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the lion, the witch and the war_c·s·刘易斯-第10部分

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〃thats why shes bad all through; mr beaver;〃 said mrs beaver。

〃true enough; mrs beaver;〃 replied he; 〃there may be two views about humans  (meaning no offence to the present pany)。 but theres no two views about things  that look like humans and arent。鈥

〃ive known good dwarfs;〃 said mrs beaver。

〃sove i; now you e to speak of it;〃 said her husband; 〃but precious  few; and they were the ones least like men。 but in general; take my advice; when you meet  anything thats going to be human and isnt yet; or used to be human once and isnt  now; or ought to be human and isnt; you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet。  and thats why the witch is always on the lookout for any humans in narnia。 shes been  watching for you this many a year; and if she knew there were four of you shed be more  dangerous still。鈥

〃whats that to do with it?〃 asked peter。

〃because of another prophecy;〃 said mr beaver。 〃down at cair paravel …  thats the castle on the sea coast down at the mouth of this river which ought to be the  capital of the whole country if all was as it should be … down at cair paravel there are  four thrones and its a saying in narnia time out of mind that when two sons of adam and two  daughters of eve sit in those four thrones; then it will be the end not only of the  white witchs reign but of her life; and that is why we had to be so cautious as we came along;  for if she knew about you four; your lives wouldnt be worth a shake of my whiskers!鈥

all the children had been attending so hard to what mr beaver was telling  them that they had noticed nothing else for a long time。 then during the moment of silence  that followed his last remark; lucy suddenly said:  〃i say…wheres edmund?鈥

there was a dreadful pause; and then everyone began asking 〃who saw him  last? how long has he been missing? is he outside? and then all rushed to the door  and looked out。

the snow was falling thickly and steadily; the green ice of the pool had  vanished under a thick white blanket; and from where the little house stood in the centre of  the dam you could hardly see either bank。 out they went; plunging well over their  ankles into the soft new snow; and went round the house in every direction。 〃edmund! edmund!〃  they called till they were hoarse。 but the silently falling snow seemed to muffle their  voices and there was not even an echo in answer。

〃how perfectly dreadful!〃 said susan as they at last came back in despair。  〃oh; how i wish wed never e。鈥

〃what on earth are we to do; mr beaver?〃 said peter。

〃do?〃 said mr beaver; who was already putting on his snow…boots; 〃do? we  must be off at once。 we havent a moment to spare!鈥

〃wed better divide into four search parties;〃 said peter; 〃and all go in  different directions。 whoever finds him must e back here at once and…鈥

〃search parties; son of adam?〃 said mr beaver; 〃what for?鈥

〃why; to look for edmund; of course!鈥

〃theres no point in looking for him;〃 said mr beaver。

〃what do you mean?〃 said susan。 〃he cant be far away yet。 and weve got to  find him。

what do you mean when you say theres no use looking for him?鈥

〃the reason theres no use looking;〃 said mr beaver; 〃is that we know  already where hes gone!〃 everyone stared in amazement。 〃dont you understand?〃 said mr  beaver。 〃hes gone to her; to the white witch。 he has betrayed us all。鈥

〃oh; surely…oh; really!〃 said susan; 〃he cant have done that。鈥

〃cant he?〃 said mr beaver; looking very hard at the three children; and  everything they wanted to say died on their lips; for each felt suddenly quite certain  inside that this was exactly what edmund had done。

〃but will he know the way?〃 said peter。

〃has he been in this country before?〃 asked mr beaver。 〃has he ever been  here alone?鈥

〃yes;〃 said lucy; almost in a whisper。 〃im afraid he has。鈥

〃and did he tell you what hed done or who hed met?鈥

〃well; no; he didnt;〃 said lucy。

〃then mark my words;〃 said mr beaver; 〃he has already met the white witch  and joined her side; and been told where she lives。 i didnt like to mention it before  (he being your brother and all) but the moment i set eyes on that brother of yours i said  to myself ‘treacherous。 he had the look of one who has been with the witch and eaten  her food。

you can always tell them if youve lived long in narnia; something about  their eyes。鈥

