“We'tsleep,”saidLudthehatsheneedsayAslaheyhadbeenthinking。
“Please,mayherevery?”askedSusan。
“Well—”saidAslaobethinking。Thenhesaid,“Ishouldbegladofpanytonight。Yes,youmaye,ifyouwillpromisetostopwhenItellyou,aleavemetogoonalone。”
“Oh,thankyou,thankyou。Andwewill,”saidthetwogirls。
ForwardtheywentagaihegirlswalkedoneachsideoftheLion。Buthoalked!A,royalheaddroopedsothathisouchedthegrass。Preseumbledandgavealo
“Aslan!DearAslan!”saidLucy,“whatiswrong?'tyoutellus?”
“Areyouill,dearAslan?”askedSusan。
“No,”saidAslan。“Iamsadandlonely。LayyourhandsoIfeelyouarethereauswalklikethat。”
Andsothegirlsdidwhattheywouldodowithouthispermission,butwhattheyhadloodoeversisawhim—buriedtheirdsiifulseaoffuraand,sodoihhim。AheysawthattheyweregoingwithhimuptheslopeofthehillonwhichtheStoheywentupatthesidewherethetreescamefurthestup,aheygottothelasttree(itwasohadsomebushesaboutit)Aslanstoppedandsaid,“Oh,,。Hereyoumuststop。Andpens,doyourselvesbeseen。Farewell。”
Andboththegirlscriedbitterly(thoughtheyhardlyknewwhy)andgtotheLionandkissedhismaneandhisnoseandhispawsa,sadeyes。Thehemaohehill。AndLudSusan,ginthebushes,lookedafterhimandthisiswhattheysaw。
&crowdofpeoplewerestandingallrouableandthoughthemoonwasshiningmanyofthemcarriedtorcheswhiedwithevil-lookingredflamesandblacksmoke。Butsuchpeople!Ogreswithmoh,andwolves,andbull-headedmen;spiritsofeviltreesandpoisonousplants;aureswhomIwon'tdescribebecauseifIdidthegrown-upswouldprobablyyoureadthisbook—dHagsandIhs,Horrors,Efreets,Sprites,Orknies,Wooses,ains。Infactherewereallthosewhowereoch'ssideandwhomtheWolfhadsummoherand。Andrightinthemiddle,standiable,wastheWitchherself。
Ahowlandagibberofdismaywentupfromthecreatureswhesaa,andforamomechherselfseemedtobestruckwithfear。Thensherecoveredherselfandgaveawild,fiercelaugh。
“Thefool!”shecried。“Thefoolhase。Bindhimfast。”
LudSusahswaitingforAslan'sroarandhisspringupoitnevercame。Frinnialsingbadhalfafraidofwhattheyhadtodo,hadapproachedhim。“Bindhim,Isay!”repeatedtheWhiteWitch。TheHagsmadeadartathimariumphwhehathemadeaall。Thenothers—evildes—rushedihem,aheyrolledthehugeLionoveronhisbadtiedallhisfether,shoutingandgasiftheyhaddohihough,hadtheLioneofthosepawscouldhavebeehemall。Buthemadenoheerainingandtuggihechtthattheytohisflesh。ThehimtowardtheStoable。
“Stop!”saidtheWitch。“Lethimfirstbeshaved。”
AnotherroarofmeaupfromherfollowersasahapairofshearscameforwardandsquatteddownbyAslan'shead。Snip-snip-sheshearsandmassesoldbegantofalltothegrouheogrestoodbadthe,wattheirhiding-place,couldseethefaceofAslanlookingallsmallahoutitsmaheenemiesalsosawthedifference。
“Why,he'soafterall!”e。
“Isthatereafraidof?”saidanother。
AndtheysurgedroundAslahim,sayingthingslike“Puss,Puss!PoorPussy,”and“Howmanymicehaveyoucaughttoday,d“Wouldyoulikeasauilk,Pussums?”
“Oh,howthey?”saidLucy,tearsstreamingdowhebrutes,thebrutes!”fornowthatthefirstshockwasovertheshornfaceofAslaoherbraver,aiful,athanever。
“Muzzlehim!”saidtheWitdevennow,astheyworkedabouthisfagonthemuzzle,oefromhisjawswouldhavecosttwoorthreeofthemtheirhands。Buthehisseemedteallthatrabble。Everyohimnow。Thosewhohadbeenafraidtoeerhewasbouofindtheirce,andforafewmiwogirlsotevehicklywashesurrouhewholecrowdofcreatureskighim,hittinghim,spittingohim。
Atlasttherabblehadhadenoughofthis。TheybeganttheboundaotheStoable,somepullingandsomepushing。Hewassohugethatevehimthereittookalltheireffortstohoisthimontothesurfaceofit。Thentherewasmandtighteningofcords。
“Thecowards!Thecowards!”sobbedSusaillafraidofhim,evennow?”
Whenonhadbeeiedsothathewasreallyamassoftheflatstone,ahushfellonthecrs,holdingfourtorches,stoodattheersoftheTable。TheWitchbaredherarmsasshehadbaredthemtheprevioushadbeenEdmundinsteadofAslan。Theowhetherklookedtothe,whehethtfellonit,asiftheknifeweremadeofstoofsteel,anditwaseandevilshape。
AslastshedrewoodbyAslan'shead。Herfacewaswandtwitgwithpassion,buthislookedupatthesky,stillquiet,herangrynorafraid,butalittlesad。Then,justbefavetheblow,shestoopeddownandsaidinaquiveringvoioon?Fool,didyouthinkthatbyallthisyouwouldsavethehumantraitor?NowIwillkillyouinsteadofhimasourpadsotheDeepMagiceased。Butwhenyouaredeadreventmefromkillinghimaswell?AndwhowilltakehimoutofmyhandthehatyouhavegivenmeNarniaforever,youhavelostyourownlifeandyouhavenotsavedhis。Inthatknowledge,despairanddie。”
Thedidualmomentofthekilling。They'tbeartolookandhadcoveredtheireyes。