納尼亞傳奇：第十二章 彼得初戰(zhàn)告捷

Chapter 12: Peter's First Battle

第十二章 彼得初戰(zhàn)告捷

WHILE the dwarf and the White Witch were saying this, miles away the Beavers and the children were walking on hour after hour into what seemed a delicious dream. Long ago they had left the coats behind them. And by now they had even stopped saying to one another, "Look! there's a kingfisher," or "I say, bluebells!" or "What was that lovely smell?" or "Just listen to that thrush!" They walked on in silence drinking it all in, passing through patches of warm sunlight into cool, green thickets and out again into wide mossy glades where tall elms raised the leafy roof far overhead, and then into dense masses of flowering currant and among hawthorn bushes where the sweet smell was almost overpowering.

小矮人和妖婆正在說(shuō)這些話時(shí)，好幾英里之外的海貍和孩子們正在走啊走的，恍如進(jìn)入一個(gè)美妙的夢(mèng)境。他們?cè)缇桶汛笠氯酉铝?。如今他們相互間不再說(shuō)什么“瞧，有只翠鳥(niǎo)!”或“嗨，風(fēng)信子!”也不再說(shuō)“那股可愛(ài)的香味是什么?”或“聽(tīng)聽(tīng)那只畫(huà)眉!”他們默默走著，深深陶醉其中，從暖和的太陽(yáng)地里走進(jìn)陰涼、碧綠的灌木叢中、又走到寬闊、長(zhǎng)滿苔蘚的林間空地，空地上高高的榆樹(shù)當(dāng)頭搭起枝葉茂密的綠蔭，然后他們又走進(jìn)密密麻麻一大片開(kāi)著花的紅醋栗中，走到山楂叢中，那兒的香味幾乎能醉倒人。

They had been just as surprised as Edmund when they saw the winter vanishing and the whole wood passing in a few hours or so from January to May. They hadn't even known for certain (as the Witch did) that this was what would happen when Aslan came to Narnia. But they all knew that it was her spells which had produced the endless winter; and therefore they all knew when this magic spring began that something had gone wrong, and badly wrong, with the Witch's schemes. And after the thaw had been going on for some time they all realized that the Witch would no longer be able to use her sledge. After that they didn't hurry so much and they allowed themselves more rests and longer ones. They were pretty tired by now of course; but not what I'd call bitterly tired - only slow and feeling very dreamy and quiet inside as one does when one is coming to the end of a long day in the open. Susan had a slight blister on one heel.

他們眼看冬天消失，整個(gè)森林在幾小時(shí)內(nèi)就從一月到了五月，也跟愛(ài)德蒙一樣感到驚奇。他們甚至沒(méi)有像妖婆那樣肯定這是阿斯蘭到了納尼亞才會(huì)出現(xiàn)的事，但他們都知道是妖婆的咒語(yǔ)變出了沒(méi)完沒(méi)了的冬天;因此他們?nèi)肋@個(gè)不可思議的春天一開(kāi)始，妖婆的陰謀詭計(jì)就失敗了，而且大大失敗了。融雪持續(xù)了一段時(shí)間，他們大家都明白妖婆再也不能用雪橇了。此后他們就不再匆匆忙忙趕路，也容許自己多休息幾回，休息時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)一些。他們眼下當(dāng)然很疲勞;但不是那種所謂筋疲力盡——只是沒(méi)精打采，覺(jué)得恍恍惚惚的，而且心里很平靜，就像在戶外待了漫長(zhǎng)一天，終于到頭時(shí)的感覺(jué)。蘇珊一只腳后跟磨起了一個(gè)小水皰。

They had left the course of the big river some time ago; for one had to turn a little to the right (that meant a little to the south) to reach the place of the Stone Table. Even if this had not been their way they couldn't have kept to the river valley once the thaw began, for with all that melting snow the river was soon in flood - a wonderful, roaring, thundering yellow flood - and their path would have been under water.

他們?cè)缇碗x開(kāi)了那條大河的河道，因?yàn)楸匦枭陨酝肄D(zhuǎn)(就是說(shuō)稍稍向南)才能到達(dá)石桌那兒。即使這條路不是他們?cè)撟叩穆?，一旦融雪開(kāi)始，他們也不能老沿著河谷走，因?yàn)橛辛四敲炊嗳谘永锖芸炀桶l(fā)大水了——一股來(lái)勢(shì)驚人、咆哮轟鳴的黃濁洪水——他們走的小路就會(huì)淹在水里了。

And now the sun got low and the light got redder and the shadows got longer and the flowers began to think about closing.

