the return of the lion

to keep along the edge of the gorge was not so easy as it had looked. before they had gone many yards they were confronted with young fir woods growing on the very edge, and after they had tried to go through these, stooping and pushing for about ten minutes, they realized that, in there, it would take them an hour to do half a mile. so they came back and out again and decided to go round the fir wood. this took them much farther to their right than they wanted to go, far out of sight of the cliffs and out of sound of the river, till they began to be afraid they had lost it altogether. nobody knew the time, but it was getting to the hottest part of the day.

when they were able at last to go back to the edge of the gorge (nearly a mile below the point from which they had started) they found the cliffs on their side of it a good deal lower and more broken. soon they found a way down into the gorge and continued the journey at the river's edge. but first they had a rest and a long drink. no one was talking any more about breakfast, or even dinner, with caspian.

they may have been wise to stick to the rush instead of going along the top. it kept them sure of their direction: and ever since the fir wood they had all been afraid of being forced too far out of their course and losing themselves in the wood. it was an old and pathless forest, and you could not keep anything like a straight course in it. patches of hopeless brambles, fallen trees, boggy places and dense undergrowth would be always getting in your way. but the gorge of the rush was not at all a nice place for travelling either. i mean, it was not a nice place for people in a hurry. for an afternoon's ramble ending in a picnic tea it would have been delightful. it had everything you could want on an occasion of that sort - rumbling waterfalls, silver cascades, deep, amber-coloured pools, mossy rocks, and deep moss on the banks in which you could sink over your ankles, every kind of fern, jewel-like dragon flies, sometimes a hawk overhead and once (peter and trumpkin. both thought) an eagle. but of course what the children and the dwarf wanted to see as soon as possible was the great river below them, and beruna, and the way to aslan's how.

as they went on, the rush began to fall more and more steeply. their journey became more and more of a climb and less and less of a walk - in places even a dangerous climb over slippery rock with a nasty drop into dark chasms, and the river roaring angrily at the bottom.

you may be sure they watched the cliffs on their left eagerly for any sign of a break or any place where they could climb them; but those cliffs remained cruel. it was maddening, because everyone knew that if once they were out of the gorge on that side, they would have only a smooth slope and a fairly short walk to caspian's headquarters.

the boys and the dwarf were now in favour of lighting a fire and cooking their bear-meat. susan didn't want this; she only wanted, as she said, "to get on and finish it and get out of these beastly woods". lucy was far too tired and miserable to have any opinion about anything. but as there was no dry wood to be had, it mattered very little what anyone thought. the boys began to wonder if raw meat was really as nasty as they had always been told. trumpkin assured them it was.

of course, if the children had attempted a journey like this a few days ago in england, they would have been knocked up. i think i have explained before how narnia was altering them. even lucy was by now, so to speak, only one-third of a little girl going to boarding school for the first time, and two-thirds of queen lucy of narnia.

"at last!" said susan.

"oh, hurray!" said peter.

the river gorge had just made a bend and the whole view spread out beneath them. they could see open country stretching before them to the horizon and, between it and them, the broad silver ribbon of the great river. they could see the specially broad and shallow place which had once been the fords of beruna but was now spanned by a long, many-arched bridge. there was a little town at the far end of it.

"by jove," said edmund. "we fought the battle of beruna just where that town is!"

this cheered the boys more than anything. you can't help feeling stronger when you look at a place where you won a glorious victory not to mention a kingdom, hundreds of years ago. peter and edmund were soon so busy talking about the battle that they forgot their sore feet and the heavy drag of their mail shirts on their shoulders. the dwarf was interested too.

they were all getting on at a quicker pace now. the going became easier. though there were still sheer cliffs on their left, the ground was becoming lower on their right. soon it was no longer a gorge at all, only a valley. there were no more waterfalls and presently they were in fairly thick woods again.

then - all at once - whizz, and a sound rather like the stroke of a woodpecker. the children were still wondering where (ages ago) they had heard a sound just like that and why they disliked it so, when trumpkin shouted, "down', at the same moment forcing lucy (who happened to be next to him) flat down into the bracken. peter, who had been looking up to see if he could spot a squirrel, had seen what it was - a long cruel arrow had sunk into a tree trunk just above his head. as he pulled susan down and dropped himself, another came rasping over his shoulder and struck the ground at his side.

