what happened after dinner

"and now," said lucy, "do please tell us what's happened to mr tumnus."

"ah, that's bad," said mr beaver, shaking his head. "that's a very, very bad business. there's no doubt he was taken off by the police. i got that from a bird who saw it done."

"but where's he been taken to?" asked lucy.

"well, they were heading northwards when they were last seen and we all know what that means."

"no, we don't," said susan. mr beaver shook his head in a very gloomy fashion.

"i'm afraid it means they were taking him to her house," he said.

"but what'll they do to him, mr beaver?" gasped lucy.

"well," said mr beaver, "you can't exactly say for sure. but there's not many taken in there that ever comes out again. statues. all full of statues they say it is - in the courtyard and up the stairs and in the hall. people she's turned" - (he paused and shuddered) "turned into stone."

"but, mr beaver," said lucy, "can't we - i mean we must do something to save him. it's too dreadful and it's all on my account."

"i don't doubt you'd save him if you could, dearie," said mrs beaver, "but you've no chance of getting into that house against her will and ever coming out alive."

"couldn't we have some stratagem?" said peter. "i mean couldn't we dress up as something, or pretend to be - oh, pedlars or anything - or watch till she was gone out - or- oh, hang it all, there must be some way. this faun saved my sister at his own risk, mr beaver. we can't just leave him to be - to be - to have that done to him."

"it's no good, son of adam," said mr beaver, "no good your trying, of all people. but now that aslan is on the move-"

"oh, yes! tell us about aslan!" said several voices at once; for once again that strange feeling - like the first signs of spring, like good news, had come over them.

"who is aslan?" asked susan.

"aslan?" said mr beaver. "why, don't you know? he's the king. he's the lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. never in my time or my father's time. but the word has reached us that he has come back. he is in narnia at this moment. he'll settle the white queen all right. it is he, not you, that will save mr tumnus."

"she won't turn him into stone too?" said edmund.

"lord love you, son of adam, what a simple thing to say!" answered mr beaver with a great laugh. "turn him into stone? if she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it'll be the most she can do and more than i expect of her. no, no. he'll put all to rights as it says in an old rhyme in these parts:

wrong will be right, when aslan comes in sight,

at the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

when he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,

and when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

you'll understand when you see him."

"but shall we see him?" asked susan.

"why, daughter of eve, that's what i brought you here for. i'm to lead you where you shall meet him," said mr beaver.

"is-is he a man?" asked lucy.

"aslan a man!" said mr beaver sternly. "certainly not. i tell you he is the king of the wood and the son of the great emperor-beyond-the-sea. don't you know who is the king of beasts? aslan is a lion - the lion, the great lion."

"ooh!" said susan, "i'd thought he was a man. is he - quite safe? i shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"that you will, dearie, and no mistake," said mrs beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"then he isn't safe?" said lucy.

"safe?" said mr beaver; "don't you hear what mrs beaver tells you? who said anything about safe? 'course he isn't safe. but he's good. he's the king, i tell you."

"i'm longing to see him," said peter, "even if i do feel frightened when it comes to the point."

"that's right, son of adam," said mr beaver, bringing his paw down on the table with a crash that made all the cups and saucers rattle. "and so you shall. word has been sent that you are to meet him, tomorrow if you can, at the stone table.'

"where's that?" said lucy.

"i'll show you," said mr beaver. "it's down the river, a good step from here. i'll take you to it!"

"but meanwhile what about poor mr tumnus?" said lucy.

"the quickest way you can help him is by going to meet aslan," said mr beaver, "once he's with us, then we can begin doing things. not that we don't need you too. for that's another of the old rhymes:

when adam's flesh and adam's bone

sits at cair paravel in throne,

the evil time will be over and done.

so things must be drawing near their end now he's come and you've come. we've heard of aslan coming into these parts before - long ago, nobody can say when. but there's never been any of your race here before."

"that's what i don't understand, mr beaver," said peter, "i mean isn't the witch herself human?"

"she'd like us to believe it," said mr beaver, "and it's on that that she bases her claim to be queen. but she's no daughter of eve. she comes of your father adam's" - (here mr beaver bowed) "your father adam's first wife, her they called lilith. and she was one of the jinn. that's what she comes from on one side. and on the other she comes of the giants. no, no, there isn't a drop of real human blood in the witch."

"that's why she's bad all through, mr beaver," said mrs beaver.

"true enough, mrs beaver," replied he, "there may be two views about humans (meaning no offence to the present company). but there's no two views about things that look like humans and aren't."