這會(huì)兒太陽(yáng)快下山了，天色更紅，影子也拉長(zhǎng)了，花兒也開(kāi)始要收攏了。

"Not long now," said Mr Beaver, and began leading them uphill across some very deep, springy moss (it felt nice under their tired feet) in a place where only tall trees grew, very wide apart. The climb, coming at the end of the long day, made them all pant and blow. And just as Lucy was wondering whether she could really get to the top without another long rest, suddenly they were at the top. And this is what they saw.

“現(xiàn)在不遠(yuǎn)了。”海貍先生說(shuō)著開(kāi)始帶領(lǐng)他們上山，穿過(guò)一段深深的、松軟的青苔(他們疲勞的雙腳踩在上面倒覺(jué)得很舒服)，那地方只稀稀拉拉長(zhǎng)著一些高大的樹(shù)木。在漫長(zhǎng)的白天結(jié)束時(shí)爬山，大家都喘不過(guò)氣來(lái)。露茜心里正在想，不好好休息一陣子，自己能不能爬上山頂;但突然間，他們就到山頂上了。

They were on a green open space from which you could look down on the forest spreading as far as one could see in every direction - except right ahead. There, far to the East, was something twinkling and moving. "By gum!" whispered Peter to Susan, "the sea!" In the very middle of this open hill-top was the Stone Table. It was a great grim slab of grey stone supported on four upright stones. It looked very old; and it was cut all over with strange lines and figures that might be the letters of an unknown language. They gave you a curious feeling when you looked at them. The next thing they saw was a pavilion pitched on one side of the open place. A wonderful pavilion it was - and especially now when the light of the setting sun fell upon it - with sides of what looked like yellow silk and cords of crimson and tent-pegs of ivory; and high above it on a pole a banner which bore a red rampant lion fluttering in the breeze which was blowing in their faces from the far-off sea. While they were looking at this they heard a sound of music on their right; and turning in that direction they saw what they had come to see.

他們站在一片綠油油的空地上，在那兒你可以俯瞰森林，除了正前方，目光所及都是綿延不絕的森林。東邊遠(yuǎn)處，有什么東西閃閃發(fā)亮，還在晃動(dòng)。“天哪!”彼得悄聲對(duì)蘇珊說(shuō)，“大海!”山頂這塊空地的正中就是石桌。那是一塊很大的灰色石板，下面撐著四塊筆直的石頭。石桌看上去年代悠久，上面刻滿了奇怪的線條和符號(hào)，可能是一種無(wú)名語(yǔ)言的字母吧。你看著這些符號(hào).一種好奇的感覺(jué)就會(huì)油然而生。他們看到的第二件東西是空地一邊搭起的一個(gè)帳篷，那是一個(gè)奇妙的帳篷——尤其是這會(huì)兒落日的余暉正照在帳篷上——帳篷面子看上去像杏黃緞子，深紅的繩索，象牙色的帳篷樁;帳篷的支柱上，高高掛著一面繡著一只騰躍的紅色獅子的旗子，正迎風(fēng)飄揚(yáng)，這陣從遠(yuǎn)處海面吹來(lái)的微風(fēng)也輕拂著他們的臉。他們正看著這帳篷，只聽(tīng)見(jiàn)右面?zhèn)鱽?lái)一陣音樂(lè)，便不由向那邊轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去，這才看見(jiàn)了他們特地來(lái)看的東西。

Aslan stood in the centre of a crowd of creatures who had grouped themselves round him in the shape of a half-moon. There were Tree-Women there and Well-Women (Dryads and Naiads as they used to be called in our world) who had stringed instruments; it was they who had made the music. There were four great centaurs. The horse part of them was like huge English farm horses, and the man part was like stern but beautiful giants. There was also a unicorn, and a bull with the head of a man, and a pelican, and an eagle, and a great Dog. And next to Aslan stood two leopards of whom one carried his crown and the other his standard.

