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CHAPTER FIVE PUDDLEGLUM(第2页)

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“Nouddleglum。“Thoseeelswilltakeamtimetodeitherofyoumightfaintwithhuhey'redolegirl—butI'dbetterhatsthtloweryourspirits,andthat'sathingIneverdo。So,tokeepyourmindser,wemayaswelltalkaboutourplans。”

&'s,”saidJill。“youhelpustofindPrin?”

TheMarsh-wigglesuhischeekstilltheywerehollowerthanyouwouldhavethoughtpossible。“Well,Idon'tknowthatyou'dcallithelp,”hesaid。“Idon'tknowthatanyolyhelp。Itstandstoreasonwe'reveryfaroheNorth,notatthistimeoftheyear,withthewinteringonsoonandall。Aertoo,bythelookofthings。Butyoumustn'tletthatmakeyoudowed。Verylikely,whatwithenemies,andmountains,aodlosingourway,ahi,a,we'llhardlyher。Andifwedon'tgetfarenoughtodoanygood,wemaygetfarenoughbaahurry。”

Bothoticedthathesaid“we“,not“you“,andbothexclaimedatthesamemoment。“Areyouingwithus?”

“Ohyes,I'minghtaswell,yousee。Idon'tsupposeweshalleverseetheKingbaia,nowthathe'sonparts;andhehadanastyheleft。Therumpkin。He'sfailingfast。Andyou'llfindthere'llhavebeenabadharvestafterthisterribledrysummer。AndIshouldn'twonderifsomeeackedus。Markmywords。”

“Andhowshallwestart?”saidScrubb。

“Well,”saidtheMarsh-wiggleveryslowly,“alltheotherswhoeverwentlookingforPrinstartedfromthatsamefouheLordDriniaheywentnorth,mostly。Ahemevercameba'texactlysayhowtheygoton。”

“We'vegottostartbyfindiyofgiants,”saidJill。“Aslansaidso。”

“Gottostartbyfindingit,haveuddleglum。“artbylookingforit,Isuppose?”

“That'swhatImeant,ofcourse,”saidJill。“Andthen,whenwe'vefoundit—”

“Yes,uddleglumverydrily。

&anyonekis?”askedScrubb。

“Idon'tknowaboutAnyone,”saidPuddleglum。“AndIwon'tsayIhaven'theardofthatRuiy。Youwouldn'tstartfromthefountain,though。You'dhavetogoacrossEttinsmoor。That'swheretheRuiyis,ifit'saI'vebeenasfarinthatdireostpeopleaoanyruins,soIwon'tdeceiveyou。”

“Where'sEttinsmoor?”saidScrubb。

“Lookovertherenorthuddleglum,pointingwithhispipe。“Seethosehillsandbitsofcliff?That'sthebegiinsmoor。Butthere'sariverbetweenitandus;theriverShribble。Nes,ofcourse。”

“Isupposewefordit,though,”saidScrubb。

&hasbeenforded,”admittedtheMarsh-wiggle。

“Perhapseopleoinsmoorwhotellustheway,”saidJill。

“Yhtaboutmeetingpeople,”saidPuddleglum。

“Whatsortofpeoplelivethere?”sheasked。

“It'sheyaren'tallrightintheiroeredPuddleglum。“Ifyouliketheir>

&whatarethey?”pressedJill。“Therearesomauresinthistry。Imeaheyanimals,orbirds,ordwarfs,or>

TheMarsh-wigglegavealongwhistle。“Phew!”hesaid。“Don'tyouknow?Ithoughttheowlshadtoldyou。They&#iants。”

Jillwinced。Shehadseveninbooks,andshehadooneinahenshesawScrubb'sface,whichhadturhergreen,andthoughttoherself,“Ibethe'sihanIam。”Thatmadeherfeelbraver。

&oldmelongago,”saidScrubb—“thattimeithhimatsea-thathe'djollywellbeatesinayhimtribute。”