"quick! quick! get back! crawl!" panted trumpkin.

they turned and wriggled along uphill, under the bracken amid clouds of horribly buzzing flies. arrows whizzed round them. one struck susan's helmet with a sharp ping and glanced off. they crawled quicker. sweat poured off them. then they ran, stooping nearly double. the boys held their swords in their hands for fear they would trip them up.

it was heart-breaking work - all uphill again, back over the ground they had already travelled. when they felt that they really couldn't run any more, even to save their lives, they all dropped down in the damp moss beside a waterfall and behind a big boulder, panting. they were surprised to see how high they had already got.

they listened intently and heard no sound of pursuit.

"so that's all right," said trumpkin, drawing a deep breath. "they're not searching the wood. only sentries, i expect. but it means that miraz has an outpost down there. bottles and battledores! though, it was a near thing."

"i ought to have my head smacked for bringing us this way at all," said peter.

"on the contrary, your majesty," said the dwarf. "for one thing it wasn't you, it was your royal brother, king edmund, who first suggested going by glasswater."

"i'm afraid the d.l.f.'s right," said edmund, who had quite honestly forgotten this ever since things began going wrong.

"and for another," continued trumpkin, "if we'd gone my way, we'd have walked straight into that new outpost, most likely; or at least had just the same trouble avoiding it. i think this glasswater route has turned out for the best."

"a blessing in disguise," said susan.

"some disguise!" said edmund.

"i suppose we'll have to go right up the gorge again now," said lucy.

"lu, you're a hero," said peter. "that's the nearest you've got today to saying i told you so. let's get on."

"and as soon as we're well up into the forest," said trumpkin, "whatever anyone says, i'm going to light a fire and cook supper. but we must get well away from here."

there is no need to describe how they toiled back up the gorge. it was pretty hard work, but oddly enough everyone felt more cheerful. they were getting their second wind; and the word supper had had a wonderful effect.

they reached the fir wood which had caused them so much trouble while it was still daylight, and bivouacked in a hollow just above it. it was tedious gathering the firewood; but it was grand when the fire blazed up and they began producing the damp and smeary parcels of bear-meat which would have been so very unattractive to anyone who had spent the day indoors. the dwarf had splendid ideas about cookery. each apple (they still had a few of these) was wrapped up in bear's meat - as if it was to be apple dumpling with meat instead of pastry, only much thicker - and spiked on a sharp stick and then roasted. and the juice of the apple worked all through the meat, like apple sauce with roast pork. bear that has lived too much on other animals is not very nice, but bear that has had plenty of honey and fruit is excellent, and this turned out to be that sort of bear. it was a truly glorious meal. and, of course, no washing up - only lying back and watching the smoke from trumpkin's pipe and stretching one's tired legs and chatting. everyone felt quite hopeful now about finding king caspian tomorrow and defeating miraz in a few days. it may not have been sensible of them to feel like this, but they did.

they dropped off to sleep one by one, but all pretty quickly.

lucy woke out of the deepest sleep you can imagine, with the feeling that the voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name. she thought at first it was her father's voice, but that did not seem quite right. then she thought it was peter's voice, but that did not seem to fit either. she did not want to get up; not because she was still tired - on the contrary she was wonderfully rested and all the aches had gone from her bones - but because she felt so extremely happy and comfortable. she was looking straight up at the narnian moon, which is larger than ours, and at the starry sky, for the place where they had bivouacked was comparatively open.

"lucy," came the call again, neither her father's voice nor peter's. she sat up, trembling with excitement but not with fear. the moon was so bright that the whole forest landscape around her was almost as clear as day, though it looked wilder. behind her was the fir wood; away to her right the jagged cliff-tops on the far side of the gorge; straight ahead, open grass to where a glade of trees began about a bow-shot away. lucy looked very hard at the trees of that glade.

