！我们必须静静地躺一会儿，然后回去。”

“为什么回去？”阿拉维斯问道。

“啊，你不了解。你那么缺少同情心。”拉斯阿拉莉恩说，而且开始哭起来了。阿拉维斯心中打定主意：这可不是怜悯同情的时刻和场合。

“你听着！”她抓住拉斯阿拉莉恩，猛烈摇动她的身体，说道：“如果你再说一句要回去，如果你不立刻开始领我到水门去——你可知道我要干什么？我要跑到通道里去大叫大喊。这一叫，我们两个就都要给逮住了。”

“那我们两个就都要被杀死了啊！”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“你可听见蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）说的话吗？”

“听见，与其嫁给阿霍什塔，我宁可早点被杀死。”

“啊，你是冷酷无情的，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说，“我竟落到了这种处境！”

但最后她还是不得不向阿拉维斯屈服了。她带路走下她们刚才下去过的石级，沿着另一条通道走去，终于走到了空旷的地方。现在她们是在御花园里了，花园的一层层台地迤逦而下，直达城墙。月亮明朗地照耀着。冒险行动中的一大缺憾是：当你来到最美丽的地方时，你往往太焦急、太匆忙，无法欣赏当前美景；所以，阿拉维斯只有一个模模糊糊的印象（虽然几年后还记得很牢）：银灰色的草地，安静的汩汩流动的泉水，以及柏树的长长的黑色阴影。

当她们到达山麓，墙垣颦眉蹙额地耸立在她们面前时，拉斯阿拉莉恩浑身发抖，无力打开水门上的门闩。阿拉维斯把门打开。最后终于看到了河流，河上到处反照着月光，还有一个小小的码头，几艘游艇。

“再会了，”阿拉维斯说道，“谢谢你了。我很抱歉，如果我曾经固执得像猪一样。可是，请想想我是在逃亡啊！”

“啊，阿拉维斯，宝贝儿，”拉斯阿拉莉恩说道，“你可否改变主意呢？现在你已经亲眼目睹阿霍什塔是个多么伟大的人物了！”

“好一个伟大人物！”阿拉维斯说道，“他是个骇人听闻的卑躬屈节的奴隶，人家踢他屁股时他还拍马阿谀，还把这件事珍藏在心里，怂恿可怕的蒂斯罗克设计置儿子于死地，希望借此给自己报仇雪恨。”

“啊，阿拉维斯，阿拉维斯！你怎么能说出如此可怕的话来，而且还牵涉到蒂斯罗克（愿他万寿无疆！）哩。如果他去干这件事，那就必定是正确的。”

“再会了，”阿拉维斯说，“我认为你的衣裳很美丽可爱，我认为你的住宅也很美丽可爱，我深信你将过一种美丽可爱的生活——尽管这种生活跟我不合适。轻轻地关上我背后的门吧。”

她从朋友的多情拥抱中挣脱出来，踏上一条方头平底船，用篙子把船撑离河岸，一会儿船就到了河中间。头上是一轮巨大的真正的明月，河底深处是一个巨大明月的倒影。空气新鲜而凉爽，船靠近对岸时，她听到了一只猫头鹰的叫声。“啊！好极了。”她一直生活在乡村里，因此憎恨她住在塔什班城里的每一分钟。

她登上对岸时，由于地势上升，树木遮住了月光，她觉得自己置身于黑暗之中了。但她设法找到了沙斯塔发现的那条路，就像他一样走到了萋萋芳草的尽头和沙漠的开端，（像他一样）向左望去，瞧见了巨大的黑魆魆的坟场。尽管她是个勇敢的姑娘，现在她的心里终于害怕起来了。说不定其他人马不在那儿！说不定食尸鬼倒在那儿！她冒险伸出下巴颏儿（舌头也伸出了一点儿），笔直地向坟场走去。

但她还没有走到坟场就看到了布里、赫温和那个侍从。

“现在你可以回到你的女主人那儿去了，”阿拉维斯说道（完全忘了在第二天清晨打开城门之前那侍从是无法回去的），“这儿是给你的酬劳。”

“听到命令，就遵命照办。”侍从说道，立刻以相当快的速度向塔什班城跑去。无需告诉他赶紧回去，他也已经对食尸鬼想得很多了。

接下来的几秒钟，阿拉维斯便忙于吻赫温和布里的鼻子，拍拍它们的脖子，倒像它们是普普通通的马儿似的。

“沙斯塔来了！感谢狮王！”布里说道。

阿拉维斯向周围打量，一点不错，沙斯塔看见侍从走了，便立刻从他躲藏的地方走了出来。

“注意啦，”阿拉维斯说道，“片刻时间也不能丧失。”她匆匆忙忙地讲了拉巴达什的出征阴谋。

“奸诈的狗东西，”布里挥动鬃毛，蹬着四蹄，说道，“在和平的时候进攻，连个挑战书也不送！不过我们会替他把燕麦拌上油的。我们会赶在他前面到达那儿的。”

“我们能吗？”阿拉维斯跳上赫温的马鞍子，问道。沙斯塔但愿他也能这样跳上马去。

“布罗赫——霍赫！”布里喷着鼻息，“你上来呀，沙斯塔。我们能！而且还有一个良好的开端！”

“他说他立刻就出发。”阿拉维斯说道。

“人们就是这样夸口的，”布里说道，“然而，你要叫两百个人马的连队统统喝足水、吃饱饭、配备武器、上好鞍子，在一分钟内一齐出发，那可是办不到的。喂，我朝哪个方向走？正北吗？”

“不，”沙斯塔说，“我知道方向。我已经划了条沟。我以后讲给你听。你们两位都要稍微靠我们左边一点儿。啊，这就对了。”

“听我说，”布里说道，“像故事里那样飞驰一天一夜，事实上是无法办到的。必须是行走和小跑互相配合调剂：轻快的小跑，短时间的行走。我们行走时，你们两个也可以下来散散步。喂，你们准备好了吗，赫温？我们走吧。奔向纳尼亚，奔向北方！”

开头是愉快的。黑夜已经持续了好几个小时，沙漠已经把它在白天吸收进去的太阳的热量差不多散发掉了，空气是凉快、新鲜和纯净的。四面八方极目可见的沙漠，在月光之下闪闪发亮，仿佛是一泓光滑平静的水，或是一只巨大银盆。除了布里和赫温的蹄声外，一点儿别的声音也听不见。沙斯塔几乎要沉沉入睡了，若不是他不得不时而爬下马来散步的话。

这种情况似乎持续了几个钟头。接下来一段时间，不再见到明月。他们仿佛是在死一般的黑暗中一个钟头又一个钟头地奔驰着。这之后，有一会儿，沙斯塔注意到他能看见前面布里的脖子和脑袋，比先前看得清楚一点儿；于是，慢慢地，十分缓慢地，他开始看到前后左右辽阔而平坦的灰茫茫的大漠。看上去绝对没有生命，像是阴间地府的什么东西似的；而沙斯塔感到疲倦得可怕，注意到自己在发冷，嘴唇是干燥的。自始至终，但听得皮带吱嘎作响，马嚼子丁丁当当，马蹄声不断——不是踩在坚硬道路上的嘚嘚声，而是踏在干燥沙子上的沙沙声。

骑马走了几个钟头以后，终于在他右边的远方出现了一道淡灰色，低低地镶在天边上。随后是一道红色。终于是早晨了，但没有一只鸟来歌唱早晨。现在他倒高兴散散步了，因为他比先前更觉得冷。

然后太阳突然升起来了，片刻之间一切都变了。灰色的沙漠变成黄色，闪闪烁烁，仿佛里边撒满了钻石。沙斯塔、赫温、布里、阿拉维斯的影子又长又大，在他们的左边竞逐。皮尔峰的双峰在前边儿的远方，在阳光中熠熠生辉。沙斯塔看出他们走得稍微有点儿偏。“靠左边一点儿，靠左边一点儿。”他叫道。最妙的是，当你回头望时，塔什班城已经又小又遥远了。坟场完全看不见了，被吞没在边缘参差不齐的驼峰里了，那驼峰就是蒂斯罗克的城市。大家都觉得比刚才好多了。

然而好景不长。他们第一次回头望塔什班城时，虽然看上去已经距离很远了，可他们继续前进时，这城却不见得更远些。沙斯塔不再回头望，因为遥望之际，给了他压根儿滞留原地未动的感觉。于是光芒也变成了讨厌的东西。沙漠炫目的反光使他眼睛发痛，但他知道不能闭上眼睛。他必须使劲儿眯起眼睛，不断地瞅着前边的皮尔峰，大声喊出前进的方向来。随之而来的是炙热。他不得不下马散步时，第一次感觉到了炙热；他从马身上滑到沙地上，沙地上腾起的热气往他的脸上直冲过来，就像从炉灶门口冲出来的。第二次下马时更糟。第三次，他的光脚丫子刚碰到沙子就痛得叫喊起来，说时迟那时快，他一只脚缩回马镫上，另一只脚半已跨到了布里的脊背上。

“对不起，布里，”他气喘吁吁地说道，“我没法儿走路。沙子烫脚。”

“当然啰！”布里喘息着说道，“我自己应该想到这一层的。待在背上吧，没有法子。”

“你倒还行，”沙斯塔对正在赫温身旁步行的阿拉维斯说道，“你穿着鞋啊。”

阿拉维斯啥也不说，一本正经地绷着脸。让我们希望她不是故意的吧，但她确实有意如此。

重新赶路：小跑、行走、小跑，丁当、丁当、丁当，吱嘎、吱嘎、吱嘎，马儿热得出汗的气味，炎热本身的气味，炫目的反光，头痛脑涨。一英里又一英里的老样子，压根儿没有什么不同。塔什班城看上去永远不会离得更远。大山大岭看上去永远不会变得更近。你觉得始终在周而复始——丁当、丁当、丁当，吱嘎、吱嘎、吱嘎，马儿热得出汗的气味，炎热本身的气味。

当然，人们会竭力用各种各样的游戏来消磨时间：当然，各种游戏都毫无用处。他们竭力不去想到饮料——在塔什班城一个王宫里喝的冰凉果汁，来自黑沉沉大地的淙淙清泉，乳酪丰富而不油不腻、冰凉柔和的牛奶——愈是竭力不要去想它，却愈是想得厉害啊。

最后终于出现了个有点儿不同的东西——沙土里隆起一大块石头，高三十英尺，长五十码光景。大石头并不投下多少阴影，因为此刻太阳升得高高的，只形成一点儿遮阴的地方。他们挤到遮阴之处，在那儿吃些食物，喝了一点儿水。盛在皮囊里的水是很难给马喝的，但布里和赫温都巧妙地运用了它们的嘴唇。谁也没有吃够喝够。谁也不说话。马儿浑身都是斑斑点点的汗渍，呼吸的声音很大。孩子们脸色苍白。

休息短短一会儿后又重新赶路了。同样的声音，同样的气味，同样的炫目的反光；终于，影子开始落在他们的右边，愈来愈长，仿佛要伸展到世界的尽头。太阳十分缓慢地挨近西边的地平线，现在太阳终于落山了，感谢老天爷，残酷的反射光芒消失了，尽管从沙漠里升腾起来的热气仍旧咄咄逼人。四对眼睛都在迫切地张望着山谷的踪影，萨罗帕德和渡鸦都提到过山谷的。然而，一英里一英里地走过去了，依旧只见一片平沙。如今白昼肯定是完全结束了，大部分的星星也都出来了，马儿仍旧嘚嘚前行，孩子们在马鞍上起伏不定，又渴又累，苦极了。月亮还没有升上来，沙斯塔用嘴里干到极点的人那种奇怪的粗糙声音喊道：

“前面就到了！”

现在可错不了啦。前边儿，稍稍偏右，终于出现了一个斜坡：一个迤逦而下的斜坡，两边都是石块垒成的小丘。马儿累得话也说不出来，只是摇摇晃晃地向前跑去，一两分钟后他们就进了隘谷。一开头，在隘谷里要比在空旷的沙漠上更不舒服，因为夹在石墙之间，闷热得气也透不过来，而且月光也少了。斜坡峻急地往下延伸，两边的岩石高耸成峭壁。接着，他们开始遇见植物了——仙人掌似的多刺植物，以及会扎痛手指的粗糙野草。不久，马蹄不复踏在沙上了，而是踏在卵石上了。他们在山谷的每一个转弯处——拐弯可多哩——迫不及待地寻找着水。马儿几乎到了筋疲力尽的地步，赫温脚步蹒跚、气喘吁吁，落在布里的后面。终于在他们几乎绝望时遇到了一点儿泥浆，和一条从茂盛柔软的青草之间渗过来的涓滴细流。细流变成了小溪，小溪变成了两岸灌木丛生的小河，小河又变成了大河。在经历了我无法形容的许多失望之后，竟出现了喜出望外的时刻：一直处于瞌睡状态的沙斯塔，突然发觉布里停步不走了，他自己也滑下马来了。他们面前有一道小瀑布泻入一个宽阔的水池：两匹马儿已经在水池里了，它们低着脑袋，喝啊，喝啊，喝啊。

“噢——噢——喔。”沙斯塔说，向池塘里跳了进去——池水漫到他的膝头上——他干脆把脑袋伸到小瀑布里去。也许这是他生平最轻松愉快的时刻了。

大约十分钟以后，他们四个（两个孩子几乎浑身上下都湿透了）才从池塘里出来，看看周围的环境。月亮现在升得高高的，足以照进山谷里来。大河的两边都长着柔嫩的青草，青草外，大树和灌木往上绵延到悬崖绝壁的底部。在那阴暗的灌木丛里必定隐藏着一些奇花香草，因为林中空地里弥漫着最清凉最芳香的气息。从树木间最幽暗的隐秘之地传来了一个声音——沙斯塔以前从未听见过的——夜莺的歌声。

大家都太疲倦了，懒得说话，也懒得吃东西。马儿不待解下鞍子便立刻躺下了。阿拉维斯和沙斯塔也躺下了。

大约十分钟后，谨慎小心的赫温说道：“可是我们必须不要睡觉才好。我们要赶在拉巴达什的前面。”

“是啊，”布里慢吞吞地说道，“必须不睡。光是休息一会儿。”

沙斯塔明白（片刻之间）：如果他不站起来，做点什么的话，他们大家都会沉沉入睡的；他觉得他应该做点什么。事实上，他下定决心：自己要站起来，还要劝他们大家继续赶路。但不一会儿他又改变主意了；等一下，只不过稍微等一下……

不久，月亮便照到两匹马儿和两个孩子身上，夜莺的歌声也传到了两匹马儿和两个孩子的耳边，可他们大家都睡熟了。

首先醒来的是阿拉维斯。太阳已经升得高高的，清晨凉快的时光已经浪费掉了。“这是我的过错。”她愤愤地对自己说道，一面跳起身来，开始叫醒别人。“马儿像这样跑了一天的路，不该指望它们不睡觉的，即使它们是能说人话的马儿。当然也不该指望这男孩子不睡，他没有教养。但我应该更加懂事明理啊。”

其他人马都酣睡得迷迷糊糊，都睡傻了。

“嗨——嗬！——布罗——呵！”布里说，“不解鞍子就睡熟了，嗯？我再也不这么干了。最最不舒服的是……”

“走吧，走吧，”阿拉维斯说道，“我们已经损失了半个早晨。再也没有多余的时间了。”

“总得吃一口青草吧。”布里说。

“恐怕我们不能等待了。”阿拉维斯说。

“干吗这么可怕地急急忙忙呢？”布里说，“我们穿过了沙漠，不是吗？”

“可我们还没有进入阿钦兰，”阿拉维斯说，“我们得在拉巴达什之前赶到那儿。”

“噢，我们一定在他前面好几英里了，”布里说，“我们不是走了一条比较近的路吗？沙斯塔，你那渡鸦朋友不是说过这是条捷径吗？”

“它并没说比较近，”沙斯塔答道，“它只是说比较好，因为在这条路上你碰得到一条河流。如果绿洲是在塔什班城的正北方，那么我想那条路就可能要长些。”

“我不吃一顿，没法儿赶路，”布里说，“沙斯塔，替我解下鞍子。”

“对不起，”赫温十分腼腆地说道，“我的感觉跟布里一样，没法儿赶路了。但有人骑在马背上（还配上了马刺之类的东西），马儿不是在感到饥饿时也往往被驱策着赶路吗？那时，马儿发觉它们能赶路。我的意思是说——现在我们既然自由了，那就应该能赶更多的路。这全是为了纳尼亚啊。”

“我想，女士，”布里以压倒对方的口气说道，“关于战争、急行军、马儿的承受力等等，我懂得要比你多一点儿。”

赫温对此未作答复，像出身高贵的马儿一样，秉性胆怯温和，是容易被吃瘪的。事实上，它的意见是十分正确的，如果此时此刻有个泰坎骑在布里的背上，布里是能拼命跑上好几个钟头的。但做着奴隶而又被迫干活的最坏结果是：没有人强迫你干活时，你发觉自己几乎已经丧失了强迫自己干活的力量。

所以，他们不得不等待布里吃东西喝水；当然，赫温和孩子们也跟着吃一点喝一点。他们最后重新赶路时，必定是上午靠近十一点钟光景了。而且即使到了这个时辰，布里干起活来也比昨天更加斯文了。虽然赫温是两匹马儿中比较弱小和更加疲乏的，真正领先的倒是赫温。

山谷本身以及山谷里棕色的清凉河流，青草、苍苔、野花和杜鹃花，是那么赏心悦目，使你很想放慢驰骋的步子。

10

南征隐士

他们在山谷里骑马驰骋了几个钟头之后，山谷豁然开阔，他们看得见前边的景物了。他们沿着它一路走过来的那条河流，在这儿跟一条更宽阔的汹涌大河相汇合，大河从他们的左边流向右边，往东奔腾而去。这新的大河后面，绵亘着一个美丽宜人的国度，山丘逐渐增高，山脊外还有山脊，一直连接到北方群山。右边有几个塔状尖岩，其中两三个的突出部分还积着雪。左边是松树密布的山坡，颦眉蹙额的峭壁，狭窄的山谷，蔚蓝的山峰，一直伸展到极目可见之处。他们再也认不出皮尔峰了。在笔直的正前方，山脉凹了下去，形成一个林木森然的马鞍，这地方必定是由阿钦兰进入纳尼亚的关隘。

“布罗——嗬嗬，北方，绿色的北方。”布里嘶鸣道。阿拉维斯和沙斯塔的眼睛都是在南方培养起来的，所以低矮小山显得比他们生平所想像的任何东西都更加苍翠、更加鲜嫩了。当他们哗啦哗啦走到两条河的交汇处时，他们来劲了。

向东流去的大河是从西端的高山上倾泻而下的，奔腾得太快，被湍滩打断之处太多，他们不敢游过去，在岸上来来回回几番焦急地寻找，终于找到一个浅浅的可以涉水而过的地方。哗啦哗啦的水声，冲在马蹄茸毛上的旋涡，清凉、动荡的空气，飞来飞去的蜻蜓，都使沙斯塔心里充满了新奇的激动之情。

“朋友们，咱们进入阿钦兰了！”布里溅泼着水、摇摇晃晃爬上北岸时，自豪地说道，“我想我们刚才渡过的河流叫做旋箭河。”

“我希望我们及时赶到了。”赫温喃喃说道。

于是他们开始攀登而上，走得很慢，曲曲折折，因为小山很陡。这是空旷的、公园似的乡野，看不见道路和房子。疏疏朗朗的树木到处都是，可总是没有密集到蔚然成林的。沙斯塔一向住在一个几乎没有树木的草原上，从未看见过这么多的树，这么多各种各样的树；如果你也在那儿，你就可能知道（他可不知道），他正瞧见橡树、山毛榉、白桦、花楸、栗子树哩。他们前进时，野兔向四面八方乱窜，不久他们又看见一大群黄棕色黇鹿从林木之间逃逸而去。

“这真是美丽极了！”阿拉维斯说。

走到第一个山脊上，沙斯塔在马鞍上转过身来回头望去：塔什班城已经无影无踪了；茫茫大沙漠一直绵延到天边上，惟一隔断沙漠的，就是刚才他们走过来的那狭狭的一道苍翠裂痕而已。

“喂！”他突然说道，“那是什么呀？”

“什么？”布里说道，它转过身来瞧瞧。赫温和阿拉维斯同样转过身来。

“那个，”沙斯塔用手指点着，说道，“它看上去像一团烟。是一场大火吗？”

“据我看来，是沙暴。”布里说。

“风不大，扬不起沙暴。”阿拉维斯说。

“啊！”赫温叫道，“瞧！其中有东西在闪闪发光。瞧！是钢盔——盔甲。而且它在运动：向这边运动。”

“塔什神啊！”阿拉维斯说道，“这是军队。这是拉巴 达什。”

“当然是拉巴达什的军队，”赫温说，“这正是我所担心的事。快！我们必须比军队先赶到安瓦德。”赫温二话不说，转过身来，开始向北驰骋。布里晃晃脑袋，同样向北奔驰而去。

“赶上来吧，布里，赶上来吧。”阿拉维斯回头叫唤道。

对马儿来说，这是一场极度紧张的竞赛。它们到每个山脊的顶上时，总是发现前面还有山谷或山脊；虽然它们知道自己走的是大致正确的方向，却不知道离安瓦德还有多远。沙斯塔在第二个山脊上回头望去，现在看到的不是从大沙漠里冒起来的一股尘烟，而是一团黑魆魆的东西，倒有点儿像蚂蚁，正在叫做“盘旋的箭”的河岸上蠕动。毫无疑问，他们是在寻找可以涉水而过的地方。

“他们到河边上了！”他疯狂地叫喊道。

“快！快！”阿拉维斯大声喊道，“如果我们不是及时赶到安瓦德，我们就等于压根儿没有来。快跑，布里，快跑。记住了，你是战马啊。”

沙斯塔能做的，只有克制自己，不要叫出类似的指示；他心里想：“这可怜的家伙已经把它所有的力气都使出来了。”但他没有说出口来。而这两匹马儿，如果不是竭尽全力，也都自以为竭尽全力了——这两者可不是一回事。布里已经追上赫温，它们并驾齐驱地隆隆驰过草根土。看来赫温不可能这样坚持多久了。

就在这关键时刻，大家的感觉都被背后的吼声完全改变了。这不是他们意料中的声音——马蹄嘚嘚声和盔甲丁当声，或者还夹杂着卡乐门人挑战的呐喊声。然而沙斯塔立刻听出来这是什么声音了。他们在月明之夜第一次遇见阿拉维斯和赫温时，听到的是同样的咆哮声。布里也立刻明白了。它的眼睛发亮，它的两个耳往后平贴在脑袋上。布里这时才发现，它并未确确实实地尽最大的力量快跑——跑得并不太快。现在可真的使足劲儿飞跑了。不出几秒钟，它就超过赫温好多了。

“真是不顺利，”沙斯塔心中想道，“我还认为这儿比较安全、远离狮子哩！”

他转过头去瞧瞧。一切看得分明极了。一头黄褐色的大型动物，躯体低垂及地，正尾随在他们的后面，仿佛一只陌生的狗闯进花园时，一只猫飞跑过草地要蹿到树上去的模样。眨眼之间，那动物愈逼愈近了。

他向前看看，瞧到了他没注意甚至没想到的事情。他们前进的道路被一道十英尺高的平整的绿色墙垣挡住了。墙垣的中间有个大门，洞开着。门里站着一个身材高大的人，赤脚穿一件秋叶色长袍，身子斜靠在一根笔直的手杖上。他的胡须很长，几乎下垂到膝头。

沙斯塔一眼便看到了这一切，他重新回过头去望。狮子现在几乎要抓住赫温了。狮子正在向赫温的后腿扑呀扑的，此刻赫温汗迹斑斑、两眼圆睁的脸上已经露出绝望的神色。

“停步，”沙斯塔在布里的耳朵边大声叫嚷，“必须回去。必须救命去！”

布里事后老是说它从来没有听到这话，或是从来没有听懂这话；一般说来，它是匹十分忠实的马儿，我们必须相信它的话。

沙斯塔从马镫里抽出两只脚，犹豫了可怕的百分之一秒钟，便从左边跳下马来。他受了重伤，几乎闪了腰，但他还没弄明白受了什么伤，便蹒跚着走回去拯救阿拉维斯了。他生平从未做过类似的事，现在也不知道他为什么要这样做。

世界上最最可怕的声音，一匹马儿的哀鸣，从赫温的嘴里迸发出来了。阿拉维斯正俯下身来伏在赫温的脖子上，似乎企图拔出刀来。如今她们三个——阿拉维斯、赫温和狮子，几乎就在沙斯塔的头顶之上。她们尚未靠近他，那狮子便用后腿站了起来（它躯体之巨大，你简直没法儿相信），伸出前腿的右爪，猛扑阿拉维斯。沙斯塔看得见那伸开来的所有爪子。阿拉维斯尖声叫喊，在马鞍上摇摇晃晃。狮子在扯她的肩膀。沙斯塔惊惶得半疯半癫，设法向那野兽扑过去。他没有武器，连一根木棒或一块石头也没有。他傻瓜似的向狮子大喊，仿佛人们冲狗儿叫喊一样。“回家去！回家去！”在一秒钟不到的时间里，他瞪眼望着那张得大大的、凶猛的狮子嘴巴。接着，却使他诧异之至，那仍旧用后腿站着的狮子，突然克制自己，变得俯首贴地了，它随即抬起身子，迅速跑掉了。

沙斯塔一时间还认为狮子不是真的跑掉了。他转过身来，向那绿色墙垣跑去，现在他是第一次记起他见过那墙垣。赫温，脚步蹒跚，快要昏过去了，刚进入大门；阿拉维斯仍旧坐在马鞍子上，但她的背上全是血。

“进来吧，我的女儿，进来吧。”穿袍子的长须老人说道。当沙斯塔上气不接下气地向他跑去时，他又说：“进来吧，我的儿子。”沙斯塔听见他背后大门关上了，长须陌生人已经在帮助阿拉维斯下马。

他们是在一个宽大的圆形围场里，四周有一道草皮叠成的绿色高墙保护。他们的面前是一泓十分平静的池水，水面几乎同地面齐平。池水的另一头，生长着沙斯塔从未见过的、最大最美丽的树木，枝繁叶茂，遮蔽着池水。池塘后面是一间低矮的小石头房子，茅草屋顶又厚又陈旧。还传来咩咩的羊鸣声，有些山羊在围场远远的一边。平坦的地面上铺满了鲜美的青草。

“你——是——”沙斯塔气喘吁吁地问道，“你是阿钦兰的伦恩国王吗？”

老人摇摇头。“不，”他答道，声音轻轻的，“我是南征隐士。听着，我的儿子，别浪费时间打听了，照我的话办吧。这位小姐受伤了。你们的马筋疲力尽了。拉巴达什此刻在旋箭河上已经找到了可以涉水而过的地点。如果你现在就飞跑而去，一刻也不休息，你将仍旧来得及向伦恩国王报警。”

沙斯塔听到这话心凉了半截，因为他觉得他的力气已经用尽了，一点也不剩了。他内心苦恼，觉得对他的要求似乎太冷酷、太不公平了。他还没有懂得：如果你做了一桩好事情，给你的报酬往往是叫你去干另一桩更艰难更高尚的事情。但沙斯塔只是大声问道：

“国王在哪儿？”

隐士转过身去，用他的手杖一指。“瞧，”他说，“还有一个门，正对着你们进来的这个大门。打开那个门，笔直往前走去。始终笔直往前走去，经过平坦的或是陡峭的地方，经过干燥或潮湿的地方。我凭我的法术推算得出：你笔直往前走去，就会找到伦恩国王。可是你要飞跑，飞跑，始终飞跑。”

沙斯塔点点头，向北边的那个门跑去，在门外消失了。隐士一直用左臂支撑着阿拉维斯，这时他就半搀半拉地把她送进了石屋。好久以后，他又从石屋里出来了。

“哦，伙计们，”他对马儿说道，“现在轮到你们了。”

也不等它们回答——事实上它们已疲乏得话都说不出来了——他就从它们身上卸下马勒和马鞍，用力按摩两匹马儿的全身，即使是国王御厩里的侍从也不会按摩得那么好。

“听着，伙计们，”他说，“把这一切都忘了吧，宽宽心吧。这儿是水，那儿是青草。等我给我其他的伙计们——山羊们——挤过奶，你们就有热饲料可吃了。”

“先生，”赫温说道，它终于缓过气来了，“泰克希娜生命不危险吧？狮子杀了她吗？”

“我凭我的法术知道许多当前的事情，”隐士微微一笑，答道，“对于未来的事情，我还无从知道。今夜太阳落山时整个世界上任何男子、妇女或牲口是否会活下去，我可不知道。但是，你要抱有希望。小姐可能寿很长，可以终其天年。”

阿拉维斯苏醒过来时，发觉她正俯卧在一张特别柔软的床上，房间内什么陈设也没有，石头墙也是未经雕琢的、粗糙的。她不明白为什么安排她俯卧；但当她要想翻身而感觉到整个背部灼热发烫、十分疼痛时，她记起来了，明白了非得俯卧不可的缘故。她不明白这床是用什么舒适而有弹性的材料做的，因为这床是用石南荒原草（最好的垫褥）做成的，而她从未见过或听说过这种草。

门打开了，隐士进来了，手里拿着一只大木碗。小心翼翼地把碗放下后，他来到床边，问道：

“我的女儿，你自己觉得怎样？”

“父亲，我的背上很痛，”阿拉维斯说道，“但没有其他的毛病。”

他跪在床边，把手按在她的额上，还给她号脉。

“没有发烧，”他说，“你就会痊愈的。事实上，明儿个你就该起床了。但是现在要喝这个。”

他拿起木碗，送到她的唇边。她喝下去时不由得做了个鬼脸，因为羊奶还没有喝惯时总是叫人害怕的。她很口渴，设法把那碗羊奶都喝下去了，喝完时，觉得好多了。

“听着，女儿，你想睡时不妨睡睡，”隐士说道，“因为你的伤口洗过了，敷了药，包裹好了，伤口虽然疼痛，可不比鞭打后的伤痕严重。这必定是一头十分奇怪的狮子，它并没有用牙齿咬到你的肉里，把你从马鞍子上叼下来，只是用爪子在你背上挠了一下。十道伤痕；痛，可是不深，不危险。”

“嗨！”阿拉维斯说，“我运气好！”

“女儿啊，”隐士说道，“我在这个世界上活了一百零九个春秋了，可从来不曾碰到过什么类似运气的东西。在这一切里，有些东西我不理解，但如果我们确实需要弄明白的话，你不妨深信不疑，我们一定会弄明白的。”

“拉巴达什和他的二百人马情况怎么样了呢？”阿拉维斯问道。

“他们不会走这条路，我想。”隐士说，“此刻他们必定已经找到一个可以涉水而过的地方，远在我们的东边儿。他们将试图从那儿直奔安瓦德。”

“可怜的沙斯塔！”阿拉维斯说道，“他得跑很远的路吧？他会先到达安瓦德吗？”

“大有希望。”老人说道。

阿拉维斯重新躺下（这回是侧卧了），她说：“我睡了好长时间吗？天色好像在暗下来了。”

隐士从那惟一的窗子——朝北的窗子——望出去。“这不是夜间的黑暗，”他立刻说道，“云霾是从暴风雨峰汹涌而下的，我们这些个地方的恶劣天气都是从那儿发端的。今夜将有浓重的大雾了。”

第二天，除了背上疼痛外，阿拉维斯觉得身体很好，所以，早餐（吃的是粥和奶油）以后，隐士说她可以起床了。当然啰，她立刻就去和两匹马儿说话。天气转晴，整个围场像只苍翠的巨大杯子，里面盛满了阳光。这是个十分安宁的地方，寂寞而又宁静。

赫温立刻小跑着过来，给了她一个马儿的接吻。

互相问候过健康和睡得好不好后，阿拉维斯说道：“可布里在哪儿呢？”

“在那一边。”赫温说，用它的鼻子指点着圆圈另一边，“我希望你来跟它说说话；它有点儿闹情绪，我没法从它嘴里挤出一言半语来。”

她们慢步走过去，发现布里面壁躺着，虽然它明明听见她们来了，却根本不回过头来或说句话儿。

“早晨好，布里，”阿拉维斯说，“今天早晨你身体可好？”

布里喃喃而语，可谁也听不清楚。

“隐士说，沙斯塔可能及时赶到了国王伦恩那儿，”阿拉维斯继续说道，“所以，看来咱们的一切困难都解决了。终于要到纳尼亚去了，布里！”

“我将永远见不到纳尼亚了。”布里用低沉的声音说道。

“你身体不好吗，我亲爱的布里？”阿拉维斯说。

布里终于转过身来，它一脸哀痛的神色，只有马儿才能这样。

“我要回卡乐门去。”它说。

“什么？”阿拉维斯说道，“回去做奴隶吗？”

“是的，”布里说，“我只配做奴隶。我有何面目去见纳尼亚的自由的马儿啊？我，丢下一匹母马，一个女孩，一个男孩，让他们去被狮子吃掉，自己却为了活命，使出浑身力气逃跑了！”

“我们大家都是拼命飞跑的啊。”赫温说。

“沙斯塔没有逃跑！”布里喷着鼻息，“至少他是按照正确的方向飞跑的：他跑回去了。这是最使我感到羞愧的了。我，自称是一匹战马，夸口身经百战，却被一个乳臭小儿比下去了——一个孩子，不过是一头驹子，生平从没有拿过剑，也没有受过任何良好的教育或见过任何典范！”

“我明白，”阿拉维斯说，“我有同样的感想。沙斯塔是了不得的。我同你一样的糟糕，布里。自从你们遇到我们以来，我一直怠慢他，瞧不起他，如今他可一变而为我们之中最出色的人了。但我认为：还是待下来表示歉意，要比回到卡乐门去好得多。”

“这办法对你是挺好的，”布里说，“你没有给自己丢脸。我却把什么都丢光了。”

“我的好马儿，”隐士说道，大家没有察觉他的悄悄到来，因为他的光脚板踏在清香的沾露青草上是没有什么声音的，“我的好马儿，你除了自命不凡，没有丢失什么东西。不，不，我的老伙计。别对我把耳朵向后贴去，也别抖动你的鬃毛。如果你确实像你一分钟以前所说的那样谦虚，那么你就应该听听理智的声音。你一直生活在可怜的哑巴马儿中间，便自以为是了不得的马儿；其实不然。当然，你比它们要勇敢、聪明些。你是不由自主地成了比它们高明的马儿的。但这种情况不能引伸为你将在纳尼亚成为什么特别出类拔萃的马儿。然而，只要你认识到你并不是出类拔萃的，那么，总的看来，你就基本上属于一种挺不错的马儿。现在，如果你和我的另一位四足老伙计愿意绕到厨房门口去，我们就将瞧瞧另外半份饲料了。”

11

不受欢迎的同路人

沙斯塔穿过门，但见面前一个青草萋萋的山坡，还有些石南往上蔓延到一些树木附近。如今他没有什么事情要考虑的，没有什么计划要制定的，他只要飞跑就是了；飞跑也够他受的。他的四肢战战兢兢，两肋开始剧痛，汗珠不断地滚进眼睛里，弄得两眼疼痛而又模糊不清。他的脚步也不稳了，不止一次，他的脚踝骨撞在零乱的石头上。

现在树木比刚才浓密了，更多的空地里长着欧洲蕨。太阳已经落山，可并没使这个地方凉快些，却使它变得炎热而暗淡，苍蝇也比平常多了一倍。沙斯塔的脸上爬满了苍蝇；他甚至并不设法驱逐它们——他要干的其他事情实在太多了。

突然，他听到了号角的声音——不是像塔什班城那种震撼人心的响亮的号角，而是一种欢乐的呼唤，蒂——罗——托托——霍！不久他就走进一片宽阔的林间空地，发觉自己置身一大群人中间了。

至少在他看来是一大群人。事实上，他们有十五个或二十个人光景，都是穿着绿色猎装的绅士，带着马儿，有的坐在马鞍子上，有的站在马儿脑袋边。在这群人的中央，有人拉着马镫以便另一个人跨上马去。那位人家侍候他上马的人，你可以想像得出，就是最最兴高采烈的、肥胖的、生着苹果脸和闪烁眼睛的国王。

沙斯塔一走进国王的视野之内，国王就把上马的事情完全忘了。他向沙斯塔伸出双臂，脸上容光焕发，用那仿佛来自胸腔深处的洪亮而深沉的声音叫了出来。

“科林！我的儿子！而且步行，衣衫褴褛！什么——”

“不，”沙斯塔摇晃着脑袋，气喘吁吁地说道，“不是科林王子。我——我——知道我长得跟他很像……我在塔什班看到过王子殿下……我带来王子的问候。”

国王目不转睛地瞧着沙斯塔，脸上露出异乎寻常的神情。

“你是国——国王伦恩吗？”沙斯塔喘息着说道，也不等对方回答，便继续说下去了，“国王陛下——快跑——安瓦德——关上城门——敌人扑过来了——拉巴达什和二百人马。”

“孩子，你这话靠得住吗？”另一位绅士问道。

“我亲眼目睹的，”沙斯塔说，“我看到了他们。我从塔什班城一路上和他们赛跑过来的。”

“徒步行走吗？”那绅士稍稍掀了一下眉毛，说道。

“骑马——马儿在隐士家里。”沙斯塔说。

“别再问了，达兰，”国王伦恩说，“我从他脸上看到了真情实况。绅士们，我们必须快马加鞭。给这孩子匹备用的马。朋友，你能骑马快跑吗？”

马牵过来了。作为回答，沙斯塔把脚踏在马镫上，很快就坐到马鞍上了。在最近几个星期里，他由布里引导着，已经跨上马背一百多次了，他第一夜爬上马背时布里说他简直像爬上一个干草堆，现在的情况可大不相同了。

他很高兴地听到达兰爵士对国王说道：“这孩子骑马的姿势有真正的骑士风度，陛下。我保证他身上有贵族血统。”

“他的血统，是呀，这就是关键。”国王说。他重新目不转睛地瞧着沙斯塔，沉着的灰色眼睛里露出一种探询的神色，一种几乎如饥似渴的神色。

但现在这一群绅士以轻快的慢跑统统行动起来了。沙斯塔坐的马鞍子极好，但他苦恼地不知道怎样运用缰绳，因为他骑在布里背上时是从来不去碰那缰绳的。但他小心翼翼地从眼角里瞧着别人的动作（就像我们有些人在宴会上对于该用刀或叉没多大把握时那样），竭力使自己的手指姿势正确。但他不敢真的利用缰绳去指挥马儿，他深信马儿会跟着其余的人马行动。这马儿当然是一匹普普通通的马儿，不是一匹会说人话的马儿；但它的智慧也足以认识到：这个骑在它背上的陌生孩子，既没有鞭子，又没有马刺，并非真正控制局面的主人。这就是为什么沙斯塔不久便发现自己落在整个队伍末尾的缘故。

即使如此，他跑得还挺快。现在没有苍蝇了，拂面的空气是清新的。他也恢复正常的呼吸了，而且他报信的使命已经完成。自从到达塔什班城以来（仿佛已经是很久很久以前的事情了！），他第一次感到自得其乐。

他抬头仰望，瞧瞧已经离山顶多近了。使他失望的是：他压根儿看不到山顶，但见一大片模糊的灰色向他倾泻而下。以前他从未在山野待过，眼前的景色使他诧异。“这是一大片云，”他跟自己说道，“一片正在下降的云。待在这儿群山之中，人确实是在天空中了。我就要看到云里边是怎么样的了。多有趣！我曾时常想弄个明白。”在他左边的远方，稍稍在他背后一点儿的地方，太阳开始落山了。

现在他们来到崎岖的道路上，正在加快驰骋的速度。但沙斯塔的马儿仍旧落在最后。有一两次，逢到大路转弯时（现在大路两旁都是绵延不断的森林了），有那么一两秒钟，他望不见前边的人马。

接着他们进入了大雾；或者说大雾滚滚，把他们吞没了。世界变成灰蒙蒙的。沙斯塔不曾认识到：处在云雾之中竟会这么寒冷、这么潮湿，也不知道竟会那么黑暗。灰色以惊人的速度变成黑色了。

纵队的前头有人不时吹响号角，每次号角声传来时，都比上一次远了一点儿。现在他没法儿看到别的人马，但只要他再转过弯去，他就立刻可以看到他们。但当他转过弯来时，却仍旧看不见他们。事实上，他压根儿什么也看不见。现在他的马儿是在散步了。“赶上去，马儿，赶上去。”沙斯塔说。然后传来了号角声，可是十分轻微。布里总是嘱咐他，必须使脚跟朝着外边儿，沙斯塔由此养成一种概念：如果他让脚跟戳到马儿的两胁上，就会发生可怕的事情。他觉得此刻倒可以试试。“听着，马儿，”他说，“如果你再不快跑，你可知道我要干什么？我要用脚跟戳到你的两胁里。我真的干得出来的。”然而，这马儿不理睬他的威胁。所以，沙斯塔便稳稳地坐牢在马鞍子上，牙齿咬紧，双膝夹紧，尽力用两个脚跟狠狠刺马儿的两胁。

惟一的效果是，那马儿爆发出一阵装模作样的小跑，才跑了五六步，又变成慢步了。现在天色已十分黑暗，他们似乎已经不再吹响号角了。惟一的声音是不断从树木的枝桠上往下滴水之声。

“哦，我想哪怕它步行也会走到某个地方吧，”沙斯塔跟他自己说道，“我只是希望我不要碰到拉巴达什和他的人马。”

他继续走了仿佛很长的时间，走的始终是那种慢步。他开始憎恨那马儿，也开始感觉十分饥饿。

不久他来到了一个岔路口。他正在琢磨哪一条路是通向安瓦德的，这时他背后一阵声音使他吃了一惊。原来是马儿奔腾的声音。“拉巴达什！”沙斯塔心中想道。他没法儿猜测拉巴达什会走哪条路。“但如果我走这一条，”沙斯塔跟自己说道，“他说不定会走那一条；如果我待在这岔路口，我一定会被他们逮住的。”他下了马，尽最大力量赶紧牵着马儿沿右边那条路走去。

骑兵的声音迅速地愈来愈近，一两分钟之内沙斯塔便觉察到他们已经在岔路口了。他屏息静气，等着看他们走哪条路。

传来一声低沉的命令：“停止前进！”——接下来的片刻之间，都是马儿的声音——马鼻子里喷着鼻息，马蹄刨着地面，吧哒吧哒地咬着马嚼子，以及被轻轻拍着的马脖子等。然后，有个声音讲话了。

“你们大家注意啦，”这声音说道，“我们现在离城堡不到八分之一英里了。牢牢记住命令。一旦我们进入纳尼亚国境（应该在太阳出来时到达），你们要尽可能少杀人。在此番冒险行动中，你们要把每一滴纳尼亚人的血看得比你们自己的每一加仑血还要重要。我说的是在此番冒险行动中。天神会赐给我好时辰的，那时你们在凯尔帕拉维尔和西部沙漠之间就不必留下任何活的东西了。但你们现在还没有进入纳尼亚境内。在这儿阿钦兰境内那就是另外一回事了。在攻击伦恩国王的城堡时，最要紧的是速度，其他都无足轻重。拿出你们的勇气来。必须在一个钟头之内把它拿下来。如果你们占领了它，我把一切都给你们。我什么战利品也不留给自己。替我把城墙里每一个野蛮的男子，直到昨天刚生的孩子，统统杀掉，其余的一切也归你们，你们高兴怎样分享就怎样分享——包括女人、金子、珠宝、武器和美酒。进到城门口而退缩的人，我要把他活活烧死。以不可抗拒、不可阻挡的塔什神的名义——前进！”

蹄声嘚嘚复嘚嘚，骑兵纵队开始移动了，沙斯塔缓过一口气来。他们走上了另一条大路。

沙斯塔认为骑兵纵队花了好长时间才开过去，尽管他整天讲着、想着“二百人马”，他可并未确悉他们究竟有多少人马。最后，骑兵纵队的声音终于消失了，他再次独自听着树木枝头滴水的声音。

现在他知道到安瓦德去的路了，但他此刻当然不能到那儿去，去的话只不过是意味着撞到拉巴达什军队的刀剑上去。“我究竟该干什么呢？”沙斯塔跟他自己说。他重新跨上了马，沿着他选定的道路继续前进，心里抱着微薄的希望，但愿能找到一间茅屋，在那儿求个栖身之所，弄到一顿饭吃。当然，他曾想回到隐士住处同阿拉维斯、布里、赫温相会，可是他办不到，因为如今他压根儿弄不清方向了。

“这条路，”沙斯塔想，“终归是要通往某个地方的。”

但那完全在于你所说的某个地方是什么意思。道路不断地向某个地方延伸，一路上树木愈来愈多，而且全都是黑沉沉的，滴滴答答地滴着水珠，空气愈来愈凛冽，奇怪而冰冷的风不断地把雾霭从他身旁吹过，却从不把雾霭吹散掉。如果他习惯于山野风光的话，他就会明白，这意味着他现在攀登得很高了——也许正好在那关隘的顶上。但沙斯塔对山岭一无所知。

“我确实认为，”沙斯塔说，“我必定是活在世界上的最最不幸的孩子了。除了我，人人都是万事如意。那些纳尼亚王公和小姐都安全离开了塔什班城，我却被留在后面。阿拉维斯、布里、赫温跟老隐士在一起，要多舒适就有多舒适：当然只派我出来奔波。伦恩国王和他的随从必定已经安全进入城堡，早在拉巴达什到达之前把城门关上了，惟独我被丢在外边了。”

他身体十分疲倦，肚子里又空空如也，他为自己感到十分伤心，泪珠流过面颊滚下来了。

结束这一切伤感的是一种突如其来的惶恐。沙斯塔发现有个人或动物正在他身旁行走。周围漆黑一团，他什么也看不见。而这个动物（或人）行路那么安静，他听不见什么脚步声。他听得见的是呼吸的声音。他的隐身同伴的呼吸似乎规模很大，沙斯塔得到的印象是：它是个庞然大物。他是逐渐注意到这种呼吸声的，因而他确实不知道它已经存在多久了。这是个可怕的震惊。

他脑子里忽然想起：很久以前他就听说过，北方各国有巨人。他惶恐地咬着嘴唇。如今他确实有事情要号啕大哭，他倒停止哭泣了。

那个庞然大物（除非它是个人）继续在他身边走着，可是十分文静，因而沙斯塔开始希望这只不过是他的幻觉罢了。但正当他变得确信是幻觉时，突然从他身旁的黑暗之中传来一声深沉的长叹。不可能是幻觉了！无论如何，他感觉到那长叹声中的一股热气冲到了他冰冷的左手上。

如果这马儿有点儿用处——或者他如果知道怎样使马儿发挥点作用的话——他会冒险脱逃、疯狂驰骋的。但他明白他无法使这马儿驰骋。所以他慢步前行，而那看不见的伙伴就在他身旁走着，就在他身旁呼吸。最后，他再也不能忍受下去了。

“你是谁啊？”他说，声音比窃窃私语高不了多少。

“我等你说话好久了。”那个家伙说。它的说话不响亮，但嗓门儿很大，很深沉。

“你是——你是巨人吗？”沙斯塔问。

“你不妨称我为巨人，”大嗓门说道，“但我跟你称之为巨人的动物并不像。”

“我压根儿无法瞧见你。”沙斯塔瞪大眼睛瞧了半天后说道。接着（一个甚至更加可怕的想法跳上他的心头），他几乎是叫喊着说道：“你不是——不是什么已经死掉的东西吧，是不是？——请走开吧。我可没做过什么伤害你的事啊！咳，我是世界上最倒霉的人了。”

他再一次感到对方的一股热烘烘的气息冲到了他的手上和脸上。“听着，”庞然大物说，“这可不是鬼魂的气息。把你的烦恼告诉我吧。”

沙斯塔对那气息稍稍有点儿放心了，所以他就告诉对方：他从来不知道他真正的父亲或母亲，他是由一个渔夫严厉地抚养大的。然后他又讲了他逃跑的故事，以及他们怎样被狮子追逐，被迫泅水逃命等；他讲到了他们在塔什班城所经历的一切危险，他在坟场里过夜以及沙漠里的野兽对他咆哮。他讲到了沙漠旅途中的炎热和口渴，以及他们快要到达目的地时另一头狮子怎样追逐他们，并且抓伤了阿拉维斯。他也讲到了从那时起他好久没吃过任何东西。

“我并不认为你是不幸的。”大嗓门说。

“遇到这么多狮子，你还不认为是倒霉吗？”

“只有一头狮子。”那声音说道。

“你这话究竟是什么意思？我刚才就告诉过你，至少第一夜有两头狮子，还有……”

“只有一头狮子，但那头狮子跑得极快。”

“你怎么知道呢？”

“我就是那头狮子。”由于沙斯塔紧张得张大了嘴巴却说不出话来，庞然大物继续说道，“我就是逼你与阿拉维斯同行的那头狮子。我就是在坟场这死人之家里安慰你的那只猫咪。我就是在你睡熟时替你驱逐豺狼的那头狮子。我就是使马儿们在恐惧中获得新的力量、奔驰最后一段路程，以便你及时见到伦恩国王的那头狮子。而且我还是你当年并不记得的那头狮子，当年你奄奄一息躺在一条小船里，是我把船推动，使它漂到一个海滩上，有个渔夫坐在那儿，午夜未睡，收留了你。”

“那么，抓伤阿拉维斯的，也是你吗？”

“是我。”

“干吗要抓伤她呢芽”

“孩子，”那声音说道，“我在把你的故事告诉你，不是她的。我只对一个人讲他本人的故事，不讲别的。”

“你是谁呢？”沙斯塔问道。

“我自己。”那声音说道，又低又深沉，大地为之震动；接着是第二遍，“我自己。”响亮、清晰、愉快；然后是第三遍，“我自己。”那可是柔和的低声细语，你几乎听不大见，然而它又从四面八方向你传来，仿佛树叶儿也随之簌簌有声。

沙斯塔不再害怕这声音来自要吞吃他的大虫了，不再害怕这是鬼魂的声音了。但一种崭新的截然不同的战战兢兢之情，传遍了他的身心。而且他觉得非常愉快。

雾霭由墨黑变为浅灰，再由浅灰转为雪白。这个变化必定是好些时候以前就已经开始的。但在他和庞然大物交谈之际，他一直未留意其他的任何东西。现在，他周围的一片白色，变成一种熠熠生光的白色了。他开始眨巴着眼睛。他听得见前边儿什么地方鸟儿在啁啾。他知道黑夜终于过去了。现在他能十分容易地瞧见马儿的脑袋、耳朵和鬃毛了。一道金光从左边落在他们身上。他以为这是太阳光。

他转过头来，看见在身旁行走着一头狮子，比马儿还大。马儿似乎并不怕它，要不就是看不见它。原来金光发自狮子身上。没有人看到过比这更可怕或更美丽的东西了。

幸亏沙斯塔一直生活在卡乐门南方边远地区，没听到过塔什班城里窃窃私语的传闻：一个可怕的纳尼亚魔鬼化身为一头狮子。关于阿斯兰的真正的故事，关于伟大的狮子、海外皇帝之子、纳尼亚国诸大国王之最高国王的真正的故事，沙斯塔当然是一点儿也不知道的。但他对狮子的脸儿瞧了一眼以后，就翻身下马，跪倒在狮子的脚边。他说不出什么话来，但那时他也不想说什么话，而且他心里明白他无需说什么话。

诸大国王之最高国王向他俯下头来。它的鬃毛散发出奇怪而庄严的香气，下垂在沙斯塔的周围。它用舌头舔舐他的前额。他仰起脸来。他们相对而视。接着，雾霭的苍白光芒和狮子如火的光芒立刻混在一起，化作一片光华的旋涡，集拢收缩，终于消失无存了。沙斯塔独自在蓝天下芳草萋萋的山坡上。鸟儿在鸣唱。

12

沙斯塔在纳尼亚

“这一切是个梦？”沙斯塔心中疑惑。但这不可能是个梦，因为他看到前面草地上有个狮子右前蹄的又深又大的印子，能造成这样的蹄印的重量，想想也叫人透不过气来。但还有比蹄印大小深浅更令人奇怪的事哩。当他瞧着那蹄印时，水已经铺满它的底部了。不多一会儿，水就漫到边上来了，往外溢出来了，一条小小溪水，流过青草，经过他的身边，奔流下山去了。

沙斯塔俯下身去喝水——喝了好久——然后把脸浸在水里，把水泼在头上。水极冷，清澄如玻璃，他喝了神清气爽。这之后，他站起身来，把耳朵里的水甩掉，把潮湿的头发从前额上撩到后面去，开始观察周围环境。

显然还是挺早的清晨。太阳不过刚刚升起，他望见右首山下远方有许多森林，太阳就是从森林那儿冒出来的。他正遥望的国土，对他说来是绝对新鲜的。这是一片苍翠的溪谷之地，树木星罗棋布，他瞥见树木之间有一条河流闪闪生光，这河拐了个弯，向大致是西北方向奔腾而去。溪谷对岸是高高的石头小山，但它们比他昨天看到的山岭要低。于是他开始琢磨，他如今身在何处。他转过身来，向后瞧瞧，看到他所站立的山坡是处在更多更高的崇山峻岭之中。

“我明白了，”沙斯塔跟他自己说道，“这些就是介乎阿钦兰和纳尼亚之间的大山大岭。我昨天是在大山的那一边。我必定是在夜间穿过山隘的。我碰巧走对了，运道真好！——实际上，这压根儿不是运道好，这是它帮了大忙。现在我是在纳尼亚境内了。”

他再转过身去，给马儿卸下了鞍子，取下了马勒——“尽管你是一匹完全令人厌恶的马儿。”他说道。马儿不理会他的批评，立刻开始吃起青草来了。那马儿对沙斯塔的评价不高。

“我但愿我能吃草啊！”沙斯塔心中想道，“回到安瓦德去毫无用处，这城将被团团围攻。我还不如到下边儿的山谷里去，瞧瞧能否弄到点儿东西吃。”

所以他就走下山去（浓重的露水，让他的光脚丫子冷极了），一直走进一个树林。有一条踏出来的小路贯穿树林，他沿着这小路走了没有几分钟，就听到一个沙哑而呼哧呼哧的声音同他说话。

“早安，邻居。”

沙斯塔热切地向四周打量，想要找到说话的人，他立刻看见了刚从树林里出来的一个身材短小、黑脸多刺的人。至少，作为一个人，它是太小了，但作为一只刺猬，却是很大的了；它就是一只刺猬。

“早安，”沙斯塔说道，“但我不是你的邻居。事实上，我是这地方的一个陌生人。”

“啊？”刺猬询问地说道。

“我越过大山而来——你要知道，我是从阿钦兰来的。”

“呀，阿钦兰，”刺猬说道，“离这儿远得可怕。我自己从没去过。”

“而且我认为，”沙斯塔说道，“也许应该告诉人们：此时此刻，有一支野蛮的卡乐门军队正在进攻安瓦德城。”

“不会这样吧！”刺猬答道，“哦，想想吧。不是据说卡乐门在几百、几千里之外，在世界的尽头，跟这儿还隔着一个大沙漠吗？”

“不像你所想像的那么遥远，”沙斯塔说道，“关于这次对安瓦德的进攻，总该做点儿事吧。总该禀告你们的至尊王吧？”

“确实如此，总该为此干点儿事情。”刺猬说道，“但，你瞧，我正要到床上去，美美地睡它一个白昼啊。哈啰，邻居！”

最后一句话是对一只巨大的淡褐色兔子说的，兔子的脑袋刚从小径旁的地底下突然冒出来。刺猬立刻把它从沙斯塔那里听来的事情告诉兔子。兔子同意这是个惊人的消息，应该有人去告诉别人，以便为此干点儿事。

于是就这样纷纷传开去了。每隔几分钟，就有别的生物参加进来，有的来自头上的树枝，有的来自脚下的地底小屋；这一帮子，终于包含了五只兔子、一只松鼠、两只喜鹊、一个羊脚怪物以及一只耗子，它们大家同时说着话儿，大家都同意刺猬的意见。因为，事情的真相是：在那黄金时代里，女巫和冬天已经被赶走，至尊王彼得治理着凯尔帕拉维尔，纳尼亚较小林地里的居民们是那么安宁和幸福，所以它们有点儿麻痹大意了。

不过，又有两个小树林里比较实际的居民来了。一个是红色小矮人，名叫德夫尔。另一个是一头牡鹿，一只美丽华贵的生物，眼睛大大的水汪汪的，两胁斑斑点点，两腿又纤细又雅致，看上去仿佛用两个手指就能把那腿折断似的。

“狮子还活着！”小矮人听到消息就大声嚷嚷，“如果真是这么一回事，咱们大家为什么仍旧站着闲谈呢？敌人猛攻安瓦德！必须立刻把消息送到凯尔帕拉维尔去。必须把军队动员起来。纳尼亚必须去支援国王伦恩。”

“啊！”刺猬说，“可是你在凯尔帕拉维尔找不到至尊王。他正北上讨伐巨人们。讲到巨人们，邻居们，使我想起了——”

“我们谁去送信？”小矮人说，“有谁跑得比我还快吗？”

“我跑得快，”牡鹿说，“我怎么说？有多少卡乐门人？”

“二百人马，由王子拉巴达什统率，还有……”但牡鹿已经跑掉了——立刻四脚腾空地飞跑，片刻之间，它的白色臀部便在遥远的树木之间消失了。

“不明白它跑到什么地方去，”一只兔子说道，“要知道，它在凯尔帕拉维尔是找不到至尊王的。”

“它可以找到露茜女王，”德夫尔说道，“然后……喂！喂！这个人有什么毛病呀？他的脸色发青。咳，我相信他要昏过去了。说不定这就是人的饥饿。小家伙，你最后一顿饭是什么时候吃的？”

“昨天早晨。”沙斯塔虚弱无力地说道。

“来吧，那么，来吧。”小矮人说道，立刻用他胖胖的小手臂抱住沙斯塔的腰，扶着他。“喂！邻居，我们大家都应该为自己感到羞耻。孩子，你跟我来吧。早餐！吃早餐比谈话好。”

小矮人大大的一阵忙乱，喃喃地责备着自己，半搀半扶地赶快把沙斯塔带进树林，稍稍走下山去一点儿。走的这段路比沙斯塔此刻所愿意走的要长得多，他们还没有走出树林，还没有到达光秃秃的山坡上，他已经开始感觉到两腿在发抖了。他们在山坡上找到一个小屋子，烟囱里在冒烟，门户洞开，当他们来到门口时，德夫尔喊道：

“嗨，兄弟们！有位客人来吃早饭了。”

伴随着咝咝的油炸之声，立刻向沙斯塔飘来了令人垂涎欲滴的香味。这是一种他生平从未闻到过的香味，但我希望你是闻到过的。事实上，这是咸猪肉、鸡蛋和蘑菇在锅里油炸的香味。

“留神你的脑袋，孩子。”德夫尔说得晚了一点儿，因为沙斯塔的前额已经撞在低低的门楣上了。“现在，”小矮人继续说道，“你坐下吧。对于你，桌子是低了一点儿，凳子也低了一点儿。这就行了。这儿是粥——这儿是壶奶油——这儿是个调羹。”

沙斯塔喝完粥时，小矮人的两个兄弟（他们叫罗金和布里克尔森姆）正在把咸猪肉、鸡蛋和蘑菇，以及咖啡壶、热牛奶和吐司放到桌子上。

对沙斯塔来说，这顿早餐全然是新奇的、了不起的，因为卡乐门的食物是完全不同的。他甚至不知道这一片片棕色的东西是什么玩意儿，因为他以前从未见过吐司。他不知道涂在吐司上的黄色柔软的东西是什么玩意儿，因为在卡乐门几乎总是用油来代替白脱的。而这屋子本身也跟阿什伊什黑暗、霉臭、鱼腥的小屋不同，跟塔什班城王宫里圆柱耸立、毯子铺地的大厅截然不同。屋顶很低，一切都是木头做的，有一只以杜鹃叫声报时的钟，一块红白格子台布，一碗野花，厚玻璃窗上还挂着小小的白色窗帘。不得不用小矮人的杯子、盘子、刀叉，也是很麻烦的事。这意味着每份食品都很少，却又有许多份，所以沙斯塔的盘子或是杯子，时时刻刻都在重新添盛，而小矮人们自己也时时刻刻在说：“请来点儿白脱”，“再来一杯咖啡”，或是“我再要些蘑菇”，或是“再来一份煎鸡蛋好吗？”最后，当大家尽量吃饱以后，三个小矮人便拈阄决定由谁洗盘子，结果是罗金倒霉。于是德夫尔和布里克尔森姆便领沙斯塔到屋子外的一条长凳上坐下，那长凳靠着小屋的墙垣；于是他们大家都伸直了腿，心满意足地吁出一口气来，两个小矮人还点上了烟斗。现在青草上的露水不见了，太阳是温暖的，确实，如果没有一阵阵清风的话，天气就会显得太热了。

“陌生人啊，”德夫尔说，“我来把地形地势指给你看。你从这儿几乎可以看见整个儿南部纳尼亚，我们是很以这景色自豪的。向你的左边望过去，越过那些附近的小山，你正好能望见西部群山。在你右边那个圆圆的小山，叫做石桌山。就在它外边儿……”

但这时候他被沙斯塔的鼾声打断了，沙斯塔经过一夜奔波，吃了一顿美美的早餐，很快就睡熟了。好心的小矮人们一发现他睡着了，就立刻互相做手势：不要去惊醒他；事实上，他们彼此窃窃私语，点头会意，站起身来，踮着脚尖走动，好不热闹，若不是沙斯塔十分困倦，他倒是一定会被惊醒的。

沙斯塔几乎睡了整整一天，醒来时刚赶上吃晚饭。屋子里的床给他睡是太小了，但他们在地上给他铺了一个极好的石南床，他睡在那床上，整夜没有动弹，整夜没有做梦。第二天早晨他们刚吃完早餐，便听到从屋子外传来一个尖锐而激动的声音。

“喇叭声！”小矮人们一齐说道，这时他们和沙斯塔都跑出门外去了。

喇叭声又响起来了：对沙斯塔说来，的确是个崭新的声音，既不像塔什班城的号角那么洪亮庄重，又不像国王伦恩的狩猎号角那么轻快欢乐，却清晰、尖厉、豪迈。喇叭声是从树林传到东边来的，不久又有马蹄嘚嘚声同喇叭声混合在一起。一会儿之后，纵队的先锋就看得见了。

走在第一个的是珀里丹勋爵，骑一匹栗色马，手执纳尼亚大旗——青绿底色上一头红狮子。沙斯塔立刻认出他来了。接着是三个并驾齐驱的人，两个人跨着战马，一个人骑着马驹子。骑在战马上的一个是爱德蒙国王，另一个是金发女郎，满脸兴高采烈的神色，头戴头盔，身穿锁子甲，肩上背着一只弓，身边挂着装满箭的箭袋。（“露茜女王。”德夫尔低声说道。）骑在马驹子上的是科林。这三人之后，是军队的主体：骑在寻常马儿身上的士卒、骑在会说人话的马儿身上的军人（遇到正当情况，例如纳尼亚要作战时，这种马儿并不在意被人骑）、人头马、咬起来凶狠的板着脸的熊、了不得的会说人话的狗，最后是六个巨人。然而，尽管他知道他们是站在正义一边的，沙斯塔开头还是不大敢看他们；有些事情要经过很多时间才能看得惯哩。

正当国王和女王到达小屋门前、小矮人们开始向他们鞠躬时，国王爱德蒙大声喊道：

“朋友们！该歇一歇、吃一口东西了。”于是立刻出现了一阵忙乱，人们纷纷跳下马来，打开干粮袋，开始交谈起来，这时科林向沙斯塔跑过来，抓住他的双手，叫喊道：

“啊！你在这儿！那么你是一路平安地过来了？我很高兴。如今我们将参加游戏了，这岂不是好运道！我们在凯尔帕拉维尔刚进港，第一个遇见我们的是牡鹿彻耳，它带来了敌人进攻安瓦德的全部消息。你可认为……”

“殿下的朋友是谁呀？”刚下马的国王爱德蒙问道。

“陛下，你可看出来了？”科林说道，“他就是跟我极相似的人：你在塔什班城错把他当做我了。”

“呀，他就是跟你极相似的人，”露茜女王叫道，“跟孪生兄弟一样相像。真是件不可思议的事情。”

“禀告陛下，”沙斯塔对国王爱德蒙说道，“我不是奸细，我确实不是。我不由自主地听到了你们的计划。但我做梦也想不到把这计划告诉你的敌人。”

“孩子，我现在知道你并不是奸细，”国王爱德蒙的手按在沙斯塔的头上，说道，“但如果你不愿意被当做奸细，下次就要竭力不去听那原是要讲给别的耳朵听的话。但一切很顺利。”

这之后，又有许多忙乱，许多谈话，许多来来往往，不到几分钟，沙斯塔就看不见科林、爱德蒙和露茜了。但科林是不久就会让人听到有关他的消息的那种孩子；过不了多久，沙斯塔果然就听到国王爱德蒙大声说道：

“凭着狮王的鬃毛，王子，这是太过分了。殿下永远不会长进吗？我们整个军队加在一起也不及你那么让人火烧火燎的！指挥你，我宁愿指挥一个团的大黄蜂。”

沙斯塔在人群中钻过去，终于看到了国王爱德蒙，他看上去确实十分愤怒，科林呢，看上去有点儿不好意思，还有一个奇怪的小矮人正坐在地上做鬼脸。显而易见，两个羊怪刚帮助那小矮人卸下盔甲。

“如果我把药酒带来的话，”露茜女王说，“我很快就能替他治愈的。但至尊王严格地要求我别稀松平常地把它带到战场上来，要留待非常危险时使用！”

事情原来是这样的。科林刚同沙斯塔说过话，他的肘拐儿便被一个小矮人抓住了。军队里管这个小矮人叫“刺儿头”。

“你这是干什么，刺儿头？”科林说。

“王子殿下，”刺儿头把他拉到一边说，“我们今天的行军会带我们穿过关隘，直接开到你父王的城堡。黑夜以前我们也许就要参加战斗了。”

“我知道，”科林说，“战争不是很壮观吗？”

“壮观也好，不壮观也好，”刺儿头说，“我可奉到国王爱德蒙最最严厉的命令，要我留神不让你殿下参加战斗。可以容许你在旁观战；以殿下的年龄，这种待遇已经够意思的了。”

“真是胡说八道！”科林发作道，“当然我要去打仗的。为什么露茜女王带着她的弓箭手一同去打仗呢？”

“女王通情达理，可以随心所欲，”刺儿头说，“但你是由我看管的。要么，我必须得到你王子的庄严诺言：你得使你的马驹子在我的马儿旁边并驾齐驱，超前半个脖子也不行，直至我同意你离开为止；要么——这是陛下亲口说的——咱俩必须把咱们的手腕缚在一起，像囚徒一样。”

“如果你想缚我，我就把你打倒在地。”科林说。

“我倒很想瞧瞧殿下动手打人。”小矮人说道。

这句话就足够把科林这样的孩子惹恼了，他和小矮人立刻激烈地打起来了。这本来是一场势均力敌的搏斗，因为虽然科林身高手长，小矮人却比较年长、健壮。但这场搏斗没有能一决雌雄（这是崎岖山坡上最糟糕的一次打架），因为刺儿头大倒其霉，踩在一块活动的石头上，鼻子朝地跌了下去，竭力站起来时发觉踝关节扭伤了：一种造成剧烈疼痛的扭伤，至少两个星期不能走路或骑马。

“瞧瞧殿下的所作所为吧，”国王爱德蒙说道，“马上就要打仗了，你却剥夺了我们一个久经考验的战士。”

“我一定代替他作战，陛下。”科林说。

“呸！”爱德蒙说，“没有人怀疑你的勇气。但战斗中的孩子，只不过是他自己那一方的一个危险而已。”

就在这当儿，国王被请去安排别的事情了，而科林呢，漂亮地向小矮人道歉以后，便跑到沙斯塔身边，悄悄说道：

“赶快。现在有一匹备用的马驹子，还有小矮人的那副盔甲。趁着还没有人注意，你就穿上吧。”

“穿上干吗？”沙斯塔说。

“呀，当然是为了你和我能参加打仗啊！你可愿意去打仗吗？”

“啊——啊，是的，当然愿意啰。”沙斯塔说。但他压根儿没想到去打仗，而且脊骨里开始有种极不舒服的刺痛之感。

“这就对了，”科林说，“套在你脑袋上。再把剑带束在腰间。但我们必须骑马走在纵队的尾巴附近，而且不声不响，像老鼠一样。一旦战斗打响，大家就忙碌极了，不会注意我们了。”

13

安瓦德之战

十一点钟光景，整个部队重新行军，向西飞驰而去，大山在他们的左边。科林和沙斯塔骑马殿后，巨人们在他们的前边儿。露茜、爱德蒙和珀里丹忙于商量作战计划；虽然露茜说过：“可鹅帽殿下在哪儿啊？”爱德蒙只是答道，“不在先头部队里，那就真是好消息了。随他去吧。”

沙斯塔把他大部分惊险经历告诉了科林，并且解释道：他是跟一匹马儿学习骑马的，因此他确实不知道怎样使用缰绳。科林便教他，还把他们从塔什班城秘密出航的经过告诉了他。

“那么苏珊女王在哪儿呢？”

“在凯尔帕拉维尔，”科林说，“她不像露茜，你要知道，她像男子汉一样，或者，无论如何也像男孩子一样。苏珊女王更像一位长大成人的普通小姐。她并不骑着马去作战，尽管她是个射箭好手。”

他们正在走的山径愈来愈狭窄，右首的山坡也更加陡了。最后，他们改成单行沿着悬崖的边缘走去；沙斯塔不寒而栗地想到上一夜他是不知不觉地在这悬崖边上走过去的。“然而，当然啦，”他心中想道，“我是十分安全的。那就是为什么狮子始终走在我左边的缘故。狮子自始至终是走在我和悬崖之间啊。”

接着，山径向左首延伸，背离悬崖向南而去，这时两旁都是密密的树林，山径险峻陡急，他们不断地往上、往上登高，终于进入关隘。如果关隘是片开阔地带，从顶上俯瞰，准是一片好风景，可是如今置身这许多树木之中，你就什么也看不见了——只是有时看见一些巨大的石峰矗立在树顶的上方，一两只鹰在高高的蓝天里盘旋飞翔。

“鹰嗅到战争的气息了，”科林指点着鸟儿说道，“它们知道我们在为它们准备美餐哩。”

沙斯塔压根儿不喜欢这种俏皮话。

当他们经过了隘口，又往下走了好多路，便来到比较开阔的地带，沙斯塔从这儿能看见全部阿钦兰国土，蓝悠悠，雾蒙蒙，展现在他的脚下，（他认为，）他甚至望见了阿钦兰背后隐隐约约的大沙漠。然而，也许再过两个钟点就要下山的太阳，光芒直射他的眼睛，他眼花缭乱，没法儿把景物看个清清楚楚。

军队在这儿止步了，展开成为一条战线，而且做了许多新的安排。整整一队是外貌狰狞的说人话的野兽，沙斯塔以前不曾注意它们；它们大部分都属于猫科（花豹、黑豹，诸如此类），咆哮着大踏步走到左边去进入阵地。巨人们奉命开拔到右边去，开拔之前，他们都从背上卸下他们所背的东西，并且在地上坐了一会儿。于是沙斯塔看到巨人们刚才背着的、现在正穿上脚去的，乃是一双双的靴子：可怕的、沉重的、底部有尖钉的、长及膝头的靴子。巨人们接着就掮着大棒进入他们的阵地。弓箭手以及露茜女王调到了后边儿，你能首先看见他们弯弓，其次听到他们试拉弓弦的嘣嘣声。不论你朝哪儿看，你处处看得见人们在收紧肚带，戴上头盔，抽出刀剑，把大氅丢在地上。现在没有什么人谈话了。十分庄严，十分可怕。“现在我已经不能中途退回了——现在我确确实实不能中途退回了。”沙斯塔心中想道。

从前边儿远远地传来嘈杂喧闹的声音：许多人在大叫大嚷，还有一种稳定不变的砰砰声。

“攻城槌，”科林低声说道，“敌人正在猛撞城门。”

现在甚至科林也神情严肃。

“爱德蒙国王为什么不出击呢？”他说，“我受不了这种等待。也冷得很。”

沙斯塔点点头：希望他外表上不像他心里所感觉到的那么害怕。

喇叭声终于响了！现在部队行动起来了——现在马儿小跑着——旗帜在风中飘扬翻动着。现在他们爬上一个低低的山脊，山下整个景色突然展开在他们的面前。一个多塔楼小城堡，城门正对着他们。不幸没有护城河；城门当然是关上的，吊闸放下来了。他们望得见城墙上保卫者的脸，像小小的白点子。城下，大约五十个卡乐门人下了马，正稳稳地晃动着一根大树干撞击城门。但这景象立刻就发生变化了。拉巴达什的主力部队一直是下马步行准备攻击城门的，现在他们看到纳尼亚军队从山脊上奔腾而下。毫无疑问，这些卡乐门部队训练有素。沙斯塔觉得敌人在一秒钟内都上了马，形成整齐的一列队伍，拨转马头，向他们迎过来。

现在是一阵小跑，两军之间的距离时时刻刻都在缩短。跑得愈来愈快，愈来愈快。所有的刀都出鞘了，所有的盾牌都举到鼻子跟前了，所有的祷告都做过了，所有的牙齿都咬紧了。沙斯塔惊惶得厉害。但他脑子里突然想到：“这次你如果畏缩害怕，那么，你这一生，每打一次仗，都要畏缩害怕了。千载难逢，机不可失！”

然而，最后两军相遇时，他确实对于现场发生的事情一点也不清楚。可怕的混乱和骇人听闻的呐喊。他手中的刀不久就干脆被打掉了。他手中的缰绳不知怎么也搞丢了。他发觉自己正在滑下马来。一枝长矛笔直地向他刺过来，他低头避开时从马上滚了下来，左膝关节猛烈地撞在别人的盔甲上，于是……

但试图从沙斯塔的观点去描写战争是毫无用处的；他对一般战斗懂得太少，连他自己在战斗中所扮演的角色他也不明白。把战役实际情况告诉你，最好的办法就是带你到几英里之外的南征隐士家里去，他正在大树的树阴下向平静的池水里目不转睛地凝视，布里、赫温和阿拉维斯都在他身边。

隐士想知道他隐居的绿墙之外的世界上正在发生的事情时，他就朝这池水里张望。在池水里，正如在镜子里一样，他能看得见在某一个特定的时间里，远在塔什班南方的城市里街道上正在发生的事情，或是什么船在遥远的七群岛驶进了红港，或是什么强盗或野兽在灯柱野林和台尔马之间的西部大森林里骚扰。这一天隐士一整天没有离开池塘，哪怕吃饭喝水也不离开，因为他知道有重大事件正在阿钦兰发生着。阿拉维斯和两匹马儿也在朝池塘里张望。她们看得出，这是一池魔水。水中不反映绿树蓝天，却在深处反映出那始终在活动着的、云雾似的彩色形象。但她们什么都看不清楚。隐士看得清，他时常把他所见到的告诉她们。沙斯塔骑马进入他初次作战的战场之前一会儿，隐士便这样讲道：

“我看见一只——两只——三只鹰在暴风雨峰的豁口里盘旋。有一只鹰是年纪最大的。除非战斗迫在眉睫，它是不会飞出来的。我看见它来回盘旋，有时俯瞰安瓦德，有时俯瞰暴风雨峰背后的东方。啊——现在我看到拉巴达什和他的部队整天在忙些什么了。他们伐倒一棵大树，锯了一大段树干，现在掮着树干从树林里出来了，要把树干当做攻城槌用。他们昨夜的攻击失败了，从失败中学到了一点儿东西。如果他叫他的部队制造云梯，他就更聪明了：但做云梯更费时间，他不耐烦，等不及。他真是个傻瓜！初战失败，他应该立刻骑马奔回塔什班去，因为他的整个作战计划，靠的是速度和出人意外。现在他们把攻城槌部署好了。伦恩国王的士兵从城上往下拼命射箭。五个卡乐门兵倒下了；但不会有许多人倒下的，他们的头上有盾牌挡着。现在拉巴达什发布命令了。跟他一起的，有他最信赖的王公大人，从东部各省来的凶猛的泰坎们。我看得见他们的脸。有托芒城堡的科拉丁、阿兹鲁、奇拉马什，歪嘴伊尔加默思，还有一个红胡子的泰坎——”

“天哪，我的老东家安拉丁啊！”布里说。

“嘶——嘘。”阿拉维斯说。

“现在攻城槌开始撞击了。如果我看得见也听得见就好了，那玩意儿会发出好大好大的声音啊！一槌又一槌的！没有一个城门能永远顶得住受得了的。且慢！暴风雨峰附近有什么东西惊动了飞鸟。鸟儿大群大群地飞出来了。再等一下……我还看不出……啊！现在我看得见了。东边儿高处，整个山脊上黑压压的全是骑兵。但愿风吹在军旗上把旗子展开就好了。不管他们是谁，现在他们越过山脊了。啊哈！我现在看到旗子了。纳尼亚，纳尼亚啊！是红狮旗。他们现在全速冲下山来了。我看见国王爱德蒙。殿后的弓箭手中有个女人。唷！——”

“那些是什么东西啊？”赫温屏息静气地问道。

“全部猫科野兽都从左边队伍里冲出来了。”

“猫科吗？”阿拉维斯说。

“猫科大野兽，豹子和豹子之类的野兽。”隐士不耐烦地说道，“我明白了，我明白了。猫科野兽要围成一圈，去逮住那些已经无人乘坐的马儿。好高明的一着棋。卡乐门的马儿已经害怕得发疯。现在猫科野兽又冲进这些马儿中间去了。但拉巴达什重新调整了他的队伍，有百来个骑兵坐上马鞍了。他们纵马迎战纳尼亚人。现在双方队伍相距不过一百码光景。不过五十码了。我看得见国王爱德蒙，我看得见珀里丹勋爵。纳尼亚队伍里有两个人，都不过是孩子。国王怎么能让孩子参加战斗呢？双方相距只有十码了——双方队伍接触了。纳尼亚一方，右边儿的巨人正在创造奇迹般的功勋……但有个巨人倒下了……给射中了眼睛，我猜想。中心是一场混战。左边儿我倒看到更多。又是那两个孩子。天哪，一个是科林王子。另一个很像科林，两人像两只梨一样相似。这另一个，就是你们的小沙斯塔。科林像个男子汉似的在作战。他杀死了一个卡乐门人。现在我看得见一点儿中心的情况了。这时拉巴达什和爱德蒙几乎撞上了，但被蜂拥上前的人群把他们分开了——”

“沙斯塔怎么样了？”阿拉维斯问。

“这傻瓜啊！”隐士叹息着说道，“可怜的、勇敢的小傻瓜。他对打仗啥也不知道。他压根儿没有使用他的盾牌。他的两胁都暴露在外面。他一点儿也不懂得怎样使用他的剑啊，现在他想起来要用剑了。他疯狂地挥舞着剑……几乎把他自己的马驹子的脑袋砍了下来。现在他手里的剑被人打落了。把孩子送上战场，只不过是谋杀罢了；他活不到五分钟了。你这傻瓜，低下脑袋呀——啊，他从马上跌下来了。”

“给杀死了吗？”三个声音屏息问道。

“我怎么知道呢？”隐士说道，“猫科野兽完成了它们的战斗任务，无人骑的马儿不是死了就是逃散了：骑这些马儿的卡乐门人无生还的希望了。现在猫科野兽回转身来投入主要的战斗。它们扑到使用攻城槌的人们身上。攻城槌掉到地上了。啊，妙！妙！城门正在从里边儿打开：就要有一番突围出击了。开头出来三个人。国王伦恩在中间，达尔和达兰两兄弟在他的左右两边。他们的后面是特兰、沙尔、科尔和科临兄弟。现在他们出来了十个——二十个——三十个光景的将士。卡乐门队伍被迫后退了。国王爱德蒙正东砍西杀，发挥不可思议的威力。他刚把科拉丁的脑袋砍了下来。许多卡乐门士卒丢下武器，向树林里逃跑。留下的那些人被狠狠地紧逼着，巨人从右边，猫科野兽从左边，国王伦恩从他们的后面，一起进逼过来。现在卡乐门人腹背受敌，有点儿慌乱紧张，他们背靠背地应战。布里，你的那位泰坎倒下了。伦恩国王和阿兹鲁正徒手作战；国王看上去要赢了——国王保持着优势——国王已经赢了。阿兹鲁倒下了。国王爱德蒙倒下了——不，他重新站起来了：他是在和拉巴达什交手。他们就在城堡的大门口作战。好几个卡乐门人都投降了。达兰杀了伊尔加默思。我看不见拉巴达什出了什么事。我认为他是死了，身体靠在城墙上，不过我弄不明白。奇拉马什和国王爱德蒙仍在作战，但其他地方的战斗都结束了。奇拉马什投降了。战争结束了。卡乐门人完全被打败了。”

沙斯塔从马上跌下来时，他认为自己没有命了。但马儿踩人踏人，即使在战场上，也远比你料想的要少得多。非常恐怖的十分钟过去以后，沙斯塔突然发现：在邻近的地方不再有什么马儿在跺脚了，而喧闹的声音（因为仍旧有许许多多持续的喧闹声）不再是战争的声音了。他坐了起来，瞪眼打量着周围。虽然他对战争什么也不知道，但连他也很快就看出来了：阿钦兰人和纳尼亚人已经胜利了。他所看见的活着的卡乐门人便是俘虏。城堡的大门大开着，伦恩国王和爱德蒙国王正越过攻城槌彼此握手。在他们周围的一圈王公大人和战士们中间，响起了一阵激动不已但显然很愉快的谈话。接着，谈话声突然联结起来，扩展成为轰然大笑的声音。

沙斯塔爬起身来，觉得四肢异乎寻常地不灵活，他朝着哄笑声跑过去，去看看闹的是什么笑话。他所见到的，是一幅十分奇怪的景象。倒霉的拉巴达什看来被悬挂在城堡的墙上。他的脚离地两英尺光景，正疯狂地乱踢着。他的锁子甲有点儿被吊了起来，腋下紧得可怕，中间遮住了半个脸。事实上，他看上去就像一个人正把一件尺寸太小的硬衬衫穿上身去时的模样儿。就后来尽可能收集到的材料看来（你可以确信无疑，这个故事被人们反复讲了好多天），事情的经过大致是这样的：刚开仗时，有个巨人用他的尖钉大靴子不成功地踩了拉巴达什一脚；不成功，是指他未能如愿以偿地把拉巴达什踩个稀巴烂；但也不是毫无作用，因为靴子上的尖钉刺破了锁子甲，就像你或我可能撕破一件普通的衬衫一样。所以，拉巴达什正和爱德蒙在城门口交手搏斗时，他那锁子甲的背后有个窟窿。当爱德蒙逼得他愈来愈靠近城墙时，他跳上了一个高台，他站在台上，手中的剑雨点般向爱德蒙攻击。但接着他就觉得这个地位既使他高出于众人之上，又使他成为纳尼亚弓箭手的众矢之的，他决定重新跳下台来。他有意要观察风色，试探试探——毫无疑问，他确实观察试探了一会儿——他跳得十分庄严十分可怕，口中大声喊道：“塔什神的雷霆从天上打下来了。”但他不得不朝旁边跳，因为他前边儿的人群很挤，正前方已没有他插足的地方。接着，用你可以期望的最简洁的方式来说，他背部锁子甲上的窟窿，被墙上一个钩子钩住了（几百年前，这钩子曾经是个系马的铁圈）。他发现自己像是一件洗好的、挂在那儿晾干的衣服，人人都在嘲笑他哩。

“爱德蒙，放我下来，”拉巴达什号叫道，“放我下来，像个国王和男子汉那样同我作战；如果你是个大懦夫，不敢放我下来，就立刻杀了我。”

“当然可以。”国王爱德蒙开始说话了，但伦恩国王打断了他的话。

“请陛下允许我插一句，”国王伦恩对爱德蒙说道，“不要这样。”然后，他转过来对拉巴达什说道：“殿下，如果你曾在一个星期前提出挑战书，我就会保证：在国王爱德蒙的国土内，上至至尊王，下至最小的会说人话的耗子，谁也不会拒绝你的请求。然而，你在和平时期，挑战书也不送一份，就进攻我们的安瓦德城堡，你的行为证明你自己不是什么真正的武士，而是个奸贼，是个只配由刽子手来鞭打的家伙，不配由任何高贵的人持刀与之交锋。把他带下去，把他绑起来，带他到城里去，等我们公布了我们欢乐的大喜事以后再说。”

强壮的手从拉巴达什手里夺走了他的剑，他被带进城堡里去了，他叫喊着，威吓着，咒骂着，甚至大号大哭着。因为，尽管他能面对严刑拷打，却受不了人们的嘲弄耻笑。在塔什班城，人人都是严肃认真地对待他的。

就在这个时候，科林向沙斯塔跑来，抓住他的手，开始拖着他向国王走去。“他在这儿了，父亲，他在这儿了。”科林大声说道。

“呀，你还是到这儿来了，”国王用一种十分粗暴的声音说道，“而且压根不听话，竟参加了战斗。一个叫父亲担忧心碎的孩子啊。以你这般年纪，屁股后插根棍棒要比手中拿把剑合适得多。哈哈！”但包括科林在内，人人都看得出国王十分以沙斯塔自豪。

“陛下，对不起，别再责备他了，”达兰勋爵说道，“如果他不继承你的英雄气概的话，殿下就不可能是你的儿子了。如果他应该为相反的错误而受责备的话，那就会使陛下更加伤心了。”

“行了，行了，”国王咕咕哝哝地说道，“我们这一回就放过他吧。现在……”

继之而来的事情使沙斯塔感到的惊讶，丝毫不亚于他生平遭遇到的任何事情。他发觉国王伦恩突然像熊一样把他紧紧抱住，亲吻他的双颊。然后国王把他重新放下，说道：“孩子们一起站在这儿吧，让朝廷上的人都来看看你们。昂起你们的头来。现在，先生们，瞧瞧他们两个人吧。还有什么人会有什么怀疑吗？”

而沙斯塔依旧不明白：为什么人人都目不转睛地瞧着他和科林？这一切欢呼又是怎么一回事呢？

14

布里怎样变成一匹聪明的马儿

现在我们必须回过来说说阿拉维斯和马儿们了。隐士注视着他的池水，能够告诉她们沙斯塔并没给杀死，或是甚至没受重伤，因为他看见他站了起来，看见他受到国王伦恩慈爱的接待。但因为他只能看，却听不见，他就不知道什么人正在说些什么话，而且，一旦战斗停止，谈话开始，也就不值得再往池水里张望了。

第二天早晨，隐士还在屋子里时，她们三个讨论起下一步该怎么办来了。

“这种生活，我觉得已经过够了，”赫温说，“隐士待我们很好，我自问确实十分感激他。但我整天吃呀吃的，一点运动也没有，正在胖得像匹供玩赏的小马驹了。让我们继续向纳尼亚前进吧。”

“啊，今天不走，女士，”布里说道，“我不喜欢匆匆忙忙的。再过几天，你看怎么样？”

“我必须首先看到沙斯塔，跟他告别——而且——而且向他道歉。”阿拉维斯说。

“确实应该如此！”布里十分热情地说道，“这正是我要说的意思。”

“啊，当然啦，”赫温说，“我料想他是在安瓦德，自然我们要去看看他，同他道别。但那是我们顺路就可以办到的。我们干吗不立刻就走呢？总而言之，我认为我们大家都想去的地方就是纳尼亚。”

“我看是这样。”阿拉维斯说道。她正开始考虑她到达纳尼亚时究竟要做什么事情，同时感到有点儿寂寞。

“当然，当然，”布里急忙说道，“然而无需急急忙忙的啊，如果你了解我心里的意思的话。”

“不，我不了解你的意思，”赫温说，“为什么你不想走呢？”

“呣——呣——呣，布罗——呼，”布里含含糊糊地说道，“呀，你不明白吗，女士——这是个重要时机——回到自己的祖国——进入社交界——最高尚的社交界——给人一个好印象，是非常重要的——然而我们看上去还没恢复本来面目，是不是？”

赫温爆发出一阵马儿的哈哈大笑。“布里，你考虑的是你的尾巴！现在我完全明白了。你想等到你的尾巴重新长出来！而我们甚至并不知道，在纳尼亚马儿是否留长尾巴呢。布里啊，确确实实，你虚荣心很强，就跟那位塔什班城里的泰克希娜一模一样。”

“你真憨，布里。”阿拉维斯说。

“凭狮王的鬃毛起誓，我丝毫不是泰克希娜那种人物，”布里愤愤地说道，“我对我自己，对我的马儿伙伴，我抱有一种恰如其分的尊重，如此而已。”

“布里，”阿拉维斯说，她对割短尾巴的事不太感兴趣，“我好久以来一直想问你一些事情。为什么你不断地‘凭狮子’、‘凭狮子的鬃毛’起誓赌咒？我竟以为你憎恨狮子哩。”

“我是憎恨狮子的，”布里答道，“但我说起狮子时，当然是指阿斯兰，纳尼亚的伟大救星，是它把女巫和冬天驱逐的。所有纳尼亚人都是以阿斯兰起誓的。”

“然而，它是头狮子吗？”

“不，不，当然不是。”布里用颇为惊惶的声调说道。

“在塔什班，所有的故事都说它是狮子。”阿拉维斯说道，“如果它不是一头狮子，你又干吗称它为狮子呢？”

“以你这般年龄，是很难搞明白的，”布里说，“我离开纳尼亚时，只不过是匹未满一岁的小驹子，所以我自己也搞不大明白。”

（布里说这话时是背对着绿色墙垣的，其他两位则面对着布里。布里半闭着眼睛，以一种长辈的口气说着话儿，所以它没看见赫温和阿拉维斯脸上表情的变化。她们张大嘴巴、睁大眼睛，是大有理由的，因为布里说话时，她们看见一头巨大的狮子从墙外蹿起来，稳稳地落在绿色墙头上；跟她们见过的任何狮子比起来，它只是颜色黄得更加发亮发光，躯体更加粗壮，更加美丽，也更加令人害怕。它立刻跳进墙里，开始从背后走近布里。它压根儿没有弄出什么声音来。赫温和阿拉维斯吓得什么声音也发不出来了，仿佛冻僵了似的。）

“毫无疑问，”布里继续说道，“人家把它当做一头狮子讲起它时，他们的意思不过是指它强壮如一头狮子，或者（当然是对我们的敌人而言）凶猛如一头狮子；或者是诸如此类的意思。阿拉维斯，哪怕是像你这样的一个小姑娘，也必须留神啊，你若认为它是头真正的狮子，那就是荒谬绝伦了。确实会失礼失敬哩。如果它是头狮子，那么，它就同我们其他的马儿一样，非得是兽类不可了。呃！”（说到这儿，布里开始哈哈大笑。）“如果它是头狮子，它就得生着四只脚爪，一条尾巴，还有胡子！……阿艾伊，呜，嗬——嗬！救命呀！”

因为恰巧在布里说到“胡子”两字时，阿斯兰的一根胡子竟然痒痒地触到了它的耳朵。布里像枝箭似的蹿到了围墙的另一边，然后转过身来；可是墙太高，它跳不过去，它没法儿逃得更远了。阿拉维斯和赫温都吓得往后退缩。大约有一秒钟光景，紧张得寂静无声。

接着，赫温虽然浑身发抖，却发出一声奇怪的低低的嘶鸣，跨着小步向狮子走过去。

“对不起，”赫温说，“你是那么美丽。你不妨把我吃掉，如果你想吃的话。我宁可早点被你吃掉，而不愿由别的什么人来喂我。”

“亲爱的女儿，”阿斯兰说道，在它那翕动的天鹅绒般的鼻子上印了个狮子的亲吻，“我知道你不久就会来到我身边的。欢乐必将归你所有。”

然后它抬起头来，用更响亮的声音说话。

“布里啊，”它说，“你这可怜巴巴、骄傲自大、大吃一惊的马儿，靠拢我吧。再靠拢一点，我的儿子。不该胆大的，不要胆大妄为。你摸摸我。闻闻我。这儿是我的脚爪，这儿是我的尾巴，这些是我的胡子。我是一头真正的野兽。”

“阿斯兰，”布里用一种颤抖的声调说道，“我担心我必定是个地道的傻瓜。”

“马儿在仍然年轻时明白这个道理，是幸福的。人也一样。靠拢来吧，我的女儿阿拉维斯，瞧！我的脚爪像天鹅绒一般。这一次你不会被抓伤的。”

“先生，这一次吗？”阿拉维斯说道。

“上一次抓伤你的，就是我，”阿斯兰说，“我是你在整个旅途中碰到的惟一一头狮子。你可知道，为什么我抓伤你？”

“不知道，先生。”

“你背上的伤痕，皮破对皮破，疼痛对疼痛，血痕对血痕，跟你后母女奴背上的鞭痕是相对应的，因为你叫她吃了蒙汗药沉睡，害她挨打。”

“是的，先生。对不起——”

“再问吧，我亲爱的。”阿斯兰说。

“因为我捉弄得她睡熟了，她还会受到其他伤害吗？”

“孩子，”狮子说道，“我要告诉你的，是你自己的故事，不是那女奴的。我对哪一个人都是只讲他自己的故事。”然后它就摇摇头，改用比较轻快的声调说话。

“小家伙，高兴起来吧，”它说，“我们不久会重新见面的。然而，在此之前，你将有另一个客人来访。”于是它一跳便蹿上墙头，消失了，她们看不见它了。

说也奇怪，阿斯兰走了以后，她们都无意在背后互相谈论它。她们大家都慢慢地走开去了，走到宁静的草地上不同的角落里去了，独自在那儿蹀躞，沉思又沉思。

半个钟头以后，两匹马儿被叫到屋子后面去吃些隐士为它们准备好的好东西，而阿拉维斯仍在散步、思索，大门外一阵喇叭声吓了她一跳。

“门外是谁啊？”阿拉维斯说。

“阿钦兰的王子科奥殿下。”有个声音在门外说道。

阿拉维斯拔掉门闩，打开大门，稍稍退后一点儿，让陌生人进来。

两个持戟士卒先走进门来，在入口处的两旁站岗。跟着进来的是个传令官，还有号手。

“阿钦兰的王子科奥殿下要接见阿拉维斯女士。”传令官说道。然后他和号手退到一边，鞠躬，兵士敬礼，王子本人进门来了。他所有的随从都退了出去，随手把大门关上。

王子鞠躬，就一位王子而言，这是个笨拙的鞠躬。阿拉维斯按照卡乐门的方式行礼（压根儿跟我们的屈膝礼不一样），当然，她行的礼中规中矩、像模像样，因为父母教过她怎样行礼。然后她抬起头来，瞧瞧这位王子是何等样人。

她看到他不过是个毛孩子。他没戴帽子，漂亮的金发上裹了一条薄薄的黄金带子，不过一根铁丝那么厚。他的紧身短外衣是白麻布做的，细洁得像手绢儿一样，所以明显地映出了里边儿鲜亮的红色内衣。他那按在宝剑珐琅柄上的左手外面裹着绷带。

阿拉维斯再次凝视着他的脸，这才吁出一口气，说道：“呀！你是沙斯塔啊！”

沙斯塔立刻涨得满脸通红，赶快说道，“你听我说，阿拉维斯，我真希望你不要认为我这副打扮（以及号手等等的这种排场）是为了使你印象深刻，或是显得我与众不同，或诸如此类的摆阔炫耀。因为我倒宁可穿着我的旧衣服来见你，但旧衣服现在已经被烧掉了，而且我的父亲说——”

“你的父亲？”阿拉维斯说。

“国王伦恩显然是我的父亲，”沙斯塔说道，“我确实应该猜得到的。科林是那么像我。你瞧，我们是孪生兄弟。啊，我的名字不叫沙斯塔，我叫科奥。”

“科奥这名字，比沙斯塔好。”阿拉维斯说。

“在阿钦兰，兄弟们的名字是这样的，”沙斯塔（或者是王子科奥，现在我们必须这样称呼他了）说道，“例如达尔和达兰，科尔和科临，依此类推。”

“沙斯塔——我心里想说的是科奥，”阿拉维斯说道，“不，你别说话。有些事情我得立刻说出来。我很抱歉，我曾经是一头蠢猪。但在知道你是王子之前，我已经改变了，说老实话：你跑回来对抗狮子时，我真的改变了。”

“那狮子，压根儿不是真的要杀死你。”科奥说。

“我知道，”阿拉维斯点点头说道。彼此都看出对方了解阿斯兰时，有好一会儿，两个人变得沉默无言、严肃庄重。

阿拉维斯突然记起科奥裹着绷带的手。“啊呀！”她大声叫道，“我竟忘记了！你参加了战斗。这是受的伤吗？”

“不过擦破一点皮。”科奥说道，第一次用了王公大臣的口气。但一会儿后他哈哈大笑着说道，“如果你想知道真相，那就压根儿不算是正式受伤。我只不过是在指关节上擦掉了皮，没有接近过战场的任何笨拙的傻瓜，都会这样受伤的。”

“可你毕竟是参加了战斗，”阿拉维斯说，“这必定是了不得、不得了的。”

“压根儿不像我原先想像的那样。”科奥说。

“但沙——我本来想说科奥——关于国王伦恩和他怎样发现你是谁的事，你还一点儿也没有跟我谈起呢。”

“好吧，让我们坐下来谈，”科奥说，“因为这是很长的故事。顺便说一句，父亲是个绝对的好心人。发现他是我的父亲，哪怕他不是个国王，我也会同样高兴的；尽管教育和其他种种可怕的事情都要逼到我头上来了。但你要听的是故事。哦，原来科林和我是孪生兄弟。很明显，我们俩出生后一个星期，他们就把我们带到纳尼亚一个年迈聪明的人头马家里，去接受祝福什么的。却说这怪物是个预言家，就像许多优秀的人头马那样。昨天的战斗中也有几个人头马，确是最最杰出的人物；但我跟它们在一起还不能感到十分自在。我说，阿拉维斯，在这些北方国家里，我们有许多东西必须习惯起来才好。”

“是的，有好多哩，”阿拉维斯说道，“可你把故事讲下去啊！”

“哦，一看见科林和我，这怪物似乎瞧着我说道：有朝一日，这孩子将把阿钦兰从它从未遇到过的致命危险中拯救出来。所以，我的父亲和母亲当然十分高兴。然而，有个在场的人并不高兴。这是个叫做巴尔勋爵的家伙，他曾经做过我父亲手下的大法官。显然他犯了些错误——贪污渎职或者类似这样的词儿——这段情节我不大明白——父亲不得不解除他的职务，但没有对他作其他惩罚，仍旧允许他继续生活在阿钦兰。但他必定是尽可能为非作歹，因为后来查明，他曾经接受蒂斯罗克的收买，把许多秘密情报送到了塔什班城。所以，他一听见我将把阿钦兰从极大的危险中拯救出来，就下定决心必须把我除掉。接着，他成功地绑架了我（我不知道究竟怎样绑架的），骑马沿着旋箭河跑往海滩。他把一切都准备好了，有一条由他的随从们控制的船在那儿等他，他带着我上船出海去了。但我父亲风闻其事，虽然不太及时，还是尽力地追赶。父亲到达海滩时，巴尔勋爵已经出海，但还望得见。父亲在二十分钟之内便跳上了他的一艘战舰。

“这必定是一场了不得的跟踪追击。他们追赶巴尔的大帆船六天六夜，第七天逼得他交战。这是一次伟大的海战（昨儿晚上我听到人家讲了许许多多），从上午十点钟一直打到日落西山。我们的士卒终于占领了那条大帆船。但我不在那船上。巴尔勋爵本人在战斗中给杀死了。但他手下的一个人说，那天大清早，他刚发觉他必将被追上时，便把我交给了一个武士，用一只小艇把我们两人送走了。那小艇永远没有人再见到过。但是，当然啰，阿斯兰（看来一切故事的背后都有阿斯兰在安排哩）把它推到海滩上恰当的地方，以便阿什伊什把我捡起来的，便是这只小艇。我希望我能知道这位武士的姓名，因为他为保住我的生命，自己忍饥挨饿，把一切留给我吃。”

“我想，阿斯兰会说，这一部分是另一个人的故事了。”阿拉维斯说。

“我倒忘了这一点了。”科奥说。

“我很想知道这预言是怎样成为事实的，”阿拉维斯说道，“阿钦兰碰到的究竟是什么大危险，需要你去把它拯救出来？”

“哦，哦，”科奥相当尴尬地说道，“他们好像认为我已经救了阿钦兰了。”

阿拉维斯双手鼓掌。“噢，当然啦！”她说道，“我多么愚蠢。你多么了不起啊！拉巴达什带着他的二百人马渡过旋箭河，而你还没有把讯息送到，那时候阿钦兰的危险大到了极点。你不觉得自豪吗？”

“我认为我觉得有点儿惶恐。”科奥说。

“现在你将在安瓦德生活下去了。”阿拉维斯若有所思地说道。

“啊！”科奥说道，“我几乎把我上这儿来的使命忘了。父亲要你来和我们住在一起。他说他宫廷里（他们都管它叫宫廷，我不知道为什么）自从母亲去世以来，一直没有女士。来吧，阿拉维斯。你会喜欢父亲——和科林的。他们不像我；他们都是合乎体统地培养大的。你无需害怕……”

“噢，别说了，”阿拉维斯说，“不然我们真要打架了。当然我会来的。”

“现在让我们去看看马儿。”科奥说。

布里和科奥的相见，十分了得，也十分快乐，布里仍处于压抑状态，但它同意立刻向安瓦德出发：它同赫温将在翌日经由安瓦德进入纳尼亚境内。四个人马一齐跟隐士依依告别，答应不久再来拜望他。上午过了一半，他们就上路了。马儿们料想阿拉维斯和科奥会乘马走的，但科奥解释道，除非遇到人人必须尽其所能地贡献最大力量的战争，不论在纳尼亚或阿钦兰，没有一个人会梦想骑那会说人话的马儿代步的。

这事再次提醒布里：它对纳尼亚的风俗习惯知道得那么少，很可能犯可怕的错误。所以，赫温做着好梦一路走去时，布里变得每走一步便越发忐忑不安和忸怩不自然了。

“布里，振作起来吧，”科奥说道，“我的处境远比你难熬哩。我要去接受教育，我要去学习读书、写字、纹章、跳舞、历史、音乐等等，而你可以在纳尼亚的小山上驰骋、打滚，玩个心满意足啊。”

“但这正好是个问题，”布里咕哝道，“说人话的马儿打滚吗？如果它们不打滚呢？要放弃打滚，我可受不了。赫温，你怎么想呢？”

“我无论如何要打滚的，”赫温说道，“你是否打滚，我看它们随便哪一个都不会介意的。”

“我们走近城堡了吗？”布里对科奥说道。

“转过下一个弯就是了。”王子道。

“好吧，”布里说，“现在我要好好地打一个滚儿，也许这是最后一次打滚了。请等我一会儿。”

五分钟后，布里打过滚从地上站起来了，剧烈地喷着鼻息，浑身都是斑斑点点的羊齿植物。

“现在我准备好了，”布里用一种深沉的愁闷声调说道，“科奥王子，带路吧。走向纳尼亚和北方。”

然而，布里的神情，与其说是一个长期流落他乡的俘虏回到了它的家乡和自由天地，不如说是一匹马儿走向它的殡葬地。

15

可笑的拉巴达什

道路再转一个弯，他们便出了树林；越过苍翠的连片草地，就望得见安瓦德的城堡了。城堡的背后是高高的、林木森森的山脊，给它挡住了北风。城堡很古老，用暖红棕色石头砌成。

他们还没有走到城门口，国王伦恩就出来迎接他们了，看上去压根儿不像阿拉维斯心目中的国王，竟穿着旧衣服中最旧的衣服哩；因为他刚带着他的猎人们巡视他的养狗场回来，才歇一歇洗洗他那碰过狗儿的手。但他搀着阿拉维斯的手向她鞠躬致意时，其风度之庄严堂皇，就足以表明他是个皇帝了。

“小姐，”他说，“我们由衷地欢迎你。如果我亲爱的妻子还健在，我们能让你更加兴高采烈，但现在是心有余而力不足了。我感到惋惜：你遭到了不幸，被令尊逐出家庭，这对你必然是件伤心事。我的儿子科奥跟我讲过你们一起经历的惊险事件和你的种种勇敢的行为。”

“一切勇敢的行为都是他干出来的，陛下，”阿拉维斯说道，“他还冲到一头狮子跟前去救我哩。”

“啊，那是怎么一回事？”国王伦恩说，面露喜色，“那段故事我没听他说过呀。”

于是阿拉维斯便讲了这段故事。科奥原是很想让人知道这故事的，尽管他觉得不好意思由他自己讲出来；听她讲时，他却并不像原来期待的那样欣赏这件事了，倒觉得愚蠢可笑。可他的父亲确实十分欣赏，在接连几个星期里一直讲给许多人听，弄得科奥但愿这件事从来没有发生过。

国王随即转向赫温和布里，对待它们像对待阿拉维斯一样客气，问起它们许多问题：它们的家庭，被俘之前住在纳尼亚的什么地方。马儿们张口结舌，说不出话来，因为它们还不习惯于人们平等地跟它们说话——当然是指大人们。对阿拉维斯和科奥这样的孩子，它们倒不拘束。

露茜女王不久从城堡里出来，跟他们待在一起，国王伦恩对阿拉维斯说，“我亲爱的，我们家的一位可爱的朋友来了，她已经在关心你那居室的安排；由她经管，要比由我来办好得多。”

“你愿意来看看吗？”露茜亲吻阿拉维斯，说道。她们立刻互相喜欢起对方来了，不久就一同走开去，谈起阿拉维斯的寝室和梳妆室，谈起要给阿拉维斯穿的衣服，以及姑娘们在这种场合总要谈起的诸如此类的事情。

他们在阳台上吃午饭（冷盘杂鸟、冷盘野味馅饼、酒、面包、干酪），饭后，国王伦恩皱皱眉头，叹了一口气，说道：“嗨！我的朋友们，我们手里还有个丑角拉巴达什，必须决定如何处理他才好。”

露茜正坐在国王的右边，阿拉维斯坐在他的左边。国王爱德蒙坐在桌子的一头，达兰勋爵坐在面对他的另一头。达尔、珀里丹、科奥、科林都坐在国王的同一边。

“陛下完全有权利砍掉他的脑袋，”珀里丹说，“他进行这样的突然袭击，就把他自己放到跟刺客相同的地位上了。”

“这是十分确实的，”爱德蒙说，“但即使是奸细也可以改过。我就认识一个改邪归正的奸细。”他显得深思熟虑。

“杀掉拉巴达什就接近于向蒂斯罗克挑动战争。”达兰说道。

“蒂斯罗克算什么，”国王伦恩说道，“他的力量在于人多势众，而人多就永远穿越不了大沙漠。但我没有冷酷地杀人的心肠，哪怕他是个奸细。在战场上砍断他的喉管我倒十分心安理得：但这是截然不同的。”

“我的建议是，”露茜说，“陛下再给他一次考验。可以放他自由回去，如果他作出严格的承诺，保证将来光明磊落，公平待人。说不定他会信守诺言的。”

“姐姐，也许无尾猿会变得诚实的吧。”爱德蒙说，“不过，凭狮子起誓，如果他再破坏诺言，那么到那时，我们任何人都可以在干净利落的战争中砍掉他的脑袋。”

“试试看吧，”国王说，然后吩咐侍从道，“朋友，把俘虏带上来。”

戴着铁链的拉巴达什给带了上来。瞧瞧他的模样，任何人都会猜想他是在一个喧闹的地牢里过了一夜，既没有食物，又没有水喝；事实上他却是给关在一个十分舒服的房间里，供他吃的伙食也十分精美。但因为他生气得非常厉害，晚饭一点也不肯吃，又整夜顿足、吼叫、咒骂，现在看上去自然不是他最好的模样儿了。

“无需多说，殿下也知道，”国王伦恩说道，“根据国家的法律，根据审慎的政策的种种理由，我们有权要求砍掉你的脑袋，正如一个人有权处置另一个不共戴天的敌人一样。然而，考虑到你年纪还轻，天性粗暴，缺少各种教养和礼貌，凡此无疑都是在一个暴君和奴隶的国度里沾染上的恶习，我们倾向于不加害于你，释放你回家，条件是：第一……”

“我咒骂你这野蛮的狗东西！”拉巴达什唾沫四溅地嚷嚷道，“你以为我会听你的条件吗？呸！你大谈天性和其他不知所云的话。对一个用链条束缚着的人说这种话是容易的，哼！解开这些该死的链条，给我一把剑，那时，你们哪一个敢来和我辩论！”

几乎所有的王子贵族都跳了起来，科林大声叫道：

“父王！我能揍他吗？行吗？”

“安静下来！陛下，各位王子贵族！”国王伦恩说道，“难道我们没有涵养到如此地步，一个混蛋的辱骂就把我们激怒了？坐下，科林，不然你就离开桌子吧。我再次要求殿下仔细听听我们的条件。”

“我不听外邦人和术士提出的条件，”拉巴达什说道，“你们没有一个人敢碰我脑袋上的一根头发，你们对我的种种侮辱，将要用纳尼亚人和阿钦兰人的血海来偿还，蒂斯罗克的报复是可怕的，哪怕现在也是可怕的。如果杀了我，那么，在北方土地上的焚烧和折磨之灾，将成为今后一千年震惊世界的故事。小心！小心！小心！小心塔什神的雷霆从天上打下来！”

“雷霆会中途在钩子上钩住吗？”科林问道。

“你太不像话了，科林，”国王说，“永远别取笑奚落人，除非对方比你强大；对方比你强时，那就悉听尊便了。”

“你这愚蠢的拉巴达什啊。”露茜叹息道。

接下来的刹那间，科奥心中纳罕：为什么坐在桌子旁的所有人都站起来了，而且都一动也不动地站在那儿。当然，他自己也站起来了。这时他才明白了其中的缘故。阿斯兰跟他们在一起，虽然没有一个人看见它进来。狮子巨大的躯体在拉巴达什和谴责他的人们之间轻轻地来回踱步时，拉巴达什吃了一惊。

“拉巴达什，”阿斯兰说道，“别掉以轻心了。你的厄运近在眼前，但你仍旧可以避免厄运的。忘掉你的骄傲（你有什么可骄傲的？），忘掉你的愤怒（有谁损害你来着？），接受这些善良的国王们的怜悯慈悲吧。”

拉巴达什这时转动眼珠，张开嘴巴，像鲨鱼似的发出可怕而沉闷的露齿狞笑，上下摆动着耳朵（如果肯费工夫，任何人都能学会的）。从前在卡乐门他这一套总是很奏效的。他做这鬼脸时，最勇敢的人发抖，普普通通的人倒在地上，神经过敏的人往往昏厥过去。然而拉巴达什不曾认识到的事实是：老百姓知道，你只要下个命令便可立刻把他们活活煮死，要吓唬他们自然是容易的。在阿钦兰，扮鬼脸看来压根儿不惊人；事实上，露茜只觉得拉巴达什大概快要生病了。

“魔鬼！魔鬼！魔鬼！”王子尖声叫道，“我知道你。你是纳尼亚的邪恶的魔王。你是众神的仇敌。可怕的幽灵，叫你知道我是谁吧。我是毫不宽容、不可抗拒的塔什神的后裔。塔什神的诅咒落在你头上。蝎子形的闪电将像雨点般打在你身上。纳尼亚的火山将化为尘土……”

“留点儿神，拉巴达什，”阿斯兰平静地说道，“厄运如今更逼近了，厄运就在门外，厄运拔掉门闩了。”

“让天塌下来吧，”拉巴达什尖声叫道，“让地裂开来吧！让血与火湮没这世界吧！但是我管保决不断念、罢休，我一定要揪住那狗东西的女儿，揪住那外邦女王的头发，把她拖到我的王宫里去……”

“时辰到了。”阿斯兰说道，拉巴达什看到人人都开始哈哈大笑，心里惶恐之至。

他们没法儿不笑。拉巴达什一直在上下摆动着耳朵，阿斯兰刚说“时辰到了”，那双耳朵便开始变化。耳朵愈变愈长、愈尖，不久耳朵上又长满了灰色的毛。大伙正琢磨着以前在什么地方见过这样的耳朵时，拉巴达什的脸也开始变化了。脸变得长了，顶上变厚了，眼睛变大了，鼻子陷进脸蛋里去了（不然的话，就是脸鼓出来了，变成全是鼻子了），脸上到处都是毛。他的胳膊变长，在前边儿垂了下来，直至双手碰到地面：不过现在不是手了，而是蹄子了。他四脚落地站在那儿，他身上的衣服也消失了，人人哈哈大笑，愈笑愈响（他们不由自主地要笑），因为当初的拉巴达什如今干干脆脆地变成一头驴子。可怕的是，他那人的语言比他那人的形体仅仅多保留了一会儿时间，当他认识到他身上所发生的变化时，他叫喊道：

“啊，不要变成一头驴子！可怜可怜吧。哪怕是变成一匹马——哪怕是——匹马——嗯——啊——霍——伊赫——奥赫，伊赫——奥赫。”语言便消失在驴叫声里了。

“拉巴达什，你听着。”阿斯兰说道，“公正的审判里将包含着大慈大悲。你将来不会永远是头驴子的。”

阿斯兰说这话的过程中，驴子把它的耳朵向前扭过来静听——这副形状也十分可笑，大家越发哈哈大笑了。他们竭力克制，可是克制不了。

“你曾诉之于塔什神，”阿斯兰说道，“你将在塔什神的神庙里得到康复。今年伟大的秋节里，你必须站在塔什班城塔什神的祭台跟前，当着全部塔什班人的面，你那驴子的形体将从你身上脱落，大家都将认出你就是王子拉巴达什。然而，在你活着的时候，如果你走到离塔什班城伟大神庙十英里之外的地方，你就会立刻重新变成你现在那副模样。若你第二次变成驴子，那就万劫不复了。”

短短的一阵寂静，然后他们都动弹起来了，你看我我看你，倒像刚从睡梦中醒来似的。阿斯兰走了。但空中草上留有一道光华，他们的心里留有一股欢欣，凡此都向他们保证阿斯兰可不是梦幻；而且，无论如何，他们眼前就有一头驴子。

国王伦恩是男子汉中最为慈悲心肠的，眼见他的敌人处于这种懊悔不迭的境地，他把愤怒全都忘记了。

“殿下，”他说道，“事情弄到这般极端的地步，我确实深感遗憾。殿下亲眼目睹，这一点儿也不是我们搞出来的。我们当然乐于提供船只，送殿下回塔什班去，按照阿斯兰的处方，求得康复。殿下将得到眼前你的处境所容许的各种舒舒服服的招待：最好的装载牲口的船——最新鲜的胡萝卜和野蓟……”

但震耳欲聋的一声驴叫，以及瞄准警卫的狠狠一脚，清清楚楚地证明：这些好心的优待，对方可毫不领情。

这儿，为了不再提到他，我还是把拉巴达什的故事讲完为好。他（或是它）被及时用船送回塔什班城，并在伟大的秋节被送进塔什神的神庙，于是重新变成了一个人。当然有四五千人亲眼目睹了他的这一变化，这件事就没法儿秘而不宣了。老蒂斯罗克去世了，拉巴达什便代替他做了蒂斯罗克，他变成了有史以来卡乐门最和平的蒂斯罗克。这是因为他不敢跑到离塔什班城十英里以外的地方；他就没法儿亲自参加战争，而他又不愿意让他手下的泰坎们在损害他权势的条件下从战争中获得声誉，因为蒂斯罗克们都是这样被推翻的。但尽管他的动机是自私自利的，却使卡乐门周围的小国家日子过得舒服多了。他自己的老百姓可从来没有忘记他曾经是一头驴子。在他统治期间，当着他的面，人们称他为“和平缔造者”，但在他死后以及在他背后，人们称他为“可笑的拉巴达什”，如果你在一本优秀的《卡乐门史》里（不妨到地方图书馆去找一下）查找他的事迹，你就会发现他是被列在“可笑的拉巴达什”那个条目下的。直到今天，在卡乐门的学校里，如果你做了什么异乎寻常地愚蠢的事情，你就很可能被称为“第二个拉巴达什”。

在此期间，在安瓦德城里人人都十分高兴，拉巴达什已经遣送回去了，城里真正的赏心乐事便开始了。那是个盛大的宴会，当天晚上在城堡前的草坪上举行，张着几十盏灯，灯光同月光互相映辉。酒像水一样流淌。人们讲着故事，说着笑话，然后是一片寂静，国王的诗人带着两个提琴手走进人们围成的圈子中央。阿拉维斯和科奥原是准备忍受沉闷无聊的，因为他们懂得的诗篇不过是卡乐门的那种诗歌，而现在才知道诗歌是什么玩艺儿了。但提琴刚演奏开头的曲调，就仿佛有个火箭飞进了他们的头脑里，诗人唱着伟大的古老歌谣，关于漂亮的奥尔文的歌谣，关于他怎样和巨人皮尔作战，把巨人变成了石头（这就是皮尔峰的来历——一个生着两个脑袋的巨人），并且赢得莉尔恩小姐做他的新娘。歌谣唱完时，他们真希望诗人重新再唱一遍。布里虽然不会唱，却讲了扎林德雷之战的故事。露茜又讲了大衣柜以及她和国王爱德蒙、女王苏珊以及至尊王彼得最初进入纳尼亚的故事。除开阿拉维斯和科奥，他们大家都听她讲过好几遍了，但他们都想再听一遍。

不久，国王伦恩说话了，他迟早总要说的：该是年轻人上床睡觉的时候了。“明天，科奥，”他补充道，“你要同我一起去视察所有的城堡，瞧瞧城堡的状况，判明它的一切力量和弱点：因为我离开人世的时候，城堡就属于你、由你来保卫了。”

“但父王，那时科林就是国王了。”

“不，孩子，”国王伦恩说道，“你是我的继承人。王冠要传给你的。”

“但我不要王冠，”科奥说，“我倒宁可……”

“这不是你要不要的问题，科奥，也不是我要不要的问题。这是法律所规定的。”

“但如果我们是孪生兄弟，我们必定是同年的啊。”

“不然，”国王哈哈笑着说道，“必定有一个先生出来的。你是科林的哥哥，比他早生足足三十分钟。你也比他好，让我们希望如此，尽管那也不是什么了不得的优势。”他瞧着科林，眼睛里闪闪发亮。

“但父王，你不能让你所喜欢的儿子做下一任国王吗？”

“不能。国王是受法律制约的，因为规定他做国王的是法律。国王无权脱离王冠，正如哨兵无权脱离岗位一样。”

“天啊，”科奥说，“我压根儿不要做国王。科林呀——我万分诚惶诚恐地感到抱歉，我做梦也没有想到我的出现，会把你从你的王国里排挤出去啊。”

“乌拉！乌拉！”科林说道，“我不用做国王了，我不用做国王了。我将永远做个王子。做王子最开心最好玩。”

“科奥啊，你兄弟只知道玩儿，更正确的道理是，”国王伦恩说，“做一个国王，就是意味着在每次拼命的战斗中身先士卒，在每次亡命的退却中沉着殿后，国土上出现饥馑的时候（歉收的年头必定时常要闹饥荒的），倒要衣服穿得好一点，对着不够吃饱的饭食，也要比你国土上任何人笑得更响亮。”

两个孩子到楼上去睡觉时，科奥又问科林，这事是否就这么定了，就毫无办法可想了。科林说：

“如果你再提到这件事，我就——我就把你打倒在地。”

故事结束时最好交代一下：从此以后，两兄弟之间就永远再也没有什么意见分歧了；但我担心这样讲是不确实的。事实上他们俩时常吵架打架，就像任何两个孩子一样，而他俩的打架（如果真的打起来了），结果总是科奥被打倒在地。他们俩长大成人时，都成了武士，虽然科奥在战斗中是更加凶猛的，然而，作为拳击手，科奥也好，北方各国里的任何英雄好汉也好，都不能同科林媲美。他便是如此这般获得了“霹雳拳击手科林”的美名的，便是如此这般压倒了暴风雨峰“堕落的熊”，建立了巨大功勋的。它原来确实是头会说人话的熊，后来却倒退到野熊的习性和习惯中去了。在山中积雪的一个冬日里，科林攀登暴风雨峰纳尼亚一侧，走到熊窝那儿，计时器也不带，挥拳猛击那熊三十三个回合。打到后来，那熊眼睛发黑，看也没法儿看了，于是那熊又被改变过来了。

阿拉维斯和科奥也吵了许多架（我担心甚至打过架哩），但他们总是又言归于好。好几年以后，他们都长大成人了，他们还是习惯于吵架又重新和好，所以他们干脆就结了婚，以求吵了又和好起来更加方便。国王伦恩去世后，他们便成了阿钦兰优秀的国王和王后；他俩所生的儿子伟大的拉姆，是阿钦兰历代国王中最著名的。布里和赫温都在纳尼亚幸福地活到了高龄，都结婚了，但它们并未结为夫妇。往往隔不了几个月，它们之中的一个或它们两个，总要小跑着经过关隘，来拜访它们的在安瓦德的老朋友。

Dedication

To David and Douglas Gresham

CHAPTER 1

How Shasta Set Out on his Travels

This is the story of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between,in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Narnia and his brother and his two sisters were King and Queens under him.

In those days,far south in Calormen on a little creek of the sea,there lived a poor fisherman called Arsheesh,and with him there lived a boy who called him Father.The boy's name was Shasta.On most days Arsheesh went out in his boat to fish in the morning,and in the afternoon he harnessed his donkey to a cart and loaded the cart with fish and went a mile or so southward to the village to sell it.If it had sold well he would come home in a moderately good temper and say nothing to Shasta,but if it had sold badly he would find fault with him and perhaps beat him.There was always something to find fault with for Shasta had plenty of work to do,mending and washing the nets,cooking the supper,and cleaning the cottage in which they both lived.

Shasta was not at all interested in anything that lay south of his home because he had once or twice been to the village with Arsheesh and he knew that there was nothing very interesting there.In the village he only met other men who were just like his father – men with long,dirty robes,and wooden shoes turned up at the toe,and turbans on their heads,and beards,talking to one another very slowly about things that sounded dull.But he was very interested in everything that lay to the North because no one ever went that way and he was never allowed to go there himself.When he was sitting out of doors mending the nets,and all alone,he would often look eagerly to the North.One could see nothing but a grassy slope running up to a level ridge and beyond that the sky with perhaps a few birds in it.

Sometimes if Arsheesh was there Shasta would say,“O my Father,what is there beyond the hill?” And then if the fisherman was in a bad temper he would box Shasta's ears and tell him to attend to his work.Or if he was in a peaceable mood he would say,“O my son,do not allow your mind to be distracted by idle questions.For one of the poets has said,'Application to business is the root of prosperity,but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering the ship of folly towards the rock of indigence'.”

Shasta thought that beyond the hill there must be some delightful secret which his father wished to hide from him.In reality,however,the fisherman talked like this because he didn't know what lay to the North.Neither did he care.He had a very practical mind.

One day there came from the South a stranger who was unlike any man that Shasta had seen before.He rode upon a strong dappled horse with flowing mane and tail,and his stirrups and bridle were inlaid with silver.The spike of a helmet projected from the middle of his silken turban and he wore a shirt of chain mail.By his side hung a curving scimitar；a round shield studded with bosses of brass hung at his back,and his right hand grasped a lance.His face was dark,but this did not surprise Shasta because all the people of Calormen are like that；what did surprise him was the man's beard which was dyed crimson,and curled and gleaming with scented oil.But Arsheesh knew by the gold on the stranger's bare arm that he was a Tarkaan or great lord,and he bowed kneeling before him till his beard touched the earth,and made signs to Shasta to kneel also.

The stranger demanded hospitality for the night which of course the fisherman dared not refuse.All the best they had was set before the Tarkaan for supper(and he didn't think much of it)and Shasta,as always happened when the fisherman had company,was given a hunk of bread and turned out of the cottage.On these occasions he usually slept with the donkey in its little thatched stable.But it was much too early to go to sleep yet,and Shasta,who had never learned that it is wrong to listen behind doors,sat down with his ear to a crack in the wooden wall of the cottage to hear what the grownups were talking about.And this is what he heard：

“And now,O my host,” said the Tarkaan,“I have a mind to buy that boy of yours.”

“O my master,” replied the fisherman(and Shasta knew by the wheedling tone the greedy look that was probably coming into his face as he said it),“what price could induce your servant,poor though he is,to sell into slavery his only child and his own flesh?Has not one of the poets said,'Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles'?”

“It is even so,” replied the guest dryly.“But another poet has likewise said,'He who attempts to deceive the judicious is already baring his own back for the scourge'.Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods.This boy is manifestly no son of yours,for your cheek is as black as mine but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North.”

“How well it was said,” answered the fisherman,“that Swords can be kept off with shields but the Eye of Wisdom pierces through every defence!Know then,O my formidable guest,that because of my extreme poverty I have never married and have no child.But in that same year in which the Tisroc(may he live for ever)began his august and beneficent reign,on a night when the moon was at her full,it pleased the gods to deprive me of my sleep.Therefore I arose from my bed in this hovel and went forth to the beach to refresh myself with looking upon the water and the moon and breathing the cool air.And presently I heard a noise as of oars coming to me across the water and then,as it were,a weak cry.And shortly after,the tide brought to the land a little boat in which there was nothing but a man lean with extreme hunger and thirst who seemed to have died but a few moments before(for he was still warm),and an empty water-skin,and a child,still living.'Doubtless,' said I,'these unfortunates have escaped from the wreck of a great ship,but by the admirable designs of the gods,the elder has starved himself to keep the child alive and has perished in sight of land.' Accordingly,remembering how the gods never fail to reward those who befriend the destitute,and being moved by compassion(for your servant is a man of tender heart)—”

“Leave out all these idle words in your own praise,” interrupted the Tarkaan.“It is enough to know that you took the child – and have had ten times the worth of his daily bread out of him in labour,as anyone can see.And now tell me at once what price you put on him,for I am wearied with your loquacity.”

“You yourself have wisely said,” answered Arsheesh,“that the boy's labour has been to me of inestimable value.This must be taken into account in fixing the price.For if I sell the boy I must undoubtedly either buy or hire another to do his work.”

“I'll give you fifteen crescents for him,” said the Tarkaan.

“Fifteen!” cried Arsheesh in a voice that was something between a whine and a scream.“Fifteen!For the prop of my old age and the delight of my eyes!Do not mock my grey beard,Tarkaan though you be.My price is seventy.”

At this point Shasta got up and tiptoed away.He had heard all he wanted,for he had often listened when men were bargaining in the village and knew how it was done.He was quite certain that Arsheesh would sell him in the end for something much more than fifteen crescents and much less than seventy,but that he and the Tarkaan would take hours in getting to an agreement.

You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel if we had just overheard our parents talking about selling us for slaves.For one thing,his life was already little better than slavery；for all he knew,the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to him than Arsheesh.For another,the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with excitement and with a sense of relief.He had often been uneasy because,try as he might,he had never been able to love the fisherman,and he knew that a boy ought to love his father.And now,apparently,he was no relation to Arsheesh at all.That took a great weight off his mind.“Why,I might be anyone!” he thought.“I might be the son of a Tarkaan myself – or the son of the Tisroc(may he live for ever)– or of a god!”

He was standing out in the grassy place before the cottage while he thought these things.Twilight was coming on apace and a star or two was already out,but the remains of the sunset could still be seen in the west.Not far away the stranger's horse,loosely tied to an iron ring in the wall of the donkey's stable,was grazing.Shasta strolled over to it and patted its neck.It went on tearing up the grass and took no notice of him.

Then another thought came into Shasta's mind.“I wonder what sort of a man that Tarkaan is,” he said out loud.“It would be splendid if he was kind.Some of the slaves in a great lord's house have next to nothing to do.They wear lovely clothes and eat meat every day.Perhaps he'd take me to the wars and I'd save his life in a battle and then he'd set me free and adopt me as his son and give me a palace and a chariot and a suit of armour.But then he might be a horrid cruel man.He might send me to work on the fields in chains.I wish I knew.How can I know?I bet this horse knows,if only he could tell me.”

The Horse had lifted its head.Shasta stroked its smooth-as-satin nose and said,“I wish you could talk,old fellow.”

And then for a second he thought he was dreaming,for quite distinctly,though in a low voice,the Horse said,“But I can.”

Shasta stared into its great eyes and his own grew almost as big,with astonishment.

“How ever did you learn to talk?”

“Hush!Not so loud,” replied the Horse.“Where I come from,nearly all the animals talk.”

“Wherever is that?” asked Shasta.

“Narnia,” answered the Horse.“The happy land of Narnia – Narnia of the heathery mountains and the thymy downs,Narnia of the many rivers,the plashing glens,the mossy caverns and the deep forests ringing with the hammers of the Dwarfs.Oh,the sweet air of Narnia!An hour's life there is better than a thousand years in Calormen.” It ended with a whinny that sounded very like a sigh.

“How did you get here?” said Shasta.

“Kidnapped,” said the Horse.“Or stolen,or captured – whichever you like to call it.I was only a foal at the time.My mother warned me not to range the southern slopes,into Archenland and beyond,but I wouldn't heed her.And by the Lion's Mane I have paid for my folly.All these years I have been a slave to humans,hiding my true nature and pretending to be dumb and witless like their horses.”

“Why didn't you tell them who you were?”

“Not such a fool,that's why.If they'd once found out I could talk they would have made a show of me at fairs and guarded me more carefully than ever.My last chance of escape would have been gone.”

“And why—” began Shasta,but the Horse interrupted him.

“Now look,” it said,“we mustn't waste time on idle questions.You want to know about my master the Tarkaan Anradin.Well,he's bad.Not too bad to me,for a war-horse costs too much to be treated very badly.But you'd be better lying dead tonight than go to be a human slave in his house tomorrow.”

“Then I'd better run away,” said Shasta,turning very pale.

“Yes,you had,” said the Horse.“But why not run away with me?”

“Are you going to run away too?” said Shasta.

“Yes,if you'll come with me,” answered the Horse.“This is the chance for both of us.You see,if I run away without a rider,everyone who sees me will say 'Stray horse' and be after me as quick as he can.With a rider I've a chance to get through.That's where you can help me.On the other hand,you can't get very far on those two silly legs of yours(what absurd legs humans have!)without being overtaken.But on me you can outdistance any other horse in this country.That's where I can help you.By the way,I suppose you know how to ride?”

“Oh yes,of course,” said Shasta.“At least,I've ridden the donkey.”

“Ridden the what?” retorted the Horse with extreme contempt.(At least,that is what he meant.Actually it came out in a sort of neigh – “Ridden the wha-ha-ha-ha-ha?” Talking horses always become more horsy in accent when they are angry.)

“In other words,” he continued,“you can't ride.That's a drawback.I'll have to teach you as we go along.If you can't ride,can you fall?”

“I suppose anyone can fall,” said Shasta.

“I mean can you fall and get up again without crying and mount again and fall again and yet not be afraid of falling?”

“I – I'll try,” said Shasta.

“Poor little beast,” said the Horse in a gentler tone.“I forget you're only a foal.We'll make a fine rider of you in time.And now – we mustn't start until those two in the hut are asleep.Meantime we can make our plans.My Tarkaan is on his way North to the great city,to Tashbaan itself and the court of the Tisroc—”

“I say,” put in Shasta in rather a shocked voice,“oughtn't you to say 'May he live for ever'?”

“Why?” asked the Horse.“I'm a free Narnian.And why should I talk slaves' and fools' talk?I don't want him to live for ever,and I know that he's not going to live for ever whether I want him to or not.And I can see you're from the free North too.No more of this Southern jargon between you and me!And now,back to our plans.As I said,my human was on his way North to Tashbaan.”

“Does that mean we'd better go to the South?”

“I think not,” said the Horse.“You see,he thinks I'm dumb and witless like his other horses.Now if I really were,the moment I got loose I'd go back home to my stable and paddock；back to his palace which is two days' journey South.That's where he'll look for me.He'd never dream of my going on North on my own.And anyway he will probably think that someone in the last village who saw him ride through has followed us to here and stolen me.”

“Oh,hurray!” said Shasta.“Then we'll go north.I've been longing to go to the North all my life.”

“Of course you have,” said the Horse.“That's because of the blood that's in you.I'm sure you're true Northern stock.But not too loud.I should think they'd be asleep soon now.”

“I'd better creep back and see,” suggested Shasta.

“That's a good idea,” said the Horse.“But take care you're not caught.”

It was a good deal darker now and very silent except for the sound of the waves on the beach,which Shasta hardly noticed because he had been hearing it day and night as long as he could remember.The cottage,as he approached it,showed no light.When he listened at the front there was no noise.When he went round to the only window,he could hear,after a second or two,the familiar noise of the old fisherman's squeaky snore.It was funny to think that if all went well he would never hear it again.Holding his breath and feeling a little bit sorry,but much less sorry than he was glad,Shasta glided away over the grass and went to the donkey's stable,groped along to a place he knew where the key was hidden,opened the door and found the Horse's saddle and bridle which had been locked up there for the night.He bent forward and kissed the donkey's nose.“I'm sorry we can't take you,” he said.

“There you are at last,” said the Horse when he got back to it.“I was beginning to wonder what had become of you.”

“I was getting your things out of the stable,”replied Shasta.“And now,can you tell me how to put them on?”

For the next few minutes Shasta was at work,very cautiously to avoid jingling,while the Horse said things like,“Get that girth a bit tighter” or,“You'll find a buckle lower down” or,“You'll need to shorten those stirrups a good bit.” When all was finished he said：

“Now；we've got to have reins for the look of the thing,but you won't be using them.Tie them to the saddle-bow：very slack so that I can do what I like with my head.And,remember – you are not to touch them.”

“What are they for,then?” asked Shasta.

“Ordinarily they are for directing me,” replied the Horse.“But as I intend to do all the directing on this journey,you'll please keep your hands to yourself.And there's another thing.I'm not going to have you grabbing my mane.”

“But I say,” pleaded Shasta.“If I'm not to hold on by the reins or by your mane,what am I to hold on by?”

“You hold on with your knees,” said the Horse.“That's the secret of good riding.Grip my body between your knees as hard as you like；sit straight up,straight as a poker；keep your elbows in.And by the way,what did you do with the spurs?”

“Put them on my heels,of course,” said Shasta.“I do know that much.”

“Then you can take them off and put them in the saddle-bag.We may be able to sell them when we get to Tashbaan.Ready?And now I think you can get up.”

“Ooh!You're a dreadful height,” gasped Shasta after his first,and unsuccessful,attempt.

“I'm a horse,that's all,” was the reply.“Anyone would think I was a haystack from the way you're trying to climb up me!There,that's better.Now sit up and remember what I told you about your knees.Funny to think of me who has led cavalry charges and won races having a potato-sack like you in the saddle!However,off we go.” He chuckled,not unkindly.

And he certainly began their night journey with great caution.First of all he went just south of the fisherman's cottage to the little river which there ran into the sea,and took care to leave in the mud some very plain hoof-marks pointing South.But as soon as they were in the middle of the ford he turned upstream and waded till they were about a hundred yards further inland than the cottage.Then he selected a nice gravelly bit of bank which would take no footprints and came out on the Northern side.Then,still at a walking pace,he went Northward till the cottage,the one tree,the donkey's stable,and the creek – everything,in fact,that Shasta had ever known – had sunk out of sight in the grey summer-night darkness.They had been going uphill and now were at the top of the ridge – that ridge which had always been the boundary of Shasta's known world.He could not see what was ahead except that it was all open and grassy.It looked endless：wild and lonely and free.

“I say!” observed the Horse.“What a place for a gallop,eh?”

“Oh,don't let's,” said Shasta.“Not yet.I don't know how to – please,Horse.I don't know your name.”

“Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah,” said the Horse.

“I'll never be able to say that,” said Shasta.“Can I call you Bree?”

“Well,if it's the best you can do,I suppose you must,” said the Horse.“And what shall I call you?”

“I'm called Shasta.”

“H'm,” said Bree.“Well,now,there's a name that's really hard to pronounce.But now about this gallop.It's a good deal easier than trotting if you only knew,because you don't have to rise and fall.Grip with your knees and keep your eyes straight ahead between my ears.Don't look at the ground.If you think you're going to fall just grip harder and sit up straighter.Ready?Now：for Narnia and the North.”

CHAPTER 2

A Wayside Adventure

It was nearly noon on the following day whenShasta was wakened by something warm and soft moving over his face.He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the long face of a horse；its nose and lips were almost touching his.He remembered the exciting events of the previous night and sat up.But as he did so he groaned.

“Ow,Bree,” he gasped.“I'm so sore.All over.I can hardly move.”

“Good morning,small one,” said Bree.“I was afraid you might feel a bit stiff.It can't be the falls.You didn't have more than a dozen or so,and it was all lovely,soft,springy turf that must have been almost a pleasure to fall on.And the only one that might have been nasty was broken by that gorse bush.No：it's the riding itself that comes hard at first.What about breakfast?I've had mine.”

“Oh,bother breakfast.Bother everything,” said Shasta.“I tell you I can't move.” But the Horse nuzzled at him with his nose and pawed him gently with a hoof till he had to get up.And then he looked about him and saw where they were.Behind them lay a little copse.Before them the turf,dotted with white flowers,sloped down to the brow of a cliff.Far below them,so that the sound of the breaking waves was very faint,lay the sea.Shasta had never seen it from such a height and never seen so much of it before,nor dreamed how many colours it had.On either hand the coast stretched away,headland after headland,and at the points you could see the white foam running up the rocks but making no noise because it was so far off.There were gulls flying overhead and the heat shivered on the ground；it was a blazing day.But what Shasta chiefly noticed was the air.He couldn't think what was missing,until at last he realized that there was no smell of fish in it.For of course,neither in the cottage nor among the nets,had he ever been away from that smell in his life.And this new air was so delicious,and all his old life seemed so far away,that he forgot for a moment about his bruises and his aching muscles and said：

“I say,Bree,didn't you say something about breakfast?”

“Yes,I did,” answered Bree.“I think you'll find something in the saddle-bags.They're over there on that tree where you hung them up last night – or early this morning,rather.”

They investigated the saddle-bags and the results were cheering – a meat pasty,only slightly stale,a lump of dried figs and another lump of green cheese,a little flask of wine,and some money；about forty crescents in all,which was more than Shasta had ever seen.

While Shasta sat down – painfully and cautiously– with his back against a tree and started on the pasty,Bree had a few more mouthfuls of grass to keep him company.

“Won't it be stealing to use the money?”asked Shasta.

“Oh,” said the Horse,looking up with his mouth full of grass,“I never thought of that.A free horse and a talking horse mustn't steal,of course.But I think it's all right.We're prisoners and captives in enemy country.That money is booty,spoil.Besides,how are we to get any food for you without it?I suppose,like all humans,you won't eat natural food like grass and oats.”

“I can't.”

“Ever tried?”

“Yes,I have.I can't get it down at all.You couldn't either if you were me.”

“You're rum little creatures,you humans,”remarked Bree.

When Shasta had finished his breakfast(which was by far the nicest he had ever eaten),Bree said,“I think I'll have a nice roll before we put on that saddle again.” And he proceeded to do so.“That's good.That's very good,” he said,rubbing his back on the turf and waving all four legs in the air.“You ought to have one too,Shasta,” he snorted.“It's most refreshing.”

But Shasta burst out laughing and said,“You do look funny when you're on your back!”

“I look nothing of the sort,” said Bree.But then suddenly he rolled round on his side,raised his head and looked hard at Shasta,blowing a little.

“Does it really look funny?” he asked in an anxious voice.

“Yes,it does,” replied Shasta.“But what does it matter?”

“You don't think,do you,” said Bree,“that it might be a thing talking horses never do – a silly,clownish trick I've learned from the dumb ones?It would be dreadful to find,when I get back to Narnia,that I've picked up a lot of low,bad habits.What do you think,Shasta?Honestly,now.Don't spare my feelings.Do you think the real,free horses– the talking kind – roll?”

“How should I know?Anyway,I don't think I should bother about it if I were you.We've got to get there first.Do you know the way?”

“I know my way to Tashbaan.After that comes the desert.Oh,we'll manage the desert somehow,never fear.Why,we'll be in sight of the Northern mountains then.Think of it!To Narnia and the North!Nothing will stop us then.But I'd be glad to be past Tashbaan.You and I are safer away from cities.”

“Can't we avoid it?”

“Not without going a long way inland,and that would take us into cultivated land and main roads；and I wouldn't know the way.No,we'll just have to creep along the coast.Up here on the downs we'll meet nothing but sheep and rabbits and gulls and a few shepherds.And by the way,what about starting?”

Shasta's legs ached terribly as he saddled Bree and climbed into the saddle,but the Horse was kindly to him and went at a soft pace all afternoon.When evening twilight came they dropped by steep tracks into a valley and found a village.Before they got into it Shasta dismounted and entered it on foot to buy a loaf and some onions and radishes.The Horse trotted round by the fields in the dusk and met Shasta at the far side.This became their regular plan every second night.

