Thepoorsquirrelsallscamperedawayasifadogwereafterthem。Thiserriblehem。Thenutstheyhadcarefullyhoardedforthewinterhadnearlyallbeeenbynow;awerelefttheyhadalreadygiventheApefarmorethantheycouldspare。
Thenadeepvoice—itbelooagreattuskedandshaggyBoar—spokefromaofthecrowd。
“Butwhy'terlyandtalktohim?”itsaid。“WheoappearinNarniaintheolddayseveryoalktohimfacetoface。”
“Don'tyoubelieveit,”saidtheApe。“Awastrue,timeshaveged。Aslansayshe'sbeenfartoosoftwithyoubefore,doyousee?Well,heisn'tgoianymore。He'sgoingtolitoshapethistime。He'llteachyoutothinkhe'satamelion!”
Alowmoaningandwhimperingwasheardamos;a,adeadsilencewhiiserablestill。
“Andnowthere'sahingyougottolearn,”saidtheApe。“IhearsomeI'manApe。Well,I'mnot。I'maMan。IfIlooklikea'sbesoveryold:hundredsandhundredsofyearsold。Andit'sbesooldthatI'msowise。Andit'sbesowisethatI'mtheonlyoneAslaospeakto。He'tbebotheredtalkingtoalotofstupidanimals。He'lltellmewhatyou'vegottodo,andI'lltelltherestofyou。Andtakemyadvidseeyoudoitiime,forhedoesn'tmeantostandanynonsense。”
Therewasadeadsilehenoisebadgerditsmtomakeitkeepquiet。
“Andnowhere'sahion,fittiintoitscheek,“Ihearsomeoftheh,Let'shurryupahisjtimberoverasquicklyaswedthenwe'llbefreeagain。Well,yougetthatideaoutofyourheadsatoonlytheHorseseither。Everybodywhoioworkinfuture。AslanhasitallsettledwiththeKingofeisroc,asourdarkfadstheenescallhim。AllyouHorsesandBullsaobesentdownintoentoworkf—pullingandgthewayhorsesandsuch-likedoiries。AndallyoudigginganimalslikeMolesandRabbitsandDwarfsaregoingdowntoworkiisroines。And—”
“No,no,no,”howledtheBeasts。“It'tbetrue。AslanwouldoslaverytotheKingofen。”
&!Holdyournoise!”saidtheApewithasnarl。“Whosaidanythingaboutslavery?Youwon'tbeslaves。You'llbepaid—verygoodwagestoo。Thatistosay,yourpaywillbepaidintoAslan'streasuryandhewilluseitallforeverybody'sgood。”Thenheglandalmostwiheeheenebolied,inthepompouseneway:“MostsapientMouthpieceofAslaisroc(mayhe-live-forever)iswhollyofohyourlordshipinthisjudi。”
“There!Yousee!”saidtheApe。“It'sallarranged。Andallfood。We'llbeable,withthemoomakeNarniaatrywin。There'llbeesandbananaspin—androadsandbigdsdoffidwhipsandmuzzlesandsaddlesanddkennelsandprisohing。”
“Butwedon'twantallthosethings,”saidanoldBear。“Wewanttobefree。AohearAslanspeakhimself。”
“Nowdon'ty,”saidtheApe,“forit'sathingIwon'tstand。I'maMan:you'reonlyafat,stupidoldBear。Whatdoyouknowaboutfreedom?Youthinkfreedommeansdoingwhatyoulike。Well,y。Thatisn'ttruefreedom。TruefreedommeansdoingwhatItellyou。”
“H-n-n-h,”gruheBearandscratcheditshead;itfoundthissortofthinghardtouand。
“Please,please,”saidthehighvoib,whowassoyoungthateveryonerisedhedaredtospeakatall。
“Whatisitnoe。“Bequick。”
“Please,”saidtheLamb,“I'tuand。WhathavewetodowiththeeoAslaash。TheyhaveagodcalledTash。Theysayhehasfourarmsandtheheadofavulture。TheykillMenonhisaltar。Idon'tbelievethere'saash。Butiftherewas,howcouldAslahhim?”
Alltheanimalscockedtheirheadssidewaysaeyesflashedtoe。Theykwasthebestquestionanyonehadaskedyet。
TheApejumpedupandspatattheLamb。
“Baby!”hehissed。“Sillylittlebleater!Gohometoyourmotheranddrinkmilk。Whatdoyouuandofsugs?Buttheothers,listen。TashisonlyanothernameforAslan。Allthatoldideaofusbeingrightandtheeneswrongissilly。WekheenesusedifferentwordsbutweallmeaashandAslawodifferentnamesforyouknowWho。That'swhythereeverbeaweeintoyourheads,youstupidbrutes。TashisAslan:AslanisTash。”
Youknowhowsady'sfaes。ThinkofthatahinkofallthefacesofthoseTalkis—allthoseho,humble,bewilderedBirds,Bears,Badgers,Rabbits,Moles,andMice—allfarsadderthaailwasdown,everywhiskerdrooped。Itwouldhavebrokehverypitytoseetheirfaces。Therewasonlyonewhodidnotlookatallunhappy。
Itwasagi—agreatbigTomintheprimeoflife—rightwithhistailcurledrouheveryfrontrowofalltheBeasts。HehadbeenstaringhardattheApeandtheeaiimeandhadneveronkedhiseyes。
“Excuseme,”saidtheCatverypolitely,“butthisisme。Doesyourfriendfromensaythesame?”
“Assuredly,”saidtheeenedApe—Man,Imean—isi。Aslaherlessash。”
“Especially,Aslanmeaash?”suggestedtheCat。
“all,”saidtheene,lookiraightintheface。
“Isthatgoodeninger?”saidtheApe。
“Ohly,”saidGingercoolly。“Thankyouverymulywaeclear。Ithiouand。”
UptillnowtheKingandJewelhadsaidnothing:theywerewaitinguntiltheApeshouldbidthemspeak,fortheythoughtitwaserrupting。Butnow,asTirianlookedroundonthemiserablefacesoftheNarnians,andsaouldallbelievethatAslanandTashwereohesame,hecouldbearitnolonger。
“Ape,”hecriedwithagreatvoinably。Youlielikeaene。YoulielikeanApe。”
&ogoonandaskhodTashwhofedonthebloodofhispeoplecouldpossiblybethesameasthegoodLionbywhosebloodallNarniawassaved。Ifhehadbeeospeak,theruleoftheApemighthaveeday;theBeastsmighthaveseehandthroedown。Butbeforehecouldsayawoeruthemouthwithalltheirfordathird,frombehind,kickedhisfeetfromunderhim。AheApesquealedierror。
“Takehimaway。Takehimaway。Takehimwhereheothearus,heretiehimtoatree。Iwill—Imean,Aslanwill—dojustilater。”