the people that lived in hiding
now began the happiest times that caspian had ever known. on a fine summer morning when the dew lay on the grass he set off with the badger and the two dwarfs, up through the forest to a high saddle in the mountains and down on to their sunny southern slopes where one looked across the green wolds of archenland.
"we will go first to the three bulgy bears," said trumpkin.
they came in a glade to an old hollow oak tree covered with moss, and trufflehunter tapped with his paw three times on the trunk and there was no answer. then he tapped again and a woolly sort of voice from inside said, "go away. it's not time to get up yet." but when he tapped the third time there was a noise like a small earthquake from inside and a sort of door opened and out came three brown bears, very bulgy indeed and blinking their little eyes. and when everything had been explained to them (which took a long time because they were so sleepy) they said, just as trufflehunter had said, that a son of adam ought to be king of narnia and all kissed caspian - very wet, snuffly kisses they were - and offered him some honey. caspian did not really want honey, without bread, at that time in the morning, but he thought it polite to accept. it took him a long time afterwards to get unsticky.
after that they went on till they came among tall beech trees and trufflehunter called out, "pattertwig! pattertwig! pattertwig!" and almost at once, bounding down from branch to branch till he was just above their heads, came the most magnificent red squirrel that caspian had ever seen. he was far bigger than the ordinary dumb squirrels which he had sometimes seen in the castle gardens; indeed he was nearly the size of a terrier and the moment you looked in his face you saw that he could talk. indeed the difficulty was to get him to stop talking, for, like all squirrels, he was a chatterer. he welcomed caspian at once and asked if he would like a nut and caspian said thanks, he would. but as pattertwig went bounding away to fetch it, trufflehunter whispered in caspian's ear, "don't look. look the other way. it's very bad manners among squirrels to watch anyone going to his store or to look as if you wanted to know where it was." then pattertwig came back with the nut and caspian ate it and after that pattertwig asked if he could take any messages to other friends. "for i can go nearly everywhere without setting foot to ground," he said. trufflehunter and the dwarfs thought this a very good idea and gave pattertwig messages to all sorts of people with queer names telling them all to come to a feast and council on dancing lawn at midnight three nights ahead. "and you'd better tell the three bulgies too," added trumpkin. "we forgot to mention it to them."
their next visit was to the seven brothers of shuddering wood. trumpkin led the way back to the saddle and then down eastward on the northern slope of the mountains till they came to a very solemn place among rocks and fir trees. they went very quietly and presently caspian could feel the ground shake under his feet as if someone were hammering down below. trumpkin went to a flat stone about the size of the top of a water-butt, and stamped on it with his foot. after a long pause it was moved away by someone or something underneath, and there was a dark, round hole with a good deal of heat and steam coming out of it and in the middle of the hole the head of a dwarf very like trumpkin himself. there was a long talk here and the dwarf seemed more suspicious than the squirrel or the bulgy bears had been, but in the end the whole party were invited to come down. caspian found himself descending a dark stairway into the earth, but when he came to the bottom he saw firelight. it was the light of a furnace. the whole place was a smithy. a subterranean stream ran past on one side of it. two dwarfs were at the bellows, another was holding a piece of red-hot metal on the anvil with a pair of tongs, a fourth was hammering it, and two, wiping their horny little hands on a greasy cloth, were coming forward to meet the visitors. it took some time to satisfy them that caspian was a friend and not an enemy, but when they did, they all cried, "long live the king," and their gifts were noble - mail shirts and helmets and swords for caspian and trumpkin and nikabrik. the badger could have had the same if he had liked, but he said he was a beast, he was, and if his claws and teeth could not keep his skin whole, it wasn't worth keeping. the workmanship of the arms was far finer than any caspian had ever seen, and he gladly accepted the dwarf-made sword instead of his own, which looked, in comparison, as feeble as a toy and as clumsy as a stick. the seven brothers (who were all red dwarfs) promised to come to the feast at dancing lawn.
a little farther on, in a dry, rocky ravine they reached the cave of five black dwarfs. they looked suspiciously at caspian, but in the end the eldest of them said, "if he is against miraz, we'll have him for king." and the next oldest said, "shall we go farther up for you, up to the crags? there's an ogre or two and a hag that we could introduce you to, up there."