〃all the same;〃 said peter in a rather choking sort of voice; 〃well still  have to go and look for him。 he is our brother after all; even if he is rather a little  beast。 and hes only a kid。鈥

〃go to the witchs house?〃 said mrs beaver。 〃dont you see that the only  chance of saving either him or yourselves is to keep away from her?鈥

〃how do you mean?〃 said lucy。

〃why; all she wants is to get all four of you (shes thinking all the time  of those four thrones at cair paravel)。 once you were all four inside her house her job  would be done … and thered be four new statues in her collection before youd had time to  speak。 but shell keep him alive as long as hes the only one shes got; because shell want  to use him as a decoy; as bait to catch the rest of you with。鈥

〃oh; can no one help us?〃 wailed lucy。

〃only aslan;〃 said mr beaver; 〃we must go on and meet him。 thats our only  chance now。鈥

〃it seems to me; my dears;〃 said mrs beaver; 〃that it is very important to  know just when he slipped away。 how much he can tell her depends on how much he heard。 for  instance; had we started talking of aslan before he left? if not; then we may do very  well; for she wont know that aslan has e to narnia; or that we are meeting him; and  will be quite off her guard as far as that is concerned。鈥

〃i dont remember his being here when we were talking about aslan …〃 began  peter; but lucy interrupted him。

〃oh yes; he was;〃 she said miserably; 〃dont you remember; it was he who  asked whether the witch couldnt turn aslan into stone too?鈥

〃so he did; by jove;〃 said peter; 〃just the sort of thing he would say;  too!鈥

〃worse and worse;〃 said mr beaver; 〃and the next thing is this。 was he  still here when i told you that the place for meeting aslan was the stone table?鈥

and of course no one knew the answer to this question。

〃because; if he was;〃 continued mr beaver; 〃then shell simply sledge down  in that direction and get between us and the stone table and catch us on our way  down。 in fact we shall be cut off from aslan。 鈥

〃but that isnt what shell do first;〃 said mrs beaver; 〃not if i know her。  the moment that edmund tells her that were all here shell set out to catch us this very  night; and if hes been gone about half an hour; shell be here in about another twenty  minutes。鈥

〃youre right; mrs beaver;〃 said her husband; 〃we must all get away from  here。 theres not a moment to lose。鈥





CHAPTER NINE

澶у鐢烜灏彙〃缃
in the witchs house  and now of course you want to know what had happened to edmund。 he had  eaten his share of the dinner; but he hadnt really enjoyed it because he was  thinking all the time about turkish delight … and theres nothing that spoils the taste of good  ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food。 and he had heard the conversation;  and hadnt enjoyed it much either; because he kept on thinking that the others  were taking no notice of him and trying to give him the cold shoulder。 they werent; but  he imagined it。

and then he had listened until mr beaver told them about aslan and until he  had heard the whole arrangement for meeting aslan at the stone table。 it was then  that he began very quietly to edge himself under the curtain which hung over the door。  for the mention  

of aslan gave him a mysterious and horrible feeling just as it gave the  others a mysterious and lovely feeling。

just as mr beaver had been repeating the rhyme about adams flesh and  adams bone edmund had been very quietly turning the doorhandle; and just before mr  beaver had begun telling them that the white witch wasnt really human at all but half  a jinn and half a giantess; edmund had got outside into the snow and cautiously closed  the door behind him。

you mustnt think that even now edmund was quite so bad that he actually  wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone。 he did want turkish delight  and to be a prince (and later a king) and to pay peter out for calling him a beast。 as for  what the witch would do with the others; he didnt want her to be particularly nice to  them … certainly not to put them on the same level as himself; but he managed to believe; or to  pretend he believed; that she wouldnt do anything very bad to them; 〃because;〃 he  said to himself; 〃all these people who say nasty things about her are her enemies and  probably half of it isnt true。 she was jolly nice to me; anyway; much nicer than they are。 i  expect she is the rightful queen really。 anyway; shell be better than that awful aslan!〃 at  least; that was the excuse he made in his own mind for what he was doing。 it wasnt a very  good excuse; however; for deep down inside him he really knew that the white witch was  bad and cruel。

the first thing he realized when he got outside and found the snow falling  all round him; was that 
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