CHAPTERTENTHEMAGISBOOK
THEinvisiblepeoplefeastedtheirguestsroyally。Itwasveryfuesanddishesiableandnottoseeanythem。Itwouldhavebeeheyhadmovedalohefloor,asyouwouldexpegstodoininvisiblehands。Buttheydidn't。Theyprogressedupthelongdining-hallinaseriesofboundsorjumps。Atthehighestpointofeachjumpadishwouldbeaboutfifteeheair;thenitwouldedoquitesuddenlyaboutthreefeetfromthefloor。Whenthedishedanythinglikesouporstewtheresultwasratherdisastrous。
“I'mbeginningtofeelveryihesepeople,”whisperedEustaund。“Doyouthinkthey'rehumanatall?Morelikehugegrasshiantfrogs,Ishouldsay。”
“Itdoeslooklikeit,”saidEdmund。“Butdon'tputtheideaofthegrasshoppersintoLucy'shead。She'snottookees;especiallybigones。”
Themealleasahadnotbeensoexglymessy,andalsoiftheversationhadnotsistedentirelyofagreements。Theinvisiblepeopleagreedab。Ioftheirremarkswerethesortitwouldodisagreeayssayis,'shungry,helikessomevictuals,”darknow;alwaysdoesatnight,”oreven“Ah,you'veeovertheetstuff,ain'tit?”AndLuothelplookingatthedarkyawothefootofthestaircase—shecouldseeitfromwhereshesat—ashewouldfindwhehosestairsm。Butitwasagoodmealotherwise,withmushroomsoupandboiledsandhotboiledhamandgooseberries,redts,curds,cream,milk,aheotherslikedthemeadbutEustacewassorryafterwardthathehaddrunkany。
WhenLucywokeupmitwaslikeonthedayofaionoradaywheothedentist。Itwasalwithbeesbuzzinginandoutofheropenwindowasidelookingverylikeslaupariedtotalkaordinarilyatbreakfast。Then,afterbeingiheChiefVoiceaboutwhatshewastodoupstairs,shebidgoodbyetotheothers,saidnothihebottomofthestairs,andbegangoiongback。
Itwasquitelight,thatwasohing。Therewas,indeed,awindhtaheadofheratthetopht。Aslohatflightshecouldhearthetick-tock-tick-tockofagrandfatherthehallbelow。Thehelandingandhadtoturupthe;afterthatshe'theartheore。
Nowshehadetothetopofthestairs。Lucylookedandsawalong,widepassagewithalargewindowatthefarehepassageranthewholelengthofthehouse。Itwasdpanelledaedandverymanydoorsopeoneachside。Shestoodstilland'thearthesqueakofamouse,orthebuzzingofafly,ortheswayingofa,—exceptthebeatingofhero
&doorwayo,”shesaidtoherself。Itdidseemabithardthatitshouldbethelast。Toreachitshewouldhavetoastroomafterroom。Andinanyrhtbethemagi—asleep,orawake,orinvisible,oreveitwouldn'tdotothinkaboutthat。Shesetoutonherjourwassothickthatherfeetmadenonoise。
“There'snothiobeafraidofyet,”Lucytoldherself。Aainlyitwasaquiet,sunlitpassage;perhapsabittooquiet。Itwouldhavebeeherehadrangesignspaintedihedoorstwisty,pligswhichobviouslyhadameaninganditmightn'tbeaveryher。Itwouldhavebeeillifthereweren'tthosemaskshangingonthewall。Notthattheywereexactlyugly—ornly—buttheemptyeye-holesdidlookqueer,andifyouletyourselfyouwouldsiningthatthemasksweredoingthingsassoonasyourbackwasturhem。
&hesixthdotherfirstrealfright。Foronesedshefeltalmostthatawickedlittlebeardedfacehadpoppedoutofthewallandmadeagrimaceather。Sheforcedherselftostopandlookatit。Anditwasall。Itwasalittlemirrorjustthesizeandshapeofherowhhairoopofitandabeardhangingdownfromit,sothatwhenyoulookedinthemirroryourowedintothehairandbeardanditlookedasiftheybelooyou。“IjustcaughtmyowhthetailofmyeyeasIwentpast,”saidLucytoherself。“Thatwasallitwas。It'squiteharmless。”Butshedidn'tlikethelookofherowhathairandbeard,aon。(Idon'tknowwhattheBeardedGlasswasforbecauseIamnotamagi。)
Beforeshereachedthelastdooro,Lucywasbeginningtowohecrownlongersinceshebeganherjourneyahisartofthemagicofthehouse。Butshegottoitatlast。Andthedooren。
Itwasalargeroomwiththreebigwindowsanditwaslinedfromfloortogwithbooks;morebooksthanLucyhadeverseeinylittlebooks,fatanddumpybooks,andbooksbiggerthananychurchBibleyouhaveeverseen,allbouherandsmellingoldandlearnedandmagical。ButsheknewfromherinstrusthatsheheraboutaheBook,theMagicBook,waslying-deskintheverymiddleoftheroom。Shesawshewouldhavetoreaditstanding(andanywaytherewerenodalsothatshewouldhavetostaothedoorwhileshereadit。Soatooshutthedoor。
Itwouldn'tshut。
SomepeoplemaydisagreewithLucyaboutthis,butIthieright。Shesaidshewouldn'thavemindedifshecouldhaveshutthedoor,butthatitleasaandihatendhtbehindyourback。Ishouldhavefeltjustthesame。Buttherewasobedone。
