what lucy saw

susan and the two boys were bitterly tired with rowing before they rounded the last headland and began the final pull up glasswater itself, and lucy's head ached from the long hours of sun and the glare on the water. even trumpkin longed for the voyage to be over. the seat on which he sat to steer had been made for men, not dwarfs, and his feet did not reach the floor-boards; and everyone knows how uncomfortable that is even for ten minutes. and as they all grew more tired, their spirits fell. up till now the children had only been thinking of how to get to caspian. now they wondered what they would do when they found him, and how a handful of dwarfs and woodland creatures could defeat an army of grown-up humans.

twilight was coming on as they rowed slowly up the windings of glasswater creek - a twilight which deepened as the banks drew closer together and the overhanging trees began almost to meet overhead. it was very quiet in here as the sound of the sea died away behind them; they could even hear the trickle of the little streams that poured down from the forest into glasswater.

they went ashore at last, far too tired to attempt lighting a fire; and even a supper of apples (though most of them felt that they never wanted to see an apple again) seemed better than trying to catch or shoot anything. after a little silent munching they all huddled down together in the moss and dead leaves between four large beech trees.

everyone except lucy went to sleep at once. lucy, being far less tired, found it hard to get comfortable. also, she had forgotten till now that all dwarfs snore. she knew that one of the best ways of getting to sleep is to stop trying, so she opened her eyes.

through a gap in the bracken and branches she could just see a patch of water in the creek and the sky above it. then, with a thrill of memory, she saw again, after all those years, the bright narnian stars. she had once known them better than the stars of our own world, because as a queen in narnia she had gone to bed much later than as a child in england. and there they were - at least, three of the summer constellations could be seen from where she lay: the ship, the hammer, and the leopard. "dear old leopard," she murmured happily to herself.

instead of getting drowsier she was getting more awake - with an odd, night-time, dreamish kind of wakefulness. the creek was growing brighter. she knew now that then moon was on it, though she couldn't see the moon. and now she began to feel that the whole forest was coming awake like herself. hardly knowing why she did it, she got up quickly and walked a little distance away from their bivouac.

"this is lovely," said lucy to herself. it was cool and fresh, delicious smells were floating everywhere.

somewhere close by she heard the twitter of a nightingale beginning to sing, then stopping, then beginning again. it was a little lighter ahead. she went towards the light and came to a place where there were fewer trees, and whole patches or pools of moonlight, but the moonlight and the shadows so mixed that you could hardly be sure where anything was or what it was. at the same moment the nightingale, satisfied at last with his tuning up, burst into full song.

lucy's eyes began to grow accustomed to the light, and she saw the trees that were nearest her more distinctly. a great longing for the old days when the trees could talk in narnia came over her. she knew exactly how each of these trees would talk if only she could wake them, and what sort of human form it would put on. she looked at a silver birch: it would have a soft, showery voice and would look like a slender girl, with hair blown all about her face, and fond of dancing. she looked at the oak: he would be a wizened, but hearty old man with a frizzled beard and warts on his face and hands, and hair growing out of the warts. she looked at the beech under which she was standing. ah! she would be the best of all. she would be a gracious goddess, smooth and stately, the lady of the wood.

"oh, trees, trees, trees," said lucy (though she had not been intending to speak at all). "oh, trees, wake, wake, wake. don't you remember it? don't you remember me? dryads and hamadryads, come out, come to me."

though there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her. the rustling noise of the leaves was almost like words. the nightingale stopped singing as if to listen to it.

lucy felt that at any moment she would begin to understand what the trees were trying to say. but the moment did not come. the rustling died away. the nightingale resumed its song. even in the moonlight the wood looked more ordinary again. yet lucy had the feeling (as you sometimes have when you are trying to remember a name or a date and almost get it, but it vanishes before you really do) that she had just missed something: as if she had spoken to the trees a split second too soon or a split second too late, or used all the right words except one, or put in one word that was just wrong.

quite suddenly she began to feel tired. she went back to the bivouac, snuggled down between susan and peter, and was asleep in a few minutes.

it was a cold and cheerless waking for them all next morning, with a grey twilight in the wood (for the sun had not yet risen) and everything damp and dirty.

