the wild waste lands of the north

at about nine o'clock next morning three lonely figures might have been seen picking their way across the shribble by the shoals and stepping-stones. it was a shallow, noisy stream, and even jill was not wet above her knees when they reached the northern bank. about fifty yards ahead, the land rose up to the beginning of the moor, everywhere steeply, and often in cliffs.

"i suppose that's our way!" said scrubb, pointing left and west to where a stream flowed down from the moor through a shallow gorge. but the marsh-wiggle shook his head.

"the giants mainly live along the side of that gorge," he said. "you might say the gorge was like a street to them. we'll do better straight ahead, even though it's a bit steep."

they found a place where they could scramble up, and in about ten minutes stood panting at the top. they cast a longing look back at the valley-land of narnia and then turned their faces to the north. the vast, lonely moor stretched on and up as far as they could see. on their left was rockier ground. jill thought that must be the edge of the giants' gorge and did not much care about looking in that direction. they set out.

it was good, springy ground for walking, and a day of pale winter sunlight. as they got deeper into the moor, the loneliness increased: one could hear peewits and see an occasional hawk. when they halted in the middle of the morning for a rest and a drink in a little hollow by a stream, jill was beginning to feel that she might enjoy adventures after all, and said so.

"we haven't had any yet," said the marsh-wiggle.

walks after the first halt - like school mornings after break or railway journeys after changing trains - never go on as they were before. when they set out again, jill noticed that the rocky edge of the gorge had drawn nearer. and the rocks were less flat, more upright, than they had been. in fact they were like little towers of rock. and what funny shapes they were!

"i do believe," thought jill, "that all the stories about giants might have come from those funny rocks. if you were coming along here when it was half dark, you could easily think those piles of rock were giants. look at that one, now! you could almost imagine that the lump on top was a head. it would be rather too big for the body, but it would do well enough for an ugly giant. and all that bushy stuff - i suppose it's heather and birds' nests, really - would do quite well for hair and beard. and the things sticking out on each side are quite like ears. they'd be horribly big, but then i dare say giants would have big ears, like elephants. and - o-o-o-h! -"

her blood froze. the thing moved. it was a real giant. there was no mistaking it; she had seen it turn its head. she had caught a glimpse of the great, stupid, puffcheeked face. all the things were giants, not rocks. there were forty or fifty of them, all in a row; obviously standing with their feet on the bottom of the gorge and their elbows resting on the edge of the gorge, just as men might stand leaning on a wall - lazy men, on a fine morning after breakfast.

"keep straight on," whispered puddleglum, who had noticed them too. "don't look at them. and whatever you do, don't run. they'd be after us in a moment."

so they kept on, pretending not to have seen the giants. it was like walking past the gate of a house where there is a fierce dog, only far worse. there were dozens and dozens of these giants. they didn't look angry - or kind or interested at all. there was no sign that they had seen the travellers.

then - whizz-whizz-whizz - some heavy object came hurtling through the air, and with a crash a big boulder fell about twenty paces ahead of them. and then - thud! - another fell twenty feet behind.

"are they aiming at us?" asked scrubb.

"no," said puddleglum. "we'd be a good deal safer if they were. they're trying to hit that - that cairn over there to the right. they won't hit it, you know. it's safe enough; they're such very bad shots. they play cock-shies most fine mornings. about the only game they're clever enough to understand."

it was a horrible time. there seemed no end to the line of giants, and they never ceased hurling stones, some of which fell extremely close. quite apart from the real danger, the very sight and sound of their faces and voices were enough to scare anyone. jill tried not to look at them.

after about twenty-five minutes the giants apparently had a quarrel. this put an end to the cock-shies, but it is not pleasant to be within a mile of quarrelling giants. they stormed and jeered at one another in long, meaningless words of about twenty syllables each. they foamed and gibbered and jumped in their rage, and each jump shook the earth like a bomb. they lammed each other on the head with great, clumsy stone hammers; but their skulls were so hard that the hammers bounced off again, and then the monster who had given the blow would drop his hammer and howl with pain because it had stung his fingers. but he was so stupid that he would do exactly the same thing a minute later. this was a good thing in the long run, for by the end of an hour all the giants were so hurt that they sat down and began to cry. when they sat down, their heads were below the edge of the gorge, so that you saw them no more; but jill could hear them howling and blubbering and boo-booing like great babies even after the place was a mile behind.

