CHAPTERTWELVESHASTAINNARNIA
“WASitalladream?”woa。Butit'thavebeehereinthegrassbeforehimhesawthedeep,largeprintoftheLionhtpaw。Ittookone'sbreathawaytothihatakeafootpri。Buttherewassomethingmoreremarkabletha。Ashelookedatit,waterhadalreadyfilledthebottomofit。Soonitwasfulltothebrim,andthen,andalittlestreamwasrunningdownhill,pasthim,rass。
Shastastoopedanddrank—averylongdrink—andthendippedhisfadsplashedhishead。Itwasextremelydclearasglass,andrefreshedhimverymuch。Afterthathestoodup,shakieroutofhisearsandflihairbahisforehead,aakestocks。
Apparentlyitwasstillveryearlym。Thesunhadonlyjustrisen,andithadrisenoutoftheforestswhichhesanandfarawayht。Thetryjwhichhewaslookingatwasabsolutelyohim。Itwastagreenvalley-lareesthroughwhichhecaughtthegleamofariverthatwoundawayroughlytothehefarsideofthevalleytherewerehighandevenrockyhills,buttheywerelowerthaainshehadseeheoguesswherehewas。Heturnedandlookedbehindhimandsawthattheslopeoaehermountains。
“Isee,”saidShastatohimself。“ThmouweenArdandNarnia。Iwasohersideofthemyesterday。Imusthaveethroughthepassi。WhatluckthatIhitit!—atleastitwasn'tluckatallreally,itwasHim。AndnowI'minNarnia。”
&urnedandunsaddledhishorseandtookoffitsbridle—“Thoughyouareaperfectlyhorridhorse,”hesaid。Ittookhisremarkaelybegainggrass。ThathorsehadaverylowopinionofShasta。
“IwishIcouldeatgrass!”thoughtShasta。“It'snogoodgoingbavard,it'llallbebesieged。I'dbettergetlowerdownintothevalleyandseeifIythi。”
&ondowhickdewwascruellycoldtohisbarefeet)tillhetoawood。Therewasakindthroughitafollowedthisformanyminuteswhehidratherwheezyvoigtohim。
“G,neighbour。”
Shastalerlytofindthespeakeralysaricklypersonwithadarkfacewhohadjustamoleast,itwassmallforapersindeedfehog,hatit>
“G,”saidShasta。“ButI'mnotaneighbour。Infaastraheseparts。”
“Ah?”saidtheHedgehly。
“I'veountains—fromArd,youknow。”
“Ha,Ard,”saidtheHedgehog。“That'saterriblelongway。heremyself。”
“AndIthink,perhaps,”saidShasta,“someoobetoldthatthere'sanarmyofsavageeavardatthisverymoment。”
“Youdon'tsayso!”aheHedgehog。“Well,thinkofthat。Andtheydosaythatenishuhousandsofmilesaway,rightattheworld'send,acrossagreatseaofsand。”
“It'snotnearlyasfarasyouthink,”saidShasta。“Andoughtn'tsomethingtobedohisattavard?OughtnhKiold?”
&aihingoughttobedo,”saidtheHedgehog。“ButyouseeI'mjustonmywaytoodday'ssleep。Hullo,neighbour!”
&wordswereaddressedtoacoloredrabbitwhoseheadhadjustpoppedupfromsomewherebesidethepath。TheHedgehogimmediatelytoldtheRabbitwhatithadjustlearnedfromShasta。TheRabbitagreedthatthiswasveryremarkablehatsomebodyoughttotellsomeowithaviewtodoihing。
Andsoitwenton。Everyfewmiheywerejoihercreatures,somefromthebranchesoverheadatleundergrouheirfeet,tillthepartysistedoffiverabbits,asquirrel,ties,agoat-footfaun,andamouse,whoalltalkedatthesametimeandallagreedwiththeHedgehog。ForthetruthwasthatinthatgoldedtheWinterhadgoheHighKiCairParavel,thesmallerleofNarniaweresosafeandhappythattheyweregettingalittlecareless。
&ly,however,twomorepracticalpeoplearrivedilewood。OnewasaRedDwarfearedtobeDuffle。Theotherwasastag,abeautifullordlycreaturewithwideliquideyes,dappledflahinatheylookedasifyoucouldbreakthemwithtwofingers。
“Lionalive!”roaredtheDwarfassoonashehadheardthenews。“Andifthat'sso,whyareweallstandingstill,g?EAbesenttoCairParavelatohearmymustbecalledout。NarniamustgototheaidofKingLune。”
“Ah!”saidtheHedgehog。“Butyouwon'tfindtheHighKingattheCair。He'sawaytotheNthosegiants。Andtalkingofgiants,neighbours,thatputsmeinmind—”
“Who'lltakee?”iheDwarf。“Amorespeedthanme?”
