deep magic from the dawn of time

"yes! and have him rescued," said the witch scornfully.

"then," said the dwarf, "we had better do what we have to do at once."

"i would like to have it done on the stone table itself," said the witch. "that is the proper place. that is where it has always been done before."

"it will be a long time now before the stone table can again be put to its proper use," said the dwarf.

"true," said the witch; and then, "well, i will begin."

at that moment with a rush and a snarl a wolf rushed up to them.

"i have seen them. they are all at the stone table, with him. they have killed my captain, maugrim. i was hidden in the thickets and saw it all. one of the sons of adam killed him. fly! fly!"

"no," said the witch. "there need be no flying. go quickly. summon all our people to meet me here as speedily as they can. call out the giants and the werewolves and the spirits of those trees who are on our side. call the ghouls, and the boggles, the ogres and the minotaurs. call the cruels, the hags, the spectres, and the people of the toadstools. we will fight. what? have i not still my wand? will not their ranks turn into stone even as they come on? be off quickly, i have a little thing to finish here while you are away."

the great brute bowed its head, turned, and galloped away.

"now!" she said, "we have no table - let me see. we had better put it against the trunk of a tree."

edmund found himself being roughly forced to his feet. then the dwarf set him with his back against a tree and bound him fast. he saw the witch take off her outer mantle. her arms were bare underneath it and terribly white. because they were so very white he could see them, but he could not see much else, it was so dark in this valley under the dark trees.

"prepare the victim,", said the witch. and the dwarf undid edmund's collar and folded back his shirt at the neck. then he took edmund's hair and pulled his head back so that he had to raise his chin. after that edmund heard a strange noise - whizz whizz - whizz. for a moment he couldn't think what it was. then he realized. it was the sound of a knife being sharpened.

at that very moment he heard loud shouts from every direction - a drumming of hoofs and a beating of wings - a scream from the witch - confusion all round him. and then he found he was being untied. strong arms were round him and he heard big, kind voices saying things like -

"let him lie down - give him some wine - drink this - steady now - you'll be all right in a minute."

then he heard the voices of people who were not talking to him but to one another. and they were saying things like "who's got the witch?" "i thought you had her." "i didn't see her after i knocked the knife out of her hand - i was after the dwarf - do you mean to say she's escaped?" "- a chap can't mind everything at once - what's that? oh, sorry, it's only an old stump!" but just at this point edmund went off in a dead faint.

presently the centaurs and unicorns and deer and birds (they were of course the rescue party which aslan had sent in the last chapter) all set off to go back to the stone table, carrying edmund with them. but if they could have seen what happened in that valley after they had gone, i think they might have been surprised.

it was perfectly still and presently the moon grew bright; if you had been there you would have seen the moonlight shining on an old tree-stump and on a fairsized boulder. but if you had gone on looking you would gradually have begun to think there was something odd about both the stump and the boulder. and next you would have thought that the stump did look really remarkably like a little fat man crouching on the ground. and if you had watched long enough you would have seen the stump walk across to the boulder and the boulder sit up and begin talking to the stump; for in reality the stump and the boulder were simply the witch and the dwarf. for it was part of her magic that she could make things look like what they aren't, and she had the presence of mind to do so at the very moment when the knife was knocked out of her hand. she had kept hold of her wand, so it had been kept safe, too.

when the other children woke up next morning (they had been sleeping on piles of cushions in the pavilion) the first thing they heard -from mrs beaver - was that their brother had been rescued and brought into camp late last night; and was at that moment with aslan. as soon as they had breakfasted4 they all went out, and there they saw aslan and edmund walking together in the dewy grass, apart from the rest of the court. there is no need to tell you (and no one ever heard) what aslan was saying, but it was a conversation which edmund never forgot. as the others drew nearer aslan turned to meet them, bringing edmund with him.