These were great days for Shasta,and every day better than the last as his muscles hardened and he fell less often.Even at the end of his training Bree still said he sat like a bag of flour in the saddle.“And even if it was safe,young 'un,I'd be ashamed to be seen with you on the main road.” But in spite of his rude words Bree was a patient teacher.No one can teach riding so well as a horse.Shasta learned to trot,to canter,to jump,and to keep his seat even when Bree pulled up suddenly or swung unexpectedly to the left or the right – which,as Bree told him,was a thing you might have to do at any moment in a battle.And then of course Shasta begged to be told of the battles and wars in which Bree had carried the Tarkaan.And Bree would tell of forced marches and the fording of swift rivers,of charges and of fierce fights between cavalry and cavalry when the war horses fought as well as the men,being all fierce stallions,trained to bite and kick,and to rear at the right moment so that the horse's weight as well as the rider's would come down on an enemy's crest in the stroke of a sword or battleaxe.But Bree did not want to talk about the wars as often as Shasta wanted to hear about them.“Don't speak of them,youngster,”he would say.“They were only the Tisroc's wars and I fought in them as a slave and a dumb beast.Give me the Narnian wars where I shall fight as a free Horse among my own people!Those will be wars worth talking about.Narnia and the North!Bra-haha!Broo hoo!”

Shasta soon learned,when he heard Bree talking like that,to prepare for a gallop.

After they had travelled on for weeks and weeks,past more bays and headlands and rivers and villages than Shasta could remember,there came a moonlit night when they started their journey at evening,having slept during the day.They had left the downs behind them and were crossing a wide plain with a forest about half a mile away on their left.The sea,hidden by low sandhills,was about the same distance on their right.They had jogged along for about an hour,sometimes trotting and sometimes walking,when Bree suddenly stopped.

“What's up?” said Shasta.

“S-s-ssh!” said Bree,craning his neck round and twitching his ears.“Did you hear something?Listen.”

“It sounds like another horse – between us and the wood,” said Shasta after he had listened for about a minute.

“It is another horse,” said Bree.“And that's what I don't like.”

“Isn't it probably just a farmer riding home late?”said Shasta with a yawn.

“Don't tell me!” said Bree.“That's not a farmer's riding.Nor a farmer's horse either.Can't you tell by the sound?That's quality,that horse is.And it's being ridden by a real horseman.I tell you what it is,Shasta.There's a Tarkaan under the edge of that wood.Not on his war horse – it's too light for that.On a fine blood mare,I should say.”

“Well,it's stopped now,whatever it is,”said Shasta.

“You're right,” said Bree.“And why should he stop just when we do?Shasta,my boy,I do believe there's someone shadowing us at last.”

“What shall we do?” said Shasta in a lower whisper than before.“Do you think he can see us as well as hear us?”

“Not in this light so long as we stay quite still,”answered Bree.“But look!There's a cloud coming up.I'll wait till that gets over the moon.Then we'll get off to our right as quietly as we can,down to the shore.We can hide among the sandhills if the worst comes to the worst.”

They waited till the cloud covered the moon and then,first at a walking pace and afterwards at a gentle trot,made for the shore.

The cloud was bigger and thicker than it had looked at first and soon the night grew very dark.Just as Shasta was saying to himself,“We must be nearly at those sandhills by now,” his heart leaped into his mouth because an appalling noise had suddenly risen up out of the darkness ahead；a long snarling roar,melancholy and utterly savage.Instantly Bree swerved round and began galloping inland again as fast as he could gallop.

“What is it?” gasped Shasta.

“Lions!” said Bree,without checking his pace or turning his head.

After that there was nothing but sheer galloping for some time.At last they splashed across a wide,shallow stream and Bree came to a stop on the far side.Shasta noticed that he was trembling and sweating all over.

“That water may have thrown the brute off our scent,” panted Bree when he had partly got his breath again.“We can walk for a bit now.”

As they walked Bree said,“Shasta,I'm ashamed of myself.I'm just as frightened as a common,dumb Calormene horse.I am really.I don't feel like a Talking Horse at all.I don't mind swords and lances and arrows but I can't bear – those creatures.I think I'll trot for a bit.”

About a minute later,however,he broke into a gallop again,and no wonder.For the roar broke out again,this time on their left from the direction of the forest.

“Two of them,” moaned Bree.

When they had galloped for several minutes without any further noise from the lions Shasta said,“I say!That other horse is galloping beside us now.Only a stone's throw away.”

“All the b-better,” panted Bree.“Tarkaan on it –will have a sword – protect us all.”

“But,Bree!” said Shasta.“We might just as well be killed by lions as caught.Or I might.They'll hang me for horse-stealing.” He was feeling less frightened of lions than Bree because he had never met a lion；Bree had.

Bree only snorted in answer but he did sheer away to his right.Oddly enough the other horse seemed also to be sheering away to the left,so that in a few seconds the space between them had widened a good deal.But as soon as it did so there came two more lions' roars,immediately after one another,one on the right and the other on the left,and the horses began drawing nearer together.So,apparently,did the lions.The roaring of the brutes on each side was horribly close and they seemed to be keeping up with the galloping horses quite easily.Then the cloud rolled away.The moonlight,astonishingly bright,showed up everything almost as if it were broad day.The two horses and two riders were galloping almost neck to neck and knee to knee just as if they were in a race.Indeed Bree said(afterwards)that a finer race had never been seen in Calormen.

Shasta now gave himself up for lost and began to wonder whether lions killed you quickly or played with you as a cat plays with a mouse and how much it would hurt.At the same time(one sometimes does this at the most frightful moments)he noticed everything.He saw that the other rider was a very small,slender person,mail-clad(the moon shone on the mail)and riding magnificently.He had no beard.

Something flat and shining was spread out before them.Before Shasta had time even to guess what it was there was a great splash and he found his mouth half full of salt water.The shining thing had been a long inlet of the sea.Both horses were swimming and the water was up to Shasta's knees.There was an angry roaring behind them and,looking back,Shasta saw a great,shaggy and terrible shape crouched on the water's edge；but only one.“We must have shaken off the other lion,” he thought.

The lion apparently did not think its prey worth a wetting；at any rate it made no attempt to take to the water in pursuit.The two horses,side by side,were now well out into the middle of the creek and the opposite shore could be clearly seen.The Tarkaan had not yet spoken a word.“But he will,” thought Shasta.“As soon as we have landed.What am I to say?I must begin thinking out a story.”

Then,suddenly,two voices spoke at his side.

“Oh,I am so tired,” said the one.

“Hold your tongue,Hwin,and don't be a fool,”said the other.

“I'm dreaming,” thought Shasta.“I could have sworn that other horse spoke.”

Soon the horses were no longer swimming but walking and soon,with a great sound of water running off their sides and tails and with a great crunching of pebbles under eight hoofs,they came out on the farther beach of the inlet.The Tarkaan,to Shasta's surprise,showed no wish to ask questions.He did not even look at Shasta but seemed anxious to urge his horse straight on.Bree,however,at once shouldered himself in the other horse's way.

“Broo-hoo-hah!” he snorted.“Steady there!I heard you,I did.There's no good pretending,Ma'am.I heard you.You're a Talking Horse,a Narnian horse just like me.”

“What's it got to do with you if she is?” said the strange rider fiercely,laying hand on sword-hilt.But the voice in which the words were spoken had already told Shasta something.

“Why,it's only a girl!” he exclaimed.

“And what business is it of yours if I am only a girl?” snapped the stranger.“You're only a boy：a rude,common little boy – a slave probably,who's stolen his master's horse.”

“That's all you know,” said Shasta.

“He's not a thief,little Tarkheena,” said Bree.“At least,if there's been any stealing,you might just as well say I stole him.And as for its not being my business,you wouldn't expect me to pass a lady of my own race in this strange country without speaking to her?It's only natural I should.”

“I think it's very natural too,” said the mare.

“I wish you'd held your tongue,Hwin,” said the girl.“Look at the trouble you've got us into.”

“I don't know about trouble,” said Shasta.“You can clear off as soon as you like.We shan't keep you.”

“No,you shan't,” said the girl.

“What quarrelsome creatures these humans are,”said Bree to the mare.“They're as bad as mules.Let's try to talk a little sense.I take it,ma'am,your story is the same as mine?Captured in early youth – years of slavery among the Calormenes?”

“Too true,sir,” said the mare,with a melancholy whinny.

“And now,perhaps – escape?”

“Tell him to mind his own business,Hwin,” said the girl.

“No,I won't,Aravis,” said the mare,putting her ears back.“This is my escape just as much as yours.And I'm sure a noble war-horse like this is not going to betray us.We are trying to escape,to get to Narnia.”

“And so,of course,are we,” said Bree.“Of course you guessed that at once.A little boy in rags riding(or trying to ride)a war-horse at dead of night couldn't mean anything but an escape of some sort.And,if I may say so,a high-born Tarkheena riding alone at night – dressed up in her brother's armour –and very anxious for everyone to mind their own business and ask her no questions – well,if that's not fishy,call me a cob!”

“All right then,” said Aravis.“You've guessed it.Hwin and I are running away.We are trying to get to Narnia.And now,what about it?”

“Why,in that case,what is to prevent us all going together?” said Bree.“I trust,Madam Hwin,you will accept such assistance and protection as I may be able to give you on the journey?”

“Why do you keep talking to my horse instead of to me?” asked the girl.

“Excuse me,Tarkheena,” said Bree(with just the slightest backward tilt of his ears),“but that's Calormene talk.We're free Narnians,Hwin and I,and I suppose,if you're running away to Narnia,you want to be one too.In that case Hwin isn't your horse any longer.One might just as well say you're her human.”

The girl opened her mouth to speak and then stopped.Obviously she had not quite seen it in that light before.

“Still,” she said after a moment's pause,“I don't know that there's so much point in all going together.Aren't we more likely to be noticed?”

“Less,” said Bree；and the mare said,“Oh,do let's.I should feel much more comfortable.We're not even certain of the way.I'm sure a great charger like this knows far more than we do.”

“Oh,come on,Bree,” said Shasta,“and let them go their own way.Can't you see they don't want us?”

“We do,” said Hwin.

“Look here,” said the girl.“I don't mind going with you,Mr War-Horse,but what about this boy?How do I know he's not a spy?”

“Why don't you say at once that you think I'm not good enough for you?” said Shasta.

“Be quiet,Shasta,” said Bree.“The Tarkheena's question is quite reasonable.I'll vouch for the boy,Tarkheena.He's been true to me and a good friend.And he's certainly either a Narnian or an Archenlander.”

“All right,then.Let's go together.” But she didn't say anything to Shasta and it was obvious that she wanted Bree,not him.

“Splendid!” said Bree.“And now that we've got the water between us and those dreadful animals,what about you two humans taking off our saddles and our all having a rest and hearing one another's stories.”

Both the children unsaddled their Horses and the Horses had a little grass and Aravis produced rather nice things to eat from her saddle-bag.But Shasta sulked and said,No thanks,and that he wasn't hungry.And he tried to put on what he thought very grand and stiff manners,but as a fisherman's hut is not usually a good place for learning grand manners,the result was dreadful.And he half knew that it wasn't a success and then became sulkier and more awkward than ever.Meanwhile the two horses were getting on splendidly.They remembered the very same places in Narnia – “the grasslands up above Beaversdam” – and found that they were some sort of second cousins once removed.This made things more and more uncomfortable for the humans until at last Bree said,“And now,Tarkheena,tell us your story.And don't hurry it – I'm feeling comfortable now.”

Aravis immediately began,sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one.For in Calormen,story-telling(whether the stories are true or made up)is a thing you're taught,just as English boys and girls are taught essaywriting.The difference is that people want to hear the stories,whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.

CHAPTER 3

At the Gates of Tashbaan

“My name,” said the girl at once,“is Aravis Tarkheena and I am the only daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan,the son of Rishti Tarkaan,the son of Kidrash Tarkaan,the son of Ilsombreh Tisroc,the son of Ardeeb Tisroc who was descended in a right line from the god Tash.My father is the lord of the province of Calavar and is one who has the right of standing on his feet in his shoes before the face of Tisroc himself(may he live for ever).My mother(on whom be the peace of the gods)is dead and my father has married another wife.One of my brothers has fallen in battle against the rebels in the far west and the other is a child.Now it came to pass that my father's wife,my stepmother,hated me,and the sun appeared dark in her eyes as long as I lived in my father's house.And so she persuaded my father to promise me in marriage to Ahoshta Tarkaan.Now this Ahoshta is of base birth,though in these latter years he has won the favour of the Tisroc(may he live for ever)by flattery and evil counsels,and is now made a Tarkaan and the lord of many cities and is likely to be chosen as the Grand Vizier when the present Grand Vizier dies.Moreover he is at least sixty years old and has a hump on his back and his face resembles that of an ape.Nevertheless my father,because of the wealth and power of this Ahoshta,and being persuaded by his wife,sent messengers offering me in marriage,and the offer was favourably accepted and Ahoshta sent word that he would marry me this very year at the time of high summer.

“When this news was brought to me the sun appeared dark in my eyes and I laid myself on my bed and wept for a day.But on the second day I rose up and washed my face and caused my mare Hwin to be saddled and took with me a sharp dagger which my brother had carried in the western wars and rode out alone.And when my father's house was out of sight and I was come to a green open place in a certain wood where there were no dwellings of men,I dismounted from Hwin my mare and took out the dagger.Then I parted my clothes where I thought the readiest way lay to my heart and I prayed to all the gods that as soon as I was dead I might find myself with my brother.After that I shut my eyes and my teeth and prepared to drive the dagger into my heart.But before I had done so,this mare spoke with the voice of one of the daughters of men and said,'O my mistress,do not by any means destroy yourself,for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike'.”

“I didn't say it half so well as that,” muttered the mare.

“Hush,Ma'am,hush,” said Bree,who was thoroughly enjoying the story.“She's telling it in the grand Calormene manner and no story-teller in a Tisroc's court could do it better.Pray go on,Tarkheena.”

“When I heard the language of men uttered by my mare,” continued Aravis,“I said to myself,the fear of death has disordered my reason and subjected me to delusions.And I became full of shame for none of my lineage ought to fear death more than the biting of a gnat.Therefore I addressed myself a second time to the stabbing,but Hwin came near to me and put her head in between me and the dagger and discoursed to me most excellent reasons and rebuked me as a mother rebukes her daughter.And now my wonder was so great that I forgot about killing myself and about Ahoshta and said,'O my mare,how have you learned to speak like one of the daughters of men?' And Hwin told me what is known to all this company,that in Narnia there are beasts that talk,and how she herself was stolen from thence when she was a little foal.She told me also of the woods and waters of Narnia and the castles and the great ships,till I said,'In the name of Tash and Azaroth and Zardeenah,Lady of the Night,I have a great wish to be in that country of Narnia.''O my mistress,' answered the mare,'if you were in Narnia you would be happy,for in that land no maiden is forced to marry against her will.'

“And when we had talked together for a great time hope returned to me and I rejoiced that I had not killed myself.Moreover it was agreed between Hwin and me that we should steal ourselves away together and we planned it in this fashion.We returned to my father's house and I put on my gayest clothes and sang and danced before my father and pretended to be delighted with the marriage which he had prepared for me.Also I said to him,'O my father and O the delight of my eyes,give me your licence and permission to go with one of my maidens alone for three days into the woods to do secret sacrifices to Zardeenah,Lady of the Night and of Maidens,as is proper and customary for damsels when they must bid farewell to the service of Zardeenah and prepare themselves for marriage.' And he answered,'O my daughter and O the delight of my eyes,so shall it be.'

“But when I came out from the presence of my father I went immediately to the oldest of his slaves,his secretary,who had dandled me on his knees when I was a baby and loved me more than the air and the light.And I swore him to be secret and begged him to write a certain letter for me.And he wept and implored me to change my resolution but in the end he said,'To hear is to obey,' and did all my will.And I sealed the letter and hid it in my bosom.”

“But what was in the letter?” asked Shasta.

“Be quiet,youngster,” said Bree.“You're spoiling the story.She'll tell us all about the letter in the right place.Go on,Tarkheena.”

“Then I called the maid who was to go with me to the woods and perform the rites of Zardeenah and told her to wake me very early in the morning.And I became merry with her and gave her wine to drink；but I had mixed such things in her cup that I knew she must sleep for a night and a day.As soon as the household of my father had committed themselves to sleep I arose and put on an armour of my brother's which I always kept in my chamber in his memory.I put into my girdle all the money I had and certain choice jewels and provided myself also with food,and saddled the mare with my own hands and rode away in the second watch of the night.I directed my course not to the woods where my father supposed that I would go but north and east to Tashbaan.

“Now for three days and more I knew that my father would not seek me,being deceived by the words I had said to him.And on the fourth day we arrived at the city of Azim Balda.Now Azim Balda stands at the meeting of many roads and from it the posts of the Tisroc(may he live for ever)ride on swift horses to every part of the empire：and it is one of the rights and privileges of the greater Tarkaans to send messages by them.I therefore went to the Chief of the Messengers in the House of Imperial Posts in Azim Balda and said,'O dispatcher of messages,here is a letter from my uncle Ahoshta Tarkaan to Kidrash Tarkaan,lord of Calavar.Take now these five crescents and cause it to be sent to him.' And the Chief of the Messengers said,'To hear is to obey.'

“This letter was feigned to be written by Ahoshta and this was the signification of the writing：'Ahoshta Tarkaan to Kidrash Tarkaan,salutation and peace.In the name of Tash the irresistible,the inexorable.Be it known to you that as I made my journey towards your house to perform the contract of marriage between me and your daughter Aravis Tarkheena,it pleased fortune and the gods that I fell in with her in the forest when she had ended the rites and sacrifices of Zardeenah according to the custom of maidens.And when I learned who she was,being delighted with her beauty and discretion,I became inflamed with love and it appeared to me that the sun would be dark to me if I did not marry her at once.Accordingly I prepared the necessary sacrifices and married your daughter the same hour that I met her and have returned with her to my own house.And we both pray and charge you to come hither as speedily as you may that we may be delighted with your face and speech；and also that you may bring with you the dowry of my wife,which,by reason of my great charges and expenses,I require without delay.And because thou and I are brothers I assure myself that you will not be angered by the haste of my marriage which is wholly occasioned by the great love I bear your daughter.And I commit you to the care of all the gods.'

“As soon as I had done this I rode on in all haste from Azim Balda,fearing no pursuit and expecting that my father,having received such a letter,would send messages to Ahoshta or go to him himself,and that before the matter was discovered I should be beyond Tashbaan.And that is the pith of my story until this very night when I was chased by lions and met you at the swimming of the salt water.”

“And what happened to the girl – the one you drugged?” asked Shasta.

“Doubtless she was beaten for sleeping late,” said Aravis coolly.“But she was a tool and spy of my stepmother's.I am very glad they should beat her.”

“I say,that was hardly fair,” said Shasta.

“I did not do any of these things for the sake of pleasing you,” said Aravis.

“And there's another thing I don't understand about that story,” said Shasta.“You're not grown up,I don't believe you're any older than I am.I don't believe you're as old.How could you be getting married at your age?”

Aravis said nothing,but Bree at once said,“Shasta,don't display your ignorance.They're always married at that age in the great Tarkaan families.”

Shasta turned very red(though it was hardly light enough for the others to see this)and felt snubbed.Aravis asked Bree for his story.Bree told it,and Shasta thought that he put in a great deal more than he needed about the falls and the bad riding.Bree obviously thought it very funny,but Aravis did not laugh.When Bree had finished they all went to sleep.

The next day all four of them,two horses and two humans,continued their journey together.Shasta thought it had been much pleasanter when he and Bree were on their own.For now it was Bree and Aravis who did nearly all the talking.Bree had lived a long time in Calormen and had always been among Tarkaans and Tarkaans' horses,and so of course he knew a great many of the same people and places that Aravis knew.She would always be saying things like,“But if you were at the fight of Zulindreh you would have seen my cousin Alimash,” and Bree would answer,“Oh,yes,Alimash,he was only captain of the chariots,you know.I don't quite hold with chariots or the kind of horses who draw chariots.That's not real cavalry.But he is a worthy nobleman.He filled my nosebag with sugar after the taking of Teebeth.”Or else Bree would say,“I was down at the lake of Mezreel that summer,” and Aravis would say,“Oh,Mezreel!I had a friend there,Lasaraleen Tarkheena.What a delightful place it is.Those gardens,and the Valley of the Thousand Perfumes!” Bree was not in the least trying to leave Shasta out of things,though Shasta sometimes nearly thought he was.People who know a lot of the same things can hardly help talking about them,and if you're there you can hardly help feeling that you're out of it.

Hwin the mare was rather shy before a great warhorse like Bree and said very little.And Aravis never spoke to Shasta at all if she could help it.

Soon,however,they had more important things to think of.They were getting near Tashbaan.There were more,and larger,villages,and more people on the roads.They now did nearly all their travelling by night and hid as best they could during the day.And at every halt they argued and argued about what they were to do when they reached Tashbaan.Everyone had been putting off this difficulty,but now it could be put off no longer.During these discussions Aravis became a little,a very little,less unfriendly to Shasta；one usually gets on better with people when one is making plans than when one is talking about nothing in particular.

Bree said the first thing now to do was to fix a place where they would all promise to meet on the far side of Tashbaan even if,by any ill luck,they got separated in passing the city.He said the best place would be the Tombs of the Ancient Kings on the very edge of the desert.“Things like great stone beehives,” he said.“You can't possibly miss them.And the best of it is that none of the Calormenes will go near them because they think the place is haunted by ghouls and are afraid of it.” Aravis asked if it wasn't really haunted by ghouls.But Bree said he was a free Narnian horse and didn't believe in these Calormene tales.And then Shasta said he wasn't a Calormene either and didn't care a straw about these old stories of ghouls.This wasn't quite true.But it rather impressed Aravis(though at the moment it annoyed her too)and of course she said she didn't mind any number of ghouls either.So it was settled that the Tombs should be their assembly place on the other side of Tashbaan,and everyone felt they were getting on very well till Hwin humbly pointed out that the real problem was not where they should go when they had got through Tashbaan but how they were to get through it.

“We'll settle that tomorrow,Ma'am,” said Bree.“Time for a little sleep now.”

But it wasn't easy to settle.Aravis's first suggestion was that they should swim across the river below the city during the night and not go into Tashbaan at all.But Bree had two reasons against this.One was that the river-mouth was very wide and it would be far too long a swim for Hwin to do,especially with a rider on her back.(He thought it would be too long for himself too,but he said much less about that.)The other was that it would be full of shipping and of course anyone on the deck of a ship who saw two horses swimming past would be almost certain to be inquisitive.

Shasta thought they should go up the river above Tashbaan and cross it where it was narrower.But Bree explained that there were gardens and pleasure houses on both banks of the river for miles and that there would be Tarkaans and Tarkheenas living in them and riding about the roads and having water parties on the river.In fact it would be the most likely place in the world for meeting someone who would recognize Aravis or even himself.

“We'll have to have a disguise,” said Shasta.

Hwin said it looked to her as if the safest thing was to go right through the city itself from gate to gate because one was less likely to be noticed in the crowd.But she approved of the idea of disguise as well.She said,“Both the humans will have to dress in rags and look like peasants or slaves.And all Aravis's armour and our saddles and things must be made into bundles and put on our backs,and the children just pretend to drive us and people will think we're only pack-horses.”

“My dear Hwin!” said Aravis rather scornfully.“As if anyone could mistake Bree for anything but a war-horse however you disguised him!”

“I should think not,indeed,” said Bree,snorting and letting his ears go ever so slightly back.

“I know it's not a very good plan,” said Hwin.“But I think it's our only chance.And we haven't been groomed for ages and we're not looking quite ourselves(at least,I'm sure I'm not).I do think if we get well plastered with mud and go along with our heads down as if we're tired and lazy – and don't lift our hooves hardly at all – we might not be noticed.And our tails ought to be cut shorter：not neatly,you know,but all ragged.”

“My dear Madam,” said Bree.“Have you pictured to yourself how very disagreeable it would be to arrive in Narnia in that condition?”

“Well,” said Hwin humbly(she was a very sensible mare),“the main thing is to get there.”

Though nobody much liked it,it was Hwin's plan which had to be adopted in the end.It was a troublesome one and involved a certain amount of what Shasta called stealing,and Bree called“raiding”.One farm lost a few sacks that evening and another lost a coil of rope the next：but some tattered old boy's clothes for Aravis to wear had to be fairly bought and paid for in a village.Shasta returned with them in triumph just as evening was closing in.The others were waiting for him among the trees at the foot of a low range of wooded hills which lay right across their path.Everyone was feeling excited because this was the last hill；when they reached the ridge at the top they would be looking down on Tashbaan.

“I do wish we were safely past it,” muttered Shasta to Hwin.

“Oh,I do,I do,” said Hwin fervently.

That night they wound their way through the woods up to the ridge by a woodcutter's track.And when they came out of the woods at the top they could see thousands of lights in the valley below them.Shasta had had no notion of what a great city would be like and it frightened him.They had their supper and the children got some sleep.But the Horses woke them very early in the morning.

The stars were still out and the grass was terribly cold and wet,but daybreak was just beginning,far to their right across the sea.Aravis went a few steps away into the wood and came back looking odd in her new,ragged clothes and carrying her real ones in a bundle.These,and her armour and shield and scimitar and the two saddles and the rest of the Horses' fine furnishings were put into the sacks.Bree and Hwin had already got themselves as dirty and bedraggled as they could and it remained to shorten their tails.As the only tool for doing this was Aravis's scimitar,one of the packs had to be undone again in order to get it out.It was a longish job and rather hurt the horses.

“My word!” said Bree.“If I wasn't a Talking Horse,what a lovely kick in the face I could give you!I thought you were going to cut it,not pull it out.That's what it feels like.”

But in spite of semi-darkness and cold fingers,all was done in the end：the big packs bound on the horses,the rope halters(which they were now wearing instead of bridles and reins)in the children's hands,and the journey began.

“Remember,” said Bree.“Keep together if we possibly can.If not,meet at the Tombs of the Ancient Kings,and whoever gets there first must wait for the others.”

“And remember,” said Shasta.“Don't you two horses forget yourselves and start talking,whatever happens.”

CHAPTER 4

Shasta Falls in with the Narnians

At first Shasta could see nothing in the valley below him but a sea of mist with a few domes and pinnacles rising from it；but as the light increased and the mist cleared away he saw more and more.A broad river divided itself into two streams and on the island between them stood the city of Tashbaan,one of the wonders of the world.Round the very edge of the island,so that the water lapped against the stone,ran high walls strengthened with so many towers that he soon gave up trying to count them.Inside the walls the island rose in a hill and every bit of that hill,up to the Tisroc's palace and the great temple of Tash at the top,was completely covered with buildings – terrace above terrace,street above street,zigzag roads or huge flights of steps bordered with orange trees and lemon trees,roof-gardens,balconies,deep archways,pillared colonnades,spires,battlements,minarets,pinnacles.And when at last the sun rose out of the sea and the great silver-plated dome of the temple flashed back its light,he was almost dazzled.

“Get on,Shasta,” Bree kept saying.

The river banks on each side of the valley were such a mass of gardens that they looked at first like forest,until you got closer and saw the white walls of innumerable houses peeping out from beneath the trees.Soon after that,Shasta noticed a delicious smell of flowers and fruit.About fifteen minutes later they were down among them,plodding on a level road with white walls on each side and trees bending over the walls.

“I say,” said Shasta in an awed voice.“This is a wonderful place!”

“I dare say,” said Bree.“But I wish we were safely through it and out on the other side.Narnia and the North!”

At that moment a low,throbbing noise began which gradually swelled louder and louder till the whole valley seemed to be swaying with it.It was a musical noise,but so strong and solemn as to be a little frightening.

“That's the horns blowing for the city gates to be open,” said Bree.“We shall be there in a minute.Now,Aravis,do droop your shoulders a bit and step heavier and try to look less like a princess.Try to imagine you've been kicked and cuffed and called names all your life.”

“If it comes to that,” said Aravis,“what about you drooping your head a bit more and arching your neck a bit less and trying to look less like a war-horse?”

“Hush,” said Bree.“Here we are.”

And they were.They had come to the river's edge and the road ahead of them ran along a many-arched bridge.The water danced brightly in the early sunlight；away to their right nearer the river's mouth,they caught a glimpse of ships' masts.Several other travellers were before them on the bridge,mostly peasants driving laden donkeys and mules,or carrying baskets on their heads.The children and horses joined the crowd.

“Is anything wrong?” whispered Shasta to Aravis,who had an odd look on her face.

“Oh,it's all very well for you,” whispered Aravis rather savagely.“What would you care about Tashbaan?But I ought to be riding in on a litter with soldiers before me and slaves behind,and perhaps going to a feast in the Tisroc's palace(may he live for ever)– not sneaking in like this.It's different for you.”

Shasta thought all this very silly.

At the far end of the bridge the walls of the city towered high above them and the brazen gates stood open in the gateway which was really wide but looked narrow because it was so very high.Half a dozen soldiers,leaning on their spears,stood on each side.Aravis couldn't help thinking,“They'd all jump to attention and salute me if they knew whose daughter I am.” But the others were only thinking of how they'd get through,and hoping the soldiers would not ask any questions.Fortunately they did not.But one of them picked a carrot out of a peasant's basket and threw it at Shasta with a rough laugh,saying：

“Hey!Horse-boy!You'll catch it if your master finds you've been using his saddle-horse for pack work.”

This frightened him badly for of course it showed that no one who knew anything about horses would mistake Bree for anything but a charger.

“It's my master's orders,so there!” said Shasta.But it would have been better if he had held his tongue for the soldier gave him a box on the side of his face that nearly knocked him down and said,“Take that,you young filth,to teach you how to talk to freemen.” But they all slunk into the city without being stopped.Shasta cried only a very little – he was used to hard knocks.

Inside the gates Tashbaan did not at first seem so splendid as it had looked from a distance.The first street was narrow and there were hardly any windows in the walls on each side.It was much more crowded than Shasta had expected：crowded partly by the peasants(on their way to market)who had come in with them,but also with watersellers,sweetmeat sellers,porters,soldiers,beggars,ragged children,hens,stray dogs,and bare-footed slaves.What you would chiefly have noticed if you had been there were the smells,which came from unwashed people,unwashed dogs,scent,garlic,onions,and the piles of refuse which lay everywhere.

Shasta was pretending to lead but it was really Bree,who knew the way and kept guiding him by little nudges with his nose.They soon turned to the left and began going up a steep hill.It was much fresher and pleasanter,for the road was bordered by trees and there were houses only on the right side；on the other they looked out over the roofs of houses in the lower town and could see some way up the river.Then they went round a hairpin bend to their right and continued rising.They were zigzagging up to the centre of Tashbaan.Soon they came to finer streets.Great statues of the gods and heroes of Calormen –who are mostly impressive rather than agreeable to look at – rose on shining pedestals.Palm trees and pillared arcades cast shadows over the burning pavements.And through the arched gateways of many a palace Shasta caught sight of green branches,cool fountains,and smooth lawns.It must be nice inside,he thought.

At every turn Shasta hoped they were getting out of the crowd,but they never did.This made their progress very slow,and every now and then they had to stop altogether.This usually happened because a loud voice shouted out,“Way,way,way,for the Tarkaan” or,“for the Tarkheena” or,“for the fifteenth Vizier” or,“for the Ambassador”,and everyone in the crowd would crush back against the walls；and above their heads Shasta would sometimes see the great lord or lady for whom all the fuss was being made,lolling upon a litter which four or even six gigantic slaves carried on their bare shoulders.For in Tashbaan there is only one traffic regulation,which is that everyone who is less important has to get out of the way for everyone who is more important；unless you want a cut from a whip or a punch from the butt end of a spear.

It was in a splendid street very near the top of the city(the Tisroc's palace was the only thing above it)that the most disastrous of these stoppages occurred.

“Way!Way!Way!” came the voice.“Way for the White Barbarian King,the guest of the Tisroc(may he live for ever)!Way for the Narnian lords.”

Shasta tried to get out of the way and to make Bree go back.But no horse,not even a talking horse from Narnia,backs easily.And a woman with a very edgy basket in her hands,who was just behind Shasta,pushed the basket hard against his shoulders,and said,“Now then!Who are you shoving?” And then someone else jostled him from the side and in the confusion of the moment he lost hold of Bree.And then the whole crowd behind him became so stiffened and packed tight that he couldn't move at all.So he found himself,unintentionally,in the first row and had a fine sight of the party that was coming down the street.

It was quite unlike any other party they had seen that day.The crier who went before it shouting,“Way,way!” was the only Calormene in it.And there was no litter；everyone was on foot.There were about half a dozen men and Shasta had never seen anyone like them before.For one thing,they were all as fair-skinned as himself,and most of them had fair hair.And they were not dressed like men of Calormen.Most of them had legs bare to the knee.Their tunics were of fine,bright,hardy colours –woodland green,or gay yellow,or fresh blue.Instead of turbans they wore steel or silver caps,some of them set with jewels,and one with little wings on each side of it.A few were bare-headed.The swords at their sides were long and straight,not curved like Calormene scimitars.And instead of being grave and mysterious like most Calormenes,they walked with a swing and let their arms and shoulders go free,and chatted and laughed.One was whistling.You could see that they were ready to be friends with anyone who was friendly,and didn't give a fig for anyone who wasn't.Shasta thought he had never seen anything so lovely in his life.

But there was no time to enjoy it for at once a really dreadful thing happened.The leader of the fair-haired men suddenly pointed at Shasta,cried out,“There he is!There's our runaway!” and seized him by the shoulder.Next moment he gave Shasta a smack – not a cruel one to make you cry but a sharp one to let you know you are in disgrace and added,shaking：

“Shame on you,my lord!Fie for shame!Queen Susan's eyes are red with weeping because of you.What!Truant for a whole night!Where have you been?”

Shasta would have darted under Bree's body and tried to make himself scarce in the crowd if he had had the least chance；but the fair-haired men were all round him by now and he was held firm.

Of course his first impulse was to say that he was only poor Arsheesh the fisherman's son and that the foreign lord must have mistaken him for someone else.But then,the very last thing he wanted to do in that crowded place was to start explaining who he was and what he was doing.If he started on that,he would soon be asked where he had got his horse from,and who Aravis was – and then,goodbye to any chance of getting through Tashbaan.His next impulse was to look at Bree for help.But Bree had no intention of letting all the crowd know that he could talk,and stood looking just as stupid as a horse can.As for Aravis,Shasta did not even dare to look at her for fear of drawing attention.And there was no time to think,for the leader of the Narnians said at once：

“Take one of his little lordship's hands,Peridan,of your courtesy,and I'll take the other.And now,on.Our royal sister's mind will be greatly eased when she sees our young scapegrace safe in our lodging.”

And so,before they were halfway through Tashbaan,all their plans were ruined,and without even a chance to say goodbye to the others Shasta found himself being marched off among strangers and quite unable to guess what might be going to happen next.The Narnian King – for Shasta began to see by the way the rest spoke to him that he must be a king – kept on asking him questions：where he had been,how he had got out,what he had done with his clothes,and didn't he know that he had been very naughty.Only the King called it “naught”instead of naughty.

And Shasta said nothing in answer,because he couldn't think of anything to say that would not be dangerous.

“What!All mum?” asked the King.“I must plainly tell you,Prince,that this hangdog silence becomes one of your blood even less than the scape itself.To run away might pass for a boy's frolic with some spirit in it.But the King's son of Archenland should avouch his deed；not hang his head like a Calormene slave.”

This was very unpleasant,for Shasta felt all the time that this young King was the very nicest kind of grown-up and would have liked to make a good impression on him.

The strangers led him – held tightly by both hands– along a narrow street and down a flight of shallow stairs and then up another to a wide doorway in a white wall with two tall,dark cypress trees,one on each side of it.Once through the arch,Shasta found himself in a courtyard which was also a garden.A marble basin of clear water in the centre was kept continually rippling by the fountain that fell into it.Orange trees grew round it out of smooth grass,and the four white walls which surrounded the lawn were covered with climbing roses.The noise and dust and crowding of the streets seemed suddenly far away.He was led rapidly across the garden and then into a dark doorway.The crier remained outside.After that they took him along a corridor,where the stone floor felt beautifully cool to his hot feet,and up some stairs.A moment later he found himself blinking in the light of a big,airy room with wide open windows,all looking North so that no sun came in.There was a carpet on the floor more wonderfully coloured than anything he had ever seen and his feet sank down into it as if he were treading in thick moss.All round the walls there were low sofas with rich cushions on them,and the room seemed to be full of people；very queer people some of them,thought Shasta.But he had no time to think of that before the most beautiful lady he had ever seen rose from her place and threw her arms round him and kissed him,saying：

“Oh Corin,Corin,how could you?And thou and I such close friends ever since thy mother died.And what should I have said to thy royal father if I came home without thee?Would have been a cause almost of war between Archenland and Narnia which are friends time out of mind.It was naught,playmate,very naught of thee to use us so.”

“Apparently,” thought Shasta to himself,“I'm being mistaken for a prince of Archenland,wherever that is.And these must be the Narnians.I wonder where the real Corin is?” But these thoughts did not help him say anything out loud.

“Where hast been,Corin?” said the lady,her hands still on Shasta's shoulders.

“I – I don't know,” stammered Shasta.

“There it is,Susan,” said the King.“I could get no tale out of him,true or false.”

“Your Majesties!Queen Susan!King Edmund!”said a voice：and when Shasta turned to look at the speaker he nearly jumped out of his skin with surprise.For this was one of these queer people whom he had noticed out of the corner of his eye when he first came into the room.He was about the same height as Shasta himself.From the waist upwards he was like a man,but his legs were hairy like a goat's,and shaped like a goat's and he had goat's hooves and a tail.His skin was rather red and he had curly hair and a short pointed beard and two little horns.He was in fact a Faun,which is a creature Shasta had never seen a picture of or even heard of.And if you've read a book called The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe you may like to know that this was the very same Faun,Tumnus by name,whom Queen Susan's sister Lucy had met on the very first day when she found her way into Narnia.But he was a good deal older now for by this time Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy had been Kings and Queens of Narnia for several years.

“Your Majesties,” he was saying,“his little Highness has had a touch of the sun.Look at him!He is dazed.He does not know where he is.”

Then of course everyone stopped scolding Shasta and asking him questions and he was made much of and laid on a sofa and cushions were put under his head and he was given iced sherbet in a golden cup to drink,and told to keep very quiet.

Nothing like this had ever happened to Shasta in his life before.He had never even imagined lying on anything so comfortable as that sofa or drinking anything so delicious as that sherbet.He was still wondering what had happened to the others and how on earth he was going to escape and meet them at the Tombs,and what would happen when the real Corin turned up again.But none of these worries seemed so pressing now that he was comfortable.And perhaps,later on,there would be nice things to eat!

Meanwhile the people in that cool airy room were very interesting.Besides the Faun there were two Dwarfs(a kind of creature he had never seen before)and a very large Raven.The rest were all humans；grownups,but young,and all of them,both men and women,had nicer faces and voices than most Calormenes.And soon Shasta found himself taking an interest in the conversation.

“Now,Madam,” the King was saying to Queen Susan(the lady who had kissed Shasta).“What think you?We have been in this city fully three weeks.Have you yet settled in your mind whether you will marry this dark-faced lover of yours,this Prince Rabadash,or no?”

The lady shook her head.“No,brother,” she said,“not for all the jewels in Tashbaan.”(“Hullo!”thought Shasta.“Although they're king and queen,they're brother and sister,not married to one another.”)

“Truly,sister,” said the King,“I should have loved you the less if you had taken him.And I tell you that at the first coming of the Tisroc's ambassadors into Narnia to treat of this marriage,and later when the Prince was our guest at Cair Paravel,it was a wonder to me that ever you could find it in your heart to show him so much favour.”

“That was my folly,Edmund,” said Queen Susan,“of which I cry you mercy.Yet when he was with us in Narnia,truly this Prince bore himself in another fashion than he does now in Tashbaan.For I take you all to witness what marvellous feats he did in that great tournament and hastilude which our brother the High King made for him,and how meekly and courteously he consorted with us the space of seven days.But here,in his own city,he has shown another face.”

“Ah!” croaked the Raven.“It is an old saying：see the bear in his own den before you judge of his conditions.”

“That's very true,Sallowpad,” said one of the Dwarfs.“And another is,Come,live with me and you'll know me.”

“Yes,” said the King.“We have now seen him for what he is：that is,a most proud,bloody,luxurious,cruel,and self-pleasing tyrant.”

“Then in the name of Aslan,” said Susan,“let us leave Tashbaan this very day.”

“There's the rub,sister,” said Edmund.“For now I must open to you all that has been growing in my mind these last two days and more.Peridan,of your courtesy,look to the door and see that there is no spy upon us.All well?So.For now we must be secret.”

Everyone had begun to look very serious.Queen Susan jumped up and ran to her brother.“Oh,Edmund,” she cried.“What is it?There is something dreadful in your face.”

CHAPTER 5

Prince Corin

“My dear sister and very good Lady,” said King Edmund,“you must now show your courage.For I tell you plainly we are in no small danger.”

“What is it,Edmund?” asked the Queen.

“It is this,” said Edmund.“I do not think we shall find it easy to leave Tashbaan.While the Prince had hope that you would take him,we were honoured guests.But by the Lion's Mane,I think that as soon as he has your flat denial we shall be no better than prisoners.”

One of the Dwarfs gave a low whistle.

“I warned your Majesties,I warned you,” said Sallowpad the Raven.“Easily in but not easily out,as the lobster said in the lobster pot!”

“I have been with the Prince this morning,”continued Edmund.“He is little used(more's the pity)to having his will crossed.And he is very chafed at your long delays and doubtful answers.This morning he pressed very hard to know your mind.I put it aside – meaning at the same time to diminish his hopes – with some light common jests about women's fancies,and hinted that his suit was likely to be cold.He grew angry and dangerous.There was a sort of threatening,though still veiled under a show of courtesy,in every word he spoke.”

“Yes,” said Tumnus.“And when I supped with the Grand Vizier last night,it was the same.He asked me how I liked Tashbaan.And I(for I could not tell him I hated every stone of it and I would not lie)told him that now,when high summer was coming on,my heart turned to the cool woods and dewy slopes of Narnia.He gave a smile that meant no good and said,'There is nothing to hinder you from dancing there again,little goatfoot；always provided you leave us in exchange a bride for our prince.' ”

“Do you mean he would make me his wife by force?” exclaimed Susan.

“That's my fear,Susan,” said Edmund.“Wife：or slave,which is worse.”

“But how can he?Does the Tisroc think our brother the High King would suffer such an outrage?”

“Sire,” said Peridan to the King.“They would not be so mad.Do they think there are no swords and spears in Narnia?”

“Alas,” said Edmund.“My guess is that the Tisroc has very small fear of Narnia.We are a little land.And little lands on the borders of a great empire were always hateful to the lords of the great empire.He longs to blot them out,gobble them up.When first he suffered the Prince to come to Cair Paravel as your lover,sister,it may be that he was only seeking an occasion against us.Most likely he hopes to make one mouthful of Narnia and Archenland both.”

“Let him try,” said the second Dwarf.“At sea we are as big as he is.And if he assaults us by land,he has the desert to cross.”

“True,friend,” said Edmund.“But is the desert a sure defence?What does Sallowpad say?”

“I know that desert well,” said the Raven.“For I have flown above it far and wide in my younger days,”(you may be sure that Shasta pricked up his ears at this point).“And this is certain；that if the Tisroc goes by the great oasis he can never lead a great army across it into Archenland.For though they could reach the oasis by the end of their first day's march,yet the springs there would be too little for the thirst of all those soldiers and their beasts.But there is another way.”

Shasta listened more attentively still.

“He that would find that way,” said the Raven,“must start from the Tombs of the Ancient Kings and ride northwest so that the double peak of Mount Pire is always straight ahead of him.And so,in a day's riding or a little more,he shall come to the head of a stony valley,which is so narrow that a man might be within a furlong of it a thousand times and never know that it was there.And looking down this valley he will see neither grass nor water nor anything else good.But if he rides on down it he will come to a river and can ride by the water all the way into Archenland.”

“And do the Calormenes know of this Western way?” asked the Queen.

“Friends,friends,” said Edmund,“what is the use of all this discourse?We are not asking whether Narnia or Calormen would win if war arose between them.We are asking how to save the honour of the Queen and our own lives out of this devilish city.For though my brother,Peter the High King,defeated the Tisroc a dozen times over,yet long before that day our throats would be cut and the Queen's grace would be the wife,or more likely,the slave,of this prince.”

“We have our weapons,King,” said the first Dwarf.“And this is a reasonably defensible house.”

“As to that,” said the King,“I do not doubt that every one of us would sell our lives dearly at the gate and they would not come at the Queen but over our dead bodies.Yet we should be merely rats fighting in a trap when all's said.”

“Very true,” croaked the Raven.“These last stands in a house make good stories,but nothing ever came of them.After their first few repulses the enemy always set the house on fire.”

“I am the cause of all this,” said Susan,bursting into tears.“Oh,if only I had never left Cair Paravel.Our last happy day was before those ambassadors came from Calormen.The Moles were planting an orchard for us...oh...oh.” And she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

“Courage,Su,courage,” said Edmund.“Remember – but what is the matter with you,Mister Tumnus?” For the Faun was holding both his horns with his hands as if he were trying to keep his head on by them and writhing to and fro as if he had a pain in his inside.

“Don't speak to me,don't speak to me,” said Tumnus.“I'm thinking.I'm thinking so that I can hardly breathe.Wait,wait,do wait.”

There was a moment's puzzled silence and then the Faun looked up,drew a long breath,mopped his forehead and said：

“The only difficulty is how to get down to our ship – with some stores,too – without being seen and stopped.”

“Yes,” said a Dwarf dryly.“Just as the beggar's only difficulty about riding is that he has no horse.”

“Wait,wait,” said Mr Tumnus impatiently.“All we need is some pretext for going down to our ship today and taking stuff on board.”

“Yes,” said King Edmund doubtfully.

“Well,then,” said the Faun,“how would it be if your Majesties bade the Prince to a great banquet to be held on board our own galleon,the Splendour Hyaline,tomorrow night?And let the message be worded as graciously as the Queen can contrive without pledging her honour,so as to give the Prince a hope that she is weakening.”

“This is very good counsel,Sire,” croaked the Raven.

“And then,” continued Tumnus excitedly,“everyone will expect us to be going down to the ship all day,making preparations for our guests.And let some of us go to the bazaars and spend every minim we have at the fruiterers and the sweetmeat sellers and the wine merchants,just as we would if we were really giving a feast.And let us order magicians and jugglers and dancing girls and flute players,all to be on board tomorrow night.”

“I see,I see,” said King Edmund,rubbing his hands.

“And then,” said Tumnus,“we'll all be on board tonight.And as soon as it is quite dark—”

“Up sails and out oars—!” said the King.

“And so to sea,” cried Tumnus,leaping up and beginning to dance.

“And our nose Northward,” said the first Dwarf.

“Running for home!Hurray for Narnia and the North!” said the other.

“And the Prince waking the next morning and finding his birds flown!” said Peridan,clapping his hands.

“Oh,Master Tumnus,dear Master Tumnus,” said the Queen,catching his hands and swinging with him as he danced.“You have saved us all.”

“The Prince will chase us,” said another lord,whose name Shasta had not heard.

“That's the least of my fears,” said Edmund.“I have seen all the shipping in the river and there's no tall ship of war nor swift galley there.I wish he may chase us!For the Splendour Hyaline could sink anything he has to send after her – if we were overtaken at all.”

“Sire,” said the Raven.“You shall hear no better plot than the Faun's though we sat in council for seven days.And now,as we birds say,nests before eggs.Which is as much as to say,let us all take our food and then at once be about our business.”

Everyone arose at this and the doors were opened and the lords and the creatures stood aside for the King and Queen to go out first.Shasta wondered what he ought to do,but Mr Tumnus said,“Lie there,your Highness,and I will bring you up a little feast to yourself in a few moments.There is no need for you to move until we are all ready to embark.”Shasta laid his head down again on the pillows and soon he was alone in the room.

“This is perfectly dreadful,” thought Shasta.It never came into his head to tell these Narnians the whole truth and ask for their help.Having been brought up by a hard,close-fisted man like Arsheesh,he had a fixed habit of never telling grown-ups anything if he could help it：he thought they would always spoil or stop whatever you were trying to do.And he thought that even if the Narnian King might be friendly to the two horses,because they were talking beasts of Narnia,he would hate Aravis,because she was a Calormene,and either sell her for a slave or send her back to her father.As for himself,“I simply daren't tell them I'm not Prince Corin now,” thought Shasta.“I've heard all their plans.If they knew I wasn't one of themselves,they'd never let me out of this house alive.They'd be afraid I'd betray them to the Tisroc.They'd kill me.And if the real Corin turns up,it'll all come out,and they will!”He had,you see,no idea of how noble and free-born people behave.

“What am I to do?What am I to do?” he kept saying to himself.“What – hullo,here comes that goaty little creature again.”

The Faun trotted in,half dancing,with a tray in his hands which was nearly as large as itself.This he set on an inlaid table beside Shasta's sofa,and sat down himself on the carpeted floor with his goaty legs crossed.

“Now,Princeling,” he said.“Make a good dinner.It will be your last meal in Tashbaan.”

It was a fine meal after the Calormene fashion.I don't know whether you would have liked it or not,but Shasta did.There were lobsters,and salad,and snipe stuffed with almonds and truffles,and a complicated dish made of chicken-livers and rice and raisins and nuts,and there were cool melons and gooseberry fools and mulberry fools,and every kind of nice thing that can be made with ice.There was also a little flagon of the sort of wine that is called“white” though it is really yellow.

While Shasta was eating,the good little Faun,who thought he was still dazed with sunstroke,kept talking to him about the fine times he would have when they all got home；about his good old father King Lune of Archenland and the little castle where he lived on the southern slopes of the pass.“And don't forget,” said Mr Tumnus,“that you are promised your first suit of armour and your first war-horse on your next birthday.And then your Highness will begin to learn how to tilt and joust.And in a few years,if all goes well,King Peter has promised your royal father that he himself will make you Knight at Cair Paravel.And in the meantime there will be plenty of comings and goings between Narnia and Archenland across the neck of the mountains.And of course you remember you have promised to come for a whole week to stay with me for the summer Festival,and there'll be bonfires and all-night dances of Fauns and Dryads in the heart of the woods and,who knows?– we might see Aslan himself!”

When the meal was over the Faun told Shasta to stay quietly where he was.“And it wouldn't do you any harm to have a little sleep,” he added.“I'll call you in plenty of time to get on board.And then,Home.Narnia and the North!”

Shasta had so enjoyed his dinner and all the things Tumnus had been telling him that when he was left alone his thoughts took a different turn.He only hoped now that the real Prince Corin would not turn up until it was too late and that he would be taken away to Narnia by ship.I am afraid he did not think at all of what might happen to the real Corin when he was left behind in Tashbaan.He was a little worried about Aravis and Bree waiting for him at the Tombs.But then he said to himself,“Well,how can I help it?” and,“Anyway,that Aravis thinks she's too good to go about with me,so she can jolly well go alone,” and at the same time he couldn't help feeling that it would be much nicer going to Narnia by sea than toiling across the desert.

When he had thought all this,he did what I expect you would have done if you had been up very early and had a long walk and a great deal of excitement and then a very good meal,and were lying on a sofa in a cool room with no noise in it except when a bee came buzzing in through the wide open windows.He fell asleep.

What woke him was a loud crash.He jumped up off the sofa,staring.He saw at once from the mere look of the room – the lights and shadows all looked different – that he must have slept for several hours.He saw also what had made the crash：a costly porcelain vase which had been standing on the window-sill lay on the floor broken into about thirty pieces.But he hardly noticed all these things.What he did notice was two hands gripping the windowsill from outside.They gripped harder and harder(getting white at the knuckles)and then up came a head and a pair of shoulders.A moment later there was a boy of Shasta's own age sitting astride the sill with one leg hanging down inside the room.

Shasta had never seen his own face in a looking-glass.Even if he had,he might not have realized that the other boy was(at ordinary times)almost exactly like himself.At the moment this boy was not particularly like anyone for he had the finest black eye you ever saw,and a tooth missing,and his clothes(which must have been splendid ones when he put them on)were torn and dirty,and there was both blood and mud on his face.

“Who are you?” said the boy in a whisper.

“Are you Prince Corin?” said Shasta.

“Yes,of course,” said the other.“But who are you?”

“I'm nobody,nobody in particular,I mean,” said Shasta.“King Edmund caught me in the street and mistook me for you.I suppose we must look like one another.Can I get out the way you've got in?”

“Yes,if you're any good at climbing,” said Corin.“But why are you in such a hurry?I say：we ought to be able to get some fun out of this being mistaken for one another.”

“No,no,” said Shasta.“We must change places at once.It'll be simply frightful if Mr Tumnus comes back and finds us both here.I've had to pretend to be you.And you're starting tonight – secretly.And where were you all this time?”

“A boy in the street made a beastly joke about Queen Susan,” said Prince Corin,“so I knocked him down.He ran howling into a house and his big brother came out.So I knocked the big brother down.Then they all followed me until we ran into three old men with spears who are called the Watch.So I fought the Watch and they knocked me down.It was getting dark by now.Then the Watch took me along to lock me up somewhere.So I asked them if they'd like a stoup of wine and they said they didn't mind if they did.Then I took them to a wine shop and got them some and they all sat down and drank till they fell asleep.I thought it was time for me to be off so I came out quietly and then I found the first boy – the one who had started all the trouble – still hanging about.So I knocked him down again.After that I climbed up a pipe on to the roof of a house and lay quiet till it began to get light this morning.Ever since that I've been finding my way back.I say,is there anything to drink?”

“No,I drank it,” said Shasta.“And now,show me how you got in.There's not a minute to lose.You'd better lie down on the sofa and pretend – but I forgot.It'll be no good with all those bruises and black eye.You'll just have to tell them the truth,once I'm safely away.”

“What else did you think I'd be telling them?”asked the Prince with a rather angry look.“And who are you?”

“There's no time,” said Shasta in a frantic whisper.“I'm a Narnian,I believe；something Northern anyway.But I've been brought up all my life in Calormen.And I'm escaping：across the desert；with a Talking Horse called Bree.And now,quick!How do I get away?”

“Look,” said Corin.“Drop from this window on to the roof of the verandah.But you must do it lightly,on your toes,or someone will hear you.Then along to your left and you can get up to the top of that wall if you're any good at all as a climber.Then along the wall to the corner.Drop on to the rubbish heap you will find outside,and there you are.”

“Thanks,” said Shasta,who was already sitting on the sill.The two boys were looking into each other's faces and suddenly found that they were friends.

“Goodbye,” said Corin.“And good luck.I do hope you get safe away.”

“Goodbye,” said Shasta.“I say,you have been having some adventures!”

“Nothing to yours,” said the Prince.“Now drop；lightly – I say,” he added as Shasta dropped,“I hope we meet in Archenland.Go to my father King Lune and tell him you're a friend of mine.Look out!I hear someone coming.”

CHAPTER 6

Shasta among the Tombs

Shasta ran lightly along the roof on tiptoe.It felt hot to his bare feet.He was only a few seconds scrambling up the wall at the far end,and when he got to the corner he found himself looking down into a narrow,smelly street,and there was a rubbish heap against the outside of the wall just as Corin had told him.Before jumping down he took a rapid glance round him to get his bearings.Apparently he had now come over the crown of the island-hill on which Tashbaan is built.Everything sloped away before him,flat roofs below flat roofs,down to the towers and battlements of the city's Northern wall.Beyond that was the river and beyond the river a short slope covered with gardens.But beyond that again there was something he had never seen the like of – a great yellowish-grey thing,flat as a calm sea,and stretching for miles.On the far side of it were huge blue things,lumpy but with jagged edges,and some of them with white tops.“The desert!The mountains!” thought Shasta.

He jumped down on to the rubbish and began trotting along downhill as fast as he could in the narrow lane,which soon brought him into a wider street where there were more people.No one bothered to look at a little ragged boy running along on bare feet.Still,he was anxious and uneasy till he turned a corner and there saw the city gate in front of him.Here he was pressed and jostled a bit,for a good many other people were also going out；and on the bridge beyond the gate the crowd became quite a slow procession,more like a queue than a crowd.Out there,with clear running water on each side it was deliciously fresh after the smell and heat and noise of Tashbaan.

When once Shasta had reached the far end of the bridge he found the crowd melting away：everyone seemed to be going either to the left or right along the river bank.He went straight ahead up a road that did not appear to be much used,between gardens.In a few paces he was alone,and a few more brought him to the top of the slope.There he stood and stared.It was like coming to the end of the world for all the grass stopped quite suddenly a few feet before him and the sand began：endless level sand like on a sea shore but a bit rougher because it was never wet.The mountains,which now looked further off than before,loomed ahead.Greatly to his relief he saw,about five minutes' walk away on his left,what must certainly be the Tombs,just as Bree had described them；great masses of mouldering stone shaped like gigantic beehives,but a little narrower.They looked very black and grim,for the sun was now setting right behind them.

He turned his face West and trotted towards the Tombs.He could not help looking out very hard for any sign of his friends,though the setting sun shone in his face so that he could see hardly anything.“And anyway,” he thought,“of course they'll be round on the far side of the farthest tomb,not this side where anyone might see them from the city.”

There were about twelve Tombs,each with a low arched doorway that opened into absolute blackness.They were dotted about in no kind of order,so that it took a long time,going round this one and going round that one,before you could be sure that you had looked round every side of every tomb.This was what Shasta had to do.There was nobody there.

It was very quiet here out on the edge of the desert；and now the sun had really set.

Suddenly from somewhere behind him there came a terrible sound.Shasta's heart gave a great jump and he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from screaming.Next moment he realized what it was：the horns of Tashbaan blowing for the closing of the gates.“Don't be a silly little coward,” said Shasta to himself.“Why,it's only the same noise you heard this morning.” But there is a great difference between a noise heard letting you in with your friends in the morning,and a noise heard alone at nightfall,shutting you out.And now that the gates were shut he knew there was no chance of the others joining him that evening.“Either they're shut up in Tashbaan for the night,” thought Shasta,“or else they've gone on without me.It's just the sort of thing that Aravis would do.But Bree wouldn't.Oh,he wouldn't – now,would he?”

In this idea about Aravis Shasta was once more quite wrong.She was proud and could be hard enough but she was as true as steel and would never have deserted a companion,whether she liked him or not.

Now that Shasta knew he would have to spend the night alone(it was getting darker every minute)he began to like the look of the place less and less.There was something very uncomfortable about those great,silent shapes of stone.He had been trying his hardest for a long time not to think of ghouls：but he couldn't keep it up any longer.

“Ow!Ow!Help!” he shouted suddenly,for at that very moment he felt something touch his leg.I don't think anyone can be blamed for shouting if something comes up from behind and touches him；not in such a place and at such a time,when he is frightened already.Shasta at any rate was too frightened to run.Anything would be better than being chased round and round the burial places of the Ancient Kings with something he dared not look at behind him.Instead,he did what was really the most sensible thing he could do.He looked round；and his heart almost burst with relief.What had touched him was only a cat.

The light was too bad now for Shasta to see much of the cat except that it was big and very solemn.It looked as if it might have lived for long,long years among the Tombs,alone.Its eyes made you think it knew secrets it would not tell.

“Puss,puss,” said Shasta.“I suppose you're not a talking cat.”

The cat stared at him harder than ever.Then it started walking away,and of course Shasta followed it.It led him right through the Tombs and out on the desert side of them.There it sat bolt upright with its tail curled round its feet and its face set towards the desert and towards Narnia and the North,as still as if it were watching for some enemy.Shasta lay down beside it with his back against the cat and his face towards the Tombs,because if one is nervous there's nothing like having your face towards the danger and having something warm and solid at your back.The sand wouldn't have seemed very comfortable to you,but Shasta had been sleeping on the ground for weeks and hardly noticed it.Very soon he fell asleep,though even in his dreams he went on wondering what had happened to Bree and Aravis and Hwin.

He was wakened suddenly by a noise he had never heard before.“Perhaps it was only a nightmare,”said Shasta to himself.At the same moment he noticed that the cat had gone from his back,and he wished it hadn't.But he lay quite still without even opening his eyes because he felt sure he would be more frightened if he sat up and looked round at the Tombs and the loneliness：just as you or I might lie still with the clothes over our heads.But then the noise came again – a harsh,piercing cry from behind him out of the desert.Then of course he had to open his eyes and sit up.

The moon was shining brightly.The Tombs – far bigger and nearer than he had thought they would be– looked grey in the moonlight.In fact,they looked horribly like huge people,draped in grey robes that covered their heads and faces.They were not at all nice things to have near you when spending a night alone in a strange place.But the noise had come from the opposite side,from the desert.Shasta had to turn his back on the Tombs(he didn't like that much)and stare out across the level sand.The wild cry rang out again.

“I hope it's not more lions,” thought Shasta.It was in fact not very like the lion's roars he had heard on the night when they met Hwin and Aravis,and was really the cry of a jackal.But of course Shasta did not know this.Even if he had known,he would not have wanted very much to meet a jackal.

The cries rang out again and again.“There's more than one of them,whatever they are,” thought Shasta.“And they're coming nearer.”

I suppose that if he had been an entirely sensible boy he would have gone back through the Tombs nearer to the river where there were houses,and wild beasts would be less likely to come.But then there were(or he thought there were)the ghouls.To go back through the Tombs would mean going past those dark openings in the Tombs；and what might come out of them?It may have been silly,but Shasta felt he would rather risk the wild beasts.Then,as the cries came nearer and nearer,he began to change his mind.

He was just going to run for it when suddenly,between him and the desert,a huge animal bounded into view.As the moon was behind it,it looked quite black,and Shasta did not know what it was,except that it had a very big,shaggy head and went on four legs.It did not seem to have noticed Shasta,for it suddenly stopped,turned its head towards the desert and let out a roar which re-echoed through the Tombs and seemed to shake the sand under Shasta's feet.The cries of the other creatures suddenly stopped and he thought he could hear feet scampering away.Then the great beast turned to examine Shasta.

“It's a lion,I know it's a lion,” thought Shasta.“I'm done.I wonder,will it hurt much?I wish it was over.I wonder,does anything happen to people after they're dead?O-o-oh!Here it comes!” And he shut his eyes and his teeth tight.

But instead of teeth and claws he only felt something warm lying down at his feet.And when he opened his eyes he said,“Why,it's not nearly as big as I thought!It's only half the size.No,it isn't even quarter the size.I do declare it's only the cat!!I must have dreamed all that about its being as big as a horse.”

And whether he really had been dreaming or not,what was now lying at his feet,and staring him out of countenance with its big,green,unwinking eyes,was the cat；though certainly one of the largest cats he had ever seen.

“Oh,puss,” gasped Shasta.“I am so glad to see you again.I've been having such horrible dreams.”And he at once lay down again,back to back with the cat as they had been at the beginning of the night.The warmth from it spread all over him.

“I'll never do anything nasty to a cat again as long as I live,” said Shasta,half to the cat and half to himself.“I did once,you know.I threw stones at a half-starved mangy old stray.Hey!Stop that.” For the cat had turned round and given him a scratch.“None of that,” said Shasta.“It isn't as if you could understand what I'm saying.” Then he dozed off.

Next morning when he woke,the cat was gone,the sun was already up,and the sand hot.Shasta,very thirsty,sat up and rubbed his eyes.The desert was blindingly white and,though there was a murmur of noises from the city behind him,where he sat everything was perfectly still.When he looked a little left and west,so that the sun was not in his eyes,he could see the mountains on the far side of the desert,so sharp and clear that they looked only a stone's throw away.He particularly noticed one blue height that divided into two peaks at the top and decided that it must be Mount Pire.“That's our direction,judging by what the Raven said,” he thought,“so I'll just make sure of it,so as not to waste any time when the others turn up.” So he made a good,deep straight furrow with his foot pointing exactly to Mount Pire.

The next job,clearly,was to get something to eat and drink.Shasta trotted back through the Tombs –they looked quite ordinary now and he wondered how he could ever have been afraid of them – and down into the cultivated land by the river's side.There were a few people about but not very many,for the city gates had been open several hours and the early morning crowds had already gone in.So he had no difficulty in doing a little “raiding”(as Bree called it).It involved a climb over a garden wall and the results were three oranges,a melon,a fig or two,and a pomegranate.After that,he went down to the river bank,but not too near the bridge,and had a drink.The water was so nice that he took off his hot,dirty clothes and had a dip；for of course Shasta,having lived on the shore all his life,had learned to swim almost as soon as he had learned to walk.When he came out he lay on the grass looking across the water at Tashbaan – all the splendour and strength and glory of it.But that made him remember the dangers of it too.He suddenly realized that the others might have reached the Tombs while he was bathing(“and gone on without me,as likely as not”),so he dressed in a fright and tore back at such a speed that he was all hot and thirsty when he arrived and so the good of his bathe was gone.

Like most days when you are alone and waiting for something,this day seemed about a hundred hours long.He had plenty to think of,of course,but sitting alone,just thinking,is pretty slow.He thought a good deal about the Narnians and especially about Corin.He wondered what had happened when they discovered that the boy who had been lying on the sofa and hearing all their secret plans wasn't really Corin at all.It was very unpleasant to think of all those nice people imagining him a traitor.

But as the sun slowly,slowly climbed up to the top of the sky and then slowly,slowly began going downwards to the West,and no one came and nothing at all happened,he began to get more and more anxious.And of course he now realized that when they arranged to wait for one another at the Tombs no one had said anything about How Long.He couldn't wait here for the rest of his life!And soon it would be dark again,and he would have another night just like last night.A dozen different plans went through his head,all wretched ones,and at last he fixed on the worst plan of all.He decided to wait till it was dark and then go back to the river and steal as many melons as he could carry and set out for Mount Pire alone,trusting for his direction to the line he had drawn that morning in the sand.It was a crazy idea and if he had read as many books as you have about journeys over deserts he would never have dreamed of it.But Shasta had read no books at all.

Before the sun set something did happen.Shasta was sitting in the shadow of one of the Tombs when he looked up and saw two horses coming towards him.Then his heart gave a great leap,for he recognized them as Bree and Hwin.But the next moment his heart went down into his toes again.There was no sign of Aravis.The Horses were being led by a strange man,an armed man pretty handsomely dressed like an upper slave in a great family.Bree and Hwin were no longer got up like pack-horses,but saddled and bridled.And what could it all mean?“It's a trap,” thought Shasta.“Somebody has caught Aravis and perhaps they've tortured her and she's given the whole thing away.They want me to jump out and run up and speak to Bree and then I'll be caught too!And yet if I don't,I may be losing my only chance to meet the others.Oh,I do wish I knew what had happened.” And he skulked behind the Tomb,looking out every few minutes,and wondering which was the least dangerous thing to do.

CHAPTER 7

Aravis in Tashbaan

What had really happened was this.When Aravis saw Shasta hurried away by the Narnians and found herself alone with two horses who(very wisely)wouldn't say a word,she never lost her head even for a moment.She grabbed Bree's halter and stood still,holding both the horses；and though her heart was beating as hard as a hammer,she did nothing to show it.As soon as the Narnian lords had passed she tried to move on again.But before she could take a step,another crier(“Bother all these people,” thought Aravis)was heard shouting out,“Way,way,way!Way for the Tarkheena Lasaraleen!” and immediately,following the crier,came four armed slaves and then four bearers carrying a litter which was all a-flutter with silken curtains and all a-jingle with silver bells and which scented the whole street with perfumes and flowers.After the litter,female slaves in beautiful clothes,and then a few grooms,runners,pages,and the like.And now Aravis made her first mistake.

She knew Lasaraleen quite well – almost as if they had been at school together – because they had often stayed in the same houses and been to the same parties.And Aravis couldn't help looking up to see what Lasaraleen looked like now that she was married and a very great person indeed.

It was fatal.The eyes of the two girls met.And immediately Lasaraleen sat up in the litter and burst out at the top of her voice.

“Aravis!What on earth are you doing here?Your father—”

There was not a moment to lose.Without a second's delay Aravis let go the Horses,caught the edge of the litter,swung herself up beside Lasaraleen and whispered furiously in her ear.

“Shut up!Do you hear?Shut up.You must hide me.Tell your people—”

“But darling—” began Lasaraleen in the same loud voice.(She didn't in the least mind making people stare；in fact she rather liked it.)

“Do what I tell you or I'll never speak to you again,” hissed Aravis.“Please,please be quick,Las.It's frightfully important.Tell your people to bring those two horses along.Pull all the curtains of the litter and get away somewhere where I can't be found.And do hurry.”

“All right,darling,” said Lasaraleen in her lazy voice.“Here.Two of you take the Tarkheena's horses.”(This was to the slaves.)“And now home.I say,darling,do you think we really want the curtains drawn on a day like this?I mean to say—”

But Aravis had already drawn the curtains,enclosing Lasaraleen and herself in a rich and scented,but rather stuffy,kind of tent.

“I mustn't be seen,” she said.“My father doesn't know I'm here.I'm running away.”

“My dear,how perfectly thrilling,” said Lasaraleen.“I'm dying to hear all about it.Darling,you're sitting on my dress.Do you mind?That's better.It is a new one.Do you like it?I got it at—”

“Oh,Las,do be serious,” said Aravis.“Where is my father?”

“Didn't you know?” said Lasaraleen.“He's here,of course.He came to town yesterday and is asking about you everywhere.And to think of you and me being here together and his not knowing anything about it!It's the funniest thing I ever heard.” And she went off into giggles.She always had been a terrible giggler,as Aravis now remembered.

“It isn't funny at all,” she said.“It's dreadfully serious.Where can you hide me?”

“No difficulty at all,my dear girl,” said Lasaraleen.“I'll take you home.My husband's away and no one will see you.Phew!It's not much fun with the curtains drawn.I want to see people.There's no point in having a new dress on if one's to go about shut up like this.”

“I hope no one heard you when you shouted out to me like that,” said Aravis.

“No,no,of course,darling,” said Lasaraleen absentmindedly.“But you haven't even told me yet what you think of the dress.”

“Another thing,” said Aravis.“You must tell your people to treat those two horses very respectfully.That's part of the secret.They're really Talking Horses from Narnia.”

“Fancy!” said Lasaraleen.“How exciting!And oh,darling,have you seen the barbarian queen from Narnia?She's staying in Tashbaan at present.They say Prince Rabadash is madly in love with her.There have been the most wonderful parties and hunts and things all this last fortnight.I can't see that she's so very pretty myself.But some of the Narnian men are lovely.I was taken out on a river party the day before yesterday,and I was wearing my—”

“How shall we prevent your people telling everyone that you've got a visitor – dressed like a beggar's brat – in your house?It might so easily get round to my father.”

“Now don't keep on fussing,there's a dear,” said Lasaraleen.“We'll get you some proper clothes in a moment.And here we are!”

The bearers had stopped and the litter was being lowered.When the curtains had been drawn Aravis found that she was in a courtyard-garden very like the one that Shasta had been taken to a few minutes earlier in another part of the city.Lasaraleen would have gone indoors at once but Aravis reminded her in a frantic whisper to say something to the slaves about not telling anyone of their mistress's strange visitor.

“Sorry,darling,it had gone right out of my head,”said Lasaraleen.“Here.All of you.And you,doorkeeper.No one is to be let out of the house today.And anyone I catch talking about this young lady will be first beaten to death and then burned alive and after that be kept on bread and water for six weeks.There.”

Although Lasaraleen had said she was dying to hear Aravis's story,she showed no sign of really wanting to hear it at all.She was,in fact,much better at talking than at listening.She insisted on Aravis having a long and luxurious bath(Calormene baths are famous)and then dressing her up in the finest clothes before she would let her explain anything.The fuss she made about choosing the dresses nearly drove Aravis mad.She remembered now that Lasaraleen had always been like that,interested in clothes and parties and gossip.Aravis had always been more interested in bows and arrows and horses and dogs and swimming.You will guess that each thought the other silly.But when at last they were both seated after a meal(it was chiefly of the whipped cream and jelly and fruit and ice sort)in a beautiful pillared room(which Aravis would have liked better if Lasaraleen's spoiled pet monkey hadn't been climbing about it all the time)Lasaraleen at last asked her why she was running away from home.

When Aravis had finished telling her story,Lasaraleen said,“But,darling,why don't you marry Ahoshta Tarkaan?Everyone's crazy about him.My husband says he is beginning to be one of the greatest men in Calormen.He has just been made Grand Vizier now old Axartha has died.Didn't you know?”

“I don't care.I can't stand the sight of him,”said Aravis.

“But,darling,only think!Three palaces,and one of them that beautiful one down on the lake at Ilkeen.Positively ropes of pearls,I'm told.Baths of asses' milk.And you'd see such a lot of me.”

“He can keep his pearls and palaces as far as I'm concerned,” said Aravis.

“You always were a queer girl,Aravis,” said Lasaraleen.“What more do you want?”

In the end,however,Aravis managed to make her friend believe that she was in earnest,and even to discuss plans.There would be no difficulty now about getting the two horses out of the North gate and then on to the Tombs.No one would stop or question a groom in fine clothes leading a war-horse and a lady's saddle-horse down to the river,and Lasaraleen had plenty of grooms to send.It wasn't so easy to decide what to do about Aravis herself.She suggested that she could be carried out in the litter with the curtains drawn.But Lasaraleen told her that litters were only used in the city and the sight of one going out through the gate would be certain to lead to questions.

When they had talked for a long time – and it was all the longer because Aravis found it hard to keep her friend to the point – at last Lasaraleen clapped her hands and said,“Oh,I have an idea.There is one way of getting out of the city without using the gates.The Tisroc's garden(may he live for ever!)runs right down to the water and there is a little water-door.Only for the palace people of course – but then you know,dear,”(here she tittered a little)“we almost are palace people.I say,it is lucky for you that you came to me.The dear Tisroc(may he live for ever!)is so kind.We're asked to the palace almost every day and it is like a second home.I love all the dear princes and princesses and I positively adore Prince Rabadash.I might run in and see any of the palace ladies at any hour of the day or night.Why shouldn't I slip in with you,after dark,and let you out by the water-door?There are always a few punts and things tied up outside it.And even if we were caught—”

“All would be lost,” said Aravis.

“Oh,darling,don't get so excited,” said Lasaraleen.“I was going to say,even if we were caught everyone would only say it was one of my mad jokes.I'm getting quite well known for them.Only the other day – do listen,dear,this is frightfully funny—”

“I meant,all would be lost for me,” said Aravis a little sharply.

“Oh – ah – yes – I do see what you mean,darling.Well,can you think of any better plan?”

Aravis couldn't,and answered,“No.We'll have to risk it.When can we start?”

“Oh,not tonight,” said Lasaraleen.“Of course not tonight.There's a great feast on tonight(I must start getting my hair done for it in a few minutes)and the whole place will be a blaze of lights.And such a crowd too!It would have to be tomorrow night.”

This was bad news for Aravis,but she had to make the best of it.The afternoon passed very slowly and it was a relief when Lasaraleen went out to the banquet,for Aravis was very tired of her giggling and her talk about dresses and parties,weddings and engagements and scandals.She went to bed early and that part she did enjoy：it was so nice to have pillows and sheets again.

But the next day passed very slowly.Lasaraleen wanted to go back on the whole arrangement and kept on telling Aravis that Narnia was a country of perpetual snow and ice inhabited by demons and sorcerers,and she was mad to think of going there.“And with a peasant boy,too!” said Lasaraleen.“Darling,think of it!It's not Nice.” Aravis had thought of it a good deal,but she was so tired of Lasaraleen's silliness by now that,for the first time,she began to think that travelling with Shasta was really rather more fun than fashionable life in Tashbaan.So she only replied,“You forget that I'll be nobody,just like him,when we get to Narnia.And anyway,I promised.”

“And to think,” said Lasaraleen,almost crying,“that if only you had sense you could be the wife of a Grand Vizier!” Aravis went away to have a private word with the horses.

“You must go with a groom a little before sunset down to the Tombs,” she said.“No more of those packs.You'll be saddled and bridled again.But there'll have to be food in Hwin's saddle-bags and a full water-skin behind yours,Bree.The man has orders to let you both have a good long drink at the far side of the bridge.”

“And then,Narnia and the North!” whispered Bree.“But what if Shasta is not at the Tombs?”

“Wait for him,of course,” said Aravis.“I hope you've been quite comfortable.”

“Never better stabled in my life,” said Bree.“But if the husband of that tittering Tarkheena friend of yours is paying his head groom to get the best oats,then I think the head groom is cheating him.”

Aravis and Lasaraleen had supper in the pillared room.

About two hours later they were ready to start.Aravis was dressed to look like a superior slave-girl in a great house and wore a veil over her face.They had agreed that if any questions were asked,Lasaraleen would pretend that Aravis was a slave she was taking as a present to one of the princesses.

The two girls went out on foot.A very few minutes brought them to the palace gates.Here there were of course soldiers on guard but the officer knew Lasaraleen quite well and called his men to attention and saluted.They passed at once into the Hall of Black Marble.A fair number of courtiers,slaves and others were still moving about here but this only made the two girls less conspicuous.They passed on into the Hall of Pillars and then into the Hall of Statues and down the colonnade,passing the great beaten-copper doors of the throne room.It was all magnificent beyond description；what they could see of it in the dim light of the lamps.

Presently they came out into the garden-court which sloped downhill in a number of terraces.On the far side of that they came to the Old Palace.It had already grown almost dark and they now found themselves in a maze of corridors lit only by occasional torches fixed in brackets to the walls.Lasaraleen halted at a place where you had to go either left or right.

“Go on,do go on,” whispered Aravis,whose heart was beating terribly and who still felt that her father might run into them at any corner.

“I'm just wondering…” said Lasaraleen.“I'm not absolutely sure which way we go from here.I think it's the left.Yes,I'm almost sure it's the left.What fun this is!”

They took the left-hand way and found themselves in a passage that was hardly lighted at all and which soon began going down steps.

“It's all right,” said Lasaraleen.“I'm sure we're right now.I remember these steps.” But at that moment a moving light appeared ahead.A second later there appeared from round a distant corner the dark shapes of two men walking backwards and carrying tall candles.And of course it is only before royalties that people walk backwards.Aravis felt Lasaraleen grip her arm – that sort of sudden grip which is almost a pinch and which means that the person who is gripping you is very frightened indeed.Aravis thought it odd that Lasaraleen should be so afraid of the Tisroc if he were really such a friend of hers,but there was no time to go on thinking.Lasaraleen was hurrying her back to the top of the steps,on tiptoe,and groping wildly along the wall.

“Here's a door,” she whispered.“Quick.”

They went in,drew the door very softly behind them,and found themselves in pitch darkness.Aravis could hear by Lasaraleen's breathing that she was terrified.

“Tash preserve us!” whispered Lasaraleen.“What shall we do if he comes in here?Can we hide?”

There was a soft carpet under their feet.They groped forward into the room and blundered on to a sofa.

“Let's lie down behind it,” whimpered Lasaraleen.“Oh,I do wish we hadn't come.”

There was just room between the sofa and the curtained wall and the two girls got down.Lasaraleen managed to get the better position and was completely covered.The upper part of Aravis's face stuck out beyond the sofa,so that if anyone came into that room with a light and happened to look in exactly the right place they would see her.But of course,because she was wearing a veil,what they saw would not at once look like a forehead and a pair of eyes.Aravis shoved desperately to try to make Lasaraleen give her a little more room.But Lasaraleen,now quite selfish in her panic,fought back and pinched her feet.They gave it up and lay still,panting a little.Their own breath seemed dreadfully noisy,but there was no other noise.

“Is it safe?” said Aravis at last in the tiniest possible whisper.

“I – I – think so,” began Lasaraleen.“But my poor nerves—” and then came the most terrible noise they could have heard at that moment：the noise of the door opening.And then came light.And because Aravis couldn't get her head any further in behind the sofa,she saw everything.

First came the two slaves(deaf and dumb,as Aravis rightly guessed,and therefore used at the most secret councils)walking backwards and carrying the candles.They took up their stand one at each end of the sofa.This was a good thing,for of course it was now harder for anyone to see Aravis once a slave was in front of her and she was looking between his heels.Then came an old man,very fat,wearing a curious pointed cap by which she immediately knew that he was the Tisroc.The least of the jewels with which he was covered was worth more than all the clothes and weapons of the Narnian lords put together：but he was so fat and such a mass of frills and pleats and bobbles and buttons and tassels and talismans that Aravis couldn't help thinking the Narnian fashions(at any rate for men)looked nicer.After him came a tall young man with a feathered and jewelled turban on his head and an ivory-sheathed scimitar at his side.He seemed very excited and his eyes and teeth flashed fiercely in the candlelight.Last of all came a little hump-backed,wizened old man in whom she recognized with a shudder the new Grand Vizier and her own betrothed husband,Ahoshta Tarkaan himself.

As soon as all three had entered the room and the door was shut,the Tisroc seated himself on the divan with a sigh of contentment,the young man took his place,standing,before him,and the Grand Vizier got down on his knees and elbows and laid his face flat on the carpet.

CHAPTER 8

In the House of the Tisroc

“Oh-my-father-and-oh-the-delight-of-my-eyes,”began the young man,muttering the words very quickly and sulkily and not at all as if the Tisroc were the delight of his eyes.“May you live for ever,but you have utterly destroyed me.If you had given me the swiftest of the galleys at sunrise when I first saw that the ship of the accursed barbarians was gone from her place I would perhaps have overtaken them.But you persuaded me to send first and see if they had not merely moved round the point into better anchorage.And now the whole day has been wasted.And they are gone – gone – out of my reach!The false jade,the—”and here he added a great many descriptions of Queen Susan which would not look at all nice in print.For of course this young man was Prince Rabadash and of course the false jade was Susan of Narnia.

“Compose yourself,O my son,” said the Tisroc.“For the departure of guests makes a wound that is easily healed in the heart of a judicious host.”

“But I want her,” cried the Prince.“I must have her.I shall die if I do not get her – false,proud,blackhearted daughter of a dog that she is!I cannot sleep and my food has no savour and my eyes are darkened because of her beauty.I must have the barbarian queen.”

“How well it was said by a gifted poet,” observed the Vizier,raising his face(in a somewhat dusty condition)from the carpet,“that deep draughts from the fountain of reason are desirable in order to extinguish the fire of youthful love.”

This seemed to exasperate the Prince.“Dog,” he shouted,directing a series of well-aimed kicks at the hindquarters of the Vizier,“do not dare to quote the poets to me.I have had maxims and verses flung at me all day and I can endure them no more.” I am afraid Aravis did not feel at all sorry for the Vizier.

The Tisroc was apparently sunk in thought,but when,after a long pause,he noticed what was happening,he said tranquilly：

“My son,by all means desist from kicking the venerable and enlightened Vizier：for as a costly jewel retains its value even if hidden in a dung-hill,so old age and discretion are to be respected even in the vile persons of our subjects.Desist therefore,and tell us what you desire and propose.”

“I desire and propose,O my father,” said Rabadash,“that you immediately call out your invincible armies and invade the thrice-accursed land of Narnia and waste it with fire and sword and add it to your illimitable empire,killing their High King and all of his blood except the Queen Susan.For I must have her as my wife,though she shall learn a sharp lesson first.”

“Understand,O my son,” said the Tisroc,“that no words you can speak will move me to open war against Narnia.”

“If you were not my father,O ever-living Tisroc,”said the Prince,grinding his teeth,“I should say that was the word of a coward.”

“And if you were not my son,O most inflammable Rabadash,” replied his father,“your life would be short and your death slow when you had said it.”(The cool,placid voice in which he spoke these words made Aravis's blood run cold.)

“But why,O my father,” said the Prince – this time in a much more respectful voice,“why should we think twice about punishing Narnia any more than about hanging an idle slave or sending a worn-out horse to be made into dog's-meat?It is not the fourth size of one of your least provinces.A thousand spears could conquer it in five weeks.It is an unseemly blot on the skirts of your empire.”

“Most undoubtedly,” said the Tisroc.“These little barbarian countries that call themselves free(which is as much as to say,idle,disordered,and unprofitable)are hateful to the gods and to all persons of discernment.”

“Then why have we suffered such a land as Narnia to remain thus long unsubdued?”

“Know,O enlightened Prince,” said the Grand Vizier,“that until the year in which your exalted father began his salutary and unending reign,the land of Narnia was covered with ice and snow and was moreover ruled by a most powerful enchantress.”

“This I know very well,O loquacious Vizier,”answered the Prince.“But I know also that the enchantress is dead.And the ice and snow have vanished,so that Narnia is now wholesome,fruitful,and delicious.”

“And this change,O most learned Prince,has doubtless been brought to pass by the powerful incantations of those wicked persons who now call themselves kings and queens of Narnia.”

“I am rather of the opinion,” said Rabadash,“that it has come about by the alteration of the stars and the operation of natural causes.”

“All this,” said the Tisroc,“is a question for the disputations of learned men.I will never believe that so great an alteration,and the killing of the old enchantress,were effected without the aid of strong magic.And such things are to be expected in that land,which is chiefly inhabited by demons in the shape of beasts that talk like men,and monsters that are half man and half beast.It is commonly reported that the High King of Narnia(whom may the gods utterly reject)is supported by a demon of hideous aspect and irresistible maleficence who appears in the shape of a Lion.Therefore the attacking of Narnia is a dark and doubtful enterprise,and I am determined not to put my hand out farther than I can draw it back.”

“How blessed is Calormen,” said the Vizier,popping up his face again,“on whose ruler the gods have been pleased to bestow prudence and circumspection!Yet as the irrefutable and sapient Tisroc has said it is very grievous to be constrained to keep our hands off such a dainty dish as Narnia.Gifted was that poet who said—” but at this point Ahoshta noticed an impatient movement of the Prince's toe and became suddenly silent.

“It is very grievous,” said the Tisroc in his deep,quiet voice.“Every morning the sun is darkened in my eyes,and every night my sleep is the less refreshing,because I remember that Narnia is still free.”

“O my father,” said Rabadash.“How if I show you a way by which you can stretch out your arm to take Narnia and yet draw it back unharmed if the attempt prove unfortunate?”

“If you can show me that,O Rabadash,” said the Tisroc,“you will be the best of sons.”

“Hear then,O father.This very night and in this hour I will take but two hundred horse and ride across the desert.And it shall seem to all men that you know nothing of my going.On the second morning I shall be at the gates of King Lune's castle of Anvard in Archenland.They are at peace with us and unprepared and I shall take Anvard before they have bestirred themselves.Then I will ride through the pass above Anvard and down through Narnia to Cair Paravel.The High King will not be there；when I left them he was already preparing a raid against the giants on his northern border.I shall find Cair Paravel,most likely with open gates,and ride in.I shall exercise prudence and courtesy and spill as little Narnian blood as I can.And what then remains but to sit there till the Splendour Hyaline puts in,with Queen Susan on board,catch my strayed bird as she sets foot ashore,swing her into the saddle,and then,ride,ride,ride back to Anvard?”

“But is it not probable,O my son,” said the Tisroc,“that at the taking of the woman either King Edmund or you will lose his life?”

“They will be a small company,” said Rabadash,“and I will order ten of my men to disarm and bind him：restraining my vehement desire for his blood so that there shall be no deadly cause of war between you and the High King.”

“And how if the Splendour Hyaline is at Cair Paravel before you?”

“I do not look for that with these winds,O my father.”

“And lastly,O my resourceful son,” said the Tisroc,“you have made clear how all this might give you the barbarian woman,but not how it helps me to the overthrowing of Narnia.”

“O my father,can it have escaped you that though I and my horsemen will come and go through Narnia like an arrow from a bow,yet we shall have Anvard for ever?And when you hold Anvard you sit in the very gate of Narnia,and your garrison in Anvard can be increased by little and little till it is a great host.”

“It is spoken with understanding and foresight.But how do I draw back my arm if all this miscarries?”

“You shall say that I did it without your knowledge and against your will,and without your blessing,being constrained by the violence of my love and the impetuosity of youth.”

“And how if the High King then demands that we send back the barbarian woman,his sister?”

“O my father,be assured that he will not.For though the fancy of a woman has rejected this marriage,the High King Peter is a man of prudence and understanding who will in no way wish to lose the high honour and advantage of being allied to our House and seeing his nephew and grand nephew on the throne of Calormen.”

“He will not see that if I live for ever as is no doubt your wish,” said the Tisroc in an even drier voice than usual.

“And also,O my father and O the delight of my eyes,” said the Prince,after a moment of awkward silence,“we shall write letters as if from the Queen to say that she loves me and has no desire to return to Narnia.For it is well known that women are as changeable as weathercocks.And even if they do not wholly believe the letters,they will not dare to come to Tashbaan in arms to fetch her.”

“O enlightened Vizier,” said the Tisroc,“bestow your wisdom upon us concerning this strange proposal.”

“O eternal Tisroc,” answered Ahoshta,“the strength of paternal affection is not unknown to me and I have often heard that sons are in the eyes of their fathers more precious than carbuncles.How then shall I dare freely to unfold to you my mind in a matter which may imperil the life of this exalted Prince?”

“Undoubtedly you will dare,” replied the Tisroc.“Because you will find that the dangers of not doing so are at least equally great.”

“To hear is to obey,” moaned the wretched man.“Know then,O most reasonable Tisroc,in the first place,that the danger of the Prince is not altogether so great as might appear.For the gods have withheld from the barbarians the light of discretion,as that their poetry is not,like ours,full of choice apophthegms and useful maxims,but is all of love and war.Therefore nothing will appear to them more noble and admirable than such a mad enterprise as this of— ow!” For the Prince,at the word “mad”,had kicked him again.

“Desist,O my son,” said the Tisroc.“And you,estimable Vizier,whether he desists or not,by no means allow the flow of your eloquence to be interrupted.For nothing is more suitable to persons of gravity and decorum than to endure minor inconveniences with constancy.”

“To hear is to obey,” said the Vizier,wriggling himself round a little so as to get his hinder parts further away from Rabadash's toe.“Nothing,I say,will seem as pardonable,if not estimable,in their eyes as this – er – hazardous attempt,especially because it is undertaken for the love of a woman.Therefore,if the Prince by misfortune fell into their hands,they would assuredly not kill him.Nay,it may even be,that though he failed to carry off the queen,yet the sight of his great valour and of the extremity of his passion might incline her heart to him.”

“That is a good point,old babbler,” said Rabadash.“Very good,however it came into your ugly head.”

“The praise of my masters is the light of my eyes,”said Ahoshta.“And secondly,O Tisroc,whose reign must and shall be interminable,I think that with the aid of the gods it is very likely that Anvard will fall into the Prince's hands.And if so,we have Narnia by the throat.”

There was a long pause and the room became so silent that the two girls hardly dared to breathe.At last the Tisroc spoke.

“Go,my son,” he said.“And do as you have said.But expect no help nor countenance from me.I will not avenge you if you are killed and I will not deliver you if the barbarians cast you into prison.And if,either in success or failure,you shed a drop more than you need of Narnian noble blood and open war arises from it,my favour shall never fall upon you again and your next brother shall have your place in Calormen.Now go.Be swift,secret,and fortunate.May the strength of Tash the inexorable,the irresistible,be in your sword and lance.”

“To hear is to obey,” cried Rabadash,and after kneeling for a moment to kiss his father's hands he rushed from the room.Greatly to the disappointment of Aravis,who was now horribly cramped,the Tisroc and Vizier remained.

“O Vizier,” said the Tisroc,“is it certain that no living soul knows of this council we three have held here tonight?”

“O my master,” said Ahoshta,“it is not possible that any should know.For that very reason I proposed,and you in your wisdom agreed,that we should meet here in the Old Palace where no council is ever held and none of the household has any occasion to come.”

“It is well,” said the Tisroc.“If any man knew,I would see to it that he died before an hour had passed.And do you also,O prudent Vizier,forget it.I sponge away from my own heart and from yours all knowledge of the Prince's plans.He is gone without my knowledge or my consent,I know not whither,because of his violence and the rash and disobedient disposition of youth.No man will be more astonished than you and I to hear that Anvard is in his hands.”

“To hear is to obey,” said Ahoshta.

“That is why you will never think even in your secret heart that I am the hardest hearted of fathers who thus sends my first-born son on an errand so likely to be his death,pleasing as it must be to you who do not love the Prince.For I see into the bottom of your mind.”

“O impeccable Tisroc,” said the Vizier.“In comparison with you I love neither the Prince nor my own life nor bread nor water nor the light of the sun.”

“Your sentiments,” said the Tisroc,“are elevated and correct.I also love none of these things in comparison with the glory and strength of my throne.If the Prince succeeds,we have Archenland,and perhaps hereafter Narnia.If he fails – I have eighteen other sons and Rabadash,after the manner of the eldest sons of kings,was beginning to be dangerous.More than five Tisrocs in Tashbaan have died before their time because their eldest sons,enlightened princes,grew tired of waiting for their throne.He had better cool his blood abroad than boil it in inaction here.And now,O excellent Vizier,the excess of my paternal anxiety inclines me to sleep.Command the musicians to my chamber.But before you lie down,call back the pardon we wrote for the third cook.I feel within me the manifest prognostics of indigestion.”

“To hear is to obey,” said the Grand Vizier.He crawled backwards on all fours to the door,rose,bowed,and went out.Even then the Tisroc remained seated in silence on the divan till Aravis almost began to be afraid that he had dropped asleep.But at last with a great creaking and sighing he heaved up his enormous body,signed to the slaves to precede him with the lights,and went out.The door closed behind him,the room was once more totally dark,and the two girls could breathe freely again.

CHAPTER 9

Across the Desert

“How dreadful!How perfectly dreadful!”whimpered Lasaraleen.“Oh,darling,I am so frightened.I'm shaking all over.Feel me.”

“Come on,” said Aravis,who was trembling herself.“They've gone back to the new palace.Once we're out of this room we're safe enough.But it's wasted a terrible time.Get me down to that watergate as quick as you can.”

“Darling,how can you?” squeaked Lasaraleen.“I can't do anything – not now.My poor nerves!No：we must just lie still a bit and then go back.”

“Why back?” asked Aravis.

“Oh,you don't understand.You're so unsympathetic,” said Lasaraleen,beginning to cry.Aravis decided it was no occasion for mercy.

“Look here!” she said,catching Lasaraleen and giving her a good shake.“If you say another word about going back,and if you don't start taking me to that water-gate at once – do you know what I'll do?I'll rush out into that passage and scream.Then we'll both be caught.”

“But we shall both be k-k-killed!” said Lasaraleen.“Didn't you hear what the Tisroc(may he live for ever)said?”

“Yes,and I'd sooner be killed than married to Ahoshta.So come on.”

“Oh,you are unkind,” said Lasaraleen.“And I in such a state!”

But in the end she had to give in to Aravis.She led the way down the steps they had already descended,and along another corridor and so finally out into the open air.They were now in the palace garden which sloped down in terraces to the city wall.The moon shone brightly.One of the drawbacks about adventures is that when you come to the most beautiful places you are often too anxious and hurried to appreciate them；so that Aravis(though she remembered them years later)had only a vague impression of grey lawns,quietly bubbling fountains,and the long black shadows of cypress trees.

When they reached the very bottom and the wall rose frowning above them,Lasaraleen was shaking so much that she could not unbolt the gate.Aravis did it.There,at last,was the river,full of reflected moonlight,and a little landing stage and a few pleasure boats.

“Goodbye,” said Aravis,“and thank you.I'm sorry if I've been a pig.But think what I'm flying from!”

“Oh,Aravis darling,” said Lasaraleen.“Won't you change your mind?Now that you've seen what a very great man Ahoshta is!”

“Great man!” said Aravis.“A hideous grovelling slave who flatters when he's kicked but treasures it all up and hopes to get his own back by egging on that horrible Tisroc to plot his son's death.Faugh!I'd sooner marry my father's scullion than a creature like that.”

“Oh,Aravis,Aravis!How can you say such dreadful things；and about the Tisroc(may he live for ever)too.It must be right if he's going to do it!”

“Goodbye,” said Aravis,“and I thought your dresses were lovely.And I think your house is lovely too.I'm sure you'll have a lovely life – though it wouldn't suit me.Close the door softly behind me.”

She tore herself away from her friend's affectionate embraces,stepped into a punt,cast off,and a moment later was out in midstream with a huge real moon overhead and a huge reflected moon down,deep down,in the river.The air was fresh and cool and as she drew near the farther bank she heard the hooting of an owl.“Ah!That's better!” thought Aravis.She had always lived in the country and had hated every minute of her time in Tashbaan.

When she stepped ashore she found herself in darkness,for the rise of the ground,and the trees,cut off the moonlight.But she managed to find the same road that Shasta had found,and came just as he had done to the end of the grass and the beginning of the sand,and looked(like him)to her left and saw the big,black Tombs.And now at last,brave girl though she was,her heart quailed.Supposing the others weren't there!Supposing the ghouls were!But she stuck out her chin(and a little bit of her tongue too)and went straight towards them.

But before she had reached them she saw Bree and Hwin and the groom.

“You can go back to your mistress now,” said Aravis(quite forgetting that he couldn't,until the city gates opened next morning).“Here is money for your pains.”

“To hear is to obey,” said the groom,and at once set off at a remarkable speed in the direction of the city.There was no need to tell him to make haste：he also had been thinking a good deal about ghouls.

For the next few seconds Aravis was busy kissing the noses and patting the necks of Hwin and Bree just as if they were quite ordinary horses.

“And here comes Shasta!Thanks be to the Lion!”said Bree.

Aravis looked round,and there,right enough,was Shasta who had come out of hiding the moment he saw the groom going away.

“And now,” said Aravis,“there's not a moment to lose.” And in hasty words she told them about Rabadash's expedition.

“Treacherous hounds!” said Bree,shaking his mane and stamping with his hoof.“An attack in time of peace,without defiance sent!But we'll grease his oats for him.We'll be there before he is.”

“Can we?” said Aravis,swinging herself into Hwin's saddle.Shasta wished he could mount like that.

“Brooh-hoo!” snorted Bree.“Up you get,Shasta.Can we!And with a good start too!”

“He said he was going to start at once,”said Aravis.

“That's how humans talk,” said Bree.“But you don't get a company of two hundred horse and horsemen watered and victualled and armed and saddled and started all in a minute.Now：what's our direction?Due North?”

“No,” said Shasta.“I know about that.I've drawn a line.I'll explain later.Bear a bit to our left,both you horses.Ah – here it is!”

“Now,” said Bree.“All that about galloping for a day and a night,like in stories,can't really be done.It must be walk and trot：but brisk trots and short walks.And whenever we walk you two humans can slip off and walk too.Now.Are you ready,Hwin?Off we go.Narnia and the North!”

At first it was delightful.The night had now been going on for so many hours that the sand had almost finished giving back all the sun-heat it had received during the day,and the air was cool,fresh,and clear.Under the moonlight the sand,in every direction and as far as they could see,gleamed as if it were smooth water or a great silver tray.Except for the noise of Bree's and Hwin's hooves there was not a sound to be heard.Shasta would nearly have fallen asleep if he had not had to dismount and walk every now and then.

This seemed to last for hours.Then there came a time when there was no longer any moon.They seemed to ride in the dead darkness for hours and hours.And after that there came a moment when Shasta noticed that he could see Bree's neck and head in front of him a little more clearly than before；and slowly,very slowly,he began to notice the vast grey flatness on every side.It looked absolutely dead,like something in a dead world；and Shasta felt quite terribly tired and noticed that he was getting cold and that his lips were dry.And all the time the squeak of the leather,the jingle of the bits,and the noise of the hooves – not propputty-propputty as it would be on a hard road,but thubbudy-thubbudy on the dry sand.

At last,after hours of riding,far away on his right there came a single long streak of paler grey,low down on the horizon.Then a streak of red.It was the morning at last,but without a single bird to sing about it.He was glad of the walking bits now,for he was colder than ever.

Then suddenly the sun rose and everything changed in a moment.The grey sand turned yellow and twinkled as if it were strewn with diamonds.On their left the shadows of Shasta and Hwin and Bree and Aravis,enormously long,raced beside them.The double peak of Mount Pire,far ahead,flashed in the sunlight and Shasta saw they were a little out of the course.“A bit left,a bit left,” he sang out.Best of all,when you looked back,Tashbaan was already small and remote.The Tombs were quite invisible：swallowed up in that single,jagged-edged hump which was the city of the Tisroc.Everyone felt better.

But not for long.Though Tashbaan looked very far away when they first saw it,it refused to look any further away as they went on.Shasta gave up looking back at it,for it only gave him the feeling that they were not moving at all.Then the light became a nuisance.The glare of the sand made his eyes ache：but he knew he mustn't shut them.He must screw them up and keep on looking ahead at Mount Pire and shouting out directions.Then came the heat.He noticed it for the first time when he had to dismount and walk：as he slipped down to the sand the heat from it struck up into his face as if from the opening of an oven door.Next time it was worse.But the third time,as his bare feet touched the sand he screamed with pain and got one foot back in the stirrup and the other half over Bree's back before you could have said knife.

“Sorry,Bree,” he gasped.“I can't walk.It burns my feet.”

“Of course!” panted Bree.“Should have thought of that myself.Stay on.Can't be helped.”

“It's all right for you,” said Shasta to Aravis who was walking beside Hwin.“You've got shoes on.”

Aravis said nothing and looked prim.Let's hope she didn't mean to,but she did.

On again,trot and walk and trot,jingle-jingle-jingle,squeak-squeak-squeak,smell of hot horse,smell of hot self,blinding glare,headache.And nothing at all different for mile after mile.Tashbaan would never look any further away.The mountains would never look any nearer.You felt this had been going on for always – jingle-jingle-jingle,squeaksqueak-squeak,smell of hot horse,smell of hot self.

Of course one tried all sorts of games with oneself to try to make the time pass：and of course they were all no good.And one tried very hard not to think of drinks – iced sherbet in a palace in Tashbaan；clear spring water tinkling with a dark earthy sound；cold,smooth milk just creamy enough and not too creamy– and the harder you tried not to think,the more you thought.

At last there was something different – a mass of rock sticking up out of the sand about fifty yards long and thirty feet high.It did not cast much shadow,for the sun was now very high,but it cast a little.Into that shade they crowded.There they ate some food and drank a little water.It is not easy giving a horse a drink out of a skin bottle,but Bree and Hwin were clever with their lips.No one had anything like enough.No one spoke.The Horses were flecked with foam and their breathing was noisy.The children were pale.

After a very short rest they went on again.Same noises,same smells,same glare,till at last their shadows began to fall on their right,and then got longer and longer till they seemed to stretch out to the eastern end of the world.Very slowly the sun drew nearer to the Western horizon.And now at last he was down and,thank goodness,the merciless glare was gone,though the heat coming up from the sand was still as bad as ever.Four pairs of eyes were looking out eagerly for any sign of the valley that Sallowpad the Raven had spoken about.But,mile after mile,there was nothing but level sand.And now the day was quite definitely done,and most of the stars were out,and still the Horses thundered on and the children rose and sank in their saddles,miserable with thirst and weariness.Not till the moon had risen did Shasta – in the strange,barking voice of someone whose mouth is perfectly dry –shout out：

“There it is!”

There was no mistaking it now.Ahead,and a little to their right,there was at last a slope：a slope downward and hummocks of rock on each side.The Horses were far too tired to speak but they swung round towards it and in a minute or two they were entering the gully.At first it was worse in there than it had been out in the open desert,for there was a breathless stuffiness between the rocky walls and less moonlight.The slope continued steeply downwards and the rocks on either hand rose to the height of cliffs.Then they began to meet vegetation – prickly cactus-like plants and coarse grass of the kind that would prick your fingers.Soon the horse-hooves were falling on pebbles and stones instead of sand.Round every bend of the valley – and it had many bends – they looked eagerly for water.The Horses were nearly at the end of their strength now,and Hwin,stumbling and panting,was lagging behind Bree.They were almost in despair before at last they came to a little muddiness and a tiny trickle of water through softer and better grass.And the trickle became a brook,and the brook became a stream with bushes on each side,and the stream became a river and there came(after more disappointments than I could possibly describe)a moment when Shasta,who had been in a kind of doze,suddenly realized that Bree had stopped,and found himself slipping off.Before them a little cataract of water poured into a broad pool,and both the Horses were already in the pool with their heads down,drinking,drinking,drinking.“O-o-oh,” said Shasta and plunged in – it was about up to his knees – and stooped his head right into the cataract.It was perhaps the loveliest moment in his life.

It was about ten minutes later when all four of them(the two children wet nearly all over)came out and began to notice their surroundings.The moon was now high enough to peep down into the valley.There was soft grass on both sides of the river and,beyond the grass,trees and bushes sloped up to the bases of the cliffs.There must have been some wonderful flowering shrubs hidden in that shadowy undergrowth for the whole glade was full of the coolest and most delicious smells.And out of the darkest recess among the trees there came a sound Shasta had never heard before – a nightingale.

Everyone was much too tired to speak or to eat.The Horses,without waiting to be unsaddled,lay down at once.So did Aravis and Shasta.

About ten minutes later the careful Hwin said,“But we mustn't go to sleep.We've got to keep ahead of that Rabadash.”

“No,” said Bree very slowly.“Mustn't go to sleep.Just a little rest.”

Shasta knew(for a moment)that they would all go to sleep if he didn't get up and do something about it,and felt that he ought to.In fact he decided that he would get up and persuade them to go on.But presently；not yet：not just yet…

Very soon the moon shone,and the nightingale sang over two horses and two human children,all fast asleep.

It was Aravis who awoke first.The sun was already high in the heavens and the cool morning hours were already wasted.“It's my fault,” she said to herself furiously as she jumped up and began rousing the others.“One wouldn't expect Horses to keep awake after a day's work like that,even if they can talk.And of course that Boy wouldn't；he's had no decent training.But I ought to have known better.”

The others were dazed and stupid with the heaviness of their sleep.

“Heigh-ho – broo-hoo,” said Bree.“Been sleeping in my saddle,eh?I'll never do that again.Most uncomfortable—”

“Oh,come on,come on,” said Aravis.“We've lost half the morning already.There isn't a moment to spare.”

“A fellow's got to have a mouthful of grass,”said Bree.

“I'm afraid we can't wait,” said Aravis.

“What's the terrible hurry?” said Bree.“We've crossed the desert,haven't we?”

“But we're not in Archenland yet,” said Aravis.“And we've got to get there before Rabadash.”

“Oh,we must be miles ahead of him,” said Bree.“Haven't we been coming a shorter way?Didn't that Raven friend of yours say this was a short cut,Shasta?”

“He didn't say anything about shorter,” answered Shasta.“He only said better,because you got to a river this way.If the oasis is due North of Tashbaan,then I'm afraid this may be longer.”

“Well,I can't go on without a snack,” said Bree.“Take my bridle off,Shasta.”

“P-please,” said Hwin,very shyly,“I feel just like Bree that I can't go on.But when Horses have humans(with spurs and things)on their backs,aren't they often made to go on when they're feeling like this?And then they find they can.I m-mean –oughtn't we to be able to do even more,now that we're free?It's all for Narnia.”

“I think,Ma'am,” said Bree very crushingly,“that I know a little more about campaigns and forced marches and what a horse can stand than you do.”

To this,Hwin made no answer,being,like most highly bred mares,a very nervous and gentle person who was easily put down.In reality she was quite right,and if Bree had had a Tarkaan on his back at that moment to make him go on,he would have found that he was good for several hours' hard going.But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself.

So they had to wait while Bree had a snack and a drink,and of course Hwin and the children had a snack and a drink too.It must have been nearly eleven o'clock in the morning before they finally got going again.And even then Bree took things much more gently than yesterday.It was really Hwin,though she was the weaker and more tired of the two,who set the pace.

The valley itself,with its brown,cool river,and grass and moss and wild flowers and rhododendrons,was such a pleasant place that it made you want to ride slowly.

CHAPTER 10

The Hermit of the Southern March

After they had ridden for several hours down the valley,it widened out and they could see what was ahead of them.The river which they had been following here joined a broader river,wide and turbulent,which flowed from their left to their right,towards the east.Beyond this new river a delightful country rose gently in low hills,ridge beyond ridge,to the Northern Mountains themselves.To the right there were rocky pinnacles,one or two of them with snow clinging to the ledges.To the left,pine-clad slopes,frowning cliffs,narrow gorges,and blue peaks stretched away as far as the eye could reach.Shasta could no longer make out Mount Pire.Straight ahead the mountain range sank to a wooded saddle which of course had to be the pass from Archenland into Narnia.

“Broo-hoo-hoo,the North,the green North!”neighed Bree：and certainly the lower hills looked greener and fresher than anything that Aravis and Shasta,with their southern-bred eyes,had ever imagined.Spirits rose as they clattered down to the water's-meet of the two rivers.

The eastern-flowing river,which was pouring from the higher mountains at the western end of the range,was far too swift and too broken with rapids for them to think of swimming it；but after some casting about,up and down the bank,they found a place shallow enough to wade.The roar and clatter of water,the great swirl against the horses' fetlocks,the cool,stirring air and the darting dragonflies,filled Shasta with a strange excitement.

“Friends,we are in Archenland!” said Bree proudly as he splashed and churned his way out on the Northern bank.“I think that river we've just crossed is called the Winding Arrow.”

“I hope we're in time,” murmured Hwin.

Then they began going up,slowly and zigzagging a good deal,for the hills were steep.It was all open park-like country with no roads or houses in sight.Scattered trees,never thick enough to be a forest,were everywhere.Shasta,who had lived all his life in an almost tree-less grassland,had never seen so many or so many kinds.If you had been there you would probably have known(he didn't)that he was seeing oaks,beeches,silver birches,rowans,and sweet chestnuts.Rabbits scurried away in every direction as they advanced,and presently they saw a whole herd of fallow deer making off among the trees.

“Isn't it simply glorious!” said Aravis.

At the first ridge Shasta turned in the saddle and looked back.There was no sign of Tashbaan；the desert,unbroken except by the narrow green crack down which they had travelled,spread to the horizon.

“Hullo!” he said suddenly.“What's that?”

“What's what?” said Bree,turning round.Hwin and Aravis did the same.

“That,” said Shasta,pointing.“It looks like smoke.Is it a fire?”

“Sand-storm,I should say,” said Bree.

“Not much wind to raise it,” said Aravis.

“Oh!” exclaimed Hwin.“Look!There are things flashing in it.Look!They're helmets – and armour.And it's moving：moving this way.”

“By Tash!” said Aravis.“It's the army.It's Rabadash.”

“Of course it is,” said Hwin.“Just what I was afraid of.Quick!We must get to Anvard before it.”And without another word she whisked round and began galloping North.Bree tossed his head and did the same.

“Come on,Bree,come on,” yelled Aravis over her shoulder.

The race was very gruelling for the Horses.As they topped each ridge they found another valley and another ridge beyond it；and though they knew they were going in more or less the right direction,no one knew how far it was to Anvard.From the top of the second ridge Shasta looked back again.Instead of a dust-cloud well out in the desert he now saw a black,moving mass,rather like ants,on the far bank of the Winding Arrow.They were doubtless looking for a ford.

“They're on the river!” he yelled wildly.

“Quick!Quick!” shouted Aravis.“We might as well not have come at all if we don't reach Anvard in time.Gallop,Bree,gallop.Remember you're a war-horse.”

It was all Shasta could do to prevent himself from shouting out similar instructions；but he thought,“The poor chap's doing all he can already,”and held his tongue.And certainly both Horses were doing,if not all they could,all they thought they could；which is not quite the same thing.Bree had caught up with Hwin and they thundered side by side over the turf.It didn't look as if Hwin could possibly keep it up much longer.

At that moment everyone's feelings were completely altered by a sound from behind.It was not the sound they had been expecting to hear – the noise of hooves and jingling armour,mixed,perhaps,with Calormene battle-cries.Yet Shasta knew it at once.It was the same snarling roar he had heard that moonlit night when they first met Aravis and Hwin.Bree knew it too.His eyes gleamed red and his ears lay flat back on his skull.And Bree now discovered that he had not really been going as fast – not quite as fast – as he could.Shasta felt the change at once.Now they were really going all out.In a few seconds they were well ahead of Hwin.

“It's not fair,” thought Shasta.“I did think we'd be safe from lions here!”

He looked over his shoulder.Everything was only too clear.A huge tawny creature,its body low to the ground,like a cat streaking across the lawn to a tree when a strange dog has got into the garden,was behind them.And it was nearer every second and half second.

He looked forward again and saw something which he did not take in,or even think about.Their way was barred by a smooth green wall about ten feet high.In the middle of that wall there was a gate,open.In the middle of the gateway stood a tall man dressed,down to his bare feet,in a robe coloured like autumn leaves,leaning on a straight staff.His beard fell almost to his knees.

Shasta saw all this in a glance and looked back again.The lion had almost got Hwin now.It was making snaps at her hind legs,and there was no hope now in her foam-flecked,wide-eyed face.

“Stop,” bellowed Shasta in Bree's ear.“Must go back.Must help!”

Bree always said afterwards that he never heard,or never understood this；and as he was in general a very truthful horse we must accept his word.

Shasta slipped his feet out of the stirrups,slid both his legs over the left side,hesitated for one hideous hundredth of a second,and jumped.It hurt horribly and nearly winded him；but before he knew how it hurt him he was staggering back to help Aravis.He had never done anything like this in his life before and hardly knew why he was doing it now.

One of the most terrible noises in the world,a horse's scream,broke from Hwin's lips.Aravis was stooping low over Hwin's neck and seemed to be trying to draw her sword.And now all three –Aravis,Hwin,and the lion – were almost on top of Shasta.Before they reached him the lion rose on its hind legs,larger than you would have believed a lion could be,and jabbed at Aravis with its right paw.Shasta could see all the terrible claws extended.Aravis screamed and reeled in the saddle.The lion was tearing her shoulders.Shasta,half mad with horror,managed to lurch towards the brute.He had no weapon,not even a stick or a stone.He shouted out,idiotically,at the lion as one would at a dog,“Go home!Go home!” For a fraction of a second he was staring right into its wide-opened,raging mouth.Then,to his utter astonishment,the lion,still on its hind legs,checked itself suddenly,turned head over heels,picked itself up,and rushed away.

Shasta did not for a moment suppose it had gone for good.He turned and raced for the gate in the green wall which,now for the first time,he remembered seeing.Hwin,stumbling and nearly fainting,was just entering the gate；Aravis still kept her seat but her back was covered with blood.

“Come in,my daughter,come in,” the robed and bearded man was saying,and then,“Come in,my son” as Shasta panted up to him.He heard the gate closed behind him；and the bearded stranger was already helping Aravis off her horse.

They were in a wide and perfectly circular enclosure,protected by a high wall of green turf.A pool of perfectly still water,so full that the water was almost exactly level with the ground,lay before him.At one end of the pool,completely overshadowing it with its branches,there grew the hugest and most beautiful tree that Shasta had ever seen.Beyond the pool was a little low house of stone roofed with deep and ancient thatch.There was a sound of bleating and over at the far side of the enclosure there were some goats.The level ground was completely covered with the finest grass.

“Are – are – are you,” panted Shasta,“are you King Lune of Archenland?”

The old man shook his head.“No,” he replied in a quiet voice,“I am the Hermit of the Southern March.And now,my son,waste no time on questions,but obey.This damsel is wounded.Your horses are spent.Rabadash is at this moment finding a ford over the Winding Arrow.If you run now,without a moment's rest,you will still be in time to warn King Lune.”

Shasta's heart fainted at these words for he felt he had no strength left.And he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand.He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.But all he said out loud was：

“Where is the King?”

The Hermit turned and pointed with his staff.“Look,” he said.“There is another gate,right opposite to the one you entered by.Open it and go straight ahead：always straight ahead,over level or steep,over smooth or rough,over dry or wet.I know by my art that you will find King Lune straight ahead.But run,run：always run.”

Shasta nodded his head,ran to the northern gate and disappeared beyond it.Then the Hermit took Aravis,whom he had all this time been supporting with his left arm,and half led,half carried her into the house.After a long time he came out again.

“Now,cousins,” he said to the Horses.“It is your turn.”

Without waiting for an answer – and indeed they were too exhausted to speak – he took the bridles and saddles off both of them.Then he rubbed them both down,so well that a groom in a king's stable could not have done it better.

“There,cousins,” he said,“dismiss it all from your minds and be comforted.Here is water and there is grass.You shall have a hot mash when I have milked my other cousins,the goats.”

“Sir,” said Hwin,finding her voice at last,“will the Tarkheena live?Has the lion killed her?”

“I who know many present things by my art,”replied the Hermit with a smile,“have yet little knowledge of things future.Therefore I do not know whether any man or woman or beast in the whole world will be alive when the sun sets tonight.But be of good hope.The damsel is likely to live as long as any of her age.”

When Aravis came to herself she found that she was lying on her face on a low bed of extraordinary softness in a cool,bare room with walls of undressed stone.She couldn't understand why she had been laid on her face；but when she tried to turn and felt the hot,burning pains all over her back,she remembered,and realized why.She couldn't understand what delightfully springy stuff the bed was made of,because it was made of heather(which is the best bedding)and heather was a thing she had never seen or heard of.

The door opened and the Hermit entered,carrying a large wooden bowl in his hand.After carefully setting this down,he came to the bedside,and asked：

“How do you find yourself,my daughter?”

“My back is very sore,father,” said Aravis,“but there is nothing else wrong with me.”

He knelt beside her,laid his hand on her forehead,and felt her pulse.

“There is no fever,” he said.“You will do well.Indeed there is no reason why you should not get up tomorrow.But now,drink this.”

He fetched the wooden bowl and held it to her lips.Aravis couldn't help making a face when she tasted it,for goats' milk is rather a shock when you are not used to it.But she was very thirsty and managed to drink it all and felt better when she had finished.

“Now,my daughter,you may sleep when you wish,” said the Hermit.“For your wounds are washed and dressed and though they smart they are no more serious than if they had been the cuts of a whip.It must have been a very strange lion；for instead of catching you out of the saddle and getting his teeth into you,he has only drawn his claws across your back.Ten scratches：sore,but not deep or dangerous.”

“I say!” said Aravis.“I have had luck.”

“Daughter,” said the Hermit,“I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as luck.There is something about all this that I do not understand；but if ever we need to know it,you may be sure that we shall.”

“And what about Rabadash and his two hundred horse?” asked Aravis.

“They will not pass this way,I think,” said the Hermit.“They must have found a ford by now well to the east of us.From there they will try to ride straight to Anvard.”

“Poor Shasta!” said Aravis.“Has he far to go?Will he get there first?”

“There is good hope of it,” said the old man.

Aravis lay down again(on her side this time)and said,“Have I been asleep for a long time?It seems to be getting dark.”

The Hermit was looking out of the only window,which faced north.“This is not the darkness of night,”he said presently.“The clouds are falling down from Stormness Head.Our foul weather always comes from there in these parts.There will be thick fog tonight.”

Next day,except for her sore back,Aravis felt so well that after breakfast(which was porridge and cream)the Hermit said she could get up.And of course she at once went out to speak to the Horses.The weather had changed and the whole of that green enclosure was filled,like a great green cup,with sunlight.It was a very peaceful place,lonely and quiet.

Hwin at once trotted across to Aravis and gave her a horse-kiss.

“But where's Bree?” said Aravis when each had asked after the other's health and sleep.

“Over there,” said Hwin,pointing with her nose to the far side of the circle.“And I wish you'd come and talk to him.There's something wrong,I can't get a word out of him.”

They strolled across and found Bree lying with his face towards the wall,and though he must have heard them coming,he never turned his head or spoke a word.

“Good morning,Bree,” said Aravis.“How are you this morning?”

Bree muttered something that no one could hear.

“The Hermit says that Shasta probably got to King Lune in time,” continued Aravis,“so it looks as if all our troubles are over.Narnia,at last,Bree!”

“I shall never see Narnia,” said Bree in a low voice.

“Aren't you well,Bree dear?” said Aravis.

Bree turned round at last,his face mournful as only a horse's can be.

“I shall go back to Calormen,” he said.

“What?” said Aravis.“Back to slavery?”

“Yes,” said Bree.“Slavery is all I'm fit for.How can I ever show my face among the free Horses of Narnia?– I who left a mare and a girl and a boy to be eaten by lions while I galloped all I could to save my own wretched skin!”

“We all ran as hard as we could,” said Hwin.

“Shasta didn't!” snorted Bree.“At least he ran in the right direction：ran back.And that is what shames me most of all.I,who called myself a war-horse and boasted of a hundred fights,to be beaten by a little human boy – a child,a mere foal,who had never held a sword nor had any good nurture or example in his life!”

“I know,” said Aravis.“I felt just the same.Shasta was marvellous.I'm just as bad as you,Bree.I've been snubbing him and looking down on him ever since you met us and now he turns out to be the best of us all.But I think it would be better to stay and say we're sorry than to go back to Calormen.”

“It's all very well for you,” said Bree.“You haven't disgraced yourself.But I've lost everything.”

“My good Horse,” said the Hermit,who had approached them unnoticed because his bare feet made so little noise on that sweet,dewy grass.“My good Horse,you've lost nothing but your self-conceit.No,no,cousin.Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me.If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago,you must learn to listen to sense.You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think,from living among poor dumb horses.Of course you were braver and cleverer than them.You could hardly help being that.It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia.But as long as you know you're nobody special,you'll be a very decent sort of Horse,on the whole,and taking one thing with another.And now,if you and my other four-footed cousin will come round to the kitchen door we'll see about the other half of that mash.”

CHAPTER 11

The Unwelcome Fellow Traveller

When Shasta went through the gate he found a slope of grass and a little heather running up before him to some trees.He had nothing to think about now and no plans to make：he had only to run,and that was quite enough.His limbs were shaking,a terrible stitch was beginning in his side,and the sweat that kept dropping into his eyes blinded them and made them smart.He was unsteady on his feet too,and more than once he nearly turned his ankle on a loose stone.

The trees were thicker now than they had yet been and in the more open spaces there was bracken.The sun had gone in without making it any cooler.It had become one of those hot,grey days when there seem to be twice as many flies as usual.Shasta's face was covered with them；he didn't even try to shake them off – he had too much else to do.

Suddenly he heard a horn – not a great throbbing horn like the horns of Tashbaan but a merry call,Ti-ro-to-to-ho!Next moment he came out into a wide glade and found himself in a crowd of people.

At least,it looked a crowd to him.In reality there were about fifteen or twenty of them,all gentlemen in green hunting-dress,with their horses；some in the saddle and some standing by their horses' heads.In the centre someone was holding the stirrup for a man to mount.And the man he was holding it for was the jolliest,fattest,most apple-cheeked,twinkling-eyed King you could imagine.

As soon as Shasta came in sight this King forgot all about mounting his horse.He spread out his arms to Shasta,his face lit up,and he cried out in a great,deep voice that seemed to come from the bottom of his chest：

“Corin!My son!And on foot,and in rags!What—”

“No,” panted Shasta,shaking his head.“Not Prince Corin.I – I – know I'm like him… saw his Highness in Tashbaan… sent his greetings.”

The King was staring at Shasta with an extraordinary expression on his face.

“Are you K-King Lune?” gasped Shasta.And then,without waiting for an answer,“Lord King – fly –Anvard – shut the gates – enemies upon you –Rabadash and two hundred horse.”

“Have you assurance of this,boy?” asked one of the other gentlemen.

“My own eyes,” said Shasta.“I've seen them.Raced them all the way from Tashbaan.”

“On foot?” said the gentleman,raising his eyebrows a little.

“Horses – with the Hermit,” said Shasta.

“Question him no more,Darrin,” said King Lune.“I see truth in his face.We must ride for it,gentlemen.A spare horse there,for the boy.You can ride fast,friend?”

For answer Shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which had been led towards him and a moment later he was in the saddle.He had done it a hundred times with Bree in the last few weeks,and his mounting was very different now from what it had been on that first night when Bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were climbing a haystack.

He was pleased to hear the Lord Darrin say to the King,“The boy has a true horseman's seat,Sire.I'll warrant there's noble blood in him.”

“His blood,aye,there's the point,” said the King.And he stared hard at Shasta again with that curious expression,almost a hungry expression,in his steady grey eyes.

But by now the whole party was moving off at a brisk canter.Shasta's seat was excellent but he was sadly puzzled as to what to do with his reins,for he had never touched the reins while he was on Bree's back.But he looked very carefully out of the corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing(as some of us have done at parties when we weren't quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use)and tried to get his fingers right.But he didn't dare to try really directing the horse；he trusted it would follow the rest.The horse was of course an ordinary horse,not a Talking Horse；but it had quite wits enough to realize that the strange boy on its back had no whip and no spurs and was not really master of the situation.That was why Shasta soon found himself at the tail end of the procession.

Even so,he was going pretty fast.There were no flies now and the air in his face was delicious.He had got his breath back too.And his errand had succeeded.For the first time since the arrival at Tashbaan(how long ago it seemed!)he was beginning to enjoy himself.

He looked up to see how much nearer the mountain tops had come.To his disappointment he could not see them at all：only a vague greyness,rolling down towards them.He had never been in mountain country before and was surprised.“It's a cloud,” he said to himself,“a cloud coming down.I see.Up here in the hills one is really in the sky.I shall see what the inside of a cloud is like.What fun!I've often wondered.” Far away on his left and a little behind him,the sun was getting ready to set.

They had come to a rough kind of road by now and were making very good speed.But Shasta's horse was still the last of the lot.Once or twice when the road made a bend(there was now continuous forest on each side of it)he lost sight of the others for a second or two.

Then they plunged into the fog,or else the fog rolled over them.The world became grey.Shasta had not realized how cold and wet the inside of a cloud would be；nor how dark.The grey turned to black with alarming speed.

Someone at the head of the column winded the horn every now and then,and each time the sound came from a little farther off.He couldn't see any of the others now,but of course he'd be able to as soon as he got round the next bend.But when he rounded it he still couldn't see them.In fact he could see nothing at all.His horse was walking now.“Get on,Horse,get on,” said Shasta.Then came the horn,very faint.Bree had always told him that he must keep his heels well turned out,and Shasta had got the idea that something very terrible would happen if he dug his heels into a horse's sides.This seemed to him an occasion for trying it.“Look here,Horse,” he said,“if you don't buck up,do you know what I'll do?I'll dig my heels into you.I really will.” The horse,however,took no notice of this threat.So Shasta settled himself firmly in the saddle,gripped with his knees,clenched his teeth,and punched both the horse's sides with his heels as hard as he could.

The only result was that the horse broke into a kind of pretence of a trot for five or six paces and then subsided into a walk again.And now it was quite dark and they seemed to have given up blowing that horn.The only sound was a steady drip-drip from the branches of the trees.

“Well,I suppose even a walk will get us somewhere sometime,” said Shasta to himself.“I only hope I shan't run into Rabadash and his people.”

He went on for what seemed a long time,always at a walking pace.He began to hate that horse,and he was also beginning to feel very hungry.

Presently he came to a place where the road divided into two.He was just wondering which led to Anvard when he was startled by a noise from behind him.It was the noise of trotting horses.“Rabadash!” thought Shasta.He had no way of guessing which road Rabadash would take.“But if I take one,” said Shasta to himself,“he may take the other：and if I stay at the crossroads I'm sure to be caught.” He dismounted and led his horse as quickly as he could along the right-hand road.

The sound of the cavalry grew rapidly nearer and in a minute or two Shasta realized that they were at the crossroads.He held his breath,waiting to see which way they would take.

There came a low word of command – “Halt!” –then a moment of horsey noises – nostrils blowing,hooves pawing,bits being champed,necks being patted.Then a voice spoke：

“Attend,all of you,” it said.“We are now within a furlong of the castle.Remember your orders.Once we are in Narnia,as we should be by sunrise,you are to kill as little as possible.On this venture you are to regard every drop of Narnian blood as more precious than a gallon of your own.On this venture,I say.The gods will send us a happier hour and then you must leave nothing alive between Cair Paravel and the Western Waste.But we are not yet in Narnia.Here in Archenland it is another thing.In the assault on this castle of King Lune's,nothing matters but speed.Show your mettle.It must be mine within an hour.And if it is,I give it all to you.I reserve no booty for myself.Kill me every barbarian male within its walls,down to the child that was born yesterday,and everything else is yours to divide as you please – the women,the gold,the jewels,the weapons,and the wine.The man that I see hanging back when we come to the gates shall be burned alive.In the name of Tash the irresistible,the inexorable – forward!”

With a great cloppitty-clop the column began to move,and Shasta breathed again.They had taken the other road.

Shasta thought they took a long time going past,for though he had been talking and thinking about“two hundred horse” all day,he had not realized how many they really were.But at last the sound died away and once more he was alone amid the drip-drip from the trees.

He now knew the way to Anvard but of course he could not now go there：that would only mean running into the arms of Rabadash's troopers.“What on earth am I to do?” said Shasta to himself.But he remounted his horse and continued along the road he had chosen,in the faint hope of finding some cottage where he might ask for shelter and a meal.He had thought,of course,of going back to Aravis and Bree and Hwin at the hermitage,but he couldn't because by now he had not the least idea of the direction.

“After all,” said Shasta,“this road is bound to get to somewhere.”

But that all depends on what you mean by somewhere.The road kept on getting to somewhere in the sense that it got to more and more trees,all dark and dripping,and to colder and colder air.And strange,icy winds kept blowing the mist past him though they never blew it away.If he had been used to mountain country he would have realized that this meant he was now very high up – perhaps right at the top of the pass.But Shasta knew nothing about mountains.

“I do think,” said Shasta,“that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole world.Everything goes right for everyone except me.Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away from Tashbaan；I was left behind.Aravis and Bree and Hwin are all as snug as anything with that old Hermit；of course I was the one who was sent on.King Lune and his people must have got safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived,but I get left out.”

And being very tired and having nothing inside him,he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.

What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright.Shasta discovered that someone or somebody was walking beside him.It was pitch dark and he could see nothing.And the Thing(or Person)was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls.What he could hear was breathing.His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale,and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature.And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there.It was a horrible shock.

It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these northern countries.He bit his lip in terror.But now that he really had something to cry about,he stopped crying.

The Thing(unless it was a Person)went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope he had only imagined it.But just as he was becoming quite sure of it,there suddenly came a deep,rich sigh out of the darkness beside him.That couldn't be imagination!Anyway,he had felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand.

If the horse had been any good – or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse – he would have risked everything on a break away and a wild gallop.But he knew he couldn't make that horse gallop.So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him.At last he could bear it no longer.

“Who are you?” he said,scarcely above a whisper.

“One who has waited long for you to speak,”said the Thing.Its voice was not loud,but very large and deep.

“Are you – are you a giant?” asked Shasta.

“You might call me a giant,” said the Large Voice.“But I am not like the creatures you call giants.”

“I can't see you at all,” said Shasta,after staring very hard.Then(for an even more terrible idea had come into his head)he said,almost in a scream,“You're not – not something dead,are you?Oh,please – please do go away.What harm have I ever done you?Oh,I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!”

Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face.“There,” it said,“that is not the breath of a ghost.Tell me your sorrows.”

Shasta was a little reassured by the breath,so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman.And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives；and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the Tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert.And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis.And also,how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.

“Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.

“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.

“What on earth do you mean?I've just told you there were at least two the first night,and—”

“There was only one：but he was swift of foot.”

“How do you know?”

“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing,the Voice continued.“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis.I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead.I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept.I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time.And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay,a child near death,so that it came to shore where a man sat,wakeful at midnight,to receive you.”

“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”

“It was I.”

“But what for?”

“Child,” said the Voice,“I am telling you your story,not hers.I tell no one any story but his own.”

“Who are you?” asked Shasta.

“Myself,” said the Voice,very deep and low so that the earth shook：and again,“Myself”,loud and clear and gay,and then the third time,“Myself”,whispered so softly you could hardly hear it,and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him,nor that it was the voice of a ghost.But a new and different sort of trembling came over him.Yet he felt glad too.

The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white.This must have begun to happen some time ago,but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else.Now,the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness；his eyes began to blink.Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing.He knew the night was over at last.He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now.A golden light fell on them from the left.He thought it was the sun.

He turned and saw,pacing beside him,taller than the horse,a Lion.The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it.It was from the Lion that the light came.No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion.And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan,the great Lion,the son of the Emperor-over-the-Sea,the King above all High Kings in Narnia.But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet.He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything,and he knew he needn't say anything.

The High King above all Kings stooped towards him.Its mane,and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane,was all round him.It touched his forehead with its tongue.He lifted his face and their eyes met.Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared.He was alone with the horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky.And there were birds singing.

CHAPTER 12

Shasta in Narnia

“Was it all a dream?” wondered Shasta.But it couldn't have been a dream for there in the grass before him he saw the deep,large print of the Lion's front right paw.It took one's breath away to think of the weight that could make a footprint like that.But there was something more remarkable than the size about it.As he looked at it,water had already filled the bottom of it.Soon it was full to the brim,and then overflowing,and a little stream was running downhill,past him,over the grass.

Shasta stooped and drank – a very long drink –and then dipped his face in and splashed his head.It was extremely cold,and clear as glass,and refreshed him very much.After that he stood up,shaking the water out of his ears and flinging the wet hair back from his forehead,and began to take stock of his surroundings.

Apparently it was still very early morning.The sun had only just risen,and it had risen out of the forests which he saw low down and far away on his right.The country which he was looking at was absolutely new to him.It was a green valley-land dotted with trees through which he caught the gleam of a river that wound away roughly to the northwest.On the far side of the valley there were high and even rocky hills,but they were lower than the mountains he had seen yesterday.Then he began to guess where he was.He turned and looked behind him and saw that the slope on which he was standing belonged to a range of far higher mountains.

“I see,” said Shasta to himself.“Those are the big mountains between Archenland and Narnia.I was on the other side of them yesterday.I must have come through the pass in the night.What luck that I hit it!– at least it wasn't luck at all really,it was Him.And now I'm in Narnia.”

He turned and unsaddled his horse and took off its bridle – “Though you are a perfectly horrid horse,”he said.It took no notice of this remark and immediately began eating grass.That horse had a very low opinion of Shasta.

“I wish I could eat grass!” thought Shasta.“It's no good going back to Anvard,it'll all be besieged.I'd better get lower down into the valley and see if I can get anything to eat.”

So he went on downhill(the thick dew was cruelly cold to his bare feet)till he came into a wood.There was a kind of track running through it and he had not followed this for many minutes when he heard a thick and rather wheezy voice saying to him,

“Good morning,neighbour.”

Shasta looked round eagerly to find the speaker and presently saw a small,prickly person with a dark face who had just come out from among the trees.At least,it was small for a person but very big indeed for a hedgehog,which was what it was.

“Good morning,” said Shasta.“But I'm not a neighbour.In fact I'm a stranger in these parts.”

“Ah?” said the Hedgehog inquiringly.

“I've come over the mountains – from Archenland,you know.”

“Ah,Archenland,” said the Hedgehog.“That's a terrible long way.Never been there myself.”

“And I think,perhaps,” said Shasta,“someone ought to be told that there's an army of savage Calormenes attacking Anvard at this very moment.”

“You don't say so!” answered the Hedgehog.“Well,think of that.And they do say that Calormen is hundreds and thousands of miles away,right at the world's end,across a great sea of sand.”

“It's not nearly as far as you think,” said Shasta.“And oughtn't something to be done about this attack on Anvard?Oughtn't your High King to be told?”

“Certain sure,something ought to be done about it,” said the Hedgehog.“But you see I'm just on my way to bed for a good day's sleep.Hullo,neighbour!”

The last words were addressed to an immense biscuit-coloured rabbit whose head had just popped up from somewhere beside the path.The Hedgehog immediately told the Rabbit what it had just learned from Shasta.The Rabbit agreed that this was very remarkable news and that somebody ought to tell someone about it with a view to doing something.

And so it went on.Every few minutes they were joined by other creatures,some from the branches overhead and some from little underground houses at their feet,till the party consisted of five rabbits,a squirrel,two magpies,a goat-foot faun,and a mouse,who all talked at the same time and all agreed with the Hedgehog.For the truth was that in that golden age when the Witch and the Winter had gone and Peter the High King ruled at Cair Paravel,the smaller woodland people of Narnia were so safe and happy that they were getting a little careless.

Presently,however,two more practical people arrived in the little wood.One was a Red Dwarf whose name appeared to be Duffle.The other was a stag,a beautiful lordly creature with wide liquid eyes,dappled flanks and legs so thin and graceful that they looked as if you could break them with two fingers.

“Lion alive!” roared the Dwarf as soon as he had heard the news.“And if that's so,why are we all standing still,chattering?Enemies at Anvard!News must be sent to Cair Paravel at once.The army must be called out.Narnia must go to the aid of King Lune.”

“Ah!” said the Hedgehog.“But you won't find the High King at Cair.He's away to the North trouncing those giants.And talking of giants,neighbours,that puts me in mind—”

“Who'll take our message?” interrupted the Dwarf.“Anyone here got more speed than me?”

“I've got speed,” said the Stag.“What's my message?How many Calormenes?”

“Two hundred：under Prince Rabadash.And—”But the Stag was already away – all four legs off the ground at once,and in a moment its white stern had disappeared among the remoter trees.

“Wonder where he's going,” said a Rabbit.“He won't find the High King at Cair Paravel,you know.”

“He'll find Queen Lucy,” said Duffle.“And then –hullo!What's wrong with the Human?It looks pretty green.Why,I do believe it's quite faint.Perhaps it's mortal hungry.When did you last have a meal,youngster?”

“Yesterday morning,” said Shasta weakly.

“Come on,then,come on,” said the Dwarf,at once throwing his thick little arms round Shasta's waist to support him.“Why,neighbours,we ought all to be ashamed of ourselves!You come with me,lad.Breakfast!Better than talking.”

With a great deal of bustle,muttering reproaches to itself,the Dwarf half led and half supported Shasta at a great speed further into the wood and a little downhill.It was a longer walk than Shasta wanted at that moment and his legs had begun to feel very shaky before they came out from the trees on to bare hillside.There they found a little house with a smoking chimney and an open door,and as they came to the doorway Duffle called out,

“Hey,brothers!A visitor for breakfast.”

And immediately,mixed with a sizzling sound,there came to Shasta a simply delightful smell.It was one he had never smelt in his life before,but I hope you have.It was,in fact,the smell of bacon and eggs and mushrooms all frying in a pan.

“Mind your head,lad,” said Duffle a moment too late,for Shasta had already bashed his forehead against the low lintel of the door.“Now,” continued the Dwarf,“sit you down.The table's a bit low for you,but then the stool's low too.That's right.And here's porridge – and here's a jug of cream – and here's a spoon.”

By the time Shasta had finished his porridge,the Dwarf's two brothers(whose names were Rogin and Bricklethumb)were putting the dish of bacon and eggs and mushrooms,and the coffee pot and the hot milk,and the toast,on the table.

It was all new and wonderful to Shasta for Calormene food is quite different.He didn't even know what the slices of brown stuff were,for he had never seen toast before.He didn't know what the yellow soft thing they smeared on the toast was,because in Calormen you nearly always get oil instead of butter.And the house itself was quite different from the dark,frowsty,fish-smelling hut of Arsheesh and from the pillared and carpeted halls in the palaces of Tashbaan.The roof was very low,and everything was made of wood,and there was a cuckoo-clock and a red-and-white checked tablecloth and a bowl of wild flowers and little curtains on the thick-paned windows.It was also rather troublesome having to use dwarf cups and plates and knives and forks.This meant that helpings were very small,but then there were a great many helpings,so that Shasta's plate or cup was being filled every moment,and every moment the Dwarfs themselves were saying,“Butter please”,or,“Another cup of coffee”,or,“I'd like a few more mushrooms”,or,“What about frying another egg or so?” And when at last they had all eaten as much as they possibly could the three Dwarfs drew lots for who would do the washing-up,and Rogin was the unlucky one.Then Duffle and Bricklethumb took Shasta outside to a bench which ran against the cottage wall,and they all stretched out their legs and gave a great sigh of contentment and the two Dwarfs lit their pipes.The dew was off the grass now and the sun was warm；indeed,if there hadn't been a light breeze,it would have been too hot.

“Now,Stranger,” said Duffle,“I'll show you the lie of the land.You can see nearly all South Narnia from here,and we're rather proud of the view.Right away on your left,beyond those near hills,you can just see the Western Mountains.And that round hill away on your right is called the Hill of the Stone Table.Just beyond—”

But at that moment he was interrupted by a snore from Shasta who,what with his night's journey and his excellent breakfast,had fallen fast asleep.The kindly Dwarfs,as soon as they noticed this,began making signs to each other not to wake him,and indeed did so much whispering and nodding and getting up and tiptoeing away that they certainly would have waked him if he had been less tired.

He slept pretty well nearly all day but woke up in time for supper.The beds in that house were all too small for him but they made him a fine bed of heather on the floor,and he never stirred nor dreamed all night.Next morning they had just finished breakfast when they heard a shrill,exciting sound from outside.

“Trumpets!” said all the Dwarfs,as they and Shasta all came running out.