"why, i do believe they're moving," she said to herself. "they're walking about."

she got up, her heart beating wildly, and walked towards them. there was certainly a noise in the glade, a noise such as trees make in a high wind, though there was no wind tonight. yet it was not exactly an ordinary treenoise either. lucy felt there was a tune in it, but she could not catch the tune any more than she had been able to catch the words when the trees had so nearly talked to her the night before. but there was, at least, a lilt; she felt her own feet wanting to dance as she got nearer. and now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ("and i suppose," thought lucy, "when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.') she was almost among them now.

the first tree she looked at seemed at first glance to be not a tree at all but a huge man with a shaggy beard and great bushes of hair. she was not frightened: she had seen such things before. but when she looked again he was only a tree, though he was still moving. you couldn't see whether he had feet or roots, of course, because when trees move they don't walk on the surface of the earth; they wade in it as we do in water. the same thing happened with every tree she looked at. at one moment they seemed to be the friendly, lovely giant and giantess forms which the tree-people put on when some good magic has called them into full life: next moment they all looked like trees again. but when they looked like trees, it was like strangely human trees, and when they looked like people, it was like strangely branchy and leafy people - and all the time that queer lilting, rustling, cool, merry noise.

"they are almost awake, not quite," said lucy. she knew she herself was wide awake, wider than anyone usually is.

she went fearlessly in among them, dancing herself as she leaped this way and that to avoid being run into by these huge partners. but she was only half interested in them. she wanted to get beyond them to something else; it was from beyond them that the dear voice had called.

she soon got through them (half wondering whether she had been using her arms to push branches aside, or to take hands in a great chain with big dancers who stooped to reach her) for they were really a ring of trees round a central open place. she stepped out from among their shifting confusion of lovely lights and shadows.

a circle of grass, smooth as a lawn, met her eyes, with dark trees dancing all round it. and then - oh joy! for he was there: the huge lion, shining white in the moonlight, with his huge black shadow underneath him.

but for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but lucy never thought of that. she never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not. she rushed to him. she felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. and the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.

"aslan, aslan. dear aslan," sobbed lucy. "at last."

the great beast rolled over on his side so that lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. he bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. his warm breath came all round her. she gazed up into the large wise face.

"welcome, child," he said.

"aslan," said lucy, "you're bigger."

"that is because you are older, little one," answered he.

"not because you are?"

"i am not. but every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

for a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak. but aslan spoke.

"lucy," he said, "we must not lie here for long. you have work in hand, and much time has been lost today."

"yes, wasn't it a shame?" said lucy. "i saw you all right. they wouldn't believe me. they're all so -"

from somewhere deep inside aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.

"i'm sorry," said lucy, who understood some of his moods. "i didn't mean to start slanging the others. but it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?"

the lion looked straight into her eyes.

"oh, aslan," said lucy. "you don't mean it was? how could i - i couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could i? don't look at me like that . . . oh well, i suppose i could. yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, i know, not if i was with you. but what would have been the good?"

aslan said nothing.

"you mean," said lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right - somehow? but how? please, aslan! am i not to know?"

"to know what would have happened, child?" said aslan. "no. nobody is ever told that."

"oh dear," said lucy.

"but anyone can find out what will happen," said aslan. "if you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me - what will happen? there is only one way of finding out."

"do you mean that is what you want me to do?" gasped lucy.

"yes, little one," said aslan.

"will the others see you too?" asked lucy.

"certainly not at first," said aslan. "later on, it depends."

"but they won't believe me!" said lucy.

"it doesn't matter," said aslan.

"oh dear, oh dear," said lucy. "and i was so pleased at finding you again. and i thought you'd let me stay. and i thought you'd come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away - like last time. and now everything is going to be horrid."

"it is hard for you, little one," said aslan. "but things never happen the same way twice. it has been hard for us all in narnia before now."

lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. but there must have been magic in his mane. she could feel lion-strength going into her. quite suddenly she sat up.

"i'm sorry, aslan," she said. "i'm ready now."

