CHAPTER EIGHT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER DINNER(第2页)
“Ooh!”saidSusan,“I'dthoughthewasamaesafe?Ishallfeelrathernervousaboutmeetingalion。”
“Thatyouwill,dearie,andnomistake,”saidMrs。Beaver;“ifthere'sanyoneearbeforeAslanwithouttheirkneesknog,they'reeitherbraverthanmostorelsejustsilly。”
“Thenheisn'tsafe?”saidLucy。
“Safe?”saidMr。Beaver;“don'tyouhearwhatMrs。Beavertellsyou?Whosaidanythingaboutsafe?'Courseheisn'tsafe。Buthe'sgood。He'stheKing,Itellyou。”
“I'mlongingtoseehim,”saidPeter,“evenifIdhteestothepoint。”
“Thatht,SonofAdam,”saidMr。Beaver,bringinghispawdowablewithacrashthatmadeallthedsaucersrattle。“Andsoyoushall。Wordhasbeeyouaretomeethim,tomorrowifyou,attheStoable。”
“Where'sthat?”saidLucy。
“I'llshowyou,”saidMr。Beaver。“It'sdoodstepfromhere。I'lltakeyoutoit!”
“ButmeaaboutpoorMr。Tumnus?”saidLucy。
&himisbygoiAslan,”saidMr。Beaver,“oncehe'swithus,thenwedoingthings。Notthatwedon'too。Forthat'saheoldrhymes:
WhenAdam'sfleshandAdam'sbone
SitsatCairParavelinthrone,
&imewillbeoveranddone。
Sothingsmustbedrawiheirendnowhe'seandyou'vee。We'veheardofAslaningisbefo,nobodysaywhen。Butthere'sneverbeenanyofyourraceherebefore。”
“That'swhatIdon'tuand,Mr。Beaver,”saidPeter,“Imeanisn'ttheWitchherselfhuman?”
“She'dlikeustobelieveit,”saidMr。Beaver,“andit'sonthatthatshebasesherclaimtobeQueen。Butshe'snoDaughterofEve。SheesofyourfatherAdam's”—(hereMr。Beaverbowed)“yourfatherAdam'sfirstwife,hertheycalledLilith。Andshewasohat'swhatsheononeside。Ahersheesofthegiants。No,no,thereisn'tadropofrealhumanbloodich。”
“That'swhyshe'sbadallthrough,Mr。Beaver,”saidMrs。Beaver。
“Trueenough,Mrs。Beaver,”repliedhe,“theremaybetwoviewsabouthumans(meanihepresentpany)。Butthere'sthingsthatlooklikehuma。”
“I'veknowngoodDwarfs,”saidMrs。Beaver。
“So'veI,nowyouetospeakofit,”saidherhusband,“butpreciousfew,aheolikemen。Butiakemyadviyoumeetanythingthat'sgoingtobehumanandisn'tyet,orusedtobehumanon'tnhttobehumanandisn't,youkeepyoureyesonitandfeelforyourhatdthat'swhytheWitchisalwaysoforanyhumansinNarnia。She'sbeenwatgforyouthismanyayear,aherewerefourofyoushe'dbemerousstill。”
“What'sthattodowithit?”askedPeter。
“Becauseofanotherprophecy,”saidMr。Beaver。“Doaravel—that'sthetheseaatthemouthofthisriverwhichoughttobethecapitalofthewholetryifallwasasitshouldbe—doaraveltherearefourthro'sasayinginNarofmindthatwhentwoSonsofAdamandtwoDaughtersofEvesitihrowillbetheendnotoeWitchnbutofherlife,andthatiswhywehadtobesocautiousasweg,forifshekyoufour,yourliveswouldn'tbeworthashakeofmywhiskers!”
AllthehadbeenattendingsohardtowhatMr。Beaverwastelliheyhadhingelseftime。Thenduriofsilefollowedhislastremark,Lulysaid:“Isay—where'sEdmund?”
Thereause,andtheneveryonebeganasking“Whosawhimlast?Howlonghashebeenmissiside?”andthenallrushedtothedoorahesnowwasfallingthidsteadily,thegreehepoolhadvanisheduhickwhitebla,andfromwherethelittlehousestoodihedamyoucouldhardlyseeeitherbank。Outtheywent,pluheirahesoftneentroundthehouseiion。“Edmund!Edmund!”theycalledtilltheywerehoarse。Butthesilentlyfalliomuffletheirvoidtherewasnotevenaneswer。
“Howperfectlydreadful!”saidSusacamebadespair。“Oh,hoe'dnevere。”
“Whatoharewetodo,Mr。Beaver?”saidPeter。
“Do?”saidMr。Beaver,uttingonhissnow-boots,“do?Wemustbeoffatonce。Wehaven'tamomenttospare!”
“We'dbetterdivideintofoursearchparties,”saidPeter,“andallgoiions。Whoeverfindshimmustebackhereatond—”