The trumpets sounded again：a new noise to Shasta,not huge and solemn like the horns of Tashbaan nor gay and merry like King Lune's hunting horn,but clear and sharp and valiant.The noise was coming from the woods to the East,and soon there was a noise of horse-hooves mixed with it.A moment later the head of the column came into sight.

First came the Lord Peridan on a bay horse carrying the great banner of Narnia – a red lion on a green ground.Shasta knew him at once.Then came three people riding abreast,two on great chargers and one on a pony.The two on the chargers were King Edmund and a fair-haired lady with a very merry face who wore a helmet and a mail shirt and carried a bow across her shoulder and a quiver full of arrows at her side.(“The Queen Lucy,” whispered Duffle.)But the one on the pony was Corin.After that came the main body of the army：men on ordinary horses,men on Talking Horses(who didn't mind being ridden on proper occasions,as when Narnia went to war),centaurs,stern,hard-bitten bears,great Talking Dogs,and last of all six giants.For there are good giants in Narnia.But though he knew they were on the right side Shasta at first could hardly bear to look at them；there are some things that take a lot of getting used to.

Just as the King and Queen reached the cottage and the Dwarfs began making low bows to them,King Edmund called out,

“Now,friends!Time for a halt and a morsel!” and at once there was a great bustle of people dismounting and haversacks being opened and conversation beginning when Corin came running up to Shasta and seized both his hands and cried,

“What!You here!So you got through all right?I am glad.Now we shall have some sport.And isn't it luck!We only got into harbour at Cair Paravel yesterday morning and the very first person who met us was Chervy the Stag with all this news of an attack on Anvard.Don't you think—”

“Who is your Highness's friend?” said King Edmund,who had just got off his horse.

“Don't you see,Sire?” said Corin.“It's my double：the boy you mistook me for at Tashbaan.”

“Why,so he is your double,” exclaimed Queen Lucy.“As like as two twins.This is a marvellous thing.”

“Please,your Majesty,” said Shasta to King Edmund,“I was no traitor,really I wasn't.And I couldn't help hearing your plans.But I'd never have dreamed of telling them to your enemies.”

“I know now that you were no traitor,boy,” said King Edmund,laying his hand on Shasta's head.“But if you would not be taken for one,another time try not to hear what's meant for other ears.But all's well.”

After that there was so much bustle and talk and coming and going that Shasta for a few minutes lost sight of Corin and Edmund and Lucy.But Corin was the sort of boy whom one is sure to hear of pretty soon and it wasn't very long before Shasta heard King Edmund saying in a loud voice：

“By the Lion's Mane,Prince,this is too much!Will your Highness never be better?You are more of a heart's-scald than our whole army together!I'd as lief have a regiment of hornets in my command as you.”

Shasta wormed his way through the crowd and there saw Edmund,looking very angry indeed,Corin looking a little ashamed of himself,and a strange dwarf sitting on the ground making faces.A couple of fauns had apparently just been helping it out of its armour.

“If I had but my cordial with me,” Queen Lucy was saying,“I could soon mend this.But the High King has so strictly charged me not to carry it commonly to the wars and to keep it only for great extremities!”

What had happened was this.As soon as Corin had spoken to Shasta,Corin's elbow had been plucked by a Dwarf in the army called Thornbut.

“What is it,Thornbut?” Corin had said.

“Your Royal Highness,” said Thornbut,drawing him aside,“our march today will bring us through the pass and right to your royal father's castle.We may be in battle before night.”

“I know,” said Corin.“Isn't it splendid?”

“Splendid or not,” said Thornbut,“I have the strictest orders from King Edmund to see to it that your Highness is not in the fight.You will be allowed to see it,and that's treat enough for your Highness's little years.”

“Oh,what nonsense!” Corin burst out.“Of course I'm going to fight.Why,the Queen Lucy's going to be with the archers.”

“The Queen's grace will do as she pleases,” said Thornbut.“But you are in my charge.Either I must have your solemn and princely word that you'll keep your pony beside mine – not half a neck ahead – till I give your Highness leave to depart：or else – it is his Majesty's word – we must go with our wrists tied together like two prisoners.”

“I'll knock you down if you try to bind me,”said Corin.

“I'd like to see your Highness do it,” said the Dwarf.

That was quite enough for a boy like Corin and in a second he and the Dwarf were at it hammer and tongs.It would have been an even match for,though Corin had longer arms and more height,the Dwarf was older and tougher.But it was never fought out(that's the worst of fights on a rough hillside)for by very bad luck Thornbut trod on a loose stone,came flat down on his nose,and found when he tried to get up that he had sprained his ankle：a really excruciating sprain which would keep him from walking or riding for at least a fortnight.

“See what your Highness has done,” said King Edmund.“Deprived us of a proved warrior on the very edge of battle.”

“I'll take his place,Sire,” said Corin.

“Pshaw,” said Edmund.“No one doubts your courage.But a boy in battle is a danger only to his own side.”

At that moment the King was called away to attend to something else,and Corin,after apologizing handsomely to the Dwarf,rushed up to Shasta and whispered,

“Quick!There's a spare pony now,and the Dwarf's armour.Put it on before anyone notices.”

“What for?” said Shasta.

“Why,so that you and I can fight in the battle of course!Don't you want to?”

“Oh – ah,yes,of course,” said Shasta.But he hadn't been thinking of doing so at all,and began to get a most uncomfortable prickly feeling in his spine.

“That's right,” said Corin.“Over your head.Now the sword-belt.But we must ride near the tail of the column and keep as quiet as mice.Once the battle begins everyone will be far too busy to notice us.”

CHAPTER 13

The Fight at Anvard

By about eleven o'clock the whole company was once more on the march,riding westward with the mountains on their left.Corin and Shasta rode right at the rear with the Giants immediately in front of them.Lucy and Edmund and Peridan were busy with their plans for the battle and though Lucy once said,“But where is his goosecap Highness?” Edmund only replied,“Not in the front,and that's good news enough.Leave well alone.”

Shasta told Corin most of his adventures and explained that he had learned all his riding from a horse and didn't really know how to use the reins.Corin instructed him in this,besides telling him all about their secret sailing from Tashbaan.

“And where is the Queen Susan?”

“At Cair Paravel,” said Corin.“She's not like Lucy,you know,who's as good as a man,or at any rate as good as a boy.Queen Susan is more like an ordinary grown-up lady.She doesn't ride to the wars,though she is an excellent archer.”

The hillside path which they were following became narrower all the time and the drop on their right hand became steeper.At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it.“But of course,” he thought,“I was quite safe.That is why the Lion kept on my left.He was between me and the edge all the time.”

Then the path went left and south away from the cliff and there were thick woods on both sides of it and they went steeply up and up into the pass.There would have been a splendid view from the top if it were open ground but among all those trees you could see nothing – only,every now and then,some huge pinnacle of rock above the tree-tops,and an eagle or two wheeling high up in the blue air.

“They smell battle,” said Corin,pointing at the birds.“They know we're preparing a feed for them.”

Shasta didn't like this at all.

When they had crossed the neck of the pass and come a good deal lower they reached more open ground and from here Shasta could see all Archenland,blue and hazy,spread out below him and even(he thought)a hint of the desert beyond it.But the sun,which had perhaps two hours or so to go before it set,was in his eyes and he couldn't make things out distinctly.

Here the army halted and spread out in a line,and there was a great deal of rearranging.A whole detachment of very dangerous-looking Talking Beasts whom Shasta had not noticed before and who were mostly of the cat kind(leopards,panthers,and the like)went padding and growling to take up their positions on the left.The giants were ordered to the right,and before going there they all took off something they had been carrying on their backs and sat down for a moment.Then Shasta saw that what they had been carrying and were now putting on were pairs of boots：horrid,heavy,spiked boots which came up to their knees.Then they sloped their huge clubs over their shoulders and marched to their battle position.The archers,with Queen Lucy,fell to the rear and you could first see them bending their bows and then hear the twang-twang as they tested the strings.And wherever you looked you could see people tightening girths,putting on helmets,drawing swords,and throwing cloaks to the ground.There was hardly any talking now.It was very solemn and very dreadful.“I'm in for it now – I really am in for it now,” thought Shasta.Then there came noises far ahead：the sound of many men shouting and a steady thud-thud-thud.

“Battering ram,” whispered Corin.“They're battering the gate.”

Even Corin looked quite serious now.

“Why doesn't King Edmund get on?” he said.“I can't stand this waiting about.Chilly too.”

Shasta nodded：hoping he didn't look as frightened as he felt.

The trumpet at last!On the move now – now trotting – the banner streaming out in the wind.They had topped a low ridge now,and below them the whole scene suddenly opened out；a little,many-towered castle with its gate towards them.No moat,unfortunately,but of course the gate shut and the portcullis down.On the walls they could see,like little white dots,the faces of the defenders.Down below,about fifty of the Calormenes,dismounted,were steadily swinging a great tree trunk against the gate.But at once the scene changed.The main bulk of Rabadash's men had been on foot ready to assault the gate.But now he had seen the Narnians sweeping down from the ridge.There is no doubt those Calormenes are wonderfully trained.It seemed to Shasta only a second before a whole line of the enemy were on horseback again,wheeling round to meet them,swinging towards them.

And now a gallop.The ground between the two armies grew less every moment.Faster,faster.All swords out now,all shields up to the nose,all prayers said,all teeth clenched.Shasta was dreadfully frightened.But it suddenly came into his head,“If you funk this,you'll funk every battle all your life.Now or never.”

But when at last the two lines met he had really very little idea of what happened.There was a frightful confusion and an appalling noise.His sword was knocked clean out of his hand pretty soon.And he'd got the reins tangled somehow.Then he found himself slipping.Then a spear came straight at him and as he ducked to avoid it he rolled right off his horse,bashed his left knuckles terribly against someone else's armour,and then—

But it is no use trying to describe the battle from Shasta's point of view；he understood too little of the fight in general and even of his own part in it.The best way I can tell you what really happened is to take you some miles away to where the Hermit of the Southern March sat gazing into the smooth pool beneath the spreading tree,with Bree and Hwin and Aravis beside him.

For it was in this pool that the Hermit looked when he wanted to know what was going on in the world outside the green walls of his hermitage.There,as in a mirror,he could see,at certain times,what was going on in the streets of cities far further south than Tashbaan,or what ships were putting into Redhaven in the remote Seven Isles,or what robbers or wild beasts stirred in the great Western forests between Lantern Waste and Telmar.And all this day he had hardly left his pool,even to eat or drink,for he knew that great events were afoot in Archenland.Aravis and the Horses gazed into it too.They could see it was a magic pool：instead of reflecting the tree and the sky it revealed cloudy and coloured shapes moving,always moving,in its depths.But they could see nothing clearly.The Hermit could and from time to time he told them what he saw.A little while before Shasta rode into his first battle,the Hermit had begun speaking like this：

“I see one – two – three eagles wheeling in the gap by Stormness Head.One is the oldest of all the eagles.He would not be out unless battle was at hand.I see him wheel to and fro,peering down sometimes at Anvard and sometimes to the east,behind Stormness.Ah – I see now what Rabadash and his men have been so busy at all day.They have felled and lopped a great tree and they are now coming out of the woods carrying it as a ram.They have learned something from the failure of last night's assault.He would have been wiser if he had set his men to making ladders：but it takes too long and he is impatient.Fool that he is!He ought to have ridden back to Tashbaan as soon as the first attack failed,for his whole plan depended on speed and surprise.Now they are bringing their ram into position.King Lune's men are shooting hard from the walls.Five Calormenes have fallen：but not many will.They have their shields above their heads.Rabadash is giving his orders now.With him are his most trusted lords,fierce Tarkaans from the eastern provinces.I can see their faces.There is Corradin of Castle Tormunt,and Azrooh,and Chlamash,and Ilgamuth of the twisted lip,and a tall Tarkaan with a crimson beard—”

“By the Mane,my old master Anradin!” said Bree.

“S-s-sh,” said Aravis.

“Now the ram has started.If I could hear as well as see,what a noise that would make!Stroke after stroke：and no gate can stand it for ever.But wait!Something up by Stormness has scared the birds.They're coming out in masses.And wait again… I can't see yet… ah!Now I can.The whole ridge,up on the east,is black with horsemen.If only the wind would catch that standard and spread it out.They're over the ridge now,whoever they are.Aha!I've seen the banner now.Narnia,Narnia!It's the red lion.They're in full career down the hill now.I can see King Edmund.There's a woman behind among the archers.Oh!—”

“What is it?” asked Hwin breathlessly.

“All his Cats are dashing out from the left of the line.”

“Cats?” said Aravis.

“Great cats,leopards and such,” said the Hermit impatiently.“I see,I see.The Cats are coming round in a circle to get at the horses of the dismounted men.A good stroke.The Calormene horses are mad with terror already.Now the Cats are in among them.But Rabadash has reformed his line and has a hundred men in the saddle.They're riding to meet the Narnians.There's only a hundred yards between the two lines now.Only fifty.I can see King Edmund,I can see the Lord Peridan.There are two mere children in the Narnian line.What can the King be about to let them into battle?Only ten yards – the lines have met.The Giants on the Narnian right are doing wonders...but one's down...shot through the eye,I suppose.The centre's all in a muddle.I can see more on the left.There are the two boys again.Lion alive!One is Prince Corin.The other,like him as two peas.It's your little Shasta.Corin is fighting like a man.He's killed a Calormene.I can see a bit of the centre now.Rabadash and Edmund almost met then,but the press has separated them—”

“What about Shasta?” said Aravis.

“Oh,the fool!” groaned the Hermit.“Poor,brave little fool.He knows nothing about this work.He's making no use at all of his shield.His whole side's exposed.He hasn't the faintest idea what to do with his sword.Oh,he's remembered it now.He's waving it wildly about...nearly cut his own pony's head off,and he will in a moment if he's not careful.It's been knocked out of his hand now.It's mere murder sending a child into the battle；he can't live five minutes.Duck,you fool – oh,he's down.”

“Killed?” asked three voices breathlessly.

“How can I tell?” said the Hermit.“The Cats have done their work.All the riderless horses are dead or escaped now：no retreat for the Calormenes on them.Now the Cats are turning back into the main battle.They're leaping on the rams-men.The ram is down.Oh,good!Good!The gates are opening from the inside：there's going to be a sortie.The first three are out.It's King Lune in the middle：the brothers Dar and Darrin on each side of him.Behind them are Tran and Shar and Cole with his brother Colin.There are ten – twenty – nearly thirty of them out by now.The Calormene line is being forced back upon them.King Edmund is dealing marvellous strokes.He's just slashed Corradin's head off.Lots of Calormenes have thrown down their arms and are running for the woods.Those that remain are hard pressed.The Giants are closing in on the right – Cats on the left – King Lune from their rear.The Calormenes are a little knot now,fighting back to back.Your Tarkaan's down,Bree.Lune and Azrooh are fighting hand to hand；the King looks like winning – the King is keeping it up well – the King has won.Azrooh's down.King Edmund's down – no,he's up again：he's at it with Rabadash.They're fighting in the very gate of the castle.Several Calormenes have surrendered.Darrin has killed Ilgamuth.I can't see what's happened to Rabadash.I think he's dead,leaning against the castle wall,but I don't know.Chlamash and King Edmund are still fighting but the battle is over everywhere else.Chlamash has surrendered.The battle is over.The Calormenes are utterly defeated.”

When Shasta fell off his horse he gave himself up for lost.But horses,even in battle,tread on human beings very much less than you would suppose.After a very horrible ten minutes or so Shasta realized suddenly that there were no longer any horses stamping about in the immediate neighbourhood and that the noise(for there were still a good many noises going on)was no longer that of a battle.He sat up and stared about him.Even he,little as he knew of battles,could soon see that the Archenlanders and Narnians had won.The only living Calormenes he could see were prisoners,the castle gates were wide open,and King Lune and King Edmund were shaking hands across the battering ram.From the circle of lords and warriors around them there arose a sound of breathless and excited,but obviously cheerful,conversation.And then,suddenly,it all united and swelled into a great roar of laughter.

Shasta picked himself up,feeling uncommonly stiff,and ran towards the sound to see what the joke was.A very curious sight met his eyes.The unfortunate Rabadash appeared to be suspended from the castle walls.His feet,which were about two feet from the ground,were kicking wildly.His chain-shirt was somehow hitched up so that it was horribly tight under the arms and came halfway over his face.In fact he looked just as a man looks if you catch him in the very act of getting into a stiff shirt that is a little too small for him.As far as could be made out afterwards(and you may be sure the story was well talked over for many a day)what happened was something like this.Early in the battle one of the Giants had made an unsuccessful stamp at Rabadash with his spiked boot：unsuccessful because it didn't crush Rabadash,which was what the Giant had intended,but not quite useless because one of the spikes tore the chain mail,just as you or I might tear an ordinary shirt.So Rabadash,by the time he encountered Edmund at the gate,had a hole in the back of his hauberk.And when Edmund pressed him back nearer and nearer to the wall,he jumped up on a mounting block and stood there raining down blows on Edmund from above.But then,finding that this position,by raising him above the heads of everyone else,made him a mark for every arrow from the Narnian bows,he decided to jump down again.And he meant to look and sound –no doubt for a moment he did look and sound – very grand and very dreadful as he jumped,crying,“The bolt of Tash falls from above.” But he had to jump sideways because the crowd in front of him left him no landing place in that direction.And then,in the neatest way you could wish,the tear in the back of his hauberk caught on a hook in the wall.(Ages ago this hook had had a ring in it for tying horses to.)And there he found himself,like a piece of washing hung up to dry,with everyone laughing at him.

“Let me down,Edmund,” howled Rabadash.“Let me down and fight me like a king and a man；or if you are too great a coward to do that,kill me at once.”

“Certainly,” began King Edmund,but King Lune interrupted.

“By your Majesty's good leave,” said King Lune to Edmund.“Not so.” Then turning to Rabadash he said,“Your royal Highness,if you had given that challenge a week ago,I'll answer for it there was no one in King Edmund's dominion,from the High King down to the smallest Talking Mouse,who would have refused it.But by attacking our castle of Anvard in time of peace without defiance sent,you have proved yourself no knight,but a traitor,and one rather to be whipped by the hangman than to be suffered to cross swords with any person of honour.Take him down,bind him,and carry him within till our pleasure is further known.”

Strong hands wrenched Rabadash's sword from him and he was carried away into the castle,shouting,threatening,cursing,and even crying.For though he could have faced torture he couldn't bear being made ridiculous.In Tashbaan everyone had always taken him seriously.

At that moment Corin ran up to Shasta,seized his hand and started dragging him towards King Lune.“Here he is,Father,here he is,” cried Corin.

“Aye,and here thou art,at last,” said the King in a very gruff voice.“And hast been in the battle,clean contrary to your obedience.A boy to break a father's heart!At your age a rod to your breech were fitter than a sword in your fist,ha!” But everyone,including Corin,could see that the King was very proud of him.

“Chide him no more,Sire,if it please you,” said Lord Darrin.“His Highness would not be your son if he did not inherit your conditions.It would grieve your Majesty more if he had to be reproved for the opposite fault.”

“Well,well,” grumbled the King.“We'll pass it over for this time.And now—”

What came next surprised Shasta as much as anything that had ever happened to him in his life.He found himself suddenly embraced in a bear-like hug by King Lune and kissed on both cheeks.Then the King set him down again and said,“Stand here together,boys,and let all the court see you.Hold up your heads.Now,gentlemen,look on them both.Has any man any doubts?”

And still Shasta could not understand why everyone stared at him and at Corin,nor what all the cheering was about.

CHAPTER 14

How Bree Became a Wiser Horse

We must now return to Aravis and the Horses.The Hermit,watching his pool,was able to tell them that Shasta was not killed or even seriously wounded,for he saw him get up and saw how affectionately he was greeted by King Lune.But as he could only see,not hear,he did not know what anyone was saying and,once the fighting had stopped and the talking had begun,it was not worthwhile looking in the pool any longer.

Next morning,while the Hermit was indoors,the three of them discussed what they should do next.

“I've had enough of this,” said Hwin.“The Hermit has been very good to us and I'm very much obliged to him,I'm sure.But I'm getting as fat as a pet pony,eating all day and getting no exercise.Let's go on to Narnia.”

“Oh,not today,Ma'am,” said Bree.“I wouldn't hurry things.Some other day,don't you think?”

“We must see Shasta first and say goodbye to him– and – apologize,” said Aravis.

“Exactly!” said Bree with great enthusiasm.“Just what I was going to say.”

“Oh,of course,” said Hwin.“I expect he is in Anvard.Naturally we'd look in on him and say goodbye.But that's on our way.And why shouldn't we start at once?After all,I thought it was Narnia we all wanted to get to?”

“I suppose so,” said Aravis.She was beginning to wonder what exactly she would do when she got there,and was feeling a little lonely.

“Of course,of course,” said Bree hastily.“But there's no need to rush things,if you know what I mean.”

“No,I don't know what you mean,” said Hwin.“Why don't you want to go?”

“M-m-m,broo-hoo,” muttered Bree.“Well,don't you see,Ma'am – it's an important occasion –returning to one's country – entering society – the best society – it is so essential to make a good impression– not perhaps looking quite ourselves,yet,eh?”

Hwin broke out into a horse-laugh.“It's your tail,Bree!I see it all now.You want to wait till your tail's grown again!And we don't even know if tails are worn long in Narnia.Really,Bree,you're as vain as that Tarkheena in Tashbaan!”

“You are silly,Bree,” said Aravis.

“By the Lion's Mane,Tarkheena,I'm nothing of the sort,” said Bree indignantly.“I have a proper respect for myself and for my fellow horses,that's all.”

“Bree,” said Aravis,who was not very interested in the cut of his tail,“I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time.Why do you keep on swearing By the Lion and By the Lion's Mane?I thought you hated lions.”

“So I do,” answered Bree.“But when I speak of the Lion,of course I mean Aslan,the great deliverer of Narnia who drove away the Witch and the Winter.All Narnians swear by him.”

“But is he a lion?”

“No,no,of course not,” said Bree in a rather shocked voice.

“All the stories about him in Tashbaan say he is,”replied Aravis.“And if he isn't a lion why do you call him a lion?”

“Well,you'd hardly understand that at your age,”said Bree.“And I was only a little foal when I left so I don't quite fully understand it myself.”

(Bree was standing with his back to the green wall while he said this,and the other two were facing him.He was talking in rather a superior tone with his eyes half shut；that was why he didn't see the changed expression in the faces of Hwin and Aravis.They had good reason to have open mouths and staring eyes；because while Bree spoke they saw an enormous lion leap up from outside and balance itself on the top of the green wall；only it was a brighter yellow and it was bigger and more beautiful and more alarming than any lion they had ever seen.And at once it jumped down inside the wall and began approaching Bree from behind.It made no noise at all.And Hwin and Aravis couldn't make any noise themselves,no more than if they were frozen.)

“No doubt,” continued Bree,“when they speak of him as a lion,they only mean he's as strong as a lion or(to our enemies,of course)as fierce as a lion.Or something of that kind.Even a little girl like you,Aravis,must see that it would be quite absurd to suppose he is a real lion.Indeed it would be disrespectful.If he was a lion he'd have to be a beast just like the rest of us.Why!”(and here Bree began to laugh)“If he was a lion he'd have four paws,and a tail,and Whiskers!...Aie,ooh,hoo-hoo!Help!”

For just as he said the word Whiskers one of Aslan's had actually tickled his ear.Bree shot away like an arrow to the other side of the enclosure and there turned；the wall was too high for him to jump and he could fly no further.Aravis and Hwin both started back.There was about a second of intense silence.

Then Hwin,though shaking all over,gave a strange little neigh,and trotted across to the Lion.

“Please,” she said,“you're so beautiful.You may eat me if you like.I'd sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.”

“Dearest daughter,” said Aslan,planting a lion's kiss on her twitching,velvet nose,“I knew you would not be long in coming to me.Joy shall be yours.”

Then he lifted his head and spoke in a louder voice：

“Now,Bree,” he said,“you poor,proud frightened Horse,draw near.Nearer still,my son.Do not dare not to dare.Touch me.Smell me.Here are my paws,here is my tail,these are my whiskers.I am a true beast.”

“Aslan,” said Bree in a shaken voice,“I'm afraid I must be rather a fool.”

“Happy the Horse who knows that while he is still young.Or the Human either.Draw near,Aravis my daughter.See!My paws are velveted.You will not be torn this time.”

“This time,sir?” said Aravis.

“It was I who wounded you,” said Aslan.“I am the only lion you met in all your journeyings.Do you know why I tore you?”

“No,sir.”

“The scratches on your back,tear for tear,throb for throb,blood for blood,were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her.You needed to know what it felt like.”

“Yes,sir.Please—”

“Ask on,my dear,” said Aslan.

“Will any more harm come to her by what I did?”

“Child,” said the Lion,“I am telling you your story,not hers.No one is told any story but their own.”Then he shook his head and spoke in a lighter voice：

“Be merry,little ones,” he said.“We shall meet again soon.But before that you will have another visitor.” Then in one bound he reached the top of the wall and vanished from their sight.

Strange to say,they felt no inclination to talk to one another about him after he had gone.They all moved slowly away to different parts of the quiet grass and there paced to and fro,each alone,thinking.

About half an hour later the two Horses were summoned to the back of the house to eat something nice that the Hermit had got ready for them and Aravis,still walking and thinking,was startled by the harsh sound of a trumpet outside the gate.

“Who is there?” asked Aravis.

“His Royal Highness Prince Cor of Archenland,”said a voice from outside.

Aravis undid the door and opened it,drawing back a little way to let the strangers in.

Two soldiers with halberds came first and took their stand at each side of the entry.Then followed a herald,and the trumpeter.

“His Royal Highness Prince Cor of Archenland desires an audience of the Lady Aravis,” said the Herald.Then he and the trumpeter drew aside and bowed and the soldiers saluted and the Prince himself came in.All his attendants withdrew and closed the gate behind them.

The Prince bowed,and a very clumsy bow for a Prince it was.Aravis curtsied in the Calormene style(which is not at all like ours)and did it very well because,of course,she had been taught how.Then she looked up and saw what sort of person this Prince was.

She saw a mere boy.He was bare-headed and his fair hair was encircled with a very thin band of gold,hardly thicker than a wire.His upper tunic was of white cambric,as fine as a handkerchief,so that the bright red tunic beneath it showed through.His left hand,which rested on his enamelled sword hilt,was bandaged.

Aravis looked twice at his face before she gasped and said,“Why!It's Shasta!”

Shasta all at once turned very red and began speaking very quickly.“Look here,Aravis,” he said,“I do hope you won't think I'm got up like this(and the trumpeter and all)to try to impress you or make out that I'm different or any rot of that sort.Because I'd far rather have come in my old clothes,but they're burnt now,and my father said—”

“Your father?” said Aravis.

“Apparently King Lune is my father,” said Shasta.“I might really have guessed it,Corin being so like me.We were twins,you see.Oh,and my name isn't Shasta,it's Cor.”

“Cor is a nicer name than Shasta,” said Aravis.

“Brothers' names run like that in Archenland,”said Shasta(or Prince Cor as we must now call him).“Like Dar and Darrin,Cole and Colin and so on.”

“Shasta— I mean Cor,” said Aravis.“No,shut up.There's something I've got to say at once.I'm sorry I've been such a pig.But I did change before I knew you were a Prince,honestly I did：when you went back,and faced the Lion.”

“It wasn't really going to kill you at all,that Lion,” said Cor.

“I know,” said Aravis,nodding.Both were still and solemn for a moment as each saw that the other knew about Aslan.

Suddenly Aravis remembered Cor's bandaged hand.“I say!” she cried,“I forgot!You've been in a battle.Is that a wound?”

“A mere scratch,” said Cor,using for the first time a rather lordly tone.But a moment later he burst out laughing and said,“If you want to know the truth,it isn't a proper wound at all.I only took the skin off my knuckles just as any clumsy fool might do without going near a battle.”

“Still,you were in the battle,” said Aravis.“It must have been wonderful.”

“It wasn't at all like what I thought,” said Cor.

“But Sha— Cor,I mean – you haven't told me anything yet about King Lune and how he found out who you were.”

“Well,let's sit down,” said Cor.“For it's rather a long story.And by the way,Father's an absolute brick.I'd be just as pleased – or very nearly – at finding he was my father even if he weren't a king.Even though Education and all sorts of horrible things are going to happen to me.But you want the story.Well,Corin and I are twins.And about a week after we were both born,apparently,they took us to a wise old Centaur in Narnia to be blessed or something.Now this Centaur was a prophet as a good many Centaurs are.Perhaps you haven't seen any Centaurs yet?There were some in the battle yesterday.Most remarkable people,but I can't say I feel quite at home with them yet.I say,Aravis,there are going to be a lot of things to get used to in these Northern countries.”

“Yes,there are,” said Aravis.“But get on with the story.”

“Well,as soon as he saw Corin and me,it seems this Centaur looked at me and said,'A day will come when that boy will save Archenland from the deadliest danger in which ever she lay'.So of course my Father and Mother were very pleased.But there was someone present who wasn't.This was a chap called the Lord Bar who had been Father's Lord Chancellor.And apparently he'd done something wrong – bezzling or some word like that – I didn't understand that part very well – and Father had had to dismiss him.But nothing else was done to him and he was allowed to go on living in Archenland.But he must have been as bad as he could be,for it came out afterwards he had been in the pay of the Tisroc and had sent a lot of secret information to Tashbaan.So as soon as he heard I was going to save Archenland from a great danger he decided I must be put out of the way.Well,he succeeded in kidnapping me(I don't exactly know how)and rode away down the Winding Arrow to the coast.He'd had everything prepared and there was a ship manned with his own followers lying ready for him and he put out to sea with me on board.But Father got wind of it,though not quite in time,and was after him as quickly as he could.The Lord Bar was already at sea when Father reached the coast,but not out of sight.And Father was embarked in one of his own warships within twenty minutes.

“It must have been a wonderful chase.They were six days following Bar's galleon and brought her to battle on the seventh.It was a great sea-fight(I heard a lot about it yesterday evening)from ten o'clock in the morning till sunset.Our people took the ship in the end.But I wasn't there.The Lord Bar himself had been killed in the battle.But one of his men said that,early that morning,as soon as he saw he was certain to be overhauled,Bar had given me to one of his knights and sent us both away in the ship's boat.And that boat was never seen again.But of course that was the same boat that Aslan(he seems to be at the back of all the stories)pushed ashore at the right place for Arsheesh to pick me up.I wish I knew that knight's name,for he must have kept me alive and starved himself to do it.”

“I suppose Aslan would say that was part of someone else's story,” said Aravis.

“I was forgetting that,” said Cor.

“And I wonder how the prophecy will work out,”said Aravis,“and what the great danger is that you're to save Archenland from.”

“Well,” said Cor rather awkwardly,“they seem to think I've done it already.”

Aravis clapped her hands.“Why,of course!” she said.“How stupid I am.And how wonderful!Archenland can never be in much greater danger than it was when Rabadash had crossed the Arrow with his two hundred horse and you hadn't yet got through with your message.Don't you feel proud?”

“I think I feel a bit scared,” said Cor.

“And you'll be living at Anvard now,” said Aravis rather wistfully.

“Oh!” said Cor.“I'd nearly forgotten what I came about.Father wants you to come and live with us.He says there's been no lady in the court(they call it the court,I don't know why)since Mother died.Do,Aravis.You'll like Father – and Corin.They're not like me；they've been properly brought up.You needn't be afraid that—”

“Oh,stop it,” said Aravis,“or we'll have a real fight.Of course I'll come.”

“Now let's go and see the Horses,” said Cor.

There was a great and joyous meeting between Bree and Cor,and Bree,who was still in a rather subdued frame of mind,agreed to set out for Anvard at once：he and Hwin would cross into Narnia on the following day.All four bade an affectionate farewell to the Hermit and promised that they would visit him again soon.By about the middle of the morning they were on their way.The Horses had expected that Aravis and Cor would ride,but Cor explained that except in war,where everyone must do what he can do best,no one in Narnia or Archenland ever dreamed of mounting a talking horse.

This reminded poor Bree again of how little he knew about Narnian customs and what dreadful mistakes he might make.So while Hwin strolled along in a happy dream,Bree got more nervous and more self-conscious with every step he took.

“Buck up,Bree,” said Cor.“It's far worse for me than for you.You aren't going to be educated.I shall be learning reading and writing and heraldry and dancing and history and music while you'll be galloping and rolling on the hills of Narnia to your heart's content.”

“But that's just the point,” groaned Bree.“Do Talking Horses roll?Supposing they don't?I can't bear to give it up.What do you think,Hwin?”

“I'm going to roll anyway,” said Hwin.“I don't suppose any of them will care two lumps of sugar whether you roll or not.”

“Are we near the castle?” said Bree to Cor.

“Round the next bend,” said the Prince.

“Well,” said Bree,“I'm going to have a good one now：it may be the last.Wait for me a minute.”

It was five minutes before he rose again,blowing hard and covered with bits of bracken.

“Now I'm ready,” he said in a voice of profound gloom.“Lead on,Prince Cor.Narnia and the North.”

But he looked more like a horse going to a funeral than a long-lost captive returning to home and freedom.

CHAPTER 15

Rabadash the Ridiculous

The next turn of the road brought them out from among the trees and there,across green lawns,sheltered from the north wind by the high wooded ridge at its back,they saw the castle of Anvard.It was very old and built of a warm,reddish-brown stone.

Before they had reached the gate King Lune came out to meet them,not looking at all like Aravis's idea of a king and wearing the oldest of old clothes；for he had just come from making a round of the kennels with his Huntsman and had only stopped for a moment to wash his doggy hands.But the bow with which he greeted Aravis as he took her hand would have been stately enough for an Emperor.

“Little lady,” he said,“we bid you very heartily welcome.If my dear wife were still alive we could make you better cheer but could not do it with a better will.And I am sorry that you have had misfortunes and been driven from your father's house,which cannot but be a grief to you.My son Cor has told me about your adventures together and all your valour.”

“It was he who did all that,Sir,” said Aravis.“Why,he rushed at a lion to save me.”

“Eh,what's that?” said King Lune,his face brightening.“I haven't heard that part of the story.”

Then Aravis told it.And Cor,who had very much wanted the story to be known,though he felt he couldn't tell it himself,didn't enjoy it so much as he had expected,and indeed felt rather foolish.But his father enjoyed it very much indeed and in the course of the next few weeks told it to so many people that Cor wished it had never happened.

Then the King turned to Hwin and Bree and was just as polite to them as to Aravis,and asked them a lot of questions about their families and where they had lived in Narnia before they had been captured.The Horses were rather tongue-tied for they weren't yet used to being talked to as equals by Humans – grownup Humans,that is.They didn't mind Aravis and Cor.

Presently Queen Lucy came out from the castle and joined them and King Lune said to Aravis,“My dear,here is a loving friend of our house,and she has been seeing that your apartments are put to rights for you better than I could have done it.”

“You'd like to come and see them,wouldn't you?”said Lucy,kissing Aravis.They liked each other at once and soon went away together to talk about Aravis's bedroom and Aravis's boudoir and about getting clothes for her,and all the sort of things girls do talk about on such an occasion.

After lunch,which they had on the terrace(it was cold birds and game pie and wine and bread and cheese),King Lune ruffled up his brow and heaved a sigh and said,“Heigh-ho!We have still that sorry creature Rabadash on our hands,my friends,and must needs resolve what to do with him.”

Lucy was sitting on the King's right and Aravis on his left.King Edmund sat at one end of the table and the Lord Darrin faced him at the other.Dar and Peridan and Cor and Corin were on the same side as the King.

“Your Majesty would have a perfect right to strike off his head,” said Peridan.“Such an assault as he made puts him on a level with assassins.”

“It is very true,” said Edmund.“But even a traitor may mend.I have known one that did.” And he looked very thoughtful.

“To kill this Rabadash would go near to raising war with the Tisroc,” said Darrin.

“A fig for the Tisroc,” said King Lune.“His strength is in numbers and numbers will never cross the desert.But I have no stomach for killing men(even traitors)in cold blood.To have cut his throat in the battle would have eased my heart mightily：but this is a different thing.”

“By my counsel,” said Lucy,“your Majesty shall give him another trial.Let him go free on strait promise of fair dealing in the future.It may be that he will keep his word.”

“Maybe Apes will grow honest,Sister,” said Edmund.“But,by the Lion,if he breaks it again,may it be in such time and place that any of us could swap off his head in clean battle.”

“It shall be tried,” said the King：and then to one of the attendants,“Send for the prisoner,friend.”

Rabadash was brought before them in chains.To look at him anyone would have supposed that he had passed the night in a noisome dungeon without food or water；but in reality he had been shut up in quite a comfortable room and provided with an excellent supper.But as he was sulking far too furiously to touch the supper and had spent the whole night stamping and roaring and cursing,he naturally did not now look his best.

“Your royal Highness needs not to be told,” said King Lune,“that by the law of nations as well as by all reasons of prudent policy,we have as good right to your head as ever one mortal man had against another.Nevertheless,in consideration of your youth and the ill nurture,devoid of all gentilesse and courtesy,which you have doubtless had in the land of slaves and tyrants,we are disposed to set you free,unharmed,on these conditions：first,that—”

“Curse you for a barbarian dog!” spluttered Rabadash.“Do you think I will even hear your conditions?Faugh!You talk very largely of nurture and I know not what.It's easy,to a man in chains,ha!Take off these vile bonds,give me a sword,and let any of you who dares then debate with me.”

Nearly all the lords sprang to their feet,and Corin shouted：

“Father!Can I box him?Please.”

“Peace!Your Majesties!My Lords!” said King Lune.“Have we no more gravity among us than to be so chafed by the taunt of a pajock?Sit down,Corin,or shalt leave the table.I ask your Highness again,to hear our conditions.”

“I hear no conditions from barbarians and sorcerers,” said Rabadash.“Not one of you dare touch a hair of my head.Every insult you have heaped on me shall be paid with oceans of Narnian and Archenlandish blood.Terrible shall the vengeance of the Tisroc be：even now.But kill me,and the burnings and torturings in these northern lands shall become a tale to frighten the world a thousand years hence.Beware!Beware!Beware!The bolt of Tash falls from above!”

“Does it ever get caught on a hook halfway?”asked Corin.

“Shame,Corin,” said the King.“Never taunt a man save when he is stronger than you：then,as you please.”

“Oh,you foolish Rabadash,” sighed Lucy.

Next moment Cor wondered why everyone at the table had risen and was standing perfectly still.Of course he did the same himself.And then he saw the reason.Aslan was among them though no one had seen him coming.Rabadash started as the immense shape of the Lion paced softly in between him and his accusers.

“Rabadash,” said Aslan.“Take heed.Your doom is very near,but you may still avoid it.Forget your pride(what have you to be proud of?)and your anger(who has done you wrong?)and accept the mercy of these good kings.”

Then Rabadash rolled his eyes and spread out his mouth into a horrible,long mirthless grin like a shark,and wagged his ears up and down(anyone can learn how to do this if they take the trouble).He had always found this very effective in Calormen.The bravest had trembled when he made these faces,and ordinary people had fallen to the floor,and sensitive people had often fainted.But what Rabadash hadn't realized is that it is very easy to frighten people who know you can have them boiled alive the moment you give the word.The grimaces didn't look at all alarming in Archenland；indeed Lucy only thought Rabadash was going to be sick.

“Demon!Demon!Demon!” shrieked the Prince.“I know you.You are the foul fiend of Narnia.You are the enemy of the gods.Learn who I am,horrible phantasm.I am descended from Tash,the inexorable,the irresistible.The curse of Tash is upon you.Lightning in the shape of scorpions shall be rained on you.The mountains of Narnia shall be ground into dust.The—”

“Have a care,Rabadash,” said Aslan quietly.“The doom is nearer now：it is at the door：it has lifted the latch.”

“Let the skies fall,” shrieked Rabadash.“Let the earth gape!Let blood and fire obliterate the world!But be sure I will never desist till I have dragged to my palace by her hair the barbarian queen,the daughter of dogs,the—”

“The hour has struck,” said Aslan：and Rabadash saw,to his supreme horror,that everyone had begun to laugh.

They couldn't help it.Rabadash had been wagging his ears all the time and as soon as Aslan said,“The hour has struck!” the ears began to change.They grew longer and more pointed and soon were covered with grey hair.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 hooves.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：

“Oh,not a Donkey!Mercy!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.

“Now hear me,Rabadash,” said Aslan.“Justice shall be mixed with mercy.You shall not always be an Ass.”

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.

“You have appealed to Tash,” said Aslan.“And in the temple of Tash you shall be healed.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.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.Aslan was gone.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.

King Lune was the kindest-hearted of men and on seeing his enemy in this regrettable condition he forgot all his anger.

“Your royal Highness,” he said.“I am most truly sorry that things have come to this extremity.Your Highness will bear witness that it was none of our doing.And of course we shall be delighted to provide your Highness with shipping back to Tashbaan for the – er – treatment which Aslan has prescribed.You shall have every comfort which your Highness's situation allows：the best of the cattle-boats – the freshest carrots and thistles—”

But a deafening bray from the Donkey and a wellaimed kick at one of the guards made it clear that these kindly offers were ungratefully received.

And here,to get him out of the way,I'd better finish off the story of Rabadash.He(or it)was duly sent back by boat to Tashbaan and brought into the temple of Tash at the great Autumn Festival,and then he became a man again.But of course four or five thousand people had seen the transformation and the affair could not possibly be hushed up.And after the old Tisroc's death when Rabadash became Tisroc in his place he turned out the most peaceable Tisroc Calormen had ever known.This was because,not daring to go more than ten miles from Tashbaan,he could never go on a war himself：and he didn't want his Tarkaans to win fame in the wars at his expense,for that is the way Tisrocs get overthrown.But though his reasons were selfish,it made things much more comfortable for all the smaller countries round Calormen.His own people never forgot that he had been a donkey.During his reign,and to his face,he was called Rabadash the Peacemaker,but after his death and behind his back he was called Rabadash the Ridiculous,and if you look him up in a good History of Calormen(try the local library)you will find him under that name.And to this day in Calormene schools,if you do anything unusually stupid,you are very likely to be called “a second Rabadash”.

Meanwhile at Anvard everyone was very glad that he had been disposed of before the real fun began,which was a grand feast held that evening on the lawn before the castle,with dozens of lanterns to help the moonlight.And the wine flowed and tales were told and jokes were cracked,and then silence was made and the King's poet with two fiddlers stepped out into the middle of the circle.Aravis and Cor prepared themselves to be bored,for the only poetry they knew was the Calormene kind,and you know now what that was like.But at the very first scrape of the fiddles a rocket seemed to go up inside their heads,and the poet sang the great old lay of Fair Olvin and how he fought the Giant Pire and turned him into stone(and that is the origin of Mount Pire – it was a two-headed Giant)and won the Lady Liln for his bride；and when it was over they wished it was going to begin again.And though Bree couldn't sing he told the story of the fight at Zulindreh.And Lucy told again(they had all,except Aravis and Cor,heard it many times but they all wanted it again)the Tale of the Wardrobe and how she and King Edmund and Queen Susan and Peter the High King had first come into Narnia.

And presently,as was certain to happen sooner or later,King Lune said it was time for young people to be in bed.“And tomorrow,Cor,” he added,“shalt come over all the castle with me and see the estate,and mark all its strength and weakness：for it will be thine to guard when I'm gone.”

“But Corin will be the King then,Father,” said Cor.

“Nay,lad,” said King Lune,“thou art my heir.The crown comes to thee.”

“But I don't want it,” said Cor.“I'd far rather—”

“'Tis no question what thou wantest,Cor,nor I either.'Tis in the course of law.”

“But if we're twins we must be the same age.”

“Nay,” said the King with a laugh.“One must come first.Art Corin's elder by full twenty minutes.And his better too,let's hope,though that's no great mastery.”And he looked at Corin with a twinkle in his eyes.

“But,Father,couldn't you make whichever you like to be the next King?”

“No.The King's under the law,for it's the law makes him a king.Hast no more power to start away from thy crown than any sentry from his post.”

“Oh dear,” said Cor.“I don't want to at all.And Corin – I am most dreadfully sorry.I never dreamed my turning up was going to chisel you out of your kingdom.”

“Hurray!Hurray!” said Corin.“I shan't have to be King.I shan't have to be King.I'll always be a prince.It's princes have all the fun.”

“And that's truer than thy brother knows,Cor,”said King Lune.“For this is what it means to be a king：to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat,and when there's hunger in the land(as must be now and then in bad years)to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.”

When the two boys were going upstairs to bed Cor again asked Corin if nothing could be done about it.And Corin said：

“If you say another word about it,I'll – I'll knock you down.”

It would be nice to end the story by saying that after that the two brothers never disagreed about anything again,but I am afraid it would not be true.In reality they quarrelled and fought just about as often as any other two boys would,and all their fights ended(if they didn't begin)with Cor getting knocked down.For though,when they had both grown up and become swordsmen,Cor was the most dangerous man in battle,neither he nor anyone else in the North Countries could ever equal Corin as a boxer.That was how he got his name of Corin Thunder-Fist；and how he performed his great exploit against the Lapsed Bear of Stormness,which was really a Talking Bear but had gone back to Wild Bear habits.Corin climbed up to its lair on the Narnian side of Stormness one winter day when the snow was on the hills and boxed it without a timekeeper for thirty-three rounds.And at the end it couldn't see out of its eyes and became a reformed character.

Aravis also had many quarrels(and,I'm afraid,even fights)with Cor,but they always made it up again：so that years later,when they were grown up,they were so used to quarrelling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently.And after King Lune's death they made a good King and Queen of Archenland,and Ram the Great,the most famous of all the kings of Archenland,was their son.Bree and Hwin lived happily to a great age in Narnia and both got married but not to one another.And there weren't many months in which one or both of them didn't come trotting over the pass to visit their friends at Anvard.

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

魔法师的外甥/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；米友梅译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Magician’s Nephewe

ISBN 978-7-5447-4717-2

Ⅰ.① 魔…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 米… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290517号

The Magician’s Nephewe copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1955

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1955 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 魔法师的外甥

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 陈良廷　刘文澜

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

书　号 89千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-4717-2

第六册 魔法师的外甥

目录

中文版

1 开错的门

2 迪格雷和他的舅舅

3 各个世界之间的树林

4 钟与锤

5 灭绝咒

6 安德鲁舅舅的麻烦开始了

7 发生在前门的事

8 灯柱前的战斗

9 纳尼亚的诞生

10 第一个笑柄及其他

11 迪格雷和他的舅舅双陷困境

12 “草莓”远征

13 不期而遇

14 栽树

15 这个故事的结束及其他故事的开始

英文版

CHAPTER 1 The Wrong Door

CHAPTER 2 Digory and his Uncle

CHAPTER 3 The Wood between the Worlds

CHAPTER 4 The Bell and the Hammer

CHAPTER 5 The Deplorable Word

CHAPTER 6 The Beginning of Uncle Andrew's Troubles

CHAPTER 7 What Happened at the Front Door

CHAPTER 8 The Fight at the Lamp-post

CHAPTER 9 The Founding of Narnia

CHAPTER 10 The First Joke and Other Matters

CHAPTER 11 Digory and his Uncle are Both in Trouble

CHAPTER 12 Strawberry's Adventure

CHAPTER 13 An Unexpected Meeting

CHAPTER 14 The Planting of the Tree

CHAPTER 15 The End of this Story and the Beginning of all the Others

献词

献给 基尔默一家

1

开错的门

故事发生在很久以前，当你爷爷还是个孩子的时候。这个故事非常重要，因为它告诉我们，我们自己的世界和纳尼亚王国之间所有的事情最初是如何发生的。

那时，歇洛克·福尔摩斯仍住在贝克街，巴斯塔布尔[1]一家还在路易斯罕大道上寻宝。那时，如果你是小男孩，你不得不天天戴上硬邦邦的伊顿领子，学校嘛，通常比现在的糟糕。不过，吃的比现在的好；要说糖果，我不想告诉你多么便宜，多么好吃，因为那只能使你白白地流口水。那时，伦敦住着一个女孩，名叫波莉·普卢默。

她家的房子和其他房子连成长长的一排。一天早晨，她在后花园里，看见一个男孩从隔壁花园爬上墙头，只露出一张脸。波莉感到很意外，因为，迄今为止，那幢房子除了老单身汉凯特利先生和老处女凯特利小姐这兄妹俩外，并没有住孩子。她好奇地抬起头，那陌生男孩的脸脏极了，就算他的手先在土里擦，然后大哭一场，再用泥手去擦脸，也不会这么脏。实际上，这差不多就是他刚刚干的事。

“你好！”波莉说。

“你好！”男孩回答，“你叫什么？”

“波莉。”波莉说，“你呢？”

“迪格雷。”男孩答道。

“唉呀，这名字太好笑了！”波莉说。

“波莉好笑得多呢。”

“就是好笑。”波莉又说。

“就不好笑。”男孩反驳说。

“不管怎样，我是洗脸的，”波莉说，“而你现在需要洗脸，尤其当你……”她停住了。她本想说“当你号啕大哭以后”，但又觉得不太礼貌。

“对极了，我刚哭过。”迪格雷把嗓门提高了许多，像一个悲哀过度的男孩不在乎谁知道他哭过一样。“你也会哭的，”他继续说，“要是你原来住在乡下，有匹小马，花园尽头还有条小河，然后却被弄到这么个糟糕透顶的窝里来住的话。”

“伦敦不是糟糕透顶的窝。”波莉愤愤地说。但男孩太激动了，根本没注意到她的口气。他接着说：

“要是你爸爸远在印度，你不得不来跟姨妈和疯癫癫的舅舅住在一起，（你怎么会高兴呢？）而这又是因为他们正在照看你的妈妈，而你的妈妈生病了，就要……就要死了。”他脸上做出想忍住不哭时的怪异表情。

“对不起，我一点儿也不知道。”波莉低声下气地道歉。接着，因为实在不知道该说些什么，同时也为了能使迪格雷转到愉快的话题上，她问：

“凯特利先生真的疯了吗？”

“要么疯了，”迪格雷回答，“要么就有什么秘密。他在楼顶上有间书房，蕾蒂姨妈叮嘱过，我决不能去。这让人觉得可疑。还有，他从不跟蕾蒂姨妈交谈，而每当他在进餐时想要对我说什么，她就要阻止。她会说，‘安德鲁，别去烦这孩子’，或者，‘我能肯定迪格雷不想知道那件事’，或者，‘迪格雷，你不想去外面花园里玩吗？’”

“他想要说什么事情呢？”

“我不知道。他从来不多说。哦，还有，有天夜里，就是昨夜，我经过阁楼楼梯下面去睡觉时（我不喜欢从那儿走过），我敢肯定听到了一声喊叫。”

“他可能关了一个疯妻在那儿吧？”

“我也这样想。”

“要不然，他在造假币。”

“或许以前他是个海盗，像《金银岛》开头的那人一样，老在躲避过去船上的同伙。”

“真带劲儿！”波莉说，“我从来不知道你们那幢房子这么有趣。”

“你可能觉得有趣，”迪格雷说，“但你要是住在里面，你就不会开心了。你总不愿意半睡半醒的时候，听见安德鲁舅舅的脚步声穿过走廊，悄悄向你走来吧？而且他的眼睛那么令人讨厌。”

暑假刚开始，波莉和迪格雷就这样认识了。他们几乎天天见面，那一年谁也没到海边去。

那年夏天是好几年以来最潮湿、最阴冷的夏季之一，他们的探险便因此揭开了序幕，而他们也只能在室内活动，也就是说，是室内探险。点上一截蜡烛，在一幢大房子或一排房子里东寻西探，实在妙不可言。很早以前，波莉就发现，打开她家阁楼上储藏室的小门，就会看见贮水池后面有一块黑乎乎的地方，可以小心翼翼地钻进去。里面像一条长长的隧道，一边是砖墙，一边是斜屋顶。屋顶上的石板之间有缝隙，透出光线。隧道里没有地板，你必须从一根椽子到另一根椽子，椽子之间只有灰泥。要是踩在灰泥上，你就会掉入下面的房间。波莉曾将隧道靠近水池的那片地方当作“走私者的山洞”。她把一些旧包装箱的散片和破厨房椅的座子一类东西搬上去，搭在椽子之间铺成地板。她还藏了一个钱箱，里面装着各种各样的宝贝，一本她正在写的小说，通常还有几只苹果。她常进去偷偷地喝上一瓶姜啤酒，废弃的酒瓶使那里看上去更像“走私者的山洞”了。

迪格雷很喜欢那个“山洞”（波莉是不会让他看见那本小说的），但他更想去探险。

“唉呀，这条隧道有多长呢？我是说，它到你家房子的边上就为止了吗？”迪格雷问。

“不，”波莉说，“墙并没有在屋顶那儿为止。我也不知道隧道有多长。”

“那么，我们可以把整排房子都走通。”

“是的。”波莉说，“哎呀！”

“怎么了？”

“我们可以走到别人的房子里去嘛！”

“是的，然后再被人当成夜盗抓起来！这可不好玩。”

“别自作聪明，我刚才在想你家后面的那幢房子。”

“什么意思？”

“唔，那是幢空房子。爸爸说，自从我们搬到这里来，它就一直是空的。”

“那我们该去侦察一番。”迪格雷说。从他说话的方式上，你还看不出他的内心要激动得多。当然，可能像你一样，他也在想，那幢房子为什么好长时间都是空的。他把可能的理由全想了一遍，波莉也在想。然而，谁也没提“闹鬼”二字。两人都觉得，事情一旦说出口，不去就显得太软弱了。

“我们现在就去吗？”迪格雷问。

“是的。”波莉说。

“如果你不愿意就不勉强。”

“只要你愿意，我就愿意。”波莉回答。

“可我们怎么知道刚好到了隔壁一幢的房子里呢？”

他们决定，先出去到储藏室，以两根椽子之间的距离为一步，这样走一遍，就知道要跨过多少根椽子才能走完一个房间。他们给波莉家两个阁楼间的通道留出稍多于四根椽子的距离，给女佣的卧室算上与储藏室一样多的椽子。加起来，便是那幢房子的总长度。走完两倍这段距离，就是迪格雷家房子的尽头。再往前，他们所走到的任何一扇门都会通向空房子的阁楼。

“但我不认为那房子真是空的。”迪格雷说。

“那你是怎么想的？”

“我想，有人隐居在那儿，天黑以后才提着一盏昏暗的提灯进出。我们还可能发现一帮绝望的罪犯，并由此得到奖赏。要说一幢空了多年的房子毫无秘密，那就太蠢了。”

“爸爸认为，里面一定是下水道。”波莉说。

“咳！大人的想法总是没趣儿！”迪格雷说。因为他们是在白天的阁楼里，而不是在“走私者的山洞”里点着蜡烛谈话，空房子闹鬼的可能性便显得很小了。

他们测出阁楼的长度后，便拿出铅笔来计算总长。起先，两人答案不一致，但即使得出同一结果，我也怀疑他们是否算对了。因为两人都急着上路，去开始他们伟大的探险事业。

“我们决不能弄出声音。”当他们从水池后面再次往隧道里钻时，波莉说。每人手里举了一根蜡烛（波莉在她的“山洞”里藏了很多）。

黑暗而通风的隧道里积着厚厚的灰尘。他们踩着椽子悄然而行，偶尔互相耳语一句“到你家阁楼对面了”，或者“走到我家房子的中间了”。两人都没有跌倒过，蜡烛也没有熄灭过，最后，他们停住了，看见右面的砖墙上有扇小门。门的这一面既无门闩也无把手，显然，那门是做来让人进屋，而不是让人走出去的。但门上有个挂钩（像衣柜门上常见的那种），他们觉得完全能够打开。

“我去开吗？”迪格雷问。

“只要你愿意，我就愿意。”波莉又搬出她的口头禅。两人都知道，他们正处在紧要关头，但谁也没有后退。迪格雷费了一番劲才把挂钩打开。门一开，突然射来的自然光使他们忍不住眨了眨眼。接着，他们非常惊奇地发现，面前不是一间废弃的阁楼，而是一个陈设完整的房间。但似乎又是空荡荡的，一派死寂。波莉在好奇心的驱使下吹灭了蜡烛，像耗子一样悄悄地走进了那间奇怪的屋子。

屋子的形状很像阁楼，但又装饰得像起居室。沿墙摆满了架子，架上放满了书籍。壁炉里燃着火，（你还记得那年夏天又冷又湿吧？）火炉前面，一把高背扶手椅背对他们两人放着。在波莉和椅子之间，占据大部分空间的是一张堆着各种物什的大桌子——书、笔记簿、墨水瓶、钢笔、封蜡和一台显微镜。然而，她首先注意到的是一只红得发亮的木托盘，里面有几只戒指。这些戒指成对放着，一枚黄的和一枚绿的挨在一起；隔了一点距离，又是一枚黄的和一枚绿的挨在一起。它们只不过像普通戒指那么大，但由于太亮了，谁也不会看不见。这些小戒指闪着你能想像的最美丽的光彩。如果波莉再小一点儿，她说不定会拿一枚放进嘴里。

房间里静静的，你很快便能清楚地听见钟的嘀嗒声。可波莉又发现，里面并非绝对寂静——有一种微弱的嗡嗡声。假如那时已有吸尘器，波莉肯定会认为这是一台吸尘器在几间房子外或几层楼下工作发出的声音。但她听到的声音更柔和，更富音乐感，只是微弱得几乎听不见。

“太好了，这儿没人。”波莉偏过头，用略高于耳语的声音对迪格雷说。

“好什么？”迪格雷走过来，眨巴着眼睛，“根本不是空房子，我们最好在有人进来以前逃走。”他看上去脏极了，波莉也是。

“你说那些是什么？”波莉指着彩色戒指问。

“过来，快……”迪格雷正想说下去，一件意想不到的事发生了。火炉前的高背椅子突然移动了，像舞台的活动门里钻出一个哑剧中的小丑一样，安德鲁舅舅可怕的样子出现在他们面前。他们站的地方不是空房子，而是迪格雷家中那间禁止入内的书房！两个孩子意识到犯了严重的错误，都大张着口，“噢——噢——”地说不出话来。他们觉得早该感到自己走得不够远。

安德鲁舅舅又高又瘦，一头灰发零乱不堪，刮得干干净净的长脸上长着尖削的鼻子和一双贼亮的眼睛。

迪格雷大气也不敢出，因为安德鲁舅舅看上去要比以往可怕一千倍。波莉起先还不太害怕，但很快就怕了，因为安德鲁舅舅一来便走到门口，关上门，并把门锁了起来。然后，他转过身，直勾勾地盯着孩子们，一笑，露出满口牙齿。

“这下可好，”他说，“我那傻瓜妹妹找不到你们了。”

这哪里像大人应该做的事！波莉的心提到了嗓子眼。她和迪格雷开始向他们进来的小门退去。但安德鲁舅舅抢先冲到他们背后，将那扇门也关上了，然后站在门前。他搓着手，弄得指关节啪啪地响。他有长长的漂亮的白手指。

“很高兴见到你们，”他说，“我正需要两个孩子呢。”

“凯特利先生，”波莉说，“我要回家了，请你放我们出去，好吗？”

“现在不行，这么好的机会不能错过。我需要两个孩子。你看，我的伟大的实验只做了一半。以前，我用过一只豚鼠，还可以，但豚鼠没法儿跟你说话，而你也不能告诉它怎么回来。”

“安德鲁舅舅，”迪格雷说，“现在是吃饭时间了，他们很快就会找我们的。你必须放我们出去。”

“必须？”安德鲁舅舅说。

迪格雷和波莉相互看了一眼。两人不敢开口，但眼睛却在说，“这太可怕了，不是吗？”“我们只好哄哄他。”

“要是你放我们去吃饭，我们吃完就回来。”波莉说。

“可是，我怎么知道你们会不会回来？”安德鲁舅舅狡猾地一笑，好像要改变主意了。

“好吧，好吧，”他说，“如果真是非走不可，我想你们也该走了。我不指望像你们这么大的两个孩子会喜欢跟我这样一个老笨蛋说话。”他叹口气，继续道：“你们不明白，有时，我是多么孤独。可是，没关系，去吃饭吧。但在你们走之前，我一定要送你们一件礼物。我并不是每天都能在这间肮脏的旧书房里见到一个小姑娘的，尤其是，这么说吧，跟你一样吸引人的年轻姑娘。”

波莉开始想，他可能并不疯。

“你不喜欢戒指吗，亲爱的？”他问波莉。

“你是说那些黄的绿的戒指吗？太可爱了！”波莉很高兴。

“不是绿的，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我想我还不能把绿的给人。但我喜欢送你一枚包含着我一份爱心的黄戒指。过来试试吧。”

波莉一点儿也不怕了，她完全相信这位老先生并没有疯，那些亮晶晶的戒指有种奇异的魔力，引诱她朝托盘走去。

“啊，我知道了！”波莉说，“那种嗡嗡声在这儿变大了，好像就是这些戒指发出的。”

“多么有趣的幻想，亲爱的。”安德鲁舅舅笑起来，那笑声听来非常自然，但迪格雷从他的脸上看出一种急迫甚至贪婪的神色。

“波莉，别做傻事！”他大叫，“不要碰戒指！”

可是，一切都晚了，在他说话的同时，波莉的手已经伸出去，触到了其中一枚戒指。很快，没有闪光，没有声音，没有任何警告，波莉便消失了，屋子里只剩下迪格雷和他的安德鲁舅舅。

【注释】

[1] 英国女作家E.内斯比特（1858——1924）的小说《寻宝者》中的主人公。

2

迪格雷和他的舅舅

即使在梦中，迪格雷也从未见过如此突然如此恐怖的事情，他尖叫了一声。安德鲁舅舅赶紧用手捂住他的嘴。“别叫！”他在迪格雷的耳边悄悄说，“你知道，要是你母亲听到了，她可能会受惊的。”

正如迪格雷后来说的，这种引人上钩的卑鄙手段实在使他感到厌恶。当然，他也没有再叫。

“好吧，”安德鲁舅舅说，“也许你是控制不住才叫的。第一次看见一个人消失是会吃惊的。昨天夜里，那只豚鼠的消失甚至把我也吓了一跳。”

“就在那时，你叫了一声吗？”迪格雷说。

“噢，你听见了。我希望你没有跟踪我吧？”

“没有，”迪格雷愤愤地说，“但波莉到底出了什么事？”

“祝贺我吧，亲爱的孩子，”安德鲁搓着手说，“我的试验成功了。那小女孩已经走了——从这个世界消失了。”

“你把她怎么样了？”

“送她到——啊——另一个地方去了。”

“你这是什么意思？”迪格雷问。

安德鲁舅舅坐下说，“好，我把一切都告诉你吧。你听说过老莱菲夫人吗？”

“她不是姨婆或其他什么亲戚吗？”迪格雷说。

“不完全是，”安德鲁舅舅说，“她是我的教母。那边墙上就是她。”

迪格雷望过去，看见一幅褪色的头像：一位头戴无边有带女式帽的老太太。他想起，在乡下家中的一个旧抽屉里也见过她的一张头像。他曾经问过妈妈她是谁，但妈妈好像不大愿意谈这个话题。迪格雷想，虽然不能单凭那些旧照片来分辨美丑，但那张脸的确一点儿也不好看。

“她有——她没什么错吧，安德鲁舅舅？”他问。

“哦，”安德鲁舅舅抿嘴一笑，说道，“这要看你把什么当作错。人们都太心胸狭窄了。她到了晚年的确非常古怪，做事也很不谨慎。所以，他们把她关了起来。”

“你是说，关在疯人院？”

“啊不，不是，不是。”安德鲁舅舅吃惊地说，“根本不是那种地方，只是监禁起来。”

“天哪！”迪格雷说，“她干了什么？”

“唉，可怜的女人，”安德鲁舅舅说，“她太不谨慎，做了许多不一般的事。不必细说了。她一直待我很好。”

“可是，这些事跟波莉有什么关系呢？我真希望你……”

“别着急，我的孩子，还没到时候。”安德鲁舅舅说，“临死之前，莱菲夫人被放了出来。弥留之际，她只想让为数极少的几个人去看她，我是其中之一。你知道，她不喜欢无知的普通的人。我也不喜欢。而且，她和我兴趣相同。就在她去世的前几天，她让我去她家中，找到一张旧书桌上的一个秘密抽屉，将里面一个小盒子取出来交给她。刚拿起盒子，我的手指就感到刺痛，我明白，我正握着一个很大的秘密。她把盒子交给我，并要我发誓，她一死，我就以某些仪式将盒子原封不动地烧掉。结果我没有听她的话。”

“唉呀，你这人真糟糕。”迪格雷说。

“糟糕？”安德鲁舅舅的脸上露出迷惑不解的神色。“噢，我知道了，你是说，小男孩应该遵守诺言。确实如此，我相信，这是最正确、最高尚的道理，我很高兴你学会了这样做。然而你必须懂得，这些规矩，好，都可能不适合于渊博的学者、伟大的思想家和圣人。不适合，迪格雷。像我这样有神秘智慧的人不受普通规矩的约束，正如我们跟普通人的乐趣无缘一样。孩子，我们命定是高贵而孤独的。”

他边说边叹气，看上去那么一本正经，那么高尚，那么神秘，以至有一秒钟，迪格雷真的以为他在高谈阔论美好的事情。但他想起波莉失踪以前从他脸上看到的丑恶神态，马上就明白了他那些大话的真实含义。“他的意思就是，”他对自己说，“可以不择手段地得到他想要的任何东西。”

“当然，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我好长时间没敢打开盒子，我知道，里面可能装着非常危险的东西，因为我的教母太与众不同了。事实上，她是这个国家有神仙血统的最后几个凡人之一。（据她讲，与她同时代的还有两位，一位是公爵夫人，一位是女魔法师。）其实，迪格雷，你正在跟也许是最后一个有过神仙教母的人谈话。啊！有些事留给你自己老了再回忆吧。”

“我敢打赌她是个蹩脚的神仙。”迪格雷想；接着高声说，“那么波莉呢？”

“你总是唠唠叨叨的，”安德鲁舅舅说，“好像那件事有什么要紧似的。我的首要任务当然是研究盒子本身。那是个古老的盒子。那时，我就清楚，它不是希腊的、古埃及的、巴比伦的、赫梯[1]的或中国的，它的年代比那些民族还要久远。啊——我最终弄明白事实的那一天是多么了不起。这盒子是阿特兰蒂斯[2]的，出自消失了的岛国阿特兰蒂斯。这表明，这比欧洲出土的石器时代的文物要古老几百年；而且也不像那些文物粗糙原始。因为阿特兰蒂斯很早就是个伟大的城市，有宫殿、寺庙和学者。”

他停了一下，似乎等着迪格雷开口。但每过一分钟，迪格雷就更加讨厌他的安德鲁舅舅，所以，他沉默着。

“同时，”安德鲁舅舅继续说，“我靠其他手段学到不少魔法常识（对一个孩子解说那些手段是不合适的）。这样，对盒子里装的东西我就有了一个合理的估计。通过各种试验，我缩小了范围。我不得不结识了一些极端古怪的人，做了一些很难受的试验，我的头发也就这样变白了。一个人不付出代价是不可能成为魔法师的。到后来，我的身体完全垮了，但我有了进步，最后，我真的懂了。”

虽然根本不可能有人偷听，他还是斜着身子，几乎耳语一般地说：

“阿特兰蒂斯盒子里装着来自另一个世界的东西，那时，我们的世界才混沌初开。”

“什么？”迪格雷问，他这下不由自主地有了兴趣。

“只是土，”安德鲁舅舅说，“细腻、纯净、干燥的土。没什么好看的，你可能会说，辛苦一辈子就得到这些土，实在不值得。然而，当我看着这些土时（我尽量小心，不去碰它），我想，每一粒土都来自另一世界——我不是说另一星球，你知道，而是我们这个星球的一部分，你走得够远就能到达——但的确是另一个世界——另一种大自然——另一个宇宙——你即使在这个宇宙的空间不停地走下去也无法到达——是只能靠魔法才去得了的世界——啊！”说到这里，安德鲁舅舅把手关节弄得木柴似的劈啪作响。

“我明白，”他继续道，“如果找到正确的方法，这些土就会把你带往它的世界。但正确方法却很难找。我以前的试验全失败了。我用豚鼠来做试验，有些死了，有些像小炸弹一样爆炸了……”

“实在是太残酷了。”迪格雷说，因为他以前养过一只豚鼠。

“你为什么总要打岔！”安德鲁舅舅说，“这些动物就是用来做试验的。我自己买的。我想想——说到哪儿了？啊对了，最后，我成功地做好了戒指：黄戒指。但现在，新的困难又来了。我敢肯定黄戒指可以将任何接触到它的动物送到另一世界。但如果我不能让它们回来向我汇报那边的情形，又有什么用呢？”

“它们怎么办呢？”迪格雷说，“要是它们没法儿回来就会陷入困境！”

“你总是从错误的角度看问题，”安德鲁舅舅不耐烦地说，“难道你不明白这是项伟大的试验吗？我把任何动物送入另一世界都是为了了解那儿是个什么地方。”

“你为什么不自己去？”

迪格雷从未见过谁像他的舅舅听到这个简单问题时那么惊讶，那么生气。“我？我吗？”他大声说，“这孩子一定是疯了！我这把年纪，这种身体，要是突然被抛到另一个世界，能经受得住那种震动和危险吗？我这辈子还没听说过如此荒谬的事情！你知道你在说什么吗？想一想，另一个世界意味着什么——你可能会遇到任何事——任何事。”

“我猜你一定把波莉送到那儿去了。”迪格雷说。他气得满脸绯红。他接着说，“就算你是我舅舅，我也要说，你简直像个胆小鬼，把一个女孩送到你自己都不敢去的地方。”

“住嘴，先生！”安德鲁舅舅把手放在桌上，说道，“一个脏兮兮的小男孩怎么能这样对我说话。你不会明白的。我是一位伟大的学者、魔法师和行家，正在做这项试验，当然需要试验品。天哪，接下来你会告诉我，应该在用豚鼠做试验以前得到它们的同意。没有牺牲是不可能获得大智慧的。但要我自己去却十分可笑，就像要求一个将军像普通士兵那样打仗，假如我被杀了，我毕生的大事怎么办呢？”

“好了，别啰里啰嗦地训人了，”迪格雷说，“你准备让波莉回来吗？”

“刚才你粗鲁地打断我时，我就要告诉你，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我最后终于找到了回来的办法。绿戒指能带你回来。”

“但波莉没有绿戒指。”

“没有。”安德鲁舅舅残忍地一笑。

“这么说，她不能回来了，”迪格雷高声喊着，“这跟谋害没什么两样。”

“她可以回来，”安德鲁舅舅说，“如果有人肯去找她，戴上一枚黄戒指，再带上两枚绿戒指，一枚给自己，一枚给她。”

这时，迪格雷明白自己上了当，他大张着嘴，无声地盯着安德鲁舅舅。他的脸变得苍白。

“我希望，”安德鲁舅舅用劲大声说道，好像他是个大方而正派的舅舅，给过谁一笔可观的赏钱或者善意的忠告似的，“我希望，迪格雷，你不喜欢示弱。想到我们家没有人有足够的责任心和侠义精神去解救苦难中的女士，我就感到十分遗憾。”

“住嘴吧！”迪格雷说，“要是你有点儿责任心和侠义精神，你自己就会去，但我知道你是不会去的。好，我明白，我必须去，但你的确是个狼心狗肺的家伙。我想，这全是你一手策划的，让她糊里糊涂地消失了，然后，我就不得不跟着去。”

“当然。”安德鲁舅舅奸笑着说。

“好，我去。但有件事，我一定要说在前头。我过去不相信魔法，直到今天，我才知道是真的。那么，我想，那些古老的神话故事多多少少都是真的。你就是故事里写的那种邪恶、残忍的魔法师。我还从来没有读过这样的人能逃脱惩罚的故事。我敢打赌，你也会有这一天的。那是报应。”

迪格雷说了那么多，这番话才最切中要害。安德鲁舅舅吃了一惊。虽然他缺乏人性，但他脸上露出的恐惧神态几乎让人感到怜悯。可是，这种神色很快消失了，接着是响亮的笑声。他说：“唉唉，对一个像你这样在女人堆里长大的孩子来说，这么想是很自然的。老太太们讲的故事，对吗？我认为你不必为我担忧，迪格雷。为你的小朋友担忧不是更好吗？她走了好一阵了，要是那边有什么危险——迟去一秒钟都会遗憾的。”

“你想得很周到，”迪格雷愤怒地说，“但我已经听烦了。我该怎么做？”

“你实在该学学怎样控制你的脾气，我的孩子，”安德鲁舅舅平静地说，“否则，你长大了，就会跟你的蕾蒂姨妈一样。好，现在听我的。”

他站起身，戴上一副手套，向装戒指的托盘走去。

“它们只有在触到你的皮肤时才起作用，”他说，“像这样，戴上手套去拿，平安无事。如果你装一个在口袋里，会很安全的。可是，你一定要小心，不能无意中把手伸进口袋碰到它。一旦你接触到一枚黄戒指，你就从这个世界消失了。当你到了那个世界，我想——当然这还没经过试验证明，但我想——一旦你触到一枚绿戒指，你就离开了那个世界——我想——又会回到这里来。看好，我把这两枚绿的放进你右边的口袋。记清楚绿戒指在哪个口袋。G代表绿色，R代表右边。你知道，G和R恰好是绿色一词的头两个字母。一个给你，另一个给那小女孩。现在，你给自己拿一枚黄戒指吧。如果我是你，就会把它套在手指上，这样不容易掉。”

迪格雷正要去拿，又突然停住了。

“唉呀，”他说，“妈妈怎么办呢？要是她问我到哪儿去了呢？”

“早点儿走，早点儿回来。”安德鲁舅舅得意地说。

“但你并不敢肯定我是否能回来。”

安德鲁舅舅耸耸肩，走过去打开门，说：

“那好，请便吧，下去吃饭。要是你乐意，就让那小女孩在那个世界里被野兽吃掉，或淹死，或饿死，或永远留在那儿吧。对我来说都是一样的。也许，在喝茶以前，你最好去看看普卢默夫人，告诉她再也见不到她的女儿了；就因为你害怕戴上一枚戒指。”

“老天在上，”迪格雷说，“我真希望有足够的力气来捶扁你的脑袋！”

然后，他扣上外衣，深深地吸了一口气，拿起了戒指。他想，正如他后来常常想的，他从没有这么体面正派地做过其他任何事了。

【注释】

[1] 公元前十七世纪左右在小亚细亚及叙利亚建立的强大古国，后被亚述人征服。

[2] 传说中的岛屿，据说位于大西洋直布罗陀海峡以西，后沉于海底。

3

各个世界之间的树林

安德鲁舅舅和他的书房立刻消失了。之后的一刹那，四周昏暗而迷茫。接着，迪格雷感到，头顶上射来一束柔和的绿光，下面一片漆黑。他似乎既未站在什么上面，也未坐在或躺在什么上面，四周空空如也。“我相信自己在水中。”迪格雷说，“要么在水下。”这使他吓了一跳，但他马上就觉得在往上冲。突然，他的脑袋接触到空气，他发现自己钻了出来，在水潭边平坦的碧草地上趴着。

站起来时，他注意到，自己不像从水里出来，既不是湿漉漉的，也没有呼吸急促。他的衣服完全是干的。他正站在树林中一个不足十尺宽的小水潭边。那些树密密地长在一起，枝繁叶茂，遮天蔽日。惟一的光线就是从树叶间渗漏下的绿光。然而，树林上面一定是烈日当空，因为那绿光既明亮又温暖。你可以想像，那是个最为安静的树林，没有鸟，没有虫，没有动物，也没有风。你甚至能感觉到树木在生长。除了他刚才钻出来的那个水潭外，树林里还有不少其他的水潭，极目所视，每隔几步就有一个。你几乎可以感觉到树木用根部在喝水。林子里生机盎然。当迪格雷后来试着描述它时，他总是说：“那是个郁郁葱葱的地方，像葡萄干饼一样绿油油的。”

最奇怪的是，还来不及东张西望，迪格雷便差不多忘了他是如何到那里的。他怎么也想不起波莉、安德鲁舅舅，甚至他的妈妈。他丝毫不感到害怕，不激动也不好奇。要是有人问他：“你从哪儿来？”他很可能会说，“我一直在这儿。”就是这种感觉——尽管没发生什么事，你却好像一直在那里，从来没有厌烦过。正如他很久以后说的：“那是个不会有什么事的地方。只是树木在不停地生长。”

迪格雷久久地注视着那片树林，然后，他发现，离他不远的地方，一个女孩正躺在一棵树下，眼睛微微闭着，似睡非睡的模样。他看了很久，没说话。她却用梦呓般的心满意足的语调说话了。

“我觉得以前在哪儿见过你。”她说。

“我也这么想，”迪格雷说，“你在这儿很久了吗？”

“是的，一直在这儿，”女孩说，“至少——我也不知道——很长时间了。”

“我也是，一直在这儿。”迪格雷说。

“不对，”她说，“我刚才明明见你从那个水潭里出来。”

“我想我是从水潭里出来的，”迪格雷迷迷糊糊地说，“不过我忘了。”

两人久久地沉默着。

“唉呀，”女孩这才说，“我真想知道，我们以前是不是见过？我有个想法——脑子里有幅图画——一个男孩和一个女孩，就像我们——住在另一个跟这儿很不相同的地方——做着各种各样的事情。可能只是一个梦。”

“我想，我也做过同样的梦。”迪格雷说，“一个男孩和一个女孩，住在隔壁——好像在椽子之间爬行。我记得那女孩的脸很脏。”

“弄反了吧？在我的梦里，男孩的脸才是脏的。”

“我记不得男孩的脸了，”迪格雷说，接着补充道，“嗨！那是什么？”

“哇！一只豚鼠。”女孩说。一只胖胖的豚鼠，正在草地里东嗅西闻。但豚鼠的腰间缠着一根纱带，身上绑着一枚闪光的黄戒指。

“看！看！”迪格雷大叫，“戒指！快看！你的手指上套了一枚，我也有。”

那女孩终于有了兴趣，坐了起来。他们互相凝视着，试图回忆往事。几乎就在同时，她喊道“凯特利先生”，他喊道“安德鲁舅舅”，两人都明白了自己是谁，并开始回想事情的全部经过。艰难地谈了一阵后，他们完全清醒了。迪格雷述说了安德鲁舅舅如何像畜生一样冷酷无情。

“我们现在怎么办？”波莉说，“带上豚鼠一块儿回去吗？”

“不着急。”迪格雷长长地打了一个呵欠。

“我觉得应该着急，”波莉说，“这地方太静，像——像梦境一样，你总觉得昏昏欲睡。一旦我们支撑不住，就会躺下来，永远永远地睡过去。”

“这地方很不错。”迪格雷说。

“是的，”波莉说，“但我们还是得回去。”她站起来，开始小心翼翼地向豚鼠走去，可是，她又改变了主意。

“留下这只豚鼠吧，”她说，“这里很快活，如果我们带它回去，你的安德鲁舅舅只会害它。”

“我相信他会的，”迪格雷回答，“看看他是怎样对待我们的！唉呀，我们怎么回去呢？”

“我想，回到水潭里就行了。”

他们走过去，并肩站在水潭边，看着平静的水面。倒映在水中的茂密的绿树使潭水显得非常深邃。

“我们没有游泳衣。”波莉说。

“不需要，傻瓜，”迪格雷说，“我们穿着衣服进去。你难道忘了我们上来时衣服都没湿吗？”

“你会游泳吗？”

“会一点儿，你呢？”

“游得不太好。”

“我认为我们不需要游泳，”迪格雷说，“我们需要往下沉，不是吗？”

他们谁也不太想跳进水潭，但谁都没有说出口。他们手拉手，喊道“一、二、三，跳”便跳了进去。水花飞溅，他们自然闭上了双眼，但当他们睁开眼时，他们仍然手拉手地站在那片绿树林里，水只淹没到他们的踝部。显然，水潭只有几寸深。他们又蹚着水回到陆地上。

“到底出什么错了？”波莉害怕地说，但也没有你想像的那么害怕，因为，在那片林子里，谁也不可能真正感到害怕，那儿太安详、太宁静了。

“哦，我懂了！”迪格雷说，“当然不会成功了。我们还戴着黄戒指呢。它们是只管往外走的，你知道，绿色的才管回去。我们必须换戒指。你有口袋吗？好，把黄戒指放在左边口袋里。我有两枚绿戒指，给你一个。”

他们戴上了绿戒指，又回到潭边。还没有再跳，迪格雷就“噢——噢——啊！”地喊了起来。

“怎么了？”波莉说。

“我有一个绝妙的主意，”迪格雷说，“其他那些水潭是怎么回事？”

“什么意思？”

“如果我们跳进这个水潭就可以回去，那么，跳进别的水潭不就可以到另外的地方去了吗？想想，每个水潭底下都可能有一个世界！”

“但我认为我们已经到了你的安德鲁舅舅所说的‘另外的世界’或者‘另外的地方’，或其他什么名称。你是说……”

“唉，讨厌的安德鲁舅舅，”迪格雷打断她，“我不相信他什么都知道。他绝对不敢到这儿来。他只说了一个‘另外的世界’，也许还有好多呢！”

“你是说，这片树林可能只是其中之一？”

“不，我认为这片树林并不是一个世界。我想，它只是一个过渡的中间地带。”

波莉迷惑不解。“你难道不明白？”迪格雷说，“那么听我讲。想想家里那些石板下的隧道吧。它不是任何房子的一个房间，也就是说，它不是真正属于哪幢房子的某个部分。但只要你进去了，就可以沿着隧道，走进那一排房子中的任何一幢。这片林子不也一样吗？——一个不属于任何世界的地方，但只要找对了，你就可以到达所有的世界。”

“那，即使你能……”波莉刚开了头，迪格雷就像没听见似的继续往下说：

“当然，这样一切就都可以解释清楚。”他说，“为什么这里安静得让人昏昏欲睡，原因就在于此。这里从来没有发生过什么事。就像在家里，人们在房子里谈话、做事、吃饭，但在中间地带、墙后面、天花板上、地板底下，或者在我们的隧道里，什么事也没有。但如果你走出隧道，就会发现自己到了一幢房子里。我想，我们可以从这里出去，随便到哪里去！我们不需要跳回我们来的那个水潭。至少现在不。”

“各个世界之间的树林，”波莉像说梦话似的喃喃自语，“太美妙了。”

“来，”迪格雷说，“我们该跳哪个水潭？”

“喂，”波莉说，“要搞清楚我们是不是可以从原来的水潭回去，否则我不会再去跳别的水潭。我们还不敢肯定是不是能够回去呢。”

“好吧，”迪格雷说，“玩也没玩就让安德鲁舅舅逮住，再把戒指拿走，多没劲儿。”

“我们可不可以跳回原来的水潭，但只走一半，”波莉说，“看看绿戒指能否带我们回去。如果可以，我们在到达凯特利先生的书房以前就换戒指，再回这里。”

“这样行吗？”

“嗯，来时只花了一会儿时间，我想回去也是很快的。”

迪格雷对此很有意见，但他只好同意了，因为不弄清是否可以回去，波莉便拒绝到任何新世界里去探险。在危险面前（比如，面对坏人），波莉和他一样勇敢，但她对探索闻所未闻的新事物并不很感兴趣。由于迪格雷是那种想了解一切的人，长大以后，他成了这个系列故事另外几本书里有名的柯克教授。

经过一番争执，他们都同意戴上绿戒指（“绿色是安全色，”迪格雷说，“这样，你怎么都能记住哪枚戒指派什么用场。”），手拉手地跳下去。但是，在快到安德鲁舅舅的书房、即将回到自己的世界时，波莉将喊一声“换”，他们就脱掉绿戒指，戴上黄的。迪格雷想要喊这一声“换”，但波莉不同意。

他们戴上绿戒指，拉起手，再一次喊“一、二、三，跳”。这次成功了。很难告诉你到底是什么感觉，因为一切都变幻得太快。起初，夜空中游移着明亮的灯光：迪格雷总认为是星星，甚至发誓，他在离得很近的地方看见了木星，连它的卫星也看得一清二楚。接着，周围很快出现了一排一排的屋顶和烟囱的管帽，他们看见圣保罗大教堂，知道已经到了伦敦，而且，能够穿透墙壁，看见房子里面。他们看见安德鲁舅舅模模糊糊的身影，正在越变越清晰、越变越固定，似乎将逐渐聚为视线的中心。就在安德鲁舅舅的身影即将变得完全清晰的时候，波莉喊了一声“换”；他们一换戒指，我们这个世界便像梦一样淡去了，他们头上的绿光越来越强，最后，他们又钻出水潭，趴在岸边。那片树林仍一如既往地青翠、明亮和安静。事情的全部过程发生在不到一分钟的时间里。

“看，”迪格雷说，“很顺利，现在该探险了。随便挑个水潭。来，我们选那个。”

“站住！”波莉说，“我们不在这个水潭边上做标记吗？”

他们面面相觑。当意识到迪格雷刚才差点儿就要做的事有多么严重的后果时，两人脸都吓白了。因为林子里有很多水潭，外表十分相似，树木也没有区别，一旦他们离开了通向我们这个世界的水潭而没有留下任何标记，能重新找到的可能性只有百分之一。

迪格雷颤着手打开了铅笔刀，在水潭边割下一块长长的草皮。泥土（有清香味）呈深暗的红褐色，在绿色的草中十分显眼。“幸亏我们中间有一个人想到了。”波莉说。

“行了，别老吹牛，”迪格雷说，“来吧，我想看看别的水潭里有什么。”波莉回答得尖刻，迪格雷又回敬了几句难听的话。争吵持续了好几分钟，但如果写下来就很枯燥。让我们跳过这一段吧。接着，他们戴上黄戒指，手拉手紧张地站在水潭边上，心怦怦地跳着，再次喊道：“一、二、三，跳！”

水花飞溅！又失败了。这个水潭好像只是一个小水坑。他们没能到达新的世界；那天早晨，已是第二次湿了脚，腿上也溅了水（假设是早晨吧：各个世界之间的树林里似乎没有时间的变化）。

“真烦人！”迪格雷大声说，“哪儿出毛病了？我们戴了黄戒指。他说过，黄的管到外面去。”

其实，安德鲁舅舅对世界之间的树林毫不知晓，对戒指的认识也是错的。黄戒指不是“离去”的戒指，绿戒指也不是“回返”的戒指，至少，不是他理解的那种意思。两种戒指都是用取自这片树林的材料制成的。黄戒指的材料有一种“向心力”，能将你带往树林，是材料本身回归本土，回归那片中间地带。但绿戒指的材料有种“离心力”，想脱离本土，故能带你离开树林。你看，安德鲁舅舅连自己干的事情都没有真正弄懂，大多数魔法师都是这样。当然，迪格雷也没有完全认识到真相，或者，到后来才明白。经过商议，他们决定戴上绿戒指，再跳进去试试，看看结果如何。

“你愿意我也愿意。”波莉说。她之所以这样说，是因为她打心眼里相信，无论哪种戒指都不会在新的水潭里起作用，最多再溅起一阵水花，没什么可怕的。不管怎样，他们戴上绿戒指，又手拉手地站到水边。这一次，他们显得兴高采烈，全不像第一次那么严肃。

“一、二、三，跳！”迪格雷说完，他们就跳了下去。

4

钟与锤

这下，魔法毫无疑问地起作用了。他们栽了下去，先是一片黑暗，然后是一团说不清是什么的模糊和旋转的形象。眼前越来越亮，突然，他们感到自己站在坚实的东西上。一会儿，他们便能看见周围的事物，可以向四下里观望了。

“多么奇怪的地方！”迪格雷说。

“我不喜欢。”波莉颤抖了一下。

他们最先注意到的是光线，既不像日光，也不像电灯、煤油灯、蜡烛或他们见过的任何一种光。那是一种近似红色的惨淡的光，丝毫不让人感到愉快。光线凝固着，没有闪动。他们正站在一个平地上，四面八方都耸立着建筑物。上面没有屋顶，显然是一个院落。天空极为暗淡——一种近乎黑色的蓝。你看到这样的天空，准会想，这里是不是有任何光线。

“这儿的天气真怪，”迪格雷说，“我想我们是不是赶上了一场暴风雨或者日食。”

“我不喜欢。”波莉说。

不知为什么，他们两人都悄声说话。虽然跳水以后没有理由再拉着手，他们还是没有松开。

院子四周的围墙非常高，上面有许多大窗子，窗子上没有玻璃，里面一团漆黑。稍往下，有一些巨大的拱门，像铁路隧道一样张着黑洞洞的大口。天气相当寒冷。

所有的建筑都是用一种像是红色的石头筑成的，但这可能是那种奇怪的光照射的结果。院中用来铺地的许多石板都裂了缝。石板与石板之间排列得参差不齐，棱角也磨掉了，其中一个拱门让碎石填了一半。两个孩子不停地转身，观察院子四周，因为他们害怕有人或什么东西，趁他们背过身时从窗户里窥视他们。

“你认为这儿有人住吗？”迪格雷终于开口了，但仍然悄悄的。

“没有。”波莉说，“这是一个废墟。自从我们来了以后，还没有听到一点儿声音呢。”

“那我们站好来听一会儿。”迪格雷建议。

他们站好细听，但只听到自己心脏的怦怦跳动声。这里至少和世界之间的树林一样宁静；然而，却是另一种宁静。那片树林宁静、青翠、温暖，充满生机，你几乎可以听见树木在生长。这里却是一种冷而空的死寂，你无法想像，这里会有生命在生长。

“我们回家吧。”波莉说。

“可我们什么也没看见呢，”迪格雷说，“既然来了，就要到处走走。”

“我敢肯定，这儿不好玩。”

“要是你来了都不敢看，那么，找一枚有魔法的戒指把你带到‘另外的世界’有什么意义呢？”

“谁说不敢了？”波莉说着，甩开了迪格雷的手。

“我刚才只是想，你对探索这个地方不太热心。”

“随便你去哪儿，我都去。”

“我们想离开的时候就能离开。”迪格雷说，“取下绿戒指，放进右边的口袋里。只需要记住，左边是黄的，右边是绿的。你可以把手放在离口袋比较近的地方，但不要伸进去，否则，你一碰到黄戒指就会消失。”

安排好后，他们悄悄地朝通向建筑内部的一个巨大拱门走去。当他们站在门槛上朝里看时，发现里面并非他们原先所想的那么黑，能看见一个幽暗的空荡荡的大厅；大厅的远端有一排拱门柱，空隙里露出更多那种疲惫的光线。他们小心翼翼地穿过大厅，怕地上有洞或其他东西将他们绊倒。当他们走过去，穿过柱子之间的拱门时，发现自己又到了另一个更大的院子里。

“好像不太安全。”波莉说，她指着一面似乎随时都可能倒向院中的凸出的墙。有一处地方缺了一根柱子，柱顶原来所在的部位只留下一点儿残迹，毫无支撑地悬在空中。那地方显然已荒芜了几百年甚至上千年了。

“既然能保留到今天，我想一定还会保留得更长。”迪格雷说，“但我们必须保持安静。你知道，声音有时会使东西塌下来——就像阿尔卑斯山的雪崩一样。”

他们继续朝前走，出了院子，又进了另一个门。登上一大段台阶，穿过一个接一个的大房间，直到被那地方的规模之大弄得头晕目眩。他们不时地想，可能就要走到户外，可以看看这个巨大的宫殿之外是什么样的田野了，但是每次都只是走进了另一个院子。这地方有人居住时一定是一派宏伟壮丽的景象。其中的一个院子里曾经有一眼喷泉。一个巨大的石兽张着翅，咧着嘴，巍然屹立；在它的口中，还能看见曾用来喷水的管道的残迹。它的下面有一个接水的石盆，但已经干涸得像白骨一般了。在其他地方，有一种攀援植物的枯藤，这些藤曾经缠绕在柱子上并促使一些柱子坍塌。但这种植物很久以前就死了。没有蚂蚁、蜘蛛，也没有其他废墟中常见的小生物。破碎的石板间露出干燥的泥土，没有草，也没有青苔。

四周的景物千篇一律，显得十分阴森可怖。迪格雷正想着，他们不如戴上黄戒指，回到中间地带那片温暖而充满生机的绿树林中去；这时，他们来到两扇巨大的门前，门是用一种像金子的金属做的，其中一扇半开着。他们很自然地朝里一望，两人都深吸一口气，退了回来，终于找到值得看的地方了。

刚开始的那会儿，他们以为屋子里尽是人——好几百人，全都一动不动地坐着。你可以猜到，波莉和迪格雷也一动不动地站了很久。但他们很快意识到，他们看见的可能不是真人。没有动静，也听不见呼吸。可能是蜡像，他们见过的最好的蜡像。

这一次，波莉一马当先，屋子里有些东西对她的吸引超过了对迪格雷的吸引。所有的那些塑像全都衣着华丽。如果你对服装感兴趣，会忍不住走近去看。经过了那么多空荡荡、灰扑扑的房间后，这间屋里服饰的光泽，虽说不上十分赏心悦目，但无论如何，都将屋子映衬得多姿多彩。而且，这里有更多的窗户，要明亮得多。

我很难描绘他们的服装。那些塑像全部长袍加身，头戴王冠。绯红、银灰、深紫和鲜绿色的长袍上绣着图案、花卉和怪兽。大得惊人、亮得耀眼的珍稀宝石从他们的王冠和项链上迸射出夺目的光彩，全身每一处有装饰的地方都闪耀着珠光宝气。

“为什么这些衣服这么久没有腐烂？”波莉问。

“魔法。”迪格雷悄声说，“你感觉不到吗？我敢打赌，整个这间房子都中了魔法。一进来我就感觉到了。”

“那些衣服随便哪件都值几百英镑吧？”波莉说。

但迪格雷更感兴趣的，是那一张张很有看头的面孔。那些人坐在屋子四周的石椅上，地板中间空出一片，可以走过去，依次观看那些脸。

“我觉得这些人很好看。”迪格雷说。

波莉点点头。他们看见的所有面孔都很可爱。男男女女都显得聪明而善良，而且，似乎是一个漂亮、英俊的种族的后代。但当孩子们朝屋子中间走了几步后，他们看见的面孔便有些异样。这些面孔十分严肃，使你觉得，如果你遇到有这种面孔的活生生的人，便不得不注意自己的言行举止。又走了几步，眼前的面孔看去非常强悍、自豪、得意，却十分冷酷，是他们不喜欢的那一种。越往前走，面孔越显得冷酷。再往前，那些面孔依然冷酷，但得意的痕迹消失了，甚至显得沮丧绝望：好像有那种面孔的人做过可怕的事，有过可怕的经历似的。最后一尊塑像也是最有趣的——一个衣着更加富丽的高女人（屋子里每一尊塑像都比我们这个世界的人高），脸上露出的残忍和骄傲表情使人窒息。多年以后，迪格雷老了，还说这是他一生中见过的最美丽的女人。不过我们得公平地补充说，波莉总是认为，她从那个女人身上看不出特别美丽的地方。

我说的这个女人是最后一个，在她的身后，放着无数把空椅子，似乎这间屋子原来准备容纳更多的塑像。

“我多希望我们知道这里面的故事。”迪格雷说，“我们回头看看中间那个像桌子一样的东西吧。”

屋子的中间不是一张真正的桌子，而是一个四尺高的方形柱，上面隆起一个金色的小拱门，门上悬挂着一只金色的小钟，钟的旁边放着一把用来敲钟的金色小锤。

“我想……我想……我想……”迪格雷说。

“这儿好像写着什么。”波莉弯下腰，看着柱子的侧面。

“天哪，就在这儿，”迪格雷说，“可是，我们读不懂的。”

“读不懂？我看不一定。”波莉说。

两人认真地看着，你可能猜得到，刻在石头上的是一种奇怪的字母。但就在这时，一个不可思议的奇迹发生了：他们看的时候，字母的形状并未改变，他们却发现自己能够读懂了。要是迪格雷记得几分钟前他说过，这间屋子里有魔法，他就早该想到魔法开始起作用了，但他的心中除了好奇以外，什么也想不到。他越来越急于知道柱子上写了什么。很快，两人都读懂了。上面是这样写的，至少大意如此，虽然原诗读起来更好：

选择吧，喜欢冒险的陌生人，

敲响钟，等候危险的来临，

或者，呆呆地想，这会有什么后果，

直到你想得发疯。

“当然不！”波莉说，“我们不想要任何危险。”

“你难道不明白这是没用的吗？”迪格雷说，“我们现在摆脱不了啦。我们将一直想下去，敲了钟会发生什么事。我不愿意被这种想法纠缠得疯疯癫癫地回家。不愿意！”

“别那么傻，”波莉说，“好像谁愿意疯疯癫癫地想下去似的。发不发生什么事又有什么关系呢？”

“我认为，到这里来的任何一个人都必然会不停地想，直到变得半痴半傻。你看，这就是魔法，我感到它已经对我起作用了。”

“我感觉不出。”波莉愤愤地说，“我不相信你真有感觉，不过是装腔作势罢了。”

“你就知道这些，”迪格雷说，“因为你是个女孩。女孩什么都不想知道，老是唠唠叨叨，说某某人和某某人订婚了，等等。”

“你说这话的时候就跟你舅舅一模一样。”波莉说。

“为什么你就不能谈正题？”迪格雷说，“我们现在谈的是……”

“多像一个男子汉啊！”波莉用大人的口气说道；接着，又用自己的语调匆匆补了一句，“不要说我就像个女人，那样你就是一只讨厌的学舌鹦鹉。”

“我做梦也没想过把你这样的孩子叫做女人。”迪格雷傲慢地说。

“噢，我是个孩子，是吗？”波莉这下真火了，“好，你再也不需要带上个孩子来打扰你。我走了。我看够了这个地方，也看够了你——你这个讨厌的、顽固的、自以为是的蠢猪！”

迪格雷看见波莉的手伸向口袋，要去抓那枚黄戒指，便用一种连自己都意想不到的难听声音喊道：“住手！”我不能为迪格雷下面的行为开脱，最多只能说，他后来感到抱歉（许多人都会这样）。在波莉的手摸到口袋以前，他扼住了她的手腕，俯过身去，用背抵住她的胸膛，然后用另一只手的肘部挡开她另一条手臂。他斜着身，拾起小锤，轻快地在钟上敲了一下。然后，他放开她，两人都跌倒在地，喘着气，狠狠地盯着对方。波莉开始哭了，不是因为害怕，也不是因为他重重地扭伤了她的手腕，而是因为极大的愤怒。但很快，他们就把争吵抛到了九霄云外，有别的事情需要动脑筋了。

钟刚刚敲响的时候，就发出一种音调，不太响亮，但你可以想像，声音很甜美。这种音调非但没有减弱，反而继续鸣响，而且越来越响，在不到一分钟的时间里，音调就比刚开始时响亮一倍。声音迅速增长到如果孩子们想说话（但他们当时并未想到说话——他们只是张口结舌地站着），互相之间也无法听见的程度。顷刻间，声音响得即使他们大声喊叫也听不见了。连绵不断的甜美的声音一直在不停地增大，虽然甜美之中透出一丝恐怖的气氛。渐渐地，整个房间的空气也随着那种声音颤动起来，直到两人觉得脚下的石头地板在颤抖。最后，另一种模糊的、灾难性的声音掺合了进来，起初像远方火车的吼叫，接着，又像树木倒下的声音。他们听见似乎有什么重东西在往下倒。突然，一阵晃动几乎将他们抛了出去。随着轰隆隆的冲击声，房间一头大约四分之一的屋顶塌了下来，大块大块的砖石落在他们周围，墙壁开始摇晃。钟声停止后，灰尘消散，一切又归于宁静。

不知道是魔法使屋顶塌了下来，还是响亮的钟声恰好使墙壁无法忍受而崩塌。

“这下好了！我想你现在满意了。”波莉喘着气说。

“这么说，一切都结束了。”迪格雷说。

两人都这样想；然而，他们犯了一生中最大的错误。

5

灭绝咒

虽然钟声停止了，但钟仍然颤抖着；两个孩子隔着挂钟的柱子面面相觑。忽然，从还没有毁坏的屋子一角传来一阵轻柔的声音。他们立即转身看去。所有穿长袍的塑像中最远的那个，即迪格雷认为非常美丽的女人，正从椅子上站起来。当她站起来后，他们意识到，她比他们原来想像的还要高。而且，从她的王冠、长袍、眼神和嘴唇的线条上，你马上便能看出，她是一位了不起的女王。她环视屋子当中毁坏的场面，也看见了孩子们，但你无法从她脸上的表情判断她是否感到惊讶。她大步流星地走了过来。

“是谁唤醒了我？是谁破了魔咒？”她问。

“我想，肯定是我。”迪格雷说。

“你？”女王说着，把手搭在迪格雷肩上——那是一只白皙而漂亮的手，但迪格雷却感到铁钳般的沉重。“你？你只是个孩子，一个普通孩子。任何人只要看一眼，就知道你的血管里连一滴皇家或贵族的血也没有。像你这样的人怎么敢走进这间屋子？”

“我们是靠魔法从另一个世界来的。”波莉说，她认为应该抓住时机，让那女王像注意迪格雷一样地注意她。

“真的吗？”女王说，眼睛仍然看着迪格雷，瞟都不瞟波莉一眼。

“是的。”他说。

女王一只手托起迪格雷的下巴，仔细端详他的脸。迪格雷想用目光反抗她，但很快就不得不俯下眼皮，她眼中的某种东西制服了他。她将迪格雷认真地研究了一分多钟，然后，松开他的下巴，说：

“你不是魔法师，你脸上没有标记。你一定只是魔法师的仆人。你是靠别人的魔法到这儿来的。”

“是我的安德鲁舅舅。”迪格雷说。

这时，不是从屋子里面，而是从身旁极近的地方，传来轰隆隆继而是劈里啪啦的响声，过后是砖石坍塌的咣啷声，地板晃动起来。

“灾祸来了，”女王说，“整个宫殿就要塌掉。如果我们不在几分钟内出去，就会被埋在废墟里。”她说得平平静静，好像只是在谈论一天的时辰。“来。”她说着，向两个孩子各伸出一只手。波莉讨厌这个女王并且仍在生气，如果可能的话，她决不会让她抓住自己的手。女王虽然说话时显得不慌不忙，但行动却像思维一样敏捷。波莉还未反应过来，她的左手就被一只长得多、有力得多的大手抓住了，她根本无法挣脱。

“这是一个可怕的女人，”波莉想，“她太有劲了，稍稍一拧就会把我的手臂弄断。现在，她拉住我的左手，我摸不到黄戒指了。要是我把右手伸到左边口袋里，就可以在她问我干什么之前摸到戒指。无论如何，不能让她知道戒指的事。我真希望迪格雷能守口如瓶，也希望能亲口叮嘱他一句。”

女王带领他们出了塑像厅，来到一条长长的走廊，又接二连三地穿过许多大厅、台阶和院子。他们不断地听见那座大宫殿里传来坍塌的声音。有一次，他们刚刚走过，一个巨大的拱门就轰隆隆地塌了下来。女王健步疾走——孩子们不得不小跑着才能跟上——而她也并未露出害怕的神色。迪格雷想，“她真是勇敢得出奇，又强壮，这才是我心目中的女王！要是能让她讲讲这儿的故事该多好！”

她边走边告诉他们“那道门里是地牢”，“那条路通向中心行刑室”，或者“这是以前的宴会厅，我的曾祖父在这里宴请过七百贵族，在他们吃饱喝足之前就将他们全部杀了。他们想造反”。

最后，他们走进一间比先前见到的所有房间都更大更高的厅堂，从它的规模和尽头那些大型的门洞来看，迪格雷认为他们到了主要的入口处。这次，他猜对了。门呈乌黑色，要么是用乌木，要么是用一种我们这个世界找不到的黑色金属做的。门上牢牢地拴着许多大门闩，大多数都高不可及，重不可举。他感到纳闷的是他们如何出去。

女王放开他，举起手臂，尽量往上挺直，然后，她说了几句他们听不懂的话（但听起来很恐怖），朝门做了一个扔东西的动作。那些高而重的门像丝织品一样震颤了一秒钟便塌了下来，彻彻底底地毁坏了，门槛上只剩下一堆灰。

“嘘！”迪格雷轻轻地吹了一声口哨。

“你的魔法师主人，你的舅舅，有我这种力量吗？”女王又紧紧地抓住了迪格雷的手。“不过我以后会知道的。记住你们今天看见的事。对物如此，对挡住我去路的人也是如此。”

光从敞开的门洞里射了进来。在这个国家里，他们还从未见过比这更充足的光线。女王带着他们穿过门口，当他们发现自己置身户外时并没有感到惊奇。他们站在一个高高的台地上，俯瞰着脚下宽广的景致。

往下看，只见一轮比我们的太阳大得多的红太阳在地平线附近，迪格雷立刻就觉得那轮太阳比我们的太阳老：这暮年的太阳已经厌倦于俯视下面的世界。太阳的左上方，有一颗大而亮的星星。黑暗的天空中，残阳和孤星组成了一幅阴郁的画面。地上，有一个不管从哪个方向极目远眺都望不到边际的巨大的城市。城市里不见活动着的人和物。所有的庙宇、楼塔、宫殿、金字塔和桥在衰弱的阳光下投下长长的悲哀的影子。城里曾经有一条河，但河床早已干涸，只剩下一条宽宽的灰色土沟。

“好好看，以后再也看不到了。”女王说，“这就是恰恩，伟大的城市，王中王之都，是这个世界，也许是所有世界的奇迹。孩子，你的舅舅是否统治着跟恰恩一样伟大的城市？”

“没有。”迪格雷说。他想解释安德鲁舅舅并没有统治任何城市。但女王接着说：

“现在很安静。但是当空中充斥着恰恩的各种声音那会儿，我曾站在这里。脚步声、车轮声、鞭子的抽打声和奴隶的呻吟，还有马车的轰响以及寺庙里献祭的鼓声。当战斗开始，每条街道上杀声四起，恰恩河水被鲜血染红的时候，我也曾站在这儿（但那时一切都快完了）。”停了一下，她又说，“一个女人顷刻间便将这一切永远地抹去了。”

“谁？”迪格雷低声问道，但他已经猜到了答案。

“我，”女王说，“我，简蒂丝，最后的女王，但也就是世界女王。”

两个孩子静静地站着，在寒风中瑟瑟发抖。

“是我姐姐的错，”女王说，“她逼我干的。让所有的神都永远地诅咒她吧！那时，我随时都准备讲和——是的，只要她让位给我，我就饶她不死。但她不干，她的傲慢毁了整个世界。甚至在战争开始以后，双方都郑重地保证不使用魔法，但她不守信用，我怎么办呢？傻瓜！好像她不知道我的魔法比她的大似的。她还知道我掌握了灭绝咒的秘密。她以为——她始终是个弱者——她以为我不会使用这个秘咒吗？”

“这秘咒是什么呢？”迪格雷问。

“那是秘密中的秘密，”简蒂丝女王说，“很久以来，我们这个民族的高贵的国王们就知道这个只有一个字的秘咒，只要在恰当的仪式中说出这个字，除了说话人自己外，所有的活物都会灭绝。但是，古代的国王们心肠太软，自己约束自己，而且，还约束他们的后人，让他们宣誓永远不探究那个字的秘密。然而，我在一个秘密的地方付出沉重的代价才学到手。她逼得我走投无路我才用了。为了征服她，我想尽其他一切办法与她作战。我的将士血流成河……”

“畜生！”波莉低声咕哝了一句。

“最后一次大战，”女王说，“在恰恩城里打了三天。那三天，我就在这儿观战。我一直没有使用魔法，直到我的最后一批战士倒下。那可恶的女人，也就是我的姐姐，带领她的叛军，已经走到了从城市通向这个台地的大台阶的一半。我等候着，当我们互相能看清对方的脸时，她用那双可怕的邪恶的眼睛盯着我，说：‘胜利了。’‘是的，’我说，‘胜利了，但不是你的胜利。’接着，我说出了灭绝咒。顷刻间，我就是太阳下惟一的活物了。”

“可是，那些人呢？”迪格雷气喘吁吁地问。

“什么人，孩子？”女王问。

“所有的普通人，”波莉说，“他们又没有伤害你。妇女，孩子，还有动物。”

“你还不明白吗？”女王仍然对着迪格雷说，“我是女王，他们都是我的臣民，除了服从我的意志外还能干什么呢？”

“不管怎么说，他们都是很倒霉的。”迪格雷说。

“我刚才忘了，你不过是个普通的男孩，你怎么会明白执政者的理由呢？你必须懂得，孩子，对你或者对其他凡人来说错误的事，对我这样的女王来说是不成其为错的。天下的重担压在我们肩上。我们必须从所有律法的约束中解脱出来。我们命定是高贵而孤独的。”

迪格雷突然想起，安德鲁舅舅也说过完全相同的话，但这些话由简蒂丝女王说出来，就显得庄严、自负得多，可能是因为安德鲁舅舅没有七尺高，也没有美得惊人的外貌吧。

“然后呢？”迪格雷说。

“我预先对存放我祖先塑像的大厅施了强有力的魔咒。这魔咒使我自己也变得像一尊塑像沉睡在他们中间，一千年不吃饭，不烤火，直到有人进来，敲钟唤醒我。”

“太阳这种模样是灭绝咒造成的吗？”迪格雷问。

“什么模样？”简蒂丝问。

“又大，又红，又冷。”

“一直是这样的，”简蒂丝说，“至少，已经上千年了。你们的太阳不一样吗？”

“是的，要小一些，黄一些，发出的热量要多得多。”

“啊——！”女王长长地叹息一声。迪格雷从她脸上看到了他最近从安德鲁舅舅的脸上看到过的那种饥饿和贪婪的表情。“那么，”她说，“你们的世界要年轻一些。”

她停了停，再次望了一眼荒凉的城市——要是说她为自己的罪恶感到内疚，那么，她当然没有表露出来——然后说：

“好了，我们走吧。这儿是世纪的末日，太冷了。”

“去哪儿？”两个孩子一起问。

“哪儿？”简蒂丝惊异地重复道，“当然是去你们的世界。”

波莉和迪格雷迷惑不解地对望了一眼。波莉一开始就讨厌女王，而迪格雷呢，在听了那段故事以后，也觉得对她的了解已经够了。显然，没有谁愿意带她那种人回家。即使愿意，也不知道怎么才能带她回家。他们只想着自己逃走；但波莉摸不到戒指，迪格雷自然也不能丢下她单独离去。他满脸通红，结结巴巴地说：

“噢——噢——我们的世界，我——我不知道你想去那儿。”

“你们不是来接我的，又是来干什么的呢？”简蒂丝问。

“我敢说，你一点儿也不会喜欢我们的世界。”迪格雷说，“那地方不适合她，你说对吗，波莉？那儿没意思，不值得看，真的。”

“我去统治的时候就值得看了。”女王回答。

“啊，但你不能，”迪格雷说，“不是那么回事。他们不会允许的，你知道。”

女王傲慢地一笑。“很多高贵的国王，”她说，“都以为能和恰恩王朝作对，但他们全都失败了，连名字也被人遗忘了。愚蠢的孩子！你认为，以我的美貌和魔力不会在一年之内使整个你们的世界都拜倒在我的脚下吗？准备施展魔法，立即带我去那儿。”

“这实在太可怕了。”迪格雷对波莉说。

“也许你害怕你的舅舅，”简蒂丝说，“只要他适当地对我表示尊敬，他就会保住性命和王位，我不会跟他作对的。如果他知道怎么把你们送到这儿来，他一定是个非常了不起的魔法师。他是你们整个世界的王呢，还是只统治了一部分？”

“他哪儿的王都不是。”迪格雷说。

“你在说谎，”女王说，“只有皇家血统的人才会魔法，不是吗？谁听说过普通人也能当魔法师？不管你说不说，我都知道，事情的真相是：你的舅舅是你们那个世界一个伟大的国王，了不起的魔法师。他已经在某个魔镜或魔池里，靠他的魔法看到了我的头影。他爱上了我的美貌，施加了一种能让你们的世界彻底动摇的强大魔咒，让你们穿过各个世界之间的鸿沟，到这里来请我去帮忙，并将我带回他的身边。回答我：难道不是这么回事吗？”

“嗯，不完全是。”迪格雷说。

“根本不是，”波莉叫起来，“从头到尾就是胡说八道。”

“奴才！”女王喊道，她怒火冲天地揪住波莉的头发，刚好抓在最容易扯痛的头顶。但这样一来，她松开了孩子们的手。“好，”迪格雷大叫；波莉也喊了一声，“快！”他们把左手伸进口袋，根本不用戴上戒指，在触到戒指的一刹那间，那个可怕的世界就从他们眼前完完全全地消失了。他们向上冲去，头上，一缕温暖的绿光越来越近。

6

安德鲁舅舅的麻烦开始了

“放开！放开！”波莉尖声喊着。

“我没碰你。”迪格雷说。

脑袋一出水潭，他们便再次来到各个世界之间的树林，置身于阳光明媚的宁静之中。刚刚离开那个陈腐、荒芜的地方，这片树林似乎比以前更显得青翠、温暖和安详。我想，如果可能的话，他们又会忘记自己是谁，从哪儿来，然后躺下，聆听树木的生长，朦朦胧胧地享受快乐。然而，这次，他们不得不努力保持着清醒：因为一到草地上，他们就发现，不光是他们两人，那个女王，或女巫（不管你叫她什么），也跟着来了，仍然紧紧地抓住波莉的头发。怪不得刚才波莉大喊“放开！”

顺便说说，这也证明了戒指的另一种作用，安德鲁舅舅没有告诉迪格雷，他自己也不知道。要想靠那些戒指从一个世界到另一个世界，不需要戴上或亲手触摸戒指，只要触摸一个能触摸到戒指的人就行了。这很像磁铁。人人都知道，如果用一块磁铁拾一根别针，碰到这根别针的其他别针也会被吸起来。

现在，树林中的简蒂丝女王完全变了。脸色比以前苍白得多，她的美貌几乎一点儿也不存在了。她好像呼吸困难似的弯下腰去，那里的空气仿佛使她感到窒息。两个孩子一点儿也不怕她了。

“放开！放开我的头发。”波莉说，“你想干什么？”

“听着！放开她的头发，马上放开！”迪格雷说。

两人转过身，与她厮打起来。他们比她强壮，很快就迫使她松开了手。她喘着气，摇晃着向后退去，眼睛里露出恐惧的神色。

“快，迪格雷！”波莉说，“换戒指，跳进回家的水潭！”

“救命！救命！天呀！”女巫有气无力地喊着，蹒跚地跟在后面，“把我带上。你们不要把我留在这个可怕的地方，我会死的。”

“这是执政者的理由，”波莉恨恨地说，“就像你杀掉你的世界里那么多人一样。快点，迪格雷。”他们已经戴上了绿戒指，但迪格雷说：

“真烦人！我们要干什么？”他不由得对女王产生了一丝怜悯。

“别当傻瓜，”波莉说，“她八成是装的。快点儿。”然后，两个孩子都跳进了回家的水潭。“幸好我们做了标记。”波莉想。但是，当他们往下跳时，迪格雷感到两只冰冷的大手指抓住了他的耳朵。他们沉下去了，我们这个世界开始模模糊糊、隐隐约约地显现出来。抓住他耳朵的手指也越来越有力。毫无疑问，女巫的力量正在恢复，迪格雷又打又踢，但毫无用处。一会儿，他们便到了安德鲁舅舅的书房。安德鲁舅舅目瞪口呆地看着迪格雷从另一世界带回的奇妙动物。

他这样呆望着是有理由的。迪格雷和波莉也目瞪口呆。毫无疑问，女巫已经不再虚弱；眼下，她站在我们的世界里，和周围的普通事物一比，实在使人倒吸一口凉气。在恰恩，她曾经使人非常惊讶；在伦敦，她使人感到恐惧。首先，他们到现在也没弄清楚她到底有多么庞大。“简直不是人类。”迪格雷看着她这样想；他也许想得不错，因为有人说过，恰恩皇族有巨人血统。但她的高度，比起她的美貌、残忍和野性来要逊色一筹。她看上去比伦敦街上的大多数人都要多出十倍的精力。安德鲁舅舅躬腰、搓手，看着她；说实话，他害怕极了。在女巫身边，他就像是虾米一样的小动物。而且，正如波莉后来说的，他和女巫的表情有某种相似之处；那是一种所有邪恶的魔法师都有的表情，即简蒂丝说她在迪格雷脸上找不到的“标记”。看见这两个人站在一起有一种好处：你不会再怕安德鲁舅舅，犹如见过响尾蛇不再怕蚯蚓，见过发疯的公牛不再怕奶牛一样。

“呸！”迪格雷想，“他也算魔法师！不够格。她才是真的。”

安德鲁舅舅不断地搓手鞠躬。他想说几句客气话，但他口干得说不出来。他所谓的用戒指做的“实验”，结果比他盼望的还要成功：因为虽然他与魔法打了多年的交道，但他总是把危险留给他人。类似今天这样的事还从未发生过。

这时，简蒂丝开口了，声音不大，却使整个屋子战栗起来。

“把我召到这个世界来的魔法师是谁？”

“啊——啊——夫人，”安德鲁舅舅喘息着说，“我感到极大的荣幸——非常高兴——最最意想不到的快乐——要是我有机会作些准备就好了——我——我——”

“魔法师在哪儿？蠢货！”简蒂丝问。

“就——就是我，夫人。我希望你能谅解——嗯——这些调皮的孩子对你的失礼。我向你保证，不是故意的——”

“你！”女王的声音越加可怕。说着，她一步跨进屋子，一把抓住安德鲁舅舅的灰发，将他的头朝后一拧，使他的脸对着自己。然后，她像在恰恩王宫里研究迪格雷的脸一样仔细研究他的脸。他很紧张，不停地眨眼睛、舔嘴唇。最后，她松开手，他一下往后倒去，摇摇晃晃地撞在墙上。

“我知道了，”她轻蔑地说，“你是某一种类的魔法师。站起来，狗，别像跟你的同类说话一样缩在那儿。你怎么会魔法的？我敢发誓，你没有皇族血统。”

“这——嗯——严格地讲也许没有，”安德鲁舅舅结结巴巴地说，“不算地地道道的皇族。可是，夫人，凯特利家族是很古老的，是多塞特郡一个古老的家族。”

“肃静！”女巫说，“我知道你是谁。你是一个离不开规则和书本的自我吹嘘的小魔法师。你的血液和心脏里没有真正的魔力。像你这样的魔法师一千年前就在我们的世界绝种了。但现在，我将允许你做我的仆人。”

“为你服务我感到万分荣幸——高兴至极——真让人愉快。我说的是实话。”

“住嘴！你说得太多了。听清楚你的第一个任务。我看我们是在一个大城市里。马上设法给我弄一辆马车或飞毯或一条训练有素的龙，或者任何对你们这儿的皇家贵族有用的东西。然后，带我去能搞到符合我身份的服装、首饰和奴隶的地方。明天，我就要开始征服这个世界了。”

“我——我——我这就去叫一辆出租马车。”安德鲁舅舅大口大口地喘着气。他刚走到门口，女巫说，“站住，别想耍花招。我的眼睛可以穿透墙壁，看到人的内心。你走到哪儿都逃不出我的眼睛。只要你露出不服从我的苗头，我就会诅咒你，你坐的任何东西都会像烧红的铁，任何时候你躺上床，脚下就会有看不见的冰块。现在走吧。”

那老家伙像夹着尾巴的狗一样走了出去。

孩子们害怕简蒂丝会向他们问起树林中的事。然而，她当时没有说，后来也没提到这件事。我想（迪格雷也想），她的内心根本记不住那片宁静的地方，即便你经常带她去，或者把她长久地留在那里，她仍然什么都不知道。现在，她单独与孩子们在一起，但她对他们一点儿也不留意。在恰恩，她根本不注意波莉（直到最后），因为她只想利用迪格雷。既然她现在有了安德鲁舅舅，便不再注意迪格雷了。我认为大多数女巫都是这样。她们极端实用，只对可以利用的人和物感兴趣。所以，屋子里有一阵很安静。但是，从简蒂丝用脚拍打地板的方式上看得出，她越来越不耐烦了。

不一会儿，她仿佛自言自语地说道：“这老傻瓜在干什么？我该带根鞭子来。”她看也不看孩子们一眼，就冲出去追安德鲁舅舅去了。”

“嘘——”波莉长长地舒了口气，“我必须回家了。已经太晚了，我会受罚的。”

“那，尽早回来，”迪格雷说，“把她弄到这儿来简直糟糕透了。我们必须制定计划。”

“这是你舅舅的事，”波莉说，“这些麻烦是他的魔法造成的。”

“不管怎么说，你会回来的，是吗？真该死，你不能让我一个人去理这团乱麻。”

“我从隧道回家，”波莉冷冰冰地说，“这样最快。要是你想让我回来，是不是最好说声‘对不起’？”

“对不起？”迪格雷叫道，“那不跟女孩一样了吗？我做了什么？”

“当然，没什么。”波莉讥讽地说，“只不过在那间塑像厅里，像一个胆小的暴徒一样差点把我的手腕拧断。只不过像一个傻瓜似的用小锤去敲钟。只不过在树林里还没跳进水潭就转过身去，好让她有机会抓住你。就这些。”

“啊，”迪格雷很吃惊地说，“好了，我说对不起，而且对塑像厅里发生的事感到非常抱歉。现在，我已经说了对不起，你就应该回来，否则太不像话，你如果不回来，就是把我推进一个可怕的深渊里了。”

“我觉得你不用担心什么，凯特利先生才会坐在烫人的椅子上，他的床上才会有冰，不是吗？”

“不是那一类的事，”迪格雷说，“我担心妈妈。假如那怪物进了她的房间，会把她吓死的。”

“噢，我明白了。”波莉声音异常地说，“好吧，这次行动代号‘和平女神’。我会回来的——如果回得来的话。但我现在必须走了。”她钻出小门，进了隧道。椽子之间黑暗的地方几小时前还那么令人激动，那么富有冒险色彩，现在却似乎显得普通和平淡了。

我们有必要回头讲讲安德鲁舅舅。他从阁楼上跌跌绊绊地跑下去时，那颗可怜的老心脏怦怦地乱跳。他用手帕在额头上不断地揩着。当他进到楼下的卧室里，便把自己锁在里面。他做的第一件事就是从衣柜里摸出一个瓶子和一个酒杯，他总是把这些东西藏在柜子里，以免被蕾蒂姨妈发现。他给自己满斟了一杯味道刺鼻的大人喝的酒，一口气喝了下去，然后，长长地舒了一口气。

“哎呀，”他自言自语地说，“可把我吓坏了。真烦人！到这把年纪还遇到这种事！”

又倒了一杯喝下去后，他开始换衣服。你从未见过这样的衣服，但我还记得。他戴上一副硬邦邦的闪光的高领子，这种领子使你的下巴不得不长时间地昂着，又套上一件有图案的白背心，把金表链挂在前面。接着，他穿上婚丧仪式才用的最好的衣服，拿出最好的高筒礼帽拍打干净。他的梳妆桌上放着一瓶花（蕾蒂姨妈放的），他摘下一朵插在扣眼里，又从左边的小抽屉里掏出一块手帕（很漂亮，现在难以买到），往上面洒了几滴香水。他将系着黑色粗绸带的眼镜戴上，然后，对着镜子观赏起来。

你知道，孩子们有种傻气，大人有另一种傻气。这时，安德鲁舅舅开始犯大人的傻气了。女巫不在他的房里，他便很快忘了刚才受到的惊吓，开始对她的美貌想入非非。他不断地自言自语，“一个漂亮的贵妇人，先生，一个漂亮的贵妇人，一个超级尤物”。他不知不觉地忘了那个“超级尤物”是孩子们找到的，他觉得是他自己用魔法从不可知的世界里召唤来的。

“安德鲁，小伙子，”他边照镜子边对自己说，“你保养得不错，看不出年龄，先生，你长相不凡哪。”

你看，这愚蠢的老家伙开始想像女巫会爱上他，这很可能是那两杯酒和漂亮衣服起的作用。不过，无论怎么说，他和孔雀一样爱慕虚荣，这就是他为什么变成魔法师的原因。

他锁上门，走下楼，打发一个女佣去叫一辆双轮双座的马车（那年月，每个人都有许多仆人），然后朝客厅张望，他如愿以偿地在客厅里找到了蕾蒂姨妈，她正在修补一块垫子。垫子铺在窗户旁边，她跪在上面。

“啊，蕾蒂娅，我亲爱的，”安德鲁舅舅说，“我——我要出门。借我五英镑什么的，有个很不错的古娘。”（他总是将“姑娘”说成“古娘”。）

“不，亲爱的安德鲁，”蕾蒂姨妈头也不抬，用坚定、平静的口气说道，“我说过无数次了，我不会借钱给你的。”

“请你别捣乱，亲爱的古娘，”安德鲁舅舅说，“这是最重要的事。你如果不借就让我非常难堪。”

“安德鲁，”蕾蒂姨妈直直地盯着他，“我觉得奇怪的是，你向我借钱居然不觉得羞耻。”

这些话隐藏着一段长长的、枯燥的、属于大人之间的往事。你只需知道，安德鲁舅舅打着“为亲爱的蕾蒂照管财产”的旗号，却什么也不干，还喝白兰地、抽雪茄，欠下一大堆账（蕾蒂姨妈曾一次一次地为他付钱），这样一来，就弄得蕾蒂比三十年前穷得多了。

“亲爱的古娘，”安德鲁舅舅说，“你不知道，我今天会有一些意想不到的花费。我不得不招待客人，借给我吧，别让我着急。”

“你到底要招待谁，安德鲁？”蕾蒂姨妈问。

“哦——来了一个尊贵的客人。”

“尊贵的客人？什么破玩意儿！”蕾蒂姨妈说，“你到底还是没有说服我。”

就在这时，门突然被撞开了。蕾蒂姨妈一回头，吃惊地看见一个女巨人，衣着华丽，手臂裸露，目光炯炯地站在门口。这正是女巫。

7

发生在前门的事

“奴才，还要等多久，我的马车才会到？”女巫打雷一般地说。安德鲁舅舅抖抖索索地站到一边。女巫一出现，他照镜子时产生的所有可笑念头全部消失得无影无踪。蕾蒂姨妈马上站了起来，走到屋子中间。

“这年轻女人是谁？安德鲁，我能问吗？”蕾蒂姨妈冷冷地问。

“尊贵的外国人——非——非常重要的人物。”他结结巴巴地说。

“胡说！”蕾蒂姨妈转向女巫，“立即离开我的家，你这不知羞耻的荡妇，不然，我就叫警察。”她以为那女巫一定是从马戏团跑出来的，而且，她看不惯裸露的膀子。

“这女人是谁？”简蒂丝说，“跪下来，奴才，否则我会毁灭你的。”

“请不要在这幢房子里讲粗话，女士。”蕾蒂姨妈说。

霎时间，安德鲁舅舅觉得，那女王似乎向上一挺，变得更加高大。她眼中冒火，伸出手臂，做了一个在恰恩将宫门捣成灰烬时同样的动作，口中念出灭绝咒。然而，什么事也没有发生。蕾蒂姨妈想，那些可怕的话大概也是英语，她说：

“我想得不错。这女人一定喝醉了。醉了！连话也说不清楚。”

当女巫突然意识到，她那种能把人变成灰烬的魔力在她的世界里那么真实可行，而在我们这里却毫无用处时，对她来说这简直是个可怕的时刻。但她丝毫没有心慌意乱、沮丧失望。她扑向前，抓住蕾蒂姨妈的脖子和膝盖，将她高高地举过头顶，像举一个轻巧的玩具娃娃似的，朝屋子那头一甩。蕾蒂姨妈还没落地，女佣（她觉得那天早上真是妙不可言，令人激动）探头进来说：“先生，你的马车到了，请。”

“带路，奴才。”女巫对安德鲁舅舅说。他口中咕哝着“令人遗憾的暴力行为——必须抗议”之类的话，但简蒂丝瞟了他一眼他便住口了。她赶着他离开客厅，走出房子。迪格雷下楼时，刚好看见前门在他们身后关上了。

“见鬼！”他说，“她在伦敦胡来了。还跟安德鲁舅舅在一起，真不知道会出什么乱子。”

“噢，迪格雷少爷，”女佣说（她那天可开心了），“我想凯特利小姐弄伤了自己。”于是两人一起冲进客厅，去看发生了什么事。

我想，如果蕾蒂姨妈掉在光地板上，或即使掉在地毯上，都会摔得粉身碎骨，但她十分走运地落在了垫子上。蕾蒂姨妈是个强壮的老妇人；那时候姨妈们大都如此。她吃了一点提神药，静静地坐了几分钟，然后说，只是跌肿了几处，不严重。很快她就开始处理事情了。

“莎拉，”她对女佣说（这女人从未遇到像今天这样的日子），“立刻去警察局，告诉他们有个危险的精神病人跑出来了。我自己去照料柯克夫人的午饭。”柯克夫人自然就是迪格雷的母亲。

妈妈吃罢午饭以后，迪格雷和蕾蒂姨妈也吃完了。然后，他便开始苦思冥想。

问题是如何把女巫弄回她自己的地方，或者，想办法尽快地将她赶离我们这儿。不管怎样，决不能让她在这幢房子里横冲直撞。不能让妈妈看见她。如果可能，不准她在伦敦城里飞扬跋扈。她“毁灭”蕾蒂姨妈的时候，迪格雷不在客厅里，但他曾见过她捣毁恰恩的宫门；所以，他只知道她有骇人的魔力，并不知道自从到了我们的世界后，她的魔力有任何减弱。他还知道她想征服我们的世界。他能想像，目前她很可能正在捣毁白金汉宫或议会大厦；几乎可以肯定，为数不少的警察已经被化成一堆堆灰烬了。他不知道自己该怎样做。“可是，那些戒指似乎很像磁铁，”迪格雷想，“只要我挨到她，再去摸我的黄戒指，她和我便都会回到各个世界之间的树林中去。不知她在那儿会不会又变得虚弱无力？是那地方对她不利呢，还是从她的世界里被拖出来时她受了惊吓？但我不得不去冒这个险。可我到哪儿去找这个畜生？我想，不管我说去哪儿，蕾蒂姨妈都不会让我去的；而我的口袋里只有两个便士。如果我在伦敦满城寻找，一定需要许许多多钱坐汽车和电车。再说，我压根儿就不知道上哪儿去找。不知道安德鲁舅舅是否还跟她在一起。”

最后，似乎他能做的惟一的事就是等候和盼望安德鲁舅舅和女巫回来。如果他们回来，他必须冲出去抓住女巫，趁她来不及踏进房子就戴上黄戒指。这就意味着他必须像猫守着老鼠洞一样监视着前门，一步也不能离开岗位。所以，他进了餐室，像人们常说的那样，把脸“贴”在窗户上。那是一扇凸肚窗，可以从里面看见通向前门的台阶，而且能看清整条街道，任何人走到前门都逃不出你的视线。“波莉在干什么呢？”迪格雷想。

第一个半小时慢吞吞地过去了，他在这段时间里一直考虑着这个问题。但你不用着急，我来告诉你。波莉回家吃饭迟到了，鞋袜也是湿漉漉的。当被问到她去了哪里，干了些什么时，她说跟迪格雷·柯克出去了。再一追问，她说是在一个水潭里湿了脚的，那水潭在一片树林里。问及树林在哪儿，她说不知道。再问是否在一个公园里，她老老实实地说，她想也许是在一个公园里。波莉的妈妈由此得出结论：波莉未经允许，悄悄地跑到伦敦某个她不知道的地方，进了一个陌生的公园，跳进水坑里玩水。最后，波莉被告知，她实在太调皮了，以后如果再发生这样的事，便不准她和“那姓柯克的男孩”一起玩了。然后，她被允许吃了一些残羹剩饭，就被赶到床上，整整两小时后才能下床。这样的事情在那时候是常常发生的。

所以，当迪格雷从餐室的窗户向外看时，波莉正躺在床上。两人都在想，时间过得多么慢啊！我个人认为，我宁肯处在波莉的位置上。她只是等候那两小时的结束，而迪格雷呢，每隔几分钟，只要听到马车声、面包匠送货车的声音或肉铺小伙计转过街角的声音，就以为“她来了”，然后却是一场空。除了这些令人惊悸的谬误外，其余时间里，只听见嘀嘀嗒嗒的钟声，像过了无数个小时一样漫长难熬。在头上高不可及的地方，一只大苍蝇嗡嗡地碰撞着窗玻璃。这幢住宅在下午往往显得非常安静和枯燥，而且，总有一股淡淡的羊肉味。

在漫长的等待和监视中，发生了一桩小事。我之所以要提它是因为以后有件重要的事情与之相关。一位女士带着葡萄来看迪格雷的妈妈。由于餐室的门开着，迪格雷很自然地听到了蕾蒂姨妈和那位女士在大厅里的谈话。

“多可爱的葡萄！”蕾蒂姨妈的声音，“我想这些葡萄一定会对她有好处的。唉，可怜的亲爱的小玛贝尔！恐怕现在她需要年轻的土地上长出的果子来治病。这个世界里任何东西都没有多大的效果。”后来，她们两人都压低了声音，说了许多迪格雷听不见的话。

如果他前几天听到“年轻的土地”这个说法，他可能会以为蕾蒂姨妈只是随便说说而已，没有什么特别的意义。大人们说话往往这样，这不会引起他的兴趣。现在，他差不多也这样想。然而，他一下子想起来，的确存在着别的世界（蕾蒂姨妈并不知道），他自己就去过其中之一。那么，也许真有一片“年轻的土地”，任何事情都可能存在。在别的世界里，也许有某种果子真的能治好妈妈的病！噢——你知道，盼望得到梦寐以求的东西时是什么滋味吗？因为你过去失望太多，也因为那种希望美好得不真实，你几乎要和希望作对了。这就是迪格雷当时的感觉。但是想扼杀这种希望是无用的。可能——真的，真的，有那种可能性。那么多稀奇古怪的事已经发生了，而且他有魔法戒指。每个水潭底下都有一个世界。他可以寻遍所有的世界。然后——妈妈的病就好了。一切都好了。他把留神着等候女巫的事全忘了。他已经在向放黄戒指的口袋伸手了，恰在此时，他突然听到一阵急驰而来的马蹄声。

“嗨！那是什么？”迪格雷想，“救火车吗？不知道哪家起火了。天哪，来了，啊，是她。”

我不用告诉你他说的“她”是谁。

先是一辆双轮马车。车夫座上空无一人，一只轮子悬在空中，整个马车以令人难以置信的平衡飞快地转过弯来。车顶上——不是坐着，而是站着——女王之王，恰恩的死神简蒂丝。只见她龇牙咧嘴，目光火一般地闪动着，长发像彗星尾巴似的拖在脑后。她毫不留情地鞭笞着驾车的马。马的鼻孔涨得通红，两胁沾满了泡沫。它疯狂地冲向前门，在灯柱边一擦而过，然后，两条后腿着地站立起来。马车在灯柱上撞碎。女巫优美地一跳，恰到好处地落在了马背上。她分腿坐好，俯下身去，对马耳语了几句。那些话显然只会让它狂躁而不会使它安静。马立刻再次抬起前腿，尖厉地嘶叫了一声，马蹄、牙齿、眼睛和飞舞的鬃毛便晃作一团。只有出色的骑手才有可能坐在它的背上。

迪格雷还来不及松口气，就又开始发生很多事情了。第二辆马车紧接着第一辆飞驰而来，车上跳下一个穿礼服的胖子和一名警察。然后，第三辆马车载着两名警察也快速过来。随着一阵嘘声、喝彩声，大约二十个人（大多数是僮仆）骑着自行车，一路响着铃跟了上来。最后是一群步行者，虽然一个个跑得很热，但显然十分开心。所有临街的窗户都迅速地打开了。每一幢房子的前门都有一个看热闹的女佣或男仆。

这时，一位老绅士挣扎着从马车的残骸里往外面爬，几个人跑过去帮他，但这个扯腿那个拽胳膊，用力的方向不一致；也许，如果没人帮忙，他也已经出来了。迪格雷猜想那老绅士一定是安德鲁舅舅，但他的脸被塌下来的高筒礼帽遮住了，你看不见。

迪格雷冲到人群中去。

“就是这个女人！就是她！”那胖子指着简蒂丝大声喊，“警察，该你管啦！她从我的店里偷了值几百、几千镑的东西。看看她脖子上的珍珠项链吧，那是我的。而且她还把我的眼睛打青了。”

“那是因为有人给她撑腰，”有个人对大家说，“我喜欢看这样一只青眼睛。她一定干得很漂亮。啊哈！她多强壮！”

“你该在青眼睛上放一块好吃的生牛排，先生，那才妙呢。”一个肉店的小伙计说。

“喂，”最管事的那个警察说，“这里发生了什么事啊？”

“我告诉你，她……”胖子刚开了头就有人叫起来，“别让马车里那老家伙跑了，是他唆使她干的。”

那位老绅士，当然就是安德鲁舅舅，已经站稳了，正在揉身上摔肿的地方。“那么，告诉我，”警察转向他，“到底出了什么事？”

“呼——呼——嘘——”安德鲁舅舅从帽子里发出声音。

“别装蒜了，”警察正色道，“你会发现这不是什么可笑的事。把帽子摘掉，听见了吗？”

说者容易做者难。安德鲁舅舅徒劳地抵制了一阵，另两个警察抓住帽边，硬是把它扯了下来。

“谢谢，谢谢，”安德鲁舅舅轻声说，“谢谢，我的天，可把我吓坏了。谁能给我一小杯白兰地……”

“现在，请听我说，”那警察掏出一个大笔记本和一枝小铅笔。“那年轻女人归你管吗？”

“小心！”几个人同时喊道，警察及时朝后跳了一步。那匹马差点儿一脚将他踢死。接着女巫掉转马头，对着人群，马的后腿已经踏上了人行道。她手里挥舞着一把明晃晃的长刀，正使劲地砍着套索，要把马和马车的残骸分开。

在这段时间里迪格雷一直在找机会接近她，以便能触到她。这不太容易，因为离他近的这一边人太多了，而要想绕到另一边，就必须从马蹄和绕着房子的围栏之间穿过去。如果你了解马，尤其是看到那匹马当时的情形，就知道这是一件棘手的事。迪格雷很了解马，但他仍咬紧牙关，随时准备瞅准机会冲过去。

一个戴着圆顶硬礼帽的红脸人用肩膀撞开一条路，挤到人群前面。

“嗨，警察，”他说，“她骑的是我的马，被她摔烂的也是我的马车。”

“一次说一件事，一次请说一件事。”警察说。

“可是来不及了，”马车夫说，“我比你更了解这匹马，它不是一般的马，它爹以前是骑兵军官的战马。是的，要是这年轻女人再激它，就会出人命的。唉，还是让我来吧。”

警察正想找个理由离马远些。马车夫向前走了一步，望着简蒂丝，友好地说：

“小姐，我抓住马头，你好下来。你是位女士，你不想找麻烦，是吗？你想回家，美美地喝上一杯茶，然后安安静静地躺下，这样你会舒服得多。”同时，他伸手去逮马头，嘴里说，“镇静，‘草莓’，老朋友。镇静。”

女巫第一次开口讲话了。

“狗！”她冷冰冰的清亮嗓音盖过了所有其他声音，“狗，放开我们的皇家战马。我是女王简蒂丝。”

8

灯柱前的战斗

“哦！你是女王？我们得弄清楚。”一个声音说。另一个声音又说，“女王万福！为疯人院的女王三呼万岁！”不少人跟着喊。女巫脸上飞起一片红霞，微微地鞠了一躬。但欢呼声变成了耻笑，她知道被愚弄了，脸色一变，将刀换到左手，不加警告，就干了一件可怕的事。她伸出右手，像做世界上最平常的事情似的，轻松地将灯柱上的一根铁条扭了下来。如果说她的某些魔力在我们的世界消失了，她的力气却依然存在。她可以把一根铁棒像麦芽糖似的折断。她将她的新武器抛向空中，又一把接住，挥舞着，催马前进。

“我的机会来了。”迪格雷想。他突然奔到马和围栏之间，接着继续向前跑，开始寻机靠近女巫。只要那牲口停一秒钟，他都能抓住女巫的脚跟。正当他往前冲时，他听到一阵咣当当的重击声。原来，女巫的铁棒敲在了那个警官的头盔上，他歪歪斜斜地倒了下去。

“快，迪格雷，一定得制止她。”背后一个声音说。正是波莉。时间一到，她就跳下床，冲到街上。

“你真是好样的，”迪格雷说，“紧紧拉住我。你负责戒指，黄的，记住。我一喊你就戴上。”

又响了一声，另一个警察倒了下去。人群中发出愤怒的吼声，“把她拉下来，拿铺路石打，去叫军队。”但大多数人都尽量往远处退去。显而易见，马车夫是在场的人中最勇敢最善良的。他左闪右躲地避开铁棒，尽量地靠近马，试图抓住马头。

人群中又是一阵吼声，一块石头呼啸着从迪格雷头上飞过。接着传来女巫洪钟般的声音，听起来，她似乎有些得意：

“呸！一旦我征服了你们的世界，你们就要为今天付出沉重的代价，这个城市一块石头也不会留下。我会像毁掉恰恩、费林达、索罗瓦和布拉满丁似的毁掉你们这里。”

