“Oh,thefuhefunnies,”criedLucy,burstingintolaughter。“Didyoumakethemlikethat?”
“Yes,yes。ImadetheDuffersintoMonopods,”saidtheMagi。Hetoowaslaughingtillthetearsrandowwatch,”headded。
Itatg。Ofcoursetheselittleoedmen'twalkorruheygotaboutbyjumping,likefleass。Andstheymade!asifeachbigfootrings。Andwithwhatabouhey;thatwaswhatmadethethumpingnoiseuzzledLucyyesterday。Fornowtheywerejumpingiionsandgouttooher,“Hey,lads!We'revisibleagain。”
“Visibleweare,”saidoasselledredcapwhowasobviouslytheopod。“AndwhatIsayis,sarevisible,why,theyeanother。”
“Ah,thereitis,thereitis,Chief,”criedalltheothers。“There'sthepoint。Noone'sgotaclearerheadthanyou。You'thavemadeitplainer。”
&heoldmannapping,thatlittlegirldid,”saidtheopod。“We'vebeatenhimthistime。”
“Justere,goingtosayourselves,”chimedthechorus。“Ystrohaoday,Chief。Keepitup,keepitup。”
“Butdotheydaretotalkaboutyoulikethat?”saidLucy。“Theyseemedtobesoafraidofyouyesterday。Don'ttheyknowyoumightbelistening?”
“That'sohingsabouttheDuffers,”saidtheMagiialkasifIrahingandoverheardeverythingaremelydahehiakemeinbytricksthatababywouldseethrough—blessthem!”
“Willtheyhavetobeturnedbatotheirpropershapes?”askedLucy。“Oh,Idohopeitwouldn'tbeunkihemastheyare。Dotheyreallymindverymuch?Theyseemprettyhappy。Isay—lookatthatjump。Whatweretheylikebefore?”
“onlittledwarfs,”saidhe。“NothinglikesohesortyouhaveinNarnia。”
“Ititytogethemback,”saidLucy。“They'resofunny:andthey'rerathernice。Doyouthinkitwouldmakeanydiffereoldthemthat?”
“I'msureitwould—ifyoucouldgetitintotheirheads。”
“Willyoueandtry?”
“No,no。You'llgetohoutme。”
“Thanksawfullyforthelunch,”saidLudturnedquicklyaway。SheraairswhichshehadeupsohatmaoEdmuom。Alltheothersweretherewithhimwaiting,andLucy'scesmoteherwheheiranxiousfadrealizedhowlongshehadfottenthem。
“It'sallright,”sheshouted。“Everything'sallright。TheMagi'sabridI'veseenHim—Aslan。”
&shewentfromthemlikethewindandoutintothegardehwasshakingwiththejumpsandtheairringingwiththeshoutsoftheMonopods。Bothwereredoubledwhesightofher。
“Hereshees,hereshees,”theycried。“Threecheersforthelittlegirl。Ah!Sheputitacrosstheoldgentlemanproperly,shedid。”
“Andwe'reextremelyregrettable,”saidtheopod,“thatwe'tgiveyouthepleasureofseeingusaswewerebeflified,foryouwouldn'tbelievethedifferehat'sthetruth,forthere'snodenyingwelynoon'tdeceiveyou。”
&weare,Chief,thatweare,”echoedtheothers,bounglikesomanytoyballoons。“You'vesaidit,you'vesaidit。”
“ButIdon'tthiall,”saidLucy,shoutingtomakeherselfheard。“Ithinkyoulookverynice。”
“Hearher,hearher,”saidtheMonopods。“Trueforyou,Missie。Verynicewelook。You'tfindahaheysaidthisriseanddidicethattheyhadgedtheirminds。
“She'sa-sayiheopod,“ashowwelookedverynicebeflified。”
“Trueforyou,Chief,trueforyou,”tedtheothers。“That'swhatshesays。Weheardherourselves。”
“Ididnot,”bawledLucy。“Isaidyou'reveryniow。”
“Soshedid,soshedid,”saidtheopod,“saidwewereveryhen。”
“Hear'emboth,hear'emboth,”saidtheMonopods。“There'sapairforyou。Alwaysright。They'thaveputitbetter。”
“Butwejusttheopposite,”saidLucy,stampiwithimpatience。
“Soyouare,tobesure,soyouare,”saidtheMonopods。“Nothinglikeaup,bothofyou。”