"here is your brother," he said, "and - there is no need to talk to him about what is past."

edmund shook hands with each of the others and said to each of them in turn, "i'm sorry," and everyone said, "that's all right." and then everyone wanted very hard to say something which would make it quite clear that they were all friends with him again -something ordinary and natural -and of course no one could think of anything in the world to say. but before they had time to feel really awkward one of the leopards approached aslan and said,

"sire, there is a messenger from the enemy who craves audience."

"let him approach," said aslan.

the leopard went away and soon returned leading the witch's dwarf.

"what is your message, son of earth?" asked aslan.

"the queen of narnia and empress of the lone islands desires a safe conduct to come and speak with you," said the dwarf, "on a matter which is as much to your advantage as to hers."

"queen of narnia, indeed!" said mr beaver. "of all the cheek -"

"peace, beaver," said aslan. "all names will soon be restored to their proper owners. in the meantime we will not dispute about them. tell your mistress, son of earth, that i grant her safe conduct on condition that she leaves her wand behind her at that great oak."

this was agreed to and two leopards went back with the dwarf to see that the conditions were properly carried out. "but supposing she turns the two leopards into stone?" whispered lucy to peter. i think the same idea had occurred to the leopards themselves; at any rate, as they walked off their fur was all standing up on their backs and their tails were bristling - like a cat's when it sees a strange dog.

"it'll be all right," whispered peter in reply. "he wouldn't send them if it weren't."

a few minutes later the witch herself walked out on to the top of the hill and came straight across and stood before aslan. the three children who had not seen her before felt shudders running down their backs at the sight of her face; and there were low growls among all the animals present. though it was bright sunshine everyone felt suddenly cold. the only two people present who seemed to be quite at their ease were aslan and the witch herself. it was the oddest thing to see those two faces - the golden face and the dead-white face so close together. not that the witch looked aslan exactly in his eyes; mrs beaver particularly noticed this.

"you have a traitor there, aslan," said the witch. of course everyone present knew that she meant edmund. but edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning. he just went on looking at aslan. it didn't seem to matter what the witch said.

"well," said aslan. "his offence was not against you."

"have you forgotten the deep magic?" asked the witch.

"let us say i have forgotten it," answered aslan gravely. "tell us of this deep magic."

"tell you?" said the witch, her voice growing suddenly shriller. "tell you what is written on that very table of stone which stands beside us? tell you what is written in letters deep as a spear is long on the firestones on the secret hill? tell you what is engraved on the sceptre of the emperor-beyond-the-sea? you at least know the magic which the emperor put into narnia at the very beginning. you know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery i have a right to a kill."

"oh," said mr beaver. "so that's how you came to imagine yourself a queen - because you were the emperor's hangman. i see."

"peace, beaver," said aslan, with a very low growl. "and so," continued the witch, "that human creature is mine. his life is forfeit to me. his blood is my property."

"come and take it then," said the bull with the man's head in a great bellowing voice.

"fool," said the witch with a savage smile that was almost a snarl, "do you really think your master can rob me of my rights by mere force? he knows the deep magic better than that. he knows that unless i have blood as the law says all narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water."

"it is very true," said aslan, "i do not deny it."

"oh, aslan!" whispered susan in the lion's ear, "can't we - i mean, you won't, will you? can't we do something about the deep magic? isn't there something you can work against it?"

"work against the emperor's magic?" said aslan, turning to her with something like a frown on his face. and nobody ever made that suggestion to him again.

edmund was on the other side of aslan, looking all the time at aslan's face. he felt a choking feeling and wondered if he ought to say something; but a moment later he felt that he was not expected to do anything except to wait, and do what he was told.

"fall back, all of you," said aslan, "and i will talk to the witch alone."

they all obeyed. it was a terrible time this - waiting and wondering while the lion and the witch talked earnestly together in low voices. lucy said, "oh, edmund!" and began to cry. peter stood with his back to the others looking out at the distant sea. the beavers stood holding each other's paws with their heads bowed. the centaurs stamped uneasily with their hoofs. but everyone became perfectly still in the end, so that you noticed even small sounds like a bumble-bee flying past, or the birds in the forest down below them, or the wind rustling the leaves. and still the talk between aslan and the white witch went on.

at last they heard aslan's voice, "you can all come back," he said. "i have settled the matter. she has renounced the claim on your brother's blood." and all over the hill there was a noise as if everyone had been holding their breath and had now begun breathing again, and then a murmur of talk.

the witch was just turning away with a look of fierce joy on her face when she stopped and said,

"but how do i know this promise will be kept?"

