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"tu-whoo, tu-whoo, were all the kings owls too," said the owls.
"whats it all about then?" said scrubb.
"its only this," said glimfeather. "that if the lord regent, the dwarf trumpkin, hears you are going to look for the lost prince, he wont let you start. hed keep you under lock and key sooner.”
"great scott!" said scrubb. "you dont mean that trumpkin is a traitor? i used to hear a lot about him in the old days, at sea. caspian - the king, i mean - trusted him absolutely.”
"oh no," said a voice. "trumpkins no traitor. but more than thirty champions (knights, centaurs, good giants, and all sorts) have at one time or another set out to look for the lost prince, and none of them have ever come back. and at last the king said he was not going to have all the bravest narnians destroyed in the search for his son. and now nobody is allowed to go.”
"but surely hed let us go," said scrubb. "when he knew who i was and who had sent me.”
("sent both of us," put in jill.)
"yes," said glimfeather, "i think, very likely, he would. but the kings away. and trumpkin will stick to the rules. hes as true as steel, but hes deaf as a post and very peppery. you could never make him see that this might be the time for making an exception to the rule.”
"you might think hed take some notice of us, because were owls and everyone knows how wise owls are," said someone else. "but hes so old now hed only say, `youre a mere chick. i remember you when you were an egg. dont come trying to teach me, sir.
crabs and crumpets!“
this owl imitated trumpkins voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round. the children began to see that the narnians all felt about trumpkin as people feel at school about some crusty teacher, whom everyone is a little afraid of and everyone makes fun of and nobody really dislikes.
"how long is the king going to be away?" asked scrubb.
"if only we knew!" said glimfeather. "you see, there has been a rumour lately that aslan himself has been seen in the islands - in terebinthia, i think it was. and the king said he would make one more attempt before he died to see aslan face to face again, and ask his advice about who is to be king after him. but were all afraid that, if he doesnt meet aslan in terebinthia, hell go on east, to seven isles and lone islands - and on and on. he never talks about it, but we all know he has never forgotten that voyage to the worlds end. im sure in his heart of hearts he wants to go there again.”
"then theres no good waiting for him to come back?" said jill.
"no, no good," said the owl. "oh, what a to-do! if only you two had known and spoken to him at once! hed have arranged everything - probably given you an army to go with you in search of the prince.”
jill kept quiet at this and hoped scrubb would be sporting enough not to tell all the owls why this hadnt happened. he was, or very nearly. that is, he only muttered under his breath, "well, it wasnt my fault," before saying out loud: "very well. well have to manage without it. but theres just one thing more i want to know. if this owls parliament, as you call it, is all fair and above board and means no mischief, why does it have to be so jolly secret- meeting in a ruin in dead of night, and all that?”
"tu-whoo! tu-whoo!" hooted several owls. "where should we meet? when would anyone meet except at night?”
"you see," explained glimfeather, "most of the creatures in narnia have such unnatural habits. they do things by day, in broad blazing sunlight (ugh!) when everyone ought to
be asleep. and, as a result, at night theyre so blind and stupid that you cant get a word out of them. so we owls have got into the habit of meeting at sensible hours, on our own, when we want to talk about things.”
"i see," said scrubb. "well now, lets get on. tell us all about the lost prince." then an old owl, not glimfeather, related the story.
about ten years ago, it appeared, when rilian, the son of caspian, was a very young knight, he rode with the queen his mother on a may morning in the north parts of narnia.
they had many squires and ladies with them and all wore garlands of fresh leaves on their heads, and horns at their sides; but they had no hounds with them, for they were maying, not hunting. in the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly out of the earth, and there they di【创建和谐家园】ounted and ate and drank and were merry. after a time the queen felt sleepy, and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank, and prince rilian with the rest of the party went a little way from her, that their tales and laughter might not wake her. and so, presently, a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the queen in her hand. all heard her cry out and rushed towards her, and rilian was first at her side. he saw the worm gliding away from her and made after it with his sword drawn. it was great, shining, and as green as poison, so that he could see it well: but it glided away into thick bushes and he could not come at it. so he returned to his mother, and found them all busy about her.
but they were busy in vain, for at the first glance of her face rilian knew that no physic in the world would do her good. as long as the life was in her she seemed to be trying hard to tell him something. but she could not speak clearly and, whatever her message was, she died without delivering it. it was then hardly ten minutes since they had first heard her cry.
they carried the dead queen back to cair paravel, and she was bitterly mourned by rilian and by the king, and by all narnia. she had been a great lady, wise and gracious and happy, king caspians bride whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world. and men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins. the prince took his mothers death very hardly, as well he might. after that, he was always riding on the northern marches of narnia, hunting for that venomous worm, to kill it and be avenged.
no one remarked much on this, though the prince came home from these wanderings looking tired and distraught. but about a month after the queens death, some said they could see a change in him. there was a look in his eyes as of a man who has seen visions, and though he would be out all day, his horse did not bear the signs of hard riding. his chief friend among the older courtiers was the lord driman, he who had been his fathers captain on that great voyage to the east parts of the earth.
