CHAPTER TWELVE THROUGH THE STABLE DOOR(第1页)
CHAPTERTWELVETHROUGHTHESTABLEDOOR
JILLoughttohavebeenbackatthewhiterockalreadybutshehadquitefottenthatpartofherordersiofwatgthefight。Nowsheremembered。Sheturontoit,aherebarelyasedbeforetheothers。Itthushappeallofthem,foramoment,hadtheirbay。Theyallwheeledrouheyhadreachedit。Aterriblesightmettheireyes。
Aenewasrunningtowardthestabledsomethingthatkidstruggled。Ashecamebetweehefiretheycouldseeclearlyboththeshapeofthemanandtheshapeofwhathecarried。It>
TirianandtheUnirushedouttorescuehim。Buttheenewashedoortheheyhadcoveredhalfthedistancehehadfluadshutthedooronhim。Halfadozenmoreeneshadrunupbehindhim。Theyformedaliheopehestable。Therewasitnow。
&henJillrememberedtokeepherfaedaside,wellawayfromherbow。“EvenifI'tstopblubbing,Iwon'tgetmystri,”shesaid。
“'Warearroogginsuddenly。
EveryonedudpulledhishelmetwelloverhisheDogscroud。Butthoughafewarrowscametheirwayitsoohattheywereat。GriffleandhisDwarfswereattheirarcheryagain。Thistimetheywerecoollyshootingattheenes。
&up,boys!”cameGriffle'svoice。“Alltogether。Carefully。Wedon'twantDarkiesahaMonkeys—orLis。TheDwarfsarefortheD>
WhateverelseyoumaysayaboutDwarfs,noonesaytheyaren'tbrave。Theycouldeasilyhavegotawaytosomesafeplace。Theypreferredtostayandkillasmanyofbothsidesastheycould,exbothsideswerekiosavethemtroublebykilliher。TheywantedNarniafortheirown。
stheyhadoatwasthattheenesweremail-dtheHorseshadhadion。Alsotheeneshadaleader。RishdaTarkaan'svoicecriedout:“Thirtyofyoukeepwatthosefoolsbythewhiterock。Therest,afterme,thatwemayteachthesesohalesson。”
Tirianandhisfriends,stillpantingfrhtandthankfulforafewminutes'rest,stoodandlookedoarkaanledhismenagainsttheDwarfs。Itwasastrangesow。Thefirehadsuhelightitgavewasnowlessandofadarkerred。Asfarasonecouldsee,thewholeplablytyexceptfortheDwarfandtheehatlightoneakeoutmuchofening。ItsouheDwarfswereputtingupagoodfight。Tiriancriffleusingdreadfullanguage,andeverynowaarkaang,“Takeallyoualive!Takethemalive!”
&fightmayhavebeedidnotlastlong。Thediedaway。ThenJillsawtheTarkaaningbacktothestable:elevenmenfollowedhim,draggingelevenboundDwarfs。(Whethertheothershadallbeenkilled,orwhethersomeofthemhadgotaway,wasneverknown。)
“Throwthemintotheshriash,”saidRishdaTarkaan。
AheelevenDwarfs,oher,hadbeenflungorkitothatdarkdoorwayandthedoorhadbeenshutagaiothestableandsaid:“Thesealsoareforthyburnt,LordTash。”
Andalltheeheflatsoftheirswordsontheirshieldsaash!Tash!ThegreatgodTash!Iash!”(Therewas“Tashlan”now。)
&lepartybythewhiterockwatchedthesedoingsaooheyhadfoundatrickledowntherodallhaddrunkeagerly—JillandPogginandtheKingintheirhahefour-footedohelittlepoolwhichithadmadeatthefootofthestone。Suchwastheirthirstthatitseemedthemostdeliktheyhadeverhadintheirlives,aheyweredrinkingtheywereperfectlyhappyandotthinkofanythingelse。
“Ifeelinmybones,”saidPoggin,“thatweshallall,ohroughthatdarkd。IkofahuhsIwouldratherhavedied。”
“Itisindeedagrimdoor,”saidTirian。“Itismorelikeamouth。”
“Oh,'twedoanythingtostopit?”saidJillinashakenvoice。
“Nay,fairfriend,”saidJewel,ly。“ItmaybeforusthedoortoAslan'sdathistabletonight。”
RishdaTarkaanturnedhisbathestableandwalkedslolatofthewhiterock。
“Hearken,”hesaid。“IftheBoarandtheDogsandtheUniwilleandputthemselvesiheirlivesshallbespared。TheBotoaTheTisroc'sgardeoTheTisroc'skeheUniIhavesawnhishornoff,shalldrawacart。ButtheEagle,the,andhewhowastheKingshallbeofferedtoTashthisnight。”
Theonlyansls。
&on,warriors,”saidtheTarkaan。“Killthebeasts,buttakethetwo-leggedonesalive。”
AhelastbattleofthelastKingan。
eless,evenapartfromtheheehespears。TheeneswhohadbeenealmostfromthebeginninghadhadwasbecausetheyhadeintoNarwtobepeacefulmerdofcoursetheyhadospearsforaspearisnotathingyouhide。ThehaveeiertheApewasalreadystrongandtheyarly。Thespearsmadeallthedifferehalongspearyoukillaboarbeforeyouareinreachofhistusksandaunibeforeyouareinreachofhishorn;ifyouareveryquidkeepyourhead。AndnowthelevelledspearswereonTirianandhislastfrieetheywereallfightingfortheirlives。
Inawayitwasn'tquitesobadasyoumightthink。