阿斯蘭站在一群生物中間，它們圍著它形成一個(gè)半月形。有樹(shù)精和水精(在我們的世界里稱為森林女神和水仙女)，她們都有弦樂(lè)器;音樂(lè)就是她們演奏的。有四只巨大的人頭馬，身體像英國(guó)飼養(yǎng)場(chǎng)里的駿馬，頭部像嚴(yán)厲而俊美的巨人。還有一匹獨(dú)角獸，一匹人頭牛，一只鵜鶘，一只鷹和一條大狗。阿斯蘭身邊站著兩頭豹，一頭拿著它的王冠，另一頭舉著它的旗幟。

But as for Aslan himself, the Beavers and the children didn't know what to do or say when they saw him. People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly.

說(shuō)到阿斯蘭，海貍夫婦和孩子們都不知道看見(jiàn)它時(shí)該怎么辦、怎么說(shuō)。沒(méi)有到過(guò)納尼亞的人往往認(rèn)為決不會(huì)有好人讓人見(jiàn)了害怕的。如果孩子們以前這么認(rèn)為，眼下他們已經(jīng)糾正了這種想法。因?yàn)楫?dāng)他們想看看阿斯蘭的臉時(shí)，只看了一眼金色的鬃毛和那雙威武、高貴、莊嚴(yán)、懾人的眼睛，他們就覺(jué)得自己不能正眼看它了，大家都不禁在發(fā)抖。

"Go on," whispered Mr Beaver.

“去吧。”海貍先生悄聲說(shuō)。

"No," whispered Peter, "you first."

“不，”彼得悄聲說(shuō)，“你先走。”

"No, Sons of Adam before animals," whispered Mr Beaver back again.

“不，亞當(dāng)?shù)膬鹤幼咴趧?dòng)物前面。”海貍先生又悄悄回了他一句。

"Susan," whispered Peter, "What about you? Ladies first."

“蘇珊，”彼得悄聲說(shuō)，“你怎么樣?女土先走嘛。”

"No, you're the eldest," whispered Susan. And of course the longer they went on doing this the more awkward they felt. Then at last Peter realized that it was up to him. He drew his sword and raised it to the salute and hastily saying to the others "Come on. Pull yourselves together," he advanced to the Lion and said:

“不，你年齡最大。”蘇珊悄聲說(shuō)。當(dāng)然他們這樣拖得越長(zhǎng)，就越感到尷尬。后來(lái)彼得才終于明白這事全靠他了。他抽出劍來(lái)，舉斂致敬，匆匆對(duì)其他幾個(gè)說(shuō)：“快來(lái)吧，你們定下神來(lái)。”他向獅王走去，說(shuō)道：

"We have come - Aslan."

“我們來(lái)了——阿斯蘭。”

"Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam," said Aslan. "Welcome, Susan and Lucy, Daughters of Eve. Welcome He-Beaver and She-Beaver."

“歡迎，彼得，亞當(dāng)?shù)膬鹤樱?rdquo;阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“歡迎，蘇珊和露茜，夏娃的女兒。歡迎，公海貍和母海貍。”

His voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets out of them. They now felt glad and quiet and it didn't seem awkward to them to stand and say nothing.

它的聲音深沉、圓潤(rùn)，不知怎么竟消除了他們的不安。他們?nèi)缃裰挥X(jué)得又高興又平靜，站在那兒不說(shuō)話也不覺(jué)得尷尬了。

"But where is the fourth?" asked Aslan.

“可是第四個(gè)在哪兒呢?”阿斯蘭問(wèn)。

"He has tried to betray them and joined the White Witch, O Aslan," said Mr Beaver. And then something made Peter say,

“他想要出賣他們，投靠白妖婆，哦，阿斯蘭。”海貍先生說(shuō)。于是彼得只好說(shuō)：

"That was partly my fault, Aslan. I was angry with him and I think that helped him to go wrong."

“這事多少得怪我，阿斯蘭。我對(duì)他發(fā)脾氣，我想那反而促使他變壞了。”

And Aslan said nothing either to excuse Peter or to blame him but merely stood looking at him with his great unchanging eyes. And it seemed to all of them that there was nothing to be said.

阿斯蘭不吭聲，既沒(méi)說(shuō)原諒彼得，也沒(méi)責(zé)怪他，只是站在那兒，金色的大眼睛直望著他。大伙覺(jué)得似乎沒(méi)什么可說(shuō)的了。

"Please - Aslan," said Lucy, "can anything be done to save Edmund?"

