Burhismiserydidnotlastlong。Almostatoncetherecameabump,andthenasecondbump,andtwochildrenwerestandingbeforehim。Thewoodinfrontofhimhadbeenquiteemptyasecondbeforeandheknewtheyhadnotcomefrombehindhistree,forhewouldhaveheardthem。Theyhadinfactsimplyappearedfromnowhere。Hesawataglancethattheywerewearingthesamequeer,dingysortofclothesasthepeopleinhisdream;andhesaw,atasecondglance,thattheyweretheyoungestboyandgirloutofthatpartyofseven.
“Gosh!”saidtheboy,“thattookone’sbreathaway!Ithought-”
“Hurryupandgethimuntied,”saidthegirl。“Wecantalk,afterwards。”Thensheadded,turningtoTirian,“I’msorrywe’vebeensolong。Wecamethemomentwecould。”
WhileshewasspeakingtheBoyproducedaknifefromhispocketandwasquicklycuttingtheKing’sbonds:tooquickly,infact,fortheKingwassostiffandnumbthatwhenthelastcordwascuthefellforwardonhishandsandknees。Hecouldn’tgetupagaintillhehadbroughtsomelifebackintohislegsbyagoodrubbing.
“Isay,”saidthegirl。“Itwasyou,wasn’tit,whoappearedtousthatnightwhenwewereallatsupper?Nearlyaweekago。”
“Aweek,fairmaid?”saidTirian。“Mydreamledmeintoyourworldscarcetenminutessince。”
“It’stheusualmuddleabouttimes,Pole,”saidtheBoy.
“Iremembernow,”saidTirian。“Thattoocomesinalltheoldtales。Thetimeofyourstrangelandisdifferentfromours。ButifwespeakofTime,’tistimetobegonefromhere:formyenemiesarecloseathand。Willyoucomewithme?”
“Ofcourse,”saidthegirl。“It’syouwe’vecometohelp。”
Tiriangottohisfeetandledthemrapidlydownhill,Southwardandawayfromthestable。Heknewwherehemeanttogobuthisfirstaimwastogettorockyplaceswheretheywouldleavenotrail,andhissecondtocrosssomewatersothattheywouldleavenoscent。Thistookthemaboutanhour’sscramblingandwadingandwhilethatwasgoingonnobodyhadanybreathtotalk。Butevenso,Tiriankeptonstealingglancesathiscompanions。Thewonderofwalkingbesidethecreaturesfromanotherworldmadehimfeelalittledizzy:butitalsomadealltheoldstoriesseemfarmorerealthantheyhadeverseemedbefore。。。anythingmighthappennow.
“Now,”saidTirianastheycametotheheadofalittlevalleywhichrandownbeforethemamongyoungbirchtrees,“weareoutofdangerofthosevillainsforaspaceandmaywalkmoreeasily。”Thesunhadrisen,dew-dropsweretwinklingoneverybranch,andbirdsweresinging.
“Whataboutsomegrub?-Imeanforyou,Sir,wetwohavehadourbreakfast,”saidtheBoy.
Tirianwonderedverymuchwhathemeantby“grub”,butwhentheBoyopenedabulgysatchelwhichhewascarryingandpulledoutarathergreasyandsquashypacket,heunderstood。Hewasravenouslyhungry,thoughhehadn’tthoughtaboutittillthatmoment。Thereweretwohard-boiledeggsandwiches,andtwocheesesandwiches,andtwowithsomekindofpasteinthem。Ifhehadn’tbeensohungryhewouldn’thavethoughtmuchofthepaste,forthatisasortoffoodnobodyeatsinNarnia。Bythetimehehadeatenallsixsandwichestheyhadcometothebottomofthevalleyandtheretheyfoundamossycliffwithalittlefountainbubblingoutofit。Allthreestoppedanddrankandsplashedtheirhotfaces.
“Andnow,”saidthegirlasshetossedherwethairbackfromherforehead,“aren’tyougoingtotelluswhoyouareandwhyyouweretiedupandwhatit’sallabout?”
“Withagoodwill,damsel,”saidTirian。“Butwemustkeeponthemarch。”Sowhiletheywentonwalkinghetoldthemwhohewasandallthethingsthathadhappenedtohim。“Andnow,”hesaidattheend,“Iamgoingtoacertaintower,oneofthreethatwerebuiltinmygrandsire’stimetoguardLanternWasteagainstcertainperilousoutlawswhodwelledthereinhisday。ByAslan’sgoodwillIwasnotrobbedofmykeys。Inthattowerweshallfindstoresofweaponsandmailandsomevictualsalso,thoughnobetterthandrybiscuit。Therealsowecanliesafewhilewemakeourplans。Andnow,prithee,tellmewhoyoutwoareandallyourstory。”
“I’mEustaceScrubbandthisisJillPole,”saidtheBoy。“Andwewerehereoncebefore,agesandagesago,morethanayearagobyourtime,andtherewasachapcalledPrinceRilian,andtheywerekeepingthischapunderground,andPuddleglumputhisfootin-”
“Ha!”criedTirian,“areyouthenthatEustaceandthatJillwhorescuedKingRilianfromhislongenchantment?”
“Yes,that’sus,”saidJill。“Sohe’sKingRiliannow,ishe?Ohofcoursehewouldbe。Iforgot-”
“Nay,”saidTirian,“Iamtheseventhindescentfromhim。Hehasbeendeadovertwohundredyears。”
Jillmadeaface。“Ugh!”shesaid。“That’sthehorridpartaboutcomingbacktoNarnia。”ButEustacewenton.
