CHAPTER SEVEN MAINLY ABOUT DWARFS(第2页)
&hosewordswereoutofhismouthherealizedthathehadmadeafalsemove。TheDwarfsatonrepeating“notatamelion,notatamelion,”inajeeringsing-song。“That'swhattheotherlotkeptontellingus,”saidone。
“Doyoumeanyoudon'tbelieveintherealAslan?”saidJill。“ButI'veseenhim。Austwohereoutofadifferentworld。”
“Ah,”saidGrifflewithabroadsmile。“Soyousay。They'vetaughtyouyourstuffallright。Sayingyourlessons,ain'tyou?”
“Churl,”criedTirian,“willyougivealadythelietoherveryface?”
“Youkeepagueier,”repliedtheDwarf。“Idon'tthianyms—ifyouareTirian,whi'tlooklikehim—haanyAslans。Wetolookafterourselvesfromnowonandtouchourobody。See?”
“Thatht,”saidtheotherDwarfs。“We'reonourownnow。NomoreAslan,ns,oriesaboutotherworlds。TheDwarfsarefortheDwarfs。”Aofallintotheirpladtogetreadyfbacktowherevertheyhad。
“Littlebeasts!”saidEusta'tyouevengoingtosaythankysavedfromthesalt-mines?”
“Oh,weknowallaboutthat,”saidGriffleoverhisshoulder。“Youwaomakeuseofus,that'swhyyourescuedus。Ysomegameofyourown。eonyouchaps。”
AndtheDwarfsstruckupthequeerlittlemargwhichgoeswiththedrum-beat,arampedintothedarkness。
Tirianandhisfriehem。Thehesingleword“e,”aiheirjourney。
Theyarty。Puzzlefelthimselftobestillindisgradalsohedidn'treallyquiteuandened。Jill,besidesbeingdisgustedwiththeDwarfs,wasveryimpressedwithEustace'svictoryovertheeshy。AsforEustace,hisheartwasstillbeatingratherquickly。TirianandJewelwalkedsadlytogetheriheKinghadhisarmontheUni'sshoulderaheUniuzzledtheKing'scheekwithhissofttrytofortohwords。Itwasn'tveryeasytothinkofanythingtosaythatwouldbef。TirianhadosofanApe'ssettingupasafalseAslaoppeoplefrombelievingintherealoquitesurethattheDwarfswouldrallytohissidethemomehemhowtheyhadbeehehewouldhaveledthemtoStableHillandshowhecreaturesandeveryonewouldhaveturtheApeaerascufflewiththeehingwouldhavebeenow,itseemed,hetonnothing。HowmanyhtturheD>
“Somebody'sihink,”saidPuzzlesuddenly。
&oppedandlistened。Sureenough,there-thumpofsmallfeetbehindthem。
“Whogoesthere!”shoutedtheKing。
“Onlyme,Sire,”e,PoggintheDwarf。I'veonlyjustmaawayfromtheothers。I'monyourside,Sire:andonAslan's。IfyouputaDwarfishswordinmyfist,I'dgladlystrikeablowhtsidebeforeall'sdone。”
Everyoneandwelandpraisedhimandslappedhimontheback。OfesingleDwarfakeaverygreatdifferewassomehowverygtohaveevehewhhteJillaa'tstaybrightf,fortheyningtheirheadsoffandtootiredtothinkaboutanythingbutbed。
Itwasatthecoldesthourofthenight,justbeforedawn,thattheygotbacktotheTower。Iftherehadbeenamealreadyforthemtheywouldhavebeeoeat,butthebotheranddelayofgettitobethoughtof。Theydrankfromastream,splashedtheirfaceswithwater,aheirbuforPuzzleandJewelwhosaidthey'dbemorefortableoutside。Thisperhapswasjustaswell,foraUnidafat,full-grownDonkeyindoorsalwaysmakearoomfeelrathercrowded。
NarnianDwarfs,thoughlessthahigh,arefortheirsizeaboutthetoughestauresthereare,sothatPoggin,inspiteofaheavydaya,wokefullyrefreshedbeforeahers。HeatoookJill'sbow,wentoutandshotacoupleofwoodpigeoplugthemoepandgtoJeuzzle。Puzzlelookedaagooddealbetterthism。Jewel,beingaUnidthereforeoaofbeasts,hadbeeohim,talkingtohimaboutthiheycouldbothuandlikegrassandsugarandthee'shoofs。WhenJillaoftheTandrubbialmosthalfpastten,theDheretheycouldgatherplentyofaNarnianweedcalledWildFresney,whichlooksratherlikeourwood-sorrelbuttastesagooddealnicooked。(Itlebutteraomakeitperfect,buttheyhadn'tgotthese。)Sothatwhatwithohingaheyhadthemakingsofacapitalstewfortheirbreakfastordinner,whicheveryouchoosetocallit。Tirialefurtheroffihanaxeandbroughtbaebranchesforfuel。Whilethemealwasg—whichseemedaverylongtime,especiallyasitsmelledniieareritcametobeiheKingfoundapleteDwarfishin:mailshirt,helmet,shield,sword,belt,aheace'sswordandfouacehadputitbathesheathallmessyfromkillingtheene。Hewasscoldedforthataodpolishit。
AllthiswhileJillwenttoandfro,sometimesstirriaimeslookingoutenviouslyattheDoheUniwhoweretedlygrazing。Howmamshewishedshecouldeatgrass!