&hatwooddealwasthesizeoftheBook。TheChiefVoiotbeeogiveheranyideawhereaboutsihespellfthingsvisiblecame。Heevehersurprisedatheraskiedhertobeginatthebeginningandgoooit;obviouslyhehadthattherewasanyotherwayoffindingaplaabook。“Butitmighttakemedaysandweeks!”saidLugatthehugevolume,“andIfeelalreadyasifI'dbeeninthisplaceforhours。”
&uptothedeskandlaidherhandontheberstioucheditasifitwerefullofelectricity。Shetriedtoopenitbut'tatfirst;this,however,wasowasfastes,andwhenshehaduopenedeasilyenough。Andwhatabookit>
Itwaswritten,eninaclear,evenhand,withthistrokesandthinupstre,easierthanprint,ahatLucystaredatitforawholeminuteandfit。Thepaperandsmoothandanicesmellit;andinthemargins,androundthebigcoloredcapitallettersatthebeginningofeachspell,therewerepictures。
&itlepageortitle;thespellsbeganstraightaway,andatfirsttherewasaheywerecuresforwarts(bywashingyourhandsinmoonlightinasilverbasin)andtoothaddaspellfaswarmofbees。Thepianwithtoothachewassolifelikethatitwouldhavesetyourowhagifyoulookedatittoolong,andthegoldenbeeswhichweredottedallrouhspelllookedforamomentasiftheywerereallyflying。
Lucycouldhardlytearherselfawayfromthatfirstpage,butwheurhewasjustasiing。“ButImustgetooldherself。Aforabeswhich,ifshecouldhaverememberedthem,wouldhavetaughtherhowtofireasure,howtsfotten,hsyouwaet,howtotellwhetheranyohetruth,ho(orprevent)wind,fog,sorrain,howtoprodutedsleepsandhowtogiveamananass'shead(astheydidtopoorBottom)。Andthelohemorewonderfulahepicturesbecame。
Theoapagewhichwassuchablazeofpicturesthatonehardlyhewriting。Hardly—butshedidwords。Theywere,Aniomakebeautifulherthatutterethitbeyoofmortals。Lucypeeredatthepictureswithherfaceclosetothepage,andthoughtheyhadseemeddmuddlesomebefore,shefoundsheowseethemquiteclearly。Thefirstictureofagirlstandingatareading-deskreadinginahugebook。AndthegirlwasdressedexactlylikeLutheureLucy(firliurewasLucyherself)withhermouthopenaerribleexpressionoiihihirdpicturethebeautybeyoofmortalshadetoher。Itwasstrange,ghoictureshadlookedatfirst,thattheLuthepiedquiteasbigastherealLudtheylookediher'seyesandtherealLucylookedawayafterafewminutesbecauseshewasdazzledbythebeautyoftheotherLucy;thoughshecouldstillseeasortoflikeoherselfiifulfaowthepicturescamegohidfast。ShesawherselfthronedonhighatagreattourinenandalltheKingshtbecauseofherbeauty。Afterthatitturourorealwars,andallNarniaaelmaranden,Galmaahia,werelaidwastewiththefuryofthekingsanddukesalordswhofoughtforherfavour。ThenitdLucy,stillbeautifulbeyoofmortals,wasbagland。AndSusan(whohadalwaysbeehefamily)America。TheSusaurelookedexactlyliketherealSusanohanastyexpression。AndSusanwasjealousofthedazzliyofLucy,butthatdidn'tmatterabitbeoohingaboutSusannow。
“Iell,”saidLu'tcare。Iwill。”
ShesaidIdon'tcarebecauseshehadastroshemustn't。
Butwhenshelookedbackattheopeningwordsofthespell,thereinthemiddle,whereshefeltquitesuretherehadbeennopicturebefore,shefoufaceofalion,ofTheLion,Aslaariaintedsuchabrightgoldthatitseemedtobeingtowardheroutofthepage;andindeedsheneverwasquitesureafterwardthatithadn'treallymovedalittle。Atanyrateshekheexpressionoelingandyouostofhisteeth。Shebecamehorriblyafraidahepageatonce。
Alittlelatershecametoaspellwhichwouldletyouknowwhatyourfriendsthoughtaboutyou。NowLutedverybadlytotrytheotherspell,theomadeyoubeautifulbeyoofmortals。Soshefeltthattomakeupfornothavingsaidit,shereallywouldsaythisone。Andallinahurry,forfearhermindwouldge,shesaidthewords(nothingwilliellyouwhattheywere)。Theedforsomethingtohappen。
Asnothinghappenedshebeganlookiures。Andallatoheverylastthied—apictureofathird-classcarriageinatrain,withtwoschoolgirlssittingihematoheyrestoherstone。Onlynowitwasmuchmorethanapicture。Itwasalive。Shecouldseethetelegraphpostsfligpastoutsidethewindow。Thengradually(likewhentheradiois“ingon”)shecouldhearwhatthey>
“ShallIseeanythingofyouthisterm?”saidAnne,“orareyoustillgoiakenupwithLusie。”
“Don'tknowwhatyoumeanbytakenup,”saidMarjorie。