CHAPTER TWO JILL IS GIVEN A TASK（第2页）

“Whywereye，HumanChild?”

“Iwasshowingoff，Sir。”

“Thatisaverygoodanswer，Humanore。AndhefirsttimetheLion'sfacebecamealittlelessstern）“theboyissafe。IhaveblownhimtoNarnia。Butyourtaskwillbetheharderbecauseofwhatyouhavedone。”

&task，Sir?”saidJill。

&askforwhichIhereoutofyourownworld。”

ThispuzzledJillverymuistakingmeforsomeohought。Shedidn'tdaretotelltheLionthis，thoughshefeltthingswouldgetintoadreadfulmuddleunlessshedid。

&hought，HumanChild，”saidtheLion。

“Iwasw—Imean—couldtherebesomemistake?BeobodycalledmeandScrubb，youknohoaskedtoehere。Scrubbsaidweweretoebody—itwasanameIwouldn'tkheSomebodywouldletusin。Andwedid，ahedooropen。’

“YouwouldomeunlessIhadbeengtoyou，”saidtheLion。

“ThenyouareSomebody，Sir?”saidJill。

“Iam。Aask。FarfromhereinthelandofNarniatherelivesanagedkingwhoissadbecausehehasnoprinceofhisbloodtobekingafterhim。Hehasnoheirbecausehisonlysonwasstolenfromhimmanyyearsago，andnooneinNarniakpriorwhetherheisstillalive。Butheis。Ilayonyouthisand，thatyouseekthislostpriileitheryouhavefoundhimandbroughthimtohisfather'shouse，orelsediedi，ooyourownworld。”

“How，please?”saidJill。

“Iwilltellyou，Child，”saidtheLiohesignsbywhichIwillguideyoui;assooacesetsfootinNarnia，hewillmeetanoldanddearfriegreetthatfriendatonce;ifhedoes，youwillbothhavegoodhelp。SeustjourofNarillyouetotheruiyoftheas。Third;youshallfindawritingoruiy，andyoumustdowhatthewritingtellsyou。Fourth;youwillkprince（ifyoufindhim）bythis，thathewillbethefirstpersoinyourtravelswhowillaskyoutodosomethingihenameofAslan。”

AstheLioohavefihoughtsheshouldsaysomethihankyouverymuch。Isee。”

“Child，”saidAslalervoihehadyetused，“perhapsyoudoeaswellasyouthink。Butthefirststepistoremember。Repeattome，ihefns。”

Jilltried，anddidn'tgetthemquiteright。SotheLioedher，athemagainandagaintillshecouldsaythemperfectly。Heatiehis，sothat，whenitwasdone，Jillpluckedupcetoask:

“Please，howamItogettoNarnia?”

“Oh，”saidtheLion。“IwillblowyouiheworldasIble>

“ShallIcattimetotellhimthefirstsign?ButIsupposeitwon'tmatter。Ifheseesanoldfriend，he&#oaohim，isn'the?”

“Youwillhaveospare，”saidtheLion。“ThatiswhyImustsendyouatone。Walkbeforemetotheedgeofthecliff。”

Jillrememberedverywellthatiftherewasospare，thatwasherownfault。“IfIhadn'tmadesuyself，SdIwouldhavebeengoiher。Andhe'dhaveheardalltheinstrusaswellasme，”shethought。Soshedidasshewastold。Itwasveryalarmingwalkingbacktotheedgeofthecliff，especiallyastheLiondidnotwalkwithherbutbehindher—makingnonoiseonhissoftpaws。

Butlongbeforeshehadgotaheedge，thevoidhersaid，“Standstill。IIwillblow。But，first，remember，remember，rememberthesigns。Saythemtoyourselfwhehemandwhenight，andwhehemiddleofthenight。Arahingsmayhappentoyou，letnothingturnyourmindfromfollowingthesigns。Andsedly，Igivey。Hereoaioyouclearly:Iwillnotoftendosodowninhemountain，theairisdyourmindisclear;asyoudropdownintoNarnia，theairwillthi。Takegreatcarethatitdoesnotind。Andthesignswhichyouhavelearlookatallasyouexpectthemtolook，whehere。Thatiswhyitissoimportanttoknowthembyheartandpayoappearahesighesigns。ers。Andnow，daughterofEve，farewell—”

Thevoicehadbeengrowiowardtheendofthisspeeowitfadedawayaltogether。JilllookedbehioherastoshesawthecliffalreadymorethanahundredyardsbehiheLionhimselfaspeckoldo。Shehadbeeihandgherfistsforaterribleblastoflion'sbreath;butthebreathhadreallybeeshehadientatwhichshelefttheearth。Andhingbutairforthousandsuponthousabelowher。