that night they bivouacked on the bare moor, and puddleglum showed the children how to make the best of their blankets by sleeping back to back. (the backs keep each other warm and you can then have both blankets on top.) but it was chilly even so, and the ground was hard and lumpy. the marsh-wiggle told them they would feel more comfortable if only they thought how very much colder it would be later on and farther north; but this didn't cheer them up at all.

they travelled across ettinsmoor for many days, saving the bacon and living chiefly on the moor-fowl (they were not, of course, talking birds) which eustace and the wiggle shot. jill rather envied eustace for being able to shoot; he had learned it on his voyage with king caspian. as there were countless streams on the moor, they were never short of water. jill thought that when, in books, people live on what they shoot, it never tells you what a long, smelly, messy job it is plucking and cleaning dead birds, and how cold it makes your fingers. but the great thing was that they met hardly any giants. one giant saw them, but he only roared with laughter and stumped away about his own business.

about the tenth day, they reached a place where the country changed. they came to the northern edge of the moor and looked down a long, steep slope into a different, and grimmer, land. at the bottom of the slope were cliffs: beyond these, a country of high mountains, dark precipices, stony valleys, ravines so deep and narrow that one could not see far into them, and rivers that poured out of echoing gorges to plunge sullenly into black depths. needless to say, it was puddleglum who pointed out a sprinkling of snow on the more distant slopes.

"but there'll be more on the north side of them, i shouldn't wonder," he added.

it took them some time to reach the foot of the slope and, when they did, they looked down from the top of the cliffs at a river running below them from west to east. it was walled in by precipices on the far side as well as on their own, and it was green and sunless, full of rapids and waterfalls. the roar of it shook the earth even where they stood.

"the bright side of it is," said puddleglum, "that if we break our necks getting down the cliff, then we're safe from being drowned in the river."

"what about that?" said scrubb suddenly, pointing upstream to their left. then they all looked and saw the last thing they were expecting - a bridge. and what a bridge, too! it was a huge, single arch that spanned the gorge from cliff-top to cliff-top; and the crown of that arch was as high above the cliff-tops as the dome of st paul's is above the street.

"why, it must be a giants' bridge!" said jill.

"or a sorcerer's, more likely," said puddleglum. "we've got to look out for enchantments in a place like this. i think it's a trap. i think it'll turn into mist and melt away just when we're out on the middle of it."

"oh, for goodness' sake, don't be such a wet blanket," said scrubb. "why on earth shouldn't it be a proper bridge?"

"do you think any of the giants we've seen would have sense to build a thing like that?" said puddleglum.

"but mightn't it have been built by other giants?" said jill. "i mean, by giants who lived hundreds of years ago, and were far cleverer than the modern kind. it might have been built by the same ones who built the giant city we're looking for. and that would mean we were on the right track - the old bridge leading to the old city!"

"that's a real brain-wave, pole," said scrubb. "it must be that. come on."

so they turned and went to the bridge. and when they reached it, it certainly seemed solid enough. the single stones were as big as those at stonehenge and must have been squared by good masons once, though now they were cracked and crumbled. the balustrade had apparently been covered with rich carvings, of which some traces remained; mouldering faces and forms of giants, minotaurs, squids, centipedes, and dreadful gods. puddleglum still didn't trust it, but he consented to cross it with the children.

the climb up to the crown of the arch was long and heavy. in many places the great stones had dropped out, leaving horrible gaps through which you looked down on the river foaming thousands of feet below. they saw an eagle fly through under their feet. and the higher they went, the colder it grew, and the wind blew so that they could hardly keep their footing. it seemed to shake the bridge.

when they reached the top and could look down the farther slope of the bridge, they saw what looked like the remains of an ancient giant road stretching away before them into the heart of the mountains. many stones of its pavement were missing and there were wide patches of grass between those that remained. and riding towards them on that ancient road were two people of normal grown-up human size.

"keep on. move towards them," said puddleglum. "anyone you meet in a place like this is as likely as not to be an enemy, but we mustn't let them think we're afraid."

by the time they had stepped off the end of the bridge on to the grass, the two strangers were quite close. one was a knight in complete armour with his visor down. his armour and his horse were black; there was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear. the other was a lady on a white horse, a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give it a lump of sugar at once. but the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green, was lovelier still.