"i've known good dwarfs," said mrs beaver.

"so've i, now you come to speak of it," said her husband, "but precious few, and they were the ones least like men. but in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be human and isn't yet, or used to be human once and isn't now, or ought to be human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet. and that's why the witch is always on the lookout for any humans in narnia. she's been watching for you this many a year, and if she knew there were four of you she'd be more dangerous still."

"what's that to do with it?" asked peter.

"because of another prophecy," said mr beaver. "down at cair paravel - that's the castle on the sea coast down at the mouth of this river which ought to be the capital of the whole country if all was as it should be - down at cair paravel there are four thrones and it's a saying in narnia time out of mind that when two sons of adam and two daughters of eve sit in those four thrones, then it will be the end not only of the white witch's reign but of her life, and that is why we had to be so cautious as we came along, for if she knew about you four, your lives wouldn't be worth a shake of my whiskers!"

all the children had been attending so hard to what mr beaver was telling them that they had noticed nothing else for a long time. then during the moment of silence that followed his last remark, lucy suddenly said:

"i say-where's edmund?"

there was a dreadful pause, and then everyone began asking "who saw him last? how long has he been missing? is he outside? and then all rushed to the door and looked out. the snow was falling thickly and steadily, the green ice of the pool had vanished under a thick white blanket, and from where the little house stood in the centre of the dam you could hardly see either bank. out they went, plunging well over their ankles into the soft new snow, and went round the house in every direction. "edmund! edmund!" they called till they were hoarse. but the silently falling snow seemed to muffle their voices and there was not even an echo in answer.

"how perfectly dreadful!" said susan as they at last came back in despair. "oh, how i wish we'd never come."

"what on earth are we to do, mr beaver?" said peter.

"do?" said mr beaver, who was already putting on his snow-boots, "do? we must be off at once. we haven't a moment to spare!"

"we'd better divide into four search parties," said peter, "and all go in different directions. whoever finds him must come back here at once and-"

"search parties, son of adam?" said mr beaver; "what for?"

"why, to look for edmund, of course!"

"there's no point in looking for him," said mr beaver.

"what do you mean?" said susan. "he can't be far away yet. and we've got to find him. what do you mean when you say there's no use looking for him?"

"the reason there's no use looking," said mr beaver, "is that we know already where he's gone!" everyone stared in amazement. "don't you understand?" said mr beaver. "he's gone to her, to the white witch. he has betrayed us all."

"oh, surely-oh, really!" said susan, "he can't have done that."

"can't he?" said mr beaver, looking very hard at the three children, and everything they wanted to say died on their lips, for each felt suddenly quite certain inside that this was exactly what edmund had done.

"but will he know the way?" said peter.

"has he been in this country before?" asked mr beaver. "has he ever been here alone?"

"yes," said lucy, almost in a whisper. "i'm afraid he has."

"and did he tell you what he'd done or who he'd met?"

"well, no, he didn't," said lucy.

"then mark my words," said mr beaver, "he has already met the white witch and joined her side, and been told where she lives. i didn't like to mention it before (he being your brother and all) but the moment i set eyes on that brother of yours i said to myself `treacherous'. he had the look of one who has been with the witch and eaten her food. you can always tell them if you've lived long in narnia; something about their eyes."

"all the same," said peter in a rather choking sort of voice, "we'll still have to go and look for him. he is our brother after all, even if he is rather a little beast. and he's only a kid."

"go to the witch's house?" said mrs beaver. "don't you see that the only chance of saving either him or yourselves is to keep away from her?"

"how do you mean?" said lucy.

"why, all she wants is to get all four of you (she's thinking all the time of those four thrones at cair paravel). once you were all four inside her house her job would be done - and there'd be four new statues in her collection before you'd had time to speak. but she'll keep him alive as long as he's the only one she's got, because she'll want to use him as a decoy; as bait to catch the rest of you with."

"oh, can no one help us?" wailed lucy.

"only aslan," said mr beaver, "we must go on and meet him. that's our only chance now."

"it seems to me, my dears," said mrs beaver, "that it is very important to know just when he slipped away. how much he can tell her depends on how much he heard. for instance, had we started talking of aslan before he left? if not, then we may do very well, for she won't know that aslan has come to narnia, or that we are meeting him, and will be quite off her guard as far as that is concerned."

"i don't remember his being here when we were talking about aslan -" began peter, but lucy interrupted him.

"oh yes, he was," she said miserably; "don't you remember, it was he who asked whether the witch couldn't turn aslan into stone too?"