"apples, heigh-ho," said trumpkin with a rueful grin. "i must say you ancient kings and queens don't overfeed your courtiers!"

they stood up and shook themselves and looked about. the trees were thick and they could see no more than a few yards in any direction.

"i suppose your majesties know the way all right?" said the dwarf.

"i don't," said susan. "i've never seen these woods in my life before. in fact i thought all along that we ought to have gone by the river."

"then i think you might have said so at the time," answered peter, with pardonable sharpness.

"oh, don't take any notice of her," said edmund. "she always is a wet blanket. you've got that pocket compass of yours, peter, haven't you? well, then, we're as right as rain. we've only got to keep on going north-west - cross that little river, the what-do-you-call-it? - the rush -"

"i know," said peter. "the one that joins the big river at the fords of beruna, or beruna's bridge, as the d.l.f. calls it."

"that's right. cross it and strike uphill, and we'll be at the stone table (aslan's how, i mean) by eight or nine o'clock. i hope king caspian will give us a good breakfast!"

"i hope you're right," said susan. "i can't remember all that at all."

"that's the worst of girls," said edmund to peter and the dwarf. "they never carry a map in their heads."

"that's because our heads have something inside them," said lucy.

at first things seemed to be going pretty well. they even -thought they had struck an old path; but if you know anything about woods, you will know that one is always finding imaginary paths. they disappear after about five minutes and then you think you have found another (and hope it is not another but more of the same one) and it also disappears, and after you have been well lured out of your right direction you realize that none of them were pats at all. the boys and the dwarf, however, were used to woods and were not taken in for more than a few seconds.

they had plodded on for about half an hour (three of them very stiff from yesterday's rowing) when trumpkin suddenly whispered, "stop." they all stopped. "there's something following us," he said in a low voice. "or rather, something keeping up with us: over there on the left." they all stood still, listening and staring till their ears and eyes ached. "you and i'd better each have an arrow on the string," said susan to trumpkin. the dwarf nodded, and when both bows were ready for action the party went on again.

they went a few dozen yards through fairly open woodland, keeping a sharp look-out. then they came to a place where the undergrowth thickened and they had to pass nearer to it. just as they were passing the place, there came a sudden something that snarled and flashed, rising out from the breaking twigs like a thunderbolt. lucy was knocked down and winded, hearing the twang of a bowstring as she fell. when she was able to take notice of things again, she saw a great grim-looking grey bear lying dead with trumpkin's arrow in its side.

"the d.l.f. beat you in that shooting match, su," said #peter, with a slightly forced smile. even he had been shaken by this adventure.

"i - i left it too late," said susan, in an embarrassed voice. "i was so afraid it might be, you know - one of our kind of bears, a talking bear." she hated killing things.

"that's the trouble of it," said trumpkin, "when most of the beasts have gone enemy and gone dumb, but there are still some of the other kind left. you never know, and you daren't wait to see."

"poor old bruin," said susan. "you don't think he was?"

"not he," said the dwarf. "i saw the face and i heard the snarl. he only wanted little girl for his breakfast. and talking of breakfast, i didn't want to discourage your majesties when you said you hoped king caspian would give you a good one: but meat's precious scarce in camp. and there's good eating on a bear. it would be a shame to leave the carcass without taking a bit, and it won't delay us more than half an hour. i dare say you two youngsters - kings, i should say - know how to skin a bear?"

"let's go and sit down a fair way off," said susan to lucy. "i know what a horrid messy business that will be." lucy shuddered and nodded. when they had sat down she said: "such a horrible idea has come into my head, su. "

"what's that?"

"wouldn't it be dreadful if some day, in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you'd never know which were which?"

