“Isay!”saidAravis。“Ihavehadluck。”
“Daughter,”saidtheHermit,“IhavenowlivedahundredaersinthisworldametanysugasLuck。ThemissomethingaboutallthisthatIdoand:butifeverweoknowit,youmaybesurethat>
“AndwhataboutRabadashandhistwohundredhorse?”askedAravis。
“Theywillnotpassthisway,Ithink,”saidtheHermit。“Theymusthavefoundafordbyheeastofus。FromtheretheywilltrythttoAnvard。”
“PoorShasta!”saidAravis。“Hashefartogo?Willhegettherefirst?”
“Thereisgoodhopeofit,”saidtheoldman。
Aravislaydownagaihistime)andsaid,“HaveIbeenasleepftime?Itseemstobegettingdark。”
&waslookingoutoftheonlyhiorth。“Thisisnotthedarknessofnight,”hesaidpresently。“ThecldownfromStormnessHead。Ourfoulweatheralwaysthereiherewillbethiight。”
&day,exceptforhersoreback,Aravisfeltsowellthatafterbreakfast(eaheHermitsaidshecouldgetup。AndofcoursesheatoospeaktotheHorses。Theweatherhaddthewholeofthatgreenenclosurewasfilled,likeagreatgreencup,withsunlight。Iteacefulplaelya。
HwiedacrosstoAravisandgaveherahorse-kiss。
“Butwhere'sBree?”saidAraviswheneachhadaskedaftertheother'shealthandsleep。
&here,”saidHwin,pointiothefarsideofthecirdIwishyou'deandtalktohim。There'ssomethingwrong,I'tgetawordoutofhim。”
&rolledadfwithhisfacetowardthewall,andthoughhemusthaveheardthemiurnedhisheadorspokeaword。
“G,Bree,”saidAravis。“Howareyouthism?”
&eredsomethingthatnoonecouldhear。
&saysthatShastaprobablygottoKiime,”uedAravis,“soitlooksasifallourtroublesareover。Narnia,atlast,Bree!”
“IshallneverseeNarnia,”saidBreeinalowvoice。
&youwell,Breedear?”saidAravis。
&urnedroundatlast,hisfafulasonlyahorse'sbe。
“Ishallgobaen,”hesaid。
“What?”saidAravis。“Backtoslavery!”
“Yes,”saidBree。“SlaveryisallI'mfitfor。HowIevershowmyfagthefreeHorsesofNarnia?—IwholeftamareandagirlandaboytobeeatenbylionsedallIyow!”
“Weallranashardaswecould,”saidHwin。
“Shastadidn't!”sleastheradirebadthatiswhatshamesmemostofall。I,whocalledmyselfawar-horseandboastedhts,tobebeatenbyalittlehumanboy—achild,amerefoal,whohadneverheldaswordnorhadanygoodnurtureorexampleinhislife!”
“Iknow,”saidAravis。“Ifeltjustthesame。Shastawasmarvellous。I'mjustasbadasyou,Bree。I'vebeensnubbinghimandlookingdownonhimeversiusaurnsouttobethebestofusall。ButIthinkitwouldbebettertostayandsaywe'resorrythantogobaen。”
“It'sallverywellforyou,”saidBree。“Youhaven'tdisgracedyourself。ButI'vel。”
“MygoodHorse,”saidtheHermit,roachedthemunnoticedbecausehisbarefeetmadesolittlesweet,dewygrass。“MygoodHorse,you'velostnothingbutyourself-o,no,。Don'tputbackyourearsandshakeyourmame。Ifyouarereallysohumbledasyousoueago,youmustlearosense。You'rehegreatHorseyouhadetothink,fromlivingamongpoordumbhorses。Ofcourseyouwerebraverahem。Youcouldhardlyhelpbeingthat。Itdoesn'tfollowthatyou'llbeanyoneveryspearnia。Butaslongasyouknowyou'renobodyspecial,you'llbeaverydetsortofHorse,onthewhole,andtakihingwithanother。Andnow,ifyouandmyotherfour-footedwilleroudoorwe'llseeabouttheotherhalfofthatmash。”