"so he did, by jove," said peter; "just the sort of thing he would say, too!"

"worse and worse," said mr beaver, "and the next thing is this. was he still here when i told you that the place for meeting aslan was the stone table?"

and of course no one knew the answer to this question.

"because, if he was," continued mr beaver, "then she'll simply sledge down in that direction and get between us and the stone table and catch us on our way down. in fact we shall be cut off from aslan. "

"but that isn't what she'll do first," said mrs beaver, "not if i know her. the moment that edmund tells her that we're all here she'll set out to catch us this very night, and if he's been gone about half an hour, she'll be here in about another twenty minutes."

"you're right, mrs beaver," said her husband, "we must all get away from here. there's not a moment to lose."

第八章　饭后发生的情况

“现在，”露茜说，“请你告诉我们，图姆纳斯先生到底出了什么事？”

“啊，真糟糕。”海狸先生摇着头说，“那可是非常非常糟糕的事。毫无疑问，他是被警察带走的。这个情况我是从一只鸟儿那里探听到的，它亲眼看见他被他们带走的。”

“那么他被带到什么地方去了呢？”露茜问道。

“嗯，最后看到他们的时候，他们是朝北去的。大家都知道那意味着什么。”

“但是我们不懂啊。”苏珊说。海狸先生非常忧郁地摇了摇头说：“恐怕他们把他带到她的住所去了。”

“他们要拿他怎么样，海狸先生？”露茜喘着气问。

“唉，”海狸先生说，“这就难说了，凡是被抓去的能够出来的不多，全变成了石头雕像啦。据说，在她住的院子里，楼上，厅堂里都堆满了石头雕像。她把人们……”他顿了一下，继续颤栗着说，“通通变成石头了。”

“但是，海狸先生，”露茜说，“难道我们就一点办法也没有了吗？我是说我们应该想一切办法去救他。这是多么可怕啊，而且，不是为了我，他就不会遭这个罪。”

“孩子们，我并不怀疑，如果你们能有办法的话，你们可以救他的命，”海狸太太说，“但是，你们怎么能强行进入她的住所，再活着出来呢？”

“我们是不是可以用些计谋呢？”彼得说，“例如，我们打扮成小贩或旁的什么人，或者注意好了，等她不在家时，偷偷地潜入她的宫中，或者……唉，她真是该死。总之，我们得想一切办法救他出来。海狸先生，这位农牧之神不顾他自己的生命危险救了我的妹妹，我们怎能眼巴巴的不顾他的死活，看着他受苦呢？”

“不行啊，亚当的儿子，”海狸先生说，“你们再想办法也没用。唉，听说阿斯兰回来了……”

“哦，对啦，给我们讲讲阿斯兰的情况吧！”几个人异口同声地说，说到阿斯兰，那种神奇的感觉，就像春天来临的第一个信号，就像喜讯拨动着他们的心弦。

“阿斯兰是谁呀？”苏珊问。

“阿斯兰？”海狸先生说，“这你还不知道吗？他是国王，他是森林之王，但他不经常在这儿。不论在我父亲的一生中，还是在我的一生中，他都没来过。但现在有确实的消息说，他已经回来了。目前他就在那尼亚。他一定要将白女巫彻底消灭。能够救图姆纳斯先生的就是他，而不是你们。”

“她不会也把他变成石头吗？”爱德蒙说。

“我的小祖宗啊，亚当的儿子，你问的问题是多么简单幼稚啊！”海狸先生哈哈大笑地回答说，“把他变成石头？如果她敢在他面前站起来，正视他一眼，她就算是有种的了。我能肯定她不敢这样做。阿斯兰要重整河山，如同一首古老的诗歌中所写的那样：

阿斯兰出现在我们面前，

是非颠倒的现象就会改变；

人们一听到他的吼声，

阿斯兰一露他的牙齿，

漫漫严冬就会消逝不见；

他的鬃毛轻轻一抖，

我们就会重睹春天。

你们见到以后就会知道了。”

“我们要去见见他吗？”苏珊问道。

“当然罗，夏娃的女儿，我就是为了这个才把你们带到这儿来的。我把你们带到跟他相会的地方去。”海狸先生说。

“他，他是人吗？”露茜问。

“阿斯兰是人？！”海狸先生严肃地说，“当然不是。我已告诉过你们，他是森林之王，是海外大帝之子。你不知道谁是百兽之王吗？阿斯兰是一头狮子，一头雄狮，是伟大的百兽之王。”