"haa-a-arrh!" roared aslan, half rising from his throne; and his great mouth opened wider and wider and the roar grew louder and louder, and the witch, after staring for a moment with her lips wide apart, picked up her skirts and fairly ran for her life.

第十三章 远古时代的高深魔法

在我们得回头交代爱德蒙的事了。他被迫走啊走的，走了老远老远，就他所知，谁也走不了比这更远的路，妖婆这才终于在一个覆盖着冷杉和紫杉的暗谷里停了下来。爱德蒙什么也不干，只是扑倒在地上，如果他们就让他一动不动地躺着，他连下面会出什么事都不在乎。他太累了，连自己多饿多渴也顾不上了。妖婆和小矮人就在他身边低声说着话。

“不，”小矮人说，“现在没用了，女王啊。他们这会儿一定已经赶到石桌了。”

“也许狼会闻到我们的行踪，给我们送信来。”妖婆说。

“如果来，也不见得是好消息。”小矮人说。

“凯尔帕拉维尔有四个宝座，”妖婆说，“如果只有三个有人坐呢？那预言就实现不了。”

“既然它在这儿，那又有什么关系呢？”小矮人说。即使事到如今，他仍然不敢在女主人面前提阿斯兰的名字。“也许它待不长。那时——我们就可以抓到凯尔的那三个。”8

“话说回来，还是留着这一个”——小矮人说到这儿踢了爱德蒙一下——“做交易的好。”

“是啊！饶他一条活命。”妖婆不屑一顾地说。

“那么，”小矮人说，“我们最好马上就干我们该干的事。”

“我宁愿在石桌那儿干，”妖婆说，“那是最合适的地方。以前干这种事总在那儿。”

“要过很长一段时间石桌才能再派上原有的用场呢。” 小矮人说。

“不错，”妖婆说，接着又说，“好吧，我就要开始了。” 正在这时，一匹狼急匆匆咆哮着冲到他们面前。

“我看见他们了。他们全在石桌那儿，跟它在一起。他们把我的队长芬瑞斯·乌尔夫杀了。我躲在灌木丛里全看见了。是一个亚当的儿子杀了它。快逃！快逃！”

“不，”妖婆说，“不必逃。你快去，召集所有人马尽快赶到这儿来跟我会合。动员巨人，狼人，还有站在我们这一边的树精。动员食尸鬼、妖怪、吃人魔鬼、牛头怪。动员冷面怪、母夜叉、幽灵，以及毒菌怪。我们要战斗。什么？我不是还有魔杖吗？即使他们来了，不也会变成石头吗？快走吧，趁你走的这段时间，我还有点小事要完成呢。”

那头巨兽鞠个躬，转过身就一溜烟走了。

“好了！”她说，“我们没桌子——让我想想。我们最好把他绑在树干上。”

爱德蒙只觉得自己被粗暴地拉了起来。接着小矮人让他背靠着一棵树，把他紧紧绑上。他看见妖婆脱下了外面的披风，露出里面两条光胳膊，白得吓人。因为胳膊那么白，在漆黑的树下，这个山谷里又那么黑，他没法看见另外的东西。

“把祭品准备好。”妖婆说。小矮人解开爱德蒙的领子，把领口往里折，露出脖子。随后他抓着爱德蒙的头发，把头往后拉，使他只好拾起下巴。此后爱德蒙听见一种怪声：飕——飕——飕——他一时想不出这是什么声音。后来才明白，那原来是磨刀声！

就在这个时候，他听见四面八方喊声震天响——一阵阵蹄声，一阵阵翅膀扑棱声——妖婆一声尖叫——周围一片混乱。于是他发现被松了绑。好几条有力的胳膊扶着他，只听见几个和气的大嗓门在说，“让他躺下——给他点酒——