“Yhtodriveanyonemad,”saidLudgaveitup。ButtheMonopodsseemedperfetented,ahatoheversationhadbeenasuccess。
Andbeforeeveryoobedthatevehingelsehappenedwhichmadethemeveisfiedwiththeiroion。dalltheNarbaaspossibletivetheiroRhiheothersonboardtheDawnTreader,whowerebynowveryanxious。And,ofcourse,theMohem,bouballsahoherinloudvoicestillEustacesaid,“IwishtheMagiakethemieadofinvisible。”(Hewassoonsorryhehadspokeheoexplainthatanihihingyou'thear,andthoughhetookalotoftroublehehattheMonopodshadreallyuood,andeoyedhimwasthattheysaidintheend,“Eh,he'tputthingsthewayourChiefdoes。Butyou'lllearn,youngman。Harktohim。He'llshowyouhowtosaythings。There'saspeakerforyou!”)Whehebay,Reepicheephadabrilliantidea。HehadhislittlecoracleloaddledhimselfaboutinittilltheMohhlyihenstoodupinitandsaid,“WorthyaMonopods,youdos。Eachofyouhasafootthatwilldoijumpaslightlyasyouthewaterahappens。”
Theopodhungbadwarhatthey'dfierpowerfulwet,butowooftheyourieditalmostatohehersfollowedtheirexample,andatlastthewholelotdidthesame。Itworkedperfectly。ThehugesiofaMonopodactedasanaturalraftorboat,andwheaughtthemhowtocutrudepaddlesforthemselves,theyallpaddledaboutthebayandroureader,lookingforalltheworldlikeafleetoflittleoeswithafatdiernofeadtheyhadradbottlesofereddowheshipasprizes,andthesailorsstoodleaheship'ssidesaheiro
TheDufferswerealsoverypleasedwiththeirnewnameofMonopods,whichseemedtothemamaghoughtheyright。“That'swhatweare,”theybellowed,“Moneypuds,Pomonods,Poddymons。Justwhatitwasoipsuestocallourselves。”ButtheysoongotitmixedupwiththeiroldnameofDuffersandfileddowntogthemselvestheDufflepuds;andthatiswhattheywillprobablybecalledforturies。
ThateveningalltheNarairswiththeMagidLuoticedhowdiffereopfloorlookednowthatshewasnolongerafraidofit。Themysterioussignsonthedoorswerestillmysteriousbutheyhadkindandcheerfulmeanihebeardedmirrornowseemedfuhadinnereveryonehadbymagicwhateveryooeatanddrink,andafterdiheMagididaveryusefulaifulpieagic。HelaidtwoblasofparthetableandaskedDriniantogivehimaateuptodate:andasDrihinghedescribedcameoutontheparfineestillatlasteachsheetlendidmapoftheEasternOa,Terebinthia,theSeveheLoneIslands,DragonIsland,BurntIslaer,andthelandoftheDuffersitself,allexactlytherightsizesapositiohefirstmapsevermadeofthoseseasahananythathavebeenmadesimagithese,thoughthetownsandmountaifirstjustastheywouldonanordinarymap,whentheMagitthemamagnifyingglassyousawthattheywereperfectlittlepicturess,sothatyoucouldseetheverydslavemarketasinNarrowhaven,allveryclearthoughverydistahihroughthewroelescope。Theonlydrawbackwasthattheeofmostoftheislandslete,forthemapshowedonlywhatDrihhisowheywerefihe。Magikeptonehimselfaheotherto:itstillhangsinhisentsatCairParavel。ButtheMagicouldtellthemnothingaboutseasorla。Hedid,however,tellthemthataboutsevenyearsbeforeaNarnianshiphadputinathiswatersandthatshehadonboardthelordsRevilian,Argoz,MavramornandRhoop:sotheyjudgedthatthegoldenmantheyhadseenlyiermustbetheLordRestimar。
&heMagimagidedthesterreaderwhereithadbeeheSearSerpentahusefulgifts。Therewasamostfriendlyparting,andwhenshesailed,twohoursafternoon,alltheDufflepudspaddledoutwithhertotheharbourmouth,ailshewasoutofsound。