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CHAPTER TWO JILL IS GIVEN A TASK(第1页)

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CHAPTERTWOJILLISGIVENATASK

WITHOUTaglaJilltheliosfeetablow。Then,asifsatisfiedwithitswork,itturalkedslowlyaway,batotheforest。

“Itmustbeadream,itmust,itmust,”saidJilltoherself。“I'lliitwasn't,andshedidn't。

“Idowishwe'dhisdreadfulplace,”saidJill。“Idon'tbelieveSewathanIdo。Orifhedid,hehadmeherewithmewhatitwaslike。It'snotmyfaulthefelloverthatcliff。Ifhe'dleftmealoneweshouldbothbeallright。”ThensherememberedagaiScrubbhadgivenwhenhefell,andburstintotears。

gisallrightinitswaywhileitlasts。Butyouhavetostopsooer,aillhavetodecidewhattodo。WhenJillstopped,shefoundshewasdreadfullythirsty。Shehadbeenlyingfaward,aup。Thebirdshadgingandthereerfeceexall,persistentsound,whichseemedtooddistanceaway。Shelistenedcarefully,asureitwasthes>

Jillgotupandlookedroundherverycarefully。Therewasnosignofthelion;butthereweresomahatitmighteasilybequiteclosewithit。Forallshekbeseveralliowasverybadnoluckeduphercoandlookfwater。Shewentoealingtreetotree,andstoppingtopeerroueverystep。

Thewoodwassostillthatitwasnotdifficulttodecidewherethesoundwas。Itgrewclearereverymomentahaed,sheopengladeaream,brightasglass,runningacrosstheturfastohrowawayfromher。Butalthoughthesightofthewatermadeherfeelteierthanbefore,shedidn'trushforwardanddrioodasstillasifshehadbeeone,

withhermouthwideopen。Andshehadaverygoodreason;justonthissideofthestreamlaythelion。

Itlaywithitsheadraisedanditstwofore-pawsoutinfrontofit,liketheliarSquare。Shekohadseeseyeslhtintohersforamomeurnedaway—asifitkewellanddidn'tthinkmuchofher。

“IfIrunaway,it'llbeaftermeihoughtJill。“AndifIgoon,Ishallrunstraightintoitsmouth。”Anyway,she'thavemovedifshehadtried,andshe'ttakehereyesoffit。Howlongthislasted,sheotbesure;itseemedlikehours。Abecamesobadthatshealmostfeltshewouldnotmihelionifonlyshecouldbesureofgettingamouthfulofwaterfirst。

“Ifyou'rethirsty,youmaydrink。”

&hefirstwordsshehadheardsinceScrubbhadspokeheedgeofthecliff。Forasedshestaredhereandthere,wokehevoicesaidagain,“Ifyouarethirsty,eanddrink,”andofcoursesherememberedwhatScrubbhadsaidaboutanimalstalkinginthatotherworld,awasthelionspeaking。Anyway,shehadseenitslipsmovethistime,andthevoiotlikeaman's。Iter,wilder,aofheavy,goldedidnotmakeheraehanshehadbeemadeherfrighteheradifferent>

&thirsty?”saidtheLion。

“I'mdyingofthirst,”saidJill。

“Thendrink,”saidtheLion。

“MayI—indgoingawaywhileIdo?”saidJill。

TheLiohisonlybyalookandaverylowgrowl。AndasJillgazedatitsmotionlessbulk,sherealizedthatshemightaswellhaveaskedthewholemountaintomoveasideforherce。

Thedelicihestreamwasdrivinghernearlyfrantic。

“Willyoupromisenotto—doanythingtome,ifIdoe?”saidJill。

“Imakenopromise,”saidtheLion。

Jillwassothirstynowthat,withoutnotigit,shehadeastepnearer。

“Doyoueatgirls?”shesaid。

“Ihavesgirlsandboys,womenandmen,kingsaiesandrealms,”saidtheLion。Itdidn'tsaythisasifitwereboasting,norasifitweresorry,norasifitwereangry。Itjustsaidit。

“Idaren'teanddrink,”saidJill。

“Thenyouwilldieofthirst,”saidtheLion。

“Ohdear!”saidJill,iepnearer。“IsupposeImustgoandlookforareamthen。”

“Thereisream,”saidtheLion。

ItneveroccurredtoJilltodisbelievetheLion—noonewhohadseenhissternfacecoulddothat—andhermindsuddeselfup。Itwasthewshehadeverhadtodo,butshewentforwardtothestream,kdown,andbegansgupwaterinherhand。Itwasthewatershehadevertasted。Youdidn'todrinkmuchofit,foritquehirstatonce。BeforeshetasteditshehadbeeomakeadashawayfromtheLioshehadfinished。Now,sherealizedthatthiswouldbeohemofall。Shegotupandstoodtherewithherlipsstillwetfr。

“ehere,”saidtheLioo。Shewasalmostbetweenitsfrontpawsnow,lhtintoitsface。Butshe'tstandthatf;shedroppedhereyes。

“HumanChild,”saidtheLioheBoy?”

“Hefelloverthecliff,”saidJill,andadded,“Sir。”Shedidn'tkocallhim,anditsouoothing。

“Howdidheetodothat,HumanChild?”

&ryingtostopmefromfalling,Sir。”

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