"now you are a lioness," said aslan. "and now all narnia will be renewed. but come. we have no time to lose."

he got up and walked with stately, noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come: and lucy went with him, laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane. the trees parted to let them through and for one second assumed their human forms completely. lucy had a glimpse of tall and lovely wood-gods and wood-goddesses all bowing to the lion; next moment they were trees again, but still bowing, with such graceful sweeps of branch and trunk that their bowing was itself a kind of dance.

"now, child," said aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, "i will wait here. go and wake the others and tell them to follow. if they will not, then you at least must follow me alone."

it is a terrible thing to have to wake four people, all older than yourself and all very tired, for the purpose of telling them something they probably won't believe and making them do something they certainly won't like. "i mustn't think about it, i must just do it," thought lucy.

she went to peter first and shook him. "peter," she whispered in his ear, "wake up. quick. aslan is here. he says we've got to follow him at once."

"certainly, lu. whatever you like," said peter unexpectedly. this was encouraging, but as peter instantly rolled round and went to sleep again it wasn't much use.

then she tried susan. susan did really wake up, but only to say in her most annoying grown-up voice, "you've been dreaming, lucy. go to sleep again."

she tackled edmund next. it was very difficult to wake him, but when at last she had done it he was really awake and sat up.

"eh?" he said in a grumpy voice. "what are you talking about?"

she said it all over again. this was one of the worst parts of her job, for each time she said it, it sounded less convincing.

"aslan!" said edmund, jumping up. "hurray! where?"

lucy turned back to where she could see the lion waiting, his patient eyes fixed upon her. "there," she said, pointing.

"where?" asked edmund again.

"there. there. don't you see? just this side of the trees."

edmund stared hard for a while and then said, "no. there's nothing there. you've got dazzled and muddled with the moonlight. one does, you know. i thought i saw something for a moment myself. it's only an optical what-do-you-call-it."

"i can see him all the time," said lucy. "he's looking straight at us."

"then why can't i see him?"

"he said you mightn't be able to."

"why?"

"i don't know. that's what he said."

"oh, bother it all," said edmund. "i do wish you wouldn't keep on seeing things. but i suppose we'll have to wake the others."

10狮王归来"

沿着峡谷在悬崖边上行进并不轻松口没走多远，这一行人便被茂密的小杉树丛挡住了去路，只好弯下身来，拨开树叶，缓慢地向前移动。他们很快意识到，照这样走下去，一个小时也走不了半里路。于是他们向后转，退出丛林，并做出新的决定-绕道而行。他们向右边绕得很远很远，看不见峭壁，也听不到水声了。大家开始担心是不是整个路线都搞错了。谁也不知道确切的时间，但气温已经是一天中最高的了。

他们终于绕回到峡谷边上时(差不多已经是在他们出发地点下面一英里处)，发现脚下的峭壁低下去许多，塌裂也更加严重。不久，他们找到一条通向下游峡谷去的路，就继续往前走，没人再提起和凯斯宾共进早餐甚至共进晚餐的话了。

这是一片古老的、没有人迹的森林，里面没有一条直路。大丛大丛根本进不去的荆棘，倒了的大树，沼泽地，以及茂密的低矮林丛，不时在前面挡住他们的去路。这地方真可谓路途艰难，更何况他们又是些匆忙赶路的人；如果是漫步郊游，走累了在这里野餐，那么倒是不错。这里的景致应有尽有轰鸣的大瀑布、银光闪闪的小瀑布、深深的琥珀色水潭、覆盖着青苔的岩石，还有岸边厚厚的泥沼，不小心走上去，会一下子陷到脚踩。此外，各种蕨类植物和宝石般的蜻蜓举目可见;头顶上时而掠过一只宝善，甚至偶尔可以看到雄鹰在空中朝翔。当然啰，他们此时想要尽快看到的，是前面的大河口，是柏卢纳，是通向阿斯兰堡垒的道路。

下面的路越来越陡，他们行进得也越来越艰难，越来越慢——有时甚至要冒险在滑溜的岩石上攀行，身下是可怕的黑暗深渊，湍急的河水汹涌澎湃。

就这样，他们紧盯着脚下的峭壁，一边努力搜寻着任何一个缝隙，任何一个可攀爬的地方。险道无情，令人恼火，可是大家咬紧牙关继续向前走，相信一旦走出峡谷，再穿过一段平缓的山坡，就会到达凯斯宾的指挥部了。