迪格雷终于抓到了她的踝部。她向后反踢，刚好踢在迪格雷的嘴上，他痛得松开了手。他的嘴唇被踢破了，满口是血。从很近的地方传来安德鲁舅舅尖厉的颤音：“夫人——我亲爱的年轻女士——看在上帝分上——安静点儿。”迪格雷再次抓住她的脚后跟，又被甩开了。更多的人倒在她的铁棒下。他第三次冲上去，死死地抓住她的脚后跟，然后对波莉大喊：“走！”接着……

唉，谢天谢地。愤怒、受惊的面孔消失了，愤怒、受惊的声音也沉寂下来。黑暗中，迪格雷只听见安德鲁舅舅在近处呜咽着：“噢，噢，是昏迷了吗？这就完了？我无法忍受。太不公平。我从来不想当魔法师。全是误会。是我教母的错；我必须反抗。我的身体也很差。古老的多塞特郡家族。”

“讨厌！”迪格雷想，“我们不想把他带来。啊呀，真轻松。你在吗，波莉？”

“我在这儿，别老推我。”

“我没推。”迪格雷话还没有说完，他们便又到了那片温暖的、阳光明媚的绿树林。一出水潭，波莉就大喊：

“快看！我们把那匹老马也带来了，还有凯特利先生，还有马车夫。乱七八糟的！”

女巫一看自己又到了那片树林，脸刷地白了，腰慢慢地弯下来，直到脸贴着马的鬃毛。看得出，她极为难受。安德鲁舅舅在发抖。但“草莓”，那匹马，却摇摇头，快活地低低嘶叫了一声，似乎觉得好些了。自从迪格雷看见它以来，它还是第一次这么安静。先前一直贴在脑袋上的耳朵现在恢复了正常的位置，眼睛也有了神。

“对了，好朋友，”马车夫说着，拍拍“草莓”的脖子，“这样好些了。别紧张。”

“草莓”做了一件世界上最自然的事情。因为它太渴了（这一点儿也不奇怪），便走到最近的水潭里饮水。迪格雷还抓着女巫的脚后跟，波莉拉着迪格雷的手。马车夫一只手搭在“草莓”身上。仍在发抖的安德鲁舅舅刚好抓住了他的另一只手。

“快！”波莉看了迪格雷一眼，喊道，“绿戒指！”

于是，马没有喝上水。整个一群人马却发现他们又坠入了黑暗之中。“草莓”嘶鸣着，安德鲁舅舅在啜泣；迪格雷说：“运气还不错。”

短暂的停顿以后，波莉说：“我们还没有到吗？”

“我们的确好像是在某个地方，”迪格雷说，“至少我站在硬实的东西上了。”

“我也这么想。”波莉说，“可是，为什么这么黑呢？我说，你觉得我们跳错水潭了吗？”

“也许就是恰恩，”迪格雷说，“不过我们是半夜回来的。”

“这儿不是恰恩，”女巫说道，“这个世界空无一物。这是虚无。”

确实，这是个罕见的虚无国。天空没有星星，四下一团漆黑，谁也看不见谁，眼睛睁开和闭上都是一样。他们脚下平整、凉爽的东西肯定不是草地或者木头，而可能是泥土。空气干燥、凛冽，一丝风也没有。

“我的末日到了。”女巫的声音里有一种可怕的平静。

“噢，别这样说，”安德鲁舅舅唠叨起来，“我亲爱的年轻女士，求求你，别说这种话。事情不会那么严重。啊——马车夫——我的好人——你身上没带着酒瓶吗？我需要一口烈酒。”

“喂，喂，”马车夫有一副好嗓子，他用坚强的口吻说，“我想说，大家都冷静下来。没有人摔断骨头，是吧？好。实在应该感到欣慰。像这样摔下来，结果比任何人估计的都要好。假如我们是掉进了一些房屋里——例如地铁的一个新站头——很快就会有人把我们救出去的，对不对！要是我们死了——我不否认有这种可能——那么，你们该记得有时海上会发生比这更坏的事，总有人要死的。如果一个人曾经体面地生活过，便没什么可怕的。你们如果问我，我想，我们打发时间的最好办法就是唱一首圣歌。”

他马上就唱起了一首收获时节感恩的圣歌，唱的是庄稼被“圆满地收割归仓”。在一个似乎从一开始就没有生长过东西的地方唱这种歌并不十分合适，但这是他记得最清楚的一首歌。他的音色优美，孩子们也跟着唱了起来。气氛欢畅愉快。安德鲁舅舅和女巫没有加入进去。

圣歌接近尾声时，迪格雷觉得有人在拉他的胳膊，那股白兰地和雪茄的气味以及那身很好的衣服告诉他，是安德鲁舅舅。安德鲁舅舅小心地将他朝旁边拉。和其他人隔开一段距离后，这老家伙把嘴巴凑到迪格雷的耳边，弄得他耳朵发痒。他悄悄说：

“孩子，戴上戒指，我们走吧。”

女巫的耳朵非常灵敏。“蠢货！”她的声音传了过来，“你忘了我能听见人的想法吗？放开那小孩。如果你想耍花招，我会用任何世界都没有听说过的办法报复你。”

“而且，”迪格雷补充一句，“如果你以为我是一头卑鄙的猪，可以把波莉、马车夫和那匹马丢在这样的地方自己逃走，那你就大错而特错了。”

“你是个非常调皮、不懂礼貌的小孩。”安德鲁舅舅说。

“嘘！”马车夫说。他们都在听着。

黑暗中终于有了动静。远方，一个声音开始歌唱。迪格雷分辨不清在哪个方向。有时，声音似乎从四面八方同时传过来，有时又好像就在他们的脚下。这声音低沉得犹如大地发出的声音。没有歌词，也没有旋律，却是迪格雷听到过的最美妙的声音。那声音如此动人，使他难以忍受。那匹马似乎也喜欢；它低低地嘶叫着，仿佛拉了多年的车以后，又回到了童年时代嬉戏的故乡，看见所记得和所爱的人拿着糖块，穿过田野向它走来。

“天哪，”马车夫说，“真好听啊！”

此刻，两个奇迹同时发生了。一个是，突然间，数不清的冷峻、战栗、银铃般的声音掺合到那个声音之中，与之和谐地组合在一起，但音量却高得多。第二个是，头上的黑暗中突然群星闪烁。不是夏夜中一颗接一颗悄悄出现的星星，而是在一团漆黑之中，霎时间跳跃出的成千上万颗恒星、星丛和行星，比我们的世界里看到的要大得多、亮得多。没有一朵云。新的星星和新的声音同时出现。如果你像迪格雷一样亲眼看见和亲耳听见的话，你会相当肯定地觉得是星星自己在唱歌，而唤出它们并使它们歌唱的是那低沉的第一个声音。

“多奇妙啊！”马车夫说，“如果我早知道世上还有这么美好的事，我这辈子就会做一个更好的人。”

地上的声音更响亮、更喜悦了，但天上的那些声音在与地上的声音合唱了一阵后，开始渐渐沉寂下去。这时，另一件事情发生了。

在遥远的地平线附近，天空开始渐渐变成灰色。一阵清风吹拂过来。天上有片地方缓缓地、逐渐地越变越淡，映衬出群山黑色的轮廓。那声音一直在歌唱。

很快，天色已经亮得使他们能互相看见对方的脸了。马车夫和两个孩子张着嘴，目光闪烁，陶醉在美妙的声音之中；那声音仿佛使他们想起了什么。安德鲁舅舅也张着嘴，但不是出于高兴；他看上去更像是失去了下巴。他身子弓着，膝盖在发抖。他不喜欢那种声音。如果可以钻进老鼠洞来逃避的话，他会那么做的。女巫看上去似乎比任何人都更能理解那种音乐。她嘴唇紧闭，捏着拳头。歌唱刚开始的时候，她就感到，这个世界笼罩着一种与她的魔力不相同但强大得多的魔力。她恨它。她会把这个世界以至所有的世界都撕成碎片，只要能够阻止那种声音。马站在那里，耳朵前倾并不断地抽动，还时不时用蹄子敲打地面或者打几声响鼻。它看上去不再是一匹劳累不堪的拉车老马，你现在完全可以相信它的父亲当过战马。

东方的天际由白色变成粉红色，又由粉红色变成金色。声音不断地升高，直到整个空气都在随之震颤。当声音最嘹亮最动听的时刻，太阳升起来了。

迪格雷从未见过这样的太阳。恰恩废墟上空的太阳看上去比我们的太阳老，这轮太阳却显得比我们的太阳年轻一些。你可以想像，它是高兴地笑着升起来的。当阳光四射、照亮大地的时候，这一群人第一次看清自己站的地方。那是一片谷地，一条水流平缓的大河穿越其间，朝着太阳升起的东方奔涌而去。南边有大山，北边有丘陵。河谷里只有岩石、土和水，没有树和灌木，连一片草叶也没有。泥土是五颜六色的，新鲜、温热，艳丽夺目，令人激动。当你亲眼看见歌唱者时，你便忘了其他的一切。

一只毛发浓密、生气勃勃的巨狮，站在离他们约三百米的地方，面向太阳，张着大口在歌唱。

“这个世界太可怕，”女巫说，“我们必须马上逃走。准备施魔法。”

“我完全同意，夫人。”安德鲁舅舅说，“这是一个最让人厌恶的地方，野蛮透顶。我要是年轻一些，还有枝枪，就 好了——”

“枪！”马车夫说，“你射不到它，对吗？”

“谁要射它？”波莉问。

“准备施魔法，老傻瓜。”简蒂丝说。

“当然，夫人，”安德鲁舅舅狡猾地说，“我必须让两个孩子抓着我。立刻戴上回去的戒指，迪格雷。”他想撇开女巫跑掉。

“哦，原来是戒指，是吗？”简蒂丝大叫着从马上斜过身来。说时迟，那时快，她的手就要伸进迪格雷的口袋了，但迪格雷一拉波莉，高声说：

“小心点！假如你们敢向这边走近半步，我们两个就会消失，把你们永远留在这里。是的，我口袋里有一枚戒指，可以把我和波莉带回家。看！我的手随时可以去拿。所以，别过来。我对你（他看着马车夫）和那匹马感到遗憾，但我没有办法。至于你们两位（他看着安德鲁舅舅和女巫），你们都是魔法师，应该喜欢生活在一起。”

“大家别吵，”马车夫说，“我想听听这音乐。”

这时，歌声已经改变了。

9

纳尼亚的诞生

狮子唱着新歌，在空旷的大地上走来走去。这歌声比刚才唤起星星和太阳的歌声更柔和，更轻快活泼，是一曲如潺潺流水般温馨的乐声。随着它的移动和歌唱，河谷里长出青青碧草，从狮子身边像水潭一样蔓延开去，又如浪花一般爬到小山坡上。一会儿，青草就长上了远处大山的斜坡，年轻的世界每一瞬间都变得更加柔美。微风沙沙地拂动青草。很快，除了草，又出现了别的东西。高高的山坡上长出了颜色暗淡的石南属植物，河谷里冒出了一片片毛茬茬的粗糙不平的绿色。迪格雷刚开始不知道是什么，直到其中一个来到离他很近的地方。那是一种长而尖的小东西，身上长出几十支手臂，上面覆盖着绿色之物，而且以每两秒钟一寸的速度增大。现在他的周围到处都有这样的东西。等它们长到与他高度相似时，他才恍然大悟地喊道：“树！”

令人沮丧的是，正如波莉以后说的，你无法安安静静地观赏这一切。迪格雷说“树”的同时，他不得不跳到一边，因为安德鲁舅舅又悄悄溜到他身旁，企图偷他的戒指。即使他偷到手也没有多大好处，因为他一直以为绿戒指管返回，便把目标对准右边口袋。当然，迪格雷也不想让他得逞。

“住手！”女巫大叫，“站回去。不准往前走。谁要是走到离这两个小孩中的任何一个十步远的地方，我就敲碎他的脑袋。”她挥舞着那根从灯柱上扭下来的铁棒，随时准备扔出去。不管怎么说，人人都相信她会扔得很准。

“好哇！”她说，“你想带着这男孩偷偷跑回你们的世界，而把我留在这儿。”

安德鲁舅舅终于不怕她了，忍不住发了火。“是的，夫人，”他说，“毫无疑问，我就想这么干。这完全是我的权力。我蒙受了最大的羞辱，受到了最低等的待遇。我曾经尽全力尊敬你，讨好你，但我得到的报答是什么呢？你抢劫——我一定要重复这两个字——抢劫了受人尊敬的珠宝商。你坚持要我招待你最昂贵（不用说也是最铺张）的午餐。这样一来，我不得不当掉手表和表链（告诉你，夫人，我们家还没谁有经常光顾当铺的习惯，除了我的表哥爱德华，他参加过义勇骑兵队）。吃那顿消化不了的午饭时——现在想起来我更难受了——你的言行骚扰了在座的每一个人。我觉得自己在公众场合丢了脸。以后，我再没有脸去那个饭店了。你袭击警察，还偷了——”

“别说了，先生，请别说了。”马车夫说，“看一看、听一听眼前发生的事吧，不要讲话。”

值得看和值得听的实在太多了。迪格雷最先看见的那棵树已经长成一棵粗壮的山毛榉，枝丫优美地在他头顶上舒展。他们站立的那片凉爽的青草地上散布着雏菊和毛茛属植物。稍远的地方，沿河生长着柳树。河的对岸，绽放着一丛丛茶藨子、丁香花、野玫瑰和杜鹃花。那匹马大口大口地撕咬着新鲜的草。

在这段时间里，狮子一直不停地唱着歌，庄严地前后左右走动。使人惊异的是，它每次转身，都离他们更近一些。波莉发现，歌声越来越有趣，因为她觉得自己开始看出了音乐与眼前发生的事之间的联系。当大约百米外的山脊上跳出一排墨绿色的冷杉树时，她感到这和一秒钟前狮子唱的一组低沉、悠长的音调紧密相关。毫不奇怪，随着狮子唱出一组轻快的旋律，她看到报春花从四面八方长了出来。在一阵无以言表的激动中，她肯定所有这些都是从（用她的话说）“狮子脑袋里出来的”。当你聆听它歌唱时，你就听见了它所创造的事物；当你环顾四周，你就能看见这些事物。这太令人激动了，她无暇感到害怕。但狮子每一次转身离他们更近时，迪格雷和马车夫都不禁有些紧张，安德鲁舅舅则牙齿打战，双膝发抖，根本跑不掉了。

突然，女巫大胆地朝狮子冲过去。狮子仍然唱着歌，缓慢而沉稳地前进，只有十几步远了。她抬起手臂，朝着它的头将铁棒直直地抛了过去。

任何人，更不用说简蒂丝，都不会在这么近的距离打偏。铁棒不偏不倚地敲在狮子的两眼之间，然后一掠而过，砰的一声落在草中。但狮子没有停下，步伐既未减慢也未增快，很难说它是否知道自己被打了一下。虽然它柔软的爪子没发出任何声响，你却能感到大地在它的脚下震颤。

女巫尖叫一声跑开了，很快便消失在树林中。安德鲁舅舅转身想跟着跑，不料绊倒在一根树桩上，脸朝下倒在流向大河的一条小溪中。孩子们无法动弹。他们甚至不能肯定自己是否想跑。狮子根本没有注意他们。它张着血红的大口，没有咆哮，只是歌唱。它与他们擦身而过，他们可以摸到它的皮毛。两人害怕极了，怕它转过身看着自己。但奇怪的是，他们又希望它转过身来。从开始到现在，他们好像是看不见闻不着的东西，丝毫没有引起它的注意。它从他们身边过去，走了几步，又折回来，再次与他们擦身而过，转向东去。

安德鲁舅舅爬起来，边咳嗽边唾沫飞溅地说：“迪格雷，我们终于摆脱了那个女人，狮子也走了，快把手伸过来，马上戴好戒指。”

“走开。”迪格雷说着，后退几步避开他，“离他远点儿，波莉，到我身边来。我现在警告你，安德鲁舅舅，一步也不要走近，否则，我们就走了。”

“立刻照我说的做，老兄，”安德鲁舅舅说，“你这孩子太调皮捣蛋，表现很不好。”

“不走，”迪格雷说，“我们要呆在这儿看会发生什么事。我原来以为你想了解别的世界。现在到了这儿，你不喜欢这地方吗？”

“喜欢！”安德鲁舅舅大叫，“看看我落到了什么地步！这还是我最好的外套和背心呢。”他现在看上去的确很狼狈。当然，你开始时打扮得越漂亮，从撞烂的马车下钻出来再掉进一条泥泞的小溪，模样就越惨不忍睹。“我不是说，”他接着说道，“这个地方没有意思。如果我年轻一些，现在——我或许可以先去找一个精力充沛的青年到这儿来。找一个专猎大动物的猎手。这个地方有些好处可以利用。这儿天气宜人。我过去从来没有感受过这样的空气。我相信，这对我是有好处的，如果——如果条件比较有利。要是我们有枝枪就好了。”

“枪也没用，”马车夫说，“我想我要去看看是不是该给‘草莓’梳理一下了。那匹马比有些人还有灵性。”他走到“草莓”身边，嘴里发出马车夫特有的那种嘘嘘声。

“你还认为那头狮子能被枪打死吗？”迪格雷说，“它对那根铁棒不怎么在乎。”

“这全是她的错，”安德鲁舅舅说，“那胆大包天的古娘，我的孩子。她太粗暴了。”他的指关节捏得噼啪作响，似乎又忘了只要女巫在场自己是如何害怕的。

“这么做实在太坏了，”波莉说，“狮子哪一点伤害她了？”

“嗨！那是什么？”迪格雷说完往前走，去查看几步外的一样东西。“我说，波莉，”他向后喊道，“过来看看。”

安德鲁舅舅也跟着过来了，他不是好奇，而是想紧跟孩子们——这样就有可能偷到戒指。但是，当他看见迪格雷正在看的东西时，也开始感兴趣了。那是一个小巧而完美的灯柱模型，在他们看的时候，它正在按比例变高变宽。实际上，它像树木一样在生长。

“它是活的——我是说，它亮着。”迪格雷说。不过，当然啰，在阳光下，除非你遮住它，灯上微弱的光线几乎是看不见的。

“了不起，太了不起了，”安德鲁舅舅喃喃地说，“我连做梦也不会想到有这样的魔法。这个世界，所有的东西甚至一个灯柱，都是有生命的，可以生长。我觉得奇怪的是，什么种子可以长成一个灯柱？”

“你还不明白？”迪格雷说，“这是铁棒掉下去的地方——她从我们家门前那根灯柱上扭下的铁棒。它掉进土里就长成了一个小灯柱。”但此刻已经不算小了，迪格雷说这话时，灯柱已和他一样高了。

“是的，了不起，了不起！”安德鲁舅舅比刚才更加起劲地捏着手指，“哦！哦！他们嘲笑我的魔法。我那傻瓜妹妹以为我是个疯子。这下，看他们还说什么？我已经发现一个充满生机、任何东西都可以生长的世界。哥伦布，他们现在谈论哥伦布。但与这里相比，美洲算什么？这个国家商业上的潜力是不可限量的。带一些旧钢条到这儿来，埋下去，就会长出崭新的火车头、军舰，或者任何你想要的东西。用不着花任何代价，我就能以高价在英国卖掉。这样我将会成为一个百万富翁。还有这天气！我已经感到自己年轻了二十岁，我可以在这里经营一个疗养胜地，弄好了，一年就可以挣两万。当然，我只会让极少数人知道这个秘密。首先要打死那头畜生。”

“你和女巫一样，”波莉说，“满脑子都是屠杀。”

“然后，再说自己，”安德鲁舅舅继续做着美梦，“如果我定居在这儿，天知道能活多久。对一个年过花甲的人来说，这是值得考虑的头等大事。在这里，我当然永远不会老。真是太美了！年轻的土地啊！”

“哦！”迪格雷大喊，“年轻的土地！你认为真的是吗？”他自然记得，蕾蒂姨妈对那个送葡萄的女人说过的话。美好的愿望在他的脑海中闪现出来。“安德鲁舅舅，”他说，“你认为这儿有什么可以治好妈妈的病吗？”

“你在说什么？”安德鲁舅舅说，“这儿不是药店。但就像我说的……”

“你一点儿也不关心她，”迪格雷气愤地说，“我还以为你会的；毕竟她是我的母亲，是你的妹妹。不过没关系。我去问狮子看它能不能帮忙。”然后他转过身，轻快地走了。波莉迟疑一下也跟着去了。

“嗨！停下！回来！这孩子疯了。”安德鲁舅舅说。他小心翼翼地跟在孩子们后面，保持着一段距离。因为他既不想远离绿戒指，也不想靠近狮子。

几分钟后，迪格雷走到树林边上，站住了。狮子仍在歌唱。但歌声又变了。这次的歌声与我们所说的“调子”更为相似，但依然狂放不羁，使你想跳，想跑，想攀登，想大喊大叫，想冲向他人，拥抱他们或与他们搏斗。迪格雷听得脸上通红发热。安德鲁舅舅似乎也受了影响，因为迪格雷听见他说：“一个活泼的古娘，老兄。她的脾气令人遗憾，但总的来说，是个漂亮的女人，一个漂亮的女人。”然而，歌声对这两个人产生的效果根本无法与它对这片土地产生的效果相比。

你能想像一块草地像壶里的水一样沸腾吗？但这样描述正在发生的事是最最恰当的。周围的草地膨胀成一个个大小不同的圆丘，有的只有鼹鼠丘那么大，有的和独轮小车相差无几，其中两个与小棚屋一般大小。这些圆丘移动着，膨胀着，直到泥土四溅地炸开后，每个圆丘里都钻出一样动物。鼹鼠出来时与你在英国见的鼹鼠出洞一模一样。狗一伸出脑袋就汪汪地叫，像从篱笆的窄缝里钻过时那样挣扎着。雄鹿是最有趣的，因为它们的角比其他部分先出来很长时间，所以，一开始迪格雷还以为是树。青蛙从河岸边钻出来后，就呱呱地叫着，一蹦一蹦地跳到河里去了。花豹、黑豹一类的动物马上坐下来，将后腿上沾的松土抖掉，然后站起身，在树上磨前爪。林中传来阵阵鸟鸣。蜜蜂一秒钟也不愿耽误就在花上忙开了。但最壮观的时刻是当最大的圆丘像轻度地震一样炸裂开时，从里面隆起大象斜坡般的脊背、聪明的大脑袋和四条像穿着宽松裤子一般的大腿。现在，你几乎听不见狮子的歌唱了，四面八方，满耳的牛叫、马嘶、犬吠、鸟鸣……

虽然迪格雷听不见狮子唱歌了，但仍然能看见它。它那么高大，那么明亮，将他牢牢地吸引住了。其他动物似乎也不怕它。就在这时，他听见一阵马蹄声，那匹拉车的老马小跑着从他身边过去，和其他动物站到一起了。（空气适合安德鲁舅舅也适合它，它看上去不再像伦敦街头可怜的老奴隶；它正扬起腿，高昂着头。）这时，狮子第一次安静下来。它在动物中巡视一番，时不时走到其中的两个跟前（每次总是两个），用它的鼻子吻它们的鼻子；在花豹中挑出两头，在鹿群中挑出一头雄鹿和一头雌鹿，将其他的撇在一边。对有些种类的动物，它只是走过而已；但它吻过的动物成双成对地离开自己的群体，跟在它后面。最后，它站住了，它挑出来的动物也走过来，围着它站成一圈。它没有吻过的动物开始四下散开，叫声逐渐消失在远方。它选出来的那些动物静静地站着，所有的眼睛都紧紧地盯着狮子。猫类动物偶尔摇摇尾巴，其他的动物全都一动也不动。那天，第一次这么寂静，只听见淙淙的流水声。迪格雷的心在猛烈地跳动，他知道神圣而庄严的事情就要发生了。他已经忘了妈妈。但他非常清楚，即使为了她，他也不能打扰这样的大事。

不曾眨过眼的狮子用它那灼人的目光凝视着动物们。逐渐，那些动物起了变化。小动物——如兔子、鼹鼠等——长大了许多。庞大的动物——这一点从大象身上最能看出来——小了一些。许多动物用后腿坐着，其中大多数都偏着头，似乎在努力地试着理解什么。狮子张着嘴，却没有发声。像风刮起一排树一样，它呼出的绵长而温暖的气息可以将所有的动物都席卷而去。头上，遥远的空中，躲在蓝色天幕后面的星星又开始了新的歌唱。那是一种纯洁、清冷而难以理解的音乐。接着，从天上或狮子身上闪出一股火光。孩子们的每一滴血都沸腾起来。一个从未听到过的最低沉最粗犷的声音说道：

“纳尼亚，纳尼亚，纳尼亚，醒来吧。去爱，去想，去说话。让树能走动，让野兽说话，还有神圣的水。”

10

第一个笑柄及其他

当然，这是狮子的声音。孩子们早就觉得狮子会说话，但当它开口时，他们还是兴奋地吃了一惊。

原始的野人从树后走了出来，树神、农牧神、森林之神和小矮人。河神和他的女儿——仙女们——从河里出来。他们和所有的野兽及鸟儿用或高或低、或浑厚或清晰的声音回答：

“好啊！阿斯兰。我们听见了。我们服从你。我们醒了。我们爱，我们想，我们说话，我们懂了。”

“但是，我们还不是太懂。”一个带鼻音的声音说。孩子们几乎跳了起来，因为说话的正是那匹拉车的马。

“老‘草莓’，好样的，”波莉说，“我很高兴它被选作会说话的野兽之一。”站在孩子们身边的马车夫说：“这太让我高兴了，不过，我以前就总说这匹马很有灵性。”

“动物们，我把你们自己给了你们，”阿斯兰愉悦、有力的声音说，“我把纳尼亚这片土地永久地给了你们。我给你们树木、果实和河流。给你们星星以及我自己。我没有挑选的哑兽也是你们的。要善待它们，珍惜它们。但不要回到它们中去，除非你们不再是会说话的野兽。因为你们是从它们中选出来的，回到它们中就和它们一样了。不要回去。”

“不，阿斯兰，我们不会回去。”众口齐声回答。但一只鲁莽的寒鸦又高声加了一句：“当然不会！”因为大伙儿都住口了它才说，所以，在一片寂静中，它的声音格外清楚。也许，你也知道，在一个聚会上这会很糟糕的。寒鸦尴尬极了，像睡觉一样把头埋在翅膀里，其他的动物开始发出各种各样的笑声，而这些声音，在我们的世界里是从来没有听见过的。起先，它们还想憋住，但阿斯兰说：

“别怕，笑吧，动物们，既然你们不再是哑巴，不再愚钝，就不该总是沉默不语。因为有了语言，就会有公道，也就会有玩笑。”

于是动物们无拘无束地笑起来了。在这种活跃、愉快的气氛中，那只寒鸦又鼓足勇气，跳上拉车马的头，站在马的两耳之间，拍着翅膀说道：

“阿斯兰！阿斯兰！我开了第一个玩笑吗？是不是以后大家都会知道我是怎样开第一个玩笑的？”

“不，小朋友，”狮子说，“你没有开第一个玩笑，你成了第一个笑柄。”其他的动物比刚才笑得更厉害了。但寒鸦满不在乎，也跟着大声地笑，直到马一摇头，它站立不稳掉了下来，但在落地之前想起了翅膀，便飞了起来（对它来说，翅膀还没用过呢）。

“现在，”阿斯兰说，“纳尼亚建立了。下一步，我们就要想方设法保卫它的安全。我将从你们中挑选一些组成我的顾问班子。过来，你，小矮人头领，你，河神，你，橡树神和雄猫头鹰，你们两只渡鸦，还有公象。我们必须一起议事。虽然这个世界的成立还没有五小时，一个恶魔已经进来了。”它选出的动物走上前来，随着它向东走去。其余的则开始议论：“它说什么已经进入我们这个世界了？什么‘馍’？到底是啥？——不，它没说什么‘馍’，它说的是什么‘果’。到底是什么？”

“唉呀，”迪格雷对波莉说，“我得跟着去——阿斯兰，就是那狮子。我必须和它谈谈。”

“你认为我们能去吗？”波莉说，“我不敢。”

“我不能不去，”迪格雷说，“为了妈妈。如果谁能提供给她治病的东西，那么肯定是它。”

“我和你们一起去吧，”马车夫说，“我很喜欢它的样子。我想和老‘草莓’说句话。我不指望别的那些动物会来邀请我们。”

他们三人大胆地——或者说，壮着胆子——向动物群中走去。动物们正忙着互相谈话和交朋友，直到这三人走近才发现。它们当然也没有听见安德鲁舅舅；他穿着扣得紧紧的鞋子在发抖，站在远处大叫（但并没有使出最大的劲）。

“迪格雷！回来！听我的话立即回来。我不许你再往前走一步。”

当他们最后走到动物中时，动物们全都停止说话，注视着他们：

“唔，”雄河狸终于说，“以阿斯兰的名义，这些是什么？”

“对不起。”迪格雷呼吸急促地刚想说下去，一只兔子接嘴道，“他们是一种大莴苣，我相信。”

“不，我们不是，确实不是。”波莉急忙说，“我们不是可以吃的东西。”

“哈！”鼹鼠说，“他们能说话！谁听说过莴苣能说话？”

“也许他们是第二个笑柄。”寒鸦说。

一头一直在洗脸的黑豹踌躇了一下，说道，“嗯，如果是的话，也没有第一个好笑。至少，我看不出他们有什么可笑之处。”它打了一个呵欠，又继续洗脸。

“噢，对不起，”迪格雷说，“我很着急。我想见见狮子。”

马车夫一直在试着吸引“草莓”的目光。终于，它看见他了。“‘草莓’，好朋友，”他说，“你认识我。你不会往那儿一站就说不认识我吧？”

“那玩意儿在说什么，马？”几个声音问道。

“嗯，”“草莓”慢吞吞地说，“我不太清楚。我认为我们中的大多数都还不知道多少事情。但我觉得，我以前见过类似的这种玩意儿。我有种感觉，我过去住在别的什么地方——或者说，是另外一种东西——在阿斯兰几分钟前唤醒我们之前。一切都混混沌沌的，像一个梦，但梦里有很像他们三个的玩意儿。”

“什么？”马车夫说，“你不认识我？就是我，在你不舒服时拿谷糖给你当晚餐，就是我给你梳理鬃毛，你居然不认识我？你站在冷地方我从没忘记给你盖点儿什么，没想到你会说出这种话，‘草莓’。”

“真的想起来了。”马沉思着，“是的。让我想想，想想。对了，你过去老是把一个可怕的黑东西绑在我后面，然后打着我往前跑。不管我跑多远，那黑东西都一直在我后面哐啷哐啷地拖着。”

“我们不得不挣钱过日子，”马车夫说，“你我是一根藤上的苦瓜。要是不干活儿不挨鞭子，就不会有马厩和干草，不会有谷糖和燕麦。我买得起燕麦的时候，你就能尝到一点儿。这一点谁也不能否认。”

“燕麦？”马竖起耳朵说，“对，我记得有那种东西。是的，我记得的事儿越来越多了。你以前总是坐在我后面的一个地方，而我总在前面跑，拉着你和那黑东西。我知道，所有的活儿都是我在干。”

“夏天，我承认，”马车夫说，“你干活儿很热，我坐在凉快的地方。可冬天呢，好朋友？你能一直让自己暖和，我却坐在那儿，脚冻得像冰棍似的，鼻子都快让风给刮掉了，手也冻僵了，差点儿抓不住缰绳。”

“那是个难以忍受的残酷的国家，”“草莓”说，“那儿没有草，全是硬硬的石头。”

“太对了，朋友，太对了！”马车夫说，“那是个难以忍受的世界。我过去总说那些铺路石对任何马都不合适。那就是伦敦。我和你一样不喜欢。你是匹乡下马，我是个乡下人。过去我经常在教堂唱诗班里唱歌，我唱过，在老家。但在那儿没法活下去。”

“对不起，对不起，”迪格雷说，“我们继续往前走好吗？狮子越来越远了，我太想跟它说话了。”

“听我说，‘草莓’，”马车夫说，“这个小先生有些心里话想对狮子讲，就是你们的阿斯兰。我想请你驮着他（他会很感谢你的）去找狮子。我和这小女孩在后面跟着。”

“驮？”“草莓”说，“噢，我想起来了。这就是说，坐在我背上。我记得很久以前，常有一个像你这样的两条腿的小动物坐在我上面。他常给我吃一种白色的硬硬的小方块。吃起来——唔，妙极了，比草甜。”

“哦，那是糖。”马车夫说。

“‘草莓’，请，”迪格雷央求道，“让……让我上去吧，带我去找阿斯兰。”

“好，我不介意，”马说，“不介意驮你一次。上来吧。”

“老‘草莓’，好样的。”马车夫说，“来，年轻人，我托你一把。”迪格雷很快上了“草莓”的背，他感到舒服极了，因为他以前曾骑过自己那匹小马驹的光背。

“好了，走吧，‘草莓’。”他说。

“我想，你身上没带那种白色的小方块吧？”马说。

“恐怕没带。”迪格雷说。

“唉，没办法了。”“草莓”说着，迈步向前走。

就在那时，一条大公狗认真地嗅了一阵，又看了很久，说道：

“瞧，那不是还有一个这种奇怪的东西吗？——在那儿，河边，树下。”

所有的动物都朝那边看去，看见安德鲁舅舅笔挺地站在杜鹃花丛中，生怕被人发现。

“走！”几个声音说，“过去看看。”当“草莓”带着迪格雷轻快地朝一个方向跑去时（波莉和马车夫走在后面），大多数动物一路吼叫着、狂吠着、咕哝着，发出各种兴高采烈的声音，向安德鲁舅舅奔去。

我们必须回过头去从安德鲁舅舅的角度来解释眼前发生的事。他的印象跟马车夫和孩子们的完全不同；因为一个人的见闻很大程度上取决于他所站的立场，以及他是哪种人。

自从动物们最初出现以来，安德鲁舅舅就一步一步地朝灌木丛退去。当然，他也仔细地看着它们；并不是对它们所做的事感兴趣，而是看它们会不会朝自己跑来。像女巫一样，他极端实际，根本没注意到阿斯兰从每种动物里选出一对，他只看见，或者自认为只看见，许多危险的野兽乱七八糟地走来走去。他一直感到纳闷的是，为什么其他动物不逃离那头巨狮。

由于一个十分滑稽的原因，他错过了野兽们开口说话的伟大时刻。很久以前，当狮子最初开始歌唱时，天还很黑，他也意识到那声音是一首歌。他很不喜欢那首歌。它使他想起并感觉到他不愿想也不愿感觉的事情。后来，当太阳升起时，他看见歌者是一头狮子（“只不过是一头狮子，”他对自己说）。他竭尽全力使自己相信它不是在唱歌，并且从来就没有唱过歌——只有我们这个世界的动物园里任何狮子都会发出的吼声。“当然，它不可能唱歌，”他想，“是我的想像，我的神经有毛病了。谁听见过狮子唱歌？”狮子唱得愈久愈动听，他就愈加努力地使自己相信他听到的不过是吼叫。麻烦的是，你想使自己比实际上更愚蠢一些的时候，往往能够成功。安德鲁舅舅就是这样。很快，他从阿斯兰的歌声中便只听见狮吼了。即使他想听，也听不出别的内容。最后，当狮子张口说“纳尼亚醒来”时，他除了一声咆哮外什么也没听见。当动物们回答阿斯兰时，他也只听见一阵混杂不清的叫声。而当它们开口笑时——你可以想像，这对安德鲁舅舅来说是最最可怕的事情。他一辈子从来没有听见过饥饿发狂的野兽发出如此恐怖、如此残忍的杀气腾腾的喧嚣声。过后，他看到那三个人真的朝开阔地里的动物们走去时，便感到愤怒和害怕极了。

“蠢货！”他自言自语道，“这下，那些畜生会把两个孩子连戒指一起吃掉，我再也不能回家了。迪格雷这小鬼多么自私！其他那几个也一样坏。如果他们想丢命，那是他们的事。可是我呢？他们好像就没想过。没有人想到我。”

最后，当一大群动物朝他跑去时，他转身逃命去了。任何人都看得出，年轻世界的空气确实对这老先生大有裨益。在伦敦，他已经老得跑不动了，而现在，他的速度完全能拿下英格兰任何一个预备学校百米赛的冠军。他的衣摆在身后飘来荡去，十分好看。但当然毫无用处。动物中有不少跑得很快，这又是它们有生以来第一次奔跑，便都如饥似渴地想练练自己的新肌肉。“追！追上他！”它们大叫，“也许他就是那个什么‘馍’！嗬！快跑！截住他！包围他！坚持！快跑！”

几分钟后，一些动物就超过了他。它们排起来断了他的去路，其他动物从后面追上将他包围。他无论从哪个方向看去，都感到可怕极了。大麋子的角和大象庞大的脸高耸在他面前。那些笨重而严肃的熊和公野猪在后面咆哮。表情冷漠的黑豹和花豹讥讽地（他这么想）摇着尾巴，盯着他。最令他心惊肉跳的是那么多张大的嘴。动物们张口是为了喘气，他却认为是要吃他。

安德鲁舅舅东摇西摆地站在那里，浑身发抖。即使在最安全的时候，他也不喜欢动物；他总是对它们感到恐惧。当然，长年累月地用动物做试验也使他更加憎恨和害怕它们。

“先生，那么，”那条公狗用公事公办的口吻说，“你是动物、植物还是矿物？”它的确说出了这些话，但安德鲁舅舅只听见“汪——汪——汪——”的叫声。

11

迪格雷和他的舅舅双陷困境

你可能会认为，这些动物非常愚蠢，没能一眼就看出安德鲁舅舅和那两个孩子以及马车夫是同类。但你必须记住，动物们对衣服一无所知。它们觉得，波莉的外衣、迪格雷的诺福克套装以及马车夫的圆顶帽是他们身体的一部分，就像它们自己的皮毛和羽翼一样。如果它们不与他们交谈，如果“草莓”也不那样想，它们就不会知道这三人是同类。而且安德鲁舅舅比孩子们高得多，又比马车夫瘦得多。除了白背心外（现在也已经不很白了），他全身都是黑的。在动物们眼里，安德鲁舅舅的灰发（现在很凌乱）与那三人身上的任何东西都不相似。它们自然感到迷惑。最糟糕的是，他似乎不会说话。

他曾经试过。当公狗对他说话时（或者，按照他的想法，先是咆哮，后是对他咕哝），他举起发抖的手，上气不接下气地说：“好小狗，嗯，可怜的老朋友。”但动物们根本听不懂，正如他也听不懂它们的话一样。除了含混不清的咝咝声外，它们什么也没听见。也许还是听不懂的好，因为我从未见过哪条狗愿意被人喊作“好小狗”，就像你不愿被叫成“我的小鬼”一样，更不用说纳尼亚的会说话的狗了。

安德鲁舅舅一下昏倒在地。

“啊！”一头野猪说，“它不过是棵树。我刚才就这么想。”（记住，它们还从未见过昏厥，甚至连倒下也没有见过。）

那公狗将安德鲁舅舅全身嗅了个遍，抬头说道：“是动物，肯定是动物，而且很可能是那几个的同类。”

“我不同意，”一头熊说，“动物不会像那样倒在地上的。我们是动物，我们就不会倒下去。我们站着，像这样。”它后腿立起，向后走了一步，绊倒在一根矮树枝上，仰面朝天跌倒在地上。

“第三个笑柄，第三个笑柄，第三个笑柄。”那只寒鸦无比激动地说。

“我仍然认为是树。”野猪说。

“是树的话，”另一头熊说，“上面就会有蜂巢。”

“我敢肯定不是树，”一头獾说，“我觉得它倒下之前想说什么。”

“那只是树枝间的风声。”野猪说。

“你肯定不是说，”寒鸦对獾说道，“你认为它是一个会说话的动物吧！它什么也没说。”

“你们知道，”大象说（当然是母象，她的丈夫，你还记得，被阿斯兰叫走了），“你们知道，它可能是某种动物。这头这块白的不像脸吗？那些洞不是眼睛和嘴吗？没鼻子，当然。但是——啊——不必太狭隘。确切地说，我们当中，只有极少数有那种被叫做鼻子的东西。”它斜睨着自己的长鼻子，那种骄傲的神态是可以谅解的。

“我强烈反对这种说法。”公狗说。

“象是对的。”貘说。

“我告诉你吧！”驴子伶牙俐齿地说，“也许它是一种不能说话但觉得自己能说话的动物。”

“能让它站起来吗？”大象关心地说。它用鼻子将安德鲁舅舅柔软的身体轻轻一卷，并把他竖在地上，但不幸放反了，两枚二分之一金镑、三枚五分之二先令和一枚六便士硬币从他的衣袋里掉了出来。但没有用，安德鲁舅舅又倒了下去。

“啊哈！”几个声音说，“根本不是动物，它不是活的。”

“我告诉你们，它是动物，”公狗说，“你们自己闻闻吧！”

“气味并不能说明一切。”象说。

“那么，”公狗说，“如果谁连自己的鼻子都不相信，它还相信什么？”

“大概应相信头脑吧。”象温和地说。

“我强烈反对这种观点。”公狗说。

“嗯，我们必须有所行动，”象说，“因为它也许就是那个‘馍’，必须把它交给阿斯兰。大家是怎么看的？它是动物还是树一类的东西？”

“树！树！”十几个声音回答。

“好，”象说，“那么，如果是树，它一定想被栽在土里。我们要挖个洞。”

两只鼹鼠迅速完成了任务。对该栽哪一头意见不一，安德鲁舅舅很难避免要被头朝下栽进土里了。有几个动物说他的腿一定是树枝，因此，那团灰色的毛茸茸的东西（指他的头）一定是根。但其他动物说，叉开的那一端沾了更多的泥土，而且伸得长些，更像根部。最后，他直立着被栽了起来，栽好以后，泥土掩到了他的膝盖。

“它看上去很干枯。”驴子说。

“当然，它需要浇水，”象说，“我想我可以说（并非要冒犯在场的各位），也许，对这项工作，我的这种鼻子……”

“我强烈反对。”公狗说。但大象默默地走到河边，用鼻子灌满水，回来洒在安德鲁舅舅身上。这有灵性的动物不断地浇，直到好多好多水浇到他身上，又从他外衣的边缘流了出来，犹如他穿着衣服洗了一次澡。最后，他恢复了理智，从昏迷中醒了过来，彻彻底底地清醒了！但我们必须将他撇开，让他慢慢去想他做过的坏事（如果他还有可能做出如此有理智的事的话），我们去讲些更重要的事情。

“草莓”驮着迪格雷，一路小跑着前进，其他动物的声音渐渐远去，而阿斯兰和它选出来的那群动物们则很近。迪格雷知道他不能干扰这样一个严肃的会议，而且也没有必要。阿斯兰说了句什么，公象、渡鸦以及其他所有的动物都闪开了。迪格雷翻身下马，发现阿斯兰与他面对面地站在那里，比他想像的更大、更美，更加金光闪闪，也更加可怕。他不敢注视它那双大眼睛。

“对不起——狮子先生——阿斯兰——阁下，”迪格雷说，“能否——能否请您，您能否给我一些这里的神奇果子来治我妈妈的病？”

他非常希望狮子会说“好的”，非常害怕它说“不”。但当狮子既没有说“好”也没有说“不”时，迪格雷吃了一惊。

“这就是那个男孩，”阿斯兰没有看迪格雷，而是看着它的顾问们说，“是这个男孩干的。”

“天哪，”迪格雷想，“我做了什么？”

“亚当的儿子，”狮子说，“有个恶魔般的女巫踏上了我新的国土纳尼亚。告诉这些好动物们她是怎么到这儿的。”

可以说的许许多多事在迪格雷脑海中闪现出来，但他很理智，除了将真相和盘托出外，其他什么也没说。

“是我把她带来的，阿斯兰。”他低声回答。

“为什么？”

“我想把她带出我们的世界，让她回到她的世界去。我以为我把她带回她的世界了。”

“她是怎么到你们的世界去的，亚当的儿子？”

“靠——魔法。”

狮子不语。迪格雷知道自己讲得还太少。

“是我的舅舅，阿斯兰。”他说，“他用魔法戒指把我们送出我们的世界，至少，我是不得不去，因为他把波莉先弄走了，后来，我们在一个叫恰恩的地方遇见了女巫，她抓住了我们当……”

“你们遇见了女巫？”阿斯兰低低的嗓音带有咆哮式的威胁。

“她醒了。”迪格雷沮丧地说；然后，他脸色变得苍白，“我是说，我唤醒了她。因为我想知道如果我敲了钟会发生什么事。波莉不同意这么做的。不是她的错。我——我还和她抢起来。我知道我不应该。我想，我是有点儿被钟下面那些字迷惑住了。”

“是吗？”阿斯兰问，声音仍很低沉。

“不，”迪格雷说，“我现在明白不是的。我是在找借口。”

接下来是长久的停顿。迪格雷一直在想，“我把事情全弄糟了。现在再也没有机会为妈妈要东西了”。

狮子再开口时，已不是对迪格雷说了。

“你们瞧，朋友们，”它说，“我给你们的这个新的、干净的世界诞生还没有七小时，一个邪恶的力量就已经进来了，由这个亚当的儿子唤醒并带来的。”那些野兽，甚至包括“草莓”，全都把眼光转向迪格雷，他真希望大地能将他吞下去。“不过别泄气，”阿斯兰说，仍然对着它的野兽们，“那个恶魔将给我们带来邪恶。但是还早。我会留神让最坏的事情冲着我来。现在，我们要建立一种秩序，使得在数百年内这里都将是快乐世界的一片乐土。亚当的种族带来了灾祸，但也将帮助我们消除灾祸。走近些，你们另外两位。”

最后一句是对刚刚到达的波莉和马车夫说的。波莉紧紧地拉着马车夫的手，目瞪口呆地盯着阿斯兰。马车夫看了狮子一眼，摘下帽子来，谁也没有见过他不戴帽子的模样。这下，他看上去要年轻漂亮些，更像一个乡下人而不像伦敦的马车夫。

“孩子，”阿斯兰对马车夫说，“我很早就认识你了，你认识我吗？”

“不，阁下，不认识，”马车夫说，“至少不是一般人说的那种认识。不过我觉得，如果我可以这么说的话，我们以前是有些认识的。”

“很好，”狮子说，“你比你自己想像的更有悟性，你会越来越了解我的。你喜欢这片土地吗？”

“我在这儿非常快乐，阁下。”马车夫说。

“你想永远住在这儿吗？”

“你知道，阁下，我结了婚，”马车夫说，“我想，要是我妻子也在这儿，我们谁也不想再回伦敦了。我们都是地地道道的乡下人。”

阿斯兰昂起多毛的头，张口呼出长长的、不很嘹亮但有力的一声。波莉听得心跳加快。她敢肯定，那是一种呼唤，任何人听到这声呼唤，不管隔了多少世界多少年代，都想听从而且都能够听从。虽然她心中充满了好奇，但当一个看上去善良、诚实的年轻女人不知从哪儿走出来站在她旁边时，她并没有被吓一跳或者感到十分震惊。波莉立刻明白，那就是马车夫的妻子，不是被任何折磨人的魔法戒指从我们的世界硬生生地拖过去的，而是如鸟儿回巢一般迅捷、简单、舒适地到了那里。那年轻女人系着围裙，袖子挽到肘部，手上还沾着肥皂泡，显然刚才正在洗衣服。如果有时间换上好衣服（她最好的帽子上镶有樱桃饰），她看上去准会让人讨厌。那身朴实无华的衣服却使她显得相当可爱。

当然，她以为自己是在梦中，便没有马上奔到丈夫身边，问他到底怎么回事。但当她看见狮子时，她不那么肯定是在做梦，然而不知什么原因她也没露出非常害怕的神情。然后，她微微行了一个屈膝礼，那年月，一些农村姑娘也知道如何行屈膝礼。接着，她走过去，拉住马车夫的手，站在那里，略带羞涩地四下环顾。

“我的孩子们，”阿斯兰看着他们两人说，“你们将是纳尼亚第一位国王和王后。”

马车夫吃惊地张大了嘴，他妻子的脸也红了。

“你们将统治所有这些动物，要公正行事，当敌人入侵时保卫它们的安全。而且敌人是会来的，因为这个世界里已经有了一个恶魔般的女巫。”

马车夫用力吞了几次口水，清了清嗓子。

“请您原谅，阁下，”他说，“非常感谢你（我太太也感谢你），但我干不了这种事情。你知道，我没有受过很多教育。”

“那么，”阿斯兰说，“你会使用铲子和犁吗？会在地里种庄稼吗？”

“是的，阁下，我会干这种活儿，可以说从小就会。”

“你能善良地、公正地对待这些动物吗？记住，它们不像你出生的那个世界里的哑兽，是奴隶，它们是会说话的野兽，是自由的。”

“我懂，阁下，”马车夫回答，“我会公正地对待所有的动物。”

“你会教你的儿女、你的孙子孙女们这么做吗？”

“这需要我努力去做，阁下。我会尽全力的，是吗，蕾丽？”

“你不会在你的儿女中或在其他动物中培植亲信，让一些压制和奴役另一些吧？”

“我决不会容忍这种行为的，真的，阁下。如果我撞见谁干这种事一定会惩罚他们的。”马车夫说。（在这场谈话中，马车夫的声音越来越慢，越变越浑厚，更像他小时候在乡下时的声音，而不像他当伦敦马车夫时那种尖而快的声音。）

“如果敌人来犯（因为敌人会来犯），战争打响，你会冲锋在前、撤退在后吗？”

“阁下，”马车夫缓缓地说，“一个人不经磨练很难真正看清楚。我敢说，我最终还是个温和的人，最多只用拳头打过架。但我会努力——就是说，我希望努力去尽自己的职责。”

“好，”阿斯兰说，“你将做一个国王该做的一切事情。你的加冕仪式即将举行。你和你的儿孙会得到保佑，有的将是纳尼亚的国王，有的将是南山那边阿钦兰的国王。至于你，小姑娘（他转向波莉），我们欢迎你。在恰恩废墟塑像厅里他伤了你，你已经原谅他了吗？”

“是的，阿斯兰，我们已经和好了。”波莉说。

“这样很好。”阿斯兰说，“现在，该轮到小伙子了。”

12

“草莓”远征

迪格雷紧闭嘴唇，感到越来越不自在。无论如何，他希望自己不要哭，或者干出可笑的事。

“亚当的儿子，”阿斯兰说，“你是否准备弥补你在我美好的纳尼亚国诞生的第一天对她犯下的过失？”

“我不知道我能做什么，”迪格雷说，“你知道，那女巫已经跑了，而且……”

“我问的是，你是否准备这么做。”狮子说。

“是的。”迪格雷说。有那么一瞬间他涌出一个疯狂的念头，想说“你答应帮助治我妈妈的病，我就尽力帮你”，但他马上意识到，不能和狮子讨价还价。然而，他说出“是”的时候，他想起了妈妈，想到曾经有过的宏伟愿望如今全部灰飞烟灭，喉咙里便像堵了一团棉花似的，他含着眼泪脱口说道：

“可是，对不起，对不起——你愿意——你能给点儿什么可以治我妈妈病的吗？”他本来一直看着狮子粗壮的前腿和两只巨爪，现在，绝望之下，他抬起头看着它的脸。他看到的是一生中最令他惊奇的事。狮子那张黄褐色的脸低垂下来，凑近他的脸，（最令人感到奇怪的是）眼里闪烁着大颗大颗的泪珠。与迪格雷的泪珠相比，狮子的泪珠那么大，那么亮，迪格雷顿时感到，狮子似乎比他自己更加真切地同情他的妈妈。

“我的孩子，我的孩子，”阿斯兰说，“我知道，的确太不幸了。这片土地上只有你和我懂得这一点。我们之间要相互理解，友好相处。但我必须为纳尼亚的生存作数百年的长远打算。你带进这个世界的女巫还会回来的，但不一定很快。我希望在纳尼亚栽一棵她不敢靠近的树，那棵树将保卫纳尼亚许多年不受她的侵犯。在乌云遮住太阳以前，这片国土将会有一个长久的明亮的早晨。你必须为我去取树种。”

“是的，阁下。”迪格雷说。他并不知道如何去做，但他觉得自己肯定可以做好。狮子长长地松了口气，将头低下来，以狮子的方式吻了他。迪格雷立刻感到，新的力量和勇气注入了他的身体。

“亲爱的孩子，”阿斯兰说，“我来告诉你怎么做。回头看看西方，告诉我你看见了什么？”

“我看见高耸的大山，阿斯兰，”迪格雷说，“我看见这条河跌下峭壁，形成一道瀑布。峭壁后面，高高的小山坡上是绿色的森林。再往后，有黑魆魆的更加高大的山脉。在更遥远的地方，是连绵的大雪山——像照片上的阿尔卑斯山一样。雪山后面，除了天空什么也没有了。”

“你看得很清楚，”狮子说，“瀑布就是纳尼亚的边界，一旦你到了峭壁上，就出了纳尼亚，进入西方原始区了。你必须穿越那些高山，找到一条冰山环抱的绿色河谷，那里有一个蓝色的湖泊；湖的尽头，有一座绿色的陡峭的小山。山顶上有座花园，花园的中心有棵树。从树上摘一个苹果带回来给我。”

“好的，阁下。”迪格雷又说。他根本不知道如何才能攀越那些高山峭壁，但他不愿说，生怕听上去好像他在找借口。可他还是说，“我希望，阿斯兰，你不是很着急的。我来回一趟不可能很快。”

“小小的亚当的儿子，你会得到帮助的。”阿斯兰说着转向那匹马。它一直静静地站在他们旁边，尾巴一摇一摆地驱赶苍蝇，偏着头听他们说话，似乎要理解这对话有点儿困难。

“我亲爱的，”阿斯兰对马说，“你愿意做一匹飞马吗？”

你要是在场的话，就能看见那匹马鬃毛摇晃、鼻孔大张、后蹄轻轻踏地的样子。显然，它巴不得成为一匹飞马。但它只说：

“如果你希望，阿斯兰——如果你真的想——我不明白为什么会选中我——我不是一匹很聪明的马。”

“长上翅膀，成为天下飞马之父，”阿斯兰大吼一声，惊天动地，“你的名字叫弗兰奇。”

那匹马吃惊地倒退了一步，在它拉车的悲惨岁月里，它可能也像今天这样受过惊。然后，它用后腿站起来，扭着脖子，仿佛想捉住叮咬它肩膀的苍蝇似的。接着，犹如动物们先前从地里蹦出来一样，弗兰奇的肩上钻出一对翅膀，越长越宽，越长越大，超过了鹰的翅膀、天鹅的翅膀和教堂窗户上天使的翅膀。这对翅膀的羽毛呈栗色和铜色。它猛地展翅，冲向空中，在阿斯兰和迪格雷头上二十多英尺高的空中打着响鼻、嘶鸣、腾跃。围着他们转了一圈后，它降落下来，四蹄一并，看上去有点儿不熟练，有点儿惊讶，但十分欢喜。

“好吗，弗兰奇？”阿斯兰说。

“很好，阿斯兰。”弗兰奇说。

“你愿意让这个亚当的儿子骑在你背上到我说的山谷去吗？”

“什么？现在？马上去？”“草莓”——或弗兰奇——说。我们现在必须这么称呼它了。“快！上来吧，小个子，我以前驮过像你这样的东西。很久以前了，在有绿色田野和糖块的时候。”

“这两个夏娃的女儿在悄悄说什么？”阿斯兰说着突然转向波莉和马车夫的妻子。她们两人已经交上了朋友。

“对不起，阁下，”海伦王后（马车夫的妻子蕾丽现在的称呼）说，“我想，如果方便的话，这小姑娘愿意跟着去。”

“弗兰奇有何意见？”狮子问。

“噢，驮两个孩子我不在乎，”弗兰奇说，“但我希望大象不要上来。”

大象根本没想上去。纳尼亚的新国王帮助两个孩子骑上马背。当然，他将迪格雷重重地一举，而把波莉当作一件易碎的瓷器一样轻手轻脚地托了上去。“他们坐好了，‘草莓’——我该说弗兰奇。这一趟可不简单哦。”

“别飞得太高，”阿斯兰说，“不要想飞过那些高大的冰山。穿越河谷那绿色地带，总会找到一条路的。好了，祝你们一路平安。”

“噢，弗兰奇！”迪格雷弯下腰，拍打着毛茸茸的马脖子。“太好玩了。抓紧我，波莉。”

很快，那片国土就被他们远远地抛在了下面。随着弗兰奇像鸽子般一圈两圈地转着，大地也跟着旋转起来。然后，弗兰奇转向西方，开始了漫长的飞行。波莉低头俯视，几乎看不见国王和王后了，连阿斯兰也只是绿草中一个亮亮的黄点。马上便有风刮在他们脸上。弗兰奇的翅膀有节奏地扇动起来。

整个纳尼亚展开在他们脚下，草地、岩石、石南属植物和千姿百态的树木将大地染得五彩缤纷，蜿蜒的河流像一条水银的带子。右望北方，小山的那一边，是一片缓缓斜升至地平线的沼地。左边的山高得多，但不时可见一个个峡谷。从那儿望过去，透过挺拔的松林，能瞥见南方蔚蓝的土地，远远地绵延伸展。

“那儿就是阿钦兰吧。”波莉说。

“是的，看前边！”迪格雷说。

悬崖峭壁在他们眼前竖起一道巨大的屏障，阳光在大瀑布上闪烁，令人目眩。来自西边高地的河水咆哮着，水花飞溅地流进纳尼亚境内。他们已经飞得很高，瀑布雷鸣般的巨响已变得很轻。但他们飞行的高度还不能越过峭壁。

“我们要在这里作一阵之字形飞行，”弗兰奇说，“抓牢。”

它开始来来回回地飞，每盘旋一次都飞得更高。空气越来越冷，脚下远处传来一阵鹰啼。

“喂，朝后看！看后面！”波莉说。

他们看见，纳尼亚向东伸延到地平线的尽头，有一片大海的闪光。他们现在的高度已能看见参差不齐的群山逶迤在北方沼泽地后面，显得很小。遥远的南方，伸展着一片沙地一样的平原。

“我希望有人告诉我们那是些什么地方。”迪格雷说。

“我不认为那是什么特殊的地方，”波莉说，“我是说，那儿没有人，也没发生过什么事，这个世界今天才开始。”

“不，人终究要去的，”迪格雷说，“然后就会有历史，你知道。”

“幸好还没有，”波莉说，“因为谁也无法去学那些事。战争，各种日期，以及所有那些废话。”

他们已经飞上了悬崖之巅，几分钟后，纳尼亚谷地就从后面的视野中消失了。他们沿着河流，飞行在一片蛮荒的土地上，下面是陡峭的山坡和黑魆魆的森林。前面隐隐出现雄伟的高山。阳光从正前方射来，使他们看不清前面的景物。这时，太阳正在落山，西边的天空像一个巨大的熔炉，装满了熔化的黄金。终于，夕阳沉匿在锯齿状的山峰背后，一片辉煌映衬着仿佛从纸片上剪下的、清晰而失去了立体感的群山。

“这儿一点也不暖和。”波莉说。

“我的翅膀开始痛了，”弗兰奇说，“阿斯兰说的那个有湖的山谷还看不见呢。下去找一个舒服的地方过夜怎么样？我们今天晚上到不了目的地。”

“好的，现在一定是晚饭时间了吧？”迪格雷说。

弗兰奇越飞越低，当他们降到离地面很近的小山中时，天气暖和起来。在那漫长的飞行中，除了弗兰奇翅膀的扇动外什么也听不见。现在，又听到地面上传来各种亲切的声音，多么令人愉快啊！水从石头河床上潺潺地流过，微风沙沙地拂过树林。太阳炙烤下，泥土、青草和鲜花发出的沁人心脾的温暖气息扑面而来。弗兰奇终于落地。迪格雷下来后又帮助波莉下了马。两人都很高兴能舒展僵硬的腿了。他们降落的山谷正好在群山中心，两边的雪山俯瞰着他们，夕阳将其中的一座镀上了一层玫瑰红。

“我饿了。”迪格雷说。

“来，美美地吃上一顿。”弗兰奇说着，咬下一大口草。然后它抬起头，嚼着，嘴角边像胡须一样支出几根草节。“你们两个快来吃。别不好意思，够我们三人吃的。”

“可是我们不会吃草。”迪格雷说。

“嗯，嗯，”弗兰奇嚼着满口的草，说道，“哦，嗯，那么，不知道你们要干什么。这么好的草。”

波莉和迪格雷神情沮丧地面面相觑。

“我想一定有人已经给我们安排好了晚餐。”迪格雷说。

“我敢说，如果你恳求阿斯兰，它会为你想到的。”

“不恳求它就想不到吗？”波莉说。

“毫无疑问它会的，”马说（仍然嚼着满口的草），“但我认为它喜欢别人请求它。”

“那我们到底该怎么办？”迪格雷问。

“我肯定不知道，”弗兰奇说，“除非你们试着吃点儿草。可能会比你们想像的要好一些。”

“唉，别说傻话了，”波莉跺着脚说，“人当然没法儿吃草，就像你不吃羊排一样。”

“看在上帝分上，别提什么羊排了。”迪格雷说，“这样只会更糟。”

他说，波莉最好靠戒指回家取些吃的，他自己不能去，因为他已答应阿斯兰要直接去完成任务，而一旦回到家中，可能会发生什么事使他难以返回。但波莉说她不离开他，迪格雷说她太好了。

“唉呀，”波莉说，“我的口袋里还剩一些太妃糖。总比没有吃的好吧。”

“好极了，”迪格雷说，“但手伸进去时要小心，别碰着戒指。”

这件事非常棘手，搞不好就会弄糟，但最后还是成功了。他们拿出来的小纸袋又软又湿，黏糊糊的，所以，从糖上撕下纸袋要比从口袋里拿出糖来更困难。有些大人（你知道他们遇到这种事时会如何大惊小怪地瞎忙乎一阵），宁愿不吃晚饭也不愿吃那些太妃糖。一共有九颗。迪格雷想出一个好办法，每人吃四颗，将第九颗种在地里。他说：“从灯柱上取下的铁棒都能长成一个小灯柱，这颗糖为什么不能长成一棵太妃糖树呢？”于是，他们在草皮上挖了一个小洞，埋下了那颗太妃糖，然后，开始吃剩下的八颗，尽可能久地慢慢品味。那是一顿糟糕的晚餐，即使糖纸全部黏在上面，他们也不得不吃下去。

弗兰奇吃完丰盛的晚餐后躺了下来，孩子们坐在它的两边，靠着它温暖的躯体。它伸开翅膀盖住他们，使他们更感温暖和舒适。当新世界明亮而年轻的星星升起来时，他们开始谈天说地：迪格雷当初多么希望为他的妈妈弄点儿什么，后来又是如何被派遣来执行这项任务。他们一再地提及他们要找的那个地方的特征——蓝色的湖泊，山顶上有座花园。直到睡意袭来，他们的谈话才减慢了。突然，波莉惊醒坐了起来：“嘘！”

三位同伴竭尽全力地仔细倾听。

“也许只是树间的风声吧。”过了一会儿迪格雷说。

“不敢肯定，”弗兰奇说，“不管怎么说——等等！有动静。凭阿斯兰起誓，是有什么。”

马猛地一蹶，发出很大的响声，匆忙爬了起来。孩子们已经站好了。弗兰奇前前后后地小跑着，嗅着，发出低低的嘶鸣；孩子们蹑手蹑脚地在每一丛灌木和每一棵树后巡查。他们一直认为自己看见了什么。有一次，波莉非常肯定地说，她看见一个高大的黑影迅速地溜向西方。但他们什么也没有找到。最后，弗兰奇又躺下了，孩子们偎依（如果可以用这个词的话）在马的翅膀下，很快就睡着了。弗兰奇好长时间都醒着，在黑暗中前后移动它的耳朵，有时皮肤轻轻地战栗一下，似乎有只苍蝇落在它身上，但最后它也睡着了。

13

不期而遇

“醒醒，迪格雷，醒醒，弗兰奇，”波莉喊道，“太妃糖树已经长成了。这是最美好的早晨。”

初升的朝阳照进树林，草叶上蒙着一层灰白的露珠，蜘蛛网上银光闪闪。就在他们身旁，长出了一棵与苹果树一样大小的木色极暗的树。白白的树叶形似纸张，很像一种叫做缎花的草药，上面挂着枣儿一样的褐色小果实。

“哈！”迪格雷说，“可我要先去洗个澡。”他迅速穿过几丛开花的灌木到了河边。阳光下，山里的河水在红、蓝、黄三色石头上形成许多小瀑布奔涌而来，你曾在这样的河里洗过澡吗？跟在海里一样美妙；某些方面还更好些。当然，他只好不擦干身子就穿上衣服，但即使这样也很值得。他回来后，波莉也去洗了一次澡；至少她自己说她洗了澡，但就我们所知，她游泳不行，也许最好不要问得太多。弗兰奇也去了一次，但它只是站在河水中，俯身长长地吸了一口水，然后，甩甩鬃毛，长嘶几声。

波莉和迪格雷开始对太妃糖树采取行动了。果实很好吃：跟太妃糖不完全相似，软一些，而且多汁——是一种吃了便令人想到太妃糖的水果。弗兰奇也美美地吃了一顿早餐：它试着尝了一个太妃果，很喜欢，但又说，在早晨的那个时候，它觉得更喜欢吃草。然后，孩子们有点儿艰难地上了马，第二天的旅行又开始了。

今天的情况稍好于昨天，因为大家都感到神清气爽，而初升的太阳又在他们背后，自然，周围的景致就比阳光从前面射来时显得美丽一些。这是一段奇妙的飞行，四面八方都耸立着高大的雪山，底下的深谷里一片苍翠，从冰山上流下来注入那条大河的溪涧全部是蓝色的。他们像飞行在巨大的宝石上，盼望着这段旅行能延续得更长些。然而，过了一会儿，他们便闻到一股味道。“是什么？”“你闻到了吗？”“这味道是从哪儿来的？”从前面飘来一股似乎从世上最美好的果实和花卉中提炼出的温馨、浓郁的奇香。

“是从一个有湖的山谷里飘来的。”弗兰奇说。

“是的，”迪格雷说，“快看！湖那边有座绿色的山。看，湖水多蓝。”

“肯定就是这个地方。”三个声音一齐说。

弗兰奇绕着大圈，越飞越低，冰峰则越变越高。空气每一秒钟都更加暖和、甜美，几乎使你热泪盈眶。弗兰奇一动不动地伸开它那巨大的双翅滑行着，马蹄随时准备着陆。那座陡峭的绿色小山向他们迎面扑来。很快，弗兰奇就稍微有点儿不熟练地落在了山坡上。孩子们翻身下马，稳稳当当地站在温暖柔软的草地上，轻轻地喘着气。

离山顶还有四分之一的路，他们立即出发向上爬去。（我认为弗兰奇如果没有那对翅膀时不时地扇动一下帮助它维持平衡的话，它是很难上去的。）山的最高处被一圈绿色的草墙围了起来。墙内密密地栽着树，树枝伸出墙外。叶子在风中闪出绿色、蓝色和银色的光芒。当三位旅行者到达山顶时，他们在绿墙外绕了几乎整整一圈，才找到面向正东、紧闭着的高大金门。

直到现在，我还认为弗兰奇和波莉曾经想过和迪格雷一起进去，但他们很快就打消了这个念头。你从未见过如此幽寂的地方，一看就知道是私人所有。除非负有特殊使命，只有傻瓜才会梦想走进去。迪格雷马上就明白别人不会也不能和他一起进去。他独自向门走去。

来到门前，他看见金门上写着一些银色的字，大意是这样的：

从金门走进，或者留在外面，

为他人摘取果实，或者克制欲望。

因为那些偷窃和跳墙的人

会如愿以偿，也会丧气绝望。

“为他人摘取果实，”迪格雷对自己说，“好，这就是我要做的事。就是说，我自己一点儿也不能吃。我想，我不懂后面两行字是什么道理。要是可以从门进来谁愿意爬墙呢？但这门怎么开？”他把手放在上面，门一下子朝里面打开了，铰链转动时没发出一点儿响声。

现在他可以看到这地方的内部了，它比先前更显得幽寂。他环顾四周，庄严地走了进去。里面悄无声息，竖立在花园中心的那座喷泉也只发出微弱的声音。他的周围弥漫着一股香味。那是个令人愉快但十分严肃的地方。

他立刻就认出要找的树，因为那棵树就在正中，树上银色的大苹果将光投射到阳光照射不到的阴暗处。他径直走过去，摘下一个苹果放在他诺福克上衣贴胸的口袋里，但他在放进去之前又情不自禁地看了看，闻了闻。

这一看一闻不要紧，一阵极度的饥渴朝他袭来，他突然非常想尝一尝那个苹果。他赶紧放进口袋；但树上还有那么多，尝一个有什么错呢？他想，门上的告示不一定就是禁令，可能只是一个劝告，谁在乎劝告呢？或者即使是禁令，他吃了一个苹果就不对吗？他已经做到“为他人”取苹果了。

他想着想着，不经意地抬起头，透过树枝一直看到树顶。一只神奇的鸟儿正栖息在他头上的一根树枝上。说“栖息”，是因为它似乎睡着了，但也许并没有真正睡着。一只眼睛睁开一条细得不能再细的缝隙。那只鸟比鹰还大，胸部呈橘黄色，头上的冠毛杂有猩红，尾巴是紫色的。

“这恰恰说明，”迪格雷后来对别人讲起这个故事时说，“在这种有魔法的地方，你无论如何仔细都不过分。你无法知道什么东西正监视着你。”但我想，不管怎样，迪格雷是不会为自己摘苹果的。那时候，在男孩们的心目中，“不偷窃”之类的观念比现在牢固得多。但我们仍然没有十分的把握。

迪格雷转身向大门走去时，停下来最后朝四下里看了一眼。他吓了一大跳，原来不光他一个人在这儿，几步开外，站着那个女巫。她正在扔掉她吃剩的苹果核。那苹果汁的颜色比你想像的要深些，她的嘴边留下一圈令人厌恶的痕迹。迪格雷马上就猜到，她是翻墙过来的。而且，他开始明白最后一行“会如愿以偿，也会丧气绝望”可能是有含义的。因为女巫看上去比以前强壮、傲慢，甚至在某种程度上更加得意扬扬，但她的脸苍白得像盐一样。

迪格雷心中很快闪过这些念头后，便抬起脚，尽快地朝大门跑去。女巫在后面紧追。他一出来，门就自动合上了。这使他领先一步，但不一会儿，当他喊着“快，波莉，上马！快飞，弗兰奇！”冲到他同伴身边时，女巫已爬过墙或者跳过墙追了过来，又紧跟在他身后了。

“站住，别动！”迪格雷大声说道，转身对着她，“否则，我们就全部消失了。一步也不准靠近。”

“傻孩子，”女巫说，“你干吗逃呀？我又不会伤害你。如果你不停下来听我说，你会漏掉一些能使你终身幸福的知识。”

“我不想听，谢谢。”迪格雷说。但他是想听的。

“我知道你是来干什么的，”女巫继续说道，“因为昨天夜里在树林中就是我藏在你们身边，听到了你们的议论。你已经从那边花园里摘下苹果，装在口袋里了。你将一口也不尝就带回去给狮子，给它吃，给它用，你这个傻瓜！你知道这是什么果吗？我告诉你，这是青春果，生命果。我懂，因为我已经吃了。我已感到我自己身上发生了变化，我知道我不会老也不会死。吃吧，孩子，吃了它，你和我都会长生不老，做这个世界的国王和王后，或者我们决定回去的话，也可以去你们的世界称王。”

“不，谢谢，”迪格雷说，“我不知道自己是不是在每一个认识的人都死了以后还想长久地活下去。我宁肯活到一般的年龄就死去，然后进天堂。”

“可你的妈妈怎么办呢？你装得那么爱她。”

“她跟这事儿有什么关系？”迪格雷说。

“你还不明白？傻瓜！她只要吃上一口那种苹果就会好。你的口袋里有。我们自己在这儿，狮子离得很远，运用魔法回到你自己的世界去。一分钟后你就把苹果送到你妈妈的床边了。五分钟后，你就会看到她的脸上有了血色。她将告诉你疼痛消失了。很快，她又会说感到强壮多了。然后，便能睡着了——想想吧，不痛也不吃药地酣睡上几个小时。第二天，谁都会说她恢复得多么神奇。她很快就完全好了。一切都会变好，你和其他孩子一样，又会有一个幸福的家庭。”

“噢！”迪格雷像受了伤似的用手摸着头，喘着气。他知道最可怕的选择摆在了他面前。

“狮子对你有什么好处，你情愿给它当奴隶？”女巫说，“一旦你回到自己的世界，谁也不能把你怎么样。要是你妈妈知道你本来可以解除她的痛苦，恢复她的生机，可以不使你爸爸的心灵破碎，而你却不愿意，宁肯为与你们毫不相干的陌生世界里的一只野兽效劳，她会怎么想呢？”

“我——我不认为它是野兽，”迪格雷用干哑的声音说，“它是——我不知道——”

“它比你想像的更坏，”女巫说，“看看它是怎样对待你的吧：你看它把你变得多么没有心肝。每一个服从它的人都会这样的。残忍的、没有同情心的孩子！你宁肯让自己的妈妈死而不愿……”

“啊，别说了，”悲伤的迪格雷用依旧干哑的声音说，“你以为我不明白？但我……我答应了。”

“嗨，可你当时并不懂你答应了什么。在这里谁也不能阻拦你。”

“妈妈自己，”迪格雷艰难地吐出几句话，“也不会喜欢那种做法——她对我很严格，要我遵守诺言——不要偷东西——以及所有这一类的要求。如果她在这儿的话，也不会让我那样做的。”

“但她没有必要知道，”女巫甜甜地说，你想不出一个长相那么凶的人能说得那么甜美动听，“你不用告诉她你是怎样弄到苹果的。你爸爸也不必知道。你的世界里谁也不需要知道这件事的来龙去脉。而且，你也不必把那小女孩带回去。”

这正是女巫致命的错误所在。迪格雷当然知道波莉可以靠自己的戒指回去，跟他靠自己的戒指回去一样容易。但显然女巫不知道这一点。她要他丢下波莉，这卑鄙的建议使她刚才说过的一切全都成了假话和空话。迪格雷即使正沉浸在悲哀之中，头脑也很快清醒了，他说（声音变了，响亮得多）：

“喂，你怎么知道这么多事情？为什么突然之间对我妈妈如此关心？她跟你有什么关系？你想干什么？”

“好样的，迪格雷，”波莉在他耳边悄声说，“快！马上走。”在整个争论的过程中，她不敢说什么，因为，你知道，快死的不是她的妈妈。

“上马。”迪格雷说着将她举上马背，然后自己尽快地爬了上去，弗兰奇展开了翅膀。

“走吧，傻瓜们，”女巫叫着，“当你老了，虚弱得快死的时候就想想我，小男孩，记住你是怎样把永葆青春的机会扔掉的，机不可失，时不再来。”

他们已经飞上了高空，只听见她的声音，但听不清她在说什么。女巫也不愿浪费时间目送他们，只见她朝北边的山坡下走去了。

那天早上，他们走得很早，花园里发生的事没有耽误太多的时间，弗兰奇和波莉都说他们可以很容易地在天黑前赶回纳尼亚。回去的路上，迪格雷一言不发，其他两位也不好意思与他说话。他极度悲哀，一直拿不准自己是否做对了，但只要他想起阿斯兰眼中闪烁的泪光，他就坚信自己没有错。

一整天，弗兰奇都不知疲倦地扇动着翅膀，稳稳地飞行。越过高山，飞过森林覆盖的原始山区，过了大瀑布，高度越来越低，一直飞到在高大岩壁投下的阴影中显得灰暗无光的纳尼亚林区。最后，背后的天空被夕阳染得绯红。它看见河边聚集了许多动物，很快就看见阿斯兰也在其中。弗兰奇收了双翅，伸开四蹄滑了下来，慢跑着落在地上。停稳后，孩子们下了马，迪格雷看见所有的动物、小矮人、森林之神、河泽仙女等全都朝两边退去，为他留出一条路来。他径直走到阿斯兰跟前，将苹果递给它，说：

“阁下，我把你想要的苹果摘来了。”

14

栽树

“干得好。”阿斯兰用震撼大地的声音说。迪格雷知道所有的纳尼亚公民都听到了，他们的故事在那个新世界里将由父辈传给儿子，几百年也许永远流传下去。然而他并没有陷入骄傲自满的危险，因为，现在他面对面地看着阿斯兰的时候，根本就没有想到这一点。这次，他发现可以正视狮子的眼睛。他已经忘了自己的难处，完完全全地心满意足了。

“干得好，亚当的儿子。”狮子又说，“你曾经渴望得到这只苹果并为它流过泪，只有你的手可以栽下这颗用来保卫纳尼亚的树种。将苹果朝河边的松土扔过去吧。”

迪格雷照着做了。大家安静下来，苹果掉进泥里时发出的轻柔响声听得很清楚。

“扔得好，”阿斯兰说，“现在，让我们为纳尼亚的弗兰克国王和他的海伦王后举行加冕典礼。”

孩子们现在才注意到这一对夫妻。他们穿着奇特而美丽的衣服，华贵的长袍从肩上一直拖到地上，四个小矮人托起国王的袍裾，四个河泽仙女托起王后的裙裾。他们的头上没有装饰，但海伦把头发披了下来，显得更加动人。然而，不是头发也不是服装使他们与过去迥然不同，而是脸上有了一种崭新的表情，尤其是国王。他在伦敦当马车夫时养成的尖刻、狡诈和好争吵的秉性全部涤荡一空，勇敢和善良的本性则比较明显。也许，是这个年轻世界的空气或与阿斯兰的谈话产生了这样的效果，也许两者兼有。

“天哪，”弗兰奇悄悄对波莉说，“我的老主人几乎与我一样大大地变了。他现在是个真正的主人了。”

“是的，但别在我耳边叽叽喳喳，”波莉说，“太痒了。”

“现在，”阿斯兰说，“你们去把缠在一起的那几棵树松开。让我们看看里面到底是什么。”

迪格雷这才看见，四棵树紧紧地长在一起，树枝相互缠绕纠结，形成一个像笼子似的东西。两头大象用鼻子、几个小矮人用小斧很快分开了那些树枝。里面有三样东西：一棵小树，似乎是金子做的；另一棵像是银子做的小树；但第三样东西模样太惨，衣服上涂满泥浆，弓腰缩背地夹在两棵树之间。

“哦！”迪格雷低低地喊了一声，“安德鲁舅舅！”

我们必须倒回去才能解释清楚。你记得动物们曾试着把他栽进土里并且浇了水吧？当水使他头脑清醒时，他发现自己浑身湿透，大腿以下全部埋在土里（土很快变成了泥浆），被他做梦也想不到的众多野兽包围着。自然他开始尖声号叫。从某种意义上讲，这是一件好事，因为，最终动物们（包括野猪）知道他还活着。于是，它们又把他挖出来（此刻，他的裤子着实会吓人一跳）。腿一出来，他就想跑，但大象用鼻子在他腰上轻轻一卷便挡住了他。每个动物都认为必须将他安全地囚起来，直到阿斯兰有空过来看了以后再行发落。所以，它们就做了一个笼子或者说棚子将他圈了起来。然后，用它们想得到的所有食物喂他。

驴子将一大堆蓟扔进笼子，但安德鲁舅舅似乎并不理睬。松鼠们连珠炮似的砸下许多坚果，但他只是用手遮头，想法躲开。几只鸟儿勤奋地飞来飞去，向笼子里投下虫子。那头熊尤其善良。下午，它发现一只野蜂的蜂巢，高尚的熊自己舍不得吃（它其实非常想吃），带回来给了安德鲁舅舅。然而，这是最失败的一招。熊把那团黏乎乎的东西挂在笼子的顶上，不巧打着了安德鲁舅舅的脸（不是所有的蜂都死了）。那头熊自己毫不在乎脸被蜂巢打一下，也就无法理解安德鲁舅舅为什么蹒跚着往后退，滑了一跤，跌坐在地。而非常不幸的是，他又坐在了那堆蓟上。“无论如何，”像那头野猪说的，“不少蜂蜜流进了那东西的嘴巴，一定会对他有好处。”它们对这个奇怪的宠物真正地感起兴趣来，并希望阿斯兰允许它们饲养他。较聪明的一些动物十分肯定地说，他嘴里发出的声音中至少有一部分是有意义的。它们叫他“白兰地”，因为他常常发出那个音。

然而，最后，他们不得不把他留在那里过夜。那天，阿斯兰一直忙着指导新的国王和王后，或做其他重要的事情，无法过问“可怜的老白兰地”。那么多苹果、梨子、坚果和香蕉扔了进去。他的晚餐相当丰盛，但要说他度过了一个愉快的夜晚却很不真实。

“把那东西带出来。”阿斯兰说。一头大象用鼻子将安德鲁舅舅卷了起来，放在狮子脚边，他吓得无法动弹了。

“对不起，阿斯兰，”波莉说，“你能说点儿什么——让他别害怕吗？然后再说点儿什么让他以后别再来这儿？”

“你认为他想来吗？”阿斯兰说。

“嗯，阿斯兰，”波莉说，“他可能会派别人来。从灯柱上扭下的铁棒又长成小灯柱使他很激动，他想——”

“他的想法非常蠢，孩子，”阿斯兰说：“这个世界在这几天里充满着生命力，是因为给它注入生命力的歌声还飘逸在空中，回荡在地上。这是不会持续很久的。可是我不能跟这老无赖说这些，我也无法安慰他。他弄得他自己无法听懂我的话。如果我对他说话，他只会听到咕哝和咆哮。啊，亚当的孩子，你们抵抗了对你们有好处的所有诱惑，多么聪明！但我会把他能够接受的惟一礼物给他的。”

它神情悲戚地低下巨大的头，朝魔法师受惊的脸上吹了一口气。“睡，”它说，“睡吧，把你自找的烦恼丢开几小时吧。”安德鲁舅舅立即合上眼皮，倒在地上，开始安详地呼吸起来。

“把他弄到一边，让他躺着。”阿斯兰说，“好吧，小矮人，施展你们的铁匠手艺。让我看着你们给国王和王后做两个王冠。”

做梦也想不到的许许多多小矮人朝那棵金树奔去，眨眼间，就把树上的全部叶子和一些枝桠摘了下来。孩子们现在知道，那棵树不光是金色的，而且的确是柔软的金子。它当然是从安德鲁舅舅被倒立时口袋里金币落地的地方长出来的，就像银币落地会长成银树一样。小矮人不知从哪儿弄来一堆做燃料的干灌木，还有一个小铁砧，几把铁锤，钳子和风箱。不一会儿（小矮人们很喜欢自己的工作），火就烧旺了，风箱呼呼地拉响，金子熔化了，铁锤丁丁当当地敲打起来。刚才被阿斯兰派去掘地的两只鼹鼠（它们最喜欢掘地）把一堆珍贵的宝石倒在小矮人脚下。小铁匠们灵巧的双手做成了两顶王冠——不像现在欧洲的王冠那样笨重、丑陋，而是两个轻巧、精致、造型优美的圆环，你真的可以戴上而且戴上后会更漂亮。国王的王冠上镶着红宝石，王后的王冠上镶着绿宝石。

王冠在河水中冷却后，阿斯兰要弗兰克和海伦跪在它面前，它将王冠给他们戴上，然后说：“站起来，纳尼亚的国王和王后，你们将是纳尼亚、各个岛屿及阿钦兰许多国王的父母。要公正、仁慈、勇敢。祝福你们。”

大家全都欢呼、狂吠、嘶鸣，或拍打翅膀，或发出喇叭一样的声音。国王夫妇站起来，表情庄严，略带羞涩，但羞涩使他们看上去更加高贵。迪格雷正在欢呼，耳边响起阿斯兰低沉的声音：

“看！”

每个人或动物都转过头去，十分惊喜地深吸了一口气。一棵显然是才生出来的树挺立在几步开外的地方，枝桠已覆盖到他们头上。那棵树一定是当他们忙着给国王和王后加冕时静悄悄地长起来的，就像挂在旗杆上的旗子升上去时那么迅捷。它伸出的树枝投下了一片光，而不是一片阴影。每一片叶子下，隐约看见犹如星星般的银色苹果。然而，是它发出的气味而不是它的形象使他们深吸了一口气。一瞬间，你很难再想别的事了。

“亚当的儿子，”阿斯兰说，“你栽得很好。你们，纳尼亚的公民，保卫这棵树是你们的首要任务，因为它就是你们的盾。我跟你们说的那个女巫已经逃到北边的山里去了；她会在那儿住下来，靠邪恶的魔法越长越强壮。但只要这棵树枝繁叶茂，她就决不敢进入纳尼亚。她不敢走到离这棵树一百里以内，因为这棵树的气味能给你们带来欢乐、生命和健康，对她来说，却是死亡、恐惧和绝望。”

每个人和动物都庄严地凝视着那棵树，突然，阿斯兰头一甩（毛发上金光闪烁），紧紧地盯着孩子们。“什么事，孩子们？”它说。因为它看见他们正低声耳语并互相用肘轻轻推挤。

“啊——阿斯兰，阁下，”迪格雷红着脸说，“我忘了告诉你，女巫已经吃了一个苹果，跟这树上结的一模一样。”他没有完全说出真实的想法，但波莉马上替他说了。（和她相比，他更害怕被人看成傻瓜。）

“所以，我们认为，阿斯兰，”她说，“一定出了问题，她不会真正在乎那些苹果的味道的。”

“你为什么这么想，夏娃的女儿？”狮子问。

“唔，她吃了一个。”

“孩子，”它回答说，“这样一来，所有剩下的苹果对她来说都很可怕。对那些在错误的时间、用错误的方法摘苹果、吃苹果的人，就会产生这样的结果。果子很好，但他们以后会永远厌恶它。”

“哦，我明白了，”波莉说，“我想，因为她摘得不对，苹果对她就不起作用，我是说，就不会使她永远年轻等等。”

“啊，不，”阿斯兰摇着头说，“会的，事物本身的规律不会变。她如愿以偿了，她像女神一样有永不枯竭的力量和无尽的天年。但如果一个人有一颗邪恶的心，活多久就会烦恼多久，她已经开始懂得这一点了。他们这些人要什么有什么，但他们不见得总喜欢这样。”

“我——我自己差点儿吃了一个，阿斯兰。”迪格雷说，“我——我会……？”

“你会的，孩子，”阿斯兰说，“因为苹果总是要起作用的——必须起作用——但不会对那些为了自己的私欲而摘它的人有好结果。如果任何一位纳尼亚公民不听劝告，偷一个苹果，然后栽在这里保卫纳尼亚，当然它就会保卫纳尼亚。但是，它会把纳尼亚变成恰恩那样强大而残酷的帝国，而不是我所希望的这种友爱的国家。女巫还诱惑你干另一件事，不是吗，我的孩子？”

“是的，阿斯兰。她要我摘一个苹果带回家给妈妈。”

“要知道，这也会治好她的病，但不会给你或她带来欢乐。如果你那样做了，总有一天，你和她回想起这件事时，会说，当初还不如病死的好。”

眼中的泪水噎得迪格雷说不出话来。他放弃了救妈妈性命的全部希望；但同时他也明白，狮子对于会发生的一切都了如指掌，也许有些事情比一个你所爱的人去世还要可怕。这时，阿斯兰又说：

“如果偷一个苹果，结果就和我刚刚说的那样。但现在不会发生这样的事。我现在给你的苹果会带来欢乐。在你们的世界里，它不会使人长生不老，但能够治病。去吧，从树上摘一个苹果给你妈妈。”

一时间，迪格雷简直被弄糊涂了。好像整个世界都颠倒混乱了。然后，他仿佛做梦一样，向那棵树走去，国王和王后为他欢呼，动物们也都为他欢呼。他摘下苹果，放进口袋，回到阿斯兰身边。

“对不起，”他说，“我们可以回家了吗？”他忘了说“谢谢”，但他有这个意思，而阿斯兰也理解他。

15

这个故事的结束及其他故事的开始

“有我在，你们不需要戒指。”阿斯兰说。孩子们眨眨眼，左顾右盼，一下子又到了各个世界之间的树林。安德鲁舅舅躺在草地上，仍然睡着。阿斯兰站在他们旁边。

“来，”阿斯兰说，“你们该回去了。但要注意两件事，一个是警告，一个是命令。看这儿，孩子们。”

他们看见草中有个小坑，坑底长满温暖而干燥的草。

“你们上次来的时候，”阿斯兰说，“这儿还是一个水潭。你们跳进去后，就到了恰恩，一轮垂死的太阳照在废墟上的那个世界。现在，水潭没有了，那个世界也消失了，似乎从来没有存在过。让亚当和夏娃的种族视之为警告吧。”

“是的，阿斯兰。”两个孩子一起说。但波莉又补充了一句，“可我们的世界总还没有恰恩那么糟糕吧，阿斯兰？”

“还没有，夏娃的女儿，”它说，“还没有。但你们正在朝那个方向发展。说不定你们种族中某一个坏人会发现像灭绝咒那样邪恶的魔咒，并用它来毁灭所有的生命。快了，很快，在你们变成老头子老太婆之前，你们世界中的大国将被独裁者统治，他们跟简蒂丝女王一样，不把幸福、公正和仁慈当回事。让你们的世界当心吧。这就是那个警告。现在说命令。尽快地拿到你们这位舅舅的戒指，把它们埋到地下去，使得没有人再能用它们。”

当狮子说这番话时，两个孩子都抬起头，凝视着它。顷刻间（他们一点儿也不知道是怎么发生的），那张脸变成了一片起伏不定的金色海洋，他们漂浮在海中，一种力和甜蜜的感觉缠绕着他们，淹没了他们并渗透到他们体内，使他们意识到，自己以前从来没有过真正的幸福、智慧和美好，甚至没有活过、醒过。那一瞬间的记忆一直伴随着他们，在他们的有生之年，只要心中感到悲哀、害怕或者愤怒，就会想起那一刻金色的良辰，那种感觉依然存在，很近，就在某个拐弯处或者某一扇门后，就会重新回来，使他们由衷地相信，生活是美好的。不一会儿，三个人（安德鲁舅舅也醒了）就跌跌撞撞地回到了伦敦的喧嚣、炎热和刺鼻气味中。

他们走在凯特利家前门外的人行道上，除了女巫、马和马车夫消失了以外，一切依然如旧。灯柱还在，缺了一根横杆。马车的残骸和人群都在。大伙儿都在议论，有人跪在被打伤的警察身边，说着“他醒过来了”、“你现在觉得怎么样，老弟？”或者“救护车马上就到”之类的话。

“天哪！”迪格雷想，“我相信整个这次历险根本没费什么时间。”

大多数人还在着急地四下寻找简蒂丝和那匹马，谁也没有注意孩子们，因为谁也没有看见他们离去，也就不会注意到他们回来。至于安德鲁舅舅，他那身衣服和脸上的蜂蜜使他不可能被人认出来。真巧，前门开着，女佣正站在门廊里看热闹。（那姑娘多么开心！）所以，孩子们在任何人提出任何问题之前就催着安德鲁舅舅进了门。

他抢在他们前头冲上了楼，起先，他们还怕他一头扎进阁楼，把剩下的魔法戒指藏起来。但他们的担心是多余的。他想的是柜子里的酒瓶；他马上进了卧室，锁上了门。当他再出来时（时间不长），已经换上了晨衣，径直向浴室走去。

“你能去找其他的戒指吗，波莉？”迪格雷说，“我想去看妈妈。”

“好的，再见。”波莉说着嗒嗒嗒地跑上了阁楼。

迪格雷喘了一会儿气，然后轻轻地走进了妈妈的房间。他妈妈照旧靠着枕头躺在那里，没有血色的苍白的脸实在催人泪下。迪格雷从包里拿出生命之果。

就像你在我们世界里看见的简蒂丝同在她的世界里看见的不一样，山上花园里的果实看上去也有了变化。卧室里自然有不少各种色彩的东西：床罩、墙纸、从窗口射进的阳光，以及妈妈那件漂亮的淡蓝色短上衣。但迪格雷从口袋里一拿出苹果，所有的东西甚至阳光都黯然失色。明亮的苹果在天花板上投下奇异的光彩，别的东西都不值一看了——你实在也无法再看任何别的东西。那只青春之果的香味使你觉得房间里似乎有一扇朝着天堂开启的窗户。

“哦，亲爱的，多可爱啊。”迪格雷的妈妈说。

“你把它吃下去，好吗？请吃下去，妈妈。”迪格雷说。

“我不知道医生会怎么说，”她回答，“但是真的——我觉得我好像可以吃。”

他削了皮，切开，一片一片地喂给妈妈吃。刚一吃完，妈妈就微笑了，头向后一挨枕头便酣然入睡：那是不需要借助任何药物的真正自然而温柔的睡眠。迪格雷知道，世上所有的东西中，这是妈妈最需要的。而且，他能肯定，她的脸上起了一点儿变化。他俯下身，轻柔地吻了吻她，拿着苹果核，带着一颗激动的心，悄悄地出了房间。那一天中，不管他看见什么，都觉得太普通，太不稀奇，他几乎不敢有所希望了，但当他想起阿斯兰的脸，心中就又充满了希望。

那天晚上，他将苹果核埋在了后花园里。

次日清晨，医生照例来访的时候，迪格雷靠在楼梯的扶手上，听见医生和蕾蒂姨妈走出来时说：

“凯特利小姐，这是我行医生涯中见过的最不寻常的病例。它——它像一桩奇迹。我现在不想告诉那小孩任何情况；我们不愿给人任何错误的希望。但是，依我看……”接下去，他的声音便低得听不见了。

那天下午，他到了花园，用口哨向波莉发出他们约定的暗语（前一天她没能过来）。

“有好消息吗？”波莉爬在墙头上说，“我是问，你的妈妈？”

“我想——我想正在好转，”迪格雷说，“但如果你不介意，我真的不愿再提这件事了。戒指怎么样？”

“我全拿到了，”波莉说，“看，没事儿，我戴着手套呢。我们去埋了它们吧。”

“好的，去吧。我已经在昨天埋苹果核的地方做了记号。”

波莉翻过墙，两人一起走过去。其实，迪格雷根本不需要做记号，那里已经长出了一点东西。不是正在长，像在纳尼亚看见的新树生长一样，而是已经长出了地面。他们拿了一把铲子，绕着那东西，把所有的魔法戒指埋成一圈。

大约一周以后，迪格雷的妈妈明显越来越好。两周后，她便能坐在花园里了。过了一个月，整幢房子都变了样。凡是妈妈喜欢的事蕾蒂姨妈都做了；窗户打开了，脏窗帘拉开后房间里一片明亮，到处都有新采的鲜花。旧钢琴调好音后，妈妈又开始了歌唱，而且和迪格雷以及波莉在一起玩耍，连蕾蒂姨妈都说：“我敢说，玛贝尔，你是三个孩子中最大的一个。”

当事情不顺心时，你会发现在一段时间里会越变越糟，但当事情一旦开始好转，又常常是越来越好。这种好日子大约过了六周之后，在印度的爸爸写来一封长长的信，里面有很多惊人的好消息。老叔祖父柯克去世了，这当然意味着爸爸现在非常富有。他即将从印度退休回家，再也不走了。迪格雷一生下来就听说过但从未见过的那幢乡下大房子现在成了他们的家。大房子里有几套盔甲，有马厩、养狗场，有河流、公园、暖房、葡萄园和树林，后面还有山。所以，迪格雷和你们一样，十分肯定地认为他们今后将过上幸福生活。但也许你想知道另外一两件事情。

波莉和迪格雷一直是非常要好的朋友，几乎每个假期她都到乡下去，和他们一起住在那幢漂亮的房子里；她在那儿学会了骑马、游泳、挤奶、烤面包和爬山。

在纳尼亚，动物们非常快乐地生活在和平之中，几百年里，女巫和其他任何敌人都没来骚扰那片乐土。弗兰克国王与海伦王后以及他们的孩子也非常幸福地生活在纳尼亚。他们的第二个儿子当了阿钦兰的国王。儿子们娶了仙女，女儿们嫁了河神与树神。女巫栽下（她自己并不知道）的路灯柱日夜照耀在纳尼亚的森林里，它长大的那片地方被叫作灯柱野林。几百年后，另一个孩子在一个下雪的夜晚，从我们的世界走进纳尼亚，发现那盏灯依然亮着。那次历险在某种意义上与我刚刚告诉你们的故事紧密相联。

事情是这样的。迪格雷埋在后花园里的苹果核长成了一棵美丽的树。因为长在我们这个世界的土壤里，远离阿斯兰的声音和纳尼亚年轻的空气，虽然它的果实比英格兰其他所有苹果都要漂亮得多，而且对你极有益处，但却没有十足的魔力，也不会再像救活迪格雷的妈妈一样使一个垂死的妇女恢复生机。但是，就这棵果树的内在性质而言，在它的汁液之中，这棵树（就这样称它吧）仍然没有忘记它所属的在纳尼亚的那棵树。有时没有刮风，它也会神秘地摇动。我想，这种时候纳尼亚一定在刮大风；在英格兰的这棵树之所以战栗，是因为纳尼亚的母树在强劲的西南风中摇摆晃动。然而，以后证明了，这棵树的木材中仍然存在着魔法。当迪格雷到了中年（那时，他成了著名的学者、教授和大旅行家，凯特利家的老房子也归他所有），英格兰南部的一场风暴吹倒了那棵树。他不忍心让人把它当柴烧了，便用一部分木料做了一个大衣柜，放在他乡下的大房子里。他自己虽然没有发现那衣柜的魔力，另一个人却发现了。那就是我们的世界和纳尼亚之间所有故事的开端，你可以在这本书的其他故事里读到。

当迪格雷和他的家人搬往乡下的大房子时，他们把安德鲁舅舅带了过去，与他们一起生活；因为迪格雷的爸爸说：“我们必须阻止这老家伙再捣乱，可怜的蕾蒂始终要照看他，太不公平。”安德鲁舅舅此后再也没有做过任何魔法试验。他吸取了教训，到了晚年，不再像从前那么自私，变得比较可爱。但他总是喜欢在弹子房里单独会客，给他们讲一个神秘的外国王族女人的故事，说他曾经和她一起驾着马车在伦敦街上兜风。“她脾气很坏，”他爱说，“可她是一个漂亮的贵妇人，先生，一个漂亮的贵妇人。”

Dedication

To the Kilmer Family

CHAPTER 1

The Wrong Door

This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child.It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our own world and the land of Narnia first began.

In those days Mr Sherlock Holmes was still living in Baker Street and the Bastables were looking for treasure in the Lewisham Road.In those days,if you were a boy you had to wear a stiff Eton collar every day,and schools were usually nastier than now.But meals were nicer；and as for sweets,I won't tell you how cheap and good they were,because it would only make your mouth water in vain.And in those days there lived in London a girl called Polly Plummer.

She lived in one of a long row of houses which were all joined together.One morning she was out in the back garden when a boy scrambled up from the garden next door and put his face over the wall.Polly was very surprised because up till now there had never been any children in that house,but only Mr Ketterley and Miss Ketterley,a brother and sister,old bachelor and old maid,living together.So she looked up,full of curiosity.The face of the strange boy was very grubby.It could hardly have been grubbier if he had first rubbed his hands in the earth,and then had a good cry,and then dried his face with his hands.As a matter of fact,this was very nearly what he had been doing.

“Hullo,” said Polly.

“Hullo,” said the boy.“What's your name?”

“Polly,” said Polly.“What's yours?”

“Digory,” said the boy.

“I say,what a funny name!” said Polly.

“It isn't half so funny as Polly,” said Digory.

“Yes,it is,” said Polly.

“No,it isn't,” said Digory.

“At any rate I do wash my face,” said Polly.“Which is what you need to do；especially after—”and then she stopped.She had been going to say“After you've been blubbing,” but she thought that wouldn't be polite.

“All right,I have then,” said Digory in a much louder voice,like a boy who was so miserable that he didn't care who knew he had been crying.“And so would you,” he went on,“if you'd lived all your life in the country and had a pony,and a river at the bottom of the garden,and then been brought to live in a beastly Hole like this.”

“London isn't a Hole,” said Polly indignantly.But the boy was too wound up to take any notice of her,and he went on –

“And if your father was away in India – and you had to come and live with an Aunt and an Uncle who's mad(who would like that?)– and if the reason was that they were looking after your Mother – and if your Mother was ill and was going to – going to – die.” Then his face went the wrong sort of shape as it does if you're trying to keep back your tears.

“I didn't know.I'm sorry,” said Polly humbly.And then,because she hardly knew what to say,and also to turn Digory's mind to cheerful subjects,she asked：

“Is Mr Ketterley really mad?”

“Well,either he's mad,” said Digory,“or there's some other mystery.He has a study on the top floor and Aunt Letty says I must never go up there.Well,that looks fishy to begin with.And then there's another thing.Whenever he tries to say anything to me at meal times – he never even tries to talk to her– she always shuts him up.She says,'Don't worry the boy,Andrew',or,'I'm sure Digory doesn't want to hear about that',or else,'Now,Digory,wouldn't you like to go out and play in the garden?'”

“What sort of things does he try to say?”

“I don't know.He never gets far enough.But there's more than that.One night – it was last night in fact – as I was going past the foot of the attic stairs on my way to bed(and I don't much care for going past them either)I'm sure I heard a yell.”

“Perhaps he keeps a mad wife shut up there.”

“Yes,I've thought of that.”

“Or perhaps he's a coiner.”

“Or he might have been a pirate,like the man at the beginning of Treasure Island,and be always hiding from his old shipmates.”

“How exciting!” said Polly,“I never knew your house was so interesting.”

“You may think it interesting,” said Digory.“But you wouldn't like it if you had to sleep there.How would you like to lie awake listening for Uncle Andrew's step to come creeping along the passage to your room?And he has such awful eyes.”

That was how Polly and Digory got to know one another：and as it was just the beginning of the summer holidays and neither of them was going to the sea that year,they met nearly every day.

Their adventures began chiefly because it was one of the wettest and coldest summers there had been for years.That drove them to do indoor things：you might say,indoor exploration.It is wonderful how much exploring you can do with a stump of candle in a big house,or in a row of houses.Polly had discovered long ago that if you opened a certain little door in the box-room attic of her house you would find the cistern and a dark place behind it which you could get into by a little careful climbing.The dark place was like a long tunnel with brick wall on one side and sloping roof on the other.In the roof there were little chunks of light between the slates.There was no floor in this tunnel：you had to step from rafter to rafter,and between them there was only plaster.If you stepped on this you would find yourself falling through the ceiling of the room below.Polly had used the bit of the tunnel just beside the cistern as a smugglers'cave.She had brought up bits of old packing cases and the seats of broken kitchen chairs,and things of that sort,and spread them across from rafter to rafter so as to make a bit of floor.Here she kept a cash-box containing various treasures,and a story she was writing and usually a few apples.She had often drunk a quiet bottle of ginger-beer in there：the old bottles made it look more like a smugglers'cave.

Digory quite liked the cave(she wouldn't let him see the story)but he was more interested in exploring.

“Look here,” he said.“How long does this tunnel go on for?I mean,does it stop where your house ends?”

“No,” said Polly.“The walls don't go out to the roof.It goes on.I don't know how far.”

“Then we could get the length of the whole row of houses.”

“So we could,” said Polly.“And oh,I say!”

“What?”

“We could get into the other houses.”

“Yes,and get taken up for burglars!No thanks.”

“Don't be so jolly clever.I was thinking of the house beyond yours.”

“What about it?”

“Why,it's the empty one.Daddy says it's always been empty since we came here.”

“I suppose we ought to have a look at it then,”said Digory.He was a good deal more excited than you'd have thought from the way he spoke.For of course he was thinking,just as you would have been,of all the reasons why the house might have been empty so long.So was Polly.Neither of them said the word “haunted”.And both felt that once the thing had been suggested,it would be feeble not to do it.

“Shall we go and try it now?” said Digory.

“All right,” said Polly.

“Don't if you'd rather not,” said Digory.

“I'm game if you are,” said she.

“How are we to know we're in the next house but one?”

They decided they would have to go out into the box-room and walk across it taking steps as long as the steps from one rafter to the next.That would give them an idea of how many rafters went to a room.Then they would allow about four more for the passage between the two attics in Polly's house,and then the same number for the maid's bedroom as for the box-room.That would give them the length of the house.When they had done that distance twice they would be at the end of Digory's house；any door they came to after that would let them into an attic of the empty house.

“But I don't expect it's really empty at all,” said Digory.

“What do you expect?”

“I expect someone lives there in secret,only coming in and out at night,with a dark lantern.We shall probably discover a gang of desperate criminals and get a reward.It's all rot to say a house would be empty all those years unless there was some mystery.”

“Daddy thought it must be the drains,” said Polly.

“Pooh!Grown-ups are always thinking of uninteresting explanations,” said Digory.Now that they were talking by daylight in the attic instead of by candlelight in the Smugglers' Cave it seemed much less likely that the empty house would be haunted.

When they had measured the attic they had to get a pencil and do a sum.They both got different answers to it at first,and even when they agreed I am not sure they got it right.They were in a hurry to start on the exploration.

“We mustn't make a sound,” said Polly as they climbed in again behind the cistern.Because it was such an important occasion they took a candle each(Polly had a good store of them in her cave).

It was very dark and dusty and draughty and they stepped from rafter to rafter without a word except when they whispered to one another,“We're opposite your attic now”,or “This must be halfway through our house”.And neither of them stumbled and the candles didn't go out,and at last they came to where they could see a little door in the brick wall on their right.There was no bolt or handle on this side of it,of course,for the door had been made for getting in,not for getting out；but there was a catch(as there often is on the inside of a cupboard door)which they felt sure they would be able to turn.

“Shall I?” said Digory.

“I'm game if you are,” said Polly,just as she had said before.Both felt that it was becoming very serious,but neither would draw back.Digory pushed round the catch with some difficulty.The door swung open and the sudden daylight made them blink.Then,with a great shock,they saw that they were looking,not into a deserted attic,but into a furnished room.But it seemed empty enough.It was dead silent.Polly's curiosity got the better of her.She blew out her candle and stepped out into the strange room,making no more noise than a mouse.

It was shaped,of course,like an attic,but furnished as a sitting-room.Every bit of the walls was lined with shelves and every bit of the shelves was full of books.A fire was burning in the grate(you remember that it was a very cold wet summer that year)and in front of the fireplace with its back towards them was a high-backed armchair.Between the chair and Polly,and filling most of the middle of the room,was a big table piled with all sorts of things – printed books,and books of the sort you write in,and ink bottles and pens and sealing-wax and a microscope.But what she noticed first was a bright red wooden tray with a number of rings on it.They were in pairs – a yellow one and a green one together,then a little space,and then another yellow one and another green one.They were no bigger than ordinary rings,and no one could help noticing them because they were so bright.They were the most beautiful shiny little things you can imagine.If Polly had been a very little younger she would have wanted to put one in her mouth.

The room was so quiet that you noticed the ticking of the clock at once.And yet,as she now found,it was not absolutely quiet either.There was a faint – a very,very faint – humming sound.If Hoovers had been invented in those days Polly would have thought it was the sound of a Hoover being worked a long way off – several rooms away and several floors below.But it was a nicer sound than that,a more musical tone：only so faint that you could hardly hear it.

“It's all right – there's no one here,” said Polly over her shoulder to Digory.She was speaking above a whisper now.And Digory came out,blinking and looking extremely dirty – as indeed Polly was too.

“This is no good,” he said.“It's not an empty house at all.We'd better bunk before anyone comes.”

“What do you think those are?” said Polly,pointing at the coloured rings.

“Oh,come on,” said Digory.“The sooner—”

He never finished what he was going to say for at that moment something happened.The highbacked chair in front of the fire moved suddenly and there rose up out of it – like a pantomime demon coming up out of a trapdoor – the alarming form of Uncle Andrew.They were not in the empty house at all；they were in Digory's house and in the forbidden study!Both children said “O-o-oh” and realized their terrible mistake.They felt they ought to have known all along that they hadn't gone nearly far enough.

Uncle Andrew was tall and very thin.He had a long clean-shaven face with a sharply pointed nose and extremely bright eyes and a great tousled mop of grey hair.

Digory was quite speechless,for Uncle Andrew looked a thousand times more alarming than he had ever looked before.Polly was not so frightened yet；but she soon was.For the very first thing Uncle Andrew did was to walk across to the door of the room,shut it,and turn the key in the lock.Then he turned round,fixed the children with his bright eyes,and smiled,showing all his teeth.

“There!” he said.“Now my fool of a sister can't get at you!”

It was dreadfully unlike anything a grown-up would be expected to do.Polly's heart came into her mouth,and she and Digory started backing towards the little door they had come in by.Uncle Andrew was too quick for them.He got behind them and shut that door too and stood in front of it.Then he rubbed his hands and made his knuckles crack.He had very long,beautifully white,fingers.

“I am delighted to see you,” he said.“Two children are just what I wanted.”

“Please,Mr Ketterley,” said Polly.“It's nearly my dinner time and I've got to go home.Will you let us out,please?”

“Not just yet,” said Uncle Andrew.“This is too good an opportunity to miss.I wanted two children.You see,I'm in the middle of a great experiment.I've tried it on a guinea-pig and it seemed to work.But then a guinea-pig can't tell you anything.And you can't explain to it how to come back.”

“Look here,Uncle Andrew,” said Digory,“it really is dinner time and they'll be looking for us in a moment.You must let us out.”

“Must?” said Uncle Andrew.

Digory and Polly glanced at one another.They dared not say anything,but the glances meant“Isn't this dreadful?” and “We must humour him.”

“If you let us go for our dinner now,” said Polly,“we could come back after dinner.”

“Ah,but how do I know that you would?” said Uncle Andrew with a cunning smile.Then he seemed to change his mind.

“Well,well,” he said,“if you really must go,I suppose you must.I can't expect two youngsters like you to find it much fun talking to an old buffer like me.” He sighed and went on.“You've no idea how lonely I sometimes am.But no matter.Go to your dinner.But I must give you a present before you go.It's not every day that I see a little girl in my dingy old study；especially,if I may say so,such a very attractive young lady as yourself.”

Polly began to think he might not really be mad after all.

“Wouldn't you like a ring,my dear?” said Uncle Andrew to Polly.

“Do you mean one of those yellow or green ones?” said Polly.“How lovely!”

“Not a green one,” said Uncle Andrew.“I'm afraid I can't give the green ones away.But I'd be delighted to give you any of the yellow ones：with my love.Come and try one on.”

Polly had now quite got over her fright and felt sure that the old gentleman was not mad；and there was certainly something strangely attractive about those bright rings.She moved over to the tray.

“Why!I declare,” she said.“That humming noise gets louder here.It's almost as if the rings were making it.”

“What a funny fancy,my dear,” said Uncle Andrew with a laugh.It sounded a very natural laugh,but Digory had seen an eager,almost a greedy,look on his face.

“Polly!Don't be a fool!” he shouted.“Don't touch them.”

It was too late.Exactly as he spoke,Polly's hand went out to touch one of the rings.And immediately,without a flash or a noise or a warning of any sort,there was no Polly.Digory and his Uncle were alone in the room.

CHAPTER 2

Digory and his Uncle

It was so sudden,and so horribly unlikeanything that had ever happened to Digory even in a nightmare,that he let out a scream.Instantly Uncle Andrew's hand was over his mouth.“None of that!” he hissed in Digory's ear.“If you start making a noise your Mother'll hear it.And you know what a fright might do to her.”

As Digory said afterwards,the horrible meanness of getting at a chap in that way almost made him sick.But of course he didn't scream again.“That's better,” said Uncle Andrew.“Perhaps you couldn't help it.It is a shock when you first see someone vanish.Why,it gave even me a turn when the guinea-pig did it the other night.”

“Was that when you yelled?” asked Digory.

“Oh,you heard that,did you?I hope you haven't been spying on me?”

“No,I haven't,” said Digory indignantly.“But what's happened to Polly?”

“Congratulate me,my dear boy,” said Uncle Andrew,rubbing his hands.“My experiment has succeeded.The little girl's gone – vanished – right out of the world.”

“What have you done to her?”

“Sent her to – well – to another place.”

“What do you mean?” asked Digory.

Uncle Andrew sat down and said,“Well,I'll tell you all about it.Have you ever heard of old Mrs Lefay?”

“Wasn't she a great-aunt or something?” said Digory.

“Not exactly,” said Uncle Andrew.“She was my godmother.That's her,there,on the wall.”

Digory looked and saw a faded photograph：it showed the face of an old woman in a bonnet.And he could now remember that he had once seen a photo of the same face in an old drawer,at home,in the country.He had asked his Mother who it was and Mother had not seemed to want to talk about the subject much.It was not at all a nice face,Digory thought,though of course with those early photographs one could never really tell.

“Was there – wasn't there – something wrong about her,Uncle Andrew?” he asked.

“Well,” said Uncle Andrew with a chuckle,“it depends what you call wrong.People are so narrowminded.She certainly got very queer in later life.Did very unwise things.That was why they shut her up.”

“In an asylum,do you mean?”

“Oh no,no,no,” said Uncle Andrew in a shocked voice.“Nothing of that sort.Only in prison.”

“I say!” said Digory.“What had she done?”

“Ah,poor woman,” said Uncle Andrew.“She had been very unwise.There were a good many different things.We needn't go into all that.She was always very kind to me.”

“But look here,what has all this got to do with Polly?I do wish you'd—”

“All in good time,my boy,” said Uncle Andrew.“They let old Mrs Lefay out before she died and I was one of the very few people whom she would allow to see her in her last illness.She had got to dislike ordinary,ignorant people,you understand.I do myself.But she and I were interested in the same sort of things.It was only a few days before her death that she told me to go to an old bureau in her house and open a secret drawer and bring her a little box that I would find there.The moment I picked up that box I could tell by the pricking in my fingers that I held some great secret in my hands.She gave it to me and made me promise that as soon as she was dead I would burn it,unopened,with certain ceremonies.That promise I did not keep.”

“Well,then,it was jolly rotten of you,” said Digory.

“Rotten?” said Uncle Andrew with a puzzled look.“Oh,I see.You mean that little boys ought to keep their promises.Very true：most right and proper,I'm sure,and I'm very glad you have been taught to do it.But of course you must understand that rules of that sort,however excellent they may be for little boys – and servants – and women – and even people in general,can't possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages.No,Digory.Men like me,who possess hidden wisdom,are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures.Ours,my boy,is a high and lonely destiny.”

As he said this he sighed and looked so grave and noble and mysterious that for a second Digory really thought he was saying something rather fine.But then he remembered the ugly look he had seen on his Uncle's face the moment before Polly had vanished：and all at once he saw through Uncle Andrew's grand words.“All it means,” he said to himself,“is that he thinks he can do anything he likes to get anything he wants.”

“Of course,” said Uncle Andrew,“I didn't dare to open the box for a long time,for I knew it might contain something highly dangerous.For my godmother was a very remarkable woman.The truth is,she was one of the last mortals in this country who had fairy blood in her.(She said there had been two others in her time.One was a duchess and the other a charwoman.)In fact,Digory,you are now talking to the last man(possibly)who really had a fairy godmother.There!That'll be something for you to remember when you are an old man yourself.”

“I bet she was a bad fairy,” thought Digory；and added out loud,“But what about Polly?”

“How you do harp on that!” said Uncle Andrew.“As if that was what mattered!My first task was of course to study the box itself.It was very ancient.And I knew enough even then to know that it wasn't Greek,or Old Egyptian,or Babylonian,or Hittite,or Chinese.It was older than any of those nations.Ah – that was a great day when I at last found out the truth.The box was Atlantean；it came from the lost island of Atlantis.That meant it was centuries older than any of the Stone-Age things they dig up in Europe.And it wasn't a rough,crude thing like them either.For in the very dawn of time Atlantis was already a great city with palaces and temples and learned men.”

He paused for a moment as if he expected Digory to say something.But Digory was disliking his Uncle more every minute,so he said nothing.

“Meanwhile,” continued Uncle Andrew,“I was learning a good deal in other ways(it wouldn't be proper to explain them to a child)about Magic in general.That meant that I came to have a fair idea what sort of things might be in the box.By various tests I narrowed down the possibilities.I had to get to know some – well,some devilish queer people,and go through some very disagreeable experiences.That was what turned my head grey.One doesn't become a magician for nothing.My health broke down in the end.But I got better.And at last I actually knew.”

Although there was not really the least chance of anyone overhearing them,he leaned forward and almost whispered as he said：

“The Atlantean box contained something that had been brought from another world when our world was only just beginning.”“What?” asked Digory,who was now interested in spite of himself.

“Only dust,” said Uncle Andrew.“Fine,dry dust.Nothing much to look at.Not much to show for a lifetime of toil,you might say.Ah,but when I looked at that dust(I took jolly good care not to touch it)and thought that every grain had once been in another world – I don't mean another planet,you know；they're part of our world and you could get to them if you went far enough – but a really Other World – another Nature – another universe – somewhere you would never reach even if you travelled through the space of this universe for ever and ever – a world that could be reached only by Magic – well!” Here Uncle Andrew rubbed his hands till his knuckles cracked like fireworks.

“I knew,” he went on,“that if only you could get it into the right form,that dust would draw you back to the place it had come from.But the difficulty was to get it into the right form.My earlier experiments were all failures.I tried them on guinea-pigs.Some of them only died.Some exploded like little bombs—”

“It was a jolly cruel thing to do,” said Digory,who had once had a guinea-pig of his own.

“How you do keep getting off the point!” said Uncle Andrew.“That's what the creatures were for.I'd bought them myself.Let me see – where was I?Ah yes.At last I succeeded in making the rings：the yellow rings.But now a new difficulty arose.I was pretty sure,now,that a yellow ring would send any creature that touched it into the Other Place.But what would be the good of that if I couldn't get them back to tell me what they had found there?”

“And what about them?” said Digory.“A nice mess they'd be in if they couldn't get back!”

“You will keep on looking at everything from the wrong point of view,” said Uncle Andrew with a look of impatience.“Can't you understand that the thing is a great experiment?The whole point of sending anyone into the Other Place is that I want to find out what it's like.”

“Well,why didn't you go yourself then?”

Digory had hardly ever seen anyone look so surprised and offended as his Uncle did at this simple question.“Me?Me?” he exclaimed.“The boy must be mad!A man at my time of life,and in my state of health,to risk the shock and the dangers of being flung suddenly into a different universe?I never heard anything so preposterous in my life!Do you realize what you're saying?Think what Another World means – you might meet anything – anything.”

“And I suppose you've sent Polly into it then,”said Digory.His cheeks were flaming with anger now.“And all I can say,” he added,“even if you are my Uncle – is that you've behaved like a coward,sending a girl to a place you're afraid to go to yourself.”

“Silence,sir!” said Uncle Andrew,bringing his hand down on the table.“I will not be talked to like that by a little,dirty,schoolboy.You don't understand.I am the great scholar,the magician,the adept,who is doing the experiment.Of course I need subjects to do it on.Bless my soul,you'll be telling me next that I ought to have asked the guinea-pigs' permission before I used them!No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice.But the idea of my going myself is ridiculous.It's like asking a general to fight as a common soldier.Supposing I got killed,what would become of my life's work?”

“Oh,do stop jawing,” said Digory.“Are you going to bring Polly back?”

“I was going to tell you,when you so rudely interrupted me,” said Uncle Andrew,“that I did at last find out a way of doing the return journey.The green rings draw you back.”

“But Polly hasn't got a green ring.”

“No,” said Uncle Andrew with a cruel smile.

“Then she can't get back,” shouted Digory.“And it's exactly the same as if you'd murdered her.”

“She can get back,” said Uncle Andrew,“if someone else will go after her,wearing a yellow ring himself and taking two green rings,one to bring himself back and one to bring her back.”

And now of course Digory saw the trap in which he was caught：and he stared at Uncle Andrew,saying nothing,with his mouth wide open.His cheeks had gone very pale.

“I hope,” said Uncle Andrew presently in a very high and mighty voice,just as if he were a perfect Uncle who had given one a handsome tip and some good advice,“I hope,Digory,you are not given to showing the white feather.I should be very sorry to think that anyone of our family had not enough honour and chivalry to go to the aid of – er – a lady in distress.”

“Oh,shut up!” said Digory.“If you had any honour and all that,you'd be going yourself.But I know you won't.All right.I see I've got to go.But you are a beast.I suppose you planned the whole thing,so that she'd go without knowing it and then I'd have to go after her.”

“Of course,” said Uncle Andrew,with his hateful smile.

“Very well.I'll go.But there's one thing I jolly well mean to say first.I didn't believe in Magic till today.I see now it's real.Well,if it is,I suppose all the old fairy tales are more or less true.And you're simply a wicked,cruel magician like the ones in the stories.Well,I've never read a story in which people of that sort weren't paid out in the end,and I bet you will be.And serve you right.”

Of all the things Digory had said this was the first that really went home.Uncle Andrew started and there came over his face a look of such horror that,beast though he was,you could almost feel sorry for him.But a second later he smoothed it all away and said with a rather forced laugh,“Well,well,I suppose that is a natural thing for a child to think – brought up among women,as you have been.Old wives' tales,eh?I don't think you need worry about my danger,Digory.Wouldn't it be better to worry about the danger of your little friend?She's been gone some time.If there are any dangers Over There – well,it would be a pity to arrive a moment too late.”

“A lot you care,” said Digory fiercely.“But I'm sick of this jaw.What have I got to do?”

“You really must learn to control that temper of yours,my boy,” said Uncle Andrew coolly.“Otherwise you'll grow up like your Aunt Letty.Now.Attend to me.”

He got up,put on a pair of gloves,and walked over to the tray that contained the rings.

“They only work,” he said,“if they're actually touching your skin.Wearing gloves,I can pick them up – like this – and nothing happens.If you carried one in your pocket nothing would happen：but of course you'd have to be careful not to put your hand in your pocket and touch it by accident.The moment you touch a yellow ring,you vanish out of this world.When you are in the Other Place I expect – of course this hasn't been tested yet,but I expect– that the moment you touch a green ring you vanish out of that world and – I expect –reappear in this.Now.I take these two greens and drop them into your right-hand pocket.Remember very carefully which pocket the greens are in.G for green and R for right.G.R.you see：which are the first two letters of green.One for you and one for the little girl.And now you pick up a yellow one for yourself.I should put it on – on your finger –if I were you.There'll be less chance of dropping it.”

Digory had almost picked up the yellow ring when he suddenly checked himself.

“Look here,” he said.“What about Mother?Supposing she asks where I am?”

“The sooner you go,the sooner you'll be back,”said Uncle Andrew cheerfully.

“But you don't really know whether I can get back.”

Uncle Andrew shrugged his shoulders,walked across to the door,unlocked it,threw it open,and said：

“Oh,very well then.Just as you please.Go down and have your dinner.Leave the little girl to be eaten by wild animals or drowned or starved in Otherworld or lost there for good,if that's what you prefer.It's all one to me.Perhaps before tea time you'd better drop in on Mrs Plummer and explain that she'll never see her daughter again；because you were afraid to put on a ring.”

“By gum,” said Digory,“don't I just wish I was big enough to punch your head!”

Then he buttoned up his coat,took a deep breath,and picked up the ring.And he thought then,as he always thought afterwards too,that he could not decently have done anything else.

CHAPTER 3

The Wood between the Worlds

Uncle Andrew and his study vanished instantly.Then,for a moment,everything became muddled.The next thing Digory knew was that there was a soft green light coming down on him from above,and darkness below.He didn't seem to be standing on anything,or sitting,or lying.Nothing appeared to be touching him.“I believe I'm in water,” said Digory.“Or under water.” This frightened him for a second,but almost at once he could feel that he was rushing upwards.Then his head suddenly came out into the air and he found himself scrambling ashore,out on to smooth grassy ground at the edge of a pool.

As he rose to his feet he noticed that he was neither dripping nor panting for breath as anyone would expect after being under water.His clothes were perfectly dry.He was standing by the edge of a small pool – not more than ten feet from side to side – in a wood.The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky.All the light was green light that came through the leaves：but there must have been a very strong sun overhead,for this green daylight was bright and warm.It was the quietest wood you could possibly imagine.There were no birds,no insects,no animals,and no wind.You could almost feel the trees growing.The pool he had just got out of was not the only pool.There were dozens of others – a pool every few yards as far as his eyes could reach.You could almost feel the trees drinking the water up with their roots.This wood was very much alive.When he tried to describe it afterwards Digory always said,“It was a rich place：as rich as plum cake.”

The strangest thing was that,almost before he had looked about him,Digory had half forgotten how he had come there.At any rate,he was certainly not thinking about Polly,or Uncle Andrew,or even his Mother.He was not in the least frightened,or excited,or curious.If anyone had asked him “Where did you come from?” he would probably have said,“I've always been here.” That was what it felt like –as if one had always been in that place and never been bored although nothing had ever happened.As he said long afterwards,“It's not the sort of place where things happen.The trees go on growing,that's all.”

After Digory had looked at the wood for a long time he noticed that there was a girl lying on her back at the foot of a tree a few yards away.Her eyes were nearly shut but not quite,as if she were just between sleeping and waking.So he looked at her for a long time and said nothing.And at last she opened her eyes and looked at him for a long time and she also said nothing.Then she spoke,in a dreamy,contented sort of voice.

“I think I've seen you before,” she said.

“I rather think so too,” said Digory.“Have you been here long?”

“Oh,always,” said the girl.“At least – I don't know – a very long time.”

“So have I,” said Digory.

“No,you haven't,” said she.“I've just seen you come up out of that pool.”

“Yes,I suppose I did,” said Digory with a puzzled air.“I'd forgotten.”

Then for quite a long time neither said any more.

“Look here,” said the girl presently,“I wonder,did we ever really meet before?I had a sort of idea– a sort of picture in my head – of a boy and a girl,like us – living somewhere quite different – and doing all sorts of things.Perhaps it was only a dream.”

“I've had that same dream,I think,” said Digory.“About a boy and a girl,living next door – and something about crawling among rafters.I remember the girl had a dirty face.”

“Aren't you getting it mixed?In my dream it was the boy who had the dirty face.”

“I can't remember the boy's face,” said Digory and then added,“Hullo!What's that?”

“Why!It's a guinea-pig,” said the girl.And it was– a fat guinea-pig,nosing about in the grass.But round the middle of the guinea-pig there ran a tape and,tied on to it by the tape,was a bright yellow ring.

“Look!Look,” cried Digory.“The ring!And look!You've got one on your finger.And so have I.”

The girl now sat up,really interested at last.They stared very hard at one another,trying to remember.And then,at exactly the same moment,she shouted out,“Mr Ketterley”,and he shouted out,“Uncle Andrew”,and they knew who they were and began to remember the whole story.After a few minutes' hard talking they had got it straight.Digory explained how beastly Uncle Andrew had been.

“What do we do now?” said Polly.“Take the guinea-pig and go home?”

“There's no hurry,” said Digory,with a huge yawn.

“I think there is,” said Polly.“This place is too quiet.It's so – so dreamy.You're almost asleep.If we once give in to it we shall just lie down and drowse for ever and ever.”

“It's very nice here,” said Digory.

“Yes,it is,” said Polly.“But we've got to get back.” She stood up and began to go cautiously towards the guinea-pig.But then she changed her mind.

“We might as well leave the guinea-pig,” she said.“It's perfectly happy here,and your uncle will only do something horrid to it if we take it home.”

“I bet he would,” answered Digory.“Look at the way he's treated us.By the way,how do we get home?”

“Go back into the pool,I expect.”

They came and stood together at the edge,looking down into the smooth water.It was full of the reflection of the green,leafy branches；they made it look very deep.

“We haven't any bathing things,” said Polly.

“We shan't need them,silly,” said Digory.“We're going in with our clothes on.Don't you remember it didn't wet us on the way up?”

“Can you swim?”

“A bit.Can you?”

“Well – not much.”

“I don't think we shall need to swim,” said Digory.“We want to go down,don't we?”

Neither of them much liked the idea of jumping into that pool,but neither said so to the other.They took hands and said “One – Two – Three –Go” and jumped.There was a great splash and of course they closed their eyes.But when they opened them again they found they were still standing,hand in hand,in the green wood,and hardly up to their ankles in water.The pool was apparently only a couple of inches deep.They splashed back on to the dry ground.

“What on earth's gone wrong?” said Polly in a frightened voice；but not quite so frightened as you might expect,because it is hard to feel really frightened in that wood.The place is too peaceful.

“Oh!I know,” said Digory.“Of course it won't work.We're still wearing our yellow rings.They're for the outward journey,you know.The green ones take you home.We must change rings.Have you got pockets?Good.Put your yellow ring in your left.I've got two greens.Here's one for you.”

They put on their green rings and came back to the pool.But before they tried another jump Digory gave a long “O-o-oh!”

“What's the matter?” said Polly.

“I've just had a really wonderful idea,” said Digory.“What are all the other pools?”

“How do you mean?”

“Why,if we can get back to our own world by jumping into this pool,mightn't we get somewhere else by jumping into one of the others?Supposing there was a world at the bottom of every pool.”

“But I thought we were already in your Uncle Andrew's Other World or Other Place or whatever he called it.Didn't you say—”

“Oh,bother Uncle Andrew,” interrupted Digory.“I don't believe he knows anything about it.He never had the pluck to come here himself.He only talked of one Other World.But suppose there were dozens?”

“You mean,this wood might be only one of them?”

“No,I don't believe this wood is a world at all.I think it's just a sort of in-between place.”

Polly looked puzzled.

“Don't you see?” said Digory.“No,do listen.Think of our tunnel under the slates at home.It isn't a room in any of the houses.In a way,it isn't really part of any of the houses.But once you're in the tunnel you can go along it and come into any of the houses in the row.Mightn't this wood be the same?– a place that isn't in any of the worlds,but once you've found that place you can get into them all.”

“Well,even if you can—” began Polly,but Digory went on as if he hadn't heard her.

“And of course that explains everything,” he said.“That's why it is so quiet and sleepy here.Nothing ever happens here.Like at home.It's in the houses that people talk,and do things,and have meals.Nothing goes on in the in-between places,behind the walls and above the ceilings and under the floor,or in our own tunnel.But when you come out of our tunnel you may find yourself in any house.I think we can get out of this place into jolly well anywhere!We don't need to jump back into the same pool we came up by.Or not just yet.”

“The Wood between the Worlds,” said Polly dreamily.“It sounds rather nice.”

“Come on,” said Digory.“Which pool shall we try?”

“Look here,” said Polly,“I'm not going to try any new pool till we've made sure that we can get back by the old one.We're not even sure if it'll work yet.”

“Yes,” said Digory.“And get caught by Uncle Andrew and have our rings taken away before we've had any fun.No thanks.”

“Couldn't we just go part of the way down into our own pool?” said Polly.“Just to see if it works.Then if it does,we'll change rings and come up again before we're really back in Mr Ketterley's study.”

“Can we go part of the way down?”

“Well,it took time coming up.I suppose it'll take a little time going back.”

Digory made rather a fuss about agreeing to this,but he had to in the end because Polly absolutely refused to do any exploring in new worlds until she had made sure about getting back to the old one.She was quite as brave as he about some dangers(wasps,for instance)but she was not so interested in finding out things nobody had ever heard of before；for Digory was the sort of person who wants to know everything,and when he grew up he became the famous Professor Kirke who comes into other books.

After a good deal of arguing they agreed to put on their green rings(“Green for safety,” said Digory,“so you can't help remembering which is which”)and hold hands and jump.But as soon as they seemed to be getting back to Uncle Andrew's study,or even to their own world,Polly was to shout,“Change”,and they would slip off their greens and put on their yellows.Digory wanted to be the one who shouted,“Change”,but Polly wouldn't agree.

They put on the green rings,took hands,and once more shouted “One – Two – Three – Go”.This time it worked.It is very hard to tell you what it felt like,for everything happened so quickly.At first there were bright lights moving about in a black sky；Digory always thinks these were stars and even swears that he saw Jupiter quite close –close enough to see its moon.But almost at once there were rows and rows of roofs and chimney pots about them,and they could see St Paul's and knew they were looking at London.But you could see through the walls of all the houses.Then they could see Uncle Andrew,very vague and shadowy,but getting clearer and more solid-looking all the time,just as if he were coming into focus.But before he became quite real Polly shouted “Change”,and they did change,and our world faded away like a dream,and the green light above grew stronger and stronger,till their heads came out of the pool and they scrambled ashore.And there was the wood all about them,as green and bright and still as ever.The whole thing had taken less than a minute.

“There!” said Digory.“That's all right.Now for the adventure.Any pool will do.Come on.Let's try that one.”

“Stop!” said Polly.“Aren't we going to mark this pool?”

They stared at each other and turned quite white as they realized the dreadful thing that Digory had just been going to do.For there were any number of pools in the wood,and the pools were all alike and the trees were all alike,so that if they had once left behind the pool that led to our own world without making some sort of landmark,the chances would have been a hundred to one against their ever finding it again.

Digory's hand was shaking as he opened his penknife and cut out a long strip of turf on the bank of the pool.The soil(which smelled nice)was of a rich reddish brown and showed up well against the green.“It's a good thing one of us has some sense,”said Polly.

“Well,don't keep on gassing about it,” said Digory.“Come along,I want to see what's in one of the other pools.” And Polly gave him a pretty sharp answer and he said something even nastier in reply.The quarrel lasted for several minutes but it would be dull to write it all down.Let us skip on to the moment at which they stood with beating hearts and rather scared faces on the edge of the unknown pool with their yellow rings on and held hands and once more said “One – Two – Three – Go!”

Splash!Once again it hadn't worked.This pool,too,appeared to be only a puddle.Instead of reaching a new world they only got their feet wet and splashed their legs for the second time that morning(if it was a morning：it seems to be always the same time in the Wood between the Worlds).

“Blast and botheration!” exclaimed Digory.“What's gone wrong now?We've put our yellow rings on all right.He said yellow for the outward journey.”

Now the truth was that Uncle Andrew,who knew nothing about the Wood between the Worlds,had quite a wrong idea about the rings.The yellow ones weren't “outward” rings and the green ones weren't “homeward” rings；at least,not in the way he thought.The stuff of which both were made had all come from the wood.The stuff in the yellow rings had the power of drawing you into the wood；it was stuff that wanted to get back to its own place,the in-between place.But the stuff in the green rings was stuff that was trying to get out of its own place：so that a green ring would take you out of the wood into a world.Uncle Andrew,you see,was working with things he did not really understand；most magicians are.Of course Digory did not realize the truth quite clearly either,or not till later.But when they had talked it over,they decided to try their green rings on the new pool,just to see what happened.

“I'm game if you are,” said Polly.But she really said this because,in her heart of hearts,she now felt sure that neither kind of ring was going to work at all in the new pool,and so there was nothing worse to be afraid of than another splash.I am not quite sure that Digory had not the same feeling.At any rate,when they had both put on their greens and come back to the edge of the water,and taken hands again,they were certainly a good deal more cheerful and less solemn than they had been the first time.

“One – Two – Three – Go!” said Digory.And they jumped.

CHAPTER 4

The Bell and the Hammer

There was no doubt about the Magic this time.Down and down they rushed,first through darkness and then through a mass of vague and whirling shapes which might have been almost anything.It grew lighter.Then suddenly they felt that they were standing on something solid.A moment later everything came into focus and they were able to look about them.

“What a queer place!” said Digory.

“I don't like it,” said Polly,with something like a shudder.

What they noticed first was the light.It wasn't like sunlight,and it wasn't like electric light,or lamps,or candles,or any other light they had ever seen.It was a dull,rather red light,not at all cheerful.It was steady and did not flicker.They were standing on a flat paved surface and buildings rose all around them.There was no roof overhead；they were in a sort of courtyard.The sky was extraordinarily dark – a blue that was almost black.When you had seen that sky you wondered that there should be any light at all.

“It's very funny weather here,” said Digory.“I wonder if we've arrived just in time for a thunderstorm；or an eclipse.”

“I don't like it,” said Polly.

Both of them,without quite knowing why,were talking in whispers.And though there was no reason why they should still go on holding hands after their jump,they didn't let go.

The walls rose very high all round that courtyard.They had many great windows in them,windows without glass,through which you saw nothing but black darkness.Lower down there were great pillared arches,yawning blackly like the mouths of railway tunnels.It was rather cold.

The stone of which everything was built seemed to be red,but that might only be because of the curious light.It was obviously very old.Many of the flat stones that paved the courtyard had cracks across them.None of them fitted closely together and the sharp corners were all worn off.One of the arched doorways was half filled up with rubble.The two children kept on turning round and round to look at the different sides of the courtyard.One reason was that they were afraid of somebody – or something – looking out of those windows at them when their backs were turned.

“Do you think anyone lives here?” said Digory at last,still in a whisper.

“No,” said Polly.“It's all in ruins.We haven't heard a sound since we came.”

“Let's stand still and listen for a bit,” suggested Digory.

They stood still and listened,but all they could hear was the thump-thump of their own hearts.This place was at least as quiet as the Wood between the Worlds.But it was a different kind of quietness.The silence of the wood had been rich and warm(you could almost hear the trees growing)and full of life：this was a dead,cold,empty silence.You couldn't imagine anything growing in it.

“Let's go home,” said Polly.

“But we haven't seen anything yet,” said Digory.“Now we're here,we simply must have a look round.”

“I'm sure there's nothing at all interesting here.”

“There's not much point in finding a magic ring that lets you into other worlds if you're afraid to look at them when you've got there.”

“Who's talking about being afraid?” said Polly,letting go of Digory's hand.

“I only thought you didn't seem very keen on exploring this place.”

“I'll go anywhere you go.”

“We can get away the moment we want to,” said Digory.“Let's take off our green rings and put them in our right-hand pockets.All we've got to do is to remember that our yellows are in our left-hand pockets.You can keep your hand as near your pocket as you like,but don't put it in or you'll touch your yellow and vanish.”

They did this and went quietly up to one of the big arched doorways which led into the inside of the building.And when they stood on the threshold and could look in,they saw it was not so dark inside as they had thought at first.It led into a vast,shadowy hall which appeared to be empty；but on the far side there was a row of pillars with arches between them and through those arches there streamed in some more of the same tired-looking light.They crossed the hall,walking very carefully for fear of holes in the floor or of anything lying about that they might trip over.It seemed a long walk.When they had reached the other side they came out through the arches and found themselves in another and larger courtyard.

“That doesn't look very safe,” said Polly,pointing at a place where the wall bulged outward and looked as if it were ready to fall over into the courtyard.In one place a pillar was missing between two arches and the bit that came down to where the top of the pillar ought to have been hung there with nothing to support it.Clearly,the place had been deserted for hundreds,perhaps thousands,of years.

“If it's lasted till now,I suppose it'll last a bit longer,” said Digory.“But we must be very quiet.You know a noise sometimes brings things down –like an avalanche in the Alps.”

They went on out of that courtyard into another doorway,and up a great flight of steps and through vast rooms that opened out of one another till you were dizzy with the mere size of the place.Every now and then they thought they were going to get out into the open and see what sort of country lay around the enormous palace.But each time they only got into another courtyard.They must have been magnificent places when people were still living there.In one there had once been a fountain.A great stone monster with widespread wings stood with its mouth open and you could still see a bit of piping at the back of its mouth,out of which the water used to pour.Under it was a wide stone basin to hold the water；but it was as dry as a bone.In other places there were the dry sticks of some sort of climbing plant which had wound itself round the pillars and helped to pull some of them down.But it had died long ago.And there were no ants or spiders or any of the other living things you expect to see in a ruin；and where the dry earth showed between the broken flagstones there was no grass or moss.

It was all so dreary and all so much the same that even Digory was thinking they had better put on their yellow rings and get back to the warm,green,living forest of the In-between place,when they came to two huge doors of some metal that might possibly be gold.One stood a little ajar.So of course they went to look in.Both started back and drew a long breath：for here at last was something worth seeing.

For a second they thought the room was full of people – hundreds of people,all seated,and all perfectly still.Polly and Digory,as you may guess,stood perfectly still themselves for a good long time,looking in.But presently they decided that what they were looking at could not be real people.There was not a movement nor the sound of a breath among them all.They were like the most wonderful waxworks you ever saw.

This time Polly took the lead.There was something in this room which interested her more than it interested Digory：all the figures were wearing magnificent clothes.If you were interested in clothes at all,you could hardly help going in to see them closer.And the blaze of their colours made this room look,not exactly cheerful,but at any rate rich and majestic after all the dust and emptiness of the others.It had more windows,too,and was a good deal lighter.

I can hardly describe the clothes.The figures were all robed and had crowns on their heads.Their robes were of crimson and silvery grey and deep purple and vivid green：and there were patterns,and pictures of flowers and strange beasts,in needlework all over them.Precious stones of astonishing size and brightness stared from their crowns and hung in chains round their necks and peeped out from all the places where anything was fastened.

“Why haven't these clothes all rotted away long ago?” asked Polly.

“Magic,” whispered Digory.“Can't you feel it?I bet this whole room is just stiff with enchantments.I could feel it the moment we came in.”

“Any one of these dresses would cost hundreds of pounds,” said Polly.

But Digory was more interested in the faces,and indeed these were well worth looking at.The people sat in their stone chairs on each side of the room and the floor was left free down the middle.You could walk down and look at the faces in turn.