"good day, t-r-r-avellers," she cried out in a voice as sweet as the sweetest bird's song, trilling her r's delightfully. "some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste."

"that's as may be, ma'am," said puddleglum very stiffly and on his guard.

"we're looking for the ruined city of the giants," said jill.

"the r-r-ruined city?" said the lady. "that is a strange place to be seeking. what will you do if you find it?"

"we've got to -" began jill, but puddleglum interrupted.

"begging your pardon, ma'am. but we don't know you or your friend - a silent chap, isn't he? - and you don't know us. and we'd as soon not talk to strangers about our business, if you don't mind. shall we have a little rain soon, do you think?"

the lady laughed: the richest, most musical laugh you can imagine. "well, children," she said, "you have a wise, solemn old guide with you. i think none the worse of him for keeping his own counsel, but i'll be free with mine. i have often heard the name of the giantish city ruinous, but never met any who would tell me the way thither. this road leads to the burgh and castle of harfang, where dwell the gentle giants. they are as mild, civil, prudent, and courteous as those of ettinsmoor are foolish, fierce, savage, and given to all beastliness. and in harfang you may or may not hear tidings of the city ruinous, but certainly you shall find good lodgings and merry hosts. you would be wise to winter there, or, at the least, to tarry certain days for your ease and refreshment. there you shall have steaming baths, soft beds, and bright hearths; and the roast and the baked and the sweet and the strong will be on the table four times in a day."

"i say!" exclaimed scrubb. "that's something like! think of sleeping in a bed again."

"yes, and having a hot bath," said jill. "do you think they'll ask us to stay? we don't know them, you see."

"only tell them," answered the lady, "that she of the green kirtle salutes them by you, and has sent them two fair southern children for the autumn feast."

"oh, thank you, thank you ever so much," said jill and scrubb.

"but have a care," said the lady. "on whatever day you reach harfang, that you come not to the door too late. for they shut their gates a few hours after noon, and it is the custom of the castle that they open to none when once they have drawn bolt, how hard so ever he knock."

the children thanked her again, with shining eyes, and the lady waved to them. the marsh-wiggle took off his steeple-hat and bowed very stiffly. then the silent knight and the lady started walking their horses up the slope of the bridge with a great clatter of hoofs.

"well!" said puddleglum. "i'd give a good deal to know where she's coming from and where she's going. not the sort you expect to meet in the wilds of giantland, is she? up to no good, i'll be bound."

"oh rot!" said scrubb. "i thought she was simply super. and think of hot meals and warm rooms. i do hope harfang isn't a long way off."

"same here," said jill. "and hadn't she a scrumptious dress. and the horse!"

"all the same," said puddleglum, "i wish we knew a bit more about her."

"i was going to ask her all about herself," said jill. "but how could i when you wouldn't tell her anything about us?"

"yes," said scrubb. "and why were you so stiff and unpleasant. didn't you like them?"

"them?" said the wiggle. "who's them? i only saw one."

"didn't you see the knight?" asked jill.

"i saw a suit of armour," said puddleglum. "why didn't he speak?"

"i expect he was shy," said jill. "or perhaps he just wants to look at her and listen to her lovely voice. i'm sure i would if i was him."

"i was wondering," remarked puddleglum, "what you'd really see if you lifted up the visor of that helmet and looked inside."

"hang it all," said scrubb. "think of the shape of the armour! what could be inside it except a man?"

"how about a skeleton?" asked the marsh-wiggle with ghastly cheerfulness. "or perhaps," he added as an afterthought, "nothing at all. i mean, nothing you could see. someone invisible."

"really, puddleglum," said jill with a shudder, "you do have the most horrible ideas. how do you think of them all?"

