the ancient treasure house
"this wasn't a garden," said susan presently. "it was a castle and this must have been the courtyard."
"i see what you mean," said peter. "yes. that is the remains of a tower. and there is what used to be a flight of steps going up to the top of the walls. and look at those other steps - the broad, shallow ones - going up to that doorway. it must have been the door into the great hall."
"ages ago, by the look of it," said edmund.
"yes, ages ago," said peter. "i wish we could find out who the people were that lived in this castle; and how long ago."
"it gives me a queer feeling," said lucy.
"does it, lu?" said peter, turning and looking hard at her. "because it does the same to me. it is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day. i wonder where we are and what it all means?"
while they were talking they had crossed the courtyard and gone through the other doorway into what had once been the hall. this was now very like the courtyard, for the roof had long since disappeared and it was merely another space of grass and daisies, except that it was shorter and narrower and the walls were higher. across the far end there was a kind of terrace about three feet higher than the rest.
"i wonder, was it really the hall?" said susan. "what is that terrace kind of thing?"
"why, you silly," said peter (who had become strangely excited), "don't you see? that was the dais where the high table was, where the king and the great lords sat. anyone would think you had forgotten that we ourselves were once kings and queens and sat on a dais just like that, in our great hall."
"in our castle of cair paravel," continued susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice, "at the mouth of the great river of narnia. how could i forget?"
"how it all comes back!" said lucy. "we could pretend we were in cair paravel now. this hall must have been very like the great hall we feasted in."
"but unfortunately without the feast," said edmund. "it's getting late, you know. look how long the shadows are. and have you noticed that it isn't so hot?"
"we shall need a camp-fire if we've got to spend the night here," said peter. "i've got matches. let's go and see if we can collect some dry wood."
everyone saw the sense of this, and for the next halfhour they were busy. the orchard through which they had first come into the ruins turned out not to be a good place for firewood. they tried the other side of the castle, passing out of the hall by a little side door into a maze of stony humps and hollows which must once have been passages and smaller rooms but was now all nettles and wild roses. beyond this they found a wide gap in the castle wall and stepped through it into a wood of darker and bigger trees where they found dead branches and rotten wood and sticks and dry leaves and fir-cones in plenty. they went to and fro with bundles until they had a good pile on the dais. at the fifth journey they found the well, just outside the hall, hidden in weeds, but clean and fresh and deep when they had cleared these away.
the remains of a stone pavement ran half-way round it. then the girls went out to pick some more apples and the boys built the fire, on the dais and fairly close to the corner between two walls, which they thought would be the snuggest and warmest place. they had great difficulty in lighting it and used a lot of matches, but they succeeded in the end. finally, all four sat down with their backs to the wall and their faces to the fire. they tried roasting some of the apples on the ends of sticks. but roast apples are not much good without sugar, and they are too hot to eat with your fingers till they are too cold to be worth eating. so they had to content themselves with raw apples, which, as edmund said, made one realize that school suppers weren't so bad after all - "i shouldn't mind a good thick slice of bread and margarine this minute," he added. but the spirit of adventure was rising in them all, and no one really wanted to be back at school.
shortly after the last apple had been eaten, susan went out to the well to get another drink. when she came back she was carrying something in her hand.
"look," she said in a rather choking kind of voice. "i found it by the well." she handed it to peter and sat down. the others thought she looked and sounded as if she might be going to cry. edmund and lucy eagerly bent forward to see what was in peter's hand - a little, bright thing that gleamed in the firelight.
"well, i'm - i'm jiggered," said peter, and his voice also sounded queer. then he handed it to the others.
all now saw what it was - a little chess-knight, ordinary in size but extraordinarily heavy because it was made of pure gold; and the eyes in the horse's head were two tiny little rubies or rather one was, for the other had been knocked out.
"why!" said lucy, "it's exactly like one of the golden chessmen we used to play with when we were kings and queens at cair paravel."
"cheer up, su," said peter to his other sister.