“They were nice people,I think,” said Digory.

Polly nodded.All the faces they could see were certainly nice.Both the men and women looked kind and wise,and they seemed to come of a handsome race.But after the children had gone a few steps down the room they came to faces that looked a little different.These were very solemn faces.You felt you would have to mind your P's and Q's,if you ever met living people who looked like that.When they had gone a little further,they found themselves among faces they didn't like：this was about the middle of the room.The faces here looked very strong and proud and happy,but they looked cruel.A little further on they looked crueller.Further on again,they were still cruel but they no longer looked happy.They were even despairing faces：as if the people they belonged to had done dreadful things and also suffered dreadful things.The last figure of all was the most interesting – a woman even more richly dressed than the others,very tall(but every figure in that room was taller than the people of our world),with a look of such fierceness and pride that it took your breath away.Yet she was beautiful too.Years afterwards when he was an old man,Digory said he had never in all his life known a woman so beautiful.It is only fair to add that Polly always said she couldn't see anything specially beautiful about her.

This woman,as I said,was the last：but there were plenty of empty chairs beyond her,as if the room had been intended for a much larger collection of images.

“I do wish we knew the story that's behind all this,” said Digory.“Let's go back and look at that table sort of thing in the middle of the room.”

The thing in the middle of the room was not exactly a table.It was a square pillar about four feet high and on it there rose a little golden arch from which there hung a little golden bell；and beside this there lay a little golden hammer to hit the bell with.

“I wonder… I wonder… I wonder…” said Digory.

“There seems to be something written here,” said Polly,stooping down and looking at the side of the pillar.

“By gum,so there is,” said Digory.“But of course we shan't be able to read it.”

“Shan't we?I'm not so sure,” said Polly.

They both looked at it hard and,as you might have expected,the letters cut in the stone were strange.But now a great wonder happened：for,as they looked,though the shape of the strange letters never altered,they found that they could understand them.If only Digory had remembered what he himself had said a few minutes ago,that this was an enchanted room,he might have guessed that the enchantment was beginning to work.But he was too wild with curiosity to think about that.He was longing more and more to know what was written on the pillar.And very soon they both knew.What it said was something like this – at least this is the sense of it though the poetry,when you read it there,was better：

Make your choice,adventurous stranger；

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder,till it drives you mad,

What would have followed if you had.

“No fear!” said Polly.“We don't want any danger.”

“Oh,but don't you see it's no good?” said Digory.“We can't get out of it now.We shall always be wondering what else would have happened if we had struck the bell.I'm not going home to be driven mad by always thinking of that.No fear!”

“Don't be so silly,” said Polly.“As if anyone would!What does it matter what would have happened?”

“I expect anyone who's come as far as this is bound to go on wondering till it sends him dotty.That's the Magic of it,you see.I can feel it beginning to work on me already.”

“Well,I don't,” said Polly crossly.“And I don't believe you do either.You're just putting it on.”

“That's all you know,” said Digory.“It's because you're a girl.Girls never want to know anything but gossip and rot about people getting engaged.”

“You looked exactly like your Uncle when you said that,” said Polly.

“Why can't you keep to the point?” said Digory.“What we're talking about is—”

“How exactly like a man!” said Polly in a very grown-up voice；but she added hastily,in her real voice,“And don't say I'm just like a woman,or you'll be a beastly copy-cat.”

“I should never dream of calling a kid like you a woman,” said Digory loftily.

“Oh,I'm a kid,am I?” said Polly,who was now in a real rage.“Well,you needn't be bothered by having a kid with you any longer then.I'm off.I've had enough of this place.And I've had enough of you too – you beastly,stuck-up,obstinate pig!”

“None of that!” said Digory in a voice even nastier than he meant it to be；for he saw Polly's hand moving to her pocket to get hold of her yellow ring.I can't excuse what he did next except by saying that he was very sorry for it afterwards(and so were a good many other people).Before Polly's hand reached her pocket,he grabbed her wrist,leaning across with his back against her chest.Then,keeping her other arm out of the way with his other elbow,he leaned forward,picked up the hammer,and struck the golden bell a light,smart tap.Then he let her go and they fell apart staring at each other and breathing hard.Polly was just beginning to cry,not with fear,and not even because he had hurt her wrist quite badly,but with furious anger.Within two seconds,however,they had something to think about that drove their own quarrels quite out of their minds.

As soon as the bell was struck it gave out a note,a sweet note such as you might have expected,and not very loud.But instead of dying away again,it went on；and as it went on it grew louder.Before a minute had passed it was twice as loud as it had been to begin with.It was soon so loud that if the children had tried to speak(but they weren't thinking of speaking now – they were just standing with their mouths open)they would not have heard one another.Very soon it was so loud that they could not have heard one another even by shouting.And still it grew：all on one note,a continuous sweet sound,though the sweetness had something horrible about it,till all the air in that great room was throbbing with it and they could feel the stone floor trembling under their feet.Then at last it began to be mixed with another sound,a vague,disastrous noise which sounded first like the roar of a distant train,and then like the crash of a falling tree.They heard something like great weights falling.Finally,with a sudden rush and thunder,and a shake that nearly flung them off their feet,about a quarter of the roof at one end of the room fell in,great blocks of masonry fell all round them,and the walls rocked.The noise of the bell stopped.The clouds of dust cleared away.Everything became quiet again.

It was never found out whether the fall of the roof was due to Magic or whether that unbearably loud sound from the bell just happened to strike the note which was more than those crumbling walls could stand.

“There!I hope you're satisfied now,” panted Polly.

“Well,it's all over,anyway,” said Digory.

And both thought it was；but they had never been more mistaken in their lives.

CHAPTER 5

The Deplorable Word

The children were facing one another across the pillar where the bell hung,still trembling,though it no longer gave out any note.Suddenly they heard a soft noise from the end of the room which was still undamaged.They turned as quick as lightning to see what it was.One of the robed figures,the furthest-off one of all,the woman whom Digory thought so beautiful,was rising from its chair.When she stood up they realized that she was even taller than they had thought.And you could see at once,not only from her crown and robes,but from the flash of her eyes and the curve of her lips,that she was a great queen.She looked round the room and saw the damage and saw the children,but you could not guess from her face what she thought of either or whether she was surprised.She came forward with long,swift strides.

“Who has awaked me?Who has broken the spell?” she asked.

“I think it must have been me,” said Digory.

“You!” said the Queen,laying her hand on his shoulder – a white,beautiful hand,but Digory could feel that it was strong as steel pincers.“You?But you are only a child,a common child.Anyone can see at a glance that you have no drop of royal or noble blood in your veins.How did such as you dare to enter this house?”

“We've come from another world；by Magic,” said Polly,who thought it was high time the Queen took some notice of her as well as of Digory.

“Is this true?” said the Queen,still looking at Digory and not giving Polly even a glance.

“Yes,it is,” said he.

The Queen put her other hand under his chin and forced it up so that she could see his face better.Digory tried to stare back but he soon had to let his eyes drop.There was something about hers that overpowered him.After she had studied him for well over a minute,she let go of his chin and said：

“You are no magician.The mark of it is not on you.You must be only the servant of a magician.It is on another's Magic that you have travelled here.”

“It was my Uncle Andrew,” said Digory.

At that moment,not in the room itself but from somewhere very close,there came,first a rumbling,then a creaking,and then a roar of falling masonry,and the floor shook.

“There is great peril here,” said the Queen.“The whole palace is breaking up.If we are not out of it in a few minutes we shall be buried under the ruin.”She spoke as calmly as if she had been merely mentioning the time of day.“Come,” she added,and held out a hand to each of the children.Polly,who was disliking the Queen and feeling rather sulky,would not have let her hand be taken if she could have helped it.But though the Queen spoke so calmly,her movements were as quick as thought.Before Polly knew what was happening her left hand had been caught in a hand so much larger and stronger than her own that she could do nothing about it.

“This is a terrible woman,” thought Polly.“She's strong enough to break my arm with one twist.And now that she's got my left hand I can't get at my yellow ring.If I tried to stretch across and get my right hand into my left pocket I mightn't be able to reach it before she asked me what I was doing.Whatever happens we mustn't let her know about the rings.I do hope Digory has the sense to keep his mouth shut.I wish I could get a word with him alone.”

The Queen led them out of the Hall of Images into a long corridor and then through a whole maze of halls and stairs and courtyards.Again and again they heard parts of the great palace collapsing,sometimes quite close to them.Once a huge arch came thundering down only a moment after they had passed through it.The Queen was walking quickly – the children had to trot to keep up with her – but she showed no sign of fear.Digory thought,“She's wonderfully brave.And strong.She's what I call a queen!I do hope she's going to tell us the story of this place.”

She did tell them certain things as they went along：

“That is the door to the dungeons,” she would say,or “That passage leads to the principal torture chambers,” or “This was the old banqueting hall where my great-grandfather bade seven hundred nobles to a feast and killed them all before they had drunk their fill.They had had rebellious thoughts.”

They came at last into a hall larger and loftier than any they had yet seen.From its size and from the great doors at the far end,Digory thought that now at last they must be coming to the main entrance.In this he was quite right.The doors were dead black,either ebony or some black metal which is not found in our world.They were fastened with great bars,most of them too high to reach and all too heavy to lift.He wondered how they would get out.

The Queen let go of his hand and raised her arm.She drew herself up to her full height and stood rigid.Then she said something which they couldn't understand(but it sounded horrid)and made an action as if she were throwing something towards the doors.And those high and heavy doors trembled for a second as if they were made of silk and then crumbled away till there was nothing left of them but a heap of dust on the threshold.

“Whew!” whistled Digory.

“Has your master magician,your uncle,power like mine?” asked the Queen,firmly seizing Digory's hand again.“But I shall know later.In the meantime,remember what you have seen.This is what happens to things,and to people,who stand in my way.”

Much more light than they had yet seen in that country was pouring in through the now empty doorway,and when the Queen led them out through it they were not surprised to find themselves in the open air.The wind that blew in their faces was cold,yet somehow stale.They were looking from a high terrace and there was a great landscape out below them.

Low down and near the horizon hung a great,red sun,far bigger than our sun.Digory felt at once that it was also older than ours：a sun near the end of its life,weary of looking down upon that world.To the left of the sun,and higher up,there was a single star,big and bright.Those were the only two things to be seen in the dark sky；they made a dismal group.And on the earth,in every direction,as far as the eye could reach,there spread a vast city in which there was no living thing to be seen.And all the temples,towers,palaces,pyramids and bridges cast long,disastrous-looking shadows in the light of that withered sun.Once a great river had flowed through the city,but the water had long since vanished,and there was now only a wide ditch of grey dust.

“Look well on that which no eyes will ever see again,” said the Queen.“Such was Charn,that great city,the city of the King of Kings,the wonder of the world,perhaps of all worlds.Does your uncle rule any city as great as this,boy?”

“No,” said Digory.He was going to explain that Uncle Andrew didn't rule any cities,but the Queen went on：

“It is silent now.But I have stood here when the whole air was full of the noises of Charn；the trampling of feet,the creaking of wheels,the cracking of the whips and the groaning of slaves,the thunder of chariots,and the sacrificial drums beating in the temples.I have stood here(but that was near the end)when the roar of battle went up from every street and the river of Charn ran red.”She paused and added,“All in one moment one woman blotted it out for ever.”

“Who?” said Digory in a faint voice；but he had already guessed the answer.

“I,” said the Queen.“I,Jadis the last Queen,but the Queen of the World.”

The two children stood silent,shivering in the cold wind.

“It was my sister's fault,” said the Queen.“She drove me to it.May the curse of all the Powers rest upon her for ever!At any moment I was ready to make peace – yes,and to spare her life too,if only she would yield me the throne.But she would not.Her pride has destroyed the whole world.Even after the war had begun,there was a solemn promise that neither side would use Magic.But when she broke her promise,what could I do?Fool!As if she did not know that I had more Magic than she!She even knew that I had the secret of the Deplorable Word.Did she think – she was always a weakling – that I would not use it?”

“What was it?” said Digory.

“That was the secret of secrets,” said the Queen Jadis.“It had long been known to the great kings of our race that there was a word which,if spoken with the proper ceremonies,would destroy all living things except the one who spoke it.But the ancient kings were weak and soft-hearted and bound themselves and all who should come after them with great oaths never even to seek after the knowledge of that word.But I learned it in a secret place and paid a terrible price to learn it.I did not use it until she forced me to it.I fought to overcome her by every other means.I poured out the blood of my armies like water—”

“Beast!” muttered Polly.

“The last great battle,” said the Queen,“raged for three days here in Charn itself.For three days I looked down upon it from this very spot.I did not use my power till the last of my soldiers had fallen,and the accursed woman,my sister,at the head of her rebels was halfway up those great stairs that lead up from the city to the terrace.Then I waited till we were so close that we could see one another's faces.She flashed her horrible,wicked eyes upon me and said,'Victory'.'Yes,' said I,'Victory,but not yours.' Then I spoke the Deplorable Word.A moment later I was the only living thing beneath the sun.”

“But the people?” gasped Digory.

“What people,boy?” asked the Queen.

“All the ordinary people,” said Polly,“who'd never done you any harm.And the women,and the children,and the animals.”

“Don't you understand?” said the Queen(still speaking to Digory).“I was the Queen.They were all my people.What else were they there for but to do my will?”

“It was rather hard luck on them,all the same,”said he.

“I had forgotten that you are only a common boy.How should you understand reasons of State?You must learn,child,that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I.The weight of the world is on our shoulders.We must be freed from all rules.Ours is a high and lonely destiny.”

Digory suddenly remembered that Uncle Andrew had used exactly the same words.But they sounded much grander when Queen Jadis said them；perhaps because Uncle Andrew was not seven feet tall and dazzlingly beautiful.

“And what did you do then?” said Digory.

“I had already cast strong spells on the hall where the images of my ancestors sit.And the force of those spells was that I should sleep among them,like an image myself,and need neither food nor fire,though it were a thousand years,till one came and struck the bell and awoke me.”

“Was it the Deplorable Word that made the sun like that?” asked Digory.

“Like what?” said Jadis.

“So big,so red,and so cold.”

“It has always been so,” said Jadis.“At least,for hundreds of thousands of years.Have you a different sort of sun in your world?”

“Yes,it's smaller and yellower.And it gives a good deal more heat.”

The Queen gave a long drawn “A-a-ah!” And Digory saw on her face that same hungry and greedy look which he had lately seen on Uncle Andrew's.“So,” she said,“yours is a younger world.”

She paused for a moment to look once more at the deserted city – and if she was sorry for all the evil she had done there,she certainly didn't show it– and then said：

“Now,let us be going.It is cold here at the end of all the ages.”

“Going where?” asked both the children.

“Where?” repeated Jadis in surprise.“To your world,of course.”

Polly and Digory looked at each other,aghast.Polly had disliked the Queen from the first；and even Digory,now that he had heard the story,felt that he had seen quite as much of her as he wanted.Certainly,she was not at all the sort of person one would like to take home.And if they did like,they didn't know how they could.What they wanted was to get away themselves：but Polly couldn't get at her ring and of course Digory couldn't go without her.Digory got very red in the face and stammered.

“Oh – oh – our world.I d-didn't know you wanted to go there.”

“What else were you sent here for if not to fetch me?” asked Jadis.

“I'm sure you wouldn't like our world at all,” said Digory.“It's not her sort of place,is it,Polly?It's very dull；not worth seeing,really.”

“It will soon be worth seeing when I rule it,”answered the Queen.

“Oh,but you can't,” said Digory.“It's not like that.They wouldn't let you,you know.”

The Queen gave a contemptuous smile.“Many great kings,” she said,“thought they could stand against the House of Charn.But they all fell,and their very names are forgotten.Foolish boy!Do you think that I,with my beauty and my Magic,will not have your whole world at my feet before a year has passed?Prepare your incantations and take me there at once.”

“This is perfectly frightful,” said Digory to Polly.

“Perhaps you fear for this Uncle of yours,” said Jadis.“But if he honours me duly,he shall keep his life and his throne.I am not coming to fight against him.He must be a very great Magician,if he has found how to send you here.Is he King of your whole world or only of part?”

“He isn't King of anywhere,” said Digory.

“You are lying,” said the Queen.“Does not Magic always go with the royal blood?Who ever heard of common people being Magicians?I can see the truth whether you speak it or not.Your Uncle is the great King and the great Enchanter of your world.And by his art he has seen the shadow of my face,in some magic mirror or some enchanted pool；and for the love of my beauty he has made a potent spell which shook your world to its foundations and sent you across the vast gulf between world and world to ask my favour and to bring me to him.Answer me：is that not how it was?”

“Well,not exactly,” said Digory.

“Not exactly,” shouted Polly.“Why,it's absolute bosh from beginning to end.”

“Minions!” cried the Queen,turning in rage upon Polly and seizing her hair,at the very top of her head where it hurts most.But in so doing she let go of both the children's hands.“Now,” shouted Digory；and “Quick!” shouted Polly.They plunged their left hands into their pockets.They did not even need to put the rings on.The moment they touched them,the whole of that dreary world vanished from their eyes.They were rushing upward and a warm green light was growing nearer overhead.

CHAPTER 6

The Beginning of Uncle Andrew's Troubles

“Let go!Let go!” screamed Polly.

“I'm not touching you!” said Digory.

Then their heads came out of the pool and,once more,the sunny quietness of the Wood between the Worlds was all about them,and it seemed richer and warmer and more peaceful than ever after the staleness and ruin of the place they had just left.I think that,if they had been given the chance,they would again have forgotten who they were and where they came from and would have lain down and enjoyed themselves,half asleep,listening to the growing of the trees.But this time there was something that kept them as wide-awake as possible：for as soon as they had got out on to the grass,they found that they were not alone.The Queen,or the Witch(whichever you like to call her)had come up with them,holding on fast by Polly's hair.That was why Polly had been shouting out“Let go!”

This proved,by the way,another thing about the rings which Uncle Andrew hadn't told Digory because he didn't know it himself.In order to jump from world to world by one of those rings you don't need to be wearing or touching it yourself；it is enough if you are touching someone who is touching it.In that way they work like a magnet；and everyone knows that if you pick up a pin with a magnet,any other pin which is touching the first pin will come too.

Now that you saw her in the wood,Queen Jadis looked different.She was much paler than she had been；so pale that hardly any of her beauty was left.And she was stooped and seemed to be finding it hard to breathe,as if the air of that place stifled her.Neither of the children felt in the least afraid of her now.

“Let go!Let go of my hair,” said Polly.“What do you mean by it?”

“Here!Let go of her hair.At once,” said Digory.

They both turned and struggled with her.They were stronger than she and in a few seconds they had forced her to let go.She reeled back,panting,and there was a look of terror in her eyes.

“Quick,Digory!” said Polly.“Change rings and into the home pool.”

“Help!Help!Mercy!” cried the Witch in a faint voice,staggering after them.“Take me with you.You cannot mean to leave me in this horrible place.It is killing me.”

“It's a reason of State,” said Polly spitefully.“Like when you killed all those people in your own world.Do be quick,Digory.” They had put on their green rings,but Digory said：

“Oh,bother!What are we to do?” He couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the Queen.

“Oh,don't be such an ass,” said Polly.“Ten to one she's only shamming.Do come on.” And then both children plunged into the home pool.“It's a good thing we made that mark,” thought Polly.But as they jumped Digory felt that a large cold finger and thumb had caught him by the ear.And as they sank down and the confused shapes of our own world began to appear,the grip of that finger and thumb grew stronger.The Witch was apparently recovering her strength.Digory struggled and kicked,but it was not of the least use.In a moment they found themselves in Uncle Andrew's study；and there was Uncle Andrew himself,staring at the wonderful creature that Digory had brought back from beyond the world.

And well he might stare.Digory and Polly stared too.There was no doubt that the Witch had got over her faintness；and now that one saw her in our own world,with ordinary things around her,she fairly took one's breath away.In Charn she had been alarming enough：in London,she was terrifying.For one thing,they had not realized till now how very big she was.“Hardly human” was what Digory thought when he looked at her；and he may have been right,for some say there is giantish blood in the royal family of Charn.But even her height was nothing compared with her beauty,her fierceness,and her wildness.She looked ten times more alive than most of the people one meets in London.Uncle Andrew was bowing and rubbing his hands and looking,to tell the truth,extremely frightened.He seemed a little shrimp of a creature beside the Witch.And yet,as Polly said afterwards,there was a sort of likeness between her face and his,something in the expression.It was the look that all wicked Magicians have,the “Mark” which Jadis had said she could not find in Digory's face.One good thing about seeing the two together was that you would never again be afraid of Uncle Andrew,any more than you'd be afraid of a worm after you had met a rattlesnake or afraid of a cow after you had met a mad bull.

“Pooh!” thought Digory to himself.“Him a Magician!Not much.Now she's the real thing.”

Uncle Andrew kept on rubbing his hands and bowing.He was trying to say something very polite,but his mouth had gone all dry so that he could not speak.His “experiment” with the rings,as he called it,was turning out more successful than he liked：for though he had dabbled in Magic for years he had always left all the dangers(as far as one can)to other people.Nothing at all like this had ever happened to him before.

Then Jadis spoke；not very loud,but there was something in her voice that made the whole room quiver.

“Where is the Magician who has called me into this world?”

“Ah – ah – Madam,” gasped Uncle Andrew,“I am most honoured – highly gratified – a most unexpected pleasure – if only I had had the opportunity of making any preparations – I – I—”

“Where is the Magician,Fool?” said Jadis.

“I – I am,Madam.I hope you will excuse any –er – liberty these naughty children may have taken.I assure you there was no intention—”

“You?” said the Queen in a still more terrible voice.Then,in one stride,she crossed the room,seized a great handful of Uncle Andrew's grey hair and pulled his head back so that his face looked up into hers.Then she studied his face as she had studied Digory's face in the palace of Charn.He blinked and licked his lips nervously all the time.At last she let him go：so suddenly that he reeled back against the wall.

“I see,” she said scornfully,“you are a Magician– of a sort.Stand up,dog,and don't sprawl there as if you were speaking to your equals.How do you come to know Magic?You are not of royal blood,I'll swear.”

“Well – ah – not perhaps in the strict sense,” stammered Uncle Andrew.“Not exactly royal,Ma'am.The Ketterleys are,however,a very old family.An old Dorsetshire family,Ma'am.”

“Peace,” said the Witch.“I see what you are.You are a little,peddling Magician who works by rules and books.There is no real Magic in your blood and heart.Your kind was made an end of in my world a thousand years ago.But here I shall allow you to be my servant.”

“I should be most happy – delighted to be of any service – a p-pleasure,I assure you.”

“Peace!You talk far too much.Listen to your first task.I see we are in a large city.Procure for me at once a chariot or a flying carpet or a welltrained dragon,or whatever is usual for royal and noble persons in your land.Then bring me to places where I can get clothes and jewels and slaves fit for my rank.Tomorrow I will begin the conquest of the world.”

“I – I – I'll go and order a cab at once,” gasped Uncle Andrew.

“Stop,” said the Witch,just as he reached the door.“Do not dream of treachery.My eyes can see through walls and into the minds of men.They will be on you wherever you go.At the first sign of disobedience I will lay such spells on you that anything you sit down on will feel like red hot iron and whenever you lie in a bed there will be invisible blocks of ice at your feet.Now go.”

The old man went out,looking like a dog with its tail between its legs.

The children were now afraid that Jadis would have something to say to them about what had happened in the wood.As it turned out,however,she never mentioned it either then or afterwards.I think(and Digory thinks too)that her mind was of a sort which cannot remember that quiet place at all,and however often you took her there and however long you left her there,she would still know nothing about it.Now that she was left alone with the children,she took no notice of either of them.And that was like her too.In Charn she had taken no notice of Polly(till the very end)because Digory was the one she wanted to make use of.Now that she had Uncle Andrew,she took no notice of Digory.I expect most witches are like that.They are not interested in things or people unless they can use them；they are terribly practical.So there was silence in the room for a minute or two.But you could tell by the way Jadis tapped her foot on the floor that she was growing impatient.

Presently she said,as if to herself,“What is the old fool doing?I should have brought a whip.” She stalked out of the room in pursuit of Uncle Andrew without one glance at the children.

“Whew!” said Polly,letting out a long breath of relief.“And now I must get home.It's frightfully late.I shall catch it.”

“Well do,do come back as soon as you can,” said Digory.“This is simply ghastly,having her here.We must make some sort of plan.”

“That's up to your Uncle now,” said Polly.“It was he who started all this messing about with Magic.”

“All the same,you will come back,won't you?Hang it all,you can't leave me alone in a scrape like this.”

“I shall go home by the tunnel,” said Polly rather coldly.“That'll be the quickest way.And if you want me to come back,hadn't you better say you're sorry?”

“Sorry?” exclaimed Digory.“Well now,if that isn't just like a girl!What have I done?”

“Oh,nothing of course,” said Polly sarcastically.“Only nearly screwed my wrist off in that room with all the waxworks,like a cowardly bully.Only struck the bell with the hammer,like a silly idiot.Only turned back in the wood so that she had time to catch hold of you before we jumped into our own pool.That's all.”

“Oh,” said Digory,very surprised.“Well,all right,I'll say I'm sorry.And I really am sorry about what happened in the waxworks room.There：I've said I'm sorry.And now,do be decent and come back.I shall be in a frightful hole if you don't.”

“I don't see what's going to happen to you.It's Mr Ketterley who's going to sit on red hot chairs and have ice in his bed,isn't it?”

“It isn't that sort of thing,” said Digory.“What I'm bothered about is Mother.Suppose that creature went into her room?She might frighten her to death.”

“Oh,I see,” said Polly,in rather a different voice.“All right.We'll call it Pax.I'll come back – if I can.But I must go now.” And she crawled through the little door into the tunnel；and that dark place among the rafters which had seemed so exciting and adventurous a few hours ago seemed quite tame and homely now.

We must now go back to Uncle Andrew.His poor old heart went pit-a-pat as he staggered down the attic stairs and he kept on dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief.When he reached his bedroom,which was the floor below,he locked himself in.And the very first thing he did was to grope in his wardrobe for a bottle and a wine-glass which he always kept hidden there where Aunt Letty could not find them.He poured himself out a glassful of some nasty,grown-up drink and drank it off at one gulp.Then he drew a deep breath.

“Upon my word,” he said to himself.“I'm dreadfully shaken.Most upsetting!And at my time of life!”

He poured out a second glass and drank it too；then he began to change his clothes.You have never seen such clothes,but I can remember them.He put on a very high,shiny,stiff collar of the sort that made you hold your chin up all the time.He put on a white waistcoat with a pattern on it and arranged his gold watch chain across the front.He put on his best frock-coat,the one he kept for weddings and funerals.He got out his best tall hat and polished it up.There was a vase of flowers(put there by Aunt Letty)on his dressing table；he took one and put it in his button-hole.He took a clean handkerchief(a lovely one such as you couldn't buy today)out of the little left-hand drawer and put a few drops of scent on it.He took his eye-glass,with the thick black ribbon,and screwed it into his eye；then he looked at himself in the mirror.

Children have one kind of silliness,as you know,and grown-ups have another kind.At this moment Uncle Andrew was beginning to be silly in a very grown-up way.Now that the Witch was no longer in the same room with him he was quickly forgetting how she had frightened him and thinking more and more of her wonderful beauty.He kept on saying to himself,“A dem fine woman,sir,a dem fine woman.A superb creature.” He had also somehow managed to forget that it was the children who had got hold of this “superb creature”：he felt as if he himself by his Magic had called her out of unknown worlds.

“Andrew,my boy,” he said to himself as he looked in the glass,“you're a devilish wellpreserved fellow for your age.A distinguishedlooking man,sir.”

You see,the foolish old man was actually beginning to imagine the Witch would fall in love with him.The two drinks probably had something to do with it,and so had his best clothes.But he was,in any case,as vain as a peacock；that was why he had become a Magician.

He unlocked the door,went downstairs,sent the housemaid out to fetch a hansom(everyone had lots of servants in those days)and looked into the drawing-room.There,as he expected,he found Aunt Letty.She was busily mending a mattress.It lay on the floor near the window and she was kneeling on it.

“Ah,Letitia my dear,” said Uncle Andrew,“I – ah– have to go out.Just lend me five pounds or so,there's a good gel.”(“Gel” was the way he pronounced girl.)

“No,Andrew dear,” said Aunt Letty in her firm,quiet voice,without looking up from her work.“I've told you times without number that I will not lend you money.”

“Now pray don't be troublesome,my dear gel,”said Uncle Andrew.“It's most important.You will put me in a deucedly awkward position if you don't.”

“Andrew,” said Aunt Letty,looking him straight in the face,“I wonder you are not ashamed to ask me for money.”

There was a long,dull story of a grown-up kind behind these words.All you need to know about it is that Uncle Andrew,what with “managing dear Letty's business matters for her”,and never doing any work,and running up large bills for brandy and cigars(which Aunt Letty had paid again and again)had made her a good deal poorer than she had been thirty years ago.

“My dear gel,” said Uncle Andrew,“you don't understand.I shall have some quite unexpected expenses today.I have to do a little entertaining.Come now,don't be tiresome.”

“And who,pray,are you going to entertain,Andrew?” asked Aunt Letty.

“A – a most distinguished visitor has just arrived.”

“Distinguished fiddlestick!” said Aunt Letty.“There hasn't been a ring at the bell for the last hour.”

At that moment the door was suddenly flung open.Aunt Letty looked round and saw with amazement that an enormous woman,splendidly dressed,with bare arms and flashing eyes,stood in the doorway.It was the Witch.

CHAPTER 7

What Happened at the Front Door

“Now,slave,how long am I to wait for my chariot?” thundered the Witch.Uncle Andrew cowered away from her.Now that she was really present,all the silly thoughts he had had while looking at himself in the glass were oozing out of him.But Aunt Letty at once got up from her knees and came over to the centre of the room.

“And who is this young person,Andrew,may I ask?” said Aunt Letty in icy tones.

“Distinguished foreigner – v-very important pperson,”he stammered.

“Rubbish!” said Aunt Letty,and then,turning to the Witch,“Get out of my house this moment,you shameless hussy,or I'll send for the police.” She thought the Witch must be someone out of a circus and she did not approve of bare arms.

“What woman is this?” said Jadis.“Down on your knees,minion,before I blast you.”

“No strong language in this house if you please,young woman,” said Aunt Letty.

Instantly,as it seemed to Uncle Andrew,the Queen towered up to an even greater height.Fire flashed from her eyes：she flung out her arm with the same gesture and the same horrible-sounding words that had lately turned the palace-gates of Charn to dust.But nothing happened except that Aunt Letty,thinking that those horrible words were meant to be ordinary English,said：

“I thought as much.The woman is drunk.Drunk!She can't even speak clearly.”

It must have been a terrible moment for the Witch when she suddenly realized that her power of turning people into dust,which had been quite real in her own world,was not going to work in ours.But she did not lose her nerve even for a second.Without wasting a thought on her disappointment,she lunged forward,caught Aunt Letty round the neck and the knees,raised her high above her head as if she had been no heavier than a doll,and threw her across the room.While Aunt Letty was still hurtling through the air,the housemaid(who was having a beautifully exciting morning)put her head in at the door and said,“If you please,sir,the 'ansom's come.”

“Lead on,Slave,” said the Witch to Uncle Andrew.He began muttering something about“regrettable violence – must really protest”,but at a single glance from Jadis he became speechless.She drove him out of the room and out of the house；and Digory came running down the stairs just in time to see the front door close behind them.

“Jiminy!” he said.“She's loose in London.And with Uncle Andrew.I wonder what on earth is going to happen now.”

“Oh,Master Digory,” said the housemaid(who was really having a wonderful day),“I think Miss Ketterley's hurt herself somehow.” So they both rushed into the drawing-room to find out what had happened.

If Aunt Letty had fallen on bare boards or even on the carpet,I suppose all her bones would have been broken：but by great good luck she had fallen on the mattress.Aunt Letty was a very tough old lady：aunts often were in those days.After she had had some sal volatile and sat still for a few minutes,she said there was nothing the matter with her except a few bruises.Very soon she was taking charge of the situation.

“Sarah,” she said to the housemaid(who had never had such a day before),“go around to the police station at once and tell them there is a dangerous lunatic at large.I will take Mrs Kirke's lunch up myself.” Mrs Kirke was,of course,Digory's mother.

When Mother's lunch had been seen to,Digory and Aunt Letty had their own.After that he did some hard thinking.

The problem was how to get the Witch back to her own world,or at any rate out of ours,as soon as possible.Whatever happened,she must not be allowed to go rampaging about the house.Mother must not see her.And,if possible,she must not be allowed to go rampaging about London either.Digory had not been in the drawing-room when she tried to “blast” Aunt Letty,but he had seen her“blast” the gates at Charn：so he knew her terrible powers and did not know that she had lost any of them by coming into our world.And he knew she meant to conquer our world.At the present moment,as far as he could see,she might be blasting Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament：and it was almost certain that quite a number of policemen had by now been reduced to little heaps of dust.And there didn't seem to be anything he could do about that.“But the rings seem to work like magnets,” thought Digory.“If I can only touch her and then slip on my yellow,we shall both go into the Wood between the Worlds.I wonder,will she go all faint again there?Was that something the place does to her,or was it only the shock of being pulled out of her own world?But I suppose I'll have to risk that.And how am I to find the beast?I don't suppose Aunt Letty would let me go out,not unless I said where I was going.And I haven't got more than twopence.I'd need any amount of money for buses and trams if I went looking all over London.Anyway,I haven't the faintest idea where to look.I wonder if Uncle Andrew is still with her.”

It seemed in the end that the only thing he could do was to wait and hope that Uncle Andrew and the Witch would come back.If they did,he must rush out and get hold of the Witch and put on his yellow ring before she had a chance to get into the house.This meant that he must watch the front door like a cat watching a mouse's hole；he dared not leave his post for a moment.So he went into the dining-room and “glued his face” as they say,to the window.It was a bow-window from which you could see the steps up to the front door and see up and down the street,so that no one could reach the front door without your knowing.“I wonder what Polly's doing?” thought Digory.

He wondered about this a good deal as the first slow half-hour ticked on.But you need not wonder,for I am going to tell you.She had got home late for her dinner,with her shoes and stockings very wet.And when they asked her where she had been and what on earth she had been doing,she said she had been out with Digory Kirke.Under further questioning she said she had got her feet wet in a pool of water,and that the pool was in a wood.Asked where the wood was,she said she didn't know.Asked if it was in one of the parks,she said truthfully enough that she supposed it might be a sort of park.From all of this Polly's mother got the idea that Polly had gone off,without telling anyone,to some part of London she didn't know,and gone into a strange park and amused herself jumping into puddles.As a result she was told that she had been very naughty indeed and that she wouldn't be allowed to play with “that Kirke boy”any more if anything of the sort ever happened again.Then she was given dinner with all the nice parts left out and sent to bed for two solid hours.It was a thing that happened to one quite often in those days.

So while Digory was staring out of the diningroom window,Polly was lying in bed,and both were thinking how terribly slowly the time could go.I think,myself,I would rather have been in Polly's position.She had only to wait for the end of her two hours：but every few minutes Digory would hear a cab or a baker's van or a butcher's boy coming round the corner and think “Here she comes”,and then find it wasn't.And in between these false alarms,for what seemed hours and hours,the clock ticked on and one big fly – high up and far out of reach – buzzed against the window.It was one of those houses that get very quiet and dull in the afternoon and always seem to smell of mutton.

During his long watching and waiting one small thing happened which I shall have to mention because something important came of it later on.A lady called with some grapes for Digory's Mother；and as the dining-room door was open,Digory couldn't help overhearing Aunt Letty and the lady as they talked in the hall.

“What lovely grapes!” came Aunt Letty's voice.“I'm sure if anything could do her good these would.But poor,dear little Mabel!I'm afraid it would need fruit from the land of youth to help her now.Nothing in this world will do much.” Then they both lowered their voices and said a lot more that he could not hear.

If he had heard that bit about the land of youth a few days ago he would have thought Aunt Letty was just talking without meaning anything in particular,the way grown-ups do,and it wouldn't have interested him.He almost thought so now.But suddenly it flashed upon his mind that he now knew(even if Aunt Letty didn't)that there really were other worlds and that he himself had been in one of them.At that rate there might be a real Land of Youth somewhere.There might be almost anything.There might be fruit in some other world that would really cure his mother!And oh,oh—Well,you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly；you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true；you've been disappointed so often before.That was how Digory felt.But it was no good trying to throttle this hope.It might – really,really,it just might be true.So many odd things had happened already.And he had the magic rings.There must be worlds you could get to through every pool in the wood.He could hunt through them all.And then – Mother well again.Everything right again.He forgot all about watching for the Witch.His hand was already going into the pocket where he kept the yellow ring,when all at once he heard a sound of galloping.

“Hullo!What's that?” thought Digory.“Fire engine?I wonder what house is on fire.Great Scott,it's coming here.Why,it's Her.”

I needn't tell you who he meant by Her.

First came the hansom.There was no one in the driver's seat.On the roof – not sitting,but standing on the roof – swaying with superb balance as it came at full speed round the corner with one wheel in the air – was Jadis the Queen of Queens and the Terror of Charn.Her teeth were bared,her eyes shone like fire,and her long hair streamed out behind her like a comet's tail.She was flogging the horse without mercy.Its nostrils were wide and red and its sides were spotted with foam.It galloped madly up to the front door,missing the lamp-post by an inch,and then reared up on its hind legs.The hansom crashed into the lamp-post and shattered into several pieces.The Witch,with a magnificent jump,had sprung clear just in time and landed on the horse's back.She settled herself astride and leaned forward,whispering things in its ear.They must have been things meant not to quiet it but to madden it.It was on its hind legs again in a moment,and its neigh was like a scream；it was all hooves and teeth and eyes and tossing mane.Only a splendid rider could have stayed on its back.

Before Digory had recovered his breath a good many other things began to happen.A second hansom dashed up close behind the first：out of it there jumped a fat man in a frock-coat and a policeman.Then came a third hansom with two more policemen in it.After it came about twenty people(mostly errand boys)on bicycles,all ringing their bells and letting out cheers and cat-calls.Last of all came a crowd of people on foot：all very hot with running,but obviously enjoying themselves.Windows shot up in all the houses of that street and a housemaid or a butler appeared at every front door.They wanted to see the fun.

Meanwhile an old gentleman had begun to struggle shakily out of the ruins of the first hansom.Several people rushed forward to help him；but as one pulled him one way and another another,perhaps he would have got out quite as quickly on his own.Digory guessed that the old gentleman must be Uncle Andrew but you couldn't see his face；his tall hat had been bashed down over it.

Digory rushed out and joined the crowd.

“That's the woman,that's the woman,” cried the fat man,pointing at Jadis.“Do your duty,Constable.Hundreds and thousands of pounds'worth she's taken out of my shop.Look at that rope of pearls round her neck.That's mine.And she's given me a black eye too,what's more.”

“That she 'as,guv'nor,” said one of the crowd.“And as lovely a black eye as I'd wish to see.Beautiful bit of work that must 'ave been.Gor!Ain't she strong then!”

“You ought to put a nice raw beefsteak on it,Mister,that's what it wants,” said a butcher's boy.

“Now then,” said the most important of the policemen,“what's all this 'ere?”

“I tell you she—” began the fat man,when someone else called out：

“Don't let the old cove in the cab get away.'E put 'er up to it.”

The old gentleman,who was certainly Uncle Andrew,had just succeeded in standing up and was rubbing his bruises.“Now then,” said the policeman,turning to him.“What's all this?”

“Womfle – pomy – shomf,” came Uncle Andrew's voice from inside the hat.

“None of that now,” said the policeman sternly.“You'll find this is no laughing matter.Take that 'at off,see?”

This was more easily said than done.But after Uncle Andrew had struggled in vain with the hat for some time,two other policemen seized it by the brim and forced it off.

“Thank you,thank you,” said Uncle Andrew in a faint voice.“Thank you.Dear me,I'm terribly shaken.If someone could give me a small glass of brandy—”

“Now you attend to me,if you please,” said the policeman,taking out a very large note-book and a very small pencil.“Are you in charge of that there young woman?”

“Look out!” called several voices,and the policeman jumped a step backwards just in time.The horse had aimed a kick at him which would probably have killed him.Then the Witch wheeled the horse round so that she faced the crowd and its hind-legs were on the footpath.She had a long,bright knife in her hand and had been busily cutting the horse free from the wreck of the hansom.

All this time Digory had been trying to get into a position from which he could touch the Witch.This wasn't at all easy because,on the side nearest to him,there were too many people.And in order to get round to the other side he had to pass between the horse's hoofs and the railings of the “area” that surrounded the house；for the Ketterleys' house had a basement.If you know anything about horses,and especially if you had seen what a state that horse was in at the moment,you will realize that this was a ticklish thing to do.Digory knew lots about horses,but he set his teeth and got ready to make a dash for it as soon as he saw a favourable moment.

A red-faced man in a bowler hat had now shouldered his way to the front of the crowd.

“Hi!P'leeceman,” he said,“that's my 'orse what she's sitting on,same as it's my cab what she's made matchwood of.”

“One at a time,please,one at a time,” said the policeman.

“But there ain't no time,” said the Cabby.“I know that 'orse better'n you do.'Tain't an ordinary 'orse.'Is father was a hofficer's charger in the cavalry,'e was.And if the young woman goes on hexcitin' 'im,there'll be murder done.'Ere,let me get at him.”

The policeman was only too glad to have a good reason for standing further away from the horse.The Cabby took a step nearer,looked up at Jadis,and said in a not unkindly voice：

“Now,Missie,let me get at 'is 'ead,and just you get off.You're a Lidy,and you don't want all these roughs going for you,do you?You want to go 'ome and 'ave a nice cup of tea and a lay-down quiet like；then you'll feel ever so much better.” At the same time he stretched out his hand towards the horse's head with the words,“Steady,Strawberry,old boy.Steady now.”

Then for the first time the Witch spoke.

“Dog!” came her cold,clear voice,ringing loud above all the other noises.“Dog,unhand our royal charger.We are the Empress Jadis.”

CHAPTER 8

The Fight at the Lamp-post

“Ho!Hempress,are you?We'll see about that,”said a voice.Then another voice said,“Three cheers for the Hempress of Colney 'Atch” and quite a number joined in.A flush of colour came into the Witch's face and she bowed ever so slightly.But the cheers died away into roars of laughter and she saw that they had only been making fun of her.A change came over her expression and she changed the knife to her left hand.Then,without warning,she did a thing that was dreadful to see.Lightly,easily,as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world,she stretched up her right arm and wrenched off one of the cross-bars of the lamp-post.If she had lost some magical powers in our world,she had not lost her strength；she could break an iron bar as if it were a stick of barley-sugar.She tossed her new weapon up in the air,caught it again,brandished it,and urged the horse forward.

“Now's my chance,” thought Digory.He darted between the horse and the railings and began going forward.If only the brute would stay still for a moment he might catch the Witch's heel.As he rushed,he heard a sickening crash and a thud.The Witch had brought the bar down on the chief policeman's helmet：the man fell like a ninepin.

“Quick,Digory.This must be stopped,” said a voice beside him.It was Polly,who had rushed down the moment she was allowed out of bed.

“You are a brick,” said Digory.“Hold on to me tight.You'll have to manage the ring.Yellow,remember.And don't put it on till I shout.”

There was a second crash and another policeman crumpled up.There came an angry roar from the crowd：“Pull her down.Get a few paving-stones.Call out the Military.” But most of them were getting as far away as they could.The Cabby,however,obviously the bravest as well as the kindest person present,was keeping close to the horse,dodging this way and that to avoid the bar,but still trying to catch Strawberry's head.

The crowd booed and bellowed again.A stone whistled over Digory's head.Then came the voice of the Witch,clear like a great bell,and sounding as if,for once,she were almost happy.

“Scum!You shall pay dearly for this when I have conquered your world.Not one stone of your city will be left.I will make it as Charn,as Felinda,as Sorlis,as Bramandin.”

Digory at last caught her ankle.She kicked back with her heel and hit him in the mouth.In his pain he lost hold.His lip was cut and his mouth full of blood.From somewhere very close by came the voice of Uncle Andrew in a sort of trembling scream.“Madam – my dear young lady – for heaven's sake – compose yourself.” Digory made a second grab at her heel,and was again shaken off.More men were knocked down by the iron bar.He made a third grab：caught the heel：held on like grim death,shouting to Polly “Go!” then – oh,thank goodness.The angry,frightened faces had vanished.The angry,frightened voices were silenced.All except Uncle Andrew's.Close beside Digory in the darkness,it was wailing on：“Oh,oh,is this delirium?Is it the end?I can't bear it.It's not fair.I never meant to be a Magician.It's all a misunderstanding.It's all my godmother's fault；I must protest against this.In my state of health too.A very old Dorsetshire family.”

“Bother!” thought Digory.“We didn't want to bring him along.My hat,what a picnic.Are you there,Polly?”

“Yes,I'm here.Don't keep on shoving.”

“I'm not,” began Digory,but before he could say anything more,their heads came out into the warm,green sunshine of the wood.And as they stepped out of the pool Polly cried out：

“Oh,look!We've brought the old horse with us too.And Mr Ketterley.And the Cabby.This is a pretty kettle of fish!”

As soon as the Witch saw that she was once more in the wood she turned pale and bent down till her face touched the mane of the horse.You could see she felt deadly sick.Uncle Andrew was shivering.But Strawberry,the horse,shook his head,gave a cheerful whinny,and seemed to feel better.He became quiet for the first time since Digory had seen him.His ears,which had been laid flat back on his skull,came into their proper position,and the fire went out of his eyes.

“That's right,old boy,” said the Cabby,slapping Strawberry's neck.“That's better.Take it easy.”

Strawberry did the most natural thing in the world.Being very thirsty(and no wonder)he walked slowly across to the nearest pool and stepped into it to have a drink.Digory was still holding the Witch's heel and Polly was holding Digory's hand.One of the Cabby's hands was on Strawberry；and Uncle Andrew,still very shaky,had just grabbed the Cabby's other hand.

“Quick,” said Polly,with a look at Digory.“Greens!”

So the horse never got his drink.Instead,the whole party found themselves sinking into darkness.Strawberry neighed；Uncle Andrew whimpered.Digory said,“That was a bit of luck.”

There was a short pause.Then Polly said,“Oughtn't we to be nearly there now?”

“We do seem to be somewhere,” said Digory.“At least I'm standing on something solid.”

“Why,so am I,now that I come to think of it,”said Polly.“But why's it so dark?I say,do you think we got into the wrong Pool?”

“Perhaps this is Charn,” said Digory.“Only we've got back in the middle of the night.”

“This is not Charn,” came the Witch's voice.“This is an empty world.This is Nothing.”

And really it was uncommonly like Nothing.There were no stars.It was so dark that they couldn't see one another at all and it made no difference whether you kept your eyes shut or open.Under their feet there was a cool,flat something which might have been earth,and was certainly not grass or wood.The air was cold and dry and there was no wind.

“My doom has come upon me,” said the Witch in a voice of horrible calmness.

“Oh,don't say that,” babbled Uncle Andrew.“My dear young lady,pray don't say such things.It can't be as bad as that.Ah – Cabman – my good man –you don't happen to have a flask about you?A drop of spirits is just what I need.”

“Now then,now then,” came the Cabby's voice,a good firm,hardy voice.“Keep cool,everyone,that's what I say.No bones broken,anyone?Good.Well,there's something to be thankful for straight away,and more than anyone could expect after falling all that way.Now,if we've fallen down some diggings– as it might be for a new station on the Underground – someone will come and get us out presently,see!And if we're dead – which I don't deny it might be – well,you got to remember that worse things 'appen at sea and a chap's got to die sometime.And there ain't nothing to be afraid of if a chap's led a decent life.And if you ask me,I think the best thing we could do to pass the time would be sing a 'ymn.”

And he did.He struck up at once a harvest thanksgiving hymn,all about crops being “safely gathered in”.It was not very suitable to a place which felt as if nothing had ever grown there since the beginning of time,but it was the one he could remember best.He had a fine voice and the children joined in；it was very cheering.Uncle Andrew and the Witch did not join in.

Towards the end of the hymn Digory felt someone plucking at his elbow and from a general smell of brandy and cigars and good clothes he decided that it must be Uncle Andrew.Uncle Andrew was cautiously pulling him away from the others.When they had gone a little distance,the old man put his mouth so close to Digory's ear that it tickled,and whispered：

“Now,my boy.Slip on your ring.Let's be off.”

But the Witch had very good ears.“Fool!” came her voice and she leapt off the horse.“Have you forgotten that I can hear men's thoughts?Let go the boy.If you attempt treachery I will take such vengeance upon you as never was heard of in all worlds from the beginning.”

“And,” added Digory,“if you think I'm such a mean pig as to go off and leave Polly – and the Cabby – and the horse – in a place like this,you're well mistaken.”

“You are a very naughty and impertinent little boy,” said Uncle Andrew.

“Hush!” said the Cabby.They all listened.

In the darkness something was happening at last.A voice had begun to sing.It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming.Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once.Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them.Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself.There were no words.There was hardly even a tune.But it was,beyond comparison,the most beautiful noise he had ever heard.It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.The horse seemed to like it too；he gave the sort of whinny a horse would give if,after years of being a cab-horse,it found itself back in the old field where it had played as a foal,and saw someone whom it remembered and loved coming across the field to bring it a lump of sugar.

“Gawd!” said the Cabby.“Ain't it lovely?”

Then two wonders happened at the same moment.One was that the voice was suddenly joined by the other voices；more voices than you could possibly count.They were in harmony with it,but far higher up the scale：cold,tingling,silvery voices.The second wonder was that the blackness overhead,all at once,was blazing with stars.They didn't come out gently one by one,as they do on a summer evening.One moment there had been nothing but darkness；next moment a thousand,thousand points of light leapt out – single stars,constellations,and planets,brighter and bigger than any in our world.There were no clouds.The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time.If you had seen and heard it,as Digory did,you would have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing,and that it was the first voice,the deep one,which had made them appear and made them sing.

“Glory be!” said the Cabby.“I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this.”

The voice on the earth was now louder and more triumphant；but the voices in the sky,after singing loudly with it for a time,began to get fainter.And now something else was happening.

Far away,and down near the horizon,the sky began to turn grey.A light wind,very fresh,began to stir.The sky,in that one place,grew slowly and steadily paler.You could see shapes of hills standing up dark against it.All the time the voice went on singing.

There was soon light enough for them to see one another's faces.The Cabby and the two children had open mouths and shining eyes；they were drinking in the sound,and they looked as if it reminded them of something.Uncle Andrew's mouth was open too,but not open with joy.He looked more as if his chin had simply dropped away from the rest of his face.His shoulders were stooped and his knees shook.He was not liking the voice.If he could have got away from it by creeping into a rat's hole,he would have done so.But the Witch looked as if,in a way,she understood the music better than any of them.Her mouth was shut,her lips were pressed together,and her fists were clenched.Ever since the song began she had felt that this whole world was filled with a Magic different from hers and stronger.She hated it.She would have smashed that whole world,or all worlds,to pieces,if it would only stop the singing.The horse stood with its ears well forward,and twitching.Every now and then it snorted and stamped the ground.It no longer looked like a tired old cab-horse；you could now well believe that its father had been in battles.

The eastern sky changed from white to pink and from pink to gold.The Voice rose and rose,till all the air was shaking with it.And just as it swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound it had yet produced,the sun arose.

Digory had never seen such a sun.The sun above the ruins of Charn had looked older than ours：this looked younger.You could imagine that it laughed for joy as it came up.And as its beams shot across the land the travellers could see for the first time what sort of place they were in.It was a valley through which a broad,swift river wound its way,flowing eastward towards the sun.Southward there were mountains,northward there were lower hills.But it was a valley of mere earth,rock and water；there was not a tree,not a bush,not a blade of grass to be seen.The earth was of many colours：they were fresh,hot and vivid.They made you feel excited；until you saw the Singer himself,and then you forgot everything else.

It was a Lion.Huge,shaggy,and bright,it stood facing the risen sun.Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away.

“This is a terrible world,” said the Witch.“We must fly at once.Prepare the Magic.”

“I quite agree with you,Madam,” said Uncle Andrew.“A most disagreeable place.Completely uncivilized.If only I were a younger man and had a gun—”

“Garn!” said the Cabby.“You don't think you could shoot 'im,do you?”

“And who would?” said Polly.

“Prepare the Magic,old fool,” said Jadis.

“Certainly,Madam,” said Uncle Andrew cunningly.“I must have both the children touching me.Put on your homeward ring at once,Digory.”He wanted to get away without the Witch.

“Oh,it's rings,is it?” cried Jadis.She would have had her hands in Digory's pocket before you could say knife,but Digory grabbed Polly and shouted out：

“Take care.If either of you come half an inch nearer,we two will vanish and you'll be left here for good.Yes：I have a ring in my pocket that will take Polly and me home.And look!My hand is just ready.So keep your distance.I'm sorry about you”(he looked at the Cabby)“and about the horse,but I can't help that.As for you two”(he looked at Uncle Andrew and the Queen),“you're both magicians,so you ought to enjoy living together.”

“ 'Old your noise,everyone,” said the Cabby.“I want to listen to the moosic.”

For the song had now changed.

CHAPTER 9

The Founding of Narnia

The Lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song.It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun；a gentle,rippling music.And as he walked and sang,the valley grew green with grass.It spread out from the Lion like a pool.It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave.In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains,making that young world every moment softer.The light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass.Soon there were other things besides grass.The higher slopes grew dark with heather.Patches of rougher and more bristling green appeared in the valley.Digory did not know what they were until one began coming up quite close to him.It was a little,spiky thing that threw out dozens of arms and covered these arms with green and grew larger at the rate of about an inch every two seconds.There were dozens of these things all round him now.When they were nearly as tall as himself he saw what they were.“Trees!” he exclaimed.

The nuisance of it,as Polly said afterwards,was that you weren't left in peace to watch it all.Just as Digory said “Trees!” he had to jump because Uncle Andrew had sidled up to him again and was going to pick his pocket.It wouldn't have done Uncle Andrew much good if he had succeeded,for he was aiming at the right-hand pocket because he still thought the green rings were “homeward” rings.But of course Digory didn't want to lose either.

“Stop!” cried the Witch.“Stand back.No,further back.If anyone goes within ten paces of either of the children,I will knock out his brains.” She was poising in her hand the iron bar that she had torn off the lamp-post,ready to throw it.Somehow no one doubted that she would be a very good shot.

“So!” she said.“You would steal back to your own world with the boy and leave me here.”

Uncle Andrew's temper at last got the better of his fears.“Yes,Ma'am,I would,” he said.“Most undoubtedly I would.I should be perfectly in my rights.I have been most shamefully,most abominably treated.I have done my best to show you such civilities as were in my power.And what has been my reward?You have robbed – I must repeat the word – robbed a highly respectable jeweller.You have insisted on my entertaining you to an exceedingly expensive,not to say ostentatious,lunch,though I was obliged to pawn my watch and chain in order to do so(and let me tell you,Ma'am,that none of our family have been in the habit of frequenting pawnshops,except my cousin Edward,and he was in the Yeomanry).During that indigestible meal – I'm feeling the worse for it at this very moment – your behaviour and conversation attracted the unfavourable attention of everyone present.I feel I have been publicly disgraced.I shall never be able to show my face in that restaurant again.You have assaulted the police.You have stolen—”

“Oh stow it,Guv'nor,do stow it,” said the Cabby.“Watchin' and listenin's the thing at present；not talking.”

There was certainly plenty to watch and to listen to.The tree which Digory had noticed was now a full-grown beech whose branches swayed gently above his head.They stood on cool,green grass,sprinkled with daisies and buttercups.A little way off,along the river bank,willows were growing.On the other side tangles of flowering currant,lilac,wild rose,and rhododendron closed them in.The horse was tearing up delicious mouthfuls of new grass.

All this time the Lion's song,and his stately prowl,to and fro,backwards and forwards,was going on.What was rather alarming was that at each turn he came a little nearer.Polly was finding the song more and more interesting because she thought she was beginning to see the connection between the music and the things that were happening.When a line of dark firs sprang up on a ridge about a hundred yards away she felt that they were connected with a series of deep,prolonged notes which the Lion had sung a second before.And when he burst into a rapid series of lighter notes she was not surprised to see primroses suddenly appearing in every direction.Thus,with an unspeakable thrill,she felt quite certain that all the things were coming(as she said)“out of the Lion's head”.When you listened to his song you heard the things he was making up：when you looked around you,you saw them.This was so exciting that she had no time to be afraid.But Digory and the Cabby could not help feeling a bit nervous as each turn of the Lion's walk brought him nearer.As for Uncle Andrew,his teeth were chattering,but his knees were shaking so that he could not run away.

Suddenly the Witch stepped boldly out towards the Lion.It was coming on,always singing,with a slow,heavy pace.It was only twelve yards away.She raised her arm and flung the iron bar straight at its head.

Nobody,least of all Jadis,could have missed at that range.The bar struck the Lion fair between the eyes.It glanced off and fell with a thud in the grass.The Lion came on.Its walk was neither slower nor faster than before；you could not tell whether it even knew it had been hit.Though its soft pads made no noise,you could feel the earth shake beneath their weight.

The Witch shrieked and ran；in a few moments she was out of sight among the trees.Uncle Andrew turned to do likewise,tripped over a root,and fell flat on his face in a little brook that ran down to join the river.The children could not move.They were not even quite sure that they wanted to.The Lion paid no attention to them.Its huge red mouth was open,but open in song not in a snarl.It passed by them so close that they could have touched its mane.They were terribly afraid it would turn and look at them,yet in some queer way they wished it would.But for all the notice it took of them they might just as well have been invisible and unsmellable.When it had passed them and gone a few paces further it turned,passed them again,and continued its march eastward.

Uncle Andrew,coughing and spluttering,picked himself up.

“Now,Digory,” he said,“we've got rid of that woman,and the brute of a lion is gone.Give me your hand and put on your ring at once.”

“Keep off,” said Digory,backing away from him.“Keep clear of him,Polly.Come over here beside me.Now I warn you,Uncle Andrew,don't come one step nearer,we'll just vanish.”

“Do what you're told this minute,sir,” said Uncle Andrew.“You're an extremely disobedient,illbehaved little boy.”

“No fear,” said Digory.“We want to stay and see what happens.I thought you wanted to know about other worlds.Don't you like it now you're here?”

“Like it!” exclaimed Uncle Andrew.“Just look at the state I'm in.And it was my best coat and waistcoat,too.” He certainly was a dreadful sight by now：for of course,the more dressed up you were to begin with,the worse you look after you've crawled out of a smashed hansom-cab and fallen into a muddy brook.“I'm not saying,” he added,“that this is not a most interesting place.If I were a younger man,now – perhaps I could get some lively young fellow to come here first.One of those big-game hunters.Something might be made of this country.The climate is delightful.I never felt such air.I believe it would have done me good if – if circumstances had been more favourable.If only we'd had a gun.”

“Guns be blowed,” said the Cabby.“I think I'll go and see if I can give Strawberry a rub down.That horse 'as more sense than some 'umans as I could mention.” He walked back to Strawberry and began making the hissing noises that grooms make.

“Do you still think that Lion could be killed by a gun?” asked Digory.“He didn't mind the iron bar much.”

“With all her faults,” said Uncle Andrew,“that's a plucky gel,my boy.It was a spirited thing to do.”He rubbed his hands and cracked his knuckles,as if he were once more forgetting how the Witch frightened him whenever she was really there.

“It was a wicked thing to do,” said Polly.“What harm had he done her?”

“Hullo!What's that?” said Digory.He had darted forward to examine something only a few yards away.“I say,Polly,” he called back.“Do come and look.”

Uncle Andrew came with her；not because he wanted to see but because he wanted to keep close to the children – there might be a chance of stealing their rings.But when he saw what Digory was looking at,even he began to take an interest.It was a perfect little model of a lamp-post,about three feet high but lengthening,and thickening in proportion,as they watched it；in fact growing just as the trees had grown.

“It's alive too – I mean,it's lit,” said Digory.And so it was；though of course the brightness of the sun made the little flame in the lantern hard to see unless your shadow fell on it.

“Remarkable,most remarkable,” muttered Uncle Andrew.“Even I never dreamt of Magic like this.We're in a world where everything,even a lamppost,comes to life and grows.Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamp-post grows from?”

“Don't you see?” said Digory.“This is where the bar fell – the bar she tore off the lamp-post at home.It sank into the ground and now it's coming up as a young lamp-post.”(But not so very young now；it was as tall as Digory while he said this.)

“That's it!Stupendous,stupendous,” said Uncle Andrew,rubbing his hands harder than ever.“Ho,ho!They laughed at my Magic.That fool of a sister of mine thinks I'm a lunatic.I wonder what they'll say now?I have discovered a world where everything is bursting with life and growth.Columbus,now,they talk about Columbus.But what was America to this?The commercial possibilities of this country are unbounded.Bring a few old bits of scrap iron here,bury 'em,and up they come as brand new railway engines,battleships,anything you please.They'll cost nothing,and I can sell 'em at full prices in England.I shall be a millionaire.And then the climate!I feel years younger already.I can run it as a health resort.A good sanatorium here might be worth twenty thousand a year.Of course I shall have to let a few people into the secret.The first thing is to get that brute shot.”

“You're just like the Witch,” said Polly.“All you think of is killing things.”

“And then as regards oneself,” Uncle Andrew continued in a happy dream,“there's no knowing how long I might live if I settled here.And that's a big consideration when a fellow has turned sixty.I shouldn't be surprised if I never grew a day older in this country!Stupendous!The land of youth!”

“Oh!” cried Digory.“The land of youth!Do you think it really is?” For of course he remembered what Aunt Letty had said to the lady who brought the grapes,and that sweet hope rushed back upon him.“Uncle Andrew,” he said,“do you think there's anything here that would cure Mother?”

“What are you talking about?” said Uncle Andrew.“This isn't a chemist's shop.But as I was saying—”

“You don't care twopence about her,” said Digory savagely.“I thought you might；after all,she's your sister as well as my Mother.Well,no matter.I'm jolly well going to ask the Lion himself if he can help me.” And he turned and walked briskly away.Polly waited for a moment and then went after him.

“Here!Stop!Come back!The boy's gone mad,”said Uncle Andrew.He followed the children at a cautious distance behind；for he didn't want to get too far away from the green rings or too near the Lion.

In a few minutes Digory came to the edge of the wood and there he stopped.The Lion was singing still.But now the song had once more changed.It was more like what we should call a tune,but it was also far wilder.It made you want to run and jump and climb.It made you want to shout.It made you want to rush at other people and either hug them or fight them.It made Digory hot and red in the face.It had some effect on Uncle Andrew,for Digory could hear him saying,“A spirited gel,sir.It's a pity about her temper,but a dem fine woman all the same,a dem fine woman.” But what the song did to the two humans was nothing compared with what it was doing to the country.

Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot?For that is really the best description of what was happening.In all directions it was swelling into humps.They were of very different sizes,some no bigger than molehills,some as big as wheelbarrows,two the size of cottages.And the humps moved and swelled till they burst,and the crumbled earth poured out of them,and from each hump there came out an animal.The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England.The dogs came out,barking the moment their heads were free,and struggling as you've seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge.The stags were the queerest to watch,for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them,so at first Digory thought they were trees.The frogs,who all came up near the river,went straight into it with a plop-plop and a loud croaking.The panthers,leopards and things of that sort,sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hind quarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws.Showers of birds came out of the trees.Butterflies fluttered.

Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn't a second to lose.But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back,the large,wise head,and the four baggy-trousered legs of an elephant.And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion；there was so much cawing,cooing,crowing,braying,neighing,baying,barking,lowing,bleating,and trumpeting.

But though Digory could no longer hear the Lion,he could see it.It was so big and so bright that he could not take his eyes off it.The other animals did not appear to be afraid of it.Indeed,at that very moment,Digory heard the sound of hooves from behind；a second later the old cabhorse trotted past him and joined the other beasts.(The air had apparently suited him as well as it had suited Uncle Andrew.He no longer looked like the poor old slave he had been in London；he was picking up his feet and holding his head erect.)And now,for the first time,the Lion was quite silent.He was going to and fro among the animals.And every now and then he would go up to two of them(always two at a time)and touch their noses with his.He would touch two beavers among all the beavers,two leopards among all the leopards,one stag and one deer among all the deer,and leave the rest.Some sorts of animal he passed over altogether.But the pairs which he had touched instantly left their own kinds and followed him.At last he stood still and all the creatures whom he had touched came and stood in a wide circle around him.The others whom he had not touched began to wander away.Their noises faded gradually into the distance.The chosen beasts who remained were now utterly silent,all with their eyes fixed intently upon the Lion.The cat-like ones gave an occasional twitch of the tail but otherwise all were still.For the first time that day there was complete silence,except for the noise of running water.Digory's heart beat wildly；he knew something very solemn was going to be done.He had not forgotten about his Mother,but he knew jolly well that,even for her,he couldn't interrupt a thing like this.

The Lion,whose eyes never blinked,stared at the animals as hard as if he was going to burn them up with his mere stare.And gradually a change came over them.The smaller ones – the rabbits,moles and such-like – grew a good deal larger.The very big ones – you noticed it most with the elephants –grew a little smaller.Many animals sat up on their hind legs.Most put their heads on one side as if they were trying very hard to understand.The Lion opened his mouth,but no sound came from it；he was breathing out,a long,warm breath；it seemed to sway all the beasts as the wind sways a line of trees.Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again；a pure,cold,difficult music.Then there came a swift flash like fire(but it burnt nobody)either from the sky or from the Lion itself,and every drop of blood tingled in the children's bodies,and the deepest,wildest voice they had ever heard was saying：

“Narnia,Narnia,Narnia,awake.Love.Think.Speak.Be walking trees.Be talking beasts.Be divine waters.”

CHAPTER 10

The First Joke and Other Matters

It was of course the Lion's voice.The childrenhad long felt sure that he could speak：yet it was a lovely and terrible shock when he did.

Out of the trees wild people stepped forth,gods and goddesses of the wood；with them came Fauns and Satyrs and Dwarfs.Out of the river rose the River-god with his Naiad daughters.And all these and all the beasts and birds in their different voices,low or high or thick or clear,replied：

“Hail,Aslan.We hear and obey.We are awake.We love.We think.We speak.We know.”

“But please,we don't know very much yet,” said a nosey and snorty kind of voice.And that really did make the children jump,for it was the cab-horse who had spoken.

“Good old Strawberry,” said Polly.“I am glad he was one of the ones picked out to be a Talking Beast.” And the Cabby,who was now standing beside the children,said,“Strike me pink.I always did say that 'oss 'ad a lot of sense,though.”

“Creatures,I give you yourselves,” said the strong,happy voice of Aslan.“I give to you for ever this land of Narnia.I give you the woods,the fruits,the rivers.I give you the stars and I give you myself.The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also.Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts.For out of them you were taken and into them you can return.Do not so.”

“No,Aslan,we won't,we won't,” said everyone.But one perky jackdaw added in a loud voice,“No fear!” and everyone else had finished just before he said it so that his words came out quite clear in a dead silence；and perhaps you have found out how awful that can be – say,at a party.The Jackdaw became so embarrassed that it hid its head under its wings as if it was going to sleep.And all the other animals began making various queer noises which are their ways of laughing and which,of course,no one has ever heard in our world.They tried at first to repress it,but Aslan said：

“Laugh and fear not,creatures.Now that you are no longer dumb and witless,you need not always be grave.For jokes as well as justice come in with speech.”

So they all let themselves go.And there was such merriment that the Jackdaw himself plucked up courage again and perched on the cab-horse's head,between its ears,clapping its wings,and said：

“Aslan!Aslan!Have I made the first joke?Will everybody always be told how I made the first joke?”

“No,little friend,” said the Lion.“You have not made the first joke,you have only been the first joke.”Then everyone laughed more than ever；but the Jackdaw didn't mind and laughed just as loud till the Horse shook its head and the Jackdaw lost its balance and fell off,but remembered its wings(they were still new to it)before it reached the ground.

“And now,” said Aslan,“Narnia is established.We must next take thought for keeping it safe.I will call some of you to my council.Come hither to me,you the chief Dwarf,and you the Rivergod,and you Oak and the He-Owl,and both the Ravens and the Bull-Elephant.We must talk together.For though the world is not five hours old an evil has already entered it.”

The creatures he had named came forward and he turned away eastward with them.The others all began talking,saying things like “What did he say had entered the world?– A Neevil – What's a Neevil?– No,he didn't say a Neevil,he said a weevil – Well,what's that?”

“Look here,” said Digory to Polly,“I've got to go after him – Aslan,I mean,the Lion.I must speak to him.”

“Do you think we can?” said Polly.“I wouldn't dare.”“I've got to,” said Digory.“It's about Mother.If anyone could give me something that would do her good,it would be him.”

“I'll come along with you,” said the Cabby.“I liked the looks of 'im.And I don't reckon these other beasts will go for us.And I want a word with old Strawberry.”

So all three of them stepped out boldly – or as boldly as they could – towards the assembly of animals.The creatures were so busy talking to one another and making friends that they didn't notice the three humans until they were very close；nor did they hear Uncle Andrew,who was standing trembling in his buttoned boots a good way off and shouting(but by no means at the top of his voice)：

“Digory!Come back!Come back at once when you're told.I forbid you to go a step further.”

When at last they were right in among the animals,the animals all stopped talking and stared at them.

“Well?” said the He-Beaver at last.“What,in the name of Aslan,are these?”

“Please,” began Digory in rather a breathless voice,when a Rabbit said,“They're a kind of large lettuce,that's my belief.”

“No,we're not,honestly we're not,” said Polly hastily.“We're not at all nice to eat.”

“There!” said the Mole.“They can talk.Who ever heard of a talking lettuce?”

“Perhaps they're the second joke,” suggested the Jackdaw.

A Panther,which had been washing its face,stopped for a moment to say,“Well,if they are,they're nothing like so good as the first one.At least,I don't see anything very funny about them.”It yawned and went on with its wash.

“Oh,please,” said Digory.“I'm in such a hurry.I want to see the Lion.”

All this time the Cabby had been trying to catch Strawberry's eye.Now he did.“Now,Strawberry,old boy,” he said.“You know me.You ain't going to stand there and say as you don't know me.”

“What's the Thing talking about,Horse?” said several voices.

“Well,” said Strawberry very slowly,“I don't exactly know.I think most of us don't know much about anything yet.But I've a sort of idea I've seen a thing like this before.I've a feeling I lived somewhere else – or was something else – before Aslan woke us all up a few minutes ago.It's all very muddled.Like a dream.But there were things like these three in the dream.”

“What?” said the Cabby.“Not know me?Me what used to bring you a hot mash of an evening when you was out of sorts?Me what rubbed you down proper?Me what never forgot to put your cloth on you if you was standing in the cold?I wouldn't 'ave thought it of you,Strawberry.”

“It does begin to come back,” said the Horse thoughtfully.“Yes.Let me think now,let me think.Yes,you used to tie a horrid black thing behind me and then hit me to make me run,and however far I ran this black thing would always be coming rattle-rattle behind me.”

“We 'ad our living to earn,see,” said the Cabby.“Yours the same as mine.And if there 'adn't been no work and no whip there'd 'ave been no stable,no hay,no mash,and no oats.For you did get a taste of oats when I could afford 'em,which no one can deny.”

“Oats?” said the Horse,pricking up his ears.“Yes,I remember something about that.Yes,I remember more and more.You were always sitting up somewhere behind,and I was always running in front,pulling you and the black thing.I know I did all the work.”

“Summer,I grant you,” said the Cabby.“ 'Ot work for you and a cool seat for me.But what about winter,old boy,when you was keeping yourself warm and I was sitting up there with my feet like ice and my nose fair pinched off me with the wind,and my 'ands that numb I couldn't 'ardly 'old the reins?”

“It was a hard,cruel country,” said Strawberry.“There was no grass.All hard stones.”

“Too true,mate,too true!” said the Cabby.“A'ard world it was.I always did say those pavingstones weren't fair on any 'oss.That's Lunn'on,that is.I didn't like it no more than what you did.You were a country 'oss,and I was a country man.Used to sing in the choir,I did,down at 'ome.But there wasn't a living for me there.”

“Oh,please,please,” said Digory.“Could we get on?The Lion's getting further and further away.And I do want to speak to him so dreadfully badly.”

“Look 'ere,Strawberry,” said the Cabby.“This young gen'leman 'as something on his mind that he wants to talk to the Lion about；'im you call Aslan.Suppose you was to let 'im ride on your back(which'e'd take it very kindly)and trot 'im over to where the Lion is.And me and the little girl will be following along.”

“Ride?” said Strawberry.“Oh,I remember now.That means sitting on my back.I remember there used to be a little one of you two-leggers who used to do that long ago.He used to have little hard,square lumps of some white stuff that he gave me.They tasted – oh,wonderful,sweeter than grass.”

“Ah,that'd be sugar,” said the Cabby.

“Please,Strawberry,” begged Digory,“do,do let me get up and take me to Aslan.”

“Well,I don't mind,” said the Horse.“Not for once in a way.Up you get.”

“Good old Strawberry,” said the Cabby.“ 'Ere,young 'un,I'll give you a lift.” Digory was soon on Strawberry's back,and quite comfortable,for he had ridden bare-back before on his own pony.

“Now,do gee up,Strawberry,” he said.

“You don't happen to have a bit of that white stuff about you,I suppose?” said the Horse.

“No.I'm afraid I haven't,” said Digory.

“Well,it can't be helped,” said Strawberry,and off they went.

At that moment a large bulldog,who had been sniffing and staring very hard,said：

“Look!Isn't there another of these queer creatures – over there,beside the river,under the trees?”

Then all the animals looked and saw Uncle Andrew,standing very still among the rhododendrons and hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

“Come on!” said several voices.“Let's go and find out.” So,while Strawberry was briskly trotting away with Digory in one direction(and Polly and the Cabby were following on foot)most of the creatures rushed towards Uncle Andrew with roars,barks,grunts,and various noises of cheerful interest.

We must now go back a bit and explain what the whole scene had looked like from Uncle Andrew's point of view.It had not made at all the same impression on him as on the Cabby and the children.For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing：it also depends on what sort of person you are.

Ever since the animals had first appeared,Uncle Andrew had been shrinking further and further back into the thicket.He watched them very hard of course；but he wasn't really interested in seeing what they were doing,only in seeing whether they were going to make a rush at him.Like the Witch,he was dreadfully practical.He simply didn't notice that Aslan was choosing one pair out of every kind of beasts.All he saw,or thought he saw,was a lot of dangerous wild animals walking vaguely about.And he kept on wondering why the other animals didn't run away from the big Lion.

When the great moment came and the beasts spoke,he missed the whole point；for a rather interesting reason.When the Lion had first begun singing,long ago when it was still quite dark,he had realized that the noise was a song.And he had disliked the song very much.It made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel.Then,when the sun rose and he saw that the singer was a lion(“only a lion,” as he said to himself)he tried his hardest to make believe that it wasn't singing and never had been singing – only roaring as any lion might in a zoo in our own world.“Of course it can't really have been singing,” he thought,“I must have imagined it.I've been letting my nerves get out of order.Who ever heard of a lion singing?”And the longer and more beautifully the Lion sang,the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring.Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.Uncle Andrew did.He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song.Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to.And when at last the Lion spoke and said,“Narnia,awake,” he didn't hear any words：he heard only a snarl.And when the beasts spoke in answer,he heard only barkings,growlings,baying,and howlings.And when they laughed – well,you can imagine.That was worse for Uncle Andrew than anything that had happened yet.Such a horrid,bloodthirsty din of hungry and angry brutes he had never heard in his life.Then,to his utter rage and horror,he saw the other three humans actually walking out into the open to meet the animals.

“The fools!” he said to himself.“Now those brutes will eat the rings along with the children and I'll never be able to get home again.What a selfish little boy that Digory is!And the others are just as bad.If they want to throw away their own lives,that's their business.But what about me?They don't seem to think of that.No one thinks of me.”

Finally,when a whole crowd of animals came rushing towards him,he turned and ran for his life.And now anyone could see that the air of that young world was really doing the old gentleman good.In London he had been far too old to run：now,he ran at a speed which would have made him certain to win the hundred yards' race at any prep school in England.His coat-tails flying out behind him were a fine sight.But of course it was no use.Many of the animals behind him were swift ones；it was the first run they had ever taken in their lives and they were all longing to use their new muscles.“After him!After him!” they shouted.“Perhaps he's that Neevil!Tally-ho!Tantivy!Cut him off!Round him up!Keep it up!Hurray!”

In a very few minutes some of them got ahead of him.They lined up in a row and barred his way.Others hemmed him in from behind.Wherever he looked he saw terrors.Antlers of great elks and the huge face of an elephant towered over him.Heavy,serious-minded bears and boars grunted behind him.Cool-looking leopards and panthers with sarcastic faces(as he thought)stared at him and waved their tails.What struck him most of all was the number of open mouths.The animals had really opened their mouths to pant；he thought they had opened their mouths to eat him.

Uncle Andrew stood trembling and swaying this way and that.He had never liked animals at the best of times,being usually rather afraid of them；and of course years of doing cruel experiments on animals had made him hate and fear them far more.

“Now,sir,” said the Bulldog in his business-like way,“are you animal,vegetable,or mineral?” That was what it really said；but all Uncle Andrew heard was “Gr-r-r-arrh-ow!”

CHAPTER 11

Digory and his Uncle are Both in Trouble

You may think the animals were very stupid not to see at once that Uncle Andrew was the same kind of creature as the two children and the Cabby.But you must remember that the animals knew nothing about clothes.They thought that Polly's frock and Digory's Norfolk suit and the Cabby's bowler hat were as much parts of them as their own fur and feathers.They wouldn't have known even that those three were all of the same kind if they hadn't spoken to them and if Strawberry had not seemed to think so.And Uncle Andrew was a great deal taller than the children and a good deal thinner than the Cabby.He was all in black except for his white waistcoat(not very white by now),and the great grey mop of his hair(now very wild indeed)didn't look to them like anything they had seen in the three other humans.So it was only natural that they should be puzzled.Worst of all,he didn't seem to be able to talk.

He had tried to.When the Bulldog spoke to him(or,as he thought,first snarled and then growled at him)he held out his shaking hand and gasped“Good Doggie,then,poor old fellow.” But the beasts could not understand him any more than he could understand them.They didn't hear any words：only a vague sizzling noise.Perhaps it was just as well they didn't,for no dog that I ever knew,least of all a Talking Dog of Narnia,likes being called a “Good Doggie,then”；any more than you would like being called “My Little Man”.

Then Uncle Andrew dropped down in a dead faint.

“There!” said a Warthog.“It's only a tree.I always thought so.”(Remember,they had never yet seen a faint or even a fall.)

The Bulldog,who had been sniffing Uncle Andrew all over,raised its head and said,“It's an animal.Certainly an animal.And probably the same kind as those other ones.”

“I don't see that,” said one of the Bears.“An animal wouldn't just roll over like that.We're animals and we don't roll over.We stand up.Like this.” He rose to his hind legs,took a step backwards,tripped over a low branch and fell flat on his back.

“The Third Joke,the Third Joke,the Third Joke!”said the Jackdaw in great excitement.

“I still think it's a sort of tree,” said the Warthog.

“If it's a tree,” said the other Bear,“there might be a bees' nest in it.”

“I'm sure it's not a tree,” said the Badger.“I had a sort of idea it was trying to speak before it toppled over.”

“That was only the wind in its branches,” said the Warthog.

“You surely don't mean,” said the Jackdaw to the Badger,“that you think it's a talking animal!It didn't say any words.”

“And yet,you know,” said the Elephant(the SheElephant,of course；her husband,as you remember,had been called away by Aslan),“and yet,you know,it might be an animal of some kind.Mightn't the whitish lump at this end be a sort of face?And couldn't those holes be eyes and a mouth?No nose,of course.But then – ahem – one mustn't be narrow-minded.Very few of us have what could exactly be called a Nose.” She squinted down the length of her own trunk with pardonable pride.

“I object to that remark very strongly,” said the Bulldog.

“The Elephant is quite right,” said the Tapir.

“I tell you what!” said the Donkey brightly.“Perhaps it's an animal that can't talk but thinks it can.”

“Can it be made to stand up?” said the Elephant thoughtfully.She took the limp form of Uncle Andrew gently in her trunk and set him up on end：upside down,unfortunately,so that two halfsovereigns,three half-crowns,and a sixpence fell out of his pocket.But it was no use.Uncle Andrew merely collapsed again.

“There!” said several voices.“It isn't an animal at all.It's not alive.”

“I tell you,it is an animal,” said the Bulldog.“Smell it for yourself.”

“Smelling isn't everything,” said the Elephant.

“Why,” said the Bulldog,“if a fellow can't trust his nose,what is he to trust?”

“Well,his brains perhaps,” she replied mildly.

“I object to that remark very strongly,” said the Bulldog.

“Well,we must do something about it,” said the Elephant.“Because it may be the Neevil,and it must be shown to Aslan.What do most of us think?Is it an animal or something of the tree kind?”

“Tree!Tree!” said a dozen voices.

“Very well,” said the Elephant.“Then,if it's a tree it wants to be planted.We must dig a hole.”

The two Moles settled that part of the business pretty quickly.There was some dispute as to which way up Uncle Andrew ought to be put into the hole,and he had a very narrow escape from being put in head foremost.Several animals said his legs must be his branches and therefore the grey,fluffy thing(they meant his head)must be his root.But then others said that the forked end of him was the muddier and that it spread out more,as roots ought to do.So finally he was planted right way up.When they had patted down the earth it came up above his knees.

“It looks dreadfully withered,” said the Donkey.

“Of course it wants some watering,” said the Elephant.“I think I might say(meaning no offence to anyone present)that,perhaps,for that sort of work,my kind of nose—”

“I object to that remark very strongly,” said the Bulldog.But the Elephant walked quietly to the river,filled her trunk with water,and came back to attend to Uncle Andrew.The sagacious animal went on doing this till gallons of water had been squirted over him,and water was running out of the skirts of his frock-coat as if he had been for a bath with all his clothes on.In the end it revived him.He awoke from his faint.What a wakening it was!But we must leave him to think over his wicked deed(if he was likely to do anything so sensible)and turn to more important things.

Strawberry trotted on with Digory on his back till the noise of the other animals died away,and now the little group of Aslan and his chosen councillors was quite close.Digory knew that he couldn't possibly break in on so solemn a meeting,but there was no need to do so.At a word from Aslan,the He-Elephant,the Ravens,and all the rest of them drew aside.Digory slipped off the horse and found himself face to face with Aslan.And Aslan was bigger and more beautiful and more brightly golden and more terrible than he had thought.He dared not look into the great eyes.

“Please – Mr Lion – Aslan – Sir,” said Digory,“could you – may I – please,will you give me some magic fruit of this country to make Mother well?”

He had been desperately hoping that the lion would say “Yes”；he had been horribly afraid it might say “No”.But he was taken aback when it did neither.

“This is the Boy,” said Aslan,looking,not at Digory,but at his councillors.“This is the Boy who did it.”

“Oh dear,” thought Digory,“what have I done now?”

“Son of Adam,” said the Lion.“There is an evil Witch abroad in my new land of Narnia.Tell these good Beasts how she came here.”

A dozen different things that he might say flashed through Digory's mind,but he had the sense to say nothing except the exact truth.

“I brought her,Aslan,” he answered in a low voice.

“For what purpose?”

“I wanted to get her out of my own world back into her own.I thought I was taking her back to her own place.”

“How came she to be in your world,Son of Adam?”

“By – by Magic.”

The Lion said nothing and Digory knew that he had not told enough.

“It was my Uncle,Aslan,” he said.“He sent us out of our own world by magic rings,at least I had to go because he sent Polly first,and then we met the Witch in a place called Charn and she just held on to us when—”

“You met the Witch?” said Aslan in a low voice which had the threat of a growl in it.

“She woke up,” said Digory wretchedly.And then,turning very white,“I mean,I woke her.Because I wanted to know what would happen if I struck a bell.Polly didn't want to.It wasn't her fault.I – I fought her.I know I shouldn't have.I think I was a bit enchanted by the writing under the bell.”

“Do you?” asked Aslan；still speaking very low and deep.

“No,” said Digory.“I see now I wasn't.I was only pretending.”

There was a long pause.And Digory was thinking all the time,“I've spoiled everything.There's no chance of getting anything for Mother now.”

When the Lion spoke again,it was not to Digory.

“You see,friends,” he said,“that before the new,clean world I gave you is seven hours old,a force of evil has already entered it；waked and brought hither by this Son of Adam.” The Beasts,even Strawberry,all turned their eyes on Digory till he felt that he wished the ground would swallow him up.“But do not be cast down,” said Aslan,still speaking to the Beasts.“Evil will come of that evil,but it is still a long way off,and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself.In the meantime,let us take such order that for many hundred years yet this shall be a merry land in a merry world.And as Adam's race has done the harm,Adam's race shall help to heal it.Draw near,you other two.”

The last words were spoken to Polly and the Cabby who had now arrived.Polly,all eyes and mouth,was staring at Aslan and holding the Cabby's hand rather tightly.The Cabby gave one glance at the Lion,and took off his bowler hat：no one had yet seen him without it.When it was off,he looked younger and nicer,and more like a countryman and less like a London cabman.

“Son,” said Aslan to the Cabby.“I have known you long.Do you know me?”

“Well,no,sir,” said the Cabby.“Leastways,not in an ordinary manner of speaking.Yet I feel somehow,if I may make so free,as 'ow we've met before.”

“It is well,” said the Lion.“You know better than you think you know,and you shall live to know me better yet.How does this land please you?”

“It's a fair treat,sir,” said the Cabby.

“Would you like to live here always?”

“Well,you see,sir,I'm a married man,” said the Cabby.“If my wife was here neither of us would ever want to go back to London,I reckon.We're both country folks really.”

Aslan threw up his shaggy head,opened his mouth,and uttered a long,single note；not very loud,but full of power.Polly's heart jumped in her body when she heard it.She felt sure that it was a call,and that anyone who heard that call would want to obey it and(what's more)would be able to obey it,however many worlds and ages lay between.And so,though she was filled with wonder,she was not really astonished or shocked when all of a sudden a young woman,with a kind,honest face stepped out of nowhere and stood beside her.Polly knew at once that it was the Cabby's wife,fetched out of our world not by any tiresome magic rings,but quickly,simply and sweetly as a bird flies to its nest.The young woman had apparently been in the middle of a washing day,for she wore an apron,her sleeves were rolled up to the elbow,and there were soapsuds on her hands.If she had had time to put on her good clothes(her best hat had imitation cherries on it)she would have looked dreadful；as it was,she looked rather nice.

Of course she thought she was dreaming.That was why she didn't rush across to her husband and ask him what on earth had happened to them both.But when she looked at the Lion she didn't feel quite so sure it was a dream,yet for some reason she did not appear to be very frightened.Then she dropped a little half curtsey,as some country girls still knew how to do in those days.After that,she went and put her hand in the Cabby's and stood there looking round her a little shyly.

“My children,” said Aslan,fixing his eyes on both of them,“you are to be the first King and Queen of Narnia.”

The Cabby opened his mouth in astonishment,and his wife turned very red.

“You shall rule and name all these creatures,and do justice among them,and protect them from their enemies when enemies arise.And enemies will arise,for there is an evil witch in this world.”

The Cabby swallowed hard two or three times and cleared his throat.

“Begging your pardon,sir,” he said,“and thanking you very much I'm sure(which my Missus does the same)but I ain't no sort of a chap for a job like that.I never 'ad much eddycation,you see.”

“Well,” said Aslan,“can you use a spade and a plough and raise food out of the earth?”

“Yes,sir,I could do a bit of that sort of work：being brought up to it,like.”

“Can you rule these creatures kindly and fairly,remembering that they are not slaves like the dumb beasts of the world you were born in,but talking beasts and free subjects?”

“I see that,sir,” replied the Cabby.“I'd try to do the square thing by them all.”

“And would you bring up your children and grandchildren to do the same?”

“It'd be up to me to try,sir.I'd do my best：wouldn't we,Nellie?”

“And you wouldn't have favourites either among your own children or among the other creatures,or let any hold another under or use it hardly?”

“I never could abide such goings on,sir,and that's the truth.I'd give 'em what for if I caught'em at it,” said the Cabby.(All through this conversation his voice was growing slower and richer.More like the country voice he must have had as a boy and less like the sharp,quick voice of a cockney.)

“And if enemies came against the land(for enemies will arise)and there was war,would you be the first in the charge and the last in the retreat?”

“Well,sir,” said the Cabby very slowly,“a chap don't exactly know till he's been tried.I dare say I might turn out ever such a soft 'un.Never did no fighting except with my fists.I'd try – that is,I 'ope I'd try – to do my bit.”

“Then,” said Aslan,“you will have done all that a King should do.Your coronation will be held presently.And you and your children and grandchildren shall be blessed,and some will be Kings of Narnia,and others will be Kings of Archenland which lies yonder over the Southern Mountains.And you,little Daughter(here he turned to Polly)are welcome.Have you forgiven the Boy for the violence he did you in the Hall of Images in the desolate palace of accursed Charn?”

“Yes,Aslan,we've made it up,” said Polly.

“That is well,” said Aslan.“And now for the Boy himself.”

CHAPTER 12

Strawberry's Adventure

Digory kept his mouth very tight shut.He had been growing more and more uncomfortable.He hoped that,whatever happened,he wouldn't blub or do anything ridiculous.

“Son of Adam,” said Aslan.“Are you ready to undo the wrong that you have done to my sweet country of Narnia on the very day of its birth?”

“Well,I don't see what I can do,” said Digory.“You see,the Queen ran away and—”

“I asked,are you ready?” said the Lion.

“Yes,” said Digory.He had had for a second some wild idea of saying,“I'll try to help you if you'll promise to help my Mother,” but he realized in time that the Lion was not at all the sort of person one could try to make bargains with.But when he had said “Yes”,he thought of his Mother,and he thought of the great hopes he had had,and how they were all dying away,and a lump came in his throat and tears in his eyes,and he blurted out：

“But please,please – won't you – can't you give me something that will cure Mother?” Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them；now,in his despair,he looked up at its face.What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life.For the tawny face was bent down near his own and(wonder of wonders)great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes.They were such big,bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.

“My son,my son,” said Aslan.“I know.Grief is great.Only you and I in this land know that yet.Let us be good to one another.But I have to think of hundreds of years in the life of Narnia.The Witch whom you have brought into this world will come back to Narnia again.But it need not be yet.It is my wish to plant in Narnia a tree that she will not dare to approach,and that tree will protect Narnia from her for many years.So this land shall have a long,bright morning before any clouds come over the sun.You must get me the seed from which that tree is to grow.”

“Yes,sir,” said Digory.He didn't know how it was to be done but he felt quite sure now that he would be able to do it.The Lion drew a deep breath,stooped its head even lower and gave him a Lion's kiss.And at once Digory felt that new strength and courage had gone into him.

“Dear Son,” said Aslan,“I will tell you what you must do.Turn and look to the West and tell me what do you see?”

“I see terribly big mountains,Aslan,” said Digory.“I see this river coming down cliffs in a waterfall.And beyond the cliff there are high green hills with forests.And beyond those there are higher ranges that look almost black.And then,far away,there are big snowy mountains all heaped up together – like pictures of the Alps.And behind those there's nothing but the sky.”

“You see well,” said the Lion.“Now the land of Narnia ends where the waterfall comes down,and once you have reached the top of the cliffs you will be out of Narnia and into the Western Wild.You must journey through those mountains till you find a green valley with a blue lake in it,walled round by mountains of ice.At the end of the lake there is a steep,green hill.On the top of that hill there is a garden.In the centre of that garden is a tree.Pluck an apple from that tree and bring it back to me.”

“Yes,sir,” said Digory again.He hadn't the least idea of how he was to climb the cliff and find his way among all the mountains,but he didn't like to say that for fear it would sound like making excuses.But he did say,“I hope,Aslan,you're not in a hurry.I shan't be able to get there and back very quickly.”

“Little Son of Adam,you shall have help,” said Aslan.He then turned to the Horse who had been standing quietly beside them all this time,swishing his tail to keep the flies off,and listening with his head on one side as if the conversation were a little difficult to understand.

“My dear,” said Aslan to the Horse,“would you like to be a winged horse?”

You should have seen how the Horse shook its mane and how its nostrils widened,and the little tap it gave the ground with one back hoof.Clearly it would very much like to be a winged horse.But it only said：

“If you wish,Aslan – if you really mean – I don't know why it should be me – I'm not a very clever horse.”

“Be winged.Be the father of all flying horses,”roared Aslan in a voice that shook the ground.“Your name is Fledge.”

The horse shied,just as it might have shied in the old,miserable days when it pulled a hansom.Then it roared.It strained its neck back as if there were a fly biting its shoulders and it wanted to scratch them.And then,just as the beasts had burst out of the earth,there burst out from the shoulders of Fledge wings that spread and grew,larger than eagles',larger than swans',larger than angels'wings in church windows.The feathers shone chestnut colour and copper colour.He gave a great sweep with them and leapt into the air.Twenty feet above Aslan and Digory he snorted,neighed,and curvetted.Then,after circling once round them,he dropped to the earth,all four hoofs together,looking awkward and surprised,but extremely pleased.

“Is it good,Fledge?” said Aslan.

“It is very good,Aslan,” said Fledge.

“Will you carry this little Son of Adam on your back to the mountain valley I spoke of?”

“What?Now?At once?” said Strawberry – or Fledge,as we must now call him – “Hurray!Come on,little one,I've had things like you on my back before.Long,long ago.When there were green fields；and sugar.”

“What are the two Daughters of Eve whispering about?” said Aslan,turning very suddenly on Polly and the Cabby's wife,who had in fact been making friends.

“If you please,sir,” said Queen Helen(for that is what Nellie the cabman's wife now was),“I think the little girl would love to go too,if it weren't no trouble.”

“What does Fledge say about that?” asked the Lion.

“Oh,I don't mind two,not when they're little ones,” said Fledge.“But I hope the Elephant doesn't want to come as well.”

The Elephant had no such wish,and the new King of Narnia helped both the children up：that is,he gave Digory a rough heave and set Polly as gently and daintily on the horse's back as if she were made of china and might break.“There they are,Strawberry – Fledge,I should say.This is a rum go.”

“Do not fly too high,” said Aslan.“Do not try to go over the tops of the great ice-mountains.Look out for the valleys,the green places,and fly through them.There will always be a way through.And now,be gone with my blessing.”

“Oh,Fledge!” said Digory,leaning forward to pat the Horse's glossy neck.“This is fun.Hold on to me tight,Polly.”

Next moment the country dropped away beneath them,and whirled round as Fledge,like a huge pigeon,circled once or twice before setting off on his long westward flight.Looking down,Polly could hardly see the King and the Queen,and even Aslan himself was only a bright yellow spot on the green grass.Soon the wind was in their faces and Fledge's wings settled down to a steady beat.

All Narnia,many-coloured with lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees,lay spread out below them,the river winding through it like a ribbon of quicksilver.They could already see over the tops of the low hills which lay northward on their right；beyond those hills a great moorland sloped gently up and up to the horizon.On their left the mountains were much higher,but every now and then there was a gap when you could see,between steep pine woods,a glimpse of the southern lands that lay beyond them,looking blue and far away.

“That'll be where Archenland is,” said Polly.

“Yes,but look ahead!” said Digory.

For now a great barrier of cliffs rose before them and they were almost dazzled by the sunlight dancing on the great waterfall by which the river roars and sparkles down into Narnia itself from the high western lands in which it rises.They were flying so high already that the thunder of those falls could only just be heard as a small,thin sound,but they were not yet high enough to fly over the top of the cliffs.

“We'll have to do a bit of zigzagging here,” said Fledge.“Hold on tight.”

He began flying to and fro,getting higher at each turn.The air grew colder,and they heard the call of eagles far below them.

“I say,look back!Look behind,” said Polly.

There they could see the whole valley of Narnia stretched out to where,just before the eastern horizon,there was a gleam of the sea.And now they were so high that they could see tiny-looking jagged mountains appearing beyond the northwest moors,and plains of what looked like sand far in the south.

“I wish we had someone to tell us what all those places are,” said Digory.

“I don't suppose they're anywhere yet,” said Polly.“I mean,there's no one there,and nothing happening.The world only began today.”

“No,but people will get there,” said Digory.“And then they'll have histories,you know.”

“Well,it's a jolly good thing they haven't now,”said Polly.“Because nobody can be made to learn it.Battles and dates and all that rot.”

Now they were over the top of the cliffs and in a few minutes the valley land of Narnia had sunk out of sight behind them.They were flying over a wild country of steep hills and dark forests,still following the course of the river.The really big mountains loomed ahead.But the sun was now in the travellers' eyes and they couldn't see things very clearly in that direction.For the sun sank lower and lower till the western sky was all like one great furnace full of melted gold；and it set at last behind a jagged peak which stood up against the brightness as sharp and flat as if it were cut out of cardboard.

“It's none too warm up here,” said Polly.

“And my wings are beginning to ache,” said Fledge.“There's no sign of the valley with a Lake in it,like what Aslan said.What about coming down and looking out for a decent spot to spend the night in?We shan't reach that place tonight.”

“Yes,and surely it's about time for supper?” said Digory.

So Fledge came lower and lower.As they came down nearer to the earth and among the hills,the air grew warmer and after travelling so many hours with nothing to listen to but the beat of Fledge's wings,it was nice to hear the homely and earthy noises again – the chatter of the river on its stony bed and the creaking of trees in the light wind.A warm,good smell of sun-baked earth and grass and flowers came up to them.At last Fledge alighted.Digory rolled off and helped Polly to dismount.Both were glad to stretch their stiff legs.

The valley in which they had come down was in the heart of the mountains；snowy heights,one of them looking rose-red in the reflections of the sunset,towered above them.

“I am hungry,” said Digory.

“Well,tuck in,” said Fledge,taking a big mouthful of grass.Then he raised his head,still chewing and with bits of grass sticking out on each side of his mouth like whiskers,and said,“Come on,you two.Don't be shy.There's plenty for us all.”

“But we can't eat grass,” said Digory.

“H'm,h'm,” said Fledge,speaking with his mouth full.“Well – h'm – don't know quite what you'll do then.Very good grass too.”

Polly and Digory stared at one another in dismay.

“Well,I do think someone might have arranged about our meals,” said Digory.

“I'm sure Aslan would have,if you'd asked him,”said Fledge.

“Wouldn't he know without being asked?” said Polly.

“I've no doubt he would,” said the Horse(still with his mouth full).“But I've a sort of idea he likes to be asked.”

“But what on earth are we to do?” asked Digory.

“I'm sure I don't know,” said Fledge.“Unless you try the grass.You might like it better than you think.”

“Oh,don't be silly,” said Polly,stamping her foot.“Of course humans can't eat grass,any more than you could eat a mutton chop.”

“For goodness' sake don't talk about chops and things,” said Digory.“It only makes it worse.”

Digory said that Polly had better take herself home by ring and get something to eat there；he couldn't himself because he had promised to go straight on his message for Aslan and,if once he showed up again at home,anything might happen to prevent his getting back.But Polly said she wouldn't leave him,and Digory said it was jolly decent of her.

“I say,” said Polly,“I've still got the remains of that bag of toffees in my jacket.It'll be better than nothing.”

“A lot better,” said Digory.“But be careful to get your hand into your pocket without touching your ring.”

This was a difficult and delicate job but they managed it in the end.The little paper bag was very squashy and sticky when they finally got it out,so that it was more a question of tearing the bag off the toffees than of getting the toffees out of the bag.Some grown-ups(you know how fussy they can be about that sort of thing)would rather have gone without supper altogether than eaten those toffees.There were nine of them all told.It was Digory who had the bright idea of eating four each and planting the ninth；for,as he said,“if the bar off the lamp-post turned into a little light-tree,why shouldn't this turn into a toffee-tree?” So they dibbled a small hole in the turf and buried the piece of toffee.Then they ate the other pieces,making them last as long as they could.It was a poor meal,even with all the paper they couldn't help eating as well.

When Fledge had quite finished his own excellent supper he lay down.The children came and sat one on each side of him leaning against his warm body,and when he had spread a wing over each they were really quite snug.As the bright young stars of that new world came out they talked over everything：how Digory had hoped to get something for his Mother and how,instead of that,he had been sent on this message.And they repeated to one another all the signs by which they would know the places they were looking for – the blue lake and the hill with a garden on top of it.The talk was just beginning to slow down as they got sleepy,when suddenly Polly sat up wide awake and said,“Hush!”

Everyone listened as hard as they could.

“Perhaps it was only the wind in the trees,” said Digory presently.

“I'm not so sure,” said Fledge.“Anyway – wait!There it goes again.By Aslan,it is something.”

The Horse scrambled to its feet with a great noise and a great upheaval；the children were already on theirs.Fledge trotted to and fro,sniffing and whinnying.The children tiptoed this way and that,looking behind every bush and tree.They kept on thinking they saw things,and there was one time when Polly was perfectly certain she had seen a tall,dark figure gliding quickly away in a westerly direction.But they caught nothing and in the end Fledge lay down again and the children resnuggled(if that is the right word)under his wings.They went to sleep at once.Fledge stayed awake much longer,moving his ears to and fro in the darkness and sometimes giving a little shiver with his skin as if a fly had lighted on him：but in the end he too slept.

CHAPTER 13

An Unexpected Meeting

“Wake up,Digory,wake up,Fledge,” came the voice of Polly.“It has turned into a toffee-tree.And it's the loveliest morning.”

The low early sunshine was streaming through the wood and the grass was grey with dew and the cobwebs were like silver.Just beside them was a little,very dark-wooded tree,about the size of an apple tree.The leaves were whitish and rather papery,like the herb called honesty,and it was loaded with little brown fruits that looked rather like dates.

“Hurray!” said Digory.“But I'm going to have a dip first.” He rushed through a flowering thicket or two down to the river's edge.Have you ever bathed in a mountain river that is running in shallow cataracts over red and blue and yellow stones with the sun on it?It is as good as the sea：in some ways almost better.Of course,he had to dress again without drying but it was well worth it.When he came back,Polly went down and had her bathe；at least she said that was what she'd been doing,but we know she was not much of a swimmer and perhaps it is best not to ask too many questions.Fledge visited the river too but he only stood in midstream,stooping down for a long drink of water and then shaking his mane and neighing several times.

Polly and Digory got to work on the toffee-tree.The fruit was delicious；not exactly like toffee –softer for one thing,and juicy – but like fruit which reminded one of toffee.Fledge also made an excellent breakfast；he tried one of the toffee fruits and liked it but said he felt more like grass at that hour in the morning.Then with some difficulty the children got on his back and the second journey began.

It was even better than yesterday,partly because everyone was feeling so fresh,and partly because the newly risen sun was at their backs and,of course,everything looks nicer when the light is behind you.It was a wonderful ride.The big snowy mountains rose above them in every direction.The valleys,far beneath them,were so green,and all the streams which tumbled down from the glaciers into the main river were so blue,that it was like flying over gigantic pieces of jewellery.They would have liked this part of the adventure to go on longer than it did.But quite soon they were all sniffing the air and saying“What is it?” and “Did you smell something?” and“Where's it coming from?” For a heavenly smell,warm and golden,as if from all the most delicious fruits and flowers of the world,was coming up to them from somewhere ahead.

“It's coming from that valley with the lake in it,”said Fledge.

“So it is,” said Digory.“And look!There's a green hill at the far end of the lake.And look how blue the water is.”

“It must be the Place,” said all three.

Fledge came lower and lower in wide circles.The icy peaks rose up higher and higher above.The air came up warmer and sweeter every moment,so sweet that it almost brought the tears to your eyes.Fledge was now gliding with his wings spread out motionless on each side,and his hoofs pawing for the ground.The steep green hill was rushing towards them.A moment later he alighted on its slope,a little awkwardly.The children rolled off,fell without hurting themselves on the warm,fine grass,and stood up,panting a little.

They were three-quarters of the way up the hill,and set out at once to climb to the top.(I don't think Fledge could have managed this without his wings to balance him and to give him the help of a flutter now and then.)All round the very top of the hill ran a high wall of green turf.Inside the wall,trees were growing.Their branches hung out over the wall；their leaves showed not only green but also blue and silver when the wind stirred them.When the travellers reached the top they walked nearly all the way round it outside the green wall before they found the gates：high gates of gold,fast shut,facing due east.

Up till now I think Fledge and Polly had had the idea that they would go in with Digory.But they thought so no longer.You never saw a place which was so obviously private.You could see at a glance that it belonged to someone else.Only a fool would dream of going in unless he had been sent there on very special business.Digory himself understood at once that the others wouldn't and couldn't come in with him.He went forward to the gates alone.

When he had come close up to them he saw words written on the gold with silver letters；something like this：

Come in by the gold gates or not at all,

Take of my fruit for others or forbear,

For those who steal or those who climb my wall

Shall find their heart's desire and find despair.

“Take of my fruit for others,” said Digory to himself.“Well,that's what I'm going to do.It means I mustn't eat any myself,I suppose.I don't know what all that jaw in the last line is about.Come in by the gold gates.Well,who'd want to climb a wall if he could get in by a gate!But how do the gates open?” He laid his hand on them and instantly they swung apart,opening inwards,turning on their hinges without the least noise.

Now that he could see into the place it looked more private than ever.He went in very solemnly,looking about him.Everything was very quiet inside.Even the fountain which rose near the middle of the garden made only the faintest sound.The lovely smell was all round him：it was a happy place but very serious.

He knew which was the right tree at once,partly because it stood in the very centre and partly because the great silver apples with which it was loaded shone so and cast a light of their own down on the shadowy places where the sunlight did not reach.He walked straight across to it,picked an apple,and put it in the breast pocket of his Norfolk jacket.But he couldn't help looking at it and smelling it before he put it away.

It would have been better if he had not.A terrible thirst and hunger came over him and a longing to taste that fruit.He put it hastily into his pocket；but there were plenty of others.Could it be wrong to taste one?After all,he thought,the notice on the gate might not have been exactly an order；it might have been only a piece of advice – and who cares about advice?Or even if it were an order,would he be disobeying it by eating an apple?He had already obeyed the part about taking one “for others”.

While he was thinking of all this he happened to look up through the branches towards the top of the tree.There,on a branch above his head,a wonderful bird was roosting.I say “roosting”because it seemed almost asleep；perhaps not quite.The tiniest slit of one eye was open.It was larger than an eagle,its breast saffron,its head crested with scarlet,and its tail purple.

“And it just shows,” said Digory afterwards when he was telling the story to others,“that you can't be too careful in these magical places.You never know what may be watching you.” But I think Digory would not have taken an apple for himself in any case.Things like Do Not Steal were,I think,hammered into boys' heads a good deal harder in those days than they are now.Still,we can never be certain.

Digory was just turning to go back to the gates when he stopped to have one last look around.He got a terrible shock.He was not alone.There,only a few yards away from him,stood the Witch.She was just throwing away the core of an apple which she had eaten.The juice was darker than you would expect and had made a horrid stain round her mouth.Digory guessed at once that she must have climbed in over the wall.And he began to see that there might be some sense in that last line about getting your heart's desire and getting despair along with it.For the Witch looked stronger and prouder than ever,and even,in a way,triumphant；but her face was deadly white,white as salt.

All this flashed through Digory's mind in a second；then he took to his heels and ran for the gates as hard as he could pelt；the Witch after him.As soon as he was out,the gates closed behind him of their own accord.That gave him the lead but not for long.By the time he had reached the others and was shouting out “Quick,get on,Polly!Get up,Fledge”,the Witch had climbed the wall,or vaulted over it,and was close behind him again.

“Stay where you are,” cried Digory,turning round to face her,“or we'll all vanish.Don't come an inch nearer.”

“Foolish boy,” said the Witch.“Why do you run from me?I mean you no harm.If you do not stop and listen to me now,you will miss some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life.”

“Well,I don't want to hear it,thanks,” said Digory.But he did.

“I know what errand you have come on,”continued the Witch.“For it was I who was close beside you in the woods last night and heard all your counsels.You have plucked fruit in the garden yonder.You have it in your pocket now.And you are going to carry it back,untasted,to the Lion；for him to eat,for him to use.You simpleton!Do you know what that fruit is?I will tell you.It is the apple of youth,the apple of life.I know,for I have tasted it；and I feel already such changes in myself that I know I shall never grow old or die.Eat it,Boy,eat it；and you and I will both live for ever and be King and Queen of this whole world – or of your world,if we decide to go back there.”

“No thanks,” said Digory,“I don't know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is dead.I'd rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven.”

“But what about this Mother of yours whom you pretend to love so?”

“What's she got to do with it?” said Digory.

“Do you not see,Fool,that one bite of that apple would heal her?You have it in your pocket.We are here by ourselves and the Lion is far away.Use your magic and go back to your own world.A minute later you can be at your Mother's bedside,giving her the fruit.Five minutes later you will see the colour coming back to her face.She will tell you the pain is gone.Soon she will tell you she feels stronger.Then she will fall asleep – think of that；hours of sweet natural sleep,without pain,without drugs.Next day everyone will be saying how wonderfully she has recovered.Soon she will be quite well again.All will be well again.Your home will be happy again.You will be like other boys.”

“Oh!” gasped Digory as if he had been hurt,and put his hand to his head.For he now knew that the most terrible choice lay before him.

“What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?” said the Witch.“What can he do to you once you are back in your own world?And what would your Mother think if she knew that you could have taken her pain away and given her back her life and saved your Father's heart from being broken,and that you wouldn't– that you'd rather run messages for a wild animal in a strange world that is no business of yours?”

“I – I don't think he is a wild animal,” said Digory in a dried-up sort of voice.“He is – I don't know—”

“Then he is something worse,” said the Witch.“Look what he has done to you already；look how heartless he has made you.That is what he does to everyone who listens to him.Cruel,pitiless boy!You would let your own Mother die rather than—”

“Oh,shut up,” said the miserable Digory,still in the same voice.“Do you think I don't see?But I –I promised.”

“Ah,but you didn't know what you were promising.And no one here can prevent you.”

“Mother herself,” said Digory,getting the words out with difficulty,“wouldn't like it – awfully strict about keeping promises – and not stealing – and all that sort of thing.She'd tell me not to do it – quick as anything – if she was here.”

“But she need never know,” said the Witch,speaking more sweetly than you would have thought anyone with so fierce a face could speak.“You wouldn't tell her how you'd got the apple.Your Father need never know.No one in your world need know anything about this whole story.You needn't take the little girl back with you,you know.”

That was where the Witch made her fatal mistake.Of course Digory knew that Polly could get away by her own ring as easily as he could get away by his.But apparently the Witch didn't know this.And the meanness of the suggestion that he should leave Polly behind suddenly made all the other things the Witch had been saying to him sound false and hollow.And even in the midst of all his misery,his head suddenly cleared,and he said(in a different and much louder voice)：

“Look here；where do you come into all this?Why are you so precious fond of my Mother all of a sudden?What's it got to do with you?What's your game?”

“Good for you,Digs,” whispered Polly in his ear.“Quick!Get away now.” She hadn't dared to say anything all through the argument because,you see,it wasn't her mother who was dying.

“Up then,” said Digory,heaving her on to Fledge's back and then scrambling up as quickly as he could.The Horse spread its wings.

“Go then,Fools,” called the Witch.“Think of me,Boy,when you lie old and weak and dying,and remember how you threw away the chance of endless youth!It won't be offered you again.”

They were already so high that they could only just hear her.Nor did the Witch waste any time gazing up at them；they saw her set off northward down the slope of the hill.

They had started early that morning and what happened in the garden had not taken very long,so that Fledge and Polly both said they would easily get back to Narnia before nightfall.Digory never spoke on the way back,and the others were shy of speaking to him.He was very sad and he wasn't even sure all the time that he had done the right thing；but whenever he remembered the shining tears in Aslan's eyes he became sure.

All day Fledge flew steadily with untiring wings；eastward with the river to guide him,through the mountains and over the wild wooded hills,and then over the great waterfall and down,and down,to where the woods of Narnia were darkened by the shadow of the mighty cliff,till at last,when the sky was growing red with sunset behind them,he saw a place where many creatures were gathered together by the riverside.And soon he could see Aslan himself in the midst of them.Fledge glided down,spread out his four legs,closed his wings,and landed cantering.Then he pulled up.The children dismounted.Digory saw all the animals,dwarfs,satyrs,nymphs,and other things drawing back to the left and right to make way for him.He walked up to Aslan,handed him the apple and said：

“I've brought you the apple you wanted,sir.”

CHAPTER 14

The Planting of the Tree

“Well done,” said Aslan in a voice that made the earth shake.Then Digory knew that all the Narnians had heard those words and that the story of them would be handed down from father to son in that new world for hundreds of years and perhaps for ever.But he was in no danger of feeling conceited for he didn't think about it at all now that he was face to face with Aslan.This time he found he could look straight into the Lion's eyes.He had forgotten his troubles and felt absolutely content.

“Well done,Son of Adam,” said the Lion again.“For this fruit you have hungered and thirsted and wept.No hand but yours shall sow the seed of the Tree that is to be the protection of Narnia.Throw the apple towards the river bank where the ground is soft.”

Digory did as he was told.Everyone had grown so quiet that you could hear the soft thump where it fell into the mud.

“It is well thrown,” said Aslan.“Let us now proceed to the Coronation of King Frank of Narnia and Helen his Queen.”

The children now noticed these two for the first time.They were dressed in strange and beautiful clothes,and from their shoulders rich robes flowed out behind them to where four dwarfs held up the King's train and four river-nymphs the Queen's.Their heads were bare；but Helen had let her hair down and it made a great improvement in her appearance.But it was neither hair nor clothes that made them look so different from their old selves.Their faces had a new expression,especially the King's.All the sharpness and cunning and quarrelsomeness which he had picked up as a London cabby seemed to have been washed away,and the courage and kindness which he had always had were easier to see.Perhaps it was the air of the young world that had done it,or talking with Aslan,or both.

“Upon my word,” whispered Fledge to Polly.“My old master's been changed nearly as much as I have!Why,he's a real master now.”

“Yes,but don't buzz in my ear like that,” said Polly.“It tickles so.”

“Now,” said Aslan,“some of you undo that tangle you have made with those trees and let us see what we shall find there.”

Digory now saw that where four trees grew close together their branches had all been laced together or tied together with switches so as to make a sort of cage.The two Elephants with their trunks and a few dwarfs with their little axes soon got it all undone.There were three things inside.One was a young tree that seemed to be made of gold；the second was a young tree that seemed to be made of silver；but the third was a miserable object in muddy clothes,sitting hunched up between them.

“Gosh!” whispered Digory.“Uncle Andrew!”

To explain all this we must go back a bit.The Beasts,you remember,had tried planting and watering him.When the watering brought him to his senses,he found himself soaking wet,buried up to his thighs in earth(which was quickly turning into mud)and surrounded by more wild animals than he had ever dreamed of in his life before.It is perhaps not surprising that he began to scream and howl.This was in a way a good thing,for it at last persuaded everyone(even the Warthog)that he was alive.So they dug him up again(his trousers were in a really shocking state by now).As soon as his legs were free he tried to bolt,but one swift curl of the Elephant's trunk round his waist soon put an end to that.Everyone now thought he must be safely kept somewhere till Aslan had time to come and see him and say what should be done about him.So they made a sort of cage or coop all round him.They then offered him everything they could think of to eat.

The Donkey collected great piles of thistles and threw them in,but Uncle Andrew didn't seem to care about them.The Squirrels bombarded him with volleys of nuts,but he only covered his head with his hands and tried to keep out of the way.Several birds flew to and fro diligently dropping worms on him.The Bear was especially kind.During the afternoon he found a wild bees' nest and instead of eating it himself(which he would very much like to have done)this worthy creature brought it back to Uncle Andrew.But this was in fact the worst failure of all.The Bear lobbed the whole sticky mass over the top of the enclosure and unfortunately it hit Uncle Andrew slap in the face(not all the bees were dead).The Bear,who would not at all have minded being hit in the face by a honeycomb himself,could not understand why Uncle Andrew staggered back,slipped,and sat down.And it was sheer bad luck that he sat down on the pile of thistles.“And anyway,” as the Warthog said,“quite a lot of honey has got into the creature's mouth and that's bound to have done it some good.” They were really getting quite fond of their strange pet and hoped that Aslan would allow them to keep it.The cleverer ones were quite sure by now that at least some of the noises which came out of his mouth had a meaning.They christened him Brandy because he made that noise so often.

In the end,however,they had to leave him there for the night.Aslan was busy all that day instructing the new King and Queen and doing other important things,and could not attend to“poor old Brandy”.What with the nuts,pears,apples,and bananas that had been thrown in to him,he did fairly well for supper；but it wouldn't be true to say that he passed an agreeable night.

“Bring out that creature,” said Aslan.One of the Elephants lifted Uncle Andrew in its trunk and laid him at the Lion's feet.He was too frightened to move.

“Please,Aslan,” said Polly,“could you say something to – to unfrighten him?And then could you say something to prevent him from ever coming back here again?”

“Do you think he wants to?” said Aslan.

“Well,Aslan,” said Polly,“he might send someone else.He's so excited about the bar off the lamp-post growing into a lamp-post tree and he thinks—”

“He thinks great folly,child,” said Aslan.“This world is bursting with life for these few days because the song with which I called it into life still hangs in the air and rumbles in the ground.It will not be so for long.But I cannot tell that to this old sinner,and I cannot comfort him either；he has made himself unable to hear my voice.If I spoke to him,he would hear only growlings and roarings.Oh,Adam's sons,how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!But I will give him the only gift he is still able to receive.”

He bowed his great head rather sadly,and breathed into the magician's terrified face.“Sleep,”he said.“Sleep and be separated for some few hours from all the torments you have devised for yourself.” Uncle Andrew immediately rolled over with closed eyes and began breathing peacefully.

“Carry him aside and lay him down,” said Aslan.“Now,Dwarfs!Show your smith-craft.Let me see you make two crowns for your King and Queen.”

More Dwarfs than you could dream of rushed forward to the Golden Tree.They had all its leaves stripped off,and some of its branches torn off too,before you could say Jack Robinson.And now the children could see that it did not merely look golden but was of real,soft gold.It had of course sprung up from the half-sovereigns which had fallen out of Uncle Andrew's pocket when he was turned upside down；just as the silver had grown up from the half-crowns.From nowhere,as it seemed,piles of dry brushwood for fuel,a little anvil,hammers,tongs,and bellows were produced.Next moment(how those Dwarfs loved their work!)the fire was blazing,the bellows were roaring,the gold was melting,the hammers were clinking.

Two Moles,whom Aslan had set to dig(which was what they liked best)earlier in the day,poured out a pile of precious stones at the Dwarfs' feet.Under the clever fingers of the little smiths two crowns took shape – not ugly,heavy things like modern European crowns,but light,delicate,beautifully shaped circles that you could really wear and look nicer by wearing.The King's was set with rubies and the Queen's with emeralds.

When the crowns had been cooled in the river,Aslan made Frank and Helen kneel before him and he placed the crowns on their heads.Then he said,“Rise up,King and Queen of Narnia,father and mother of many kings that shall be in Narnia and the Isles and Archenland.Be just and merciful and brave.The blessing is upon you.”

Then everyone cheered or bayed or neighed or trumpeted or clapped its wings and the royal pair stood looking solemn and a little shy,but all the nobler for their shyness.And while Digory was still cheering he heard the deep voice of Aslan beside him,saying：

“Look!”

Everyone in that crowd turned its head,and then everyone drew a long breath of wonder and delight.A little way off,towering over their heads,they saw a tree which had certainly not been there before.It must have grown up silently,yet swiftly as a flag rises when you pull it up on a flagstaff,while they were all busied about the coronation.Its spreading branches seemed to cast a light rather than a shade,and silver apples peeped out like stars from under every leaf.But it was the smell which came from it,even more than the sight,that had made everyone draw in their breath.For a moment one could hardly think about anything else.

“Son of Adam,” said Aslan,“you have sown well.And you,Narnians,let it be your first care to guard this Tree,for it is your shield.The Witch of whom I told you has fled far away into the North of the world；she will live on there,growing stronger in dark Magic.But while that Tree flourishes she will never come down into Narnia.She dare not come within a hundred miles of the Tree,for its smell,which is joy and life and health to you,is death and horror and despair to her.”

Everyone was staring solemnly at the Tree when Aslan suddenly swung round his head(scattering golden gleams of light from his mane as he did so)and fixed his large eyes on the children.“What is it,children?” he said,for he caught them in the very act of whispering and nudging one another.

“Oh – Aslan,sir,” said Digory,turning red,“I forgot to tell you.The Witch has already eaten one of those apples,one of the same kind that Tree grew from.” He hadn't really said all he was thinking,but Polly at once said it for him.(Digory was always much more afraid than she of looking a fool.)

“So we thought,Aslan,” she said,“that there must be some mistake,and she can't really mind the smell of those apples.”

“Why do you think that,Daughter of Eve?”asked the Lion.

“Well,she ate one.”

“Child,” he replied,“that is why all the rest are now a horror to her.That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way.The fruit is good,but they loathe it ever after.”

“Oh,I see,” said Polly.“And I suppose because she took it in the wrong way it won't work for her.I mean it won't make her always young and all that?”

“Alas,” said Aslan,shaking his head.“It will.Things always work according to their nature.She has won her heart's desire；she has unwearying strength and endless days like a goddess.But length of days with an evil heart is only length of misery and already she begins to know it.All get what they want；they do not always like it.”

“I – I nearly ate one myself,Aslan,” said Digory.“Would I—”

“You would,child,” said Aslan.“For the fruit always works – it must work – but it does not work happily for any who pluck it at their own will.If any Narnian,unbidden,had stolen an apple and planted it here to protect Narnia,it would have protected Narnia.But it would have done so by making Narnia into another strong and cruel empire like Charn,not the kindly land I mean it to be.And the Witch tempted you to do another thing,my son,did she not?”

“Yes,Aslan.She wanted me to take an apple home to Mother.”

“Understand,then,that it would have healed her；but not to your joy or hers.The day would have come when both you and she would have looked back and said it would have been better to die in that illness.”

And Digory could say nothing,for tears choked him and he gave up all hopes of saving his Mother's life；but at the same time he knew that the Lion knew what would have happened,and that there might be things more terrible even than losing someone you love by death.But now Aslan was speaking again,almost in a whisper：

“That is what would have happened,child,with a stolen apple.It is not what will happen now.What I give you now will bring joy.It will not,in your world,give endless life,but it will heal.Go.Pluck her an apple from the Tree.”

For a second Digory could hardly understand.It was as if the whole world had turned inside out and upside down.And then,like someone in a dream,he was walking across to the Tree,and the King and Queen were cheering him and all the creatures were cheering too.He plucked the apple and put it in his pocket.Then he came back to Aslan.

“Please,” he said,“may we go home now?” He had forgotten to say “Thank you”,but he meant it,and Aslan understood.

CHAPTER 15

The End of this Story and the Beginning of all the Others

“You need no rings when I am with you,” said the voice of Aslan.The children blinked and looked about them.They were once more in the Wood between the Worlds；Uncle Andrew lay on the grass,still asleep；Aslan stood beside them.

“Come,” said Aslan,“it is time that you went back.But there are two things to see first；a warning,and a command.Look here,children.”

They looked and saw a little hollow in the grass,with a grassy bottom,warm and dry.

“When you were last here,” said Aslan,“that hollow was a pool,and when you jumped into it you came to the world where a dying sun shone over the ruins of Charn.There is no pool now.That world is ended,as if it had never been.Let the race of Adam and Eve take warning.”

“Yes,Aslan,” said both the children.But Polly added,“But we're not quite as bad as that world,are we,Aslan?”

“Not yet,Daughter of Eve,” he said.“Not yet.But you are growing more like it.It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things.And soon,very soon,before you are an old man and an old woman,great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis.Let your world beware.That is the warning.Now for the command.As soon as you can,take from this Uncle of yours his magic rings and bury them so that no one can use them again.”

Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words.And all at once(they never knew exactly how it happened)the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating,and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good,or even alive and awake,before.And the memory of that moment stayed with them always,so that as long as they both lived,if ever they were sad or afraid or angry,the thought of all that golden goodness,and the feeling that it was still there,quite close,just round some corner or just behind some door,would come back and make them sure,deep down inside,that all was well.Next minute all three of them(Uncle Andrew now awake)came tumbling into the noise,heat,and hot smells of London.

They were on the pavement outside the Ketterleys' front door,and except that the Witch,the Horse,and the Cabby were gone,everything was exactly as they had left it.There was the lamppost,with one arm missing；there was the wreck of the hansom cab；and there was the crowd.Everyone was still talking and people were kneeling beside the damaged policeman,saying things like,“He's coming round” or “How do you feel now,old chap?”or “The Ambulance will be here in a jiffy.”

“Great Scott!” thought Digory.“I believe the whole adventure's taken no time at all.”

Most people were wildly looking round for Jadis and the horse.No one took any notice of the children for no one had seen them go or noticed them coming back.As for Uncle Andrew,between the state of his clothes and the honey on his face,he could not have been recognized by anyone.Fortunately the front door of the house was open and the housemaid was standing in the doorway staring at the fun(what a day that girl was having!)so the children had no difficulty in bustling Uncle Andrew indoors before anyone asked any questions.

He raced up the stairs before them and at first they were very afraid he was heading for his attic and meant to hide his remaining magic rings.But they needn't have bothered.What he was thinking about was the bottle in his wardrobe,and he disappeared at once into his bedroom and locked the door.When he came out again(which was not for a long time)he was in his dressing-gown and made straight for the bathroom.

“Can you get the other rings,Poll?” said Digory.“I want to go to Mother.”

“Right.See you later,” said Polly and clattered up the attic stairs.

Then Digory took a minute to get his breath,and then went softly into his Mother's room.And there she lay,as he had seen her lie so many other times,propped up on the pillows,with a thin,pale face that would make you cry to look at it.Digory took the Apple of Life out of his pocket.

And just as the Witch Jadis had looked different when you saw her in our world instead of in her own,so the fruit of that mountain garden looked different too.There were of course all sorts of coloured things in the bedroom；the coloured counterpane on the bed,the wallpaper,the sunlight from the window,and Mother's pretty,pale blue dressing jacket.But the moment Digory took the apple out of his pocket,all those things seemed to have scarcely any colour at all.Every one of them,even the sunlight,looked faded and dingy.The brightness of the apple threw strange lights on the ceiling.Nothing else was worth looking at：you couldn't look at anything else.And the smell of the Apple of Youth was as if there was a window in the room that opened on Heaven.

“Oh,darling,how lovely,” said Digory's Mother.

“You will eat it,won't you?Please,” said Digory.

“I don't know what the Doctor would say,” she answered.“But really – I almost feel as if I could.”

He peeled it and cut it up and gave it to her piece by piece.And no sooner had she finished it than she smiled and her head sank back on the pillow and she was asleep：a real,natural,gentle sleep,without any of those nasty drugs,which was,as Digory knew,the thing in the whole world that she wanted most.And he was sure now that her face looked a little different.He bent down and kissed her very softly and stole out of the room with a beating heart；taking the core of the apple with him.For the rest of that day,whenever he looked at the things about him,and saw how ordinary and unmagical they were,he hardly dared to hope；but when he remembered the face of Aslan he did hope.

That evening he buried the core of the apple in the back garden.

Next morning when the Doctor made his usual visit,Digory leant over the banisters to listen.He heard the Doctor come out with Aunt Letty and say：

“Miss Ketterley,this is the most extraordinary case I have known in my whole medical career.It is – it is like a miracle.I wouldn't tell the little boy anything at present；we don't want to raise any false hopes.But in my opinion—” Then his voice became too low to hear.

That afternoon he went down the garden and whistled their agreed secret signal for Polly(she hadn't been able to get back the day before).

“What luck?” said Polly,looking over the wall.“I mean,about your Mother?”

“I think – I think it is going to be all right,” said Digory.“But if you don't mind I'd really rather not talk about it yet.What about the rings?”

“I've got them all,” said Polly.“Look,it's all right,I'm wearing gloves.Let's bury them.”

“Yes,let's.I've marked the place where I buried the core of the Apple yesterday.”

Then Polly came over the wall and they went together to the place.But,as it turned out,Digory need not have marked the place.Something was already coming up.It was not growing so that you could see it grow as the new trees had done in Narnia；but it was already well above ground.They got a trowel and buried all the magic rings,including their own ones,in a circle round it.

About a week after this it was quite certain that Digory's Mother was getting better.About a fortnight later she was able to sit out in the garden.And a month later that whole house had become a different place.Aunt Letty did everything that Mother liked；windows were opened,frowsy curtains were drawn back to brighten up the rooms,there were new flowers everywhere,and nicer things to eat,and the old piano was tuned and Mother took up her singing again,and had such games with Digory and Polly that Aunt Letty would say “I declare,Mabel,you're the biggest baby of the three.”

When things go wrong,you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time；but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better.After about six weeks of this lovely life there came a long letter from Father in India,which had wonderful news in it.Old Great-Uncle Kirke had died and this meant,apparently,that Father was now very rich.He was going to retire and come home from India for ever and ever.And the great big house in the country,which Digory had heard of all his life and never seen,would now be their home；the big house with the suits of armour,the stables,the kennels,the river,the park,the hot-houses,the vineries,the woods,and the mountains behind it.So that Digory felt just as sure as you that they were all going to live happily ever after.But perhaps you would like to know just one or two things more.

Polly and Digory were always great friends and she came nearly every holidays to stay with them at their beautiful house in the country；and that was where she learned to ride and swim and milk and bake and climb.

In Narnia the Beasts lived in great peace and joy and neither the Witch nor any other enemy came to trouble that pleasant land for many hundred years.King Frank and Queen Helen and their children lived happily in Narnia and their second son became King of Archenland.The boys married nymphs and the girls married wood-gods and rivergods.The lamp-post which the Witch had planted(without knowing it)shone day and night in the Narnian forest,so that the place where it grew came to be called Lantern Waste；and when,many years later,another child from our world got into Narnia,on a snowy night,she found the light still burning.And that adventure was,in a way,connected with the ones I have just been telling you.

It was like this.The tree which sprang from the core of the Apple that Digory planted in the back garden,lived and grew into a fine tree.Growing in the soil of our world,far out of the sound of Aslan's voice and far from the young air of Narnia,it did not bear apples that would revive a dying woman as Digory's Mother had been revived,though it did bear apples more beautiful than any others in England,and they were extremely good for you,though not fully magical.But inside itself,in the very sap of it,the tree(so to speak)never forgot that other tree in Narnia to which it belonged.Sometimes it would move mysteriously when there was no wind blowing：I think that when this happened there were high winds in Narnia and the English tree quivered because,at that moment,the Narnia tree was rocking and swaying in a strong south-western gale.However that might be,it was proved later that there was still magic in its wood.For when Digory was quite middle-aged(and he was a famous learned man,a Professor,and a great traveller by that time)and the Ketterleys' old house belonged to him,there was a great storm all over the south of England which blew the tree down.He couldn't bear to have it simply chopped up for firewood,so he had part of the timber made into a wardrobe,which he put in his big house in the country.And though he himself did not discover the magic properties of that wardrobe,someone else did.That was the beginning of all the comings and goings between Narnia and our world,which you can read of in other books.

When Digory and his people went to live in the big country house,they took Uncle Andrew to live with them；for Digory's Father said,“We must try to keep the old fellow out of mischief,and it isn't fair that poor Letty should have him always on her hands.” Uncle Andrew never tried any Magic again as long as he lived.He had learnt his lesson,and in his old age he became a nicer and less selfish old man than he had ever been before.But he always liked to get visitors alone in the billiardroom and tell them stories about a mysterious lady,a foreign royalty,with whom he had driven about London.“A devilish temper she had,” he would say.“But she was a dem fine woman,sir,a dem fine woman.”

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

最后一战/（英）刘易斯（Lewis，C.S.）著；陈良廷，吴岩译.——南京：译林出版社，2014.3

书名原文：The Last Battle

ISBN 978-7-5447-3020-4

Ⅰ.① 最…… Ⅱ.① 刘… ② 吴… Ⅲ.① 儿童文学-长篇小说-英国-现代 Ⅳ.① I561.84

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2013）第290507号

The Last Battle copyright © C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd 1956

Art by Pauline Baynes © 1956 by C.S.Lewis Pte Ltd

The Chronicles of Narnia ®，Narnia ® and all book titles，characters and locales original to The Chronicles of Narnia are trademarks of C.S.

Lewis Pte Ltd.Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Published by Yilin under license from the C.S.Lewis Company Ltd.

Simplified Chinese translation copyrigh © 2014by Yilin Press，Ltd

著作权合同登记号 图字：10-2013-405号

The Narnia website：www.narnia.com

书　名 最后一战

作　者 [英国]C.S.刘易斯

译　者 吴　岩

责任编辑 张远帆　陈　叶

原文出版 HarperCollins Children’s Books，1998

出版发行 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社

集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

集团网址 http://www.ppm.cn

出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009

电子信箱 yilin@yilin.com

出版社网址 http://www.yilin.com

书　号 105千

版　次 2014年3月第1版 2014年3月第1次印刷

书　号 ISBN 978-7-5447-3020-4

第七册 最后一战

目录

中文版

1 大锅渊畔

2 国王的鲁莽

3 无尾猿煊赫一时

4 夜里发生的事

5 救援国王

6 成功的夜袭

7 关于小矮人

8 老鹰带来的消息

9 马厩山的集会

10 谁将入马厩？

11 步伐加快了

12 穿过马厩的门

13 小矮人的拒绝

14 黑夜笼罩纳尼亚

15 更高更深入

16 告别幻影世界

英文版

CHAPTER 1 By Caldron Pool

CHAPTER 2 The Rashness of the King

CHAPTER 3 The Ape in its Glory

CHAPTER 4 What Happened That Night

CHAPTER 5 How Help Came to the King

CHAPTER 6 A Good Night’s Work

CHAPTER 7 Mainly About Dwarfs

CHAPTER 8 What News the Eagle Brought

CHAPTER 9 The Great Meeting on Stable Hill

CHAPTER 10 Who Will Go into the Stable?

