CHAPTER FOUR TURKISH DELIGHT(第1页)
CHAPTERFOURTURKISHDELIGHT
“BUTwhatareyou?”saidtheQueenagain。“Areyrowndwarfthathascutoffitsbeard?”
“No,yourMajesty,”saidEdmund,“Ineverhadabeard,I'maboy。”
“Aboy!”saidshe。“DoyoumeanyouareaSonofAdam?”
&oodstill,sayingnothioofusedbythistimetouandwhatthequestio。
“Iseeyouareanidiot,whateverelseyoumaybe,”saidtheQueen。“Answerme,ondforall,orIshalllosemypatienan?”
“Yes,yourMajesty,”saidEdmund。
“Andhow,pray,didyouydominions?”
“Please,yourMajesty,Ithroughawardrobe。”
“Awardrobe?Whatdoyoumean?”
“I—Iopenedadoorandjustfoundmyselfhere,yourMajesty,”saidEdmund。
“Ha!”saidtheQueen,speakioherselfthantohim。“Adoor。Adoorfromtheworldofmen!Ihaveheardofsugs。Thismaywreckall。Butheisonlyone,andheiseasilydealtokethesewordssherosefromherseatandlookedEdmundfullintheface,hereyesflaming;atthesamemomentsheraisedherwand。Edmuhatshewasgoingtodosomethiheseemeduomove。Then,justashegavehimselfupforlost,sheappearedtogehermind。
“Mypoorchild,”shesaidinquiteadifferentvoice,“howcoldyoulook!eandsitwithmehereonthesledgeandIwillputmymantleroundyouaalk。”
Edmunddidhisarraallbuthedaredeppedontothesledgeandsatatherfeet,aafoldofherfurmantleroundhimawellin。
“Perhapssomethinghottodrink?”saidtheQueen。“Shouldyoulikethat?”
“Yesplease,yourMajesty,”saidEdmuhwereg。
&ookfromsheringsaverysmallbottlewhichlookedasifitper。Then,holdingoutherarm,sheletonedropfallfromitontotheshesledge。Edmundsawthedropforaseid-air,shininglikeadiamond。Butthemomentittouchedthesnowtherewasahissingsouoodajeweledethingthatsteamed。ThedwarfimmediatelytookthisaoEdmundwithabowaaverynicesmile。Edmumuchbetterashebegantosipthehotdrink。Itwassomethinghehadedbefore,verysweetandfoamyandditwarmedhimrightdowntohistoes。
“Itisdull,SonofAdam,todrinkwithouteating,”saidtheQueely。“Whatwouldyoulikebesttoeat?”
“TurkishDelight,please,yourMajesty,”saidEdmund。
TheQueeherdropfallfromherbottleontothesnow,andinstantlythereappearedaroundbox,tiedwithgreensilkribbon,whiopeoseveralpouurkishDelight。EachpiecewassweetandlighttotheverydEdmuedanythingmoredelicious。Hewasquitewarmnow,andveryfortable。
Whilehewaseatiaskiions。AtfirstEdmuorememberthatitisrudetospeakwithone'smouthfull,butsotaboutthisandthoughttoshoveldownasmuchTurkishDelightashedthemoreheatethemorehewa,andheneveraskedhimselfwhytheQueenshouldbesoihimtotellherthathehadowosisters,andthatoneofhissistershadalreadybeeninNarniaaaFauhathimselfandhisbrotherandhissisterskhingaboutNarnia。Sheseemedespeterestedihattherewerefourofthem,aoningbacktoit。“Youaresuretherearejustfourofyou?”sheasked。“TwoSonsofAdamandtwoDaughtersofEve,hermorenorless?”andEdmund,withhismouthfullofTurkishDelight,keptonsayioldyouthatbefore,”aocallher“YourMajesty”,butshedidn'tseemtomindnow。
AtlasttheTurkishDelightwasallfinishedandEdmundwaslookingveryhardattheemptyboxandwishingthatshewouldaskhimwhetherhewouldlikesomemore。ProbablytheQueeeasthinking;forshekhoughEdmunddidnot,thatthiswaseurkishDelightandthatanyonewhohadowouldwantmorea,aheywereallowed,gootilltheykilledthemselves。Butshedidnotofferhimaead,shesaidtohim,“SonofAdam,Ishouldsomuchliketoseeyourbrotherandyourtwosisters。Willythemtoseeme?”
“I'lltry,”saidEdmund,stilllookiybox。
“Because,ifyoudideagain—brihyouofcourse—I'dbeabletogiveyousomemoreTurkishDelight。I'tdoitnow,themagilyworkonmyowwouldbeaer。”
“Why'twegotoyourhousenow?”saidEdmund。Whenhehadfirstgotontothesledgehehadbeenafraidthatshemightdriveawaywithhimtosomeunknownplawhichhewouldogetback;buthehadfottenaboutthatfearnow。
“Itisalovelyplace,myhouse,”saidtheQueen。“Iamsureyouwouldlikeit。TherearewholeroomsfullofTurkishDelight,andwhat'smore,Ihavenoyown。IwantaniIgupasaPrindwhowouldbeKingofNarniawhenIamgone。WhileherincehewolddeatTurkishDelightalldaylong;ahecleverestandhayoungmanI'veevermet。IthinkIwouldliketomakeyouthePrineday,whenytheotherstovisitme。”
“Whynotnow?”saidEdmund。Hisfacehadbeeveryredandhismouthandfiicky。Hedidhere,whatevertheQueenmightsay。