"oh, bother his ideas!" said scrubb. "he's always expecting the worst, and he's always wrong. let's think about those gentle giants and get on to harfang as quickly as we can. i wish i knew how far it is."

and now they nearly had the first of those quarrels which puddleglum had foretold: not that jill and scrubb hadn't been sparring and snapping at each other a good deal before, but this was the first really serious disagreement. puddleglum didn't want them to go to harfang at all. he said that he didn't know what a giant's idea of being "gentle" might be, and that, anyway, aslan's signs had said nothing about staying with giants, gentle or otherwise. the children, on the other hand, who were sick of wind and rain, and skinny fowl roasted over campfires, and hard, cold earth to sleep on, were absolutely dead set to visit the gentle giants. in the end, puddleglum agreed to do so, but only on one condition. the others must give an absolute promise that, unless he gave them leave, they would not tell the gentle giants that they came from narnia or that they were looking for prince rilian. and they gave him this promise, and went on.

after that talk with the lady things got worse in two different ways. in the first place the country was much harder. the road led through endless, narrow valleys down which a cruel north wind was always blowing in their faces. there was nothing that could be used for firewood, and there were no nice little hollows to camp in, as there had been on the moor. and the ground was all stony, and made your feet sore by day and every bit of you sore by night.

in the second place, whatever the lady had intended by telling them about harfang, the actual effect on the children was a bad one. they could think about nothing but beds and baths and hot meals and how lovely it would be to get indoors. they never talked about aslan, or even about the lost prince, now. and jill gave up her habit of repeating the signs over to herself every night and morning. she said to herself, at first, that she was too tired, but she soon forgot all about it. and though you might have expected that the idea of having a good time at harfang would have made them more cheerful, it really made them more sorry for themselves and more grumpy and snappy with each other and with puddleglum.

at last they came one afternoon to a place where the gorge in which they were travelling widened out and dark fir woods rose on either side. they looked ahead and saw that they had come through the mountains. before them lay a desolate, rocky plain: beyond it, further mountains capped with snow. but between them and those further mountains rose a low hill with an irregular flattish top.

"look! look!" cried jill, and pointed across the plain; and there, through the gathering dusk, from beyond the flat hill, everyone saw lights. lights! not moonlight, nor fires, but a homely cheering row of lighted windows. if you have never been in the wild wilderness, day and night, for weeks, you will hardly understand how they felt.

"harfang!" cried scrubb and jill in glad, excited voices; and "harfang," repeated puddleglum in a dull, gloomy voice. but he added, "hullo! wild geese!" and had the bow off his shoulder in a second. he brought down a good fat goose. it was far too late to think of reaching harfang that day. but they had a hot meal and a fire, and started the night warmer than they had been for over a week. after the fire had gone out, the night grew bitterly cold, and when they woke next morning, their blankets were stiff with frost.

"never mind!" said jill, stamping her feet. "hot baths tonight!"

6、北方的荒原

第二天早上九点左右，只见三个孤零零的身影专拣浅滩的地方，踩着踏脚石头过河。斯力布河是一条浅浅的、喧闹的小河，他们到达北岸时，连吉尔也只湿到膝盖以下。前面大约五十码的地方，地面就升高了，荒原就从那里开始，到处地势都陡峭险峻，还有不少峭壁。

“我看我们该走那条道?”斯克罗布说着指指左面朝西的地方，那儿有一条小河从荒原穿过一座浅浅的峡谷顺流而下。但沼泽怪摇摇头。

“巨人们主要就住在沿着那峡谷边上一带，”它说，”你可以说峡谷就像是他们的一条街。我们最好是一直往前走，即使这地方比较陡一点也没办法。”

他们找到一个可以爬上去的地方，大约十分钟以后，大家就站在山坡顶上喘气了。他们回头向纳尼亚的谷地怀念地瞧了一眼，就转身面向北方。放眼望去，只见渺无人迹的广阔荒原绵延不绝。他们左边的地面岩石重叠。吉尔想那一定是巨人的峡谷边上，她不大想往那边看。他们就此出发了。

这儿的土地走起路来很舒服，又松又软，整天都有淡淡的冬天的阳光。他们越深入荒原，那份荒凉感越厉害：听得见红嘴鸥鸣叫，偶尔也看得见一只鹰。中午前他们停下来休息，在一条小河边的一个小水坑里喝了点水。吉尔开始觉得她终究还是喜欢探险的，就这样说了出来。

