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CHAPTER EIGHT THE HOUSE OF HARFANG(第1页)

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CHAPTEREIGHTTHEHOUSE

“Goon,Pole,doyourstuff,”whisperedScrubb。

Jillfouhwassodrythatshe'tspeakaword。ShenoddedsavagelyatScrubb。

Thinkingtohimselfthathewiveher(lumeither),ScrubblickedhislipsaheKinggiant。

“Ifyouplease,Sire,theLadyoftheGreeesyoubyusandsaidyou'dliketohaveusforyourAutum。”

&KingandQueeeachother,oeachother,andsmiledinawaythatJilldidlylike。ShelikedtheKiheQueen。Hehadafine,curledbeardandastraighteagle-likenose,ahergood-lookingasgiantsgo。TheQueenwasdreadfullyfatandhadadoubledafat,powderedface—whi'taverythebestoftimes,andofuchworsewheoobig。Theouthistongueandlickedhislips。Adothat:

buthistonguewasseandred,asouitgaveJillquiteashock。

“Oh,whatgood!”saidtheQueen。(“Perhapsshe'stheerall,”thoughtJill。)

“Yesindeed,”saidtheKing。“Quiteext。Weweleyivemeyourhands。”

&hisgreatrighthand—verydwithanynumbersonthefialsowithterriblepointednails。Hewasmuchtoobigtoshakethehandswhichthe,iohim;butheshookthearms。

“Andwhat'sthat?”askedtheKing,pointingtoPuddleglum。

“Reshpeckobiggle,”saidPuddleglum。

“Oh!”screamedtheQueen,gatheriscloseaboutheraheh!It'salive。”

“He'squiteallright,yourMajesty,really,heis,”saidScrubbhastily。“You'lllikehimmuchbetterwheoknowhim。I'msureyouwill。”

Ihopeyouwon'tlosealliinJillfortherestofthebookifItellyouthatatthismomeocry。Therewasagooddealofexcuseforher。Herfeetandhandsandearsaillonlyjustbeginningtothaw;meltedsnoffherclothes;shehadhadhardlyanythiordrinkthatday;andherlegswereagsothatshefeltsheotgoonstandingmuger。Anyway,itdidmoodatthemomentthananythingelsewouldhavedoheQueensaid:

“Ah,thepoorchild!Mylord,wedtuestsstanding。Quieofyou!Takethemaway。Givethemfoodahs。fortthelittlegirl。Giveherlollipops,giveherdolls,giveherphysics,giveherallyoukof—possetsandfitsandcarawaysandlullabiesandtoys。Don'tcry,littlegirl,oryouwon'tbegwhees。”

JillwasjustasindignantasyouandIwouldhavebeeionoftoysanddolls;and,thoughlollipopsandightbeallverywellintheirway,sheverymuchhopedthatsomethingmoresolidwouldbeprovided。TheQueen'sfoolishspeech,however,producedextresults,flumandScrubbickedupbygigalemen-in-waiting,andJillbyagiganticmaidofhonour,aotheirrooms。

Jill'sroomwasaboutthesizeofadwouldhavebeenrathergrimifithadnfireohahithefloor。Afulthiohappentoher。ShewashaheQueen'soldNurse,

whiants'poileoldwomanalmostbehage,and,fromthehumanpointofview,agiantesssmallenoughtogoaboutanordinaryroomwithoutknogherheadontheg。Shewasverycapable,thoughJilldidwishshewouldn'tkeeponghertongueandsayingthingslike“Ohla,la!Ups-adaisy”and“There'saduowwe'llbeallright,mypoppet“。Shefilledagiantfoot-bathwithhotedJillintoit。Ifyouswim(asJillcould)agiantbathisalovelything。Andgiahoughabitroughandcoarse,arelovelytoo,becausetherearea。Infa'todryatall,youjustrollaboutontheminfrontofthefireandenjoyyourself。Awasover,,fresh,warmedclotheswereputonJill:verysplendiddalittletoobigforher,butclearlymadeforhumansnotgiantesses。“Isupposeifthatwomanileeshere,theymustbeusedtoguestsofoursize,”thoughtJill。

