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CHAPTER ELEVEN ASLAN IS NEARER（第1页）

CHAPTERELEVENASLANISNEARER

EDMUNDmeanwhilehadbeenhavingamostdisappoihedwarfhadgohesledgereadyheexpectedthattheWitchwohim，asshehadbeemeeting。Butshesaidnothingatall。AEdmundpluckeduphiscetosay，“Please，yourMajesty，couldIhavesomeTurkishDelight?You—you—said—”sheanswered，“Silence，fool!”Theogehermindandsaid，asiftoherself，“Awillnotdotohavethebratfaintingontheway，”andoncemoreclappedherhands。Anotherd>

“Bringthehumaurefoodanddrink，”shesaid。

Thedayaurnedbringinganironbowlwithsomewaterinitandanirohahunkofdrybreadonit。HegrinnedinarepulsivemahemdownonthefloorbesideEdmundandsaid:“TurkishDelightforthelittlePrince。Ha!Ha!Ha!”

&away，”saidEdmundsulkily。“Idon'twatheWitlyturnedonhimwithsuchaterribleexpressiohatheapologizedaohebread，thoughitwassostalehecetitdown。

“Youmaybegladenoughofitbeforeyoutastebreadagain，”saidtheWitch。

Whilehewasstillgawaythefirstdwarfcamebaouhesledgewasready。TheWhiteWitdwentEdmundtogowithher。Thesnowwasagainfallingastheytothecourtyard，butshetookabesideherobeforetheydroveoffshecalledMaugrimandhedinglikeanentothesideofthesledge。

&hyoutheswiftestofyourwolvesandgoatohehouseoftheBeavers，”saidtheWitdkillwhateveryoufiheyarealreadygohenmakeallspeedtotheStodoformethereinhiding。ImeagomaheWestbeforeIfindaplacewhereIdriveacrosstheriver。YoumayovertakethesehumaheyreachtheStoable。Youhattodoifyoufindthem!”

“Ihearandobey，OQueen，”growledtheWolf，aelyheshotawayintothesnowanddarkness，asquicklyasahallop。IeshehadotherithhimdownonthedamandsniffingattheBeavers'house。ButofcoursetheyfouwouldhavebeehingfortheBeaversandtheifthenighthadremaihewolveswouldtheofollowtheirtrail—aoonewouldhaveovertakeheyhadgottothecave。Butnowthatthesnowhadbegunagaiwasdeveprintswerecoveredup。

&hededupthereiheWitdEdmuuheardonandawayintothedarkhecold。ThiswasaterriblejourneyforEdmund，whohadnocoat。Beforetheyhadbeengoingquarterofanhourallthefrontofhimwascoveredwithstoshakeitoffbecause，asquicklyashedidthat，ahered，aired。Soototheskin。Andoh，howmiserablehewas!Itdidn'tlooknowasiftheWitdedtomakehimaKing。Allthethingshehadsaidtomakehimselfbelievethatshewasgoodandkindandthathersidewasreallytherightsidesouohimsillynow。Hewouldhavegivenanythihersatthismomeheonlywaytoselfnowwastotrytobelievethatthewholethingwasadreamaata。Aon，hourafterhour，itdidlikeadream。

ThislastedlohanIcoulddesifIagesaboutit。ButIwillskipoimewhenthesnoedandthemhadeandtheywereragi。Andstilltheywentonandon，withnosouingswishofthesnowandthegofthereindeer'sharhenatlasttheWitchsaid，“Whathavewehere?Stop!”andtheydid。

HowEdmundhopedshewasgoingtosaysomethingaboutbreakfast!Butshehadstoppedforquiteadifferentreason。Alittlewayoffatthefootofatreesatamerryparty，asquirrelandhiswifewiththeirandtwosatyrsandadwarfandanolddog-fox，allonstoolsroundatable。Edmund'tquiteseewhattheywereeating，butitsmelledlovelyaobedesofhollyandhewasn'tatallsurethathedidn'tseesomethinglikeaplumpuddiwheopped，theFox，whowasobviouslytheoldestperso，hadjustrisentoitsfeet，holdingaglassinitsrightpawasifitwasgoingtosaysomething。Butwhenthewholepartysawthesledgestoppingandwhowasinit，allthegaietywentoutoftheirfaces。Thefathersquirrelstoppedeatingwithhisforkhalfwaytohismouthahesatyrsstoppedwithitsforkaitsmouth，andthebabysquirrelssqueakedwithterror。

“Whatisthemeaningofthis?”askedtheWit。Nobodyanswered。

“Speak，vermin!”shesaidagain。“Ordoyouwantmydwarftofindyouatohhiswhip?Whatisthemeaningofallthisgluttony，thiswaste，thisself-indulgence?Wheredidyougetallthesethings?”