“我们还没有经历什么险情呢。”沼泽怪说。

第一次休息以后——就像学校里早上休息过后，或是铁路旅行中换车后那样——走起路来跟以前就大不一样了。他们重新上路时，吉尔注意到峡谷的岩边越来越近。而且比起刚才那些岩石，这些岩石高高低低，更加垂直。事实上，这些岩石就像一座座小小的岩塔。这些形状多有趣啊。

“我确信，”吉尔想道，”凡是写巨人的故事都可能来源于那些有趣的岩石。要是你在天快黑的时候上这儿来，很容易把那些一堆堆的石头当做巨人。瞧瞧那一块，嗨!你几乎可以想像那顶上的一块就是一个脑袋。虽然这脑袋太大了些，跟身体不相称，但是对丑陋的巨人来说就够好的了。还有那些浓密的东西——我猜实际上那些是石南和鸟窝吧——就当成头发和胡子也不错。还有一边高出一块的很像是耳朵。这耳朵大得吓人，不过我敢说巨人和象一样都会有大耳朵。还有——哦——哦i”

她的血冻结了。那东西动起来了。原来是个真正的巨人。一点没错;她已经看见他扭过头来了。她看见那张又大又蠢、鼓起腮帮子的脸。所有这些东西都是巨人，不是岩石。他们大约有四五十个，排成一排，显然是站在峡谷底层，手拐儿搁在峡谷边上，就像人们靠墙站着一样——像懒洋洋的男人早晨吃完早饭时那副模样。

“一直往前走。”普德格伦悄声说。它也注意到他们了。

“别朝他们看。不管你做什么，别跑。他们马上会来追我们的。”

他们就这样继续往前走，装作没看见那些巨人。正像走过一幢有恶狗的屋子的大门那样，只是更吓人。那儿有好几十个这种巨人。他们看来既不生气也不和气，也不对什么流露出一点兴趣。没有迹象表明他们看见了这些行人。

接着——飕——飕——飕——有什么沉甸甸的东西投向空中，一声巨响，一块大石头掉在他们前面大约二十步的地方。再接着——咚！——第二块掉在他们身后二十英尺的地方。

“他们是对准我们扔的吗?”斯克罗布问。

“不，要是他们对准我们，我们反而安全多了。他们是想掷那个——右边那个石堆。他们掷不中的，你们知道吗?那儿够安全的，因为他们个个都是其糟无比的投手。天好时他们大多玩掷石头打靶，凭他们那点聪明只懂这种游戏。”

那段时间真可怕，那排巨人似乎长得没完没了，他们一直不停地掷石头，有几块落在很近的地方。除了真正的危险，看看他们的脸，听听他们的声音也够吓人的。吉尔尽量不去看他们。

过了大约二十五分钟，巨人们显然吵起来了。掷石头这才结束，但吵架的巨人离他们还不到一英里，这件事可不愉快。他们大发雷霆，互相嘲笑，用的都是没意思的字眼，一个字足足有二十来个音节。他们发脾气时唾沫四溅，叽里咕噜，一跳八丈高，跳一跳就像扔炸弹似的震撼着大地。他们彼此用笨重的大石槌敲打对方的头，但因为他们的脑壳实在太硬，石槌敲下去就再弹开，这时那敲槌子的怪物会扔下槌子，痛得大吼大叫，因为槌子弄痛了他的手指。不过他实在太笨，一分钟以后他又干起同样的事了。这最终倒是件好事，因为玩了一小时，所有的巨人都痛得坐下哭了起来。等他们坐下后，他们的脑袋就在峡谷边缘以下，就看不见他们了。但吉尔还听得见他们像大娃娃似的哇啦哇啦，大哭大叫，即使那地方已在他们后面一英里以外，也还是听得见。

那天晚上，他们就在光秃秃的荒原上露营，普德格伦做给两个孩子看，怎样背靠背睡，充分利用毯子(背靠背睡，彼此都暖和，而且那样身子上面就可以有两条毯子盖着)。但即使如此仍然是寒气逼人，而且地面硬邦邦，粗糙不平。沼泽怪告诉他们只要他们想想今后再往北走还要冷得多，他们就会感到舒服一点，不过这话一点也没让他们振作起来。