&frightenedonlyforased。Foroheworldbehherwassoveryfarawaythatitseemedtohavenothingtodowithher。ForaihoftheLioremelyfortable。Shefoundshecouldlieonherbaherfadtwistanyleased，justasyouwater（ifyou'velearofloatreallywell）。Andbecauseshewasmovingatthesamepaceasthebreath，therewasnowind，andtheairseemedbeautifullywarm。Itwaslikebeinginanaeroplaherewasnonoiseandnovibration。IfJillhadeverbeeninaballoohavethoughtitmorelikethat;oer。

Whenshelookedbaowshecouldtakeiimetherealsizeofthemountainshewasleaving。ShewonderedwhyamountaiwashsnowaIsupposeallthatsortofthingisdifferentinthisworld，”thoughtJill。Thenshelookedbelowher;butshewassohighthatsheakeoutwhethershewasfloatingoverlandorsea，noreedshewasgoingat。

“ByJove!Thesigns!”saidJillsuddenly。“I'dbetterrepeatthem。”Sheanicforasedortwo，butshefouillsaythemallcorrectly。“Sothat'sallright，”shesaid，andlaybatheairasifitwasasofa，withasighofent。

“Well，Idodeclare，”saidJilltoherselfsomehourslater，“I'vebeenasleep。Fangonair。Iwonderifanyone'sdobefore。Idon'tsupposetheyhave。Ohbother—Scrubbprobablyhas!Onthissamejourlebitbeforeme。Let'sseewhatitlookslikedownbelow。”

Whatitlookedlikewasanenormous，verydarkblueplain。Therewerenohillstobeseen;buttherewerebiggishwhitethingsmovingslowlyacrossit。“Thosemustbeclouds，”shethought。“Butfarbiggerthantheoneswesawfromthecliff。Isupposethey&#erbecausethey'rebegettiherthissun。”

Thesunwhichhadbeenhighoverheadwhenshebeganherjourneywasohereyes。Thismeantthatitwasgettinglower，aheadofher。ScrubbwasquiterightinsayingthatJill（Idon'tknowabeneral）didn'tthinkmuchaboutpointsofthepass。Otherwiseshewouldhavekhesuihatsheretty。

Staringattheblueplainbelowher，shepresentlyherewerelittledhter，paleritherea'sthesea!”thoughtJill。“Idobelievethoseareislands。”Andsotheywere。ShemighthavefeltratherjealousifshehadknownthatsomeofthemwereislandswhichScrubbhadseenfromaship'sdedeveshedidn'tknowthis。Then，laterooseethattherewerelittlewriheblueflatlewrinkleswhichmustbequitebigowavesifyouweredownamongthem。Andnow，allalongthehorizohickdarklinewhichgrewthiddarkersoquicklythatyoucouldseeitgrowing。Thatwasthefirstsignshehadhadofthegreatspeedatwhichshewastravelling。Ahethiglibeland。

Suddenlyfromherleft（forthewindwasih）agreatwhiteerushingtowardher，thistimeonthesamelevelasherself。Andbeforesheknewwhereshewas，shehadshhtintothemiddleofitscold，wetfoggitookherbreathaway，butshewasinitonlyforamomeblinkiandfouheswet。（Shehadonablazeraerandshortsandstodprettythickshoes;ithadbeenamuddysortofdayinEnglalowerthanshehadgonein;andassoonasshedidsoshehingwhich，Isuppose，sheoughttohavebeeing，butwhichcameasasurpriseandashock。Itwasilltheravelledintotalsilenow，forthefirsttime，sheheardthenoiseofwavesandthegofseagulls。Andnow，too，shesmelledthesmellofthesea。Therewasherspeedwowavesmeetwithasmadaspoutoffoamgoupbetweeshehadhardlyseewasahundredyardsbehihelaiagreatpaountainsfarinland，andotherai。Shecouldseebaysandheadlands，woodsaretchesofsahesoundofwavesbreakingontheshloudereveryseddrowherseanoises。

&helaaheadofher。Shewasouthofariver。Shewasverylownow，oabovethesthertoeasplashoffoamspurtedup，drengherheaslosieadofbeiherivershewasglidingintotheriverbahereweresomanythingstoshecouldhardlytakethemallin;asmooth，greenlashtlycoloredthatitlookedlikeanenormouspieceofjewellery，towersas，baeringintheair，acrowd，gayold，swords，asoundofmusic。Butthiswasalljumbled。Thefirstthingthatsheknewclearlywasthatshehadalightedandwasstahicketoftreesclosebytheriverside，andthere，oawayfromher，wasScrubb。

&hiwashrubbyanduntidyandgenerallyunimpressivehelooked。AndthesedetIam!”