CHAPTER NINE THE GREAT MEETING ON STABLE HILL（第2页）

“Ialmostwish—noIdon't，though，”saidJill。

“Whatwereyougoingtosay?”

“IwasgoingtosayIwishedwe'dIdon't，Idon't，Idon't。Evenifwearekilled。I'dratherbekilledfightingforNarniathangroidathomeandperhapsgoaboutinabath-dtheheendjustthesame。”

“OrbesmashedupbyBritishRail>

“Whyd'yousaythat?”

&hatawfuljerkcame—theohrowusintoNarnia—Ithoughtitwasthebeginningofarailwayat。SoIwasjollygladtofindourselveshereinstead。”

WhileJillaalkingaboutthis，theothersweredisgtheirplansandbeinglessmiserable。Thatwasbecausetheywerenowthinkingofwhatwastobedoaofeothatallhergloriesandjoyswereover—ushedawayintothebaiheystoppedtalkingitwouldakethemwret:buttheykeptontalking。Poggiecheerfulaboutthenight'sworktheyhadtodo。HewassurethattheBoarandtheBear，andprobablyalltheDogswouldeovertotheirsideatondhe'tbelievethatalltheotherDwarfswouldsticktoGriffle。Andfightiandinandoutamongtreeswouldbeanadvaheweakerside。Aheytoheyreallythrowtheirlivesawaybymeetingthemainyafe>

Whyhewoods，orevenupierhegreatwaterfallalaws?AheymightgraduallygetstrorBeastsandArderswouldbejoiningthemeveryday。Andatlastthey'deoutofhidiheenes（whowouldhavegotcarelessbythen）outofthedNarniawouldberevived。Afterall，somethihathadhappeimeofKingMiraz!

AndTiriahisandthought“ButwhataboutTash?”aiwasgoingtohappen。Buthedidn'tsayso。

&heygotableHillofcourseeveryohentherealwan。FromthemomentatwhichtheyfirstsawtheHilltothemomentatwhichtheyallarrivedatthebackofthestable，ittookthemovertwohours。It'sthesortofthingone'tdescribeproperlyuepagesait。Thejourofcovertothearateadveherewereverylongwaitsiween，andseveralfalsealarms。IfyoodScuideyouwillkitmusthavebeenlike。Byaboutsuheywereallsafeinaclumpofhollytreesaboutfifteehestable。Theyallmuandlaydown。

&heworstpart，thewaiting。Luckilyforthetheysleptforacoupleofhours，butofcoursetheywokeupwhegrewdokeupverythirstyandwithingadrioalittlewithnervousness，andsaidnothing。ButTirian，withhisheadagainstJewel'sflaassoundlyasifhewereinhisroyalbedatCairParavel，tillthesoundofagoingawokehimaupandsawthattherewasfirelightonthefarsideofthestableahehourhade。

“Kissme，Jewel，”hesaid。“Forlythisishtoh。AndifeverIoffeyouinaorsmall，fivemenow。”

“DearKing，”saidtheUni，“Iostwishyouhad，sothatImightfiveit。Farewell。Wehavekogether。IfAslangavememychoiceIwouldootherlifethanthelifeIhavehadahao。”

&heywht，withhisheadunderhiswing（itmadehimlookasifhehadall），aforwardtothestable。TheyleftPuzzle（notwithoutakindword，fornoonewasangrywithhimnow）justbehindit，tellinghimnottomovetillsomeodtookuptheirpositiohestable。

Thebobeenlitfandwasjustbeginningtoblazeup。Itwasoawayfromthem，aarureswereohersideofit，sothatTirianotatfirstseethemverywell，thoughofcoursehesawdozensofeyesshiningwiththerefleofthefire，asyou'veseenarabbit'sorcat'seyesisofadjustasTiriantookhisplace，thegoingandfromsomewhereohreefiguresappeared。OnewasRishdaTarkaantheeain。Thesede。Hewasholdingoarkaan'shandwithonepatwhimperingandmuttering，“Notsofast，don'tgosofast，I'mnotatallwell。Ohmypoorhead!Thesemidioomue。Apesaren'tmeanight:It'snotasifIwasaratorabat—ohmypoorhead。”OhersideoftheApe，walkiahhistailstraightupintheair，gertheCat。TheywereheadingforthebonfireandweresoclosetoTirianthattheywouldhaveseenhimatoheyhadlookedidire。Fortu。ButTirianheardRishdasaytoGingerinalowvoiow，Cat，tothypost。Seethouplaythypartwell。”

“Miaow，miaow。e!”saidGieppedawaybeyondthebodowrowoftheassembledBeasts:intheaudienightsay。

Forreally，asithappehingwasratherlikeatheatre。Thearhepeopleihelittlegrassyplafroable，wherethebonfireburheApeaainstoodtotalktothecrowd，waslikethestage;thestableitselfwasliketheseryatthebackofthestage;andTirianandhisfriendswerelikeperouhesery。Itlendidposition。Ifaeppedforwardintothefullfirelight，alleyeswouldbefixedonhimatoheotherhand，solooodstillintheshadowoftheend-wallofthestable，itwasahuootheirbeingnoticed。

RishdaTarkaaheApeupclosetothefire。ThepairofthemturofacethedthisofeantthattheirbacksweretowardTirianandhisfriends。

“Now，Monkey，”saidRishdaTarkaaninalowvoice。“Saythewordsthatutintothymouth。Andholdupthyhead。”AshespokehegavetheApealittleprodorkibehindwiththepointofhistoe。

“DoleavemealoeredShift。Buthesatupstraighterandbegan，inaloudervoiowlisten，allofyou。Aterriblethinghashappened。Awig。ThewickedestthingthateverwasdoneinNarnia。AndAslan—”

“Tashlan，fool，”whisperedRishdaTarkaan。

“TashlanImean，ofcourse，”saidtheApe，“isveryangryaboutit。”

&erriblesileheBeastswaitedtohearwhatroublewasihem。Thelittlepartybytheend-wallofthestablealsoheldtheirbreath。Whatohwasingnow?

“Yes，”saidtheApe。“AtthisverymomeerribleOnehimselfisamohestablejustbehindme—ohastodowhatyou'dthinknoonewoulddaretodoevehousandmilesaway。Ithasdresseditselfupinalion-skinandiswanderingaboutintheseverywtobeAslan。”

JillwonderedforamomentiftheApehadgonemad。Washegoihewholetruth?AroarewentupfromtheBeasts。“Grrr!”camethegrowls。“Whoishe?Whereishe?Justletmegetmyteethintohim!”

“Itwasseenlastnight，”screamedtheApe，“butitgotaway。It'saDonkey!AiserableAss!IfanyofyouseethatAss—”

“Grrr!”growledtheBeasts。“ill。He'dbetterkeepoutofour>

JilllookedattheKing:hismouthenandhisfacewasfullofhorror。Andthehedevilishgoftheenemies'plan。Bymixingalittletruthwithittheyhadmadetheirliefarstrowasthegood，heBeaststhatanasshadbeendressedupasaliohem?TheApewouldonlysay，“That'sjustwhatI'vesaid。”WhatwasthegoodofshowingthemPuzzleinhislion-skin?Theywouldonlytearhimi'stakeofoursails，”whisperedEustace。“Thegroundistakenfromunderourfeet，”saidTirian。“Cursed，cursedess!”saidPoggin。“I'llbeswornthatthisnewlieisofGinger'smaking。”