"i can't help it," said susan. "it brought back - oh, such lovely times. and i remembered playing chess with fauns and good giants, and the mer-people singing in the sea, and my beautiful horse - and - and -"
"now," said peter in a quite different voice, "it's about time we four started using our brains."
"what about?" asked edmund.
"have none of you guessed where we are?" said peter.
"go on, go on," said lucy. "i've felt for hours that there was some wonderful mystery hanging over this place."
"fire ahead, peter," said edmund. "we're all listening."
"we are in the ruins of cair paravel itself," said peter.
"but, i say," replied edmund. "i mean, how do you make that out? this place has been ruined for ages. look at all those big trees growing right up to the gates. look at the very stones. anyone can see that nobody has lived here for hundreds of years."
"i know," said peter. "that is the difficulty. but let's leave that out for the moment. i want to take the points one by one. first point: this hall is exactly the same shape and size as the hall at cair paravel. just picture a roof on this, and a coloured pavement instead of grass, and tapestries on the walls, and you get our royal banqueting hall."
no one said anything.
"second point," continued peter. "the castle well is exactly where our well was, a little to the south of the great hall; and it is exactly the same size and shape."
again there was no reply.
"third point: susan has just found one of our old chessmen - or something as like one of them as two peas."
still nobody answered.
"fourth point. don't you remember - it was the very day before the ambassadors came from the king of calormen don't you remember planting the orchard outside the north gate of cair paravel? the greatest of all the wood-people, pomona herself, came to put good spells on it. it was those very decent little chaps the moles who did the actual digging. can you have forgotten that funny old lilygloves, the chief mole, leaning on his spade and saying, `believe me, your majesty, you'll be glad of these fruit trees one day.' and by jove he was right."
"i do! i do!" said lucy, and clapped her hands.
"but look here, peter," said edmund. "this must be all rot. to begin with, we didn't plant the orchard slap up against the gate. we wouldn't have been such fools."
"no, of course not," said peter. "but it has grown up to the gate since."
"and for another thing," said edmund, "cair paravel wasn't on an island."
"yes, i've been wondering about that. but it was a what-do-you-call-it, a peninsula. jolly nearly an island. couldn't it have been made an island since our time? somebody has dug a channel."
"but half a moment!" said edmund. "you keep on saying since our time. but it's only a year ago since we came back from narnia. and you want to make out that in one year castles have fallen down, and great forests have grown up, and little trees we saw planted ourselves have turned into a big old orchard, and goodness knows what else. it's all impossible."
"there's one thing," said lucy. "if this is cair paravel there ought to be a door at this end of the dais. in fact we ought to be sitting with our backs against it at this moment. you know - the door that led down to the treasure chamber."
"i suppose there isn't a door," said peter, getting up.
the wall behind them was a mass of ivy.
"we can soon find out," said edmund, taking up one of the sticks that they had laid ready for putting on the fire. he began beating the ivied wall. tap-tap went the stick against the stone; and again, tap-tap; and then, all at once, boomboom, with a quite different sound, a hollow, wooden sound.
"great scott!" said edmund.
"we must clear this ivy away," said peter.
"oh, do let's leave it alone," said susan. "we can try it in the morning. if we've got to spend the night here i don't want an open door at my back and a great big black hole that anything might come out of, besides the draught and the damp. and it'll soon be dark."
"susan! how can you?" said lucy with a reproachful glance. but both the boys were too much excited to take any notice of susan's advice. they worked at the ivy with their hands and with peter's pocket-knife till the knife broke. after that they used edmund's. soon the whole place where they had been sitting was covered with ivy; and at last they had the door cleared.
"locked, of course," said peter.
"but the wood's all rotten," said edmund. "we can pull it to bits in no time, and it will make extra firewood. come on."
it took them longer than they expected and, before they had done, the great hall had grown dusky and the first star or two had come out overhead. susan was not the only one who felt a slight shudder as the boys stood above the pile of splintered wood, rubbing the dirt off their hands and staring into the cold, dark opening they had made.
"now for a torch," said peter.
"oh, what is the good?" said susan. "and as edmund said -"
"i'm not saying it now," edmund interrupted. "i still don't understand, but we can settle that later. i suppose you're coming down, peter?"
