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迪文小说>纳尼亚传奇银椅什么时候上映 > chater eight the hue f harfang(第1页)

chater eight the hue f harfang(第1页)

“Goon,Pole,doyourstuff,”whisperedScrubb。

Jillfoundthathermouthwassodrythatshecouldn’tspeakaword。ShenoddedsavagelyatScrubb。

Thinkingtohimselfthathewouldneverforgiveher(orPuddleglumeither),ScrubblickedhislipsandshouteduptotheKinggiant。

“Ifyouplease,Sire,theLadyoftheGreenKirtlesalutesyoubyusandsaidyou’dliketohaveusforyourAutumnFeast。”

ThegiantKingandQueenlookedateachother,noddedtoeachother,andsmiledinawaythatJilldidn’texactlylike。ShelikedtheKingbetterthantheQueen。Hehadafine,curledbeardandastraighteagle-likenose,andwasreallyrathergood-lookingasgiantsgo。TheQueenwasdreadfullyfatandhadadoublechinandafat,powderedface—whichisn’taverynicethingatthebestoftimes,andofcourselooksmuchworsewhenitistentimestoobig。ThentheKingputouthistongueandlickedhislips。Anyonemightdothat:buthistonguewassoverylargeandred,andcameoutsounexpectedly,thatitgaveJillquiteashock。

“Oh,whatgoodchildren!”saidtheQueen。(“Perhapsshe’stheniceoneafterall,”thoughtJill。)

“Yesindeed,”saidtheKing。Quiteexcellentchildren。Wewelcomeyoutoourcourt。Givemeyourhands。”

Hestretcheddownhisgreatrighthand—verycleanandwithanynumberofringsonthefingers,butalsowithterriblepointednails。Hewasmuchtoobigtoshakethehandswhichthechildren,inturn,helduptohim;butheshookthearms。

“Andwhat’sthat?”askedtheKing,pointingtoPuddleglum。

“Reshpeckobiggle,”saidPuddleglum。

“Oh!”screamedtheQueen,gatheringherskirtscloseaboutherankles。“Thehorridthing!It’salive。”

“He’squiteallright,yourMajesty,really,heis,”saidScrubbhastily。“You’lllikehimmuchbetterwhenyougettoknowhim。I’msureyouwill。”

Ihopeyouwon’tloseallinterestinJillfortherestofthebookifItellyouthatatthismomentshebegantocry。Therewasagooddealofexcuseforher。Herfeetandhandsandearsandnosewerestillonlyjustbeginningtothaw;meltedsnowwastricklingoffherclothes;shehadhadhardlyanythingtoeatordrinkthatday;andherlegswereachingsothatshefeltshecouldnotgoonstandingmuchlonger。Anyway,itdidmoregoodatthemomentthananythingelsewouldhavedone,fortheQueensaid:“Ah,thepoorchild!Mylord,wedowrongtokeepourguestsstanding。Quick,someofyou!Takethemaway。Givethemfoodandwineandbaths。Comfortthelittlegirl。Giveherlollipops,giveherdolls,giveherphysics,giveherallyoucanthinkof—possetsandcomfitsandcarawaysandlullabiesandtoys。Don’tcry,littlegirl,oryouwon’tbegoodforanythingwhenthefeastcomes。”

JillwasjustasindignantasyouandIwouldhavebeenatthementionoftoysanddolls;and,thoughlollipopsandcomfitsmightbeallverywellintheirway,sheverymuchhopedthatsomethingmoresolidwouldbeprovided。TheQueen’sfoolishspeech,however,producedexcellentresults,forPuddleglumandScrubbwereatoncepickedupbygiganticgentlemen-in-waiting,andJillbyagiganticmaidofhonour,andcarriedofftotheirrooms。

Jill’sroomwasaboutthesizeofachurch,andwouldhavebeenrathergrimifithadnothadaroaringfireonthehearthandaverythickcrimsoncarpetonthefloor。Andheredelightfulthingsbegantohappentoher。ShewashandedovertotheQueen’soldNurse,whowas,fromthegiants’pointofview,alittleoldwomanalmostbentdoublewithage,and,fromthehumanpointofview,agiantesssmallenoughtogoaboutanordinaryroomwithoutknockingherheadontheceiling。Shewasverycapable,thoughJilldidwishshewouldn’tkeeponclickinghertongueandsayingthingslike“Ohla,la!Ups-a-daisy”and“There’saduck”and“Nowwe’llbeallright,mypoppet”。Shefilledagiantfoot-bathwithhotwaterandhelpedJillintoit。Ifyoucanswim(asJillcould)agiantbathisalovelything。Andgianttowels,

thoughabitroughandcoarse,arelovelytoo,becausethereareacresofthem。Infactyoudon’tneedtodryatall,youjustrollaboutontheminfrontofthefireandenjoyyourself。Andwhenthatwasover,clean,fresh,warmedclotheswereputonJill:verysplendidclothesandalittletoobigforher,butclearlymadeforhumansnotgiantesses。“Isupposeifthatwomaninthegreenkirtlecomeshere,theymustbeusedtoguestsofoursize,”thoughtJill。

Shesoonsawthatshewasrightaboutthis,foratableandchairoftherightheightforanordinarygrown-uphumanwereplacedforher,andtheknivesandforksandspoonswerethepropersizetoo。Itwasdelightfultositdown,feelingwarmandcleanatlast。Herfeetwerestillbareanditwaslovelytotreadonthegiantcarpet。Shesankinitwelloverheranklesanditwasjustthethingforsorefeet。Themeal—whichIsupposewemustcalldinner,thoughitwasnearerteatime—wascock-a-leekiesoup,andhotroastturkey,andasteamedpudding,androastchestnuts,andasmuchfruitasyoucouldeat。