这时，男孩子们和小矮人主张找个平坦些的地方，架起篝火，烤些熊肉充饥。苏珊却不同意，她坚持要"走下去，走到底，走出这可憎的地方"。露茜这时已经疲惫不堪，什么意见也不想提了。其实，这一路上，根本看不到平地和干柴，所以主意再好也是白搭。两个男孩肚子里咕咕直叫，开始怀疑生肉是否真如想象中的那样脏，那样难以下咽。:

"哇!总算走出来了!”苏珊如释重负地说。"哦，太好了!"彼得也喊道。

峡谷到了尽头，河水在这里转了个弯。从崖顶望去，展现在他们面前的是一片崭新的天地——开阔的平原一直向前延伸，仿佛与天空浑为一体。横在大平原与他们之间的河水，就像一条宽宽的银色缎带，缓缓流过。有一处河面格外宽，河水也格外浅，孩子们一下子都认出来那就是柏卢纳渡口，惟一不同的是现在那里架起了一座长长的多孔桥。再向前望去，桥的另一端通向一个小村落。

"天哪，"爱德蒙说，"我们就是在那个地方打赢了柏卢纳战役!"

没有什么更能使男孩子们振奋、昂扬的了。当你故地重游，回到你曾经取得辉煌胜利获得巨大光荣的战场，你就会不由自主地感到非常骄傲，勇气倍增。回想往事，彼得和爱德蒙津津乐道，忘记了一路上的劳累和浑身的酸痛，也忘记了身上盔甲的沉重。小矮人更是听得睁大了眼睛，脸上显出无限的钦佩和神往。

休息片刻后，这一行人继续往前走，大家加快脚步。道路也好走了-些。虽然左边还有峭壁悬崖，右边的平地却渐渐开阔起来，不久，他们进入了一片茂密的丛林。

突然，"嗖——"什么东西从他们头顶飞过，然后打在树干上，那声音就像啄木鸟在树上啄了一下。孩子们还在纳闷曾经在什么地方听到过类似的使人感到不舒服的声音，就听杜鲁普金喊了一声"卧倒!"同时使劲把身边的露茜按倒在灌木丛中。彼得本来正朝上面看，想瞧瞧有没有松鼠，结果却看到一支锐利无情的箭，刚好掠过头顶深深扎进身旁的树干。他急忙拉了苏珊一把，让她卧倒。自己刚刚弯下身，另一支箭已经射了过来，擦着他的肩头，扎在身边的地上。

"快!快!向后撤!趴到地上!”杜鲁普金喘着粗气说。

他们转过身，在灌木丛的掩护下，在成群苍蝇令人厌恶的嗡嗡声中，往山上爬去。一支箭射在苏珊的头盔上，迸出了火星。他们加快爬行的速度，片刻间便一个个大汗淋漓，气喘吁吁。过了一会儿，他们索性站起身，猫着腰跑起来。男孩子们跑在后面，手里紧握着宝剑，以防敌人追上来。

这奔跑太累入了——全是上坡，沿着他们刚才走过的路。终于，他们感到实在跑不动了，便一下子瘫倒在瀑布旁一块大石头后边，呼哧呼哧喘个不停。当他们渐渐平静下来，四下一望，才发现自己居然已经跑到这么高的地方，不由感到十分惊奇。)

杜鲁普金侧耳听了半天，没有跟踪者的动静。

"这下不要紧了，"他长长地舒了一口气，"他们没有搜索森林，看样子是些哨兵。但这至少表明，弥若兹在那里设有一个前哨基地，真是可恨!"