Butwhenthemealcameeveryohadbeenworthwaitingfor,andthereweresedhelpingsallround。Wheenasmuchashecould,thethreehumansandtheDwarfdsatoep,thefour-footedoneslaydownfagthem,theDwarf(withpermissionbothfromJillandfromTirian)lithispipe,andtheKingsaid:“Nin,youhavemoreheehaellusallyouknow。Andfirst,whattaledotheytellofmyescape?”
“Asgatale,Sire,aseverwasdevised,”saidPoggin。“Itwastheger,whotoldit,andmostlikelymadeituptoo。ThisGinger,Sire—oh,he'saslybootsifeveracatwas—saidheastthetreetowhichthosevillainsboundyourMajesty。Andhesaid(savingyourrevereyandswearingandgAslan:'languageIwouldn'tliketorepeat'werethewordsheused,lookingeversoprimandproperyouknowthewayawhenitpleases。Andthen,saysGinger,AslanhimselfsuddenlyappearedinaflashoflightningandswallowedyourMajestyupatohful。AlltheBeaststrembledatthisstoryaedrightaway。AndofcoursetheApefolloweditup。There,hesays,seewhatAslahosewhodon'trespecthim。Letthatbeawarningtoyouall。Andthepoorcreatureswailedandwhinedandsaid,itwill,itwill。SothatiyourMajesty'sesotsetthemthiheryoustillhaveloyalfriendstoaidyou,butohemmoreafraidatotheApe。”
“Whatdevilishpolicy!”saidTirian。“ThisGihen,istheApe'ssels。”
“It'smoreaquestionbyheApeisinhissels,”repliedtheDwarf。“TheApehastakent,yousee。MybeliefisthattheplotisnowmostlybyGingerorRishda—that'stheeain。AndIthihatGingerhasscatteredamongtheDwarfsareeforthescurvyreturntheymadeyou。AndI'lltellyouwhy。OhosedreadfulmidingshadjustbrokebeforelastandI'dgoofthewayhomewhenIfoundI'dleftmypipebehind。Itwasarealgood'un,anoldfavourite,soIwentbacktolookforit。ButbefottotheplacewhereI'dbeensitting(ititchthere)Iheardacat'svoicesayMewandaenevoicesay‘here。。。speaksoftly,'soIjuststoodasstillasifIwasfrozewerandRishdaTarkaanastheycallhim。‘arkaan,'saidthethatsilkyvoiceofhis,‘IjustwaoklywhatwebothmeanttodayaboutAslanmeaniash。''Doubtless,mostsagaciousofcats,'saystheother,‘youhaveperceivedmymeaning。'‘Youmean,'saysGihere'snosuaseither。'‘Allwhhtehat,'saidtheTarkaan。‘Thenwederstaher,'purrstheCat。‘Doyou,likeme,growalittlewearyoftheApe?'‘Astupid,greedybrute,'saystheother,‘butwemustusehimforthepresent。ThouandImustprovideforallthiaheApedoourwill。'‘Anditwouldbebetter,wouldn'tit,'saidGioletsomehtenedNarniansintooursels:onebyohemapt。FortheBeastswhoreallybelieveinAslanmayturnata:andwill,iftheApe'sfollybetrayshissecret。ButthosewhoeitherforTashnorAslanbuthaveoheirownprofitaheTisrocmaygivethemwhenNarniaisaeneprovince,willbefirm。'‘ExtCat,'saidthe。‘Butchoosewhiescarefully。'”
&heDeakingthedayseemedtohaveged。Ithadbeensuheysatdown。NowPuzzleshivered。Jewelshiftedhisheaduneasily。Jilllookedup。
“It'sgover,”shesaid。
“Andit'ssocold,”saidPuzzle。
“ough,bytheLion!”saidTirian,blowingonhishands。“Andfaugh!Whatfoulsmellisthis?”
“PheedEustace。“It'slikesomethihereadeadbirdsomewhereabout?Andwhydidn'twebefore?”
heavalJewelscrambledtohisfeetahhishorn。“Look!”hecried。“Lookatit!Look,look!”Thenallsixofthemsaw;aheirfacesthereexpressiodismay。