CHAPTER TWELVE THE QUEEN OF UNDERLAND（第2页）

“ByJove，sowehave!”saidScrubb。“Goodforyou，Puddleglum!You'retheonlyoneofuswithanysense，Idobelieve。”

&heWitch'svoigsoftlylikethevoiceofawood-pigeonfromthehighelmsinanoldgardenatthreeo'themiddleofasleepy，summerafternoon;anditsaid:

“Whatisthissunthatyouallspeakof?Doyoumeananythingbytheword?”

“Yes，wejollywelldo，”saidScrubb。

“ewhatit'slike?”askedtheWitch（thrum，thrum，thrum，werings）。

&yrace，”saidthePrince，verydpolitely。“Youseethatlamp。Itisroundandyellowaothewholeroom;ahmoreoverfromtheroof。Nowthatthingwhichwecallthesuhelamp，reateragivethlighttothewholeOverworldahesky。”

“Hahfromwhat，mylord?”askedtheWitdtheheywereallstillthinkinghowtoanswerher，sheadded，withanotherofhersoft，silverlaughs:“Yousee?Whenyoutrytothithissunmustbe，youe。Youlytellmeitislikethelamp。Yoursuhereisnothingiiedfromthelamp。Thelampistherealthing;thesunisbutatale，a'sstory。”

“Yes，Iseenow，”saidJillinaheavy，hopelesstomustbeso。”Andwhileshesaidthis，itseemedtohertoodsense。

SlowlyaheWitchrepeated，“Thereisnosun。”Andtheyallsaidnothied，inasofteranddeepervoice。“Thereisnosun。”Afterapause，aruggleintheirminds，allfourofthemsaidtogether。“Yht。Thereisnosun。”Itwassucharelieftogiveinandsayit。

“Thereneverwasasun，”saidtheWitch。

“No。Thereneverwasasun，”saidthePriheMarsh-wiggle，andthe。

ForthelastfewminutesJillhadbeetherewassomethirememberatallditwasdreadfullyhardtosayit。Shefeltasifhugeweightswerelaidonherlips。Atlast，withahatseemedtotakeallthegoodoutofher，shesaid:

“There'sAslan。”

“Aslan?”saidtheWitch，quigeversoslightlythepace。“rettydoesitmean?”

&hegreatLionwhocalledusoutofourownworld，”saidSdsentusintothistofindPrin。”

“Whatisalioch。

“Oh，hangitall!”saidScrubb。“Don'tyouknoedescribeittoher?Haveyoueverseenacat?”

“Surely，”saidtheQuees。”

“Well，alionisalittlebit—onlyalittlebit，mindyoulikeahugecat—withama'snotlikeahorse'smane，youknow，it'smorelikeajudge'swig。Andit'syellow。Andterrificallystrong。”

&chshookherhead。“Isee，”shesaid，“thatweshoulddohyourlion，asyoucallit，thahyoursun。Youhaveseenlamps，andsoyouimaginedabiggeraerlampahesun。You'veseendnowyouwaterdit'stobecalledalion。Well，'tisaprettymakebelieve，though，tosaytruth，itwouldsuityouallbetterifyer。Andlookhoutnothingintoyourmake-believewithoutgitfromtherealworld，thisworldofmine，whichistheonlyworld。Butevenyouaretoooldforsuchplay。Asforyou，mylordPriartamanfullgrown，fieupoashamedofsue，allofyou。Putawaythesechildishtricks。Ihaveworkforyouallintherealworld。ThereisnoNarnia，noOverworld，nosky，nosun，noAslan。Andnow，tobedall。Ausbegiomorrow。But，first，tobed;tosleep;deepsleep，softpillows，sleepwithoutfoolishdreams。”

ThePrihetwowerestandingwiththeirheadshungdown，theircheeksflushed，theireyeshalfclosed;thestrengthallgohem;theeplete。ButPuddleglum，desperatelygatheringallhisstrength，walkedovertothefire。Thenhedidaverybravethiwouldn'thurthimquiteasmuchasitwouldhurtahuman;forhisfeet（whichwerebare）werewebbedandhardandcoldbloodedlikeaduck's。Buthekwouldhurthimbadlyenough;andsoitdid。Withhisbarefoothestampedrindiofitiheflathearth。Ahionce。

First，thesweetheavysmellgrewverymuchless。Fhthewholefirehad，agoodbitofithad，andwhatremainedsmelledverylargelyofburntMarsh-

wiggle，whiotatallaihisinstantlymadeeveryone'sbraihePrihehelduptheirheadsagaiheireyes。

