迪文小说

chater thirteen undernd withut the een（第1页）

ALLfeltthattheyhadearnedwhatScrubbcalleda“breather”。TheWitchhadlockedthedoorandtoldtheEarthmennottodisturbher，sotherewasnodangerofinterruptionforthepresent。Theirfirstbusinesswas，ofcourse，Puddleglum’sburntfoot。AcoupleofcleanshirtsfromthePrince’sbedroom，tornintostrips，andwellgreasedontheinsidewithbutterandsaladoiloffthesuppertable，madeafairlygooddressing。Whenthishadbeenapplied，theyallsatdownandhadalittlerefreshment，anddiscussedplansforescapingfromtheUnderworld。

Rilianexplainedthattherewerequitealotofoutletsbywhichonecouldgettothesurface；hehadbeentakenoutthroughmostofthematonetimeoranother。Buthehadnevergoneoutalone，onlywiththeWitch；andhehadalwaysreachedtheseoutletsbygoinginashipacrosstheSunlessSea。WhattheEarthmenwouldsayifhewentdowntotheharbourwithouttheWitch，andwithfourstrangers，andsimplyorderedaship，noonecouldguess。But

mostlikelytheywouldaskawkwardquestions。Ontheotherhandthenewoutlet，theonefortheinvasionofOverworld，wasonthissideofthesea，andonlyafewmilesaway。ThePrinceknewthatitwasnearlyfinished；onlyafewfeetofearthdividedthediggingsfromtheouterair。Itwasevenpossiblethatithadnowbeenquitefinished。PerhapstheWitchhadcomebacktotellhimthisandtostarttheattack。Evenifitwasnot，theycouldprobablydigthemselvesoutbythatrouteinafewhours—iftheycouldonlygettherewithoutbeingstopped，andifonlytheyfoundthediggingsunguarded。Butthosewerethedifficulties。

“Ifyouaskme—”beganPuddleglum，whenScrubbinterrupted。

“Isay，”heasked，“what’sthatnoise？”

“I’vebeenwonderingthatforsometime！”saidJill。

Theyhadall，infact，beenhearingthenoisebutithadbegunandincreasedsograduallythattheydidnotknowwhentheyhadfirstnoticedit。Foratimeithadbeenonlyavaguedisquietlikegentlewinds，ortrafficveryfaraway。Thenitswelledtoamurmurlikethesea。Thencamerumblingsandrushings。Nowthereseemedtobevoicesaswellandalsoasteadyroaringthatwasnotvoices。

“BytheLion，”saidPrinceRilian，“itseemsthissilentlandhasfoundatongueatlast。”Herose，walkedtothewindow，anddrewasidethecurtains。Theotherscrowdedroundhimtolookout。

Theveryfirstthingtheynoticedwasagreatredglow。ItsreflectionmadearedpatchontheroofoftheUnderworldthousandsoffeetabovethem，sothattheycouldseearockyceilingwhichhadperhapsbeenhiddenindarknesseversincetheworldwasmade。Theglowitselfcamefromthefarsideofthecitysothatmanybuildings，grimandgreat，stoodupblacklyagainstit。Butitalsocastitslightdownmanystreetsthatranfromittowardsthecastle。Andinthosestreetssomethingverystrangewasgoingon。Theclosely-packed，silentcrowdsofEarthmenhadvanished。Instead，therewerefiguresdartingaboutbyones，ortwos，orthrees。Theybehavedlikepeoplewhodonotwanttobeseen：lurkinginshadowbehindbuttressesorindoorways，andthenmovingquicklyacrosstheopenintofreshplacesofhiding。Butthestrangestthingofall，toanyonewhoknewthegnomes，wasthenoise。Shoutsandcriescamefromalldirections。Butfromtheharbourtherecamealow，rumblingroarwhichgrewsteadilylouderandwasalreadyshakingthewholecity。

“What’shappenedtotheEarthmen？”saidScrubb。“Isitthemshouting？”

“Tishardlypossible，”saidthePrince。“Ineverheardoneoftherascalssomuchasspeakwithaloudvoiceinallthewearyyearsofmybondage。Somenewdevilry，Idon’tdoubt。”

“Andwhatisthatredlightoverthere？”askedJill。“Issomethingonfire？”

“Ifyouaskme，”saidPuddleglum，“IshouldsaythatwasthecentralfiresoftheEarthbreakingouttomakeanewvolcano。We’llbeinthemiddleofit，Ishouldn’twonder。”

“Lookatthatship！”saidScrubb。“Why’sitcomingonsoquickly？Noone’srowingit。”

“Look，look！”saidthePrince。“Theshipisalreadyfarthissideoftheharbour—itisinthestreet。Look！Alltheshipsaredrivingintothecity！Bymyhead，thesea’srising。Thefloodisuponus。Aslanbepraised，thiscastlestandsonhighground。Butthewatercomesongrimlyfast。”

“Oh，whatcanbehappening？”criedJill。“Fireandwaterandallthosepeopledodgingaboutthestreets。”

“I’lltellyouwhatitis，”saidPuddleglum。“ThatWitchhaslaidatrainofmagicspellssothatwhenevershewaskilled，atthatsamemomentherwholekingdomwouldfalltopieces。She’sthesortthatwouldn’tsomuchminddyingherselfifsheknewthatthechapwhokilledherwasgoingtobeburned，orburied，ordrownedfiveminuteslater。”