"certainly not," said caspian.
"i should think not, indeed," said trufflehunter. "we want none of that sort on our side." nikabrik disagreed with this, but trumpkin and the badger overruled him. it gave caspian a shock to realize that the horrible creatures out of the old stories, as well as the nice ones, had some descendants in narnia still.
"we should not have aslan for friend if we brought in that rabble," said trufflehunter as they came away from the cave of the black dwarfs.
"oh, aslan!" said trumpkin, cheerily but contemptuously. "what matters much more is that you wouldn't have me."
"do you believe in aslan?" said caspian to nikabrik.
"i'll believe in anyone or anything," said nikabrik, "that'll batter these cursed telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of narnia. anyone or anything, aslan or the white witch, do you understand?"
"silence, silence," said trufflehunter. "you do not know what you are saying. she was a worse enemy than miraz and all his race."
"not to dwarfs, she wasn't," said nikabrik.
their next visit was a pleasanter one. as they came lower down, the mountains opened out into a great glen or wooded gorge with a swift river running at the bottom. the open places near the river's edge were a mass of foxgloves and wild roses and the air was buzzing with bees. here trufflehunter called again, "glenstorm! glenstorm!" and after a pause caspian heard the sound of hoofs. it grew louder till the valley trembled and at last, breaking and trampling the thickets, there came in sight the noblest creatures that caspian had yet seen, the great centaur glenstorm and his three sons. his flanks were glossy chestnut and the beard that covered his broad chest was goldenred. he was a prophet and a star-gazer and knew what they had come about.
"long live the king," he cried. "i and my sons are ready for war. when is the battle to be joined?"
up till now neither caspian nor the others had really been thinking of a war. they had some vague idea, perhaps, of an occasional raid on some human farmstead or of attacking a party of hunters, if it ventured too far into these southern wilds. but, in the main, they had thought only of living to themselves in woods and caves and building up an attempt at old narnia in hiding. as soon as glenstorm had spoken everyone felt much more serious.
"do you mean a real war to drive miraz out of narnia?" asked caspian.
"what else?" said the centaur. "why else does your majesty go clad in mail and girt with sword?"
"is it possible, glenstorm?" said the badger.
"the time is ripe," said glenstorm. "i watch the skies, badger, for it is mine to watch, as it is yours to remember. tarva and alambil have met in the halls of high heaven, and on earth a son of adam has once more arisen to rule and name the creatures. the hour has struck. our council at the dancing lawn must be a council of war." he spoke in such a voice that neither caspian nor the others hesitated for a moment: it now seemed to them quite possible that they might win a war and quite certain that they must wage one.
as it was now past the middle of the day, they rested with the centaurs and ate such food as the centaurs provided cakes of oaten meal, and apples, and herbs, and wine, and cheese.
the next place they were to visit was quite near at hand, but they had to go a long way round in order to avoid a region in which men lived. it was well into the afternoon before they found themselves in level fields, warm between hedgerows. there trufflehunter called at the mouth of a little hole in a green bank and out popped the last thing caspian expected - a talking mouse. he was of course bigger than a common mouse, well over a foot high when he stood on his hind legs, and with ears nearly as long as (though broader than) a rabbit's. his name was reepicheep and he was a gay and martial mouse. he wore a tiny little rapier at his side and twirled his long whiskers as if they were a moustache. "there are twelve of us, sire," he said with a dashing and graceful bow, "and i place all the resources of my people unreservedly at your majesty's disposal." caspian tried hard (and successfully) not to laugh, but he couldn't help thinking that reepicheep and all his people could very easily be put in a washing basket and carried home on one's back.
it would take too long to mention all the creatures whom caspian met that day - clodsley shovel the mole, the three hardbiters (who were badgers like trufflehunter), camillo the hare, and hogglestock the hedgehog. they rested at last beside a well at the edge of a wide and level circle of grass, bordered with tall elms which now threw long shadows across it, for the sun was setting, the daisies closing, and the rooks flying home to bed. here they supped on food they had brought with them and trumpkin lit his pipe (nikabrik was not a smoker).
