CHAPTERTEJOKEAERS
ITwasofcoursetheLion'svoice。Thehadlohathecouldspeak:yetitwasalovelyandterribleshohedid。
Outofthetreeswildpeoplesteppedfodsahewood;withthemsandSatyrsandDwarfs。OutoftheriverrodwithhisNaiaddaughters。Andalltheseasandbirdsintheirdifferentvoices,lhorthickorclear,replied:“Hail,Aslan。Wehearandobey。elove。Wethink。Wespeak。Weknow。”
“Butplease,wedon'tknowverymuchyet,”saidanoseyandsnortykindofvoidthatreallydidmakethejump,foritwasthecab-horseoken。
“GoodoldStrawberry,”saidPolly。“IamgladhewasoheoobeaTalki。”AndtheCabby,stahe,said,“Strikemepink。Ialwaysdidsaythat'oss'adalotofsehough。”
&ures,Igiveyouyourselves,”saidthestrong,happyvoiceofAslaoyouforeverthislandiveyouthewoods,thefruits,therivers。IgiveyouthestarsandIgiveyoumyself。TheDumbBeastswhomIhavenotareyoursalso。TreatthemgentlyahembutdonotgobacktotheirwayslestyouceasetobeTalkis。Foroutofthemyouweretakenandintothemyou。Donotso。”
“No,Aslan,wewon't,wewon't,”saideveryooneperkyjackdawaddedinaloudvoiofear!”andeveryoneelsehadfibeforehesaiditsothathiswordscameoutquiteadeadsilendperhapsyouhavefoundouthowawfulthatbe—say,ataparty。TheJackdawbebarrassedthatithiditsheaduswingsasifitwasgoingtosleep。Aheranimalsbeganmakingvariousqueernoiseswhicharetheirwaysoflaughingandwhich,ofoonehaseverheardinourworld。Theytriedatfirsttorepressit,butAslansaid:“Laugha,creatures。Nowthatyerdumbandwitless,youalwaysbegrave。Forjokesaswellasjustieinwithspeech。”
Sotheyallletthemselvesgo。AndtherewassuchmerrimentthattheJackdawhimselfpluckedupcainahecab-horse'shead,betweenitsears,gitswings,andsaid:“Aslan!Aslahefirstjoke?WilleverybodyalwaysbetoldhowImadethefirstjoke?”
“No,littlefriend,”saidtheLion。“Youhavehefirstjoke;youhaveohefirstjoke。”TheneveryohaheJa'tmindaasloudtillthehorseshookitsheadandtheJackdawlostitsbalandfelloff,butremembereditswiill)beforeitreachedtheground。
“Andnow,”saidAslan,“Narablished。Wemustfitsafe。Iwilleofyoutomyehithertome,youthechiefDwarf,andyod,andyouOakandtheOwl,andboththeRavensandtheBull-Elephaalktogether。Fhtheworldisnotfivehoursoldanevilhasalreadye。”
&ureshehadnamedcameforwardaurwardwiththem。Theantalking,sayingthididhesayhadeheworld?—A'saNeevil?—No,hedidn'tsayaNeevil,hesaidahat'sthat?”
“Lookhere,”saidDigorytoPolly,“I'vegottogoafterhim—AslaheLion。Imustspeaktohim。”
“Doyouthinkwe?”saidPolly。“Iwouldn'tdare。”
“I'vegotto,”saidDigory。“It'saboutMother。Ifanyonecouldgivemesomethingthatwoulddood,itwouldbehim。”
“I'llealongwithyou,”saidtheCabby。“Ilikedthelooksof'im。AndIdon'tretheseotherbeastswillgoforus。AndIitholdStrawberry。”
Soallthreeofthemsteppedoutboldly—orasboldlyastheycould—towardtheassemblyofanimals。Thecreaturesweresobusytalkiherandmakitheydidn'threehumansuntiltheywereveryordidtheyhearUndreasstandingtremblinginhisbuttosagoodwayoffandshouting(butbyhetopofhisvoice)。
“Digory!ebaebayou'retold。Iforbidyoutogoastepfurther。”
&theywererightinamongtheanimals,theanimalsallstoppedtalkingahem。
“Well?”saidtheHe-Beaveratlast,“what,inthenameofAslahese?”
“Please,”beganDigoryihlessvoiaRabbitsaid,“They'reakindelettuce,that'smybelief。”
“No,we'relywe'renot,”saidPollyhastily。“We'renotatall。”
“There!”saidtheMole。“Theytalk。Whoeverheardofatalkiuce?”
&hey'retheSedjoke,”suggestedtheJackdaw。
APanther,whichhadbeenwashingitsface,stoppedforamomenttosay,“Well,iftheyare,theylikesogoodasthefirsto,1don'tseeanythingveryfunnyaboutthem。”Ityaithits>
“Oh,please,”saidDigory。“I'minsuchahurry。IwaheLion。”
AllthistimetheCabbyhadbeentryingtocatchStrawberry'seye。Nowhedid。“Now,Strawberry,oldboy,”hesaid。“Youknowme。Youain'tgoingtostandthereandsayasyoudon'tknowme。”
“What'stheThingtalkingabout,Horse?”saidseveralvoices。
“Well,”saidStrawberryveryslowly,“Idolyknow,Ithinkmostofusdon'tknowmuchaboutanythiI'veasortofideaI'veseenathihisbefore。I'veafeelingIlivedsomewhereelse—orwassomethingelse—beforeAslanafewmi'sallverymuddled。Likeadream。Buttherewerethihreeinthedream。”