one evening drinian said to the prince, "your highness must soon give over seeking the worm. there is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man. you weary yourself in vain." the prince answered him, "my lord, i have almost forgotten the worm this seven days." drinian asked him why, if that were so, he rode so continually in the northern woods. "my lord," said the prince, "i have seen there the most beautiful
thing that was ever made." "fair prince," said drinian, "of your courtesy let me ride with you tomorrow, that i also may see this fair thing." "with a good will," said rilian.
then in good time on the next day they saddled their horses and rode a great gallop into the northern woods and alighted at that same fountain where the queen got her death.
drinian thought it strange that the prince should choose that place of all places, to linger in. and there they rested till it came to high noon: and at noon drinian looked up and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen; and she stood at the north side of the fountain and said no word but beckoned to the prince with her hand as if she bade him come to her. and she was tall and great, shining, and wrapped in a thin garment as green as poison. and the prince stared at her like a man out of his wits. but suddenly the lady was gone, driman knew not where; and the two returned to cair paravel. it stuck in drinians mind that this shining green woman was evil.
drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the king, but he had little wish to be a blab and a tale-bearer and so he held his tongue. but afterwards he wished he had spoken. for next day prince rilian rode out alone. that night he came not back, and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in narnia nor any neighbouring land, and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything else was ever found.
then drinian in the bitterness of his heart went to caspian and said, "lord king, slay me speedily as a great traitor: for by my silence i have destroyed your son." and he told him the story. then caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the lord drinian to kill him, and drinian stood still as a stock for the death blow. but when the axe was raised, caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out, "i have lost my queen and my son: shall i lose my friend also?" and he fell upon the lord drinians neck and embraced him and both wept, and their friendship was not broken.
such was the story of rilian. and when it was over, jill said, "i bet that serpent and that woman were the same person.”
"true, true, we think the same as you," hooted the owls.
"but we dont think she killed the prince," said glimfeather, "because no bones -”
"we know she didnt," said scrubb. "aslan told pole he was still alive somewhere.”
"that almost makes it worse," said the oldest owl. "it means she has some use for him, and some deep scheme against narnia. long, long ago, at the very beginning, a white witch came out of the north and bound our land in snow and ice for a hundred years.
and we think this may be some of the same crew.”
"very well, then," said scrubb. "pole and i have got to `find this prince. can you help us?”
"have you any clue, you two?" asked glimfeather.
"yes," said scrubb. "we know weve got to go north. and w e know weve got to reach the ruins of a giant city.”
at this there was a greater tu-whooing than ever, and noise of birds shifting their feet and ruffling their feathers, and then all the owls started speaking at once. they all explained how very sorry they were that they themselves could not go with the children on their search for the lost prince "youd want to travel by day, and wed want to travel by night,”
they said. "it wouldnt do, wouldnt do." one or two owls added that even here in the ruined tower it wasnt nearly so dark as it had been when they began, and that the parliament had been going on quite long enough. in fact, the mere mention of a journey to the ruined city of giants seemed to have damped the spirits of those birds. but glimfeather said: "if they want to go that way - into ettin【创建和谐家园】oor - we must take them to one of the marsh-wiggles. theyre the only people who can help them much.”
"true, true. do," said the owls.
"come on, then," said glimfeather. "ill take one. wholl take the other? it must be done tonight.”
"i will: as far as the marsh-wiggles," said another owl.
"are you ready?" said glimfeather to jill.
"i think poles asleep," said scrubb.
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CHAPTER FIVE
小!说!txt!天.堂
puddleglum jill. was asleep. ever since the owls parliament began she had been yawning terribly and now she had dropped off. she was not at all pleased at being waked again, and at finding herself lying on bare boards in a dusty belfry sort of place, completely dark, and almost completely full of owls. she was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else - and not, apparently, for bed - on the owls back.
"oh, come on, pole, buck up," said scrubbs voice. "after all, it is an adventure.”
"im sick of adventures," said jill crossly.
she did, however, consent to climb on to glimfeathers back, and was thoroughly waked up (for a while) by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night. the moon had disappeared and there were no stars. far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground; doubtless, in one of the towers of cair paravel. it made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom, snug in bed, watching the firelight on the walls. she put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her.
it was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away; scrubb and his owl were talking to one another. "he doesnt sound tired," thought jill. she did not realize that he had been on great adventures in that world before and that the narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the eastern seas with king caspian.
jill had to pinch herself to keep awake, for she knew that if she dozed on glimfeathers back she would probably fall off. when at last the two owls ended their flight, she climbed stiffly off glimfeather and found herself on flat ground. a chilly wind was blowing and they appeared to be in a place without trees. "tu-whoo, tu- whoo!”
glimfeather was calling. "wake up, puddleglum. wake up. it is on the lions business.”
for a long time there was no reply. then, a long way off, a dim light appeared and began to come nearer. with it came a voice.
