“Ohyes,youdo,”saidAnne。“Youwerecrazyaboutherlastterm。”
“No,Iwasn't,”saidMarjorie。“I'vegotmoresehat。Notabadlittlekidinherway。ButIwasgettiiredofherbeforetheendofterm。”
“Well,youjollywellwon'thavetheyotherterm!”shoutedLucy。“Two-facedlittlebeast。”ButthesoundofherowondedherthatshewastalkingtoapidthattherealMarjoriewasfarawayinanotherworld。
“Well,”saidLucytoherself,“Ididthierofherthanthat。AndIdidallsortsofthierm,andIstucktoherwhennotmanyirlswould。Atoo。Aherstoneofallpeople!Iwonderareallmyfrieherearelotsofotherpio。Iwon'tlookatanymore。Iwon't,Iwon't'andwithagreateffortsheturhepage,butne,angrytearhadsplashedonit。
Opageshecametoaspell“fortherefreshme'。Thepictureswerefewerherebutverybeautiful。AndwhatLudherselfreadingwasmorelikeastorythawentesandbeforeshehadreadtothebottomofthepageshehadfottenthatshewasreadingatall。Shewaslivioryasifitwerereal,aureswererealtoo。WheteaheehatisthelovelieststoryI'veeverreadorevershallreadinmywholelife。Oh,IwishIcouldhavegitforteleastI'llreaditain。”
ButherepartofthemagicoftheBooktoplay。You'tturnback。Theright-haheonesahead,couldbetur-handpagesot。
“Oh,whatashame!”saidLucy。“IdidsowaagaileastImustrememberit。Let'ssee。。。itwasabout。。。about。。。ohdear,it'sallfadingawayagaihislastpageisgoingblank。Thisisaveryqueerbook。HowIhavefotten?Itwasaboutadaswordandatreeandagreenhill,Iknowthatmuch。ButIemberandwhatshallIdo?”
Andsheneverber;ahatdaywhatLusbyagoodstoryisastorywhidsherottenstoryintheMagi'sBook。
&urnedonandfoundtohersurpriseapagewithall;butthefirstwordselltomakehiddenthingsvisible。Shereaditthroughtomakesureofallthehardwordsaoutloud。Aowaswbecauseasshespoketheeiallettersatthetopofthepageauresbeganappearinginthemargins。ItwaslikewhenyouholdtothefiresomethingwritteninInvisibleIinggraduallyshowsup;ohedingyonjuice(whichistheeasiestIhiswasallgoldandblueaheywereoddpidaLuuchlikethelookof。Ahought,“IsupposeI'vemadeeverythiohumpers。Theremightbelotsofotherihingshangingaboutaplacelikethis。I'mIwahemall。”
Atthatmome,heavyfootfallsingalongthecorridorbehindher;andofcoursesherememberedwhatshehadbeentoldabouttheMagiwalkingiandmakihanacat。Itisalwaysbettertoturnroundthahinggupbehindyourback。Lucydidso。
Theill,foramoment(butofcourseshedidn'tknowit),shelookedalmostasbeautifulasthatotherLuthepidsheranforwardwithalittlecryofdelightaretchedout。ForwhatstoodinthedoorwaywasAslaheLioofallHighKings。Andhewassolidandrealandwarmaherkisshimandburyherselfinhisshiningmane。Andfromthelow,earthquake-likesoundthatinsidehim,Ludaredtothinkthatheurring。
“Oh,Aslan,”saidshe,“itwaskindofyoutoe。”
“Ihavebeehetime,”saidhe,“butyouhavejustmademevisible。”
“Aslan!”saidLucyalmostalittlereproachfully。“Don'tmakefunofme。Asifanything1akeyouvisible!”
“Itdid,”saidAslan。“DoyouthinkIwouldn'tobeymyownrules?”
&lepausehespokeagain。“Child,”hesaid,“Ithinkyouhavebeeneavesdropping。”
“Eavesdropping?”
“Youlisteyourtwoschoolfellaboutyou。”
“Ohthat?Ithating,Aslan。Wasn'titmagic?”
“Spyingonpeoplebymagicisthesameasspyingontheminanyotherway。Andyouhavemisjudgedyourfriend。Sheisweak,butshelovesyou。Shewasafraidoftheirlandsaidwhatshedoesnotmean。”
“Idon'tthinkI'deverbeabletetwhatIheardhersay。”
“No,youwon't。”
“Ohdear,”saidLucy。“HaveIsp?Doyoumeanwewouldhavegoneonbeihadn'tbeenforthis—andbeenreallygreatfriends—allourlivesperhaps—andnowwenevershall。”
“Child,”saidAslan,“didIoyouonoooldwhatened?”
“Yes,Aslan,youdid,”saidLusorry。Butplease—”
“Speako。”
“ShallIeverbeableto,readthatstain;theoneIember?Willyoutellittome,Aslan?Ohdo,do,do。”
“Indeed,yes,Iwilltellittoyouforyearsameetthemasterofthishouse。”