"now," said the badger, "if only we could wake the spirits of these trees and this well, we should have done a good day's work."
"can't we?" said caspian.
"no," said trufflehunter. "we have no power over them. since the humans came into the land, felling forests and defiling streams, the dryads and naiads have sunk into a deep sleep. who knows if ever they will stir again? and that is a great loss to our side. the telmarines are horribly afraid of the woods, and once the trees moved in anger, our enemies would go mad with fright and be chased out of narnia as quick as their legs could carry them."
"what imaginations you animals have!" said trumpkin, who didn't believe in such things. "but why stop at trees and waters? wouldn't it be even nicer if the stones started throwing themselves at old miraz?"
the badger only grunted at this, and after that there was such a silence that caspian had nearly dropped off to sleep when he thought he heard a faint musical sound from the depth of the woods at his back. then he thought it was only a dream and turned over again; but as soon as his ear touched the ground he felt or heard (it was hard to tell which) a faint beating or drumming. he raised his head. the beating noise at once became fainter, but the music returned, clearer this time. it was like flutes. he saw that trufflehunter was sitting up staring into the wood. the moon was bright; caspian had been asleep longer than he thought. nearer and nearer came the music, a tune wild and yet dreamy, and the noise of many light feet, till at last, out from the wood into the moonlight, came dancing shapes such as caspian had been thinking of all his life. they were not much taller than dwarfs, but far slighter and more graceful. their curly heads had little horns, the upper part of their bodies gleamed naked in the pale light, but their legs and feet were those of goats.
