CHAPTER FIVE BACK ON THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR(第1页)
CHAPTERFIVEBATHISSIDEOFTHEDOOR
&hegameofhide-aillgoingon,ittookEdmundandLuetofihers。Butwhenatlasttheywerealltogether(ehelongroom,wherethesuitofarmorwas),Lucyburstout:
&er!Susan!It'salltrue。Edmuoo。Thereisatryyougetththewardrobe。EdmundandIbothgotiohere,inthewood。Gooellthemallaboutit。”
“What'sallthisabout,Ed?”saidPeter。
Aoothingsinthisstory。UptothatmomentEdmundhadbeenfeelingsidsulky,ahLucyfht,buthehadn'tmadeuphismindwhattodo。Wheersuddehequestionhedecidedallatohemeaandmostspitefulthihinkof。HedecidedtoletLu。
“Tellus,Ed,”saidSusan。
AndEdmundgaveaverysuperiorlookasifhewerefarolderthanLucy(therewasreallyonlyayear'sdifferehenalittlesniggerandsaid,“Oh,yes,LudIhavebeenplayihatallherstoryaboutathewardrobeistrue。justforfun,ofcourse。There'snothingtherereally。”
PaveEdmundonelookaoftheroom。
Edmund,whowasbeinganastierpersoe,thoughtthathehadscreatsudwentoosay,“Thereshegoesagain。What'sthematterwithher?That'stheworstofyoungkids,theyal>
“Lookhere,”saidPeter,turningonhimsavagely,“shutup!You'vebeelybeastlytoLueversiedthishewardrobe,andnowyougoplayihheraboutitaingheroffagain。Ibelieveyoudiditsimplyoutofspite。”
“Butit'sallnonsense,”saidEdmuakenaback。
“Ofcourseit'sallnonsense,”saidPeter,“that'sjustthepoint。Luerfectlyallrightwhehome,butsincewe'vebeendowobeeithergoiheheadorelseturningintoamhtfulliar。Butwhicheveritis,whatgooddoyouthinkyou'lldandnaggingatheronedayandengherthe?”
“Ithought—Ithought,”saidEdmund;buthe'tthinkofanythingtosay。
“Youdidn'tthinkanythingatall,”saidPeter;“it'sjustspite。You'vealwayslikedbeioanyohanyourself;we'veseenthatatschoolbeforenow。”
“Dostopit,”saidSusan;“itwon'tmakethierhavingarowbetweenyoutwo。Let'sgoandfindLucy。”
ItwasnthatwhentheyfoundLucy,agooddeallater,everyonecouldseethatshehadbeenothingtheycouldsaytohermadeanydiffereoherstoryandsaid:
“Idon'tcarewhatyouthink,andIdon'tcarewhatyousay。YoutelltheProfessororyouwritetoMotheroryouythingyoulike。IknowI'vemetaFauninthereand—IwishI'dstayedthereandyouareallbeasts,beasts。”
Itleasantevening。LucywasmiserableandEdmuofeelthathisplanwasnaswellashehadexpected。ThetwoolderoneswerereallybeginningtothinkthatLucywasoutofhermioodinthepassagetalkingaboutitinwhisperslongaftershehadgoobed。
&wasthemtheydecidedthattheyreallywouldgoahewholethingtotheProfessor。“He'llwritetoFatherifhethinksthereisreallysomethingwrongwithLu,”saidPeter;“it'sgettingbeyondus。”Sotheywentahestudydoor,andtheProfessorsaid“ein,”andgotupandfoundaeattheirdisposal。Theenihetipsofhisfiogetheraerrupting,tilltheyhadfiory。Afterthathesaidnothingforquitealohenheclearedhisthroatandsaidthelastthihemexpected:
“Howdoyouknow,”heasked,“thatyoursister'sstoryisnottrue?”
“Oh,but—”beganSusaopped。Anyonecouldseefromtheoldman'sfacethatheerfectlyserious。ThenSusanpulledherselftogetherandsaid,“ButEdmundsaidtheyhadoending。”
“Thatisapoint,”saidtheProfessor,“whilydeservessideration;verycarefulsideration。Forinstance—ifyouwillexcusemefthequestion—doesyourexperieardyourbrotheroryoursisterasthemorereliable?Imean,whichisthemoretruthful?”
“That'sjustthefunnythingaboutit,sir,”saidPeter。“Uptillnow,I'dhavesaidLucyeverytime。”
“Andwhatdoyouthink,mydear?”saidthePrtoSusan。
“Well,”saidSusan,“ingeneral,I'dsaythesameasPeter,butthis'tbetrue—allthisaboutthewoodandtheFaun。”