迪文小说

chater three the ailg f the kg（第2页）

“Tu-whoo，tu-whoo！”saidtheOwl，rufflingoutitsfeathers。“Thisisalmosttoomuchforme，soearlyintheevening。I’mnotquitemyselftillthesun’sdown。”

“Andwe’vebeensenttofindthelostPrince，”saidJill，whohadbeenanxiouslywaitingtogetintotheconversation。

“It’sthefirstI’veheardaboutit，”saidEustace。“Whatprince？”

“YouhadbettercomeandspeaktotheLordRegentatonce，”itsaid。“That’shim，overthereinthedonkeycarriage；TrumpkintheDwarf。”Thebirdturnedandbeganleadingtheway，mutteringtoitself，“Whoo！Tu-whoo！Whatato-do！Ican’tthinkclearlyyet。It’stooearly。”

“WhatistheKing’sname？”askedEustace。

“CaspiantheTenth，”saidtheOwl。AndJillwonderedwhyScrubbhadsuddenlypulledupshortinhiswalkandturnedanextraordinarycolour。Shethoughtshehadneverseenhimlooksosickaboutanything。Butbeforeshehadtimetoaskanyquestionstheyhadreachedthedwarf，whowasjustgatheringupthereinsofhisdonkeyandpreparingtodrivebacktothecastle。Thecrowdofcourtiershadbrokenupandweregoinginthesamedirection，byonesandtwosandlittleknots，likepeoplecomingawayfromwatchingagameorarace。

“Tu-whoo！Ahem！LordRegent，”saidtheOwl，stoopingdownalittleandholdingitsbeakneartheDwarf’sear。

“Heh？What’sthat？”saidtheDwarf。

“Twostrangers，mylord，”saidtheOwl。

“Rangers！Whatd’yemean？”saidtheDwarf。“Iseetwouncommonlygrubbyman-cubs。Whatdotheywant？”

“Myname’sJill，”saidJill，pressingforward。Shewasveryeagertoexplaintheimportantbusinessonwhichtheyhadcome。

“Thegirl’scalledJill，”saidtheOwl，asloudasitcould。

“What’sthat？”saidtheDwarf。“Thegirlsareallkilled！Idon’tbelieveawordofit。Whatgirls？Whokilled’em？”

“Onlyonegirl，mylord，”saidtheOwl。“HernameisJill。”

“Speakup，speakup，”saidtheDwarf。“Don’tstandtherebuzzingandtwitteringinmyear。Who’sbeenkilled？”

“Nobody’sbeenkilled，”hootedtheOwl。

“Who？”

“Nobody。”

allthat。Whatdoyoumeanbycomingheretotellmethatnobody’sbeenkilled？Whyshouldanyonehavebeenkilled？”

“BettertellhimI’mEustace，”saidScrubb。

“Theboy’sEustace，mylord，”hootedtheOwlasloudasitcould。

“Useless？”saidtheDwarfirritably。“Idaresayheis。Isthatanyreasonforbringinghimtocourt？Hey？”

“Notuseless，”saidtheOwl。“Eustace。”

“Usedtoit，ishe？Idon’tknowwhatyou’retalkingabout，I’msure。Itellyouwhatitis，MasterGlimfeather；whenIwasayoungDwarfthereusedtobetalkingbeastsandbirdsinthiscountrywhoreallycouldtalk。Therewasn’tallthismumblingandmutteringandwhispering。Itwouldn’thavebeentoleratedforamoment。Notforamoment，Sir。Urnus，mytrumpetplease—”

AlittleFaunwhohadbeenstandingquietlybesidetheDwarf’selbowallthistimenowhandedhimasilvereartrumpet。Itwasmadelikethemusicalinstrumentcalledaserpent，sothatthetubecurledrightroundtheDwarf’sneck。WhilehewasgettingitsettledtheOwl，Glimfeather，suddenlysaidtothechildreninawhisper：“Mybrain’sabitclearernow。Don’tsayanythingaboutthelostPrince。I’llexplainlater。Itwouldn’tdo，wouldn’tdo，Tu-Whoo！Ohwhatato-do！”

“Now，”saidtheDwarf，“ifyouhaveanythingsensibletosay，MasterGlimfeather，tryandsayit。Takeadeepbreathanddon’tattempttospeaktooquickly。”

Withhelpfromthechildren，andinspiteofafitofcoughingonthepartoftheDwarf，GlimfeatherexplainedthatthestrangershadbeensentbyAslantovisitthecourtofNarnia。TheDwarfglancedquicklyupatthemwithanewexpressioninhiseyes。