"we've got enough to bother about here and now in narnia," said the practical susan, "without imagining things like that."

when they rejoined the boys and the dwarf, as much as they thought they could carry of the best meat had been cut off. raw meat is not a nice thing to fill one's pockets with, but they folded it up in fresh leaves and made the best of it. they were all experienced enough to know that they would feel quite differently about these squashy and unpleasant parcels when they had walked long enough to be really hungry.

on they trudged again (stopping to wash three pairs of hands that needed it in the first stream they passed) until the sun rose and the birds began to sing, and more flies than they wanted were buzzing in the bracken. the stiffness from yesterday's rowing began to wear off. everybody's spirits rose. the sun grew warmer and they took their helmets off and carried them.

"i suppose we are going right?" said edmund about an hour later.

"i don't see how we can go wrong as long as we don't bear too much to the left," said peter. "if we bear too much to the right, the worst that can happen is wasting a little time by striking the great river too soon and not cutting off the corner."

and again they trudged on with no sound except the thud of their feet and the jingle of their chain shirts.

"where's this bally rush got to?" said edmund a good deal later.

"i certainly thought we'd have struck it by now," said peter. "but there's nothing to do but keep on." they both knew that the dwarf was looking anxiously at them, but he said nothing.

and still they trudged on and their mail shirts began to feel very hot and heavy.

"what on earth?" said peter suddenly.

they had come, without seeing it, almost to the edge of a small precipice from which they looked down into a gorge with a river at the bottom. on the far side the cliffs rose much higher. none of the party except edmund (and perhaps trumpkin) was a rock climber.

"i'm sorry," said peter. "it's my fault for coming this way. we're lost. i've never seen this place in my life before."

the dwarf gave a low whistle between his teeth.

"oh, do let's go back and go the other way," said susan. "i knew all along we'd get lost in these woods."

"susan!" said lucy, reproachfully, "don't nag at peter like that. it's so rotten, and he's doing all he can."

"and don't you snap at su like that, either," said edmund. "i think she's quite right."

"tubs and tortoiseshells!" exclaimed trumpkin. "if we've got lost coming, what chance have we of finding our way back? and if we're to go back to the island and begin all over again - even supposing we could - we might as well give the whole thing up. miraz will have finished with caspian before we get there at that rate."

"you think we ought to go on?" said lucy.

"i'm not sure the high king is lost," said trumpkin. "what's to hinder this river being the rush?"

"because the rush is not in a gorge," said peter, keeping his temper with some difficulty.

"your majesty says is," replied the dwarf, "but oughtn't you to say was? you knew this country hundreds - it may be a thousand - years ago. mayn't it have changed? a landslide might have pulled off half the side of that hill, leaving bare rock, and there are your precipices beyond the gorge. then the rush might go on deepening its course year after year till you get the little precipices this side. or there might have been an earthquake, or anything."

"i never thought of that," said peter.

"and anyway," continued trumpkin, "even if this is not the rush, it's flowing roughly north and so it must fall into the great river anyway. i think i passed something that might have been it, on my way down. so if we go downstream, to our right, we'll hit the great river. perhaps not so high as we'd hoped, but at least we'll be no worse off than if you'd come my way."

"trumpkin, you're a brick," said peter. "come on, then. down this side of the gorge."

"look! look! look!" cried lucy.

"where? what?" said everyone.

"the lion," said lucy. "aslan himself. didn't you see?" her face had changed completely and her eyes shone.

"do you really mean -?" began peter.

"where did you think you saw him?" asked susan.

"don't talk like a grown-up," said lucy, stamping her foot. "i didn't think i saw him. i saw him."

"where, lu?" asked peter.

"right up there between those mountain ashes. no, this side of the gorge. and up, not down. just the opposite of the way you want to go. and he wanted us to go where he was - up there."

"how do you know that was what he wanted?" asked edmund.