他们在艾丁斯荒原走了好多天，省下熏肉，主要以荒原上野禽为生(当然不是会说话的鸟禽)，那都是尤斯塔斯和沼泽怪打来的。吉尔挺妒忌尤斯塔斯会射箭，他当初跟凯斯宾国王航行途中学到了这一手。因为荒原上有数不清的小溪，他们倒一点也不缺水喝。吉尔心想，书里写人们靠打野物为生，从来就没告诉你，把那些死鸟拔毛，洗净是件多臭多脏，多耗时费力的活儿，而且弄得你手指冰冷。但值得庆幸的是他们不大碰见巨人。有一个巨人看见他们了，但他只是大笑了一阵，就噔噔噔地走开，去忙自己的事了。

大约第十天，他们到了一个地形变化的地方。他们来到荒原北部边缘，俯临一片陡峭的长坡，一直通向一片不同的、更可怕的土地。山坡底下就是悬崖，只见那边高山重叠，茫茫一片，黑沉沉的峭壁，乱石丛生的山谷，幽谷又深又狭，看不见底。几条河从回声隆隆的峡谷里倾泻而出，冲入漆黑的深渊。不用说，还是普德格伦，指出更远的山坡上有点儿雪。

“不过山坡北面的雪会更多，这我不会奇怪。”它又加了一句。

他们费了好长时间才到达山坡脚下，他们到了那里就从悬崖上往下看，只见有条河从西向东奔流而过。河流两岸远近都是峭壁，河水碧绿，没有太阳，到处是险滩、瀑布。咆哮的河水震撼着大地，连他们站的地方也在震动。

“值得高兴的是，”普德格伦说，”要是我们下悬崖摔断了脖子，那我们就不至于淹死在河里。”

“那个怎么样？”斯克罗布突然说，一面指着他们左面河的上流。于是大家都往那边看，瞧见了他们决没有料想到的东西——一座桥。这座桥真是鬼斧神工！是一座其大无比的单拱桥，横跨峡谷，从那边悬崖顶上通往这边的悬崖顶上，而且桥拱顶端耸立在两边悬崖顶部上空，就像圣保罗教堂的圆屋顶耸立在街道上空一样。

“咦，这一定是座巨人桥吧!”吉尔说。

“或者说八成是座巫师桥，”普德格伦说，”我们在这种地方得留神有没有魔法。我认为这是个陷阱。等我们走到桥当中，桥就会成为雾，化掉。”

“啊呀，看在老天分上，别那么煞风景了。”斯克罗布说。”这桥干吗不该是一座正儿八经的桥呢?”

“你想想，我们见到的那些巨人有头脑造这么个东西吗?”普德格伦说。

“但这桥会不会是别种巨人造的呢?”吉尔说，”我意思是说，生活在几百年前的巨人们造的，那些巨人比现代这种聪明得多。可能就是建造我们正在寻找的巨人城的那种巨人造的。而那样一来就说明我们这一路走对了——老桥通往老城嘛。”

“你倒真是神机妙算，波尔，”斯克罗布说，”一定是那么回事。来吧。”

于是他们转身向桥走去。他们走到桥边，只见那座桥的确够结实的。那一块块石头都有史前巨石群1的石头那么大，而且当初一定是由能工巧匠切割成方块的，然而现在都已裂痕累累了。桥栏上以前显然满是富丽的雕刻，如今还留有一些痕迹，残破的脸部和形态，有巨人，有牛头怪，有大乌贼鱼，有娱蛤，还有一些可怕的神像。普德格伦虽然对这座桥还不放心，但他答应跟两个孩子一起过桥。

爬上桥顶的路又长又难走。好多地方的大石块都掉了，留下一道道吓人的裂口，从裂口往下看，只见几千英尺以下的河里浪花四溅。他们看见一只鹰从他们脚下飞过。而且他们越往上走就越冷，风吹得他们几乎站也站不稳，似乎桥都在摇晃。

他们到了桥顶，才能往下看远处的桥坡，只见有条看上去像是古代巨人的大路的遗迹从他们面前伸展开去，直至群山腹地。路面好多石头都没有了，残留的石头之间是大片大片的野草。在这条古道上有两个正常身材的成人正骑马向他们驰来。

“走啊。往他们那儿走，”普德格伦说，”凡是在这种地方遇到的人都可能不是敌人，但我们千万不能让他们认为我们害怕了。”