"we must," said peter. "cheer up, susan. it's no good behaving like kids now that we are back in narnia.
you're a queen here. and anyway no one could go to sleep with a mystery like this on their minds."
they tried to use long sticks as torches but this was not a success. if you held them with the lighted end up they went out, and if you held them the other way they scorched your hand and the smoke got in your eyes. in the end they had to use edmund's electric torch; luckily it had been a birthday present less than a week ago and the battery was almost new. he went first, with the light. then came lucy, then susan, and peter brought up the rear.
"i've come to the top of the steps," said edmund.
"count them," said peter.
"one - two - three," said edmund, as he went cautiously down, and so up to sixteen. "and this is the bottom," he shouted back.
"then it really must be cair paravel," said lucy. "there were sixteen." nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the foot of the stairway. then edmund flashed his torch slowly round.
"o - o - o - oh!!" said all the children at once.
for now all knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of cair paravel where they had once reigned as kings and queens of narnia. there was a kind of path up the middle (as it might be in a greenhouse), and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armour, like knights guarding the treasures. in between the suits of armour, and on each side of the path, were shelves covered with precious things - necklaces and arm rings and finger rings and golden bowls and dishes and long tusks of ivory, brooches and coronets and chains of gold, and heaps of unset stones lying piled anyhow as if they were marbles or potatoes - diamonds, rubies, carbuncles, emeralds, topazes, and amethysts. under the shelves stood great chests of oak strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked. and it was bitterly cold, and so still that they could hear themselves breathing, and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things, they would hardly have known they were treasures. there was something sad and a little frightening about the place, because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago. that was why nobody said anything for at least a minute.
then, of course, they began walking about and picking things up to look at. it was like meeting very old friends. if you had been there you would have heard them saying things like, "oh look! our coronation rings - do you remember first wearing this? - why, this is the little brooch we all thought was lost - i say, isn't that the armour you wore in the great tournament in the lone islands? - do you remember the dwarf making that for me? - do you remember drinking out of that horn? - do you remember, do you remember?"
but suddenly edmund said, "look here. we mustn't waste the battery: goodness knows how often we shall need it. hadn't we better take what we want and get out again?"
"we must take the gifts," said peter. for long ago at a christmas in narnia he and susan and lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom. edmund had had no gift, because he was not with them at the time. (this was his own fault, and you can read about it in the other book.)
they all agreed with peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber, and there, sure enough, the gifts were still hanging. lucy's was the smallest for it was only a little bottle. but the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass, and it was still more than half full of the magical cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness. lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side where it used to hang in the old days. susan's gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. the bow was still there, and the ivory quiver, full of wellfeathered arrows, but - "oh, susan," said lucy. "where's the horn?"
"oh bother, bother, bother," said susan after she had thought for a moment. "i remember now. i took it with me the last day of all, the day we went hunting the white stag. it must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place - england, i mean."
edmund whistled. it was indeed a shattering loss; for this was an enchanted horn and, whenever you blew it, help was certain to come to you, wherever you were.
"just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this," said edmund.
"never mind," said susan, "i've still got the bow." and she took it.
"won't the string be perished, su?" said peter.
but whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not, the bow was still in working order. archery and swimming were the things susan was good at. in a moment she had bent the bow and then she gave one little pluck to the string. it twanged: a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room. and that one small noise brought back the old days to the children's minds more than anything that had happened yet. all the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together.
then she unstrung the bow again and slung the quiver at her side.
next, peter took down his gift - the shield with the great red lion on it, and the royal sword. he blew, and rapped them on the floor, to get off the dust. he fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side. he was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. but it was not so. with one swift motion he drew it and held it up, shining in the torchlight.
"it is my sword rhindon," he said; "with it i killed the wolf." there was a new tone in his voice, and the others all felt that he was really peter the high king again. then, after a little pause, everyone remembered that they must save the battery.
they climbed the stair again and made up a good fire and lay down close together for warmth. the ground was very hard and uncomfortable, but they fell asleep in the end.