&heWitaloud，terriblevoice，utterlydifferentfromallthesweettonesshehadbeenusinguptill，“Whatareyoudoiouchmyfireagain，mud-filth，andI'llturofireinsideyourveins。”

Thirdly，thepainitselfmadePuddleglum'sheadforamomelydheklywhathereallythought。Thereisnothinglikeagoodshofordissolviainkindsofmagic。

“Oneword，Ma'am，”hesaid，ingbathefire;limping，becauseofthepain。“Oneword。Allyou'vebeensayingisquiteright，Ishouldn'twonder。I'machapwhoalwayslikedtokahebestfaonit。SoIwon'tdenyanyofwhatyousaid。Butthere'sohiobesaid，evenso。Supposewehaveonlydreamed，ormadeup，allthosethings—treesandgrassandsunandmoonandstarsandAslanhimself。Supposewehave。ThenallIsayisthat，inthatcase，themade-upthingsseemagooddealmoreimportantthantherealones。Supposethisblackpitofakingdomofyoursistheonlyworld。Well，itstrikesmeasaprettypoorohat'safunnything，whehinkofit。We'rejustbabiesmakingupagame，ifyht。Butfourbabiesplayingagamemakeaplayworldwhichlicksyourrealworldhollow。That'swhyI'mgoingtostandbytheplay-world。I'monAslan'ssideevenifthereisn'tanyAsla。I'mgoingtoliveaslikeaNarnianasIifthereisn'tanyNarnia。So，thankingyoukindlyforoursupper，ifthesetwogeheyoungladyareready，we&#yourcourtatoiospendourliveslookingforOverland。Notthatourliveswillbeverylong，Ishouldthink;butthat'sasmalllossiftheworld'sasdullaplaceasyousay。”

“oodoldPuddleglum!”criedSdJill。ButthePriedsuddeotheWitch。”

&heydidlooktheirhairoodonend。

&rumentdroppedfromherhands。Herarmsappearedtobefasteohersides。Herlegswereiheachother，ahaddisappeared。Theloraihidgrewsolid，aobeallohewrithinggreenpillarofherinterlockedlegs。Andthatwrithinggreenpillarwasdswayingasifithadnojoints，orelsewerealljoints。Herheadwasthrownfarbadwhilehernerandloherpartofherfaceseemedtodisappear，excepthereyes。Hugeflamiheyithoutbrowsorlashes。Allthistakestimetowritedoenedsoquicklythattherewasonlyjusttimetoseeit。Loherewastimetodoanything，thegelete，aserpentwhichtheWitchhadbee，greenaspoison，thickasJill'swaist，hadflungtwoorthreecoilsofitsloathsomebodyroundthePrince'slegs。Quickaslightniloopdartedrouopinionhissword-armtohisside。ButthePriintime。Heraisedhisarmsandgotthemclear:thelivingknotlyrou—readytocrackhisribslikefirewoodwhe。

ThePrihecreature'snehislefthand，tryiillitchoked。Thishelditsface（ifyoucouldcallitaface）aboutfiveinhisowongueflickeredhorriblyinandout，butotreachhim。Withhisrighthandhedrewbackhisswordfestblowhecouldgive。MeanwhileSdPuddleglumhaddrawntheironsaohisaid。Allthreeblowsfellatonce:Scrubb's（whiotevehesddidnogood）onthebodyoftheshePrince'shand，butthePrince'souddleglum'sbothonitsdid，thoughitbegasholdonRilian'slegsahrepeatedblowstheyhackedoffitshead。Thehorriblethiondmoviafterithaddied;andthefloor，asyoumayimagine，wasanastymess。

ThePrinhehadbreath，said，“Gehankyou。”Thehreequerorsstatoherandpanting，withoutanotherwtime。Jillhadverywiselysatdoi;shewassayingtoherself，“IdohopeIdon'tfaintorblub—ordoanythingidiotic。”

“Myroyalmed，”saidRiliahisisuhesameursuedinvaiaiofNarnia，somanyyearsago。AlltheseyearsIhavebeentheslaveofmymother'sslayer。YetIamglad，gehefoulWitchtooktoherserpentformatthelast。Itwouldedwelleitherwithmyheartorwithmyhonourtohaveslainawoman。Butlooktothelady。”HemeantJill。

“I'mallright，thanks，”saidshe。

“Damsel，”saidthePringtoher。“Youareofahighce，andtherefore，Idoubtnot，youeofanoblebloodinyourownworld。Bute，friends。Hereissomewiusrefreshourselvesandeachpledgehisfellows。Afterthat，toourplans。”

“Ajollygoodidea，Sir，”saidScrubb。