"he - i - i just know," said lucy, "by his face."

the others all looked at each other in puzzled silence.

"her majesty may well have seen a lion," put in trumpkin. "there are lions in these woods, i've been told. but it needn't have been a friendly and talking lion any more than the bear was a friendly and talking bear."

"oh, don't be so stupid," said lucy. "do you think i don't know aslan when i see him?"

"he'd be a pretty elderly lion by now," said trumpkin, "if he's one you knew when you were here before! and if it could be the same one, what's to prevent him having gone wild and witless like so many others?"

lucy turned crimson and i think she would have flown at trumpkin, if peter had not laid his hand on her arm. "the d.l.f. doesn't understand. how could he? you must just take it, trumpkin, that we do really know about aslan; a little bit about him, i mean. and you mustn't talk about him like that again. it isn't lucky for one thing: and it's all nonsense for another. the only question is whether aslan was really there."

"but i know he was," said lucy, her eyes filling with tears.

"yes, lu, but we don't, you see," said peter.

"there's nothing for it but a vote," said edmund.

"all right," replied peter. "you're the eldest, d.l.f. what do you vote for? up or down?"

"down," said the dwarf. "i know nothing about aslan. but i do know that if we turn left and follow the gorge up, it might lead us all day before we found a place where we could cross it. whereas if we turn right and go down, we're bound to reach the great river in about a couple of hours. and if there are any real lions about, we want to go away from them, not towards them."

"what do you say, susan?"

"don't be angry, lu," said susan, "but i do think we should go down. i'm dead tired. do let's get out of this wretched wood into the open as quick as we can. and none of us except you saw anything."

"edmund?" said peter.

"well, there's just this," said edmund, speaking quickly and turning a little red. "when we first discovered narnia a year ago - or a thousand years ago, whichever it is - it was lucy who discovered it first and none of us would believe her. i was the worst of the lot, i know. yet she was right after all. wouldn't it be fair to believe her this time? i vote for going up."

"oh, ed!" said lucy and seized his hand.

"and now it's your turn, peter," said susan, "and i do hope -"

"oh, shut up, shut up and let a chap think," interrupted peter. "i'd much rather not have to vote. "

"you're the high king," said trumpkin sternly.

"down," said peter after a long pause. "i know lucy may be right after all, but i can't help it. we must do one or the other."

so they set off to their right along the edge, downstream. and lucy came last of the party, crying bitterly.

9露茜看到了什么

绕过最后一个海岬，开始向清水湾逆流而上的时候，苏珊和两个男孩都已经筋疲力尽了。露茜也由于海水反光对眼睛的剌激感到有些头疼。连杜鲁普金都感到疲惫不堪，盼望这航行快些结束。船尾他一直坐着的那个座位原不是为小矮人准备的，所以他的两只脚悬空在那里，一点儿也使不上劲，不难想像那是多么不舒服。随着疲劳感的增加，大家的情绪也渐渐低落下去。开始，他们一心想的是如何尽快找到凯斯宾，而现在他们开始怀疑，即使找到了他，就凭这么几个小不点儿的小矮人和森林里的动物，怎么能够打败一支成年人组成的军队。

当他们慢慢划过清水湾的时候，夜幕已经降临——随着海岸一点点靠近，暮色也越来越浓，河岸上伸出来的树枝不时碰到头上。大海的声音在他们身后渐渐消失了，这里非常安静，甚至能听见潺潺的小溪从森林里流向清水湾。,