"fauns!" cried caspian, jumping up, and in a moment they were all round him. it took next to no time to explain the whole situation to them and they accepted caspian at once. before he knew what he was doing he found himself joining in the dance. trumpkin, with heavier and jerkier movements, did likewise and even trufflehunter hopped and lumbered about as best he could. only nikabrik stayed where he was, looking on in silence. the fauns footed it all round caspian to their reedy pipes. their strange faces, which seemed mournful and merry all at once, looked into his; dozens of fauns, mentius and obentinus and dumnus, voluns, voltinus, girbius, nimienus, nausus, and oscuns. pattertwig had sent them all.
when caspian awoke next morning he could hardly believe that it had not all been a dream; but the grass was covered with little cloven hoof-marks.
6隐居者
凯斯宾最快乐的日子开始了。夏日清晨，青草上还挂着露珠，他已经同灌和两个小矮人一道，穿过树林，越过高高的山脊，来到阳光明媚的南山坡上。在这里，你居高临下，可以把阿钦兰那绿色的世界尽收眼底。
"咱们先去找那三个胖子大熊。"杜鲁普金说。
他们来到一片林中空地，这儿最醒目的是一棵四周长满了青苔的空心标树。特鲁佛汉特用爪子在树干上敲了三下。半天也没有回答。于是它又使劲地敲，就听见从树里传来一阵模糊不清的抱怨"走开，天还早着呢。"特鲁佛汉特只好又敲第三遍。终于，一阵响动之后，树干上的一扇门被打开了，从里面慢吞吞地走出三头肥胖无比的大棕熊，一边不停地眨巴着它们的小眼睛。不出特鲁佛汉特所料，听完了客人的故事，它们异口同声地表示，赞成亚当的儿子做纳尼亚的统治者，并且亲吻了凯斯宾——一种湿乎乎的抽鼻子式的接吻——以表示敬意。它们取出贮藏的蜂蜜来款待贵宾。凯斯宾并不喜欢在早上这时候不吃面包光吃蜂蜜，但出于礼节他还是客气地伸手接下了。后来他花了老半天才把那粘乎乎的蜂蜜擦干净。
告辞了大熊，他们继续往前走，不久又来到一片山毛桦
树林中，特鲁佛汉特高声叫道:
"佩蒂威格！佩蒂威格！”转眼间，一只漂亮得惊人的红色松鼠从树梢上一级一级十分灵巧地跳下来，停在离他们最近的树枝上。它比凯斯宾偶尔在城堡花园里见到的那些普通的、不会讲话的松鼠要大得多，你一看见它那张聪明、懂事的脸，马上就能判断出它会讲话。果然，佩蒂威格十分健谈。很快他们就发现要想让它住嘴可真是件难事。它当即表示欢迎凯斯宾国王的到来，并殷勤地问他是否愿意吃点坚果。凯斯宾谢谢它并表示十分乐意吃一点)l。就在佩蒂威格蹦蹦跳跳去取果子的时候，特鲁佛汉特在凯斯宾的耳边低声说"别盯着看，把脸转过去。对于松鼠来说，假如你注意看它去仓库，或者东张西望，好像你想要知道那仓库的秘密，那是很不礼貌的。"一会儿，佩蒂威格带着果子回来了，等凯斯宾吃完之后，佩蒂威格又问要不要它给朋友们捎个信。"我可以到任何地方去，脚都不沾地的。"它骄傲地说。特鲁佛汉特和小矮人们都认为这个主意不错，于是写了好多张便条给许多名字听起来稀奇古怪的动物，邀请它们二天之后的午夜来跳舞草坪参加盛宴和政务会。"别忘了通知那三只大棕熊，刚才我们忘记提这事儿了。”杜鲁普金补充说。
