CHAPTERELEVENTHEDUFFLEPUDSMADEHAPPY
LucyfollowedthegreatLionoutintothepassageandatonceshesawanoldma,dressedinaredrobe。Hiswhitehairithachapletofoakleaves,hisbeardfelltohisgirdle,aedhimselfwithacuriouslycarvedstaff。WhenhesawAslanhebowedlowandsaid,“Wele,Sir,totheleastofyourhouses。”
“Doyougrowweary,,suchfoolishsubjectsasIhavegivenyouhere?”
“No,”saidtheMagi,“theyareverystupidbutthereisnorealharminthem。Ibegintogrowratherfoures。Sometimes,perhaps,Iamalittleimpatient,waitingforthedaywhentheybegovernedbywisdomihisroughmagic。”
“Allingoodtime,,”saidAslan。
“Yes,alliime,Sir,”wastheanswer。“Doyouioshowyourselftothem?”
“Nay,”saidtheLion,withalittlehalf-growlthatmeant(Lucythought)thesameasalaugh。“Ishhteoftheirsenses。Manystarswillgrowoldaaketheirrestinislandsbeforeyourpeopleareripeforthat。AndtodaybeforesuvisitTrumpkintheDwarfwherehesitsileofCairParavelgthedaystillhismastere。Iwilltellhimallyourstory,Luotlooksosad。Weshallmeetsoonagain。”
“Please,Aslan,”saidLucy,“whatdoyou?”
“Icallalltimessoon,”saidAslan;andinstantlyhewasvanishedawayandLucywasaloheMagi。
“Gone!”saidhe,“andyouafallen。It'salwayslikethat,you'tkeephim;it'snotasifhewereatamelion。Andhowdidyouenjoymybook?”
“Partsofitverymudeed,”saidLucy。“DidyouknowIwasthereallthetime?”
“Well,ofcourseIkheDuffersmakethemselvesiyouwouldbeingaloakethespelloff。Iwasn'tquitesureoftheexadIwasn'tespethewatchthism。Youseetheyhadmademeiooandbeinginvisiblealwaysmakesmesosleepy。Heigh-ho—thereI'myawningagain。Areyouhungry?”
“Well,perhapsIamalittle,”saidLucy。“I'vehetimeis。”
“e,”saidtheMagi。“AlltimesmaybesoontoAslan;butinmyhomeallhungrytimesareoneo'clock。”
Heledheralittlewaydownthepassageandopenedadin,Ludherselfiroomfullofsunlightaablewasbarewheered,butitwasictable,andatawordfromtheoldmaablecloth,silver,plates,glassesandfoodappeared。
“Ihopethatiswhatyouwouldlike,”saidhe。“Ihavetriedtogiveyoufoodmorelikethefoodofyouroerhapsyouhavehadlately。”
“It'slovely,”saidLudsoitwas;ae,pipinghot,bandgreerawberryisquashtodrinkwiththemealandacupofchocolatetofollow。Butthemagihimselfdrankoeoherewasnothingalarmingabouthim,andLudheweresoongawaylikeoldfriends。
&hespellwork?”askedLucy。“WilltheDuffersbevisibleagainatonce?”
“Ohyes,they'revisiblenow。Butthey'reprobablyallasleepstill;theyalwaystakearestinthemiddleoftheday。”
“Andnowthatthey'revisible,areyougoihemoffbeingugly?Willyoumakethemastheywerebefore?”
&'sratheradelicatequestion,”saidtheMagi。“Yousee,it'sohinktheyweresoolookatbefore。Theysaythey'vebeehatisn'twhatIcalledit。Masaythegewasforthebetter。”
&heyawfullyceited?”
“Theyare。OratleasttheChiefDufferis,aaughtalltheresttobe。Theyalwaysbelieveevery>
“We'd,”saidLucy。
“Yes—we'dgetohim,inaway。OfcourseIhimihingelse,orevenputaspellonhimwhiakethemnotbelieveawordhesaid。ButIdon'tliketodothat。It'sbetterforthemtoadmirehimthantoadmirenobody。”
“Don'ttheyadmireyou?”askedLucy。
“Oh,notme,”saidtheMagi。“Theywouldn'tadmireme。”
“Whatwasityouuglifiedthemfor—Imean,whattheycalluglified?”
&heywouldn'tdowhattheyweretold。Theirworkistomindthegardenaforme,astheyimagiforthemselves。Theywouldn'tdoitatallifIdidn'tmakethem。Andofcardenyouwahereisabeautifulspringabouthalfamileathehill。Andfromthatspringthereflowsastreamwhiesrightpastthegarden。AllIaskedthemtodowastotaketheirwaterfromthestreamirudginguptwiththeirbucketstwoorthreetimesadayandtiribesidesspillinghalfofitonthewayback。Buttheywouldn'tseeit。Iheyrefusedpointblank。”
&heyasstupidasallthat?”askedLucy。
TheMagisighed。“Youwouldn'tbelievethetroublesI'vehadwiththem。Afewmonthsagotheywereallfuptheplatesandknivesbeforedisavedtimeafterward。I'vecaughtthemplantioestosavewhentheyweredugup。Ointothedairyahemwereatwallthemilkout;ofmoviIseeyou'vefi'sgoandlookattheDuffersnowtheybelookedat。”
&intoanotherroomwhichwasfullofpolishedishardtouand—suchasAstrolabes,Orreries,oseters,busesandTheodolinds—aheyhadetothewindow,theMagisaid,“There。ThereareyourDuffers。”
“Idon'tseeanybody,”saidLudwhatareths?”
&hiedatweredottedalloverthelevelgrass。Theywerelyverylikemushrooms,butfartoobig—thestalksaboutthreefeethighandtheumbrellasaboutthesamelengthfromedgetoedge。Whenshelookedcarefullyshehatthestalksjoiheumbrellasnotinthemiddlebutatonesidewhiuothem。Andtherewassomething—asortoflittlebundle—lyithefootofeachstalk。Infagershegazedatthemthelesslikemushroomstheyappeared。Theumbrellapartwasnotreallyrouhoughtatfirst。Itwaslowasbroad,aoherewereagreatmayormore。
&ruckthree。
Instantlyamostextrahappehe“mushrooms”suddenlyturhelittlebundleswhichhadlaiomofthestalkswereheadsaalksthemselveswerelegs。Butoeachbody。Eachbodyhadasihicklegrightutoohelegofaone-leggedman)andattheendofit,asingleenormousfoot-abroadtoedfootwiththetupalittlesothatitlookedratherlikeasmalloe。Shesawiheyhadlookedlikemushrooms。Theyhadbeenlyingflatontheirbackseachwithitssiraightupintheairanditsenormousfootspreadoutaboveit。Shelearhatthiswastheirordinaryway;forthefootkeptoffbothrainandsunandforaMonopodtolieusownfootisalmostasgoodasbei。