CHAPTER 11 The Pace Quickens

CHAPTER 12 Through the Stable Door

CHAPTER 13 How the Dwarfs Refused to be Taken In

CHAPTER 14 Night Falls on Narnia

CHAPTER 15 Farther Up and Farther In

CHAPTER 16 Farewell to Shadowlands

1

大锅渊畔

在纳尼亚最后的日子里，远在西边灯柱野林之外，紧挨着大瀑布，住着一头无尾猿。它的年龄是那么大了，没有人记得它当初是在什么时候来到这一带居住的，它也是你能想像得出的最最聪明、最最丑陋、浑身皱纹最最多的无尾猿。它的名字叫诡谲。它有一间小屋子，木头框架、树叶屋顶，筑在一棵大树的丫枝上。在这部分树林里，会说人话的野兽、人、小矮人，或不论哪一种子民，为数都很少，但诡谲有个邻居，它是头驴子，名字叫迷惑。至少它们俩都说它们是朋友，然而从事态的发展情况看来，你很可能认为，与其说迷惑是诡谲的朋友，倒不如说它是诡谲的仆人。所有的活儿都是迷惑干的。它们一起到河边去，诡谲把大皮囊里都灌满了水，但把盛了水的皮囊背回来的却是迷惑。它们需要河流下游市镇上的什么东西时，背了空背篓跑到市镇上去，又把那装得满满的沉重的背篓背回来的，又是迷惑。而迷惑背回来的种种精美的食物，都被诡谲吃掉；因为，诡谲说：“你瞧，迷惑，我不能像你那样吃青草和蓟，我用别的办法弥补一下也是天公地道的。”迷惑总是说：“当然啦，诡谲，当然啦。我明白的。”迷惑从不诉苦埋怨，因为它觉得诡谲比它聪明，它还认为：诡谲跟它交朋友，压根儿就是给它面子了。如果迷惑竟企图为了什么事情跟诡谲争辩，诡谲总是说：“迷惑，你听着，需要做什么事，我比你明白。迷惑啊，你明明知道你并不聪明。”迷惑总是说：“是啊，诡谲。你说得很对，我并不聪明。”于是它就长叹一声，诡谲叫它干什么它就干什么了。

年初的一天早晨，这一对朋友出门沿着大锅渊的岸边散步。大锅渊又深又大，正位于纳尼亚西陲的悬崖绝壁之下。大瀑布从悬崖上轰然倾泻而下，声若接连不断的雷鸣，纳尼亚河则从另一边奔流而过。大瀑布使深渊里的水始终在跳跃、冒泡，绕着圈儿翻腾，仿佛一锅水在沸腾一般，因此自然而然地被叫做大锅渊。早春时节，大锅渊是最最生气勃勃的，那时纳尼亚背后西部荒原里群山上融雪的水使大瀑布丰沛极了，而纳尼亚河便是发源于荒原的。它们俩正瞧着大锅渊，诡谲突然用它那黑黑的发亮的手指指指点点，说道：

“瞧！那是什么？”

“什么是什么啊？”迷惑说道。

“刚才被瀑布冲下来的那个黄色的东西。瞧！又出现了，它正浮在水面上。我们必须弄明白，那究竟是个什么东西。”

“我们必须吗？”迷惑问。

“当然我们必须弄明白，”诡谲说，“这也许是件有用的东西。像一个好角儿似的跳下水去，把它捞上来，我们就可以亲眼观察它了。”

“跳进深渊去吗？”迷惑说，扇着耳朵。

“如果你不跳进去，我们怎么把它弄到手呢？”无尾猿道。

“但——但，”迷惑说，“你如果跳下水去，岂不更好吗？因为，你明白，原是你想知道这是什么东西，我可不大想知道。而且，你瞧，你还生得有手。赶上要抓住什么东西的时候。你像人或小矮人一样管用。我却只有驴蹄儿。”

“说实在的，迷惑啊，”诡谲说道，“我认为你一向不说这种话的。确确实实，我认为你不说这种话的。”

“呀，我说了什么错话吗？”驴子用一种相当谦卑的声调说道，因为它看到诡谲被它惹得十分生气了，“我的意思无非是——”

“无非是要我跳到水里去，”无尾猿说道，“倒像是你并不完全明白：我们无尾猿的肺部总是很弱，总是容易受寒伤风！好吧！我决意下水去。在这冷酷的风里，我已经感到冷了。可是我决意下水去。我可能会死的。那时你就要懊悔了。”诡谲说话的声音，听上去它快要哭出来了。

“别，别，别，请别，”迷惑说，一半儿是谈话，一半儿是驴叫了，“我从来没有这种意思，诡谲，我确实没有这种意思，你知道我有多蠢，一件以上的事情，我在同一个时间内就没法儿考虑了。我忘掉了你那很弱的肺。当然我会下水去的。你可别考虑亲自下水。诡谲，请答应我，你不下水。”

诡谲这就答允了，答应不下水了；于是迷惑的四个蹄子便在大锅渊的石头边缘上笃笃笃笃地走动，要找一个可以下水的地方。且不说寒冷彻骨，进入那颤抖的冒着泡沫的水里可不是闹着玩的，迷惑在下定决心跳进水里去之前，不得不站在那里足足哆嗦了一分钟。但这时诡谲从背后喊道：“也许压根儿还不如我跳进水里去的好！”迷惑听到这话，便说道：“不，不，你答应不下水的。我现在下水了。”它就跳进水里去了。

一大片泡沫冲到迷惑的脸上，使迷惑满嘴是水，眼睛也看不清楚。接着，它下沉了几秒钟，等到它重新冒出水面时，它已经到了深渊的另一部分。漩涡卷住了它，带着它转了又转，转得愈来愈快，终于把它冲到了大瀑布的正下方，瀑布的力量压得它往下沉，沉得很深，迷惑认为它在冒出水面之前要屏息静气是无能为力了。当迷惑冒出水面，终于到了靠近那东西的地方，企图抓住它时，它又从迷惑身边漂开去了，它也给冲到了瀑布下方，被压到水底里去了。它重新浮上来时离迷惑更远。但，最后，疲乏得要死、浑身伤痕而且冷得四肢麻木时，迷惑终于成功地用牙齿咬住了这件东西。迷惑爬出深渊，把这件东西放在前面，前蹄伸在它里边，使劲抬起它来，因为这东西很大，像一块火炉前的地毯，而且很重，很冷，很黏滑。

迷惑把这东西丢在诡谲面前的地上，它浑身滴水，格格发抖，竭力缓过气来。但无尾猿却瞧也不瞧它，也不问问它感觉如何。无尾猿忙于绕着这东西打转，把它摊开来，拍拍它，闻闻它。无尾猿眼睛里闪过一星邪恶的亮光，它说道：

“这是一张狮子的毛皮。”

“伊伊——奥——奥——啊，是吗？”迷惑上气不接下气地说道。

“现在我很想知道……我很想知道……我很想知道。”诡谲跟它自己说道，因为它正在拼命思索。

“我想知道是谁杀了这可怜的狮子，”迷惑立刻说了出来，“应该把它埋葬。我们必须为它举行葬礼。”

“啊，它可不是一头会说人话的狮子。”诡谲说道，“你无需为此自找麻烦。在西部荒原里，越过大瀑布就没有说人话的野兽了。这张毛皮必定是属于一头哑巴野狮子的。”

顺便说一句，诡谲这句话倒说对了。几个月之前，一个猎户，一个男子汉，在西部荒原上某一个地方，杀死了这头狮子，剥下了它的皮，但这事与这个故事不相干。

“诡谲，这可完全一样，”迷惑说道，“即使这张皮属于一头哑巴野狮子，难道我们就不该为它举行体面的葬礼吗？我的意思是，所有的狮子岂不——哦，岂不都是令人敬畏的吗？你明白，这是由于谁的缘故。难道你不明白吗？”

“迷惑啊，别让什么馊主意开始进入你的脑袋，”诡谲说道，“因为，你心里明白：思索并不是你的长处。我们要用这张狮子毛皮替你缝制一件优质的暖烘烘的冬季外套。”

“啊，我想我不会喜欢的，”驴子道，“穿上这个，我看上去就会像——我的意思是说，其他野兽会认为——那就是说，我会感到——”

“你在说什么呀？”诡谲一边说，一边像无尾猿通常所做的那样在身上乱搔。

“如果像我这样一头驴子竟穿上了狮皮外套，我认为就是对伟大的狮王，对狮王阿斯兰不尊敬。”迷惑说道。

“哦，请你别站在那儿辩论了，”诡谲说道，“像你这样的一头驴子，对这种事情懂个啥？你要知道，迷惑，你在思考问题上是不行的，你干吗不让我来替你思考呢？你干吗不像我对待你那样对待我呢？我并不认为我能干好一切事情。我知道你在有些事情上比我高明。这就是我为什么让你下到深渊里去的缘故；我知道你会干得比我好。然而，遇到我能干而你干不了的事情，为什么不该轮到我去干呢？难道永远不容许我去干什么事情吗？要公平对待，依次轮流。”

“如果你那么说，那当然是可以的啦。”迷惑说道。

“我告诉你吧，”诡谲说道，“你最好还是沿河轻快地小跑到下游的奇宾福德去，瞧瞧可有橘子或香蕉。”

“可我疲倦极了，诡谲啊。”迷惑恳求道。

“是呀，可你又冷又湿，”无尾猿说道，“你需要能使你暖和起来的东西。轻快的小跑正好是对症下药。何况今儿个奇宾福德还是赶集的日子哩。”于是，迷惑当然说它愿意 去了。

留下诡谲独个儿时，它就拖拖沓沓地走动起来，有时两足着地，有时四肢着地，终于爬到了它自己那棵大树上。接着它就摇晃着身体，从这根树枝晃到那根树枝，口中吱吱乱叫，笑得牙齿都露了出来，最后它走进了它那筑在丫枝上的小屋子。它在屋子里找到了针、线和一把大剪刀；因为它是头聪明的无尾猿，小矮人们教过它如何缝制衣服。它把一团纱线（那可是很粗的货色，与其说是像线，不如说是像绳子）塞进嘴巴里，它的两颊便鼓了起来，仿佛喝了一大口咖啡似的。它把针咬在上下嘴唇之间，用左爪拿着剪刀，然后它就爬下树来，蹒跚地向狮子毛皮走去。它蹲下来干活。

诡谲立刻看出来了：要给驴子做外套的话，狮子毛皮的躯体部分是太大了，脖子部分又太短了。所以它就从太大的部分剪下一大块来，给驴子的长脖子做一条长长的领子。它把狮子脑袋的毛皮剪下来，在脑袋和肩膀之间的部位上把那长领子缝上去。它把整张狮子毛皮的两边都用线缝上，使驴子外套的胸腹部都得以收紧。时不时鸟儿在它头上飞过，它就停止缝制，焦急地向上张望。它不要任何飞禽走兽看到它正在干什么。但，它看到的鸟儿，没有一只是会说人话的鸟儿，所以它们看到了也没多大关系。

下午很晚的时候迷惑回来了。它不是小跑着回来的，只不过是耐心地一路踏着沉着的步子慢吞吞地回来的，驴子都是这样走道的。

“什么橘子也没有，”驴子说道，“什么香蕉也没有。我疲倦得很。”它躺下了。

“来，试试你那美丽的狮皮新外套吧。”诡谲说道。

“啊，讨厌的旧毛皮，”迷惑说，“我明儿早晨试穿吧，今天夜里我太累了。”

“迷惑，你太不近人情了，”诡谲道，“如果你累了，你以为我又如何呢？整整一天，你走下山谷作一番赏心悦目、精神为之一振的散步，我却在拼命干活，给你缝制一件外套。我的脚爪搞得那么累，几乎剪刀都拿不住了。如今你却不肯说一声谢谢——甚至不肯对外套看一眼——你不关心——你——你——”

“我亲爱的诡谲，”躺着的迷惑立刻站起身来，“我很抱歉。我态度粗暴。我当然喜欢试穿的。外套看上去简直华贵极了。立刻让我穿上试试吧。请让我试穿吧。”

“好吧，那就安安静静地站着。”无尾猿说道。狮子毛皮很重，无尾猿几乎举不动它，但，经过许多拉啊推啊，气喘吁吁啊，它终于把狮皮外套套到驴子身上去了。它把狮子躯体上的毛皮缚在驴子的身体上，把狮腿上的毛皮缚在驴腿上，把狮子尾巴上的毛皮缚在驴子尾巴上。通过狮子脑袋张开嘴巴的毛皮，可以看得见驴子的大部分鼻子和脸孔。凡见过真正的狮子的，没有一个会受骗上当的。然而，如果有谁从未见过狮子，假如他并没走得很近，假使光线不是太好，假如迷惑并不发出驴叫声，并不用蹄子弄出什么声音来，瞧见迷惑穿上了狮子毛皮外套，倒可能把它误认为是狮子。

“你看上去真了不起，真了不起，”无尾猿说道，“如今不论谁看见你，都会认为你就是阿斯兰，就是伟大的狮王本人。”

“那就可怕了。”迷惑说道。

“不，不会可怕的，”诡谲说道，“你叫大家做什么，大家就会做什么了。”

“但我不想叫大家做什么。”

“可是你想想我们可以干的好事吧，”诡谲说，“你知道，你有我在替你出主意哩。我会替你想出种种明智的命令，由你去发布。于是大家都得服从我们的命令，连国王本人也得服从。我们就可以在纳尼亚把一切都整顿得好好的。”

“但，纳尼亚不是一切已经都好好的吗？”迷惑说道。

“什么话！”诡谲嚷道，“一切都好好的吗？——现在不是连橘子或香蕉都没有吗？”

“哦，你知道，”迷惑道，“没有多少人——事实上，我认为除了你没有什么人——要吃这种东西的。”

“也没有糖哩。”诡谲说。

“唔，是的，”驴子说，“如果糖再多一点，那就妙了。”

“那么，事情就这么定了，”无尾猿说道，“你一定要假扮成阿斯兰，我会嘱咐你说什么话。”

“不，不，不，”迷惑说道，“别提这种可怕的事儿。这会犯错误的，诡谲。我也许不大聪明，然而这种事我可明白利害的。如果真正的阿斯兰出现时，我们会落得个什么下场？”

“我料想狮王会十分高兴的，”诡谲说，“很可能是狮王故意把狮子毛皮捎来的，这样我们就可以把事情整顿好了。无论如何，你要知道，狮王是从来不出现的。当今之世，狮王是不出现的了。”

就在这当儿，头顶上响起一个巨大的晴天霹雳，大地抖动着，爆发小地震了。两头野兽都站不住脚，失掉了平衡，面孔朝下摔倒在地上。

“啊！”迷惑刚缓过一口气来，便喘息着说道，“这是一个征兆，一个警告。我知道我们是在干着邪恶得可怕的事情啊。立刻从我身上脱掉这件讨厌的毛皮外套吧！”

“不，不，”无尾猿（它的脑筋动得很快）说道，“恰巧相反，这是个吉祥之兆。我刚才正要说：如果那位真正的阿斯兰（正如你所称呼他的）有意要我们进行这件事情，他就会给我们送来一个霹雳和一个地震——只是我还没把话说出口，吉祥之兆便出现了。迷惑啊，如今你非干这个不可了。让我们别再争辩了。你自己心里明白：这些个事情你并不了解。一头驴子，怎么能懂得征兆呢。”

2

国王的鲁莽

大约三个星期以后，纳尼亚王国的最后一位国王，坐在他小小的狩猎屋门旁一棵大橡树底下。在赏心悦目的春季好天气里，他时常到狩猎小屋来住上十天光景的。这是个茅草屋顶的低矮建筑物，离灯柱野林的东端不远，在两条河流交汇处稍稍上游一点儿。他喜欢住在那儿过简单朴素和逍遥自在的生活，远离王城凯尔帕拉维尔的政府和豪华气派。人们管他叫国王蒂莲，他的年龄在二十与二十五岁之间；他的肩膀已经宽阔而强壮了，他的四肢肌肉坚实，但他的胡子仍旧是稀稀拉拉的。他生着蓝蓝的眼睛和一张无所畏惧的诚实的脸。

那个春天的早晨，国王左右没有侍从，只有一个他最亲密的朋友：独角兽[1]珍宝。他们相亲相爱有如兄弟，在战争中互相救过彼此的性命。这贵族气派的野兽站在国王的御座近旁，把脖子弯过来，在奶油似的白色腹部擦亮它蓝色的角。

“珍宝啊，我今天没法叫我自己干什么活儿或搞什么体育活动了。”国王说道，“我啥也不能考虑，只能想着这个奇怪的消息。你可认为我们今天还会听到更多的消息吗？”

“陛下，如果这些消息是真实的，”珍宝说道，“那么，它们就是我们这一代里，我们的父亲那一代里，我们的祖父那一代里，所听到的最最奇怪的新闻了。”

“这些消息不能不是真实的啊！”国王说，“一个多星期以前，第一批飞过我们这里的鸟儿就说：阿斯兰来了，阿斯兰重新到纳尼亚来了。这之后是松鼠。它们没见到阿斯兰，可它们说阿斯兰肯定在树林里。然后是鹿。它说它亲眼看见阿斯兰了，距离很远，在月光下，在灯柱野林里。接着是黑皮肤的长着胡子的人来了，他是从卡乐门来的商人。卡乐门人跟我们不一样，他们对阿斯兰压根儿不关心；可那人也把阿斯兰来了说成是件毫无疑问的事实。昨儿夜里獾来了；它也看见过阿斯兰。”

“陛下，事实上，”珍宝说道，“这种种新闻，我都相信。如果我仿佛不大相信，只是因为我心里的欢喜之情太大了，大得无从置信了。几乎是太美了，美得没法儿信以为真了。”

“是啊，”国王说道，喜悦得长长地吁了口气，几乎要发抖，“大大超过我生平的各种希望了。”

“你听！”珍宝说道，把脑袋侧向一边，把耳朵朝前竖了起来。

“这是什么声音？”国王问道。

“是马蹄声，陛下，”珍宝答道，“一匹奔腾的马。一匹分量很重的马。必定是个人头马。瞧，他来到了。”

一个巨大的、金色胡须的人头马，前额上是人的汗珠，栗色两肋上是马的汗水，他直奔到国王面前，这才停下步来，低头鞠躬。“国王万岁。”他用公牛一样深沉的声音呼喊道。

“嗬，来人啊！”国王说道，眼睛越过肩膀朝着狩猎小屋的门瞧去，“给高贵的客人端一碗酒来。欢迎你，龙威特。等你喘息停当时再把你带来的讯息告诉我们吧。”

一个侍从从狩猎小屋里走了出来，手里拿着一只雕刻新奇的大木碗，他把木碗递给人头马。

“陛下，我首先为阿斯兰和真理干杯，然后再为国王干杯。”

他一口气就把那一碗酒（足够六个壮汉喝的量）喝完了，随即把木碗还给侍从。

“说说吧，龙威特，”国王说道，“你可带来更多的关于阿斯兰的消息？”

龙威特神情十分严肃，稍稍皱着眉头。

“陛下，”他说道，“你知道我已经有多大年纪了，研究星相又有多久了；因为我们人头马比你们人类寿长，也比你们独角兽类寿长。在我以往的日子里，我从未像今年开始以来那样，夜夜见到写在星空里的那么可怕的不祥之兆。星相压根儿没有说到阿斯兰光临，既没有说到和平，也没有说到欢乐。我凭我的法术知道，五百年来没有出现过灾难性的‘行星会合’现象。我脑子里已经有这么个想法，要来向陛下报警：有某种大灾大难笼罩着纳尼亚王国。但，昨天夜间我听到谣言，说是阿斯兰来临了。陛下，不要相信这种鬼话。这是不可能的。星象从不撒谎，但人和野兽都会撒谎的。如果阿斯兰已经来到纳尼亚王国，天上的星象便会有预兆了。如果狮王真的光临了，一切有礼貌的星星都会集拢来向狮王致敬的。这可是个彻头彻尾的谎言。”

“谎言！”国王情绪激烈地说道，在这么重大的事件上，纳尼亚王国或者全世界有什么人竟敢撒谎？他不知不觉地把自己的手按在剑柄上。

“国王啊，这我不知道，”人头马说道，“但我知道世界上有不少撒谎的骗子；天上的星星中可一个撒谎的骗子也没有。”

“我心中纳罕，”珍宝说道，“尽管一切星相的征兆不是这么说，阿斯兰是否就可能不来了呢？狮王不是众星的奴隶，而是众星的创造者。一切古老的故事里不是都说他并不是驯服的狮子吗？”

“说得好，说得好，珍宝。”国王大声说道，“就是这么一句话：并不是驯服的狮子。有许多故事里都那么说的。”

龙威特刚抬起头来，正要向前伸过去跟国王十分认真地说话时，他们三个都转过头来谛听一个正愈传愈近的、号啕大哭的声音。他们西边的树林很稠密，所以他们还看不见新来的人物。但他们不久就能听清楚号哭的词儿了。

“灾难，灾难，灾难！”这声音号啕道，“我的姐妹兄弟灾难临头了！神圣的树木灾难临头了！森林被损坏了。斧头砍到我们身上来了。我们正在被砍伐。大树正在倒下，倒下，倒下。”

随着最后一个“倒下”的声音，说话的人便看得见了。她像一个女人，但是高高大大，头跟人头马的脑袋一般儿高；然而她也很像个女人。如果你从未见过树精，那就很难给你解释；如果你见过，那就可以毫无错误地从颜色、声音、头发上辨别出来某些不同之处。国王蒂莲和两头野兽立刻就认出她是山毛榉的精灵。

“国王陛下，你要主持正义——”她大声喊道，“你要来帮助我们。你要保护你的子民。他们正在灯柱野林上砍伐我们。我的兄弟姐妹们的四十棵巨大树干已经倒在地上了。”

“啊，夫人！砍伐灯柱野林吗？谋害说人话的树木吗？”国王大声喊道，跳起身来，拔出剑来，“他们竟胆大妄为？是谁这么胆大妄为？凭阿斯兰的鬣毛起誓——”

“啊——啊——啊——赫！”树精气喘吁吁地说道，她浑身发抖，仿佛疼痛万分——她一阵又一阵地发抖，仿佛再三受到打击似的。接着，在片刻之间她突然往斜刺里倒下去，倒像是她的双脚给砍掉了似的。国王他们看见她死了，躺在草地上短短一忽儿随即消失得无影无踪了。他们知道发生了什么事：几英里之外，她那棵树木，被人砍倒了。

国王悲愤交集，半晌说不出话来。后来，他开言道：

“朋友们，来吧。我们必须赶到河流的上游，找到这些干坏事的恶棍们，我们要尽力全速赶去。我决不放过他们，哪一个也休想活着回去。”

“陛下，衷心祝愿您成功。”珍宝说。

然而龙威特却说：“陛下，即使是出于义愤，也要谨慎小心。奇怪的活动正在出现。山谷里如果有武装的叛徒，我们三个就势单力薄，无法应战。你是否愿意等待一下，当……”

“我十分之一秒钟也不愿等待，”国王说，“但，我和珍宝朝前赶去时，你就尽快直奔凯尔帕拉维尔。我这戒指给你作个凭证。给我调来二十个全副武装的、个个善于骑马的武士，二十头会说人话的狗儿，十个小矮人（须得个个是百发百中的弓箭手），一两只豹子，还有石足巨人。尽可能迅速地把这支队伍调来支援我们。”

“陛下，衷心祝愿成功。”龙威特说，立刻转过身体，朝东跑下山谷去了。

国王大踏步前进，有时喃喃自语，有时握紧拳头。珍宝在国王身旁行走，默默无言；因而他们之间没有什么别的声音，只有那挂在独角兽颈子里的粗大金链条的微弱的丁当声，人的两足踏步声，独角兽的四蹄嘚嘚声。

他们不久就来到河流边上，他们经由一条芳草萋萋的路溯河而上：现在他们的左边是河水，右边是树林。不久以后，他们走到一个地方，地面愈来愈高低不平，浓密的树林往下绵延到河水之滨。道路断了，道路的走向，现在跳到河水的南岸去了，他们不得不涉水渡河，才能走上对岸的道路。河水很深，漫到蒂莲的腋窝边；但珍宝有四条腿，因而比蒂莲站得稳，它在国王的右边坚持着，挡住了激流的冲击力量，蒂莲伸出他强壮的胳膊抱住独角兽强壮的脖子，他们俩安全渡过了河流。国王仍旧十分愤怒，没注意河水很冷。不过，他们刚登上南岸时，他当然十分仔细地在他外套的肩膀上擦干他的剑，这是他身上惟一没有浸湿的地方了。

他们现在朝西走去，河流在他们的右边，灯柱野林笔直地在他们的前边。他们还没有走上一英里多的路，他俩就同时站定，开口说话了。国王说：“这儿是什么东西？”珍宝 说：“瞧！”

“是个木排啊。”国王蒂莲说道。

确实是个木排。六根漂亮的树干，全是新伐倒的、新砍掉枝丫的，捆绑在一起，做成一个木排，正迅速地顺流而下。木排的前端有个水客，拿根竹篙驾御着木排。

“嗨！水客！你在干吗呀？”国王大声问道。

“把木头运到下游，卖给卡乐门人，陛下。”水客答道，举手伸到耳朵上向国王致敬，如果他戴帽子的话，他就会举手到帽子边上致敬。

“卡乐门人！”蒂莲大发雷霆地吼道，“你这话是什么意思？谁下命令砍倒这些树木的？”

一年之中，这时节的河水奔流得很快，木排已经在国王和珍宝的身边滑过去了。但水客从肩上回过头来叫喊道：

“奉狮王的命令，陛下。阿斯兰亲自下的命令。”他还补充了几句话，可是国王他们听不见了。

国王和独角兽面面相觑，他俩的脸色，看上去都比过去参加任何战争时更加惶恐。

“阿斯兰，”国王终于用十分低沉的声音说道，“阿斯兰。能是真的吗？阿斯兰能砍伐神圣的树木、谋害树精的性命吗？”

“除非树精都犯了可怕的错误——”珍宝喃喃说道。

“可是竟把树木卖给卡乐门人！”国王说，“这样的事，可能吗？”

“我不知道，”珍宝悲惨地说道，“他并不是一头驯服的狮子。”

“好吧，”国王终于说道，“我们必须继续前进，冒着面临的风险。”

“陛下，留给我们去干的，只有这一件事情了。”独角兽说道。在这个时刻里，他并没看到他俩单独前往是多么愚蠢；国王也没看到这问题。他们太愤怒了，因而头脑就糊涂了，然而，他们的鲁莽招来了许许多多的灾难。

国王突然紧靠在他朋友的脖子上，低下头来。

“珍宝，”他说道，“摆在我们面前的是什么光景？我的心里涌起了可怕的思想。如果我们在今天之前死去，我们倒幸福了。”

“是啊，”珍宝说，“我们已经活得太长久了。世界上最糟糕的事情临到我们头上啦。”他们这样站立了一两分钟，然后又继续前进。

过了不久，他们便听到斧头乱劈乱砍木材的乒乒乓乓的声音，尽管由于前边土地隆起，他们还什么也看不见。及至他们到达隆起的高处，他们就能一览无遗地望见灯柱野林。国王看在眼里，气得脸都发白了。

贯穿古老的森林，已经开辟出了一条宽阔的通道。那可是一度生长过金树银树的森林，而我们这个世界里的一个孩子也曾在那儿种了一棵“保护之树”。这是一条叫人厌恶的通道，仿佛是土地上新裂开来的一道豁口，充满了树木拖到河边去时沿路留下的痕迹。有一大群人在那儿干活，马鞭子噼噼啪啪地响，马儿拖动木头时拉拉扯扯，使出了九牛二虎之力。引起国王和独角兽注意的第一件事情是：人群中大半数都不是会说人话的马儿，倒是人。第二件事情是：这些人都不是金发白皮肤的纳尼亚人，他们都是来自卡乐门王国的黑皮肤大胡子大汉。卡乐门是个残酷的大国，位于阿钦兰背后、大沙漠之南。当然啦，没有理由不该在纳尼亚碰到一两个卡乐门人——一个商人或是一个大使——因为在这些日子里，纳尼亚王国和卡乐门王国是和平相处的。然而蒂莲不明白，为什么竟有那么多的卡乐门人；现在他们为什么正在砍伐一片纳尼亚的森林。他紧握着他的剑，把他的外套卷在左臂上。他俩迅速来到这些人中间。

两个卡乐门人正鞭策着一匹拉着木头的马儿。国王刚走到他们跟前时，木头正陷在一个糟糕的泥坑里。

“走呀，懒惰崽子！拉呀，你这懒猪！”卡乐门人噼噼啪啪挥舞着鞭子，大声喊道。马儿已经拼命用劲拉了，它眼睛发红，浑身冒着汗水。

“干活呀，懒惰的畜生！”有一个卡乐门人一边嚷嚷，一边用马鞭子野蛮地鞭打着马儿。就是在这个时候，真正可怕的事情发生了。

直到此刻为止，国王蒂莲想当然地认为卡乐门人驱策的马儿是他们自己的马儿，是哑口无言的毫无智慧的牲口，就像我们这个世界的马儿一样。虽然他不愿看到哪怕是一匹哑巴马儿过分受到虐待，他想得更多的当然是神圣树木的被谋害。他从来没有想到竟有人大胆逼迫自由的会说人话的纳尼亚马儿拉木头，更不会想到会有人用鞭子抽打纳尼亚马儿。但，当那野蛮的鞭子打下来时，马儿用后腿站了起来，一半儿像是叫喊地说道：

“傻瓜和暴君！难道你没看见我正全力以赴吗？”

当国王蒂莲知道这马儿是一头他自己国家里的纳尼亚马时，一股怒气冲上他和独角兽的心头，弄得他们不知道自己正在干什么。国王的剑举了起来，独角兽的角往下直牴。他俩一起跑上前去。两个卡乐门人随即倒下死了，一个被蒂莲的剑砍掉了脑袋，另一个被珍宝的独角刺穿了心脏。

【注释】

[1] 独角兽，传说中的怪兽，头和身体像马，后腿像牡鹿，尾巴像狮子，前额中部有个螺旋形独角。

3

无尾猿煊赫一时

“马儿师傅，马儿师傅，”蒂莲一边匆匆忙忙地割断马身上的挽缰，一边说道，“这些外国人是怎么来奴役你的？难道纳尼亚被征服了？可曾打过一仗？”

“不，陛下，”马儿喘息着说道，“阿斯兰在这儿。一切都是按照他的命令办的。他曾经吩咐——”

“我们处境危险，陛下。”珍宝说道。蒂莲抬起头来，看到卡乐门人（其中还夹杂着几头说人话的野兽）正开始从四面八方向他们跑来。两个人一声也没叫喊就死了，所以一时之间其余的人不知道发生了什么事。但现在他们知道了。他们大部分人手中拿着出了鞘的弯刀。

“赶快。骑在我背上。”珍宝说道。

国王飞身跨上他老朋友独角兽的背脊，它转过身子，疾驰而去。它改变方向两三次，及至敌人看不见他们时，便立刻渡过了一条溪流，脚下的步子没有松懈，口中大声叫道：“陛下，跑到哪儿去？到凯尔帕拉维尔去吗？”

“朋友，你停下步来，”蒂莲说道，“让我下来。”他从独角兽的背上滑了下来，面对着独角兽。

“珍宝啊，”国王说道，“我们干了一件可怕的事。”

“我们都被痛苦地激怒了。”珍宝说。

“然而，他们毫无武装——我们也没有向他们发出挑战——却人不知鬼不觉地向他们扑了上去——呸！珍宝，咱俩是杀人犯。我永远丢脸出丑了。”

珍宝垂下了头。它也感到羞愧。

“还有，”国王说道，“那马儿说是按照阿斯兰的命令办的。老鼠也这么说。他们都说阿斯兰是在这儿。但这消息是否确实呢？”

“但是，陛下，阿斯兰怎么会下令干如此可怕的事呢？”

“阿斯兰并不是一头驯服的狮子，”蒂莲说道，“我们怎么会知道阿斯兰会干什么呢？我们，是杀人犯啊。珍宝，我决意要回到那儿去。我要交出我的剑，把我自己也交到那些卡乐门人手里，并且要求他们把我带到阿斯兰面前。让阿斯兰公平地审判我。”

“那么，你就会走向死亡了。”珍宝说。

“如果阿斯兰判我死刑，你认为我会介意吗？”国王说道，“那就微不足道了，压根儿微不足道了。与其担心害怕阿斯兰已经来了，但他又不像是我们所信仰所渴望的阿斯兰，恐怕还是死掉倒要好得多。这就像有一天太阳升起来了，却是个漆黑的太阳。”

“我知道，”珍宝说，“或者仿佛你喝水，水却是干的。你说得对，陛下。这是万物的尽头了。让我们回去投案吧。”

“无需我们两个都去投案啊。”

“如果我们一向彼此相爱，那就现在让我跟你一起去吧，”独角兽说道，“如果你死了，如果阿斯兰不是原来的阿斯兰了，剩下我一个活着，又有什么意义呢？”

他们淌着辛酸的泪水，一起转身走回去了。

他们刚来到正在伐木运木的地方，卡乐门人便发出一声呐喊，手中拿着武器向他们跑来了。但国王伸出来的剑却是剑柄向着他们的，他说道：

“我过去是纳尼亚王国的国王，现在是个耻辱的武士，我向阿斯兰狮王自动投案。带我去见阿斯兰吧。”

“我也自动投案。”珍宝说道。

于是黑皮肤的人们向他们围拢来，成了密集的一群，发出大蒜和洋葱的气味，白色眼睛在褐色脸上可怕地闪烁着。他们在珍宝的脖子上套了个用绳子做的笼头。他们拿掉了国王的剑，把他的双手反缚在背后。其中有个卡乐门人，他不戴缠头巾而戴头盔，仿佛是个发号施令的人，他从蒂莲的头上抢走了一个金箍，急急忙忙塞在他衣服里边的什么地方。他们把这两个羁押犯带上山去，带到有一大块林中空地的地方。这便是羁押犯所见到的情况。

空地的中央，也就是小山的最高处，有一间像马厩似的、茅草屋顶的小屋。屋子的门关着。门前草地上坐着一头无尾猿。蒂莲和珍宝原是指望看到阿斯兰的，却还没听说过有头无尾猿，他们看见那猿猴时心中就十分诧异惶惑了。无尾猿当然就是诡谲，但是，看起来，它比它住在大锅渊旁时丑陋十倍，因为它现在打扮起来了。它正穿一件猩红色茄克衫，原是给小矮人缝制的，所以它穿起来并不十分合身。它的后爪子穿了镶嵌珠宝的拖鞋，拖鞋不合脚，也穿不牢，因为，你知道，无尾猿的后爪，确实像人的手。它头上戴一顶仿佛是纸王冠的帽子。它身边有一大堆坚果，它不断地用上下颚喀啦喀啦咬着坚果，把果壳吐出口来。它也不断拉起猩红色茄克衫给自己搔痒。一群说人话的野兽面对着无尾猿站在那儿，在这一群中，几乎每张脸看上去都是悲惨的焦虑而又惶惑。它们看到谁是羁押犯时，大家都呻吟呜咽了。

“阿斯兰的代言人，诡谲阁下，”卡乐门人的头目说道，“我们送羁押犯来了，凭我们的技巧和勇敢，倚仗伟大的塔什神的允诺，我们把这两个亡命的杀人犯活捉了。”

“把这人的剑给我。”无尾猿说道。所以他们就取了国王的剑，连同剑带一起递给猿猴。无尾猿把剑和剑带挂在它的颈子上，显得十分愚蠢无知。

“这两个人以后再处理。”无尾猿说道，朝着两个囚犯把果壳吐了过去，“我先要办别的事。他们不妨等着。现在，大家听我说。我首先要说的是关于坚果的事。松鼠的头目在哪儿啊。”

“在这儿，大人。”一头红松鼠说道，它上前一步，忐忑不安地鞠了一个躬。

“啊，你是，是你吗？”无尾猿说道，神情令人作呕，“现在注意听我的吩咐。我要——我的意思是阿斯兰要——阿斯兰还要些坚果。你们已经送来的那些坚果是十分不够的。数量要翻一番。明天太阳落山时必须送到这儿。其中不许有一颗坏的或一颗小的。”

其他的松鼠连声发出一阵惊惶的咕咕哝哝的声音，松鼠头儿鼓起勇气说道：

“对不起，阿斯兰可以亲自对我们说说这件事吗？如果允许我们见到狮王——”

“你们不行，”无尾猿说道，“也许狮王十分仁慈（尽管你们大多数不配消受），今儿个夜里会出来几分钟。那时你们大家可以看上一眼。但狮王可不愿让你们大家挤在他的周围，用各种问题跟他纠缠不清。你们要说给狮王听的不论什么话，都得通过我向狮王汇报，如果我觉得那事情是值得麻烦狮王的话。同时，你们所有的松鼠们，最好还是去张罗坚果吧。要保证明儿晚上把坚果送到这儿，不然的话，你们就会吃苦头的。告诉你们，我可说一是一，说二是二的！”

可怜的松鼠便统统惊惶地跑开了，仿佛有一条狗儿在追它们似的。这个新的命令对它们是个可怕的讯息。它们小心翼翼地藏起来过冬的坚果，如今差不多都被吃掉了；从留下来的那么一点儿里边，它们已经拿出来交给无尾猿的数量，也远远超过了它们所能节省下来的了。

然后是一个深沉的声音——属于浑身粗毛、长着獠牙的巨大野猪的声音——从另一部分群众中发出来了。“为什么我们不能堂堂正正地见到阿斯兰，同阿斯兰说话呢？”它说，“在以往的日子里，阿斯兰经常在纳尼亚出现，大家都可以面对面地同他谈话。”

“你们别相信这话，”无尾猿说道，“即使这话是真的，时代也已经变化了。阿斯兰说，以前他对待你们太温和了，你们明白吗？哦，他再也不会温和了。这一回，他要把你们整顿得像个样子。你们以为他是好说话的狮子，他就要狠狠地教训你们。”

但听得野兽之间发出一阵低低的呻吟呜咽的声音；这之后是死一般的寂静，那可更悲惨了。

“如今你们还有另一件事应该好好认识的，”无尾猿说道，“我听说你们有些人说我是无尾猿。告诉你们吧，我不是猿，我是人。如果我看上去像只猿猴，那是因为我老而又老了，我已经几百岁几千岁了。而且，就因为我年纪那么大，所以我那么聪明。就因为我是那么聪明，所以阿斯兰一直是只跟我一个人说话。阿斯兰不耐烦跟许多愚蠢的动物谈话。他会把你们必须照办的事告诉我，我就告诉你们其余的人。接受我的忠告吧，你们要留神用加倍的速度办好事情，因为狮王是无意忍受胡言乱语的。”

一片死一般的寂静，只听见一只小獾的号哭和它妈妈竭力叫它别哭的声音。

“还有另外一件事情，”无尾猿一面把一颗新的坚果塞进嘴巴里，一面继续说道，“我听见有些马儿在说，让我们抓紧干活，把这运木头的活儿尽可能迅速完成，我们就可以重新获得自由了。哦，你们立刻从脑子里把这种想法排除出去吧。而且，不仅马儿要排除这种想法。凡是能干活的，将来都要叫它去干活。阿斯兰和卡乐门的国王已经就这个问题达成了协议；我们的黑脸朋友——卡乐门人，都管这国王叫‘蒂斯罗克’。一切马儿、公牛、驴子等，都要送到卡乐门去干活谋生——干那拖呀拉呀以及其他国家马儿所干的种种营生。一切挖挖掘掘的动物，像鼹鼠、松鼠以及小矮人等，统统要到‘蒂斯罗克’的矿山里去干活。还有——”

“不，不，不，”众野兽号啕道，“这不可能是真实的。阿斯兰决不会把我们卖给卡乐门国王做奴隶的。”

“别来这一套！不许吵吵闹闹的！”无尾猿咆哮着说道，“谁说过要去做奴隶的？你们不会成为奴隶的。你们会得到报酬——还是很好的工资哩。那就是说，你们的工资，都将收归阿斯兰的国库，阿斯兰将把钱都用在为大家谋福利上。”无尾猿这就瞧瞧那卡乐门人的头儿，几乎跟他眨巴着眼睛。那个卡乐门人鞠躬回答，都是卡乐门式的浮夸风度。

“阿斯兰狮王最最贤明的代言人，对于这个审慎明智的计划，‘蒂斯罗克’（愿他万寿无疆）同阁下是完全一致的。”

“好啦！你们瞧瞧！”无尾猿说道，“全都安排好了。全都是为了你们的福利。你们挣来了钱，我们就可以用来改造纳尼亚，使之成为一个值得居住的国家。橘子和香蕉会大量涌到——还要建设公路、大城市、学校、办公楼、马鞭子、口勒、马鞍子、笼子、狗窝、监狱——啊，建设一切的一切。”

“但这些东西我们并不全要，”一头老熊说，“我们要自由，我们要听到阿斯兰亲自说话。”

“你们可别开始辩论，”无尾猿说，“因为这是我容忍不了的。我是人，你不过是头肥胖的、愚蠢的老熊。你懂得什么自由？你以为自由就是爱干什么就干什么？告诉你，你错了。那不是真正的自由。真正的自由意味着我叫你干什么你就干什么。”

“赫——恩——恩——赫。”老熊悻悻地咕哝道，它搔搔脑袋，觉得这种问题真是难以理解。

“对不起，对不起。”一头浑身是绒毛的小羊的高而尖的声音说道，它是那么幼稚，竟敢大胆讲话，大家都感到惊讶。

“这又是什么意见了？”无尾猿说道，“快讲！”

“对不起，”小羊说，“我搞不懂。我们跟卡乐门人有什么相干？我们属于阿斯兰。他们属于塔什。他们有个神，叫做塔什。据说，塔什神有四条胳膊，一个鹰头。他们在塔什神的祭台上杀人。我不相信竟有像塔什那样的人物。然而，如果有的话，阿斯兰怎么能和他做朋友？”

所有的野兽都斜斜地抬起了脑袋，它们明亮的眼睛都向无尾猿炯炯注视。它们知道这是个任何人都还没有提到过的、最最厉害的问题。

无尾猿直跳起来，啐了小羊一口唾沫。

“娃娃！”无尾猿嘶嘶地骂道，“愚蠢的小羊崽子！回家到你娘身边去吃奶吧。这种事情你懂个啥？可是你们其他的野兽听着：塔什不过是阿斯兰的另一个名字。一切老的观念，说什么我们是正确的、卡乐门人是错误的，全是蠢话。现在我们比较明白了。卡乐门人用的词儿不同，然而我们指的都是一个意思。塔什和阿斯兰不过是两个不同的名字，指的是谁，你们都知道。所以他们之间从来没有什么争吵。你们这些愚蠢的野兽，要牢牢记住这一点：塔什就是阿斯兰，阿斯兰就是塔什。”

你知道你自己家里的狗，脸色有时看上去能悲伤到何等地步。想想家狗的脸，然后再想想这些说人话的野兽的脸——所有这些诚实的、谦卑恭顺的、惶惑失措的鸟、熊、獾、松鼠、鼹鼠等等的脸，都远比家狗的脸悲伤多了。每条尾巴都是下垂的，每根胡须都是萎靡不振的。看到它们的脸，你就会十分同情它们，就会为之心碎。只有一头畜生看上去压根儿没有一点儿不快乐的样子。

那是一头姜黄色的猫——一头正直盛年的了不得的大雄猫。它笔直地坐在一切野兽的前面，尾巴绕在脚趾上。它始终盯住无尾猿和卡乐门头目直瞧，连眼睛也从不眨眨。

“请原谅，”雄猫十分客气地说道，“我倒对这问题感兴趣。从卡乐门王国来的、你的朋友也这样说吗？”

“你尽管放心好了，”卡乐门头目说道，“开明的无尾猿——我的意思是人——说得很正确，阿斯兰就意味着塔什，不多也不少。”

“特别是阿斯兰并不意味着超过胜过塔什。”

“压根儿超不过。”卡乐门头目说道，眼睛紧盯着雄猫的脸。

“姜黄猫，用这话答复你，绰绰有余了吧？”无尾猿说道。

“噢，当然啦，”姜黄猫冷冷地说道，“十分感谢你。我只不过是要彻底搞清楚。我认为我正在开始明白起来了。”

直至此时此刻，国王和珍宝都没说什么；他们正在等候无尾猿叫他们说话，因为他们觉得插嘴是没有用的。但，现在蒂莲环顾纳尼亚走兽们悲惨的脸，而且看到它们都会相信阿斯兰和塔什是一而二、二而一的，蒂莲就再也忍受不了了。

“无尾猿，”国王大声喊道，“你撒谎。你恶劣地撒谎。你像卡乐门人一样撒谎，你像无尾猿一样撒谎。”

他本来还想说下去，他想责问：喝人民的血的、可怕的塔什神，同那以自己的血拯救了整个纳尼亚的、善良的狮王，怎么可能是同一个神祇呢？如果让他说话，无尾猿的统治也许当天就完蛋了；野兽们就可能看到真相，把无尾猿推翻了。然而，在他再说一句话之前，两个卡乐门人就使出浑身力气痛击他的嘴巴，另一个卡乐门人又从背后踢他的双脚。他倒下时，无尾猿又是愤怒又是恐惧，尖声叫道：

“把他带走，把他带走。把他带到一个地方去，叫他听不见我们说话，我们也听不见他说话。把他绑在那儿的树上。以后我要——我的意思是阿斯兰要——审判他。”

4

夜里发生的事

国王给打得晕头晕脑地倒下了，他不知道正在发生什么事，直至卡乐门人缚住他的腕关节，叫他的两臂笔直下垂在身体的两侧，背脊靠在一棵桉树上。然后他们用绳索团团捆住他的踝关节、膝关节、腰部和胸膛，这就把他丢在那儿了。此时此刻，使他忧虑重重的，倒是他的嘴唇在出血：他们打破了他的嘴唇，他没法儿擦掉伤口滴出来的血，痒得难受——时常是小小的事情最难受。

国王绑在桉树上仍能望见山顶上的小马厩以及坐在马厩前的无尾猿。他能间歇地勉强听到无尾猿继续说话的声音，以及群众中答话的声音，但他听不清楚说话中的具体字句。

“不晓得他们怎样对待珍宝啊。”国王心中想道。

这群野兽不久就散开了，开始朝着不同的方向走掉了。有的就在蒂莲身边走过。它们瞧瞧他，看到他绑在树上，它们仿佛感到害怕而又抱歉，但它们谁也不说话。不久，它们都走掉了，树林里一片寂静。时间一个钟头又一个钟头地过去，蒂莲起初感到十分口渴，后来又感到十分饥饿；拖延到傍晚时，他感到寒冷了。他的背脊疼痛。太阳落山了，黄昏开始了。

天色几乎全黑时，蒂莲听到一种轻微的窸窸窣窣的脚步声，看到有些小动物在朝他走过来。左边三只是老鼠，中间一只是野兔，右边两只是鼹鼠。这些小动物的背上都驮着个小袋子，这就使它们在黑暗中显得奇形怪状，乍一看时，认不出它们是什么动物。一会儿之后，它们都用后腿站起来了，把它们冰凉的脚爪按在国王的膝头上，而且抽抽噎噎地给他的膝头以野兽的接吻。（它们能够够得上国王的膝头，因为纳尼亚的会说人话的这种小兽，比我们英国的同类小兽身材要高大得多。）

“国王陛下，亲爱的国王陛下，”它们又尖又细的声音说道，“我们真为你感到难过。我们不敢替你松绑，因为说不定阿斯兰会对我们大发雷霆。然而，我们给你送晚饭来了。”

第一只老鼠立刻敏捷地爬了上来，它的脚踩在缚住蒂莲胸膛的绳索上，它对着蒂莲的脸，正在翕动它那迟钝的鼻子。然后第二只老鼠爬了上来，挂在第一只老鼠的下面。其余的小兽都站在地上，开始把食物递上来。

“喝吧，陛下，喝过以后，你就会发觉自己能吃东西了。”站在最上面的老鼠说道，蒂莲发觉一个小木杯送到了他嘴边。它只有一个蛋杯那么大小，所以，他还没尝到酒的味道，杯子就空了。但老鼠随即把杯子递了下去，其他的老鼠重新斟满酒，重新递了上来，于是蒂莲第二次把酒喝干了。它们就这样继续递上递下，直至国王喝了个痛快，一小杯一小杯的品味，倒比大碗牛饮好得多，因为它更解渴。

“这是干酪，陛下，”第一只老鼠说道，“可是东西不多，恐怕你多吃了会口渴。”干酪之后，它们又喂国王吃燕麦饼和鲜黄油，然后又给他喝些酒。

“现在把水递上来，”第一只老鼠说道，“我要给国王洗洗脸。脸上有血迹。”

接着蒂莲觉得有一小块像海绵似的东西轻轻抹着他的脸，这可是最凉快最舒适的。

“小朋友们，”蒂莲说道，“我能怎样谢谢你们的一切照顾啊？”

“你不需要谢，你不需要谢，”小小的声音说道，“除此之外，我们还能做什么呢？我们不要任何其他的国王。我们是你的子民。如果反对你的只不过是无尾猿和卡乐门人，我们就会起来战斗，直战到被砍成肉酱，才会听任他们把你绑起来的。我们会战斗的，真的会战斗的。然而，我们不能反抗阿斯兰啊。”

“你们认为真是阿斯兰吗？”国王问道。

“啊，是的，是的，”兔子说道。“昨夜阿斯兰从马厩里出来了。我们都看见他的。”

“阿斯兰是什么样子的？”国王问。

“像一只可怕的大狮子，真的是这样。”一只小老鼠说道。

“你们以为确实是阿斯兰杀死林木精灵，使你们大家都成为卡乐门国王的奴隶的吗？”

“啊，那可糟透了，可不是吗？”第二只老鼠说道，“如果我们在这种局面开始之前就死了，那倒要好些。但其中毫无可疑之处。大家都说这是阿斯兰的命令，我们也已经看见过他。我们并不认为阿斯兰会喜欢这种局面的。咳，我们——我们要阿斯兰回到纳尼亚来。”

“阿斯兰这次回来好像十分愤怒，”第一只老鼠说道，“我们大家必定犯了些可怕的错误而自己还不知道。他必定是为了某些错误才惩罚我们的。但是我认为，不妨告诉我们，我们究竟犯的是什么错误啊！”

“我猜想我们现在正在干的事情，也许是错误的。”兔子说道。

“如果错了，我也不在乎，”一只鼹鼠说，“我还要再干的。”

但其他小兽说道：“别做声。”“小心啊。”于是它们大家都说道，“我们很抱歉，亲爱的国王，现在我们必须回去了。我们在这儿给逮住了可就不好办了。”

“亲爱的小兽，立刻离开我吧，”蒂莲说道，“为了纳尼亚全国的利益，我不愿连累你们任何一位陷入危险境地。”

“晚安，晚安。”小兽们一边说，一边在国王的膝头上擦着鼻子，“我们会回来的——如果我们办得到的话。”于是大家窸窸窣窣地走掉了；同它们来到之前相比较，树林似乎更加黑暗、更加寒冷、更加寂寞了。

繁星出来了，时间慢吞吞地过去——试想那时间过得多么缓慢——在这过程中，纳尼亚王国最后一位国王给绑在树上，站得四肢僵硬，筋骨酸痛。但，最后，有件事情发生啦。

远处出现了一片红光。接着，红光消失了一会儿又亮起来了，面积更大，光芒更强烈。他看得见在火光的这一边有黑黑的人影来回走动，背着一捆捆的东西，把它们一一丢在地上。现在他明白他正在瞧着的是什么东西了。原来是个刚点燃起来的篝火，人们正在把一捆捆木柴丢进去。不久，篝火熊熊地燃烧起来了，蒂莲看得出篝火就在那个山顶上。他能够十分清楚地看到篝火后的马厩，在通红的火光里它全都照亮了；在篝火与他本人之间，有一大群野兽和人；篝火旁边，隆起一个小小形体，必定是无尾猿了。它在同群众说话，但他听不见。然后它走到马厩门前，三次鞠躬到地。接着它站起身来，打开马厩的门。于是一头四条腿的动物——一头走路十分不灵活的动物——从马厩里走出来了，站着面向群众。

腾起了一大片哀鸣和号啕的声音，十分响亮，蒂莲听得出其中几个字。

“阿斯兰！阿斯兰！阿斯兰！”众野兽大声喊道，“对我们讲话吧。安慰我们吧！别再跟我们生气吧。”

从蒂莲所站的地方望过去，他没法十分清楚地看出来它是什么东西，但他看得出它是黄黄的、浑身都是毛。他从来没有见过伟大的狮王。他也从来没见过一头普通的狮子。他没有把握肯定他所看到的不是阿斯兰。他不曾料到阿斯兰竟看上去像那条站着不说话的、呆板僵化的畜生。然而，怎样才能有把握呢？片刻之间，恐怖的思想兜上他的心头：接着他记起了关于塔什和阿斯兰是同一个神祇的信口雌黄，觉得这整个儿事情必定是个骗局。

无尾猿把他的头挨近黄色畜生的脑袋，仿佛它在静听某些讲给它听的悄悄话。然后它转而向群众讲话，群众重又哀号了。接着，黄色畜生笨拙地转过身体，然后迈步走回去——几乎可以说是蹒跚而行——走进了马厩，无尾猿便在它背后把门关上。这之后，篝火必定是被扑灭了，因为光芒突然消失；而蒂莲又重新独自面对着寒冷和黑暗。

他想起古时候在纳尼亚生活和逝世的其他国王们，在他看来，似乎没有一个国王曾经像他那样倒霉的。他想起他那曾祖父的曾祖父——国王瑞廉——当他不过是个年轻王子时，便被一个女巫盗走，藏在北方巨人的土地下的黑洞里好多年。但结果却逢凶化吉，两个来自世界尽头之外的孩子突然出现了，他们救了他，他就回到纳尼亚的家里，进行着长期的繁荣昌盛的统治。“跟我的情况可大不相同。”蒂莲跟他自己说道。然后他追溯到瑞廉的父亲——航海者凯斯宾，他那邪恶的叔父弥若兹曾设法谋害他，凯斯宾便逃进森林里，生活在小矮人们中间。但这故事也有个否极泰来的好结局；因为凯斯宾也得到了儿童们的帮助——只不过当时有四个儿童——他们来自外部世界，打了一个大仗，扶他登上了他父亲的王位。“但这都是很久很久以前的事了，”蒂莲跟他自己说道，“如今这种事情是不会发生的了。”接着他又想起（因为他是个孩子时就对历史很熟悉了）帮助过凯斯宾的四个孩子，一千多年以前曾在纳尼亚待过；就是在那个时候，他们打败了白女巫，结束了几百年的冬天，此后他们就在凯尔帕拉维尔统治（四个人一起统治）多年，终于他们不复是儿童，而是至尊王和美丽可爱的女王，而他们统治的岁月便成了纳尼亚的黄金时代。在那个故事里，阿斯兰曾多次出现过。就蒂莲现在记得的，阿斯兰在一切其他的故事里也出现过。“阿斯兰——以及来自另一个世界的孩子们，”蒂莲心中想道，“在事情最糟糕最险恶的时候，他们总是出现的。啊，如果他们现在能出现，那有多好啊。”

于是他大声呼唤道：“阿斯兰！阿斯兰！阿斯兰！现在就来帮助我们呀！”

然而，黑暗、寒冷和寂静依旧是老样子，毫无变化。

“让我被杀死吧，”国王喊道，“我丝毫不为我自己恳求什么。可我求你光临，拯救整个纳尼亚。”

不论在黑夜里或是树林里，依旧丝毫没有变化，但在蒂莲的内心里开始发生了一种变化，自己也不知道为什么，他开始感到一种隐隐约约的希望。他反正感到自己比较强有力了。“啊，阿斯兰，阿斯兰，”他低声说道，“如果你不愿亲自驾临，至少从其他世界给我派些助手来吧。啊，让我呼唤他们。让我的声音传到外部世界去。”接着，自己也不明白自己正在干什么，他突然大声叫喊起来：

“孩子们！孩子们！纳尼亚的朋友们！快，到我这儿来吧。我在天涯海角呼唤你们；我是蒂莲，纳尼亚的国王，凯尔帕拉维尔的君主，人迹罕至的群岛的帝王！”

于是他立刻进入了一个梦境（如果这是个梦），比他生平做过的任何一个梦都要鲜明生动。

他仿佛正站在一个灯火辉煌的房间里，有七个人围着一张桌子坐在那儿。看上去他们刚吃完饭。有两个人年纪很大，一个是白须老汉，一个是老妇人，生着聪明而欢乐的闪闪烁烁的眼睛。坐在老汉右边的人还没有成年，肯定比蒂莲本人还年轻，但他的脸上已经具有国王和战士的神情。对于坐在老妇人右边那个少年，几乎也可以说同样的话。桌子对面，脸朝蒂莲，坐着一位金发姑娘，比上述两位还要年轻，而坐在她两边的一男一女，那就更年轻了。他们都穿着蒂莲觉得是最最古怪的衣裳。

但他没有时间去考虑这些细节，因为最年轻的男孩和两个小姑娘立刻从座位上跳起身来，有一位还发出了一声轻微的叫喊。老妇人吃了一惊，猛吸了一口气。老汉必定也做出了一个突然动作，因为放在他右手边的酒杯，给碰下桌子去了，蒂莲听得见酒杯啪哒跌碎在地板上时的声音。

于是蒂莲认识到这些人能看见他；他们正瞪眼瞧着他，仿佛他们看见了一个鬼魂似的。但他也看在眼里：坐在老汉身旁的那位国王模样的人，可从未动弹过（尽管他的脸色变白了），只不过把他的手捏得紧紧的而已。接着他就说道：

“说出来吧，如果你不是个幻影或梦。你具有纳尼亚人的神态，而我们是纳尼亚王国的七个朋友。”

蒂莲很想说话，他力图大声喊叫：他是纳尼亚王国的蒂莲，迫切需要帮助。但他发觉（就像我们在梦里也常发觉的那样）他的嗓门里发不出声音来。

已经对他说话的那个人站起身来了。“影子也好，鬼魂也好，不论你究竟是什么人，”他一边说一边盯住蒂莲直瞧，“如果你来自纳尼亚，我以阿斯兰的名义命令你，把话对我说出来吧。我就是大国王彼得。”

这房间开始在蒂莲的眼前摇摇晃晃。他听到这七个人立刻一齐说话的声音，而且声音都在一秒钟又一秒钟地减弱下去，他们说的是类似这样的话：“瞧，它在褪色了。”“它在溶化了。”“它在消失了。”一会儿后他便完全从梦中醒过来了，仍旧绑在树上，比以前更加寒冷、僵硬。树林里充满了日出之前苍白而阴沉的光芒，他浑身被露水湿透；早晨快要来临了。

这一梦醒之际，乃是他生平所经历过的最最难堪的时刻。

5

救援国王

可是国王的苦难为时并不长久。几乎立刻传来砰的一声，接着又是砰的一声，两个孩子就站在国王的面前了。一秒钟以前，国王前边的树林里是空无一人的；国王知道，他们也不是从绑牢他的那棵树木背后跑出来的，因为从树背后出来，他会听见脚步声。事实上他们简直是从只有天知道的地方突然冒出来的。国王一眼就看出来了，他们穿着跟他梦中所见人物一样的古里古怪而邋里邋遢的衣服。再看第二眼，国王发现他们便是餐桌周围七人中最年轻的男孩和女孩。

“天哪！”男孩说道，“简直叫人气也透不过来了！我以为……”

“赶紧给他松绑，”女孩说道，“我们可以以后再谈。”然后她转向蒂莲，补充道：“我很抱歉，我们到得晚了。我们倒是尽量立刻出发的。”

她这么说时，男孩从口袋里拿出一把小刀，迅速把绑牢国王的绳索割断，事实上也割得太快了，因为国王浑身僵硬、麻木，最后一根绳索割断时他就倒了下来，双手和双膝都着地了。他把双腿好生擦了一阵，使双腿恢复了生机，方才能重新站起身来。

“嗨，”女孩说道，“那天夜里，我们七个人在吃晚饭的时候，突然出现在我们面前的，就是你吗，是不是？差不多一个星期以前。”

“漂亮的姑娘，一个星期以前吗？”蒂莲说道，“我的梦把我带到你们的世界里，还不过十分钟哩。”

“关于时间问题，往往是一笔搞不清的糊涂账。”男孩说道。“我现在记起来了，”蒂莲说道，“在古老的故事里，也有记载的。你们那奇怪世界里的时间，跟我们的时间是很不相同的。但，如果我们说到时间和时候，现在倒是我们离开这儿的时候了：因为我的敌人就在附近。你们愿意跟我一起走吗？”

“当然啦，”女孩说，“我们赶来救援的，就是你啊。”

蒂莲迈开步子，带领他们迅速走下山去，他朝南而行，离那马厩远远的。他十分明白他要往哪儿去，但他第一个目的是走上石头路，以便不致留下什么足迹；第二个目的是涉水而过，以便不致留下什么气味。他们花了大约一个钟头的时间爬山蹚水；这么爬山蹚水时，他们没有一个人吭声说话。即使如此，蒂莲还是继续不断地偷偷瞧他的同伴一两眼。同来自另一个世界的人物并肩而行的神奇之感，弄得他有点儿晕头晕脑；但也使一切古老的故事远比往常显得更加真实了……如今任何事情都可能发生了。

“现在，”他们的前边有个小山谷在白桦树之间迤逦而下，当他们走到这小山谷的开端时，蒂莲说道，“我们离那些恶棍的危险地带有好长一段路了，现在不妨走得更从容自在点儿。”太阳已经升起，露珠在枝头闪烁，鸟儿在鸣啭。

“来点儿吃的怎么样？——陛下，我的意思是你要不要吃点东西；我们已经吃过早饭了。”男孩说道。

蒂莲很想知道他所说的“吃点东西”是指什么，但，当男孩把他带来的一个鼓鼓囊囊的手提包打开，从中拉出一扎油腻而软绵绵的东西时，他明白了。他饿得要命，尽管他直到此刻看到食物才想起肚子饿。食物共有两份熟鸡蛋三明治，两份干酪三明治，两份果酱三明治。若不是饿得厉害，他是不大会吃那果酱三明治的，因为在纳尼亚谁也不吃这种果酱的。他吃完六份三明治时，他们已经走到了谷底，在那儿发现了一个长满苔藓的山崖，崖上有泉水汩汩地冒出来。三个人都停下步来喝泉水，并且把水泼在他们灼热的脸上。

“好了，”女孩一边把潮湿的头发从前额上甩回去，一边说道，“现在你可以告诉我们了：你是什么人，为什么你被绑在树上，以及这一切究竟是怎么一回事？”

“小姐，我十分情愿告诉你们，”蒂莲说，“但我们必须继续赶路。”所以，他们一面走路，他就一面讲给他们听：他是什么人以及他所遭遇到的种种事情。“现在，我要到一个堡垒去，”他讲到末末了儿，说道，“我的祖先统治的时代，曾经筑了三个堡垒保卫灯柱野林，防范当年住在那儿的危险的亡命之徒。由于阿斯兰的保佑，我的钥匙没有被抢走。在我要去的那个堡垒里，我们可以找到武器和盔甲，也可以找到一些食物，虽然不会有比又干又硬的饼干更好的东西。我们还可以安全地躺在那儿订立计划。现在，请你们两位告诉我：你们是什么人，以及你们所有的经历。”

“我是尤斯塔斯·斯克罗布，这一位是吉尔·波尔，”男孩说道，“从前我们到这儿来过一次，好几个世纪以前；按照我们的时间来说，那就是一年多以前，有个人叫瑞廉王子的，他被人家关在地底下，帕德尔格拉姆又把他的脚伸进——”

“哈！”蒂莲大声说道，“那么你们就是把国王瑞廉从长期的魔法困扰中拯救出来的尤斯塔斯和吉尔了？”

“是的，正是我们两人，”吉尔说道，“那么，现在他是国王瑞廉了，是不是？啊，当然他会做国王的。我忘记了——”

“不，”蒂莲说，“我是他的第七代后裔了。他已经死了两百多年了。”

吉尔做了个鬼脸。“呃！”她说，“回到纳尼亚来，就是这档子事情叫人不好受。”但尤斯塔斯继续说下去。

“陛下，现在你知道我们是什么人了，”他说，“事情是这样的。教授和姨妈波莉把我们纳尼亚的朋友都请来了——”

“我不知道这些名字，尤斯塔斯。”蒂莲说。

“他们是最早进入纳尼亚的两个人，那时所有的野兽正学习讲人话。”

“天哪！”蒂莲大声嚷道，“这两个人啊！迪格雷勋爵和波莉夫人！鸿蒙初开时的人物！仍旧活在你们的世界里吗？真是神奇，真是光荣！讲给我听，讲给我听吧。”

“你要知道，她并非真是我们的姨妈，”尤斯塔斯说道，“她是普卢默小姐，不过我们管她叫姨妈罢了。却说这两位把我们大家都请去聚会了：一半只是为了寻寻开心，让我们大家痛痛快快地聊一聊关于纳尼亚王国的事情（因为，像这样的事，我们跟其他的人是没法儿闲聊的）；一半是教授有种预感：这儿用得着我们哩。然后是你来了，像个鬼魂，或者是个只有天知道的玩意儿，几乎把我们的性命都吓掉了，一句话也不说就消失了。这之后，我们知道：肯定是发生了什么事变了。第二个问题是怎样到这儿来。我们是不能想上这儿来就上这儿来的。我们商量又商量，最后，教授说，惟一的办法就是靠‘魔戒’的魔力了。好久好久以前，远在我们年轻一代尚未出生，他们只不过是小青年的时候，教授和波莉姨妈到这儿来过，凭的就是那些‘魔戒’的魔力。但，‘魔戒’统统都埋在伦敦（那是我们的大城市，陛下）一个住宅的花园里了，住宅已经卖掉了。所以，接下来的问题是如何把‘魔戒’搞到手。你永远也猜不到我们最后是怎么弄到手的。彼得和爱德蒙——彼得就是至尊王彼得，那个跟你说话的人——赶到伦敦，在人们还没有起床的清晨，从后边进入花园。他们打扮得像工人似的，如果有什么人瞧见他们，这样便可以看上去像是来疏通阴沟、排水的。我但愿是跟他们一起去的：那必定是件光荣而又开心的事情。他们必定是顺利地完成任务的，因为第二天彼得打来一个电报——那是一种通讯方法，陛下，我以后给你解释——说是他把‘魔戒’弄到手了。第二天，我和波尔都得回学校去——只有我们俩还在上学念书，我们俩进的又是同一个学校。所以彼得和爱德蒙就要在到学校去的途中一个地点跟我们碰头，把‘魔戒’交给我们。你瞧，上纳尼亚来，还非得我们两人走一趟不可，因为年纪大的人没法儿再来了。所以我们就坐上了火车——我们这个世界里，人们就坐这种交通工具旅行，好多节客车连在一起的——教授、波莉姨妈、露茜和我们一起走。我们要待在一起，能待多久就待多久。我们都坐在火车里。我们刚到达一个车站，那儿有其他的人们在欢迎我们，我从车窗里探出来望望是否看得见来欢迎的人们，这当儿突然发生了最最可怕的震动和声音：‘呀，我们竟在纳尼亚了，陛下给绑在树上哩。’”

“那么你们从未使用‘魔戒’吗？”蒂莲问道。

“没有使用‘魔戒’，”尤斯塔斯说，“甚至连见也没见过‘魔戒’。阿斯兰用他自己的办法替我们安排了一切，用不着什么‘魔戒’了。”

“但至尊王彼得掌握着‘魔戒’。”蒂莲说。

“是的，”吉尔说，“但我们认为他没法儿使用‘魔戒’。另外两位国家领袖——国王爱德蒙和女王露茜——上次在这儿时，阿斯兰说过，他们永远不会再到纳尼亚来了。对于至尊王彼得，阿斯兰也说过类似的话，不过时间更早了。你满可以深信不疑，如果得到允许，至尊王彼得会像箭一般赶来的。”

“天哪！”尤斯塔斯说，“在这太阳底下，愈来愈热了。咱们快到了吧，陛下？”

“瞧吧！”蒂莲指着前边说道。在没有多少码之外，雄伟的堡垒冒出在树面的上方；他们继续走了几分钟，便进入了一片开阔的草地。一条小溪流贯草地，在小溪的那一边，雄踞着一个方方的堡垒，稀稀朗朗的狭长窗子，墙上有个外貌沉重的大门面对着他们。

蒂莲警惕地看看这边，瞧瞧那边，探明周围确实没有敌人。然后他走到堡垒跟前，静静地站立片刻，从猎装里边摸出一串钥匙来，钥匙系在一条细长的银链条上，银链条挂在他的颈子上。他摸出来的那一串钥匙精美绝伦，两把钥匙是用黄金铸成的，许多钥匙装饰华丽；你立刻就可以看出来，它们都是用来开启王宫里庄严而机密的房间的门的，或是用来打开那放着王室珍宝的芳香木柜和木盒的。但，他现在插到堡垒大门门锁里去的钥匙，却是又大又平凡，铸造也很粗糙。锁是不大灵活的。蒂莲有一会儿还担心他没法儿叫它转动。但，最后他终于把锁开动了，发出一阵子老大不高兴的吱吱嘎嘎的声音，大门给打开了。

“朋友们，欢迎你们光临，”蒂莲说道，“恐怕这是纳尼亚国王现在能够接待他的贵宾的最好的王宫了。”

蒂莲很高兴地看到这两位陌生人很有教养。他们俩都说不用客气，他们深信一定挺不错的。

事实上，它并非特别“挺不错的”。堡垒里相当黑暗，有一股挺潮湿的气味。堡垒里只有一个房间，这个房间往上直达石头屋顶；房间一角有一只木头楼梯往上通向一个活门，从这活门出去，可以走上雉堞墙。有几只粗笨的床铺可以睡觉，有许多小柜子和包裹。也有一个壁炉，看上去仿佛已经多年没有人在炉子里生过火了。

“我们最好还是首先出去搞点木柴来，要不要？”吉尔说。

“且慢，伙伴们。”蒂莲说道。他下定决心，他们不该手无寸铁地束手就擒；他开始在柜子里搜索，感谢地记起自己总是小心谨慎地规定每年检查这些卫戌堡垒一次，确保一切必需的东西都有所储备。果然储备着不少东西：有弓弦，用油绸遮盖得好好的，有剑与矛，都涂上了油以防止生锈；有盔甲，包裹严密，依旧锃亮生辉。但，甚至还有些更加美妙的东西。“瞧瞧！”蒂莲一边说一边抽出一件长长的式样新奇的锁子甲来，在孩子们的眼前挥动着。

“这是件看上去挺有趣的锁子甲啊，陛下。”尤斯塔斯说道。

“是呀，小伙子，”蒂莲说道，“纳尼亚小矮人可没人铸造得出这种锁子甲，这是卡乐门人的锁子甲，稀奇古怪的模样儿。我收藏了几套备用，因为我绝对不知道我或我的朋友什么时候会需要在‘蒂斯罗克’的国土上行走而不被察觉。再瞧瞧这石头瓶子，这里面盛着一种液体，用它擦在我们的手上和脸上，就可以使我们的皮肤变成棕色，跟卡乐门人一模一样。”

“啊，呜啦！”吉尔说，“乔装改扮！我喜欢乔装改扮。”

蒂莲教他们怎样倒一点儿液体在手掌里，然后擦在脸上颈子上，一直擦到肩膀上，然后把液体擦在手臂上，一直擦到肘拐儿止。他自己也这样擦着。

“这液体在我们皮肤上硬化以后，”他说，“我们就不怕在水里洗涤了，它不会褪色。只有用油与灰一同洗涤，才能使我们重新变成白皮肤的纳尼亚人。可爱的吉尔，让我们去试试这锁子甲是否适合你的身材。它长了一点儿，可并不像我担心的那么长得过分。毫无疑问，它原来是属于‘泰坎’的大批侍从中的某一个人的。”

穿上锁子甲后，他们又戴上卡乐门头盔，那是个小小圆圆的东西，紧扣在脑袋上，顶上有个尖铁。接着，蒂莲从柜子里拿出长长一卷白布，缠在头盔的外面，直至缠成头巾方才罢休，但那小小的尖铁仍旧突出在当中间儿。他和尤斯塔斯拿了卡乐门弯刀和圆圆的小盾牌。可没有供吉尔用的、重量够轻的剑，但他给了她一把长长的笔直的狩猎用小刀，逢到紧急关头，可以拿它当作剑使用。

“小姐，你可有点儿拉弓射箭的技术吗？”蒂莲问道。

“不值得一提，”吉尔红着脸说道，“斯克罗布的技术不坏。”

“别信她的话，陛下，”尤斯塔斯说，“上次我们从纳尼亚回去以后，一直在练习拉弓射箭，她跟我的技术大致差不多。但我们两个谁都不太高明。”

于是蒂莲给了吉尔一张弓和一个盛满箭的箭筒。第二桩事情是生了一炉火，因为置身堡垒之中，觉得并不像在室内，倒是更像在山洞内，叫人冷得发抖。但，他们把木柴搬进来时身上发热了——太阳正在中天——炉火轰隆轰隆向烟囟里蹿上去时，这个地方看上去挺愉快舒适。然而，正餐却是单调乏味的，因为他们能做得到的上策，也只不过是把他们在一个柜子里的硬饼干敲碎，倒在沸水里，加上盐，煮成一种糊状的东西。除了水，也没有什么可喝的。

“我要是能带来一盒茶叶就好了。”吉尔说。

“或者是一罐可可粉也好。”尤斯塔斯道。

“在这几个堡垒里，每一个堡垒里都有一小桶好酒，这可不会错的。”蒂莲说道。

6

成功的夜袭

四个钟头以后，蒂莲倒在一张床铺上，抓紧时间稍稍睡上一觉。两个孩子已经在打呼噜。他自己睡觉之前，已经叫孩子们上床了，因为夜间大部分时间他们都将没有工夫睡觉，他知道这种年龄的孩子不睡一会儿是不行的。而且，他也弄得他们极为疲倦。他首先让吉尔练练拉弓射箭，发觉她虽然没有达到纳尼亚标准，技术倒确实不算太坏。事实上，她成功地射中了一只野兔（当然不是会说人话的兔子，在纳尼亚王国的西部，有许许多多普通寻常的兔子），这野兔已经剥了皮，洗得干干净净，挂起来晾着了。他发觉这两个孩子熟悉这种冷冰冰的气味难闻的活儿的一切窍门；他们在瑞廉王子的时代，在巨人之乡作那了不得的旅行时已经学会干这种事了。接着他又教尤斯塔斯如何使用他的刀剑和盾牌。尤斯塔斯在他早期的冒险中曾学习过不少斗剑的本领，但那时使用的全是笔直的纳尼亚剑。他从来没使用过一把卡乐门弯刀，这就难了，因为弯刀的许多砍法跟他所学习的使用长剑的习惯是截然不同的，他现在得重新摆脱这种习惯。但蒂莲发觉他眼睛锐利、脚步敏捷。他对两个孩子的体力也感到惊讶：事实上，他们较之几个钟头前和他初次见面时已经长得更壮、更大、更加成熟了。从我们这个世界到纳尼亚去做客的人，纳尼亚的空气时常对他们产生这种效果。

三个人一致同意：他们必须干的第一桩事情就是回到马厩所在的山上，把独角兽珍宝救出来。如果此举成功，他们就要设法向东突出去，同人头马龙威特从凯尔帕拉维尔带来的一支小部队会师。

像蒂莲这样的有经验的战士和猎人，始终能在他要想醒的时间醒来。所以那天夜里他先规定自己睡到九点钟醒来，然后排除头脑里一切烦恼，立刻便睡熟了。仿佛不过是一会儿以后他就醒了，但是他凭着外界的光线以及对事物的感觉，知道自己把睡眠的时间掌握得十分确切。他起了床，戴上头盔和缠头巾（他穿着锁子甲睡觉的），然后摇得那两个孩子醒来。说实在的，孩子们从床上爬起来时，脸色十分苍白，神情忧郁，哈欠连连。

“听着，”蒂莲说，“现在我们从这儿朝正北方向走去——我们运气好，今夜繁星满天——这条路线要比我们今天早晨走的路短得多，因为那时我们绕来绕去，现在我们笔直走去。如果我们受到挑战，你们俩要沉住气，别吭声，我会尽我最大的力量谈判的，变得就像一个残酷骄傲、爱吵架的卡乐门王爷一样。如果我拔出剑来，尤斯塔斯，你必须也拔出刀来，还要让吉尔跳到我们的背后，站着张起弓来，箭按在弦上。但，如果我叫道，‘回家’，你们俩就要向堡垒飞奔而回。我发出退却命令后，谁也别试图打下去——哪怕是打一下也别打——在战争中，这种虚假的勇敢破坏了许多宏大的作战计划。朋友们，以阿斯兰的名义，现在让我们前进吧。”

他们走进了寒冷的黑夜。北方所有的壮丽星星都在树顶上空燃烧着。那个世界的北辰星，叫做矛尖，比我们的北极星还要明亮。

有一阵子，他们能笔直地朝着矛尖星的方向前进，但不久便遇到一个浓密的灌木丛林，他们就不得不离开这个方向绕道而行了。这之后——因为他们仍被树枝笼罩着——要择定方位就难了。使他们重新走上正确方向的，乃是吉尔，她在英国是个优秀的向导。她在纳尼亚荒野的北方土地上跑过许多地方，她当然认识纳尼亚的星辰，矛尖星被遮掩时，她还可以凭着其他星辰判明方向。蒂莲一发觉她是他们三人中最好的探路人，他立刻叫她走在他们的前面。接着，他又惊讶地发觉她竟寂静无声地、几乎是无影无踪地悄然前行。

“天哪！”他对尤斯塔斯低声说道，“这个女孩是个神奇的森林姑娘。如果她身上有树精的血统，也不可能干得更高明哩。”

“她个儿小，这也助她一臂之力。”尤斯塔斯低声道。但吉尔在前边儿说：“嘘，嘘，声音轻点儿。”

周围的树木是十分寂静的。确实是太静了，静得过分了。寻常的纳尼亚之夜，是应该有点儿声音的——一只刺猬偶然发出的愉快的“晚安”，头顶上一只猫头鹰的号叫，或是表明半人半羊的怪物正在跳舞的遥远笛声，或是从地底下小矮人们那儿传来的震动和锤打的声音，这一切声音都消失了；幽暗和恐惧笼罩着纳尼亚。

过了一段时间，他们开始走上陡坡，树木和树木之间的距离拉开了。蒂莲能朦胧地望见那著名的山顶和马厩。吉尔现在走得越来越小心翼翼：她不断地向其他的人做手势，叫他们也要小心。接着，她站定了，一动也不动，蒂莲看见她逐渐沉到青草里，毫无声息地消失了。片刻以后她又站了起来，把她的嘴巴凑近蒂莲的耳朵，以尽可能最低的声音说道：“趴下。看得更清。”她说得极简短，没有说“看得更清楚”，因为说多了，容易被对方听到。蒂莲立刻趴下，几乎跟吉尔一样悄没声儿，但多少有点儿声音，因为他年纪比较大，身体也比较重。他们一旦趴下了，从这个地位就可以看到小山的边缘鲜明地映衬在繁星满天的夜空里。山上冒出两个黑影，一个是马厩，另一个在马厩前几英尺的地方，是个卡乐门哨兵。他的守卫工作做得很差：既不走动，又不站岗，肩上扛着长矛坐在那儿，下巴颏儿靠在胸膛上。“你干得真好。”蒂莲对吉尔说。她已使他看到了恰好是他所需要看到的事物。

他们站起身来，蒂莲现在带头先走。他们慢慢地，几乎不敢呼吸地，往上走到一小丛树木跟前，离岗哨不过四十英尺光景。

“在这儿等到我回来，”他低声对两个孩子说道，“如果我失败了，你们就逃跑。”然后他大胆地迈出步去，敌人完全看得见他。岗哨看见他时吃了一惊，正要跳起身来，他担心蒂莲是他的一位长官，他坐着会招致麻烦。但，他还没有站起来，蒂莲已经在他身边跪下一膝，说道：

“你是‘蒂斯罗克’（愿他万寿无疆）的战士吗？在纳尼亚的这些野兽和魔鬼之间遇到你，我心中真是高兴。朋友，握个手吧。”

卡乐门岗哨还没有弄明白是怎么一回事时，他发觉自己的一只右手已经被强有力的手紧紧抓住了。有个人即刻压住他的双腿，一把匕首对准着他的脖子。

“你叫喊就没有命，”蒂莲在他的耳边说道，“告诉我独角兽在哪儿，我就饶你一命。”

“我的主啊，在——在马厩背后。”这不幸的人结结巴巴地说道。

“好吧。站起来，领我上它那儿去。”

岗哨站起来后，匕首的刀尖从未离开过他的脖子。蒂莲在他前后时，匕首只是绕着脖子移动（冰冷而又令人痒痒的），后来在他耳朵下一个方便的地方停住了。哨兵颤栗着绕到了马厩背后。

虽然天色黑暗，蒂莲立刻看到了珍宝的白色形体。

“嘘！”他说，“不，别嘶鸣。是的，珍宝，是我呀。他们怎么缚住你的？”

“把我四条腿拴住，用一根马勒把我缚牢在马厩里的一个铁环上。”传来珍宝的声音。

“哨兵，站在那儿，背靠着墙。就这样。听着，珍宝，用你独角的尖端，顶住这卡乐门人的胸膛。”

“一定尽心竭力，陛下。”珍宝说。

“如果他动一动，你就直捅到他的心脏。”蒂莲在几秒钟之内就把绳索割断了。他用那剩下的绳索拴住哨兵的手脚。最后叫他张开嘴巴，给他塞得满嘴青草，从头皮到下巴颏儿缚得牢牢的，使他没法儿叫出声音来，还把这人压到坐着的姿势，背靠着墙头。

“士兵，我对你做了些不礼貌的事，”蒂莲说道，“但我必须这么做。如果我们再见面的话，我说不定会较好地款待你一番。珍宝，现在让我们悄悄地走吧。”

他用左臂抱住独角兽的颈子，俯下来吻它的鼻子，彼此都很开心。他们尽可能悄悄地回到他留下孩子们的地方。那儿树木底下更加黑暗，他在看到尤斯塔斯之前，几乎撞在对方的怀里。

“一切顺利，”蒂莲低语道，“一次成功的夜袭。现在回家吧。”

他们转过身去，还没走几步，尤斯塔斯说道：“波尔，你在哪儿？”没有回答。“陛下，吉尔可在你那边？”他问。

“什么？”蒂莲说，“难道她不在你那吗？”

这是个可怕的时刻。他们不敢大声叫喊，但他们以尽可能最响的低语呼唤她的名字。可是没有回答的声音。

“我出去的时候，她离开你没有？”蒂莲问。

“我没有看见或听见她离开，”尤斯塔斯说，“但她能做到她走掉而我却不知不觉。她能做到像猫一样的悄没声儿；你自己亲眼看见过的。”

就在这时候，远远传来打鼓的声音。珍宝把耳朵往前探索。“小矮人们。”它说。

“背信弃义的小矮人，很可能是敌人。”蒂莲咕咕哝哝地说道。

两个人和一头独角兽呆呆地站在那儿，一动也不动。现在有许多不同的事情要担忧烦恼，弄得他们不知道怎么办了。蹄声得得，稳稳地愈走愈近。接着，紧挨着他们，一个声音轻轻说道：

“哈啰！你们大家都在这儿吗？”

谢天谢地，这是吉尔的声音啊。

“你究竟上哪儿去了？”尤斯塔斯用愤怒的低语说道，因为他曾为她非常惊惶焦急。

“在马厩里。”吉尔喘着气说道，但这是尽力克制大笑时的那种喘息。

“啊，”尤斯塔斯咕噜道，“你以为有趣可笑，是吗？我能说的却只是……”

“陛下，你把珍宝救出来了？”吉尔问。

“是的。它就在这里。那跟你在一起的是什么牲口？”

“那就是它呀，”吉尔说道，“但，让我们趁着谁也没醒来时先回家去吧。”但重新又传来爆发出来的小小的笑声。

其他的人立刻服从，因为他们在那危险地点逗留得够长久了，而小矮人们的鼓声似乎又近了一点儿。他们向南才走了几分钟，尤斯塔斯说道：

“逮住了它？你的意思是指什么呢？”

“伪阿斯兰。”吉尔说。

“什么？”蒂莲说道，“你到过什么地方？你做了什么事情？”

“哎，陛下，”吉尔说，“我一看见你已经把哨兵引开去，心里就想，我倒不如去瞧瞧马厩的内部，看明白那儿实实在在有什么东西。所以我一路爬过去，拉开马厩的门闩，易如反掌。里边当然一团漆黑，气味也跟任何马厩一样。于是我点亮一个火，但见——你们相信吗？——里边压根儿什么都没有，只有这一头老驴子，身上缚着一张狮子毛皮。我就拔出刀来，叫它跟我一起走。事实上，我也无需用刀子威逼它走。它对那马厩厌倦极了，十分情愿跟我来——亲爱的迷惑，是不是这样？”

“真了不得！”尤斯塔斯说道，“我呀——我真该死，刚才我还为你大发脾气哩，我现在仍旧认为你背着我们大家偷偷溜走是讨厌的，然而，我又必须承认——哦，我的意思是说——你干了件十分漂亮的事情。如果她是个男孩，她会被封为武士的，陛下，你说是吗？”

“如果她是个男孩，”蒂莲说，“因为不服从命令，她会挨鞭子的。”黑暗之中也看不出他是皱着眉头还是微笑着说这话的。接下来便听到金属铿锵摩擦的声音。

“陛下，你在干吗？”独角兽警惕地问道。

“拔出我的剑来，砍掉这该死的驴子的脑袋，”蒂莲用可怕的声音说，“闪开，小姑娘。”

“啊，别，请你别杀它，”吉尔说，“说真的，你不能杀它。这可不是它的过错。全是无尾猿搞的鬼。它可没有看透。它是十分懊恼的。它是十分懊恼的。它是一头不坏的驴子。它的名字叫迷惑。我的双臂抱着它的颈子哩。”

“吉尔，”蒂莲说道，“你是我的一切国民中最勇敢最聪明的人，但也是最鲁莽最不听话的人。得了，就饶这驴子一命吧。驴子，你可有什么话要为你自己辩护的？”

“陛下，我吗？”传来了驴子的声音，“如果我犯了错误，我相信我是十分懊悔的。无尾猿说，阿斯兰要我这样穿衣打扮。我以为无尾猿会知道的。我不及无尾猿聪明。我只不过是干了它叫我干的事。生活在马厩里，我自己可毫无趣味。我甚至连外边正发生什么事也不知道。除了夜间出去一两分钟，无尾猿从来不放我出去。有些日子，他们连水也忘了给我喝。”

“陛下，”珍宝说，“小矮人们正愈走愈近，我们要跟他们见面吗？”

蒂莲思索了一会儿，接着就扬声大笑。于是他说话了，这回可不是压低声音的耳语。“狮王在上，”他说，“我变得脑子迟钝了！跟他们见面吗？我们一定要跟他们见面。现在我们要跟任何人见面。我们要把这驴子给他们看看，让他们看看以前他们曾经害怕的曾经向它卑躬屈膝的东西。我们可以拆穿无尾猿邪恶阴谋的真相。它的秘密暴露无遗。潮流变了。明天我们要把无尾猿悬挂在纳尼亚最高的树木上。再也用不着切窃私语、偷偷摸摸和乔装改扮了。那些诚实的小矮人在哪儿？我们有好消息告诉他们。”

好几个钟头一直低声耳语，任何人响亮的讲话声都有一种神奇的激动人心的效果。大伙儿开始说说笑笑，甚至迷惑也抬起脑袋，发出一种洪亮的声音：“哈——唏——哈——唏——唏！”无尾猿已有好几天不准它这样鸣叫了。接着，他们就朝着鼓声的方向走去。鼓声稳定地愈来愈响，不久他们就看得见火炬了。贯穿灯柱野林的，有好几条高低不平的道路（在英国，我们就不该管它们叫道路了），他们从其中一条道路上走来。壮健地迈步向前的，是三十名光景的小矮人，肩上都扛着小铁锹和鹤嘴锄。两个武装的卡乐门人带头走在纵队的前面，还有两个卡乐门人殿后。

“站住！”蒂莲走上大路，雷鸣似的喝道，“站住，士兵们，你们把这些纳尼亚小矮人带到哪儿去？是谁下的命令？”

7

关于小矮人

走在纵队前面的卡乐门士兵，看到了他们认为是“泰坎”或大王爷的人带着两个武装的侍从站在道路上，便停步不走，举起长矛向他敬礼。

“啊，我的长官，”其中一个卡乐门士兵说道，“我们带着这些个矮子到卡乐门去，到‘蒂斯罗克’（愿他万寿无疆）的矿井里去干活。”

“伟大的塔什神在上，他们倒是十分听话的。”蒂莲说。然后他突然转向小矮人们。六个小矮人中总有一个拿着火炬，凭着火炬闪烁摇曳的光，他看得见满脸胡须的小矮人都在瞧他，神情严厉而又顽固。“小矮人啊，‘蒂斯罗克’可曾打了一个大仗，征服了你们的土地？”他问道，“以致你们如此忍辱负重地去死在普格拉汉的盐坑里吗？”

两个士兵诧异地瞪着眼睛瞧他，但小矮人们回答道：“阿斯兰的命令，阿斯兰的命令。阿斯兰把我们出卖了。难道我们能做出反对阿斯兰的事来吗？”

“事实上是‘蒂斯罗克’存心不良，”另一个啐了口唾沫，补充道，“我倒要瞧他怎么试试哩。”

“闭嘴，狗东西！”士兵头儿喝道。

“瞧瞧！”蒂莲一面把迷惑这头驴子推到亮光里，一面说道，“这一切全是撒谎造谣。阿斯兰压根儿没有到纳尼亚来。你们都被无尾猿骗了。无尾猿从马厩里牵出来给你们看的，就是这头驴子。好生瞧瞧吧。”

小矮人们现在可以逼近来瞧瞧它了，他们所看到的真相，肯定足以使他们心里感到奇怪：他们怎么竟会受骗上当的。迷惑长时间给关闭在马厩里，狮子毛皮已经弄得很不整洁了，而它在黑暗的树林里穿行时，毛皮又磕磕碰碰得歪歪扭扭了。大部分毛皮挤在肩膀上的一块地方。头上的毛皮，除了碰歪以外，还碰得向后缩了一大截，所以现在谁都看得见那愚蠢而温和的驴子脸蛋在向外张望。嘴角边露出一些青草。因为他们把它牵来时，它已经一声不响地啃了点青草而且它还在咕叨：“这不是我的过错，我不聪明。我从未说过我以前是聪明的。”

片刻之间，所有的小矮人都张大着嘴巴，瞪着眼睛打量那驴子，这时有个士兵机警地说道：“我的长官，你疯了吗？你在对奴隶们说些什么话呀？”另一个士兵说：“你究竟是什么人？”现在不是高举长矛敬礼了——而是两支长矛都放下来准备战斗了。

“口令是什么？”士兵头目查问道。

“这就是我的口令，”国王一面拔出剑来，一面说道，“天亮了，谎言破产了。无赖，保护你自己吧，因为我就是纳尼亚国王蒂莲。”

他像闪电似的向士兵头目猛扑过去。尤斯塔斯看到国王拔剑，也拔出剑来，冲向另一个士兵：他的脸色苍白得像死人，但我不会因此责备他。而且他运道很好，初次作战的人有时总是幸运的。他把蒂莲在昨天下午竭力教给他的一切统统都忘掉了，疯狂地乱砍一气（事实上，我不能肯定他没有闭上眼睛）；使他自己大为吃惊的是：他突然发现那卡乐门士兵倒在他脚下，死了。虽然这是一大安慰，但在片刻之间，那倒是很吓人的。国王的战斗比他多了一两秒钟：他也杀死了对方，并且对尤斯塔斯大声喊道：“另外两个兵在哪儿呢？”

但小矮人们已经解决了剩下来的两个卡乐门士兵。敌人一个也不剩了。

“打得好，尤斯塔斯！”蒂莲一面拍拍他的背脊，一面大声叫好，“喂，小矮人们，现在你们自由了。明天我要带着你们去解放整个儿纳尼亚。为阿斯兰三呼万岁吧！”

但，随之而来的后果却是令人沮丧的。只有少数小矮人（大约五个人光景）发出了有气无力的欢呼但立刻又沉默了，还有几个人吼出了愠怒的号叫，许多人压根儿不吭声。

“他们不明白吗？”吉尔不耐烦地问道。

“你们小矮人脑袋都有什么毛病吗？你们没听见国王所说的话吗？灾难统统结束了。无尾猿不会在纳尼亚再统治下去了。人人可以回去过正常的生活了。你们可以重新说说笑笑了。难道你们不高兴吗？”

大约停顿了一分钟光景以后，有个头发胡子黑得像煤烟、长相不太好看的小矮人说道：

“小姐，那么你可能是什么人呢？”

“我叫吉尔，”她说道，“就是把国王蒂莲从魔法困扰中拯救出来的那个吉尔——这一位是尤斯塔斯，他也一起拯救过国王的——一百年以后，我们又从另外一个世界回到这儿来了。阿斯兰派我们来的。”

小矮人们你瞧瞧我，我瞧瞧你，露齿而笑，是嘲笑，不是欢笑。

“得了，”黑小矮人（他的名字叫格里夫尔）说道，“我不知道你们小伙子们大家觉得怎么样，但我觉得我听到阿斯兰的次数太多了，此生今后再也不想听到它了。”

“说得对，说得对，”其他小矮人咕噜道，“这全是诡计，全是十足的诡计。”

“你这话是什么意思？”蒂莲说道。他作战时脸色不曾发白，现在却脸色发白了。他曾经认为此时此刻将成为一个美好的时刻，不料竟变得更像一个噩梦。

“你们必定认为我们的头脑是十足愚蠢的，你们必定这样想的，”格里夫尔说道，“我们已经受骗上当了一次，现在你们指望我们马上就再次受骗上当。要知道，关于阿斯兰的谎言，你们再也不能以此利用我们了。瞧瞧它吧。一头长耳朵的老驴子！”

“天哪，你简直要叫我发狂了，”蒂莲说道，“我们哪一个人说过它是阿斯兰啊？是无尾猿拿它来假冒真正的阿斯兰的。难道你没法儿明白吗？”

“我想，你们搞到了一个比较高明的假冒为王者。”格里夫尔说，“丝毫不感谢你们。我们已经被愚弄了一次，我们不愿再受愚弄了。”

“我没有搞什么假冒者，”蒂莲愤愤地说道，“我为真正的阿斯兰效力。”

“阿斯兰在哪儿？阿斯兰是谁？把他给我们瞧瞧！”好几个小矮人说道。

“傻瓜，你们以为我把阿斯兰放在旅行袋里吗？我是什么人物，竟能一声令下就叫阿斯兰出现吗？他可不是头驯服的狮子。”

这最后一句话刚说出口，他就认识到他走错了一步棋。小矮人们立刻用一种嘲弄的咏叹调开始念叨：“可不是头驯服的狮子，可不是头驯服的狮子。”一个小矮人说：“这就是另一帮子不断跟我们说的话啊。”

“你们的意思是说，你们并不相信真正的阿斯兰。”吉尔说道，“但我见到过阿斯兰。正是阿斯兰把我们两人从一个截然不同的世界送到这儿来的。”

“啊，”格里夫尔露出明显的笑容，说道，“你开口说话了。他们已经把一套东西教得你滚瓜烂熟哩。你是在背书，是不是？”

“没有教养的家伙，”蒂莲吼道，“你竟当着一位小姐的面胡说八道吗？”

“你在你头脑里保留文明礼貌的语言吧，先生，”小矮人答道，“我可并不认为我们还需要什么国王了——如果你确实是蒂莲的话；可你看上去不像蒂莲——我们也不再要什么阿斯兰了。从现在起，我们要自己照料我们自己，不再向谁举手到帽子边敬礼了。明白吗？”

“说得对，”其他小矮人们说道，“现在我们为的是我们自己。再也没有阿斯兰了，再也没有国王了，再也没有关于其他世界的无聊故事了。小矮人就是要为小矮人而奋斗。”于是小矮人们开始在队伍里各就各位，准备走回去了，回到他们当初被叫来的地方去了。

“小畜生！”尤斯塔斯说道，“把你们从盐坑里救了出来，你们竟连‘谢谢’也不说一声吗？”

“啊，这一切我们全明白，”格里夫尔回过头来说道，“你们要利用我们，那才是你们为什么救我们的缘故。你们正在耍弄你们的把戏。伙计们，走吧。”

于是小矮人们唱起了古里古怪的小小进行曲，配合着鼓声，迈步踏进黑暗中去了。

蒂莲和他的朋友们瞪眼望着小矮人们远去。然后蒂莲简简单单说声“走”，他们就继续上路了。

他们是默默无言的一群。迷惑觉得它自己仍旧不光彩，它也确实不大明白发生了什么事情。吉尔除了对小矮人感到厌恶外，对尤斯塔斯之战胜卡乐门士兵印象深刻，自己几乎感到羞愧。至于尤斯塔斯，他的心仍旧怦怦地跳得很快，蒂莲和独角兽悲哀地一起走在后面。国王的手臂搁在独角兽的肩膀上，独角兽有时用它柔软的鼻子擦擦国王的面颊。他们不想用言词互相安慰。想起足以安慰人的任何词儿，都是很不容易的。蒂莲做梦也没有想到，无尾猿设置伪阿斯兰的一个不良后果，竟是导致人们不再相信真正的阿斯兰了。他本来深信不疑，只要他向小矮人们揭露了无尾猿怎样使他们受骗上当，小矮人们就立刻会站到他这边来的。第二夜他就可以率领他们上马厩山，把迷惑的真相暴露在众目睽睽之下，大家就会起而反抗无尾猿。也许经过同卡乐门士兵的一场混战，整个儿问题就会解决了。但，现在看起来，他什么也不能指望。其他的纳尼亚人，还有许多可能转而采取小矮人一样的态度哩。

“我觉得，有人在我们后面跟上来了。”迷惑突然说道。

他们停下步来静听。确实不错，他们背后有一种小脚砰砰地走动的声音。

“谁在那儿行走！”国王大声喊道。

“是我呀，陛下，”传来一个声音道，“是我，小矮人波金。我刚设法摆脱了其他小矮人。陛下，我站在你这一边，站在阿斯兰这一边。如果你能把一支小剑放在我的手掌里，我一定在一切结束之前，欣然击中对方要害。”

大家都向他围拢来，欢迎他，称赞他，拍拍他的背脊。当然，光是一个小矮人也不能使局面有多大的不同，但，哪怕只有一个小矮人，毕竟也是令人高兴的。大伙儿为之面有喜色。但吉尔和尤斯塔斯容光焕发可并不长久；因为他们哈欠连连，头昏脑涨，疲倦得只能想些不幸的事情了。

他们回到堡垒时，正是夜间最寒冷的时刻，天色快要破晓了。如果早已为他们准备了食物，他们会高高兴兴地吃一顿的，但没有想到弄一顿饭吃要那么费事和费时。他们在一条小溪里喝了点水，把水泼在脸上洗了一洗，便倒在床铺上睡觉，只有迷惑和珍宝说是它们待在户外倒更加舒服。或许这样正好，因为一头独角兽和一头胖胖的长足了肉体的驴子，都待在室内，总是会使人感觉到房间里很拥挤的。

纳尼亚的小矮人，虽然身高不到四英尺，就其身材而言，却是最吃苦耐劳和最强壮有力的动物；所以，波金虽然过了沉重的一天，夜间又睡得很晚，却比任何人都醒得早，醒来时体力完全恢复，已经神清气爽了。他立刻拿着吉尔的弓箭，走出去射中了两只林中野鸽。然后他坐在门前石阶上一边给鸽子拔毛，一边跟珍宝和迷惑闲谈。迷惑在这天早晨感到好得多了；珍宝是头独角兽，因而是兽类中最高贵而又最娇嫩的一种动物，它对待小矮人十分和蔼可亲，跟他说些双方都能理解的事情，例如青草呀、糖呀、对蹄子的爱护呀。在快要十点半的时候，吉尔和尤斯塔斯打着哈欠擦着眼睛，从堡垒里走出来，小矮人给他们看一种叫做野弗雷斯尼的纳尼亚野草；他们在那儿可以采集到许许多多，看起来外形像我们的酢浆草，但煮熟了吃起来，味道要好得多。（要使它尽善尽美，就需要加点儿黄油和胡椒，但他们手头没有这些玩意儿。）再加点儿这个那个的，他们就炖成了一个精美的菜肴作为他们的早餐或正餐（你愿意管它叫什么就叫什么）。蒂莲带着斧头稍稍深入树林，砍了些树枝带回来当柴火。那菜肴正炖着的时候——似乎炖的时间很长久——特别是接近于炖熟、香味愈来愈美妙时，更觉得炖久了，国王替波金找到了一整套小矮人装备：锁子甲、头盔、盾牌、剑、剑带和匕首。然后国王又检查了尤斯塔斯的剑，发现尤斯塔斯杀死了卡乐门士兵后就把血污的剑插进剑鞘里去了。国王责备他，叫他把剑揩干净擦亮。

在这一段时间里，吉尔走来走去，有时搅搅锅里炖着的食物，有时妒忌地望着正在心满意足地吃草的驴子和独角兽。那天早晨，她好几次但愿她也能吃草哩。

但，当菜肴端上来的时候，大家都觉得是值得等待的了，而且一圈分过来后大家还有第二份可吃。谁都尽量吃了个畅快后，三个人和一个小矮人便来到门口台阶上坐下，两个四足动物面向着他们躺下，而小矮人得到吉尔和蒂莲的允许，点上了他的烟斗，于是国王开言道：

“哦，朋友波金，你所知道的关于敌人的消息，极可能比我们多。把你所知道的，统统告诉我们吧。第一，对于我的脱身逃走，他们在编些什么故事？”

“陛下，编了个空前狡猾的故事，”波金说道，“故事是猫儿金格讲出来的，说不定也是它编造出来的。陛下，这个金格——啊，如果猫是滑头，那么它就是个老滑头——它说它正走过恶棍们把你绑在上面的那棵树。它说（我是冒昧如实汇报）你正在号叫骂人，诅咒阿斯兰。原话我不想重复了，尽管它用的词儿，看上去很正经很得体——你知道，一只猫儿如果高兴的话，它是能够说得这样的。据金格说，阿斯兰突然在一阵闪电中亲自出现了，一口就把陛下吞到他肚子里去了。所有的野兽听到这故事都哆哆嗦嗦，有的当场吓昏过去。当然，无尾猿就跟着添油加酱地发挥了。行了，无尾猿说，瞧瞧阿斯兰是怎么对待那些不尊敬他的人的吧！要把这件事看做是对你们大家的一个警告。于是可怜的野兽们号啕呜咽，说道，是呀，是呀。所以，陛下脱身逃遁的结果，并没使野兽们考虑你是否仍有王室的朋友在帮助你，却仅仅使野兽们更加害怕，对无尾猿更加俯首帖耳了。”

“多么阴险凶恶的政策！”蒂莲说道，“这样看来，这个金格是参与无尾猿的机密的啊。”

“陛下，现在问题是倒过来了：究竟无尾猿是否参与金格的机密。”小矮人答道，“你要明白，无尾猿如今沉湎于酗酒。我深信不疑，现在阴谋诡计大部分是由金格或利什达——那就是卡乐门队长——执行的。我认为金格在小矮人中散布的流言，主要应归罪于他们把你的脱身逃回说得太不光彩了。我要把其中的所以然告诉你。前天夜间，一个可怕的深更半夜的会议刚散，我在回家的路上才走了一小段路，发觉我把烟斗丢在那儿了。这是只确实极好的烟斗，是我多年心爱之物，所以我就回去找烟斗。但，我还没有走到我曾经坐过的地方，就听到喵的一声猫叫，听到一个卡乐门人的口音说道：‘这儿……说话要低声。’我就一动也不动地站着，仿佛我被冻僵了似的。这两个家伙，就是金格和‘泰坎’利什达——他们都管他叫‘泰坎’。‘高贵的“泰坎”，’猫儿金格用它那奉承讨好的声音说道，‘今儿个关于阿斯兰并不超过塔什的说法，我正想确切地知道，咱俩心里的意思是什么？’‘毫无疑问，众猫中最聪明的猫啊，’另一个说道，‘你已经看明白了我的意思。’‘你的意思是说，’金格道，‘两者之中，哪一个都是不存在的。’‘凡是有学问的人，大家都明白。’‘泰坎’说。‘那么，我们是能够彼此了解的了。’猫儿道。‘你可像我一样，逐渐有点儿厌恶那头无尾猿了？’‘一头愚蠢而贪婪的野兽，’另一个说，‘但，眼前我们必须利用它。你和我必须暗中秘密准备好一切，叫无尾猿去完成我们的愿望。’‘让某些比较有学问的纳尼亚国民参与我们的机密，我们觉得恰当，便依次逐个吸收——这就会把事情搞得更好，难道不会吗？’金格道，‘因为，真正信仰阿斯兰的野兽，随时都可能转变的；而且，如果无尾猿暴露了它的秘密，它们就会自愿转变的。但，那些既不关心塔什神又不关心阿斯兰、眼睛只盯着它们自己的利益的，而纳尼亚成为卡乐门的一个省时，“蒂斯罗克”又会给以重赏的家伙，它们必将是坚定不移的。’‘高明的猫儿，’队长说，‘但选择哪一个可要小心谨慎啊。’”

小矮人一直在讲下去时，天色似乎变了。他们坐下来时曾经阳光灿烂。现在迷惑发抖了。珍宝不安地摆动着脑袋。吉尔抬头看天。

“满天都是云霾哩。”她说。

“天那么冷。”迷惑说。

“狮王在上，天气够冷的！”蒂莲一边向双手呵气，一边说道，“呸！这是一股什么臭味？”

“唉！”尤斯塔斯喘着气说道，“这像是某种死掉的禽兽呀。附近什么地方可有一只死鸟吗？以前我们为什么没有注意到呢？”

珍宝四脚着地爬行，独角突出在前面探索，大大地忙乱了一阵。

“瞧！”它嚷道，“瞧瞧它！瞧，瞧！”

于是他们六个都看见了。他们的脸上都露出非常惊愕沮丧的表情。

8

老鹰带来的消息

在开阔地远远的一边，树木的阴影里，有个东西在移动着。它正在慢慢地向北滑行。第一眼看到时，你会把它看做是烟霭，因为它是灰白色的，而且可以透过它看出去。但那种尸体的臭味并不是烟的臭味。那东西也保持着它的形体，不像烟那样起伏翻腾、蜷曲缭绕。它粗看是个人的形体，但长着一个鸟的头，乃是头上生着凶狠的钩形嘴的某种猛禽。它有四条手臂，高举在脑袋之上，朝北伸张开去，仿佛要把整个纳尼亚都抓在它的手掌里似的；而它的手指——总共有二十个手指——是像嘴巴一样弯弯的，尖端长的不是指甲，而是长长的尖尖的跟鸟一样的爪子。它不是在走路，而是在草上浮动，青草似乎在它身底下枯萎了。

迷惑看了它一下就发出一声驴子的哀鸣，窜到堡垒里边去了。而吉尔（你知道，她可不是懦夫）却用双手掩住她的脸，挡住自己的视线。其余人也许看望了一分钟光景，直至它进入右边儿树林深处，消失无影。于是太阳重新出来了，鸟儿再一次开始鸣啭了。

大家都开始正常呼吸和正常活动。看得见那东西时，大家都一直一动也不动，简直像泥塑木雕一样。

“它是什么东西啊？”尤斯塔斯低声问道。

“我从前看见过一次的，”蒂莲说道，“但那一次，它是用石头雕刻出来的，镶嵌着金子，用坚硬的金刚钻做眼睛。那时我的年龄不比你现在大，曾到塔什班城‘蒂斯罗克’宫廷里去做过客。‘蒂斯罗克’带我进了塔什神的大庙。我在庙里看到它的，刻在祭台的上方。”

“这么说，那个——那个东西——就是塔什神吗？”尤斯塔斯问道。

但蒂莲没有回答他的问题，他把手臂伸到吉尔的肩膀后面，问道：“小姐，你怎么啦？”

“挺，挺好，”吉尔说，从苍白的脸上放下手来，竭力微笑，“我挺好。只不过有一忽儿使我觉得要呕吐似的。”

“那么，看起来，”独角兽道，“似乎毕竟有个真正的塔什神。”

“是的，”小矮人说，“这个傻瓜无尾猿，他不相信塔什神，他得到的，必将多于他当初讨价还价想弄到手的。他呼唤塔什神：塔什神已经来了。”

“它——这个东西——到哪儿去了？”吉尔问。

“北上进入纳尼亚的中心地区，”蒂莲说，“它来住在我们这儿了。他们呼唤它，它就来了。”

“哈哈，哈哈，哈哈，”小矮人一边抿着嘴好笑，一边用多毛的双手互相摩擦，“会叫无尾猿大吃一惊的。人们不该呼唤魔鬼，除非他们口中说的确实就是他们心里想的。”

“谁知道无尾猿是否会看得见塔什神呢？”珍宝说。

“迷惑上哪儿去了？”尤斯塔斯说。

他们大家都高喊迷惑的名字，吉尔还绕到堡垒另一边，去看看它是否跑到那边去了。他们四处找它，找得简直懒得再找时，它那灰色大脑袋终于小心翼翼地从门口探出来张望，口中问道：“它走了吗？”最后他们把迷惑从堡垒里拖出来时，它浑身哆嗦，就像一条狗遇到雷暴雨时一样。

“我现在明白了，”迷惑说道，“我确实曾经是头十分不好的驴子。我应该绝对不听诡谲的话。我从来没有想到竟会发生如此这般的事情。”

“如果你少花点时间说自己不聪明，多花点时间努力变得尽可能聪明——”尤斯塔斯刚开口便被吉尔打断了。

“迷惑可怜巴巴的，年纪又大了，由它去吧，”她说，“这全是一个失误；是不是，亲爱的迷惑？”她亲亲驴子的 鼻子。

他们所看到的东西，虽然使他们颇为震动，大伙儿现在还是坐下来继续谈话。

珍宝没有什么可告诉他们的。它是个俘虏时，几乎所有的时间都给绑在马厩背后，当然一点也没听到敌人的计划。它曾经被拳打脚踢（它也回踢了几脚），曾经受到处死的威胁，除非它愿意说它相信每天夜里带出去在火光中给它们看的，确实就是阿斯兰，否则就要宰了它。事实上，那天早晨就要执行死刑的，若不是蒂莲救了它的话。它不知道羊羔遭到的灾难。

他们非作出决定不可的问题是：当夜他们要不要重上马厩山，把迷惑向纳尼亚国民示众，设法使他们明白他们被人欺骗了；或者，他们是否应该偷偷地向东而行，去与人头马龙威特从凯尔帕拉维尔带来的援军相会，然后一起回过头来大举进攻无尾猿和它的卡乐门士兵。蒂莲很想采取第一个方案：他一想到毫无必要地再听任无尾猿继续对纳尼亚国横行霸道下去，哪怕是短暂的片刻，他心里也恨得不得了。但在另一方面，昨天夜里小矮人们所表现出来的那种态度，倒是个警告。十分明显，如果拿迷惑来示众，大伙儿会采取什么态度，那是谁也吃不准的。还得对付卡乐门士兵哩。波金估计大约有三十个光景的卡乐门士兵。蒂莲觉得挺有把握，如果纳尼亚的群众都站在他的一边，他和独角兽，加上孩子们和小矮人波金（驴子迷惑可算不了什么）就会有大好机会打败敌人。但，如果一半纳尼亚群众——包括所有的小矮人们——只是坐在那儿冷眼旁观呢？或者甚至同他作战呢？这个风险可太大了。还有形体像云霾的塔什呢，它可能搞什么鬼把戏？

而且，正如波金所指出的，也不妨让无尾猿有那么一两天去对付它的困难。现在它没有驴子可拉出来示众了。看来无尾猿——或金格——要设法编造出故事来解释这个问题，可不容易哩。如果野兽们一夜复一夜地要求见到阿斯兰，而无尾猿却请不出阿斯兰来，那么，哪怕是头脑最简单的野兽，也会变得怀疑起来的。

商量到末末了儿，大家一致同意，最好的策略就是离开这儿，设法同龙威特会师。

他们刚作出这个决定，说也奇怪，每个人都感到高兴得多了。说老实话，我并不认为那是因为他们之中有什么人害怕战斗（也许吉尔和尤斯塔斯是例外），但我敢大胆说一句，他们之中的每一位，内心里对于不再走近——或者说还没有走近——那长着鸟头的可怕的东西，是十分欣慰的。这东西，不论看得见或看不见，现在很可能正出没于马厩山上哩。无论如何，一个人下定了决心，总是感觉舒畅多了。

蒂莲说，他们还是去掉伪装的好，因为他们不想被误认为是卡乐门人，也不想或许被可能遇到的忠诚的纳尼亚兽民所攻击。小矮人用壁炉里的灰和储备在润滑油瓶里的用以擦剑擦矛的油，制成了一种形状难看的糊糊。于是他们脱掉了卡乐门盔甲，到溪水里去洗刷。这肮脏的混合物变成一种泡沫糊糊，就像半液体皂一般。蒂莲和两个孩子跪在水边，擦着他们的脖子的后半部，用水泼掉泡沫糊糊时又喷又吹的，看上去真是一幅愉快的、家庭风味的图画。接着，他们就红光满面地回到堡垒里，就像人们去参加宴会之前，特别卖力地好好洗了一番一般。他们按照真正的纳尼亚方式，用笔直的剑和三个角的盾重新武装自己。“还我身体的本色，”蒂莲说道，“那就比较好了。我觉得我重新是个真正的人了。”

迷惑十分迫切地恳求把狮子毛皮从它身上取下来。它说裹着毛皮太热，毛皮折叠在它背脊上的方式也很不舒服，而且使它看上去愚蠢可笑。但他们告诉它，它还得再裹一阵子狮子毛皮，因为他们仍旧要让别的野兽看到它这身打扮，即使他们首先要去和龙威特会师。

吃剩下来的鸽子肉和野兔肉是不值得带走的了，但他们带了些饼干。然后蒂莲锁上堡垒的大门，他们在堡垒里的休整至此便结束了。

下午两点钟稍微过一点儿，他们出发了，这是当年春天第一个真正暖和的日子，嫩叶似乎比昨天长出来好多了：雪花莲已经谢落，但他们看见了几朵报春花。阳光斜斜地穿过树木，众鸟鸣啭，总是有流水奔腾的声音（尽管往往看不见）。不会想到像塔什神之类的可怕事物了。孩子们感觉到：“终于领略到了真正的纳尼亚了。”甚至蒂莲的心也变得比较轻松，他走在大伙儿的前头，口中哼着一支古老的纳尼亚进行曲。曲子里有个叠句：

啊，战鼓急匆匆乱哄哄，

冬冬又冬冬，冬冬又冬冬。

走在国王后面的是尤斯塔斯和小矮人波金。波金正在把尤斯塔斯还不知道的纳尼亚的一切树木、飞禽、农作物的名字告诉他。有时尤斯塔斯也把它们的英文名字告诉波金。

他们的后面是驴子迷惑，驴子后面是吉尔和独角兽珍宝，他们靠得很拢地一起行走。你可能要说，吉尔已经相当钟情于独角兽了。她认为——她想得也不算太错——它是她所遇到的最杰出的、最娇嫩的、最雅致的野兽；而且它又是那么文质彬彬、柔声细语，如果你对它不熟悉，你简直无法相信它在战斗中会那样凶猛可畏。

“啊，这样愉快极了！”吉尔说，“就像这样的一路漫步过去。我倒希望有更多类似这样的冒险哩。可惜纳尼亚国土上老是出很多乱子。”

但独角兽给吉尔解释，说她完全搞错了。它说：只是在纳尼亚发生动乱或是被颠覆的时候，亚当和夏娃的子子孙孙才从他们自己的奇异世界里给送到纳尼亚来的，但她不能认为纳尼亚老是这样乱糟糟的。在他们的两次来访之间，隔着几百年乃至上千年的时光，当年和平的国王一个接着一个，简直没法儿记住国王的名字、点清国王的数目，历史书中也确实没有什么记载。它继续讲到她从未听说过的、老的女王们和英雄们。它讲起出生在白女巫和永恒严冬称王称霸时代之前的白天鹅女王，她长得那么美丽，她朝树林里随便哪一个池塘里瞧瞧，她的脸儿的倒影，便会从水里发出光辉，像黑夜里的明星一样，从此发光一年零一天。它讲起野兔蒙伍德长着一对神奇的耳朵，坐在大锅渊雷鸣般的大瀑布下，竟可以听到凯尔帕拉维尔人们的窃窃私语。它讲起弗兰克一世的第九代孙子、国王加尔，如何远航东海，从恶龙手里把孤独群岛解救出来，作为报答，人家又把孤独群岛献给他，永远划为纳尼亚国土的一部分。它讲到整整几个世纪里，纳尼亚全国是那么幸福，惟一能记得的事情，就只有著名的舞蹈和宴会，或者至多再加上比武大会了；而今天总比昨天好，这个星期总比上个星期好。独角兽继续讲下去时，所有这些幸福岁月的图画，成千上万张图画，都在吉尔的脑子里堆积起来了，终于仿佛是站在高山上俯瞰一大片富饶而美丽可爱的平原，平原上充满森林、河流和小麦田，连绵不断地往远处延伸，终于远得淡化了，模糊了。她说：

“啊，我真希望我们不久就能解决无尾猿问题，重新恢复那些美好而寻常的时代。然后这些美好的时代会永远永远继续下去。我们自己的世界总有一天要完结的。也许这个世界不会完结。珍宝啊——如果纳尼亚继续存在下去——像它从前（如你所说的）那样幸福美好地存在下去——岂不美妙吗？”

“不然，小妹妹，”珍宝答道，“所有的世界都要完结的；不在此列的只有阿斯兰自己的世界。”

“哦，至少，”吉尔说，“我希望这个世界要在亿万年以后才完结——喂！我们为什么停步不走啊？”

国王、尤斯塔斯和小矮人都在仰望天空。吉尔哆嗦，她想起刚才已经看到过的恐怖事物。但这一回可不是这类东西了。它是小小的，映衬着蓝天，看上去是黑色的。

“我敢发誓，”独角兽说，“从它飞翔的样子看来，它是一只能说人话的鸟儿。”

“我也这样想。”国王说，“但它是个朋友呢，还是无尾猿的一个密探？”

“在我看来，陛下，”小矮人道，“它具有老鹰千里眼的神气。”

“我们该躲在树底下吗？”尤斯塔斯问。

“不要，”蒂莲说道，“最好是站着一动也不动，像石头一样。我们如果走动了，它倒肯定无疑地会看到我们了。”

“瞧！它在盘旋哩，它已经看见我们了。”珍宝说，“它正在兜着大圈子盘旋而下哩。”

“箭搭在弦上，小姐，”蒂莲对吉尔说，“可是我不下令你无论如何别把箭射出去。它说不定是个朋友。”

如果有人知道下一步会发生什么事情，瞧着大鸟那么优美而从容地滑翔而下，倒是赏心悦目的。它栖息在一个巉崖上，离蒂莲不过几英尺，它用它生有冠毛的头鞠了一个躬，用它奇怪的老鹰嗓音说道：“好啊，国王。”

“好啊，老鹰千里眼。”蒂莲说道，“既然你称我为国王，我就不妨相信你不是无尾猿及其伪阿斯兰的一名追随者。我对你的来到感到高兴。”

“陛下，”老鹰说，“你听到我带来的消息时，我的到来啊，就会比过去你所遭到的最大的灾难更加使你感到伤心难受。”

蒂莲听到这些话，他的心脏仿佛停止跳动了，但他咬紧牙关，说道：“请说下去吧。”

“我看到了两个景象，”老鹰千里眼说道，“第一个景象是：凯尔帕拉维尔城里充满了死掉的纳尼亚人和活着的卡乐门人：‘蒂斯罗克’的旗帜插上了你那王城的雉堞：你的老百姓从城里逃出去——从这条路或那条路，逃进森林里去了。凯尔帕拉维尔是被海上来的敌人攻占的。前天夜间，在漆黑一团的夜色里，二十条卡乐门大船闯了进来。”

没人说话。

“第二个景象是，在离凯尔帕拉维尔不到十五英里的地方，人头马龙威特腰间中了卡乐门人的一箭，倒下死了；他临终最后一小时，我是和他在一起的，他叫我给陛下送来这个信息：要牢牢记住，所有的世界都要完结的，而崇高的牺牲是个宝库，可没有人穷得买不起这个宝库的。”

“如此说来，”国王在长时间的沉默之后说道，“纳尼亚王国是不复存在了。”

9

马厩山的集会

他们好久说不出话来，甚至也落不出一滴眼泪来。然后，独角兽用蹄子跺着大地，摇晃着鬃毛，说话了。

“陛下，”它说，“现在无需商量了。我们发觉无尾猿的阴谋，埋藏得比我们所梦想的还要深。毫无疑问，它已经长期和‘蒂斯罗克’秘密来往了，乃至它找到了狮子皮毛，它就和‘蒂斯罗克’捎话，叫他部署海军准备攻陷凯尔帕拉维尔和纳尼亚王国全境。现在我们七个没有别的办法，只有回到马厩山，宣布事情的真相，并且冒险说是阿斯兰派我们去的。如果出现巨大的奇迹，我们竟打败了跟无尾猿狼狈为奸的三十个卡乐门士兵，我们就重新转过头去，迎战不久将从凯尔帕拉维尔开过来的更加人多势众的卡乐门大部队，而且战死沙场。”

蒂莲点点头。但他转过来跟孩子们说道：“啊，朋友们，你们从此回到你们自己的世界里去的时候到了。毫无疑问，你们已经做好了派你们来做的一切事情。”

“然——然而我们没有做什么呀。”吉尔说，她正在哆嗦，说她害怕可不确切，倒是因为她感到一切是那么糟糕讨厌。

“这话不对，”国王说道，“你替我从树上松绑，你昨夜又在我前边像条蛇似的在树林中滑行，而且逮住了驴子迷惑；而你，尤斯塔斯，杀死了那卡乐门士兵。但你们都太年轻了，不必像我们一样去参加这样一个血腥的结局，而我们其他的人，今夜，或者也许是三天以后，都是必须面对这个结局的。我恳求你们——不，我命令你们——回到你们自己的世界去。如果我让这样年幼的战士在战斗中在我的身旁倒下来，我就该羞愧得无地自容了。”

“不，不，不，”吉尔说道（她刚开口说话时，脸色十分苍白，然后又突然涨得通红，接着却又重新发白了），“我们不愿回去，你所说的那些情况，我们不在乎。不论发生什么事情，我们都要忠于你，同你站在一起，尤斯塔斯，你说是吗？”

“是的，但也无需为此而那么激动的。”尤斯塔斯说，他的双手插在口袋里（他忘记了自己穿着锁子甲，这个姿势看上去有多么古怪），“因为，你瞧，我们没有选择的余地。空谈回去有什么好处呢？怎么回？我们可没有回去的魔法！”

这话是明智的，但，此时此刻，吉尔可痛恨尤斯塔斯说出这番话来。当别人激动的时候他总喜欢过分就事论事。

当蒂莲明白了两个陌生人无法回家（除非阿斯兰突然把他们带走），他第二步棋就是要他们穿过南部崇山峻岭进入阿钦兰，说不定那儿可能安全些。但他们不认识路，也派不出人陪他们去。正如波金所指出的，一旦卡乐门军队占据了纳尼亚，他们大约在第二个星期里就一定会攻占阿钦兰：“蒂斯罗克”始终要并吞这些北方国家，占为己有。最后，尤斯塔斯和吉尔苦苦恳求。蒂莲便说他们可以跟他一起去碰碰机会——或者，一如他更加明智地所说的“冒冒阿斯兰给他们送来的风险”。

国王第一个主意是：不到天黑以后，他们不应该回到马厩山去——现在他们听到这山的名字就感到厌恶了。但小矮人告诉他们，如果他们在白天到达山上，他们就很可能发现那儿寂无人影，也许只碰到个把警卫。野兽们被无尾猿（和金格）所告诉它们的阿斯兰——或塔什兰——的新的愤怒吓坏了，它们不敢走近马厩山去，除非被叫去开那些可怕的午夜大会。卡乐门人从来不是善于在森林里活动的好手。波金认为，在白天里他们倒容易绕到马厩背后的什么地方，不会被人看见的。黑夜来临，无尾猿就要把野兽召集拢来，所有的卡乐门兵都要值班上岗，那时倒难办得多。大会开始时，他们可以把迷惑留在马厩背后，藏得完全看不见，直到他们要牵它出来示众。这显然是件好事：因为他们惟一取胜的机会，就在于突然叫纳尼亚野兽们意想不到地大吃一惊。

大家都同意这个方案，于是整个队伍沿着一条新的路线——朝西北方向——向那可恨的山头进发。老鹰有时在他们的上方飞来飞去，有时坐在迷惑的背脊上休息。没有人会妄想骑一头独角兽走路的——除了有重大的必要性，连国王也不骑独角兽代步的。

这一回，吉尔和尤斯塔斯一起行走。他们恳求国王允许他们跟其他的人一起来作战时，曾经感到自己十分勇敢，但现在他们压根儿不感到勇敢了。

“波尔，”尤斯塔斯悄悄地说道，“我还是告诉你吧，我已经心惊肉跳了。”

“啊，斯克罗布，你行，”吉尔说道，“你能打仗。但我——我正在发抖，如果想知道真相的话。”

“啊，发抖不算什么，”尤斯塔斯说，“我觉得我快要生病了。”

“天哪，别提它了。”吉尔说。

他们默不作声地走了一两分钟。

“波尔。”尤斯塔斯不久又开口了。

“什么事？”她说。

“如果我们在这儿给杀死了，会发生什么事呢？”

“我想，我们就成了死人了。”

“但我的意思是：在我们自己的世界里会发生什么事？我们会一觉醒来，发觉自己回到那火车里了？或者我们干脆消失了，永远再也听不到我们的消息了？或者，我们在英国也成了死人了？”

“天哪，我从未想到这些。”

“彼得和其他的人，如果他们看到我从车窗里向外挥手，然后火车进站时却哪儿也找不到我们，对他们说来，岂不是咄咄怪事！或者，如果他们找到两具——我的意思是说，如果我们在英国那边成了死人。”

“呀！”吉尔说，“多可怕的胡思乱想。”

“对我们说来，不会可怕的，”尤斯塔斯说，“我们不该在那边的。”

“我几乎但愿——不，尽管如此，我不说。”吉尔说。

“你要说的是什么话啊？”

“我正要说，我但愿我们从未有过。但，我不说，我不说，我不说。即使我们被杀死了也不说这种话。我倒宁可为纳尼亚战斗而牺牲生命，却不愿在家乡变得衰老愚蠢，也许坐在轮椅里转来转去，然后末末了儿还是照样死掉。”

“或者被英国火车砸烂了！”

“你为什么说这话呢？”

“啊，火车发生可怕的震动时——仿佛把我们扔进纳尼亚的那一震——我以为那是火车失事的开端。所以，竟发现我们到了这儿，我真是欢天喜地。”

吉尔和尤斯塔斯正谈起这档子事时，其他的伙伴正在讨论计划，变得不太痛苦了。因为他们现在正想的是今夜必须干的事情——而纳尼亚遭到了什么灾难、纳尼亚的光荣和欢乐都过去了等等的思想，都被推到头脑的后半部去了。他们停止谈话时，那些思想就会冒出来使他们重新感到痛苦；但他们继续不断地谈着话。对于夜间他们非干不可的活儿，波金确实感到十分高兴。他深信野猪和熊，可能所有的狗儿，都会立刻站在他们这一边来的。他也无法相信所有其他的小矮人们都会依附格里夫尔。在火光旁作战，出没于树木之间，对于力量较弱的一方是有利的。而且，如果今夜他们能获胜，几天以后，他们果真还需要为迎战卡乐门主力部队而牺牲他们的生命吗？

为什么不躲藏在森林里，甚至跑到大瀑布外的西部荒原，像逃亡者一样生活呢？然后他们便可能逐渐强大更强大，因为会说人话的野兽和阿钦兰人每天都会来参加他们的队伍。最后他们便将从躲藏之地突然冒出来，把卡乐门士兵（那时他们会疏忽大意了）扫荡出他们的国家，而纳尼亚便可复兴。在国王弥若兹的时代，类似这样的事情毕竟是发生过的！

这一番话蒂莲都听到了，他想的是：“但塔什神在搞什么呢？”他从骨子里觉得这样的演变是一点儿也不会发生的。但他嘴里没有这样说。

他们走得更靠近马厩山时，大家当然都默不作声。于是，真正的林中活动开始了。从他们第一次望见马厩山那一刻起，到他们大家都来到马厩背后那一刻为止，他们花了两个多钟头的时间。这个过程是无法恰当描写的，除非记下一页页的流水账。从每一个掩蔽处到下一个掩蔽处都是一段又一段的冒险，其间还有漫长的等待和好几次虚惊。如果你是个优秀的侦察员或是优秀的向导，你就已经知道这必定是什么情况了。太阳快落下去时，他们大家都安全进入一丛冬青树里，在马厩背后大约十五码光景。他们大家都吃些饼干，在地上躺下。

接下来是最难挨难熬的阶段：等待。幸亏孩子们睡了两小时，但，他们醒来时，当然天已黑了冷了，而更糟的是，他们醒来时口渴，却没有机会弄到水喝。迷惑就站在那儿，因为有点儿紧张，身体发抖。但蒂莲睡得很香，他的脑袋枕在珍宝的肚子上，倒像睡在凯尔帕拉维尔的御榻上一样香甜，直睡到一阵锣声把他吵醒，他站起身来，望到马厩远处有火光，他知道时辰到了。

“珍宝，吻我吧，”他说道，“因为这必定是我们在这世界上的最后一夜了。如果我曾在任何或大或小的事情上得罪了你，现在就宽恕我吧。”

“亲爱的国王，”独角兽说道，“我几乎但愿你曾得罪过我，这样我就可以宽恕了。再见了。我们曾经一起万分欢乐过。如果阿斯兰允许我选择，我只会选择我曾经度过的生活，只会选择我们就要作出的牺牲。”

这时他们叫醒了老鹰。老鹰把脑袋缩在翅膀下睡觉（这使它仿佛压根儿没有脑袋似的）。他们朝前爬到马厩去。他们就把驴子迷惑留在马厩后面（并非一句和蔼的话也没有，因为现在谁也不对驴子生气了）。他们嘱咐驴子别走动，必须等到有人来带它才走，他们自己则在马厩的一头摆开了阵势。

篝火才点亮不久，正好开始熊熊燃烧起来。篝火离他们不过几英尺光景，而一大群纳尼亚野兽都在篝火的那一边，所以蒂莲开头看不大清楚，当然他看见十几双眼睛在篝火的反光里闪闪发亮，就像你在汽车前灯的灯光里看到的野兔或猫的眼睛一般。蒂莲刚站定位置，锣声便停了，三个黑影儿从他左边一个地方冒出来了。一个是“泰坎”利什达，卡乐门队长。第二个是无尾猿，它的一个前爪给抓在“泰坎”手里，它不断地呜咽、咕哝：“不要这样快，别走得这样快，我身体压根儿不好。唉，我可怜的脑袋好疼啊！这些午夜大会我愈来愈吃不消了。无尾猿是不适宜夜间不睡觉的。无尾猿可不像老鼠或蝙蝠那样夜间活动——唉，我可怜的脑袋好疼啊。”在无尾猿的另一边，猫儿金格正在走来，它走得脚步很轻很庄重，尾巴笔直地翘在空中。它们向篝火走去，它们离蒂莲很近，如果方向对头，它们立刻就会看见蒂莲的。幸亏它们看的方向不对头。但蒂莲听见利什达低声对金格说道：

“猫儿，站到你的岗位上去。注意好生扮演你的角色。”

“妙，妙。瞧我的！”金格说道。然后它走到篝火外面，在集合拢来的野兽们的第一排里坐下，正如你要说的，坐在观众中间。

因为事情的发展，整个局面确实就像在一个戏院里一般。纳尼亚的群兽，就像坐在座位上的观众；马厩前一小块草地就像舞台，篝火熊熊燃烧着，无尾猿和卡乐门队长站在那儿向群众讲话；马厩本身就像舞台后面的布景；而蒂莲和他的朋友们，就像在布景背后隐约出现的人们。如果他们之中有哪一个往外走到火光里来，所有的眼睛立刻都会盯住他们直瞧；另一方面呢，只要他们一动也不动地站在马厩远处墙头的阴影里，百分之九十九是不会被人注意到的。

“泰坎”利什达把无尾猿拖到逼近篝火的地方。他们俩都转过脸去，面向群众，当然，这就意味着他们是背对着蒂莲和他的朋友们了。

“听着，猴子，”“泰坎”利什达低声说道，“把比你聪明的头脑灌输到你嘴巴里的话讲出来吧。把你的头昂起来。”他一边说话一边用他的脚趾尖在背后给无尾猿一戳或是一踢。

“你放开我。”诡谲喃喃说道。但它把身体坐得更直，用更加响亮的声音，开言道：

“你们大家都注意听着。一件可怕的事情发生了。一件邪恶的事情。在纳尼亚发生的最最邪恶的事情。阿斯兰——”

“塔什兰，傻瓜。”“泰坎”利什达低声纠正。

“我的意思当然是指塔什兰，”无尾猿说道，“塔什兰对此十分愤怒。”

众野兽等待着要听听他们即将碰到什么新的麻烦，当时草地上一片可怕的寂静。马厩墙脚边的一伙也屏息静气。现在究竟会冒出什么事情来呢？

“是的，”无尾猿说道，“就在此时此刻，可怕的神就在我们中间——而在我背后的马厩里——一头邪恶的野兽竟蓄意干了一件十恶不赦的事情，你们都会认为，即使神在千里之外，也没有一个敢干这样的事的。它在身上披上了一张狮子皮毛，正在这些树林里跑来跑去，冒充是狮王阿斯兰。”

吉尔有一会儿感到诧异：这无尾猿是否疯了？它是否要把全部真相讲出来？野兽群中发出一阵恐怖和愤怒的吼声。“该死！”发出吼声来了，“它是什么东西？它在哪儿？让我们用牙齿咬死它！”

“昨儿夜间看见过它的，”无尾猿尖声叫道，“但它逃走了。它是头驴子！一头普普通通的凄凄惨惨的驴子。如果你们有谁看见这驴子——”

“该死！”众野兽咆哮道，“我们一定要，一定要咬死它。它最好别碰上我们。”

吉尔瞧瞧国王。国王的嘴巴张开着，脸上充满恐怖的神情。这时他明白敌人计划之邪恶诡谲了。加了一点儿真相，就使它们的谎言强大有力得多啦。现在，告诉野兽们说一头驴子被打扮成一头狮子，来欺骗它们——那还有什么用处呢？无尾猿只要说一句：“那就是我刚才说过的情况嘛。”就够了。把披着狮子毛皮的驴子示众，还有什么好处呢？野兽只会把驴子撕个稀烂。“那是收掉了我们的篷帆上的风。”尤斯塔斯低声说道。“把我们立足的土地抽掉了。”蒂莲说道。“该死的，该死的小聪明！”波金说道，“我敢打赌，这新的谎言准是金格创造出来的。”

10

谁将入马厩？

吉尔觉得有个东西弄得她的耳朵痒痒的。原来是独角兽珍宝，正用它那马嘴对她低声说着清晰的耳语。她一听见它的话就点点头，踮着脚走回驴子迷惑正站在那儿的地方。她迅速而轻声地割断了把狮子毛皮缚在驴子身上的最后几根绳子。无尾猿既然已经说了这样的话，它披着狮子毛皮被逮住的话可就没有命了！她很想把狮子毛皮藏到很远的地方去，可毛皮实在太重。她能够办得到的上策是把它们踢进浓密的灌木丛里去。然后她示意驴子迷惑跟她走，她俩一齐和其他的人会合了。

无尾猿又在说话。

“发生了像这样的一件可怕的事情之后，阿斯兰——塔什兰——越发愤怒了。他说他对待你们实在太好了，夜夜出来给你们瞻仰。瞧！他生气了，他再也不出来了。”

野兽们对这番话的反应是一片嚎叫、尖叫、咕咕、哝哝、咪咪、喵喵之声，但突然有一个与众不同的声音哈哈大笑着开口说话了。

“听这猴子在说什么呀，”它大声喊道，“我们知道：为什么它不把它的宝贝阿斯兰请出来。我告诉你们其中的缘故吧：因为它没有把阿斯兰弄到手。除了一头背上缚着狮子毛皮的老驴子外，它手里从来没有什么法宝。如今它丢失了那头老驴子，它就不知道怎么办了。”

蒂莲对篝火那一边的脸看不大清楚，但他猜测说这话的是小矮人头领格里夫尔。一秒钟后，他对自己的猜测便有了把握，因为所有小矮人的声音都在随声附和了：

“不知道怎么办！不知道怎么办！不知道怎么办了！”

“别嚷嚷！”“泰坎”利什达大发雷霆道，“别嚷嚷，泥土的子孙们！你们其他的纳尼亚国民们，注意听我讲的话，不然我就叫战士们用刀锋砍你们。诡谲王爷已经把邪恶驴子的事讲给你们听了。难道你们认为，由于驴子的缘故，马厩里就没有真正的塔什兰了吗？你们可认为这样吗？小心呀，小心呀。”

“不，不。”大部分野兽喊道。但小矮人们说：“说对了，黑皮，你击中要害了。猴子，来吧，让我们看看马厩里有什么玩意儿，眼见是实，才能叫人相信。”

接下来出现片刻的沉默时，无尾猿说道：

“你们小矮人自以为十分聪明，是吗？然而，且慢。我从未说过你们不能见塔什兰。谁想见，谁就可以见他。”

全场默默无言。接着，大约一分钟以后，熊用一种慢吞吞的惶惑的声音开始说话。

“这一切我不十分明白，”它咕咕哝哝地说道，“我想你是说——”

“你想！”无尾猿故意重复对方的词儿，“倒像是谁都可以把你头脑里正在进行的活动称之为‘想’哩。听着，你们其他的人。任何人都能去见塔什兰。但塔什兰自己可不出来。你们得进去见他。”

“啊，谢谢你，谢谢你，谢谢你。”十几个声音说道，“我们能进去，面对面地见到他。那就是我们所要求的！现在他会是仁慈的，并且将像往常一样，处处仁慈。”鸟儿啁啾，狗儿兴奋地吠叫。然后，突然之间，出现了一阵大骚动、一阵喧哗，野兽们都站起来了，转瞬之间整群野兽都往前冲去，大家都竭力要一齐挤进马厩中去。但无尾猿大声喊道：

“回去！安静！且慢！”

野兽们停步了，好多野兽一只爪子悬在空中，好多摇晃着尾巴，它们的脑袋都侧向一边。

“我想你是说——”熊开始说话，可诡谲把它的话打断了。

“哪一个都能进去，”无尾猿说道，“可是，一次只进去一个。谁先进去？他可并不说他是十分仁慈的。自从他在大前天把那邪恶的国王吞下肚子以来，他一直在不断地舔他的嘴唇。今天早晨他曾经大嗥大叫了一阵子。今儿个夜间我自己也不大想进到马厩里去。但，随你们的便。谁愿意第一个进去？如果他把你整个儿吞了下去，或者只是用它的火眼金睛把你烧成灰烬，可别怪我。那是你自己的事情。哦，进来吧！谁第一个进来？你们小矮人先进来一个吧？”

“呀，呀，进来被你杀死！”格里夫尔嘲笑道，“我们怎么知道你在那马厩里摆下了什么东西呢？”

“哈——哈！”无尾猿喊道，“那么你们在开始想到里边有点儿东西了，是不是？哦，一分钟以前你们野兽都吵闹得够响的了。是什么把你们都打成了哑巴？谁第一个进去呀？”

但野兽们都站在那儿你看我我看你的，而且开始从马厩后退。现在没有几条尾巴在摇晃了。无尾猿一边大摇大摆地走来走去，一边嘲笑野兽们。“哈——哈——哈！”它抿着嘴笑道，“我想你们大家都急于要面对面地见到塔什兰！如今改变主意了，嗯？”

蒂莲低下头来听吉尔试图在他耳边说的悄悄话。“你认为马厩里确实有什么东西吗？”她说。“谁知道呢？”蒂莲道，“两个卡乐门士兵拿着出鞘的剑，很可能，两边的门口各站着一个兵。”“你岂不觉得，”吉尔说，“这很可能……你知道……就是我们看到的那可怕的东西吗？”“塔什自己吗？”蒂莲说道。“弄不明白。可是，孩子，要有勇气：我们大家都夹在真正的阿斯兰的两个脚爪中间。”

接着就发生了一件最出人意外的事。猫儿金格用冷静、清晰的声音，仿佛压根儿毫不激动地说道：“如果你愿意，我要进去。”

每一头野兽都转过头来，眼睛牢牢盯着猫儿直瞧。

“陛下，留神它们的阴险，”波金对国王说道，“这该死的猫儿参与了阴谋诡计，它是阴谋的核心。不论马厩里有什么东西，都伤不着它，我敢肯定。然后金格会重新从马厩里出来，说是它看到了奇迹。”

但蒂莲没有时间回答。无尾猿正叫猫儿出来。“嗬——嗬！”无尾猿说道，“那么，你，一只冒冒失失的猫咪，竟要面对面地见他了。那就来吧！我替你开门。如果他吓得你胡须都从脸上掉下来，你可别怪我。那是你自己的事情。”

于是那猫儿便站起身来，从它在群众中的座位里走将出去，它一直正经地优雅文静地走着，尾巴翘在空中，柔软发亮的皮外套上没有一根毛是不得体的。它继续向前，走过篝火，走得极近了；蒂莲肩膀靠着马厩末端的墙上，站在那儿能仔细打量着猫儿的脸孔。它那碧绿的大眼睛一眨也不眨。（“泰然自若，”尤斯塔斯喃喃而语，“它知道它没有什么可害怕的。”）无尾猿吃吃讪笑，做着鬼脸，拖拖拉拉地过来，站在猫儿身旁，伸出脚爪：拉开门闩，打开马厩的门。蒂莲以为他听见了猫儿走进黑暗门口时呜呜的叫声。

“阿艾——阿艾——阿奥威——！”从来没有听到过的、最最可怕的猫儿叫春的声音，使大家都跳起来了。你自己在半夜里听到过猫儿在屋顶上吵架和做爱的声音，你知道这种声音。

事态更糟了。金格从马厩里以最快的速度窜回来，把无尾猿也撞了个四脚朝天。如果你不知道它是只猫儿，你会认为它是一道姜黄色的闪电。它窜过开阔的草地，回到群众中去。谁也不想碰到处于这种状态的猫。你可以看见野兽们往左右闪开，给它让路。它窜上一棵树木，周围弹了一下，身体便倒挂在树枝上。它把尾巴倒竖了起来，几乎跟它整个儿身体一般儿粗大；它的眼睛像碧绿的火焰碟子，它的背上每根毛都挺得笔直。

“我宁愿以我的胡子为代价，”波金耳语道，“去弄明白这畜生不过是在演戏呢，还有确实在马厩里发现了使它害怕的东西。”

“别做声，朋友。”蒂莲说道，因为卡乐门队长也在和无尾猿窃窃私语，他想听听他们究竟在说些什么。他没听到什么，只不过听到无尾猿再次在呜咽。“我的脑袋，我的脑袋好疼啊。”但他得出了一个想法：这两个家伙，像他自己一样被那猫儿的行动搞迷糊了。

“喂，金格，”卡乐门队长说，“你号叫得够了。把你所看见的，告诉它们吧。”

“阿艾——阿艾——阿奥——阿瓦。”猫儿叫道。

“难道你不是被称为会说人话的野兽吗？”队长说，“那就停止邪恶的嗥叫，开口说话吧！”

接下来的事是很可怕的。蒂莲十分有把握地觉得（别人也一样）猫儿正竭力说出一些话来，但它的嘴巴里讲不出人话来，只能发出普普通通的十分难听的猫叫声，在英国的后院里，你可以从任何愤怒或吃惊的猫儿那里听到这种叫声。而且，它鸣叫的时间越长，看上去就越发不像一只说人话的兽类。其他的野兽中间迸发出了心神不安的呜咽和微弱的尖叫声。

“瞧，瞧！”野猪的声音说道，“它不能说人话了。它忘记怎样说人话了。它已经倒退成为一只哑巴畜生了。瞧瞧它的脸。”大家看到确实是那样。于是一切恐怖中最大的恐怖落在这些纳尼亚禽兽心上了。因为它们每一个都受过这样的教导——当它们是只小鸡或小狗或幼狐的时候——阿斯兰曾在世界开创之时，把纳尼亚的禽兽变成了会说人话的禽兽，并且警告它们，如果它们行为不端，有朝一日，它们就会重新变回老样子，同人们在其他国家里遇到的可怜而愚蠢的禽兽一模一样。“如今这种变化临到我们头上了。”它们悲叹道。

“发发慈悲，发发慈悲吧！”野兽们哀告道，“救救我们，诡谲王爷，你站在我们和阿斯兰之间，你必须经常进去，替我们跟他说话。我们可不敢，我们可不敢。”

金格消失在树林深处。谁也没再看到它。

蒂莲耷拉着脑袋，手抚在剑柄上站在那儿。他被那一夜的恐怖搞得头昏眼花。有时他想，最好还是立刻拔出剑来向卡乐门兵冲去；接着他又觉得还是等着瞧瞧形势新的演变较好。如今新的演变来了。

“我的父亲，”一个清脆响亮的声音从群众的左边传来。蒂莲立刻听出来了，这是一个卡乐门士兵在说话，因为在“蒂斯罗克”的军队里，普通士兵称他们的军官为“我的师父”，而普通军官称他的上级军官为“我的父亲”。吉尔和尤斯塔斯不知道这个规矩，但他们左看右望，终于看到了说话的人，因为在大伙儿边上的人，要比在中间的人容易看得见，中间火光熊熊，使它后面的一切倒显得很黑了。他年轻，高个儿，身材苗条，黑苍苍、自命不凡的卡乐门风度，看上去倒也漂亮。

“我的父亲，”他对队长说道，“我也想进去。”

“安静，伊梅思，”队长说道，“谁叫你来讨论的？一个孩子发言，合适吗？”

“我的父亲，”伊梅思说，“我确实比你年幼，然而我甚至跟你一样，也是出生于‘泰坎’血统，也是塔什神的仆人。因此……”

“别说话，”“泰坎”利什达说道，“难道我不是你的队长吗？你跟马厩毫不相干。马厩是为纳尼亚群众而设的。”

“不，我的父亲，”伊梅思答道，“你自己说过，他们的阿斯兰跟我们的塔什兰是二位一体的。如果你说的是真话，那么，塔什神就在那马厩里。所以，你怎么能说我和塔什神毫不相干呢？如果我能当面看到一次塔什神，那么，哪怕死一千次我也乐意。”

“你是个傻瓜，啥也不懂。”“泰坎”利什达说，“这些是高层次的道理。”

伊梅思的脸变得更严峻了。“那么，塔什和阿斯兰是二位一体的说法就不真不实了吗？”他问道，“无尾猿对我们撒谎了吗？”

“当然他们是二位一体的。”无尾猿道。

“无尾猿，你起誓。”伊梅思说。

“哎呀！”诡谲哀叹道，“我但愿你们大家不再打扰我。我头疼。好，好，我这就起誓。”

“它起誓了，我的父亲，”伊梅思说，“我坚决要进去。”

“傻瓜。”“泰坎”利什达开口道，但小矮人们立刻开始叫喊：“来吧，黑皮。你为什么不让他进去？为什么你放纳尼亚人进去，却把你自己国家的人拦在外面？你在马厩里设了什么机关，所以你不要你的自己人去瞎碰。”