告别松鼠后，他们又走访了萨德森林七兄弟。杜鲁普金领着大家翻过山脊，顺着北山坡朝东边走，最后来到岩石和松树之间一个肃穆庄严却有些昏暗的地方。凯斯宾突然感到大地在颤动，好像有人在地下用锤子不停地敲打。杜鲁普金走上一块扁扁的大石头，用脚跺了几下，然后站在一边，显然是在等待什么。过了老半天，那石头被什么人从下面移到了一边，露出一个洞口，随着一股热气和一缕青烟，洞口里冒出一个小矮人的脑袋，很像杜鲁普金。他们在洞口谈了很久，那小矮人似乎比松鼠和大熊的疑心大多了，可最后还是邀请大家"进屋里说话"。凯斯宾沿着漆黑的台阶往地下走去，也不知走了多远，突然眼前一亮，他看到了火光。那是炼铁炉发出的光亮。原来，这里是小矮人的铁匠工场。两个小矮人在风箱旁卖力地干着，另一个用钳子夹住时子上一块烧红的铁块，第四个小矮人正在上面丁丁当当地敲打着，还有两个在一块油腻的布上擦擦那满是老茧的子，走上前来迎接客人。特鲁佛汉特费了不少口舌，才使他俩相信凯斯宾是朋友而不是敌人。一旦明白了这点，他们便齐声高呼"国王万岁！"一边捧来他们的礼物：三套富丽堂皇的盔甲和三柄宝剑。凯斯宾、杜鲁普金和尼克布瑞克各自得到了一套，而那灌本来也可以有一套的，可是它说，它是个动物，假如它的爪子和牙齿无法保护自己，给它再好的装备也是白搭。毫不夸张地说，那些军械的做工比凯斯宾见过的任何军械都强到不知哪里去了。相比之下，他原来的那把剑简直单薄得像个玩具，粗糙得像根棍子。所以他很高兴地收下了这些礼物。同时，七兄弟(他们都是红小矮人)也高兴地接受了去跳舞场赴宴的邀请。
往前不远，在一个干燥而遍布岩石的沟壑里，他们找到一个山洞，那里住着五个黑小矮人。初见面时，他们望着凯斯宾，日光里充满着戒备和疑虑。可是后来那位老大说，"假如他反对弥若兹，那我们就拥立他为王。"老二也友好地问道"要不要我们送你一段路？那边的山崖下住着几个食人怪，还有一个巫婆。我们可以把它们介绍给你，喏，就在那儿。"
"不必了。"凯斯宾说。
"我看也大可不必，"特鲁佛汉特说，"我们不要那些家伙混入我们的阵营。"尼克布瑞克不同意这话，但杜鲁普金和獾驳倒了他。凯斯宾听说故事里那些牛鬼蛇神也有后代活在世上，不由感到十分震惊。
"要是我们收容了这些坏蛋，阿斯兰就不会做我们的朋友了。"当他们从黑小矮人的山洞里走出来的时候，特鲁佛汉特说。
"哼，阿斯兰！"尼克布瑞克似乎很不服气，"你们要是没有我这个朋友，那才不得了哩！"
"你不相信阿斯兰吗？"凯斯宾问尼克布瑞克。
"哈！我相信随便什么人，随便什么东西，"尼克布瑞克高声说，"只要他能打垮那些可恶的台尔马暴徒，把他们赶出纳尼亚，随便什么人还是什么东西，不管他叫阿斯兰，还是叫白女巫，我都奉若神明！你明白了吗？""
"你给我住嘴！”特鲁佛汉特听到这里不由得火冒三丈，"简直是胡说八道。白女巫是比弥若兹及其同类更加危险的敌人，你知道吗？"
"对我们小矮人来讲，她不是。"尼克布瑞克说。
下一站的访问比较令人愉快。他们顺着山坡往下走，来到一个宽阔的幽谷，谷底流过一条湍急的河，河边的空地上是大片的毛地黄和野玫瑰，蜜蜂嗡嗡地往返奔忙。特鲁佛汉特高声喊道"格兰斯托姆！格兰斯托姆！"一会儿工夫，凯斯宾听到一阵马蹄声，越来越近，连河谷都颤动起来。突然，他们看到几个动物冲开灌木丛跑了出来。这是凯斯宾平生见到的最珍奇、最高贵的动物了——人头马格兰斯托姆，后面跟着它的三个儿子。它那强健的马身发出栗色的光泽，高贵的人头潇洒地扬起，一生咎金红色的胡子在宽阔的胸前飘扬。它是位预言家，又是位占星家，完全了解客人来访的日的。
"国王万岁！"它呼啸而来，声如洪钟，"我和我的儿子们随时准备参加战斗。咱们什么时候开始？"
直到现在，凯斯宾和其他几个都还没有认真想过打仗的事儿，他们只有一些仍然是模糊不清的设想。比方说，袭击农夫和猎人——假如他们胆敢到这片野树林中来骚扰的话。他们只希望隐居在森林中、洞穴里，建立起一个隐蔽的、传统的纳尼亚，别无奢望。格兰斯托姆的这句话，使大家茅塞顿开。
"你是说，发动一场正义的战争，把弥若兹彻底赶出纳尼亚？"凯斯宾问。
"对！"人头马说，"隆下身穿盔甲，佩挂宝剑，难道不是为了这个？"
"能成功吗？"灌将信将疑。
