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the horse and his boy_c·s·刘易斯-第7部分

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und 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。鈥

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 fortable 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 fortable。 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; grown…ups; 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 rsh; or no?鈥

the lady shook her head。 〃no; brother;〃 she said; 〃not for all the jewels  in tashbaan。鈥

(〃hullo!〃 thought shasta。 〃although theyre king and queen; theyre 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 ing of the tisrocs 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。鈥

〃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。鈥

〃ah!〃 croaked the raven。 〃it is an old saying: see the bear in his own den  before you judge of his conditions。鈥

〃thats very true; sallowpad;〃 said one of the dwarfs。 〃and another is;  e; live with me and youll know me。鈥

〃yes;〃 said the king。 〃we have now seen him for what he is: that is; a most  proud; bloody; luxurious; cruel; and selfpleasing tryant。鈥

〃then in the name of aslan;〃 said susan; 〃let us leave tashbaan this very  day。鈥

〃theres 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。鈥

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。鈥

ww锛枫



CHAPTER FIVE

灏忥紝璇达紝t锛寈t锛屽ぉ锛屽爞
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。鈥

〃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 lions mane; i think that as soon as he has your flat denial we shall be no better  than prisoners。鈥

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!鈥

〃i have been with the prince this morning;〃 continued edmund。 〃he is little  used (mores 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 mon  jests about womens 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。鈥

〃yes;〃 said tumnus。 〃and when i supped with the grand vizier last night; it  was the same。 he asked me how i like 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  ing 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。鈥

〃do you mean he would make me his wife by force?〃 exclaimed susan。

〃thats my fear; susan;〃 said edmund: 〃wife: or slave which is worse。鈥

〃but how can he? does the tisroc think our brother the high king would  suffer such an outrage?鈥

〃sire;〃 said peridan to the king。 〃they would not be so mad。 do they think  there are no swords and spears in narnia?鈥

〃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 e 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。鈥

〃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。鈥

〃true; friend;〃 said edmund。 〃but is the desert a sure defence? what does  sallowpad say?鈥

〃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 days march; yet the springs there would be too little for the thirst of all  those soldiers and their beasts。 but there is another way。鈥

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 days riding or a little more; he shall e 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 e to a  river and can ride by the water all the way into archenland。鈥

〃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 queens grace would be the wife; or  more likely; the slave; of this prince。鈥

〃we have our weapons; king;〃 said the first dwarf。 〃and this is a  reasonably defensible house。鈥

〃as to that;〃 said the king; 〃i do not doubt that every one of us would  sell our lives dearly in the gate and they would not e at the queen but over our dead  bodies。 yet we should be merely rats fighting in a trap when alls said。鈥

〃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。鈥

〃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。鈥

and she buried her face in her hands and sobbed。

〃courage; su; courage;〃 said edmund。 〃remember…but what is the matter with  you; master 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。

〃dont speak to me; dont speak to me;〃 said tumnus。 〃im thinking。 im  thinking so that i can hardly breathe。 wait; wait; do wait。鈥

there was a moments puzzled silence and then the faun looked up; drew a  long breath; mopped its forehead and said:  〃the only difficulty is how to get down to our ship…with some stores; too… without being seen and stopped。鈥

〃yes;〃 said a dwarf dryly。 〃just as the beggars only difficulty about  riding is that he has no horse。鈥

〃wait; wait;〃 said mr tumnus impatiently。 〃all we need is some pretext for  going down to our ship today and taking stuff on board。鈥

〃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 spendour 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。鈥

〃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。鈥

〃i see; i see;〃 said king edmund; rubbing his hands。

〃and then;〃 said tumnus; 〃well all be on board tonight。 and as soon as it  is quite dark…鈥

〃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! hurrah for narnia and the north!〃 said the other。

〃and the prince waking 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。鈥

〃the prince will chase us;〃 said another lord; whose name shasta had not  heard。

〃thats the least of my fears;〃 said edmund。 〃i have seen all the shipping  in the river and theres 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。鈥

〃sire;〃 said the raven。 〃you shall hear no better plot than the fauns  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。鈥

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 
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