"我真该死，把大家带到这条路上来。"彼得内疚地说。"陛下，你说错了，"小矮人眨巴眨巴眼睛，"那不是你，而是你尊贵的弟弟，爱德蒙国王。他提议我们顺着清水河走的。"

"dlf记得不错。"爱德蒙说;起先他忘记了这一点，现在想了起来。

"可话又说回来，"杜鲁普金继续说，"要是走我来的那条路，我们很可能会直接走进敌人新设的前哨阵地，或者在试图绕开时遇到类似的麻烦。其实我认为，我们选择的仍然是一条最有利的路。"

"这样看来刚才的事情不是祸，反而是幸运。"苏珊说。"表面上不是，实际上是。"爱德蒙说。

"也许我们只好沿着峡谷重新往上游方向走了。"露茜说。

"露，你真了不起!”彼得说，"你本来完全可以指责我们当初没有听你的忠告。好，咱们立即动身，往上游方向走。"

"我们一到上面森林里，"杜鲁普金坚定地说，"不管你们说什么，我都要点起火堆做饭了。当然，我们必须先离开这里。"

虽然他们在返回的路上吃了许多苦头，可说来也怪，大家反而情绪高涨起来，身上仿佛又充满了活力。"过一会儿就有饭吃"这个念头起了奇妙的作用。

来到杉树林的时候，天色还早，他们在一块空地前停下来，准备在这儿露营。拣枯枝是个单调的活儿，可是当篝火熊熊燃起的时候，那真是令人高兴。他们开始动手收拾那些湿乎乎油腻腻的熊肉。对那些足不出户、饱食终日的人们来说，这肉的样子真让人倒胃口。小矮人在烹调上有很多高招，他把苹果切成小块，然后用肉裹起来——就像苹果馅饺子，只是个儿大得多，而且是用熊肉不是用面粉来做饺子皮——然后插在一根削尖的树枝上，用火来烤。苹果汁渗出来，沾满了熊肉，仿佛涂了一层苹果酱。有一种食肉的熊，它的肉很粗，一点儿也不好吃，另一种以蜂蜜、水果为主食，它的肉则细嫩可口，味道好极了。眼前的熊肉就属于后者。这简直是一顿极其精美的晚餐，而且饭后用不着洗碗——大家各自选个舒适的位置，往树上一靠，伸开疲劳的双腿，漫不经心地望着杜鲁普金烟斗里冒出的缕缕白烟，随便聊了起来。每个人都觉得，明天就能找到凯斯宾国王，并且在几天之内准能打败弥若兹，谁也说不出这信心来自哪里，可的确都有这种感觉。

没有多久，他们便一个个进入了梦乡。

突然露茜从香甜的沉睡中惊醒过来，她仿佛听到一个十分亲切的声音在呼唤她的名字。开始她以为那是爸爸的声音，可不太像;接着她想到那是彼得，仔细再一听，似乎也不是。她不愿费心去猜想了，这并不是因为她感到很累——相反她休息得非常好，浑身酸痛全都消失了——而是因为她感到极度的幸福和舒适。他们露营的地方比较开阔，她抬头朝天上望去，那轮纳尼亚的明月比我们世界的月亮要大，繁星点点令人陶醉。

"露茜。"那声音又一次在呼唤她，不是爸爸，也不是彼得。她坐了起来，激动得微微发抖，但丝毫也不感到害怕。月光亮极了，四周森林的景象清晰可见，像在白天一般，尽管看上去显得十分荒芜。她身后是杉树林，右边远远的地方耸立着峡谷对面的峭壁险峰，正前方大约二十米开外，开阔的草地伸向树林中的一片空地，露茜的目光突然停了下来。

"咦，那些树在移动?"她惊讶地自言自语道，"它们好像在走路。"

她站起身来，心怦怦地跳着，慢慢朝那个方向走去。在那片空地上似乎有什么响动，虽然这时一点儿风都没有，可是树木却发出了沙沙声。当然，这绝对不是树林通常发出来的那种声音。露茜感到那沙沙声隐隐伴着-种旋律，可她辨不出那是怎样的旋律，正如前天夜里她听不清那些树的窃窃私语一样。可至少她听得出有-定的节奏，再往前走近一些，她觉得自己的双脚随着那节奏不由自主地竟想要跳舞了。这时，已经不必怀疑，那些树真的是在动——往来交错，像是一场挺复杂的民间舞蹈。这时她几乎是置身于它们之间了。"