"时机已经成熟，"格兰斯托姆说，"我们看过了星相，灌老弟，观察星相是我的本行，正如牢记历史是你的本行一样。塔瓦和阿拉姆毕尔两颗行星在天空的大殿里相会了，而在大地上，亚当的儿子将重整旗鼓，召集并指挥纳尼亚人民，为自由而战。听听啊，时钟敲响了，我们在跳舞场举行的会议，就是这场战争的动员大会。"它的话里充满了信心和勇气，使凯斯宾和其他的朋友都跃跃欲试。他们意识到，这将是一场不可避免的正义战争，而且胜利一定属于他们！
已是中午，于是他们坐下来与人头马父子共进午餐，人头马请大家吃的是燕麦饼、香草和乳酪。
下午去拜访的地方虽然不远，但他们不得不绕一个大弯，以避开有人类居住的地区。他们来到河岸附近一个洞口前，特鲁佛汉特又呼喊起来。喊声未落，从洞里突地一声跳出个什么东西来。凯斯宾怎么也料想不到，原来那是只会说话的老鼠。毫无疑问，它比普通的老鼠要大得多，后腿一站，足有一尺多高，两只大耳朵和兔子的一样长(可是更宽一些)，它叫雷佩契普，是个快活而又英勇的小家伙。只见他腰间佩着一柄小巧锋利的宝剑，不时捻动着它那寥寥可数的几根长胡须，神气十足。"我们一共十二员鼠将，陆下，"它毕恭毕敬，迅速而优美地鞠了一躬，"我的全军人马将无条件地听候陛下调遣，赴汤蹈火，在所不辞！”凯斯宾看它那一本正经的样子，忍不住直想笑，雷佩契普和它的全军人马，可以毫不费劲地给放在一只菜篮子里，让随便什么人拎回家去。
那天他们会见了许许多多的朋友，要把这些朋友一加以描述，那可就太费时间了——有打洞专家睡鼠，钢口利牙的灌家族，野兔卡梅罗，还有刺猜豪格尔斯道克等等。最后他们来到一口井边，决定休息一下。井旁是一片柔软的草坪，四周都是榆树。这时，投在地上的树影已经很长，太阳已开始落山。雏菊花合拢了，白嘴鸟也要飞回家睡觉去了。他们坐在草坪上取出带来的食物，准备进晚餐。杜鲁普金则点燃了他的大烟斗，一副怡然自得的样子。
"现在，"特鲁佛汉特说，"咱们要是能唤醒这里的树神就好了，那样我们这一天可就真是功德圆满啦。"
"咱们办不到吗？"凯斯宾说。
"办不到，"灌叹了一口气说，"咱们无能为力，自从人类迁移到这块土地上之后，他们砍伐树木，污染河流，使树神和水神引退很久了，谁也不知道他们还会不会显灵。这对我们来说是个很大的损失呢l那些台尔马人最怕这树林，一旦大树们愤怒起来，他们就会发疯似的四处逃窜，飞快地逃出纳尼亚。"
"你们动物的想象力简直太丰富啦！"杜鲁普金根本不相信这话，"可是你为什么只讲到树和水，就不往下说了？假如石头全都能够自己飞起来，砸向老弥若兹，那不是更妙吗？”
灌对这话只是哼了一声，表示不屑回答。这以后是很长时间的沉默，凯斯宾倒在软软的草地上，渐渐进入梦乡——了一天，他真有些疲倦了。
忽然，他仿佛听到身后的树林深处传来了一阵低沉奇妙的音乐，开始他以为这是幻觉，翻个身打算继续睡，可是当他耳朵刚一靠近地面，他马上听到，或者说感觉到一阵微弱的敲打声。他抬起头来，那打击声马上弱下去，可音乐声又响起来，而且这一次更加清楚，好像是笛子的声音。他看见特鲁佛汉特坐起身来，两眼盯着树林。这时夜幕已经降临。天上一轮明月，发出校洁柔和的光。凯斯宾似乎已经睡了一大觉。他使劲摇摇头，侧耳倾听听——音乐声越来越近了，那是一种粗矿而又令人精神恍惚的旋律。终于，伴随着轻捷的脚步声，一群翩翩舞动着的身影从树林里来到月光下——这些年来一直萦绕在凯斯宾心头的正是这些身影。他们不比小矮人高多少，可身材苗条，体态也优美得多。他们拳曲的头发上伸出两只角来，淡淡的月光映出他们赤裸的上身，可他们的腿和脚都与山羊的一模一样。
"羊怪。"凯斯宾跳起身，叫出声来。羊怪们立刻友好地把他围在当中。他们的心似乎是相通的！几乎没说多少话，彼此便产生了理解和信任。他们当即郑重宣告，承认凯斯宾为他们的领袖，说完又继续跳舞。他们跳得那么专心，那么热烈，不由得吸引了凯斯宾和他的同伴。杜鲁普金步履沉重，摇摇摆摆，也随着跳了起来，连特鲁佛汉特都使出浑身解数，不停地蹦着，扭摆着。只有尼克布瑞克一动不动地待在一边，沉默地看着。羊怪们用他们纤细的脚围着凯斯宾跳呀跳。他们那古怪的面容，会儿显得悲哀，一会儿又显得十分快乐。与他们为邻的还有几十个小矮人，曼蒂犹斯、奥本蒂纳斯、达姆纳斯，这时都被喊了来，向新国王致敬。
第二天早晨，凯斯宾一觉醒来，对夜里发生的事记忆犹新。他简直不相信这一切都是真的，可是草地上分明布满了羊的足迹。