CHAPTERTHIRTEENHOWTHEDWARFSREFUSEDTOBETAKENIN
TIRIANhadthought—orhewouldhavethoughtifhehadtimetothinkatall—thattheywereilethatchedstable,abouttwelvefeetlongawide。Iheystoodongrass,thedeepblueskywasoverhead,andtheairwhichblewgentlyontheirfaceswasthatofadayinearlysummer。Notfarawayfrroveoftrees,thicklyleaved,butuherepeepedoutthegoldorfaintyelllowingredoffruitssuoonehasseeninourworld。ThefruitmadeTiriamustbeautumnbuttherewassomethingiheairthattoldhimitotbelaterthaheyallmovedtowardthetrees。
Everyoneraisedhishandtopickthefruithebestlikedthelookof,andtheneveryonepausedforased。Thisfruitwassobeautifulthateachfelt“Iteantforme。。。surelywe'reopluckit。”
“It'sallright,”saidPeter。“Iknoe'reallthinking。ButI'msure,quitesure,we。I'veafeelingwe'vegottothetrywhereeverythingisallowed。”
&hen!”saidEustadtheyallbega。
Whatwasthefruitlike?Unfortunatelynoonedescribeataste。AllIsayisthat,paredwiththosefruits,thefreshestgrapefruityou'veevereatenwasdull,aewasdry,ameltingpearwashardandwoody,aassour。Andtherewereones,andnos。Ifyouhadofruit,allthehingsinthisworldwouldtastelikemediesafterit。ButI'tdescribeit。You'tfindoutwhatitislikeunlessyougettothatdtasteitforyourself。
&heyhadeateneacesaidtoKier,“Youhaven'tyettoldushowyougothere。Yoiirianturnedup。”
“There'snotmuchtotell,”saidPeter。“Edmundaandiformandwesawyourtrainingihinkingitwastakioofast。AhinkinghowfunnyiteoplewereprobablyihoughLu'tknowaboutit—”
“Yourpeople,HighKing?”saidTirian。
&herandMother—Edmund'sandLucy'sandmine。”
“Whywerethey?”askedJill。“Youdon'tmeantosaytheyknowaboutNarnia?”
“Ohno,ithadnothingtodowithNarnia。TheywereooBristol。I'doheyweregoingthatm。ButEdmundsaidthey'dbeboundtobegoingbythattrain。”(Edmuofpersonwhoknowsaboutrail>
“Andehen?”saidJill。
&'sodescribe,isit,Edmund?”saidtheHighKing。
“Notvery,”saidEdmund。“Itwasn'tatalllikethatothertimeerepulledoutofouric。Therewasafrightfulroaramewithabang,butitdidn'thurt。Asomuchscaredas—well,excited。Oh—andthisis。
I'dhadarathersoreknee,fromahackatrugger。Ihadsuddenlygone。Averylight。Andthen—herewewere。”
“Itwasmuchthesameforusintherailwaycarriage,”saidtheLthelasttracesofthefruitfromhisgoldenbeard。“OnlyIthinkyouandI,Polly,chieflyfeltthatwe'dbeenunstiffened。Youyoungsterswon'tuaoppedfeelingold。”
“Youngsters,indeed!”saidJill。“Idon'tbelieveyoutworeallyaremucholderthanwearehere。”
“Wellifwearen't,wehavebeen,”saidtheLadyPolly。
“Andwhathasbeenhappehere?”askedEustace。
“eter,“ftime(atleastIsupposeitwasalohihedooropened—”
“Thedoor?”saidTirian。
“Yes,”saidPeter。“Thedooryoueout—by。Haveyotten?”
“Butwhereisit?”
“Look,”saidPeterandpointed。
Tirianlookedaandmostridiculousthingyoue。Onlyafewyardsaway,cleartobesee,theresthwoodendoorand,roundit,theframeworkofthedoorway:nothingelse,nowalls,noroof。Hewalkedtowardit,bewildered,ahersfollowed,watgtoseewhathewoulddo。Hewalkedrouhersideofthedoor。Butitlookedjustthesamefromtheotherside:hewasstillintheopenair,onasummerm。Thedoorlystandingupbyitselfasifithadgrowree。
“FairSir,”saidTiriantotheHighKing,“thisisagreatmarvel。”
“Itisthedooryoucamethroughwiththateesago,”saidPetersmiling。
“ButdidIofthewoodiable?Whereasthisseemstobeadfromonowhere。”
“Itlookslikethatifyouwalkroundit,”saidPeter。“Butputyoureyetothatplacewherethereisacratwooftheplanksandlh。”
Tirianputhiseyetothehole。Atfirsthecouldseenothingbutblaess。Then,athiseyesgrewusedtoit,hesawthedullredglowofabowasnearlygoingout,a,inablacksky,stars。Thenhecouldseedarkfiguresmovingabbetweenhimandthefire:hecouldhearthemtalkingandtheirvoiceswerelikethoseofehathewaslookinghthestabledoorintothedarknessofLaewherehehadfoughthislastbattle。ThemenweredisgwhethertogoinandlookforRishdaTarkaan(buthemwahat)ortosetfiretothestable。
Helainandcouldhardlybelievehiseyes。Therewastheblueskyoverhead,andgrassytryspreadingasfarashecouldseeiion,andhisnewfriendsallroundhimlaughing。
“Itseems,then,”saidTirian,smilithestableseenfromwithiableseenfromwithoutaretwodifferentplaces。”
“Yes,”saidtheLory。“Itsinsideisbiggerthanitsoutside。”
“Yes,”saidQueenLuourworldtoo,astableonethiwasbiggerthanourwholeworld。”Itwasthefirsttimeshehadspoken,andfromthethrillinhervoinoasdrihinginevehahers。Shehadbeentoohappytospeak。Hewaain,sohesaid:“Ofyouradam,tellon。Tellmeyourwholeadventure。”
&heshodthenoise,”saidLucy,“wefoundourselveshere。Andwewohedoor,asyoudid。Thenthedooropehefirsttime(wesawdarkhroughthedoorwaywhenitdid)ahroughabigmanwithanakedsbyhisarmsthathewasaeookhisstahedoorwithhisswordraised,restingonhisshoulder,readytoanyonewhh。Wewenttohimaohim,butwethoughtheeitherseenorhearus。Andheneverlookedroundontheskyaandthegrass:Ithinkhe'tseethemeither。Sotheedaloheheboltbeingdrawhersideofthedoor。Butthemandidn'tgetreadytostrikewithhisswordtillhecouldseewhowasingin。Sowesupposedhehadbeentoldtostrikesomeahers。Butattheverymomehedooropened,allofasuddenTashwasthere,onthissideofthedoor;noneofussawwherehe。AndthroughthedoortherecameabigCat。ItgaveoTashandranforitslife:justintime,forhepouahisbeakasitwasshut。Themaash。HeturnedverypaleandboweddowheMovanisheda>