他们终于登陆了。谁也没有力气去拾柴点火，更谈不上去捕猎充饥，他们宁愿再吃一顿苹果，尽管苹果已经吃得太多，丝毫不能引起他们的食欲。他们默默地嚼了一阵苹果，

便缩作一团，躺倒在四棵高大栎树下面那层厚厚的枯叶上。

除了露茜以外，其他人倒下便睡着了。露茜没有那么累，所以翻来覆去，怎么躺都觉得不舒服。更糟糕的是，杜鲁普金鼻平声大作，简直像在打雷。她知道，在这种情况下，最好的办法就是不要勉强去睡。于是，她睁开双眼，漫无目标地朝前望去。透过树枝的空隙，她刚好看见河里的一道清水。翻过身来，她又看见了一片星空，不由得激起她对往事的回想。她曾经是多么熟悉纳尼亚的星星，因为作为纳尼亚的女王，晚上何时睡觉，从来不受别人管束。这时，从她躺着的地方，至少可以看到三个夏日星座：轮船星座、铁锤星座和豹子星座。"亲爱的老豹子。"她轻声呼唤着，好像与老朋友久别重逢。

这么一来，她不仅全无睡意，反而更精神了——那是一种奇怪的、只有夜间才有的梦幻般的清醒。海湾亮如白昼，她知道月亮已经升起了，尽管看不见它。忽然，她感到整个森林都像她自己一样苏醒了过来。出于一种莫名的冲动，她迅速站起身，悄悄离开了宿营地

夜晚的空气凉爽、清新，带着幽微的花香。不远处有一只夜莺在歌唱，它时唱时停，悠然自得。前面的光线比较明亮，露茜信步走过去，来到一个树木稀疏的地方。恬静的月光与树木的阴影交织在一起，使人辨不清周围的景物。这时，那夜莺终于定准了调子，开始引吭高歌起来

露茜的眼睛渐渐适应了这里的光线，她便仔细打量起身边的一草一木来，因为她心里充满了对过去那些岁月的怀念。那时，纳尼亚的树木不仅会讲话，简直是能说会道。她深信这些树木都有灵性，而且能化作人形。看那棵银桦，它应该有清脆圆润的嗓子，长得像一位苗条的姑娘，肩上披散着棕色的长发，舞姿极其优美。再看那棵老栋树，它该是二位慈祥并充满智慧的老人，须发苍苍，由于上了年纪，手上的青筋都鼓起来了。还有身边这棵山毛榉，美丽、端庄、高贵、安详。啊，你这森林的女神!

"哦，树神，我的老朋友们！"露茜不由自主地轻声呼唤起来，"你们醒醒，醒醒啊|你们真的睡熟了吗?你们把我忘记了吗?林中仙女，水族仙女，出来吧，到我这儿来吧，"

虽然林子里一丝风也没有，那些树却在她身旁一齐摆动起来，树叶沙沙地响，仿佛在低声诉说着什么。说来奇怪，那只夜莺这时也静了下来，好像也在侧耳倾听。露茜觉得她随时都可能听懂树木在说什么，结果她失望了。沙沙声渐渐消失，夜莺又重新开始了它的歌唱，这使露茜感到茫然若有所失。是自己来得不合时宜，还是做错了什么事，或者说错了什么话?她百思不得其解。

突然，她感到有些累，于是转身走向营地，依偎在苏珊和彼得当中，几分钟之后便进入了梦乡。

清晨，凉气袭人。一觉醒来，大家都感到浑身乏力，打不起精神。森林里透过一缕灰蒙蒙的晨曦(这时太阳还没升起)，到处都显得潮湿、脏乱。

"来呀，吃苹果，又香又脆的大苹果!”杜鲁普金怪腔怪调地喊着，一边拿起一只苹果，皱着眉头看了看，又把它放下了。

孩子们懒懒地站起身来，使劲摇摇头，使自己清醒起来，然后向四周望去。树林很茂密，朝哪个方向都望不出很远。

"我猎各位一定很熟悉道路吧?"小矮人问。

"我不熟悉，"苏珊说，"从来没见过这些树林。实际上我一直在想，我们应该顺河而上的。"

"你当时怎么不说?"由于心情不好，彼得的话有些尖刻。

"喂，别听她的，"爱德蒙说，"她总是让人扫兴。彼得，你带着那个袖珍指南针了吧?好，那我们就不怕了，我们只要一直朝西北方向走，穿过那条小河，你们叫它什么来着，拉什河？

"柏卢纳渡口，是那条小河与大河汇合的地方，"彼得说，"或者按dlf的叫法，柏卢纳大桥口"

"对，我们走过桥去，一直往山上爬，九点钟以前就能到达石桌，也就是阿斯兰堡垒。我相信凯斯宾国王将款待我们一顿丰盛的早餐!”