1英国索尔兹伯里平原上。

他们刚下桥，踏在草地上，那两个陌生人已经近在眼前。一个是骑士，穿着全副盔甲，面罩也拉下来。他的盔甲和马都是黑色的。他的盾上没有纹章，矛上也没有小旗1另一个是位夫人，骑着匹白马，那马真可爱，你恨不得马上就去亲亲它鼻子，给它一块糖吃。而那位夫人骑的是女鞍，侧坐在马上，穿了一件绿得耀眼的长衣服，就更可爱了。

“你们好，旅——旅——客们。”她说话的声音就像最可爱的鸟儿在唱歌，拖长的颤音听了让人高兴，”你们当中有人是特地来这片荒原的小旅客吧。”

“那倒不一定，夫人。”普德格伦生硬地说，留神提防着。

1英国古代骑士盾牌上应有贵族家庭的纹章，矛上有小旗也是一种爵位的象征。

“我们在找巨人城的废墟。”吉尔说。

“城的废——废墟?”那夫人说，”你们要找的倒是一个古怪的地方。找到了又怎么样呢?”

“我们得…”吉尔开口说，但普德格伦打断了她。

“请原谅，夫人。但我们不认识你和你这位朋友——他是个不爱说话的家伙吧?——而你也不认识我们。要是你不介意的话，我们宁可在陌生人前面不谈自己的事情。你看很快就要下雨了吧?”

夫人笑了，笑声要多圆润有多圆润，要多动听有多动听。”好了，孩子们，”她说，”你们有一个聪明、庄重的老向导陪着，虽然他守口如瓶，我还是不怪他，但我倒愿意随便谈谈我的看法。我经常听到巨人城废墟这个名字，但从来没遇见过任何人告诉我上那儿去的路。这条路是通往哈方镇和城堡的，那儿住着斯文的巨人。他们性格温和，举止文明，处世谨慎，待人有礼，而艾丁斯荒原那些巨人却是愚蠢、凶残、野蛮，而且兽性十足。虽然你们在哈方能不能打听到城市废墟的消息还不一定，但你们肯定会找到舒服的住处和好客的主人。你们聪明的话可以在那儿过冬，要不然，至少住上一段日子，放松一下，恢复体力。那儿可以洗蒸汽澡，可以睡软和的床，过得心情愉快;还有烘的烤的，甜的辣的，一天供应四顿。”

“哇i”斯克罗布叫道，”那太棒了。想想看，又有床睡了!”

“是啊，而且还可以洗热水澡，”吉尔说，”你想他们会留我们住下吗？你瞧，我们可不认识他们。”

“只要对他们说，”那夫人回答说，”绿衣夫人派你们代为向他们致敬，而且给秋季盛宴送来两个白嫩的南方孩子。”

“哦，谢谢你，多谢了。”吉尔和斯克罗布说。

“但得留心，”夫人说，”无论你们哪天到达哈方，上门可别太晚。因为他们中午过后几小时就关大门。那是城堡的风俗，一旦他们上了门问，别人怎么敲门他们也不开的。，，两个孩子眼睛发亮，再次谢了她，那夫人向他们挥挥手。沼泽怪脱下尖帽子，姿势僵硬地鞠了个躬。于是那一声不吭的骑士和夫人就骑着马走上桥坡，扬起一阵嘚嘚蹄声。

“好吧，”普德格伦说，”我真想知道她从哪儿来，上哪儿去。巨人国荒原上决不会遇到她这种人吧?我敢肯定，她不怀好意。”

“哎，胡说，”斯克罗布说，”我认为她这人好极了。一想起热饭热菜，还有暖和的房间。我真希望到哈方这条路不远。”

“我也这么想，”吉尔说，”而且她还穿了件极美的衣服。还有那匹马!”

“虽然这样，”普德格伦说，”可我还是希望对她了解得多一点。”

“我正打算问问她自己的事，”吉尔说，”但你不肯告诉她我们的事，我又怎么能问她呢?”

“是啊，”斯克罗布说，”还有你干吗那么生硬，大煞风景，难道你不喜欢他们?”

“他们?”沼泽怪说，”他们是谁?我可只看见一个。”

“你没看见那骑士?”吉尔问。

“我看见一套盔甲，”普德格伦说，”他干吗不说话?”