“I'vegotspeed,”saidtheStag。“What'smymessage?Howmanyenes?”
“Twohundred:underPrinceRabadash。And—”ButtheStagwasalreadyaway—allfsoffthegroundatonamomentitswhitesternhaddisappearedamorees。
“Wonderwherehe'sgoing,”saidaRabbit。“Hewon'tfindtheHighKingatCairParavel,youknow。”
“He'llfindQueenLucy,”saidDuffle。“Andthenhullo!WhatwiththeHuman?Itlreen。Why,Idobelieveit'squitefairy。Whendidyoulasthaveameal,youngster?”
&erdaym,”saidShasta>
&hen,eon,”saidtheDwarf,athisthicklittlearmsroundShasta'swaisttosupporthim。“Why,neighbhtalltobeashamedofourselves!Youe,lad。Breakfast!Betterthantalking。”
Withagreatdeal'ofbustle,mutteringreproachestoitself,theDwarfhalfledandhalfsupportedShastaatagreatspeedfurtherintothewoodandalittledownhill。ItwasalohanShastawamomentandhislegshadbeguntofeelveryshakybeforetheythetreesontobarehillside。Theretheyfoundalittlehousewithasmokingdanopendoor,aothedoorwayDufflecalledout,
&hers!Avisitorforbreakfast。”
Aely,mixedwithasizzlingsouoShastaasimplydelightfulsmell。Itwasonehehadneversmelledinhislifebefore,butIhopeyouhave。Itwas,infact,thesmellofbadeggsandmushroinapan。
“Mindyourhead,lad,”saidDuffleamomenttoolate,forShastahadalreadybashedhisfaielofthedoor。“Now,”uedtheDwarf,“sityoudowable'sabitlowforyou,buttheool'slowtoo。Thatht。Andheree—andhere'sajugofdhere'saspoon。”
BythetimeShastahadfinishedhispe,theDwarf'stwobrothers(whosenameswereRoginahumb)wereputtingthedishofbadeggsandmushrooms,andthecoffeepotamilk,a,oable。
ItwasallnewaoShastaforenefoodisquitedifferent。Hedidn'tevenknowwhattheslicesofbrownstuffwere,forhehadbefore。Hedidn'tknowwhattheyellowsoftthingtheysmearedowas,beenyounearlyalwaysgetoiliter。Aselfwasquitedifferentfromthedark,frowsty,fish-smellingbutofArsheeshandfromthepillaredaedhallsinthepalacesofTashbaan。Theroofwasverylow,ahingwasmadeofwood,andtherewasacuckoo-dared-and-whitecheckedtable-daboersaaihiedasalsorathertroublesomehavingtousedsandplatesandknivesandforks。Thismeantthathelpingswereverysmall,butthentherewereagreatmanyhelpings,sothatShasta'splateorcupwasbeingfilledeverymometheDwarfsthemselvesweresaying,“Butterplease“,or“Anothercupofcoffee,”or“I'dlikeafewmoremushrooms,”or“Whatabanorso?”AtheyhadalleatenasmuchastheypossiblycouldthethreeDwarfsdrewlotsforwhowoulddothe,andRoginwastheuhenDuffleaookShastaoutsidetoabenchwhiagaiagewall,aretchedsasighofewoDwarfslittheirpipes。Thedewwasoffthegrassnowandthesunwaswarm;iherehadn'tbeenalightbreeze,itwouldhavebeentoohot。
“Ner,”saidDuffle,“I'llshowyouthelieoftheland。YouearlyallSouthNarniafromhere,andwe'reratherproudoftheview。Rightawayo,