CHAPTER FOUR TURKISH DELIGHT(第2页)
“Oh,butifItookyoutherenow,”saidshe,“Ishouldn'tseeyourbrotherandyoursisters。Iverymuttoknrelations。YouaretobethePrierohatisuood。Butyoumusthavecourtiersandnobles。IwillmakeyourbrotheraDukeandyoursistersDuchesses。”
“There'snothingspe,”saidEdmund,“and,anyway,Icouldalwaysbrihertime。”
“Ah,butonceyouwereinmyhouse,”saidtheQueen,“youmightfetallaboutthern。Youwouldbeenjoyingyourselfsomuchthatyouwouldn'twaherofgoihem。No。Youmustgobacktoyourownetomeanotherday,withthem,youuand。Itisnogoodingwithoutthem。”
“ButIdon'tevenknowthewaybayowntry,”pleadedEdmund。“That'seasy,”aheQueen。“Doyouseethatlamp?”ShepoihherwaurnedandsaostunderwhichLucyhadmettheFaun。“Straighto,isthewaytotheWorldofMen。Andnowlooktheotherway'—hereshepoiheoppositediredtellmeifyouseetwolittlehillsrisirees。”
“IthinkI,”saidEdmund。
“Well,myhouseisbetweewohills。Soimeyoueyouhaveonlytofindthelamp-postandlookforthosetwohillsandwalkthroughthewoodtillyoureachmyhouse。Butremember—ytheotherswithyou。Imighthavetrywithyouifyoue。”
“I'lldomybest,”saidEdmund。
“And,bytheway,”saidtheQueen,“youtellthemaboutme。Itwouldbefuasecretbetouldn'tit?Makeitasurpriseforthem。Justbriothetwohills—acleverboylikeyouwilleasilythinkofsomeexcusefthat—andwheomyhouseyoucouldjustsay“Let'sseewholiveshereorsomethi。Iamsurethatwouldbebest。IfyoursisterhasmetoheFauns,shemayhaveheardstrame—nastystoriesthatmightmakeherafraidtoe。Faunswillsayanything,youknow,andnow—”
“Please,please,”saidEdmundsuddenly,“please'tIhavejustourkishDelighttoeatonthewayhome?”
“No,no,”saidtheQueenwithalaugh,“youmustwaittillime。”Whileshespoke,shesighedwarftodriveon,butasthesledgesweptawayoutofsight,theQueeoEdmund,gout,“ime!Donet。esoon。”
Edmundwasstillstarihesledgewhenheheardsomeoneghisownname,andlookingroundhesawLuingtowardhimfromaofthewood。
“Oh,Edmund!”shecried。“Soyou'vegotintoo!Isn'titwonderful,andnow—”
“Allright,”saidEdmund,“Iseeyhtanditisamagicwardrobeafterall。I'llsayI'msorryifyoulike。Butwhereohhaveyoubeenallthistime?I'vebeenlookingforyoueverywhere。”
“IfI'dknownyouhadgotinI'dhavewaitedforyou,”saidLucy,pyaiappishlyEdmundspokeorhowflushedandstrangehisfacewas。“I'vebeenhavinglunchwithdearMr。Tumnus,theFaun,andhe'sverywellaeWitenothingtmego,sohethinksshe'thavefoundoutandperhapseverythingisgoingthtafterall。”
&eWitch?”saidEdmund;“who'sshe?”
“Sheisaperfectlyterribleperson,”saidLucy。“ShecallsherselftheQueenhshehasnhttobequeenatall,andalltheFaunsandDryadsandNaiadsandDwarfsandAnimals—atleastallthegoodones—simplyhateher。Auroneanddoallkindsofhorriblethings。AndshehasmadeamagicsothatitisalwayswinterinNarnia—alwayswioChristmas。Andshedrivesaboutonasledge,drawnbyreihherwandinherhandandaherhead。”
Edmundwasalreadyfeelingunfeatentoomas,ahattheLadyhehadmadefriendswithwasadachhefeltevenmoreunfortable。ButhestillwaethatTurkishDelightagaihahingelse。
“WhotoldyouallthatstuffabouttheWhiteWitch?”heasked。
“Mr。Tumnus,theFaun,”saidLucy。
“You'talwaysbelievewhatFaunssay,”saidEdmund,tryingtosoundasifheknewfarmoreaboutthemthanLucy。
“Whosaidso?”askedLucy。
“Everyo,”saidEdmund;“askanybodyyoulike。Butit'sprettypoorsportstahes'sgohome。”
&'s,”saidLuund,Iamgladyou'vegotiherswillhavetobelieveinNarnianowthatbothofushavebeefunitwillbe!”
ButEdmuhoughtthatitwouldnotbeasgoodfunforhimasforher。HewouldhavetoadmitthatLucyhadbeenright,beforealltheothers,aheotherswouldallbeoheFaunsandtheanimals;buthewasalreadymorethanhalfoheWitch。Hedidnotknoouldsay,orhowhewouldkeephissecetheywerealltalkingaboutNarnia。
Bythistimetheyhadwalkedagoodway。Theheyfeltinsteadofbranextmomehstandihewardrobeiyroom。
“Isay,”saidLucy,“youdolookawful,Edmund。Don'tyoufeelwell?”
“I'mallright,”saidEdmund,butthiswasnottrue。Hewasfeelingverysick。
&hen,”saidLucy,“let'sfihers。Whatalotweshallhavetotellthem!Andwhatwonderfuladventuresweshallhavenowthatwe'realliher。”