她遇到的第一棵树看上去像是个巨人，长着粗乱的胡子和蓬松的头发。她一点儿不害怕，反而感到老友重逢的喜悦。那巨人在笨拙地摆动着，你看不到它的脚，或者说树根，因为它移动的时候，不是踩在地面上，而是在土里蹬来踵去，就像我们走在水里一样。她望望别的树，全是这样。它们时而呈现出友善、可爱的巨人形状，像被施了魔法，时而又恢复了树的本来面曰。当它们现出树的形状时，看上去是非常奇特的人形树;而当它们现出人形时，那样子又很像奇特的生着枝叶的树形人。那奇异的节奏和欢快的沙沙声一直在响着。2

"它们快要苏醒过来了。"露茜喃喃地说。她明白自己此刻是完全清醒的，比任何人都清醒。

她毫无惧色地走到它们中间，一边不停地跳来跳去，免得被这些高大的伙伴碰倒。露茜此时并不想跳舞，她匆匆走过婆婆多姿的树群，去寻找别的什么——正是从树林的另一边，传来那亲切的声音，一声声把她呼唤。'

她很快就穿过树林(搞不清她是用手臂把树枝推开的呢，还是拉住了那些高大的向她弯下腰来的舞蹈家的手)，从那可爱的光和影的不断交替所造成的迷惑中走了出来。

在她的眼前是一片平整的草坪，周围是深颜色的大树在舞蹈。啊，阿斯兰|它在那儿|那威风凛凛的巨狮在月光下巍然不动，地上投下它一大片黑黑的身影。

要不是它的尾巴摆了一下，你简直看不出那是一个有灵性的血肉之躯。露茜毫不迟疑地向它跑去，根本就没有停下来想一想，这会不会是一只凶恶的、吃人的狮子。她激动万分，只觉得稍一放慢脚步，那颗火热的心就会从胸腔里跳出来。在一片兴奋的迷茫中，她记得自己用双臂紧紧地搂住阿斯兰的脖子，不停地呼唤它，亲吻它，并且把自己的脸埋进它那美丽而有光泽，像缎子般柔软光滑的鬃毛里面。

"阿斯兰，阿斯兰，亲爱的阿斯兰，"露茜哽咽着，"终于见到你了。"

这只巨兽侧身躺下来，露茜也随着俯下身去，半靠在它两条前腿之间。阿斯兰把头伸过来，用舌头轻轻舔舔她的鼻子，它那温暖的气息立刻遍布了她的全身。她抬起头来，眼望着那巨大的、充满智慧的脸。

"欢迎你，孩子。"它说。

"阿斯兰，"露茜说，"你又长大了。"

"那是因为你的年龄增长了，小家伙。"它回答道。"你没有增长吗?"

"我没有，但是你一年年长大，你也会发现我的个子越来越大。"

露茜高兴得简直不知说什么好了。还是阿斯兰打破了沉默。

"露茜，"它说，"我们不能在这里呆很久，有许多事情等着我们去做呢。今天已经浪费掉不少时间了。"

"是的，浪费了那么多时间，真急人!"露茜说，想起白天那一幕来。"我看见你在山顶上示意我们上去，可他们都不相信我的话，他们都那么——"

阿斯兰微微皱了一下眉头。

"对不起，"露茜马上明白了雄狮的意思，"我并不想说别人的不好，可那不是我的错，对吗？"

狮子直视着她的眼睛。

"噢，阿斯兰，"露茜说，"你不认为那是我的错吧?我怎么能——我不能离开别人，独自一人爬上山来找你，我怎么能够呢?别那么看着我……噢，好吧，假设我能够，是的，跟你在一起，我不会感到孤单，可那又有什么用呢？”

阿斯兰没有说话。

"你的意思是，"露茜的声音低了下去，"那样形势就会有所不同——多少好一些?告诉我，阿斯兰!那会发生什么事情?"

"想要知道可能发生却未能发生的事情吗，孩子?"阿斯兰深沉地说，"告诉你又有什么用乃至是让我们想一想将会发生什么事情吧。立即回到伙伴们的身边去，唤醒他们，告诉他们你又见到了我，然后立刻起身跟我走——以后会发生什么事情，我想你能猜得出来。"

"你是说，要我马上去做这些事情?""是的，小家伙。"

"我这就带他们来见你?"