喝了这个——沉住气——你一会儿就没事了。”

接着他又听见好多声音，它们不是在对他说话，是相互间在说话。它们说什么“谁抓到妖婆了？”——“我以为你抓到她了呢。”——“我把她手里的刀打下了就没见到她。”——

“我在追小矮人。”——“你意思是说她逃走了吗？”——

“一个人不能面面俱到啊。”——“那是什么？哦，可惜，那只是一截老树桩！”不过听到这儿，爱德蒙就晕了过去，什么也不知道了。

不久，那些人头马、独角兽、鹿和鸟(它们当然是上一章里说的阿斯兰派出去的救兵)就带着爱德蒙一起出发回石桌那儿去。不过它们如果能看见它们走后山谷里发生的事，我想它们准会大吃一惊的。

山谷里一片寂静，不久月光更明亮了，如果你在场，就会看到月亮照在一截老树桩和一块不大不小的鹅卵石上。但如果你继续观察，就会逐渐想到这树桩和石头有点怪。下一步你会觉得那个树桩其实很像一个小胖子趴在地上。如果你观察的时间够长的话，就会看见那个树桩走到石头身边，石头坐起来，开始跟树桩讲话；因为事实上树桩和石头就是妖婆和小矮人。变形术，这就是妖婆魔法中的一项伎俩，就在她的刀被打下来那一刹那，她就不慌不忙地施出了这一招。她一直是魔杖不离手，因此魔杖也还是好好的。

第二天早上，另外那三个孩子醒来以后(他们就睡在帐篷里一堆堆垫子上)，首先就听到海狸太太对他们说：他们的兄弟已经得救，昨天深夜已经带回营地，这会儿正在阿斯兰那儿。他们刚吃完早饭就一起上外面去，只见阿斯兰和爱德蒙撇开在场的其他人，在挂满露珠的草地上一起散步。不用告诉你阿斯兰说了些什么(也没人听说过)，不过这次谈话是爱德蒙终身难忘的。三个孩子走近时，阿斯兰带着爱德蒙一起转身来见他们。

“你们的兄弟来了，”它说，“过去的事就不必再跟他提了。”

爱德蒙跟大家一一握手，挨个儿说了“对不起”，大家都说了声“没关系”。随后，大家都想说点什么能表明他们大家跟他重新友好的话——说点寻常而自然的话——当然谁也想不出说什么才好。不过他们还没来得及感到尴尬，一头豹就来到阿斯兰跟前说：

“陛下，敌方来了一个信使请求晋见。”

“让他进来。”阿斯兰说。

豹子走开了，不一会就领着妖婆的小矮人回来。

“你带来什么口信，大地的儿子？”阿斯兰问。

“纳尼亚女王兼孤独岛女皇陛下要求给予安全保证，前来跟你会谈，”小矮人说，“商谈双方互利的事项。”

“纳尼亚女王，岂有此理！”海狸先生说，“竟有这样的厚脸皮——”

“安静，海狸，”阿斯兰说，“恶有恶名，善有善名，不久个个都将正名。现在我们也不要争吵。告诉你的女主人，我，大地的儿子，保证她的安全，条件是她得将魔杖留在那棵大橡树下。”

小矮人同意了这—点，两头豹跟小矮人一起回去监视对方是否履行条件。“但假如她把两头豹变成石头可怎么办呢？”露茜悄声对彼得说。我认为豹子自己也有同样的想法；总之，它们走去时背上的毛一根根全都竖起，尾巴也翘得笔直——像猫见到陌生的狗那样。

“没事儿，”彼得悄声回答说。“如果有事儿它就不会派它们去。”