蒂莲和他的朋友们只看见“泰坎”利什达的背影，所以他们不知道他耸耸肩膀时脸上的神色如何：“请大家作证，对这傻瓜的流血，我是无辜的。鲁莽的孩子，你就进去吧，赶快。”

接着，就像金格一样，伊梅思走上前来，进入篝火与马厩之间的那片开阔的草地。他的眼睛闪闪发光，他的脸色庄重，他的手按在剑柄上，他的头昂得高高的。吉尔望着他的脸时，觉得自己快要哭了。珍宝在国王的耳边低语道：“狮王的鬣毛啊，我几乎爱上这年轻的战士了，虽然他是个卡乐门士兵。比塔什更好的神才值得他尊敬哩。”

“我但愿我们能知道马厩里确实设置了什么东西。”尤斯塔斯说道。

伊梅思打开门走进去，进入了马厩漆黑的嘴巴。他关上他背后的门。只过了片刻——但感觉上仿佛时间更长——门又重新打开了。一个穿卡乐门锁子甲的人影儿摇摇晃晃地退出门来，仰面倒在地上，躺在那儿一动也不动了。马厩的门重新关上。队长向那人跳将过去，俯下身来仔细打量他的脸。他吓了一跳。然后他恢复镇静，转脸面向大伙儿，大声喊道：

“这个鲁莽的孩子达到了他的愿望啦。他看到了塔什神，死了。你们大家都要引为鉴戒。”

“我们要，我们要引为鉴戒的。”可怜的野兽们说道。但，蒂莲和他的朋友们，先盯住死掉的卡乐门士兵仔细打量一番，然后彼此又互相看了一眼。因为他们离尸体很近，能看到大伙儿（离得远，又在篝火的背后）没法儿看到的景象：死人并不是伊梅思。死人截然不同，是个年纪较大的人，身材比较粗大，可不及伊梅思高，还长着一把大胡子。

“嗬——嗬——嗬，”无尾猿吃吃笑道，“还有什么人吗？还有什么人要进来？得了，既然你们大家都不好意思，我就来挑选下一个。野猪，你过来。卡乐门士兵，把他押过来。它得面对面地见见塔什神。”

“奥——奥——姆比，”野猪咕咕哝哝地说道，它沉重地站起身来，“那就来吧。试试我的獠牙吧。”

当蒂莲看到勇敢的野猪准备为它的生命而拼搏——卡乐门士兵开始拔出弯刀逼拢来——没有哪一个跑出来支援野猪——他内心里有个东西突然发作了。他不再关心这究竟是干预或不干预的最佳时刻了。

“拔出剑来，”他对其他的人低声说道，“箭搭在弦上。跟着我上。”

紧接着的刹那之间，吃惊的纳尼亚野兽看到七个黑影在马厩前面跳了出来，四个人穿着发光的锁子甲。国王的剑在火光中闪耀，那时他正在头顶上空挥舞着剑，用大嗓门喊道：

“我，纳尼亚的国王蒂莲，站在这儿，以阿斯兰的名义，用我的身体来证明：塔什是个邪恶的魔王，无尾猿是个诡计多端的卖国贼，这些卡乐门人都是该死的东西。一切真正的纳尼亚子民们，站在我这一边来吧。难道你们要等到你们新的主子把你们一个又一个地统统杀光吗？”

11

步伐加快了

迅速如闪电，“泰坎”利什达跳了回去，国王的剑砍不到他了。他倒不是个懦夫，如果需要，他会独自一人跟蒂莲和小矮人们作战的。但他没法儿对付老鹰，也没法儿对付独角兽。他知道老鹰如何飞到你脸上啄你的眼睛，而且用翅膀遮得你看也看不出。他还从他父亲那里听说过（他在战争中碰到过纳尼亚军队）：除非射箭或使用长矛，没有人能战胜独角兽的，因为独角兽向你扑上来时，就用后腿站起来了，那时你就得立刻同时对付它的蹄子、独角和牙齿。所以利什达奔到群众里头，站着喊道：

“听我的，听我的指挥，‘蒂斯罗克’（愿他万寿无疆）的战士们。听我的，一切忠诚的纳尼亚子民们，不然的话，塔什兰的愤怒就要落到你们身上了！”

这件事发生的时候，还同时发生了另外两件事。无尾猿不像那“泰坎”那样迅速地认识到处境的危险。大约有一两秒钟，它依旧蹲在篝火旁，定睛望着新来的野兽们。接着蒂莲就向那倒霉的家伙猛扑过去，抓住它的颈背把它拎了起来，然后冲回马厩，大叫道：“开门。”波金打开马厩的门。“诡谲，进去喝你自己的药吧！”蒂莲一边说，一边把无尾猿往马厩里的黑暗中扔了进去。但小矮人砰的一声重新把门关上时，一道令人目眩的蓝绿色的强光从马厩里照射出来，大地震动了，响起了一种奇怪的声音——一种咯咯的叫嚣声，仿佛是某种怪鸟嘶哑的叫声。野兽们呜咽、号哭、大声呼喊。“塔什兰！遮掩我们，别让它看见！”许多禽兽倒下了，许多禽兽把自己的脸躲在翅膀或是脚爪下面。此时此刻，除了生着一切生物中最好的眼睛的老鹰外，没有哪一个注意过“泰坎”利什达的脸。千里眼老鹰凭它所看到的情况立刻就知道：利什达同大家一模一样的感到奇怪，几乎同大家一样的诚惶诚恐。“一个走了，”老鹰心中想道，“他曾向他并不相信的诸神呼吁。如果诸神真的来了，他将怎么办呢？”

也在同时发生的第三件事，是那天夜里真正美丽的事情。大会上的每头会说人话的狗儿（总共十五头）欢乐地跳着吠着跑到国王这边来了。它们大部分是了不得的大狗，肩膀厚实，上下腭厚重。群狗的来势像是巨浪冲击海滩，几乎要把你冲倒。因为，它们虽然是会人话的狗儿，却又是尽可能发挥狗性的狗儿：它们都双脚站了起来，前腿的爪子搭在人的肩膀上，用舌头舔舔人的脸，它们大家立刻说道：“欢迎！欢迎！我们决心帮忙，帮忙，帮忙。告诉我们怎么个帮法，怎么个帮法，怎么，怎么——怎么——怎么？”

这情景是那么动人，叫你简直想哭；因为，他们一直盼望的那种情景，最后终于出现了。片刻之后，当几只小动物（老鼠和鼹鼠，以及一只松鼠什么的）嗒嗒地走来，欢乐地吱吱乱叫，并且说道：“瞧，瞧，我们来了。”在此之后，当熊和野猪也来了，尤斯塔斯开始觉得，也许，毕竟一切都可能变得顺利了。但蒂莲向四周打量，看到了已在有所行动的野兽只是极少数。

“听我的！听我的指挥！”他呼唤道，“自从我成了你们的国王，难道你们都变成懦夫了吗？”

“我们，我们不敢，”十几个声音呜呜咽咽地说道，“塔什兰会震怒的。替我们挡住塔什兰吧。”

“所有会说人话的马儿都到哪儿去了？”蒂莲问道。

“我们见过的，见过的，”老鼠吱吱地说道，“无尾猿叫它们干活。它们都累极了——在小山底下干活。”

“你们这些小不点儿们，”蒂莲说道，“你们这些能啃、能啮、能咬碎硬壳的小不点儿们，你们能跳跳蹦蹦得多快，就尽量快跑到山底下去，去看看马儿是否站在我们这一边。如果马儿站在我们这一边，那就用你们的牙齿咬断绳索，一直咬到马儿解除束缚，你们就带它们上这儿来。”

“愿意效劳，陛下。”传来小声的回答，尾巴一甩，这些眼睛尖、牙齿锋利的小家伙就已经跑开了。蒂莲瞧着它们离开时，出于深情厚爱，莞尔微笑，但已经是该考虑其他事情的时候了。“泰坎”利什达正在下达命令哩。

“冲向前去，”利什达说，“如果办得到的话，活捉他们全体人马，把他们扔进马厩；或者把他们赶到马厩里去。他们大家都进了马厩时，我们就放火烧掉马厩，把他们当做献给伟大的塔什神的祭品。”

“哈哈！”老鹰对自己说，“原来他指望用这个办法来争取塔什宽恕他的不信神哩。”

敌人的阵线——一半儿是利什达的军队——现在正向前推进，蒂莲勉强来得及下达命令。

“吉尔，从左翼出击，竭尽全力在敌人到达之前射出箭去。野猪和熊跟在她的后面。波金在我的左边，尤斯塔斯在我的右边。珍宝守住右翼。迷惑站在珍宝旁边，运用你的蹄子作战。千里眼老鹰，在天空盘旋、出击。你们这些狗儿，就守在我们的后边。刀剑交锋开始后你们就闯到敌人之中去。阿斯兰保佑我们！”

尤斯塔斯站在那里，心怦怦乱跳，他希望，希望自己会大胆勇敢。他从来没有看见过像面孔墨黑眼睛发亮的队伍那样使他血液冰凉的东西，尽管他看见过一条飞龙和一条海蛇。敌方是十五个卡乐门兵，一头纳尼亚的会说人话的公牛，狐狸斯林基，半神半兽的森林之神拉格尔。然后他听到左边儿嘣的一响、嗖的一声，一个卡乐门士兵应声倒下了；接着又是蹦的一响、嗖的一声，半神半兽的森林之神也应声倒下了。“啊，射得好，女儿！”传来了蒂莲的赞美声；接着是敌人向他们进攻。

尤斯塔斯怎么也记不得后来两分钟内发生的事了。这全像是在梦里（你发高烧时做的那种梦）。他终于听到“泰坎”利什达在远处喊叫的声音。

“撤退。撤回到那儿，重整旗鼓。”

于是尤斯塔斯恢复了知觉，看见卡乐门士兵向他们的朋友们惊惶地跑回去。但并非都跑回去了。两个倒毙在地上，一个是珍宝的独角戳死的，一个是蒂莲的剑杀死的。狐狸死在他脚边，他弄不清是不是他自己把它宰了的。公牛也倒下了，吉尔的一箭射中了它的眼睛，野猪的獠牙叫它胁部裂开了。但我方也有损失。三条狗被杀死了，第四条狗凭着三条腿在战线后面蹒跚行走，嘴里呜咽哀鸣。熊躺在地上，虚弱无力地挪动着。它最终还是迷惑不解，喉咙里咕咕哝哝地说道：“我——我不——明白。”接着就像一个小孩儿落入睡眠一样，大脑袋平静地落到草地上，永远不再动弹了。

事实上，敌人的第一次攻击失败了。尤斯塔斯似乎未能为之高兴，他渴得厉害，他的胳膊也疼得厉害。

被打败的卡乐门士兵回到他们的指挥官那儿时，小矮人们开始嘲笑他们。

“打够了，黑皮？”他们叫着说道，“你们不喜欢打仗？为什么你们伟大的‘泰坎’自己不去作战，却派你们去送死？可怜的黑皮！”

“小矮人们，”蒂莲喊道，“过来吧，用你们的剑作战，可别用你们的舌头舌战。时间还是有的。纳尼亚的小矮人们，我知道。你们打得很好。回来效忠你们的国家吧。”

“呀！”小矮人嘲弄道，“不见得吧。你们就跟另外一帮子一样，都是大骗子。小矮人总是为小矮人而奋斗的。我们不要什么国王。呸！”

于是战鼓开始响起来了：这一回可不是小矮人的小鼓，而是卡乐门的公牛皮大鼓。孩子们一开头就憎恨这种鼓声。嘭——嘭吧——吧——嘭地响下去。但如果孩子们明白这鼓声的用意，他们就会更加厉害地憎恨它了。蒂莲明白，附近什么地方有别的卡乐门军队，鼓声的用意就是“泰坎”利什达在向他们呼救求援。蒂莲和珍宝烦恼地面面相觑。他们刚开始指望他们今夜能获全胜，但如果新的敌军来到，那就全都完蛋了。

蒂莲绝望地向四周打量。有几头纳尼亚野兽跟卡乐门兵站在一起，不论他们是背信弃义还是由于真心害怕“塔什兰”。其他的正一动也不动地坐着，目不转睛地瞧着，不像要参加那一方作战。然而，现在野兽的数量更少了，形成的群也更小了。十分清楚，好几头野兽在战斗时悄悄溜掉了。

可怕的鼓声继续擂下去：嘭——嘭——吧——吧——嘭。接着是另一种声音掺入了鼓声。“听！”珍宝说。“瞧！”老鹰道。片刻之后，这究竟是什么，已经是毫无疑问的了。二十多匹会说人话的马儿，蹄声如雷鸣隆隆，摇晃着脑袋，张大着鼻孔，抖动着鬃毛，正在冲上山来。会啃会啮的小不点儿们已经做了工作，马儿成群结队地来支援了。

小矮人波金和孩子们张开嘴巴欢呼，但那欢呼可没有喊出声音来。空中突然充满了嘣嘣的弓弦声和嗖嗖的射箭声。正在射箭的小矮人们——吉尔在片刻之间简直没法儿相信自己的眼睛——小矮人正向马儿射箭哩。小矮人都是致人死命的弓箭手。马儿一匹又一匹地滚翻了。这些高贵的马儿没有一匹到达国王身边。

“小猪猡，”尤斯塔斯愤怒得双脚直跳，尖声骂道，“肮脏龌龊的背信弃义的小畜生。”甚至珍宝也说：“可要我追上这些小矮人，用我的独角一戳过去就刺穿十个？”但蒂莲的面色严峻如石头，说道：“站定了，珍宝。宝贝儿（这是对吉尔说的），如果你一定要哭，那就转过脸去，留神别让泪水沾湿了弓弦。尤斯塔斯，你安静点儿，别像厨娘一样骂人。战士可不骂人的。有礼貌的言词或者强有力的打击，是战士惟一的语言。”

但小矮人们对尤斯塔斯报之以嘲笑：“小家伙，这事叫你吃了一惊，啊？你认为我们是站在你们一边的吧，你可认为？别害怕。我们不要什么说人话的马儿。我不希望你们比另外一帮子赢得更多。你们没法儿叫我们受骗上当。小矮人总是为小矮人而奋斗。”

“泰坎”利什达仍旧在对他的部队讲话，毫无疑问是在为第二次攻击做好安排，很可能指望把他的整个军事力量都投入先头部队。战鼓继续冬冬地响。接着，使他们惊惶的是，蒂莲和他的朋友们听到了一种遥相呼应的轻微鼓声，仿佛是从老远的地方传来的鼓声。另一支卡乐门部队听到了利什达的信号，正在赶来支援他了。蒂莲现在已经放弃了一切希望，但你从他脸上神情可看不出来。

“听着，”他用镇定的声调低语道，“我们现在必须攻击了，趁那边的凶恶敌人还没有得到友军的增援。”

“陛下，请你考虑一下，”波金说道，“我们在这儿背后有马厩坚实的木板墙挡着。我们如果向前挺进，难道我们不会受到包围，难道两肩之间不会挨到刀尖吗？”

“小矮人，我也会像你这样说话的，”蒂莲说道，“把我们逼进马厩，难道不是他们的阴谋诡计吗？我们离你那致命的门愈远愈好。”

“国王说得对，”老鹰说道，“不惜一切代价，离开这可恶的马厩，不管它里边住的是什么妖怪。”

“是啊，让我们离开这马厩吧，”尤斯塔斯说道，“我变得一看见马厩心头就恨恨的。”

“行，”蒂莲说道，“现在往我们的左边瞧瞧。你看到一块大石头，在火光里像大理石一样闪耀着雪白的光彩。首先我们要袭击那些卡乐门士兵，小姐，你运动到我们的左边，尽力把箭迅速射进他们的队伍里去；老鹰，你从左边飞过去，袭击他们的脸。与此同时，我们其他的人马就向他们冲去。当我们逼近敌人时，吉尔，怕误射了自己人，你就不能再射箭了，你可以回到白石头那儿等候。你们其他的人，即使在作战时也要竖起耳朵细听。我们必须在几分钟之内把他们打得四散逃跑，不然就压根儿打不跑他们了，因为我们的人员比他们少。我一叫后退，你们就跑到大石头那儿与吉尔会合，我们在那石头后面可以有个掩护，可以有一会儿歇口气。现在，吉尔，出发吧。”

吉尔觉得孤零零得可怕，她向前跑了二十英尺光景，右腿右伸，左腿前伸，箭搭在弦上，她但愿她的双手别那么发抖。她的第一支箭迅速向敌人射去，越过敌人的脑袋飞开去了。她说道：“这一箭可射糟了。”但她随即搭上第二支箭，她知道，重要的是射箭的速度，要打他个措手不及。她看到一个又大又黑的东西，扑到了卡乐门士兵的脸上。那是千里眼老鹰。起初是一个兵，随即是其他的兵，丢下手里的剑，举起双手护住自己的眼睛。然后是她射出的一支箭击中了一个士兵，另一支又击中了一头纳尼亚狼，这狼好像参加了敌人的队伍。但她刚射了几秒钟就不得不停止了。蒂莲及其伙伴向敌人猛冲过去了，仿佛百米赛跑似的，剑光闪闪，野猪的獠牙和珍宝的独角横冲直撞，狗儿们吠叫呐喊。吉尔诧异地看到卡乐门士兵仿佛处于毫无准备的状态，她并未认识到这正是她和老鹰的汗马功劳。军队如果一边受到利箭的射击，另一边又受到老鹰尖嘴的猛啄，是很少能稳稳地瞅着正面的战线的。

“啊，打得好！打得好！”吉尔大叫大喊。国王的队伍夺路攻入敌阵。独角兽用独角挑起人来就像你用叉子挑动干草一样。在吉尔看来，甚至尤斯塔斯（他毕竟对剑术知之甚少）也打得挺漂亮。狗儿们正咬着卡乐门士兵的喉咙。战斗正在顺利进行。终于胜利在望了——

吉尔浑身打了一个可怕的寒颤：她把一件奇怪的事情看在眼里啦。虽然每次纳尼亚的利剑劈将下去，必有卡乐门士兵倒毙，可是卡乐门士兵的数量，似乎一点儿也没有减少。事实上，对方的兵员，反而比战斗开始时确实增多了。每一秒钟都有兵员增加。他们从四面八方奔跑而来。他们是新来的卡乐门士兵。这些新来乍到的兵都有长矛。敌方兵员涌过来一大群，吉尔没法儿望见她的战友们了。接着她听见蒂莲喊叫的声音：

“撤退！撤到白石头去！”

敌人已经得到增援。鼓声完成了它的任务。

12

穿过马厩的门

吉尔早该已经回到白石头那儿的，但她兴奋地观战时把她所接受的这一部分命令完全忘记了。现在她记了起来。她立刻转身向白石头跑去，仅仅比其他的人早到一秒钟。撤退之际，他们大家有一阵子都是背对着敌人的。他们到达白石头时便转过身来。他们的眼睛见到了一个可怕的景象。

一个卡乐门士兵正向马厩的门跑去，他手里还挟着个正在踢脚挣扎的东西。卡乐门士兵来到他们与篝火之间时，他们能清清楚楚地看到士兵和士兵所挟着的东西的形体。原来是尤斯塔斯。

蒂莲和独角兽跑过去抢救尤斯塔斯。但那卡乐门士兵现在比他们离马厩的门近得多。他们还没有走近一半距离，士兵已经把尤斯塔斯扔进门去，而且把门关上了。六七个卡乐门士兵在他后面赶了上来。士兵们在马厩前的空地上布成了阵势。现在没法儿突过去了。

这时吉尔也记住了转过脸去离开弓弦的嘱咐。“即使我不能停止哭泣，我也不会沾湿我的弓弦了。”她说。

“留神利箭。”波金突然说道。

大家都低下头来，把头盔拉得遮住鼻子。狗儿们蹲伏在他们的背后。然而，尽管有几支箭向他们这边射来，不久就弄明白了：他们并不是对方要射杀的对象。格里夫尔和他的小矮人们又在摆弄弓箭了，这一次他们正在冷静地射杀卡乐门士兵。

“孩子们，鼓足勇气！”传来格里夫尔的声音，“大家一起干。谨慎小心。我们不要黑皮，正如我们不要无尾猿——狮子——国王，一模一样。小矮人总是拥护小矮人。”

不论你会怎样议论小矮人，可没有人能说它们是不勇敢的。它们满可以轻易地离开现场，到某一个安全地区去。它们却宁可待在原地，尽其所能地杀掉双方的许多战士；除非双方互相杀戮，从而仁慈地省得麻烦小矮人们动手。小矮人们要纳尼亚成为小矮人们自己的纳尼亚。

小矮人或许没有估计到的是：卡乐门士兵穿着铠甲，马儿却毫无保护。卡乐门士兵还有个指挥作战的头目。利什达的声音在大叫大喊：

“你们三十个人监视白石头旁边的那些傻瓜，其余的人都跟我来，我们不妨给这些泥土的儿子们一个狠狠的教训。”

蒂莲和他的朋友们，作战后喘息未止，倒很感谢有几分钟休息，“泰坎”带领他的人马向小矮人们冲击时，他们站在一旁观看。眼前是一片奇怪的景象。篝火的火焰往下落了，它发出的光亮度也减低了，颜色也变为暗红色了。人们能够看得出的是：整个集会的地方现在空荡荡的，只剩下小矮人和卡乐门士兵。在这种暗淡的光线里，人们对正在发生的事情，已经看不到看不清多少了。听上去小矮人们正在进行一场激烈的拼搏。蒂莲听得见格里夫尔正在使用可怕的语言骂人，而“泰坎”间歇地叫喊：“要尽力把他们全都活捉过来！活捉他们！”

不论这场战斗是怎么打的，打的时间可不长。鼓噪声逐渐消失了。于是吉尔便看到“泰坎”回到马厩这边来了；有十一个兵跟着他，拖着十一个擒获后绑起来的小矮人。（其他的小矮人是否都被杀死了，其中是否有些已经逃走了，那可永远不知道了。）

“把它们扔进塔什的神殿里去。”“泰坎”利什达说。

那十一个小矮人，一个复一个的，被扔进或踢进马厩黑暗的门口，门又重新关上了，这时他向马厩低首鞠躬，说道：

“这些也都是供你焚烧的祭品。塔什神啊。”

所有的卡乐门士兵都用刀背砰砰地敲着他们的盾，大声喊道：“塔什！塔什！伟大的塔什神！不可抗拒的塔什神！”（如今可不说那荒谬绝伦的“塔什兰”了。）

白石头旁的这一小群人马瞧着这些行动，互相窃窃私语。他们发现一道涓滴细流正从白石头上淌下来，大家便迫不及待地喝水——吉尔、波金和国王都用双手捧水喝，四条腿的动物则从白石头底下积起来的小小水潭中舔水吃。他们是那么口渴得厉害，因而这水就仿佛是他们平生所喝的最美味的饮料；他们喝水时开心得很，因而其他事情都想不起来了。

“我深信不疑，”波金说，“我们大家，都将一个又一个的，在早晨之前穿过那黑暗的门。我可不愿那样死去。我能想得出上百种其他死法哩。”

“这确实是个残酷无情的门，”蒂莲道，“它更像一张血盆大口。”

“啊，我们能有什么办法堵住它吗？”吉尔用颤抖的声音问道。

“不，漂亮的朋友，”珍宝说道，温柔地用鼻子碰碰她，“说不定这是通往阿斯兰的国家的门，今夜我们可以在阿斯兰的餐桌上吃晚饭哩。”

“泰坎”利什达转身背着马厩，慢慢地向白石头前面的一个地点走去。

“听着，”他说，“如果野猪、狗和独角兽愿意到我这儿来，哀求我大发慈悲。我可以饶它们的命。野猪可以到‘蒂斯罗克’御花园的笼子里去；狗儿们可到‘蒂斯罗克’的养狗场去，独角兽，在我锯掉它的角以后，可以去拉车，但，老鹰、孩子们和那个做国王的人，今夜都要当做祭品，上供给塔什神。”

惟一的回答是愤怒的号叫。

“战士们，上！”“泰坎”下令道，“杀死那些畜生，活捉那几个两脚的人。”

于是，纳尼亚最后一个国王的最后一战开始了。

除了敌人人多势众外，使战斗胜利无望的，乃是敌人的长矛。几乎从开头起一直跟无尾猿沆瀣一气的卡乐门人是没有长矛的：因为他们是一个两个地乔装成商人进入纳尼亚的，他们当然不带长矛，长矛可不是件能藏起来的东西。新的卡乐门人必定是以后才来的，那时无尾猿已经强大，卡乐门人可以公开地行军了。有了长矛，情况就截然不同。如果你动作敏捷，头脑镇静的话，手持长矛，你便可以在獠牙还够不着你时把野猪刺死，在独角还够不着你时把独角兽刺死。如今并举的许多长矛都在向蒂莲和他最后的朋友们逼拢来了。他们不久都在为保全生命而战斗拼搏了。

说不定你会认为：从某一方面看来，这样拼命战斗倒也不坏。当你充分运用全身的肌肉——这儿低头避过矛尖，那儿跳过矛尖，忽而猛烈前冲，忽而往后退缩，忽而旋转又旋转——你就没有时间感到惊惶或悲哀了。蒂莲知道现在他对其他的人马无能为力了：他们大家都在劫难逃。他模糊地看到野猪在他的身边倒下了，珍宝在另一边猛烈地战斗。他从一只眼睛的眼角上望见，只是勉强望见，一个卡乐门大个儿揪住吉尔的头发，把她拉到什么地方去了。但他很难考虑这些事情，哪一件也考虑不起来。他现在惟一的思想是尽其所能为自己的生命索取高昂的代价。最糟糕的是他不能固守住白石头下他最初所选定的阵地。一个人同时与十几个敌人作战，必须利用他能在任何地方碰到的机会；他在任何地方看到敌人的未曾保护的胸膛或颈子，就必须冲过去。而刚砍了几刀，就会使你离你出发的地点相当远了。蒂莲不久就发现自己愈来愈往右边儿前进，离马厩更近了。他脑子里有个朦朦胧胧的概念：远离马厩是大有道理的。但他没法儿把这道理记起来了。无论如何，他身不由己，无可奈何。

突然之间，一切又变得相当清楚了。他发现自己正在跟那“泰坎”作战。篝火（残余的那点儿火焰）在他的正前方。事实上，他正在马厩的门口作战，因为马厩的门洞开着，两个卡乐门士兵掌握着门，准备在他刚进门的瞬间立刻把门关上。现在他把一切都记起来了，他认识到敌人从战斗刚开始时起，便一直存心要把他逐渐逼到马厩那儿去。他想到这一点时，仍在同“泰坎”作战，他尽力拼搏。

一个新的主意来到蒂莲的头脑里。他放下他的剑，在“泰坎”挥舞的弯刀下朝前蹿了过去，他双手拉住敌人的皮带，把敌人抓了过来，他自己也跳进马厩门里，大声喊道：

“你自己进来跟塔什见面吧！”

一阵震耳欲聋的声音。就像无尾猿被扔进去时一样，大地震动，发出令人目眩的光芒。

马厩外的卡乐门士兵大声叫喊，“塔什，塔什！”砰的一声，把门关上了。如果塔什神需要他们自己的队长，塔什神必定会留他的。他们，无论如何，可不想同塔什神见面。

有那么一两分钟，蒂莲不知道他是在什么地方，甚至不知道他自己是谁。然后他站稳身体，眨眨眼睛，向周围打量。并不像他所料想的，马厩里倒并不黑暗。原来他现在置身于强烈的光芒之中：这就是他眨眨眼睛的缘故。

他转过身来看看“泰坎”利什达，但利什达却不在看他。利什达号啕大哭，指指点点；然后他双手伸在面部前面，面部朝着地上，直挺挺地倒下去了。蒂莲朝着“泰坎”所指的方向瞧去。于是他明白了。

一个可怕的形体正在向他们走来。它的形体比他们在堡垒里见到的要小得多，尽管还是比一个人的形体大得多，而且它就是同一个家伙。它生着一个秃鹫的脑袋和四条胳膊。它的尖嘴巴是张开着的，它的眼睛里冒出火光来，它的尖嘴巴里发出嘶哑的声音。

“‘泰坎’利什达，你曾经向我呼吁，要我进入纳尼亚。现在我来了。你有什么话要跟我说呢？”

然而，那位“泰坎”既不从地上抬起头来，也不说一句话。他浑身发抖，像个患恶性打呃的病人。他在战斗中是够勇敢的；但，当夜早些时候他心里第一次开始怀疑也可能有真正的塔什存在时，他的一半儿勇气已经消失了。剩下来的勇气现在都消失无遗了。

塔什突然身体一扭——像只鸡俯下头来啄一条小虫一样——扑到那可怜巴巴的利什达身上，把他提起来挟在它左边两条胳膊下面。塔什然后斜过头来用一只可怕的眼睛盯住蒂莲直瞧，因为它既然长的是个鸟头，当然没法儿笔直地瞧人。

然而，从塔什的背后，突然响起了一个声音，洪大而又平静，犹如夏天的海涛。这声音说道：

“我们以阿斯兰和阿斯兰的祖父海外皇帝的名义命令你：来吧，妖怪，带着你合法的牺牲品回到你自己的地方去吧。”

那丑陋可怕的家伙，臂下挟着“泰坎”，销声匿迹了。蒂莲转过头来看看，是谁在说话。他所看到的景象，使他的心怦怦直跳，他在任何战斗中都从来不曾这样心跳过。

七个国王和女王站在他的面前，都是头上戴着王冠，身上穿着闪闪生光的衣服，不过国王们都穿着精美铠甲，手里拿着出鞘的剑。蒂莲彬彬有礼地鞠躬，他正要说话时，最年轻的女王哈哈大笑。原来她就是吉尔，可不是他最后一次看到她时的吉尔：满脸肮脏和泪水，穿一件旧的训练服，一个肩膀上有一半儿滑下来了。现在她看上去清凉爽快气色极好，那气色就跟刚洗过澡一样。起初他觉得她看上去年纪大了一点儿了，接着又觉得年纪不大，他在这个问题上拿不准。然后他又认出那最年轻的国王便是尤斯塔斯：但他也同吉尔一样发生了变化。

蒂莲突然觉得：身上还留着战争的血、汗和尘土来到这些国王与女王面前，真是尴尬，但转瞬之间他就发觉自己压根儿不是处在这种境况里。他也是清洁凉爽、气色极好，身上穿着他在凯尔帕拉维尔赴宴时穿的那种衣服。（但，在纳尼亚，好衣服绝不是你们那种叫人不舒服的衣服。在纳尼亚，他们懂得怎样把衣服做得外观美丽而又感觉舒适。从国内这一头到那一头，你找不到像浆衣服的淀粉、法兰绒以及松紧带之类的东西。）

“陛下，”吉尔走上前来行了个美丽的屈膝礼，说道，“让我引你觐见那位领导纳尼亚各位国王的至尊王彼 得吧。”

蒂莲无需问谁是至尊王，因为他记得他梦中所见的脸，尽管现在见到的脸更加雍容华贵。他走上一步，跪下一膝，吻彼得的手。

“至尊王的手，”他说，“我欢迎你驾临。”

至尊王扶他起来，吻他的双颊；按规矩，至尊王应该如此。然后至尊王引他觐见最老的女王——但，连她也年纪不大，她的头上没有白发，她的面颊上没有皱纹——他说：“阁下，这位是波莉夫人，阿斯兰使树木生长、野兽说人话的第一天，她就到纳尼亚来了。”其次，至尊王引他去见一个男子汉，金色长须飘拂在胸前，脸上充满智慧。“这位是我的弟弟，爱德蒙国王，这一位是我的妹妹，露茜女王。”

“阁下，”蒂莲向这些人都行过礼后，说道，“如果我对我读过的纳尼亚年代纪记得不错的话，应该还有一位。陛下不是有两个妹妹吗？苏珊女王在哪儿呢？”

“我的妹妹苏珊，”彼得短促而严肃地答道，“不再是纳尼亚的朋友了。”

“是的，”尤斯塔斯说，“不论什么时候，你试图叫她来谈谈纳尼亚或者为纳尼亚做点儿什么事情，她总是说：‘你们的记忆何等神奇！真想不到你们竟仍旧想着我们在儿童时期经常玩的那些个有趣的游戏。’”

“啊，苏珊！”吉尔说，“如今她除了尼龙制品、唇膏和请帖外，对什么都不感兴趣。她总是对于长大成人的欢乐景象太敏感了。”

“长大成人，真是的，”波莉夫人说道，“我但愿她会长大成人。她浪费了她所有的在学校里读书的光阴，一心要达到她现在的年龄，并且竭力要停止在现在的年龄而将会浪费她一生其余的光阴。她的整个儿意图是：尽其所能地赶快跑到人生最傻里傻气的阶段，而且尽其所能地长久停留在这个阶段里。”

“啊，咱们现在不去谈它，”彼得说，“瞧啊！这儿有美丽可爱的果实。让我们尝尝吧。”

于是，蒂莲第一次环视四周，认识到这次冒险活动真是十分古怪。

13

小矮人的拒绝

蒂莲曾经认为——或者是，如果他有工夫思考的话，他可能会认为——他们大家是在一个小小的茅草屋顶的马厩里，大概十二英尺长、六英尺宽的光景。事实上，他们是站在草地上，头顶上是深远的蔚蓝天空，温柔地吹拂他们的脸的风，乃是初夏一日的风。离他们不远处有一丛树木，枝繁叶茂，但在每一片叶子的下面，微微露出金色的、淡黄色的、紫色的和火红色的果实，在我们这个世界里，可从未见过这样的果实。果实使蒂莲觉得必定是秋天了：但空气里某种感觉得到的东西告诉他，时令是不会晚于六月的。他们大家都向果树走去。

每个人都伸出手来摘他最喜欢的模样儿的果实，接下来每个人却都停顿了片刻。果实是那么美丽，使每个人都觉得：“这不可能是供我享受的……一定不会允许我们摘取的。”

“没有关系的，”彼得说道，“我知道我们大家正在想什么。但我深信，我深信无疑，我们是无需顾虑的。我有一种感觉：我们到了一个一切都允许我们享用的国家了。”

“那就吃吧！”尤斯塔斯说道。于是他们大家都开始吃苹果。

这是种什么样的果实？可惜得很，没有一个人能把它的味道描摹出来。我能说的只不过是：同这些果实比较起来，你所吃过的最新鲜的葡萄就显得单调乏味了，汁液最丰富的橘子就显得太干了，入口而化的梨就显得又硬又木了，最甜的野生草莓就显得酸了。这些果实没有籽，没有核，也没有黄蜂。你一旦吃过这些果实，从今以后，吃世界上一切最美妙的东西都会觉得味同吃药一样。但它的味道究竟如何，我还是描摹不出来。除非你能够到那个国家去亲口尝一尝，你是没法儿知道它的滋味的。

他们吃够了果实，尤斯塔斯对至尊王彼得说：“你还没有告诉我们，你是怎么到这儿来的。蒂莲国王出现时，你正要说下去。”

“也没有多少可说的，”彼得说道，“爱德蒙和我正站在月台上，我们看见你乘的火车正在进站。我记得我心里正在想：火车拐弯拐得太快了。而且我记得我心里正在想：多么希奇古怪，我们的人可能都在同一辆火车上，尽管露茜对此一无所知——”

“大国王，你们的人？”蒂莲问。

“我的意思是指我的父亲和母亲——爱德蒙、露茜和我的父母。”

“为什么是他们呢？”吉尔问，“你的意思可是说他们认识纳尼亚？”

“不，这和纳尼亚毫不相干。他们是在去布里斯托尔的途中。我在那天早晨才听说他们要去那儿。但爱德蒙说他们非得坐这班火车不可。”（爱德蒙是那种熟悉铁路运行情况的人。）

“然后发生了什么事？”吉尔问。

“呀，这可不容易描写，爱德蒙，你说是吗？”

“不大容易，”爱德蒙，“压根儿跟上回不同，上回我们是被魔法从我们的世界里拉出来的。但听得一阵可怕的喧哗，有个东西砰地打了我一下，但没有伤着我。我觉得大为吃惊——也觉得兴奋。噢——那是件希奇古怪的事情。我曾经膝头很疼，打橄榄球时给踢疼的。我发觉疼痛突然消失了。我感到十分轻松。接着——我们竟到了这儿啦。”

“这跟我们在火车车厢里的情况极为相像。”迪格雷勋爵说道，把金色胡须上滞留的水果痕迹擦掉，“不过我想，波莉，你和我，主要感到自己的身体和四肢由僵硬变成柔软了。你们年轻人不会明白的。我们可停止感到衰老了。”

“说我们是年轻人，真是的！”吉尔说，“我可不相信你们两位在这儿究竟确实比我们老多少。”

“如果我们现在不老，以前我们确是老过的。”波莉夫人说。

“那么，你们到了这儿发生过什么事情？”尤斯塔斯 问道。

“哦，”彼得说，“好久（至少我觉得时间很长）没有发生什么事情。然后，门打开了——”

“门吗？”蒂莲说。

“是的，”彼得道，“你进来的门——或者是出去的门。你忘记了吗？”

“门在哪儿？”

“瞧。”彼得说，而且用手指了一指。

蒂莲瞧瞧，他看见了你能想像得到的最古怪最可笑的东西。只不过是几码之外，阳光下看得清清楚楚的，矗立着一个粗糙的木门，木门的周围，是门口的一个框架：没有其他东西，没有墙，没有屋顶。他向门走去，给弄糊涂了，其他的人跟着他，瞧他会做出什么举动来。他绕到门的那一边去。但从那一边看起来，还是一模一样：他仍旧是在户外野地里，时间仍是夏天的早晨。门是简单明了地兀自矗立着，仿佛一棵树木似的生长在那儿。

“公正的阁下，”蒂莲对至尊王说，“这是一大奇迹。”

“这就是你五分钟以前跟那卡乐门军人一同踏进去的那个门啊。”彼得微笑着说道。

“然而，难道我不是从树林出来后进入马厩的吗？而这个门仿佛是个不知从哪儿通哪儿的门。”

“看来你是绕这门走了一圈，”彼得说，“但，你且把眼睛凑在两块木板之间有条缝的地方，透过裂缝望出去看 看吧。”

蒂莲把眼睛凑在裂缝上。起初他什么也看不见，只看见一片黑暗。稍后他的眼睛习惯了，就看见了即将熄灭的篝火的暗红色的火光，篝火上方黑暗天空里的繁星。接着他看见了在篝火和他之间往来走动或站着的黑色形体：他听得见他们在说话，他们的声音就跟那些卡乐门士兵的声音一个样儿。所以他就知道他正透过马厩的门往外望到了他刚打过最后一仗的灯柱野林上的一片黑暗。士兵们正讨论着是否要进去找找“泰坎”利什达（但没有人肯去办这事）或者干脆放火烧掉马厩。

他重新环顾四周，他简直没法儿相信自己的眼睛。头上是蔚蓝的天空，芳草萋萋的乡村朝着四面八方连绵延伸，直至他看得见的远方，而他的新朋友都在他的周围哈哈大笑。

“如此看来，”蒂莲微笑着说道，“从内部看到的马厩和从外部看到的马厩是两个不同的地方。”

“是的，”迪格雷勋爵说道，“马厩的内部比它的外 部大。”

“是的，”女王露茜说，“在我们的世界上也是这样的：一个马厩，一旦里边儿装了点东西，就比我们整个儿世界大了。”这是她第一次说话，从她声音的颤动里，蒂莲现在知道其所以然了。她对这儿的一切事物，比其他人的感受都要深得多。她快乐得说不出话来。他要听她再说话，所以他 说道：

“如蒙同意，女士，请讲下去吧。请把你整个冒险过程讲给我听吧。”

“震荡和嘈杂喧闹之后，”露茜说，“我们发现自己来到这儿了。像你一样，我们在门口感到惊奇。然后是门第一次打开了（开门时我们从门口望到了一片黑暗），从门里出来一个大个儿，手里拿着一把出了鞘的剑。我们从胳膊看出来他是个卡乐门人。他站在门边，举起的剑靠在肩膀上，准备砍杀任何进入门来的人。我们走过去同他说话，但我们觉得他既看不见我们，又听不见我们的话。他从不朝四周看望，从不看看天空、阳光和青草：我认为他也看不见它们。所以我们等待了好久。然后我们听到门的那一边把门闩拔掉了。但这兵在看清楚进来的是谁之前，是不准备把剑砍下去的。所以我们推测他曾奉命砍杀某些人而放过其他的人。但，就在打开门的那一刻，塔什突然出现了，就在门的这一边，我们谁也没看见他是从哪儿来的。接着是从门里进来一只大猫。大猫对塔什看了一眼就奔跑逃命了，逃得还及时，因为塔什向猫儿扑去时，门关上时碰到了他的鸟嘴巴。士兵能看得见塔什。他的脸色变得十分苍白，他拜倒在那怪物面前：可是怪物消失了。

“接着我们又等候了好久。最后，门终于第三次打开了，进来了一个年轻的卡乐门士兵。我喜欢这个年轻人。站在门口的岗哨吃了一惊，他看见对方时看来十分诧异。我以为他一直指望见到的对象是跟这年轻人截然不同的……”

“现在我统统明白了，”尤斯塔斯说道（打断别人讲的故事是他的坏习惯），“猫儿先进去，岗哨奉命不去伤害它。然后猫儿就走出马厩，说是他见到了凶猛的塔什兰，假装诚惶诚恐，以此吓唬其他野兽。但诡谲怎么也没料到真正的塔什会突然出现；所以猫儿金格从马厩里出来时倒真的诚惶诚恐了。这之后，诡谲送进马厩去的任何人，都是它处心积虑要除去的人，岗哨就要杀死他们。于是……”

“朋友，”蒂莲柔和地说道，“你妨碍女士讲她的故 事了。”

“我说下去，”露茜说道，“岗哨吃了一惊。这就使来者正好及时保卫自己。他们大战一番。年轻人杀了岗哨，把他扔到门外。然后他慢慢地向前走到我们所在之地。他能看见我们，看见一切其他的东西。我们试图同他讲话，但他倒很像个精神恍惚的人。他不断地说道：‘塔什，塔什，塔什在哪儿？我要去见塔什。’所以我们就不再同他说话了，他也走到了什么地方——到另外一边儿去了。我喜欢他。这之后，呀！”露茜做了个鬼脸。

“这之后，”爱德蒙说，“有人从门里扔进来一只猿猴。塔什又在场了。我的妹妹是个软心肠人，她不想告诉你们：塔什用嘴巴一啄，猿猴就没了命了！”

“活该！”尤斯塔斯说，“反正都一样，我原是希望那猿猴也会同塔什意见相左的。”

“这之后，”爱德蒙说，“来了十几个小矮人；接着是吉尔，尤斯塔斯来了，大伙儿中最后一个——你自己也来了。”

“我希望塔什把小矮人也吃了，”尤斯塔斯道，“这些小猪猡！”

“不，它不吃小矮人，”露茜说道，“你们可别让人反感。小矮人还在那儿。事实上，你从这儿能望见他们。我曾再三试过要同他们交朋友，可是毫无效果。”

“跟小矮人交朋友！”尤斯塔斯嚷嚷道，“如果你知道这些小矮人的所作所为，你就不会这样说了。”

“别争论了，尤斯塔斯，”露茜说，“你来瞧瞧他们吧。蒂莲国王，你也许能有些办法对付它们。”

“今天我对小矮人们可没有多大好感，”蒂莲说道，“然而，既然你要求我，女士，我今天要做一件比这伟大一点儿的事情。”

露茜带路，他们大家不久就都看见小矮人们了。小矮人们有一种非常古怪的神情。他们既不在散步或是玩得很开心（虽然把他们捆绑起来的绳索似乎已经消失了），又不是在躺下休息。他们正十分密集地面对面地坐成一个小圈。他们从不向四周看看，直至露茜和蒂莲走得够近了，几乎要碰到他们了，他们才注意到有人走来了。这时小矮人们才都昂起头来，仿佛他们不能看到什么人，只好拼命地谛听，力图从声音上猜测正在发生什么事情。

“留神！”有个小矮人用粗暴的声音说道，“注意你们是在往哪儿走。可别走到我们的脸上来啊。”

“行！”尤斯塔斯愤愤地说道，“我们不是瞎子。我们自己长着眼睛。”

“如果你们在这里边能看得见，那么，眼睛必定是非常好的了。”还是那个小矮人在说话，他的名字叫迪格尔。

“在什么地方的里边？”爱德蒙说。

“呀，你这笨蛋，当然是在这里边啊，”迪格尔道，“在一个马厩的这个漆黑、狭窄、发臭的小洞里。”

“你们是瞎子吗？”蒂莲说。

“在黑暗中，岂非大家都是瞎子吗？”迪格尔道。

“但，并不黑暗啊，你们这些可怜的愚蠢的小矮人呀！”露茜说，“你们看不见吗？往上瞧瞧！向四周瞧瞧！难道你们看不见天空、树木和花朵吗？难道你们看不见我吗？”

“以一切谎言的名义起誓，我怎么能看得见并不存在的东西呢？在这漆黑一团之中，你们看不见我，我怎么能看得见你们呢？”

“但我能看见你，”露茜说，“我将证明我能看见你。你嘴里衔着个烟斗。”

“任何闻得出烟草气味的人都可以这么说的。”迪格尔说。

“啊，可怜的家伙！这真是可怕。”露茜说道。接着她想出了个主意。她俯下身去，采了些野紫罗兰。“听着，小矮人。”她说，“即使你的眼睛有毛病，也许你的鼻子是健康的：你能闻得出来。”她偏过身子，把那新鲜而潮润的紫罗兰花凑到小矮人迪格尔丑陋的鼻子上。然而她不得不迅速跳了回来，以免挨到那坚硬小拳头的一击。

“我一点也不要那玩意儿！”他嚷嚷道，“你真是胆大妄为！竟把肮肮脏脏的马厩草荐硬塞到我脸上来，你安的是什么心？里边还夹着蓟刺哩。气味就像你们的酱油一样！你究竟是什么人？”

“泥土人啊，”蒂莲说，“她是女王露茜，阿斯兰把她从深远的过去送到这儿来的。我是蒂莲，你们的合法的国王。仅仅是为了她的缘故，我才没有把你们的脑袋从肩膀上砍下来，事实一再证明你们都是背信弃义之徒。”

“真是荒唐透顶，闻所未闻！”迪格尔嚷道，“你怎么能继续讲那一套胡言乱语？你们的了不得的狮子并没有来帮助你们，难道他来了吗？你想想嘛。现在——甚至到了现在这种地步——你们已经被打败，被硬塞进这个黑洞里来了，就像我们其余的人一样，你可仍旧在耍你的老把戏哩。开始捏造一个新的谎话！竭力使我们相信：我们哪一个也没有被关起来，这儿并不黑暗，以及其他只有天知道的事情。”

“傻瓜，除了在你们自己的幻觉里，这儿可没有什么黑洞。”蒂莲大声疾呼道，“你站出来吧。”他俯身向前，抓住迪格尔的腰带和帽兜，把他从小矮人的小圈子里揪了出来。但蒂莲刚把他放下地来，迪格尔立刻就蹿回小矮人们之中他的位置里去，擦着鼻子号叫道：

“噢！噢！你为了什么要这么干！把我的脸撞在墙上。你几乎打断了我的鼻梁。”

“咳！”露茜说，“我们能为他们做些什么事呢？”

“由他们去吧。”尤斯塔斯说；但他说话时，大地震动了，芳香的空气突然变得格外芳香。一道亮光在他们的背后闪耀。蒂莲心中害怕，他最后一个转过头来。后边站着他衷心盼望的、真正的巨大的金狮子——阿斯兰；其他的人们正围着金狮的前脚爪跪成一圈，狮子的大脑袋俯下来，用舌头舔他们时，他们把自己的手和脸埋在他的鬣毛里。然后狮子目不转睛地瞧着蒂莲，蒂莲颤抖着走近来，投身在狮子的脚边，狮子吻吻他，说道：“干得好，纳尼亚最后一个国王在最黑暗的时刻依然坚定地昂首挺立。”

“阿斯兰，”露茜透过泪水说道，“你能不能——愿不愿意——为这些可怜的小矮人们出点力？”

“最亲爱的，”阿斯兰说道，“我能做到的和不能做到的，我都会让你们看到的。”他走近小矮人们，发出一声长啸，声音低沉，可是所有的空气都震动了。但小矮人们互相问答道，“听到吗？那是马厩那一头的那一帮子搞的。要想吓唬我们。他们用一种机器弄出来的声音。不必理它的。他们休想叫我们再受骗上当了。”

阿斯兰抬起头来，摇晃他的鬣毛。小矮人们的膝头上立刻出现了精美的大菜：馅饼、酱舌、鸽子、甜食和冰淇淋。每个小矮人的右手里都有一杯好酒。但大菜也没有多大用处。他们开始十分贪馋地吃喝，但他们显然没法儿恰当地品出味道来。他们以为他们吃的喝的都不过是在马厩里可以找得到的东西。一个说他在试吃干草，另一个说他吃到了一点儿陈年萝卜，第三个说是他发现了一片生的卷心菜叶子。他们把盛满红葡萄酒的金杯举到唇边，说道：“呸！想想看吧，竟喝驴子吃过的饲料槽里的脏水！从来没想到我们会落到这种地步。”但，每个小矮人很快就开始怀疑别人吃到了比他吃到的更加鲜美的东西，因而你抢我夺起来，继续争吵不休，终于在几分钟内恣意大打出手，把所有的美味佳肴都涂在脸上衣服上，或者踩在脚底下了。然而，当他们终于坐下来护理打黑的眼眶和流血的鼻子时，他们大家都说道：

“行啦，无论如何，这儿可毫无骗人的鬼话。我们没有让任何人骗我们上当。小矮人总是为小矮人而奋斗的。”

“你们瞧，”阿斯兰说道，“他们不让我们去帮助他们。他们不选择信赖，宁可凭借狡猾。他们的牢狱，仅仅存在于他们自己的心里；他们迄今还待在这种心造的牢狱里；他们是那么害怕受骗上当，所以无法救他们出狱。但是，孩子们，来吧。我还有别的工作要干。”

阿斯兰向门走去，大家都跟着他。阿斯兰抬起头，大声疾呼：“现在是时候了！”接着更加响亮地喊道：“是时候了！”然后再接再厉地呼喊：“是时候了！”响亮得把繁星都震动了。门突然打开啦。

14

黑夜笼罩纳尼亚

他们都站在阿斯兰的身边，站在他的右边，从那门口望出去。

篝火已经熄灭了。大地上一片漆黑：事实上你没法儿说你正在向一个树林望进去，如果你不曾看见树林、黑影朣朦的尽头和繁星开始闪烁的地方。但，阿斯兰再次高呼时，他们看见左边儿又出现一个黑影。那就是说，他们在没有繁星的地方，看到了另一块黑色；这黑块愈升愈高，变成了一个人的形状，巨人中最最巨大的巨人。他们大家对纳尼亚的地形地貌都很熟悉，能目测巨人必定站在什么地方。巨人必定是站在高沼地上，沼地在斯力布河外往北绵亘开去。于是吉尔和尤斯塔斯记起了好久好久以前，每次在那些高沼地的深洞里，他们看见过一个伟大的巨人在睡大觉，人家告诉他们，这巨人叫时间老人，到了世界末日那一天，他就醒了。

“是的，”尽管他们并没说话，阿斯兰却答道，“他躺着睡觉时他的名字叫‘时间’。如今他醒来了，他就要有一个新的名字。”

这时这了不得的巨人把一个号角举到嘴边。他们看得见这个动作，是凭着他那映衬着星光的黑影儿的变化。这之后——好一会儿之后，因为声音传得十分缓慢——他们听到了号角的声音：高亢激越，骇人听闻，然而又有一种新奇的阴森森的美。

天空突然之间遍布了流星。即使一颗流星也是很好看的景致；但现在是十几颗、二十几颗乃至成百颗流星，终于像是银白色的雨，一阵又一阵地下着。星雨下了一些时候，他们之中有一两个人开始认为又有一个黑影儿像巨人的黑影一样映衬在天空里。它位于一个截然不同的地方，正在人们的头顶之上，正在你可能称之为“天空屋顶”的地方。“它也许是一片云。”爱德蒙心中想道。无论如何，那儿没有繁星，就是漆黑一团。但它的周围，流星之雨还在向下倾泻。于是那无星的黑块便开始变大，从天空的中央向外铺陈开去。不久，四分之一的天空全然变黑了，然后是一半儿天空变黑了，最后，流星之雨只是在低得靠近地平线的地方倾泻而下了。

满怀神奇之感（也有些儿毛骨悚然之感），他们突然认识到正在发生什么事情了。铺陈开来的黑暗压根儿不是云霾：它简直就是空虚。天空中的黑暗部分就是一颗星也没剩下的部分。所有的繁星都在落下来：阿斯兰已经呼唤它们回家去。

流星之雨落尽之前的最后几分钟是十分激动人心的。流星开始在他们的四周纷纷落下。那个世界里的流星，并不像我们的世界里的流星那样是巨大的燃烧着的星球。它们是人（爱德蒙和露茜曾经碰到过一个）。所以，他们现在发觉闪烁生光的人像阵雨似的倾泻而下，人人都生着长长的头发像燃烧的银丝，拿着长矛像烫得白热化的金属，从黑暗的空中朝着他们奔腾而下；速度之快，超过了天上落下来的石子。他们发出嘶嘶的声音，落到地上，把青草也燃着了。这些流星人全都在他们身边掠过，站在后边儿的某些地方，稍稍靠近右边一点儿。

这对他们大为有利，因为，不然的话，如果今天空中暗无星辰，一切东西都会全然漆黑，你就什么东西都看不见了。事实上，他们背后的一群繁星把强烈的白色光芒越过他们的肩膀向前照射。他们能看见纳尼亚树林一英里又一英里地在他们的前边儿绵延开去，看上去树林里都泛滥着强光。每一丛灌木，几乎每一片草叶，背后几乎都有它的黑色阴影。每一片叶子的边缘都轮廓分明地挺立着，使你感到你会在叶子边缘上划破手指的。

他们前面的草地上躺着他们自己的影子。但，了不得的是阿斯兰的影子。这影子往他们的左边泻开去，巨大而又十分可怕。而这一切，都出现在一个如今永远没有繁星的天空之下。

从他们背后（稍为偏右一点儿）照射过来的光芒是那么强烈，甚至把北方高沼地的土坡也照亮了。有些东西在那儿走动。巨大的野兽正在爬行着悄悄地下坡，进入纳尼亚：庞大的龙，巨型的蜥蜴，浑身无羽毛、生着蝙蝠式翅膀的鸟儿。它们消失在树林里，几分钟后便寂静无声了。接着，传来了——起初是从很远的地方——号啕痛哭的声音，随即又从四面八方传来了沙沙瑟瑟声，啪哒啪哒声和振翅鼓翼声。声音愈来俞近。不久便能分辨出小脚的跳跳蹦蹦和大脚爪的啪哒啪哒，小而轻的蹄子的嘚嘚声和大而重的蹄子的隆隆声。接下来就看得见成千双眼睛在闪光了。最后，从树木的阴影里蹿出来成千上万、各种各类的野兽，为了保住宝贵的性命，纷纷争先恐后地跑上山去——会说人话的兽类、小矮人、森林之神、半人半羊的农牧神、巨人、卡乐门人、阿钦兰人、马诺帕德人，以及来自遥远的岛屿和陌生的西方陆地的奇异的神怪之物。所有这些人、兽、怪物，都朝着阿斯兰所站立的那个门口跑去。

这一部分惊险经历是绝无仅有的，当时仿佛很像是个梦，事后也很难记忆得恰当正确。特别是，没法儿说清楚这种情况持续了多久。有时候，仿佛只经历了几分钟；但，有时候却又觉得仿佛经历了好几年。事情十分明显：除非那门变得极大极大，或者那些动物突然变得小如小虫，那么一大群的动物是没法儿试图穿过那个门的。但当时谁也没有思考过诸如此类的问题。

芸芸众生涌过来了，他们愈走愈靠近站在地上的繁星，他们的眼睛便愈来愈明亮。但，当他们走到阿斯兰跟前时，每个人都会在两桩事情中碰到一桩，不是这样，便是那样。他们大家都笔直地瞧着阿斯兰的脸；我想他们必须如此，没有选择的余地。有的瞧着阿斯兰时，脸色可怕地变了——这是由于害怕和憎恨；会说人话的野兽倒是例外，害怕和憎恨的脸色出现了一秒钟还不到。你能看见它们突然变成不会说人话的野兽了。它们就成了普普通通的动物。所有的动物，凡是这样瞧着阿斯兰的，都突然转向右面，也就是到了阿斯兰的左边，在阿斯兰巨大的黑影里销声匿迹了（正如你所听说的），这黑影儿是向门口左边儿泻开去的。孩子们这就再也见不到它们了。我不知道它们变成了什么。但，其他的动物目不转睛地瞧着阿斯兰，心里也爱着阿斯兰，尽管有几个同时心里也非常害怕。所有这些动物，进到门里，站在阿斯兰的右边。其中也有些古怪的家伙。尤斯塔斯甚至认出了一个小矮人，他当初就是帮着敌人用箭射杀马儿的小矮人之一。但他也没有时间去为这种事情纳罕（无论如何，那也不是他的事情），因为另有一大喜事使他把其他一切事情都丢在脑后了。现在走过来拥挤在蒂莲和他的朋友们周围的快乐的人们之中，都是那些早已被认为死去的战友：有人头马龙威特和独角兽珍宝、善良的野猪和善良的熊和千里眼老鹰，亲爱的狗儿和马儿、小矮人波金等。

“更深入更高！”龙威特大声呐喊，蹄声隆隆地向西边驰去了。虽然他们不了解它，但它这话却不知怎么的使他们浑身激动。野猪高高兴兴地向他们咕咕哝哝地说话。熊正要唠叨它仍旧搞不明白时，看到了他们背后的果树。它赶快摇摇晃晃地走到那些果树跟前，毫无疑问，它找到了它十分懂得的食物。但狗儿们摇着尾巴留下来了；波金也留下了，跟大家握手，诚实的脸上满面都是笑容。独角兽珍宝把它白发苍苍的脑袋靠在国王的肩膀上，国王在珍宝的耳朵边低声说话。接着，大家把注意力重新集中在从门口可以望得见的情况上。

龙和巨型蜥蜴现在把纳尼亚当做它们的天下了。它们跑来跑去，把树木连根拔起，把树木嘎吱嘎吱地大嚼大吃，仿佛它们是大葱似的。顷刻之间，树林都消失了。整个儿乡村变得光秃秃的，你可以看得见各种各样的东西的形状——看得见一切你以前从未注意过的小丘和小洞。青草死了。蒂莲不久便发觉他正在瞧着一个光秃秃的石头和泥土的世界了。简直很难相信曾经有什么东西在这地方生存过的。怪物们自己也老了，躺下了，死了。他们的肉皱缩枯槁了，骨头露出来了，不久他们就只剩下巨大的骷髅，东一个西一个地躺在没有生命的石头上，看上去仿佛已经死了好几千年了。好久好久，万籁俱寂。

最后，某种白色的东西——在那站着的流星人的照耀下，一道漫长而平整的白色——正从世界的东头向他们移动过来。一个向四面八方传开来的声音打破了沉寂：起初是汩汩声，然后是哗哗声，最后是澎湃声。现在他们看得出正在涌过来的是什么，速度又有多快。这是一道冒着泡沫的水墙。大海正在涨潮。在这没有树木的世界上，你可以看得十分清楚。你看得见河流在变阔，湖泊在变大，分开的湖在合并成大湖，流域在演变成为新的湖泊，小山在变成岛屿，然后这些岛屿也消失了。他们左边的高沼地和右边的崇山峻岭，都崩溃了，轰然塌方了，劈劈啪啪地落到上涨的大水里去了。大水打着漩涌到了那个门口（但从未涌过门去），所以泡沫在阿斯兰的前腿附近飞溅着。从他们立足之处直到水天相接之处，现在到处都是同一水平面的一片大水了。

外界开始出现亮光了。一道阴沉而不祥的曙光绵亘在地平线上，逐渐扩大，逐渐明亮，终于使他们几乎不再注意站在他们背后的繁星的光亮了。最后，太阳升起来了。太阳升起之时，迪格雷勋爵和波莉夫人互相看了一眼，稍稍点了点头：这两位老人，在一个异样的世界里，曾经一度看见过一个垂死的太阳，所以他们立刻知道这个太阳也是处于垂死状态的。太阳比它正常的模样大三倍，甚至二十倍，呈暗红色。太阳的光芒落在魁伟的时间巨人身上时，巨人也变得红红的了。在这阳光的反照里，整个儿无边无际的荒荒凉凉的大水看上去像鲜血般殷红。

然后月亮升起来了，它的方位完全搞错了，非常靠近太阳，它看上去也是红红的。太阳看到了月亮，它就开始向月亮放射出巨大的火焰，像是殷红的火髯或火蛇。太阳好像是条章鱼，试图把月亮拉到它的触手中间去。也许太阳确实在拉月亮哩。无论如何，月亮在向太阳靠拢，开头是慢慢地，但随即愈来愈快了，最后，太阳长长的火焰舔着月亮的周围，两者跑到一起，并成一个大球，像一堆熊熊燃烧的煤。大块的火从大球里掉下来，落在海里，蒸汽的云雾从海上升起。

于是阿斯兰说道：“现在结束吧。”

时间巨人把它的号角扔进大海里。然后他伸出一条胳膊——几英里长，看上去颜色很黑——穿越天空，直至他的手碰到了太阳。他拿着太阳，在手中压榨太阳，就像你压榨橘子一样。天地间立刻全部漆黑了。

“彼得，纳尼亚的至尊王，”阿斯兰说道，“关上门吧。”

彼得浑身冷得发抖，向黑暗中探出身子，把门拉上。他拉门时，门是在冰上擦过的。然后，他相当笨拙地（因为，即使在片刻之间，他的双手已经冻得麻木，发青发紫了。）摸出一把金钥匙来，把门锁上。

他们从门里向外望到的景象是够奇怪的了。但，比上述任何景象更奇怪的是，他们在门内向四周打量，竟发现自己置身于温暖的白昼，蔚蓝的天空在他们的头上，繁花在他们的脚边，笑意在阿斯兰的眼睛里。

阿斯兰迅速转过身来，蹲得更低，用尾巴甩打自己的身体，然后像金箭似的蹿出去了。

“来，朝更深处跑！来，朝更高处跑！”阿斯兰回过头来喊道。但谁能赶得上阿斯兰这种步伐呢？他们大家朝西跟着阿斯兰走去。

“完了，”彼得说道，“黑夜笼罩着纳尼亚了。怎么啦，露茜？你不是在哭吧？阿斯兰走在前头，我们大家都在这 儿啊！”

“彼得，别劝我不要哭，”露茜说道，“我相信阿斯兰是不会劝我的。我深信，为纳尼亚而哀悼，并不错。想想门外倒下死去和冻毙的一切人与兽吧。”

“是啊，我确实希望，”吉尔说，“这种情况会继续下去。我知道我们的世界不可能发生这种情况。我并不认为纳尼亚会发生这种情况。”

“我看到纳尼亚开国，”迪格雷勋爵说道，“我并不认为我会活到看见它灭亡。”

“爵士，”蒂莲说道，“女士们哭泣是做得对的。你瞧，我自己也哭了。我曾看见我母亲去世。除了纳尼亚我还熟悉什么世界呢？这不是道德问题，但，如果我们不为它哀悼，这就大大的失敬失礼了。”

他们一路走去，离开了门，离开了依旧挤在一起坐在心造的马厩里的小矮人们。他们且走且谈，互相谈起古老的战争、古老的和平、古代的国王和纳尼亚的一切光荣。

狗儿们仍旧和他们在一起。它们也参加谈话，但说话不多，因为它们忙于一忽儿跑在前头一忽儿又跑回后头，又奔到草地里去闻闻气味，直闻得自己大打喷嚏。突然它们嗅到了一种气味，看来这种气味使它们大为激动。它们大家为此开始辩论：“是的，这是——不，这不是——那就是我所说的——谁都闻得出这是什么气味——叫你那大鼻子让开，让别的狗来嗅嗅。”

“各位，这是什么啊？”彼得问。

“一个卡乐门人，陛下。”几条狗儿同时说道。

“那就带领大家去找他吧，”彼得道，“不论他用和平还是用战争来迎接我们，都应该受到我们的欢迎。”

狗儿们蹿在前头，不一会儿就回来了，它们拼命奔跑，大声嚷嚷着说这人确实是个卡乐门士兵。（会说人话的狗儿，就跟普通的狗儿一样，表现得仿佛认为它们此时此刻正干着的事，不论它是什么事，总是非常重要的。）

其他的人跟着领路的狗儿走去，发现有个年轻的卡乐门士兵坐在一条清溪旁的一棵栗树下。这士兵是伊梅思。他立刻站起来，庄严地鞠躬。

“先生，”他对彼得说道，“我不知道你究竟是我的朋友还是敌人；但我对两者都引以为荣。不是有个诗人说过吗：一个崇高的朋友是最佳的礼物，而一个崇高的敌人是次佳的礼物。”

“先生，”彼得说，“我不知道你和我之间还需要有什么战争。”

“请告诉我们，你是什么人，你的遭遇又如何？”吉尔说。

“如果说来话长，那就让我们大家先喝口水，然后坐下来详谈，”狗儿们吠叫道，“我们直喘气哩。”

“你们当然要喘气啦，如果你们老是像刚才那样到处乱跑的话。”尤斯塔斯说道。

于是人们都在草地上坐下了。狗儿们吵吵闹闹在溪水里喝了个痛快，也都坐下听故事，它们坐得笔直，喘着气，舌头伸出在嘴巴外面，稍稍偏往一边。但珍宝仍旧站着，在它的两胁上把它的独角磨得锃亮。

15

更高更深入

“尚武的国王们啊，”伊梅思说道，“美丽照耀宇宙的女士们啊，奉告各位，我是伊梅思，大沙漠外西边的蒂希什班城的‘泰坎’哈泮的第七代后裔。我是同二十九个卡乐门士兵在‘泰坎’利什达的指挥下最近进入纳尼亚的。却说我最初听到要开往纳尼亚时，我是欢欣鼓舞的，因为我听说过许多你们国土上的事情，很想同你们在战场上较量一番。但，当我发觉我们要化装成商人前往（对一个战士，一个‘泰坎’的儿子来说，穿上商人衣服就是个耻辱），凭撒谎和阴谋诡计搞工作，那种高兴的心情就离开我了。最气人的是，我发觉我们必须侍奉一头猿猴，开始说什么塔什和阿斯兰是二位一体时，世界在我的眼睛里就变成黑暗的了。因为，从我的儿童时期起，我总是信奉塔什神的，我的一大愿望就是对于塔什知道得更多，如果可能的话，当面瞧瞧塔什神。但对于阿斯兰的名字，我却觉得厌恶憎恨。

“你们已经看见了，一夜又一夜的，我们都被召集到那茅草棚子外面，点起了篝火。无尾猿从茅草棚里牵出来一头四条腿的东西，我没法儿看清楚的东西。人和兽都向它鞠躬致敬。但我认为，‘泰坎’被那猿猴骗了。因为这个从马厩里牵出来的东西，既不是塔什，也不是其他神明。但，当我仔细打量‘泰坎’的脸，注意他跟猴子说的每一句话每一个字时，我的想法便改变了：因为我看了出来，‘泰坎’自己也不相信自己说的话。于是我明白了：他压根儿不信塔什，因为，如果他信塔什，怎么会大胆地嘲弄塔什呢？

“我明白了这一点时，心中大为愤怒，我觉得奇怪，为什么真正的塔什不从天上用烈火打击猿猴和‘泰坎’呢？然而，我隐藏着我的愤怒，缄口结舌，等待着这事情如何了结。然而，昨天夜里，正如你们之中有几位也知道的那样，那猴子没有把那头黄颜色的东西从马厩里牵出来，却说凡是想瞧瞧塔什兰的——他们故意把两个名字混合成一个名字，假装两者是合为一体的——必须挨个儿到马厩里去。于是我对自己说，毫无疑问，这是另一个骗局。然而，当猫儿进了马厩，又在一阵疯狂恐惧中重新窜出来时，我又跟我自己说道，现在，必定是真正的塔什神来到我们中间了，他们呼唤塔什神，却对塔什神无知无识或是毫无信仰，塔什神要为自己报仇雪恨了。虽然由于塔什神的伟大和恐怖，我的内心已经被慑服，但我的欲望比我的恐惧强烈，我使劲儿克制两膝的颤抖，克制牙齿格格作响，下定决心要瞧瞧塔什的脸，尽管塔什会把我杀了。所以我自动要求进茅草棚子去；而‘泰坎’呢，虽然不愿意，也只好让我进去了。

“我刚走进门，第一个奇迹就是我发觉自己置身于这伟大的阳光里（就像我们大家现在一样），虽然这茅草棚子从外边儿看来是漆黑一团的，但我没有工夫为此惊奇，因为我立刻被迫为保全自己的脑袋而跟我们的自己人搏斗。我刚看到他就明白了，原来猴子和‘泰坎’把他布置在那儿，是要把任何不参与其机密而闯进棚子来的人杀掉：所以他这个人也是个撒谎者和嘲弄者，并非塔什神的忠实仆人。我下决心要跟他搏斗；我把那混蛋杀了，把他从门口扔了出去。

“然后我向四周瞧瞧，我看到了天空和辽阔的大地，闻到了一片芳香。于是我说，诸神作证，这是个好地方：说不定我是进入了塔什的国土。于是我开始在这新奇的国土里漫游，寻找塔什神。

“所以我走过许多草地许多繁花，在各种各样的茁壮宜人的树木之间盘桓，瞧！终于在两块大石头之间的狭路上碰到了一头大得了不得的狮子，他行动迅速如鸵鸟，躯体庞大如大象，毛发如足赤黄金，眼睛明亮如熔炉中的黄金熔液。他比拉戈尔的火焰山更加可怕，可又美丽得超过世界上一切东西，甚至像盛开的玫瑰之超过沙漠中的尘土一般。我倒在他的脚边，心中想道，毫无疑问，我丧命的时刻到了，因为这狮子（值得尊敬的神）会知道的：我以往的日子里一直信奉效劳的是塔什而不是他。然而，看到阿斯兰而死去，也比做世界上的‘蒂斯罗克’，活着却没见过阿斯兰为好。但，这光荣的狮子俯下他金色的脑袋，用舌头舔舔我的前额，说道：儿子，你是受欢迎的。但我说：咳，狮王，我不是你的儿子，而是塔什的仆人。他答道，孩子啊，你对塔什所做的奉献、效劳，我都看做是对我的奉献、效劳。接着，由于我渴望求得智慧和颖悟，我克服了我的恐惧，向光荣的狮王求教，我说，狮王啊，如此说来，无尾猿所说的你和塔什是二位一体，难道是正确的吗？狮子大声咆哮，大地为之震动（但他的愤怒不是冲着我来的），他说道：这是错误的。并不由于他和我是二位一体，而是因为我们是截然相反的，我把你对他所做的奉献和效劳拿过来，因为我和他性质根本不同：凡是卑鄙无耻的效劳，一个也没法儿奉献给我；凡是能奉献给塔什的效劳，没有一个不是卑鄙无耻的。因此，如果有什么人以塔什的名义起誓，为起誓而信守誓言，他其实是对我起誓，尽管他自己不知道，而酬谢他的，也是我。如果有什么人，以我的名义，做了一件残酷的事情，那么，尽管他嘴上讲的是阿斯兰，其实他效劳的是塔什，正是塔什接受了他的奉献。孩子，你明白了吗？我说，狮王啊，你知道我明白了。但我也说（因为真理迫使我说出来），我以往的日子里一直在寻找塔什。光荣的狮王答道：亲爱的，除非你的愿望是要找我，你是不会寻找得那么真心实意、那么长久的。因为所有的人都能找到他们真心寻找的东西。

“于是他把气息呼在我身上，去掉了我四肢的颤抖，使我站稳脚步。这之后，他说得就不多了，只说我们会再相见的，我必须朝更高更深处走去。接着，他在一阵金黄的风暴中转了个向，突然跑掉了。

“国王和女士们啊，从此以后，我一直在东奔西跑寻找他，我的幸福是那么了不得。甚至像伤疼似的使我身体软弱无力。这真是奇迹中的奇迹，他竟称我为‘亲爱的’，而我呢，不过是像一条狗——”

“哎？那是什么话？”有一条狗儿说道。

“先生，”伊梅思道，“这不过是我们卡乐门人流行的一种修辞方式。”

“得了，我没法儿说我十分喜欢这种修辞方式。”那狗儿说。

“他并没有什么恶意，”一条年纪较大的狗说道，“当我们的小犬行为不大妥当的时候，我们毕竟是管他们叫乖儿子的。”

“我们就是这样叫的，”第一条狗儿说道，“或者是，叫她们乖女儿。”

“嘻，嘻！”年纪大的狗儿说，“那可不是个好词儿。你不论到哪儿都要记住。”

“瞧！”吉尔突然说道。有条牲口在走过来，怯生生地，来和他们相会；四条腿，风度优雅，浑身银灰色。他们瞪着眼睛看了它整整十秒钟，才有五六个声音突然说道：“呀，这是老迷惑啊！”他们从未在白昼的光线里看见过它卸掉狮子毛皮的模样儿，这可大不一样了。现在它恢复了它的本色：一头美丽的驴子，穿着柔和灰色的外套，生着温和诚实的脸。如果你看见它，你也会像吉尔和露茜一样——冲上前去，用手臂抱住它的脖子，吻它的鼻子，抚摩它的耳朵。

他们问它一直在哪儿，它说它跟其他动物一同走进门来的，但它曾经——咳，说句老实话，它曾经尽可能躲开他们，躲开阿斯兰。因为，见到真正的狮王，使它对于披上狮子毛皮的荒唐把戏深感羞耻，它不知道有什么面目去跟大家见面相会。但是，当它看见它所有的朋友都朝西跑掉了，它吃了一两口青草后（“我生平从来没有吃到过这样鲜美的青草。”迷惑说道。）便鼓起勇气，跟着大家进来了。“但，如果我真的不得不遇见阿斯兰，我相信我自己是不知如何是好的。”它补充道。

“你真的见到阿斯兰时，你会发现结果挺圆满的。”露茜女王说。

于是他们一起向前走去，始终是朝西走去，因为阿斯兰大喊“朝更高更深处走去”时，他的言下之意似乎就是朝着这个方向走去。许多其他动物也慢慢地在同一条道路上行走，但芳草萋萋的国土是很辽阔的，并不拥挤。

时间似乎仍旧很早，空中有着早晨的清新之气。他们老是停下步来，向四周看看，回头望望，一部分是由于景色秀丽，一部分也是由于其中有些东西他们搞不明白。

“彼得，”露茜说，“这儿是什么地方，你琢磨是什么地方？”

“我不知道，”至尊王说道，“它使我想起某一个地方，可我说不出地方来。可能是我们在很小很小的时候在那儿度过一天假的地方吧？”

“那就必定是个挺好玩挺开心的假日，”尤斯塔斯说道，“我敢打赌，在我们的世界里，哪儿也找不到像这样的国土。仔细瞧过这些色彩吗？在我们的世界里那些崇山峻岭上，你可找不到这么一种蓝色。”

“难道这不是阿斯兰的国土吗？”蒂莲问道。

“可不像世界东端外高山顶上阿斯兰的国土，”吉尔说，“我在那儿待过。”

“如果你问我，”爱德蒙说，“它倒像是纳尼亚世界里的某一个地方。瞧瞧前面的山——以及这些山后面的巨大的冰山。它们无疑是很像我们惯常在纳尼亚所见到的山，大瀑布后边朝西耸立的群山。”

“是的，是这个模样的，”彼得说，“不过这些山更大些。”

“我并不认为那些山跟纳尼亚境内的十分相像，”露茜说，“可是往那边瞧瞧。”她朝他们左边的南方一指，大家便停下步来，转过头去瞭望。“这些山，”露茜说道，“这宜人的林木森然的山和这后边的蓝色的山——难道它们同纳尼亚南部边疆不是很像吗？”

“像！”爱德蒙沉默了片刻后大声说道，“呀，它们像极了，一模一样。瞧，那是双峰对峙的皮尔峰，那是进入阿钦兰的关隘和其他一切！”

“然而它们又不像，”露茜说道，“它们是不同的。它们具有更多的色彩，看上去比我记得的更遥远。比较起来，它们更加……更加……啊，我不知道……”

“更加像真正的东西。”迪格雷勋爵低声说道。

千里眼老鹰突然张开翅膀，在离地三四十码的高空翱翔，盘旋一圈后又栖息在地上。

“国王和女王，”老鹰大声报告道，“我们大家都曾视而不见。我们不过是刚开始看到我们是在什么地方。我在高空都看到了——艾丁斯荒原、海狸大坝、大河，凯尔帕拉维尔依旧在东海之滨闪闪发光。纳尼亚没有死亡。这就是纳尼亚。”

“但，怎么可能呢？”彼得说，“因为阿斯兰告诉我们这些年纪比较大的人说，我们永远回不了纳尼亚了；而现在我们却是身在纳尼亚。”

“是呀，”尤斯塔斯道，“我们亲眼看见纳尼亚全部被毁灭了，连太阳也被熄灭了。”

“而且它又全然不同。”露茜说。

“老鹰的话是正确的，”迪格雷勋爵说道，“听着，彼得。阿斯兰说你永远回不了纳尼亚时，他指的是你脑子里正想着的那个纳尼亚。但那不是真正的纳尼亚。那有一个开端也有一个结局。那只不过是真正的纳尼亚的一个影子或是摹本，过去和将来，莫不总是如此，正如我们自己的世界，英国和世界各国，只不过是在阿斯兰的世界里的某些东西的一个影子或摹本。露茜，你无需为纳尼亚哀悼。老纳尼亚中一切重要的东西，一切可爱的动物，都已经由那个门进入了真正的纳尼亚。当然啦，这是不同的，就像一件真的东西跟它的影子是不同的。或者就像醒着的生活跟一个梦是不同的那样。”当他说这些话时，他的声音像喇叭一样使大家为之激动；但，当他低声补充道：“这意思都写在柏拉图[1]的书里了，都写在柏拉图的书里了：我的天哪，他们在那些学校里教些什么呀！”年纪较大的人都哈哈大笑。这一席话跟他们好久以前在另一个世界里听他讲的那种话完全一模一样，不过在那个世界里他的胡子不是金色的，而是灰白色的。他知道他们为什么哈哈大笑，他自己也就参加这场大笑。但是，他们很快又变得严肃了，因为，正如你所知道的，有一种幸福与神奇之感使你认真对待。这境界实在太好了，使你舍不得浪费在笑话上。

很难解释这阳光普照的国土跟老的纳尼亚王国有什么不同，就像没法儿跟你说清楚这国土上的果实滋味如何与众不同一样。如果你这样想一想，也许会得到一些启发。你也许曾经在这样一个房间里待过：房间的窗子面临一个美丽可爱的海湾或是蜿蜒于群山之间的苍翠溪谷。房间里对着窗子的墙上也许挂着一面镜子。当你从窗口转过身来时，你突然从镜子里看到了海湾或溪谷，重新都看了一遍。而镜子里的大海，或镜子里的溪谷，在某种意义上，是跟真的大海或溪谷是一模一样的。然而同时不知怎么的又有所不同：真的更深，更神奇，更像一个故事里的地方——一个你从未听到过、却很想知道的故事。旧的纳尼亚和新的纳尼亚之间的区别就像这样。新的纳尼亚是个更深湛的国土，每块石头，每朵花，每片草叶，看上去仿佛都更加意味深长。我没法儿描摹得更具体了，如果你上那儿去，你就会懂得我的意思。

把大家的感受概括起来的，是独角兽。它在地上蹬着前蹄，曼声长嘶，然后大声叫道：

“我终于到家了！这是我的真正的国土！我属于这儿。这是我生平一直在寻找的国土，尽管我直到现在才知道它。为什么我们爱老的纳尼亚呢？理由是它有时候看上去有点儿像这个新的纳尼亚。布里——嘻——嘻！到更高更深处去吧！”

独角兽摇晃鬃毛，向前蹿去，随即四蹄凌空疾驰飞跑——在我们的世界里，一头独角兽这样的驰骋，那就一忽儿便跑得看不见影踪了。却说这时出现一桩非常奇怪的事情。其他的人和兽也都开始奔跑了，使他们自己大吃一惊的是，他们都能赶得上独角兽：不仅狗儿和人，而且连胖胖的小驴子和矮腿小矮人波金也都赶得上哩。风猛吹在他们的脸上，仿佛他们是在一辆没有挡风玻璃的、疾驰如飞的汽车里。乡村在他们的身旁飞快地掠过，就像他们在特别快车的车窗里望见的一样。他们愈跑愈快，但没有一个感到热不可耐、疲倦或喘不过气来。

【注释】

[1] 柏拉图（公元前427——公元前347）是古希腊哲学家。

16

告别幻影世界

一个人，如果能够飞跑而不感到疲倦，我想他就不会想到做别的事情了。但，说不定会有停下步来的特别缘故，而这就是使尤斯塔斯大叫的缘故：

“听我说！别急！瞧瞧我们来到什么地方了！”

他很可能停下来了。因为现在他们看到了大锅渊、大锅渊背后高不可攀的悬崖，以及每秒钟从悬崖上倾泻而下几千吨水的大瀑布，它在某些地方闪烁如金刚钻，在另外一些地方呈玻璃似的暗绿色；而雷鸣似的瀑布声已经响彻他们的耳中。

“别停下来！朝更高更深处前进！”老鹰一面呼唤，一面斜斜地稍稍往上飞翔。

“对于它，一切都很方便。”尤斯塔斯说道，但独角兽珍宝也呼唤道：

“别停止。朝更高更深处前进！你大步前进时要心领神会这种精神。”

大瀑布轰隆声中，独角兽的呼声勉强能够听得到，但片刻之后就看见它深入到大锅渊里去了。手忙脚乱，溅水泼水，其他的人和兽也都下去了。水并不像他们大家（特别是驴子迷惑）所料想的冰冷彻骨，倒是冒着泡沫，凉快宜人。他们大家都发现：他们正笔直地向大瀑布游去。

“简直是完全疯了。”尤斯塔斯对爱德蒙说道。

“这岂不神奇吗？”露茜说，“你有没有注意到，人没法儿感到害怕，即使想要害怕也办不到？你试试。”

“天哪，真是没法儿害怕。”尤斯塔斯试试后说道。

独角兽珍宝第一个到达大瀑布底下，但蒂莲就跟在它后面。吉尔最后一个到达，所以她比其他的人看得清楚。她看见有个白色的东西在大瀑布的水面上稳稳地移动。白色的东西就是独角兽。你没法儿说它是在游泳还是在攀登，但它是在前进，愈进愈高。它那独角的尖端把那正好在它头顶之上的水分开，水分成两股七彩溪流绕着它的肩膀淌下来。就在独角兽的后面，国王蒂莲也赶到了。他挥动着他的两腿和两臂，仿佛是在游泳，但他是在笔直地向上移动：仿佛他能游上墙壁似的。

看起来最可笑的是狗儿们。一路奔驰时它们压根儿不曾透不过气来，可现在挤在一起，往上扭动，彼此杂乱地谈了许多话，却打了许多喷嚏；那是因为它们老是不断地吠叫，而每次吠叫都弄得满嘴满鼻子都是水。但，吉尔来不及把这些事情充分看仔细，她自己也爬进大瀑布里。这是一种在我们的世界里完全不可能办到的事情。瀑布以那么可怕的重量冲在石头尖上，即使你没有被淹死，也被冲得粉身碎骨了。但是在那个世界里，你倒能办到的。你继续前进，上升再上升，各种来自瀑布的反光照耀在你身上，各式各样的彩色石子又从水中折射出光芒来，这样，看来好像是你正在光芒的本体上往上攀登哩——而且总是愈登愈高，甚至高的感觉会叫你大吃一惊，如果吓得着你的话，但在这儿不过是光荣的兴奋罢了。最后，来到大水由此涌向山顶的那美丽可爱、光滑苍翠的弯道，便发觉自己已身在瀑布上方平坦的河上了。激流在你背后奔腾而去，但你倒是个神奇的游泳健将，竟能逆流而上。不久，他们大家都上了岸，浑身湿淋淋的，可是快快乐乐的。

前面展开着一个长长的河谷和巨大的积雪高山，高山映衬着天空，巍然矗立，近得多了。

“朝更高更深处前进。”独角兽珍宝大声叫道，于是他们立刻又出发了。

现在他们出了纳尼亚，往高处进入西部荒原，那可是蒂莲、彼得，甚至老鹰以前都没见过的地方。但迪格雷勋爵和波莉夫人倒见过。“你记得吗？你记得吗？”他们说——而且还是用平平稳稳的声调说的，一点也没有气喘吁吁，尽管这一行人兽正飞跑得比箭还快哩。

“啊，勋爵，”蒂莲说道，“故事里说，你们两人在世界初创之日就到这儿来旅行过，那么是确有其事的啦？”

“是的，”迪格雷勋爵说道，“我觉得仿佛不过是昨天的事。”

“骑了一匹飞马吗？”蒂莲问道，“这情节是真实的吗？”

“当然是真的。”迪格雷说。但狗儿们吠叫了：“快，快！”

所以他们便愈跑愈快，直跑得不像跑而更像飞了，天空的老鹰也不比他们快了。他们穿过一个弯曲的河谷又穿过一个弯曲的河谷，走上群山的陡坡，比以前更加快速地又走下另一边的陡坡，循着河流走过去，有时渡过河去，漂过高山湖泊去，仿佛他们自己就是有生命的快艇。最后他们到了一个长湖的尽头，湖水蓝得像土耳其玉。于是他们看到了一个光滑的绿色小山。小山的两侧陡得像金字塔的边，环绕山顶四周筑有一道绿色的墙垣，墙上伸展出树枝，树叶看上去像银的，果实像金的。

“朝更高更深处前进！”独角兽大声吼道，没有一个人退缩。他们笔直地朝山麓冲去，这就发现他们自己已经奔上山去，几乎就像一个给拦断的波浪，冲上了海湾尖端突出的一块大石头一样。虽然山坡几乎陡得像屋顶，草地光滑得像玩滚木球游戏的草坪，没有一个失足滑倒的。只是他们在到达山顶时放慢了脚步，那是因为他们发现自己面对着巨大的金门。有那么一会儿，谁也不够大胆，不敢去试试金门是否会打开。他们大家的感觉，就像他们对那神奇果实的感觉一模一样——“我们敢吗？对头吗？难道这门能为我们而打开吗？”

但，当他们这么站在门外的时候，一只巨大的号角，声音响亮甜润，在墙内花园里什么地方呜呜地吹着，金门便打开了。

蒂莲屏息静气地站着，心中猜测谁会走出门来。但出来的是他完全没料到的角色：一头小小的、毛发柔软发光、眼睛明亮的、会说人话的老鼠，头上一个圈里插着一根红羽毛，左脚爪按在一把长剑上。它鞠躬，鞠了一个最最漂亮的躬，尖声说道：

“以狮王的名义，欢迎。往更高更深处前进。”

接着蒂莲便看到至尊王彼得和国王爱德蒙和女王露茜跑上前去，跪下向老鼠致敬，大家齐声喊道：“雷佩契普！”事情神奇之至，蒂莲连呼吸也急促了，因为他现在知道，他正亲眼目睹纳尼亚的大英雄老鼠雷佩契普，当年它曾打过伯龙纳大战，后来跟着航海者凯斯宾国王一直到了天涯海角。但，他还来不及思考这件事情，便觉得有两条强壮的胳膊抱住他，感到有把胡子在吻他的面颊，听到一个挺熟悉的声音说道：

“怎么样，孩子？比我上次吻你时胡子更密更长了吧？”

说这话的是他自己的父亲，善良的国王厄莲：但既不是蒂莲曾看见过的与巨人作战受伤、脸色苍白、人家送他回家来时的父亲，甚至也不是蒂莲所记得的晚年是个白发苍苍的老战士的父亲。眼前可是个年轻而又开心的父亲，蒂莲童年时期所能记得的父亲，当年他自己是个小男孩，在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡花园里同父亲一起做游戏，时间就在夏天黄昏上床之前。晚餐时他常吃的牛奶面包的味道又回来了。

独角兽珍宝心里跟自己说道：“我要让他们谈一会儿，然后我再向国王厄莲致敬。我是个小不点儿的时候，他给我吃过许多光亮的苹果。”但下一刻它又有别的事情要想了，因为大门里又出来一匹马儿，强壮有力，高贵壮丽，甚至独角兽在它面前也自惭形秽。它是一匹长着翅膀的大马。它对迪格雷勋爵和波莉夫人瞧了一会儿，便嘶鸣道：“呀，表兄！”他们俩一同大叫：“飞羽！善良的老飞羽！”跑过去吻它。

这时候，老鼠重新催促他们进门去。所以他们大家都穿过金门进去，从花园里向他们吹来了宜人的芳香。进入阳光与树阴的凉快混合体里，走在缀着星星点点的白花的、有弹性的草皮上。第一件使大家印象十分深刻的事实是：这花园的里边远比外边看起来要大得多。但谁也没有时间思考这个问题，因为人们正从四面八方赶来同新到的人见面。

你听到过的（如果你知道这些国家的历史）每一个人，似乎都在那儿。有猫头鹰格里姆费瑟、沼泽怪普德格伦、解魔醒迷的国王瑞廉、瑞廉的母亲那位明星的女儿、瑞廉的了不起的父亲凯斯宾国王本人。紧挨着凯斯宾的，是德林尼安勋爵和伯尼勋爵、小矮人特鲁普金、猎户特鲁夫尔、善良的獾、人头马格伦斯通姆，以及拯救大战中的其他上百个英雄。从另一边又来了阿钦兰国王科奥、他的父亲国王伦恩、他的王后阿拉维斯、他的兄弟勇敢的王子霹雳拳击手科林、战马布里和母马赫温。接着——在蒂莲看来，这是一切奇迹之上的奇迹——竟从遥远的往昔来了两头善良的海狸和羊怪图姆纳斯。互相问候，接吻，握手，老的笑话也复活了（你完全不了解一个老的笑话听起来多么有趣，当你把它搁了五六百年又重新端出来的时候），整个队伍向前移动，向果园的中心走去；果园里，长生鸟坐在一棵树上，俯瞰着他们大家，而树底下有两个御座，御座上分别坐着国王和王后，伟大而美丽，大家都拜倒在他们面前。他们也要拜下去，因为这两位就是国王法兰克和王后海伦，纳尼亚和阿钦兰的大部分古代国王都是他们的后裔。而蒂莲当时的感觉就像带你去见风华正茂的亚当和夏娃时的感受一样。

大约半个钟头以后——或者也可能是五十年以后，因为那儿的时间，跟咱们这儿的时间不一样——露茜和她的亲爱的朋友，她的纳尼亚老朋友羊怪图姆纳斯站在一起，越过花园的墙头俯瞰，看到整个纳尼亚展现在下面。但，当你俯瞰时，你发觉这山比你所认为的要大得多，它挟着闪闪发亮的悬崖下沉数千英尺，在底层，树木看上去只有绿色的盐粒那么大。然后她转而向内，背靠着墙，瞧着花园。

“我明白了，”她终于沉思地说道，“现在我明白了。这花园就像那马厩。里边远比外边大得多。”

“当然啦，夏娃的女儿，”羊怪说道，“你愈是往高处深处走去，一切东西就变得愈大。里边比外边大。”

露茜仔细打量着花园，发觉它确实压根儿不是一个花园，而是一个完全的世界，有它自己的江湖、森林、海洋和山岭。但它们并不陌生：她一一都认识它们。

“我明白了，”她说道，“这仍旧是纳尼亚，比下面的纳尼亚更真实更美丽，就像它比马厩门外的纳尼亚更真实更美丽一模一样！我明白了，世界中的世界，纳尼亚里的纳尼亚……”

“是的，”图姆纳斯先生说，“像个洋葱头，除非你不断地往里边儿剥，每一圈总比上一圈大。”

露茜东张西望，不久便发现她眼睛发生了新的美丽的变化。不论她瞧什么，不论她瞧的景物多远，一旦她的眼睛稳稳地盯住它直瞧，它就显得很清晰很近，仿佛她是在用望远镜观看。她能看到南方整个儿大沙漠，沙漠后的塔什班城，向东她能望见海滨的凯尔帕拉维尔城，望见一度属于她的那个房间的窗子。远至大海之上，她能发现岛屿，一个岛接着一个岛的，直至天涯海角，而天涯的后面便是人们称之为阿斯兰的国土的崇山峻岭。但现在她看清楚了，这崇山峻岭不过是环绕整个世界的、连绵不断的大山脉的一部分。它就在她的前面，仿佛很近似的。然后她向左边望去，她看到了一大堆她认为是色彩鲜明的云，跟他们之间隔着一条沟。但她更仔细地看时便看出它压根儿不是云，而是一块真正的陆地。当她的眼睛盯住某一点打量时，她立刻大声叫了起来：“彼得！爱德蒙！来瞧瞧！快来。”他们便来瞧了，因为他们的眼也变得跟露茜的眼睛一样了。

“呀！”彼得叫道，“这是英国啊。这就是那座房屋——柯克教授在乡下的老家，我们的一切奇遇都是从那儿开始的！”

“我以为那屋子已经坍毁了呢。”爱德蒙说。

“屋子是坍掉了，”羊怪说道，“但你现在正望见的是英国里的英国，真正的英国，正如这儿是真正的纳尼亚一样。而在那个内部英国里，没有一件好的东西是毁掉的。”

突然，他们把眼睛转到了另一个地点，彼得、爱德蒙和露茜这就惊讶得连气也透不过来，他们口中叫了出来，双手也开始挥动起来，因为他们看到了他们的父母，父母也隔着那又大又深的溪谷向他们挥手致意。这就像你看到人们在一条大船的甲板上向你挥手致意，而你正在码头上迎接他们。

“我们怎么能和他们团聚呢？”露茜问道。

“那倒容易，”图姆纳斯说道，“那个国家和这个国家——都是真正的国家——都不过是从阿斯兰的崇山峻岭上突出来的山鼻子罢了。我们只要沿着山脊走去，向上向内走去，直到两处连接的地方。听呀，国王法兰克的号角响了，我们大家都必须往上走了。”

不久他们就发现大家都走在一起了——好一个伟大而辉煌的行列——都在向上走向比你在这个世界里能看到的高山还要高的崇山峻岭，如果看得到高山的话。但这些崇山峻岭上可没有积雪：有的是森森林木、苍翠山坡、芳香果园和闪烁瀑布，一个接着一个，永远往高处绵延。而他们正在走着的土地始终在愈变愈窄，两边各有一个深谷，深谷那一边的土地，便是真正的英国，愈走愈近啦。

前边的光芒愈来愈强烈了。露茜看到一系列彩色的悬崖峭壁重重叠叠，像是巨人的磴道。接着她把其他种种都忘掉了，因为阿斯兰自己来了，从悬崖峭壁到悬崖峭壁往下奔腾，像是充满力量和美丽的生动活泼的瀑布。

阿斯兰首先呼唤的对象是驴子迷惑。驴子向阿斯兰走去，你从未看见过一头驴子像迷惑当时那样虚弱和愚蠢的了；它站在阿斯兰身边，看上去小得就像站在圣·贝尔纳身边的小猫一样。狮王俯下脑袋，在迷惑的耳边低声说了些话，听到这话，迷惑的长耳朵垂下来了；但狮王随即又说了些别的话，听到这话，迷惑的耳朵又竖起来了，几个人都没法儿听到狮王先后两次所说的话。接着，阿斯兰转向人们说道：

“看来你们还不像我原来指望的那么快乐啊。”

露茜说：“阿斯兰，我们担心你要把我们送走。你好几次都把我们送回我们自己的世界去的。”

“不用担心，”阿斯兰说道，“你们没猜到吗？”

他们的心怦怦直跳，内心里升起了疯狂的希望。

“确实发生过一次火车事故，”阿斯兰低声说道，“你们的父亲和母亲以及你们大家都死了——正如你们惯常所说的，到影子国土去了。学期结束了，假期开始了。梦做完了：现在是早晨了。”

阿斯兰说话时，他不再像一头狮子那样对着他们直瞧；但以后开始发生的事情是那么伟大和美丽，所以我无法描写。对我们说来，这就是所有故事的结局，我们能最最真实地说，从此以后，他们大家幸福地生活下去了。但对他们说来，这仅仅是真正故事的开端。他们在这个世界里的一切生活以及他们在纳尼亚的一切奇遇，仅仅是一本书的封面和扉页：现在他们终于把这伟大故事的第一章开了个头。这伟大的故事，世界上的人不曾读过，这伟大的故事会永远继续下去：每一章都比前一章更精彩。

CHAPTER 1

By Caldron Pool

In the last days of Narnia,far up to the west beyond Lantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall,there lived an ape.He was so old that no one could remember when he had first come to live in those parts,and he was the cleverest,ugliest,most wrinkled ape you can imagine.He had a little house,built of wood and thatched with leaves,up in the fork of a great tree,and his name was Shift.There were very few Talking Beasts or Men or Dwarfs,or people of any sort,in that part of the wood,but Shift had one friend and neighbour who was a donkey called Puzzle.At least they both said they were friends,but from the way things went on you might have thought Puzzle was more like Shift's servant than his friend.He did all the work.When they went together to the river,Shift filled the big skin bottles with water but it was Puzzle who carried them back.When they wanted anything from the towns farther down the river it was Puzzle who went down with empty panniers on his back and came back with the panniers full and heavy.And all the nicest things that Puzzle brought back were eaten by Shift；for as Shift said,“You see,Puzzle,I can't eat grass and thistles like you,so it's only fair I should make it up in other ways.” And Puzzle always said,“Of course,Shift,of course.I see that.”

Puzzle never complained,because he knew that Shift was far cleverer than himself and he thought it was very kind of Shift to be friends with him at all.And if ever Puzzle did try to argue about anything,Shift would always say,“Now,Puzzle,I understand what needs to be done better than you.You know you're not clever,Puzzle.” And Puzzle always said,“No,Shift.It's quite true.I'm not clever.” Then he would sigh and do whatever Shift had said.

One morning early in the year the pair of them were out walking along the shore of Caldron Pool.Caldron Pool is the big pool right under the cliffs at the western end of Narnia.The great waterfall pours down into it with a noise like everlasting thunder,and the River of Narnia flows out on the other side.The waterfall keeps the Pool always dancing and bubbling and churning round and round as if it were on the boil,and that of course is how it got its name of Caldron Pool.It is liveliest in the early spring when the waterfall is swollen with all the snow that has melted off the mountains from up beyond Narnia in the Western Wild from which the river comes.And as they looked at Caldron Pool,Shift suddenly pointed with his dark,skinny finger and said,

“Look!What's that?”

“What's what?” said Puzzle.

“That yellow thing that's just come down the waterfall.Look!There it is again,it's floating.We must find out what it is.”

“Must we?” said Puzzle.

“Of course we must,” said Shift.“It may be something useful.Just hop into the Pool like a good fellow and fish it out.Then we can have a proper look at it.”

“Hop into the Pool?” said Puzzle,twitching his long ears.

“Well,how are we to get it if you don't?” said the Ape.

“But – but,” said Puzzle,“wouldn't it be better if you went in?Because,you see,it's you who wants to know what it is,and I don't much.And you've got hands,you see.You're as good as a Man or a Dwarf when it comes to catching hold of things.I've only got hoofs.”

“Really,Puzzle,” said Shift,“I didn't think you'd ever say a thing like that.I didn't think it of you,really.”

“Why,what have I said wrong?” said the Ass,speaking in rather a humble voice,for he saw that Shift was very deeply offended.“All I meant was—”

“Wanting me to go into the water,” said the Ape.“As if you didn't know perfectly well what weak chests Apes always have and how easily they catch cold!Very well.I will go in.I'm feeling cold enough already in this cruel wind.But I'll go in.I shall probably die.Then you'll be sorry.” And Shift's voice sounded as if he was just going to burst into tears.

“Please don't,please don't,please don't,” said Puzzle,half braying and half talking.“I never meant anything of the sort,Shift,really I didn't.You know how stupid I am and how I can't think of more than one thing at a time.I'd forgotten about your weak chest.Of course I'll go in.You mustn't think of doing it yourself.Promise me you won't,Shift.”

So Shift promised,and Puzzle went cloppety-clop on his four hoofs round the rocky edge of the Pool to find a place where he could get in.Quite apart from the cold it was no joke getting into that quivering and foaming water,and Puzzle had to stand and shiver for a whole minute before he made up his mind to do it.But then Shift called out from behind him and said：“Perhaps I'd better do it after all,Puzzle.” And when Puzzle heard that he said,“No,no.You promised.I'm in now,” and in he went.

A great mass of foam got him in the face and filled his mouth with water and blinded him.Then he went under altogether for a few seconds,and when he came up again he was in quite another part of the Pool.Then the swirl caught him and carried him round and round and faster and faster till it took him right under the waterfall itself,and the force of the water plunged him down,deep down,so that he thought he would never be able to hold his breath till he came up again.And when he had come up and when at last he got somewhere near the thing he was trying to catch,it sailed away from him till it too got under the fall and was forced down to the bottom.When it came up again it was farther from him than ever.

But at last,when he was almost tired to death,and bruised all over and numb with cold,he succeeded in gripping the thing with his teeth.And out he came carrying it in front of him and getting his front hoofs tangled up in it,for it was as big as a large hearthrug,and it was very heavy and cold and slimy.

He flung it down in front of Shift and stood dripping and shivering and trying to get his breath back.But the ape never looked at him or asked him how he felt.The ape was too busy going round and round the thing and spreading it out and patting it and smelling it.Then a wicked gleam came into his eye and he said：“It is a lion's skin.”

“Ee – auh – auh – oh,is it?” gasped Puzzle.

“Now I wonder… I wonder… I wonder,” said Shift to himself,for he was thinking very hard.

“I wonder who killed the poor lion,” said Puzzle presently.“It ought to be buried.We must have a funeral.”

“Oh,it wasn't a Talking Lion,” said Shift.“You needn't bother about that.There are no Talking Beasts up beyond the Falls,up in the Western Wild.This skin must have belonged to a dumb,wild lion.”

This,by the way,was true.A Hunter,a Man,had killed and skinned this lion somewhere up in the Western Wild several months before.But that doesn't come into this story.

“All the same,Shift,” said Puzzle,“even if the skin only belonged to a dumb,wild lion,oughtn't we to give it a decent burial?I mean,aren't all lions rather – well,rather solemn?Because of you-knowwho.Don't you see?”

“Don't you start getting ideas into your head,Puzzle,” said Shift.“Because,you know,thinking isn't your strong point.We'll make this skin into a fine warm winter coat for you.”

“Oh,I don't think I'd like that,” said the Donkey.“It would look – I mean,the other beasts might think – that is to say,I shouldn't feel—”

“What are you talking about?” said Shift,scratching himself the wrong way up as Apes do.

“I don't think it would be respectful to the Great Lion,to Aslan himself,if an ass like me went about dressed up in a lion-skin,” said Puzzle.

“Now don't stand arguing,please,” said Shift.“What does an ass like you know about things of that sort?You know you're no good at thinking,Puzzle,so why don't you let me do your thinking for you?Why don't you treat me as I treat you?I don't think I can do everything.I know you're better at some things than I am.That's why I let you go into the Pool；I knew you'd do it better than me.But why can't I have my turn when it comes to something I can do and you can't?Am I never to be allowed to do anything?Do be fair.Turn and turn about.”

“Oh,well,of course,if you put it that way,” said Puzzle.

“I tell you what,” said Shift.“You'd better take a good brisk trot down river as far as Chippingford and see if they have any oranges or bananas.”

“But I'm so tired,Shift,” pleaded Puzzle.

“Yes,but you are very cold and wet,” said the Ape.“You want something to warm you up.A brisk trot would be just the thing.Besides,it's market day at Chippingford today.” And then of course Puzzle said he would go.

As soon as he was alone Shift went shambling along,sometimes on two paws and sometimes on four,till he reached his own tree.Then he swung himself up from branch to branch,chattering and grinning all the time,and went into his little house.He found needle and thread and a big pair of scissors there；for he was a clever ape and the Dwarfs had taught him how to sew.He put the ball of thread(it was very thick stuff,more like cord than thread)into his mouth so that his cheek bulged out as if he were sucking a big bit of toffee.He held the needle between his lips and took the scissors in his left paw.Then he came down the tree and shambled across to the lion-skin.He squatted down and got to work.

He saw at once that the body of the lion-skin would be too long for Puzzle and its neck too short.So he cut a good piece out of the body and used it to make a long collar for Puzzle's long neck.Then he cut off the head and sewed the collar in between the head and the shoulders.He put threads on both sides of the skin so that it would tie up under Puzzle's chest and stomach.Every now and then a bird would pass overhead and Shift would stop his work,looking anxiously up.He did not want anyone to see what he was doing.But none of the birds he saw were Talking Birds,so it didn't matter.

Late in the afternoon Puzzle came back.He was not trotting but only plodding patiently along,the way donkeys do.

“There weren't any oranges,” he said,“and there weren't any bananas.And I'm very tired.” He lay down.

“Come and try on your beautiful new lion-skin coat,” said Shift.

“Oh,bother that old skin,” said Puzzle.“I'll try it on in the morning.I'm too tired tonight.”

“You are unkind,Puzzle,” said Shift.“If you're tired,what do you think I am?All day long,while you've been having a lovely refreshing walk down the valley,I've been working hard to make you a coat.My hands are so tired I can hardly hold these scissors.And now you won't say thank you – and you won't even look at the coat – and you don't care – and – and—”

“My dear Shift,” said Puzzle,getting up at once,“I am so sorry.I've been horrid.Of course I'd love to try it on.And it looks simply splendid.Do try it on me at once.Please do.”

“Well,stand still then,” said the Ape.The skin was very heavy for him to lift,but in the end,with a lot of pulling and pushing and puffing and blowing,he got it on to the donkey.He tied it underneath Puzzle's body and he tied the legs to Puzzle's legs and the tail to Puzzle's tail.A good deal of Puzzle's grey nose and face could be seen through the open mouth of the lion's head.No one who had ever seen a real lion would have been taken in for a moment.But if someone who had never seen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lion-skin he just might mistake him for a lion,if he didn't come too close,and if the light was not too good,and if Puzzle didn't let out a bray and didn't make any noise with his hoofs.

“You look wonderful,wonderful,” said the Ape.“If anyone saw you now,they'd think you were Aslan,the Great Lion,himself.”

“That would be dreadful,” said Puzzle.

“No,it wouldn't,” said Shift.“Everyone would do whatever you told them.”

“But I don't want to tell them anything.”

“But think of the good we could do!” said Shift.“You'd have me to advise you,you know.I'd think of sensible orders for you to give.And everyone would have to obey us,even the King himself.We would set everything right in Narnia.”

“But isn't everything right already?” said Puzzle.

“What!” cried Shift.“Everything right – when there are no oranges or bananas?”

“Well,you know,” said Puzzle,“there aren't many people – in fact,I don't think there's anyone but yourself – who wants those sort of things.”

“There's sugar too,” said Shift.

“H'm,yes,” said the Ass.“It would be nice if there was more sugar.”

“Well then,that's settled,” said the Ape.“You will pretend to be Aslan,and I'll tell you what to say.”

“No,no,no,” said Puzzle.“Don't say such dreadful things.It would be wrong,Shift.I may be not very clever but I know that much.What would become of us if the real Aslan turned up?”

“I expect he'd be very pleased,” said Shift.“Probably he sent us the lion-skin on purpose,so that we could set things right.Anyway,he never does turn up,you know.Not nowadays.”

At that moment there came a great thunderclap right overhead and the ground trembled with a small earthquake.Both the animals lost their balance and were flung on their faces.

“There!” gasped Puzzle,as soon as he had breath to speak.“It's a sign,a warning.I knew we were doing something dreadfully wicked.Take this wretched skin off me at once.”

“No,no,” said the Ape(whose mind worked very quickly).“It's a sign the other way.I was just going to say that if the real Aslan,as you call him,meant us to go on with this,he would send us a thunderclap and an earth-tremor.It was just on the tip of my tongue,only the sign itself came before I could get the words out.You've got to do it now,Puzzle.And please don't let us have any more arguing.You know you don't understand these things.What could a donkey know about signs?”

CHAPTER 2

The Rashness of the King

About three weeks later the last of the Kings of Narnia sat under the great oak which grew beside the door of his little hunting lodge,where he often stayed for ten days or so in the pleasant spring weather.It was a low,thatched building not far from the Eastern end of Lantern Waste and some way above the meeting of the two rivers.He loved to live there simply and at ease,away from the state and pomp of Cair Paravel,the royal city.His name was King Tirian,and he was between twenty and twenty-five years old；his shoulders were already broad and strong and his limbs full of hard muscle,but his beard was still scanty.He had blue eyes and a fearless,honest face.

There was no one with him that spring morning except his dearest friend,Jewel the Unicorn.They loved each other like brothers and each had saved the other's life in the wars.The lordly beast stood close beside the King's chair with its neck bent round,polishing its blue horn against the creamy whiteness of its flank.

“I cannot set myself to any work or sport today,Jewel,” said the King.“I can think of nothing but this wonderful news.Think you we shall hear any more of it today?”

“They are the most wonderful tidings ever heard in our days or our fathers' or our grandfathers'days,Sire,” said Jewel,“if they are true.”

“How can they choose but be true?” said the King.“It is more than a week ago that the first birds came flying over us saying,Aslan is here,Aslan has come to Narnia again.And after that it was the squirrels.They had not seen him,but they said it was certain he was in the woods.Then came the Stag.He said he had seen him with his own eyes,a great way off,by moonlight,in Lantern Waste.Then came that dark Man with the beard,the merchant from Calormen.The Calormenes care nothing for Aslan as we do；but the man spoke of it as a thing beyond doubt.And there was the Badger last night；he too had seen Aslan.”

“Indeed,Sire,” answered Jewel,“I believe it all.If I seem not to,it is only that my joy is too great to let my belief settle itself.It is almost too beautiful to believe.”

“Yes,” said the King with a great sigh,almost a shiver,of delight.“It is beyond all that I ever hoped for in all my life.”

“Listen!” said Jewel,putting his head on one side and cocking his ears forward.

“What is it?” asked the King.

“Hoofs,Sire,” said Jewel.“A galloping horse.A very heavy horse.It must be one of the Centaurs.And look,there he is.”

A great,golden-bearded Centaur,with man's sweat on his forehead and horse's sweat on his chestnut flanks,dashed up to the King,stopped,and bowed low.“Hail,King,” it cried in a voice as deep as a bull's.

“Ho,there!” said the King,looking over his shoulder towards the door of the hunting lodge.“A bowl of wine for the noble Centaur.Welcome,Roonwit.When you have found your breath you shall tell us your errand.”

A page came out of the house carrying a great wooden bowl,curiously carved,and handed it to the Centaur.The Centaur raised the bowl and said,

“I drink first to Aslan and truth,Sire,and secondly to your Majesty.”

He finished the wine(enough for six strong men)at one draught and handed the empty bowl back to the page.

“Now,Roonwit,” said the King.“Do you bring us more news of Aslan?”

Roonwit looked very grave,frowning a little.

“Sire,” he said.“You know how long I have lived and studied the stars；for we Centaurs live longer than you Men,and even longer than your kind,Unicorn.Never in all my days have I seen such terrible things written in the skies as there have been nightly since this year began.The stars say nothing of the coming of Aslan,nor of peace,nor of joy.I know by my art that there have not been such disastrous conjunctions of the planets for five hundred years.

“It was already in my mind to come and warn your Majesty that some great evil hangs over Narnia.But last night the rumour reached me that Aslan is abroad in Narnia.Sire,do not believe this tale.It cannot be.The stars never lie,but Men and Beasts do.If Aslan were really coming to Narnia the sky would have foretold it.If he were really come,all the most gracious stars would be assembled in his honour.It is all a lie.”

“A lie!” said the King fiercely.“What creature in Narnia or all the world would dare to lie on such a matter?” And,without knowing it,he laid his hand on his sword hilt.

“That I know not,Lord King,” said the Centaur.“But I know there are liars on earth；there are none among the stars.”

“I wonder,” said Jewel,“whether Aslan might not come though all the stars foretold otherwise.He is not the slave of the stars but their Maker.Is it not said in all the old stories that He is not a Tame Lion?”

“Well said,well said,Jewel,” cried the King.“Those are the very words：not a tame lion.It comes in many tales.”

Roonwit had just raised his hand and was leaning forward to say something very earnestly to the King when all three of them turned their heads to listen to a wailing sound that was quickly drawing nearer.The wood was so thick to the west of them that they could not see the newcomer yet.But they could soon hear the words.

“Woe,woe,woe!” called the voice.“Woe for my brothers and sisters!Woe for the holy trees!The woods are laid waste.The axe is loosed against us.We are being felled.Great trees are falling,falling,falling.”

With the last “falling” the speaker came in sight.She was like a woman but so tall that her head was on a level with the Centaur's,yet she was like a tree too.It is hard to explain if you have never seen a Dryad but quite unmistakable once you have –something different in the colour,the voice,and the hair.King Tirian and the two Beasts knew at once that she was the nymph of a beech tree.

“Justice,Lord King!” she cried.“Come to our aid.Protect your people.They are felling us in Lantern Waste.Forty great trunks of my brothers and sisters are already on the ground.”

“What,Lady!Felling Lantern Waste?Murdering the talking trees?” cried the King,leaping to his feet and drawing his sword.“How dare they?And who dares it?Now by the Mane of Aslan—”

“A-a-a-h,” gasped the Dryad,shuddering as if in pain – shuddering time after time as if under repeated blows.Then all at once she fell sideways as suddenly as if both her feet had been cut from under her.For a second they saw her lying dead on the grass and then she vanished.They knew what had happened.Her tree,miles away,had been cut down.

For a moment the King's grief and anger were so great that he could not speak.Then he said：“Come,friends.We must go up river and find the villains who have done this,with all the speed we may.I will leave not one of them alive.”

“Sire,with a good will,” said Jewel.

But Roonwit said,“Sire,be wary even in your just wrath.There are strange doings on foot.If there should be rebels in arms farther up the valley,we three are too few to meet them.If it would please you to wait while—”

“I will not wait the tenth part of a second,” said the King.“But while Jewel and I go forward,do you gallop as hard as you may to Cair Paravel.Here is my ring for your token.Get me a score of men-atarms,all well mounted,and a score of Talking Dogs,and ten Dwarfs(let them all be fell archers),and a Leopard or so,and Stonefoot the Giant.Bring all these after us as quickly as may be.”

“With a good will,Sire,” said Roonwit.And at once he turned and galloped Eastward down the valley.

The King strode on at a great pace,sometimes muttering to himself and sometimes clenching his fists.Jewel walked beside him,saying nothing；so there was no sound between them but the faint jingle of a rich gold chain that hung round the Unicorn's neck and the noise of two feet and four hoofs.

They soon reached the River and turned up it where there was a grassy road：they had the water on their left and the forest on their right.Soon after that they came to the place where the ground grew rougher and thick wood came down to the water's edge.The road,what there was of it,now ran on the southern bank and they had to ford the River to reach it.It was up to Tirian's armpits,but Jewel(who had four legs and was therefore steadier)kept on his right so as to break the force of the current,and Tirian put his strong arm round the Unicorn's strong neck and they both got safely over.The King was still so angry that he hardly noticed the cold of the water.But of course he dried his sword very carefully on the shoulder of his cloak,which was the only dry part of him,as soon as they came to shore.

They were now going westward with the River on their right and Lantern Waste straight ahead of them.They had not gone more than a mile when they both stopped and both spoke at the same moment.The King said “What have we here?” and Jewel said “Look!”

“It is a raft,” said King Tirian.

And so it was.Half a dozen splendid tree-trunks,all newly cut and newly lopped of their branches,had been lashed together to make a raft,and were gliding swiftly down the river.On the front of the raft there was a water rat with a pole to steer it.

“Hey!Water Rat!What are you about?” cried the King.

“Taking logs down to sell to the Calormenes,Sire,” said the Rat,touching his ear as he might have touched his cap if he had had one.

“Calormenes!” thundered Tirian.“What do you mean?Who gave order for these trees to be felled?”

The River flows so swiftly at that time of the year that the raft had already glided past the King and Jewel.But the Water Rat looked back over its shoulder and shouted out：

“The Lion's orders,Sire.Aslan himself.” He added something more but they couldn't hear it.

The King and the Unicorn stared at one another and both looked more frightened than they had ever been in any battle.

“Aslan,” said the King at last,in a very low voice.“Aslan.Could it be true?Could he be felling the holy trees and murdering the Dryads?”

“Unless the Dryads have all done something dreadfully wrong—” murmured Jewel.

“But selling them to Calormenes!” said the King.“Is it possible?”

“I don't know,” said Jewel miserably.“He's not a tame Lion.”

“Well,” said the King at last,“we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us.”

“It is the only thing left for us to do,Sire,” said the Unicorn.He did not see at the moment how foolish it was for two of them to go on alone；nor did the King.They were too angry to think clearly.But much evil came of their rashness in the end.

Suddenly the King leaned hard on his friend's neck and bowed his head.

“Jewel,” he said,“what lies before us?Horrible thoughts arise in my heart.If we had died before today we should have been happy.”

“Yes,” said Jewel.“We have lived too long.The worst thing in the world has come upon us.” They stood like that for a minute or two and then went on.

Before long they could hear the hack-hack-hack of axes falling on timber,though they could see nothing yet because there was a rise of the ground in front of them.When they had reached the top of it they could see right into Lantern Waste itself.And the King's face turned white when he saw it.

Right through the middle of that ancient forest –that forest where the trees of gold and of silver had once grown and where a child from our world had once planted the Tree of Protection – a broad lane had already been opened.It was a hideous lane like a raw gash in the land,full of muddy ruts where felled trees had been dragged down to the river.There was a great crowd of people at work,and a cracking of whips,and horses tugging and straining as they dragged at the logs.The first thing that struck the King and the Unicorn was that about half the people in the crowd were not Talking Beasts but Men.The next thing was that these men were not the fair-haired men of Narnia.They were dark,bearded men from Calormen,that great and cruel country that lies beyond Archenland across the desert to the south.

There was no reason,of course,why one should not meet a Calormene or two in Narnia – a merchant or an ambassador – for there was peace between Narnia and Calormen in those days.But Tirian could not understand why there were so many of them：nor why they were cutting down a Narnian forest.He grasped his sword tighter and rolled his cloak round his left arm.They came quickly down among the men.

Two Calormenes were driving a horse which was harnessed to a log.Just as the King reached them the log had got stuck in a bad muddy place.

“Get on,son of sloth!Pull,you lazy pig!” cried the Calormenes,cracking their whips.The horse was already straining himself as hard as he could；his eyes were red and he was covered with foam.

“Work,lazy brute,” shouted one of the Calormenes：and as he spoke he struck the horse savagely with his whip.It was then that the really dreadful thing happened.

Up till now Tirian had taken it for granted that the horses which the Calormenes were driving were their own horses；dumb,witless animals like the horses of our own world.And though he hated to see even a dumb horse overdriven,he was of course thinking more about the murder of the Trees.It had never crossed his mind that anyone would dare to harness one of the free Talking Horses of Narnia,much less to use a whip on it.But as that savage blow fell the horse reared up and said,half screaming：

“Fool and tyrant!Do you not see I am doing all I can?”

When Tirian knew that the Horse was one of his own Narnians,there came over him and over Jewel such a rage that they did not know what they were doing.The King's sword went up,the Unicorn's horn went down.They rushed forward together.Next moment both the Calormenes lay dead,the one beheaded by Tirian's sword and the other gored through the heart by Jewel's horn.

CHAPTER 3

The Ape in its Glory

“Master Horse,Master Horse,” said Tirian as he hastily cut its traces,“how came these aliens to enslave you?Is Narnia conquered?Has there been a battle?”

“No,Sire,” panted the horse,“Aslan is here.It is all by his orders.He has commanded—”

“'Ware danger,King,” said Jewel.Tirian looked up and saw that Calormenes(mixed with a few Talking Beasts)were beginning to run towards them from every direction.The two dead men had died without a cry and so it had taken a moment before the rest of the crowd knew what had happened.But now they did.Most of them had naked scimitars in their hands.

“Quick!On my back!” said Jewel.

The King flung himself astride of his old friend who turned and galloped away.He changed direction twice or thrice as soon as they were out of sight of their enemies,crossed a stream,and shouted without slackening his pace,“Whither away,Sire?To Cair Paravel?”

“Hold hard,friend,” said Tirian.“Let me off.” He slid off the Unicorn's back and faced him.

“Jewel,” said the King.“We have done a dreadful deed.”

“We were sorely provoked,” said Jewel.

“But to leap on them unawares – without defying them – while they were unarmed – faugh!We are two murderers,Jewel.I am dishonoured for ever.”

Jewel drooped his head.He too was ashamed.

“And then,” said the King,“the Horse said it was by Aslan's orders.The Rat said the same.They all say Aslan is here.How if it were true?”

“But,Sire,how could Aslan be commanding such dreadful things?”

“He is not a tame lion,” said Tirian.“How should we know what he would do?We,who are murderers.Jewel,I will go back.I will give up my sword and put myself in the hands of these Calormenes and ask that they bring me before Aslan.Let him do justice on me.”

“You will go to your death,then,” said Jewel.

“Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death?” said the King.“That would be nothing,nothing at all.Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for?It is as if the sun rose one day and were a black sun.”

“I know,” said Jewel.“Or as if you drank water and it were dry water.You are in the right,Sire.This is the end of all things.Let us go and give ourselves up.”

“There is no need for both of us to go.”

“If ever we loved one another,let me go with you now,” said the Unicorn.“If you are dead and if Aslan is not Aslan,what life is left for me?”

They turned and walked back together,shedding bitter tears.

As soon as they came to the place where the work was going on the Calormenes raised a cry and came towards them with their weapons in hand.But the King held out his sword with the hilt towards them and said：

“I who was King of Narnia and am now a dishonoured knight give myself up to the justice of Aslan.Bring me before him.”

“And I give myself up too,” said Jewel.

Then the dark men came round them in a thick crowd,smelling of garlic and onions,their white eyes flashing dreadfully in their brown faces.They put a rope halter round Jewel's neck.They took the King's sword away and tied his hands behind his back.One of the Calormenes,who had a helmet instead of a turban and seemed to be in command,snatched the gold circlet off Tirian's head and hastily put it away somewhere among his clothes.They led the two prisoners uphill to a place where there was a big clearing.And this was what the prisoners saw.

At the centre of the clearing,which was also the highest point of the hill,there was a little hut like a Stable,with a thatched roof.Its door was shut.On the grass in front of the door there sat an Ape.Tirian and Jewel,who had been expecting to see Aslan and had heard nothing about an Ape yet,were very bewildered when they saw it.The Ape was of course Shift himself,but he looked ten times uglier than when he lived by Caldron Pool,for he was now dressed up.He was wearing a scarlet jacket which did not fit him very well,having been made for a dwarf.He had jewelled slippers on his hind paws which would not stay on properly because,as you know,the hind paws of an Ape are really like hands.He wore what seemed to be a paper crown on his head.There was a great pile of nuts beside him and he kept cracking nuts with his jaws and spitting out the shells.And he also kept on pulling up the scarlet jacket to scratch himself.

A great number of Talking Beasts stood facing him,and nearly every face in that crowd looked miserably worried and bewildered.When they saw who the prisoners were they all groaned and whimpered.

“O Lord Shift,mouthpiece of Aslan,” said the chief Calormene.“We bring you prisoners.By our skill and courage and by the permission of the great god Tash we have taken alive these two desperate murderers.”

“Give me that man's sword,” said the Ape.So they took the King's sword and handed it,with the sword-belt and all,to the monkey.And he hung it round his own neck：and it made him look sillier than ever.

“We'll see about those two later,” said the Ape,spitting out a shell in the direction of the two prisoners.“I got some other business first.They can wait.Now listen to me,everyone.The first thing I want to say is about nuts.Where's that Head Squirrel got to?”

“Here,Sire,” said a red squirrel,coming forward and making a nervous little bow.

“Oh you are,are you?” said the Ape with a nasty look.“Now attend to me.I want – I mean,Aslan wants – some more nuts.These you've brought aren't anything like enough.You must bring some more,do you hear?Twice as many.And they've got to be here by sunset tomorrow,and there mustn't be any bad ones or any small ones among them.”

A murmur of dismay ran through the other squirrels,and the Head Squirrel plucked up courage to say,“Please,would Aslan himself speak to us about it?If we might be allowed to see him—”

“Well,you won't,” said the Ape.“He may be very kind(though it's a lot more than most of you deserve)and come out for a few minutes tonight.Then you can all have a look at him.But he will not have you all crowding round him and pestering him with questions.Anything you want to say to him will be passed on through me：if I think it's worth bothering him about.In the meantime all you squirrels had better go and see about the nuts.And make sure they are here by tomorrow evening or,my word,you'll catch it!”

The poor squirrels all scampered away as if a dog were after them.This new order was terrible news for them.The nuts they had carefully hoarded for the winter had nearly all been eaten by now；and of the few that were left they had already given the Ape far more than they could spare.

Then a deep voice – it belonged to a great tusked and shaggy Boar – spoke from another part of the crowd.

“But why can't we see Aslan properly and talk to him?” it said.“When he used to appear in Narnia in the old days everyone could talk to him face to face.”

“Don't you believe it,” said the Ape.“And even if it was true,times have changed.Aslan says he's been far too soft with you before,do you see?Well,he isn't going to be soft any more.He's going to lick you into shape this time.He'll teach you to think he's a tame lion!”

A low moaning and whimpering was heard among the Beasts；and after that,a dead silence which was more miserable still.

“And now there's another thing you got to learn,”said the Ape.“I hear some of you are saying I'm an Ape.Well,I'm not.I'm a Man.If I look like an Ape,that's because I'm so very old：hundreds and hundreds of years old.And it's because I'm so old that I'm so wise.And it's because I'm so wise that I'm the only one Aslan is ever going to speak to.He can't be bothered talking to a lot of stupid animals.He'll tell me what you've got to do,and I'll tell the rest of you.And take my advice,and see you do it in double quick time,for he doesn't mean to stand any nonsense.”

There was a dead silence except for the noise of a very young badger crying and its mother trying to make it keep quiet.

“And now here's another thing,” the Ape went on,fitting a fresh nut into its cheek,“I hear some of the horses are saying,'Let's hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we can,and then we'll be free again.' Well,you can get that idea out of your heads at once.And not only the Horses either.Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future.Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen – the Tisroc,as our darkfaced friends the Calormenes call him.All you horses and bulls and donkeys are to be sent down into Calormen to work for your living – pulling and carrying the way horses and such-like do in other countries.And all you digging animals like moles and rabbits and Dwarfs are going down to work in the Tisroc's mines.And—”

“No,no,no,” howled the Beasts.“It can't be true.Aslan would never sell us into slavery to the King of Calormen.”

“None of that!Hold your noise!” said the Ape with a snarl.“Who said anything about slavery?You won't be slaves.You'll be paid – very good wages too.That is to say,your pay will be paid into Aslan's treasury and he will use it all for everybody's good.” Then he glanced,and almost winked,at the chief Calormene.

The Calormene bowed and replied,in the pompous Calormene way：

“Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan,the Tisroc(may he live for ever)is wholly of one mind with your lordship in this judicious plan.”

“There!You see!” said the Ape.“It's all arranged.And all for your own good.We'll be able,with the money you earn,to make Narnia a country worth living in.There'll be oranges and bananas pouring in – and roads and big cities and schools and offices and whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels and prisons – oh,everything.”

“But we don't want all those things,” said an old Bear.“We want to be free.And we want to hear Aslan speak himself.”

“Now don't you start arguing,” said the Ape,“for it's a thing I won't stand.I'm a Man：you're only a fat,stupid old Bear.What do you know about freedom?You think freedom means doing what you like.Well,you're wrong.That isn't true freedom.True freedom means doing what I tell you.”

“H-n-n-h,” grunted the Bear and scratched its head；it found this sort of thing hard to understand.

“Please,please,” said the high voice of a woolly lamb,who was so young that everyone was surprised he dared to speak at all.

“What is it now?” said the Ape.“Be quick.”

“Please,” said the Lamb,“I can't understand.What have we to do with the Calormenes?We belong to Aslan.They belong to Tash.They have a god called Tash.They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture.They kill Men on his altar.I don't believe there's any such person as Tash.But if there was,how could Aslan be friends with him?”

All the animals cocked their heads sideways and all their bright eyes flashed towards the Ape.They knew it was the best question anyone had asked yet.

The Ape jumped up and spat at the Lamb.

“Baby!” he hissed.“Silly little bleater!Go home to your mother and drink milk.What do you understand of such things?But you others,listen.Tash is only another name for Aslan.All that old idea of us being right and the Calormenes wrong is silly.We know better now.The Calormenes use different words but we all mean the same thing.Tash and Aslan are only two different names for you know Who.That's why there can never be any quarrel between them.Get that into your heads,you stupid brutes.Tash is Aslan：Aslan is Tash.”

You know how sad your own dog's face can look sometimes.Think of that and then think of all the faces of those Talking Beasts – all those honest,humble,bewildered birds,bears,badgers,rabbits,moles,and mice – all far sadder than that.Every tail was down,every whisker drooped.It would have broken your heart with very pity to see their faces.There was only one who did not look at all unhappy.

It was a ginger cat – a great big Tom in the prime of life – who sat bolt upright with his tail curled round his toes,in the very front row of all the beasts.He had been staring hard at the Ape and the Calormene captain all the time and had never once blinked his eyes.

“Excuse me,” said the Cat very politely,“but this interests me.Does your friend from Calormen say the same?”

“Assuredly,” said the Calormene.“The enlightened Ape – Man,I mean – is in the right.Aslan means neither less nor more than Tash.”

“Especially,Aslan means no more than Tash?”suggested the Cat.

“No more at all,” said the Calormene,looking the Cat straight in the face.

“Is that good enough for you,Ginger?” said the Ape.

“Oh certainly,” said Ginger coolly.“Thank you very much.I only wanted to be quite clear.I think I am beginning to understand.”

Up till now the King and Jewel had said nothing：they were waiting until the Ape should bid them speak,for they thought it was no use interrupting.But now,as Tirian looked round on the miserable faces of the Narnians,and saw how they would all believe that Aslan and Tash were one and the same,he could bear it no longer.

“Ape,” he cried with a great voice,“you lie.You lie damnably.You lie like a Calormene.You lie like an Ape.”

He meant to go on and ask how the terrible god Tash who fed on the blood of his people could possibly be the same as the good Lion by whose blood all Narnia was saved.If he had been allowed to speak,the rule of the Ape might have ended that day；the Beasts might have seen the truth and thrown the Ape down.But before he could say another word two Calormenes struck him in the mouth with all their force,and a third,from behind,kicked his feet from under him.And as he fell,the Ape squealed in rage and terror：

“Take him away.Take him away.Take him where he cannot hear us,nor we hear him.There tie him to a tree.I will – I mean,Aslan will – do justice on him later.”

CHAPTER 4

What Happened That Night

The King was so dizzy from being knocked down that he hardly knew what was happening until the Calormenes untied his wrists and put his arms straight down by his sides and set him with his back against an ash tree.Then they bound ropes round his ankles and his knees and his waist and his chest and left him there.What worried him worst at the moment – for it is often little things that are hardest to stand – was that his lip was bleeding where they had hit him and he couldn't wipe the little trickle of blood away although it tickled him.

From where he was he could still see the little Stable on the top of the hill and the Ape sitting in front of it.He could just hear the Ape's voice still going on and,every now and then,some answer from the crowd,but he could not make out the words.

“I wonder what they've done to Jewel,” thought the King.

Presently the crowd of Beasts broke up and began going away in different directions.Some passed close to Tirian.They looked at him as if they were both frightened and sorry to see him tied up but none of them spoke.Soon they had all gone and there was silence in the wood.Then hours and hours went past and Tirian became first very thirsty and then very hungry；and as the afternoon dragged on and turned into evening,he became cold too.His back was very sore.The sun went down and it began to be twilight.

When it was almost dark Tirian heard a light pitter-patter of feet and saw some small creatures coming towards him.The three on the left were Mice,and there was a Rabbit in the middle：on the right were two Moles.Both these were carrying little bags on their backs which gave them a curious look in the dark so that at first he wondered what kind of beasts they were.Then,in a moment,they were all standing up on their hind legs,laying their cool paws on his knees and giving his knees snuffly animal kisses.(They could reach his knees because Narnian Talking Beasts of that sort are bigger than the dumb beasts of the same kind in England.)

“Lord King!Dear Lord King,” said their shrill voices,“we are so sorry for you.We daren't untie you because Aslan might be angry with us.But we've brought you your supper.”

At once the first Mouse climbed nimbly up till he was perched on the rope that bound Tirian's chest and was wrinkling his blunt nose just in front of Tirian's face.Then the second Mouse climbed up and hung on just below the first Mouse.The other beasts stood on the ground and began handing things up.

“Drink,Sire,and then you'll find you are able to eat,” said the topmost Mouse,and Tirian found that a little wooden cup was being held to his lips.It was only the size of an egg cup so that he had hardly tasted the wine in it before it was empty.But then the Mouse passed it down and the others refilled it and it was passed up again and Tirian emptied it a second time.In this way they went on till he had quite a good drink,which was all the better for coming in little doses,for that is more thirst-quenching than one long draught.

“Here is cheese,Sire,” said the first Mouse,“but not very much,for fear it would make you too thirsty.” And after the cheese they fed him with oatcakes and fresh butter,and then with some more wine.

“Now hand up the water,” said the first Mouse,“and I'll wash the King's face.There is blood on it.”

Then Tirian felt something like a tiny sponge dabbing his face,and it was most refreshing.

“Little friends,” said Tirian,“how can I thank you for all this?”

“You needn't,you needn't,” said the little voices.“What else could we do?We don't want any other King.We're your people.If it was only the Ape and the Calormenes who were against you we would have fought till we were cut into pieces before we'd have let them tie you up.We would,we would indeed.But we can't go against Aslan.”

“Do you think it really is Aslan?” asked the King.

“Oh yes,yes,” said the Rabbit.“He came out of the Stable last night.We all saw him.”

“What was he like?” said the King.

“Like a terrible,great Lion,to be sure,” said one of the Mice.

“And you think it is really Aslan who is killing the Wood Nymphs and making you all slaves to the King of Calormen?”

“Ah,that's bad,isn't it?” said the second Mouse.“It would have been better if we'd died before all this began.But there's no doubt about it.Everyone says it is Aslan's orders.And we've seen him.We didn't think Aslan would be like that.Why,we –we wanted him to come back to Narnia.”

“He seems to have come back very angry this time,” said the first Mouse.“We must all have done something dreadfully wrong without knowing it.He must be punishing us for something.But I do think we might be told what it was!”

“I suppose what we're doing now may be wrong,”said the Rabbit.

“I don't care if it is,” said one of the Moles.“I'd do it again.”

But the others said,“Oh hush,” and “Do be careful,” and then they all said,“We're sorry,dear King,but we must go back now.It would never do for us to be caught here.”

“Leave me at once,dear Beasts,” said Tirian.“I would not for all Narnia bring any of you into danger.”

“Goodnight,goodnight,” said the Beasts,rubbing their noses against his knees.“We will come back –if we can.” Then they all pattered away and the wood seemed darker and colder and lonelier than it had been before they came.

The stars came out and time went slowly on –imagine how slowly – while that last King of Narnia stood stiff and sore and upright against the tree in his bonds.But at last something happened.

Far away there appeared a red light.Then it disappeared for a moment and came back again,bigger and stronger.Then he could see dark shapes going to and fro on this side of the light and carrying bundles and throwing them down.He knew now what he was looking at.It was a bonfire,newly lit,and people were throwing bundles of brushwood on to it.Presently it blazed up and Tirian could see that it was on the very top of the hill.He could see quite clearly the Stable behind it,all lit up in the red glow,and a great crowd of Beasts and Men between the fire and himself.A small figure,hunched up beside the fire,must have been the Ape.It was saying something to the crowd,but he could not hear what.Then it went and bowed three times to the ground in front of the door of the Stable.Then it got up and opened the door.And something on four legs – something that walked rather stiffly – came out of the Stable and stood facing the crowd.

A great wailing or howling went up,so loud that Tirian could hear some of the words.

“Aslan!Aslan!Aslan!” cried the beasts.“Speak to us.Comfort us.Be angry with us no more.”

From where Tirian was he could not make out very clearly what the thing was,but he could see that it was yellow and hairy.He had never seen the Great Lion.He had never seen a common lion.He couldn't be sure that what he saw was not the real Aslan.He had not expected Aslan to look like that stiff thing which stood and said nothing.But how could one be sure?For a moment horrible thoughts went through his mind：then he remembered the nonsense about Tash and Aslan being the same and knew that the whole thing must be a cheat.

The Ape put his head close up to the yellow thing's head as if he were listening to something it was whispering to him.Then he turned and spoke to the crowd,and the crowd wailed again.Then the yellow thing turned clumsily round and walked –you might almost say,waddled – back into the Stable and the Ape shut the door behind it.After that the fire must have been put out for the light vanished quite suddenly,and Tirian was once more alone with the cold and the darkness.

He thought of other Kings who had lived and died in Narnia in old times and it seemed to him that none of them had ever been so unlucky as himself.He thought of his great-grandfather's great-grandfather King Rilian who had been stolen away by a Witch when he was only a young prince and kept hidden for years in the dark caves beneath the land of the Northern Giants.But then it had all come right in the end,for two mysterious children had suddenly appeared from the land beyond the World's End and had rescued him so that he came home to Narnia and had a long and prosperous reign.“It's not like that with me,” said Tirian to himself.

Then he went farther back and thought about Rilian's father,Caspian the Seafarer,whose wicked uncle King Miraz had tried to murder him and how Caspian had fled away into the woods and lived among the Dwarfs.But that story too had all come right in the end：for Caspian also had been helped by children – only there were four of them that time – who came from somewhere beyond the world and fought a great battle and set him on his father's throne.“But it was all long ago,” said Tirian to himself.“That sort of thing doesn't happen now.”

And then he remembered(for he had always been good at history when he was a boy)how those same four children who had helped Caspian had been in Narnia over a thousand years before；and it was then that they had done the most remarkable things of all.For then they had defeated the terrible White Witch and ended the Hundred Years of Winter,and after that they had reigned(all four of them together)at Cair Paravel,till they were no longer children but great Kings and lovely Queens,and their reign had been the Golden Age of Narnia.And Aslan had come into that story a lot.He had come into all the other stories too,as Tirian now remembered.“Aslan – and children from another world,” thought Tirian.“They have always come in when things were at their worst.Oh,if only they could now.”

And he called out “Aslan!Aslan!Aslan!Come and help us now.”

But the darkness and the cold and the quietness went on just the same.

“Let me be killed,” cried the King.“I ask nothing for myself.But come and save all Narnia.”

And still there was no change in the night or the wood,but there began to be a kind of change inside Tirian.Without knowing why,he began to feel a faint hope.And he felt somehow stronger.“Oh,Aslan,Aslan,” he whispered.“If you will not come yourself,at least send me the helpers from beyond the world.Or let me call them.Let my voice carry beyond the world.” Then,hardly knowing that he was doing it,he suddenly cried out in a great voice：

“Children!Children!Friends of Narnia!Quick.Come to me.Across the worlds I call you；I,Tirian,King of Narnia,Lord of Cair Paravel,and Emperor of the Lone Islands!”

And immediately he was plunged into a dream(if it was a dream)more vivid than any he had had in his life.

He seemed to be standing in a lighted room where seven people sat round a table.It looked as if they had just finished their meal.Two of those people were very old,an old man with a white beard and an old woman with wise,merry,twinkling eyes.He who sat at the right hand of the old man was hardly full grown,certainly younger than Tirian himself,but his face had already the look of a king and a warrior.And you could almost say the same of the other youth who sat at the right hand of the old woman.Facing Tirian across the table sat a fair-haired girl younger than either of these,and on either side of her a boy and girl who were younger still.They were all dressed in what seemed to Tirian the oddest kind of clothes.

But he had no time to think about details like that,for instantly the youngest boy and both the girls started to their feet,and one of them gave a little scream.The old woman started and drew in her breath sharply.The old man must have made some sudden movement too for the wine glass which stood at his right hand was swept off the table：Tirian could hear the tinkling noise as it broke on the floor.

Then Tirian realised that these people could see him；they were staring at him as if they saw a ghost.But he noticed that the king-like one who sat at the old man's right never moved(though he turned pale)except that he clenched his hand very tight.Then he said：

“Speak,if you're not a phantom or a dream.You have a Narnian look about you and we are the seven friends of Narnia.”

Tirian was longing to speak,and he tried to cry out aloud that he was Tirian of Narnia,in great need of help.But he found(as I have sometimes found in dreams too)that his voice made no noise at all.

The one who had already spoken to him rose to his feet.“Shadow or spirit or whatever you are,” he said,fixing his eyes full upon Tirian.“If you are from Narnia,I charge you in the name of Aslan,speak to me.I am Peter the High King.”