TheonlyannoyingthingwasthattheNursekeptcominginandout,andeverytimeshecamein,shebroughtagigantictoywithher—ahugedoll,biggerthanJillherself,awoodenhorseonwheels,aboutthesizeofanelephant,adrumthatlookedlikeayounggasometer,andawoollylamb。Theywerecrude,badlymadethings,paintedinverybrightcolours,andJillhatedthesightofthem。ShekeptontellingtheNurseshedidn’twantthem,buttheNursesaid:“Tut-tut-tut-tut。You’llwant’emallrightwhenyou’vehadabitofarest,Iknow!Te-he-he!Beddybye,now。Apreciouspoppet!”

Thebedwasnotagiantbedbutonlyabigfour-poster,likewhatyoumightseeinanold-fashionedhotel;andverysmallitlookedinthatenormousroom。Shewasverygladtotumbleintoit。

“Isitstillsnowing,Nurse?”sheaskedsleepily。

“No。Rainingnow,ducky!”saidthegiantess。“Rain’llwashawayallthenastysnow。Preciouspoppetwillbeabletogooutandplaytomorrow!”AndshetuckedJillupandsaidgoodnight。

Iknownothingsodisagreeableasbeingkissedbyagiantess。Jillthoughtthesame,butwasasleepinfiveminutes。

Therainfellsteadilyalltheeveningandallthenight,dashingagainstthewindowsofthecastle,andJillneverhearditbutsleptdeeply,pastsuppertimeandpastmidnight。Andthencamethedeadesthourofthenightandnothingstirredbutmiceinthehouseofthegiants。AtthathourtherecametoJilladream。Itseemedtoherthatsheawokeinthesameroomandsawthefire,sunklowandred,andinthefirelightthegreatwoodenhorse。Andthehorsecameofitsownwill,rollingonitswheelsacrossthecarpet,andstoodatherhead。Andnowitwasnolongerahorse,butalionasbigasthehorse。Andthenitwasnotatoylion,butareallion,TheRealLion,justasshehadseenhimonthemountainbeyondtheworld’send。Andasmellofallsweet-smellingthingstherearefilledtheroom。ButtherewassometroubleinJill’smind,thoughshecouldnotthinkwhatitwas,andthetearsstreameddownherfaceandwetthepillow。TheLiontoldhertorepeatthesigns,andshefoundthatshehadforgottenthemall。Atthat,agreathorrorcameoverher。AndAslantookherupinhisjaws(shecouldfeelhislipsandhisbreathbutnothisteeth)andcarriedhertothewindowandmadeherlookout。Themoonshonebright;andwritteningreatlettersacrosstheworldorthesky(shedidnotknowwhich)werethewordsUNDERME。Afterthat,thedreamfadedaway,andwhenshewoke,verylatenextmorning,shedidnotrememberthatshehaddreamedatall。

ShewasupanddressedandhadfinishedbreakfastinfrontofthefirewhentheNurseopenedthedoorandsaid:“Here’sprettypoppet’slittlefriendscometoplaywithher。”

IncameScrubbandtheMarsh-wiggle。

“Hullo!Goodmorning,”saidJill。“Isn’tthisfun?I’vesleptaboutfifteenhours,Ibelieve。Idofeelbetter,don’tyou?”

“1do,”saidScrubb,“butPuddleglumsayshehasaheadache。Hullo!—yourwindowhasawindowseat。Ifwegotuponthat,wecouldseeout。”Andatoncetheyalldidso:andatthefirstglanceJillsaid,“Oh,howperfectlydreadful!”

Thesunwasshiningand,exceptforafewdrifts,thesnowhadbeenalmostcompletelywashedawaybytherain。Downbelowthem,spreadoutlikeamap,laytheflathill-topwhichtheyhadstruggledoveryesterdayafternoon;seenfromthecastle,itcouldnotbemistakenforanythingbuttheruinsofagiganticcity。Ithadbeenflat,asJillnowsaw,becauseitwasstill,onthewhole,paved,thoughinplacesthepavementwasbroken。Thecriss-crossbankswerewhatwasleftofthewallsofhugebuildingswhichmightoncehavebeengiants’palacesandtemples。Onebitofwall,aboutfivehundredfeethigh,wasstillstanding;itwasthatwhichshehadthoughtwasacliff。Thethingsthathadlookedlikefactorychimneyswereenormouspillars,brokenoffatunequalheights;theirfragmentslayattheirbaseslikefelledtreesofmonstrousstone。Theledgeswhichtheyhadclimbeddownonthenorthsideofthehill—andalso,nodoubttheotherledgeswhichtheyhadclimbeduponthesouthside—weretheremainingstepsofgiantstairs。Tocrownall,inlarge,darkletteringacrossthecentreofthepavement,ranthewordsUNDERME。

Thethreetravellerslookedateachotherindismay,and,afterashortwhistle,Scrubbsaidwhattheywereallthinking,“Thesecondandthirdsignsmuffed。”AndatthatmomentJill’sdreamrushedbackintohermind。

“It’smyfault,”shesaidindespairingtones。“I—I’dgivenuprepeatingthesignseverynight。IfI’dbeenthinkingaboutthemIcouldhaveseenitwasthecity,eveninallthatsnow。”

“I’mworse,”saidPuddleglum。“Ididsee,ornearly。Ithoughtitlookeduncommonlylikearuinedcity。”

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