"但愿如此，"苏珊说，"我怎么对这里的地形一点儿印象都没有呢?"

"女孩子最糟的就是这个了，"爱德蒙对彼得和小矮人说，"她们的脑袋瓜里根本没有放地图的地方。"

"那是因为我们的脑袋瓜里装着别的东西。"露茜反驳道。

开始，似乎一切都还顺利，他们相信走的是正确的路线。可是，假如你对森林有些起码的常识，那你就会知道走在森林里的人们常常会被想像出来的道路所迷惑。因为，过不了几分钟，脚下的路便消失了。于是，你的眼睛马上转向另一条路，希望这是刚才那条路的延续。走不多远，这条路又不见了。你最后将发现，原来脚下根本就不是路。好在两个男孩子和那小矮人都在森林里走惯了，所以也没有绕多少弯路。

他们吃力而缓慢地向前走了大约有半个钟头(他们中间有三个由于昨天划船，直到现在还浑身酸痛)，突然，杜鲁普金悄声说"停！"大家立刻紧张地停下脚步。"有什么东西在跟踪我们，"小矮人把声音压得很低，"或者说它在与我们平行前进——就在左边那儿。"孩子们紧张地站在原地，眼睛盯着小矮人于指的地方，半天也不见有什么动静。"我们俩最好在弓上搭一支箭。"苏珊对杜鲁普金说。小矮人点点头，表示赞成。当两张弓都箭在弦上后，大家才多了些安全感，又继续向前走。

他们十分警觉地在一片较为开阔的林子里又走了几十米，然后来到一个灌木茂密的地方。猛然间，随着一声呼啸，一只什么野兽从灌木后面猛扑过来。露茜猝不及防，一下被扑倒在地上，打了几个滚儿。她在跌倒的一刹那，听见嗒的一声弓弦响。当她清醒过来时，看到一只面曰狰狞的大灰熊，躺在地上，已经气绝身亡。熊的大脑袋上还插着杜鲁普金的一支箭。

"在这场射箭比赛中，dlf可是把你打败啦，苏。"彼得勉强笑了一下，试图缓和这场虚惊造成的紧张。

"我……箭放得太迟了，"苏珊说，那样子很窘，"我真怕那会是一只，你们知道——只有灵性的熊，一只会讲话的熊。"还有一句没有说出口的话，那就是她不愿意伤害任何一条生命。'

"这就麻烦了。"杜鲁普金说，"不错，有些纳尼亚的后代至今仍活在世上，可大部分动物都是哑巴，都是敌人，你很难分辨出来。"

"我想到了老布鲁恩，"苏珊说，"你当时就没有想到会是布鲁恩吗?"

"不是，"那小矮人说，"我看到了那张脸，也听到了那声呼啸，它只不过是想要这小姑娘做早餐。刚才你说，你指望凯斯宾国王能款待你们一顿丰盛的早餐，我真不想扫你们的兴。说实话，营地里的肉少得可怜。听我说，朋友们，熊肉的味道肯定不错。我们要是不带上点儿熊肉，那可太遗憾了。怎么样，咱们顶多耽误半个钟头。我敢说，你们两个小伙子——对不起，我该说国王陛下——该知道怎么剥熊皮的吧?"8

"咱们到别的什么地方坐一会儿，"苏珊对露茜说，"我知道那活儿有多么脏，多么恶心。"露茜打了个哆嗦，立即站起来随姐姐走开，一边说，"苏，我脑子里闪过一个非常可怕的念头。"

"什么?"