“請(qǐng)問(wèn)——阿斯蘭，”露茜說(shuō)，“有什么辦法救救愛(ài)德蒙嗎?”

"All shall be done," said Aslan. "But it may be harder than you think." And then he was silent again for some time. Up to that moment Lucy had been thinking how royal and strong and peaceful his face looked; now it suddenly came into her head that he looked sad as well. But next minute that expression was quite gone. The Lion shook his mane and clapped his paws together ("Terrible paws," thought Lucy, "if he didn't know how to velvet them!") and said,

“要想盡辦法，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“不過(guò)這事可能比你們想象的更困難。”接著它又沉默了一會(huì)。直到那一刻，露茜還始終認(rèn)為它的臉看上去多么高貴、剛毅、寧?kù)o;如今她突然發(fā)覺(jué)它看上去也很憂傷。不過(guò)這種神情一會(huì)兒就過(guò)去了。獅王搖搖鬃毛，兩只爪子一拍(露茜想，“要是它不知道剛中帶柔，這對(duì)爪子可嚇人呢。”)，開(kāi)口說(shuō)道：

"Meanwhile, let the feast be prepared. Ladies, take these Daughters of Eve to the pavilion and minister to them."

“現(xiàn)在準(zhǔn)備好宴席，女士們，把夏娃的女兒帶到帳篷里去，照顧好她們。”

When the girls had gone Aslan laid his paw - and though it was velveted it was very heavy - on Peter's shoulder and said, "Come, Son of Adam, and I will show you a far-off sight of the castle where you are to be King."

女孩子走了以后，阿斯蘭伸出一只爪子擱在彼得肩膀上——雖然動(dòng)作輕柔，卻十分有力——說(shuō)道，“來(lái)吧，亞當(dāng)?shù)膬鹤樱覍⒅附o你看你將來(lái)當(dāng)國(guó)王的那座城堡的遠(yuǎn)景。”

And Peter with his sword still drawn in his hand went with the Lion to the eastern edge of the hilltop. There a beautiful sight met their eyes. The sun was setting behind their backs. That meant that the whole country below them lay in the evening light - forest and hills and valleys and, winding away like a silver snake, the lower part of the great river. And beyond all this, miles away, was the sea, and beyond the sea the sky, full of clouds which were just turning rose colour with the reflection of the sunset. But just where the land of Narnia met the sea - in fact, at the mouth of the great river - there was something on a little hill, shining. It was shining because it was a castle and of course the sunlight was reflected from all the windows which looked towards Peter and the sunset; but to Peter it looked like a great star resting on the seashore.

彼得仍然一手握劍，跟著獅王一起來(lái)到山頂?shù)臇|邊。一幅美景出現(xiàn)在他們眼前。太陽(yáng)已經(jīng)落在他們背后。他們下面的整個(gè)國(guó)土都籠罩在暮色中——森林和小山，山谷，以及像條銀蛇般蜿蜒流過(guò)的大河的下游。那邊幾英里以外是大海，大海以外是天空，落日映照下滿是玫瑰色的云層。但就在納尼亞國(guó)土近海的地方——其實(shí)就是那條大河的入海口——有什么東西屹立在一座小山上閃閃發(fā)光。因?yàn)檫@是一座城堡，朝彼得這邊的窗戶當(dāng)然都映出落日的余輝;不過(guò)彼得覺(jué)得城堡就像海岸上的一顆大星星。

"That, O Man," said Aslan, "is Cair Paravel of the four thrones, in one of which you must sit as King. I show it to you because you are the first-born and you will be High King over all the rest."

“男子漢啊，”阿斯蘭說(shuō)，“那就是有四個(gè)寶座的凱爾帕拉維爾，你必須以國(guó)王的身分坐上其中一個(gè)寶座。我指給你看是因?yàn)槟闶抢洗?，你要?dāng)個(gè)地位高于其他人的至尊王。”

And once more Peter said nothing, for at that moment a strange noise woke the silence suddenly. It was like a bugle, but richer.

彼得又一次什么也沒(méi)說(shuō)，因?yàn)檫@時(shí)一種奇怪的聲音突然打破了這片沉默。像一只軍號(hào)，不過(guò)聲音更圓潤(rùn)。

"It is your sister's horn," said Aslan to Peter in a low voice; so low as to be almost a purr, if it is not disrespectful to think of a Lion purring.

