CHAPTER ELEVEN THE LION ROARS(第1页)
CHAPTERELEVENTHELIONROARS
&hewholepartywasfinallyawakeLucyhadtotellherstoryforthefourthtime。Theblanksilencewhichfolloweditwasasdisgasanythingcouldbe。
“I'tseeanything,”saidPeterafterhehadstaredhiseyessore。“you,Susan?”
“No,ofcourseI't,”snappedSusahereisn'tanythingtosee。She'sbeendreaming。Doliedownandgotosleep,Lucy。”
“AndIdohope,”saidLuatremulousvoice,“thatyouwillalle。Because—becauseI'llhavetogowithhimwhetheranyoneelsedoesornot。”
“Don'ttalknonsense,Lucy,”saidSusan。“Ofcourseyou'tgooffonyourown。Don'tlether,Peter。She'sbeingdhty。”
“I'llgowithher,ifshemustgo,”saidEdmund。“She'sbeenrightbefore。”
“Iknowshehas,”saidPeter。“Andshemayhavebeenrightthism。Welyhadnolugdownthege。Still—atthishourofthenight。AndwhyshouldAslanbeious?Heobe。It'snotlikehim。WhatdoestheD。L。F。say?”
“Oh,Isaynothingatall,”aheDwarf。“Ifyouallgo,ofcourse,I'llgowithyou;andifyourpartysplitsup,I'llgowiththeHighKing。That'smydutytohimandKing。But,ifyouaskmyprivateopinion,I'maplaindwarfwhodoesn'tthinkthere'smudingaroadbynightwhereyou'tfindonebyday。AndIhaveniswhicharetalkinglionsanddon'ttalk,andfriendlylionsthoughtheydon'tdousanygood,andwhoppingbiglionsthoughnobodyseethem。It'sallbilgeaalksasfarasIsee。”
“He'sbeatinghispawonthegroundforustohurry,”saidLucy。“WemustgoImust。”
“You'venhttotrytoforcetherestofuslikethat。It'sfourtooneandyou'retheyou,”saidSusan。
“Oh,eon,”growledEdmund。“We'vegottogo。There'llbeillwedo。”HefullyiobackLucyup,buthewasalosinghisnight'ssleepandforitbydassulkilyaspossible。
“Ohen,”saidPeter,wearilyfittinghisarmintohisshield-strapandputtion。AtaimehewouldhavesaidsomethioLucy,whowashisfavouritesister,forhekneretchedshemustbefeelihat,whateverhadhappewas。Buthe'thelpbeingalittleahherallthesame。
Susa。“SupposingIstartedbehavinglikeLucy,”shesaid。“Imightthreatentostayherewhethertherestofyouwentonornot。IjollywellthinkIshall。”
&heHighKing,yourMajesty,”saidTrumpki'sbeoff。IfI'mnottobeallowedtosleep,I'dassoonmardheretalking。”
Andsoatlasttheygotonthemove。Lutfirst,bitingherlipandtryingnottosayallthethiofsayingtoSusahemwhenshefixedhereyesonAslaurnedaaslowpaceaboutthirtyyardsaheadofthem。TheothershadonlyLucy'sdirestoguidethem,forAslanwasnotonlyihembutsilentaswell。Hisbigcat-likepawsmadehegrass。
&htofthedahertheywerestilldanobodyknew,forLucyhadhereyesontheLiohadtheireyesonLuearertheedgee。“dkettledrums!”thoughtTrumpkihismadnessisn'tgoingtoendinamoonlightdbrokennecks。”
FwayAslaaloheprecipitheycametoaplacewheresomelittletreesgrewrightournedanddisappearedamongthem。Lucyheldherbreath,foritlookedasifhehadpluhecliff;butshewastoobusykeepinghiminsighttostopandthinkaboutthis。Shequiedherpadwassoonamoreesherself。Lookingdown,shecouldseeasteepandnarrowpathgoingslaebetweenrodAsla。Heturnedaherwithhishappyeyes。Lucyclappedherhaoscrambledownafterhim。Frombehihevoicesoftheothersshouting,“Hi!Lucy!Lookoodness'sake。Yhtohege。ebadtheer,Edmund'svoig,“No,sheht。Thereisawaydown。”
Half-waydowhEdmundcaughtupwithher。
“Look!”hesaidi。“Look!What'sthatshaddowninfrontofus?”
“It'shisshadow,”saidLucy。
“Idobelieveyht,Lu,”saidEdmund。“I'tthinkhowIdidn'tseeitbefore。Butwhereishe?”
“Withhisshadow,ofcourse。'tyouseehim?”
“Well,IalmostthoughtIdid—foramoment。It'ssucharumlight。”
&on,KingEdmuorumpkin'svoibehindahen,fartherbehindandstillhetop,Peter'svoig,“Oh,buckup,Susan。Givemeyourhand。Why,ababycouldgetdownhere。Andd。”
Iestheywereatthebottomandtherofwaterfilledtheirears。Treadiely,likeasteppedfromstoohestream。Inthemiddlehestopped,bentdowntodrink,andasheraisedhisshaggyhead,drippingfromthewater,heturofacethemagain。ThistimeEdmundsawhim。“Oh,Aslan!”hecried,dartingforward。ButtheLionwhiskedroundandbeganpaddinguptheslopeonthefarsideoftheRush。
&er,”criedEdmund。“Didyousee?”
“Isawsomething,”saidPeter。“Butit'ssotrithismoonlight。Ohough,andthreecheersforLu'tfeelhalfsotiredher。”
Aslanwithouthesitatioheirleft,fartherupthege。Thewholejourneywasoddaherstream,thewetgraygrass,theglimmeringcliffswhichtheyroadalwaystheglorious,silentlypagBeastahead。EveryoSusanandtheDwarfcouldseehimnow。
&heyothersteeppath,upthefaceofthefartherprecipices。Thesewerefarhigherthaheyhadjustdesdthejourhemwasalongandtediouszig-zag。FortuheMohtabovethegesothatherside>
LuearlyblowailandhindlegsofAslandisappearedoverthetop:butwithoshescrambledafterhimahershaky-leggedahless,oheyhadbeentryingtoreacheversiGlasswater。Theloleslope(heatherandgrassandafewverybigrocksthatshohemoonlight)stretcheduptowhereitvanishedireesabouthalfamileaway。ShekwasthehilloftheStoable:
Withajinglingofmailtheothersclimbedupbehindher。Aslanglidedohemandtheywalkedafterhim。
“Lucy,”saidSusaninaverysmallvoice。