“哦，哦，哦，”苏珊说，“我原来还以为他是人呢。那么他——会伤人吗？和一头狮子相会，我会感到非常害怕。”

“你们会感到害怕，亲爱的，这一点也不奇怪，”海狸太太说，“如果有谁在阿斯兰面前两膝不发抖，他不是一个非凡的勇士，就是一个傻瓜。”

“这样说来不是太吓人了吗？”露茜说。

“害怕吗？”海狸先生说，“你没有听见我的太太说的话吗？他当然使人望而生畏，但他是善良的。他是王，懂了吗？”

“即使我见到他会感到害怕，我还是渴望去见他。”彼得说。

“说得对，亚当的儿子，”海狸先生说，他用脚爪猛地拍了一下桌子，震得满桌的杯子和碟子都叮当直响。“你们应该去见他，我这儿已经得到口信，约你们去与他相会。如果可能的话，就在明天，在石台那儿。”

“石台在哪儿？”露茜问。

“我会给你们带路的，”海狸先生说，“它在这条河流的下游，离这儿好远呢，我送你们到那儿。”

“还要走这么远的路，图姆纳斯先生不知会怎么样？”露茜问。

“你们能帮助他的最快的办法就是去找阿斯兰，”海狸先生说，“只要他和我们在一起，我们就会有办法，但这并不是说我们就不需要你们，这里还有几行古老的诗句：

一旦亚当的亲骨肉登上

凯尔·巴拉维尔的王位，

罪恶的年代就会一去不复返。

所以，既然阿斯兰来了，你们又来了，一切都得结束了。我们很久以前——具体什么时候，谁也说不清楚——就听说阿斯兰到这一带来过，但这里从来也不曾有过你们人类的足迹。”

“这正是我搞不清楚的地方，海狸先生，”彼得问，“我是说，难道女王自己就不是人吗？”

“她就希望我们相信她是人类，”海狸先生说，“她就是以此自封为女王的，但她根本不是夏娃的女儿，她是你父王亚当的……”说到这里，海狸先生鞠了一个躬，“第一个妻子李丽丝生的，李丽丝是个妖精，所以她身上既有女巫的血统，又有巨人的血缘。在这个女巫身上，没有一滴真正人类的血液。”

“怪不得她这样坏，海狸先生，”海狸太太说。

“对极了，太太，”他答道，“关于人类也许有两种看法（我不想冒犯在场的人），但对看起来像人类而又不是人类的东西，就不存在两种看法。”

“我认识善良的小妖，”海狸太太说。

“我也认识，”她的丈夫说，“但真正善良的极少，他们最不像人。总之，你们应该听我的劝告，当你们遇见任何要想变做人而还没有变成的，或过去曾经是人而现在已不是的，或应该是人实际上不是人的什么生灵，你们就必须提高警惕，随时准备好你们的斧子。白女巫总是害怕那尼亚会出现人类，她提防你们已有好几年了。如果她知道你们四个人都在这儿，她就会变得更加狠毒。”

“这是什么原因？”彼得问。

“这就要说到一个古老的预言，”海狸说，“在凯尔·巴拉维尔，也就是这条河流入海口附近的那个城堡，照理它应该是整个国家的首都，有四个国王的宝座。很久很久以前，谁也记不清是什么年代了，在那尼亚有这样一种传说，一旦亚当的两个儿子和夏娃的两个女儿坐上这四个王位，不仅白女巫的统治，而且连同她的生命都将一起完蛋。这就是刚才我们来的路上为什么要这样小心翼翼的原因，因为假如让她知道了，她要害死你们，就像我抖抖胡子这样容易。”

孩子们一直这样聚精会神地听着海狸先生讲话，他们好长时间都没有去注意别的情况。他说到最后，大家都寂静无声的时候，露茜突然说道：

“哎哟，爱德蒙到哪儿去啦？”

先是一阵可怕的沉默，接着大家都问：“谁最后看见他的？不见他有多少时候啦？他到屋外去了吗？”大家马上冲到门口去看。外面大雪纷飞，水池上面绿色的冰已经不见了，而盖上了一条厚厚的雪毯。站在小屋的门口，你几乎看不见两边的河岸。他们在屋前屋后四下寻找，两脚深陷在刚下的柔软的雪中。“爱德蒙！爱德蒙！”他们拼命地喊着，嗓子都喊哑了。但是，他们的喊声似乎全被寂静的大雪淹没了，甚至连一句回声也听不到。

