CHAPTER TWO THE ANCIENT TREASURE HOUSE（第1页）
CHAPTERTWOTHEAREASUREHOUSE
“THISwasn'tagarden，”saidSusawasadthismusthavebeeyard。”
&youmean，”saidPeter。“Yes。Thatistheremainsofatower。Ausedtobeaflightofstepsgoinguptothetopofthewalls。Andlookatthoseothersteps—thebroad，shallowones—goinguptothatdoorway。Itmusthavebeeothegreathall。”
“Agesago，bythelookofit，”saidEdmund。
“Yes，agesago，”saidPeter。“Iwishwedoutwhothepeoplewerethatlivedinthisdho>
“Itgivesmeaqueerfeeling，”saidLucy。
&，Lu?”saidPeter，turningandlookinghardather。“Becauseitdoesthesametome。Itisthequeerestthingthathashappehisqueerday。Ieareandwhatitallmeans?”
&heyweretalkingtheyhadcrossedthechtheotherdoorwayintowhathadohehall。Thiswashecourtyard，fortheroofhadlongsincedisappearedanditwasmerelyanotherspaceofgrassathatitwasshorterahewallswerehigher。Acrossthefarendtherewasakindofterraceaboutthreefeethighertha。
“Iworeallythehall?”saidSusan。“Whatisthatterradofthing?”
“Why，yousilly，”saidPeter（whohadbeestraed），“don'tyousee?ThatwasthedaiswheretheHighTablewas，wheretheKilordssat。AhinkyottenthatweourselveswereongsandQueensandsatonadaisjustlikethat，ihall。”
“InourcastleofCairParavel，”uedSusaninadreamyandrathersingsohemouthofthegreatriverofNarnia。Howcet?”
“Howitallesback!”saidLucy。“Wecouldpretendwearavelnow。Thishallmusthavebeehegreathallwefeastedin。”
“Butuhoutthefeast，”saidEdmund。“It'sgettinglate，youknow。Lookhowlongtheshadowsare。Aicedthatitisn'tsohot?”
“Weshallneedacamp-fireifwe'vegottospehere，”saidPeter。“I'vegotmatches。Let'sgoandseeifweedrywood。”
Everyohesehis，ahalf-hourtheywerebusy。Thehwhichtheyhadfirsteiurtobeagoodplaceforfirewood。Theytriedtheothersideofthecastle，passingoutofthehallbyalittlesidedoorionyhumpsandhollowswhicehavebeenpassagesandsmallerroomsbutwaslesandwildroses。Beyondthistheyfouhecastleedthroughitintoawoodertreeswheretheyfounddeadbratenwoodandstiddryleavesandfir-pleoandfrowithbuheyhadagoodpileothefifthjourhewell，justoutsidethehall，hiddedfreshaheyhadclearedthesea
Theremainsofastoranhalf-wayrouhegirlswentouttopioreapplesandtheboysbuiltthefire，onthedaisandfairlyclosetotheerbethichtheythoughtwouldbethesaplace。Theyhadgreatdiffilightingitaofmatches，buttheysutheend。Finally，allfoursatdownwiththeirbackstothewallandtheirfacestothefire。Theytriedroastiheapplesoicks。Butroastapplesarenotmuchgoodwithoutsugar，aoohottoeatwithyerstilltheyaretoocoldt。Sotheyhadtotthemselvesles，which，asEdmundsaid，madeoschoolsuppersweren'tsobadafterall—“Ishouldn'tmindagoodthicksliceofbreadandmargarihisminute，”headded。Butthespiritofadventurewasrisinginthemall，andedtobebackatschool。
Shortlyafterthelastapplehadbeeen，Susaothewelltogetanotherdrink。Whenshecamebackshewasgsomethinginherhand。
“Look，”shesaidinarathergkindofvoice。“Ifounditbythewell。”ShehaoPeterandsatdowhoughtshelookedandsoundedasifshemightbegoingtodandLucyeagerlybentforwardtoseeeter'shand—alittle，brightthingthatgleamedi。
“Well，I'm—I'mjiggered，”saidPeter，andhisvoicealsosouheheothers。
Allnoas—alittleight，ordinaryiraordinarilyheavybecauseituregold;ahehorse'sheadweretwotinylittlerubies—orratheronewas，fortheotherhadbee。
“Why!”saidLucy，“it'sexactlylikeohegoldenweusedtoplayereKingsaCairParavel。”
“Cheerup，Su，”saidPetertohisothersister。
“I'thelpit，”saidSusan。“Itbroughtback—oh，sues。AndIrememberedplayihfaunsandgoodgiants，andthemer-peoplesinginginthesea，aifulhorse—and—and—”
“Noeterinaquitediffere'sabouttimewefourbrains。”
“Whatabout?”askedEdmund。
“Havenoneofyouguessedwhereweare?”saidPeter。
“Goon，goon，”saidLucy。“I'vefeltforhoursthattherewassomewoeryhahisplace。”
“Fireahead，Peter，”saidEdmund。“We'realllistening。”
&heruinsofCairParavelitself，”saidPeter。
“But，Isay，”repliedEdmund。“Imean，howdoyoumakethatout?Thisplacehasbeenruinedfes。Lookatallthrhtuptothegates。Lookattheverystones。Anyonobodyhaslivedhereforhundredsofyears。”
“Iknoeter。“Thatisthedifficulty。Butlet'sleavethatoutforthemoment。Iointsopoint:thishallisexactlythesameshapeahehallatCairParavel。Justpicturearoofonthis，andaentinsteadofgrass，ariesonthewalls，aourroyalbainghall。”
Noonesaidanything。
“Set，”uedPeter。“Thecastlewellisexactlywhereourwellwas，alittletothesouthofthegreathall;ahesamesizeandshape。”
Againtherely。
“Thirdpoint:Susanhasjustfoundoneofouroldethihemast>
Stillnobodyanswered。
“Fourthpoint。Don'tyouremember—itwastheverydaybeforetheambassadorstheKingofen—don'tyourememberplantingtheorchardoutsidethenateofCairParavel?Thegreatestofallthewood-people，Pomonaherself，cametoputgoodspellsonit。Itwasthoseverydetlittlechapsthemoleswhodidtheactualdigging。youhavefottenthatfunnyoldLilygloves，thechiefmole，leaningonhisspadeandsaying，‘Believeme，yourMajesty，you'llbegladofthesefruittreesoneday。'AndbyJovehewasright。”
“Ido!Ido!”saidLudclappedherhands。
“Butlookhere，Peter，”saidEdmund。“Thismustbeallrot。Tobeginwith，wedidn'tplanttheorchardslapupagaie。Wewouldn'thavebeensuchfools。”