“That&#h,”saidPuddleglum。“They'reatpeacewithusallright。AsloayonourowheShribble,theywon'tdousanyharm。Overontheirside,oill,there'salwaysace。Ifwedon'tgetnearanyofthem,ahemfetthemselves,andifwe're'sjustpossiblewemightgetalong>

“Lookhere!”saidScrubb,suddenlylosinghistemper,aspeoplesoeasilydowhentheyhavebeenfrightened。“Idon'tbelievethewholethingbehalfasbadasyout;ahebedsintheerehardortheet。Idon'tthinkAslanwouldeverhavesentusiftherewassolittleceasallthat。”

&eexpectedtheMarsh-wiggletogivehimaheonlysaid,“That'sthespirit,Scrubb。That'stheutagoodfait。Butweallobeverycarefulaboutallthehardtimesweshallhavetether。Won'tdotoquarrel,youknow。Atanyrate,don'tbeginittoosoon。Ikionsusuallyendthatway:kher,Ishouldn'twonder,beforeall'sdohelongeroffit—”

“Well,ifyoufeelit'ssohopeless,”iedScrubb,“Ithinkyou'dbetterstaybehind。PoleandIalone,'twe,Pole?”

“Shutupanddon'tbeanass,Scrubb,”saidJillhastily,terrifiedlesttheMarsh-wiggleshouldtakehimathisword。

“Don'tyouloseheart,Pole,”saidPuddleglum。“I'miain。I'mnotgoingtoloseanopportuwilldomegood。Theyallsay—Imeaherwigglesallsay-thatI'mtooflighty;don'ttakelifeseriouslyenough。Ifthey'vesaiditohey'vesaiditathousandtimes。'Puddleglum,'they'vesaid,'yethertoofullofbobandboundhighspirits。You'vegottolearnthatlifeisn'tallfricasseedfrogsandeelpie。Youwaosoberyoudownabit。We'reonlysayingitfood,Puddleglum。'That'swhattheysay。Nowajoblikethis—ajourhjustaswinter'sbeginning,lookingforaPriprobablyisn'tthere,bywayofaruihatnoonehaseverseehething。Ifthatdoesn'tsteadyachap,Idon'tknoill。”Andherubbedhisbigfrog-likehaherasifheweretalkingofgoingtoapartyorapantomime。“Andnow,”headded,“let'sseehowthoseeelsaregettingon。”

&hemealcameitwasdelidthehadtifirsttheMarsh-wigglewouldn'tbelievethattheyreallylikedit,aheyhadeatensomuchthathehadtobelievethem,hefellbasayingthatitwouldprobablydisagreewiththemhorribly。“What'sflesmaybepoisonforhumans,Ishouldn'twonder,”hesaid。Afterthemealtheyhadtea,intins(asyou'veseenmenhavingitwhontheroad),andPuddleglumhadagoodmanysipsoutofasquareblackbottle。Heofferedthesomeofit,buttheythoughtitverynasty。

&ofthedayeionsforaarttom。Puddleglum,bei,saidhewouldcarrythreeblahalargebitofbarolledupihem。Jillwastocarrytheremainsoftheeels,somebisdthetinder-box。ScrubbwastocarrybothhisowndJill'swhentheydidn'twahem。Scrubb(whohadleariotheEastunder)hadPuddleglum'ssedbestbouddleglumhadhisbestohoughhesaidthatinds,anddampbs,andbadlight,andgers,itwasahuooeitherofthemhittinganything。HeandScrubbbothhadswordsScrubbhadbroughttheonewhichhadbeeforhiminhisroomatCairParavel,butJillhadtobetwithherkherewouldhavebeehis,butassooedsparringthewigglerubbedhishandsandsaid,“Ah,thereyouare。Ithoughtasmuch。That'seures。”Thismadethembothshutup。

Allthreewenttobedearlyinthewigwam。Thistimethereallyhadaratherbadnight。Thatuddleglum,aftersaying,“You'dbettertryforsomesleep,youtwo;notthatIsupposeanyofuswilleyetonight,”instaoffintosuchaloud,uouss,whenJillatlastgottosleep,shedreamedallnightaboutroad-drillsandwaterfallsandbeirainsintunnels。

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