Shesoonsawthatshewasrightaboutthis,foratableandchairhtfrolacedforher,andtheknivesandforksandspoohepropersizetoo。Itwasdelightfultositdown,feelingwarmalast。Herfeetwerestillbareanditwaslovelytotreadocarpet。Shesankinitwelloverherawasjustthethingforsorefeet。Themeal—whiuster,thoughitwasime—wascock-a-leekiesoup,andhotroastturkey,andasteamedpudding,androastuts,andasmuchfruitasyoucouldeat。

Theonlyannoyingthingwasthattheinginandout,aimeshe,shebroughtagigantictoywithher—ahugedoll,biggerthanJillherself,awoodenhorseothesizeofa,adrumthatlookedlikeayouer,andawoollylamb。Theywerecrude,badlymadethings,paidJillhatedthesightofthem。ShekeptoheNurseshedidn'twaheNursesaid:

“Tut-tut-tut-tut。You'llwant'emallrightwhenyou'vehadabitofarest,Iknow!Te-he-he!Beddybye,noreciouspoppet!”

Thebedwasnotagiaonlyabigfour-poster,likewhatyoumightseeinanold-fashioel;andverysmallitlookedinthatenormousroom。Shewasverygladtotumbleintoit。

“Isitstillsnowing,Nurse?”sheaskedsleepily。

“Nnow,ducky!”saidthegiantess。“Rain'llwashawayallthenastysnow。Preciouspoppetwillbeabletogooutandplaytomorrow!”AuckedJillupandsaidgoodnight。

Iknownothingsodisagreeableasbeingkissedbyagiantess。Jillthoughtthesame,buties。

Theraieadilyalltheeveninga,dashingagainstthewindowsofthedJillbutsleptdeeply,pastsuppertimeandpastmidnight。Ahedeadesthourofthenightandnothimithehouseofthegiants。AtthathourtherecametoJilladream。Itseemedtoherthatsheawokeinthesameroomandsawthefire,sunklowandred,andihegreatwoodehehorsecameofitsownwill,rollingonitswheelsacrossthedstoodatherhead。Andnowitwasnolongerahorse,butalionasbigasthehorse。Awasnotatoylion,butareallion,TheRealLion,justasshehadseenhimoaiheworld'send。Andasmellofallsweet-smellingthingstherearefilledtheroom。ButtherewassometroubleinJill'smind,thoughsheotthinkwhatitwas,areameddowthepillow。TheLioorepeatthesigns,ahatshehadfottethat,agreathorrorcameoverher。AndAslantookherupinhisjaws(shecouldfeelhislipsah)aothewindowandmadeherlookout。Themoo;andwritteersacrosstheworldorthesky(shedidnotknoordsUhat,thedreamfadedaoke,verylatem,shedidshehaddreamedatall。

Sheanddressedandhadfiinfrontofthefirewhenthehedoorandsaid:“Here'sprettypoppet'slittlefrieoplaywithher。”

IncameSdtheMarsh-wiggle。

“Hullo!G,”saidJill。“Isn'tthisfun?I'vesleptaboutfifteenhours,Ibelieve。Idofeelbetter,don'tyou?”

“1do,”saidScrubb,“butPuddleglumsayshehasaheadache。Hullo!—youri。Ifwegotuponthat,wecouldseeout。”Aheyalldidso:aglanceJillsaid,“Oh,howperfectlydreadful!”

Thesunwasshiniforafewdrifts,thespletelywashedawaybytheraihem,spreadoutlikeamap,laytheflathill-topwhichtheyhadstruggledoveryesterdayafterhecastle,itistakenfbuttheruinsofagiganticcity。Ithadbeenflat,asJillnowsaw,becauseitwasstill,onthewhole,paved,thoughihepavementwasbroken。Thecriss-ksasleftofthewallsofhugebuildingswhichmightoncehavebeengiants'paladtemples。Oofwall,aboutfivehuhigh,wasstillstanding;itwasthatwhichshehadthoughtwasacliff。Thethingsthathadlookedlikefaneyswereenormouspillars,brokenoffatuheirfragmentslayattheirbaseslikefelledtreesofmonstrousstoheledgeswhichtheyhadclimbeddowhsideofthehill—andalso,nodoubttheeswhichtheyhadclimbedupohside—weretheremainingstepsofgiantstairs。Toall,inlarge,darkletteringacrosstheterofthepavement,ranthewordsUNDERME。

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