Prince Caspian CHAPTER ONE THE ISLAND(第1页)
PrinETHEISLAND
&herewerefourwhoseer,Susan,Edmund,andLudithasbeentoldinanotherbookcalledTheLiodtheWardrobehowtheyhadaremarkableadveheyhadopehedicwardrobeandfoundthemselvesinaquitedifferentworldfromours,andinthatdifferentworldtheyhadbeeKingsandQueensinatryarheywereinNarniatheyseemedtnforyearsawhentheycamebackthroughthedoorandfoundthemselvesinEnglandagain,itallseemedtohavetakeall。Atanyrate,icedthattheyhadeverbeenaway,aoldarown-up。
Thathadallhappenedayearago,andnowallfourofthemweresittiarailwaystationwithtrunksandplayboxespileduprouheywere,infatheirwaybacktoschool。Theyhadtraveledtogetherasfarasthisstation,whichwasajundhere,ies,orainwouldarriveahegirlsawaytoonesdinabouthalfanhourarainwouldarriveandtheboyswouldgoofftoanotherschool。Thefirstpartofthejourheywerealltogether,alwaysseemedtobepartoftheholidays;butheywouldbesayinggood-byeandgoiwayssosoon,everyoheholidayswerereallyoverandeveryoheirterm-timefeelingsbeginningagain,andtheywereallrathergloomyahinkofanythingtosay。Lucywasgoingtschoolforthefirsttime。
Itty,sleepy,trystationandtherewashardlyaheplatformexceptthemselves。SuddenlyLucygaveasharplittlecry,likesomeonewhohasbeenstungbya>
“What'sup,Lu?”saidEdmund—andthensuddenlybrokeoffandmadeanoiselike“Ow!”
“Whataheoosuddehehadbeengoingtosay。Instead,hesaid,“Susago!Whatareyoudoing?Whereareymeto?”
“I'mnottougyou,”saidSusan。“Someoneispullingme。Oh—oh—oh—stopit!”
&icedthatalltheothers'faceshadgoe。
&hesame,”saidEdmundihlessvoice。“AsifIwerebeingdraggedalong。Amhtfulpulling—ugh!it'sbeginningagain。”
&oo,”saidLucy。“Oh,I'tbearit。”
“Looksharp!”shoutedEdmund。“Alldsaher。Thisismagitellbythefeeling。Quick!”
“Yes,”saidSusan。“Holdhands。Oh,Idowishitwouldstop—oh!”
&theluggage,theseat,theplatform,aionhadpletelyvahefour,holdinghandsandpanting,fouandinginawoodyplace—suchawoodyplacethatbraiandtherewashardlyroomtomove。Theyallrubbedtheireyesandtookadeepbreath。
“Oh,Peter!”exclaimedLucy。“Doyouthinkossiblyhavegotbaia?”
“Itmightbeanyeter。“I'tseeayardirees。Letetintotheopen—ifthereisanyopen。”
Withsomediffidwithsomestingsfromlesandprithorruggledoutofthethitheyhadanothersurprise。Everythingbecamemuchbrighter,andafterafewstepstheyfouheedgeofthewood,lookingdownonasandybeach。Afewyardsawayaverycalmseawasfallihsuyripplesthatitmadehardlyanysound。Therewasnolandinsightandnothesky。Thesunwasabhttobeatteno'them,andtheseawasadazzlioodsniffinginthesea-smell。
“ByJove!”saidPeter。“Thisisgoodenough。”
&eslatereveryonewasbarefootedandwadinginthecoolclear>
“ThisisbetterthanbeinginastuffytrainonthewaybacktoLatinandFrendAlgebra!”saidEdmund。Andthenforquitealoherewasalking,onlysplashingandlookingforshrimpsandcrabs。
“Allthesame,”saidSusaly,“Isupposewe'llhavetomakesomeplans。Weshallwaoeatbef。”
“We'vegotthesahergaveusforthejourney,”saidEdmuI'vegotmine。”
“Notme,”saidLuewereinmylittlebag。”
“Soweremine,”saidSusan。
“Mineareinmycoat-pocket,thereonthebeach,”saidPeter。“That'llbetwolungfour。Thisisn'tgoingtobesu。”
“Atpresent,”saidLutsomethingtodrihaoeat。”
Everyothirsty,asoneusuallyisafterwadinginsaltwaterusun。
“It'slikebeingshipwrecked,”remarkedEdmund。“Iheyalwaysfindspringsofclear,freshwaterontheisland。We'dbettergoandlookforthem。”