“Please，yourMajesty，”saidtheFox，“weweregiventhem。AndifImightmakesoboldastodrinkyourMajesty&#oodhealth—”

“Whogavethemtoyou?”saidtheWitch。

“F-F-F-FatherChristmas，”stammeredtheFox。

“What?”roaredtheWitgingfromthesledgeandtakiridesheterrifiedanimals。“Hehasnotbeehavebeenhere!Howdareyou—butno。Sayyouhavebeenlyingandyoushallevenniven。”

Atthatmomeheyouitsheadpletely。

“Hehas—hehas—hehas!”itsqueaked，beatingitslittlespooable。Edmuchbiteherlipssothatadropofbloodappearedoecheek。Thensheraisedherwand。“Oh，don't，don't，pleasedon't，”shoutedEdmund，butevenwhilehewasshoutingshehadwavedherwandandinstahemerrypartyhadbeentherewereonlystatuesofcreatures（osstoneforkfixedforeverhalfwaytoitsstoh）seatedrouableonwhichtherewerestoesandastoneplumpudding。

“Asforyou，”saidtheWitgEdmundastunningblowonthefaceasshere-mouhesledge，“letthatteachyoutoaskfavourforspiesandtraitors。Driveon!”AndEdmuimeinthisstoryfeltsorryforsomeonebesideshimself。Itseemedsopitifultothinkofthoselittlestoihesilentdaysandallthedarkeryear，tillthemossgrewolasteventheirfacescrumbleda

eadilyraagain。Aicedthatthesnowwhichsplashedagaiheyrushedthroughitwasmuchwetterthanithadbeenalllastnight。Atthesametimehehewasfeelingmuchlesscold。Itwasalsobeingfoggy。Ieitgrewfoggierahesledgewasnnearlyaswellasithadbeenrunninguptillnow。Atfirsthethoughtthiswasbecausethereiired，butsoothat'tbetherealreason。Thesledgejerked，andskiddedaonjoltingasifithadstruststones。Ahededthepoorreihesledgewentsloweraherealsoseemedtobeaoiseallrouheheirdrivingandjoltingandthedwarf'sshoutingatthereiedEdmundfrwhatitwas，uhesledgestucksofastthatitwouldn'tgoonatall。eherewasamoment'ssilenthatsilendcouldatlastlistehernoiseproperly。Astraling，gne，forhe'dhearditbefore—ifonlyheberwhere!Thenallatoncehedidremember。Itwasthenwater。Allrouhoughoutofsight，therewerestreams，g，murmuring，bubbling，splashihedistang。Agaveagreatleap（thoughhehardlyknehehatthefrostwasover。Ahere-drip-dripfromthebranchesofallthetrees。Andthen，ashelookedatoreehesawagreatloadofsaimesieredhedarkgreenofafirtree。Buthehadn'ttimetolistenorwatger，fortheWitchsaid:“Don'tsitstaring，fool!Getoutandhelp。”

Andofundhadtoobey。Hesteppedoutiitwasreallyonlyslushbynoiogetthesledgeoutofthemuddyholeithadgotioutintheend，andbybeingverycrueltothereihedwarfmaitonthemoveagain，andtheydrovealittlefurther。Andnoasreallymeltiandpatchesrasswerebeginningtoappeariion。UnlessyouhavelookedataworldofsnowaslongasEdmundhadbeenlookingatit，youwillhardlybeabletoimagiareliefthosegreenpatcheswereaftertheee。Theoppedagain。

“It'snogood，yourMajesty，”saidthedwarf。“We'tsledgeinthisthaw。”

&walk，”saidtheWitch。

“Weshallhemwalking，”growledthedwarf。“Notwiththestartthey'vegot。”

“Areyoumyyslave?”saidtheWitch。“Doasyou'retold。Tiethehandsofthehumaurebehinditandkeepholdoftheendoftherope。Andtakeyourwhip。Andcuttheharhereihey'llfindtheirownwayhome。”

Thedwarfobeyed，aesEdmundfoundhimselfbeiowalkasfastashecouldwithhishandstiedbehionslippingintheslushandmudagrass，aimeheslippedthedwarfgavehimadsometimesaflickwiththewhip。TheWitchwalkedbehindthedtonsayier!”

&thepatchesreatowgrewsmaller。Everymomentmoreareesshookofftheirrobesofsnow。Soon，whereveryoulooked，insteadofesyousawthedarkgreenoffirsortheblackprichesofbareoaksandbeedelms。Theurnedfromwhitetogoldalyclearedawayaltogether。Shaftsofdelilightstrutotheforestfloorandoverheadyoucouldseeablueskybetweeops。

Soonthereweremshappening。ingsuddenlyrouoagladeofsilverbirchtreesEdmundsawthegroundalldireswithlittleyellowflowers—es。Theergrewlouder。Preseuallycrossedastream。Beyondittheyfoundsn。

“Mindyourownbusiness!”saidthedwarfwheEdmundhadturolookatthem;aheropeaviciousjerk。

Butofcoursethisdidn'tpreventEdmundfromseeing。Oeslaterhenoticedadrowingrouofanoldae。Thencameasoundevehanthesouer。Closebesidethepaththeywerefollowingabirdsuddehebranchofatree。Itwasahechuotherbirdalittlefurtheroff。Andthen，asifthathadbeenasigteringandgiion，andtheoffullsong，andwithiestheasringingwithbirds'musidwhereverEdmund'seyesturnedhesawbirdsalightingonbranches，overheadohertheirlittlequarrelsuptheirfeatherswiththeirbeaks。

“Faster!Faster!”saidtheWitch。

&raceofthefognow。Theskybecamebluerandbluer，andnohiteclacrossitfromtimetotime。Iherewereprimroses。Alightbreezesprangupwhichscattereddropsofmoisturefromtheswayingbrandcarriedcool，delitsagainstthefacesofthetravellers。Thetreesbegantoefullyalive。Thelardbircheswerecreen，thelaburnumswithgold。Sooreeshadputforththeirdelisparehetravellerswalkeduhelightalsobe。Abeebuzzedacrosstheirpath。

“Thisisnothaw，”saidthedwarf，suddenlystopping。“ThisisSpring。Whatarewetodo?Yourwinterhasbeeellyou!ThisisAslan'sdoing。”

&herofyoumentionthatnameagain，”saidtheWitch，“heshallinstantlybekilled。”