“Wellnowyouknowwhoweare,Sire,”hesaid。“Anditwaslikethis。TheProfessorandAuntPollyhadgotallusfriendsofNarniatogether-”
“Iknownotthesenames,Eustace,”saidTirian.
“They’rethetwowhocameintoNarniaattheverybeginning,thedayalltheanimalslearnedtotalk。”
“BytheLion’sMane,”criedTirian。“Thosetwo!TheLordDigoryandtheLadyPolly!Fromthedawnoftheworld!Andstillinyourplace?Thewonderandthegloryofit!Buttellme,tellme。”
“Sheisn’treallyouraunt,youknow,”saidEustace。“She’sMissPlummer,butwecallherAuntPolly。Wellthosetwogotusalltogetherpartlyjustforfun,sothatwecouldallhaveagoodjawaboutNarnia(forofcoursethere’snooneelsewecanevertalktoaboutthingslikethat)butpartlybecausetheProfessorhadafeelingthatweweresomehowwantedoverhere。Wellthenyoucameinlikeaghostorgoodness-knows-whatandnearlyfrightenedthelivesoutofusandvanishedwithoutsayingaword。Afterthat,weknewforcertaintherewassomethingup.Thenextquestionwashowtogethere。Youcan’tgojustbywantingto。SowetalkedandtalkedandatlasttheProfessorsaidtheonlywaywouldbebytheMagicRings。ItwasbythoseRingsthatheandAuntPollygotherelong,longagowhentheywereonlykids,yearsbeforeweyoungeroneswereborn。ButtheRingshadallbeenburiedinthegardenofahouseinLondon(that’sourbigtown,Sire)andthehousehadbeensold。Sothentheproblemwashowtogetatthem。You’llneverguesswhatwedidintheend!PeterandEdmund-that’stheHighKingPeter,theonewhospoketoyou-wentuptoLondontogetintothegardenfromtheback,earlyinthemorningbeforepeoplewereup。Theyweredressedlikeworkmensothatifanyonedidseethemitwouldlookasifthey’dcometodosomethingaboutthedrains。IwishI’dbeenwiththem:itmusthavebeengloriousfun。AndtheymusthavesucceededfornextdayPetersentusawire-that’sasortofmessage,Sire,I’llexplainaboutitsomeothertime-tosayhe’dgottheRings。AndthedayafterthatwasthedayPoleandIhadtogobacktoschool-we’retheonlytwowhoarestillatschoolandwe’reatthesameone。SoPeterandEdmundweretomeetusataplaceonthewaydowntoschoolandhandovertheRings。IthadtobeustwowhoweretogotoNarnia,yousee,becausetheolderonescouldn’tcomeagain。Sowegotintothetrainthat’sakindofthingpeopletravelininourworld:alotofwagonschainedtogether-andtheProfessorandAuntPollyandLucycamewithus。Wewantedtokeeptogetheraslongaswecould。Welltherewewereinthetrain。Andwewerejustgettingtothestationwheretheothersweretomeetus,andIwaslookingoutofthewindowtoseeifIcouldseethemwhensuddenlytherecameamostfrightfuljerkandanoise:andtherewewereinNarniaandtherewasyourMajestytieduptothetree。”
“SoyouneverusedtheRings?”saidTirian.
“No,”saidEustace。“Neverevensawthem。AslandiditallforusinhisownwaywithoutanyRings。”
“ButtheHighKingPeterhasthem,”saidTirian.
“Yes,”saidJill。“Butwedon’tthinkhecanusethem。WhenthetwootherPevensies-KingEdmundandQueenLucy-werelasthere,AslansaidtheywouldnevercometoNarniaagain。AndhesaidsomethingofthesamesorttotheHighKing,onlylongerago。Youmaybesurehe’llcomelikeashotifhe’sallowed。”
“Gosh!”saidEustace。“It’sgettinghotinthissun。Arewenearlythere,Sire?”
“Look,”saidTirianandpointed。Notmanyyardsawaygreybattlementsroseabovethetree-tops,andafteraminute’smorewalkingtheycameoutinanopengrassyspace。Astreamranacrossitandonthefarsideofthestreamstoodasquat,squaretowerwithveryfewandnarrowwindowsandoneheavy-lookingdoorinthewallthatfacedthem.
Tirianlookedsharplythiswayandthattomakesurethatnoenemieswereinsight。Thenhewalkeduptothetowerandstoodstillforamomentfishinguphisbunchofkeyswhichheworeinsidehishunting-dressonanarrowsilverchainthatwentroundhisneck。Itwasanicebunchofkeysthathebroughtout,fortwoweregoldenandmanywererichlyornamented:youcouldseeatoncethattheywerekeysmadeforopeningsolemnandsecretroomsinpalaces,orchestsandcasketsofsweet-smellingwoodthatcontainedroyaltreasures。Butthekeywhichhenowputintothelockofthedoorwasbigandplainandmorerudelymade。ThelockwasstiffandforamomentTirianbegantobeafraidthathewouldnotbeabletoturnit:butatlasthedidandthedoorswungopenwithasullencreak.
“Welcomefriends,”saidTirian。“IfearthisisthebestpalacethattheKingofNarniacannowoffertohisguests。”
https://www.du8.org https://www.shuhuangxs.com www.baquge.ccabxsw.net dingdianshu.com bxwx9.net
kenshu.tw pashuba.com quanshu.la
tlxsw.cc qudushu.net zaidudu.org
duyidu.org baquge.cc kenshuge.cc
qushumi.com xepzw.com 3dllc.net