2古老的宝库
这不像是个花园，"苏珊想了想说，"这准是个城堡，我们站的这个地方就是城堡的院子。""
"我明白你的意思了，"彼得说，"对，那是塔楼的废墟，那是楼梯，直通顶层。你们再看这些又宽又浅的台阶，一直通往门廊，那门准是通往大厅去的。"
看上去可真有些年头了。"爱德蒙说。
"不错，"彼得接着说，"但愿咱们能发现当年住在这里的是些什么人，以及那是多久以前的事情。"
"我觉得这一切都十分稀奇古怪。"露茜说。
"是吗，露？”彼得转过身来，眼睛盯着她，"我也有同样户感觉。这是今天这个奇怪的日子里所发生的最奇怪的事情。我真想知道咱们是在什么地方，到底发生了什么事情。"
他们一边交谈，一边穿过院子，走进另一个门道。这里曾经是个大厅，可是现在，与外面的院子几乎没什么两样，屋顶早就没有了，只见一片荒草和雏菊丛生的空地，不过比较窄，比较短，墙比院墙高一些。在另一端有个平台，比别处-
大约高三英尺。
"奇怪，这儿以前真是个大厅吗？"苏珊说，"那平台是做什么用的”
"哎，你这傻瓜，"彼得突然莫名其妙地激动起来，"你还看不出来，那是国王和贵族们坐的地方。你是不是忘记了，我们自己就曾经是国王和女王，坐在王宫的高台上，那台子跟这个都差不多的。"!
"我们的凯尔帕拉维尔城堡，"提起往事，苏珊心驰神往，如在梦中，"它就坐落在纳尼亚大河的入口处。我怎能忘记呢？"
"这一切若能重现，那该多么好哇！”露茜说，"干脆咱们把这儿当作凯尔帕拉维尔。这座大厅和我们过去举行宴会的王宫十分相似。"
"只可惜没有宴会。"爱德蒙总是很实际，"天色晚了，你们看，影子这么长，而且天气也没那么热了。"
"要是我们不得已在这儿过夜的话，就必须准备一堆篝火，"彼得说，"我有火柴，咱们分头去找，看能不能搜集些干树枝来。"
大家都意识到这是明智的，便立即行动起来。果园里枯枝并不多，他们只好穿过大厅，从一扇小小的侧门来到城堡的另一端去碰碰运气。这儿像一个迷宫，有许多石堆和空地。他们猜想，以前这些都是连在一起的小房间，可现在早已是杂草丛生，满目荒凉。再往前去，他们看见围墙上有一个大豁口。穿过豁口，来到一个小树林，这儿的树颜色很深，也很高大。在这里他们找到了大量的干枝、朽木、枯叶和冷杉树的球果。他们来回搬运，抱了一捆又一捆，在城堡平台上堆起了好大堆。幸运的是他们还在大厅外面找到了一口井，这口井被埋没在草丛里。他们把井边的杂草清理干净，发现那井水清凉、甘甜，水也很深。随后，女孩子们又跑去摘来一些苹果，两个男孩子则弄好篝火。他们用了好多根火柴，篝火终于燃起来。这时候，他们相信世上简直找不出更舒适温暖的地方了。接着，他们把苹果插在小棍尖儿上，试着烤苹果吃，可是，没有白糖，烤苹果的味道实在谈不上如何美妙。太烫时没法儿用手拿着吃，等你可以用手去拿时，它又凉得一点儿都不好吃了。结果，他们只好吃生苹果充饥。爱德蒙说得不错，学校食堂里的晚餐其实并不那么糟糕——"要是这会儿来一片厚厚的奶油面包，我倒是没什么不乐意。"他加上一句。但是，一股冒险的热情在激动着大家，谁也没有真的就想回学校去。8
吃完了最后一只苹果，苏珊又跑到井边去喝水，回来的时候她手里拿着什么东西。