“這是你妹妹的號(hào)角，”阿斯蘭低聲對(duì)彼得說(shuō)，如果說(shuō)獅子咕嚕咕嚕叫不算大不敬的話，那么這聲音低得簡(jiǎn)直就是咕嚕咕嚕的。

For a moment Peter did not understand. Then, when he saw all the other creatures start forward and heard Aslan say with a wave of his paw, "Back! Let the Prince win his spurs," he did understand, and set off running as hard as he could to the pavilion. And there he saw a dreadful sight.

彼得一時(shí)不明白。后來(lái)，他看見(jiàn)所有的生物都擁上前來(lái)，只聽(tīng)得阿斯蘭揮揮爪子說(shuō)：“退下!讓王子立個(gè)頭功吧。”

The Naiads and Dryads were scattering in every direction. Lucy was running towards him as fast as her short legs would carry her and her face was as white as paper. Then he saw Susan make a dash for a tree, and swing herself up, followed by a huge grey beast. At first Peter thought it was a bear. Then he saw that it looked like an Alsatian, though it was far too big to be a dog. Then he realized that it was a wolf - a wolf standing on its hind legs, with its front paws against the tree-trunk, snapping and snarling. All the hair on its back stood up on end. Susan had not been able to get higher than the second big branch. One of her legs hung down so that her foot was only an inch or two above the snapping teeth. Peter wondered why she did not get higher or at least take a better grip; then he realized that she was just going to faint and that if she fainted she would fall off.

他才明白，于是他飛快地奔向帳篷。在那兒，他看見(jiàn)了一幕可怕的情景。

Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do. He rushed straight up to the monster and aimed a slash of his sword at its side. That stroke never reached the Wolf. Quick as lightning it turned round, its eyes flaming, and its mouth wide open in a howl of anger. If it had not been so angry that it simply had to howl it would have got him by the throat at once. As it was - though all this happened too quickly for Peter to think at all - he had just time to duck down and plunge his sword, as hard as he could, between the brute's forelegs into its heart. Then came a horrible, confused moment like something in a nightmare. He was tugging and pulling and the Wolf seemed neither alive nor dead, and its bared teeth knocked against his forehead, and everything was blood and heat and hair. A moment later he found that the monster lay dead and he had drawn his sword out of it and was straightening his back and rubbing the sweat off his face and out of his eyes. He felt tired all over.

水仙女和森林女神正四下奔逃。露茜臉色蒼白，撒開(kāi)兩條短腿朝他跑來(lái)。接著他看見(jiàn)蘇珊向一棵樹(shù)沖去，縱身爬上了樹(shù)，后面有一頭灰色的巨獸在追她。開(kāi)頭彼得以為那是一只熊。后來(lái)他看出這頭野獸很像一條德國(guó)狼狗，然而又比狗大多了。后來(lái)他才想到這是一匹狼——一匹狼后腿站著，前爪撲在樹(shù)干上又咬又吼，背上的毛根根豎起。蘇珊只攀上第二根大樹(shù)枝，再也沒(méi)法爬高。她一條腿吊在下面，這只腳離開(kāi)亂咬的狼牙只有一兩英寸。彼得不知道她為什么不爬得高一點(diǎn)，至少也要抓牢些嘛;后來(lái)他才明白她快暈過(guò)去了，如果她暈過(guò)去，那就會(huì)摔下來(lái)。

Then, after a bit, Susan came down the tree. She and Peter felt pretty shaky when they met and I won't say there wasn't kissing and crying on both sides. But in Narnia no one thinks any the worse of you for that.