“我想他是害羞吧，”吉尔说，”或许他只想看着她，听着她可爱的声音。我敢说我要是他，也会那样的。”

“我真想知道，”普德格伦说，”你们抬起那头盔的面罩会真正看到什么。”

“见鬼，”斯克罗布说，”想想那盔甲的形状!除了人以外还能有什么呀?”

“是骨骷髅该怎么说呢?”沼泽怪装出一副幸灾乐祸的讨厌相问。”要不然，”它又加了一句说，”什么都没有。我意思是你们什么也看不见。是个隐身人。”

“说真的，普德格伦，”吉尔说着打了个哆嗦，”你心里真有这么可怕的想法。你对他们怎么想的啊?”

“啊呀，去他的想法吧!”斯克罗布说，”它老是往坏里想，结果总是错的。我们还是想想那些斯文的巨人，赶快去哈方吧。我要知道那条路有多远就好了。”

这下子普德格伦预见到的争吵几乎头一回闹开了。倒不是说吉尔和斯克罗布之间以前没有吵闹、斗嘴什么的，但这回可是头一回当真谈不到一块儿了。普德格伦根本不愿意大家上哈方去。它说它不知道巨人所谓的举止斯文是怎么回事，不管怎么说，阿斯兰的指示里也没提起到巨人那儿去，斯文不斯文都没提。另一方面，两个孩子已经厌倦了凤里来，雨里去，在篝火上烤皮包骨的野禽，睡在又冷又硬的地上这种生活，下定决心要去寻找斯文的巨人。最后，普德格伦只好同意去了，但有一个条件。他们必须绝对保证，没有它的准许，不得告诉斯文的巨人，他们是从纳尼亚来的，也不能说他们在找寻瑞廉王子。他们向它做出保证后，才继续往前走。

跟那位夫人谈过话后，有两个方面的情况变得更糟糕了。第一，走的地方更难走，那条路直通望不见尽头的峡谷，山谷下面老有凛冽的北风刮在他们脸上。不像以前在荒原时那样，没有木柴可以用来烧火，也没有好好的小洞穴可以宿营，而且地上全是石头，白天走路使你脚痛，晚上睡觉使你全身都痛。

第二，不管那夫人告诉两个孩子哈方的事出于什么用意，实际上对他们反而起了坏作用。他们一心只想到床铺、洗澡和热饭热菜，想到屋里该有多舒服，别的什么都不想。如今，他们从来不谈起阿斯兰，甚至对失踪的王子也绝口不提。吉尔也放弃了她每天早晚暗自背诵指示的习惯。开头，她对自己说，我太累了，可是她很快就把这事完全抛在脑后。你可能以为他们想到在哈方可以过得愉快，心里就会高兴一点，其实这反而使他们更为自己难过，他们彼此之间也好，对普德格伦也好，都变得更暴躁，容易上火。

最后，有一天下午，他们一路走过的峡谷到了一个地方豁然开阔，两边还出现了暗沉沉的拟树林。他们往前看，只见自己已经穿过了群山。前面是一片满目荒凉、岩石丛生的平原，平原外，远处的群山山顶上都有积雪。但就在他们和远处的群山之间有一座小山头，山顶虽然参差不齐，地势还比较平坦。

“看哪!看哪i”吉尔叫道，指着平原对面。暮色苍茫中，在那座平坦的小山的另一边，大家看见了灯光。灯光!不是月光，不是火光，而是一排亮着灯光的窗户，普普通通，令人宽慰。如果你从来没去过荒野，不曾几个星期日日夜夜待在荒野里，你就难以了解他们的心情。

“哈方i”斯克罗布和吉尔叫了起来，声音又高兴又激动。”哈方!”普德格伦也说了一遍，声音单调，阴郁。但它又说，”嗨!野鹅!”并立刻拿起了弓。它打中了二只大肥鹅。当天想要到达哈方，已经太晚了。但他们吃了一顿热的，还生了一堆火。这天晚上开头倒比以往这一个多星期都暖和得多。火灭了以后，夜里变得寒意刺骨，等他们第二天早上醒来，毯子全都是霜，冻得硬邦邦的。

“没关系i”吉尔一面说着一面顿脚，”今晚就洗上热水澡啦!”