"看，"她的声音有些异样，"我在井边捡到的。"她把那东西交给彼得，然后坐了下来。从她的表情和声音里，其他几个都以为她就要哭出来了。爱德、蒙和露茜极感兴趣地弯下身来，向彼得手里望去——那是个小小的、亮晶晶的东西，在篝火的映照下闪闪发光。
"真是怪事！"彼得的声音听起来也有些异样了。他随手把那东西递给其他几个。
现在，大家都看清楚了，那是一个象棋里的马，它的大小与普通棋子没什么两样，只是分量特别重，因为它是用纯金制成的。那马头上的小眼睛是两颗小宝石，说准确些是一只眼睛，因为另外一只已经掉了。#
"咦？"露茜吃了一惊，"这像是我们在凯尔帕拉维尔做国王和女王时常玩的！"
"你怎么啦，苏？"彼得注意到苏珊在那儿发愣。
"不知怎么搞的，"苏珊喃喃地说道，"这棋子把我带回了……。哦，多么迷人的日子。我还记得和小矮人以及那些善良的巨人们一起下象棋时的情景，还有水族的朋友们在海里歌唱，还有我那匹骏美的小马，还有……还有……
"现在，"彼得的声音有些激动，"咱们该认真思考一下了。
"思考什么？"爱德蒙问。
"难道你们就没有想想我们是在什么地方？"彼得说。
"你说呢，你说呀！"露茜急切地喊道，"几个小时以来，我一直感到这是个神秘的地方。"
"你接着说，彼得，"爱德蒙说，"我们都听着呢。"
"我们就在凯尔帕拉维尔的废墟上。"彼得很有把握地宣称。
"可是，我说，"爱德蒙不停地眨巴眼睛，"你怎么解释这一切呢？这个地方在很久以前就给毁坏了。看看那些大树，它们沿着大门一直长了上去，再看看这些石头。随便什么人都看得出来，这个地方几百年都没人住过了。"2
"我想过了，"彼得说，"问题就在这里，我们先把这个搁在一边，我想把我的根据一条条地摆出来。首先，这个大厅的形状和大小与凯尔帕拉维尔的那个完全一样。你们只要想象一下，上方是个穹顶，再把那些草地改成彩色的路面，墙上挂起壁毯。好了，现在咱们已经在宫廷宴会大厅里了。是不是？"
谁也没有讲话。
第二点，"彼得继续说，"这城堡的水井与我们的水井位置完全相同，在大殿偏南一点儿，而且，大小和形状也没有两样。"
其他几个仍然一言不发。
"第三点:苏珊刚刚发现的棋子，与我们过去玩的棋子一模一样。"
还是没人答话。
"第四点。你们还记得么——就在卡乐门国王的大使到来的前一天——我们在凯尔帕拉维尔城堡的北门外种了很多果树。森林里所有精灵中最高贵的果树女神波莫娜亲自前来，为我们的果园做了祈祷，而动于刨坑的正是那些打扮得十分体面的小睡鼠。你们还记得不记得它们的首领，那个上了年纪的哩哩格拉唔？它靠在铁锹上说"请相信我，陛下，总有一天，这些果树将给你带来快乐。'瞧，真给它说中了。"*
"这一切我全记得，全记得呀！”露茜拍起于来。
"可是你看这儿，彼得，"爱德蒙犹豫地说，"我们不可能紧挨着大门种植果树——我们不会这么傻的。"2
"那当然，"彼得说，"可能是后来果园慢慢延伸到大门跟前来了。"
"另外，"爱德蒙说，"凯尔帕拉维尔原来并不是一个小岛。"
"对，我对这一点也一直感到奇怪，但那要看你怎么称呼它。这里可能是一个半岛，很像一个小岛。也许在我们以后的年代，有什么人挖了一道海峡，使它变成了现在的样子。"
"等一等！"爱德蒙说，"你说在我们以后的年代，可是我们从纳尼亚回来才不过一年时间。怎么会在短短的一年里，城堡就倒塌了，巨大的森林形成了，而我们亲眼看着栽种的小树苗都变成了古老高大的果树？天晓得还有其他什么奇迹。可这全是不可能的！”*