The room began to swim before Tirian's eyes.He heard the voices of those seven people all speaking at once,and all getting fainter every second,and they were saying things like,“Look!It's fading.”“It's melting away.” “It's vanishing.”

Next moment he was wide awake,still tied to the tree,colder and stiffer than ever.The wood was full of the pale,dreary light that comes before sunrise,and he was soaking wet with dew；it was nearly morning.

That waking was about the worst moment he had ever had in his life.

CHAPTER 5

How Help Came to the King

But his misery did not last long.Almost at once there came a bump,and then a second bump,and two children were standing before him.The wood in front of him had been quite empty a second before and he knew they had not come from behind his tree,for he would have heard them.They had in fact simply appeared from nowhere.

He saw at a glance that they were wearing the same queer,dingy sort of clothes as the people in his dream；and he saw,at a second glance,that they were the youngest boy and girl out of that party of seven.

“Gosh!” said the Boy,“that took one's breath away!I thought—”

“Hurry up and get him untied,” said the girl.“We can talk,afterwards.” Then she added,turning to Tirian,“I'm sorry we've been so long.We came the moment we could.”

While she was speaking the Boy had produced a knife from his pocket and was quickly cutting the King's bonds：too quickly,in fact,for the King was so stiff and numb that when the last cord was cut he fell forward on his hands and knees.He couldn't get up again till he had brought some life back into his legs by a good rubbing.

“I say,” said the girl.“It was you,wasn't it,who appeared to us that night when we were all at supper?Nearly a week ago.”

“A week,fair maid?” said Tirian.“My dream led me into your world scarce ten minutes since.”

“It's the usual muddle about times,Pole,” said the Boy.

“I remember now,” said Tirian.“That too comes in all the old tales.The time of your strange land is different from ours.But if we speak of time,'tis time to be gone from here：for my enemies are close at hand.Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” said the girl.“It's you we've come to help.”

Tirian got to his feet and led them rapidly down hill,southward and away from the Stable.He knew well where he meant to go but his first aim was to get to rocky places where they would leave no trail,and his second to cross some water so that they would leave no scent.

This took them about an hour's scrambling and wading and while that was going on nobody had any breath to talk.But even so,Tirian kept on stealing glances at his companions.The wonder of walking beside the creatures from another world made him feel a little dizzy：but it also made all the old stories seem far more real than they had ever seemed before… anything might happen now.

“Now,” said Tirian as they came to the head of a little valley which ran down before them among young birch trees,“we are out of danger of those villains for a space and may walk more easily.” The sun had risen,dewdrops were twinkling on every branch,and birds were singing.

“What about some grub?– I mean for you,Sir；we two have had our breakfast,” said the Boy.

Tirian wondered very much what he meant by“grub”,but when the Boy opened a bulgy satchel which he was carrying and pulled out a rather greasy and squashy packet,he understood.He was ravenously hungry,though he hadn't thought about it till that moment.

There were two hard-boiled egg sandwiches,and two cheese sandwiches,and two with some kind of paste in them.If he hadn't been so hungry he wouldn't have thought much of the paste,for that is a sort of food nobody eats in Narnia.By the time he had eaten all six sandwiches they had come to the bottom of the valley and there they found a mossy cliff with a little fountain bubbling out of it.All three stopped and drank and splashed their hot faces.

“And now,” said the girl as she tossed her wet hair back from her forehead,“aren't you going to tell us who you are and why you were tied up and what it's all about?”

“With a good will,damsel,” said Tirian.“But we must keep on the march.” So while they went on walking he told them who he was and all the things that had happened to him.“And now,” he said at the end,“I am going to a certain tower,one of three that were built in my grandsire's time to guard Lantern Waste against certain perilous outlaws who dwelled there in his day.By Aslan's goodwill I was not robbed of my keys.In that tower we shall find stores of weapons and mail and some victuals also,though no better than dry biscuit.There also we can lie safe while we make our plans.And now,prithee,tell me who you two are and all your story.”

“I'm Eustace Scrubb and this is Jill Pole,” said the boy.“And we were here once before,ages and ages ago,more than a year ago by our time,and there was a chap called Prince Rilian,and they were keeping this chap underground,and Puddleglum put his foot in—”

“Ha!” cried Tirian,“are you then that Eustace and that Jill who rescued King Rilian from his long enchantment?”

“Yes,that's us,” said Jill.“So he's King Rilian now,is he?Oh,of course he would be.I forgot—”

“Nay,” said Tirian,“I am the seventh in descent from him.He has been dead over two hundred years.”

Jill made a face.“Ugh!” she said.“That's the horrid part about coming back to Narnia.” But Eustace went on.

“Well,now you know who we are,Sire,” he said.“And it was like this.The Professor and Aunt Polly had got all us friends of Narnia together—”

“I know not these names,Eustace,” said Tirian.

“They're the two who came into Narnia at the very beginning,the day all the animals learned to talk.”

“By the Lion's Mane,” cried Tirian.“Those two!The Lord Digory and the Lady Polly!From the dawn of the world!And still alive in your place?The wonder and the glory of it!But tell me,tell me.”

“She isn't really our aunt,you know,” said Eustace.“She's Miss Plummer,but we call her Aunt Polly.Well,those two got us all together,partly just for fun,so that we could all have a good jaw about Narnia(for of course there's no one else we can ever talk to about things like that)but partly because the Professor had a feeling that we were somehow wanted over here.

“Well,then you came in like a ghost or goodnessknows-what and nearly frightened the lives out of us and vanished without saying a word.After that,we knew for certain there was something up.The next question was how to get here.You can't go just by wanting to.So we talked and talked and at last the Professor said the only way would be by the Magic Rings.It was by those Rings that he and Aunt Polly got here long,long ago when they were only kids,years before we younger ones were born.

“But the Rings had all been buried in the garden of a house in London(that's our big town,Sire)and the house had been sold.So then the problem was how to get at them.You'll never guess what we did in the end!Peter and Edmund – that's the High King Peter,the one who spoke to you – went up to London to get into the garden from the back,early in the morning before people were up.They were dressed like workmen so that if anyone did see them it would look as if they'd come to do something about the drains.I wish I'd been with them,it must have been glorious fun.And they must have succeeded for the next day,Peter sent us a wire –that's a sort of message,Sire,I'll explain about it some other time – to say he'd got the Rings.And the day after that was the day Jill and I had to go back to school – we're the only two who are still at school and we're at the same one.So Peter and Edmund were to meet us at a place on the way down to school and hand over the Rings.It had to be us two who were to go to Narnia,you see,because the older ones couldn't come again.

“So we got into the train – that's a kind of thing people travel in in our world：a lot of wagons chained together – and the Professor and Aunt Polly and Lucy came with us.We wanted to keep together as long as we could.Well,there we were in the train.And we were just getting to the station where the others were to meet us,and I was looking out of the window to see if I could see them when suddenly there came a most frightful jerk and a noise：and there we were in Narnia and there was your Majesty tied up to the tree.”

“So you never used the Rings?” said Tirian.

“No,” said Eustace.“Never even saw them.Aslan did it all for us in his own way without any Rings.”

“But the High King Peter has them,” said Tirian.

“Yes,” said Jill.“But we don't think he can use them.When the two other Pevensies – King Edmund and Queen Lucy – were last here,Aslan said they would never come to Narnia again.And he said something of the same sort to the High King,only longer ago.You may be sure he'll come like a shot if he's allowed.”

“Gosh!” said Eustace.“It's getting hot in this sun.Are we nearly there,Sire?”

“Look,” said Tirian and pointed.Not many yards away grey battlements rose above the tree-tops,and after a minute's more walking they came out in an open grassy space.A stream ran across it and on the far side of the stream stood a squat,square tower with very few and narrow windows and one heavy-looking door in the wall that faced them.

Tirian looked sharply this way and that to make sure that no enemies were in sight.Then he walked up to the tower and stood still for a moment fishing up his bunch of keys which he wore inside his hunting-dress on a narrow silver chain that went round his neck.It was a nice bunch of keys that he brought out,for two were golden and many were richly ornamented：you could see at once that they were keys made for opening solemn and secret rooms in palaces,or chests and caskets of sweetsmelling wood that contained royal treasures.But the key which he now put into the lock of the door was big and plain and more rudely made.The lock was stiff and for a moment Tirian began to be afraid that he would not be able to turn it：but at last he did and the door swung open with a sullen creak.

“Welcome,friends,” said Tirian.“I fear this is the best palace that the King of Narnia can now offer to his guests.”

Tirian was pleased to see that the two strangers had been well brought up.They both said not to mention it and that they were sure it would be very nice.

As a matter of fact it was not particularly nice.It was rather dark and smelled very damp.There was only one room in it and this room went right up to the stone roof：a wooden staircase in one corner led up to a trap door by which you could get out on the battlements.There were a few rude bunks to sleep in,and a great many lockers and bundles.There was also a hearth which looked as if nobody had lit a fire in it for a great many years.

“We'd better go out and gather some firewood first thing,hadn't we?” said Jill.

“Not yet,comrade,” said Tirian.He was determined that they should not be caught unarmed,and began searching the lockers,thankfully remembering that he had always been careful to have these garrison towers inspected once a year and to make sure that they were stocked with all things needful.The bow strings were there in their coverings of oiled silk,the swords and spears were greased against rust,and the armour was kept bright in its wrappings.But there was something even better.“Look you!” said Tirian as he drew out a long mail shirt of a curious pattern and flashed it before the children's eyes.

“That's funny-looking mail,Sire,” said Eustace.

“Aye,lad,” said Tirian.“No Narnian Dwarf smithied that.'Tis mail of Calormen,outlandish gear.I have ever kept a few suits of it in readiness,for I never knew when I or my friends might have reason to walk unseen in the Tisroc's land.And look on this stone bottle.In this there is a juice which,when we have rubbed it on our hands and faces,will make us brown as Calormenes.”

“Oh,hurray!” said Jill.“Disguise!I love disguises.”

Tirian showed them how to pour out a little of the juice into the palms of their hands and then rub it well over their faces and necks,right down to the shoulders,and then on their hands,right up to the elbows.He did the same himself.

“After this has hardened on us,” he said,“we may wash in water and it will not change.Nothing but oil and ashes will make us white Narnians again.And now,sweet Jill,let us go see how this mail shirt becomes you.'Tis something too long,yet not so much as I feared.Doubtless it belonged to a page in the train of one of their Tarkaans.”

After the mail shirts they put on Calormene helmets,which are little round ones fitting tight to the head and having a spike on top.Then Tirian took long rolls of some white stuff out of the locker and wound them over the helmets till they became turbans：but the little steel spike still stuck up in the middle.He and Eustace took curved Calormene swords and little round shields.There was no sword light enough for Jill,but he gave her a long,straight hunting knife which might do for a sword at a pinch.

“Hast any skill with the bow,maiden?” said Tirian.

“Nothing worth talking of,” said Jill,blushing.“Scrubb's not bad.”

“Don't you believe her,Sire,” said Eustace.“We've both been practising archery ever since we got back from Narnia last time,and she's about as good as me now.Not that either of us is much.”

Then Tirian gave Jill a bow and a quiver full of arrows.The next business was to light a fire,for inside that tower it still felt more like a cave than like anything indoors and set one shivering.But they got warm gathering wood – the sun was now at its highest – and once the blaze was roaring up the chimney the place began to look cheerful.

Dinner was,however,a dull meal,for the best they could do was to pound up some of the hard biscuit which they found in a locker and pour it into boiling water,with salt,so as to make a kind of porridge.And of course there was nothing to drink but water.

“I wish we'd brought a packet of tea,” said Jill.

“Or a tin of cocoa,” said Eustace.

“A firkin or so of good wine in each of these towers would not have been amiss,” said Tirian.

CHAPTER 6

A Good Night's Work

About four hours later Tirian flung himself into one of the bunks to snatch a little sleep.The two children were already snoring：he had made them go to bed before he did because they would have to be up most of the night and he knew that at their age they couldn't do without sleep.Also,he had tired them out.First he had given Jill some practice in archery and found that,though not up to Narnian standards,she was really not too bad.Indeed she had succeeded in shooting a rabbit(not a Talking rabbit,of course：there are lots of the ordinary kind about in Western Narnia)and it was already skinned,cleaned,and hanging up.He had found that both the children knew all about this chilly and smelly job；they had learned that kind of thing on their great journey though Giant-Land in the days of Prince Rilian.

Then he had tried to teach Eustace how to use his sword and shield.Eustace had learned quite a lot about sword fighting on his earlier adventures but that had been all with a straight Narnian sword.He had never handled a curved Calormene scimitar and that made it hard,for many of the strokes are quite different and some of the habits he had learned with the long sword had now to be unlearned again.But Tirian found that he had a good eye and was very quick on his feet.He was surprised at the strength of both the children：in fact they both seemed to be already much stronger and bigger and more grown-up than they had been when he first met them a few hours before.It is one of the effects which Narnian air often has on visitors from our world.

All three of them agreed that the very first thing they must do was to go back to Stable Hill and try to rescue Jewel the Unicorn.After that,if they succeeded,they would try to get away eastward and meet the little army which Roonwit the Centaur would be bringing from Cair Paravel.

An experienced warrior and huntsman like Tirian can always wake up at the time he wants.So he gave himself till nine o'clock that night and then put all worries out of his head and fell asleep at once.It seemed only a moment later when he woke but he knew by the light and the very feel of things that he had timed his sleep exactly.He got up,put on his helmet-and-turban(he had slept in his mail shirt),and then shook the other two till they woke up.They looked,to tell the truth,very grey and dismal as they climbed out of their bunks and there was a good deal of yawning.

“Now,” said Tirian,“we go due North from here– by good fortune 'tis a starry night – and it will be much shorter than our journey this morning,for then we went round-about but now we shall go straight.If we are challenged,then do you two hold your peace and I will do my best to talk like a curst,cruel,proud lord of Calormen.If I draw my sword then thou,Eustace,must do likewise and let Jill leap behind us and stand with an arrow on the string.But if I cry 'Home',then fly for the Tower,both of you.And let none try to fight on – not even one stroke – after I have given the retreat：such false valour has spoiled many notable plans in the wars.And now,friends,in the name of Aslan let us go forward.”

Out they went into the cold night.All the great northern stars were burning above the tree-tops.The North Star of that world is called the SpearHead：it is brighter than our Pole Star.

For a time they could go straight towards the Spear-Head but presently they came to a dense thicket so that they had to go out of their course to get round it.And after that – for they were still overshadowed by branches – it was hard to pick up their bearings.It was Jill who set them right again：she had been an excellent Guide in England.And of course she knew her Narnian stars perfectly,having travelled so much in the wild Northern Lands,and could work out the direction from other stars even when the Spear-Head was hidden.

As soon as Tirian saw that she was the best pathfinder of the three of them he put her in front.And then he was astonished to find how silently and almost invisibly she glided on before them.

“By the Mane!” he whispered to Eustace.“This girl is a wondrous wood-maid.If she had Dryad's blood in her she could scarce do it better.”

“She's so small,that's what helps,” whispered Eustace.But Jill from in front said：“S-s-s-h,less noise.”

All round them the wood was very quiet.Indeed it was far too quiet.On an ordinary Narnia night there ought to have been noises – an occasional cheery “Goodnight” from a hedgehog,the cry of an owl overhead,perhaps a flute in the distance to tell of Fauns dancing,or some throbbing,hammering noises from Dwarfs under-ground.All that was silenced：gloom and fear reigned over Narnia.

After a time they began to go steeply uphill and the trees grew farther apart.Tirian could dimly make out the well-known hill-top and the Stable.Jill was now going with more and more caution：she kept on making signs to the others with her hand to do the same.Then she stopped dead still and Tirian saw her gradually sink down into the grass and disappear without a sound.A moment later she rose again,put her mouth close to Tirian's ear,and said in the lowest possible whisper,“Get down.Thee better.” She said thee for see not because she had a lisp but because she knew the hissing letter S is the part of a whisper most likely to be overheard.

Tirian at once lay down,almost as silently as Jill,but not quite,for he was heavier and older.And once they were down,he saw how from that position you could see the edge of the hill sharp against the star-strewn sky.Two black shapes rose against it：one was the Stable,and the other,a few feet in front of it,was a Calormene sentry.He was keeping very ill watch：not walking or even standing but sitting with his spear over his shoulder and his chin on his chest.

“Well done,” said Tirian to Jill.She had shown him exactly what he needed to know.

They got up and Tirian now took the lead.Very slowly,hardly daring to breathe,they made their way up to a little clump of trees which was not more than forty feet away from the sentinel.

“Wait here till I come again,” he whispered to the other two.“If I miscarry,fly.” Then he sauntered out boldly in full view of the enemy.The man started when he saw him and was just going to jump to his feet：he was afraid Tirian might be one of his own officers and that he would get into trouble for sitting down.But before he could get up Tirian had dropped on one knee beside him,saying：

“Art thou a warrior of the Tisroc's,may he live for ever?It cheers my heart to meet thee among all these beasts and devils of Narnians.Give me thy hand,friend.”

Before he well knew what was happening the Calormene sentry found his right hand seized in a mighty grip.Next instant someone was kneeling on his legs and a dagger was pressed against his neck.

“One noise and thou art dead,” said Tirian in his ear.“Tell me where the Unicorn is and thou shalt live.”

“B – behind the Stable,O My Master,” stammered the unfortunate man.

“Good.Rise up and lead me to him.”

As the man got up the point of the dagger never left his neck.It only travelled round(cold and rather ticklish)as Tirian got behind him and settled it at a convenient place under his ear.Trembling,he went round to the back of the Stable.

Though it was dark Tirian could see the white shape of Jewel at once.

“Hush!” he said.“No,do not neigh.Yes,Jewel,it is I.How have they tied thee?”

“Hobbled by all four legs and tied with a bridle to a ring in the Stable wall,” came Jewel's voice.

“Stand here,sentry,with your back to the wall.So.Now,Jewel,set the point of your horn against this Calormene's breast.”

“With a good will,Sire,” said Jewel.

“If he moves,rive him to the heart.” Then in a few seconds Tirian cut the ropes.With the remains of them he bound the sentry hand and foot.Finally he made him open his mouth,stuffed it full of grass and tied him up from scalp to chin so that he could make no noise,lowered the man into a sitting position and set him against the wall.

“I have done thee some discourtesy,soldier,” said Tirian.“But such was my need.If we meet again I may happen to do thee a better turn.Now,Jewel,let us go softly.”

He put his left arm round the beast's neck and bent and kissed its nose and both had great joy.They went back as quietly as possible to the place where he had left the children.It was darker in there under the trees and he nearly ran into Eustace before he saw him.

“All's well,” whispered Tirian.“A good night's work.Now for home.”

They turned and had gone a few paces when Eustace said,“Where are you,Pole?” There was no answer.“Is Jill on the other side of you,Sire?” he asked.

“What?” said Tirian.“Is she not on the other side of you?”

It was a terrible moment.They dared not shout but they whispered her name in the loudest whispers they could manage.There was no reply.

“Did she go from you while I was away?” asked Tirian.

“I didn't see or hear her go,” said Eustace.“But she could have gone without my knowing.She can be as quiet as a cat；you've seen for yourself.”

At that moment a far off drumbeat was heard.Jewel moved his ears forward.“Dwarfs,” he said.

“And treacherous Dwarfs,enemies,as likely as not,” muttered Tirian.

“And here comes something on hoofs,much nearer,” said Jewel.

The two humans and the Unicorn stood dead still.There were now so many different things to worry about that they didn't know what to do.The noise of hoofs came steadily nearer.

And then,quite close to them,a voice whispered：“Hallo!Are you all there?”

Thank heaven,it was Jill's.

“Where the devil have you been to?” said Eustace in a furious whisper,for he had been very frightened.

“In the Stable,” gasped Jill,but it was the sort of gasp you give when you're struggling with suppressed laughter.

“Oh,” growled Eustace,“you think it funny,do you?Well,all I can say is—”

“Have you got Jewel,Sire?” asked Jill.

“Yes.Here he is.What is that beast with you?”

“That's him,” said Jill.“But let's be off home before anyone wakes up.” And again there came little explosions of laughter.

The others obeyed at once for they had already lingered long enough in that dangerous place and the dwarf drums seemed to have come a little nearer.

It was only after they had been walking southward for several minutes that Eustace said：

“Got him?What do you mean?”

“The false Aslan,” said Jill.

“What?” said Tirian.“Where have you been?What have you done?”

“Well,Sire,” said Jill.“As soon as I saw that you'd got the sentry out of the way I thought hadn't I better have a look inside the Stable and see what really is there?So I crawled along.It was as easy as anything to draw the bolt.Of course it was pitch black inside and smelled like any other Stable.Then I struck a light and – would you believe it?–there was nothing at all there but this old donkey with a bundle of lion-skin tied on to his back.So I drew my knife and told him he'd have to come along with me.As a matter of fact I needn't have threatened him with the knife at all.He was very fed up with the Stable and quite ready to come –weren't you,Puzzle,dear?”

“Great Scott!” said Eustace.“Well I'm – I'm jiggered.I was jolly angry with you a moment ago,and I still think it was mean of you to sneak off without the rest of us：but I must admit – well,I mean to say – well,it was a perfectly gorgeous thing to do.If she was a boy she'd have to be knighted,wouldn't she,Sire?”

“If she was a boy,” said Tirian,“she'd be whipped for disobeying orders.” And in the dark no one could see whether he said this with a frown or a smile.Next minute there was a sound of rasping metal.

“What are you doing,Sire?” asked Jewel sharply.

“Drawing my sword to smite off the head of the accursed Ass,” said Tirian in a terrible voice.“Stand clear,girl.”

“Oh,don't,please don't,” said Jill.“Really,you mustn't.It wasn't his fault.It was all the Ape.He didn't know any better.And he's very sorry.And he's a nice donkey.His name's Puzzle.And I've got my arms round his neck.”

“Jill,” said Tirian,“you are the bravest and most wood-wise of all my subjects,but also the most malapert and disobedient.Well：let the Ass live.What have you to say for yourself,Ass?”

“Me,Sire?” came the Donkey's voice.“I'm sure I'm very sorry if I've done wrong.The Ape said Aslan wanted me to dress up like that.And I thought he'd know.I'm not clever like him.I only did what I was told.It wasn't any fun for me living in that Stable.I don't even know what's been going on outside.He never let me out except for a minute or two at night.Some days they forgot to give me any water too.”

“Sire,” said Jewel.“Those Dwarfs are coming nearer and nearer.Do we want to meet them?”

Tirian thought for a moment and then suddenly gave a great laugh out loud.Then he spoke,not this time in a whisper.

“By the Lion,” he said,“I am growing slowwitted!Meet them?Certainly we will meet them.We will meet anyone now.We have this Ass to show them.Let them see the thing they have feared and bowed to.We can show them the truth of the Ape's vile plot.His secret's out.The tide's turned.Tomorrow we shall hang that Ape on the highest tree in Narnia.No more whispering and skulking and disguises.Where are these honest Dwarfs?We have good news for them.”

When you have been whispering for hours the mere sound of anyone talking out loud has a wonderfully stirring effect.The whole party began talking and laughing：even Puzzle lifted up his head and gave a grand Haw-hee-haw-hee-hee；a thing the Ape hadn't allowed him to do for days.

Then they set off in the direction of the drumming.It grew steadily louder and soon they could see torchlight as well.They came out on one of those rough roads(we should hardly call them roads at all in England)which ran through Lantern Waste.And there,marching sturdily along,were about thirty Dwarfs,all with their little spades and mattocks over their shoulders.Two armed Calormenes led the column and two more brought up the rear.

“Stay!” thundered Tirian as he stepped out on the road.“Stay,soldiers.Whither do you lead these Narnian Dwarfs and by whose orders?”

CHAPTER 7

Mainly About Dwarfs

The two Calormene soldiers at the head of the column,seeing what they took for a Tarkaan or great lord with two armed pages,came to a halt and raised their spears in salute.

“O My Master,” said one of them,“we lead these manikins to Calormen to work in the mines of the Tisroc,may-he-live-forever.”

“By the great god Tash,they are very obedient,”said Tirian.Then suddenly he turned to the Dwarfs themselves.About one in six of them carried a torch and by that flickering light he could see their bearded faces all looking at him with grim and dogged expressions.

“Has the Tisroc fought a great battle,Dwarfs,and conquered your land?” he asked,“that thus you go patiently to die in the salt-pits of Pugrahan?”

The two soldiers glared at him in surprise but the Dwarfs all answered,“Aslan's orders,Aslan's orders.He's sold us.What can we do against him?”

“Tisroc indeed!” added one and spat.“I'd like to see him try it!”

“Silence,dog!” said the chief soldier.

“Look!” said Tirian,pulling Puzzle forward into the light.“It has all been a lie.Aslan has not come to Narnia at all.You have been cheated by the Ape.This is the thing he brought out of the Stable to show you.Look at it.”

What the Dwarfs saw,now that they could see it close,was certainly enough to make them wonder how they had ever been taken in.The lion-skin had got pretty untidy already during Puzzle's long imprisonment in the Stable and it had been knocked crooked during his journey through the dark wood.Most of it was in a big lump on one shoulder.The head,besides being pushed sideways,had somehow got very far back so that anyone could now see his silly,gentle,donkeyish face gazing out of it.Some grass stuck out of one corner of his mouth,for he'd been doing a little quiet nibbling as they brought him along.And he was muttering,“It wasn't my fault,I'm not clever.I never said I was.”

For one second all the Dwarfs were staring at Puzzle with wide open mouths and then one of the soldiers said sharply,“Are you mad,my Master?What are you doing to the slaves?” and the other said,“And who are you?” Neither of their spears was at the salute now – both were down and ready for action.

“Give the password,” said the chief soldier.

“This is my password,” said the King as he drew his sword.“The light is dawning,the lie broken.Now guard thee,miscreant,for I am Tirian of Narnia.”

He flew upon the chief soldier like lightning.Eustace,who had drawn his sword when he saw the King draw his,rushed at the other one：his face was deadly pale,but I wouldn't blame him for that.And he had the luck that beginners sometimes do have.He forgot all that Tirian had tried to teach him that afternoon,slashed wildly(indeed I'm not sure his eyes weren't shut)and suddenly found,to his own great surprise,that the Calormene lay dead at his feet.And though that was a great relief,it was,at the moment,rather frightening.The King's fight lasted a second or two longer：then he too had killed his man and shouted to Eustace,“'Ware the other two.”

But the Dwarfs had settled the two remaining Calormenes.There was no enemy left.

“Well struck,Eustace!” cried Tirian,clapping him on the back.“Now,Dwarfs,you are free.Tomorrow I will lead you to free all Narnia.Three cheers for Aslan!”

But the result which followed was simply wretched.There was a feeble attempt from a few Dwarfs(about five)which died away all at once：from several others there were sulky growls.Many said nothing at all.

“Don't they understand?” said Jill impatiently.“What's wrong with all you dwarfs?Don't you hear what the King says?It's all over.The Ape isn't going to rule Narnia any longer.Everyone can go back to ordinary life.You can have fun again.Aren't you glad?”

After a pause of nearly a minute,a not-very-nicelooking Dwarf with hair and beard as black as soot said：“And who might you be,Missie?”

“I'm Jill,” she said.“The same Jill who rescued King Rilian from the enchantment– and this is Eustace who did it too – and we've come back from another world after hundreds of years.Aslan sent us.”

The Dwarfs all looked at one another with grins；sneering grins,not merry ones.

“Well,” said the Black Dwarf(whose name was Griffle),“I don't know how all you chaps feel,but I feel I've heard as much about Aslan as I want to for the rest of my life.”

“That's right,that's right,” growled the other Dwarfs.“It's all a plant,all a blooming plant.”

“What do you mean?” said Tirian.He had not been pale when he was fighting but he was pale now.He had thought this was going to be a beautiful moment,but it was turning out more like a bad dream.

“You must think we're blooming soft in the head,that you must,” said Griffle.“We've been taken in once and now you expect us to be taken in again the next minute.We've no more use for stories about Aslan,see!Look at him!An old moke with long ears!”

“By heaven,you make me mad,” said Tirian.“Which of us said that was Aslan?That is the Ape's imitation of the real Aslan.Can't you understand?”

“And you've got a better imitation,I suppose!”said Griffle.“No thanks.We've been fooled once and we're not going to be fooled again.”

“I have not,” said Tirian angrily,“I serve the real Aslan.”

“Where's he?Who's he?Show him to us!” said several Dwarfs.

“Do you think I keep him in my wallet,fools?”said Tirian.“Who am I that I could make Aslan appear at my bidding?He's not a tame lion.”

The moment those words were out of his mouth he realised that he had made a false move.The dwarfs at once began repeating “not a tame lion,not a tame lion,” in a jeering sing-song.“That's what the other lot kept on telling us,” said one.

“Do you mean you don't believe in the real Aslan?” said Jill.“But I've seen him.And he has sent us two here out of a different world.”

“Ah,” said Griffle with a broad smile.“So you say.They've taught you your stuff all right.Saying your lessons,ain't you?”

“Churl,” cried Tirian,“will you give a lady the lie to her very face?”

“You keep a civil tongue in your head,Mister,”replied the Dwarf.“I don't think we want any more Kings – if you are Tirian,which you don't look like him – no more than we want any Aslans.We're going to look after ourselves from now on and touch our caps to nobody.See?”

“That's right,” said the other Dwarfs.“We're on our own now.No more Aslan,no more Kings,no more silly stories about other worlds.The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.” And they began to fall into their places and to get ready for marching back to wherever they had come from.

“Little beasts!” said Eustace.“Aren't you even going to say thank you for being saved from the saltmines?”

“Oh,we know all about that,” said Griffle over his shoulder.“You wanted to make use of us,that's why you rescued us.You're playing some game of your own.Come on,you chaps.”

And the dwarfs struck up the queer little marching song which goes with the drumbeat,and off they tramped into the darkness.

Tirian and his friends stared after them.Then he said the single word “Come,” and they continued their journey.

They were a silent party.Puzzle felt himself to be still in disgrace,and also he didn't really quite understand what had happened.Jill,besides being disgusted with the Dwarfs,was very impressed with Eustace's victory over the Calormene and felt almost shy.As for Eustace,his heart was still beating rather quickly.

Tirian and Jewel walked sadly together in the rear.The King had his arm on the Unicorn's shoulder and sometimes the Unicorn nuzzled the King's cheek with his soft nose.They did not try to comfort one another with words.It wasn't very easy to think of anything to say that would be comforting.Tirian had never dreamed that one of the results of an Ape's setting up a false Aslan would be to stop people from believing in the real one.He had felt quite sure that the Dwarfs would rally to his side the moment he showed them how they had been deceived.And then the next night he would have led them to Stable Hill and shown Puzzle to all the creatures and everyone would have turned against the Ape and,perhaps after a scuffle with the Calormenes,the whole thing would have been over.But now,it seemed,he could count on nothing.How many other Narnians might turn the same way as the Dwarfs?

“Somebody's coming after us,I think,” said Puzzle suddenly.

They stopped and listened.Sure enough,there was a thump-thump of small feet behind them.

“Who goes there?” shouted the King.

“Only me,Sire,” came a voice.“Me,Poggin the Dwarf.I've only just managed to get away from the others.I'm on your side,Sire：and on Aslan's.If you can put a Dwarfish sword in my fist,I'd gladly strike a blow on the right side before all's done.”

Everyone crowded round him and welcomed him and praised him and slapped him on the back.Of course one single Dwarf could not make a very great difference,but it was somehow very cheering to have even one.The whole party brightened up.But Jill and Eustace didn't stay bright for very long,for they were now yawning their heads off and too tired to think about anything but bed.

It was at the coldest hour of the night,just before dawn,that they got back to the tower.If there had been a meal ready for them they would have been glad enough to eat,but the bother and delay of getting one was not to be thought of.They drank from a stream,splashed their faces with water,and tumbled into their bunks,except for Puzzle and Jewel who said they'd be more comfortable outside.This perhaps was just as well,for a Unicorn and a fat,full-grown donkey indoors always make a room feel rather crowded.

Narnian Dwarfs,though less than four feet high,are for their size about the toughest and strongest creatures there are,so that Poggin,in spite of a heavy day and a late night,woke fully refreshed before any of the others.He at once took Jill's bow,went out and shot a couple of wood pigeons.Then he sat plucking them on the doorstep and chatting to Jewel and Puzzle.

Puzzle looked and felt a good deal better that morning.Jewel,being a Unicorn and therefore one of the noblest and delicatest of beasts,had been very kind to him,talking to him about things of the sort they could both understand like grass and sugar and the care of one's hooves.

When Jill and Eustace came out of the Tower yawning and rubbing their eyes at almost half past ten,the Dwarf showed them where they could gather plenty of a Narnian weed called Wild Fresney,which looks rather like our wood-sorrel but tastes a good deal nicer when cooked.(It needs a little butter and pepper to make it perfect,but they hadn't got these.)So that what with one thing and another,they had the makings of a capital stew for their breakfast or dinner,whichever you choose to call it.Tirian went a little farther off into the wood with an axe and brought back some branches for fuel.

While the meal was cooking – which seemed a very long time,especially as it smelled nicer and nicer the nearer it came to being done – the King found a complete Dwarfish outfit for Poggin：mail shirt,helmet,shield,sword,belt and dagger.Then he inspected Eustace's sword and found that Eustace had put it back in the sheath all messy from killing the Calormene.He was scolded for that and made to clean and polish it.

All this while Jill went to and fro,sometimes stirring the pot and sometimes looking out enviously at the Donkey and the Unicorn who were contentedly grazing.How many times that morning she wished she could eat grass!

But when the meal came everyone felt it had been worth waiting for,and there were second helpings all round.

When everyone had eaten as much as he could,the three humans and the Dwarf came and sat on the doorstep,the four-footed ones lay down facing them,the Dwarf(with permission both from Jill and from Tirian)lit his pipe,and the King said：“Now,friend Poggin,you have more news of the enemy,belike,than we.Tell us all you know.And first,what tale do they tell of my escape?”

“As cunning a tale,Sire,as ever was devised,”said Poggin.“It was the Cat,Ginger,who told it,and most likely made it up too.This Ginger,Sire –oh,he's a slyboots if ever a cat was – said he was walking past the tree to which those villains bound your Majesty.And he said(saving your reverence)that you were howling and swearing and cursing Aslan：'language I wouldn't like to repeat' were the words he used,looking ever so prim and proper –you know the way a Cat can when it pleases.And then,says Ginger,Aslan himself suddenly appeared in a flash of lightning and swallowed your Majesty up at one mouthful.

“All the Beasts trembled at this story and some fainted right away.And of course the Ape followed it up.There,he says,see what Aslan does to those who don't respect him.Let that be a warning to you all.And the poor creatures wailed and whined and said,it will,it will.So that in the upshot your Majesty's escape has not set them thinking whether you still have loyal friends to aid you,but only made them more afraid and more obedient to the Ape.”

“What devilish policy!” said Tirian.“This Ginger,then,is close in the Ape's counsels.”

“It's more a question by now,Sire,if the Ape is in his counsels,” replied the Dwarf.“The Ape has taken to drinking,you see.My belief is that the plot is now mostly carried on by Ginger or Rishda –that's the Calormene captain.And I think some words that Ginger has scattered among the Dwarfs are chiefly to blame for the scurvy return they made you.And I'll tell you why.

“One of those dreadful midnight meetings had just broken up the night before last and I'd gone a bit of the way home when I found I'd left my pipe behind.It was a real good 'un,an old favourite,so I went back to look for it.But before I got to the place where I'd been sitting(it was black as pitch there)I heard a cat's voice say Mew and a Calormene voice say 'here… speak softly,' so I just stood as still as if I was frozen.And these two were Ginger and Rishda Tarkaan as they call him.

“'Noble Tarkaan,' said the Cat in that silky voice of his,'I just wanted to know exactly what we both meant today about Aslan meaning no more than Tash.'

“'Doubtless,most sagacious of cats,' says the other,'you have perceived my meaning.'

“'You mean,' says Ginger,'that there's no such person as either.'

“'All who are enlightened know that,' said the Tarkaan.

“'Then we can understand one another,' purrs the Cat.

“'Do you,like me,grow a little weary of the Ape?'

“'A stupid,greedy brute,' says the other,'but we must use him for the present.Thou and I must provide for all things in secret and make the Ape do our will.'

“'And it would be better,wouldn't it,' said Ginger,'to let some of the more enlightened Narnians into our counsels：one by one as we find them apt.For the Beasts who really believe in Aslan may turn at any moment：and will,if the Ape's folly betrays his secret.But those who care neither for Tash nor Aslan but have only an eye to their own profit and such reward as the Tisroc may give them when Narnia is a Calormene province,will be firm.'

“'Excellent,Cat,' said the Captain.'But choose which ones carefully.'”

While the Dwarf had been speaking the day seemed to have changed.It had been sunny when they sat down.Now Puzzle shivered.Jewel shifted his head uneasily.Jill looked up.

“It's clouding over,” she said.

“And it's so cold,” said Puzzle.

“Cold enough,by the Lion!” said Tirian,blowing on his hands.“And faugh!What foul smell is this?”

“Phew!” gasped Eustace.“It's like something dead.Is there a dead bird somewhere about?And why didn't we notice it before?”

With a great upheaval Jewel scrambled to his feet and pointed with his horn.

“Look!” he cried.“Look at it!Look,look!”

Then all six of them saw；and over all their faces there came an expression of uttermost dismay.

CHAPTER 8

What News the Eagle Brought

In the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearing something was moving.It was gliding very slowly Northwards.At a first glance you might have mistaken it for smoke,for it was grey and you could see things through it.But the deathly smell was not the smell of smoke.Also,this thing kept its shape instead of billowing and curling as smoke would have done.It was roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird；some bird of prey with a cruel,curved beak.It had four arms which it held high above its head,stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip；and its fingers – all twenty of them –were curved like its beak and had long,pointed,bird-like claws instead of nails.It floated on the grass instead of walking,and the grass seemed to wither beneath it.

After one look at it,Puzzle gave a screaming bray and darted into the tower.And Jill(who was no coward,as you know)hid her face in her hands to shut out the sight of it.The others watched it for perhaps a minute,until it streamed away into the thicker trees on their right and disappeared.Then the sun came out again,and the birds once more began to sing.

Everyone started breathing properly again and moved.They had all been still as statues while it was in sight.

“What was it?” said Eustace in a whisper.

“I have seen it once before,” said Tirian.“But that time it was carved in stone and overlaid with gold and had solid diamonds for eyes.It was when I was no older than thou,and had gone as a guest to the Tisroc's court in Tashbaan.He took me into the great temple of Tash.There I saw it,carved above the altar.”

“Then that – that thing – was Tash?” said Eustace.

But instead of answering him,Tirian slipped his arm behind Jill's shoulders and said,“How is it with you,Lady?”

“A-all right,” said Jill,taking her hands away from her pale face and trying to smile.“I'm all right.It only made me feel a little sick for a moment.”

“It seems,then,” said the Unicorn,“that there is a real Tash,after all.”

“Yes,” said the Dwarf.“And this fool of an Ape,who didn't believe in Tash,will get more than he bargained for!He called for Tash：Tash has come.”

“Where has it – he – the Thing – gone to?” said Jill.

“North into the heart of Narnia,” said Tirian.“It has come to dwell among us.They have called it and it has come.”

“Ho,ho,ho!” chuckled the Dwarf,rubbing his hairy hands together.“It will be a surprise for the Ape.People shouldn't call for demons unless they really mean what they say.”

“Who knows if Tash will be visible to the Ape?”said Jewel.

“Where has Puzzle got to?” said Eustace.

They all shouted out Puzzle's name and Jill went round to the other side of the Tower to see if he had gone there.

They were quite tired of looking for him when at last his large grey head peered cautiously out of the doorway and he said,“Has it gone away?” And when at last they got him to come out,he was shivering the way a dog shivers before a thunderstorm.

“I see now,” said Puzzle,“that I really have been a very bad donkey.I ought never to have listened to Shift.I never thought things like this would begin to happen.”

“If you'd spent less time saying you weren't clever and more time trying to be as clever as you could—” began Eustace but Jill interrupted him.

“Oh,leave poor old Puzzle alone,” she said.“It was all a mistake；wasn't it,Puzzle dear?” And she kissed him on the nose.

Though rather shaken by what they had seen,the whole party now sat down again and went on with their talk.

Jewel had little to tell them.While he was a prisoner he had spent nearly all his time tied up at the back of the Stable,and had of course heard none of the enemies' plans.He had been kicked(he'd done some kicking back too)and beaten and threatened with death unless he would say that he believed it was Aslan who was brought out and shown to them by firelight every night.In fact he was going to be executed that very morning if he had not been rescued.He didn't know what had happened to the Lamb.

The question they had to decide was whether they would go to Stable Hill again that night,show Puzzle to the Narnians and try to make them see how they had been tricked,or whether they should steal away eastward to meet the help which Roonwit the Centaur was bringing up from Cair Paravel and return against the Ape and his Calormenes in force.

Tirian would very much like to have followed the first plan：he hated the idea of leaving the Ape to bully his people one moment longer than need be.On the other hand,the way the dwarfs had behaved the previous night was a warning.Apparently one couldn't be sure how people would take it even if he showed them Puzzle.And there were the Calormene soldiers to be reckoned with.Poggin thought there were about thirty of them.Tirian felt sure that if the Narnians all rallied to his side,he and Jewel and the children and Poggin(Puzzle didn't count for much)would have a good chance of beating them.But how if half the Narnians –including all the Dwarfs – just sat and looked on?or even fought against him?The risk was too great.And there was,too,the cloudy shape of Tash.What might it do?

And then,as Poggin pointed out,there was no harm in leaving the Ape to deal with his own difficulties for a day or two.He would have no Puzzle to bring out and show now.It wasn't easy to see what story he – or Ginger – could make up to explain that.If the Beasts asked night after night to see Aslan,and no Aslan was brought out,surely even the simplest of them would get suspicious.

In the end they all agreed that the best thing was to go off and try to meet Roonwit.

As soon as they had decided this,it was wonderful how much more cheerful everyone became.I don't honestly think that this was because any of them was afraid of a fight(except perhaps Jill and Eustace).But I daresay that each of them,deep down inside,was very glad not to go any nearer –or not yet – to that horrible bird-headed thing which,visible or invisible,was now probably haunting Stable Hill.Anyway,one always feels better when one has made up one's mind.

Tirian said they had better remove their disguises,as they didn't want to be mistaken for Calormenes and perhaps attacked by any loyal Narnians they might meet.The Dwarf made up a horrid-looking mess of ashes from the hearth and grease out of the jar of grease which was kept for rubbing on swords and spear-heads.Then they took off their Calormene armour and went down to the stream.

The nasty mixture made a lather just like soft soap：it was a pleasant,homely sight to see Tirian and the two children kneeling beside the water and scrubbing the backs of their necks or puffing and blowing as they splashed the lather off.Then they went back to the Tower with red,shiny faces,looking like people who have been given an extra special good wash before a party.They re-armed themselves in true Narnian style,with straight swords and three-cornered shields.“Body of me,”said Tirian.“That is better.I feel a true man again.”

Puzzle begged very hard to have the lion-skin taken off him.He said it was too hot and the way it was rucked up on his back was uncomfortable：also,it made him look so silly.But they told him he would have to wear it a bit longer,for they still wanted to show him in that get-up to the other Beasts,even though they were now going to meet Roonwit first.

What was left of the pigeon-meat and rabbitmeat was not worth bringing away but they took some biscuits.Then Tirian locked the door of the tower and that was the end of their stay there.

It was a little after two in the afternoon when they set out,and it was the first really warm day of that spring.The young leaves seemed to be much farther out than yesterday：the snow-drops were over,but they saw several primroses.The sunlight slanted through the trees,birds sang,and always(though usually out of sight)there was the noise of running water.It was hard to think of horrible things like Tash.The children felt,“This is really Narnia at last.” Even Tirian's heart grew lighter as he walked ahead of them,humming an old Narnian marching song which had the refrain：

Ho,rumble,rumble,rumble,rumble

Rumble drum belaboured.

After the King came Eustace and Poggin the Dwarf.Poggin was telling Eustace the names of all the Narnian trees,birds,and plants which he didn't know already.Sometimes Eustace would tell him about English ones.

After them came Puzzle,and after him Jill and Jewel walking very close together.Jill had,as you might say,quite fallen in love with the Unicorn.She thought – and she wasn't far wrong – that he was the shiningest,delicatest,most graceful animal she had ever met：and he was so gentle and soft of speech that,if you hadn't known,you would hardly have believed how fierce and terrible he could be in battle.

“Oh,this is nice!” said Jill.“Just walking along like this.I wish there could be more of this sort of adventure.It's a pity there's always so much happening in Narnia.”

But the Unicorn explained to her that she was quite mistaken.He said that the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve were brought out of their own strange world into Narnia only at times when Narnia was stirred and upset,but she mustn't think it was always like that.In between their visits there were hundreds and thousands of years when peaceful King followed peaceful King till you could hardly remember their names or count their numbers,and there was really hardly anything to put into the History Books.And he went on to talk of old Queens and heroes whom she had never heard of.He spoke of Swanwhite the Queen who had lived before the days of the White Witch and the Great Winter,who was so beautiful that when she looked into any forest pool the reflection of her face shone out of the water like a star by night for a year and a day afterwards.He spoke of Moonwood the Hare who had such ears that he could sit by Caldron Pool under the thunder of the great waterfall and hear what men spoke in whispers at Cair Paravel.He told how King Gale,who was ninth in descent from Frank the first of all Kings,had sailed far away into the Eastern seas and delivered the Lone Islanders from a dragon and how,in return,they had given him the Lone Islands to be part of the royal lands of Narnia for ever.He talked of whole centuries in which all Narnia was so happy that notable dances and feasts,or at most tournaments,were the only things that could be remembered,and every day and week had been better than the last.And as he went on,the picture of all those happy years,all the thousands of them,piled up in Jill's mind till it was rather like looking down from a high hill on to a rich,lovely plain full of woods and waters and cornfields,which spread away and away till it got thin and misty from distance.And she said：

“Oh,I do hope we can soon settle the Ape and get back to those good,ordinary times.And then I hope they'll go on for ever and ever and ever.Our world is going to have an end some day.Perhaps this one won't.Oh,Jewel – wouldn't it be lovely if Narnia just went on and on – like what you said it has been?”

“Nay,sister,” answered Jewel,“all worlds draw to an end,except Aslan's own country.”

“Well,at least,” said Jill,“I hope the end of this one is millions of millions of millions of years away– hullo!What are we stopping for?”

The King and Eustace and the Dwarf were all staring up at the sky.Jill shuddered,remembering what horrors they had seen already.But it was nothing of that sort this time.It was small,and looked black against the blue.

“I dare swear,” said the Unicorn,“from its flight,that it is a Talking bird.”

“So think I,” said the King.“But is it a friend,or a spy of the Ape's?”

“To me,Sire,” said the Dwarf,“it has a look of Farsight the Eagle.”

“Ought we to hide under the trees?” said Eustace.

“Nay,” said Tirian,“best stand still as rocks.He would see us for certain if we moved.”

“Look!He wheels,he has seen us already,” said Jewel.“He is coming down in wide circles.”

“Arrow on string,Lady,” said Tirian to Jill.“But by no means shoot till I bid you.He may be a friend.”

If one had known what was going to happen next it would have been a treat to watch the grace and ease with which the huge bird glided down.He alighted on a rocky crag a few feet from Tirian,bowed his crested head,and said in his strange eagle's voice,“Hail,King.”

“Hail,Farsight,” said Tirian.“And since you call me King,I may well believe you are not a follower of the Ape and his false Aslan.I am right glad of your coming.”

“Sire,” said the Eagle,“when you have heard my news you will be sorrier of my coming than of the greatest woe that ever befell you.”

Tirian's heart seemed to stop beating at these words,but he set his teeth and said,“Tell on.”

“Two sights have I seen,” said Farsight.“One was Cair Paravel filled with dead Narnians and living Calormenes：the Tisroc's banner advanced upon your royal battlements：and your subjects flying from the city – this way and that,into the woods.Cair Paravel was taken from the sea.Twenty great ships of Calormen put in there in the dark of the night before last night.”

No one could speak.

“And the other sight,five leagues nearer than Cair Paravel,was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead with a Calormene arrow in his side.I was with him in his last hour and he gave me this message to your Majesty：to remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy.”

“So,” said the King,after a long silence,“Narnia is no more.”

CHAPTER 9

The Great Meeting on Stable Hill

For a long time they could not speak nor even shed a tear.Then the Unicorn stamped the ground with his hoof,and shook his mane,and spoke.

“Sire,” he said,“there is now no need of counsel.We see that the Ape's plans were laid deeper than we dreamed of.Doubtless he has been long in secret traffic with the Tisroc,and as soon as he had found the lion-skin he sent him word to make ready his navy for the taking of Cair Paravel and all Narnia.Nothing now remains for us seven but to go back to Stable Hill,proclaim the truth,and take the adventure that Aslan sends us.And if,by a great marvel,we defeat those thirty Calormenes who are with the Ape,then to turn again and die in battle with the far greater host of them that will soon march from Cair Paravel.”

Tirian nodded.But he turned to the children and said：“Now,friends,it is time for you to go hence into your own world.Doubtless you have done all that you were sent to do.”

“B – but we've done nothing,” said Jill,who was shivering,not with fear exactly but because everything was so horrible.

“Nay,” said the King,“you loosed me from the tree：you glided before me like a snake last night in the wood and took Puzzle：and you,Eustace,killed your man.But you are too young to share in such a bloody end as we others must meet tonight or,it may be,three days hence.I entreat you – nay,I command you – to return to your own place.I should be put to shame if I let such young warriors fall in battle on my side.”

“No,no,no,” said Jill(very white when she began speaking and then suddenly very red and then white again.)“We won't,I don't care what you say.We're going to stick to you whatever happens,aren't we,Eustace?”

“Yes,but there's no need to get so worked up about it,” said Eustace,who had stuck his hands in his pockets(forgetting how very odd that looks when you are wearing a mail shirt).“Because,you see,we haven't any choice.What's the good of talking about our going back?How?We've got no magic for doing it!”

This was very good sense but,at the moment,Jill hated Eustace for saying it.He was fond of being dreadfully matter-of-fact when other people got excited.

When Tirian realised that the two strangers could not get home(unless Aslan suddenly whisked them away),he next wanted them to go across the Southern Mountains into Archenland where they might possibly be safe.But they didn't know their way and there was no one to send with them.Also,as Poggin said,once the Calormenes had Narnia they would certainly take Archenland in the next week or so：the Tisroc had always wanted to have these Northern countries for his own.In the end Eustace and Jill begged so hard that Tirian said they could come with him and take their chance –or,as he much more sensibly called it,“the adventure that Aslan would send them”.

The King's first idea was that they should not go back to Stable Hill – they were sick of the very name of it by now – till after dark.But the Dwarf told them that if they arrived there by daylight they would probably find the place deserted,except perhaps for a Calormene sentry.The Beasts were far too frightened by what the Ape(and Ginger)had told them about this new angry Aslan – or Tashlan – to go near it except when they were called together for these horrible midnight meetings.And Calormenes are never good woodsmen.Poggin thought that even by daylight they could easily get round to somewhere behind the Stable without being seen.This would be much harder to do when the night had come and the Ape might be calling the Beasts together and all the Calormenes were on duty.And when the meeting did begin they could leave Puzzle at the back of the Stable,completely out of sight,till the moment at which they wanted to produce him.This was obviously a good thing：for their only chance was to give the Narnians a sudden surprise.

Everyone agreed and the whole party set off on a new line – North-West – towards the hated Hill.The Eagle sometimes flew to and fro above them,sometimes he sat perched on Puzzle's back.No one– not even the King himself except in some great need – would dream of riding on a Unicorn.

This time Jill and Eustace walked together.They had been feeling very brave when they were begging to be allowed to come with the others,but now they didn't feel brave at all.

“Pole,” said Eustace in a whisper.“I may as well tell you I've got the wind up.”

“Oh,you're all right,Scrubb,” said Jill.“You can fight.But I – I'm just shaking,if you want to know the truth.”

“Oh,shaking's nothing,” said Eustace.“I'm feeling I'm going to be sick.”

“Don't talk about that,for goodness' sake,” said Jill.

They went on in silence for a minute or two.

“Pole,” said Eustace presently.

“What?” said she.

“What'll happen if we get killed here?”

“Well,we'll be dead,I suppose.”

“But I mean,what will happen in our own world?Shall we wake up and find ourselves back in that train?Or shall we just vanish and never be heard of any more?Or shall we be dead in England?”

“Gosh.I never thought of that.”

“It'll be rum for Peter and the others if they saw me waving out of the window and then when the train comes in we're nowhere to be found!Or if they found two – I mean,if we're dead over there in England.”

“Ugh!” said Jill.“What a horrid idea.”

“It wouldn't be horrid for us,” said Eustace.“We shouldn't be there.”

“I almost wish – no I don't,though,” said Jill.

“What were you going to say?”

“I was going to say I wished we'd never come.But I don't,I don't,I don't.Even if we are killed.I'd rather be killed fighting for Narnia than grow old and stupid at home and perhaps go about in a bath chair and then die in the end just the same.”

“Or be smashed up by British Railways!”

“Why d'you say that?”

“Well,when that awful jerk came – the one that seemed to throw us into Narnia – I thought it was the beginning of a railway accident.So I was jolly glad to find ourselves here instead.”

While Jill and Eustace were talking about this,the others were discussing their plans and becoming less miserable.That was because they were now thinking of what was to be done this very night and the thought of what had happened to Narnia – the thought that all her glories and joys were over – was pushed away into the back part of their minds.The moment they stopped talking it would come out and make them wretched again：but they kept on talking.Poggin was really quite cheerful about the night's work they had to do.He was sure that the Boar and the Bear,and probably all the Dogs would come over to their side at once.And he couldn't believe that all the other Dwarfs would stick to Griffle.And fighting by firelight and in and out among trees would be an advantage to the weaker side.And then,if they could win tonight,need they really throw their lives away by meeting the main Calormene army a few days later?

Why not hide in the woods,or even up in the Western Waste beyond the great waterfall and live like outlaws?And then they might gradually get stronger and stronger,for Talking Beasts and Archenlanders would be joining them every day.And at last they'd come out of hiding and sweep the Calormenes(who would have got careless by then)out of the country and Narnia would be revived.After all,something very like that had happened in the time of King Miraz!

And Tirian heard all this and thought,“But what about Tash?” and felt in his bones that none of it was going to happen.But he didn't say so.

When they got nearer to Stable Hill of course everyone became quiet.Then the real wood-work began.From the moment at which they first saw the Hill to the moment at which they all arrived at the back of the Stable,it took them over two hours.It's the sort of thing one couldn't describe properly unless one wrote pages and pages about it.The journey from each bit of cover to the next was a separate adventure,and there were very long waits in between,and several false alarms.If you are a good Scout or a good Guide you will know already what it must have been like.By about sunset they were all safe in a clump of holly trees about fifteen yards behind the Stable.They all munched some biscuit and lay down.

Then came the worst part,the waiting.Luckily for the children they slept for a couple of hours,but of course they woke up when the night grew cold,and what's worse,woke up very thirsty and with no chance of getting a drink.Puzzle just stood,shivering a little with nervousness,and said nothing.But Tirian,with his head against Jewel's flank,slept as soundly as if he were in his royal bed at Cair Paravel,till the sound of a gong beating awoke him and he sat up and saw that there was firelight on the far side of the Stable and knew that the hour had come.

“Kiss me,Jewel,” he said.“For certainly this is our last night on earth.And if ever I offended against you in any matter great or small,forgive me now.”

“Dear King,” said the Unicorn,“I could almost wish you had,so that I might forgive it.Farewell.We have known great joys together.If Aslan gave me my choice I would choose no other life than the life I have had and no other death than the one we go to.”

Then they woke up Farsight,who was asleep with his head under his wing(it made him look as if he had no head at all),and crept forward to the Stable.They left Puzzle(not without a kind word,for no one was angry with him now)just behind it,telling him not to move till someone came to fetch him,and took up their position at one end of the Stable.

The bonfire had not been lit for long and was just beginning to blaze up.It was only a few feet away from them,and the great crowd of Narnian creatures were on the other side of it,so that Tirian could not at first see them very well,though of course he saw dozens of eyes shining with the reflection of the fire,as you've seen a rabbit's or cat's eyes in the headlights of a car.And just as Tirian took his place,the gong stopped beating and from somewhere on his left three figures appeared.One was Rishda Tarkaan the Calormene Captain.The second was the Ape.He was holding on to the Tarkaan's hand with one paw and kept whimpering and muttering,“Not so fast,don't go so fast,I'm not at all well.Oh,my poor head!These midnight meetings are getting too much for me.Apes aren't meant to be up at night.It's not as if I was a rat or a bat – oh,my poor head.”

On the other side of the Ape,walking very soft and stately,with his tail straight up in the air,came Ginger the Cat.They were heading for the bonfire and were so close to Tirian that they would have seen him at once if they had looked in the right direction.Fortunately they did not.But Tirian heard Rishda say to Ginger in a low voice：

“Now,Cat,to thy post.See thou play the part well.”

“Miaow,miaow.Count on me!” said Ginger.Then he stepped away beyond the bonfire and sat down in the front row of the assembled Beasts：in the audience,as you might say.

For really,as it happened,the whole thing was rather like a theatre.The crowd of Narnians were like the people in the seats；the little grassy place just in front of the Stable,where the bonfire burned and the Ape and the Captain stood to talk to the crowd,was like the stage；the Stable itself was like the scenery at the back of the stage；and Tirian and his friends were like people peering round from behind the scenery.It was a splendid position.If any of them stepped forward into the full firelight,all eyes would be fixed on him at once：on the other hand,so long as they stood still in the shadow of the end wall of the Stable,it was a hundred to one against their being noticed.

Rishda Tarkaan dragged the Ape up close to the fire.The pair of them turned to face the crowd,and this of course meant that their backs were towards Tirian and his friends.

“Now,Monkey,” said Rishda Tarkaan in a low voice.“Say the words that wiser heads have put into thy mouth.And hold up thy head.” As he spoke he gave the Ape a little prod or kick from behind with the point of his toe.

“Do leave me alone,” muttered Shift.But he sat up straighter and began,in a louder voice – “Now listen,all of you.A terrible thing has happened.A wicked thing.The wickedest thing that ever was done in Narnia.And Aslan—”

“Tashlan,fool,” whispered Rishda Tarkaan.

“Tashlan,I mean,of course,” said the Ape,“is very angry about it.”

There was a terrible silence while the beasts waited to hear what new trouble was in store for them.The little party by the end wall of the Stable also held their breath.What on earth was coming now?

“Yes,” said the Ape.“At this very moment,when the Terrible One himself is among us – there in the Stable just behind me – one wicked beast has chosen to do what you'd think no one would dare to do even if He were a thousand miles away.It has dressed itself up in a lion-skin and is wandering about in these very woods pretending to be Aslan.”

Jill wondered for a moment if the Ape had gone mad.Was he going to tell the whole truth?A roar of horror and rage went up from the Beasts.“Grrr!”came the growls.“Who is he?Where is he?Just let me get my teeth into him!”

“It was seen last night,” screamed the Ape,“but it got away.It's a donkey!A common,miserable Ass!If any of you see that Ass—”

“Grrr!” growled the beasts.“We will,we will.He'd better keep out of our way.”

Jill looked at the King.His mouth was open and his face was full of horror.And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan.By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger.What was the good,now,of telling the Beasts that an ass had been dressed up as a lion to deceive them?The Ape would only say,“That's just what I've said.” What was the good of showing them Puzzle in his lion-skin?They would only tear him in pieces.

“That's taken the wind out of our sails,”whispered Eustace.

“The ground is taken from under our feet,” said Tirian.

“Cursed,cursed cleverness!” said Poggin.“I'll be sworn that this new lie is of Ginger's making.”

CHAPTER 10

Who Will Go into the Stable?

Jill felt something tickling her ear.It was Jewel the Unicorn,whispering to her with the wide whisper of a horse's mouth.As soon as she heard what he was saying she nodded and tiptoed back to where Puzzle was standing.Quickly and quietly she cut the last cords that bound the lion-skin to him.It wouldn't do for him to be caught with that on,after what the Ape had said!She would like to have hidden the skin somewhere very far away,but it was too heavy.The best she could do was to kick it in among the thickest bushes.Then she made signs to Puzzle to follow her and they both joined the others.

The Ape was speaking again.

“And after a horrid thing like that,Aslan –Tashlan – is angrier than ever.He says he's been a great deal too good to you,coming out every night to be looked at,see!Well,he's not coming out any more.”

Howls and mewings and squeals and grunts were the Animals' answer to this,but suddenly a quite different voice broke in with a loud laugh.

“Hark what the monkey says,” it shouted.“We know why he isn't going to bring his precious Aslan out.I'll tell you why：because he hasn't got him.He never had anything except an old donkey with a lion-skin on its back.Now he's lost that and he doesn't know what to do.”

Tirian could not see the faces on the other side of the fire very well but he guessed this was Griffle the Chief Dwarf.And he was quite certain of it when,a second later,all the Dwarfs' voices joined in,singing：“Don't know what to do!Don't know what to do!Don't know what to do-o-o!”

“Silence!” thundered Rishda Tarkaan.“Silence,children of mud!Listen to me,you other Narnians,lest I give command to my warriors to fall upon you with the edge of the sword.The Lord Shift has already told you of that wicked ass.Do you think,because of him that there is no real Tashlan in the Stable?Do you?Beware,beware!”

“No,no,” shouted most of the crowd.But the Dwarfs said,“That's right,Darkie,you've got it.Come on,Monkey,show us what's in the Stable,seeing is believing.”

When next there was a moment's quiet the Ape said：“You Dwarfs think you're very clever,don't you?But not so fast.I never said you couldn't see Tashlan.Anyone who likes can see him.”

The whole assembly became silent.Then,after nearly a minute,the Bear began in a slow,puzzled voice：

“I don't quite understand all this,” it grumbled,“I thought you said—”

“You thought!” repeated the Ape.“As if anyone could call what goes on in your head thinking.Listen,you others.Anyone can see Tashlan.But he's not coming out.You have to go in and see him.”

“Oh,thank you,thank you,thank you,” said dozens of voices.“That's what we wanted!We can go in and see him face to face.And now he'll be kind and it will all be as it used to be.” And the Birds chattered,and the Dogs barked excitedly.Then suddenly,there was a great stirring and a noise of creatures rising to their feet,and in a second the whole lot of them would have been rushing forward and trying to crowd into the Stable door all together.

But the Ape shouted：“Get back!Quiet!Not so fast.”

The Beasts stopped,many of them with one paw in the air,many with tails wagging,and all of them with heads on one side.

“I thought you said,” began the Bear,but Shift interrupted.

“Anyone can go in,” he said.“But one at a time.Who'll go first?He didn't say he was feeling very kind.He's been licking his lips a lot since he swallowed up the wicked King the other night.He's been growling a good deal this morning.I wouldn't much like to go into that Stable myself tonight.But just as you please.Who'd like to go in first?Don't blame me if he swallows you whole or blasts you into a cinder with the mere terror of his eyes.That's your affair.Now then!Who's first?What about one of you Dwarfs?”

“Dilly,dilly,come and be killed!” sneered Griffle.“How do we know what you've got in there?”

“Ho-ho!” cried the Ape.“So you're beginning to think there's something there,eh?Well,all you Beasts were making noise enough a minute ago.What's struck you all dumb?Who's going in first?”

But the Beasts all stood looking at one another and began backing away from the Stable.Very few tails were wagging now.The Ape waddled to and fro jeering at them.“Ho-ho-ho!” he chuckled.“I thought you were all so eager to see Tashlan face to face!Changed your mind,eh?”

Tirian bent his head to hear something that Jill was trying to whisper in his ear.

“What do you think is really inside the Stable?”she said.

“Who knows?” said Tirian.“Two Calormenes with drawn swords,as likely as not,one on each side of the door.”

“You don't think,” said Jill,“it might be… you know… that horrid thing we saw?”

“Tash himself?” whispered Tirian.“There's no knowing.But courage,child：we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.”

Then a most surprising thing happened.Ginger the Cat said in a cool,clear voice,not at all as if he was excited,“I'll go in,if you like.”

Every creature turned and fixed its eyes on the Cat.“Mark their subtleties,Sire,” said Poggin to the King.“This cursed cat is in the plot,in the very centre of it.Whatever is in the Stable will not hurt him,I'll be bound.Then Ginger will come out again and say that he has seen some wonder.”

But Tirian had no time to answer him.The Ape was calling the Cat to come forward.

“Ho-ho!” said the Ape.“So you,a pert Puss,would look upon Him face to face.Come on,then!I'll open the door for you.Don't blame me if He scares the whiskers off your face.That's your affair.”

And the Cat got up and came out of its place in the crowd,walking primly and daintily,with its tail in the air,not one hair on its sleek coat out of place.It came on till it had passed the fire and was so close that Tirian,from where he stood with his shoulder against the end-wall of the Stable,could look right into its face.Its big green eyes never blinked.(“Cool as a cucumber,” muttered Eustace.“It knows it has nothing to fear.”)

The Ape,chuckling and making faces,shuffled across beside the Cat：put up his paw：drew the bolt and opened the door.Tirian thought he could hear the Cat purring as it walked into the dark doorway.

“Aii-aii-aouwee!—” The most horrible caterwaul you ever heard made everyone jump.You have been wakened yourself by cats quarrelling or making love on the roof in the middle of the night：you know the sound.

This was worse.The Ape was knocked head over heels by Ginger coming back out of the Stable at top speed.If you had not known he was a cat,you might have thought he was a ginger-coloured streak of lightning.He shot across the open grass,back into the crowd.No one wants to meet a cat in that state.You could see animals getting out of his way to left and right.He dashed up a tree,whisked around,and hung head downwards.His tail was bristled out till it was nearly as thick as his whole body：his eyes were like saucers of green fire：along his back every single hair stood on end.

“I'd give my beard,” whispered Poggin,“to know whether that brute is only acting or whether it has really found something in there that frightened it!”

“Peace,friend,” said Tirian,for the Captain and the Ape were also whispering and he wanted to hear what they said.He did not succeed,except that he heard the Ape once more whimpering “My head,my head,” but he got the idea that those two were almost as puzzled by the cat's behaviour as himself.

“Now,Ginger,” said the Captain.“Enough of that noise.Tell them what thou hast seen.”

“Aii – Aii – Aaow – Awah,” screamed the Cat.

“Art thou not called a Talking Beast?” said the Captain.“Then hold thy devilish noise and talk.”

What followed was rather horrible.Tirian felt quite certain(and so did the others)that the Cat was trying to say something：but nothing came out of its mouth except the ordinary,ugly cat-noises you might hear from any angry or frightened old Tom in a backyard in England.And the longer he caterwauled the less like a Talking Beast he looked.Uneasy whimperings and little sharp squeals broke out from among the other Animals.

“Look,look!” said the voice of the Bear.“It can't talk.It has forgotten how to talk!It has gone back to being a dumb beast.Look at its face.”

Everyone saw that it was true.And then the greatest terror of all fell upon those Narnians.For every one of them had been taught – when it was only a chick or a puppy or a cub – how Aslan at the beginning of the world had turned the beasts of Narnia into Talking Beasts and warned them that if they weren't good they might one day be turned back again and be like the poor witless animals one meets in other countries.“And now it is coming upon us,” they moaned.

“Mercy!Mercy!” wailed the beasts.“Spare us,Lord Shift,stand between us and Aslan,you must always go in and speak to him for us.We daren't,we daren't.”

Ginger disappeared farther up into the tree.No one ever saw him again.

Tirian stood with his hand on his sword-hilt and his head bowed.He was dazed with the horrors of that night.Sometimes he thought it would be best to draw his sword at once and rush upon the Calormenes：then the next moment he thought it would be better to wait and see what new turn affairs might take.And now a new turn came.

“My Father,” came a clear,ringing voice from the left of the crowd.Tirian knew at once that it was one of the Calormenes speaking,for in the Tisroc's army the common soldiers call the officers “My Master” but the officers call their senior officers“My Father”.Jill and Eustace didn't know this but,after looking this way and that,they saw the speaker,for of course people at the sides of the crowd were easier to see than people in the middle where the glare of the fire made all beyond it look rather black.He was young and tall and slender,and even rather beautiful in the dark,haughty,Calormene way.

“My Father,” he said to the Captain,“I also desire to go in.”

“Peace,Emeth,” said the Captain.“Who called thee to counsel?Does it become a boy to speak?”

“My Father,” said Emeth.“Truly I am younger than thou,yet I also am of the blood of the Tarkaans even as thou art,and I also am the servant of Tash.Therefore… ”

“Silence,” said Rishda Tarkaan.“Am not I thy Captain?Thou hast nothing to do with this Stable.It is for the Narnians.”

“Nay,my Father,” answered Emeth.“Thou hast said that their Aslan and our Tash are all one.And if that is the truth,then Tash himself is in yonder.And how then sayest thou that I have nothing to do with Him?For gladly would I die a thousand deaths if I might look once on the face of Tash.”

“Thou art a fool and understandest nothing,” said Rishda Tarkaan.“These be high matters.”

Emeth's face grew sterner.“Is it then not true that Tash and Aslan are all one?” he asked.“Has the Ape lied to us?”

“Of course they're all one,” said the Ape.

“Swear it,Ape,” said Emeth.

“Oh dear!” whimpered Shift,“I wish you'd all stop bothering me.My head does ache.Yes,yes,I swear it.”

“Then,my Father,” said Emeth,“I am utterly determined to go in.”

“Fool,” began Rishda Tarkaan,but at once the Dwarfs began shouting：“Come along,Darkie.Why don't you let him in?Why do you let Narnians in and keep your own people out?What have you got in there that you don't want your own men to meet?”

Tirian and his friends could only see the back of Rishda Tarkaan,so they never knew what his face looked like as he shrugged his shoulders and said,“Bear witness all that I am guiltless of this young fool's blood.Get thee in,rash boy,and make haste.”

Then,just as Ginger had done,Emeth came walking forward into the open strip of grass between the bonfire and the Stable.His eyes were shining,his face very solemn,his hand was on his sword-hilt,and he carried his head high.Jill felt like crying when she looked at his face.And Jewel whispered in the King's ear,“By the Lion's Mane,I almost love this young warrior,Calormene though he be.He is worthy of a better god than Tash.”

“I do wish we knew what is really inside there,”said Eustace.

Emeth opened the door and went in,into the black mouth of the Stable.He closed the door behind him.Only a few moments passed – but it seemed longer – before the door opened again.A figure in Calormene armour reeled out,fell on its back,and lay still：the door closed behind it.The Captain leapt towards it and bent down to stare at its face.He gave a start of surprise.Then he recovered himself and turned to the crowd,crying out：

“The rash boy has had his will.He has looked on Tash and is dead.Take warning,all of you.”

“We will,we will,” said the poor Beasts.But Tirian and his friends stared first at the dead Calormene and then at one another.For they,being so close,could see what the crowd,being farther off and beyond the fire,could not see：this dead man was not Emeth.He was quite different：an older man,thicker and not so tall,with a big beard.

“Ho-ho-ho,” chuckled the Ape.“Any more?Anyone else want to go in?Well,as you're all shy,I'll choose the next.You,you Boar!On you come.Drive him up,Calormenes.He shall see Tashlan face to face.”

“O-o-mph,” grunted the Boar,rising heavily to his feet.“Come on,then.Try my tusks.”

When Tirian saw that brave Beast getting ready to fight for its life – and Calormene soldiers beginning to close in on it with their drawn scimitars – and no one going to its help –something seemed to burst inside him.He no longer cared if this was the best moment to interfere or not.

“Swords out,” he whispered to the others.“Arrow on string.Follow.”

Next moment the astonished Narnians saw seven figures leap forth in front of the Stable,four of them in shining mail.The King's sword flashed in the firelight as he waved it above his head and cried in a great voice：

“Here stand I,Tirian of Narnia,in Aslan's name,to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend,the Ape a manifold traitor,and these Calormenes worthy of death.To my side,all true Narnians.Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?”

CHAPTER 11

The Pace Quickens

Quick as lightning,Rishda Tarkaan leapt back out of reach of the King's sword.He was no coward,and would have fought single-handed against Tirian and the Dwarf if need be.But he could not take on the Eagle and the Unicorn as well.He knew how Eagles can fly into your face and peck at your eyes and blind you with their wings.And he had heard from his father(who had met Narnians in battle)that no man,except with arrows,or a long spear,can match a Unicorn,for it rears on its hind legs as it falls upon you and then you have its hoofs and its horn and its teeth to deal with all at once.So he rushed into the crowd and stood calling out：

“To me,to me,warriors of the Tisroc,may-helive-forever.To me,all loyal Narnians,lest the wrath of Tashlan fall upon you!”

While this was happening two other things happened as well.The Ape had not realised his danger as quickly as the Tarkaan.For a second or so he remained squatting beside the fire staring at the newcomers.Then Tirian rushed upon the wretched creature,picked it up by the scruff of the neck,and dashed back to the Stable shouting,“Open the door!” Poggin opened it.“Go and drink your own medicine,Shift!” said Tirian and hurled the Ape through into the darkness.But as the Dwarf banged the door shut again,a blinding greenishblue light shone out from the inside of the Stable,the earth shook,and there was a strange noise – a clucking and screaming as if it was the hoarse voice of some monstrous bird.

The Beasts moaned and howled and called out“Tashlan!Hide us from him!” and many fell down,and many hid their faces in their wings or paws.No one except Farsight the Eagle,who has the best eyes of all living things,noticed the face of Rishda Tarkaan at that moment.And from what Farsight saw there he knew at once that Rishda was just as surprised,and nearly as frightened,as everyone else.

“There goes one,” thought Farsight,“who has called on gods he does not believe in.How will it be with him if they have really come?”

The third thing – which also happened at the same moment – was the only really beautiful thing that night.Every single Talking Dog in the whole meeting(there were fifteen of them)came bounding and barking joyously to the King's side.They were mostly great big dogs with thick shoulders and heavy jaws.Their coming was like the breaking of a great wave on the sea-beach：it nearly knocked you down.For though they were Talking Dogs they were just as doggy as they could be：and they all stood up and put their front paws on the shoulders of the humans and licked their faces,all saying at once：“Welcome!Welcome!We'll help,we'll help,help,help.Show us how to help,show us how,how.How-how-how?”

It was so lovely that it made you want to cry.This,at last,was the sort of thing they had been hoping for.And when,a moment later,several little animals(mice and moles and a squirrel or so)came pattering up,squealing with joy,and saying “See,see.We're here,” and when,after that,the Bear and the Boar came too,Eustace began to feel that perhaps,after all,everything might be going to come right.But Tirian gazed round and saw how very few of the animals had moved.

“To me!To me!” he called.“Have you all turned cowards since I was your King?”

“We daren't,” whimpered dozens of voices.“Tashlan would be angry.Shield us from Tashlan.”

“Where are all the Talking Horses?” said Tirian to the Boar.

“We've seen,we've seen,” squealed the Mice.“The Ape has made them work.They're all tied –down at the bottom of the hill.”

“Then all you little ones,” said Tirian,“you nibblers and gnawers and nutcrackers,away with you as fast as you can scamper and see if the Horses are on our side.And if they are,get your teeth into the ropes and gnaw till the Horses are free and bring them hither.”

“With a good will,Sire,” came the small voices,and with a whisk of tails those sharp-eyed and sharp-toothed folk were off.Tirian smiled for mere love as he saw them go.But it was already time to be thinking of other things.Rishda Tarkaan was giving his orders.

“Forward,” he said.“Take all of them alive if you can and hurl them into the Stable,or drive them into it.When they are all in we will put fire to it and make them an offering to the great god Tash.”

“Ha!” said Farsight to himself.“So that is how he hopes to win Tash's pardon for his unbelief.”

The enemy line – about half of Rishda's force –was now moving forward,and Tirian had barely time to give his orders.

“Out on the left,Jill,and try to shoot all you may before they reach us.Boar and Bear next to her.Poggin on my left,Eustace on my right.Hold the right wing,Jewel.Stand by him,Puzzle,and use your hooves.Hover and strike,Farsight.You Dogs,just behind us.Go in among them after the swordplay has begun.Aslan to our aid!”

Eustace stood with his heart beating terribly,hoping and hoping that he would be brave.He had never seen anything(though he had seen both a dragon and a sea-serpent)that made his blood run so cold as that line of dark-faced bright-eyed men.There were fifteen Calormenes,a Talking Bull of Narnia,Slinkey the Fox,and Wraggle the Satyr.Then he heard twang-and-zip on his left,and one Calormene fell,then twang-and-zip again and the Satyr was down.“Oh,well done,daughter!” came Tirian's voice；and then the enemy were upon them.

Eustace could never remember what happened in the next two minutes.It was all like a dream(the sort you have when your temperature is over 100°)until he heard Rishda Tarkaan's voice calling out from the distance：

“Retire.Back hither and re-form.”

Then Eustace came to his senses and saw the Calormenes scampering back to their friends.But not all of them.Two lay dead,pierced by Jewel's horn,one by Tirian's sword.The Fox lay dead at his own feet,and he wondered if it was he who had killed it.The Bull also was down,shot through the eye by an arrow from Jill and gashed in his side by the Boar's tusk.But our side had its losses too.Three dogs were killed and a fourth was hobbling behind the line on three legs and whimpering.The Bear lay on the ground,moving feebly.Then it mumbled in its throaty voice,bewildered to the last,“I – I don't – understand,” laid its big head down on the grass as quietly as a child going to sleep,and never moved again.

In fact,the first attack had failed.Eustace didn't seem able to be glad about it：he was so terribly thirsty and his arm ached so.

As the defeated Calormenes went back to their commander,the Dwarfs began jeering at them.

“Had enough,Darkies?” they yelled.“Don't you like it?Why doesn't your great Tarkaan go and fight himself instead of sending you to be killed?Poor Darkies!”

“Dwarfs,” cried Tirian.“Come here and use your swords,not your tongues.There is still time.Dwarfs of Narnia!You can fight well,I know.Come back to your allegiance.”

“Yah!” sneered the Dwarfs.“Not likely.You're just as big humbugs as the other lot.We don't want any Kings.The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.Boo!”

Then the Drum began：not a Dwarf drum this time,but a big bull's hide Calormene drum.The children from the very first hated the sound.Boom– boom – ba-ba-boom it went.But they would have hated it far worse if they had known what it meant.Tirian did.It meant that there were other Calormene troops somewhere near and that Rishda Tarkaan was calling them to his aid.Tirian and Jewel looked at one another sadly.They had just begun to hope that they might win that night：but it would be all over with them if new enemies appeared.

Tirian gazed despairingly round.Several Narnians were standing with the Calormenes,whether through treachery or in honest fear of“Tashlan”.Others were sitting still,staring,not likely to join either side.But there were fewer animals now：the crowd was much smaller.Clearly,several of them had just crept quietly away during the fighting.

Boom – boom – ba-ba-boom went the horrible drum.Then another sound began to mix with it.“Listen!” said Jewel：and then,“Look!” said Farsight.A moment later there was no doubt what it was.With a thunder of hoofs,with tossing heads,widened nostrils,and waving manes,over a score of Talking Horses of Narnia came charging up the hill.The gnawers and nibblers had done their work.

Poggin the Dwarf and the children opened their mouths to cheer but that cheer never came.Suddenly the air was full of the sound of twanging bow-strings and hissing arrows.It was the Dwarfs who were shooting and – for a moment Jill could hardly believe her eyes – they were shooting the Horses.Dwarfs are deadly archers.Horse after Horse rolled over.Not one of those noble Beasts ever reached the King.

“Little swine,” shrieked Eustace,dancing in his rage.“Dirty,filthy,treacherous little brutes.”

Even Jewel said,“Shall I run after those Dwarfs,Sire,and spit ten of them on my horn at each plunge?”

But Tirian with his face as stern as stone,said,“Stand fast,Jewel.If you must weep,sweetheart,”(this was to Jill),“turn your face aside and see you wet not your bow-string.And peace,Eustace.Do not scold,like a kitchen-girl.No warrior scolds.Courteous words or else hard knocks are his only language.”

But the Dwarfs jeered back at Eustace.“That was a surprise for you,little boy,eh?Thought we were on your side,did you?No fear.We don't want any Talking Horses.We don't want you to win any more than the other gang.You can't take us in.The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

Rishda Tarkaan was still talking to his men,doubtless making arrangements for the next attack and probably wishing he had sent his whole force into the first.The drum boomed on.Then,to their horror,Tirian and his friends heard,far fainter as if from a long way off,an answering drum.Another body of Calormenes had heard Rishda's signal and were coming to support him.You would not have known from Tirian's face that he had now given up all hope.

“Listen,” he whispered in a matter-of-fact voice,“we must attack now,before yonder miscreants are strengthened by their friends.”

“Bethink you,Sire,” said Poggin,“that here we have the good wooden wall of the Stable at our backs.If we advance,shall we not be encircled and get sword-points between our shoulders?”

“I would say as you do,Dwarf,” said Tirian,“were it not their very plan to force us into the Stable.The farther we are from its deadly door,the better.”

“The King is right,” said Farsight.“Away from this accursed Stable,and whatever goblin lives inside it,at all costs.”

“Yes,do let's,” said Eustace.“I'm coming to hate the very sight of it.”

“Good,” said Tirian.“Now look yonder to our left.You see a great rock that gleams white like marble in the firelight.First we will fall upon those Calormenes.You,maiden,shall move out on our left and shoot as fast as ever you may into their ranks；and you,Eagle,fly at their faces from the right.Meanwhile we others will be charging them.When we are so close,Jill,that you can no longer shoot at them for fear of striking us,go back to the white rock and wait.You others,keep your ears wide even in the fighting.We must put them to flight in a few minutes or else not at all,for we are fewer than they.As soon as I call Back,then rush to join Jill at the white rock,where we shall have protection behind us and can breathe awhile.Now,be off,Jill.”

Feeling terribly alone,Jill ran out about twenty feet,put her right leg back and her left leg forward,and set an arrow to her string.She wished her hands were not shaking so.

“That's a rotten shot!” she said as her first arrow sped towards the enemy and flew over their heads.But she had another on the string next moment：she knew that speed was what mattered.She saw something big and black darting into the faces of the Calormenes.That was Farsight.First one man,and then another,dropped his sword and put up both his hands to defend his eyes.Then one of her own arrows hit a man,and another hit a Narnian wolf,who had,it seemed,joined the enemy.

But she had been shooting only for a few seconds when she had to stop.With a flash of swords and of the Boar's tusks and Jewel's horn,and with deep baying from the dogs,Tirian and his party were rushing on their enemies,like men in a hundred yards' race.Jill was astonished to see how unprepared the Calormenes seemed to be.She did not realise that this was the result of her work and the Eagle's.Very few troops can keep on looking steadily to the front if they are getting arrows in their faces from one side and being pecked by an eagle on the other.

“Oh,well done.Well done!” shouted Jill.The King's party were cutting their way right into the enemy.The Unicorn was tossing men as you'd toss hay on a fork.Even Eustace seemed to Jill(who after all didn't know very much about swordsmanship)to be fighting brilliantly.The Dogs were at the Calormenes' throats.It was going to work!It was victory at last—

With a horrible,cold shock,Jill noticed a strange thing.Though Calormenes were falling at each Narnian sword-stroke,they never seemed to get any fewer.In fact,there were actually more of them now than when the fight began.There were more every second.They were running up from every side.They were new Calormenes.These new ones had spears.There was such a crowd of them that she could hardly see her own friends.

Then she heard Tirian's voice crying：

“Back!To the rock!”

The enemy had been reinforced.The drum had done its work.

CHAPTER 12

Through the Stable Door

Jill ought to have been back at the white rock already but she had quite forgotten that part of her orders in the excitement of watching the fight.Now she remembered.She turned at once and ran to it,and arrived there barely a second before the others.It thus happened that all of them,for a moment,had their backs to the enemy.They all wheeled round the moment they had reached it.A terrible sight met their eyes.

A Calormene was running towards the Stable door carrying something that kicked and struggled.As he came between them and the fire they could see clearly both the shape of the man and the shape of what he carried.It was Eustace.

Tirian and the Unicorn rushed out to rescue him.But the Calormene was now far nearer to the door then they.Before they had covered half the distance he had flung Eustace in and shut the door on him.Half a dozen more Calormenes had run up behind him.They formed a line on the open space before the Stable.There was no getting at it now.

Even then Jill remembered to keep her face turned aside,well away from her bow.“Even if I can't stop blubbing,I won't get my string wet,” she said.

“'Ware arrows,” said Poggin suddenly.

Everyone ducked and pulled his helmet well over his nose.The Dogs crouched behind.But though a few arrows came their way it soon became clear that they were not being shot at.Griffle and his Dwarfs were at their archery again.This time they were coolly shooting at the Calormenes.

“Keep it up,boys!” came Griffle's voice.“All together.Carefully.We don't want Darkies any more than we want Monkeys – or Lions – or Kings.The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

Whatever else you may say about Dwarfs,no one can say they aren't brave.They could easily have got away to some safe place.They preferred to stay and kill as many of both sides as they could,except when both sides were kind enough to save them trouble by killing one another.They wanted Narnia for their own.

What perhaps they had not taken into account was that the Calormenes were mail-clad and the Horses had had no protection.Also the Calormenes had a leader.Rishda Tarkaan's voice cried out：

“Thirty of you keep watch on those fools by the white rock.The rest,after me,that we may teach these Sons of Earth a lesson.”

Tirian and his friends,still panting from their fight and thankful for a few minutes' rest,stood and looked on while the Tarkaan led his men against the Dwarfs.It was a strange scene by now.The fire had sunk lower：the light it gave was now less and of a darker red.As far as one could see,the whole place of assembly was now empty except for the Dwarfs and the Calormenes.In that light one couldn't make out much of what was happening.It sounded as if the Dwarfs were putting up a good fight.Tirian could hear Griffle using dreadful language,and every now and then the Tarkaan calling,“Take all you can alive!Take them alive!”

Whatever that fight may have been like,it did not last long.The noise of it died away.Then Jill saw the Tarkaan coming back to the Stable：eleven men followed him,dragging eleven bound Dwarfs.(Whether the others had all been killed,or whether some of them had got away,was never known.)

“Throw them into the shrine of Tash,” said Rishda Tarkaan.

And when the eleven Dwarfs,one after the other,had been flung or kicked into that dark doorway and the door had been shut again,he bowed low to the Stable and said：

“These also are for thy burnt offering,Lord Tash.”

And all the Calormenes banged the flats of their swords on their shields and shouted,“Tash!Tash!The great god Tash!Inexorable Tash!”(There was no nonsense about “Tashlan” now.)

The little party by the white rock watched these doings and whispered to one another.They had found a trickle of water coming down the rock and all had drunk eagerly – Jill and Poggin and the King in their hands,while the four-footed ones lapped from the little pool which it had made at the foot of the stone.Such was their thirst that it seemed the most delicious drink they had ever had in their lives,and while they were drinking they were perfectly happy and could not think of anything else.

“I feel in my bones,” said Poggin,“that we shall all,one by one,pass through that dark door before morning.I can think of a hundred deaths I would rather have died.”

“It is indeed a grim door,” said Tirian.“It is more like a mouth.”

“Oh,can't we do anything to stop it?” said Jill in a shaken voice.

“Nay,fair friend,” said Jewel,nosing her gently.“It may be for us the door to Aslan's country and we shall sup at his table tonight.”

Rishda Tarkaan turned his back on the Stable and walked slowly to a place in front of the white rock.

“Hearken,” he said.“If the Boar and the Dogs and the Unicorn will come over to me and put themselves in my mercy,their lives shall be spared.The Boar shall go to a cage in the Tisroc's garden,the Dogs to the Tisroc's kennels,and the Unicorn,when I have sawn his horn off,shall draw a cart.But the Eagle,the children,and he who was the King shall be offered to Tash this night.”

The only answer was growls.

“Get on,warriors,” said the Tarkaan.“Kill the beasts,but take the two-legged ones alive.”

And then the last battle of the last King of Narnia began.

What made it hopeless,even apart from the numbers of the enemy,was the spears.The Calormenes who had been with the Ape almost from the beginning had had no spears：that was because they had come into Narnia by ones and twos,pretending to be peaceful merchants,and of course they had carried no spears for a spear is not a thing you can hide.The new ones must have come in later,after the Ape was already strong and they could march openly.The spears made all the difference.With a long spear you can kill a boar before you are in reach of his tusks and a unicorn before you are in reach of his horn；if you are very quick and keep your head.And now the levelled spears were closing in on Tirian and his last friends.Next minute they were all fighting for their lives.

In a way it wasn't quite so bad as you might think.When you are using every muscle to the full– ducking under a spear-point here,leaping over it there,lunging forward,drawing back,wheeling round – you haven't much time to feel either frightened or sad.

Tirian knew he could do nothing for the others now；they were all doomed together.He vaguely saw the Boar go down on one side of him,and Jewel fighting furiously on the other.Out of the corner of one eye he saw,but only just saw,a big Calormene pulling Jill away somewhere by her hair.But he hardly thought about any of these things.His only thought now was to sell his life as dearly as he could.The worst of it was that he couldn't keep to the position in which he had started,under the white rock.A man who is fighting a dozen enemies at once must take his chances wherever he can；must dart in wherever he sees an enemy's breast or neck unguarded.In a very few strokes this may get you quite a distance from the spot where you began.Tirian soon found that he was getting farther and farther to the right,nearer to the Stable.He had a vague idea in his mind that there was some good reason for keeping away from it.But he couldn't now remember what the reason was.And anyway,he couldn't help it.

All at once everything came quite clear.He found he was fighting the Tarkaan himself.The bonfire(what was left of it)was straight in front.He was in fact fighting in the very doorway of the Stable,for it had been opened and two Calormenes were holding the door,ready to slam it shut the moment he was inside.He remembered everything now,and he realised that the enemy had been edging him to the Stable on purpose ever since the fight began.And while he was thinking this he was still fighting the Tarkaan as hard as he could.

A new idea came into Tirian's head.He dropped his sword,darted forward,in under the sweep of the Tarkaan's scimitar,seized his enemy by the belt with both hands,and jumped back into the Stable,shouting：

“Come in and meet Tash yourself!”

There was a deafening noise.As when the Ape had been flung in,the earth shook and there was a blinding light.

The Calormene soldiers outside screamed,“Tash,Tash!” and banged the door.If Tash wanted their own Captain,Tash must have him.They,at any rate,did not want to meet Tash.

For a moment or two Tirian did not know where he was or even who he was.Then he steadied himself,blinked,and looked around.It was not dark inside the Stable,as he had expected.He was in strong light：that was why he was blinking.

He turned to look at Rishda Tarkaan,but Rishda was not looking at him.Rishda gave a great wail and pointed；then he put his hands before his face and fell flat,face downwards,on the ground.Tirian looked in the direction where the Tarkaan had pointed.And then he understood.

A terrible figure was coming towards them.It was far smaller than the shape they had seen from the Tower,though still much bigger than a man,and it was the same.It had a vulture's head and four arms.Its beak was open and its eyes blazed.A croaking voice came from its beak.

“Thou hast called me into Narnia,Rishda Tarkaan.Here I am.What hast thou to say?”

But the Tarkaan neither lifted his face from the ground nor said a word.He was shaking like a man with a bad hiccup.He was brave enough in battle：but half his courage had left him earlier that night when he first began to suspect that there might be a real Tash.The rest of it had left him now.

With a sudden jerk – like a hen stooping to pick up a worm – Tash pounced on the miserable Rishda and tucked him under the upper of his two right arms.Then Tash turned his head sidewise to fix Tirian with one of his terrible eyes：for of course,having a bird's head,he couldn't look at you straight.

But immediately,from behind Tash,strong and calm as the summer sea,a voice said：

“Begone,Monster,and take your lawful prey to your own place：in the name of Aslan and Aslan's great Father,the Emperor-over-Sea.”

The hideous creature vanished,with the Tarkaan still under its arm.And Tirian turned to see who had spoken.And what he saw then set his heart beating as it had never beaten in any fight.

Seven Kings and Queens stood before him,all with crowns on their heads and all in glittering clothes,but the Kings wore fine mail as well and had their swords drawn in their hands.

Tirian bowed courteously and was about to speak when the youngest of the Queens laughed.He stared hard at her face,and then gasped with amazement,for he knew her.It was Jill：but not Jill as he had last seen her,with her face all dirt and tears and an old drill dress half slipping off one shoulder.Now she looked cool and fresh,as fresh as if she had just come from bathing.And at first he thought she looked older,but then didn't,and he could never make up his mind on that point.And then he saw that the youngest of the Kings was Eustace：but he also was changed as Jill was changed.

Tirian suddenly felt awkward about coming among these people with the blood and dust and sweat of a battle still on him.Next moment he realised that he was not in that state at all.He was fresh and cool and clean,and dressed in such clothes as he would have worn for a great feast at Cair Paravel.(But in Narnia your good clothes were never your uncomfortable ones.They knew how to make things that felt beautiful as well as looking beautiful in Narnia：and there was no such thing as starch or flannel or elastic to be found from one end of the country to the other.)

“Sire,” said Jill,coming forward and making a beautiful curtsey,“let me make you known to Peter,the High King over all Kings in Narnia.”

Tirian had no need to ask which was the High King,for he remembered his face(though here it was far nobler)from his dream.He stepped forward,sank on one knee and kissed Peter's hand.

“High King,” he said.“You are welcome to me.”

And the High King raised him and kissed him on both cheeks as a High King should.Then he led him to the eldest of the Queens – but even she was not old,and there were no grey hairs on her head and no wrinkles on her cheek – and said,“Sir,this is that Lady Polly who came into Narnia on the First Day,when Aslan made the trees grow and the Beasts talk.”

He brought him next to a man whose golden beard flowed over his breast and whose face was full of wisdom.“And this,” he said,“is the Lord Digory who was with her on that day.And this is my brother,King Edmund,and this my sister,Queen Lucy.”

“Sire,” said Tirian,when he had greeted all these,“if I have read the chronicles aright,there should be another.Has not your Majesty two sisters?Where is Queen Susan?”

“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely,“is no longer a friend of Narnia.”

“Yes,” said Eustace,“and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia,she says 'What wonderful memories you have!Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'”

“Oh,Susan!” said Jill.“She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations.She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up.”

“Grown-up,indeed,” said the Lady Polly.“I wish she would grow up.She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now,and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age.Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can.”

“Well,don't let's talk about that now,” said Peter.“Look!Here are lovely fruit trees.Let us taste them.”

And then,for the first time,Tirian looked about him and realised how very queer this adventure was.

CHAPTER 13

How the Dwarfs Refused to be Taken In

Tirian had thought – or he would have thought if he had had time to think at all – that they were inside a little thatched Stable,about twelve feet long and six feet wide.In reality they stood on grass,the deep blue sky was overhead,and the air which blew gently on their faces was that of a day in early summer.

Not far away from them rose a grove of trees,thickly leaved,but under every leaf there peeped out the gold or faint yellow or purple or glowing red of fruits such as no one has seen in our world.The fruit made Tirian feel that it must be autumn,but there was something in the feel of the air that told him it could not be later than June.They all moved towards the trees.

Everyone raised his hand to pick the fruit he best liked the look of,and then everyone paused for a second.This fruit was so beautiful that each felt,“It can't be meant for me… surely we're not allowed to pluck it.”

“It's all right,” said Peter.“I know what we're all thinking.But I'm sure,quite sure,we needn't.I've a feeling we've got to the country where everything is allowed.”

“Here goes,then!” said Eustace.And they all began to eat.

What was the fruit like?Unfortunately no one can describe a taste.All I can say is that,compared with those fruits,the freshest grapefruit you've ever eaten was dull,and the juiciest orange was dry,and the most melting pear was hard and woody,and the sweetest wild strawberry was sour.And there were no seeds or stones,and no wasps.If you had once eaten that fruit,all the nicest things in this world would taste like medicines after it.But I can't describe it.You can't find out what it is like unless you can get to that country and taste it for yourself.

When they had eaten enough,Eustace said to King Peter,“You haven't yet told us how you got here.You were just going to,when King Tirian turned up.”

“There's not much to tell,” said Peter.“Edmund and I were standing on the platform and we saw your train coming in.I remember thinking it was taking the bend far too fast.And I remember thinking how funny it was that our people were probably in the same train though Lucy didn't know about it—”

“Your people,High King?” said Tirian.

“I mean my father and mother – Edmund's and Lucy's and mine.”

“Why were they?” asked Jill.“You don't mean to say they know about Narnia?”

“Oh no,it had nothing to do with Narnia.They were on their way to Bristol.I'd only heard they were going that morning.But Edmund said they'd be bound to be going by that train.”(Edmund was the sort of person who knows about railways.)

“And what happened then?” said Jill.

“Well,it's not very easy to describe,is it,Edmund?” said the High King.

“Not very,” said Edmund.“It wasn't at all like that other time when we were pulled out of our own world by Magic.There was a frightful roar and something hit me with a bang,but it didn't hurt.And I felt not so much scared as – well,excited.Oh – and this is one queer thing.I'd had a rather sore knee,from a hack at rugger.I noticed it had suddenly gone.And I felt very light.And then– here we were.”

“It was much the same for us in the railway carriage,” said the Lord Digory,wiping the last traces of the fruit from his golden beard.“Only I think you and I,Polly,chiefly felt that we'd been unstiffened.You youngsters won't understand.But we stopped feeling old.”

“Youngsters,indeed!” said Jill.“I don't believe you two really are much older than we are here.”

“Well,if we aren't,we have been,” said the Lady Polly.

“And what has been happening since you got here?” asked Eustace.

“Well,” said Peter,“for a long time(at least I suppose it was a long time)nothing happened.Then the door opened—”

“The door?” said Tirian.

“Yes,” said Peter.“The door you came in – or came out – by.Have you forgotten?”

“But where is it?”

“Look,” said Peter and pointed.

Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculous thing you can imagine.Only a few yards away,clear to be seen in the sunlight,there stood up a rough wooden door and,round it,the framework of the doorway：nothing else,no walls,no roof.He walked towards it,bewildered,and the others followed,watching to see what he would do.He walked round to the other side of the door.But it looked just the same from the other side：he was still in the open air,on a summer morning.The door was simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree.

“Fair Sir,” said Tirian to the High King,“this is a great marvel.”

“It is the door you came through with that Calormene five minutes ago,” said Peter,smiling.

“But did I not come in out of the wood into the Stable?Whereas this seems to be a door leading from nowhere to nowhere.”

“It looks like that if you walk round it,” said Peter.“But put your eye to that place where there is a crack between two of the planks and look through.”

Tirian put his eye to the hole.At first he could see nothing but blackness.Then,as his eyes grew used to it,he saw the dull red glow of a bonfire that was nearly going out,and above that,in a black sky,stars.Then he could see dark figures moving about or standing between him and the fire：he could hear them talking and their voices were like those of Calormenes.So he knew that he was looking out through the Stable door into the darkness of Lantern Waste where he had fought his last battle.The men were discussing whether to go in and look for Rishda Tarkaan(but none of them wanted to do that)or to set fire to the Stable.

He looked round again and could hardly believe his eyes.There was the blue sky overhead,and grassy country spreading as far as he could see in every direction,and his new friends all round him,laughing.

“It seems,then,” said Tirian,smiling himself,“that the Stable seen from within and the Stable seen from without are two different places.”

“Yes,” said the Lord Digory.“Its inside is bigger than its outside.”

“Yes,” said Queen Lucy.“In our world too,a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”

It was the first time she had spoken,and from the thrill in her voice,Tirian now knew why.She was drinking everything in even more deeply than the others.She had been too happy to speak.He wanted to hear her speak again,so he said：

“Of your courtesy,Madam,tell on.Tell me your whole adventure.”

“After the shock and the noise,” said Lucy,“we found ourselves here.And we wondered at the door,as you did.Then the door opened for the first time(we saw darkness through the doorway when it did)and there came through a big man with a naked sword.We saw by his arms that he was a Calormene.

“He took his stand beside the door with his sword raised,resting on his shoulder,ready to cut down anyone who came through.We went to him and spoke to him,but we thought he could neither see nor hear us.And he never looked round on the sky and the sunlight and the grass：I think he couldn't see them either.So then we waited a long time.Then we heard the bolt being drawn on the other side of the door.But the man didn't get ready to strike with his sword till he could see who was coming in.So we supposed he had been told to strike some and spare others.But at the very moment when the door opened,all of a sudden Tash was there,on this side of the door；none of us saw where he came from.And through the door there came a big Cat.It gave one look at Tash and ran for its life：just in time,for he pounced at it and the door hit his beak as it was shut.The man could see Tash.He turned very pale and bowed down before the Monster：but it vanished away.

“Then we waited a long time again.At last the door opened for the third time and there came in a young Calormene.I liked him.The sentinel at the door started,and looked very surprised,when he saw him.I think he'd been expecting someone quite different—”

“I see it all now,” said Eustace(he had the bad habit of interrupting stories).“The Cat was to go in first and the sentry had orders to do him no harm.Then the Cat was to come out and say he'd seen their beastly Tashlan and pretend to be frightened so as to scare the other Animals.But what Shift never guessed was that the real Tash would turn up；so Ginger came out really frightened.And after that,Shift would send in anyone he wanted to get rid of and the sentry would kill them.And—”

“Friend,” said Tirian softly,“you hinder the lady in her tale.”

“Well,” said Lucy,“the sentry was surprised.That gave the other man just time to get on guard.They had a fight.He killed the sentry and flung him outside the door.Then he came walking slowly forward to where we were.He could see us,and everything else.We tried to talk to him but he was rather like a man in a trance.He kept on saying,Tash,Tash,where is Tash?I go to Tash.So we gave it up and he went away somewhere – over there.I liked him.And after that… ugh!” Lucy made a face.

“After that,” said Edmund,“someone flung a Monkey through the door.And Tash was there again.My sister is so tender-hearted she doesn't like to tell you that Tash made one peck and the Monkey was gone!”

“Serve him right!” said Eustace.“All the same,I hope he'll disagree with Tash,too.”

“And after that,” said Edmund,“came about a dozen Dwarfs：and then Jill,and Eustace,and last of all yourself.”

“I hope Tash ate the Dwarfs too,” said Eustace.“Little swine.”

“No,he didn't,” said Lucy.“And don't be horrid.They're still here.In fact you can see them from here.And I've tried and tried to make friends with them but it's no use.”

“Friends with them!” cried Eustace.“If you knew how those Dwarfs have been behaving!”

“Oh,stop it,Eustace,” said Lucy.“Do come and see them.King Tirian,perhaps you could do something with them.”

“I can feel no great love for Dwarfs today,” said Tirian.“Yet at your asking,Lady,I would do a greater thing than this.”

Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs.They had a very odd look.They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves(although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished)nor were they lying down and having a rest.They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another.They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them.Then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

“Look out!” said one of them in a surly voice.“Mind where you're going.Don't walk into our faces!”

“All right!” said Eustace indignantly.“We're not blind.We've got eyes in our heads.”

“They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,” said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.

“In where?” asked Edmund.

“Why,you bonehead,in here of course,” said Diggle.“In this pitch-black,poky,smelly little hole of a Stable.”

“Are you blind?” said Tirian.

“Ain't we all blind in the dark?” said Diggle.

“But it isn't dark,you poor stupid Dwarfs,” said Lucy.“Can't you see?Look up!Look round!Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers?Can't you see me?”

“How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain't there?And how can I see you any more than you can see me in this pitch darkness?”

“But I can see you,” said Lucy.“I'll prove I can see you.You've got a pipe in your mouth.”

“Anyone that knows the smell of baccy could tell that,” said Diggle.

“Oh,the poor things!This is dreadful,” said Lucy.Then she had an idea.She stopped and picked some wild violets.“Listen,Dwarf,” she said.“Even if your eyes are wrong,perhaps your nose is all right：can you smell that?” She leant across and held the fresh,damp flowers to Diggle's ugly nose.But she had to jump back quickly in order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist.

“None of that!” he shouted.“How dare you!What do you mean by shoving a lot of filthy Stable-litter in my face?There was a thistle in it too.It's like your sauce!And who are you anyway?”

“Earth-man,” said Tirian,“she is the Queen Lucy,sent hither by Aslan out of the deep past.And it is for her sake alone that I,Tirian your lawful King,do not cut all your heads from your shoulders,proved and twice-proved traitors that you are.”

“Well,if that doesn't beat everything!” exclaimed Diggle.“How can you go on talking all that rot?Your wonderful Lion didn't come and help you,did he?Thought not.And now – even now – when you've been beaten and shoved into this black hole,just the same as the rest of us,you're still at your old game.Starting a new lie!Trying to make us believe we're none of us shut up,and it ain't dark,and heaven knows what.”

“There is no black hole,save in your own fancy,fool,” cried Tirian.“Come out of it.” And,leaning forward,he caught Diggle by the belt and the hood and swung him right out of the circle of Dwarfs.But the moment Tirian put him down,Diggle darted back to his place among the others,rubbing his nose and howling：

“Ow!Ow!What d'you do that for!Banging my face against the wall.You've nearly broken my nose.”

“Oh dear!” said Lucy,“What are we to do for them?”

“Let 'em alone,” said Eustace：but as he spoke the earth trembled.The sweet air grew suddenly sweeter.A brightness flashed behind them.All turned.Tirian turned last because he was afraid.There stood his heart's desire,huge and real,the golden Lion,Aslan himself,and already the others were kneeling in a circle round his forepaws and burying their hands and faces in his mane as he stooped his great head to touch them with his tongue.Then he fixed his eyes upon Tirian,and Tirian came near,trembling,and flung himself at the Lion's feet,and the Lion kissed him and said,“Well done,last of the Kings of Narnia who stood firm at the darkest hour.”

“Aslan,” said Lucy through her tears,“could you– will you – do something for these poor Dwarfs?”

“Dearest,” said Aslan,“I will show you both what I can,and what I cannot do.” He came close to the Dwarfs and gave a low growl：low,but it set all the air shaking.But the Dwarfs said to one another,“Hear that?That's the gang at the other end of the Stable.Trying to frighten us.They do it with a machine of some kind.Don't take any notice.They won't take us in again!”

Aslan raised his head and shook his mane.Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs'knees：pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices,and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand.But it wasn't much use.They began eating and drinking greedily enough,but it was clear that they couldn't taste it properly.They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a Stable.One said he was trying to eat hay and another said he had got a bit of an old turnip and a third said he'd found a raw cabbage leaf.And they raised golden goblets of rich red wine to their lips and said “Ugh!Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at!Never thought we'd come to this.”

But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had,and they started grabbing and snatching,and went on to quarrelling,till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot.

But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses,they all said：“Well,at any rate there's no Humbug here.We haven't let anyone take us in.The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

“You see,” said Aslan.“They will not let us help them.They have chosen cunning instead of belief.Their prison is only in their own minds,yet they are in that prison；and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.But come,children.I have other work to do.”

He went to the door and they all followed him.He raised his head and roared,“Now it is time!”then louder,“Time!”；then so loud that it could have shaken the stars,“TIME”.The Door flew open.

CHAPTER 14

Night Falls on Narnia

They all stood beside Aslan,on his right side,and looked through the open doorway.The bonfire had gone out.On the earth all was blackness：in fact you could not have told that you were looking into a wood if you had not seen where the dark shapes of the trees ended and the stars began.But when Aslan had roared yet again,out on their left they saw another black shape.That is,they saw another patch where there were no stars：and the patch rose up higher and higher and became the shape of a man,the hugest of all giants.They all knew Narnia well enough to work out where he must be standing.He must be on the high moorlands that stretch away to the north beyond the River Shribble.

Then Jill and Eustace remembered how once long ago,in the deep caves beneath those moors,they had seen a great giant asleep and been told that his name was Father Time,and that he would wake on the day the world ended.

“Yes,” said Aslan,though they had not spoken.“While he lay dreaming,his name was Time.Now that he is awake he will have a new one.”

Then the great giant raised a horn to his mouth.They could see this by the change of the black shape he made against the stars.After that – quite a bit later,because sound travels so slowly – they heard the sound of the horn：high and terrible,yet of a strange,deadly beauty.

Immediately the sky became full of shooting stars.Even one shooting star is a fine thing to see,but these were dozens,and then scores,and then hundreds,till it was like silver rain：and it went on and on.And when it had gone on for some while,one or two of them began to think that there was another dark shape against the sky as well as the giant's.It was in a different place,right overhead,up in the very roof of the sky as you might call it.“Perhaps it is a cloud,” thought Edmund.At any rate,there were no stars there：just blackness.But all around,the downpour of stars went on.And then the starless patch began to grow,spreading farther and farther out from the centre of the sky.And presently a quarter of the whole sky was black,and then a half,and at last the rain of shooting stars was going on only low down near the horizon.

With a thrill of wonder(and there was some terror in it too)they all suddenly realised what was happening.The spreading blackness was not a cloud at all：it was simply emptiness.The black part of the sky was the part in which there were no stars left.All the stars were falling：Aslan had called them home.

The last few seconds before the rain of stars had quite ended were very exciting.Stars began falling all round them.But stars in that world are not the great flaming globes they are in ours.They are people(Edmund and Lucy had once met one).So now they found showers of glittering people,all with long hair like burning silver and spears like white-hot metal,rushing down to them out of the black air,swifter than falling stones.They made a hissing noise as they landed and burnt the grass.And all these stars glided past them and stood somewhere behind,a little to the right.

This was a great advantage,because otherwise,now that there were no stars in the sky,everything would have been completely dark and you could have seen nothing.As it was,the crowd of stars behind them cast a fierce,white light over their shoulders.They could see mile upon mile of Narnian woods spread out before them,looking as if they were floodlit.Every bush and almost every blade of grass had its black shadow behind it.The edge of every leaf stood out so sharp that you'd think you could cut your finger on it.

On the grass before them lay their own shadows.But the great thing was Aslan's shadow.It streamed away to their left,enormous and very terrible.And all this was under a sky that would now be starless for ever.

The light from behind them(and a little to their right)was so strong that it lit up even the slopes of the Northern Moors.Something was moving there.Enormous animals were crawling and sliding down into Narnia：great dragons and giant lizards and featherless birds with wings like bats' wings.They disappeared into the woods and for a few minutes there was a silence.

Then there came – at first from very far off –sounds of wailing and then,from every direction,a rustling and a pattering and a sound of wings.It came nearer and nearer.Soon one could distinguish the scamper of little feet from the padding of big paws,and the clack-clack of light little hoofs from the thunder of great ones.And then one could see thousands of pairs of eyes gleaming.And at last,out of the shadow of the trees,racing up the hill for dear life,by thousands and by millions,came all kinds of creatures – Talking Beasts,Dwarfs,Satyrs,Fauns,Giants,Calormenes,men from Archenland,Monopods,and strange unearthly things from the remote islands or the unknown Western lands.And all these ran up to the doorway where Aslan stood.

This part of the adventure was the only one which seemed rather like a dream at the time and rather hard to remember properly afterwards.Especially,one couldn't say how long it had taken.Sometimes it seemed to have lasted only a few minutes,but at others it felt as if it might have gone on for years.Obviously,unless either the Door had grown very much larger or the creatures had suddenly grown as small as gnats,a crowd like that couldn't ever have tried to get through it.But no one thought about that sort of thing at the time.

The creatures came rushing on,their eyes brighter and brighter as they drew nearer and nearer to the standing Stars.But as they came right up to Aslan one or other of two things happened to each of them.They all looked straight in his face,I don't think they had any choice about that.And when some looked,the expression of their faces changed terribly – it was fear and hatred：except that,on the faces of Talking Beasts,the fear and hatred lasted only for a fraction of a second.You could see that they suddenly ceased to be Talking Beasts.They were just ordinary animals.And all the creatures who looked at Aslan in that way swerved to their right,his left,and disappeared into his huge black shadow,which(as you have heard)streamed away to the left of the doorway.The children never saw them again.I don't know what became of them.But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him,though some of them were very frightened at the same time.And all these came in at the Door,in on Aslan's right.There were some queer specimens among them.Eustace even recognised one of those very Dwarfs who had helped to shoot the Horses.But he had not time to wonder about that sort of thing(and anyway it was no business of his)for a great joy put everything else out of his head.Among the happy creatures who now came crowding round Tirian and his friends were all those whom they had thought dead.There was Roonwit the Centaur and Jewel the Unicorn,and the good Boar and the good Bear,and Farsight the Eagle,and the dear Dogs and the Horses,and Poggin the Dwarf.

“Farther in and higher up!” cried Roonwit and thundered away in a gallop to the West.And though they did not understand him,the words somehow set them tingling all over.The Boar grunted at them cheerfully.The Bear was just going to mutter that he still didn't understand,when he caught sight of the fruit trees behind them.He waddled to those trees as fast as he could and there,no doubt,found something he understood very well.But the Dogs remained,wagging their tails,and Poggin remained,shaking hands with everyone and grinning all over his honest face.And Jewel leaned his snowy white head over the King's shoulder and the King whispered in Jewel's ear.Then everyone turned his attention again to what could be seen through the Doorway.

The Dragons and giant Lizards now had Narnia to themselves.They went to and fro tearing up the trees by the roots and crunching them up as if they were sticks of rhubarb.Minute by minute the forests disappeared.The whole country became bare and you could see all sorts of things about its shape– all the little humps and hollows – which you had never noticed before.The grass died.Soon Tirian found that he was looking at a world of bare rock and earth.You could hardly believe that anything had ever lived there.The monsters themselves grew old and lay down and died.Their flesh shrivelled up and the bones appeared：soon they were only huge skeletons that lay here and there on the dead rock,looking as if they had died thousands of years ago.For a long time everything was still.

At last something white – a long,level line of whiteness that gleamed in the light of the standing stars – came moving towards them from the Eastern end of the world.A widespread noise broke the silence：first a murmur,then a rumble,then a roar.And now they could see what it was that was coming,and how fast it came.It was a foaming wall of water.The sea was rising.In that treeless world you could see it very well.You could see all the rivers getting wider and the lakes getting larger,and separate lakes joining into one,and valleys turning into new lakes,and hills turning into islands,and then those islands vanishing.And the high moors to their left and the higher mountains to their right crumbled and slipped down with a roar and a splash into the mounting water；and the water came swirling up to the very threshold of the Doorway(but never passed it)so that the foam splashed about Aslan's forefeet.All now was level water from where they stood to where the water met the sky.

And out there it began to grow light.A streak of dreary and disastrous dawn spread along the horizon,and widened and grew brighter,till in the end they hardly noticed the light of the stars who stood behind them.At last the sun came up.When it did,the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly looked at one another and gave a little nod；those two,in a different world,had once seen a dying sun,and so they knew at once that this sun was also dying.It was three times – twenty times – as big as it ought to be,and very dark red.As its rays fell upon the great Time-giant,he turned red too：and in the reflection of that sun the whole waste of shoreless waters looked like blood.

Then the Moon came up,quite in her wrong position,very close to the sun,and she also looked red.And at the sight of her the sun began shooting out great flames,like whiskers or snakes of crimson fire,towards her.It is as if he were an octopus trying to draw her to himself in his tentacles.And perhaps he did draw her.At any rate she came to him,slowly at first,but then more and more quickly,till at last his long flames licked round her and the two ran together and became one huge ball like a burning coal.Great lumps of fire came dropping out of it into the sea and clouds of steam rose up.

Then Aslan said,“Now make an end.”

The giant threw his horn into the sea.Then he stretched out one arm – very black it looked,and thousands of miles long – across the sky till his hand reached the Sun.He took the Sun and squeezed it in his hand as you would squeeze an orange.And instantly there was total darkness.

Everyone except Aslan jumped back from the icecold air which now blew through the Doorway.Its edges were already covered with icicles.

“Peter,High King of Narnia,” said Aslan.“Shut the Door.”

Peter,shivering with cold,leant out into the darkness and pulled the Door to.It scraped over ice as he pulled it.Then,rather clumsily(for even in that moment his hands had gone numb and blue)he took out a golden key and locked it.

They had seen strange things enough through that Doorway.But it was stranger than any of them to look round and find themselves in warm daylight,the blue sky above them,flowers at their feet,and laughter in Aslan's eyes.

He turned swiftly round,crouched lower,lashed himself with his tail and shot away like a golden arrow.

“Come farther in!Come farther up!” he shouted over his shoulder.But who could keep up with him at that pace?They set out walking Westward to follow him.

“So,” said Peter,“night falls on Narnia.What,Lucy!You're not crying?With Aslan ahead,and all of us here?”

“Don't try to stop me,Peter,” said Lucy,“I am sure Aslan would not.I am sure it is not wrong to mourn for Narnia.Think of all that lies dead and frozen behind that door.”

“Yes and I did hope,” said Jill,“that it might go on for ever.I knew our world couldn't.I did think Narnia might.”

“I saw it begin,” said the Lord Digory.“I did not think I would live to see it die.”

“Sirs,” said Tirian.“The ladies do well to weep.See,I do so myself.I have seen my mother's death.What world but Narnia have I ever known?It were no virtue,but great discourtesy,if we did not mourn.”

They walked away from the Door and away from the Dwarfs who still sat crowded together in their imaginary Stable.And as they went they talked to one another about old wars and old peace and ancient Kings and all the glories of Narnia.

The Dogs were still with them.They joined in the conversation but not much because they were too busy racing on ahead and racing back and rushing off to sniff at smells in the grass till they made themselves sneeze.Suddenly they picked up a scent which seemed to excite them very much.They all started arguing about it – “Yes,it is – No,it isn't – That's just what I said – Anyone can smell what that is – Take your great nose out of the way and let someone else smell.”

“What is it,cousins?” said Peter.

“A Calormene,Sire,” said several Dogs at once.

“Lead on to him,then,” said Peter.“Whether he meets us in peace or war,he shall be welcome.”

The Dogs darted on ahead and came back a moment later,running as if their lives depended on it,and barking loudly to say that it really was a Calormene.(Talking Dogs,just like the common ones,behave as if they thought whatever they are doing at the moment immensely important.)

The others followed where the Dogs led them and found a young Calormene sitting under a chestnut tree beside a clear stream of water.It was Emeth.He rose at once and bowed gravely.

“Sir,” he said to Peter,“I know not whether you are my friend or my foe,but I should count it my honour to have you for either.Has not one of the poets said that a noble friend is the best gift and a noble enemy the next best?”

“Sir,” said Peter,“I do not know that there need be any war between you and us.”

“Do tell us who you are and what's happened to you,” said Jill.

“If there's going to be a story,let's all have a drink and sit down,” barked the Dogs.“We're quite blown.”

“Well,of course you will be if you keep tearing about the way you have done,” said Eustace.

So the humans sat down on the grass.And when the Dogs had all had a very noisy drink out of the stream they all sat down,bolt upright,panting,with their tongues hanging out of their heads a little on one side to hear the story.But Jewel remained standing,polishing his horn against his side.

CHAPTER 15

Farther Up and Farther In

“Know,O Warlike Kings,” said Emeth,“and you,O Ladies whose beauty illuminates the universe,that I am Emeth the seventh son of Harpha Tarkaan of the city of Tehishbaan,Westward beyond the desert.I came lately into Narnia with nine and twenty others under the command of Rishda Tarkaan.Now when I first heard that we should march upon Narnia I rejoiced；for I had heard many things of your Land and desired greatly to meet you in battle.But when I found that we were to go in disguised as merchants(which is a shameful dress for a warrior and the son of a Tarkaan)and to work by lies and trickery,then my joy departed from me.And most of all when I found we must wait upon a monkey,and when it began to be said that Tash and Aslan were one,then the world became dark in my eyes.For always since I was a boy I have served Tash and my great desire was to know more of him and,if it might be,to look upon his face.But the name of Aslan was hateful to me.

“And,as you have seen,we were called together outside the straw-roofed hovel,night after night,and the fire was kindled,and the Ape brought forth out of the hovel something upon four legs that I could not well see.And the people and the Beasts bowed down and did honour to it.But I thought,the Tarkaan is deceived by the Ape：for this thing that comes out of the Stable is neither Tash nor any other god.But when I watched the Tarkaan's face,and marked every word that he said to the Monkey,then I changed my mind：for I saw that the Tarkaan did not believe in it himself.And then I understood that he did not believe in Tash at all：for if he had,how could he dare to mock him?

“When I understood this,a great rage fell upon me and I wondered that the true Tash did not strike down both the Monkey and the Tarkaan with fire from heaven.Nevertheless I hid my anger and held my tongue and waited to see how it would end.But last night,as some of you know,the Monkey brought not forth the yellow thing but said that all who desired to look upon Tashlan – for so they mixed the two words to pretend that they were all one – must pass one by one into the hovel.And I said to myself,Doubtless this is some other deception.But when the Cat had gone in and had come out again in a madness of terror,then I said to myself,Surely the true Tash,whom they called on without knowledge or belief,has now come among us,and will avenge himself.And though my heart was turned into water inside me because of the greatness and terror of Tash,yet my desire was stronger than my fear,and I put force upon my knees to stay them from trembling,and on my teeth that they should not chatter,and resolved to look upon the face of Tash though he should slay me.So I offered myself to go into the hovel；and the Tarkaan,though unwillingly,let me go.

“As soon as I had gone in at the door,the first wonder was that I found myself in this great sunlight(as we all are now)though the inside of the hovel had looked dark from outside.But I had not time to marvel at this,for immediately I was forced to fight for my head against one of our own men.As soon as I saw him I understood that the Monkey and the Tarkaan had set him there to slay any who came in if he were not in their secrets：so that this man also was a liar and a mocker and no true servant of Tash.I had the better will to fight him；and having slain the villain,I cast him out behind me through the door.

“Then I looked about me and saw the sky and the wide lands,and smelled the sweetness.And I said,By the Gods,this is a pleasant place：it may be that I am come into the country of Tash.And I began to journey into the strange country and to seek him.

“So I went over much grass and many flowers and among all kinds of wholesome and delectable trees till lo!in a narrow place between two rocks there came to meet me a great Lion.The speed of him was like the ostrich,and his size was an elephant's；his hair was like pure gold and the brightness of his eyes like gold that is liquid in the furnace.He was more terrible than the Flaming Mountain of Lagour,and in beauty he surpassed all that is in the world even as the rose in bloom surpasses the dust of the desert.

“Then I fell at his feet and thought,Surely this is the hour of death,for the Lion(who is worthy of all honour)will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him.Nevertheless,it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him.But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said,'Son,thou art welcome.' But I said,'Alas,Lord,I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash.' He answered,'Child,all the service thou hast done to Tash,I account as service done to me.' Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding,I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said,'Lord,is it then true,as the Ape said,that thou and Tash are one?' The Lion growled so that the earth shook(but his wrath was not against me)and said,'It is false.Not because he and I are one,but because we are opposites – I take to me the services which thou hast done to him.For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me,and none which is not vile can be done to him.Therefore,if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake,it is by me that he has truly sworn,though he know it not,and it is I who reward him.And if any man do a cruelty in my name,then,though he says the name Aslan,it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted.Dost thou understand,Child?' I said,'Lord,thou knowest how much I understand.' But I said also(for the truth constrained me),'Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days.' 'Beloved,' said the Glorious One,'unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly.For all find what they truly seek.'

“Then he breathed upon me and took away the trembling from my limbs and caused me to stand upon my feet.And after that,he said not much,but that we should meet again,and I must go farther up and farther in.Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of gold and was gone suddenly.

“And since then,O Kings and Ladies,I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound.And this is the marvel of marvels,that he called me Beloved,me who am but as a dog—”

“Eh?What's that?” said one of the Dogs.

“Sir,” said Emeth.“It is but a fashion of speech which we have in Calormen.”

“Well,I can't say it's one I like very much,” said the Dog.

“He doesn't mean any harm,” said an older Dog.“After all,we call our puppies Boys when they don't behave properly.”

“So we do,” said the first Dog.“Or girls.”

“S-s-sh!” said the Old Dog.“That's not a nice word to use.Remember where you are.”

“Look!” said Jill suddenly.Someone was coming,rather timidly,to meet them：a graceful creature on four feet,all silvery-grey.And they stared at him for a whole ten seconds before five or six voices said all at once,“Why,it's old Puzzle!”They had never seen him by daylight with the lion-skin off,and it made an extraordinary difference.He was himself now：a beautiful donkey with such a soft,grey coat and such a gentle,honest face that if you had seen him you would have done just what Jill and Lucy did – rushed forward and put your arms round his neck and kissed his nose and stroked his ears.

When they asked him where he had been he said he had come in at the door along with all the other creatures but he had – well,to tell the truth,he had been keeping out of their way as much as he could；and out of Aslan's way.For the sight of the real Lion had made him so ashamed of all that nonsense about dressing up in a lion-skin that he did not know how to look anyone in the face.But when he saw that all his friends were going away westward,and after he had had a mouthful or so of grass(“And I've never tasted such good grass in my life,”said Puzzle),he plucked up his courage and followed.“But what I'll do if I really have to meet Aslan,I'm sure I don't know,” he added.

“You'll find it will be all right when you really do,” said Queen Lucy.

Then they went forward together,always Westward,for that seemed to be the direction Aslan had meant when he cried out,“Farther up and farther in.” Many other creatures were slowly moving the same way,but that grassy country was very wide and there was no crowding.

It still seemed to be early,and the morning freshness was in the air.They kept on stopping to look round and to look behind them,partly because it was so beautiful but partly also because there was something about it which they could not understand.

“Peter,” said Lucy,“where is this,do you suppose?”

“I don't know,” said the High King.“It reminds me of somewhere but I can't give it a name.Could it be somewhere we once stayed for a holiday when we were very,very small?”

“It would have to have been a jolly good holiday,”said Eustace.“I bet there isn't a country like this anywhere in our world.Look at the colours!You couldn't get a blue like the blue on those mountains in our world.”

“Is it not Aslan's country?” said Tirian.

“Not like Aslan's country on top of that mountain beyond the eastern end of the world,” said Jill.“I've been there.”

“If you ask me,” said Edmund,“it's like somewhere in the Narnian world.Look at those mountains ahead – and the big ice-mountains beyond them.Surely they're rather like the mountains we used to see from Narnia,the ones up Westward beyond the Waterfall?”

“Yes,so they are,” said Peter.“Only these are bigger.”

“I don't think those ones are so very like anything in Narnia,” said Lucy.“But look there.” She pointed southward to their left,and everyone stopped and turned to look.“Those hills,” said Lucy,“the nice woody ones and the blue ones behind – aren't they very like the southern border of Narnia?”

“Like!” cried Edmund after a moment's silence.“Why,they're exactly like.Look,there's Mount Pire with his forked head,and there's the pass into Archenland and everything!”

“And yet they're not like,” said Lucy.“They're different.They have more colours on them and they look farther away than I remembered and they're more… more… oh,I don't know…”

“More like the real thing,” said the Lord Digory softly.

Suddenly Farsight the Eagle spread his wings,soared thirty or forty feet up into the air,circled round and then alighted on the ground.

“Kings and Queens,” he cried,“we have all been blind.We are only beginning to see where we are.From up there I have seen it all – Ettinsmuir,Beaversdam,the Great River,and Cair Paravel still shining on the edge of the Eastern Sea.Narnia is not dead.This is Narnia.”

“But how can it be?” said Peter.“For Aslan told us older ones that we should never return to Narnia,and here we are.”

“Yes,” said Eustace.“And we saw it all destroyed and the sun put out.”

“And it's all so different,” said Lucy.

“The Eagle is right,” said the Lord Digory.“Listen,Peter.When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia,he meant the Narnia you were thinking of.But that was not the real Narnia.That had a beginning and an end.It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been here and always will be here：just as our own world,England and all,is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan's real world.You need not mourn over Narnia,Lucy.All of the old Narnia that mattered,all the dear creatures,have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door.And of course it is different；as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.”

His voice stirred everyone like a trumpet as he spoke these words：but when he added under his breath,“It's all in Plato,all in Plato：bless me,what do they teach them at these schools?” the older ones laughed.It was so exactly like the sort of thing they had heard him say long ago in that other world where his beard was grey instead of golden.He knew why they were laughing and joined in the laugh himself.But very quickly they all became grave again：for,as you know,there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.It is too good to waste on jokes.

It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste.Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this.You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains.And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass.And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley,all over again,in the looking-glass.And the sea in the mirror,or the valley in the mirror,were in one sense just the same as the real ones：yet at the same time they were somehow different – deeper,more wonderful,more like places in a story – in a story you have never heard but very much want to know.

The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that.The new one was a deeper country：every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more.I can't describe it any better than that：if ever you get there you will know what I mean.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling.He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and neighed,and then cried：

“I have come home at last!This is my real country!I belong here.This is the land I have been looking for all my life,though I never knew it till now.The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.Bree-heehee!Come farther up,come farther in!”

He shook his mane and sprang forward into a great gallop – a Unicorn's gallop which,in our world,would have carried him out of sight in a few moments.But now a most strange thing happened.Everyone else began to run,and they found,to their astonishment,that they could keep up with him：not only the dogs and the humans but even fat little Puzzle and short-legged Poggin the Dwarf.The air flew in their faces as if they were driving fast in a car without a windscreen.The country flew past as if they were seeing it from the windows of an express train.Faster and faster they raced,but no one got hot or tired or out of breath.

CHAPTER 16

Farewell to Shadowlands

If one could run without getting tired,I don't think one would often want to do anything else.But there might be special reasons for stopping,and it was a special reason which made Eustace presently shout：

“I say!Steady!Look what we're coming to!”

And well he might.For now they saw before them Caldron Pool and beyond the Pool the high unclimbable cliffs and,pouring down the cliffs,thousands of tons of water every second,flashing like diamonds in some places and dark,glassy green in others,the Great Waterfall；and already the thunder of it was in their ears.

“Don't stop!Farther up and farther in,” called Farsight,tilting his flight a little upwards.

“It's all very well for him,” said Eustace,but Jewel also cried out：

“Don't stop.Farther up and farther in!Take it in your stride.”

His voice could only just be heard above the roar of the water but next moment everyone saw that he had plunged into the Pool and helter-skelter behind him,with splash after splash,all the others did the same.The water was not bitingly cold as all of them(and especially Puzzle)expected,but of a delicious foamy coolness.They all found they were swimming straight for the Waterfall itself.

“This is absolutely crazy,” said Eustace to Edmund.

“I know.And yet—” said Edmund.

“Isn't it wonderful?” said Lucy.“Have you noticed one can't feel afraid,even if one wants to?Try it.”

“By Jove,neither one can,” said Eustace after he had tried.

Jewel reached the foot of the waterfall first,but Tirian was only just behind him.Jill was last,so she could see the whole thing better than the others.She saw something white moving steadily up the face of the waterfall.That white thing was the Unicorn.You couldn't tell whether he was swimming or climbing,but he moved on,higher and higher.The point of his horn divided the water just above his head,and it cascaded out in two rainbow-coloured streams all round his shoulders.Just behind him came King Tirian.He moved his legs and arms as if he were swimming but he moved straight upwards：as if one could swim up the wall of a house.

What looked funniest was the Dogs.During the gallop they had not been at all out of breath,but now,as they swarmed and wriggled upwards,there was plenty of spluttering and sneezing among them；that was because they would keep on barking,and every time they barked they got their mouths and noses full of water.But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully,she was going up the waterfall herself.It was the sort of thing that would have been quite impossible in our world.Even if you hadn't been drowned,you would have been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight of water against the countless jags of rock.But in that world you could do it.You went on,up and up,with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of coloured stones flashing through it,till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself – and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified,but here it was only gloriously exciting.And then at last one came to the lovely,smooth green curve in which the water poured over the top and found that one was out on the level river above the waterfall.The current was racing away behind you,but you were such a wonderful swimmer that you could make headway against it.Soon they were all on the bank,dripping but happy.

A long valley opened ahead and great snow-mountains,now much nearer,stood up against the sky.

“Farther up and farther in,” cried Jewel and instantly they were off again.

They were out of Narnia now and up into the Western Wild which neither Tirian nor Peter nor even the Eagle had ever seen before.But the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly had.“Do you remember?Do you remember?” they said – and said it in steady voices too,without panting,though the whole party was now running faster than an arrow flies.

“What,Lord?” said Tirian.“Is it then true,as stories tell,that you two journeyed here on the very day the world was made?”

“Yes,” said Digory,“and it seems to me as if it were only yesterday.”

“And on a flying horse?” asked Tirian.“Is that part true?”

“Certainly,” said Digory.

But the Dogs barked,“Faster,faster!”

So they ran faster and faster till it was more like flying than running,and even the Eagle overhead was going no faster than they.And they went through winding valley after winding valley and up the steep sides of hills and,faster than ever,down the other sides,following the river and sometimes crossing it and skimming across mountain lakes as if they were living speed-boats,till at last at the far end of one long lake which looked as blue as a turquoise,they saw a smooth green hill.Its sides were as steep as the sides of a pyramid and round the very top of it ran a green wall：but above the wall rose the branches of trees whose leaves looked like silver and their fruit like gold.

“Farther up and farther in!” roared the Unicorn,and no one held back.They charged straight at the foot of the hill and then found themselves running up it almost as water from a broken wave runs up a rock out at the point of some bay.Though the slope was nearly as steep as the roof of a house and the grass was smooth as a bowling green,no one slipped.

Only when they had reached the very top did they slow up；that was because they found themselves facing great golden gates.And for a moment none of them was bold enough to try if the gates would open.They all felt just as they had felt about the fruit – “Dare we?Is it right?Can it be meant for us?”

But while they were standing thus a great horn,wonderfully loud and sweet,blew from somewhere inside that walled garden and the gates swung open.

Tirian stood holding his breath and wondering who would come out.And what came out was the last thing he had expected：a little,sleek,brighteyed Talking Mouse with a red feather stuck in a circlet on its head and its left paw resting on a long sword.It bowed,a most beautiful bow,and said in its shrill voice：

“Welcome,in the Lion's name.Come farther up and farther in.”

Then Tirian saw King Peter and King Edmund and Queen Lucy rush forward to kneel down and greet the Mouse and they all cried out,“Reepicheep!” And Tirian breathed fast with the sheer wonder of it,for now he knew that he was looking at one of the great heroes of Narnia,Reepicheep the Mouse who had fought at the great Battle of Beruna and afterwards sailed to the World's End with King Caspian the Seafarer.But before he had had much time to think of this he felt two strong arms thrown about him and felt a bearded kiss on his cheeks and heard a wellremembered voice saying：

“What,lad?Art thicker and taller since I last touched thee!”

It was his own father,the good King Erlian：but not as Tirian had seen him last when they brought him home pale and wounded from his fight with the giant,nor even as Tirian remembered him in his later years when he was a grey-headed warrior.This was his father,young and merry,as he could just remember him from very early days when he himself had been a little boy playing games with his father in the castle garden at Cair Paravel,just before bedtime on summer evenings.The very smell of the bread and milk he used to have for supper came back to him.

Jewel thought to himself,“I will leave them to talk for a little and then I will go and greet the good King Erlian.Many a bright apple has he given me when I was but a colt.” But next moment he had something else to think of,for out of the gateway there came a horse so mighty and noble that even a Unicorn might feel shy in its presence：a great winged horse.It looked a moment at the Lord Digory and the Lady Polly and neighed out,“What,cousins!” and they both shouted “Fledge!Good old Fledge!” and rushed to kiss it.

But by now the Mouse was again urging them to come in.So all of them passed in through the golden gates,into the delicious smell that blew towards them out of that garden and into the cool mixture of sunlight and shadow under the trees,walking on springy turf that was all dotted with white flowers.The very first thing which struck everyone was that the place was far larger than it had seemed from outside.But no one had time to think about that for people were coming up to meet the newcomers from every direction.

Everyone you had ever heard of(if you knew the history of these countries)seemed to be there.There was Glimfeather the Owl and Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle,and King Rilian the Disenchanted,and his mother,the Star's daughter and his great father Caspian himself.And close beside him were the Lord Drinian and the Lord Berne and Trumpkin the Dwarf and Trufflehunter the good Badger with Glenstorm the Centaur and a hundred other heroes of the great War of Deliverance.And then from another side came Cor the King of Archenland with King Lune his father and his wife Queen Aravis and the brave prince Corin Thunder-Fist,his brother,and Bree the Horse and Hwin the Mare.And then – which was a wonder beyond all wonders to Tirian – there came from farther away in the past,the two good Beavers and Tumnus the Faun.And there was greeting and kissing and handshaking and old jokes revived,(you've no idea how good an old joke sounds when you take it out again after a rest of five or six hundred years)and the whole company moved forward to the centre of the orchard where the Phoenix sat in a tree and looked down upon them all,and at the foot of that tree were two thrones and in those two thrones a King and Queen so great and beautiful that everyone bowed down before them.And well they might,for these two were King Frank and Queen Helen from whom all the most ancient Kings of Narnia and Archenland are descended.And Tirian felt as you would feel if you were brought before Adam and Eve in all their glory.

About half an hour later – or it might have been half a hundred years later,for time there is not like time here – Lucy stood with her dear friend,her oldest Narnian friend,the Faun Tumnus,looking down over the wall of that garden,and seeing all Narnia spread out below.But when you looked down you found that this hill was much higher than you had thought：it sank down with shining cliffs,thousands of feet below them and trees in that lower world looked no bigger than grains of green salt.Then she turned inward again and stood with her back to the wall and looked at the garden.

“I see,” she said at last,thoughtfully.“I see now.This garden is like the Stable.It is far bigger inside than it was outside.”

“Of course,Daughter of Eve,” said the Faun.“The farther up and the farther in you go,the bigger everything gets.The inside is larger than the outside.”

Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden at all,but a whole world,with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains.But they were not strange：she knew them all.

“I see,” she said.“This is still Narnia,and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below,just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the Stable door!I see…world within world,Narnia within Narnia…”

“Yes,” said Mr Tumnus,“like an onion：except that as you go in and in,each circle is larger than the last.”

And Lucy looked this way and that and soon found that a new and beautiful thing had happened to her.Whatever she looked at,however far away it might be,once she had fixed her eyes steadily on it,became quite clear and close as if she were looking through a telescope.She could see the whole southern desert and beyond it the great city of Tashbaan：to Eastward she could see Cair Paravel on the edge of the sea and the very window of the room that had once been her own.

And far out to sea she could discover the islands,island after island to the End of the World,and,beyond the end,the huge mountain which they had called Aslan's country.But now she saw that it was part of a great chain of mountains which ringed round the whole world.In front of her it seemed to come quite close.

Then she looked to her left and saw what she took to be a great bank of brightly-coloured cloud,cut off from them by a gap.But she looked harder and saw that it was not a cloud at all but a real land.And when she had fixed her eyes on one particular spot of it,she at once cried out,“Peter!Edmund!Come and look!Come quickly.” And they came and looked,for their eyes also had become like hers.

“Why!” exclaimed Peter.“It's England.And that's the house itself – Professor Kirke's old home in the country where all our adventures began!”

“I thought that house had been destroyed,”said Edmund.

“So it was,” said the Faun.“But you are now looking at the England within England,the real England just as this is the real Narnia.And in that inner England no good thing is destroyed.”

Suddenly they shifted their eyes to another spot,and then Peter and Edmund and Lucy gasped with amazement and shouted out and began waving：for there they saw their own father and mother,waving back at them across the great,deep valley.It was like when you see people waving at you from the deck of a big ship when you are waiting on the quay to meet them.

“How can we get at them?” said Lucy.

“That is easy,” said Mr Tumnus.“That country and this country – all the real countries – are only spurs jutting out from the great mountains of Aslan.We have only to walk along the ridge,upward and inward,till it joins on.And listen!There is King Frank's horn：we must all go up.”

And soon they found themselves all walking together – and a great,bright procession it was –up towards mountains higher than you could see in this world even if they were there to be seen.But there was no snow on those mountains：there were forests and green slopes and sweet orchards and flashing waterfalls,one above the other,going up for ever.And the land they were walking on grew narrower all the time,with a deep valley on each side：and across that valley the land which was the real England grew nearer and nearer.

The light ahead was growing stronger.Lucy saw that a great series of many-coloured cliffs led up in front of them like a giant's staircase.And then she forgot everything else,because Aslan himself was coming,leaping down from cliff to cliff like a living cataract of power and beauty.

And the very first person whom Aslan called to him was Puzzle the Donkey.You never saw a donkey look feebler and sillier than Puzzle did as he walked up to Aslan,and he looked,beside Aslan,as small as a kitten looks beside a St Bernard.The Lion bowed down his head and whispered something to Puzzle at which his long ears went down,but then he said something else at which the ears perked up again.The humans couldn't hear what he had said either time.

Then Aslan turned to them and said：“You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.”

Lucy said,“We're so afraid of being sent away,Aslan.And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”

“No fear of that,” said Aslan.“Have you not guessed?”

Their hearts leapt,and a wild hope rose within them.

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly.“Your father and mother and all of you are– as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead.The term is over：the holidays have begun.The dream is ended：this is the morning.”

And as He spoke,He no longer looked to them like a lion；but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.And for us this is the end of all the stories,and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page：now at last they were beginning CHAPTER 1 of the Great Story which no one on earth has read：which goes on for ever：in which every chapter is better than the one before.