"owls ahoy!" it said. "what is it? is the king dead? has an enemy landed in narnia? is it a flood? or dragons?”
when the light reached them, it turned out to be that of a large lantern. she could see very little of the person who held it. he seemed to be all legs and arms. the owls were talking to him, explaining everything, but she was too tired to listen. she tried to wake herself up a bit when she realized that they were saying goodbye to her. but she could never afterwards remember much except that, sooner or later, she and scrubb were stooping to enter a low doorway and then (oh, thank heavens) were lying down on something soft and warm, and a voice was saying: "there you are. best we can do. youll lie cold and hard. damp too, i shouldnt wonder.
wont sleep a wink, most likely; even if there isnt a thunderstorm or a flood or the wigwam doesnt fall down on top of us all, as ive known them do. must make the best of it -" but she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.
when the children woke late next morning they found that they were lying, very dry and warm, on beds of straw in a dark place. a triangular opening let in the daylight.
"where on earth are we?" asked jill.
"in the wigwam of a marsh-wiggle," said eustace.
"a what?”
"a marsh-wiggle. dont ask me what it is. i couldnt see it last night. im getting up. lets go and look for it.”
"how beastly one feels after sleeping in ones clothes," said jill, sitting up.
"i was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress," said eustace.
"or wash either, i suppose," said jill scornfully. but scrubb had already got up, yawned, shaken himself, and crawled out of the wigwam. jill did the same.
what they found outside was quite unlike the bit of narnia they had seen on the day before. they were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless channels of water. the islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes. sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent.
clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again-duck, snipe, bitterns, herons. many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but all at a good distance from one another; for marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy. except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there was not a tree in sight. eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there. to the north there were low pale- coloured hills, in places bastioned with rock. the rest was all flat marsh. it would have been a depressing place on a w et evening. seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness. the children felt their spirits rise.
"where has the thingummy got to, i wonder?" said jill.
"the marsh-wiggle," said scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. "i expect-hullo, that must be him." and then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away. he had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.
"i suppose wed better go and speak to him," said jill. scrubb nodded. they both felt a little nervous.
as they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard. he was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim. the hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds. his expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.
"good morning, guests," he said. "though when i say good i dont mean it wont probably turn to rain or it might he snow, or fog, or thunder. you didnt get any sleep, i dare say.
"yes we did, though," said jill. "we had a lovely night.”
"ah," said the marsh-wiggle, shaking his head. "i see youre making the best of a bad job.
thats right. youve been well brought up, you have. youve learned to put a good face on things.”
"please, we dont know your name," said scrubb.
"puddleglums my name. but it doesnt matter if you forget it. i can always tell you again.”
the children sat down on each side of him. they now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarfs, he would be taller than most men when he stood up. the fingers of his hands were webbed like a frogs, and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. he was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.
"im trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner," said puddleglum.
"though i shouldnt wonder if i didnt get any. and you wont like them much if i do.”
"why not?" asked scrubb.
"why, its not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though ive no doubt youll put a bold face on it. all the same, while i am a catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire - no harm trying -! the woods behind the wigwam. it may be wet.
you could light it inside the wigwam, and then wed get all the 【创建和谐家园】oke in our eyes. or you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. heres my tinder-box.
you wont know how to use it, i expect.”
but scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure. the children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood (which was perfectly dry) and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty. then scrubb sat and took care of it while jill went and had some sort of wash - not a very nice one - in the nearest channel.
after that she saw to the fire and he had a wash. both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry.
presently the marsh-wiggle joined them. in spite of his expectation of catching no eels, he had a dozen or so, which he had already skinned and cleaned. he put a big pot on, mended the fire, and lit his pipe. marsh-wiggles 【创建和谐家园】oke a very strange, heavy sort of tobacco (some people say they mix it with mud) and the children noticed the 【创建和谐家园】oke from puddleglums pipe hardly rose in the air at all. it trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist. it was very black and set scrubb coughing.
"now," said puddleglum. "those eels will take a mortal long time to cook, and either of you might faint with hunger before theyre done. i knew a little girl - but id better not tell
you that story. it might lower your spirits, and thats a thing i never do. so, to keep your minds off your hunger, we may as well talk about our plans.”
"yes, do lets," said jill. "can you help us to find prince rilian?”
the marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. "well, i dont know that youd call it help," he said. "i dont know that anyone can exactly help. it stands to reason were not likely to get very far on a journey to the north, not at this time of the year, with the winter coming on soon and all. and an early winter too, by the look of things. but you mustnt let that make you down-hearted.
very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, well hardly notice the weather. and if we dont get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry.”
both children noticed that he said "we", not "you", and both exclaimed at the same moment. "are you coming with us?”
"oh yes, im coming of course. might as well, you see. i dont suppose we shall ever see the king back in narnia, now that hes once set off for foreign parts; and he had a nasty cough when he left. then theres trumpkin. hes failing fast. and youll find therell have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer. and i shouldnt wonder if some enemy attacked us. mark my words.”
"and how shall we start?" said scrubb.
"well," said the marsh-wiggle very slowly, "all the others who ever went looking for prince rilian started from that same fountain where the lord drinian saw the lady. they went north, mostly. and as none of them ever came back, we cant exactly say how they got on.”
"weve got to start by finding a ruined city of giants," said jill. "aslan said so.”