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第18章

the lion, the witch and the war_c·s·刘易斯-第18章

小说: the lion, the witch and the war_c·s·刘易斯 字数: 每页3500字

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ce a nasty green  colour。

〃quick; lucy;〃 said aslan。

and then; almost for the first time; lucy remembered the precious cordial  that had been given her for a christmas present。 her hands trembled so much that she  could hardly  

undo the stopper; but she managed it in the end and poured a few drops into  her brothers mouth。

〃there are other people wounded;〃 said aslan while she was still looking  eagerly into edmunds pale face and wondering if the cordial would have any result。

〃yes; i know;〃 said lucy crossly。 〃wait a minute。鈥

〃daughter of eve;〃 said aslan in a graver voice; 〃others also are at the  point of death。

must more people die for edmund?鈥

〃im sorry; aslan;〃 said lucy; getting up and going with him。 and for the  next half…hour they were busy … she attending to the wounded while he restored those who  had been turned into stone。 when at last she was free to e back to edmund she  found him standing on his feet and not only healed of his wounds but looking better  than she had seen him look … oh; for ages; in fact ever since his first term at that  horrid school which was where he had begun to go wrong。 he had bee his real old self again  and could look you in the face。 and there on the field of battle aslan made him a  knight。

〃does he know;〃 whispered lucy to susan; 〃what aslan did for him? does he  know what the arrangement with the witch really was?鈥

〃hush! no。 of course not;〃 said susan。

〃oughtnt he to be told?〃 said lucy。

〃oh; surely not;〃 said susan。 〃it would be too awful for him。 think how  youd feel if you were he。鈥

〃all the same i think he ought to know;〃 said lucy。 but at that moment they  were interrupted。

that night they slept where they were。 how aslan provided food for them all  i dont know; but somehow or other they found themselves all sitting down on the  grass to a fine high tea at about eight oclock。 next day they began marching eastward down  the side of the great river。 and the next day after that; at about teatime; they  actually reached the mouth。 the castle of cair paravel on its little hill towered up above them;  before them were the sands; with rocks and little pools of salt water; and seaweed; and  the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish…green waves breaking for ever and ever on the  beach。 and oh; the cry of the sea…gulls! have you heard it? can you remember?

that evening after tea the four children all managed to get down to the  beach again and get their shoes and stockings off and feel the sand between their toes。 but  next day was more solemn。 for then; in the great hall of cair paravel … that wonderful  hall with the ivory roof and the west wall hung with peacocks feathers and the eastern  door which looks towards the sea; in the presence of all their friends and to the  sound of trumpets;  

aslan solemnly crowned them and led them to the four thrones amid deafening  shouts of; 〃long live king peter! long live queen susan! long live king edmund! long  live queen lucy!鈥

〃once a king or queen in narnia; always a king or queen。 bear it well; sons  of adam!

bear it well; daughters of eve!〃 said aslan。

and through the eastern door; which was wide open; came the voices of the  mermen and the mermaids swimming close to the shore and singing in honour of their new  kings and queens。

so the children sat on their thrones and sceptres were put into their hands  and they gave rewards and honours to all their friends; to tumnus the faun; and to the  beavers; and giant rumblebuffin; to the leopards; and the good centaurs; and the good  dwarfs; and to the lion。 and that night there was a great feast in cair paravel; and  revelry and dancing; and gold flashed and wine flowed; and answering to the music inside; but  stranger; sweeter; and more piercing; came the music of the sea people。

but amidst all these rejoicings aslan himself quietly slipped away。 and  when the kings and queens noticed that he wasnt there they said nothing about it。 for mr  beaver had warned them; 〃hell be ing and going;〃 he had said。 〃one day youll see  him and another you wont。 he doesnt like being tied down and of course he has  other countries to attend to。 its quite all right。 hell often drop in。 only you mustnt  press him。 hes wild; you know。 not like a tame lion。鈥

and now; as you see; this story is nearly (but not quite) at an end。 these  two kings and two queens governed narnia well; and long and happy was their reign。 at  first much of their time was spent in seeking out the remnants of the white witchs army  and destroying them; and indeed for a long time there would be news of evil  things lurking in the wilder parts of the forest … a haunting here and a killing there; a  glimpse of a werewolf one month and a rumour of a hag the next。 but in the end all that foul  brood was stamped out。 and they made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from  being unnecessarily cut down; and liberated young dwarfs and young satyrs from  being sent to school; and generally stopped busybodies and interferers and encouraged  ordinary people who wanted to live and let live。 and they drove back the fierce giants  (quite a different sort from giant rumblebuffin) on the north of narnia when these ventured  across the frontier。 and they entered into friendship and alliance with countries  beyond the sea and paid them visits of state and received visits of state from them。 and they  themselves grew and changed as the years passed over them。 and peter became a tall and  deep…chested man and a great warrior; and he was called king peter the magnificent。 and  susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet  and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand  in marriage。