“Hasthitit，friendwiggle，”saidthePrince。“WhenourswordshackedofftheWitch’shead，thatstrokeendedallhermagicworks，andnowtheDeepLandsarefallingtopieces。WearelookingontheendofUnderworld。”

“That’sit，Sir，”saidPuddleglum。“Unlessitshouldhappentobetheendofthewholeworld。”

“Butarewejustgoingtostayhereand—wait？”gaspedJill。

“Notbymycounsel，”saidthePrince。“Iwouldsavemyhorse，Coalblack，andtheWitch’sSnowflake（anoblebeastandworthyofabettermistress）whicharebothstabledinthecourtyard。Afterthat，letusmakeshifttogetouttohighgroundandpraythatweshallfindanoutlet。Thehorsescancarrytwoeachatneed，andifweputthemtoittheymayoutstriptheflood。”

“WillyourHighnessnotputonarmour？”askedPuddleglum。“Idon’tlikethelookofthose”—andhepointeddowntothestreet。Everyonelookeddown。Dozensofcreatures（andnowthattheywereclose，theyobviouslywereEarthmen）werecomingupfromthedirectionoftheharbour。Buttheywerenotmovinglikeanaimlesscrowd。Theybehavedlikemodernsoldiersinanattack，makingrushesandtakingcover，anxiousnottobeseenfromthecastlewindows。

“Idarenotseetheinsideofthatarmouragain，”saidthePrince。“Irodeinitasinamovabledungeon，anditstinksofmagicandslavery。ButIwilltaketheshield。”

Helefttheroomandreturnedwithastrangelightinhiseyesamomentlater。

“Look，friends，”hesaid，holdingouttheshieldtowardsthem。“Anhouragoitwasblackandwithoutdevice；andnow，this。”Theshieldhadturnedbrightassilver，andonit，redderthanbloodorcherries，wasthefigureoftheLion。

“Doubtless，”saidthePrince，“thissignifiesthatAslanwillbeourgoodlord，whetherhemeansustoliveordie。Andall’sone，forthat。Now，bymycounsel，weshallallkneelandkisshislikeness，andthenallshakehandsonewithanother，astruefriendsthatmayshortlybeparted。Andthen，letusdescendintothecityandtaketheadventurethatissentus。”

AndtheyalldidasthePrincehadsaid。ButwhenScrubbshookhandswithJill，hesaid，“Solong，Jill。SorryI’vebeenafunkandsoratty。Ihopeyougetsafehome，”andJillsaid，“Solong，Eustace。AndI’msorryI’vebeensuchapig。”AndthiswasthefirsttimetheyhadeverusedChristiannames，becauseonedidn’tdoitatschool。

ThePrinceunlockedthedoorandtheyallwentdownthestairs：threeofthemwithdrawnswords，andJillwithdrawnknife。TheattendantshadvanishedandthegreatroomatthefootofthePrince’sstairswasempty。Thegrey，dolefullampswerestillburningandbytheirlighttheyhadnodifficultyinpassinggalleryaftergalleryanddescendingstairwayafterstairway。Thenoisesfromoutsidethecastlewerenotsoeasilyheardhereastheyhadbeenintheroomabove。Insidethehouseallwasstillasdeath，anddeserted。ItwasastheyturnedacornerintothegreathallonthegroundfloorthattheymettheirfirstEarthman-afat，whitishcreaturewithaverypiglikefacewhowasgobblingupalltheremainsoffoodonthetables。Itsquealed（thesquealalsowasverylikeapig’s）anddartedunderabench，whiskingitslongtailoutofPuddleglum’sreachinthenickoftime。Thenitrushedawaythroughthefardoortooquicklytobefollowed。

Fromthehalltheycameoutintothecourtyard。Jill，whowenttoaridingschoolintheholidays，hadjustnoticedthesmellofastable（averynice，honest，homelysmellitistomeetinaplacelikeUnderland）whenEustacesaid，“GreatScott！Lookatthat！”Amagnificentrockethadrisenfromsomewherebeyondthecastlewallsandbrokenintogreenstars。

“Fireworks！”saidJillinapuzzledvoice。

“Yes，”saidEustace，“butyoucan’timaginethoseEarthpeoplelettingthemoffforfun！Itmustbeasignal。”

“Andmeansnogoodtous，I’llbebound，”saidPuddleglum。

“Friends，”saidthePrince，“whenonceamanislaunchedonsuchanadventureasthis，hemustbidfarewelltohopesandfears，otherwisedeathordeliverancewillbothcometoolatetosavehishonourandhisreason。Ho，mybeauties”（hewasnowopeningthestabledoor）。“Heycousins！Steady，Coalblack！Softlynow，Snowflake！Youarenotforgotten。”

Thehorseswerebothfrightenedbythestrangelightsandthenoises。Jill，whohadbeensocowardlyaboutgoingthroughablackholebetweeenonecaveandanother，wentinwithoutfearbetweenthestampingandsnortingbeasts，andsheandthePrincehadthemsaddledandbridledinafewminutes。Veryfinetheylookedastheycameoutintothecourtyard，tossingtheirheads。JillmountedSnowflake，andPuddleglumgotupbehindher。EustacegotupbehindthePrinceonCoalblack。Thenwithagreatechoofhoofs，theyrodeoutofthemaingatewayintothestreet。

“Notmuchdangerofbeingburnt。That’sthebrightsideofit，”observedPuddleglum，pointingtotheirright。There，hardlyahundredyardsaway，lappingagainstthewallsofthehouses，waswater。