"要是有一天，在我们自己的世界里，有人野蛮地向你冲过来，就像这儿的野兽，可样子却仍然是人，你也搞不清他是人是兽是敌是友，那不是很可怕吗?"

"我们在纳尼亚麻烦已经够多的了，"苏珊非常现实地说，"你不要幻想那样的事情了。"

剥熊皮的工作进行得很顺利，马上又要出发了。他们尽可能多地带上切割下来的熊肉。口袋不好装，他们便仔细地把肉包在新鲜的树叶里面。经验告诉他们，待会儿走累了，肚子饿了的时候，这些又湿又软、令人反感的小包包会有大用处的。

他们继续艰难地向前走。直到旭日东升，小鸟又开始歌唱，他们在一条小溪旁停了下来，仔细洗干净了三双沾满熊血的手。不知不觉中，昨天划船引起的浑身酸痛完全消失了，大家的情绪又振奋起来。

"咱们的方向没错吧?”一个钟头之后爱德蒙问道。

"我们并没有向左边去得太多，我还看不出来现在的方向会有什么不对。"彼得说，"要是咱们走得太靠右边，充其量不过是浪费一点时间;因为那样我们就会过早地靠近河边，从那里到河湾的路会难走一些。"

于是，他们继续往前走，谁也不说话，只有他们的脚步声和衣服的慧翠声。

"这可恨的河口在什么地方?"过了老半天爱德蒙说。

"我刚才满以为这会儿就该到了，"彼得说，"可现在只有继续向前走，别无选择。"他俩都发觉那小矮人正忧心忡忡地望着他们，便没有再说什么。

他们不停地走呀走，身上的盔甲开始变得沉重起来，使他们感到十分闷热。

"这是怎么回事?"彼得突然停下脚步。

不知不觉中他们来到一个悬崖的边缘，从这儿居高临下，可以看到一条峡谷，以及谷底的河流。对面的峭壁要离得多。除了爱德蒙以外(也许还有杜鲁普金)，谁也不曾在岩石上攀登过。

"真糟糕，"彼得说，"我们迷路了，以前从来没有见到过这个地方。对不起，这都怪我。"

小矮人轻轻吹了声口哨。

"唉，要不咱们返回去，从另一条路走吧，"苏珊苦着脸说，"我早就知道在这些树林里我们要迷路的。"

"苏珊!”露茜责备地看了她一眼，"别那么说，彼得已经尽了最大的努力。"

"你也别这样对苏珊讲话，"爱德蒙在一边打抱不平，"我想她的话是对的。"

"啧啧啧!”杜鲁普金抱怨道，"要是我们迷了路，怎样才能摸回去呢?况且，即便咱们又回到岛上，一切从头开始——假设那是可能的话——咱们可就把什么事都给耽误啦。因为那样的话，不等我们到达那里，弥若兹就已经把凯斯宾打垮了。"

"你认为我们应该继续往前走?"露茜问。

"不知道，"杜鲁普金耸耸肩膀，"隆下，你肯定咱们已误入歧途?你能断定这里不是河口吗?"

"因为河口不在峡谷里。"彼得说，竭力忍住没有发火。"隆下，是不是应该说:‘过去不在峡谷里?"小矮人仍不死心，"你所熟悉的是几百年甚至几千年以前的纳尼亚。这么多年过去了，难道它就不会改变?一次大塌方，就完全可能把那座山削去一面，留下光秃秃的岩石，成为峡谷那边的峭壁。以后，年复一年，端急的河流不断地冲击河槽，结果在这一面又形成了我们脚下的悬崖。我们还可以设想，这里曾经发生过地震之类的事情。"

"我从来没有想到过这些。"彼得说。

"无论如何，"杜鲁普金接着说，"即便这不是河口，可它涓涓流向北方，势将汇入那条大河口来的路上我似乎曾经走过这个地方。因此，假如我们朝下游走，再往右拐..