几分钟以后，妖婆本人走上小山顶，一直走过去，站在阿斯兰面前。三个孩子以前都没见过她，一看她那张脸就觉得背上一阵发毛；在场的所有动物也都低声咆哮。虽然这时阳光明媚，可每个人都突然感到一阵寒意。现场只有阿斯兰和妖婆两个看来仍然从容自若。看见一张金黄色的脸和一张惨白的脸，两张脸凑得这么近，真是件天大的怪事。怪的倒不是妖婆竟然正视阿斯兰的眼睛，海狸太太特别留心到这一点。

“你身边有一个叛徒，阿斯兰。”妖婆说。当然在场的人都知道她指的是爱德蒙。但爱德蒙经过了这一场事件，早上又谈了一次话，已经不再只考虑自己了。此刻他只是一直望着阿斯兰。妖婆说什么他似乎并不在意。"

“得了，”阿斯兰说，“他又不是跟你过不去。”

“难道你忘了高深魔法呢？”妖婆问道。

“就算我已经忘了，”阿斯兰庄重地回答说，“给我们讲讲这高深的魔法吧。”

“讲给你听？”妖婆说，她的声音突然变得更尖厉了，“讲给你听我们身边那张石桌上写了些什么？讲给你听在木岑树王的树干上早就深深镌刻着什么吗？讲给你听海外皇帝的宝杖上刻着什么？至少你知道皇帝最初在纳尼亚施展的魔法吧。你知道每个叛徒都归我，当作合法的祭品，凡是有谁背叛，我都有权杀了他。”

“哦，”海狸先生说，“原来你就这样自以为是个女王——因为你是皇帝的刽子手。我懂了。”

“安静，海狸。”阿斯兰说着低低咆哮了一声。

“所以说，”妖婆继续说，“那个人归我。他的生命全在我手里，他的血也归我所有。”

“那你来拿拿看吧。”人头马大声怒吼着说。

“笨蛋，”妖婆凶残地笑着说，几乎是在吼叫，“你当真认为你的主人单用武力就可以抢走我的权利吗？它懂得高深魔法，决不会这么糊涂。它知道除非我依法得到血，否则纳尼亚就将在烈火洪水之中覆灭。”

“一点不错，”阿斯兰说，“我不否认这一点。”

“哦，阿斯兰！”苏珊悄悄在狮王耳边说，“我们能不能——我的意思是，行不行——我们能不能在高深魔法上想点什么办法？你有办法对付高深魔法吗？”

“对付皇帝的魔法？”阿斯兰说着脸上露出不大高兴的样子。于是再也没人向它提出那种建议了。

爱德蒙站在阿斯兰的另一边，一直望着阿斯兰的脸。他有一种透不过气来的感觉，不知道自己该不该说点什么；但过了一会儿，他觉得自己除了等待，按照人家的吩咐去做之外，什么也干不了。5

“你们大家全都退下，”阿斯兰说，“我要跟妖婆单独谈谈。”

大家全都遵命。这段时间可真难熬——当狮王和妖婆低声诚恳会谈时，大家就等啊等的，满心疑虑。露茜说了声

“哦，爱德蒙”就哭了起来。彼得背对着大家，看着远处的大海。海狸夫妇相互拉着爪子，低头站着。人头马不安地直跺脚。不过大家最后都寂静无声，静得连野蜂飞过的细微声音，或是山下林子里小鸟的动静，或是风吹树叶沙沙响的声音都能听见。阿斯兰和白妖婆仍在继续会谈。

最后他们听见了阿斯兰的声音。“你们大家可以回来了，”他说，“我把这事解决了。她放弃了要你们兄弟的血的权利。”这时整个山头都有了声音，仿佛大家刚才一直屏息以待，现在才又开始呼吸了；随后就是一阵喃喃的说话声。他们都开始回到阿斯兰的宝座边来。

妖婆脸上露出一股狂喜的神情，正要转过身去，却又停下来说：

“但我怎么知道你能守信呢？”

“啊呜！”阿斯兰半身离开宝座怒吼起来，只见它那张大嘴越来越大，吼声也越来越响，而妖婆呢，也张大了嘴巴，盯着狮王看了一会儿以后，就拉起裙子，老老实实逃命去了。;