"我想起一件事，足以证明这儿是不是我们的城堡。"
露茜激动地说，"假如这就是凯尔帕拉维尔，那么在高台的这一端应该有一扇门。实际上，这扇门应该就在我们的身后。你们都知道——它通向我们的宝库。"
"看不出来。"彼得一边说一边站起身来。
他们身后的墙上垂下大片的藤叶。
"我们马上就能搞清楚。"爱德蒙说着拿起一根准备用来生火的粗树枝，开始敲打那爬满青藤的墙壁。嗒，嗒，棍子打在墙上发出坚实的响声，再打下去，仍然是嗒，嗒，嗒。突然，通，遇，通，敲打声变了，这是一种打在木头上的声音。
"听！"爱德蒙惊呆了。
"我们必须先清除这些藤。"彼得说。
"哦，千万别去动它，"苏珊说，"咱们明天早晨再开这门吧。如果我们今晚要在这里过夜，我可不愿意在身后有扇敞开的大门，里面黑咕隆咚，往外散发着凉风和潮气，什么可怕的东西都可能从洞里跑出来！再说，天马上就要黑了。"-
"苏珊！你怎么说这种泄气的话？”露茜责备地瞥了她一眼。两个男孩子则太激动了，根本就没有注意到苏珊讲了些什么。他们开始用小刀割去青藤口转眼间，他们刚才的"安乐窝"被搞得一片凌乱。一阵忙碌过后，那扇门完全暴露出来了。5
"肯定上了锁。"彼得说。
"没关系，木头已经腐朽了，"爱德蒙信心十足，"咱们可以毫不费事地把它砸成碎片，这样我们还可以多些劈柴。来吧。"
事情可没有他们想象的那么容易。这时，沉沉暮色已笼罩大地，天上出现了几颗星星。孩子们站在一堆劈得乱七八糟的木片上，向那刚刚打开的阴森漆黑的洞里望去，不禁一阵微微的颤栗。+
"行了，拿个火把来。"彼得吩咐妹妹。)
"哎呀，现在别下去，"苏珊急忙阻拦，"爱德蒙说……”
"我现在可没那么说，"爱德蒙打断了她的话，"现在我还没有弄懂，不过我们会搞清楚是怎么回事情的。彼得，你也下来吧？"
"我们大家都下去，"彼得说，"勇敢些，苏珊。我们现在又回到了纳尼亚，像小孩子那样是没有用的。你在这里是女王。而且，不管怎么说，心里装着这样的秘密，谁也睡不着的。"
他们用树枝燃起火把照亮，但这办法不行。燃烧的那一头朝上的话，火就会熄灭；换一头的话，火苗就会灼痛手，烟会熏着眼睛。最后他们不得不用爱德蒙的电筒。幸好一个礼拜前爱德蒙生日时得到一只电筒，电池几乎还是新的。他拿着电筒第一个走了下去，接着是露茜和苏珊，彼得走在最后.
"我已经来到台阶跟前。"爱德蒙大声报告。
"数一下，看有多少级。"彼得说。
一——二——三——"爱德蒙嘴里数着，边小心翼翼地往下走。一直数到第十六级台阶。"到底了。"他朝身后喊道。
"那么这里真的是凯尔帕拉维尔，"露茜说，"以前的台阶就是十六级。"再没有谁讲一句话。直到他们走下最后一级台阶，紧靠着站在一起。爱德蒙打开手电筒，光柱缓缓地移动着。(
"哇！"孩子们立即发出了一阵欢呼。
