CHAPTERTENWHOWILLGOIABLE?
JILLfeltsomethingtigherear。ItwasJeweltheUni,whisperihewidewhisperofahorse'smouth。Assoonassheheardwhathewassayingsheip-toedbacktowherePuzzlewasstanding。Quidquietlyshecutthelastcordsthatboundthelion-skintohim。Itwouldn'tdoforhimtobecaughtwiththatoheApehadsaid!Shewouldliketohavehiddentheskinsomewhereveryfaraway,butitwastooheavy。Thebestshecoulddowastokiamobushes。TheoPuzzletofollowherahjoihers。
TheApeeakingagain。
“Andafterahlikethat,Aslan—Tashlan—isahanever。Hesayshe'sbeeoogoodtoyou,itobelookedat,see!Well,he'snotore。”
HowlsandmewingsandsquealsandgruheAnimals'ahis,butsuddenlyaquitedifferentvoicebrokeinwithaloudlaugh。
“Harkwhatthemonkeysays,”itshouted。“hyheisn'tghispreciousAslanout。I'lltellyouwhy:becausehehasn'tgothim。Heneverhadaanolddohalion-skinonitsbaowhe'slostthataknowwhattodo。”
TirianotseethefatheothersideofthefireverywellbutheguessedthiswasGriffletheChiefDwarf。Aeofitwheer,alltheDwarfs'voiedin,singing:“Don'tknowwhattodo!Don'tknowwhattodo!Don'tknowwhattodo-o-o!”
&hunderedRishdaTarkaan。“Silence,ud!ListeherNarIgiveywarriorstofalluponyouwiththeedgeofthesword。TheLordShifthasalreadytoldyouofthatwickedAss。Doyouthink,bethatthereisashlaable!Doyou?Be>
“No,no,”shoutedmostofthecrowd。ButtheDwarfssaid,“Thatht,Darkie,you'vegotit。onkey,showuswhat'siable,seeingisbelieving。”
&herewasamoment'squiettheApesaid:“YouDwarfsthinkyou'reveryclever,don'tyou?Butnotsofast。Ineversaidyou'tseeTashlan。Anyonewholikesseehim。”
Thewholeassemblybet。Then,afternearlyamiheBearbeganinaslow,puzzledvoi'tquiteuandallthis,”itgrumbled,“Ithoughtyousaid—”
“Youthought!”repeatedtheApe。“Asifanyonecouldcallwhatgoesonihinkihers。Anyoashlan。Buthe'snotingout。Youhavetogoinandseehim。”
“Oh,thankyou,thankyou,thankyou,”saiddozensofvoices。“That'seandseehimfacetofaowhe'llbekindanditwillallbeasitusedtobe。”AndtheBirdschattered,andtheDogsbarkedexcitedly。Theherewasagreatstirringauresrisi,ahewholelotofthemwouldhavebeenrushingforwardandtryingtotothestabledether。ButtheApeshouted:“Getback!Quiet!Notsofast。”
&sstopped,mahohewithtailswagging,andallofthemwithheadsononeside。
“Ithoughtyousaid,”begaShiftied。
“Anyone,”hesaid。“But,oime。Who'llgofirst?Hedidn'tsayhewasfeelingverykind。He'sbeenlighislipsalotsincehesthewigtheht。He'sbeengrowlingagooddealthism。Iwouldn'tmuchliketogointothatstablemyselftonight。Butjustasyouplease。Who'dliketogoinfirst?Don'tblamemeifhesholeorblastsyouintoaderwiththemereterrorofhiseyes。That'syouraffair。Nowthen!Who'sfirst?WhataboutoneofyouD>
“Dilly,dilly,eandbekilled!”sneeredGriffle。“Hohatyou'vegotinthere?”
“Ho-ho!”criedtheApe。“Soyinningtothinkthere'ssomethingthere,eh?Well,allyouBeastsweremakingnoiseenoughaminuteago。What'sstrub?Who'sgoinginfirst?”
ButtheBeastsallstoodlookiherandbeganbagawayfromthestable。Veryfeaggingnoewaddledtatthem。“Ho-ho-ho!”hechuckled。“IthoughtyouwereallsoeagertoseeTashlaofagedyourmind,eh?”
TiriahisheadtohearsomethingthatJillwastryingtowhisperidoyouthinkisreallyiable?”shesaid。“Whoknows?”saidTirian。“Twoehdrawnswords,aslikelyasnot,oneoneachsideofthedoor。”“Youdon'tthink,”saidJill,“itmightbe。。。youknow。。。thathwesaw?”“Tashhimself?”whisperedTirian。“There'snoknowing。Butce,child:weareallbetweenthepawsofthetrueAslan。”
&surprisingthinghappesaidinacool,clearvoiotatallasifhewasexcited,“I'llgoin,ifyoulike。”
&ureturnedaseyeso。“Marktheirsubtleties,Sire,”saidPoggihiscursedtheplot,ierofit。Whateverisiablewillnothurthim,I'llbebound。ThenGingerwilleoutagainandsaythathehasseensomewonder。”
ButTirianhadoaheApewasgtheeforward。“Ho-ho!”saidtheApe。“Soyou,apertPuss,wouldlookupoofaeon,then!I'llopenthedoorforyou。Don'tblamemeifhescaresthewhiskersoffyourface。That'syouraffair。”
Aupaofitsplathecrorimlyanddaintily,withitstailionehairooutofplace。IttillithadpassedthefireandwassoclosethatTirian,fromwherehestoodwithhisshainsttheend-wallofthestable,couldlhtintoitsface。Itsbiggreeneyesneverblinked。(“Coolasacucumber,”mutteredEustaowsithasnothiheApe,gandmakiledacrossbesidetheCat:putuphispaw:drewtheboltahedhthecouldhearthegasitwalkedintothedarkdoor
“Aii-aii-aouwee!—”Themosthorriblecaterwaulyoueverheardmadeeveryonejump。Youhavebeenwakesquarrellingloveontheroofinthemiddleofthenight:youknowthesound。
Thiswasworse。TheApewasknockedheadoverheelsbyGingeringbackoutofthestableattopspeed。Ifyouhadnotknownhewasaighthavethoughthewasaginger-coloredstreakoflightacrosstheopengrass,batotheooomeetathatstate。Youcouldseeaofhiswaytoleftandright。Hedashedupatree,whiskedaround,andhungheaddownwards。Histailwasbristledouttillitwashickashiswholebody:hiseyeswerelikesaucersofgreenfire:alonghisbackeverysioodonend。
“I'dgivemybeard,”whisperedPoggin,“tokbruteisonlyagorwhetherithasreallyfouhifrighte!”
“Pead,”saidTiriaainandtheApeeriohearwhattheysaid。HedidthatheheardtheApeonpering“Myhead,myhead,”buthegottheideathatthosetwowerealmostaspuzzledbythecat'sbehaviourashimself。
“Now,Ginger,”saidthe。“Enoughofthathemwhatthouhastseen。”