and she was called susan the gentle。 edmund was a graver and quieter man  than peter; and great in council and judgement。 he was called king edmund the just。 but  as for lucy; she was always gay and golden…haired; and all princes in those parts  desired her to be their queen; and her own people called her queen lucy the valiant。

so they lived in great joy and if ever they remembered their life in this  world it was only as one remembers a dream。 and one year it fell out that tumnus (who was a  middle…aged faun by now and beginning to be stout) came down river and brought them  news that the white stag had once more appeared in his parts … the white stag who would  give you wishes if you caught him。 so these two kings and two queens with the  principal members of their court; rode a…hunting with horns and hounds in the western  woods to follow the white stag。 and they had not hunted long before they had a sight  of him。 and he led them a great pace over rough and smooth and through thick and thin;  till the horses of all the courtiers were tired out and these four were still following。  and they saw the stag enter into a thicket where their horses could not follow。 then said  king peter (for they talked in quite a different style now; having been kings and queens  for so long); 〃fair consorts; let us now alight from our horses and follow this beast  into the thicket; for in all my days i never hunted a nobler quarry。鈥

〃sir;〃 said the others; 〃even so let us do。鈥

so they alighted and tied their horses to trees and went on into the thick  wood on foot。

and as soon as they had entered it queen susan said;  〃fair friends; here is a great marvel; for i seem to see a tree of iron。鈥

〃madam;〃 said;king edmund; 〃if you look well upon it you shall see it is a  pillar of iron with a lantern set on the top thereof。鈥

〃by the lions mane; a strange device;〃 said king peter; 〃to set a lantern  here where the trees cluster so thick about it and so high above it that if it were lit it  should give light to no man!鈥

〃sir;〃 said queen lucy。 〃by likelihood when this post and this lamp were  set here there were smaller trees in the place; or fewer; or none。 for this is a young  wood and the iron post is old。〃 and they stood looking upon it。 then said king edmund;  〃i know not how it is; but this lamp on the post worketh upon me strangely。  it runs in my mind that i have seen the like before; as it were in a dream; or in the  dream of a dream。鈥

〃sir;〃 answered they all; 〃it is even so with us also。鈥

〃and more;〃 said queen lucy; 〃for it will not go out of my mind that if we  pass this post and lantern either we shall find strange adventures or else some great  change of our fortunes。鈥

〃madam;〃 said king edmund; 〃the like foreboding stirreth in my heart also。鈥

〃and in mine; fair brother;〃 said king peter。

〃and in mine too;〃 said queen susan。 〃wherefore by my counsel we shall  lightly return to our horses and follow this white stag no further。鈥

〃madam;〃 said king peter; 〃therein i pray thee to have me excused。 for  never since we four were kings and queens in narnia have we set our hands to any high  matter; as battles; quests; feats of arms; acts of justice; and the like; and then  given over; but always what we have taken in hand; the same we have achieved。鈥

〃sister;〃 said queen lucy; 〃my royal brother speaks rightly。 and it seems  to me we should be shamed if for any fearing or foreboding we turned back from  following so noble a beast as now we have in chase。鈥

〃and so say i;〃 said king edmund。 〃and i have such desire to find the  signification of this thing that i would not by my good will turn back for the richest jewel  in all narnia and all the islands。鈥

〃then in the name of aslan;〃 said queen susan; 〃if ye will all have it so;  let us go on and take the adventure that shall fall to us。鈥

so these kings and queens entered the thicket; and before they had gone a  score of paces they all remembered that the thing they had seen was called a lamppost; and  before they had gone twenty more they noticed that they were。 making their way not  through branches but through coats。 and next moment they all came tumbling out of a  wardrobe door into the empty room; and they were no longer kings and queens in their  hunting array but just peter; susan; edmund and lucy in their old clothes。 it was  the same day and the same hour of the day on which they had all gone into the wardrobe  to hide。 mrs macready and the visitors were still talking in the passage; but luckily  they never came into the empty room and so the children werent caught。

and that would have been the very end of the story if it hadnt been that  they felt they really must explain to the professor why four of the coats out of his  wardrobe were missing。 and the professor; who was a very remarkable man; didnt tell them  not to be silly or not to tell lies; but believed the whole story。 〃no;〃 he said; 〃i  dont think it will be any good trying to go back through the wardrobe door to get the coats。 you  wont get into narnia again by that route。 nor would the coats be much use by now if you did!

eh? whats that? yes; of course youll get back to narnia again some day。 once a king in narnia; always a king in narnia。 but dont go trying to use the same route twice。

indeed; dont try to get there at all。 itll happen when youre not looking for it。 and dont talk too much about it even among yourselves。 and dont mention

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