"暂时还不要，"阿斯兰想一想说，"晚一些吧，时机还不成熟。"

"可他们不会相信我！"

"不必担心。""

"噢，亲爱的阿斯兰!找到你，我真高兴，我原来以为你会让我留在你身边的;我还以为你会大吼一声，把敌人都赶走的——-就像上次那样。可是现在，我感到有些害怕!”

"对你来说，这的确很困难，我的朋友，"阿斯兰说，"可事情永远不会以同样的方式发生两次，在这以前，我们大家在纳尼亚都吃了苦头。"

露茜把她的头埋在巨狮的鬃毛里，不去看它的脸。阿斯兰的身上一定有什么魔力，她清楚地感到，狮子的力量渐渐传到她自己的身上。她突地一下坐了起来。

"请原谅我一时的软弱，阿斯兰，"她勇敢地说，"现在，我一切都准备好了。"

"孩子，你已具有狮子的勇气和力量了，"阿斯兰说，"从现在起，整个纳尼亚将要恢复它往日的尊严。来吧，我们不能浪费时间了。"

它站起身来，迈开庄严、有力的步伐，无声无息地向舞蹈着的树林走去。露茜稳步走在它的身边。大树为她们闪开一条路来，而且有秒钟，完全显示出它们人的模样。露茜瞥见了高大、可爱的森林仙子和仙女们。她们一齐向阿斯兰鞠躬致敬。转眼之间，她们又恢复了树的形状，可依然在鞠躬，树枝和树干优雅地摆动着。她们的敬礼实在也就是一种舞蹈。

"好了，孩子，"她们走过树林后阿斯兰说，"我等在这里，你去唤醒他们几个，一齐跟着我。假如他们不相信，那么，至少你自己要跟着我。"

把四个熟睡的人从梦中唤醒真不是件容易的事，况且他们都比你年长，又都十分疲劳。尤其困难的是，你只不过为了要告诉他们一些他们很可能不相信的话，要让他们去做一件他们肯定不情愿做的事情。"我不能想那么多，我一定要努力做好这件事。"露茜暗自下定了决心。

她先走到彼得身边，摇摇他的肩膀。"彼得，"她在他耳边小声叫道，"醒醒，快，阿斯兰在这儿。它让我们大家马上跟它离开这儿。"

"好吧，露，这就走。"彼得回答得很痛快，真是出人意料，这使露茜很受鼓舞。没想到彼得翻了个身，一眨眼工夫又睡着了。第一次努力毫无结果。

接着她又去喊苏珊。苏珊倒的确是醒过来了，却只是用她那令人讨厌的大人腔说"你又说梦话了，露茜，快躺下来接着睡吧!"

露茜只好又去摇爱德蒙。叫醒他真难。好一会儿，爱德蒙才坐起身来。

"嗯?"他不高兴地问，"你说什么呢?"

她又重复了一遍。这真是她使命中最艰难的一部分。刚才发生的事情，连她自己都有些不相信了。

"什么?"爱德蒙跳了起来，"阿斯兰!在哪儿?"

露茜转过身来，她看得见阿斯兰等在那里。"在那儿。"她用手指着。

“哪儿?"爱德蒙瞪着眼望了半天，又问。

"那儿，那不是叮尔还没看见?就在树林的这一边。"

爱德蒙又使劲盯着看了一会儿，然后说，"没有，那儿什么也没有。你肯定是在月光下看花了眼，给弄糊涂了。有时候人就是这样的，你知道。有那么-瞬间我也觉得仿佛看到了什么，结果，那不过是一种幻觉。"

"我一直都能看到它，"露茜说，"它一直在看着我们呢。"

"那为什么我就看不到它?"

"它说了，你们也许看不到它。""为什么?"

"我也不知道，那是它说的。"

"哎，真是的，"爱德蒙说，"我真希望你这不是得了什么毛病。不过我想，最好还是把他们几个都叫起来。"