最后，他们懊丧地回到屋里。“太可怕了！”苏姗说，“啊，如果我们不到这儿来该有多好啊。”

“我们究竟怎么办呢？海狸先生？”彼得问。

“怎么办？”海狸先生说，他已经穿上了雪靴，“怎么办？我们必须立即出发，一刻也不能停留！”

“我们最好分成四个搜寻小组，”彼得说，“朝各个方向去找，找到他以后立即回到这儿来，还有……”

“分成搜寻小组，”海狸先生问，“干什么去呀？”

“当然去找爱德蒙罗！”

“不必去找他啦，”海狸先生说。

“你这是什么意思？”彼得说，“他还不可能走远。我们必须把他找回来。你说不用去找他，这是什么意思？”

“不必找他的理由是，”海狸先生说，“我们已经知道他到哪儿去了！”大家听了，一时摸不着头脑，都惊讶地瞪起了眼睛。“你们难道还不知道吗？”海狸先生接下来说，“他到白女巫哪儿去了，他已经背叛了我们。”

“哦，不会的，我敢肯定，”苏姗说，“他不会干出这种事来的。”

“他不会？”海狸先生紧盯着三个孩子问，孩子们的话刚到了嘴边又咽了下去，因为他们每个人的心里都立刻明白过来，爱德蒙肯定已经干了那样的事。

“但他认得路吗？”彼得说。

“他以前来过这个国家吗？”海狸先生问，“他有没有一个人单独来过？”

“他来过，”露茜低声说，声音低得人们几乎都听不见。

“他有没有告诉你们做了些什么，遇见了谁吗？”

“嗯，没有，”彼得说。

“那么，你们就听我说，”海狸先生说，“他见过白女巫，他已经加入她那一边了，他知道她住在哪儿。我起先不高兴讲，因为他是你们的兄弟，但我一见到你们这位兄弟，就知道他不可靠。他脸上有一种特别的表情，只有和女巫在一起、吃过她东西的人脸上才有这种表情。如果你们在那尼亚的时间长了，就可以根据他们的眼神把他们辨别出来。”

“不管怎样，”彼得几乎用一种哽咽的声音说，“我们还得去找他，他到底是我们的兄弟，即使他是个小畜生，他毕竟还是个小孩子。”

“到女巫住的地方去找他？”海狸太太说，“你们难道还不明白，救他或者救你们自己的惟一办法，就是避免和她接触，不让她看见吗？”

“这到底是什么意思？”露茜说。

“哎哟，她一心想的就是要把你们四人一网打尽，她一直在觊觎着凯尔·巴拉维尔的四个王位。你们四个人一到她的住所里面，她正好下手。你们还来不及开口，就已成了四座新的石头雕像。但是如果抓住他一个人，她就会让他活着，因为她要把他作为钓饵，用来引诱你们其余的人上钩。”

“啊，难道就没有人帮助我们了吗？”露茜大声哭了起来。

“只有阿斯兰，”海狸先生说，“我们一定要去见他，这是我们眼下惟一的办法。”

“亲爱的孩子们，据我看来，”海狸太太说，“要紧的是知道他什么时候溜走的。他能告诉女巫多少取决于他听到了多少。例如说，在他溜走前，我们已经开始谈到阿斯兰了吗？如果还没有，我们就照常可以干得很好，因为女巫还不知道阿斯兰已经来到了那尼亚，也不知道我们将去见阿斯兰，不知道我们将尽可能地避开她。”

“我记不清我们谈论阿斯兰时他是不是还在这儿……”彼得说，但露茜马上打断了他的话。

“哦，他在的，”她很难过地说，“你可记得，就是他要打听女巫能不能将阿斯兰也变成石头吗？”

“天哪，正是他，”彼得说，“他就是喜欢问这一类的问题。”

“糟了，糟了，”海狸先生说，“还有一个问题，当我告诉你们在石台会见阿斯兰时他还在这儿吗？”

没有谁能回答这个问题。

“因为，如果他那时也在的话，”海狸先生继续说道，“那么，女巫知道了这一情况，她就会驾着雪橇直奔石台，插到我们和石台中间，在半路上堵截我们。这样，我们和阿斯兰的联系就会被切断。”

“但是这还不是她首先要干的事，”海狸太太说，“在我看来，她不会那样干。如果爱德蒙告诉了她我们都在这儿，她今晚就会到这里来抓我们。假如她是半小时以前溜走的，再过二十分钟，她就会赶到我们这儿来。”

“你说得对，太太，”海狸先生说，“我们必须立刻出发，全部离开这儿！”