现在无可怀疑了，这儿就是凯尔帕拉维尔那古老的宝库。作为纳尼亚的国王和女王，他们曾是这里的主人。房子正中有一条南道(就像暖房里一样)，两边每隔不远就竖立着一套辉煌的盔甲，犹如卫士在守护着那些宝藏。在南道两旁的架子上，盔甲之间，摆满了奇珍异宝——项链、手锡、戒指以及纯金餐具和长长的象牙，还有成堆尚未镶嵌的宝石，像石子或者土豆一样散乱地堆在那里——钻石、红宝石、绿宝石、红玉、黄玉，还有紫水晶。架子下面放着一个个钢片镶边的标木箱子，上着大锁。这里冷得要命，又静得出奇，孩子们几乎能听得见自己的心跳。那些宝贝上面盖着厚厚的尘土，要不是他们都知道这是什么地方，并且又回想起过去所发生的一切，他们简直无法相信那些是珠宝。渐渐地孩子们由新奇而产生的兴奋消失了，取而代之的是一丝伤感与惆怅，甚至有些恐怖，因为这里完全像是一个很久很久以前就被遗弃的地方。因此足足有几分钟，谁也没有讲话。
他们慢慢朝前走去，不时把手边的东西拿起来仔细看看，就像遇到久违的老朋友，一边发出阵阵感叹"噢，看！咱们的加冕戒指——你还记得头一次戴上它时的情景吗？——咦，这不是那枚我们都认为丢失了的胸针吗？——瞧，这不是你在孤独岛那次比武大会上穿的盔甲吗？那还是小矮人们为我特制的呢！——你记不记得我们曾经用那只号来喝酒？——你还记不记得。。
突然，爱德蒙停住了脚步"听我说，不能再浪费电池了，也许以后会更需要它。咱们是不是拿上需要的东西，然后赶紧出去？"
"我们首先得拿上那些礼物。"彼得说。很久很久以前，在一个纳尼亚的圣诞夜，他、苏珊和露茜都得了一些礼物，他们把这些礼物看得比整个王国都珍贵。爱德蒙没有礼物，因为当时他没有和大家在一起。(这是他自己的过错，你在另一个故事里可以读到。)
大家都同意彼得的话，于是顺着甬道径直朝宝库的另一端走去。不出所料，那些东西依然挂在墙上。露茜的礼物最小了，是一个宝石小瓶子，里面还剩有半瓶多神水：这神水可以瞬间治愈所有的创伤和疾病。露茜十分庄重地、默默地把它从墙上取下来，用背带斜持在肩上。苏珊的礼物是一张弓、一壶箭和一只号。那张弓依然完好无损，旁边是那只盛满了羽栩箭的象牙箭壶。可是，号却不在。
"喂|苏珊，"露茜问，"你的号在哪里？"
"唉，真糟糕！”苏珊想了想说，"我想起来了，我在最后天带着它，就是我们去围猎白色牡鹿的那一天。它肯定是在我们回人类世界时给弄丢了。"
爱德蒙吹了声口哨，深表惋惜。这是一只神奇的号。无论何时何地，只要吹响它就会及时得到帮助。
"在这样的地方，我们正需要这种宝贝。"他说。
"别担心，我还有弓箭呢。"苏珊说着从墙上把弓箭取下来。
"弓弦不会已失去弹性了吧，苏？"彼得问。
可能是宝库里的空气有些奇异之处，那张弓仍然很好用。苏珊在学校里是射箭和游泳的好手，她立即拉开弓，轻轻弹了一下弓弦。嗡的一声。弓弦那震撼人心的声响，在整个屋子里回荡。这轻轻的响声，把孩子们带回往日那美好的时光。战斗、持猎、欢宴……一幕一幕又都浮现在他们的脑海之中。'
随后，她放松了弓弦，把箭壶挎在身边。
接着，彼得取下了他的礼物——镶着一只红色巨狮的盾牌，和那柄神圣的宝剑。他吹掉剑鞘上的灰尘，在地毯上擦了擦，佩在身旁。然后把那盾牌拿在手里试一试。开始他担心宝剑会锈在剑鞘里拔不出来。可令他欣喜不己的是，那把宝剑轻轻一拉便出了鞘，在黑暗中发出一道寒光。,
"这是我的宝剑，我用它杀死了那只射狼。"他自豪地说，声音里充满了自信与勇气。其他几个这时都觉得面前站着的已不是个普通的男孩子，而是威严的彼得国王。大家突然想起，他们必须节约电池了。'
他们沿着台阶回到地面，重新燃起熊熊的篝火，然后紧紧地靠在一起，以便互相取暖。地面很硬，很不舒服，可他们太疲倦了，不久便沉沉睡去。