"看!快看!你们快看！"露茜突然叫了起来。

"哪里?什么?"大家顺着她手指的方向望去。

"狮子，"露茜激动不己，两只大眼睛闪闪发光，"就是阿斯兰，你们没有看见吗?u

"你是说——阿斯兰?”彼得顿时睁大了双眼。"你以为它在什么地方?"苏珊不大相信。

"不是以为，"露茜使劲跺着脚，"千真万确，我真的看到了阿斯兰!”

"在哪儿，露?"彼得问。

"就在山顶上，那些按树之间。不，在峡谷的这一边，往上看——它想要我们到它那儿去，与你选择的方向正好相反。"

"你怎么知道它想要我们去?”爱德蒙问。

"它……我……反正我知道，"露茜说，"从它的脸上可以看出来。"

大家迷惑不解地互相望一望，谁也不讲话。

"露茜女王隆下很可能真的看到了一头狮子，"杜鲁普金插嘴说，"这些树林里当然有狮子，而且肯定不止一头，这我太知道了。但它未必是一头友好的、会讲话的狮子，就像刚才那头熊一样。"

"噢，别傻了，"露茜说，"你以为我看见了阿斯兰会认不出来吗?"

"它现在该是一头老态龙钟的狮子了，"杜鲁普金说，"假如它就是你们的那位老相识，老朋友l再说，如果是它，谁又能够担保这么多年之后，它不会像许多其他的动物一样，变野变蠢呢

露茜一下子脸色通红，要不是彼得把一只手放在她肩膀上，她简直会扑向杜鲁普金。

"dlf是不明白的，他怎么会呢?"彼得一边安慰露茜，一边转向小矮人，"你记住，杜鲁普金，我们才真正了解阿斯兰，你不可以再那样谈论它了。现在必须搞清楚阿斯兰是否真的在那里。"

"我发誓，刚才就是在那儿的。"露茜说，眼睛里充满了泪水。

"或许是的，露。可是只有你看见了它，我们都没有看见。"

"我们没有别的办法了，大家表决吧。"爱德蒙说。

"好吧，"彼得回答道，"你年纪最大，dlf，你投什么票?往上走，还是往下?"

"往下，"小矮人毫不迟疑地说，"我对阿斯兰一无所知，可我确实知道倘若咱们向左拐，再顺着峡谷往上走，那可能得走一天才能找到一个可以过河的地方;可是如果往下游去，再往右拐，咱们肯定能在两个小时之内到达大河。再说，要是附近真的有狮子的话，咱们应该避开它们，而不要走近它们。"

"你怎么说，苏珊γ'

"你别生气，露，"苏珊说，"我真的认为我们应该朝下游走，我累极了，咱们赶紧离开这可恶的森林，到露天的空地去吧。我和大家一样，希望看到阿斯兰。可是，除了你一个人之外，我们大家什么都没看见。"

"爱德蒙?"彼得说。

"嗯，是这样，"爱德蒙讲得很快，脸色微微发红，"一年以前，咱们第一次发现纳尼亚的时候——也许是一千年以前，这个不去管它——是露茜首先发现了这个奇妙的国度，而我们都不相信她。我表现最糟了，这我知道。可事实证明她是对的，这一次我要支持她，也算向露茜表示歉意。我投票赞成向上游走。"

"噢，爱德蒙！"露茜紧紧抓住他的手。

"现在轮到你了，彼得，"苏珊说，"我真希望——"

"嘿，别说!让人家自己思考，"彼得打断了她的话，"我想我最好不参加投票。"

"你是至尊王。"杜鲁普金庄重地提醒道。

"向下。"沉默许久，彼得终于说，"我知道露茜很可能还是对的，但是……我没有别的办法，两者之中我们必须选择其一。

就这样，他们沿着右边的悬崖，朝下游出发了，露茜走在最后面，哭得好伤心。