CHAPTER FOUR A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS（第2页）

“Butsurelyhe'dletusgo，”saidScrubb。“Whenheknehohadsentme。”

&hofus，”putinJill。）

“Yes，”saidGlimfeather，“Ithink，verylikely，hewould。ButtheKing'sakinwillsticktotherules。He'sastrueassteel，buthe'sdeafasapostandverypeppery。Youevermakehimseethatthismightbethetimefaotherule。”

“Youmightthiakesomenoticeofus，becausewe'reowlsandeveryoneknolsare，”saidsomeohe'ssooldnowhe'donlysay，'You'reamerechick。Irememberyouwheny。Don'tetryingtoteachme，Sir。dcrumpets!'”

Thisokin'svoiceratherwell，andthereweresoundsofowlishlaughterallround。ThebegaheNarniaTrumpkinaspeoplefeelatsecrustyteaeveryotleafraidofandeveryonemakesfunofandnobodyreallydislikes。

“HowlongistheKinggoingtobeaway?”askedScrubb。

“Ifonlyweknew!”saidGlimfeather。“Yousee，therehasbeenarumourlatelythatAslanhimselfhasbeeheislahia，Ithinkitwas。AndtheKingsaidhewouldmakeobeforehediedtoseeAslaofa，andaskhisadviceaboutwhoistobeKingafterhim。Butwe'reallafraidthat，ifhedoesn'tmeetAslahia，he'llgoooSevenIslesandLoneIslands—andonaalksaboutit，butweallknowhehasenthatvoyagetotheworld'send。I'msureiofheartshewantstain。”

&here'snogoodwaitingforhimtoeback?”saidJill。

“No，nogood，”saidtheOwl。“Oh，whatato-do!Ifonlyyoutwohadknookentohimatonce!He'dhavearrahing—probablygivenyowithyouihePrince。”

JillkeptquietatthisandhopedScrubbwouldbespenoughheowlswhythishadn'thappened。Hewas，orveryhatis，heonlymutteredunderhisbreath，“Well，itwasn'tmyfault，”befoutloud:

“Verywell。We'llhavetomait。Butthere'sjustohioknow。Ifthisowls'parliament，asyoucallit，isallfairandaboveboardandmeansnomischief，whydoesithavetobesojollysecret—meetinginaruinindeadofnight，andallthat?”

“Tu-whoo!Tu-whoo!”hootedseveralowls。“Whereshouldouldaatnight?”

“Yousee，”explaiher，“mostofthecreaturesinNarniahavesuaturalhabits。Theydothingsbyday，inbroadblazingsunlight（ugh!）wheobeasleep。And，asaresult，atnightthey'resoblindandstupidthatyou'tgetawordoutofthem。Soweowlshavegotiofmeetingatsensiblehours，onouroanttotalkaboutthings。”

“Isee，”saidScrubb。“Well'sgeton。TellusallaboutthelostPrihenanoldowl，her，relatedthestory。

Abouttenyearsago，itappeared，whenRilian，thesonof，wasaveryyoungkhtheQueenhismotheronaMaymihpartsofNarnia。Theyhadmanysquiresahemandallwarlandsoffreshleavesontheirheads，andhornsattheirsides;buttheyhadnohoundswiththem，fortheyweremaying，nothunting。Intheartofthedaytheycametoapleasantgladewhereafountainflowedfreshlyoutoftheearth，aheydismoueanddrankaeratimetheQueesleepy，andtheyspreadcloaksfrassybank，andPrinwiththerestofthepartywentalittlewayfromher，thattheirtalesanotwakeher。Aly，agreatserpehethidstungtheQueeninherhand。Allheardherdrushedtowardher，andRilianwasfirstatherside。Hesawthewawayfromherawithhissasgreat，shining，andasgreenaspoison，sothathecouldseeitwell:butitglidedawayintothickbushesandheeatit。Sohereturohismother，andfoundthemallbusyabouther。

Buttheywerebusyinvain，foratthefirstglanceofherfaknophysitheworldwoulddood。Aslongasthelifewasihardtotellhimsomething。Butsheotspeakd，whateverhermessagewas，shediedwithoutdeliveringit。Itwasthenhardlyteheyhadfirstheardhercry。

