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CHAPTER TWELVE THE QUEEN OF UNDERLAND(第1页)

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CHAPTERTWELVETHEQUEENOFUNDERLAND

&hmeinsteadofadvan,theyplacedthemselvesoneoneachsideofthedoor,andboweddeeply。Theywerefollowedimmediatelybythelastpersonwhomanyoedorwishedtosee:theLadyoftheGreeheQueenofUnderlaooddeadstillinthedoorway,andtheycouldseehereyesmoviookinthewholesituatiers,thesilverchairdestroyed,andthePrihhisswordinhishand。

&ure;butJillthoughtitwasthesortofwhiteepeople'sfaotwheewhentheyareangry。ForamomechfixedhereyesonthePriherewasmurderiheogehermind。

“Leaveus,”shesaidtothetwoEarthmeurbustillIpaihegnomespaddedawayobediently,ashutahedoor。

“Hownow,mylordPrince,”shesaid。“Hasyhtlyfiteuponyou,orisitoversosoon?Whystandyouhereunbound?Whoarethesealiens?Andisittheywhohavedestroyedthechairwhichwasyouroy?”

Prinshiveredasshespoketohim。Andishrowoffinhalfanhouramentwhichhasmadeoehehagreateffort,hesaid:

“Madam,therewillbehatdyou,whohavetoldmeahuimeshowdeeplyyoupitiedmeforthesorceriesbywhichIwasbound,willdoubtlesshearwithjoythattheyarenoweherewas,itseems,somesmallerrorinyourLadyship'swaythem。These,mytruefriends,havedeliveredme。Iamnhtmind,awothingsIwillsaytoyou。First—asforyourLadyship'sdesignofputtiheheadofanarmyofEarthmensothatImaybreakoutintotheOverworldandthere,bymainforce,makemyselfkingoversomenationthatneverdidmewrtheirnaturallordsandholdihroneasabloodyayrant—nowthatIknowmyself,Idoutterlyabhoraasplainvillainy。AndsetheKing'ssonofNarnia,Rilian,theonlychildof,Tenthofthatname,whomsomecalltheSeafarer。Therefore,Madam,itismypurpose,asitisalsomyduty,todepartsuddenlyfrhness'syowntry。Pleaseityoutograntmeandmyfrieahroughyourdarkrealm。”

othingatall,butmovedgentlyacrosstheroom,alingherfadeyesverysteadilytorinshehadetoalittlearksetifarfromthefireplace,sheope,andtookoutfirstahandfulofagreehisshethrewodidnotblazemuch,butaverysweetanddrowsysmellit。Andallthroughtheversationwhichfollowed,thatsmellgrewstronger,aheroom,ahardertothink。Sedly,shetookoutamusistrumentratherlikeamandolioplayitwithherfieady,monotthatyoudidn'terafewmihelessyouhemotintoyourbrainandyourblood。Thisalsomadeithardtothink。Aftershehadthrummedforatime(asmellwasn)shebeganspeakingivoice。

“Narnia?”shesaid。“Narnia?IhaveoftenheardyourLordshiputterthatnameinys。DearPrince,youareverysick。Thereisnolandarnia。”

&hereis,though,Ma'am,”saidPuddleglum。“Yousee,Ihappehereallmylife。”

“Indeed,”saidtheWitch。“Tellme,Iprayyou,wherethattryis?”

“Upthere,”saidPuddleglum,stoutly,pointingoverhead。“I—Idon'tklywhere。”

“How?”saidtheQueen,withakind,soft,musicallaugh。“Isthereatryupamoonesandmortaroftheroof?”

“No,”saidPuddleglum,strugglingalittletogethisbreath。“It'sinOverworld。”

“Andwhat,orwhere,prayisthis。。。howdoyoucallit。。。Overworld?”

“Oh,don'tbesosilly,”saidScrubb,whowasfightinghardagaimesmellahrumming。“Asifyoudidn'tknow!It'supabove,upwhereyouseetheskyandthesuars。Why,you'vebeenthereyourself。Wemetyouthere。”

“Iercy,littlebrhedtheWitch(you'thaveheardalh)。“Ihavehatmeetieourfriendsinstrangeplawedream。Andunlessalldreamedalike,youmustnotaskthemtorememberit。”

“Madam,”saidthePriernly,“IhavealreadytracethatIamtheKing'ssonofNarnia。”

“Andshaltbe,dearfriend,”saidtheWitasoothingvoice,asifshewashumachild,“shaltbekingofmanyimaginedlandsinthyfancies。”

“We'vebeeoo,”snappedJill。Shewasveryangrybecauseshecouldfeeleingholdofhereverymoment。Butofcoursetheveryfactthatshecouldstillfeelit,showedthatithadfullyworked。

“AndthouartQueenofNarniatoo,Idoubtyone,”saidtheWitthesameg,half-moe。

“I'mnothi,”saidJill,stampi。“Weanotherworld。”

“Why,thisisaprettiergamethaher,”saidtheWitch。“Tellus,littlemaid,whereisthisothersandchariotsgobetweenitandours?”

OfcoursealotofthioJill'sheadatoHouse,AdelaPennyfather,herownhome,radio-sets,emas,cars,aeroplaion-books,queues。Buttheyseemeddimandfaraway。(Thrumthrum—thrum—werich'si。)Jillemberthehethingsinourworld。Andthistimeitdidn'teishewasbeied,fornowthemagiitsfullstrength;andofcourse,themoree,themoreyoufeelthatyouareedatall。Shefoundherselfsaying(aitwasarelieftosay):

“No。Isupposethatotherworldmustbealladream。”

&isalladream,”saidtheWitch,alwaysthrumming。

“Yes,alladream,”saidJill。

“Thereneverwassuchaworld,”saidtheWitch。

“No,”saidJillandSeverwassuchaworld。”

“Thereneverwasanyworldbutmine,”saidtheWitch。

“Thereneverwasanyworldbutyours,”saidthey。

Puddleglumwasstillfightinghard。“Idon'tknhtlywhatyouallmeanbyaworld,”hesaid,talkinglikeamanwhohasn'tenoughair。“Butyouplaythatfiddletillyersdropoff,andstillyouwon'tmakemefetNarnia;andthewholeOverworldtoo。We'llagain,Ishouldn'twonder。Youmayhaveblotteditoutadarklikethis,forallIknow。Nothingmorelikely。ButIknowIwasthereonce。I'veseentheskyfullofstars。I'veseenthesuningupoutoftheseaandsihemountainsatnight。AndI'veseenhimupinthemiddayskywhenI'tlookathimfhtness。”

Puddleglum'swordshadaveryrousiheotherthreeallbreathedagainaoherlikepeoplene>

“Why,thereitis!”criedthePrince。“Ofcourse!TheblessingofAslanuponthishle。Wehaveallbeeheselastfewminutes。Howcouldwehavefottenit?Ofcoursewe'veallseenthesun。”

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