彼得并不覺(jué)得自己十分勇敢;說(shuō)真的，他感到自己快要嘔吐了。不過(guò)這并不影響他的使命，他筆直沖向那頭猛獸，瞄準(zhǔn)它肋間猛刺一劍。這一下子并沒(méi)刺中那匹狼。它閃電般轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)，眼睛兇焰灼人，嘴巴張得老大，狂嚎一陣。要不是它怒氣沖沖，非得嚎叫一通才痛快，它就會(huì)立刻咬住彼得的喉嚨了。事實(shí)上——盡管這一切都太快，彼得根本來(lái)不及想——他只來(lái)得及彎下身子，使盡渾身力氣，把劍刺進(jìn)那猛獸前腿之間，刺中了心臟。接下來(lái)一段工夫又可怕又混亂，就像惡夢(mèng)中的情景。他用力拖啊，拉啊，那匹狼既不像死了，也不像活著，露出一口利牙磕在他的額頭上，一切都沾滿了血、熱氣和皮毛。又過(guò)了一會(huì)，他才發(fā)現(xiàn)那頭巨獸已經(jīng)倒地死去。他拔出劍，挺直腰板，擦去滿頭滿臉的開(kāi)。他覺(jué)得累壞了。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，蘇珊才從樹(shù)上下來(lái)。她見(jiàn)到彼得時(shí)兩人都覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)搖搖晃晃。不用說(shuō)，雙方見(jiàn)了不免又是親吻又是哭泣。不過(guò)在納尼亞，沒(méi)人會(huì)為這事而把你往壞處想的。

"Quick! Quick!" shouted the voice of Aslan. "Centaurs! Eagles! I see another wolf in the thickets. There - behind you. He has just darted away. After him, all of you. He will be going to his mistress. Now is your chance to find the Witch and rescue the fourth Son of Adam." And instantly with a thunder of hoofs and beating of wings a dozen or so of the swiftest creatures disappeared into the gathering darkness.

“快!快!”只聽(tīng)得阿斯蘭的聲音在大聲喊叫，“人頭馬!雄鷹!我看見(jiàn)灌木叢中還有一匹狼。瞧——在你們后面!它要到它的女主人那兒去了?，F(xiàn)在正是你們找到妖婆和救出第四個(gè)亞當(dāng)?shù)膬鹤拥暮脵C(jī)會(huì)。”話音剛落，頓時(shí)響起一陣?yán)坐Q般的馬蹄聲和翅膀撲棱聲，約有十幾只動(dòng)作最迅速的動(dòng)物消失在暮色中。

Peter, still out of breath, turned and saw Aslan close at hand.

彼得還沒(méi)喘過(guò)氣來(lái)，轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身，看見(jiàn)阿斯蘭就在他身邊。

"You have forgotten to clean your sword," said Aslan.

你忘了把劍擦干凈。”阿斯蘭說(shuō)。

It was true. Peter blushed when he looked at the bright blade and saw it all smeared with the Wolf's hair and blood. He stooped down and wiped it quite clean on the grass, and then wiped it quite dry on his coat.

這話不錯(cuò)，彼得看到那把光亮的劍已經(jīng)被狼的毛和血弄污了，不由漲紅了臉。他彎下腰，在草地上把劍擦干凈，再在自己衣服上把劍擦干。

"Hand it to me and kneel, Son of Adam," said Aslan. And when Peter had done so he struck him with the flat of the blade and said, "Rise up, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane. And, whatever happens, never forget to wipe your sword."

“把劍遞給我，跪下，亞當(dāng)?shù)膬鹤印?rdquo;阿斯蘭說(shuō)。彼得遵命跪下以后，它用劍的平面拍了他一下，說(shuō)道，“起來(lái)吧，彼得·芬瑞斯—貝思閣下。不管出了什么事，永遠(yuǎn)別忘記擦干凈你的劍。”

Now we must get back to Edmund. When he had been made to walk far further than he had ever known that anybody could walk, the Witch at last halted in a dark valley all overshadowed with fir trees and yew trees. Edmund simply sank down and lay on his face doing nothing at all and not even caring what was going to happen next provided they would let him lie still. He was too tired even to notice how hungry and thirsty he was. The Witch and the dwarf were talking close beside him in low tones.

"No," said the dwarf, "it is no use now, O Queen. They must have reached the Stone Table by now."

"Perhaps the Wolf will smell us out and bring us news," said the Witch.

"It cannot be good news if he does," said the dwarf.

"Four thrones in Cair Paravel," said the Witch. "How if only three were filled? That would not fulfil the prophecy."

"What difference would that make now that He is here?" said the dwarf. He did not dare, even now, to mention the name of Aslan to his mistress.

"He may not stay long. And then - we would fall upon the three at Cair."

"Yet it might be better," said the dwarf, "to keep this one" (here he kicked Edmund) "for bargaining with."