TheycarriedthedeadQueenbacktoCairParavel，aerlymournedbyRilianandbytheKing，andbyallNarnia。Shehadbeelady，wiseandgradhappy，King'sbridewhomhehadbroughthomefromtheeasterheworld。AhatthebloodofthestarsflowedihePriookhismother'sdeathveryhardly，aswellhemight。Afterthat，hewasalwaysridihernmararnia，huntingforthatvenomousworm，tokillitandbeavenged。Nooneremarkedmuthis，thoughthePrinthesewanderingslookingtiredanddistraught。ButaboutamoheQueen'sdeath，somesaidtheycouldseeahim。Therewasalookinhiseyesasofamanwhohasseenvisions，andthoughhewouldbeoutallday，hishorsedidhesigns。HischieffriendamongtheoldercourtierswastheLordDriman，hewhohadbeenhisfather'sthatgreatvoyagetotheeastpartsoftheearth。

OneeveningDriniansaidtothePrince，“Yhsoongivetheworm。Thereisnealessbruteastheremightbeonaman。Youwearyyourselfinvain。”ThePrinsweredhim，“MyLord，Ihavealmottehissevendays。”Drinianaskedhimwhy，ifthatwereso，herodesouallyihernwoods。“Mylord，”saidthePrince，“Ihaveseebeautifulthingthatwasevermade。”“FairPrince，”saidDrinian，“ofyourcourtesyletmeridewithyoutomorrow，thatIalsomayseethisfairthing。”“Withagoodwill，”saidRilian。

TheningoodtimeoheysaddledtheirhorsesagallopihernwoodsasamefouheQueeh。DrinianthoughtitstrahePrinceshouldchoosethatplaceofallplaces，tolingeriheyrestedtillitcametohighnoon:andatnoonDrinianlookedupabeautifulladyhehadeverseethehefountainandsaidnowordbutbeedtothePrihherhandasifshebadehimetoher。Aalla，shining，ahiasgreenaspoison。AndthePriherlikeamanoutofhiswits。Butsuddenlytheladywasgone，Drimawhere;auroCairParavel。Itstuian'smindthatthisshininggreenwomanwasevil。

DriniandoubtedverymuchwhetherheoughthisadveheKilewishtobeablabandatale-bearerandsoheheldhistoerwardhewishedhehadspokedayPrinrodeoutalobadfromthathournotrawaseverfoundinNarnianhblaherhishorsenorhishatnorhiselsewaseverfound。ThenDriniaernessofhisheartianandsaid，“L，slaymespeedilyasagreattraitor:forbymysileroyedyoursooldhimthestory。Thencaughtupabattle-axeaheLordDriniantokillhim，andDrinianstoodstillasastockforthedeathblow。Butwhentheaxewasraised，suddeawaya，“Ihavelostmyqueenandmyson:shallIlosemyfriendalso?”AheLordDrinian'snedembradbothwept，andtheirfriendshipwasnotbroken。

SuchwasthestoryofRiliawasover，Jillsaid，“Ibetthatserpentandthatwomahesameperson。”

&rue，wethinkthesameasyou，”hootedtheowls。

“Butwedon'tthihePrince，”saidGlimfeather，“beobones—”

“Weknowshedidn't，”saidScrubb。“AslantoldPolehewasstillalivesomewhere。”

“Thatalmostmakesitworse，”saidtheoldestowl。“Itmeansshehassomeuseforhim，andsomedeepschemeagainstNarnia。Long，longago，attheverybeginning，aWhiteWitchcameoutoftheNorthandboundourlandinsnowandiceforahundredyears。Ahismaybesomeofthesamecrew。”

“Verywell，then，”saidScrubb。“Poleao'FindthisPrinyouhelpus?”

“Haveyouawo?”askedGlimfeather。

“Yes，”saidScrubb。“e'vegottogonorth。Ande'vegottoreachtheruinsofagiantcity。”

Atthistherewasagreatertu-whooingthanever，andnoiseofbirdsshiftiandrufflihers，aheoeakiheyallexplainedhowverysorrytheywerethattheythemselvesotgowiththeontheirsearchforthelostPrince“You'dwanttotravelbyday，andwe'dwanttotravelbynight，”theysaid。“Itwouldn'tdo，wouldn'tdo。”Owoowlsaddedthateveheruiwasn'tnearlysodarkasithadbeeheybegan，andthattheparliamenthadbeengoingonquitelongenough。Infact，themerementionofajourheruiyofgiaohavedampedthespiritsofthlimfeathersaid:

“Iftheywanttogothatway—iiakethemtooheMarsh-wiggles。They'retheOnlypeoplethemmuch。”

“'True，true。Do，”saidtheowls。

&hen，”saidGlimfeather。“I'lltakeone。Who'lltaketheother?Itmustbedo。”

“Iwill:asfarastheMarsh-wiggles，”saidanotherowl。

“Areyouready?”saidGlimfeathertoJill。

“IthinkPole'sasleep，”saidScrubb。