迪文小说

chater fur a arliant f wl（第2页）

“Now，”saidGlimfeather，“Ithinkwe’reallhere。Letusholdaparliamentofowls。”

“Tu-whoo，tu-whoo。Trueforyou。That’stherightthingtodo，”saidseveralvoices。

“Halfamoment，”saidScrubb’svoice。“There’ssomethingIwanttosayfirst。”

“Do，do，do，”saidtheowls，andJillsaid，“Fireahead。”

“Isupposeallyouchaps—owls，Imean，”saidScrubb，“IsupposeyouallknowthatKingCaspiantheTenth，inhisyoungdays，sailedtotheeasternendoftheworld。Well，Iwaswithhimonthatjourney：withhimandReepicheeptheMouse，andtheLordDrinianandallofthem。Iknowitsoundshardtobelieve，butpeopledon’tgrowolderinourworldatthesamespeedastheydoinyours。AndwhatIwanttosayisthis，thatI’mtheKing’sman；andifthisparliamentofowlsisanysortofplotagainsttheKing，I’mhavingnothingtodowithit。”

“Tu-whoo，tu-whoo，we’realltheKing’sowlstoo，”saidtheowls。

“What’sitallaboutthen？”saidScrubb。

“It’sonlythis，”saidGlimfeather。“ThatiftheLordRegent，theDwarfTrumpkin，hearsyouaregoingtolookforthelostPrince，hewon’tletyoustart。He’dkeepyouunderlockandkeysooner。”

“GreatScott！”saidScrubb。“Youdon’tmeanthatTrumpkinisatraitor？Iusedtohearalotabouthimintheolddays，atsea。Caspian—theKing，Imean—trustedhimabsolutely。”

“Ohno，”saidavoice。“Trumpkin’snotraitor。Butmorethanthirtychampions（knights，centaurs，goodgiants，andallsorts）haveatonetimeoranothersetouttolookforthelostPrince，andnoneofthemhaveevercomeback。AndatlasttheKingsaidhewasnotgoingtohaveallthebravestNarniansdestroyedinthesearchforhisson。Andnownobodyisallowedtogo。”

“Butsurelyhe’dletusgo，”saidScrubb。“WhenheknewwhoIwasandwhohadsentme。”

（“Sentbothofus，”putinJill。）

“Yes，”saidGlimfeather，“Ithink，verylikely，hewould。ButtheKing’saway。AndTrumpkinwillsticktotherules。He’sastrueassteel，buthe’sdeafasapostandverypeppery。Youcouldnevermakehimseethatthismightbethetimeformakinganexceptiontotherule。”

“Youmightthinkhe’dtakesomenoticeofus，becausewe’reowlsandeveryoneknowshowwiseowlsare，”saidsomeoneelse。“Buthe’ssooldnowhe’donlysay，‘You’reamerechick。Irememberyouwhenyouwereanegg。Don’tcometryingtoteachme，Sir。Crabsandcrumpets！’”

ThisowlimitatedTrumpkin’svoiceratherwell，andthereweresoundsofowlishlaughterallround。ThechildrenbegantoseethattheNarniansallfeltaboutTrumpkinaspeoplefeelatschoolaboutsomecrustyteacher，whomeveryoneisalittleafraidofandeveryonemakesfunofandnobodyreallydislikes。

“HowlongistheKinggoingtobeaway？”askedScrubb。

“Ifonlyweknew！”saidGlimfeather。“Yousee，therehasbeenarumourlatelythatAslanhimselfhasbeenseenintheislands—inTerebinthia，Ithinkitwas。AndtheKingsaidhewouldmakeonemoreattemptbeforehediedtoseeAslanfacetofaceagain，andaskhisadviceaboutwhoistobeKingafterhim。Butwe’reallafraidthat，ifhedoesn’tmeetAslaninTerebinthia，he’llgooneast，toSevenIslesandLoneIslands—andonandon。Henevertalksaboutit，butweallknowhehasneverforgottenthatvoyagetotheworld’send。I’msureinhisheartofheartshewantstogothereagain。”

“Thenthere’snogoodwaitingforhimtocomeback？”saidJill。

“No，nogood，”saidtheOwl。“Oh，whatato-do！Ifonlyyoutwohadknownandspokentohimatonce！He’dhavearrangedeverything—probablygivenyouanarmytogowithyouinsearchofthePrince。”

JillkeptquietatthisandhopedScrubbwouldbesportingenoughnottotellalltheowlswhythishadn’thappened。Hewas，orverynearly。Thatis，heonlymutteredunderhisbreath，“Well，itwasn’tmyfault，”beforesayingoutloud：

“Verywell。We’llhavetomanagewithoutit。Butthere’sjustonethingmoreIwanttoknow。Ifthisowls’parliament，asyoucallit，isallfairandaboveboardandmeansnomischief，whydoesithavetobesojollysecret—meetinginaruinindeadofnight，andallthat？”

“Tu-whoo！Tu-whoo！”hootedseveralowls。“Whereshouldwemeet？Whenwouldanyonemeetexceptatnight？”

“Yousee，”explainedGlimfeather，“mostofthecreaturesinNarniahavesuchunnaturalhabits。Theydothingsbyday，inbroadblazingsunlight（ugh！）wheneveryoneoughttobeasleep。And，asaresult，atnightthey’resoblindandstupidthatyoucan’tgetawordoutofthem。Soweowlshavegotintothehabitofmeetingatsensiblehours，onourown，whenwewanttotalkaboutthings。”