CHAPTER EIGHT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER DINNER(第3页)
&ies,SonofAdam?”saidMr。Beaver;“whatfor?”
“Why,tolookforEdmund,ofcourse!”
“There'snopointinlookingforhim,”saidMr。Beaver。
“Whatdoyoumean?”saidSusan。“He'tbefarawayyet。Andwe'vegottofindhim。Whatdoyoumeanwhenyousaythere'snouselookingforhim?”
&here'snouselooking,”saidMr。Beaver,“isthatweknowalreadywherehe'sgoaredi。“Don'tyouuand?”saidMr。Beaver。“He'sgoheWhiteWitch。Hehasbetrayedusall。”
“Oh,surely—oh,really!”saidSusan;“he'thavedo。”
“'the?”saidMr。Beaver,lookingveryhardatthethree,aheywaosaydiedontheirlips,foreachfeltsuddeaihiswasexactlywhatEdmundhaddone。
“Butwillheknowtheeter。
“Hashebeeninthistrybefore?”askedMr。Beaver。“Hasheeverbeenherealone?”
“Yes,”saidLucy,almostinawhisper。“I'mafraidhehas。”
“Aellyouwhathe'ddoneorwhohe'dmet?”
“Well,no,hedidn't,”saidLucy。
“Thenmarkmywords,”saidMr。Beaver,“hehasalreadymettheWhiteWitdjoinedherside,aoldwhereshelives。Ididn'tliketomentionitbefore(hebeingyourbrotherandall)butthemomehatbrotherofyoursIsaidtomyself‘Treacherous'。Hehadthelookofonewhohasbeedeatenherfood。Youalwaystellthemifyou'velivedlonginNarhingabouttheireyes。”
“Allthesame,”saidPeterinarathergsortofvoice,“we'llstillhavetogoandlookforhim。Heisourbrotherafterall,eveheralittlebeast。Andhe'sonlyakid。”
“GototheWitch'sHouse?”saidMrs。Beaver。“Don'tyouseethattheonlyceofsaviherhimoryourselvesistokeepawayfromher?”
“Howdoyoumean?”saidLucy。
“Why,allshewantsistogetallfourofyou(she'sthinkiimeofthosefourthroCairParavel)。OnceyouwereallfourinsideherHouseherjobwouldbedohere'dbefouruesiionbeforeyou'dhadtimetospeak。Butshe'llkeephimaliveasloheonlyoneshe'sgot,becauseshe'llwanttousehimasadecoy;asbaittocatchtherestofyouwith。”
“Oh,ehelpus?”wailedLucy。
“OnlyAslan,”saidMr。Beaver,“wemustgoohat'souronlyow。”
“Itseemstome,mydears,”saidMrs。Beaver,“thatitisveryimportanttoknowjustwhenheslippedaway。Howmutellherdependsonhowmuchheheard。Forinstance,hadwestartedtalkingofAsla?Ifnot,thenwemaydoverywell,forshewon'tknowthatAslaoNarnia,orthatwearemeetinghim,aeuardasfarasthatised。”
“Idon'trememberhisbeinghereeretalkingaboutAslaer,butLuterruptedhim。
“Ohyes,hewas,”shesaidmiserably;“don'tyouremember,itwashewhoaskedwhethertheWit'tturnAslanioo?”
“Sohedid,byJove,”saidPeter;“justthesortofthinghewouldsay,too!”
“Worseandworse,”saidMr。Beaver,“ahingisthis。WashestillherewhenItoldyouthattheplaeetingAslaable?”
Andofooheahisquestion。
“Because,ifhewas,”r。Beaver,“thenshe'llsimplysledgedowninthatdiredgetbetweenusaableandcatourwaydown。InfactweshallbeAslan。”
“Butthatisn'twhatshe'lldofirst,”saidMrs。Beaver,“notifIkhemomeellsherthatwe'reallhereshe'llsetouttocatchusthisverynight,andifhe'sbeehalfanhour,she'llbehereinaboutaes。”
“Yht,Mrs。Beaver,”saidherhusbaallgetawayfromhere。There'solose。”